Between making Bin Laden into fish crap, Arab Spring uprising, Japan almost getting taken off the map (and this time not by us) and the supposed end of the war in Iraq 2011 has been a very eventful year.

In 2011 I was lucky enough to be part of the film project Happy New Year (www.happynewyearfilm.com). I was privileged to host a screening of it at the 2011 Milblog Conference in Washington DC and of course have stayed very close to my friends, Michael, Lorrell and Joe in promoting it and getting the word out. I am also always talking to my good friend Mike Scott from the film Severe Clear (www.severeclearthemovie.com) and am working a couple of different projects with him. I also worked very close with my good friend Matt Goss (www.mattgoss.biz) on an awesome Veterans Day Show I helped host by giving almost 100 Veterans and their guests a great night out with Dinner (thanks to Caesars Palace) and a show in Matt’s theater, The Gossy Room.

Matt and I are already working with Caesars for an even bigger show in 2012. In addition I am working on a new film project in 2012 which promises to be an awe-inspiring full-length independent  feature film called Bards of War. Produced and Directed by one of my closest friends, Scott Kesterson it will no doubt be an eye-opening experience for most of America on what the real stories are coming out of Afghanistan as told by the Bards, the soldiers. Tonight at midnight the Facebook page for the project will go live and within days the website should be up and developing also. Until then swing by the twitter page at www.twitter.com/bardsofwar and follow. For anyone that has followed Scott’s work in the past, you will be very pleased with this project and the film.

So as you can see, Bouhammer.com is already very active in several big things for the new year and it has not even started yet. Who knows what else is in store for the site and the blog. Then again who knows what is in store for our country and our military.

Thanks again for taking the time to care and read this blog and I hope you continue to follow it and like what you see into 2012.

Happy New Year,

Bouhammer

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Hetherington’s Restrepo depicted all of that. The reality of war. The tragedy, the camaraderie, the absurdity, and the ridiculous things you do to keep yourself sane. I may not have known Tim Hetherington, but his work has had a greater affect on me than most of my personal relationships, let alone any movie, could ever possibly have. That’s why when I learned of his death in Libya I was absolutely floored. I spent the whole day in a fog. It was like reliving the days that we lost guys in Afghanistan all over again.

Read Mr. Smith’s entire piece at:

www.scholarsandrogues.com/2011/06/19/a-valiant-and-fearless-truth-teller-tim-hetherington/

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Coming straight off a a multi-city film festival tour, which began with the famous South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX. The Directory/Writer of the original play and then feature film, Mr. Lorrell Manning will be sitting on one of the panels of the Milblog Conference titled “War and Film”. More information about the panel and the conference can be found at milblogconference.milblogging.com/conference-panels/

Joining Mr. Manning at the special screening on Friday Afternoon at 2:15 PM sharp is Lead Actor/Producer Michael Cuomo and Military Advisor and supporting actor Joseph Harrell. Immediately following the screening, I will be facilitating a Q&A session with all three gentlemen.

HAPPY NEW YEAR is the story of “Sgt. Cole Lewis” who, mentally and physically scarred by his time served in Iraq and Afghanistan, finds humanity, compassion and friendship in a group of similarly injured veterans in the psychiatric ward at a remote Veterans Hospital. The group, ranging from guys left behind from WWII and Vietnam, to those recently injured in the Middle East, slowly become Lewis’ new family. Along with them, he will attempt to redefine his sense of self, and find a new place in the world. Through humor and pathos, Lewis becomes a ray of hope in the ward, as the men find a way to combat their post-war grief. However, just as their luck starts to change, Lewis soon faces his fiercest battle yet.

I have been working with the creators and stars of this feature movie since watching a personal screening of the movie, last December in NYC. I was convinced at that point that this was something all people need to see. This movie does not glamorize war-fighting, and it also does not victimize those who fight it. Instead it shows the good and bad sides of recovery, to include how our warriors find humor in the worst of times, how true leaders emerge from the shadows and how different people deal with their wounds in different ways.

Not every story ends tragically or happy, sometimes they are in between. Sometimes what is one person’s tragedy is someone else’s happiness.

