Army of One

After watching this movie I am left with an overwhelming sense of numbness. While it is certainly true that I can see how Thad could have become overcome by patriotism; being in the financial services sector, he, more than most, would have identified with the persons who lost their lives on 911 at WTC. And I can also relate to Sara, after being berated in a 7 page letter by her father (which looked to be the ONLY parent - and not much of one at that), might choose to do something to change his negative opinion of her and win SOME basic sense of approval (something a child should never have to do! Its called unconditional love when they reach adolescence - the disapproval stuff needs to come WAY back at 5 and 6 years old - when they are children). And it is much too easy to see the motivations of Nelson, growing up in the projects, seeking something more, respect, dignity, perhaps some validation from his dysfunctional parents? The frightening thing is, each in his own way, they all made what amounted to major life choices without completely weighing the consequences. Choices that were made in heist, perhaps for the wrong reasons, definitely to fill a need in the individuals life, and in two of the three cases, without truly considering that they were agreeing to do whatever the army needed then to do - not just what THEY wanted to do! In short, they did not consider the repercussions of their actions. Having been 17 and visited the recruiter when I was in high school, I know what they tell you. I would guess that, in the vast majority of cases, they don't lie to you. They didn't lie to me, they told me that I would quality for a set of jobs and that Uncle SAM got to choose what I did - and if I didn't like it, well, hey, you know, its a voluntary force! So is it the recruiters fault? Nope, the recruiter is a salesman, nothing more. Is it the fault of the individual? Perhaps, to some degree; but ultimately, some fault must also lie in the society in which these folks grew up. All too often in our society, people act recklessly, without thinking, a fact that can result in the loss of a great many things; not the least of which are life, liberty and property. I think the message we need to take away from this story is that we, as a society, need to really push at providing more positive role models and educational opportunities for our young people. We need to get them involved in politics so they understand what is at stake - the war in Iraq was utterly unnecessary, and if we had proper Congressional and Senate leadership, someone would have been tried in a court of law for the lies that lead to the invasion of Iraq - only with a strong showing of citizens watching our elected leaders can we ever expect good and proper performance. Without oversight, you get just what we have now, the fox guarding the hen house! We need much better schools, with stronger teachers who love their job, because only by having a solid educational foundation can a person develop a clear understanding of how to approach tough decisions and analyze their options thoroughly before acting. Only then can that person hope to truly be able to make an intelligent choice concerning the direction they what to take in life. Where is psychology in the public schools? Where is social ethics and leadership classes? How about anger management? Time management? Where are the basic socialization classes in the elementary schools - kids need to be given the tools for effective communication and examples of how to handle confrontations in an assertive manor - not an aggressive one. The United States (and the world for that matter) has a long way to go in these area. By continued inaction we are only hurting ourselves and the generations who will follow us.