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One holiday pastime: seeing 'Pearl Harbor' By DANI DODGE Many Rogue Valley residents took a novel approach to celebrating Memorial Day Monday: They went to the movies. "This is the second time I've seen 'Pearl Harbor,' " said Chris Iovinelli, 15, of Medford. "It's Memorial Day - it's the day to see it. "I have lots of respect for veterans." And although the movie has been panned by some critics, Tinseltown was playing "Pearl Harbor" on three screens Monday to accommodate the crowds. "We're selling out on every single one of them," said Ashley Roundtree, who works in the Tinseltown box office. "It's a big movie." As they emerged blinking from the darkened theater Monday afternoon, many summed up their review with a simple "Wow." The movie was released this weekend in time for the Memorial Day holiday, which honors those who died in military combat. "Pearl Harbor" follows the trials and tribulations of a love triangle that includes a beautiful nurse and two Army fighter pilots before, during and after Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. The audience included many veterans such as Dennis DelliGatti, 51, of Medford. A medic for 24 years, he served as a Navy corpsman with the Marines during the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. On his head, DelliGatti wore a "Marines" baseball cap adorned with a bulldog. "As good as this movie was," he said, "I don't think anyone can understand war unless you've been there." DelliGatti said the movie underscores America's need to honor the men and women who fought in World War II. "There won't be another generation like them," DelliGatti said. After watching the movie, he and his wife and their 13-year-old son went to lay flowers on the graves of veterans in the family. Steve Farr, 43, of Merlin went to the movie with his wife and 77-year-old mother. It was part of a Memorial Day that included a trip to the Medford airport to see the Aluminum Overcast, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress."History is real important to me," Farr said. "It gives you a chance to see what those young men and women went through to give us the freedoms we have today." Chris Iovinelli, who was on his second showing of "Pearl Harbor" Monday, attended with two friends who both want to join the military when they are old enough: Henry Hacking, 15, of Phoenix and Kezia Swegar, 14, of Medford. Last year, they went to a ceremony at a veterans park. This year, they were awed by Disney's depictions of what American military men and women did on what President Roosevelt referred to as the day that "will live in infamy." "I'll probably go into the Marines," said Kezia, a slim girl in bell-bottom jeans. "Like other people, I want to protect our country. "Like in the movie, if the Japanese or someone attacks, I wouldn't want to just sit at home. I'd want to help." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.