In the wake of 9/11 three young people join the U.S. army, seeking direction in their lives. They discover that unless they conform fully to the army values, their personal issues are only magnified within the military. What unfolds is an intimate and heartbreaking account of their two-year wayward journeys. In stark contrast to the portraits of willing patriotic soldiers that America sells at home and abroad, these recruits’ stories reveal the more realistic, troubled conflict of American youth trapped within a military mission much larger than themselves.

Thaddeus, 22, gives up a cushy stockbroker after 9/11 to join the army and pursue patriotic fantasies of killing Osama Bin Laden. But he fails to impress his superiors and finds himself assigned to a platoon of army misfits ordered to drive supply trucks and clean latrines. Isolated and disillusioned, Thaddeus assuages his anger by drinking himself into oblivion each night. After months of depression, he finally works up the courage to ask his Sergeant for a discharge. Instead, the army moves him to the top of the list for deployment to Iraq, because of his “bad attitude.” Thaddeus turns inward and considers suicide.

Sara, 22, is an aspiring modern dancer from a small town in North Carolina who fails to make it in New York. Frustrated with her lack of direction, she sheds her rebellious skin and her best friend to return south to “daddy”, who pushes her to enlist in the army. To everyone’s surprise, she embraces the army’s values and is promoted to an elite post with the famous 82nd Airborne division. This drives a wedge between her and her best friend as she abandons her past life in an obsession to deploy to Iraq.

Nelson, 19, is a Puerto Rican high-school dropout from the South Bronx looking for respect and a ticket out of the ghetto. Nelson joins and throws himself into basic training, but the authoritarian regime soon rubs him the wrong way. Miserable in the army and unable to obtain any help from his family. Nelson goes AWOL. Neither the army nor his family knows his whereabouts. When he finally resurfaces with his old friends in the Bronx he remains defiant until he receives a letter from a former army buddy now fighting in Iraq. Nelson breaks down, admitting he feels like a failure for abandoning his buddies who are now risking their lives.

Army of One is a social commentary on American youth fed on television idols. They are searching for an instant identity because they don’t know who they are. The army, with its slick ad campaigns, seems like an attractive answer, but can become a devastating trap.

© 2003 Fovea Productions
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Last modified: Tuesday, September 27, 2005