Home of the Brave

[Young [ODA-271]]

I can't seem to find a category that fits this... but I just watched Home of the Brave and I have to say that it's a VERY important movie. Being a veteran of only just one tour of Iraq, and not even having gone through some of the things depicted in the film... I can just see similar reactions and traits in myself sometimes. The movie expanded on a few things that I always felt.

For those of you that haven't heard about it, or watched it yet... the movie shows a group of Soldiers returning from combat and their daily life (how it changed as a result of being there in Iraq). It's fictional... but it hits on so many real points. Some of which I've heard about, saw, and even experience myself.

You definitely get an in depth look at the psychological effects of doing what the military service members do. Not all men and women come back "scarred" as the movie put it... but I think that everyone changes. You are never the same person you were when you left (even if only the slightest thing maybe even unnoticed changes).

The ending to the film talks about sacrifice, and honor to serve ones country. The exact feelings that the character displays (not fitting in, a want or need to go back and help, to support the other men and women in uniform)... I've felt. Not a single day goes by that I don't think about going back there and getting a second opportunity to do more. I had been given a second chance once... but it was too soon after the first deployment and I wanted to breathe first.

Well I watched some of the guys I knew and talked to come back wounded, and sharing stories. I knew of one guy in particular that I helped train in my platoon and team, who didn't make it back.

I always thought... had I only gone back... maybe the outcome would have been different.

So I've recently put more and more thought into going back... enlisting with the Army after having been... (or as some might say still am) a Marine. I think I might take the plunge again and go back out there not for the action... not for glory... but for the honor to fight with the men and women next to me. To watch their back... and have them watch mine.

Civilians often overlook the simple small things in life. It's not that they don't care... they just don't know. I've often found myself waking up or going to sleep and realizing that I too don't appreciate certain small things.

This movie touched on that, and showed me more about myself. It explained a few things that I've always asked "why" to. The only other movie that I've watched that had this similar effect was Jarhead. People often look down on the movie, or disregard it. But I think Jarhead, just like this movie, is a very important piece of getting a better understanding of what these servicemembers experience when they return home.

I hope that everyone watches this movie not as a war film... not as an action film... but as a eye opener. Watch this film to learn more about the Veterans of the military (from WWII to present day). I don't expect everyone to appreciate what these people do. I don't expect them to thank them or shake their hand. I do expect them to understand that members of the armed forces are human beings. Before and after deploying they are just like you. Some of them may carry more baggage... and you need to understand that it doesn't go away easily.

[Commando 9767]

Sounds like it's worth watching,which is rare for that style of fiction.As for re-enlisting,if your putting that much thought into it,maybe you're not done.There are few things in life,that can make a better statement about who you are,than serving your country at that level.

[Young [ODA-271]]

I didn't think I was done at any time. I got out because I did 4 and I thought it was time to spend more with the wife (we were working on having a kid). But seeing all of those guys deploy and come back only to deploy again... it got me thinking.

I started to write a book... and it brought back those thoughts again... and I just found myself waking up everyday thinking about going back in. Knowing there's no Infantry Marine Corps here in Colorado... I figured Army would be the next logical choice.

I'm giving it a year... to get back in shape (I'm not a blob, I'm just not Special Forces quality), let my job get used to the idea (we're on a manpower shortage right now), and then I'll make the decision then. I'm pretty much 95% sure I'm ready to do it all again. Unfortunately for me I'll need to do Basic again... but in the long run I guess it'll help.

As for the movie... here is a good review or summary of the film. It got crappy ratings... but I wouldn't pay much attention to them... judge it for yourself:

The final test of courage is coming home.
"Wars begin where you will
but they do not end where you please."
--Machiavelli

Oscar winner Irwin Winkler is the director of HOME OF THE BRAVE, a dramatic story revolving around soldiers who struggle to readjust to normal life after returning home from a lengthy tour of duty in Iraq. The impressive cast in the original screenplay by Mark Friedman from a story by Friedman and Winkler are Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Christina Ricci, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Chad Michael Murray, and Brian Presley.

Photographed on rugged locations in Morocco to stage Iraq battle scenes and later in Spokane, Washington, for the emotional homecoming of the main characters, the film deals with not only the battles in a distant country, but those at home as well. To date, perhaps more than a million U.S. troops have served in Iraq since the invasion, and tens of thousands have shown signs of serious stress upon their return.

"It's a subject we read about but certainly haven't dramatized very much," says Winkler, who came up with the idea after reading a magazine story nearly two years ago. As examples of the best screen dramas about wartime aftermath, the acclaimed filmmaker harks back to the Vietnam screen drama, "Coming Home" and "The Deer Hunter," and William Wyler's classic tale of troubled World War II veterans in "The Best Years of Our Lives".

Winkler was taken with the unique stresses, both physical and psychological, that America's combat troops endure during warfare. Even in modern times, it was deemed that not enough attention was in place to help returning veterans cope with the stress of returning to civilian life, though the armed services are presently offering troops some programs for rehabilitation.

HOME OF THE BRAVE follows four returning soldiers as they survive the ravages of war in a distant land and then try to come home to continue their lives. It was Robert Browning who said: "He who did well in war, earns the right to begin doing well in Peace." Many find that a difficult task.

Samuel L. Jackson portrays a medical Captain, a surgeon who is tormented by lost lives he could not save in war and returns home not as the doctor he once was. In the role of a military cargo driver, Jessica Biel plays a woman who returns home to face the emotional and physical readjustment her wounds carry.

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is cast in a tragic role as an army specialist haunted by the combat killing of an Iraqi woman who is unable to cope with his anger once he returns home to his friends and the young girl who once cared about him. Brian Presley, a specialist whose childhood best friend dies in his arms in Iraq, returns home to his sweetheart but is compelled to go back to war and support his comrades in their fight.

[Commando 9767]

Whether you go back in (my bet) or not,finish the book.As many books as I have read by those who have served,you can't go wrong,if you're an honest writer.I'm sure a Law Enforcement career will fit in well also.Was "Home of the Brave" a major release,or cable?

[Young [ODA-271]]

You know I don't know about the release. I hadn't heard about it in detail until just last week. The Box Office numbers showed about 85% of the earnings to be from overseas. Not sure how that worked.

Either way it's decent for a few bucks at a store or downloaded on the net.

I'm just about done with the Chosen Soldiers book... and started Masters of Chaos already.