WEBVTT 00:00:04.940 --> 00:00:08.800 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.320 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:19.339 now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:26.719 And good afternoon world and welcome to Veterans 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.640 Radio. My name is Dale Throneberry and I am honored 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:32.159 to be your host today here on Veterans Radio. 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:35.880 I am a former CW2 type helicopter pilot during 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:39.259 Vietnam. And it's very exciting today. We got 00:00:39.259 --> 00:00:40.920 a great program. We're going to be talking with 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.659 a representative from the DAV, Disabled American 00:00:43.659 --> 00:00:46.039 Veterans, and to find out what's going on with 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:48.159 the legislature today and see what the Congress 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:50.759 is going to try and do to mess around with veterans 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:52.640 benefits next. You know, they always got to figure 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.439 out a way to save money, and it seems like they 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:59.240 always go to the least. people that need to help 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.159 the most is where they seem to go first. And 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:03.219 so that's one of the things we got to talk about 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:05.480 and probably give you a little call to action 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:09.939 for that. Coming up after the first break, though, 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:12.560 is really the meat of the program today. We're 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:14.640 going to be talking to a Medal of Honor recipient, 00:01:15.260 --> 00:01:18.780 Clint Robichet, who received his Medal of Honor 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:25.799 in 2013 for the Battle of Firebase Keating. His 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:31.640 book is entitled, Red Platoon, and it was a great 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:33.780 read, and I'm so excited to talk to him about 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:36.439 this. It's just a fascinating book, and it's 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:40.980 all about taking care of your buddy. And this 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:43.719 is what people in the military do, men and women 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:46.060 alike, is that everybody's got everybody else's 00:01:46.060 --> 00:01:48.680 back, and nobody's going to ever leave anybody 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:50.519 on the field, and this is really what the Red 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:53.319 Platoon is all about, never leaving anybody on 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:57.120 the field. in addition to the horrific battle 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.500 that took place there in 2009. So it's going 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:03.500 to be an interesting insight. I encourage you 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:05.620 to stick around for that. If you want to get 00:02:05.620 --> 00:02:07.560 in on the conversation here, you can give us 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:14.120 a call at 734 -822 -1600. 734 -822 -1600. I think 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:16.960 you're going to really like it. the program today. 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:18.800 I've got a couple of shout outs here that I want 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.020 to give. Number one is that, you know, we don't 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:23.020 normally do this, or a lot of people don't do 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:26.539 this it seems, but this is to the VA. What? We're 00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:28.879 going to give a shout out to the VA? Yeah, we 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:32.780 are. The Ann Arbor VA had a commemoration event 00:02:32.780 --> 00:02:37.400 this last Friday and it was May 6th and it was 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:40.699 just really, really well done and they had it 00:02:40.699 --> 00:02:43.560 in the auditorium and they had You know, they 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:48.020 had a band and patriotic music and parades and 00:02:48.020 --> 00:02:50.300 balloons and they were giving us, they were giving 00:02:50.300 --> 00:02:52.180 all the Vietnam veterans there all these little 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.680 commemorative pins and they had all the different 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:58.039 branches of the service and it was really well 00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:01.539 done and so I just wanted to congratulate the 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:04.460 Ann Arbor VA especially for putting on this little 00:03:04.460 --> 00:03:07.099 commemorative program for their veterans and 00:03:07.099 --> 00:03:10.539 I'm assuming in talking with them over there 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:12.379 that there are going to be events like this at 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:15.139 many of the other VAs around the country. So 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:17.099 check out your newspapers every once in a while 00:03:17.099 --> 00:03:18.819 and see what's happening. And I think that you'll 00:03:18.819 --> 00:03:20.639 be, I think you'll like to go to this. It was 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:22.580 really kind of interesting to see all these guys 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:24.740 and women there. There were a number of nurses, 00:03:24.740 --> 00:03:28.180 of course, that were at the activity at the Ann 00:03:28.180 --> 00:03:32.439 Arbor VA. And, you know, to all my friends out 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:34.080 there, it was really kind of frightening. When 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:36.639 I was looking around the room, we all look alike. 00:03:37.150 --> 00:03:40.090 and the white hair, the white beards, kind of 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:42.430 like a little mini Santa Claus celebration. I'm 00:03:42.430 --> 00:03:45.069 not sure exactly what it was, but I guess since 00:03:45.069 --> 00:03:47.949 we are now, so many of us are the senior members 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:52.770 of the military establishment, it gets me a little 00:03:52.770 --> 00:03:56.129 bit nervous. But they did honor Charlie Kettles. 00:03:56.469 --> 00:03:58.629 He was a guest speaker there, and for those of 00:03:58.629 --> 00:04:00.310 you in the local area especially, you know that 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:03.409 Charlie Kettles, Lieutenant Colonel, Aviation 00:04:03.409 --> 00:04:07.919 Helicopter Pilot, has been approved. to receive 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:09.860 his Medal of Honor. We just don't have a date 00:04:09.860 --> 00:04:11.400 yet when he will get it. So this whole Medal 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:14.539 of Honor is kind of a big deal today and next 00:04:14.539 --> 00:04:16.199 week. Next week we're scheduled to have another 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:18.279 Medal of Honor recipient on. So it's been very 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:21.459 cool. So that's it. The Ann Arbor VA, go to it. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.560 And the other thing that's coming up is an event 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:26.899 that we've been very tied in with. And this is 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:29.319 a Silver Star event, a benefit for Veterans Matter. 00:04:29.379 --> 00:04:31.579 And you've all heard about us talking about Veterans 00:04:31.579 --> 00:04:35.089 Matter. And what Veterans Matter does is the 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:38.769 VA provides funding for apartments and housing 00:04:38.769 --> 00:04:41.449 for homeless veterans, but they don't provide 00:04:41.449 --> 00:04:44.370 the deposit, which is kind of unusual when you 00:04:44.370 --> 00:04:46.829 think about it. And so Veterans Matter has kind 00:04:46.829 --> 00:04:48.170 of come up with this idea that they're going 00:04:48.170 --> 00:04:49.769 to raise the money and they're going to provide 00:04:49.769 --> 00:04:53.589 the funding for the deposit so we can get these 00:04:53.589 --> 00:04:55.970 men and women off the streets and into livable 00:04:55.970 --> 00:04:58.730 housing. And there's a fundraiser coming up here 00:04:58.730 --> 00:05:03.050 in Ann Arbor next Saturday, May 14, 2016. It's 00:05:03.050 --> 00:05:05.129 going to be at Father Gabriel Bichard High School. 00:05:05.490 --> 00:05:09.310 It begins at, where is the time? They didn't 00:05:09.310 --> 00:05:11.430 give me the time. I think it runs from 6 to 9. 00:05:12.129 --> 00:05:14.629 Yeah, there it is. Runs from 6 to 9, Saturday, 00:05:14.709 --> 00:05:18.870 May 14. And the tickets are $25. And they've 00:05:18.870 --> 00:05:20.449 got a great silent auction. I've been hearing 00:05:20.449 --> 00:05:22.230 about some other really great gifts, tickets, 00:05:22.350 --> 00:05:25.000 of course, and so on and so forth. food and spirits, 00:05:25.100 --> 00:05:27.839 wine and more. And for more information, for 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:30.379 tickets, or to donate to the organization, go 00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:34.480 to SilverStarEvent .org. That's SilverStarEvent 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:38.040 .org, or you can find them on Facebook at SilverStarEvent. