Program Gives Hope To Wounded Warriors

UPDATED: 12:44 pm PDT October 16, 2007

SAN DIEGO -- Some Marines and Navy corpsman wounded in combat are finding hope for the future in a new program in San Diego.

The former service members -- all of whom share experiences involving bravery and heroism -- are taking a course training them for careers in film and television that begins in January. The Forget Me Not: Wounded Warrior for Careers in Media Foundation is hoping to help bring the lives of the 28 injured warriors back into focus.

Josh Frey, a former lance corporal who was based at Camp Pendleton, is one of the students enrolled in the inaugural class. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather before him.

Frey deployed to Iraq in 2004, and on his birthday that year in November, the battle of Fallujah began. Frey said he was first person injured that month. A rocket propelled grenade exploded in front of his Humvee, and Frey was hit in the face with shrapnel and knocked unconscious. By December, the fighting had moved into town.

"It was close-quarter combat, so it was just total chaos," Frey told NBC 7/39.

Frey said he was due to come home in two weeks when insurgents shot him in the shoulder.

“I knew I was in bad shape,” Frey said. “I didn't know how bad it was, but I was bleeding real bad."

Frey told NBC 7/39 that he was unable to hold his weapon and that the insurgent was quickly approaching. Frey said a comrade shot the insurgent, saving Frey's life.

Frey received two Purple Hearts and came home with a brain injury, chronic pain, limited mobility and a sense of worthlessness.

"That's basically all I am now -- a wounded veteran with scars,” Frey said.

That's about to change, though, Frey believes. He said he had found new hope in the Forget Me Not program.

Local movie producer Stu Segall donated Forget Me Not's training facility, a camouflage building in Kearny Mesa. It’s still being remodeled. When it is completed, students will be trained to edit, shoot and write for TV and film. Decorated industry leaders will teach the classes.

By the end of the 28 students' intensive 10-week training, they will produce a documentary about their experience at war.

"It's amazing that all these people dropped what they did to help us," Frey said. "The possibilities are endless."

The program is privately funded, and the foundation is still soliciting donations. Forget Me Not's co-founders are Judith Paixao and Kev Lombard, a married couple. Lombard, a documentary filmmaker, said the foundation is a tribute to his father, a World War II U.S. Marine, who became a photographer for NBC.

The idea of the specialized classes was conceived when Paixao and Lombard were asked to produce a documentary on wounded warriors. The couple thought that the stories of those who were injured in combat were best told by the people who had lived them. Their mission was to provide a course where U.S. Marines and Navy corpsman could learn the skills to make that mission a reality.

For the past year, the couple has successfully obtained permission from several government agencies to launch the program. The program is the first of its kind in the country and involves the help of some active-duty military members as well.

Candidates for the program are "combat ill, wounded or injured since 9/11 and have a passion to learn new skills in media," Paixao said.

"The Marines love training," Leonard told NBC 7/39. "Their motto is 'Adapt and Overcome,' and that's what they're going to be doing in this school."

Students like Frey are already dreaming about the possibilities.

"Collecting an Oscar one day or producing or even being the best cameraman in the world," Frey said.

Paixao and Lombard the founders said the program is a chance to heal.

The foundation plans to hold two 10-week courses per year. Students will leave the program with a laptop computer equipped with editing software and membership in the International Alliance of Theatre Stage Employees, a major entertainment union.

A dedication ceremony is slated for next Thursday at the Stu Segall Studios.

Watch Video

video.nbcsandiego.com/player/?id=168026

Ellie