Veterans Day has always been a big day, if a personal day, for me. My grandfathers served in World War II, with one liberating a Nazi Internment Camp- we know not because he talked about it, but because of the pictures he took to document the state of the prisoners and the flag he ended up with. My dad, my mom always said, was less than three numbers from being drafted in Vietnam.
I have relatives who have served in the National Guard, and I have many teens who have enlisted in various branches of the military. So Veterans Day has a huge personal meaning to me. And as such, this week I’ve created a Veterans Day Movie List- some of my favorites. They may or may not be appropriate for some of your teens, and most are definitely not appropriate for tweens. Some are funny, some are thought provoking, and a lot make for interesting juxtaposition with fiction and nonfiction texts both in book clubs and in school lessons. And all, to me, are wonderful films in their own right.
Saving Private Ryan
Apocalypse Now
Good Morning Vietnam
Platoon
The Hurt Locker
Mister Roberts
Born on the Fourth of July
Glory
Flags of Our Fathers
Empire of the Sun
Dr. Strangelove
Black Hawk Down
Full Metal Jacket
Lone Survivor
Letters from Iwo Jima