‘Muse of Fire’ Gives Eyewitness Accounts of War

American Forces Press Service ^ | John J. Kruzel

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2007 – “Muse of Fire,” a film that debuted here last night, uses American troops’ eyewitness accounts and private journals to bring to life the tragedy, pain, horror, death and even the hope and optimism of war.

The documentary, shown at the National Archives, is a frank account of life on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I wanted to show servicemembers who have sacrificed so much for us, not only to humanize them, but to show how they grew personally and how they turned into writers,” film director Lawrence Bridges said at the debut.

Operation Homecoming, a National Endowment for the Arts literary program, served as Bridges’ inspiration. The program brought a network of instructors to 50 writing seminars at 25 domestic and five overseas military bases.

Six thousand troops and their family members wrote their stories and submitted 12,000 pages. A portion of this vast war narrative was edited and anthologized in a 377-page book, “Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families.”

Bridges said his goal was to make a film about how war sparked the troops’ creativity.

“I wanted to explore the military experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, the experience on the home front of spouses and children, and show through those experiences of deep trauma that may never be experienced by average Americans, how you use that in your creative life.”

Writing about traumatic experiences, Bridges said, can be cathartic for the troops.

“When you don’t talk about these things, and you’re not open, it can lead to violence, it can lead to depression, it can lead to a life that isn’t fulfilled,” he said. “I think the power of Operation Homecoming is to give voices to those troops who need to get that out.”

Renowned novelist Jeff Shaara was one of the instructors who worked with the troops and encouraged them to record their narratives.

“Invariably, the first words out of their mouths would be, ‘My story is not very interesting,’” Shaara said. “Then they would tell me what their experience was and I would end up with my mouth hanging open.”

For former Army Sgt. John McCary, who contributed a letter to the program and who now writes for The Wall Street Journal, the desire to write during wartime was “like a flood.”

In the film, McCary shares an anecdote about a young Iraqi man with olive skin and black hair he met while stationed in Anbar province. The young man was known for his oil painting of local landscapes.

“He was an artist who sold his wares on the base,” McCary said. “The piece that I have captured the ghostly, transient nature of a lot of the construction that’s over there. He did it with really minimal materials, and obviously minimal time and resources and it was just gorgeous.

“Of course, it was made all the more poignant by the fact that I never saw him again,” he said. Shortly after McCary befriended the young painter, he stopped appearing at the base.

“I know that he never came back and he was rumored to be dead,” McCary said. “The insurgents at that time made a concerted effort to target people that dealt with American forces. He lived right outside Fallujah; that’s not a good place to be somebody who sells to the Americans.”

With death lurking around every corner, McCary said he felt compelled to record his experience.

“The urge to write when you’re in that situation is overwhelming,” McCary said. “It’s an impetus that you don’t usually feel, and I think it has something to do with your need to communicate your experience to other people.”

While some troops censor the letters they send home, McCary gave his family a choice. “I asked my family right from the start, ‘Do you want the cleaned-up version or do you want the fire hose? And they didn’t even hesitate. They said, ‘I want the fire hose.’”

“I think the subtext there, the unsaid thing is, why would you hold anything back if this might be the last thing you say?” McCary said.

Related Sites:
Operation Homecoming

Related Articles:
Troops’ Written Wartime Observations Tell Personal Truths
NEA Project Helps Troops Write About Wartime Experiences

[SandRat]

Potential Trouble with this - The NEA is involved in it.

[bnelson44]

"O, for a Muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention."

Prologue, Henry V, by William Shakespeare

[bnelson44]

Washington, DC -- On March 14, 2007, the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the National Archives, will present the world premiere of Muse of Fire, a new documentary film about wartime writing and the creative process that was inspired by the groundbreaking National Endowment for the Arts initiative, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience. The film features compelling readings and interviews with troops and their families who participated in the program. Muse of Fire also includes renowned writers who taught writing workshops for the initiative, such as best-selling novelist Jeff Shaara (The Rising Tide) and award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson (The Fields of Praise). Award-winning actor and director Kevin Costner (The Guardian) is featured, as is actor Stephen Lang (Gods and Generals). Muse of Fire is directed by Lawrence Bridges of Red Car Productions.

