Interviewed by Leonard Chan and Mina Harada Eimon (ME)

David Brodie is the director and co-writer of the new documentary The Volunteer, a film about Vietnam War veteran Bruce Nakashima. The Volunteer, which was co-written by Bruce Nakashima, is in good measure about Bruce’s search for his army friend, L.V. Hendking, who saved Bruce’s life. They get separated upon leaving the hospital and sent to different places for recovery and home. Without knowing their friend’s exact location for home, they lost touch with each other for more than 50 years.

Through Bruce Nakashima’s search, we learn about him, his military service, and the climactic “incident” that separated them.

David Brodie has mainly worked as an editor for documentaries and commercials for his fifteen plus year career. He has even won an Emmy (Outstanding Short Form Picture Editing for Survivors: Stand Up to Cancer) and worked on the Oscar nominated documentary The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306.

Thank you David Brodie for agreeing to do this interview and for crafting this excellent documentary.

This is a bit of a catchall set of questions to start us off. Please go in depth on how you met Bruce Nakashima. What drew you to becoming his friend? At what point did you start to record Bruce’s story and did you know it would result in a documentary? Was it partially Bruce’s idea to garner your help in preserving his story? Your documentary portrays Bruce as somewhat of a recluse at the time of your meeting. Was it hard to get him to open up? How long was this before his passing?

I initially met Bruce in 2017, when directing a commercial campaign for Subaru. The campaign featured real people who benefitted from non-profit organizations which Subaru supports, including Meals on Wheels. I interviewed Bruce, who received Meals on Wheels, and Chris Gordon-Clarke, who delivered meals, about what the organization, and their friendship, meant to them.

Here’s a link to the commercial.

I found Bruce and Chris’s relationship to be so endearing, and I could tell that there was more to the story than would fit in a thirty second commercial. Our conversation stayed in my mind for months, until I reached out to Bruce and Chris and we all met for lunch. That interaction led to me joining the board of Meals on Wheels West, delivering meals, and regularly meeting Bruce and Chris for sandwiches and conversation.

Eventually, I asked Bruce if he’d be interested in sitting down for an interview, just to see what would come out of it. I really didn’t know what to expect, and I still don’t really understand what convinced me to ask him. But he agreed, and our first interview lasted a few hours, during which he told me of his father’s service in World War II, his anger and sadness about his family’s experience in the Rohwer internment camp, his decision to volunteer for the Army, and his relationship with LV Hendking, whom he’d been trying to find for fifty years.

We filmed interviews with Bruce every month or so, covering a wide range of topics, and Bruce gradually opened up and became more comfortable with the process. At one point he explained his motivation for working on the documentary: he didn’t want all that he’d learned throughout his life, the wrongs he and his family had endured, and the beautiful truths he’d discovered, to pass with him. And he didn’t want things like the internment to happen again to someone else.

We tried a few times to film an interview in which Bruce told the full story of how he and LV were separated, but Bruce always asked to stop. It wasn’t until we traveled to Birmingham and Bruce was sitting next to LV that he was able to recount that moment.

Throughout the process, Bruce and I had long conversations about what the film would cover, and what it shouldn’t. We continued the process of regular interviews, sometimes on camera, sometimes just recording audio, until Bruce passed away in January of 2021.

Your documentary mainly captures his time in the service and his search for his friend, LV Hendking. Bruce was born in an internment camp in Rohwer, Arkansas, and probably didn’t have direct memories of the experience, but did he have more to say about his family’s experience and his father’s military service? It sounded like his father was in the renowned World War II 442nd Infantry Regiment. In your documentary, Bruce states that he knew of his father’s service and felt that joining was kind of a measuring stick. It sounded like Bruce’s father didn’t open up more with his family about his military service. Could he have done more to convince Bruce not to volunteer and did Bruce dwell on this? Could this have contributed to Bruce’s post service self-imposed separation from his family?

We did speak extensively about Bruce’s thoughts on his family internment in Rohwer, as well as his father’s service. Bruce’s father, Frank Nakashima, was not in the 442nd, but his uncle was. And while Frank didn’t talk much about his service, Bruce’s family was very active in the Japanese American community in the Whittier / La Mirada area, and Bruce heard stories from other men who served in the 442nd. He was very proud of their, and his father’s, service. Even in his seventies, Bruce had only love, respect, and gratitude for his father, and tried to live by the values he represented.

