1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,480 Today's Veterans Radio is a replay of our program from August of 2023. 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:10,280 Host Jim Faust-Sollum talks about Colonel Paris Davis finally receiving his Medal of 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,400 Honor and the fallen and wounded Warriors front. 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:15,400 So here's Jim. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:22,120 We hope you enjoy today's program. 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:27,120 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 7 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:33,480 Welcome to Veterans Radio. 8 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:36,120 I am Jim Faust-Sollum. 9 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,440 I'm the officer of the deck today. 10 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,280 We've got some great programs for you. 11 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,240 I think you'll find very interesting. 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:50,640 We always want to remind you you can find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook site 13 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,200 or at the 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00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,880 Disability Rights all across the nation. 25 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:59,960 You can reach them at 800-693-4800 or on the web at LegalHelpForVeterans.com. 26 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:08,160 We're going to have a discussion today with individuals who were working behind the scenes 27 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:14,000 to get Medal of Honor recipient, Paris Davis, the Medal of Honor, which he did receive 28 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:20,760 many, many years after Vietnam, and then also an interview with some guys, real patriots, 29 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:27,200 who have been working to support veterans in their time of need. 30 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:32,360 It's a fallen and wounded soldiers fund, and we talked to some of their board members. 31 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,480 So listen in, both of these are interesting stories. 32 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:42,440 We want to welcome to VeteransRadio today two special guests to talk about a recent Medal 33 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,560 of Honor recipient, Colonel Paris Davis. 34 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:50,840 And we're going to talk to the guys who, I always refer to these kind of guys as Sherpas. 35 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:56,400 They carried a lot of the heavy load up the hill to get this accomplished, as did a whole 36 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:57,680 team of people. 37 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:02,640 But we have on Neil Thorn, an Army veteran and researcher extraordinaire. 38 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:05,200 Neil, welcome to VeteransRadio. 39 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,160 Thanks, Jim. 40 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:13,240 And we also have with him Jim Moriarty, a Marine veteran, did three tours in Vietnam. 41 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:18,720 He's an attorney working in the mass tort series, a lot of work with veterans and military 42 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:19,720 related causes. 43 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:26,280 He did a dozen years or so with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and finds himself 44 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:27,720 helping out where he can. 45 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:29,120 Jim, welcome to VeteransRadio. 46 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:30,960 Well, thank you, Jim. 47 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:32,800 It's good to be with you. 48 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:41,440 Well, you guys got connected on this project for Colonel Paris Davis back in Vietnam, 58 49 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:42,440 years ago. 50 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:48,120 He was a captain involved with the Green Brace and Special Forces. 51 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:57,520 His heroics at the Battle of Bung Son really is what launched this effort to have him recognized 52 00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,440 and receive the Medal of Honor. 53 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:06,840 But Neil, why don't you give a brief description of Colonel Davis's exploits that I think was 54 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:08,840 a 19-hour battle? 55 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:09,840 Yeah. 56 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:15,360 So, Colonel Davis was on his second tour in Vietnam in 1965. 57 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:22,520 And he volunteered to go in to Bung Son, which to that point had been under enemy control 58 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,680 and we had not been able to get a foothold there. 59 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:32,920 He moved into that area, created a civil regular defense group, a CIDG group, of what they 60 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:33,920 call rough puffs. 61 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,840 So, they were local inhabitants that were recruited into a small army. 62 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:43,960 So, he built an army there along with his fellow Green Brace, their A-Team. 63 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:49,600 And their first action out was this Battle of Bung Son. 64 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:57,840 And Colonel Davis led that action, engaged and devastated the enemy, and also saved his 65 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:03,520 troops who he was ordered to leave his wounded at one point. 66 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,520 And he refused to do so. 67 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,400 And it was a Colonel who had ordered him to leave. 68 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,520 And at that time, he was a captain. 69 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,840 So, he refused to leave his troops. 70 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:20,440 He went out and rescued, personally rescued three of them while engaging the enemy, while 71 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:28,120 also coordinating air assets and medivacs and artillery on the site. 72 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:32,640 And it's just one of the, if you read the accounts of the battle, it is just one of 73 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,880 the most heroic actions I've seen. 74 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:42,160 And if I understand it right, Jim Moriarty, he was also injured during this battle. 75 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,040 So, he's not only recovering guys. 76 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:45,040 He's doing well. 77 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:50,400 He's being shot and injured, but again, won't leave the battlefield, even though told to. 78 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:51,400 Do I have that right? 79 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,000 Yeah, he was injured several times. 80 00:05:54,000 --> 00:06:00,200 He was hit with grenade fragments and lost the ability to use his trigger finger. 81 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:06,880 So he was forced to shoot his rifle with his pinky, and he was shot in the leg. 82 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,200 And he still stayed in the fight. 83 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:18,240 So, the accounts of that battle, right at that time, noted the heroics here. 84 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:26,880 And I should mention that then-Captain Paris Davis was one of the first African-American 85 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:32,560 or Black Special Forces officers and serving in Vietnam at that time. 86 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:39,480 And this is 1965-ish, so the country is still dealing with a lot of racial issues. 87 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:46,600 But, awards and decorations in the military are all about the next guy up the line writing 88 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,000 it up and sending it up. 89 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:57,320 So, Neil, why don't you talk a little bit about what happened in that 1965 period about 90 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:03,320 write-ups and why it's 58 years later, and we're only now talking about him being awarded 91 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,720 the Medal of Honor. 92 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:13,760 First things that you do when trying to recover or look at any of these medals and awards 93 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,960 is FOIA all of the surrounding information. 94 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:24,760 And the National Archives had what they called the Paris State Medal of Honor Packet. 95 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:31,800 Well, we FOIAed that and got it back, and it was not a 1965 Medal of Honor packet at 96 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,600 all. 97 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:41,360 What it was, it was a 1969 hearing into his medals and awards in the Medal of Honor. 98 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:48,440 In those documents, we also found official testimony given to this Army hearing by his 99 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:54,760 commander, Billy Cole, that he had indeed written him up for the Medal of Honor and had taken 100 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:59,360 it to Natchirang, the fifth group headscorps at that time. 101 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:07,600 Also, we found supporting evidence that this was written up by his commander in 1965 interviews 102 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,000 with the reporter Charlie Black. 