Download Saints and Soldiers DIRECTOR RYAN LITTLE

Volume 6, Issue 24
20 February, 2014
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AN INTERVIEW WITH
Saints and
Soldiers DIRECTOR
RYAN LITTLE
Today, I am going to interview Ryan Little, the man behind the
Saints and Soldiers series.
COOP: When you were a student, what war fascinated you
when you in your U.S. History Class?
RYAN: Since I'm from Vancouver, Canada I didn't learn too
much about U.S. History. But my Grandfather was born in
United States and was a WWII veteran. He served as a
communications officer at Pearl Harbor. We would watch
all the classic war films together. I think that is where my
interest in WWII comes from.
COOP: Did your parents or your grandparents serve in the
military?
RYAN: My Grandfather was at Pearl Harbor as a
Communication Officer.
COOP: If your parents or your grandparents served in the
military, did you use them as an inspiration for the Saints and Soldiers Series?
RYAN: My Grandfather was always very open
Years of War
about his experience in the war. Besides
Is written, edited, and designed by students in the Selah
that mostly I would read books and watch
School District, Washington State.
movies on the subject.
To reach us by phone, call (509) 697-0500 ext. 543
Journalism Club Advisor: Mr. Bryan Dibble
COOP: What is so special about the Saints and
By mail at Years of War
Soldiers Series?
411 N. First Street, Selah, WA 98942
Or email: [email protected]
RYAN: All of the Saints films are centered
Have a copy mailed or emailed to you!
around the theme that we have to be
careful how we judge people. That's a big part of what
inspires me to make these films. Also making these films
has been a way for me to say thank-you to all the people
who sacrificed so much for our freedom. I like to remind
people that "The price of Freedom is not free." I love
showing these films to Veterans. I think they appreciate
the effort we have made to honor them.
COOP: What is your favorite movie from the Saints and Soldiers
Series?
RYAN: I love them all. I really do. The first one was really
exciting to make since it was my first film. The second was
great to make because it was so much fun. The latest one
was excited because we had five tanks on set for the
whole film.
COOP: Is the third movie of the Saint and Soldiers Series going
to be released in theaters or is it going to be on DVD?
RYAN: The new Saints and Soldiers film "The Void" will be released in theatres this summer.
Then it will be available on DVD in the fall.
COOP: What was your favorite prop that Mr. Dibble sent you?
RYAN: Bryan sent us a lot of cool props. I would say my favorite are the medical packages he
sent us that have all the cool original packing and writing on them. Very cool
reproductions.
COOP: Do you want Mr. Dibble to make more props for you?
RYAN: Of course! Working with Bryan is great and I hope we continue to get a chance to work
on more projects in the future.
COOP: What is your favorite war movie?
RYAN: I really love "Saving Private Ryan" but "Kelly's Heroes" is awesome too. I know it's not a
WWII movie, but I also love the old TV show "Combat." So much fun to watch.
COOP: Do you like making some war movies like the Saints and
Soldiers Series?
RYAN: I really love making war film. I love honoring Veterans. I
love the cool uniforms and weapons. The armor is great!
COOP: Do you want to make some more war movies in the
future?
RYAN: I am going to take a break from war films for a bit. I have a
Sci-Fi movie I am doing this summer and then in the fall I am
doing a Supernatural thriller. Perhaps another war film after
that.
Ryan told me that, "When I am on a film, there is so little time.”
It was very cool for me to interview a working movie director
who is working in the motion picture business and I appreciated
Ryan taking the time to answer my questions.
World War Two. A time of nothing but fighting and hate. People sitting in
their house, waiting for the call from their sweetheart or father that may never
come. But in this field of death, there is one who risks his life to save the lives
of his comrades. This courageous man is the Combat Medic.
-By Troy Cline
Few people are aware of the personal sacrifices the aid men went through.
They were always on the front line, desperately trying to keep his allies alive.
More than often enough, the medic faced the enemies head-on with no weapons (other than syringes of
medicine).
