Locate a Grave

Our films feature a number of stories involving recipients of the Medal of Honor, the United States highest recognition of an individual soldier's bravery. Today, I'm going to get a bit personal, and tell you these are my favorite parts of the films.

After visiting the Medal of Honor memorial at Ft. Benning, I began researching Chester Furman, MOH recipient for actions during the Civil War. Furman was my great, great, great grandfather, on my mother's side of the family. My uncle, Robert Beckley, sent me these photos of his medal. The darker one is an earlier version that was later replaced because it was too easy to duplicate. Obviously, these medals are a tremendous treasure in our family, and it's an honor for me to be able to share them here.

Equally important to preserving the memory of our nation's heroes are their graves. And, while I was doing my research, I went to LocateGrave.org to find Chester Furman's final resting place. I found two photos, and sent a message thanking the photographer. In reply, I received a lovely email from a student working with LocateGrave.org. 

Evan Thomas, who studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, partnered with FindTheData.Org to help create a tool for finding graves of veterans and veteran family members.  The grave listings come directly from a public data set recently released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  You can use the access the tool at LocateGrave.org or use the widget below.

Veteran Gravesites

Vets and their families might also be interested in the Medal of Honor Recipients Database.

Find Medal of Honor Recipients

If you have any questions or comments about the grave locator, feel free to contact Evan at evan_thomas (@) umail.ucsb.edu

'Blue Skies' Vinnie

Vincent B. Vicari
(October 25, 1919 - December 5, 2011)

Name: Vincent B. Vicari, 92, of Bethlehem Twp., PA passed away on December 5, 2011 at his home.

Born: Vincent was born in New York, NY on October 25, 1919. He was the son of the late Ambrose and Vincenza (Lapi) Vicari.

Personal: Vincent served his country in the European Theatre of WWII in the 101st Airborne Division (“The Screaming Eagles”) of the United States Army as a Captain and aide to General Anthony C. McAuliffe. He took part in the Battle of the Bulge and the Siege of Bastogne. He received four battle stars for action in Normandy, Rhineland, the Ardennes and Central Europe.

Vinnie appeared in both The Americans on D-Day and The Americans in The Bulge. He was a real trooper and a warm human being, whose humor masked the horrors of Bastogne. His interviews in our films always raised a laugh. "I was afraid of heights" said Vinnie when asked to ride co-pilot in a glider on D-Day.

I Danced with Marlene Dietrich

Richard Lanni speaks with Linda Ketron outside the Strand

At two screenings of The Americans on D-Day, one at the beautiful Strand Theater, Georgetown, South Carolina, on December 3^rd, and the other at The History Place, in Moorehead City, North Carolina, on Decmber 6^th, WWII veteran Earl W. Norwood described how he got the chance to dance with Marlene Dietrich and shake the hand of King George VI before going off to take part in an event, which Earl said shaped his life forever.

Standing Ovation

Earl Norwood autographs a card for a young viewer

Just 17 years old when he joined the Navy, Earl was one of the youngest pilots of an LCVP, landing craft off Bloody Omaha beach. There was not a dry eye in the place as he described driving his craft up on to the beach, dropping the ramp and seeing three soldiers cut in half by machine gun fire. “The other thirty guys just climbed over their dead buddies and rushed on to the beach. That memory will remain with me forever”.

Earl, who later joined the US army, fighting in both Korea and Vietnam said:

“Whenever I was in a tight spot I just remembered the courage I witnessed on D-Day and that spurred me on.”

Earl made 5 trips into the fateful beach on D-Day, and then spent several days trawling the choppy waters for dead soldiers. Finding this just too harrowing, he asked his commanding officer to give the job to someone else. “Just remember this, Son”, said the captain, “every time you recover a body, some mother back at home will know what happened to her son and where he is.” 

“We just went right back to work” said Earl.

 

screening at the History Place

At the North Carolina screening, Earl was joined on stage by Morehead City's beloved local historian, Rodney Kemp, and series writer/director, Richard Lanni.

Community screenings of episodes from The American Road to Victory trilogy will continue throughout 2012.

Earl Norwood & Richard Lanni at the Strand

"This is a chance that we must not miss" said Livingbattlefield executive director, Heidi Mehltretter. "We are losing these great warriors at an alarming rate. Occasions such as these, when an audience has the chance to see the real life locations and hear from the men who were there, the experience is nothing less than magical."

Financing for the current tour has been provided in part by both the North Carolina Humanities Council and the Humanities Council SC.

