ALIVE DAY MEMORIES: HOME FROM IRAQ.

About The Film

http://www.hbo.com/aliveday/thefilm/?ntrack_para1=feat_main_title

Three-time Emmy® winner James Gandolfini returns to HBO with the documentary special ALIVE DAY MEMORIES: HOME FROM IRAQ. The documentary about wounded soldiers surveys the physical and emotional cost of war through memories of their "alive day," the day they narrowly escaped death in Iraq.

"Everybody makes a big deal about your alive day,' especially at Walter Reed," comments Sgt. Bryan Anderson. "And I can see their point, that you'd want to celebrate something like that. But from my point of view, it's like, 'OK, we're sitting here celebrating the worst day of my life. Great, let's just remind me of that every year'."

First Lt. Dawn Halfaker says, "I think people come away from the war wanting to feel that they made a difference, wanting to feel like their sacrifice, or their time, or their energy was worth it. War is horrible. I don't like the sounds associated with it, the smells I associate with it. But I'm glad I did it."

In a war that has left more than 27,000 wounded, ALIVE DAY MEMORIES looks at a new generation of veterans. For the first time in American history, 90% of the wounded survive their injuries, but a greater percentage of these men and women are returning with amputations, traumatic brain injuries and severe post-traumatic stress. More than half these injuries are too severe to permit a return to active military service.

Gandolfini, who has visited the troops in Iraq on behalf of the USO, serves as executive producer. In ALIVE DAY MEMORIES he interviews ten soldiers who reveal their feelings on their future, their severe disabilities and their devotion to America. Their first-person stories are augmented by harrowing footage from the war-torn streets of Iraq, and from embedded cameras in the vehicles of the soldiers, which was shot when they were injured, as well as disturbing video of IED (Improvised Explosive Device) bombings released by insurgents, and soldiers' personal home videos and photographs.

The soldiers who speak with Gandolfini on a sparse New York soundstage range in age from 21 to 41; six are from the Army and four are Marines. Their injuries range from triple amputees to severe traumatic brain injury to blindness.

ALIVE DAY MEMORIES: HOME FROM IRAQ marks HBO Documentary Films' third production focusing on the war in Iraq, following the Emmy® and Peabody winner "Baghdad ER" and "Last Letters Home: Voices of American Troops from the Battlefields of Iraq."

For Attaboy Films: executive producer, James Gandolfini; co-executive producer, Alexandra Ryan; associate producer, Trixie Flynn. For HBO Documentary Films: executive producer, Sheila Nevins; supervising producer, Sara Bernstein; directed by Jon Alpert and Ellen Goosenberg; produced by Ellen Goosenberg; produced and photographed by Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill; edited by Paula Heredia. Web site soldier portraits by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

Seeing Joba live a 'blessing' to father

Unable to travel far, elder Chamberlain enjoys son's dominance
By Conor Nicholl / MLB.com

