Speaker 1: That time you got home from a week of double
Speaker 1: shifts and your dog didn't recognize you. Let's go. He
Speaker 1: hates me? Hates me? Do you want to treat? You
Speaker 1: want to treat? Oh? You knew it was time for
Speaker 1: something new. Let's job it up at career Builder. You
Speaker 1: can find jobs with the work life balance and salary
Speaker 1: you want, plus build a resume and apply to multiple
Speaker 1: jobs in just one click. Start your search at CareerBuilder
Speaker 1: dot com. Still living in twenty twenty one and manually
Speaker 1: taking notes, there is a better way start the new
Speaker 1: year with auto dot ai automatically get meeting notes. Auto
Speaker 1: dot ai works for virtual meetings like Zoom, Microsoft Teams,
Speaker 1: and Google Meet. Sign up on the web for free
Speaker 1: or downloading the app stores auto dot ai. That's ott
Speaker 1: r dot ai. The moment you realized you were mistaking
Speaker 1: your kids for co workers? Okay, teen, I'm taking my
Speaker 1: fifteen now fifteen? What was the moment you knew it
Speaker 1: was time to get back to work. Let's job it
Speaker 1: up at CareerBuilder. Our simple, customizable search tool lets you
Speaker 1: search for part time, full time, and even work from
Speaker 1: home jobs so you can find a job that fits
Speaker 1: your lifestyle. Get started now at CareerBuilder dot com. Please
Speaker 1: be advised the following episode contains references to violence and
Speaker 1: may not be suitable for all listeners. This is Bets
Speaker 1: you Should Know, a podcast from iHeartRadio celebrating the many
Speaker 1: who have selflessly put their lives on the line to
Speaker 1: serve their country in the armed forces. Every Veterans Day,
Speaker 1: we as a country honor and commemorate the people who
Speaker 1: fight for our freedom and defend our country. And in
Speaker 1: this four part series, you'll hear from these individuals as
Speaker 1: they share their unique experiences in the military and the
Speaker 1: lessons they learned that carried them into their new roles
Speaker 1: in civilian life. In this episode, I'm talking to retired
Speaker 1: Staff Sergeant Patrick Nelson of the Army National Guard. At first,
Speaker 1: Patrick decided to attend boot camp to escape a difficult
Speaker 1: home life, But a few years later, he dropped out
Speaker 1: of a community college two days after nine to eleven
Speaker 1: and went active duty with the National Guard. Patrick eventually
Speaker 1: retired from the Army and transitioned out of active duty. Today,
Speaker 1: he speaks to groups across the country, sharing stories of
Speaker 1: a service and telling audience is about the inspiring men
Speaker 1: and women he served with whom we lost overseas. Hey, Patrick,
Speaker 1: how are you? Hey? I'm good, Bobby. How are you doing?
Speaker 1: Pretty good? Good to talk to you. Where you live
Speaker 1: right now? Where are you? I am in Elk River, Minnesota,
Speaker 1: which is just a suburb of the Minneapolis Saint Paul area.
Speaker 1: So is it freezing cold up there right now? Or
Speaker 1: almost getting in? No, it's pretty cold. We're expected to
Speaker 1: get five to seven inches of snow today, so we're
Speaker 1: in the middle of it right now. Fall has passed
Speaker 1: the spy and we've shifted into winter. I am not
Speaker 1: lying to you here, I'm looking because I'm in Nashville
Speaker 1: right now and it is seven eight degrees right now.
Speaker 1: It could not be nice. Nice. So you enlisted in
Speaker 1: the military in what year? Well? I first enlisted in
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Army National Guard in February of two thousand,
Speaker 1: while I was a junior in high school. Well, why,
Speaker 1: as a junior in high school did you feel that
Speaker 1: it was the right time for you to get involved? Well, Bobby,
Speaker 1: I didn't have the greatest childhood growing up. It certainly
Speaker 1: could have been worse. But I heard a bunch of
Speaker 1: guys from my high school we're joining and they said
Speaker 1: They're going to send us down to Oklahoma for basic
Speaker 1: training for the entire summer, and I was like, what
Speaker 1: I want to get out of here? Count me in
Speaker 1: And I signed up, really not knowing what to expect,
Speaker 1: but just wanting to take a break from the situation
Speaker 1: back home. You went to Oklahoma for basic first, right,
Speaker 1: and what was that experience like for you? That's correct,
Speaker 1: it was, yeah, Basic training Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It was interesting.
