Green’s likeness and story are the inspiration behind a new Call of Duty operator bundle launching Friday, making her the first female combat veteran to be featured as a playable Call of Duty character. The bundle launches alongside the new game Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

The character, called 50/50, is outfitted with a bionic arm based on Green’s real-life prosthetic, the Hero RGD, developed by the prosthetics company Open Bionics and supported by the Call of Duty Endowment.

The Hero RGD, short for “rugged,” debuted publicly at the Call of Duty Endowment Bowl in Las Vegas in September. It’s the world’s most advanced bionic arm built for strength and durability, but for Green, it represents much more than technology.

“I love my bionic arm. It gives me balance, it makes me feel whole,” Green said in an interview with Military Times. “As a combat veteran wearing this arm in public, I know it’s about more than just me. Little girls who have lost a limb see someone like them moving forward with confidence.”

Green lost her left arm in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on May 25, 2004. Being left-handed, she had to relearn everything, from writing to daily tasks.

Her prosthetic is the first of its kind, combining titanium joints and high-strength nylon with a fully wireless muscle-sensor system that allows her to move the hand with speed and precision, according to Open Bionics. The Hero RGD can lift up to 77 pounds and is twice as fast as any other bionic limb available.

The custom version she wears features personalized details, including the date of her injury engraved on the arm, the coordinates of Mount Kilimanjaro, which she recently climbed, and a purple wedding band on the in-game operator, inspired by the one her team recovered from the battlefield after her injury.

Samantha Payne, Open Bionics co-founder and CEO, said she had followed Green’s story for years through her work with the Wounded Warrior Project and immediately knew she was the right person to represent the company’s latest design.

“She exudes strength and a vibrant, live-your-best-life energy,” Payne said. “She is all about living with confidence and helping others overcome. What a wonderful person to align with.”

Payne explained that the Hero RGD was developed over four years at a cost of approximately $2 million. Engineers aimed to make it the strongest, fastest and most reliable prosthetic ever produced.

“Our users are makers, parents, veterans, and builders. They are busy and active. We wanted to build something that could keep up with them,” Payne said. “The RGD is built like a Toyota Camry and runs like a Ferrari. You can’t destroy it.”

Open Bionics continues to expand access to its devices through partnerships with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The company confirmed that the VA funds the Hero RGD for eligible veterans and encourages those interested to reach out directly to begin the process.

“We are actively fitting veterans right now,” Payne said. “If you need a prosthetic, contact us. We can help you get one of these through the VA.”

Green’s collaboration with Call of Duty began when the Endowment and Open Bionics partnered to showcase a real veteran’s story through gaming.

“When the Endowment reached out, we saw an opportunity to celebrate a true hero,” Payne said. “This technology was designed to keep up with how veterans live and work, and Danielle embodies that perfectly.”

For Green, the project is also a way to connect with other veterans who are navigating life after service.

“In the military, we never leave anyone behind, and that’s how I see this project,” she said. “This is my way of helping hundreds of thousands of veterans who are looking for a new purpose in life.”

Dan Goldenberg, executive director of the Call of Duty Endowment, said the partnership with Open Bionics and Green represents exactly what the nonprofit strives to highlight.

“It is easy to tell stories of beaten-down veterans or incredible heroics,” Goldenberg said. “But the quiet heroics of pushing through difficulty and going on to do great things are just as important. Veterans are an asset to their communities, and Danielle’s story helps us show that.”

Since 2009, the Call of Duty Endowment has placed over 150,000 veterans in high-quality civilian jobs through its network of top-performing nonprofits. Veterans seeking employment can visit the Endowment’s website for free career support, including résumé help and interview coaching through vetted partner organizations.

Green’s story and her in-game representation now connect two worlds that rarely intersect: veterans’ recovery and mainstream entertainment.

Proceeds from her new operator bundle will support the endowment’s mission to help veterans find meaningful work.

“This isn’t the end of my story,” Green said. “It’s just a new chapter. We are not talking about surviving anymore. We are talking about thriving.”

The new documentary from directors Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen is not about the battles Navy SEALs fought overseas, but the ones they continue to face long after the shooting stops. It’s a film about endurance, recovery and what happens when the toughest people in the world have to confront pain they can no longer muscle through.

Premiering at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and available to stream Monday on Netflix, “In Waves and War” follows a group of SEAL veterans struggling with the lasting effects of war.

The men in the film carry both visible wounds and invisible ones, and they speak openly about the cost of years spent in combat and separation from family. Rather than centering on the operations that made them legends, Shenk and Cohen’s cameras focus on what came afterward: the sleepless nights, the fractured relationships and the fight to feel whole again.

