Doc RESTREPO Is a 15-Month Deployment Encapsulated in a Feature-Length Film

I’ve just watched the documentary RESTREPO and I’m not sure what I think of it.

Here’s the official explanation from the film’s website http://restrepothemovie.com

RESTREPO is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, "Restrepo," named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military.

This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.

The Los Angeles Times quote on the site reads: “Coming after The Hurt Locker...This movie gives you the same edge-of-your-seat sense of suspense and awe.”

I would perhaps agree with the same sense of awe – for what our military is asked to do and what they actually do – but I would not agree about the same sense of suspense.

While I found THE HURT LOCKER a compelling story from the moment it started, I found RESTREPO confusing and disoriented. And while I understand that this probably was done to reflect the way the platoon at Restrepo felt, I found as a viewer that this was very disengaging.

For example, in one segment the platoon is on a very dangerous operation that goes on for several days. Then suddenly they are walking across snow. Was this part of the same operation? I don’t think so given the scene following the snow scene.

Perhaps as a former newspaper reporter I can’t accept a documentary that doesn’t make the who, why, where, etc. very clear.

I also felt the movie very slow – long stretches of beautiful mountain scenery can be slow going. And, yes, again, I suspect these sections were meant to represent the waiting that the men did between defending off attackers and going on patrol.

While there are actual combat scenes, including wounded and dead, the viewer sees much less than he/she would see watching a fictional war movie.

There are some interviews of the soldiers returned from the deployment. And I was particularly concerned about the soldier who is experiencing severe PTSD symptoms. He tries not to sleep rather than sleep and relive his nightmares.

Neither he nor anyone else mentioned treatment being provided for the experiences this platoon was exposed to.

Here’s a short video from the film:


And check out information about other war documentaries and feature films about war at www.insupportofourtroops.com
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT.

Coping With Combat Stress: Book Review and WSJ Article

Theodore Knell’s book “From the Corners of a Wounded Mind” is a moving and powerful memoir of a soldier’s life.

The power of Knell’s story comes from what he writes about as well as by including his own poetry as part of his reflections. You can read one of his poems in the guest post he did – “Ex-British Special Forces Soldier Talks About His Experiences and His New Nonfiction Book”

This one poem doesn’t do justice to the amazing ability Knell has to capture the essence of his years as a soldier, including the effect of combat on soldiers.

His book concludes:

I hope that the next time you see a serviceman or woman, or the old man sitting on the homeless shelter steps, proudly brandishing a chest full of medals, you will pause for a moment and try to look beyond that confident, sometimes brash, some would even say arrogant exterior, to the person that lies within. A person who has worked hard, seen things that none of us should ever see, and in some cases suffered horrific injuries without complaint, someone who will continue to suffer in some way, either physically or mentally, but mostly in silence for the rest of their lives.

Only a few hours after reading the ending of Knell’s book, I read the Wall Street Journal April 2nd front-page article “Rx for Combat Stress: Comradeship” by Michael M. Phillips:

GARMSIR, Afghanistan—The morning after Chad Wade died, nobody wanted to walk point.

The Marines in Cpl. Wade's squad no longer had to imagine what would happen if they stepped on a buried bomb. Now they had seen it, and the fresh memory of their friend's shattered legs froze them in place.

When their squad leader, Sgt. Albert Tippett, lined them up for their next patrol, no one would pick up the metal detector used by the point man to clear a path through the mines.

The article goes on to explain “the new approach to combat stress that the Marine Corps wants to institutionalize.”

This new approach appears to be an antidote to what Knell describes so powerfully in his book – the reluctance of soldiers to talk about their horrifying experiences.

Read the entire Wall Street Journal article now. Then read Knell’s paperback book on Amazon or the Kindle version.

And for information on PTSD and its symptoms, see www.insupportofourtroops.com/ptsd-info/

March 22nd tweet on Twitter from @VeteranJournal: Suicide hotline available for deployed soldiers: http://ht.ly/4jJve

Forty Years After the Kent State Shootings During the Vietnam War

The May 6th Wall Street Journal article "Kandahar Deployments Augur Key Fight in Afghan War" by Yochi J. Dreazen began:

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky.—The Army brigade that will lead the coming U.S.-led offensive in Kandahar began deploying to Afghanistan this week, signaling the final preparations for what is expected to be a pivotal battle of the Afghan war.

Hundreds of soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team — a unit that parachuted into Normandy on D-Day — are en route to bases just north of Kandahar, the Taliban's home.

The rest of the brigade's roughly 3,200 soldiers will deploy in waves over the summer, suggesting that a large-scale offensive once thought to kick off this month won't start until June at the earliest.

This story appeared two days after the 40th anniversary of the Kent State shootings that occurred during the Vietnam War.

In brief, President Nixon widened the Vietnam War on April 30, 1970, when he announced an incursion into Cambodia. Protests broke out, and at Kent State University poorly trained Ohio National Guard fired on and killed protesting students and uninvolved passersby.

While it is never pleasant to send men and women off to war, there is a major difference between then and now -- there's no draft today. The U.S. has an all-voluntary armed forces.

