'Over There' gets mixed reviews at Fort Stewart
New TV drama focuses on squad of 3rd ID soldiers fighting the war in Iraq.
LOCAL NEWS
SavannahNow.com
The FX network's new fictional war drama "Over There," about a squad of 3rd Infantry Division soldiers fighting the war in Iraq, may be entertaining television.
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However, some in the 3rd ID - or married to soldiers serving in it - say the television show is an unrealistic and, at times, upsetting portrayal of a war that's already very real in their lives.
"In my opinion, as far as engaging in combat the way they do, it's a little unrealistic," said Sgt.
David Cebolla, now stationed at Fort Stewart with the 3rd ID's rear detachment.
Cebolla knows a thing or two about being "over there."
His first deployment as a platoon sergeant with the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry during the 2003 invasion lasted seven months.
The way the show portrays a group of six new Army privates that head immediately into combat, alone and led by a sergeant they don't know, doesn't reflect reality, Cebolla said.
Most soldiers know the others in their unit because they've trained together for so long, he said.
And squads regularly interact with larger units, a fact that seems missing in "Over There."
"It seems they portray them as a bunch of draftees that get sent straight to the front line. That wouldn't happen. They're going to go through some train-up phase before they go into that situation," he said.
Created by Steven Bochco of "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue" fame, "Over There" is the first TV war drama to be aired while combat is still taking place.
So far, it's been successful. The 4.1 million people who watched the first episode put it in the top-10 basic cable series debuts of all time.
Despite its edge, "the show doesn't proselytize," Bochco said. "It just presents you with the complex realities of being in a war and leaves you to ask yourself interesting questions: What's right? What's wrong? How does one reconcile personal beliefs with a sense of duty?"
Military personnel and their family, however, have been critical of the show on Internet message boards, including one on the show's Web site.
Erica Reynolds, whose husband, Sgt. 1st Class Sherman Reynolds of the 5th Squadron, 7th Calvary, is now in Iraq, has only seen part of an episode.
Scenes depicting a wife crying after discovering she's pregnant, and showing another wife cheating on her husband while he's in combat, unfairly portray military wives as weak, Reynolds said.
While the show depicts 3rd ID soldiers, and images of what is supposed to be Fort Stewart, the show's creators and writers have not actually visited the installation to do research, said Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone.
That bothers Reynolds.
"If they're going to use and abuse the 3rd ID patch, they need to come here and talk to some of the spouses," she said. "The actual drama is enough, they don't need to overplay it."
Made without the cooperation of the Pentagon, the show does employ a military adviser, former Marine Staff Sgt. Sean Bunch, himself a veteran of Iraq service.
Bunch not only put the actors through a week of "boot camp" before the show's pilot episode, but he continues to advise cast and crew on everything from the proper way to hold firearms to a soldier's likely emotional response.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. -->
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LOCAL NEWS
SavannahNow.com
The FX network's new fictional war drama "Over There," about a squad of 3rd Infantry Division soldiers fighting the war in Iraq, may be entertaining television.
-->
However, some in the 3rd ID - or married to soldiers serving in it - say the television show is an unrealistic and, at times, upsetting portrayal of a war that's already very real in their lives.
"In my opinion, as far as engaging in combat the way they do, it's a little unrealistic," said Sgt.
David Cebolla, now stationed at Fort Stewart with the 3rd ID's rear detachment.
Cebolla knows a thing or two about being "over there."
His first deployment as a platoon sergeant with the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry during the 2003 invasion lasted seven months.
The way the show portrays a group of six new Army privates that head immediately into combat, alone and led by a sergeant they don't know, doesn't reflect reality, Cebolla said.
Most soldiers know the others in their unit because they've trained together for so long, he said.
And squads regularly interact with larger units, a fact that seems missing in "Over There."
"It seems they portray them as a bunch of draftees that get sent straight to the front line. That wouldn't happen. They're going to go through some train-up phase before they go into that situation," he said.
Created by Steven Bochco of "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue" fame, "Over There" is the first TV war drama to be aired while combat is still taking place.
So far, it's been successful. The 4.1 million people who watched the first episode put it in the top-10 basic cable series debuts of all time.
Despite its edge, "the show doesn't proselytize," Bochco said. "It just presents you with the complex realities of being in a war and leaves you to ask yourself interesting questions: What's right? What's wrong? How does one reconcile personal beliefs with a sense of duty?"
Military personnel and their family, however, have been critical of the show on Internet message boards, including one on the show's Web site.
Erica Reynolds, whose husband, Sgt. 1st Class Sherman Reynolds of the 5th Squadron, 7th Calvary, is now in Iraq, has only seen part of an episode.
Scenes depicting a wife crying after discovering she's pregnant, and showing another wife cheating on her husband while he's in combat, unfairly portray military wives as weak, Reynolds said.
While the show depicts 3rd ID soldiers, and images of what is supposed to be Fort Stewart, the show's creators and writers have not actually visited the installation to do research, said Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone.
That bothers Reynolds.
"If they're going to use and abuse the 3rd ID patch, they need to come here and talk to some of the spouses," she said. "The actual drama is enough, they don't need to overplay it."
Made without the cooperation of the Pentagon, the show does employ a military adviser, former Marine Staff Sgt. Sean Bunch, himself a veteran of Iraq service.
Bunch not only put the actors through a week of "boot camp" before the show's pilot episode, but he continues to advise cast and crew on everything from the proper way to hold firearms to a soldier's likely emotional response.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. -->
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