WEBVTT 00:00:04.969 --> 00:00:08.810 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.810 --> 00:00:17.570 is Veterans Radio. And now, your host for today's 00:00:17.570 --> 00:00:25.949 program, Dale Throneberry. And good afternoon 00:00:25.949 --> 00:00:28.129 and welcome to Veterans Radio. My name is Dale 00:00:28.129 --> 00:00:30.449 Throneberry and I get to be the aircraft commander 00:00:30.449 --> 00:00:33.729 today on Veterans Radio. We're very excited to 00:00:33.729 --> 00:00:35.750 have you joining us here on our program here 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:40.429 at WAAM Talk Radio 1600. Many of you are listening 00:00:40.429 --> 00:00:43.429 to us on the Internet. You can follow us on Facebook. 00:00:43.609 --> 00:00:46.990 You can also send us a tweet if you want to and 00:00:46.990 --> 00:00:49.259 we'll try to figure out how to read those. It's 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:51.299 kind of an exciting thing. We also, as you know, 00:00:51.420 --> 00:00:54.299 go to veteransradio .net and you can listen to 00:00:54.299 --> 00:00:57.359 many of our programs in our archives and also 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.600 podcasts of some of the other programming that 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:01.500 we are doing that we don't get on the air all 00:01:01.500 --> 00:01:04.629 the time. I'm very excited to have you listening 00:01:04.629 --> 00:01:06.790 to us today. We've got a great program lined 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:09.189 up. I'm going to talk a little bit about events, 00:01:09.250 --> 00:01:11.730 and then we've got a guest here to talk about 00:01:11.730 --> 00:01:14.989 a big event that's coming up on Saturday, May 00:01:14.989 --> 00:01:17.590 14th, that we want the people in Southeast Michigan 00:01:17.590 --> 00:01:20.329 to know all about. And in the second half of 00:01:20.329 --> 00:01:21.790 the program, we've got an author who's going 00:01:21.790 --> 00:01:23.530 to be talking about Veterans Stories, a book 00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:26.329 that has been recently published by National 00:01:26.329 --> 00:01:28.310 Geographic. Guys, we're moving up in the world. 00:01:28.750 --> 00:01:32.849 And so I want to make sure that you... Participate 00:01:32.849 --> 00:01:35.870 in this opportunity to talk with us here on Veterans 00:01:35.870 --> 00:01:38.010 Radio. If you want to get in on the conversation, 00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:40.629 you can give us a call here at Talk Radio 1600. 00:01:41.230 --> 00:01:47.930 The number is 734 -822 -1600. 734 -822 -1600. 00:01:48.370 --> 00:01:49.969 All right, so we've got a number of things that 00:01:49.969 --> 00:01:52.799 are coming up. So first of all... I wanted to 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:56.140 remind people that the Yankee Air Museum has 00:01:56.140 --> 00:01:59.299 their American Bistro night and that is the 1940s 00:01:59.299 --> 00:02:01.799 dinner dance that's coming up on Saturday, April 00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:05.939 30th, next Saturday. The door is open at 5 .30 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:08.900 and you can find out more about this at yankeeairmuseum 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:11.020 .org. This is just down the road from up here 00:02:11.020 --> 00:02:14.120 right now and talk radio 1600 down at Willow 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:17.180 Run Airport. This is where the bomber plant was 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:20.159 during World War II and they have purchased one 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:21.879 of the old hangers and they're in the process 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:24.319 of refurbishing it and they need your help to 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:26.740 raise some money for this so we encourage you 00:02:26.740 --> 00:02:30.240 to do that. That's Saturday, April 30th, 2016 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.819 on the 1940's USO Dinner and Dance. Make sure 00:02:33.819 --> 00:02:36.919 you're there. All right. All you Vietnam veterans 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:40.439 out there. And I know there's just a few of you 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:43.560 that do listen. Coming up on May 6th at the Ann 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.460 Arbor VA, we've got the Vietnam Era Veterans 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:49.259 Commemorative Event. And this is going to be 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:53.159 at 930 at the Ann Arbor VA in the auditorium. 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:56.620 That's B14. And our guest speaker is Lieutenant 00:02:56.620 --> 00:02:58.520 Colonel Charles Kettles, our good friend here 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:02.210 on Veterans Radio, who is waiting anxiously to 00:03:02.210 --> 00:03:04.310 receive his Medal of Honor. That will be coming 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:06.610 up in the next couple of months, I'm sure. It's 00:03:06.610 --> 00:03:09.949 already been approved and we're anxious to maybe, 00:03:09.969 --> 00:03:12.930 well, make a road trip down to Washington to 00:03:12.930 --> 00:03:16.469 see Charlie get that award. He's a great guy 00:03:16.469 --> 00:03:18.210 and he's going to be the guest speaker at the 00:03:18.210 --> 00:03:20.689 Ann Arbor VA. And this is for all Vietnam veterans, 00:03:20.849 --> 00:03:24.550 May 6th from 9 until noon. There's going to be 00:03:24.550 --> 00:03:26.409 music, commemorative pins are going to be given 00:03:26.409 --> 00:03:29.770 away, the military memorabilia, all kinds of 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:32.210 different things. And so put this on your calendar. 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:37.710 It's Friday, May 6, 9 a .m. to 12 p .m. The other 00:03:37.710 --> 00:03:40.270 event that I'm going to get to in a second, because 00:03:40.270 --> 00:03:42.030 I'm going to take a break before I talk about 00:03:42.030 --> 00:03:44.650 it, is the Silver Star event that we're going 00:03:44.650 --> 00:03:46.370 to be talking about after our first break that's 00:03:46.370 --> 00:03:50.169 coming up on May 14, 2016. This, again, is also 00:03:50.169 --> 00:03:55.560 in the Ann Arbor area. A couple of years ago, 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:58.599 actually it's been four or five, almost five 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:03.560 years now, we lost our partner and very good 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:06.580 friend Gary Lilly. Gary, as many of you knew, 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:11.159 was a commercial real estate guy. He bought and 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:15.120 sold property. Joining me on the line right now 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:19.819 are the owners of Ann Arbor Builders. We've got 00:04:19.819 --> 00:04:23.060 Alex Dewberry. Alex, welcome to Veterans Radio. 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:27.699 Hello. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:30.240 And also joining us on the line is his wife Betsy 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.860 Dubary. Betsy, welcome to Veterans Radio. Thank 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:36.399 you very much. Okay. So I'll kind of give it 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:39.079 a little history here of how Gary was involved 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:41.160 in our program right from the very beginning 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:43.540 and that he was also involved in commercial real 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:47.339 estate. And you've done a wonderful thing here. 00:04:47.620 --> 00:04:50.740 You've named a street after Gary Lilly. Alex, 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:55.040 tell me, what made you do that? Well, Gary actually 00:04:55.040 --> 00:05:03.639 started the project in the early 2004, 2005. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:10.220 And then the economy tanked, so it sat dormant. 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:15.639 And then he unfortunately got killed by a hit 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:21.120 -and -run. So his partner, wanted to continue 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:24.740 with the project or at least get it sold. And 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:27.740 then, so we bought the project and thought it 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:31.139 would be great to name the street after Gary. 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:36.500 Well, it's very exciting for us, especially here 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:39.240 at Veterans Radio, to know that he is being honored 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:41.480 that way. He was certainly the veteran's veteran, 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.560 always involved in any activity that had to do 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:47.259 with veterans and helping out other veterans. 00:05:48.540 --> 00:05:53.540 Betsy, whereabouts is this street? This is out 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:56.800 off Plymouth Road as you're going toward 23, 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:59.939 and just before you get there, there's a street 00:05:59.939 --> 00:06:02.779 on the right called Irishire, and you go down 00:06:02.779 --> 00:06:05.779 probably a quarter of a mile on the left. And 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:09.040 let me just add to what Alex said. You know, 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:12.360 as developers, we are responsible for coming 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:16.500 up with a name, and we didn't even blink an eye. 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:21.019 Just no other name that we would have even thought 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:24.079 of it immediately. It was Willie Lane. I mean, 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:27.740 he basically assembled a land and started this. 00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:31.860 It was his idea. And, you know, while naming 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:34.439 a street probably doesn't sound like much of 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:36.720 a big deal, we just thought it was some small 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:40.699 way of at least recognizing, you know, his many 00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:45.040 years in the business and, you know, how he started. 