What did you think of the film? What comments, reflections, suggestions, and insights do you have?
For history students, answer this question as well: What are some similarities between what you know about Vietnam, and what you saw in ‘Restrepo’?
For economics students, answer this question as well: What are some economic effects of these guys (from ‘Restrepo’) coming back into society?
(For extra credit seekers, make sure to leave a quality comment for full marks…)
18 replies on “Afterschool Film: ‘Restrepo’ – Comments”
that kind of scared me a bit. the fact we were shot at from any direction and any second like in vietnam was scary, knowing you could be shot and killed at any given time. along with the fact that agian we were not entirly trained for this kind of battle field like in vietnam didn’t help the situation.
This movie was very touching. It really made you realize how great you have it, while these people are overseas fighting for our lives. It was sad to see how hard it was on them physically and emotionally, and I couldn’t believe how quickly they had to get back up and move when one of their friends died right in front of their eyes. I can never imagine how it feels to watch that happen and not even have the time to mourn or show emotion, they must keep fighting. The film really makes you appreciate what all of the soldiers do for you.
With the soldiers returning back into the society, there are economic effects. One economic effect is that the soldiers can return home homeless or jobless. Although they get money for going to war, it takes time to find a stable job and have enough money for a home. They can return home under the poverty threshold line, which would enable them to receive government aid. If the soldiers do return back to a home, they may be dependent on others for financial support because they won’t have a job for themselves or they may be suffering from the injuries they may have gotten overseas. That includes many hospital bills and paying for constant care. Overall, soldiers returning home do affect the economy.
Vietnam and Restrepo both were similar in ways. For starters the soldiers that fought in both, gave there lives for our country. But these soldiers just were not soldiers, they were a family. No matter what each had each others back no matter what. none of these men gave up, all of them were determined to push forward.
The movie was pretty harsh. Not because of the swearing and all the killing; but because these guys fought constant gunfire and the civilians not cooperating. Losing your best friend or even a comrade would be hard. They went through a lot. The ending where they just next was kind of confusing because why would they just leave after all they did? I didn’t hear if more people went back or not. I don’t think anymore people went.
The guys would come back with financial help. Depending on if they went to college or not would depend how they impact economy. If they went to college i believe they get a free ride, which is government paying for their schooling. Eventually they would all get jobs and help the economy by working. I believe they also get some type of payment for being in the army from the government. Again I’m not entirely sure. “Under the covers” some companies might lose some business because the companies don’t need to supply them anymore goods. Not many people know that companies can suffer from the ending of a war or battle for that matter.
I think this was a very good movie and it showed some nice war scenes from Afganistan. Retreps showed the lives of the men from their deployment to their return home which was cool to see. The Korengal Valley was at the time regarded as “the deadliest place on Earth” which would be scary to go through.
Some economic effects of the guys coming back into society is that it will affect the GDP and the population. They will probably try to get a job and work. Also, the demand for pills to clear their heads from war will increase.
At first, i thought this movie was a little weird. But then I saw it and I thought that it was really great and see what really happens when you are over there. In the movie, there was an economic effect when the guys came back into society that I noticed. It has to be with what they need and what they want. Some of them needed to stay and finish up getting the bad guys, while some of them wanted to go home and let someone else get the bad guys.
I really liked this film. It showed me how scary being in the military can really be and how stressful it is being on duty. It was a very well put together movie and many others should watch to see what it really feels like to be in the service.
This movie made me realize I could never be strong enough to fight war and lose my friends. I couldn’t kill proe or gp through those hardships. It makes me respect veterans sso much more then before. That takes a lot pf bravery and strength to be able to fight. I believe that when these soldiers come back they aren’t going to add to unemployment because its going to be harder for them to find jobs because they have been so accustomed to fighting as their skill and nothing else.
Reflection: I thought ‘Restrepo’ was a good movie about the real lives of soldiers fighting in the war overseas right now. It really captured the raw feelings and emotions of men fighting in the war from happiness, to excitement, to fear and extreme heartbreak. I know it sounds strange, but I feel like this movie would be a good way to encourage men to enter the Army. It shows the feelings you get inside when you are fighting for something you love as much as your country, and you are succeeding. It also shows how soldiers grow such great brotherly love for each other that really lasts for the rest of their lives and is a bond like no other. I liked that the movie was a documentary because it felt like we were there with them fighting in the valley and the movie watcher knew that these were real facts being reported with completely real emotions. The moment in the movie that made the biggest impact on me was when they were fighting in their hardest battle and one of their “greatest soldiers” died and the rest of them were so heartbroken and couldn’t stop crying. It was such a real moment and showed how tight of a pack the soldiers are and it makes me so grateful that they are fighting for my freedom.
Econ Question: Some economic side effects of the soldiers from ‘Restrepo’ coming back into society are positive and some are negative. A positive side effect for the younger guys is that they can get their college education for free. Also, just a general positive side effect is that they will be respected and thanked for fighting for our country’s freedom. A negative side effect is that they will not be used to having a “regular” job and will have to go back to normal life, but with all of the haunting memories from the war.
I really enjoyed the documentary, “Restrepo” today. I give the military and all the soldiers so much credit because I know I wouldn’t be able to do what they do every day: the fear, the sounds of gunshots, being away from family, everything. I wouldn’t be able to handle it and the strength these men and women have is unbelievable. I admit though, I never thought life in the military would be like what we saw in the documentary. It was a real eye-opener to see how these men in the Korengal Valley lived day-to-day. It’s considered one of the most dangerous positions in U.S. military; I couldn’t imagine the thoughts and feelings I would have knowing I would be serving in the valley. I never would’ve guessed war was like this.
