Random Most Memorable Portrayals Of Veterans In Film (19 items)

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  (#14) Petty Officer Homer Parrish In ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’

  The Best Years of Our Lives is a story about veterans returning to civilian life following the deadliest conflict in human history - WWII. In the film, Petty Officer Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) was aboard a ship that sank. The event cost him both of his hands, and he was fitted with two hook prostheses in their place. Before the war, he was a high school football quarterback. Because of his injuries, he pushes away his fiancee Wilma so as not to burden her. She doesn't relent and insists on marrying him.

  The movie also focuses on two other returning veterans, Al (Fredric March) and Fred (Dana Andrews), both of whom have similar problems returning to civilian life. The film demonstrates the struggles veterans go through when they come back to the real world. The story is fictional, but Parrish's portrayal is true to life thanks to Russell, a WWII veteran who actually lost his hands in combat. He was featured in an Army film called Diary of a Sergeant, which was about rehabilitating veterans. When director William Wyler saw the film, he cast Russell in the role of Homer for The Best Years of Our Lives.

  For his performance, Russell was honored with the Academy Award for best supporting actor in 1947, making him only one of two nonprofessional actors to win an Academy Award for acting. The film was lauded with six other Academy Awards, including best picture, director, actor, film editing, adapted screenplay, and original score.
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  (#2) Saving Private Ryan

  • Film

  There are tons of soldiers in Saving Private Ryan, and the title itself refers to one specifically. Despite the plethora of troops involved in the film, the one who receives the most attention is Tom Hanks' Captain John H. Miller, the commander of the squad of Army Rangers sent to find the titular private. Hanks' portrayal of a schoolteacher thrust into combat is one of the best portrayals of a junior officer in all of film. He follows a noble pursuit, doesn't question his orders despite the fact that they are dangerous and unusual, and when he and his squad finally locate Private Ryan, they don't extract him immediately. Instead, he commands the remaining troops to hold off an offensive so they can protect a bridge.

  Hanks' Captain Miller isn't simply a soldier on a battlefield - he's a real human being, and while he leads from the front (as all leaders should), he still suffers from the same difficulties any man on the front lines experiences. His hands shake from time to time, which is a symptom of his body's reaction to the stresses he's undergone in combat. Despite this, he doesn't show any weakness to his men. By the end of the film, his sacrifice ties together the entire storyline, which begins and ends in a veteran's cemetery in France.

  Saving Private Ryan is one of the most realistic portrayals of combat ever filmed, and while that adds to the visceral nature of the story, it caused some problems for veterans of actual combat. The VA set up a nationwide toll-free hotline for vets to call in if they felt unsettled after watching the film. At the time, the VA issued a statement that said, "Counselors at VA medical facilities have been asked to prepare to assist veterans who experience emotional trauma as a result of the movie."

  The film is a fictional account, but it's based on the story of the Niland brothers, four siblings who served during WWII. Saving Private Ryan was nominated for an impressive 11 Oscars at the 71st Academy Awards. While Hanks was nominated for best actor (his third nomination), that wasn't one of the awards the movie took home. It ended up winning best film editing, cinematography, sound, and sound effects editing, while Steven Spielberg took home his second win for best director.
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  (#16) Megan Leavey

  Megan Leavey is a biographical film that tells the story of the titular Marine and her combat dog named Rex. The film revolves around Corporal Leavey, a military police officer and K9 handler, and Rex, who served two combat tours in Iraq together. Their first deployment to Fallujah in 2005 was followed by one to Ramadi in 2006. During that deployment, both Leavey and Rex were wounded in combat by an improvised explosive device.

  For their actions in combat, Leavey was awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with a "V" device for valor in combat. The attack left Rex with facial palsy, which ended his days as a bomb-sniffing dog. Soon after Rex was removed from service, Leavey spent a great deal of time petitioning the USMC so she could adopt her companion. With the aid of Senator Chuck Schumer, she managed to do so, and the pair lived together until Rex passed away in 2012.

