I love space opera. You love space opera. If you don’t, you’re probably a pinko commie, and we wouldn’t agree anyway.
If you’re asking, “What’s space opera?” The answer is Star Wars. There are more, but that example paints enough of a picture that we don’t need to get into the others. Space opera is a conflict between two forces on an epic, galaxy-spanning scale. It is also usually a hero’s quest and a battle between good and evil.
It’s that hero that I wanted to write about. Not when he’s a young, idealistic Tattooinian pining to join his friends in the battle against the Empire, but many years later, when he is an old man. And not the classy old man with all of his faculties, either — I wondered what happened when the hero became senile, incontinent, when he became a burden. I wondered what happened when he was no longer suitable for photo ops and interviews.
I wondered what happened when the hero was forgotten.
This story is a not-so-subtle commentary on the veterans of our U.S. military, the men and women of my parents’ generation who fought in Vietnam and, soon (too damn soon, sadly), the men and women of my generation who served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Somalia, Beirut and anywhere else that people fought. Many of those people come home with injuries they carry for their entire lives. Some injuries are physical, some are emotional — but all carry a serious price.
As nations, we seem to be quick to forget the ugly side of things. Part of that, it seems, is forgetting the people who did what their country asked them to do. To me, this story was a way to tie in the ending that comes after the happy ending in space operas with the reality that people — even heroes — just get old.
If you are a veteran of any armed forces, you have my respect for doing a difficult job. If you are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces and have helped give me the life that I lead now, you have my thanks.
And if you are my high school and college buddies who answered the call, whether you served at home, on an overseas base or in a combat zone, you have my undying love.