So I finished watching The Pacific yesterday and I confess, I currently have the hugest crush on Joseph Mazello who played war veteran Eugene Sledge. His performance was heart breakingly beautiful and I cried real tears at the scene where he went hunting with his father and decided that he could not hunt anymore, after what he'd seen in combat.
Whenever I watch a war movie or simply re-enactments of battles, I often wonder about the people in the background who fell to their deaths, killed by artillery, mortars or snipers. Of course in television and movies, they are merely actors. But I wonder about the real wars that have taken place in the past, and also the present wars that are being fought. These brave soldiers who enlist themselves and sacrificed their lives - I wonder who they are. I think about a girlfriend or wife who will never see him again. A mother or a father who received a telegram simply stating that their son has been killed in action. But that he died a hero. I think about all these young men, their sufferings and misery, their lives shortened and their deaths, so random and senseless. And I wonder, at what cost does freedom come?
We often forget that less than 70 years ago, the world was at war. I guess people do not want to be reminded of a dark time in the history of mankind. It is simply easier to pretend it never happened and get on with our lives. After all, life in the 21st century has never been better. We have amazing technology that enables us to buy things without even physically stepping out of our homes, communication with the click of a button. Why should we concern ourselves with an event that occured 70 years ago and the people who were involved? It is important for me though. I want to remember our soldiers and the price they paid for our freedom. Their lives and subsequent deaths should not be reduced to mere statistics - each and everyone of them was someone's son, husband, father, brother. By forgetting them, we are doing injustice to the sacrifices that they made, which led to the world that we know of today.
1 comment:
Interesting, I also feel people need to remember our soldiers. All soldiers really. But I am in America, we are currently at war and have been for such a long time now. We just don't stop being bullies. So many Americans are sick of the people in charge sending out the poor to fight their wars that the people don't agree to. It's not that many aren't patriotic. It's that with this advanced technology has also brought about hyper-violence. PS, great blog.
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