The Best Years of Our Lives

Three WWII veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.

The Best Years of Our Lives



The story concentrates on the social re-adjustment of three World War II servicemen, each from a different station of society. Al Stephenson returns to an influential banking position, but finds it hard to reconcile his loyalties to ex-servicemen with new commercial realities. Fred Derry is an ordinary working man who finds it difficult to hold down a job or pick up the threads of his marriage. Having had both hands burnt off during the war, Homer Parris! h is unsure that his fianc�e's feelings are still those of love and not those of pity. Each of the veterans faces a crisis upon his arrival, and each crisis is a microcosm of the experiences of many American warriors who found an alien world awaiting them when they came marching home. Written by alfiehitchie





At the end of World War II, a soldier, a sailor and an airman return to their home town of Boone City and must re-adjust to the society they had left several years before. Al Stephenson was a banker before joining up. He is older than your average war veteran and gets home to find that his children have grown up and faces the difficult task of re-establishing an intimate relationship with his loving wife. At work, Al is promoted but now finds it difficult to be the hardhearted banker he seemingly once was. Fred Derry was an Air Force Officer and Bombardier but realizes on his return that he has no marketable skills and finds himself in his ! old job at the pharmacy working as a soda jerk. He also finds ! that he had married in haste and that his wife, whom he'd only known for a few weeks when they married during his flight training, isn't quite as enamored with him now that he's out of uniform. Lastly, there is Homer Parrish who lost both of his hands in a shipboard fire. He's become quite adept at using the prosthetics the Navy has provided him but resents the pity he sees in others eyes. He had hoped to marry his childhood sweetheart but is no longer sure he can burden her with his own physical limitations. All three men become fast friends and with Fred Derry's marriage falling apart, he finds himself falling in love with Al's daughter, Peggy. In the end, all three finds ways to move forward with their lives. Written by garykmcd

Genres: Drama Romance War

Release year: 1946