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“Aftershock"
is
a cautionary tale about the folly of war and the price that’s paid by
the people closest to it: veterans and their families.
In Iraq, over
4500 Americans have died and more than 30,000 have been wounded. The
survivors have been flowing through military and veterans hospitals
across the country. After six years of war there are still 150,000 US
combat troops in-country.
For Iraqis the numbers are sobering: a half
million dead, countless thousands wounded. The Red Cross estimates over
2,000,000 internal refugees and another 2,000,000 in refugee camps in
Syria and Jordan.
Nobel Prize- winning economist Joseph Stiglitz
projects that the eventual cost of the war to American taxpayers will
approach three trillion dollars.
In the US there are now 1.8 million veterans, a third of whom have been
discharged. One in four of them seeks the services of an overburdened,
under-funded Veterans Administration. As the war goes on, the toll
mounts.
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"Aftershock:
Stories About War"
Release
Format:
HD
Video, HD-DVD, DVD
Production
Format:
HD
Video
for
more information
CONTACT:
Will
Stanton
Aftershock@dejazzd.com
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Sacrifice of the Few
 While most
Americans are free to go about their daily business
unaffected by the wars in any way, scores of thousands of troops have
been sent off on repeat tours into the combat zones. According to the
support group 'Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America', two-thirds of
the 92,000 Army troops deployed since the beginning of this year are on
at least
their second deployment.
Many soldiers, like Sergeant Mike
Krause pictured above, have served three or four tours. Sergeant Krause
is proud of his service and still loves the military. “But we’re a
nation at war,” he said, “and we should all be in this together.”
He said that if he could wave a
magic wand, he would make some form of
public service compulsory. “You wouldn’t have to join the military,” he
said. “But there are many other ways to serve. You could work for
AmeriCorps, or the Red Cross, or Homeland Security. You could do
something. It’s about social responsibility. Especially in a time of
war.”
read the entire article here |
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DEDICATION
The
Aftershock project began in the spring of 2004 in response to the
hardships endured by troops and their families, in what we saw
as an unnecessary, intractable war.
Mike Stine was the heart and soul of that initial effort. Mike was
serving at Walter Reed Hospital training Army, Air Force, and Navy
Chaplains in pastoral counselling. He was there when the wounded were
being bussed up from
Andrews Air Force Base at night, under the media radar.
He served as a chaplain with the Marines and Navy Seabees in Vietnam
and found himself once again confronted with the horrors of modern
warfare. His compassion for the wounded and their families and his
outrage at their circumstances was the driving force that launched and
sustained this project through 2006.
In the summer of 2007 Mike was tragically killed in a freak bicycle
accident. As we re-launch Aftershock in 2009 we’re reminded of
everything Mike stood for: integrity, courage, compassion and a fierce
sense of loyalty.
We will miss him.
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