WEBVTT 00:00:04.809 --> 00:00:08.630 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.630 --> 00:00:15.009 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And 00:00:15.009 --> 00:00:19.030 now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 00:00:21.890 --> 00:00:24.989 Hey, welcome to veterans radio. My name is Dale 00:00:24.989 --> 00:00:28.570 Throneberry I was a cw2 helicopter pilot in Vietnam 00:00:28.570 --> 00:00:31.449 United States Army welcome to our program. I 00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:34.890 think it's kind of exciting today we've got Bill 00:00:34.890 --> 00:00:38.070 Krieger here from veterans archives and we've 00:00:38.070 --> 00:00:41.509 got Well, so we got we got Jeff Pierce here from 00:00:41.509 --> 00:00:43.969 Reese across America radio And that's we got 00:00:43.969 --> 00:00:45.969 a cool kind of an announcement coming up in a 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:50.070 little bit when I talk with with him And we've 00:00:50.070 --> 00:00:54.350 got an interview with our NBBDC Business of the 00:00:54.350 --> 00:00:57.409 Month that we normally talk to. I do have to 00:00:57.409 --> 00:01:01.969 make a kind of a serious aside here. Veterans 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:06.189 Radio board member Kate Melcher's dad, Joe Melcher, 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:09.829 passed away on March 28. Joe was an Air Force 00:01:09.829 --> 00:01:14.349 veteran. Kate, as many of you know, was an Apache 00:01:14.349 --> 00:01:16.870 helicopter pilot and is currently executive director 00:01:16.870 --> 00:01:20.409 of Fisher House, Michigan. Veterans Radio America 00:01:20.409 --> 00:01:23.370 and Veterans Radio, our thoughts and prayers 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:26.209 are with Kate and her family in the next couple 00:01:26.209 --> 00:01:32.030 of weeks. So anyway, Kate, it's for you. All 00:01:32.030 --> 00:01:36.379 right. Before we get into the actual program, 00:01:36.379 --> 00:01:39.000 we need to thank our supporters. So I want to 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:40.760 make sure that we thank some of our major donors 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:42.939 for their continuing support of Veterans Radio. 00:01:43.579 --> 00:01:45.879 Legal Help for Veterans specializes in Veterans 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:49.019 disability claims. Give Legal Help a call at 00:01:49.019 --> 00:01:54.000 800 -693 -4800 or go to their website, legalhelpforveterans 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.129 .com. The National Veterans Business Development 00:01:57.129 --> 00:02:00.549 Council, better known as NVBDC, is the nation's 00:02:00.549 --> 00:02:02.870 leading third -party authority for certification 00:02:02.870 --> 00:02:05.890 of veteran -owned businesses. For more information, 00:02:06.030 --> 00:02:09.569 go to their website, NVBDC .org, or give them 00:02:09.569 --> 00:02:15.550 a call at 888 -237 -8433. PuroClean, known as 00:02:15.550 --> 00:02:18.349 the paramedics of property damage. Each PuroClean 00:02:18.349 --> 00:02:21.090 office is independently owned and operated. In 00:02:21.090 --> 00:02:23.210 fact, PuroClean is one of the nation's leading 00:02:23.210 --> 00:02:26.229 restoration franchise networks and is made up 00:02:26.229 --> 00:02:29.409 of entrepreneurs, just like you. And veterans 00:02:29.409 --> 00:02:32.650 get 25 % off the franchise fees. So for more 00:02:32.650 --> 00:02:36.150 information, go to puroclean .com. The Charles 00:02:36.150 --> 00:02:38.590 S. Kettles VA Medical Center here in Ann Arbor, 00:02:38.590 --> 00:02:41.099 Michigan. For more information on them, go to 00:02:41.099 --> 00:02:44.479 va .gov slash Ann Arbor Health Care. And finally, 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:47.400 the Erwin Prescor and American Legion Post 46, 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.259 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans of 00:02:50.259 --> 00:02:53.699 America Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan. 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:56.259 If you'd like to support Veterans Radio, and 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:58.659 we would hope that you would, please go to our 00:02:58.659 --> 00:03:01.280 website, veteransradio .org and click on the 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:03.680 donate button. Thank you in advance for your 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:06.780 support. All right, here we go. Right off the 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:09.289 top, I want to welcome Jeffrey Pearson. Jeff 00:03:09.289 --> 00:03:12.370 is the Director of Media and Military Partnerships 00:03:12.370 --> 00:03:14.889 for Wreaths Across America. Jeff, welcome to 00:03:14.889 --> 00:03:17.550 Veterans Radio. Dale, an honor to be on your 00:03:17.550 --> 00:03:19.930 show. It's been a long time coming. Thank you 00:03:19.930 --> 00:03:22.750 so much for having me on. Well, it has been a 00:03:22.750 --> 00:03:27.270 long time coming. And let's remind our audience 00:03:27.270 --> 00:03:29.650 what Wreaths Across America is, first of all. 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:31.740 Well, thank you for asking that question. So 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:34.939 Reads Across America does a big event in December, 00:03:35.219 --> 00:03:38.460 National Reads Across America Day, where we honor 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:41.919 veterans with a fresh, balsam remembrance wreath 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:46.460 in this past year, 4 ,909 locations in all 50 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:50.039 states and overseas and Guam and Guantanamo Bay, 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:54.520 Cuba. And we honored just under 3 .1 million 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:58.360 veterans in 2024, and we're hoping to exceed 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:03.379 5 ,000. for our event this year on December 13th, 00:04:03.419 --> 00:04:07.719 2025. And that is one event for Reads Across 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:10.280 America, Dale, but Reads Across America is a 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.639 year long mission. And we do a lot of different 00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:17.480 things with veteran service organizations and 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:21.139 partnering with other nonprofits. And we have 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:25.459 a teach curriculum, which is a gold star mom 00:04:25.459 --> 00:04:31.620 who pumps out curriculums every month, K through 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:34.060 12. Uh, they get used by public schools, private 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:38.339 schools, charter schools. Um, and, and she's, 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:45.300 um, she's, she's, um, um, sorry, my phone just 00:04:45.300 --> 00:04:50.149 decided to start talking to me randomly. And 00:04:50.149 --> 00:04:53.089 so, geez, I used to do this for a living. I'm 00:04:53.089 --> 00:04:56.790 falling apart here, Dale. So yeah, and so we 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.029 do these, our teach initiative, and then of course 00:04:59.029 --> 00:05:01.290 we have Read Across America Radio, which we're 00:05:01.290 --> 00:05:03.970 gonna talk about more in a minute, but that's 00:05:03.970 --> 00:05:06.990 a way for us to bridge our volunteers throughout 00:05:06.990 --> 00:05:10.810 the year. And it's a 24 -7 streaming station 00:05:10.810 --> 00:05:14.449 on all the major streaming platforms, and also 00:05:14.449 --> 00:05:17.089 available at readsacrossamerica .org slash radio. 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:20.699 And the other thing I wanna quickly mention is 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:23.139 part of this year long mission is we help nonprofits 00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:25.800 with their fundraising. So Bill Krieger who's 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:28.680 on tonight from Veterans Archives is one of our 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:31.879 fundraising groups. So what we do is we create 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:37.579 a custom URL for nonprofits and for the $17 responsorship 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.430 to honor a veteran. they can elect to get $5 00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:44.449 back for their nonprofit. And so that program 00:05:44.449 --> 00:05:50.189 gave back $4 million in 2024 to other nonprofits. 00:05:50.430 --> 00:05:53.410 And in its lifetime has given back $28 million. 00:05:53.750 --> 00:05:59.850 We have over 6, 6 ,800 different, different organizations 00:05:59.850 --> 00:06:01.709 that take advantage of that. They don't strictly 00:06:01.709 --> 00:06:05.069 have to be veterans organizations, but any nonprofit 00:06:05.069 --> 00:06:07.790 can participate. And I'm sorry, there's a lot 00:06:07.790 --> 00:06:09.689 to Reads Across America that people don't know, 00:06:09.790 --> 00:06:11.350 so anytime I get a chance, I have a tendency 00:06:11.350 --> 00:06:14.089 to talk too much. That's all right. My other 00:06:14.089 --> 00:06:16.410 question was going to be, how did Reads Across 00:06:16.410 --> 00:06:19.509 America get started? I know that you're in Maine, 00:06:19.670 --> 00:06:23.089 right? Yes, sir, that is correct. So Reads Across 00:06:23.089 --> 00:06:26.560 America started as a private... donation from 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:28.540 the Worcester family. Morrill Worcester, who's 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:31.800 a wreath maker in Maine, made too many wreaths 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:37.600 in 1992. And they had a relationship with the 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:39.980 Senator Olympia Snow at the time in the early 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:43.699 90s. And Morrill was inspired by a trip to Arlington 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:47.040 National Cemetery. He's not a veteran, but as 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:50.279 a youth, he went to Arlington and was inspired. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:53.629 And so he got permission to lay wreaths. at Arlington 00:06:53.629 --> 00:06:57.509 National Cemetery in 1992. And every year from 00:06:57.509 --> 00:07:03.709 1992 until 2005, the family was so inspired by 00:07:03.709 --> 00:07:07.069 this, they would go and they would do one section, 00:07:07.170 --> 00:07:12.550 about 5 ,000 markers at Arlington. And that was 00:07:12.550 --> 00:07:15.670 it, it was a private donation. And then in 2005, 00:07:16.089 --> 00:07:19.730 a Pentagon photographer took a picture of a wreath 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:24.470 in the snow. And back in 2005, that went viral 00:07:24.470 --> 00:07:26.649 on the internet. And we know that things going 00:07:26.649 --> 00:07:29.629 viral in 2005 was a bigger deal than it is today, 00:07:29.649 --> 00:07:32.550 right? And people just started sending money 00:07:32.550 --> 00:07:35.449 and they were like, we want to do this. We want 00:07:35.449 --> 00:07:38.310 to help with this. And the nonprofit was born 00:07:38.310 --> 00:07:41.889 and from that one location, like I said, now 00:07:41.889 --> 00:07:46.790 we're up to 4 ,909 and growing. Well out of 5 00:07:46.790 --> 00:07:52.029 ,000 Reese in 2005, how many Reese do you anticipate 00:07:52.029 --> 00:07:56.889 laying out this year? Well, we did just under 00:07:56.889 --> 00:08:00.589 3 .1 million last year. We hope to continue to 00:08:00.589 --> 00:08:05.129 sustainably grow and I don't want to make a prediction, 00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:07.689 but I'm hoping it was more than last year because 00:08:07.689 --> 00:08:10.750 the goal here is to sustainably grow the organization, 00:08:10.949 --> 00:08:13.050 right? Incremental growth because we don't want 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:17.470 to, how do I say this? We're always looking to 00:08:17.470 --> 00:08:19.069 grow, but we don't want to blow it out of the 00:08:19.069 --> 00:08:21.649 water one year and then take steps backwards. 00:08:22.009 --> 00:08:25.490 So we need to continually grow and have partners 00:08:25.490 --> 00:08:27.970 coming on board that are going to help us sustain 00:08:27.970 --> 00:08:33.549 our growth. I can't imagine that the Worcester 00:08:33.549 --> 00:08:36.009 family is producing all of these reeds any longer. 00:08:36.049 --> 00:08:39.470 There must be other organizations that are helping 00:08:39.470 --> 00:08:48.120 you out with that. One is still one vendor. Wooster 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:53.059 Wreath, our one vendor, is in Columbia Falls, 00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:55.399 Maine. It is not the middle of nowhere, but we 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:57.919 like to say you can see it from there. And they 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.100 literally have, it's interesting how they do 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:02.480 it, and I don't want to get too far off into 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:10.240 the. But they have so much balsam, acreage of 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:14.080 balsam trees, that they tip the trees. every 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:17.700 three years. So sometimes you'll hear about wreaths, 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.039 mass production, they take a whole tree and knock 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:25.120 it down. They take the tips and make the wreaths 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:29.840 in one section, right? And then three years later, 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.059 they'll come back to that section after they 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:34.779 grow back. So again, it's all about sustainability. 00:09:35.580 --> 00:09:41.289 Okay. What a great organization, Jeff. You know, 00:09:41.309 --> 00:09:43.950 we, we, we like to promote it as much as I'm, 00:09:43.970 --> 00:09:47.730 which we will be doing in conjunction with Reese 00:09:47.730 --> 00:09:50.330 across America. So if I, I should have found 00:09:50.330 --> 00:09:55.590 the sound effect, but the drummer, there we go. 00:09:56.490 --> 00:09:59.809 Um, veterans radio is, is joining with Reese 00:09:59.809 --> 00:10:03.490 across America and they are going to start playing 00:10:03.490 --> 00:10:08.129 our programs on their radio platform. Right. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:12.299 Right, exactly. And so you'll hear Veterans Radio 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:15.500 on Reads Across America Radio on Thursday afternoon 00:10:15.500 --> 00:10:21.879 at 3 p .m. Eastern Time and also the shorter 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:27.220 version, the Veterans Radio podcast at 7 p .m. 00:10:27.220 --> 00:10:31.279 Eastern on Friday nights. Oh, I think we're so 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:37.190 excited to reach out and be somewhere else. And 00:10:37.190 --> 00:10:39.889 just to have the opportunity to expand our market 00:10:39.889 --> 00:10:43.830 and our listenership across the the world really 00:10:43.830 --> 00:10:47.870 I mean as I'm sure as yours Shows like our shows, 00:10:47.889 --> 00:10:51.149 you know, we have you know, three listeners in 00:10:51.149 --> 00:10:54.350 Southern Australia and you know one guy hall 00:10:54.350 --> 00:10:57.669 hidden up and somewhere in Russia and so on and 00:10:57.669 --> 00:11:00.610 so forth But this up obviously opens an opportunity 00:11:00.610 --> 00:11:04.730 for us and for you So we will be adding, of course, 00:11:05.029 --> 00:11:06.929 Reads Across America to our website, the link 00:11:06.929 --> 00:11:10.730 there in the reciprocal. We'll be going back 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:12.370 over the other way, and I'm really excited. So 00:11:12.370 --> 00:11:15.769 this will be starting this coming Thursday. This 00:11:15.769 --> 00:11:17.289 coming Thursday. If you don't mind, I'll just 00:11:17.289 --> 00:11:19.470 explain a little bit about Reads Across America 00:11:19.470 --> 00:11:22.929 Radio. Reads Across America Radio is a voice 00:11:22.929 --> 00:11:26.379 for America's veterans. And what we're doing 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:29.659 with this station is I think with adding your 00:11:29.659 --> 00:11:33.200 two, we're at a much higher number, but I'm officially 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.759 saying we're at 75 unique shows until I do the 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:38.679 actual count and I have to use all my fingers 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:40.879 and toes a couple of times to get the number. 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:45.639 But we're at 75 unique programs on the channel. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:49.759 And the programs range in content that Reads 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:53.159 Across America Radio is producing. Like we produced 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:56.220 a podcast for the Military Women's Memorial called 00:11:56.220 --> 00:11:59.899 Her Story. We produce a couple of other podcasts 00:11:59.899 --> 00:12:03.360 for folks, and we then air them on our station. 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:06.740 As I mentioned earlier, Bill's show, Bill is 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:09.600 a partner of Veterans Archives is on our channel. 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:13.820 And the idea is to share as much, as many veteran 00:12:13.820 --> 00:12:16.919 stories as we can, but also helpful information 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:20.559 for veterans. We have financial shows, you know, 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:24.809 mental health. shows and it just ranges. And 00:12:24.809 --> 00:12:27.710 the criteria for being on, and this is gonna 00:12:27.710 --> 00:12:29.730 get a little weird, you need to be a veteran, 00:12:30.669 --> 00:12:34.509 or it needs to be veteran -centric content, okay? 00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:41.370 Or trucking. Let's truck it. And thank you for 00:12:41.370 --> 00:12:42.789 asking that question. I just came back from the 00:12:42.789 --> 00:12:45.549 Mid -America Trucking Show. So trucking is a 00:12:45.549 --> 00:12:49.230 huge piece of what we do. So last year, 90 to 00:12:49.230 --> 00:12:53.639 95 % of the transportation for that just under 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:57.440 3 .1 million wreaths was donated by the trucking 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.779 industry. So 5 ,000 is a truck load. We're not 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:03.399 gonna get into some big algebraic thing, Dale. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.500 But you can imagine, I think it's around 700 00:13:07.500 --> 00:13:10.720 loads last year, right? So 90 to 95 % of that 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:16.610 was donated. And so... relationships with those 00:13:16.610 --> 00:13:18.730 in the trucking industry important. So we dedicate 00:13:18.730 --> 00:13:22.009 every Tuesday to our truckers with Trucking Tuesday. 00:13:22.450 --> 00:13:26.049 So we carry trucking centric content on Tuesday 00:13:26.049 --> 00:13:31.070 and trucking centric podcasts as well or radio 00:13:31.070 --> 00:13:36.350 shows from Terrestrial radio stations to show 00:13:36.350 --> 00:13:39.029 our support for those massive. donations because 00:13:39.029 --> 00:13:41.529 without the trucking trucking industry nobody 00:13:41.529 --> 00:13:45.250 moves and our organization ceases to exist so 00:13:45.250 --> 00:13:49.649 So it is a huge piece of what we do that is that 00:13:49.649 --> 00:13:52.450 is so awesome And I can't tell you how excited 00:13:52.450 --> 00:13:55.490 we are here at veterans radio to be on Reese 00:13:55.490 --> 00:13:59.149 across America radio and again remind you our 00:13:59.149 --> 00:14:02.750 listeners and Anybody who happens to be out there 00:14:02.750 --> 00:14:05.529 you can just go there every Thursday at 3 p .m. 00:14:05.549 --> 00:14:09.070 Or or Friday is at 7 p .m. and you get to hear 00:14:09.070 --> 00:14:12.629 my melodious voice again and again. Oh, that 00:14:12.629 --> 00:14:17.070 doesn't sound right. These guys have got radio 00:14:17.070 --> 00:14:20.909 voices. I do not. But we want to thank Jeff for 00:14:20.909 --> 00:14:25.190 being on our program today. And as again, I said, 00:14:25.190 --> 00:14:27.870 you know, how excited we are just to share our 00:14:27.870 --> 00:14:31.070 content with whatever, you know, as you mentioned, 00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:34.889 75 different programs, 75 different themes. 