No single service member has the monopoly on the war narrative. It will change depending on where you serve, when you were there, what your role was, and a few thousand other random elements.
For the past 10 days, “American Sniper” has rallied crowds and broken box office records, but if you want to understand the war, the film is like peering into a sniper scope — it offers a very limited view.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking the hit movie captures the truth of the Iraq conflict. I should know. I lived it.
– Garett Reppenhagen, Cavalry Scout Sniper with the 1st Infantry Division in the US Army
I haven’t seen the Hollywood blockbuster, “American Sniper,” so I can’t really critique the movie itself. Nevertheless, from what I’ve read, I think its immense popularity reflects extremely poorly on our culture as well as our ability to face hard facts about the war in Iraq.
Rather than face the truth that our government lied us into a devastating war that forced countless naive kids to go halfway across the world and murder people that did absolutely nothing to them, we happily celebrate the story of the most lethal military member in history, who achieved this feat during what was one of the most illegitimate and pointless wars in American history. We are in effect collectively celebrating what should be seen as a tragedy, and the fact that this is lost on so many people is downright terrifying to me.
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G
Follow me on Twitter.
