Posted on 10/10/2003 9:01:51 PM PDT by EdJay
Our item on retired and active military members being asked by USAA Magazine to rank their all-time favorite military movies (the most popular, in order, were "Twelve O'Clock High," The Bridge on the River Kwai," "The Longest Day," "Patton," "The Deer Hunter," "Saving Private Ryan" and "We Were Soldiers") generated considerable response from within the ranks.
"I saw that article ... and wondered how they came up with those movies. Then I saw the writer was a retired Air Force officer. Well, no wonder," writes retired Army officer Bob Thomas of Guthrie, Okla.
"Soldiers would choose a different set of favorite war movies, as would sailors and Marines. I can't believe no one mentioned 'Black Hawk Down,' 'Flight of the Intruder,' 'Gettysburg,' 'Memphis Belle,' or 'Full Metal Jacket.' "
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
It was a great little car.
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Back-to-back with Merrill's Marauders.
Pass the popcorn.
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The girl was Serbian. Goran, the Serb soldier with Guy (Quaid) was going to kill her baby. Guy was trying to stop Goran and shot him when Goran pointed his gun at Guy.
Later, the father said she should have killed killed herself and handed her a pistol, so she could do it now. Her mother and brother were sympathetic to her. Her father later let her go away with Guy.
You're right about Quaid's reason for being in Bosnia.
It's been a couple of years....it was one of those movies that was much better than I expected.
Likewise, it did show the evil on all sides, which surprised me, especially after I saw that it was an Oliver Stone production. The Muslim evil was, however, shown at a distance while the Serb and Croat evil was shown up close.
Long periods of boredom interrupted by outbreaks of sheer terror and chaos.
A good example is the opening scene from "Saving Pvt. Ryan."
During the Biafran War, Sam Peckinpah's movie The Wild Bunch was shown to troops on both sides. That was one of the few things that's said to have really distressed old Sam in his later days.
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There were some guys in the 82nd not real happy with the 9th Army Air Force either, who referred to the 9th as *The Luftwaffe* after some 82nd units were attacked by some of the 9ths B26s and P47s.
Friendly fire isn't.
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He takes a small outboard boat across a lake and then takes a bus to Split.
I remember the scene where Guy tells his buddy (a merc as well) not to shoot the kid and the kid blows up his buddy and then Guy shoots the next kid or something like that...do you remember?
Yes, the kid that throws the grenade is a young girl. Guy later pops a young boy.
Barnes & Noble has it for $12.99. You get free shipping on any order over $25.00, so buy it and another. Pretty Village, Pretty flame is also about Bosnia and $12.99.
How about: "A Bridge Too Far," "Platoon," "Zulu," "The Great Escape," "Paths of Glory," "All Quiet on the Western Front," "Das Boot," "Gallipoli."
Hey Ed. You present a list of movies that are difficult to watch. In many of those you list, our hero dies or the effort our folks are pursuing fails. But I agree with most of your choices.
And a picture from the Potsdam conference.
I know he was a former mayor but it might have been one of the other cities around Berlin. Daddy was visiting with him and his wife when they got word their Son had been captured by the British which of course was good news.
Well, the kp31 *Suomi* SMG was hardly *antuiquated* then, and considering that the war was fought near enough to the Arctic Circle and at a time of year [Nov 1939-March 1940] that there were only about 4 hours of daylight for accurate rifle work, the SMGs were a particularly handy tool, especially when used in conjunction with grenades and satchel charges, against an enemy mostly equipped with 5-shot bolt-arction Mosin-Nagant rifles. Shpagin's Excellent PPSh-41 SMG wouldn't come along for another year, in part in response to the effectiveness of Aimo Lahti's *Tikkakoski Mowing Machine*, as the earlier Russian PPD SMG was never all that widely distributed.