Speaker 1: I think it's everything that you would think it would be.
Speaker 1: I had a fun time because I was there with
Speaker 1: a bunch of buddies from high school, so I think
Speaker 1: that probably made it a lot easier and I got
Speaker 1: to do some things that I've never done before, similar
Speaker 1: to your story. You know, I had a very rough
Speaker 1: childhood growing up. You know, my mom was an addict.
Speaker 1: I never knew my dad kind of had to figure
Speaker 1: out situations. And you know, it's it's wild how we
Speaker 1: have to find other places to go to get a
Speaker 1: feeling of involvement, sometimes love, sometimes a feeling of just accomplishment.
Speaker 1: And mine was you know, church and performing, you know
Speaker 1: for me, And it's awesome that yours was the military.
Speaker 1: And so you're a junior in high school, you're going
Speaker 1: through basic When did you go this is gonna be
Speaker 1: something I know I'm going to do for a long time. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: so you know, I got back in, you know, started
Speaker 1: my senior year of high school, had zero direction with
Speaker 1: what I was going to do in life. I didn't
Speaker 1: have the family support that said, here, you should you
Speaker 1: visit these colleges. Here, let me help you fill out
Speaker 1: these forms and applications. It was basically just me navigating
Speaker 1: things on my own. And after I graduated high school
Speaker 1: and I barely graduated again, there's a lot of similarity
Speaker 1: between our stories because you know, I saw drugs in
Speaker 1: the house, my mother arrested. I did not know my
Speaker 1: biological father growing up. I didn't meet him till three
Speaker 1: years ago, which is an even more interesting story, and
Speaker 1: he's a wonderful man. But yeah, I had no idea
Speaker 1: what I said to do. I had to go back
Speaker 1: to Oklahoma again for my advanced training, and then I
Speaker 1: came back and I enrolled in a community college in
Speaker 1: west central Minnesota, and three weeks into my first semester,
Speaker 1: I was skipping classes already. It's you safe to say
Speaker 1: that I wasn't going to find a lot of success
Speaker 1: in college, but then that Tuesday in September, all of
Speaker 1: our lives changed. And as I watched on TV, just
Speaker 1: like everybody else, I felt those same feelings of helplessness, sorrow, anger,
Speaker 1: And two days after the attacks, I went and visited
Speaker 1: the recruiter's office and asked to go active duty Army.
Speaker 1: I knew that the military is going to be doing
Speaker 1: something in response to this, and I knew that the
Speaker 1: active duty obviously would be the ones going first, and
Speaker 1: driven by all those patriotic feelings and emotions I wanted
Speaker 1: to be. I wanted to be part of it. You know,
Speaker 1: when looking at you getting in January two thousand and
Speaker 1: two and you talk about nine to eleven and just
Speaker 1: listening to how as a student you weren't as disciplined
Speaker 1: as you would like to be. Why do you think
Speaker 1: you felt like you wanted to get into what is
Speaker 1: probably the most disciplined area you can go into, which
Speaker 1: is the military. Why did you feel like that was
Speaker 1: right for you? Yeah, that's a great question. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of it boiled down to grow up. I
Speaker 1: feel like I had a lot of self awareness. I
Speaker 1: understood my lot in life, how people viewed me. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, I also had friends who had
Speaker 1: very you know, what i'd call normal families and normal
Speaker 1: family experiences, and I really craved that and wanted that
Speaker 1: and would try to surround myself with those type of people.
Speaker 1: So I learned at a very early age the importance
Speaker 1: of surrounding yourself with the right people, and I knew
Speaker 1: that I would get that in the military. So you
Speaker 1: specialized as a filled artillery cannon crew member, you gotta
Speaker 1: help me. What does that job entail? That job entails
Speaker 1: shooting a howitzer cannon and so specifically I was on
Speaker 1: a one oh five millimeter howitzer cannon, so I was
Speaker 1: a paratrooper and so it's something that can be parachuted
Speaker 1: out of the back of an airplane, that can be
Speaker 1: sling loaded underneath a helicopter. So it's a very agile
Speaker 1: artillery piece where we can shooting, move and get the
Speaker 1: job done. So from when you first start training until
Speaker 1: you're actually active with it, what is that training process
Speaker 1: that sounds extremely intense? Yeah, it's it's pretty intense. You know,
Speaker 1: in basic training and your advanced individual training, it's really
Speaker 1: just sort of introducing you to the military because you
Speaker 1: really don't learn the most until you're at your unit.
