The Real Stories
August 7th, 2007 (8:56 pm) by Troy-It does not matter if they are in Iraq, Afghanistan, Horn of Africa, Bosnia or wherever, but embedded journalists are capturing the real essence of the wartime experience for all to see. Some of them are employees of large media outlets like the AP or Cox Publishing, others are freelance journalists like Scott Kesterson or Michael Yon.
It is not the MainStream Media (MSM) that is capturing anything close to the real life of living in war 24/7. Not because they can’t but because there is only so much you can show in a 60 second news blip and when there is so much focus on Nielsen ratings from the MSM they are only going to show what they think brings ratings.
The small time film makers that are operating in combat zones for long periods of time capture everything 24/7 and 360 degrees. Scott Kesterson is one such guy. He is a good friend of mine who I got very close to in Afghanistan and is currently working on the editing of his documentary at http://www.forgottenwarfilm.com/. I talked to Scott not to long ago and he was working hard on the reviewing and editing of hundreds, if not thousands of hours of footage. Michael Yon is an ex-Green Beret that has been over in Iraq for a long time blogging and writing stories as a freelance, but is frequently picked up by Fox News for his stories. You can check out his site and blog at http://www.michaelyon-online.com/. Another group of guys have recently released their video from Iraq. It has been said that this film is a war story like none you have ever seen. The title is “This is War, memories of Iraq” and can be found at http://www.luckyforwardfilms.com/. I just ordered this video, but have not had a chance to see it yet. From the trailer I saw on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOGqlyJCm-o I think it is going to be a very good one. A majority of the film is focused on 2/162 Inf from the OR NG. In 2004-2005, one of my platoons was attached to this Battalion for the entire year, and it was with this Battalion that I lost my very first soldier to combat. I have lost friends of mine in the Army to combat but he was the first one that was one of mine, and he was not the last. So I am partial to this movie and have a connection to it, hence why I ordered it as soon as I stumbled across it.
The point of this entry is really to emphasize the fact that if you want the real story on what is happening in any war or combat action around the world, you need to find the websites, books, or movies being produced by the low-budget, low-overhead, embedded reporters. They will be the ones to give you bare-knuckle, in your face, no bullshit glimpse into what life is like every day for those that truly serve.
**NOTE, Troy is a 1SG in the New York Army National Guard and writes several blogs on his website at http://www.bouhammer.com**
August 9th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Scott is a great guy and I’m really looking forward to seeing “This is War” myself. We need more like him.