1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,640 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,640 Flo, welcome to Veterans Radio. 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,440 Thank you for having me on. 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,240 Thank you for having me on. 5 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:23,240 This is a good one. 6 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:24,240 Well, thank you very much. 7 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:26,880 I understand that you're running into a little traffic out there. 8 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,320 Hopefully you're pulled over right now or in the backseat. 9 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,320 No, I'm good. 10 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:37,160 It's Washington, D.C. That's the best thing you can actually count on is traffic, no 11 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:39,440 matter what day of the week today. 12 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:40,440 That's true. 13 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:44,160 And pretty much no matter what town it is anymore. 14 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:51,560 So Flo, tell me about how you got into the Army in the first place. 15 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:59,240 So like you mentioned earlier on, I came in as a 12-year-old. 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,200 My father, I had never met my biological father. 17 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:08,240 I was lucky enough to be adopted by Larry, who has been the greatest thing in the world 18 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:09,240 for me. 19 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,360 He's an American from Gary, Indiana. 20 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,040 He got to meet my mother when I was about three years old. 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,960 He fell in love and he took me in as a son. 22 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:26,960 So when I was about 12 years old, he decided that, hey, let's move back to United States. 23 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:28,880 And he talked to my mom about it. 24 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,480 And my mom was like, well, you've got to ask Flo about this. 25 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,960 Moving back to the U.S. because he's a French kid. 26 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:43,840 And he tricked me by asking me about whether or not I love McDonald's. 27 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:45,800 And if I wanted to be my friend, Michael Jordan. 28 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:51,400 Obviously, there were two answers that were yeses. 29 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,800 And next thing you know, I end up in Palantan, Illinois, of all places, which is very different 30 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:56,800 in a pair of friends. 31 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:57,800 I would say. 32 00:01:57,800 --> 00:01:58,800 Yeah. 33 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:05,200 And so that was a start of my journey into United States. 34 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:06,440 All right. 35 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:11,400 So you grew up in Indiana, well, after 12, correct? 36 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:12,400 So I grew up in France. 37 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:17,400 And then my dad grew up in Indiana and then I actually grew up in, when we moved to the 38 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:19,600 United States, I was in Palantan, Illinois. 39 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:20,600 Okay. 40 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:21,600 That's what I thought. 41 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,520 All right. 42 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,880 So tell me about your uncle. 43 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,880 That was kind of the interesting story. 44 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:31,880 Your uncle, Abdu? 45 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:32,880 Yes. 46 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:40,080 So this one of the things when I talk about my uncle, I try to describe as this individual 47 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,800 that more where we grew up as kids, we're all evacuated. 48 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:45,800 We're one individual. 49 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:51,760 Some of us is my mom or dad, a brother, a sister, an uncle, a cousin. 50 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:53,840 And to me, it was my uncle, Abdu. 51 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,120 I loved him more than anything else in the world. 52 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:57,960 I wanted to be just like him. 53 00:02:57,960 --> 00:02:59,800 I remember I was just so stuck to him. 54 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,040 I used to want to hang out everywhere he went, even when he went to the bathroom. 55 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:04,040 I was like, I want to be next to you. 56 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,600 He's like, no, you can't go into the bathroom with me. 57 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:07,600 All right, kiddo. 58 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:15,600 And so I was in hindsight, I was like that really annoying, a sibling. 59 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,640 But he meant everything to me. 60 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:21,640 And one of those things about him is that he's Algerian. 61 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:25,760 So he was born in Algeria, which is in North Africa. 62 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:30,720 And he was really, really deeply involved in the Muslim faith. 63 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,320 And he became an Imam at a young age. 64 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:41,320 And so when a terrorist organization called the GIA decided to come into Algeria in the 65 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:50,240 late 1980s, early 1990s, to take over the country and preach its own version of Islam, 66 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:55,480 which we're now today we're very accustomed to, which is what you're seeing with Iqaeda, 67 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:56,480 what you're seeing with ISIS. 68 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,440 He decided to step up and fight against it. 69 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:05,640 So he didn't take the, I always, I used to say he put the book down and put on the military 70 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,960 uniform, but he never actually did that. 71 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,960 What he did is he kept the book with him, but he put on a military uniform and he decided 72 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,040 to go fight against these people. 73 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:20,240 And in February of 1996, he was a, while serving in the Algerian Army, Special Forces, he was 74 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:25,680 shot, beheaded and dismembered and put in the box and sent back to my grandfather. 75 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:27,680 Oh my. 76 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:29,680 Wow. 77 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,200 I didn't realize that that is what is what had occurred. 