A lot of my posts are military-related lately. Can't help it. Looks like you'll be riding the Sarah-Patriotic-Bandwagon for awhlie ;) If you don't like it...find another blog to read :P
The War in Afghanistan started on October 7, 2001. We invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. As of February 20th of this year...5,885 people have died in both of those wars (4,424 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 1,461 in Operation Enduring Freedom). Each one of them has a story. How often do you hear it? How often does that flag at half staff mean something? (side note: This website (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/) does a good job of giving a face to the fallen). How often do you think of the very sacrifices being made on your behalf (by complete and total strangers) just so you can be? How often do we (as Americans) come face to face with the real cost of war (beyond the trillions of dollars and some odd cents)?
Not often enough.
We're not entirely to blame. I'm not here to stand atop a soapbox and be all "holier than thou," because I can assure you, I am far from that. I don't think Americans are entirely to blame for their inability to fully grasp the magnitude of sacrifices being made on their behalf. For starters, if you're not from a military family, or know someone who is...you're not exposed to it. And technically, even if you are...many soldiers (my grandfather included) would rather go back into battle than talk about what they experienced and what they saw. And if you don't know anyone in the military...the real story of what's going on over there...gets lost somewhere in the ocean. I'm not going to blame the media, because I don't think it's entirely our fault (like how I said "our" there?). We can only dissseminate the information that we're given, and that doesn't include shots of hundreds of flag-draped caskets coming back, or graphic video of gore and guts from inside a military hospital or on the battle field. To be honest, I'm not sure most people would want to see those images. I think many people are happy living within their bubble...being complacent with what's going on over there, absorbed in their own lives back home...and caught in the daily grind. Yes, people will fly a flag in their yard, they'll go to the Fourth of July parade, and say a passing prayer for those brave men and women...but I think too often the true reality of the situation seems so remote and distant.
Today, it was dropped right in my lap.
I went to go visit (a very sleepy) Jonny. He has some DVD set of lost WWII video remastered in High Def. It was on when I got there. Then again...a lot of war stuff is playing when I come over. I'm not much of a history buff. I wouldn't know a U-boat from sailboat (ok, that's a lie...haha), but my knowledge of current and former world conflicts and war is...well, rather limited. As I've said before on here, I put bandaids on paper cuts...so the concept of watching someone get blown up into pink mist with a grenade...well....regardless of whether it's real (gross) or created by the magic of editing and technology (cool, but still gross), isn't something my eyes (or stomach) can handle. I turn away at parts of Grey's Anatomy for Pete's sake!...so that hardly qualifies me to watch graphic war videos.
But today... I didn't have a choice...because Jonny put it on, Jonny passed out (into a deep state of snoring goodness), and Sarah had no idea what to do next....because Sarah didn't know how to work the TV. So I watched two hours of lost war footage from WWII. And I'll admit...I got sucked in. I felt connected to the soldiers whose stories were being shared, connected to the nurses, and the families they both left behind. I saw people get shot, and bombs explode. I watched as cameras panned over dozens of dead bodies...bodies getting washed ashore...bodies missing limbs...bodies that were badly burned or decapitated. I looked on as eyes went lifeless. Looked at video of civilian casualties and injured children who suffered an unthinkable fate, by virtue of their proximity to a Nazi stronghold. I cried. (Are you surprised?) I cried a few times actually. I cried thinking, not only of the life that was lost...but at the thought that if so many Americans continue to be so disconnected from war, and so far removed from its realities, that that life (and so many others) may be lost in vain.
I cried. Jonny snored.
May we never forget...that freedom isn't free. May we never forget that we're in the land of the free, because of the brave. May we never forget the thousands of soldiers who left home to fight for our freedom and never come back...or the soldiers who came back, but will never be the same again. May we never forget the nurses and medical personnel who see things far more horrific than any movie, and far more long-lasting. May we never forget the thousands of military parents, who have watched as their babies marched off to war...or the military spouses/lovers whose arms (and beds) remain empty for the freedom of others...or the military children who have had to deal with something far beyond their years.
For ALL of the sacrifices that have been made...and all of the sacrifices that will be made on my behalf, and on behalf of the ones I love...I'm entirely grateful.
Words don't even scratch the surface.
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