Men at War: A French View

The U.S. war in Viet Nam is a helicopter crashing at takeoff. It is soldiers wolfing food in the drenching rain, a Viet Cong guerrilla surrendering. War is the American foot soldier splurging his pay on Saigon girls, the monotony of patrols, death in a field. But as coldly treated by France's official TV network, the war has been only a misbegotten adventure carried out by a nation too naive to learn from the superior experience of a wiser country.

Until now, that is. All these human vignettes, and many more, are part of a remarkable new 80-minute Viet Nam documentary. Titled The Anderson Platoon, the program suggested a greater understanding of what the U.S. is doing in Viet Nam than anything yet seen in France. "Politics don't interest me," says Producer Pierre Schoendoerffer. "I didn't want to modify anybody's opinion about the war, but only to show them how it was being fought."

An Alsatian, Schoendoerffer, 38, is one of France's leading war reporters. He was with the French troops at Dienbienphu, shared their fate in a Communist prisoner-of-war camp, won the Medaille Militaire. Last fall, for six weeks Schoendoerffer and two

French assistants lived with the platoon of Negro West Point Lieutenant Joseph B. Anderson, 24, recording the days leading up to Operation Irving on the central coast of Viet Nam.

Schoendoerffer acts as narrator, but does not preach. The mere sight of a white soldier holding the hand of his Negro buddy who has been wounded tells of the brotherhood of battle without words. The mood is enhanced by rock 'n' roll and blues music. In one sequence, Nancy Sinatra sings These Boots Are Made for Walkin' as the platoon trudges through a swamp.

Schoendoerffer was deluged by complimentary phone calls after the showing of his documentary on the Cinqcolonnes `a la une program, France's leading news show. U.S. TV officials who have seen it consider The Anderson Platoon the best documentary of the war to date. It may soon be shown on a U.S. network.

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