A conversation with Sebastian Junger

Sebastian Junger is an author, journalist and filmmaker. His work helps me develop the voice I use as a producer of military and veteran-related projects at Twin Cities PBS.

Restrepo, the Academy award nominated documentary Junger made with Tim Hetherington, was a film I watched before I embedded with an Army unit in Afghanistan for Bridging War & Hope. I read Junger's book Tribe so I could better relate with Vietnam veterans' experience before I set out to produce a piece called Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: Perspectives. On a broader scale much of Junger's work is done to help his audience connect the dots and think in new ways.

On Sunday, October 7, 2018 Sebastian Junger spoke at the Minnesota Humanities Center's Veteran Voices ceremony. The ceremony recognizes Minnesota veterans who lead and inspire their communities. Before the ceremony I asked Junger a few questions pertaining to the concept of having a tribe.

Junger speaks eloquently about how women and men serving in the military have a tribe. Soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines feel important and empowered. They are never alone and they work as a team to accomplish difficult tasks. Upon their return the modern veteran can feel a loss, like they no longer matter.

Previous civilizations, and Native American communities treat their returning warriors as leaders. Warriors are beacons of knowledge. Today, we live richer and easier lives than ever before, but these lives can be isolating. The isolation isn't healthy. The unhealthiness manifests itself in the lives of veterans and civilians alike. The isolation is resulting in a loss of hope. Junger feels our culture has lost the sense of having a tribe.

When asked what individuals and communities can do to overcome the loss of a tribe Junger explains an idea he's championing. This idea uses city and town halls across the country and opens them up for public discourse. Every year on Veterans Day he hopes communities will organize open mic events where veterans can speak about their experiences in the military. Veterans will speak, we will listen. We will hear about the good, the bad, and the ugly. The process is spelled out on his web page, but essentially non-veterans need to care enough to listen and do so without judgement. Consequently civilians would begin to understand veterans' experiences on a personal and community-level. If you do nothing else for veterans, he says, you can do this.

PBS viewers will recognize Sebastian Junger as one of the key contributors appearing in Going to War. With the help of Karl Marlantes --and a group of other veterans-- the film explains, in part, how women and men who have served in the military can actually miss the horrifying experiences they had. On the surface missing war does not make a lot of sense; however, the film acknowledges this by illustrating the importance of a tribe.