Army Wives: A Final Salute Page #4

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I ask the military people

who've seen it to forgive us.

But we were trying, you know?

And trying to serve

the bigger truth.

All the way.

All:
Airborne, sir!

[ Applause ]

I worked with the writers

and the producers,

and I really saw my role

as making sure that the show had

an authentic feel to it.

Hut and hoo!

I got comments from

service personnel all the time

about how much they respected

that we respected their service

and the decorum

within the military.

Biank:
It became the army show

in a lot of ways.

The army, as an institution,

by the end of the series

had embraced the show.

It's pretty amazing.

Roland:
Excuse me.

Someone called about my wife?

Good to see you again.

She's back there.

Brown:

I played Dr. Roland Burton.

He's a psychiatrist

who specializes

in post-traumatic stress.

Joan:

What I did over there,

if you knew,

you wouldn't love me.

I don't care what you did.

I know who you are.

Melvoin:
Roland was

a wonderful original character.

And I think sterling did

an amazing job.

From the beginning,

he made it plausible

that he could have this role

with these women

and not, in any way, feel

his masculinity threatened.

Okay, ladies.

Who wants to go first.

He brought to that group

a sense of being perhaps the big

brother everybody wanted.

- Thank you very much.

- No problem.

I like the way you drive.

I knew

we needed more guys here.

I am so impressed by Roland

and his lack of ego.

And his desire

to see his wife succeed

to be a woman of color

in a male-dominated world,

I think gives him

a tremendous amount of pride.

I particularly would like

to thank my husband,

Dr. Roland Burton.

He has sacrificed beyond measure

to help me reach this day.

He knew that when he married

his wife,

that he was going to be making

certain sacrifices for the army.

But I don't think

anybody ever knows

exactly what

they're signing up for.

I wake up in the middle

of the night sometimes,

and I reach for my rifle.

And I'm pissed.

I'm pissed off because

my beautiful husband

is there in my bed next to me

instead of my M4.

I don't know

how to change that.

She's come back with very strong

post-traumatic stress,

and they're not connecting

with one another at all.

I don't know what happened

to you over there,

but it's changed you.

And if you let it control you,

it's gonna destroy our marriage.

Do you understand?

Do you understand?!

She goes to get some help.

And in the midst of her

going to get this help,

temptation arrives.

He sees a beautiful young woman

who takes a great interest

in him.

[ Gasping ]

The audience reaction was,

they're so heartbroken.

There are women who would accost

me on the street and would say,

"How did you do that to Joan?!"

Joan:
Let's just call this

what it is.

It's not a separation.

It's a divorce.

What I'm most proud of

is that they decided

collectively to work through

their marriage.

So, where are we in all this,

Joan?

What do you want?

I want you.

Davis:
Their marriage was not

an easy marriage.

And I think sometimes she had

a tough time transitioning

from being Joan the leader,

the colonel,

to Joan the wife.

This is gonna sound selfish,

but, Roland,

I'm on the fast track

right now,

and I don't want to lose

that momentum.

You act as if a baby will be

detriment to your career.

A baby is just someone else

on your team.

Roland loved the idea of being

at home with his family...

his daughter, Sara Elizabeth,

and then later, his son, David.

There was nothing

that made him happier

than to raise these children.

The first little girl

who played Sara Elizabeth,

her name was Asia.

Beautiful,

wonderful little child,

and she could not stand

the sight of me.

The scene that we were shooting

where Joan went to feed

the baby,

the baby wouldn't take food

from Wendy.

The baby would not do anything

for Wendy.

[ Baby crying ] It's okay.

It really hurt my feelings.

[ Laughs ]

It was hard to work with her

knowing that this kid

isn't acting.

She really just hates my guts.

[ Laughs ]

Roland:

What exactly did Dr. Lang say?

Did she advise you

not to get pregnant?

She said ultimately the choice

was mine.

Ours.

Joan and Roland chose not

to have another child

because it would

possibly endanger her life.

So Roland said, "Let's not

risk it. Let's adopt."

Here we are.

Home at last.

Roland:

Want to see your room?

Come on.

What I loved about the storyline

was that this kid

didn't automatically take

to the Burtons.

Good night, David.

He really questioned

if this was his forever home.

- People always give me back.

- Not anymore.

You're our son,

and we love you.

I love you.

I love that we told that story.

You want to play

Patty cake? Ready?

Patty cake, Patty cake,

Baker's man.

Brown:
I had somebody tell me

once how rare it is to see

a professional black man

with a thriving career

who is the primary caretaker

of his children

and excels in that arena

of his life,

as well

as his professional career.

Can I go to my room now?

I don't know.

Can you?

May I go to my room now?

Yes, you may.

Charleston, South Carolina,

heaven on Earth.

I fell in love with Charleston

the moment we got there.

Serpico:
The quality of life

is wonderful.

The people are very kind.

Charleston was one of several

locations that was considered.

It ended up being ideal

for a number of reasons.

There was the fact that within

20 minutes of our main stages,

you could have a selection

of terrain

ranging from the waterfront

to a rock quarry

that served as Afghanistan

or parts of Iraq, even.

And then there's just something

about Charleston.

The people are great,

the town is wonderful,

it has an atmosphere

that's unique,

and I think it made

everybody feel at home.

If this show shot

in Los Angeles...

We probably would not

have been so close.

You wrap,

everyone goes to their life,

their wives, their husbands.

Because we were in

Charleston, South Carolina...

- Deployed.

- Yeah, we were deployed.

And we were our support group.

We needed to be

that family unit.

We've got plenty of food...

some pulled pork, chicken,

corn on the cob.

Grab a plate, dude.

We'd have dinners together,

we'd have barbecues together,

we'd have movie night.

So it made everybody closer...

not just the cast.

The crew, the producers,

everybody joined in.

It was a big family.

And then, also,

in terms of the foodies,

some of the best eating

that you can ever do.

I told you. All the good food

comes from Charleston.

You're making a believer

out of me.

I'm just gonna admit it

on camera.

I was called at the end

of season one by Lifetime.

"Brian, we love your work,

really, just such good work.

Could you, um,

watch what you eat?"

- No!

- Oh, yeah.

Brown:
My moms would even say,

"Oh, McNamara. How's he doing?"

"He's doing fine, mama.

He's doing great."

She was like,

"He's getting a little big."

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