RE: The Hurt Locker and War Movies

This was my post to Michael Jernigan’s Blog in the New York Times called,

HOME FIRES: The War Movie You Don’t Want To See

     Michael served in the Marine Corps in Iraq, and was blinded and severely wounded, and listened to the HURT LOCKER while a friend interpreted the visual effects for him.

     My post was on the first of ten pages of posts, got about 60 recommendations, was probably popular because of my HONESTY, and the fact that I THANKED MICHAEL FOR HIS SERVICE!

     You can read Michael’s feelings, about how the movie business is making money off of our dead and wounded soldiers, by typing in HOME FIRES NY Times on Google.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/home-fires-the-war-movie-you-dont-want-to-see/#preview

Dear Michael

     Although I was always against the Iraq War, for many reasons, our country owes a great debt to our veterans from all wars.

     So whether I agree with a war, or consider it an immoral objective, I am inclined and forced to say, "THANKS FOR SERVING YOUR COUNTRY," which you have heard ten thousand times (which, by the way, many Vietnam Veterans like me did not hear, or did not want to acknowledge....are we jealous?).

      I had what might be called mild tours in Vietnam (two), but I was drafted while Woodstock Rock Festival was happening, and dutifully answered the call, even though I had no desire to kill anyone at all, or lose body parts to a war. My parents were both in WW II, but in non-combat positions. I was a gentle, shy young man,, the kind of guy who, if you send him to war, he might come back damaged, even though no physical wounds applies.

     One guy in my psychiatric treatment group called me, "RADAR," which for you younger folks, was the sensitive character in the movie called M*A*S*H. I had no career and rarely worked after Vietnam, and have spent my life reading books about our revolution, or civil war, WW II, Vietnam, and other wars, JUST TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF US DURING A WAR. Obviously, being a movie fan, I have seen EVERY WAR MOVIE, several times.

     As a shy, RADAR-type person, I was trying to figure out why small issues bothered me, while other guys got shot in the chest, recovered, and then went on to careers after the war. Senator Max Cleland is an example of millions of veterans who went on to great success. A lot of us read the book by Lewis B. Puller, Jr., son of Marine Corps General Chesty Puller, and then sadly heard about his suicide after the book was published. L Even CNO Jeremy Boorda killed himself over a dispute about a medal he was wearing (if you remember, he was the enlisted Navy man who rose through ALL OF THE RANKS to be CNO in the 1990s).

     Why do some people go all out to get in to the infantry, and why do others, choose non-combat arms in fear of the war, and why do others avoid the war? I am not making fun of anyone, but I refer to our leaders, Bill (conscientious objector) Clinton, George W. (keep me stateside, flying the skies of Texas) Bush, or Dick (I'd like to stay in college) Cheney. And then we have other examples, George H.W. Bush, or John F. Kennedy, both men who survived great trauma, and then went on to do great things?

     So, as a person obviously disturbed by war, but having so little of it, and watching every movie I could find about war (and listening to war vets talk on radio, TV, or the Internet), I have come to a similar conclusion.

     I view war movies as ART, as you might go to a museum and look at great art from the past or present. And the viewer of art sees in the art what they are looking for, or perhaps something they never saw before, and then tries to apply it to their view of life? But, in the end, it is ONLY ART, and in the end, VETERANS (and civilian war casualties) ARE MERELY REAL PEOPLE.

     Obviously, I am venting here a bit, about my own small view of life, but then again, what can any of us do? As an enlisted soldier, coerced by the draft in a very, unpopular, losing, pointless war, who never wanted to hurt people, I put my name in for a second tour of duty in Vietnam, just like the character in HURT LOCKER did. I hadn't had enough, and wanted some more of the mild risks I took in large combat bases, and, frankly, most of the country thought I was a SICKO to do so. Especially friends and family, who kept their voices mostly silent, but secretly could not understand the lunacy of my own situation.

     This post to your BLOG may not be in order, and I don't care whether it gets posted. I guess I just needed to write it. Please keep on keeping on, and be proud, or angry, or whatever feelings you have of your service, and JUST KEEP LETTING IT OUT, one day at a time. Thanks for your service. Roger Stavitz in Danforth Maine.