Wages of War
Funny, as I sit here trying to come up with something to share with my readers, I realize that the only writer’s block I ever have is when faced with writing my weekly blog. This is not understandable, since for 19 years I worked under a newspaper deadline for columns or any news or feature stories that popped up and had to be written.
Other writers I know admit to the same problem. What in the world can I write that anyone would possibly find interesting enough to read? Hint: Use lots of pictures then you don’t have to write so much.
I didn’t watch the Academy Awards last night, so that’s out. What I did watch was a movie about three WW II vets who returned to the scene of a battle at Omaha Beach. One was a Brit, the other two Americans, or as they called each other, a Limey and a Yankee. Two had
D Day Americans storm the beaches
fallen in love with the French nurse who cared for them after they were wounded. The third had been wounded so seriously that he was mentally challenged, as we call it today. He had saved the life of his friend who took care of him because of that.
The movie began rather humorously, with the two vying in their macho ways for first turn at seeing their former nurse. While the third existed on the periphery. Eventually, we were treated to a lesson. Wars are stupid. Wars are not what people want. Wars create chasms that are difficult but not impossible to bridge. Wars permanently damage some lives forever. The group grew to include a woman who had come to visit the grave of her brother, who turned out to have been a German soldier, which they only learned after growing to like her a lot.
Together these people formed a bond, the French nurse turned prostitute, the three elderly men, the German woman, and oddly enough the daughter and son-in-law of the Yankee. I
American heroes
wondered at the reason for their presence in the plot, until it was slowly revealed that the daughter was self-centered and, as she admitted, mean spirited. She had a lesson to learn as well.
It dawns on me while writing this that I too learned a lesson from this movie. Not only did I learn that people can rise above prejudice and mindset when forming friendships under difficult circumstances, and it is ill advised to discount mean spirited people before giving them a chance to reform, if that’s the right word.
My final thought: One of the most over stated and untrue phrases tossed about is, people don’t change. Everyone changes. If we open our hearts and minds we change due to our life experiences. True there are people who refuse to change for various reasons, but they are few.
For what they are worth, these are my thoughts on a record-setting cold and icy March day. Worse, when I went back to Netflix to get the title of the movie, I could not find it. Having rated it and taken it off my list, it disappeared into the miasma of movies I’ve rated. Can’t they put those ratings in date order? Ugh. I almost removed this blog after realizing I couldn’t pass on the title of the movie, but the message remains with or without it.
I find myself more and more engrossed by the evils of war, of sending young men off to battle, of the entire idea of killing our fellow man. Hopefully, I can move on to more pleasant subjects soon. That sexy, dark and gritty tag needs to move from dark to sexy or gritty for a while.
What does war to do people? Read Once There Were Sad Songs, available as a Ebook or print on Amazon and The Wild Rose Press.
Velda Brotherton 