Actor Tom Berenger has already requested your presence at this year's GI Film Festival, set for May 24-28 in Washington, D.C. But if taking orders from Sgt. Barnes isn't your thing, here's another announcement from another star of another iconic piece of 1980s cinema:

Both Judd Nelson ("The Breakfast Club") and Berenger ("Platoon," "Gettysburg," "Major League") will attend the festival's "Cinematic Salute to the Troops," set for May 27 at the Howard Theatre. The event will be the first variety show in the festival's 11-year history, featuring music and comedy (Navy vet/comic Jamie Kalerwill host) as well as three short films.

Nelson also will participate in "PitchFest," a "Shark Tank"-style production May 26 at the Navy Memorial Theater where aspiring filmmakers can offer their project ideas to entertainment industry insiders and experts. Tickets for that event can be purchased here; tickets for the Cinematic Salute to the Troops are on sale here.

Both Nelson and Berenger provided voices for "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam," an HBO documentary that film critic Roger Ebert called one of the 10 best movies of 1988.

Not enough of a military connection? The soldier giving orders to Nelson in the short video above is Jack Kennedy, a West Point graduate and the director of programs for Veterans in Film and Television, a nonprofit that helps current and former service members learn about and network within the entertainment industry.

Learn more about the GI Film Festival on its official siteor at

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Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.

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