The Military Channel’s new show, “My War Diary,” recently featured one of Plymouth’s own; Brian Faenza, a junior Adventure Education major and Iraqi veteran.
“My War Diary” is a weekly show featuring footage shot by soldiers and highlights their daily lives in Iraq. The show gives a unique look into the war through this “homemade” footage. The episode featuring Faenza first aired on The Military Channel, and on The Discovery Channel the following week.
Faenza created a short film entitled, “Iraq Sucks.” The film features Faenza spending his down time learning how do back flips and wall-rides on his mountain bike.
“It all started back in 2003; while deployed to Iraq I was able to get my bike overseas with me. I built some jumps over there in the desert and shot a short video, and edited it to the song by Styx, ‘Renegade,'” said Faenza. “I mailed it home for my family and friends to view, let them know I was okay, and that morale was still high. One of my friends back home who rides for Cannondale saw this CD and put it on the internet at hcor.net, a bike riding website. Within the month the video was downloaded nearly a million times and the server for that website was temporarily shutdown due to incredibly high volumes of downloads.”
Faenza got the spot on “My War Diary” after posting the video on his MySpace account. A representative of LMNO Productions, an independent television companies that produces the television show, contacted him. “This camera crew came to my house from Boston and they had me ride my bike around while they filmed me here in Plymouth. After that, they had me do a sit down interview,” said Faenza. The “Iraq Sucks” video can still be viewed on youtube.com.
Faenza served 13 consecutive months in Iraq, as well as five more in Kuwait and in the United States. He was stationed at a refueling center at Camp Cedar in Iraq as part of the 439th Quarter Master Company out of New Haven, Connecticut. Faenza’s original tour of duty was six months, but had it extended another 12. “That was the hardest part,” commented Faenza. “Our families back home felt the hardships as well. All of us overseas kept thinking, ‘Okay, we are almost outta here.’ Then we’d get extended. It was a bummer.”
In describing his experience in Iraq, Faenza said it was, “Hot. Long. Boring most of the time. I just kept telling myself, ‘Someone’s gotta do it.’ The 439th was very fortunate; we had zero casualties.”
“Looking back at it now, I am happy with the choices I made. I don’t care whether this war is right or wrong, that is politics. I enlisted with the Army to serve my country. It doesn’t matter what the mission: homeland security, war on terror, or war on foreign soil; I was there to serve,” said Faenza. “My experience has made me appreciate what I have, and realize how lucky I am to be an American.”