Speaker 1: And so when I finally was able to get active
Speaker 1: duty in January two thousand and two, I first got
Speaker 1: sent to this unit in Germany, which was a rocket brigade,
Speaker 1: so they fired rockets. I was used to shooting cannons,
Speaker 1: and so they gave me the position of the colonel's driver.
Speaker 1: Now I didn't drop out of college after nine to
Speaker 1: eleven to drive the colonel and make sure his coffee
Speaker 1: was hot. I happened to be at a training exercise
Speaker 1: one day we were in Germany, and I saw these
Speaker 1: guys parachuting out of the back of helicopters and I
Speaker 1: pointed up to my first startant, to a standing next
Speaker 1: to me. I said, that's the stuff that I want
Speaker 1: to do, and he had the right connections. With the
Speaker 1: help of a lot of paperwork, I got reassigned down
Speaker 1: to the one seventy third Airborne Brigade based out of Vicenza, Italy.
Speaker 1: So you're a guy that grows up in a small
Speaker 1: town in Minnesota, you're in Oklahoma doing basic and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're all around the world. You're in Germany,
Speaker 1: you're in Italy, What's I mean, That's got to be
Speaker 1: a bit of a culture shock to you. Huh. Absolutely
Speaker 1: huge culture shock, but such an amazing opportunity for myself
Speaker 1: just to have that exposure. And just I mean, even
Speaker 1: in the military alone, even if I would have been
Speaker 1: stationed in the States, it's a blender full of people,
Speaker 1: and it was just such a pleasure and joy to
Speaker 1: be able to serve with such a diverse group. But
Speaker 1: as fulfilling as the experience was, Patrick faced major adversity
Speaker 1: while deployed. In two thousand and five, he was stationed
Speaker 1: at a forward operating base along the Pakistani border, serving
Speaker 1: as fire support for a special forces team. It was
Speaker 1: here alongside the Pakistani border that everything changed in an
Speaker 1: instant for Patrick. It was June, which meant fighting season
Speaker 1: was starting to pick up. Things were starting to get
Speaker 1: pretty busy, so we needed some more ammunition. I went
Speaker 1: over to help that other section that day because they
Speaker 1: had a sergeant leaving on R and R, so I
Speaker 1: was gonna basically backfill his position while he was gone.
Speaker 1: And so as I heard the sound of the Chinook
Speaker 1: helicopter approaching, I hopped in a humby with my good
Speaker 1: friend Luke and then just as we're about to pull
Speaker 1: away to drive out to the landing zone, my soldier
Speaker 1: hopped in the back. Now he was supposed to be
Speaker 1: back with our section, So I turned around and I
Speaker 1: was about to yell at him, but I thought, for
Speaker 1: a second, you know what I value that kind of
Speaker 1: work ethic. He wants to come lift some heavy boxes
Speaker 1: in this heat out here, that's great. Our section can
Speaker 1: no problem handle the job without the both of us.
Speaker 1: But then I realized he didn't have his helmet on,
Speaker 1: and Bobby I literally opened my mouth, But then I
Speaker 1: realized I didn't have mine on either, and it's kind
Speaker 1: of hard for me to say something if I'm not
Speaker 1: doing the right thing. So we got out to the
Speaker 1: landing zone. The Chinook landed, and a group of ten
Speaker 1: of us stepped to the side of the aircraft so
Speaker 1: they could take the machine gun off the back ramp.
Speaker 1: My platoon sergeant he handed me a piece of paper
Speaker 1: with some serial numbers items we are expecting. The rotor
Speaker 1: blades are turning, it's kicking up dust. You can't hear
Speaker 1: anybody talk. And I grabbed the piece of paper and
Speaker 1: I turned around to ground guide. My buddy Luke and
Speaker 1: the hum vied to gi him a little bit closer
Speaker 1: to the back of the helicopter, so it's a little
Speaker 1: shorter distance to load the ammunition. And the next thing
Speaker 1: I remember, I'm just picked up and I'm slammed to
Speaker 1: the ground, unsure what happened. I look up and you know,
Speaker 1: I see bodies laying everywhere. I see blood, and I
Speaker 1: initially thought maybe one of the engines on the helicopter
Speaker 1: had possibly exploded. The helicopter powered down, and then I
Speaker 1: heard that distinct sound of an incoming one oh seven
Speaker 1: millimeter rocket and I got up in a dove underneath
Speaker 1: the humby for cover as more rockets impacted around us,
Speaker 1: And as soon as the barrage ended, I crawled out
Speaker 1: from underneath and I started running back to the soldiers
Speaker 1: that were still on the ground, really unsure of what
Speaker 1: I was going to find. And as I was running,
Speaker 1: a marine that was on our base training Afghan National
Speaker 1: Army soldiers had yelled to me that I'd been hit,
Speaker 1: and up until that point and it felt any pain.
