After five days here at the Sundance Film Festival with three other Iraq War Veterans, I think a clarification is in order:
We have absolutely nothing against Paris Hilton. My comments in an MTV piece yesterday may have given you the wrong impression, but really, we all know that Paris just wants to help.
In fact, our sources tell us that she's already written a check to help support IAVA: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the work we do on behalf of this next generation of Veterans. After all, she is just about our age, so I'm sure she has plenty in common with Robert Acosta, Herold Noel, Abbie Pickett, Sean Huze, and all the other young Veterans.
We'll let you know when her check arrives.
But enough about Paris.
Here at the film festival, the issues surrounding the Iraq War and the new Veterans' movement continue to be a hot topic. From invites to parties, to offers of financial support, to extensive media coverage, the Sundance experience has proven to be exceptionally worthwhile for a small, broke, nonprofit organization.
On Saturday night, the guys got to meet Michael Franti, an exceptional musician who recently completed a film about his journey to Iraq. It's an extraordinary piece of work that manages to focus solely on the human element of this war that is so often lost in the evening news sound bites.
Yesterday, the Sundance Channel invited us over for an interview about "The Ground Truth," our role in the film, and the warm reception we've received since being here. After taping the segment, the host opened his wallet and made a contribution to IAVA on the spot. We thank him for that - another welcome symbol of the public's willingness to listen and
And last but not least, we filmed a long segment for NBC Nightly News which will air during tonight's broadcast, starting at 6:30 p.m. EST. The piece is all about the film, our trip to Sundance, and the juxtaposition of Veterans' issues amongst the glitz of the festival.
Back at the home office, IAVA's innovative use of technology to connect new Veterans was taken to a whole new level this week, with the launch of TroopNet. This one-of-a-kind service allows Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to go online, share their stories, and find other Vets and Troops with similar experiences. Both the Wall Street Journal and CNN ran pieces about TroopNet yesterday. Our member Veterans often say that the hardest part of the transition back to civilian life is the loss of camaraderie and support that comes with military life. We hope TroopNet will help ease that transition.