The Not So Lonely Survivor

"And crown thy good with brotherhood" 

Recently the movie Lone Survivor came out onto apple TV, on demand, dvd or whatever system you have these days. I had already seen this movie in theaters and I was very intrigued by the story and more specifically the Navy Seals. (Article about the background of the film)

The movie is based on a true story where a group of Navy Seals were sent out on a recon mission in Afghanistan and they were compromised which lead to a firefight and the deaths of every man in the group except for one, the lone survivor. The story itself is amazing, but what truly caught my eye was the way these soldiers interacted with each other, on the battle grounds and in the barracks. 


There is a unbreakable sense of camaraderie and brotherhood throughout these men. This camaraderie i think trumps all the skills that these SEALs have obtained throughout their course of taking part in this elite group. With out the collaboration and the trust that they all have built up for each other, I believe there would be no way that these highly-classified missions could ever be successful.  Marcus Luttrell (the lone survivor) said, “We created a brotherhood. That stuff is forged in chaos; a brotherhood through blood and pain and sweat.” He says that no matter the circumstance he could always rely on his brothers to help him in any situation. 

This idea and practice of brotherhood and camaraderie I believe is a overlooked American value. Earlier this year we as a class said to be successful one needs, "hard work, dedication, and a little bit of luck", in my opinion I think "and some help from your peers" should be added to that. Without brotherhood and ones willingness to have trust in a friend or partner in life, success would be rarely achieved.