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Speaker 1: Yeah, did, and my tired at school's long line of

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Speaker 1: my fool of husband down on the back crazy one evasion. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're tation. My first entertainment tour in Iraq was in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and seven, oh kidding, and that it was

5
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Speaker 1: originally booked for April two thousand and seven, and the

6
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Speaker 1: week before we were going to leave, they the contractor

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Speaker 1: called and said they're canceling because there's too many operations

8
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Speaker 1: going on. Yeah, just too busy surge. Yeah, exactly, that

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Speaker 1: was the surge. And so they rescheduled us for August.

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Speaker 1: So my first tour we went in August, and I

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Speaker 1: wasn't I wasn't known, nobody knew who I was, so

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Speaker 1: I was We were doing like all these small fobs,

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Speaker 1: and we were hitting two fobs a day for fourteen days.

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Speaker 1: We would just go around and go to all these

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Speaker 1: real places. But I remember very specifically in Warhorse and

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Speaker 1: we had met we'd been probably going for three or

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Speaker 1: four days. You just meet all these people. Everybody's real cool, upbeat.

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Speaker 1: They're like, oh musicians, awesome. Yeah, you know, everyone has

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Speaker 1: different jobs on the fob. There's a million jobs on

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Speaker 1: the fire And I remember one day this about a

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Speaker 1: five truck convoy comes in and the sergeant major that

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Speaker 1: was taking us around, you know, they opened the gates.

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Speaker 1: The guys come in, they park, you know, in the gravel,

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Speaker 1: and the sergeant majors like, I want you to meet

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Speaker 1: these guys because they're not gonna be able to make

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Speaker 1: it to your concert tonight because they're going back out.

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Speaker 1: Then these dudes come rolling out of the truck just

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Speaker 1: covered in dirt and sweat, boys, and nobody was smiling.

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Speaker 1: They're just like just stoic, and they come walking out

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Speaker 1: and the sergeant majors like, I want you to you know,

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Speaker 1: sergeant majors, are I want you to meet here's the

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Speaker 1: band that the bands of playing tonight, you know, come

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Speaker 1: meet these guys. And so it was the first time

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Speaker 1: that I met guys that weren't that weren't like oh

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Speaker 1: yeah they were They were like, it's been been busy day. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And then then I knew right then because I was

37
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Speaker 1: learning everything I knew then there's different kinds of deployments.

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Speaker 1: Oh dude, yeah, those are your grunts right there. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: different kinds you know what I mean. And I don't

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Speaker 1: mean this in any disrespect to to anybody that is

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Speaker 1: served or that's currently serving. This is no disrespect at all.

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Speaker 1: But I learned right then that there's guys that that

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Speaker 1: men and women that will go overseas and they take

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Speaker 1: out the trash for a living. Yeah, nothing wrong, Like

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Speaker 1: I said, no disrespect, but there are there are others.

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Speaker 1: You're one of the others. Uh, you know, man, before

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Speaker 1: I joined, you know, obviously in high school, I uh,

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Speaker 1: I have buddies that I already gone. Right, So in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and one, I was a sophomore when when

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Speaker 1: all that when nine to eleven went down, and I

51
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Speaker 1: have buddies that I played football with that were seniors,

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Speaker 1: and a bunch of them were like we're going and

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Speaker 1: I'm like, all right, cool. So they they had already

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Speaker 1: done a couple of deployments when they came back, and

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Speaker 1: I talked to him, was like, dude, I want to go,

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Speaker 1: Like I want to join, I want to go. What

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Speaker 1: do you think I should do? And without keeping a

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Speaker 1: heartbeat off four of them we're like, you got to

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Speaker 1: be lev and bravo, you got to be an infantry guy.

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Speaker 1: And I go, okay, he goes, You'll think us later.

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Speaker 1: And I was like cool because I still hell yeah, sure, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean listen man again, without no disrespect, right. I

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Speaker 1: wanted to go and fight, you know. And I had

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Speaker 1: an understanding that you can join the army and be

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Speaker 1: in the band, now that there's something nothing wrong with

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Speaker 1: being in the band. But I wasn't going to join

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Speaker 1: to be the band and play music and not go fight,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Or I wasn't going to

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Speaker 1: join and be a cook and feed guys like which

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Speaker 1: we need those guys. I was going to say, we

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Speaker 1: need to say in this conversation so that no one

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Speaker 1: starts getting their feelings right. Yeah, for sure, dude, we

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Speaker 1: need the cook, so we do. We need mechanics, fix

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Speaker 1: them to generate all it makes the wheel go around, right,

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Speaker 1: everybody does. Everybody can tribute and that's what makes the

76
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Speaker 1: machine go and everybody's job is important. I just wanted

77
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Speaker 1: to be in their front lines, and I wanted to

78
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Speaker 1: look him in the eyes, and I wanted them to

79
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Speaker 1: be me was the last thing they ever saw before

80
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Speaker 1: it was all said and done. So like, I wanted

81
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Speaker 1: to go fight. So that's why I chose that job. Yeah, dude, respect,

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Speaker 1: I looked it up. I looked up the day of

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Speaker 1: the week, and it was a Monday, May the fourteenth,

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Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. It was a Monday. Yeah. And anytime I

85
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Speaker 1: hear a story like yours, I always my brain always

86
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Speaker 1: goes to twenty twenty or two thousand and seven and

87
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Speaker 1: one three years ago or wait two, I don't even

88
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Speaker 1: they can't even do methad, So sure my mind always

89
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Speaker 1: goes to you know, what was I doing? Yeah, And

90
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Speaker 1: so I know that I know that my little, my

91
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Speaker 1: little entertainment deployment was canceled. So I was probably out

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Speaker 1: playing a nobody in a bar type type of concert,

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Speaker 1: you know. But yeah, and you we're having the day

94
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Speaker 1: of your life. And I don't think I don't think.

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Speaker 1: I know you've told it a thousand times. Yeah, but

96
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Speaker 1: I don't think we can go really much farther in

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Speaker 1: this in this story without you telling what happened on

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Speaker 1: May the fourteenth, if you don't, Yeah, no, no, not

99
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Speaker 1: at all, not at all. Yeah. So May fourteen, two

100
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Speaker 1: thousand and seven, it was just like any other day, right,

101
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Speaker 1: I mean, we went out, it was early in the morning,

102
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Speaker 1: we went on our patrol, and we had three other platoons,

103
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Speaker 1: so we all alternated times during the month, so some

104
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Speaker 1: guys would start at night, some guys would leave those guys,

105
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Speaker 1: and then in the morning we would go out. So

106
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Speaker 1: that was our turn. Our turn was to go out

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Speaker 1: early as possible in the morning. So, you know, I

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Speaker 1: woke up, inspected my truck, and I was a fifty

109
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Speaker 1: cow gunner, so I went out and make sure that

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Speaker 1: the head space and timing was done on my fifty,

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Speaker 1: make sure that we had enough water, you know, all

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Speaker 1: the little things. You know, It's kind of like when

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Speaker 1: you wake up, you make your coffee, you got your

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Speaker 1: keys and your phone, and you're like, I'm rolling out

115
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Speaker 1: same thing. And man, it was crazy, right because I

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Speaker 1: can look back at it now, and it was one

117
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Speaker 1: of those things where I had a routine. So I

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Speaker 1: would check everything, make sure we had gas, everything guns

119
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Speaker 1: was good to go. And then before we rolled out,

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Speaker 1: I used to say a quick prayer and then you know,

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Speaker 1: we go out the window and I'm like, all right

122
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Speaker 1: about the doors, and I'm like I'm good. But for

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Speaker 1: some reason that day we were running behind little there

124
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Speaker 1: was a lot of chaos going on, and I forgot

125
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Speaker 1: to do a couple of things and and Santa Prayer

126
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Speaker 1: was one of them, and uh, so we rolled out.

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Speaker 1: We were a five vehicle convoy and that was a

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Speaker 1: third vehicle in the uh in the row and uh

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Speaker 1: we start rolling out. Can you tell me what what

130
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Speaker 1: fob were you leaving? We were in a fall call Apache,

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Speaker 1: which yeah, we were in out of me Iraq, which

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Speaker 1: was the last place. Yeah, I went through Apache. Did

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Speaker 1: you really have another ship? Yeah, it's it's such a

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Speaker 1: small little fob. I mean, there was about one hundred

135
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Speaker 1: and night and one was to live there. That was it.

136
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Speaker 1: But that was the last place, I said, almost sane,

137
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Speaker 1: having seen before, he went into hiding. So we took

138
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Speaker 1: over the whole palace and we lived the little small house,

139
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Speaker 1: which is crazy. It was like a three story home

140
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Speaker 1: where all of us lived in. And there was body here,

141
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Speaker 1: body there, caught here. I mean, it was crazy, you know,

142
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Speaker 1: that's what we call it home. So yeah, we roll

143
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Speaker 1: out of Fabapatche and you know, it's like seven in

144
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Speaker 1: the morning and the last vehicle gets hit with an

145
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Speaker 1: ID but it was a small one. It was you know,

146
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Speaker 1: meant to catch our attention and goes off and nothing

147
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Speaker 1: happened on the vehicle. The only thing that happened was

148
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Speaker 1: the spare tire got blown out, so we pull over

149
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Speaker 1: assess the situation. You know, we're already on the alert,

150
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Speaker 1: and my TC, which is my truck commander, which is

151
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Speaker 1: my squal eater staff starting compost, hits me on the

152
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Speaker 1: leg because I'm the gunner, and he goes, there's your

153
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Speaker 1: wake up call or your alarm wake up and I'm like, god,

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Speaker 1: here we go. So he reached over and I used

155
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Speaker 1: to have my cigarettes in my pocket, and he reached

156
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Speaker 1: over and he grabs one, and he goes, you're getting

157
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Speaker 1: text today, so he steals a cigarette. I was like, dude,

158
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Speaker 1: what the hell, man, I'm running low. You know, we're

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Speaker 1: in the middle of nowhere. We already get any and

160
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Speaker 1: you're taking one of mine. So he does, and you know,

161
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Speaker 1: we wake up. I put one him them off to you,

162
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Speaker 1: and then you know, it comes over with the radio.

