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Soldiers of the 1-506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, (the battalion known as the Band of Brothers) are en route on a C-17 from Transit Center at Manas Kyrgyzstan to Bagram Air Field. =====> Watching the most recent wars unfold and their impact here at home, I began to ask myself: when we as a country work to spread democracy in the name of security around the world, would I find our reasons, when laid bare, falling short of what the electorate might support if made fully aware? As chronicler from an American family with a rich tradition of military service, I began to question if modern motivation for war was as admirable as when my grandfather, a World War II bomber pilot, put his life and the future of our family at risk for what was generally accepted to be a greater cause. In the spirit of these questions, I accompanied the modern incarnation of the “Band of Brothers”, the storied 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment with whom I shared a connection through a family member serving in its officer ranks, throughout an entire training and deployment cycle. The unit’s contributions to conflicts since World War Two have inspired many to join the ranks to serve their nation. The stories of men at war are heavily edited and designed to be a call to arms luring the next generation of the warrior class. This deliberate packaging of the "image" of honor in one providing security for a nation extends only to the point of neglect once soldier turns veteran. This neglect now manifests itself in markedly increased suicides and everything from PTSD to spousal abuse now on the increase with those returning. The stories are therefore myths, out of context at best, that perpetuate a sickness in society about the nature of manhood and even war itself as a rite of passage. As a nation, we must reckon with the dissonance between the myths of war and reality.