Sonny Crockett's Service in Vietnam

[Bren10]

This is a spotty subject and this will be an attempt to piece it together.

[Robbie C.]

First, we'll start with the idea that the series is obviously canon for the discussion. When I was piecing this stuff together I took episodes where Sonny's Vietnam service figured to some degree and then tried to match it with the historical timeline to come up with legitimate options.

The episodes where this figures the most are, in rough air order, "Buddies", "Back in the World", "Stone's War" (although it's very much a minor part here), and "The Savage". Sonny's time in Vietnam is mentioned explicitly in the second pilot episode, so it's clearly supposed to be an important time in his life. 

In "Buddies", Robbie is introduced as someone who went to Vietnam with Sonny. They entered country through Da Nang, and their discussions mention a serious firefight with NVA regulars, Crockett denying they threw POWs from helicopters, and that they fought a clean war. Interestingly, the picture we see of Sonny and Robbie shows them without shoulder patches. 

"Back in the World" introduces us to Sonny's ribbon rack, which can be seen as a record of his time in Vietnam. Aside from one ribbon that couldn't have been awarded to him (it didn't come into use until well after the time he would have been in the military), Crockett's 'rack' is fairly sparse. He also lacks patches in the box. He does mention knowing 'Captain Real Estate,' but never explicitly says he was in the man's unit. Instead he's painted as an intelligence officer of some sort who had a finger in everything. Some of this follows up in "Stone's War" but it doesn't really add anything. The opening scene, set during the evacuation of Saigon, is also telling.

"The Savage" is informative in a way, clarifying Crockett's "two years in the Southeast Asian conference" to two tours in-country.

There are other scattered references, mostly dealing with Pleiku and the Cambodian border region, but most of them are not specific. In his exchange with Jimmy in "Smuggler's Blues" Crockett identifies the pilot as being air cav, but never says that HE was air cav. He also doesn't say anything when dealing with the pilot (a 101st Airmobile vet) in "Trust Fund Pirates."

Given character ages, I would say Crockett and Robbie entered the service in 1969. This roughly lines up with Crockett's possible football career (although it doesn't track right, either). I would also say they both volunteered. If Crockett's knee injury was bad enough to end his football career, it would have almost guaranteed him a medical deferment. We also don't know that he ever graduated from the University of Florida...only that he played ball there for a time. I could see Crockett starting to feel guilty about hiding behind a deferment, exaggerating a minor injury to get cut from the team, and then enlisting. The odds of him being drafted are fairly low, and get lower when you hit 1970. He also wouldn't have seen major combat after that time, and one of those ribbons is a silver star (a combat award). Since his memorabilia box doesn't contain a Combat Infantryman's Badge I think he and Robbie were both MPs (which would explain their pistol training and other skills). I also think they were Marines, although the Army's 4th Infantry Division is another possibility. I say Marines because they entered Vietnam through Da Nang (which figures in almost every Crockett Vietnam story), they awarded fewer decorations on the whole (Crockett's rack lacks the most common Army ones as well), and Marines don't use unit shoulder patches. The Army does. Crockett and Robbie both don't have shoulder patches. And, finally, the evacuation of Saigon was a Marine operation. No Army units of any size took part, and they wouldn't have been on a carrier. He would have done his first tour as part of the First Marine Division (or 4th ID if he was Army), gone home, reenlisted, and requested a second in-country tour. After Saigon he could have volunteered for one of the many reductions in force that took place at that time, met and married Caroline, and joined the police. And his being an MP would explain why he never seems to feel comfortable in the veterans' shelters he visits. As one of the guys in the rear, and one tasked with controlling behavior, he wouldn't have been popular with the grunts. It also explains why his Vietnam contacts are usually from intelligence or some other area.

This is a short version of how Crockett's military service could square with both the series and the historical record. I always found it interesting that they never explained his service as well as they did Castillo's. Even his football stuff has gaping holes, and there are some serious glitches with his Metro Dade record as well.

