December 4, 2025 • 9 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Brian Thomas here right here, and please welcome Michael Pack.
He is a renowned documentary director and we're going to
be talking about his newest release, The Last six hundred Meters,
The Battles of ned Jaff and Fallujah. He is the
president of Manifold Production, the independent film and television production
company that he founded way back in seventy seven. Manifold Productions,
(00:21):
mister Pack have written, directed, and produced numerous award winning,
nationally broadcast documentaries, as well as corporate and educational films.
Also president of Palladium Pictures. I could go through your
film list, but let's dive right onto it. Michael, Well,
welcome to the fifty five care Some morning should to
talk about a very important documentary you released, this Last
six hundred Meters. What caused you to gravitate to make
(00:44):
this particular film about the battles of Najaff and Fallujas
are good to have you on the program.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Well, it's good to be on your program. Well, as
you say, I've made a lot of documentaries, fifteen have
been nationally broadcast by PBS, a very unusual path. It's
called The Last six hundred Meters, The Battles of the
Joff and Fallujah, because a special force of sniper says
in the film, I don't make foreign policy. I delivered
(01:13):
the last six hundred meters of it, meaning what he
could see through a sniperscope, And we try to stay
true to that. It's not about should we be in
Iraq with the Iraq We're good or bad. It was
what it was like to fight these battles. These are
the biggest battles in America has fought since Vietnam. And
we try to tell the story from the point of
view the people who fought there, from corporals and sergeants
(01:35):
up to the one star generals in the field, and
we try to make it a battle story as if
it were a great historic battle like b Rejima or Gettysburg.
And it is the hard great historic battles. But the
path that you asked about how we got there is
an odd one. We were researching a film about the
Iraq War while it was going on in two thousand
(01:56):
and four and five. You know, I thought the stories
of these battles and these young men and women were
being were untold, and I conducted the interviews with them
in two thousand and seven three years after the battle,
when they were still young and their memories were fresh.
And then we completed a version of film in two
(02:16):
thousand and eight, and even though it was primarily funded
by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting PBS initially declined to
broadcast it. They thought it was too pro military. Not
sure what that means with us what they said, And
over seventeen years we begged them to broadcast it, and
finally person of the PBS and what I considered to
be a courageous move, reversed seventeen years of no to
(02:39):
say yes, and we slightly updated it and we put
it on PBS. It was broadcast nationally and PBS the
day before Veterans Day in the two hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the Marine Corps. And it is now streaming
off doing elsewhere. So it's it had a very unusual history,
but it's being more relevant today than it.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Was a way back when well, cults being say, I'm
trying to draw parallel altitudes about Vietnam. Why were we
battle in the country, We don't care about why? Well,
the soldiers took the brunt of that when they can
always felt terrible about that. But the idea into Iraq
was predicated on weapons and guess what, there weren't any
there at least that is that part of the resistance,
like we shouldn't have been in that ignoring the pearl,
(03:17):
the death and the awful and women on the front
line had to I.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Think I think people couldn't see the because of their ideology.
Whatever it happened, and it was very much parallel to
non war veterans. I think the Irastan were veterans also done.
People don't like their wars too a bunch. The fact
that these were heroic people, young men and women on
the line for us, the American and I think now
(03:44):
more clearly. I mean, you know, the very impressive they've
done to put them laves a huge rim. You can
hear this very dramatic. Oh you know this is you know,
people I wore from home at least, so these people
are doing an unusual thing. And I also think it's
meant though it's in twice battles. I think the world
(04:07):
are often in the wars and will be a point
to the war in Gaza. You know, America opt into
until we should at least understand that.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
And you know, I've been in a blessed going to
talk to a lot of what I always refer to
in indoors in Fallujah, and I'm text of I think
I had experience. I can certainly step to post traumatic
stress either reavey or whenever you start kicking, you go
into a room. One point of these brave men they
kick it the room and beneath the foot mounted the
(04:37):
enemy crayoft gun and they started the room from beneath
the floor. What his pants went right through it. Through
that experience, you're doing innutes later in the next building,
you're doing getting up tomorrow and doing the same thing,
operating at that level of adrennine and exploring that amount
of brave in and day out.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
It is truly I think that in the breakdown these doors,
you don't know when you smash the dress and the
you're confronting Alliam that you're supposed to help or if
it's going to kill you and you've got to kill him.