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:40.779 This is sponsored by Ventures Matter. And Jordan 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:43.259 Rises, which is a respiratory supply company, 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.939 and these guys are, Jordan Rises is very, very 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:47.839 involved in Veterans Affairs. So we encourage 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:49.620 everybody to go out and support this as their 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:52.990 first. attempt at raising money and I think that 00:05:52.990 --> 00:05:55.069 they're doing really well and all of this money 00:05:55.069 --> 00:05:58.189 99 .9 percent of this money is going to go to 00:05:58.189 --> 00:06:00.970 Veterans Matter so that they can provide those 00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:03.350 deposits for men. Veterans Matter has already 00:06:03.350 --> 00:06:06.529 got a thousand people into apartments so I encourage 00:06:06.529 --> 00:06:11.709 you to do that. All right or right now so moving 00:06:11.709 --> 00:06:13.850 right along as they see her on Veterans Radio. 00:06:14.350 --> 00:06:17.110 Joining me on the program right now is the Executive 00:06:17.110 --> 00:06:19.990 Director of the Disabled American Veterans, and 00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:22.110 their mission, of course, is to fulfill our promises 00:06:22.110 --> 00:06:24.509 to the men and women who have served. And joining 00:06:24.509 --> 00:06:27.569 me on a line from the Washington, D .C. area 00:06:27.569 --> 00:06:29.610 is Gary Augustine. Gary, welcome to Veterans 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:32.829 Radio. Thank you, Dale, and thank you for your 00:06:32.829 --> 00:06:35.189 service. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. 00:06:35.670 --> 00:06:37.509 It was an honor. You know, the more and more 00:06:37.509 --> 00:06:40.050 I look back on it, the better and better I feel 00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:44.310 about it. Well, I can agree with that, and I'm 00:06:44.310 --> 00:06:47.149 one of your white -haired, white -bearded colleagues. 00:06:47.389 --> 00:06:50.610 Isn't that scary? I don't know, you know, what 00:06:50.610 --> 00:06:53.769 happened. The problem is I'm 20 years old in 00:06:53.769 --> 00:06:55.970 my mind, you know, and I've got this 70 -year 00:06:55.970 --> 00:06:58.350 -old body that isn't necessary. It just doesn't 00:06:58.350 --> 00:07:02.610 mix sometimes. Yeah, it can relate. I think a 00:07:02.610 --> 00:07:05.470 lot of us can relate to that. So tell me what 00:07:05.470 --> 00:07:08.250 the DAV is up to, and I encourage people out 00:07:08.250 --> 00:07:10.920 there... for people who don't know what the DAV 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:13.939 is. Tell us a little bit about what your organization 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:16.939 does. Well, thank you for the opportunity to 00:07:16.939 --> 00:07:19.259 talk about the DAV. It's one of my favorite subjects. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:22.439 I've been employed with the DAV for 28 years. 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:25.560 Thank you for your service. Thank you. I started 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:29.980 as a national service officer. We have 270 national 00:07:29.980 --> 00:07:32.800 service officers around the country. We provide 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:37.000 free claims representation to any era of veterans, 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:41.959 free of charge. And we are in all the VA regional 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:44.360 offices around the country. So if you need help 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:47.319 with your claim, you can drop into a DAV office 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:50.259 and one of our national service officers will 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:53.620 take care of you. We also have many other programs, 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:56.519 including programs to help veterans get employed. 00:07:57.240 --> 00:08:00.819 We give veterans rides to the VA hospital to 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:02.740 meet their appointments and then wait for them 00:08:02.740 --> 00:08:04.319 and take them back home at night if they have 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:06.759 no other way of getting there. We do a voluntary 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:10.089 service program. We provide disaster relief around 00:08:10.089 --> 00:08:13.949 the country to all veterans that are affected 00:08:13.949 --> 00:08:18.290 by natural disasters around the country. That's 00:08:18.290 --> 00:08:23.170 just a few of the many benefits and services 00:08:23.170 --> 00:08:27.310 that the VAV provides to all veterans of all 00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:30.350 eras who are in our 95th year of existence. Wow, 00:08:30.529 --> 00:08:33.250 that's terrific. Gary, the reason I asked you 00:08:33.250 --> 00:08:35.629 to come on the program today was to talk about 00:08:35.629 --> 00:08:38.700 some of these legislative issues that are being 00:08:38.700 --> 00:08:41.039 brought up in Congress right now and I know that 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.919 the DAV along with the other service organizations 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.700 are very active in protecting the benefits that 00:08:46.700 --> 00:08:48.740 we have and hopefully expanding some of them. 00:08:48.779 --> 00:08:51.200 Can you tell a little bit about what the DAV 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:55.080 is up to? Absolutely and as you probably are 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:57.899 aware the VA has had some issues over the last 00:08:57.899 --> 00:09:03.159 few years with access and because of that there 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:06.379 was a law passed a few years ago, the choice 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:09.960 that offer the choice program for veterans. And 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:11.740 I just want to talk a little bit about choice, 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:14.879 because I think there's a great misperception 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.460 out there about what that means for veterans. 00:09:18.980 --> 00:09:23.159 They decided to, in order to help the VA, try 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:28.179 to improve access for veterans to get their care, 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:31.779 especially in the hospitals that are overburdened 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:34.860 and may not have the ability to take care of 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:39.389 the demand. that veterans want to come to the 00:09:39.389 --> 00:09:44.549 VA, offered them something called Choice. And 00:09:44.549 --> 00:09:48.350 they sent nine million cards out to the veterans 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:50.590 that are enrolled in the VA healthcare system. 00:09:51.129 --> 00:09:54.549 And the cards are supposed to be something veterans 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:58.789 can use if they live more than 40 miles from 00:09:58.789 --> 00:10:01.809 a VA facility that can take care of their health 00:10:01.809 --> 00:10:04.570 condition, or if they have to wait more than 00:10:04.570 --> 00:10:09.690 30 days. And right now, Senator McCain has introduced 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:14.509 a new bill to expand CHOICE. Now, the problem 00:10:14.509 --> 00:10:18.570 as we see it is the CHOICE program was implemented 00:10:18.570 --> 00:10:24.889 very quickly, and much of the responsibility 00:10:24.889 --> 00:10:28.889 for implementing the program was given to third 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:33.029 -party providers, two health insurance companies 00:10:33.029 --> 00:10:36.720 called Health Net and TriWest. And their job 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:40.039 was to try to coordinate these people that need 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:44.779 to go outside of the VA. And they've tried to 00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:50.559 do a very good job. They were given a tough order. 00:10:51.299 --> 00:10:54.000 But some of the problems that we've seen with 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:58.679 CHOICE is that as veterans try to use it to go 00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:02.740 outside of the VA, many times they find that 00:11:02.740 --> 00:11:06.129 the providers that they are referred to aren't 00:11:06.129 --> 00:11:10.090 real clear on the reimbursement policy, may not 00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:16.149 be clear on how to treat veterans' issues, and 00:11:16.149 --> 00:11:19.250 the result is many veterans get billed for services 00:11:19.250 --> 00:11:21.710 they're not supposed to be billed for because 00:11:21.710 --> 00:11:26.029 the private provider is not patient enough to 00:11:26.029 --> 00:11:29.230 wait for reimbursement, then comes a little late 00:11:29.230 --> 00:11:31.970 from the VA sometimes because they're not quite 00:11:31.970 --> 00:11:36.429 coordinated well enough. So, because of that, 00:11:36.929 --> 00:11:41.269 we have instituted a program or a campaign called 00:11:41.269 --> 00:11:44.269 Setting the Record Straight. And if people go 00:11:44.269 --> 00:11:48.809 to our website www .dav .org and go to Setting 00:11:48.809 --> 00:11:52.529 the Record Straight, you'll see five videos that 00:11:52.529 --> 00:11:57.330 we try to use to educate veterans about some 00:11:57.330 --> 00:12:01.470 of the common things that are talked about out 00:12:01.470 --> 00:12:04.139 there with Choice. that may be bad for veterans. 