Tom Hanks is Making Another War Movie


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Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It reaches out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides every day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics.  

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This is a new social network just for veterans. I joined it and made instant friendships with veterans who want to talk about what I want to talk about. Please check it out. You will be glad you did. 

https://www.rallypoint.com/join/spc-douglas-bolton

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Tom Hanks has been in many movies, but he has also been in military movies, that are outstanding. Tom Hanks discusses his new movie, No Better Place to Die. 

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Tom Hanks Is Teaming Up With Vet Filmmaker Dale Dye to Make A Veteran-Powered WWII Drama

Tom Hanks has signed on to both act in and executive-produce No Better Place To Die, an upcoming World War II drama about the airborne Normandy landings on D-Day, written and directed by Marine vet and seasoned technical adviser Dale Dye.

The news of Hanks’ addition is good for U.S. military veterans, and not just for World War II film buffs: Dye is looking to cast up 50 veterans as actors, including as many as 35 speaking roles, with department heads giving vets priority for support positions on set.

“When I say department heads, I’m talking about set design, costumes, props, armory, hair and makeup, and all the other support elements that will engineer making a movie,” Dye told Task & Purpose. “I’m going to tell all those department heads that veterans get priority, so folks who want to be technicians in the film industry.”

“I’m going to try to get them their shot on this film, also,” he added. ”I’m trying to help guys who really want to do this for a living.”

The movie, written and directed by Dye, follows a band of airborne soldiers scattered across Normandy during their drop ahead of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. A mishmash of troops from different units, they folded into a single rifle company to seize and hold La Fière bridge, a crucial causeway which connected the French countryside with the Normandy beachheads, against German reinforcements headed for Omaha and Utah beach. Had that company not held, the beach landings might have been a catastrophic failure.

“What I discovered, writ large, was that this was an example of what happens in our military when all the big plans, laid by all the generals and colonels, become victims of the exigency of war, that is, when they go right in the crapper,” Dye told Task & Purpose. “It’s the sergeants and the young lieutenants, and the PFCs and the corporals, who cobble together, knowing what has to be done, and just go out there and do it against all odds.”

Dye wrote the script in 2011, but has struggled to find backers for the film, until now. In addition to signing Hanks to produce and act, Creative Artists Agency and Gersh, are arranging financing for the film.  (No Better Place To Die should not be confused with Hanks’ other WWII film venture, Greyhound, which is looking to cast vets as extras.)

“The Hollywood procedure for putting a film together, especially an expensive film — and we’re a $30 million picture, that’s a lot like herding cats or trying to get snakes to follow a straight path — it’s a very difficult extended process,” Dye said. “But we’re right in the middle of it and gaining a lot of traction.”

 

Though casting hasn’t started yet, Dye hopes to begin filming this summer, with the goal of a 2019 release date, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of D-Day. In total, Dye said he hopes to get 40 to 50 veterans in front of the camera of which, 28 and 35 will be speaking roles. “Once I’m certain that we have the money we need, and we have the main actors that we need …. then we can start the process of auditioning the real veterans for the rest of the roles,” Dye said.

A decorated Marine combat veteran and a three-time Purple Heart recipient, whose career included tours in Vietnam as an infantryman and a combat correspondent, Dye retired from the Marines 1984. And in the years that followed he’s leveraged that experience as a military technical adviser through his company Warriors Inc., bringing authenticity and emotional realism to the projects he’s worked on, which include Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, and Platoonamong others.

In terms of realism, getting all the little details right — how to hold a weapon, wear a uniform, or knowing what ribbons go on what side of your service jacket — is important, sure, but it’s “ultimately superficial” Dye said.

While it differs by era, theater, or unit, there’s a way of carrying oneself, of talking, and behaving — an attitude among service members that’s timeless and universal. And that’s what makes the difference between a technically accurate war movie, and a realistic one — or, better yet, a relatable one.

“When I was first motivated to even start as a military adviser to movies and television, that’s part of what I was trying to do, to bring that understanding, that empathy, that intimate knowledge, to actors, who for the most part, especially these days, had absolutely no experience with it,” Dye told Task & Purpose. “I felt if I could do that, if I could make them walk a mile in our boots … their portrayals of who we are, what we are, how we act, how we relate to each other, how we think, how we feel, those things would come across.”

In addition to surrounding the film’s actors with scores of veterans, Dye said he plans to put stars through his standard training regimen: a three week boot camp in austere conditions meant to recreate the setting and environment the service members’ portrayed in the film had to endure

“We’ll do my standard evolution that I do for every film that I work on,” Dye said. “But I’m hoping that in addition to that, that we’ll have a process of osmosis that’s going on the whole time, where you get these real veterans next to the actors, and they can observe now, what they’ve been told, and what they’ve been forced to do in training.”

“They’ll see the reality of it, how these people think, how these people feel, how they talk and how they relate to one another,” he added. “I’m hoping for a big dose of osmosis in that regard.”

