On Wednesday 11/19/14, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Lohaus, the director of documentary “When I Came Home” a film made in 2006 about veterans who return home and become homeless and live in poverty, as well as the struggles they go through in piecing their lives back together. The film ended up gaining lots of media and even won Best New York Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Throughout the movie, several characters are followed, but the movie mainly focuses on a man named Herold Noel. Herold was one of the first Iraqi veterans to return home and the film follows his journey as he tries to make a statement for all veterans and help him and his family get back on their feet. Herold was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) when he returned home, and was than told he was 100% disabled. He was unable to work or get a job at all and support his wife and children. He lived out of his car.
His life and journey showed what it is like for most veterans in the situation. Often they don’t want to go to shelters because of the bad conditions. In Herold’s case, he didn’t want his children in an environment like that. However, due to his PTSD, Herold can’t get a job, and even though there are places where you can recieve help for PTSD, you rarely get the right amount of help and care you need to get back on your feet. It’s hard for veterans with PTSD to work and even do minor tasks. PTSD is when the things you have seen and done in war affect you afterwards. For example, when Herold got off the bus and saw his kids and wife, he couldn’t even hug them because he saw them as the people he killed and saw get killed. Veterans also experience nightmares, and as a result of all these traumas, veterans often turn to drinking and drug use.
Herold, unlike some veterans, wanted to make a statement. He went to many meetings to talk about returning veterans in our society, but he never felt like he got anywhere. It wasn’t untill he got in touch with Paul Rieckhoff that he gained the media attention he needed. His story exploded, and suddenly, people became aware of what was happening to our returning veterans. While Herold got the attention he wanted, it made him realize that it wasn’t enough to make the change, and he would have to keep pushing.
When we interviewed Dan, one of our first questions was why he was interested in making the film. Dan hadn’t served in the army at all, so we wondered what connection he had with veterans. It turns out, he is just like you and me. He woke up one day and saw what was happening, and was quite honestly furious about it, and he wanted other people to be too. We asked him what it was like filming the documentary, and he replied that sometimes it was very hard. In one scene, Herold breaks down crying. When we asked Dan about his reaction he told us that he felt in a way torn in half, because while he wanted the story out there and it was good footage, he was also human, and so in the background you can here Dan comforting Herold.
Our interview with Dan only lasted 45 minutes, but we learned so much from him. He was extremely happy to be working with us, and he even gave us some ideas of his own for our project that we may very well use! Dan taught us not only how important it is to fight for something you care about, but that you will always have a connection with people, and thats the human connection. We discussed for a long time Dan’s expierence with filming the documentary, and in the end, we took away that anyone can make a difference. Dan had no connection, he just had a camera and a statement to make. We look forward to keeping in touch with Dan, and even talking to him about potentially getting in touch with Paul Rieckhoff and other ideas. We are extremely grateful for this interview, and we learned so much.
