The Real Platoon Leader in Platoon

An article by Bob Johnson

QUOTE: Although flawed with dramatic license, [Platoon] was based on Stone’s actual experiences with 2nd platoon, B Company, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, of the 25th Infantry Division. Leading that platoon was Second Lieutenant Steve Wilder.(…)

After a few months at Polk, Wilder came down on orders for Vietnam, arriving there in September 1967. He took over 2nd platoon of Bravo Company, 3/22 and was on his first trip to the field when his company commander stepped on a mine and was replaced by Captain Bob Hemphill. Hemphill later wrote the book Platoon, Bravo Company partly to dispel the literary license taken by Stone in Platoon.