If you would like to hold an event at your museum, library or historical society, please contact heidi (at) livingbattlefield.org or call 803-429-7500.

Community Screenings of The American Road to Victory

In partnership with the North & South Carolina Humanities councils, we are conducting screenings of our American Road to Victory trilogy at libraries, museums and theaters across both States. The purpose of these screenings is to allow members of the public to experience our films, which combine history with travel and to interact with our dwindling band of WWII veterans. As our tour continues we will update this blog with photos.

Bennettsville Library

Last week we conducted a screening of The Americans in The Bulge at the Marian Wright Edelman library in the historic town of Bennettsville, South Carolina. The event which was well supported by the community and attended by a significant number of WWII veterans was a great success.

With Bill Kinney on his walking tour.

Before the screening we were treated to a delicious Southern lunch and a lively tour of historic Bennettsville, South Carolina's 1st Great Town, by local historian and press baron, Bill Kinney.

Bill's knowledge of local history and architecture is impressive. We must return to Bennettsville some day soon, to capture his tour on film.

Library Director Virginia McCraw, and board chairperson, Pat Henegan, whose high standards are apparent throughout the magnificent library complex, worked tirelessly to organize this event.

Greeting a WWII veteran

WWII WAC Pat Smith and Director Richard Lanni

The Audience were fully engaged.

" We were very privileged yesterday to host a viewing of "Americans in the Bulge", a documentary by Livingbattlefied.  Someone from the State Library put out information about this some time ago and I can highly recommend that you take advantage of this awesome programming opportunity.  We are all talking about how good we feel about this since getting to work this morning and we heard only positive comments when people were leaving last evening.

"Heidi Mehltretter and Richard Lanni spent the afternoon and early evening with us.  They left us greatly enriched by their personalities and their art.  Their purpose is to preserve history by documenting battles, filming onsite and at the time of year actual events took place.  We felt like we were actually there... "

Virginia McCraw
Director
Marian Wright Edelman Public Library

The American Road to Victory has aired more than 1000 times on PBS stations since Memorial Day 2011.
Please follow this blog for future outreach screening dates.
Livingbattlefield's community events are organized by Livingbattlefield of South Carolina, a 501(c)3 non profit educational foundation.

'The Americans in The Bulge' on Veterans Day at Fort Benning

Entrance to the imposing museum.

It was a great honor to have the opportunity to screen The Americans in The Bulge, on Veterans Day at Fort Benning, as part of Livingbattlefield.org's non-profit, educational, outreach program. The museum is an incredible tribute to  U.S. armed forces through the ages.

Carl Beck, Marilyn Pahr and Richard Lanni

We were joined by Veteran Screaming Eagle, Carl Beck, who appears in The Americans on Hell's Highway. Carl drove down from Atlanta with Livingbattlefield.org's board member and friend, Marilyn Pahr. Carl joined in a Q&A session after the screening.

Lieutenant Jordan Beck, introduces the show.

IMAX Director, Mark Balsinger and AV Director, Lieutenant Jordan Beck, pulled out all the stops to make Veterans Day 2011 at Fort Benning, a memorable occasion for everyone.

Director Richard Lanni addresses the audience.

Although not present, 101st Airborne veteran, Jim "Pee Wee" Martin's words, stole the show. The audience were captivated by his gripping account of life in Bastogne during the siege, and his humorous description of how the German surrender pamphlet was used as toilet paper.












The National Infantry Museum is undoubtedly one of the most engaging historical sites that we have ever visited. We are sure that during our WWI research, we will be spending a lot of time here.

Statue of a GI, rifle in hand, charging forward.

It was incredible to see the film on the enormous IMAX screen, which measures 70' across and 5 stories high. The powerful sound system enabled the audience to hear every sound effect with alarming clarity.

Opening sequence.

Carl answering questions.

After the screening, Carl Beck, answered viewers questions about 'The Bulge'. Ever the comedian, Carl gave his own humorous recollections of that fateful battle.

Richard Lanni and WWII vets

Other WWII veterans, who volunteer their time to talk with people attending the museum, were also present at the screening. They were given a warm welcome and a rapturous round of applause.

1st Sgt. Chris Goodrow meets Carl

The U.S army showed their appreciation for the screening.  It was even suggested that every young soldier should see the films as part of their training, Wow!! Wouldn't that be great.

Carl talks with Dorothy Ziegler

Another special moment occurred when audience member, Dorothy Ziegler, realized that Carl Beck had served under her father, Col. Ewell, in the Hell's Highway campaign.






