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War Tapes shows Iraq war from U.S. soldiers' point of view
By Joe Nguyen
nguyejos@mscd.edu

Courtesy of thewartapes.com The War Tapes Unrated 97 minutes opens Sept. 1

It’s a nightmare to be attacked unexpectedly.

For American soldiers stationed in Iraq, it’s an everyday occurrence.

For The War Tapes, filmmaker Deborah Scranton gave hand-held cameras to 10 American soldiers so that they could document their yearlong tour in Iraq. The film focuses on the stories of three of these soldiers: Sergeant Stephen Pink, a 24-year-old English major who joined the military to pay his tuition; Specialist Mike Moriarty, a family man with two kids motivated to join by 9/11; and Sergeant Zack Bazzi, a Lebanese-born American looking for discipline. The footage gathered is an intimate look into the lives of these men.

In the film, Pink reads entries from his journal recounting particular events. His accounts are beautifully written, but chilling to listen to. In one entry, he describes the haunting aftermath of an attack on his convoy.

“I looked down and he had his hand dangling from the exposed bone that used to be his elbow,” he says, “like a child’s safety-clipped mitten dangling from their winter coat.”

The stories aren’t done once each soldier returns from Iraq. The responses from families and friends are identical: he is not the same person. They are also affected by medical complications such as carpal tunnel syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Years after it began, the debate on the war in Iraq continues to be a hot topic. Often these discussions are between those who have never set foot in the country. Scranton’s project allows the soldiers to provide their own perspective. It’s not a tale of what’s right and wrong, but rather a tale of what really is.