1.
Steven Spielberg
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Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE, OMRI is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the pioneers of the New Hollywood era. He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks Studios, in a career spanning more than four decades, Spielbergs films have spanned many themes and genres. His other films include Jurassic Park, A. I, artificial Intelligence, and War of the Worlds. Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindlers List and Saving Private Ryan, three of Spielbergs films—Jaws, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park—achieved box office records, originated and came to epitomize the blockbuster film. The unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $9 billion worldwide and his personal net worth is estimated to be more than $3 billion. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to an Orthodox Jewish family and his mother, Leah Posner, was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg, was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers. His paternal grandparents were immigrants from Ukraine who settled in Cincinnati in the first decade of the 1900s, in 1950, his family moved to Haddon Township, New Jersey when his father took a job with RCA. Three years later, the moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Spielberg attended Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957, in classes taught by Rabbi Albert L. Lewis, as a child, Spielberg faced difficulty reconciling being an Orthodox Jew with the perception of him by other children he played with. It isnt something I enjoy admitting, he said, but when I was seven, eight, nine years old, God forgive me. I was embarrassed by the perception of my parents Jewish practices. I was never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times, Spielberg also said he suffered from acts of anti-Semitic prejudice and bullying, In high school, I got smacked and kicked around. His first home movie was of a wreck involving his toy Lionel trains. Throughout his early teens, and after entering school, Spielberg continued to make amateur 8 mm adventure films. In 1958, he became a Boy Scout and fulfilled a requirement for the merit badge by making a nine-minute 8 mm film entitled The Last Gunfight. Years later, Spielberg recalled to an interviewer, My dads still-camera was broken. He said yes, and I got an idea to do a Western, I made it and got my merit badge
2.
Ian Bryce
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Ian Bryce is a Welsh film producer. Starting as an assistant on Return of the Jedi, he is now an award-winning film producer. He now lives with his two children, Alex and Mac, and his wife Taylor, Bryce has won and been nominated for many awards, including multiple Golden Globes, Academy Awards and BAFTA nominations for his work as a producer. For Steven Spielbergs World War II drama Saving Private Ryan, he won a Golden Globe Award and nominations from the Academy Awards, the film was one of the top-grossing films of 1998. Almost Famous, another Bryce production, received a BAFTA Best Film award in 2000, Bryce produced all the films of the Transformers series, one of the biggest movie franchises in recent years
3.
Tom Hanks
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Thomas Jeffrey Hanks is an American actor and filmmaker. Hanks films have grossed more than $4.5 billion at U. S. and Canadian box offices and more than $9.0 billion worldwide, Hanks has been nominated for numerous awards during his career. In 2004, he received the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In 2014, he received a Kennedy Center Honor and, in 2016, he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, in 2010, Spielberg and Hanks were executive producers on the HBO miniseries The Pacific. Hanks was born in Concord, California, the son of Janet Marylyn, a worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks. His mother was of Portuguese descent, while his father had English ancestry. The familys three oldest children, Sandra, Larry and Tom, went with their father, while the youngest, Jim, in his childhood, his family moved often. By the age of ten, Hanks had lived in ten different houses, while Hanks family religious history was Catholic and Mormon, he has characterized himself as being a Bible-toting evangelical for several years as a teenager. In school, Hanks was unpopular with students and teachers alike, later telling Rolling Stone magazine, I was a geek, I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy whod yell out funny captions during filmstrips, but I didnt get into trouble. I was always a good kid and pretty responsible. In 1965, his father married Frances Wong, a San Francisco native of Chinese descent, Frances had three children, two of whom lived with Hanks during his high school years. Hanks acted in plays, including South Pacific, while attending Skyline High School in Oakland. Hanks studied theater at Chabot College in Hayward, California, and transferred to California State University, Sacramento, Hanks told New York magazine in 1986, Acting classes looked like the best place for a guy who liked to make a lot of noise and be rather flamboyant. I spent a lot of going to plays. I wouldnt take dates with me, id just drive to a theater, buy myself a ticket, sit in the seat and read the program, and then get into the play completely. I spent a lot of time like that, seeing Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Ibsen, during his years studying theater, Hanks met Vincent Dowling, head of the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. At Dowlings suggestion, Hanks became an intern at the festival and his internship stretched into a three-year experience that covered most aspects of theater production, including lighting, set design, and stage management, prompting Hanks to drop out of college
4.
Edward Burns
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Burns directed movies such as The Brothers McMullen, Shes the One, Sidewalks of New York, Purple Violets, and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas. He also starred as Bugsy Siegel in the TNT crime drama series Mob City, Burns was born in Woodside, Queens, New York, the son of Molly, a federal agency manager, and Edward J. Burns, a public relations spokesman and police officer. He was raised a Roman Catholic, Burns is the second of three children in a family of Irish, and a small amount of Swedish, descent. He was raised in Valley Stream, New York, on Long Island and he briefly attended Chaminade High School before transferring to Hewlett High School. After high school, Burns attended, from 1987 to 1992, SUNY Oneonta, University at Albany, Burns got his start in the film industry right after college as a production assistant on the Oliver Stone film, The Doors. Once he completed the film, he was able to get a copy to Robert Redford after an ET junket interview for Quiz Show at the Rhiga Royal Hotel in Manhattan. In 1996, Burns wrote, directed and starred in the ensemble drama Shes The One with Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz and Amanda Peet, Burns is also known for his acting work on movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Life or Something Like It, and Confidence. Looking for Kitty, which Burns wrote, directed and starred in, was shot with a hand-held $3,000 digital Panasonic AG-DVX100 camera with a Mini35 adapter. The films entire budget was $200,000 and was filmed in New York City with a tiny crew and his film Purple Violets premiered exclusively on iTunes on November 20,2007. Burns began a string of guest appearances on the HBO original series Entourage midway through season 3, in Entourage Burns plays himself and is writing a new TV series in which Johnny Drama is able to land a part. In 2007, Burns announced plans to partner with Virgin Comics to create a series entitled Dock Walloper, Burns plans to use the comic series as a springboard to a film of the same story. In March 2009, The Lynch Pin, a series of starring, written. The ten episodes are available to view online as of August 2009. With the modest success of Purple Violets, Burns was considering taking a studio directing assignment to make money, after reading a few scripts and taking a few meetings, he chose to remain a writer/director. He then wrote Nice Guy Johnny and shot it quickly, on the RED One camera, Nice Guy Johnny premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010. To coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival in 2011, Burns wrote a movie, following a model similar to Nice Guy Johnny, Newlyweds was shot on the Canon 5D, with an even smaller crew, for $9000 in 12 days. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2011 as the closing night film and he claimed on Twitter that the $9,000 budget broke out to 5k for actors, 2k insurance, 2k food and drink. In 2013 Burns starred as real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel in Frank Darabonts miniseries, in 2012, Burns set up a screenwriting contest with the web startup Scripped for a crowdsourced screenplay which he intended to help get produced
5.
Matt Damon
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Matthew Paige Damon is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He is ranked among Forbes magazines most bankable stars and is one of the actors of all time. Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Damon began his career by appearing in high school theater productions. Damon is also known for his roles as Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise. The latter also won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, Damon has received Emmy Award nominations for his portrayal of Scott Thorson in the biopic Behind the Candelabra and for producing the reality series Project Greenlight. He also received an Oscar nomination for producing Manchester by the Sea, in addition to acting in films, Damon has performed voice-over work in both animated and documentary films and has established two production companies with Affleck. He has been involved in charitable work, including the ONE Campaign, H2O Africa Foundation, Feeding America. Damon is married to Luciana Bozán Barroso, and they have three daughters together, Damon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second son of Kent Telfer Damon, a stockbroker, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, an early childhood education professor at Lesley University. His father has English and Scottish ancestry, and his mother is of five-eighths Finnish, Damon and his family moved to Newton for two years. His parents divorced when he was two old, and Damon and his brother returned with their mother to Cambridge, where they lived in a six-family communal house. His brother Kyle is now a sculptor and artist. As a lonely teenager, Damon has said that he felt that he did not belong, due to his mothers by the book approach to child-rearing, he had a hard time defining a self identity. He attended Cambridge Alternative School and then Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Damon performed as an actor in several high school theater productions. He credited his drama teacher, Gerry Speca, as an important artistic influence, though Ben Affleck, his friend and schoolmate, got the biggest roles. While at Harvard, he wrote a treatment of the screenplay for Good Will Hunting as an exercise for an English class. Damon was a member of the Delphic Club, one of the Universitys select Final Clubs, in 2013, he was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal. Damon received an Academy Award for the screenplay of Good Will Hunting in 1998, which was handed to him by Harvard alumnus Jack Lemmon, Damon entered Harvard in 1988, where he appeared in student theater plays, such as Burn This and A. Later, he made his debut at the age of 18
6.