103 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,680 There are two instances of him mentioning that he'd written Colonel Davis. 104 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:23,600 So that's what led to us discovering that this was truly a lost award, that it had been 105 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:24,600 created. 106 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,160 The packet and paperwork had been assembled. 107 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:34,520 It was put in at Natchirang, and at that point it should have generated a first review and 108 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:36,440 multiple copies would have gone out. 109 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:42,760 They were going to Saigon, they were going to Sink Pack, and ultimately the Pentagon. 110 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,240 And no copies were ever found. 111 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:53,440 So that choke point at group headquarters at Natchirang was where we determined that 112 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:57,240 it had been most likely trashed. 113 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:01,480 Because you just don't misplace something like it. 114 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:06,560 This is about the most important thing that's going up the chain at this point. 115 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:12,880 You get to the point, I think, as an experienced researcher as you are, where something doesn't 116 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,280 smell right at that point, does it? 117 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:17,360 No, it doesn't. 118 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,440 And it's not even a small packet at that. 119 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:25,880 It would have probably been at minimum 40 pages, and even our recreated middle of honor 120 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:28,920 packet was around 90, so. 121 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:39,120 Well this gets lost, quote unquote, lost in the 1960s, and then just sort of goes away. 122 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,200 Nobody talks about it. 123 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:46,080 How does, and Jim Morari, why don't you jump in here. 124 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,720 How do you keep this alive? 125 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:50,200 This issue alive for so long. 126 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,640 I know you got involved about eight years ago, but you'd worked on some of these other 127 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:58,240 things, and when Neil called you up and said, hey, you want to put your talents to work 128 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:07,440 here, you said yes, but it had to be like, wait a minute, this has been cold for decades. 129 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:12,000 Well, that's only partially true. 130 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:20,120 In 1969, there was an inquiry, Billy Cole, who is a battalion commander, was still alive 131 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:27,120 at that time, and he was pushing this from the get-go, and there was, we found the orders 132 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:34,000 that they had been ordered to recreate the award package, but nobody ever saw that award 133 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,080 package again. 134 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:44,640 And then in 1981, Billy Waw, who is probably the most famous or the most notorious, depending 135 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:51,080 on how you look at it, Special Forces CIA guy, who was one of the people whose parents 136 00:10:51,080 --> 00:11:04,840 saved, Billy Waw submitted a letter not sworn to that talked about Paris' heroics and character, 137 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:10,640 and he tried to keep it alive, and there was an Army Ranger, you know, there was a whole 138 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:19,000 platoon of Sherpas, as you'd describe them, trying to keep this deal alive, but nobody 139 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:28,000 really knew where the friction points were, where the obstacles were, until Neil got involved 140 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,440 in about 2014. 141 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:37,720 Neil had been working on the Barry Michael Rose Medal of Honor, rising out of Operation 142 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:46,200 Tailwind, and so Neil got involved in that with the team of, I guess, half a dozen, mostly 143 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:51,520 former Army guys that were trying to push this thing forward, and Neil turned out to 144 00:11:51,520 --> 00:12:02,800 be the most knowledgeable, experienced, aware of the regulations and the problem guy, and 145 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:11,840 he jumped in with both feet and ended up really taking over the program because of his vast 146 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:12,840 knowledge. 147 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:21,920 That's when he shows up like a kitten on my doorstep, saying, well, that's this little 148 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:22,920 problem. 149 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:24,920 Sweet talked him right into it, didn't you, Neil? 150 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:31,320 Yeah, you know, like a complete dumbass, I completely forgot about the don't bottle 151 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:32,320 here for nothing. 152 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:37,320 See, he was Army, you were Marine, you walked right into it. 153 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,720 I knew it was time to call in the Marines. 154 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,880 Well, Neil, again, this is one of these things where you go like it doesn't smell right, 155 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:53,120 it doesn't feel right, what happened, how do you lose two packages of this size, and 156 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:59,240 knowing the regulations as you do, times your enemy on these because you're losing witnesses, 157 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:00,560 you're losing certifications. 158 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:02,840 Tell us about some of those hurdles. 159 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:08,400 Well, we lost Sergeant Morgan was one of the men that was on it. 160 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,280 He was killed three months after the action. 161 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,440 He was most likely one of the first eyewitnesses. 162 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:17,720 We had Billy, while Billy Wall was still surviving. 163 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:24,720 We also had the testimony of his commander, Billy Cole, who had the foresight to have 164 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:30,280 his daughter notarize it, to write it down and notarize it for him. 165 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:38,360 Plus, we had all kinds of surrounding supporting evidence, including those 1969 documents that 166 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,440 the National Archives are holding. 167 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,800 And you essentially recreated a package. 168 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,360 It's not the original, it's not the second go round. 169 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:56,320 It's a third package, if you will, for the Medal of Honor for Colonel Paris Davis. 170 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,320 But how do you get that? 171 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,360 Okay, I got a bunch of documents here. 172 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,160 How do I push that forward? 173 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:05,560 Is this where the connections help? 174 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:12,720 Some, generally, everything is required in a package. 175 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,760 So it's a DA41638 nomination for award. 176 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,120 It's got to be filled out perfectly. 177 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:24,760 You have to have signatures of anybody in the chain of command or note where they have, 178 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:28,080 if they're deceased or when they have died. 179 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:33,880 You also have to have a proposed narrative, a proposed citation. 180 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:35,880 I witnessed statements supporting evidence. 181 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:41,400 There's a whole checklist of parts that go into any medal and award packet. 182 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:47,840 Also the description of the action, the after action reviews, stuff like that. 183 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:53,480 So that's pretty general for any medal or award, any valid medal or award. 184 00:14:53,480 --> 00:15:00,800 So once you get all that put together, in a general order, along with a summary, that's 185 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:05,640 when you need to find a member of Congress who is a pass-through. 186 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:12,720 So this falls under the US Code Title X, Section 1130, which is a process for lost, missing, 187 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:14,680 or downgraded medals and awards. 188 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:22,440 So then we then went up to Capitol Hill to find someone who would not only pass it through, 189 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:28,200 but we were also looking for somebody who would be a champion of it as well. 190 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:33,040 We found some, it's no problem finding somebody to pass it through. 