From Iowa and Back: The Vietnam Era

A documentary about the people behind the uniforms—and the stories they carried home.

Filmed across Iowa, From Iowa and Back: The Vietnam Era brings together veterans whose experiences were very different, but whose stories belong to the same generation. In their own words, they reflect on service, friendship, fear, family, homecoming, and the lives they built afterward.

From Iowa and Back: The Vietnam Era grew from those conversations. It is not simply a film about military service or war. It is about the people who served, the lives they came home to, and the stories that can disappear when no one takes the time to ask.

This film started with my dad.

I was always proud of my dad’s service. He served in the Air Force during the Vietnam era, and although he was never in Vietnam and never considered himself a combat veteran, his military service was always part of how I understood him.

After he suffered a stroke and lost the ability to speak, I realized how much of his story I had never asked about. There were things I still wanted to know—what it felt like to serve overseas, what stayed with him, and how those years shaped the rest of his life. Suddenly, those questions felt much more urgent.

That urgency eventually led me to other Vietnam-era veterans across Iowa. What I found were men and women with completely different experiences, but nearly all of them shared the same humility. Some had been shelled, mortared, or shot at and would still tell me they “weren’t on the front lines.” They rarely talked about themselves as heroes. They simply believed they had done what they were supposed to do.

“I didn’t make this film because I wanted to hear stories about war. I made it because I wanted to hear stories about people.”

A Visual Journey Across Iowa

From Iowa and Back was built by traveling across Iowa and sitting down with veterans where they live—in their homes, communities, veterans halls, and familiar surroundings. The camera records more than military history. It captures the pauses, the humor, the emotion, and the memories that surface when someone is finally given the time to tell their story in their own words.

What began as an effort to better understand my own father has grown into a portrait of a generation. Every interview is different, but the purpose remains the same: to preserve these voices while we still have the opportunity to hear them.

The Veterans of From Iowa and Back

Every veteran in From Iowa and Back carries a different story. Some served overseas. Some served in the United States. Some experienced combat, while others supported missions far from the front lines. What connects them is that each answered the call to serve during one of the most complicated periods in American history.

What struck me most while making the film was their humility. Men who had been shelled, mortared, or shot at would still tell me they “weren’t really on the front lines.” Others spoke about their service as if they had simply done what was expected of them.

The film gives them the space to tell those stories without trying to turn them into something they are not. These are their memories, their experiences, and their lives—in their own words.

“They rarely talked about themselves as heroes. They simply believed they had done what they were supposed to do.”

What Happens After the Film

Some of the most meaningful moments happen after the credits. Children of Vietnam-era veterans have approached me after screenings and told me that something they heard in the film reminded them of their own father or mother, sometimes revealing a part of their story they had never heard before.

Veterans who have rarely spoken about their service have also come up afterward and started talking. Sometimes they simply want to share a memory. Sometimes they want someone to listen. Those conversations have become an important part of what this project is about.

My hope is that the film encourages people to recognize this generation while we still can—to ask questions, listen a little longer, and give these veterans the respect their stories deserve.

Bringing The Film to Communities

From Iowa and Back was never intended to simply live online. The film has traveled to theaters, museums, veterans organizations, libraries, community spaces, and special events across Iowa, creating opportunities for veterans, families, and communities to experience these stories together.

Each screening becomes more than a showing. Veterans stay afterward to talk. Families share stories about parents and grandparents. People who may never have spoken about their military service find themselves surrounded by others who understand. Those conversations have become as important to me as the film itself.

I continue to bring the documentary to communities throughout Iowa and beyond, working directly with local organizations to create screenings that fit their audience, venue, and community.

About The Filmmaker

Jeremy Glazier is an Iowa filmmaker, photographer, and storyteller whose work focuses on documenting people and the stories that can easily disappear if no one takes the time to record them.

From Iowa and Back: The Vietnam Era grew from a deeply personal connection to his father’s Air Force service and the realization that there were questions he would never get the chance to ask. That experience became the starting point for a larger effort to preserve the voices of Vietnam-era veterans throughout Iowa.

Glazier approaches the project less as a military historian and more as a listener, allowing veterans to tell their stories in their own words and at their own pace. In addition to filmmaking, his work includes documentary photography and continuing interviews with veterans and their families.

For me, this project has always been about listening. Every time I sit across from a veteran, part of me feels like I am getting another opportunity to have a conversation I wish I could still have with my dad.

The Story Continues

From Iowa and Back: The Vietnam Era may be a finished film, but the work behind it continues. I am still recording interviews, photographing veterans, and documenting stories that deserve to be preserved while there is still time to hear them firsthand.

Some of those stories may become part of future films. Others may live through photography, writing, or the growing archive surrounding this project. Every new conversation reinforces the same idea that started all of this: these stories are still here, but they will not be here forever.

Support the Project

Purchases from the film store help support continued screenings, travel, photography, interviews, and the ongoing work of preserving these stories.