1
00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,080
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Good Stuff. I'm Jacob Schick and I'm

2
00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,560
Speaker 1: joined by my co host and wife, Ashley Shick.

3
00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,360
Speaker 2: Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm a

4
00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,440
Speaker 2: gold Star granddaughter, and we work together to serve military veterans,

5
00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:25,200
Speaker 2: first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families with mental

6
00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,479
Speaker 2: and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy.

7
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:30,480
Speaker 3: At One Tribe Foundation.

8
00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,000
Speaker 1: We believe everyone has a story to tell, not only

9
00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,440
Speaker 1: about the peaks, but also the valleys they've been through

10
00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,000
Speaker 1: to get them to where they are today.

11
00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,000
Speaker 2: Each week, we invite a guest to tell us their story,

12
00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,360
Speaker 2: to share with us the lessons they've learned that shape

13
00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,360
Speaker 2: who they are and what they're doing to pay it

14
00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:45,640
Speaker 2: forward and give back.

15
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,880
Speaker 1: Our mission with this show is to dig deep into

16
00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,400
Speaker 1: our guest's journey so that we can celebrate the hope

17
00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,400
Speaker 1: and inspiration their story has to offer.

18
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,480
Speaker 3: We're thrilled you're joining us again.

19
00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:56,800
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Good Stuff.

20
00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,560
Speaker 2: You know, we both have such a deep appreciation of

21
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,360
Speaker 2: our nation's veterans, and not only did Jacob serve, but

22
00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:08,200
Speaker 2: a lot of men and women in both of our

23
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,119
Speaker 2: families served and sacrificed for.

24
00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,760
Speaker 1: Our freedoms, freedoms that we all take for granted, myself

25
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:18,240
Speaker 1: completely included every single day. Yes, our guest today is

26
00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,320
Speaker 1: the Al Lpparte. He served in the United States Army

27
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:24,760
Speaker 1: for fourteen years during a time in our nation when

28
00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,800
Speaker 1: it wasn't very popular to serve. In fact, it was

29
00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,480
Speaker 1: quite the opposite. While in the Army, he served in Vietnam.

30
00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,160
Speaker 1: Today he is a huge part of the Veterans of

31
00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,360
Speaker 1: Foreign Wars and he's here to tell us his story

32
00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,679
Speaker 1: of joining the army, serving in combat, and how he

33
00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,600
Speaker 1: continues to serve today and fight for the greater good.

34
00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,800
Speaker 2: I'm so excited to share Al Laparte with the world.

35
00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,720
Speaker 2: We absolutely love him and he is one of the

36
00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,080
Speaker 2: most energetic seventy six year olds we know.

37
00:01:51,600 --> 00:02:02,000
Speaker 1: I forget he's seventy six often I'll Lippart, Welcome to

38
00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:02,800
Speaker 1: the good stuff.

39
00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,600
Speaker 4: Thank you. I'm honored to be here.

40
00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,560
Speaker 1: We're very humbled and privileged to have you and to

41
00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:11,799
Speaker 1: be open to doing this. We really appreciate it.

42
00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,480
Speaker 2: And we were originally connected through your work with the

43
00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,440
Speaker 2: Veterans of Foreign Wars. And what is your current standing

44
00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:18,200
Speaker 2: in the BFW.

45
00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,760
Speaker 4: Actually in August of this year, I was elected as

46
00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,959
Speaker 4: the Junior Vice Commander in Chief, and what follows is

47
00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:30,080
Speaker 4: at next year's convention, I anticipate being elected as the

48
00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,080
Speaker 4: Senior Vice Commander in Chief. That would be the number

49
00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,000
Speaker 4: two man. And the following year, which would be in

50
00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,679
Speaker 4: August of twenty four, I would serve as the Commander

51
00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,520
Speaker 4: in Chief. That's a one year term. I would go

52
00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:46,560
Speaker 4: out of office in August of twenty twenty five. So

53
00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,480
Speaker 4: that's the role that I'm in right now and anticipating

54
00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:51,720
Speaker 4: the next several years.

55
00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,360
Speaker 2: And it's been really fascinating for Jake and I to

56
00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,839
Speaker 2: get more involved with the VFW and find out how

57
00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:02,640
Speaker 2: much really goes into the leadership and the planning and

58
00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,880
Speaker 2: the execution of all that you want to accomplish for

59
00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,679
Speaker 2: veterans worldwide and every age and every conflict that we've

60
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,080
Speaker 2: been involved in. It's been really fascinating because I know

61
00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,200
Speaker 2: Jake and I both have personal stories with the VFW.

62
00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,320
Speaker 1: The VFW was very important to my grandmother and my grandfather,

63
00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,360
Speaker 1: my grandfather being the first generation United States Marine and

64
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,680
Speaker 1: our family serving World War Two and a Regima, and

65
00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:32,600
Speaker 1: my grandmother ultimately becoming the president of the Auxiliary in

66
00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,520
Speaker 1: the State of Louisiana after my Pat Paul's passing. As

67
00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,640
Speaker 1: you all know, that's my bested interest or at least

68
00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,640
Speaker 1: the tip of the spear of my best at interest

69
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,320
Speaker 1: to help the VFW in any way I can, which

70
00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,280
Speaker 1: you know a lot more in detail about that, but

71
00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,400
Speaker 1: it's definitely close to my heart and soul because it's

72
00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:54,720
Speaker 1: ingrained in my DNA by default.

73
00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:55,320
Speaker 3: And mine too.

74
00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,240
Speaker 2: My great grandfather, Ward Albro the second was a Bronze

75
00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,080
Speaker 2: Star recipient World War Two, served in the army, and.

76
00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,120
Speaker 3: He also in San Angelo, West Texas.

77
00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,080
Speaker 2: He was involved with the VFW, and so it's something

78
00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,920
Speaker 2: that we've known about our entire lives and really to

79
00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,840
Speaker 2: be able through you a'l dig in and find out

80
00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:18,880
Speaker 2: more about this organization and what it's done over decades

81
00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,800
Speaker 2: now over a century has been really exciting.

82
00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,440
Speaker 1: You're continuing the lead. You epitomize what it means to

83
00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,200
Speaker 1: be an effective leader.

84
00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,039
Speaker 4: I think so for all three of us being part

85
00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:34,640
Speaker 4: of those that were the favorite of the nation to

86
00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:39,039
Speaker 4: defend it, and then following our time in uniform, we

87
00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:43,680
Speaker 4: continue to use that service to give back. You know,

88
00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:48,559
Speaker 4: when we talk about VFW. Unfortunately, we as military types

89
00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,920
Speaker 4: tend to talk in acronyms, and people will ask what

90
00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,520
Speaker 4: the heck is the VFW, and we know that's the

91
00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,279
Speaker 4: Veterans of Foreign Wars. And there's one thing to be veterans,

92
00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:02,960
Speaker 4: because everyone that uniform takes the oath and serves is

93
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,000
Speaker 4: a veteran. But we're different. We're are veterans of Foreign Wars,

94
00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,280
Speaker 4: meaning that not only did we raise our hand, we

95
00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,279
Speaker 4: all took the same oath, but when it came time

96
00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,520
Speaker 4: to deploy, when we were told we were going to war,

97
00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,600
Speaker 4: we went. So when I find someone that's in the

98
00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,040
Speaker 4: Veterans of Foreign Wars, I have absolutely no doubt of

99
00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,880
Speaker 4: their courage because they accepted the challenge, they went to war.

