Stories of Service

Disabled veterans Max Cleland, Gregory Gadson and Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth share their personal stories about the difficulty of coming home and adjusting to civilian life after being wounded in combat.

Take an unflinching look at the reality of warfare and disability through interviews with prominent disabled veterans, including Representative Tammy Duckworth, former Georgia Senator Max Cleland and former Commander of Fort Belvoir, Gregory Gadson.

Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth recounts the harrowing story of the day she was injured in Iraq when the helicopter she was flying was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

A moving tribute to the history of disabled veterans and an unflinching look at the reality of warfare and disability featuring interviews with some of the country’s most prominent disabled veterans. Narrated by leading scholars in disability studies, history and psychology, the film vividly illustrates the human cost of war.

Disabled veterans J.R. Martinez and Gregory Gadson tell their remarkable stories of courage, strength and resilience after being severely injured in combat.

Army Air Corps fighter pilot Jerry Yellin, who suffered from PTSD following the war, recounts the story of how a most unlikely family event — the marriage of his son to the daughter of a former kamikaze pilot — helped him recover from the war that haunted him ... finally healing the hatred lingering in his heart.

Hershel “Woody” Williams returns a Japanese soldier’s flag, which was collected on the battlefield, to Tsuriji Akikusa, the only Japanese survivor able to make the arduous trip to attend the reunion. Incredibly, when Akikusa returns to Japan, he is able to find the flag owner’s son and return the long-lost treasure.

Follow survivors of perhaps the fiercest battle of WWII as they return to Iwo Jima for a Reunion of Honor on the only battlefield where former enemies come together in shared remembrance. Hosted by Ryan Phillippe.

On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam examines the Latino experience during a war that placed its heaviest burden on working-class youth and their communities. Framing the film are memoirs of two siblings, Everett and Delia Alvarez, who stood on opposite sides of the Vietnam War, one as a POW and the other protesting at home.

After serving in Vietnam, many veterans had difficulty returning home. Acclimating to life after combat was not what they’d expected, and some of them still feel traumatized and alienated by their experiences in the war.

In 1966, nine young men from the mining town of Morenci, Ariz. joined the Marine Corps together. Though the odds of their dying in Vietnam were less than 10 percent, only three of them came back alive. What happened to these Marines and their community?

As the war continued in Vietnam, Chicano protestors began organizing at home. Thousands marched to end the war and speak out against what they saw as injustice on the part of their country and communities. One activist, Delia Alvarez, was at political odds with her own brother, a POW in Hanoi.