On Thursday, September 6, The Heritage Foundation will host an exceptional afternoon event. At 4:30 pm, the film “The Horse Soldiers of 9/11” will be shown, followed by a panel with the filmmaker, Ms. Alex Quade, and several representatives of the veterans groups. The event will be rounded out with a reception for all participants. All three are open to the public.
This important film is NOT a recapitulation of the events that made these brave warriors some of the first heroes of the post-9/11 conflict. As dramatic as the stories of charging tanks and machineguns while riding horses alongside Afghan warriors may be (and they were when we received those early messages in the front office of the Pentagon), this film is about what happened after the smoke had cleared.
Ms. Quade found and followed up with the men of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group after they returned home. She movingly shows the interaction between them and their families. It exhibits that even among the best we have, the multiple-time volunteers of America’s Green Berets, war has costs beyond the battlefield casualties. It shows how the “heroes back home,” the families deal with the stress of war, and how even with a highly professional military, our troops remain at heart citizen soldiers.
The panel will allow the audience to ask questions and discuss one of the most important issues we as a democracy face – how far can we push or military in the pursuit of national interests before the society pays a price?
Join us at Heritage (214 Mass Ave, NE – 2 blocks east of Union Station) for this important event.
