WEBVTT - Honoring Fallen Soldiers with Patrick Nelson 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:04.720 Please be advised the following episode contains references to violence 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:13.600 and may not be suitable for all listeners. This is 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:16.200 Vets you Should Know, a podcast from My Heart Radio 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.000 celebrating the many who have selflessly put their lives on 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:21.120 the line to serve their country and the armed forces. 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:24.480 Every Veterans Day, we as a country honor and commemorate 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.360 the people who fight for our freedom and defend our country. 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:30.040 And in this four part series, you'll hear from these 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:33.520 individuals as they share their unique experiences in the military 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.000 and the lessons they learned that carried them into their 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:39.120 new roles in civilian life. In this episode, I'm talking 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:43.360 to retired Staff Sergeant Patrick Nelson of the Army National Guard. 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.400 At first, Patrick decided to attend boot camp to escape 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.000 a difficult home life, but a few years later, he 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:52.400 dropped out of a community college two days after nine 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.960 eleven and went active duty with the National Guard. Patrick 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:59.280 eventually retired from the Army and transitioned out of active 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:02.280 duty to He speaks to groups across the country, sharing 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:05.360 stories of a service and telling audiences about the inspiring 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.120 men and women he served with whom we lost overseas. 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:12.720 Hey Patrick, how are you Hey, I'm good, Bobby. How 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:14.400 are you doing? Pretty good? Good to talk to you. 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:16.520 Where are you live right now? Where are you? I 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:19.920 am in Elk River, Minnesota, which is just a suburb 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.920 of the Minneapolis St. Paul area. So is it freezing 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.679 cold up there right now or almost getting in? No, 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:29.200 it's it's pretty cold. We're expected to get five to 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.800 seven inches of snow today, so we're in the middle 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.600 of it right now. Fall has passed upy and we've 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.360 shifted into winter. I am not lying to you here, 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.039 I'm looking because I'm in Nashville right now and it 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:45.600 is seventy eight degrees right now. It could not be nice. Nice. 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:49.080 So you enlisted in the military in what year? Well? 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.360 I first enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard in 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.960 February of two thousand, while I was a junior in 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.200 high school. Well, why, as a junior in high school 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:00.720 did you feel that it was the right time for 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:03.760 you to get involved. Well, Bobby, I didn't have the 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:07.640 greatest childhood growing up. It certainly could have been worse. 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:10.200 But I heard a bunch of guys from my high 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.040 school we're joining, and they said they're gonna send us 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.440 down to Oklahoma for Basic training for the entire summer, 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:24.359 and I was like, what I want to get out 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:28.720 of here? Count me in And I signed up, really 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.760 not knowing what to expect, but just wanting to take 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.240 a break from the situation back home. You went to 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.760 Oklahoma for basic first, right, and what was that experience 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.840 like for you? That's correct, it was, yeah, Basic Training 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:47.160 Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It was interesting. I think it's everything 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.520 that you would think it would be. I had a 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:52.480 fun time because I was there with a bunch of 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.480 buddies from high school, so I think that probably made 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:58.400 it a lot easier and I got to do some 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:02.400 things that I've never on before, similar to your story. 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:05.200 You know, I had a very rough childhood growing up. 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:07.399 You know, my mom was an addict. I never knew. 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.440 My dad kind of had to figure out situations, and 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:12.880 you know, it's it's wild how we have to find 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.640 other places to go to get a feeling of um, involvement, 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:20.440 sometimes love, sometimes the feeling of just accomplishment. And mine 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.480 was you know, church and performing, you know for me. 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.600 And it's awesome that yours was the military. And so 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:28.919 you're a junior in high school, you're you're going through 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.600 basic When did you go this is gonna be something 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:34.639 I know I'm going to do for a long time. Yeah, well, 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:36.800 so you know, I got back in, you know, started 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:39.960 my senior year of high school, had zero direction with 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.160 what I was going to do in life. I didn't 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:46.280 have the family support that said, here, you should, you know, 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:49.840 visit these colleges. Here, let me help you fill out 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:53.760 these forms and applications. It was basically just me navigating 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.400 things on my own. And after I graduated high school 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:01.960 and I barely graduated again, there's a lot of similarity 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:04.360 between our stories because you know, I saw drugs in 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:06.520 the house, my mother arrested. I did not know my 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:08.880 biological father growing up. I didn't meet him till three 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:11.280 years ago, which is an even more interesting story, and 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.960 he's a wonderful man. But yeah, I had no idea 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:15.720 what I said to do. I had to go back 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:20.640 to Oklahoma again for my advanced training, and then I 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.560 came back and I enrolled in a community college in 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:27.600 west central Minnesota, and three weeks into my first semester, 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:31.880 I was skipping classes already. It's you know, safe to 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:34.240 say that I wasn't going to find a lot of 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:38.800 success in college, but then that Tuesday in September, all 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:43.640 of our lives changed. And as I watched on TV, 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:49.599 just like everybody else, I felt those same feelings of helplessness, sorrow, anger, 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.159 And two days after the attacks, I went and visited 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:57.880 the recruiter's office and asked to go active duty Army. 