100
00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,760
Speaker 2: And we'll get into a little later how important THEFW

101
00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:35,719
Speaker 2: has been to your story.

102
00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,960
Speaker 3: But your story started when you were quite young.

103
00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,159
Speaker 4: I was born in nineteen forty six, and as a

104
00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,240
Speaker 4: high school student, I will tell you that during those

105
00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,400
Speaker 4: four years I was not what one would consider a

106
00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,800
Speaker 4: stellar student. I had other things that I enjoyed doing

107
00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,600
Speaker 4: versus studying. I guess it's to say that I did

108
00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,960
Speaker 4: not let my education interfere with my fun, because I

109
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,719
Speaker 4: continued to have fun at the expense of my grades.

110
00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,279
Speaker 4: I found leadership in high school when I played football

111
00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,040
Speaker 4: up through my junior year. And one of the things

112
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,839
Speaker 4: that my coach did, and he was a championship coach,

113
00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:18,360
Speaker 4: I told him I wanted to go to college and

114
00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,480
Speaker 4: what were my chances of getting a football scholarship, and

115
00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,280
Speaker 4: he said, I'll just be very frank with you, they're

116
00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,960
Speaker 4: probably zip. I was a starter my junior year, but

117
00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,360
Speaker 4: I was just another football player. But when the coach

118
00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,920
Speaker 4: told me, al, you probably should go find a job,

119
00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:42,320
Speaker 4: it was very hurtful. Now I also found that I

120
00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,440
Speaker 4: wasn't really college material. That was really not on my radar.

121
00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,800
Speaker 3: Were you the first one in your family to serve No.

122
00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,720
Speaker 4: I had three uncles that were in World War Two,

123
00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,800
Speaker 4: one in the Navy and two in the Army. Uncle

124
00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:58,560
Speaker 4: Joe was in the Navy. I think he was in

125
00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,159
Speaker 4: the Pacific during World War II too. Uncle Bob was

126
00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:05,240
Speaker 4: in the Army, was in France and Germany. I had

127
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,600
Speaker 4: Uncle Eddie. Both Bob and Joe served their time and

128
00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,520
Speaker 4: then got out. Uncle Eddie was a career soldier, landed

129
00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:18,240
Speaker 4: D Day. He landed in Anzio and then from Ansio

130
00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,520
Speaker 4: he went up went to the Battle of the bulge

131
00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,480
Speaker 4: that was involved in Mark Gardner, so he was an

132
00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,360
Speaker 4: infantry guy. He had a field commission. He got out

133
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,640
Speaker 4: of the military as a colonel. I was very young.

134
00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,880
Speaker 4: I probably was six or seven years old the last

135
00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,520
Speaker 4: time I saw him in uniform. He also was a

136
00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,800
Speaker 4: Korean War veteran. I'll tell you he was the epitome

137
00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:47,680
Speaker 4: to me of strength, of conviction, of courage. A three

138
00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,600
Speaker 4: or four Silver Star recipient. I think he had the

139
00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:55,880
Speaker 4: Distinguished Service Cross. He was what we would refer to

140
00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,840
Speaker 4: as a badass. So when the war came about, I

141
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,600
Speaker 4: decided that fortunately we had my family knew people that

142
00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,760
Speaker 4: were in the Selective Service offices, and the word got

143
00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,400
Speaker 4: back to my parents that my number was coming up.

144
00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,600
Speaker 4: I didn't want to be drafted. I wanted to enlist

145
00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,160
Speaker 4: so that I could get when I wanted. And that

146
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,440
Speaker 4: was the first time in life that I realized be

147
00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,119
Speaker 4: careful what you asked for, because it might come true.

148
00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:31,120
Speaker 4: Because of what I asked for, I absolutely hated when

149
00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:33,240
Speaker 4: I got into the service. I thought, I'm going to

150
00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:34,959
Speaker 4: I'm going to go into the service, so I want

151
00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,559
Speaker 4: to learn skill that I can transition into business when

152
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:40,800
Speaker 4: I get out. Because I had no intention of making

153
00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:42,920
Speaker 4: a career of the military. I was assigned as a

154
00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:46,120
Speaker 4: clerk typist, and so I sat at the desk and

155
00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,959
Speaker 4: I did with clink click because they drove me crazy.

156
00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:51,400
Speaker 4: I don't want to do this. While I was in

157
00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:56,000
Speaker 4: basic training, I really enjoyed that. Again, I'm a football player,

158
00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:00,400
Speaker 4: I'd like contact. So as I was going across the bars,

159
00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,200
Speaker 4: as you swing to go to chow, and if you fall,

160
00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:04,840
Speaker 4: you go back and get in the back of the

161
00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,000
Speaker 4: line and start all over again. And after about the

162
00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:09,480
Speaker 4: third time of that, I went, I got to get

163
00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,600
Speaker 4: this master. It was building up strength. It certainly was

164
00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:16,440
Speaker 4: building up character. Because my hands were blistered, they were bleeding.

165
00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:21,040
Speaker 4: I was still punching through my drill. Sergeants had been

166
00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,480
Speaker 4: watching this and they came up and they said, loopart,

167
00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:30,120
Speaker 4: your determination, your commitment to see this through to excel.

168
00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:32,800
Speaker 4: We think you're a leader. You may not know this,

169
00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:37,240
Speaker 4: but people in your platoon are watching you and they're

170
00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,320
Speaker 4: following your lead, and so we think it would be

171
00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:42,920
Speaker 4: good for you to go to Officer Candidate school. And

172
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:47,800
Speaker 4: so in June of sixty six, I went to Fort Benning, Georgia,

173
00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,360
Speaker 4: to the home of the Infantry. The Infantry School. The

174
00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:57,600
Speaker 4: Infantry school motto was follow me, and I felt right

175
00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:02,400
Speaker 4: at home going through tactics, learning all those things that

176
00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,920
Speaker 4: it needed to learn to be a leader of warriors,

177
00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,960
Speaker 4: and I took right to that. Was very proud to

178
00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:12,800
Speaker 4: do that. There were a lot of good things that

179
00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,120
Speaker 4: came out of that. I learned much about myself. We

180
00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,439
Speaker 4: also had to have a social aspect, because, as Jake knows,

181
00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:24,640
Speaker 4: when your commission the President declares you to be a gentleman,

182
00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,080
Speaker 4: you're an officer and a gentleman. That's what that commission represents.

183
00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,719
Speaker 4: So we had to learn some social skills rather than

184
00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,480
Speaker 4: just beat each other up. We did have to learn

185
00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,080
Speaker 4: those social skills, so we had a social a quarter,

186
00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,679
Speaker 4: and of course we were restricted to base, so we

187
00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,000
Speaker 4: had to have a date, so you couldn't go downtown

188
00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,199
Speaker 4: and get a rented date if you catch my draft.

