Criminal Minds "The Fallen" stands tall

Criminal Minds "The Fallen" stands tall
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
November 15, 2012

Yesterday I posted about how another Criminal Minds had Vietnam Veteran in story remembering all the other times they had a PTSD veteran as the "unsub" expecting more of the same.

Last night I did what I always do. Turned on Criminal Minds. I took a deep breath and saw Rossi at his desk on the phone with his publisher.

The Fallen

Pictured (L-R): Meshach Taylor (Harrison Scott) and Joe Mantegna (David Rossi). The BAU travels to Santa Monica when burned bodies of homeless people begin showing up by the famous pier.

Also, Rossi reconnects with his former Marine sergeant from Vietnam.

Rossi was trying to figure out who his new book would be dedicated to when they received the call about murders in Santa Monica. While the team figured out the victims were homeless people, they arrived at a shelter and Rossi spotted a homeless veteran and the patch on his arm. He followed him and soon discovered it was someone he cared about.

Sgt. Scott talked about all the times he had been married and how they failed. Talked about what happened after Rossi was wounded and Sgt. Scott was left feeling guilty about an award he knew someone else should have received.

Sgt. Scott didn't want help from Rossi even though Rossi had enough money to help him. At this point it was clear that Sgt. Scott was at a point in his life when he didn't believe he deserved help from anyone.

This episode addressed many important issues average citizens never hear about.

First, Rossi was a young kid when he was a Marine in Vietnam. He was changed by Sgt. Scott and then spent the rest of his life trying to save people because of what Scott did. It didn't matter how short of a time Rossi was in Vietnam because it stayed a part of his life.

Maybe now we know it could be part of the reason Rossi had been married so many times and this came out when Scott mentioned how all his marriages failed.

Both of these men were changed by their service in Vietnam and both men held the ability to risk their lives for someone else. Scott risked his life to save the life of a homeless woman. In the end Scott finally got the help he needed after making peace with the award he received when the real hero behind the action was honored and Rossi discovered that his life of tracking down criminals was directly tied to his service in Vietnam and the heroes he learned from.

Fabulous job!