Posted on 01/25/2015 6:33:57 AM PST by paterfamilias
We saw "American Sniper" last night. My wife and I went with a group of about a dozen other military parents (Navy, Marine Corps, Army).
This is not a typical "war movie" in that it explores one man's journey from civilian life into the military community into war (four tours in Iraq) and then explores his difficult re-entry into civilian life. So, in a way, the movie is about the family and community of the as much as it is about Chris Kyle.
There are aspects of the movie that some will dismiss as trite or jingoistic: Kyle's father instructing his sons that in a world populated by sheep and wolves, they are to be the sheep dogs protecting the sheep; Kyle's motivation for what he does - "... it's God, Family, Country..."; Chris and Taya watching the World Trade Center collapse on a 9/11/01 television news station. The reality of the matter that many who choose to serve have had similar life experiences and motivation contributing to their decision: one father wrote to his son on the day before entering the Navy, "Not everybody understands that the greatness of this nation resides not in its physical proportions, not in its economy, not in its might: it resides in the very idea of its conception and in the goodness and industry of its people. You and your shipmates, when you take the solemn oath to '...support and defend the Constitution...' will embody this greatness." The scores of young men and women who joined the military after 9/11 attest to that event's importance in their desire to serve. And far from displaying "war fatigue" the service academies are experiencing record high application numbers now more than a decade into war.
Turning to the effect of having an active duty military family member, this film again hits the mark. It is no secret that our popular culture has widely diverged from the ethos of self-discipline, self-reliance, and service that is inculcated into our military members. And if you live in an area of the country where military service is the exception rather than the rule, you frequently hear comments like, "He's a Marine? Why did he do that? He's really smart, isn't he?" Indeed, those who don't have a loved one in harm's way have no idea of the families' dread of a news report detailing a downed helicopter or a sailor lost at sea, a middle of the night phone call, or a government car pulling into your driveway with two military officers inside. Taya Kyle's struggles to keep her husband tied to his family and to keep things together at home while Chris is in danger beautifully illustrate this.
Eastwood masterfully illustrates the opposing forces acting on Kyle's sensibilities: his love of family and decency on the one hand and his deep commitment to protecting his comrades on the other. The intensity of military training, especially Special Ops training, creates bonds that we civilians may find hard to understand; and as the military and civilian cultures continue to diverge, the resulting cultural gap becomes more and more difficult for the individual soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine to bridge. We have heard frequently that members of the Greatest Generation rarely spoke about their experiences except to other soldiers. This has not changed. Imagine my surprise when my own son mentioned that sometimes he feels more comfortable hanging out with veterans two or three times his age than with civilians!
In summary, this is a good film, an important film, a well-crafted film, and a masterfully-acted film.
It is an excellent illustration of the Honor, Courage, and Commitment of combatant, family, and community alike.
Was there any pig squealing.
Nope.
That was depicted as the morning he died.
Mark Dice has an interesting take on “American Sniper.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBXzJWA7Ja0
“Imagine my surprise when my own son mentioned that sometimes he feels more comfortable hanging out with veterans two or three times his age than with civilians!
Yes, and does God want that? I doubt it, it is not healthy.”
All countries would be better in most respects if their citizens had an obligation to serve the state for a two year period in some regard, military, social, whatever.
People of all ages sharing a common bond - Hey, that’s good!
I had an interesting talk with a German POW that was here in Wisconsin during the war and stayed and became an American citizen.
My uncle’s best friend was an American POW in Germany and wouldn’t talk about his experiences.
Many older indivduals have some great experiences and wisdom. I am glad that your children get to spend some time with them.
” ‘Imagine my surprise when my own son mentioned that sometimes he feels more comfortable hanging out with veterans two or three times his age than with civilians!’
Yes, and does God want that? I doubt it, it is not healthy.”
You may know better than I, but I can not purport to know what God wants for my son, but I pray daily that His will be done, beautifully stated in one of the verses of The Navy Hymn:
Eternal Father, grant, we pray
To all Marines, both night and day,
The courage, honor, strength, and skill
Their land to serve, thy law fulfill;
Be thou the shield forevermore
From every peril to the Corps.
My son’s sentiments, after spending 4 demanding years at Annapolis and 7-1/2 years (so far) as a Marine is quite normal: by the time I finished 4 years of medical school, three years of residency and 3 years of fellowship, I was so accustomed to being around other doctors that I had almost completely lost the ability to even make small talk with non-medical people. I was so immersed in learning my profession that I had almost no familiarity with the popular culture or current events for the previous 10 years.
