Art has the power to raise awareness of important questions and can also often spur us to action. By highlighting the personal struggles of individual service members who returned home from Iraq, "Thank You For Your Service" is a powerful indictment of our treatment of many of those returning with scars not as clear as those from physical injuries but often no less debilitating. As the film vividly illustrates, in the early years of our post-9/11 wars, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs simply were not prepared to deal with the large numbers of returning veterans who needed access to mental health services. The inescapable conclusion is that when we commit America's men and women to war, we must always think long and hard about how we will take care of them when they return. Raising awareness is the first step in understanding this imperative, and as such, this film acts as both a powerful tribute to those to whom we owe so much as well as a call to a renewed commitment on their behalf.
As First Lady of Virginia, I have dedicated my efforts to advocating for our active-duty military, our veterans and their families. I am also the proud mother of a United States Marine. "Thank You For Your Service" is a compelling documentary that shines light on the difficult challenges our service members face in transitioning from combat back to home and their communities. The film offers a message of hope and offers solutions to the crisis of mental health, TBI and PTSD many of our veterans face. I encourage everyone to see this film and find ways to get involved in their communities to help veterans and their families find the treatment and support they need and deserve given all they have done for us.
The award winning documentary ”Thank You For Your Service” is an in depth exploration of the challenges confronting our military community after nearly two decades of war. It powerfully makes the case for dealing with behavioral health issues head on as we follow the personal stories of veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress. We are touched by the veterans we meet, educated by the specialists dedicating their lives to serving them, and in the end we see a hopeful and optimistic way forward.
An expertly done film! Inspiring, painful, and ultimately hopeful.
Thank You for Your Service is a powerful and moving reminder that the pain of war is complex and multifaceted, and that our veterans pay a price for defending us that few who have not experienced it can imagine. This film should be required viewing for anyone whose life has been touched by war, as well as anyone attempting recovery from trauma or caring for someone whose life has been impacted by trauma. It is at once sobering and hopeful and shows us that the human spirit is capable of transcending great injury.
This fine documentary is an important step toward correcting an unconscious attitude that underlies an epidemic of veteran suicides. Throwing money and cheap phrases at this problem will not work. We must change our consciousness about why and how we fight our wars. Congress doesn’t declare them, we pay for them with borrowed money, and we tell the people we send to fight them that they did the killing, not us. Veteran alienation is our problem. Watch this documentary; someone’s life is at stake.
A film every American should see
One film already generating Oscar buzz for next year is the just-released "Thank you For Your Service," directed by Tom Donahue. It’s one of the most powerful, impactful films I have ever seen.
Every American, veteran or not, should see Thank You For Your Service. With less than one percent of our citizens going in harm's way for the other ninety-nine per cent, we all need to grasp not only the ethical and moral implications of a democracy's allowing this to happen, but the sometimes disastrous outcomes that haunt those Americans of the less than one per cent who carry out our wishes. It is crucial that we come to grips with this situation and do something about it if we are to survive and prosper in the future. It is that serious.
It is an important movie to watch for all Americans who care about our troops… On the emotional side, the movie starts and ends with a shockingly sad situation and statistic. Throughout the movie, there were gasps and sobs in the fully packed New York City movie theater.
This provocative film addresses the most critical mental health issues facing our returning military heroes and their families. The systemic failure to learn from our past mistakes is challenged and the solutions being unveiled need to be addressed as a service to all those who have fought and sacrificed so much.
If the public takes one message away from this film: reach out to your member of Congress and request that they support a Behavioral Health Corps in the military (#bhcnow) That will be the best action that they can take to help address the plague of suicides that our veterans are suffering.