Speaker 1: But I turned my head and looked at the back
Speaker 1: of my uniform and it was shredded and blood was
Speaker 1: point out, and it was at that moment the pain
Speaker 1: really hit me. So they brought us to the small
Speaker 1: Afghan clinic that was within our forward operating base and
Speaker 1: was ran by an Afghan doctor, and so it was
Speaker 1: a mass casualty situation, and my wounds were very minor
Speaker 1: compared to everybody else. I took some shrapnel to the back,
Speaker 1: nothing too serious, had a piece of still stick an otomy.
Speaker 1: One of the Special Forces guys came by with his
Speaker 1: little leatherman tool, whipped out his plyers and pulled it out.
Speaker 1: That was pretty interesting. And I got bandaged up, and
Speaker 1: I started looking around and see who else was hurt.
Speaker 1: And I saw a supply sergeant that was recently attached
Speaker 1: to us from a National Guard unit out of Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: and he's laying on this elevated stretcher, and the local
Speaker 1: Afghan doctor, who is like five feet two inches is
Speaker 1: standing on this red melt crate performing CPR. So I
Speaker 1: kind of do a quick lap around the clinic trying
Speaker 1: to see who else is hurt, how bad, and I
Speaker 1: come back around it. It couldn't have been more than
Speaker 1: forty five seconds, and they're zipping Michael up into a
Speaker 1: body bag and I find my way into a small
Speaker 1: room in the back of the clinic there, and that's
Speaker 1: where I see my soldiering Manuel Hernandez, laying on a table.
Speaker 1: His head is bandaged. A few people are working on him,
Speaker 1: but I could see his chest rise and fall, so
Speaker 1: I knew that he was breathing, and I grabbed his hand.
Speaker 1: I said, hey, everything's going to be okay. Medivac helicopters arrived.
Speaker 1: They brought us to forward surgical teams in the region.
Speaker 1: They removed several pieces of shrapnel from my back, left
Speaker 1: a few souvenirs in there for me, bandaged me up,
Speaker 1: sent me back out to the landing zone for another
Speaker 1: helicopter ride to Bogger Mayorfield for some further advanced medical care.
Speaker 1: And it was as I was waiting there, my commander
Speaker 1: approached me and asked me how I was doing, and
Speaker 1: I told him I was going to be fine, And
Speaker 1: of course I asked, I said, well, how's Hernandez And
Speaker 1: he looked at me said He's going to be okay,
Speaker 1: And you know, I just felt such relief. And he
Speaker 1: turned to walk away, and he got about three or
Speaker 1: four steps and he turned around in tier were rolling
Speaker 1: down his cheeks and he said I'm sorry that I lied.
Speaker 1: Hernandez didn't make it, and I dropped to my knees
Speaker 1: and I just lost it. He died because I didn't
Speaker 1: have the courage to speak up, because I wasn't doing
Speaker 1: the right thing. And that was something that haunted me
Speaker 1: for a long time as I finished my military career
Speaker 1: and even as I transitioned into the civilian world. You know,
Speaker 1: I tried to drink it away. I tried to wash
Speaker 1: it away with pills. But I've learned over time it's
Speaker 1: such a cliche. I can't change the past, but I
Speaker 1: can influence the future. And so I've learned that I
Speaker 1: can take that story. I can take my failure. I
Speaker 1: can take the sacrifice of Emmanuel and Michael and other
Speaker 1: friends of mine that I've lost in combat, and I
Speaker 1: can share them with others to inspire them. And so
Speaker 1: I've really found a purpose and being able to share
Speaker 1: my story with others and also just let them know
Speaker 1: about these these brave men that I had the honor
Speaker 1: of serving with. Well, first, i'd like to thank you
Speaker 1: for sharing that part of your story. I know that
Speaker 1: you were extremely vulnerable to tell that, and that so
Speaker 1: many people are going to benefit from you just sharing
Speaker 1: what you've gone through, because people have and we'll go
Speaker 1: through very similar things. So first before we move on
Speaker 1: to the next part and some other questions that for me,
Speaker 1: I would just like to thank you for spending those
Speaker 1: few minutes talking about that with me. After spending nearly
Speaker 1: seven years as a paratrooper in the US Army and
Speaker 1: completing three combat deployments in various leadership positions, earning a
Speaker 1: Bronze Star and Purple Heart, Patrick turned us focus to
Speaker 1: helping others. Being able to place yourself up in somebody
Speaker 1: else's shoes and see things from their perspective is something
Speaker 1: we need so much more of in this world that
Speaker 1: we're living in today. And so I'm able to take
Speaker 1: that story and just it one. It connects me with
Speaker 1: other people, like you said, who've had maybe not the
Speaker 1: same obviously tragedies being blown up by a rocket, but
Speaker 1: people who've experienced grief or people who've experienced loss, and
Speaker 1: just attempting to be a role model for them to
Speaker 1: show them that, yes, it still impacts me, it still hurts,
Speaker 1: but I can do something about it as far as
Speaker 1: sharing that story and influencing others. And you know, in February.
