Utah filmmaker documents Marines adjusting to life after war

Lori Prichard reportingA young documentary maker from Utah is receiving a lot of acclaim for her film debut "Reserved to Fight."

The film follows four Marine reservists as they try to reclaim their post-war lives.

Chantelle Squires decided to make the film when she heard about her neighbor's experience in war. She was still in college and didn't realize this project would result in an emotional five-year journey. She says, "My neighbor who's my same age, we were both 19, had been a sniper in Baghdad, in a war zone, and I couldn't stop thinking about the impact that had on his life."

In the documentary "Reserved to Fight," Lance Cpl. Earl Simmons says, "I just try to get through each day and the next day without having too many problems."

Simmons, who is Squires' neighbor, was deployed with Fox Company 2/23. They were the first Marine reservists to fight in Iraq and the first to return home. For four years, Squires followed Simmons and three other young Marines as they tried to reintegrate into society.

Sgt. Christopher J. Nibley also is featured in the film. He says, "Since I've been back, I've been trying to live peacefully for their sakes, and I've just been miserable."

Squires says, "It took about a year for us, as filmmakers, to get them used to the camera and become friends with them."

Once Squires gained their trust, they became increasingly more open about the psychological turmoil they were experiencing. She says, "One of the Marines called me one day, and he saw something on TV, and he said, ‘I'm so mad. I'm so riled up, and I need to talk to somebody.' I said I can come film you, and he said, ‘Oh, you're cheaper than therapy, Chantelle."

In addition to Simmons and Nibley, Cpl. Matt Jemmett and Lance Cpl. Mark Patterson are also featured in the film. None of the men ever expected to see combat when they signed up for the reserves. They were trained to kill, but no one trained them on how to live with the killing.

Patterson says, "Nobody sat me down and trained me how to cope with returning to society after I'd been in war, nobody."

Squires hopes the film will educate people about the life-long battle veterans face post combat.

"We've become passionate about getting the word out, about raising awareness about it, because they come home to a community, to peers who are apathetic in a lot of ways," Squires says, "I think this film acts as a tool to help people understand."

"When you're faced with going and dying and everybody else is watching ‘American Idol,' you're extremely alone," Nibley says.

Only one of the marines was officially diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following his tour of duty. But as the film shows, each man continues to walk through psychological minefields. "Anytime something freaks me out, like, I always have a knife on me. Yeah, that's healthy," Jemmett says.

Simmons says, "About six months I started noticing little things here and there, then it got a lot worse."

Squires says it was difficult for these Marines to be so candid about their darkest emotions, but says they came to recognize how their honesty could help others heal. "It's four guys from Utah who have just decided to share their personal lives with us for the last four years. I think it's going to change a lot of people's views and a lot of lives," she says.

"Reserved to Fight" will air on PBS in the fall. The producers of "Reserved to Fight" have also teamed up with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America to create an outreach program. They hope to raise enough money to screen this film on college campuses around the country.

For more information on the film, how you can see it, and the outreach program, click the related link.

Also tune in to KSL Newsradio 102.7FM/1160AM tomorrow morning to hear more on this story in an in-depth series called "Wounded Warriors."

E-mail: lprichard@ksl.com

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