The Truman Charities Podcast

He Lost His Arm in Combat… Then Found Purpose on the Golf Course | Veteran Ramon Padilla | Salute Military Golf Association Ep. 155

• Jamie Truman • Episode 155

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Wounded warriors don't just lose part of their body, they lose the life they once knew. For Ramon Padilla, that meant letting go of his dreams of a long military career and finding a new mission in recovery.

What he didn't expect was the game of golf to become his therapy, his challenge, and his motivation. In this episode, you'll hear how golf helped him rebuild his life, connect with other veterans, and even share the course with Tiger Woods.

Ramon’s story reminds us that golf isn’t just a game — it’s a lifeline for veterans rediscovering their purpose after service.

Join Truman Charities at our annual Halloween Party on October 25 to support the Salute Military Golf Association and help more veterans find healing! Register for the event at https://birdease.com/33635/register

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Email: info@trumancharities.com

This episode was post produced by Podcast Boutique https://podcastboutique.com/

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Truman Charities Podcast. I am Jamie Truman, your host. Our upcoming Halloween event on October 25th will benefit the Salute Military Gough Association. Last week I spoke with the executive director, CJ, and veteran Jason David. This week I'm honored to speak to a wounded veteran who once shared that Goth saved his life. Today we're speaking with Ramon Pedalia, a veteran whose journey will leave you inspired. Born in Tijuana and raised in California, Ramon joined the army at 25, motivated by a deep sense of gratitude to the country that gave him a future. But what happens when a split second in Afghanistan changes everything? How do you come back from a devastating injury, physically, emotionally, and mentally? And how does one-handed swing on a driving range turn into a new life passion? From combat to recovery, from baseball to golf, from survival to service, Ramon's story is one of grit humor and finding purpose after pain. Please help me welcome Ramon to Truman Charities. When I was reading about you, you were born in Tijuana, is that correct? And then you grew up in California. I want to know a little bit about what your childhood was like, and then what inspired you or what led you to want to join the military?

SPEAKER_00:

I got to the United States at two years old, uh being sponsored by an uncle of mine that was an American citizen. We went through the whole citizenship progress. Uh I got my green car when I was about eight years old. I got my permanent residency when I was about 12. Then uh I went through um middle school, high school, played all the sports, have a had a family at an early age. So at 18, I had my first child, and then at 19, I had my second child already. So I had two girls. And uh at 25 years old, something clicked. Like I've been taking from this country so much. It's been providing me with so much uh that it's something that just told me, hey, I gotta give back. I gotta give back. So working through the Almighty Police Department with uh our cops out there that that were supporting me and and our community, which he became uh a chief later on for the same city, a chief welding and Lieutenant uh Dan Burningham. They helped me out and they got me in the military. They will help me get in the military. And the goal was to serve four to five years, and then from there come back and join the police department. So that went, but then I started enjoying being in the military. Uh progressing uh very rapidly, became a sergeant in uh two years, uh, became a staff sergeant in five years, and I really did enjoy it. So I actually made a plan to make it a career.

SPEAKER_01:

