Men of Honor

Men of Honor released in the UK and Ireland as Men of Honour is a 2000 drama film, starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding, Jr. The film was directed by George Tillman, Jr. It is inspired by the true story of Master chief petty officer Carl Brashear, the first African American master diver in the United States Navy.

Brashear struggles to overcome his educational shortcomings, a result of his leaving school in the 7th grade in order to work on his familys failing farm. He receives educational assistance from his future wife, an aspiring doctor who works parttime in the Harlem New York City Public Library. Brashear proves himself as a diver by rescuing a fellow student whose dive buddy abandons him during a salvage evaluation. Unfortunately, due to the racism of the commanding officer Hal Holbrook, the student who fled in the face of danger is awarded a medal for Brashears heroic actions. Likewise, during an underwater assembling task where each student has to assemble a flange underwater using a bag of tools, Brashears bag is cut open. Brashear nevertheless finishes the assembly and graduates from diving school, earning the quiet and suppressed admiration of Master Chief Sunday and his fellow divers. Master Chief Sunday is later demoted to senior chief by the commanding officer for standing up for Brashear and allowing him to pass.The paths and careers of Brashear and Sunday sharply diverge. Brashear rises quickly through the ranks, even becoming a national hero in the 1966 Palomares B52 crash Spain for recovering a missing atomic bomb and for saving the life of Navy crew. Sunday continually loses his composure around officers who disrespect his accomplishments, until he is finally demoted to chief petty officer and relegated to menial duties. He becomes a brooding alcoholic displeased with his rank, relatively low for someone with so many years of service. ........

Source: Wikipedia