[Bren10]

Some observations I have made:

In Smugglers Blues Sonny deliberately asks Jimmy about the AirCav.  This could imply a) something about Jimmy ID'd to Sonny that he was AirCav, although I do not know what this would be, or b) Sonny asks about the AirCav because that is what he is most familiar with because he was in it himself.  He doesn't say he was a part of it himself but it is the first thing he mentions and he tries to relate to Jimmy through it.  As a side note Sonny tears off the cigarette filter not because of cooties but because he smokes Lucky Strikes and he likes his tobacco unfiltered.

In Back In The World-In the opening scene on board the carrier Sonny wears no discernible insignia indicating what branch he is in.  I know that if it is indeed during the Saigon operation that regular Army shouldn't be there, but in favor of the show's producers the lack of branch identification gives them an out if they want him to be something other than USMC.  Army Intelligence is also mentioned by both Stone and Tubbs at their lunch.  Elements of AirCav were in 'Nam as late as '72 and Sonny mentions patrols in Cambodia before being mortared on the Scarab with Stone.  Presumably any operations in Cambodia Sonny was on would be highly classified since we were not technically supposed to be there.  Therefore the show could still have Sonny be AirCav but also performing some spOOk operations in Cambodia etc. late in the war which would certainly enable the Maynard connection.  The picture of Robbie and Crockett in uniform also has no insignia.  We do see Sonny's medals and decorations but we don't necessarily know that we're seeing all of them, or that all of what we're seeing is even his. There is clearly other paraphernalia present that he presumably had nothing to do with such as the Saigon street execution photo.  Possibly Sonny has been a collector of military paraphernalia which could explain his possession of medals he could not have earned himself.  We know from El Viejo that Sonny has a fascination with certain aspects of history.

As a side note, Stone has clearly misspelled Sergeant as "Sargent" while flipping through his notes.  And in the vets' rec room there is a M.A.S.K. boardgame present.  As us 80s kids know M.A.S.K. was a Kenner boys toyline (a very cool one I might add) and a bit of a strange thing for grown veterans to have around.  However M.A.S.K. is abbreviation for "Mobile Armored Strike Kommand" and the AirCav was also known as "AirMobile" indicating a possible connection.  Much of this is supposition of course, but Mann and company have been known to be subtle and tricky with this sort of thing.  "Yellow Socks" and "Alpha Hotels" come to mind as examples.  

[Robbie C.]

I always took Sonny's comment about Jimmy being air cav as a reference to the fact Jimmy was a pilot and a risk-taking one. Most Cav warrant officer pilots were known for their risk-taking behaviors. And Air cav is also a very generic term.

I tend to give more weight to "Buddies" because it aired first and gives us much better overall background. The lack of shoulder patches in both that episode and "Back in the World" really points toward USMC, as they used no shoulder patches and tended to be sparse on markings on uniforms overall.

The ribbon rack is a self-contained thing. Since the rack's full I doubt anything is missing. That it's in his memorabilia box gives it personal weight. I think they used stock photos because they were both readily available and would quickly tie the audience to Vietnam.

I know there's always an urge to make Sonny out as having some kind of spook or special operations background, but I have yet to see anything solid in the series to support that idea. Castillo, yes. It's explicitly stated. Crockett is never shown to have any language skills, which he'd need even in a rough form for that kind of work.

The stuff involving Cambodia makes sense if Crockett was 4th ID. The 4th was involved in the Incursion and did conduct some ops in Cambodia. There was also an engagement were a man won the silver star. It would square with Robbie's account of the firefight where Crockett saved him. And MPs were more likely to be tabbed for some kind of work with intel or other folks (guarding prisoners if nothing else). It also explains his proficiency with pistols.

[RedDragon86]

I think Sonny was a typical soldier drafted into the war in an Infantry Division, like Charlie Sheen's character in "Platoon" 

[Robbie C.]