191 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:37,360 And we got Senator Keynes and Warner's offices to do that for us. 192 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:42,480 And then it's a matter of following up with for not, which is the awards and decorations 193 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:47,520 branch, the first gatekeeper, making sure they got it, making sure they understand it, 194 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,760 making sure that everything is complete. 195 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:59,280 And a first kickback is almost guaranteed with anything, because that's kind of them 196 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,920 doing their due diligence. 197 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:03,920 And then you address that. 198 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:09,880 So it's constantly putting together the package, getting the package submitted, making sure 199 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:14,120 it's in the channel, and then babysitting. 200 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,640 And this is really a labor of love for the team that's doing this. 201 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:22,160 This is a time that Jim Moriarty is putting in, this is time Neil Thornton is putting 202 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,680 in, other people are putting in, trying to advance this. 203 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,960 And you were involved in it for nine years. 204 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:35,760 Other people have been in maybe longer, but really the work over the eight, nine years, 205 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,680 is there a point at which you say, hey, this is going nowhere? 206 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:44,560 Or you just have to stay on it and believe that in the end you'll be successful? 207 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:50,760 We knew we were in the right in the beginning, and we knew that injustice had been done, 208 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:52,240 and it was still existing. 209 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,640 So the thought of giving up didn't occur to us. 210 00:16:55,640 --> 00:17:00,520 So let me put this to Jim Moriarty, who probably has to dance a little less than Neil does 211 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:06,560 on sensitive issues, because Neil's, as they say, this nationally renowned researcher. 212 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,920 And Jim's a lawyer and a marine. 213 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:16,960 So you knew you were in the right on this because there was clearly some biases going 214 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:26,720 on back in the 60s, back in the 80s, even into the, here in the 2000s, the 2020. 215 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:28,800 I mean, do you confront those directly? 216 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:34,240 I know as a trial lawyer, a mass tort trial lawyer, you like to confront things directly. 217 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:40,320 But how do you navigate this to advance it, but confront the biases? 218 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,120 Jim, you're asking a pretty sophisticated question. 219 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:50,160 Well, I'm going to a sophisticated guy who grew up in Texas. 220 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:51,160 You can deal with this. 221 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:52,160 I know you can. 222 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,120 There's, I lived during the 60s. 223 00:17:55,120 --> 00:18:01,040 I spent two and a half years in Vietnam. 224 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:06,880 I know what the military was like, and I know what the United States was like in terms of 225 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:13,560 the prevalence of racism in the 60s, in the 70s, and the 80s, and indeed today. 226 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:21,280 So the fact that the first package disappeared, it had been an accident. 227 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:26,680 The fact that the second package disappeared, now it's no longer an accident. 228 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,080 It's sort of like the Twin Towers. 229 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,760 One fell, maybe it was a navigational problem. 230 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,920 When they both went down, it was the deliberate act. 231 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:42,720 Neil and I nashed our teeth about this because I didn't want to make this case about racism, 232 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,960 but also wasn't going to take no for an answer. 233 00:18:45,960 --> 00:19:00,040 So we pussy-footed around the issue when we redid the package in 2015 and 2016, where 234 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:10,560 we didn't hang our hats on the racism issue, but we tried to let the reader figure out 235 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,320 for themselves what had happened. 236 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,760 Certainly, certainly. 237 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:25,800 In 2016, and it was a unrelenting battle. 238 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:30,400 I was serving on the board of directors of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. 239 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:34,320 Richard Spencer was secretary of the Navy. 240 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,760 Jim Mattis was secretary of defense. 241 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:44,080 John Kelly, who I worked for, was initially Homeland Security, and then he goes over to 242 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,680 Chiefs of the White House. 243 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:52,720 I had the best connections in the administration that I could possibly have, and I was hitting 244 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:59,880 on every single one of them because the idea that this man was not going to be awarded 245 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:05,960 the Medal of Honor for what he did was simply not in my vocabulary. 246 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:14,000 What I did, I went up to Mattis at the awards dinner, and I had these two chapters from 247 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:21,480 Billy Cole's memoirs that really tell the history of the Vietnam War. 248 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:29,720 Archkof's in there, Peter Arnett's in there, John Wayne's in there, Barry Sadler, the 249 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,000 legend of the Green Bray. 250 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:39,480 These two chapters, which are only cover of all parts of the war, really were a core 251 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,320 history of the war. 252 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:53,520 Billy Cole tells this wonderful story about how extraordinary Paris's courage was, and 253 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:59,120 my attitude was, anybody's got an IQ over 75 that reads this, going to realize this 254 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,600 guy, everything needs to get the Medal of Honor. 255 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:15,280 Well Neil successfully pushed the award out of Knox, the initial naysayer was Fort Knox, 256 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,280 and we got it out of there. 257 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:26,200 In fact, we later learned that the, I think it was Ray Epps, who was the acting Secretary 258 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:35,400 of the Army in 2017 or 2018, sent it out of the Army to the Secretary of Defense's office, 259 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:38,960 and that turned out to be where the real hurt was. 260 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:45,840 There was a, there were two confounding facts. 261 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:57,040 One fact, number one, is Billy Watt has spent way too many years with the CIA, and sometimes 262 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:58,560 his stories don't match. 263 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:11,240 And Billy, in his 1981 letter, which was turned into an affidavit in, I think, the early teens, 264 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:21,000 where Billy swears that Paris saved his life as he did, Billy comes out with a couple of 265 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:31,360 so-called books, one of them was Stalking the Jackal or something like that, and in 266 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:39,400 these books he tells the Battle of Bonsang, where he's sort of set out to be the controlling 267 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:44,760 hero, and he claims some guy named Reinberg saved his life. 268 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:48,840 Now, so there's two confounding facts. 269 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:55,080 One of them is that Billy Watt says at one point in time, Paris Day was saved my life, 270 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,840 but at another point in time, Reinberg saved his life. 271 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,560 That was confounding fact number one. 272 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:10,280 In fact, number two is that in 1969, four years after the battle, Reinberg is awarded 273 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:21,440 the DSC, and in his DSC citation, it says that he saved the life of a soldier. 274 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:31,120 Now keep in mind, there's 200 rough pups out there, the South Vietnamese CIDG soldiers, 275 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:39,920 and there were four Americans. 