I had a different post planned for today, but then I realized it was going to be Memorial Day. What do you do on Memorial Day? It kind of snuck up on me this month. I know a lot of people go to picnics and parades, but I do something completely different. I watch war movies. All weekend long. It’s my way of remembering and honoring those who died.
What do you do on Memorial Day?
For love of country, they accepted death,
and thus resolved all doubts,
and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.
James Garfield
Growing up in Michigan, I always went with my mom and grandparents to place flags on graves. Then as an adult I always worked(it’s a busy weekend in the ER). Now I live in Germany and it’s been just another day here.
My nephew is the Supervisor at a cemetery in town. It’s his team’s job to place all the flags on the graves on Memorial day.
What’s your favourite war movie then?
Rachael, I don’t know that I have a favorite, but I do have some that I go back to year after year like Tora, Tora, Tora and Midway (my father fought in the Pacific.) The Longest Day and Battle of Britain (my Uncles flew out of Italy during WWII.) Recently, Band of Brothers is a newer favorite. And as an American, I also watch Gettysburg and Red Tail (about the Tuskegee Airmen.) But recently, it’s a documentary called Five Came Back that is my newest favorite. It’s a documentary about film directors like John Ford who went to war. It’s about what they filmed as well as the profound effect WWII had on them and how it changed the types of movies they directed after the war. For instance, George Stevens used to direct slapstick comedies, but it was his job to film Dachau, some of that film was used during the Nuremberg trials. After he came back to Hollywood, he didn’t do comedies. Instead, he made movies like Shane and The Diary of Anne Frank.
Guess that was a far longer answer than you were looking for. I actually wrote about this last year for Memorial Day, which is why this year, I’m asking everyone else what they do.
Thank you for sharing that with me. I now have lots of films to add to my watch list.
If you watch Midway some of the battle scenes are cut in from actual film footage that John Ford took while he was on the island during Midway. Also I think in Britain Midway is called The Battle of Midway but so is a 30 minute movie John Ford created from real battle film footage.