At the heart of the documentary is the question of whether psychedelic-assisted therapy can help veterans reclaim their lives.

The film explores experimental treatments involving ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT, two substances currently not approved for clinical use in the United States. The veterans travel to treatment centers in Mexico, where these psychedelics are administered under medical supervision.

For many of the film’s subjects, the treatment represents a last-ditch effort after years of failed prescriptions and therapy. The results, at least on screen, are startling. What begins as a documentary about pain gradually becomes a story about possibility.

The film features several central figures, each with a distinct journey.

Marcus Capone, a former SEAL whose wife describes him as “a monster” after returning from multiple deployments, becomes one of the movement’s leading advocates. Through his nonprofit, Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions, Capone helps others find the same lifeline he credits with saving his marriage and his life.

D.J. Shipley shares how the weight of two decades in the Teams nearly destroyed the home he built with his wife, Patsy, who herself lost her first husband, Danny Dietz, in Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan.

Matty Roberts, who suffered a devastating arm injury in combat, allows his treatment to be filmed in Mexico, offering viewers a rare look inside the process.

These men’s stories are presented without artifice. They speak directly to the camera, their words measured but unguarded. There is no dramatization of the battlefield and no replay of missions — only the lingering echo of what those years took from them.

What distinguishes “In Waves and War” from other post-9/11 veteran documentaries is its refusal to glamorize the military experience or pity those who served. Instead, it captures the reality of warriors learning to put down their armor.

To visualize trauma and healing, Shenk and Cohen incorporate animation sequences from London-based Studio AKA. The style is fluid, shifting between images of helicopters, night-vision raids and faces dissolving into smoke or sand. These transitions mirror how memory works, especially for those processing trauma. One moment the viewer is in a desert firefight, the next inside the mind of a man confronting his younger self. The effect is haunting, but it helps convey the internal experience of psychedelic therapy in a way words cannot.

While the film hints at the risks of psychedelic treatments, it largely stays focused on the positive outcomes. Viewers never see a failed session or a relapse, and some may question whether the film’s optimism leaves out important context.

But “In Waves and War” is not pretending to be a clinical study. It is a personal one. Its power lies in allowing veterans to speak for themselves about what worked when nothing else did. The emphasis is on hope, not science.

What keeps the film grounded is its honesty about how much healing still takes work. Psychedelic therapy is not portrayed as a magic cure but as a catalyst. The real effort begins afterward, when the participants return home and attempt to rebuild relationships and find purpose again. The film shows that facing trauma can be just as grueling as any deployment, but it is also an act of courage.

The title, borrowed from ancient poetry, fits the story perfectly. “In Waves and War” captures how trauma recedes and returns like the tide, and how surviving it requires both endurance and surrender. For veterans who have spent their lives mastering control, surrender can be the hardest part. Shenk and Cohen’s film understands that, and it treats every subject with respect and restraint.

This is not a political documentary, nor does it wade into debates about drug policy. Its focus is far more human. It asks what happens when warriors who have done everything right still cannot find peace, and what they are willing to risk to get it.

Whether psychedelic therapy becomes mainstream or remains controversial, the courage it takes for these veterans to seek help is undeniable.

“In Waves and War” stands alongside other post-9/11 works like “Restrepo” and “Of Men and War,” but with a quieter tone. It’s less about combat and more about the long, uneven path toward recovery. By the final frame, it leaves viewers not with a sense of despair but with a flicker of hope.

Healing, it suggests, might be possible even for those who thought they were beyond saving. For service members and veterans watching, that message may be the most important mission of all.

After the rocky reception of Battlefield 2042, developer DICE needed a strong comeback. Battlefield 6, which launched Friday, mostly delivers. It restores structure, returns to its roots and brings back the kind of team-based warfare that feels grounded in the way service members actually fight.

It is not perfect, but it is the best the series has been in a decade.

Squad tactics return to the front line

The biggest win for Battlefield 6 is its renewed focus on teamwork. The game brings back the classic four roles — assault, support, engineer and recon —each with specific gear and advantages that make squads function like a real unit.

Success depends on communication, positioning and knowing your job. That design choice will feel familiar to anyone who has operated in a fire team.

The result is the kind of chaos that makes the series great. Tanks roll in as smoke grenades fill the air, and engineers scramble to repair armor while medics drag downed players to safety. It feels coordinated, not cartoonish.

GamesRadar praised the structure as “refined rather than revolutionary,” a sign that DICE finally remembered what made Battlefield 3 and 4 so beloved in the first place.