189
00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,320
Speaker 4: Fortunately one of the nursing schools in Columbus, those students

190
00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,520
Speaker 4: would come and serve as our dates, so it was

191
00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:00,200
Speaker 4: blind dates. The very first one, I was sitting next

192
00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,480
Speaker 4: to a fellow candidate. This girl starts walking down the steps.

193
00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:06,720
Speaker 4: I looked at her, and I looked to the guy,

194
00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:11,040
Speaker 4: and I said that's my future wife. He went your

195
00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,720
Speaker 4: kid now, I'm telling you she's it. That turned out

196
00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:20,160
Speaker 4: to be my date. That date happened to turn out

197
00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:25,000
Speaker 4: to be my wife, Carol. She was my date at

198
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:31,440
Speaker 4: the three other socials. That was from about August, right

199
00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:36,840
Speaker 4: as we graduated in December, in the car at a light,

200
00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:44,040
Speaker 4: I proposed marriage to Carol and she accepted well. I

201
00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:48,240
Speaker 4: graduated from OCS on the sixteenth of December of nineteen

202
00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:52,400
Speaker 4: sixty six. We were married February the twenty fourth of

203
00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:57,320
Speaker 4: nineteen sixty seven. We remain married today, so we're pretty

204
00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:03,679
Speaker 4: sure it's going to work. So left Ohio to go

205
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:09,880
Speaker 4: to Vietnam in June of nineteen sixty seven. Young Infantry

206
00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:14,000
Speaker 4: Officer Green as Green could be. I'm in Vietnam now,

207
00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,400
Speaker 4: and there's a couple of movies that I've seen that

208
00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:21,720
Speaker 4: are very good examples of at least my experiences in combat.

209
00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:24,959
Speaker 4: I think there's probably three movies that mean the most

210
00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,280
Speaker 4: to me. The first movie that comes to mind is

211
00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:33,280
Speaker 4: Saving Private Ryan. It's those scenes in Normandy where they're

212
00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,560
Speaker 4: coming off of the LSTs and getting into the water

213
00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:40,640
Speaker 4: to take the beach. Everything in combat moves in slow motion.

214
00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,160
Speaker 4: All hell is breaking loose, but when you're in there,

215
00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:51,280
Speaker 4: time is just moves slowly. The second one that I

216
00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:58,520
Speaker 4: related to was the movie Platoon. When the movie starts,

217
00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:05,439
Speaker 4: you see this soldier in very clean pressed fatigues. His

218
00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:10,400
Speaker 4: boots are shined, and he's, hey, I'm here. I'm not

219
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,480
Speaker 4: mad at anybody. I know. I'm here. It's all okay.

220
00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:16,800
Speaker 4: I have a mission. And then we're going to do

221
00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,400
Speaker 4: the mission. But I'm not angry. So we're out. We're

222
00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,640
Speaker 4: clearing a road. Now. I'm a platoon leader. So we're

223
00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:25,640
Speaker 4: clearing this road of mines. This is up in i

224
00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:30,440
Speaker 4: Coourt in the northernmost part Vietnam of South Vietnam. We're

225
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,040
Speaker 4: clearing this road and this shot rings out, and so

226
00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:37,320
Speaker 4: I'm looking around where'd the shot come from? Because I

227
00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,720
Speaker 4: want to return fire. This guy laying on the ground,

228
00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,240
Speaker 4: it's pulling my passlots. He keeps yelling at me to

229
00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,080
Speaker 4: get down, Get down, get down. What he said to

230
00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,760
Speaker 4: me was when somebody's firing, when you hear shot, you're

231
00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,719
Speaker 4: supposed to get on the ground first. Then you can

232
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,320
Speaker 4: look around, but get down. Because you're a target. You

233
00:13:55,400 --> 00:14:00,240
Speaker 4: make the rest of us a target. Lesson learned got

234
00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:06,400
Speaker 4: up after we had eliminated the sniper, and I realized

235
00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:11,280
Speaker 4: at that point that somebody's now shooting it. They've started

236
00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,160
Speaker 4: to fight with me. So now I'm angry. When I

237
00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,120
Speaker 4: got there at the beginning, I'm this nice, pleasant individual.

238
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,760
Speaker 4: I'm just here. But at that point, now I realized

239
00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:27,160
Speaker 4: somebody's trying to kill us, and that's not acceptable, and

240
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:33,120
Speaker 4: so I became hardened very quickly because we're going through.

241
00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:38,560
Speaker 4: We were air assaulted up to further north in Icres,

242
00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:42,160
Speaker 4: which is that area that's the northernmost part of the

243
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:46,880
Speaker 4: combat zone, and there's a way that you deploy. Early

244
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,000
Speaker 4: movies showed helicopters landing and you're getting off. That's not

245
00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,480
Speaker 4: how you do it. You're going to get off that

246
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,200
Speaker 4: helicopter when you air assault. You can get off on

247
00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,240
Speaker 4: the way down, or you can get off on the

248
00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:59,680
Speaker 4: way up. But either way you're going to get off.

249
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,800
Speaker 4: The key is get off when it gets as close

250
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:04,840
Speaker 4: to the ground as it's going to get, which is

251
00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,600
Speaker 4: about six feet. We were about twenty five clicks southwest

252
00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,760
Speaker 4: of d Nag. Now I'm in a warzone. We're not

253
00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:15,920
Speaker 4: looking for guerrillas anymore. We're looking for regular North Vietnamese Army,

254
00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,120
Speaker 4: and so it came to November nineteen sixty seven. At

255
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:25,160
Speaker 4: this particular time, intelligence came in that intercepted a radio

256
00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,880
Speaker 4: signal that was very unusual because only units of regimental

257
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,960
Speaker 4: size or division size had radios. So there was a

258
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:38,400
Speaker 4: large element near us. And so we were being deployed

259
00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,840
Speaker 4: and a search and destroyer mission for the enemy. So

260
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,800
Speaker 4: I was part of a delta company. I was a

261
00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:50,840
Speaker 4: second platin leader. We got online, we started to move

262
00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,680
Speaker 4: up this small hill. It had a hedgerow up at

263
00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,960
Speaker 4: the top, and so as we were movie first PLATOWO

264
00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,880
Speaker 4: was on the left and I think the fourth platoon

265
00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:05,840
Speaker 4: was in the middle and I was the second platoon.

266
00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,000
Speaker 4: I had the right flank. As we were moving up,

267
00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:11,320
Speaker 4: there was a shot and it was to my left.

268
00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,880
Speaker 4: The company commander said, all right, everybody start shifting left

269
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:19,600
Speaker 4: and continue to sweep. So we did. Then more shots

270
00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,240
Speaker 4: rang out, and more urgently he said, okay, move left.

271
00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,120
Speaker 4: So we did well. When we got about fifteen yards

272
00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:30,400
Speaker 4: from the hedgerow, the hedgerow opened fire. I didn't realize

273
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,320
Speaker 4: at the time, but on the initial volley ten of

274
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:37,120
Speaker 4: my men went down. They were wounded. Four of them

275
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:42,680
Speaker 4: were killed immediately, one was killed later. The one that

276
00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:47,000
Speaker 4: was killed later was standing next to me. But as

277
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,320
Speaker 4: Jake does, when you get into an ambush, there's only

278
00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,280
Speaker 4: one way out of an ambush, and that's to not

279
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,160
Speaker 4: stay there. You have to fight your way through it.

