MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Humvee hits an Iraqi woman crossing a busy road at night. The driver pulls over and turret gunner Spc. Mike Moriarty watches helplessly as supply trucks runs over her, spreading her body parts across the road — and we watch with him.
That is the power of "The War Tapes," a documentary edited from more than 800 hours of film shot by several members of the New Hampshire National Guard in Iraq's deadly Sunni Triangle."Watching 10 transport trucks go over her like a rag doll ... hearing the sound of that Humvee hitting her — I'll never forget it," Moriarty said in an interview.
The movie was the brainchild of director Deborah Scranton of Goshen, who got an offer to embed with a Manchester-based company of the 172nd Mountain Infantry Regiment, thanks to a previous documentary she had made about World War II veterans from New Hampshire.
Instead, she persuaded 10 guardsmen in Charlie Company of the 3rd Battalion to take cameras to Iraq and film, while she guided and encouraged them via e-mail and instant messaging. Scranton believes it is the first film directed over the Internet.
Five guardsmen stuck with the project from March 2004 to February 2005, mounting the cameras on their Humvees or interviewing other guardsmen. Several others also contributed footage. Three are featured prominently on camera: Moriarty and Sgts. Zack Bazzi and Stephen Pink. Scranton and her crew also filmed the three and their families during the men's training, their deployment and for 10 months after their return.
Scranton says she had no political agenda: She simply wanted Americans to see the soldiers' experiences, whether good, bad, ugly or heroic.
I don't think I would have the stomach for it but I think we ought to know about this film. You can see a trailer by going to The War Tapes website.
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