75 00:14:34.889 --> 00:14:38.070 different ways of capturing these stories and 00:14:38.070 --> 00:14:40.789 you know, and as you know, as bill does and so 00:14:40.789 --> 00:14:44.169 many other Organizations out there right now 00:14:44.169 --> 00:14:47.269 are really working hard to capture as many stories 00:14:47.269 --> 00:14:52.009 as we can So jeff absolutely especially for for 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:55.240 you our Vietnam veterans, right? Because we're 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:58.799 losing our Vietnam veterans by the day and having 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.559 your stories captured are important. So I reserve 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:05.139 the right, Dale, to interview you, okay, on our 00:15:05.139 --> 00:15:08.980 station. And before I sign off, I just want to 00:15:08.980 --> 00:15:13.620 thank Bill for introducing us and for his partnership 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:17.059 as well. And also beg that he says nice things 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:19.580 about me after I leave, okay? All right. Well, 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:22.679 we'll see what we'll see on what he really has 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:27.299 to say. But anyway, Jeff Pierce, Reese Across 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:30.840 America Radio. Thank you for tuning in this week. 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:34.039 Yeah this week. Thanks very much Jeff. Thank 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:35.899 you. All right We're going to take a break right 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:38.639 now and when we come back We are going to be 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.240 talking with Bill Krieger of a veterans archives 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:43.879 who happens to also be on reads across American 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:46.779 radio I do need to say something to the Medal 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:49.399 of Honor segment that we're playing today is 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:53.580 The veteran is from World War one Just to make 00:15:53.580 --> 00:15:56.179 make it clear because I don't think Ken had said 00:15:56.179 --> 00:15:58.559 World War one when he was recording it So here 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:00.519 we go. We're gonna take a quick break. We come 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:03.289 back Veterans Archives, you're listening to Veterans 00:16:03.289 --> 00:16:06.850 Radio. The Medal of Honor is the highest award 00:16:06.850 --> 00:16:08.950 for valor in combat given a member of the Armed 00:16:08.950 --> 00:16:11.250 Forces of the United States. There had been over 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:14.250 3 ,400 recipients of the nation's highest award. 00:16:14.950 --> 00:16:17.490 This is one of them. First Lieutenant Deming 00:16:17.490 --> 00:16:19.769 Bronson was struck by an exploding enemy hand 00:16:19.769 --> 00:16:22.490 grenade, receiving deep cuts on his face and 00:16:22.490 --> 00:16:24.990 the back of his head, but continued to lead his 00:16:24.990 --> 00:16:31.009 men. Details after this. If you have a VA claim 00:16:31.009 --> 00:16:33.309 denied by the Board of Veterans' Appeals, contact 00:16:33.309 --> 00:16:37.389 Legal Help for Veterans at 1 -800 -693 -4800. 00:16:38.009 --> 00:16:39.809 They're experts in handling cases before the 00:16:39.809 --> 00:16:41.710 U .S. Court of Appeals for Veterans' claims. 00:16:42.029 --> 00:16:46.210 Their number again, 1 -800 -693 -4800. Bronson, 00:16:46.230 --> 00:16:48.590 although injured, participated in the action 00:16:48.590 --> 00:16:51.110 that resulted in the capture of an enemy dugout 00:16:51.110 --> 00:16:54.210 with a great number of prisoners. On the afternoon 00:16:54.210 --> 00:16:56.149 of the same day, he was painfully wounded in 00:16:56.149 --> 00:16:58.809 the left arm by an enemy rifle bullet. and after 00:16:58.809 --> 00:17:01.269 receiving first aid treatment, he was directed 00:17:01.269 --> 00:17:04.569 to the rear. Disregarding these instructions, 00:17:05.109 --> 00:17:07.450 Bronson remained on duty with his company throughout 00:17:07.450 --> 00:17:10.170 the night, although suffering from severe pain 00:17:10.170 --> 00:17:14.250 and shock. The next morning, his regiment resumed 00:17:14.250 --> 00:17:17.529 its attack. Bronson's company was left in support 00:17:17.529 --> 00:17:20.410 of the attacking line. In spite of his wounds, 00:17:20.690 --> 00:17:23.430 he joined in the capture of the village. After 00:17:23.430 --> 00:17:25.750 the capture, he remained and participated in 00:17:25.750 --> 00:17:28.319 the capture of an enemy machine gun. he himself 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:30.940 killing the enemy gunner. Shortly after this 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:33.480 encounter, the company was forced to retire due 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:37.099 to the heavy enemy artillery barrage. Bronson, 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:39.660 who was the last man to leave the advanced position, 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:42.980 was again wounded in both arms by an enemy high 00:17:42.980 --> 00:17:46.200 explosive shell. He was then assisted to cover 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:49.460 by another officer who applied first aid. Although 00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:51.700 bleeding profusely and faint from the loss of 00:17:51.700 --> 00:17:54.180 blood, Bronson remained with the survivors of 00:17:54.180 --> 00:17:55.839 the company throughout the night of the second 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.410 day. refusing to go to the rear for treatment. 00:17:59.250 --> 00:18:01.109 The Medal of Honor series is a production of 00:18:01.109 --> 00:18:05.069 Veterans Radio. Military veterans touch everyone's 00:18:05.069 --> 00:18:07.049 life. I'm guessing right now you're thinking 00:18:07.049 --> 00:18:10.869 of a veteran, a close friend, relative. Maybe 00:18:10.869 --> 00:18:13.609 it's you. Even the toughest of us sometimes need 00:18:13.609 --> 00:18:16.049 help but don't know where to turn for support. 00:18:16.670 --> 00:18:18.349 You don't need special training to help a veteran 00:18:18.349 --> 00:18:20.730 in your life. We can all help someone going through 00:18:20.730 --> 00:18:23.369 a difficult time. Learn how you can be there 00:18:23.369 --> 00:18:26.690 for veterans. Visit veteranscrisisline .net. 00:18:27.549 --> 00:18:30.130 Veteranscrisisline .net. A message from the U 00:18:30.130 --> 00:18:38.490 .S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Hey, we're 00:18:38.490 --> 00:18:40.970 back here on Veterans Radio and my guest for 00:18:40.970 --> 00:18:43.609 the second portion of our program is Bill Krieger 00:18:43.609 --> 00:18:46.410 and Bill is the founder of Veterans Archives. 00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:48.960 And I'm going to let him tell you a little bit 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:51.819 about that. But I wanted to tell you a little 00:18:51.819 --> 00:18:56.400 bit about Bill, if I can, as I go along here 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:00.380 in my technical skills, which are lacking today, 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:06.660 it seems like. Anyhow, so Bill is a former assistant 00:19:06.660 --> 00:19:09.559 program director for the VFW National Home. He's 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:12.279 retired. from the Veterans Program Manager at 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:14.960 Consumers Energy, and he's host of the popular 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:18.759 Me, You, Us podcast. Served 10 years in the Navy. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.480 I also served in the Michigan National Guard 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:24.099 and retired with a rank of captain after 21 years. 00:19:24.460 --> 00:19:26.940 He's retired. He didn't must have had something 00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:30.380 he wanted to do. So he's decided to start collecting 00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:32.500 veteran stories. This is what we all want to 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:35.299 do. We want to get all these stories out. So 00:19:35.299 --> 00:19:37.950 Bill Krieger, welcome to Veterans Radio. Thanks. 00:19:38.089 --> 00:19:39.750 Thanks for having me on. Also, just a shout out 00:19:39.750 --> 00:19:42.710 to Jeff Pierce and Reads Across America Radio. 