FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Barrage – The True Untold Story of the Only All-Black Unit & D-Day Invasion
PLACENTIA, CA – June 2024 – 727 Squared, Inc., announces the launch of a GoFundMe campaign to raise initial capital to begin development of the feature film Barrage. The nationally recognized script written by producer/director Michael Gordon Bennett is a historical drama that brings to the screen the true-life exploits of the only all-African American combat unit to storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Here’s a link to the campaign to learn more: https://gofund.me/376d57c8.
The film follows the youngest member of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, a bright but naïve 17-year-old high school dropout who volunteers for the Army only to find the Jim Crow life he desperately wants to escape so embedded in military culture, his critical D-Day mission is jeopardized by the very soldiers he’s charged with protecting. It’s Men of Honor (2000) meets Red Tails (2012).
“When I wrote Barrage, I thought the backstory to be as compelling as the actual battlefield heroics,” says Bennett.“ I really want the audience to feel the emotional struggle and sacrifice to simply serve. For these soldiers’ patriotism is not the sole guiding force, rather it includes a willingness to die in change for a more hopeful future.
The story of the 320th largely died on the battlefield despite the fact not a single soldier lost their life. Members of the unit were nominated for numerous medals only to have them downgraded or not awarded at all. Even friends and family of 320th veterans refused to believe they participated in the D-Day invasion. As a result, many kept their achievements to themselves.
It would be 65 years before they were publicly recognized when our film’s protagonist was awarded the French Legion of Merit, where he met none other than Tom Hanks. The following day he met President Barack Obama, and first lady Michelle where he received a peck on the cheek from Mrs. Obama.
Two recent news stories highlight the importance of getting this story told. Politico recently ran a piece just before the 80th anniversary of D-Day entitled The Forgotten Hero of D-Day. The story features a soldier, Corporal Waverly Woodson, who is one of the central characters in Barrage.
The second is an interview with Congressman Marc Veasey, of Texas who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and is working diligently to have Woodson awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Here’s his comments on MSNBC’s Politics Nation starting around the 3:20 mark: https://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/watch/rep-marc-veasey-we-can-t-forget-the-black-troops-of-d-day-212572741926.
The Barrage GoFundMe campaign is launched with a modest sum of $30,000 for script breakdown, preliminary budget (attach a line producer or production manager), legal representation, offering documents and script rights.
To learn more about to this campaign please visit https://gofund.me/376d57c8 or contact Michael Bennett if you’re interested in doing a story about the film and this Army unit.
MEDIA CONTACT
727 Squared, Inc
Michael Bennett
702-343-3906