Documentary ‘Jerry’s Last Mission’ accepted to three film festivals

FAIRFIELD — A film featuring former Fairfield resident Jerry Yellin is being shown this weekend at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival.

The film is “Jerry’s Last Mission,” which tells the story of P-51 fighter pilot Jerry Yellin, who flew combat missions over Iwo Jima and Japan. It is slated to be shown twice at Dubuque’s film festival, once on Thursday, April 27 and again on Saturday, April 29.

The film has been garnering more attention since its initially limited release online in 2020. It is now available to rent through iTunes and Apple TV. The film’s producers are Yellin’s son, Michael Yellin, and Fairfield resident Jim Belilove, who became good friends with Yellin late in his life.

Steven Yellin, another of Jerry’s sons who resides in Florida and is a frequent visitor to Fairfield, said “Jerry’s Last Mission” will appear in at least two more film festivals this year. It will be shown at the GI Film Festival in San Diego from May 15-20, and the Vero Beach Film Festival in Vero Beach, Florida, from June 7-11.

The film has many Fairfield connections, because not only did Yellin live in Fairfield, but he met the director of the film, Louisa Merino, at the Roosevelt Aquatic Center in Fairfield while Merino was working for David Lynch Foundation Television.

Michael said he hopes the film will be accepted at even more film festivals later this year. Belilove said he’s talked to Solomon Davis, who runs the cinema program at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, about showing the film at the arts center this fall.

Belilove is attending the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival. Michael plans to attend the festival in San Diego, and he will join Steven at the festival in Vero Beach, where Steven lives.

“We want to have a representative at all these film festivals, because there’s a chance someone will want to buy or show the film,” Belilove said.

Yellin flew in the last mission over Japan in World War II. After the war, he returned home with “a dark life of post-traumatic stress disorder, survivor’s guilt and thoughts of suicide,” according to the film. The documentary tells how Yellin learned to overcome PTSD and how he was forced to face his hated enemy once again when his youngest son, Robert, moved to Japan and married the daughter of a Kamikaze pilot. The man was sent to China instead of being sent on a suicide mission, so he survived the war. The two men met after the wedding, realized how similar they were, and became friends.

The film talks about Yellin’s practice of Transcendental Meditation and how he credits the technique with helping him address his PTSD. Belilove said that Yellin spent the last few years of his life traveling extensively and speaking about his experiences as a fighter pilot, his battle with PTSD, and becoming a man of peace.

The film’s director, Louisa Merino, met Yellin in 2015 while he was “running” laps in the swimming pool. She struck up a conversation with him and learned about his fascinating life. Yellin agreed to be the subject of a documentary she wished to undertake, so she traveled with Yellin, including on a trip to Japan when he visited the country to spread part of his wife, Helene’s, ashes.

By late 2017, Yellin was 93 years old, and he knew he didn’t have much time left. Belilove said he remembers visiting Yellin during this time to get his opinion on the film thus far.

“We asked him, ‘Jerry, is this your story? Is this the way you want your story told?’ and he said yes, definitely,” Belilove recalled. “That was important, for him to feel that this is a good representation of what his mission was and what he wanted people to know about him.”

Yellin died on Dec. 21, 2017. He was laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Michael said he’s glad to see the film about his father reach more people through these film festivals.

“It’s very exciting to have people see it, and to see it on the big screen,” he said. “His story has always resonated with people, and it was his dream to have it told. Unfortunately, he’s not here to see it fulfilled.”

Steven said he’s proud of what his father accomplished throughout his life, and especially in his latter years.

“He inspired people all over the world with his story of peace and reconciliation,” he said. “We as human beings are all the same regardless of our race and religion, or where we live.”

Jerry moved to Florida to live with Steven, where he spent the final two years of his life.

“During that time, he said those were the best years of his life, and he was saying that in his 90s,” Steven said. “He wasn’t declining with age. He was ascending.”

Michael noted that his father’s autobiography was re-released last year under its new name, matching the name of the documentary film, “Jerry’s Last Mission.” It was previously called “Of War & Weddings” when it was published in 1995. The autobiography is available for purchase on Amazon.

“He had a great ability to recall events from the war, the flights he took and the people he fought with,” Michael said about his dad. “He talks about going to Japan in 1980 and having a totally different outlook toward Japanese people. It’s a great read.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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