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:46.349 You can hear us there every Thursday at 5 p .m. 00:19:47.150 --> 00:19:48.829 every single week. So we get our stories out 00:19:48.829 --> 00:19:51.589 that way. I wanted to make sure we got that shout 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:53.890 out. And yes, Jeff's a great guy and it's a great 00:19:53.890 --> 00:19:57.609 organization. Well, as you know, I'm trying to 00:19:57.609 --> 00:20:00.650 maintain, you know, control my enthusiasm for, 00:20:00.650 --> 00:20:04.140 you know, for having this outlet. you know for 00:20:04.140 --> 00:20:08.660 our program as you know and many people do we've 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:11.339 been doing this for over 20 years now well over 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:14.539 a thousand programs or a thousand stories and 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:17.319 500 and some odd podcasts so it's going to be 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:19.759 great to be able to share this with a whole new 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:22.460 audience especially truckers i like that concept 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:26.660 awesome yeah so yeah veterans archives you know 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:29.619 um we're out there collecting stories about veterans 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:33.220 or from the veterans themselves I think that 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:35.759 we're unique. There's a lot of folks out there 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:43.599 who collect stories or interview. I just lost 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:46.079 them. All right. Well, we're going to be talking 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.299 with Bill a little bit shortly. I'm sure he will 00:20:48.299 --> 00:20:52.140 sign back on here in just a second. But what 00:20:52.140 --> 00:20:54.000 Veterans Archives, I'm going to read from their 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.779 website for you while we're waiting for him to 00:20:55.779 --> 00:21:01.569 come back. Yeah, it says veterans archives org 00:21:01.569 --> 00:21:04.089 was founded to ensure the stories of US military 00:21:04.089 --> 00:21:07.329 veterans live on Preserved in a digital archive 00:21:07.329 --> 00:21:10.009 that is accessible to all and honors their courage 00:21:10.009 --> 00:21:13.150 sacrifice and achievements as a nonprofit We 00:21:13.150 --> 00:21:16.049 believe that your story matters every veterans 00:21:16.049 --> 00:21:18.890 journey is captured in their own words and voices 00:21:18.890 --> 00:21:26.809 Creating a Where did it go? Creating I lost my 00:21:26.809 --> 00:21:28.869 mind. He's back. I think all right. I'm back. 00:21:28.869 --> 00:21:32.349 Can you see me? Can you hear me? I can hear you. 00:21:32.369 --> 00:21:35.430 Yes, we're all we're We just talked about you 00:21:35.430 --> 00:21:38.349 know Murphy Anyway, I was reading from your website. 00:21:38.950 --> 00:21:41.470 Okay, just to see what you know, tell people 00:21:41.470 --> 00:21:45.210 what your story No, I think what you do is amazing 00:21:45.210 --> 00:21:48.809 bill and if you could tell us what how you got 00:21:48.809 --> 00:21:51.210 started with this What what motivated you to 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:53.970 start collecting these stories? So, you know, 00:21:53.970 --> 00:21:55.710 I'll give you the Reader's Digest condensed version 00:21:55.710 --> 00:21:58.309 because we don't have a ton of time. But when 00:21:58.309 --> 00:22:01.829 I returned from a combat tour in Iraq back in 00:22:01.829 --> 00:22:06.109 2007, I really struggled with getting back into, 00:22:06.109 --> 00:22:09.549 you know, society and the civilian world, as 00:22:09.549 --> 00:22:12.809 a lot of people do. And I found that storytelling 00:22:12.809 --> 00:22:15.750 really helped me with that. So I got involved 00:22:15.750 --> 00:22:20.609 with NPR's Moth Radio Hour and US -80 Day Storytellers 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:23.829 Project. And I found there was power in telling 00:22:23.829 --> 00:22:27.630 my story in that it was kind of it helped me 00:22:27.630 --> 00:22:29.509 deal with what things that I had been dealing 00:22:29.509 --> 00:22:32.150 with. But the flip side of it was every time 00:22:32.150 --> 00:22:34.250 I went to tell my story, people would come up 00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:37.410 from the audience and talk about how they were 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:39.569 impacted and how they thought they were the only 00:22:39.569 --> 00:22:42.069 person ever felt that way. And I found that in 00:22:42.069 --> 00:22:45.150 telling my story, I was helping others as well 00:22:45.150 --> 00:22:48.210 as helping myself right around the same time 00:22:48.210 --> 00:22:50.799 or maybe a few years later. I started doing the 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:55.559 me you us podcast for consumers energy. And what 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:58.559 I found was I had the ability to draw stories 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.900 out of people so they could share their stories 00:23:01.900 --> 00:23:04.160 that helped them. It helped other people who 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:06.180 listen to those stories. It was great experience. 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:09.700 I really learned the interviewing process. And 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:13.279 from there, prior to retirement from my job, 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:18.180 I was really looking for a way to continue storytelling 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:21.029 and continue Getting stories from others but 00:23:21.029 --> 00:23:23.630 also a way to serve my fellow veterans Because 00:23:23.630 --> 00:23:26.410 as you know, we lose at least 22 veterans a day 00:23:26.410 --> 00:23:29.410 and I think that's a conservative estimate That's 00:23:29.410 --> 00:23:31.349 the suicide that's not counting the others that 00:23:31.349 --> 00:23:34.869 are just Aging out correct, correct. We lose 00:23:34.869 --> 00:23:38.269 22 veterans a day to suicide and I found storytelling 00:23:38.269 --> 00:23:40.410 helped me So I thought this might help other 00:23:40.410 --> 00:23:43.170 veterans as well. So we put together veterans 00:23:43.170 --> 00:23:46.670 archives and began interviewing veterans and 00:23:46.670 --> 00:23:48.970 getting their stories. And I think what differentiates 00:23:48.970 --> 00:23:51.769 us from other people who may do something similar 00:23:51.769 --> 00:23:54.569 is that it's not really we don't just sit around 00:23:54.569 --> 00:23:58.910 and swap stories, you know, war stories, we really 00:23:58.910 --> 00:24:01.509 capture the whole veteran and Dale, as you know, 00:24:01.650 --> 00:24:05.410 you went through our process. We talk about everything 00:24:05.410 --> 00:24:07.269 from your earliest memories right up through 00:24:07.269 --> 00:24:10.750 what you're doing today. At the end of that interview, 00:24:11.509 --> 00:24:15.069 the veteran gets a copy. of their story on a 00:24:15.069 --> 00:24:18.549 memory stick in a very nice display box. We put 00:24:18.549 --> 00:24:20.450 a story card. You can't see this, but I'm showing 00:24:20.450 --> 00:24:26.809 my very nice display box. Yeah, it comes with 00:24:26.809 --> 00:24:31.029 our challenge coin and all of that. And so the 00:24:31.029 --> 00:24:32.930 veteran can share that with their family. They 00:24:32.930 --> 00:24:36.150 can put it away for later use. But the other 00:24:36.150 --> 00:24:39.609 thing we do is we keep it in our archives. And 00:24:39.609 --> 00:24:42.730 you can go to any podcasting platform, look for 00:24:42.730 --> 00:24:45.849 Veterans Archives and listen to the stories of 00:24:45.849 --> 00:24:48.849 our veterans. You can go to our YouTube channel 00:24:48.849 --> 00:24:52.109 at Veterans Archives and actually see the stories. 00:24:52.410 --> 00:24:55.329 We're across all social media. You can also go 00:24:55.329 --> 00:24:58.529 to veteransarchives .org where there's links 00:24:58.529 --> 00:25:00.190 to all of that so you don't have to try and find 00:25:00.190 --> 00:25:03.369 it yourself. But the idea is that your story 00:25:03.369 --> 00:25:06.809 matters. Everyone has a story. to tell and their 00:25:06.809 --> 00:25:08.970 story does matter and I think it's important 00:25:08.970 --> 00:25:11.789 for people to hear someone's whole story not 00:25:11.789 --> 00:25:14.269 just part of it because that really shows us 00:25:14.269 --> 00:25:16.230 the whole veteran. The other piece of that is 00:25:16.230 --> 00:25:19.529 we really get some insight into why someone had 00:25:19.529 --> 00:25:22.230 joined the military and then also what did they 00:25:22.230 --> 00:25:24.529 do when they got out and did they use that military 00:25:24.529 --> 00:25:28.430 experience to be successful on the outside. You 00:25:28.430 --> 00:25:32.809 know so in total we have 89 stories archived 00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:39.190 Our goal is to add 100 to that this year. And 00:25:39.190 --> 00:25:42.690 we've already got 27 of them recorded. So if 00:25:42.690 --> 00:25:44.990 you do it on a quarterly basis, we're on task 00:25:44.990 --> 00:25:50.569 to do that. As you know, it costs us $250 every 00:25:50.569 --> 00:25:53.869 time we do a recording. And we never charge the 00:25:53.869 --> 00:25:56.069 veteran for the service. It's always free to 00:25:56.069 --> 00:25:59.690 the veteran. But we do rely on grants and donations. 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:02.420 corporations like Consumers Energy have been 00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:05.339 very, very generous to us. Every year we get 00:26:05.339 --> 00:26:07.539 counted on them, and they have come through to 00:26:07.539 --> 00:26:10.279 help us meet our goals, as well as just private 00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:13.259 donations. We get a lot of small private donations, 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:16.759 and every dollar helps us preserve those stories. 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:21.579 We can certainly relate to that part of it. It's 00:26:21.579 --> 00:26:24.319 always going on. So tell me, because I know you, 00:26:24.740 --> 00:26:28.480 when we did our interview together, that thing 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:31.960 was an hour and a half long. And I apologize 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:34.480 for that. I didn't realize it was gonna you got 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:38.599 me going on that one And so how do you how long 00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:41.039 do you are your are your podcast you edit these 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:44.500 down or? And you know kind of tease people to 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:47.039 go to your to you know to YouTube or something 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:51.420 to see the whole thing No, so I we never we never 00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:56.279 ever ever edit the stories for content and so 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:58.950 if it's a six hour story, there's a six hour 00:26:58.950 --> 00:27:01.950 podcast out there for as well as a chunk of six 00:27:01.950 --> 00:27:05.670 hour of video. We do a lot of like shorts and 00:27:05.670 --> 00:27:08.049 a lot of social media content so people can kind 00:27:08.049 --> 00:27:10.930 of get snippets of it. But we put the whole story 00:27:10.930 --> 00:27:12.630 out there so that people can listen to the whole 00:27:12.630 --> 00:27:17.369 thing. Well, how long have you been doing this? 00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:20.609 Veterans Archives has been around since 2022. 