163
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Speaker 1: We're gonna go. We're gonna go. Just push is to

164
00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,520
Speaker 1: sparaits higher. We're like, all right, cool, So we roll

165
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Speaker 1: out and as we're driving, the first two vehicles start

166
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Speaker 1: getting engaged from the left hand side, so they start

167
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Speaker 1: getting shot at, and at that point the first vehicle

168
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Speaker 1: had already gone, so he can't turn to where the

169
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Speaker 1: fire is coming from. So the second truck follows it

170
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Speaker 1: so that we don't have a truck by itself going

171
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Speaker 1: so anyway. So they go to the next street they pushed,

172
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Speaker 1: and they turn, and my vehicle turns straight to where

173
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Speaker 1: the incoming fire is coming from. So as soon as

174
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Speaker 1: that happens, and I can just hear things zipping through

175
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Speaker 1: and hitting the truck. And at that point, you know,

176
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Speaker 1: all your training kicks in and you're like, oh baby,

177
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Speaker 1: here we go. And do you get excited? Oh yeah, okay,

178
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Speaker 1: oh yeah. It's like it's an adrelline that you would

179
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Speaker 1: never ever experience evering your life again. And I've done

180
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Speaker 1: almost anything. I mean, I've done skydiving, I've gone and

181
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Speaker 1: a trophy truck with BJ Baldwin and We've jumped and

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Speaker 1: gone as fast as you can go. I mean, I've

183
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Speaker 1: done all these things and I can never ever recreate

184
00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:06,600
Speaker 1: that high ever again. And so we turn and you know,

185
00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,079
Speaker 1: I start saying it. I was like, all right, here

186
00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:09,600
Speaker 1: we go. So I get on my fifteen. I started

187
00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,160
Speaker 1: unloading and dropped the few and you know that adrenaline

188
00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,520
Speaker 1: kicks in and everything, all the training is in, so

189
00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:17,760
Speaker 1: you're you got the adrilline high, but you still got

190
00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:19,280
Speaker 1: a perform your job. And I'm like, here we go,

191
00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,880
Speaker 1: start going, and as we do that, everybody falls back

192
00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,880
Speaker 1: in formation against you know, everybody scanning, and at that

193
00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,000
Speaker 1: moment we start getting engaged from the left hand side again.

194
00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,200
Speaker 1: So we all turn and I was the first vehicle

195
00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:33,960
Speaker 1: and we go over a bump, and in the back

196
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Speaker 1: of my head and I'm trying to process what's going on,

197
00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,200
Speaker 1: I'm like, holy crap, this bump shouldn't be here. We've

198
00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,439
Speaker 1: been in there about eleven months already, and I knew

199
00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,320
Speaker 1: those streets like the back of my hands, man, like

200
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:46,120
Speaker 1: you could drop me off anywhere and I can get

201
00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:48,960
Speaker 1: back to the FOP like I knew where we were at.

202
00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,440
Speaker 1: And I'm like, wait a minute, that that shouldn't be there. Well,

203
00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,480
Speaker 1: I'm trying to process this ID goes off. It was

204
00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,120
Speaker 1: a commanded and neate ID. So what they did is

205
00:10:58,160 --> 00:10:59,800
Speaker 1: there was a house here left and there's a house

206
00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,640
Speaker 1: to right. They dug a hole from the right hand

207
00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:04,920
Speaker 1: side into the middle of the street and started packing

208
00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,280
Speaker 1: it with explosives, and there was a guy inside with

209
00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,440
Speaker 1: a commanded nation that as soon as he saw as

210
00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:12,880
Speaker 1: he needed to hit it. Well, he messed up because

211
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Speaker 1: he needed to hit it as soon as we were

212
00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,040
Speaker 1: in the middle, and that would have probably cracked the

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Speaker 1: truck in half and killed everybody in it. But he

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Speaker 1: panicked and hit. Yeah, he did, and he hit it

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Speaker 1: in the back. So the truck hit on the backside

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Speaker 1: and we went up in the air and we came down.

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Speaker 1: And when the truck hit the ground, you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: still standing on the gun and it all happened so fast.

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Speaker 1: It hits and I come back down. My legs collapsed

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Speaker 1: and I fall to my right hand side, and in

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Speaker 1: the back passenger seat was especially this Harkey and Harky

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Speaker 1: was was killed on the spot with the ID just

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Speaker 1: killed him. And I remember looking at him and seeing

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Speaker 1: him and his eyes were just white, man like they

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Speaker 1: were just foggy. Now, I was like, damn, you know,

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Speaker 1: Harkey's Harky's gone. And as they did that, there's if

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Speaker 1: there's a weird thing about the soul when it leaves

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Speaker 1: the eyes, yeah, I mean they say the winded to

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Speaker 1: the soul. That's that's a true statement. Yeah, cut it out.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how to explain it the other way.

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Speaker 1: I mean, not at all, man, Yeah, and you know,

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Speaker 1: I looked at him and I was like, damn. And

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Speaker 1: I remember looking over and I saw Catertin, which their driver,

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Speaker 1: and then Fleming was on the other side, and they

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Speaker 1: both jumped out of the truck and they were both

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Speaker 1: on fire. And it was crazy because it was like

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Speaker 1: the movies, man, like you know when things slows down

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Speaker 1: and then but everything's happening so fast. It was the

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Speaker 1: exact same thing. I saw Catertin on fire, and then

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Speaker 1: I looked over and I see Fleming and he's on fire.

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Speaker 1: And then he ran behind the truck, so I lost

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Speaker 1: sight of him, so he was gone. And then I

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Speaker 1: lost Catertin. And then the midst of all things, like

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Speaker 1: I'm laying there and my truck commander, which is one

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Speaker 1: of my best friends, compos was as the TC. He

246
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Speaker 1: couldn't get out. His equipment was burned into the seat

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Speaker 1: and he was attached to it and he grabbed me

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Speaker 1: and he's like get out. And man, at that point,

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Speaker 1: you know, eleven months and we've lost a lot of guys.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we had lost a lot of guys. And

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Speaker 1: my faith was very low at that point, like I

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Speaker 1: had lost faith in God. I was mad. You know,

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Speaker 1: we really didn't talk that well anymore. And I remember

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Speaker 1: laying down there and I told the compost. I was like, nah, man,

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Speaker 1: I'm good. Like this is it. And I don't know

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Speaker 1: if it's brainwash or whatever you want to call it,

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Speaker 1: but in our profession, it's either you come home alive

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Speaker 1: or you don't. There was never a moment where I

259
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Speaker 1: was like, oh, maybe I'll get injured and come home

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Speaker 1: and live somewhat normal life. You know that that wasn't

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Speaker 1: in my plan. I was said, well, I was going

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Speaker 1: to dine combat. It was going to be the greatest

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Speaker 1: day of my life, and that was going to be

264
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Speaker 1: like all the glory that I could have asked for

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Speaker 1: us to dyne combat. So I'm laying there and you know,

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Speaker 1: he's trying to make me get out, and I remember,

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Speaker 1: you know, at that point, I kind of I started

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Speaker 1: talking to God and I was like, hey, listen, I'm sorry.

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Speaker 1: You know I lost faith or questioned you just asked

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Speaker 1: for a favor. Take care of my mom, take care

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Speaker 1: of my dad, and take care of my siblings, like

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Speaker 1: you know, look out for them, and just look out

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Speaker 1: after my mom because I know she's gonna take it

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Speaker 1: the heart is, and you know, she's got to bear

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Speaker 1: with us for the rest of her life. I knew

276
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Speaker 1: my dad was gonna be okay. My dad served, so

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00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,080
Speaker 1: him and I had had these conversations before, and he

278
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Speaker 1: was like, I figured he was gonna be okay. So

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Speaker 1: as I'm having that conversation, your compost is trying to

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Speaker 1: get me to get out, and the door opens in

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Speaker 1: front of him, and it was one of our other

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Speaker 1: buddies that had run up to the front, Taylor, And

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Speaker 1: you know, he busted out his knife and started cutting

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Speaker 1: stuff off, and he pulled out Compost. And when he

285
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Speaker 1: pulls him out, you know, I just started hearing rounds

286
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Speaker 1: going off. We had enemies coming towards us, like about

287
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Speaker 1: thirty to forty of them coming towards us, and it

288
00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,880
Speaker 1: caught my attention. But at the same time, and it

289
00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,240
Speaker 1: was one of those things where like, as I was

290
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Speaker 1: laying there on fire, dying, I remember this little voice

291
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Speaker 1: in my head that said, not today, get up, And

292
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Speaker 1: then I just felt this energy inside of me. Man

293
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Speaker 1: like till today, I still created God one hundre percent

294
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Speaker 1: because I felt it, like and I truly, like I

295
00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,560
Speaker 1: can honestly tell you that I heard that little voice

296
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Speaker 1: that said get up, not today, And I got up

297
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Speaker 1: and man my fifty cow and I started shooting. But

298
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Speaker 1: since there was so much fire coming out of the

299
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Speaker 1: hum vye and we had extra grenades, we had extra ammunition.

300
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Speaker 1: I mean, we carried extra stuff for everybody else in caged.

301
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Speaker 1: We ever got in a big firefight, we had AMMO

302
00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,200
Speaker 1: to give out and and all that good stuff. So

303
00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,560
Speaker 1: that started cooking off. And for those that are listening that, no, no,

304
00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:34,480
Speaker 1: what cooking off is is when when the fire is

305
00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:38,800
Speaker 1: so strong, you know, the actual gunpowder and then the

306
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:40,800
Speaker 1: explosives and things that are just going to go off.

