An impressive commitment was shown to keeping the message of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” as a battle cry for our youths’ participation in protecting Mother Earth from global warming and pollution. My children were enthusiastic. I was confused. Something bothered me, and I could not put my finger on why – until Memorial Day weekend.

It started on Saturday morning, when I took my 8-year-old son, Nicholas, who is a Cub Scout, to the Los Angeles National Cemetery. About 2,700 Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, from Cub to Eagle, convened to place flags on more than 84,000 gravesites of America’s finest. It was a moving, profound experience.

One would expect a lot of running and playing among these youngsters as they performed their task. But, no. At each site, they stood at attention, recited the name of the service member and then saluted. Within two hours, 84,000 flags proudly waved in the gentle breeze.

I have passed this cemetery for years and wondered who placed those flags, and how, from a sea of white stones, the Stars and Stripes overnight come and beautifully decorate this hallowed ground. All across this great nation, I picture the same scene and the beauty of these young boys and girls honoring those who have protected the privilege of our magnificent democracy and freedoms.

This Memorial Day, I had the honor of being part of the program at this cemetery. joining Robert Forster, Jon Voight, David Horowitz, Bill Sachs and Maj. Gen. JamesW. Comstock. The general had asked all to remember the first time he or she understood or felt patriotic. As I sat waiting my turn to speak, I reflected on mine. My father was a Navy gunner on a merchant marine ship during World War II. His ship was torpedoed in the Pacific, and he was in the water for three days. He lost some of his close friends and was awarded the Purple Heart.

My earliest recollections of my dad were that on every Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Independence Day until the day he died at age 57, he wore his Navy uniform and raised the flag in our front yard. I remember his solemn pride on those days. He also upset my mother a bit because he still fit in his uniform and had not gained any weight over the years. And, well, she had.

My father often talked of the pride he had for his father, who had come from Sicily and enlisted in the Infantry during World War I. His father also had been awarded the Purple Heart and the Oak Leaf Cluster, which is bestowed on military awards when exceptional conduct is recognized.

Looking out at the sea of faces on Memorial Day, the great beautiful faces of those who understand sacrifice and love our country, I could not help but think of the millions of families connected to the military either by serving or through family history. By contrast, neither President Obama nor Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had a parent in the military.

In no way do I suggest that such a connection is a criterion for love of country, but it certainly can affect how one might feel about the military and its history. Certainly, the vice president does have the experience of having a son who is serving.

Interestingly, Mr. Obama’s maternal grandfather fought in World War II, but Mr. Obama often dismisses his grandfather’s beliefs in his book “Dreams From My Father,” saying his grandparents knew nothing of the real violence in the world. He wrote that his grandfather had never seen “real combat” and had a “tendency to rewrite history to conform to the image he wished for himself.”

During the election, however, many media outlets, including the New Republic, Time magazine and the Huffington Post, fawned over Mr. Obama’s “military pedigree” and “World War II connection,” though Mr. Obama himself casually dismissed his grandfather’s service.

Our fathers and mothers have a great deal of influence over our thinking. We must use their meaningful history and pride to appeal to the Hollywood community, to Nickelodeon, Disney, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros. and others.

We should have the same unifying message for our youth today and educate them on the love, honor, sacrifice, pride and patriotism of the military with as much vim and vigor as on Earth Day and in the Big Green Help campaign.

We need a call to arms, like that of the Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards, and spend from 10:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. with programming that would excite our children with the stirring message of our nation’s heroes and their powerful stories of honor and sacrifice.

They know enough about “going green,” so why not go red, white and blue for future Memorial Days? Let’s start on July Fourth, Independence Day, so that by next Memorial Day, perhaps Nickelodeon will heed our call and put together a program that will bring education, encouragement and patriotism to our youth.

Let’s make it as cool to plug-in to patriotism as it is to unplug to save energy.

Robert Davi is an actor-director best known for his roles in “Die Hard,” “License to Kill,” “The Goonies,” “Predator 2,” the series “Profiler” and “Stargate Atlantis” and his directorial debut of the award-winning film “The Dukes.” His new film, “Magic,” will be in theaters later this year.

With my wife and little son, I moved from Nashville to Washington, DC to become a writer and speechwriter. It seemed a foolish gamble to everyone but me. I was happy from then on–happy down to the bones. That probably would have been enough, but eventually my success (as I count success) brought some of the more traditional benefits. They’re nice, but they weren’t necessary. What mattered was finding the backbone to live the life I chose.

“Revolutionary Road” is about that. It’s about the common 20-something realization that “being special” isn’t bestowed upon one at birth, it’s something only we can make for ourselves. It’s about the excuses we find to believe that the trappings of success are not only an acceptable substitute but also a responsible and wise alternative for life choices that most of the world labels “immature” and “careless.” It’s about acting as if we regret not “taking chances” when in fact we are utterly relieved. It’s about being honest with oneself that there are tremendous opportunities in life, and how few of those called to do something out of the ordinary actually answer that voice. And it’s about the pain some feel when they understand just what they’ve passed up.

