ABC KOCO 5 News: Filmmaker’s documentary films, workshops lead to important conversations, help for Oklahoma veterans
One in three veterans will consider suicide in their lives, and most others deal with all sorts of other challenges
A series of documentary films is leading to important conversations for veterans and their families.
One in three veterans will consider suicide in their lives, and most others deal with all sorts of other challenges. KOCO 5 Anchor Evan Onstot met a filmmaker determined to tell that story and help people in Oklahoma who might be struggling.
The challenge military veterans experience reintegrating into regular life is one that filmmaker Jake Rademacher now dedicates his career to. His 2009 documentary, "Brothers at War," took him to Iraq where two of his brothers were serving.
Rademacher's new documentary takes him back on the road. This time, however, it's not to Iraq; but to check in with the men and women he met two decades ago.
"Because I want to see how the guys I embedded with are doing, how they are really doing," Rademacher said in the new documentary, "Brothers After War."
Earlier this month, we watched how these films have become something more. Rademacher now travels the country and uses the films to initiate dialogue in workshops.
Much of that work happens in Oklahoma. It began in 2012 when Rademacher was invited to speak to the Oklahoma National Guard after they lost 14 members in Afghanistan.
In each city and each workshop, Rademacher and a select group of veterans acknowledge the difficulty in returning home.
"My service took me 10 years, and the hardest part of all of that was taking my uniform off," Chase Millsap, who is one of the veterans leading the discussions, said. "Because inside the service, you know what your job is. You know what your role is. You know the people you're working with. It's very structured, and you have a mission and a purpose. Taking it off and you're isolated and alone and you're back home, I struggle with that."
In these workshops, veterans are encouraged to write their feelings down on paper.
"I want them to have a private place to record some of the things the film stirred up in them and a place to be authentic. And then, it's another step to be able to open up and talk in front of a group. I know that takes some emotional courage, but it's not as big a step to first write your truth down on a piece of paper," Rademacher said. "It's not necessarily ignoring trauma. It's growing from it, learning that I do have scars and those scars are there. But I can continue to live with those scars and also thrive with those scars."
Veterans Jen Hermanson and Ben Fischer were featured in both documentaries. They're successful professionals now but were in Oklahoma learning how to lead these workshops in hopes of helping other veterans work through the same thing they did.
"I feel like I have a positive story. There's a lot of negative stories out there. And when I say it's negative, I don't mean negative towards the people, but it's just they're sad," Fischer said. "So, if there's a way to help other veterans and get them moving in a positive light, that would be beneficial."
"There are two pieces of me – civilian Jen and veteran Jen. And it feels really nice to have them back together now," Hermanson said.
The program and this new movie are funded with the help of the Gary Sinise Foundation, a nonprofit also dedicated to helping veterans. Rademacher says watching his films impact families the way they have has inspired him to continue to do even more.
"I didn't know when we started this first film that it was going to affect people the way it did. I didn't know it was going to help them grieve the loss of their own brothers and sisters in arms," Rademacher said. "I didn't know it was going to help a unit overcome suicide of a member. I didn't know that people were going to come to me and tell me that we were able to save a life because of this film, because of this seminar."
Rademacher plans to release "Brothers After Arms" on Sept. 11 first in select communities before a wider release later this fall. Click here to learn more about the workshops.
