DOWN RANGE – War … What Is It Good For?
by Karen Tortora-Lee on October 31, 2009
War is a difficult thing to understand, let alone encapsulate no matter which military conflict is the focus. This is probably why each generation has seen its share of movies exploring war, its heroes, its casualties on the battlefield (and at home) and its paradigm which sends strangers on a journey that brings them out the other end as something we have yet to find a word for, so “brothers” tends to suffice.
As society and even combat itself evolves it leaves it almost impossible to weave a parallel between, let’s say, a WWII Vet and a Vietnam Vet. But what hasn’t changed is the core of the men who fight to defend their country: there are stories attached to each soldier who serves, there are hidden injuries that destroy families who appear whole and subtle innuendos that tie these men to each other that outsiders can never understand. When these “outsiders” turn out to be their own families, well … then the conflict to home can almost do more damage than any tour of duty.
