By Clinton H. Wallace 10:37 p.m. November 11, 2015 @clintonhwallace
Hollywood, Nov. 11 (DGC) – Today Is November 11 2015, Veteran’s day in America and I had the privilege of spending this day of remembrance with the awe inspiring WWII Veteran Leon Cooper courtesy of Vanilla Fire Founder and Producer Tamara Henry at the American Legion Post 43 in Hollywood. Since 1919 Post 43 has been composed of Hollywood’s finest professionals in the entertainment industry and Leon Cooper was honored here today, the event began with opening remarks from Congressman Adam Schiff and a special presentation from the secretary of the US Navy Ray Mabus as well as a “Stars of the Military: Hollywood Star Presentation” to Musical Guest Kenny C who along with his band entertained over 150 veterans and 70 VIPs as they celebrated Vanilla Fire’s patriotic military film series that began in 2008 and led to the repatriation of 36 US Marines in the summer of 2015. Leon Cooper & Tamara Henry along with Director Matthew Hausle Screened “Return to the Philippines: The Leon Cooper Story.” the film depicts the 95-year old WWII Veteran and national treasure Leon Cooper as he continues the fight for the repatriation of his fallen comrades during his military campaign in the pacific theatre. Cooper was a Higgins boat commander in six major pacific island -hopping campaigns including Iwo Jima and Tarawa, in his duty the young Lieutenant ferried young US Marines into battle.
In the film, Cooper honors the legacy of his fallen marine brothers during the many battles to defend and eventually liberate the Philippines from the brutal grasp of the Japanese Imperial army in which 25,000 Filipinos along with 9000 Americans were killed. During the various campaigns the many brave US Marines that lost their lives still lay in unmarked graves.
There are 88,000 MIAs from WWII that never came home, at age 95 Cooper is the last WWII Veteran in the fight and “Return to the Philippines: The Leon Cooper Story.” chronicles Coopers brave efforts to have American MIAs repatriated.
Christy was educated in Paris at École des hautes études commerciales de Paris (HEC Paris), an international business school in France and studied film and television at LACC (Los Angeles Community College). She is a business owner, published author and a critically acclaimed independent filmmaker. Her 20 year body of cinema work to date includes 2 feature films, 15 short films and one web series. She is a writer, producer, director, cinematographer, actress and editor.
Her headlining film credit includes the vigilante feature film "Barracuda" (Released in 2014 by Maverick Entertainment Group) which earned her critical filmmaker acclaim including 3 Best Picture awards at multiple U.S. film festivals. In 2017, she directed 3 episodes of the post-apocalyptic web series "Vape Warz", which she also wrote and produced. It premiered at the 2017 Mediterranean Film festival Cannes in the south of France and received an Honorable Mention for Best Web Series and is now streaming on Amazon. In 2019, she released her first foreign short film "Perdu à France" ("Lost In Provence")- also streaming on Amazon. She lives in Los Angeles.
1 Comment
Beautifully well-written article! I was there to participate in this event. I am a member of American Legion Hollywood Post 43 and Navy veteran and it was a great pleasure to honor Leon Cooper and his brave accomplishment.
Beautifully well-written article! I was there to participate in this event. I am a member of American Legion Hollywood Post 43 and Navy veteran and it was a great pleasure to honor Leon Cooper and his brave accomplishment.