Director: Joseph C. Stillman.
“From Mills River to Babylon and back… the Jimmy Massey Story,” chronicles the life of a former twelve-year career Marine who refused to continue killing in Iraq and examines the political, legal, moral, and human rights implications of the war. Massey co-founded the Iraq Veterans against the War organization and has spoken all across the U.S. and the world. The project was shot in fourteen different states during the past four years. The filmmaker will be on hand to discuss the challenges of the project. The documentary features the following individuals: Martin Sheen-Actor/Human rights activist, Ramsey Clark-former U.S. Attorney General, Dr. Doug Rokke-former U.S. Army depleted uranium expert, Cindy Sheehan-Mother/founder of the Gold Star Families, Congressman Dennis Kucinich-Ohio, Father Roy Bourgeois- founder of the School of the Americas Watch, Scott Ritter-former UNSCOM weapons inspector, Kelley Dougherty- Executive Director of the Iraq Veterans Against the War organization, Col. (Ret.) Ann Wright-former U.S. embassy diplomat in Afghanistan, Dr. Ed Tick- (PTSD) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder expert, Congresswoman Maxine Waters-Calif., Bev Hoffman, Jack Gilroy and numerous other human rights activists. The film shows Jimmy’s early life and the tragic death of his father, his decision to enlist in the marines due to economic conscript, illicit recruiting tactics that target single parent families by recruiters (Massey was a Marine recruiter), weapons of mass deception, depleted uranium use and its effects on soldiers and civilians, the administration’s rush to war and taking back our democracy are some of the topics which are discussed in the documentary. “Jimmy Massey has paid an incredible price to tell the truth about the real war in Iraq but he would do it again in a heartbeat,” according to Stillman. “I believe it’s particularly important for parents and young people especially, to understand the tactics military recruiters will use to fill their quotas at the expense of the youth in our community,” he said. “This project has opened my eyes to many of the facts that Jimmy has raised and the tragedy of an ongoing war that didn’t have to be fought.” Stillman has said. “I sadly learned, for instance, that the U.S. has dropped massive amounts of depleted uranium, used in ammunition and bombs, in Iraq and Afghanistan since the first Gulf War and that it is presently having disastrous effects on our returning military personnel and especially on the civilian populations in those countries”, he said.