Sean Huze’s “Sandstorm” is a completely literal and honest depiction of his experiences as a Marine in the Iraq war. He play is basically Marines reminiscing about their experiences in the war zone and is set up brilliantly. The setting is kind of vague, “the stage should be somewhat abstract, suggesting no exact time or place” (Huze p.1). I thought that this was brilliant as it sets the audience up to be completely engulfed in the words these men are speaking. No crazy backdrop or war photos you only need to hear the men to see these images in your head and understand exactly how brutal war can be.
The play is powerful in the sense that is has been written from the front lines, you get to hear about war not from history book authors or talking heads on TV, but from the men that lived it. Sean most definitely stayed true to the stories and while at times it was a bit hard to take I have to respect a man that is willing to put these stories on paper so publically, and appears to have not toned it down a bit.
The story that probably shook me the most was the story of CPL Tracy Waters. In the play he is sort of known as the man that is obsessed with food, MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) specifically. In his mini-story after a brutal ass-kicking by the Marines in a town called Al Kut he sits down to eat one of these MRE’s and sees that somehow one of the “enemy” has survived. He walks up to the man to find the guy pleading for Water’s to finish him off and put him out of his misery. This poor man refuses and walks far enough away from the man to finish his meal but still listen to the man die a slow and painful death. The reason I am so taken by this story is that I can’t begin to understand what this young man had to have experienced to become so hardened to human suffering. I refuse to believe any Marines or human for that matter wants this, so what has happened? As I read through the play I begin to realize that these men have been traumatized by the loss of their comrades and fellow Marines. They equate their friends death with any other person, civilian or not and seem to be being run by this need to exact revenge.
I don’t want to leave the impression that this play was completely overrun by violence and death. There are scenes in this play that are very moving and it is obvious that these Marines have big hearts and a lot of compassion, especially when it comes to the kids in this warzone. Based on this writing it is obvious these men are caught in a battle they themselves don’t understand and it is clear they are trying desperately to do the right thing and deal in a situation that is beyond my comprehension. My only hope is that after laying their lives down for this war and our country they are able to overcome what they seen and done and find solace in the fact that they are appreciated and adored and despite the fact they may have done things we can’t fathom they are heroes and should be treated as such.
http://www.veteranshelp.com/
