Diary of a Sergeant
About Diary of a Sergeant
Sergeant Harold Russell, who lost both hands in a training accident in 1944, tells how he was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. He and other amputees there go from despair to the hooks and drills the Army medical service offers. Russell learns to wear the hooks and to do jobs he had thought were finished for him. Discharged, he is received at Boston College by the college president, William J. Murphy, S.J.
Cast & crew
More about Diary of a Sergeant
Joseph M. Newman directed this United States Army Pictorial Service short for the Signal Corps. It was issued on 16mm in black and white. Ball State University's record also credits Julian Blaustein and lists Alfred Drake with Russell and Newman. A timed copy runs 22 minutes 16 seconds.
Themes
Background
Russell was hurt in a 1944 training accident and filmed the next year, while Walter Reed was still full of wartime amputees.
Preservation
Wikipedia points to a complete copy at the US National Archives. The short was made on 16mm.
Notes
- William Wyler saw the short and cast Russell as Homer Parrish in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
- For that feature Russell received two Academy Awards for the same role. The awards belong to The Best Years of Our Lives, not to this short.
- The catalog cast names Alfred Drake with Harold Russell.
Scenes
- Russell practices with the hooks that replace his hands.
- President William J. Murphy receives him at Boston College.
Influenced
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Diary of a Sergeant (1945).webm)
- US National Archives