So tell me a little bit about first years that you were in the military, and then tell me a little bit about 2007, the incidents that happened with you in Afghanistan.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I entered uh the infantry and uh so I went to Georgia. It was a big shock to me. I've never been really out of California. So Georgia was a big shock to me. Meeting new people was a big shock to me. Uh, meeting new uh characters, meeting the way people act, and that were different from what I grew up in. I grew up in an 80% Hispanic city, and uh just to see uh a various group of people, it's just it was different. And it was it was a little hard to adjust, but uh, I think because I was 25 and I already had life experience and I had two girls already, I was a little patient, I was understanding. Uh after basic training, I went to uh down to Kansas and I was stationed there for about a year and a half. Then I went to Korea, and I was in Korea for a year, and then I came back home uh to Fort Irwin, and uh I was there for about three years, but I deployed with them to Iraq. But that's where I met my wife and the three kids we have with each other, and and we've been together for over 20 years now. So it's uh it was a blessing coming back to California, so it kind of worked out from there. Uh when I got back from Iraq, I went down to Italy and I became a paratrooper. So I was jumping out of planes and enjoying it. And I just didn't like the landing. It was they're they're pretty hard, but being up there and and just watching the whole world, it was nice. And uh, but as soon as I had like five seconds left and I had to prepare to land, then that kind of sucks. So other than that, it it was a great experience. I really enjoyed it. I was stationed in uh in Vincenza, Italy. I was with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Uh, I deployed with them to Afghanistan in uh 2007 in uh May. About 45 days into it, I was injured. I was uh hit with an RPG at a fire base or Shrepo, and and they tried to uh overrun our fire base, and they aimed that at me first, and it blew up next to me, shrapnel severed my arm. I also got hit on the right side of the head that broke a piece of my skull off about the size of a golf ball. Go figure, we're talking about golf here. And I was conscious the whole time, I remember everything, and I remember that my soldiers and my peers uh saved my life. They took care of me, they went to work, they did their job, and I was like, okay, this is what we train for, even though I'm the one that's being cared for, this is what we train for, and and my guys are performing, so I was really impressed of what they did, impressed of uh how they got me out. The whole time I was telling them to leave me there and to the firefight was over, but but I I learned that I had to shut up and let them do their job. So they were able to carry me out to the Humvee. The Humvee took me back to our main fire base, our company fire base. And the crazy thing about that is that uh the Humvee only fits so much on those mountain dirt roads. So uh one of the doors was open because the gurney did not fit in the Humvee. So I was on the back seat. So when the Humvee was bumping up and down and we were getting shot at, and I could hear that the little dink sounds that like the bullet striking the Humvee, my gurney started uh bouncing off. So if I bounce off the door, I'm looking at a 200, 300 foot drop. So with my good arm, I was holding onto the roll bar just to hold myself inside the Humvee. Obviously, the the sergeant or the truck commander that was in the passenger side, he was trying his hardest to hold that door down, but uh his shoulder was giving out on him. Uh from what I heard, he dislocated his shoulder doing that. But uh the whole time throughout the firefight, it was about a two-hour firefight. I had to wait for the Black Hawk to bring us. It took three morphine shots to calm me down. Then I ended up in Lachtschule, Germany, and uh and I don't remember how I got there. All the last thing I remember is getting on a Black Hawk and an Air Force medical guy telling me are you doing okay? And me saying yes. And next thing you know, I woke up in Germany.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. So when right after you were injured, did you have any idea of the severity of your injuries, or were you not aware of that until you woke up in Germany?

SPEAKER_00:

I was totally aware because uh when I got hit, I flew up in the air and I could see my arm flapping around and and I could see blood squirting out of my stump, and and it reminded me of watching Kill Bill, you know, when she goes in there and chops everybody up. So that's the best way I could describe it. And I landed on my fours and I landed in my stump, and all I could see was my arm and my ring finger, you know, my left arm and my ring finger separated from my actual arm. It was still hanging on with strands of skin and ligaments and stuff like that, but uh I knew it was gone. I don't think I was panicking. Obviously, I was in shock. I was more calm than anything. They placed my arm on my chest the whole time so I could feel calm, even though I know I lost it, just having it in my chest. You know, just I don't know, maybe it calm me down and say, hey, it's still here, it's still mine. But uh I remember the whole thing, and it was, I mean, I'm glad I remember, and I'm glad I'd be able to tell a story. I know some guys don't want to remember. I know some guys want to remember. So I I kind of got lucky and on both parts that uh I want to remember and I remember a little bit.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So tell me about those first days when you woke up in Germany. What was that like?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I woke up in Germany with tubes in my mouth, and I'm like, what happened? Did I freaking die or something? Why do I have all this stuff on me? You know, I knew I had lost my arm, and I woke up, and honestly, I I woke up to I call them angels because the nurses down at launch tool with the best I've ever had, the best I've ever seen, and the kindest. And they they were awesome. I mean, that's why I call them angels, and they took care of me, and they brought in my wife, they let me write uh notes to my wife, so they helped me out because I had the tubing in my mouth. I mean, they were fantastic, it was great. And uh, and then seeing my wife, they brought her over from Italy to Germany to come see me, and and it was uh a sigh of relief. It's like, okay, I see a familiar face, I see a face that I love and that I want to be with, and that really calmed me down because I was really, I if I remember correctly, I was really stressed out because all the tubes were in my mouth and they were about to pull them out, and they were telling me just free, like, well, doesn't that happen automatically? I mean, that's what I was thinking the whole time. So, but then seeing her there was uh was a blessing.