280
00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,400
Speaker 4: And that's what we did. We just charged. We broke

281
00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,680
Speaker 4: the ambush that battle that started on Thanksgiving Day, And

282
00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,199
Speaker 4: I've got a picture that I've posted a couple of

283
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:09,359
Speaker 4: times that shows the time before. I'm sitting with my

284
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:14,159
Speaker 4: squad leaders and my platoon sergeant, my radio operator, and

285
00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:18,159
Speaker 4: my medic and we're going over my plan for the

286
00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,840
Speaker 4: way we're going to conduct this suite. We are a unit,

287
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,160
Speaker 4: and yes I'm the platoon leader, but they've got more

288
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,320
Speaker 4: time than I do in this so I'm going to

289
00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,440
Speaker 4: run my plan by them and for them to pick

290
00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,359
Speaker 4: at it, and if there's something wrong, let me know.

291
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,280
Speaker 4: My mission was not to win a war. I was

292
00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:42,439
Speaker 4: responsible for the lives of these men, so that was

293
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,760
Speaker 4: my goal was to protect them as much as I

294
00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,639
Speaker 4: possibly could. I did not know their names. If I

295
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,680
Speaker 4: did know their names, it was only their first name.

296
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,760
Speaker 4: I knew probably only a handful by name because I

297
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,040
Speaker 4: did not want to know them because I knew what

298
00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:00,399
Speaker 4: I was going to have to do, going to have

299
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,200
Speaker 4: to send them in harm's way. I did not want

300
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,320
Speaker 4: that to be an obstruction to either one of us.

301
00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,320
Speaker 4: That battle started November the twenty third, nineteen sixty seven.

302
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,600
Speaker 4: It it ended November the twenty seventh, nineteen sixty seven. For

303
00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:17,560
Speaker 4: four days we engaged the second MBA Division of the

304
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:22,879
Speaker 4: third Regiment of the North Vietnamese Art. It truly was

305
00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,600
Speaker 4: a shit show because it is so chaotic in battle,

306
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,880
Speaker 4: with the gunfire, with explosions, with all that is going on,

307
00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,920
Speaker 4: It truly is chaos. And you rely on your training.

308
00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:40,000
Speaker 4: This is not a time where a true thought process

309
00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:44,359
Speaker 4: takes place. You simply react to the training that you

310
00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,879
Speaker 4: had and you hope that you were trained to be

311
00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,320
Speaker 4: the best that you could be, and we were. As

312
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,640
Speaker 4: we took the heel, there was a bunker on top,

313
00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,840
Speaker 4: and we were approaching that bunker, and as we did,

314
00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:01,320
Speaker 4: shots came out. I'd seen the bunker, We were all

315
00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:04,600
Speaker 4: aware that the bunker was there, and I had just

316
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:09,359
Speaker 4: said to this individual, whose name was Rodney Lowman, I

317
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,040
Speaker 4: told him to move. At that moment, he went to

318
00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:17,280
Speaker 4: the ground. They were shot in the head. We returned fire.

319
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 4: We got support because there was an NBA soldier in

320
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,040
Speaker 4: there who would not give up, and so we were

321
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,359
Speaker 4: able to outflank him, get around him and throw a

322
00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,439
Speaker 4: hangernad in and kill him. Fast forward. Now there were

323
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,600
Speaker 4: a number of other battles. The Tet Offensive of nineteen

324
00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,639
Speaker 4: sixty eight took place in January, beginning in January, and

325
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:44,200
Speaker 4: again it was Hellasia's fighting. It was it was war.

326
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,000
Speaker 4: There was nothing gorilla about it. It was large units

327
00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,200
Speaker 4: fighting large units. I will tell you that we never

328
00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,360
Speaker 4: lost a battle. Some of the battles were very costly.

329
00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:59,960
Speaker 4: My recollection is I began Thanksgiving with twenty four men.

330
00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,159
Speaker 4: On the twenty seventh of November, I had six men.

331
00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,840
Speaker 4: Now I was wounded superficially, but I didn't have to

332
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:15,600
Speaker 4: be evacuated. The last movie that reminded me of Vietnam

333
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,199
Speaker 4: was We were Soldiers Once in Young the Battle of

334
00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:21,960
Speaker 4: the Idragon Valley, which happened to be several years earlier,

335
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,320
Speaker 4: in sixty five, because what I saw on that screen

336
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,760
Speaker 4: was what I went through on Thanksgiving Day of nineteen

337
00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:35,840
Speaker 4: sixty seven. When people ask me about my experience of Vietnam,

338
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,040
Speaker 4: it's hard for me to explain, because if you weren't there,

339
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,120
Speaker 4: you don't understand it. I can describe it, but it's

340
00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:48,600
Speaker 4: not the same. There's a couple things missing. If we

341
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:53,120
Speaker 4: were soldiers once in young could have recreated the smells

342
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:57,240
Speaker 4: of death, the smells of blood, the smells of flesh

343
00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,199
Speaker 4: that are burning, that would have been real. That's what

344
00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:05,360
Speaker 4: people don't get. They also don't get the adrenaline. There

345
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:11,359
Speaker 4: is no greater feeling than being alive at the end

346
00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:16,679
Speaker 4: of a firefight. When you talk about collisions and you

347
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:24,160
Speaker 4: talk about combat, there is only one winner, and that's

348
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:29,640
Speaker 4: the person that's alive. That has stuck with me forever,

349
00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:34,000
Speaker 4: and it will stick with me. I didn't realize that

350
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,480
Speaker 4: I had PTSD when I got back from Vietnam the

351
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,920
Speaker 4: second time, which was seventy one. I was stationed in Washington,

352
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,320
Speaker 4: d C. I had a reserve commission and I got

353
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 4: the word that I was going to be released from

354
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 4: active duty or there was a reduction in force. So

355
00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,359
Speaker 4: ended the reserves for three years, and after the third year,

356
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,400
Speaker 4: I went up to the colonel. I was a company commander.

357
00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:58,840
Speaker 4: I told the colonel I needed to see him, and

358
00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:00,960
Speaker 4: he said, this is on I drew a weekend. He said,

359
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 4: what do you need and I said, well, sir, I'm

360
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:07,159
Speaker 4: here to tell you that I quit. He quit, Captain,

361
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,720
Speaker 4: you can't quit and I said, oh, Sir, I can't.

362
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,320
Speaker 4: He said, you've got an obligation. I said, no, sir,

363
00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 4: I've been here three years. I have fulfilled my obligation.

364
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,199
Speaker 4: And he said, clipart, that's fourteen years. Why would you

365
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 4: throw fourteen years away? And I was in suiting clothes

366
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:27,159
Speaker 4: and I said, sir, you see this purple heart. I

367
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:31,040
Speaker 4: always wore my purple heart. And I said, I wear

368
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,639
Speaker 4: this for me. It reminds me how short life is.

