Men With Green Faces (MN 10585) is a Vietnam-era U.S. Navy documentary from 1969 that explains the intense mental and physical challenges endured by those who want to become elite Navy SEALs. In addition to demonstrating the functions of the Navy’s frogmen commandos, the film reflects the excitement of parachute jump training to the quite of jungle patrols. The film opens with Navy SEALs (of what appears to Underwater Demolition Team II) paddling a boat down a river; the men leave the river and head into the jungle for a reconnaissance mission. New SEALs listen to a commander during training (02:30). The men exercise on a field, do pullups, and carry boats while singing. Later, the frogmen put on masks and jump out of a raft moving along a body of water at a fast pace (05:44). The boat comes back around to retrieve the men, who hook their arms on a rope loop to move back into the boat. A member of Underwater Demolition Team II explains an Emerson Scuba Rig to the new SEALs (06:58). Underwater footage shows the SEALs moving just above the water’s floor (07:26), presumably with the Emerson rig. At Fort Benning, GA, the men train by jumping out of a Chinook helicopter into water (08:00), repelling down a line to simulate a parachute jump (08:32), and experience parachute openings while training on a four-armed tower (09:42). The SEALs graduate to parachuting out of a plane during an actual training jump (10:44). Several SEALs participate in a HALO jump (High Altitude, Low Opening). The SEALs participate in a patrol mission during a realistic training (12:20). “Enemy” targets (spring-loaded targets) spring up and the SEALs quickly shoot them. Two men practice hand-to-hand combat and fighting techniques (14:05). The men repel down a rocky face (14:48), moving as quickly as possible. In the classroom, the SEALs learn basic Vietnamese (15:50). An aerial view shows viewers Vietnam and what appears to be the Mekong River (17:10). At a base in Vietnam, the SEALs’ platoon leader briefs his men on an upcoming patrol mission (17:40). They board a PBR in full gear and camouflage. The SEALs quietly move through foliage and ford a river. The men board a PBR after conducting the patrol. The film then shows the men meeting for a debriefing after the mission. Armed Navy patrol boats move on a river (23:46), and helicopters take to the air. The frogmen fire the boat’s machine guns at unseen targets on the riverbanks (24:49), while the helicopters fire at enemy targets on the ground. SEALs attend an awards ceremony where they receive various medals (25:55). A commander gives a widow the medals earned by her late husband.
The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land Teams, commonly abbreviated as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy’s primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs’ main functions are conducting small-unit maritime military operations that originate from, and return to, a river, ocean, swamp, delta, or coastline. The SEALs are trained to operate in all environments (sea, air, and land) for which they are named.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k / 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
