Film brings BRATS together

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Alexandra M. Longfellow
  • 2d Bomb Wing
BARKSDALE AFB, La. - --  Barksdale Airman and families had the opportunity Jan. 13, to watch the first documentary about growing up military.

BRATS: Our Journey Home is a 90-minute film directed by Donna Musil. The film was narrated by award winning song writer Kris Kristofferson, who also used his own music as the soundtrack.

The film is the first cinematic glimpse into an international subculture whose background to adulthood is a mixture of excitement and enormous pain.

U.S. military children shared intimate memories about their unique childhoods growing up with parents in the military.

"I embrace that I am a military brat," said Melissa Carpenter, wife of Maj. Gen. Floyd Carpenter, 8th Air Force commander. "The particular film is for any aged military brat."

People consider the word brat as a derogatory term, but as for most military brats, it is a positive term. The acronym brat stands for British regimental attached traveler.

"I don't know if military children even had a voice when they were younger," said Mrs. Musil. "I think they need one and this film does just that. Not everyone had a pleasant childhood as a military brat and they need to talk about it."

Since the documentary targets a specific audience group, the filming and producing took longer than most blockbuster hits. The timeline created a challenge for Mrs. Musil since military brats typically don't stay in one place for an extended period of time.

"Being a military brat, I have learned not to be committed to anything for so long since I knew I would be moving soon after," said Mrs. Musil. "I really had to keep my mind motivated to keep the production going that nearly took seven years from start to finish."

Sisters, Trica Anderson and Annie Brown grew up as military brats many decades ago. They said the documentary was a great way to show today's generation of brats what they can expect.

"I have learned a lot throughout my years of being a military brat," says Anderson. "My sister and I learned to adjust and move on during hard times as well as not getting to attached to people and places. But overall, we had a blast traveling and seeing many different places."

The documentary was shown both on Barksdale and at the Robinson Film Center which allowed the information in the film to be relayed to a broader range of audience members. For more information on how you can obtain a copy of the documentary visit www.bratsfilm.com.