'Baghdad ER' brings Iraq horrors to U.S. audience

Fri 19 May 2006 2:13 PM ET
By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. public can see images of the Iraq war on television on Sunday that are so potentially disturbing the Pentagon has warned soldiers it may cause them to relive the trauma of war.

Cable TV network HBO will show the documentary "Baghdad ER" with scenes from a combat hospital emergency room, including an amputation and one showing Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Mininger dying despite the exhaustive efforts of the medical staff.

"I hope that when the American people see this film they have a clearer idea of what the soldiers are flashing back to when they suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome and get a clearer idea of why we need to support these soldiers," co-director Matthew O'Neill told Reuters.

Jon Alpert, the other co-director, said bringing the images home was the most patriotic job he felt he ever had. He also said the most graphic images were cut from the film.

"We very consciously backed way off. What's happening over there in that hospital is just too terrifying for a documentary. We can't show that," Alpert said.

The Pentagon gave Alpert and O'Neill unfettered access to the 86th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad's Green Zone, the vast fortress at the center of U.S. operations, and the film is being screened at bases around the United States, where it will be used as a training tool for medical personnel.

But at the same time Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley has cautioned soldiers who watch "Baghdad ER."

"If they have been stationed in Iraq, they may reexperience some symptoms of post-traumatic stress, such as flashbacks or nightmares," Kiley wrote in a memo to medical staff at Army posts.

One of the people most affected by the film -- Paula Zwillinger, the mother of Cpl. Mininger -- has wholly endorsed it, joining the directors on a promotional tour.

Zwillinger sees it as a tribute to the medical staff and said "complacent" Americans need to see the war more starkly.

"If people aren't thinking about what we're dealing with, then they should take off their rose-colored glasses," she said.

Zwillinger heard about the images of her son dying in the hospital from his combat wounds five months after it happened.

"That's a gift," she said. "It literally puts me at my son's bedside, and fills this void I've had."

Link Here

Baghdad ER: Documentary On US Military Hospital in Iraq Gets Cold Reception From ArmyListen

to Segment Download Show mp3 Watch 128k stream Watch 256k stream

Read Transcript Help Printer-friendly version Email to a friend Purchase Video/CD

A new documentary film on the emergency room of a US military hospital in Iraq is being met with resistance by the US Army. The film "Baghdad ER", which airs Sunday on HBO, chronicles life in the emergency room of the 86th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad’s Green Zone during a two-month period last year. The Army surgeon general has warned military-personnel it could cause post-traumatic stress disorder, while the Secretary of the Army asked HBO to delete some footage from the final cut. We play excerpts of the film, and speak to the film’s directors, as well as a military doctor depicted in the film, and a mother of a soldier whose death is chronicled on screen. [includes rush transcript]

The Army surgeon general has issued an unusual warning about an upcoming film that airs this Sunday on HBO. In a memo to military personnel, Lieutenant General Kevin Kiley writes that watching the documentary could result in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as flashbacks or nightmares. The film "Baghdad ER" chronicles life in the emergency room of the 86th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad’s Green Zone during a two-month period last year. It examines the daily lives of doctors, nurses, chaplains and soldiers who work at one of the busiest hospitals in Iraq.

"Baghdad ER" was screened on Monday night at the National Museum of American History and is scheduled to be shown at 22 military installations around the country. But it has already caused controversy because of it’s graphic footage of soldiers reeling from, and in some cases dying, from their war wounds. HBO screened the film in March for Senior Army officials including Undersecretary of the Army Pete Green. HBO’s executive Vice President Richard Pleper said the film received an enthusiastic response.

But then last week, the Army suddenly seemed to withdraw support for the film. HBO’s offer to co-sponsor a screening of the film this week at Fort Campbell, Kentucky where the 86th is based- was turned down by the Pentagon. And last week the Army suddenly declined to attend Monday’s screening.

In addition, none of the highest ranking officers or senior medical personnel attended the screening. After the screening, Shelia Nevins, President of HBO’s documentary unit, told the Washington Post, "Maybe people at the Pentagon feel the truth will discourage people from backing the war. The film certainly tells you what could happen in a war, but it’s also about the heroism, courage and dedication of our troops.”

Jon Alpert, award-winning filmmaker and founder of Downtown Community Television. Produced and Directed "Baghdad ER" which airs on HBO on Sunday, May 21st.
Matthew O’Neill, a producer at Downtown Community Television. He Produced and Directed "Baghdad ER" which airs on HBO on Sunday, May 21st.

Dr. James Hill, flight surgeon in aviation medicine at Fort Rucker in Alabama. He spent a year as an emergency medical physician in the Combat Support Hospital in Baghadad.
Paula Zwillinger, her son, U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Robert Mininger was killed in Iraq on June 6, 2005. He was 21 years old. >>>cont

Link Here