I had seen the films out of World War II, the great 82nd Airborne, the 101st, and all of those of you in the greatest generation and the service that you had provided.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
After the war, in which I served as a pilot in the Air Force, I took up films.
During the war, I saw many films that made me fall in love with the cinema.
Then when I went to Iraq and saw the strength and character the men and women in our military service exhibit every day and their belief in what they're doing, I knew I wanted to get that on film and share it with everyone. They are my inspiration.
Ten years ago I was not heavily involved in the film world but on reflection it was a boom time with the mineral boom happening, so there was immense growth for industrial training films, documentaries to do with the mining, and the outback world.
I remember my first taste of American big movies was 'Ghost Rider.' I'm in two little scenes. But for those two little scenes they had 400 extras, upside-down stunt cars, and a fire brigade.
The next thing I knew, I was out of the service and making movies again. My first picture was called, GI Blues. I thought I was still in the army.
By my count, of the more than 600 English-language World War II movies made since 1940, only four have even acknowledged the humanity of the soldiers of Nippon. There may be a few I've missed, but not many.
I did this film with Russell Crowe called 'The Water Diviner,' which took place just after WWI. It was fascinating because the weapons between WWI and WII were very different. I had to learn how to ride horses in a battle setting. It was important that we rode a certain way.
A military childhood in the 1950s was very much informed by WWII. My brothers and I often heard stories from our dad - and from other kids - about things that had happened to their dads. We constantly played war games and, nearly every Saturday, saw a different WWII movie at the post theater.
It's always been my dream to be in a war film.
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