Weapons also feel improved. Each gun has a distinct recoil and sound, and long bursts will pull your aim off target fast. Firefights feel earned, not automatic. It is not hyper-realistic, but it rewards those who understand discipline under pressure.

Still, balance issues linger. Some weapons hit harder than others. Certain maps favor armor over infantry. And like most live-service games, the opening month includes frustrating bugs and visibility problems that DICE will likely patch over time.

Campaign keeps its head down

If multiplayer is where Battlefield 6 finds its identity again, the single-player campaign is where it still struggles. Players follow an international task force fighting against a private military corporation, Pax Armata, in a near-future conflict that feels ripped from the headlines.

The story works, but only just.

The writing is flat, the characters are forgettable, and the missions rarely deliver the emotional impact of past entries. There are flashes of brilliance —an ambush sequence through a burning city, or a stealth infiltration under heavy fog — but they fade quickly. IGN described it as “competent but unremarkable,” which feels accurate.

To its credit, the campaign avoids the over-the-top spectacle of 2042. It is grounded, tactical and, at times, even thoughtful. But it will not hold your attention for long once multiplayer calls you back.

Performance and realism trade-offs

Technically, Battlefield 6 performs far better than its predecessor. By dropping support for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, DICE was able to improve destruction physics and environmental detail. Maps feel larger and more responsive, though the full-scale destructibility that fans remember from Bad Company 2 still has not returned.

TechRadar noted that the game does not include ray tracing in order to maintain stability across systems, and while that choice sacrifices some visual polish, the result is a smoother experience across consoles and PC. The trade-off works in the game’s favor.

From a realism standpoint, the firefights often capture the rhythm of real combat.

The suppression effects, smoke screens and constant need for repositioning mimic the stress of maintaining situational awareness. For those who have operated in combat zones, there are moments here that feel eerily familiar.

Built for the battlefield, in spirit and name

More than anything, Battlefield 6 succeeds because it re-centers the experience of the player on the battlefield. This is not a twitch shooter built on speed and reflexes (ahem, Call of Duty).

It is a game about coordination, discipline and adaptability. That makes it resonate strongly with service members and veterans who see combat as a test of teamwork, rather than luck.

The new maps are well-designed, but inconsistent. Some, like “Straitline” and “Bastion,” capture the best of large-scale warfare. Others feel too cramped or visually cluttered.

Still, even at its messiest, Battlefield 6 feels like the kind of game built for people who understand the organized chaos of real operations.

It also helps that the community is showing signs of revival. Portal mode and dedicated servers have created new spaces for players to recreate classic maps and scenarios. It is not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It is proof that Battlefield can still feel alive when given room to breathe.

Final verdict

Battlefield 6 is not a perfect return, but it is a meaningful one. The campaign is fine but forgettable. The technical choices are smart. The multiplayer is excellent, chaotic and deeply satisfying when played with friends who understand coordination.

For troops and veterans, it is the first Battlefield in years that truly rewards those instincts.

Score: 7.5 out of 10. A solid tactical experience worth enlisting for.

For roughly six weeks they fought house to house and room by room against an entrenched enemy force that had ample time to prepare. The Marines spearheading the assault — many on their first deployment — experienced more combat in weeks than some of their immediate predecessors had during entire enlistments.

By the close of the Second Battle of Fallujah, as it came to be known, fewer than 100 U.S. troops had been killed, but hundreds more had been wounded. Though insurgent forces, who’d once operated with impunity, had been beaten back, the city was left in ruins, hundreds of civilians had died, and thousands were wounded or displaced.

The veterans of that fight would go on to hold an almost mythic status among the Marines who followed in their wake. Acts of bravery and sacrifice were memorialized.

The names of those who fell now adorn buildings and training areas at recruit training facilities and on bases across the Corps, and their stories have been told and retold as a standard for Marines to aspire to.

Now, that battle, and those who fought it, will take center stage on screen — not as a television series or military drama, but as a video game.

“Six Days in Fallujah” releases on Thursday for PC as an early access version through Steam for $39.99. And the first-person tactical military shooter has traveled a long road to get there.

The game, which promises to offer the most realistic depiction of urban combat to date once it’s fully complete in 2024, has its work cut out for it. Its creators also face potential backlash over the decision to model the game on a real battle.

On the one hand, “Six Days in Fallujah” can be viewed as an avant-garde art project that seeks to use gaming to bring players closer to war, combat and those who bear the brunt of it.

On the other hand, its detractors argue that by insisting on realism, the game may be courting controversy to help carry the title, which in its early development stage lacks polish and leaves much to be desired in terms of gameplay, graphics and design.

