| | Mulroy is a co-maker (along with [[United States Navy SEALs|U.S. Navy SEAL]] Eric Oehlerich) of the documentary ''My Star in the Sky'', which in the Acholi language is “Lakalatwe.” This documentary depicts a story about survival, friendship, and love between two child soldiers, Anthony and Florence Opoka. Both were abducted by the LRA, an insurgent group against the government of [[Uganda]]. Anthony was seriously injured many times. The sixth time he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. He was thrown into a mass grave and was almost buried until someone noticed his eyes moving. He recovered with minimal medical treatment and became a celestial navigator, a skill he had learned from his father. He later became a radio operator and code-talker and was eventually made Joseph Kony's radio operator.<ref name="foreignpolicy_2019-11-08" /> Florence also served as a soldier. After marrying Anthony in the bush, she delivered her second child during a firefight. After the birth, she "stood up and tied the baby to her back, picked up her first child with one hand and her assault rifle with the other." Anthony and Florence eventually escaped, continued their family, and supports children orphaned by LRA soldiers to this day.<ref name="foreignpolicy_2019-11-08" /><ref name="auto9">{{cite web |url=http://grassrootsgroup.org/2019/09/sept-24-two-grg-board-members-screen-lra-film-in-georgetown/ |title=Sept 24: LRA film screening in Georgetown - Grassrootsgroup.org | Grassroots Reconciliation Group |website=grassrootsgroup.org}}</ref> | | Mulroy is a co-maker (along with [[United States Navy SEALs|U.S. Navy SEAL]] Eric Oehlerich) of the documentary ''My Star in the Sky'', which in the Acholi language is “Lakalatwe.” This documentary depicts a story about survival, friendship, and love between two child soldiers, Anthony and Florence Opoka. Both were abducted by the LRA, an insurgent group against the government of [[Uganda]]. Anthony was seriously injured many times. The sixth time he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. He was thrown into a mass grave and was almost buried until someone noticed his eyes moving. He recovered with minimal medical treatment and became a celestial navigator, a skill he had learned from his father. He later became a radio operator and code-talker and was eventually made Joseph Kony's radio operator.<ref name="foreignpolicy_2019-11-08" /> Florence also served as a soldier. After marrying Anthony in the bush, she delivered her second child during a firefight. After the birth, she "stood up and tied the baby to her back, picked up her first child with one hand and her assault rifle with the other." Anthony and Florence eventually escaped, continued their family, and supports children orphaned by LRA soldiers to this day.<ref name="foreignpolicy_2019-11-08" /><ref name="auto9">{{cite web |url=http://grassrootsgroup.org/2019/09/sept-24-two-grg-board-members-screen-lra-film-in-georgetown/ |title=Sept 24: LRA film screening in Georgetown - Grassrootsgroup.org | Grassroots Reconciliation Group |website=grassrootsgroup.org}}</ref> |
| | + | Foreign Policy reports that the documentary came about after Mulroy and Oehlerich met the Opoka's during Operation Observant Compass (OOC).<ref name="foreignpolicy_2019-11-08" /> Mulroy called OOC a “model” for how to address child soldiers using influence operations instead of lethal force. They worked with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)s who found mothers of child soldiers and had them broadcast messages over the radio, begging them to come home. Mulroy said that many of these kids didn't think they were going to be allowed back, so to have their mother get on the radio and specifically tell them ‘we want you back’ made a big difference. He continued that other missions are driven by the kinetics—this was not. Marine Corps Col. Jon Darren Duke, who previously commanded OOC, said they did everything they could to get the child soldiers to defect so they would not have to fight them by using psychological operations to “appeal to them to lay down their arms,” he said during the screening.<ref name="foreignpolicy_2019-11-08" /> Mulroy said that he hopes that OOC serves as a model for future programs to address child soldiers, as well as other operations, as it showed how the U.S. military could use “soft power, influence operations” and other aspects of so-called “irregular warfare” to fight the problem.<ref name="foreignpolicy_2019-11-08" /> |