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PJ Tobia has talked to Scott Kesterson who as many of you know is in the Gardez area. Scott gave PJ a live description from on the ground of what happened in Gardez today.
Gardez was one of 3 cities in eastern Afghanistan where Government buildings were simultaneously attacked.
“There were multiple bombs targeted at the NDS (National Security Directorate, Afghanistan’s NSA) the governor’s mansion and Afghan National Police headquarters in the district….â€
Written by Debra Bathmann, CERDEC Public Affairs Office & Outreach
Employees from the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center were invited to the Myer Center Auditorium on the afternoon of June 2 to view “At War,†a hard-hitting documentary that aims to expose the realities of the conflict in Afghanistan.
The film records, in gritty realism, the daily activities of U.S., Canadian and Afghan Soldiers – from the commonplace task of purchasing a cow for food to the horrifying affair of being fired upon at night by an unseen enemy.
The director, Scott Kesterson, created the film after quitting a successful construction job at age 41 to pursue his lifelong ambition of photojournalism. He managed to secure a mentorship with Pulitzer-Prize winning photojournalist David Leeson, and just six months after leaving his former employment, Kesterson found himself stationed in Afghanistan as an imbedded photojournalist, living his dream.
Kesterson felt very passionately about presenting a raw account of life in the combat zone, said 1st Sgt. Troy Steward, a colleague of Kesterson’s in Afghanistan.
“He didn’t want the Soldiers’ stories to go untold,†said Steward.
Mike Tumminelli, who was deployed to Afghanistan from September 2007 to October 2008 as a National Guard staff sergeant serving as an imbedded training advisor, befriended Steward through a blog that reports on the happenings in Afghanistan as well as other military-related issues. Aware that Steward had been touring the U.S. with Kesterson, showing “At War†to different units and groups of civilians, Tumminelli convinced him to bring the film to Fort Monmouth and serve as a guest speaker.
Tumminelli and Steward believe that “At War†helps dispel some common misconceptions held by the public about the conflict because it is an unedited picture of the war in Afghanistan.
“I think people have been seeing Iraq in the mainstream media so much, and when they think of an army at war, they think of a lot of people in a unit moving left and right and the Soldiers having a lot of support – not two Soldiers in a small mud farmhouse, teaching Soldiers not to steal, teaching them basic ethics, trying to help stand up a government and trying to do all the things that have nothing to do with Soldiering,†said Steward.
“These Soldiers are doing their mission with very little support. As you see in the film, close air support is hours away and medical attention, helicopters or any aircraft is between four to six hours wait time, and I don’t think the general public really understands that aspect of this conflict: that we have very little, and we’re doing a lot,†said Tumminelli.
As a civilian, Guilange Fabien, an intern in CERDEC, felt that the film opened her eyes to the trials and tribulations of the Soldiers in Afghanistan.
“I think that the documentary gave me a good perspective of what Soldiers experience during war. While I was watching, I felt I was a part of the Soldiers’ experience as they interacted with Afghanis, drove in the Humvee and spent time with their comrades,†said Fabien. “It left an undeniable impression on me.â€
Steward stressed that “At War†doesn’t contain any political agendas, but rather an accurate presentation of the conflict in Afghanistan intended to provide a window into the lives of Soldiers stationed there.
The film, which essentially projected Steward’s and Tumminelli’s experiences onto the movie screen, had an emotional resonance with both men.
“It’s that feeling of loneliness the film shows that was very compelling to me and most of the guys I know who have watched the film: the feeling of being left out there, in the middle of nowhere and not knowing how long it’s going to take your fellow American forces to get to you,†said Tumminelli.
“I was actually with Scott [Kesterson] at my house, and we watched it with a couple of guys that were on my team,†said Steward about his first time viewing the film. “It was very emotional to watch; it brought back a lot of memories not just for me, but also for my son, who just got back in January. It was a lot to take in; I sat pretty quiet afterwards.â€
According to Tumminelli, “At War†puts forth a portrait of the war in Afghanistan that no glamorized Hollywood movie could ever offer.
