Legless colonel plays self in Battleship

TOKYO — When I came face to face with US Army Col. Gregory Gadson at a function room of Ritz Carlton, I was surprised to find out that both his legs were missing. I thought that Army Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales, the Mike Tyson look-alike legless military man he’s playing in Battleship, was similar to the also legless war veteran played by Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump. Gary’s was “faked” but Gregory’s was for real.

“You can touch them and see for yourself,” Gregory told me smiling.

So I did and took a picture of me and him to show Funfare readers that, yes, Gregory’s both legs were indeed gone. He lost them in 2007 in Iraq where he served as battalion commander of 400 troops (in Baghdad).

“We were returning to headquarters from a memorial service for two deceased soldiers when it happened,” recalled Gregory, a West Point graduate who has been serving for more than 20 years in every major global conflict in which the US has been involved, from Kuwait to Bosnia-Herzegovina to Afghanistan and to Iraq. “My vehicle was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), a roadside bomb. The impact ejected me from the vehicle and damaged my legs severely. Fortunately, my First Sergeant, Frederick Johnson, immediately located me and began to resuscitate me. PFC Eric Brown got tourniquets on my legs to stop the bleeding. I needed 129 units of blood to save my life. Afterward, I underwent 22 surgeries and experimented with different types of artificial limbs.”

US Army Lt. Col. Gregory Gadson agreed to be photographed with your Funfarer to prove that his missing legs were for real.

Now moving about on sports-powered titanium prosthetics, Gregory got the attention of director Peter Berg who read about his heroic recovery in an article in National Geographic in 2010, just when Berg was casting for Battleship which is based on the popular videogame updated to now include alien invaders stopped on their tracks by the US Navy in a fierce sea battle.

“That’s why I easily identified with my character,” said Gregory.

Most of Gregory’s scenes in Battleship are with Brooklyn Decker who plays Samantha, the physical-therapist daughter of the Commander of the Pacific Fleet Admiral Shane (played by Liam Neeson) and the love interest of Taylor Kitsch’s character Lieutenant Alex Hopper (a naval weapons officer assigned to USS John Paul Jones, the warship in the movie).

“A big part of Sam is her relationship with Mick,” said Brooklyn, a model who rose to stardom after she graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. “I talked with the soldiers to find out about their emotional arc and how they progressed in their stages of post-traumatic stress after returning from battle.”

To prepare for the role, Brooklyn had to work with physical therapists who treated soldiers returning home from war.

“I learned the technique so well that I could now work as a physical therapist,” joked Brooklyn, a charming lady who gifted me with a souvenir coin after the interview, placed on my palm during a firm handshake.

Playing Alex Hopper’s older brother Stone is Alexander Skarsgard of True Blood fame. It is his character who convinced Alex who to get his act together and find a purpose by joining the US Navy which Alex finally led in the battle with the aliens.

Sports Illustrated cover girl Brooklyn Decker gives away souvenir coins (inset) to journalists invited to the Battleship junket in Tokyo.

“Yes,” said Alexander who, at more than six feet, towered over Taylor Kitsch (less than six feet) when they stood beside each other. “I’m familiar with the Battleship videogame. I played it when I was growing up in Sweden where it’s known as Sanka Skepp (‘Sink the Ship’).”

What’s a war story without a Japanese who figured prominently in a few wars?

Cast as Captain Yugi Nagata, Commanding Officer of the Japanese destroyer Myoko, is Tadanobu Asano who is described as “a cross between Johnny Depp and Toshiro Mifune.”

Asked how he felt about the comparison, Tadanobu said (through an interpreter), “I’m honored because they are great actors whom I admire so much.”

Like the rest of the cast, Tadanobu, a Yokohama native, filmed several scenes on location at Oahu’s Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

“In Pearl Harbor,” said Tadanobu, “I thought a lot about what happened between my country and the United States decades ago. Without that history, we Japanese and Americans wouldn’t be collaborating on a film like this today. I feel terribly sorry for those who lost their lives.”

(Produced by Universal Pictures and released worldwide by United International Pictures, with Solar Entertainment as distributor in the Philippines, Battleship is now showing nationwide.)

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