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:00.960 I knew that the military was going to be doing 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.640 something in response to this, and I knew that the 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.840 active duty obviously would be the ones going first, and 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:11.240 driven by all those patriotic feelings and emotions, I wanted 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.240 to be. I wanted to be part of it. You know, 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.600 when looking at you getting in January two thousand two, 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:21.040 and you talk about nine eleven and and just listening 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.240 to how as a student you weren't as disciplined as 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.360 you would like to be. Why do you think you 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:30.680 felt like you wanted to get into what is probably 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.599 the most disciplined area you can go into, which is 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:36.360 the military. Why did you feel like that was right 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.320 for you? Yeah, that's a great question. I think a 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.680 lot of it boiled down to growing up. I feel 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:44.839 like I had a lot of self awareness. I understood 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:49.360 my lot in life, how people viewed me, but at 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.640 the same time, I also had friends who had very 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.920 you know, what i'd call normal families and normal family experiences, 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:01.080 and I really craved that and wanted at and would 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.920 try to surround myself with those type of people. So 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:07.560 I learned at a very early age the importance of 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.400 surrounding yourself with the right people, and I knew that 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.520 I would get that in the military. So you specialized 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.760 as a filled artillery cannon crew member, you gotta help me. 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:20.599 What does that job entail? That job entails shooting a 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:25.440 how it's sir cannon, And so specifically I was on 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.560 a one oh five millimeter how it's sir cannon. So 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.160 I was a paratrooper, and so it's something that can 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.800 be parachuted out of the back of an airplane, that 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.760 can be sling loaded underneath a helicopter. So it's a 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.159 very agile artillery piece where we can kind of shoot 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:45.920 and move and get the job done. So from when 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.880 you first start training until you're actually active with what 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:53.320 what is that training process? That sounds extremely intense? Yeah, 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.960 it's it's pretty intense. You know, in basic training and 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.760 and your advanced individual training, it's really just sort of 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.039 introducing you to the military, because you really don't learn 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.479 the most until you're at your unit. And so when 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:09.960 I finally was able to get active duty in January 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:12.560 two thou two, I first got sent to this unit 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:17.760 in Germany, which was a rocket brigade, so they fired rockets. 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:23.240 I was used to shooting cannons, and so they gave 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:27.200 me the position of the colonel's driver. Now I didn't 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:30.400 drop out of college after nine eleven to drive the 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:33.960 colonel and make sure his coffee was hot. I happened 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.880 to be at a training exercise one day we were 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.480 in Germany, and I saw these guys parachuting out of 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.280 the back of helicopters and I pointed up to my 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.320 first stargeant to a standing next to me. I said, 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.080 that's the stuff that I want to do, and he 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.560 had the right connections. With the help of a lot 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:54.080 of paperwork, I got reassigned down to the one seventy 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:58.560 three Airborne Brigade based out of Vicenza, Italy. So you're 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.000 a guy that grows up in a alltown in Minnesota, 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:03.600 You're in Oklahoma doing basic and all of a sudden, 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.920 you're all around the world. You're in Germany, you're in Italy. 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:08.520 What's a I mean, that's got to be a bit 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:12.560 of a culture shock to you. Huh, Absolutely huge culture shock, 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:18.720 but such an amazing opportunity for myself just to have 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:22.000 that exposure and just I mean even in the military alone, 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:23.760 even if I would have been stationed in the States, 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:26.800 it's a blender full of people. And it was just 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.040 such a pleasure and joy to be able to to 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:34.480 serve with such a diverse group. But as fulfilling as 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:38.880 the experience was, Patrick faced major adversity while deployed. In 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:41.800 two thousand five, he was stationed at a forward operating 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.680 base along the Pakistani border, serving as fire support for 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.160 a special forces team. It was here alongside the Pakistani 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:54.120 border that everything changed in an instant for Patrick. It 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:56.839 was June, which meant fighting season was starting to pick up. 0:08:57.280 --> 0:08:59.240 Things were starting to get pretty busy, so we needed 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:03.040 some more ammunition, and I went over to help that 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:06.319 other section that day because they had a sergeant leaving 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.160 on R and R, so I was gonna basically backfill 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:11.320 his position while he was gone. And so as I 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:15.040 heard the sound of the Chinook helicopter approaching, I hopped 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:18.240 in a humpy with my good friend Luke. And then 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:20.400 just as we're about to pull away to drive out 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:23.200 to the landing zone, my soldier popped in the back. 