I’m pretty sure I was the only one crying. Oh, there may have been a few eye-dabs around the theater, but I was beyond that. I had my face buried in my hands, sobbing.
It was the day the Midway Movie launched, and I couldn’t wait. I rushed over to the theater for a matinee. I was not disappointed—in fact I was thrilled.
I was over-the-top excited to see the events I portray in my novel shown with a big CGI budget on the big screen!
Of course, there are always a few historical hiccups in a Hollywood production, and as an author of historical fiction I understand the rationale. Sometimes you can convey the dramatic truth of a situation in a more engaging way by deviating a bit from the straight-up facts. But on Veterans’ Day weekend, it was great to take in a movie that focuses on the real drama inherit in what has been described by historians as “the single most decisive aerial attack in naval history” and “the turning point in the Pacific war.”
Real people, real heroism, real history. Real sacrifices for freedom.
The movie does a great job of depicting the ludicrous risks taken by ordinary people who rose to an extraordinary situation. Without real men like Lieutenant Richard Best and Major Verne McClusky, who were willing to lay their lives on the line with “utter disregard of personal safety,” the outcome of that battle could easily have been different. As historian Gordon Prange’s seminal work on the battle puts it, “The results were such a narrow squeak that we believe [our book’s] title Miracle at Midway is…exactly factual.”
My particular area of World War II passion is the Doolittle Raid, the real-world event that inspired my debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter. The Doolittle Raid took place just weeks before the Battle of Midway and was a crucial factor in the failed strategy the Japanese pursued there. I knew from the trailers that the Midway movie would recreate some portion of the Doolittle Raid—some of the same events my novel covers. I was over-the-top excited to see where the movie’s big CGI budget would take it!
The Doolittle Raid took place just weeks before the Battle of Midway and was a crucial factor in the failed strategy the Japanese pursued there. @LThompsonBooks #ThoughtfulThursday Click To TweetAgain, I was not disappointed. The scene where Jimmy Doolittle’s B-25 bomber launches from the deck of U.S.S. Hornet—a feat everyone hoped could be done, but which had never been attempted before that moment—was magical. The bomber plunges off the carrier’s nose and disappears briefly from view while all observers catch their breath, awaiting certain disaster. Then it rises into view, safely in flight in a cloud of spray.
The movie depicts Doolittle’s B-25 leaving U.S.S. Hornet.
The Doolittle Raid adventure wasn’t the focus of Midway, but the movie spent more footage on it than I expected. They put that screen time to good use. The storytelling was excellent. Their narrative left the Doolittle Raiders on the run, in enemy-occupied China—exactly where my novel begins. I literally walked away thinking, Hollywood just released a 75 million dollar prequel to my novel! How cool is that?
The storytelling was excellent. @LThompsonBooks #Midway2019 #MovieReview Click To Tweet
My meme for Veterans’ Day. The captured airman depicted in the vintage photo is Doolittle Raider Robert Hite in April 1942. He inspired the character of Kevin Watt in my novel.
So why was I in tears while the credits ran?
The first thing that got me is that this movie went somewhere I haven’t seen Hollywood go before. It touched on the savage brutality of the Japanese occupation of China. A splash screen before the final credits brought home the message. It is estimated that 250,000 Chinese civilians were murdered by the Japanese Army in retribution for the aid rendered to the Doolittle Raiders.
I get teary every time I think about that. The Raiders were so grateful for the help of the Chinese who befriended them. How would they have felt if they’d somehow been able to anticipate the barbarous result?
Another splash screen mentioned the death toll in the Battle of Midway. Tragic. More than three thousand Japanese combatants went to the bottom of the ocean that day, as a result of their militaristic government’s disastrous policies. And they took three hundred and seven brave Americans with them.
The movie left me awash in gratitude for the generations of heroes who have fought and died to keep our freedoms intact. @LThompsonBooks #MidwayMovie #ThoughtfulThursday Click To TweetThe movie left me awash in gratitude for the generations of heroes who have fought and died to keep our freedoms intact. And for God’s providence, which was in full view at Midway. But it also left me deeply moved at the sinister depth of evil, and at the ravages of our broken world. I’m so grateful the Bible offers the blessed hope of a future “new heaven and new earth,” where horrors like death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more (Rev 21:4).
The Plum Blooms in Winter is available for e-book purchase at a discounted price for TODAY ONLY!
Pick up your copy of the Christy and Carol Awards Finaling title before the price goes up!
#GIVEAWAY!! To celebrate the Midway Movie and its remembrance of the daring Doolittle Raid, Linda is running a contest!
Register for a chance to win a movie night bonanza, with FOUR awesome WWII DVDs including the new Midway movie, and a signed copy of Linda’s Doolittle Raid-inspired novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter–a Christy Award finalist!
The giveaway only runs through 11/15!
Linda Thompson stepped back from a corporate career that spanned continents to write what she loves–stories of unstoppable faith. Her debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter, is an OCW Cascade award and was also named as a 2019 finalist for both an ECPA Christy Award and a Carol Award. Linda writes from the sun-drenched Arizona desert, where she lives with her husband, a third-generation airline pilot who doubles as her Chief Military Research Officer, two mostly-grown-up kids, and a small platoon of housecats. You can learn more about Linda at her website lthompsonbooks.com. Linda is available for speaking engagements, author interviews, and book signings. To schedule an appearance, please contact the media contact below.
He made aviation history in the Doolittle Raid. Now he’s determined to make amends.
Her quest to avenge her brother consumes her. But can her victim offer redemption instead?
“A taut, crisp debut achievement that colorfully evokes the Pacific theater of WWII. Start this one forewarned: it’s a stay-up-all-night read.”
–Jerry B. Jenkins,
21-time New York Times bestselling author
Winner, 2019 Cascade Award |
Finalist, 2019 Christy and Carol Awards |
Inspired by Actual Events
1942. Pilot Dave Delham revels at the success of his historic Japanese bombing mission. Until he’s caught and endures years of torture at the hands of cruel captors. Despairing that he’ll survive, Dave vows if he escapes, he’ll answer God’s call on his life.
Osaka, Japan, 1948. Miyako Matsuura longs to restore her family’s shattered honor. After watching her little brother die in a horrific American air raid, she was reduced to selling her body to survive. When the pilot whose bomb stole her brother’s life returns as a missionary, her thirst for revenge consumes her.
Two damaged people race along a collision course that could bring eternal change. Can Dave and Miyako transform their tragic histories and surrender to forgiveness and faith?
The Plum Blooms in Winter is the first book in the inspiring Brands From the Burning historical Christian fiction series. If you like pulse-pounding AND heart-warming tales of redemption drawn from life, brimming with deeply drawn characters and taut suspense, you’ll love Linda Thompson’s powerful novel.
Immerse yourself in this award-winning story of courage and redemption today!
Samuel Hall