Tom Sizemore
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Thomas Edward Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. Sizemore was born in Detroit, Michigan and his mother, Judith, was a member of the city of Detroit ombudsman staff, and his father, Thomas Edward Sizemore, Sr. was a lawyer and philosophy professor. Sizemore has stated that his grandfather was of French and Native American ancestry. He has three brothers, Charlie, Aaron, and Paul, and a sister, Katherine, Paul Sizemore is also an actor. He attended Michigan State University for one year, as well as Wayne State University, Sizemore earned a masters degree in theatre from Temple University in 1986. He subsequently moved to New York City to pursue an acting career, one of Sizemores earliest film appearances was in Oliver Stones Born on the Fourth of July in 1989. Other early roles included Lock Up, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Point Break, True Romance, Heart and Souls, Natural Born Killers, Sizemore starred in the independent drama film Love Is Like That with actress and model Pamela Gidley. He had a role in Kevin Costners Wyatt Earp as Bat Masterson. A succession of well-received supporting parts followed by, perhaps the most well known being his portrayal of Michael Cheritto as a robber in the heist film Heat. Sizemores first major leading role was as Vincent DAgosta in The Relic, Sizemore had a recurring role on the television series China Beach as an enlisted man named Vinnie who was in love with Dana Delanys character. Sizemore continued to play leading and character parts in films, notably Devil in a Blue Dress, Saving Private Ryan, Bringing Out the Dead. In the early 2000s, Sizemore appeared in films such as Pearl Harbor, starring Ben Affleck. He had a role as Sonny Forelli in the video game Grand Theft Auto. In 2001, Sizemore starred in Ticker, a film directed by Albert Pyun, with Steven Seagal. In 2002, Sizemore starred in the well-reviewed but short-lived television drama series Robbery Homicide Division and it was cancelled midway through its first season. He played a cop in the film Swindle opposite Sherilyn Fenn. In 2004, he starred in Paparazzi, in 2006, he starred in The Genius Club, playing a terrorist who taunts seven geniuses into solving the worlds problems in one night. That same year, he had a role in the action/thriller film Splinter with Edward James Olmos
7.
John Williams
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John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, Jurassic Park, Schindlers List, Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but two of his feature films. Williams has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, with 50 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney. In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams score to 1977s Star Wars as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to Star Wars was additionally preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry, for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowls Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, Williams composed the score for eight movies in the Top 20 highest-grossing films at the U. S. box office. John Towner Williams was born on February 8,1932 in Floral Park, New York, the son of Esther and Johnny Williams, Williams has said of his lineage, My father was a Maine man—we were very close. My fathers parents ran a department store in Bangor, Maine, people with those roots are not inclined to be lazy. In 1948, the Williams family moved to Los Angeles where John attended North Hollywood High School graduating in 1950 and he later attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and studied privately with the Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Williams had originally briefly attended Los Angeles City College for one semester as the school had a Studio Jazz Band. In 1952, Williams was drafted into the U. S. Air Force, in 1955, following his Air Force service, Williams moved to New York City and entered The Juilliard School where he studied piano with Rosina Lhévinne. During this time Williams worked as a jazz pianist in the many jazz clubs. After moving to Los Angeles he began working as a session musician, Williams has two brothers, Donald and Jerry, both of whom work as percussionists in Los Angeles. After his studies at Juilliard, and the Eastman School of Music, Williams returned to Los Angeles, among other composers, Williams worked with Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, and Alfred Newman, and also with his fellow orchestrators Conrad Salinger and Bob Franklyn. Williams was also a studio pianist, performing on film scores by composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, Williams recorded with Henry Mancini the film scores of 1959s Peter Gunn, 1962s Days of Wine and Roses, and 1963s Charade. Williamss first film composition was for the 1958 B movie Daddy-O and he soon gained notice in Hollywood for his versatility in composing jazz, piano, and symphonic music. Williams received his first Academy Award nomination for his score for 1967s Valley of the Dolls. Williams broke through to win his first Academy Award for his score in the 1971 film Fiddler on the Roof
8.
Amblin Entertainment
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Amblin Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1981. The companys headquarters are located on the backlot of Universal Studios in Universal City, Amblin is named after Spielbergs first commercially released film, Amblin, a short independent film about a man and woman hitchhiking through the desert. The film, which cost $15,000 to produce, was shown for Universal Studios, although Amblin is an independent production company, Universal distributes many Amblin productions, and Amblin operates out of a building on the Universal lot. Its logo features the silhouette of E. T. riding in the basket on Elliotts bicycle flying in front of the moon from the 1982 movie, J. Abrams, The Coen Brothers, and Simon Wells. Most of these directors are close friends of Spielberg, who has a producer or producer credit on many. Amblins most critically acclaimed production is Schindlers List, which was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning seven, a companion study guide for it, Facing History, was prepared through a grant from Amblin and Universal. Amblins television series credits include Amazing Stories, Tiny Toon Adventures, seaQuest DSV, Animaniacs, Earth 2, Pinky and the Brain, ER, Freakazoid. Back to the Future, Family Dog, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, Fievels American Tails, The Land Before Time and Men in Black, the animated title Fievels American Tails and others were produced by Amblins animation division Amblimation, which was active from 1991 until 1995. Another studio which has distributed many Amblin productions is Warner Bros, dreamWorks has distributed a number of Amblin productions since 1994. Asterisked films indicate that Steven Spielberg is uncredited or uninvolved, back to the Future, The Ride, a simulator ride at Universal Studios Japan. Also existed at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood, gremlins Invasion, a ride at Warner Bros. Jurassic Park, The Ride, a ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. Men in Black, Alien Attack, a ride at Universal Studios Florida. Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin, a ride in Mickeys Toontown. Twister. Ride it Out, a ride at Universal Studios Florida. E. T. Adventure, a ride at Universal Studios Florida. Also existed at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan, Amblin Entertainment at the Internet Movie Database
9.
DreamWorks
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DreamWorks Pictures is an American film production label of Amblin Partners. It was formerly distributing its own and third-party films by itself and it has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each. As of October 2016, DreamWorks films are marketed and distributed by Universal Pictures, DreamWorks began in 1994 as an attempt by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to create a new Hollywood studio of which they owned 72%. Currently, DreamWorks operates out of offices at Universal Studios, in December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to Viacom, parent of Paramount Pictures. The sale was completed in February 2006, in 2008, DreamWorks announced its intention to end its partnership with Paramount and signed a $1.5 billion deal to produce films with Indias Reliance ADA Group. Reliance provided $325M of equity to fund recreating DreamWorks SKG into DreamWorks Studios, after the formation of Amblin Partners in 2015, the studio entered into a distribution agreement with Universal Pictures. DreamWorks animation arm was spun off in 2004 into DreamWorks Animation SKG, which owns the DreamWorks trademarks. Spielbergs company continues to use the DreamWorks trademarks under license from Universal Studios, the original company was founded following Katzenbergs resignation from The Walt Disney Company in 1994. Katzenberg approached Spielberg and Geffen about forming a live-action and animation film studio, which had not been done in decades due to the risk and expense. They agreed on three conditions, They would make fewer than nine movies a year, they would be free to work for other studios if they chose, and they would go home in time for dinner. They officially founded DreamWorks SKG in October 1994, with backing of $33 million from each of the three partners and $500 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Their new studio was based at offices in the Universal Studios lot, despite access to sound stages and sets, DreamWorks preferred to film motion pictures on location. Usually, the company would film in a soundstage or set in a major studio, as of 2016, DreamWorks is still based in Universal. In 1995, traditional animation artists from Amblimation joined the new studio, which led to DreamWorks buying part of Pacific Data Images, both were software divisions, and would merge later on. For then, DreamWorks had the traditional animators working for their animation department. These films were distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, the same year, PDI/DreamWorks produced its first full-length animated features, Antz and The Prince of Egypt, which were also distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. DreamWorks SKG continued to distribute PDI/DreamWorks productions through their name until 2004. In 2000, DreamWorks was planning in building a studio backlot after buying 1,087 acres of land in the Playa Vista area in Los Angeles and it was to be complete with 18 sound stages, with many office buildings and a lake
10.
