Thank You for Your Service

Veterans become trapped within flashbacks of combat too unreal to be understood by others living a “normal” life. Based on a true story, Thank You for Your Service is an eye opener to all unaware of the effects war causes to our veterans. It was released on Oct. 27.

            Sergeant Adam Schumann, the main character played by Miles Teller, is a soldier who leaves Iraq as a broken man along with his two “brothers,” Solo and Billy. Sergeant Schumann took on three tours before returning home to his wife and two children. He found his purpose in the war, received high awards and became an American hero without his family even knowing. During his last tour, riding in a Humvee through Baghdad, all of their good memories of the war were blown up right then and there.

            Most people today believe if an army man returns from war with all of their limbs and no physical harm has been done, they are perfectly fine. This film shows deep into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the ways it does not only harm themselves but everyone around them, especially their family. During this film, you will see each family slowly rip apart due to the PTSD these veterans bring home with them.

            The memory that harms Sgt. Schumann the most is what is shown early on in the film. His comrade, Michael Emory, is shot in the head due to an order Schumann made. While Schumann is frantically attempting to carry Michael down the stairs, an incident occurs that he is never able to remove from his brain. He began to carry a toxic amount of guilt due to this previous event causing his extreme PTSD.

            Solo came home to his wife who wants to have a baby but during the war, Solo began to have extreme memory loss which makes him deeply consider having a child. When the Humvee exploded, due to his memory loss problems, he was unable to perform his duties properly resulting in him carrying around a tragic image. This image haunts him everyday and causes him to only make bad decisions instead of putting family first.

            Billy is the brother who does not have the family back home like the other two. He was left by his fiancé who was his only “family” back home early on in the film. When he confronts his fiancé about the situation in a calm manner, he was told to leave her job before she called security. He stated, “Where am I supposed to go” right before making a decision that changed his life drastically forever.

            After this traumatic, unexpected suicide, Solo and Adam decide they need to get help. When applying for help, they were told to wait to see a psychiatrist for 6 to 9 months. They did not know if they had that long to survive without help.

            This film shows not only how much veterans suffer from PTSD, but also how little they are helped from others in order to survive. Because Thank You for Your Service is so raw, truthful and eye opening, it is a must see to everyone interested in becoming aware of the sufferings of these veterans.