Draft is unlikely based on the whole football injury thing. If it was really bad enough to end his playing career he wouldn't have been draft-eligible. It also goes against what we see in "Buddies", which is the first episode to deal with his time in Vietnam. Given Sonny's character, I'd say he was a volunteer. The injury might have been enough to keep him out of the infantry regardless of branch, though. I just can't see Crockett sitting back and watching Vietnam happen.

[Robbie C.]

Forgot to mention his own comment in the second episode of the pilot. He says he "traded it all in for two years in the Southeast Asian conference." If he'd been drafted I would think the wording would be different. He also doesn't seem bitter about it, and he's not bitter when he talks to Robbie. I'd say he's more a disillusioned true believer. That was always kind of Crockett's thing. He wanted to believe.

[Bren10]

5 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

I think Sonny was a typical soldier drafted into the war in an Infantry Division, like Charlie Sheen's character in "Platoon" 

Chris Taylor wasn't drafted in Platoon.  He gave up college and volunteered (as Oliver Stone himself did) because he was unsatisfied with life back home.  This was actually one of the few criticisms Platoon received, that Taylor's motives as a character were difficult to relate to.

Apparently Sonny and Robbie did guard prisoners because they didn't throw them out of choppers no matter what anyone said.  Sonny may not have been a full spec ops guy but he could have done a couple things for SOG possibly.

[RedDragon86]

14 minutes ago, Bren10 said:

Chris Taylor wasn't drafted in Platoon.  He gave up college and volunteered (as Oliver Stone himself did) because he was unsatisfied with life back home.  This was actually one of the few criticisms Platoon received, that Taylor's motives as a character were difficult to relate to.

Apparently Sonny and Robbie did guard prisoners because they didn't throw them out of choppers no matter what anyone said.  Sonny may not have been a full spec ops guy but he could have done a couple things for SOG possibly.

What rank of soldier do you think he was? Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant?

[Bren10]

That's hard to say.  Definitely enlisted rank and not an officer.  Probably somewhere between Corporal and one of the Sergeant ranks, given Sonny's abilities and leadership qualities.  There's  also his actual length of service to consider.  Robbie C. can chime in on this.

[Robbie C.]

I think Crockett ended up an NCO. Sergeant most likely, or staff sergeant at the outside. If he was a Marine promotions tended to be slightly slower. It's also possible given his authority issues he was busted down and promoted again.

[Robbie C.]

43 minutes ago, Bren10 said:

Chris Taylor wasn't drafted in Platoon.  He gave up college and volunteered (as Oliver Stone himself did) because he was unsatisfied with life back home.  This was actually one of the few criticisms Platoon received, that Taylor's motives as a character were difficult to relate to.

Apparently Sonny and Robbie did guard prisoners because they didn't throw them out of choppers no matter what anyone said.  Sonny may not have been a full spec ops guy but he could have done a couple things for SOG possibly.

I haven't seen Platoon for years so didn't remember that bit. It's funny...more recent scholarship does show a significant population of volunteers in the Vietnam ranks. And Sonny wouldn't have been attached to SOG in any real way, but he could have worked with regular intel personnel. SOG's prisoners tended to go straight to the Vietnamese once SOG's own people were done with them.

One other thing to consider...Sonny never seems comfortable with long guns. He's a pistol guy, and MPs carried pistols regularly. Who can forget the description Tubbs gives Castillo of Crockett/Burnett: "He shot military-style."?

[Bren10]

A lot of guys volunteered because they figured they'd be drafted anyway and it would give them better standing once they were in and volunteering looks better on one's record in general.  Yes, the Chris Taylor character is essentially a stand-in for Stone himself and his experiences over there (with a few changes of course).  The Platoon itself is mostly based on people he knew and is an amalgamation of three different units he served in.  Sgts Barnes and Elias were real but did not know each other (different units).  Elias was KIA but Barnes did survive the war.  And yes Barnes had been shot in the head breaking his face (hence his facial wounds) but not penetrating his brain and so he recovered and kept fighting.  One of my prized possssions is the massive Platoon Lazerdisc special edition set containing the original script and photos of Stone in Vietnam as well as commentaries etc.  A lot of that was ported over to dvd/blu ray, but the sheer size and packaging is very nice to have.