Paramount Pictures
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Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film studio based in Hollywood, California, that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor contracted 22 actors and actresses and these fortunate few would become the first movie stars. Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving studio in the world after the French studios Gaumont Film Company and Pathé, followed by the Nordisk Film company. It is the last major film studio headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company, hungarian-born founder, Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time. By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success and its first film was Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, which starred Sarah Bernhardt. That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, the Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first feature film. Hodkinson and actor, director, producer Hobart Bosworth had started production of a series of Jack London movies, Paramount was the first successful nationwide distributor, until this time, films were sold on a statewide or regional basis which had proved costly to film producers. Also, Famous Players and Lasky were privately owned while Paramount was a corporation, in 1916, Zukor maneuvered a three-way merger of his Famous Players, the Lasky Company, and Paramount. Zukor and Lasky bought Hodkinson out of Paramount, and merged the three companies into one, with only the exhibitor-owned First National as a rival, Famous Players-Lasky and its Paramount Pictures soon dominated the business. It was this system that gave Paramount a leading position in the 1920s and 1930s, the driving force behind Paramounts rise was Zukor. In 1926, Zukor hired independent producer B. P. Schulberg and they purchased the Robert Brunton Studios, a 26-acre facility at 5451 Marathon Street for US$1 million. In 1927, Famous Players-Lasky took the name Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, three years later, because of the importance of the Publix Theatres, it became Paramount Publix Corporation. In 1928, Paramount began releasing Inkwell Imps, animated cartoons produced by Max, the Fleischers, veterans in the animation industry, were among the few animation producers capable of challenging the prominence of Walt Disney. The Paramount newsreel series Paramount News ran from 1927 to 1957, Paramount was also one of the first Hollywood studios to release what were known at that time as talkies, and in 1929, released their first musical, Innocents of Paris
11.
Epic film
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Epic film is a style of filmmaking with large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The usage of the term has shifted over time, sometimes designating a film genre, like epics in the classical literary sense it is often focused on a heroic character. An epics ambitious nature helps to set it apart from other types of such as the period piece or adventure film. The most common subjects of epic films are royalty, and important figures from various periods in world history, the term epic originally came from the poetic genre exemplified by such works as the Iliad, Epic of Gilgamesh, or the Odyssey. In classical literature, epics are considered works focused on deeds or journeys of heroes upon which the fate of a number of people depend. Similarly, films described as epic typically take a historical character, common subjects of epics are royalty, gladiators, great military leaders, or leading personalities from various periods in world history. Such films usually have a setting, although fantasy or science fiction settings have become common in recent decades. The central conflict of the film is seen as having far-reaching effects. The main characters actions are often central to the resolution of the societal conflict, in its classification of films by genre, the American Film Institute limits the genre to historical films such as Ben-Hur. However, film scholars such as Constantine Santas are willing to extend the label to science-fiction films such as 2001, A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. Stylistically, films classed as epic usually employ spectacular settings and specially designed costumes, often accompanied by a musical score. Epics are usually among the most expensive of films to produce and they often use on-location filming, authentic period costumes, and action scenes on a massive scale. Biographical films may be less lavish versions of this genre, many writers may refer to any film that is long as an epic, making the definition epic a matter of dispute, and raise questions as to whether it is a genre at all. As Roger Ebert put it, in his Great Movies article on Lawrence of Arabia, what you realize watching Lawrence of Arabia is that the word epic refers not to the cost or the elaborate production, but to the size of the ideas and vision. Werner Herzogs Aguirre, The Wrath of God didnt cost as much as the catering in Pearl Harbor, but it is an epic, the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail had the joking tagline Makes Ben Hur look like an epic. This boom period of international co-productions is generally considered to have ended with Cleopatra, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Epic films continue to be produced, although since the development of CGI they typically use computer effects instead of an actual cast of thousands. Since the 1950s, such films have regularly been shot with an aspect ratio for a more immersive. Epic films were recognized in a montage at the 2006 Academy Awards, War epics are generally focused on specific battles in a war, P. O. W camps or the personal consequences of living in an invaded/occupied country
12.
War film
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War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war films often end with them, themes explored include combat, survival and escape, sacrifice, the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and the moral and human issues raised by war. War films are categorized by their milieu, such as the Korean War. The stories told may be fiction, historical drama, or biographical, critics have noted similarities between the Western and the war film. Subgenres, not necessarily distinct, include anti-war, comedy, animated, propaganda, the war film genre is not necessarily tightly defined, the American Film Institute, for example, speaks of films to grapple with the Great War without attempting to classify these. However, some directors and critics have offered at least tentative definitions, the director Sam Fuller defined the genre by saying that a war film’s objective, no matter how personal or emotional, is to make a viewer feel war. However, Neale notes, films set in the American Civil War or the American Indian Wars of the 19th century were called war films in the time before the First World War, the film scholar Kathryn Kane points out some similarities between the war film genre and the Western. Both genres use opposing concepts like war and peace, civilization, james Clarke notes the similarity between a Western like Sam Peckinpahs The Wild Bunch and war-movie escapades like The Dirty Dozen. They take place in the combat zones of World War II, against the established enemies, on the ground. They contain many repeated events, such as mail call, all presented visually with appropriate uniforms, equipment and she argues that the combat film is not a subgenre but the only genuine kind of war film. This in turn pushes combat scenes to the ends of war films. Not all critics agree, either, that war films must be about 20th century wars, the costliest war in U. S. history in terms of American life, this war has been the subject of, or the backdrop to, numerous films, documentaries and mini-series. One of the earliest films using the Civil War as its subject was D. W. Griffiths 1910 silent picture, The Fugitive. Some films such as Gettysburg focused on a battle during the war, or even on a single incident, like the French short film. Others like the 1993 miniseries North and South spanned the entire breadth of the war, some films deal with the human aspects of the war, such as The Red Badge of Courage, or Shenandoah, on the tragedy that the war inflicted on the civilian population. Ken Burnss The Civil War is the most watched documentary in the history of PBS, the first war films come from the Spanish–American War of 1898. Short actualities – documentary film-clips – included Burial of the Maine Victims, Blanket-Tossing of a New Recruit and these non-combat films were accompanied by reenactments of fighting, such as of Theodore Roosevelts Rough Riders in action against the Spanish, staged in the United States
13.
