I’ve never been in the military, much less fought in a war. Trust me, for the sake of my safety and yours, that’s best for everyone.
My perception of what war is comes from books, old newspapers, vintage radio broadcasts, TV documentaries, and movies.
If you asked me what a war looks like, I might picture Steve McQueen riding on a motorcycle, John Wayne with a broken leg on the back of a Jeep, or Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould playing golf in Japan.
But that can’t be right. All that stuff looks and sounds like fun. It’s glamorous. It would make people want war all the time.
Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood, what have you done?
We have books in which either of the World Wars are either “great” or “good”. Is that true? Was it good? Was it great?
We’ve gone from making war memorials that look like heroic statues to those that look like a bleak dark wall.
Songs are often sung of glorious battle, but to the victor go the spoils?
After this self-inflicted guilt trip, I may watch the same movies that I usually watch on Memorial Day, or I may not.
I find it dishonest to say no one was harmed in the making of those movies.
Normandy and Gettysburg would beg to differ. That’s a pretty high price for a movie plot.
If the films are therapeutic, in some way, for those who saw the actual battles, with lights anything but bright, then I’m glad they’re here.
Perhaps I should reconsider them as entertainment for myself.
Perhaps I should reconsider my nerdy hobby of consuming all of the old war news coverage that I watch or listen to.
A lot of people paid a price way higher than the cost of a box set for that content creation.
While at times just and necessary, I feel bad for anyone who had to endure war, especially for those who lost life, limb, or just the light inside of them.
We can measure the political boundaries changed after battle, but can we ever measure the change to humanity?
O, Lord, let me reflect on all of this if I press play on The Longest Day or The Great Escape.
I have a lot to learn yet.
To all veterans, to the family and friends of veterans, living or deceased, thank you for reading.
I’m praying for you.