307
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Speaker 1: You know, the heat is what happens. And I remember

308
00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,360
Speaker 1: grenade went off and it just peppered my whole right slide,

309
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Speaker 1: and I was like, oh shit, here we go. And

310
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Speaker 1: there was enemies in the rooftops. I started shooting, and

311
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Speaker 1: then around cooked off in the barrel of the fifty

312
00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,880
Speaker 1: cow and exploded and just everywhere. So I just remember

313
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Speaker 1: covering my face and at that point I was like,

314
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,240
Speaker 1: all right, I need to get out. You're the sitting duck.

315
00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:05,640
Speaker 1: I mean, you're the gunner. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and you know,

316
00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:07,360
Speaker 1: just trying to give a little bit of support the fire.

317
00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,000
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and you're firing on top of it, yeah

318
00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,680
Speaker 1: a little bit, but yeah, all right, just setting the

319
00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,640
Speaker 1: scene here. So at that point, you know, as a gunner,

320
00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,520
Speaker 1: you're always taught to get other gun attatched. And then

321
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:23,680
Speaker 1: you know it's about six feet high, so you jump

322
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Speaker 1: into the front of the hood and then down, or

323
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:28,560
Speaker 1: you know, you can jump in the trunk and then down,

324
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,760
Speaker 1: which everyone works. Well, the fire was so heavy on

325
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Speaker 1: both sides. If I would have jumped in the front,

326
00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,920
Speaker 1: I would have gone straight down with the engine and

327
00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,040
Speaker 1: that would have been it. And the same thing in

328
00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,400
Speaker 1: the back. So I jumped to the side. And as

329
00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:42,040
Speaker 1: I jumped to the side and managed to grab my

330
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Speaker 1: ar But when I hit the ground, you know, it's

331
00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,120
Speaker 1: so badly burned and still on fire that when it

332
00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,080
Speaker 1: hit the brown of the ground, both of my fevers broke.

333
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,280
Speaker 1: So I had both em. Was just break and uh,

334
00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:57,920
Speaker 1: I remember, and I looked them and it's just something

335
00:16:58,040 --> 00:16:59,520
Speaker 1: hurt and I just start looking at me and I'm

336
00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:01,920
Speaker 1: on fire. So I do the whole stop, drop and

337
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,240
Speaker 1: roll and let me just tell you it doesn't work

338
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,400
Speaker 1: wherever event ait that lie to us because it doesn't work.

339
00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,000
Speaker 1: So I started doing it. It's not working. And then

340
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,639
Speaker 1: out of nowhere, Kushno, which is one of our other buddies,

341
00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:17,760
Speaker 1: comes over and he's like close your eyes. I'm like why,

342
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,320
Speaker 1: and he just poppers me with the fire extinguisher and everywhere,

343
00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,159
Speaker 1: and he turns me off and he's like, I'll be

344
00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:24,639
Speaker 1: right back. I'm gonna go get the medic and I'm like,

345
00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,320
Speaker 1: all right, cool. So I started pushing myself away from

346
00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,240
Speaker 1: the car, from the vehicle because I mean I jumped

347
00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:32,480
Speaker 1: down and it was right there and I can still

348
00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,119
Speaker 1: feel the flames with a humvey coming towards me. So

349
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,920
Speaker 1: I roll over and I start scanning and I look

350
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:39,520
Speaker 1: at the rooftop and I can see people and I

351
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:41,639
Speaker 1: start take a couple of shots, and I take a

352
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:43,840
Speaker 1: couple other shots and then I run out of amma.

353
00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:45,439
Speaker 1: I mean, I only had thirty rounds in my mag

354
00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,280
Speaker 1: We're actually twenty nine. I never really loaded it all

355
00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:53,000
Speaker 1: the way up. And at that point, man, it was

356
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,080
Speaker 1: like I seen him black hawk down because I remember

357
00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:57,960
Speaker 1: just looking up and I saw two helicopters and I'm like,

358
00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,719
Speaker 1: holy crap, it's this. This is the fastest medical evacuation

359
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:04,840
Speaker 1: in the history of Iraq, Like they're coming to get

360
00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:07,440
Speaker 1: us already. Well, what had happened was there was two

361
00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:12,560
Speaker 1: black Hawks and the AO and in the vicinity, and

362
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,720
Speaker 1: and they happened to see the smoke, so they came

363
00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:17,359
Speaker 1: to check it out, like you know, what's that? And

364
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:21,320
Speaker 1: then they saw and they were able to make contact

365
00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:23,200
Speaker 1: with the guys on the ground, so they establish communication

366
00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:24,800
Speaker 1: and they're like, yeah, we got here with an ID.

367
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:26,960
Speaker 1: This was going on, and the guy goes, oh, here

368
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,080
Speaker 1: they come. This was about thirty to forty of them

369
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,760
Speaker 1: coming down the streets. All I'll packed, man like with RPGs,

370
00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:35,240
Speaker 1: everything you can think of, and these guys just came

371
00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:39,040
Speaker 1: down and smoked them all. I mean just it was awesome.

372
00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:41,280
Speaker 1: But that's all I saw. I didn't know what was

373
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,040
Speaker 1: going on at that time. It's brass falling everywhere, and

374
00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,360
Speaker 1: I'm like what I was like, here we go, I'm

375
00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:48,399
Speaker 1: getting out of here. And then I see them leave

376
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:50,680
Speaker 1: them like where you're not going? But they were running

377
00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:52,760
Speaker 1: out of fuel because they they you know, they were

378
00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:54,480
Speaker 1: doing those runs for us, and you know they weren't

379
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,960
Speaker 1: even supposed to be there. So they went back and

380
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,639
Speaker 1: refueled and then they were coming back. But as all

381
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,919
Speaker 1: that's going going on, I'm sitting there and the STAPs

382
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,040
Speaker 1: are in Nunness, which is one of the other guys,

383
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,120
Speaker 1: comes runs by me and he's running and he looks

384
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,320
Speaker 1: down and he's like, you know, he caught the look

385
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,760
Speaker 1: like oh, and I'm there, like just sitting there, and

386
00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,359
Speaker 1: he goes, are you alive? And I was like I

387
00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,880
Speaker 1: think so. And then he's like, oh my god. So

388
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:23,239
Speaker 1: he grabs me and I was like, dude, I think

389
00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:24,960
Speaker 1: my leg's broken, and you know, he takes a quick

390
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,639
Speaker 1: glance and you know, all this stuff's going on, and

391
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,359
Speaker 1: he goes, no, no, you're fine. I'm like okay. So

392
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:31,680
Speaker 1: he picks me up and I'm putting all my weight

393
00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,320
Speaker 1: on him. So we start walking, you know, and we

394
00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:36,920
Speaker 1: get to the Humby and he's like, all right, I'm

395
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:38,160
Speaker 1: gonna have to let you go a little bit because

396
00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,159
Speaker 1: I got to open the door. And you know, for

397
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,560
Speaker 1: those that know an up arm or Humby, the doors

398
00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:44,840
Speaker 1: are by five hundred pounds. I mean they're heavy. It's

399
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,119
Speaker 1: they're heavy. So he lets go of me and he

400
00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,080
Speaker 1: opens the door and when he does, my legs rebreak

401
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:51,800
Speaker 1: and all I remember is I saw him. I saw

402
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,440
Speaker 1: the humvey and I remember heading and I saw the sky.

403
00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:56,399
Speaker 1: And then he comes over to me and he's like,

404
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,520
Speaker 1: oh my god, Oh my god. And all I can

405
00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,720
Speaker 1: think is like, I told you, legs are broken. And

406
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,199
Speaker 1: then he's like, why why aren't you in pain? I'm like,

407
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,680
Speaker 1: you know, I credited to adrenaline. I mean, the Dala

408
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,240
Speaker 1: was so high that, you know, I couldn't really feel it.

409
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:15,520
Speaker 1: I didn't know the extent of my injuries. And so

410
00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,840
Speaker 1: he puts me on the humby. And the driver that

411
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,520
Speaker 1: we had was his first day in Iraq. What's his

412
00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,159
Speaker 1: first day out the wire, what's his first driving in

413
00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:29,399
Speaker 1: combat and seeing combat? And he was a replacement, you know,

414
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:31,479
Speaker 1: like we had lost so many guys that we were

415
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,160
Speaker 1: starting to get little replacements here and there. So he's

416
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:36,240
Speaker 1: screaming and he's scared, and I don't blame him, an,

417
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:41,720
Speaker 1: I mean, like probably eighteen nineteen, so yeah, I was

418
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,440
Speaker 1: twenty one, yeah, yeah, So like, oh, that's that's kind

419
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,680
Speaker 1: of old. And in the military you're twenty one, you're like,

420
00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,399
Speaker 1: oh man, look at that dinosaur, you know, and uh

421
00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,359
Speaker 1: So I'm sitting there and he's screaming and yelling, and

422
00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:55,320
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to get a sense of what's going on.

423
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,200
Speaker 1: And I mean I did what anybody else would have done.

424
00:20:58,200 --> 00:20:59,840
Speaker 1: I reached over and I slapped him and I said,

425
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,639
Speaker 1: shot up. It's like, shut up, give me the radio.

426
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,560
Speaker 1: Gives me the radio. And I started giving accountability to

427
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,040
Speaker 1: our company. So I'm like, hey, I got I got

428
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,480
Speaker 1: two wounded, or I got three wounded, I got one dead.

429
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,680
Speaker 1: We're getting ready to push, you know, open the gates

430
00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:18,960
Speaker 1: as you see us coming in. And as I'm doing that,

431
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,600
Speaker 1: my medic jumps in and he starts working on me,

432
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,000
Speaker 1: and he's you know, patching me up or assessing the situation.