78 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,440 Um, that must have been very traumatic for you. 79 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:37,440 It was. 80 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:44,840 I was 13 years old and you know, it was my dad, my dad told me about what had happened 81 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:49,240 and my mom left and I didn't even have an opportunity to talk to my mom about it because 82 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:54,560 she had, she had left early on after she had heard about what had happened to her, to her 83 00:04:54,560 --> 00:05:02,040 brother, to go back to Algeria, to Baryham because they got a 24 hour burial and, and 84 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,040 it was, it was tough. 85 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,880 It was the one of the toughest moments of my life because I, I didn't know how to react. 86 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:08,880 Right. 87 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:10,440 That was probably the biggest piece about it. 88 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,920 And I wanted to be part of the solution, but I didn't know how to react. 89 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:18,360 I didn't know how to understand that, that my favorite person in the world was that. 90 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:19,600 Wow. 91 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:23,600 So after that, you, I'm assuming that you finished. 92 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,560 What did you go to college? 93 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:33,400 So I joined, so I went to college in 2001 and I remember thinking that I was so young 94 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:34,800 where my uncle was killed. 95 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:42,120 So you, you, you fast forward a few years and, and, and time usually allows you to either 96 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:46,360 cope with things or, or make different decisions. 97 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,480 But I knew in the back, I knew in the back of my head at that point is like, Hey, I'm, 98 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,320 no matter what I do, I'm going to go in the military. 99 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,600 So, but I was a pretty decent runner. 100 00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:00,800 So I had the opportunity to go running college and that was happening. 101 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,440 Now things was happening around the world in terms of fighting those individuals. 102 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:08,440 So I didn't know where, where, where to make my mark. 103 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:13,600 And so I thought, okay, I'm going to go out there, go to college, get an education and 104 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:14,600 run track. 105 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,400 And then after that, I'm going to go in the military. 106 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:20,720 And so you, so that's what you did. 107 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:22,240 Did you, did you look around at the, did you look around at the, did you look around at 108 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:23,240 the different services? 109 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,160 We've got a minute to go before we're going to take a break flow. 110 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:26,160 We're talking with flow. 111 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,600 Groberg is author of a book entitled Eight Seconds of Courage. 112 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,800 He went from immigrant to a Medal of Honor recipient. 113 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,240 And after we come back after the news, we're going to find out a little bit more about 114 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:38,920 how that occurred. 115 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,440 But what made you decide to join the army? 116 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:47,720 So to answer your, actually your previous question, I actually ended up going to the 117 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:49,920 University of Maryland and Maryland. 118 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:50,920 Okay. 119 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:52,280 I went to the University of Maryland, yeah, Maryland. 120 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:55,720 And one of those things was when I went to University of Maryland, I joined R and T for 121 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,040 a little bit, but we, we're running track. 122 00:06:58,040 --> 00:06:59,840 He actually made it very hard for me. 123 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:02,280 So I decided, okay, I'm going to focus on track. 124 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:06,640 And once I graduate, I'm going to go out there and, and listening to that army and go to 125 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:08,800 officer, and so on. 126 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:09,800 Okay. 127 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:11,080 We got to take, we, I got to hold you off. 128 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:12,360 We got to take a real quick break here. 129 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,400 We'll be back in a couple of minutes. 130 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:15,400 Don't go away. 131 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:16,400 You're listening to Veterans Radio right now. 132 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:39,560 And we're back on Veterans Radio with our own Medal of Honor recipient as our guest today. 133 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,680 His name is Flo Groberg. 134 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:47,600 He received his Medal of Honor in 2015 for Act, Actions in Afghanistan in 2012. 135 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:51,120 And we're going to get there eventually to our audience. 136 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:55,160 So Flo, you mentioned that you were at the University of Maryland. 137 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:56,880 You graduated from the University of Maryland. 138 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:02,560 And at that point you did, this was after 9-11, you decided to join up. 139 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,480 So tell us a little bit about how you got into the army. 140 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:06,480 No. 141 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:12,560 So I graduated in 2001 out of high school and, you know, I was just naturalized as a 142 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,480 U.S. citizen in February 2001 during my senior high school. 143 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,800 And then my freshman year, 9-11 happened. 144 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:25,000 And that was one of those moments that really, you know, changed my life. 145 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,600 The same way it changed millions of other lives in this country. 146 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:36,320 I remember, I will never forget having a conversation with my father that evening after the phone 147 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:37,320 lines were open again. 