Where Do We Get Such Men?

Rear Admiral George Tarrant asks that question in the movie The Bridges of Toko Ri. He asks it after Navy pilot Lieutenant Harry Brubaker dies after completing a successful mission to destroy the bridges held by the North Koreans. He reflects that Brubaker left a successful law practice, a loving wife, and his children when called to duty. Brubaker.

What touched me was the loyalty of helicopter pilot Mike Forney and Nestor Gamidge. They pulled Brubaker out of the ocean when he had to ditch his plane. At the end of the movie, it was these two men who landed their helicopter where Brubaker had crashed on land. The focus of these two men was on protecting Brubaker. Sadly, none of them survived.

Where do we get such men as Forney and Gamidge? The movie tended to portray Forney as some sort of screwball while downplaying his professionalism while performing rescue duties.

The admiral was focused on the pilot Brubaker when he asked his question. But it applies to all those who serve.

Another movie I watched yesterday was The Great Raid. This was a difficult movie to watch. One of the opening scenes showed Japanese soldiers forcing American POWs into air raid shelters that had been dug into the ground. Once the men were in, the Japanese doused the POWs with gasoline and then set the gas on fire. The POWs who attempted to escape the inferno were mowed down by machine gun fire. The brutality of the Japanese toward POWs was inhumane and atrocious. The way the Japanese treated the civilian population of Manilla was just as brutal.

The movie hinges on whether or not the American Rangers raid on Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp will be successful. The POWs are starving. Many are succumbing to disease. And yet, the POWs remain loyal to one another. Some risk their lives to bring food to those in the "hospital" building. Others smuggle in malaria medication. Even through all the deprivations, the POWs keep their humanity.

Where do we get such men?