Where Soldiers Come From

Where Soldiers Come From

(Heather Courtney, 2011, 90 min.)
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 / 4:00 PM
McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB

Emmy award-winning documentary Where Soldiers Come From follows the four-year journey of childhood friends who, after graduating from high school in rural Michigan, join the National Guard, enticed by a $20,000 signing bonus and college tuition support.  Called to service, the friends are sent to Afghanistan, where they spend their days sweeping for Improvised Explosive Devices.  By the time their deployment ends, each of these young men has undergone profound transformation, having survived countless bomb blasts and endured the multiple stresses of insurgent warfare. The film intimately follows their struggles with Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD and reveals the challenges they face upon returning to their families and communities.  Director Heather Courtney will visit UCSB on Thursday, November 8, to discuss the process of making this extraordinary documentary. Courtney will be accompanied by Dominic Fredianelli, one of the soldiers appearing in the film, whose artwork has been featured at the National Veterans Art Museum.  This film will also be shown on Monday, November 5 at 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM in IV Theater 2: click here for details.

Sponsored by the IHC series Fallout: In the Aftermath of War.