But although the draft was widely unpopular, the men and women who served then deserved as much appreciation as we owe the men and women deploying now. We shouldn't forget history and we shouldn't overlook our obligations to our veterans and our active-duty military personnel.

To that end, stay tuned for information on an upcoming project to dramatically raise the awareness among Americans about PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Battlefield Medicine Advances

The April 3rd Wall Street Journal front-page article by Alan Cullison datelined Kandahar, Afghanistan, announced "On Distant Battlefields, Survival Odds Rise Sharply."

The article offers interesting information such as the following:

One of the most important innovations is a reemphasis on one of the oldest medical implements on the battlefield: the tourniquet. It was frowned upon in previous years because doctors feared it could cause long-term limb damage. Servicemen are now issued a Combat Action Tourniquet, dubbed CAT, made by Composite Resources, of Rock Hill, S.C.

Two CATs are now issued to every soldier. They are easy to use because each tourniquet has a black plastic lever that tightens it. Marines often go on foot patrols with tourniquets loosely strapped high on their thighs, so they can begin cranking right away if a foot is blown off.

The military's nerve center for innovations is the Joint Theater Trauma System, set up by the Defense Department in San Antonio, Texas. It analyzes statistics on battlefield injuries to see what treatments are working. A research article from the trauma center was one reason tourniquets were issued en masse in October 2008, after a study suggested that mortality rates could be reduced dramatically if soldiers could strap on a tourniquet before arriving at the hospital.

For more information on the advances from the battlefields, read the entire article now.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Dogs of War Saving Lives in Afghanistan

This headline tweeted by @MoveOneInc caught my attention on Twitter. I was particularly interested in the story because I have recently viewed a screener of Harris Done's compelling new documentary WAR DOGS OF THE PACIFIC. (You can learn about Done's documentary at my site www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.)

I contacted the company Move One and received permission to republish the following opening of the post by Zsuzsanna Blau:

With several shipments of military working dogs (MWDs) to various war-torn countries under our belt, at Move One, we understand and therefore are able to manage the unique challenges the process of these projects bring up.

Jobs of military dogs are of a wide variety, but what they all have in common is that they are out there to help save lives while risking their own.

Understandably, these extraordinary animals and their handlers share a special bond, and are treated equally, as brothers in war, partners, as man. So much so, that MWDs are always one rank higher than their handlers, in order to ensure that if a handler ever mistreats his dog, it is considered an assault on a superior, which in the military is a major offense.

Now read the AFP news article by Jason Gutierrez with photos by Christophe Simon.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Gifts of School Supplies Save American Lives in Afghanistan

Jim Hake, founder and CEO of Spirit of America (www.spiritofamerica.net) and the author of "101 Ways to Help the Cause in Afghanistan" wrote the op-ed piece "Spirit of America in Afghanistan: Ordinary citizens can contribute to our victory" in the December 27th Wall Street Journal.

The opinion piece begins:

In 2003, Sgt. First Class Jay Smith and his Army Special Forces team were based in Orgun-e, Afghanistan and were taking regular rocket fire from al Qaeda fighters. But Sgt. Smith and his men were armed with an effective counterweapon—gifts of school supplies and sports gear for children, and clothing, shoes and blankets for nearby families, all provided by American donors.

After receiving these items, the grateful villagers reciprocated by forming a night-watch patrol to protect our soldiers. Good relations with locals helped save American lives. I've witnessed this success on the front lines, aided by support from home, repeated many times since Sgt. Smith.

Read the rest of the piece now.

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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Nonfiction Book LONE SURVIVOR Is a Must-Read

The nonfiction book LONE SURVIVOR: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson is a must-read.

This is what my husband said to me when he handed me the book after he read it. And now that I have read the book, I agree.

Luttrell provides his first-hand account of the four-man mission into Taliban territory in Afghanistan in June 2005 that he alone survived. The description of how the four held out against a huge Taliban force is one of the most amazing warrior descriptions I've ever read or seen.

Yet there are other parts of this book that are just as compelling. These parts include the detailed information on SEAL training and the amazing story of the Afghan mountain village that risked every villager's life to prevent the Taliban from finishing off Luttrell.

If you want to know what our military personnel who go on clandestine missions do on these missions -- as well as understanding the "band of brothers" of our military -- read this book now.

Note: The above Amazon link is an affiliate link.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She is also an Internet business consultant and the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com.

Phyllis' company provides Internet marketing training as well as social media marketing to promote your business more effectively.

Front Page Headline in Wall Street Journal: Taliban Now Winning

In the April 10th Wall Street Journal an article by Yochi J. Dreazen in Kabul and Peter Spiegel in Washington is headlined: "Taliban Now Winning: U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Warns of Rising Casualties"

The article begins:

The Taliban have gained the upper hand in Afghanistan, the top American commander there said, forcing the U.S. to change its strategy in the eight-year-old conflict by increasing the number of troops in heavily populated areas like the volatile southern city of Kandahar, the insurgency's spiritual home.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that means U.S. casualties, already running at record levels, will remain high for months to come.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the commander offered a preview of the strategic assessment he is to deliver to Washington later this month, saying the troop shifts are designed to better protect Afghan civilians from rising levels of Taliban violence and intimidation.