00:06:45.310 --> 00:06:49.250 this project and I want to say too that this 00:06:49.250 --> 00:06:54.129 project is now sold out and we've told the story 00:06:54.129 --> 00:06:56.029 to all of the owners who live on this street 00:06:56.029 --> 00:06:59.110 and they're very, very touched and very moved 00:06:59.110 --> 00:07:03.189 by it. Well, I was very excited to drive out 00:07:03.189 --> 00:07:05.470 there the other day and I took a picture myself 00:07:05.470 --> 00:07:09.189 and put it up on our website. for letting people 00:07:09.189 --> 00:07:13.170 know where it is and go out there and drive around 00:07:13.170 --> 00:07:16.889 a little cul -de -sac that it is. I can remember 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:19.350 Gary talking about this project when we first 00:07:19.350 --> 00:07:21.189 started Veterans Radio. This was going to be 00:07:21.189 --> 00:07:27.889 his big deal. We all talk about Mr. Big is going 00:07:27.889 --> 00:07:30.569 to come along. That's it. We don't have to work 00:07:30.569 --> 00:07:34.160 ever again in our lives. But he was so excited 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:36.699 to put this project together, and I know he was 00:07:36.699 --> 00:07:41.480 disappointed when the recession hit. But on behalf 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.980 of my partner, Bob Gould and the other friends 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:49.399 of Gary, we want to thank you and Alex and, of 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:53.339 course, Ann Arbor Builders for honoring our late 00:07:53.339 --> 00:07:56.920 partner. Well, it certainly was the very least 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:01.100 we can do. I'm going to ask Alex to pop in here 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:04.139 if you don't mind because he goes way back with 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:08.879 Gary, who basically helped him get his start. 00:08:09.420 --> 00:08:11.639 So Alex, jump in here and say a couple of words 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:16.100 here about Gary. Well, I met Gary probably early 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:22.660 70s when he was working with Max Weed, Weed Realty. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:30.339 Oh wow, that's a long time ago. known Gary for 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:34.460 obviously many years, so we've interacted on 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:38.820 a couple of other projects and whatnot, but it 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:46.419 was really a shock. I can remember that day. 00:08:46.419 --> 00:08:48.820 I was out of town and my partner Bob called me 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:53.080 and it was one of the few times I just dropped 00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:54.820 to my knees when I heard that he had been killed. 00:08:56.259 --> 00:08:59.200 It was such a shock for all of us in the Ann 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.200 Arbor area, you know, in the veterans community, 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:02.960 and I'm sure in the builders community was the 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:06.000 same thing, because I know the turnout at his 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:10.399 service was, you know, amazing. And I just, again, 00:09:10.460 --> 00:09:12.960 I want to thank the two of you especially for 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.360 doing this, and we're going to make it a destination 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:17.019 point for all the people who bought those really 00:09:17.019 --> 00:09:18.720 nice houses out there. You're going to be wondering, 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:21.200 what are all these veterans' cars turning around 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.980 and called us back for? But I think they'll know. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:27.460 They'll know how important Gary was to all of 00:09:27.460 --> 00:09:30.879 us in the community. Gary was very well -known 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:35.600 and very well -liked. People will remember Gary 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:41.039 and his name will be there for a very, very long 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:43.600 time. Well, again, on behalf of Veterans Radio 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:45.759 and all of us in the local area, thank you both 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:49.100 very much for doing this. Well, thank you so 00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:52.360 much for having us on today. Thank you. It's 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:56.230 quite an honor to talk about Gary always to remember 00:09:56.230 --> 00:09:58.850 him. He truly was a great guy. I know. I always 00:09:58.850 --> 00:10:02.690 see him running out there with his kilt on and 00:10:02.690 --> 00:10:07.730 so forth. Again, thank you very much. Thank you. 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:14.009 Thank you. Take care. Bye -bye. One of Gary's 00:10:14.009 --> 00:10:17.409 many, many involvements with veterans was the 00:10:17.409 --> 00:10:19.509 idea of suicide. And I know that he and many 00:10:19.509 --> 00:10:22.250 of the other members of the local veteran service 00:10:22.250 --> 00:10:26.250 organizations have helped many, many I guess 00:10:26.250 --> 00:10:28.690 downtrodden and depressed veterans have talked 00:10:28.690 --> 00:10:32.629 them out of committed suicide. There was an article 00:10:32.629 --> 00:10:35.269 this morning in the New York Times, and I thought 00:10:35.269 --> 00:10:38.509 this was really timely. We've talked about suicide 00:10:38.509 --> 00:10:40.629 here on Veterans Radio numerous times, and we're 00:10:40.629 --> 00:10:43.649 trying to make a positive statement here. We 00:10:43.649 --> 00:10:46.990 know that approximately 22 veterans a day are 00:10:46.990 --> 00:10:49.129 committing suicide, which of course is an outrageous 00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:51.629 number, and we can't tolerate that at all. But 00:10:51.629 --> 00:10:54.799 this new generation of veterans has been using 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:56.840 social media to help each other out. And they've 00:10:56.840 --> 00:10:59.980 got a new, I think it's a Facebook page according 00:10:59.980 --> 00:11:01.960 to the article, that's called Buddy Check on 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:07.799 22. And every 22nd of every month, these guys 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:10.460 send out a blast to all of their members of their 00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:13.259 various units that they were in in Iraq and Afghanistan 00:11:13.259 --> 00:11:17.110 and so forth, just checking on them. And they 00:11:17.110 --> 00:11:20.149 won't let it go. If they don't hear back from 00:11:20.149 --> 00:11:22.389 somebody, they'll make personal contacts and 00:11:22.389 --> 00:11:24.529 they'll go in there and talk about this. And 00:11:24.529 --> 00:11:27.250 I'm going to try and get this started. Call this 00:11:27.250 --> 00:11:31.830 guy to be on Veterans Radio. It's E. Michael 00:11:31.830 --> 00:11:34.129 Davis, a former Army Sergeant, greeted his Facebook 00:11:34.129 --> 00:11:36.649 friends one afternoon last night and says, buddy, 00:11:36.870 --> 00:11:41.230 check on 22. Where are my warriors? And he gets 00:11:41.230 --> 00:11:43.330 all these comments back, you know, that I'm out 00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:45.429 in the yard cutting the grass and I'm doing this 00:11:45.429 --> 00:11:48.669 and so forth. And I just think it's really important. 00:11:49.090 --> 00:11:52.029 These men and women have obviously paid a heavy 00:11:52.029 --> 00:11:55.210 price in their multiple deployments. And I think 00:11:55.210 --> 00:11:57.809 that this is a great idea. And I love the one 00:11:57.809 --> 00:12:00.809 that calls by. And one guy just said, you know, 00:12:00.870 --> 00:12:04.340 it says A -OK top. This is from somebody that 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:07.220 was in Texas. So we want to follow up on this 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:08.639 story, and I thought maybe you would like to 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:10.960 do it, too. If you're interested, you can go 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:14.600 to NewYorkTimes .com. It looks like it's page 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:17.759 21 in the national section, and it looks like 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:19.360 a really cool article. So we're going to try 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.740 and get Mr. Davis on the program in the next 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:24.820 couple of weeks to find out more about this buddy 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:28.039 check on 22. Not a bad idea for all of you veterans 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:30.120 out there, you know, that you haven't been in 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:32.000 contact with some of your friends lately over 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.940 the last Oh, I don't know, 40, 50 years. Send 00:12:35.940 --> 00:12:39.120 them out a Facebook request and say, hey, how 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.100 you doing? You'd be surprised. I get a Facebook 00:12:42.100 --> 00:12:46.220 thing from a guy I was in Vietnam with 45 years 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:49.480 ago every week. And it just feels so good to 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:53.460 hear from Larry out there in Texas. And so check 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:55.879 on him. Check on him. Right now, we're going 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:57.580 to take a quick break. And then we'll be back. 00:12:57.620 --> 00:12:59.960 And we're going to find out all about this. helping 00:12:59.960 --> 00:13:02.620 homeless, let's eliminate veteran homelessness. 