The weather certainly helped, and the Finns were prepared for it, described as the worst of the century at that time, with -40º temperatures recorded through the months of December and January. The Russians had been told they'd be welcomed by their fraternal Finnish brothers in Communism who'd briefly attempted a coup previously in 1918, sparking the 1918 Finnish Civil War. And so off through Karelia to Helsinki the Russian columns marched. In their summer uniforms, a million-plus initially, with another half-million thrown into the slaughter before the shooting's end in March of '40.
About a half-million of the Russians survived, many of those disabled or crippled and unfit for the military adventures the Soviet Union would face when the Germans attacked. But the Finns had taught the Russians well, and at such places as Stalingrad, they showed the Germanski the lessons they'd learned the hard way.
Well, the kp31 *Suomi* SMG was hardly *antiquated* then, and considering that the war was fought near enough to the Arctic Circle and at a time of year [Nov 1939-March 1940] that there were only about 4 hours of daylight for accurate rifle work, the SMGs were a particularly handy tool, especially when used in conjunction with grenades and satchel charges, against an enemy mostly equipped with 5-shot bolt-arction Mosin-Nagant rifles. Shpagin's Excellent PPSh-41 SMG wouldn't come along for another year, in part in response to the effectiveness of Aimo Lahti's *Tikkakoski Mowing Machine*, as the earlier Russian PPD SMG was never all that widely distributed.
The weather certainly helped, and the Finns were prepared for it, described as the worst of the century at that time, with -40º temperatures recorded through the months of December and January. The Russians had been told they'd be welcomed by their fraternal Finnish brothers in Communism who'd briefly attempted a coup previously in 1918, sparking the 1918 Finnish Civil War. And so off through Karelia to Helsinki the Russian columns marched. In their summer uniforms, a million-plus initially, with another half-million thrown into the slaughter before the shooting's end in March of '40.
About a half-million of the Russians survived, many of those disabled or crippled and unfit for the military adventures the Soviet Union would face when the Germans attacked. But the Finns had taught the Russians well, and at such places as Stalingrad, they showed the Germanski the lessons they'd learned the hard way.
Well, the kp/31 *Suomi* SMG was hardly *antiquated* then, considering that the war was fought near enough to the Arctic Circle and at a time of year [Nov 1939-March 1940] that there were only about 4 hours of daylight for accurate rifle work. The 9mm SMGs with the 50-round *coffin* box magazine or 71-round drum were a particularly handy tool, especially when used in conjunction with grenades and satchel charges, against an enemy mostly equipped with 5-shot bolt-arction Mosin-Nagant rifles. Shpagin's excellent PPSh-41 SMG wouldn't come along for another year, in part in response to the effectiveness of Aimo Lahti's *Tikkakoski Mowing Machine*, as the earlier Russian PPD SMG was never all that widely distributed.
The weather certainly helped, and the Finns were prepared for it, described as the worst of the century at that time, with -40º temperatures recorded through the months of December and January. The Russians had been told they'd be welcomed by their fraternal Finnish brothers in Communism who'd briefly attempted a coup previously in 1918, sparking the 1918 Finnish Civil War. And so off through Karelia to Helsinki the Russian columns marched. In their summer uniforms and low-cut boots, a million-plus initially, with another half-million thrown into the slaughter before the shooting's end in March of '40. Probably as many froze to death or died of wounds that would have been survivable had the snow and cold not delayed or outright prevented the movement of casualties to medical aid treatment stations. It was easier for the wounded to just lie back against a tree and forget the pain, drifting off into blessed unconsciousness
About a half-million of the Russians survived, many of those disabled or crippled and unfit for the military adventures the Soviet Union would face when the Germans attacked. But the Finns had taught the Russians well, and at such places as Stalingrad, they showed the Germanski the lessons they'd learned the hard way.
Perseverence? Oh yes. The Finns were VERY good at that. The Russians called the period the Belya Smert; -the White Death. For a day-by-day feel of the period, *start here*.
So MANY Russians! Where WILL we bury them all?
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