A Funny Wartime Idea

WildBill

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Perhaps I'm just silly, but while working diligently on one project I have in the back of the mind the next one. I've got a seed of a project (note I'm a screenwriter- I'm probably amongst the worst novelists you'd ever hate to read) but the idea is as follows:

I am personally a veteran of the Gulf War (1990-1991)- a Navy weapons specialist that fought in theater. Yes, I suppose I could tell some very explicit stories that; quite frankly, I'd rather forget (if I could). But a lot of funny stuff happened as well and I do know other vets of the same conflict that also know such stories.

I just wonder if the idea is really worth the effort. Please don't get the wrong idea- I know that in the USA, veterans are generally respected at this time and I do know that veteran stories are often sought after. That said, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are far more prominent in the modern conscience that Desert Shield/Desert Storm. As a conflict, the US did not suffer many casualties and, quite frankly, we wiped the floor with Saddam Hussein back then. Would such an assembly of stories, if collected, be really marketable? What say you?

-Wild Bill
 
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cornflake

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Perhaps I'm just silly, but while working diligently on one project I have in the back of the mind the next one. I've got a seed of a project (note I'm a screenwriter- I'm probably amongst the worst novelists you'd ever hate to read) but the idea is as follows:

I am personally a veteran of the Gulf War (1990-1991)- a Navy weapons specialist that fought in theater. Yes, I suppose I could tell some very explicit stories that; quite frankly, I'd rather forget (if I could). But a lot of funny stuff happened as well and I do know other vets of the same conflict that also know such stories.

I just wonder if the idea is really worth the effort. Please don't get the wrong idea- I know that in the USA, veterans are generally respected at this time and I do know that veteran stories are often sought after. That said, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are far more prominent in the modern conscience that Desert Shield/Desert Storm. As a conflict, the US did not suffer many casualties and, quite frankly, we wiped the floor with Saddam Hussein back then. Would such an assembly of stories, if collected, be really marketable? What say you?

-Wild Bill

Stories about what? Funny stories about ... decimating Iraq? I'm not sure I'm following, sorry.
 

WildBill

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Stories about what? Funny stories about ... decimating Iraq? I'm not sure I'm following, sorry.

I meant no offense, if such were taken. A lot of things happened that are just... funny. I only mentioned the 'decimation' as you stated to emphasize (in the USA) that this particular conflict isn't really remembered like Vietnam, the Iraq war or the wars in Afghanistan. No, killing isn't funny at all. But a lot of things that soldiers, sailors and airmen do while in theater amongst themselves can be quite a riot.

-Wild Bill
 

cornflake

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I meant no offense, if such were taken. A lot of things happened that are just... funny. I only mentioned the 'decimation' as you stated to emphasize (in the USA) that this particular conflict isn't really remembered like Vietnam, the Iraq war or the wars in Afghanistan. No, killing isn't funny at all. But a lot of things that soldiers, sailors and airmen do while in theater amongst themselves can be quite a riot.

-Wild Bill

A lot of things that happen in any job are funny. I'm still not sure what you're proposing exactly.

I think it's remembered, as much as anything that lasted what, a couple of weeks or whatever, is -- for its ties to the second Iraq "war," and for being so profoundly fucked up.
 

WildBill

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A lot of things that happen in any job are funny. I'm still not sure what you're proposing exactly.

I think it's remembered, as much as anything that lasted what, a couple of weeks or whatever, is -- for its ties to the second Iraq "war," and for being so profoundly fucked up.

Sounds to me like you're opinion is, 'No'. Kewl. Thank you. that is meaningful to me.

-Wild Bill
 

JJ Litke

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Wartime stories involving humor aren’t new. There’s MASH, Catch 22, Good Morning Vietnam, Stripes, Tropic Thunder, Stalag 17, and the TV series version, Hogan’s Heroes. Granted, most of those are only movies; admittedly it’s not a genre I tend to read, so movies are what I remembered first. But my point is that of course it’s possible. Though note that they are not straight-up comedies (with the exception of Stripes, and I’m not sure that one could work now like it did in its time). You’d want to read a lot of comps to see how the balance is being achieved in current titles.
 

cornflake

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The first thing I thought of was Three Kings, but it's a movie, yeah. It's also less funny stories than humour interwoven into a serious story.
 

frimble3

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I would think that a book of funny stories that happen during a war would be an easier sell when it's a short, fast war that no-one really dwells on. As opposed to a long, hard war with a high casualty rate and much political rancor.

