Editor’s Note: I thought I would use my space to sometimes contributor, Jeffrey Brasie. As a Vietnam veteran, he offers a movie, book and TV show that honor best those that served.
By: Jeffrey D. Brasie, M.A,
This coming Monday, May 25th Americans will reflect and honor Memorial Day. Our Canadian neighbors recognize their Memorial Day each July 1st.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) there are just under 18 million veterans. VA statistics reveal the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq age group veterans are eclipsing the living Vietnam era veterans.
I have personally visited numerous military memorials, parades, and cemeteries to render a hand salute or placed my hand over my heart for those who have served and passed. The Vietnam Wall is the most difficult for me to visit. I know two of the 58,281 names engraved in the 246-foot nine-inch granite wall.
As we prepare for Memorial Day, I would like to share with you my thoughts which I tend to believe are the best motion picture, book, and television episode honoring those who served.
Motion Picture
For many, the movies, Born on the Fourth of July, The Hurt Locker, Blackhawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Dirty Dozen, Flags of Our Fathers, and Forrest Gump come to mind.
I tend to believe the best motion picture is the 1946 Oscar award winning film, The Best Years of Our Lives.
The film features Fredic March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell as three post-World War II veterans returning to their Midwest hometown. March portrays an Army sergeant who has seen combat, Andrews an Army Air Corps flight captain, and Russell a Navy petty officer who lost both of his forearms.
March struggles with PSTD (then known as shell shock) when returning to his family he hasn’t seen for years and his banking profession. Andrews returns to a philanderer wife and a third level job clerking at a local drug store. Finally, Russell has adjusted to his limb loss. Nevertheless, his mother has struggled to manage her son’s challenge, while his next-door neighbor and girlfriend, Wilma, loves him deeply.
It is a terrific motion picture to view especially with a Russell and Wilma’s wedding scene, a blossoming new love for Andrews, and March’s family and lifestyle are reunited.
The movie is available through a multitude of on-line resources and through library lending services.
The Book
My Father, My Son is a biography of Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Elmo (“Bud”) Zumwalt, Jr. co-written with John Pekkanen. The book chronicles Zumwalt’s personal life and military career.
As a young petty officer, at the Pentagon on the Secretary of the Navy’s public affairs staff, I had the honor of periodically seeing and interacting with the Admiral.
Zumwalt, the Navy’s highest-ranking officer, faced dozens upon dozens of challenges during his CNO tenure. These ranged from the Vietnam war front, racial tensions, an aging fleet, and constantly seeking administration and Congressional support. It is relevant to note that when he was selected as CNO he was chosen over other senior level flag officers. At age 49 he was the youngest CNO ever to be appointed.
The most poignant chapter in the book is when Zumwalt talks about his Vietnam tour of duty. During this period, his son, Elmo III was a Naval lieutenant manning a gun boat on the Mekong River Delta.
From the shoreline, American troops were facing severe casualties on the Delta.
Admiral Zumwalt made the decision to use the defoliant, agent orange, to push back each side of the river shoreline by hundreds of yards. This meant the enemy could no longer hide behind the shoreline foliage nor launch their weapons against the American forces.
Years later after leaving the Navy and graduating from law school, the junior Zumwalt learned that he contracted Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He died in 1988.
It is believed that the Admiral’s decision to use agent orange, to save numerous troop members, may have caused his son to have died at age 42. The Admiral’s grandson, Elmo IV was born with a birth defect which hinders his ability to concentrate. Other Vietnam veterans’ children have also shown birth defects.
Certain aspects of this book are a challenging read of the Admiral and his son facing the consequences of agent orange.
On using agent orange, the Admiral at the time was assured by the Pentagon that the defoliate was safe to use. He commented, “I asked the right questions, but got the wrong answers.”
The book is available at lending libraries or can be ordered online.
The Television Show
Television featured numerous military related series such as NCIS, China Beach, Combat, Hogan’s Heroes, McHale’s Navy, JAG, Seal Team, and numerous other series dating back decades.
Perhaps the best was the 11-season run of MASH. The series was filled with a variety of notable characters, hilarious situations, as well as the Korean War’s difficulties and dozens of ethical issues. As a side note, the late Harry Morgan who portrayed Colonel Sherman Potter was from Muskegon, Michigan and Corporal Max Klinger (played by Jamie Farr) is a Toledo, Ohio native. Probably the most memorable episode for me appeared in 1980 entitled, “Death Takes a Holiday.” Truly one of the best episodes and major tearjerker. The plot has the MASH 4077 medical unit celebrating Christmas in the camp’s massive mess (dining) quarters.
As the holiday festivities carry on, a severely wounded soldier, shot by a sniper, arrives at the MAS*H unit. The holiday party continues with the soldier quickly carried into the surgical tent.
Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Ferrell) realized the combat soldier was most certainly going to die. Their goal was to keep him alive so his family would not see him pass on Christmas day. It was a scene filled with love, tense moments, and a from the heart mission.
Head nurse, Major Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit) pulled a photo from the soldier’s pocket which showed his wife and children. Inscribed on the photo was “To the best husband and daddy in the world; come home soon.”
Colonel Potter would slip into the nearby surgical tent wearing his makeshift Santa outfit. Father John Mulcahy (William Christopher) would pray and add words of wisdom. As the solider was heading toward death, one of the Father’s classic remarks was, “Christmas should be thought of as a day of birth.”
The wall clock ticked towards midnight and December 26th. The soldier becomes weaker by the hour. He passes before midnight. Hawkeye slips over to the nearby clock and moves it to 12:05 a.m.
Mission accomplished – the official record had the solider from Pennsylvania pass on December 26th.
Hand salute to you, my dear brothers and sisters who served and those who gave their lives in the name of democracy and freedom.
Jeffrey D. Brasie is a retired health care CEO. He frequently writes historic feature stories and op-eds for various Michigan newspapers, magazines, and social media sites. As a Vietnam-era veteran, he served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve. He served on the public affairs staff of the Secretary of the Navy. He grew up near the tip of the mitt and resides in suburban Detroit.