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:26.439 Now he was supposed to be back with our section. 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:28.800 So I turned around and I has a buddy yelled 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:30.760 at him, but I thought, for a second, you know 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.480 what I value that kind of work ethic. He wants 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.360 to come lift some heavy boxes in this heat out here, 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.920 that's great. Our section can no problem handle the job 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.720 without the both of us. But then I realized he 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:47.400 didn't have his helmet on, and Bobby I literally opened 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:51.160 my mouth, but then I realized I didn't have mine 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.160 on either, and it's kind of hard for me to 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.920 say something if I'm not doing the right thing. So 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:58.200 we got out to the landing zone. The Chinook landed, 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:00.520 and a group of ten of us step to the 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:03.440 side of the aircraft so they could take the machine 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:07.040 gun off the back ramp. My platoon sergeant he handed 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:09.319 me a piece of paper with some serial numbers items 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:13.559 we're expecting. The rotor blades are turning, it's kicking up dust. 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.760 You can't hear anybody talk. And I grabbed the piece 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.880 of paper and I turned around to ground guide, my 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:21.559 buddy Luke, and the hump vy to gi M a 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.080 little bit closer to the back of the helicopter, so 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.080 it's a little shorter distance to load the ammunition. And 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:31.480 the next thing I remember, I'm just picked up and 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:38.040 I'm slammed to the ground, unsure what happened. I look 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:41.080 up and you know, I see bodies laying everywhere. I 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.880 see blood, and I initially thought maybe one of the 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:49.839 engines on the helicopter had had possibly exploded. The helicopter 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.760 powered down, and then I heard that distinct sound of 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.160 an incoming one oh seven millimeter rocket and I got 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.840 up in a dove underneath the humpy for cover as 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:02.960 more raw gets impacted around us, And as soon as 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.600 the barrage ended, I crawled out from underneath and I 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:09.680 started running back to the soldiers that were still on 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.240 the ground, really unsure of what I was going to find. 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.440 And as I was running, a marine that was on 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.960 our base training Afghan National Army soldiers had yelled me 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.480 that I've been hit, and up until that point and 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.520 it felt any pain, but I turned my head and 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.200 looked at the back of my uniform and it was 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.640 shredded and blood was point out, and it was at 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.000 that moment the pain really hit me. So they brought 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:34.880 us to the small Afghan clinic that was within our 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.800 forward operating base and was ran by an Afghan doctor, 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:41.679 and so it was a mass casualty situation, and my 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.800 wounds were very minor compared to everybody else. I took 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.520 some shrapnel to the back, nothing too serious, had a 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.000 piece still sticking out of me. One of the Special 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:53.880 Forces guys came by with his little leatherman tool, whipped 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:57.000 out his players and pulled it out. That was pretty interesting. 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.400 And I got bandaged up, and I started looking around 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:02.440 and see who else was hurt. And I saw a 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.319 supply sergeant that was recently attached to us from a 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.920 National Guard unit out of Massachusetts, and he's laying on 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:13.280 this elevated stretcher, and the local Afghan doctor, who it's 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.000 like five ft two inches, is standing on this red 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:19.679 melt crate performing CPR. So I kind of do a 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:22.760 quick lap around the clinic trying to see who else 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.839 has hurt, how bad, and I come back around it. 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.920 It couldn't have been more than forty five seconds, and 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:35.960 they're zipping Michael up into a body bag, and I 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.120 find my way into a small room in the back 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.600 of the clinic there, and that's where I see my soldier, 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:45.679 Emanuel Hernandez, laying on a table. His head is bandaged. 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.560 A few people are working on him, but I could 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.000 see his chest rise and fall, so I knew that 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.160 he was breathing, and I grabbed his hand. I said, hey, 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:58.439 everything's gonna be okay. Medivac helicopters arrived. They brought us 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:02.640 to forward surge tical teams in the region. They removed 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.640 several pieces of shrapnel from my back, left a few 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:09.560 souvenirs in there for me, banage me up, sent me 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.800 back out to the landing zone for another helicopter ride 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:17.400 to Bogger Mayor Field for some further advanced medical care. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:20.600 And it was as I was waiting there, my commander 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.040 approached me and asked me how I was doing, and 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:25.960 I told him I was going to be fine, And 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.359 of course I asked, I said, well, how how's Hernandez? 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:30.920 And he looked at me said He's gonna be okay, 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:35.079 And you know, I just felt such relief. And he 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.079 turned to walk away, and he got about three or 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:42.360 four steps and he turned around in tears were rolling 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.160 down his cheeks, and he said, I'm sorry that I 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:51.840 lied her. Nandez didn't make it, and I dropped to 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:59.160 my knees and I just lost it. He died because 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:03.520 I didn't have the courage to speak up, because I 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:10.120 wasn't doing the right thing. And that was something that 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:13.280 haunted me for a long time as I finished my 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.560 military career and even as I transitioned into the civilian world. 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.800 You know, I tried to drink it away. I tried 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.960 to wash it away with pills. But I've learned over 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:28.480 time it's such a cliche. I can't change the past, 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.120 but I can influence the future. And so I've learned 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.640 that I can take that story. I can take my failure. 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:38.080 I can take the sacrifice of Emmanuel and Michael and 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.800 other friends of mine that I've lost in combat, and 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.360 I can share them with others to inspire them. And 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.000 so I've really found a purpose and being able to 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.400 share my story with others and also just let them 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:52.920 know about these these brave men that I had the 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:56.200 honor of serving with. Well, first, I'd like to thank 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:58.760 you for sharing that part of your story. I know 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.760 that you were fremely vulnerable to tell that, and that 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.120 so many people are going to benefit from you just 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.760 sharing what you've gone through, because people have and we'll 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:09.120 go through very similar things. So first, before we move 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:10.840 on to the next part and some other questions that 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.280 for you, I would just like to thank you for 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.920 for spending those few minutes talking about that with me. 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:22.560 After spending nearly seven years as a paratrooper in the U. S. 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:26.680 Army and completing three combat deployments in various leadership positions, 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.560 earning a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, Patrick turned us 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:35.600 focus to helping others. Being able to place yourself in 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.400 a in somebody else's shoes and see things from their 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:40.840 perspective is something we need so much more of in 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.600 this world that we're living in today. And so I'm 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:47.400 able to take that story and just it one. It 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:50.040 connects me with other people, like you said, who've had 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:54.080 maybe not the same obviously tragedies being blown up by 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:58.600 a rocket, but people who have experienced grief or people 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:03.680 who have experienced loss, and just attempting to be a 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:08.200 role model for them to show them that, yes, it's 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:11.320 still impacts me, it still hurts, but I can do 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.880 something about it as far as sharing that story and 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:18.160 influencing others. And you know, in February, I lost my 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:20.920 job like a lot of people did, and now I 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:23.520 am making a go of it on my own, trying 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.360 to be a speaker to share my story and I 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:30.080 will talk to anybody that will sit down and listen. 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:33.920 It has made me very purpose driven. When I was 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.120 in the military, or rather when I signed up, I 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.600 signed up for all those patriotic reasons, but when I 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:44.360 was in it was just another job. We woke up 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:46.120 a little bit earlier than most people, and we took 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:50.200 extended business trips. But just like somebody might be an 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:52.920 insurance salesman, I was a soldier. I didn't think about 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:55.920 that patriotic stuff. And it wasn't until I got out 0:16:55.960 --> 0:17:00.880 that I reflected on my experiences and realized I was 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:04.760 part of something so much bigger than myself. I tried 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.919 for a long time thinking I had to replicate that 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:12.000 exact purpose, which I quickly learned that I never was 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.320 going to be able to do. But I have found 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.040 a purpose again and just being able to inspire others 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:22.760 to help them realize that they can impact those around them, 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:27.760 because sometimes the smallest access service have the biggest impact, 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.399 and you may never know unless you speak up and 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.880 or talk to somebody or reach out. You just never 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:37.359 know the impact that you could have on somebody's life. 