Freedom not free for many vets
New Jersey Herald
By ERIC OBERNAUER
Posted: Mar 30, 2014
SPARTA -- The young men and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq may not have suffered the disparagement and scorn heaped upon their forebears returning from Vietnam, but the toll of war and its lasting impact remain a common thread that cuts across all generations.
"Many of our young veterans are suffering terribly," said Frankford resident Norman Seider, himself a veteran of the Korean War. "We send 18- and 19-year-old children off to war, and many of them come back damaged for life."
The physical and emotional toll they face -- captured movingly in a 28-minute documentary titled "Freedom Is Not Free" -- was told again and again Sunday through the film and personal stories at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, where a screening of the documentary and panel discussion were hosted by the church in cooperation with the Sussex County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The documentary -- which is dedicated to Gary Webber, a local Vietnam veteran who died during the filming process from the lasting effects of Agent Orange exposure -- is the product of work that Seider, a professional photographer, began two years ago after marching in Newton's Memorial Day parade and hearing others thanking him and his fellow veterans for their service.
Despite their well-meaning gestures, Seider began to wonder if many of them fully understood what that service entails and the challenges faced by a new generation of veterans coming home from war. Soon afterward, Seider asked his friend and fellow Frankford resident, Carl Ohlson, to join him in co-producing the documentary.
The film, in addition to detailing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and Agent Orange suffered to this very day by those who fought in Vietnam, focuses on a more recent concern -- residue from depleted uranium released by exploding shells -- for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
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