While on the subject of Bruce Nakashima volunteering to join the service, why did you decide to call the film The Volunteer?

I wanted to emphasize the fact that Bruce made the decision and the sacrifice to enlist in the Army. Despite this obvious display of courage and patriotism, he was not fully accepted by the country he was defending. I think Bruce’s story should challenge us to consider what we have done, or are willing to do, to serve our community, and how many of us, myself included, take for granted the acceptance that Bruce struggled to find.

On the one hand, Bruce seems to be openly accepted by his fellow soldiers, but at the same time he sees the indoctrination of fellow soldiers into a mindset of hatred of the enemy which happen to look like him. Some of the other soldiers were even comfortable with using racist terms to describe the enemy around Bruce and his African American friend LV. At one point in the film Bruce contemplates if he would have been a better soldier if he didn’t feel guilty for killing people that were like him and his family. He brought that guilt and shame home with him and found it difficult to relate with his family and other Asians. Being a combat soldier is difficult enough when you’re trained to kill, but it’s probably even more difficult when you see the enemy as being human like yourself. Can you share your feelings on hatred, racism, warfare, and other thoughts that went through yours and Bruce’s minds, especially while making the film?

Having not served in the military myself, I don’t have any direct insights I can give. But do I believe that we as a society are responsible for how our military operates, and need to pay more attention. We also need to be much more engaged with veterans after they return to civilian life. We are responsible for their well-being, and today we are failing them. The relationship between civilian culture and the military is completely dysfunctional.

Bruce’s mom’s painting of a dark tree lined path with a brightly lit place at the end, so symbolically fits the theme of the movie. Bruce’s friend LV seems to be the light at the end of Bruce’s journey. Was that the reason for Bruce’s 50 plus year search for his friend, to help him gain some closure and help him heal from his mental wounds? LV was there for him during the war – he had Bruce’s back. LV was also a witness to all that they had experienced and could understand some of the pains Bruce was feeling. It’s fitting that LV was also searching for Bruce during those years – he was still concerned for his friend.

I think finding closure was part of Bruce’s reason for finding LV, but more than that, he just really missed his friend.

One of the lighter parts of the film was when they talked about their unusual friendship across ethnic boundaries. LV’s wife didn’t even realize that Bruce was Japanese American during LV’s long search for his friend. They seemed forever joined, similar, and yet different. Tell us a little bit about their friendship, friendships made between fellow warriors, and how shared stressful experiences can help bind us.

I dedicated many hours of interviews with Bruce, LV, and LV’s wife, Algene, trying to understand exactly what it was that drew these two men together. There were some surprising common experiences in their childhood, shared senses of humor, things like that, but nothing that really explained their bond. And I realized that the best friendships defy explanation. That was the case with these two, they just got each other with a connection nobody can explain. Me trying to define it would only limit whatever was between them.

Do you think that finding LV brought the closure and comfort that Bruce was seeking?

I believe that finding LV lightened Bruce’s load, in that he didn’t have to worry about his friend anymore, he knew LV was alright. And after he reunited with LV, Bruce reconnected with a few other people from his past, which was wonderful to see. I’m so grateful that I stumbled into this story and was able to witness that moment.

“The Volunteer” shows some of Bruce’s dark period after coming back from Vietnam and his estrangement with his family. Were some of the people he reconnected with his family?

After finding LV, Bruce started reconnecting with family and friends he hadn’t seen in many years, including some people whom he hadn’t seen since they were teenagers. I was able to meet many of these people and see Bruce hanging out with them, and it was clear that they all thought the world of Bruce. They reminisced about high school, football (Bruce was a varsity linebacker), and drag racing. Bruce’s landlord, Toni, called this a “blossoming.” After Bruce passed, I met his sister, Chris Nakashima, who became a consulting producer on the film, giving more insights into their family history, and reviewing edits to make sure the family was represented in the process.

