Memorial Day: Two Favorites

This Monday is Memorial Day in the USA, a day when Americans pay tribute to those who gave their lives defending their country. It was originally called Decoration Day as towns and communities gathered together to decorate the graves of their sons who had died during the American Civil War. Civil War memorials still grace the center of many towns and villages today. In my home town of Fairfield there is a Memorial Day parade every year where thousands turn out to enjoy, celebrate, pay tribute, and perhaps remember.

To my mind the best description of Decoration Day can be found in Emily of Deep Valley, Maud Hart Lovelace's charming and moving coming of age story. On one level this book is a light novel for teen-age girls. On another level it explores the psychology of an individual whose life seems to be going nowhere until she finds a way to pull herself up with her own bootstraps. But it also provides an insight into the life of a small mid-western town at the beginning of the twentieth century that few histories can match. 

Decoration Day was a big event in Deep Valley at the time. In the morning residents would go to the town cemetery to decorate the graves. Later. they would participate in the parade that honored all those who fought in the Civil War. Emily, an orphan, lived with her elderly grandfather who had fought in the war, and was proud to march in the parade in uniform. 

My favorite film of the Civil War is The Red Badge of Courage. 

Stephen Crane’s realistic portrayal of ordinary soldiers before and during a single Civil War battle was originally published in 1894. It has become the model for all subsequent novels about warfare. It was brought to the screen in 1951 by director John Huston, who had a great interest in American history. True to the novel, the film sees the Civil War through the minds and eyes of the ordinary men who fought. Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WW II, stars along with a fine supporting cast, including Bill Mauldin, the famous WWII cartoonist. The film is narrated by actor James Whitmore, a Marine Corps veteran. 

Unfortunately, the studio cut the original film from 120 minutes to 70 because of unfavorable preview reactions. Huston believed that this film was the best he ever made in his long and distinguished career, but the cut footage has been lost. Nevertheless, the remnant is a powerful and moving depiction of ordinary men at war. The final charge, capped as it is by the American flag bearer taking the Confederate from a fallen rebel is extremely moving.  The ensuing conversation between victorious Union soldiers and their defeated captives demonstrates that it was indeed a war between brothers.

When you get right down to it, every war is a civil war.

The film is available on DVD and streaming services. Click on this link for the final seven minutes. 

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