Edward Field
A Minor Accident of War
Award-winning Short film

Gay World War 2 Veteran Tells Harrowing Tale of Survival
in Animated Short

The Oscar 2020 nominated animated short, A Minor Accident of War, directed by Diane Weiss tells the gripping story of a gay man’s survival in World War 2.

That man is her uncle, Westbeth poet Edward Field, 96 who was a 21 year old navigator in the U.S. Air Force when his plane, part of a raid on Nazis, took fire over Germany during one of his 27 missions.

One of the reasons the film was made, Weiss explains in the 112 January 2021 article in The Advocate written by Daniel Reynolds, was in response to the Trump administrations attack on transgender troops.

Watch A MINOR ACCIDENT OF WAR on The Advocate website HERE.

Minor Accident of War is inspired by a 1967 poem written by Field, who also narrates the production. In addition to his military service, Field is a distinguished poet who has been honored with the Lamont Poetry Award, a Lambda Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Additionally, Field penned To Be Alive, a short documentary that won an Oscar in 1966.