The screening is free and will start at 2:15PM sharp.

FRIDAY, APRIL 29

ERNEST HEMINGWAY 1 CONFERENCE ROOM

WESTIN ARLINGTON GATEWAY HOTEL

801 NORTH GLOBE ROAD

ARLINGTON, VA

2:15 PM

Happy New Year Trailer from Happy New Year Film on Vimeo.

More information about the movie can be found at

happynewyearfilm.com/

Additional details about this screening can be found

HERE!

If you are attending the 2011 Milblog Conference, I look forward to you joining me at this very special screening.

NOTE-This is the third movie screening that has been sponsored by Bouhammer.com. The first was of the documentary At War at the 2009 Milblog Conference, the second was of RESTREPO in July, 2010 at the New York State Museum.

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I wish Tim and Sebastian all the luck I can and hope they take home the prize. 

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Last week I received an advance screener DVD of the movie that will air tonight on National Geographic Channel. Even though I had seen it already, there is a lot to take in and I was glad to have the opportunity to view the movie again.

If you have seen it already, it is worth seeing again. If you haven’t then take some time and watch it tonight on NGC, preferably on HD if you have it. It is a lot to take in and consider. If you can, record it so you can go back and watch it again.

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This is the third in a list of movies that follow the Cinema Verite style of film-making. The first was Scott Kesterson’s AT WAR, and the second was the recently released RESTREPO by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger.

This movie, Battle for Hearts and Minds was filmed by Danfung Dennis while he was embedded with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade in 2009.

The expected release of this documentary is slated for 2011. Keep an eye out for it and know you heard about it here first, on Bouhammer.com

Battle for Hearts and Minds Trailer from Danfung Dennis on Vimeo.

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blog.uso.org/2010/07/12/the-story-and-the-soldiers-behind-restrepo/

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I hosted a screening of this movie along with SGT Brendan O’Byrne and Director Tim Hetherington a few weeks back at the Albany. Be sure to check the movie’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/restrepothemovie?v=app_4949752878 to find where the movie is playing around the country.

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This final blog entry is about what happened after the showing of the movie….

When the movie ended, the audience erupted in applause. I figured most were moved and emotionally manipulated by the movie and my suspicions were correct. After those that couldn’t stay left, the others from the overflow area came into the main theater and took the empty seats. Again the theater was filled along with many who were standing along the outside walls.

Bouhammer, Brendan and Tim at answering questions.Photo by LTC Paul Fanning

Joining me at the front of the theater was filmmaker and director Tim Hetherington and Brendan O’Byrne. Brendan was a Sergeant that was in 2nd platoon and was interviewed and talked about many times in Sebastian Junger’s book “WAR”. It is also Brendan’s face on the cover of the book and it is Brendan on the cover of the poster for RESTREPO. Tim was Sebastian’s partner in their project to document the deployment of the men at the Korengal outpost and outpost RESTREPO. They were the stars of the show, I was simply facilitating the Q&A and adding some commentary when needed based on my experience in the military and in Afghanistan.

The Q&A sessions took on more of a feel of a town-hall meeting (as Tim pointed out later). The questions did not go in the path I thought and hoped, as in they were not all about the movie. I thought people would ask “Why did that happen…” or “What did you think when….?”. There was some of that, but not near as much as I thought there would be. Due to the recent press coverage about Afghanistan, GEN McCrystal resigning, etc, there were a lot of questions about US policy in Afghanistan, military strategy and general WHYs? “Why are we there?”, “Why haven’t we had more progress?” and other questions of that nature.

Brendan watching Tim answering a questions. Photo by LTC Paul Fanning

It was obvious that there were some ultra-left (President) Bush hating Democrats and there were some very conservative Republicans in the audience. They tended to turn what was supposed to be questions into just general statements based on their political views. I tried to steer away from them as quickly as possible, but it was hard to do and not offend someone. Regardless of what the political view was the overall feeling was of respect for the soldiers.