Somewhere in my stash I have a collection of humourous war stories from WWII, done by the British Legion as a fund raiser. Based on that, I'd avoid bloodshed, and keep to stories of troops getting into scrapes. And stories of inept officers and officialdom seem popular.

Have you read George MacDonald Fraser's 'McAuslan' books?
 
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WildBill

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I would think that a book of funny stories that happen during a war would be an easier sell when it's a short, fast war that no-one really dwells on. As opposed to a long, hard war with a high casualty rate and much political rancor.

Somewhere in my stash I have a collection of humourous war stories from WWII, done by the British Legion as a fund raiser. Based on that, I'd avoid bloodshed, and keep to stories of troops getting into scrapes. And stories of inept officers and officialdom seem popular.

Have you read George MacDonald Fraser's 'McAuslan' books?

I have not read the book you mentioned- though I will now. I have read Daniel V Gallery's, 'Stand BY-Y-Y to Start Engines' which I found both funny and salty without getting into actual combat stories and was kinda the direction I was thinking. Yeah, funny stuff can happen in combat but many folks can get quite offended at making light of such situations so I'm reluctant to go that direction. Great insight Frimble3 and thank you.

-Wild Bill
 

WildBill

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Wartime stories involving humor aren’t new. There’s MASH, Catch 22, Good Morning Vietnam, Stripes, Tropic Thunder, Stalag 17, and the TV series version, Hogan’s Heroes. Granted, most of those are only movies; admittedly it’s not a genre I tend to read, so movies are what I remembered first. But my point is that of course it’s possible. Though note that they are not straight-up comedies (with the exception of Stripes, and I’m not sure that one could work now like it did in its time). You’d want to read a lot of comps to see how the balance is being achieved in current titles.

You certainly listed some movie comps that are relevant since, as mentioned, I'm a screenwriter and not one to write a book. An indi film military comedy montage is the direction I'm mulling around in my head.

Critics are often poking at Hollywood saying that there's just not the 'originality or intelligence' in film that there was say, 50, 40 or even 30 years ago. But there's a reason for this- films are expensive to make now-a-days and producers and studios are reluctant to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into anything that they can't, with some certainty, know that they will get a return on their investment. Right or wrong, that's just the reality in film today and screenwriters just have to deal with it. I've already assumed that even if I did actually put in the work to write a screenplay on the topic it doesn't have a snowflake's chance in hell of getting any money to produce.

-Wild Bill
 

Stytch

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So, random thought you can take or leave... I'm not sure I can think of a "modern" "fun" military movie. I don't get out much, though. I live in the region of a military base, and I feel like if there was a movie that made military folks look like anything less than heroes and badasses, it would get panned in this current culture. Again, maybe in just my corner of the world. I love that shit, though, so I hope you do it. But I've noted a distinct lack of humor about "national security" and stuff these days. God forbid we make any currently-serving or vet uncomfortable with a lessening of the cultural adoration. (That's sarcasm, I know plenty who say they hate hearing "thank you for your service" at every turn, etc.)
I hate living near a military base, I think it's really warped my view. I feel like we've been at war forever (hahahaha, we have, just kidding). But seriously, I think unless you're near a base it's not such a constant in-your-face thing. That is not an endorsement for "more awareness" or any such bs, I'm just personally sick of it, sick of war, sick of all of it. Please ridicule the military industrial complex.
 

Richard White

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As a fellow Desert Shield/Storm veteran, one of the funniest books I read coming out of the war was "This Ain't Hell, But You Can See It From Here", written by a war correspondent who slipped away from the "media pool" to talk to the people who really knew what was going on . . . the privates, the senior airmen, and the sailors, along with the occasional 2nd Looeys.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0891414436/?tag=absowrit-20

I've given what you're thinking about some thought myself. My daughter and her friends love my stories from the Gulf about all the stupid stuff we did to stay sane as well as dealing with the military bureaucracy during the months leading up to the air war and the 100 hours of the land war. Esp. the story of the Bedouins who drove their goat herd through the middle of our positions at As Salman Airfield in Iraq on day 17 of the "Hey, the war's over, can we go home now?" rest stop.

I'd say, if you've got some stories, go for it. And, I'm pretty convinced that while there is "topical" or "timely" humor, a good funny story stays funny even after the fact.
 

