"Brothers at War" documentary

[wondersofwine]

I went to a special showing in Fayetteville, NC Saturday night of "Brothers at War" documentary. Gary Sinise, producer of the documentary, and Jake Rademacher, the director, were there as well as two of Jake's brothers who appear in the film. Gary Sinise and Jake met with attendees prior to the showing and answered questions afterwards. Jake is the oldest of a family that had five sons and two daughters. He wanted to attend West Point and be a soldier but didn't get accepted there. Jake ended up graduating from Notre Dame where he studied finance but got the acting bug. His brother Isaac also applied to West Point, was accepted, and received the Pershing Award as the top student in military tactics. He is now a major at Fort Bragg but in the documentary he was a captain with a long-range surveillance unit in Iraq. Another brother Joe is stationed at Fort Benning (a staff sergeant instructor snipers) but was a corporal serving in Iraq with sniper units. One of the brothers has also served in Afghanistan and one had had three deployments to combat.
Jake Rademacher wanted to go to the war zone and see what his brothers' units were doing (and why) and this documentary is the result. It shows up close and personal the lives of the soldiers (and also marine advisors) at forward operating bases, doing lonely surveillance work along the Syria/Iraq border where money, weapons, and foreign fighters cross into Iraq, and snipers trying to take out enemy snipers who fire on American or allied convoys, etc. It also shows some of the changes soldiers go through after seeing combat, and the effects on the family of having loved ones in harm's way. Jake Rademacher did go on a patrol with Americans and Iraqis where they were ambushed and several were seriously wounded and that is in the film.
The two-hour documentary kept my attention throughout. If you have a chance to see it at a "theater near you," I recommend going. More information on http://www.brothersatwarmovie.com. There is some swearing in the film and it might not be suitable for young children.


[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 03-16-2009).]