Claiming Another Parcel of Interworld Turf!

I was scanning Facebook today and saw a question posed by a friend…

D-Day + 70: What to watch, Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers

A simple question with a complicated answer. I wrote most of this in my response but then deleted it and instead opted to post it here.

To Fletcher’s point, there are two halves that make up the silence of veterans. Most people’s imagination jumps right to the scenes depicted in the opening of Pvt Ryan, where your friend whom you’ve been training with for months is suddenly and horrifically destroyed right in front of your eyes. But with that assault, with the knowledge that someone on the other side is trying with everything they have to do the same to you, you suddenly get a great sense of clarity of purpose and decision making becomes REALLY easy. And it is in those decisions that the other half of their silence lies. Looking at another human being through your reticle, and destroying their life, then feeling good about it… you don’t really feel like talking about that either. Let’s never forget what all who have served have done for us.

So while we take time to remember the 9,000 Allied troops who made the ultimate sacrifice during the D-Day assaults, let’s not forget about those who’s suffering has continued far beyond those 4 days.