All About BOB

I'm probably almost the last person in America to see the hbo series, Band of Brothers. During the Christmas break, I've rented it on DVD and watched almost the entire thing and I've also gotten the Stephen Ambrose book of the same title and read the entire thing. So even though most people have seen it, it's new to me.

Since I'm away from home and typing this blog on a small laptop over a 28k connection, I'll be making some very short observations on this series and it's relevance to current events.

As a study in the psychology of the American soldier, BOB is right on target. It offers us a glimpse of Americans who couldn't be more different in backgrounds, yet able to cast aside their differences to function as a cohesive team.

In many ways, our WWII American Army seems a lot like our current military forces. They are drawn from a diverse background and called upon to fight in foreign lands for an abstract set of ideals that embody democracy and justice. If the Taliban, the Baathists, or any other potential foe want to find out what we're really made of as a people, they would do well to watch this series.