A pin drop could be heard because of the complete silence accompanied by the credits rolling on the big screen. The audience walks out with complete gratitude for American veterans. The moviegoers wonder how people can endure tragedy to protect American citizens. Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” captured this patriotic feeling that all Americans should feel for our military.

This film along with others such as “Act of Valor” and “The Patriot” show how ordinary citizens choose to serve in the armed forces in order to protect our freedoms. Families are left behind and go through weeks without contact, not knowing if their husband, wife, brother, sister, mom or dad will make it safely home.

Not all of these movies exhibit what happens in an ordinary day of a serviceman nor do they show everyone’s story. But what patriotic, military and war movies do is they force us to realize the simple fact that we go days on end without thanking the heroic-ness of the military.

Veterans’ Day is one of the few days where we thank all of those who served or are serving. Military movies can put the war front and center for easy access to the public. They make Americans realize that some of us could never stand those atrocities and that these people take bullets to save us.

Some people argue that the movies are too graphic or produce glorified murderers, but what these ignorant people do not know is that the only reason they can critic military movies is because of what the military does. In many countries, people who do not like the government or military would be jailed, fined or even silenced. Everyone has a right to there own opinion but do not hate the very people that die for you to have that opinion.

The military fights to protect the idea of freedom, democracy and military movies allow Americans to appreciate this and the military even more. Military movies unite people with different beliefs because that is the very thing the military fights for the opportunity for people of different race, religion or socioeconomic level to support and live with each other peacefully.

Recently, President Obama has revamped his attempt to shut down the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prison camp. He claims that the prison produces anti-American feeling across the globe and costs millions of dollars for taxpayers. He also argues that the gruesome and sometimes torturous treatment of the prisoners is unacceptable and makes it harder to try these criminals.

Unfortunately, the United States undoubtedly treated these prisoners poorly, but an even scarier situation is what happens to American prisoners in foreign countries. Islamic extremists and radicals torture American military in order to try to get American intelligence. These radicals have no remorse and do hate the United States, giving them all the more motivation to kill Americans. They also do not have as many regulations that prisoners in Guantanamo have.

Military movies include the poor treatment of Americans, and those are not the worst scenes. The most horrid events that occur to American prisoners are never made aware to the public because they are just that horrific. It seems unreal to demand the release of criminals that murdered innocent American lives while our very own military is being treated ten times as worse. Their release should be demanded, not terrorists that will join back with groups plotting to continue the war on terror and hurt civilians.

American military movies capture the lives of our servicemen and women while exposing the horrific events that they endure to protect the American legacy of providing freedom for all. These movies do not praise murderers, they praise the bravery and courage that the military takes to improve the lives of American citizens.