lone

“Lone Survivor” Trailer

This now has the best war film opening since 9/11. I plan in seeing this, do you?

In the meantime, making some news is an exchange between Jake Tapper and former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell which does not go well for Tapper. Some say Tapper was just expressing what many think about Afghanistan, that it was all for nothing. Do you agree? As Obama throws away our victories in Afghanistan and Iraq, I can see how that attitude would emerge, but it’s only all “in vain” if we let it become so for the overall picture, to say nothing of the fact “They didn’t die for nothing .. they died fighting the A-HOLES who killed 3000+ on 9-11 !!”

Via Business Insider.

Jake Tapper, the host of CNN’s “The Lead,” is getting blasted after interviewing former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell Friday night.

The interview was about the new movie, “Lone Survivor,” which portrays a failed SEAL mission in Afghanistan.

Reflecting on his thoughts while watching the film and the sense of “hopelessness” he felt it portrayed, Tapper said, “I was torn about the message of the film in the same way that I think I am about the war in Afghanistan itself. I don’t want any more senseless American death. And at the same time I know that there were bad people there and good people that need help.” […]

But here’s what’s really senseless: Attacking Jake Tapper for asking a question that I ask myself every time I receive an email notification from the Department of Defense that another service member has died in Afghanistan.

Namely: Why are Americans still fighting (and dying) there?

“The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom,” the emails all begin, followed by the name, rank, age, hometown, and terse statement of how they died.

My first thoughts when I get these are of sadness for the family. My second thought is always, what are we still doing there?

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8 Comments | Leave a comment
  1. dennisl59 says:

    As for me, I read the book when it came out June 2007 (available @Amazon/use The Tammy Army Click Thru(plug)) and don’t plan on seeing the movie, because the account of what happened was enough for me. By the way, here’s a story about what happened later here in Texas. Not sure if everyone heard of this:

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/12/02/dog-killers-convicted-for-murdering-navy-seal-heros-beloved-companion/

    posted 1/13 1017am Texas[Burn The Opium Fields!]Time

    • Charles_PA says:

      Walker County, how convenient. The Walls Unit of TDCJ is just a few blocks from the Walker County courthouse in Huntsville. Those guys are not going to enjoy their time in the Texas prison system.

  2. midget says:

    This movie is really making an impact with people. I read where a movieplex cancelled all the other selections and only showed “Lone Survivor” on all their screens to accomodate the lines.

  3. SwimnLA says:

    The only thing hopeless and senseless is that Tapper is reduced to doing press junkets for CNN in the guise of reporting. To assume that all civilians will feel the way he does is a pathetic attempt to wiggle his way out of a great response by Luttrell. Poorly planned interview – Tapper is a professional and should have articulated better questions rather than insert his awkward haphazard stance on policy towards a war hero. Well done for Luttrell for keeping his cool and responding professionally yet poignantly.

  4. makeshifty says:

    I recall a similar thing happened between Luttrell and Anderson Cooper. Luttrell described himself as a coward, because he broke during the fight. He put down his weapon while his remaining comrades were still fighting and dying. Granted, he was badly beat up, with his back broken (I think), but he didn’t consider that an excuse. Cooper seemed shocked that Luttrell would call himself a coward after what he’d been through. He wanted to call him a hero, but Luttrell rejected it. He gave the same look to Cooper as he gave to Tapper, and said, “What are you talking about? I left my men to die.” He went on to describe how this was not supposed to happen, that in the SEALs, “The only way to break us is to kill us.” He said this is something he still wrestles with re. why he was the only one to survive.

    I think Cooper had the same idea in mind as Tapper, that they were in a no-win situation, and so who wouldn’t fight, but in order to get out of there, not to stay, fight, and die. In their mind Luttrell was thinking rationally about the situation, and his comrades were the unfortunate victims of an impossible mission they were given by their superiors, and so their deaths were “senseless.”

    This to me, gets to a frustration I sometimes hear from soldiers, that when they get back home, the people they come home to don’t understand how they perceived their experience in combat. They don’t understand the mind of a soldier, and ordinary people don’t know what existence means the way they do.

  5. Dave says:

    You are right makeshifty. People who have never experienced combat in the face of an enemy intent on killing you will never understand anything about it. Most everyone thinks a KIA is futile because they are never threatened. Most people will never have to experience the laying down of one’s life for a brother. The percentage of people who receive the Purple Heart is 0.04% of the entire population. It is these few, living or dead, who truly get it. Everyone else is just imagines or watches a movie that depicts these heroic acts. Read Kipling’s poem,’Tommy’. That is how citizens treat the rough men who lay down their lives so you can sleep safely in your bed tonight.

  6. Norm says:

    A few years ago and shortly after I had read Lone Survivor, I responded to a Facebook post by Marcus. I forget exactly what the thread subject was, but I mentioned my MOS 11B in the post because it was related. Marcus posted up on the thread…”Norm, thanks for your service”. Still having the book in my head…I wrote…”God almighty Marcus, thanks for YOUR service!”

    And Dave thanks for putting the combat experience in perspective….

  7. Dave says:

    Hey Norm
    Glad to see you’re doing well. We need more survivors like Luttrell. Guns up brother.

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