George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ryan Gosling are on my college's campus this week, filming for Clooney's movie The Ides Of March. No, I haven't seen them yet. Usually I'm not one who likes conformity or following trends (I only wear riding boots when I'm going down to the barn to actually ride) but I have to admit that seeing Clooney or DiCaprio would be pretty cool. (I don't know who Gosling is really) Actually, it would be really cool. BUT I'm not going to hang around Farmer School of Business all day long and bug the filming people about seeing him.
It would still be cool.
So with George and his 'Cloonies' around, who's going to notice that today a bus full of American SPs was attacked at Frankfurt Airport in Germany? Two Americans died, and two were wounded. But on my campus, with the filming and Green Beer Day, I doubt 90% of the school knows this. It was on the news this morning, and it scared the shit out of me.
When I first heard the news, I was walking out of the dining hall and saw the big TV announcer and a picture of an airport that looked vaguely familiar. And then I heard the words "Americans" "Attack" "Air field" and "Germany" and I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart pounding, everything slowing down. I was thinking, Oh my God, Germany...Ramstein! What if..? Did anyone die? Was it Ramstein? My friends, were any of them victims? Oh God, let them be okay. Please. My fears weren't completely ungrounded; as the largest Air Base outside the US and one of the largest populations of Americans outside the US, it was, and had previously been, a terrorist target. I turned to the person sitting at the nearest table and demanded to know what base it was. He said shortly "Frankfurt Airport" and I felt the world resume it's normal pace.
Still. Four victims. Of a random and meaningless violent attack. Yet the students at my school aren't even aware of it. It just makes me sad, makes me wonder about the people in our country who don't look at the Military and their families and realize just what it is they sacrifice for people who they don't know and for people who don't even care. Like those people who protest the war at the funerals of soldiers. Those who say that the men who died did so because it was "God's message" or whatever. Imagine if that was you, standing there at the funeral of your loved one, your son, daughter, wife, husband, father or mother, and people are shouting, yelling, abusing the memory and peace of that soldier who sacrificed him/herself so those people could stand there and shout.
Just think.
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