Synopsis/Details
Title: THE TRIPLE NICKELS
Written by: Curt Sell & Tobin Kirk
Category: Feature
Genre: Action War
In this inspiring true WWII story, a dapper and determined officer becomes the leader of a top-secret, all-black paratrooper platoon fighting forest fires on the West Coast caused by Japanese incendiary bombs.
The Triple Nickels is an action war film for family audiences.
STORY:
A picturesque family on a nature hike happens upon a downed Japanese rice balloon bomb. One of the young daughters playfully strikes the balloon with a stick, and the family is blown away in a massive explosion that spreads into a ravenous fire.
Meanwhile, America's paratroopers are decimated by the Battle of the Bulge, and the men of the 555th are finally given a chance to fight as replacements. However, the Army’s segregation policy won’t allow the men to fight alongside white soldiers. As a result, the men are retrained to handle the growing threat of raging forest fires caused by the Japanese rice balloon bombs.
On an American military base, Lt. Chris Grant, a sharp black officer, checks out his new men by pretending to be one of them at a card game. He gets a quick view of the lazy world they inhabit.
Grant longs to be a war hero but needs to prove he’s better than others. So he challenges the local bully, ‘Bomber’ Boyle for domination of the platoon. The two commence in a brutal brawl outside the shabby black barracks. Grant fetches a beating, but won’t back down until Bomber submits.
With fires burning out of control and no one left to fight them, the 555th are shipped out west on a top-secret mission to suppress the blazes. Little did they know they would become some of the world’s first smokejumpers.
The worst comes when a bomb lands in power lines near a hidden US nuclear facility enriching uranium for the first atomic bombs. If an approaching wildfire reaches the facility it will cause a Chernobyl-like catastrophe. Further complicating matters is a soldier stuck in a high tree with fire creeping below. Grant must lead his men on a daring rescue while also putting an end to the fire.
