Visionalist

FILMING IN VIETNAM 02.26.10 - 03.07.10

Our recent filming of a special production in Vietnam was led by Bill Stilwagen of
Battlefield Tours.

After some thirty trips back to Vietnam with Vietnam veterans of our most unpopular
U.S. war, you get a sense that there could be no better ambassador than Bill himself, a
former Vietnam veteran Marine. He takes veterans back to re-trace their footsteps of
time to face the demons that, in many cases, have been haunting them for over forty
years.

The locals all know Bill and have a great deal of obvious respect for the man who once
was a door gunner on a Huey, and carrying a radio on his back.

His mission these days is to show today’s changing Vietnam to veterans through special
very private tours set up through Battlefield Tours www.vietnambattlefieldtours.com

Between February 26 and March 6, we returned with Marine Pfc. Mark Spooner and retraced his footsteps through the A Shau Valley—specifically, to Hill 41, and shared a
visually stunning and emotional experience.

Through Mark’s eyes, we were able to relive a portion of his haunting memories: His war
days—the toughest times any of us could imagine—and reminders of friends lost.

Along with Mark’s daughter, Marine Captain Jennifer Spooner, who served with honor in
Iraq, the trip proved to be true acknowledgement and validation of the service that
American veterans have provided their country.

The trip was equally inspirational as Mark and Jennifer visited Hanoi’s Children’s
Village to deliver Operation: Exchange of Hearts, a special book of artwork created by
the children of Detroit Medical Center. In exchange, Mark and Jennifer picked up a book
of drawings from the Hanoi children to deliver back to the Children's Hospital of Michigan.

Poor but thriving, the children of the village serenaded the Spooners and our crew with
Vietnamese folk songs, all filmed as part of the documentary Our Vietnam Generation.
The village itself was founded by Vietnam Veteran George Mizo to help the children
suffering from birth defects and various cancers due to the use of Agent Orange from the
war some forty years ago.

Part of the documentary will be the one-on-one interview I conducted with the American
Ambassador to Vietnam, Michael Michalak.

Prior to that visit, we were privileged to visit the Marine House, where the U.S. guards of
the embassy are stationed.

One of our most emotional wrenching visits involved the JPAC, the Joint POW/MIA
Accounting Command, a USA military branch that relentlessly searches for missing
soldiers, both from the United States and our allies.

We also gained full access filming at the Hoa Lo Prison “ Hanoi Hilton” POW camp that
Senator John McCain was once held in.

The course of our journey took us though the Vinh Moc tunnels, where Vietnamese
civilians took shelters during bombing raids, and dragon boats on the Perfume River…
As journalists, we have been more than enlightened both to the experiences of Vietnam
veterans and the realities dealt with by the Vietnamese population during the conflict.

PVT MARK SPOONER

MICHAEL MICHALAK 03.01.10

HILL 41 WITH THE SPOONERS AND BILL STILWAGEN

HANOI FRIENDSHIP VILLAGE AND OPERATION EXCHANGE OF HEARTS

JPAC JOINT POW/MIA ACCOUNTING COMMAND

BILL STILWAGEN, 12TH MARINES

OTHER VIETNAM PHOTOS