Notable Birthdays

Three individuals have significant milestones around this time of year. Today would have marked John Fitzgerald Kennedy's 90th birthday. American Movie Classics showed war / patriotic movies all weekend to commemorate Memorial Day. One of the ones I caught part of was PT 109, starring Cliff Robertson. The movie, which came out in 1963, was enjoyed by Kennedy, who screened it at the White House. My father wandered in while I was watching it, and for fun I quizzed him on what the movie was. From generic navy guys on a dock in a tropical setting, he says, its either PT109 or They Were Expendable, but it can't be that, because that was in black and white. My father's a bit of a military movie nerd.

One of the stars of They Were Expendable was John Wayne, who would have turned 100 on May 26. You gotta love the Duke. I think my favorite John Wayne film is Big Jake, where he plays Jacob McCandles. The movie also featured his son Patrick, who plays his Jacob's son. Wayne winds up confronting people who will usually say to him, "Jacob McCandles? I thought you were dead." On Friday June 15 at 11:00pm, at the McGowan Theater in the National Archives, the movie Stagecoach, will be shown. The movie will be repeated Saturday June 16 at noon. John Wayne was one of President Lyndon Johnson's favorite actors. The film is being shown as part of the Presidential Film Favorites series.

Another National Archives event to mark a milestone birthday will be on Wednesday June 20 at noon in the Jefferson Room. To celebrate 200 years since the birth of Robert E. Lee, author Elizabeth Brown Pryor will discuss her book, "Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through his Letters." Using recently uncovered documents and letters, Pryor sheds new light on aspects of Lee's life that are more complex and contradictory—and far more fascinating—than the familiar icon. Pryor contends that "Lee's letters and papers reveal a man who is frequently as confused, passive, and vulnerable as he is conscientious and brave."