[Robbie C.]

18 minutes ago, Bren10 said:

A lot of guys volunteered because they figured they'd be drafted anyway and it would give them better standing once they were in and volunteering looks better on one's record in general.  Yes, the Chris Taylor character is essentially a stand-in for Stone himself and his experiences over there (with a few changes of course).  The Platoon itself is mostly based on people he knew and is an amalgamation of three different units he served in.  Sgts Barnes and Elias were real but did not know each other (different units).  Elias was KIA but Barnes did survive the war.  And yes Barnes had been shot in the head breaking his face (hence his facial wounds) but not penetrating his brain and so he recovered and kept fighting.  One of my prized possssions is the massive Platoon Lazerdisc special edition set containing the original script and photos of Stone in Vietnam as well as commentaries etc.  A lot of that was ported over to dvd/blu ray, but the sheer size and packaging is very nice to have.

Quite a few of those volunteers tried for other branches, though. There was a significant sub-set who volunteered for the Army in particular and combat arms specifically so they could do their bit. Some of them didn't readily admit to doing that for years, though.

[pahonu]

On ‎1‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 8:34 AM, Robbie C. said:

Draft is unlikely based on the whole football injury thing. If it was really bad enough to end his playing career he wouldn't have been draft-eligible. It also goes against what we see in "Buddies", which is the first episode to deal with his time in Vietnam. Given Sonny's character, I'd say he was a volunteer. The injury might have been enough to keep him out of the infantry regardless of branch, though. I just can't see Crockett sitting back and watching Vietnam happen.

I'm not certain about the details of draft eligibility, but I played NCAA ball on a scholarship until I ruptured my Achilles at a split practice in 1990.   It ended my basketball career, even after arthroscopic surgery, but I was, and still am, very fit and capable of perhaps more physical demands than the typical male my age.  (Though that age is approaching 50 now!)  I went on to coach at the high school level and in my 20's and 30's really pushed my 17 and 18 year old players at practice, getting right in there with them for many years.  I don't mean this to sound condescending, but typical sports fans don't really understand the level of physical ability required to play even at the collegiate level.  Over the years, a handful of my colleagues who also played collegiate-level sports agreed with that assessment.  Sometimes I'll be in a bar with a game on and hear someone talk about how a certain player is crap.  I typically think to myself that if you were on the court (or field) playing against them, they'd hand you your a$$ on a platter in mere moments.  LOL!   By way of example, in high school I played several times against an athlete in our league who went on to play at UCLA and in the NBA for about a dozen years.  Even then, the difference in ability between us was stunningly clear, and again I played Division I ball for two years.  The bottom line is that it's very possible for an injury to end a high level sports career while leaving that athlete more physically able than the typical draftee would be.

[Robbie C.]

Don't forget, though, in the 1960s it took a bit more for one's career to be ended. And in any case, Crockett never said he was drafted. I still think given what we know of his background this is the most logical scenario: he got a football scholarship to the University of Florida. He went, possibly as the first person in his family to go to college (based on the nickname Sonny alone I'd say he's of rural and middle to lower middle class origins), but started feeling guilty about evading (in his mind at least) service. But he couldn't let his family down. He was clearly proud of his ball career, but he might not have fit in with the accelerating protest scene by the late 1960s. So if he has an injury (likely exaggerated) that gets him cut from the team and costs him his scholarship, he could sign up with Robbie and go to war. He let the system eliminate him (the injury) so he could take another course (going to war). That way he's not disappointing his family by quitting. I've seen this before in the context of ROTC.

