randomWalks

A statement that the killed soldier has given up his or her life as an "ultimate sacrifice for our freedom" implies the notion of death as a form of endowment. Death in the form of sacrifice becomes a gift to 'us,' to Americans, as a collective body of individuals that transcends the transience of life. It becomes a special form of ritual enactment that allows the deceased soldier to participate in the immortality of a transcendent entity, namely, the nation. But, more importantly, the sacrifice of a killed soldier is something that can be identified, shared and, as some anthropologists would term, "internalized" by audiences watching the program on television. This is crucial since it is at this moment, the moment in which the audiences identify themselves with the glorified act of sacrifice, that death becomes a matter of victory for the nation in the form of a collective body of individuals as Americans. What remains significant in this victory is the element of memory. "We shall not forget!" CNN, CBS or ABC display the phrase in a colorfully designed and glorifying show of words following pictures of killed soldiers, regardless of the loss suffered at the hands of friendly forces. Thus, once again, a moment of rebirth occurs, a new shining nativity of a new soul, not as a physical entity vulnerable to decomposition, but a living memory to the immortal and indestructible nation. The sacrificed solider is not eliminated but resurrected in form of memorial on the television screen.