WEBVTT

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From the studios of Ave Maria radio in Ann Arbor,

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this is veterans radio and now here's your host

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Dale Throneberry Good morning America. How are

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you? My name is Dale Throneberry and I will be

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your host this morning on veterans radio the

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world's greatest veterans program and we are

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Talking to people here in America and I want

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to say a special hello to our friends listening

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down in Australia on veterans radio net And around

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the world, you are more than welcome to give

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us a call here at Veterans Radio. During our

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program today, we're going to be talking to some

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greeters from Bangor, Maine. We're also going

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to be talking with the author of the book, These

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Scars Are Sacred. And we're going to be welcoming

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back our cohort and co -host, Gary Lilly, from

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his trip to Vietnam. And I'm just really excited

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to talk to all of these people today. The number

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here in our studio is 877. 573 -7825. My air

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boss today is Bob Gould. Hi, Bob. Good morning,

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Dale, and good morning to all our listeners out

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there in this great land of ours. It is true,

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and the sun is shining. That's the big thing.

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I think the snow is finally melting up here.

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It's a good day to go out for a 20 -mile hike.

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In full gear. That is for sure. Joining us right

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off the bat here on Veterans Radio is an organization

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in Bangor, Maine. And I want to just tell them

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how thankful we are for the work that they do

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up there. And their job is that they greet troops

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as they come home. And they've been doing this

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for a number of years. And I want to welcome

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Chuck Maples and Dee Denning to Veterans Radio.

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Good morning to both of you. Good morning. How

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are you? We're doing well, thank you. Okay, if

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you're listening to the radio or something, you

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might want to turn it down. It's getting a little

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feedback there from somewhere. I'll start off

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with Dee. Can you tell me a little bit about

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the main troop greeters? Well, the main group,

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actually it's the troop greeters, started back

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in 1991 during the Gulf War, and we welcomed

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63 ,000 troops through here at that time. between

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I think it was March and August. And that was

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pretty much the start of what's occurring today.

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And it was continued on during various conflicts

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after that by four troop creators. And then when

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this all started again, Harry Wright out and

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Dick Campbell called for local patriots to come

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out and hold flags and show support. And then

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arranged to get some phones and a room at the

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airport, and the troop breeding process began

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out there. It sounds like just a great thing.

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Chuck, I understand that you flew aircraft in

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Vietnam? Yes. Back in the 60s, I flew KC -135s

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on a couple of TDY deployments to support the

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Vietnam War. We operated from the Pacific bases

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in Guam, Okinawa and Thailand and a couple of

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other places supporting the aircraft that were

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doing work in Vietnam. So how did you get involved

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in the Maine Readers? Well, actually I'm a Texan,

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my home state, but I come up to Maine in the

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summertime and enjoyed visiting around here and

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one day I happened to be at the Bangor Airport

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and saw these people greeting the troops. And

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I said, I've got to get involved here. So the

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next time I was up, I went out and talked to

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the folks there. And over a period of time, became

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a troop reader. And how often do you go out there?

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Well, actually, we get information on almost

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all the inbound flights. Pass it down through

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our telephone tree. And those volunteers who

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are able show up at the airport. So it can be.

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No flights in a day or it could be as many as

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a half dozen flights in a 24 -hour period and

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we're there day and night. Why is it that, I

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guess, is it because in Bangor that's where the

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flights, the last part of America where they

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leave from and the first part they get into,

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isn't it? Let me pass the phone to Dee here because

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she is more familiar with the troop greeting

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operation itself. Okay. Hi Dee, the question

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was why Bangor? Well Bangor is the airport that

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a majority of the flights or a good number of

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them deploy through. We've had over 3 ,000 flights

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since 2003. Over 610 ,000 troops have passed

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through here. Wow. So Bangor is like the farthest

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east of the United States and this is the last

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part of the country that these troops will see

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and it's the first part they see coming home

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is that it in many cases yet that they do deploy

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to other areas uh... but they were going to be

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uh... you know primary uh... deployment but they're

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also going through more now down in t down in

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new hampshire they've had i think a hundred and

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twenty flights and picking up there are they

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trying to do the same thing down there they are

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the marine corps lead has uh... you know brought

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in many many people to come in and welcome the

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troops. And they are doing pretty much the same

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thing. Well, can you tell me about, let's plug

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some of the people that help you out. Can you

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tell me about some of their corporate sponsors

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and what they've provided for you? I would love

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to tell you. Unicell, which is a telephone company,

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started the whole telephone process where they

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gave, I think, initially 12 phones. And there's

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40 or 60 phones now that they have given. But

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then US Cellular came on in 2005 and between

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the two of them they've donated millions and

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millions of minutes and all calls are free for

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the troops that use those phones. Sam's Club

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provides all the cookies. We all need cookies.

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Little goodies that, you know, little brownies

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and different things like that. Oh, I'm trying

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to think. There's just so many people that...

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How about some of the service organizations?

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Are they helping you out, too? Service organizations

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do, and like the American Legion has started

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the Build -A -Bear program, and that's for new

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dads and moms that have had a child since they

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deployed. And they're given a bear with a little

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condo and a certificate when they come back through.

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Oh, that's cool. It is cool. And then you have

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like the American Legion Post 200, the Vietnam

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Veterans, number 185, and the MaineTroopReaders

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.com, which is a domestic nonprofit that all

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do various projects. And we have like one program

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for the wounded warrior that deployed through

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Bangor but was unable to return. And what we

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try to do is to get hold of them and say, you

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know, we promised you we'd be here for you when

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you came through and you weren't able to, so

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you will bang or remain a visit, and we have

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a t -shirt for you and a letter and some other

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things that we send to them. We've also started

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a new project where we're going to be sending

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three by five embroidered flags to deployed units

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that, again, that have deployed through here,

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that they can fly. in Iraq or Afghanistan and

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then send home to their families. That's just

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a couple. We have a Beanie Baby project that

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we do through Vietnam Veterans and that's where

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we give the small toys to the troops that are

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on the street because they found that a lot of

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the troops that are patrolling that give out

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these items are less targeted. Well, if somebody

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wanted to help you out with a contribution or

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something along those lines, how would they do

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that? Well, there are two websites. There's maintroopreaders

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.com, which is the one that the American Legion

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Post 200 and the VBA are on. And then there's

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also one that was established in 2006. And it's

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called TheMainTroopGreeters .com and donations

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can also be placed there. Okay, so one is called

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MainTroopGreeters .com. Right. And the other

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one is called TheMainTroopGreeters .com. MainTroopGreeters

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.com was, I created that back in 2004 for the

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troops and their family. Okay, so our people

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can go to those websites and they can donate

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money or anything else that you might need. Yes,

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they can. But, you know, I would really, really

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encourage listeners to get involved in various

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ways. Not everybody can do what we're doing because,

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you know, we have the opportunity, you know,

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of being in the location. But if they see a veteran,

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just go out and say thank you. Well, that's very

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true. We have a quote on our website from Will

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Rogers that says, you know, not everybody can

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be in a fight. Some of them has to stand on the

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curb and clap as they go by. And I think that

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that's what some of us have to do. Well, I want

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to thank both Dee and Chuck, Dee Denning and

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Chuck Maples from the Maine Greeters Group from

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Bangor, Maine. Thank you so very much for what

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you do for our troops coming and going. And we

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need more people like you out there. Thank you

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so very much. Well, we would like to thank all

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of your listeners. Thank you. You are welcome.

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Thank you. And right now, in fact, here's a nice

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little segue. We're going right into our Welcome

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Home segment, Bob. Yeah, Dale, I wanted to add

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one thing there. The truce do not know that they're

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going to be there when they're being greeted.

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Like, imagine the surprise in the fact that they

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give them cell phones with unlimited calling.

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They can call their loved ones right from the

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Bangor. Oh, I think that's terrific. And they

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have no idea. They have no idea. Well, they may

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now a little bit. Well, yes, I know. Well, we

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just... Rumor control, now everybody knows. Well,

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now that we're... Right, just put it out in the

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air. And to say something, our Welcome Home,

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we've been doing our Welcome Home for four years.

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That's true. And the Bangor Greeters for five

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years. Hmm? Okay. Welcome Home, each week on

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Veterans Radio, we welcome home servicemen and

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women who have been stationed around the world

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in the service of our country. Dateline, Birmingham,

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New Jersey, Burlington. Have you heard of, you're

00:11:15.490 --> 00:11:16.710
from New Jersey. Yeah, it's Burlington, New Jersey,

00:11:16.830 --> 00:11:18.350
it's Burlington. Is that right? Yes, that's right.

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Like Burlington coat hot wear. How close is that

00:11:21.490 --> 00:11:24.059
to where you were? Everything's close in New

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Jersey. Not that far away, maybe about 30 miles.

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Burlington, New Jersey. A ceremony was held at

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Maguire Air Force Base for 75 Airmen of the New

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Jersey Air National Guard's 108th Air Refueling

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Wing Security Forces Squadron. They recently

00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:44.259
returned from a six -month deployment in Iraq.

