Colonel Sam Trautman

Samuel Trautman, Colonel
First appearance	First Blood
Last appearance	Rambo III
Created by	David Morrell
Portrayed by	Richard Crenna (films) Alan Oppenheimer (Rambo: The Force of Freedom)
Information
Aliases	Company Leader (field names)
Gender	Male
Occupation	United States Army Colonel
Family	John Rambo (friend)
Nationality	American

Colonel Samuel "Sam" Trautman is a fictional character in the Rambo novel and film series. His first appearance was in David Morrell's novel First Blood. His character was expanded on in the film series where he was played by Richard Crenna, although Kirk Douglas was cast in the part, had been outfitted and shown up on the first day of shooting. It was then that Douglas, already unhappy with the ending, decided more rewrites were required. Director Ted Kotcheff and producers Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna strongly disagreed and Douglas left the production. Richard Crenna was then contacted and arrived on set the next day. Marketing stills of Kirk Douglas in the uniform of Col. Trautman exist and are now part of the extras on the DVD of First Blood.

Sam Trautman was born in 1929 and joined the United States Army at the end of World War II. After serving in the Korean War, Trautman joined the fledgling Special Forces and gained a commission. At the start of the Vietnam War, Trautman began his first combat tour as an adviser to the ARVN. Following his return to the United States, Trautman was selected to form a special forces unit along the lines of S.O.G.. It was here that Trautman first met John Rambo, who at that time was a young man who had left both his home and an abusive father. Over the months in training, Trautman became a substitute father for the young Rambo, especially as Rambo was the youngest of the group. When Trautman completed the group's Special Forces training, they were sent on the first of two tours of Vietnam. Trautman's team received the code name of Baker Team and usually consisted of eight men.

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Wikipedia