Reviewing Movies

What still strikes me most is the utter futility of War. The wasted human effort, the lives lost and ruined, the devastation, the environmental damage. The only true winners are those who own the factories that manufacture the engines of war. Survival is a matter of sheer randomness though some are better at keeping their heads down than others. That same randomness determines whether or not an award for valour is awarded posthumously. The first casualty was shot by his buddies when he snuck off to answer a call of nature and his wasn’t the last such death. Life is never so precious as when one is threatened with losing it. The rush of battle and the euphoria that follows it becomes addictive and one aspect of PTSD is the feeling of futility that follows the loss of that high. Some handle battle conditions better than others and war isn’t kind to philosophers, thinkers and the sensitive. Some have more luck than others including generals whose decisions can fate the death of thousands for a useless objective. Taking the initiative and advancing unannounced can get you hit by your own artillery.

As Basilone discovers fame is a fickle friend. Being rewarded for heroism often involves being lionized for acts of stupidity that one managed to survive and someone took the time to recognize. Survivor’s guilt and the knowledge that others were equally as brave but were not recognized rapidly sets in. There is a distinct irony in  being rewarded for the taking of life. The experience of battle too often leaves soldiers unable to feel fulfilled outside the field of battle and there seems to be a fine line between battle heroics and suicide by enemy.

The dropping of the first atomic bombs targeted civilians rather than military objectives but civilians and their livelihoods are always the collateral damage of war. However morally reprehensible the dropping of those bombs may have been there is no question that they saved the lives of untold thousands on both sides. War is state-sanctioned murder. It is frightening to think that some enjoy it. Does labelling someone the enemy any more justification for killing than execution for capital crime. Is deserting an insane field of battle an act of cowardice or a sane act of self-preservation.

The most poignant and compassionate moment in the entire series comes at the end when Sledge’s father expresses understanding for his son’s unwillingness to take the life of another living creature. This is the same man who refused to give his under-age son his permission to enlist and stated the troubled feelings he had at witnessing the lack of life in the eyes of the men he treated in WW#1.