NATIONAL VETERANS DAY SCREENING
NOV 11-14, 2021
Be moved this Veterans Day. Moved to remember. To honor.
To better understand.
This Veterans Day weekend, join a free special national screening of Modern Warrior LIVE, a uniquely immersive narrative and music experience that chronicles one veteran’s journey. U.S. Army Veteran Jaymes Poling shares the story of his three deployments in Afghanistan and subsequent transition back home. The film, with its dramatic musical underscore, honors those who have served and highlights resilience and post-traumatic growth.
Modern Warrior LIVE aims to break down the societal barriers that leave veterans feeling alone and is a catalyst for meaningful conversation about the veteran experience. As the pandemic has exacerbated existing mental health and personal challenges and the exit from Afghanistan has understandably brought additional complex and difficult feelings and conversations to the forefront, the story of Modern Warrior LIVE and the conversation it sparks is more urgent now than ever.
The production was originally created as a live performance, and the team has staged more than 100 shows around the country since its inception in 2017. In anticipation of resuming live performances post-pandemic, this one-hour film serves as a way to reach and impact communities around the country
Where We’ve Performed
Modern Warrior Live (the live show) debuted in 2017, and has since done more than 100 performances around the country. Venues include theaters, mental health and veteran conferences, galas, high schools and trauma centers.
“One of the most moving, touching experiences regarding war that I’ve felt since returning from Vietnam 46 years ago!”
— Attendee
“The show is like nothing else I've ever experienced; it is a genre unto its own. I was so entirely captivated by the interplay of the story with the music that I did not breathe for large sections of this performance."
— Attendee
“Having lost my son to suicide, this performance brought me peace.”
— Attendee
“…an innovative and compelling approach of communicating that Post Traumatic Stress can result in Post Traumatic Growth.”
— Mark Otto, Executive Director, United War Veterans Council
If you or anyone you know is ever in immediate need of wellness assistance, the Veterans Crisis Line offers free, confidential support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by phone at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, by text to 838255 or online at veteranscrisisline.net to chat or for deaf and hard of hearing support -- or dial 9-1-1.
Modern Warrior Experience
Modern Warrior Experience is a program that collaborates with veterans in local communities throughout the nation, empowering them to share their story through our unique Modern Warrior format of storytelling. Our team of writers and artists work with each veteran to help tell the story they want to share, through his/her own words. This collaboration culminates in a live and private performance of each veteran (inviting only who they want to hear their story) and the Modern Warrior team.
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Jaymes Poling
Jaymes Poling grew up in Warren, Ohio and enlisted in the US Army at the age of 17. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina as an infantryman. During his eight years with the division, he spent 3 years fighting in Afghanistan as a Machine Gunner and Squad Leader.
Upon returning to Ohio at the age of 26, Jaymes was bothered by some portrayals of combat veterans. Dealing with the memories of war, the loss of friends, and the isolation a combat veteran finds when leaving the military, Jaymes began to find the potential for growth that comes through adversity. Through education, writing, and public speaking, he came to recognize the universality of his journey.
Jaymes received a finance degree at John Carroll University in May 2018, and focuses his time traveling across the country partnering with veteran organizations to help veterans find their own peace after war.
Dominick Farinacci
Dominick Farinacci is a world renowned trumpeter with a passion for performing and for integrating the arts into wellness and education. He has released 12 albums, performed in more than 120 cities around the world and received foundation grants to establish arts programs in his native Ohio.
He served as Ambassador to Jazz at Lincoln Center in Qatar from 2013-2015, working to further integrate music and arts into wellness and education. He organized the very first jazz performance for patients in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic and the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation
Before developing Modern Warrior LIVE, Dominick was a frequent speaker on the connection between mental health and music, including doing a TED Talk in 2014 at the Kennedy Center.
Dominick has also been a leading advocate in music and education development. He lives in New York but travels to Ohio to serve as the Director of the Tri-C JazzFest Academy, a pre-college jazz program, at the Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a graduate of the inaugural class of The Juilliard School’s Jazz program.