Military Times was granted pre-release access to “Six Days in Fallujah,” and in addition to playing for approximately 24 combined hours, we spoke with Marine veterans of the battle to gauge their thoughts on the release.

The controversy

“Six Days of Fallujah” began its journey shortly after the battle upon which it was based when Eddie Garcia, a veteran of the Second Battle of Fallujah and a key member of the team behind the venture, came up with the idea.

It was publicly announced in 2009 when Peter Tamte, then the head of Atomic Games, picked the project up alongside the game’s original publisher, Konami.

It was a bold move at a time when the Global War on Terrorism continued to rage on.

Many veterans of the battle were still serving, Gold Star families were still processing the deaths of loved ones, and most video games that did touch on conflicts in the region scarcely used authentic settings, opting instead to construct fictional desert countries in lieu of Iraq or Afghanistan.

The game’s announcement was met with criticism from veterans, military families, advocates and television pundits alike.

Much of that outcry centered around concerns that the game would allow players to fight as insurgents against U.S. troops. However, according to the game’s FAQ sheet, the latest iteration will not include campaign missions where players are insurgents, nor will the game “recreate the death of a specific service member during gameplay without their family’s permission. Instead, Marines and soldiers describe the sacrifices of their teammates during video interviews.”

The controversy that harried the project’s early development led Konami to wash its hands of the game, a move that suspended development the same year it was announced. Tamte and Atomic Games shelved the project, though they insisted it would one day turn a corner. That happened in 2017, and work on the title began anew.

This latest iteration is developed by Highwire Games, and Tamte is again leading the charge to see it produced, this time with his publishing company, Victura.

To make the game a reality, the developers consulted with more than 100 veterans of the battle, from soldiers, sailors and Iraqi troops to Marines, like Garcia, who also is represented in the game, and who provided photographs, videos and testimonies in an effort to make the gameplay as accurate as possible.

For Garcia, “Six Days in Fallujah” is an opportunity to capture the experience of rank-and-file Marines at war.

“My unit was really diverse, in every way that word can be defined,” said the former sergeant with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. “I always felt a movie would be too narrow of a lens to capture our experience in Iraq. A game on the other hand was perfect. A game could capture various perspectives, stories, ideas, and feelings in a way that was personal and intimate. … My hope for the project was that the game could be a medium for all those things, for a diverse group of Marines, and I believe it succeeded.”

It’s a lofty goal, to be sure, and the margin for error is slim. Some, like John Phipps, a former intel Marine who previewed the game as part of Military Times’ review, argued that the early release version has so far failed to deliver on its promise of realism by shying away from the harsher realities of war.

“Americans need to accept that we shouldn’t have been there. Afghanistan was justified. This wasn’t,” said Phipps, who deployed twice to Iraq, first to Fallujah in 2004 and then to Ramadi in 2005. “I was walking among giants, and saw incredible acts of heroism and sacrifice, but those men shouldn’t have been there in the first place. If you’re going to claim to be realistic, you have to show the good and the bad, and address the ethics of the atrocities that occurred.”

Though other veterans of the battle may not agree with Phipps’ assertion about U.S. military involvement in Iraq, others did agree that endeavoring to portray a historical event should mean being brutally honest about what transpired.

Anthony Alvarado, a former platoon sergeant who fought in the Second Battle of Fallujah with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, stated plainly, “If you’re going to call it realistic, you have to go all the way.”

The game as it stands now

While the final version of “Six Days in Fallujah” — on PC and console — promises claustrophobic close-quarters combat, randomized room layouts and campaign modes from the perspectives of both U.S. troops and that of an Iraqi civilian trying to escape the city, the early access version is considerably more slimmed down.

“Our one promise is that this is the closest that any video game has come to simulating what urban combat is like, from a soldier or Marine’s perspective, but that’s it,” said Tamte. “It’s a very big promise, but it’s also a very narrow promise. We’re gonna follow up on the other promises as early access progresses, but that’s all that we’re promising as we enter early access.”

In practical terms, this means that the early access version of the game includes several co-op missions that require gamers to play with three other players online, either using matchmaking or friends on Steam to fill out a fireteam. The game’s campaign and “operator missions” are not currently accessible.

The version of “Six Days in Fallujah” reviewed by Military Times centered on “Fireteam missions,” or four-player co-op missions, which feature a variety of objectives designed to be tackled with friends.

Each player is assigned a position within a four-man fireteam — fireteam leader, ready, fire and assist — with each featuring unique weapons and abilities. Fire, for instance, carries an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and the fireteam leader is equipped with an M203 grenade launcher under his M16A4, as well as a rifle combat optic on top.

