Miracle at St. Anna

[GeraldRice]

I used to not like Spike Lee films. There were often too preachy, rife with stereotypical characters and the endings were too long. I've come to realize with "Malcolm X", "Inside Man" and now "Miracle at St. Anna" it's not Spike Lee the director's fault. It's Spike Lee the writer's fault. Just like with Paul W.S. Anderson, he's a fine director, even brilliant at times (though Spike Lee has a tad bit more talent), but he hasn't the ability to be objective to his own material. "Miracle" is the story of a WWII vet who takes revenge after aboput 40 years. He is a few months away from retirement from the post office when an unassuming old man walks up to his window. Recognition dawns on both men's faces before Hector Negron, the American vet, shoots his customer and is promptly arrested. Joseph Gordon Levitt, the child actor from "Third Rock from the Sun" who didn't grow up all freaky looking and short is a obit reporter trying to find his break. He attaches to the story late and somehow gets Negron to speak where the police couldn't. Negron weaves an intricate tale of the plight of the Buffalo soldier after stating he knows who the Sleeping Man is. Fox Company and George Company are both peopled with negro soldiers. After being torn to pieces the remaining soldiers eventually make their way to an Italian village. A bunch of stuff happens (drama, intrigue, action, etc.) and we come to find out how Negron has come to be in possession of a priceless statue's head in his apartment in 1983. Lee still is heavy-handed on the message, but his storytelling ability really blossoms in this film. And he also touches on something I've never seen in a WWII film. The German's humanity. Sure, the bulk of them are monsters, but even the monsters have a human side and even they pray to a God. I won't give away what I think the miracle is in this film, but you should all be pleasantly surprised with it.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

I used to not like Spike Lee films. There were often too preachy, rife with stereotypical characters and the endings were too long. I've come to realize with "Malcolm X", "Inside Man" and now "Miracle at St. Anna" it's not Spike Lee the director's fault. It's Spike Lee the writer's fault. Just like with Paul W.S. Anderson, he's a fine director, even brilliant at times (though Spike Lee has a tad bit more talent), but he hasn't the ability to be objective to his own material. "Miracle" is the story of a WWII vet who takes revenge after aboput 40 years. He is a few months away from retirement from the post office when an unassuming old man walks up to his window. Recognition dawns on both men's faces before Hector Negron, the American vet, shoots his customer and is promptly arrested. Joseph Gordon Levitt, the child actor from "Third Rock from the Sun" who didn't grow up all freaky looking and short is a obit reporter trying to find his break. He attaches to the story late and somehow gets Negron to speak where the police couldn't. Negron weaves an intricate tale of the plight of the Buffalo soldier after stating he knows who the Sleeping Man is. Fox Company and George Company are both peopled with negro soldiers. After being torn to pieces the remaining soldiers eventually make their way to an Italian village. A bunch of stuff happens (drama, intrigue, action, etc.) and we come to find out how Negron has come to be in possession of a priceless statue's head in his apartment in 1983. Lee still is heavy-handed on the message, but his storytelling ability really blossoms in this film. And he also touches on something I've never seen in a WWII film. The German's humanity. Sure, the bulk of them are monsters, but even the monsters have a human side and even they pray to a God. I won't give away what I think the miracle is in this film, but you should all be pleasantly surprised with it.

Gerald, I gotta ask: after =40= years, are 2 guys gonna =remember=, much less recognize, each other?
Germans in WW2--I'm a first-generation American. All me folks are based in the Old Country, Germany. Now, I don't know if this is a true story, but it's lore among my family.

Onkel Hans was an SS sergeant. (That's Waffen SS, the elite soldiers, not the political SS.) And he found himself, as a guard, on a train bringing Jews from Poland back to the Reich. To be murdered.

His conscience revolted. When the train stopped for water and coal, he took his Mauser pistol and shot the locks off the boxcar doors. "Run! Get off this train! Join the Men of the Forest! Run! This is all I can do for you! RUN!"

That's the story, anyway.

[GeraldRice]

Gerald, I gotta ask: after =40= years, are 2 guys gonna =remember=, much less recognize, each other?
Germans in WW2--I'm a first-generation American. All me folks are based in the Old Country, Germany. Now, I don't know if this is a true story, but it's lore among my family.

Onkel Hans was an SS sergeant. (That's Waffen SS, the elite soldiers, not the political SS.) And he found himself, as a guard, on a train bringing Jews from Poland back to the Reich. To be murdered.