It all started as an establishment of an Apothecary General during the American Revolution. It was
during the Civil War that the Director of the Army of the Potomac, Jonathan Letterman, saw a need for an
integrated medical treatment and evacuation system. The Letterman plan was first implied in 1862 at the
battle of Antietam, Maryland.
The next major development of the Medical Service Corps occurred in World War I. The U.S. Army
Ambulance Service was established on the 23 of June, 1917 as a descendant of the Ambulance Corps.
Another Corporation that was a temporary component of World War I was the Sanitary Corp. Today, the
Medical Service Corp mirrors the Sanitary Corp. Officers in the Sanitary Corp served in medical logistics,
hospital administration, patient administration, resource management, x-ray, laboratory engineering,
physical reconstruction, gas defense, and venereal disease control.
The main objective of the World War Two combat medic was to get the wounded and injured out of the
front lines. The medic would climb out of the fox-hole to get the patient out of harm’s way. The medic
would try to do everything he could to keep his comrade alive until he reached the hospital tent or
building. Many don’t know that if a wounded soldier was still alive, then he had an excellent chance of
survival. In the camps where the Combat Medic was trained, he was often despised by the soldiers and
called names like “Pill Pushers” or even worse! On the battlefield, however, they were admired and
respected. These Medics are dedicated members of the medical team established to focus on the enemy
threats and not epidemic threats.
There you have it. The people most respected in the American
Army during World War I and II was not the Marines or the Front
Line Soldiers, no. The hero of the War was the Combat Medic.
They may not be the strongest people in the Army, but they are
the reason that you can have such a strong army and can feel the
warmth of your father when he returns home.
Medic!
The Hitler Bomb Plot
th
When Stauffenberg planted the bomb
under the table in the Wolf’s Lair
(Picture to the Left), he left quickly
after. The other officers that were in
the building were blown out the
windows of the lair from the bomb's
detonation. Not everyone that was in
the lair was killed by the explosion.
There were about six out of eleven
(including Hitler) that survived. Hitler
survived the explosion because his feet
were guarded by a plank of wood under
the table. In which the bomb was on the
other side. He was even healthy enough
to attend another meeting that
afternoon. It’s shocking how Hitler
wasn’t killed or if anyone survived the
attack because the bomb destroyed the
entire inside of the structure.
by Connor Anderson
The date was July 20 , 1944. Hitler called a meeting in his “Wolf’s
Lair”, located at Rastenburg in East Prussia. Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg
was meeting with Hitler daily so no suspicions were aroused. Colonel
Stauffenberg was in charge of keeping the briefcase (bomb) in the room with
Hitler, and many other high officers. Hitler called in the meeting because Hitler
knew Germany was going to be defeated by the allies if Germany can’t think of
anything quick. The meeting was also about how they can continue their
conquest and take back the land. High senior officers of Germany's army had a
plan to assassinate Hitler by planting a bomb in the Wolf’s Lair during the
meeting.
The attack began with a plan made up by a group of high-level
German military leaders that recognized that Hitler was leading Germany in a
suicidal war on two fronts. The group of officers believed without Hitler, a new
government in Berlin would save the German empire to defeat by the allies.
The attempt was one of the 17 known attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
The officers that were included in the plan also believed that they themselves
can rule the world and have control of the German/Nazi Empire.
The principal figures in the plot were Ludwig Beck (Former General),
Wilhelm Canaris (Head of Military Intelligence), Heinrich Von Stulpnagel
(Military Governor of France), Friedrich Olbricht (Colonel-General), and Claus Von Stauffenberg (Colonel; Chief of Staff Army
Reserve). Stauffenberg was a career army officer and had served in the polish campaign and the attacks on Western Europe in
1940. So he would be the right man for the job.
The casualties of the failed attempt were high, although there weren’t much people in the Wolf’s Lair. There were
many followers and supporters of the plot, including the senior officers and Stauffenberg. Stauffenberg and all the other
officers that were sentenced to execution were killed by a firing squad. All of the followers and supporters were captured and
arrested and/or executed. Three officers out the five thousand that were, were executed, and one of those was Stauffenberg.
