Friday Night War Story

Last night I found myself alone in our hotel room. Jack Bauer was out in "the field" until 10:30 PM. Completely depressed about the financial news of the day, my stomach was in knots as I thought about the implications for me. I couldn't stand it any more. I turned the channel, but Bravo had on 48 Hours. Not interested in criminal movies, so I decided to channel surf. The next channel was IFC.

The film, shown uninterrupted although I clearly was picking it up in the middle, was filled with lush green hills, sweeping blue skies, the winds and clouds sweeping light and air across the celluloid canvas. Within minutes I was captivated by the scenery. A soldier was yelling orders into a radio. Others were responding and taking action. But I couldn't get over the beauty of this movie. The attention to details in what the soldiers saw, the way they noticed things, was not what I have seen in a war movie before. Maybe I've changed.

I never watched war movies while Jack was deployed. Even before then, I was never a big fan of them. I have no idea how authentic this movie is, whether the uniforms, the battle, the history are correct. But I heard many things in it with the attitudes, the speeches, the motivations, that I recognize in my husband. And seeing that has its own type of beauty.