• “This is War- Memories of Iraq tells the inside story of what it means to be in combat in Iraq through the eyes of the soldiers who were there. This documentary follows nine National Guard soldiers from Oregon who ended up in some of the heaviest fighting of the war. Most of the photographs and footage were taken from the cameras of the soldiers themselves, giving the viewer rare access to the
• Everyone is talking about the war, no one is talking about the soldiers; Their story, their words, their war. In 2004 a battalion of National Guard soldiers from Oregon departed for a one year mission to Iraq. Patrolling against IEDs, under constant threat of ambush and subjected to combat of epic intensity, they fought to rebuild a country. Some of them never returned; those that did were changed forever.
• This is War: Memories of Iraq tells the inside story of what it means to be in combat in Iraq through the eyes of the soldiers who were there. This documentary follows nine National Guard soldiers from Oregon who ended up in some of the heaviest fighting of the war. Most of the photographs and footage were taken from the cameras of the soldiers themselves giving the viewer rare access to the front lines in places such as Fallujah Najaf and the desolate IED infested roads outside of Baghdad. Joking while a sniper shoots at them or griping about higher command s decision- making process these soldiers come across as distinctly American. Of the nine soldiers covered in the documentary two are severely injured in combat and several more are wounded in action. Through it all they retain their bond to each other. Powerful and hard hitting this film puts the war into a context that watching the evening news simply can t do. It s honest brutal funny and always engaging.

‘This is War’ tells the story of what it means to be in combat in Iraq through the eyes of the soldiers who were there. This documentary follows nine National Guard soldiers from Oregon who ended up in some of the heaviest fighting of the war. Most of tAmong the many documentaries about America’s involvement in the Iraq War, This Is War is one of the most personal. A video diary about the experiences of an Oregon National Guard battalion sent to Iraq for a year in 2004, This Is War is divided into short chapters that bring home multiple aspects of a difficult and dangerous mission. Beginning with the troops emotionally preparing for a half-year’s combat training and gradually acclimating to Iraq’s tremendous heat, the film traces a gradual awareness of day-to-day realities and responsibilities where the enemy is often unseen. While the soldiers know the predictability of their own movements make them constantly subject to attack, there is little they can do about it, and when assaults come they watch and adapt as their teammates die. Told anecdotally, this video collage offers many specifics about events most of us only know through general knowledge about the war’s progress. While Brian De Palma’s Redacted was a protest against official control of information coming out of the Iraq War–told from the point-of-view of a faux video diary–This Is War is the real thing, and is a richer experience for its marriage of the Guardsmen’s cynical yet workaday ethic and muted emotions about the horrors and treachery that surround them. –Tom Keogh

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