Faith of Our Fathers - DVD #review #giveaway

John Paul and Wayne are two young men in search of their fathers.  Problem is...their fathers have been dead for 25 years.  Eddie and Steven are two young men in search of their sons...whom they've never met.

In 1969, Eddie and Steven are with their squad deep in the jungle of Vietnam on a five-day mission to retrieve fallen comrades.  They write letters to their wives, often mentioning their love for their sons, one, who is an infant and one yet to be born.  The horrors of war and the testing of faith manifest themselves for the young men in Vietnam.

In 1994, John Paul and Wayne go on a five day road trip to the Vietnam Wall in Washington DC to see their fathers' names.  Along the way, reading those letters, they begin to get an understanding of who their fathers were and how they died.  Trials and mishaps, both funny and sad, complicate the road trip for the boys.

Ultimately, in parallel stories - 25 years apart - the fathers and sons are bound together forever.  

Runtime: 96 minutes

Genre: Drama

Rating: PG-13 (for brief war violence)

Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Downes, David A.R. White, Rebecca St. James, Si Robertson, Candace Cameron Bure, Scott Whyte, and Sean McGowan.

Special Features of the DVD:

-The Heart of Faith of Our Fathers

-Honoring Father's Day

-Commemorating Memorial Day

-Si Robertson Interview

-Stephen Baldwin Interview

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MY REVIEW

I guess some Christians might shy away from a movie with "Christian themes" they way they might pass by a similar book.  How good can a story be if it is seen as 'santized' (no swearing, no PDAs or mention of physical relation between the sexes)?

Likewise, some people of other different faiths might pass this movie by cause it mentions Christianity and Jesus.

Both those groups of people would be missing a beautiful movie if they browsed by "Faith of our Fathers".

Eddie and Steven are two young soldiers in Vietnam.  The war wasn't pretty or sanitized.  There would be no ticker tape parades for returning soldiers as for those who had served in other wars in the 20th century and earlier.  All the soldiers in those jungles had was each other, their weapons, and, if they were lucky, their faith in God (whatever their religion might be).

John Paul and Wayne are Steven and Eddie's sons, respectively.  John Paul (whose surname is "George" - can we say Beatle-fan parents?) is a straight arrow like his father, and Wayne is adrift, much like Eddie was before he met Steven.

Wayne is a bit of a wild-man.  His hair is mussed up, his clothing is very casual, as is his manner.  He tries to 'sell' John Paul some letters that might have information about their fathers.  Wayne decides they should travel to the Vietnam Wall in DC, so John Paul's 'quick info trip' turns into a 5-day US safari with quite a string of adventures.

At one point, they part company, and not on the best of terms.  That's probably because they land in jail.  John Paul makes bail.  Wayne does not.  But, in a fortuitous turn of events, the police officer who took them in was their father's old sergeant back in the war.  People looking for faults might point to that as contrived.  But it did not seem so to me.

Wayne and John Paul accept the officer's invitation to reminisce about their fathers.  He provides some closure they might not have gotten any other way.  Since their car was previously stolen, the man offers Wayne the keys to one of his vehicles.  Wayne does not accept.  The man throws them a second time and tells Wayne to take them, the vehicle and John Paul and go to the Wall before he changes his mind.

This was the point where the tears that had been threatening in my eyes for a while started spilling over.  I don't think my eyes were dry for the rest of the movie.

Faith of our Fathers is a touching, heart-warming movie about faith, fathers and sons, and losses associated with war.  And being released, as it has, shortly before Veteran's Day here in the US, a gentle reminder of the sacrifices made by soldiers, veterans and their families and the debt those of us who are able to stay safely at home, owe to these service men and women.

I am sad that Faith of our Fathers will probably never have the wide release that I feel it deserves, in part due to the mentions of religion.  But I loved it, so I am going to do what I can to to let people know.  Hence the blog post, and further social media posts later today.

Christian or not, American or not, if you are grateful for the actions of any or all of y/our soldiers or veterans, this DVD would make a wonderful thank-you gift.  I am going to pass my copy on to my mother-in-law's husband, Vincent Rios, who served two tours in Vietnam, returned severely injured, and recently retired from a lifetime of serving disabled veterans in the US.

And, as tomorrow is Veteran's Day in the US, I wish to send out a thank you to our soldiers, female or male, and all veterans, for the service they have given to our country.

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GIVEAWAY!!!

I have been provided to offer a copy of this DVD to giveaway here on the blog.  If you would like to win this for yourself or another, please leave a comment below with a way to contact you.  Winner will be determined by random draw one week from today, Tuesday, November 17, 2015.

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

 Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

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