Top 10 Movies to Watch in Honor of Memorial Day

SERGEANT YORK stars Gary Cooper in a movie based on the true story of a conscientious objector who became the greatest American hero in World War I. SERGEANT YORK is a profoundly Christian movie, with a brilliant performance by Gary Cooper. It powerfully explores the role Christians should play in times of war.

SANDS OF IWO JIMA stars John Wayne in one of his most iconic roles:  Sergeant John Stryker, a tough drill sergeant during World War II who whips the young men into shape. Sgt. Stryker has to deal with a rebellious recruit with a chip on his shoulder, Private Peter Conway played by John Agar. What Conway doesn’t realize is that Stryker’s methods may seem harsh but they are absolutely necessary for the infantry soldiers under his command if they are going to have the best chance to survive. The ending to this movie is a brilliant example of sacrifice and duty, with Private Conway picking up the mantle that Stryker has bequeathed to him and the other men. As Stryker is wont to order the men during the movie, “Saddle up!”

Led by Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough and James Garner, THE GREAT ESCAPE follows Allied inmates during World War II trying to escape from a new POW camp run by evil German National Socialist soldiers. Released in 1963, THE GREAT ESCAPE is classic, masterful entertainment filled with a wonderful cast, patriotism, playful comical moments, high stakes, and tremendous jeopardy and suspense. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for young children due to instances of violence and brief foul language, smoking, and drinking.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a great sequel to the popular 1986 hit starring Tom Cruise, where Tom’s character, an expert Navy fighter pilot named Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, is demoted and ordered to train a group of elite Navy pilots for a deadly mission to take out a uranium enrichment facility in a foreign country. TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a terrific movie, with emotionally powerful scenes, exciting action and a strong Pro-American, patriotic, morally uplifting worldview, but it’s marred by too many obscenities and three strong profanities.

THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is John Ford’s stirring and patriotic, but thoughtful, tribute to the men who proved the need for PT boats in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Robert Montgomery plays their leader, Brick, and John Wayne plays Brick’s right-hand man, Rusty. THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is brilliantly made. It features an early role by Donna Reed as a nurse who falls in love with John Wayne’s lieutenant, only to be parted from him when the Japanese invade the Philippines. A funeral scene where Wayne gives a moving eulogy to two fallen comrades in arms is very poignant and patriotic. The ending delivers another sober, poignant message about the different kinds of sacrifice that occur in wartime.

Ron Maxwell's epic film GETTYSBURG, based on Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel THE KILLER ANGELS, dramatically depicts the three most courageous days in American history when North and South were arrayed against each other in the decisive battle fought on the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania plains. GETTYSBURG is a magnificent movie that should be viewed by every American.

THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT, Tyler Perry’s war drama, is about the only U.S. Black Women’s Auxiliary Battalion to serve on foreign soil during World War II, where the women are assigned an insurmountable task to sort 17 million pieces of backlog mail to and from soldiers on the front lines, to increase morale. THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT tells an exceptional, inspiring, moving, well-acted story, but it has slightly excessive foul language, so MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY stars James Cagney in one of his signature roles as George M. Cohan, the patriotic musical playwright of the first half of the 20th Century, who loved his country and loved his family, a beloved group of performers known as the Four Cohans. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY is a stirring, endearing celebration of American patriotism and family in tandem with musical whimsy that will warm the viewers spirit.

HACKSAW RIDGE is a great, emotive, powerful, touching Christian war movie about Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a courageous conscientious objector who serves as an unarmed medic during the brutal battle of Okinawa in World War II. Brilliantly directed by Mel Gibson, HACKSAW RIDGE is a captivating, emotional movie about uncompromising faith and miraculous courage. It will make you laugh and cry, but strong caution is advised because of bloody violence and some foul language.

JOHNNY TREMAIN is a classic Walt Disney historical drama movie about how the title character changes from an overconfident, selfish silversmith’s apprentice into a principled American patriot ready to lay down his life in the Revolutionary War. JOHNNY TREMAIN is a quintessential historical Walt Disney movie from the 1950s featuring patriotism, positive Christian themes, Bible quotes, prayer, a musical number, and battle scenes with no blood.