Lone Survivor Part II

I'm here for Part II on my commentary of the new release Lone Survivor. As I expressed in my previous blog, this movie had a huge impact on me and I encourage others from my generation to see it as well, simply to be aware that the reality of war still exists today.

 Lone Survivor by no means abides by Hollywood's rules of a happy ending, as one may guess by the title. The method of not including a rewarding ending for the viewers honestly illustrates the realness of not only the War on Afghanistan, but this specific operation by the Navy SEALS.

For me, I thought the director set up the movie quite perfectly; displaying the living quarters of our military overseas, while incorporating the day to day routine these men and women go through when they aren't out on patrols. As an outsider, we see the photos of family members hanging in their rooms and the quick yet important conversations these men are able to have with their loved ones. The director reveals the bonding that exists through the different military units, especially while overseas. When a group of people are placed in a faraway place from home with boredom laced with operations preparations, it is only natural that these people become a family, a band of brothers as most of them would tell you.

Some of the morale in the movie has been questioned by movie critics and everyday viewers. It is hard to criticize how much of the morale on war was actually present during the real life experience that Marcus Luttrell brought back to life in his book, or if some of the facts from the book were exaggerated to add to the experience of the theatre. Regardless of which is the truth, as a human and as an American, we must appreciate the difficult decisions that our men and women in uniform must make under pressure while putting their own lives at risk.

So as I may come off as a broken record sometimes, the reality the Lone Survivor depicts and the awareness it brings forth to the viewers, brings me back to my very important point that even though we may not know them personally and may not ever know what they have or are going through, shake a service members hand and thank them. Each and every one of them are heroes and they deserve honor and respect above all.

And I hope for those of you reading, you don't see my statements as a never ending song, but rather my strong need to express how important it is that our military gets the recognition and appreciation they truly deserve.

Here is my hero whom I am thankful for each and every day :)