My cousin, Steve Metze, is currently serving in Iraq for the Texas National Guard. He has an interesting story, really. He’s a graduate of West Point, teaches Television and Film at the University of Texas, and is second or third in command of the Texas National Guard. In May of 2004 he got married, and conceived a child a couple months later. Then he got word that he was going to ship out to Iraq at the first of 2005. He was overseas as his wife went through the third trimester, and (thanks to a generous temporary leave from the military) was only around for a couple weeks to witness the birth. Right now he is serving the rest of his year in a wing of a former Iraqi palace, on the other side of the planet from his new wife and newborn daughter.
A couple years before he left for Iraq, he made a documentary about gamers (of the Dungeons and Dragons kind). Since he is part of the command in Iraq, he has been in a relatively unique position. And being a filmmaker, he has decided to put his talents to good use. Though he has not officially announced it, he is currently filming a documentary about the life of the troops in Iraq. As soon as he gets back to the United States he will turn the footage over to his editor, and soon after that we will be setting up a site to promote the film. I’m looking forward to working on that project almost as much as I’m looking forward to seeing the film, but not nearly as much as I’m looking forward to seeing him home again.
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