episode Zero

Transcript

0:01

Welcome to Memoirs of a Veteran. It's like Memoirs of a Geisha, but in English, where combat veterans come and tell their stories, talk about the general mayhem they caused overseas and stateside. Please like, subscribe, and all that fun shit you're supposed to do. Give it five stars if you feel so necessary. Remember, this is a safe place for veterans. We love you. Enjoy the episode. Okay, so who am I? And what is Memoirs of a Veteran? I am a six year army combat veteran who served with the 101st Airborne, 3rd Brigade, Rokkasan, 2nd Battalion, 187 Infantry, Alpha Company. And before any of you great snoopers go searching, looking for my DD 214, Yes, I didn't serve a full six years. I was like a month or two short when my med board happened. So, I say six years because I served from 1998 to 2004. So, that's just me being transparent and honest. It's just easier to say six years because what's a couple of months in the army? It all feels long and hard, like many other things. But I served in combat with the 101st again in Afghanistan, as you'll hear in many podcasts and many references to it. And there's just a lot of things, you know, that come to mind. My, I come from a very military family. My great grandfather served with the Marines in World War II, island hopping. I actually have a picture of his casualty card. So I think that's pretty cool. My dad was a, was in the Navy during Vietnam. He never saw any of the island other than looking out of the ship. Didn't serve too long. He had some medical problems and got out. My uncle, he served, he was an MP, which you can't spell wimp without MP. I tell him that all the time. And then I have family that go almost all the way back in the 150th Bucktail Regiment. And then if you go on my kids, my ex wife, her family had, all the way in the Revolutionary War, all the way back to the Battle of Cowpens, where they took out Colonel Tarlington, who's portrayed in The Patriot, he's that evil cavalry commander. So, that's not in my blood, but my kids blood have that, so they have warriors on both sides, which I think is just crucial. So that's me in a high level nutshell. You're going to learn a whole lot more about me. Why did I choose podcasting? I don't have a face for TV and I have a voice for newsprint. So that's why I'm podcasting. So, yeah, and really I just, every time I get with my other army veterans, we end up telling a lot of the same stories over and over again, and we laugh and. We joke and we have a great time and it just reminded me a lot of some of these golden eagles that came, come back to the 101st during the week of the eagle and just their stories and it just reminded me like, Hey, I would love to capture some of those. As well as just us, like we just fought 20 years of the war on terror and we were at the very beginning of it. 2001, 2002, that's when we were part of it and there's so much that happened. 9 11 is a huge event, we all talk about it. Whether you're in the military or not, you know what you were doing on 9 11. It's much like World War II and Pearl Harbor. Everybody can tell. Everybody, what they were doing during Pearl Harbor. Most of those people of that great generation are no longer with us. However, that doesn't mean that we can't take what we have now and put it somewhere and keep it forever. And this is hopefully going to be preserved in history for a lifetime where my kids, my grandkids, my great grandkids, and all of these great veterans who have been willing to. Open up and share some of these stories that, honestly, a lot of times they're not for public, they're for us. And sometimes we don't look very good in telling these stories. I know I don't. I've already recorded six or seven at the time of me recording this intro. And I don't look very good in some of these stories, but you know what? I'm not holding back. I was a young man and I was a young veteran and I did what I did. And I think a lot of you other veterans will relate when you hear this. So sit back, enjoy, and there's going to be more to this intro. I just felt like I needed to come back and record a little bit more because you needed to know who I was, but I really hope that you stick around for years to come and you enjoy, cause it's going to get more into. Not just the war on terror. It's there's Vietnam vets There's Korean vets that I really want to get to and record and capture their story and encapsulate it for a lifetime Infinity actually, so I hope you enjoy this And I hope you enjoy the rest of this intro. Have you ever saw a group of veterans hanging out, maybe in the corner of a VFW or at a veteran event, maybe a fundraiser or something like that. And they're just quietly talking with each other, but there's lots of laughter and there's joking going on, maybe some shit talking, or maybe even a American Legion where again, another group of veterans are huddled in a corner somewhere. And And you think they're not really saying much, but when you walk away, they're just laughing and talking. That's what this is. That's what memoirs of a veteran is. It's those stories that they're talking about. They're not talking about you. They're not talking about maybe people in