Speaker 1: Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves
Speaker 1: from cone hunting to trot lighting and just general country living.
Speaker 1: I want you to stay a while as I share
Speaker 1: my experiences and life lessons. This Country Life is presented
Speaker 1: by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you
Speaker 1: the best outdoor podcast the airwaves.
Speaker 2: Haved off.
Speaker 1: All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tailgate.
Speaker 1: I've got some stories to share Heroes. This week is
Speaker 1: a little different than our regular offerings here at This
Speaker 1: Country Life. But after celebrating the anniversary of the Declaration
Speaker 1: of Independence last week, I got to thinking about all
Speaker 1: the folks that are referred to during that time as heroes.
Speaker 1: That led me to thinking about the ones referred to
Speaker 1: that now and.
Speaker 2: Who really qualifies.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you my thoughts on it, but first
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you a story. This story is right
Speaker 1: on theme for this week's topic and comes from This
Speaker 1: Country Life mailbag. Send in by Jesse Crawford down in
Speaker 1: Laurel Hill, Florida. That's in Okaloosa County. Laurel Hill has
Speaker 1: a distinction of being the northernmost incorporated city within the
Speaker 1: Great State of Florida. If you had a slingshot that
Speaker 1: could fling a rock fifty miles. You could stand on
Speaker 1: the beach in Destin and hum a rock due north,
Speaker 1: and have folks in Laurel Hill rubbed knots on their
Speaker 1: heads and ducking for cover, all five hundred and eighty
Speaker 1: four of them. I'd like to have me one of them.
Speaker 1: But without further delay. In Jesse Crawford's words.
Speaker 2: In my voice, here we go.
Speaker 1: It all started when we had a day off from
Speaker 1: school and decided to take my dad's jet ski to
Speaker 1: the lake. We were young, but old enough to be
Speaker 1: trusted to some degree, and we were taking turns running
Speaker 1: around the lake and pulling each other on the tube.
Speaker 1: It's normally a busy place for water sports, but today
Speaker 1: it was just us and one other boat. After my
Speaker 1: buddy and Night had enough, we swapped out and let
Speaker 1: the other two fellas ride and just hung out on
Speaker 1: the bank. It wasn't long before we see the jet
Speaker 1: ski headed back at a high rate of speed, and
Speaker 1: as they got closer, I realized that one of my
Speaker 1: friends that left on the jet ski was replaced by
Speaker 1: a frantic woman that was freaking out so bad you
Speaker 1: couldn't understand what she was saying. My buddy yelled for
Speaker 1: me to jump on and drive that he would explain
Speaker 1: on the trip back out. Apparently the husband was pulling
Speaker 1: his wife on a tube and she fell off. He
Speaker 1: turned to pick her up and accidentally hammered the throttle
Speaker 1: and threw himself self out, And since he didn't wear
Speaker 1: his kill switch, the boat was running circles at full throt.
Speaker 2: So we got to try and help the.
Speaker 1: Husband, who was being helped to stay afloat by my
Speaker 1: friend that was left when the wife that he picked
Speaker 1: up was taking the shore. And that's when I realized
Speaker 1: we had a big task because this was a very
Speaker 1: large man. No matter how hard we tried, there was
Speaker 1: just no way to get him on that jet ski.
Speaker 1: It kept flipping the three seat jet ski no matter
Speaker 1: how hard we tried to counterbalance it. Meanwhile, that boat,
Speaker 1: it's still running wide open and making circles, and that's
Speaker 1: when I realized what had to be done. We gave
Speaker 1: the husband all our life jackets because he was struggling
Speaker 1: to stay afloat. At this point, my friend jumps back
Speaker 1: on the jet ski with me and we take off
Speaker 1: after that boat. Now every two or three circles, that
Speaker 1: boat would level out and run straight for a couple
Speaker 1: hundred feet. We were terrified, but we timed it out
Speaker 1: just right and ran up beside that boat when it
Speaker 1: was going straight, and I bailed off into it. I
Speaker 1: was so overwhelmed with relieved that I actually got in
Speaker 1: the boat. I almost forgot the purpose of being there,
Speaker 1: but I took control and I headed back to where
Speaker 1: the man was still floating on.
Speaker 2: Our life jackets.
Speaker 1: Now, after managing to get him back in his boat,
Speaker 1: we took it and him back to shore, where his
Speaker 1: wife was being looked after by the mts that had
Speaker 1: been alerted. They started taking care of him too, and
Speaker 1: he tells us that he had just bought the boat
Speaker 1: and it was his first time taking it out, and
Speaker 1: it would probably be his last. The husband thanked us,
Speaker 1: and he tried to give us a water cash he
Speaker 1: had in his pocket, but we kept declining over and over.