Bruce and his family seem rather protective in not revealing too much of their personal lives. Are there other things you learned in doing this documentary that couldn’t get in the film, but that you can tell us now? What else did you learn from your friendship with Bruce Nakashima?

Ask me that question again in a decade! Bruce has been gone for over two years now, and I still think about our conversations every day. They’ve made me reconsider much of what I’ve taken for granted, my position in the world, and how I want to spend my time. It will be a long while before I fully understand how meeting Bruce has affected me.

In terms of working on the film, one lesson that should have been obvious from the start was that my job was to help the story along, then get out of way as much as possible. I had some grand ideas about what the film had to say, and whenever I tried to incorporate themes or context that didn’t come from Bruce himself, the film fell flat. It was insincere. But when I whittled down the story to just what Bruce felt he had to say, it came alive. I had to remind myself that the film is his, not mine. So this project reinforced the mentality of being faithful to the storytellers and their stories.

Regarding the distribution and showings of “The Volunteer” – you’ve posted some of the planned showings on your website’s screenings page. Are you working to get the film shown at some of the Asian American film festivals like CAAMFest in San Francisco? There’s a bunch of other Asian American film festivals. How about some screenings at some African American/Black film festivals? I think it would be great to get cross community viewings for your film.

Thanks for the recommendations!

In June we had a screening of The Volunteer at The Whittier Museum, sponsored by the American GI Forum. As we were planning the logistics, I had a conversation with Francisco Juarez, the Vietnam Veteran who had the idea for the event. He encouraged me to find other veteran organizations that would be interested in seeing the film, because he thought that Bruce’s story should be seen by as many vets as possible. And thankfully, various Asian American organizations, Veteran organizations, and religious groups have expressed interest in organizing screenings of the film. I’m very grateful for the interest, and am happy to share Bruce’s story with any group that finds it meaningful.

I noticed that the film was shown in Alabama. Were LV and his family able to attend? Gee, you even had a screening in New Zealand – what’s the connection with them?

LV and Algene Hendking attended the screening at The Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, Alabama. Sitting next to them in the theater, and seeing Bruce projected onscreen was incredibly moving, and one of my favorite screenings of the film.

The Doc Edge festival in New Zealand is a respected international festival, and we were fortunate enough to be included in their program.

Any chance that it will be made streamable by the general public or shown on PBS?

We’re working on this!

ME: What sort of reaction have you had from various groups that viewed the film – such as veterans, different ethnic groups, and young viewers? Were there any questions and answers, or just some expressed thoughts that you’d like to share with us?

After every screening we’ve had great Q&A sessions with audience members wanting to know more about Bruce’s story, but for me, the best discussion happened after the event at the Whittier Museum, organized by the American GI Forum. The audience was comprised of many Veterans, members of the Japanese American community, as well as people with a personal connection to Bruce’s childhood. After the film finished, audience members with a wide variety of backgrounds and histories stood up and talked about how they related to Bruce’s struggle to find belonging, and how they all were working through their own trauma, fighting the instinct to keep the past bottled up. It was a beautiful, spontaneous conversation that probably lasted longer than the film. Everyone was so open, sincere, and connected, and I found myself wondering how I was lucky enough to be there.

LC and ME: You’ve collected a lot of material for the film that did not get in. Is there any chance for a book or a longer film? I can even imagine a dramatized version of this story.

The film went through various lengths and iterations throughout the editing process, and this 35 minute runtime we landed on is the strongest version of the story and has resonated the most with people. We could have spent more time on the Rohwer internment camp, which is an important chapter of American history, as well as incidents during the Vietnam War, but I wanted the film to be a portrait of Bruce, conveying his personality, his values, and the decisions he made. Spending too much time on the things that happened to Bruce against his will had the effect of burying his character.

I agree that a non-documentary adaptation of the film would be very compelling. Whatever happens next, it’s important for me to emphasize that the story belongs to Bruce, LV, and their families, so they would have to been interested in and involved with any developments.

Thank you again for doing this interview. It’s much appreciated.

Thank you for your interest in this project! Working on the film has connected me with so many wonderful people, and I’m so thankful for all of it.

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Various Links

Website for “The Volunteer”

Another interview with David Brodie at the “We Are Moving Stories” website

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