00:27:22.009 --> 00:27:23.630 You know, our first year out, I think we did 00:27:23.630 --> 00:27:27.319 like 26 stories total for the whole year. Um, 00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:31.079 last year we did 23 for the whole year, uh, and 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:33.420 now we're at 27 already this year. So it's very 00:27:33.420 --> 00:27:38.339 exciting. So who is, who is the, um, who's the 00:27:38.339 --> 00:27:40.380 oldest veteran that you've had the opportunity 00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:43.720 to talk with? You know, I talked with a guy named 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:46.700 Herb Elfering who was a world war two vet and 00:27:46.700 --> 00:27:50.420 he was, when I interviewed him, I think he was 00:27:50.420 --> 00:27:53.160 a week away from his hundredth birthday. Wow. 00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:56.319 And, uh, yeah, he was, uh, and he had an amazing 00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:58.059 story. The guy had lived like three lifetimes 00:27:58.059 --> 00:28:01.180 basically is, you know, pre -war his during the 00:28:01.180 --> 00:28:03.019 war and then all the stuff he did after the war. 00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:06.000 But the coolest thing was here's a guy who was 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.759 downhill skiing into his nineties. And, uh, shortly 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:11.599 before I talked to him, he had gotten a hole 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:14.539 in one at the golf course in Jackson. So it was 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:16.720 pretty incredible. I'm still working on that 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:22.460 one. Me too. So, what did he do in World War 00:28:22.460 --> 00:28:26.720 II? Well, it's an interesting story. He had joined 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.880 the California National Guard because he wanted 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.339 some extra income, to be honest, and as part 00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:37.940 of his duty, his unit was sent over to Hawaii 00:28:37.940 --> 00:28:42.579 to do some work there. The war hadn't started 00:28:42.579 --> 00:28:44.640 yet, but while he was there at Pearl Harbor, 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:48.390 Pearl Harbor got attacked. And he was a radar 00:28:48.390 --> 00:28:51.970 man and this was a, you know, something that 00:28:51.970 --> 00:28:55.650 was new. And so his job was to, you know, install 00:28:55.650 --> 00:28:59.670 and operate the radar systems. And so for five 00:28:59.670 --> 00:29:03.809 years after that attack, he traveled the world 00:29:03.809 --> 00:29:06.750 fighting the war by working on radar systems 00:29:06.750 --> 00:29:09.450 and didn't return home until actually the end 00:29:09.450 --> 00:29:15.940 of the war. Oh, gone a long time. Yes. 100 years 00:29:15.940 --> 00:29:20.680 old I I used to think that was a long way away 00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:23.059 Things I'm getting there a lot quicker than I 00:29:23.059 --> 00:29:28.579 know I got here Did you have any we talked with 00:29:28.579 --> 00:29:34.240 a guy? His name was Burgett and he had been with 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:36.880 Donald Donald Burgett and he had been a World 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:38.900 War two veteran he driven he's written a bunch 00:29:38.900 --> 00:29:43.039 of books about easy company he worked with the 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:46.710 HBO special when they when they did that documentary 00:29:46.710 --> 00:29:51.250 on easy company and it was that generation was 00:29:51.250 --> 00:29:56.430 just so Amazing, you know, not only did they 00:29:56.430 --> 00:29:59.289 the majority of them, you know They first they 00:29:59.289 --> 00:30:01.509 lived through the depression which was a whole 00:30:01.509 --> 00:30:03.430 other story as you mentioned and I know that 00:30:03.430 --> 00:30:06.809 you know with your interviews that you get into 00:30:06.809 --> 00:30:09.829 Before the military and that that would be a 00:30:09.829 --> 00:30:12.470 great Opportunity to listen to those things and 00:30:12.470 --> 00:30:14.509 then you know, then they've got World War two 00:30:14.509 --> 00:30:16.710 and then they've got it They come back out and 00:30:16.710 --> 00:30:18.309 then you know, they got to rebuild the whole 00:30:18.309 --> 00:30:21.650 world So no wonder they're called, you know, 00:30:21.670 --> 00:30:24.910 the greatest generation and I I had I admire 00:30:24.910 --> 00:30:29.210 what you are doing and I think it's a it's a 00:30:29.210 --> 00:30:32.069 great service, you know for the history of our 00:30:32.069 --> 00:30:35.990 country and You know for just with you know for 00:30:35.990 --> 00:30:37.690 the upcoming, you know the for the younger kids 00:30:37.690 --> 00:30:41.190 that are coming up now maybe not right away, 00:30:41.750 --> 00:30:44.349 but at some point in their lives, they're gonna 00:30:44.349 --> 00:30:48.089 wanna know what mom and dad did. And I think 00:30:48.089 --> 00:30:50.289 you've got that opportunity. Have you had the 00:30:50.289 --> 00:30:53.970 opportunity to talk to any women veterans? Yes, 00:30:54.150 --> 00:30:58.509 actually quite a few. In fact, I just recently 00:30:58.509 --> 00:31:04.589 interviewed a female veteran last week. but I 00:31:04.589 --> 00:31:07.710 think the one that sticks in my mind is Vicki 00:31:07.710 --> 00:31:13.529 Kane who was a mechanic in the army back in the 00:31:13.529 --> 00:31:16.569 80s when there weren't a lot of women mechanics 00:31:16.569 --> 00:31:21.630 in the army and she had an amazing story. We 00:31:21.630 --> 00:31:23.670 interviewed her at the Michigan Veterans Home 00:31:23.670 --> 00:31:25.650 where we have a partnership. We go out and actually 00:31:25.650 --> 00:31:29.150 interview their veterans, but Vicki had cancer 00:31:29.150 --> 00:31:32.430 stage four pancreatic cancer when we interviewed 00:31:32.430 --> 00:31:36.000 her and she'd been She had had cancer for about 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:38.099 four years. So when you think about pancreatic 00:31:38.099 --> 00:31:41.440 cancer, that's a long time to survive with that. 00:31:41.500 --> 00:31:43.680 And, you know, we interviewed her just prior 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:45.539 to her going to Disney with her family. They 00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:48.500 all went to Disney after her interview. But when 00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:51.960 she returned, I got a phone call a few weeks 00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:55.880 ago that she had passed away. And the family 00:31:55.880 --> 00:31:58.859 was just so happy and thankful to have a copy 00:31:58.859 --> 00:32:01.700 of her story. You know, we provide the audio 00:32:01.700 --> 00:32:04.599 as you can see from the box that we sent you. 00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:07.259 Um, but we also keep the video and put it on 00:32:07.259 --> 00:32:09.039 YouTube and they were able to take the YouTube 00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:11.700 video and have that air Memorial service. And 00:32:11.700 --> 00:32:14.779 so not only did they honor her military service 00:32:14.779 --> 00:32:17.859 as part of her, uh, burial, but they also just 00:32:17.859 --> 00:32:19.619 honored her life because they were able to sit 00:32:19.619 --> 00:32:23.279 there and listen to her talk about her life in 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:26.299 her own words and in her own voice. Uh, and they 00:32:26.299 --> 00:32:28.700 were able to see that. And you know, I, what 00:32:28.700 --> 00:32:32.599 more can you ask for? I would, I got goosebumps. 00:32:33.139 --> 00:32:35.160 Bill, we're talking with Bill Krueger. He's the 00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:39.700 founder of Veterans Archives. And they go, they 00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:42.200 go around, they don't go, they go around all 00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:44.160 over the state of Michigan right now. I'm probably, 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:47.299 you know, recording these stories. How do I get, 00:32:47.579 --> 00:32:50.000 if you hadn't, you know, if we hadn't met up 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:52.000 on this, how do people go about getting these 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.539 stories recorded? Well, if you, if you are some, 00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:58.599 if you are a veteran or you know a veteran who 00:32:58.599 --> 00:33:02.759 would like to participate. You can go to veteransarchives 00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:06.380 .org and there's a form you can fill out there 00:33:06.380 --> 00:33:08.640 and we'll call you usually that day or the next 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:11.619 day to talk about getting it scheduled and making 00:33:11.619 --> 00:33:15.059 it happen for you. So yeah, if you're interested 00:33:15.059 --> 00:33:17.240 or you know someone who's interested, have them 00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:19.940 come to the website. You know, they can click 00:33:19.940 --> 00:33:22.900 on the apply tab. This is a very short form, 00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:25.720 not a lot of questions. and then hit submit and 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:27.460 we'll get right back with you and get you scheduled. 