Johnopfor Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I sent the following e-mail to Friends@foxnews.com this morning after they made a big thing out of the fiction that the "Red Tails covered the Normandy Invasion. Please feel free to join me by e-mailing to Clayton and Col. Oliver North. Hal Sr Hi, Just a line to let you know that the Tuskegee Airmen were not at the D-Day Normandy Invasion of France. Their very commendable service was with the 15th Air Force in Italy, where they performed valiant and valuable service. To credit them with our success at Normandy though, is a great disservice to the US 8th and 9th Air Forces and the RAF, who operating out of bases in England, did perform the air cover over the Normandy beaches Should you decide to air this message, please withhold my full name. Hal Marshman Sr Wow, let's blame FOX, even though I heard Howard mention the D-Day Invasion first. I saw the movie, and if anyone was paying attention, and the movie didn't clarify it for anyone who didn't, the 332nd provided aircover for Operation Shingle, which were the landings at Anzio, not Normandy. It seems like an honest mistake is being blown out of proportion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Daddy Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 The 332 was based on the Agean side of Italy in June of 1944 about a third of the way up the boot they would not have been able to fly to Normandy. Ken This is the same info that I have read. They had just moved from North Africa and it would have been quite a "stretch" for them to "clear the beaches of Normandy". Terence Howard was talking out of his arse, IMHO. In any event, I will still go see the movie, propeller head that I am, LOL. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaiidanTomcat Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) I can't tell if this is a chance to pile on Fox news again, or continuing to beat Red tails down further... probably both. You need to remember that details get fuzzy to a lot of people who are not history buffs and they are not able to articulate what they mean and go with the more famous example. I remember a certain future president in 2008 proclaiming that his grandfather had liberated Auschwitz. which would place his grandfather in the Red army. He meant another concentration camp of course. Normandy is more famous than Anzio. Europe more Famous than the Pacific, Enola Gay more known than Bockscar. The list goes on and on. Edited January 22, 2012 by TaiidanTomcat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) "Red Tails" star Terrence Howard was on one of the late-night talk shows last night, talking about attending a screening of the film with Pres Bush Sr. The host mentioned that Bush was a flyer himself in WWII, and Howerd then went on at great length about how Bush was an Air Force gunner in one of those B-17 turrets with Germans shooting at him, and it was the Tuskegee Airmen's job to protect them. Funny..last I heard Bush was a pilot. In the US Navy. Flying TBMs. Against the Japanese. Oh well..at least he got the right war. SN Edited January 22, 2012 by Steve N Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Exhausted Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) The beaches he is referring to are those of Italy. Yeah, the actor made a mistake - probably because he got interested in the subject and WWII as a whole. But Fox News seemed to go on and on without knowledge themselves for what seemed like an eternity. Reading Col. Olds book I didn't see much mention of fog and mist at 12,000 feet. I do, however remember Olds not being able to assist the soldiers due to worry of misidentification of the targets. George Lucas's film isn't complete garbage. It isn't like Titanic, Pearl Harbor, or Flyboys because the movie is 75% in the sky, not a love story. Fox News.... well they can stop getting their programming from the homeless man who lives in the dumpster behind their office. Edited January 22, 2012 by Exhausted Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I'll probably take some flak for this (no pun intended) but I actually thought "Titanic" was a decent flick. Yes, it was primarilly a cheesy love story, but at least James Cameron went to great lengths to get the technical and historical details mostly right. To me, it's an example that you can make a reasonably historically accurate period peice, and still make money (I think it was the top-grossing film of all time until Cameron's "Avatar" came along.) If only Michael Bay had followed that model when hs made The-Film-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. I'll reserve any concrete opinions on "Red Tails" until I've actually seen it..but I'm not optimistic. SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Diamondback Six Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Ooh, don't wind me up about Big Media... I used to be a journalist myself, and there are good reasons I have a pathological hatred of most of my ex-colleagues. ESPECIALLY don't wind me up on the brachiosaur-size masses of excrement they serve up anytime the subjects of planes or guns come up...<br> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bangem82 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Guys....its a movie. Great to see the Tuskegee Airman getting some love on the big screen. Some folks will bash the movie just for the sake of bashing. Some folks will enjoy the movie because it has aircraft. I don't think because they didn't get in 100% right, that it is a slight to any of those brave souls. At the end of the day, if you don't want to see it, then don't go. Me personally, I will enjoy it purely for the entertainment factor and I will get my FACTS elsewhere. If you are looking to the big screen for historical accuracy you will be disappointed. However, there are these little things that have been out for a while called books. Really easy to comprehend, try those instead. Fox news, Terrence Howard....of course they got it wrong.... T. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sig Saur & Son Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Looks as though CBS got their news from the "Homeless Man living in the dumpster" last night when they reported Joe Paterno, former PSU Head Couch, had died. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DutyCat Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) I'll probably take some flak for this (no pun intended) but I actually thought "Titanic" was a decent flick. SN I agree with you. Actually, I think it was far more than "decent." The recreation of the ship and sinking was magnificent. The musical score was moving. The way they wove the time lines together with "old Rose" was well done. The love story....well, it was overly dramatic and improbable, but they did it pretty well and it is part of the formula that hooks and entertains the average moviegoer. So Titanic get a big thumbs up from me. On the other hand, "Pearl Harbor" clearly tried to do the same thing, and was awful...largely a sell out to historical accuracy and completeness in order to achieve over the top drama. It goes back to what people find entertaining. We are historians here, but must folks find history boring on the surface. Instead, they are interested in the people who make history, even if it is factually only "in the ballpark." That's why Tora Tora Tora is preferred by us, and Pearl Harbor, which ignores all sorts of stuff that was going on at Pearl Harbor in order to keep the main stars on screen acting dramatic, is preferred by the average person. Back on the subject of Red Tails. I was going to wait for it to come out on video, but a friend of mine wants to go see it, so I'll cave. But I am to the point where I think Hollywood is just incapable of making a good big budget history movie anymore. If it costs a bunch to make, then they will compromise to sell tickets. That being said, there are exceptions, and I am okay with a fictional subplot well done, as in Saving Private Ryan, as long as it is set within a historically accurate backdrop. Tom Hanks did the world and an entire generation or two of young folks a tremendous service in re-igniting interest in the events of WWII. In the wake of Saving Private Ryan came Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Windtalkers, and even Pearl Harbor. Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation, which was published about the same time as Saving Private Ryan, was very important as well. Edited January 22, 2012 by DutyCat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zerosystem Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 George Lucas's film isn't complete garbage. It isn't like Titanic, Pearl Harbor, or Flyboys because the movie is 75% in the sky, not a love story. Fox News.... well they can stop getting their programming from the homeless man who lives in the dumpster behind their office. at least those movies had a easy to recognize scene pattern in them...red tails distinctly lacked that, i was almost ready for the dumb star wars-esque screen wipes in between. the inaccuracies i can live with, hell even understand at times but at least cover the movie basics if you're going to make a basic movie. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaiidanTomcat Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 "Red Tails" star Terrence Howard was on one of the late-night talk shows last night, talking about attending a screening of the film with Pres Bush Sr. The host mentioned that Bush was a flyer himself in WWII, and Howerd then went on at great length about how Bush was an Air Force gunner in one of those B-17 turrets with Germans shooting at him, and it was the Tuskegee Airmen's job to protect them. Funny..last I heard Bush was a pilot. In the US Navy. Flying TBMs. Against the Japanese. Oh well..at least he got the right war. SN Actors are idiots. The end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zerosystem Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Actors are idiots. The end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.