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.240 Whenever you transition into civilian life, did you have a 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.159 clear path that you knew that you would follow getting 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.399 back and what was that transition like for you. I 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.480 knew before I got out that I needed to have 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:54.000 a plan. I saw a lot of soldiers leave the 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.080 military without a plan and say, you know what, I'm 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.760 gonna take a couple months off, then I'm gonna go 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:03.080 to college. I'm gonna use my benefits, and I never 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.359 saw him do it. While I was in Afghanistan on 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:09.479 my last deployment, which was fifteen months long, I had 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:14.240 already received one scholarship, a Horatio alger military scholar. I 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.960 had been accepted into college. I had signed a lease 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.240 on an apartment in the city that I was moving to. 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:22.439 I knew that I had to have things in place, 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:25.720 so when I got out, I was ready to rock 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:27.840 and roll and again, even though I had a plan, 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:32.800 though it wasn't wasn't always easy. I didn't expect the 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:37.119 challenges that I face with the PTSD symptoms that that 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:41.760 came up and the challenges that I had with my 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:44.359 reliance on prescription pills. So I got out and I 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.800 had two surgeries related to my wounds. I was on 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:51.520 viking in a morphine for five years. I didn't go 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.240 anywhere without a bunch of pills in my pocket. It 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:56.080 took me a long time to realize that I even 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.880 had a problem. The pills, the drugs, that the alcohol, 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.800 they only act as accelerants for any type of PTSD 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:09.240 challenges you might have. So having to overcome that was tough, 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.720 and so I think still having that foundation of the 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:17.800 plan really was able to help keep me on on 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.320 a path which wasn't always straight. But then also having 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.359 my girlfriend at the time who is now my wife, 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:28.840 and again understanding the importance of surrounding myself with people 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.640 who have your best interests in mind, not yes man 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.000 or yes women, right, people who are not going to 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:35.919 tell you what you want to hear, but obviously what 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:38.679 you need to hear. Two thousand and eight, I think 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:40.800 you go back and get your degree, but what inspires 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.400 you to do that? Yeah, again, it kind of really 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.480 goes back to the tough childhood that I had. People 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:48.119 didn't look at me growing up, and I'm sure it 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:50.120 might have been the same for you, Bobby saying, man, 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:52.000 that kid's gonna go places some day and do some 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.560 great things. And uh, it's really was driven by the 0:19:55.600 --> 0:20:00.360 sense of wanting to overcome the stereotypes and the statistics 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:03.560 and have a sense of achievement. After I got wounded 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.359 in the military, I got Metavact out of there and 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.159 I was gone for three weeks. A fellow soldier my 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:12.560 unit by the name of Greg Trent, had a conversation 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:15.439 with me, and Greg was able to sneak me on 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:19.359 a helicopter flight to get back there with my soldiers. Unfortunately, 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.880 Greg was killed in two thousand twelve in Afghanistan while 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:26.639 operating with his Special Forces team. But Gregg got me 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:28.960 back out there. I couldn't go out on any missions. 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:31.879 But we're working with the Special Forces. We're working with 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:35.520 the Seals, which meant we had bigger budgets, which meant 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:38.159 we had satellites, which meant we had fast internet. So 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:42.160 I started plugging away at online college classes while I'm 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:44.120 in a mud hut in the middle of nowhere, Afghanistan. 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:46.360 And so I finished two years of college classes while 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:50.320 I was in just because I wanted to challenge myself 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.679 and accomplish something and prove people wrong. And so I 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.320 got out December two thousand eight. January two thousand nine, 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.200 I was sitting in the college classroom with a bunch 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:01.959 eighteen nineteen year old kids, and you know, I was 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:04.119 twenty six at the time. I felt like I was 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:07.479 that kind of old weird man on campus. But uh 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.200 is still pretty young, you know, double majored. I went, 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:14.479 got that master's degree, and then, um, you know, just 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:18.120 a few years ago, I went and finished another master's 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:22.359 degree in organization development for Pepperdine and again really driven 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.879 by that sense of wanting to accomplish something and showing 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:29.320 people that I can do it, and not only showing 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:31.760 people that you can do it. And I feel like 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:33.840 we're we come from the same spot and you may 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:36.159 agree with me here, it's showing other people like us 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:39.639 they can do it too. Absolutely, Yeah, definitely, it's a 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:44.119 you know, being being that I like holding up that 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:46.639 mirror to other people and saying like, look, if I 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:49.720 can overcome this, I know that you can too, And yeah, 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:51.560 you know what, it's gonna be hard and It's gonna 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:53.480 take a lot of hard work and it's not gonna 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:57.040 be handed to you, but you can do it. If 0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:58.919 there are young people listening to this right now who 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:02.919 are considering enlisting and then they're moved by your story, 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:06.520 what advice would you give them about enlisting? I would 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:09.320 ask them, what do you want to do in life? 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:12.760