433
00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,119
Speaker 1: I guess. And I look over and I'm like, I'm like,

434
00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,399
Speaker 1: doc him, thirsty, give me some water. And he's like,

435
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:30,840
Speaker 1: I can't give you any water right now. Man, let

436
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:32,480
Speaker 1: me let me look at you real quick, you know.

437
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,200
Speaker 1: And I'm like, dude, I'm thirsty, bro give me some water.

438
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:37,399
Speaker 1: And we went back and forward, and I finally I

439
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:38,960
Speaker 1: was like, did I rank you? Man? Just give me

440
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,399
Speaker 1: some water. And he does, and I remember taking a

441
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,880
Speaker 1: quick sip and it was like the best thing ever.

442
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,679
Speaker 1: Like you know, whenever you're like either hungover or something,

443
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:50,639
Speaker 1: or you're very thirsty after a workout and you just

444
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,120
Speaker 1: take a cold sip of water and it's the best

445
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,960
Speaker 1: invention that you know we have. That's what that felt like.

446
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,280
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my God, Like water is life

447
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,280
Speaker 1: like I was like, and then followed by the biggest

448
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,520
Speaker 1: mistake I could have done in my life. I pour

449
00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,200
Speaker 1: some water on my face because I was, you know, hot,

450
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,159
Speaker 1: and all the chemical was in everything in the dirt

451
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,160
Speaker 1: and everything in I racked just went into my eyes

452
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,920
Speaker 1: and I wentn't line. I cannot see. And right then

453
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,000
Speaker 1: and there, I realized that there was two things that

454
00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,879
Speaker 1: we could do. I could panic, scream, or you know,

455
00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,760
Speaker 1: just not be effective anymore. Or I can help us

456
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,440
Speaker 1: get back. Because at that same time, I heard over

457
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:31,159
Speaker 1: the radio we're good to go. We're going to go.

458
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,080
Speaker 1: First truck, push up. And I was right in the

459
00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,400
Speaker 1: first truck and I looked at I asked the driver

460
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,600
Speaker 1: what position, and we're in the in the convoy goes

461
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,879
Speaker 1: we're up front, and he's like, I don't know how

462
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 1: to get back, and I was like, I'll take you back.

463
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,560
Speaker 1: And at that point I was like, Okay, I need

464
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 1: to man up. I need to get this guy back,

465
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,760
Speaker 1: and so we we get it. We get the green

466
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:51,720
Speaker 1: to go, which is pretty much everybodys saying they're ready

467
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,879
Speaker 1: to go, and we started pushing and all I can

468
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:56,679
Speaker 1: remember was like, all right, we're we're at where we're at.

469
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:58,840
Speaker 1: And then I was like, right, you see that pink

470
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 1: house up there coming up in the He goes yep.

471
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,320
Speaker 1: I said take that left, and he goes, got it.

472
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,000
Speaker 1: So he takes that left and we started going down

473
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 1: the road. And for some reason I still remember it

474
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:14,199
Speaker 1: today vividly, these people hat a giant bail from like

475
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,240
Speaker 1: a church or something in front of their house. For

476
00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 1: some reason, I don't know why, but it was there,

477
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:21,800
Speaker 1: and I was like, you see the giant bill in

478
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:23,880
Speaker 1: the front of yard. He goes yep. I said, take

479
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,760
Speaker 1: that right. You're gonna go straight down and you should

480
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,880
Speaker 1: see a house or you should see the fob about

481
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 1: three hundred yards away. He goes, I see it, I

482
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:32,720
Speaker 1: see it. I said, tell me when we're about one

483
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,399
Speaker 1: hundred yards away. He goes, We're one hundred yards away.

484
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:37,080
Speaker 1: So I call up the company. I was like, opening

485
00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 1: the gates, open the gates, we're coming in. We roll

486
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,439
Speaker 1: in on the first vehicle, everybody alway rolls in and

487
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 1: they close them and I knew that we had three

488
00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 1: medics on our FOB and there was four of us

489
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,119
Speaker 1: that were wounded. So they coming open the door and

490
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 1: I just closed the door and I'm like nope, they

491
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:55,960
Speaker 1: go get the other guys. They're worse than I am.

492
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 1: And they're looking at me like you're burning naked and

493
00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:00,960
Speaker 1: there's still fumes come out of you, like no, we

494
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,000
Speaker 1: got to get you out, and I was like, nope,

495
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:07,640
Speaker 1: we only got three medics. I got lucky that we

496
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,960
Speaker 1: were in the same fop. Next to us, there was

497
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,439
Speaker 1: a Special Forces group that had just moved in, so

498
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 1: their medic came over to help and he's like, I'm here.

499
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:16,679
Speaker 1: We got you, We got you, And I was like okay.

500
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 1: So as I opened the door, my buddy comes to

501
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 1: grab me, and when he grabs me to pull me out,

502
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,240
Speaker 1: all my skin just came off into his hands and

503
00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:26,359
Speaker 1: he's just like and I can remember seeing his face

504
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 1: like he was in shock, like what the hell. So

505
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 1: they finally get me out and they put me in

506
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:34,399
Speaker 1: a stretcher and they bring me into the eighth station,

507
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,080
Speaker 1: and I remember laying there and I looked over and

508
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 1: I see Catterson coming in and I was like, we're

509
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 1: going home, brother, and he just looked at me and

510
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:42,680
Speaker 1: he goes like yeah, man. Yeah. I was like i'll

511
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,840
Speaker 1: see you shortly and he's like okay. And the same

512
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:47,800
Speaker 1: thing dude, Fleming, you know, Fleming came in and I

513
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,520
Speaker 1: was like, love you, bro. I was like, we're going

514
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 1: home and he's like yeah, yeah yeah. So they took

515
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:55,040
Speaker 1: him in and then compos came in and I was

516
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,439
Speaker 1: like trying to reach over to touch him and just

517
00:24:57,480 --> 00:24:59,560
Speaker 1: tell him that it was okay. And I was like,

518
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,399
Speaker 1: love you do, dude, and he just he just like

519
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,760
Speaker 1: looked at me and he wasn't responsible, wasn't really talking,

520
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:05,920
Speaker 1: but he was just like, you know, saying yes. I

521
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 1: was like, we're going home, and he's like okay, okay.

522
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,960
Speaker 1: So they get us somewhat prepped, and then at that

523
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,919
Speaker 1: same time, a helicopters came in to pick us up

524
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,920
Speaker 1: to take us to the Green Zone so we can

525
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 1: start having surgery. So we can you know, they can

526
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:22,920
Speaker 1: get us stable and we're not, so from that point

527
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:27,040
Speaker 1: they can ship us to Germany. And man, I remember,

528
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 1: you know, they got us back on the Humvey and

529
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,720
Speaker 1: they start taking us down to the Alz the landing zone,

530
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 1: and the choppers come in and you know, and the

531
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,960
Speaker 1: medicals close your eyes. I'm like why, and the fan goes,

532
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 1: I mean, the the repellors from the chopper a going,

533
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 1: and all this dirt goes in my eyes. I was like, yeah,

534
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: yeah again. I was like gosh. And at this point

535
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 1: I can kind of see already, Like it was just

536
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:49,800
Speaker 1: kind of quick. So I was like, oh shit, I'm

537
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,719
Speaker 1: like closing my eyes again. And they load us up

538
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,480
Speaker 1: in the chopper and at this point it's been almost

539
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,639
Speaker 1: eleven months. I had and see you another female and

540
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,000
Speaker 1: the flight medic it was in there was a was

541
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,520
Speaker 1: a female and I just I smelled her. I was like,

542
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,680
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I was like, how you doing?

543
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,080
Speaker 1: And she's like she's like, be like, I'm all jacked

544
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,800
Speaker 1: up and she's just like I'm good. I'm good. I

545
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,480
Speaker 1: was like, I was like, what are you doing after this?

546
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,880
Speaker 1: And she's just like what the hell them not at all? Yeah,

547
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,119
Speaker 1: So that was kind of crazy. I ended up linking

548
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 1: up with her down the road and like she's just like,

549
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:25,800
Speaker 1: you're crazy, and I was like, cool, whatever, I'm gonna

550
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:33,200
Speaker 1: take a quick break. All right, right back with your story. Yeah,

551
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:35,920
Speaker 1: all right, so you already have the one of the

552
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: crazy stories anybody's ever heard in her life, including you

553
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:44,120
Speaker 1: up until this point. So, uh, you're getting transported back

554
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,159
Speaker 1: to the US. Well yeah, so no. From there, we

555
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,679
Speaker 1: went to the Green Zone and you know, they they

556
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,480
Speaker 1: kind of prepped us to fly to Germany. And I

557
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,200
Speaker 1: mean again, and this is this is kind of crazy

558
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:57,800
Speaker 1: looking back now, and you can kind of see where

559
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: God was with us the whole time, because May fourteenth

560
00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:06,240
Speaker 1: got hurt. By the fifteenth ish at night or midday,

561
00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,199
Speaker 1: we were in Germany getting ready to be flown to

562
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,680
Speaker 1: Brooke Army Medical Center, which is the best, the best

563
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:14,760
Speaker 1: hospital in the world for burns. So that's where we

564
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:20,880
Speaker 1: were coming. And San Antonio. Yeah, and uh, we get

565
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 1: to Germany and the plane that was there that was

566
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,320
Speaker 1: supposed to bring us back had been waiting on us.

567
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,399
Speaker 1: We were we were a little late, but they had

568
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,720
Speaker 1: other guys on the on the on the plane and

569
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,440
Speaker 1: these are C one thirties, the biggest fans you've ever seen.

570
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,680
Speaker 1: And the insight is a hospital, like it's a hospital.