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:09.580 Some of those terms are things like let the money 00:12:09.580 --> 00:12:12.080 follow the veteran, just give them a voucher, 00:12:12.220 --> 00:12:14.919 let them go into the private community anytime 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:17.580 they want. Some of the problems with that are 00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:19.179 the same things we're seeing with the current 00:12:19.179 --> 00:12:22.960 choice program and that is that it's not well 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.860 coordinated, veterans end up getting fragmented 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:34.070 care, they may not They may go to places that 00:12:34.070 --> 00:12:37.549 are treated them, but then bill them, and when 00:12:37.549 --> 00:12:39.110 they don't pay, because they're not supposed 00:12:39.110 --> 00:12:44.029 to pay, they should be authorized to go to those 00:12:44.029 --> 00:12:45.909 places. Then they get bill collectors coming 00:12:45.909 --> 00:12:48.570 after them. So there's a lot of problems with 00:12:48.570 --> 00:12:51.370 these simple, what seems to be simple kinds of 00:12:51.370 --> 00:12:55.990 terms and ideas. And so we're trying to oversee 00:12:55.990 --> 00:12:58.269 the current legislation that's being considered. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.700 so that it can be much more coordinated through 00:13:02.700 --> 00:13:05.299 oversight by the VA and make sure that veterans 00:13:05.299 --> 00:13:08.379 don't get harmed by going outside when it's necessary. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:10.879 Right. I think that that always seems to be a 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:13.620 problem whenever you get a corporation involved 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:16.179 that's more profit -driven than in many cases 00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:20.929 and service -driven. I realize I'm throwing stones, 00:13:21.769 --> 00:13:25.590 but it's true, especially when they don't understand 00:13:25.590 --> 00:13:30.330 the audience or the patients that they're going 00:13:30.330 --> 00:13:33.549 to be dealing with. Veterans can be a little 00:13:33.549 --> 00:13:37.009 bit different, especially when they're used to 00:13:37.009 --> 00:13:38.690 certain types of care. I know that one of your 00:13:38.690 --> 00:13:42.210 concerns was the rumors have been popping up 00:13:42.210 --> 00:13:48.059 about privatizing the entire VA system. For those 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:50.779 who use the VA system, you're going to go, no, 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:54.039 no, no, wait a minute. What do I got to do? I'm 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:55.820 going to go to my primary care physician and 00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:58.240 talk about how I got whatever happened to me, 00:13:58.500 --> 00:14:02.179 where and when and how. And I think that that 00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:06.879 presents a problem. It does. It does. And what 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:09.340 we have found is that, and by the way, we're 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:12.639 not against using private health care providers 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:16.259 when the VA can't take care of the veterans because 00:14:16.259 --> 00:14:20.659 of increased demand and not being able to provide 00:14:20.659 --> 00:14:23.299 the services in a timely manner. But it has to 00:14:23.299 --> 00:14:26.279 be coordinated. It has to be set up into a network 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:29.720 of providers that understand what the reimbursement 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:33.740 policies are and what veterans require as far 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:37.600 as their treatment. You know, many veterans have 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.879 conditions that the private sector doesn't see 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:43.190 that often. And they may not be familiar with 00:14:43.190 --> 00:14:46.789 the questions they need to ask veterans so that 00:14:46.789 --> 00:14:49.309 they can make sure that they treat the whole 00:14:49.309 --> 00:14:52.049 veteran and not just a condition. Right. And 00:14:52.049 --> 00:14:54.210 I think that's one of the directions that we 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:57.789 have seen the VA going is to have that constant 00:14:57.789 --> 00:15:02.350 contact person to help the veteran work their 00:15:02.350 --> 00:15:05.110 way through the system and to get the better 00:15:05.110 --> 00:15:08.330 care. Exactly. And you mentioned privatization. 00:15:08.470 --> 00:15:12.789 And make no mistake. There is a movement out 00:15:12.789 --> 00:15:16.169 there of people that would like to see the VA 00:15:16.169 --> 00:15:19.230 become just a payer and not a provider of services. 00:15:20.029 --> 00:15:22.990 And we are dead set against that, as are many 00:15:22.990 --> 00:15:27.110 of our VSO colleagues. We have made it very clear 00:15:27.110 --> 00:15:30.830 that we want to fix the problems in the VA because 00:15:30.830 --> 00:15:34.809 we still think that VA healthcare is the best 00:15:34.809 --> 00:15:36.990 healthcare for the veterans who use it on a regular 00:15:36.990 --> 00:15:39.679 basis. Well, I agree with that. In fact, our 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:41.679 guest in the next segment in part of one of the 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.799 lines in his book was something to the effect 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:46.620 of, you know, that we know how to take care of 00:15:46.620 --> 00:15:49.980 our own, and this is what we should be doing. 00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:53.200 Exactly. And, you know, this is a promise that 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:55.600 you made. And because there are so many, such 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:58.940 a smaller, I guess, such a smaller number of 00:15:58.940 --> 00:16:02.759 actual active duty military today that the civilian 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.279 part of the world that doesn't really understand 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:09.809 what their needs are. And I think that that's 00:16:09.809 --> 00:16:13.490 something that is really important. Gary, I'd 00:16:13.490 --> 00:16:15.169 love to have you back on the program to talk 00:16:15.169 --> 00:16:17.850 more about this, but I do want to get into my 00:16:17.850 --> 00:16:21.529 next guest. But I encourage people to go to DAV 00:16:21.529 --> 00:16:24.370 .org. I've got great information there. I belong. 00:16:26.230 --> 00:16:28.610 And Gary, thank you very much. You are a service 00:16:28.610 --> 00:16:30.610 -connected disabled veteran. I didn't get into 00:16:30.610 --> 00:16:34.070 your biographical thing. But thank you for your 00:16:34.070 --> 00:16:37.509 service before your service. How's that? All 00:16:37.509 --> 00:16:39.450 right, Dale. Thank you. And, you know, I'd be 00:16:39.450 --> 00:16:43.970 glad to come back any time. And again, any service, 00:16:44.350 --> 00:16:47.269 anybody that needs help with their claim, go 00:16:47.269 --> 00:16:51.549 to www .dav .org and put in your zip code and 00:16:51.549 --> 00:16:53.769 it'll tell you the closest office to you. And 00:16:53.769 --> 00:16:56.389 all of our services are free of charge. Absolutely. 00:16:56.690 --> 00:16:58.230 And for all of you veterans that are listening, 00:16:58.330 --> 00:16:59.830 you don't know what benefits you're entitled 00:16:59.830 --> 00:17:03.110 to sometimes. And there are some interesting 00:17:03.110 --> 00:17:06.599 ones out there. Absolutely, not just federal 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:10.339 benefits, state benefits also. Thank you very 00:17:10.339 --> 00:17:12.259 much, Gary. We've been talking to Gary Augustine 00:17:12.259 --> 00:17:14.519 from the Disabled American Veterans. I encourage 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:17.720 you to go to the website DAV .org. We're going 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:20.700 to take a quick break, move some stuff around, 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.160 and then we'll be back with our guest. The second 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:25.900 half of the program, Clint Robuchet, Medal of 00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:28.900 Honor recipient. I'm really excited to talk to 00:17:28.900 --> 00:17:31.180 Clint. We'll be right back after this. And we 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:33.099 are back on Veterans Radio, and we are going 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:36.400 to be joined by our guest in just a moment. And 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:37.859 let me give you a little background on him. His 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:41.559 name is Clinton Robuchet, and Clint has written 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:44.920 a book entitled Red Platoon. I encourage all 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:47.119 of you to get out and read this book. It's a 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.759 fascinating read. Anyway, Clinton enlisted in 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.960 the Army in 1999. He deployed twice to Iraq in 00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:56.640 support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and once to 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:58.779 Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:01.359 Freedom. At the time of the attack mentioned 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:04.880 in the text here, we will talk about that. On 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:08.380 Combat Outpost Keating, on October 3rd, 2009, 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:12.640 Staff Sergeant Robichet was assigned as a section 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:16.230 leader of Bravo Troop. Third of the 61st Cavalry, 00:18:16.410 --> 00:18:18.910 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. 00:18:19.710 --> 00:18:21.690 He's a recipient of numerous awards and decorations, 00:18:21.769 --> 00:18:24.190 of course, including the Medal of Honor. When 00:18:24.190 --> 00:18:26.130 he was separated from their service, he now lives 00:18:26.130 --> 00:18:28.890 with his family in North Dakota. Clint, welcome 00:18:28.890 --> 00:18:32.630 to Veterans Radio. Hey, Dale. Thank you so much 00:18:32.630 --> 00:18:34.619 for having me today. Well, thank you so much 00:18:34.619 --> 00:18:37.180 for agreeing to be on the program. I know that 00:18:37.180 --> 00:18:40.140 you have been extremely busy in promoting your 00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:43.099 new book, and I encourage, as I mentioned before, 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:44.559 I encourage everybody to go out and get this. 