The strain of experiencing wartime atrocities with the nation's patriotic fervor for war was the most striking comparison this film made. Fittingly, our military was not made the culprit.
James Gandolfini interviews every range of soldier, from vets and their families to the highest ranking officers. Military leaders throughout "Wartorn" admit that no one, unless they have no feeling at all, can be turned into a killing machine. Vets and their families talk about being trained to be murderers - and not trained to be civilians again. In the discussion after the documentary, panelists talked about the need to remove the stigma of emotional strain and needing mental help. Every one of our leaders in D.C. need to see this movie, but until they do, the armed forces and the V.A. themselves appear to be working harder to heal soldiers from within, to treat mental injuries as seriously as physical ones.
There's a lot of work to do. The average vet suffering from post traumatic stress disorder waits 12 years before seeking help, during which time jobs are lost and marriages broken up. Often times the help needs to come to the vet.
"Wartorn" is too short, but the discussion afterwards gives it a useful backdrop. It is a difficult and necessary twist to think of a regimented military and top-down society having the compassion it needs to keep as many soldiers as possible out of harms way and to completely treat the ones who make it back.
James Gandolfini interviews every range of soldier, from vets and their families to the highest ranking officers. Military leaders throughout "Wartorn" admit that no one, unless they have no feeling at all, can be turned into a killing machine. Vets and their families talk about being trained to be murderers - and not trained to be civilians again. In the discussion after the documentary, panelists talked about the need to remove the stigma of emotional strain and needing mental help. Every one of our leaders in D.C. need to see this movie, but until they do, the armed forces and the V.A. themselves appear to be working harder to heal soldiers from within, to treat mental injuries as seriously as physical ones.
There's a lot of work to do. The average vet suffering from post traumatic stress disorder waits 12 years before seeking help, during which time jobs are lost and marriages broken up. Often times the help needs to come to the vet.
"Wartorn" is too short, but the discussion afterwards gives it a useful backdrop. It is a difficult and necessary twist to think of a regimented military and top-down society having the compassion it needs to keep as many soldiers as possible out of harms way and to completely treat the ones who make it back.