Speaker 1: I lost my job, like a lot of people did,
Speaker 1: and now I am making a go of it on
Speaker 1: my own, trying to be a speaker to share my story,
Speaker 1: and I will talk to anybody that will sit down
Speaker 1: and listen. It has made me very purpose driven. When
Speaker 1: I was in the military, or rather when I signed up,
Speaker 1: I signed up for all those patriotic reasons, but when
Speaker 1: I was in it was just another job. We woke
Speaker 1: up a little bit earlier than most people, and we
Speaker 1: took extended business trips. But just like somebody might be
Speaker 1: an insurance salesman, I was a soldier. I didn't think
Speaker 1: about that patriotic stuff. And it wasn't until I got
Speaker 1: out that I reflected on my experiences and realize I
Speaker 1: was part of something so much bigger than myself. I
Speaker 1: tried for a long time thinking I had to replicate
Speaker 1: that exact purpose, which I quickly learned that I never
Speaker 1: was going to be able to do. But I have
Speaker 1: found a purpose again and just being able to inspire others,
Speaker 1: to help them realize that they can impact those around them,
Speaker 1: because sometimes the smallest access service have the biggest impact,
Speaker 1: and you may never know unless you speak up or
Speaker 1: talk to somebody or reach out. You just never know
Speaker 1: the impact that you could have on somebody's life. Whenever
Speaker 1: you transition into civilian life, did you have a clear
Speaker 1: path that you knew that you would follow getting back
Speaker 1: and what was that transition like for you. I knew
Speaker 1: before I got out that I needed to have a plan.
Speaker 1: I saw a lot of soldiers leave the military without
Speaker 1: a plan and say, you know what, I'm going to
Speaker 1: take a couple months off, then I'm going to go
Speaker 1: to college. I'm gonna use my benefits. And I never
Speaker 1: saw him do it. While I was in Afghanistan on
Speaker 1: my last deployment, which was fifteen months long, I had
Speaker 1: already received one scholarship, a Horatio alger military scholar. I
Speaker 1: had been accepted into college. I had signed a lease
Speaker 1: on an apartment in the city that I was moving to.
Speaker 1: I knew that I had to have things in place,
Speaker 1: so when I got out, I was ready to rock
Speaker 1: and roll and again even though I had a plan,
Speaker 1: though it wasn't wasn't always easy. I didn't expect the
Speaker 1: challenges that I faced with the PTSC symptoms that came
Speaker 1: up and the challenges that I had with my reliance
Speaker 1: on prescription pills. So I got out and I had
Speaker 1: two surgeries related to my wounds. I was on Viking
Speaker 1: in a morphine for five years. I didn't go anywhere
Speaker 1: without a bunch of pills in my pocket. It took
Speaker 1: me a long time to realize that I even had
Speaker 1: a problem. The pills, the drugs, the alcohol, they only
Speaker 1: act as accelerants for any type of PTSD challenges you
Speaker 1: might have. So having to overcome that was tough, and
Speaker 1: so I think still having that foundation of the plan
Speaker 1: really was able to help keep me on a path
Speaker 1: which wasn't always straight. But then also having my girlfriend
Speaker 1: at the time who is now my wife, and again
Speaker 1: understanding the importance of surrounding myself with people who have
Speaker 1: your best interests in mind, not yes men or yes women, right,
Speaker 1: people who are not going to tell you what you
Speaker 1: want to hear, but obviously what you need to hear.
Speaker 1: Two thousand and eight, I think you go back and
Speaker 1: get your degree, But what inspires you to do that? Yeah, again,
Speaker 1: kind of really goes back to the tough childhood that
Speaker 1: I had. People didn't look at me growing up, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure it might have been the same for you.
