[Glenn Beck:] In case you don`t know me, I`m extremely pro- troops. I believe in what we`re doing in the Middle East. I`m the guy who started the nationwide rallies for America, the ones "The New York Times" called jingoistic. But what I`m about to show you in a few minutes is something that the pro-war camp says should never be seen. The antiwar people say you`ve got to see it, because it will change the way you look at the war. They`re both wrong. It is shocking and horrifying. However, I found it extraordinarily inspirational. You`ve been warned. Well, here it is, Memorial Day weekend, and while most of us have plans to just enjoy the extra time off with our family, we should take some time to honor the meaning of this holiday. On September 11, 2001, when the planes slammed into the buildings, I`m pretty sure I had the same thought that you had: "What the heck does this mean?" Where are we going from here? The tragedy came from a time when the youth of America had been bad-mouthed. They weren`t as responsible or as duty-bound as our grandparents were. But every time I see the footage of Saddam Hussein, that statue coming down, or I hear the stories of bravery and courage from our soldiers overseas, I am filled with so much pride. You know, it`s not even pride. It`s hope. I`m filled with hope for the future. You know, I know that my kids are going to grow up in an America that is much better than the one that we have today. The young people in this country who are risking their lives to keep us safe have just as much honor and compassion and commitment as our grandparents did. And that`s saying something. The greatest generation is alive today. They, like all of us, should be extremely proud. On HBO, there`s a special called "Baghdad ER". I watched it last weekend. It gives the viewer an inside look at the horrors, and more importantly, the heroes of the war in Iraq.
[Beck:] This past weekend, HBO aired a documentary called "Baghdad E.R." It`s a one-hour look inside of a Baghdad emergency room where U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians are taken in for treatment in the midst of war. The footage is so graphic that the Army has cautioned soldiers that if they watch the film, they may experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress. The Pentagon was concerned about the images, worried about the political ramifications of the film. But that`s not how I saw it. It`s not what I saw at all.
[Major David Snyder, Hospital Chaplain:] Hey, Jeremy, I`m the hospital chaplain, come by every time they bring someone in.
[Unidentified Male:] What`s going on, sir?
[Snyder:] You`re the one I`ve got to ask that to.
[Unidentified Male:] I`m doing fine. If God wanted me, he would have called me, but I guess I deserve to be here.
[Beck:] I saw young men leave their wives and their children, abandon everything they knew for a dangerous, uncertain future in a war-torn country. I saw young men transform into heroes.
[Unidentified Male:] I`m in a hospital somewhere. I got hit by an IED today.
[Unidentified Female:] OK. Are you what`s wrong? How are you?
[Unidentified Male:] I`m not too bad considering the way the vehicle looked. Hi, honey. How you doing? I`m doing, you know, fine, but guess what? I got hit with IED and all I heard was the explosion. It happened so fast.
[Beck:] I saw doctors who are often thought of as stoic show their humanity. I watched as they attended to patients who were suffering the most gruesome injuries. I watched as healing tragedy became routine. Even doctors saw too much.
[Unidentified Male:] These guys have injuries all over the place. So, you have to prioritize what which injuries take precedence, life over limb. I`m just a good west Texas boy. Back in west Texas we thought we were seeing some stuff, but out here, it`s all, a whole other ball game. I don`t think people can comprehend what we see here, even other health care providers, because like I said, when I first got here, even though, you guys had gotten here a month before me, I got here and I was, like, what in the [expletive deleted] am I looking at? This cannot be. Day after day, every day.
[Beck:] When things got too tough, when men couldn`t close their eyes because visions of what they had seen kept replaying in their own minds...
[Unidentified Male:] It`s OK to cry, it really is. Worst thing I ever saw in my life, sir. What was that? My friend didn`t have a face. I can`t close my eyes without seeing it. I know, I know.
[Beck:] Eighteen thousand eighty-eight Americans have been injured in this war, but I didn`t see a number. I saw stories. Stories of decency and true meaning of brotherhood. I saw honesty and genuine compassion in its purest form.
[Unidentified Male:] I absolutely will hold this period of my life very dear to my heart because I`ve had a chance to make a difference. I hope I`ve had a chance to make a difference.
[Beck:] The Pentagon said the thing to take away from this film is the survival rate among the injured soldiers, that 90 percent survive their injuries. But it`s war. Men do die. And, surprisingly, I saw times when dying was not just OK. It was beautiful.