  The film is a realistic account of Leavey and her experiences, and Kate Mara's performance as the titular character is emotional and true-to-life. In many ways, she honors Corporal Leavey by depicting her in such a positive way. The film went on to receive the Truly Moving Picture Award at the Heartland Film Festival. 
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  (#13) Sam Cahill

  One of the most significant outcomes from the United States' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a better understanding of the condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. While this is nothing new to veterans, the treatment of the condition and understanding of its causes have expanded exponentially due to the ongoing conflicts many members of the military have been engaged in for years. Brothers tells the story of Marine Captain Sam Cahill's (Tobey Maguire) experiences in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, and the aftermath of those engagements upon returning home.

  Shortly before he was deployed on his fourth tour of duty, his brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) was released from prison following an armed robbery conviction. Soon into his deployment, Sam's helicopter is shot down and his family is told of his death. Tommy and Sam's wife Grace (Natalie Portman) commiserate with one another and become close. They eventually kiss but don't take things any further due to the shame and guilt they feel. It eventually turns out that Sam was taken prisoner, and while he was a POW, he was forced by his captors to kill his friend with a lead pipe.

  When he returns home, he shows significant signs of PTSD due to his guilt over killing his friend. This leads him to become paranoid and violent toward Tommy and Grace, whom he believes have had an affair in his absence. When he pulls a gun and threatens suicide, they manage to talk him down. He eventually ends up in a mental hospital, where he is treated for his condition. He and Grace reconcile after he finally tells her what happened while he was deployed.

  The film is particularly difficult for veterans to watch due to its realistic portrayal of the struggles many go through during combat and when they come home. Maguire's portrayal of Captain Cahill is outstanding, and he received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a motion picture drama for his performance in Brothers.
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  (#3) Sergeant Thomas Highway

  • Fictional Character

  Heartbreak Ridge is a fictional story inspired by real-life events related to the 1983 US invasion of Grenada. The title comes from the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in the Korean War, in which Gunnery Sergeant Highway took part and received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Now a much older man who is facing mandatory retirement, the grizzled USMC Korean War veteran is tasked with training a new generation of recruits. They prove much easier to deal with than Highway's new operations officer, an Annapolis graduate who believes he knows more than the MoH recipient training his Marines.

  When it comes time for the 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit to deploy for the invasion of Grenada, Highway and his men are dropped by helicopter into the water and advance on the beach. They engage in several firefights, and after their radioman is killed, the unit's lieutenant comes up with a plan to use a payphone to make a long-distance call to Camp Lejeune for air support. The trick works, and eventually, Highway leads his men to victory.

  Clint Eastwood has never had a hard time portraying a member of the United States Armed Forces, which likely stems from his own time as a soldier during the Korean War, though he didn't serve in the conflict. The film was inspired by the real-life account of Marines using a payphone to call for air support in Grenada, but it's otherwise a fictional story. Eastwood's performance was true-to-life, and the film went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for best sound.
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  (#10) The Deer Hunter

  • Film

  If you've never seen The Deer Hunter because you thought it was about hunting deer, you've missed out on one of the greatest war movies ever made. Robert De Niro plays Staff Sergeant Michael Vronsky, one of several steelworkers from Pennsylvania who find themselves fighting together in the Vietnam War. Mike ends up fighting with U.S. Special Forces, and though he and his pals are separated throughout the conflict, they find one another in a Vietnamese village shortly before they are captured by the NVA.

  The men are taken into a POW camp where they are forced to play Russian roulette for their captor's amusement. The friends are made to play against one another, and when Steven (John Savage) shoots his gun in a way that only grazes his head, he is thrown into a submerged cage full of bodies and rats. When Mike and Nick (Christopher Walken) play against one another, they manage to convince their captors to put more than one bullet into their guns, which ups the odds for their gambling. The plan works, and the pair manage to escape. They grab Steven, and the three men are rescued.

  When they return to civilian life, they don't have it easy. It's no longer relaxing to hunt deer together, and Nick has lost many memories of his friends and life before the war. The film's depiction of prisoners of war and the aftermath of conflict are true to many veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The Deer Hunter won five of the nine Academy Awards it was nominated for, including best picture, director, supporting actor, sound, and film editing.

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