the room. Maybe they are, but they're relating it to a story that they once remembered when they served. They don't necessarily offer these stories up, uh, to just anyone. These are their private stories, their memories of their time in service, their time with their brothers that meant a lot to them, that they truly value, uh, things that they almost forget sometimes until someone else brings up that memory. It jars it, and then it, it puts a smile on their face and then they laugh. Those are the good things. Those are the great times in the service and in amongst all of the chaos and the trauma that we go through and the things that the war and combat and being overseas and away from our family or even long bouts of training cause. And we need those bits of humor to make our lives normal. And make us more sane, what this is, we're bringing those stories back to life. And we're inviting you into a world that very few get to hear, very few get to be part of. And by doing this, we're allowing you a very privileged point to come and sit down and listen to us and hear our stories. And a lot of these men that I served with, and there will be some women on here, obviously. They did not serve with me in combat. They, our unit was all men, but there are some women who, uh, did serve, who will be here and taught, we'll talk to them and get their stories. But mostly these men, uh, a lot of them had traumatic experiences happened to them. But in amongst all of that, they. Had these great shining moments of just funny times, whether it was in the rear with the gear in between deployments or in between training exercises, or oftentimes in amongst combat. So we are opening up and we are inviting you guests into our world. So when you hear these, take them with a grain of salt. Yes, we're going to use. The language we use it, we are making this as raw and as real and authentic as it can be. It's not for your everyday person, it is going to be some vulgarness as far as language, but you are going to laugh, you are going to possibly even cry at some of the things that are said. You may laugh because, you may cry because you're laughing so hard, which is the large hope. For you veterans that are listening to this, Yes, this is for you. Um, I want you to laugh and to reminisce and think about your buddies that you served with the good times. Um, there are plenty of, uh, podcasts out there that want to talk about war and talk about the great things that people did, the heroic things. And that's great. I think that those stories need to be told too, but I'm trying to open up a door into another side that, that is often not told to a large extent and trying to encapsulate the, the time of the war on terror. We had 20 years. It's our longest war for the long time. Vietnam was our longest war. And so now we have a war on terror that was almost 20 years, if not more. And how can we save some of those memories? There are millions of World War II stories that have just gone for the ages. And I know that there was some funny moments that people did, whether they were overseas or even in the train ups to World War II that are lost, that we never heard and that greatest generation that set the tone for. Every warrior and warfighter after to follow, uh, are just lost to the ages. And now we have Korea and Vietnam. A lot of people even forgot about Korea. It's a forgotten war. It's not even over. It's been in a ceasefire since the 1950s. So I'm trying to do my best to bring you all humor, laughter, but at the same time, capture these men's memories. And just have them forever so that they're not lost to the pages of history and bring some happiness and some joy at the same time. And I want to eventually get to those Vietnam guys that are willing to talk and some of the Korean veterans that are getting fewer and fewer. This is my dream and my passion right now is to just make people laugh with our humorous stories. And, uh, I hope that you enjoy this. I hope that you find humor in this and I hope that you like and subscribe and all that good shit you're supposed to do. Continue to follow us. And if you know, some people that want to join this, we will validate you. As far as veteran, we don't want any stolen valor on this at all. So again, sit back, enjoy the shows. They're going to be down and dirty. They're going to be raw and prepare for some laughter. Uh, again, memoirs of a veteran. That's, this is what we're about. So sit back, enjoy the episodes. Hopefully you'll stick around for. All of them. There's gotta be lots coming down the pipeline. Just bear with me as I get to them and be patient and I promise you they'll be worth it. Love you, Papa G. Sign it off. Thank you for listening to another episode of Memoirs with a Veteran. Remember, social connections, save lives. That's why we're here. If you serve, call up someone you served with. Tell'em a joke. Let's laugh together. Brothers, if you didn't serve, but you know someone who did serve, call them up as well. And also, if you're a veteran in crisis, call 9 8 8, press one. That's the veteran crisis number. There's always somebody willing to listen to your story. We love you guys. Take care. We'll see you in the next episode.