His conscience revolted. When the train stopped for water and coal, he took his Mauser pistol and shot the locks off the boxcar doors. "Run! Get off this train! Join the Men of the Forest! Run! This is all I can do for you! RUN!"

That's the story, anyway.

In Negron's case, yes. But the man he shot, I don't see how he did, unless the man recognized the =look= on his face. Negron did marry, but never had children and his only friends were the guys who died fighting by his side. He didn't care about the head, but one of the other guys did. And he probably had a good idea who

 

his benefactor was before he saw the Italian with the head

.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

In Negron's case, yes. But the man he shot, I don't see how he did, unless the man recognized the =look= on his face. Negron did marry, but never had children and his only friends were the guys who died fighting by his side. He didn't care about the head, but one of the other guys did. And he probably had a good idea who

 

his benefactor was before he saw the Italian with the head

.

That's a big question, ain't it, Gerald? I can see it both ways: when you experience HORROR!--

I remember every second.

I don't recall a thing. 'Cause I wasn't there. And don't tell me I was. I--WAS--NOT--THERE! OK?

[GeraldRice]

That's a big question, ain't it, Gerald? I can see it both ways: when you experience HORROR!--

I remember every second.

I don't recall a thing. 'Cause I wasn't there. And don't tell me I was. I--WAS--NOT--THERE! OK?

I didn't grow up with my parents, but a legal guardian. Her husband was a WW2 vet and POW at that. He passed before I really had any appreciation for what war was. I wish I could have asked him about it.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

I didn't grow up with my parents, but a legal guardian. Her husband was a WW2 vet and POW at that. He passed before I really had any appreciation for what war was. I wish I could have asked him about it.

Hear that, Gerald. I was adopted too. But your legal guardian's husband? A POW in German or Japanese hands? As I understand it, the Germans treated American POWs according to the Geneva Convention. Not because they were sweet guys--see what they did to Russian prisoners of waroh:--but because the Allies held German prisoners too. Churchill made it plain, we will treat your men as you treat ours. The Imperial Japanese were another story. Any Yank, Brit, or Aussie who fell into their hands, by =the nature of their capture=, had lost all honor as a fighting man.

[GeraldRice]

Hear that, Gerald. I was adopted too. But your legal guardian's husband? A POW in German or Japanese hands? As I understand it, the Germans treated American POWs according to the Geneva Convention. Not because they were sweet guys--see what they did to Russian prisoners of waroh:--but because the Allies held German prisoners too. Churchill made it plain, we will treat your men as you treat ours. The Imperial Japanese were another story. Any Yank, Brit, or Aussie who fell into their hands, by =the nature of their capture=, had lost all honor as a fighting man.

If I'm not mistaken, they were captured by the Japanese. But they were only held 3 days or something like that. He told me 20+ years ago- I could be mistaken. I think he got the Purple Heart too.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

If I'm not mistaken, they were captured by the Japanese. But they were only held 3 days or something like that. He told me 20+ years ago- I could be mistaken. I think he got the Purple Heart too.

Very lucky then. Must have been near the end of the war. The beginning? The Bataan Death March? Back when I was 8, living in Greenpoint, a guy, forget his name, used to live in the building, used to hang out on the stoop. He was fucking =ferocious= about the war. His older brother died in the Bataan Death March, and it was the sorrow of the guy's life he wasn't quite old enough to join the Armed Forces before we won the war. His rap was fierce. "Promise me one thing, boys. Promise me you'll always hate the Japs."

[GeraldRice]

Very lucky then. Must have been near the end of the war. The beginning? The Bataan Death March? Back when I was 8, living in Greenpoint, a guy, forget his name, used to live in the building, used to hang out on the stoop. He was fucking =ferocious= about the war. His older brother died in the Bataan Death March, and it was the sorrow of the guy's life he wasn't quite old enough to join the Armed Forces before we won the war. His rap was fierce. "Promise me one thing, boys. Promise me you'll always hate the Japs."

He wasn't like that. Maybe he'd cooled by the 80s, but he pretty much only talked about it when my brother and I asked questions. I wonder if I can find out his unit and all that now?

[Ken Valentine]

He wasn't like that. Maybe he'd cooled by the 80s, but he pretty much only talked about it when my brother and I asked questions. I wonder if I can find out his unit and all that now?

If you know his full name, and what branch of the military he was in, you can probably get his military records from the national archives:

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/mil...e-records.html

Ken V.