What a wonderful, great film. Traces the lives of some individual vets (ranging from WWII to Iraq) from the time of dreaming of becoming a soldier and making a decision on standing up to fight for their country, to the reality of war, to the challenges of returning to their country and families, including dealing with the trauma that they had to deal with in attempting to survive, fighting the enemy who was out to destroy them, and the taking of lives, as well as the physical and emotional issues that they faced back home that often arose as a result of their experiences, and then to the possibilities and hope of healing and recovering (very challenging for many). A truly powerful and beautiful film that should be seen by all. Not only those whose families, friends and relatives have been affected by the experience of war (including past wars), but by all those wishing to better understand our vets and what they have gone through and often are still going through. A groundbreaking film that hopefully will result in a greater understanding and awareness of the needs and challenges of our vets, as well as creating a feeling of hope by seeing what is being done to help our returning soldiers and hopefully enhancing efforts to further help our vets, of whom so many still need a great deal of support, understanding and help (there are still approximately 21 vets committing suicide on a daily basis). The amazing thing is also seeing the work of Dr. Amit Etkin at Stanford and of Dr. Jeremy to better understand the effects of PTSD on the brain, which hopefully can further open the door for treating our vets).
2 Reviews
An important and intensely moving film about American vets returning from this country's wars.
jbecket29 October 2016
A very moving important film. A magnificent job by the director/ editor etc to pull all of this together. Every person in the film was so well chosen and profound.
At the same time you can't help wondering about the politicians that sent these young men off to useless wars after World War II. The decision by the Bush administration and the Supreme Court left a million dead, millions displaced and it still goes on. Madness. And then on their return they're brought out at football games and honored as the military is celebrated. But as the film shows returning vets are not taken care of properly as the understanding and the resources are just insufficient. Despite the dedicated efforts of so many. Heartbreaking.
At the same time the film had an inspiring side with those vets who stepped up to help others and thus helped themselves.
thank you Eric for taking this subject on and doing such an amazing job bringing together such a wealth of material great visual and emotional filmmaking.
At the same time you can't help wondering about the politicians that sent these young men off to useless wars after World War II. The decision by the Bush administration and the Supreme Court left a million dead, millions displaced and it still goes on. Madness. And then on their return they're brought out at football games and honored as the military is celebrated. But as the film shows returning vets are not taken care of properly as the understanding and the resources are just insufficient. Despite the dedicated efforts of so many. Heartbreaking.
At the same time the film had an inspiring side with those vets who stepped up to help others and thus helped themselves.
thank you Eric for taking this subject on and doing such an amazing job bringing together such a wealth of material great visual and emotional filmmaking.
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