571
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,480
Speaker 1: They got like ten beds in there, and they had

572
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,440
Speaker 1: like four other guys in that they needed to get out,

573
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 1: and they were already in the air like four hours

574
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 1: into the flight and there wasn't gonna be another flight

575
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,199
Speaker 1: to probably the next day or something, and you know,

576
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:53,920
Speaker 1: they called up the pilots and like, hey, guys, like

577
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 1: these guys are pretty bad. We think two of them

578
00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,400
Speaker 1: are not going to make it, and if you guys

579
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,600
Speaker 1: don't come back, the other two are still unquestionable. And

580
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:02,960
Speaker 1: he's like, but it's up to you, guys. You guys

581
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:04,679
Speaker 1: do whatever you want to do. Make the call that

582
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,520
Speaker 1: you need to make. And those pilots check with the

583
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,719
Speaker 1: doctors that were on the plane and they're like, we guy,

584
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,040
Speaker 1: see these guys stable. They're good to go, Like we

585
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,080
Speaker 1: can go back and get them. That plane turns around,

586
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,520
Speaker 1: comes back, they refuel, and I guess there's like a

587
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: limit of hours pilot can fly and they refuel the

588
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 1: thing and they're trying to get the pilots out out

589
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 1: of the cockpit, and the pilots are like, get off

590
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:30,680
Speaker 1: a plane. We gotta go, like we're going to finish

591
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,040
Speaker 1: our mission and take these guys back. And they're like

592
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,320
Speaker 1: going back and forward, like you're wasting time. These guys

593
00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:39,000
Speaker 1: are going to die get off. So those pilots were

594
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,680
Speaker 1: able to stay on. I mean, God bless them, you know.

595
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,080
Speaker 1: Now this is what I mean, Like we couldn't have

596
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 1: been in life if it wasn't for those guys. That's

597
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,920
Speaker 1: that's their job. Like they fly right, so makes the

598
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 1: wheel go around and they we get back up in

599
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 1: the air man and May sixteen, I'm rolling through the

600
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,920
Speaker 1: doors of Brookerny Medical Center in San Antonio. That is

601
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,800
Speaker 1: crazy to yeah. Yeah, So as a result of it,

602
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,360
Speaker 1: I had uh seventy five percent burns, third and fourth

603
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,120
Speaker 1: degree burns to the body, and I had a metal

604
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 1: torso amputation on my right leg, which is just the

605
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 1: toes that were gone from the grenade that went off.

606
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:19,480
Speaker 1: And then nine years later, I'm doing this dumb twenty

607
00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:23,400
Speaker 1: two mile road march with all these other guys and

608
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 1: you know, we're we're doing it for twenty two vets

609
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 1: a day or whatever. I'm not saying. I'm saying down

610
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 1: but to me now, it is because my my wound

611
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,720
Speaker 1: opened up, and you know, I let it sit there

612
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:38,760
Speaker 1: for three to four months because burns and uh and

613
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,880
Speaker 1: wounds don't go together. When you're burning, you have a woe.

614
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 1: It takes forever to heal. I mean a long time.

615
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:45,720
Speaker 1: And I gave it like six months and I'm like, man,

616
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 1: this thing's not healing up. What the hell? So my

617
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: fiantly now she's like, you need to go to the hospital.

618
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:52,479
Speaker 1: We'll get this checked out. I'm like, all right, I go.

619
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,680
Speaker 1: They ended up finding cancer on it, which is a

620
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,600
Speaker 1: local cancer. It wasn't spreading or anything. They came in,

621
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 1: they took it all out, but they took so much

622
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,160
Speaker 1: that my leg wasn't closing anymore. And you know, at

623
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: this point, I've got nine years with with it, and

624
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,680
Speaker 1: you know, it was limb salvage. And I remember talking

625
00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,120
Speaker 1: to Jay with Jase here, and you know, we had

626
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: conversations men prior to that, like years before, Like I

627
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:16,720
Speaker 1: was like, dide, I just want to cut it off

628
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:18,440
Speaker 1: and he's like, no, no, keep your leg, trust me

629
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,160
Speaker 1: and keep your leg. And I'm like, yeah, you're right.

630
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,880
Speaker 1: And then it got to that point and man, I

631
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,200
Speaker 1: was just like Jay, like I'm hurting, bro, Like this hurts,

632
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,400
Speaker 1: like I can't walk. It's just it's cameing down. And

633
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:29,880
Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, I think you should cut it now.

634
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 1: And I'm like, all right. Cool, So we cut it

635
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 1: almost four years now, four years ago, cut it in.

636
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,120
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that that you lost your leg long

637
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:42,640
Speaker 1: after the accident. Oh yeah, it was nine years after. Yeah,

638
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:46,320
Speaker 1: one years. So then we cut it and dude, let

639
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,400
Speaker 1: me back up just for a minute to two thousand

640
00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,520
Speaker 1: and seven. You were in a medically induced coma. Yeah,

641
00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:58,680
Speaker 1: for about three months. You kind of just brushed through

642
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 1: that like it. It was a lot, dude. I mean,

643
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:03,960
Speaker 1: you just lost three months of your life. Yeah, did

644
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:09,840
Speaker 1: you dream? Did you you wake up and it's it

645
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:14,520
Speaker 1: was June July August, right, yeah, August. It was crazy,

646
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,160
Speaker 1: you know because you know, obviously mom and dad and

647
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 1: everybody were in the room talking to me, and my

648
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: brother's uh my brother and his girlfriend at the time

649
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 1: were pregnant with my first niece, you know, my parents'

650
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 1: first granddaughter. Everything first, everything, And she used to come

651
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:34,080
Speaker 1: in there and she used to grab my hand and

652
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,840
Speaker 1: put on her stomach and was like, you need to survive,

653
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,160
Speaker 1: because at that point they had given my parents thirty

654
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,520
Speaker 1: percent chance of me living and surviving. And they told him, like,

655
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,760
Speaker 1: you need to start making funeral arrangements. And they did

656
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:49,680
Speaker 1: the same thing to compos compos. Uh. They amputated both

657
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,800
Speaker 1: on both legs because he was that's really burn and

658
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,880
Speaker 1: they were trying to cut the uh the limbs off

659
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:59,520
Speaker 1: that were all severely uh with infections and ultimately, you know,

660
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:01,840
Speaker 1: his intense and the insects were so badly burned that

661
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,440
Speaker 1: you know, he could didn't make it, so that they

662
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 1: thought I was the same case. They're like, you're your

663
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 1: son's not gonna make it. And my parents were like, no,

664
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:10,760
Speaker 1: we're not making arrangements like he's going to pull through.

665
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:13,560
Speaker 1: And you know, she used to come in and put

666
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 1: her hand on my on her stomach and just like

667
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: your niece Haley wants to meet you, like you need

668
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:21,320
Speaker 1: to survive. And I remember hearing things like that, and

669
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,560
Speaker 1: I remember my dad coming in and you know, my

670
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:25,440
Speaker 1: dad just touching me, and my dad would just like

671
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,080
Speaker 1: say little things like hey, you got this, I keep going,

672
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,560
Speaker 1: you got to push forward. And you know, I remember

673
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 1: hearing my mom praying a lot and crying, and you know,

674
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:35,920
Speaker 1: my brother crying, my sister crying, Like I remember all

675
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,800
Speaker 1: these little things, and when I woke up, I was

676
00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 1: still like on like uh like fight her pilot mode

677
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,680
Speaker 1: because I woke up, and I looked up. My dad

678
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 1: was there and I'm looking around. I'm looking around my

679
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:49,840
Speaker 1: dads what are you doing? I was like, where are

680
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,040
Speaker 1: my boots? I got to go out, like what happened?

681
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:53,479
Speaker 1: I got to go back out. And my dad's like,

682
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 1: you're you're in You're in your home and I'm like,

683
00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,440
Speaker 1: where's home? And he goes, You're in San Antonio and

684
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 1: I goes what. He goes, San Antonio, Texas. And when

685
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:04,560
Speaker 1: my dad said, I was like, I'm in Texas and

686
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,040
Speaker 1: my dad goes yeah. I laid back down and slept

687
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,080
Speaker 1: for a little longer, and then finally he came to

688
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,640
Speaker 1: and realized that what had happened. I was like, oh damn, yeah,

689
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:15,640
Speaker 1: I got I got hurt, and so who told you?

690
00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 1: It's August? My dad? When my dad woke up, I

691
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:20,800
Speaker 1: was like, I was like, what day is it. He goes,

692
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,840
Speaker 1: it's August fourth or something. I can't even remember the day,

693
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 1: and I go what. He goes, yeah. I was like,

694
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,880
Speaker 1: when I get hurt. He goes May and he goes

695
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:31,680
Speaker 1: and I go, what the hell? He's like, you were

696
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 1: in an induced coma and you've had about forty surgeries.

697
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:39,000
Speaker 1: And I was like okay, Like it was kind of

698
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,200
Speaker 1: hard to take in because at this point, I mean,

699
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,880
Speaker 1: all those months were gone and there's nothing, like I

700
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,920
Speaker 1: don't remember, I don't know what happened. What are they

701
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 1: doing to you? Forty times? I don't know much about

702
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,800
Speaker 1: So with the burns, right, skin grabs, which is what

703
00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:58,040
Speaker 1: I have on here now. So they were taking good

704
00:33:58,400 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 1: the good skin that I have, the thirty percent of

705
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 1: the skin that I had. They pretty much you know,

706
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,120
Speaker 1: the little thing that they use for the block of

707
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,000
Speaker 1: ice when they make those snow cones that just kind

708
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 1: of cuts like that, that's what they do. So they

709
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,080
Speaker 1: peel it off and a little piece of skin, they're

710
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:14,719
Speaker 1: able to stretch it pretty big, and then they put

711
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,160
Speaker 1: it on you and they make sure that, like you know,

712
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:19,479
Speaker 1: you grow that skin back up because you had no skin,

713
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:22,600
Speaker 1: no skin. And so they did that on my chest,

714
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,440
Speaker 1: on my back, on my side, some of my stomach,

715
00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:28,719
Speaker 1: and then my head too, like they took skin from

716
00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,520
Speaker 1: my head and then they started working on everything else.

