'LI's Forgotten Heroes': Film Depicts Struggle, Despair Faced By Vets

GLEN COVE, NY — A veteran from New Hyde Park has created a new documentary that he says shows the truth about the hardships faced by many veterans returning to Long Island after serving in the military. Matthew Simoni, 37, established Bravo Foxtrot United Veterans, a nonprofit dedicated to helping struggling veterans, many homeless.

This fall, the group self-funded a new documentary called "Long Island's Forgotten Heroes," which they say "exposes the truth about the living conditions of many veterans and the way they are currently in positions of mental, social and economic despair."

Bravo Foxtrot hired Hazy Sun Productions, in Glen Cove, to produce the film. The filmmakers follow Simoni and his wife Jade Pinto as they track down veterans across Long Island, some living in the woods.

Interviews in the film show the mental effects of service that still haunt some of the veterans, and what many say was a lack of support when they came home.

"That's why they commit suicide. That's why you find them in the woods, on drugs," one veteran says in the film.

Statistics range from estimates that 17 to 44 veterans per day commit suicide nationwide.

Simoni was a member of the U.S. Navy, serving in Iraq and in other overseas deployments. In the movie, he shared that after he came home he became homeless, living behind a gas station.

https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"..."> stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝗛𝗮𝘇𝘆 𝗦𝘂𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (@hazysunpro)

Bravo Foxtrot, headquartered in Bay Shore, helps veterans connect with social services, help them get outfitted for and ready for new jobs, obtain housing and needed medication and more.

"Long Island's Forgotten Heroes" premiered in October in East Islip, and Bravo Foxtrot shared on social media that they are working to schedule a second premiere showing in New Hyde Park.