Cinema certainly frames the way we look at life, understand our own humanity and foresee our future. Whether we like it or not, America is a country at war, and stories of our nation's battles are frequently acted out on screen.
Many recent feature films and documentaries about soldiers tell us about acts of heroism, but they also inform us that deployment to war zones and combat conditions traumatize our troops in extreme and sometimes hidden ways that we're just beginning to understand. The victims of war are not only those warriors who are killed or maimed. Men and women soldiers who return from Iraq and Afghanistan -- or wherever the next perceived threat may occur -- bring home with them the fear, anguish, anger, despair and sense of alienation that they've acquired while in service to their country. We all have kin or friends or friends of friends who've returned home with ongoing nightmares or ennui or terrifying intolerance that impairs social interactions. And, and whether we live with these soldiers or not, share our beds with them or not, work next to them or not, we are each affected by their traumatized post-deployment state of being.
This Veterans Day, after the parades and ceremonies to celebrate those who've served and survived and commemorate those who've fallen have passed, take time to reflect on what we, as a nation, can do to alleviate the woes of war -- whether you believe America's military missions to be necessary, warranted and righteous or you consider them transgressions against humanity, civilization and our higher power.
The Way We Get By, premiering on PBS' POV for Veterans Day on November 11, can lead the way to positive action. Directed by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, the documentary takes you to Bangor, Maine, the point of departure and return for most of America's troop deployments. The film follows a group of senior citizens who gather daily at a small airport to greet American troops, thanking those departing and returning from Iraq for their service.
The film's three central characters -- Joan, Jerry and Bill -- set aside their own battles with aging, failing health, financial debt, and personal depression to show unconditional support for the soldiers by waving flags, shaking hands, sharing embraces and saying thank you to each and every man and woman who passes them. The soldiers are clearly moved -- many with huge smiles, others with tears -- by the greeters' actions, and you will be, too. The troop greeters are unsung heroes, and observing their generous behavior in The Way We Get By is a very good way to frame our experience of Veterans Day. Visit the POV Website for more details sbout the film, scheduling and geting involved. And, watch the trailer.
(PHOTO: Troop greeters, Joan, Jerry and Bill, in 'The Way We Get By.' Courtesy International Film Circuit).
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