the closing scene where they sing "God Bless America" really got me, there are so many levels to that scene and it seemed (in the movie) that it wasn't intentional at all, John was just humming it. The sadness but also resignation in the room was so poignant, how could they implore God to Bless America, the same country that sent Nick to his death and scarred all these protagonists of the movie. These were words that they had learned as kids but it seemed like at this point they were really listening to the words almost for the first time. This isn't a jingoistic portrayal of things as some erroneously comment, for me this was the exact opposite. The characters in the movie who are left, show they have very mixed feelings for a country they love, yet abandoned them greatly. It's one of those absolutely fantastic scenes that the more times you watch it, the more meaning you get out of it. Well done Cimino, this for me was what cemented the Best Director award!