717
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,319
Speaker 1: But one of the biggest things with that is infections.

718
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,799
Speaker 1: Infections are huge with burns. So some of it was

719
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:44,040
Speaker 1: skin burns or skin grabs. Some of it was to

720
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:46,600
Speaker 1: clean infections out that I was having. Some of it

721
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:49,880
Speaker 1: was to put rods in my legs because they were

722
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,160
Speaker 1: both broken, and I mean I had about four rods

723
00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:53,959
Speaker 1: all the way down on my legs for a couple

724
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,680
Speaker 1: of months to make sure that everything healed properly. I

725
00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 1: had wind backs, which is you know, they put this

726
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,759
Speaker 1: this what is it like a phone rather the the

727
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,279
Speaker 1: wound backs is just like this. It's like a foam, right,

728
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:10,240
Speaker 1: and it goes over and they cover it with plastic

729
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,120
Speaker 1: and it seals in and then they has a vac

730
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:14,840
Speaker 1: on this side. And what that vac's doing, it's grabbing

731
00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:17,640
Speaker 1: all the blood that's coming out and everything, and then

732
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,799
Speaker 1: it makes your stuff heal a lot faster. So all

733
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,680
Speaker 1: those things, and you know, then they have to take

734
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 1: me to the shower because they have to scrub the

735
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,319
Speaker 1: dead skin that's on the grass. So they got to

736
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:32,239
Speaker 1: scrub that off so the other skin below it can

737
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:36,239
Speaker 1: grow better and faster. And so that was that the

738
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:40,400
Speaker 1: whole time you're asleep, Yeah, yeah, for some of it,

739
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:42,799
Speaker 1: and then kind of came back and then you know,

740
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:44,600
Speaker 1: then they're doing and then when I woke up, they

741
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:48,600
Speaker 1: were still scrubbing. And that was probably the most excruciating

742
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:51,400
Speaker 1: pain that I ever felt was when they would scrub

743
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:54,080
Speaker 1: every single part of your body with that, and like

744
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:56,799
Speaker 1: the pain was so hard, I just pass out and

745
00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:59,240
Speaker 1: I wake up in my room with new vantages and stuff,

746
00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, what happened. We're like, oh, you know,

747
00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:05,120
Speaker 1: we were taking care of your skin like a r cool,

748
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 1: but yeah, that was That was that for about a

749
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:13,160
Speaker 1: whole year that I spent in the hospital. A year, Yeah,

750
00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:22,840
Speaker 1: close to it, dude. Unbelievable story and so important for

751
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:27,440
Speaker 1: people to hear people that are wondering, you know, how

752
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 1: they're going to move forward with their life setbacks that

753
00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:36,399
Speaker 1: humans always end up getting. We always get setbacks some sort.

754
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:42,400
Speaker 1: But yours is big. I mean, sure, you say big,

755
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,919
Speaker 1: But I think you know we're all resilient, right, We're

756
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,359
Speaker 1: all we all have that in us. I don't think

757
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:51,520
Speaker 1: people realize it. And you don't necessarily have to gone

758
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 1: through what I went through, right, I mean it could

759
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,479
Speaker 1: be something else, a car accident or something that that

760
00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:59,160
Speaker 1: you got to come back from it. And everybody's struggles

761
00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,239
Speaker 1: are so much different than mine. It just happened that

762
00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:05,000
Speaker 1: that happened on my job. Things happen with people every

763
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 1: single day at their job where I side of their

764
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:09,400
Speaker 1: jobs and they got to come back from it. So

765
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,160
Speaker 1: it's no different than anybody else. It's just that was

766
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:15,840
Speaker 1: the situation that I was presenting, and it's it's the

767
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:17,759
Speaker 1: cars that I was dealt and I had to play them.

768
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:24,719
Speaker 1: I've heard your story several times, you know, and the

769
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:27,080
Speaker 1: thing that comes up a lot is your parents. And

770
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,719
Speaker 1: I don't hear you talk a lot about the specifics

771
00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:32,480
Speaker 1: of them, but it feels like from your stories that

772
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:36,600
Speaker 1: they were a big foundation on you and your mentality,

773
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,520
Speaker 1: because I mean, you downplay it. You're super humble, but

774
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,640
Speaker 1: you downplay the fact that you have overcome a mountain

775
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,719
Speaker 1: of adversity and you play it off like, well, you

776
00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:50,200
Speaker 1: know people get in car accidents, you know people, But

777
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:53,240
Speaker 1: you spent a year in the hospital. Yeah, you lost

778
00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:57,000
Speaker 1: a limb, seventy percent burns on your body. Yeah, and

779
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,280
Speaker 1: you sit here like, yeah, you know, it's like life.

780
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:03,560
Speaker 1: You know, you just I got to give credit, you know,

781
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:07,160
Speaker 1: besides God, who you've mentioned. It sounds like your parents

782
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:09,160
Speaker 1: are pretty awesome people. Oh yeah, they are. I mean,

783
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:13,080
Speaker 1: you know, it's my mom is just she's my rock.

784
00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,239
Speaker 1: So it's my dad. I mean, they're amazing folks, right,

785
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:18,480
Speaker 1: they they dropped everything on a diamond like they My

786
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,480
Speaker 1: mom had just opened up a hair salon she saw them.

787
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:23,960
Speaker 1: Moved to San Antonio, my dad quit his job, came up,

788
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,200
Speaker 1: and they took care of me from day one. And

789
00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:29,319
Speaker 1: there were the people that refused to let me quit.

790
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,480
Speaker 1: They're like, you know, there was kind of a put

791
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 1: your head down, let's get this shit done and let's

792
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,839
Speaker 1: go home, like you got this, and if it wasn't

793
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,279
Speaker 1: for my family, you know, and not only that man.

794
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:44,960
Speaker 1: When you're around the facility that we were at, you

795
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 1: see other guys. I mean, there was guys that were worse.

796
00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:48,480
Speaker 1: The US where we have a good buddy of our

797
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:50,800
Speaker 1: name Schlitz. He's burned ninety eight percent of his body,

798
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:53,200
Speaker 1: mincing his arms. And you look at a guy like

799
00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:55,319
Speaker 1: that that walks in and starts laughing at making jokes

800
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,560
Speaker 1: and stuff, and you're like, what am I complaining about?

801
00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:01,080
Speaker 1: I'm fine, Like a look cute to than that dude.

802
00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:02,799
Speaker 1: I'm good, you know what I mean, Like I got

803
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:06,960
Speaker 1: that so stuff like that man, And honestly, like it's

804
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:11,560
Speaker 1: just again, you know, I think people don't realize how

805
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,879
Speaker 1: resilient we are, and I don't think people really push

806
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:18,480
Speaker 1: their body to the max when you're presenting a situation, right,

807
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:22,440
Speaker 1: And yeah, my family was a big, big key for

808
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,000
Speaker 1: me because they were just so supportive. And that's the thing,

809
00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:26,839
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of people don't see. You don't

810
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:28,719
Speaker 1: see that, like people are like, oh, you're you're this,

811
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:33,480
Speaker 1: you're that. But if it wasn't for people in the background,

812
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:36,080
Speaker 1: in the vaccines, like I wouldn't be here today. From

813
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:39,319
Speaker 1: my friends to my family, everybody at some point in

814
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:41,080
Speaker 1: my life has had a big impact in me. And

815
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:42,920
Speaker 1: then that's the reason I still hang out with those people.

816
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:44,840
Speaker 1: And that's the reason, you know, I always give my

817
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,399
Speaker 1: parents a credit for it because it's because of them,

818
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:49,879
Speaker 1: you know, they pushed me that they did all that.

819
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:53,000
Speaker 1: And I'm lucky enough to have friends that when I'm

820
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,319
Speaker 1: messing up, they'll call me out like, hey, dude, you're

821
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,319
Speaker 1: you're not doing what you need to do, or you

822
00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:01,080
Speaker 1: messed up here, or you did this wrong. And we're

823
00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:03,600
Speaker 1: all humans, we all mess up, right, It's going to

824
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,440
Speaker 1: be one of those things. We're not perfect. And I'm

825
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:09,440
Speaker 1: blessed enough to have those people in my corner that

826
00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,680
Speaker 1: call me out when I'm doing something wrong, or when

827
00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:15,000
Speaker 1: I need to do better, or I need to push forward,

828
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,200
Speaker 1: or I need to do to sorry for you exactly,

829
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:21,000
Speaker 1: Y gotcha. So, I mean, it's not just me. There

830
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,480
Speaker 1: is a lot of people that people don't see all

831
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:27,360
Speaker 1: my social media that have a big part of my

832
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:30,560
Speaker 1: life and the reason I am who I am today.

833
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:34,960
Speaker 1: So it's not just me. You say it like it's

834
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,880
Speaker 1: so easy, but you have to put out into the

835
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:42,080
Speaker 1: world a everyone around me. Don't feel sorry for me.

836
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:46,000
Speaker 1: But then the bigger thing is you. And I can

837
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:49,000
Speaker 1: imagine at the at the end of your year long

838
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:52,839
Speaker 1: hospital stay, you know, in in and out surgeries, at

839
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,239
Speaker 1: some point you had to say, Okay, what's next in

840
00:40:56,239 --> 00:41:00,440
Speaker 1: my life? What's next for omar in my life? Like

841
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:04,880
Speaker 1: what's my purpose now? Because you said God called you

842
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 1: out in the hum vy and said not today, So

843
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:12,239
Speaker 1: then you have to ask the question why. Okay, I

844
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:15,400
Speaker 1: followed you this far, I listened to your voice, I

845
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:18,640
Speaker 1: got up. I've been through a lot of pain, So

846
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:23,480
Speaker 1: now what why do you ask yourself that I did

847
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:26,600
Speaker 1: I did a long time ago. Right, It's the questioning

848
00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:30,920
Speaker 1: of why right? And you know, I mean, I think

849
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:33,080
Speaker 1: we all struggle with it, right, It's why am I here?

