Not only is war a God awful mess, but it's also capricious. One man lives while another dies. Training and skill can explain a lot but after a while, all it is is incomprehensible luck. No wonder so many soldiers suffer from survivor's guilt. Like Matt Damon's character in the movie questions, did he really deserve to live when so many fell. Why him and not another?

It might be true enough, but it's always been a harsh price paid by heroes. I wish more people would realize that the freedoms we enjoy today only exist because of the sacrifice of thousands upon thousands over the course of this country's history and that it's a price that is still being payed today. The right of some people to speak out today and call the military butchers or jack-booted thugs are exactly the ones that those individuals have placed their lives on the line to project.
Anyway, one trivia fact that I find pretty disturbing. In WWII, 15,000 bullets were fired for every single man killed. By the time vietnam had rolled around, this number had increased to 50,000. Can you just imagine the sheer number of lethal death that must've been flying around. You could bury a man with 50,000 bullets.