Goldstar, Ohio

Twenty-two marines -- all from the 325, a reserve unit based in Brookpark, Ohio -- were killed in Iraq's Anbar Province on three separate occasions between July 28, 2005, and August 3, 2005.  I grew up about a fifteen-minute drive from said base and when my father died (of cancer) on August 5, 2005, and I traveled back to northeast Ohio for his memorial, my grief and that of the friends and families of those marines became entangled.  By the beginning of December 2005, I had begun cold-calling the families; and in February 2006, I returned to Ohio to meet with and audio record my first conversations with five families. More than three years later, I have made innumerable trips (to Ohio) and accrued in excess of seventy-hours of audio and video material documenting the experiences of four families since they were officially notified (by the Marine Corps) of their loved one’s death.GOLDSTAR, OHIO is an exploration of the instant the death of a loved one is understood.  It contains no fictitious persons nor fictitious events.  Words are never attributed to anyone but the individual who spoke them, and names have not been changed.