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Dateline, Fort Eustis, Virginia. Sixty -five

00:11:48.789 --> 00:11:52.149
Fort Eustis base soldiers from the 7th Sustainment

00:11:52.149 --> 00:11:55.289
Brigade returned home following deployments to

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Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. Welcome Home is

00:11:59.870 --> 00:12:02.230
sponsored each week by the Marine Scholars Program

00:12:02.230 --> 00:12:05.509
of Ave Maria University. For more information

00:12:05.509 --> 00:12:08.309
regarding the Marine Scholars Program, visit

00:12:08.309 --> 00:12:14.889
them online at avemaria .edu. or call the Assistant

00:12:14.889 --> 00:12:23.070
Director of Admissions at 239 -280 -2552. That's

00:12:23.070 --> 00:12:33.570
239 -280 -2552. Welcome home. You have honorably

00:12:33.570 --> 00:12:35.549
served the United States and the Marine Corps

00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:37.809
in times of peace and war. Now we would like

00:12:37.809 --> 00:12:40.759
to serve you. The Marine Scholars Program covers

00:12:40.759 --> 00:12:43.299
the total cost of attending Ave Maria University

00:12:43.299 --> 00:12:46.379
by combining resources from the Ave Maria University

00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:49.740
Marine Scholars Funding, federal financial aid

00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:52.919
entitlements, and the GI Bill. The benefits are

00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:54.799
granted for the duration of the recipient study

00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:57.720
at Ave Maria University contingent upon good

00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.980
conduct and good academic standing. The Marine

00:13:00.980 --> 00:13:03.740
Scholars Program is open to all reserve and active

00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:06.659
component Marines and other combat veterans of

00:13:06.659 --> 00:13:09.100
Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi

00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:11.220
Freedom who have honorably served our country.

00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:17.220
Please visit us online at www .avemaria .edu

00:13:17.220 --> 00:13:19.759
or call the Assistant Director of Admissions

00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:28.000
at 239 -280 -2552. You helped us. Now let us

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734 -483 -9200 or on the web at www .qptherapy

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.com. We're going to be talking to our guest

00:14:49.179 --> 00:14:51.240
in just a second, Elliot Storm, and I want to

00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:53.580
make sure we get our number out here. It's 877

00:14:53.580 --> 00:15:01.460
-573 -7825. It's 877 -573 -7825. And Elliot Storm

00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:03.620
has written a book that we've talked about before,

00:15:03.620 --> 00:15:05.000
but we're going to talk a little bit more detail

00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:06.980
today. And if you do call in with a question,

00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:09.299
I think we might be able to get you a copy of

00:15:09.299 --> 00:15:11.879
that book for you. I wanted to read one review

00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:13.500
of the book right here. I thought it was very

00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:16.340
interesting. It says, these scars are sacred

00:15:16.340 --> 00:15:18.360
is about a young man who was drafted into the

00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.720
Vietnam War. The author did what his country

00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:23.019
asked of him. Through this young Marine we hear

00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:25.399
the truth about a war, about what war is all

00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:27.600
about. Storm's story will shock you, but there's

00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:30.259
no complaining or business, bitterness. Storm

00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:32.279
tells it like he saw it and doesn't spare the

00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:34.159
reader the gory details. When you finish the

00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.039
book you will feel pride in our armed forces

00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:40.100
for their bravery and the patriotism. I think

00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:42.360
that's very appropriate. And one other comment

00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:46.100
from another reader was, The idea here is that

00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:48.080
this book will help those understand possibly

00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.559
what it was like to have their friends go through

00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:54.240
a war themselves. These Scars Are Sacred by Elliot

00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:56.500
Storm. Elliot, welcome back to Veterans Radio.

00:15:57.240 --> 00:15:59.840
Good morning, Dale. Good morning, Bob. Semper

00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:02.000
Fidelis, and welcome home to all my brothers

00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.840
out there. And welcome back to Veterans Radio.

00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:08.330
Thank you. Let's talk a little bit about your

00:16:08.330 --> 00:16:10.850
background just real quickly. We always have

00:16:10.850 --> 00:16:12.830
to establish credibility. I teach communication

00:16:12.830 --> 00:16:14.690
so we have to do that. Can you tell me a little

00:16:14.690 --> 00:16:17.169
bit about your experience in the service, what

00:16:17.169 --> 00:16:19.909
you did there? On the back flap of my book, the

00:16:19.909 --> 00:16:22.370
author is a combat Vietnam veteran of the 1st

00:16:22.370 --> 00:16:25.669
Marine Division in 1969. I was awarded multiple

00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:28.289
Purple Hearts along with a prestigious combat

00:16:28.289 --> 00:16:30.870
action ribbon. I'm a life member of the disabled

00:16:30.870 --> 00:16:33.649
American veterans. I'm currently the judge advocate

00:16:33.649 --> 00:16:36.690
for the American Legion Post and district. I'm

00:16:36.690 --> 00:16:38.870
formerly a VISTA volunteer, which is a division

00:16:38.870 --> 00:16:41.649
of the Peace Corps. I am a mediator with the

00:16:41.649 --> 00:16:43.769
ESGR, which is the employment support of the

00:16:43.769 --> 00:16:46.490
Guard and Reserve. I was also awarded at one

00:16:46.490 --> 00:16:49.070
time, I think it was in 83, a veteran advocate

00:16:49.070 --> 00:16:53.830
of the year with a small bit of administration,

00:16:54.330 --> 00:16:59.769
and I'm also a member of the VFW Post 594. of

00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:03.690
Norwich, Connecticut, a great post, a great commander,

00:17:04.150 --> 00:17:06.970
and they just put on a big gig for me last weekend

00:17:06.970 --> 00:17:09.589
thanks to a good friend. His name is Michael

00:17:09.589 --> 00:17:12.990
Warren and Richard Delorge. They went out and

00:17:12.990 --> 00:17:15.410
they got three veteran groups of American Legion,

00:17:15.910 --> 00:17:20.470
a VFW, there was some VVA members there, and

00:17:20.470 --> 00:17:22.210
Disabled American Veterans and all the groups

00:17:22.210 --> 00:17:25.009
combined together and they just put us on one

00:17:25.009 --> 00:17:29.660
grand gig. Well, I think that is great because

00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:32.299
one of the reasons that we asked Elliot to come

00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:34.480
on our program today is that he is going to be

00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:38.039
out here in Michigan the week of April 14th and

00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:40.000
we've got him pretty well booked up too. He's

00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.960
going to be giving lectures at Washtenaw Community

00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:46.190
College. on Monday the 14th in the afternoon.

00:17:46.470 --> 00:17:48.009
He's going to be giving a lecture at Schoolcraft

00:17:48.009 --> 00:17:50.509
College on Thursday afternoon and we're having

00:17:50.509 --> 00:17:54.589
our big veterans gala on Wednesday evening at

00:17:54.589 --> 00:17:56.970
1900 hours and we're going to be down at the

00:17:56.970 --> 00:18:00.859
VFW post. on Wagner Road and I'll give you more

00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:03.079
information about that as the program continues

00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:04.640
because I can't find my notes right this second.

00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:06.720
You're going to keep me busy, aren't you? I am.

00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:11.039
We've got some other radio interviews and trying

00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.140
to get some television stuff going and also we

00:18:14.140 --> 00:18:15.539
are going to be talking at the University of

00:18:15.539 --> 00:18:18.240
Michigan with some people from the psychiatric

00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.119
department up there so we're going to be talking.

00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:23.740
Debbie and I are looking forward to coming out.

00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:26.880
I might say as our schedule is booked right through

00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:29.980
fall. I mean, people have been just super good

00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:31.920
to us. They've been asking us to come out. Of

00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.660
course, we're going to be going out to California

00:18:33.660 --> 00:18:36.240
or California, as their governor would say in

00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:39.559
the summer. You're and my good friend, William

00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:42.339
Dietzel, who's also my agent on the West Coast

00:18:42.339 --> 00:18:45.279
and does a great magazine called Veterans Magazine.

00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:48.180
He's putting the tour together for us in California.

00:18:48.220 --> 00:18:50.039
And of course, we'll be at all the border stores.

00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:53.599
The only national chain I'll do a book signing

00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:56.539
at is Borders. We've got those scheduled all

00:18:56.539 --> 00:18:58.539
across the United States. I have to put a plug

00:18:58.539 --> 00:19:00.819
in. You notice he just said they're the only

00:19:00.819 --> 00:19:04.779
national book jam. Elliot is going to be at Nicola's

00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:07.579
Books in Ann Arbor and Westgate on Tuesday the

00:19:07.579 --> 00:19:10.819
15th, I believe it's at 7 o 'clock. He'll be

00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:13.380
signing books there too. Let's talk about the

00:19:13.380 --> 00:19:17.079
book for a minute. What caused you to write this?

00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:20.640
This is a fictionalized account of your experiences.

00:19:20.970 --> 00:19:23.269
It's a lot of experiences of a lot of veterans,

00:19:23.430 --> 00:19:25.650
your experiences in there. I haven't had a veteran

00:19:25.650 --> 00:19:28.390
who has picked the book up who has said, Elliot,

00:19:28.950 --> 00:19:32.289
we found a part of us in there. What I did is

00:19:32.289 --> 00:19:34.190
a long time ago, I went and saw a psychiatrist,

00:19:34.190 --> 00:19:37.329
I still see my psychiatrist. And at that time,

00:19:38.230 --> 00:19:41.309
they asked me to write a letter or a paper, what

00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:43.349
was disturbing me? And I think we've talked about

00:19:43.349 --> 00:19:46.630
this before, and I wrote a 65 page single spaced

00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:49.349
on a remnant typewriter exactly what was disturbing

00:19:49.349 --> 00:19:52.210
me. The psychiatrist read it, started shaking

00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:55.289
and said, write a book. And what I did is I put

00:19:55.289 --> 00:19:57.950
it into the introduction of my novel. And from

00:19:57.950 --> 00:20:00.849
there, we just took off and it took me about

00:20:00.849 --> 00:20:02.809
six months to put it together and about 10 years

00:20:02.809 --> 00:20:04.849
to get it published. I was going to say, this

00:20:04.849 --> 00:20:10.130
wasn't written yesterday. No. And it has taken

00:20:10.130 --> 00:20:12.210
you a while, as you mentioned, to get it published.

