Blood Road Screening and Q&A

Film Screening: 5:00PM-7:00PM, University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Integrated Learning Center, Room S-331

Q&A Session with Rebecca Rusch: 7:00PM-8:00PM on Zoom. Click here to register for the Q&A!

The Ellsberg Institute for Peace and Democracy, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, History Department and Asian & Asian American Studies Certificate Program are proud to co-sponsor a screening of the Emmy Award winning documentary "Blood Road" (2017). The film follows cyclist, adventure athlete, and Gold Star daughter, Rebecca Rusch, and Vietnamese cyclist, Huyen Nguyen as they pedal 1,200+ miles along the Ho Chi Minh trail, traversing a variety of challenging terrain including dense jungle, caves, rivers, roads and bridges to arrive at the final resting place of Rebecca's father, Captain Stephen Rusch, a US Air Force pilot who was shot down over Laos in 1971. The story isn't just about Rebecca's and Huyen's physical and emotional journey; the film also provides a history lesson about the American War in Vietnam, and the lasting legacy of America's bombing campaigns in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The film depicts the vast amounts of unexploded ordnance, which remain to this day, some 50 years after the war officially ended. It also provides important insights about war and resiliency from the perspective of local Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian people. Click here to watch the trailer!