"I Married the War" Documentary at SSU

Film exposes emotional cost of war on the spouses and families of combat veterans

Former Sebastopol residents Betty and Ken Rodgers will be at Sonoma State University this weekend to present the California premiere of their latest documentary, “I Married the War”. The documentary “focuses on eleven devoted military wives from various war eras who have had to deal with their husbands’ emotional and physical wounds of war.”

In 2013, Ken Rodgers, a former Marine, produced a documentary film with Betty, based on his own experience as a soldier in Bravo company during 1968 in Vietnam, “Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor.” Their second documentary film is based on Betty’s experience and those of other wives of combat veterans, sharing stories that “expose the emotional cost of war and its impact on the lives of spouses and children.”

Wives feel isolated in their personal struggles until realizing they share experiences with women and families around the nation and the world. Hear how they have learned to adapt, how some have built on their husbands' strengths, and how some have discovered their own strengths and reestablished their identities in the process.

("I Married the War" website)

The film is showing Friday September 16 at 7pm and Sunday September 18 at 4pm at the Warren Auditorium in Ives Hall as part of the Sonoma Film Institute series. Betty and Ken Rodgers will be on hand to discuss the film.

Here is the trailer for “I Married the War”: