I just finished Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell. It’s an insider’s look at being part of an Army Family during the Vietnam War — Jamie believes in the Army and in war and is upset that she’ll never get to experience it first hand, being a girl. When her brother enlists, her father, the Colonel, tries to talk him out of it, totally blowing Jamie’s mind. After training them up to love the whole system, why was he backing out now? Then her brother begins sending rolls of film home from Vietnam for her to develop and she starts to get it. There’s this whole lovely bit with photos of the moon that connects the story together.
I mentioned the book to Barrett and he showed me a short video clip called War Game that WGBH (Boston’s Public Television) has on their website. It’s a first hand account of a family who has the same strong belief in war that the characters in Shooting the Moon had and then a sudden realization that war might not be everything it’s cracked up to be. It’s worth watching.
Bridget