Growing up near a US Military Base I was exposed to many television programs of the US Armed Forces through the US Far East Network (FEN), specially sports programs.
We didn’t have cable back then, what we had were aerial antennas with ultra-high frequency (UHF) which enabled us to tap into FEN for live sports broadcasts of the NBA, NFL, and NCAA. During commercial breaks FEN would show 30-second advertisements on road courtesy, driving etiquette, and advertisements from the US Army, US Navy, USAir Force and US Marines.
Adrenaline pumping while watching a competitive game of basketball or football, advertisements with images of camouflaged soldiers, silhouetted tanks rolling into the sunset, F-15s rolling in the sky, aircraft carriers, pilots in full battle gear along with slogans like: “We’re Looking for A Few Good Men” or “Aim High, Air Force” or “It’s Not Just A Job, It’s An Adventure” and “The Few. The Proud. The Marines.” were enough for any warm blooded teenage boy to dream of being a soldier.
If you grew up in the ‘70s and enjoyed watching war movies with the men folk, there was no greater glory than to go to war to serve ones country and protect it from evil; for Hollywood and Filipino war movies always depicted soldiers as invincible honorable heroes.
We of the TV, movie and video generation saw wars and battles through the lens of a film director and story of script writers whose next project depend on how good his movie sells. Rarely did we see war heroes die; and in the off chance we did see a war movie hero die, he died in the most glorious and heroic way imaginable.
And yet, whenever we celebrate National Heroes Day we see only scarred old men in uniform parading under the sun. One would almost wish to stop them and ask about their war experience, but rarely do they talk about the war, whatever war it was. The few who do say little anecdotes and always talk about the fun and funny moments they had. We see them as heroes, but rarely do they say that what they did was heroic and never see it as glorious. One is left to wonder why they see it that way. I would give an arm and leg to have a glimpse of what these soldiers went through and felt during their tour of duty.
Luckily, I need not give an arm and a leg. On November 29, one could catch a glimpse of one soldier’s war experience during World War II through the live performance of “Gunner Inglorious” at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City.
“Gunner Inglorious” is a one-man performance by New Zealand actor Michael Burton based on the book by New Zealand author Jim Henderson.
Jim Henderson was a young man in his early 20's at the start of World War Two. His account of what it was like to be in a war - 715 days training for action, ten days in action and a wound which landed him in an Italian military hospital for nineteen months - has been turned into a 60 minute solo performance by actor Michael Burton. Audiences follow in rapid fire the exhilaration, anguish, boredom, comradeship and triumph of Jim's remarkable personal testament.
The great quality of Jim's book, which has made it a classic of war literature still selling well more than fifty years after it was written, is that it allows us to feel what it was really like to be there as an ordinary soldier. Live performance takes this a step further, and the audience lives through the events as they occur - the squalor, the agony, the futility of war, but also the ability of the human spirit to find humor and heroism in the midst of so much adversity.
At the end of the play, I hope to know more of what my grandparents dare not say about the war; as well as have a better understanding of the lives of soldiers we send off to war, soldiers who believe in the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ slogan of “Freedom, Your Right, Our Responsibility.”
“Gunner Inglorious” will be shown only on November 29, 2008 at 2:30pm and again at 4:30pm; and is recommended for ages 14 years old and above. It will be shown in the newly constructed Ambassador Yuchengco Theater of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation at EDSA corner Quezon Avenue near the NAPOCOR Building.
Ticket prices are P250 for students and seniors, and P350 for adults, for inquiries and reservations contact Techie dela Torre at 0917-570-2946 or The Kolisko School at (632) 710-5279.