Read the rest of the article now.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also writes articles as a National Internet Business Examiner and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life.

Phyllis' company has launched the monthly program WeTeachWebMarketing.com to help people promote their brand, book or business online. Her company also does Twitter tutoring -- see TeachMetoTweetNow.com

Wall Street Journal Article About Marines in Afghan Ghost Town: What Is This Article About?

The May 23-24 article “Stalemate” by Michael M. Phillips about the abandoned village Now Zad in Afghanistan was promoted this way:

A single company of U.S. Marines is slugging it out with the Taliban in Afghanistan’s toughest ghost town. The battle shows how limited troop numbers have hurt the war—and why the U.S. is changing its strategy.

I read the article carefully, then had my husband read the article carefully. Both of us were perplexed. We didn’t understand the U.S. military strategy at Now Zad – it really makes little sense.

Both of us were left with the impression that The Wall Street Journal ran this story for this exact reason: To beam a spotlight on the situation at Now Zad and get someone high up in U.S. military circles to take note and decide on a military strategy that makes more sense.

Read The Wall Street Journal article now on the Marines at Now Zad and then leave a comment if you have an opinion on what the article is really about.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs as a National Internet Business Examiner and at Operation Support Jews in the Military and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life.

Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites that get people to say yes to your brand, book or business. Her newest project is the book/website project In Support of Our Troops.

Novel A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS Sheds Light on Fighting in Afghanistan Now

If since September 11, 2001, you've been following the various fighting factions in Afghanistan without a clear understanding of who is who -- and you're not interested in reading a nonfiction book that explains all the factions, the novel A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini can serve as a "cheat sheet."

Hosseini's ability to explain what's going on as background to the saga of two women over many years sheds light on the abyss that is Afghanistan today.

While Hosseini's previous novel THE KITE RUNNER may be more well-known, it is my opinion that A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS is the more important novel. In fact, I read it while reading the nonfiction book by Gary C. Schroen FIRST IN: AN INSIDER'S ACCOUNT OF HOW THE CIA SPEARHEADED THE WAR ON TERROR IN AFGHANISTAN and the novel served as a briefing on the nonfiction book.

If you have seen the heart-breaking movie OSAMA about a young girl in Afghanistan during the reign of the Taliban, you'll especially want to read A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS as a companion piece to that brutal story.

As the U.S. sends more troops to Afghanistan, it behooves us to understand in what kind of country our troops are deployed. Reading the novel will help you comprehend that Afghanistan is a country whose tangled allegiances can be quicksand for unsuspecting personnel.

It is to be fervently hoped that U.S. military decision makers consider the cultural and ethnically divided history of Afghanistan when formulating military policies for that country.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Vietnam War: An Unexpected Email Brings Back Memories

I received the following email today from my junior high and high school friend Karen Clemens (now Karen Kernan). She wrote so beautifully about what we experienced at the time of the Vietnam War that I asked her permission to post this. She's now a marketing communications writer and her website is www.karenkernan.com. She’s on Facebook as Karen Kernan.

After reading the entire book, which I did very quickly, I had trouble sleeping. It brought back so many memories and gut reactions to those days. We did not keep in touch, and it was fascinating to me to see the journey you took.

I noted the mention of the diary in the book and wondered if you did indeed keep one, because the point of view seemed not to be influenced by the future that followed. What I mean is that the author did not seem to be one looking back to a distant past, with insights and wisdom of time. So it was a very fresh, undiluted return to those days when we did not know what would happen next.

It reminded me of when I was doing original research for a book I wrote on my husband’s ancestor who was one of the few Democratic senators in the U.S. Congress during the Civil War. The newspaper accounts written at the time were by people who did not know what the outcome of the war would be, and the tension in them was so raw in comparison to the later memoirs and history books.

So I did not sleep easily, going back into the time within my own body when the war was so distressing and uncertain, and my own young husband’s lottery number was low [17] and would be called up once he finished graduate school. But your book brought me back and showed an alternate path that might have been my own, and I think that is what caused the discomfort.

I felt a shift take place in me, and was forced to see the more terrifying and complex reality of what might have been had the war not ended in time. I felt the old helplessness in face of the enormity of history. And it did more to connect me to the families of those who are serving now, and facing the same terror of losing a loved one, than anything I have read or seen of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And I see how, having had this experience, you are forever changed.

You book, your experience, changed me as well.

(Perhaps this addresses the “benefit of reading this book” challenge you posted on your website.)

Not that it makes me in favor of the war we began so stupidly, but it makes me aware of the longer war that has been waged throughout history and everywhere, in the hearts of wives, lovers, and families behind the front lines.

Many thanks for writing it!

P.S. Also, I did read your “welcome home” blog, and what struck me was that the events of one’s youth send us off in a certain direction. We never return to the juncture and re-direct. Your life will always be connected to the lives and emotions of soldiers and their families. You helped me make a connection where there had been none.

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