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I look forward to this movie because I think it will authentic, and it will help us understand what the soldiers went through.

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If you are a veterans and feel lost and battling PTSD, TBI, depression, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, or many other of the usual suspects, I feel your pain. I have been there. Just know that you are not alone. You are not worthless. You are important.

If you need immediate help call this help line:

 1-800-273-8255 

Don’t do another minute alone.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

Satan Starts Working Overtime When you Become a Christian

 

Every Temptation Is an Opportunity to Trust God

 

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

 

When someone becomes a Christian, Satan starts working overtime to try to pull that person away from God. He hates it that one more person has accepted the love of God into their lives. He will do whatever he can to turn the new Christian around, and head him or her back into sin.

We have so much fun each day just trying to make it through the day fighting off temptations. I mean this as a challenge and not as a joke. We face temptations constantly to do what God would not want us to do. He allows a different close encounter to approach us in the form of many temptations going through our mind every day. It could be something small like telling an off-color joke to others in an effort to fit in, or something more serious like deciding to take home a business camera that no one will miss.

Being tempted is part of being human. God does not protect us from temptation. He allows it into our lives so we can learn to depend on Him. The verse above promises that He “will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” It is our chance to build on solid ground for our eternal blessings. We are never free of temptations. It doesn’t matter how long we have been a Christian—Satan will tempt us. When we fall for the temptation, it’s because we have turned our back on the “way out” God has promised.

Jesus was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was offered a great deal of power in the world. He was given a chance to be king over all the kings. He was offered all the land He could see in all directions from the high place He was standing. He was tempted in every way you could think possible. This man called Jesus, who is the embodiment of how we should live on this earth, turned His back on all of the temptations! The way of escape for Him was falling back on the promises of God from Scripture.

We have the same power to not be caught by temptation by calling to mind God’s promises to us.

            We face temptations every day. (I am a sucker for Snickers candy bars, every time I see one in the store.) We need to concentrate on doing what is right each time we face a temptation. There is a very simple way to approach each and every temptation we face. Just ask, “What would Jesus do in this situation?” I mean, we can really ask that question each and every time we are tempted.

Example: Guys, a female friend asks you to help her put up a fence. About halfway through, she invites you into the house for something to drink. When you get inside, you see by what she’s wearing that she has other intentions. She comes close to you, and says that it would be OK to have a little fun. “No one will know,” she promises. What would Jesus do?

There is one thing you should do right away. You should run out of there like Joseph ran from the wife of Potiphar. You should run like you are being chased by a rabid dog looking for someone to bite.

Potiphar’s wife had tried for several days to get Joseph to sleep with her, and he refused. Then when he was close, and no one was around, she grabbed his cloak and ordered him to sleep with her. He broke loose and ran out of the house. He resisted temptation even though Potiphar’s wife tried so hard to seduce him.

Why did he run? Why should you run? It didn’t turn out well for Joseph. Potiphar’s wife became angry because he wouldn’t sleep with her. She accused Joseph of trying to seduce her. Even though he hadn’t touched her, Potiphar put him in prison for several years. Not a good situation for a young man that did everything he could to please God.

But there is a happy ending to the story of Joseph. In Genesis 39–50 we see how God brought Joseph through temptation and made him instrumental in His plan for the nation of Israel, giving him a place of prominence Joseph never could have dreamed would be his. It is one of the most wonderful stories in the Bible and I often wonder if the story would have ended as it did had Joseph not taken the “way out” God provided. Probably not.

Sometimes the “way out” may be simply walking away from temptation. Other times we may have to run as fast as we can.

As a child, I used to go to a movie in the downtown area of Salem, Oregon. It was within walking distance of my home. It was all right going to the movie, because it was still light. But on the way home it was very dark, and bushes lined the sidewalk where I had to walk. I knew there was a monster in those bushes and he was ready to grab me! I think I set some kind of record as I ran by those bushes. I was not about to be caught be some evil demon. I stayed in the middle of the street so a monster couldn’t grab me from either side.

All of us have monsters—real or imagined—in the bushes. Temptations are the real ones that we all face at some time in life. What is important is that each and every time we are faced with some kind of temptation, we ask, “What would Jesus do? What is the ‘way out’ He is providing me?”

 

[God’s grace] teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.

Titus 2:12

 

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 2:18

 

Further adventures

Think before you leap! Always be on alert. Think of life as a war between God and Satan. You are on the good guy’s side. You need to be careful of the attacks from the guy on the other side. He will do whatever he can to destroy you. He will try to convince you that what you are doing is OK just this one time. No one will know. Stop! That is not the good guy talking. That is the enemy! Trust God, and God only. Everything else is the enemy.

 

Something to ponder

Isn’t it funny how some of us never hear the music before the song is over?

 *Excerpt from: Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World