Ryan Hendrickson has spent the last several years doing work that most people would never voluntarily undertake: walking through Ukrainian fields to find and remove landmines—the same type of explosive device that nearly killed him in 2010.
Now his story is getting a wider audience. "Safe Ground: A Green Beret's Mission to Remove Ukraine's Landmines" premieres on Prime Video today, with availability across the U.S. and UK. The documentary follows Hendrickson, a retired Army Green Beret and Purple Heart recipient, as he leads Tip of the Spear Landmine Removal, an organization he founded to clear unexploded ordnance from Ukrainian soil.
The timing carries symbolic weight. The premiere falls on Hendrickson's "Alive Day"—16 years to the date since the IED explosion in Afghanistan that changed his life. That moment, which could have ended his story, instead redirected it entirely.
"When I stepped on that IED in Afghanistan, I thought my story was over," Hendrickson said in a statement. "Instead, it gave me the clarity to understand what I was really meant to do."
After the blast, Hendrickson underwent extensive recovery and eventually returned to active duty—a feat many didn't think possible. But after leaving the military, he couldn't shake the weight of what he'd experienced. The weapon that took pieces of him was still claiming lives across the world, particularly in Ukraine, where mines threaten everyday civilian life: farmers trying to work their fields, children walking to school, families simply trying to exist in a landscape littered with invisible danger.
So he returned to the work, not as a soldier but as a humanitarian who understands the machinery of war intimately and has chosen to spend his post-military life undoing its worst legacies.
Colby Barrett, who produced both "Safe Ground" and the broader "Faith in War" documentary series, served as a Marine Corps captain himself. He watched Hendrickson's work unfold and saw something worth documenting. "Ryan's mission has not only saved Ukrainian lives, but it has also given American veterans a new sense of purpose," Barrett said.
Tip of the Spear operates quietly, the kind of organization that doesn't generate headlines but generates results. Hendrickson and his team locate mines, carefully extract them and return land to communities. Each mine removed is one fewer invisible threat. Each cleared field is a small step toward normalcy in a region fractured by conflict.
Amazon, which is releasing the film through Prime Video, framed its involvement as an extension of how it views military service. Charlotte La Belle, Amazon's Global Head of Military Affairs, said: "Ryan's story is a testament to what happens when a warrior's training meets an unwavering sense of purpose. At Amazon, we believe the skills forged in military service don't expire at the end of a deployment—they find new missions."
The statement speaks to a broader conversation about what comes after military service. For many veterans, the transition to civilian life can feel purposeless or hollow. Hendrickson's work suggests another path: redirect the skills, discipline and understanding of sacrifice that military training instills toward problems that still need solving.
"Safe Ground" is part of a larger project called "Faith in War," a five-film documentary series examining courage, sacrifice and faith in the context of the Ukrainian conflict. The series suggests that Hendrickson's story is positioned within a larger spiritual and humanitarian framework—not just as a tale of individual heroism, but as part of a broader conversation about resilience and meaning-making in the face of devastation.
For viewers in the U.S. and UK with Prime memberships, the film is available to stream at no additional cost, though it can also be rented or purchased separately. The accessibility through a major streaming platform means Hendrickson's work will reach audiences far beyond military communities or documentary film festivals.
Hendrickson's own words capture the stakes of what his team does daily: "Every landmine we pull out of the ground in Ukraine is a life that gets to continue—a farmer who can work his field, a child who can walk to school. This film captures why we do this work, and I hope it shows people that the men and women who serve this country never stop serving."
It's a straightforward articulation of purpose: one mine removed equals one life preserved. One field cleared equals one family's future unlocked.
For communities in Ukraine still learning to live with the threat of unexploded ordnance, the practical impact of organizations like Tip of the Spear is significant. The documentary, by bringing Hendrickson's work into living rooms across two continents, puts a human face on both the problem and the solution.