But when you have to make these split level decisions day,
you know, to time day after day, a lot to
ask and a lot of the people be down the doors.
The corporal sergeants are eighteen nineteen young men in this
(05:16):
case you know, just out of high school or in college.
It's a lot to ask pressure, but I do spent.
There's been attention to these that are PTSD and typical.
Maybe bad things that happened there like Aditha obscured the
fact that yeah they had true but there's also they did.
We tell the story of Hell House, it varied where
(05:37):
marines were pinned, had to heroically or it's to rescue
the marines in the house. Now you can see it's
going to break into the house to bars and take
his kevler off, having to cross the kill zone. Where
have them PINNs for times? I mean it's very yeah,
sure what is after Hell House? You can see the face,
you know, it's just empty stairs and ang of all energy.
(06:00):
But I think, yeah, there's the PTSD, so the heroism
and valor to notice.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
But I couldn't agree more with you and port of
of what they were, what they understand that the questionable
circumstaned to gravitate over that some profoundly affected to the
negati amount of stress, for example. But did you get
collectively if you had to put them on the folks
that you talked about or the talk with when you're
making the last that they were indeed able to accomplish,
that they were prouday with a higher sense of bravery,
(06:26):
efective on their extreme, their sense of purpose. Were they
all positive whole experience and looking looking back atting themselves
on the back that you know, damn it, I entered
and then I did what I was failed.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
The variety of view is about them kind of screening
in Washington very really invited all the veterans that many did.
But I hadn't seen them in seventeen years older, of course,
but they were very proud of them. They were very
bonded to each other. A moving experience many veterans, I
think it was their most intense experience, as they said,
(07:00):
got even if I haven't seen them for years, they
have them waves deeper than whether you know they've gone
through this intense you know. So on the other hand,
they all have had trump. Many of them were happy
in my film. Finally they couldn't show it to their family,
They couldn't really speak about the experience. But yeah, I
think they thought, you know, especially the marine that we had.
(07:21):
When marine got it, Look, we can win any war
and any battlefield that we will win. Get to the
objective went on together, these strategic objective to other people's job,
and today we could do it. And this guy years later,
he's still so I think they live over there.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I am so happy. Director of the last six hundred
meters is the battles of I have a kind of
were these the saddles? I mean, you know when you
look in different theater, jungle warfare, you got desert wars,
you know, basically door to door as I sort of
explained it, if re forms were in the job and
fame type of fighting, or were there that going on.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Urban warfare? I mean that sense good the same, but
it's still a Flujia in the north the insurgents and
then out against Chia after the second Battle of fallusiaus
a month period. You know, the city hit by the
mad maconter al satter first began in this very weird
huge cemetery, multiple and multiple layers below grounded landscape, and
(08:17):
then nice bunty militia into this grand uh one of
the most holy sites, and then it's a question of
how you get it's a political battle and vibrating and
then there's all these huge kind of apartment they had
that the that there's levels and they're found in those buildings.
It's now a Democratic congressman story of someone in his
(08:38):
squad countered in the surgeon undergrounds and the quarters were
so close they their machines, and so it was turned
into a knight tell the marine urgent with his knife food.
So it gets bootle, primitive combat and very strange surreals
fight to kicking down the doors. Full of the Second
Battle of Fallujah. Creation on that, but.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Still are fair enough from the Bobs Link. Can't thank
you enough for document that's six hundred meters of battles.
And in my listening audience, I had conveterans, many of
whom were probably can certainly relate to it, and to
a lot of people who really don't get it, haven't
can't understand it, get a load of it. It's right
there for everyone to see, the last six hundred meters
of battles in the job Infludium. My guest today, the
producer and director of the film, Michael Pack, thank you
(09:22):
again for your service to the country and your service
to the men and women who were involved in the
conflict and putting the film together. And I will encourage
my listeners to check it out. I'm staring at the
page right now. PBS Documentaries. It's easy to find, and
my producer will put a link on my blog page
at fifty five care se dot com to make it
that much easier
Brian Thomas here right here, and please welcome Michael Pack.
