Lone Survivor

Tonight is pretty boring. Snow is falling down, it's a beautiful, frigid cold outside, I'm drinking a glass of wine, The State Of The Union is on TV (snore) and Lone Survivor (the book) is sitting on the coffee table in front of me.

I'm almost to Chapter 4 in the book. The chapters are pretty long, and it's a fairly "heavier" book than what I am used to reading. And, I'll just throw out that I'm not necessarily the fastest reader in all the land.

If you don't know the book I am talking about-- look it up, read the book, and/or see the movie. I'll tell you this just so you're not completely lost while reading this blog post- the Navy SEALs portrayed in the movie are based on real SEALs that went on Operation Redwing in 2005. Long story short, the mission went incredibly wrong because of the Taliban. Need I say more?

We went to see the movie almost 3 weeks ago and it has been on my mind ever since then. It was a very, very, very emotional movie. So emotional that I not only cried, I weeped while watching it. So much so, that Kyle leaned over about half way through the movie and asked me if I was going to be OK.

I have never in my life cried in a movie theater. Not because I'm not a crier, because God knows that I am. But, the movies that we typically watch in the theaters are not sensitive, emotional touching stories such as Lone Survivor.

Once the credits started rolling, the entire theater was silent. Not many people spoke. Many wiped their eyes, as did I, but it didn't help. Tears kept rolling, and once we got to our car, I completely fell to pieces. Kyle put his arm around me and assured me that he would never experience what the Navy SEALs in Lone Survivor went through.

I quickly reminded him, through sobbing tears and mascara smeared eyes, that it wasn't the fear that he would ever encounter the Talbian, Al-Qaeda, or any other terrorist group. It was the sheer fact that, I can somewhat compare myself to the wives, families, and friends of those SEALs. I'm not a SEAL spouse. Thank God above for that. But, I'm a military spouse. I'm a Marine Wife.

Do you know how heavy of a burden that is to carry?

Please don't think that I am mad or frustrated for having this burden. I'm honored, quite frankly. Who would ever be honored to carry a burden? Not many people. But, there is also something extremely terrifying about being a spouse to a Marine. Not because he is going to be deployed to a dangerous area and be at risk for injury or even death. But, knowing that anything can happen is frightening. 

At any point, something could go wrong in the world we live in. And, as many know, the Marines are first in and last out. And, luckily for me, Kyle's company (FAST- Fleet Anti Terrorism Security Team, Alpha Company - 1st Platoon) is one of the first groups to be sent out. Not necessarily to the front lines, but to guard and control a United States Embassy in another country, or other U.S. government buildings, possibly to get a riot of some sort under control, etc.

That's a scary thought.

Don't get me wrong, the SEALs are on an entirely different level than any other branch of the armed forces. However, I can sympathize with the families of those who were portrayed in the movie Lone Survivor. No, I don't understand what they have endured in the past almost decade, but I can share a deeper bond with their pain than the average civilian can.

Go see the movie and/or read the book. It honestly will change your total outlook on the United States Armed Forces. It will give you more respect, and make you proud to be an American. But, it will also shatter and shake you a bit. I hope my "review" hasn't given you a bad outlook on the book/movie if you haven't read/seen it yet. Don't let my bellowing tears hinder you from witnessing an absolutely incredible movie.

Marcus Luttrell, the Lone Survivor, is a true American hero who I would love to meet someday.

I'll finish with something that Kyle said the day after we saw the movie. It resounded with me, for some reason. Probably because it came from Kyle who can, at times, be a man of very few words. Especially when it comes to in depth conversations (sorry, babe... you know it's true).

He said these simple words, "That guy has a lot of demons that will never go away."

How true those words are.