A docuseries streaming on VET TV titled “Let’s Talk About the War” has been striking a nerve across the veteran community—and for good reason. The multi-part series takes a raw, unfiltered look at the psychological carnage left behind after two decades of American combat operations in the Global War on Terrorism.
This isn’t the kind of war story you’ll find on the History Channel or in a VA pamphlet. It’s brutally honest. Uncomfortably real. And it’s told directly by the men who lived it.
“We joked about our deaths all the time. I convinced my buddies we were gonna die every time. That’s how we approach fear,” said Marine combat veteran Donny Maher in one of the episodes.
From confessions of killing children to moments of horrifying humor under fire, Let’s Talk About the War strips away the layers of military mythos and patriotic spin to confront what combat really does to a person.
One of the most jarring moments comes when a veteran describes gunning down enemy fighters as they exited a building, likening the experience to a twisted carnival game:
“One by one they would walk out this door and we would just pop them. It was the greatest feeling in the world. One walks out the door—they are so f***ing dumb—takes a head shot and falls down, next one walks out the door and takes a head shot and falls down. It was just like whack-a-mole, they just kept walking out.”
He also recalled shooting an 11-year-old boy carrying a radio and another veteran talked about watching wild dogs feast on the corpses of those they’d just killed.
The Aftermath Most Don’t Want to Hear
What sets this documentary apart isn’t just the stories—it’s the way they’re told. The veterans don’t glorify their actions. They don’t always show regret. They simply speak the truth of what they experienced, no matter how ugly or painful.
The series digs into the coping mechanisms troops developed to survive—morbid humor, emotional numbness, and the ability to flip the switch between warfighter and human being. For many, that switch never really flips back.
Veteran and Civilian Reactions: Painful but Necessary
The raw honesty has sparked an outpouring of emotion from viewers. One VET TV subscriber shared:
“I think everyone who’s been in needs to see this. Too many of our brothers and sisters hurting every day and digging that f***ing hole deeper and deeper… perspectives like this give hope that they can be pulled out of that hole.”
Another viewer, the child of a U.S. Army veteran, commented:
“Getting a documentary like this out to the masses lets us hear an uncensored version of events… I would hope—but highly doubt—that the chain of command in the U.S. military would also watch something like this and listen to it.”
Some veterans say the series puts words to experiences they’ve never been able to explain:
“People need to see this. Civilian and Veteran. Explains a lot in a way I never could. My entire combat experience was broken down into this documentary. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”
A Gut Check the Nation Needs
Let’s Talk About the War isn’t a feel-good documentary, and it’s not trying to be. It’s a hard-hitting mirror held up to the human cost of endless war—one that the American public often chooses not to see, and that many veterans are too burdened to speak about.
This is the kind of content that makes you uncomfortable for the right reasons.
If you served, it might help you feel a little less alone. If you didn’t, it might help you understand why some of your neighbors, coworkers, or family members came back from Iraq or Afghanistan and never quite seemed the same.
Watch Let’s Talk About the War now on VET TV — but only if you’re ready to hear the kind of war stories most people never will.
Readers of The Salty Soldier get 50% off an entire year of VET TV and a free limited edition shirt.
Not sure if it’s for you? Watch the trailer and decide for yourself.
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