Speaker 1: He tells us that if we weren't there, it would
Speaker 1: have cost him a lot more than a little cash.
Speaker 1: And he picked up a rock and he placed the
Speaker 1: money under it and tells us somebody will find it
Speaker 1: if y'all don't take it, and he left and he
Speaker 1: left one thousand dollars under that rock, which seemed like
Speaker 1: a million bucks to us kids. Anyway, that's my story, y'all,
Speaker 1: Stay safe out there. Good night, Nurse Jesse. That's some
Speaker 1: straight up mission impossible in James Bond caliber stunt work.
Speaker 2: My friend, y'all saw a need and you took action.
Speaker 1: Nice job, man, and according to Jesse Crawford of Laurel Hill, Florida,
Speaker 1: that's just how that happened. Heroes what constitutes or qualifies
Speaker 1: someone as a hero? To Webster says, a hero is
Speaker 1: a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements,
Speaker 1: or noble qualities. On the other hand, it can also
Speaker 1: mean a tasty sandwich.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I hear that term thrown around a lot these days,
Speaker 1: noticeably to me more often than in times past, and
Speaker 1: it got me to wondering if we've got more heroes
Speaker 1: now than we used to, or do we just hear
Speaker 1: that term because of the information that we get bombarded
Speaker 1: with on social media.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Audie Murphy was a pint sized seventeen year old from
Speaker 1: northeast Texas, and he attempted to enlist in the US
Speaker 1: military after Japan attacked the United States in December of
Speaker 1: nineteen forty one. The Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps,
Speaker 1: all of them turned him down because he was undersized
Speaker 1: and underaged. His older sister eventually provided a falsified affidavit
Speaker 1: stating his birth date was a year earlier than it
Speaker 1: actually was, and after that he was accepted by the
Speaker 1: US Army on the thirtieth day of June in nineteen
Speaker 1: forty two. Audie Murphy was five feet five and a
Speaker 1: half inches tall and he weighed one hundred and twelve
Speaker 1: pounds when he enlisted. The M one rifle that he
Speaker 1: was issued upon graduating of basic and individual training weighed
Speaker 1: nearly a tenth of his own weight at nine and
Speaker 1: one half pounds. Murphy would fight the Germans in Europe,
Speaker 1: and over the next two and a half years, would
Speaker 1: come home as the most decorated soldier of World War II.
Speaker 1: He was awarded the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross,
Speaker 1: two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars,
Speaker 1: and three Purple Hearts, just to name a few. He
Speaker 1: was a one man wrecking crew, stacking up our nation's
Speaker 1: enemies like Cordwood to me, is the quintessential definition of
Speaker 1: a hero, and the world would be hard pressed to
Speaker 1: argue otherwise. But what if no one knew his story?
Speaker 1: What if there had been no witnesses to his feats
Speaker 1: of courage in the face of danger. After all, it
Speaker 1: was his fellow soldiers who reported his actions to their superiors,
Speaker 1: not Murphy. The acknowledgment of his actions doesn't qualify him
Speaker 1: as a hero, only his actions. He saw a need
Speaker 1: in a desperate situation, and he acted. But what about
Speaker 1: the soldiers who were with him. They did a noble
Speaker 1: and heroic thing just by being there. They all took
Speaker 1: an oath to protect and defend our nation and added
Speaker 1: up their services, including their own lives, should the task required.
Speaker 1: Are they not heroes? Well, I believe they are, along
Speaker 1: with anyone else who's before or since, who's taking that
Speaker 1: same pledge. I think we can all agree that there
Speaker 1: can be no greater measure of commitment than a person
Speaker 1: who's willing to sacrifice their life for the common good.
Speaker 1: But the definition, remember, isn't just for courage. It's also
Speaker 1: an admiration for outstanding achievement. I asked my wife Alexis,
Speaker 1: who her hero was and without hesitation, she said, oh
Speaker 1: it's you, Brent.
Speaker 2: No, I'm kidding. She didn't say that.
Speaker 1: She said, Oh, it's my parents, but especially my mama.
Speaker 1: I told her to tell me why, and this was
Speaker 1: her answer. She said, when she and dad got married,
Speaker 1: she quit college. Then after having two kids, she went
Speaker 1: back and finished so we could.
Speaker 2: All have a better life. Now.