“If you look at war movies like ‘Black Hawk Down,’ something like that doesn’t compare. There are no agendas in ‘At War.’ It’s crisp; it’s real. There are no scenes where everyone becomes a hero, and there’s no ‘last stand,’†said Tumminelli. “Believe it or not, war can be very boring. It’s ‘10 hours of boredom and 30 seconds of pure terror,’ as everyone says, and that’s what the film shows.â€
My good friend, fellow NCO, fellow Afghan vet, and fellow blogger has now sat down and watched AT WAR and taken the time to write his review. I encourage you to head over to his site to read his take on this awesome movie portraying life on the ground in Afghanistan.
It wasn’t a single moment that took me there. It was the entirety of it. There was so much of my experience in it. Scott Kesterson and his collaborators have captured the unique experience of what was like to be there, especially as an ETT or PMT. The only thing missing was the gritty taste of the Afghan dust and the distinct smell of cooking fires in the villages.
During my time at FOB Tillman, we would have our medical clinic open everyday for 2 hours so that local Afghan villagers could receive medical care. In this extremely remote FOB situated along the Afghan – Pakistan border, it was common to have some villagers walk 2-3 hours to see the medics.  We would see approximately 15-30 men and children at our clinic daily.
The one thing I didn’t see at all were women showing up to the clinic. Although I wasn’t surprised by the lack of adult female attendance as this was ultra-conservative Pashtun and Waziri tribal area, I knew that the women still needed medical care. After a little coordination, a US Army Reserve female physician assistant (PA), was flown in for a few days to help out.
Even though we had made sure to spread the word, we had very few females show to the clinic. On the PA’s last day, a local man approached with his wife and was very concerned. Our interpreter informed us that he was concerned that there was something wrong with his wife because she had not produced him any children yet and he wanted the female PA to fix her.
After a brief private exam the PA called the husband back into the clinic while the rest of us waited outside. After a few minutes the husband emerged from the clinic with a relieved expression on his face as he led his wife from the FOB. After the clinic closed to the locals I asked the PA what she discovered that was wrong with the local’s wife. She stated that she couldn’t find anything ”wrong” with his wife but after a few prodding questions she soon discovered that the wife was a virgin as the husband had only engaged her in anal sex. That was when the PA had called the husband back into the clinic and gave him a crash course on sex education. No wonder why the man left with a smile and a bit more spring in his step.
This is just another example of how uneducated the majority of this country really is.  It truly does need all the help it can get.
It is official, the documentary AT WAR (www.atwarfilm.com) is being shown on Sunday, May 3rd at 6:00PM in North Tonawanda, NY at the Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival(www.buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com/at%20war.html). I will be on hand to do any Q&A and we are working on having Scott Kesterson call in live from Afghanistan to also do Q&A at the end of the movie. Come out and join us to watch AT WAR in the Riviera Theater.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service Blog has written a review of At War. You can check it out by clicking the link below.
“The film is not a Hollywood production. Far from it, yet packs a punch more emotionally explosive than any Tom Hanks war drama. This is real life. There is no set. No makeup. The blood is real. The tone of film is intense from start to finish. I am still wrestling with emotions and questions after watching this film…though not to the extent our troops and their families.”
Tonight we will be catching up with film-maker and embedded freelance journalist/blogger, Scott Kesterson, live from Afghanistan. Scott’s film, At War, was just shown at the Annual Milblog Conference last weekend and is showing at the Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival this weekend. He has been out on missions the last few days and will be giving us a fresh perspective of how things are going on the front lines of the Global War on Terror.
We are also talking with Mark Baker, creator of the popular Army Times cartoon “PVT Murphy’s Law” (www.pvtmurphy.com/). Mark and CJ are old friends so it should be a good time to find out any dirt on CJ from the past. We will be talking about his very famous comic strip, the feedback he gets about it and how Murphy has grown over the years from a Private to a Sergeant.
Last but not least, Wesley Gray, author of “EMBEDDED: A Marine Corps Advisor Inside the Iraqi Army” will join CJ and Troy to talk about his book and the story he is trying to tell the world through this book.