Speaker 1: Bobby saying, man, that kid's going to go places someday
Speaker 1: and do some great things. And it really was driven
Speaker 1: by the sense of wanting to overcome the stereotypes and
Speaker 1: the statistics and have a sense of achievement. After I
Speaker 1: got wounded in the military, I got METAVACT out of
Speaker 1: there and I was gone for three weeks. A fellow
Speaker 1: soldier my unit by the name of Greg Trent, had
Speaker 1: a conversation with me, and Greg was able to sneak
Speaker 1: me on a helicopter flight to get back there with
Speaker 1: my soldiers. Unfortunately, Greg was killed in twenty twelve in
Speaker 1: Afghanistan while operating with his Special Forces team. But Greg
Speaker 1: got me back out there. I couldn't go out on
Speaker 1: any missions. But we're working with the Special Forces. We're
Speaker 1: working with the Seals, which meant we had bigger budgets,
Speaker 1: which meant we had satellites, which meant we had fast Internet.
Speaker 1: So I started plugging away at online college classes while
Speaker 1: I'm in a mud hut in the middle of nowhere, Afghanistan.
Speaker 1: And so I finished two years of college classes while
Speaker 1: I was in just because I wanted to challenge myself
Speaker 1: and accomplish something improve people wrong, and so I got
Speaker 1: out December two thousand and eight. January two thousand and nine,
Speaker 1: I was sitting in the college classroom with a bunch
Speaker 1: eighteen nineteen year old kids, and you know, I was
Speaker 1: twenty six at the time. I felt like I was
Speaker 1: that kind of old weird man on campus. But twenty
Speaker 1: six is still pretty young, you know. I double majored,
Speaker 1: I went got that master's degree, and then, you know,
Speaker 1: just a few years ago, I went and finished another
Speaker 1: master's degree in organization development from Pepperdine and again really
Speaker 1: driven by that sense of wanting to accomplish something and
Speaker 1: showing people that I can do it, and not only
Speaker 1: showing people that you can do it. And I feel
Speaker 1: like were we come from the same spot and you
Speaker 1: may agree with me here, it's showing other people like
Speaker 1: us they can do it too. Absolutely, Yeah, definitely, it's
Speaker 1: you know, being that I like holding up that mirror
Speaker 1: to other people and saying like, look, if I can
Speaker 1: overcome this, I know that you can too. And yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what, it's going to be hard, and it's
Speaker 1: going to take a lot of hard work and it's
Speaker 1: not going to be handed to you, but you can
Speaker 1: do it. If they're young, people listening to this right
Speaker 1: now who are considering enlisting and they're they're moved by
Speaker 1: your story. What advice would you give them about enlisting?
Speaker 1: I would ask him, what do you want to do
Speaker 1: in life? Like you what's your dream and whatever it is,
Speaker 1: go for it, like you got one shot at this
Speaker 1: life you're on Earth. And if it is joining the military,
Speaker 1: if you want to go shoot some guns, go for it.
Speaker 1: Do it now. If you want to work for the
Speaker 1: CIA someday or FBI, you know, and you want to
Speaker 1: go into intelligence, do that. If you're eighteen years old,
Speaker 1: you don't have to have everything figured out. I mean,
Speaker 1: it took me to tell us about thirty one to
Speaker 1: kind of realize what I wanted to do with my life.
Speaker 1: So if you don't know, just go out there and
Speaker 1: soak in different experiences, whether it is the military or
Speaker 1: volunteering for different organizations. Because you know, when I got out,
Speaker 1: I first wanted to work in professional sports. I got
Speaker 1: a master's screen sport management. I was very fortunate to
Speaker 1: be named that NFL Tillman's Scholar, and I went to
Speaker 1: work for the Minnesota Vikings, my hometown football team. What
Speaker 1: I thought was going to be my dream job, and
Speaker 1: it turned out it wasn't and it wasn't for me.
Speaker 1: So you don't have to have it all figured out.
Speaker 1: If you want to join the military, do your research,
Speaker 1: figure out what branch is going to be best for
Speaker 1: you with what you want to do, and do it.