850
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:35,480
Speaker 1: Why did she let me through all that and still

851
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:38,640
Speaker 1: still go through what we go every day? Right? I

852
00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:40,799
Speaker 1: mean I'm not done. I still have surgeries, I still

853
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:45,080
Speaker 1: have openings on my legs, and I can't do this

854
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:46,839
Speaker 1: and I can't do that, and it's frustrating at points,

855
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,160
Speaker 1: and you're just like why, why why? And then things happen,

856
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:54,759
Speaker 1: like I meet kids that are really burned and I

857
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:56,040
Speaker 1: get to hang out with them, and they have to

858
00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,440
Speaker 1: show them to do things that that I'm doing that

859
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,319
Speaker 1: they can do and inspired me. Man, Like I met

860
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:05,440
Speaker 1: a kid and I looked at him, and I can

861
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:08,320
Speaker 1: I stepped back, and I was like, what are you

862
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:12,680
Speaker 1: complaining about? You grew up an All American, you play sports,

863
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,759
Speaker 1: you did all these crazy things. You dated the cheerleaders,

864
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:17,920
Speaker 1: you dated this, you did all these crazy things, you

865
00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:22,080
Speaker 1: joined the military. You had an awesome life before you

866
00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:28,000
Speaker 1: got hurt. This kid doesn't, and let's not let's not

867
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:32,440
Speaker 1: shuvercoded kids are mean at school and he was getting

868
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:35,200
Speaker 1: picked on by other kids because he was burned something

869
00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:37,440
Speaker 1: that he had no control over. So I was like,

870
00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,440
Speaker 1: if I can mentor that kid and tell him that

871
00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:42,360
Speaker 1: I'm here and he can call me anytime he wants,

872
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:45,279
Speaker 1: because let's be honest, you're not going to tell your

873
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:47,360
Speaker 1: parents every single day that you're getting bullied you're getting this,

874
00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:49,279
Speaker 1: because they're going to come to school and embarrass you.

875
00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:52,080
Speaker 1: But here's a guy that's burned, here's a guy that

876
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:54,360
Speaker 1: knows what I'm going through. Here's a guy that experience

877
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:57,000
Speaker 1: is the same pain. Let me talk to him and

878
00:42:57,080 --> 00:42:58,680
Speaker 1: tell him how I feel and what can I do.

879
00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:01,319
Speaker 1: So that was one of the biggest things. Man. It

880
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:04,560
Speaker 1: was like huge, man, oh wow, like okay, I get it.

881
00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:07,560
Speaker 1: And then after that met more burnt kids, and I

882
00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:10,319
Speaker 1: got gut involved with that and started doing stuff with nonprofits,

883
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:14,160
Speaker 1: and then I started doing motivational speaking, and I started

884
00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,239
Speaker 1: seeing everything correlating. Right. I was like, okay, cool, this

885
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,360
Speaker 1: is because of that, and this happened because of that,

886
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 1: and all things kind of started coming together and then

887
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,640
Speaker 1: met all the right people and it's just like it

888
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:26,919
Speaker 1: all started making sense. I was like, Okay, I see

889
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:29,080
Speaker 1: what your plan is and and at that point you

890
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:30,920
Speaker 1: don't question it. You just go with it. So you

891
00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:34,080
Speaker 1: could rewind back to that day when he said not today, yeah,

892
00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:36,520
Speaker 1: and you go Okay, I'm starting I don't know it

893
00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:38,919
Speaker 1: all yet, but I'm starting to see oh yeah for sure.

894
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:40,440
Speaker 1: And it took. It took a while, right, I mean,

895
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:41,920
Speaker 1: it wasn't right off the bat. It was in like

896
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:43,960
Speaker 1: a year after I was like, oh, I'm doing all

897
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:45,880
Speaker 1: these crazy things now, like oh you know, no, I was.

898
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:48,960
Speaker 1: It was probably six seven years down the road after

899
00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:52,479
Speaker 1: everything started revealing itself and I was like, okay, that's

900
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:55,759
Speaker 1: cool and okay, yeah, that's pretty cool. And I was

901
00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:58,560
Speaker 1: able to do all those things because on social media,

902
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,640
Speaker 1: you know, people reached out and like you you should

903
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:03,880
Speaker 1: like me. Yeah exactly, yeah, like people are like and

904
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:05,400
Speaker 1: that's how I found a lot of these kids. Man.

905
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,320
Speaker 1: It was people were sending me their articles and stuff

906
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:10,399
Speaker 1: and like reach out to these people, or people were

907
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:12,239
Speaker 1: sending my stuff to their parents, and their parents were

908
00:44:12,239 --> 00:44:14,080
Speaker 1: reaching out to me, and I was saying, yes, let's go.

909
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:17,160
Speaker 1: So you know, you kind of start seeing it now

910
00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:18,960
Speaker 1: and it's just like, I know he's not done and

911
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,000
Speaker 1: O there's more. There's something bigger than I need to

912
00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:23,719
Speaker 1: do that that he still has his hand on me.

913
00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:25,560
Speaker 1: And I don't know what it is, but I mean,

914
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:29,400
Speaker 1: who knows, dude, And I hope that you continue to

915
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,240
Speaker 1: come on this podcast and update me on that mission

916
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:36,319
Speaker 1: that you're talking man. Of course, so I have I

917
00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:38,479
Speaker 1: have a lot of times. I don't always have guests

918
00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 1: on here. When I do, it's somebody very special like

919
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,239
Speaker 1: you Banks man. But I open it up to questions

920
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:47,680
Speaker 1: from listeners. Yeah. So I have an email set up

921
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:50,600
Speaker 1: Granger Smith Podcast at gmail dot com, and I collect

922
00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:54,720
Speaker 1: these emails from people, and I think it would be cool.

923
00:44:55,400 --> 00:45:00,320
Speaker 1: And what's crazy is so many ninety some of the

924
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:03,360
Speaker 1: questions aren't about music or anything I do. It's about

925
00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:08,440
Speaker 1: life and struggling and moving forward and finding answers. And

926
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:10,640
Speaker 1: so I think it would be cool if you dove

927
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:14,720
Speaker 1: into one of these questions. Come on. And I decided

928
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:16,440
Speaker 1: this last night. I was like, man, I'm gonna let

929
00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:19,520
Speaker 1: Crispy answer one of these questions, which on a side note,

930
00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:21,239
Speaker 1: this morning, I was like, all right, I'm going to

931
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:23,400
Speaker 1: I'm going to see Crispy to my wife and she's like,

932
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:26,279
Speaker 1: you can't call him that. She's like, you got to

933
00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:29,799
Speaker 1: call him Normark And I was like, Babe, his Instagram

934
00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 1: that's Christy, Like that's obviously what he wants to be called. Yeah, man,

935
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:39,040
Speaker 1: so here's a little side story. So Jay, myself and

936
00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:40,640
Speaker 1: a bunch of other guys that got wounded from our

937
00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:44,400
Speaker 1: company and our battalion, we have, you know, the welcome

938
00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:46,719
Speaker 1: back ceremony for for everybody in the unit. So we

939
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:49,399
Speaker 1: all flew back to Germany, and you know, we get

940
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:51,359
Speaker 1: back there and we had a body of ours name

941
00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:57,320
Speaker 1: Cashmere Waita and where I sorry? And he got injured

942
00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:00,680
Speaker 1: And I say, all but he got hit with an

943
00:46:00,719 --> 00:46:02,880
Speaker 1: ID and a piece of shrapnel went in from this

944
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:05,640
Speaker 1: side to the other side of his temple and he's blind.

945
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:08,840
Speaker 1: And I say, that's all that happened to him, but

946
00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:10,479
Speaker 1: you know, his vision's gone. But it was a little

947
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:12,080
Speaker 1: piece of shrapnel that went in one side and the

948
00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:16,080
Speaker 1: other and one completely blind. And we make our way

949
00:46:16,120 --> 00:46:18,279
Speaker 1: back there, and you know, we're we're up there in

950
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:19,960
Speaker 1: our barracks. You know, I was on the third floor

951
00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:21,719
Speaker 1: and they were out there. I'm in my wheelchair and

952
00:46:21,719 --> 00:46:23,440
Speaker 1: I'm talking. And I've always been the loud guy. Like

953
00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:25,359
Speaker 1: you can ask any of my friends. I'm like, all

954
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:30,040
Speaker 1: attention on me, like everybody else shut up. So I'm

955
00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:32,640
Speaker 1: talking to you know, to all the guys and whatnot.

956
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:35,400
Speaker 1: And he's in the other corner talking to his guys,

957
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:38,319
Speaker 1: and I'll hear him go. He goes, oh mare and

958
00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:40,600
Speaker 1: I look over and I was like where it And

959
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:42,520
Speaker 1: he's like, come here. So I make my way over

960
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:44,960
Speaker 1: there and he's like, man, I heard what happened to you?

961
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:47,799
Speaker 1: And I was like yeah, and he goes, so you're

962
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:50,839
Speaker 1: so you're pretty much crispy now, huh? And then I

963
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:54,440
Speaker 1: was like, dude, I like that. I was like that's awesome.

964
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:56,520
Speaker 1: So from there on, I stuck with it. I was like, yeah,

965
00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:59,160
Speaker 1: so when people were like ask me, it's kind of

966
00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:01,799
Speaker 1: an icebreaker, right cause people always like, hey, how you doing?