00:20:13.109 --> 00:20:16.529
And is this self -published initially? It started

00:20:16.529 --> 00:20:20.039
out to be, although I have... 52 corporate sponsors,

00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:22.920
which I'm glad to have. I just had someone walk

00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:26.660
in my house, a Vietnam veteran. He is an icon

00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:29.779
of New England. His name is John Labarca, who's

00:20:29.779 --> 00:20:32.279
got a radio show in the South. Good morning,

00:20:32.420 --> 00:20:34.319
John. I'm on the radio. How you doing, Elliot?

00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:37.099
Good, Johnny. Sit down. He just came over and

00:20:37.099 --> 00:20:40.099
said to say hello. John is also a Vietnam veteran,

00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:43.059
a disabled Vietnam veteran, and it's very, very

00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:45.059
proud to see him come over here. He's given my

00:20:45.059 --> 00:20:47.339
wife... A big hug and kiss right now. What a

00:20:47.339 --> 00:20:49.099
surprise. Hey, hey, hey, this is Family Radio.

00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:52.579
We've got a video. I know. Hi, John. How are

00:20:52.579 --> 00:20:55.559
you? You can say hello to him in a moment. I

00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:57.359
know we had something scheduled. Sit down, John.

00:20:58.140 --> 00:21:01.380
But what a surprise to see John here. John is,

00:21:01.460 --> 00:21:03.960
like I said, an icon of New England. Everybody

00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:09.000
knows who John LeBlanc is. Anyway, that's how

00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:11.359
it started, Dale. But I'd like to ask you a question.

00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:14.480
OK. What is post -traumatic stress disorder?

00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:17.359
What is post -traumatic stress disorder? Well,

00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:20.299
that's a good question. I think that a lot of

00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:22.519
times it is whatever if that you are exposed

00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:25.160
to it doesn't make a difference if you You know,

00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:27.019
you could be in a car wreck. You could be you

00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:29.640
could witness somebody getting blown apart in

00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:32.380
a war zone But it's something that scars your

00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:38.180
your brain almost and it Most people can deal

00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:40.940
with events in a lot of cases, but some people

00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:44.140
just cannot. It seems to haunt them as they go

00:21:44.140 --> 00:21:47.900
through life. It could be an odor. It could be

00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:50.180
avoiding a place where the incident occurred.

00:21:53.889 --> 00:21:58.170
I don't want to get into that, right? It's so

00:21:58.170 --> 00:22:01.009
many things to so many different people. That's

00:22:01.009 --> 00:22:02.549
one of the problems, I think, when they initially

00:22:02.549 --> 00:22:05.269
tried to come up with a definition of what post

00:22:05.269 --> 00:22:08.069
-traumatic stress disorder was. They used to

00:22:08.069 --> 00:22:11.349
call it shell shock. Soldiers heart, all kinds

00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:14.670
of good things. Again, I don't want the public

00:22:14.670 --> 00:22:17.289
to misunderstand me. It is not just military

00:22:17.289 --> 00:22:21.269
that have these problems. You, I, my brother,

00:22:21.309 --> 00:22:23.690
my brother sitting down next to me and all my

00:22:23.690 --> 00:22:26.829
brothers listening in right now, what makes us

00:22:26.829 --> 00:22:28.710
unique? What makes our post -traumatic stress

00:22:28.710 --> 00:22:31.450
disorder unique? I think because it was finally

00:22:31.450 --> 00:22:33.589
recognized. We're on number one, but there is

00:22:33.589 --> 00:22:36.069
a difference. Okay. And there's a big difference.

00:22:36.130 --> 00:22:38.509
And the big difference is this. I don't care

00:22:38.509 --> 00:22:41.049
if you flew a helicopter. I don't care if you're

00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:43.369
out in the jungle. I don't care if you sat behind

00:22:43.369 --> 00:22:46.109
a desk and we had something that happened that

00:22:46.109 --> 00:22:49.700
was very, very unique. When we came home, We

00:22:49.700 --> 00:22:52.420
were all blasted. And that's what made us unique,

00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:56.259
my brother. We came off that airplane. The folks

00:22:56.259 --> 00:22:59.960
did not care what you did in Vietnam. We were

00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:02.339
all labeled the same. That's what made our stress

00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:05.240
unique. And that's one of the reasons I wrote

00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:08.019
my book and put it into writing to show my brothers

00:23:08.019 --> 00:23:12.180
it's their book. Everybody in that book is the

00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:16.599
character Jim Clark. And we all suffer from the

00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:19.839
same thing. got that same kind of recognition.

00:23:20.900 --> 00:23:24.339
In 1989, the Veterans Administration labeled

00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:26.779
us and gave us something that was our own. It

00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:30.059
was called post -traumatic stress disorder. A

00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:32.140
lot of groups now have it. A lot of people now

00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:34.819
have it. I agree with it. But now what I had

00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:37.960
to come and humbly say, those are our scars that

00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:41.049
are sacred. Well, I agree with you on that Elliot.

00:23:41.230 --> 00:23:43.289
I think in talking and doing this program now

00:23:43.289 --> 00:23:45.730
for over four years and in talking to so many

00:23:45.730 --> 00:23:48.210
especially Vietnam era veterans, you know, veterans

00:23:48.210 --> 00:23:51.869
in general from that time period is that as you

00:23:51.869 --> 00:23:54.650
said when we came home we got slammed and some

00:23:54.650 --> 00:23:56.809
of us got slammed with some of us. The other

00:23:56.809 --> 00:23:59.130
side of that coin I think is that we were ignored

00:23:59.130 --> 00:24:03.430
and nobody wanted to know. what it was that you

00:24:03.430 --> 00:24:05.390
went through. And one of the things, and we talked

00:24:05.390 --> 00:24:07.049
about this just a couple of weeks ago, we were

00:24:07.049 --> 00:24:10.990
talking with an Indian chief and historian and

00:24:10.990 --> 00:24:15.970
talking about the necessity of talking about

00:24:15.970 --> 00:24:19.329
your experiences together. And that's one of

00:24:19.329 --> 00:24:20.529
the things, you know, when we came back from

00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:23.410
Vietnam is that most of us came back as individuals.

00:24:23.509 --> 00:24:25.910
We didn't come back as a group. And so we didn't

00:24:25.910 --> 00:24:29.440
have the time to decompress. we were thrown from

00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:31.660
being in Da Nang, Saigon, wherever it was that

00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:34.099
you left from 24 hours later you're walking into

00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:37.339
your front door at home and you know mom's giving

00:24:37.339 --> 00:24:39.119
you the hug and all these other things and they

00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:41.000
just wanted you to put your uniform away and

00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:42.539
you know go back to school or whatever it was

00:24:42.539 --> 00:24:45.759
you were doing. Good luck. And yeah it was it

00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:48.380
was very difficult to do that and I wasn't even

00:24:48.380 --> 00:24:51.420
aware of that myself for I don't know 20 -25

00:24:51.420 --> 00:24:54.440
years I thought I was fine. Perfectly adjusted.

00:24:57.480 --> 00:24:59.420
That's one of the reasons the scars that are

00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:03.059
sacred are still with us. Again, folks who have

00:25:03.059 --> 00:25:05.799
read the novel have saw Jim Clark going from

00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:08.559
them jungles to a point that was home, to a point

00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:12.220
that where he got educated and he still suffered.

00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:15.480
He went through a lot of crises through that

00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:17.700
book. In the end, I think there's a heck of a

00:25:17.700 --> 00:25:20.019
twist to the ending, but that's how he found

00:25:20.019 --> 00:25:22.440
his healing. I didn't find mine that way, but

00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:27.599
that was just how the ending ended. talking to

00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:29.000
the right person. We're talking with Elliott

00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.799
Storm, the author of the book, These Scars Are

00:25:31.799 --> 00:25:35.460
Sacred, which deals with many veterans' issues

00:25:35.460 --> 00:25:37.839
of being in combat and coming home to a civilian

00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:40.400
life and it doesn't necessarily go quite as smoothly

00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:43.000
as many of us had anticipated. If you have a

00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:44.660
question or you have a comment or a story that

00:25:44.660 --> 00:25:46.319
you'd like to share with our audience, give us

00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:52.740
a call here at 877 -573 -7825. That's 877 -573

00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:55.200
-7825. You give us a call, we'll give you a book.

00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:57.940
How about that? And that'd be a great deal. Well,

00:25:58.059 --> 00:26:00.019
we're trying to do that. Leave me autographed,

00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:02.099
won't it? And they are autographed. And I want

00:26:02.099 --> 00:26:04.799
to talk about, you know, we've got about three

00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:06.480
minutes or so until we're going to come up to

00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:09.000
our first break. But I want to talk about how

00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:10.940
you've distributed this book. I think that's

00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:12.660
amazing the way that you've done that. We can

00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:15.400
talk about that. I'd like to talk a little bit

00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:18.119
about are these heroes that are coming home now

00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:21.319
who are experiencing some of the same backlash

00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:24.160
that we experienced, maybe not by the populace.

00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:27.799
but by the Veterans Administration and how they're

00:26:27.799 --> 00:26:29.640
getting, you know, they serve their country.

00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:31.559
We're giving them the welcome home and thanks

00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:34.099
to good people like Chuck and Dale, we're just

00:26:34.099 --> 00:26:36.779
on your show. My absence, I salute folks like

00:26:36.779 --> 00:26:38.920
that. But a lot of these new guys are going to

00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:41.500
the VA. and the VAs turning their back on them.

00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:44.299
Well, let's hold off on that. We only got a couple

00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:46.680
of minutes. We got a whole 15 minutes on the

00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:49.180
other side of our break to go into that issue.

