The Send in the Marines Blogathon – Return to Tarawa – The Leon Cooper Story (2009)

This is my second of 4 submissions for the The Send in the Marines Blogathon being run by J-Dub over at Dubism and Gill of RealWeegieMidget

Tnx for letting me take part!

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“For the thousands of marines riding to the shores that morning, no one could imagine the ferocity of the battle to come or the death and destruction that they would soon face. ” – Narrator

Number of Times Seen – 1 (6 Nov 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A veteran of one of the bloodies days during World War II goes on a quest to revisit the small island in the Pacific where he fought 65 years earlier.

My Take on it – This is a film that I came across while searching for film to watch for this blogathon.

The idea that a former marine would wish to seek closure regarding a battle that he fought in 65 years earlier was such a fascinating premise that it grabbed my attention right away.

This film tries to give us a look at how memories and perspectives on things can affect someones life for so many decades and bring them to a place where they wish to gain closure by returning to the scene of a battle even after so much time.

They are able to tell us so much about what happened during this battle both on a personal and national perspective which adds so much to the weight of this story.

This film is a very emotional journey for the main character and we get to see how and why this battle has haunting him for so many years.

The landscape of the place may have changed in the intervening years, but his attempt to gain closure by his quest still allows us to see what transpired there during the war and how it affected both the lives of the men who fought there and the tide of the war at the same time.

Bottom Line – Fascinating look at the way that memories and perspective can shape someones life for so many years afterwards. The film does a wonderful job showing us what happened during this battle both on a personal and national levels. The emotional journey of this film gets quite intense as we get a clear picture of how this battle haunted this man for so many years. His attempt to gain closure by returning to this place is quite amazing because we get to see how much has changed yet at the same time see what it must have been like for the marines who fought there so many decades earlier. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The fierce fighting was the subject of a documentary produced by the Combat Photographers of the Second Marine Division entitled ‘With the Marines at Tarawa’. It was released in March of 1944 by the insistence of President Roosevelt. It became the first time many Americans viewed American Servicemen dead on film. (From Wikipedia)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)