# Charlie Sheen's wounds in "Platoon"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 31, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391 "2004-08-31T08:18:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/1 "2004-08-31T08:18:13Z")

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Just saw it, and I can’t figure out why Sheen’s character is medevacked at the end since he doesn’t seem to be significantly wounded. Sure, he’s traumatized by the experienced, and he’s all covered in slime and oil and whatnot, but he seems intact, so what’s the deal? There a hint of a scalp laceration under his red bandana, but it seems pretty trivial, and not the likely cause of his zombification.

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/2 "2004-08-31T14:15:12Z")

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He got blown up. He blown up real good. I’m sure that causes wounds. Maybe burns, cracked ribs who knows? Under that grime there may be other wounds you don’t see.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/3 "2004-08-31T16:47:41Z")

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I dunno, he seemed intact enough to cap Barnes, and during his evac, Sheen propped himself up on his stretcher with his elbows, which isn’t something I’d expect from someone with rib injuries.

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**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/4 "2004-08-31T17:02:00Z")

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I don’t know if it was cut fromthe TV version, but the theatrical release in 1987 had him shooting himself in the foot right after he blew Barnes away.

Yeah, _He blowed up real purty_. I didn’t know that Charlie Sheen ever made the farmer’s film celebrity blow-up.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/5 "2004-08-31T17:09:06Z")

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> [@Bryan Ekers](#):
>
> Just saw it, and I can’t figure out why Sheen’s character is medevacked at the end since he doesn’t seem to be significantly wounded. Sure, he’s traumatized by the experienced, and he’s all covered in slime and oil and whatnot, but he seems intact, so what’s the deal? There a hint of a scalp laceration under his red bandana, but it seems pretty trivial, and not the likely cause of his zombification.

Well, it’s the movies. But that aside, shell-shock is a legitimate reason to be shipped out of a combat area. I can’t recall if that was his second or third injury, but if his third, he would be elegible for permanent non-combat duty (a la John Kerry).

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/6 "2004-08-31T17:58:25Z")

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If I may have a slight hijack.

I was in a DVD shop the other day looking through DVDs on sale and they had _Platoon_ and suddenly it dawned on me that the movie poster is basically the critical scene of the whole movie. Can anyone think of any other movie that advertised itself by showing something so potentially revealing?

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**Author:** ![ElectricZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@ElectricZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElectricZ)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/7 "2004-08-31T18:38:45Z")

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> [@don't ask](#):
>
> If I may have a slight hijack.
> 
> I was in a DVD shop the other day looking through DVDs on sale and they had _Platoon_ and suddenly it dawned on me that the movie poster is basically the critical scene of the whole movie. Can anyone think of any other movie that advertised itself by showing something so potentially revealing?

The DVD cover for the original _Planet of the Apes_ springs to mind… No link provided since it is a MAJOR spolier!

I would say that the \*Platoon \*poster and cover show a person kneeling with his face and hands raised upwards. You really can’t tell who the person is, or why he’s in that position. I’m not sure if anybody would be able to tell what was going to happen in the movie as a result…

EZ

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/8 "2004-08-31T19:29:11Z")

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> [@BMax](#):
>
> I don’t know if it was cut fromthe TV version, but the theatrical release in 1987 had him shooting himself in the foot right after he blew Barnes away.

Really? I just watch the (allegedly) uncut version on cable TV and I didn’t see Sheen ever injuring himself, though one of his buddies did _stab_ himself in the leg in the aftermath of the battle, and was being medevacked alongside Sheen at the end.

Shot himself in the foot? Are you sure you’re not thinking of Bill, the Galactic Hero?

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/9 "2004-08-31T19:36:39Z")

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> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> I can’t recall if that was his second or third injury, but if his third, he would be elegible for permanent non-combat duty (a la John Kerry).

Heh. When I saw the thread title, I was wondering if somebody had founded a group called Platoon Veterans for Truth.

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**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-sheens-wounds-in-platoon/262391/10 "2004-08-31T20:39:02Z")

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> [@ElectricZ](#):
>
> I’m not sure if anybody would be able to tell what was going to happen in the movie as a result…

I can say from personal experience that I couldn’t tell. The movie came out in 1986, and I’m quite sure I didn’t see it until '93 or later. I was certainly familiar with the poster image, and I recognized it when the moment came in the film, but I definitely didn’t know it was coming.

The IMDb says nothing about the missing foot-shooting scene. I have no memory of that happening, myself. Anybody have whatever super-special DVD version was released most recently?