369
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 4: Life changes in the blink of an eye. And I said, sir,

370
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:40,640
Speaker 4: I have to tell you every month when I come

371
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,160
Speaker 4: here and drill, we do the same thing. I've been

372
00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 4: doing the same thing for three years. I am not

373
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:52,159
Speaker 4: benefiting the unit, and Sir, the unit's not benefiting me.

374
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,480
Speaker 4: So I think it's best if we just part as

375
00:22:55,720 --> 00:23:00,320
Speaker 4: friends right now. He said, Okay, wasn't the best financial

376
00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,520
Speaker 4: decision I ever made, but mentally it was a good decision.

377
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,640
Speaker 4: So I'm home after the two tours and I leave

378
00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:10,280
Speaker 4: the reserves, and I'm floundering looking for myself, and I

379
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,920
Speaker 4: learned that I work well with others, I just don't

380
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,840
Speaker 4: work well for others. I need to be independent. I

381
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:24,480
Speaker 4: have principles, I have ethics, and I make demands of myself.

382
00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 4: So I became an entrepreneur. And one of the things

383
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:30,719
Speaker 4: I did was I opened a frame shop and I

384
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:34,320
Speaker 4: opened it at Fort McPherson, and I found myself back

385
00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 4: with troops again because that's what I had been looking

386
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,080
Speaker 4: for in the eighties. I joined Rotary, and Rotary is

387
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 4: the world's finest as far as I'm concerned, and I

388
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 4: still am a Rotarian, the finest service organization. It's an

389
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:53,000
Speaker 4: international organization. People who are members of Rotary have high

390
00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:56,159
Speaker 4: ethical standards. I was looking for camaraderie and what I

391
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,320
Speaker 4: joined Rotor was all men, so I had that camaraderie.

392
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 4: It was a placement for the military. Still didn't have

393
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,439
Speaker 4: the discipline, but that's okay. I was self disciplined. But

394
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:07,439
Speaker 4: it got me to Fort Mack and it got me

395
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 4: back to troops again. Not only troops, but it got

396
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 4: me back to leadership because I interfaced with the commanding

397
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:19,000
Speaker 4: general from Forces Command four stars. There were like twenty

398
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,120
Speaker 4: six stars at Fort McPherson. I got to know them all,

399
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,120
Speaker 4: and as they rotated and got to meet new ones.

400
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,280
Speaker 4: I opened a store in two thousand and then two

401
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:32,959
Speaker 4: thousand and one came, Yeah, I want to enlist. So

402
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,720
Speaker 4: I'm talking to the garrison commander. He said, so did

403
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,119
Speaker 4: you enlist? And I said no, I already tried. And

404
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,359
Speaker 4: he laughed and I said, where are you laughing? He said,

405
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,439
Speaker 4: you tried. I said, yeah, I did. I could still shoot.

406
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 4: I wanted to get back in. I wanted to contribute

407
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,000
Speaker 4: to the war. And the way I got into VFW

408
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:52,879
Speaker 4: was they hooked me in by telling me they were

409
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:54,800
Speaker 4: going to form a new post and they were looking

410
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,680
Speaker 4: for members. And I was a framer and my friend

411
00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 4: member Bilia, So why don't you bring some of your

412
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,040
Speaker 4: and maybe you get some business. And again I'm a businessman,

413
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,359
Speaker 4: so I said, okay. Well I got to this meeting

414
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,520
Speaker 4: and Holy Toledo, it was like I've known these people

415
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,560
Speaker 4: all my life. We're speaking the same language, we have

416
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:19,120
Speaker 4: the same mentality, we have the same feelings. So I thought,

417
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:21,920
Speaker 4: you know what, I think I want to be part

418
00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,320
Speaker 4: of this. In two thousand and two, I became a

419
00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:30,240
Speaker 4: member of the Veterans of foreign wars, without a doubt,

420
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:35,480
Speaker 4: my medics saved my life, and Vietnam, the veterans of

421
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:41,000
Speaker 4: foreign wars saved my life. Here, it did not realize

422
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:45,959
Speaker 4: that I had post traumatic stress. But I became a workaholic.

423
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 4: I didn't do drugs, I did not do alcohol. I

424
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,720
Speaker 4: worked all the time. I mean from sunrise to sunset

425
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,040
Speaker 4: and beyond, I would work. I didn't realize that was

426
00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,200
Speaker 4: my coping mechanism. Well, when you get a little old,

427
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,760
Speaker 4: you get time on your hands. When you get time

428
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,159
Speaker 4: on your hands, you start with zig ziggler. A motivator

429
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 4: is fond of calling just thinking thinking. He calls to

430
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,960
Speaker 4: do a check up from the neck up. And when

431
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,960
Speaker 4: I did that, I realized I have issues. The VA

432
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,879
Speaker 4: tells me that I had anger issues, and so I

433
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:29,560
Speaker 4: went to therapy and part of the therapy was immersion

434
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:34,160
Speaker 4: therapy where I had to relive the moment. Hardest thing

435
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,399
Speaker 4: I've ever done, I think in my life, was to

436
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 4: take me back to November the twenty third, nineteen sixty seven,

437
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,200
Speaker 4: and when I was when we were taping it and

438
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,040
Speaker 4: he had me, my psychologist had me in the moment.

439
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 4: He suddenly said, what did you just say? And I said,

440
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:55,920
Speaker 4: I have no clue. I'm just doing what you asked

441
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 4: me to do. And he said, no, what did you

442
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,280
Speaker 4: just say. I said, I don't know. He said, let's

443
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,399
Speaker 4: play the tape back. So he played the tape back,

444
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 4: and what I said was I started Thanksgiving Day with

445
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,560
Speaker 4: twenty four men. At the end of the battle, I

446
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:17,280
Speaker 4: had six men left. I had one man killed. Rodney

447
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,840
Speaker 4: is who I remember in the records. Later I saw

448
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 4: the names of the other men that were killed that day.

449
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,800
Speaker 4: He said, you think you had that man killed? And

450
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,439
Speaker 4: I said no, I don't. He said, why'd you say it?

451
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:31,679
Speaker 4: I said, it's just the way I said it. I

452
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:33,439
Speaker 4: just said I had one man kunt and he said, no,

453
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 4: you think that's your fault.

454
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 1: Oh.

455
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,800
Speaker 4: He was standing next to me. I just told him

456
00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,919
Speaker 4: to move. He said, do you think that the NBA

457
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,320
Speaker 4: soldier looked down range and saw you and the other

458
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,000
Speaker 4: guy and said, oh, I think I'll shoot this guy

459
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:49,920
Speaker 4: because he looks like he's a winner, and this guy

460
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,919
Speaker 4: I'm going to leavehim alone. He said, of course not.

461
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 4: He said, did you ever shoot anybody? Said? Yeah, said

462
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,320
Speaker 4: you think about it. I said, now, of course not.

463
00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,960
Speaker 4: You All we do is react he said the same

464
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 4: for the NBA soldier. This was not your fault and

465
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,479
Speaker 4: Rodney was just a casualty of the war. After some

466
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:13,160
Speaker 4: more sessions with that, I realized for over forty years

467
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:17,159
Speaker 4: I carried Rodney Lieutman with me when Carol and I

468
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 4: would go to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, d C.

