WEBVTT - Excellence Will Be Tolerated with Al Lipphardt 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.080 Welcome to the Good Stuff. I'm Jacob Schick and I'm 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.560 joined by my co host and wife, Ashley Shick. 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.360 Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm a 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:21.440 gold Star granddaughter, and we work together to serve military veterans, 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.200 first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families with mental 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:28.479 and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy. 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:30.480 At One Tribe Foundation. 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.000 We believe everyone has a story to tell, not only 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:35.440 about the peaks, but also the valleys they've been through 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:37.000 to get them to where they are today. 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.000 Each week, we invite a guest to tell us their story, 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.360 to share with us the lessons they've learned that shape 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:44.360 who they are and what they're doing to pay it 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:45.640 forward and give back. 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:47.880 Our mission with this show is to dig deep into 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:50.400 our guest's journey so that we can celebrate the hope 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:52.400 and inspiration their story has to offer. 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.480 We're thrilled you're joining us again. 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:56.800 Welcome to the Good Stuff. 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.560 You know, we both have such a deep appreciation of 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.360 our nation's veterans, and not only did Jacob serve, but 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:08.200 a lot of men and women in both of our 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.119 families served and sacrificed for. 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.760 Our freedoms, freedoms that we all take for granted, myself 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:18.240 completely included every single day. Yes, our guest today is 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:22.320 the Al Lpparte. He served in the United States Army 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:24.760 for fourteen years during a time in our nation when 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.800 it wasn't very popular to serve. In fact, it was 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.480 quite the opposite. While in the Army, he served in Vietnam. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.160 Today he is a huge part of the Veterans of 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:36.360 Foreign Wars and he's here to tell us his story 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.679 of joining the army, serving in combat, and how he 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:42.600 continues to serve today and fight for the greater good. 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:45.800 I'm so excited to share Al Laparte with the world. 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:48.720 We absolutely love him and he is one of the 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.080 most energetic seventy six year olds we know. 0:01:51.600 --> 0:02:02.000 I forget he's seventy six often I'll Lippart, Welcome to 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:02.800 the good stuff. 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:06.600 Thank you. I'm honored to be here. 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.560 We're very humbled and privileged to have you and to 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:11.799 be open to doing this. We really appreciate it. 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.480 And we were originally connected through your work with the 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.440 Veterans of Foreign Wars. And what is your current standing 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:18.200 in the BFW. 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:21.760 Actually in August of this year, I was elected as 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:25.959 the Junior Vice Commander in Chief, and what follows is 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:30.080 at next year's convention, I anticipate being elected as the 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.080 Senior Vice Commander in Chief. That would be the number 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.000 two man. And the following year, which would be in 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.679 August of twenty four, I would serve as the Commander 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.520 in Chief. That's a one year term. I would go 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.560 out of office in August of twenty twenty five. So 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.480 that's the role that I'm in right now and anticipating 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:51.720 the next several years. 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.360 And it's been really fascinating for Jake and I to 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.839 get more involved with the VFW and find out how 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:02.640 much really goes into the leadership and the planning and 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:05.880 the execution of all that you want to accomplish for 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:10.679 veterans worldwide and every age and every conflict that we've 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.080 been involved in. It's been really fascinating because I know 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.200 Jake and I both have personal stories with the VFW. 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:20.320 The VFW was very important to my grandmother and my grandfather, 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:24.360 my grandfather being the first generation United States Marine and 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.680 our family serving World War Two and a Regima, and 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.600 my grandmother ultimately becoming the president of the Auxiliary in 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:36.520 the State of Louisiana after my Pat Paul's passing. As 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.640 you all know, that's my bested interest or at least 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.640 the tip of the spear of my best at interest 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.320 to help the VFW in any way I can, which 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.280 you know a lot more in detail about that, but 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.400 it's definitely close to my heart and soul because it's 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:54.720 ingrained in my DNA by default. 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:55.320 And mine too. 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:59.240 My great grandfather, Ward Albro the second was a Bronze 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:02.080 Star recipient World War Two, served in the army, and. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.120 He also in San Angelo, West Texas. 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:08.080 He was involved with the VFW, and so it's something 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.920 that we've known about our entire lives and really to 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.840 be able through you a'l dig in and find out 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:18.880 more about this organization and what it's done over decades 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.800 now over a century has been really exciting. 