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:05.220 That's the next event that we're going to be 00:13:05.220 --> 00:13:07.139 talking about coming up on Veterans Radio. We'll 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:20.820 be right back after this quick message. And we're 00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:22.940 back on Veterans Radio and joining me in the 00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:26.080 studio right now is a member of the Silver Star 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:29.549 Event Committee. I guess I put that up there 00:13:29.549 --> 00:13:31.970 and it is Glenn Monroe and Glenn, welcome to 00:13:31.970 --> 00:13:34.629 Veterans Radio. Thanks for having us Dale, appreciate 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:37.330 it. It is a pleasure. I'm so excited for what 00:13:37.330 --> 00:13:40.090 you guys are doing. Tell us how you got involved 00:13:40.090 --> 00:13:42.950 in this event. Okay, well Jordan Reese is where 00:13:42.950 --> 00:13:45.629 Ann Arbor based company. We're a medical supply, 00:13:46.129 --> 00:13:48.470 medical equipment distributor to the VA and Department 00:13:48.470 --> 00:13:51.250 of Defense. We have headquarters here in Michigan. 00:13:52.429 --> 00:13:54.710 We've been working actively behind the scenes 00:13:54.710 --> 00:13:56.409 with a couple different veterans groups over 00:13:56.409 --> 00:13:58.409 the past couple years. just to make sure that 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:02.490 we give back to the community that we serve last 00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:05.990 year being the inaugural flight of honor flight 00:14:05.990 --> 00:14:09.370 out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And more recently, 00:14:09.750 --> 00:14:11.669 we connected with a group out of Toledo, Ohio, 00:14:11.929 --> 00:14:16.250 Veterans Matter. It's a group founded by Ken 00:14:16.250 --> 00:14:18.330 Leslie, who's been a homeless advocate in the 00:14:18.330 --> 00:14:21.629 Toledo area for the past 20 years. And Veterans 00:14:21.629 --> 00:14:24.309 Matter has a unique place in the homelessness 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.759 situation here with the VA. They are actually 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:34.039 able to expedite the deposit for a house. So 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:37.460 the VA works to HUD VASH vouchers, so they're 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:40.220 able to pay for a veteran's housing for a year, 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:44.320 90 % of the veteran's housing for a year. The 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:46.500 problem has always been getting that deposit 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:49.120 for that veteran. Right. We have talked to Ken 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.480 on Veterans Radio a couple of times about this. 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:53.980 It's a great program, folks, and you just got 00:14:53.980 --> 00:14:56.139 to go to veteransmatter .org to find out more 00:14:56.139 --> 00:14:58.379 about it. But yeah, the VA does this wonderful 00:14:58.379 --> 00:15:00.779 thing about providing rent money for homeless 00:15:00.779 --> 00:15:02.639 veterans to live in apartments and houses and 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.320 so forth, but they don't give them the deposit 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:07.580 money. And so this is what this fundraiser is 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:10.879 all about, right? Correct. So we're holding this 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.019 benefit Saturday, May 14th at Father Gabriel 00:15:13.019 --> 00:15:16.080 Rashard from 6 to 9. We're selling tickets right 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:19.379 now that are $25. Those are tax deductible donation 00:15:19.379 --> 00:15:23.059 tickets. You get access to the silent live auction. 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:25.460 It's going to be catered with roving appetizers 00:15:25.460 --> 00:15:28.220 by the Saline High School Culinary Arts Program. 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.519 There's also going to be wine and beer available. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.659 And some of the auction items are going to be 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:38.059 pretty nice. We're going to have some... The 00:15:38.059 --> 00:15:40.360 football tickets with Notre Dame Michigan State 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:43.039 coming up in South Bend here with a two -night 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:47.139 hotel stay. A weekend getaway to Mackinac Island. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:50.460 Some signed memorabilia. David Bowie signed guitar. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:53.759 Things of that nature. So there's a lot of good 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.659 things up for charity and every dollar since 00:15:56.659 --> 00:15:59.139 we have nice good corporate sponsorship. And 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:02.100 I'd like to mention Phillips Respironics Healthcare 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:05.320 is our main corporate sponsor and has allowed 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:07.840 us to be able to basically pay for the event. 00:16:08.059 --> 00:16:11.220 So your dollars at the event go directly to Veterans 00:16:11.220 --> 00:16:14.240 Matter and Housing Veterans that day. Well, I 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:17.379 know when I met with you folks last week, I guess 00:16:17.379 --> 00:16:21.559 it was that 100 % of this $25 donation goes directly 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:25.179 to Veterans Matter. Correct. So this is unusual 00:16:25.179 --> 00:16:28.159 for many fundraisers. They usually are fees and 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:30.840 so forth that are involved. And I know that you 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:32.840 and the rest of your team has been working very 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:35.779 hard to get local people involved. Yes, we have, 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.820 and the outreach has been great and we appreciate 00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:40.720 being out here and being able to speak to your 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.759 audience today. Veterans Matter has a small administrative 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:48.120 cost to providing those veterans a deposit, but 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:52.779 I think at 17 to 18 percent of that dollar going 00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:54.960 towards administrative costs, we've all heard 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.779 recently charities that are taking much higher 00:16:57.779 --> 00:17:00.059 administrative costs. It's very nice to see that. 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:02.909 Well, we certainly appreciate what you are doing 00:17:02.909 --> 00:17:05.509 and I understand in addition we've got this is 00:17:05.509 --> 00:17:09.250 on Saturday, May 14th from 6 till 9 o 'clock 00:17:09.250 --> 00:17:11.910 at Father Gabriel Richard High School which is 00:17:11.910 --> 00:17:17.089 in Ann Arbor just east of Ann Arbor off of Plymouth 00:17:17.089 --> 00:17:20.670 Road and 23, right? You go up to the Domino's 00:17:20.670 --> 00:17:22.269 Farms. Right next to the Domino's Farms, yes. 00:17:22.329 --> 00:17:25.529 You turn actually into that entrance there. Okay. 00:17:25.990 --> 00:17:28.369 And you mentioned that there is going to be a 00:17:28.369 --> 00:17:31.880 silent auction with great stuff. Yep. At Silent 00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:33.420 Auction there's going to be some items that are 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:37.500 going to be out there like gift baskets and barbecue 00:17:37.500 --> 00:17:39.740 grills and there's just so much I can't even 00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:41.980 list it right now but the live auction pieces 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:44.839 there's going to be quite a few nice event pieces 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:48.299 there and memorabilia items so come out and be 00:17:48.299 --> 00:17:50.539 able to give directly to Veterans Matter. Let's 00:17:50.539 --> 00:17:54.319 suppose that I were a corporate person with a 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:56.039 lot of money and things and I wanted to give 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:57.680 you some money. How would I go about helping 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.269 you guys out? Well, you can definitely reach 00:18:00.269 --> 00:18:04.569 out to us at SilverStarEvent .org, and there's 00:18:04.569 --> 00:18:07.509 a place there to contact us directly. You're 00:18:07.509 --> 00:18:10.789 able to give via the website, and folks that 00:18:10.789 --> 00:18:13.789 are not able to attend the event, you can text 00:18:13.789 --> 00:18:20.210 HOME, the number 4, GOOD. to 41444 and be able 00:18:20.210 --> 00:18:22.809 to give directly to Veterans Matter through the 00:18:22.809 --> 00:18:24.529 Silver Star Event. So there's many ways to get 00:18:24.529 --> 00:18:26.450 involved. If you're a corporate sponsor, please 00:18:26.450 --> 00:18:28.009 reach out through the website and if you'd like 00:18:28.009 --> 00:18:29.730 to give directly and you can't make the event, 00:18:30.549 --> 00:18:32.670 you're able to do so through the website as well. 00:18:33.009 --> 00:18:37.269 Okay, so this is... we go to what's the website 00:18:37.269 --> 00:18:41.289 again? SilverStarEvent .org. Oh, that'll explain 00:18:41.289 --> 00:18:44.829 why I couldn't find it. We also have a Facebook 00:18:44.829 --> 00:18:49.490 page at Silver Star Event. Okay, so all right, 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:53.609 here we go. The other one was an old people's 00:18:53.609 --> 00:18:56.829 home. Not that any of us in the room are old. 00:18:57.829 --> 00:19:01.390 Certainly not me, right? And so I can make a 00:19:01.390 --> 00:19:03.289 donation online even though I can't go to the 00:19:03.289 --> 00:19:06.250 event. Correct. You can buy your tickets online. 00:19:06.450 --> 00:19:08.329 You'll also be able to buy tickets at the door. 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.400 Tickets are going quickly now, now that we've 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:14.579 been out there and advertising actively for the 00:19:14.579 --> 00:19:18.180 past three weeks. So reserve your spot. We're 00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:21.259 expecting 200 to 250 people to join us that evening. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:24.740 Wow. And everybody's welcome. That's great. I 00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:26.880 think that's a great opportunity. So this is 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.380 the first annual Silver Star event, a benefit 00:19:29.380 --> 00:19:31.480 for Veterans Matter, Health Eliminates Veteran 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:33.519 Homelessness. This is what we've been talking 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:35.400 about. And we're going to talk a little bit about 00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:37.059 this when we get into the next segment of the 00:19:37.059 --> 00:19:42.170 program, too. There are so many civilian organizations 00:19:42.170 --> 00:19:44.930 that are actively involved in trying to help 00:19:44.930 --> 00:19:48.990 out this situation. There seems to be no reason 00:19:48.990 --> 00:19:53.529 why there should be any place where a veteran 00:19:53.529 --> 00:19:56.430 should be homeless. What you touched on earlier, 00:19:57.390 --> 00:19:59.750 when we were speaking individually, really hit 00:19:59.750 --> 00:20:01.650 home. A lot of these guys are coming back and 00:20:01.650 --> 00:20:03.430 having to deal with so many traumas and then 00:20:03.430 --> 00:20:06.539 trying to reacclimate to life. Some of those 00:20:06.539 --> 00:20:10.099 pressures make it overwhelming to be able to 00:20:10.099 --> 00:20:12.559 become an active member of society again after 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:14.779 they've been plucked out for their time in multiple 00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:19.339 deployments in the sandbox and overseas. So it's 00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:20.980 difficult to get plugged back and acclimated 00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:23.140 to life, and a lot of these guys fall on hard 00:20:23.140 --> 00:20:25.740 times. The best part about the VA program and 00:20:25.740 --> 00:20:27.619 getting these guys housed immediately is once 00:20:27.619 --> 00:20:30.400 they have an address. you can bring all the services 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:32.839 of the VA to bear, whether it's substance abuse, 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:36.119 PTSD, medical care, those kind of things, job 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:38.299 training, getting them back to a productive, 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:40.779 healthy life, and hopefully stemming off some 00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:44.759 of that suicide. Yes, absolutely. And also, this 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:46.900 is not just for men, by the way, folks. This 00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:48.319 is for the women veterans because there are a 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:50.119 lot more women veterans out there coming back 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:52.160 from this conflict than there has ever been. 00:20:52.259 --> 00:20:55.160 Correct. And again, as I mentioned in the other 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:57.700 part of our interview in the next segment, we're 00:20:57.700 --> 00:20:59.160 going to be talking about some of those women 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:01.140 and the organizations that they have put together. 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:03.299 But I want to go back to Veterans Matter for 00:21:03.299 --> 00:21:06.940 just a moment. And in talking with Ken, I don't 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:09.119 know if this is kind of a blind question for 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:12.559 you, but I know his goal was to house at least 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:15.180 a thousand veterans by the end of the year. Do 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:17.019 you know if we... We've already achieved that. 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:19.920 Oh, that's great. Well, fortunately, you know, 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.380 I work for a company that does a lot of things 00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:25.279 behind the scenes, Jordan Reese's, but we've 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.299 given over the past year about $200 ,000 to Veterans 00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:31.039 Matter, and Ken has kind of been our mouthpiece 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:32.839 out there, but he has many different supporters, 00:21:33.059 --> 00:21:35.420 be it Mitch Album in the community here, Kid 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:37.700 Rock, Katy Perry, those kind of celebrities out 00:21:37.700 --> 00:21:40.539 there supporting Veterans Matter. And he was 00:21:40.539 --> 00:21:42.779 able to cross the thousand veteran threshold. 00:21:42.940 --> 00:21:45.720 And that's just veterans, not including their 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:48.119 families, that they've been able to house. So 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:50.440 I know we're well on the way. We want to get 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.819 all those guys housed. We have still over, I 00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:56.359 believe, over 47 ,000 homeless veterans out there, 00:21:56.940 --> 00:21:59.140 closer to 50 ,000 homeless veterans that are 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:02.200 still out there. That's an outrageous number. 00:22:04.669 --> 00:22:07.829 It is. It's unacceptable. That's the term I was 00:22:07.829 --> 00:22:09.910 looking for right there. It's unacceptable. Guys 00:22:09.910 --> 00:22:11.970 that have done so much. My father was a Vietnam 00:22:11.970 --> 00:22:14.329 veteran. He didn't ask to be drafted, but he 00:22:14.329 --> 00:22:17.049 was drafted. He served honorably. He came back. 00:22:18.009 --> 00:22:19.990 Usually not to a welcome home, a lot of those 00:22:19.990 --> 00:22:22.589 guys. Fortunately, we as a country have stepped 00:22:22.589 --> 00:22:24.390 up and done a whole lot better on that front 00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:27.849 as far as welcoming these veterans home. But 00:22:27.849 --> 00:22:32.049 we still have an unpaid debt to get these guys 00:22:32.049 --> 00:22:34.150 housed. Right. Well, one of the things we've 00:22:34.150 --> 00:22:35.970 always talked about here on Veterans Radio is 00:22:35.970 --> 00:22:38.009 obviously helping veterans any way that we can. 00:22:39.769 --> 00:22:41.789 Because if you want to keep a strong military, 00:22:42.349 --> 00:22:45.049 you've got to take care of them. You're asking 00:22:45.049 --> 00:22:47.509 them to go out and put their life on the line. 00:22:48.529 --> 00:22:51.190 And then when they get home, one of the problems 00:22:51.190 --> 00:22:52.750 that so many veterans have is that they feel 00:22:52.750 --> 00:22:55.170 like they're alone. And I think that the idea 00:22:55.170 --> 00:22:58.430 of these types of projects that you've got going 00:22:58.829 --> 00:23:02.029 here because I know that we are talking to many 00:23:02.029 --> 00:23:04.390 of the different universities in the area to 00:23:04.390 --> 00:23:06.309 their student veteran groups and inviting them 00:23:06.309 --> 00:23:09.769 to come out and support the program and so on 00:23:09.769 --> 00:23:12.809 and so forth. I just think that I'm so impressed 00:23:12.809 --> 00:23:15.529 with across the country with the different organizations 00:23:15.529 --> 00:23:18.089 that are stepping up to help this generation 00:23:18.089 --> 00:23:20.589 of veterans and I know that a lot of them are 00:23:20.589 --> 00:23:24.289 being sponsored and motivated by the Vietnam 00:23:24.289 --> 00:23:26.980 era veterans. Because they they want to make 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:30.220 sure that this never happens again And so this 00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:33.059 is I mean, this is this is our goal. It was powerful. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:35.519 It was powerful for me I mean as a I served in 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.920 the Air Force but hearing my father Talk about 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:40.880 his time of service and really the service coming 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:43.440 back and trying to transition into life. It just 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:46.839 is it's heartbreaking and These guys shouldn't 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:49.299 have to deal with that and they sure as heck 00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:51.420 shouldn't have to deal with not having an address 00:23:52.909 --> 00:23:55.410 It turns out that that address is really important. 00:23:55.710 --> 00:23:58.109 Again, talking to our veteran audience out there 00:23:58.109 --> 00:23:59.910 is to make sure that you have an address. Also, 00:23:59.970 --> 00:24:02.529 to make sure that you register with the VA, go 00:24:02.529 --> 00:24:04.829 over there because you are entitled to benefits, 00:24:04.890 --> 00:24:07.049 whether you know it or not. You're entitled whether 00:24:07.049 --> 00:24:09.990 you are wounded or not wounded, but you have 00:24:09.990 --> 00:24:15.559 the ability to utilize the VA's facilities. top, 00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:17.799 top notch. I know here in Ann Arbor, we're very 00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:20.539 fortunate that we have, you know, a great hospital 00:24:20.539 --> 00:24:22.839 attached to a great university and you can get 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:25.359 the best of care here. So I encourage everybody 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.380 to, again, mark down on your calendar, Saturday, 00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:31.819 May 14th, 2016, from 6 o 'clock to 9 p .m. at 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:34.700 Father Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:39.150 Or you can go to SilverStarEvent .org. Find out 00:24:39.150 --> 00:24:41.250 all the information buy your tickets online make 00:24:41.250 --> 00:24:43.730 your donation away start throwing money at these 00:24:43.730 --> 00:24:45.930 people they need the money Because they want 00:24:45.930 --> 00:24:47.910 to help these guys and come out and join us because 00:24:47.910 --> 00:24:49.690 you're gonna do we're gonna have a lot of veterans 00:24:49.690 --> 00:24:51.210 out there Then you're gonna be able to see that 00:24:51.210 --> 00:24:55.430 support Okay, well, we're There's the music. 