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:46.960 It's a really, it's a true story of American 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:50.420 Valor, and it's not just a war story, and that's 00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:55.460 what I really enjoyed about it. Tell me, I guess 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:58.160 we can just start at the beginning. So, why did 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:01.400 you enlist in 1999? What caused you to do that? 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:05.720 I grew up in a family of military service from 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:09.019 my grandfather, World War II. My dad was in Vietnam. 00:19:09.539 --> 00:19:11.500 Both my brothers had served in the military, 00:19:11.940 --> 00:19:15.559 various uncles I had. So I was always kind of 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:18.740 surrounded by service back to the country. But 00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:20.680 it wasn't like it was a prerequisite to be part 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:23.259 of the Romache family, to kind of get your family 00:19:23.259 --> 00:19:27.420 card stamped to serve. It was really my dad that 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:29.079 taught me those lessons. You don't have to put 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:30.519 the uniform on to serve, but you've got to get 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:32.799 back to the country. And as far back as I could 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.200 remember, I wanted to be in the Army. I didn't 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:38.599 really know why. I think a lot of the guys I 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:41.079 ended up serving with over my career, we all 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:43.279 wanted to join for one reason or another, just 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:46.980 the desire to do something. But it was under 00:19:46.980 --> 00:19:48.880 the advice of my dad when I actually tried to 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:51.339 sign up at 17. He wouldn't let me, he wouldn't 00:19:51.339 --> 00:19:54.000 sign for me because he taught me some very valuable 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.680 lessons in life. If you put on the uniform of 00:19:56.680 --> 00:19:58.480 this military, maybe not today and maybe not 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.599 in 20 years. But you'll have to go and do and 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:03.460 see things that no man should ever have to do 00:20:03.460 --> 00:20:06.319 and see. You'll have to make that choice when 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.539 you're 18. The day after I turned 18, that's 00:20:09.539 --> 00:20:13.220 what I did, signed up, put on the uniform. And 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:14.920 like I said, I joined just because I wanted to 00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:17.880 join. But I really ended up serving because of 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:20.619 the great men I got to meet and be around and 00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:23.259 be part of something more than just myself and 00:20:23.259 --> 00:20:26.579 try to give back to what was given before me 00:20:26.579 --> 00:20:28.779 so we could live in this great country. You know, 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:33.460 just free and proud people. I can't say it any 00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:35.200 better than that, but I got a half hour to keep 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:41.660 going. So you went to Iraq twice. This is one 00:20:41.660 --> 00:20:42.859 of the things that we're always talking about 00:20:42.859 --> 00:20:45.420 on a program, is you men and the men and women 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:48.759 today are deploying so often. It's just to us, 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:50.819 it seems a little bit outrageous, but I know 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:53.140 that you look at it, this is your job, this is 00:20:53.140 --> 00:20:56.279 your profession, this is what you do. What did 00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:01.019 you do while you were in Iraq? The initial deployment 00:21:01.019 --> 00:21:06.619 I did back in that 2004 to 2005 time frame was 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:09.000 very much still kinetic. At the time I was still 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:12.019 actually on the M1A1 tanks. Our main mission 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:15.700 was route security on a main supply route called 00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:19.160 the MSR Michigan to help keep that open and flowing 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:23.599 and help try to combat the IED threats that were 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:26.700 going on in the area, try to disrupt them and 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:29.130 go kinetic. You know, try to eliminate these 00:21:29.130 --> 00:21:30.829 guys before they could even put bombs on the 00:21:30.829 --> 00:21:33.549 side of the roads. Uh, the second Iraq deployment 00:21:33.549 --> 00:21:37.150 came up in 2006 to eight, uh, during the surge, 00:21:37.150 --> 00:21:39.549 you know, and that was more that the queen fight, 00:21:39.930 --> 00:21:42.349 the counterinsurgency fight, but he incorporate 00:21:42.349 --> 00:21:44.369 the locals and build their government and train 00:21:44.369 --> 00:21:48.670 their forces. Um, and stay, you know, right there 00:21:48.670 --> 00:21:51.069 in small little pockets, not on the big fobs, 00:21:51.109 --> 00:21:53.950 but actually out in, in the, the local environment. 00:21:55.029 --> 00:21:58.150 with the Iraqi people to gain kind of their trust 00:21:58.150 --> 00:22:00.750 and help, you know, put a little more stability 00:22:00.750 --> 00:22:03.049 in the country, but more importantly, show them 00:22:03.049 --> 00:22:04.670 that, hey, we're right here with you, living 00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:06.690 right beside you, you know, but it's going to 00:22:06.690 --> 00:22:08.509 take your ownership to step up to the plate. 00:22:08.650 --> 00:22:10.569 We're only going to be here so long. So you've 00:22:10.569 --> 00:22:12.970 got to take it and embrace it and own it for 00:22:12.970 --> 00:22:17.130 yourself. That's that. And I think that our audience 00:22:17.130 --> 00:22:22.289 really is unaware of all of the community building. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:26.579 tasks that you performed while you were in Iraq. 00:22:26.660 --> 00:22:28.799 And I know that they've done that same thing 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:30.900 or they've attempted the same thing in Afghanistan. 00:22:31.380 --> 00:22:33.640 So not only were you involved in trying to protect 00:22:33.640 --> 00:22:35.900 yourselves and keep these routes open for supplies 00:22:35.900 --> 00:22:38.099 and so forth, but you were down on the local 00:22:38.099 --> 00:22:42.339 level trying to build schools and teach, I guess, 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:47.700 the Iraqis on how to live. Oh, yeah. I mean, 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:50.539 I think we kind of get lost. We kind of got this 00:22:50.539 --> 00:22:53.900 short -term memory thing going on here. a U .S. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.180 population. America is a great country. Look 00:22:57.180 --> 00:22:58.920 what we did in Germany. Look what we've done 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:00.920 in Japan. Look what we've done in South Korea. 00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:03.720 But it doesn't happen overnight and it comes 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:05.480 from that direct involvement with the locals 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:08.579 to get them to take ownership. But it takes a 00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:10.740 long time and you got to stick with it until 00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:13.559 you come to, I mean, not even end. We still have 00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:15.960 bases in Europe. We still have bases in South 00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:19.339 Korea. It's a long -term investment. If you want 00:23:19.339 --> 00:23:22.460 true stability and real support for the country 00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:24.819 you're in, you've got to go there for the long 00:23:24.819 --> 00:23:28.279 haul. I don't think people understand that. You 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.119 just can't go in and fix everything and then 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:36.099 leave. It doesn't quite work that way. All right, 00:23:36.099 --> 00:23:37.720 we've got about a minute before we have to take 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:41.500 a break. So what were your feelings about going 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:44.579 back again to another war zone to go to Afghanistan? 