MovieChat Forums > PT 109 (1963) Discussion > This deed, ho-hum if not by a famous fam...

This deed, ho-hum if not by a famous family?

posted 14 years ago by uscmd
3 replies | jump to latest

There were hundreds of equal or greater single acts in WWII that went unsung. If not from an extremely wealthy, politically ambitious family, would Lt Kennedy's deed have even made the papers, let alone become a movie?

Please don't misunderstand me, I believe the Kennedy family is extraordinary in the level of sacrifice they've made for the country. So my inquiry is in no way negative about JFK. More a question of how "heroes" end up in the papers.....and/or movies.

I'm old enough to remember the feeling during JFK's presidency (camelot) a time when the rest of the world looked hopefully at where the U.S. was heading. After Ike, Nixon and talk of the MIC (military industrial complex), civilians fearful of profits made by the military and how they might influence policy. JFK wanted to end vietnam, many feel its why he was killed.

So, maybe the question ought to be, why haven't they made a hero movie about JFK wanting to face the military/industry boys and abort vietnam, instead of one about a navy feat?

[–] MycroftHolmes 14 years ago

There are many reports that JFK talked about pulling out of Nam, but what we know for sure is that he increased our troops in Nam from 800 to 16,000. We will never know what he actually may have done. He had made plans to bring back 1000 troops.
As far as the film goes, it's a film about some of his experiences in WWII. It really happened. It would be a fantasy to depict JFK aborting Nam since it never happened.

What we have here is failure to communicate!

[–] trhickey 12 years ago

Let's be grateful for the fact that the JFK connection gave this project the commercial boost needed to green light a movie that celebrates the heroics typical of all PT boats rather than making snarly comments that suggest that, because of family wealth, an individual's heroics are somehow less worthy than others. Other than "They Were Expendable (1945)," the contribution of PT boat crews have been underrepresented by Hollywood.

[–] chrissso 8 years ago

BRAVO ... BRAVO ... BRAVO!!!!