My dad used to point to that scene and say “there I am.” He’s one of the soldiers marching in that scene shot at Fort Lewis in Washington state. He realized that there’s no way he can tell which one he is in the formation but he is one of them. He was in Audie Murphy’s former platoon at the time as Murphy was medically retired several years earlier due to war wounds. My father did get to meet Murphy as he was there for filming.
Wow! Audie was in a Korean war movie, forget the name, but one of the lead actors asked him, in the movie, after Audie’s wounded character volunteered for a suicide mission, “who do you think you are, Audie Murphy?” It was funny.
God Bless your Dad - and all the Greatest Generation who served.
Audie was quite the real hero.