Battlefield: Home
Turning Silence Into Conversations
What began as a personal journey has become a mission to bring people together through storytelling, compassion, and conversation.
— Anita Sugimura Holsapple, MS
Sociologist • Conflict Resolution Specialist • Storyteller
Founder, Battlefield: Home | Opioid Response Network Consultant
Where Stories Build Understanding
Battlefield: Home is an award-winning documentary and trauma-informed education initiative that uses real stories to explore what people carry, often silently, through experiences of trauma, transition, identity, and the human experience.
We are committed to reaching rural and underserved communities, where access, connection, and resources are often limited.
While rooted in military experience, the work extends beyond it, creating space for individuals, families, and communities to better understand how these experiences shape our lives, relationships, and sense of belonging.
Through film and guided dialogue, Battlefield: Home turns silence into conversations that foster greater understanding, compassion, and hope.
Recognized by SAMHSA • Voice Award Winner: Best Documentary • Battlefield: Home inspired Letters Home, a musical work that premiered at Carnegie Hall in May 2026 • Available for virtual, hybrid,
and in-person engagements
WHAT BATTLEFIELD: HOME OFFERS
Film Screenings + Guided Discussion
Documentary screenings paired with facilitated conversations that encourage reflection, empathy, and understanding of the human impact of trauma, service, transition, and family experiences.
Speaking + Community Dialogue
Personal storytelling, presentations, and guided conversations that bring people together across generations, experiences, and communities. Available for conferences, universities, libraries, organizations, and community gatherings.
Workshops + Educational Programs
Interactive educational experiences exploring trauma, transition, caregiving, identity, military family systems, PTSD, TBI, moral injury, isolation, and human connection.
Programs can be adapted to different audiences and community needs.
From Conversation to Cultural Impact
Battlefield: Home demonstrates how one conversation can grow into artistic collaboration, historical preservation, and educational engagement.
🎼 Letters Home | Carnegie Hall World Premiere
Letters Home, a large-scale oratorio by composer Dr. Shawn Crouch, draws on personal military correspondence, interviews, journals, books, and storytelling, including experiences connected to Battlefield: Home. The work received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall on May 30, 2026.
Performed by the University of Miami Frost Chorale and the New England Symphonic Ensemble under the direction of Matthew Brady, the work reflects the deeply human experiences of service, sacrifice, distance, and connection across generations.
A Family Legacy of Service, Survival, and Understanding
Battlefield: Home is rooted in my family's legacy of military service, survival, and cultural understanding.
🏛 Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition
The story of Yoneko Sugimura Moon (1936–2025)—a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing, Japanese war bride, and lifelong cultural ambassador—is featured in the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) exhibition Japanese War Brides: Across a Wide Divide, presented at Louisiana's Old State Capitol.
Her resilience, compassion, and lifelong commitment to building understanding across cultures continue to shape the work and mission of Battlefield: Home.
THE SIX
The Six reflects the core human experiences that shape how we carry, process, and respond to what we’ve lived through.
EXPERIENCE
TRANSITION
HUMAN IMPACT
CONFLICT
ISOLATION
CONNECTION
This is where conversation begins.
ABOUT
THE FOUNDER & STORYTELLER
MY STORY
Anita Sugimura Holsapple, MS
I grew up in a family shaped by war, survival, service, and the experiences we rarely spoke about. My father was a U.S. Marine who served three combat tours in Vietnam. My mother survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and later came to America as a Japanese war bride.
Their experiences shaped my understanding of resilience, identity, family, and the lasting impact of trauma across generations.
My journey into documentary filmmaking began with a desire to understand what happens when the experiences people carry home remain unspoken. That journey became Battlefield: Home, an award-winning documentary that opened the door to something much larger.
Today, the film is one part of a broader mission: bringing people together through storytelling, education, compassion, and meaningful conversation.
As a sociologist and conflict resolution specialist with a master's degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, I bring both academic training and lived experience to this work. My background as a television news producer, documentary filmmaker, and professional chef has taught me that human connection often begins with something simple: listening to another person's story.
Although my work began within the military community, its purpose reaches far beyond it. Trauma, transition, caregiving, isolation, identity, and the need for connection are experiences that cross generations, cultures, and communities.
Through Battlefield: Home, I create opportunities for people to listen, reflect, ask difficult questions, and better understand one another.
Turning Silence Into Conversations.
“Watch it for those who lived through it and for those who continue to struggle with the aftermath of war..."
— Lori Adams
CPM/Veterans Policy Director & NXl Sr. Advisor, National State Workforce Agencies (NASWA)
THE FILM
Battlefield: Home –Breaking the Silence
Battlefield: Home - Breaking the Silence is an award-winning documentary exploring the transition home for veterans living with invisible wounds and the lasting impact on the families who share that journey.
Rooted in my family's experiences, the film offers an intimate look at the realities that continue long after military service ends.
Through personal stories, the documentary examines post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, caregiving, family relationships, and gaps in care that often leave individuals and families struggling in silence.
Today, the film serves as a starting point for something larger: education, guided dialogue, and meaningful conversations that help people and communities better understand one another.