9DCU0209HD_Directors_Cut_Studio_Transcript

 
 All I remember is waking up that morning and all of a sudden, just hearing "crack, crack, crack, crack. " And I thought, oh yeah, it's on.  ( bombing ) ( machine gun fire ) And then the first convoy came back with all the dead in it.  They pulled into the squad bay, and I remember looking into the back of the Humvee.  I didn't understand what I saw.  It was just a picture that will never leave my mind.  A pile of bodies, about seven or eight Marines, just with their green skivvies on, their cami's and their cami boots, just laying there lifeless.  And I had no idea that one of them was Ryan.  But it was.  Hi, and welcome to Director's Cut.  I'm your host, Charles Monroe-Kane.  Here at Director's Cut, we're dedicated to bringing you the best in independent films and filmmakers.  This week, a film documenting the ultimate price a family pays for war, the death of a child.  The film is called "Jerabek. " It documents the Jerabek family as they struggle to cope with the death of Ryan Jerabek.  He was killed in Iraq on April 6, 2004.  "Jerabek" was produced by Steve Levin.  Steve, thank you very much for being here today.  Glad to be here.  So first, can you tell me about the Jerabek family? Really, it's not just a film about Ryan, but it's about the family.  Absolutely. 

 The film focuses not just on Ryan, but how the family deals with his death on April 6.  We chronicle that over two years, a little over a two-year period.  How did you first meet the family? I first met the family at the time I was working for the local newspaper.  In Green Bay.  In Green Bay.  And I was on a team that unfortunately went out to cover deaths and casualties of local folks, that got injured or killed in the war.  And on that particular day, two local folks got killed, Jesse Thiry and Ryan Jerabek.  And it was on that day when the Jerabeks were notified that I went out.  And that's when I first met the family.  It's kind of, you're kind of blind-sided.  You go out there.  I remember driving up to the driveway.  Ken was out pacing the front yard, on his phone.  And you know, it's a touchy situation, because you don't want to intrude.  And you spend a lot of time, just as a person, person to person, so they get to know you before, you know, you can start.  Before the camera comes on.  It's interesting to me.  At this point in the war, more than 4,300 Marines and soldiers have died in the war.  But this film is 76 minutes about one soldier.  Why focus on one? What was the intent for you? Why did you think that was important? Well, at the time, I kind of felt, there were two different things.  I felt like the community really reacted to his death in what I thought was an unusual way. 

 I mean, we had hundreds and hundreds of people calling and responding to the stories and the photos that we did on him, that didn't even know him.  And I thought, why is this.  And that was the second part.  It was at a point in the war where you know, it was kind of a struggle to even get statistics each day.  People lost interest in how many people were killed.  You know, it was a little after a year that Bush had declared an end to the major combat operations.  So, mission accomplished.  Mission accomplished.  But there were still people being killed.  And it came home.  And I thought it deserved a lot more attention.  Before we see another clip, I think it's important for people to have a little bit of history lesson here.  April 6, 2004.  Tell us what happened that day.  Well, in a nutshell, a couple things happened.  There was a sniper unit that was out.  And it was being overrun.  They had called in for reinforcements.  Well, the reinforcements that came in to help them out got overrun.  And so, they called in Ryan's folks.  And about 30 of them responded to it. 

 That's kind of what happened in a nutshell.  When they got there, what they discovered is that they had walked into a very organized ambush.  And what we learned later is that it was one of the best organized insurgent, you know, battles, that they had ever fought.  They didn't expect it.  It's also considered by many as the first.  The first insurgent organized battle.  And they were set up in an ambush.  They killed how many? How many were killed that day? Well, at that point, this was more Marines than any other day during the war.  There were ten in Ryan's company and two more.  So 12 altogether.  We're going to show another clip.  This is a clip from your film that shows the perspective of some of the others in Ryan's company talking about April 6, 2004.  Let's roll that clip.  April 6th was pretty much the turning point for Echo 2-4.  At that point, we just completely gave up trying to help the Iraqi people.  Our mission went from trying to save Iraq to just trying to get everybody home safely.  We just kind of turned cold, I would say.  We still had a job to do, and we would do that job, but it wasn't a job that we wanted to do like before.  All the Marines at our level, pretty much, we said, you know, we give these people money, we give them soccer balls, we give them food, water, we gave them a lot of stuff.  Then they turn around and backstab us.  All the locals, they knew that there was gonna be an attack that day. 

