This Sunday night at 8:00pm NBC will air one of the few Iraq War documentaries presented to a national audience. To War and Back reported by Tom Brokaw (
http://msnbc.msn.com/...) promises to tell the story of a group of working class kids who end up in Iraq to fight George Bush's battle. I have seen a number of interviews with Mr. Brokaw and believe he has made a sincere effort to put a face on the soldiers who have been called to duty in this mess.
Sunday's hour will focus on a small group of young men from the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in Northeastern New York. Like so many others, they are lured to the Army National Guard with promises of college money and a better future. The New York Guard to be exact, which hasn't been called to combat since WWII.
Of the seven that leave, six will return.
This story could be told over and over in many parts of our country. At a time when our dead are quietly brought home, sometimes as freight, the nation needs to see the cost of this adventure. The cost, of course, are the young of the working class. This story hits close to home. This platoon is from my hometown. The soldiers are real. One is a former student who I remember as a carefree athlete. He now no longer has complete use of his legs. The soldier who is killed in action is Nathan Brown, the youngest of the group. I did not know Nate, but I will never forget as his funeral procession passed my school two springs ago. All 700 students and faculty stood along the line in silent witness to his sacrifice and the real cost of this war.
Let's hope Mr. Brokaw's documentary makes us all stand on that line.