Soldiers are expected to be heroes. They are expected to journey into battle and, if necessary, lay down their lives. We think of a soldier as the epitome of courage: never wavering, even under the most withering of enemy fire, never backing down, never having a doubt. Often we think of soldiers as faceless protectors, there for us when we need them.

We tend to forget about soldiers as fathers, as brothers, as husbands, as sons. We Were Soldiers doesn't overlook this. In fact, it makes this the entire focal point of the film as it documents the true events of a three-day period at the onset of the Vietnam war.

The film opens with the US government preparing to send troops into Vietnam. Given the terrain of the land and the failures of armies of other countries, they have a new tactic they'd like to try. Namely, they've redefined the cavalry. Instead of horses, soldiers will ride into battle in helicopters. On the one hand, it's a sound tactic, allowing soldiers to arrive on the battlefield quickly and fresh for a fight. On the other hand, helicopters make great targets and can only carry so many men at a time.

Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) is brought in to Fort Benning, Georgia to train men in the tactics of this new cavalry. He's a veteran with a proven ability to lead men and at his right hand is Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley (Sam Elliott), also a combat proven leader. The two men are hard core Stars and Stripes, but each is cut from a different part of that flag. Moore might be said to be from the blue star field. He cares openly for his men and is willing to get to know them on a personal level. He's approachable, almost a father figure to his men. Plumley, on the other hand, is the stripes: rigid and unyielding and to him everything can be viewed in terms of orders and duty.

Shortly before Moore and his 7th cavalry (the same cavalry unit led by Custer, as noted in the film) are to depart for Vietnam, Moore is informed that the US is unwilling to declare an official state of war. The limitations imposed by this effectively castrates the 7th Cavalry by removing a significant portion of its enlisted soldiers. Undaunted and faced with orders, Moore and his troops are deployed.

Their first mission is to assault the Ia Drang Valley, the Valley of Death. This is to be the first engagement between US and Vietnamese troops and the odds are not in our favor. Moore is in command of about 400 troops. The North Vietnamese army is more than 2,000 strong in this valley.

The resulting battle is a chaotic, horrific and exhausting exercise in warfare and the commitment of soldiers to each other in the battlefield. Almost instantly, a platoon is cut off and surrounded by the enemy while the main force fights tooth and nail just to keep the landing zone open so the helicopters can get in with more troops and supplies. At times, it's difficult to visually follow which troops are where, but the film does a good job of communicating exactly what is going on, which objectives are important and why to the audience.

Meanwhile, on the home front, the wives of the soldiers attempt to deal with separation from their husbands. Their fragile ability to cope is tested further when a taxi arrives to deliver the first round of death notice telegrams. This impersonal approach is a testament to how unprepared for defeat the United States was. Unwilling to allow such impersonal treatment to the remaining wives, Moore's wife, Julie (Madeleine Stowe), demands that all telegrams be delivered to her and she will personally take them to the wives. She's assisted by Barbara Geoghegan (Keri Russell), new mother and wife to 2nd Lt. Jack Geoghegan. The two women bond, giving Barbara significant screen time, which should make viewers familiar with the war film formula wary.

Most war films, whether intentionally or not, tend to focus on the politics of war. We Were Soldiers looks instead at the men actually fighting the war. It's a film that understands that when you're on the battlefield, taking enemy fire and watching your comrades die next to you, that it really doesn't matter why you're there. You aren't fighting for the sake of what some politicians think is a just cause. You fight for yourself and for the man standing next to you. That's all that matters.

We Were Soldiers also differs in another important way from many war films, especially films about the Vietnam war. The enemy is not made faceless here. Granted, there is not time to get to know the Vietnamese soldiers in the same way we learn about the Americans, but the film makes clear that they are little different from us. Their tactics may be different, but in the end, they are men who have been sent in to fight a war and, if necessary, die for their country.

One of the more poignant moments comes after the battle, when the Vietnamese commander, Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An (Don Duong), is assessing the defeat at the hands of the Americans. He reflects on why the defeat is so tragic. It's not because of the loss of men, but because it will bolster American confidence and encourage them to commit more men to a war they ultimately will not win. These are men who do not want war. They fight so brutally and savagely precisely to end conflict quickly. This is not a point many films are willing to make.

We Were Soldiers is a powerful film that does an effective job of conveying its message without beating the audience over the head with it. The film sustains emotion all the way through and even manages to create tension and uncertainty for an event that history has already told us the outcome to. The only flat note comes at the end, when Lt. Col. Moore finally returns home -- in the same taxi that delivered the telegrams. This creates a crisis where there should have been none, as Julie Moore assumes it's the delivery of a telegram for her. Shouldn't Moore have called ahead? Or even used a key to get into his own home, rather than ring the doorbell? This attempt to tug at our emotions is an insult to our intelligence, as we're apparently supposed to have forgotten the credit at the beginning of the film telling us that the story is based on a book written by Hal Moore. It's a poor choice in an otherwise fine film.