469
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,080
Speaker 4: I would go to Rodney's panel, Banel thirty three West

470
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 4: and I would find his name and I would talk

471
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:31,040
Speaker 4: to Rodney. Later in the therapy. I asked a psychologist.

472
00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:33,359
Speaker 4: I said, I said, Okay, if i go to the

473
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:39,760
Speaker 4: wall and tell Rodney I'm not carrying him anymore, he

474
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,280
Speaker 4: can rest at peace. And he said it would be

475
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 4: good if you could do that. And I've done that.

476
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,520
Speaker 4: I still go to the wall every opportunity that I get,

477
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,480
Speaker 4: because the names of all five men that were in

478
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 4: my unit that were killed are all on that same panel,

479
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 4: So I go visit each one of them when i'm there.

480
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 4: But I do it out of respect, out of honor,

481
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 4: because that's what I do with the veterans of foreign wars.

482
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,000
Speaker 4: The veterans of foreign wars is my therapy. It's the

483
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,560
Speaker 4: way I give back for those that have given the

484
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:21,720
Speaker 4: ultimate sacrifice, but everyone that has done the uniform and

485
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 4: been to battle. VFW was formed over one hundred years

486
00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 4: ago for two purposes. One was to care for the veteran,

487
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,240
Speaker 4: their surviving spouse and orphaned children. And the second thing

488
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 4: is to advocate on their behalf in the halls of Congress.

489
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 4: We still take care of the veterans. That is our

490
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 4: primary function. By taking care of the veteran includes camaraderie,

491
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 4: It includes that fellowship, that bond that we all share.

492
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,280
Speaker 4: Doesn't matter where you were, who you were, what branch

493
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,600
Speaker 4: you were, if you've experienced combat, we are one and

494
00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 4: the same, and we understand each other, know that we

495
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 4: can depend upon each other and that advocating Congress. When

496
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,320
Speaker 4: we were formed in eighteen ninety nine, we were formed

497
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:12,280
Speaker 4: by veterans of the Spanish American War. And why because

498
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:17,160
Speaker 4: Congress did not keep their promises to those veterans, and

499
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 4: they haven't been doing it ever since. The only way

500
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,320
Speaker 4: they do it is when we make demands, not requests.

501
00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,680
Speaker 4: The first GI Bill, the Montgomery Bill, that was passed

502
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:34,000
Speaker 4: because of the veterans' foreign wars. There are other vs. Yes,

503
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 4: there are. We're combat veterans, we're warriors. As I like

504
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,040
Speaker 4: to say, as an infantry, I know how to break things,

505
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:44,240
Speaker 4: and if you want something broken, you can call me.

506
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 4: I'll help you break it. Our relationship with Congress needs

507
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 4: to be one of respect, that needs to be one

508
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 4: of mutual benefit. But they have a responsibility to care

509
00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 4: for us, because it's just like workmen's comp in the

510
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:01,040
Speaker 4: civilian world. If you get heard on the job, you

511
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,360
Speaker 4: got workmen's cop In the military, if your service connected

512
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,480
Speaker 4: with your injury, the government has an obligation to take

513
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 4: care of as long as you live, not for a week,

514
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:12,920
Speaker 4: or not for a month, or not for a couple

515
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:18,000
Speaker 4: of years. Our injuries belonged to them and they must

516
00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:20,760
Speaker 4: provide that care. And so that's what we do, and

517
00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:22,120
Speaker 4: we do a very good job of it.

518
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 2: If it weren't for your era, for the Korean War veterans,

519
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:33,080
Speaker 2: for the World War II veterans, the way specifically the

520
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:35,640
Speaker 2: Vietnam veterans got treated when you all came home, it

521
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:37,360
Speaker 2: was tragic. It was one of the darkest days in

522
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 2: American history. If it weren't for your generation, we truly

523
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,400
Speaker 2: believe and feel that the guys coming back from Operation

524
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,080
Speaker 2: Iraqi Freedom and Operation enduring freedom, and O and D

525
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,960
Speaker 2: would not have gotten the reception and the treatment that

526
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 2: they've gotten. Fact, it is one hundred percent and your

527
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 2: generation's dedication to making sure that the American people understand

528
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:04,480
Speaker 2: the price of freedom and really stepping up to support

529
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 2: Jake's era and those to come.

530
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:08,520
Speaker 3: It's such a beautiful thing.

531
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: Oh, how has seeking therapy for your PTS impacted you

532
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: and your family life?

533
00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,800
Speaker 4: Monumental in a word. I didn't realize that I had

534
00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,360
Speaker 4: an issue. And when I went in for an agent

535
00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,880
Speaker 4: Orange intake to get on the registry, the young lady

536
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 4: that was taking the information asked me if I suffered

537
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:39,360
Speaker 4: from PTSD and I said, in typical for no, I'm fine,

538
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:42,320
Speaker 4: And she said, but I asked you some questions and

539
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,280
Speaker 4: I said, of course. She said, I'm going to ask

540
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,840
Speaker 4: you like four questions. She started and then she stopped.

541
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:55,520
Speaker 4: She said, you know, sir, I'm not able to prescribe

542
00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:00,920
Speaker 4: medication for you. So what are you talking about? She said, Oh,

543
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:05,200
Speaker 4: you have issues? I said really, She said yeah, So

544
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,240
Speaker 4: come to find out those issues were anger issues, which

545
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,480
Speaker 4: I never knew I had. Carol could tell you that

546
00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:14,680
Speaker 4: I had them, and that's the biggest thing that's come

547
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 4: out of this. If my shirt wasn't tucked in exactly right,

548
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,800
Speaker 4: I could fly off the hand. I'd be unbearable for

549
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:29,600
Speaker 4: three days. And it just to realize where my anger

550
00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:33,400
Speaker 4: was coming from, and that anger was from survivor's guilt.

551
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,440
Speaker 4: I didn't know I had it. I didn't realize that

552
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 4: I carried Rodney's death with me. But the way I

553
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 4: said it indicated that I felt it. And when when

554
00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:49,239
Speaker 4: that was said and when that was cleared, when I

555
00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:53,440
Speaker 4: was able to understand it, I got it, and it

556
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:57,080
Speaker 4: was it was the monkey was off of my back.

557
00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,640
Speaker 4: I've continued with therapy. I'll talk to my prapist maybe

558
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,800
Speaker 4: every six months. As you and I know, there is

559
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,160
Speaker 4: a monster in here, and I want to make sure

560
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,799
Speaker 4: that the monster remains contained and I don't see I

561
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,279
Speaker 4: don't see anything happening to let the monster out. But

562
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:17,040
Speaker 4: just in knowing that I've got somebody to talk to,

563
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,919
Speaker 4: somebody who understands where I'm coming from is I don't

564
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:28,359
Speaker 4: consider it therapy. It's just talking to somebody else who understands.

565
00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:31,120
Speaker 4: And so that's why I do that. And I appreciate

566
00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 4: the VA allowing me to continue that relationship.