00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:51.819
But I do want to talk about how you get the book

00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:53.240
out. I think that's what's most interesting.

00:26:53.380 --> 00:26:54.859
I think the veterans need to know that, that

00:26:54.859 --> 00:26:57.299
every one of your books, if you don't buy it

00:26:57.299 --> 00:26:59.299
individually, that you've been giving away, and

00:26:59.299 --> 00:27:01.160
I want to point that out, you've been donating

00:27:01.160 --> 00:27:03.119
these books, corporations are helping you out,

00:27:03.140 --> 00:27:05.220
but you've been donating these books to veterans

00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:08.559
administration groups, to veterans groups. To

00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:10.619
get them to into the hands of the troops coming

00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:12.880
home and into the families of the Vietnam vets.

00:27:13.099 --> 00:27:15.000
Well, we've been blessed doing that we had a

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:18.119
lot of a Good friend of mine guy or leave it

00:27:18.119 --> 00:27:20.880
came up with a plan of action for us and what

00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:23.220
we did we put it together We have 52 right now

00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:25.980
52 individual and corporate sponsors and what

00:27:25.980 --> 00:27:28.579
we've done. We've put them in VA hospital service

00:27:28.579 --> 00:27:31.099
organizations They buy them at a discount. They

00:27:31.099 --> 00:27:33.519
buy them in blocks of 10. We've sold as many

00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:37.670
as 10 to 100 and What happens is they send them

00:27:37.670 --> 00:27:40.470
out to all these VA hospitals and service officers

00:27:40.470 --> 00:27:43.170
and when the folks come in with a post -traumatic

00:27:43.170 --> 00:27:46.009
stress disorder problem, they say, take this

00:27:46.009 --> 00:27:48.529
home, have your family read it. You've already

00:27:48.529 --> 00:27:51.109
lived with this story, now have your family read

00:27:51.109 --> 00:27:53.450
it. They'll understand you and then come on back

00:27:53.450 --> 00:27:55.589
and as psychiatrists we're going to talk with

00:27:55.589 --> 00:27:57.710
you, put you in groups or whatever. So we've

00:27:57.710 --> 00:27:59.910
been blessed to that order but we've got these

00:27:59.910 --> 00:28:02.869
books out all over the country and in fact they're

00:28:02.869 --> 00:28:06.569
in Japan. It's being printed in Japan, German,

00:28:07.250 --> 00:28:09.490
French, and I understood about a month ago, we're

00:28:09.490 --> 00:28:12.670
in the London library. So we've been blessed

00:28:12.670 --> 00:28:15.069
on that kind of a circuit. But we've got the

00:28:15.069 --> 00:28:17.710
word out by just a lot of good friends out there

00:28:17.710 --> 00:28:20.289
who got behind me and helped me out. Well, that

00:28:20.289 --> 00:28:22.170
is true. And the book I'm holding in front of

00:28:22.170 --> 00:28:26.250
me, it says it's donated by Tony Trumpauer. I'm

00:28:26.250 --> 00:28:28.890
assuming it must be a relative. That's a relative

00:28:28.890 --> 00:28:33.819
of mine. His wife passed away about two years

00:28:33.819 --> 00:28:36.440
ago, and he asked me, he says, can I buy some

00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:38.119
books? And I said, sure, you can, of course.

00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:41.019
So we have individual sponsors. We have our good

00:28:41.019 --> 00:28:44.720
friends. We have national corporations. And small

00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:47.779
town companies are out town. Like I said, we've

00:28:47.779 --> 00:28:50.440
got American legions who have purchased them.

00:28:50.460 --> 00:28:53.480
We have VFW. We've had district officers purchase

00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:57.160
them on their own. And what they do is they just

00:28:57.160 --> 00:29:01.000
send them out to whomever. Well, we've got about

00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:03.880
a minute until our break. I want you to remind

00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:05.380
the people, because we talked about this before,

00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:08.099
about the sandwich, The Perfect Storm. I want

00:29:08.099 --> 00:29:10.460
you to plug that restaurant again. A perfect

00:29:10.460 --> 00:29:13.099
storm. A perfect storm, sorry. A perfect storm.

00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:14.480
Well, I have a real good friend. Her name is

00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:17.059
Dee McDonald. She owns a deli here in Milford,

00:29:17.059 --> 00:29:19.859
Connecticut. She's been a supporter of mine from

00:29:19.859 --> 00:29:23.180
day one. She called me over one day. Well, I

00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:24.660
used to go have lunch there about once a week

00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:26.940
and have this one type of sandwich, which she

00:29:26.940 --> 00:29:29.759
doctors up for me. and it came down to the bottom

00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:31.700
line. I came in there another day and there's

00:29:31.700 --> 00:29:34.519
a big sign that said... They she called it a

00:29:34.519 --> 00:29:36.500
perfect storm and it's a great sandwich and you're

00:29:36.500 --> 00:29:38.480
gonna be getting some Because she's making you

00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:40.920
a bunch up that I'm gonna be putting in the motorhome

00:29:40.920 --> 00:29:43.059
and bringing them back to you I can hardly wait.

00:29:43.059 --> 00:29:45.259
I haven't had a I haven't had a decent sub since

00:29:45.259 --> 00:29:47.759
I left New Jersey Oh, wait, do you see this one?

00:29:48.660 --> 00:29:50.339
Okay, we got to take a break here We're gonna

00:29:50.339 --> 00:29:52.779
be coming back after the after our break and

00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:54.920
talking more with Elliott storm and about PTSD

00:29:54.920 --> 00:29:56.880
and how we can possibly help you out there our

00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:59.299
listeners So give us a talk you put John on the

00:29:59.299 --> 00:30:00.940
phone for a few minutes. We'll be back back after

00:30:00.940 --> 00:30:03.910
this The Medal of Honor is the highest award

00:30:03.910 --> 00:30:06.049
for valor in combat given a member of the Armed

00:30:06.049 --> 00:30:08.009
Forces of the United States. There have been

00:30:08.009 --> 00:30:10.849
over 3 ,400 recipients of the nation's highest

00:30:10.849 --> 00:30:14.529
award. This is one of them. Private First Class

00:30:14.529 --> 00:30:17.069
Henry Gerke threw himself on a grenade to save

00:30:17.069 --> 00:30:23.250
his fellow soldier. Details after this. While

00:30:23.250 --> 00:30:25.789
his platoon was engaged in the defense of a vital

00:30:25.789 --> 00:30:29.200
roadblock on Bougainville Island... Gurk, in

00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:31.500
company with another Marine, was delivering a

00:30:31.500 --> 00:30:33.940
fierce stream of fire against the main vanguard

00:30:33.940 --> 00:30:37.380
of the Japanese. Concluded from the increasing

00:30:37.380 --> 00:30:40.460
number of grenade barrages that the enemy was

00:30:40.460 --> 00:30:42.420
determined to annihilate their small two -man

00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:45.460
foxhole, he resorted to a bold and desperate

00:30:45.460 --> 00:30:47.799
measure for holding out despite the torrential

00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:50.220
hail of shells. When a Japanese grenade dropped

00:30:50.220 --> 00:30:53.220
squarely into the foxhole, Gurk, mindful that

00:30:53.220 --> 00:30:56.279
his companion manned an automatic weapon of superior

00:30:56.279 --> 00:30:59.440
firepower and therefore could provide more effective

00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:02.299
resistance, thrust him roughly aside and flung

00:31:02.299 --> 00:31:04.680
his own body over the missile to smother the

00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:08.480
explosion. Gertz sacrificed himself in order

00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:10.859
that his comrade might live to carry on the fight.

00:31:11.140 --> 00:31:13.059
The Medal of Honor series is a production of

00:31:13.059 --> 00:31:16.160
Veterans Radio. We're back here on Veterans Radio

00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:18.539
and I have to point out that Schrader Yachts

00:31:18.539 --> 00:31:20.880
is a veteran -owned business and he's a brand

00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:26.309
new grandfather so congratulations, Radio. We're

00:31:26.309 --> 00:31:28.210
back talking with Elliot Storm. If you have a

00:31:28.210 --> 00:31:29.869
question for him, he's the author of the book,

00:31:30.049 --> 00:31:33.670
The Scars Are Sacred. The number is 877 -573

00:31:33.670 --> 00:31:37.549
-7825. Okay, Elliot, now let's talk about how

00:31:37.549 --> 00:31:41.630
this book is going to help us and any other veterans

00:31:41.630 --> 00:31:43.890
out there. Great deal. You asked me before we

00:31:43.890 --> 00:31:45.549
got on the show, when you called me earlier and

00:31:45.549 --> 00:31:47.809
we talked, you asked me to write a segment out

00:31:47.809 --> 00:31:50.349
of my novel, and I would like to do that. Okay.

00:31:50.869 --> 00:31:53.230
But what I'm going to do is read one of my testimonials.

