Before

To the shock of many I have not seen Full Metal Jacket. This being shock because I’m the child of two  strong soldiers. I was raised in almost the most patriotic manner possible and everyday was Independence Day, thanks to people like Mom and Dad, who made sacrifices to defend our rights as stated in the Constitution of the United States. Moving from military base to military base, I was surrounded by young soldiers who have made the commitment to put their lives on the line for my freedom, because it was the right thing, and as I grew older I befriended many soldiers  myself. In the words of a good friend of mine and soldier “goddamn, what a great country we live where we have as many civil liberties as we do.” This statement followed by two shots of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Whiskey and “goddamn what a great country we live in where I can drink freedom out of a bottle,” and “goddamn what a great country we live in where I can jack my truck up 4 feet,” and this statement repeated over and over again  with various general activities.

While my family is all  Army all the time, I’ve befriend my fair share of  Marines, all  of which have been through basic training to be(as quoted on the description on the films case) “trained killers.” While the time setting in the film is under extremely different circumstances, I like to think that portrayed manner of training our marines go through is at least a fairly close to the stories my  dear friends  have told me.

As I called my long-time friend David McCoy, a current private in the United States Marine Core, he confirms my suspicion- “Relatively close. I actually was called worse things, than they(the characters in the film) were being called.”

Mid-Movie Quote Appreciation

“The Dead were covered in lime. The Dead only one thing: It’s better to be alive.”- Private Joker.

After.

Going into this film  I made the  mistake of having the expectation like it was like every other military film- someone faces hardships within our amazing,  yet flawed, military, and somehow make history as they  push through. I thought Pile was going to become the next General  Badass, but little did I know.    That was such a cruel joke.
This too sobering film gave strong respect I had for our men in uniform a boost. The boot camp and training(which to my understanding was almost spot-on accurate) is enough to agree with the notion of them being some of the strongest and bravest around. The slogan “The Few, The Proud,” is now more understandable to me.

Will I want to go out and join the Marines Core tomorrow? No. Do I feel patriotic as ever? When I keep in mind the notion that soldiers do as their told from their higher-ups, yes. The appreciate for the notion of free will, even in the something as strong holding as the Marines gives me the general hope that the compassion in human being is a light that can’t be blow out. Even when faced with blazing bullets, as portrayed in front of these weapon(not gun) wielding American warriors.