Director Sam Mendes probably intended “Revolutionary Road” to be a straightforward condemnation of suburban life or the middle class or alleged 1950s conformity, but he doesn’t get the final say. The thing about art (if you’ll excuse the term) is that what matters is what it means to us, not what the artist hoped we’d feel. To read this picture as just another slam on flyover lifestyles is to miss a subtler, better opportunity: The picture is about people who want to be special by their own standard, about the process of realizing that transformation can come only if we ourselves do the work, and the demanding truth that following through takes fortitude. Or, as Kate Winslet’s character says to her husband, “It takes backbone to live the life you want, Frank.” It sure does.

“Revolutionary Road” is one of the best pictures of 2008.

But one culture has rejected a far-left film establishment that seeks to undermine its war on terror – the other has embraced it.    

The first culture – the culture that rejects its morally relativistic artists – is America.  The second culture – the culture that accepts and encourages its morally relativistic artists – is Israel. 

Hollywood may make tons of movies like In the Valley of Elah, Rendition, and Stop-Loss, but those movies tank.  Tel Aviv makes similar movies, and those movies are considered the greatest film achievements of the Jewish State. 

There’s a reason for that: while Hollywood believes American exceptionalism is passé, most Americans disagree.  By contrast, Tel Aviv believes that Zionism is passé – and that post-Zionist attitude has infected much of the Israeli populace. 

It’s no wonder that America is winning its war on terror, while Israel is losing hers. 

Let’s take just one example: Body of Lies vs. Waltz with Bashir. 

DiCaprio and Crowe star in "Body of Lies"

Body of Lies had all the elements of a hit.  Exciting action.  Solid direction by Ridley Scott.  Two first-rate stars in Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe.    

And it bombed.   

It bombed because watching Body of Lies was like watching an in-depth investigation by Al Jazeera.  The movie did its best to equate American counter-terrorism efforts with Islamic terrorism. 

Body of Lies opens with shots of Americans – led by CIA operative Leo DiCaprio — beating a terrorism suspect bloody.  Near the end of the movie, as Leo is being tortured by an Islamic terrorism, he flashes back to beating an Islamic terrorist.  The implication is clear: the US and its enemies aren’t so different, after all. 

That’s not a message Americans really want to hear.  We understand that our enemies are murderous thugs, and by and large, we also understand that we may need to hurt them in order to get information from them.   

It’s no wonder, then, that Body of Lies was more of a sinking ship than Titanic. 

It’s a different story in Israel. 

The hottest new movie in Israel is Waltz with Bashir.  The movie has already won Best Picture from the Israeli Film Academy, Best Picture from the National Society of Film Critics, Best Animated Film from the Los Angeles Film Critics, and Best Independent Foreign Film from the British Independent Film Awards. 

Waltz with Bashir is an animated post-Zionist journey into the mind of a former IDF soldier who fought in the 1982 Lebanon War.  It follows his investigation into what really happened during the Lebanon War, and it culminates in the Sabra and Shatilla massacres, in which the Israeli Defense Forces failed to prevent Christian Phalangists from killing 700-800 Palestinians in those refugee camps.  The Phalangist attack was a response to the Islamist killing of Lebanese President Bashir Gemayel.    

The film neglects to mention that only 35 out of the 700-800 killed were women and children – the rest were men, which suggests that most of those killed were in fact members of the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization. 

In short, Waltz with Bashir is the Israeli version of Body of Lies, with less realistic action and more psychotherapy. 

In America, this sort of self-indulgent caterwauling is scorned by the mass public.  In Israel, everyone’s just pleased to be accepted by the Europeans for engaging in such self-abnegation. 

The film community in the United States may skew heavily to the left.  It may see its true mission as reshaping American foreign policy along European lines.  And it may make anti-war films with that mission in mind.  But the American public rejects the Hollywood view.  We want more Saving Private Ryan and less Redacted.  We want more We Were Soldiers and less Rendition. 

In Israel, the film community skews far left as well.  But Israel embraces those films.  Since 1948, Israeli film has been heavily focused on undermining Israelis’ patriotism – and Israelis have bought into it. 

Film has an impact.  It’s no wonder that so many Israelis are disillusioned with their state.  It’s no wonder that they’re apologetic for defending themselves.  It’s no wonder they keep trying to make amends for wrongs they haven’t committed.  It’s no wonder they love Waltz with Bashir.  

In America, it isn’t too late.  The American film industry may ignore its profit margin in favor of trendy pacifism, but such willful blindness can only last so long.  Eventually, Americans will demand to see movies that champion America.  Americans won’t let their children be convinced by nonsense like Body of Lies.