Never Fight Alone – Movie Review
33 Minutes, Not Rated (Documentary)
Directed by Noah Carlson and Michael Cameron
Synopsis:
Never Fight Alone is the story of how one man’s battle became a pathway for countless Veterans to experience freedom and healing from their battles with PTSD.
Chad Robichaux is the central figure of this documentary, but he would likely be the first to tell you that it’s not about him.
His experiences in and after his military service, including 8 tours in Afghanistan as a Force Recon Marine, put him on a path that lead him to rock bottom.
Despite finding an outlet for his aggression and trauma in the world of mixed martial arts, it was simply a mask that hid his social and emotional dysfunction. Once he reached the point where his behaviors drove his wife away and were disintegrating the “coping” world he thought he’d built for himself, he realized he was wrong.
He needed something more.
What came of that search for something is the point of Never Fight Alone. Chad’s building of the Mighty Oaks Foundation, designed to help veterans (and eventually active soldiers) come to terms with the trauma of combat service, has grown beyond it’s humble beginnings.
I’m not going to give you a bunch of numbers of how many people have gone through various programs, or how much literature, etc., etc…
I’m just going to put out the disclaimer that I am a veteran, and though I never saw combat, I empathize with each and every person brave enough to appear in this documentary and seek help.
It is hard enough to simply retire from service and have to adjust to “normal” life again, but to do it with the baggage and damage of PTSD is unthinkable.
A single veteran suicide a day because of this is unacceptable… and the “22 a day” we currently live with is simply unconscionable.
Some people will watch this documentary and pooh-pooh it as simply another “faith-based” whatever, but they would be wrong to do so.
It seems to me (having never been through one of Mighty Oaks’ programs) that the “God” aspect of it is, in fact, almost secondary.
When men and women serve in the military, for whatever reason they start, they find themselves with a mission, a calling, a purpose greater than themselves. Once that is gone, a void remains.
Often, that void is lined with PTSD, then filled with unhealthy coping mechanisms (alcohol, drugs, sex, violencc, etc.) in an attempt to salve the pain of it all.
What Mighty Oaks does (in my estimation, at any rate) is to help veterans realize the void is there, and to assist them in finding out what new purpose their life has to replace that “greater than them” calling.
This allows them to confront and truly deal with the traumas they’ve witnessed, which provides the psychological/emotional healing they so desperately need.
People who will focus on–and discount–the idea of “spiritual” or “religious” aspects of the program miss the greater point; these are doorways to allow these veterans to truly see and accept what has happened and what must happen for them to move forward.
To find that thing, that purpose, again. To be who they once were. Better yet, to be who they want to become.
Never Fight Alone covers an important subject, whether you “agree” with Mighty Oaks’ methodology or not. Watch it to be reminded of what is truly important here.
Never Fight Alone is available to screen now On Demand from Global Digital Releasing.
Never Fight Alone features Chad Robichaux, Jeremy Stalnecker, Kathy Robichaux, Ericka Kelly, Branden Kunath, Luis Rivera, Steve Toth, Rusty Brooks, Sgt Maj Carlton Kent, Robert Dees, and Jerry Boykin.
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