A “must-see” was film is currently airing on Amazon Prime. Once a Marine is a “powerful” 2020 film that sees Marine combat veterans of the War in Afghanistan battle demons after returning home and discuss what they endured.
In emotional footage, they candidly reveal the unfiltered and corrosive truth about combat, PTSD, civilian life afterwards, and the psychological toll of fighting in America’s longest war. Created by Marines, and filmed over seven and a half years, the film originally debuted on Amazon Prime on Veterans Day 2020. But five years on, fans are still saying that the documentary is still a “must-see”.
Posting to Reddit, the creator, filmmaker Stephen Canty, wrote: “I got lucky with the interviews – but the rest was seven years of refining it so that outsiders could understand.” Another user replied: “Man, this is powerful. And very well done.”
Another social media user penned: “Wow. Just finished watching it on prime. Such an emotional gut punch. Thank you for this, and I’ll be letting my friends know about it as well.”
One more thanked the creator. “Thank you for bringing light to a dark subject,” they wrote. “You are very talented at this, so don’t stop. The work you do might just be what someone needs to see to make it another day…and then maybe they make it another day.”
“F***ing powerful, man. This is what we need. Thank you for making this and to others involved. Left an impact on me,” another penned.
Canty was deployed to Marjah, Afghanistan, in 2010 with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, along with SAW gunner Xavier Zell and the rest of Charlie Company. Operation Moshtarak saw 15,000 troops fighting to keep the Taliban out of southern Afghanistan, in the largest battle in the war the men had ever seen.
The filmmaker previously explained the film, writing: “No matter how successful combat veterans end up “transitioning” back to the civilian world, war was the most formative and, to date, most significant part of their lives. Once a Marine tells the story of adjusting to civilian life after war.”
He added: “After getting out of the military, many veterans struggle with depression, loss of purpose, and suicidal ideation. The effects of PTSD have been well publicised, but for the men with the diagnosis, the symptoms they suffer are part of a much larger experience that changed them forever, both for good and for bad.”