Speaker 1: I was in elementary school when she started back to school,
Speaker 1: and it was hard on us for her being gone,
Speaker 1: But it only lasted a little while in the grand
Speaker 1: scheme of things, and I learned a valuable lesson from her.
Speaker 1: As hard as college was when I went, I had
Speaker 1: it easy compared to what she had to do being
Speaker 1: married and raising me and my sister. She is an
Speaker 1: example of determination and strength. She is my hero. Well,
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more. Alexis Fighting off hordes of enemy
Speaker 1: soldiers single handedly is an outstanding achievement, So it was
Speaker 1: going back to college while raising a family. Jumping a
Speaker 1: five strand barboir fence and strategy is an outstanding achievement.
Speaker 1: I saw my buddy Greg Hayes do that one night
Speaker 1: when we thought a watermelon farmer was trying to kill us.
Speaker 2: If y'all.
Speaker 1: Remember I only jumped four out of the five, and
Speaker 1: the one I didn't make it over was the one
Speaker 1: that was the most important. Greg left me in this
Speaker 1: dust to fend for myself, but in his defense, it
Speaker 1: was the first time either of us had been shot at,
Speaker 1: and had I had the ability to jump like he did,
Speaker 1: I'd have done the same. Besides, someone had to live
Speaker 1: to go back and tell the story of what happened.
Speaker 1: But what he did was an athletic achievement. What I
Speaker 1: did was a demonstration of gravity. The real hero of
Speaker 1: that scenario was the farmer who taught us both a
Speaker 1: lesson that night, terrible shot heck of a watermelon grower,
Speaker 1: not to mention a great fence builder too. Then there
Speaker 1: are the folks like Clay Bow and I talked to
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, game wardens who go to
Speaker 1: work every day to protect our wildlife. There's also other
Speaker 1: officers and agents that I've worked with over the years
Speaker 1: who eye witnessed putting themselves at risk to keep the
Speaker 1: peace and protect lives and property. But I don't place
Speaker 1: them above anyone else who sees an issue and addresses it.
Speaker 1: It just takes one person to take action and set
Speaker 1: the example that's missing from a lot of where we
Speaker 1: find ourselves today. In my opinion, take any event historic, dramatic, traumatic,
Speaker 1: or otherwise, and the majority of folks that stick around
Speaker 1: to see what happens are video and someone else getting
Speaker 1: involved with their telephones. Did the advent of the cell
Speaker 1: phone turn most into observers? There's obviously still folks getting
Speaker 1: involved in taking action, or there wouldn't be anyone to
Speaker 1: fee them doing it. But are people really much different
Speaker 1: now than back in the day. It seems like the
Speaker 1: only folks that get involved in mass these days is
Speaker 1: when two folks are fixing them mix it up on
Speaker 1: the baseball field. Opposing players start squaring up, and it
Speaker 1: looks like a stampede of players running in from every direction.
Speaker 1: They're almost always holding the two aggressors back from each
Speaker 1: other instead of just letting them duking it out and
Speaker 1: getting it over with. You know, if they'd just let
Speaker 1: that happen, maybe they wouldn't have had to put that
Speaker 1: pitch clock in to speed up the game because fans
Speaker 1: were getting bored and turning the channel. Now, if you
Speaker 1: want to garner up some interest for your ballgame, let
Speaker 1: folks think a fight could break out at any moment,
Speaker 1: a real Donnybrook and let them use whatever they're holding
Speaker 1: when it does. Folks these days will be tuning in
Speaker 1: by the droves if they think they're going to get
Speaker 1: to see some cat get drove in the ground like
Speaker 1: a tit peg with a bat. If you really want
Speaker 1: to speed the game up, give both bat boys a
Speaker 1: taser and tell them they can zap anybody they think
Speaker 1: it's taking too long. Start the game at four point
Speaker 1: thirty and you'll still be able to make it home
Speaker 1: in time for supper. Nine inn into baseball one hour,
Speaker 1: eighteen minutes. I'm just kidding about all that. Well mostly anyway.
Speaker 1: It seems like we've become a population of watchers instead
Speaker 1: of doers. And I was as guilty as anyone. I
Speaker 1: was digging around on my phone several months ago looking
Speaker 1: for some show notes. I'd take it and I swiped
Speaker 1: to a page I never paid any attention to, and
Speaker 1: there was a graph on there that showed me how
Speaker 1: much time I was spending looking at social media for
Speaker 1: the love of humanity. That was an eye opener. I
Speaker 1: tried to justify some of it in my mind because
Speaker 1: social media is a part of my job, and also
Speaker 1: I like to keep up with my family and my
Speaker 1: friends on there too, But that amount of time shown
Speaker 1: on there was ridiculous. At least in my mind. It
Speaker 1: was we don't take our eyes off on's in our hands.
