'Men of Honor' and 'We Were Soldiers'

I recently watched two intense war/military movies with my boyfriend, and wow - was there amazing displays of leadership in these movies! What's wonderful about them is that they're true stories.

In 'Men of Honor,' which chronicles the first African-American to be accepted as a US Navy Diver and stars Robert DeNiro and Cuba Wooding, Jr., was inspiring. DeNiro's character was someone the audiance was prompted to hate at first. He was in charge, but he detested authority. And he almost reveled in making what was a struggle for the average white man going into dive school nearly downright impossible for the black man, Gooding's character. He was pathetic and a drunk half of the time, and an a**hole the rest of the time. This combination in his leader forced Gooding's character to work four times as hard, and he succeeded and pushed past boundaries and obstacles with flying colors. Near the end, when Gooding's character is petitioning to the Navy to be allowed to continue to dive after his leg was nearly severed in an accident, DeNiro's character comes back, sober and humbled, to help Gooding pass the Navy's test. This is a powerful scene, and one that really makes you admire DeNiro's character's leadership qualities, annoying and prickly as they may be, because in this moment they certainly are effective.

In 'We Were Soldiers,' Mel Gibson's character triumphs as the leader of the first platoon of men to be deployed during Vietnam, only, they are accidentally dropped off inside the Vietnamese army's camp, so to speak. Severely outnumbered but determined to not only survive, but to emerge victorious, Gibson's character displays extreme bravery and leadership while commanding his men. This is a powerful, powerful movie. Gibson's character is a wonderful leader, but not only that, his wife back home displays the same leadership qualities. When the taxi drivers are forced to deliver telegram's notifying the wives of their husbands deaths in Vietnam, Gibson's wife learns of this an is appealed. She demands that the taxi driver deliver all telegrams to her, and she will deliver them to the wives. I thought this was very brave and a sign of strong leadership.

War movies are great when looking for leadership qualities. :)