567
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,279
Speaker 1: Absolutely brother, there's nothing wrong with oil in the chain

568
00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:42,400
Speaker 1: every now and again, just making sure everything is operational,

569
00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:44,480
Speaker 1: even if it's for preventative maintenance.

570
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,799
Speaker 4: So exactly exactly, I appreciate.

571
00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,719
Speaker 1: You finding strength in your vulnerability and refusing to be

572
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:51,800
Speaker 1: a host to your pride.

573
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,840
Speaker 2: Brother, What does it mean to you, Ol and Carol?

574
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,600
Speaker 2: Because you are a unit, you are a team. What

575
00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,239
Speaker 2: does it mean to you to have donned the off

576
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:00,719
Speaker 2: of our nation.

577
00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 4: I don't think there's a greater honor that could be

578
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:09,600
Speaker 4: given than to serve in uniform. We're the United States

579
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:14,359
Speaker 4: of America. Be proud to be an American. Americans have

580
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:20,800
Speaker 4: overcome every single obstacle. That's that pride, it's that uniform.

581
00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:28,080
Speaker 4: It's loyalty, it's duty, it's respect, it's selfless service, it's honor,

582
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:33,520
Speaker 4: it's integrity, and it's personal courage. Life is no game.

583
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:38,719
Speaker 4: There's no timeouts, there's no substitutions. You got to play

584
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:41,160
Speaker 4: every play. Sometimes you got to play hurt, but it

585
00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:42,799
Speaker 4: must be done.

586
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 1: I'm curious to know because you go into the military

587
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:50,279
Speaker 1: one person. When you come out of the military, you're

588
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:53,640
Speaker 1: a different person, absolutely, and I would be curious to

589
00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:57,399
Speaker 1: know what did you learn about yourself while you were

590
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:02,440
Speaker 1: serving your nation, not only income, but in garrison here

591
00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:02,920
Speaker 1: at home.

592
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,280
Speaker 4: Carol and I we've been married for fifty six years,

593
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:11,040
Speaker 4: but I am not the same man Carol married. Nora.

594
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,879
Speaker 4: Is Carol the same girl that I married. We both

595
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:19,160
Speaker 4: have changed, and we both have changed because of war,

596
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,960
Speaker 4: because of the experience that we both had in the military.

597
00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:28,320
Speaker 4: I served in uniform, she served at home. I admire,

598
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:34,000
Speaker 4: I respect, and I appreciate so much Carol's service because

599
00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:38,400
Speaker 4: while I was fighting, she was raising my children and

600
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 4: keeping that love alive. Perhaps the most key character attribute

601
00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:48,839
Speaker 4: that I've found in myself is my demand for integrity.

602
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:54,439
Speaker 4: Integrity is the foundation of everything else that we do.

603
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:58,240
Speaker 4: When I shake your hand, that's an agreement that can't

604
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:03,200
Speaker 4: be broken by me, and if the other party breaks it,

605
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:08,200
Speaker 4: shame on him. Because we're done. There are no do overs.

606
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,800
Speaker 4: There are second chances, but probably not with me. I

607
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 4: like to say, there's no quit in me when I'm

608
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:17,600
Speaker 4: done serving, and it'll be when I take my last breath,

609
00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:20,919
Speaker 4: then you could close the box. But until then, long

610
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,240
Speaker 4: as I can take a breath, I have something to contribute,

611
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:25,040
Speaker 4: no doubt.

612
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:27,600
Speaker 2: I don't think we know many other seventy six year

613
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,480
Speaker 2: old's kicking button taking names like you, I'll la.

614
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 3: Part, thank you so much.

615
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 2: Thinking back over the course of your life, is there

616
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 2: a particular person or organization that's made a huge impact on.

617
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 4: You, I would have to say it was my parents,

618
00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:46,200
Speaker 4: mom and dad, my family. My name is Lippart and

619
00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:50,440
Speaker 4: I say that with pride. My heritage is German and French.

620
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:55,400
Speaker 4: My father's parents came from Germany, my mother from France.

621
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:59,799
Speaker 4: And I've been blessed and I have an obligation to

622
00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:03,520
Speaker 4: you use that to bless other people with it, which

623
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:06,720
Speaker 4: Carol and I try to do every day in every

624
00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,360
Speaker 4: aspect of our life. We try to be a blessing

625
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 4: to others because again I know that by being a

626
00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:18,359
Speaker 4: blessing to others, we are also blessed. So I'm very

627
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:18,840
Speaker 4: proud to be.

628
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,960
Speaker 3: A Leipart outstanding.

629
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,880
Speaker 1: I know that's something that Ashoul and I both relate to,

630
00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:28,920
Speaker 1: is the pride and who we are because of who

631
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,759
Speaker 1: we are and our last names and what that represents.

632
00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:34,880
Speaker 1: Like I tell the boys in sports, you know that

633
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:37,719
Speaker 1: number on the back of your jerseys, and that's important,

634
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,160
Speaker 1: but it pells in comparison to the name above it.

635
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 4: That's right, that's right.

636
00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,960
Speaker 1: What do you do to recharge or to unwind?

637
00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:48,600
Speaker 4: Do it again?

638
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:53,200
Speaker 2: I was waiting to hear what he would say to that, because.

639
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,799
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't as a combat soldier even today, if

640
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,240
Speaker 4: you said out you don't have anything going for an hour,

641
00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:01,480
Speaker 4: what are you gonna do, I'm gonna close my eyes. Yeah,

642
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:04,760
Speaker 4: I'll take a break. When I was going through therapy,

643
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:09,840
Speaker 4: like I said, VFW veterans are foreign wars in my

644
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:14,759
Speaker 4: service to others, that's my therapy. And I referred to

645
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:19,680
Speaker 4: it to my therapist as I have not only a responsibility,

646
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:22,680
Speaker 4: but I have an obligation to pay back because I'm

647
00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:27,719
Speaker 4: still here and others aren't. And he said, you got

648
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:30,200
Speaker 4: to let that go. That's going to drive you crazy.

649
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 4: What are you talking about. There's no way that you're

650
00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:38,440
Speaker 4: ever going to repay that. I said, of that crazy,

651
00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:41,880
Speaker 4: I'm not stupid. I get it, but that doesn't stop

652
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,120
Speaker 4: me from trying. And that's all I want to do

653
00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:46,200
Speaker 4: is try. I want to be able to look in

654
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:49,240
Speaker 4: the mirror. I used to do this on a daily

655
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:52,279
Speaker 4: basis back in my younger days, when I'd wake up

656
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:55,240
Speaker 4: in the morning and I'd go to the mirror after

657
00:39:55,320 --> 00:40:01,919
Speaker 4: I said, Lord, thank you for your blessings. I'm here

658
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 4: again today. May everything I do bring glory an honor

659
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,120
Speaker 4: to your name. And then I would look in the

660
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:12,719
Speaker 4: mirror and I'd say, all, be the best that you

661
00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 4: can be today. And at night before I went to bed,

662
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:20,960
Speaker 4: I would ask al, were you the best that you

663
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,520
Speaker 4: could be today? And if I wasn't, I had to

664
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,200
Speaker 4: tell myself you're a little short here. You need to

665
00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:30,760
Speaker 4: step that up. It kept me grounded.