276 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:48,360 The Silver Star citation, the interim Silver Star citation that was issued in 1965 for 277 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:54,840 Paris specifically credits him for saving the life of his team sergeant, and his team 278 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,200 sergeant is Billy Watt. 279 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:05,880 So in my view, there was no infounding evidence, except that Billy Watt was having a hard time 280 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:11,840 keeping her story straight, but there was so much supporting evidence, Billy Cole's 281 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:21,440 memoirs, other witnesses statements, Billy Watt's earlier foreign affidavit, that I thought 282 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,160 this Reinberg business was just all bullshit. 283 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:32,800 I thought nobody in their right mind would think that there's a conflict with who Paris 284 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:38,840 saved because this very Silver Star citation says it was his team sergeant. 285 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,800 There was only one team sergeant on the mission. 286 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:50,280 What really proved to be interesting throughout this eight year battle is I focused in on finding 287 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:56,800 the crew chiefs from the helicopters, finding the pilots from the helicopters, finding the 288 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:00,040 remaining living witnesses from the battle. 289 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:10,400 We literally, and to tell you the lengths we went to to find supporting evidence, I think 290 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:17,760 there was the New York Times story where there was a fact pilot who was describing his part 291 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:19,200 in the mission. 292 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,440 And the guy's name was Speedy Gonzalez. 293 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:27,800 So here's all the facts I know about Speedy Gonzalez. 294 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:28,800 He's in the Air Force. 295 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:34,280 He flies a Ford air controller aircraft, and his name is Speedy Gonzalez. 296 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:36,720 Like I'm supposed to do something with that? 297 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:38,720 Start searching. 298 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:44,000 That's computer researcher about not having the slightest clue where I'm going to find 299 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:45,000 this guy. 300 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:50,120 And all I was doing was just bitching, I wasn't making a request. 301 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:57,080 Well I go to bed and I wake up the next morning and I've got Speedy Gonzalez's name and address 302 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:04,160 and phone number on my email and it turns out he's a retired Air Force pilot who lives 303 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,840 over in San Antonio and I jump on the car and drive over to interview him. 304 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:08,840 Oh my goodness. 305 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:16,080 And I track down some of the Huey pilots, you know, the pushback, part of the pushback 306 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,160 we got is, well we need more living eyewitnesses. 307 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:24,840 And I'm sitting there going, you son of a bitch has waited 50 years until almost everybody's 308 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,920 dead and now you want more living eyewitnesses. 309 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:38,680 As it turned out, the Reynberg problem was the core problem because there was maybe a 310 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:46,480 single individual in the Department of Defense's office who took the position that Reynberg's 311 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,200 DSC trumped everything. 312 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:58,760 Now keep in mind, Neil and I have talked to more living witnesses and now disteeped 313 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:05,360 witnesses who knew about that mission and any other two people on the planet. 314 00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:12,520 And nobody has ever said anything about Reynberg ever saving anybody. 315 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:18,680 Not Colonel Cole, not anybody else on the mission, not Ron Dice, nobody. 316 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,680 Not Paris Davis, not this 19. 317 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:32,520 We actually tracked down the hour long Phil Donahue interview with Ron Dice and Paris 318 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:39,040 tells the whole story about how this deal went down and you can't watch that without 319 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:44,880 concluding there's a guy who was there who knows what happened and who described me with 320 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:45,880 that. 321 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:50,040 Now of course you can't be awarded a Medal of Honor on your own testimony. 322 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:54,320 You've got to be awarded a Medal of Honor based on other people's testimony but it was 323 00:27:54,320 --> 00:28:02,480 certainly cooperative evidence and Ron Dice was a direct eyewitness to important facts 324 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:05,480 but go ahead. 325 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:11,280 I wanted to come back to this, how do you break this loose because this thing got lost 326 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:16,200 a couple of times then it got hung up at Fort Knox for a period of years then it got hung 327 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:21,400 up in the Secretary of Defense's Office of Manpower and Reserve Affairs apparently for 328 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:30,360 three years then it got hung up in I think the Office of the Secretary of Defense. 329 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:34,040 Every time it gets hung up how do you bust it loose Neil? 330 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:41,360 Well I want to answer that question because I was there when the page was blank. 331 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:47,040 We were stopped dead in our tracks in the fall of 2020. 332 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:53,960 We had done everything we knew, we had gone to everybody that had any pull, we had found 333 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:58,520 more witnesses, we had found more facts and we were up against the wall. 334 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:08,840 Now we weren't quit but we also weren't succeeding and Chris Miller gets appointed acting Secretary 335 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:16,800 of Defense and I get a call from now Major General Kevin Leahy who says look Miller 336 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:27,280 is a fifth group guy, he's a good guy, you know I had been pushing to have my son awarded 337 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:36,000 a medal for Valor for his combat when he was killed which the Army wouldn't grant because 338 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:45,760 he was supposedly working for somebody besides the Army but late he calls me and so I said 339 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:53,000 yeah let's go do something but oh by the way while we're there asking for some relief 340 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:59,040 we need to ask for some relief for Parris Davis so later he calls me back the next day 341 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:04,640 says I've talked to Miller, Miller's a good guy, he's honest like Stinkhan you know what 342 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:14,600 and he's going to appoint one of his key aides to work with you on the Congressional Medal 343 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,160 of Honor for Parris Davis. 344 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:25,120 So he assigns this former JAG officer to work with me, we jump back in it with both feet 345 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:30,680 and this time we confronted the racial issue with on. 346 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:41,880 It was a, I had had enough, it was I just don't want to hear, we lost the package twice 347 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:49,520 but we have no idea what that relates to, well you know that's just nonsense and that 348 00:30:49,520 --> 00:31:00,720 is so incredible so we jumped in, we did a multimedia presentation and by this time 349 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:08,560 there was a team of thousands on the Sherpa team, I get a call from one of my buddies 350 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:16,840 in San Antonio or in Houston who's a former fifth group guy and he's talked a gang company 351 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:26,320 executive in Great Britain into doing graphics for us so for example one of the key points 352 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:36,200 that we had was that Parris had saved another soldier's life two months before Longsong 353 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:41,800 and had been awarded a soldier's medal, I think he's won only six, Neil would know 354 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:52,400 that six people had been awarded soldiers medal and medals for valor. 355 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:58,640 So they're doing all these graphics for us, we tracked down photographs from Ron Dice 356 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:05,000 and other people so we can recreate the mission and what we also did was we did an overlay 357 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:11,000 of what was going on in the United States at exactly the same time that Parris Davis 358 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:15,600 was so heroically serving our country. 