Call of Silence

This was also my favorite episode of NCIS. Charles Durning does a great job, and there are some great scenes in the show. My favorite is when Tony reveals the Medal of Honor to the two Marines who snap to attention and salute. In my opinion, (and I may be prejudice since I am ex-Navy)NCIS is the best show on TV. For the most part, they get the language right (bulkhead, etc) and the customs (not saluting when your cover is off, etc) Michael Weatherly is a good actor who can go from acting goofy to serious parts (like the time, he had the plague) And of course there is Leroy Jethro Gibbs. It will be real interesting to see how the spin off does.

Someone mistakenly said their is no requirement to salute a Medal of Honor recipient. That's technically true, but practically wrong. The salute is rendered to honor the medal and what it represents along with the person wearing it. In the Marine Corps I can testify to the salute being one of the most respected traditions we have. I witnessed a bird colonel salute a gunny who was wearing the ribbon on his summer service charlie. The technical adviser for NCIS the first few seasons was dead on his advice and Mark Harmon played a former Gunny almost perfectly. I wish they still had the TA because recent episodes have deteriorated considerably. That said...Code of Silence with the great actor and American hero Charles Durning is the best episode ever made. As a former Marine I never cry, but the performances in this episode certainly produced some sweat around the eyes. Semper Fi.

I just saw this episode for the first time. Great episode made all the more important by the performance of Charles Durning- D-Day vet, Malmedy vet, Silver Star, Bronze Star.

NCIS helped give us a bit of education, also, as to the particulars of the attack. This is the first episode I've seen that reflected a bit of history and the costs of those historical battles.

This episode is all the more poignant with Mr. Durning's recent death this past Christmas Eve. (Congrats also to IMDb for the timely update.)

R.I.P. Greatest Generation. "Thank You for your Service" to all past and present Service members.

This episode belongs to one actor - Charles Durning. Having seen action that resulted in him being awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star, acquiring a Purple Heart, and being appointed a Knight of the Légion d'Honneur by the President of France, it may have been difficult for him to control his emotions while acting this part, so close to his own history, but we saw no trace of that - he took us through the script and showed us exactly what the script wanted us to see. What a professional! Having said that, the rest of the regular team creditably kept up their end of the effort, making Durning's performance seamless. It would be unfair not to mention Alicia Coppola's part, spiking up the story as Lt Cdr Coleman - there is another consummate professional.

No matter how many times I see this episode, it never fails to make me tear up and cry.

Charles Durning was perfect in the role of Ernie Yost. He portrayed just the right amount of guts, honor, and pride along with love, nostalgia, and sincerity. He truly wanted to do the right thing and he was very determined to do what he thought was the right thing: Semper Fi.

Somehow, his dance with Kate, the exhumation, along with the ending, always bring me to tears. All of the regulars, along with Alicia Coppola, and Lloyd Kino did a fantastic job during this episode.

It is easily the most memorable episode of the entire series for me and my favorite.