The other thing with the draft is they were reducing quotas by 1969, and introduced the lottery in 1970. Given the way Sonny sticks his neck out as a cop, I don't think we give him enough credit if we assume he just hung around waiting to be drafted. And being drafted wouldn't have given him "two years in the Southeast Asian conference."

[Bren10]

Unless he re-upped after being drafted?

[Robbie C.]

I considered that as an option, honestly. It stumbles a bit when you get to his revision of his service in "The Savage" from two years to two tours. When you hit the '69-'70 period, most reenlistments I've seen were done to get OUT of the field, and they rarely went back to Vietnam. My theory is he volunteered, rotated back to the States, disliked the garrison military, and reenlisted to get a second tour in Vietnam (he could have bargained for that as part of his reenlistment...we know how good Crockett could be at manipulating the system). Two standard enlistments also have enough time for him to have been present for the evacuation of Saigon. It gets more complicated if you have him being drafted (a two year commitment at best). Sonny enlisting in 1969 for four years and reenlisting for another four lets him be present for Saigon and then taking an early out as part of the RIFs of that period and entering Metro Dade.

 

Like I said, I tried to take everything Sonny said about Vietnam and tried to line it up with the actual history and how the military works (partly to see if it could be done). It certainly can, but it does require some reevaluation of the theories that have appeared over the years.

[king77]

My 2-cents.

The first episode Tubbs and Crockett briefly talk about his game winning touchdown and the NFL scouts all over him.

I am using this as my baseline and then pegging Crockett in country for the fall of Saigon in 75.

The Vietnam draft was abolished in 1973 and no male born in 1953 was ever drafted, so no way Crockett was drafted. The earliest he could have joined was 1 day after his birthday at 17 with and parental consent on July 30^th, 1970 as was the law back then. And in 1970 I do not see allot of parents giving consent to send their sons to Vietnam, especially when that child is a talented athlete.

Crockett notes 2 years in the “Southeast Asian Conference”.

The Fall of Saigon was Spring of 1975

Crockett served 2 tours in Vietnam, each being limited to 12-months maximum and usually a few months in between tours. Back then some got leave, others who either looking to move up or were tabbed as leadership material would be based and trained. Possibly based in Asia, more likely back stateside.

Ok so in the spirit of continuity.

 

Crockett was born in July of 1953. He would have been 17 when he graduated HS in 1971, so.

1.       He couldn’t have been in the service in 1969 as he would have been 15 before July 29th and 16, after. Still too young to serve.

2.       To be eligible to play college football you need a HS diploma or GED, no way Crockett is in the service during his HS Sophomore/Junior year and graduate HS and either walks-on or has a scholarship to play major college football for the 71 college football season.

3.       The earliest he could have joined the service was July 1970 with parental consent.

4.       Crockett played in the Gator Bowl and had scouts all over him for the 72 Gator Bowl.

5.       Crockett has a knee injury later in his college career and that has to be after the Gator Bowl in question as he scored the winner with 6 seconds left.

6.       Crockett would have been eligible for the NFL draft back then after his senior year 1974 and that would have been the 1975 draft as that is the first draft players born in 1953 were taken.

7.       The Vietnam draft was abolished in 1973 and no male born in 1953 was ever drafted.

8.       Congress passes the Case-Church Amendment which forbids any further US Military involvement in SE Asia, it become law on August 15, 1973

9.       By late 1973 the vast majority of US forces had left Vietnam and the remaining were pulling out.

10.   The fall of Saigon was spring of 1975.

Taking that small bit of info into consideration, his birth date and ep. 1.

 

Sonny Crockett completed HS and went to the University of Florida, either as a walk-on or on a scholarship in August of 1971 as an 18 year old student athlete. He played up until an injury and joined the service after that. The injury had to occur after the 1972 Gator Bowl. More than likely it occurred early in the 1972 college season. Crockett did not graduate with his class in May/June 1975.

