Speaker 1: One week a year, all right, one week a year.
Speaker 1: We ask you for money, and we're very careful about
Speaker 1: who we choose to ask money for. UM, for you
Speaker 1: to donate to and Warrior Foundation Freedom Station is is
Speaker 1: what we're all into. And UM, we've been doing this
Speaker 1: for years and a lot of you. Man, as soon
Speaker 1: as we opened it up on Monday, you jumped on
Speaker 1: right away and you were donating money because you've heard
Speaker 1: over the years what a great, great organization where your
Speaker 1: foundation Freedom Station is. But in case you're not up
Speaker 1: to speed on it, maybe we thought we would talk
Speaker 1: to somebody who's actually benefited from this great organization, UM
Speaker 1: and have them on the air and now we'll see
Speaker 1: if you want to donate after this. Well, it's a
Speaker 1: pleasure to welcome back to the Armstrong and Getty Show.
Speaker 1: Host Sway Barone U S Marine retired. Always great to
Speaker 1: talk host Way, how are you, sir? I'm doing good.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you for having me. Oh of course, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's our our pleasure and our honor. Just a quick
Speaker 1: background to Hostwai, who joined the Marines at age seventeen
Speaker 1: conducting a foot patrol in Afghanistan when his Filam Marine
Speaker 1: stepped on an improvid is the explosive device. They're both injured,
Speaker 1: with hot Waite losing his left egg and left eye
Speaker 1: in the blast. Transported back to Naval Medical Center, San
Speaker 1: Diego for treatment and recovery. UM and and at that point,
Speaker 1: hose Way, you can take up the tail. There you
Speaker 1: are in the hospital. How did you become aware of
Speaker 1: Warrior Foundation Freedom Station? What? What were you feeling at
Speaker 1: that point? What was what did the world seem like
Speaker 1: in those days? Yeah? So, um, there was that at
Speaker 1: the Naval Medical Center in San Diego about to begin,
Speaker 1: you know, a long growth to recovery. And I was
Speaker 1: twenty one years old at that time, and and I
Speaker 1: just felt like my world was over. I just felt
Speaker 1: like I didn't know what, you know, how an ampity
Speaker 1: was going to live a life for how somebody would
Speaker 1: a disability like mine was gonna you know, continue a life,
Speaker 1: you know, build a family or just just you know,
Speaker 1: pick myself up. I had no idea, UM. And that's
Speaker 1: when when I met you know, Sandy from the Warrior
Speaker 1: Foundation and and just people that were there to uplift
Speaker 1: us and help us out and show us that you know,
Speaker 1: there's still a lot more that we can do, and
Speaker 1: a lot more UM that was going to continue to do.
Speaker 1: And I met Um Sandy from the Warrior Foundation at
Speaker 1: an event. UH me and my wife had gone to
Speaker 1: an event. I met her there and she had a
Speaker 1: picture of the Warrior of the Freedom Station, the first
Speaker 1: one that they ever built, And I asked her what
Speaker 1: was that, you know, housing four and she told me
Speaker 1: it was for veterans or guys wounded warriors that were
Speaker 1: transitioning from from the military to civilian, you know, to
Speaker 1: the civilian world, and that it was, you know, meant
Speaker 1: for us. And I asked her, you know, if I
Speaker 1: can live there, you know, if there was any way
Speaker 1: I can join them, and you know, she made it happen.