Speaker 1: But my recommendation is if you join the army and
Speaker 1: make sure you become a paratrooper. What do you miss
Speaker 1: most about being in the military. I missed the people,
Speaker 1: and I also missed the mission. Obviously, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of politics at play when it comes to the conflicts
Speaker 1: that are going on, and that's not something that I
Speaker 1: thought about when I was in But I the impact
Speaker 1: that we had on local people and when it was
Speaker 1: in Iraq, when I was there, and when I went
Speaker 1: to Afghanistan, and that is such a humbling feeling that
Speaker 1: allows me to still keep things in perspective to this
Speaker 1: day thinking about those people in the lives that they
Speaker 1: have and all the blessings. You know, again, I lost
Speaker 1: my job in February, but I'm going to be okay.
Speaker 1: I'm not living in a war torn country, so it
Speaker 1: just makes me continue to remain grateful. How would you
Speaker 1: encourage someone because this for us is inspired by Veterans Day. Obviously,
Speaker 1: how would you encourage someone to go about celebrating Veterans
Speaker 1: Day or what can we actually do? Not just think
Speaker 1: and feel? And that's level one for sure, but what
Speaker 1: can we also do? Level two? Yeah, I like that
Speaker 1: you put it like that, Bobby, because words are nice,
Speaker 1: they're great, but what sort of action can you take?
Speaker 1: And so my recommendation is to get involved with some
Speaker 1: type of organization if you support veterans, if it's a
Speaker 1: cause that you're passionate about, whether it's going to the
Speaker 1: VA and visiting with some of the patients there, or
Speaker 1: one of the many veteran service organizations out there, the VFW,
Speaker 1: the American Legion that unfortunately I am really struggling with
Speaker 1: membership with this younger generation of veterans. I encourage people
Speaker 1: get involved in you know, yeah, he's here on Veterans Day,
Speaker 1: that's kind of the obviously a prime time to thank
Speaker 1: a vet, but then that sort of just fades away
Speaker 1: after a while. I like to say, for my you know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of gold star mothers and brothers and
Speaker 1: sisters and fathers out there, and I know plenty of
Speaker 1: them that Memorial Days every day for them, and the
Speaker 1: same thing applies for me for Veterans Day. It might
Speaker 1: be the middle of June and hey it's not Veterans
Speaker 1: Day today, but going to do something for a veteran anyways.
Speaker 1: You know. I've found my ability to do that through
Speaker 1: my affiliation with an organization called Tee It Up for
Speaker 1: the Troops. They hold golf events across the country raising
Speaker 1: money for wounded veterans. And I had never swung a
Speaker 1: golf club again, like growing up like we did. I'd
Speaker 1: never swung a golf club in my life until I
Speaker 1: was twenty seven years old, and they put a set
Speaker 1: of golf clubs in my hands, and I fell in
Speaker 1: love with the game. And I'm a terrible golfer, but
Speaker 1: I found it as a therapeutic outlet just to kind
Speaker 1: of take my mind off of all the other things
Speaker 1: that were going on. That's the one organization that I
Speaker 1: really will bend over backwards for and do anything that
Speaker 1: I can to help them further their cause. So tell
Speaker 1: me about life now and what you're doing, and how
Speaker 1: do you see the lessons and values that you've learned
Speaker 1: influencing and impacting your journey as it continues. Yeah, life
Speaker 1: is great. It's been a challenge again losing your job. February,
Speaker 1: my wife and I were in the middle of the
Speaker 1: adoption process. We have two beautiful biological girls and we
Speaker 1: had just in January, we went through what's known as
Speaker 1: a failed match. We lost fifteen thousand dollars, which is
Speaker 1: a significant amount of money for anybody, but what hurt
Speaker 1: the most was the emotional investment. And then I go
Speaker 1: ahead and lose my job, and we have to decide
Speaker 1: if we want to continue on with this adoption journey,
Speaker 1: which is expensive, and you know, we make the decision
Speaker 1: to continue on, I start trying to make a go
Speaker 1: of it on my own to be able to speak
Speaker 1: to others to help them develop as leaders. And in
Speaker 1: May we welcomed a beautiful baby girl by the name
Speaker 1: of Haven that we adopted, and she has just been
Speaker 1: the light of our life through these challenging times that
Speaker 1: everybody's going through, and we definitely look forward to adopting again.