In any case somewhere after the injury Crockett joins the service. And the injury would have had to be bad enough to end his football career, but not bad enough to preclude him from serving.

My assumption is that Crockett joins the service after his knee heals early in 1973 at age 19, based on his age, football career and injury this is the earliest he can be in the service and play even 1 season of college football. I do not see any evidence that Crockett was an older player. Plus he needed to serve his second tour during the fall of Saigon in Spring 1975. And if Crockett was able to get a red shirt or medical exemption he more than likely would have stayed at Florida.

His first tour would have started in mid/late-73 after boot camp and lasted until mid/late-1974. He was more than likely a general infantryman then as most 19 year olds with not having attended an academy. It was during this first tour that Crockett probably showed himself as promotable material and Crockett probably signed up for the CID at this time.

During this first hitch this is probably where Crockett and Robbie came across each other while in country, since we don’t hear of a continuing friendship, they probably went their separate ways when Robbie was injured. It also ties into the assumption that Crockett being in CID. And as we found out later, Robbie changing his last name to avoid the stigma of his gangster father’s name. Had Robbie went with Crockett to CID, no doubt his background would have been exposed then. Because it isn’t until years later we find this out, we can assume again, they went separate ways and possibly staying in minor contact over the years.

Crockett was more than likely undergoing training between tours and returned to Vietnam in some sort of CID investigative capacity probably starting in late 1974 and left in Spring of 1975 when Saigon fell. I don’t see Ira Stone going to the MP’s or directly to the Army/Navy Intelligence on the evac. ship, it had to be somebody in authority who could do something and somebody he trusted. Crockett’s uniform on the evac. ship is not one of an MP, however we don’t see the proper patches to distinguish himself as a CID investigator or anything other than a regular soldier, so Crockett may have been undercover at that time. This is why I believe he was a member of the Army CID. This would allow Crockett to step from the Army into the police force in a short period of time.

Crockett more than likely returned to the US and was discharged honorably in early/mid-1976 when his hitch was up. He would have been about either 22 or 23 at the time. And then joined the police force in 1976 using his recent CID experience to give him a leg up to join the force, plus it probably helped him move up to detective in a very short time, 4-5 years as Crockett is in OCB in 80 or 81.

 

Edited February 4, 2019 by king77

[Bren10]

Yeah but he couldn't have just joined the force in 1986  That would be around the end of S2/beginning of S3 .  There's also the picture of Robbie and Sonny in football uniform in Sonny's locker showing they met before 'Nam, right?

[Robbie C.]

We had no combat units in Vietnam after 1972, so the proposed timeline doesn't work from that angle alone. I'm not sure where the birthdate comes from, but the script for the pilot episode lists him as 21 in 1970 (based on a photo on the mantle). To get the service timeline to work with the medals we're shown in "Back in the World" his enlistment has to go back to 1969 or so. Internal logic from the series places him in Pleiku in 1971 (Danny places him there at that time). "Buddies" also specifically states that Crockett and Robbie went in-country (through Da Nang) together.

[Robbie C.]

Don't forget also in the pilot Crockett says he's been working with Lt Rodriguez for six years, so he'd have to enter Vice prior to 1980. I've actually got two timelines for Crockett; one based on Army service and one for Marines. You have to do this because of the contradictions in his background (he actually lines up better as a Marine). Also, his college football stuff doesn't line up with Florida's record, either. But no matter the variation, Crockett has to enter service in 1969 to have any sort of combat time AND to get where he's supposed to have been in Vietnam. It's also the only way to square two tours in-country (which would have to occur prior to 1973...the Saigon evacuation wasn't a tour).

MPs don't have distinct uniforms in a combat zone; they have patches and other elements of equipment that mark them as MPs. Crockett's uniform on the carrier deck is consistent with Marine service dress (no shoulder patches, which were required on Army uniforms). Also, as I mentioned there was no major Army involvement in the evacuation. It was a Navy/Marine show.

