{"id":9845,"date":"2015-08-26T19:06:22","date_gmt":"2015-08-26T19:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=films&p=9845"},"modified":"2025-10-14T15:47:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T22:47:58","slug":"stray-dog","status":"publish","type":"films","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/stray-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"Stray Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Debra Granik, director of the Oscar-nominated <\/span>Winter\u2019s Bone<\/span><\/i>, comes this portrait of a motorcycle-riding, freedom-loving, Vietnam veteran cast in the mold of an outlaw biker. But there\u2019s much more to burly, bearded Ronnie \u201cStray Dog\u201d Hall than meets the eye. Below the surface, Stray Dog is forever wrestling with the brutal legacy of the Vietnam War \u2014 a constant struggle of conscience, remorse, and forgiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film, shot with humility and grace, follows Stray Dog as he caravans on his Harley with fellow vets to pay tribute to their fallen brothers at the Vietnam Memorial. Meanwhile, back home in southern Missouri where he owns and operates an RV Park populated by a community on the margins, he forges a new life of domesticity with his Mexican wife Alicia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether on the motorcycle trek or back home, Alicia goes along for the ride, navigating her own path through an unfamiliar world. As Stray Dog battles his demons and faces the pressure of running a business, the arrival of Alicia\u2019s twin teenagers from Mexico further complicate matters. Stray Dog teaches the boys to be patient as they adjust to the quiet isolation of the hardscrabble Midwest, not to mention the meaning of certain American slang words their mother wouldn’t appreciate.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Stray Dog strives to be the man he wants to be for his family and community, he continues to tally the cost of war, bearing witness to the soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan \u2014 both the dead and the living.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the director of the Oscar-nominated Winter\u2019s Bone comes this portrait of a motorcycle-riding Vietnam veteran. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":10334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"topic":[1254,1220,1263,1226],"class_list":["post-9845","films","type-films","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-disease-and-mental-health","topic-immigration","topic-poverty-2","topic-social-justice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStray Dog | Documentary about Haunted Vietnam Veteran | Independent Lens | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stray Dog follows biker, veteran, and family man Ronnie Hall as he shatters stereotypes and confronts his combat trauma to help PTSD sufferers like himself.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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