Jan Cline's Blog

My Favorite WW2 Movies

I’m a classic movie fanatic. Have been since I was very young. After the release of my latest novel, All My Goodbyes last week, which is set during WW2, I began to think about all the classic WW2 movies I’ve watched over the years. Like my story, some are based on true facts with fiction thrown in. All of them are memorable to me, but I have made a list of my top 20 favorites. Yes, 20 – this is my short list. I’ve watched the ones on this list multiple times – almost an embarrassing amount of time for some of them.

These stories capture my attention because our country, our fathers and grandfathers, really lived through this time.

So many personal stories are lost, but Hollywood won’t let us forget.

There are many more movies made after 1965 that are truly good WW2 stories, and I’ve over-watched those too, but I tend to like films made before 1965.

I hope you’ll watch some of them when you get the chance. Maybe it will spark you to find out about your loved one’s experiences.

And if you’d like to hear my personal story, pick up a copy of All My Goodbyes here.

Enjoy!

Twelve O’Clock High with Gregory Peck, 1949

The Longest Day – all star cast 1962

Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart, 1942

The Guns of Navarone with Gregory Peck, 1961

From Here to Eternity with Burt Lancaster, 1953

Mrs. Miniver with Greer Garson, 1942

They Were Expendable with John Wayne, 1945

The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957 with Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi/StarWars)

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo with Van Johnson, 1944

Sands of Iwo Jima with John Wayne, 1949

The Man Who Never Was with Clifton Webb, 1956

The Young Lions with Marlon Brando, 1958

A Guy Named Joe (remade as Always) with Spencer Tracy, 1943

Since You Went Away with Claudette Colbert, 1944

So Proudly We Hail with Claudette Colbert, 1943

Heaven Knows Mr. Allison with Robert Mitchum, 1957

The Nun’s Story with Audrey Hepburn, 1959

The Fighting Seabees with John Wayne, 1944

The Caine Mutiny with Humphrey Bogart, 1954

In Harms Way with John Wayne, 1965

True life WW2 story by Gail Kittleson

by Jan Cline
25 Comments

We have a winner for Gail’s book! Thanks for all the comments and congratulations to Caryl Kane!

I’ve invited my friend, Gail Kittleson to tell us about her new WW2 release, Until Then. A great read and extra special because of the real life person it’s based on.

In Gail’s words…

My D-Day release Until Then (after the World War II song), features a real WWII nurse. Dorothy Woebbeking grew up in Waterloo down the street from the Sullivan brothers. Her older brothers played with the five Sullivan boys who enlisted in the Navy and perished together.

Three of Dorothy’s brothers also enlisted in the Army or Marines, and so did she. I think she would appreciate something I read the other day.

If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. Milton Berle

Short and sweet, this sentiment fits Dorothy’s modus operandi.

So often in the dangerous trek of the Eleventh Evacuation Hospital across North Africa, through Sicily, up the boot of Italy, northward through France and into Germany, she built doors when opportunity failed to knock. The nurses’ first commander’s welcome included a warning: they’d be going home soon, most of them pregnant.

But the nurses persevered and tended the wounded through terrible heat, torrential rain, snowstorms, and a ruthless enemy that sometimes aimed at hospital tents’ obvious white cross. These faithful workers determined to save wounded GIs—or to stay with them through the throes of death.

Dorothy’s tenacious service through five long years gripped me.

So did another story, the worst civilian tragedy of the war, which occurred in a poor London borough and would affect the community for decades.

Verbalizing our pain helps at such times, but the war department ordered silence among the survivors, lest Hitler hear and think he’d gained the upper hand. This edict struck me as understandable, yet nearly unbearable.

I’d never tied together two such divergent stories, but the more I wrote, the more I loved them both. Until Then took shape, and so far, readers have provided so much positive feedback—that’s all an author could ask!

Here is an excerpt from Until Then:

The doc stopped near a patient whose chest barely rose and fell. Worse, what was left of his body took up only a third of his blood-soaked gurney.

Sometimes you will see a basket case with all limbs missing…
The surgeon lowered his voice. “The tourniquets failed. He’s

bled out.” He drew a long breath. “Sodium pentathol to the jug- ular—lethal dose. Pronto.”

