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| "911", photo & digital |
Last week WonderWoman asked if I wanted to
join her to see the world premier 911 Memorial screening
I said yes, in a nano second.
So, Sunday on 9-11 we went to OLU ...
to see ...
The film is about the Northern Iraq region known as Kurdistan.
There are currently 2
million refugees who have been displaced
by the terrorist regime Daesh
-- better known to the World as ISIS.
This is the powerful story of those
refugees & the American veterans returning to the region who are
making a difference.
Join them on their journey as they walk The Longest
Road.
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| Richard Campos, Stanley Rapada, Dr. Nemam Ghafouri, Jennifer Salcido, Matthew C. Hall, Jimmie Cooper |
I didn't know much about Kurdistan, but learned a lot.
After viewing the stunning, emotional & inspiring film,
six of the team members spoke & answered questions.
It was a wonderful to hear and speak with the actual people
we had just watched in the film. A great conclusion.
. . .
Meet the team that made it happen ...
Richard Campos is a retired army sergeant who was deployed
to Iraq during the invasion of the country in 2003.
From Stockton, California, Richard erved in the marines
during the Vietnam era and returned home
to work in the sheriff’s office of his community.
He has known a life of servitude.
Since 2008, Richard has been running humanitarian
missions to Iraq — then under the threat of Al Qeada
& now under the threat of ISIS.
His current string of missions have been documented
in the upcoming film The Longest Road.
. . .
Matthew Charles Hall, a filmmaker & business owner,
from Orange County, and an Orange Lutheran graduate.
In 2008 Hall directed a four-minute student documentary
that premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
The Longest Road documentary co- director & producer.
. . .
First-time filmmaker Jennifer Salcido is a former professor at the University of Dohuk, Iraq and The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Kurdistan Regional Government, makes her directorial debut with The Longest Road. In addition to her recent film-making efforts, Salcido has traveled the world for humanitarian causes including recent trips to Lebanon and Iraq.
Her work in the field includes involvement with
various organizations including
International Veteran’s Alliance, Kurdistan Missions.
A Santa Barbara County native, she recently moved back
to California from Washington D.C., as an
advocating for humanitarian causes on Capitol Hill.
The Longest Road documentary co- director & producer.
. . .
Stanley Rapada is a retired naval senior chief and now spends his time helping fellow Veteran’s in the Northern California community of Stockton outside of Sacramento. Once Stanley returned from service in Vietnam he felt he needed to take up a passion that would replace the horrific images he saw during wartime with beautiful ones. The result is a substantial resume of photography renowned worldwide. His journey to Iraq
as the team’s still photographer proved to be
a substantial addition to The Longest Road documentary.
. . .
Kevin Graves founded Some Gave All: The Joey Graves Foundation after his son was killed in combat outside of Bagdad in 2006. Grave’s humanitarian work led to a friendship with Iraq War veteran Richard Campos who invited Graves to tag along on a recent mission to Iraq. While there, Kevin honored the memory of his son and “carried on his mission” — which made for a beautiful contribution to The Longest Road documentary film. Kevin and his wife live in the community of Discover Bay, California where he continues to honor the memory of his son and work with other veterans and Gold Star parents in the region.
. . .
Grammy nominee & multiple Award-winner Jimmy Cooper is best known for his work as a musician before venturing into the field of film-making. He is a multi-award winning song writer and keyboardist having been a part of the Christian rock sensation Petra, the first Christian band to be entered in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Living in Nashville, Tennessee, Cooper makes his debut as a cinematographer with The Longest Road.
. . .
Surgeon, Dr. Nemam Ghafouri, world renowned humanitarian,
is featured in the documentary for her help to
internally displaced people at Bajed Kandala 2 camp
in northern Iraq. Ghafouri is a Muslim doctor who was raised in Iraq but now practices medicine in Sweden, and raised funds
there to return to help need with clean water in the camp,
located just miles from the borders of Syria and Turkey.
. . .
As the film came to a close, Linda George,
internationally renowned singer, came onto the Nechita Stage
in person to sing the original song "Heaven, I Am Here",
from The
Longest Road motion picture soundtrack.
A real "wow" performance!
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| Linda George |
Music by Linda George and
Patrick Kirst.
Lyrics by Jennifer Salcido and Jeremiah Castelo.
. . .
• You can follow this documentary on Facebook here.
• Click on either or both links below to see a 2+ min trailer:
• Further Info: #WALKTHEROAD & WWW.INTERNATIONALVETERANSALLIANCE.COM
Kind of a special way to commemorate 911?
