Woohoo! Heres the Official Trailer of ELEVEN, the documentary featuring my 96-year-old father, William L. Strahan, who is among eleven WWII Vets from the famed Carrier Air Group 11 who were interviewed in the film. For you history buffs: Carrier Air Group 11 was commissioned on October 10th, 1942 and consisted of three squadrons: My father flew dive bombers as a member of Bombing Squadron (VB-11); then there was Torpedo Squadron 11 (VT-11) and Fighting Squadron 11 (VF-11). Air Group 11 was originally scheduled to go aboard the old Hornet (CV-8), but that carrier was sunk. Air Group 11 flew many long, perilous missions from where they were then based at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. They flew off the new USS Hornet Air Craft Carrier (CV-12) in the Pacific from early September, 1944 and participated in a series of historic Naval engagements against the Japanese. They were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for extensive damage to Japanese air, land, and sea forces during their combat tour in 1944-45. The harrowing stories of the men in this film will bring all of this vividly to life! The magnificent Hornet is now a museum docked off Alameda, CA. There will be a special screening of a rough cut of Eleven on ☆Veterans Day☆ Nov. 11th, 2014 at the new Air Group 11 Exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum. The film will be available later as DVD, Blu Ray, streaming (and I wouldnt be surprised if it would someday be shown on The History Channel or PBS... just my own prediction ;) ). Well keep you posted when it becomes available. This project has been a monumental task. Most of the members of Air Group 11 have passed away and only a handful of survivors were scattered across the United States. So, the number one priority for this project was traveling the country to record the amazing stories of these heroes before their stories were lost forever. My father was their first stop, since he was the oldest of the men. Sadly, one of the men died just before his scheduled interview. Quite coincidentally at this time, the award-winning filmmaker, George Retelas, is editing eleven hours of film footage down to fit the movie time frame. Quite a feat! George and the exhibit historian, Tim Hampton, spent a whole week at the National Archives combing through thousands of photos and viewing stacks of old film reels with a projector to find the best authentic footage of the actual Air Group Eleven. Many documentary makers use stock footage, but all the old footage in this film will be authentic. George said it was like going on a treasure hunt! George teaches college on media, film and photography. Some of his students participated in this project, including reenactments on the flight deck of the USS Hornet! You might catch glimpses of some of them in this trailer. They were wearing uniforms, helmets, and flight gear that were donated by my dad and other members of Air Group 11. Please SHARE this post or the link to this trailer: https://vimeo/107438785 Visit the MOVIE WEBSITE: eleventhemovie to see behind the scenes photos, meet the eleven men, view press articles, and more. MOVIE PROGRESS: Visit the Kickstarter website at goo.gl/nzUjNz to see how the movie was first conceived by George Retelas (the film was funded above their goal through a Kickstarter campaign). You can read all the interesting UPDATES of this documentary-making process, starting with the most recent (goo.gl/68YnzO): Scroll down the page and then click through the pages at bottom to see previous updates. Heres the update about the filming of my father: goo.gl/eE2aUr. Can you tell Im proud of him? Hes a very humble man of deep faith, and he has always been my hero... not only for his service to our country, but by the way he has conducted his life.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 08:43:56 +0000
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