Operation Homecoming: Writing the wartime experience

"Operation Homecoming" is an Academy Award nominated documentary that explores the firsthand accounts of American soldiers through their own words. The film is built upon a project created by the National Endowment for the Arts to gather the writing of soldiers and their families who have participated in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through interviews and dramatic readings, the film transforms selections from this collection of writing into a deep examination of the experiences of the men and women who are serving in America's armed forces. At the same time it provides depth and context to these experiences through a broader look at the universal themes of war literature. The writing in Operation Homecoming covers the full spectrum - poetry, fiction, memoir, letters, journals, and essays. The stories recounted here are sad, funny, violent, and uplifting. Yet each one displays and honesty and intensity that is rarely seen in explorations of the war. Through an extraordinary group of men and women it presents a profound window into the human side of America's current conflicts.