Memorial Day Inspiration..a little late!

I know that Memorial Day was well over a month ago, but it's never too late to express patriotism and appreciation for service to the country and especially remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice. 

While watching a PBS Memorial Day special featuring the National Symphony Orchestra, I learned about the late Charles Durning's service to the country.  I'd always admired him in movies such as Tootsie and The Sting, but until recently, I wasn't aware of his World War II experiences.  Earning three Purple Hearts, and both the Silver Star and the Bronze Star, Durning was present at some of the war's most infamous battles, the Normandy Invasion and the Battle of the Bulge.  For over a decade, he was honored as a guest speaker on the PBS National Memorial Day Concert.  Here is one of his speeches:

 

I also recently watched a movie called The Fighting Sullivans (1944).  It is the true story and film that inspired Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.  There are five close-knit sons in the Sullivan family, and at the entrance of the United States into WW II, they decide to enlist in the Navy, but they request to be assigned to the same ship.  Unfortunately, their ship goes down in the Pacific at Guadalcanal and they are all killed.  The film covers their life stories growing up in Iowa during The Great Depression up until their deaths.  I loved this movie.  It really captured an America that no longer exists and hasn't for quite some time.  The five boys are portrayed by lesser known actors, but Thomas Mitchell and Anne Baxter are also in the film. 

 

 



 

 

 

I'll close with a clip from one of my all time favorite movies:  Sergeant York (1941) starring Gary Cooper, Joan Leslie, Walter Brennan, and George Tobias.  It is the life story of Alvin C. York, a World War I hero from Tennessee, and is one of the most beautifully made films I have ever seen.  The acting is impeccable, and the way in which it captures the way of life of the people in rural Tennessee at the time is something that is unmatched and could never be done today.  It is also a truly inspiring story of a man's struggle to reconcile religious convictions with the duties of war.  There's nothing more to be said except that it is a must-see.