As a U.S. Citizen, I am on the fence as to if “we” should be at war in Iran and Afghanistan or if “we” should not. Especially after such a long-long time and especially since “we” really don’t know which information is legit and which is not.

I do know that I feel a deep response to helping the men and women who are returning from the war zone to help them acclimate back into society and to find jobs. Perhaps it is because I am an Air Force brat, perhaps it is because I overcame my own decades long battle with PTSD, it could even be that because I never had children many of the people serving in the war are the age that my children could have been. Whatever the reason, I want to help.

After much convincing from my husband, I finally watched “The Hurt Locker” movie. The movie was written by Mark Boal who is a freelance writer who was embedded with a bomb squad. It is about a U.S. Army EOD team.

The movie seemed very realistic to me without beating us over the head with the horror and gore–it simply laid everything out as it could happen in real time. What impacted me the most was the way the main character was portrayed as a very competent cowboy soldier (renegade?) as he detonated bomb after bomb in very risky situations and then observing him upon his return to the U.S. walking down the aisles of an empty supermarket with overwhelming choices and piped in Muzak.

What I would like to say is that even though I have never been to war that I feel out of place walking down the aisles of a supermarket with overwhelming choices and piped in music. I feel like I’m inside of a science fiction novel and it isn’t even 2024.

Go see this movie. I did wear earplugs because I knew the loud sounds would rattle me, do what you need to take care of yourself but go see it and then find a way to be of service. Wake up and open up, this is your life too.