Pearls of Wisdom

REEL STORY As the Japanese planes flew in, boys were playing baseball (after presumably eating apple pie). REALITY CHECK The bombing began at 7:55 on a Sunday morning. ''No way you're going to play a Little League game at 8 o'clock in the damn morning,'' Goldstein says. ''That's just stupid.'' Fair enough. [1 medal]

REEL STORY FDR stands up! REALITY CHECK President Franklin Roosevelt (Jon Voight), who was wheelchair-bound from polio, worked overtime to draw attention away from his disability. There's no record of his standing in a Cabinet meeting sans crutches, bellowing ''Don't tell me what can't be done!'' Says Goldstein: ''That scene was impossible. He would never get up and do that.'' [1/2 medal]

REEL STORY Lieut. Col. Jimmy Doolittle's attack on Tokyo changed the course of the war. REALITY CHECK The Battle of Midway, June 3-6, 1942, is actually considered the turning point of WWII, but ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' -- on April 18, 1942 -- was a rallying point for Americans. Of course, Affleck's and Hartnett's airmen wouldn't have been involved -- no Pearl pilot was. Speaking of Doolittle, Alec Baldwin's character underwent a metamorphosis, thanks to prodding from Baldwin and Green. ''In the original script, he was a boorish, oafish guy,'' Green says. ''The real Jimmy Doolittle was...soft-spoken, had a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering. I mean, they had him so he didn't know what a slide rule was.'' [3 medals]

REEL STORY Dorie Miller won the Navy Cross after gunning down a plane. REALITY CHECK Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character was indeed one of the first African Americans decorated with the Navy Cross. The mess attendant manned one of the USS West Virginia's machine guns during the attack though he had never been trained in their use. ''At that time, African Americans weren't allowed to do anything in the Navy but be servants for officers,'' Martinez says. Unlike the film, the Navy doesn't credit Miller -- or any sailor on his ship -- with bringing down an enemy aircraft. ''Whether he shot down a plane is irrelevant,'' says Martinez, noting Miller's heroism in risking his life to help fellow sailors. [3 1/2 medals]

REEL STORY Many '40s pilots sported Hartnett's sassy soccer-dude bangs. REALITY CHECK Not even a close shave. ''He probably should have a crewcut, some butch haircut like Tom Cruise,'' says Goldstein. ''He kept pushing it back like a lady does sometimes -- it gets in your way.'' Hey, just like the truth! [1/2 medal]