 They were all staying in their houses.  They all shut down their shops.  So they knew what was gonna happen.  They never told us anything about it.  After that, we didn't care anymore.  They're gonna mess with us, we'll kill 'em.  A clip from "Jerabek. " Not exactly a group of guys out to win hearts and minds.  What was it like filming these guys now that they're back? Well, it was a struggle to get a lot of them, to first of all, to locate all of them.  They came back, and a lot of them didn't want to be on camera, didn't want to talk about it.  Ryan, as you'll see in the film, was loved by everybody.  He was very well respected.  Very well respected.  He was kind of the jokester.  He had started this diary, this short story.  And in it, he would use characters of his friends.  And he would read that to them when they got back from these missions and these patrols.  And that would kind of be light moments.  Nobody knew.  The one guy said in the film on the ride back from a battle, it's what he looked forward to.  He looked forward to it. 

 To Ryan's stories.  So to get in touch with them was difficult, but once we did, everybody wanted help us tell Ryan's story, tell who he was.  And once we got them on camera, it kind of came out.  It was almost like therapy, I think, for them.  Sure.  The community, you said people came out in droves for the funeral and really responded, peopled who did not know him.  And you spoke to his friends and those people.  Why? Why? I can understand why his friends respected him, and that makes sense.  But he's become, is he a hero in Green Bay? I think he's one of the heroes in Green Bay.  He's certainly a hero to his family and friends, and close friends.  But I think he touched a nerve in that the war finally came home.  People were watching this on the news every night, and they knew that we had soldiers over there.  But until they heard it, hey, this guy lives in Hobart, this guy lives in Green Bay, he's one of us.  I mean, I heard estimates of 1,400 people, including dignitaries, senators.  The governor was there.  I mean, everybody came out.  That was one of the unusual things.  You know, why is this happening? Why did this guy touch so many people's lives? And I think it's because of the kind of person he was.  Yeah, I was going to say it's because he was Ryan Jerabek.  He seemed like the kind of guy.  It's the best and brightest, you know. 

 It's interesting to watch the film.  It's like, okay, we lost one of the best and brightest.  Exactly.  He was going to be a history teacher.  He wasn't a bully in school.  He was liked by everybody.  That made a big difference.  Of course your film, we've been talking about Ryan.  We talked about April 6, 2004.  That's important.  But the film really in some ways is not only about the Jerabek family.  It's really about his mom, who's really, really coping with the death of her son.  It's her middle child.  She's coping with the death of her son.  Tell me a little bit about Ryan's mom, I mean, Ryan's whole family, you know, his mom in particular.  It's got to be difficult.  It's not the first child she lost.  You learn in the film that she lost her daughter to disease before.  But you know, I can't imagine as a parent what it would be like to lose one of your kids.  The only thing I can imagine is that it would be the worst thing in the world.  You'd be totally devastated. 

 And how, you know, everybody deals with it in a different way.  And her, Rita, I think was the hardest person.  Her name's Rita.  Rita.  She was the hardest person to sell on this project.  Hey, we're going to be following you around.  We're going to be doing intimate moments.  For this to work, we have to know how you feel.  And you know, to her credit and to Ken's credit, you know, everybody's credit in the family, I think they let us in.  I think they did, too.  I'm going to show another clip of Rita, and how she has dealt with it.  There's many ways she deals with the death of Ryan.  And this is one of the ways that she deals with it.  Here's another clip from "Jerabek. " Some of the things are just really hard to get rid of.  Like some of the packaging for instance, "return to sender. " His books, his training books from the Marine Corps.  His hats, his maps, his batteries.  His fatigues.  His earplugs and pencils, and even the brush that he used to scrub the floor when he was in boot camp.  Nick: Our house didn't used to be like that. 