359 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:25,000 The riots in Selma, the famous bridge that they just had the 60th and 58th anniversary 360 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:31,160 on so we confronted it head on and we did this multimedia presentation which if you 361 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:35,400 haven't seen it I would certainly encourage you to see it and we put this whole package 362 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:47,920 together in about six weeks and then Chris Miller before Trump went out of office issued 363 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:56,240 an order that the Department of Defense was to do a review of this whole process basically 364 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:04,480 to answer the question why this had been done a long time ago and so that's what busted 365 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:11,920 it loose and then the really weird deal is that after Trump left office and after the 366 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:18,640 Biden administration came in then we continued to get a year and a half of pushback. 367 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:23,000 Many Medal of Honor recipients are and they are humble men who have done extraordinary 368 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:33,440 things but they served, they knew what their duty was and they went way beyond it but getting 369 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:41,680 the award is not necessarily about their individual recognition or rewards. 370 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:45,280 It's really for the community and we were talking about this earlier Jim Moriarty on 371 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:53,520 the Getting Purple Hearts for guys and it's really about what this will mean to Paris 372 00:33:53,520 --> 00:34:00,840 Davis' family, the African American community, the Special Forces community, that much larger 373 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:06,120 recognition that the Medal of Honor provides to folks. 374 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:14,480 So now you've heard the back story on how Paris Davis finally got recognized after multiple 375 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:20,040 lost packages for his heroics in the Medal of Honor. 376 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:23,200 These are amazing stories that we're able to bring to you on Veterans Radio and it's 377 00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:28,520 because of sponsors like National Veterans Business Development Council. 378 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:35,080 It has some upcoming events that you may want to participate in so go to NVBDC.org and 379 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,400 check that out if you're a veteran owned business. 380 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:43,800 You may want to get certified for all the valid reasons that they talk about. 381 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:48,800 We'll have a few words from sponsors and then back to talk about and listen to you 382 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:53,920 and interview with Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund. 383 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,200 Military veterans touch everyone's life. 384 00:34:56,200 --> 00:35:01,400 I'm guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran, a close friend, relative, maybe 385 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:02,560 it's you. 386 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:07,240 Even the toughest of us sometimes need help but don't know where to turn for support. 387 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:09,800 You don't need special training to help a veteran in your life. 388 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:12,640 We can all help someone going through a difficult time. 389 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:14,760 Learn how you can be there for veterans. 390 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:17,640 Visit veteranscrisisline.net. 391 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:18,640 Veteranscrisisline.net. 392 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:23,480 A message from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 393 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:27,320 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals, contact Legal Help for 394 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,520 Veterans at 1-800-693-4800. 395 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:35,480 They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 396 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:39,480 Their number again, 1-800-693-4800. 397 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:44,720 We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today a couple of the Board members of the Fallen 398 00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:49,960 and Wounded Soldiers Fund, a Michigan-based organization. 399 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:55,120 It's a 501C3 been around for a while and we're glad to have Chris Cornelius as a Board member 400 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:56,120 on with us. 401 00:35:56,120 --> 00:36:00,120 Chris is a veteran and actually one of the co-founders of the fund. 402 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,920 And we have the President of the fund, Robert Cremalvian as well. 403 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:08,560 Both these guys have been involved with the fund for quite a number of years and it was 404 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:13,000 time to come back around and talk about what they've been doing over the years and some 405 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,320 of the success stories and upcoming events. 406 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:18,560 Chris, welcome to Veterans Radio. 407 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:20,960 Jim, thanks for having us. 408 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:23,520 Rob, welcome to Veterans Radio. 409 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:25,320 Yeah, absolutely, Jim. 410 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:30,120 Thanks for having us and for all those who don't know, Jim has been a staunch supporter 411 00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:34,320 of veterans and all their concerns and issues for many, many years. 412 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,200 So thank you for all the work you've done over the years. 413 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:38,200 Well thank you. 414 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:43,760 Chris, I'm going to start with you because you were there at the beginning in 2006. 415 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:48,560 Talk to us about what you saw, what the group saw as the need and what the mission and purpose 416 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:51,520 of Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund is. 417 00:36:51,520 --> 00:37:00,280 Well, when we started, you know, it was early 2006 like you had mentioned and one of the 418 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:05,720 issues that were happening at the time there was that the time that it would take for veterans 419 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:11,320 to get their VA claims awarded was very long and we were also dealing with something I 420 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:19,480 would consider new to the VA because of the IED explosions was traumatic brain injuries. 421 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:25,480 So we kind of recognize really quickly that there's a gap there and other things too. 422 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:33,760 It's not just the TBI but sometimes it takes a little bit longer than what it should be 423 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,000 for a veteran to get some help. 424 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:41,600 So we just decided we're going to step together as a community and help out Michigan veterans. 425 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:46,000 Well one of the things that I always found amazing about this board and this effort was 426 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:51,480 it is all volunteer effort and it really involves the business community. 427 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:57,800 Rob, why don't you talk a little bit about who gets involved and who helps out with Fallen 428 00:37:57,800 --> 00:37:59,280 and Wounded Soldiers Fund? 429 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:01,600 Yeah, and you hit it on the head. 430 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:08,160 It's an all-volunteer organization which from the first days that Chris and the other founders 431 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:14,040 created Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund it was always going to be about direct impact 432 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:18,240 on the lives of the veterans and their families and it wasn't going to be about any of the 433 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:20,440 other things. 434 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:24,280 Overhead costs were always going to be kept very, very low. 435 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:31,040 To this day as much as we've grown and added things we're still about 97 cents of every 436 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:32,040 dollar. 437 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:37,160 It's a little higher than that but goes directly into the hands of the veteran in need as opposed 438 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:38,160 to overhead expenses. 439 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:41,040 We have zero paid staff so we're working board. 