When I was 12 years old, I saw a movie that would change my life forever. A movie that would bring to light the true horrors of war. A movie that gave a brief but potent sample of what it was like to experience the sheer brutality of combat. A movie that would shake me to my very core with its overwhelmingly powerful representation of the reality that our veterans must face to preserve our freedom.
This movie was Saving Private Ryan.
It was just a few days after my birthday when we arrived in Keystone, Colorado for our annual trip to the mountains. We always had an amazing time when we visited this beautiful state. We’d go on little hikes, play in the river, go up and down gondolas, and take advantage of the beautiful weather with many other outdoor activities.
But the weather wasn’t always beautiful in Colorado that time of year. Usually at least once a day, a storm would roll in and put our outdoor adventures on hold. When one such storm rumbled overhead, we decided we’d pass the time by catching a flick at the local movie theater.
Up to that point in my young life, I’d only experienced war as a pretend thing. Whether it was playing with army men or my friends and I pointing toy guns at each other out in the woods saying “pew pew pew,” war was simply a fantasy to me. But that fantasy was about to transform into a shocking understanding of war’s reality.
We bought our tickets, purchased some popcorn, and took our seats. Being the cool middle schooler I was, I wanted to sit with my older brother and his friend while my parents sat several rows behind us. As we settled into our seats and the opening credits rolled on screen, I was prepared to see a fun action movie where the good guys kicked a lot of ass, took the proverbial hill, and said some quippy one-liners while high-fiving each other.
That was not what I was about to see.
Barely 10 minutes in, I was scared, sick to my stomach, and ready to cry my eyes out. I threw my coolness out the window, stood up, and ran back to sit with my parents.
This wasn’t the movie I expected by a long shot.
Instead, I saw a movie where terrified young soldiers were put in unwinnable situations. Where men were forced to do things of which they were not proud. Where the line between good and bad was blurred beyond decipherability. Where men willingly put their own lives and futures on the line to defend the lives and futures of others.
It was some pretty sobering stuff.
And to think, if these reenacted events were absolutely terrifying to a 12-year-old kid watching them unfold on a movie screen, I can only imagine the immeasurable dread that an 18-year-old “man” must have felt storming a stretch of beach under murderous gunfire from an equally frightened enemy.
Yes, at the end of the day, I realize this was just a movie. But it was a movie based in a lot of truth. It was a film that was meant to serve as a wake up call. Not just one for 12-year-old dopes like me, but a call for all Americans to try to understand and appreciate what our warriors do to preserve our freedom.
War is ugly. It’s complicated. It’s not black and white. And unfortunately, at times, it is necessary. When it is necessary, it makes me so thankful and proud that we have brave men and women willing to put their own lives on hold to do what must be done.
By no means am I trying to claim I’m some sort of military expert. Or that I know what it’s like to be in combat. Or that I understand the struggle of serving for months and months or years and years without seeing my friends and family.
But I do know one thing. I know that since this movie, I have grown a profound and undying respect for the men and women who have served, those who currently serve, and those who will serve. They are the reason we live the lives we do. They are the reason we have the right to have differences of opinion, the right to choose by which name we call God, the right to simply have rights. They are the ones who earned these opportunities for us with their incredible and continued sacrifice.
I challenge us all to not only celebrate and honor our veterans today, but vow to do so every day. For some of these veterans sacrificed the rest of their days to give us ours.
God Bless our veterans. And with every fiber of my being...thank you!