148 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:42,680 And tell him, I wanted to stop by the school and join the army and become an arranger and 149 00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:47,840 go out there and fighting any individual that was involved with this. 150 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:56,560 And my dad gave me, like he had done my entire life, a life lesson, he said, okay son, you 151 00:08:56,560 --> 00:08:59,560 are reacting with emotion. 152 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:04,160 But when I gave you my name, when I adopted you and I gave you the name Groberg asked 153 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,760 of you, one responsibility, which was when you start something, you finish it. 154 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:13,360 At that point, you know, it took me a little while to accept that, but I realized what 155 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,160 he meant and I meant, you know, I need to go out there and get my degree. 156 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:22,160 And after that, with joining the Army, so at that school, I went in and listening to 157 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:23,160 the army. 158 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,440 It took a little bit of time because I was a French citizen as well. 159 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:30,160 And I had to be an American French citizenship, which took about 18 months. 160 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:36,160 Once I was done, I was listening to the army and to go out there and be a difference maker 161 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:41,240 in this world where we see evil every single day. 162 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:47,320 And you know, we live in the greatest country in the world, but the reality is we only live 163 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,840 in this country that we consider the best in the world because we have the best people 164 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:51,840 in the world. 165 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:52,840 Right. 166 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:54,440 I agree with you. 167 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,640 I agree with you entirely on that. 168 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:01,600 But the army turned out not to be a little bit more difficult than you anticipated because 169 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,040 you went off to Ranger School. 170 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,040 I love you to say that. 171 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:14,040 So, look, I've never expected the Army to be easy, but my goodness, Army Ranger School 172 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:15,360 won the difficult task. 173 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,760 It kicked my butt over and over again. 174 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:25,000 Every time I thought I had a low advantage on the Army School, it came back to me and 175 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,680 told me, you don't got it, boy. 176 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:31,840 And so I went through it, but you know what? 177 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:33,800 It's about never giving up. 178 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:39,360 And thankfully, as you read in eight seconds of courage, I had some really good friends 179 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:44,920 and some really good mentors during my time that allowed me to keep fighting and never 180 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:45,920 give up. 181 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:47,040 And I went through it. 182 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,520 I was lucky enough that I went straight through 62 days of Ranger School. 183 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:55,440 And so that's something I can be really definitely proud of. 184 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,080 But it also got me ready for the answer. 185 00:10:58,080 --> 00:10:59,400 Well, that is true. 186 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:04,640 We've had the opportunity to talk to many people who have been Rangers or Special Forces 187 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:06,920 and so forth or Pilots and so forth. 188 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:11,040 You just have to keep going and keep going and keep going. 189 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,640 And you do, you run into some great friends who motivate you. 190 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:21,800 And of course, as you mentioned, the mentors, some of them you don't like at the time, but 191 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,920 you look back on it and you realize how important they were in your life and getting you through 192 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,520 whatever that program was that you went in through. 193 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,920 No, you're absolutely right. 194 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:32,920 One example is Gallardo. 195 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:39,720 Silver Star recipient was out there in the Cornwall when Tarjenta received his Medal 196 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,960 of Honor and based on actions that happened in 2007. 197 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,720 And Gallardo was that guy, was literally that guy, like everybody knew who he was because 198 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:53,880 he understood in all the Ranger instructors understood who he was, what he had gone through. 199 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,200 He got shot in the head during that battle. 200 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,240 And he got back up and continued on with the mission. 201 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:10,840 I mean, you talk about a standard of being an outstanding military service member. 202 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:12,520 That's Gallardo for you. 203 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:18,040 He was in my Ranger class and everybody knew who Gallardo was and he was a pain in the 204 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:20,400 butt for me. 205 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:29,280 But when I was struggling, I saw this different side of Gallardo and he challenged me. 206 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,840 He was there with me, he's like, Hey, man, if you're going to quit tomorrow, I'm the 207 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:32,840 crew, would you? 208 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:34,200 I was like, you can't quit me. 209 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:35,200 You're Gallardo. 210 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:36,200 Like you're the hero guy. 211 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:41,040 He said, No, and I don't care what anybody says or thinks about me. 212 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:42,040 I'm here with you. 213 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:43,040 I'm going to support you. 214 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,840 I'm going to guide you and he changed my entire perspective. 215 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:52,720 And he is the reason why I went through that school and the reason why I became somewhat 216 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:59,440 of a, I was just sufficient and decent officers because I had the opportunity to serve next 217 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,760 to such an incredible individual. 