Speaker 1: We have so much love to give. It's always been
Speaker 1: in our dream too. You know. We just want to
Speaker 1: build a big house in the country and fill it
Speaker 1: full of kids and fill it full of love. My
Speaker 1: wife had a very normal childhood growing up. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't have one of those safe places where you
Speaker 1: could bring friends over to hang out and play a
Speaker 1: video game or whatever. And so we really want to
Speaker 1: create that opportunity for kids to be that place where
Speaker 1: you're not worried about where your kids at on a
Speaker 1: Friday night. It is they're all you know, at the
Speaker 1: Nelson House, hanging out at the sport court, playing basketball
Speaker 1: or whatever. And so really that's what drives me as
Speaker 1: my family and taking care and providing for them and
Speaker 1: doing meaningful work. How pivotal was your wife in your process?
Speaker 1: I think I would have committed suicide if it wasn't
Speaker 1: for her. I don't think that I would be alive
Speaker 1: today if it wasn't for her, because I struggled and
Speaker 1: I kept a lot of those struggles internal and I
Speaker 1: didn't share those with anybody. And yeah, man, if if
Speaker 1: it wasn't her for her, I don't think i'd be
Speaker 1: here as a dad, just as a dad. What what's
Speaker 1: your goal? My goal is to spend as much time
Speaker 1: with my kids as possible. And that's another thing. The
Speaker 1: career that I've chosen and that I feel like has
Speaker 1: also chosen me provides me that flexibility. You know, I
Speaker 1: encourage everybody do do whatever makes you happy. And this
Speaker 1: is what makes me happy because I have that flexibility
Speaker 1: where if I want to go play at the park
Speaker 1: with my girls all afternoon, I can do that. They're
Speaker 1: only young once. And it's just having kids is so awesome.
Speaker 1: And Bobby, I just I know you got engaged recently,
Speaker 1: so congratulations. And you know, if you end up having
Speaker 1: a family, I think you're gonna feel that as well
Speaker 1: and just be be an awesome dad, I hope. So
Speaker 1: you know, I was always and still am a bit
Speaker 1: scared to have kids because I had no I didn't
Speaker 1: have parents, so I don't know if I know how
Speaker 1: to parent. You know, I didn't have a safe place
Speaker 1: much like you. So to hear your story and to
Speaker 1: hear you love me and a dad and want more kids,
Speaker 1: and like that's inspiring for a guy like me. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I like to say I was taught exactly
Speaker 1: what not to do. I learned exactly what not to
Speaker 1: do from those I had in my life. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, too, I understood the power of positive
Speaker 1: people around me and surrounding myself with them. And seeing
Speaker 1: what it can be like. And so I've been able
Speaker 1: to take that and use that to shape me as
Speaker 1: a father, and you'll get through a lot of learning
Speaker 1: experiences obviously too. I have really enjoyed talking with you.
Speaker 1: I mean that as as sincerely as I possibly can.
Speaker 1: So thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for
Speaker 1: sharing your knowledge and your advice, and for continuing to
Speaker 1: want to do that because I can tell you from experience,
Speaker 1: it ain't a easy thing to want to talk to
Speaker 1: folks because not everybody wants to always hear you want
Speaker 1: they don't want to listen to your story. But when
Speaker 1: you connect, it is worth its weight in whatever currency
Speaker 1: you want to spend. And so you're gonna it's gonna
Speaker 1: be so great for you because I can just tell
Speaker 1: that that fulfills you to help others. So thank you
Speaker 1: again and the best best wishes to you and your
Speaker 1: wife and all your kids. Thank you very much, Bobby.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the opportunity. It's been fantastic, So thank you
Speaker 1: very much, and again, congratulations on depending nuptials. Enjoy it. Man.
Speaker 1: I want to thank Patrick for his bravery and dedication
Speaker 1: and service and for the work he does today carrying
Speaker 1: out the memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Speaker 1: I encourage you to follow Patrick Nelson on Instagram. He's
Speaker 1: at Patrick Jay Nelson nineteen eighty three. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to BETS you Should Know. Check out our other episodes
Speaker 1: from more great stories from inspiring bets like Patrick who
Speaker 1: continue to work selflessly and tirelessly in civilian life to
Speaker 1: make positive change. If you like much you heard, please
Speaker 1: rate and review the podcast. We want to hear from
Speaker 1: you and don't forget to subscribe for free or follow
Speaker 1: the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your podcasts. VET you Should Know is
Speaker 1: a special four part series podcast from iHeartRadio hosted by
Speaker 1: me Bobby Bones. Our show has written and produced by
Speaker 1: Molly Sosha, Andy Kelly, Ethan Fixell in partnership with Haley
Speaker 1: Ericson and Garrett Shannon of Banter Edit, sound design and
Speaker 1: mixed by Matt Stillo and my personal producer and hero
Speaker 1: is Mike d