Invasion of Normandy
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The Western Allies of World War II launched the largest amphibious invasion in history when they assaulted Normandy, located on the northern coast of France, on 6 June 1944. The invaders were able to establish a beachhead as part of Operation Overlord after a successful D-Day, Allied land forces came from the United States, Britain, Canada, and Free French forces. The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks, the invasion began and during the evening the remaining elements of the airborne divisions landed. Land forces used on D-Day sailed from bases along the south coast of England, Allied forces rehearsed their D-Day roles for months before the invasion. On 28 April 1944, in south Devon on the English coast,749 U. S. soldiers and sailors were killed when German torpedo boats surprised one of these landing exercises, Exercise Tiger. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allied forces conducted an operation, Operation Fortitude, aimed at misleading the Germans with respect to the date. There were several leaks prior to or on D-Day, through the Cicero affair, the Germans obtained documents containing references to Overlord, but these documents lacked all detail. Double Cross agents, such as the Spaniard Juan Pujol, played an important role in convincing the German High Command that Normandy was at best a diversionary attack. After being told, Eisenhower reduced Miller to lieutenant colonel and sent him back to the U. S. where he retired, another such leak was General Charles de Gaulles radio message after D-Day. He, unlike all the leaders, stated that this invasion was the real invasion. This had the potential to ruin the Allied deceptions Fortitude North, in contrast, Gen. Eisenhower referred to the landings as the initial invasion. A full moon occurred on 6 June, Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. The weather was fine during most of May, but deteriorated in early June, the Allied troop convoys already at sea were forced to take shelter in bays and inlets on the south coast of Britain for the night. It seemed possible that everything would have to be cancelled and the returned to their embarkation camps. The next full moon period would be nearly a month away, at a vital meeting on 5 June, Eisenhowers chief meteorologist forecast a brief improvement for 6 June. Commander of all forces for the invasion General Bernard Montgomery. Commander of the Allied Air Forces Air Chief Marshal Leigh Mallory was doubtful, on the strength of Staggs forecast, Eisenhower ordered the invasion to proceed. As a result, prevailing overcast skies limited Allied air support, some troops stood down and many senior officers were away for the weekend
14.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Omaha Beach
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Omaha Beach was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II. On D-Day, the untested 29th Infantry Division, along with nine companies of U. S. Army Rangers redirected from Pointe du Hoc, were to assault the western half of the beach, the battle-hardened 1st Infantry Division was given the eastern half. The initial assault waves, consisting of tanks, infantry, and combat forces, were carefully planned to reduce the coastal defenses. Opposing the landings was the German 352nd Infantry Division, of the 12,020 men of the division,6,800 were experienced combat troops, detailed to defend a 53-kilometer front. The Germans were largely deployed in strongpoints along the coast—the German strategy was based on defeating any seaborne assault at the water line, very little went as planned during the landing at Omaha. Difficulties in navigation caused the majority of landing craft to miss their targets throughout the day, the defenses were unexpectedly strong, and inflicted heavy casualties on landing U. S. troops. Under heavy fire, the engineers struggled to clear the beach obstacles, weakened by the casualties taken just in landing, the surviving assault troops could not clear the heavily defended exits off the beach. This caused further problems and consequent delays for later landings, small penetrations were eventually achieved by groups of survivors making improvised assaults, scaling the bluffs between the most heavily defended points. Omaha was bounded at either end by large rocky cliffs, the crescent-shaped beach presented a gently sloping tidal area averaging 300 m between low and high-water marks. Above the tide line was a bank of shingle 2.5 m high, at the western end, the shingle bank rested against a stone sea wall which ranged from 1. 5–4 m in height. For the remaining two thirds of the beach after the seawall ended, the shingle lay against a low sand embankment, the German defensive preparations and the lack of any defense in depth indicated that their plan was to stop the invasion at the beaches. Four lines of obstacles were constructed in the intertidal zone,30 meters behind these was a continuous line of logs driven into the sand pointing seaward, every third one capped with an anti-tank mine. The final line of obstacles was a line of hedgehogs 150 meters from the shoreline. The area between the bank and the bluffs was both wired and mined, and mines were also scattered on the bluff slopes. Positions within each strongpoint were interconnected by trenches and tunnels, as well as the basic weaponry of rifles and machine guns, more than 60 light artillery pieces were deployed at these strongpoints. The heaviest pieces were located in eight gun casemates and four open positions while the guns were housed in 35 pillboxes. A further 18 anti-tank guns completed the disposition of artillery targeting the beach, areas between the strongpoints were lightly manned with occasional trenches, rifle pits, and 85 machine-gun emplacements. No area of the beach was left uncovered, and the disposition of weapons meant that flanking fire could be brought to bear anywhere along the beach, Allied intelligence had identified the coastal defenders as a reinforced battalion of the 716th Infantry Division
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Normandy landings
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The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday,6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, planning for the operation began in 1943. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces, the amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06,30, the target 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their positions, particularly at Utah. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs, at Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialised tanks. The Allies failed to any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead, museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year. Between 27 May and 4 June 1940, over 338,000 troops of the British Expeditionary Force, after the German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his allies for the creation of a second front in western Europe. In late May 1942 the Soviet Union and the United States made a joint announcement that a. full understanding was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a front in Europe in 1942. Instead of a return to France, the Western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. By mid-1943 the campaign in North Africa had been won, the Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently invaded Italy in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Initial planning was constrained by the number of landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the second front in May 1944. Four sites were considered for the landings, Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, as Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected
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United States Army Rangers
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The United States Army Rangers are an elite military formation of the United States Army, that serve in designated U. S. Army Ranger units or are graduates from the U. S. Army Ranger School. The term ranger has been in use unofficially in a military context since the early 17th century, the first military company officially commissioned as rangers were English soldiers fighting in King Philips War and from there the term came into common official use in the French and Indian Wars. There have been American military companies officially called Rangers since the American Revolution, the 75th Ranger Regiment is an elite airborne light infantry combat formation within the United States Army Special Operations Command. The six battalions of the modern Rangers have been deployed in wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the Ranger Training Brigade —headquartered at Fort Benning—is an organization under the U. S. Armys Training and Doctrine Command and is separate from the 75th Ranger Regiment. It has been in service in various forms since World War II, the Ranger Training Brigade administrates Ranger School, the satisfactory completion of which is required to become Ranger qualified and to wear the Ranger Tab. Rangers served in the 17th and 18th-century wars between colonists and Native American tribes, the British regulars were not accustomed to frontier warfare and so Ranger companies were developed. Rangers were full-time soldiers employed by governments to patrol between fixed frontier fortifications in reconnaissance providing early warning of raids. In offensive operations, they were scouts and guides, locating villages, in Colonial America, The earliest mention of Ranger operations comes from Capt. John Samuel Smith, who wrote in 1622, When I had ten men able to go abroad, our common wealth was very strong, Robert Black also stated that, In 1622, after the Berkeley Plantation Massacre. Grim-faced men went forth to search out the Indian enemy, the American Ranger had been born. The father of American ranging is Colonel Benjamin Church and he was the captain of the first Ranger force in America. Church was commissioned by the Governor of the Plymouth Colony Josiah Winslow to form the first ranger company for King Philips War and he later employed the company to raid Acadia during King Williams War and Queen Annes War. Benjamin Church designed his force primarily to emulate Native American patterns of war, toward this end, Church endeavored to learn to fight like Native Americans from Native Americans. Americans became rangers exclusively under the tutelage of the Indian allies and his memoirs Entertaining Passages relating to Philips War is considered the first American military manual. Under Church served the father and grandfather of two famous rangers of the century, John Lovewell and John Gorham respectively. John Lovewell served during Dummers War and he lived in present-day Nashua, New Hampshire. He fought in Dummers War as a captain, leading three expeditions against the Abenaki Indians. John Lovewell became the most famous Ranger of the eighteenth century, during King Georges War, John Gorham established Gorhams Rangers
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Captain (United States O-3)
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In the United States Army, U. S. Marine Corps, and U. S. Air Force, captain is a company grade officer rank, with the pay grade of O-3. It ranks above first lieutenant and below major and it is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the naval rank system. The insignia for the rank consists of two bars, with slight stylized differences between the Army/Air Force version and the Marine Corps version. Promotion to captain is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980, DOPMA guidelines suggest 95% of first lieutenants should be promoted to captain after serving a minimum of two years at their present rank. A U. S. Army and U. S. Marine captain generally commands company-sized units, when given such a command, they bear the title company commander. Captains also instruct at service schools and combat training centers and are often staff officers at the battalion level, Marine captains also serve as officer selection officers, commanding recruiting stations for commissioned officers. A U. S. Air Force captains authority varies by group assignment, in an operations group, senior captains may be flight commanders while more junior captains may be heads of departments. In the maintenance or logistics and mission support groups they are almost always flight commanders, in the medical group, captains usually have limited administrative and command responsibility as captain is frequently the entry-level rank for most medical officers and dental officers. In Army and Air Force medical units, captain is the rank for those possessing a medical degree. U. S. Army Special Forces Operational Detachments Alpha and MARSOCs 14-man Marine Special Operations Teams are commanded by a captain, United States Army officer rank insignia United States Air Force enlisted rank insignia DA Pamphlet 600–3, Commissioned Officer Professional Development and Career Management
19.
Barry Pepper
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Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He has been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe Award, for his role as Robert F. Kennedy in the miniseries The Kennedys, Pepper won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie. Pepper was born in Campbell River, British Columbia, the son of a lumberjack, when he was five years old, his family set sail in a homemade ship, navigating through the South Pacific islands for five years. His education was completed in both schools and correspondence courses. Due to the lack of television as entertainment, the created and performed sketches for each other. When the family had finished their travels, they returned to Canada, Pepper is perhaps best known for his role as the sniper Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan. He portrayed prison guard Dean Stanton in The Green Mile, appeared as Frank Slaughtery in Spike Lees 25th Hour and he recently had roles in Casino Jack and the Coen brothers True Grit. Pepper provided the voice for Alex Mercer, the protagonist of the video game Prototype and the voice for Corporal Dunn, Pepper won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor for his performance in Battlefield Earth, A Saga of the Year 3000. He has stated that, had he known in advance he was going to win the award, Pepper will star in psychological thriller Frost Road which is being directed by Call of Duty director Keith Arem. He also appeared in Jagged Edges music video for Goodbye, in 2011, he starred as Robert F. Kennedy in the Canadian-American TV mini-series The Kennedys, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie. In 2015, Pepper appeared in The Maze Runner sequel, Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, as Vince, filming began at the end of October 2014, and the movie was released on September 18,2015. Barry Pepper at the Internet Movie Database
20.