218 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:07,760 Was he going through, I'm trying to remember, was he going through as a sergeant or was 219 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:09,760 he also in OCS? 220 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,120 No, he was actually going through as a sergeant. 221 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:21,280 So he was in 173rd at the time and he was enlisted and for him to actually be a first 222 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:28,040 sergeant in the 173rd, actually, so in first class, 173rd, he needed to get the staff. 223 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:32,160 And so what's funny about the thing about Gallardo is that he'd been in the regiment 224 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:33,400 for a while. 225 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:41,920 And when he was in the 173rd, he served as an NGO and he just never got the opportunity 226 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,000 to go to range school, which is he kept getting deployed. 227 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:49,200 I was going to say, so he was not the youngest guy in your class, I'm sure. 228 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,200 No, he was not. 229 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,200 So he finally got a break. 230 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,720 So when we all think about a break, we think about vacation. 231 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,880 No, he opted to go to range school. 232 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,960 And I gave him a lot of props. 233 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,160 I've met some people like that. 234 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,800 All right, so we go to range school, you made it through and you're all excited and the 235 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,080 next thing you know, they send you off to Afghanistan. 236 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:14,080 Right? 237 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:21,920 I'm in Afghanistan and I'm a second lieutenant with no insurance. 238 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:26,320 And Colonel Perl all the time was the time commander. 239 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:27,760 He brings me into his office. 240 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:31,960 He talks to me about the responsibilities that I have for target for for soon. 241 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:35,640 He tells me I'm going to take over the target for the unit of Summit Ableton, Huntington 242 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,200 Miracle. 243 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:43,200 And he tells me about the unit and the folks, what they've been doing for the last couple 244 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:44,200 months. 245 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,120 And what responsibilities. 246 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:50,280 And I remember listening, listening, listening in the back of my head. 247 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:52,280 I'm thinking like, Oh my God, this is real. 248 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,080 Oh my God. 249 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:58,520 I walked out of his office thinking about it. 250 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:00,840 I had no experience. 251 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:07,040 I've never been shot at for my understanding and what we're seeing it. 252 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:13,080 And here I am about six over this unit with these incredible individuals who have been 253 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:18,280 in one of the most kinetic places in Afghanistan and more in the world. 254 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:19,840 But I resumed really to care of them. 255 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:24,840 So when I got there, the first person I thought out was the first one. 256 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,240 And there's course still, it's our first one. 257 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,920 Of course, still I told him, I'm going to have no experience, but I'm going to need 258 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,760 you to guide me, mentor me and teach me how to be the most effective leader. 259 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:35,760 And we had a good conversation. 260 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:41,800 So I'm going to shut up for the next seven days to watch and listen to what was happening 261 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:42,800 around me. 262 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,320 And after seven days, he would, him and I would get back together and come over the 263 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,480 next plan and say, what? 264 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:55,840 I was lucky enough to come into your unit with a man like Corey Stiley who really took 265 00:15:55,840 --> 00:16:00,520 the time and effort to teach me how to be an effective leader. 266 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:06,400 I'll tell you, just from my experience, although I was not a real live officer, the enlisted 267 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,440 people were the ones that got me through, especially the experienced one, because they 268 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,480 knew what they've already, they'd been there. 269 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:19,680 And as you mentioned, going in as a young second lieutenant and taking over a platoon, 270 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:24,440 it's got to be frightening, but you have to show your courage. 271 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,120 And so you know what you're doing. 272 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,240 And it's a good thing that you had a sergeant that could show you that you know what you're 273 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:31,240 doing. 274 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:36,240 Yeah, but I wasn't scared about a job. 275 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:43,160 I was actually nervous about as an officer making decisions that would get people killed. 276 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:44,960 That was my biggest fear. 277 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:53,440 And I knew, you know, my dad always taught me about trust my training and not be weak. 278 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:58,720 And yeah, I'm not trying to say that, you know, the word weak is really negative. 279 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:05,120 I think the word weak in combat really refers to the idea of not making the decision. 280 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:06,120 Right. 281 00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:08,720 To be scared to make a decision. 282 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:14,320 You know, combat, it's all about the one split second when you go right or left. 283 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:15,320 Correct. 284 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:16,320 And that's it. 285 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:17,320 That is it. 286 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,080 I mean, and you have to live with it. 287 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,160 And if you go left, it was supposed to be right. 