The Covenant with America's Wounded Warriors

Since The Vietnam War, battlefield medicine and America’s care of wounded warriors have changed profoundly. Illustrated with compelling documentary footage, leaders of these transformations explain why and how these changes are taking place. This film focuses on Vice Admiral John Mateczun, the man selected to lead the consolidation of the Walter Read Army Medical Center and the Bethesda Naval Hospital, the crown jewels of Army and Navy medicine. The Vietnam War Memorial provides the backdrop for Adm. Mateczun’s reflections on lessons he learned as an Army Explosive Ordinance Demolition specialist in that war. Change in the military’s approach to rehabilitation is illustrated by the new paradigm of sports medicine that is helping veterans to overcome their limb loss.

This film was made to accompany a case study for the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership.

This project was finished in 2014.

Director/Writer: Franco Sacchi
Producer/Writer: Charles Mann, PhD, Catherine Reilly, PhD
Cinematography: Franco Sacchi
Editing: Franco Sacchi
Associate Producer/Researcher: Matt Mabe
Executive Producer: Prof. Linda Bilmes