A true story about a U.S. Army combat soldier sent to fight in Vietnam in 1968. Within the first two weeks, he and his platoon experience a horrific "friendly fire" tragedy that shakes him to the core. After the event, he and his two closest combat buddies ( a common day Three Musketeers), make a vow that they will die for each and reunite after the war.

SYNOPSIS:

"STONE PONY" is the true story of Stephen Paul Campos, a U.S. Army soldier sent to fight in Vietnam in 1968. After his platoon of mostly inexperienced young men experiences a horrific "friendly fire"tragedy, a shaken Campos and his two closest combat buddies (a common day Three Musketeers) make a vow that they will die for each and then meet after the war. But, for Campos coming home was only the beginning of his war. Made to feel unwelcome and unappreciated amid a generation of war protesters, Campos wages a three-decade battle against disillusionment, fear, addiction, and broken relationships fueled by post-traumatic stress disorder. As he hits rock bottom, an extraordinary divine encounter sets him on a path to recovery and healing, a road that leads him to an emotional reunion with his combat buddies.

“STONE PONY” is a gritty story that captures themes of true combat stress and the bond of friendship forged in battle. In Vietnam the fears of the enemy are not the only threat of being killed but also the elements. There are poisonous snakes, malaria, dysentery, insects, jungle rot, the treacherous terrain, unfriendly villages and the exhausting patrols through rice patties, jungles, swamps and neck high rivers filled with leaches. In the daytime the intense heat reaches 121 degrees in the jungles and then there is the seasonal torrential monsoon rains.

The three men take some private time to enjoy each other during down time by throwing knives at each other to see who is afraid the most and a trip to Saigon. A week later Campos is sent to another combat unit as the division doesn’t want another friendly fire insolent.

Forty years after the war, the three men will meet together for the first time at the Vietnam War Memorial. They are interviewed by a Washington D.C. newspaper reporter who has been assigned a Memorial Day Special honoring Vietnam Veterans. United by a cause greater then themselves, the men will honor their fallen combat brothers and will confront their war demons. They will tell a story of honor on the battlefield and dishonor for serving their country.

"STONE PONY" captures themes of faith, friendship, failure, struggle, and ultimate redemption.

More than three decades after the evacuation of Saigon, the Vietnam War is fading from memory, years out of reach for the emerging generations. Yet, there are still thousands of people who served in this unpopular war that need healing and redemption from the past.

Many Vietnam combat veterans experienced the trauma of battle in Southeast Asia only to come home to a nation that opposed the war and considered U.S. soldiers "baby killers" unworthy of welcome.

Like most veterans, Campos returned home with stories that he wanted to tell, needed to tell, but not even his friends would listen.

It took him years to fight his denial that anything was wrong with him. It took even more years still to seek help and achieve some level of inner healing. That healing came through an unusual channels brokenness and a spiritual awakening at the lowest point of his life and a vow remembered forty years later.