VARIOUS: Iraq war documentary about paralyzed soldier takes home top prize at Toronto International Film Festival

Iraq war veteran Tomas Young says he learned his lesson too late - signing up for the U.S. Army could mean that you come home in a wheelchair. Young's lesson and his experience are the subject of a new documentary "Body of War." Young was just 22-years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Army two days after the World Trade Center collapsed in 2001, intending to go to Afghanistan and defend his country by rooting out al Qaeda. Instead, the Kansas City soldier arrived in Iraq in 2004. After only one week on the ground, the soldier was headed back home, paralyzed from his chest down after a gunshot wound. He retains the use of his arms. U.S. talk-show-host-turned-film-director, Phil Donahue met Young by chance while visiting the Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Donahue says he felt compelled after the encounter to do something that would speak publicly about the political situation. Now Donahue says he hopes this film helps the public reflect on a lesson the U.S. has to grapple with, "It's very easy to get into a war, and as we're learning now hugely difficult to get out of it." "Body of War" is a film about the Iraq war, but without footage of explosions and gun battles. It has an anti-war tone and tells what happens to the many wounded veterans who return home with injuries they will nurse for life. "Nobody really thinks about coming home paralyzed or with a traumatic brain injury, or with PTSD (Post Traumatic stress Disorder) so bad for the rest of your life that you can't even stand in line at a convenient store for more than five minutes without wanting to hurt somebody," says Young. The film has plenty of moments highlighting the painful honesty of rehabilitation, showing Young getting a catheter inserted to drain his urine, speaking about the cocktail of drugs he takes to help with nausea and pain, and his divorce from a wife who pledged to devote her life in taking care of him. Eddie Vedder, lead singer for the rock band Pearl Jam, wrote two songs for the documentary. One, "Long Nights" is a tribute to his new friend Young, who grew up idolizing Vedder. More than 3,700 U.S. troops have been killed since the war began in March 2003, and almost 28,000 have been wounded, according to U.S. Department of Defense figures as of September 2007..

ITN Source | September 20, 2007

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