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Video Series Examines Impact of War on U.S. & Soviet Veterans

By VVAW

The Video Project announces its release of The Wounds of War, a series of three award-winning documentaries which portray the enduring effects of war on U.S. and Soviet veterans.

Through revealing first-person accounts in three different videos, veterans of World War II, Vietnam and Afghanistan tell how their lives were forever altered by their combat experiences. Though they fought for different countries, the lessons they learned are the same: war can take a heavy toll even on those who survive. The Wounds of War goes beyond the heroic myths to take a sobering look at war and its consequences.

In Soldier's Heart, Mel Seligman speaks of his youthful patriotic enthusiasm when he stormed the beaches of Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion. Returning four decades later to the tranquil Normandy countryside, Seligman and his family tell how the horror and shock of combat led to his early discharge for "battle fatigue"—and left him emotionally scarred for life.

Heart of the Warrior movingly portrays the personal aftermath of war for two men: Bob Sampson, a former U.S. Army paratrooper who fought in Vietnam; and Nikolai Chuvanov, a former paratrooper in the Soviet Army who served in Afghanistan. Sampson and Chuvanov travel separately back to Vietnam and Afghanistan, where they relive their combat experiences. The veterans meet each other and form a powerful, healing bond.

Homecoming is the first Soviet-made documentary to explore the devastating effects of the Afghanistan War on Soviet soldiers. The parallels to the Vietnam experience of American soldiers are stunning: "Nobody asked my generation whether we should have this war or not," one Soviet veteran remarks bitterly in this video. The Soviet Observer wrote of Homecoming, "The camera observes the devastating results of the Afghan war on the bodies and souls of its veterans."

The Wounds of War series is useful for college-level and advanced high school courses in political science, history, psychology or peace studies; for veterans organizations or agencies, or for anyone interested in studying the human consequences of war. The VHS sale price of the series is $329 for institutions and $139 for individuals and low-income groups. The series is also available for rental.

The Video Project is a non-profit distributor of social issue documentary videos and films focusing on the environment, war and peace, U.S.-Soviet relations, and other critical global concerns. To order this series, or for a free catalog, contact The Video Project, 5332 College Avenue, Suite 101, Oakland, CA, 94618, 1-800-475-2638.