 And within a few weeks, a month, it started changing.  When I would come up and go, like look around upstairs, you'd see all this Marine Corps stuff.  And just, for a while, it kind of was overwhelming.  My parents sometimes are just so like sucked up in this right now.  They're trying to heal as best they can.  I think sometimes, just like, they kind of notice I'm there, but sometimes don't.  So it's kind of like, I'm just like there, but not.  And sometimes they notice me, and I'm there, and they keep talking to me.  I just want them to go away sometimes, but. . .  Day by day, I have different feelings, and things.  Some days, I'll stop and look at the fridge, and look at all the pictures, and always think about him.  And one day I won't want to even look at them, and stuff.  Sometimes I feel like I just gotta get out of here.  Another clip from "Jerabek. " Tell me about the day.  This was all from one day.  Tell me about that day.  Well, that day was very difficult.  A lot of these times, we didn't obviously stay with them day after day after day. 

 We hit them, you know, every few months, whenever there was something going on, anniversaries and things like that.  This particular day was very difficult.  We reached a point in the filming where we felt like Rita was still guarded.  She was still being guarded.  We didn't get the true meaning of what this meant to her.  During that scene, that clip we just showed, Ken was obviously in the room.  It became very emotional, so emotional that Ken had to leave.  And then he actually came back and asked us to leave.  Wow.  So this is it.  Rita broke down.  Emotionally broke down.  Emotionally broke down.  And then I went and talked to Ken.  Ken had told me about a year into the filming that, you know, I wasn't an outsider anymore.  I was one of the family.  And I reminded him of that.  I said, you know, Ken, we're not going to leave.  I said you invited me in here.  I'm one of the family.  This is what families do. 

 We talk about things like this.  And we continued on.  And you know, we got Rita to tell us how she felt.  We got Ken to talk about it.  And then we sat down with Nick.  Nick is the younger son.  Yeah, Nick, oddly enough, decided-- When we finished the film, he still hadn't decided whether he was going to join up or not.  He did join up.  He's almost into his second year.  He's at Camp Lejuene, driving trucks, which is good.  He hasn't seen combat yet, and hopefully will not.  But I think it was very telling, what he had to say about not only growing up spending his last year in this environment, but you know, how he felt.  I don't think he knew how he felt.  No.  He's 16 or 17 in the clip, right? Yeah, 17.  That's really young, to have your older brother die, and then your home becomes this Marines shrine.  And then your parents are trying to get over grief.  Then you've got you guys in there with cameras.  Cameras, and he moved into Ryan's old room downstairs.  So he kept a lot of Ryan's stuff up there.  Was anything off limits? Did the family say, no, we're not going there. 

 Don't ask.  You know, you're not allowed to go into this room? No, nothing was off limits.  I mean, we had the respect enough to know what to ask, where to go, what to do.  I mean, we weren't going to abuse our privilege there.  And no, really, they talked about anything we asked them to talk about.  One of the things, we're going to show a clip now.  One of the things you talked to them about, which I found very powerful in the film, was their opinions on Ryan joining the Marine Corps in the first place.  This is a clip of Ken and Rita talking about how they feel about Ryan joining the Marine Corps.  Let's roll that clip.  When he wanted to join the Marine Corps, I knew he was in trouble.  I didn't want him joining the armed forces, I'd rather have seen him got into college, he was so intelligent, so smart.  But he says, nope, he says, "Dad, I'm gonna serve the country first before I go. " And that was his dream.  To become a Marine.  What do you do? What do you do as a father? Knowing, being a veteran, seeing so much, seeing the aftermath of a war like Vietnam.  What do you do as a father? I think that after 9/11 he even withdrew a little bit.  And I was a little bit worried about how quiet he had gotten.  Because he was spending more and more time down here.  But I think in the background, a lot of it was that he decided that he was going to join the Marine Corps.  And he didn't know how to tell us.  Rita and I, we talked about it. 