The documentary never said if the men were just being deployed, or if they were leaving the military for good. If the men coming back home after being in the Korengal Valley were staying home for good, one economic effect would be that once home, the men would probably be trying to find jobs to continue supporting themselves and their families if they have one. I feel like our society is respective of soldiers who have served in war, (especially the one in Iraq and Afghanistan) and when veterans are home for good, I feel like employers almost take advantage of that fact. On a resume for a job application there’s usually a spot to put past experiences or accomplishments, and a veteran can always put “served in such-and-such war.” In our society today, I feel like employers look at that and think they automatically have to hire them just because they served time in the military; like employers think since the veteran did them a favor, it would only be good to hire the veteran for a job. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if a veteran is hired, that means one less person who is living below the poverty line isn’t going to get hired. If this is happening, our country’s poverty rate would then increase, and more and more people would be suffering and struggling.
I liked the movie. I didn’t know all the struggles soldiers have to go through before I saw it. I thought it was interesting how the natives weren’t really interested in what we had to offer them. It seemed like they only wanted to believe the negative. I would recomend this movie to someone else. It was very powerful and moving.
Personally, I do not like war documentaries. They’re depressing. None of those soldiers get to see their family on a regular basis and it is sad to think about. But it makes me happy that they are brave people that want to protect our country. Some similarities between Restrepo and Vietnam are that they both had deaths of Children, Women, men, and families. Both Vietnam and Afghanistan conflicts included the U.S. Both lasted for longer than a year, and they both were expensive.
This film was very interesting to me. Usually when you see documentarys about war, you only see the really exciting battle parts. People fail to realize that these soldiers stand guard and secure the area all day everyday. They get very little sleep and are always on alert. It was really sad when those two soldiers were killed. The soldiers took it very hard, which motivated them to get rid of the enemy. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is bad enough, but can you imagine going into one of the most dangerous areas of it, with four or five fire fights a day? Also, they have to try to keep the civilians happy and help out their economy. It made me respect our military so much more seeing all they have to go through in just one day out there.
Going from a small dirt town in Afghanistan and then back to America is a very large shift in economics. In Restrepo, most people paid in means of beans, rice, and sugar. The soldiers didn’t have to pay rent or bills while they stayed in their bunkers. The people in town had very few paying jobs and a very slow economy, if any at all. Going from that type of environment back to America would be very different. America revolves around money and taxes and government, when clearly Afghanistan does not. Also, people may not think about it this way, but it costs a lot of money to ship all of those men back to America. That was only a platoon of about 14 men, but imagine how many troops we have out overseas. 14 isn’t that bad, but what about 14,000? Another economic effect of these men coming home is the fact that the young ones get free schooling. Also they obviously get paid for their time that they spent serving our country.
Vietnam was a very intense war at the time. Many of our men had died, and there was really no victor. In the movie “Restrepo”, It showed how dangerous it is to be on duty in the Army out in Afghanistan. It gave any viewer a really good idea of what it would be like to be in the military. Vietnam was more in the jungle vs. being in a small village. Either way both are very similar and different in many ways.
I really enjoyed watching this documentary. It gave me a much better understanding of what the war in the middle east is like and the effects it has on the troops serving there. In Restrepo, the soldiers saw and did things that the will remember the rest of there lives. They saw fellow soldiers die, and also killed people. These men have psycological disorders when they return home and i’m sure it affects there everyday lifes. I can see it being very difficult to adjust to the way society runs as opposed to what they’ve been experiencing over seas.
In Restrepo, the men were constantly faced with a possible attack. Which was also the fact in Vietnam. But the men made the best of it, even after they did loose a good friend (Restrepo) but to me that was one thing that made the mission even better. They build OP Restrepo in honor of him. And as they said in the movie it was the best thing that probably could have happened to them there. Which the soilders in Viernam made the best out of their situation although it was one of the most dangerous places on earth at the time. I thouroughly enjoyed the documentary!
I thought the movie was good. It really gave an idea of what vietnam looks like and how dangerous it is there. A similarity between what i know about vietnam and restrepo is, that there is moutain side villages and that it is a dangerous place to be.
I thought this movie was insightful, but I wasn’t really surprised about the content. I think it’s very plausible that our military would get stuck in an unfamiliar terrain against an enemy that knows the area like the backs of their hands. I appreciate that they not only showed fighting but also the soldiers having fun with each other. That shows us that no matter how bad stuff gets for us, we can always be positive. I liked seeing the soldiers’ emotions around when their comrades were killed in battle. It really shows that they have a true brotherhood in their unit, and I think that not censoring the language made the movie more powerful and authentic than it would’ve been if they hadn’t been shown being themselves.
In relation to economics, practically speaking it would be quite costly to integrate them back into society with us. At the present, the military is their employer, and if they’re not in the military over here, then they’d probably be unemployed and they’d most likely end up taxing our already overwhelmed welfare system. There might also be safety with having people trained to kill among the rest of us. The soldiers were deployed in Afghanistan doing some intense fighting, so the difficulty associated with them assimilating back into every day life might manifest itself in the form of a violent confrontation with an average citizen. Also, with the mental problems that a lot of them develop, they’d be taxing to the medical system. So, if you think about it economically, the only practical solution is to keep them at war until they die.