With all the American servicemen and women in mind, let’s take a look at seven real war stories that reflect what it means to be a soldier and a veteran.

Born on the Fourth of July

Base on the best-selling autobiography of Ron Kovic, the screenplay was written by both Kovic and fellow Vietnam vet Oliver Stone. The film is certainly a war story, but deals entirely with the aftereffects of the Vietnam War and the difficultly in adapting back to the American way of life, made even more difficult with Kovic’s disability sustained in the war.

The role is regarded as among Tom Cruise’s finest work and is among the first that springs to mind when one thinks of a film about Veterans.

Bat*21

Bat*21, starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover, tells the true story of Lieutenant Colonel Iceal E. “Gene” Hambleton, who was shot down over North Vietnam during the final days of the Vietnam War. Hambleton’s only radio link to help is with Captain Bartholomew Clark, who communicates with the trapped pilot as a rescue plan is formed. The film is not 100% accurate, but many gory details, including the numerous American causalities sustained in the rescue effort, are included.

Sergeant York

Much like the WWII film To Hell and Back (see below) focused on the most decorated soldier of the second war, Sergeant York focuses on the most decorated soldier of WWI, Alvin York, a “hillbilly” sharpshooter, played by Gary Cooper. The film, directed by no less than Howard Hawks, was the highest-grossing film of 1941. York himself was originally cool on the idea of a biopic, but he agreed when he needed to raise money to build an multidenominational bible school.

Jeez, Alvin. Way to make the rest of us look bad.

The film follows York from his rural Tennessee upbringing as a nogoodnik to war hero, saving his unit with his sharshooting. It’s a pretty amazing story, and almost so American you can’t believe it’s real.

Band of Brothers

I realize how silly it appears to create a list of historically accurate television shows, then populate it with so many HBO series. But just because it appears silly doesn’t mean it’s wrong, and the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks miniseries Band of Brothers is a great example of the steps both the producers and the network take to ensure accuracy when other parties would simply bring the drama.

To start things off, Band of Brothers is based on a book by noted and lauded historian Steven Ambrose who earlier worked with both Spielberg and Hanks on Saving Private Ryan as a military consultant. Though he was hit with allegations of plagiarism in his 2002 work The Wild Blue, allegations came from improper citing. Ambrose issued an apology and the world kept on spinning.

In the adaptation of Band of Brothers, most of the surviving members of Easy Company were asked for their input on even the most minute details. Photos and firsthand accounts were used in the selection of weapons, costumes, and the mannerisms of the soldiers.

Even the actors met with the men they were playing, when possible, in order to get a feel for the war that the book didn’t provide for any number of reasons. As such, the veterans that offered input all gave the program their blessing and approval, which speaks higher than any critical or academic praise could. That said, the series has not only stood up to scrutiny from academics, but he garnered their praise for its depiction of perhaps the most studied era in human history.

Mad Men

Another shocker, I’m sure. Mad Men has been praised as both a character study and study of its era. While the study of its characters is outside the scope of this discussion, its hard to examine the veracity and accuracy of this program without examining the behavior of the characters (to some extent, at least. This is shaping up to be a more herculean task than I anticipated) in their context.

Beyond the meticulous production and costume design, which has garnered no shortage of accolades and many would claim is the true star of the show, they get the zeitgeist (I hate that word and everything it represents) right. Mad Men’s “plot” seems largely incidental when compared to the program’s study of gender, race, and cultural issues during the timeframe of the show.

Since its inception, critics have heaped praise on the show for managing to create a sexiness and glamour from such an accurate depiction. Is it possible that people were smoking and drinking that much in the early 60’s? Yeah. It’s not so much that Matthew Weiner, the creator and showrunner, picked an era, then contorted it until it became suitably entertaining, but, rather, he picked an era that was entertaining, and, despite the fact that the show begins less than 50 years ago, it seems about as foreign to us as a show about Henry VII or Spartacus.

I mean, THEY’RE SMOKING IN THEIR OFFICES! For today’s audience, that’s about as bizarre as the concept of a gladiator match.

Aside from the superficial details, the constructs of the show (corporate culture, gender issues, and sexual politics) bear only a fleeting resemblance to what they are now, but one must remember that the reason this show exists is because advertising in Manhattan, during this period, was this glamorous, and was this different than the world we know now. Get past the suits and Lucky Strikes, and one will see a more profound snapshot on the American landscape than many knew existed.

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