Inside A VFW Officer Installation Night In Levittown

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Transcript

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Welcome to another edition of the Motorcycle Mayhem Radio Podcast, hosted by Johnny Ritto, where we talk about everything motorcycle. To apparel and accessories, to where the next events are, and everything in between. So, let's mount up and drive. Hey Johnny, where are we going this time? What's up, everybody?

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I am with Kevin Honing.

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Honig. Honig.

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And so congratulations, you were sworn in tonight, right?

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Yes, I was. Tell everybody what you

Welcome And Night At The Post

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got, what happened to you tonight, uh, tonight was my swearing in uh for my second term as commander of VFW Post 9592, Levitown Island Trees.

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Beautiful, man. It was an awesome night you had here. Excellent ceremony. Very, very put together, very well, I gotta tell you. Thank you. So where did you serve?

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I was uh United States Navy.

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Navy, okay. And did you see

Kevin’s Swearing In As Commander

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any action? Did you see any uh um kind of sort of, yes. Yeah?

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Yeah.

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Is there something where uh we were talking to Jenny before? Is there something that stays in your head or like like have you have you ever like have a bad day?

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Um not really. Um I was far enough away that I wasn't directly on top of it. Okay. But you know, the we were there, so it didn't affect me the same way that it affected the people who are on the ground troops.

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Now, what does this place do for you?

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For me? Um brings comradeship. Yeah. The bar's beautiful, I gotta tell you. The bar is awesome. Thank you. I appreciate it. That's a great bomb. Hey, I bartend every other Wednesday night. I'll let you know when I'm bartending. Absolutely.

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That is my guess. Absolutely, we come down and watch some Yankees. The Knicks are playing on the window. I know, I know. I know. Hopefully they'll be able to do that.

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I had him on uh on Wednesday night when I was bartending.

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Awesome, man. This place is beautiful, and I want to congratulate you for being a commander again. Thank you. How many times can you be a commander?

What The VFW Gives Veterans

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Um, I post this tradition uh that we do two term we do two terms. Two terms.

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How long does it run?

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Uh terms a year. A year.

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So two years. Okay. That's fantastic, man. Yeah. Fantastic. Again, congratulations. Great night, great food, by the way.

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Thank you. Two brothers over in Lovent Town on the two bridge brothers. Give them a little plug. Yeah, right.

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You told me to bring my appetite. I did.

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I don't know.

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We got some leftover food, so maybe not enough. The men are still young, I will tell you.

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We got cake and coffee coming out.

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Oh, yeah. Well, there you go. The magic word cake and coffee.

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And uh, we have our uh our uh Jim Duffy in the back getting ready to make the Irish coffee too.

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Oh, the Irish coffee? It's gonna be a good night. Yeah. So again, man, it's a privilege to be here. Thank you. An honor for me to be here. Thank you. So of course, man. Anytime. Anytime. And again, congratulations and you have a great night. Thank you. All right, yeah. All right. What's up, everybody? We are at where are we, Lisa?

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We are at Levitown Post 9592 for the installation of their officers.

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That's awesome, man. What a great night over here. The food is outrageous, can I tell you? It was good. The food was really good. I was telling Mellon over there that you know, you go into a place like this to have the food out like that. This was hot food, man. It was hot. It was like, wow. Not like normal, like, yeah, it's cold. This was good stuff. So tell us exactly what it is, what they did tonight here.

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So I got invited because I'm commander of post-4987 and I have

Officer Installation And Local Support

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an alliance with 9592. And my good friend Jenny just got voted in as senior vice commander. She is the first female in their post history to be a commander or hold a commander title ever. So, of course, I had to come and support her because she is amazing.

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That's awesome. I think she's coming now. I think she's gonna come join us now, it looks like.

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There she is.

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What's the wire? Okay, well, we got Jenny with us. Jenny, what's your last name? Saul. Stall. Awesome. So congratulations.

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Thank you very much.

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So, what does this mean to you today?

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Um, you know, I joined this post almost 14 years ago. And at that point, I didn't have my daughter, and today having her here, witnessing me become the first woman senior vice commander is just an extraordinary feat. I'm happy to have my friends here. Lisa Hudak, uh commander for the Beth Page Post, supporting me, uh, encouraging me along the way.

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That's awesome, and congratulations, this is

A Historic First For Women Leaders

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a fantastic thing.

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I'm so proud of her.

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It is an exciting thing. I mean, so I guess not many women. I mean, I don't know. I'm sorry because I'm not a vet.

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So So the VFW for a long time has been like the men's club. Okay. And now for women to step up and be in leadership roles and go forward and do so many amazing things, like it's astonishing. And for it to happen tonight, especially to one of my good friends who is an amazing leader and I see so many amazing qualities in her, like, I'm overjoyed. Like when she got up there, I was screaming in the background, like, that's my friend!

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That's my friend.

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Like, she is going to rock it, and there's nothing but good things in store for her going forward.

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That's awesome. So, what position were you like in the military? What were you?

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Um, I was an engineer with the U.S. Army.

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Okay.

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Um, I went overseas with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Um attached to the 101st Airborne.

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Wow, it's incredible. So you guys must have saw some really not great, crazy stuff that you must have saw.

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Yeah, you know, I think there's a reason you join when you're 18.

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Yeah. Well, I'm sure there's a lot involved. Like, I I couldn't do nothing of that now. You know, I'm 58, so you know what I mean. I'm fat, so it ain't gonna work out for me. I'm like, oh, you know what, just take me, guys. I mean, no. So get it, you got a good story? I mean, she almost put us into war once.

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So No, I just one of the things I've missed since leaving the military is the camaraderie. Right. Which I have found with the VFW, but there's something special about finding other women. Sure. Veterans to understand what what we've been through, to understand the challenges different from the men.

