Body of War

We've all seen the headlines over the weekend. 5 Years. Over 4,000 American soldiers dead. After awhile the numbers becoming numbing and begin to stop telling the story of what it is to give so much for your country. The story of a veteran is a deeply personal and sobering one. The sacrifice one makes lasts not just through their tour of duty but for the rest of their lives. Such is the story of Tomas Young he is now paralyzed from the nipples down after taking a bullet in Iraq during his first week there.

His story is the subject of a new powerful documentary called Body of War. Film makers Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue (yes, that Phil Donahue) take a look into the daily life of a young man who joined the army on September 13th 2001, and has lived a different life ever since.

For many of us the armed services are remote. We don't have a family member or even a close friend in the service, and so we are as a population removed from the burdens of service. Perhaps if we weren't there would be more of an outcry against the ongoing travesty that is the Iraq War.