When—only two days after 9/11—22-year-old Tomas Young enlisted in the Army, he never dreamed he would come home paralyzed from a bullet to his spine. After making it through basic training, Tomas figured he would serve in Afghanistan, where there was evidence of terrorist camps. Instead, after serving in Iraq for less than a week, Tomas was shot just above the collarbone while riding with fellow soldiers in an unarmored Humvee with no canvas covering. He was instantly paralyzed.
Body of War is Tomas’ coming-home story. Independently produced and directed in tandem by talk show host Phil Donahue and documentary film maker Ellen Spiro, the movie features two original songs by Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder. It premiered on September 11, 2007, and was received with multiple standing ovations.
“To all the main-streamers in the press who supported the invasion of Iraq, to the pundits who continue to talk tough while other people’s kids die, to all the merry warriors who recruited Jesus to assist them in this massive foreign policy blunder—I have a soldier for you,” Donahue writes about the subject of his film.
T-4 is the spot on Tomas’ spine that severed. This means that Tomas can't walk or even cough and that many of his bodily functions are paralyzed so his bladder must be manually drained several times daily. And no small issue for a newly-married young man, Tomas quickly went from a social life of single bars and courtship to a daily routine of catheters, puke pans, and erectile dysfunction.
In the film, Tomas struggles to pull his pants over his numb legs while his fiancée worries about whether or not he’ll make it through their wedding without accidentally soiling his tuxedo. He also receives recommendations about Viagra from a Vietnam vet who uses a wheelchair.
“Being on camera all the time took a bit of getting used to. I wasn‘t entirely prepared for the level of involvement [Ellen and Phil] wanted to capture,” Tomas says. “As my political ideas began to foment and I became more active, I wanted to give them as much access as possible. And soon it became effortless to let them film even the most awkward parts of my day-to-day life.”
The movie moves on two parallel tracks: Viewers watch as Tomas evolves into a powerful anti-war voice while struggling with the complexities of a paralyzed body. At the same time, his experience is juxtaposed with a first-hand look at the now historic deliberations that raged through Congress about going to war in Iraq. Scenes of Tomas speaking out against the war are interspersed with the packaged debate in both houses of Congress, and the vote-by-vote tally in the Senate. (The vote on this resolution remains controversial to this day. In the current presidential campaign, this vote comes up again and again.)
These are the elements that make Body of War stand out in a market crowded with documentaries about the war in Iraq. Refreshingly, the standard Bush-bashing many films in this genre adopt is put aside in favor of an honest portrayal of the Congress members who voted to authorize the war. Body of War shows the other side of the story that begins with President Bush swaggering into the camera’s view and challenging the enemy to "Bring it on."
Every viewer stands to learn something from Tomas and Body of War is the tool through which they can do it. Both those who agree with the conclusions Tomas has reached and those who don’t will find him fascinating, charismatic, and extremely open about the events of his life that have led him to where he is now.
Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran, a double-CD compilation of songs compiled by Iraq war veteran Tomas Young, was released by Sire Records on March 18, 2008—two days before the fifth anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq.
No Comments