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.440 You're continuing the lead. You epitomize what it means to 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.200 be an effective leader. 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.039 I think so for all three of us being part 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:34.640 of those that were the favorite of the nation to 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:39.039 defend it, and then following our time in uniform, we 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:43.680 continue to use that service to give back. You know, 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:48.559 when we talk about VFW. Unfortunately, we as military types 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.920 tend to talk in acronyms, and people will ask what 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.520 the heck is the VFW, and we know that's the 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:58.279 Veterans of Foreign Wars. And there's one thing to be veterans, 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.960 because everyone that uniform takes the oath and serves is 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:07.000 a veteran. But we're different. We're are veterans of Foreign Wars, 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.280 meaning that not only did we raise our hand, we 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.279 all took the same oath, but when it came time 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.520 to deploy, when we were told we were going to war, 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:21.600 we went. So when I find someone that's in the 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:26.040 Veterans of Foreign Wars, I have absolutely no doubt of 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:29.880 their courage because they accepted the challenge, they went to war. 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.760 And we'll get into a little later how important THEFW 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:35.719 has been to your story. 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:38.960 But your story started when you were quite young. 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:44.159 I was born in nineteen forty six, and as a 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.240 high school student, I will tell you that during those 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.400 four years I was not what one would consider a 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:54.800 stellar student. I had other things that I enjoyed doing 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:58.600 versus studying. I guess it's to say that I did 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.960 not let my education interfere with my fun, because I 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.719 continued to have fun at the expense of my grades. 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:10.279 I found leadership in high school when I played football 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.040 up through my junior year. And one of the things 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:15.839 that my coach did, and he was a championship coach, 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:18.360 I told him I wanted to go to college and 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.480 what were my chances of getting a football scholarship, and 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:25.280 he said, I'll just be very frank with you, they're 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.960 probably zip. I was a starter my junior year, but 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.360 I was just another football player. But when the coach 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.920 told me, al, you probably should go find a job, 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:42.320 it was very hurtful. Now I also found that I 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:46.440 wasn't really college material. That was really not on my radar. 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:49.800 Were you the first one in your family to serve No. 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:52.720 I had three uncles that were in World War Two, 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.800 one in the Navy and two in the Army. Uncle 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.560 Joe was in the Navy. I think he was in 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.159 the Pacific during World War II too. Uncle Bob was 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:05.240 in the Army, was in France and Germany. I had 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:08.600 Uncle Eddie. Both Bob and Joe served their time and 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.520 then got out. Uncle Eddie was a career soldier, landed 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:18.240 D Day. He landed in Anzio and then from Ansio 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.520 he went up went to the Battle of the bulge 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.480 that was involved in Mark Gardner, so he was an 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.360 infantry guy. He had a field commission. He got out 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:32.640 of the military as a colonel. I was very young. 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.880 I probably was six or seven years old the last 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:38.520 time I saw him in uniform. He also was a 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:41.800 Korean War veteran. I'll tell you he was the epitome 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:47.680 to me of strength, of conviction, of courage. A three 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.600 or four Silver Star recipient. I think he had the 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:55.880 Distinguished Service Cross. He was what we would refer to 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:00.840 as a badass. So when the war came about, I 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:04.600 decided that fortunately we had my family knew people that 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:08.760 were in the Selective Service offices, and the word got 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.400 back to my parents that my number was coming up. 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:16.600 I didn't want to be drafted. I wanted to enlist 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:20.160 so that I could get when I wanted. And that 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.440 was the first time in life that I realized be 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.119 careful what you asked for, because it might come true. 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:31.120 Because of what I asked for, I absolutely hated when 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:33.240 I got into the service. I thought, I'm going to 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:34.959 I'm going to go into the service, so I want 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.559 to learn skill that I can transition into business when 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:40.800 I get out. Because I had no intention of making 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:42.920 a career of the military. I was assigned as a 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.120 clerk typist, and so I sat at the desk and 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.959 I did with clink click because they drove me crazy. 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:51.400 I don't want to do this. While I was in 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:56.000 basic training, I really enjoyed that. Again, I'm a football player, 0:08:56.280 --> 0:09:00.400 I'd like contact. So as I was going across the bars, 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:03.200 as you swing to go to chow, and if you fall, 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:04.840 you go back and get in the back of the 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:08.000 line and start all over again. And after about the 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:09.480 third time of that, I went, I got to get 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.600 this master. It was building up strength. It certainly was 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.440 building up character. Because my hands were blistered, they were bleeding. 