In 2009, film director and producer Jake Rademacher released a documentary that ripped away the curtain on what the Iraq War was really like. He was embedded with his two brothers on the ground, and his life was forever altered. More than 15 years later, he’s checking in on those veterans with “Brothers After War.”
Executive produced by Gary Sinise, the new film follows Rademacher’s brothers, Isaac and Joe, as well as the other veterans featured in the first documentary film, “Brothers at War.”
“I’m the oldest of seven kids, and we grew up in Decatur, Illinois. I’d say that our childhood was pretty typical Midwest America,” Jake said. “Though we never met my grandfather because he died when our dad was 21, he definitely inspired us. He was a bomber pilot during World War II and was shot down over northern Italy. He actually fought with some of the Italians resisting behind enemy lines during the last six months of war.”
Jake attended the University of Notre Dame and pursued filmmaking as well as acting. His eyesight kept him from applying to the United States Military Academy at West Point. However, his middle brother, Isaac, made his way to the esteemed military school when it was his turn.
“I flew out to Isaac’s house in 2004 when he had just gotten home from his second deployment to Iraq,” Jake said. “He told me the truth about the war wasn’t getting home to all of us.”
Isaac recalled that though the brothers were always close, war and service created a distance he didn’t expect.
“The war started the year after I graduated from West Point,” Isaac said. “That launched me down a completely different trajectory than Jake, so when we sat down to reconnect, we were two different people in two completely different worlds. We didn’t know each other anymore.”
Their youngest brother, Joe, enlisted in the Army and eventually found himself deployed with Isaac and his battalion in Fallujah, Iraq.
“I always wanted to join the military and am a big fan of ‘Top Gun’ and those old movies like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Black Hawk Down.’ When Sept. 11 happened, I was in my final year of high school, and it just really upset me,” Joe explained. “Before I enlisted, I visited Isaac at Fort Bragg [now Fort Liberty] after his Afghanistan deployment. He helped and guided me even when I said I didn’t want to do the officer thing because I wanted to be the guy that shoots the gun.”
Joe turned 18 years old in Iraq and was on a two-man sniper team within months of arrival in country. “Brothers at War” follows both Rademacher brothers and a host of other veterans as they navigate bloody battles in combat and face new and unexpected ones when they return home.
The reaction to the first film was overwhelming. Military bases began reaching out to Jake, requesting he visit and host seminars because the conversations the documentary sparked were so profound. As the years passed, he wanted to continue the story.
After four years of filming, “Brothers After War” is set to hit theaters on Feb. 28. Both older brothers admit that Joe’s revelations during filming rocked them to their core.
“I’m hopeful that the veterans who watch the second film are reassured that they’re not alone in their struggles,” Isaac said. “I think Jake really captured that extremely well; that transition after service is harder than we thought it was going to be. It’s the process but just keep fighting.”
The veterans featured in the film give viewers a front-row seat to their transition from service and the lessons of 20 years of war. Through moments of humor, vulnerability and reflection, the film speaks to audiences in the unique language of veterans to shed light on their struggles — PTSD, depression, suicide, loneliness and the search for meaning — while inspiring dialogue, connection and hope for military families, veterans and supporters alike.
Isaac’s daughter admits to having nightmares when her dad was deployed, and spouses touch on the hard moments of reintegration.
“Isaac did a beautiful job of articulating what many veterans talk about when it comes to transition and how it was his identity for so long,” Jake said. “What I am most proud of in regard to ‘Brothers After War’ is the ability for it to open up conversations and make tough subjects easier to talk about. Going around the world to follow these guys once again changed me forever.”
Isaac and Joe recently purchased 16 acres on a mountain in Virginia and are turning the raw land into their forever home with their wives and children. They haven’t been able to convince Jake to leave California to join them – yet.
But one thing they can agree on is that after 20 years of war and the uncertainty and struggles that go along with it, peace is possible. And they’ve found it.
