Fly Those Stars and Stripes on Your Way Home

Every school across America requires students to stand up each morning and say the Pledge of Allegiance. During the summer, we celebrate a day of patriotism and freedom on Independence Day. On September 11th, we join together from every walk of life to mourn the great loss of innocent souls who were working in the World Trade Center and those in the rescue effort. We have Presidents’ Day and Memorial Day, which most take as just a free Monday off of work or school, to celebrate and honor the great men who developed and died for this democracy. How often do you just take a second and appreciate and fathom how fortunate you are to call “The Land of the Free” your home? That our government honors justice for all. That our government protects free speech and religion. That our government should be run by the people for the people. Probably not very often. We forget that there have been hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who have given their lives for the uniform; to protect those rights that we take for granted every single day. Lone Survivor, a film directed by Peter Berg and staring Mark Wahlberg, follows the valiant militant endeavor of Marcus Luttrell and his team of Navy Seals in Afghanistan. It is an everyday movie you may watch at home that may make you rethink the meaning of being an American and how you owe that all to men like these.

Ahmad Shah, Taliban leader, is responsible for killing over twenty United States Marines as well as innocent civilians and Afghans pledging to aid the American cause against terrorism. Luttrell’s squad of fellow Navy Seals have been assigned to capture Shah in a counter-insurgent mission which will require the men to trek through the steep mountains so they can surround and properly succeed with the mission. Intelligence was discovered to be incorrect when the soldiers got close enough to identify that there were twice as many Taliban rebels as American soldiers. With satellite disconnected, the men had to continue the mission. On the down step, a group of shepherds stumble upon the men’s camouflage. Luttrell has to make the impossible decision whether to allow the Afghan men to live or kill them as required for the mission to be successful. Luttrell chooses to let them live, as two of the boys are young. Unfortunately, the young boys he intended to spare were Taliban spies who immediately retreated to higher officers. Luttrell’s team was attacked in the coarse terrain. The fight was ceaseless, and Luttrell was the only man to survive. He was saved by a group of American-supporting Afghan men who took him in and tended to his wound. When their village fell under attack to Shah, those same brave Afghan men fought as surrogate American soldiers until intelligence found Luttrell. Pushtan was the village. And Pushtan villagers live by a code of honor known as Pashtunwali. This code of honor is similar to what the Navy Seals live by. It is what everyday American citizens would have to live by if we weren’t constantly protected by men like Luttrell. How lucky are we? American patriots keep us safe from ever having to live like those in Pushtan. Pushtan villagers would do anything to have the freedom we do everyday.

Through the intense emotions that cover every range from the tension of gritty survivor, to the trust and compassion of strangers, the comradeship of soldiers, and the tear-jerking love of being an American and supporting the bravest military in the world, Lone Survivor connects with any person on every level. The true gratefulness that you have for our men and women and uniform after watching that film is overwhelming. The heartbreak you felt for those fallen men’s families left you with tears streaming down your face. After the film ends, it makes you want to wake up every day and look at that flag differently when you say the Pledge. It makes you want to appreciate that Monday off of work. To send a care package to the troops on Memorial Day. To actually read the Declaration of Independence and Constitution in the summer. To hug your family and appreciate that fact that you are getting that opportunity in the first place. To say thank you to every soldier you see walk by you in the airport. Lone Survivor was the best movie of the year. It may not win an Oscar with that title; it may not have been the fanciest in the special effects department; that is all just Hollywood. This was a real story of bravery and patriotism. If every American can appreciate their world after a movie, then it could be the greatest movie of all time. Leaving the theatre, you may even want to fly an American flag from your car on the way home.