666
00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:33,320
Speaker 3: Last question, what feeds your soul?

667
00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:39,960
Speaker 4: My my love of Jesus, my love of God. He's

668
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 4: in my daily life. He's in everything that I do.

669
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:47,719
Speaker 4: We are very faithful church goers. When we can't go

670
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:51,040
Speaker 4: to church. Now with modern technology, we don't have to

671
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 4: be in a physical building. Sometimes an when we first

672
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,520
Speaker 4: started doing it was a little funny, okay, because it's

673
00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:01,840
Speaker 4: not in the church. But I tell Carol, this is okay.

674
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,520
Speaker 4: Sometimes God's got to come to our house. We can't

675
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:07,040
Speaker 4: go to his house, so it just comes to our house,

676
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:07,880
Speaker 4: so it's okay.

677
00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:12,520
Speaker 2: All Laparte, thank you so much, so many incredible stories.

678
00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:15,520
Speaker 2: You're such a great storyteller and all of your words

679
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:17,799
Speaker 2: of wisdom, and thank you for opening up and being

680
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,520
Speaker 2: vulnerable with us today, telling us your story and what

681
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:22,400
Speaker 2: you've been through and how you've come out on the

682
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:25,759
Speaker 2: other side. That is truly the good stuff. You and

683
00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:29,239
Speaker 2: Carol such a power couple and doing such amazing things.

684
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:32,480
Speaker 2: We're again grateful for your friendship, thankful that you would

685
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:34,359
Speaker 2: come and open up with us here on the good

686
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:35,040
Speaker 2: stuff Again.

687
00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:38,000
Speaker 4: I am truly humbled in honor to call you friend,

688
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,280
Speaker 4: to call you comrades, and to see what you're doing

689
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,839
Speaker 4: and to be able to be a supporter of it

690
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:46,320
Speaker 4: because you're doing great things.

691
00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,280
Speaker 1: I think that we've really, we've really turned a page

692
00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:53,880
Speaker 1: with the warrior ethos. When I can sit on a

693
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:56,319
Speaker 1: public platform and tell you I love you, and you

694
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,080
Speaker 1: can tell me you love me back, and it's without

695
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:03,880
Speaker 1: fear of ridicler judgment. I feel like we've grown leaps

696
00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:08,000
Speaker 1: and bounds as gladiators modern day and past and present.

697
00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:12,080
Speaker 1: And to say that I'm honored and privilege and humbled

698
00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:14,680
Speaker 1: to call you and Carol family. And I'll speak for

699
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,400
Speaker 1: Ashley and myself when I say this would be a

700
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,040
Speaker 1: drastic understatement. It's an absolute honor.

701
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,720
Speaker 2: Brother, truly, Al Laparte, thank you so much for joining

702
00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:24,760
Speaker 2: us on the good stuff.

703
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:28,319
Speaker 4: Oh, you're very welcome. I wish honored to be here.

704
00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:29,640
Speaker 4: Thank you very much.

705
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:40,480
Speaker 3: Such a gem. Are Al Laparte and Carol, they're just

706
00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:41,719
Speaker 3: such a great couple.

707
00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:43,319
Speaker 2: And it's just so fun to sit down with him

708
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:45,600
Speaker 2: and hear him tell his stories.

709
00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:47,040
Speaker 3: He's such a great storyteller.

710
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:50,080
Speaker 2: But to be able to really sit down and hear

711
00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:53,160
Speaker 2: the stories from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran.

712
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:57,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I mean relationship goals deftly, Absolutely, those two

713
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,280
Speaker 1: and both living, breathing national treasures.

714
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,000
Speaker 2: But they've been through it. You know, it hasn't been easy.

715
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,759
Speaker 2: In fact, as Al mentioned, it's been quite the opposite.

716
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:08,920
Speaker 1: And Carol won't hesitate to tell you that either.

717
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:09,880
Speaker 3: Yeah.

718
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:12,320
Speaker 2: The fact that he so much later in life, was

719
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:15,439
Speaker 2: able to go and get help for his PTSD, to recognize, hey,

720
00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:17,920
Speaker 2: you know what, Yeah, maybe I am too quick to anger.

721
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:20,799
Speaker 2: Maybe there is something a little off with me to

722
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:24,560
Speaker 2: be able to establish Hey, I've been carrying Rodney all

723
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:26,120
Speaker 2: these years, and.

724
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:29,040
Speaker 1: It shows me that that's why the old saying you

725
00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:31,840
Speaker 1: can't teach an old dog new tricks does not ring true.

726
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:32,279
Speaker 4: Right.

727
00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:35,360
Speaker 1: He took it upon himself because he wanted to have

728
00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:39,239
Speaker 1: a better quality of life and a better family atmosphere.

729
00:43:40,239 --> 00:43:43,319
Speaker 1: And he's done it because he's not only has he

730
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:45,840
Speaker 1: done the work, he continues to do the work to

731
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:48,479
Speaker 1: hold forward. And I just think that that is such

732
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:52,160
Speaker 1: a beautiful thing, especially for someone who epitomizes the word warrior.

733
00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:58,200
Speaker 1: It's a monumental effort that has generational impacts.

734
00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:01,640
Speaker 2: Most definitely, and he's just such an inspiration to us

735
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:04,279
Speaker 2: and again one of the most energetic seventy six year

736
00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:08,600
Speaker 2: olds we know, and he is just truly paying it forward.

737
00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:12,520
Speaker 2: And it says if he is still in uniform with

738
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:14,760
Speaker 2: his battle armor on and he is out there fighting

739
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:18,200
Speaker 2: every day to improve the lives of others, and just

740
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,359
Speaker 2: goes to show you age is just a number. It's

741
00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:23,799
Speaker 2: all about what's in between the ears and how much

742
00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:25,440
Speaker 2: energy you're willing to put forward.

743
00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:29,320
Speaker 1: As Al has taught to us and has said before,

744
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:33,239
Speaker 1: perfection is the goal. Excellence will be.

745
00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:36,719
Speaker 2: Tolerated absolutely, never stop, never give up.

746
00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:37,560
Speaker 1: Bow the part.

747
00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:40,080
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for listening.

748
00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:42,560
Speaker 2: If this episode touched you today, please share it and

749
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:44,520
Speaker 2: be part of making someone else's day better.

750
00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:47,359
Speaker 1: Put on your bad ass capes and go be great

751
00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:51,560
Speaker 1: today and remember you can't do epic stuff without epic people.

752
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:59,719
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the good Stuff. The good

753
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:03,200
Speaker 1: stuf off his executive produced by Ashley Shick, Jacob Shick,

754
00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:07,479
Speaker 1: Leah Pictures and q Code Media. Hosted by Ashley Shick

755
00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:12,720
Speaker 1: and Jacob Shick. Music by Will haywood Smith, post production

756
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:18,720
Speaker 1: Supervisor Will Tindi. Music editing by Will haywood Smith, Edited

757
00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:19,800
Speaker 1: by Mike Robinson,