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:21.040 I was still punching through my drill. Sergeants had been 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.480 watching this and they came up and they said, loopart, 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:30.120 your determination, your commitment to see this through to excel. 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.800 We think you're a leader. You may not know this, 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:37.240 but people in your platoon are watching you and they're 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.320 following your lead, and so we think it would be 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:42.920 good for you to go to Officer Candidate school. And 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:47.800 so in June of sixty six, I went to Fort Benning, Georgia, 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.360 to the home of the Infantry. The Infantry School. The 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:57.600 Infantry school motto was follow me, and I felt right 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:02.400 at home going through tactics, learning all those things that 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.920 it needed to learn to be a leader of warriors, 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:10.960 and I took right to that. Was very proud to 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:12.800 do that. There were a lot of good things that 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.120 came out of that. I learned much about myself. We 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:19.439 also had to have a social aspect, because, as Jake knows, 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:24.640 when your commission the President declares you to be a gentleman, 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:29.080 you're an officer and a gentleman. That's what that commission represents. 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:33.719 So we had to learn some social skills rather than 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.480 just beat each other up. We did have to learn 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:40.080 those social skills, so we had a social a quarter, 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.679 and of course we were restricted to base, so we 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.000 had to have a date, so you couldn't go downtown 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.199 and get a rented date if you catch my draft. 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:53.320 Fortunately one of the nursing schools in Columbus, those students 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.520 would come and serve as our dates, so it was 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:00.200 blind dates. The very first one, I was sitting next 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.480 to a fellow candidate. This girl starts walking down the steps. 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:06.720 I looked at her, and I looked to the guy, 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:11.040 and I said that's my future wife. He went your 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:15.720 kid now, I'm telling you she's it. That turned out 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:20.160 to be my date. That date happened to turn out 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:25.000 to be my wife, Carol. She was my date at 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:31.440 the three other socials. That was from about August, right 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:36.840 as we graduated in December, in the car at a light, 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:44.040 I proposed marriage to Carol and she accepted well. I 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:48.240 graduated from OCS on the sixteenth of December of nineteen 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:52.400 sixty six. We were married February the twenty fourth of 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:57.320 nineteen sixty seven. We remain married today, so we're pretty 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:03.679 sure it's going to work. So left Ohio to go 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:09.880 to Vietnam in June of nineteen sixty seven. Young Infantry 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:14.000 Officer Green as Green could be. I'm in Vietnam now, 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:16.400 and there's a couple of movies that I've seen that 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:21.720 are very good examples of at least my experiences in combat. 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.959 I think there's probably three movies that mean the most 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.280 to me. The first movie that comes to mind is 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:33.280 Saving Private Ryan. It's those scenes in Normandy where they're 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.560 coming off of the LSTs and getting into the water 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:40.640 to take the beach. Everything in combat moves in slow motion. 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:45.160 All hell is breaking loose, but when you're in there, 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:51.280 time is just moves slowly. The second one that I 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:58.520 related to was the movie Platoon. When the movie starts, 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:05.439 you see this soldier in very clean pressed fatigues. His 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:10.400 boots are shined, and he's, hey, I'm here. I'm not 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.480 mad at anybody. I know. I'm here. It's all okay. 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:16.800 I have a mission. And then we're going to do 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:20.400 the mission. But I'm not angry. So we're out. We're 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.640 clearing a road. Now. I'm a platoon leader. So we're 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:25.640 clearing this road of mines. This is up in i 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:30.440 Coourt in the northernmost part Vietnam of South Vietnam. We're 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.040 clearing this road and this shot rings out, and so 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:37.320 I'm looking around where'd the shot come from? Because I 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.720 want to return fire. This guy laying on the ground, 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:42.240 it's pulling my passlots. He keeps yelling at me to 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:45.080 get down, Get down, get down. What he said to 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.760 me was when somebody's firing, when you hear shot, you're 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:51.719 supposed to get on the ground first. Then you can 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:55.320 look around, but get down. Because you're a target. You 0:13:55.400 --> 0:14:00.240 make the rest of us a target. Lesson learned got 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:06.400 up after we had eliminated the sniper, and I realized 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:11.280 at that point that somebody's now shooting it. They've started 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.160 to fight with me. So now I'm angry. When I 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:18.120 got there at the beginning, I'm this nice, pleasant individual. 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:22.760 I'm just here. But at that point, now I realized 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:27.160 somebody's trying to kill us, and that's not acceptable, and 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:33.120 so I became hardened very quickly because we're going through. 