00:31:53.450 --> 00:31:56.130
And I know you read one by my dear, sweet friend,

00:31:56.390 --> 00:31:59.529
Jane Wayne, who's also a published author, also

00:31:59.529 --> 00:32:01.769
John Wayne's cousin, believe it or not. But I'm

00:32:01.769 --> 00:32:03.910
going to read a segment for you. And it says,

00:32:04.029 --> 00:32:06.950
Dear reader, I had an opportunity to read Elliot

00:32:06.950 --> 00:32:09.769
Storm's novel, These Scars Are Sacred, in its

00:32:09.769 --> 00:32:13.470
manuscript form. This fast -paced, high -intensity,

00:32:13.549 --> 00:32:17.250
physiological tale is about the proverbial boy

00:32:17.250 --> 00:32:19.869
next door who finds himself in the killing fields

00:32:19.869 --> 00:32:22.349
of Vietnam. well -trained by the Marine Corps

00:32:22.349 --> 00:32:25.910
and is suitably naive. It is a novel about betrayals,

00:32:26.109 --> 00:32:29.230
grand and small, by a first love, by pure cracks,

00:32:29.750 --> 00:32:31.910
practiced and impracticed, and lamentably by

00:32:31.910 --> 00:32:34.269
his countrymen. But for the most part, however,

00:32:34.269 --> 00:32:36.890
is about the healing. The healing of many a scar,

00:32:37.230 --> 00:32:40.170
wastefully visited upon the soul of a boy man

00:32:40.170 --> 00:32:44.930
in exotic and legislatious land and upon his

00:32:44.930 --> 00:32:47.569
unwelcome return to what has some characterized

00:32:47.569 --> 00:32:50.980
at the time America with a K. It was about the

00:32:50.980 --> 00:32:54.119
distinction between paranoia and reality, bitter

00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:56.740
truth, about the search for a little of the sacred

00:32:56.740 --> 00:32:59.640
and seemingly unholy world. It was about a pilgrimage

00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:03.819
from the numbness of vicious combat to the quasi

00:33:03.819 --> 00:33:05.839
-numbness of the norm. It reminds the reader

00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:08.640
of his own scars, sacred and otherwise. It is

00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:12.779
a book easily forgotten. And John E. Rooney Esquire,

00:33:12.779 --> 00:33:15.079
who was an attorney and also a light curl in

00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:16.759
the Marine Corps, wrote that testimonial for

00:33:16.759 --> 00:33:22.420
me. 12 years ago. Well, I think it is important

00:33:22.420 --> 00:33:24.000
to point that out. You asked me earlier, you

00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:27.059
know, what was post -traumatic stress and how

00:33:27.059 --> 00:33:30.380
do you, you know, how do I define it? And I finally

00:33:30.380 --> 00:33:32.500
found the sheet that I was looking for and it's

00:33:32.500 --> 00:33:34.460
from the Post Traumatic Stress of the National

00:33:34.460 --> 00:33:36.440
Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and

00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:39.000
it talks about some of the symptoms that you

00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:41.200
may observe in friends or maybe in your own self.

00:33:41.380 --> 00:33:42.819
And that's, you know, number one is that you

00:33:42.819 --> 00:33:44.599
keep, you know, you're reliving the event, you

00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:46.839
avoid the situations that remind you of the event,

00:33:47.259 --> 00:33:49.720
you're feeling numb and you feel keyed up alert.

00:33:49.740 --> 00:33:52.539
all times. After the event, you may feel scared,

00:33:52.619 --> 00:33:54.680
confused and angry. If these feelings don't go

00:33:54.680 --> 00:33:57.380
away or they get worse, then you need to talk

00:33:57.380 --> 00:33:59.759
to somebody. And we strongly encourage anybody

00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.059
out there who has symptoms that they think are...

00:34:02.059 --> 00:34:04.839
It doesn't hurt to go and talk to somebody because

00:34:04.839 --> 00:34:06.619
it will help you out. Trust me, it does help

00:34:06.619 --> 00:34:09.480
you out. Well, Dale, you know, you're hitting

00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:12.159
things right on the niggle. And one of the things

00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:14.380
I tried to do and attempted to do in the novel,

00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:16.820
if you read the chapter titles, those are all

00:34:16.820 --> 00:34:19.519
triggers. They're one of my chapter titles in

00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:24.239
the trigger. Unfortunately, they are because

00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:30.519
they're all song titles from that era. For instance,

00:34:31.059 --> 00:34:33.059
I just flipped the book over. My baby wrote me

00:34:33.059 --> 00:34:35.380
a letter. Some people got Dear John letters over

00:34:35.380 --> 00:34:37.559
there. He got me going in circles. It's been

00:34:37.559 --> 00:34:40.539
a hard day's night. Let's see what else. Right

00:34:40.539 --> 00:34:42.480
on through to the other side. Right on through

00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:44.019
to the other side. I just played that in class

00:34:44.019 --> 00:34:49.449
the other day. It is amazing what does trigger

00:34:49.449 --> 00:34:54.150
these flashbacks. And people say, you still have

00:34:54.150 --> 00:34:56.550
flashbacks. And you go, yeah, everybody does.

00:34:56.869 --> 00:34:58.630
And some of them are good flashbacks, and some

00:34:58.630 --> 00:35:00.590
of them are bad flashbacks. Well, we have some

00:35:00.590 --> 00:35:02.269
good times, do you? You know that as well as

00:35:02.269 --> 00:35:04.630
I do. My good friend Johnny is sitting right

00:35:04.630 --> 00:35:07.010
next to me. I like to have him say hello to everyone,

00:35:07.170 --> 00:35:09.250
because you probably remember his voice a little

00:35:09.250 --> 00:35:11.230
way when you were in Vietnam. You were in the

00:35:11.230 --> 00:35:37.199
Mars station. Oh, he's like, over. You're talking

00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:39.280
to your mother on the telephone and you're getting

00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:44.500
incoming mortars. The craziness of that place

00:35:44.500 --> 00:35:47.480
has stayed with all of us. But they were good

00:35:47.480 --> 00:35:51.599
memories, too. We've all formed some great brotherhoods.

00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:56.219
You and I, Dale, we're great brothers. And that's

00:35:56.219 --> 00:35:58.260
one thing I love about Vietnam Vets when we get

00:35:58.260 --> 00:36:00.739
together, when one sees my cover that I wear

00:36:00.739 --> 00:36:04.340
with my hat. Or I see one, Debbie and I will

00:36:04.340 --> 00:36:05.860
be out on the road somewhere, we're going to

00:36:05.860 --> 00:36:08.860
a truck stop to get fuel for that big beast that

00:36:08.860 --> 00:36:11.179
we drive, and I'll see a trucker in it with a

00:36:11.179 --> 00:36:13.400
hat on, I'll walk up to him. I'll come home,

00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:16.260
my brother, and you know, it puts tears in each

00:36:16.260 --> 00:36:18.739
of our eyes, but it's something we give in each

00:36:18.739 --> 00:36:22.440
other. Well, I strongly agree, and I think that

00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:26.039
some of us have taken longer to realize that

00:36:26.039 --> 00:36:28.820
we were not alone, and we're still not alone,

00:36:29.179 --> 00:36:32.579
and that we need these guys, these men and women

00:36:32.579 --> 00:36:35.059
that went through the experiences with us, we

00:36:35.059 --> 00:36:37.719
need them. They are our foundation, and they

00:36:37.719 --> 00:36:39.400
are part of us, and they all live within us.

00:36:40.099 --> 00:36:42.489
Exactly. I think so. You wanted to introduce

00:36:42.489 --> 00:36:44.449
John. Yeah, let me put John on for you. This

00:36:44.449 --> 00:36:47.449
is John LaBarca. And like I said, if you're in

00:36:47.449 --> 00:36:49.809
New England, you know who John LaBarca is. Johnny,

00:36:50.309 --> 00:36:53.150
this is Dale Thromberg. Hey, Dale. Welcome home,

00:36:53.150 --> 00:36:55.090
brother. Hey, welcome home to you, John, and

00:36:55.090 --> 00:36:56.650
thank you for being such a good friend to Elliot.

00:36:56.710 --> 00:36:58.710
He needs all he can get. He's been a good friend

00:36:58.710 --> 00:37:01.710
to me. When I first met him, the first thing

00:37:01.710 --> 00:37:03.849
we did was hug and say, welcome home, brother.

00:37:04.489 --> 00:37:06.949
And yeah, the tears always show up, you know.

00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:09.800
I've been working with the Veterans Administration

00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:14.579
just I'm in the midst of it now and Serving with

00:37:14.579 --> 00:37:17.079
other Vietnam veterans and the new veterans that

00:37:17.079 --> 00:37:19.300
are coming home today And you know we Vietnam

00:37:19.300 --> 00:37:23.179
veterans literally with our struggle and our

00:37:23.179 --> 00:37:26.400
work to get recognized and with the help of others

00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:29.579
We've literally blazed a trail for some of these

00:37:29.579 --> 00:37:32.320
new veterans that are coming home today And you

00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:34.699
know it's funny that everyone's got a struggle

00:37:34.699 --> 00:37:39.679
to get something back after they've, you know,

00:37:39.840 --> 00:37:43.179
been willing to donate their entire lives, you

00:37:43.179 --> 00:37:46.840
know, and sometimes it's just not fair. We know

00:37:46.840 --> 00:37:48.739
it. We've lived it. Well, I think one of the

00:37:48.739 --> 00:37:50.940
things that we learned through our experiences

00:37:50.940 --> 00:37:53.980
is that we cannot ignore, you know, this generation.

00:37:54.300 --> 00:37:56.420
No. And, you know, we have to help them because

00:37:56.420 --> 00:37:59.449
people, you know, You need to help people and

00:37:59.449 --> 00:38:03.010
that's the problem that many of us incurred when

00:38:03.010 --> 00:38:04.809
we did come home is that nobody would seem to

00:38:04.809 --> 00:38:07.230
be around that was willing to give us the help

00:38:07.230 --> 00:38:10.190
that many of us needed. Someone had to make that

00:38:10.190 --> 00:38:14.050
first step and many of those people were veterans

00:38:14.050 --> 00:38:17.219
as well. That's true. No one understands a veteran

00:38:17.219 --> 00:38:19.239
better than a veteran. That's true. I'm going

00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:21.579
to need to cut away here. We've got a call coming

00:38:21.579 --> 00:38:25.000
in from Tasmania. Oh, great. Alan Wood is on

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:27.340
the phone and Alan, I want to welcome you back

00:38:27.340 --> 00:38:29.840
to Veterans Radio. Alan? Yeah, it's about eight

00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:31.920
months since I last talked to you guys. That's

00:38:31.920 --> 00:38:33.699
true and I want to appreciate you very much for

00:38:33.699 --> 00:38:37.099
listening. Are you there, Elliot? Elliot will

00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:39.920
be here in a second. Hold on. Oh, okay. Yeah,

00:38:40.659 --> 00:38:43.539
I'm a vet. Well, I was over there a year ago

00:38:43.539 --> 00:38:48.070
actually. in Ann Arbor. My wife and I spent a

00:38:48.070 --> 00:38:51.690
week there and got to meet the Chapter 310 guys.