He is a renowned documentary director and we're going to
be talking about his newest release, The Last six hundred Meters,
The Battles of ned Jaff and Fallujah. He is the
president of Manifold Production, the independent film and television production
company that he founded way back in seventy seven. Manifold Productions,
(00:21):
mister Pack have written, directed, and produced numerous award winning,
nationally broadcast documentaries, as well as corporate and educational films.
Also president of Palladium Pictures. I could go through your
film list, but let's dive right onto it. Michael, Well,
welcome to the fifty five care Some morning should to
talk about a very important documentary you released, this Last
six hundred Meters. What caused you to gravitate to make
(00:44):
this particular film about the battles of Najaff and Fallujas
are good to have you on the program.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Well, it's good to be on your program. Well, as
you say, I've made a lot of documentaries, fifteen have
been nationally broadcast by PBS, a very unusual path. It's
called The Last six hundred Meters, The Battles of the
Joff and Fallujah, because a special force of sniper says
in the film, I don't make foreign policy. I delivered
(01:13):
the last six hundred meters of it, meaning what he
could see through a sniperscope, And we try to stay
true to that. It's not about should we be in
Iraq with the Iraq We're good or bad. It was
what it was like to fight these battles. These are
the biggest battles in America has fought since Vietnam. And
we try to tell the story from the point of
view the people who fought there, from corporals and sergeants
(01:35):
up to the one star generals in the field, and
we try to make it a battle story as if
it were a great historic battle like b Rejima or Gettysburg.
And it is the hard great historic battles. But the
path that you asked about how we got there is
an odd one. We were researching a film about the
Iraq War while it was going on in two thousand
(01:56):
and four and five. You know, I thought the stories
of these battles and these young men and women were
being were untold, and I conducted the interviews with them
in two thousand and seven three years after the battle,
when they were still young and their memories were fresh.
And then we completed a version of film in two
(02:16):
thousand and eight, and even though it was primarily funded
by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting PBS initially declined to
broadcast it. They thought it was too pro military. Not
sure what that means with us what they said, And
over seventeen years we begged them to broadcast it, and
finally person of the PBS and what I considered to
be a courageous move, reversed seventeen years of no to
(02:39):
say yes, and we slightly updated it and we put
it on PBS. It was broadcast nationally and PBS the
day before Veterans Day in the two hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the Marine Corps. And it is now streaming
off doing elsewhere. So it's it had a very unusual history,
but it's being more relevant today than it.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Was a way back when well, cults being say, I'm
trying to draw parallel altitudes about Vietnam. Why were we
battle in the country, We don't care about why? Well,
the soldiers took the brunt of that when they can
always felt terrible about that. But the idea into Iraq
was predicated on weapons and guess what, there weren't any
there at least that is that part of the resistance,
like we shouldn't have been in that ignoring the pearl,
(03:17):
the death and the awful and women on the front
line had to I.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Think I think people couldn't see the because of their ideology.
Whatever it happened, and it was very much parallel to
non war veterans. I think the Irastan were veterans also done.
People don't like their wars too a bunch. The fact
that these were heroic people, young men and women on
the line for us, the American and I think now
(03:44):
more clearly. I mean, you know, the very impressive they've
done to put them laves a huge rim. You can
hear this very dramatic. Oh you know this is you know,
people I wore from home at least, so these people
are doing an unusual thing. And I also think it's
meant though it's in twice battles. I think the world
(04:07):
are often in the wars and will be a point
to the war in Gaza. You know, America opt into
until we should at least understand that.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
And you know, I've been in a blessed going to
talk to a lot of what I always refer to
in indoors in Fallujah, and I'm text of I think
I had experience. I can certainly step to post traumatic
stress either reavey or whenever you start kicking, you go
into a room. One point of these brave men they
kick it the room and beneath the foot mounted the
(04:37):
enemy crayoft gun and they started the room from beneath
the floor. What his pants went right through it. Through
that experience, you're doing innutes later in the next building,
you're doing getting up tomorrow and doing the same thing,
operating at that level of adrennine and exploring that amount
of brave in and day out.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
It is truly I think that in the breakdown these doors,
you don't know when you smash the dress and the
you're confronting Alliam that you're supposed to help or if
it's going to kill you and you've got to kill him.