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Right.

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You know? Um, and it's just extraordinary to to start to build that and to be part of, you know, blazing the trail for other women to come.

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Wow. So do you have that same feeling here when you come here, like the same

Military Camaraderie After Service

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commodity right here? As when you were there.

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Um, you know, a lot of the veterans here served in Vietnam and Korea. So to me, they're all like older brothers. Right. Some of them, you know, could be my dad.

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And you're so young, too. Both of you are so young.

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Thank you.

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It's amazing. Like, you know, you go out, like, you know, you don't realize who you're with sometimes. Like, we'll go out, and there's Bella over there. She plays in the band, you know, that's what we do. But you guys seen some action that people have never experienced before.

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Only only one percent of the country joins the military. So we are a true one percenter.

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Right.

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And the stuff that everybody sees, like the 99%, wouldn't understand. So I think we have a close bond because we've been there, we've seen it, we've done it. Right. And like I support her, she supports me. Whenever I feel like giving up, she's like, hell no, let's go. Tits up with no, keep going.

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That's right.

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When we do.

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Were you guys together uh overseas or no? No. So you guys met here.

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We met last year.

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Oh, so you met last year. Okay, that's awesome. That's that's that that's an awesome thing, man. That really is great.

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But it feels like I've known her forever. Right.

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Well, you guys share a lot of common, you know, interesting things that you've done.

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But Lisa is always there. Like when I need her, the drop of a dime. I had an emergency a couple months ago. Like, she was the first on the scene. You know, if I'm having a stressful day, a bad day, like I can call her and she just of what you saw?

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Yeah.

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That's what happens? Yeah.

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So, like you like you wake up in the morning and you think about it, you have a bad dream or something.

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Uh how does it I mean remember the time I was watching a show?

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Yeah.

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Something happened, I had to call her because the show triggered me.

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Like it's certain triggers trigger certain things. And like I like I said at my fundraiser, my phone's always on, I'm always there, reach out to me. Right. And

Triggers Flashbacks And Calling A Friend

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she knew this from day one, and she watched a show, it gave her a flashback, and she was like, I'm not okay. I'm like, Alright, baby girl, I'm okay. What do you need? Let's talk about it, blah blah blah. And she's like, Thank you. I feel so much better talking to you. Sure. But there are times where like certain things or certain smells will trigger me, and I'll be like, Alright, I'm not having a good day. Right. It's um even with even with Scott, he'll be like, What is wrong with you? And I'm just like, You you wouldn't understand. I understand.

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And you wouldn't understand, I wouldn't understand.

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But Jenny would.

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Right, right.

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So like she and she's another tool in my toolbox where I could be like, hey girl.

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Sure.

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And like, tonight is about them and the new officer, and I am just my heart is so uh my heart is so proud. Right. Because now, like, history was made here tonight, and I like to me that's amazing.

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That is amazing. Now, does something like that ever go away, you think? Is that something you're gonna have to deal with for the rest of your life?

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Um, it definitely comes in waves.

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Right.

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Right. Um I think healing can happen in community.

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Right, right.

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Um but it's like a scar, you know, it'll always be there.

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Yeah.

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Um, the more you can surround yourself with positive people, people that are have been through what you've been through. I think that's one of the amazing things of having the veteran of foreign wars is like, you know, they've been overseas, they've seen the struggles, they know what it's like to fit your life.

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And it's good that you have each other, you know. Let's see, everybody that's in this room tonight, because you all you're not alone. You're not alone. No, I may not understand, she won't understand, but they will.

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Yeah.

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And that's awesome.

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And the the Vietnam veterans came home to a very different response.

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Yes.

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You know, and they have really fought to establish a lot of the benefits and a lot of the things that we got to enjoy today.

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Right, right.

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You know, so I'm always honoring them. I I was so thankful when when you honored them at your fundraiser last week, you know, welcoming them home. Um it's hard to come home from war, but it's harder to come home from war when nobody really cares.

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And you're not getting treated the way you should. Would you go back?

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In a heartbeat.

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Really?

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I have

Vietnam Veterans And Coming Home

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an eleven-year-old daughter. Okay, let's say.

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Would you do you I mean, what state I really miss, though?

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I mean, over there's except for the commodity, but I think that's what I miss the most. Like, I know I'm doing a lot of great things and Jenny's doing a lot of great things with the organizations, but for me, I miss putting on that uniform and being something bigger than myself. Like, I know I've been there, I wore the boots, I wore the

Missing The Uniform And Mandatory Service

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uniform, I did my time on a ship, but then it's just every now and then it's like, you know what? Damn, I miss it.

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Wow. Yeah, that's true. Do you think it's like it's in a way, kind of like part of life that you have? Like everybody should experience something like this. Like, like I I never have.

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I think so.

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You think so? Wow.

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I think uh everybody at 18 should automatically do two years and know what it's like to fight for this country and fight for the freedoms so you can protest or do whatever you want, because that's your God-given right to do that. Absolutely. But fight for it. Do you see what we go through?

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Absolutely.

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That's just my opinion.

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100%. That's fantastic. Well, congratulations again. Thank you for having me. I'm very proud of the both of you.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Thank you for being here, Johnny. You know, of course, of course. A lot of people say they support veterans, but to actually walk the walk, to show up, to do it, you know, because it's in your heart, it really means a lot to us.

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Um, I'm very proud to be here today, and I'm honored to be here today for you those. So again, congratulations.

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Congratulations. You're very welcome.

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All right, we got Jenny and Lisa here.

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Oh, and I just gotta say, this is my what, number seven?

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Seventh time on what it's like.

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Three more to ten. Three more to ten.

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What happens to ten though? What are we gonna do? You know, maybe we'll be in the actual studio. Have you ever come to my studio? You did, right?

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Okay.