00:38:54.909 --> 00:38:57.730
I'm diagnosed with PTSD, of course. I've had

00:38:57.730 --> 00:39:01.590
it for about 10 years now. I was over there in

00:39:01.590 --> 00:39:05.329
Vietnam, 68, 9, with one of about 60 -odd thousand

00:39:05.329 --> 00:39:12.900
other Aussies. Yeah, we were down inland from

00:39:12.900 --> 00:39:16.960
Vung Tau, what would that be, southeast of Saigon.

00:39:17.480 --> 00:39:20.320
Right, yeah, because I was looking at some photographs

00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:23.000
the other day and I have a picture of an Australian

00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:26.119
gunship helicopter, which was an H model with

00:39:26.119 --> 00:39:27.960
your rockets and stuff hanging off the side.

00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:32.480
I did a couple of missions with you folks. Let

00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:34.659
me break in, Norman. Welcome home, my brother.

00:39:35.150 --> 00:39:38.369
This is Alan. This is Alan Wood in Tasmania.

00:39:38.769 --> 00:39:40.389
It's Alan Wood. He sounds like Norman Lloyd.

00:39:41.650 --> 00:39:47.170
Well, he sounds like Norman. Elliot. Yes, sir.

00:39:47.690 --> 00:39:52.090
Yeah, hi. Al Wood here. Yeah, I wonder, with

00:39:52.090 --> 00:39:54.690
the guys coming back from the Middle East now,

00:39:55.090 --> 00:39:57.730
I mean, a lot of those guys seem to get diagnosed

00:39:57.730 --> 00:40:01.820
PTSD. within weeks or months, whereas it took

00:40:01.820 --> 00:40:06.639
us guys so many years to be diagnosed. Is that

00:40:06.639 --> 00:40:09.760
just because you think that it's more recognizable

00:40:09.760 --> 00:40:12.300
now? Well, it's like my good friend John LaBarca

00:40:12.300 --> 00:40:14.800
said a few moments ago, we broke the ground for

00:40:14.800 --> 00:40:17.820
these kids. Yeah, it just wasn't recognized in

00:40:17.820 --> 00:40:19.940
those days. It wasn't recognized, number one,

00:40:20.039 --> 00:40:22.340
but a lot of these new kids are getting turned

00:40:22.340 --> 00:40:24.199
away. They're not calling it post -traumatic

00:40:24.199 --> 00:40:26.670
stress anymore. They're calling it something

00:40:26.670 --> 00:40:29.030
different, and the name of my good friend Tim

00:40:29.030 --> 00:40:31.210
Kelly told me a week ago what it was, and it

00:40:31.210 --> 00:40:34.929
escaped me, and basically what they're saying

00:40:34.929 --> 00:40:37.449
is, you had it before you went there, so we're

00:40:37.449 --> 00:40:38.769
going to turn you down. We're getting a lot of

00:40:38.769 --> 00:40:41.190
it. Pre -existing condition. Pre -existing condition,

00:40:41.269 --> 00:40:43.269
yeah. Oh, you were messed up before you went

00:40:43.269 --> 00:40:45.090
there, so we're not going to help you. And this

00:40:45.090 --> 00:40:47.309
is what I was saying. Yeah, it's a compound.

00:40:47.469 --> 00:40:48.789
This is where these kids are getting turned,

00:40:48.869 --> 00:40:52.190
a lot of them are getting turned away, and they're

00:40:52.190 --> 00:40:54.699
getting... We're fighting the VA over that right

00:40:54.699 --> 00:40:56.860
now. But I think it's because what John just

00:40:56.860 --> 00:40:58.679
said a little while ago, we broke that ground

00:40:58.679 --> 00:41:03.099
for him. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it took me 30 years

00:41:03.099 --> 00:41:07.119
before a friend of mine took me along to a psych

00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:10.460
friend of his and he said, yep, you got it, mate,

00:41:10.579 --> 00:41:13.980
you know. But up until then, I always thought

00:41:13.980 --> 00:41:16.179
the only guys who got pensions had, you know,

00:41:16.280 --> 00:41:18.420
the missing arms and legs and God knows what,

00:41:18.719 --> 00:41:22.500
but nothing up top. That's an interesting way

00:41:22.500 --> 00:41:26.420
to put it. I think it's important that we let

00:41:26.420 --> 00:41:27.960
our audience know. We're talking with people

00:41:27.960 --> 00:41:30.079
from all over the world talking about PTSD and

00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:32.599
as you can see with this phone call from Alan

00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:34.739
down in Tasmania that it isn't just American

00:41:34.739 --> 00:41:37.619
troops that get this. I think it's every warrior

00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:44.500
is exposed to horrors of war. I think when we

00:41:44.500 --> 00:41:48.679
flew back, I can remember now in early 69, We

00:41:48.679 --> 00:41:50.820
flew in under cover of darkness into Sydney.

00:41:52.360 --> 00:41:55.420
We were virtually dispersed and told, you know,

00:41:55.579 --> 00:41:59.199
try not to talk about it to people. And some

00:41:59.199 --> 00:42:01.119
of the guys who were flying interstate, because

00:42:01.119 --> 00:42:03.579
it was a late evening arrival, there were no

00:42:03.579 --> 00:42:05.960
flights going interstate that night back in 69.

00:42:07.579 --> 00:42:09.960
There was virtually nothing organized for those

00:42:09.960 --> 00:42:12.500
guys to overnight there before they got the early

00:42:12.500 --> 00:42:14.840
morning flights. They virtually had to sleep

00:42:14.840 --> 00:42:18.119
on floors, benches in the terminal, whatever.

00:42:18.860 --> 00:42:21.760
I mean... I got to ask you guys to hold on for

00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:23.619
just a second. We're coming up on our last break

00:42:23.619 --> 00:42:26.059
for the show and I want to make sure everybody's

00:42:26.059 --> 00:42:27.940
listening to Veterans Radio. We'll be right back

00:42:27.940 --> 00:42:30.360
after these. And we're back on Veterans Radio

00:42:30.360 --> 00:42:32.980
and we've got all kinds of people on our phone.

00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:34.719
It's really exciting today. We're talking with

00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:36.840
Elliot Storm, the author of These Scars Are Sacred.

00:42:37.190 --> 00:42:40.869
We're talking with Alan Wood from Tasmania. Isn't

00:42:40.869 --> 00:42:44.670
that cool? Also I want to welcome to the program

00:42:44.670 --> 00:42:47.309
right now is one of our partners Gary Lilly who

00:42:47.309 --> 00:42:49.630
just returned from his trip to Vietnam. Gary?

00:42:50.130 --> 00:42:53.929
Good morning gentlemen. Gary, welcome home. Thank

00:42:53.929 --> 00:42:58.429
you so much. It's good to be home. As you said

00:42:58.429 --> 00:43:03.250
Dale, I did go to Vietnam. Just hold on just

00:43:03.250 --> 00:43:04.829
a second. I've got to have one at a time. Let's

00:43:04.829 --> 00:43:09.510
have Gary talk first. Go ahead. Then I go, okay,

00:43:09.530 --> 00:43:13.250
here we go. I served there in 1966, and this

00:43:13.250 --> 00:43:18.570
was as a CB, July, and this was my trip back

00:43:18.570 --> 00:43:23.510
for 42 years. There's just so much to say that

00:43:23.510 --> 00:43:28.250
my mind is jumbled, but I'll start with the ending

00:43:28.250 --> 00:43:31.730
first. When we were getting ready to leave the

00:43:31.730 --> 00:43:33.590
night before, I took a young couple with me,

00:43:33.849 --> 00:43:36.920
very, very close, the guys like my son. to me

00:43:36.920 --> 00:43:42.480
and his name is Dustin and his wife Olivia and

00:43:42.480 --> 00:43:46.940
they Olivia was videotaping final thoughts and

00:43:46.940 --> 00:43:49.420
she said you know what is your final thought

00:43:49.420 --> 00:43:52.780
on this and I said the last time I left I left

00:43:52.780 --> 00:43:55.659
exhausted and weary and with a great feeling

00:43:55.659 --> 00:43:58.599
of accomplishment this time I'm leaving a little

00:43:58.599 --> 00:44:03.659
tired and with a great feeling of peace the the

00:44:03.659 --> 00:44:08.099
trip back was so healing for me and one of the

00:44:08.099 --> 00:44:11.360
goals that I had was to take Dustin and Olivia

00:44:11.360 --> 00:44:14.480
to a place called Hill 35 between Chulai and

00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:17.599
Tam Kee and tell them about the things that happened

00:44:17.599 --> 00:44:22.719
there in 1966. Well, Hill 35 is about a mile

00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:25.239
off of Highway 1 and I had a photograph that

00:44:25.239 --> 00:44:29.199
I took by the highway back in those days. It

00:44:29.199 --> 00:44:33.239
was a Marine camp that we were building for them.

