Why was Washington's character so bent on getting at the truth?About what happened on the field,before he could recommend her for the MOH?Was it bcos he had failed before,and now his conscience asked him to do the right thing?Did he have this intuition that something was wrong after he heard several versions?
shareHe was first responsible for the friendly fire death of one of his men, and then complicit in the cover up. I've seen comments that that whole part of the movie was not needed, but I disagree; it totally gets to why he is so doggedly determined to uncover the truth in the Karen Walden investigation.
And I don't think it's "intuition" that told him something was wrong when he got conflicting versions of events. It's just common sense.
You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi
Washington was trying to find out the truth because the military take awarding the Medal of Honor very seriously. It's common for the investigation and review process to take a year or more, and far more often than not, someone recommended for a Medal of Honor ends up receiving a lesser service decoration.
Thanks ChicagoToffee...Can watch the movie again now with a new perspective.
shareI always wondered why Serling never told his CO that there were all these different stories, and it would be better for it to take more time than grant the honor and then have dispersion thrown onto it later. Alt. could have made a deathbed confession, Damon could have broken down from the drugs and stress and told all, etc. That would have been a huge scandal, esp. as being granted to the first woman was groundbreaking.
shareHe told the Major that he was going to get the truth and he did. And as he told the journalist, after what happened with his situation he wanted to get this one right. MuchToBeGratefulFor expressed it very well in a post above. And by the time the medal was awarded, Serling had verified everything he needed to feel confident about recommending she get it. This time he did indeed get it right.
shareThis time he did indeed get it right.
And that was, to answer the question posed in the OP, why the truth was so important. In the scene where Serling contacts the reporter for a secret meeting, he wants the reporter to find Altameyer for him. The reporter asks why, Serling tells him, "when you do a story, you want to get it right. Well, so do I."
You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi