'Journey to Normal' Film Features Iowa Red Bulls

In its Iowa premiere, the 2017 documentary "Journey to Normal: Women of War Come Home" will be shown in an exclusive, one-time engagement on the Boone, Iowa campus of Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) at 7 p.m., Thurs., March 22, 2018.

A Q&A session with producer and director JulieHera DeStefano will follow the 93-minute film.

Hundreds of women service members were interviewed for the film project, and plans call for their stories to be archived and made available to researchers via the non-profit Journey to Normal website, producers say.

"Since 2001, over 280,000 women have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan," the documentary says. "Journey to Normal shares 8 of their stories so that we might reflect on the individual experiences of all who serve."

Two of the eight women featured in the film are originally from Iowa. Featured in the documentary are:

• Jessica Astorga Dayton, a U.S. Air Force nurse from Dayton, Ohio
• Abby Brookbank Allen, a U.S. Army National Guard combat medic from Ida Grove, Iowa
• Ivonne Daly, a U.S. Army Reserve surgeon from Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Jill Finken, a U.S. Army National Guard attorney from Souix City, Iowa
• Christine Mau, a U.S. Air Force F-15 pilot from Mountain Home, Idaho
• Judi Reeves, a U.S. Army Reserve surgical technician from Middletown, N.Y.
• Devon Reyes, a U.S. Army Military Intelligence officer from Fort Knox, Ky.
• Amy Sinkler, a U.S. Army truck driver from Chadbourn, N.C.

The event is the last installment in the inaugural "In Their Boots Film Festival," a three-month series of film presentations intended to foster conversations about military service, veterans issues, and social reintegration. The event is co-sponsored by the DMACC-Boone student group In My Boots 5k, and the Central Iowa non-profit Paws & Effect. The festival is made possible by a generous grant from Humanities Iowa.

"Because we train service dogs for veterans, we recognize that 'coming home' from a wartime deployment can be a journey, not a destination," says Nicole Shumate, executive director of Paws & Effect. "Reintegrating into our society and with our families doesn't just happen overnight, and it doesn't happen without hard work and continued support. We are extremely proud to celebrate the lives and stories of the veterans depicted in 'Journey to Normal'—and all who have walked these paths."

In 2010-2011, in what was described as the largest deployment of Iowa troops since World War II, the Iowa Army National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) sent more than 3,000 citizen-soldiers overseas as part of the "Afghan Surge." The 2-34th BCT is headquartered in Boone.

Randy Brown, a Central Iowa-based freelance writer and editor of "Reporting for Duty," a collection of U.S. Army public affairs reports from the Iowa brigade's deployment, says that "Journey to Normal" uniquely captures some of what it was like to deploy to Afghanistan—and what it is like to return to family, friends, school, and work following a wartime deployment. "All of these stories are important—individually and collectively," says Brown. "To most of us, this is a depiction of war far more 'real' and relevant than popular movies about snipers and drones."

Interviews with at least three "Red Bull" soldiers are featured in the documentary. Each appears multiple times on-camera, in settings both downrange and "back home." Abby Brookbank was a combat medic assigned to 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment (1-168th Inf.), and was based at Forward Operating Base ("FOB") Gardez. Jill Finken was an attorney assigned to the brigade headquarters, which was based at Bagram Airfield ("BAF") during the 2010-2011 deployment. Martha Kester, a chaplain with 334th Brigade Support Battalion, also makes a number of appearances throughout the film.

For more information about "Journey to Normal," visit here. A Facebook page is here.

To view an early (2011) trailer about the film, visit here.

There will be a freewill donation pasta dinner fund-raiser preceding the movie, starting 6 p.m. in the DMACC-Boone food court area. Proceeds will go to support the "In Our Boots 5k" run, walk, and ruck fund-raiser event April 14, 2018. The 93-minute movie "Journey to Normal" will be shown in the adjacent auditorium starting 7 p.m.

A Facebook page for the "In My Boots 5k" student group is here. A website is here.

A registration page for the April 14, 2018 5k run, walk, and ruck event is here.

Scenes from a Homecoming Ceremony

Approximately 2,800 soldiers of the Iowa National Guard's 2-34th Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) are somewhere between Afghanistan and the Hawkeye State. They're "demobilizing" from active duty—going through final medical and administrative checks—at Fort McCoy, Wis. Coincidentally, members of the Minnesota National Guard's 1-34th BCT are currently mobilizing for Iraq at the same base. And there's also another brigade-sized element of Iowa soldiers conducting their annual two-weeks of active-duty for training.

That's a lot of Red Bull and Hawkeye patches in one place. Rumor is that Fort McCoy is so crowded that there's only one shower head for every 100 soldiers.

The Red Bull's return from active-duty is less like a stampede, and more like a cattle drive. Units are traveling to Iowa in company-sized elements--not more than about 100 soldiers at a time. Some 30 ceremonies are anticipated between mid-July and the first of August. Because of the unpredictability of transportation, Iowa National Guard officials are able to announce homecoming ceremonies with only about 48 hours notice.

The Headquarters and Headquarters Company (H.H.C.), 2-34th BCT is located in Boone, Iowa. The homecoming ceremony is held at Boone High School, home of the Toreadors. A "Toreador" is a Spanish word for most English-speakers would call a "Matador." Either way, it means "killer of bulls."

¡Olé!

People start arriving as early as an hour ahead of the scheduled early afternoon event. There's ample time to catch up with friends and spouses of friends. We talk about the deployment, and about the next one, and about how there's not going to be a next one for some soldiers. That is, not if the spouses have anything to say about it. Old citizen-soldiers just fade away, particularly when they lose the support of their households.

Some of the spouses get all dolled up, and get the kids all kitted out. Some families show up as full platoons, and are even dressed in uniforms of their own designs. One pack arrives in pink camouflage T-shirts with "Welcome Home Dave" printed in big black letters. Another wears navy blue T-shirts, with the family name written in athletic-team script across the front in camouflage pattern. Below the family name it reads: "Afghanistan."

One of the brigade Commo Dogs has been posting to Facebook since earlier in the morning: "Alrighty people, bags are loaded and we are on the bus about to leave. I haven't had butterflies like this for a LONG time! I can feel my heart skipping beats and I love, love, LOVE it! Next stop, Boone, IA!"

Later, at the "distant end" here in Boone, one of the spouses occasionally calls out by mile marker the location of the incoming charter bus. Her husband is texting her updates from the road.

There are delays. There are always delays. Some of the families, having been to this kind of rodeo before, have brought along books and other distractions. The gymnasium is not air-conditioned, and the coolish and overcast morning quickly breaks into a more familiar blaze of corn-growing sun. It's Iowa in July. (It's hot, but it's a wet heat.) The warmth creeps in through the open doors of the school.

The Family Readiness Group (F.R.G.) is giving red, white, and blue balloons to the kids. The kids run circles around the empty basketball court. Later on, it hits me: Every ballon floating over the crowd represents a little kid, waiting for a Red Bull mom or dad, aunt or uncle, sister or brother.

The bus finally arrives. Behind the bleachers, there's a lot of last-minute discussion about how the troops should march in. The Patriot Guard Riders (P.G.R.), motorcycle enthusiasts who volunteer their time and gas at every military send-off, funeral, and homecoming, carry in the colors. The Iowa chapter of the Mackenzie Highlanders pipes in the troops. The Red Bull soldiers are still wearing their only-in-Afghanistan MultCam uniforms. Some are wearing the desert boots, some are wearing the black-soled mountain ones.

The public affairs officer introduces the dignitaries—representatives of various military and elected offices. Nobody says anything too memorable, but that's doesn't mean it's not necessary or important. It's a ceremony. It's predictable, like church or the Cubs. It's something you do to mark the end of one time, and the beginning of another. It's a mile marker. Homecoming is a journey, not a destination.

After about 20 minutes, the company commander tells his unit to fall out of formation.

What happens next is sort of like the end of a championship basketball game. Some families rush down from the bleachers, while others break out big banners with their soldier's name. Somehow, people find each other in the scrum.

As with other ceremonies, if you're not part of the immediate family, there's a certain etiquette to be followed. Smile and be brief. Give buddy-hugs and hearty handshakes as appropriate. Say "welcome home." If possible, do not step between the bride and groom. If you're lucky, there may be time for a few quick introductions: "Honey, this is the guy who writes that blog." Or "Honey, this is the guy who saved my life." Or "Honey, this is the guy I've been sleeping with for the past 9 months."

You know what I mean.

Soldiers make their ways out to the curbside baggage drop, and each pick up one Jolly Green Giant-sized duffel bag. They'll get the rest of their stuff at their next regular drill. That won't be for a couple of months. Citizen-soldiers are technically still on federal active-duty as they burn their accrued military leave. And federal law states National Guard soldiers have a certain amount of time before they have to report back to their civilian employers, in order that their civilian job still be protected. In the meantime, there will be some mandatory "Yellow Ribbon" events, which are about everything from veterans benefits to family reintegration skills.

One buddy pulls me into his family scrum for a few minutes. His son announces in a voice loud and proud, "The house is clean, Daddy!" His wife laughs and admits, "My strategy was to wait to clean everything until the last minute: the truck, the car, the house. It worked. These last days went by quick—but I'm exhausted."

Within a few blurry and humid minutes, the gymnasium, the baggage-drop, the parking lot are all empty. Hitting the roads for their homes around the state, the troops have seeminlgy infiltrated into the Iowa soil like so many summer cicadae. It is suddenly a lazy and quiet summer day in Boone, Iowa, pop. 12,000.

Welcome home.

A Death in Our Family

Iowa Army National Guard Chaplain Capt. Eric Simpson, 31, died Wed., Feb. 10, 2010, of burn injuries sustained in a Tuesday morning chemical accident at his civilian employer, Quality Surface Processing, Schofield, Wis. Two others were also injured in the incident, which apparently involved extremely hot paint-stripping chemicals reacting to metal.

In news reporting by WQOW-TV Eau Claire, Wis., Everest Metro Police Sgt. Mark Klemm characterized the accident this way: "Basically, it strips paint off the metal and they were immersing it in this hot salt bath which is approximately they said 800-900 degrees and somehow when the piece of metal being treated was immersed into the hot salt bath it reacted."

Simpson was assigned to the 334th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB), headquartered in Johnston, Iowa. Public messages from family members say that he had planned to report to active duty March 1, and to deploy overseas later this year with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 34th Infantry Division. The 334th BSB is one of 5 battalions comprising the 2/34th BCT. Approximately 500 people, a battalion typically has one chaplain and an assistant to minister to soldiers' spiritual and emotional needs, as well as to advise commanders on moral issues.

Simpson had been a pastor at Evangelical Free Church, Polk City, Iowa, before moving in 2009 with his family to Schoflield. Simpson was a 1997 graduate of Batesville (Ark.) Southside High School; a 2002 graduate of the College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Mo.; and a 2006 graduate of the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill.

Simpson is survived by his wife Sarah, his son Micah Benjamin, 4, and his daughter Lydia Beth, 18 mos. Funeral arrangements are pending.