288 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,480 If you go right, it was supposed to be left. 289 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:27,320 You have to live with the consequences of that decision. 290 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:29,640 I was nervous about that. 291 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,400 Well, I understand that because you were in the Peck River Valley in Afghanistan, which 292 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,080 happens to be the most dangerous place in the world. 293 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:42,600 That's in quotes, and you had to come in, you know, to face your own greenness. 294 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:47,360 And I think, you know, the way I interpreted that was, how am I going to react if somebody 295 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:50,000 starts shooting at me? 296 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,320 And as you said, you had to make the decisions of, you know, do they go right? 297 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:54,920 Do they go left? 298 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:56,960 And evidently, I think you probably did a pretty good job. 299 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:57,960 It sounds like. 300 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:02,120 Well, I'll tell you what, I had the best of the best around me. 301 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:07,480 I did a, okay, job. 302 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:13,720 My job was the simplest job in the world, which is make decisions and allow your NCOs 303 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:19,560 and your soldiers to go out there and operate and hexadee. 304 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:25,560 I knew that I had the best of the best around me. 305 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:31,080 That was, it was going to go out there and do the best job. 306 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,440 I like to think that we were all surrounded by the best of the best. 307 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,800 And you know, most of the time that was true, I think. 308 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,760 So you spent, how long did you spend in Afghanistan your first time? 309 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,320 Nine months, first tour. 310 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:46,320 Okay. 311 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,280 And then you came back and where did you go from there? 312 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:55,280 From there, I, you know, we were back in Garrison and I did, I did the job as an executive 313 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:56,280 officer. 314 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:57,280 We're Alpha Company. 315 00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:58,280 I moved from that company. 316 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,160 I went to Alpha Company, G12, and victory at a four brigade, four carcassians. 317 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:03,160 Okay. 318 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:08,520 And then that was selected to run a specialized security detail for other time, you know, 319 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,200 Vegas, who's the commander for, for, for ID. 320 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:12,200 All right. 321 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:17,280 So you went back, you went back to Afghanistan in 2012, correct? 322 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:18,280 I did. 323 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:19,280 Yes. 324 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:20,280 Okay. 325 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,960 We're talking with, with Flo Groberg, who's a Medal of Honor recipient who's just released 326 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:30,400 his own, his story of eight seconds of courage, a soldier story, going from immigrant to Medal 327 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:31,400 of Honor. 328 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,840 And you wrote this along with Tom, I'm going to make sure I give him the credit to Tom 329 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:35,840 Silio. 330 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:36,840 And, yeah. 331 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:41,720 And I really encourage people to get this book. 332 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:46,600 It's, it's, it's not that long, but it's, everything is packed into it that you could 333 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:52,240 ever want in a, in a true story of courage for, for a young man especially. 334 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:57,520 So you go back and as, as part of this security force, correct? 335 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:58,520 Yeah. 336 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:04,520 I read a security detail for at the time, Colonel Mingus, who read what 5D Fourth Brigade 337 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:05,520 operation. 338 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,120 So he was actually in charge of all of Eastern Afghanistan. 339 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:10,120 Oh, okay. 340 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:11,120 That's right. 341 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:12,120 All right. 342 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:15,840 So, so you were in charge of protecting all of the, you know, the, the colonels and so 343 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:17,680 forth that were going in and around the area. 344 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:21,120 Were you, were you attached to one, one man? 345 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:26,560 Yeah, one man and actually a star major as well for them, which was Commander Salman 346 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:28,120 Zagrifin. 347 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:36,400 And so I had team of six include myself where I had a first shot, a brain guide, Sergeant 348 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,680 Mahoney, special, specialist, Bartelama. 349 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:47,400 I had a specialist, a decor specialist, a charge with me as well. 350 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,640 So what were your duties with him, was it to kind of take him around to, to meet with 351 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:56,240 the Afghan tribal leaders and so forth? 352 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:01,520 So he had, well his mission was he, he owned the entire operation for Eastern Afghanistan. 353 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:07,920 So between meeting with his own unit, which was, you know, 65% of our, of our mission 354 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:14,920 to meeting over at all the Afghan partners that we had as well as the government officials. 355 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:20,680 My job was to plan and make sure that his security was set in place, coordinate with 356 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:26,200 the receiving units everywhere we went, which was outside of Jalalabad or, or, or Copp Fenty 357 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:27,200 or Fosk Fenty. 358 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,200 And I'm, yes, then. 359 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:35,520 So we call in and, and, and tell the units, hey, Colonel Mingus is coming at this time, 360 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,160 at this hour and this location to do this. 361 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,680 You have this type of security out there. 