The game uses historical footage and interviews with Marines, Iraqi army personnel and translators, as well as History Channel-style narrations that help set the scene for each objective, whether it’s protecting a convoy, assaulting an al-Qaida stronghold, taking out an rocket-propelled grenade team that threatens air cover, or rescuing a scout sniper team that’s cut off in a building.

Some missions also feature artificial intelligence-controlled light armored vehicles or amphibious assault vehicles that provide resupply and respawn points, and which can also use their gun turrets to engage enemies of their own volition.

In one instance, a mission is introduced by an interview with Marine Lt. Jesse Grapes, a real-life infantry officer who served with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, in the battle and who warns players that “it was real for us very quickly. We had a Marine (killed in action) within five minutes.”

Fire teams, meanwhile, do not fill with AI-controlled teammates if playing solo. Playing without friends will mean fighting through an enemy-occupied city on your own. It will not go well, and that’s by design.

“I have been playing with three of my cousins who were also provided early access,” Garcia told Military Times. “They did not serve in the military. Their only exposure to fighting has been with other games. Our first 10 missions we got smoked. They finally stopped running off on their own and agreed to listen to me and work as a group. Soon after that we completed our first mission.”

This may be some of the realism the game’s developers have touted: To get the most out of it, players need to think, and act, as if it were real.

“The game captures the need to work as a team,” Garcia said. “‘Six Days’ does not generate the need for teamwork with some cheesy game mechanic or overwhelming amounts of enemies. The game just does it by being true to how urban combat was in real life. The enemy will move to take advantage of mistakes, the same way we did.”

Highwire Games provided Military Times with four copies of the game’s review build, which allowed us to play it cooperatively, including with veteran infantrymen who were there at the battle, and in follow-on operations. In addition to playthroughs with veterans, some with professional game development experience, Military Times demonstrated the game to other veterans of the battle to get their perspectives.

“Six Days in Fallujah” gets many things right in terms of accuracy, and it shines when it comes to small details, like Marines aiming over their rear sight and using the front sight post at close range, or when amphibious assault vehicles with packages of toilet paper and MRE boxes come rolling down the street.

Then there are the dim, weak Insight and Surefire flashlights that were mounted to Marines’ weapons during the battle, in addition to many other touches that served as reminders that, yes, the developers consulted with people who were actually there.

Marine veteran-turned-game developer Jack Lipoff, an infantryman who deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2008 with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, as part of stabilizing operations, and now works as a game developer, praised the environmental detail.

“The city looks very authentic to what I recall Fallujah looking like, though less intact [than] when I was there, obviously,” said Lipoff, who also suggested that many gamers would be frustrated by the flashlights in the dark buildings, since lights of the time were far less bright than modern equivalents that some may be used to.

It’s probably worth noting that “realism” may mean the in-game equipment is crappier than one might expect.

Beyond the technical accuracy, the game promises that every playthrough will be different ― and it delivers on that in spades, with room layouts, enemy positions, and how the opposing force responds changing from playthrough to playthrough.

This greatly amplifies the nervous, frenetic experience of navigating the destroyed city and its nooks and crannies where enemies hide, while also fighting the time limits of most of the missions in the co-op mode. Enemies react to being suppressed, which is an unusual feature for many video games, where AI characters often are unresponsive to rounds whipping past their heads. This means that even if a player’s first shot misses, the enemy may turn and run, or even flinch, affording gamers the opportunity to make a follow-up shot count.

The admittedly few historical details were particularly nostalgic for veterans who served in Fallujah, Iraq, especially for those with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, since their unit is the focus of the game. The decision to use real footage and interviews in the intro videos became a reunion of sorts for some veterans of the battle.

“These are real people that I served with. That’s my Marine right there,” Zach Iscol, a former platoon commander during the battle with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, remarked to Military Times while watching one of the game’s cutscenes.

For others, it offered unexpected Easter Eggs.

Alvarado, now a Los Angeles County sheriff, was briefly transported back to the day he was wounded in Iraq when he saw a clip of Cpl. Thompson, a real-life Marine he’d fought alongside, and who, when Alvarado was injured, removed his gear so they wouldn’t lose it.

“When I got shot, I had this laminated map that they gave to all the platoon sergeants and platoon commanders,” Alvarado recalled. “So, Thompson was removing my serialized gear and any sensitive items, including that laminated map that actually got pierced by the bullet, and I kept asking him to get it back to me, and he said he would, but he never did. It’s been 20 years. I want that map back. That’s my map.”

