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War – what it is good for
War – what it is good for is likely the best story you’ll read in a long time.
It’s the story of an 8 year old’s birthday party. The young man was an avid follower of Band of Brothers and requested a World War II theme party for his birthday, of the uproar that followed, and the learning that followed.
It appears that, as casualties and opposition rise with the Iraq war, even Liam Bowman’s 8th birthday party can become fodder in our national debate. Outraged parents complained that we were perverting the minds of children by glorifying war. Yet, there is something to learn from war — as we found out later with a visit to a small Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in rural Maryland.It began as a birthday party for Liam, who has watched the HBO series Band of Brothers so many times that he can name all the men of Easy Company as easily as his third-grade class roster. Liam’s mom, Brigid Schulte, threw an authentic Easy Company party with World War II music, jump wings, Normandy maps, ammo boxes and root beer in the mess hall. With Liam’s dad, Tom Bowman, in Iraq covering a real war for National Public Radio, I agreed to play the role of Col. Robert Sink (head of the Airborne Regiment) while Liam served as Lt. Richard Winters, the central figure and commander of Easy Company in the series.
What makes this article great is what happened next. The boys actually sat down to talk with people who had been there, including Clarence “Clancy” Lyall, a member of E/506 PI.
Yet rather than asking about the gore of war, the boys seemed most interested in matters more relevant and important to the adolescent mind: how Lyall overcame fear.
This, my friends is what makes this story great. War is not some great thing. I have yet to meet a combat veteran who liked combat — who misses combat. But the same thing that interested these kids is what interests me: How did these great men overcome fear.
It seems to me that Americans fear too much. We fear loss, so we would rather leave with the job half done. We fear becoming unpopular, so we feel we should do nothing without international consensus. Well, you get the picture.
What we need are more people like these 8 year olds who ask the questions: “What did you do to overcome fear? What can I do to overcome my own fears?”
Learning the answers to those questions are part of the process of growing up. Unfortunately, for too many people they are answers that have never been learned.
MickC @ February 19, 2007