362 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:45,720 So that's that corneology, carry out, and with 45 different outstations across Eastern 363 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:46,720 Afghanistan. 364 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:47,720 Wow. 365 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,640 So you, you arranged all the logistics of helicopters or whatever transportation that 366 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:52,640 he needed. 367 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:53,640 Yeah. 368 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:54,640 That was my job. 369 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:56,640 And it was actually a pretty similar job. 370 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:58,960 Then a lot of years, I loved it. 371 00:21:58,960 --> 00:21:59,960 I remember thinking about it. 372 00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:05,040 I was like, man, I got the best job in the world because everybody wants to make sure 373 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:12,400 that the boss has the best receiving reception when he comes out there. 374 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:17,000 And so when I called, I was like, Hey, the boss coming tomorrow, make sure you got this. 375 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,360 And I'm like, Oh, here we got this. 376 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:19,360 We got this. 377 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:25,320 But obviously, as we get forward and August 7 was not the same reception when I was on 378 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,720 a phone in August 8 was a completely different story. 379 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,040 Let's look, let's go into that. 380 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:32,040 You ready? 381 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:33,040 Yeah. 382 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:38,320 So August 7, I called the boss was having a tremendous meeting. 383 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:44,120 And so most of the senior leaders that were part of our unit were at Jalalabad and Bob 384 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:45,640 Fenty. 385 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:47,600 And so, but I called top five. 386 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:52,320 Cause I'm coming up with five that night. 387 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:57,160 And I'm not forget this because I called in that and I was talking to some major and 388 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:02,040 one of those special units based on the hundreds first. 389 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:03,560 And I was talking to major. 390 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,040 I told them, I was like, Hey, tomorrow we'll come. 391 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:14,040 I'm coming to your combat office with the Omega, the Walrath, and that in general, and 392 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,720 some more battalion commanders and she commits all measures. 393 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,160 And we're going to go to the Conor provincial security meeting. 394 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:27,200 I'm going to need you to provide us with 15 people as an escort as we walk out outside 395 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:28,200 your base. 396 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:33,680 And I kind of listened to me and told me on the phone, Hey, we're going to walk around 397 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:34,680 right. 398 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,000 So I can't give you that. 399 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,760 But we're going to secure it. 400 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:45,000 And so I never forget this because I put them on mute and I had the adjunct, the thing 401 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,880 cast the next to me at the time. 402 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,000 And I was like, and I told him, you can't guess. 403 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,000 I'm like, Hey man, watch, I'm going to repeat my, my request. 404 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:53,480 We got to, just get on time. 405 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:58,600 And I did just that and guess what? 406 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:03,320 He was showing up off and he hung up on it. 407 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:07,600 And so the night before I thought, I was thinking about it. 408 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,360 And you know, when I went to bed, I was like, Oh, you know what? 409 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:12,960 He must have been having a bad day. 410 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,360 He's going to realize that his boss is boss. 411 00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:17,200 I'm going to show up tomorrow. 412 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:22,680 And then it kind of makes sense for him to be there to receive them. 413 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:28,720 But on August 8th, when we landed in Cal Fires, he wasn't there. 414 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,920 He had left 15 minutes by. 415 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:36,760 What he did, that kicks him up up to this day is the fact that he actually cleared their 416 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:38,320 area, but he left. 417 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:39,320 Right. 418 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,320 And this area was turned out not to be cleared. 419 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:43,800 No, no, no. 420 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:48,000 Because we were talking about two suicide bombers. 421 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,240 Can you just, just describe for our audience, if you can. 422 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,400 What happened on the 8th of August? 423 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:03,120 Once you go, yeah, as we landed in Cal Fires, some of the apple fires, you know, he wasn't 424 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:04,120 there. 425 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:10,640 So I had to adjust my team and I put my first class Brian Brink up front and control the 426 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,560 pace of our walk. 427 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,360 And I put the cord behind him. 428 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:17,360 He was always in charge of a big history. 429 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:19,600 You know, you should hear some major. 430 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:25,080 And we had diamond formation and I was always at the rear of the diamond formation, but 431 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:32,280 in this case, I want to be at the, at the fear of it because for eyes on and, and so 432 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,000 I put old charge private first class. 433 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,600 I put him in my, in my position. 434 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:39,000 That's all my eight. 