Other veterans, however, viewed the gameplay with skepticism.

“In a movie theater you are a passive observer; with a controller in your hand you are an active participant,” said Phipps. “If you’re claiming your game will take the player as close as they can to Fallujah without actually being there, you’ve just made an impossible promise. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ was an emotionally devastating film about sacrifice with World War II as a backdrop; it didn’t promise to plop you down in Normandy. ‘Six Days in Fallujah’ has promised exactly that, and it absolutely cannot and will not deliver.”

Lipoff also voiced concerns over what the final product will offer players, noting that he saw “no indication about what the campaign or story will look like and it gives me pause considering the subject matter.”

Comments from Phipps and Lipoff touched on one particular theme that arose during interviews with veterans for this story: There was a general apprehension that a game so focused on the tactical and technical realism of war might overlook the emotional context, the camaraderie between Marines, that actually make moments of combat survivable — and bearable in the years that follow.

But is it a good video game?

Setting aside the ethical debate over whether gaming is the proper vehicle for the topic at hand, there’s still the question of whether or not the game is, in fact, enjoyable to play.

The short answer is: it’s rough.

Rather than providing players with a few polished missions that play well and an intuitive control scheme, players were left with a system that was clunky and, at times, counterintuitive, such as when it forces players to hold down a button to reload, rather than tapping it once like the majority of established games in the genre.

Additionally, some key gameplay animations led to in-game deaths during our playthrough, like when a player is forced to stand up from behind cover while providing first aid, which results in them immediately getting shot.

As much as “Six Days in Fallujah” promises a realistic experience authentic to history, some things are utterly inauthentic to real Marine Corps equipment and weaponry. Most egregious was the TA31A4 rifle combat optic, known to most people as a type of advanced combat optical gunsight, which is borderline unusable in the game, forcing players to stick with iron sights for more accurate firing.

Other issues include unrealistic weapons sway, which doesn’t happen when a real-life shooter has a proper weld on their rifle; ammo and grenade pouches that flop like gelatin with rudimentary physics; and helmets that “look like something out of Spaceballs,” as one of the Marine veterans who played the game put it.

Then there’s the finicky online matchmaking, the inability to select which missions to play, frozen load screens, audio that cuts out, and players getting booted from parties.

From a pure gameplay perspective, this rudimentary early-access build lacks polish and is difficult to play even without the game’s challenging enemies.

Based on the early access version of “Six Days in Fallujah” that Military Times was able to test, it’s unclear how the single-player campaign will pan out and if the concerns raised by veterans who viewed or played the game with us will be laid to rest or validated when it releases in full in 2024.

For the time being, “Six Days in Fallujah” only portrays the battle through a series of disjointed firefights, rather than a campaign with memorable characters and a suitably compelling narrative.

It’s an ambitious project, but at this juncture, it fails to hit its mark, leaving players with a game that’s stuck between provocative art and engaging entertainment while failing to fully succeed at either.

And without engrossing gameplay, or a storyline that’s gripping enough to carry you through stuttering performance and downgraded graphics, the controversy surrounding the game is about all its players are left with.

Editor’s note: This story was updated June 23, 2023, at 2:10 p.m EST. to note that Jack Lipoff deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2008, not 2009 as originally stated.

In honor of that group — and all Vietnam vets on Vietnam War Veterans Day — we put together a top-10 list of films, excluding documentaries, we felt best tell the story of those who went through hell, both abroad and when they returned home.

From 10 (10th best) to 1 (best):

10. Casualties of War (1989)

A young Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn are immersed in a moral struggle after Penn’s character takes a young Vietnamese teenager as a prisoner. The girl, who Fox attempts to help in the face of vehemently opposed comrades, is repeatedly beaten and raped. The blurred lines depicted force the viewer to wrestle with the notion that the casualties referenced in the title extend well beyond troops in combat.

9. Rescue Dawn (2006)

German-American Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) was a U.S. Navy pilot when he was shot down near the Ho Chi Minh Trail in 1966. Tortured for months and emaciated, Dengler eventually escaped his captors, fleeing into dense jungle and evading capture for over three weeks before being rescued by U.S. forces. Bale and director Werner Herzog spare no realism in depicting the horrors of being a prisoner of war.

8. We Were Soldiers (2002)

While much of this list centers around psychological battles in extreme circumstances, “We Were Soldiers” is carried by intense action sequences that give credence to the total disarray of the Vietnam War’s first major battle — Ia Drang. The film is based on a book written by then-Lt. Col. Hal Moore (portrayed by Mel Gibson), who, as the commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, earned a Distinguished Service Cross for his actions. Moore passed away in 2017 at the age of 94.

