BBO: Why do you think this problem almost seems invisible? There seems to be a general perception of soldiers coming home … that everything is good now, now that they are back. They are going back to “normal” life and everything will be just fine. So I think the movie will be a huge wake-up-call for a lot of people.

Ben: I don’t know whether it will or it won’t  be. I think it would be good if it DID wake people up to this particular issue. I think there is more we can do as a nation, there is more we can do as people …  Can you hang on just a second ? I have got someone standing outside my front door. Hang on Elle.

BBO: Sure.

Ben: [He answers the front door then comes back] Danielle, just hang on just one more second …[leaves again]

Ben: Sorry, are you still there ?

BBO: Yes, no problem [laughs]

Ben:  [laughs] It’s the middle of the day here and, you know, people come to the front door. [laughs]

BBO: I am so going to put that in the interview [laughs]

Ben: A break in the action while those guys are clearing power lines, clearing trees on powerlines. [laughs] What were we talking about before the man walked up to the front door ?

BBO: The perception of people, not really seeing the problem.

Ben: Well, to a certain degree you have to credit the fact that soldiers generally, throughout history, have shared this experience only with other people who were there, only with other people who they feel can understand what it is that they went through. So they do a good job of keeping themselves together. You know, generally speaking, most people  with those problems don’t want to ask for help. And so the issues that do exist, can build up over time quietly, are invisible because quite frankly that’s to a certain degree the way  these men and women are build. It’s the way they are trained. They are trained to be able to take a lot of stress. Yet not all of them can handle it equally, and yet many of them are able to hold it together. The fact is that the suicide rate for soldiers is higher, significally higher, than the general population and a great deal is traced back directly to the experience of combat and being at war. That holds true historically, it holds true for today. And in this day and age when people are dealing with their own problems, dealing with the economy, it’s very easy to forget about those that have served their country. It’s not an issue of right and left. It’s not a pro war or anti war statement. It’s about taking care of those people who served their country.

BBO: It’s a human issue.

Ben:  It’s a human issue. Very, very much a human issue.

BBO: It’s not just the homeless guy on the streetcorner. I think a lot of people don’t understand that their next door neighbor is having these problems. They are not seeing it or they don’t want to see it.