Award-winning
documentary filmmaker Susan M. Sipprelle presents a thorough, unflinching look into the lives of three
young women veterans (post 9/11) as they strive to readjust to civilian life following
military deployment. The film, Soldier On, delves into the
formative years of the women, their personal reasons for enlisting, the rigors
of military life and the challenges and progress the women face in
re-acclimating themselves to "normal," everyday life. Through well-edited,
interwoven narratives, Sipprelle (Set
for Life; Over
50 and Out of Work) weaves three distinct, diverse stories.
"When you're over
there, your world stops…but everyone else's life goes on," says Natasha
Young, a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps--a 12-year U.S. Marine Veteran--who was deployed to Iraq from 2005 to 2007 and served as a 'fixer' amid
combat skirmishes. "You're getting mortared…shot at every day," says
the tough, no-nonsense, young woman who initially joined the military because
she wanted "to do more, to be more." She was looking to be "part
of a team." A romantic break-up at the age of 17, along with family
dysfunction, propelled her toward a military career that took her far beyond her
Massachusetts roots. She admits that her street-smarts were challenged by boot
camp and later, as she bore witness to the atrocious horrors of war. Surges of
adrenaline sustained her throughout her deployment, which was emotionally and
physically draining. She even endured a violent sexual assault by a fellow
marine. Since returning home, she's continued to press on and barrel on through,
now picking up the pieces of her own life despite chronic health challenges and
the demands of co-parenting her young son. Today, she finds purpose working as
an advocate on behalf of veterans facing homelessness and housing issues.
Amanda Tejada, Sergeant
in the U.S. Army who was deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan, also came from an
unsettled background. She was abandoned by her mother and suffered a difficult,
isolated childhood. Amanda was inspired to enlist to "help others"
after witnessing "people jumping out of the buildings" during 9/11. This
introspective, largely self-reliant young woman felt a sense of belonging and
purpose during her military career. After having been embroiled in almost daily combat
missions and firing upon the enemy just a few miles west of the Pakistan
border, where Osama bin Laden had been hiding, Amanda finds adjusting to ordinary
civilian life especially challenging. Hearing loss and a myriad of wide-spread
and debilitating symptoms of PTSD--depression, insomnia and subsequent alcoholism--make
her transition all the more difficult. "The aftermath of being in the
military isn't so pretty," she says. "Nobody comes back the same
person...brain chemistry permanently changes." Amanda works hard to
surmount emotional struggles. While her life had structure, and she was
"taken care of" while in the military, as a civilian, functioning and
bettering herself are constant uphill battles. A quest to finally finish her education,
however, ultimately gives her a new lease on life.
In search of a sense of
self, belonging and finding financial security lured Lyndsey Lyons--a 1st
Lieutenant of the New York Army National Guard--into the military. She joined
the R.O.T.C. while a psychology student at Fordham University. Lyndsey's innate
sense of adventure made her feel truly excited to begin her military deployment.
She was stationed in 2013 at the Kandahar Air Force Base in Afghanistan. "I
was more fearful of being sexually assaulted than being killed in action,"
she admits. What makes Lyndsey's story unique is her lesbianism and the separation
she endured from her girlfriend throughout deployment. While in service,
Lyndsey was also forced to keep her sexuality secret as it was during the "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" policy. During her
deployment, however, President Obama lifted the ban, and Lyndsey felt a true
sense of liberation as if a "weight were lifted" from her life. Her
post-military story largely focuses on her relationship with her girlfriend and
how the impact of Lyndsey's deployment and return home affected them both,
turning their lives upside-down. Throughout her military service, Lyndsey
worked hard to remain unemotional and her quest, once home, becomes a process
of learning how to soften her heart, getting in touch with and expressing her true feelings
and emotions, and practicing spiritual mindfulness via the study of contemplative
psychotherapy and meditation.
Well-selected,
interspersed footage from world and political events, along with clips from
military drills and actual combat, enrich the documentary along with the tight,
crisp cinematography of Samuel
E. Newman and the seamless editing of Jenny Filippazzo. Sipprelle's
meticulous direction paints a clear, well-rendered portrait of the arduous journey
young military women of diverse cultural backgrounds--and psychological
profiles--face as they rejoin contemporary society. Their unifying thread becomes a sense of not belonging, a lack of purpose in fulfilling
the mundane tasks of everyday life and no longer fitting in with civilian peers
and contemporaries because military experience has set them apart. Sipprelle compassionately
traces their unique feminine perspectives from combat to healing, and the long road they are forced to travel toward peace, with great insight and sensitivity—shining a necessary spotlight upon
these unsung, courageous women who answered America's call.