440 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:46,680 We've got 15 board members and that's what drives everything we do. 441 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:52,880 So when you see a fast response to a veteran that's a board member that's working hard 442 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:58,040 to make sure that we do all of our diligence and get things, all the boxes checked and 443 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,080 then get the money out to the veteran in the way that it needs to go. 444 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:05,920 When you see an event that we put on, we're not paying somebody to do that. 445 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,720 That's us out there doing the hard work. 446 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:14,560 So the board members just come really from across the spectrum, just people that believe 447 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:16,840 in helping veterans in need. 448 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:23,600 When it comes to things like corporate sponsors and individual sponsors and volunteers and 449 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:29,000 just all those other people that are out there helping us and supporting us, that runs again 450 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:30,000 but too. 451 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:37,080 It can be sometimes it's organizations that you may think would have an interest in veterans 452 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:38,800 and helping those veterans that are in need. 453 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:43,560 But it's also that company up the road that you may or may not have done business with 454 00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:48,360 but they have for whatever reason the desire to help veterans. 455 00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:52,160 So that's been one of the areas that's been kind of fun to watch is just all the different 456 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:56,680 people that get involved and help and all the different stories. 457 00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:02,080 People know veterans right within their lives, whether it's a brother or father, whether 458 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,920 it's somebody up the road that served. 459 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:09,600 Hopefully none of them have any of the issues that we deal with but we run across those 460 00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:10,600 too. 461 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:16,840 A kid up the road that got hurt and I remember the difficulties he had when he returned and 462 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:20,480 had this injury and they love that groups like us are out there helping. 463 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:26,520 So we just really run the gambit across everybody here in Michigan that's really willing to 464 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:27,520 help. 465 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:32,080 We get a lot of people that realize what we do is important but also the way we do it 466 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:34,400 is so efficient. 467 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:39,840 And the fact that again going back to that direct impact, they give us a dollar, it's 468 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,120 going where they want it to go. 469 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:49,080 It's not going to parties or expenses or overhead or advertising or marketing, it's going to 470 00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:50,240 the veterans. 471 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:55,000 So that part really helps us gain supporters and keep supporters. 472 00:40:55,000 --> 00:41:01,440 Well, I think one of the things that has always worked well for fallen wounded soldiers, 473 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:06,240 Chris, is that direct support. 474 00:41:06,240 --> 00:41:10,760 There's not a whole lot of middlemen, you don't give money to agencies who give it to 475 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:12,600 somebody else. 476 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:18,040 You really have a model that lets you get when necessary the dollars right in the hands 477 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:19,160 of the veteran. 478 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,560 Can you talk about how that works? 479 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,360 Sure, yeah. 480 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:30,160 We have a website that any veteran can go on to or a family member or even a friend 481 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:34,640 and contact us and say, here, this is what's going on. 482 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:39,000 And there's a phone number they can call as well on the website. 483 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:44,040 And what happens is that goes right to our distribution committee and the distribution 484 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:50,000 committee chair will call the veteran back generally within 24 to 48 hours. 485 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:54,560 From there, she gathers all the pertinent information and then every Monday that committee 486 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:59,040 meets and that's when they make a determination. 487 00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:01,080 And from there, the checks are cut that week. 488 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:06,640 So you're looking at cases many times less than a week, they're getting distributions. 489 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:08,840 So it's as quick as it can be. 490 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:09,840 Yeah. 491 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:14,000 And just to kind of fill in there, I think people don't really understand how direct 492 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,360 we interact with veterans. 493 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:17,720 But Chris is right. 494 00:42:17,720 --> 00:42:19,640 They make a phone call into the website. 495 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:25,080 It's an 800 number, but it rings directly to our executive director, Dr. Lin Phillips. 496 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:32,000 And typically, we measure response in days, not weeks or months, but really it rarely 497 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:36,200 goes past a full day where we haven't had contact with the veteran. 498 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:41,920 And it rarely goes past a week where we haven't done the sufficient amount of diligence. 499 00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:44,240 And we take that part very serious. 500 00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:49,760 You can call and say, hey, I'm a veteran and I have this injury and I have this need. 501 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:51,960 And we just can't take that at face value. 502 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:56,520 We have to kind of corroborate all of those things and do the, so we have to figure out, 503 00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:58,280 okay, this is in fact the veteran. 504 00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:00,720 They have engaged with the VA. 505 00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:02,240 They do have the injuries that they stated. 506 00:43:02,240 --> 00:43:04,320 They were honorably discharged. 507 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:08,880 And then we have to go back and figure out that each of these bills or whatever it is 508 00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:12,240 that they need help with are legitimate. 509 00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:18,600 And then on top of all that, we can't just write a check and hand it out to a veteran. 510 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:22,760 Because we can't ensure that if we're paying five different bills that all final those 511 00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:23,760 would go. 512 00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:26,680 99% of the time, it probably would. 513 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:30,400 But we want to be very careful with the money that comes into us from other donors. 514 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:32,920 We want them to feel comfortable knowing that it's going the right spot. 515 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,480 So that means we're paying bills direct. 516 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:39,000 And again, we can't wait a week or a month in many cases. 517 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:40,640 Sometimes it has to be done right away. 518 00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:43,480 So this process is really fast. 519 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,880 And people don't realize even the end of the process, the paying of the checks, we've 520 00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:51,880 got an amazing treasurer, Lynn Minish, who every night is out there making sure that 521 00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:53,680 lights are kept on and things like that. 522 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:55,720 Because you've got to pay these bills. 523 00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:59,200 Very few veterans come to us and say, hey, I've got like in six months, I've got this 524 00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:00,600 bill that's got to be paid. 525 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:05,800 They come to us because they've exhausted every avenue they can. 526 00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:07,680 They've gone to friends and family. 527 00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:09,680 They've exhausted all their savings. 528 00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:13,480 They've run up credit card bills just trying to keep their heads above water. 529 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:14,480 That's when they come to us. 530 00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:16,640 They don't have anywhere else to turn. 531 00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:18,800 So these things have to happen unbelievably fast. 532 00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:23,400 And I think of all the things that our organization does, that's what I'm most proud of, is that 533 00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:29,320 the undying dedication to making sure these things get done and get done fast so that 534 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:33,400 we really are helping people in a way that I think people can understand how unbelievably 535 00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:35,760 fast but also how difficult that is. 536 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,600 Because we all have jobs and families and obligations. 