435 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:45,360 Anything that happens tonight or today, this morning, I need you to pick the boss, which 436 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:49,280 was Colonel Mingus of time and take him to safety. 437 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,240 He's like, yeah, Roger that sir. 438 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:59,560 And so we decided to walk out and it was 1100 meter movement, 700 meters into the movement 439 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,040 as we're about to cross this bridge. 440 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:06,840 We stopped two motorcycles coming, you know, full speed towards us. 441 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:14,400 I wonder those things that Brink and I did that they really probably make, made the biggest 442 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:20,320 impact was the fact that we decided to take asking National Army and put them up front. 443 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:22,440 We realized that we didn't have enough security. 444 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,400 We didn't have, we did not have enough empire. 445 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:30,520 And so we took the Afghan National Army guys that were staying around the base and we put 446 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:32,020 them up front. 447 00:26:32,020 --> 00:26:35,920 And one of them did an incredible job with a motorbike. 448 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:37,560 Those were coming towards us. 449 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,880 You raise these right boys are scaring dogs. 450 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:46,000 We forced the motorcycle, the first motorcycle to drop its bike and then force second one 451 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,960 to drop his bike and then they started running away. 452 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,880 We stopped when I realized we're in deep trouble. 453 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:53,920 I witnessed that. 454 00:26:53,920 --> 00:27:00,880 And there was a guy, maybe 20, 22 years old that came out of the structure to a left, 455 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,760 walking backwards and 180 degree turn and then 90 degree turn towards us. 456 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,040 And, you know, I come in myself to listen. 457 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:10,040 And I hate them. 458 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:14,160 I don't realize he had suicide vest. 459 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:19,920 And I tried to everything that I had to need to throw him away as quickly as possible 460 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:24,760 as far as possible and he detonated. 461 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,040 Yeah, he blew up. 462 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,040 He detonated. 463 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:30,040 Yeah. 464 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,040 He detonated. 465 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,120 And somehow you survived this. 466 00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:40,160 You were badly wounded, but a number of your comrades did not survive. 467 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,640 Some of your good friends. 468 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:49,440 Yeah, I somehow lived in, you know, this crazy political situation. 469 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:56,560 You and I were in the middle of the United States and the State Department said, you 470 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:01,120 have to stop it while it's killed. 471 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:09,440 You know, I had a view that detonated the vest at my feet and that threw me 20 feet 472 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,120 away, but it didn't kill me. 473 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:19,120 I had to call my buddies who were nowhere near the black site, they killed me. 474 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:23,520 And also, of course, the second suicide bomber that was still in the building, trying to come 475 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:24,520 out and detonate. 476 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:30,520 So we were lucky enough that we all didn't die because the second one detonated inside 477 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:31,520 the building. 478 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:32,520 Wow. 479 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:37,920 It sounds like the whole thing was obviously well planned with so many distractions, you 480 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:43,760 know, to divert your attention from the actual real bad guys. 481 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:51,760 Yeah, well that year that had the Taliban, that idea was slow, the Tehran attack. 482 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:56,520 So they were waiting for it and you know, I just saw an opportunity, they went for it. 483 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:01,360 So yes, was it planned or upset? 484 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,520 Did it go as well as it wanted it to? 485 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:05,520 No. 486 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:09,320 The majority of us survived. 487 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:13,960 But the kill of four incoherent Americans, I'm pretty sure what happened after that. 488 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:21,560 A couple weeks later, I'm going to get detailed due to classifications, but the US Army did 489 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,320 a pretty good job to go find those people. 490 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:34,800 So you ended up severely injured and ended up in Germany and then you ended up at Walter 491 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,840 Reed, is that correct? 492 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:37,840 That's correct. 493 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:47,760 First I was in Montreal, Germany, where I woke up looking at John Davis from the band 494 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:54,440 Corn and after that, it was like surreal, I was like, oh my God, am I dreaming about 495 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:55,440 you? 496 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,280 Like, what a heck would I be dreaming about you? 497 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:01,720 And he was there, he was there with a USO tour, by the way. 498 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:12,800 A kudos to USO, a kudos to USO for keep sending some stars and athletes and movie folks, as 499 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:17,640 well as musicians to come out there and support us, because that makes a difference. 500 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:19,160 It does, it truly does. 501 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:26,160 It's 50 years ago, we couldn't wait for the USO to show up. 502 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:28,200 They're very important. 503 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:34,240 So they moved you to Walter Reed and you had a lot of, well you spent three years there, 504 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:35,240 didn't you? 505 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:44,360 So three years, it was a little bit about two years worth of injuries and I'm named 506 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:52,720 a solvage, so I decided to get my leg cut off and I fought for my leg for quite a while. 