You don't have to look far to find a viral "homecoming video" featuring heartwarming reunions between service members and their families after a long deployment. But a new video making the rounds on social media takes a fresh approach.
The short video, "Soldier Returning From Afghanistan Surprises Total Stranger," starring actor and Marine veteran Jonah Saesan, was created by Clickhole, a property of the satirical news website The Onion that features mock-viral content. It shows "Sgt. Luke Brundage," a Marine played by Saesan, planning to surprise a man he's never met upon his return home.
"I think he's going to be very surprised, because he has no idea that I'm finally back from Afghanistan," he tells the camera in a documentary-style shot.
The results are as awkward, bizarre and hilarious as you'd expect.
Saesan, 29, of Waukegan, Illinois, left the Marine Corps Reserve as a staff sergeant in 2013 and has been pursuing his dream of acting ever since, including training at the legendary Second City in Chicago and roles in commercials and other projects. He deployed to Djibouti to perform base security at Camp Lemonnier in 2008 and has held a variety of military occupational specialties — from military police officer to marksmanship trainer and water survival instructor.
Saesan landed a role with "The Onion Network" earlier this year with the predictably entertaining fake-news spot "Report: Average Male 4,000 [Percent] Less Effective In Fights Than They Imagine." So when Clickhole devised its goof on a military homecoming video, Saesan's name came up.
"I did use my own uniform," Saesan told Marine Corps Times, saying he had found a set of sergeant's chevrons and service "Bravo" items in storage. "I didn't have the ribbons that would agree with the script for an Afghanistan veteran, but that's because they're my own ribbons."
The black Sedan that appears in the video is also his, he said, and he chuckled at the eagle-eyed Marine viewers who had spotted the barely-visible Marine Corps window sticker and commented on it.
As the video circulated rapidly in on social media among troops and veterans, some spotted a few other factual missteps. For one, the character played by Saesan says he's been deployed for two years, far longer than any Marine deployment cycle. Then there's the issue of the word "soldier" in the title.
Saesan said the part was originally meant for an Army soldier, but, at the end of the day, it wasn't his job to vet the script.
"A few people want to focus on the detail," Saesan said. "I don't think they understand how little I had to do with the creative process."
While satire is not for everyone, Saesan said the video was not meant to disparage touching military homecoming moments. Hopefully, he said, it will just get people thinking about how those moments are treated by the media in mainstream culture.
"I, like any other person, have cried at a homecoming video. It takes you back to when you came home and hugged your loved one. I don't judge anyone for loving that moment," he said. "I think the takeaway is just that the media shouldn't use these are ways of expanding their viewership and getting clicks. That's the sad part to me, because it's an extremely personal moment."
While Saesan admitted he joined the Marine Corps on a dare from someone who didn't think his theater upbringing would sustain him through boot camp, he said his 10 years as a Marine actually made him a better actor and performer.
"A lot of artistic people just don't have self-discipline, they don't have respect for authority. I don't think I did before I joined the Marine Corps," he said. "You need to take a lot of responsibility for yourself [to be an actor]. The Marine Corps shaped me into someone who could do that."