 Should we let him? Shouldn't we let him? But he was so confident and that's what he wanted to be.  Is a Marine.  He wanted to go there first.  And I told Rita, "Man, this kid is not gonna expect, this is tougher than he thinks it's gonna be.  This is no game. " This is no game, from Ryan's father.  You know, as I watched your film, as I went through watching it, I was waiting for the family to turn.  The change.  You covered them for two years.  I was waiting for them to go the Cindy Sheehan route, right, to go the anti-war route, or at least to get angry at the Marines for taking their son away.  Some analysis of what happened.  Never.  They stayed dead hard true to the Marines.  Why do you think that is? Well, I think their dedication to the Marines is kind of a manifestation of their grief.  This is how they deal with it.  I mean, if we can imagine, how could they-- By them coming down on the Marines, they're almost believing themselves that their son's death was a waste, that he died in vain.  I can't imagine doing that.  You can't do that.  So, I think their support just got stronger and stronger.  It was always there, but it just got stronger, and continues to this day.  I'm not a psychologist, but I know there are stages of grief, right. 

 And they seem to have not gone through the anger stage, which you've got to go through, I think.  It seems like they're staying in the initial stages.  Were you surprised that they never, it was never questioned? There was never anything political in what they did.  That didn't surprise you? No, it doesn't surprise me.  At some point, it was a frustration.  Toward the end of the film, that's why we kind of had that final couple filming days, where we said, Rita, we're still at this point where people are going to ask exactly what you asked.  And we need to answer that question.  And we got some footage from her that we didn't use in the film.  But basically, a lot of what I think is guarded behavior from Rita is because this is the worst thing that could possibly happen to her, and she doesn't want anybody else to know that it's affected more than just Ryan, that it's affected her whole family.  Speaking of her whole family, I mean, there's another character in the film that I have to be honest, broke my heart.  And that's Nick.  Nick was Ryan's younger brother.  Tell me, we're going to see a clip from that, but we need to know who Nick is.  Tell me a little about Nick as a person and what Nick's like.  Well, I think Nick is not unlike your typical, when I was introduced to him, your typical 17- or 18-year-old.  You know, very idealistic.  Not a clear idea where he wants to go, where he wants to take his life.  This couldn't have come, you know, if you could make it come at any time, but this came at a terrible time.  And a time when he was needing attention, too.  And his folks just didn't.  That's got to be a terrible thing, too, you know, we know our son needs us, but we have our own grief. 

 So it's a terrible stage.  But honestly, Nick used to talk to Ryan about joining up.  It wasn't a farfetched idea for him to join.  Right.  I think the struggle and the conflict that Nick had was, can I do this to my parents.  That was a big struggle.  Well, I want to show what I think is the most powerful clip of the film.  And to me, it's Nick at the recruiter's office, talking to the recruiter, which is an amazing bit of filmmaking, by the way.  At the recruiter's office talking about if he's going to join the Marines or not.  Let's roll that clip.  * How you doing? Hey.  How are you? Good, how are you? Good.  Good to see you.  Nice to see you, too.  First off, do you know the qualifications on what you have to do, what is required to become eligible? Nope.  Not at all? Mm-mm.  You gotta be able to pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test.  Minimum score is a 31, perfect score would be a 99.  Have you taken that yet? No, I haven't.  Do you foresee yourself doing anything in particular? You like mechanics, electronics? I was thinking more maybe going infantry, or going into the armory division.  Infantry or armory division? Why do you pick those? I don't know. 

 It's something that, just they're the only ones I've really looked at, so. . .  Okay.  Do those excite you at all? Yeah, I like the whole, gunning the big tanks and big infantry.  My brother did that and stuff, too.  Sure.  When are you looking at leaving? Do you have any idea when you would? I would be probably signing up in November, November 15th-ish.  November 15th? Around deer hunting time? Yep.  My Dad wanted me to get one more season in with him, so.  Okay.  I am truly not sure what's driving Nick to be compelled to do this.  By just asking each day for a little bit more time, and a little bit more time, maybe his decision will change.  I think our family has given a lot of service to our nation.  Nick does not have to go.  You know, I hear at the end of that clip-- A powerful clip.  Amazing access in the recruiter's office.  But then, mom says, I don't know why Nick wants to join the Marine Corps.  But her home is a shrine to the Marines.  That home looks like the Marines are the greatest things since sliced bread.  And she doesn't know why. 