Only one assistant of the five thousand that were, was arrested. Stauffenberg was executed by the firing squad the next day
(July 21st, 1944). He died at the age of 37.
This event in history is very memorial. There were multiple movies made from it. For example, 2008’s “Valkyrie” had
Tom Cruise play as Colonel Stauffenberg. The movie is very specific and almost 100% correct. In history, Stauffenberg was a
victim of a low flying airplane attack. He lost his right forearm, 2 fingers on his left hand, and his right eye. In the movie,
Stauffenberg only has his right eye missing. So although his characteristics aren’t completely correct, the information they put
in the story are.
The Hitler Bomb Plot (20 July Plot) was a historic event during WWII. It is a country against country event.
James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle
by Jacobe Lee
James Doolittle was born here in America, in the state of
California in the city of Alameda. He spent his youth growing up
in Nome, Alaska where he also earned his reputation as a
boxer. By the year of 1910, jimmy was already attending school
in Los Angeles, California. Doolittle saw his very first airplane
when his school attended the 1910 Los Angeles International
Air Meet at Dominguez Field. After he graduated from the
Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, he attended the Los
Angeles City College. He then later won admission to the
University of California, Berkeley, where he then studied at The
School of Mines, which is a term used for many engineering
schools focused on mining engineering and applied science. In
1917, he enlisted to the Signal Corps Reserve as a flying cadet,
flight-trained at the Rockwell Field, California, and ground-trained at the University of
California. On March 11, 1918, he received his RMA and was commissioned to a first
lieutenant in the Signal Officers Reserve Corps.
In James military career, during WWI, he stayed in the United States as a flight
instructor. He had war service at Camp John Dick Aviation Concentration. On May 10, 1921,
he was engineering officer and pilot for an expedition recovering a plane that had forcelanded in a Mexican canyon on February 10. He then found the plane a on May 3 and found it
serviceable. He returned May 8 with a replacement motor and four mechanics. The additional
parts were dropped by air and installed, and Doolittle flew the plane to Del Rio, Texas. He
flew the plane himself. Doolittle was one of
the most famous pilots during the inter-war
period. He flew a de Havilland DH-4 which he
flew in many of the first pioneering flights,
which was also equipped with early
navigational instruments. In 1926, Doolittle
was given a leave of absence to go to South
America to perform demonstration flights. He
broke both of his ankles in Chile, with his
ankles in casts; he performed aerial
maneuvers with his ankles in casts. He returned to
the United States, and was confined to the Walter
Reed Army Hospital for his injuries until April 1927,
then assigned to McCook Field for experimental
work, with additional duty as an instructor pilot to the
385th Bomb Squadron of the Air Corps
Reserve. He was the first to perform an outside
loop, which was first thought of to be a deadly
maneuver. Doolittle performed the dive from 10,000
feet, and reached 280 miles per hour.
In the middle of Doolittle’s military career, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on
January 2, 1942, and was assigned to Army Air Forces to plan the first air raid on the
Japanese homeland. He received approval from General H.H. Arnolds to lead the top-secret
attack of 16 B-25 medium bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet with targets in Tokyo,
Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya. On April 18, all the bombers successfully took off from
the Hornet, reached Japan, and bombed their targets. Fifteen of their own planes from the
bombing then headed for China to the recovery airfield. In July 1942, as a Brigadier General–
he had been promoted by two grades on the day after the Tokyo attack, by-passing the rank
of full colonel. In September Doolittle became commanding general of the Twelfth Air Force ,
soon to be operating in North Africa. He was promoted to Major General in November 1942,
and in March 1943 became commanding general of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force.
He took command of the Fifteenth Air Force in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in
November, 1943.
During the Postwar, In 1947, Doolittle also became the first president of the Air Force
Association, an organization which he helped create. In 1972, Doolittle received the Tony
Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation, in recognition of the
development of instrument flight. On April 4, 1985, the U.S. Congress promoted Doolittle to
the rank of full General on the Air Force retired list.