KANSAS CITY -- Harlan Chamberlain started crying.
He had watched his son, Joba, "hundreds of times" in person. He played catch with him every day when Joba was growing up, watched him in high school and junior college. He saw him become the ace at the University of Nebraska and help the Cornhuskers reach the 2005 College World Series.
But he had never seen him like this -- watching him pitch in a Major League game, live, from the stands. Harlan, who has polio, is confined to a wheelchair.
He doesn't travel often and has watched his son pitch for the Yankees only on Major League Baseball's Extra Innings television package. But when Joba and the Yankees came to Kansas City, Harlan had to make the trip from his Nebraska home.
And when Joba entered the seventh inning of Friday's game against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, Harlan became emotional.
"I will never forget this night," Harlan said. "September 7, 2007. To actually be here was pretty neat. It was a real blessing."
Joba continued his incredible scoreless streak, tossing two shutout innings. He allowed just two singles and still hasn't allowed a run in the Major Leagues. Through 11 appearances, Chamberlain has tossed 14 1/3 scoreless innings. These two, though, were actually a little bit easier for Chamberlain.
"We had a tight game going on and it is a situation where I want to be in," he said. "Doesn't matter what is going on. It is a big game for us no matter who we are playing."
About six hours before his son appeared in the game, Harlan pulled into Kauffman Stadium. Along with family members and friends, Harlan made the three-hour trip from Nebraska to Kansas City.
He reached Kauffman about four hours before first pitch and spent time with a Sports Illustrated photo crew, met Yankees manager Joe Torre and talked with lefty Andy Pettitte's father.
Joba was certainly happy to see his father -- as well as most of the state. Joba and Royals third baseman Alex Gordon are longtime friends, teammates and Cornhuskers legends.
In 2005, Chamberlain went 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA and Gordon won the Golden Spikes Award as collegiate baseball's player of the year.
Neither player knew how many tickets he asked for. Chamberlain couldn't even estimate the number -- "I haven't even counted; I just put my name and number next to a list" -- and Gordon received a barrage of phone calls and text messages asking for tickets.
Because the Cornhuskers football team is traveling this weekend, this Yankees-Royals series is the must-see event for many Nebraskans. Harlan put the number of Cornhuskers fans in attendance on Friday night at 10,000.
However, no fan was likely happier than Harlan.
"I think that if you stand, like, 35 feet away, you can probably see his smile," Joba said with a smile and laugh.
Harlan has always helped Joba. He taught him all he could about pitching.
"What I know about pitching will fit in a thimble; what I don't know will fit in the Smithsonian," Harlan said.
But Harlan did teach his son one piece of advice -- advice that helped Joba hone a dominating fastball.
"'If you throw a curveball, I will take you right out,' and he never did," Harlan said. "A kid growing up, a curveball is not something that he needs to be throwing.
Harlan saw Joba take his talent to Nebraska, win 16 games in two seasons and be picked as a supplemental first-rounder in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.
When -- on Aug. 15, 2006 -- his appendix failed, it appeared that Harlan may not be able to see his son pitch again.
"When your appendix blows up at 54 years of age, there is a lot of other stuff that happens," Joba said. "When a 21-year-old man's appendix blows up, you are in and out of the hospital, but when you are a 54-year-old man who has polio ..."
Harlan's body didn't react well to painkillers. But he kept fighting, didn't give up. He wanted to continue living -- and continue watching his son play.
"A year later, he is finally back to where he was, and he is finally 100 percent," Joba said.
Harlan could watch his son skyrocket through the Minors. First, there was the 4-0 record and 2.03 ERA in seven starts at Class A Tampa. Then, 66 strikeouts in 40 innings at Double-A Trenton. Finally, 18 strikeouts and one walk in eight shutout innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
And then the Majors. Harlan watched his son pitch 10 games and throw 12 1/3 shutout innings.
"I knew he would always make it," Harlan said. "I felt in [my heart] that he would always make it, but to move this fast, it is always surprising. He has jumped right in and become a part of it, and the rest is history. Now we just make new history."
Harlan saw on TV the incredible ovations and "Joba, Joba" chants his son received at Yankee Stadium. He wanted to see his son play in person, and this weekend offered an opportunity.
When he arrived at Kauffman Stadium, Harlan was greeted by Torre and his son's teammates. Torre approached Harlan, who extended his hand. Torre asked Harlan to call him "Joe."
"When each of the players came up and introduced themselves to me, it meant a great deal to me," Harlan said. "It was indeed an honor to meet [Torre]."
Harlan enjoyed another incredible experience when his son came in to protect a 3-2 seventh-inning lead. Joba threw 98-100 mph consistently and pitched a scoreless seventh.
"I understand somebody told me that he hit 100 six times and 101 once," Harlan said. "That is bringing [it] up. It amazes me, whether it is Joba, or [Carlos] Zambrano or [Joel] Zumaya."
In the eighth, Chamberlain faced his former teammate, Gordon, with one out. A few days ago, Gordon told him to throw him a first-pitch fastball. That is exactly what happened.
It was 100 mph. Gordon swung and missed.
"I got my first pitch to hit, and I was swinging," Gordon said. "You can't let those go by against a guy with this kind of talent."
Gordon eventually singled, but Chamberlain finished the inning with no damage. After Mariano Rivera closed out the ninth, Chamberlain met his dad and family, capping a night his father would never forget.
Conor Nicholl is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Noa and Dwyane