00:24:55.670 --> 00:24:57.349 So we're coming up to the bottom of the hour 00:24:57.349 --> 00:24:59.529 and Glenn Monroe I want to thank you very much 00:24:59.529 --> 00:25:01.569 for being on the program and thank all of the 00:25:01.569 --> 00:25:03.490 people at Jordan Reese's and all the people at 00:25:03.490 --> 00:25:06.670 veterans matter and Hopefully we can make an 00:25:06.670 --> 00:25:08.190 appearance at this one. I think it would sounds 00:25:08.190 --> 00:25:10.210 like it would be really fun It would be a worthwhile 00:25:10.210 --> 00:25:12.109 cause. So thanks. Thanks Dale. We look forward 00:25:12.109 --> 00:25:14.529 to seeing you. Okay All right. We're gonna take 00:25:14.529 --> 00:25:17.269 a break here for the news and we'll be right 00:25:17.269 --> 00:25:19.450 back with my other guest Which is Robert Miller 00:25:19.450 --> 00:25:31.440 and his book all about veteran stories And we're 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.039 back on Veterans Radio and my name is Dale Throneberry 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:36.019 and I get to be the host today and I'm really 00:25:36.019 --> 00:25:39.680 excited to welcome our next guest to the program. 00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:42.039 If you want to get in on the conversation you 00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:44.079 can give us a call here at Veterans Radio at 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:51.180 734 -822 -1600. The name of the book is Veterans 00:25:51.180 --> 00:25:53.359 Voices and as you know here at Veterans Radio 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:55.539 this is what we've been doing for 13 years. We 00:25:55.539 --> 00:25:58.640 tell stories. and we let you tell your stories. 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:01.000 And so I was very excited to hear about this 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:02.960 book and then to find out that the author lives 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:04.819 just down the road I thought was really kind 00:26:04.819 --> 00:26:07.539 of cool. And so let me give you a little press 00:26:07.539 --> 00:26:09.519 release that I received a little bit about it 00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:12.079 and then I'll introduce my guest. So it says, 00:26:13.259 --> 00:26:15.619 Veterans Voices Remarkable Stories of Heroism 00:26:15.619 --> 00:26:17.839 Sacrifice and Honor. By the way, this book is 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:20.099 published by National Geographic, which is really 00:26:20.099 --> 00:26:24.759 kind of cool, I think. And according to Robert 00:26:24.759 --> 00:26:27.119 Duvall, All of you like Robert Duvall, right? 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:30.000 We all do that, too. He was the, you know, the 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:32.339 Colonel in the apocalypse now. But he says, veterans 00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:35.519 voices is a mighty read with images that inspire 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:38.019 the soul, giving our servicemen and women a platform 00:26:38.019 --> 00:26:40.500 to share their personal stories of resilience 00:26:40.500 --> 00:26:43.279 is necessary to understand our country's freedom 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:46.160 because it's because of their courage, loyalty 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:49.079 and sacrifice that we can unite to preserve the 00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:51.000 important values that makes America a beacon 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:55.680 of hope. Perfect. Alright, so my guest in the 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:59.640 studio right now is Robert H. Miller, and Rob, 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:02.779 is welcome to Veterans Radio. Thank you very 00:27:02.779 --> 00:27:05.000 much for having me. I appreciate it very much. 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:08.299 So tell me how this book got started. I know 00:27:08.299 --> 00:27:10.039 that you are an author and a photographer. I 00:27:10.039 --> 00:27:11.359 didn't mention that to our audience, but this 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:14.220 is what you do for a living, so tell me about 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:16.059 it. Well, I do. I have actually two careers, 00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:20.359 but this is my favorite career. Basically what 00:27:20.359 --> 00:27:23.519 happened is this all kickstarted in 1994 when 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:27.680 my father suddenly passed away. When he passed 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:30.079 away I knew that he was a prisoner of war and 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:33.240 what happened was about three weeks into after 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:36.640 you bury your father and you kind of mourn, you 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:39.880 do all this, my mom brought out this POW journal 00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:42.619 that I really didn't know anything about and 00:27:42.619 --> 00:27:47.380 she gave it to me and I opened it up and I literally 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:50.130 started almost crying when I read it because 00:27:50.130 --> 00:27:52.950 it was heartfelt, it was very emotional and it 00:27:52.950 --> 00:27:56.210 was his time when he was in Stalag 7A in Germany 00:27:56.210 --> 00:27:59.230 in a prison camp. And I didn't really understand 00:27:59.230 --> 00:28:02.730 it at the time and I had four kids bouncing around 00:28:02.730 --> 00:28:04.910 the house at that time, actually five because 00:28:04.910 --> 00:28:08.789 my youngest was just born. And basically what 00:28:08.789 --> 00:28:10.869 happened was is that I kind of shelfed the book 00:28:10.869 --> 00:28:14.109 and pulled it out and 13 years later I decided 00:28:14.109 --> 00:28:18.420 to read the book. And it led me on to developing 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:21.839 a story about my dad which was based on research 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:24.220 and it was called Hidden Hell, discovering my 00:28:24.220 --> 00:28:27.880 father's POW diary. And at the time I had a really 00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:30.059 unique job which allowed me to go to Europe all 00:28:30.059 --> 00:28:32.640 the time. And so what I did was I retraced my 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:36.619 father's every step, every step from Boston all 00:28:36.619 --> 00:28:39.400 the way. and I wrote that book and it started 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:42.799 my quest on understanding what veterans go through 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:46.460 especially my father and it gave me a real interest 00:28:46.460 --> 00:28:49.160 in this particular topic. I think it's interesting 00:28:49.160 --> 00:28:51.279 we were talking just before we came on the air 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:53.579 about this and you know once when I found out 00:28:53.579 --> 00:28:55.640 what my father had done during during World War 00:28:55.640 --> 00:28:57.619 II was a very similar story it's such an emotional 00:28:57.619 --> 00:28:59.940 thing because it's not normally the side that 00:28:59.940 --> 00:29:03.299 we see of our parents you know the insight and 00:29:03.299 --> 00:29:07.920 so forth you know they're just dead. And so from 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:11.279 that led to, what's next? Yeah, after I did that 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:14.339 book, I actually partnered up with a gentleman 00:29:14.339 --> 00:29:17.839 named Andrew Wakeford. And we actually, I met 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:20.380 Helen Patton, who was the granddaughter of the 00:29:20.380 --> 00:29:24.400 iconic George Patton on the beach of Normandy 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:27.799 on the 65th anniversary. And she heard about 00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:31.079 my book and I started a relationship with her. 00:29:31.420 --> 00:29:34.380 Andrew Wakeford was actually involved with her 00:29:34.380 --> 00:29:36.880 too and Andrew is a professional photographer 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:39.740 and a good writer and him and I became instant 00:29:39.740 --> 00:29:42.500 friends. So over a period of a year and a half 00:29:42.500 --> 00:29:45.019 we decided to write another book together about 00:29:45.019 --> 00:29:47.700 veterans called Portraits of Service and that 00:29:47.700 --> 00:29:50.019 was about 80 some veterans and we interviewed 00:29:50.019 --> 00:29:52.819 veterans from all around the world shot a beautiful 00:29:52.819 --> 00:29:55.779 photograph but we put the short poignant heartfelt 00:29:55.779 --> 00:29:59.259 stories into the book and what happened was We 00:29:59.259 --> 00:30:02.480 are debuting the book at the book festival in 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:05.220 New York City, the largest one, and National 00:30:05.220 --> 00:30:08.579 Geographic saw it and traced us down, and I kept 00:30:08.579 --> 00:30:10.900 turning National Geographic down for a year, 00:30:11.180 --> 00:30:13.480 but they wanted to do a book very similar, but 00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:16.380 with their own natural National Geographic blending 00:30:16.380 --> 00:30:19.380 to it. So finally we engaged with them, which 00:30:19.380 --> 00:30:22.279 is the greatest thing ever, and we've created 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:24.980 Veterans Voices, which will be released officially 00:30:24.980 --> 00:30:28.619 next Tuesday. April 26. We're headed a curve, 00:30:28.940 --> 00:30:31.180 folks. Yep. Yeah, you're exactly. And it's a 00:30:31.180 --> 00:30:33.380 global book, so it'll be available all around 00:30:33.380 --> 00:30:35.640 the world where National Geographic books are 00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:38.400 sold. So it's pretty exciting. I would think 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:40.799 it's very exciting. It's a beautiful book. It 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:44.220 is truly a beautiful book. And you got a really 00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:46.900 great forward by Bob Woodruff, who has been on 00:30:46.900 --> 00:30:49.119 our program also from the Woodruff Foundation. 