537 00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:44,160 Chris and I both have sat at different times in the distribution committee. 538 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,880 That's a weekly call, nine o'clock on a Monday. 539 00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:50,560 The last thing I want to do on a Monday is listen to some of these cases because to be 540 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:55,040 totally honest, they're not fluffy, kind of like feel good cases, right? 541 00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:58,760 These are all people having issues, going through a hard time. 542 00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:00,720 And sometimes we have to say no. 543 00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:04,400 They don't fit the mission and we do our best to find places that do fit. 544 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:05,400 And that doesn't feel great. 545 00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:09,120 So it's not the best way to end your Monday night, but it's an essential function. 546 00:45:09,120 --> 00:45:14,720 So to me, that's what I'm most proud of is the dedication and the speed by which we do 547 00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:15,720 things. 548 00:45:15,720 --> 00:45:20,840 Well, and Chris, Rob touched on it a little bit and we're talking to Chris Cornelius, 549 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:26,320 who's a co-founder and board member of Fallen Wounded Soldiers Fund and its president, Robert 550 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,480 Grimaldi. 551 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:29,840 But Chris, he touched on it. 552 00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:31,920 A lot of this is just basic needs. 553 00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:38,320 I mean, you're helping a guy out, generally a guy, women I'm assuming as well. 554 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:40,440 But you're helping out with basic needs. 555 00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:42,080 Talk about those basic needs. 556 00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:46,560 Well, I can give you a quick example of just one case if you like. 557 00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,560 Go right ahead. 558 00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:55,160 So we'll just call him Mr. L. So Mr. L came to us years ago, but this is a very common 559 00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:58,240 scenario for us even to this day. 560 00:45:58,240 --> 00:46:02,680 So he's 100% VA rated right now or service connected right now. 561 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:09,440 He was in an ID explosion, suffered PTSD, TBI, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injuries 562 00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:11,960 and needed help with the mortgage. 563 00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:13,640 They were facing evictions. 564 00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:17,600 So some of the needs, and this is where it gets really sad is that diapers. 565 00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:18,600 He just needed diapers. 566 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,280 He needed baby food, food and electricity. 567 00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:26,320 And at the time he called, he was using old t-shirts as diapers for his kids. 568 00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:33,480 So he received the VA rating, but the check hadn't started and the military paid stop. 569 00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:35,640 It was 18 months that he was without income. 570 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:37,000 So we took care of all his bills. 571 00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,800 We took care of him, his family, his kids. 572 00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:42,880 And that's what we're still doing today. 573 00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:45,400 And these are, as I said, just sort of basic needs. 574 00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:48,080 The stuff the rest of us don't maybe think too much about it. 575 00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:51,440 And that is food, clothing, shelter over your head. 576 00:46:51,440 --> 00:46:56,520 Hey, if your car breaks down, you can't get to work or you can't get to the medical clinic 577 00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:57,520 anymore. 578 00:46:57,520 --> 00:47:00,320 I mean, this is really basic stuff, isn't it, Rob? 579 00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:01,320 Yeah. 580 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:05,840 I mean, it's rare that somebody comes to us for something that's frivolous. 581 00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:09,800 It's happened over the years and that's not our role. 582 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:14,040 It's the very, like you said, basic things. 583 00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:16,780 Sometimes people come to us or homeless. 584 00:47:16,780 --> 00:47:22,920 And so we try to get them into, we had a woman and her daughter just a couple weeks ago that 585 00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:26,720 were living in their car and then trying to find shelters here and there. 586 00:47:26,720 --> 00:47:32,320 And neither one of those are unbelievably safe places for a young woman and her daughter. 587 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:37,640 And so we were able to find temporary housing for them, if you will, in a hotel. 588 00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:40,360 And then we're able to get them housing after that. 589 00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:43,040 But basic things like that. 590 00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:49,480 But then it does go into things like just trying to get assistance for food or for keeping 591 00:47:49,480 --> 00:47:52,400 the lights on, mortgages. 592 00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:56,520 So I can't tell you how many times we get involved where somebody is two or three months 593 00:47:56,520 --> 00:48:00,240 behind on their rent and they've gotten eviction notice. 594 00:48:00,240 --> 00:48:03,080 We wish they would have come to us a month earlier so we would have more time to sort 595 00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:04,080 of work through things. 596 00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:10,240 But again, they never come to us until they just can't cope with what's going on and 597 00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:11,280 keep up. 598 00:48:11,280 --> 00:48:14,080 And so it's never for anything frivolous. 599 00:48:14,080 --> 00:48:17,720 It's almost always for the very basics of the basics. 600 00:48:17,720 --> 00:48:24,000 Cars, rent, food, diapers, formula for the baby, things like that. 601 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:29,360 And unfortunately, with inflation and all those, the pinch we all feel at the grocery 602 00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:33,200 store, veterans aren't immune to that. 603 00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:36,200 They have the same issues we have. 604 00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:38,000 So prices are going up across the board. 605 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:42,520 So that hurts too when they're on assistance of whatever level. 606 00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:46,600 And so those things take a bigger bite out of the budget, which means there's less money 607 00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:50,400 available to keep the lights on or whatever it may be. 608 00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:56,200 During COVID, we had a lot of veterans that just weren't set up to have three kids at 609 00:48:56,200 --> 00:48:58,360 home on their current Wi-Fi. 610 00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:05,320 They maybe didn't have the equipment or the available network to sort of log into. 611 00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:07,840 So those kind of things came up. 612 00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:11,680 We certainly weren't prepared for that in a sense that we didn't think that was coming. 613 00:49:11,680 --> 00:49:12,880 Nobody did during COVID. 614 00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:18,680 But we had to then sort of pivot and respond to different kinds of needs. 615 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:19,680 But those are the things. 616 00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:24,960 It's just keeping their heads above water, keeping them able to be in homes, keeping 617 00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:26,480 lights on, things like that. 618 00:49:26,480 --> 00:49:30,720 And we'll note one thing that we've done really in just the last couple of years that's been 619 00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:36,080 exciting as we opened a veterans housing center in Canton, Michigan, in a partnership with 620 00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:37,080 Canton. 621 00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:42,240 And again, keeping overhead and unbelievably low, but having the ability to get the veterans 622 00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:46,280 into a housing center, but also to have a community of veterans that have gone through 623 00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:52,760 the same issues they've had and a place to meet and talk to other veterans in an area 624 00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:56,800 where everybody's been in that same exact spot so they can talk through issues. 625 00:49:56,800 --> 00:49:58,880 I can't tell a veteran what they're feeling. 626 00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:00,960 I've never been through what they're going through. 627 00:50:00,960 --> 00:50:04,000 But other veterans that have, they can have a different conversation. 628 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:09,120 So those kind of things have been very helpful, especially post-COVID era. 629 00:50:09,120 --> 00:50:10,720 But you're exactly right, Jim. 630 00:50:10,720 --> 00:50:11,880 It's never anything frivolous. 