FALLOUT: Coming Home from the War in Iraq

challenges they faced both in Iraq and returning home to a nation that is unaware of the harsh reality on the ground in Iraq.

Staff Sergeant James C. Bailey, a 20 year veteran of the Tennessee Army National Guard, is a loving husband and proud father of two. Bailey joined the military for the same reasons many young men do- he wanted to serve his country and find work outside of a factory in his small hometown. He has been to Iraq three times during his military career- once during the Gulf War and twice during the current war in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Bailey has recently retired from the military after returning from his third tour in Iraq. Today, like many of his fellow Veterans, he is unemployed, living day to day and dreading the walk to the mailbox to gather the bill collector's notices. As a retired member of the National Guard he cannot draw retirement pay until he is 62 years old. As Bailey says, "The electric company doesn't go along with the idea of paying your bill twenty years from now and my children can't eat on the promise of money that will come in well after they are grown. It's funny how everyone worries about Wall Street, the banks and the auto industry but the American Veteran can't afford to live in the country that he or she sacrificed so much to preserve."

Corporal Michael Prysner was 17 when he joined the military because of patriotism. He shipped out for basic training on his 18th birthday and was excited to serve his country and travel the world. Like many young men Prysner had a romantic view of the military prior to joining and imagine a life of excitement in new places. In 2003 he was deployed to Iraq where he remained for 12 months. Prior to deploying Prysner says he didn't form any opinions about the war in Iraq and Saddam's weapon capabilities. As a military member who had spent months training for battle he was excited for the opportunity to serve his country, but during his time in Iraq his views about the war and the military began to change. Since returning home Prysner has become an active member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, an organizations founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent. In 2008 Prysner participated in Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan, an event at which U.S. veterans provided accounts of their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Staff Sergeant Charlie Carlson grew up in a military family and followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by joining the military. From 2003-2004 he served in Iraq as a squad leader in a combat military police company and lived in an old cigarette factory called Camp Marlboro in the area of Baghdad called Sadir City. Carlson also previously fought in the Gulf War and had doubts about the Bush administration's claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. While serving in the current Iraq war he wrote letters and emails about his day to day experiences on the ground. These letters were published in the the Seminole Herald in Sanford, Florida as "The Iraqi Diaries" and gave readers up-close documentation of the war as seen by a soldier. These letters later caused Staff Sergeant Carlson to be investigated and eventually accused of speaking out against former President Bush. After 14 years of service he was demoted to Sergeant, had his pay suspended for six months, and was given 45 days of extra duty. Carlson is no longer in the military.

"FALLOUT: Coming Home from the War in Iraq" is not just another documentary about the war in Iraq. These firsthand witnesses explain how their experiences have affected them and altered their views on the war, the media, the public, and the leaders who put their lives on the line. FALLOUT is the premiere film of Ava Lowrey, an 18 year old film/video activist from rural Alabama. Her short videos on the war in Iraq have received international attention from news outlets including CNN, MTV, The New York Times, Le Monde(France), and Rolling Stone Magazine. Together with her brother Gordon, Ava set out with a single camcorder and drove across the South East to interview three veterans. Honest and straightforward, this unbiased documentary gives Staff Sergeant James C. Bailey, Corporal Michael Prysner, and Staff Sergeant Charlie Carlson a platform to open up with the public and share stories and opinions that might otherwise go unheard.show less...