The Need

Recent discussions have forced me to conclude that we all need to see trauma. It has become a way of life for us and we can't help but sit back and watch. For me, the need to see is so that I can know what happened or how it happened. How is one supposed to move on with their lives if they cannot witness the magnitude of some event? I feel bad for those who did not witness 9/11, not because it is a historical event that changed the nation, but because they may never know how it happened. I couldn't imagine seeing the World Trade Center one day and then my next visit, it's gone. I understand you would have to live under a rock not to know about it, but imagine the trauma you would face if you never knew. At the same time I think we all can agree that we wanted to do something when it happened. We all got that helpless feeling and felt that we could do nothing.

Like us civilians, the military also have a need. These men and women join for a reason: to protect the United States of America at any cost. Every war has been different, but the themes remain the same. They have seen things that no human should ever have to face, but they did it in our honor. When they come back, I feel like they still have that need to be in the shit so to speak. All of this talk about the need to fire a weapon or to kill some one in the name of your country reminds me of the movie Jarhead. These men went to war and none of them got to fire their weapons in battle and then they came back home and their lives fell apart. I think that once you are in a war, there is no coming back. You will never be the same person you once were.

We have talked a lot about memorials and what it can do for someone. The bottom line for me is that we remember those who have lost their lives. If that statue isn't erected or that will isn't formed, then it was all for nothing. We should all be very grateful for what others have sacrificed to ensure our freedom. We talked today about the movie United 93 and how it might have been too soon. We should remember them and the fact that what they did was for the greater good. They could have allowed terrorists to fly that plane into another building, but instead they sacrificed their lives in order to ensure that no more loss would happen. It is the same thing that happened in World War II. We were aware of the magnitude of dropping the atom bomb, but it was for the greater good so that no more blood shed would occur. We had no idea at the time that future generations would suffer, but that is part of the consequences that we will forever live with. Had we not dropped the bomb, Hitler or someone terrible like that would have gotten their hands on it and I wouldn't be typing this blog now.

All of this talk of memorials has made me seek out some of them and here they are:

These images give me a great sense of pride in what this country stands for. The first two tell me that we will not go quietly and you can do whatever you want to us, but we will always come through because this is the U.S.A. You might have done some damage, but we are still here and we will fight back. The last image is a list of names of those lost in World War I and II which put names to heroes. These were everyday people like us that went off to a war and didn't make it back. They might not have made it back but we will all make it if we continue to tell the stories that made this country what it is.