Customer Reviews

To Heal a Nation [VHS]

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This is a great movie starring Eric Roberts about a vietnam veteran starting a campaign to fund the Vietnam War Memorial.It's a must see!!!Please put on DVD!!!!!!

This is one of the best movies that I have ever watched. Like others, I opposed not as much the war, as the way our politicians fought the war on paper. I never opposed the men who actually went over seas, and fought and died in this war. Eric Roberts should have won an oscar for this movie. The movie should have won an oscar, but it was about an unpopular war, and no one said much.

If you haven't seen the movie, I want to recount two scenes.

The wall is finally under construction, and workers are adding the names; cutting into the stone. A woman who is working suddenly starts to cry. Other workers come to her thinking she's been hurt by the stone cutting equipment, but that isn't why she is sobbing. She has just found her baby brother's name, and her tears are tribute to the power of the names on the black granite.

During a hearing before construction begins, someone is complaining about the black stone in a black place in the ground, and all sort of negative black comments. A highly decorated African American officer stands up, reminding the others of all the 'black' men who died in the war, and makes it very clear that the speaker better think before he makes any more negative black references.

I really wish this would go to DVD. It's something that belongs in every school and in every library.

Great Great Movie!!!!!!! Have only seen this movie once on TV. With some advertisement, and on CD format, you could sell a million of them. There are a lot of us vets still around. Great movie to pass onto our grandchildren.

I Had seen this movie awhile back and thought it should be a required movie for anyone interested in just what it took to get a memorial for the
Vietnam Vets as myself. A great movie and hope it gets to DVD soon.

This was a made for T.V. movie, I had seen when it first came out, 1992, I believe. I am a Vietnam veteran. This movie touched my heart, in ways I can not explain. Its a must see movie for all ages. When this war ended and young men came home, It was a very different time. I hope and pray that those who see this movie will come to understand how hard it was for those of us who served. We all loved our country. A great deal of young men at that time joined the Armed Forces. I did! The Air Force was my choice. I was proud to serve my country. But the home coming was in some ways worse than death. I am happy to say, I have had some people in the past few years, thank me for my service. In three cases I recall it was from young Americans. Thank god, thank all who served, and all who gave there lives. See this movie. I think you will agree. And watch it again and again. One last important note, I was one of the lucky ones, I never went overseas, or to Vietnam, I know many who did! And some who never came home. This movie is a fine tribute to all who served. Eric Roberts was awesome as Jan Scruggs.To Heal a Nation [VHS]

Eric Roberts has a certain understated intensity that works amazingly well in his portrayal of Jan Scruggs, the VietNam vet who wrote the book 'To Heal a Nation,' upon which this film is based.

Scruggs is the power behind the existence today of the VietNam Memorial in Washington D.C. which shows all the names of those who died in the war. This was no mean trick being that the VietNam war is considered to be the most unpopular war American soldiers have ever fought in, so resistance to memorializing the fallen in that war was strong. So, it took great tenacity and tireless dedication to achieve the final funding and building of the VietNam Memorial.

How this was achieved is the story that is told here, and what engages and holds our attention -- beginning with Scruggs' original idea, through one obstacle after another, all the way to the inspiring opening of the memorial in Washington -- is Eric Roberts' magnetic performance as Jan Scruggs.

This film deserves to be made available on DVD. Whatever the unpopularity of the politics behind this country's involvement in the VietNam war, the valiant men and women who fought and died in that war deserve to be honored for their service. In memory of all those who died in VietNam, for the children and other family members of all VietNam vets -- both fallen and those living among us today -- this film (and Scruggs' book) deserve wide distribution. It's difficult to obtain a copy of this film (even on VHS), and it's difficult to find even in local libraries. So, it's wonderful to be able to find it here on Amazon. Highly recommended.

TO HEAL A NATION(1988) Directed by Michael Pressman. Based on the book by Jan Scruggs. Produced by Lionel Chetwynd.
Starring Eric Roberts(as Jan Scruggs), Lawrence Luckinbill, Linden Chiles, Tamlyn Tomita (as Maya Ying Lin) and Brock Peters.

In the late 70s, Vietnam vet Jan Scruggs conceives of building a memorial to all the soldiers who died fighting communism in Indochina and have since been treated shabbily by their fellow citizens. With the help of all the noble liberals who worked so hard to make their sacrifice in vain and to bring about the murders of millions of innocent people and against the opposition of evil racist conservatives, Scruggs gets the monument built on the Washington mall and much weeping ensues.

In spite of a single uncomfortable scene that once more smears those who supported fought and died in the struggle against communism(which while Scrugg's may have wanted to bring reconcilation with the monument, to get this film made, it seems we had to let the Liberals spew their bottomless shrieking hate one final time) this is actually a reasonably well made film that is frequently moving and interesting. Roberts is very good and Peters could not give a bad performance if he tried.

The film is wounded by that one scene but still can be taken as a tribute to those who gave everything they had for a noble cause and were betrayed by those who should have been watching their backs but were too enamored of a genocidal idealogy to put their country, God and morality before their egos.

Worth a look.