I’m going to tell you a dirty little secret about the fourth estate:

Sometimes we cover things because there are snacks.

Yeah, I know. It’s messed up. But any halfway honest journalist will tell you it’s true.

“We. Love. Snacks.” was actually the motto of the Society of Professional Journalists for much of the Dust Bowl phase. Little known fact.

I went to the Virginia International Tattoo yesterday because I was interested, yes, but also because I had a feeling they’d serve strawberry shortcake for dessert.

I’ve got another confession to make: Tattoo made me cry. A couple times.

[Editor's Note: One of the times was really bad. You know how when it's dark in the movie theater, and you kind of just let yourself cry because it's the dark and no one can see, and then there's like a really bright scene and your face is illuminated, and you're like Goddamn! That happened with me one of the times I cried at Tattoo. I thought the old dude next to me was going to slap me and snarl, "Act like a man!"]

Let’s review the basics of the show, shall we:

This kind of stuff goes on too.

“[Tattoo is] a ceremonial performance of military music by massed bands,” the Virginia Arts Festival brochure tells us. Which kind of sums it up perfectly, even if you might have to read that sentence 14 times before you get it. Basically, different branches of the military from all over the world had their bands come out and play some music, put on a show, and make them think they’re the freshest, youngest, coolest team to fight on since the Thundercats.

Re-reading that last paragraph, I’m not sure if I made Tattoo sound as boring as a high school band concert, or as completely awesome as Glee would be if it was about soldiers during wartime.

* *

See, even though the music gets you pumped up, and the dancing is exciting, and the overall spectacle is grand, what gives Tattoo its resonance is that we’re in wartime. According to the AP, at least 4,393 members of the US military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003. Doesn’t that just make your heart break? As of Friday, April 23, 2010, at least 961 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, the AP gravely informs us.

Nowadays, and especially around here, whenever I see a person in uniform, I am thrown into an emotional-philosophical frenzy. I wonder about the soldier: Have they had friends die in their arms? Do they have a dangerous job? Who would they be leaving behind if they were killed in battle? Have they killed someone? Did they believe deep in their hearts it was a death in the name of Liberty? And if not, how do they sleep at night? What have we done to a soul if we let it believe the value of human life is worth less than the fear of being viewed as subordinate?

Sometimes it is hard to understand what we're fighting for. (Photo | Navy)

In other words, war is heavy, man. And we’re waist deep in two of them right now.

What’s so great about Tattoo is that it let’s you tap into the emotional tragedy of war not through movies or news stories, like we usually do, but through music and dance performed by real live soldiers.

Like I said, it made me cry.

The first time was near the beginning of the show. Please forgive me if this is anything of a spoiler, but in one scene, soldiers and their families were standing in a small circle. As the song “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables is sung, one by one the soldiers leave their loved ones to stand at the perimeter of a new, much larger circle. The symbolism is clear: sometimes the brave of a nation must travel far away to protect us. And this might sound dramatic, but it is only in writing those words just now that I feel the notion that these wars just might not be about oil or grudges or hubris eager for blood.

We are fighting these wars to protect our great country.

And yes, they did serve strawberry shortcake at the press buffet afterward. Click here for ticket info. There are shows Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.