"Over There"

The new tv show by Steven Bochco finally premiered last night. I had been really psyched to see it from the previews over the past few months. Then, in the last week I started to read reviews and became much more hesitant. Anything that the lamestream media is going to praise about a military show means that it is going to pretty much suck. I have to agree with my brothers in the USArmy- this show sucked. The dialogue was stilted, dumb, and seemingly had no relation to the reality that is our military. I particularly enjoyed the two black soldiers: riffing on how the white man is keeping them down in society. Uh, wasn't this pretty much done to death in all of our "Vietnam Hellhole" movies back in the 1980's? Not sure which military these writers have ever been in (the imaginary one that lives in Hollywood), but Sergeants don't sit there and bitch and moan about protecting themselves when other soldiers are sitting out in the open taking fire- at least not a Sergeant I would want in my unit. The final scenes about our hero getting blown up by an IED- (nicely marked so the viewers could see it!) were meant to debilitate the war effort. So, we see the horrors of war, but of course very few of the young idiots portrayed actually seem to know why they are over there in the first place. "Our only mission is to stay alive!" one said. Really? I thought the mission was to accomplish a transition to a democratic and peaceful government. Then again, I am weird in that way that I didn't think the mission of my military was to protect myself. Maybe I can use that one on my Colonel when they call for volunteers next to deploy to the sandbox. "Hey, I would really like to help out Sir. But to be honest, my only mission is to get out alive. So, have to pass. Thanks" Oh, did I mention this show sucks from a military perspective? I know in the USAF we don't do alot of close in battle drill, but it would take a 4 year old to figure out we don't all hide within 15 feet of each other, and then walk SLOWLY toward the enemy in a STRAIGHT LINE. Uh, didn't we pretty much give that up about 1864? I can see why the government is not supporting this dreck- it is simply a downer about military life. It will only serve to further depress the public's willingness to support the war, much less to volunteer for it. Thank goodness we have patriots who don't buy into Bochco's fantasy land. If this was made in 1942 we would be speaking Japanese and German today.