Winterfilm Collective: Winter Soldier
In 1971 the Winter Soldier Investigation, a media event organized by Vietnam veterans, took place in Detroit, Michigan. It was intended to publicize war crimes by the United States Armed Forces and their allies in the Vietnam War. About 100 veterans gave testimony revealing the direct relationship between military policies and war crimes in Vietnam. Ever since the event, individuals and organizations have sought to discredit it. To date, no records of fraudulent testimony have been produced.
The event did not receive extensive media coverage outside Detroit. However, several film makers, among them Barbara Kopple and David Grubin, recorded it, and a documentary called Winter Soldier was released in 1972.
The film features testimony by soldiers who claim that they participated in or witnessed the killing of civilians, including children, indiscriminate eradication of villages and throwing prisoners out of helicopters.
In testimony by Joseph Bangert, he describes driving past a village "when there were some Vietnamese children at the gateway… and they gave the old finger gesture at us. It was understandable that they picked this up from GIs there. They... slowed down a little bit, and it was just like response, the guys got up, including the lieutenants, and just blew all the kids away. There were about five or six kids blown away, and then the truck just continued down the hill."
The film gives one an idea of the Vietnam War reality from the US soldier’s perspective and the burdens they have to carry. Photos and short film clips, which support some of the allegations, are intercut with the soldier’s testimony. The film is in black and white and has a quite rough style. There is no use of music during the film. It is much more the testimony where the fascination comes from, than the way the film is shot or edited.
Winter Soldier was largely ignored by the mainstream media. At the time of its original release in 1972, it was greeted with scepticism. The ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS television networks declined to broadcast it. In 2005, the film was re-released in US theatres.
Why should anyone watch this film today, almost 40 years after the investigation? It is an important contemporary document of current interest showing healthy young men turning into torturers and murderers, in a legal and moral vacuum, and having to deal with it afterwards.
USA | 1972 | 96 min.
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204058/
Official website: http://wintersoldierfilm.com/
Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan: http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier
Amongst others available at the official website and amazon.co.uk