SPEAKER_01:

Can you tell us what your recovery looked like?

SPEAKER_00:

I honestly did not know or what to expect. I knew I lost my butt. I thought I lost my ability to do anything with my left side. Uh I thought I lost the ability. And uh it was sad, but uh once they took me down to uh Walter Reed, they settled me in, they put me in my own room, and um and my wife and family were coming in, and uh my mom and dad. They actually flew my mom and dad from LA all the way to Launchville, Germany, to see me. And they took my brother out for a couple days out of Iraq to come and see me as well. So that was another blessing that I received, and I thank the army or the military for being able to do that. I mean, I know how hard it is to take out a soldier that my brother was in Iraq and to bring him over to see me and then my parents to get their passports, to get their visas, to go into Germany and come and see. I know it was it was something hard to do, and and somebody had to pay for it, and they did. And to do that, that was that was fantastic. Uh it was an amazing part of uh what the uh what the military does for their soldiers.

SPEAKER_01:

Can you explain a little bit about what your experience was like while you're at Walter Reed?

SPEAKER_00:

In the beginning, it was a little confusing. It was uh it was like, okay, what's gonna happen? And unfortunately, maybe about two or three days into my recovery as an inpatient, my therapist came in, the one person that was gonna work on me, and his name was uh Joseph Buckus, and he goes, Ramon, what do you want to do? Or what are you expecting to do? And and all I told him was that uh all I wanted to do was play catch with my boy. I go, that's all I want to do. I go, I did that with my dad as a kid, and I have fond memories of that, and then those are special moments. I go, and we're a big baseball uh family, and so I go, that's all I want to do is play catch with my kid. And and sure enough, he goes, Okay, we will get you there. And you know, I was inpatient for about two weeks, and I I went through two other surgeries, and it was tough. It was a lot of phantom pain. Obviously, they had drugs, they had drugs in my system going in, you know, every three or four hours, so that way the pain could you know secede a little bit, and and my family was there. My kids were very young, or my younger kids were very young. They were still one and two years old, or two and three, they were turning, and they came into the bedroom, all they wanted to do was patch me up. So I had a big old uh uh Rudolph nose because it was got burned off a little bit, and uh and my daughter put a band-aid on there, and uh they saw it as okay, daddy's okay, he's here. So I don't think they even comprehended that AA was severely injured. Obviously, my older daughters took it hard, and it was hard on them because then they had came back to California and they were visiting their mom, and that's when this happened. So it really was tough on them, and and they weren't able to go to go see me. And it was a tough experience for them. And they were older, so they understood. And I know one of my daughters' friends was brother of one of the guys that we had just lost about two weeks into our deployment. So they knew they saw people that have lost, you know, loved ones, and so they kind of understood what was going on, but when that hit them, it really hit them hard. And I think they still they still have issues with it too. And and you know, I'm hoping to do better and and help them out with that, but it's tough. But it was, you know, Walter Reed is was awesome at the time. It was the uh Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and and like I said, I expected nothing. I just expected recovery. I just expected for them to patch up my arm and me walk out. No, it it was it was a process, and they really took care of me and and they put my family in housing, and they and eventually when I was able to get out as an inpatient, I was able to join them. Uh, the Fisher House came into play, and they were awesome too. They were fantastic, man. The Fisher House had my family there, and and all my meaty family there, and they took care of us, and uh, people donated, and uh we didn't have to worry about diapers, uh, we didn't have to worry about food. We had a kitchen to cook in. We had our old private room with cable and internet and all that stuff. So it was they made it really, really comfortable for us and until I was ready to move into military housing again. But my whole stint there was about two and a half years to to recover. But I do have a good story when I was an inpatient. So um I'm a big Dodgers fan, right? And I grew up in LA area and and I love the Dodgers, and I grew watching the Dodgers, and we had the Houston Astros come in, and uh Joe Bigio came in, or Jeff BGO came in, and he sat next to me on my bed and he started talking to me. I knew he was a Hall of Famer, great player. And I was actually surprised and shocked that he was sitting next to me, and we were talking, just just talking like normal people, and and he gave me an Astros hat to wear, and he goes, Here, this is a hat for you to wear. And I think he wanted to take a picture with me wearing the hat, and I go, No, I can't wear that. And he goes, What? And he goes, No, I'm sorry I can't wear that, but I'm a big Dodger fan. And I go, and I go, when I grew up in the 80s and early 90s, I used to hate this one player from the Astros that used to beat up on the Dodgers all the time. So when the Dodgers were winning, and then Jose Cruz came up for the Astros, and go, he will always destroy the Dodgers. Somehow he did something that goes I would turn off the TV because I knew that they were gonna lose. You know, I go so if I were to see Jose Cruz, I go right now, I'll punch him with my stump or hit him on my, I go, I would beat his butt right now. And uh, he started laughing, and then um he had other players come in and they were hearing the story. And next thing you know, he brings in Jose Cruz and he tells him, Ramon, tell him what you were gonna do to him if you see him. So I got choked up, and I go, I got a man up here, I gotta tell him what I just said. I go, so I told him, obviously, not in a hard voice, in an easy voice. Yeah, okay. I couldn't stand you, man. Right now, if I could, I'll freaking punch you left and right. And all the Astrals that were in there with me were just laughing. They were just, and Jose Cruz came up to me and said, You know what? There was something about the Dodgers where I just performed all the time. They go, there's something about I go, I know, that's why I hate him. So he sat down and he talked to me for about 10 minutes, and we we talked about his son. I think his son played with the Dodgers and Padgers for a little while. And it was just awesome to for him to come down and and for the guys to do that. Well, they have to actually do that. And uh it was a great memory that I'll probably will never forget. And it was uh it was a good experience until I choked up and to like, okay, this guy's actually cool. He's not as bad as I I thought he was when he was playing. So uh so that was a great experience I have.

SPEAKER_01:

So my gosh, that's hilarious. Yeah, it's easier to hate people from afar, right? Like when you meet him, you're like, oh, he has a nice guy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So tell me when you were finally done and then you moved into housing, and so your Walter Reed total, you said two and a half years. So then what was that transition like when you went back home?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we ended up staying in the DC area. So my wife lived it up there. So, say after I was an inpatient, I went to regular therapy. Uh, I was doing therapy uh three days out of the week, and I was doing uh physical therapy two days out of the week. So exercising, running, and all that stuff. I ended up doing three uh Army 10 mallers, I ended up doing two uh Memorial Death March down at uh at the White Sands Missile Base, and uh and that's 26.2 miles or something like that. And uh and so I ended up doing that. So I was getting in good shape. Uh, I was doing well on my arm. And uh, what ended up happening is that I was playing baseball, actually, we were playing baseball. I found a league that I could play in, and me and my processes, he was a big baseball guy, and I invited him to play. So we both started playing baseball. But then uh we had this uh PGA pro named Jim Estes uh come to the hospital and to introduce golf to us. So they had started this program called the Salute Military Golf Association. So what they do is uh teach wounded warriors how to play golf, and then they give them uh clubs that are fitted to their needs, and it's all through the organization. So it was all it was all the charity benefits that came from it, and uh, so we didn't have to pay a dime. So what happens is I got tricked because my my therapist goes, Look, you go learn how to play golf on the weekend, and I'll give you a day off here and there. And I go, okay, that's a deal. You know, a day off there is fun because you can hang out with your family, you just do whatever you want. And uh I go, okay, that's a deal. It turns out that when you go on Saturdays, you're there at eight o'clock and you don't leave till like three. You're there, you do breakfast, you learn how to play, you take lessons, you do lunch, and you go back and finish, and then you do short game. So I'm really throughing therapy for an extra, well, I want to say an extra six hours. So but um I fell in love with the game. I started off with one hand, and that was frustrating, and it was it was tough. And then Jim Esters would go down the line, and and once he got to me, he goes, do this, do that. And I probably had like a six tires, and I hit it, and they had like an island green there, and I hit the green, and I was like, Oh my god, it was about 150 yards, something like that, and uh at the only golf park in Maryland. And uh, and I was like, wow, I was able to do this, but I had I was struggling with one hand because uh I had issues with my right hand already because of my injuries. So I talked to the process and says, Hey, they said they said that we have golf adapters and stuff like that. So that's how I got introduced to the golf prosthesis, and uh and I started using it, and I just started getting better and better, uh, going to the clinics, uh getting clubs that are fitted to my need, and doing charity tournaments and stuff like that. So I even got to the point where I started competing later on. So it's uh I'm glad I said yes, you know, because I had told him, no, teach me how to catch, you know, instead of playing golf. And he goes, No, I can't do that, but I can teach you how to swing and uh a golf club. And I go, all right then. But I was convinced to go, and I was so happy I was convinced to go and uh it turned into a passion.

SPEAKER_01:

So was golf part of your life prior to being introduced to SMGA, or was that the first time that you had started to play golf?

SPEAKER_00:

That was actually the first time I started to play golf. Uh I was a big baseball guy, so I knew string the bat, I knew how to uh balance, uh how to load and how to move forward and how to uh keep my balance, you know, and finish a swing. So I knew all that. I just had to transition that to swinging at a golf ball that's below my knees, you know, and uh because you don't swing at anything below your knees, you're playing baseball, right? So I had to get used to swinging at a golf ball below my knees. It wasn't hard, yeah. But the game is hard, though. I mean, it's not hard to hit the ball. Not everybody obviously hits a straight all the time, and I really guess it all the time right away, but I was able to get it because like I said, I was a baseball player and uh and I was able to get it, but I knew how difficult that game was, and I knew how I wanted to perfect it, but you can't. But those are the things that keep you going to the golf courses that you you want to be really good at it, you want to be better than it, you want to perfect it, but you can't. So you keep on going back, going back, going back, and and that and that's what I did. And I I played a lot, I practiced a lot. I got good right away, and you know, I started playing in charity tournaments and then I had a good time, enjoyed uh, you know, supporting other charities, you know, like the Wounded Warrior Program, the T Up for the Troops, Yellow Ribbon Fund, you know, and especially the SMGA and supporting them because of what they did with me with golf.

SPEAKER_01:

What type of impact do you think that SMGA and golf for veterans that have been wounded, what kind of impact do you think that that has on their lives? Because when I've spoken to a lot of veterans, you guys have some similarities in personality, which are, you know, competitive and athletic. And so when that ability is taken away for a certain amount of time, it seems to have a real impact on your confidence personally. And so tell me from your experience, how it's helped you and how do you think it affects some of your other veterans?

