POV‘s 25th season of independent nonfiction on PBS continues with the Emmy-nominated documentary Where Soldiers Come From, a story of childhood friends who join the National Guard and journey from a snowy, small town in northern Michigan to the mountains of Afghanistan.
Watch it on PBS stations Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. Check your local listings »
Watch the trailer for the documentary Where Soldiers Come From. Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, on POV.
From a snowy, small town in northern Michigan to the mountains of Afghanistan, Where Soldiers Come From follows the four-year journey of childhood friends who join the National Guard after graduating from high school. As it chronicles the young men’s transformation from restless teenagers to soldiers looking for roadside bombs to 23-year-old combat veterans trying to start their lives again, the film offers an intimate look at the young Americans who fight our wars, the families and towns they come from — and the way one faraway conflict changes everything.
Visit POV’s Where Soldiers Come From website for video and interactive features about the film.
- Watch additional video, including an extended interview with director Heather Courtney, clips and deleted scenes from the film.
- Find out more about the soldiers in the film, including their take on the conditions in Afghanistan.
- Learn more about Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the National Guard, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
- View images from the film, download the poster, and see artwork by Dom, one of the soldiers profiled in the film.
- Explore maps and statistics about soldiers who enter the Army Reserves what happens to soldiers upon their return home from war.
- Get a discussion guide, lesson plan, a reading list and other resources for use in the classroom.
- Read what viewers had to say about the film and contribute your own comments.
Did you know? Many POV films are available free to stream online and on your mobile devices. Visit POV’s Watch Video page or download the PBS mobile app for iPhone or iPad, and see which films are available today!
POV’s 25th season on PBS continues Thursday nights through October.
