During Veterans Day weekend, an immersive narrative and music experience chronicling a Northeast Ohio veteran’s journey and battles with mental health, trauma, community indifference, and fears will screen online, free, in efforts to bring a message of hope, resilience and strength to all who struggle — you are not alone.
“Modern Warrior LIVE” autobiographically shares 82nd Airborne veteran Jaymes Poling’s story of his three deployments in Afghanistan and subsequent transition home.
The one-hour film, with a musical underscore by co-creator and internationally acclaimed jazz trumpeter Dominick Farinacci and others, honors those who served, highlighting and inspiring resilience and post-traumatic growth.
“Modern Warrior reminds veterans they are not victims and that they can use their experiences to grow and make significant contributions to society,” said Anthony Principi, former U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs and Vietnam veteran.
According to Poling, “Modern Warrior LIVE” is a catalyst for public and private conversations about trauma. By rooting its message in entertainment, the feature creates an informal and unexpected self-evaluation for audience members.
In addition, the film is designed for active military and their families, health professionals, high school students and others interested in the health and well-being of the veteran population.
The purpose of the project serves to build bridges between veterans and civilian communities, to destigmatize veterans and trauma, and to spotlight the potential for positive mental health and post-traumatic growth.
“The other day, my mom asked me how I found peace,” Poling, 34, recounts. “Maybe I found it in wanting to share it. I can’t help but think there are individuals out there who need to know that growth is possible. They need to know that society can be wrong when it assigns labels to survivors based on the trauma we survive.
“Why is it the case that someone who survives cancer is considered stronger, while someone who survives combat is considered damaged or a liability?”
Farinacci, who has released 14 albums worldwide, served as a Lincoln Center ambassador to jazz and studied at Juilliard’s inaugural jazz program, co-created the stage shows and film with Poling, and is the lead musical artist featured in “Modern Warrior LIVE.”
Farinacci noted the project began for him when he fell in love with a song by Tom Waits, “Soldier’s Things,” which tells the story of a veteran struggling to sell mementos from his combat experience.
“That inspired me to see something I’d never thought much about before — the struggles of a soldier coming back from war and re-adjusting mind and body to civilian life,” Farinacci said. “It’s been a labor of love and honor ever since to bring the sounds and story of a combat veteran’s journey to life.”
The presentation is a natural extension of the live touring production Poling and Farinacci staged before the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve performed ‘Modern Warrior LIVE’ more than 120 times since it premiered in 2017 at Cuyahoga Community College – including, of course, Lakeland Community College,” Poling said, adding other venues have included theaters, mental health and veteran conferences, galas, high schools and trauma centers.
“While pandemic realities temporarily paused our ability to take our message in-person and on the road, the film version is one way of continuing to connect with and hopefully touch even more lives,” he explained. “We still deeply value the in-person contact with veterans and communities around Northeast Ohio and around the country and we look forward to getting back on the road as soon as possible.”
To register for the screening, go to ModernWarriorLIVE.org.
