While many people consider Memorial Day a three-day kickoff to summer, soldiers and their families in Washington will celebrate its true meaning: The commemoration of those American military members who sacrificed their lives in service of their country.
The nation’s capital will be the site of the national parade, a motorcycle rally and a war-movie festival.
Brandon Millett and his wife, Laura Law-Millet, came up with the idea for the GI Film Festival after reading a column in The Los Angeles Times titled “I Don’t Support Our Troops.”
The couple said the media’s portrayal of soldiers frustrated them, and they considered a film festival as a way to foster a positive public image of service men and women.
Millet, a public relations specialist with several nonprofits, ran the idea by friends in Hollywood, and Law-Millet, a West Point graduate and major in the Army Reserves, checked with her military connections.
“We struck a chord,” Millett said.
The festival will screen 22 films, including 19 new movies, and will feature discussions with “Gettysburg” director Ron Maxwell, “The Great Raid” director John Dahl and “Apocalypse Now” screenwriter John Milius.
Other panelists include Marine Corps veteran R. Lee Ermey, of “Full Metal Jacket” and the History Channel’s “Mail Call,” and Emmy Award-winning actor Gary Sinise. Sinise will screen “Forrest Gump,” a film for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of disabled veteran Lt. Dan Taylor.
Thousands of motorcyclists will cruise into town as part of Rolling Thunder, an annual demonstration to help prisoner of war issues.
The National Memorial Day Parade features Frank Buckles, one of the last living World War I veterans, as its grand marshal.
Other parade participants include the Tuskegee Airmen, the first unit of black fighter pilots during World War II, and the veterans of the “Band of Brothers,” the E Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry, made famous by the Stephen Ambrose book and the HBO miniseries co-produced by Oscar-winners Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
The parade begins at 2 p.m. Monday at Fifth Avenue NW and Constitution Avenue.
