Reply #105: Report From the Aleutians, The Battle of San Pietro, Let There Be Light... [View All]

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Three astonishing documentaries made during the war (two on the battlefield) by noted director John Houston. These are tough to find, but worth the effort -- they are unforgetable, particularly Let There Be Light, which deals with GIs who have been mentally and emotionally scarred by combat. The film was kept classified for decades after the war.

As for Hollywood's better efforts, some interesting films are Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, A Walk in the Sun, Best Years of Our Lives, Guadalcanal Diary, Empire of the Sun, The Purple Heart (amazing propaganda piece about captured U.S. airmen being tortured by Japanese)...