The Story Behind the Award-Winning Film
This is BW’s award-winning documentary (NY Indie Film Festival ’09), which documents 40+ years of dealing with the combat stress of dying and living through war and after. It’s a war of fighting the residual effects of war when attrition beats down a survivor.
Brian Wizard and various crewmembers shot the combat footage during his combat tour in 1968-’69 as a door gunner on the prestigious combat assault helicopter Pollution IV. The film-loaded camera was the state-of-the-art home movie type: Super 8mm, where the frames were 8 mm square—tiny. Hence, the poor quality. There was no sound recording. The industry had yet to learn how to spell video or HD.
This doco has three parts, three music videos, and a killer soundtrack written and performed by BW and friends.
“An amazing depiction of a day in the life of an Assault Helicopter Company in Viet Nam. Composed of unique combat footage shot by the crew of Pollution IV in 1969. No Hollywood remake or military footage—just raw reality.”
“A healing return trip to Viet Nam 30 years after Brian’s return from war, showing the transition from soldier to peacemaker.”
“A showcase of Brian’s donation to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Includes his combat flight helmet, platoon scarf, and the smoke generator now installed on the Huey ‘Smokey III’, keeping the story of smokeships alive forever.”
“The industry had yet to learn how to spell video or HD, the Super 8mm Kodachrome film was shot. This film has been 40 years in the making. It is worth watching all 66 minutes, maybe more than once.”