631 00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:13,880 It's always just basic, basic needs. 632 00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:18,120 Now, we're going to reach through veteransradio.org here. 633 00:50:18,120 --> 00:50:23,720 We're going to reach nationally an audience that's going to hear for Fallen Wounded Soldiers 634 00:50:23,720 --> 00:50:25,440 Fund for the first time. 635 00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:30,720 But Chris, why don't we explain in your mission, what's your geographic territory? 636 00:50:30,720 --> 00:50:36,160 How does a veteran, if you will, qualify for reaching out? 637 00:50:36,160 --> 00:50:42,920 So for us, they're either a Michigan resident deployed or they are a current Michigan resident. 638 00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:46,200 So that's, and the veteran, honorably discharged. 639 00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:50,120 And then what we do is, like Rob was saying, we do help out with immediate needs. 640 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:54,880 If you don't mind, I just want to include one other thing was that we also help when 641 00:50:54,880 --> 00:51:00,680 there's an injured, you were on the board at the time when we had some injured veterans 642 00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:04,760 they were deployed and something happened. 643 00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:09,240 And so we help bring that family together, incur that cost for them and say, hey, we're 644 00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:11,880 here, you just focus on getting better. 645 00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:15,280 Bring the loved ones around that you need and we'll take care of that. 646 00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:20,520 We had a soldier that was out at Fort Custer, two soldiers and a treat fell on them. 647 00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:25,280 And one was very, very, was injured very badly and we helped his family heal. 648 00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:30,640 And then the real nice thing is that, like with Mr. Elm, he called up probably, I think, 649 00:51:30,640 --> 00:51:34,040 it's probably 12 years later and gave us a great thank you. 650 00:51:34,040 --> 00:51:37,880 You know, he left a voice message that was just beautiful, thanking us from the bottom 651 00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:38,880 of his heart. 652 00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:43,720 So the impact that we have on these folks, it's life changing for them. 653 00:51:43,720 --> 00:51:44,720 Oh, absolutely. 654 00:51:44,720 --> 00:51:48,760 And I want to give some, you can't do this work without financial resources. 655 00:51:48,760 --> 00:51:55,200 And Rob, I'd like you to give some shout outs to some of the sponsors who've been helping 656 00:51:55,200 --> 00:51:59,840 the fund all these years to make sure that you can do the very good work we're talking 657 00:51:59,840 --> 00:52:00,840 about. 658 00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:06,600 Yeah, I mean, you starting to get into there's just so many of them. 659 00:52:06,600 --> 00:52:11,680 Some of the some of the larger sponsors and that's called more well known nationally. 660 00:52:11,680 --> 00:52:15,440 I mean, General Motors GM here in Detroit has been a huge sponsor of us for quite a 661 00:52:15,440 --> 00:52:17,600 few years. 662 00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:22,640 You know, you get into a lot of other companies like, you know, Aero strategies that, you 663 00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:28,720 know, Jeff Steyer's been a supporter since day one, I think, and still is a supporter. 664 00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:33,240 You know, Chris as a as a head of our corporate sponsors, I don't know if you want to jump 665 00:52:33,240 --> 00:52:36,560 in maybe some of the ones that from day one through now, but I mean, there's, you know, 666 00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:39,840 if you go to the website, just as an aside, they're all kind of listed there as well. 667 00:52:39,840 --> 00:52:44,640 But that's the great thing about this organization is there's been so many people from across 668 00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:45,640 the board. 669 00:52:45,640 --> 00:52:50,280 And a lot of them have been sponsors, right, Chris, back me up here, 16, 17 years in some 670 00:52:50,280 --> 00:52:51,280 cases. 671 00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:52,280 Oh, yeah, absolutely. 672 00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:53,880 I mean, we still have some of the original board members. 673 00:52:53,880 --> 00:52:55,360 We had some of the original sponsors. 674 00:52:55,360 --> 00:53:04,800 We've had major pharmaceuticals, Cardinal, pharma, pseudocals, IFRAT, great, great supporter. 675 00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:09,880 We have Aero, as you mentioned, Trilomed has been a supporter for years. 676 00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:12,120 And you know, I feel bad for just not grabbing off more. 677 00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:15,480 No, no, it's an unfair question. 678 00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:21,880 But I bring it up because if you want to help out, if you want to help veterans in this 679 00:53:21,880 --> 00:53:26,560 direct reach out approach, then you got to help with the finances and the sponsors do 680 00:53:26,560 --> 00:53:29,000 that, but also participating in events. 681 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:32,600 And one of the reasons we're talking is you have some upcoming events. 682 00:53:32,600 --> 00:53:36,440 Rob, you want to talk about those events? 683 00:53:36,440 --> 00:53:41,400 Yeah, you're exactly right that we can never raise enough money, right? 684 00:53:41,400 --> 00:53:45,160 Because when we raise, we, you know, there's always need out there. 685 00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:48,160 And I know people might say, well, you know, the war is over. 686 00:53:48,160 --> 00:53:49,720 We're not seeing it in the news. 687 00:53:49,720 --> 00:53:54,600 But the kind of problems we're seeing today are the ones that, one, are a little harder 688 00:53:54,600 --> 00:53:55,600 to diagnose sometimes. 689 00:53:55,600 --> 00:54:01,560 You know, things like traumatic brain injury and things like that aren't always the easiest 690 00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:06,960 for the physicians and the doctors to diagnose, especially when they're longer term issues. 691 00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:14,440 But also, you know, we're seeing a lot of, you know, again, those debilitating injuries 692 00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:16,680 that are just building up. 693 00:54:16,680 --> 00:54:21,800 And so the need's actually bigger than it was, and it's for longer time, right? 694 00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:24,120 Each of that we're helping tends to be a little bit longer than before. 695 00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:26,920 So, you know, we do have two events coming up on September 11th. 696 00:54:26,920 --> 00:54:32,680 It's our annual September 11th, remember, it's golf outing. 697 00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:38,800 And then, and that'll be held at Shenandoah Golf Course here in the Detroit, Michigan area. 698 00:54:38,800 --> 00:54:42,360 And then April 19th is our annual gala. 699 00:54:42,360 --> 00:54:46,200 And so that, you know, we typically get a good crowd there anywhere from, well, we sell 700 00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:47,200 out. 701 00:54:47,200 --> 00:54:50,560 That's always the goal is to sell out of wherever we're going to be. 702 00:54:50,560 --> 00:54:55,240 And either one of those, you can find on our website, fwsf.org. 703 00:54:55,240 --> 00:55:00,480 And if you're unable to attend or if you're listening now and you like the mission, you 704 00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:04,640 like what we're doing, but you live someplace outside of Michigan, you know, it's easy to 705 00:55:04,640 --> 00:55:05,640 donate as well. 706 00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:08,440 There's a donate button on that front page. 707 00:55:08,440 --> 00:55:11,600 When you first get to the landing page of the website, you can click there. 708 00:55:11,600 --> 00:55:15,320 And that's a pretty easy process as well. 709 00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:16,920 And any of those three certainly helps. 710 00:55:16,920 --> 00:55:20,640 And if you're in the area, absolutely would love to have you out at the golf outing coming 711 00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:23,640 up in a few weeks, like I said, September 11th. 712 00:55:23,640 --> 00:55:26,440 And you know, you can meet some of the board members, but you can also meet some of the 713 00:55:26,440 --> 00:55:30,280 people we help that'll be there at the event. 714 00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:32,400 And then just learn more about the organization. 715 00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:35,240 Happy to sit down with anybody that's there and kind of walk them through what we do. 716 00:55:35,240 --> 00:55:39,600 Certainly glad to have the opportunity to talk to Rob Gramalde, president and Chris 717 00:55:39,600 --> 00:55:43,680 Cornelius, board member and co-founder of Fall Unwounded Soldiers Fund to get a little 718 00:55:43,680 --> 00:55:45,160 bit more about what they do. 719 00:55:45,160 --> 00:55:50,320 Check us out at veteransradio.org or Facebook. 720 00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:53,760 We always need your financial support as well. 721 00:55:53,760 --> 00:55:59,240 And Dale will be back next week with more stories and more interesting things to talk 722 00:55:59,240 --> 00:56:00,240 about. 723 00:56:00,240 --> 00:56:04,480 We always try to bring you stuff that maybe you don't hear somewhere else or you're not 724 00:56:04,480 --> 00:56:06,800 going to get in the general press. 725 00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:12,160 So we search high and low for interesting stories and people to talk about and certainly 726 00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:17,640 getting a chance to talk about what goes on behind the scenes in obtaining a Medal of 727 00:56:17,640 --> 00:56:23,160 Honor as was done for Paris Davis is really interesting. 728 00:56:23,160 --> 00:56:30,560 So I'm Jim Fossone with Veterans Radio and until next time on Veterans Radio, you are 729 00:56:30,560 --> 00:56:45,960 dismissed.