I cannot help but feel in my soul, a deep sense of disgust upon seeing this film - not for those who are the main subject matter of it, the men and women of Bedford, VA who suffered as much as any American community during World War II, but for the sickening juxtaposition of a great war of necessity against fanatical and highly organized brutality and depravity, versus one of choice against a country of mostly illiterate peasants barely elevated beyond the dark ages. The former was waged with all possible care for the safety of the citizen soldiers who filled the ranks, while the latter seems to consist merely of disconnected episodes fought by mercenaries desirous of a place in history. The deaths of tens of thousands of Afghan and Iraqi civilians at our hands is perhaps an American sin as irredeemable as slavery, and the fate of these innocent people is not even mentioned. That the war itself is a complete and absolute failure, is apparently not worth considering.
By forgetting the lessons of war's terrible cost, and treating it as a first rather than a last option, one of choice and not of necessity, the memory of the men of the 29th Infantry Division who died on Omaha Beach is smirched in a way that could scarcely be exceeded.
Had mention of the Afghan atrocity been left out of this film, it would be one of the most moving and beautifully made films one could imagine. But to dishonor the memory of those men as is done in this film, is nothing short of moral bankruptcy, and makes a true American fear for the future, no, the soul, of his country.
-drl
By forgetting the lessons of war's terrible cost, and treating it as a first rather than a last option, one of choice and not of necessity, the memory of the men of the 29th Infantry Division who died on Omaha Beach is smirched in a way that could scarcely be exceeded.
Had mention of the Afghan atrocity been left out of this film, it would be one of the most moving and beautifully made films one could imagine. But to dishonor the memory of those men as is done in this film, is nothing short of moral bankruptcy, and makes a true American fear for the future, no, the soul, of his country.
-drl