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:38.560 We were air assaulted up to further north in Icres, 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:42.160 which is that area that's the northernmost part of the 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:46.880 combat zone, and there's a way that you deploy. Early 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:50.000 movies showed helicopters landing and you're getting off. That's not 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:52.480 how you do it. You're going to get off that 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.200 helicopter when you air assault. You can get off on 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:57.240 the way down, or you can get off on the 0:14:57.240 --> 0:14:59.680 way up. But either way you're going to get off. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.800 The key is get off when it gets as close 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:04.840 to the ground as it's going to get, which is 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:08.600 about six feet. We were about twenty five clicks southwest 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.760 of d Nag. Now I'm in a warzone. We're not 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.920 looking for guerrillas anymore. We're looking for regular North Vietnamese Army, 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:20.120 and so it came to November nineteen sixty seven. At 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:25.160 this particular time, intelligence came in that intercepted a radio 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.880 signal that was very unusual because only units of regimental 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.960 size or division size had radios. So there was a 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:38.400 large element near us. And so we were being deployed 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:42.840 and a search and destroyer mission for the enemy. So 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.800 I was part of a delta company. I was a 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:50.840 second platin leader. We got online, we started to move 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:55.680 up this small hill. It had a hedgerow up at 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:59.960 the top, and so as we were movie first PLATOWO 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:03.880 was on the left and I think the fourth platoon 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:05.840 was in the middle and I was the second platoon. 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:09.000 I had the right flank. As we were moving up, 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:11.320 there was a shot and it was to my left. 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.880 The company commander said, all right, everybody start shifting left 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:19.600 and continue to sweep. So we did. Then more shots 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:23.240 rang out, and more urgently he said, okay, move left. 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.120 So we did well. When we got about fifteen yards 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:30.400 from the hedgerow, the hedgerow opened fire. I didn't realize 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:33.320 at the time, but on the initial volley ten of 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:37.120 my men went down. They were wounded. Four of them 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:42.680 were killed immediately, one was killed later. The one that 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:47.000 was killed later was standing next to me. But as 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:49.320 Jake does, when you get into an ambush, there's only 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:51.280 one way out of an ambush, and that's to not 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.160 stay there. You have to fight your way through it. 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.400 And that's what we did. We just charged. We broke 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:01.680 the ambush that battle that started on Thanksgiving Day, And 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.199 I've got a picture that I've posted a couple of 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:09.359 times that shows the time before. I'm sitting with my 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:14.159 squad leaders and my platoon sergeant, my radio operator, and 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:18.159 my medic and we're going over my plan for the 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.840 way we're going to conduct this suite. We are a unit, 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:25.160 and yes I'm the platoon leader, but they've got more 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.320 time than I do in this so I'm going to 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:31.440 run my plan by them and for them to pick 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.359 at it, and if there's something wrong, let me know. 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.280 My mission was not to win a war. I was 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:42.439 responsible for the lives of these men, so that was 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:44.760 my goal was to protect them as much as I 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:48.639 possibly could. I did not know their names. If I 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.680 did know their names, it was only their first name. 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.760 I knew probably only a handful by name because I 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:58.040 did not want to know them because I knew what 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:00.399 I was going to have to do, going to have 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.200 to send them in harm's way. I did not want 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.320 that to be an obstruction to either one of us. 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:09.320 That battle started November the twenty third, nineteen sixty seven. 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:13.600 It it ended November the twenty seventh, nineteen sixty seven. For 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:17.560 four days we engaged the second MBA Division of the 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:22.879 third Regiment of the North Vietnamese Art. It truly was 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:27.600 a shit show because it is so chaotic in battle, 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.880 with the gunfire, with explosions, with all that is going on, 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:35.920 It truly is chaos. And you rely on your training. 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:40.000 This is not a time where a true thought process 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:44.359 takes place. You simply react to the training that you 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.879 had and you hope that you were trained to be 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:51.320 the best that you could be, and we were. As 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:53.640 we took the heel, there was a bunker on top, 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:57.840 and we were approaching that bunker, and as we did, 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.320 shots came out. I'd seen the bunker, We were all 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.600 aware that the bunker was there, and I had just 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:09.359 said to this individual, whose name was Rodney Lowman, I 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.040 told him to move. At that moment, he went to 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:17.280 the ground. They were shot in the head. We returned fire. 