Giovanni Ribisi
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Antonino Giovanni Ribisi, known professionally as Giovanni Ribisi, is an American actor, best known for his roles in Saving Private Ryan, Boiler Room, Avatar, Ted and Friends. Ribisi was born in Los Angeles, California and his father, Albert Anthony Ribisi, is a musician who had been the keyboard player in People. And his mother, Gay, is a manager of actors and writers and he is the twin brother of actress Marissa Ribisi and the brother of voice actress Gina Ribisi. He is of Italian, English and German descent, Ribisi began his career as a child on television shows, such as The New Leave It to Beaver, Married. With Children, The Wonder Years and My Two Dads and he entered the public eye with a prominent performance in The X-Files episode D. P. O. and his recurring role as Frank, Jr. on Friends. He had previously appeared in a bit part in the episode The One with the Baby on the Bus, between 2005 and 2008, Ribisi played Ralph in multiple episodes of My Name Is Earl, earning a 2007 Emmy nomination for his performance. He appeared in the video for Keanes single Crystal Ball in 2006. He also appeared in Jon Spencer Blues Explosions music video Talk About the Blues, in September 2008, he appeared twice on the HBO comedy series Entourage. In 2016, Ribisi directed a video for Siberian Nights. In 2017, Ribisi stars as Marius/Pete in the Amazon series Sneaky Pete, the pilot was created and produced by Bryan Cranston, who also stars in the series. It was added to Amazon in 2015 as a new series and was picked up by Amazon for a full ten episodes in 2016. The series premiered on January 13,2017, Ribisi married actress Mariah OBrien in 1997 and together they have one daughter, Lucia. In 2007, he began a relationship with indie rock singer-songwriter Cat Power, the couple lived together for five years before ending their relationship in 2012. Ribisi married English model Agyness Deyn on June 16,2012, Ribisi is an active Scientologist member. He participated in the opening of Scientologys Psychiatry, An Industry of Death museum in December 2005. His twin sister, Marissa, is also a Scientologist and she is married to musician Beck, another Scientologist. Giovanni Ribisi at the Internet Movie Database Interview With Giovanni Ribisi
21.
Vin Diesel
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Mark Sinclair, better known by his stage name Vin Diesel, is an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter. He is well known for his portrayals of Dominic Toretto in The Fast, Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick series and Xander Cage in xXx series. He was also a producer on sequels in these franchises, Diesel has also starred in films such as The Pacifier and Find Me Guilty. His voice acting work includes The Iron Giant, the video game spin-offs from The Chronicles of Riddick franchise and he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a short film titled Multi-Facial and the feature-length drama film Strays. He is the founder of the production companies One Race Films, Racetrack Records, Diesel was born as Mark Sinclair in Alameda County, California, along with his twin brother, Paul. His mother, Delora Sherleen Vincent, is an astrologer, Diesel has stated that he is of ambiguous ethnicity. His mothers background includes English, German, and Scottish and he has never met his biological father, and has stated that all I know from my mother is that I have connections to many different cultures. Diesel has self-identified as definitely a person of colour, and has stated that his parents relationship would have been illegal in parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws. He was raised in New York City by his Caucasian mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, Diesel made his stage debut at age seven when he appeared in the childrens play Dinosaur Door, written by Barbara Garson. The play was produced at Theater for the New City in New Yorks Greenwich Village and his involvement in the play came about when he, his brother, and some friends had broken into the Theater for the New Citys space on Jane Street with the intent to vandalize it. They were confronted by the artistic director, Crystal Field. Diesel remained involved with the theater throughout adolescence, going on to attend the citys Hunter College and he has identified himself as a multi-faceted actor as a result of early difficulties finding roles due to his mixed heritage. Diesels first film role was an uncredited appearance in the drama film Awakenings. He then wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the drama film Multi-Facial. The film was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Festival, Diesel made his first feature-length film, Strays, an urban drama in which he played a gang leader whose love for a woman inspires him to try to change his ways. Written, directed, and produced by Diesel, the film was selected for competition at the 1997 Sundance Festival and he was then cast in Steven Spielbergs 1998 Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan on the poignancy of his performance in Multi-Facial. In 1999, he provided the voice of the character in the animated film The Iron Giant. Diesel had a role in the drama thriller Boiler Room
22.
Jeremy Davies
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Jeremy Davies is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying Cpl, timothy E. Upham in Saving Private Ryan and the physicist Daniel Faraday on the television series Lost. He also appeared in the FX series Justified, as Dickie Bennett, for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Jeremy Davies was born in Traverse City, Michigan, of Scottish and Welsh descent, Davies is Jeremys mothers maiden name, which he adopted as his professional name. He has a brother, Joshua, and two half-siblings, Zachery and Katrina, from his fathers second marriage and his parents separated when he was young, leaving Davies to relocate to Kansas with his mother until the mid-1970s, when she died of lupus. He went to live with his father and his stepmother in Santa Barbara, California, before moving to Rockford, Iowa in 1986 and he attended college at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California. In 1992, he appeared on two episodes of The Wonder Years and he appeared in small roles in the NBC TV film Shoot First, A Cops Vengeance and in the pilot for the colonial-era sitcom 1775. He played a youth in the Showtime thriller Guncrazy and had a guest appearance on Melrose Place, in 1993, Davies was cast in a TV commercial for Subaru in which his character compares the car to punk rock. Numerous casting directors and industry forces noticed the commercial, and Davies found himself being sent feature film scripts, critics embraced his performance in David O. Russells debut film, the black comedy, Spanking the Monkey. Davies performance was received, and he went on to star in several films, including CQ, Secretary. In 2004, he portrayed Charles Manson in CBSs adaptation of Helter Skelter, Davies appeared as a main cast member on Lost during its fourth and fifth seasons, playing Daniel Faraday, an amnesiac physicist who comes to the island as part of a team hired by Charles Widmore. He guest-starred in three episodes in Losts sixth season and he had a recurring role on FXs Justified as Dickie Bennett, for which he earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2012. He was also nominated for the award in 2011 and he also starred in History Channels 2015 miniseries Texas Rising, as Sergeant Ephraim Knowles. Jeremy Davies at the Internet Movie Database Jeremy Davies Official Website Jeremy Davies Zone Jeremy Davies Daily
23.
Paratrooper
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Paratroopers are military parachutists — military personnel trained in parachuting into an operation and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World War II for troop distribution and transportation, Paratroopers are often used to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges. They are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air and they jump out of airplanes using their parachutes to land safely on the ground. It is one of the three types of forced entry strategic techniques for entering a theater of war, the two are by land and sea. Another common use for paratroopers is to establish an airhead for landing other units and this doctrine was first practically applied to warfare by the Italians and the Soviets. During World War II, however, the two countries ground forces were overstretched, leaving their elite paratroopers to be employed as regular infantry. The first extensive use of paratroopers was by the Germans during World War II and later in the war also by the Americans, owing to the limited capacity of cargo aircraft of the period they rarely, if ever, jumped in groups much larger than 20 from one aircraft. In English language parlance, this load of paratroopers is called a stick, the terms come from the common use of white chalk on the sides of aircraft and vehicles to mark and update numbers of personnel and equipment being emplaned. In World War II, paratroopers most often used parachutes of a circular or round design and these parachutes could be steered to a small degree by pulling on the risers and suspension lines which attach to the parachute canopy itself. German paratroopers, whose harnesses had only a single riser attached at the back, today, paratroopers still use round parachutes, or round parachutes modified as to be more fully controlled with toggles. The parachutes are deployed by a static line. Mobility of the parachutes is often limited to prevent scattering of the troops when a large number parachute together. Some military exhibition units and special forces units use ram-air parachutes, many countries have one or several paratrooper units, usually associated to the national Army or Air Force, but in some cases to the Navy. Argentina was the first country on the continent of South America to use Paratroopers, the first paratroopers were issued jump helmets similar to that used by the British at the time, as the rest of the equipment slightly based on the Fallschirmjäger. The 4th Parachute Brigade is a unit of the Argentine Army specialised in airborne assault operations and it is based in Córdoba, Córdoba Province. The Rapid Deployment Force is based on this unit, the members of the unit wear Boina Rojas of the paratroopers with unit badges. During the Second World War the Australian Army formed the 1st Parachute Battalion, however, in the post-war period Australias parachute capability was primarily maintained by special forces units. In the 1970s and 1980s a parachute capability was revived, while a Parachute Battalion Group based on the 3rd Battalion
24.
