Johnny Comes Home

Summary:

A 24-year old Marine veteran of the recent Iraq war returns home and tells us why he cannot sleep at night.

Additional Credits and Funding:

Created at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies under Rob Rosenthal. Photo by Danee Voorhees.

Tones:

Engaging, Provocative, Real

Language:

English

Description:

John Marchelletta is a Marine veteran of the current conflict in Iraq who can't sleep at night since he has returned to his home in Gardiner, Maine. In this story, John relates a disturbing incident in which two young Iraqi girls are accidentally shot during an ambush at night when the US Marines were on the way to Baghdad. It chronicles his unsettled understanding of what happened that night and hints at the lasting effects of combat, beyond the increasing casualty counts. It is the kind of story that is common in war but not yet widely heard, showing how global policies enacted by a few create lifelong consequences in ordinary people, not just those who are "collatoral damage" but those soldiers sent as agents of these policies.

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