00:30:49.180 --> 00:30:52.900 He was a reporter who was injured in Iraq. I 00:30:52.900 --> 00:30:58.460 believe it was Iraq. set up this foundation to 00:30:58.460 --> 00:31:00.859 help veterans and to help people, especially 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:04.240 with traumatic brain injury. And so tell me, 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:07.420 because you've got, I forget the number of people 00:31:07.420 --> 00:31:10.279 that are in this story in the book itself, but 00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:12.880 did you talk to each one of them in person or 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:14.980 was it by phone or how did this work? No, everybody 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:18.660 was vetted out and researched. We have a selection 00:31:18.660 --> 00:31:21.519 of people and veterans in the book, male, female, 00:31:22.019 --> 00:31:24.849 homeless. non -homeless, everyday people, and 00:31:24.849 --> 00:31:27.609 also some very well -known people like actor 00:31:27.609 --> 00:31:30.710 Chuck Norris and Michael Humphreys, who was the 00:31:30.710 --> 00:31:33.069 child star for the young Forrest Gump. Right. 00:31:33.190 --> 00:31:35.190 I read that this morning. I said, oh, I know 00:31:35.190 --> 00:31:39.069 that guy. And really, everybody was talked to 00:31:39.069 --> 00:31:41.990 or visited and interviewed and photographed. 00:31:42.569 --> 00:31:45.650 But we did, Andrew and I have had the pleasure 00:31:45.650 --> 00:31:49.690 of almost 600 veteran interviews in the last 00:31:49.690 --> 00:31:53.049 five and a half years. So we were looking for 00:31:53.049 --> 00:31:55.349 unusual stories, but we were one looking with 00:31:55.349 --> 00:31:58.170 our editors at National Geographic that we could 00:31:58.170 --> 00:32:02.329 convey a total story package. And in there, for 00:32:02.329 --> 00:32:05.309 example, Glenn, who was just on your show, talked 00:32:05.309 --> 00:32:08.910 about the male homeless. Well, we actually have 00:32:08.910 --> 00:32:11.529 female homeless veterans, and most of the people 00:32:11.529 --> 00:32:15.329 don't know, but there's about 11 ,800 homeless 00:32:15.329 --> 00:32:18.410 female veterans at one time on the streets of 00:32:18.410 --> 00:32:21.400 this country. And we have their individual stories 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:24.940 as well. So there's a great mix of veterans. 00:32:25.500 --> 00:32:30.119 There's tons of interest in every one of their 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:33.059 stories on how much pain and post -traumatic 00:32:33.059 --> 00:32:35.640 stress that has been really involved with them. 00:32:36.019 --> 00:32:39.079 And every one is heart -moving in my estimation. 00:32:39.799 --> 00:32:43.359 What I like about it is it isn't all of the big 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:45.980 -name veterans that we may have heard of in the 00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:49.640 past or may have heard recently. It's about the 00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:51.500 ordinary people, as we always say in this program, 00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:53.460 who have done extraordinary things in the service 00:32:53.460 --> 00:32:56.500 of their country. And you mentioned the idea 00:32:56.500 --> 00:33:02.119 of the homeless women veterans, and you've got 00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:03.960 a story in here that seems like I can find her 00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:06.859 name here. It looks like Jazz Booth. Yes. Right? 00:33:06.940 --> 00:33:09.960 Tell me about Jazz Booth. Wow, Jazz. Jazz is 00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:12.259 a very good friend now because we communicate 00:33:12.259 --> 00:33:15.359 probably monthly and we stay in touch. But Jazz... 00:33:15.420 --> 00:33:19.319 actually was going to be deployed to Kosovo and 00:33:19.319 --> 00:33:22.039 she was living in New Orleans and what happened 00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:26.519 was she just was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:30.180 and she was serving in the military. Hurricane 00:33:30.180 --> 00:33:32.940 Katrina came in and slammed in and she became 00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:36.359 instantly homeless and lost everything along 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:40.170 with having a young child she was divorced and 00:33:40.170 --> 00:33:43.789 she literally became homeless and then she was 00:33:43.789 --> 00:33:47.109 going to be deployed but couldn't. So a long 00:33:47.109 --> 00:33:50.829 story short there, Jazz was faced with a terrible 00:33:50.829 --> 00:33:54.450 situation of being homeless because she was not 00:33:54.450 --> 00:33:57.029 on active duty and she kind of fell between the 00:33:57.029 --> 00:34:00.230 cracks. And what happened was is she started 00:34:00.230 --> 00:34:03.509 an organization called Final Salute and what 00:34:03.509 --> 00:34:07.369 she was concerned about was having other female 00:34:07.369 --> 00:34:10.329 veterans not be in this situation, whether they've 00:34:10.329 --> 00:34:12.510 been deployed or they come home and they're not, 00:34:12.809 --> 00:34:14.750 you know, maybe they're only on reserves but 00:34:14.750 --> 00:34:16.909 they don't have a mechanism in place because 00:34:16.909 --> 00:34:19.449 their education's not high enough, whatever the 00:34:19.449 --> 00:34:22.630 case might be. And she started a tremendously 00:34:22.630 --> 00:34:25.809 good organization with two, actually three houses 00:34:25.809 --> 00:34:28.539 now. very large houses that have been donated. 00:34:29.019 --> 00:34:31.960 And she takes in female homeless veterans and 00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:34.579 puts them on the feet, help them to get jobs, 00:34:34.739 --> 00:34:37.199 does any education and training, gives them some 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:40.079 living quarters, and then they go ahead and start 00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:44.079 to get their lives organized. So Jazz has been 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:47.159 really a beacon for this type of thing, and she 00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:49.880 gives everything to everybody else and actually 00:34:49.880 --> 00:34:53.480 puts herself. second but she's an amazing person 00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:56.079 and Oprah has even actually Oprah Winfrey has 00:34:56.079 --> 00:34:59.500 acknowledged her and given her a special award 00:34:59.500 --> 00:35:02.239 for all the things that she's done so she's quite 00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:04.179 a gal. I need to point out that all of these 00:35:04.179 --> 00:35:06.980 veterans are not just recent veterans you've 00:35:06.980 --> 00:35:09.119 got World War II you've got Korea you've got 00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:12.159 Vietnam you've got Iraq, Afghanistan, you've 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:14.579 got the first Gulf War, you've got Kosovo, you've 00:35:14.579 --> 00:35:17.380 got everything. It's all across the spectrum 00:35:17.380 --> 00:35:20.039 and many of them I found really surprising because 00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:22.320 I didn't even know that sometimes that the Army 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:25.239 was in. Columbia or wherever it happened to be. 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:27.679 Exactly. You know, and it's really interesting 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:29.960 is that every one of these veterans when you 00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:31.960 start interviewing them, it's like peeling back 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:35.199 an onion. They all have a story, but all of them 00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:38.579 have heartache. Everybody who's served that's 00:35:38.579 --> 00:35:41.639 been in a traumatic situation really comes home 00:35:41.639 --> 00:35:44.400 with scars that are quite unusual. And to keep 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:47.639 that in for the rest of their lives, I don't 00:35:47.639 --> 00:35:50.489 know how they do it, you know? I don't know. 00:35:50.909 --> 00:35:53.090 It just took me a long time to realize that you 00:35:53.090 --> 00:35:57.550 can't keep it in all the time. And I was just... 00:35:57.550 --> 00:36:00.610 I can't remember the name. One of the stories 00:36:00.610 --> 00:36:02.590 in here that I found really fascinating was a 00:36:02.590 --> 00:36:06.010 guy that was involved with the Ghost Army during 00:36:06.010 --> 00:36:11.849 World War II, right? And he eventually came out 00:36:11.849 --> 00:36:15.110 of the service... The Ghost Army was, for our 00:36:15.110 --> 00:36:18.150 listeners real quickly, were fake tanks and airplanes 00:36:18.150 --> 00:36:22.989 and people and everything else that Patton actually 00:36:22.989 --> 00:36:25.889 was in charge of to fool the Germans and to think 00:36:25.889 --> 00:36:30.449 that we were going to attack France in a different 00:36:30.449 --> 00:36:33.750 place. Right. Short version, if I can get it 00:36:33.750 --> 00:36:37.190 right. But then he eventually, was he the one 00:36:37.190 --> 00:36:39.090 that ended up working with the CIA? Exactly. 00:36:39.469 --> 00:36:42.090 Yeah, he was involved totally with the CIA and 00:36:42.090 --> 00:36:45.409 counterintelligence. And he actually got involved 00:36:45.409 --> 00:36:49.570 in espionage and actually camouflaging of humans. 