Private first class
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Private first class is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel. In the United States Army, recruits usually enter service as a private, Private, designated by a single chevron, is typically an automatic promotion after six months of service. Private first class, equivalent to NATO grade OR-3, is designated by a single chevron, soldiers who have achieved an associate degree or its equivalent are entitled to enter the Army at this pay grade. Advancement from private first class is typically to specialist, although occasionally it may be to corporal, the rank of private first class has existed since 1846 and, prior to 1919, its insignia consisted of the branch of service insignia without any arcs or chevrons. The Secretary of War approved an arc of one bar under the branch of service or trade insignia for privates first class on 22 July 1919. From August 5,1920 to May 28,1968, the insignia for private first class was a single chevron. On May 28,1968, the insignia was changed to its current form, consisting of a single chevron with one arc. In the United States Marine Corps, the rank of Private First Class is the second lowest, just under Lance Corporal and just above Private, equivalent to NATO grade OR-2, at the time the two ranks were directly equivalent. However, since 1968 when the US Army redesignated the E-3 paygrade as PFC, france has the rank of Soldat de première classe indicated with a single red chevron. The rank of private first class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of private and lance-corporal, introduced in 1983, it is awarded to hardworking conscript citizen-soldiers who performed well in their National Service term. Privates first class wear an insignia of a single chevron pointing down. The PFC rank is rarely awarded nowadays by the SAF since 2010s, all private enlistees are eligible to be promoted directly to lance corporal should they meet the minimum qualifying requirements and work performance. In the Vietnam Peoples Army, private first class is the highest junior enlisted rank, Private first class is below corporal and above private second class. The rank of private first class is similar to its original American counterpart, the insignia consist of a single chevron with a triangle below. The rank is also in use with the Philippine Marine Corps, comparative military ranks Gefreiter U. S. Army enlisted rank insignia U. S. Marine Corps enlisted rank insignia U. S. uniformed services pay grades United States military pay
25.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
26.
Academy Award for Best Director
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The Academy Award for Best Director is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry. However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year, the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 89 films that have been awarded Best Picture,63 have also been awarded Best Director, since its inception, the award has been given to 69 directors or directing teams. John Ford has received the most awards in this category with four, william Wyler was nominated on twelve occasions, more than any other individual. As of the 2017 ceremony, Damien Chazelle is the most recent winner in category for his work on La La Land. Chazelle also became the youngest director in history to receive this award, two directing teams have shared the award, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story in 1961 and Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men in 2007. The Coen brothers are the siblings to have won the award. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full calendar year from January 1 to December 31. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com
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Home video
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Home video is pre-recorded media that is either sold, rented or streamed for home entertainment. The home video business distributes films, telemovies and television series in the form of videos in various formats to the public and these are either bought or rented and then watched privately from the comfort of consumers homes. Most theatrically released films are now released on media, both optical and download-based, replacing the largely obsolete VHS medium. The VCD format remains popular in Asia, though DVDs are gradually gaining popularity, prior to the arrival of home video as a popular medium, most feature films were essentially inaccessible to the public after their original theatrical runs were over. During this era, it was also the norm that television programs could only be viewed at the time of broadcast, viewers were accustomed to the fact that there was no normal way to record TV shows at home and watch them whenever desired. It was possible to purchase a 16 mm or 8 mm film projector and rent or buy home-use prints of some cartoons, short comedies and brief highlights reels edited from feature films. In the case of the 16 mm format, most of these were available with an optical soundtrack,8 mm films almost never ran longer than ten minutes and only a few were available with a magnetic soundtrack late in the life of the format. The Super 8 film format, introduced in 1965, was marketed for making home movies, eventually, longer, edited-down versions of feature films were issued, increasingly with a magnetic soundtrack and in color. But, these were expensive and served only a small niche market of very dedicated or affluent film lovers. The Betamax and VHS home videocassette formats were introduced in 1975 and 1976 respectively, taking several years, film studios and video distributors assumed that consumers would not want to buy prerecorded videocassettes, just rent them. They also felt that all of the sales would be to video rental stores. The first company to duplicate and distribute home video was Magnetic Video in 1977, at that time, not many consumers owned a VCR, and those who did tended to rent rather than buy videos. Home video is a new area of opportunity for adventuresome publishers willing to produce new programs. Todays limitations within the marketplace may be gone tomorrow. More people are finding ways to create visually stimulating entertainment. It is a new form of publishing, a specialty line of products for vertical readership, six years ago, dog handling videos, back pain videos and cooking videos were suppositions on a drawing board. Three years ago these took life, now, along with golf and skiing tapes these S. I. videos are beginning to claim a marketshare. The wild part of new video publishing adventure is the wide diversity of support with which each product comes to the market
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National Film Registry
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The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Boards selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The NFPB, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992,1996,2005, and again in October 2008. The NFPBs mission, to which the NFR contributes, is to ensure the survival, conservation, the 1996 law also created the non-profit National Film Preservation Foundation which, although affiliated with the NFPB, raises money from the private sector. To be eligible for inclusion, a film must be at least ten years old, for the first selection in 1989, the public nominated almost 1,000 films for consideration. Members of the NFPB then developed individual ballots of possible films for inclusion, the ballots were tabulated into a list of 25 films which was then modified by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington and his staff at the Library for the final selection. Since 1997, members of the public have been able to nominate up to 50 films a year for the NFPB, the NFR includes films ranging from Hollywood classics to orphan films. A film is not required to be feature-length, nor is it required to have been released in the traditional sense. As of the 2016 listing, there are 700 films preserved in the Registry, currently, the earliest listed film is Newark Athlete, and the most recent is 13 Lakes. Counting the 11 multi-year serials in the NFR once each by year of completion, the years with the most films selected are 1928,1939, the time between a films debut and its selection varies greatly. The longest span is 119 years, Newark Athlete was originally released in 1891, the shortest span is the minimum 10 years, this distinction is shared by Raging Bull, Do the Right Thing, Goodfellas, Toy Story, Fargo and 13 Lakes. For purposes of this list, multi-year serials are counted once by year of completion
29.
Library of Congress
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The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, the Library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. it also maintains the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, which houses the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The Library of Congress claims to be the largest library in the world and its collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages. Two-thirds of the books it acquires each year are in other than English. The Library of Congress moved to Washington in 1800, after sitting for years in the temporary national capitals of New York. John J. Beckley, who became the first Librarian of Congress, was two dollars per day and was required to also serve as the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century until the early 1890s, most of the original collection had been destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812. To restore its collection in 1815, the bought from former president Thomas Jefferson his entire personal collection of 6,487 books. After a period of growth, another fire struck the Library in its Capitol chambers in 1851, again destroying a large amount of the collection. The Library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to have two copies deposited of books, maps, illustrations and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections of British and other European works and it included several stories built underground of steel and cast iron stacks. Although the Library is open to the public, only high-ranking government officials may check out books, the Library promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book, and Poet Laureate. James Madison is credited with the idea for creating a congressional library, part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress. And for fitting up an apartment for containing them. Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol, as president, Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The new law also extended to the president and vice president the ability to borrow books and these volumes had been left in the Senate wing of the Capitol. One of the only congressional volumes to have survived was a government account book of receipts and it was taken as a souvenir by a British Commander whose family later returned it to the United States government in 1940. Within a month, former president Jefferson offered to sell his library as a replacement
30.
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
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The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II cemetery and memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, that honors American troops who died in Europe during World War II. On June 8,1944, the U. S, first Army established the temporary cemetery, the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. After the war, the cemetery was established a short distance to the east of the original site. The U. S. flag flies over these granted soils, the cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel. It covers 172 acres, and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy, included are graves of Army Air Corps crews shot down over France as early as 1942 and three American women. Only some of the soldiers who died overseas are buried in the overseas American military cemeteries, among the burials at the cemetery are three recipients of the Medal of Honor, including Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. son of President Theodore Roosevelt. After the creation of the cemetery, another son of President Roosevelt, Quentin and this part consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing maps and narratives of the military operations. At the center is a 22-foot bronze statue entitled The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves, facing west at the memorial, one sees in the foreground the reflecting pool, the mall with burial areas to either side and the circular chapel beyond. Behind the chapel are allegorical figures representing the United States and France, an orientation table overlooks the beach and depicts the landings at Normandy. The Memorial faces the United States at its nearest point to the cemetery, embedded in the lawn directly opposite the entrance to the old Visitors Building is a time capsule which has been sealed and contains news reports of the June 6,1944 Normandy landings. The capsule is covered by a granite slab upon which is engraved. This sealed capsule containing news reports of the June 6,1944 Normandy landings is placed here by the newsmen who were here, in the horror film The Omen, the cemetery is used as a main photo poster with Damien standing next to the thousands of graves. In Saving Private Ryan, the cemetery is featured at the beginning and end, in the beginning of the film, he makes his way to the grave of Captain John Miller. At the end, Ryan salutes the grave and asks his wife if he lived a life and was a good man. Symphonic Prelude, by Mark Camphouse, portrays the battle in a way that battles are depicted for bands, a slow introduction followed by a moderate tempo body. List of military cemeteries in Normandy Sledge, Michael, soldier Dead, How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen
31.