So, it took awhile for me to relate comfortably to “civilians” outside of my professional capacity and to stop being fixated on their moles, speech impediments and gait abnormalities.
To his credit, my son has never lost his deep love and concern for his family, once commenting after what I feared would be a boring (for him) post-Christmas gathering with the old-fogey cousins, “You know Dad, the only thing I regret about my career decision is that it takes me away from my family.”
What goes on between a husband and wife is their issue as long as they consent, which by the illustration in the movie, they did.
The discussion about gun safety is a different one, and I suspect we would agree on that.
But healthy or unhealthy was not what I was thinking when watching that scene. In my opinion, it was a statement that Chris Kyle was making progress back closer to what he had been before four tours of duty in a war zone.
Pointing a gun at anything you do not wish to destroy is a Cardinal rule.
I saw the scene as both of them having PTSD themselves.
From what I have heard, one of the hardest things for many combat veterans to get over is the fact that people who haven't been in combat simply cannot relate to their experiences, as unknowable as they are to people who haven't experienced them. The loneliness, unpredictability, tension, fear, anger, excitement, horror, smells, proximity to death, and imagery meld together into a mashup that only people who have experienced it can truly understand. People like me can read about it, watch it in movies, talk about it and hear people talk about it, but we cannot experience it through those things, and a good thing too, that is.
It is a gulf to many of them between themselves and the rest of large parts of their family and society. They understand that many people are well-meaning, but to them, that really isn't the same as understanding.
I thought that was one of the more powerful messages of his life, that he used his celebrity, knowledge, and experience of war to try to help other men get over the gap.
I read something one time, said by a Vietnam veteran, decades after his time in combat, that tugged at my heart. He said (and I must paraphrase): "As much as I hated that place and everything about it, I sometimes wish desperately that I could go back to that time, just to remember again, even for a minute, just how badly I wanted to come back to my country and loved ones, and how much I missed being home."
Something about that statement just made me understand for a fleeting instant something about the loneliness and longing, coupled with the confusing disappointment many feel when they finally DO come home, and something just isn't right and that there are many who long to be back "there" where things counted, and life meant something to them. A very strange thing, to be sure. How many of those men are twisted by that odd combination of feelings?
So, no. I don't think it is unhealthy in any way for a young man to feel more comfortable in the presence of older veterans who must be able to understand these things.
I think we both agree on that...I am one of those people who is meticulous in handling a firearm, and to see that guy do that made me feel uncomfortable just watching it in a movie.
And I agree. I do think his wife was recovering too, much in the way an alcoholic’s spouse needs to go through a type of recovery.
What is healthy? It might be better for a young man having a hard time relating to civilians to spend time around people with more knowledge and experience than around dolts who have no clue about real blood and guts and sacrifice. Over time, the young man will hopefully adjust to being around clueless folks. My observations over the years is that the experienced in war gravitate to one another no matter their ages. I have seen it over and over again. The older veterans are a big help to their younger counterparts.
I think we are in full agreement.
So, no. I don’t think it is unhealthy in any way for a young man to feel more comfortable in the presence of older veterans who must be able to understand these things.
When Kyle first returned to CONUS, he was sitting in some dark VFW, not even talking to the few vets that were there.
He called home and told the wife unit he was in the states.
She wigged out.
“Where?!!! when are you coming home?”
Kyle responds “I guess I need some time”
This is NOT healthy.
Thank you for your very thoughtful response
I said this in another thread...liberals don’t have a clue, because many are so far removed from the military that they don’t know anyone in it, except for people who may have been in and want to trash it.
They don’t have any idea the stress that being a military family of ANY kind (not just Special Forces families) places a huge stress on any kind of marriage. They are fairly unique problems to that profession, and liberals are always surprised by these things.
They don’t realize what many military couples go through sometimes just to stay together, and do so successfully.
I think we all agree THAT definitely wasn’t healthy. Your heart could only go out to the guy...and his wife.
Good God. What a thing. He appeared to be TERRIFIED to go home, not that he didn’t want to. He seemed not to be able to muster up the courage to do it. Just wow.
But it happens.
Not to equate the Military with Medicine, but EMT’s, first responders, Emergency room personnel, DR’s and Nurses all go through this stuff.
Trauma, all day long and they get home and are expected to shift gears, smile and go to Suzie’s soccer practice.
If they do not shift gears the family gets stuck, the spouse, the children become resentful.
The sheep, the sheep dog and the wolf. Which one do you want to be?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.