507 00:30:52,720 --> 00:31:07,200 But you know, I was lucky to be surrounded by incredible doctors and incredible nurses. 508 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:08,200 You have to read the book. 509 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,320 I'd love to get into all the details of these things. 510 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,960 We've got about four minutes left. 511 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:15,440 The book is Eight Seconds of Courage. 512 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,800 It's a soldier's story from Immigrant to Medal of Honor recipient. 513 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:24,320 Tell me what it was like when you got the call that they were going to award you this 514 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:25,320 Medal of Honor. 515 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,320 Good best story of the day. 516 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:40,760 Heads down, I was working for the agency, one agency with three letters and I was in 517 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:44,280 a spot where I had no cell phone service. 518 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:48,600 Here I go, walking out at the head lunch and I get a call from myself. 519 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:50,640 I'm like, oh my goodness, what the hell is this? 520 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,920 The answer is like, hey, this is Colonel Sweeney from the Pentagon. 521 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:59,280 I was told that you know that you're going to be receiving a call from one senior official 522 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:03,240 at the Pentagon on 21 September. 523 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:05,440 He told me the year, the team. 524 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:11,040 He said, hey, this is a good number for a call. 525 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:12,040 Sure. 526 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,040 And they hung up on the phone. 527 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:23,360 And so I told my fiance at the time, I was like, hey, I'm about to get a call from someone. 528 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,360 I have no idea what it is. 529 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:29,160 But apparently they called me about, like, from the Pentagon. 530 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,440 So I understood that. 531 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:37,200 I've been put in for the single service class and that thought that we would come from president 532 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,200 or any senior regular official. 533 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,600 So I was like, man, I'm out of there in trouble. 534 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:42,600 But I do. 535 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,600 So seriously, I was like, I'm in trouble. 536 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:53,680 And then I got a call and she's next to me because we took a day off and they was president 537 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:54,680 of the bomb. 538 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:57,840 Tell me that I was going to receive the medal. 539 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:03,000 And I was one of those conversations that one never forget was my first of our respective 540 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,840 heck out of this man as a leader. 541 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:13,880 But the way he talked to me and the way he represented the guys that were killed, I can 542 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:18,680 never ever in my life thank him enough. 543 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:22,000 It's a very emotional chapter to read flow. 544 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,920 And again, I encourage people to go ahead and get this book, Eight Seconds of Courage 545 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:27,760 of Soldiers Story. 546 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:29,720 We've got about a minute to go. 547 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:36,800 And I wanted to give you the opportunity to promote what you're doing at Boeing Aircraft. 548 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:38,600 What is it that you're doing with Boeing? 549 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:42,000 You know, I'm the luckiest person in the world. 550 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:46,520 I was given the opportunity to work for the most diverse company in the world and ends 551 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,000 down without a doubt for our military service members. 552 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:55,880 And I run all veterans programs at Boeing Company and we're out there trying to fight 553 00:33:55,880 --> 00:34:01,360 to make sure that everyone of the service members, veterans and spouses get the opportunity 554 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:05,160 to go out there and fight the next fashion in their lives and make a difference to continue 555 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:10,880 through the community while having the right career track that they deserve. 556 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:15,400 And we're also trying to fight for the folks who are struggling with PTSD and suicidal 557 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,160 ideation just like I did. 558 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:23,240 And you know, we want to let them know that, you know what, follow us, hit me up, talk 559 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:24,240 to me. 560 00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:28,560 Look what I'm doing and follow what Boeing is doing because we're out there partnering 561 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,360 up with the best organizations in the country to make sure that we give you the opportunity 562 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:33,360 to succeed. 563 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,400 If you're struggling, I've been there. 564 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:38,400 I've struggled. 565 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:39,880 I need that support system. 566 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:40,880 And guess what? 567 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:43,920 It took a lot of effort, but we're going to make it. 568 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:46,640 I want to get in touch with you to find out more about that flow. 569 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,240 That's our music coming up to the end of the hour. 570 00:34:49,240 --> 00:34:53,600 I want to thank you very much for being on our program and congratulations on your Medal 571 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:54,800 of Honor. 572 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:56,920 And it's been a privilege to talk to you. 573 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:57,920 Thank you. 574 00:34:57,920 --> 00:34:58,920 Thank you. 575 00:34:58,920 --> 00:34:59,920 Okay. 576 00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:00,920 Yeah. 577 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:01,920 All right. 578 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:02,920 That was Flo Groberg. 579 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:03,920 His book is Eight Seconds of Courage. 580 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:25,520 I'm Flo Groberg.