Support helps drive progress on making of Basilone documentary

I write this awhile after returning from a two-week trip with Diane Hawkins (John Basilone's niece) to California, Oregon and Washington interviewing and filming Iwo Jima Marine veterans and other Marines who knew and served with John Basilone, all for the documentary, John Basilone: Legacy of a Hero, meeting with Tom Hanks' top assistant at Playtone and then flying to Washington, D.C., to attend and film portions of Gen. Fred Haynes' memorial service at Ft. Myers and internment in Arlington Cemetery and conduct more interviews with Iwo Jima veterans there. For your information, I've attached a draft first page of the documentary as we perceive it to open.

On the West Coast, we filmed interviews with Bill Lansford, Clarence Rea, Clinton Watters (best man at Basilone's wedding) and Chuck Tatum, all of whom served with Basilone from the forming of the Fifth Marine Division at Camp Pendleton in early 1944 until he was killed on Iwo Jima; and we filmed interviews with Iwo Jima veterans Bob Hansen (5th Pioneers) Andy Andrews (U.S. Navy) and Claro Bergevin (5th Tank) about their memories and subsequent lives. And the Los Angeles Marine Corps Public Affairs Office provided a staff member who picked up Diane, the cameraman and me and drove us to Camp Pendleton for an interview with the Pendleton historian in the Iron Mike Staff NCO Lounge (named after Iwo Jima veteran Sgt. Maj. Mike D. Mervosh) where there is a John Basilone display case with his Medal of Honor and Navy Cross citations - the original Navy Cross is there but is kept under lock and key out of sight. Afterward, we were given a brief tour of Camp Pendleton, limited because of a fire on the back side of the base, and a ride down Basilone Road. Until we have distribution locked up, we will not be permitted to film at the Basilone Obstacle Course, part of The Crucible, a grueling 54-hour course that has to be completed prior to Marine recruits receiving the Eagle, Globe and Anchor.

Besides Gen. Haynes' service in Arlington, we filmed and interviewed Iwo Jima veterans Gen. Larry Snowden, Ivan Hammond and John Huffines and attended the Iwo Jima Association of America annual meeting, initially formed by Gen. Haynes. Later, Military Historical Tours (MHT) President and CEO Warren Wiedhahn (a retired mustang Marine colonel and Korean Ware Chosin Reservoir survivor)) invited Diane and me to attend an MHT planning meeting and present the Basilone documentary plans to the group. In conjunction with our plans to follow Basilone's path to the Pacific (Hawaii, Guadalcanal, the Philippines and Australia - we've already been to Iwo Jima but are considering a trip back in March next year to add the aspect of "going back" to the documentary focus), Col. Wiedhahn agreed to assist us (Diane, a cameraman and me) in traveling to Guadalcanal on an MHT tour. Diane has a contact in Australia to help there, and I have made arrangements in the Philippines with Armed Forces in the Philippines and the commandant of the Camp Tarawa Marine Corps League Detachment on the Big Island of Hawaii for filming in those places of interest to the Basilone documentary.

Long story short, we're about 50 percent of the way through the filming of the project. Most of what remains is the trip to the Pacific, the John Basilone Parade in Raritan, N.J., in late September and a few more interviews with relevant Iwo Jima veterans - Ret. Marine Col. Gerald Russell, later battalion commander of 2/27 who passed Basilone's MOH recommendation along on Guadalcanal, and others. The going-back theme is of interest because so many combat veterans do go back to where they fought and survived, looking for something from a period of their lost youth when they left much behind.

As you can imagine, with the travel still on the agenda and the post-production editing required to get a final product, the largest financial outlay is ahead of us. Both Diane and I have contributed a considerable amount of time and money to the project with a budget we have estimated to be about $250,000. Diane has found, through a friend/colleague, an editor who is willing to get the trailer from existing film and take on the project for a token retainer and later payment to enable us to secure distribution and the required financing. The Marine veteran combat cameraman who helped us in Los Angeles is writing the film treatment, and I'm preparing the promotional material and the scheduling.

So I turn to you for financial help. You can have a viable role in guaranteeing that the documentary will be completed on schedule - and failure to complete it is not an option - and passing the story of John Basilone and his boys, as it were, down to future generations. The focus of the documentary has become a journey itself and how John Basilone's legacy of courage, honor and sacrifice has affected Diane and her family, the men and women who survived the war, many of who return to the site of their combat, and younger generations who continue to be impacted by his example. That remains the focus of our work and complements all other work on John Basilone; however, I do believe this documentary has the potential to serve his legacy better and become more lasting.

With the necessary trailer prepared for potential distributors, a representative for Tom Hanks has agreed that he will provide an endorsement both in the initial process and after completion. That endorsement is significant.

At this point, however, and to accomplish the next phase, this project needs your support both in contributions and in your encouragement of others to contribute. No amount is too small, none to large. Please direct all tax-deductible contributions to The John Basilone Foundation, P.O. Box 6778, Hilton Head, SC 29938. Whatever your contribution, we look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for you consideration and support.