"No, I wasn't a hero... but I served in the company of heroes."
-WWII Veteran, E Company, 101st Airbourne Rangers.

So Shiv and I finally finished watching the entire "Band of Brothers" DVD series... wow. After watching 10 hours of gritty combat in WWII's European Theatre, I can still feel the grip of the real-life stories from the series on my imagination. Watching quality stuff like that reminds me of the value of the medium of film / TV... they're instruments that can be used to facilitate mankind's oldest pasttime: telling stories.

That's what it all really boils down to... communicating the experiences of one generation to another in way that marks you, makes you remember. In a way, after watching "Band of Brothers", I feel closer to both my grandfathers, both who fought in the WWII. Both of them died before I reached an age where I could ask them about it. But watching a narrative of another group of men, hearing their memories and recollections of the 20th century's bloodiest war... I can imagine the tales my parents' fathers might have told about it all.

Such a terrible thing they had to endure, at age that is still fresh in my mind. Most of the guys fighting were in their 20s or younger. Instead of being a stupid freshman in college, I can't even begin to imagine how I'd feel instead being strapped with gear, jumping out of a rickety plane in the dead of night... all while flak is exploding and people are dying all around me.

Yet a great many good things came from the experiences of that generation of men... things like the Civil Rights Movement or greater access to a college education have could not have come about any other way in America except for the war. Enduring that war marked a generation of men in way that I doubt will happen it again - it simultaneously made than more mature, wiser, determined, and probably most of all... made them not take life for granted.

Difficult times are often what breaks the ground and prepares the soil for something better to grow.

Something for me to ponder.
posted by G at 3:19 AM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33