“Too often people forget about war and all of the men and women who fight for our country, whether they want to admit it or not. However, it isn’t until a war-based movie comes out, such as the upcoming Brothers, or tragedy strikes, like the Fort Hood shootings last week, that war seems real.”
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Too often people forget about war and all of the men and women who fight for our country, whether they want to admit it or not.

However, it isn’t until a war-based movie comes out, such as the upcoming Brothers, or tragedy strikes, like the Fort Hood shootings last week, that war seems real.

It almost seems like we only remember the people who put their lives on the line for our protection and freedom when we are told to.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Toby Maguire and Natalie Portman star in the new movie, Brothers, that hits theaters on Dec. 4.

In the movie, Maguire’s character is enlisted in the army and is said to be dead after his helicopter crashes; however, much to the surprise of his grieving family, he is found alive and he has to return to his wife (Portman), children, and brother (Gyllenhaal), extremely disturbed by his military experience.

In reality, a tragedy struck a military base in Texas when a disturbed soldier opened fire on his fellow troops.

On Thursday, Nov. 5, an army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, injured and killed many soldiers at Fort Hood Military Base in Texas.

Despite all of the soldiers and families affected by the shooting, the most attention seems to be going toward the shooter himself.

Turning on the news over the weekend, the top stories involving the Fort Hood shooting mostly revolved around Maj. Hasan and what drove him to do such a horrible thing to his fellow soldiers. Consequently, very little has been reported on recovering and deceased soldiers and their families’ grief.

Reporters are more interested in what kind of a person Maj. Hasan was, rather than the victims who were altered forever.

Despite being shot four times, Maj. Hasan is still alive, which will hopefully help investigators prevent things like this from happening again.

Amongst the sorrow, families of the troops have been doing what they can on their own by donating blood for wounded soldiers, raising money and donating items to be sent overseas.

Many think that not much can be done, when in fact we have ways of helping the troops right here at The University of Akron.

One way UA has decided to help the troops is by collecting donations to send overseas.

The College Republicans at The University of Akron have been collecting items for the past month and have decided to give everyone two more weeks to help give back.

For more information about donating, contact President Joe Manno at [email protected].

It is important that we come together as a university and society to recognize and remember our troops all the time, not just in times of distress and publicity.

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