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:48.779 You know, in a way it was... uh... no model i 00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:50.960 was a bit exciting i've done already to tourist 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.700 iraq uh... you heard of it they got going over 00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:57.660 to afghanistan and the challenges they faced 00:23:57.660 --> 00:24:00.279 on so that professional soldier to be able to 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:02.799 to go from that the flatland deserts of for the 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:05.880 most part in pretty wide open or congested uh... 00:24:05.880 --> 00:24:08.079 uh... city centers to you know the rugged mountain 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:11.180 train the health how physically fit our any hike 00:24:11.180 --> 00:24:14.019 up and down the mountain people The Taliban fighters 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:16.240 should hear stories of them. They were more willing 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:18.559 to go toe -to -toe with you, where a lot of the 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:20.960 insurgent fights we found in Iraq were these 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:23.859 very quick hit -and -run type deals. So as a 00:24:23.859 --> 00:24:26.339 professional soldier, it was very exciting to 00:24:26.339 --> 00:24:30.079 kind of see both ends of the spectrum. Can you 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.079 describe the terrain in Afghanistan, especially 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:35.740 in the eastern, northeastern area where you were? 00:24:37.710 --> 00:24:39.549 You know, honestly, it was some of the most beautiful 00:24:39.549 --> 00:24:42.730 countryside I've ever seen. It reminded me of 00:24:42.730 --> 00:24:45.410 the continental divide in the mountains of the 00:24:45.410 --> 00:24:48.210 Rockies in Colorado. The rivers flow through 00:24:48.210 --> 00:24:50.410 there. Now, the first thing I thought is these 00:24:50.410 --> 00:24:52.369 guys need to get into the tourism business, because 00:24:52.369 --> 00:24:54.329 they'd make it killing. Yeah, they should. With 00:24:54.329 --> 00:24:56.390 whitewater rafting and the beautiful mountains 00:24:56.390 --> 00:24:59.289 of skiing. OK, I got to take a quick break, Clint. 00:24:59.390 --> 00:25:01.849 Hang on. We'll be back after the news. We're 00:25:01.849 --> 00:25:05.650 talking with Clint Rojma - Rojma - Rojma - Ro 00:25:05.650 --> 00:25:12.190 -maché. We'll be right back after this. And we're 00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:14.109 back on Veterans Radio. We're talking with Clint 00:25:14.109 --> 00:25:16.910 Robichet, the author of the book Red Platoon, 00:25:17.089 --> 00:25:20.210 The True Story of American Valor. Clint is the 00:25:20.210 --> 00:25:24.170 recipient of the Medal of Honor. And we're just 00:25:24.170 --> 00:25:25.950 talking a little bit about Afghanistan, where 00:25:25.950 --> 00:25:33.279 he was deployed in 2009. When you got to... You 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:36.740 guys call it COP, is it? COP Keating in Afghanistan. 00:25:36.859 --> 00:25:41.660 What did you think of that fine location? You 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:44.539 know, we were kind of fortunate enough in our 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:47.859 platoon, Sergeant Kirk had just been with 173rd, 00:25:48.019 --> 00:25:50.880 that area of Afghanistan, just on his prior deployment. 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:54.099 You know, so we got the intel dumps before even 00:25:54.099 --> 00:25:56.059 going overseas of where we'd be kind of getting 00:25:56.059 --> 00:25:58.220 located at. But you know, that real firsthand 00:25:58.220 --> 00:26:00.279 account of Sergeant Kirk coming in and saying, 00:26:00.339 --> 00:26:03.150 hey, look, boys, this is some... pretty bad area. 00:26:03.329 --> 00:26:07.410 These guys are committed fighters. The terrain 00:26:07.410 --> 00:26:09.930 is horrendous, so we need to make sure we're 00:26:09.930 --> 00:26:12.670 physically fit. We understand our weapon systems, 00:26:12.769 --> 00:26:14.329 how to shoot angle fire, because a lot of it 00:26:14.329 --> 00:26:17.990 we're going to be fighting uphill. At the time, 00:26:18.250 --> 00:26:20.029 you're trying to absorb it in, incorporate that 00:26:20.029 --> 00:26:21.710 into the training, but it wasn't until the first 00:26:21.710 --> 00:26:25.329 night, because the only way to access combat 00:26:25.329 --> 00:26:28.440 outpost keating was by helicopter. and only at 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:30.500 night with the pilots fly in because it was just 00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:32.259 way too dangerous for them to fly during the 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:34.539 daytime and a big conductor just too easy a target 00:26:34.539 --> 00:26:37.019 and as I stepped off the back ramp the first 00:26:37.019 --> 00:26:38.740 night coming there and I remember kind of just 00:26:38.740 --> 00:26:40.700 spinning around trying to get my orientation 00:26:40.700 --> 00:26:43.319 and bearing looking through my night vision goggles 00:26:43.319 --> 00:26:45.359 you know and when you wear a set of night vision 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:47.599 goggles you can always kind of pick up where 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:50.759 the land the terrain and the horizon the sky 00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:52.880 is no matter how dark it is you always kind of 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:54.579 have a reflection of the Sun on the opposite 00:26:54.579 --> 00:26:56.569 side of the world You can always kind of pick 00:26:56.569 --> 00:26:59.190 that up. And I just remember looking around thinking, 00:26:59.430 --> 00:27:01.150 oh, these night vision goggles must be broke, 00:27:01.269 --> 00:27:04.490 because all I'm seeing is black. And then bright 00:27:04.490 --> 00:27:08.230 and early the next morning, woke up. We got outside, 00:27:09.029 --> 00:27:11.390 get a little more rain, and see things in the 00:27:11.390 --> 00:27:13.890 daytime. I just remember looking around, and 00:27:13.890 --> 00:27:16.329 I'm like, oh, those weren't broke at all. I just 00:27:16.329 --> 00:27:19.289 wasn't looking high enough, apparently. So it 00:27:19.289 --> 00:27:20.829 all kind of hit you at once. And you're like, 00:27:21.009 --> 00:27:23.940 dang, you, Kirk, you were right. But, you know, 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:26.640 the initial reaction is who the heck would put 00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:30.180 an outpost here? This is, I mean, the total opposite 00:27:30.180 --> 00:27:33.920 of the definition of a defensible position. Yet, 00:27:34.339 --> 00:27:36.259 you know, it's one of those things that soldiers, 00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:38.460 you know, we live in a volunteer service right 00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:41.099 now where everyone that serves, you know, willingly 00:27:41.099 --> 00:27:45.839 and voluntarily went and done it. And that's 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:47.920 what happens when these young men and women raise 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:49.480 that right hand and say, I'm going to go and 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.019 do, you don't get the choice. That's the freedoms 00:27:52.019 --> 00:27:55.609 you give up. When your military says, hey, here's 00:27:55.609 --> 00:27:59.069 where we need you, you've got to go. That's the 00:27:59.069 --> 00:28:00.789 sacrifice they give. And we looked at it as, 00:28:00.970 --> 00:28:05.410 yeah, this might have been less than ideal, but 00:28:05.410 --> 00:28:07.990 game on. This is what we got, and we're going 00:28:07.990 --> 00:28:10.029 to make the best of it. And there's nothing that 00:28:10.029 --> 00:28:11.509 they're going to ever do to us that's going to 00:28:11.509 --> 00:28:14.630 make us not understand that we love each other 00:28:14.630 --> 00:28:16.210 so much. You can give us the worst conditions 00:28:16.210 --> 00:28:17.990 ever, and we're going to make the best possible 00:28:17.990 --> 00:28:20.339 situation out of it. Because we're going to overcome 00:28:20.339 --> 00:28:22.680 and it's that attitude that you see time and 00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:25.339 time again through military service. Absolutely. 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:27.680 And actually you found inside one of the buildings 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:30.480 there, somebody had already carved into the ceiling 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:32.160 there and said something and I thought, it doesn't 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:36.019 get better. Doesn't get any better. That was, 00:28:36.180 --> 00:28:37.900 I mean, we embrace that phrase. And like I said, 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:40.359 it couldn't get better. We made every day the 00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:43.460 best day possible and looking back, I mean, I 00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:45.660 wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. 00:28:45.900 --> 00:28:48.519 I don't care if Donald Trump gave me a blank 00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:50.500 check right now and today I'll take that experience 00:28:50.500 --> 00:28:52.819 back. No, not at all. Those great men and the 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:55.400 character I got to serve with, you could have 00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:58.819 made those mountains another thousand feet taller 00:28:58.819 --> 00:29:02.200 and just to be there with those guys, that wouldn't 00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:05.099 have mattered. I think that's what I found so 00:29:05.099 --> 00:29:08.059 fascinating about your book. I'm talking with 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:11.539 Clinton Robichet, author of Red Platoon, A True 00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:14.880 Story of American Valor, and the book is, it's 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:18.490 not a memoir, it's more of... I don't know, it's 00:29:18.490 --> 00:29:22.569 more to honor those that you served with. It's 00:29:22.569 --> 00:29:25.630 a way that I read it anyway, and especially the 00:29:25.630 --> 00:29:28.890 ones that you lost. You know, it's one of those 00:29:28.890 --> 00:29:30.930 things, like I said, my dad never really talked 00:29:30.930 --> 00:29:33.750 about Vietnam at all. You know, it was kind of 00:29:33.750 --> 00:29:36.809 hard for him to open up the stuff he had seen. 00:29:37.650 --> 00:29:39.390 You know, everyone kind of deals with it different, 00:29:39.569 --> 00:29:41.730 but as far as writing a book and a lot of our 00:29:41.730 --> 00:29:43.890 veterans out there, you know, it's hard to open 00:29:43.890 --> 00:29:45.849 up and talk to people that haven't been there 00:29:45.849 --> 00:29:48.089 or done that. It's also kind of our duty to make 00:29:48.089 --> 00:29:50.670 sure, especially when we live in a day where 00:29:50.670 --> 00:29:53.829 less than 1 % serves this country, if we don't 00:29:53.829 --> 00:29:57.549 share our stories and let those 99 .5 that haven't 00:29:57.549 --> 00:29:59.930 served have no clue about it, if we don't convey 00:29:59.930 --> 00:30:02.109 that service and sacrifice, it's going to be 00:30:02.109 --> 00:30:04.150 forgotten. It's going to be neglected. And I 00:30:04.150 --> 00:30:06.950 do have to say, Dale, I appreciate your service 00:30:06.950 --> 00:30:09.690 and your sacrifice, serving in a time of Vietnam. 