March 2024
Film Screening of the documentary “What I Want You to Know” with Garett Reppenhagen at Syracuse University and Le Moyne College
The Moral Injury Project of Hendricks Chapel hosted the screening of the documentary What I Want You to Know, which examines the topic of moral injury among troops who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. The film’s executive producers, Travis Weiner and Tommy Furlong, combat veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, made a documentary film that gives veterans of these wars the opportunity to tell the American public about their deployments, their feelings about the wars, and the invisible wounds and moral injuries they brought home with them. America has already forgotten the wars, they argue, while veterans and their families have to live with the effects, which for many will be lifelong.
The 13 veterans featured in this film address their experiences fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, their questions about the wartime mission, and their challenges coming home with physical, mental, and moral injuries that few in the U.S. civilian public understand. The film probes questions they ask about their service and U.S. involvement in these wars: What was it all for? What’s to stop it from happening again? What do civilians need to know about the long-term effects of these wars? What I Want You To Know is a courageous and unblinking look at the cost and consequences of war.
The question and answer session following the film was hosted by:
Garett Reppenhagen: Garett served as a US Army Cavalry/Scout (with the 2-63 Armor Battalion) and completed a nine-month peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and then served as a Sniper in Baquaba Iraq. He joined Iraq Veterans Against the War in 2004 while deployed. He co-authored the anti-war blog Fight To Survive while still serving on active duty in Iraq. He was honorably discharged on May 31, 2005, after being involuntarily extended by a ten-month Stop-Loss. Since returning from Iraq, he has served as an advocate for veterans’ rights and benefits and served on the Board of Directors for the Iraq Veterans Against the War and was the Executive Director of Veterans for Peace and is now a small business owner in Maine.