On Saturday, Americans will reflect and honor Veterans Day.

On that same date, our Canadian neighbors will recognize their Remembrance Day.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are more than 19 million veterans. In Michigan, the VA states there are more than 562,000 veterans. VA statistics reveal veterans from the Gulf War and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are eclipsing the living Vietnam-era veterans.

I have personally visited numerous military memorials, parades, and cemeteries to render a hand salute or place my hand over my heart for those who have served and passed. The Vietnam Wall is the most difficult for me to visit. I know several of the 58,000 names shown.

As we prepare for Veterans Day, I would like to share with you my thoughts on the best motion picture, book, and television episode honoring those who served.

MOTION PICTURE

For many, the movies “Born on the Fourth of July,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Blackhawk Down,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Dirty Dozen,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” and “Forrest Gump” come to mind.

I tend to believe the best motion picture is the 1946 Oscar award-winning film, “The Best Years of Our Lives.”

The film features Fredic March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell as three post-World War II veterans returning to their Midwest hometown. March portrays an Army sergeant who has seen combat, Andrews an Army Air Corps flight captain, and Russell a Navy petty officer who lost both of his forearms.

March struggles with PTSD (then known as shell shock) when returning to his family he hasn’t seen for years. He also reflects on returning to his banking profession. Andrews returns to a philanderess wife and a third-level job clerking at a local drug store. Finally, Russell has adjusted to his limb loss. However, his mother has not coped and his next-door neighbor girlfriend, Wilma, loves him with all her heart.

It is a terrific motion picture to view with a Russell and Wilma wedding scene and a blossoming new love for Andrews. March’s family and lifestyle are reunited.

The movie is available through a multitude of online resources and through library lending services.

THE BOOK

“My Father, My Son” is a biography of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo “Bud” Zumwalt Jr. co-written with John Pekkanen. The book chronicles Zumwalt’s personal life and military career.

As a young petty officer, on the secretary of the Navy’s public affairs staff, I had the honor of periodically seeing and interacting with the admiral.

Zumwalt, the Navy’s highest-ranking officer, faced dozens upon dozens of challenges during his CNO tenure. Those ranged from the Vietnam war front, racial tensions, an aging fleet, and constantly seeking administration and congressional support. It is important to note that, when he was selected as CNO, he was chosen over other senior-level flag officers. At age 49, he was the youngest CNO ever to be appointed.

The most poignant chapter in the book is when Zumwalt talks about his Vietnam tour of duty. During that period, his son, Elmo III, was a naval lieutenant manning a gun boat on the Mekong River Delta.

From the shoreline, American troops were facing severe casualties on the Delta.

Admiral Zumwalt made the decision to use the defoliant agent orange to push back each side of the river shoreline by hundreds of yards. That meant the enemy could no longer hide behind the shoreline foliage nor launch their weapons against the American forces.

Years later, after leaving the Navy and graduating from law school, the junior Zumwalt learned that he contracted non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He died in 1988.

It is believed that the admiral’s decision to use agent orange to save numerous troop members may have caused his son to have died at age 42. The admiral’s grandson, Elmo IV, was born with a birth defect that hinders his ability to concentrate. Other Vietnam-era veterans’ children have also shown birth defects.

Certain aspects of that book are a challenging read of the admiral and his son facing the consequences of agent orange.

The admiral was assured by the Pentagon that the defoliate was safe to use. He commented, “I asked the right questions, but got the wrong answers.”

The book is available at lending libraries or can be ordered.

THE TV SHOW

Television featured numerous military-elated series, such as “NCIS,” “China Beach,” “McHale’s Navy,” “JAG,” “Seal Team,” and numerous other series dating back decades.

Perhaps the best was the 11-season run of “M*A*S*H.”

The series was filled with a variety of notable characters, hilarious situations, as well as the Korean War’s difficulties and dozens of ethical issues.

As a side note, Harry Morgan, who portrayed Col. Sherman Potter, was from Muskegon and Corporal Max Klinger is a Toledo, Ohio native.

Probably the most memorable episode for me appeared in 1980, entitled, “Death Takes a Holiday.”

The plot has the M*A*S*H 4077 medical unit celebrating Christmas in the camp’s massive mess (dining) quarters.

As the holiday festivities carry on, a severely wounded soldier, shot by a sniper, arrives at the M*A*S*H unit. The holiday party continued with the soldier quickly carried into the surgical tent.

Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Ferrell) realized the combat soldier was most certainly going to die. Their goal was to keep him alive so his family would not see him pass on Christmas Day. It was a scene filled with love, tense moments, and a from-the-heart mission.

Head nurse Maj. Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit) pulled a photo from the soldier’s pocket which showed his wife and children. Inscribed on the photo was, “To the best husband and daddy in the world; come home soon.”

Col. Potter would slip into the nearby surgical tent wearing his makeshift Santa outfit. Father John Mulcahy (William Christopher) would pray and add words of wisdom. As the solider was heading toward death, one of the father’s classic remarks was, “Christmas should be thought of as a day of birth.”

The wall clock ticked towards midnight, Dec. 26. The soldier becomes weaker by the hour and passes before midnight. Hawkeye slips over to the nearby clock and moves it to 12:05 a.m.

Mission accomplished. The official record had the soldier from Pennsylvania pass on Dec. 26.

Hand salute to you, my dear brothers and sisters who served.

Jeffrey D. Brasie is a retired health care CEO. He frequently writes historic feature stories and op-eds for various Michigan newspapers. As a Vietnam-era veteran, he served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve. He served on the public affairs staff of the secretary of the navy. He resides in Grosse Pointe Woods.