MovieChat Forums > Platoon (1987) Discussion > Was O'Neil a coward at the end?

Was O'Neil a coward at the end?

posted 8 years ago by cockroachcharlie
42 replies | jump to latest

My father (a desert storm vet) and I have had this discussion over O'Neil hiding under the body of a dead soldier. Firstly, I myself enlisted, but was declined due to a lung issue I have. So I personally do not have military experience.

His argument, and I don't think much detail needs to go in here, is that O'Neil was a coward for hiding from the enemy under the body of one of his fellow men in an effort to just stay alive.

My counter argument, is that he was being pragmatic and was completely overrun by that point. Fight or flee would have done nothing more than got him killed, so stay alive was really the only option he had left.

What are other peoples opinions on the character and the situation?

[–] billbinky 7 years ago

When o Neil hides under the body they haven't been over run yet.. He's a coward..

[–] Neil_Williamson 7 years ago

Just watched it again and to be honest there is little else he could do in the situation- there are about a dozen VC swarming down to his bunker and he is the only one alive there so if he had tried to fight he definitely would have been killed. It was a smart move to hide under the dead body at that point, but perhaps unrealistic that they wouldn't have checked he was dead - you can see his helmet when they look down into the hole.
Junior, however is definitely a coward, hides in the bunker for the whole fight, but clever enough to stab himself in the leg when he comes out from his bunker so he can get to go home injured.

[–] kidd-simon 7 years ago

Good post but its not Junior who stabs himself at the end its Francis, Junior gets stabbed to death by the Viet Cong during the battle after trying to run away I think.

I've already posted on this but I think its easy to label people cowards without taking everything into consideration. The guy stabbing himself at the end could be looked on that way but after what he has just witnessed the previous night could you blame him or anyone else for wanting to escape that madness?

It smells like a Spin Doctors concert in here.

[–] stevekaczynski 7 years ago

Yes, Junior tries to run but concusses himself on a tree trunk growing out of their foxhole, and then a young NVA soldier bayonets him.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

[–] kidd-simon 7 years ago

I used to think he was a coward but now not so sure. If you were put in that position with all that chaos would you not consider saving yourself? Its very easy to judge from afar.

It smells like a Spin Doctors concert in here.

[–] ruffian82 7 years ago

I just remember the look in his eyes when he's told he will take over the next platoon.

Definition of despair, and desolation.

Isn't he passed over for R&R a time or two? (May be another movie- didn't watch the whole this time)

Any event---someone he loves is in HAWAII -
HAWAII = paradise
VIETNAM = hell

I'm not judging him.

[–] stevekaczynski 7 years ago

I don't think O'Neil is fit to command other people, any more than the lieutenant was, and if another NVA attack comes in his first, last and only priority is going to be personal survival, troops under his command are going to look around for their sergeant and wonder where he has disappeared to within about 5 seconds of an attack.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

[–] bigmal (93) 6 years ago

IMO Sgt O'Neil was not a coward he was the same as every other grunt in that he just wanted to make it out alive (which we don't know if he did but he did survive the battle). He was a bit of a bully sure but he was a sergeant (which would also lead you to believe that he was not a coward). He suckered up to Barnes in an attempt to get R & R which again can he be blamed for?? Remember when King told Taylor that "there ain't no such thing as a coward in The Nam" well that applies to O'Neil as well.
I think that the actor that played him John C. McGinley done a splendid job - his best ever role.