"Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God" (Romans 14:12). Accountability is the conviction that what we do matters, to God and to the people affected by our choices, even when no one else is watching and even when circumstances seem to excuse us.
This story about accountability, retold in our own words, comes from a film based on a real incident in the Vietnam War. It is a hard story, but it asks a question every one of us faces: when the rules seem to fall away, do our choices matter less, or more? It ends with a takeaway for sermons or reflection.
Stories in this collection:
"Maybe It Matters More": One Soldier's Conscience in Casualties of War
This story involves sexual violence in wartime. We describe it without graphic detail.
The 1989 film Casualties of War, directed by Brian De Palma, is based on a real incident during the Vietnam War. It was first reported in a 1969 article in The New Yorker by the journalist Daniel Lang.
The film follows a small squad of American soldiers on patrol. Exhausted, frightened and brutalised by the war, the men abduct a young Vietnamese woman from her village. They abuse her and later kill her.
Michael J. Fox plays Private Eriksson, the one member of the squad who refuses to take part. He is new to the unit, and he is outnumbered, threatened and mocked for standing apart. He cannot stop what happens, and he is tormented by that.
As he struggles with what his comrades have done, Eriksson confronts the others. Their thinking, he says, is that because any one of them might be killed at any second, they can act as though nothing they do matters. He believes the opposite is true. Because they might be dead in the next moment, he argues, they ought to be all the more careful about what they do. Perhaps, he says, it matters more than they ever realise.
After the patrol, Eriksson does what none of the others will do. Despite pressure from his superiors to keep quiet and threats to his own life, he reports the crime. The men are eventually brought to trial. In the real case on which the film is based, the soldiers involved were court-martialled and convicted.
Eriksson's words cut against a very common way of thinking. When life feels uncertain, dangerous or out of control, it is easy to believe that ordinary rules no longer apply, and that no one will hold us to account. War is an extreme example, but the same temptation appears in smaller forms in everyday life: when we are tired, when everyone else is doing it, or when we think no one will ever find out.
Eriksson saw it differently. The fragility of life did not make his choices meaningless. It made them weightier. And he was willing to pay a price to make sure that the truth was told and that those who had done wrong were held accountable.
Takeaway: Scripture insists that "God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Accountability is not only about being caught. It is about living as though every choice matters, because it does. Like Eriksson, we may also be called to speak up when others will not.
Source: Casualties of War (1989), directed by Brian De Palma; based on Daniel Lang's 1969 New Yorker article.
Final thoughts
One soldier's conscience in the middle of a war. His story reminds us that difficult circumstances never cancel our responsibility, and that sometimes accountability means having the courage to tell the truth.
For a related collection, see our stories about sin and temptation. For further reading, Sopranu reviews 12 Angry Men, another story about one person who refuses to go along with the group.
Where might God be asking you to take responsibility, or to speak up, this week?
More stories you may like:
These stories are retold in our own words for teaching and reflection. Sources are credited under each story.
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