Often, war is painted as a heroic act. Society’s taboo against killing gets turned upside down and killing becomes moral. Killing becomes righteous because what it seeks to save is greater than what it has to destroy. On the surface, it sounds simple, but underneath the layers of a person is a complex mix of emotions that derive from the traumas of war. The physical and mental toll can extend past the battle field and head home with the soldier.
These stories capture this phenomenon through the soldier’s and their loved ones who witness the long-term impact of war. Each dwells on feelings that are complicated and contradictory. Characters live in their feelings and have to deal with them. They grapple with their personal sense of honor and struggle to hold themselves accountable. From their varied perspectives, each registers as an anti-war story, not because it confronts us with the atrocities of combat but because it reveals how war distorts our humanity and fractures the self.
Two war veterans reel from a night out, reflecting on the ways serving the war has impacted them physically and mentally after heading back home. When a red-headed man seeks to cause them harm, the veterans must navigate whether to turn to violence or passivity — putting into action what it means to be “good.” Performed by Bill Pullman.
When her husband returns home from Vietnam with an improbable injury, a woman struggles to cope with what the war took from them. Performed by Jessica Capshaw.
A crime scene triggers memories of Vietnam in the mind of a police sergeant. Performed by Tim DeKay.
A veteran of the Vietnam War finds an unlikely companion in whom he can confide the complex feelings engendered by PTSD. Performed by Jason George.
A Communist Chinese Revolutionary Army squadron leader struggles to control a soldier who bullies everyone in their unit. Performed by Michael Paul Chan.