The Republic
Mike Clayton has stopped at a small beach motel in route from Washington D.C. to his home in central Florida. A Vietnam war vet and POW who at times believes he is forgotten by society, Mike feels good that he participated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riot that he considers a protest, but that members of his family consider an insurrection. It's a reckoning that traces back to Mike's experience in the Vietnam war as a soldier and POW. He is a decorated hero who refuses to accept, or rather does not recognize, the honor. Phone conversations with those he loves will take Mike back to memories of the Vietnam war, a journey long overdue. Mike believes he is part of something truly historical, and that his protest was exactly what he needed to do. His wife Shelly thinks different. For her this is the restart of being apart from Mike. She can't keep her mind from comparisons of Mike's POW captivity in Viet Nam. All she can think about is that the FBI is investigating Mike, and that means he's going away again. Just like Viet Nam. She pleads with Mike to come to his senses by forgetting the politics and just be her husband. Mike's son Jimmy, also a veteran (from the Gulf War), tries to bring his dad to the reality of the situation by taking practical action. It's not so much that Jimmy doesn't believe in what Mike did in D.C. Rather, it's to let his dad know that he has always been a hero for Jimmy. That despite the circumstances Mike presently finds himself, he will always be Jimmy's hero. Mike's only daughter Tammy tries to help her dad realize that the trouble he currently finds himself in with the FBI traces back to his PSTD trauma of Vietnam that has gone on for too long. That Mike responds to Tammy as not wanting to be treated as one of her therapy patients, pushes all the wrong buttons. Tammy then reverts away from her professional psychologist experience who also has a loving wife and son, to instead going back to a little girl needing her dad. Mike is confused and angry. He wonders if all the talk means anything and that perhaps there is nothing that can be done to prevent his fate. That he should have died in Vietnam, not as a hero that everyone thinks, but rather a coward who ran. In any case, he knows his time of reckoning has surely come.
Details
Release year: Unknown
Storyline
Mike Clayton has stopped at a small beach motel in route from Washington D.C. to his home in central Florida. A Vietnam war vet and POW who at times believes he is forgotten by society, Mike feels good that he participated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riot that he considers a protest, but that members of his family consider an insurrection. It's a reckoning that traces back to Mike's experience in the Vietnam war as a soldier and POW. He is a decorated hero who refuses to accept, or rather does not recognize, the honor. Phone conversations with those he loves will take Mike back to memories of the Vietnam war, a journey long overdue. Mike believes he is part of something truly historical, and that his protest was exactly what he needed to do. His wife Shelly thinks different. For her this is the restart of being apart from Mike. She can't keep her mind from comparisons of Mike's POW captivity in Viet Nam. All she can think about is that the FBI is investigating Mike, and that means he's going away again. Just like Viet Nam. She pleads with Mike to come to his senses by forgetting the politics and just be her husband. Mike's son Jimmy, also a veteran (from the Gulf War), tries to bring his dad to the reality of the situation by taking practical action. It's not so much that Jimmy doesn't believe in what Mike did in D.C. Rather, it's to let his dad know that he has always been a hero for Jimmy. That despite the circumstances Mike presently finds himself, he will always be Jimmy's hero. Mike's only daughter Tammy tries to help her dad realize that the trouble he currently finds himself in with the FBI traces back to his PSTD trauma of Vietnam that has gone on for too long. That Mike responds to Tammy as not wanting to be treated as one of her therapy patients, pushes all the wrong buttons. Tammy then reverts away from her professional psychologist experience who also has a loving wife and son, to instead going back to a little girl needing her dad. Mike is confused and angry. He wonders if all the talk means anything and that perhaps there is nothing that can be done to prevent his fate. That he should have died in Vietnam, not as a hero that everyone thinks, but rather a coward who ran. In any case, he knows his time of reckoning has surely come.
Top credits
- Mitchell Patrick Greene — Young Mike Clayton
- Megan Hubbard — Shelly Clayton, Tammy Clayton, Radio Receptionist
- John M — Mike Clayton
- Doug Sontag — Jimmy Clayton, Hank Taylor, Doug Howler