"Of Men and War" Film Covers Pathway Home and Healing PTSD

"Of Men and War" film reveals local veteran's trauma
Columbia Tribune
By JACK WITTHAUS
Saturday, March 7, 2015

“I hope this film will continue to help them,” he said, “so they can see where they came from.”

Lt. David Wells wore a pressed U.S. Army military dress and service uniform past a jumble of True/False Film Fest lanyards and T-shirts as he walked into the Tiger Hotel on Friday.

A man with a headset ushered Wells, shined dress shoes clacking on the floor, into an empty, dark screening room. Seeing a man in a red scarf and curly hair, Wells smiled and took off his hat. Wells then bent down and wrapped his arms around the smaller man, filmmaker Laurent Bécue-Renard.

“I owe a lot to Laurent,” Wells said later. “He was a part of my personal war.”

Wells is one of 12 men featured in Bécue-Renard’s “Of Men and War,” which was screened for the first time in Columbia, Wells’ hometown, during True/False on Friday. The documentary film centers around the struggles of men inside Pathway Home, a treatment center in Yountville, Calif., that serves veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other post-combat mental health challenges.

Through his treatment, Wells met Bécue-Renard, who was filming the therapy process at Pathway Home.

Wells, who was deployed for multiple tours in Iraq and worked in mortuary affairs, is pictured many times in the documentary. In one scene, Wells talks about his experience seeing the body of a 19-year-old soldier who had just committed suicide.
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This link is from Pathway Home website and is a powerful video on when war does not leave you.
Breakaway Patriot- "The Homecoming" filmed at Travis Air Force Base CA Featuring artist and veteran Bradly James whom served in Afghanistan.

Special thanks to Travis Air Force Base, and to the Men and Women of the Armed Forces for their efforts.

Directed by David Schloss of Inventive Films Napa, CA

The flip side is that even though war doesn't leave you, you can call a truce with PTSD, find a peaceful balance with your memories and live a better quality of life.