War is defined as a struggle or competition between opposing forces or for a particular end. It also carries along this preconceived notion as horrible, dreadful, last resort type of situation. War is something you cry about and when you watch the footage on television it makes one want to cringe. It is a time of depression and it seems that everything in ones life seems to stop, and is focused on something completely different, safety. I rarely hear war talked about in a good way, or rather in a glorious way, I definitely never thought of war in a positive light. After seeing the movie "Glory" in class, I have a new found respect for the army and the actual act of war.
The film "Glory" tells the story of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Regiment, the first regular army regiment of black soldiers commissioned during the Civil War. At the beginning of the war, most people believed that blacks could not be disciplined to make good soldiers in a modern war and that they would run when fired upon or attacked. Colonel Shaw, a white abolitionist, and hundreds of soldiers in his regiment, all black volunteers, gave their lives to prove that black men could fight as well as whites. During the training of the black troops, seriously deep friendships and bonds were formed between both the black soldiers, who some came from different backgrounds like Thomas coming from a free and profitable life compared to the newly escaped slaves, and between the black soldiers and Colonel Shaw. One particular bond that I found extraordinary, was the respect between Colonel Shaw and Denzel Washington's character. When asked to hold the American flag during battle Denzel's character refused, but after seeing Colonel Shaw dead he picks up the flag and carries on as best as he could. At the end of the movie when they showed them both laying next to each other dead, it brought tears to my eyes.
