After the Uniform | Do Hard Things

This past March, I got out of the United States Marine Corps. After taking three or so months to travel internationally, I returned back to the states and as you often hear with recent Veterans my life started to spiral. Losing my community, sense of purpose, and financial security was difficult. I started to face depression and suicide ideation. I asked around to other Veterans and found that this was very common for those recently out of the military. Unfortunately, around this time a Marine I served with and was very close to took his own life.

This difficult state of mind that I found myself in and my friend taking his own life, led me to make this series. After the Uniform is a collection of six different short films that feature a different Veteran and her or his story in each. Each episode is an independent story that can be shown with or without the others.

In "Do Hard Things" Andrew Wolgemuth discusses his decision to attend West Point, some of his experiences as a United States Army Ranger, and some of the challenges he faced when he was medically discharged from military service in 2020. Despite the difficult things he's gone through, he offers great advice for anyone else transitioning out of the military and provides a positive outlook on life.

Andrew's words have greatly inspired me. I believe that they can inspire others whether they served in a uniform or not.