My wife goaded me into going to the town parade, and as I told myself I would enjoy the event, the walking, the lemonade and iced tea, the river, I did. And I experienced a moment of heady gratitude for our armed services, which, after all, is what the holiday is all about.
Last night, we watched a special on TV about a WW II battle between British and Nazi forces. Never before in all my life--it featured real footage of skulls splintered and bodies of former friends dumped in view beside trenches, rotting corpses, trench foot, talk of tanks running over their own who had fallen dead, because they had to get forward position, etc.--never have I experienced battle as realistically as this documentary recreated it. Supposedly, creative art does that, not documentary, but no, this production was so intensely realistic it beat any story. What nations have to do, sometimes, in defense.
On the way to Far Hills, we walked over the North Branch, witnessing a fly caster catch a trout. On the way back, we witnessed a trout caught on a spinning rod.
Last night, we watched a special on TV about a WW II battle between British and Nazi forces. Never before in all my life--it featured real footage of skulls splintered and bodies of former friends dumped in view beside trenches, rotting corpses, trench foot, talk of tanks running over their own who had fallen dead, because they had to get forward position, etc.--never have I experienced battle as realistically as this documentary recreated it. Supposedly, creative art does that, not documentary, but no, this production was so intensely realistic it beat any story. What nations have to do, sometimes, in defense.
On the way to Far Hills, we walked over the North Branch, witnessing a fly caster catch a trout. On the way back, we witnessed a trout caught on a spinning rod.
Could never express the gratitude to our vets for their sacrifice. Btw what was the name of that special? JH
ReplyDeleteHa! I knew it. I was up at my power spot or prayer spot where I sit above the pond with my black Lab during our late night walk, and it occurred to me that someone would ask the name of that special. My wife doesn't remember, but the director was Peter Jackson, created for anniversary of WW I. Actually, she tells me, it was WW I--trench warfare.
DeleteThey Shall not Grow Old. Jackson did it for the Imperial War Museum, colorizing the footage and cleaning the graininess of the film footage so you can better see the men's faces. He tried to make it more accessible and connected to the men who fought.
DeleteBritish men as young as 15 fought. The army took them that young.
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