“More American soldiers kill themselves than are killed by the enemy, and many others suffer the effects of post traumatic stress disorder. As many as eighteen soldiers a day are committing suicide and most of those soldiers kill themselves after they return home. Their divorce rate has tripled since the beginning of the war and substance abuse among veterans is four times the national average. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg according to Who Will Stand producer/director Phil Valentine.

The two hour documentary covers, in detail, the plights of more than a dozen soldiers who have returned either physically or psychologically wounded, including hard-to-measure effects of post traumatic stress disorder. ‘Nobody is surprised that war creates amputees, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, divorce, but very few people are aware of the enormous rates of these issues,’ said Valentine. ‘And almost no one is aware of the psychological issues that nearly 100% of combat soldiers suffer with, namely Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.’ Many of the films on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan take sides on whether we should have gone there, whether we should still be there and when we should leave. Who Will Stand covers none of these issues, focusing instead on the plight of returning disabled American veterans.”

(via Alternative Approaches. See also: “Soldier in Famous Photo Never Defeated ‘Demons'” via MSNBC)

(“Who Will Stand” trailer)