Happy Veteran’s Day.
But first an overture:
Last night was rough sleeping. Part of it was I put brand-new sheets on the bed (washed first, I’m not an animal), and in combination with the usual sleepus interuptus at 2:30am, I was wide awake. After tossing and turning for about 30 minutes, I got up and turned on the PC. I did some work on the post office book before going back to bed, probably after just 30 minutes. I had the alarm set for 6:30 because I had a dentist appointment at 8:00am. I woke up at 7:15! How I silenced the alarm is a total mystery.
The hygienist asked if I was a veteran, and I said I was. She mentioned her husband also served, and the conversation shifted into where to get a free meal as a veteran. I told her that I’m slightly embarrassed about the recognition because I served in peacetime. She pshawed me, and she’s right, I do deserve something because I knew going in that if there was conflict somewhere, I might end up there too. I do take advantage of the 10% at the big box home improvement stores. The meal is a bridge too far for me.
On with the post:
This evening I decided I’d honor real veterans by watching Saving Private Ryan. I have seen it before, but it could have been as far back as 1998 when it first came out or the following year when the VHS tape came out. If you had asked me before this rewatch who was in it, I’d have known Tom Hanks & Matt Damon. But, holy crap, there were an awful lot of recognizable stars in the thing. I didn’t remember how it opened, I totally forgot about the “Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial” visit.
When I started the movie, it was totally silent. Through the opening credits. And the cemetery stuff too. I bought it as a possibility that it was that way on purpose, for creating drama. But when the landing started, it was still silent, now that can’t be right. I exited the movie and chose some other movie. It too was silent. I swapped the Roku remote to the TV remote and hit that mute button. The second time I pressed the mute button, the sound came on. I went back and resumed Saving Private Ryan, briefly debated starting over, but then again I had just seen the images. I rolled with it.
In a way I wished that the end scene in the cemetery was silent too. I might have prevented a grown man from sitting in the dark with tears pouring out of both eyes. Damn you, Steven Speilberg.