I agree with most of what you said Ron, but I disagree about the 'why they show Private Ryan. Yes, because it is the newest of the war movie genre and because it is a popular film (hence the advertisers like it). But it is also because of the post-9/11 pro-militarism stance of both the networks and advertisers. Private Ryan makes the soldier boys (well, the right soldier boys, like Damon and Hanks) look heroic in a very simplistic way.

The one they will never show unedited in prime time is the film I consider to be the best of all the Vietnam films: "The Deer Hunter".
But I think "Apocalypse Now" is an excellent, though flawed film that got out of hand during filming. I think "The Deer Hunter" is the best American war film ever made.