Her name is "Little" Mary Jackson. She's the widow of a marine named Stony Jackson, one of Highway's and Choozoo's old friends from their combat days in Korea and Vietnam. Stony was killed in a place called Khe Sanh, a small village in Vietnam that saw very heavy combat, particularly for the marine corps. As a courtesy to some of the older officers at Camp Lejeune, Mary also rents out rooms attached to the bar, probably at very reasonable rates. Early in the film Highway visits her there and asks her if he can rent a room and she happily agrees because Highway is an old friend.
Heartbreak Ridge was a minor hill that Highway's unit was ordered to capture during the Vietnam War. The battle wound up being long and bloody, with Highway's entire unit being slaughtered. The only survivors being Highway, Choozoo and Stony Jackson. They named the hill themselves and called it Heartbreak Ridge.
Yes and no. It stretches credibility to think that an entire squad of recon Marines who are lacking an effective staff NCO to lead them would dare to have become so reckless and undisciplined in such a short time. Even without the leadership of a staff NCO who is mentioned that he wasn't performing his training duties. The platoon leader being a 2nd or 1st lieutenant would have assigned a staff non-commissioned officer on an interim basis, at least until a permanent staff NCO could be assigned to take charge. So in essence this part of the script took a lot of liberties to create entertaining drama and to set up the impending conflict between Highway and his new recon unit of reckless and undisciplined Marines. Of course the unit got so reckless during the lull of peacetime and without being deployed to fight any real enemy so then we can imagine that they got so out of line due to the ongoing boredom of their situation. Plus nobody was available to take charge of them until they got Gunny Highway to take command. Also, Lieutenant Ring was shown to be too soft and inexperienced in his position as well. With a commander such as Major Powers, who is not only arrogant, but extremely incompetent, and was busy trying to build his "elite" company with 1st Platoon, it would be easy for Powers to either overlook or ignore them completely, perhaps even believing they weren't worth bothering with.
Powers is clearly an arrogant and ambitious type who's risen through the ranks rapidly to become a high-ranking officer. He's also just been handed his 1st command as an officer at a combat-training facility and is likely looking to rise to the next rank very quickly, which would be Lieutenant Colonel. Therefore he's going to be a hardcase about the men under his command. In Highway, he sees an older NCO at the end of a long career and believes he's already outlived his usefulness. Also, Highway has a history of conflict with superior officers (hence, his lack of promotion to higher ranks), something that Powers is already aware of: he mentions that Highway had previously hit an officer that was a friend of Powers', another strike against Highway with his new CO.
From Highway's perspective, having had a long career in the Corps, he sees Powers as another arrogant and domineering officer with a much higher rank than Highway's and is yet another superior he'll have to endure despite his vast superior experience. He also figures out very quickly that Powers is intelligent but doesn't have the command experience either as a training unit supervisor or as a combat officer to understand what goes into training the men for combat. Powers' training program is a foolish one: Powers believes that because the Recon platoon are undisciplined and unmotivated (because of a lack of effective supervision) they can be used as a training tool for the elite company he's trying to build with Sgt Webster and 1st Platoon. What Highway knows is that a recon platoon like his has a very dangerous task in combat: to be deployed ahead of a unit like 1st Platoon or an entire battalion or regiment to assess enemy positions, tactics and movements and report back to the rest of the company so they'll have a strategic advantage. If Highway's men aren't properly trained, their inexperience could get them killed along with Highway, something Powers doesn't (or refuses to) understand.
Powers also was poorly training his "elite" squad as well. By taking charge and simulating an ambush, but ordering recon Platoon to "ambush" 1st Platoon in the exact same place every time won't teach 1st Platoon how to handle an actual ambush, leading them to get massacred, like we see when Highway decides to ambush them from a different position.
From Highway's perspective, having had a long career in the Corps, he sees Powers as another arrogant and domineering officer with a much higher rank than Highway's and is yet another superior he'll have to endure despite his vast superior experience. He also figures out very quickly that Powers is intelligent but doesn't have the command experience either as a training unit supervisor or as a combat officer to understand what goes into training the men for combat. Powers' training program is a foolish one: Powers believes that because the Recon platoon are undisciplined and unmotivated (because of a lack of effective supervision) they can be used as a training tool for the elite company he's trying to build with Sgt Webster and 1st Platoon. What Highway knows is that a recon platoon like his has a very dangerous task in combat: to be deployed ahead of a unit like 1st Platoon or an entire battalion or regiment to assess enemy positions, tactics and movements and report back to the rest of the company so they'll have a strategic advantage. If Highway's men aren't properly trained, their inexperience could get them killed along with Highway, something Powers doesn't (or refuses to) understand.
Powers also was poorly training his "elite" squad as well. By taking charge and simulating an ambush, but ordering recon Platoon to "ambush" 1st Platoon in the exact same place every time won't teach 1st Platoon how to handle an actual ambush, leading them to get massacred, like we see when Highway decides to ambush them from a different position.
Powers was talking about "ROAD" which is an acronym for "retired on active duty". Powers was disappointed that the sergeant who he'd placed in charge (or had been in charge previously) of the Recon platoon took the assignment, but made no effort to train the platoon. Likely because the sergeant was close to his retirement, he sat back and effectively let the clock run out.
To put it simply: Highway shows camaraderie with his men, even when he's putting them through hell. He wants them to be the best and succeed as Marines -- Highway knew that letting Swede be arrested and jailed would not improve his attitude or combat skills. He instead allowed him a chance at redemption by becoming a true marine so he orders him to fall out for the day's PT.