SPEAKER_00:

Let's go through what you said in confidence. It gave me a lot of confidence. So it gave me so much confidence that the time before I was gonna let out the army and let out of therapy, I had to perform and organize a task, right? In front of everybody and be able to do it without any help from anybody. So um, what ended up happening is that I met a lot of golf pros and you know, I met Tom Watsey, Corey Paven. And so I actually texted them and I go, look, I want to put on a clinic at Walter Reed Army Medical Center golf clinic. I'll bring all the equipment. All I need is you guys to come here and do the clinic. And they agreed. They said yes. So I was like, all right, then with the SMGA, I was able to get all the equipment. I was able to set it all up, but I had to have permission to the sergeant major of the uh the facility, hey, could I use a parade field, which is only used for parade, not to play sports, to have a golf clinic. And he was a big golf guy. And he goes, you know what? Come on, go ahead, but just give me a signed golf ball, Tom Watson. I go, Yep, I got you. So we were able to do that. So we were on uh on the parade field, and the biggest street ahead of us was uh Georgia Avenue, which uh I don't know, maybe 150 yards. So this was a short game clinic. So we were supposed to hit the ball maybe 60 yards. So I had a good turnout. I had uh female golfers, I had male golfers, and maybe I had maybe about 20 uh personnel come down and learn from Tom Watson and Corey Paven. So it was awesome. It was a great time. But um somehow Tom Watson did not realize that uh I had said short game. And next you know, he's telling guys to pull out like seven irons. And next thing you know, balls are landing on this Georgia Avenue while traffic was going down. And I was like, oh my god, here we go. So we had to stop that right away. I had to talk to you, Tom. Hey, Tom, we can't. When he needed balls on Georgia Avenue, that's what heavy traffic goes down there. And he goes, Oh man, I'm sorry. I go, No, no, no, it's all right, it's fine. We just want to do a short game. And uh, they were there for a good two hours, man. They were so, so, so cool, so understanding, so patient. I mean, but I met Tom Watson. I know he's that type of person. That's the first time I had met Corey Payment, and I can't believe he was that type of person too. And uh, they were great, they were fantastic, and it was a good time. And uh, through that, that same year, I teed off with Tiger Woods at Congressional. I think that was the last year he had this tournament there. So me, another Wounded Warrior, and Tiger Woods teeth all did an inaugural tee shot. They had uh the paratroopers jump in and give us the golf ball that we were gonna hit. And my claim to fame here is I all drove Tiger Woods. And so what ended up happening is that we all went, uh he goes the kind of three, let's go. And I was fidgeting with my prosthetic. I go, Oh my god, oh my god, something's wrong. And when he said two, I'm like, okay, here we go. Whether I hit it or not, it's gonna happen. He said three, and we all went slang and I hit it. I mean, I probably closed my eyes, I wouldn't doubt that. But uh, it was the best golf shot I ever hit in my life. So I hit a nice little draw into the middle of the fairway, all right, and uh probably hit it about 240. He probably hit his ball about 300 yards, but he he hooked it into the rough. So technically I drove Tiger Woods because I hit the fairway and he didn't.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, that is your claim to fame. That's that's a big tea off.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, and and the other times I met him, hey, are you still hitting that ball that far? And I go, Yeah. Like, we're not in the middle no more. But uh I met him a couple times, and and he's a great person. He really is good. He's good with the veterans. When I met him, he was the kindest person I ever met, and all we did was talk about our kids, T-ball, and all that stuff. So we never talked about golf.

SPEAKER_01:

What would your advice be to other veterans that may be hesitant to try golf? What would your advice be to them?

SPEAKER_00:

This is a personal game. It really is a personal game. It's a fight within yourselves, which you are facing at this point as well. I go, you're fighting within yourself about your injuries, about not going back to doing the job you used to do, uh uh not being in the military, having goals to stay there for 20 years, uh, you know, having goals to being a ranger, having goals to being special forces in the Marines or see or whatever, having all those dreams of doing something in the military and and for them to take it away from you, it's it's tough. It really is tough. So uh it's when you fight your inner demons and you fight yourself and you're wanting to go back, you're wanting to go serve your country, you want you to go to something better, you know, and bigger than yourself. And but when that's taken away, then we got to find that void. And uh golf was one of those because golf is a personal game. I mean, because you're playing against yourself. I mean, you're not playing against anybody else. You're playing against yourself and your previous game that you had. And I look at it and I tell other warriors to look at it as you have your weapon, which is the golf club, you got your rounds, which is the golf ball, and then you have your target, which is the hole, which is could be several hundred meters away or several hundred yards away, and you try to accomplish that mission and take down that target. And then we're in the woods in the grass. I mean, it's not as severe as the mountains or say in the jungles, but still, you know, you still have that environment and the smell and and the walking and the undulation, which we all walk through, you know, when we're serving in Afghanistan, Iraq. I mean, nothing was flat over there, you know. So you have that same feeling. I go, so you're kind of comfortable in yourself in that way. But now you got to fight your inner demons, uh, you got to fight uh your mental health, you gotta fight this, you gotta fight that. But it's all in your head. And I think that's what golf does. It helps you, you know, go about, like everybody says, the way to beat this game is course management. So if you get to that point where you're able to manage the course, then maybe you're able also to put that in life and manage your life a little bit better. So I try to tell warriors that that's what golf has done for me. I go, it's a frustrating game. It's a game that you will let out all your emotions, curse, yell, throw. You'll do all that stuff. But I guarantee you're gonna go up to that ball and try to hit it again. I go, I guarantee you're gonna go up and try to put it in again. I go, I guarantee you know, you're gonna go back and they say, hey, forget that last hole. Let me try to do better on this hole. And you continue to do that. And the great part of this is that I can't perfect the game. I mean, the closest person I've seen almost perfect the game will be Scotty Sheffler, man. That guy can't lose. I don't know what's going on with that. So, but other than that, I think that's the reason why I would tell Warriors to go ahead and try this game. And if your spouse wants to play, invite your spouse. I'm always trying to invite my wife, but she's a social worker and she works after she gets off of work. So I gotta be understanding as well. But you gotta go play with me golf at least two or three times in the next couple months. So uh so we I try to try to get it out there, and I love when she goes out there with me. I really do enjoy the time, but I understand she's really, really busy.

SPEAKER_01:

So while talking to you, I've you know, I've noticed you have such a great sense of humor and such a positive outlook on life. How were you able? You've been through so much to always, you know, look at the positive.

