‘The Corporal’s Diary is a poignant look at the Iraq War’

The Seattle Times
Reviewed by: Tom Keogh

This locally produced documentary is a moving portrait of Bellingham native Jonathan Santos, a U.S. Army corporal killed in Iraq 38 days after his deployment.

Produced in Seattle, “The Corporal’s Diary” is a moving documentary about a young Bellingham native, U.S. Army Cpl. Jonathan Santos, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq 38 days after his deployment.

Co-directed by local filmmakers Patricia Boiko and Laurel Spellman Smith, “The Corporal’s Diary” has a genuinely charismatic subject in Santos, who died at 22. Wry, focused, professional but honest about his emotions in the war-torn nation (he was in Iraq in 2004), Santos kept both a written and video diary of his experiences.

The content of each journal is so entertaining and compelling that, if one didn’t know better, a viewer might assume “The Corporal’s Diary” was yet another faux documentary about the war told from the perspective of a fictional serviceman.

Santos had already been in the service several years, including a stint in Haiti, before going to Iraq. It’s no wonder his voice — captured on video and reflected in written excerpts read aloud by his brother Jared — is so mature. He was also quite literate and a voracious reader. Yet his self-deprecating humor cuts against self-seriousness.

Santos’ mother, Doris Kent, is a gentle and healing presence who reaches out to the mother of Santos’ friend Matthew Drake, a brain-damaged survivor of the blast that killed Santos. The bridge between the two families is shot with sensitivity and gives the film a sense of profound hopefulness.