Taking Fire

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Taking Fire is a documentary series which involves the participants filming their own personal war experiences while on a one-year deployment in Afghanistan. The show is a Discovery Channel series about the 101st Airborne Division, using personal hand-held and helmet cameras. The action unfolds during America's farthest flung outpost in the Korangal Valley, deep in Taliban-held country throughout 2010. The "rookies" wanted to capture what they saw using their personal cameras and bring the footage to the people back home. The footage they brought back "documents" an eyewitness view of modern warfare in what is considered one of the deadliest places on earth.^[1]

The combat footage takes viewers into the heart of combat action, with a visceral perspective not captured by news reporters or traditional documentaries. The segments document the personal struggles, confusions, joys and sadness of war. The men in the Discovery Channel series left the United States for Afghanistan, seeking to serve their country. However, what they experienced was possibly something different from what they anticipated.

Taking Fire showcases American soldiers under intense fire from Taliban positions in Afghanistan. The men experienced IED explosions and being pinned down under enemy machine-gun fire, and many of the surviving soldiers gave accounts on the operations and spoke of their fellow soldiers who did not return. The footage seen in the show is approved for public viewing by the Department of Defense. The show contains upsetting images and redacted profanity ^[2]

Five-part documentary[]

Kyle Boucher, a veteran of the 101st Airborne and now a Massachusetts firefighter, recalled thinking upon seeing the footage from the Afghanistan War and shared his 59-second video with documentary producer Laura Dunne about a firefight and a Blackhawk helicopter's airlift of wounded from Boucher's platoon. Dunne was put in touch with several members of the unit who had recorded action on their helmet cams during their time in Afghanistan. JJ McCool, Ken Shriver, Chris Adams and Kyle Petry along with other platoon members. She put the raw video footage together and the results make up the series Taking Fire, a five-part documentary on Discovery Channel.^[3]

References[]