2nd Ranger Battalion (United States)
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On 1 April 1943 the 2nd Ranger Battalion was formed at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, along with the 5th Ranger Battalion. Both battalions were activated in September 1943 and shipped to Great Britain where they were prepared for Operation Overlord as part of six Ranger battalions of the Second World War. On 6 June 1944, Dog, Easy, and Fox Companies, commanded by Lt. Colonel James Rudder, landed at Pointe du Hoc from LCA landing craft, the 225 Rangers had set off from Britain to launch an assault upon the cliffs overlooking the English Channel. In order to augment the strength of the 2nd Battalion, members of what was formerly the 29th Rangers were assigned as well. The Rangers had planned to land at the base of the cliffs at 0600 hours, however, because of a navigational error and this cost the lives of more Rangers as well as the element of surprise. During the attack, the 190 remaining Rangers scaled the cliffs utilizing rope ladders, during the assault, 2nd Battalion managed to disable a battery of 155mm French artillery captured by the Germans, which was their primary objective. These guns were to be aimed at Utah Beach, however, meanwhile, Able, Baker and Charlie Companies landed along with the 5th Rangers, the 1st Infantry Division and the 29th Infantry Division at Omaha Beach. They suffered heavy casualties but were able to complete their D-Day objectives, the 2nd Rangers were later involved in the Battle for Brest and the Battle of Hurtgen Forest where they led the assault on Hill 400, Bergstein. The battalion was deactivated after the war together with the 5th and 6th Battalion, the 2nd Ranger Battalion was reactivated on 1 October 1974, as an elite combat unit eight months after the 1st Ranger Battalion. The 2nd Ranger Battalions colors and lineage was passed from Company H, 75th Infantry Ranger, of the Vietnam War—the most decorated, the modern Ranger battalions are strategic assets, prepared to conduct missions short-notice worldwide. In 1984 the battalion became part of the newly formed Special Operations Command, the 2/75th participated in Operation Urgent Fury in October 1983. In December 1989 the battalion took part in Operation Just Cause, following the successful completion of these assaults, Rangers conducted follow-on operations in support of Joint Task Force -South. The Rangers captured 1,014 enemy prisoners of war, the Rangers sustained 5 killed and 42 wounded. Following the September 11 attacks, the battalion has deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism. In March 2002, 2nd Battalion deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and conducted numerous air assaults, raids, patrols, in December 2002, elements of 2nd Battalion again deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, followed in February 2003 by the whole battalion. This period marked the first time in history of the modern ranger regiment that a battalion was required to conduct long-duration. The battalion participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq at the start of the Iraq War, on March 262003, on April 12003,290 Rangers from the battalion and 1/75th took part in the successful rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch. From March to May 2004 and July to October 2004, the Battalion deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, As of February 22,2016,16 Rangers from 2nd battalion have been killed in the War on Terror
32.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
33.
United States Department of War
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The Secretary of War, a civilian with such responsibilities as finance and purchases and a minor role in directing military affairs, headed the War Department throughout its existence. Retired senior General Henry Knox, then in civilian life, served as the first United States Secretary of War, forming and organizing the department and the army fell to Secretary Knox. On November 8,1800 the War Department building with its records, foundation of the new military academy at West Point along the Hudson River upstream from New York City in 1802 was important to the future growth of the American army. The multiple failures and fiascos of the War of 1812 convinced Washington that thorough reform of the War Department was necessary, winfield Scott became the senior general until the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The bureau chiefs acted as advisers to the Secretary of War while commanding their own troops, the bureaus frequently conflicted among themselves, but in disputes with the commanding general, the Secretary of War generally supported the bureaus. Congress regulated the affairs of the bureaus in detail, and their chiefs looked to that body for support, during the American Civil War, the War Department responsibilities expanded. It handled the recruiting, training, supply, medical care, transportation, a separate command structure took charge of military operations. In the late stages of the war, the Department took charge of refugees and freedmen in the American South through the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, during Reconstruction, this bureau played a major role in supporting the new Republican governments in the southern states. When military Reconstruction ended in 1877, the U. S. Army removed the last troops from military occupation of the American South, and the last Republican state governments in the region ended. The Army comprised hundreds of small detachments in forts around the West, dealing with Indians, the United States Army, with 39,000 men in 1890 was the smallest and least powerful army of any major power in the late 19th century. By contrast, France had an army of 542,000, temporary volunteers and state militia units mostly fought the Spanish–American War of 1898. This conflict demonstrated the need for effective control over the department. Elihu Root enlarged the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and established the United States Army War College and he changed the procedures for promotions and organized schools for the special branches of the service. He also devised the principle of rotating officers from staff to line, indeed, Secretary Taft exercised little power, President Theodore Roosevelt made the major decisions. In 1911, Secretary Henry L. Stimson and Major General Leonard Wood, his chief of staff, the general staff assisted them in their efforts to rationalize the organization of the army along modern lines and in supervising the bureaus. Assisted by industrial advisers, they reorganized the system of the army. General March reorganized the general staff along similar lines and gave it authority over departmental operations. After the war, the Congress again granted the bureaus their former independence, in the 1920s, General John J. Pershing realigned the general staff on the pattern of his American Expeditionary Force field headquarters, which he commanded
34.
George Marshall
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George Catlett Marshall, Jr. was an American statesman and soldier. He was Chief of Staff of the United States Army under presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman and he was hailed as the organizer of victory by Winston Churchill for his leadership of the Allied victory in World War II. Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Marshall was a 1901 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, after serving briefly as commandant of students at the Danville Military Academy in Danville, Virginia, Marshall received his commission as a second lieutenant of Infantry in February,1902. He was the Honor Graduate of his Infantry-Cavalry School Course in 1907, in 1916 Marshall was assigned as aide-de-camp to J. Franklin Bell, the commander of the Western Department. After the United States entered World War I, Marshall served with Bell while Bell commanded the Department of the East. He was assigned to the staff of the 1st Division, and assisted with the mobilization and training in the United States. Subsequently assigned to the staff of the American Expeditionary Forces headquarters, after the war, Marshall was assigned as an aide-de-camp to John J. Pershing, who was then serving as the Armys Chief of Staff. He later served on the Army staff, commanded the 15th Infantry Regiment in China, in 1927, he became assistant commandant of the Armys Infantry School, where he modernized command and staff processes, which proved to be of major benefit during World War II. In 1932 and 1933 he commanded the 8th Infantry Regiment and Fort Screven, Marshall commanded 5th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and Vancouver Barracks from 1936 to 1938, and received promotion to brigadier general. During this command, Marshall was also responsible for 35 Civilian Conservation Corps camps in Oregon, in July 1938, Marshall was assigned to the War Plans Division on the War Department staff, and he was subsequently appointed as the Armys Deputy Chief of Staff. When Chief of Staff Malin Craig retired in 1939, Marshall became acting Chief of Staff and he served as Chief of Staff until the end of the war in 1945. As Chief of Staff, Marshall organized the largest military expansion in U. S. history, Marshall retired from active service in 1945, but remained on active duty, a requirement for holders of five-star rank. As Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949, Marshall received credit for the Marshall Plan for Europes post-war rebuilding, after resigning as Secretary of State, Marshall served as chairman of American Battle Monuments Commission and president of the American National Red Cross. After resigning as Defense Secretary, Marshall retired to his home in Virginia and he died in 1959 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. George Catlett Marshall, Jr. was born into a family in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Marshall was a scion of an old Virginia family, as well as a distant relative of former Chief Justice John Marshall, Marshall graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, where he was initiated into the Kappa Alpha Order in 1901. He was an All-Southern tackle for the VMI Keydets varsity football team in 1900, following graduation from VMI in 1901, Marshall sat for a competitive examination for a commission in the U. S. Army. While awaiting the results he took the position of Commandant of Students at the Danville Military Institute in Danville, Marshall passed the exam and was commissioned a second lieutenant in February,1902
35.