Speaker 1: We're gonna miss what's going on all around us. If
Speaker 1: we miss what's going on all around us, we're gonna
Speaker 1: miss the opportunity to act when action is needed. It
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be as dramatic as pulling people from
Speaker 1: a burning building or saving a person who's falling through
Speaker 1: the ice. It could be as simple as helping someone
Speaker 1: through a door onto a curb, or just stopping to
Speaker 1: say hello. But back to the definition the hero. Another
Speaker 1: part of it was to be admired or idealized. Well,
Speaker 1: that's pretty easy for me. That's my brother t He
Speaker 1: and I have done some ridiculously dumb things together, but
Speaker 1: he always does the right thing, and I'll say it
Speaker 1: before any Well, so I'm probably the bad influence.
Speaker 2: But he'd rather be at home than anywhere.
Speaker 1: He likes to hear about the places I go and all,
Speaker 1: but fan's interest in actually going. If the place where
Speaker 1: the activity is more than a day's drive away. But
Speaker 1: any place he ever went that I wanted to go,
Speaker 1: he'd let me, or he'd make sure he invited me.
Speaker 1: Especially when I was young, in more of a hindrance
Speaker 1: than an asset, I always had a spot. He showed
Speaker 1: interest in me, he made time for me, and he
Speaker 1: gave me a mark to shoot for and being a
Speaker 1: good person. He's one of the best people I know,
Speaker 1: and he treats every one the same. That's something to
Speaker 1: be admired and emulated. The big question when I started
Speaker 1: way back before I mentioned Audie Murphy or had the
Speaker 1: idea yet the issue weapons to bat Boys was what
Speaker 1: constitutes a hero? Well, the answer in my mind is
Speaker 1: heroes don't have to wear uniforms of any kind or
Speaker 1: do anything amazing.
Speaker 2: They just have to show.
Speaker 1: Up when the opportunity arises for someone to take action
Speaker 1: for good, regardless of the situation or the consequences. If
Speaker 1: anyone is around to notice, it could be monumental and
Speaker 1: get attention worldwide, or as seemingly insignificant, it's showing compassion
Speaker 1: and being kind. Your definition may be different than mine,
Speaker 1: and you may not agree with how I look at it,
Speaker 1: and that's cool too. Society uses the term hero a lot,
Speaker 1: maybe too much these days, I don't know, But that
Speaker 1: doesn't mean it doesn't apply. That's for each person to
Speaker 1: side on their own and in their own time. Just
Speaker 1: don't take too long. You never know where one of
Speaker 1: those bat boys with a taser might be. I still
Speaker 1: think that's a good idea. It would aangxier speed the
Speaker 1: lottery ticket line up at the old convenience store. I
Speaker 1: know you want to be a millionaire and not have
Speaker 1: worked for it, But all I'm trying to do is
Speaker 1: pay for these peanut and m and ms and get
Speaker 1: on down the road. Hey have you all checked out
Speaker 1: the new Meat Eater podcast network YouTube channel yet?
Speaker 2: Well, if you haven't, you ought to.
Speaker 1: That reminds me of an old saying that my maternal
Speaker 1: grandpa would say whenever he heard someone say you ought
Speaker 1: to do something. Here's an example, Finus. My grandpa's name
Speaker 1: was Finus. Finus, you ought to move them cows to
Speaker 1: the back pastor before the rain. His reply would be
Speaker 1: an otter's butt that's slicker than a beaver's. No idea
Speaker 1: what that means, but if anyone does, let me know.
Speaker 1: But if anybody said he ought to do something regardless
Speaker 1: of what it was. That was his response, it's good.
Speaker 1: I like it. Also, if you have the time, leave
Speaker 1: us a review and share mine and Clay Bow Show
Speaker 1: with other folks you think that might like them. It's
Speaker 1: a good way to support us. Also, y'all have been
Speaker 1: sending in some great stories. We're reading them all in
Speaker 1: archiving them for the when the time is right, and
Speaker 1: for another project that we're working on. So y'all keep
Speaker 1: them coming. Funny stories, poignant stories, stories about the outdoors, mishaps,
Speaker 1: close calls.
Speaker 2: They're really good. Y'all keep sending them.
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for me this week. Try to
Speaker 1: stay cool until next week. This is Brent Reeves signing off.
Speaker 1: Y'all be careful.