dual personalities

Today is Veterans Day. Originally known as Armistice Day, it is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11 when we honor military veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. In typical fashion, I like to show my respect by watching a war movie. Here are fourteen good suggestions. (I have limited my choices to American movies dealing with American soldiers.)

Back to Bataan (1945) Directed by Edward Dmytryk. With John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, Beulah Bondi, Fely Franquelli. In 1942, after the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese, U.S. Army Col. Joseph Madden stays behind to organize the local resistance against the Japanese invaders.

Sands of Iwo Jima (1949 Directed by Allan Dwan and starring Oscar-nominated John Wayne, the film follows a group of United States Marines from training to the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Also featuring John Agar, Adele Mara and Forrest Tucker, it was written by Harry Brown and James Edward Grant.

Air Force (1943) The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.  Directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Garfield, John Ridgely, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, and Harry Carey. 

They Were Expendable ((1945) Directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and featuring Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1942 book by William Lindsay White, relating the story of the exploits of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, a United States PT boat unit defending the Philippines against Japanese invasion during the Battle of the Philippines (1941-42) in World War II .

Twelve O’Clock High (1949) Directed by Henry King, this movie tells the story of a hard-as-nails general (Oscar-nominated Gregory Peck) who takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.

Objective Burma (1945) Starring Errol Flynn and directed by Raoul Walsh, this movie is about a platoon of special ops who are ordered to parachute into the remote Burmese jungle and destroy a strategic Japanese radar station. Getting out isn’t easy.

Run Silent Run Deep (1958) A U.S. sub commander (Clark Gable), obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer (Burt Lancaster) and crew. Directed by Robert Wise.

The Great Escape (1963) Loosely based on the true story of an ambitious escape by Allied prisoners of war during World War II, the film is directed by John Sturges and stars Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and a large international cast.

Hacksaw Ridge (2016) Andrew Garfield stars as Seventh-day Adventist WWII hero Desmond T. Doss, who saved 75 men at the Battle of Okinawa without ever firing a weapon. Directed by Mel Gibson.

And if you are not in the mood for a WWII movie, here are a few more suggestions:

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) Directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and the rest of the Ford crew, it is the second film in Ford’s “Cavalry Trilogy,” along with Fort Apache (1948) and Rio Grande (1950).

The Horse Soldiers (1958) Set during the American Civil War, this fact-based story about a Union mission to destroy a railroad junction deep within Confederate territory is directed by John Ford and stars John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers.

The Sand Pebbles (1966) tells the story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy machinist’s mate, first class, aboard the fictional river gunboat USS San Pablo, on Yangtze Patrol in 1920s China. Directed by Robert Wise and stars Oscar-nominated Steve McQueen.

Glory (1989) Directed by Edward Zwick, this film is about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Union Army ‘s earliest African-American regiments in the American Civil War. Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Andre Braugher star.

American Sniper (2014) Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle’s pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home with his family after four tours of duty, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind. Directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Oscar-nominated Bradley Cooper.

There are lots of other good choices–these are just my favorites. How will you celebrate our brave veterans? What movie will you watch?

*”So here they are: the dog-faced soldiers, the regulars, the fifty-cents-a-day professionals… riding the outposts of a nation. From Fort Reno to Fort Apache – from Sheridan to Startle – they were all the same: men in dirty-shirt blue and only a cold page in the history books to mark their passing. But wherever they rode – and whatever they fought for – that place became the United States.” (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon)