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Film features PTSD among war veterans
A movie that features a stress disorder that’s common among soldiers called Almost Sunrise held its third and final screening of the month on Saturday at the American Memorial Park.
The movie featured two veteran soldiers who wish to spread awareness of colleagues who are afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder while also seeking salvation for themselves.
An attendee of the screening, Don Stover, said, “I thought it was very interesting. It’s sad what they [veterans] have to go through and what civilians seem to brush over.”
The film “raises awareness of the issues that the military has when they go over and fight overseas, particularly in wars where soldiers aren’t sent due to an invasion but have a duty of policing in another country.”
Eulalia Arriola, program officer of the Humanities Council that spearheaded the screening, said, “I think that it is very real and it gives us a different perspective of veterans when they return home. In some cases, people just think a certain way about veterans but the movie kind of opens your eyes to the different struggles that they go through and how they look at things after deployment.”
“It gives you a better understanding of veterans of war. Sometimes I feel like we think we know everything about what someone is going through or we think their problems are just simple but it’s not, especially when it comes to veterans’ experiences from our recent strife in the Middle East,” Arriola said.
The movie is expected to screen also on the islands of Rota and Tinian.
According to Arriola, the showing of the movie, as well as other veteran-related support events, are under a new initiative called the Standing Together Initiative. The money is used to create programs for veterans and their families.
For more information about other upcoming Humanities Council events, call their office at (670) 235-4785.