00:30:10.230 --> 00:30:12.269 You guys didn't get treated very well at all 00:30:12.269 --> 00:30:14.369 coming back, but it was because of your generation. 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:16.779 that every time I came home, my generation came 00:30:16.779 --> 00:30:19.059 home. We came home to cheering and welcoming 00:30:19.059 --> 00:30:21.160 crowds. We can't thank you guys enough for that. 00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:23.579 Well, thank you very much. It's, you know, it's 00:30:23.579 --> 00:30:26.339 kind of our motto, never again is that going 00:30:26.339 --> 00:30:30.240 to ever happen to an American veteran. And it's 00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:35.880 amazing, though, in your story, Clint, when you 00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:38.480 were mentioning, and I guess I want to try and 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:40.000 set the scenario, and I don't want to give the 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:42.240 whole book away because it's such a fascinating 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:47.000 read to me. Before you were attacked, just like 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:48.720 everybody in the military does, when there's 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:52.700 a little downtime, you figure out what would 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:54.900 you do if you were the other guys? If you were 00:30:54.900 --> 00:30:57.940 on the other team and you wanted to take this 00:30:57.940 --> 00:31:01.000 base, what would you do it? And you guys pretty 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:15.490 much nailed it. You know, the advantage is they 00:31:15.490 --> 00:31:18.130 look, what are we going to do to counter? They've 00:31:18.130 --> 00:31:20.990 got an easy access. You know, they can observe 00:31:20.990 --> 00:31:23.609 us from every different direction. You know, 00:31:23.670 --> 00:31:25.609 what can we do to improve? Where do we need to 00:31:25.609 --> 00:31:28.089 stash ammo in case we get isolated? What do we 00:31:28.089 --> 00:31:30.170 need to relocate battle positions to every couple 00:31:30.170 --> 00:31:32.509 of days? How do we need to change our guard shifts 00:31:32.509 --> 00:31:34.650 and our reaction drills when we get attacked? 00:31:35.670 --> 00:31:37.450 You know, you kind of got to be in that mindset. 00:31:37.730 --> 00:31:40.569 What would I do if I had the opportunity to come 00:31:40.569 --> 00:31:43.670 up against this? And that I think, you know, 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:46.940 how the military trained our great men and women 00:31:46.940 --> 00:31:49.500 and, you know, you've got to be flexible and 00:31:49.500 --> 00:31:52.240 maneuverable and understanding that, yeah, these 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:55.700 were very, very well -trained and very dedicated 00:31:55.700 --> 00:32:00.000 enemies that we were faced with that day. I think 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.839 it's kind of fascinating when you think about 00:32:02.839 --> 00:32:05.240 what the military teaches you about going through, 00:32:05.579 --> 00:32:07.400 you know, your kind of your checklist. You go 00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:10.880 from plan A to B to C to D and you never stop, 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:14.390 you know, coming up with alternatives. to what 00:32:14.390 --> 00:32:18.609 you can do. And this is something that you pointed 00:32:18.609 --> 00:32:21.609 out later on in your book about employers. They 00:32:21.609 --> 00:32:25.750 don't understand that veterans just keep going 00:32:25.750 --> 00:32:29.430 through their card list of ideas and plans and 00:32:29.430 --> 00:32:31.509 how they're going to make whatever that you want 00:32:31.509 --> 00:32:43.819 them to do to be a success. with a military, 00:32:44.279 --> 00:32:45.779 hey, when you hire one of these guys, it doesn't 00:32:45.779 --> 00:32:48.660 matter what their MOS is. You're going to get 00:32:48.660 --> 00:32:51.220 a guy or a gal that, one, can wake up and show 00:32:51.220 --> 00:32:55.160 up to work on time. Two, understands rules and 00:32:55.160 --> 00:32:58.220 regulations. Three, has initiative for days. 00:32:58.619 --> 00:33:01.539 Four, will accept the challenge way above their 00:33:01.539 --> 00:33:03.539 understanding, but will do everything in their 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:06.200 power to get a handle on it and learn it as quick 00:33:06.200 --> 00:33:10.460 as possible with minimal guidance. And just understands 00:33:10.460 --> 00:33:13.660 how to have working relationships with all sorts 00:33:13.660 --> 00:33:17.339 of different personality types because you get 00:33:17.339 --> 00:33:19.599 such exposure being in the military. I was going 00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:21.119 to say, where are you ever going to meet people 00:33:21.119 --> 00:33:27.400 like you met in real life? Up, nowhere. I mean, 00:33:27.700 --> 00:33:31.759 you talk about diversity. I mean, you meet people 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:36.500 from all over the world and it's such an enlightening 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:39.640 experience. to run into these men and women, 00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:42.559 and you find out what everybody else is thinking. 00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:45.000 I've got to get back to your story, or I'll run 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:47.779 out of time here. All right, so we've got it 00:33:47.779 --> 00:33:51.019 at, you know, you guys had been talking about 00:33:51.019 --> 00:33:54.000 how you would defend the base. How big was Cop 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:58.359 Keating anyway? Overall size, I mean, the very 00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:02.039 far east west side was maybe a little over 200 00:34:02.039 --> 00:34:05.920 meters. The farthest north and south sides were 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:08.719 at the widest, probably 150. I mean, it really 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:15.519 was not a very large outpost at all. It was, 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:18.000 you know, it was cozy, I guess is what we'd call 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:20.860 it. Which, you know, at times you think, well, 00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:23.000 this is very big. But during that day, I mean, 00:34:23.659 --> 00:34:25.840 what seemed to be just only a couple of feet 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:30.260 away seemed like miles at times because the enemy's 00:34:30.260 --> 00:34:32.280 advantage that they had on you looking down. 00:34:33.289 --> 00:34:35.769 that, you know, you'd learn from previous battle 00:34:35.769 --> 00:34:37.750 drills, you know, where can I duck and where 00:34:37.750 --> 00:34:40.449 can I kind of scoot up next to, you know, that 00:34:40.449 --> 00:34:45.070 experience paid off that day. You mentioned when 00:34:45.070 --> 00:34:46.989 you guys were shooting the breeze about what 00:34:46.989 --> 00:34:49.309 you would do that you would attack right around 00:34:49.309 --> 00:34:51.530 6 o 'clock in the morning. So what happened on 00:34:51.530 --> 00:34:55.869 that morning when you were attacked? You know, 00:34:55.949 --> 00:34:58.849 bright and early, just before 6, I was still 00:34:58.849 --> 00:35:00.949 racked up. My vodka had just gotten off, Sergeant 00:35:00.949 --> 00:35:03.820 of the Guard duty. The night prior, our platoon 00:35:03.820 --> 00:35:07.380 was tasked with the perimeter defense. So I was 00:35:07.380 --> 00:35:09.840 still fast asleep when the first rounds came 00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:12.159 in. And it really was not uncommon at all to 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:14.539 have some gunfire come in around that time in 00:35:14.539 --> 00:35:17.280 the morning. But that morning, when you heard 00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:19.900 it come in and woke up, threw my kit on, was 00:35:19.900 --> 00:35:21.719 powering my radio up. I mean, just the amount 00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:24.440 that was coming in. Machine gunfire, recoilless 00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:27.079 rifle fire, rocket propelled grenade, mortar 00:35:27.079 --> 00:35:29.320 fire. And you could hear there was more coming 00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:32.269 in than going out. And normally... You know, 00:35:32.449 --> 00:35:34.650 our guys, we had trained, you got to gain that 00:35:34.650 --> 00:35:38.170 fire superiority. These men went on, you know, 00:35:38.449 --> 00:35:40.289 the offensive right away with trying to get the 00:35:40.289 --> 00:35:42.469 guns in the fight and going into what we call 00:35:42.469 --> 00:35:44.369 a cyclic rate of fire as fast as they could try 00:35:44.369 --> 00:35:46.789 and shoot back. They were trying, but it just 00:35:46.789 --> 00:35:49.230 wasn't happening that morning. Also knowing, 00:35:49.650 --> 00:35:51.570 as we kind of game planned it, that right early 00:35:51.570 --> 00:35:53.889 in the morning, typically there wasn't, you know, 00:35:54.130 --> 00:35:57.409 immediate air coverage in the area. So you knew 00:35:57.409 --> 00:35:58.909 it was going to take a little time for it to 00:35:58.909 --> 00:36:01.989 get there. and the enemy had planned for that. 00:36:02.150 --> 00:36:05.469 They had attacked before where the Taliban fighters 00:36:05.469 --> 00:36:07.489 really liked it. They could get in close view 00:36:07.489 --> 00:36:09.789 or as close as possible. They knew Americans 00:36:09.789 --> 00:36:12.869 were pretty shy about bringing in air strikes 00:36:12.869 --> 00:36:16.670 and close air support right on top of themselves. 