Robert Swan knows a thing or two about resiliency. One of the most decorated polar explorers in history, he overcame seemingly insurmountable challenges to become the first man to walk to both poles.
Like Swan, many of our nation’s military veterans also exemplify fortitude, grit and resiliency as they overcome the visible and invisible scars of battle when they return home. In January 2023, the feature-length documentary, UNDAUNTED, will follow Swan and four post-9/11 combat veterans as they face the next great test of their lives – an overland journey to the South Pole.
Beacon of Hope
For Swan, it will be his last, best chance to complete his final great feat – the crossing of the Antarctic continent on foot. Two other attempts ended in failure and pain. The years are passing. Now, he must give his all to see it done. The veterans all volunteered in the shadow of 9/11 and all of their lives were changed forever. With Swan, in the one place on Earth that has never known war, they will battle doubt and the elements to become beacons of hope for today’s generation of veterans and the nation.
Learn more about our partner Move United and the great work they do to support our veterans
The Journey
In the thin air at 10,000 feet, they will all brave whiteout conditions, hidden crevasses and temperatures plunging 40° below zero to cross some of the most grueling terrain in the world. Limbs lost to war will pose challenges never faced by polar pioneers like Amundsen or Scott. As the film follows this epic journey, UNDAUNTED will also recount each veteran’s equally moving and inspiring personal odyssey of service and survival, return and recovery. We will come to see these American veterans not as they are too often portrayed – broken or violent – but as they truly are: men and women who once stepped forward to serve, who overcame unimaginable obstacles and who still have so much more to give.