Semper Fi: The Long Journey Home
Originally published in February 2015. AFTER WATCHING BAND OF BROTHERS (2001) AND THE PACIFIC (2010) Although I never served in the military, I feel there is at least an ounce of understanding from necessary projects such as Band of Brothers and the Pacific . While I am grateful and hope I never feel what it is like to be in a muddy foxhole or hold the wooden grip of a military rifle, smell the sea's salty foam or the gunpowder from hot bullets during battle, I cannot help but pause in appreciative awe at what it must have been like and continues to be like for those who have. I cannot claim to understand war, but from my study of film and reading of primary accounts, I feel safe in my estimate that the greatest casualty of war is the loss of one's humanity. We get caught up in measuring the greatness and valor of a warrior by particular sacrifices, usually physical in nature, ranked by decorative medals and special honors, but it seems the value of a soldier is i...