Approved for 12+
Commitment and Sacrifice
Spanning 35 years, this documentary film follows the experiences of troops from Bravo Company of the 5th Battalion 7th Cavalary regiment during the Vietman War (1970) and the Iraq War (2005), through the lens of combat cameraman Norman Lloyd. In 1970, Lloyd traveled to Cambodia and was embedded with troops in combat during the Cambodian incursion. Several decades later, Lloyd began a massive search to locate and re-interview the soldiers filmed in Cambodia. During this process, Lloyd served as a liaison, reuniting soldiers who had lost contact 30 years earlier. In 2005, he journeyed to Iraq to document the recently re-activated 5th Battalion 7th Cavalry. The film takes andiences from the jungle of Cambodia to the desert of Iraq. Lloyd's footage from Cambodia is surreal, a first hand perspective of close combat in 1970. The audience is given a front row seat once again in Iraq, seeing a side of the war rarely shown in mainstream media, as Lloyd rides along on missions with soldiers seeking out insurgents and training Iraqi forces in 2005. His footages sheds light on the daily life of the soldier, showing that in war, the only constant is the soldier and his commitment and sacrific. The soldier is haumanized through original and retrospective interviews that demonstrate the psychological impacts of combat. The interviews Lloyd collects represent a wide scope of soldiers, illustrating that bonds are unwaving at all levels. While providing historial context from two of America's most controversial wars, this film truly is the soldier's story.
