GI Film Festival in focus: Greatest Generation

By

Staff

Editor’s note: Military Times will spotlight a group of GI Film Festival selections regularly in the run-up to the festival. 

The Category: Greatest Generation

The Films: “Bud’s Odyssey,” “Glider,” “Happy” and “Miro.”

The Breakdown: The men and women who served in World War II are rightly revered, but as the heroes and their heroics age, it’s easy to forget what they did to earn that respect in the first place. These films spotlight the deeds of some of these fighters — three real-life Americans who flew the unfriendly skies over Europe, and one fictional Australian whose battles continued on the home front.

  • “Bud’s Odyssey” follows Lt. Robert “Bud” Kingsbury as his B-17 is shot down over the Mediterranean Sea, as he swims more than a day to reach the shore, as he suffers through 20 months in a prisoner of war camp, and as he copes with survivor’s guilt and post-traumatic stress.
  • “Glider” gives viewers a glimpse at an often-overlooked World War II weapon used by Allied forces to land troops on the European continent. As the film’s 95-year-old main subject puts it, “Nobody bothered to tell us they were suicide missions.”
  • “Happy” tracks Larry “Happy” Powell, who flew 61 missions over Europe in a P-51 before a crash sent him to a POW camp. He survived the ordeal, and a second crash that burned more than half his body, and built a career behind the scenes in Hollywood that included work on “The Right Stuff.”
  • “Miro” heads Down Under, as an Australian soldier returns from World War II service against the Japanese in New Guinea to find both his land and daughter taken … and his real battle just beginning.

The Trailers:

On a mission over the Mediterranean, B-17 Pilot Bud and his crew are shot down. Bud becomes the sole survivor by swimming 32 hrs to the Italian shore, and then spends 20 months in Stalag Luft III. After years of suffering with sole survivors guilt and severe PTSD, he finally found a road to healing and reconciliation.
95-year-old Ed Weisberger describes flying Allied gliders in WWII (‘nobody bothered to tell us they were suicide missions’), the invasion of Germany (‘it was great until the German tanks showed up’), and the invasion of Holland (‘there wasn’t much to do there except dodge bullets’).
A sneak preview of the upcoming documentary “Happy” about WWII fighter ace and Hollywood assistant director Larry Powell.
When Miro returns home at the end of WWII he finds his land taken, his daughter stolen, his people relocated and his service record treated with contempt, but the New Guinea battlefield has taught him how to fight and he sets out to reunite his family waging his own form of justice.

The Screenings: All four short films will screen at the U.S. Navy Memorial Theater on Saturday, May 27, at 10 a.m. Tickets are available here.

The Rundown: For more on these films and others, including tickets to other screenings, visit the GI Film Festival’s official site.

About 

Staff