“I love telling big stories about big heroes; people we admire and look up to. But, at the end of the day, real life is better than any story. Our service men and women are the real heroes.”

                  – BATTLESHIP Director/Producer, Peter Berg, as stated in the USO’s “Real Heroes” PSA

In honor of the real heroes of the United States military, the USO is partnering with Universal Pictures on the upcoming motion picture BATTLESHIP. Through this partnership, Universal Pictures, Director/Producer Peter Berg (Hancock) and film partners, such as Coke Zero and Activision Publishing, Inc. are raising awareness of the needs of troops and their families – our real heroes. As part of their commitment to supporting our troops – and Peter Berg’s personal commitment and passion – Universal produced a public service announcement for the USO to help all Americans salute our heroes.

This month we launched our latest Public Service Announcement (PSA) called “Real Heroes” which features the acclaimed BATTLESHIP director. As narrator, Berg whose father served as a Marine and later worked as a Navel historian spotlights the current men and women who serve and pays homage to the USO and our mission.

Inspired by Hasbro’s classic naval combat game, BATTLESHIP stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper’s fiancée; Alexander Skarsgård as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane.

Our founding partner Coca-Cola is inviting their Coke Zero consumers to support the USO and the real heroes through their MyCokeRewards program. For every point donated, Coke Zero will make a donation to the USO and match it up to $50,000. In addition to the points option, for every case of a 20/24 pack can of Coke Zero purchased at participating retail stores, Coke Zero will donate $0.50 (up to $300,000) to Operation Enduring Care (OEC) until June 3rd.

Another great USO partner and film partner, Activision Publishing, Inc. will donate copies of the new BATTLESHIP video game to fourteen USO Centers, USO2GOs and MEGS in Southwest Asia in the coming weeks. The video game, available on X360®, PS3™, Wii™, 3DS™ and DS™ will hits stores for gamers on May 15th.

Feel free to download the official poster provided by Universal Pictures.

See you at the movies on May 18th!! - Travis T. Burgin, USO Marketing Manager