thedrifter
10-13-06, 08:34 AM
State Veterans To Be Part Of Film's Opening
By JESSE LEAVENWORTH
Courant Staff Writer
October 13 2006
MANCHESTER -- Daniel Vece says he and other veterans of the battle of Iwo Jima have seen the John Wayne movie "Sands of Iwo Jima," and while some of the action is "absolutely correct ... a lot of it was glorified."
"I don't know anyone who was standing up and saying, `Onward Christian Soldiers,' if you know what I mean. If you stood up, you didn't stand up very long," Vece, of Clinton, said Thursday.
Vece, 81, and several other Iwo Jima veterans in the state plan to go to Orange Tuesday to see a screening of the new Clint Eastwood film about Iwo Jima, "Flags of Our Fathers." When the movie officially opens on Oct. 20, the veterans will take a model of the monument showing Marines raising the American flag on the island's volcanic mountain to theaters around the state, Vece said. Iwo Jima veterans will be in the theater lobbies to answer questions.
"We want to let people be a little closer to the how, what and where," Vece said.
Connecticut has a particularly close tie to the Pacific island battle. State veterans raised money for a large monument of the flag-raising, which was installed in New Britain in 1995. The names of the 100 Connecticut men who were killed on the island are inscribed on the monument.
The gory facts of Iwo Jima were in full view Thursday for an early screening of the film at the Showcase Cinema in Manchester. No Iwo Jima veterans attended that screening, but several veterans of World War II and other wars were there by special invitation of Paramount studios. Invitations were sent to veterans throughout the country, according to studio publicists.
Veterans leaving the theater Thursday said the movie was powerful.
Ron Powers - who co-authored the book the film is based on with James Bradley, son of Iwo Jima flag-raiser John "Doc" Bradley - talked about the film earlier Thursday.
"I think it's a movie that is going to surprise a lot of people," said Powers.
The movie captures the bloody horror of the battle in which 6,821 Marines and about 21,000 Japanese soldiers perished. Viewers, Powers said, will get a sense of the bravery and paranoia of Marines who were fighting an often unseen enemy dug into miles of underground tunnels and gun emplacements.
But the homecoming scenes in which three of the flag-raisers tour the U.S. raising war bonds are painful to watch, he said. The Marines are greeted as iconic heroes, courted with drinks and back-slaps, but there's an insurmountable gap in how they view themselves and the way the home front sees them.
"These kids are being marketed," Powers said. "It has to be done because the country really needs the money, but the homecoming is as disturbing to watch as the battle scenes."
James Boyle of Wethersfield was with the Third Division and knew and liked Bradley, the Navy corpsman who helped raise the flag. Boyle called the island "a hellhole. That's exactly what it was. You had people shooting at you from all different angles."
As for the hero bit, Boyle, like most combat veterans, won't claim the title. But he said he is proud of his service in opening the way for victory over Japan. Iwo Jima was valuable as an airfield for U.S. bombers.
"We had to get on that island because we were losing so many guys from the air forces," he said. "We saved thousands of men's lives. I don't brag about it, but I was very proud of what I did."
Describing himself as an "anti-war, 60s guy," Powers said he is still against war, but he gained a lot of respect for veterans while working on the book. He said he came to see why organizations such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars exist.
"These guys get together because they understand each other and no one else does," he said.
Ellie
By JESSE LEAVENWORTH
Courant Staff Writer
October 13 2006
MANCHESTER -- Daniel Vece says he and other veterans of the battle of Iwo Jima have seen the John Wayne movie "Sands of Iwo Jima," and while some of the action is "absolutely correct ... a lot of it was glorified."
"I don't know anyone who was standing up and saying, `Onward Christian Soldiers,' if you know what I mean. If you stood up, you didn't stand up very long," Vece, of Clinton, said Thursday.
Vece, 81, and several other Iwo Jima veterans in the state plan to go to Orange Tuesday to see a screening of the new Clint Eastwood film about Iwo Jima, "Flags of Our Fathers." When the movie officially opens on Oct. 20, the veterans will take a model of the monument showing Marines raising the American flag on the island's volcanic mountain to theaters around the state, Vece said. Iwo Jima veterans will be in the theater lobbies to answer questions.
"We want to let people be a little closer to the how, what and where," Vece said.
Connecticut has a particularly close tie to the Pacific island battle. State veterans raised money for a large monument of the flag-raising, which was installed in New Britain in 1995. The names of the 100 Connecticut men who were killed on the island are inscribed on the monument.
The gory facts of Iwo Jima were in full view Thursday for an early screening of the film at the Showcase Cinema in Manchester. No Iwo Jima veterans attended that screening, but several veterans of World War II and other wars were there by special invitation of Paramount studios. Invitations were sent to veterans throughout the country, according to studio publicists.
Veterans leaving the theater Thursday said the movie was powerful.
Ron Powers - who co-authored the book the film is based on with James Bradley, son of Iwo Jima flag-raiser John "Doc" Bradley - talked about the film earlier Thursday.
"I think it's a movie that is going to surprise a lot of people," said Powers.
The movie captures the bloody horror of the battle in which 6,821 Marines and about 21,000 Japanese soldiers perished. Viewers, Powers said, will get a sense of the bravery and paranoia of Marines who were fighting an often unseen enemy dug into miles of underground tunnels and gun emplacements.
But the homecoming scenes in which three of the flag-raisers tour the U.S. raising war bonds are painful to watch, he said. The Marines are greeted as iconic heroes, courted with drinks and back-slaps, but there's an insurmountable gap in how they view themselves and the way the home front sees them.
"These kids are being marketed," Powers said. "It has to be done because the country really needs the money, but the homecoming is as disturbing to watch as the battle scenes."
James Boyle of Wethersfield was with the Third Division and knew and liked Bradley, the Navy corpsman who helped raise the flag. Boyle called the island "a hellhole. That's exactly what it was. You had people shooting at you from all different angles."
As for the hero bit, Boyle, like most combat veterans, won't claim the title. But he said he is proud of his service in opening the way for victory over Japan. Iwo Jima was valuable as an airfield for U.S. bombers.
"We had to get on that island because we were losing so many guys from the air forces," he said. "We saved thousands of men's lives. I don't brag about it, but I was very proud of what I did."
Describing himself as an "anti-war, 60s guy," Powers said he is still against war, but he gained a lot of respect for veterans while working on the book. He said he came to see why organizations such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars exist.
"These guys get together because they understand each other and no one else does," he said.
Ellie