James Doolittle married Josephine Daniels
on December 24, 1917. The Doolittle’s had two
sons, James Jr., and John. Both became military
aviators. James Jr. was a A-26 invader pilot during
WW||, and committed suicide in 1958. James Jr.
was a Major and commander. His other son, John
P. Doolittle, retired from the Air Force as a
Colonel, and his grandson, Colonel James H.
Doolittle, III, was the vice commander of the Air
Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force
Base, California. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle died
at the age of 96, on Sep. 27, 1993. And is buried
next to his wife, near Washington D.C. In his
honor at the funeral, there was also a flyover of
Miss Mitchell, a lone B-25 Mitchell, and USAF
Eighth Air Force bombers from Barksdale Air
Force Base, Louisiana. After a brief graveside
service, Doolittle's great-grandson played Taps
flawlessly.
THE WILLY’S JEEP by Nic Lydin
The WWII jeep was made from 1942 to 1945 the U.S. military decided to command a light
reconnaissance vehicle. The Willys jeep only weighed 3650 pounds. The American Bantam Car Company, Ford,
and Willys made jeep proto types for the military. With a 60 horse power engine and 105 foot-pounds of
torque it not only passed the military’s requirements, it dwarfed the bantam’s 83 feet pounds and Fords 85
feet pounds of torque, they were the only other competitors were for the military contract.
The Willys jeep had a range of 285 miles and a 15 gallon fuel capacity. They had a maximum speed of
65 mph. The Willy’s had a “Go Devil” engine witch was a 4-134 L Head Motor. It was called the L head because
the exhaust and the intake were inside the block. Most automobiles have valves in the head. The MB used a
different carburetor than the civilian models. The L-Head engine
uses a cast iron block and cylinder head with 3 main bearings and
mechanical filters.
One of the DOD specifications required the vehicles to be
able to drive under an object that was 3 feet high.
The Willy’s jeep was widely used from being a scout vehicle
to a heavily armed fighting machine. The military added armor to
the jeeps and added mounts so that they can add a bazooka or two
or a machine gun. The military also made a fording kit for them.
World War II by KayLee Bellotti
World War II started on September 1, 1939, all though some say it started before. It was a global
war that lasted 6 years (1939-1945). The United States didn’t enter the war till December 7, 1941 when
Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan. World War II consisted of 100 million people from 30 countries. This
was total war. So far in human history this is the deadliest conflict with 50 million to 85 million fatalities.
Out of all causes of World War II, the desire and ability of Adolf Hitler, in control of Nazi Germany, to
dominate Europe and gain control especially of the agrarian
resources to the east of Germany was the primary one. Hitler
was allied with Japan, which wanted to dominate Asia, and
including a large part of China and Italy. By 1939, Hitler had
already taken over Austria and Czechoslovakia. Hitler thought
Britain and France were bluffing when they warned to declare
war if Hitler attacked Poland, and signed the agreement with
the Soviet Union anyways (Wikipedia-Causes of War).
Hitler wasn’t only trying to conquer places in Europe/Asia
but he was also eliminating the Jewish. He killed two thirds of
the 9 million Jews in the Holocaust. Over one million being
children, approximately two million being woman, and three
million being men. Being sent to over 40,000 facilities in
German and German-occupied territory were used to
concentrate, hold, and kill Jews and other victims.(Wikipedia: The Holocaust)
Before the United States entered the war there was all of these
other battles going on. July 10, 1940-October 31,1940 the air war
known as the Battle of Britain ended in defeat. July 10, 1940 is when
Italy entered the war then invaded southern france 11 days later (July
21,1940). Japan bomb Pearl harbor on December 7,1941 then a day
later we declared war on Japan. Then Nazi Germany and axis
partners declared war on the US on December 11-13, 1941. British
troops defeated the Germans on October 23-24, 1942 at El Alamein
in Egypt. September 2, 1945 Japan finally surrenders ending World
War II.(United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)