Iraq war drama “The Hurt Locker” blew away its rivals at the Oscars – taking six awards, including best picture.

The film depicts life in the US army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. They are happy the movie has raised awareness of what they do.

Staff Sergeant Joe Hernandez said: “Before this movie came out, you would talk to somebody and you would tell them you were in the military and they would ask you, ‘what you do?’ And I’m in the EOD, you still had to further explain it you know. And now somebody is ‘oh, like the movie Hurt Locker?’ Yeah, kinda like that.”

Senior Master Sergeant Kyle Waller (USAF) said:
“At the end of the day it’s fiction. So, knowing that, it still portrayed us in a positive light to some respect but I think it could have been better.”

Captain Nick Van Elsacker (USAF) said: “EOD technicians are generally very modest people. That’s why you are not going to hear them embellish the movie too much. Most of them are going to want to say it exaggerates what they do, even though every one of these guys is a living hero in one aspect or another.”

Hurt Locker’s director Kathryn Bigelow paid tribute to “the military” in her acceptance speech at the Oscars extravaganza in Los Angeles.

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