Remember to thank Veterans all year long

Thank You Mr. Gamble For Your Service to Our Country

Honoring Our Veterans at The Storage Inn

As manager of the Storage Inn self storage in Egg Harbor Township, I get to meet, and speak with a lot of storage customers who are, or have been in the military. And since this past Friday was Veteran’s Day the subject has been on my mind. Yesterday, while I was doing my regular storage facility inspections, I noticed one of our customers, Mr. Gamble, going to his storage space. Knowing that he was a veteran, I went down to his storage unit to shake his hand, and thank him for his service. We had a nice conversation, during which I noticed a box full of VHS tapes and DVDs in the corner of his storage area, all of which were military movies. Turns out Mr.Gamble is quite the expert on war movies, so I asked him for his top 10.  “Way too many great ones to choose just 10” he said. That got me wondering just which military movies are considered to be “the best” so I decided to see what the critics say.

Here are the top 10 American War Movies according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

1.Saving Private Ryan (1998)  Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action. (169 mins.)

2.The Longest Day (1962) The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view. (178 mins.)

3.Midway (1976) A dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. (132 mins.)

4.Full Metal Jacket (1987) A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue. (116 mins.)

5.Black Hawk Down (2001) 123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis. (144 mins.)

6.Inglourious Basterds (2009) In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner’s vengeful plans for the same. (153 mins.)

7.Jarhead (2005) A psychological study of operations desert shield and desert storm during the gulf war; through the eyes of a U.S marine sniper who struggles to cope with the possibility his girlfriend may be cheating on him back home. (125 mins.)

8.Kelly’s Heroes (1970) A group of U.S. soldiers sneaks across enemy lines to get their hands on a secret stash of Nazi treasure. (144 mins.)

9.The Hurt Locker (2008) During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work. (131 mins.)

10.The Great Escape (1963) Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II

The exceptional bravery that it takes to put one’s life on the line to protect our country, and beliefs is immeasurable, so when you see a veteran please thank him or her for their service.