My Father, My Son

1988 • 100 minutes

About this movie

Elmo Zumwalt III (Keith Carradine) serves as a boat commander in the Vietnam War. He returns home to marry and start a family. His idyllic life takes a dramatic turn when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer and his son is born with a learning disability. As it turns out, both their plights are linked to Agent Orange, a chemical weapon used in the war. Ironically, it is Elmo's own father, Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Jr. (Karl Malden), who called for the gas to be used.