Friday, June 02, 2006

U:S:o:America

Baghdad ER
Sound like an interesting movie to be aired in the US. Quote HBO: "12-time Emmy® winner Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill were allowed unprecedented access to the 86th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq. Over a two-month period, they captured the day-to-day lives of doctors, nurses, medics, soldiers and chaplains in the Army's premier medical facility. BAGHDAD ER chronicles those two months, paying tribute to the heroism of U.S. military and medical personnel while offering an unflinching and at times graphic look at the realities of war.

BAGHDAD ER allows viewers to experience the physical and emotional toll of war by capturing soldiers and care providers in personal moments amidst intense crises inside the 86th Combat Support Hospital. Located in Baghdad's Green Zone, the facility was formerly the site of an elite medical center for Saddam Hussein's supporters. Thanks in part to the skill and dedication of trauma center teams like the one depicted in the film, wounded troops in Iraq have a 90 percent chance of survival - the highest rate of war survivors in U.S. history. The selflessness and dedication of those caring for wounded Americans and Iraqis stands in sharp contrast with the chaos of war. "
Make up your mind yourself: » Baghdad ER

This is actually more scary: » herobracelets.org


Quote: "Take a hero into your heart. Wear one on you wrist". Wouldn't sound different if they were sellling Teletubby Merchandise: "Take a Tubby in your heart. Wear one on your wrist." You don't even have to have a hero in your family or circle of friends to wear one as a bracelet: "Each HeroBracelet is engraved with the name, rank, hometown, state and date of loss. Your bracelets will be selected randomly." If you want to mourn your own son or friend or husband, order your customized hero-brracelet which will cost you $3.50 extra. They also have "a searchable database of troops lost in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN to help you fill in the correct information." I wonder who in the Red Cross (or army, rather?) is in charge of such cooperations. I feel difficulty describing the irritation that this imposes upon a European mind - eventually, it is for a good cause as $2 from each HeroBracelet sold are donated to the "Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund" (may I translate: "Die Stiftung der unerschrockenen gefallenen Kriegshelden" - I am quite reliefed that the German language wouldn't allow a use of the single word Held - hero - to denotate a hero of war; the 'war' would always have to be added explicitly - Kriegsheld)