The Anderson Platoon: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A documentary film with the title The Anderson Platoon. It consists of two (2) reels of 16mm black-and-white acetate film with optical sound.

The film, created and narrated by Pierre Schoendoerffer who returned to Vietnam and spent six weeks filming the documentary, follows an integrated platoon led by Lt. Joseph B. Anderson. In the opening scenes, the narrator describes being a French veteran who fought in the First Indochina War and returning to the country to follow American soldiers for the documentary. Some scenes provide glimpses into the soldiers' daily activities on the battlefield, such as praying before combat, taking communion, playing dice and gambling.

Later in the film, Schoendoerffer describes the role of the integrated Anderson Platoon and the B Company of which it is a part. He names some of the men in the platoon as they walk past the camera, tells where they hail from, and describes their role in the platoon. He also identifies which ones were eventually wounded. In one scene, men from the platoon are seen rescuing a little girl that had been wounded for ten days. In another, Schoendoerffer describes an incident in which a patrol from the platoon was ambushed and one of the soldiers was killed and several others wounded, before showing a scene in which members of the platoon question the villagers in a nearby village and detained two individuals as suspects.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1967
• Directed by: Pierre Schoendoerffer, French, 1928 - 2012
• Subject of: Lt. Joseph B. Anderson, American, born 1943
• Written by: Pierre Schoendoerffer, French, 1928 - 2012
• Produced by: Pierre Schoendoerffer, French, 1928 - 2012
• Narrated by: Pierre Schoendoerffer, French, 1928 - 2012
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: documentaries
• Type: sound films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: feature films
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration (Reel 1): 35 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 1275 Feet
• Dimensions: Duration (Reel 2): 25 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 900 Feet
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Viet Nam, Asia
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Catholicism
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Military
• Topic: Prayer
• Topic: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
• Object number: 2017.55.108.1ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.