Battle Buddy :30 | Veterans Crisis Prevention

(0:00- 0:01)

There is an African American elder man who seems to be in his 60’s standing with a leaf rake in his hand, helping a caucasian man, who also seems to be in his 60’s, paint the wood white, and replace the broken wood fence. They live in a rural area, based on how the caucasian old man is dressed. He has a cowboy hat and a flannel shirt which indicates that he might be from the countryside or the south. In the background you can see mountain ranges with small barns on top, and many more fences dividing one property from another. There are no animals around and the grass seems to have dried up, there’s a lot of sand and hay on the floor which indicates that its an old property that’s being fixed up. 

(0:02-0:03)

The caucasian man unrolls the metal wire and stretches it all the way through the open space of the broken wood fence. He seems to be measuring if it’s enough to cover the entire area, while the African American man begins to sweep the grass with the leaf rake. Due to the directors subtitles, there seems to be a conversation between the two “ I remember, you threw your back out” states the african american man, which shows that there’s either a friendship between the two or they might be neighbors. 

(0:04-0:05)

The African American man puts the leaf rake down, and stands there looking at the caucasian man, with a slight concern on his face, and asks the caucasuan man: “ how are you holding up?” which indicates that the caucasian man recently had an unfortunate event in his life.  The producer gives us a closer look towards the African American man. He has a wedding band on his left hand which indicates that he is married, and a black baseball hat with yellow letters that state “ VIETNAM VETERAN” which means he was once a soldier and has now retired. 

(0:06-0:07)

The caucadian man seemed to ignore his question and instead pointed straight forward with his index finger, demanding him to hand him a nearby board. He seems to be struggling with keeping the wire in place and doesn’t seem to want to talk about what he went through. He has a strong personality and shuts down when it comes to personal matters. So the african American man looks over his shoulder and picks up the board.

(0:08-0:09)

With the board in his hand, the African American man looks back at the caucasian man, with a slight tilt in his head, and states “ nothing wrong with getting help.” he seems to show sincere concern towards the caucasian man. The caucasian man looks up with a saddened expression, and states “ I’m good, i did it when Felicia left.”  This allows me to believe that he is divorced and seems to be having a hard time getting over it. 

(0:10-0:11)

They are now placing the freshly painted wooden board on top of the wire fence in order to hold it in place. The african american man is holding one end while the caucasian man holds the other end, and with his knee, he applies pressure onto the wired fence in order to keep it from falling. They place it in a horizontal position, and they connect it to the already placed wooden white board. 

(0:12-0:13)

Once again, the caucasian man looks up at the african american man, this time with a less sad face, and more or a trusting, warm look and says “ ill figure it out”. This shows how the caucasian man lets his guard down just a little, and appreciates the african american man’s concern towards him. The african american man follows by saying “ i know you will, but you don’t have to do it alone.”

(0:14-0:15)

The camera focuses back on the african american man, he still has a concerned and sincere  look on his face. The way he looks at him makes me believe he has first hand experience on what the caucasian man is going through, he might have received help ahead of time, that’s why he’s so concerned about if caucasian man is dealing with his situation all alone.

(0:16-0:17)

“ If I promise to look into it, will you drop it and help me build this fence ?.” states the caucasian man. He’s not open about his feelings, he keeps his personal problems buried in and finds ways to accept help, without asking for it. The African American man seems like he learned to talk about his feelings in order to get past his personal problems, and is trying to convince his friend to do the same. 

(0:18-0:19)

His concerns seem to have warmed up the caucasian man’s heart a little because instead of the sad face he had not long ago, has switched to a small smile. The African American man continues to help the caucasian man set up the fence while also smiling at the comment his friend had made and states : “ now you need the help.” as a sarcastic remark. 

(0:20-0:21)

They continue to work on the fence while having light humor, the mood of the video has completely changed. They seem to be old friends because of the confidence they have to joke around each other. 

(0:22-0:23)

Finally, they achieve putting up the fence, both men still holding on to each of the ends, making sure it fits correctly and making sure it’s not crooked. I believe that the african american man might be a neighbor/ old friend who came over to make small talk, and ended up helping the caucasian man as a way to get him to open up more about his problems and seek professional help. 

(0:24-0:30)“ Don’t wait. Reach out” and “ if you or a veteran you know need support don’t wait, reach out.”  Is printed at the end of the video. The caucasian man was also a vietnam veteran who experienced trauma, but never got the treatment he deserved in order to continue living his life well just as his friend did. As a consequence, his wife ended up leaving, causing him to experience even more negative events in his life. The ad strongly encourages veterans who have traumatic experiences to reach out for help in order to receive the support they need to get through life.