I NEED YOUR SUPPORT!!
While planning a travel documentary to take place summer of 2019 in Waikiki, Hawaii…
As if on cue… I stumbled across a long lost friend I never knew I would find. The last time we saw each other he was recovering from being blown to smithereens 12 years ago.
After finding my battle buddy and one of my best friends in the world -Hero Goose Grosswiler–Affectionately, “GOOSE” — the goal of my project was made clear…find & reunite the forgotten soldiers–and tell their stories.
In this instance– Goode and I had been separated following an IED attack on one of his patrols in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the army- we don’t use first names. It’s Rank and Surname. We didn’t know each other’s first names and so we couldn’t find each other when the proverbial dust settled.
Goose endured and continues to endure the effects of terrible pain, overcoming substance dependence and more adversity then a person ever deserves–
The Aftermath of an IED Attack Taking ‘Goose’ Out
We haven’t seen each other in 12 years.
And just like that -SNAP- my mission has become clear.
No one knows our stories.
They look at us and see the exterior…we look like everyone else. We don’t talk about it. Because no one seems to care — or if they do they don’t understand.
We suffer but we try to be strong.
The world doesn’t know we were green berets, rangers, generals, scouts, war heroes. They don’t know we lost our best friends and families to war, suicide, divorce, alcoholism – the world sees problem who just don’t fit in anymore. They don’t know the battles and wars we’ve over come–that often the war actually starts for us when we get home.
But when we find each other…we know each other. We know the struggle as we just try to find our own paradise and put the past behind us.
My documentary will still be in Waikiki —where THE ARMYS 25thID is BTW— but I am going to focus on the lives of these unknown heroes that people forget about once we move on from the military.
When we find each other – we don’t even have to explain – we understand each other.
Like when I found Goose!
My documentary will seek out the forgotten heroes!!! Tell their stories!
Some of them end up homeless and some of them end up lost in their 9 to 5.
The mission:
I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU.
I FOUND YOU.
The struggles people don’t understand and the fact that we still are successfuland able to find smiles on our faces despite the shit we have left behind.
How we really, actually are a
BAND of BROTHERS.
If you would like to support this effort or be involved in anyway please contact Jonathan Hursh:
I am Jonathan Hursh…I’m just a messenger, but you need to know these stories.
E-Mail jonathanhursh@me.com
INSTA: @jonathan.hursh
FACEBOOK: @jonathanhursh
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