The questions started heating up to the point of there were more than I could count. I did my best to go from left to right and spreading around the room as much as possible. At one point I looked over to Dr. Siegfried and saw that he was giving me the five minute sign. After a few more questions I wrapped it up. I apologized for not taking any more questions, again thanked every one for coming out and reminded everyone to tell their friends and family about the movie and to go see it wherever they can in the country.

As people were leaving the theater, both Brendan and Tim were outside signing movie posters, postcards, copies of “WAR” that were sold that night and just generally talking to people. As this was going on I leaned over to ask Tim and Brendan if they wanted to go out and grab a beer after we were done. They both readily agreed and said they would love to.

Tim, Bouhammer, and Brendan after the screening. Photo by LTC Paul Fanning

Two of my teammates from Afghanistan that I have talked about many times before on this blog, Prophet and Puss, were at the showing that night and were still hanging around. I asked Puss if he knew of a local watering-hole and he said he knew of a good German pub. Once we left the museum, the five of us headed over the pub and settled into a back table. For the next couple of hours Brendan, Tim, Prophet, Puss and myself all raised our glasses to honor those who were no longer with us anymore and proceeded to talk about our families, the war in Afghanistan, comparing it to other war experiences, the strategy and overall war policy. That night over a few smooth Hefeweizen beers we solved all the problems in Afghanistan, just too bad it never left the table. However if the President or GEN Petreaus were with us, they would have gotten some earful on what it would take to make things right.

As the bar closed, we all exchanged phone numbers, email addresses and promised to stay in contact. We also all agreed that we made some great friends that night and were glad that we did. As I look back, I realized that the night will go down as another in my list of accomplishments that have come about as a result of me starting this simple blog. Due to my blogging I was asked to help host this movie, then I was asked to facilitate the Q&A, and then I met some great guys who have hearts of gold and minds of warriors. Tim may be a photo-journalist, but he has hung with some of the greatest warriors in the worst of areas in the world.

I invite you to check out Tim’s site and some of this past accomplishments at www.timhetherington.com. If you would like to hear Tim’s impressions and reflections on his time in the Korengal Valley head over to www.bouhammer.com/2010/06/bouhammer-com-presents-restrepo/ and check out the 2nd video in that posting.

Thank you for reading, Bouhammer out….

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There is another facet of this movie (and book) that is yet to be recognized. That is that a future Medal of Honor recipient (the first live one since the Vietnam War) was in this unit. Sal Giunta will be the first live Medal of Honor recipient we have seen in a long time. From my sources, it has already been signed by the President and they are only waiting on an award date. Sal’s exploits that earned him this distinct honor are detailed in the book. He was never shown (that I know of) in the movie, but this was his unit. He was there and it happened in what many of the soldiers described as their “low point” in the tour, Operation Rock Avalanche.

If you want to learn more about Rock Avalanche, I suggest seeing the movie or reading the book, or waiting until it is made public that Sal Giunta is going to be awarded the Medal of Honor. I am sure what that happens then much more will be made public about the operation. I also suggest heading over to Blackfive and reading what my buddy Jimbo wrote, www.blackfive.net/main/2010/07/first-living-medal-of-honor-since-vietnam.html

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The movie was shown at the New York State Museum’s Huxley Theater in downtown Albany, NY. I expected somewhere around maybe 150 to show up if we were lucky. I was humbled and amazed at the turnout which had to be close to 325 people. In fact when I first got to the museum, our contact there showed me the overflow area in case the theater seating of 220 was maxed out. I joked that I am sure we would not need overflow but it is always good to have a backup plan.

A little while later, but before the people started showing up, I found out all the local media in the Albany, NY area had been pushing the movie showing all day. They did not inform people to RSVP so we really had no idea how many would show up. I believe this was why we had so many show up, which was really a great thing.

The night started with Dr. Siegfried, the Director of the museum introducing me as the presenter of the film and moderator of the Q&A time afterwards. I then thanked everyone for being present on behalf of all the sponsors plus on behalf of bouhammer.com. We then got right into the showing.

The movie was simply amazing. It has the same Cinema Verti style that Scott Kesterson’s “At War” has. The movie serves as a view through the soldier’s eyes of life in the most remote and dangerous place in Afghanistan during 2007-2008. It showed not only the bad, but also some of what could only be classified as the good of life in a remote outpost dug into the side of a hill.