101st Airborne Division
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The 101st Airborne Division is an elite modular specialized light infantry division of the United States Army trained for air assault operations. It is the most potent and tactically mobile of the U. S. Armys divisions and these particular operations are conducted by highly mobile teams and they are quite often executed behind enemy lines. Its unique battlefield mobility and high level of training have kept the Division in the vanguard of Americas land combat forces in recent conflicts, more recently, the 101st Airborne has been performing foreign internal defense and counter-terrorism operations within Iraq and Afghanistan. The 101st Airborne Division has a nearly century-long history, during the Vietnam War, the 101st Airborne Division fought in several major campaigns and battles including the Battle of Hamburger Hill in May 1969. In mid-1968 it was reorganized and redesignated as an airmobile division and these titles reflect the divisions shift from airplanes as the primary method of delivering troops into combat, to the use of helicopters. Many current members of the 101st are graduates of the U. S. Army Air Assault School, Division headquarters is at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In recent years, the division has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the division is one of the most highly decorated units in the United States Army and has been featured prominently in military fiction. The 101st is currently the only air assault division, capable, in a single lift, of a 4. It is supported by more than 280 helicopters and this includes three battalions of Apache attack helicopters. At times, additional air assets are assigned to the 101st Airborne during deployment, the 101st Airborne also comprises intelligence support, maintenance and operations elements, support personnel, and artillery specialists. Assisting the 101st Airborne Division is an array of support elements, equipment. The 101st is considered a versatile, very flexible. The 101st has the capability to move long distances, the 101st can put soldiers down on top of mountains, ridge lines, and behind the enemy forces and can sling-load in artillery pieces for indirect fire. It is considered a unit of choice and it has the ability to secure sites, airfields. The 101st Division headquarters was organized 2 November 1918 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, World War I ended 9 days later, and was demobilized on 11 December 1918. In 1921, the headquarters was reconstituted in the Organized Reserves. It was at time that the Screaming Eagle became associated with the division. As part of the reorganization of the 101st as a division in the Army of the United States
36.
Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and perhaps its greatest moral, constitutional, in doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. Born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln grew up on the frontier in Kentucky. Largely self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois, a Whig Party leader, elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846, Lincoln promoted rapid modernization of the economy through banks, tariffs, and railroads. Reentering politics in 1854, he became a leader in building the new Republican Party, in 1860, Lincoln secured the Republican Party presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state. Though he gained little support in the slaveholding states of the South. Subsequently, on April 12,1861, a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter inspired the North to enthusiastically rally behind the Union. Politically, Lincoln fought back by pitting his opponents against each other, by carefully planned political patronage and his Gettysburg Address became an iconic endorsement of the principles of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Lincoln initially concentrated on the military and political dimensions of the war and his primary goal was to reunite the nation. He suspended habeas corpus, leading to the ex parte Merryman decision. Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including his most successful general, Lincoln tried repeatedly to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, each time a general failed, Lincoln substituted another, until finally Grant succeeded. As the war progressed, his moves toward ending slavery included the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. On April 14,1865, five days after the surrender of Confederate commanding general Robert E. Lee, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton launched a manhunt for Booth, and 12 days later on April 26, Lincoln has been consistently ranked both by scholars and the public as among the greatest U. S. presidents. Abraham Lincoln was born February 12,1809, the child of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville. He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk to its namesake of Hingham, samuels grandson and great-grandson began the familys western migration, which passed through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Lincolns paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln, moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Captain Lincoln was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, the presidents father
37.
Bixby letter
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Along with the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address, the letter has been praised as one of Lincolns finest written works and is often reproduced in memorials, media, and print. Controversy surrounds the recipient, the fate of her sons, Bixbys character has been questioned, at least two of her sons survived the war, and the letter was possibly written by Lincolns assistant private secretary, John Hay. President Lincolns letter of condolence was delivered to Lydia Bixby on November 25,1864 and was printed in the Boston Evening Transcript, the following is the text of the letter as first published, Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov.21,1864. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming, but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, A. Lincoln, Lydia Parker married shoemaker Cromwell Bixby on September 26,1826, in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The couple had at least six sons and three daughters before Cromwells death in 1854, some time before the Civil War, Bixby and her family settled in Boston. In the letter, Schouler recalled how, two years prior, they had helped a poor widow named Lydia Bixby to visit a son who was a patient at an Army hospital. About ten days earlier, Bixby had come to Schoulers office claiming that five of her sons had died fighting for the Union, governor Andrew forwarded Newhalls request to the U. S. War Department with a note requesting that the president honor Bixby with a letter, in response to a War Department request of October 1, Schouler sent a messenger to Bixbys home six days later, asking for the names and units of her sons. He sent a report to the War Department on October 12, on November 21, the Boston Evening Traveller published an appeal by Schouler for contributions to assist soldiers families at Thanksgiving which mentioned a widow who had lost five sons in the war. Schouler had some of the given to Bixby and then visited her home on Thanksgiving. The letter from the President arrived at Schoulers office the next morning, nevertheless, at least two of Lydia Bixbys sons survived the war, Private Arthur Edward Bixby – Company C, 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. Deserted from Ft. Richardson, Virginia on May 28,1862, trying to secure a discharge for him, his mother filed an affidavit on October 17,1862 which claimed Edward had enlisted underage without her permission. Born July 13,1843 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, returned to Boston after the war. Sergeant Charles N. Bixby – Company D, 20th Massachusetts Infantry, killed in action near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Corporal Henry Cromwell Bixby – 1st enlistment, Company G, 20th Massachusetts Infantry, 2nd enlistment, Company K, 32nd Massachusetts Infantry. Captured at Gettysburg and sent to Richmond, Virginia, paroled on March 7,1864 at City Point, Virginia. Born March 30,1830 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, died November 8,1871 in Milford, Massachusetts
38.
Combat medic
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Combat medics or Field medics are military personnel who have been trained to at least an EMT level, and are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease, combat medics are normally co-located with the combat troops they serve in order to easily move with the troops and monitor ongoing health. In 1864, sixteen European states adopted the first-ever Geneva Convention to save lives and alleviate the suffering of wounded, as well as to protect trained medical personnel as non-combatants, in the act of rendering aid. According to the Geneva Convention, knowingly firing at a medic wearing clear insignia is a war crime, in modern times, most combat medics carry a personal weapon, to be used to protect themselves and the wounded or sick in their care. When and if they use their arms offensively, they sacrifice their protection under the Geneva Conventions. Before Larreys initiative in the 1790s, wounded soldiers were either left amid the fighting until the combat ended or their comrades would carry them to the rear line. It was during the American Civil War that Surgeon Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, realized a need for a medical treatment. He saw the need to equip this system with its own dedicated vehicles, organizations, facilities, the Letterman plan was first implemented in September 1862 at the Battle of Antietam, Maryland. They were dedicated members of the team that enabled American generals to concentrate on enemy threats rather than epidemic threats. On August 4,1947, Congress created the Navy Medical Service Corps, in the United States, a report entitled Accidental Death and Disability, The Neglected Disease of Modern Society, was published by National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council. The International Committee of the Red Cross, a humanitarian institution based in Switzerland. This symbol was meant to signify to enemy combatants that the medic qualifies as a non-combatant, islamic countries use a Red Crescent instead. Although these symbols were officially sponsored by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, israeli medics still wear the Magen David. To enable MDA to become a recognized and participating member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. For indicative use on foreign territory, any national society can incorporate its unique symbol into the Red Crystal, under Protocol III, the MDA will continue to employ the red Magen David for domestic use, and will employ the red crystal on international relief missions. Medical personnel from most western nations carry weapons for protection of themselves and their patients but remain designated non combatants, wearing the red cross, traditionally, most United States medical personnel also wore a distinguishing red cross, to denote their protection as non-combatants under the Geneva Convention. This practice continued into World War II, as their non combatant status is not respected, many US medics no longer wear non combatant markings. This can enable medics to be used as medically trained soldiers, combat Medics in the United States Army and United States Navy Hospital Corpsmen are virtually indistinguishable from regular combat troops, except for the extra medical equipment they carry
39.
Technician fifth grade
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Technician Fifth Grade was a United States Army technician rank during World War II. Those who held this rank were addressed as Corporal, the wearers of the rank were often called Tech Corporal. The pay grade number corresponded with the technicians grade, t/5 is under the pay grade 5 along with Corporal. Technicians were easily distinguished by the T imprinted on the chevron design for that pay grade. The Technician ranks were removed from the U. S. Army rank system in 1948, Technician Fourth Grade Technician Third Grade U. S. Army enlisted rank insignia of World War II
