A Debt We Will Never Be Able to Repay

So much of what we perceive of history nowadays is what we see in film and television. When I was growing up through the 60's and 70's I never wanted to see a war picture. They were boring. That was something for boys. I carried this feeling into my adult life. I don't usually want to see a war picture, so when "Saving Private Ryan" came out I had no desire to see it, eventhough I love Tom Hanks. Sometime last summer I was flipping through the channels and I came across the film. I had heard that the first part of the film, the Omaha Beach Scene, was extremely gory and violent. Spielberg had wanted people to see the truth, the reality of war. Well, he got what he wanted. There is no glamour, no glory. It is 24 minutes of noise. Noise of bullets flying and explosions and yelling. Watching it was one of those things where you want to look away, but you can't. If you have the opportunity, rent it and watch it. As a child in history class, when we had talked about the invasion of Normandy, I always thought of it as a victory, we win. I never realized how many lives were lost on that day in minutes until I saw "Saving Private Ryan." There is this amazing shot at the end of the Omaha Beach sequence. The noise has stopped. It's silent except for the waves crashing on shore over the bodies and then the camera pans, and you see nothing but bodies of soldiers and the ocean water is turning red with blood. It's an amazing scene. It made me feel a whole new appreciation for what those men went through. I thought, how did they do that? How can someone willingly walk into a situation knowing there is a very strong chance they will never survive? Not only that, but that they are doing it for people they have never met or will meet. So often in fiction war is romanticized. The young soldier goes dashing into battle, eager to fight and conquer the foe, but watching this very real depiction made me realize they were scared boys barely out of their childhood. Saying thank you is not enough for them or for their families and loved ones who lost them. At least we have a day to honor them, right? Right, a day that has become about cook-outs and the pool opening and big sales events. I'm not saying people can't have fun while they have a well-deserved day off work. I'm just saying, for a few moments, stop and remember why you are FREE to do those things and how very much it cost.