[Unidentified Male:] We don`t want you to go. We want you to fight. We want you to fight, if you can. If you can. It`s OK to go. It`s OK to go. We`ll be right with you. You get better, or you could go. We`ll offer just a prayer for his life.
[Beck:] I saw beauty in the face of tragedy. Dignity in the face of death. Human spirit and kindness that was stronger than any explosive. This is the message that I take from this film, that there are heroes among us. We are privileged to have Jon Alpert and Matthew O`Neil, the filmmakers who directed and produced "Baghdad E.R." to be on the set with us. Hi, guys.
[Jon Alpert, Director/producer, "baghdad E.r.":] Hi.
[Matthew O`neill, Director/producer, "baghdad E.r.":] Thanks for having us.
[Beck:] Wow, what a powerful hour that I spent with HBO this last weekend. What was it like for you? How many months did you spend filming?
[Alpert:] We were flying into Baghdad one year ago today.
[O`neill:] First weekend was Memorial Day.
[Alpert:] And that`s sort of appropriate and, gosh, within the first hour, they brought in the first candidate for amputation. And I had never seen anything like that before.
[Beck:] What did you, what did this experience I know how I mean, I welled up just watching this. What did this do to you?
[Alpert:] It gave us an appreciation for the sacrifices that are being made. It really gave us an appreciation for the doctors that were there. But it really also gave us a real lesson in what the cost of this war is. And that`s what we saw every day. We saw the cost of the war and the heroes that are being asked to fight it.
[Beck:] You know, I don`t know if you guys are pro-war or anti-war. I don`t really care. And I appreciate that you made this film, and I couldn`t tell. Because what I appreciated in this film was that I did understand the cost of war, but I don`t understand you know, I have very little respect for anybody who says that they are pro-troops or pro-war and they don`t understand this. It was so powerful. What I was shocked by was maybe shocked isn`t the right word. I was so inspired by what was the decency and the caring and the I mean, it was glorious. What you captured. I mean, there was an amputation I saw and it was shocking to see it on screen. And then it was glorious, within a flash.
[O`neill:] These soldiers treat each other like family. All the time. And they mourn like family when a soldier is lost, and they cry like family when the soldier dies. And I don`t know if what you see in this hospital can ever be called glorious. I mean, it`s inspiring.
[Alpert:] But we both are going to disagree with you on the glorious part. It`s certainly inspiring but when you`ve seen an arm come off like that and it`s an 18-year-old kid, it`s something that you never, ever forget.
[Beck:] No, no, no. Don`t, don`t take me the blood on the floor is not. The what`s internalized by these guys, what I saw from these individuals, their spirits are overwhelmingly glorious.
[Alpert:] And that`s what enabled us to be able to walk in there where the blood is up, you know, riding over the top of your shoes and somebody screaming in the next room. And when you see the heroism that the doctors are working with and the sacrifices our soldiers are making, they`re making jokes about this. They`re doing their job. We had to do our job.
[Beck:] I think I don`t know, I think the Pentagon probably doesn`t is disturbed by this because some of the doctors are like, I hate war. But, you know what? I got to tell you, who likes it? You got to be, you`re sick if you like it.
[O`neill:] You`re never going to meet anyone who hates war more than a war surgeon. They see the absolute worst of it. And when you talk about people in the Pentagon, every person in uniform that`s seen this film has told us, and that`s from the highest general in the army to the lowest private, said they loved this film. So any of the critique that comes out, it`s not from the people who wear a uniform.
[Beck:] I think anybody in uniform, I want to remove them from uniform if they like war or if they think that it`s, you know, a great thing.
[Alpert:] This is what`s interesting about this. Up to this particular point in the war, we haven`t seen coffins come off of airplanes. There have been certain images that have been kept to the side, and the Army wants people to see this. They really do. They wouldn`t have let us go over there and the cooperation we had from them was really quite surprising.
[Beck:] It makes everybody involved look good. It really does. They`re just I`m so proud of our troops and, gentlemen, I have to tell you, I`m I`m I thank you for bringing this.
[Alpert:] Isn`t this what we like to do as reporters?
[Beck:] I`m not a reporter.
[Alpert:] You know, it`s your job to bring certain information to the people.
[Beck:] Right.
[Alpert:] And that`s why they watch because they`re going to see something they don`t normally get to see. And as horrific as this was, this was something that we were proud to do, to associate ourselves with them and to be able to have this job, to bring this information nobody`s seen before back and makes you feel really good about doing this.
[Beck:] Thank you. Thank you. Happy Memorial Day.
[Alpert:] Thanks a lot.