SPEAKER_00:

That's a lot to do with my upbringing. I was brought up in a Mexican culture. Like I said, I was brought up in the city, it was 80% Hispanic, probably out of those 80%, probably about 75% of those were Mexican. And uh I grew up in that culture, and I learned right away from my parents that, you know, no, I grew up in the 80s and 90s, so it's a whole different world nowadays, right? So Uh I grew up knowing that the father is uh wears the pants in the family. He either one that takes care of the family. Mom takes care of the kids, and and I talk to my mom about this sometimes, you know, because my wife, sometimes I hear these stories about her and some kids are in trouble. So and so I talked to my mom. My mom agrees, I go, look, that's why I stayed at home. He goes, I want to make sure you guys were okay. I want to make sure you guys got home. I want to make sure you guys were taken care of. I want you to make sure you guys went to school. So we we talk about that, how uh things have changed and things are different now. But I I had that upbringing. So uh I think I brought it with me. I mean, maybe it's outdated, but I truly believe that I am the man of the family. The way I feel, I think is the way my family's gonna feel. Because I'm gonna start that wave. So if I'm really angry, depressed, then I might take it out of my wife, I might take it out of my kids, and they're gonna feel angry and depressed. They're gonna feel sad, they're gonna feel in pain, they're gonna be, I go, so I gotta learn to how to limit that and how to not get to that point because uh PTSD is not fun and it's real. My wife used to catch me all the time, you know what you said to the kids? And I go, oh my god. And I didn't realize I was doing stuff like that where it was affecting my kids, and you know, I was yelling them for no reason. And I try to tell them, you gotta understand, I'm seeing a picture of them or a film of them before they do it, getting hurt, breaking something, or I go, I don't want them to feel pain like I do. I go, I think I'm trying to protect them more than anything, but I think I was causing more damage than anything else. I go, I should have let them be kids. Mama let me be a kid, you know, my mom let me be a boy. I mean, my brother, you know, we went through, he broke his arm, you know, I had scars and all that stuff. I go, well, we're kids. I mean, I saw I had to learn to let my kids be kids as well. You know, I couldn't try to just put them in an egg and try to protect them, you know, but I was doing that and not purposely, but because I didn't want them to feel the pain I was feeling. Because I've been in pain every day since I got injured. I'm in pain every day. So so I didn't want them to feel like that or be like that. And so it was it was hard. But I gotta take care of my family, and it starts by the way I act, it starts by the way I I present myself to them, it starts in the way uh whether I do stuff with them so I can enjoy myself. I mean, we try to have as many family meals at home together, you know, because and then I tell them, look, this is why I want to do this, because there's gonna be a time where you're gonna be doing this, and me and your mom are not gonna be there because you're having dinner with your family. I go, so as many times I could get this, it's a special moment for me and your mom. So they kind of understand that, and and and I think that's where I got this positive thing because I I need to be positive, I need to be happy, and I need to be healthy. And the way I'm gonna do that is by be getting involved with my family, knowing that I gotta take care of my family. The only issue I'm having here is nobody in my family wants to play golf with me.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh no.

