The most remarkable thing at the Oscars last night

With all the recent hype regarding Janet Jackson and Howard Stern's indiscretions or the fear of more political stones (thank you Michael Moore) that might have been cast tonight (of which there was little), I found Aaron Schneider's speech, winner of the Oscar for Live Action Short of Faulkner's Two Soldiers remarkable. Remarkable for the way it alluded to causes of war, specifically WWII and perhaps to the War on Terror.

Though delivered like a machine-gun and running out of time for his speech, it sounded to me as if Schneider compared Pearl Harbor to 9-11, calling them attacks on American soil. He didn't get into details. But I was stirred from the lull his delivery had lead me into, and I got online to see this short was about.

From the official website and a website of one of the actors, Ron Perlman, it looks like this: a story about a small, southern family torn apart by the older of two, inseparable brothers whose patriotism leads him to sign up to defend America after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The younger brother, hardly of age (11, I think), soon follows but out of love of his brother and family. Hence, two soldiers.

At this point, until I get a hold of a transcript of the speech or see the short, it is hard to be sure what Schneider said, let alone meant. But, it was interesting to find that the websites mentioned above seem to want to apply the story to our time. They see some relevance of the WW II story to "our day." Check them out. And I will update more when I get some more info.

UPDATE:
I have just found Aaron Schneider's acceptance speech (at oscars.com) and while he doesn't name 9-11 he does call Pearl Harbor "the first unprovoked attack on the United States," alluding to 9-11 as the second. (Not sure what else could be counted. If somebody knows, let me know.) Here is the fuller quote of the last bit of his acceptance:

. . . our American treasure William Faulkner who wrote "Two Soldiers" in 1942 after the first unprovoked attack on the united states. It's the story of two brothers who fight to preserve their family and country. Like a sibling's love, a soldier's devotion is selfless and unconditional and need not concern itself with the politics of war. I dedicate this to my family and the soldiers who protect our loved ones and the freedoms we celebrate. Thank you.