7. Hamburger Hill (1987)

“Hamburger Hill” had the misfortune of being released the same year as notable Vietnam War films, “Good Morning, Vietnam” and “Full Metal Jacket.” Despite its relegation to an oftentimes under-the-radar status, it remains a film that should be on everyone’s must-watch list. Based on the 101st Airborne Division’s push to take Hill 937, the film expertly depicts the physical and mental exhaustion experienced by the battle’s participants. Despite sustaining massive losses in taking the hill, the U.S. abandoned the high ground only weeks after the battle ended, prompting severe criticism of military leadership and a reassessment of overall war strategy.

6. Born of the Fourth of July (1989)

The true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), gung-ho Marine turned anti-war activist, won Oliver Stone an Oscar for Best Director. In a firefight in Vietnam, Kovic mistakenly kills one of his own men. He’s then shot and left paralyzed from the chest down. Despite the gravity of the moment, the scene is ultimately where the film kicks into gear. Cruise, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, brilliantly portrays Kovic’s collapse into depression, post-traumatic stress, alcohol abuse and horrifying stints at a veterans’ hospital. It remains a psychologically trying-yet-identifiable film for veterans of all wars.

5. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Robin Williams was flawless as charismatic radio DJ Adrian Cronauer, who broke the mold of the stereotypical, dry Armed Forces Radio broadcaster, infuriating his superiors in the process. Many of the broadcasts featured in the film were improvised by Williams, who received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for the role. The film shows that despite the ongoing carnage awaiting in every direction, even war can have its lighter moments.

4. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Most veterans would agree the bootcamp sequence of the film — most notably, R. Lee Ermey’s portrayal of Drill Instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman — makes “Full Metal Jacket” the classic that it is. Given director Stanley Kubrick’s track record (”The Shining“, “A Clockwork Orange,” “Eyes Wide Shut”), the dehumanization and unhinging psychological effects of war, and military life in general, were guaranteed to be a central focus going in. No matter the takeaway, it’s hard to find a list of the best Vietnam War films not featuring this gem.

3. The Deer Hunter (1978)

The top three of this list was difficult to group because of the vastly different experience each film offers. At number three is “The Deer Hunter,” which took home five Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken), Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Walken steal the show in a story about friends from western Pennsylvania who ship out to Vietnam together. If you haven’t seen it yet, make time for it. The term “Russian roulette” will never be the same.

2. Apocalypse Now (1979)

Adapted to Vietnam from the story “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, Francis Ford Coppola’s portrait of the Vietnam War is a head-first dive into the nightmarish devastation of war and an exploration into the breaking point of human sanity. No one is immune to destruction, and masterful performances by Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen and others force any viewer to question their own mental fortitude.

1. Platoon (1986)

Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” delivered Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, and its cemented status as an authoritative Vietnam War film makes it No. 1 on our list. (Really, any of the top-three could have landed here.) Moral strife is at the heart of “Platoon,” and the cast gracefully meanders on a tightrope between good and evil while posing questions of conscience at almost every turn. Poetic narrative provides compassion in the midst of human depravity. The story of “Platoon” gets to our core as human beings as only tribulations experienced by Vietnam War veterans can.

How would you rank these 10 films? Any additional films you think deserve to make this list? Take our poll below or comment to let us know.

The Space Force took first place in the Call of Duty Endowment’s second annual video game competition, the C.O.D.E. Bowl, which raised funds primarily through sponsorships from big names like USAA and Ram Trucks. The endowment has not released final numbers, but estimates about $1 million was brought in through the tournament.

And because Call of Duty publisher Activision covers all of the endowments operating costs, all the money raised goes toward its mission, according to the organization.

To date, the Call of Duty Endowment has placed some 77,000 veterans in jobs, according to its head executive. The organization estimates it spends about $499 per veteran to get them employed, or a sixth of what it costs the Labor Department.

This is done “by finding and the highest-performing nonprofits in this space to do this work,” Call of Duty Endowment Executive Director Dan Goldenberg told Military Times during a Twitch livestream on Thursday.

Several years ago, the endowment partnered with financial consulting firm Deloitte to create a methodology to find the highest-performing nonprofits and help them grow, Goldenberg said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the veteran unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in November, up from 5.9 percent the previous month, lower than the national non-veteran unemployment rate of 6.6 percent.

Goldenberg said those numbers are “incredibly unreliable” and were never meant to collect data on veterans employment.

“The situation is actually far, far worse for veterans than is reflected there,” Goldenberg said. “It’s not just about the job, it’s about the quality of the job.”