The film is the latest component of the NEA's Operation Homecoming, which brought distinguished writers -- including Tobias Wolff, Tom Clancy, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Mark Bowden -- to 25 domestic and overseas military installations to conduct writing workshops from April 2004 through July 2005. Operation Homecoming also offered an open call for writing submissions to troops who have served since 9/11, along with their families. That call resulted in nearly 2,000 submissions.

In September 2006, Random House published Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families. The anthology, edited by the award-winning author Andrew Carroll, includes nearly 100 letters, poems, stories, and memoirs of service and sacrifice on the front lines and at home. The Boeing Company, which funded the Operation Homecoming program, supported a book tour to more than 30 venues, including military bases, libraries, bookstores, and cultural centers nationwide.

Muse of Fire was developed in partnership with Arts Midwest, a non-profit regional arts organizations that connects people throughout the Midwest and the world to meaningful arts opportunities, sharing creativity, knowledge, and understanding across boundaries. Director Lawrence Bridges' film team included Executive Producer Jan Wieringa and Producer Minor Childers.

After the film premiere, a panel discussion with NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, Andrew Carroll, and Jeff Shaara will address the Operation Homecoming program and the preservation of wartime writing. Carroll and several contributors will also sign copies of the book, available for purchase at the event. Copies of Muse of Fire also will be donated to nearly 500 military base libraries, schools, and education centers worldwide. The film will be screened on military bases and at select film festivals.

Muse of Fire at the National Archives

The world premiere of Muse of Fire takes place on Wednesday, March 14 at 6:30 pm at the National Archives William G. McGowan Theater, at the special events entrance on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW. This event is free and open to the public, however seating is limited. For more information, contact the National Archives at 202-357-5000.

Other Operation Homecoming resources

In addition to the Random House anthology, Operation Homecoming will preserve all submissions in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, a federal government archive. A second television documentary on Operation Homecoming, directed by Richard Robbins, will air on PBS on April 16, 2007 as part of the "American at a Crossroads" series. The NEA also has produced educational resources to encourage troops and their families to write about their experiences. Information on Operation Homecoming, essays on writing, streaming video of writing workshops, and audio clips are available at www.OperationHomecoming.org.

Operation Homecoming has been administered by the NEA in partnership with the Southern Arts Federation. The initiative was made possible by generous support from The Boeing Company, which has helped the NEA bring numerous quality arts and arts education programs to military communities nationwide and overseas.

About Boeing

Boeing is the world's leading aerospace company and the largest combined manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft. With additional capabilities in rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, rocket engines, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems, the company's reach extends to customers in 145 countries. In terms of sales, Boeing is one of the largest U.S. exporters.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

The NEA is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts -- both new and established -- bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit www.arts.gov.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> Prologue, Henry V, by William Shakespeare

You beaut! Goodonya! I was wondering if anyone else had seen the irony in the title.

Henry IV and Henry V are my favorite Shakespeare plays.

*DieHard*

[bnelson44]

MUSE of FIRE Trailer "Opening" with French Subtitles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9tKY80Ofs8&mode=related&search=

MUSE of FIRE Trailer "I Wanted to See a War"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxEhKXZzePc

MUSE of FIRE Trailer "No Time for Snowmen".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeojFM25Oa4&mode=related&search=

MUSE of FIRE Trailer "Bodyguard"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B45UJ_rDfrI&mode=related&search=

[stuartcr]

If it is truly eyewitness accounts and private journals, how can it be trouble, wouldn't it be unbiased?

[SandRat]

Not for the warriors I just don't any NGO with the initials NEA