Too Young the Hero

When you see Rick in the film it's easy to understand that it is impossible to be a 12 years old boy. I think he is around 20 in the film but the director may used this actor because he though that this was the only that he could find and fit for the role. Of course some things in the movie never happened but they were created so the film could be success. I hoped that films like that would be produced even today. As an overview of the film its shows the World War II at the side of U.S. Navy through the eyes of a young boy.

i am proud to have walked in Calvin Grahams footsteps. I belong to the same veterans group he did. . I am Missouri state vice commander. Calvin has more than two thousand known comrades Veterans of underage military service. I am Missour state vice commander.

Calvin has more than two thousand known comrades with many not found yet.

We have reunions each year across America and a mini-reunion at Branson.Missouri during veterans day week November 6th- 12,2005.

Ronald W. Browne, Missouri Vice Commander

we are always looking for all Americans who enlisted into the military underage.

we have our own web site. or call 1-888-653-8867

Calvin wanted to join the military service in part because he wanted to serve his country like the older boys (or young men) and in part because he had no real place to live or means of support. Considering how hard boot camp can be on an "of age" enlistee or draftee, imagine then what it must have been like for a 12-year-old boy. Yet he persevered, he endured, he survived, perhaps in part because his family circumstances had really not made it possible for him to be a child for very long. He had been picking cotton in the fields when he was five; he was much more a grownup than what we think of a 12 year old being now.

I thought Rick Schroder did a really good job of playing the role of Calvin. Actually it was a kind of turnabout - while Calvin was 12 and had to pass himself off as 17, Schroder was 17 and had to pass for 12.

Some have pointed out 'how could the military not have known he was only 12?'. At least one other reviewer pointed out that his teeth would have been a giveaway, well in fact the movie covered that. When Calvin was getting his dental exam the dentist immediately caught that he was only about 12. "You don't even have your 12-year molars yet, you've still got baby teeth!" He handed Calvin his folder and told him to take it to a sergeant to be sent home; instead, when the dentist turned away for a moment, Calvin replaced his folder on the stack and said nothing to anyone. He was past that problem neatly.

There's more to the story than can or should be shared here. I can only say I found it very interesting and I think this most unusual true story bears watching, and Calvin bears our remembering.

Well, Too Young the Hero is a very campy war movie made for TV. My Grandfather was on the same Battleship that the story takes place during the second world war. I used to watch the movie constantly when I was younger, until I realized that it really isn't very good. The acting is not the best I've seen, and the entire story is generally not pulled off well.

I was an uncredited extra in this film and got about 8 seconds of on-camera time out of it. We were filming in the crew quarters of the USS North Carolina. While the crew slept, an alarm went off. After an officer told Schroeder "We're going to war", the crew filed out behind him. I planned to toss and turn in the background before the lights came up (to give myself more of a chance of being seen) and lo and behold, that made it in the film in addition to me filing out of the quarters. I've seen this movie on Lifetime a few times in the past few years, and I get a kick out of that scene every time it comes on. I remember Schroeder being aloof towards the extras during shooting, but then I don't think I expected him to sit down with us and have lunch. He was the central character of the film, after all. In terms of the overall film, I found the story interesting. It's odd that we go to such lengths to protect children from all kinds of dangers now. Some group would have some naval officer arrested for felony child abuse today for daring to let a 12 year old into a battle zone. All in all, it was a good "made for TV" movie of its time.