Operation Homecoming - Ashbah

This is a clip from the documentary film "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience." It includes the segment "Ashbah."

From the film's website:

OPERATION HOMECOMING is a unique documentary that explores the firsthand accounts of American servicemen and women through their own words. The film is built upon a project created by the National Endowment for the Arts to gather the writing of servicemen and women and their families who have participated in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Through interviews and dramatic readings, the film transforms selections from this collection of writing into a deep examination of the experiences of the men and women who are serving in America's armed forces. At the same time it provides depth and context to these experiences through a broader look at the universal themes of war literature.

The writing in OPERATION HOMECOMING covers the full spectrum — poetry, fiction, memoir, letters, journals and essays. The stories recounted here are sad, funny, violent and uplifting. Yet each one displays an honesty and intensity that is rarely seen in explorations of the war. Through an extraordinary group of men and women it presents a profound window into the human side of America's current conflicts.

At the core of the writing in OPERATION HOMECOMING is a deep desire by all those who have served in war to come to terms with their experiences. Throughout the film the servicemen and women, young and old, express a profound hope that people will listen to their stories and try to understand what they have seen.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/show_operation_homecoming.html

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• operation homecoming ashbah
• iraq
• afghanistan
• brian turner

[alpinorico]

Turner is the poet lauriate of this war, this decade, and I read him again and again, as he explains what happened to me, better than I understand

[revpgesq]

as a listener, i have experienced (very) second-hand exactly what is said here: what war does to men and women does not change over time. i could close my eyes and if one of my WWI era friends was sharing about combat and related horrors it would be indistinguishable from listening to one from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War(either part), Afghanistan, or any of the lesser well known actions. cognitive dissonance and high explosives and fast metal do not mix well.

[VittoIB]

I got to meet Brian Turner a few days ago. What an outstanding poet of a much-needed perspective.