But when you have to make these split level decisions day,
you know, to time day after day, a lot to
ask and a lot of the people be down the doors.
The corporal sergeants are eighteen nineteen young men in this
(05:16):
case you know, just out of high school or in college.
It's a lot to ask pressure, but I do spent.
There's been attention to these that are PTSD and typical.
Maybe bad things that happened there like Aditha obscured the
fact that yeah they had true but there's also they did.
We tell the story of Hell House, it varied where
(05:37):
marines were pinned, had to heroically or it's to rescue
the marines in the house. Now you can see it's
going to break into the house to bars and take
his kevler off, having to cross the kill zone. Where
have them PINNs for times? I mean it's very yeah,
sure what is after Hell House? You can see the face,
you know, it's just empty stairs and ang of all energy.
(06:00):
But I think, yeah, there's the PTSD, so the heroism
and valor to notice.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
But I couldn't agree more with you and port of
of what they were, what they understand that the questionable
circumstaned to gravitate over that some profoundly affected to the
negati amount of stress, for example. But did you get
collectively if you had to put them on the folks
that you talked about or the talk with when you're
making the last that they were indeed able to accomplish,
that they were prouday with a higher sense of bravery,
(06:26):
efective on their extreme, their sense of purpose. Were they
all positive whole experience and looking looking back atting themselves
on the back that you know, damn it, I entered
and then I did what I was failed.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
The variety of view is about them kind of screening
in Washington very really invited all the veterans that many did.
But I hadn't seen them in seventeen years older, of course,
but they were very proud of them. They were very
bonded to each other. A moving experience many veterans, I
think it was their most intense experience, as they said,
(07:00):
got even if I haven't seen them for years, they
have them waves deeper than whether you know they've gone
through this intense you know. So on the other hand,
they all have had trump. Many of them were happy
in my film. Finally they couldn't show it to their family,
They couldn't really speak about the experience. But yeah, I
think they thought, you know, especially the marine that we had.
(07:21):
When marine got it, Look, we can win any war
and any battlefield that we will win. Get to the
objective went on together, these strategic objective to other people's job,
and today we could do it. And this guy years later,
he's still so I think they live over there.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I am so happy. Director of the last six hundred
meters is the battles of I have a kind of
were these the saddles? I mean, you know when you
look in different theater, jungle warfare, you got desert wars,
you know, basically door to door as I sort of
explained it, if re forms were in the job and
fame type of fighting, or were there that going on.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Urban warfare? I mean that sense good the same, but
it's still a Flujia in the north the insurgents and
then out against Chia after the second Battle of fallusiaus
a month period. You know, the city hit by the
mad maconter al satter first began in this very weird
huge cemetery, multiple and multiple layers below grounded landscape, and
(08:17):
then nice bunty militia into this grand uh one of
the most holy sites, and then it's a question of
how you get it's a political battle and vibrating and
then there's all these huge kind of apartment they had
that the that there's levels and they're found in those buildings.
It's now a Democratic congressman story of someone in his
(08:38):
squad countered in the surgeon undergrounds and the quarters were
so close they their machines, and so it was turned
into a knight tell the marine urgent with his knife food.
So it gets bootle, primitive combat and very strange surreals
fight to kicking down the doors. Full of the Second
Battle of Fallujah. Creation on that, but.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Still are fair enough from the Bobs Link. Can't thank
you enough for document that's six hundred meters of battles.
And in my listening audience, I had conveterans, many of
whom were probably can certainly relate to it, and to
a lot of people who really don't get it, haven't
can't understand it, get a load of it. It's right
there for everyone to see, the last six hundred meters
of battles in the job Infludium. My guest today, the
producer and director of the film, Michael Pack, thank you
(09:22):
again for your service to the country and your service
to the men and women who were involved in the
conflict and putting the film together. And I will encourage
my listeners to check it out. I'm staring at the
page right now. PBS Documentaries. It's easy to find, and
my producer will put a link on my blog page
at fifty five care se dot com to make it
that much easier
Brian Thomas News
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