History Series / TourOfDuty

''Tour of Duty'' was an American drama television series on Creator/{{CBS}}. It ran for three seasons from 1987 to 1990. It obviously was inspired by the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward winning feature film, ''Film/{{Platoon}}'', making stories about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar acceptable mainstream entertainment.

''Tour of Duty'' was an American drama television series on CBS. It ran for three seasons from 1987 to 1990. It obviously was inspired by the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward winning feature film, ''Film/{{Platoon}}'', making stories about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar acceptable mainstream entertainment.

* TheMedic: Randy "Doc" Matsuda was Bravo Company's designated medic during the first season, before becoming a victim of AnyoneCanDie.

* RealSongThemeTune: "Paint It Black" by Music/TheRollingStones (although this has been replaced with generic war music in reruns, due to licensing issues).
* {{Retirony}}: The show had an odd tendency of killing off anyone who was 'getting short' (ie: Was about to complete their mandatory one-year Tour and be sent home). [[AnyoneCanDie Even the main characters weren't always immune to this]].

* DownerEnding: Many.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: In "Notes From The Underground", Sgt. Anderson and Lt. Goldman are maneuvering through underground tunnels. Anderson spots a snake up above them, and Goldman jumps back in time before it strikes. The LT is terrified of them but gathers enough courage to kill it. He then tells Anderson he's been afraid of snakes ever since he was a kid. Anderson says “you’d be nuts if you weren’t”.

--> '''Horn:''' “Dammit…that Pit Viper’s venom kills you faster than the electric chair”

* CaliforniaDoubling
** The first season was filmed in Hawaii, whose rain forests were a convincing stand-in for Southeast Asia
** The second and third seasons were filmed in California, and don't look nearly as good. Ironically, the rolling yellow hills would have been a decent stand-in for the country near the DMZ during the dry season, where they were stationed in season 1, but it utterly fails as jungle around Saigon. Near the end of the series, a new guy lampshades it by pondering why Vietnam isn't as green as he expected, and Anderson explains that it is the result of the use of Agent Orange near their bases.

* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Firebase Ladybird suffers this in the episode [[http://www.tourofdutyinfo.com/EpGuide/UnderSiege.htm "Under Siege"]]. The [[CluelessBoss new company commander]] brushes off Anderson and Goldman’s concerns about the base defenses, thinking Charlie would be foolish to attack the base. Cut to the VC broadcasting over a loudspeaker that the base is now surrounded, and will attack that night. Oh, not to mention the base is desperately low on ammunition and no ground or air support is available. The VC attack and overrun the base. [[spoiler:Only thanks to some clever rigging of some IED’s in and around the base perimeter is the platoon able to get the upper hand and drive the enemy back. However, the base is completely destroyed in the process.]]

* EveryHelicopterIsAHuey: Other than the ''rare'' appearance of a Chinook in a couple of first season episodes, a crashed Cayuse in the opening credits, and a Jetranger in the series finale, EVERY helicopter shown in the show is the venerable Huey.

--> “I try to do everything right…everything BAD happens to me.”

* EveryHelicopterIsAHuey: Other than the '''rare''' appearance of a Chinook in a couple of first season episodes, a crashed Cayuse in the opening credits, and a Jetranger in the series finale, EVERY helicopter shown in the show is the venerable Huey.

* RealSongThemeTune: "Paint It Black" by Music/TheRollingStones.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: In "Notes From The Underground", Sgt. Anderson and Lt. Goldman are maneuvering through underground tunnels. Anderson spots a snake up above them, and Goldman jumps back in time before it strikes. The LT is terrified of them but gathers enough courage to kill it. He then tells Anderson he's been afraid of snakes ever since he was a kid. Anderson says “you’d be crazy if you weren’t”.

--> Horn: “Dammit…that Pit Viper’s venom kills you faster than the electric chair”

* SquirrelsInMyPants: One of the soldiers is suffering from the runs, and has to keep going off into the bushes while on patrol to drop his pants. While he does so, a large toad jumps onto his dropped pants. At the same time, he happens to see some Vietcong slipping out of a tunnel to evade the American soldiers; the soldier quickly yanks up his pants and HilarityEnsues.

* TokyoRose: The series briefly featured a Vietnamese equivalent, with one GI asking another why he listened to that stuff. He replied that the propaganda was annoying, but that the ''music'' they played was actually pretty good.

[[quoteright:347:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tour_of_duty_845.jpg]]

''Tour of Duty'' was an American drama television series on CBS. It ran for three seasons from 1987 to 1990. It obviously was inspired by the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward winning feature film, ''Film/{{Platoon}}'', making UsefulNotes/VietnamWar stories acceptable mainstream entertainment.

** Finally, the last episodes of the series are almost universally depressing. [[spoiler: Lt. Goldman is completely disillusioned and has stooped to the same tactics he testified against a friend for. Zeke, with nobody to return to, is given another batch of young idiots to watch die. Marcus, now the last of the old squad, is wounded in a firefight. Pop loses his son and is badly wounded. Griner comes home blind. Hockenbury's pacifism costs the life of a comrade and he is stuck in a care center watching wounded men die. Ruiz and Percell both struggle to adjust to life back home, and McKay is grounded from combat flight, has difficulty getting a job, and when he does he can find no joy in flying in a civilian capacity.]] The series saved its emotional gutpunches for last.
* DuringTheWar: During the VietnamWar to be precise.

* RealSongThemeTune: "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones.

* ShownTheirWork: in the first season, particularly, the show went to great lengths to show accurate weapons, equipment, and tactics as well as creating a fictional yet believable military unit with it's own backstory.

* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: "[[http://www.tourofdutyinfo.com/EpGuide/ParadiseLost.htm Paradise Lost]]
* VietnamWar: The show follows an American infantry platoon on a tour of duty during the Vietnam War, starting in 1967.
* WarIsHell: Like most series about the VietnamWar made after ''Film/{{Platoon}}'', ''Tour of Duty'' focuses a lot on the horror of combat.

* ShownTheirWork: in the first season, particularly, the show went to great lengths to show accurate weapons, equipment, and tactics