Film: We were Soldiers

The title of the film, "We were soldiers" seems to be a reflective statement. The title is written past tense. The film is set during the war in Vietnam and the Americans attempts a new method of utilizing helicopters to bring the soldiers in and out from the battlefield. The leader of this new cavalry is Lt. Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson). One of the lines that I found remarkable in this film was the statement made by the colonel of the Vietnamese Army, which suffered a great loss.

"Such a tragedy. They will think this was their victory. So this will become an American war. And the end will be the same, except for the numbers who will die before we get there."

The colonel, who had just been in the battlefield, calls it a tragedy. And although this will eventually be noted as an American war, he says the end will be the same. Why? Because death and suffering will result from wars no matter what the results are. It is true. It does not matter who won or lost, the numbers of casualty will be high. It does not matter, in whose history book one war becomes recorded in, it matters on who suffered lost. War does not only bring suffering and death to the soldiers, but it extends its limit, as we enter the modern era, to the families and people. This is why war is a tragedy. Although he was only a character in film, the Lt. Colonel leaves a great legacy behind through the last lines he gave.

The lines of the Lt. Colonel reflects the message the chairman speaks in regards to peace. The chairman is a veteran of the Korean War and lived in the period of history, when the most physical and deadly wars happened. And he speaks, no one really benefits from war. War does not bring any benefit to the people. And just like Carl von Clausewitz writes in one of his famous aphorism, "war is a continuation of politics by other means." It is only a tool to political gains and economical gains. And the same time, its heavy support cost lowers the fund for something else that could be beneficial. If we could only focus on living and working together as one under one Creator, then there is no need for war. This is why HWPL's method is so simple, yet impacting. It extends its focus groups to politicians, religious leaders, youth leaders, women leaders, and press in order to have representation from different groups that contribute to building peace. We hope that more groups will work with HWPL and the chairman, so that peace can be fulfilled quicker.

The film ends with monologue of reflection. If this film focused on the strong pride of the soldiers and the importance of winning, it would label its title as "We are Soldiers". Instead it writes it title as past tense. I do not wish to underestimate the courage and the bravery that the soldiers, who fought in the war for their nations, but perhaps we must start thinking what did we gain from the war, other than win or lose? Perhaps, the title of the film is labeled in such way after some kind of transformation of the soldiers in the last monologue.