It is called Ship of Miracles
In the vein of Schindler’s List
It’s like Dunkirk meets Titanic
It follows religious ship’s captain Leonard LaRue
And self-sacrificing doctor Bong Hak Hyun
As they seek to evacuate 90,000 to 100,000 North Korean refugees trapped between Chinese Communists and the sea during a bitterly cold winter in the Korean War
Problems arise when the only ship left is LaRue’s Meredith Victory, a ship design to carry only 12 passengers, to evacuate the refugees as rumors of Communist infiltrators among the civilians and Soviet submarines below the harbor’s surface spread
Together their determined compassion and faith will result in an evacuation that holds the Guinness World Book of Records for largest rescue by a single ship in history, 14,000 people, and a true Christmas Miracle
The idea came to me when I was reading A Christmas Far From Home: An Epic Tale of Courage and Survival During the Korean War by Stanley Weintraub and heard about the Meredith Victory holding the world record and was surprised I had never heard before of the rescue
My unique approach would be the horror and human tragedy of war and the darkness of winter as backdrops against which the humanity and compassion of man and the joyous magic of Christmas can shine
A set piece would be when the refugees are clogged up on the docks leading to the ship. They are forced to leave behind their large bags as well as their furniture and pianos. The refugees on the ship still have medium sized baggage when they see that the flow of humanity is backed up. Slowly one Korean man walks to the railing of the ship’s deck. He sadly looks at his baggage, then drops it off the side of the ship into the sea below. Another man follows his example. Then another. Then a woman. Then a child. Soon the deck railing is lined with refugees, throwing their remaining earthly belongings overboard, watching them disappear under the choppy, frigid waters below, so others could join them aboard the ship. Soon the docks are empty as the ship is stretched to accompany 14,000 refugees fleeing tyranny
Target audiences would be historians, fans of war movies, people involved in humanitarian, charity and social justice projects, Catholics, Korean Americans, South Koreans, fans of Ode To My Father, fans of Timeless, sailors, people involved in the maritime business, naval history buffs, and men and women (30 to 80)
Audiences would want to see it because of its themes of compassion, charity, and humanitarianism and its epic, world-setting rescue, because it honors veterans of the “forgotten war” and because it is a spirit-lifting, emotional, inspirational and motivational Christmas Miracle that captures the true meaning of the Holiday Season