This film will be showing for another two weeks at Ft. Benning. Who knows, maybe the trilogy will become a fixture at this amazing theater. This was the first of a number of screenings this month and next, culminating with our final screening of the year in New York on December 7th.

New WWI Project

From the producers of

The American Road to Victory

Comes

A Four Part Series for Television

Following hot on the heels of the groundbreaking American Road to Victory, a little understood period of American history is to be dramatically explained in a new four part mini series for Public Television.

President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for A war to end all wars.

Livingbattled Doughboy

Over There, Doughboys in The Great War,

will follow young Americans in that war from April 1917 to the close of hostilities in November 1918.  Names of battles like Cantigny, Belleau Woods and Saint Mihiel will be brought to life as gripping re-enactments and veteran accounts draw viewers into the action.

Livingbattlefield’s unique approach to story telling, together with on location filming, special effects, and graphic moving maps will orientate and engage viewers at a foxhole level, in the bloodiest of conflicts.

By November 1918, more than one million, five hundred thousand souls had crossed the treacherous, U-boat infested Atlantic Ocean to join the conflict. Many went to a watery grave.

No detail will be spared in dramatizing the horror; waterlogged trenches will be constructed and a liberal use of pyrotechnics will be used to convey the real look and feel of battle.

Early model tanks, like prehistoric beasts, will trundle over the scorched earth of the battlefields, while bi-planes, climbing and rolling, perform deadly dogfights in the skies above.

The valiant contribution of African and Native Americans will be explained together with details of more than 25,000 women who gave their all in support of their Doughboys.

From the actions of heroes like Sgt Alvin York, to the exploits of the dashing young Major, George S. Patton jnr, American audiences will see how great men were forged on the killing fields of Northern France.

Livingbattlefield is a 501(c)3, not for profit educational media foundation.

Anyone requiring more information, or wishing to donate to this project should email: heidi@livingbattlefield.org

Where did we find German tanks?

We received an email from a client, who had purchased our film 'The Americans in The Bulge'. He could not understand how we had managed to film German armor, particularly the Tiger II tank and the Panther.

Unlike Holland, during the filming of Hell's Highway, where we had the use of a WWII American tank, we had no such luxury with 'The Bulge'.

Cameraman Philip Robertson with WWII American tank in Holland

There are only 2 working examples of the 'King Tiger' in the entire world and the Panther is also a rare beast.

La Gleize, Belgium.Shell of Tiger II left behind by SS

After a series of negotiations with the famous tank museum at Saumur in France, we decided that hiring the working King Tiger, for the day and filming it in front of a giant blue screen, was not a viable option. Apart from the significant cost involved, the logistics were too difficult.

                                                                  

We knew that trying to portray the actions in the Ardennes without examples of menacing German tanks lurking down every snowy forest path, would be challenging and could well lack the  element needed to maintain the interest of a younger audience.

Cem prepares for filming.

Racking our brains, we came up with the idea of filming miniature 1/6th scale, remote control tanks on blue screen. We located a company in England, Mark-1-Tanks, who build these incredible models and sell them to enthusiasts around the world. We assembled our camera team and accompanied by our  young visual effects artist Cem Hizli, we spent several days filming a variety of tanks, assault guns and halftracks. 

For all you would be purchasers  a King Tiger model can cost up to $15,000, depending on final level of equipment and finish.

Tiger II on blue screen

Filming the models was just the start. The next problem would be capturing the right shots in Belgium and then with the aid of Adobe after effects, adding the models to the scenes. During the film edit, our editor Matt Hart often managed skilfully to meld the new shots with archive footage. There is only so much archive footage and it has been seriously overused, so the models gave us a new dimension.

  Here is a 'StuG' mobile assault gun and

our presenter hiding from it.

 Model 'Panther' in snow and on blue screen

 

            

  Massed German Armor and Infantry

 Our new production, 'Over There' The Doughboys in WWI, will involve a number of model WWI Renault tanks, which will be specially built for the production. Viewers will be able to see the dashing young, George S. Patton jnr, champion of early tank warfare, charging with his machines across the rolling hills of Northern France.








                                                                                                  

Design ideas

We are in the process of designing our new trilogy cover for The American Road to Victory series (click on this to see the individual dvd covers). We would appreciate your feedback. Which one do you like most? Do you have suggestions about something you think would improve your favorite design? We look forward to reading your comments!

Idea #1 - black

Idea #2 - flag

Idea #3 - map