00:36:18.090 --> 00:36:20.750 And that morning kicked off in just a matter 00:36:20.750 --> 00:36:23.289 of minutes. The world was going from bad to worse. 00:36:23.730 --> 00:36:27.789 It's getting worse and worse and worse by almost 00:36:27.789 --> 00:36:31.460 a minute basis. It sounds out the way. I'm looking 00:36:31.460 --> 00:36:35.159 at a picture here of Cop Keating and it's like 00:36:35.159 --> 00:36:37.159 you're down in this valley almost and you're 00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:41.599 surrounded by these humongous mountains and you 00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:45.000 know the bad guys are all over you and they had 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:47.119 driven everybody out of a village across the 00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:50.019 little river from you and you were just taking 00:36:50.019 --> 00:37:00.099 fire from 360 degrees weren't you? and and because 00:37:00.099 --> 00:37:02.500 we set so far I mean we were at the very very 00:37:02.500 --> 00:37:05.039 bottom of that valley valley I mean when we would 00:37:05.039 --> 00:37:07.079 go on patrols and you would just climb elevation 00:37:07.079 --> 00:37:11.960 you know 400 feet above it the amount of dead 00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:14.039 space is what you call it space you just can't 00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:16.380 observe from your position that was available 00:37:16.380 --> 00:37:18.760 to the enemy to infill in on us without being 00:37:18.760 --> 00:37:22.059 observed at all we just blew your mind and you 00:37:22.059 --> 00:37:23.500 know the night before that's what they're able 00:37:23.500 --> 00:37:26.860 to do get in positions and because of how extreme 00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:29.039 it was you had to use what we call plunging fire 00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:31.460 where you're trying to basically lob rounds on 00:37:31.460 --> 00:37:33.320 top of them because all they have to do is take 00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:35.500 a few steps back and you don't have a direct 00:37:35.500 --> 00:37:38.719 line of sight or a direct shot on them. So for 00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:41.340 them to get as close as they did that morning 00:37:41.340 --> 00:37:44.840 was relatively easy just because we didn't have 00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:50.400 good coverage on early warning. One of the lines 00:37:50.400 --> 00:37:52.659 in the book that you mentioned was some older 00:37:52.659 --> 00:37:56.760 guy says they're in the wire. which for those 00:37:56.760 --> 00:37:58.519 you know for Vietnam veterans we all know they're 00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:03.280 in the wire and uh kind of a little levity there 00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:05.320 but it but the point is that they were getting 00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:09.059 closer and closer and and you and and your colleagues 00:38:09.059 --> 00:38:14.059 were some of them were were were isolated you 00:38:14.059 --> 00:38:16.860 know it got to the point that day that yeah within 00:38:16.860 --> 00:38:19.760 uh almost the first hour they they'd breached 00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:23.320 our perimeter uh we had enemy inside uh and when 00:38:23.320 --> 00:38:25.670 that call came across i mean you just shook your 00:38:25.670 --> 00:38:27.909 head and was like, how is this happening? You 00:38:27.909 --> 00:38:30.849 know, this is nothing. You always kind of think, 00:38:31.030 --> 00:38:32.829 well, it might be some other unit. You're reading 00:38:32.829 --> 00:38:35.150 Stars and Stripes, but this will happen to you. 00:38:35.429 --> 00:38:36.710 But when you've heard it come across the net, 00:38:36.969 --> 00:38:39.610 it kind of had to take a double take. You know, 00:38:39.690 --> 00:38:43.449 what was going on? Oh, wow. But it was one of 00:38:43.449 --> 00:38:45.710 those moments, just like a lot of challenges 00:38:45.710 --> 00:38:47.590 you face in your life. You stumble a little bit, 00:38:47.610 --> 00:38:49.690 but if you don't shake it off and refocus very 00:38:49.690 --> 00:38:54.429 quickly, you're going to fall. Well, and a number 00:38:54.429 --> 00:38:58.250 of your comrades were wounded and some unfortunately 00:38:58.250 --> 00:39:02.409 were killed almost right away. And I tried to 00:39:02.409 --> 00:39:03.949 bring this up a little bit at the beginning of 00:39:03.949 --> 00:39:08.349 the program is you and the rest of them, you 00:39:08.349 --> 00:39:10.230 wanted to make sure that you had everybody. Why 00:39:10.230 --> 00:39:13.969 was it so important to get the bodies of the 00:39:13.969 --> 00:39:19.230 people that were killed? No, it was one of those 00:39:19.230 --> 00:39:22.300 things that I had learned early on. military 00:39:22.300 --> 00:39:24.079 career and I've tried to convey it that some 00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:26.699 of the younger soldiers know that unfortunately 00:39:26.699 --> 00:39:29.800 you go to combat and you go over there with everybody 00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:31.860 and then the nature of the beast you know we're 00:39:31.860 --> 00:39:34.039 not over there selling Girl Scout cook giving 00:39:34.039 --> 00:39:37.300 away three popsicles everybody's going over but 00:39:37.300 --> 00:39:41.119 not everybody's coming home alive but everyone's 00:39:41.119 --> 00:39:44.320 going to come home you know today being Mother's 00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:47.139 Day of all days the worst feeling of the world 00:39:47.139 --> 00:39:50.420 is to come home and have a mother not have her 00:39:50.420 --> 00:39:53.989 son or daughter What's even worse than that is 00:39:53.989 --> 00:39:59.369 not having their body. To lay to rest, to do 00:39:59.369 --> 00:40:02.190 the last rites, to give at least a little closure. 00:40:03.050 --> 00:40:06.710 I don't care about that day. I really wasn't 00:40:06.710 --> 00:40:08.329 scared of what was ever going to happen to me. 00:40:08.789 --> 00:40:10.230 That thought didn't even cross my mind. What 00:40:10.230 --> 00:40:16.949 scared me was the fact that there was no way 00:40:16.949 --> 00:40:18.329 they were going to take any of these bullies 00:40:18.329 --> 00:40:21.449 to office. They were not going to be propaganda. 00:40:21.849 --> 00:40:24.570 And I was more scared for not getting to them 00:40:24.570 --> 00:40:27.710 than I was for maybe not even making it home. 00:40:28.429 --> 00:40:31.409 No, that was very evident in the book when you 00:40:31.409 --> 00:40:34.170 were talking about it. And I can't relate entirely 00:40:34.170 --> 00:40:36.590 because I've never been a ground attack. But 00:40:36.590 --> 00:40:39.210 if you just don't think about getting hurt yourself, 00:40:39.409 --> 00:40:42.449 your goal is to just go and get the wounded, 00:40:42.989 --> 00:40:44.789 the people that are dead, get the bodies, whatever 00:40:44.789 --> 00:40:46.630 it is, and get them out. Because as you pointed 00:40:46.630 --> 00:40:48.889 out, you didn't want the Taliban to be using 00:40:48.889 --> 00:40:53.110 these American GIs as propaganda pieces, which 00:40:53.110 --> 00:40:56.090 is what they utilize in social media out there. 00:40:56.090 --> 00:40:58.130 See, we got one, and then they do something terrible 00:40:58.130 --> 00:41:01.869 to that person, who you, as you admitted, you 00:41:01.869 --> 00:41:05.050 love in a way. And these people are very important 00:41:05.050 --> 00:41:08.289 to you. Absolutely. In fact, coming back to those 00:41:08.289 --> 00:41:10.550 values, the duty and honor and trust of oil. 00:41:11.860 --> 00:41:14.599 I knew that day that if the roles were reversed, 00:41:15.320 --> 00:41:18.320 if I was up in that Humvee, I knew San Diego 00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:20.039 was going to do everything in his power to come 00:41:20.039 --> 00:41:22.940 get me, no matter what. That was the least we 00:41:22.940 --> 00:41:27.239 could do for him. Absolutely. I got your back 00:41:27.239 --> 00:41:31.440 thing. Many people don't understand how serious 00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:34.239 that people in the military take that. The person 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:37.400 on your right and your left is most important 00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:43.909 to you. This battle that you somehow survived, 00:41:43.929 --> 00:41:45.710 you were wounded almost right away, weren't you? 00:41:46.070 --> 00:42:09.949 You just didn't know it. And unfortunately, you 00:42:09.949 --> 00:42:13.250 know, as I try to teach my guys, you know, when 00:42:13.250 --> 00:42:15.429 you're in the heat of things, that's one of the 00:42:15.429 --> 00:42:17.070 biggest things is that situational awareness 00:42:17.070 --> 00:42:19.429 and keeping your head on a swivel. And I made 00:42:19.429 --> 00:42:21.429 the mistake, I got the blinders on and I got 00:42:21.429 --> 00:42:24.730 a little too focused and a group of fighters 00:42:24.730 --> 00:42:27.150 outflanked us to the right. Didn't see them come 00:42:27.150 --> 00:42:29.150 through the wire, the front gate area and they 00:42:29.150 --> 00:42:32.949 fired an RPG at us. And it hit and it was one 00:42:32.949 --> 00:42:35.010 of those first things, you know, it rings your 00:42:35.010 --> 00:42:37.780 bell and kind of stumbled and I... I remember 00:42:37.780 --> 00:42:40.079 grabbing Gregory and making sure he was okay 00:42:40.079 --> 00:42:43.139 and called up Diego's, you know, just can't hold 00:42:43.139 --> 00:42:45.219 the position, finished the last of the ammunition 00:42:45.219 --> 00:42:48.400 we had. And, you know, you're running on adrenaline 00:42:48.400 --> 00:42:50.820 and you understand, well, shoot, if I can still 00:42:50.820 --> 00:42:53.199 walk, talk, and move and shoot, well, I still 00:42:53.199 --> 00:42:55.019 must be good enough. And it wasn't until Sergeant 00:42:55.019 --> 00:42:58.260 Radamusen came over to kind of identify that, 00:42:58.500 --> 00:43:01.699 hey, man, you've gotten hit, which is kind of 00:43:01.699 --> 00:43:03.500 a jerk move. He says, at first, like, I didn't 00:43:03.500 --> 00:43:08.340 