00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:37.059
There was a sand trail that went in off Highway

00:44:37.059 --> 00:44:41.039
1 back to the hill. Right now that sand trail

00:44:41.039 --> 00:44:45.559
is a straight road through an industrial park,

00:44:45.719 --> 00:44:48.460
a massive industrial park. And where there was

00:44:48.460 --> 00:44:50.940
a ridge on the right, that ridge is now gone.

00:44:51.059 --> 00:44:53.139
We took sniper fire and they launched a couple

00:44:53.139 --> 00:44:55.500
of attacks and ambushes from it during our time.

00:44:56.340 --> 00:44:58.380
And that ridge is gone. It was used to fill in

00:44:58.380 --> 00:45:02.260
the rice paddies. And so there's industrial buildings.

00:45:02.619 --> 00:45:04.860
But I was sure that I was in the right spot.

00:45:04.960 --> 00:45:07.840
When I got to the base of the hill, we were standing

00:45:07.840 --> 00:45:09.699
there talking, and I said, I think this is it.

00:45:09.920 --> 00:45:13.000
I said, look around. Well, a guy, for lack of

00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:15.400
a better word, a peasant came walking along the

00:45:15.400 --> 00:45:17.880
path along the base of the hill. And my interpreter

00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:20.980
started talking to him, asking him if he knew

00:45:20.980 --> 00:45:22.960
where the, if this was the hill the Americans

00:45:22.960 --> 00:45:25.739
called Hill 35. And as they were talking, I heard

00:45:25.739 --> 00:45:30.550
the word light from that guy. and I knew he said

00:45:30.550 --> 00:45:33.489
arc light and so I knew he was VC and it turned

00:45:33.489 --> 00:45:44.409
out he was. So I knew he was VC and it turned

00:45:44.409 --> 00:45:46.989
out he was and he said it was the right hill

00:45:46.989 --> 00:45:49.929
and I shook hands and congratulated him on the

00:45:49.929 --> 00:45:52.559
both of us being alive. see the day we could

00:45:52.559 --> 00:45:55.820
shake hands. I felt honestly a bond. This guy

00:45:55.820 --> 00:45:58.579
was 15 years old at the time I was there. He

00:45:58.579 --> 00:46:01.320
was VC fighting against the Marines that were

00:46:01.320 --> 00:46:04.380
there. And they lived up in the hills across

00:46:04.380 --> 00:46:07.059
the valley, and he said they would get hit by

00:46:07.059 --> 00:46:10.639
arc light during the day and artillery all night

00:46:10.639 --> 00:46:15.639
long. And I thought, really, what bravery. They

00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:19.320
took a pounding. So at any rate, when we got

00:46:19.320 --> 00:46:23.030
to the top of the hill, He pointed out what the

00:46:23.030 --> 00:46:26.389
indentations of the old bunkers were. There was

00:46:26.389 --> 00:46:29.510
remnants of sandbags on the top of the hill.

00:46:30.869 --> 00:46:34.409
He and I burned incense together. I took incense

00:46:34.409 --> 00:46:37.090
with me. He burned it with me, and we both said

00:46:37.090 --> 00:46:40.050
prayers for those that died there. I don't mean

00:46:40.050 --> 00:46:42.030
to cut you off, Gary, but we're going to be doing

00:46:42.030 --> 00:46:43.789
a whole show about your trip back there in a

00:46:43.789 --> 00:46:45.650
couple of weeks. But I did want you to point

00:46:45.650 --> 00:46:49.230
out the one line that you told me about how you

00:46:49.230 --> 00:46:52.110
view Vietnam now versus the way that it was?

00:46:52.829 --> 00:46:56.289
Well, it's the name of a country, not the name

00:46:56.289 --> 00:47:01.190
of a war. I think that's really important. Alan,

00:47:01.269 --> 00:47:03.590
I know that you were there and you've met Gary

00:47:03.590 --> 00:47:06.250
and you've talked to him before. Have you gone

00:47:06.250 --> 00:47:10.909
back? No way. Gary went back to the Holy Land,

00:47:10.949 --> 00:47:15.440
Dale. Well, that's one of the triggers. We know

00:47:15.440 --> 00:47:17.440
about that stuff. And Elliot, I know you have

00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:20.179
not been back. Well, I'll tell you a fun story

00:47:20.179 --> 00:47:22.300
real quick if you'll let me. I had a friend of

00:47:22.300 --> 00:47:24.260
mine, well, you've read my book, number one.

00:47:24.260 --> 00:47:26.960
Yes, I did. I'm not giving it away. Okay, but

00:47:26.960 --> 00:47:28.760
a friend of mine went back, and this is back

00:47:28.760 --> 00:47:34.039
in, oh gosh, the late 90s, I guess. Well, and

00:47:34.039 --> 00:47:36.639
he brought me something. He says, Elliot, I got

00:47:36.639 --> 00:47:38.440
something for you. In fact, it was my birthday

00:47:38.440 --> 00:47:43.840
party. All my non -brothers were there. Jack

00:47:43.840 --> 00:47:45.539
just got back from Vietnam. He said, I brought

00:47:45.539 --> 00:47:47.980
you something I want you to see. And I said,

00:47:48.099 --> 00:47:50.199
what is it? And I opened this box up. He took

00:47:50.199 --> 00:47:53.300
a picture of a place fairly close to Liberty

00:47:53.300 --> 00:47:56.519
Bridge where I had been shot. And it wasn't a

00:47:56.519 --> 00:47:58.659
good feeling. Jack, he was sitting there smiling.

00:47:58.739 --> 00:48:00.239
He says, I think this will bring you healing.

00:48:01.300 --> 00:48:04.019
And I ended up in the psychiatric ward the next

00:48:04.019 --> 00:48:05.980
day. I mean, it wasn't a good feeling at all

00:48:05.980 --> 00:48:10.110
for me. Well, people have to do what they have

00:48:10.110 --> 00:48:13.170
to do and I admire the courage of these guys

00:48:13.170 --> 00:48:15.110
that do go back because I don't think I want

00:48:15.110 --> 00:48:19.409
to either. Gary, I want to hold on here because

00:48:19.409 --> 00:48:21.690
we're going to come back to you. Alan, I want

00:48:21.690 --> 00:48:23.409
to thank you so very much for calling us again

00:48:23.409 --> 00:48:25.769
from Tanzania and we're going to be talking to

00:48:25.769 --> 00:48:27.769
you again because I know that Gary's got a dog

00:48:27.769 --> 00:48:30.769
3 show coming up. And we're going to be talking

00:48:30.769 --> 00:48:32.489
with you sometime in the near future. Thanks

00:48:32.489 --> 00:48:34.289
so very much. We'll let you guys go and I'll

00:48:34.289 --> 00:48:36.409
get back on the road on the computer and listening

00:48:36.409 --> 00:48:38.190
to the end of it. There you go. And welcome home,

00:48:38.230 --> 00:48:40.969
my brother. Good talking to you. OK. Thank you.

00:48:41.110 --> 00:48:45.769
Bye bye. All right. Bye, Alan. Elliot, how can

00:48:45.769 --> 00:48:48.230
people get a hold of your books right now? Well,

00:48:48.230 --> 00:48:50.570
they go to any border store. And if they don't

00:48:50.570 --> 00:48:52.050
have it in stock, they can order it. Or they

00:48:52.050 --> 00:48:54.050
can give me a call. I'd be happy to send them

00:48:54.050 --> 00:49:02.659
an autographed copy at 203640. 2233. That's 640

00:49:02.659 --> 00:49:06.440
-2233 with the area code 203. Or they can go

00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:10.099
on John LaBarca's website. Or on our website.

00:49:10.360 --> 00:49:13.039
Or your website. In fact, I'd rather have them

00:49:13.039 --> 00:49:15.840
go to your website and buy it from you. Or they

00:49:15.840 --> 00:49:18.059
can go to Amazon .com. And I think they're going

00:49:18.059 --> 00:49:20.400
to be taking it down off Amazon real shortly

00:49:20.400 --> 00:49:22.599
here because we've come up with our fifth edition

00:49:22.599 --> 00:49:24.940
now. We're in number five. And we've done some

00:49:24.940 --> 00:49:28.070
changing. We changed the cover around. If they

00:49:28.070 --> 00:49:30.090
go to Amazon, look up These Cars Are Sacred,

00:49:30.150 --> 00:49:33.789
go to order. And if it says not available, give

00:49:33.789 --> 00:49:36.030
me a call. But he will be available shortly because,

00:49:36.130 --> 00:49:37.469
like I said, they're putting up a new website

00:49:37.469 --> 00:49:40.170
for us. My publisher, we've just come up with

00:49:40.170 --> 00:49:41.949
a new cover. And they said it's going to be down

00:49:41.949 --> 00:49:45.010
for a couple of days. But I'd rather have them

00:49:45.010 --> 00:49:47.309
go to you and buy it from you. Well, we'll get

00:49:47.309 --> 00:49:49.809
all that information up there. In the next couple

00:49:49.809 --> 00:49:51.469
of seconds, because I want to get back to Gary

00:49:51.469 --> 00:49:56.099
before the end of the show today, You've also

00:49:56.099 --> 00:49:58.760
been going around to various organizations and

00:49:58.760 --> 00:50:01.780
giving your talk about the healing process that

00:50:01.780 --> 00:50:03.619
we go through. I just want to mention a couple

00:50:03.619 --> 00:50:05.239
of them because I think it's important. You've

00:50:05.239 --> 00:50:07.400
been to the Navy War College. You've been to

00:50:07.400 --> 00:50:09.420
Yale, I believe it is. Yale University, yes.