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.059 And we can, you know, we have several ways of 00:33:30.059 --> 00:33:34.660 doing this. You can come to our standalone studio. 00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:37.220 We have a little portable studio which you got 00:33:37.220 --> 00:33:39.779 to see, Dale. And we can also do it over Zoom 00:33:39.779 --> 00:33:42.500 like we're doing this right now. I think that's 00:33:42.500 --> 00:33:47.559 cool. So what is the, when we met for the first 00:33:47.559 --> 00:33:51.799 time, you said you had one veteran that you talked 00:33:51.799 --> 00:33:57.799 to for Like 10 hours or more. Oh yeah. Yeah. 00:33:57.940 --> 00:34:00.700 So, um, in fact, we're still interviewing him. 00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:04.920 He was, he's a, he's a Vietnam vet and he, uh, 00:34:04.920 --> 00:34:08.820 is at the Michigan veterans home and he just, 00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:11.340 his memory is just incredible. And it's very 00:34:11.340 --> 00:34:14.480 detailed. And, you know, people, when you tell 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:17.079 them, it's like so far, we've got 10 hours of 00:34:17.079 --> 00:34:19.579 audio and video. They're like, Kind of shake 00:34:19.579 --> 00:34:21.519 their head like you got to be kidding me. But 00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:25.280 when you listen to him, it's like it's just every 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:27.860 time I'm there for two hours talking with him, 00:34:28.099 --> 00:34:31.699 it is such a pleasure. And it's just every time 00:34:31.699 --> 00:34:34.119 he talks, you're like, really? Because when he 00:34:34.119 --> 00:34:37.719 was in Vietnam, they got into a firefight and 00:34:37.719 --> 00:34:40.159 there was a point where he got shot in both legs 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:43.139 and is out in this field waiting to be, you know, 00:34:43.260 --> 00:34:46.179 might have act out and it takes hours and hours 00:34:46.179 --> 00:34:48.920 and he's just talking through this whole situation 00:34:48.920 --> 00:34:52.019 that happened as, as if he was changing the tire 00:34:52.019 --> 00:34:55.039 on a car, you know, it was kind of that kind 00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:57.139 of thing, but his whole life, you know, he's 00:34:57.139 --> 00:35:00.039 a, he's a pilot. He flew airplanes and helicopters 00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:04.280 and you know, he sold cars for a while and owned 00:35:04.280 --> 00:35:06.800 a consulting business. And you know, his time 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:08.699 in the military was like maybe three or four 00:35:08.699 --> 00:35:11.619 years, but his whole life story is just this 00:35:11.619 --> 00:35:14.940 incredible thing. And what a gift. To give to 00:35:14.940 --> 00:35:17.059 people who either knew him or even didn't know 00:35:17.059 --> 00:35:22.139 him You know to hear about his story All right, 00:35:22.139 --> 00:35:28.739 I Couldn't imagine that you know again I'm Thinking 00:35:28.739 --> 00:35:30.480 about you know what you're talking about that 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:32.659 you know somebody got wounded I was so I was 00:35:32.659 --> 00:35:37.019 so lucky in Vietnam I guess I learned how to 00:35:37.019 --> 00:35:40.079 duck or I could make myself a lot smaller than 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:44.099 I really am And so I always think that I'm very 00:35:44.099 --> 00:35:46.860 fortunate. I couldn't imagine being wounded out 00:35:46.860 --> 00:35:49.139 in the middle of some of the places that we were, 00:35:49.239 --> 00:35:53.079 jungles and swamps and rice paddies and everything 00:35:53.079 --> 00:35:58.400 else. Just have it going through your mind of, 00:35:59.179 --> 00:36:02.880 now what? I'll bet you become so aware of everything 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:06.119 around you. Yeah, that's that's kind of what 00:36:06.119 --> 00:36:07.920 he talked about cuz I asked him about that like, 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:10.619 you know when I was deployed we carried tourniquets 00:36:10.619 --> 00:36:13.940 with us But at that time that wasn't really necessarily 00:36:13.940 --> 00:36:19.400 a thing and he told me how he had Piled up some 00:36:19.400 --> 00:36:22.260 gravel and some dirt and was able to apply pressure 00:36:22.260 --> 00:36:26.559 to his legs to stem the flow of blood coming 00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:29.719 out and He just tells it in such a matter -of 00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:32.599 -fact way. I'm thinking I think that I would 00:36:32.599 --> 00:36:35.699 have been freaking out probably But he was not. 00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:38.639 And it's just like this incredibly calming story 00:36:38.639 --> 00:36:44.079 that he tells. Well, I think it's great. Have 00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:46.780 you had a chance to talk to any Korean veterans? 00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:49.880 We've interviewed a few Korean War veterans. 00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:52.800 They're near and dear to my heart. My stepfather 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:55.280 served in Korea. Unfortunately, he passed away 00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:58.239 before we started with Veterans Archives. But 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:01.880 we've interviewed a few. One that we interviewed 00:37:01.880 --> 00:37:04.679 had a whole stack of letters that he had written 00:37:04.679 --> 00:37:08.619 back home. And so our interviewer actually read 00:37:08.619 --> 00:37:11.059 those letters as part of his history. So that 00:37:11.059 --> 00:37:14.360 was kind of cool. That would be cool. You know, 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:17.840 I was thinking of letters that I might have written 00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:21.579 them at home and that, cause we would, you know, 00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:24.900 we'd have to put secret code in there sometimes 00:37:24.900 --> 00:37:29.630 because some of our missions quote, classified 00:37:29.630 --> 00:37:31.369 and all that stuff. Anyways, our missions were 00:37:31.369 --> 00:37:33.710 classified because we were flying into another 00:37:33.710 --> 00:37:36.230 country that was not participating in this whole 00:37:36.230 --> 00:37:41.309 thing. And my wife still has these letters. I 00:37:41.309 --> 00:37:43.429 might have to go in and start reading them again, 00:37:43.849 --> 00:37:47.809 just to see what I really did. Oh yeah. You know, 00:37:47.889 --> 00:37:50.630 something my mom did when I was deployed is her 00:37:50.630 --> 00:37:54.489 and I sent emails back and forth and she actually 00:37:54.489 --> 00:37:57.079 printed them all out and she has them bound. 00:37:57.079 --> 00:38:00.239 So it's like three volumes of just email between 00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:04.420 my mother and I. And so that brings back a lot 00:38:04.420 --> 00:38:07.019 of a lot of good memories. I'll bet well today 00:38:07.019 --> 00:38:08.940 with today's technology, you can do that. So 00:38:08.940 --> 00:38:11.699 I'm assuming after you, you said that you had 00:38:11.699 --> 00:38:15.280 deployed you deployed to where I was deployed 00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:19.380 to Mosul Iraq in 2006. Yeah, what was your what 00:38:19.380 --> 00:38:22.889 was your job there? So I was a military police 00:38:22.889 --> 00:38:25.590 company commander and we were there to train 00:38:25.590 --> 00:38:31.030 and equip the Iraqi police force. So we had 14 00:38:31.030 --> 00:38:36.250 police stations and four provincial police headquarters 00:38:36.250 --> 00:38:39.250 as well as the overarching police headquarters 00:38:39.250 --> 00:38:45.650 in that city. I think we had 217 soldiers in 00:38:45.650 --> 00:38:48.889 that group as well as a platoon of infantry. 00:38:49.309 --> 00:38:51.619 But yeah, every day. out there training the Iraqi 00:38:51.619 --> 00:38:55.900 police. It was not a fun deployment. I can only 00:38:55.900 --> 00:39:01.460 imagine. Every Iraq or Afghanistan veteran I've 00:39:01.460 --> 00:39:06.159 had to talk to is just the conditions were just 00:39:06.159 --> 00:39:14.400 so unusual and just terrible. And you can see 00:39:14.400 --> 00:39:17.769 why. this generation of veterans sometimes is 00:39:17.769 --> 00:39:21.250 having such a difficult time transitioning back 00:39:21.250 --> 00:39:24.150 into civilian life because they had so many multiple 00:39:24.150 --> 00:39:25.909 deployments did you have multiple deployments 00:39:25.909 --> 00:39:29.210 or were you lucky only I won you know I was fortunate 00:39:29.210 --> 00:39:33.730 I um I went so I had gone to OCS and got my commission 00:39:33.730 --> 00:39:37.789 uh when I was 38 years old and so this deployment 00:39:37.789 --> 00:39:42.949 was kind of towards the end of my career um So 00:39:42.949 --> 00:39:46.710 yeah, I did the one deployment and then served 00:39:46.710 --> 00:39:49.190 as actually did back to back company commands 00:39:49.190 --> 00:39:54.190 and then went to the winded logistics for a little 00:39:54.190 --> 00:39:57.210 while then retired. So it was just that that 00:39:57.210 --> 00:40:01.010 one deployment I had. I had made that I had made 00:40:01.010 --> 00:40:02.929 the mistake. I don't want to say it was a mistake. 