even feel it until you said something. You refocus 00:43:08.340 --> 00:43:12.079 and understand, well, we can power through it. 00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:14.500 We can take one more step. As long as we're still 00:43:14.500 --> 00:43:16.980 moving, as long as we're still going forward, 00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:19.099 we're still going to be successful. And keeping 00:43:19.099 --> 00:43:25.239 that mindset was absolutely critical. My adrenaline 00:43:25.239 --> 00:43:27.320 is rushing through me here as I'm listening to 00:43:27.320 --> 00:43:28.539 this, because I'm thinking about what do I want 00:43:28.539 --> 00:43:30.239 to ask you? Because we only have about five minutes 00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:33.000 left. One of the things that I found most fascinating 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:36.590 from a tactical standpoint was how you were able 00:43:36.590 --> 00:43:38.429 to bring in the air strikes. I mean, you had 00:43:38.429 --> 00:43:41.889 aircraft stacked up from 1 ,000 feet to 30 ,000 00:43:41.889 --> 00:43:47.949 feet, and that's a great part of the story. You 00:43:47.949 --> 00:43:50.909 know, and that's amazing. The level of support, 00:43:50.989 --> 00:43:53.130 you know, we've got a lot of rivalry going on 00:43:53.130 --> 00:43:55.710 between the Army, the Marines, the Air Force, 00:43:55.809 --> 00:43:58.630 the Navy. We always razz each other, but when 00:43:58.630 --> 00:44:00.969 push comes to shove, it doesn't matter what branch 00:44:00.969 --> 00:44:03.599 of service what uniform and service you're wearing, 00:44:03.980 --> 00:44:07.639 they've all got your back. And truly, because 00:44:07.639 --> 00:44:09.820 of Lieutenant Bunderman, his amazing leadership 00:44:09.820 --> 00:44:11.599 skills that day, if it wasn't for him on that 00:44:11.599 --> 00:44:15.280 radio, coordinating all that, the Air Force guys 00:44:15.280 --> 00:44:17.820 that were coming in and doing those bomb drops 00:44:17.820 --> 00:44:20.679 and being such professionals at their job, to 00:44:20.679 --> 00:44:22.619 be able to put that trust in them. That's what 00:44:22.619 --> 00:44:24.739 I think builds on to why we have the greatest 00:44:24.739 --> 00:44:28.000 military that history has ever seen. It's that 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:29.679 level of trust, knowing you're always going to 00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:31.500 have someone coming to get you. You're always 00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:35.059 going to have someone at your back. And we as 00:44:35.059 --> 00:44:36.820 veterans need to continue to remember that even 00:44:36.820 --> 00:44:38.920 after service, after we take off that uniform. 00:44:39.480 --> 00:44:41.260 You know, Warriors helping Warriors is probably 00:44:41.260 --> 00:44:44.360 the best thing that we've got going for us. And 00:44:44.360 --> 00:44:47.380 we're in a fraternity like no other. You couldn't 00:44:47.380 --> 00:44:51.599 in a million years try to get people to be so 00:44:51.599 --> 00:44:55.360 tight and just be in such an amazing fraternity 00:44:55.360 --> 00:45:00.219 unless you've served. No, and it's important, 00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:02.420 as you mentioned, in your writing the book, and 00:45:02.420 --> 00:45:05.119 this is something that I've always had, is that 00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:08.659 it's not that we don't like other authors, but 00:45:08.659 --> 00:45:11.480 sometimes they mess up the facts, and they can't 00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:16.260 really get the emotional attachment that we have 00:45:16.260 --> 00:45:19.280 with our comrades in the service, and sometimes 00:45:19.280 --> 00:45:21.280 they miss out on it. It's up to us to tell our 00:45:21.280 --> 00:45:23.840 stories, and that's why we do this program, and 00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:25.559 it's obviously why you wrote your book, because 00:45:25.559 --> 00:45:29.449 also you lost eight very, very close friends. 00:45:30.929 --> 00:45:33.530 And you mentioned in there, and I've heard this 00:45:33.530 --> 00:45:36.650 from other Medal of Honor recipients, that you're 00:45:36.650 --> 00:45:41.250 not the hero. They are the true heroes. Absolutely. 00:45:41.530 --> 00:45:45.010 I mean, I think we use the word hero pretty liberally 00:45:45.010 --> 00:45:47.449 in today's society. We call people that throw 00:45:47.449 --> 00:45:53.010 football heroes. We call people that have sex 00:45:53.010 --> 00:45:55.750 changes heroes. No, true heroes don't come home. 00:45:56.010 --> 00:46:00.449 That's what a hero is. That's true. And the reason 00:46:00.449 --> 00:46:04.650 that the book, I think, is so well done, it's 00:46:04.650 --> 00:46:07.329 because it wasn't Quentin Romache that day. It 00:46:07.329 --> 00:46:09.329 was a whole group of guys going around the country 00:46:09.329 --> 00:46:12.550 and getting my buddies to open up, doing face 00:46:12.550 --> 00:46:14.269 -to -face interviews with them, sitting down 00:46:14.269 --> 00:46:17.369 for three or four days to recapture stories and 00:46:17.369 --> 00:46:20.210 listen to each other. And as veterans talk to 00:46:20.210 --> 00:46:22.090 veterans, it's more about the words that aren't 00:46:22.090 --> 00:46:24.429 getting spoken than that are. And that's why 00:46:24.429 --> 00:46:26.800 it's hard for us to to kind of talk to people 00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:29.320 that don't truly understand because they, you 00:46:29.320 --> 00:46:31.219 know, they weren't there and we kind of, we kind 00:46:31.219 --> 00:46:33.599 of hold that stuff close. But, you know, it's 00:46:33.599 --> 00:46:35.900 still worthwhile that every time a veteran opens 00:46:35.900 --> 00:46:39.559 up and starts to speak, it's a good time to just 00:46:39.559 --> 00:46:43.300 shut up and listen, just to listen to them. And 00:46:43.300 --> 00:46:45.360 as part of doing Rev Tune, yeah, that face -to 00:46:45.360 --> 00:46:47.659 -face interviews, allowing the men that came 00:46:47.659 --> 00:46:51.619 home, their ability to voice and give their perspective 00:46:51.619 --> 00:46:55.500 to tell just a more clear 360. Kind of view of 00:46:55.500 --> 00:46:58.280 the battle that day and also give testament for 00:46:58.280 --> 00:47:00.059 those eight great men that didn't make it home 00:47:00.059 --> 00:47:02.139 They don't get to share their story anymore. 00:47:02.139 --> 00:47:05.239 And if we don't share it It's pretty selfish 00:47:05.239 --> 00:47:08.079 selfish of us there to set there and hide it 00:47:08.079 --> 00:47:10.340 to ourselves Because they won't ever get a chance 00:47:10.340 --> 00:47:12.639 to do it again. You just don't want them to go 00:47:12.639 --> 00:47:16.000 away You know, it's one of the biggest tragedies, 00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:19.719 you know the loss of a service member But what's 00:47:19.719 --> 00:47:23.130 even more tragic is to forget to forget about 00:47:23.130 --> 00:47:26.389 them. As long as we never do that, they're never 00:47:26.389 --> 00:47:31.409 truly gone. No, they're not. I strongly encourage, 00:47:31.409 --> 00:47:33.690 thank you Clint so very much for being on Veterans 00:47:33.690 --> 00:47:36.349 Radio today, and I strongly encourage people 00:47:36.349 --> 00:47:38.710 to go out and read this book, Red Platoon. It's 00:47:38.710 --> 00:47:42.610 not just about one man, it's about service people. 00:47:42.719 --> 00:47:46.760 and their love and their respect and their need 00:47:46.760 --> 00:47:49.820 to help people in general. And I want to thank 00:47:49.820 --> 00:47:51.639 you for writing that book. I think it's a great 00:47:51.639 --> 00:47:54.579 read and I'm going to be recommending that to 00:47:54.579 --> 00:47:59.099 everybody I can get it to. Well, I appreciate 00:47:59.099 --> 00:48:01.980 it so much for allowing me to come on the radio 00:48:01.980 --> 00:48:05.500 today and share some of my thoughts. And once 00:48:05.500 --> 00:48:07.320 again, thank you so much for your service and 00:48:07.320 --> 00:48:08.860 all those great men and women out there that 00:48:08.860 --> 00:48:10.960 are still wearing the uniform. once again it 00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:13.159 is Mother's Day so boys make sure you call your 00:48:13.159 --> 00:48:16.340 moms. That's right. Without those lovely ladies 00:48:16.340 --> 00:48:19.340 we wouldn't be the great men we are men and women 00:48:19.340 --> 00:48:21.260 we are today. That's true and they were the ones 00:48:21.260 --> 00:48:24.119 that were at home praying that you came home 00:48:24.119 --> 00:48:28.000 safely. It's a family business just because one 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:29.960 person puts the uniform on and goes overseas 00:48:29.960 --> 00:48:33.840 hey it's those moms, wives, grandmothers, aunts 00:48:33.840 --> 00:48:36.579 that serve just as much as I ever did. Absolutely. 00:48:37.119 --> 00:48:39.320 Thank you very much. Clinton Robichet, author 00:48:39.320 --> 00:48:41.679 of Red Platoon. Great book. Make sure you go 00:48:41.679 --> 00:48:43.239 out and read that. Thank you, Clint. I hope to 00:48:43.239 --> 00:48:46.900 be talking to you again sometime soon. Oh, most 00:48:46.900 --> 00:48:49.460 definitely. It was a true pleasure today. Thank 00:48:49.460 --> 00:48:52.800 you. All right. We've only got a couple of minutes 00:48:52.800 --> 00:48:56.199 left, and I want to play a song for you that 00:48:56.199 --> 00:48:59.130 I heard. when I was at the Ann Arbor VA the other 00:48:59.130 --> 00:49:01.610 day, and this is a song written by a woman named 00:49:01.610 --> 00:49:04.030 Kelly Trudell, and Kelly is kind of this veterans 00:49:04.030 --> 00:49:06.610 troubadour that's out there singing songs for 00:49:06.610 --> 00:49:08.889 the veterans of the world, and her song, and 00:49:08.889 --> 00:49:10.409 I think it's appropriate, we won't get to play 00:49:10.409 --> 00:49:12.670 the whole thing, but it's called Sound of Hope, 00:49:13.050 --> 00:49:16.190 and it's dedicated to medevac pilots, and when 00:49:16.190 --> 00:49:17.989 you read Clint's book, you're gonna see that 00:49:17.989 --> 00:49:19.469 they were doing everything in the world to get 00:49:19.469 --> 00:49:21.610 these medevacs in there. So I'm gonna be quiet 00:49:21.610 --> 00:49:25.260 now, stay tuned next week. We'll be back on Veterans 00:49:25.260 --> 00:49:28.840 Radio. Until then, Kelly Trudeau, Sound of Hope.