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Lilly
Member Extraordinaire
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Posts: 2801
"If she looks back..."
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« Reply #15 on: April 11, 2005, 07:15:59 PM » |
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I'm resurrecting this old thread rather than starting a new one... Fiddling around on the web looking for Heartbreak Ridge stuff, I came across an interesting mention of Eastwood's involvement with the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. I didn't know about it before, and no search of the forum pulled it up, so I decided to post. As has been mentioned elsewhere on the board, the U.S. Army and later the Marine Corps decided not to support the movie Heartbreak Ridge. There was also discontent among Army veterans of the Korean War, some of whom were upset that the film portrayed a Marine winning the Congressional Medal of Honor at "Heartbreak Ridge", when in reality it was a battle fought mainly by Army infantry. On the Korean War Project site I found an interesting account by Hal Barker, son of a Korean War veteran (as it happens, a Marine), of the beginnings of the Memorial Fund, and how the memorial came to be. (Read in full HERE.) The gist of the Clint connection: One evening, I received a call from a Korean Vet who said Clint Eastwood was filming a movie called Heartbreak Ridge.
I was excited the story of Heartbreak Ridge would be told by someone like Eastwood.
Then I discovered the story line placed Eastwood as a Marine who wins the Medal of Honor at Heartbreak Ridge.
I wrote a letter to Eastwood informing him that only one Marine was on the ground at Heartbreak, and certainly no Marines were involved in ground combat there.
[...]
My father was furious that Eastwood would attempt to change history. Other veterans of the 23d Infantry began to challenge Eastwood.
I was at work one Friday afternoon when my brother said I had a telephone call.
I picked up the phone. It took almost a minute before I realized it was Clint Eastwood.
He explained to me about his use of the title Heartbreak Ridge. He said it was a business decision, a great title, and that he had been told that Marines were at Heartbreak Ridge.
We went round and round, and I asked him to change the title of the film. He said this would be impossible, it was in the can, and the advertising was already finished. Done deal.
I told him the veterans would not be happy. He said that didn't bother him, he was used to people not being happy with him. And he said the story line was actually about a Marine during the Grenada Invasion timeline, and really had nothing to do with theKorean War at all.
In order to keep him talking and perhaps make him think about his decision, I told him about Senator Wallop and the Korean War Memorial. I asked if he might help with that problem.
He suggested sending a message to Senator Wallop. Clint then asked if it would help if he talked to President Reagan. He explained that he talked to him all the time. We ended the conversation on that note.
The following Monday, Clint called again.
He said that he had listened to me, and had spent the weekend going through the script. He offered to reshoot a scene in the film for my friends from the 23rd Infantry. He would refer to his character as a veteran of the 23rd winning the Medal of Honor on Heartbreak. He asked me what he should say in the scene.
However bad the film was to become, and it was bad, he kept his word to me. He reshot the scene.
A few days later, Clint's secretary would send me a copy of the telegram to Senator Wallop, and a note that Clint would talk to the President on my behalf.
For whatever reason, only days later the bill passed out of the Wallop Committee, and was signed into law on October 28, 1996. The scene that was changed must be that in which Choozoo tells Stitch Jones about his and Highway's time in Korea, while looking at old photos in the bar. He slips in, We were with the 23rd Infantry. We joined the Corps later. I noticed that for the first time while watching last night, and it seemed clear that it must be an attempt to retain some historical accuracy. Hal Barker includes with his account scans of some communications with Clint. Clint's telegram to Senator Wallop:  The covering note:  An earlier letter from Eastwood to Barker:  There is also a scan of some contemporary newspaper cuttings about Eastwood, which I won't post because it's too wide for poor folks with low screen resolution, but it's HERE. The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. is near the Lincoln Memorial, opposite the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial. Its official site is here: http://www.nps.gov/kowa or see its Wikipedia entry for photos. They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning,
We will remember them. |
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