My first introduction to the concept of the Vietnam War was actually the NES platform-adventure adaptation of Rambo II

Thinking about how when I was a kid in the 80s-90s the Vietnam War was understood in terms of draftee line infantry or maybe flight crews and now as we grow more distant and deeper into the SOCOM-first all-volunteer professional military era I increasingly see it presented as the MACV-SOG Birth of Modern Special Forces

Watching the beginning of The Running Man, remembering all those ‘90s Image comics, playing Phantom Pain, remembering all those ‘90s-2000s Space Marines

remembering every other title sequence in the ‘80s

“the story begins with a flyover then aerial insert” is the Vietnam War’s lasting impact on American culture

watching ‘80s movies in a bar and all those chopper pilots we trained for 'Nam really left a mark on our credits sequences