En route to the supply tent, Dorothy passed a grimy chaplain. Good—at least she wouldn’t be facing this all alone.

Against North Africa’s flat horizon, stifling heat enveloped encroaching darkness. In a smaller tent lined with cabinets of jars and bottles, she rubbed her trembling hands.

Craaack… Someone smacked into something near the tent— hopefully not with a loaded gurney. Profanity echoed as she located the right bottle.

Breathe. Steady, steady… Pull back the stopper. Wait for the glass tube to fill.

Careful to protect the syringe, she pushed a mass of thick damp hair from her forehead, and through a morass of sweaty litter bearers, re-entered the surgery. Halfway to her GI, a tipped-over waste receptacle blocked the aisle.

A corpsman grabbed the handle. “Sorry, nurse.”

Beside her patient, the haggard chaplain touched the patient’s head and studied his dogtags. When the GI’s eyelids fluttered, the chaplain whispered, “Psychological shock, but perhaps he’s still cognizant.”

He eased his hands under the patient’s neck. “The Lord is my shepherd…”

Suddenly wide-eyed, the young man shot Dorothy a searching look as she grasped a small pouch of skin below his chin.

“Need a boyfriend?” His jaunty tone matched the light in his eyes, and the chaplain’s slight nod called up her voice.

“Yeah. Yes, I do.”

Pimply blue-gray epidermis accepted the needle. Above, on a wire between two tent poles, a single light bulb revealed the instant effect.

Ever so gently, Dorothy removed the needle. Labored breathing tapered into full silence, and she sought the hankie Mama gave her before she left home. But blood coated her fingers, so she ran the back of her hand over her eyes instead.

The soldier’s head slipped sideways as the chaplain made the sign of the cross. “May you rest in peace…”

More about Gail:

“A hopeless World War II era addict, Gail lives in Northern Iowa and enjoys grandchildren and gardening with her husband of 41 years. She facilitates writing workshops, and in winter, enjoys Arizona’s gorgeous Mogollon Rim Country.”

A Grand Design

by Jan Cline
Start a conversation!

I just returned from a trip to South Dakota. We have always wanted to see the monument at Mount Rushmore, and also the Crazy Horse monument. So we visited both, and were not disappointed.

It’s really an amazing site and I was surprised at how close you could get those guys!

The Crazy Horse monument is only partially finished after decades of work. It’s likely that not even our children will see the completion in their lifetime. It will be multiple times bigger than Mount Rushmore, which is….well, really, really big.

I thought a lot about all the years of arduous work that scores of men endured to make these spectacles happen. The original visions for these massive projects are obsessions I cannot relate to. But everyone who had and still has a part are to be commended. The endless toil and remarkable determination must have worn some of them down, and possibly killed them.

The thing that struck me most about what I saw in those few days is the comparison between man’s struggle to create and God’s wave of his hand. This country has so many vastly diverse and majestic sites to see – it boggles my mind to think of how creative our God is.

Yes, the geologists will tell us exactly how everything was formed, but I know in my heart that no matter how or when it happened, the grand Designer was and is the energy behind it. I have done enough traveling that I can say without a doubt that the pleasure the landscape of America brings us, we owe to a creative force far more powerful than an eruption from earth’s core.

Our history as Americans is short, yet we celebrate our beginnings every year. The 4^th of July holiday is upon us once again, and I wish everyone could see and enjoy this land we live in as I have, and will do as long as I can. It makes me humble and proud at the same time to see the handiwork of it all – a gift.

It’s important for our children to see this handiwork, and learn some history at the same time. There are lots of inexpensive ways to do that. We need to bring back the days of road trips to see America without electronics to distract us.

Smith Rock State Park, Oregon

I hope you all will get out and see America…and soon!

Jan

5 Reasons Your Kids Need History

by Jan Cline
Start a conversation!

Kids need history!

I loved history class in high school. That is, I loved the stories, the events, the social aspect of it all. I was fascinated by the people of the past that paved the way for the world I lived in.

But I didn’t like memorizing all the dates and places as if they were mathematical equations instead of real-life happenings and events my own grandparents probably lived through. I didn’t understand then what I do now. I’m a grandparent and I wish like anything I had understood my own better. I wish I had benefited from their experiences then as I do now when I research a book or try to tell my kids about their family beginnings.

