Malibu resident and war veteran Leon Cooper is featured in the Steven C. Barber’s film “Until They Are Home,” premiering Memorial Day at the Directors Guild of America theater in Los Angeles. The film, the sequel to “Return to Tarawa: The Leon Cooper Story,” is narrated by Kelsey Grammer and features a song by Clint Black.
Cooper, now 93, returned to the site of a WWII battle on Tarawa, an island in the Pacific Ocean, that took place in November 1943. He documented what he found, things like live ammunition and unmarked graves, during his 2008 return trip. His findings got the attention of Congress, which approved a JPAC mission to the island to bring back the remains of missing soldiers. “Until They Are Home” chronicles the JPAC mission.