15-056 Garand Picture of the Day

[Mark in Rochester]

Haven't seen that one Mark. The other one's OK though.

Battle Ground is a good film - notes below


Screenwriter Robert Pirosh based this story on his experiences as an infantryman during the Battle of the Bulge. Pirosh did not serve with the 101st Airborne and wanted to create a script that was faithful to their experiences. He used his first hand knowledge of the battle to write the script. This was done with the blessing of General McAuliffe, who was commanding the 101st during Bastogne. Consequently many of the incidents in the film - such as Pvt. Kippton's habit of always losing his false teeth, or the Mexican soldier from Los Angeles who had never seen snow until he got to Belgium - that have always been derided as "typical Hollywood phony baloney" actually happened.


20 veterans of the 101st Airborne who fought in the Bastogne area were hired to train the actors and were also used as extras.

Douglas Fowley, who plays Pvt. Kippton (he of the continually lost false teeth) served in the Navy in the South Pacific in World War II and lost all his own teeth in an explosion aboard his aircraft carrier during battle.

James Arness, who has a minor role as division member Garby, served in World War II and is the most decorated of the actors in the film. He received the Bronze Star; the Purple Heart; the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze campaign stars; the World War II Victory Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge for his service.

In an interview released shortly after the film came out James Whitmore said that he based his appearance and his attitude partly on Bill Mauldin's famous "Willie and Joe" cartoons that appeared in the "Stars and Stripes" newspaper, popular with servicemen during WW2.James Whitmore, served in the Marine Corps. during World War II.