Author: Maximilian

In 2013, David Finkel released a nonfiction book about soldiers returning home from Iraq and the struggles they faced with PTSD, depression and adjusting back to civilian life. That bestselling book is now a movie, sharing the namesake, and adapted to film by writer/director Jason Hall. Jason previously wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-winning Clint Eastwood film American Sniper, about the “Legend” Chris Kyle. American Sniper was lauded by critics for its portrayal of Chris Kyle’s home life and his own struggles with PTSD after his Iraq deployments. Thank You For Your Service, then, is a fitting follow-up from the same screenwriter.

Films like this are tricky for veterans, as many will decry the portrayal of PTSD and the “damaged veteran” as a tired and dangerous trope, while simultaneously reminding you that 22 veterans  day commit suicide and to be more mindful of mental health issues surrounding the military experience. Thank You For Your Service does a great job of navigating this dichotomy by reminding us that this is the true story of its subjects. Adam Schumann, Tausolo Aeiti and Michael Emory were even involved personally with the production of the film and even attended the premiere.

“I reached out to all of them while writing the script and got varying levels of engagement from each. Adam was the most connected and Solo was the most challenging to communicate with. Upon principle I brought Adam down to be part of the Boot Camp.  He joined the SEALs who were training the guys and showed them the Army way. He also collaborated with all the department heads and made sure costumes, scenic design, and sets were all correct and looked in order.”

At the premiere’s Q&A segment, Tausolo Aeiti and Adam Schumann expressed greatly that the actors portraying them (Beulah Kaole and Miles Teller, respectively) in the film were closely involved with them during production in order to portray them authentically. This authenticity permeates every facet of the film, from set design to the smallest of things, like the markings on their sea bags when they return home from deployment. Every piece of this film feels real, refusing to indulge in the usual theatrics of war films and immersing you in its smallest moments.

“I did extensive amounts of research about these guys and what they were going through to get the emotional authenticity correct. That is the place where all of this builds from, the character and their emotional truth. You can have all the details right, but if you miss that— there is no story. But once I felt I understood that I moved on to finding an authentic visual way to present the story— this is a real account of these guys lives so I wanted to present a visual template that felt personal; an intimacy that made you forget you’re watching a movie. By the way we shot this film we are made to feel that we are living with these characters in their homes and in their heads and to capture the truth of that, I used pictures of their homes to duplicate what was on the walls and how things were laid out. And often times I was able to get the very same objects for set decoration. We used Adam’s uniform, his headboard, and other authentic pieces of set decor to bring a level of truth to what we were doing. We went as far as we could to make it all authentic on every set we could. For Iraq, set pieces we used photos Adam had, photos David Finkel had, and the resources of Magnum photographers Peter Van Agtmael and Moises Saman who captured hundreds of thousands of photos in Iraq. We duplicated the color of trash, graffiti and street signage and vignettes from photos (the graffiti on the wall at the beginning is actual graffiti from a wall of a urinal photographed by Peter van Agtmael and used with his express permission). Another good example of this is the pictures of real fallen heroes on the wall of the VA. It was noted early on that we wouldn’t be able to see the faces of these men in the shot so ‘why go to all the trouble of getting clearance to use real photos of the fallen’— but I pushed ahead and demanded it. On the day of shooting we filled that room with 200 veterans as extras, playing veterans waiting to get seen at the VA; and it turned out that several of them recognized faces of their fallen brothers on the wall.  The memories of those men resonated through them as our camera captured their faces. It brought an additional level of emotion and authenticity to the scene, and added depth of that moment in the film. That’s why you chase down the truth— it adds dimension and weight to the work.”

One of the most effective scenes that illustrate the veteran experience is when the two soldiers find themselves at the VA, applying for service connected disability. They are miserable, embarrassed, and forced to wait in a typical waiting room filled with disabled veterans. Real veterans.

“We used real soldiers to sit there and they know what it’s like. And their faces tell the stories. We had them sitting there all day. The only difference between us and the VA is that we paid everyone and fed them! The unintended benefit from that day was that the guys all became friends and exchanged numbers, and now they go fishing.”

It is Jason Hall’s insistence and refusal to glamorize the war experience that makes Thank You For Your Service such an effective film, not concerning itself so much with what happened in Iraq as much as how it affected the lives of those involved. The spouses and families of these soldiers are as much a part of this story as they are to service members in real life, giving us a more intimate and subtle glimpse into the effects of war on the homefront.

“I hope this movie brings greater understanding to the challenges some veterans face returning home from active duty and creates a dialogue that allows us to find a better way to welcome you all home.”

Thank You For Your Service is in theaters everywhere right now. You can listen to an extended interview with Jason Hall as a guest on After Action, talking with Terminal Lance creator Maximilian Uriarte and Duffelblog creator Paul Szoldra here.