00:50:09.460 --> 00:50:11.940
You've been to a couple of VA hospitals, a number

00:50:11.940 --> 00:50:14.239
of veterans organizations. You're going to be

00:50:14.239 --> 00:50:17.699
going to the Army War College. In August. In

00:50:17.699 --> 00:50:19.739
August. You're going to be the main speaker at

00:50:19.739 --> 00:50:24.400
the state convention. We were, that's the VFW

00:50:24.400 --> 00:50:26.840
convention, yeah. And we did it at the American

00:50:26.840 --> 00:50:29.800
Legion. We're gonna be, in fact, I'm gonna do

00:50:29.800 --> 00:50:31.679
a dog and pony show with my good friend right

00:50:31.679 --> 00:50:34.760
here, John LaBarca, at the Mohegan Sun Casino

00:50:34.760 --> 00:50:37.260
on Veterans Day, or Memorial Day, I'm sorry.

00:50:37.900 --> 00:50:40.289
And then, but we've got a score of... Yeah, you

00:50:40.289 --> 00:50:43.170
do. And I want to thank you both, John and Elliot,

00:50:43.230 --> 00:50:45.510
very much for being on Veterans Radio. And if

00:50:45.510 --> 00:50:47.070
you do want to get a hold of the copy of these

00:50:47.070 --> 00:50:48.969
scars or sacred, I encourage you to go to our

00:50:48.969 --> 00:50:51.289
website. We'll get the information and get it

00:50:51.289 --> 00:50:53.210
out to you. He's going to be in the Ann Arbor

00:50:53.210 --> 00:50:58.329
area in the week of April 14th. Next week. That's

00:50:58.329 --> 00:51:01.380
right. And we'll be talking to them then. And

00:51:01.380 --> 00:51:03.079
we're very excited about him coming out here.

00:51:03.260 --> 00:51:04.780
And all of you will have the opportunity to meet

00:51:04.780 --> 00:51:06.639
him in person if you want to get an autographed

00:51:06.639 --> 00:51:08.539
copy of the book and so forth. So Elliot, thank

00:51:08.539 --> 00:51:10.519
you so very much for being on the radio again.

00:51:11.119 --> 00:51:12.460
Welcome home, my brother. Welcome home to all

00:51:12.460 --> 00:51:15.599
my brothers. God bless you all. There you go.

00:51:15.760 --> 00:51:18.280
Talk to you again. Talk soon, bro. Bye bye. Bye

00:51:18.280 --> 00:51:21.730
bye. As I mentioned, Elliot is going to be at

00:51:21.730 --> 00:51:24.130
Washtenaw Community College on Monday, April

00:51:24.130 --> 00:51:27.250
14th. He's going to be in LA 275. He's going

00:51:27.250 --> 00:51:29.469
to be there from 2 until 5. We've got two sessions

00:51:29.469 --> 00:51:31.889
going for those a little bit further to the east.

00:51:31.889 --> 00:51:34.329
He's going to be at Schoolcraft College on Thursday,

00:51:35.429 --> 00:51:39.630
and the building is MC 200 from 1 till 4. And

00:51:39.630 --> 00:51:41.469
Wednesday night in Washtenaw County, he's going

00:51:41.469 --> 00:51:44.670
to be talking at the VFW post down on South Wagner

00:51:44.670 --> 00:51:50.110
Road. Let's see, that's VFW post 423. 230 South

00:51:50.110 --> 00:51:52.789
Wagner Road, 7 o 'clock. All veterans, all veterans

00:51:52.789 --> 00:51:54.889
organizations and the public is invited to come

00:51:54.889 --> 00:51:57.929
down and ask them as your questions. And I think

00:51:57.929 --> 00:51:59.909
it's going to be a great healing opportunity

00:51:59.909 --> 00:52:03.090
for all of us. So I look forward to seeing you

00:52:03.090 --> 00:52:07.250
all there. Okay, Gary. Yes, sir. Sorry, a little

00:52:07.250 --> 00:52:10.929
busy today. Absolutely. I was pleased to hear

00:52:10.929 --> 00:52:15.250
you out on there. My experience, I'm the first

00:52:15.250 --> 00:52:17.150
to say, was a lot different than the experience

00:52:17.150 --> 00:52:22.809
of guys like Alan and Elliot. The combat I saw

00:52:22.809 --> 00:52:25.769
was at a distance. I wasn't involved in it. So

00:52:25.769 --> 00:52:28.190
I understand how those guys feel. But what I

00:52:28.190 --> 00:52:30.710
would love to see guys do is consider going back.

00:52:30.710 --> 00:52:33.409
They don't have to go back to the spots where

00:52:33.409 --> 00:52:36.809
they fought. Just go back and see what the country

00:52:36.809 --> 00:52:41.510
is very industrious. It's young. They love to

00:52:41.510 --> 00:52:44.230
say hello in English. They love to practice.

00:52:44.409 --> 00:52:48.510
Little kids, they're fascinated by us. And they

00:52:48.510 --> 00:52:50.989
just see the fact that this is a productive,

00:52:51.170 --> 00:52:54.530
happy society. The communists thought that communism

00:52:54.530 --> 00:52:57.190
would go south, but what happened? Capitalism

00:52:57.190 --> 00:53:01.710
went north. The whole country is capitalism now.

00:53:02.989 --> 00:53:08.039
And there's huge housing developments. four -star,

00:53:08.039 --> 00:53:10.599
five -star hotels, and as you know, the most

00:53:10.599 --> 00:53:15.699
beautiful beaches in the world. Before I ever

00:53:15.699 --> 00:53:19.420
went to Hill 35, I was feeling at peace. I think

00:53:19.420 --> 00:53:23.559
it's sort of like a reverse domino theory. Gary,

00:53:24.099 --> 00:53:26.860
this is Bob here. I just love that last comment

00:53:26.860 --> 00:53:29.719
that you made. Would you say that again about

00:53:29.719 --> 00:53:31.760
the Communism going south and what happened?

00:53:31.800 --> 00:53:35.480
That's great. Well, the communists figured that

00:53:35.480 --> 00:53:38.699
communism would take over the country, and rather

00:53:38.699 --> 00:53:41.340
than that, capitalism has taken over the country.

00:53:41.420 --> 00:53:45.139
And it went north. It went north. It went north.

00:53:45.980 --> 00:53:49.739
It was just so great to see these people. They

00:53:49.739 --> 00:53:52.079
really seem happy, I've got to tell you. Well,

00:53:52.099 --> 00:53:54.880
I think it's a great tribute, I guess you could

00:53:54.880 --> 00:53:58.880
say, to mankind. We get on with our lives, and

00:53:58.880 --> 00:54:01.760
we continue doing the best that we can to survive.

00:54:03.340 --> 00:54:05.579
I wanted you to talk a little bit about your

00:54:05.579 --> 00:54:08.099
program that's going to be coming up in two weeks.

00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:11.820
In two weeks we're going to do Winter Soldier.

00:54:12.239 --> 00:54:15.340
Winter Soldier 2, right? Winter Soldier 2. We're

00:54:15.340 --> 00:54:19.139
going to talk about the myths, the fallacies

00:54:19.139 --> 00:54:22.659
and the lies of the Winter Soldier hearings because

00:54:22.659 --> 00:54:26.039
I think they did a great disservice to the people

00:54:26.039 --> 00:54:29.730
that served in our military over in Vietnam and

00:54:29.730 --> 00:54:32.050
are serving there in Iraq and Afghanistan. These

00:54:32.050 --> 00:54:35.110
are honorable people, as you know, Dale. And

00:54:35.110 --> 00:54:39.309
when I came back and I heard what murderers we

00:54:39.309 --> 00:54:41.250
were, I thought it must have been just over that

00:54:41.250 --> 00:54:44.130
next hill, because the people that I saw were

00:54:44.130 --> 00:54:48.550
great people. And I became convinced, you know,

00:54:48.550 --> 00:54:51.090
in the winter soldier hearings, you know, I just

00:54:51.090 --> 00:54:53.849
thought, oh my God, you know, I was part of a

00:54:53.849 --> 00:54:59.119
war criminal army. It was very, very heavy cost

00:54:59.119 --> 00:55:05.860
to bear. When I found out it was all lies, that

00:55:05.860 --> 00:55:08.599
was hard to deal with. The general public needs

00:55:08.599 --> 00:55:11.059
to... I agree with you, Gary, and I think it's

00:55:11.059 --> 00:55:12.559
going to be a very important show, and I want

00:55:12.559 --> 00:55:14.159
to make sure that people do tune in. That's going

00:55:14.159 --> 00:55:18.679
to be in two weeks on the 19th. We're going to

00:55:18.679 --> 00:55:20.539
be talking about Winter Soldier II, and I've

00:55:20.539 --> 00:55:22.179
been talking with Gary Lilly. Thanks, Gary. We'll

00:55:22.179 --> 00:55:24.650
be talking to you later. And I want to thank

00:55:24.650 --> 00:55:26.730
everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today

00:55:26.730 --> 00:55:28.429
to Elliott Storm. If you want to get a hold of

00:55:28.429 --> 00:55:30.630
the copy, these scars are sacred. You can call

00:55:30.630 --> 00:55:35.670
them direct at 203 -640 -2233. Tell them that

00:55:35.670 --> 00:55:37.510
you heard about them on Veterans Radio and we'll

00:55:37.510 --> 00:55:39.989
send a book out to you autographed. We've got

00:55:39.989 --> 00:55:42.449
a bunch of those ourselves. You are dismissed.

00:55:47.710 --> 00:55:49.989
The opinions expressed on this program are those

00:55:49.989 --> 00:55:52.750
of our guests. and are not necessarily those

00:55:52.750 --> 00:55:56.309
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00:55:56.309 --> 00:55:58.690
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