A 97-Year-Old Hero Who Fought at Dunkirk Goes to See the Movie
As much as I am all in on the nerdgasm news coming out of ComicCon, really enjoyed Spider-Man: Homecoming and loved the fact Wonder Woman saved the DC Cinematic Universe from falling into the abyss of Failed Movie Franchises, there hasn’t been a movie I’ve been looking forward to more than Dunkirk.
It just has everything. Christopher Nolan making his first non-fiction film. A great cast. Telling the story of one of the most under appreciated moments of World War II. The story of certified badasses like the aptly named Ken Sturdy.
The Battle of Dunkirk was the low point for Britain in the war. And arguably their finest hour. The entire British army was pinned down on the beach and about to get driven into the sea by the Nazis. Until they launched Operation Dynamo, and over 800 vessels of every size and description set out across the English Channel to evacuate the troops. 240 of the boats were sunk by the Germans, killing 1000 civilians. But the army lived to fight another day because ordinary people did extraordinary things.
I defy anyone to see Ken Sturdy walking into that theater, still spry despite the weight of all that valor across his chest and not be moved. Or to hear him talk about the battle, listen to his voice crack at the mention of the boys he fought with who sacrificed themselves on the altar of freedom and not feel your soul ache. Or to watch him tear up about the human condition and the horrors of war and not weep a little yourself. It makes you wish you could go back to May of 1940 and tell that scared 20-year-old that not only would he be rescued, he’d still be alive in 2017 to see a movie made about him, his buddies and the citizen heroes of Dunkirk. They saved the men who did nothing less than save the world.