967
00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:04,000
Speaker 1: And you know, it's kind of a little awkward when

968
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:05,920
Speaker 1: you shake my hand because it's not out there, and

969
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,120
Speaker 1: then they're like, comes, like what's up? And I'm crispy

970
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:10,680
Speaker 1: and then they're like, oh okay, cool, So like they

971
00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:12,879
Speaker 1: tend to like loosen up a little bit, and then

972
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:15,600
Speaker 1: you get into the conversation with somebody. So yeah, he's

973
00:47:15,640 --> 00:47:16,799
Speaker 1: the one that gave me that name. And I mean

974
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:19,040
Speaker 1: it's stuck. Man. Like even my mom like shows, you know,

975
00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:22,080
Speaker 1: she called and she's like, oh, marn I'm just like what, like,

976
00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:25,440
Speaker 1: oh yeah, that's my name. Okay, cool. Wow, but yeah,

977
00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:27,880
Speaker 1: that's good. That's good. All right, So I officially call

978
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:31,160
Speaker 1: you Chrispy. Yeah, if you're listening, all right, I'm gonna

979
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:32,640
Speaker 1: we'll take a quick break and I'm gonna read this

980
00:47:32,680 --> 00:47:40,480
Speaker 1: question with her, all right, all right. So last night

981
00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:42,280
Speaker 1: I decided I was going to pull out these questions

982
00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:45,400
Speaker 1: like I'm all always read questions and you're here, and

983
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:48,000
Speaker 1: so I wouldn't. But then I was like, man, actually

984
00:47:48,640 --> 00:47:51,879
Speaker 1: this is actually my work out. Great, So I went

985
00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:54,759
Speaker 1: to the the I gotta just a list here. I

986
00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:57,279
Speaker 1: went to the first one on the list, and it's

987
00:47:57,320 --> 00:47:59,920
Speaker 1: kind of ironic, so I think it would be perfect.

988
00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:02,959
Speaker 1: Says Hey Granger. I'm having a hard time with life

989
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:05,239
Speaker 1: right now. Just a little background on what's going on.

990
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,200
Speaker 1: July of twenty nineteen, I injured my back at my

991
00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:13,879
Speaker 1: old job. This is a re injury. I have been

992
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:18,120
Speaker 1: seen by Workers' comp doc and they were completely useless.

993
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:20,680
Speaker 1: I had to sue the company to get medical treatment

994
00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:24,080
Speaker 1: to get paid for back paid for my time off

995
00:48:24,080 --> 00:48:27,480
Speaker 1: at work. And I love to work, but I can't

996
00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:30,160
Speaker 1: work in that field anymore. I was an auto mechanic

997
00:48:30,239 --> 00:48:32,480
Speaker 1: and I love taking things apart finding out what's wrong

998
00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:35,040
Speaker 1: with it. I've just been sitting around in pain and

999
00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:38,839
Speaker 1: my back doctor can't do a damn thing. I've had

1000
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:42,560
Speaker 1: several surgeries, so it seems like everything is going wrong

1001
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:44,960
Speaker 1: in my life. When I found you, it seems like

1002
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:46,239
Speaker 1: there's a light at the end of the tunnel. So

1003
00:48:46,239 --> 00:48:51,520
Speaker 1: my question is what keeps you going? And that is Joey.

1004
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:55,120
Speaker 1: I appreciate you emailing and this is a perfect question

1005
00:48:55,239 --> 00:48:59,520
Speaker 1: for Crispy, So it might be a little different, right,

1006
00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:03,720
Speaker 1: but keeps me going are those guys that that didn't

1007
00:49:03,719 --> 00:49:06,400
Speaker 1: come back right, And then it's kind of selfish for

1008
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:11,040
Speaker 1: me to come home and not keep pushing forward and

1009
00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:14,200
Speaker 1: not continue to live my life to the best that

1010
00:49:14,280 --> 00:49:17,799
Speaker 1: I can, because any given moment, those guys would love

1011
00:49:17,840 --> 00:49:19,719
Speaker 1: to trade spaces with me. They'd be like, you know what,

1012
00:49:19,800 --> 00:49:22,440
Speaker 1: I'll take your injuries. I'll take that life, but I

1013
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:25,319
Speaker 1: get to hang out with my family and my kids. Yeah,

1014
00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:28,000
Speaker 1: I'm in cool. I'll trade spots with you right now.

1015
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:30,440
Speaker 1: So that's kind of what keeps me going, man, And

1016
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:34,480
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, I mean again, it's everybody

1017
00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:37,439
Speaker 1: in my corner that has inspired me to do better

1018
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:42,440
Speaker 1: and has always constantly reminded me of the lives impact

1019
00:49:42,560 --> 00:49:43,960
Speaker 1: of what the stuff that we do and when we

1020
00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:47,279
Speaker 1: put out and the message that we give people. So

1021
00:49:49,280 --> 00:49:51,560
Speaker 1: it's hard. It's hard. I remember there was times where

1022
00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:53,880
Speaker 1: I just wanted to quit and just didn't want to

1023
00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:56,760
Speaker 1: do anything. I was in so much pain. I didn't

1024
00:49:56,880 --> 00:49:58,719
Speaker 1: want to deal with it anymore. And I think we

1025
00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:01,320
Speaker 1: all find ourselves in that place. But there is a

1026
00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:03,279
Speaker 1: light at the end of the time, like Joey said, man,

1027
00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:05,440
Speaker 1: and it was and it's worth it, right. I mean,

1028
00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:08,200
Speaker 1: you got to go through those trials and tribulations before

1029
00:50:08,239 --> 00:50:11,839
Speaker 1: you can really wreak the benefits I guess of all

1030
00:50:11,840 --> 00:50:13,080
Speaker 1: the hard work that you're going to put in and

1031
00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:14,840
Speaker 1: all the pain and everything that you go through. So

1032
00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:18,359
Speaker 1: my advice to him was just be like, man, keep

1033
00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:20,319
Speaker 1: at it, you know, keep finding You're going to find

1034
00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:22,360
Speaker 1: a doctor that's gonna take care of you, that's going

1035
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:24,480
Speaker 1: to carry you in it. And might not be today

1036
00:50:24,560 --> 00:50:28,120
Speaker 1: or tomorrow, might take a couple of months, but eventually

1037
00:50:28,239 --> 00:50:29,719
Speaker 1: you're gonna pull through it, and you're gonna look back

1038
00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:31,440
Speaker 1: at it and be like, man, that almost broke me,

1039
00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:34,960
Speaker 1: but I'm still here. And then you can share your

1040
00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:37,279
Speaker 1: story with someone else and inspire someone else and keep

1041
00:50:37,280 --> 00:50:39,560
Speaker 1: it going. And that's that's that's at the end of

1042
00:50:39,600 --> 00:50:41,320
Speaker 1: the day. That that's the goal, right, It's if I

1043
00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:44,719
Speaker 1: can put a seat and inspire one guy and that

1044
00:50:44,800 --> 00:50:47,080
Speaker 1: guy grows up to be I don't know, the next

1045
00:50:47,239 --> 00:50:49,719
Speaker 1: Tony Robbins or something, and he goes inspires more people,

1046
00:50:49,719 --> 00:50:51,759
Speaker 1: and those people in Star War. At the end of

1047
00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:53,560
Speaker 1: the day, when I leave this earth, I want to

1048
00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:56,240
Speaker 1: look back and be like, you know what I figured

1049
00:50:56,280 --> 00:50:58,640
Speaker 1: with what I did, and I hope this was a

1050
00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:02,040
Speaker 1: lot better when I leave then what it was when

1051
00:51:02,080 --> 00:51:07,040
Speaker 1: I was here. Dude, Joey, that's uh, that's coming straight

1052
00:51:07,080 --> 00:51:10,800
Speaker 1: from the man. And I don't think there could be

1053
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:12,640
Speaker 1: a better person to answer that question. You say you're

1054
00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:16,200
Speaker 1: sitting around in your pain. That just I think he

1055
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:18,279
Speaker 1: summed it up right there. There's there's a lot at

1056
00:51:18,320 --> 00:51:20,799
Speaker 1: the end of the tunnel, as you wrote, and it's

1057
00:51:20,800 --> 00:51:23,160
Speaker 1: not going to happen tonight. And that's the thing that's

1058
00:51:23,200 --> 00:51:25,080
Speaker 1: probably he's struggling with it is like, man, I want

1059
00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:27,040
Speaker 1: to work, I want to do my passion. It's not

1060
00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:30,560
Speaker 1: going to happen tonight. But that doesn't mean you quit

1061
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:33,200
Speaker 1: for something that could happen in six months or a year,

1062
00:51:33,360 --> 00:51:35,880
Speaker 1: or hey, dude, ten years. Yeah it could be ten years.

1063
00:51:36,080 --> 00:51:38,399
Speaker 1: It could be, but you're sitting there with your grandkids

1064
00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:42,480
Speaker 1: in thirty years, and you go, sure, I'm glad. I

1065
00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:45,120
Speaker 1: kept going, Yeah for sure, right, I mean again that

1066
00:51:45,239 --> 00:51:49,480
Speaker 1: they'll be gripping the benefits down the road. Yeah, dude, man,

1067
00:51:49,600 --> 00:51:51,520
Speaker 1: thank you for being on this podcast, Thanks for having

1068
00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:54,600
Speaker 1: my on my top of my list to get in

1069
00:51:54,640 --> 00:51:57,279
Speaker 1: this chair. I appreciate it. And I finally got to

1070
00:51:57,320 --> 00:51:59,160
Speaker 1: do it with you. We finally worked out a date,

1071
00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,600
Speaker 1: and then I hope we get to do more. If

1072
00:52:02,640 --> 00:52:05,200
Speaker 1: you're heading back north, come on sometimes. Yeah, of course,

1073
00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:14,239
Speaker 1: all right, dude, I appreciate you, man. Brother m h

1074
00:52:18,280 --> 00:52:22,600
Speaker 1: m hm