00:40:03.730 --> 00:40:06.889 When we deployed, I promised every family member 00:40:06.889 --> 00:40:08.530 there that I would bring their family member 00:40:08.530 --> 00:40:11.380 home. their son, their brother, their sister, 00:40:11.460 --> 00:40:13.039 their daughter, whoever it was. I promised that 00:40:13.039 --> 00:40:17.460 I'd bring them home and did not realize just 00:40:17.460 --> 00:40:20.900 how difficult it was to keep that promise. I 00:40:20.900 --> 00:40:23.280 will tell you because of the amazing people I 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:25.079 deployed with them, the great team that I had, 00:40:25.280 --> 00:40:28.139 we did bring everybody home, but not everybody 00:40:28.139 --> 00:40:29.980 came home the same way they left. And that was 00:40:29.980 --> 00:40:33.400 kind of difficult. Well, sometimes we come home 00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:35.780 without, you know, we don't, nobody can see all 00:40:35.780 --> 00:40:39.630 the wounds. And, um, you know, it just takes 00:40:39.630 --> 00:40:44.590 a while to get everything unscrambled in your, 00:40:44.690 --> 00:40:48.230 in your head. So let's remind our eyes cause 00:40:48.230 --> 00:40:51.789 we're going to go to the other interview on MVBDC 00:40:51.789 --> 00:40:54.449 here in just a second. So we've been talking 00:40:54.449 --> 00:40:57.530 here with Bill Krieger. He is the founder and 00:40:57.530 --> 00:41:01.170 president of veteransarchives .org and you can 00:41:01.170 --> 00:41:03.809 help him. It just sounds like what he is doing 00:41:03.809 --> 00:41:07.750 is such a great mission. to gather as many stories. 00:41:07.829 --> 00:41:11.030 All of us, I like to think that we kind of started 00:41:11.030 --> 00:41:14.809 this 20 years ago when we first went on the air. 00:41:15.769 --> 00:41:18.429 At that time, we were one of the very, very few 00:41:18.429 --> 00:41:21.510 veteran -oriented radio programs at the time. 00:41:22.170 --> 00:41:24.530 But our mission is to collect as many stories 00:41:24.530 --> 00:41:26.750 as we can. And I don't care who collects them 00:41:26.750 --> 00:41:29.889 or who gets them. It's just that we got to get 00:41:29.889 --> 00:41:33.409 as many as we can. So if you would love to have 00:41:33.409 --> 00:41:37.800 a good long interview, with Veterans Archives, 00:41:38.119 --> 00:41:40.300 you need to go to their website and fill out 00:41:40.300 --> 00:41:43.179 their form and Bill will get a hold of you. And 00:41:43.179 --> 00:41:45.659 he does a great job. He's a great interviewer. 00:41:45.679 --> 00:41:49.880 And I was I was very excited when I was done. 00:41:50.199 --> 00:41:53.039 I was nervous when I started, but you can tell 00:41:53.039 --> 00:41:57.099 I kind of get into it as we went along. So, Bill, 00:41:57.099 --> 00:42:00.940 I wanted to thank you so very much for what you 00:42:00.940 --> 00:42:02.920 are doing and for being on our program today. 00:42:03.369 --> 00:42:05.909 All right, thanks. Thanks for having me on Dale 00:42:05.909 --> 00:42:09.070 and remember veterans archives org You can go 00:42:09.070 --> 00:42:12.909 out and see and hear Dale's story to to get a 00:42:12.909 --> 00:42:15.329 flavor for what we do But again veterans archives 00:42:15.329 --> 00:42:18.250 org there are links to all of our social media 00:42:18.250 --> 00:42:20.610 and our YouTube channel and our podcasts are 00:42:20.610 --> 00:42:22.929 all right there as well as if You would like 00:42:22.929 --> 00:42:25.590 to share your story, please fill out the form 00:42:25.590 --> 00:42:28.289 There you go. And we'll be touching in because 00:42:28.289 --> 00:42:32.349 now both of us are on recent cross America radio. 00:42:32.409 --> 00:42:36.820 Yes which is exciting for all concerned. It's 00:42:36.820 --> 00:42:39.280 just another outlet for you to hear the stories. 00:42:39.699 --> 00:42:42.280 And I encourage you to go to their platform, 00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:44.960 check out what they've got. You know, you said 00:42:44.960 --> 00:42:48.260 they had 75 different programs on their platform. 00:42:48.280 --> 00:42:50.059 And I think that's kind of neat. I get to go 00:42:50.059 --> 00:42:52.659 check them all out myself for that. But Bill, 00:42:52.900 --> 00:42:55.079 thank you very much for being on today's program. 00:42:55.460 --> 00:42:59.840 And we'll be talking shortly, I'm sure. Okay, 00:42:59.860 --> 00:43:02.400 that was Bill Krieger from Veterans Archives. 00:43:03.179 --> 00:43:06.199 I encourage you, really, go check it out. It's 00:43:06.199 --> 00:43:10.420 really kind of cool. I've been lucky and fortunate 00:43:10.420 --> 00:43:13.340 enough to be interviewed quite a few times, but 00:43:13.340 --> 00:43:16.000 nothing like this one. This was the most in -depth 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:20.480 interview I think I've done since I got home. 00:43:23.900 --> 00:43:28.340 I can't even describe it for you folks. It was 00:43:28.340 --> 00:43:33.550 fun. It was emotional. He got pulled some stuff 00:43:33.550 --> 00:43:37.070 out of me that I hadn't remembered in 50 years. 00:43:37.369 --> 00:43:40.050 So anyway, go visit that. All right, we're gonna 00:43:40.050 --> 00:43:43.550 go into our interview right now with NVB DC. 00:43:44.289 --> 00:43:47.050 That's the National Veterans Business Development 00:43:47.050 --> 00:43:51.769 Council. And Jim will be talking, Jim Falzone 00:43:51.769 --> 00:43:54.789 did this interview and he is going to be talking 00:43:54.789 --> 00:43:59.090 with a member of NVB DC. So we'll go to that 00:43:59.090 --> 00:44:03.170 right now. Welcome. I am Jim Fossone and this 00:44:03.170 --> 00:44:07.570 is Veteran Radio's spotlight on National Veteran 00:44:07.570 --> 00:44:09.849 Business Development Council, better known as 00:44:09.849 --> 00:44:14.829 NVBDC, which is a non -profit. It's the nation's 00:44:14.829 --> 00:44:17.110 leading third -party authority for certification 00:44:17.110 --> 00:44:19.769 of veteran -owned businesses, really of all sizes. 00:44:20.489 --> 00:44:24.329 It was established in 2013. It addresses the 00:44:24.329 --> 00:44:26.690 growing need to identify and certify both service 00:44:26.690 --> 00:44:29.920 -disabled and veteran -owned businesses. for 00:44:29.920 --> 00:44:33.019 use in the commercial or corporate marketplace 00:44:33.019 --> 00:44:36.739 as well as the government contracting. NVBDC 00:44:36.739 --> 00:44:39.280 administers a rigorous certification process 00:44:39.280 --> 00:44:41.960 designed to withstand the scrutiny of governmental 00:44:41.960 --> 00:44:45.280 and corporate entities seeking to utilize certified 00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:48.360 veteran -owned businesses. And we want to welcome 00:44:48.360 --> 00:44:51.920 to Veterans Radio Douglas Heath. He's the president 00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:57.409 of Bravia Services who is veteran -owned, and 00:44:57.409 --> 00:44:59.570 we're going to talk a little bit about him, the 00:44:59.570 --> 00:45:02.670 business, and the certification. Doug, welcome 00:45:02.670 --> 00:45:05.750 to Veterans Radio. Hi, thanks. Thanks for having 00:45:05.750 --> 00:45:08.869 me. I appreciate it. Well, we always like talking 00:45:08.869 --> 00:45:14.690 to business owners who have continued to advance 00:45:14.690 --> 00:45:21.469 their professional goals. Bravia is designed, 00:45:21.469 --> 00:45:27.159 if you will, to support a variety of pathways 00:45:27.159 --> 00:45:30.119 because you're in the recruiting and staffing 00:45:30.119 --> 00:45:32.099 business. Tell us a little bit about Bravia. 00:45:33.260 --> 00:45:35.820 Yeah, so, you know, I always say it's important 00:45:35.820 --> 00:45:38.099 for me when I talk about Bravia services, they 00:45:38.099 --> 00:45:42.300 also talk about why I started it. So I was a 00:45:42.300 --> 00:45:45.739 partner in a company, but a different company. 00:45:46.519 --> 00:45:48.940 And along the ways, even then, I was volunteering 00:45:48.940 --> 00:45:52.699 and helping veterans. I actually won the 2017 00:45:52.699 --> 00:45:56.019 Patriot Award and the 2019 Above and Beyond Award 00:45:56.019 --> 00:45:59.440 from ESGR. That stands for Employer Supports 00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:03.320 for Garden Reserves. And it was something that 00:46:03.320 --> 00:46:07.199 I got a lot of value out of personally. And I 00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:11.519 decided with my wife's support to sell my equity 00:46:11.519 --> 00:46:14.219 in that business and start Bravia Services really 00:46:14.219 --> 00:46:17.860 just to help veterans. guys and girls coming 00:46:17.860 --> 00:46:20.599 off of either active duty or deployment, help 00:46:20.599 --> 00:46:24.260 them find jobs. And initially I was going to 00:46:24.260 --> 00:46:26.099 set it up as a not -for -profit, but you can't 00:46:26.099 --> 00:46:29.780 get certified as a not -for -profit. So we are 00:46:29.780 --> 00:46:34.059 a certified company through the NDBDC and the 00:46:34.059 --> 00:46:37.380 SBA. And we have three verticals to our company 00:46:37.380 --> 00:46:40.110 or three pillars, like we say. You mentioned 00:46:40.110 --> 00:46:42.389 staffing consulting services and that was really 00:46:42.389 --> 00:46:44.730 my background. I'm an engineer and I worked as 00:46:44.730 --> 00:46:46.869 an engineer first and then I got into consulting 00:46:46.869 --> 00:46:50.710 and I did consulting for about 25 years. But 00:46:50.710 --> 00:46:52.889 a lot of veterans come out and you know as a 00:46:52.889 --> 00:46:55.309 veteran you're used to working with your hands 00:46:55.309 --> 00:46:57.769 maybe a little bit more and you know I found 00:46:57.769 --> 00:47:00.090 that there was a lot of roles in kind of construction 00:47:00.090 --> 00:47:03.269 field. So I actually acquired two small construction 00:47:03.269 --> 00:47:06.010 companies to form our second pillar. So our first 00:47:06.010 --> 00:47:08.639 pillar is that staffing consulting. Our second 00:47:08.639 --> 00:47:11.039 pillar, which is construction. And again, keep 00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:13.619 in mind that our goal is to help veterans, service 00:47:13.619 --> 00:47:15.880 -disabled veterans, their families, and disabled 00:47:15.880 --> 00:47:19.980 people find jobs. And then along the way, I had 00:47:19.980 --> 00:47:22.000 clients because of my background in consulting 00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:25.019 and whatnot. And my background was really supporting 00:47:25.019 --> 00:47:28.360 Fortune 500 companies. I negotiated a lot of 00:47:28.360 --> 00:47:30.880 contracts. I had people reach out to me said, 00:47:31.059 --> 00:47:34.039 hey, can you just help me negotiate this contract 00:47:34.039 --> 00:47:35.840 or what would you do here? And I was just doing 00:47:35.840 --> 00:47:38.500 it as favors to people. And some of my clients 00:47:38.500 --> 00:47:40.219 said, hey, I don't want you to do this as a favor. 