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Last year I traveled to the Middle East to visit with troops in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

I took every chance I could to meet with U.S. soldiers. I talked with them and read the books they gave me about the war. I decided I needed to return to my country and join with them - active duty soldiers and Vietnam Veterans in particular - to try and end the war.

I have been to Iraq on a number of occasions. I was with the first group that went in.

I served two tours in Iraq, in the Marine Corps.

Not long ago, I got to meet some troopers whose lives had been saved. They came with their wives, their children, their parents. It was a very moving occasion.

Then when I went to Iraq and saw the strength and character the men and women in our military service exhibit every day and their belief in what they're doing, I knew I wanted to get that on film and share it with everyone. They are my inspiration.

During a trip to Iraq last fall, I visited our theater hospital at Balad Air Force Base and witnessed these skilled medical professionals in action and met the brave soldiers whose lives they saved.

I sort of became infatuated with soldiers. I got to know some of them and got a little perturbed with Hollywood making a spectacle out of them and making them look like they have screwed up somehow.

I've done two USO Tours, one in the Middle East and one in Asia, and spent time with the troops.

I joined the army after 9/11, after the Iraq war was started. I joined in part because I wanted to go fight on the front lines.