Noa and Dwyane
By Trudy Ornellas
Noa Ornellas's mother
(Archive)

My Wish: Dwyane WadeI first heard about the Make-A-Wish Foundation when Noa was at the Painted Turtle Camp, a camp for children with life threatening illnesses. Noa had his interview and said that he would like to meet Dwyane Wade. I didn't know who that was and when I told Noa he looked at me like I was from another planet. I was then informed that Wade played for the Miami Heat and that he was the best NBA player ever.

Since we're from Hawaii, the time difference makes it hard for us to watch East Coast games. But that didn't stop Noa from watching as many of the Heat's games as he could and watching highlights of the ones he missed on SportsCenter.

After one and a half years of waiting Noa was told by the Make A Wish Foundation, that it looked like he was going to have to wait another year to get his wish, if at all, and that maybe he should consider changing his wish. It was heartbreaking to tell Noa and when I did he refused to change his wish. He wanted to meet Dwyane and he was willing to wait another year no matter how what even when I tried to get him to change his mind.

Two months later Make-A-Wish called to tell me that Dwyane was participating in the ESPN My Wish series and that Noa was going to get his wish. We were so excited that Noa's wish was going to come true and the countdown to the big day began. ESPN came to Honolulu and filmed Noa at school and shooting hoops at a local park.


Dwyane and Noa got along famously.
The time finally came for the big meeting so we packed our bags and flew from Hawaii to Chicago not knowing what to expect. Well, the reality was beyond our wildest dreams. On the day of the meeting, a limo picked us up at the hotel. Noa was so excited that he had a grin from ear to ear. We drove for over an hour to a restaurant where we were going to meet Dwyane for lunch. At first he wasn't there and Noa started getting a little anxious. We decided that we would order lunch while we waited. When we went to the counter to order our burgers Dwyane suddenly appeared behind the counter to take our order.
We were shocked… speechless.

We couldn't believe it was really Dwyane Wade. After that the whole day was magical. I thought he would give Noa maybe 20 to 30 minutes, but Dwyane shared two and a half hours with Noa doing everything from ordering hamburgers, playing videos games and just talking at the restaurant to a game of hoops on his "home" court.

Dwyane even shared some of his childhood memories and showed us a picture of his newborn son. He talked about everyday things and answered all of Noa's questions. For the most part Noa, who is normally a very outgoing and talkative little guy, was at a loss for words, just in complete awe that he was sitting there having lunch with the man he believed to be the greatest basketball player, ever!

Then Dwyane told Noa that we were going to his house to shoot some hoops. As we left the restaurant, he turned to Noa and asked if he wanted to ride with him instead of in the limo. Noa had a huge smile on his face and he couldn't believe he was going to ride with Dwyane Wade!
After we got to Dwyane's house he gave Noa a new pair of Dwyane Wade basketball shoes and they set off to the court for a game of HEAT and then a short basketball game to 10. Dwyane did some fancy footwork and made a few of his amazing shots while Noa just stood and watched with admiration and awe. After the game they drank Gatorade together and then Dwyane graciously signed anything my son wanted. Dwyane gave him an autographed basketball and lots of other goodies. Then Dwyane's wife and family came out to meet us and they too were so warm and welcoming we felt like we had known them forever.

Meeting Dwyane was absolutely worth the long wait. During one of their conversations he told Noa to always dream big. Well, Noa's biggest dream has come true and he couldn't have been granted a better wish than to meet Dwyane Wade.

I don't think he will ever know what an impact he made on Noa that day. He gave him hope to dream big and look forward to all the great things life has to offer. He is a superstar on and off the court. Dwyane showed Noa the true meaning of caring and sharing with one another and I know that Noa will remember that day for the rest of his life.




If you want to know more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation or donate to the cause click here.