Last week I watched one of the best action movies of this year, Ambulance. Even though I enjoyed the movie, it was nothing more than an action movie to me when I watched it. However, it became much more than that when I saw the topics for this weekend's engagements.
Ambulance depicted a story of a veteran who needed money for his wife's surgery. He called the veterans office for financial help on several occasions to no avail. He was passed around from one staff to the other, none of them provided a solution to his problem. Eventually, he was forced to call his half-brother - a certified bank robber - for help. The veteran visited at a time when his half-brother was about to rob a bank, and with no help in sight for his wife's surgery he reluctantly joined the raid.
While the movie was on, I blamed the veteran for not upholding the values he swore to protect. But, I also understand that he was backed into a corner and didn't get a single help from the country he risked his life for. Though it was a movie, I got carried away. I had several questions for him, I was curious to know about the hell he went through that left him with no option but to go the rogue route.
Even though the veteran in Ambulance is not homeless, he is helpless - that's as bad as it gets. Thanks to 
Question 1: What motivated you to join the military
Security based jobs are more like highways to the grave. For those that go to war, their life is even at risk far more than an average human; they are closer to the grave than most people think. I could remember back in 2003 during the Ijaw-Ilaje war, on a very good Sunday afternoon after church a sudden noise sprung out from the next house. The man of that house was a soldier, and the wife was just informed that her husband was killed in the war. That was a sad day in my neighborhood, the man was a gentle one. I was left with more questions than answers. Why join the military despite knowing there is a very good chance of being shot dead or scattered by a grenade? Why risk it all?
Question 2: Were you given a secret injection when you joined the army?
During the mid 90s, military men commanded more fear than God in my country. Back then, the greatest punishment God could inflict on a man was to make him get on the wrong side of a military man. Immediately the person is taken away, the family starts mourning because there is a 50% chance of the person not coming back home. For the other 50%, the taken is either returned as a corpse or as a terribly sick, bedridden, handicapped person. Once one is targeted by the military, things will never be the same again.
If I could remember, we call them 'kill and go'. That was the phrase coined to depict how ruthless they were. They wielded the power of life and death; even the lowest ranked one of them killed without being questioned. As an inquisitive little boy, I wanted to know why a man with blood running through his veins will brutally assault another man for trivial things such as overtaking on the highway - yes, as a little boy I once witnessed a military man viciously assault a man who rightly overtook his vehicle. It was a sickening sight that led to questions about their brutality. Word on the street was that men recruited into the military back then were given injections that sucked every shred of humanity out of them. These injections will supposedly make them merciless, power drunk demons that torture and kill without remorse. Till today, I still wonder if that is the case. I'll definitely try to find out the truth from this homeless veteran, after all, he has no reason to protect those secrets anymore.
Question 3: How do you recover after killing someone?
A soldier that goes to war will either kill or get killed, there is no two ways about that. I once saw a movie about a ridiculously talented sniper who ended up killing himself because he couldn't handle the mental consequences of killing so many people. I've always found it interesting how some people easily kill a man while I'm trembling here just because I want to slaughter a chicken for dinner. It's even crazy how some make killing look like an enjoyable art. I've heard about dudes getting high before going out to commit a crime - of course, soldiers are defending their territory, not committing crimes. I was once advised to ingest some spirit liquor to calm my nerves when I was going to ask out this very beautiful lady. So, do soldiers take some kind of hard drugs to help them distort their sense of judgement before and after killing? How do they cope with the fact that they will likely kill someone?
Question 4: What was it like for you during the war?
I've never experienced war before - and I pray I never will. But, based on the little I've seen (on TV) and heard, war is not some trivial thing. My grandmother experienced first hand the Ife-Modakeke communal clash that raged between 1996-2000 or so. I lost my grandpa and uncle to the bloody clash. She told me a lot about the event and how she was able to survive those trying times. Tales of war are always interesting to listen to, though heart wrenching; being told by a veteran who experienced first hand what war is really like will make it all the more interesting. I would love to know how they prepared before and what they did during the war.
My curiosity will make me want to ask if the military does carry out some shady, uncensored experiments. I may not get a reasonable answer to that because these things are most likely classified. When all is said and done, despite all the despicable things I've seen some military men do, I will still treat this homeless veteran to some good time and help out in whatever capacity I can. After all, veterans stand watch both day and night so that we civilians can sleep whenever we want to. They stay away from their families for years so that we can have peaceful times with our families. They deserve the utmost respect.
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