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Review
Brats - Our Journey Home
On Friday June 15th I attended a showing of the documentary Brats - Our Journey home at the Air Force Museum.
What a overwhelming experience.
The crowd is full of brats and parents from all ages and services.
I was sitting next to a gentleman that born in Fairborn.
His father had moved here in 1910 and was so impressed by the conquering of flight that he gave his son the middle name of Orville.
I've heard people discussing aircraft, bases, schooling overseas.
One lady mentioned how she graduated from school in England that was a former WWII pow camp.
The school was not named.
The gentleman sitting next to me regaled me with tales of 'Ole Shakey' and it's tendancy to thrown belts in flight.
The Flight engineer would have to climb through the wings to reset the belt.
I remember Dad telling me that he worked on these aircraft when he first joined the Air Force.
The U.S. Air Force Band of Flight played it's Americana program.
What a rousing patriotic reminder of what it is to be military.
I miss that so much.
The movie is every brats story; it's my story.
We who served not as members of the military but as their families.
We who lived in the states or overseas and built a community that was and is alien to most Americans.
As others mentioned in the question and answer session with Donna Musil after the showing,
coming back to a civilian environment was strange and foreign to me.
My best friends from High School attended Lakenheath American High not A.B. Graham.
I'd rather attend a Lakenheath reunion than Graham even though I graduated from Graham.
Donna Musil did a wonderful job with this documentary.
She mentioned that the original film was 6 hours longs.
One of the common themes that was discussed in the movie is the restlessness of Brats.
This is certainly an issue I deal with.
I have a hard time staying put in one location or job for a long period of time.
I'm restless if things become routine and stagnant.
I highly recommend viewing this film.
Unfortunately the tour is going to be over at the end of June.
The DVD is available from the www.bratsjourneyhome.com website.
I bought 2 copies at the showing.
One for me, and one to share with my siblings.
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