Highway knew that Swede let himself be influenced negatively by the other guys in his platoon -- either before Swede got out of the brig (jail) or just as he returned to the platoon the guys or perhaps just Stitch himself, talked to Swede & told him they had another old-timer like Highway who was much tougher than their last sergeant and that their cushy lives were about to be ruined.
Highway likely sensed that Swede was a much better Marine and not simply a muscle-bound thug so Highway wanted to give Swede the opportunity to shape up and become a disciplined Marine. After the fight is over, it's pretty clear that Swede respects Highway more than his recon comrades because he probably realizes that Highway could have beaten him harder and injured him worse. Highway didn't & Swede found new respect for his new CO.
Swede is also obviously the biggest man in the platoon & as we see later in the film, is responsible for carrying the unit's heaviest weapon, an M60 machine gun. It's a large machine gun that weighs just over 23 lbs and takes a strong person to carry and operate -- when the M60 was first introduced to combat units, it often took two men to operate in the field. Highway wanted Swede to be properly trained for combat so he'd have his heavy gunner with him during battle -- as we see later in the film on Grenada, Highway deploys Swede a few times right up to the front of their perimeter with the M60 to lay out heavy fire on the enemy.
Finally, don't forget that Highway was under very tight scrutiny by Major Powers, who already hated Highway and was looking for a reason to get rid of an older NCO who was very close to retirement. Powers would be watching Highway to see if there would be any incidents precisely like this one that could provide that kind of leverage. Highway severely beating up one of his own men, despite the circumstances plainly showing he was attacked, would make his unit look even worse than it already did. Additionally, Swede's comrades also may have been counting on one of two outcomes: either Swede would beat Highway badly enough that he'd be too severely injured to continue as their CO thus prompting Powers to assign a new gunnery sergeant to Recon or that Highway's beating of one of his own men would prompt Powers to get him kicked out of the service. Highway very smartly made short order of the incident and Swede was more than willing to take the opportunity to shape up fast.
Highway knew that Swede let himself be influenced negatively by the other guys in his platoon -- either before Swede got out of the brig (jail) or just as he returned to the platoon the guys or perhaps just Stitch himself, talked to Swede & told him they had another old-timer like Highway who was much tougher than their last sergeant and that their cushy lives were about to be ruined.
Highway likely sensed that Swede was a much better Marine and not simply a muscle-bound thug so Highway wanted to give Swede the opportunity to shape up and become a disciplined Marine. After the fight is over, it's pretty clear that Swede respects Highway more than his recon comrades because he probably realizes that Highway could have beaten him harder and injured him worse. Highway didn't & Swede found new respect for his new CO.
Swede is also obviously the biggest man in the platoon & as we see later in the film, is responsible for carrying the unit's heaviest weapon, an M60 machine gun. It's a large machine gun that weighs just over 23 lbs and takes a strong person to carry and operate -- when the M60 was first introduced to combat units, it often took two men to operate in the field. Highway wanted Swede to be properly trained for combat so he'd have his heavy gunner with him during battle -- as we see later in the film on Grenada, Highway deploys Swede a few times right up to the front of their perimeter with the M60 to lay out heavy fire on the enemy.
Finally, don't forget that Highway was under very tight scrutiny by Major Powers, who already hated Highway and was looking for a reason to get rid of an older NCO who was very close to retirement. Powers would be watching Highway to see if there would be any incidents precisely like this one that could provide that kind of leverage. Highway severely beating up one of his own men, despite the circumstances plainly showing he was attacked, would make his unit look even worse than it already did. Additionally, Swede's comrades also may have been counting on one of two outcomes: either Swede would beat Highway badly enough that he'd be too severely injured to continue as their CO thus prompting Powers to assign a new gunnery sergeant to Recon or that Highway's beating of one of his own men would prompt Powers to get him kicked out of the service. Highway very smartly made short order of the incident and Swede was more than willing to take the opportunity to shape up fast.
Somewhat. The United States invasion of Grenada in 1983 serves as the backdrop to The story.
The Battle of Heartbreak Ridge took place during the Korean War. Eastwood and his writers fictionalized Tom Highway's involvement in it, along with his friend Choozoo. During the battle, Highway performed with conspicuous valor in combat & was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Late in the story, Choozoo tells Stitch Jones the story about how Highway got the medal.
No, the Beirut barracks bombing is never mentioned in the film. As the film is told from Highway's and Recon Platoon's perspective, they are simply told they are deploying.
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- How long is Heartbreak Ridge?2 hours and 10 minutes
- When was Heartbreak Ridge released?December 5, 1986
- What is the IMDb rating of Heartbreak Ridge?6.8 out of 10
- Who stars in Heartbreak Ridge?
- Who wrote Heartbreak Ridge?
- Who directed Heartbreak Ridge?
- Who was the composer for Heartbreak Ridge?
- Who was the producer of Heartbreak Ridge?
- Who was the executive producer of Heartbreak Ridge?
- Who was the cinematographer for Heartbreak Ridge?
- Who was the editor of Heartbreak Ridge?
- Who are the characters in Heartbreak Ridge?Aggie, Lieutenant Ring, Corporal 'Stitch' Jones, Sergeant Major Choozoo, Fragetti, Aponte, the Profile, and Swede Johanson
- What is the plot of Heartbreak Ridge?Hard-nosed, hard-living Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.
- What was the budget for Heartbreak Ridge?$15 million
- How much did Heartbreak Ridge earn at the worldwide box office?$42.7 million
- How much did Heartbreak Ridge earn at the US box office?$42.7 million
- What is Heartbreak Ridge rated?TV-14
- What genre is Heartbreak Ridge?Drama and War
- How many awards has Heartbreak Ridge won?2 awards
- How many awards has Heartbreak Ridge been nominated for?3 nominations
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