The Veteran

It was a late Friday afternoon when I received the call. I looked down at my phone, the anticipation was overwhelming. A deep breath and a moment of silence my world was at a standstill, “This could be it”. My finger slide across the semi-cracked screen as I brought the device to my ear. The voice on the other side hit like a glass of beer on a summers day.

“We got him.”

I exhaled, for the first time in my career I would get to truly mix my passions. One, obviously, for visual storytelling and the other a need to learn the stories of histories most unfortunate souls, Vietnam combat veterans. As my excitement boiled over I tried not to deluge my executive producer with too many details but shot ideas quickly turned into history lessons and before I knew it, I was on a flight to Battle Creek Michigan to meet a man who would soon become more to me than a subject.

As I approached the house I couldn’t help but pick up on the disproportions of the surprisingly large lot. The house itself was small seemingly miniature compared to the property and it hosted a separate garage that could fit the entire house comfortably inside. I made my way across the large front yard toward the door but was stopped by a booming voice that carried across the landscape like thunder over the hills.

“You Harold and Nan’s guy?”

I turned to see a tall stoic man dressed in a white long sleeve shirt and faded blue jeans. He didn’t mince words or wait for my response.

“Bill Vandegriff with an E.”

As I moved closer I began to pick up on the subtleties of his appearance. Long grey hair tied back in a ponytail and red toned skin reminded me of any modern day Native American you’d see in a movie but he wore an old worn beret and slick sunglasses. The grin on his face told me he was friendly but guarded, he was judging my every move.

As I sat down with him in the garage to begin our preinterview in prep for a week of shooting, he positioned himself near the corner of the room.

“I never sit with my back to the door.” He said “Always need to be watching.”

At the time I didn’t know what he meant but I quickly moved past it. I wanted to get him comfortable in hopes he would share his darkest and most vulnerable moments.

“So what do you want to know?”

I began with the light stuff, how his day was, the beauty of the town, size of his garage, his kids. He played along describing the joys of life and made a point to include a beautiful custom Harley he kept looking brand spanking new. While he spoke I listened but my mind wondered as I picked up on tidbits around the garage, a purple heart patch on a jacket hanging in the corner, a hat branded Vietnam Vet 1967 sitting on a pile of wood, a plaque labeled 3rd battalion 5th Marines hanging on the back of a door. I had studied the war intensively throughout college becoming obsessed with the struggles of the men on the ground. Where was he stationed? Which rifle did he use? What role did he play in his unit? I thought I was hiding this urge pretty well, my fellow crew members seemed to have no clue, but nothing escapes Bill.

“You wanna talk about the war?”

I was taken aback, we had only been speaking a mere 10 minutes. I looked to him, he responded.

“Look ask me anything you want and I’ll answer to the best of my ability, I don’t mind but just be aware I’m a bit of an asshole.” A smirk slid across his face and all tension was erased.

Pre interviews are 20 minute ventures at the most, but for the next two and a half hours Bill laid out his entire 13 months in country and his struggle with PTSD, which lead to a 20 year battle with alcoholism. He wound this beautifully into the return to his Anishinaabe “original people” heritage and roll in the community as head Vet and pipe carrier, a position only for the most respected amongst his people. Within the next week and a half Bill changed the way I looked at life, love, war, peace, tradition and even myself. It has been almost a year since I first met Bill and I can truly say he isn’t just a doc object for me but a friend and mentor.

If you want to learn more about Bill check out the trailer for Trauma to Triumph: The Rise of the Entrepreneur on my Work page.