SPEAKER_00:

Nobody.

SPEAKER_01:

I have faith that your your grandkids. I have faith that you'll give at least a couple of them. We'll we'll play with you. I want to thank you so much for coming on here and talking with us. As you know, that Truman Charities, we have an event coming up for Salute Military Golf Association. I had spoken with CJ and then I'd also spoke with another veteran, Jason David, a little while ago. And I really wanted to get the perspective of a veteran, another veteran who had been injured and SMGA really gave them a new outlook on life and something that they really enjoyed and could do as much or as little as they wanted and could find a lot of people that that are like-minded. A lot of your other friends and other veterans are there doing it with you. So I think this is really great. And I wanted everybody to learn more about you and to learn how SMGA had an effect on your life. Is there anything that we haven't covered, or is there anything that you think listeners should know?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, so support your local charities. I mean, if you have something, a program there that that's willing to help warriors, veterans, uh spouses of veterans, so go ahead and support them as much as you can. If you can support your local charities, that'd be awesome. Um there's a charity called Ventix, and they give out free concert tickets and stuff like that to veterans. And last night, me and my wife went to go see my room five. So guess who's my wife's boyfriend? So I love it. I went so I went to go take her, and obviously I was singing to those songs too. Um, we had a great time, but that was supported by Live Nation. They donated those tickets by taking my kids to these concerts and be involved so that way people could see that their money is going somewhere to something positive, and they'll keep on donating into great organizations like that.

SPEAKER_01:

So well, thank you. And we will have all of the information for SMGA for anyone that would like to get involved into our show notes. So, Ramon, I want to thank you for coming on, and I loved that you were able to share our story with everyone. I really think it's gonna have an incredible impact in the community. So I want to thank you and then thank everyone for tuning in to another episode of the Truman Charities podcast. Ramon's story is one of the many, many reasons why we decided that Salute Military Golf Association was the perfect fit for our Halloween event. If you would like to participate in our Halloween event, please make sure to go to Truman Charities.com where you can register. If you would like to help support the Truman Charities podcast, we are 100% volunteer-based organization. So the best way to support us is to rate and review this podcast. It only takes a minute, and I read every one of the reviews. And while you're at it, click the subscribe button so you don't miss any future episodes. If you'd like to follow us, you can follow us on Instagram at Jamie underscore Truman Charities, Facebook at Truman Charities. You can follow me on LinkedIn at Jamie Truman. And then, of course, so you don't miss any upcoming events or Bethesda's best happy hours, please go to trumancharities.com and sign up for our newsletter. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of the Truman Charities podcast. Until next time.

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Jamie Truman

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