Dan Bilzerian and Medal of Honor recipient USMC Sgt. Dakota Meyer are at each other’s throats over the last few days, due to some inflammatory language on both sides regarding Bilzerian’s actions during the Las Vegas shooting on Tuesday. Yesterday, Meyer challenged Bilzerian to a literal fist fight via his Instagram, accusing him of releasing his wife’s phone number to an onslaught of prank calls and threats.

Here is a brief recap on how we got to this point:

On Sunday, October 1st, there was a horrific shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead at a country music concert across from the Mandalay Bay casino and resort.

Dan Bilzerian–Instagram playboy millionaire, poker player, medically discharged Sailor, banger of many beautiful women (or something), etc–posted a selfie video of himself running from the scene to his Instagram. He later claimed he was going to go “grab a gun” and presumably hunt down the shooter himself.

Dakota Meyer–USMC Medal of Honor recipient–criticized him publicly on his own Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZvsSVnAnmc/

Dan Bilzerian then responded with a passive aggressive Instagram story (and very petty) video where he calls Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer “some blogger” and a “retard” while he defends his actions.

After this it’s not really clear what happened, but from what’s understood by Dakota Meyer’s video, Dan Bilzerian somehow got ahold of Bristol Palin’s phone number (Meyer’s wife) and put it out publicly in some fashion. This resulted in her receiving prank phone calls and, understandably, upsetting Dakota Meyer personally. Meyer responded with an Instagram post challenging Dan Bilzerian to a fight on Saturday October 7th.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ87IwWAzAZ/

As well, video of Dan Bilzerian from the night of the shooting was revealed, showing him begging a police officer for a weapon. The police officer responds the way you would expect an officer under fire to respond to a random stranger demanding a weapon, “No, get the fuck away from me right now, I don’t know who the fuck you are!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ2evD7DNgo/

As of today, Dan Bilzerian has yet to respond to the challenge.

It’s safe to say that this has gotten out of hand at this point.

There’s an important context to which all of this exists, and that is the fact that Dan Bilzerian was a sailor (never deployed) who was medically discharged following two failed attempts to become a Navy SEAL. This is important to understand, since Bilzerian essentially sees himself as an operator of sorts; hence the burly beard and the frequent photos posted to his Instagram of his extensive firearm collection.

This was a violent and terrifying evening for everybody involved, Dan Bilzerian included. One certainly can’t fault anyone for running from the situation, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the point that Dakota Meyer was trying to make. Had Bilzerian simply ran from the venue and not made a public spectacle of it, I don’t think anyone would have thought twice about it. Imagine a scenario where Bilzerian, along with everyone else there, ran for safety. An interviewer catches up with him and asks him what it was like. He simply responds with, “It was crazy, we all just ran and did what we could.”

Nobody would fault him for that whatsoever and this would be a total nonissue.

The issue I think for Dakota Meyer is the narcissistic nature of the video itself, feeling the need to record himself for his audience and then post it to his social media while people are literally dying. Bilzerian invites this criticism because of his celebrity status, but also because of his overarching military operator persona. There were other veterans at this event, many of them performed heroic acts that were not recorded on video, because they didn’t think to.

For me, the video of Bilzerian demanding a weapon from a police officer makes it even worse, despite the fact that it was released in defense of him. For starters, the mere fact that it’s being recorded in the first place further adds to the narcissism involved. Bilzerian wanted the world to see him as a hero this night, so he had a friend record him making a charge for the hotel rather than just helping get people to safety.

Prior to this event, I wasn’t aware of Bilzerian’s past exploits in the Navy. Learning this, however, has cast somewhat of a depressing cloud over the actions seen over the last week. Despite calling Dakota Meyer “some Marine,” I refuse to believe that Bilzerian doesn’t already know who Meyer is and what he is. Bilzerian exists in absolute reverence of the military community and is personally friends with other Medal of Honor recipients.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BAE7feSIDpm/

Bilzerian wanted to be a Navy SEAL, for better or for worse, but failed twice in his efforts to do so. It’s hard to look at his eccentric 22 million follower Instagram feed and not feel like it’s an act of compensation for something he wanted but couldn’t have. No matter how much money, women and cool ass photos he can take, ultimately he never attained the title he so desperately wanted. At the end of the day, the military is one of the only places where your social status doesn’t matter whatsoever–you either make it or you don’t. I think on some level Bilzerian was legitimately hurt, emotionally, for being called out by an actual Medal of Honor recipient.

There’s a valid criticism to be made for Dakota Meyer’s harsh words in light of such a desperate and horrific circumstance. However, regardless of how you feel about Dakota Meyer (and people have feelings), he is one of few people on earth qualified to make that critique. Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor for literally saving lives in one of Afghanistan’s bloodiest battles of OEF. And again, Dakota Meyer isn’t really criticizing Bilzerian for running as much as he is for filming it in the way that he did.

The incident in Las Vegas was a terrifying ordeal, and it’s important to not forget that we have this childish feud in the midst of 58 deaths in the desert oasis. At this point, throwing fists isn’t really helping anyone, and both parties would probably be better off just dropping this.