Robbie and Crockett were friends at the University of Florida, and possibly before that. As for why they lost contact...I think that has more to do with Crockett burying his Vietnam time. You'll notice that in most interactions he has with vets ("Back in the World" and "The Savage" are the two biggest ones here) he never introduces himself as a fellow vet. He's always a cop first. Robbie would be a reminder of a time he'd possibly rather forget.

[king77]

 

2 hours ago, Bren10 said:

Yeah but he couldn't have just joined the force in 1986  That would be around the end of S2/beginning of S3 .  There's also the picture of Robbie and Sonny in football uniform in Sonny's locker showing they met before 'Nam, right?

Typo, fixed it to 1976

 

 

Edited February 4, 2019 by king77

[vicegirl85]

4 hours ago, king77 said:

My 2-cents.

The first episode Tubbs and Crockett briefly talk about his game winning touchdown and the NFL scouts all over him.

I am using this as my baseline and then pegging Crockett in country for the fall of Saigon in 75.

The Vietnam draft was abolished in 1973 and no male born in 1953 was ever drafted, so no way Crockett was drafted. The earliest he could have joined was 1 day after his birthday at 17 with and parental consent on July 30^th, 1970 as was the law back then. And in 1970 I do not see allot of parents giving consent to send their sons to Vietnam, especially when that child is a talented athlete.

(snipped)

I really like your theory and bow to your expertise!  Also, the time it took to work out all of these details!

Just one question:  I don't recall Crockett ever being given a birthdate (i.e. year of birth) on the show.  Perhaps many people use 1953 as his birth year because in A Bullet for Crockett the paramedic describes him as an "approximately 35 year-old male."   I think that's what the MV wiki uses to establish that date.  As a former ER nurse I would consider the paramedic's sttement as an educated guess, rather than proof of Crockett's age in the ep.   In my own mind he was born in 1949 or 1950 (DJ's birthdate is Dec. 15, 1949 and I'd have put Crockett closer to the same age as DJ).  If Crockett was born before 1953, it doesn't negate the rest of your timeline, he just could have continued his college education for a couple of years longer, while still not graduating.

So is there another time in the series that it is definitely stated that Crockett was born in 1953?  I'm willing to be educated

[Robbie C.]

Nothing in the series I've ever seen puts Crockett's birth date in 1953. In fact, the pilot script goes against that date. Also, the draft might have ended then, but the lottery system came into effect prior to that, and draft calls began dropping in 1969. For Crockett to have had both the football career and military service the series postulates the 1953 birth date simply does not work. Also, the series never contends that Crockett continued in college after his football injury (and as I've mentioned before I don't think the injury was much more than an excuse for Crockett to leave the team and volunteer for service).

His football career is actually as problematic as his military time. His game-winning catch couldn't have taken place as laid out in the pilot, and the Gator Bowl win it morphs into in "Good Collar" simply doesn't square with anything. At best the catch could have taken place again Auburn, but they only beat them in 1966 and it was by a field goal.

I started chasing Crockett's Vietnam service just to see if it could be worked out against the actual history, and the only path that comes close has Crockett and Robbie being Marines (which allows them to come in-county through Da Nang). They would have been MPs (allowing for the POW references), and Crockett being a Marine also allows for him to be on that carrier off the coast during the evacuation of Saigon. Stone's story about the bodies being from his unit in Da Nang doesn't work because Da Nang was captured by the North Vietnamese almost a month prior to that scene, and the last American casualties in that area occurred in 1973 (three years prior). There were some losses during the evacuation (men from the embassy security detail), and if we're being generous we could assume that Stone was "stoned" and confused their location.

It's possible to tie Crockett to either the 4th Infantry Division (if we assume the constant Da Nang references are incorrect) or the First Marine Division (which accounts for Da Nang but removes Cambodia from discussion). The First Marine Division association contains fewer errors, so I'm inclined to put Crockett and Robbie there.