The name comes from the first soldier killed in 2nd Platoon, Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team during that deployment. It was “Doc” Restrepo, the platoon medic. In all honesty I think the name really comes from the outpost which was built during the deployment that was named after Doc Restrepo. That outpost is where 2nd platoon took up residence. It was the most crude living conditions that one could have while serving in the most technology advanced army of one of the most wealthiest nations in the world. No TV, No phones, No internet, nothing as far as connection with the outside world except for military radios and hand-written letters.

It is that type of austere life that the viewer gets to witness in all its highs and lows. The film shows how the soldiers made the best out of what they had, or didn’t have. They joked with each other, and there was pretty much nothing off-limits. It was the ultimate boys club. The crude jokes, homo-erotic humor, and complete un-political correctness that makes up soldier life is portrayed at different points in the film.

Part of the decision making process of setting up and patrolling such a dangerous place as the Korengal Valley is also shown via shura meetings with elders and some of the static interviews with both company commander Dan Kearney (BTW, his father, LTG Frank Kearney was my Battalion Commander at one time in my military career) and 1SG Caldwell that were done after the unit re-deployed back to Italy.

Speaking of the static interviews, I think that is what really sets this film apart and gives the viewer the “human” side of the soldiers. It is one thing to see the soldiers on the outpost joking around, yelling during a firefight or even sunbathing…it is something else when the camera is zoomed in very close on their face as they sit in a studio in Italy with a black backdrop and let their emotions, fears, concerns and cares flow out for all to see. There were many interviews, but I think it is Cortez’s who impacted me the most. PFC (I think that was his rank at the time) Cortez appears to be one of those guys who hides his feelings behind an infectious smile, but his eyes speak something different. As the interviews with Cortez continue on in the film the smile stays, but the eyes seem to change. That is until the last interview snippet as he drops the smile and just stares into the camera. Maybe it is just me, but it seemed that through his whole interview he did all he could to keep that smile up as a sign of nervousness and as a way to hide what was inside, but as he got near the end he either could not do it anymore or he just finally felt comfortable enough to let his guard down. For me as a previous First Sergeant who has dealt with many problems brought to me by my soldiers I do a lot of body language and facial reading. For me, the smile stood out as hiding something, but the dropping of it at the end said a lot more.

As I mentioned earlier, there were some “good” times. Times that showed the stamina of the American Soldier as he took the worst of situations and found humor in them. There were parts in the movie that made more than just old soldiers like me laugh, but made everyone laugh. These guys had NONE of the everyday comforts we Americans take for granted without even a partial thought day in and day out. They had to make best of what they had. Sometimes it was dancing with each other, other times it was fighting each other.

There is not much more I can say about the film without giving away more details that I think would be unfair to you. You need to see this and take it in and get your own impression. Just know that Bouhammer’s Afghan and Military Blog gives it TWO THUMBS UP. I put this film up there with “At War”, “Severe Clear”, and the mini-series “Generation Kill” when it comes to showing the realism of what life in a combat zone is like. If you live in the Albany, NY area it is currently showing at the Spectrum Theater and will continue to show there for as long as an audience shows up. There are many other theaters that it is showing in across the country. Please check out www.facebook.com/restrepothemovie to find a theater near you.

If for some crazy reason you don’t believe me and my review I invite you to check out a few others. The New York National Guard’s Public Affairs Officer, Paul Fanning’s review is up at readme.readmedia.com/Restrepo-comes-to-the-State-Museum/1584649. Sara Foss from the Schenectady, NY Daily Gazette has a review up at www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/foss/2010/jul/07/watching-restrepo/.

UPDATE- You can also check out the Blog called “Battlespaces” which is administered by the Center for Documentary Arts at The Sage Colleges in Albany, New York. Their review is at battlespaces-project.blogspot.com/2010/07/restrepo-part-i.html

NOTE- This is Part one of the review of the movie and its impact. There are two more parts that will be published over the next two days.

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