The Brotherhood of the Military

1. (Seven Pounds) In the movie Seven Pounds Ben Thomas sacrifices his body so that others may live. Just like the Air Force's elite unit, Pararescue, there motto is That Others May Life and they risk there lives everyday to save fallen soldiers behind enemy lines. "It is my duty as a Pararescueman to save lives and to aid the injured. I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things I do, that others may live" (Pararescue Creed). These special kind of airmen would do anything for anybody, even give there own life. This relates to Seven Pounds because Ben gave his own life for seven other people, including his newly found love Emily. "Because your a good man... Even when you don't know people are watching you" (Seven Pounds). Ben would only save the people that he knew were good but the pararescue or any other hostage rescue team would save anybody with any kind of background just because they live in the same country. "I lied to you, I think about dying every day" (Seven Pounds). Ben thinks about dying because he knows that he will have to sacrifices himself for something sometime, but the elite units who save people for a living, they also know that at anytime they could die and they have to except that. 
2. (PTSD) In the book Ceremony when Tayo's brother gets killed in the middle of a battle and Tayo is premaritally damaged emotionally and gets severe PTSD and needs lots of help. Just like Tayo many military personnel from all the wars we have had over the years come back with PTSD. "People who suffer from PTSD often suffer from nightmares, flashbacks, difficulty sleeping, and feeling emotionally numb. These symptoms can significantly impair a person's daily life" (Military.com). In any person, military or not, PTSD can make someones life a living hell especially if your a soldier deployed in Afghanistan and all you want to do go home. There are many problems when it comes to PTSD and it is hard to coup with them in everyday life. "PTSD is marked by clear physical and psychological symptoms. It often has symptoms like depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other physical and mental health problems. The disorder is also associated with difficulties in social or family life, including occupational instability, marital problems, family discord, and difficulties in parenting" (Military.com). With all these problems its clearly a critical issue in someones life and they need to seek help immediately. "Today, there are good treatments available for PTSD. When you have PTSD, dealing with the past can be hard. Instead of telling others how you feel, you may keep your feelings bottled up. But talking with a therapist can help you get better" (US Department of Veterans Affairs). When Tayo looked for help and found that by an indian tradition, a ceremony, he could be cured of his PTSD. And just like the military personnel who have it and seek help, there ceremony is talking there problems to a therapist.
3. (Craigslist Joe) For 30 days, a man by the name of Joseph Garner, set out on a journey to live off of just craigslist and the people around him. Just like Joe, Soldiers rely off of there battle buddies and there fellow soldiers around them. "We can take care of each other" (Joseph Garner). Joe went out into the world with nothing and people found on a website gave him food, shelter, and friendship, and soldiers provide that for each other and fight for that everyday. Joseph found that there is still a sense community in the technology advanced world we live in today. "Some say we have lost the sense of community that used to carry us through tough times" (Joseph Garner). In tough times or not, soldiers have something special when it comes to community or a brotherhood per say. Joe figured out that there are always people waiting and wanting to help others at any cost. "Yeah, we're kinda like the hot shots of the 101st. We save people's asses and... you can't understand a word I'm saying, can you" (Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway). People in the military, hostage rescue especially, are here to help people and in Craigslist Joe, Joseph figures out that there are tons of people in this world ready to help.
4. (Smoke Signals) In Smoke Signals, Thomas is a nerd on there indians reservation and his parents died in a fire in 1976. Victor, Thomas' friend, his dad Arnold saved saved Thomas in that very same fire that his parents were in. However Victor hasn't seen his dad in over 10 years and finally they go looking for him to try to find out what happened that night at Thomas' house. "Grandma 'You saved Thomas. You did a good thing.' Arnold 'I didn't mean to.'" (Smoke Signals). The truth is that Arnold was drunk and accidentally set Thomas' house on fire and could only save Thomas. He could only do what he was capable of and that was saving Thomas. Hostage rescue teams in the military have this hard especially, when they go on a mission to kill the bad guys and save the hostages, sometimes they have to make hard decisions and they have to make the right choices quickly and efficiently. “There is no greater mission we have than to save somebody’s life,”  (Kevin Cornelius). As a part of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team Kevin's job is to save people from the bad guys, and just like Arnold who may have not known that at the time, but Arnold save a life in danger and that is in direct relation to what the HRT does everyday. "Geez, Victor... I guess the warrior look doesn't work every time," (Smoke Signals). Trying to talk the enemy down doesn't always work. Sometimes the HRT just has to but in there and do there job. People just can't stand around and make faces and see if that works. If people want to rescue someone they had better do it right away and not sit down and think about it.
5. Technology is always evolving on all subjects like computers, medical, and warfare, and it is always changing for better or worse. In the documentary PressPausePlay a question is asked that in this digital age, is it becoming out of hand? Well out of all these kids making there own music and film in minutes or hours which took months to do, yes its becoming out of hand  however, with all the technology growing in this world it is helping a lot. "There have been numerous advancements that were seen on the battlefield in the form of arms, transportation, and air power. In this section we will trace the origins of technological inventions that have direct impacts not only on the battlefield, but for those who may be operating on a remote computer thousands of miles away from a combat arena. These technologies are increasingly impersonal, as countries are waging war via proxies and remote controlled weaponry," (Globalization 101). Technology is becoming a huge part of our warfare and how we fight. With all the guided missiles and rockets you could destroy a country thousands of miles away with just a computer. This relates to PressPausePlay because even though technology might be going the wrong direction for media and art it has been growing and evolving for the military every year. "It used to be, you didn't become an artist just to become rich, you became an artist because you had an idea or emotion to share, and that's where we're heading again," (Seth Godin). Its the same thing for technology in the military. People try to make weapons to destroy the enemy not to become rich and famous. Military technology can also be used for civilian life to. Some of these technologies help people everyday, for example a mechanical leg was originally for men in Iraq who had there legs blow off by an IED, but now doctors are using them for civilians in everyday life. "There are a significant number of military inventions whose technologies were originally developed and designed for military purposes, and which are now used by civilians with sometimes minor or no modifications at all," (Military Technology-Wiki). People want to help people and this world is like a huge brotherhood. We all look out for each other and would do anything for each other. With technology specifically, people are always striving for a better killing machine or new piece of medical technology and to keep the giant brotherhood that we have going strong.