History is not just the backbone of our country or the world.

It’s the reason we are here, living the kind of life we live. There is a special gift in that. Our kids don’t always think so, but someday they will be glad you opened that gift for them.

Why?

1) To find out where they came from/what kind of stock.

Tough times bring out the best or worst in folks. Learning exactly how really terrible the Great War was, how the dust bowl phenomenon changed the landscape of thousands of farms in the Midwest, or how the Great Depression brought poverty to millions, is especially significant when you realize your own family members dealt with these issues. The strength and tenacity of these people can be a source of pride for any young person. Knowing how strong their gene pool is just might encourage them.

2) To see how important decisions are made in hard times.

History has a way of showing us leadership positives and negatives. President Roosevelt had to make a lot of decisions in his presidency because of the bombardment of disasters that struck this country while on his watch. Some decisions were good, some were bad. Some decisions we now know in hindsight should have been different, but when pressed and squeezed, even the best leadership can end up with forced errors. There are no perfect solutions to every situation, and when put in the vice, leadership may not perform as we think they should. It’s easy to pass judgement until we know all the facts.

3) It sparks appreciation for freedom.

My first novel, Emancipated Heart, is the story of an American family stripped of their “freedom” by their own government. I wrote about it after being inspired by the historical events of the home-front during WWII. I have a new appreciation for freedom in the true sense of the word now.

The word freedom has many different meanings to our young people. Unfortunately, even adults apply it to things that lower its standard. It is my belief that the word has been distorted in relation to our founding father’s original intention. Freedom may mean different things to different people, and by learning about some of the events in our nation’s history, young people just might glean a new appreciation for the concept.

4) To get perspective on character.

I’m always amazed at the stories from the 30s and 40s about people helping people. The worst of circumstances are opportunities to reach out to others in peril. My grandparents were some of those people who knew the meaning of being good neighbors. They appreciated what they had, even when it wasn’t much. There was always room at the table for one more, always extra cream or fresh eggs to share with the large family down the road. It was the natural thing to do, born from the solidarity of down-and-out folks. This kind of character is best showcased by the lessons we learn from history, and excellent examples for our kids.

5) Gain topics for conversation.

What kid doesn’t want to sound smart?? Well, even historical trivia is a great conversation starter. And it’s a good way to start meaningful dialogue about all the things I mentioned above. I personally love hearing young people talk about something other than video games and the latest mall opening. There’s nothing wrong with a little nerd talk about the Stock Market Crash of 1929, or the immigrants that came to our shores through Ellis Island. Knowledge is cool.

We have so many resources at our disposal. Netflix, internet, lectures, and yes, even the local library. I hope you will seek them out and get your kids back into history class without letting them know! It could be fun.

https://www.history.com/

http://www.usefultrivia.com/history_trivia/

Blessings,

Jan

“I’m done,” he said.

by Jan Cline
5 Comments

My husband has been a farmer for 34 years. He has worked very hard at his profession. I’ve been encouraging him to retire. I continued to hear, “one more year.” Then we would make time to travel.

Then one day, he came home, took off his boots and announced he was ready at last.

Just like that.

But he was worried about what to do with his time. I wasn’t. I mentally pulled out my honey-do list and sighed. “I wouldn’t worry about not having things to do.”

So, we put our lake cabin up for sale and bought a nice 5^th wheel.

Isn’t that what everyone does?

Talk about whirlwind life change. I had been so settled into the idea of “one more year”, that I hadn’t really thought through how life might evolve. We have a new home, a boat, a cabin, a trip to NC once a year to see our daughter, soccer games for grandkids, and farming in between. That was it. Plenty. More than most people.

We were grateful. And still are. And grateful to be done.

Now my husband has the bug to travel. As I write this we are nestled in the woods at an RV park in beautiful Montana, enjoying the peace and quiet, taking naps, walking the dog, and doing whatever we feel like doing. No schedule, no worries except how and when to plan the next trip. On our list is Mount Rushmore, Gold Beach, CA, Fort Stevens, WA, and Yellowstone. Maybe not all right away, but, you know.

I guess this is retirement. I hope I have time to write.

Are any of you retired? How did you handle it?

Blessings and safe travels!

Jan