R4 Alliance hosts Screening of “When War Comes Home” on The Intrepid in NYC

R4 Alliance hosts screening of TALLWOOD presents Michael King’s Documentary “When War Comes Home”

Flag Day in Seattle helped shed a spotlight on one of the most common struggles of our returning veterans with a screening of Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker Michael King’s When War Comes Home. Four Star General Peter Chiarelli, US Army (retired) and CEO of One Mind is featured for his crusading efforts to find better solutions for treating post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury with an ongoing challenge to provide the help our Veterans need. Two of the film’s featured veterans and spouses, Spencer Milo and Andrea Carlile, were also in attendance to talk about the film and some of the more personal moments that the film revealed regarding their struggles.

Awareness for these struggles is taking on a much broader reach on October 24th with a screening and reception aboard The Intrepid aircraft carrier in New York City. The featured veterans and spouses, Michael King, General Chiarelli and Executive Producers Debby Hyde and Jennifer Harris will all be in attendance to discuss the film after the screening at a private reception on board. TALLWOOD and R4 Alliance will once again be joining forces to promote the screening. R4 Alliance recognized the importance of the film after the first viewing and knew they had to help get it out to the public where Our Military Families could benefit most from it.

It is a powerful and moving movie that will hit home for many of our veterans and families of those veterans “Three Iraq/Afghanistan War Veterans return home to discover their Post-Traumatic Stress affects not only their own lives, but the lives of their wives, children and friends. Witnessing these powerful stories and many others, retired Four Star General Peter Chiarelli leads the search for better treatment for these invisible wounds of war.”

Deep in the heartland of Indiana, Wes Carlile, a former U.S. Army Chaplin’s Assistant during the Iraq War, was overwhelmed by the death of friends and fellow soldiers. Returning home, Wes discovers his post-traumatic stress endangers his wife Andrea and their two daughters. Seeking help for his survivor’s guilt through his church and the local VA Hospital, Wes attempts to seek redemption from his violent behavior. Meanwhile, as affected family members, Andrea and the girls seek relief from their secondary trauma affect caused by Wes’s return. Andrea is the author of “The War that Came Home” which also inspired the name of the movie.

Florida resident, Emmanuel Bernandin served as both a Naval Technician in Afghanistan and in a naval detainee camp in Iraq. He was inflicted with PTS, from the guilt of surviving his fourteen fellow brother-in-arms in a massive suicide bombing in Afghanistan. After returning home, the affliction leads him down a path of attempted suicide and commitments to mental institutions. He finds himself a burden on both his family and his girlfriend, Amanda, only finding solace with his dog, Bronze. Emmanuel’s struggle is to must break this cycle of despair in order to survive and lead the normal life he craves.

Living in the mountains of Colorado, Spencer Milo was once a Sergeant in the US Army until an injury from a suicide bomber medically retired him. He now attempts to adjust to civilian life with his wife Sarah, his daughter, and the help of a service dog named, Nemo. Spencer has crippling anxiety and is grossly over medication from doctors who are still struggling to understand the nature of his illness. Damaged both physically and mentally, Spencer hopes that a path of helping other veterans can help him cope with his trauma.

Acclaimed Director Michael King, Executive Producers Debby Hyde and Jennifer Harris, When War Comes Home, is a documentary feature film focusing on the lives of these three soldiers returning from combat. They search for the courage to overcome their demons and painful memories of war. The crusading efforts of Seattle’s retired Four Star General Peter Chiarelli to find better solutions for treating post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury is an ongoing challenge to provide the help our Veterans need.

The film puts a “spotlight” on how secondary trauma inflicts the Veteran’s families and children. As such the film provides insight to how post-traumatic stress affects our nation as a whole. The United States’ Department of Defense (DOD) has approved and offered their official support to When War Comes Home. The DOD understands the importance of the issue of PTS and TBI, and it realizes the significant effect this film can have on increased public awareness and support and, ultimately, on the lives and conditions of veterans. You can learn more about the movie at www.whenwarcomeshome.org

R4 Alliance hopes to raise awareness with more screenings across the country in the future and will include one at their Annual Membership conference in The Villages at the Old Mill Theater on October 19th. To find out how to get tickets for either of these events, please email [email protected]. To learn more about R4 Alliance please visit www.R4Alliance.org.

For more information on “When War Comes Home”:
www.whenwarcomeshome.org

For more information on R4 Alliance:
www.R4Alliance.org