The Sand Storm

The Sandstorm written by Sean Huze was a very touching and emotional story for me.  At first I was very disturbed by the casual way the soldiers mentioned the brutal deaths of the civilians,  they talked about them like they were just ignorant trash that deserved to die; but as I read on I felt their guilt and shame to for what had happened to the innocent people.  They felt guilt but were too angry to feel it yet; it had to sink in first.  Reading this story also helped me understand the anger that fooled them in to thinking that they didn’t care about what they had done; the way they killed that innocent little boy.  I understand that a person can only take so much of being pushed around and their close buddies being tortured and killed before they just snap and don’t care anymore.  I feel this play was very effective at bringing the audience in and making them feel the hurt and pain that the soldiers had experienced.  This was very hard to read because of its truth.  It brought me to an understanding of what really goes on overseas, when fellow Americans are at war for our freedom.  I liked the way this was written in monologue; this helped me feel the emotions of the characters and the reality of it. I felt like I was right there in conversation with the soldiers.  I can’t even begin to imagine the guilt and shame that soldiers have to deal with for the rest of their lives after experiencing such things.  Like one of the soldiers said in the play, That people always tell him thank you for serving, but he doesn’t understand why.  He feels like he has done nothing to be thanked for and he thinks to himself if they only knew what I have done.  This shows the torment of what they have to live with. All of the things they had done right or wrong even if it was fallowing tricked orders they still cannot forgive themselves.   I feel that that is very tragic because they are heroes in my eyes. They go in to fight and protect the ones they love and have to face things that I never could.  They are human and make mistakes just like everyone else.  They blame themselves for doing things that were commanded of them and for fighting to stay alive.  All of these events take strong and determined people to pull off and stay alive.  I admire their courage and faithfulness to the American people, and I will always thank them for serving and standing up for the greater good. In my eyes they are all heroes.   

URL- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1011341/bio

URL- http://www.lacitycollege.edu/public/news/huze.htm