BLS unemployment numbers come from the survey sent out every month by the U.S. Census based on one question: last week were you paid for work? If you answer yes, you’re counted as fully employed.

Those numbers don’t accurately reflect veterans working in a gig economy or National Guard members who work part time but may not have a job in the civilian world.

“It’s a bogus number,” Goldenberg said. “It doesn’t measure the quality. It doesn’t measure whether you’re making enough to pay the rent.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the endowment has seen a 30 percent increase in veterans seeking work in the third quarter compared with last year, Goldenberg said.

“Veterans are more vulnerable to underemployment than non-veterans,” he said.

About 1 in 3 vets are unemployed, according to a 2017 study conducted by the Call of Duty Endowment and ZipRecruiter.

“Underemployment, that’s the bugaboo we watch,” Goldenberg said. “Don’t put any stock in those BLS veteran unemployment numbers. They’re worthless.”

As for the tournament, the final match brought the Space Force and Royal Air Force to a tie with the decision going to the Space Force.

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This “quick reaction force” is set to compete in Friday’s second annual Call of Duty Endowment Bowl, a spokesperson said in an email to Marine Corps Times on Tuesday. The event will be streamed live on the Call of Duty Twitch and YouTube channels beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific.

The tournament marks the first time in 245 years the Marine Corps will stand up a quick reaction force for esports as it competes against other military branches’ teams in the newly released Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, according to a press release.

An esports team of Marines did recently compete against civilian players in a July online tournament hosted by the Esports Stadium Arlington in Texas, which serves as North America’s largest dedicated esports facility. The event offered players from across the country an opportunity to play Call of Duty: Warzone online with active-duty Marines.

Sgt. Brian Kunst participated in that event and will be representing the Marine Corps in Friday’s tournament. He was one of 70 Marines who volunteered to represent the Marine Corps in the tournament. The four primary and two supporting Marines were selected based on overall competitive performance, the Marine Corps said. Three are staff sergeants and three are sergeants.

Though the six Marines participating are from the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, the Corps reiterated it has no plans to form a permanent esports team, and doesn’t want to be seen as gamifying the professional interactions young people expect when working with Marine recruiters, Capt. Michael Maggitti, director of the Corps’ esports and gaming efforts, said in an email to Marine Corps Times.

“Most readers assume all military branches now have full-time esports teams; that is not the case with the Marines,” Maggitti said. “We are still active within the gaming ecosystem and will continue to add value where it makes most sense for the participants but recognize an official esports team is not a tactic we want to deploy at this time.”

The Marine esports quick reaction force will be disbanded once this competition is over, but could be used again in future gaming events, the Marine Corps said.

Until recently, the Army was the only branch with an official esports team, which initially was formed under its marketing and recruitment efforts. The Air Force has taken a different approach, by first building video game lounges at bases across the country and forming interservice teams for competition, but plans could be in the works to form an esports team for competition, the Air Force told Military Times in November. The Navy also recently formed its own esports team.

The above branches and the Space Force will be competing in Friday’s online tournament, as will counterparts in the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, Army, and Air Force. The U.S. Coast Guard will not be represented at the event.

Friday’s C.O.D.E. Bowl will be the first trans-Atlantic esports competition pitting the military services against one another, according to organizers.

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Sony Pictures dropped the trailer Thursday, showcasing Hanks as Capt. Ernest Krause, a first-time commander assigned the perilous task of a trans-Atlantic escort of a convoy of merchant ships, a mission that quickly goes awry after his destroyer, the fictional USS Keeling, is plunged into the Battle of the Atlantic.

Due to range limitations of Allied aircraft, the 37-ship convoy must survive five treacherous days of the journey without the luxury of air support, leaving Krause and his men vulnerable to fierce attacks carried out by the sinister wolfpack formations used by the Kriegsmarine’s Nazi U-boats.

Combating both the enemy and self-doubt at the helm of the Keeling, Krause must “bring hell from on high” onto the German submarines to ensure the survival of his men and the success of the convoy.

Based on the C.S. Forester novel, “The Good Shepherd,” and inspired by true events, the film is directed by Aaron Schneider (“Get Low”) and costars Elisabeth Shue (“Chasing Mavericks,” “Battle of the Sexes”), Stephen Graham (“Snatch,” “Gangs of New York”), and Rob Morgan (“Daredevil”).

Shelly Johnson (“Hidalgo,” “Captain America: The First Avenger”) handled cinematography duties, while the 63-year-old Hanks penned the adapted script for the big screen.

“Greyhound” is slated to hit theaters everywhere June 12. Watch the trailer below.