In The three years since the filmmakers started this project, new conflicting details have come to light about Alex Sutton’s service. We have included the new text and the original text here.
Original text:
Alex Sutton is a combat veteran with six tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2008 an IED explosion ended his military service and destroyed his legs.
Back home in North Carolina, medically discharged and standing on new titanium legs, Alex still possesses a strong desire to serve his country. He believes that he can do this best through farming.
New text:
Alex Sutton is a combat veteran with three tours in Iraq. In 2008, mental trauma ended his military service. Back home in North Carolina, medically discharged for chronic PTSD, Alex still possesses a strong desire to serve his country and heal from the war. He believes that he can do this best through farming.
The Farmer Veteran Project (working title) is a documentary film about transition and possibility in the face of pain and trauma. Alex is one of the 1.6 million veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan trying to make a return to regular life, many in rural communities with high unemployment. Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture reports that half of all farmers in the United States will retire in the next decade.
This is not about politics. This is about young people who need our help to live a life of responsibility and duty after they have already given so much.
This project is being produced in conjunction with Vittles, a team of local documentary filmmakers crafting stories about the intersections of people and food. For more info, visit vittles.us.
Vittles’ 30-day KickStarter campaign ends July 17.
