Military Film Festival Welcomes CBS Vietnam Correspondent Morton Dean to Branson, MO
Branson, MO – Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex welcomes Morton Dean, producer of the military documentary, American Medevac, for the screening of his film during the 9th Annual Military Film Festival, November 6th thru November 10th, 2021.
During the Vietnam War, CBS News correspondent Morton Dean and cameraman Greg Cooke flew on a harrowing medevac mission to rescue three wounded infantrymen from an enemy infested rice paddy. Dean long wondered what had become of the medevac crew and the bloodied men who were airlifted to safety on that day in 1971. American Medevac tells the story of their reunion, more than 40 years later. The film will be featured on Wednesday, November 10th in the IMAX Theater during Branson’s Veteran’s Homecoming Week.
“We’re thrilled to host Morton Dean at IMAX for Branson Veteran’s Homecoming and our Military Film Festival,'' said Tom Forster, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Theater Operations for Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex. “He’s an award-winning journalist with decades of wartime correspondence and we know our veterans will be delighted to experience American Medevac on the big screen with him.”
Additional films to be shown and special guests in attendance during the 9th Annual Military Film Festival include Branson’s very own icon, Shoji Tabuchi. Tabuchi’s new documentary, Shoji Tabuchi: An American Dream, will premiere on Saturday, November 6th. Born in Daishoji, Japan in 1944, his family relocated to Okayama, only 100 miles from Hiroshima shortly after the nuclear bombing. Tabuchi recounts, through his parents' experience, the devastation of the atomic bomb. At a young age, he remembers, in detail, what his parents told him about the event. From there to growing up in Japan, learning to play the fiddle, and eventually becoming an America citizen, Tabuchi was destined to entertained millions with his music in the USA, even performing for General Tibbets and the flight crew of the Superfortress B-29 bomber Enola Gay. See this documentary, produced by the students of College of the Ozarks, a living history first hand, on Saturday, November 6th.
Vietnam War Miracle is an inspiring story of a young soldier who sustained a traumatic brain injury when hit by shrapnel from a grenade in the dead of night during the Vietnam War in 1969. By the heroic efforts of his fellow platoon soldiers, he was miraculously rescued and taken to an emergency field hospital where he fell under the care of neurosurgeon Dr. Harold F. Young, who ultimately saved his life although 30% of his brain had been destroyed. It took 41 years for Donald Mason and wife Donna, of Lebanon, Missouri, to reunite with his fellow soldiers and the man who followed him throughout his recovery, Dr. Young. See Vietnam War Miracle and meet Donald Mason and Dr. Young’s daughter and film producer, Melissa Centeno, on Tuesday, November 9th, 2021.
Meet Army Chaplain Justin Roberts as he introduces his documentary, No Greater Love, on Sunday, November 7th, 2021. Roberts, a new chaplain, was deployed with the 2/327th Infantry Regiment known as “No Slack”, to Kunar province in Afghanistan. No Greater Love illustrates how the war for some US soldiers fighting in Afghanistan doesn’t end just because they finish their tour and come back home.
Scramble the Seawolves is the little known story of the US Navy’s first and only dedicated Attack Helicopter Gunship Squadron. Established in 1967 in support of Game Warden Operations in the Mekong Delta, Republic of Vietnam. The establishment of the Helicopter Attack Squadron Three Seawolves would mark an unprecedented chapter in Naval aviation. Approximately 2500 men, maintainers, pilots, personnel and gunners volunteered for duty, with hand-me-down Hueys and the spirit of integrity, courage, and resolve, the Seawolves became the most decorated Squadron in Naval Aviation history. Meet producer Jeff Arballo as he describes his story, Scramble the Seawolves, showing Monday, November 8th, 2021.
Branson’s IMAX Military Film Festival is produced by Colonel James Wilhite, author and producer of We Answered the Call: Building the Crown Jewel of Afghanistan, in partnership with Paul and Ann Bluto, owners of Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex. The film festival was established to educate future generations and to honor all the men and women who have served our nation. Documentaries will be shown each morning of the film festival at 8:30 AM. The Branson IMAX box office opens at 7:30 AM. Military Film Fest films are free to all veterans and $6 for any additional guests.
For more information visit bransonimax.com or contact Tom Forster at 417-335-3533 x 135.