Food for thought, Anons

If you’re feeling depressed, whip-sawed by emotion, uncertain, tense…I can relate. But, as someone who’s served, I think I can help you appreciate what you’re going through. And, perhaps, give you some much-needed perspective in how to view things.

I’ll bet you’ve seen Q’s posts, “You are watching a movie,” and likely seen it repeated here many times. Well, fren, you’re not just watching a movie – you’re living one out.

Specifically, the movie you’re living is “Mr. Roberts.”

It’s not a parallel to the situation with the DS, but it is a good parallel to the effects that we are experiencing by our work, here, on this board. If you have seen the movie, then you’ll recall it and understand what I’m talking about next. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and WATCH IT. SOON. Then re-read this post. You’ll get it.

Mr. Roberts is a WW2 Navy movie about the misery of serving in wartime on a cargo ship, the “USS Reluctant”, although her crew called her “the Bucket”. WW2 is undeniably the most savage war ever fought by humanity, and we’re still experiencing some after-effects of it (mini-wars, etc.) to this day. Regardless of your views of that war, watch the movie with an eye toward learning something from the human experience of the situation of that crew. And it culminates with a soliloquy by Ensign Pulver reading a letter from Lieutenant Doug Roberts (the title character), and that soliloquy can teach us A LOT. I’ll repeat the relevant part here:

“Doc, l've been aboard this destroyer for two weeks now, and we've already been through four air attacks. l'm in the war at last, Doc! l've caught up with that task force that passed me by. l'm glad to be here. l had to be here, l guess. But l'm thinking now of you, Doc, and you, Frank. And Dolan, and Dowdy, and lnsigna and everyone else on that bucket. All the guys everywhere who sail from Tedium to Apathy and back again, with an occasional side trip to Monotony.

This is a tough crew here, and they have a wonderful battle record. But l've discovered, Doc, that the unseen enemy of this war is the boredom that eventually becomes a faith and, therefore, a terrible sort of suicide. l know now that the ones who refuse to surrender to it are the strongest of all. Right now l'm looking at something that's hanging over my desk – a preposterous hunk of brass attached to the most bilious piece of ribbon l've ever seen. l'd rather have it than the Congressional Medal of Honor.

It tells me what l'll always be proudest of: That at a time in the world when courage counted most, l lived among 62 brave men.”

Take heart, Anons. I’m proud to be amongst the brave here. As individuals, we may struggle at times and falter a bit, but we can renew our strength by keeping our eyes focused on our goals, AND the realization that doing what we do requires a strength that few possess. We were called to be here because we have the strength to see this fight through to the finish.

They didn't know in WW2 how the war would go, or when it would end. We don't, either. But, we're in this fight together and we will be ok as long as we continue to work together.

Good night, Frens.