Is anyone watching the HBO miniseries, The Pacific? If yes, I would like to know everyone’s opinion. I have the same old problem I have with every other HBO special involving young men in uniform. I can’t tell them apart. They all look alike. Other than that mild problem, what a terrific series it really is.

I am simply in awe of how this series has captured the fear of battle. To those of us who have been spared battle other than in books and movies, we really don’t know what its like. Girls are at a real serious disadvantage, especially us vintage girls. You just don’t know. The producters, directors and actors were somehow able to capture the essence of fear unlike any other war film I have seen.

I am very much against sanitized war movies. Those ones I saw growing up were too clean. Everyone was a hero and if they got killed in battle, it was generally all in one piece. War wasn’t dirty and filthy enough. This series sure is. One minute someone has legs and the next minute they don’t. Tonight I had to watch piecemeal. I couldn’t watch for long periods of time–too intense.

Which brings me to my point: How much we owe those 400,000 young men in the prime of their lives who gave the ultimate sacrifice. When I see a series like one, or Band of Brothers, or any of the shows that have come out in recent years I am just awe-struck by the bravery and the sacrifice of all of those who fought. They went to unknown lands because they were told to go. They didn’t sign up so they could further their education or get on-the-job training. They signed up because their country was invaded. They went because they were told to.

The Civil War brings out similar feelings in me. They went because they had to. I think Americans should have to watch films like The Pacific or Band of Brothers before we ever go to any war. I think we need to see if our cause is important enough. I think we need to see if we have the stomach for it. Regardless of whether its 1861 or 2010, its someone’s son (and now daughter), husband, father, sibling in harm’s way. Do we have the stomach for it? Those boys on that distant island in the Pacific tonight sure didn’t have the luxury of the pause button like I do when the action gets a little too intense. And we owe them such a debt of gratitude.