Remembering the Sacrifice of Veterans this Memorial Day Weekend

[jhenry]

This pioneering documentary film--"Let There Be Light"--by the legendary director John Huston examines the psychological cost of combat to World War II U. S. veterans and efforts by army psychiatrists to rehabilitate them at a military hospital after the war. It was recently restored for viewing.

Click on the following link to view it.

National Film Preservation Foundation: Let There Be Light (1946)

[jhenry]

Theseus,

You're quite welcome. I found this documentary quite moving.

All of the participants were actual military personnel, not actors.

[Theseus]

I had seen pieces of this film before in a psycology class in college. It was very interesting to see it in full. I should also thank you for introducing me to that site. Looks like I have some things to watch.

[1OldGI]

To those who have been there, no explanation is required. For those who never have, no explanation will be adequate. If you're serving, have served or know someone who is or has. Take a second to thank them for all they do. Our country is far from perfect but these kids are the best of us and deserve our gratitude and respect (regardless of your politics)
All Gave Some, Some Gave All - YouTube

[Str8Shooter]

Awesome thread

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." – Winston Churchill

[raysofcolorado]

Thank you for sharing that video, great thread!

[Hirlau]

The Promise Kept
Their son was only two weeks old; their daughter's years were three
When duty called this pilot to the war across the sea.
"Let's just pretend you're only going on a business trip.
Each day we'll write about the things we've done and then we'll slip
a note into an envelope and put it in the mail.
You send me yours; I'll send you mine, I promise, without fail."
He walked away with pounding heart while fighting back the tears
with "Come home soon, I love you, Daddy" ringing in his ears.
They kept that promise, sealed with love some 30 years ago.
They sent him tapes and photographs so he could watch them grow.
They're married now with children of their own who, at the Wall,
ask "Was my Grandpa brave?" and Grandma says, "Bravest of all."

By: Bruce Obermeyer

[Bruno]

I've always found the following the best 'capture' of everything I associate with the world wars and ultimate sacrifice.
This fragment always makes me cry. It's ironic. All of the 4 seasons of blackadder are funny as hell, including the last one about WW1, all the way to the final scene. And then the last minute the atmoshpere suddenly turns and you get punched in the gut so hard you are left with tears, not grasping what happened.

Blackadder - Over the Top - YouTube

[Lynn]

Thanks to all who serve and have served to preserve our Freedom!

A grateful nation and a grateful veteran appreciates your sacrifices!

[Theseus]

"For this offering of their lives made in common by them all they each of them individually received that renown which never grows old, and for sepulchre, not so much that in which their bones have been deposited, but that noblest of shrines wherein their glory is laid up to be eternally remembered upon every occasion on which deed or story shall call for its commemoration. For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart. These take as your model, and judging happiness to be the fruit of freedom and freedom of courage, never decline the dangers of war." Thucydides