Restrepo

I have not served in the military...
My father didn't serve, my sister, my wife, her family members. None of us have had the guts (is the the right word) to put our lives on the line for our country. Only one person in my family has, my cousin on my mothers side, and he has said that it was the best and worst time of his life.
I think we take for granted the sacrifice the military lays down for us and our children. I think, if you are like me at all, that you have thought about what it would be like to actually be in an active war-zone. In the thick of it. I have a feeling you would not have made the imagined  place the Korengal Valley in the mountains of Afghanistan. Why do I say that? Well frankly it's because most Americans have never even heard of the place.
Basically this is the worse place on earth to try and fight a war. It's a topographical nightmare, and the locals are half Taliban and half innocent goat herders. For most of the people there, the stone age would be 2 steps forward. Yet and still America is fighting them there. On their own soil. And trying to.... what exactly?
Well for it's part the movie "Restrepo" tries to tell that story... I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the need for American troops in Afghanistan now that Bin Laden is dead, but what I will say is that this movie should not be missed, especially if you want a first hand look at what the American soldier is going through.