Speaker 1: And from there a lot of my neighbors that lived there,
Speaker 1: for other Ampuchees, guys, even guys from my unit that
Speaker 1: I knew um that ended up living there. So just
Speaker 1: ending up in the place like that, you know, building
Speaker 1: a community, knowing that there was other guys going through
Speaker 1: the same thing that I was going through, really really
Speaker 1: help me out. And just having the resources from Sandy
Speaker 1: or staff and you know, all the other people that
Speaker 1: were there to help us, just made a huge, huge
Speaker 1: difference towards my recovery. So brave veterans like Josue, who
Speaker 1: are you know, transitioning from the military to civilian life
Speaker 1: is hard enough for anybody, but then you're transitioning with
Speaker 1: these injuries, and there you are at Freedom Station, surrounded
Speaker 1: on all sides by other injured veterans that you can
Speaker 1: talk to and get support from, including as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: several from your own unit. We've visited Freedom Station many
Speaker 1: times to see these guys. The way they come together
Speaker 1: and and you know, and and have each other's backs
Speaker 1: and support each other. It's really something. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: something that I was about to say money can't buy,
Speaker 1: but money can buy it when you go to Armstrong
Speaker 1: and getty dot com and you click on the banner
Speaker 1: and you donate some money so we can have more
Speaker 1: stories like this in the future. Yeah, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: a place. You know, what's a place where where guys
Speaker 1: here and where at piece you know, and and just
Speaker 1: have a story from where right across street from from
Speaker 1: the Freedom Station to the Starbucks. And when I first
Speaker 1: got injured, I was afraid to go out in the
Speaker 1: public because I didn't know how people are going to
Speaker 1: react to, you know, an happy t or somebody like myself.
Speaker 1: I just felt different and and I had asked Andy,
Speaker 1: and you know a couple of ladies that were volunteering
Speaker 1: if they helped me go to that Starbucks and just
Speaker 1: walk with me, and just having that little bit of support,
Speaker 1: you know, made a huge difference, because if I was
Speaker 1: by myself, I don't know if I would have had
Speaker 1: the guts to do it at that time. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: that's that's something a lot of us can't relate to,
Speaker 1: but we've heard it from so many guys. Um, it's
Speaker 1: absolutely true that support is just critical to making that transition.
Speaker 1: And speaking of transitions, now A might correct you have
Speaker 1: three boys? Yeah, now you know. Now I have three boys,
Speaker 1: and you know I've been married for eleven years now,
Speaker 1: and you know, I got to build a family that
Speaker 1: that that I wanted. You know, that's fantastic, that's beautiful
Speaker 1: working contributing, and I assume, well, I know this, actually,
Speaker 1: but you're doing what you can to help out guys
Speaker 1: are going through similar experiences. Yeah, I mean, I just
Speaker 1: I feel like I got injured at a young age,
Speaker 1: and I was I was in my in my prime
Speaker 1: and I felt like I was becoming a leader in
Speaker 1: the Marine Corps. But you know, the injury my career
Speaker 1: short there. And once I got back on my feet
Speaker 1: out here as a civilian, as a veteran, I felt
Speaker 1: like there was more to me that needed to be done.
Speaker 1: And if I can, you know, inspire other veteran, inspire
Speaker 1: other people with disabilities, I felt like, you know, that's
Speaker 1: my purpose. Well, you're a good man. We appreciate it,
Speaker 1: and we appreciate you helping us raise money for Warrior Foundation.
Speaker 1: Freedom Station host Wait bar own host Wait. Great to
Speaker 1: talk to you man. Best of luck and best wishes
Speaker 1: to your whole family. Thank you very much. We send
Speaker 1: these people out to keep the free world free. When
Speaker 1: they get injured in the line of duty, we owe
Speaker 1: it to them to give him these sorts of opportunities
Speaker 1: that you just heard about from hot Way. Donate money
Speaker 1: go to Armstrong and Getty dot com click on the banner.
Speaker 1: If you've had a good year or if you've just
Speaker 1: had an okay year, I mean, you just heard that
Speaker 1: story there. You didn't get your eye blown out and
Speaker 1: your leg blown off, I'm guessing um, donate some money
Speaker 1: any amounts good. We appreciate your supports. It's you know,
Speaker 1: we're not quote unquote asking you for money. We're asking
Speaker 1: you to support a great organization and if you can,
Speaker 1: go to Armstrong and Getty dot com Armstrong getty dot com.
Speaker 1: I hope we're hear from the whales where the whales
Speaker 1: at y'all got some money, you whales, let's give it
Speaker 1: to these zero