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.960 We got support because there was an NBA soldier in 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:26.040 there who would not give up, and so we were 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:28.359 able to outflank him, get around him and throw a 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:32.439 hangernad in and kill him. Fast forward. Now there were 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.600 a number of other battles. The Tet Offensive of nineteen 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:39.639 sixty eight took place in January, beginning in January, and 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:44.200 again it was Hellasia's fighting. It was it was war. 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.000 There was nothing gorilla about it. It was large units 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:51.200 fighting large units. I will tell you that we never 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:54.360 lost a battle. Some of the battles were very costly. 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:59.960 My recollection is I began Thanksgiving with twenty four men. 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:04.159 On the twenty seventh of November, I had six men. 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:07.840 Now I was wounded superficially, but I didn't have to 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:15.600 be evacuated. The last movie that reminded me of Vietnam 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.199 was We were Soldiers Once in Young the Battle of 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.960 the Idragon Valley, which happened to be several years earlier, 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:26.320 in sixty five, because what I saw on that screen 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:30.760 was what I went through on Thanksgiving Day of nineteen 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:35.840 sixty seven. When people ask me about my experience of Vietnam, 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:40.040 it's hard for me to explain, because if you weren't there, 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:44.120 you don't understand it. I can describe it, but it's 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:48.600 not the same. There's a couple things missing. If we 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:53.120 were soldiers once in young could have recreated the smells 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:57.240 of death, the smells of blood, the smells of flesh 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.199 that are burning, that would have been real. That's what 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:05.360 people don't get. They also don't get the adrenaline. There 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:11.359 is no greater feeling than being alive at the end 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:16.679 of a firefight. When you talk about collisions and you 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:24.160 talk about combat, there is only one winner, and that's 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:29.640 the person that's alive. That has stuck with me forever, 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:34.000 and it will stick with me. I didn't realize that 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:37.480 I had PTSD when I got back from Vietnam the 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:41.920 second time, which was seventy one. I was stationed in Washington, 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:45.320 d C. I had a reserve commission and I got 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:47.000 the word that I was going to be released from 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:49.600 active duty or there was a reduction in force. So 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:52.359 ended the reserves for three years, and after the third year, 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:56.400 I went up to the colonel. I was a company commander. 0:21:57.280 --> 0:21:58.840 I told the colonel I needed to see him, and 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:00.960 he said, this is on I drew a weekend. He said, 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:03.080 what do you need and I said, well, sir, I'm 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:07.159 here to tell you that I quit. He quit, Captain, 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:09.720 you can't quit and I said, oh, Sir, I can't. 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:13.320 He said, you've got an obligation. I said, no, sir, 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:16.320 I've been here three years. I have fulfilled my obligation. 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:20.199 And he said, clipart, that's fourteen years. Why would you 0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:25.080 throw fourteen years away? And I was in suiting clothes 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:27.159 and I said, sir, you see this purple heart. I 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:31.040 always wore my purple heart. And I said, I wear 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:34.639 this for me. It reminds me how short life is. 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:38.080 Life changes in the blink of an eye. And I said, sir, 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:40.640 I have to tell you every month when I come 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:43.160 here and drill, we do the same thing. I've been 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:46.720 doing the same thing for three years. I am not 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:52.159 benefiting the unit, and Sir, the unit's not benefiting me. 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:55.480 So I think it's best if we just part as 0:22:55.720 --> 0:23:00.320 friends right now. He said, Okay, wasn't the best financial 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:03.520 decision I ever made, but mentally it was a good decision. 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:06.640 So I'm home after the two tours and I leave 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:10.280 the reserves, and I'm floundering looking for myself, and I 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:14.920 learned that I work well with others, I just don't 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:18.840 work well for others. I need to be independent. I 0:23:18.920 --> 0:23:24.480 have principles, I have ethics, and I make demands of myself. 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:28.560 So I became an entrepreneur. And one of the things 0:23:28.600 --> 0:23:30.719 I did was I opened a frame shop and I 0:23:30.760 --> 0:23:34.320 opened it at Fort McPherson, and I found myself back 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:37.560 with troops again because that's what I had been looking 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:41.080 for in the eighties. I joined Rotary, and Rotary is 0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:43.800 the world's finest as far as I'm concerned, and I 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:48.280 still am a Rotarian, the finest service organization. It's an 0:23:48.320 --> 0:23:53.000 international organization. People who are members of Rotary have high 0:23:53.119 --> 0:23:56.159 ethical standards. I was looking for camaraderie and what I 0:23:56.240 --> 0:23:59.320 joined Rotor was all men, so I had that camaraderie. 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:02.000 It was a placement for the military. Still didn't have 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:05.439 the discipline, but that's okay. I was self disciplined. But 0:24:05.680 --> 0:24:07.439 it got me to Fort Mack and it got me 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:10.840 back to troops again. Not only troops, but it got 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:14.480 me back to leadership because I interfaced with the commanding 0:24:14.520 --> 0:24:19.000 general from Forces Command four stars. There were like twenty 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:22.120 six stars at Fort McPherson. I got to know them all, 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:24.120 and as they rotated and got to meet new ones. 0:24:24.640 --> 0:24:28.280 I opened a store in two thousand and then two 0:24:28.320 --> 0:24:32.959