Bardolph
‘Bardolph’ is a short film that brings you inside the mind of a veteran while he witnesses an incident of someone stealing valor. The title “Bardolph” holds great meaning and is key to understanding the message conveyed by this film. Bardolph is a character, who can be simply described as a drunk and a thief, in Shakespeare’s Henry plays. In this short film the faker who is stealing valor is the ‘Bardolph’ and the veteran is Henry.
During this film the veteran struggles with how he is to respond to the faker stealing valor. The film flashes back to the veteran going to therapy, directly addressing anger issues and PTSD. Bardolph’s character in the King Henry series symbolizes the change in Henry from a troublesome youth to a determined leader. The veteran, like Henry, chooses to correct the faker instead of using violence as the film suggests he would have in the past. The faker symbolizes the change the veteran made in his life, just as Bardolph symbolizes in Henry.
Should we let these thieves who steal valor from our fallen brothers and sisters get the best of us? All of us combat veterans could learn a thing or two from this!
(Film produced by DAS Productions and Clackamas Community College)
Helping Paws: U.S. Military Service Dogs
Thedeviantlens.com
"Pick up your phone before you pick up your piece."
Photo from Landon Steele Such an amazing picture.
semperannoying reblogged
I will not take my own life by my own hand until I talk to my battle buddy first. My mission is to find a mission to help my warfighter family.
It’s extremely shocking when you get news that a Marine you knew tried to shoot himself out of the blue.
He seemed like such a happy guy.
Suicide isn’t the answer you guys.
Linkin Park — the Agoura Hills, California, band known for its edgy blend of rap, rock and metal, and dynamic collaborations with artists from Jay-Z to Steve Aoki — recently teamed with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America to draw attention to the problem of suicide among troops and veterans.
As part of their “Carnivores” tour, the band displayed flags symbolizing the number of veterans — 22 — that Veterans Affairs Department estimates die by suicide each day; unveiled a music video for the song “Wastelands,” featuring personal photos of post-9/11 service members; and gave shout-outs to troops during their concerts.
The Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation (KNGF) Commercial for Veteran Dogs
semperannoying reblogged
Work, PTSD, & a close call
Just got off, started at 0400 ended at 2130, day 2 of 3 of what we call CLPEX.
Two things happened today worth talking about.
1. Watched a buddy of mine have a PTSD moment. We were driving along with nothing important going on at the time, just kind of moving into a different location to get better eyes on what the Marines who are going through training were doing. We are all pretty tired today because yesterday ran even later then today and most of us got about 3-4 hours of sleep. Anyways, we`re driving along and he is kind of dosing off a bit when a rock that must have been stuck in the humvee tire comes loose and smacks the side of his door/window area. He bolts up and starts grabbing at the center of the humvee where the gunners platform is. It was a very distinctive grab… He was looking for his rifle…
*We dont carry rifles because we just train Marines everyday, we dont actually get to do any of the ranges ourselves.
He just starred out of the window for about 20 seconds quiet, wouldnt talk to me when I joked about contact left, and asked him if he was ok. He finally turned and looked at me with that 1000 yard stare and said, “that scared the shit out of me man” and we left it at that.
2. Hang fire on an AT4 today. Sgt Hampton and I run rockets for CLPEX, we use the 84mm AT4. Today we got split up, I ran the first run and he ran the second. Mine despite utter retardation from the Marines who left their brains in the truck when they went to fire rockets, went off without a hitch. Sgt Hamptons on the other hand did not. First of two shooters pushes into the firing position, goes through all the pre fire rigamaroo and sights in to fire… shooter presses the trigger and CLICK! nothing happens. Sgt Hampton double checks to ensure the transport safety pin had been removed, the weapon had been cocked and everything was in order. Everything looked good, the rocket should have fired. He asks the gunner well what just happened to try to pimp him into his immediate actions. Gunner says “misfire” and starts the process to re cock the weapon and attempt to re engage. Sgt Hampton reiterates to keep the muzzle down range when BOOOOM SHACKALAKA!!! The rocket goes off, skipping the rocket about 5 meters off the ground right in front of them. and ricochets into the mountains. Sgt Hampton proceeds to scream at the top of his lungs “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!” to which the gunner almost in tears says ” I didnt press the trigger Sgt. I didnt press the trigger” meaning it was a hang fire. The primer had been struck and slow burned, but it had not ignited the charge yet. The gunner had pointed the muzzle at the deck instead of keeping it pointed towards the target causing the very short impact. The only thing that saved the group of 6 Marines from turning into pink mist and orange Coyote flak jackets, was that much smarter people then us made the rocket have a minimum arming distance of 10 meters or (33 feet) to prevent accidents like today from turning deadly.
and theres always tomorrow…