ARMY OF ONE
Sarah Goodman, Canada, 2003
Tuesday 8 June 2004 9pm-10pm; rpt 12.50am-1.50am
In the wake of 9/11 three young people - a dancer, a stockbroker and a high school dropout - join the US Army. This is an intimate and heartbreaking account of their two-year journey.
STORYVILLE
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Nick Fraser
Storyville Series Editor
The US Army and its reservists have recently acquired a certain notoriety as a consequence of the revelations at Abu Ghraib prison. But army life, as Army of One reveals, is somewhat more humdrum.
Sarah Goodman followed the fate of three young people who volunteered for the US Army in the wake of 9/11. Thaddeus was a stockbroker, and he ends up slopping out toilets. Nelson goes into the army to get away from the street, but he goes AWOL and is later spied working as a bouncer. The most successful recruit is the most improbable one - the small and steely Sara.
Those used to TV series such as M*A*S*H and Sgt Bilko will be reassured by the fact that the American army seems no more competent than it ever was.