00:36:50.329 --> 00:36:52.929 And he could reconstruct ears and noses and give 00:36:52.929 --> 00:36:55.650 a total different face. And if you've ever watched 00:36:55.650 --> 00:37:00.730 the series on FX called The Americans and all 00:37:00.730 --> 00:37:02.829 the counterintelligent with the Russians and 00:37:02.829 --> 00:37:05.710 the disguises. This is what it was all about 00:37:05.710 --> 00:37:09.210 with him. He went into prosthetics after that. 00:37:09.230 --> 00:37:12.570 Exactly. He is one of the best prosthetic manufacturers 00:37:12.570 --> 00:37:16.710 for actual custom prosthetics for people who 00:37:16.710 --> 00:37:18.989 need help from the military who've lost a limb 00:37:18.989 --> 00:37:21.130 or whatever. I know. I'm trying to find it in 00:37:21.130 --> 00:37:24.130 here. This guy was amazing. He does ears and 00:37:24.130 --> 00:37:28.429 hands and noses and eyeballs and all kinds of 00:37:28.429 --> 00:37:32.440 things. It's a great little story. And so you 00:37:32.440 --> 00:37:35.019 can go from him, but then you also go to the 00:37:35.019 --> 00:37:38.260 Chuck Norris character from he was in the Korean 00:37:38.260 --> 00:37:41.320 War. Yeah, you know, it was really interesting 00:37:41.320 --> 00:37:44.059 speaking to Chuck. And I talked to Chuck still, 00:37:44.119 --> 00:37:45.960 I've talked to him like three times since his 00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:49.019 interview. You know, he's a well -known actor, 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:51.300 but he's incredibly shy and he's one of the most 00:37:51.300 --> 00:37:53.539 genuine, honest people you've ever wanted to 00:37:53.539 --> 00:37:57.199 meet. And basically, what his story was is he 00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:00.920 was really good at martial arts. He really had 00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:03.860 an interest in it and he ended up training with 00:38:03.860 --> 00:38:08.900 that. And he had so much anxiety just to come 00:38:08.900 --> 00:38:12.079 into play with martial arts because he never 00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:13.639 thought he was good enough. He never thought 00:38:13.639 --> 00:38:16.659 he could do these things. and when he joined 00:38:16.659 --> 00:38:19.840 actually was into the military in korea he started 00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:22.900 looking even more with the taekwondo and all 00:38:22.900 --> 00:38:25.699 of a sudden it just clicked on him and he gained 00:38:25.699 --> 00:38:28.619 the confidence and he gained you know the ability 00:38:28.619 --> 00:38:31.039 to really understand and he had a framework in 00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:33.500 the military that gave him a left and a right 00:38:33.500 --> 00:38:38.550 side so he credits his military involvement with 00:38:38.550 --> 00:38:41.190 the martial arts to his overall success sort 00:38:41.190 --> 00:38:44.050 of like cracking an egg open that allowed him 00:38:44.050 --> 00:38:47.349 to grow and become eventually an actor because 00:38:47.349 --> 00:38:49.769 you know how things turn right somebody knows 00:38:49.769 --> 00:38:52.050 there were there were many stories like that 00:38:52.050 --> 00:38:54.449 how the military turned these people's lives 00:38:54.449 --> 00:38:57.889 around one way first of all is when they joined 00:38:57.889 --> 00:39:01.340 and then secondly when they came back Right, 00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:04.000 and what had occurred to them overseas and whatever 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:06.019 their conflict happened to be. We've got to take 00:39:06.019 --> 00:39:09.500 a real quick break here. We're talking with Robert 00:39:09.500 --> 00:39:12.599 Miller. He's one of the authors of Veterans Voices, 00:39:12.739 --> 00:39:15.119 a new book coming out this coming Tuesday published 00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:17.820 by National Geographic. We're going to take a 00:39:17.820 --> 00:39:20.019 real quick break and we'll be right back. You're 00:39:20.019 --> 00:39:22.989 listening to Veterans Radio. We're back on Veterans 00:39:22.989 --> 00:39:24.710 Radio. I'm going to get to be your host today. 00:39:24.869 --> 00:39:27.130 My name is Dale Throneberry and my guest is Robert 00:39:27.130 --> 00:39:29.570 H. Miller. He's one of the authors of Veterans 00:39:29.570 --> 00:39:31.530 Voices and I better give Andrew Wakeford some 00:39:31.530 --> 00:39:33.630 credit there too. I think he had something to 00:39:33.630 --> 00:39:37.329 do with it. And it's a remarkable story of heroism, 00:39:37.489 --> 00:39:40.769 sacrifice and honor is what the PR piece came 00:39:40.769 --> 00:39:43.269 with it. But we've talked about some of the people 00:39:43.269 --> 00:39:46.289 that are involved and I was fascinated by one 00:39:46.289 --> 00:39:50.050 of the stories of Vernice Armour and Vernice 00:39:50.050 --> 00:39:53.940 was a pilot. Right in the Marines and not only 00:39:53.940 --> 00:39:55.780 was she a pilot, but she was the first black 00:39:55.780 --> 00:39:59.000 pilot and Unfortunately, she lost both of her 00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:05.320 legs. Yes She did and remarkable woman Remarkable 00:40:05.320 --> 00:40:09.480 ability to move on and actually win over triumph, 00:40:09.539 --> 00:40:15.900 you know, she She was lots of trauma lots of 00:40:15.900 --> 00:40:18.719 anger lots of a lot of things and I can imagine 00:40:18.719 --> 00:40:21.989 if you would lose all your legs and just could 00:40:21.989 --> 00:40:25.670 never do it again but she was the ability to 00:40:25.670 --> 00:40:27.969 pick things up and move forward and start a life 00:40:27.969 --> 00:40:33.510 and she is actually her story has meant a good 00:40:33.510 --> 00:40:36.090 breath to the book itself because it gave us 00:40:36.090 --> 00:40:39.110 a foundation to say wow here's somebody who's 00:40:39.110 --> 00:40:41.889 really had trauma who's really turned her life 00:40:41.889 --> 00:40:45.610 around and can live her example to go forward 00:40:45.610 --> 00:40:48.559 and actually you know come out of this whole 00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:50.940 thing and actually put a smile on her face and 00:40:50.940 --> 00:40:53.039 being the accomplishment of being one of the 00:40:53.039 --> 00:40:56.119 first black pilots, that's a huge accomplishment. 00:40:56.239 --> 00:41:00.139 And she's given a lot to that. And then if you 00:41:00.139 --> 00:41:02.840 couple that story with the other story, there's 00:41:02.840 --> 00:41:06.440 another story in there called Brian Forney. And 00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:12.440 Brian is an individual that actually was on a 00:41:12.440 --> 00:41:16.389 training mission. in Taiwan and he was practicing. 00:41:16.550 --> 00:41:20.929 He was on a chinook. Exactly. And what happened 00:41:20.929 --> 00:41:23.949 was that he was trying to land on one wheel to 00:41:23.949 --> 00:41:27.889 show. Wins caught it and his rotor hit the tree. 00:41:28.590 --> 00:41:31.170 And basically what happened was a fireball and 00:41:31.170 --> 00:41:35.030 he was actually trapped and given up for dead 00:41:35.030 --> 00:41:37.949 after some of the guys and the gals got out. 00:41:38.369 --> 00:41:41.010 But they ended up seeing his legs and they were 00:41:41.010 --> 00:41:45.760 able to pull him out. And Brian is a remarkable 00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:48.280 person and reminds me of Bernice as well. You 00:41:48.280 --> 00:41:51.500 know, his fortitude of survival was the most 00:41:51.500 --> 00:41:53.960 important thing for him. I mean, that was saving 00:41:53.960 --> 00:41:57.619 him. I mean, he literally lost his arm. He has 00:41:57.619 --> 00:42:00.820 severely burnt legs, which will require a brace 00:42:00.820 --> 00:42:04.099 on both for the rest of his life. Plastic surgery, 00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:07.579 I think he's had 160 surgeries. Yet he remains 00:42:07.579 --> 00:42:10.800 able to put a smile on his face, love his kids. 00:42:11.070 --> 00:42:14.389 love his wife, and actually put some meaningful 00:42:14.389 --> 00:42:18.869 things for going forward in society. And remarkable 00:42:18.869 --> 00:42:22.110 guy. I mean, Gary Sinise had the option, actually 00:42:22.110 --> 00:42:26.730 it was a time when Gary visited San Antonio Hospital. 00:42:27.190 --> 00:42:29.610 And I talked to Gary about Brian and he goes, 00:42:29.949 --> 00:42:33.449 In the face of all this, Brian always even managed 00:42:33.449 --> 00:42:36.429 to smile even when he was in the ICU. He wants 00:42:36.429 --> 00:42:39.269 more and he did not want to sit there and just 00:42:39.269 --> 00:42:41.510 wallow in his pain and not continue to live. 00:42:41.989 --> 00:42:43.969 So those are the type of stories that mean a 00:42:43.969 --> 00:42:47.309 lot. There are many stories like that in this 00:42:47.309 --> 00:42:50.750 book. It's a fascinating story. Veterans Voices, 00:42:50.989 --> 00:42:53.230 I encourage everybody. It's going to be available 00:42:53.230 --> 00:42:56.800 starting this coming Tuesday. You can probably 00:42:56.800 --> 00:42:59.960 pre -order it in some places. Anywhere National 00:42:59.960 --> 00:43:04.980 Geographic books are sold. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, 00:43:05.320 --> 00:43:09.559 bookstores, small bookstores. I want to talk 00:43:09.559 --> 00:43:11.300 a little bit. I have to dig out the names here. 00:43:12.099 --> 00:43:13.960 First of all, you also have World War II. So 00:43:13.960 --> 00:43:17.860 let me go back here and talk about Emma Didlake. 00:43:18.019 --> 00:43:23.980 Yes, Emma. 110 years old. Yes. Really amazing 00:43:23.980 --> 00:43:27.840 gal. I met Emma last June when I got a call from 00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:30.280 the Freedom Center in Detroit Metropolitan Airport, 00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:33.639 which I'm pretty integrated with. Emma was going 00:43:33.639 --> 00:43:35.900 to be on an honor flight with Talon's honor flight 00:43:35.900 --> 00:43:38.800 out of Grand Rapids. They invited me to come 00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:41.619 out and I did. I said I want to obviously put 00:43:41.619 --> 00:43:44.980 her in the book. So I interviewed Emma. And I 00:43:44.980 --> 00:43:47.159 did not go to Washington with her that day, because 00:43:47.159 --> 00:43:49.019 it was a private jet. It would have been a little 00:43:49.019 --> 00:43:51.219 bit crowded, but I got her story at the very 00:43:51.219 --> 00:43:56.179 beginning. And it's just amazing. At 110, she 00:43:56.179 --> 00:43:59.719 was articulate. She was clear. She could smile. 