My son sent me a copy of your Dec/Jan 2005 issue. I thought your top 10 "War Films" of all time was excellent, especially with "Paths of Glory" and "Breaker Morant." I was stationed at Dachau in 1956-57, near where most of "Paths" was shot. The palace was Schleissheim. I gave Douglas, Menjou and Kubrick a tour of what was left of the prison camp at Dachau. This was before they turned it into a museum. I even have a couple of photos of Douglas and his crew rehearsing lines. In your Special Honorable Mention category, I would also add the TV production of "The Lost Battalion", another true story very well adapted. The Smithsonian magazine recently had an excellent article about the death of a friend of Whittlesey’s (Harvard grad and major league ball player) who was leading a unit attempting to rescue the Battalion. I am sure others have said this, but "Private Ryan" was very, very, good. I saw it during its first week, and the parking lot at the movie theater was filled with Veteran’s plates. At the end of the movie all of us sat there in stunned silence, after clapping.
Thanks for taking the time to share your personal connection with our Top 10 War Films feature. Picking 10 films out of the 100′s of war movies done over the years was difficult, and was certainly not meant to be the last word. Many of the films are discussed on our forums, where you can dispute or support our choices and add in your own. Personally, I believe "A Bridge Too Far" should have been included as it is one of the few movies that specifically show an entire military operation from start to finish, without the love story or other such Hollywood nonsense! Not surprisingly, I also give high marks to "Blackhawk Down" for the same reason. To me, they are true "war" movies.
Thanks again for writing, and sharing some interesting facts with us!
Brian King Website Editor Armchair General Magazine
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