Drudge Not Neutral on Pearl Harbor

0 Comments | Insight on the News, June 18, 2001 | by John Elvin

Internet newsman Matt Drudge opened up with big guns recently because the Pentagon had agreed to allow the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John C. Stennis to be used as the staging area for the premiere of the big-budget Disney film, Pearl Harbor. The project required sailing the Pacific Fleet's largest carrier from San Diego to Hawaii. Some 2,500 glitterati, including Hollywood types, top military brass and a bevy of Washington politicos, eventually attended the premiere of the film.

Drudge said in his report that the military had been paid more than $1 million to assist in making the film. So why all the fuss? Other than fixing pot-holes and defending our national borders, what better use could government be put to than lending a hand to the entertainment industry? Except this flick is neutral about Japan's responsibility for that day of infamy!

According to Associated Press, the Pentagon has helped out -- usually in exchange for a handsome fee, mind you -- on several other forthcoming films:

* Windwalkers, starring Nicholas Cage, is a tale of the invasion of Saipan, with 800 off-duty Marines playing the invaders and 300 additional service personnel of Asian descent playing the Japanese defenders.

* The Sum of All Fears, based on a Tom Clancy novel about terrorists planning to nuke the Super Bowl, with a couple of helicopters and 50 Marines provided by the Pentagon.

* We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young, in which Mel Gibson takes on the Viet Cong with the aid of some helicopters and military settings.