00:47:40.699 --> 00:47:43.139 I want to pay, you know, I want to make this, 00:47:43.139 --> 00:47:44.840 you know, I want to make it worth your time. 00:47:45.260 --> 00:47:47.780 And so it kind of just grew organically. And 00:47:47.780 --> 00:47:50.289 it's our third pillar, what we call. procurement 00:47:50.289 --> 00:47:53.769 services where we help people source either hard 00:47:53.769 --> 00:47:57.050 to find parts or a lot of it is safety products. 00:47:57.510 --> 00:47:59.889 And a lot of the safety products, honestly, on 00:47:59.889 --> 00:48:01.989 construction sites and manufacturing facilities 00:48:01.989 --> 00:48:04.449 and stuff like that. But it's also our software. 00:48:04.670 --> 00:48:06.849 I mean, we're actually sourcing a lot of software 00:48:06.849 --> 00:48:09.489 for different states and stuff like that. So 00:48:09.489 --> 00:48:12.570 our three pillars are really consulting and staffing, 00:48:12.690 --> 00:48:15.489 construction and engineering services, and then 00:48:15.489 --> 00:48:17.929 procurement services. Now, what year did you 00:48:17.929 --> 00:48:24.139 start Bravia services? We started in 2023, so 00:48:24.139 --> 00:48:27.199 we're three years old basically. And at what 00:48:27.199 --> 00:48:30.400 point, Doug, I mean you had obviously had this, 00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:32.679 hey I want to help veterans, there's an underserved 00:48:32.679 --> 00:48:35.480 niche, I can relate to these guys because of 00:48:35.480 --> 00:48:38.400 my time in the Ohio Air National Guard, and we're 00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:39.960 going to talk about that a little bit later, 00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:43.739 but at what point did you say I really need to 00:48:43.739 --> 00:48:47.539 be a certified veteran -owned business? You know 00:48:47.539 --> 00:48:51.530 that's a That's a great question. Pretty early 00:48:51.530 --> 00:48:54.849 on, you know, having worked as a consultant, 00:48:54.949 --> 00:48:58.989 like I said, for 25, 30 years and working with 00:48:58.989 --> 00:49:02.030 a lot of Fortune 500 companies, they're all busy, 00:49:02.250 --> 00:49:05.230 right? Everybody's busy. Nobody has time. And 00:49:05.230 --> 00:49:10.650 what the NVBDC does for corporate America, for 00:49:10.650 --> 00:49:12.889 companies in general, is it gives them an easy 00:49:12.889 --> 00:49:15.730 button, right? They know if you're certified, 00:49:15.929 --> 00:49:20.070 that you're legit. You know, the MVBDC goes through 00:49:20.070 --> 00:49:23.369 a pretty rigorous process to make sure that that 00:49:23.369 --> 00:49:26.889 you're real. I mean, the the the Department of 00:49:26.889 --> 00:49:31.230 Defense has a definition of a veteran and MVBDC 00:49:31.230 --> 00:49:34.289 follows it to the letter. So companies know that 00:49:34.289 --> 00:49:36.349 if you carry that certification that they are 00:49:36.349 --> 00:49:39.869 working for a veteran owned business, not just 00:49:39.869 --> 00:49:41.849 the front. Right. They know that you're certified, 00:49:41.989 --> 00:49:43.510 you're running the business, you're active in 00:49:43.510 --> 00:49:45.030 the business, you have control of the business. 00:49:45.400 --> 00:49:47.960 So I recognized pretty early on that this would 00:49:47.960 --> 00:49:51.559 really be an important thing for me to get. And 00:49:51.559 --> 00:49:54.239 it is a rigorous process. There's some time, 00:49:54.420 --> 00:49:57.780 resources, cost associated with it. From your 00:49:57.780 --> 00:50:04.000 viewpoint, has it been worth the effort that 00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:06.199 you had to put into it to get to the certification 00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:10.280 level? 100%. No, I wouldn't even hesitate to 00:50:10.280 --> 00:50:13.800 say yes. One, the people at the MVBDC are great. 00:50:14.340 --> 00:50:17.659 Every single one of them. And you know, I've 00:50:17.659 --> 00:50:20.139 been fortunate to be on panels with them and 00:50:20.139 --> 00:50:24.599 talk to them. They make it about as easy as you 00:50:24.599 --> 00:50:27.460 can. It's not easy. And I'll be the first to 00:50:27.460 --> 00:50:29.659 admit paperwork is not really one of my strengths. 00:50:31.159 --> 00:50:35.500 But, you know, they make it about as easy as 00:50:35.500 --> 00:50:38.579 you can while also holding you accountable. But 00:50:38.579 --> 00:50:43.389 I will tell you, like I said, you know, companies, 00:50:43.389 --> 00:50:45.449 some companies more than others, but a lot of 00:50:45.449 --> 00:50:47.190 companies want to work with veteran owned businesses 00:50:47.190 --> 00:50:50.449 for a variety of reasons. And if you have the 00:50:50.449 --> 00:50:51.969 certification, they know that they're working 00:50:51.969 --> 00:50:54.030 with a veteran owned business that's controlled 00:50:54.030 --> 00:50:57.449 by the veteran and run by the veteran. As you 00:50:57.449 --> 00:50:59.190 said, that's kind of the easy button. That's 00:50:59.190 --> 00:51:00.949 really interesting and it's a great way to phrase 00:51:00.949 --> 00:51:04.150 it. Yeah, that's the phrase I've kind of used 00:51:04.150 --> 00:51:07.440 that now, the easy button. I like to be, you 00:51:07.440 --> 00:51:09.119 know, we're an easy button, not just the fact 00:51:09.119 --> 00:51:10.460 that we're certified, but you got to be easy 00:51:10.460 --> 00:51:13.519 to work with too. Right. So, so, uh, and the 00:51:13.519 --> 00:51:17.039 NVBDC is great. All right. Anyhow. So that was 00:51:17.039 --> 00:51:20.219 our, uh, NVBDC highlight of the month. That was 00:51:20.219 --> 00:51:23.119 Jim Falzone. Um, you know, and that's a great 00:51:23.119 --> 00:51:25.159 organization for those of you that have a small 00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:26.739 veteran owned business out there and you want 00:51:26.739 --> 00:51:29.360 to do business with the federal government. These 00:51:29.360 --> 00:51:32.900 are the folks. that you need to talk to nvbdc 00:51:32.900 --> 00:51:36.179 .org. They take you through the whole process. 00:51:36.920 --> 00:51:39.239 I got a couple of real quick announcements to 00:51:39.239 --> 00:51:41.739 make. One is coming up and that's a fundraiser 00:51:41.739 --> 00:51:45.300 here in southeast Michigan that many of us like 00:51:45.300 --> 00:51:48.079 to participate with and it's Fisher House, Michigan. 00:51:48.239 --> 00:51:51.480 And for those of you that are not familiar with 00:51:51.480 --> 00:51:54.119 Fisher House, these are like Ronald McDonald 00:51:54.119 --> 00:51:57.659 houses for VA medical hospitals. They provide 00:51:58.780 --> 00:52:01.400 Housing for families while the veteran is getting 00:52:01.400 --> 00:52:04.079 care inside of the hospital. So we have one here 00:52:04.079 --> 00:52:05.920 in Ann Arbor and they're just opening another 00:52:05.920 --> 00:52:09.900 one in Detroit and they're hoping into They're 00:52:09.900 --> 00:52:13.000 looking now at a couple of other ones here in 00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:15.019 the state of Michigan and they're having their 00:52:15.019 --> 00:52:17.519 big fundraiser It's called the song of service 00:52:17.519 --> 00:52:19.380 this year. It's going to be on Saturday, April 00:52:19.380 --> 00:52:23.079 5th and it begins at 4 30 and it's going to be 00:52:23.079 --> 00:52:26.519 at the book tower in Detroit Michigan. If you'd 00:52:26.519 --> 00:52:28.239 like to attend and you want to find out some 00:52:28.239 --> 00:52:31.320 more information you need to go to the website 00:52:31.320 --> 00:52:35.340 that's fisherhousemichigan .org and click on 00:52:35.340 --> 00:52:38.059 events and you'll be able to go to this thing. 00:52:38.780 --> 00:52:41.760 It's going to be fun. The host of the program 00:52:41.760 --> 00:52:46.150 this year is Doug Brady or Bradley and Doug is 00:52:46.150 --> 00:52:49.070 he's an expert on the music of Vietnam and that's 00:52:49.070 --> 00:52:51.570 what is called song of service this year. The 00:52:51.570 --> 00:52:55.070 other thing I wanted to mention to you in this 00:52:55.070 --> 00:52:58.750 in passing is that yesterday the 29th of March 00:52:58.750 --> 00:53:05.630 was Vietnam Veterans Day and this is the fittingly 00:53:05.630 --> 00:53:09.550 it's the 50th anniversary of the closing down 00:53:09.550 --> 00:53:14.820 of the Vietnam War. It's hard to even talk about 00:53:14.820 --> 00:53:20.139 it anymore. 1973. So it's a fitting day. It was 00:53:20.139 --> 00:53:22.679 chosen to be observed in perpetuity as March 00:53:22.679 --> 00:53:25.619 29th was the day the United States Military Assistant 00:53:25.619 --> 00:53:28.480 Command, better known as MACV for those of you 00:53:28.480 --> 00:53:32.440 that were there, was disestablished and also 00:53:32.440 --> 00:53:34.579 the day the last U .S. combat troops departed 00:53:34.579 --> 00:53:37.420 Vietnam. In addition, on or around the same day, 00:53:37.579 --> 00:53:40.539 Hanoi released the last of its acknowledged prisoners 00:53:40.539 --> 00:53:44.099 of war. So for those of you that served in Vietnam 00:53:44.099 --> 00:53:48.019 or those of you that have a relative that served 00:53:48.019 --> 00:53:52.000 in Vietnam, this is kind of a good day. And it's 00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:54.300 a great opportunity for you to welcome them home, 00:53:54.739 --> 00:53:57.860 give them a hug, whatever they need, and thank 00:53:57.860 --> 00:53:59.980 them for their service with a serious, you know, 00:54:00.659 --> 00:54:03.599 people thank us for our service and we were just 00:54:03.599 --> 00:54:06.539 doing what we were supposed to do. So yeah, National 00:54:06.539 --> 00:54:09.210 Vietnam Veterans Day. It's a great opportunity. 00:54:09.909 --> 00:54:12.070 Next week, by the way, is our benefits program, 00:54:12.070 --> 00:54:14.530 and I need you to come and send us information. 00:54:14.610 --> 00:54:18.190 We'll be back next week on Veterans Radio. So 00:54:18.190 --> 00:54:20.289 until then, this is Dale Thuramare for all of 00:54:20.289 --> 00:54:42.980 us. You are dismissed. I love Stand beside her 00:54:42.980 --> 00:54:49.059 And guide her Through the night with a light 00:54:49.059 --> 00:54:57.239 from above From the mountains To the prairies 00:54:57.239 --> 00:55:08.460 To the oceans White with foam God bless America, 00:55:09.820 --> 00:55:23.659 my home sweet home God bless America, my home 00:55:23.659 --> 00:55:24.079 sweet