NDPR vs IMDB 

Captain Miller: You see, when... when you end up killing one of your men, you see, you tell yourself it happened so you could save the lives of two or three or ten others. Maybe a hundred others. Do you know how many men I've lost under my command?

Sergeant Horvath: How many?

Captain Miller: Ninety-four. But that means I've saved the lives of ten times that many, doesn't it? Maybe even 20, right? Twenty times as many? And that's how simple it is. That's how you... that's how you rationalize making the choice between the mission and the man.

IMDB 1 — NDPR 0

Always so fucking obvious. The words of a non-fictional professional soldier:

So you want to be a career soldier? Good for you. But remember that the longer you stay in uniform, the less you will really understand about the country you protect. Democracy is the antithesis of the military life; it’s chaotic, dishonest, disorganized, and at the same time glorious, exhilarating and free — which you are not.

After a while, if you stay in, you’ll be tempted to say, “Look, you civilians, we’ve got a better way. We’re better organized. We’re patriotic, and we know what it is to sacrifice. Be like us.” And you’ll be dead wrong, son. If you’re a career soldier, you may defend democracy, but you won’t understand it or be part of it. What’s more, you’ll always be a stranger to your own society. That’s the sacrifice you’ll be making.

I just watched the film for the first time and it's everything its critics said it was. Spielberg will last, in spite of his best intentions. That's true for most artists; their works are more interesting than they are.

When Kaminski started out he didn't have a reel. He had a book of of images of Norman Rockwell paintings. "You want this? I'll give you this." He's an asshole who helps his friends. One of those  friends made the same offer to me and I turned it down. I can't imagine saying yes, but I wish I could.