WildBill

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As a fellow Desert Shield/Storm veteran, one of the funniest books I read coming out of the war was "This Ain't Hell, But You Can See It From Here", written by a war correspondent who slipped away from the "media pool" to talk to the people who really knew what was going on . . . the privates, the senior airmen, and the sailors, along with the occasional 2nd Looeys.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0891414436/?tag=absowrit-20

I've given what you're thinking about some thought myself. My daughter and her friends love my stories from the Gulf about all the stupid stuff we did to stay sane as well as dealing with the military bureaucracy during the months leading up to the air war and the 100 hours of the land war. Esp. the story of the Bedouins who drove their goat herd through the middle of our positions at As Salman Airfield in Iraq on day 17 of the "Hey, the war's over, can we go home now?" rest stop.

I'd say, if you've got some stories, go for it. And, I'm pretty convinced that while there is "topical" or "timely" humor, a good funny story stays funny even after the fact.

Thankye for your service, Brother. You obviously know what I'm really asking.

I don't want our service to end up like Korea did- 'The Forgotten War'. We put our asses on the line and fought for the freedom of a country that was unlawfully invaded. And I did my fair share of stupid stuff and know plenty others that did likewise. Hell, I was in my early 20's then, and if y'all think I'm an immature, obnoxious twit now, be thankful you didn't know me then- or any other of my shipmates.

You and others have suggest some great resources for both reference and inspiration. I'm still quite a ways from starting my next serious project and will dig into the resources suggested before making that decision. Thus I thank all of you (even you, Cornflake) for giving me some very real attitude towards the topic.

-Wild Bill
 

Chris P

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You certainly listed some movie comps that are relevant since, as mentioned, I'm a screenwriter and not one to write a book. An indi film military comedy montage is the direction I'm mulling around in my head.

Critics are often poking at Hollywood saying that there's just not the 'originality or intelligence' in film that there was say, 50, 40 or even 30 years ago. But there's a reason for this- films are expensive to make now-a-days and producers and studios are reluctant to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into anything that they can't, with some certainty, know that they will get a return on their investment. Right or wrong, that's just the reality in film today and screenwriters just have to deal with it. I've already assumed that even if I did actually put in the work to write a screenplay on the topic it doesn't have a snowflake's chance in hell of getting any money to produce.

-Wild Bill

It sounds like you know what you want to do. If so, get writing and see what happens. :)

All the advice above has been good. These stories are not new, and MASH was the first thing I thought of. As for the humor and getting push back for it, take a look at the movies JJ Litke referenced. They are either "fish out of water" situation comedies like Stripes, an ensemble of characters that play well off each other like Hogan's Heroes, or were satires of a broken system like Catch 22. Those are quite different than the types of things that get push back, such as saying "America is stupid and wrong and Saddam was right" or "all soldiers are clownish drunken rapist murderous killers."

Humorous war stories have been done well in the past, and will be done well again.
 
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TrapperViper

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Yeah, you should absolutely go for it and see how they come out. Most veteran authored books right now seem to be very heroic and character driven and, as you said, in high demand. If you were to do something like comedic memoirs of the Gulf War I'd think you would have a good audience, due to how fresh it would seem.

Also, that movie that Tina Fey did about Afghanistan and her as a journalist was a comedy. And didn't Bill Murrey do a comedy about Afghanistan too?
 

MadAlice

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As a disclaimer, I was never in the military in any capacity, except as a child, sibling, and wife of soldiers. My father was in Desert Storm. My sister spent many years in the Navy, but never in war. My brother did a brief bit. My ex-husband was in Iraq. So on with various other family members.

What I liked about MASH as a child(or at least this is what I remember now, because I was probably looking for it, missing my father all the time) was that they had a balance. YEah they were a medicial unit, and had some f'ed up injuries come through, but the rest of the time they were all doing the best they could to keep their sanity with humor and antics, all while missing their family, being scared, and trying to stay alive.

Depending on the direction you're trying to go, I wouldn't mind seeing something that shows the balance of the good and bad, scary and funny. Something that shows that getting blown up together isn't the only thing that forms bonds among men in a unit.
 

CJEvermore

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I think humour can be found in almost any situation. Take 'Blackadder Goes Forth' for example! If you can balance the human side of the situation as well as the comedy, and not make light of the tragedy and destruction, it can absolutely work! I for one would read it.