 It's almost like her grief for Ryan is driving Nick to the Marines.  You know, that's an interesting question.  I've talked to her off-camera, and Ken, about this, too.  I guess if you grow up in that environment, it's easy to see, yeah, he has only one path available to him.  But it wasn't like that.  They outlined his options.  He knew his options.  At one point, he was thinking about going to firefighter school and becoming a fireman.  I think the only person that can answer why Nick joined is Nick.  And a lot of the reasons, I don't think, have anything to do with his brother.  I think it's something he always wanted to do.  I think he feels that it's as important to serve his country as Ryan felt that it was.  And he knew going in that it wasn't all a vacation.  Sure, he knew.  He knew the ultimate price.  And he knew what could happen.  I mean, thankfully, it hasn't happened yet.  He hasn't been deployed.  It would absolutely break his mother and father's heart.  Right.  I want to ask you a different question. 

 Because it's interesting to me.  You spent two years.  From the funeral, from the day they were notified, with the camera, to the funeral, to two years with this family, to the younger kid joining, and then making a film.  So you were editing and being inside that.  What do you come out of this, about the war, about the family? What do you take away for yourself? Well, for myself, I can't tell you enough how much I respect the family, and how unbelievable I think this family is.  This is an amazingly loving family.  They all love each other.  They all support each other.  Support is a big thing.  They would support Nick if he decided, or if he didn't decide.  Whatever he decided to do, they would be behind him 100%.  To go through the kind of gut wrenching, or life ending tragedies that they've been through, and to still have the amount of love that you feel every time that you walk into that house, is amazing to me.  And it's something that, you know, you can aspire to.  I think you said at one point that they told you, that Ken told you, that you were part of the family.  Right.  Did you feel grief? Did you become a part? Did you experience Ryan's death as a member of your family? Well, I didn't get to that stage until late in the filming of this.  Early on, I didn't because as a journalist, I keep myself detached.  Otherwise, it would be very devastating.  It would be hard to do, not to get involved.  But you can't help but get involved.  Sure, two years is a long time to be with them. 

 So for you, in the end, you do feel, you become attached? Yeah, you become attached.  It becomes very emotional.  Your good-byes with the Jerabeks are not a professional good-bye, we'll see you later.  They're hugs and kisses.  And there's tears.  But there's nothing wrong with that as a documentary filmmaker, is there? I don't think so.  I mean, the first time I saw the film on the big screen, I wasn't tearing up because it was on the big screen.  I was tearing up because of the emotion of these folks, and that I felt privileged that we were able to be a part of that.  Yeah, I feel like I've seen a lot.  I've read a lot and seen a lot of accounts.  And this is the film that I think was the most intimate for me in understanding the family side.  And I think I finally got a little slice of that, of the ultimate price that someone pays.  And that's good.  Because that was our goal.  It's more than just about the death of Ryan, it's about how it affects everybody.  It's still affecting them today.  Yeah.  Thank you very much.  Sure.  I really appreciate you making the film.  And thank you all for joining us today. 

 Thank you for watching Director's Cut.  For more information on "Jerabek," please go to: www. wpt. org/directorscut While you're there, send us an email, because we love hearing from you.  I'm your host, Charles Monroe-Kane.  For everyone here at Director's Cut, thank you very much for joining us.  Check the gate.  ( goose call ) Wow, look at that sky! You're gonna miss this, I know you are.  This is a big party.  I'd rather see you home here, working.  But you gotta do what you gotta do.  I'm not gonna stand in your way.  You're 18.  I know Ma's nervous, she's really nervous.  Mm-hmm.  You know I've thought about it already.  I know you have.  I know you have. ECHO is on.