My Top 5 Favorite Military Men in
Film
Men
in Uniform are generally quite popular, especially in romance fiction. Military
men (and women) are especially intriguing to me because in reality, they are
making a huge commitment and sacrifice that many of us would never contemplate.
There have been scores of films over the years featuring both real and
imaginary protagonists – and I thought I would mention my top 5 faves. Feel
free to add yours to the list in the comments section.
1.
Eric Bana – Black Hawk Down. Eric
played the part of SFC Norm “Hoot” Gibson of Delta Force. His character is a
composite of several real-life heroes and the film is based on very real events
that took place in Somalia. It’s a difficult and emotional film to watch, but
very much worth it.
2.
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker.
Jeremy played SFC William James. Another amazing film, very intense. It is set
during the war in Iraq. Both of these films pack non-stop tension throughout.
3.
Jude Law – Cold Mountain. Great
music (by Jack White) hilarious performance by Renee Zellweger, and incredible
hotness by Jude Law as a Civil War soldier. However, I hesitated to mention
this one because the film itself is incredibly depressing, but um, it’s Jude
Law, ya know?
4.
Owen Wilson – Behind Enemy Lines.
People had mixed feelings about his film, but I really liked it. Again, it’s
not a feel good thing (it’s war after all). It’s a suspense filled ride for a
lone American soldier trying to get back to safety after crashing – you guessed
it – behind enemy lines. This one is set during the Croatian-Serbian conflict.
5.
Steve McQueen – The Great Escape. I
decided to pay homage to a classic, especially because it stars a true man’s
man, Steve McQueen. The uber masculine Steve plays the part of Capt. Virgil Hilts
aka “Cooler King”. This film is a must watch – it is based on the true escape
of a group of soldiers from a German prisoner of war camp during WWII.
Guarded
Desires (Uniform
Encounters 4) Blurb:
A
sexy young National Guardsman, a snarky bear of a DEA Agent and a vicious
Mexican drug cartel. Someone’s going to be sorry.
Special
Agent Stephen Morris thought his home life had settled into a pleasantly dull
routine. Hanging out in his yard and barbequing is a typical weekend for the
brawny mid-thirties man—and his partner Rigo from the DEA office is usually
there with his family to keep him company. Being assigned to a main border
crossing in Nogales, Arizona, keeps him busy enough at work, so he doesn’t have
time to worry about love. However, that doesn’t mean he’s not lonely.
Twenty-two
year old PFC Guardsman, Joseph Pirelli, is on an active-duty-for-training
mission to help support border patrol and the DEA. The Vasquez drug cartel has
become even more vicious than ever—going so far as to target civilians on both
sides of the border. Joseph and Stephen are thrown together in a direct
conflict with the cartel and a part of Joseph’s dark past is revealed.
Joseph
is incredibly attracted to Stephen, even though he doesn’t typically go for
older men. He longs to find love, but is still recuperating from an abusive
past. The idea of becoming close to a man who could physically harm him brings
up fears that may ruin his chances at any kind of relationship with the big
teddy bear agent.
Sometimes
love shows up when you aren’t looking for it and gives you a chance you
shouldn’t ignore. Both men will have the opportunity to wonder what it would be
like to lose the other and to decide what they’re willing to risk to be
together.
In
this excerpt, a night mission has fallen apart and one of the agents has been
killed. Joseph just saved Stephen’s life, but there is still activity out in
the desert and the agents and guardsmen need to act fast.
From Guarded Desires (Uniform Encounters
4)
They both
took one more look at their surroundings with the goggles to verify they were
clear. The military grade glasses were more involved than any Stephen had used
before, so Joseph had to show him how to adjust the lenses. They were close
enough to one another that Stephen could sense the heat from Joseph’s body in
the cool night air. Joseph had the clean scent of soap mixed with the sweat
from the past few hours of intensity. Stephen had never experienced that before
with another man where he had noticed such small physical details.
Once they
were able to clear the area, they headed back to the Humvee. Stephen noted that
Joseph didn’t even acknowledge Private Kim when he got in the truck. It was the
right call. In the heat of things they didn’t have time to get into it with the
kid.
“Get a hold
of Sanchez?”
“Yeah. They
have us and the rest of the Humvees on GPS. Helicopters will be here in a few,
and a caravan of more Humvees should arrive in about forty-five to an hour.
They’re treating it as a full engagement. They’ve requested we hold our
positions until reinforcements arrive.”
Joseph
slapped the steering wheel of the truck with both hands. Stephen clasped
Joseph’s shoulder. “I know. I wanted to move in too.” He let go and slumped
back in his seat. “All right, men. I guess we sit tight then. Let’s stay alert
just in case.”
Joseph opened
the door, then stepped out of the vehicle. Stephen jerked up.
“Where are
you going?”
“I’m not
going to sit here in this truck and do nothing.”
“You can’t go
against orders.”
“I won’t. I’m
going back in position with the goggles to make sure no one gets the jump on us
until help arrives.”
Stephen
nodded. “Good call. Then I’ll go with you. Except you might need to show me how
to use these things again.”
Joseph
chuckled. “They teach you anything at Quantico?”
“That was ten
years ago, kid. We were still using cans with string.”
Joseph gave
him a big smile and shook his head. Stephen loved the dichotomy between the
young man’s serious side and his playful side. Every small interaction with
Joseph added to Stephen’s resolve to try and get to know him better. With any
luck, a lot better.
****
To get your copy of Guarded Desires (Uniform Encounters 4) from
Totally Bound: https://www.totallybound.com/guarded-desires
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Morticia here:
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