Echoes of Past Lives This Year So Far

[PastPilot]

This year has proven unusual. Three times I have gone to see a movie in a theatre to suddenly be hit by memories of a past life, and each time it came without warning.

The first one occurred while watching previews before the movie started. It was the preview of the film, Devotion, a movie about two navy pilots who flew Corsairs in the Korean War. When, in the preview, their aircraft came under fire from enemy antiaircraft positions, I was suddenly back in the cockpit of my B-17 bomber struggling to maintain a steady course -- we were just starting our bomb run. This incident hit me like a sledgehammer. I just wasn't expecting the intensity of fear and exhilaration. That had nothing to do with the film I had come to see.

The second film I saw was a romantic comedy. How is it possible to have a flashback memory of war in that? I thought it was a safe movie to see, while still remembering what the last movie triggered. Halfway through the film a scene ended and a new scene started. There was upbeat music during this part of the movie and that is what triggered the memory. In the recessing of the music, there was a heavy base drum beat, which instantly reminded me of distant shellfire. I was suddenly back in the trenches of WWI, a young lieutenant leading my men up a trench to where we were to stand ready before going over the top for a 9am attack on the German lines. As I lead my men we passed an adjoining trench on our right where a soldier was lying at the bottom screaming while another soldier was trying to physically calm him. The Germans were peppering our forward lines with shell fire and this chap had suffered a near hit. His nerves were shattered as a result. We passed them by -- it wasn't our business. As we made our way forward we passed another adjoining trench on our right. There were soldiers getting their gear ready for the upcoming attack. Sitting very close at the junction of the two trenches sat a lieutenant in full battle gear sitting on a wooden crate sipping his tea from a dainty cup and saucer. If it wasn't for the war and his battle attire, it wouldn't have looked so comical. I stopped and asked him, "What the hell are you doing?". He looked up with a smile and stated, "Just drinking my tea before our attack.". He then correctly identified my unit designation and when we were supposed to attack, and then stated, "We attack at 9:20am, twenty minutes right after you go over. See you over there soon!" ...then I was back sitting in a movie theatre watching the film.

The third film was Oppenheimer. During the Second World War, I served as a bomber pilot. I was only 23 years old when I was killed in action in late 1944. I graduated from high school in 1939 and went straight into university and when the USA got involved, I signed up. The movie, Oppenheimer, has many scenes of university life, and every time I see a film that depicts university life in the 1930s and 1940s, it triggers emotions. I am reminded that I chose to go to war and died for the decision. Oppenheimer does a good job of depicting the energy of the students and instructors. I think my area of study was mathematics or physics, although, in my present life, I have been denied this natural ability. It is as if I am not allowed to be proficient in math in this life but instead, I excel in a different subject. I always felt I was denied a mathematical mind and I always feel that it is there but it is blocked from me using it. It is terribly frustrating. However, it is for a reason and that may be because I would have joined the military once again, like in many of my past lives. It seems I am rarely not in the military. After the film ended, I went to the washroom and found myself alone and overwhelmed by these memories and emotions -- I hid this from my girlfriend. This again, hit me like a sledgehammer. I had had such hopes for the future in that lifetime only to be sidelined by another war and then killed in action again.

I suppose there is still time for a fourth film past life memory this year.