By Elena Brown
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Oscar Soliz has produced a documentary called "Deep Scars" that recounts the struggles of four Vietnam veterans on the battlefield and off.
Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News / ©SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
It's well after midnight by the time Oscar Soliz clicks off his lamps and shuts down his computer. His brown eyes are strained, his neck and back are stiff, his hands tingle. He rubs his salt-and-pepper beard; it's time for bed.
He's just finished another 13-hour day producing a documentary about four local Vietnam vets and how their powerful memories have barely diminished with the passage of time.
The hour-long documentary, titled "Deep Scars," features retired Staff Sgt. Edward Brown Jr., retired Sgt. Trini Cruz, retired 1st Sgt. William J. Johnson and retired Sgt. 1st Class Dion Soliz III. The veterans, all Purple Heart recipients, recount their struggles on the battlefield and off.
"I'm showing the feelings and fears of being in combat as well as its affect on their lives after returning home," says Soliz, a self-taught videographer and owner of Ozman Visual Media Productions. "There are so many stories. So much had happened to them."
The documentary opens with images and narration explaining the politics of the Vietnam War, the lives lost and the toll it took on men such as Brown.
"Hmm, lemme see, I've been recovering from my injuries for 44 years and counting," Brown, 63, says with a chuckle. "Physically, I spent 32 months in various hospitals."
Brown was injured on May 14, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam. In the uncut version of the film, Brown recounted how his fellow soldier Ron E. Clark fell into him after being hit by a grenade from a rocket-propelled launcher. "I looked into his eyes as he died," Brown said. "His death was fast, and his survivors should know he didn't suffer (alone)."
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