00:43:59.980 --> 00:44:02.500 And she really had a vivid memory about what 00:44:02.500 --> 00:44:05.599 she did, even though she drove a truck. She drove 00:44:05.599 --> 00:44:08.639 a truck with honor at that time. She drove it 00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:11.300 as the most important part of her life. and she 00:44:11.300 --> 00:44:14.360 gave back to our country so that others can obviously 00:44:14.360 --> 00:44:17.619 be free and and we would you know all be free 00:44:17.619 --> 00:44:20.840 by winning the war so her efforts went unbelievably 00:44:20.840 --> 00:44:23.559 noticed but the interesting thing is she was 00:44:23.559 --> 00:44:26.940 black and she was interesting that people just 00:44:26.940 --> 00:44:29.019 took it for granted at that time even though 00:44:29.019 --> 00:44:31.679 there was a few generals that really appreciated 00:44:31.679 --> 00:44:34.639 her service but she actually kept that dear to 00:44:34.639 --> 00:44:37.820 her heart and people remembered her as she got 00:44:37.820 --> 00:44:40.670 older and she became involved more and more as 00:44:40.670 --> 00:44:44.070 she became older at 110. She went to see President 00:44:44.070 --> 00:44:46.170 Obama at the White House and it was a splendid 00:44:46.170 --> 00:44:50.329 visit. Unfortunately Emma died three weeks later 00:44:50.329 --> 00:44:55.030 of old age peacefully and her granddaughter was 00:44:55.030 --> 00:44:57.250 so pleased that she was able to be in this book. 00:44:57.429 --> 00:44:59.190 I told her that she was going to be in the book 00:44:59.190 --> 00:45:02.550 and she loved it and she just kept saying, you 00:45:02.550 --> 00:45:06.280 think my smile's good enough? The picture is 00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:10.920 great. The book itself is broken into eight chapters 00:45:10.920 --> 00:45:15.039 and you talk about inspiration, courage, resilience, 00:45:15.420 --> 00:45:18.659 and the stories about resilience are really powerful 00:45:18.659 --> 00:45:21.039 stories. You have men and women that have gone 00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:23.739 through just pure hell and have come out the 00:45:23.739 --> 00:45:26.599 other side and are doing so many things for other 00:45:26.599 --> 00:45:29.960 people. And I'm trying to find the one in here, 00:45:30.139 --> 00:45:32.079 but and probably it may be off the top of your 00:45:32.079 --> 00:45:33.960 head. You can remember the guy. Oh, there he 00:45:33.960 --> 00:45:40.500 is Rick, you knew she yes Does the horses yeah, 00:45:40.500 --> 00:45:42.880 like the horses for heroes. Yes. Yes Can you 00:45:42.880 --> 00:45:44.699 tell me about him and yeah, and the other guy 00:45:44.699 --> 00:45:48.380 that went there? Yeah. Well Rick is an amazing 00:45:48.380 --> 00:45:52.039 gentleman, you know Served and came out with 00:45:52.039 --> 00:45:54.559 lots of you know, interesting trauma for him 00:45:54.989 --> 00:45:58.150 but he got involved in horses for horse therapy 00:45:58.150 --> 00:46:02.289 and what it was was introducing veterans in New 00:46:02.289 --> 00:46:06.329 Mexico and a state literally an area that they 00:46:06.329 --> 00:46:09.690 could actually integrate themselves with nature 00:46:09.690 --> 00:46:13.019 and horses and horse therapy. And basically what 00:46:13.019 --> 00:46:15.460 they do is they spend some time together, they 00:46:15.460 --> 00:46:18.340 go riding, they get understanding what the horses 00:46:18.340 --> 00:46:21.380 are all about, how to care for them, just on 00:46:21.380 --> 00:46:24.760 a one -on -one level. And what he's done magically 00:46:24.760 --> 00:46:29.360 is being able to tie all this together in regards 00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:33.579 to the service people. So, you know, he actually, 00:46:33.739 --> 00:46:36.239 it's almost like a therapy session that goes 00:46:36.239 --> 00:46:39.420 on all day long while you're out there. But it 00:46:39.420 --> 00:46:41.679 isn't like a therapy session sitting on a couch. 00:46:41.739 --> 00:46:45.739 It is just more of an interactive type play and 00:46:45.739 --> 00:46:49.460 a lot of these people that come to him have a 00:46:49.460 --> 00:46:52.159 lot of trauma. They have a lot of trauma where 00:46:52.159 --> 00:46:55.159 they're actually frightened all the time, loud 00:46:55.159 --> 00:46:59.579 noises, shells, anything that goes off is really 00:46:59.579 --> 00:47:02.539 an issue. And these horses spending time with 00:47:02.539 --> 00:47:05.639 them and developing a relationship and a bond 00:47:05.639 --> 00:47:09.719 actually helps them deal with that. And he actually... 00:47:09.719 --> 00:47:12.380 talk to them about their, you know, their issues 00:47:12.380 --> 00:47:14.579 and things and blends it all together perfectly. 00:47:15.039 --> 00:47:17.000 There was a line in here, I think it was his 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:20.739 wife who said something about, you know, the 00:47:20.739 --> 00:47:24.449 horse nose. what's going on. Drawing out her 00:47:24.449 --> 00:47:26.349 years of experience, she said, a horse won't 00:47:26.349 --> 00:47:29.269 work you, work with you, if you are not calm 00:47:29.269 --> 00:47:32.250 and centered. So the whole idea is that to get 00:47:32.250 --> 00:47:34.429 the veteran to calm down a little bit and take 00:47:34.429 --> 00:47:37.050 control of his emotions, we've had people on 00:47:37.050 --> 00:47:39.889 the program that talk about dogs the same way. 00:47:41.070 --> 00:47:44.789 And I love this only because I'm a I'm a wannabe 00:47:44.789 --> 00:47:46.949 cowboy and I'm looking at this thing and one 00:47:46.949 --> 00:47:49.289 of the lines in here was something called Cowboy 00:47:49.289 --> 00:47:52.070 Up and I said wow this is great maybe I ought 00:47:52.070 --> 00:47:55.090 to run out there and help him and he had a gentleman 00:47:55.090 --> 00:47:59.329 in the program, I'm trying to find his name here 00:47:59.329 --> 00:48:05.030 if I can, Chris Chasen who went through the program 00:48:05.030 --> 00:48:07.489 and then stayed. Right. He stayed and became 00:48:07.489 --> 00:48:10.289 a teacher and literally got himself involved 00:48:10.289 --> 00:48:13.090 in the whole program. You know, you said an interesting 00:48:13.090 --> 00:48:14.809 thing in the quote in the book, as I was going 00:48:14.809 --> 00:48:18.309 to mention that the horse, if you're really uptight, 00:48:18.349 --> 00:48:20.889 a horse wants nothing to do with you, especially 00:48:20.889 --> 00:48:25.170 these horses. And you have to develop this relationship. 00:48:25.210 --> 00:48:27.869 So you're going to be forced to be calm. And 00:48:27.869 --> 00:48:30.409 this gentleman who went through the program at 00:48:30.409 --> 00:48:33.650 the same time, he had to calm down and learn. 00:48:33.650 --> 00:48:36.670 And he loved it so much. he wanted to give back. 00:48:37.210 --> 00:48:39.190 So it's one of those stories that intertwines 00:48:39.190 --> 00:48:41.449 together, you know, that's really powerful, that 00:48:41.449 --> 00:48:45.230 really means a lot. It's a great story and he's 00:48:45.230 --> 00:48:49.690 also, Chris also had lost a leg. Correct. And 00:48:49.690 --> 00:48:52.969 so it's a great story. Before we run out of time, 00:48:53.070 --> 00:48:55.730 we have to get a local person that is in the 00:48:55.730 --> 00:48:58.769 book, you know. It's not just veterans, but in... 00:48:58.780 --> 00:49:01.219 in Vietnam and World War II and I'm not sure 00:49:01.219 --> 00:49:02.920 they probably have them in Iraq and Afghanistan 00:49:02.920 --> 00:49:05.639 and those were the Red Cross Volunteer Girls 00:49:05.639 --> 00:49:08.019 better known as the Donut Dollies. So we got 00:49:08.019 --> 00:49:10.880 about three minutes to talk about our local Donut 00:49:10.880 --> 00:49:14.679 Dollies. Yep we have Joan Puffer -Kotcher a Rochester 00:49:14.679 --> 00:49:18.400 Hills resident that I met and you know I there's 00:49:18.400 --> 00:49:20.760 actually two Donut Dollies in the book we decided 00:49:20.760 --> 00:49:23.539 that we wanted to have two we have Holly Watts 00:49:23.539 --> 00:49:28.500 and Joan and Joan's story's pretty amazing because 00:49:28.500 --> 00:49:31.119 Joan was thrusted into the battle area I mean 00:49:31.119 --> 00:49:34.280 in the deepest darkest parts of the jungle and 00:49:34.280 --> 00:49:36.780 literally she had to make life -and -death decisions 00:49:36.780 --> 00:49:40.179 for herself but also too since she was a civilian 00:49:40.179 --> 00:49:43.000 to get the heck out of there because obviously 00:49:43.420 --> 00:49:46.159 Her responsibility was to help the soldiers, 00:49:46.360 --> 00:49:48.659 but at the same time, she was going to be under 00:49:48.659 --> 00:49:51.619 fire by the Viet Cong. And literally the worst 00:49:51.619 --> 00:49:54.619 thunderstorm, tropical storm that came in, they 00:49:54.619 --> 00:49:57.320 actually had an airlift to get out of there or 00:49:57.320 --> 00:49:59.340 else they would have been assassinated by the 00:49:59.340 --> 00:50:04.039 Viet Cong. And listening to her describe in great 00:50:04.039 --> 00:50:07.659 detail the air flight out and how scary and bumpy 00:50:07.659 --> 00:50:12.829 and dark and lost power and just... just crazy 00:50:12.829 --> 00:50:15.690 and she did it all with a smile and she did it 00:50:15.690 --> 00:50:18.469 all and just was happy to be able to do it and 00:50:18.469 --> 00:50:21.090 even today I think she's pretty close to 70. 00:50:21.730 --> 00:50:26.369 She wears her red cloth donut dolly uniform with 00:50:26.369 --> 00:50:30.010 pride and she's happy and she's got a book and 00:50:30.010 --> 00:50:32.809 she communicates that to the world and lets everybody 00:50:32.809 --> 00:50:35.170 know. Well I wanted to make sure that we got 00:50:35.170 --> 00:50:36.809 Joanne involved in that because she had been 00:50:36.809 --> 00:50:39.610 on our program as Holly had been on also and 00:50:39.610 --> 00:50:42.920 I think we're down to about a minute to go. And 00:50:42.920 --> 00:50:45.880 it goes so fast. It does. It goes so fast. And 00:50:45.880 --> 00:50:47.860 I hope we can have you back on the program, Robert, 00:50:48.119 --> 00:50:51.440 and not about this one, about your father's book. 00:50:51.539 --> 00:50:53.400 I think that one sounds very interesting to me, 00:50:53.440 --> 00:50:56.119 too. It's definite. shocker when you read that 00:50:56.119 --> 00:50:58.960 book. Yeah, so the book is Veterans Voices published 00:50:58.960 --> 00:51:01.719 by National Geographic. You can go out and get 00:51:01.719 --> 00:51:03.840 it starting Tuesday. You can probably go online 00:51:03.840 --> 00:51:05.639 and find it wherever National Geographic books 00:51:05.639 --> 00:51:07.960 are sold and some of the other books. It's Robert 00:51:07.960 --> 00:51:11.440 H. Miller and Andrew Wakeford. Thank you so very 00:51:11.440 --> 00:51:13.139 much for being on Veterans Radio. It's a great 00:51:13.139 --> 00:51:15.500 story and you're local so we can talk more about 00:51:15.500 --> 00:51:17.460 it anytime. We can. It was a real pleasure and 00:51:17.460 --> 00:51:19.320 thank you very much and to all the listeners, 00:51:19.559 --> 00:51:22.360 thank you for listening. All right, our pleasure. 00:51:22.679 --> 00:51:24.639 Well, folks, that's another Veterans Radio is 00:51:24.639 --> 00:51:27.099 in the can, as they say. And we want to make 00:51:27.099 --> 00:51:29.619 sure if you tune in next week, Jim Falzone of 00:51:29.619 --> 00:51:31.460 Legal Health for Veterans will be your host. 00:51:32.019 --> 00:51:34.239 And then we've got Medal of Honors coming up 00:51:34.239 --> 00:51:37.659 on the 8th and the 15th of May. We've got two 00:51:37.659 --> 00:51:40.119 Medal of Honor recipients, one from Iraq, Afghanistan, 00:51:40.780 --> 00:51:43.500 and Sammy Davis from the Vietnam era. So we're 00:51:43.500 --> 00:51:45.920 very excited to do those. I encourage you to 00:51:45.920 --> 00:51:48.239 go to our website, listen to our podcasts, listen 00:51:48.239 --> 00:51:51.019 to our archives. You know what you got to do 00:51:51.019 --> 00:51:53.880 if you've got a story you want us to tell Contact 00:51:53.880 --> 00:51:57.039 us here at veterans radio till next week. You 00:51:57.039 --> 00:51:58.119 are dismissed