September 29, 2023 • 13 mins
Navy veteran and lawyer, Dorothy Meindok joins The Dana Tyson Podcast to talk about her incredible journey and her mission of continued service to her community.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Don't let her pretty happy face foolyou. Dorothy went through some incredible times
while she was in the Navy,so much so that she actually became an
attorney to help out our military veterans. You've got to hear her story.
She is a delight. Mattress Macalways sponsors my Dana Tyson podcast and my
(00:21):
guest today Dorothy actually spoke after Mattressspoke at an incredible military event and the
two of them got together. Theylove each other. So now please listen
to Dorothy and her incredible story.Now, Dorothy, I met you when
you spoke in front of this wonderfulaudience and Mattress Mac, who was one
(00:43):
of the featured speakers talking about mentalhealth post traumatic stress syndrome, and you,
my beautiful lady, were in themilitary and had some very interesting experiences
there that launched you into a careerin law, very unique position that you
(01:03):
hold, and now you're helping othersin the military who kind of suffered,
might have suffered some all kinds ofincidents. You are now kind of a
speaker an ally for our men andwomen in the military. So tell us
a little bit about your life,Dorothy. Okay, Well, first off.
I was born in New Orleans andthen moved to Pasadena, Texas when
(01:26):
I was about eight years old,and graduated from Laport High School and went
into the military right after. Idecided I didn't really like college. I
started over at Sanjustina College and itit didn't feel like the right fit for
me at the time. And myfriend was joining the military, and she
(01:48):
said, oh, come on,let's go. So I went over across
the street to the recruiter's office andI joined the Navy, and off I
went May twenty third of nighteen eightynine, and I was probably one of
the last people anyone ever thought wouldjoin the military. But I had the
greatest time, I really did.I started off in Florida and ended up
(02:15):
somehow in the Persian golf during theFirst Persian Gulf War. The Gulf mine
was called Operation Desert Storm, mypiece of that war, and I got
to refuel helicopters. I was apurple shirt on the flight deck. I
worked in the engine room. Igot to see all of these different places
(02:36):
in the world that I probably neverwould have seen before. I got to
see where all different parts of Japan, Malaysia, Korea. You just name
it. You know, we stoppedand we did stuff there the Philippines,
which was really interesting. That's wherewhere my mom's family is from. So
(02:57):
I got to even take leave thereas the military member. If you visit
a home sort of at least inthe Navy, where your family is from,
and you have family there, thenyou're eligible for leave if that's allowed
at the time. So when thewar was over and our way back,
I got to take leave there.It was just a wonderful experience. And
(03:19):
yes, there were sometimes that youknow, you don't want to forget them
because you learn from them, andthey are traumatic. I mean, it's
war, and uh, some thingshappened. We were a gender integration combat
vessel, so you can pretty muchexpect that there's going to be some issues,
right, first time men and womenhave ever sailed together, and we
(03:45):
weren't supposed to be in the combatzone, but our sister ship had a
mind and so therefore there we went. And so that added I think a
little stress. But what we wewe all gave our very best. Our
mission was accomplished for our country.Uh, some of us suffered a little
more than others, and in respectsof personal trauma, However, our government
(04:11):
and our VA, upon notice,has has taken really good care of us,
and we thank all of our countrymenfor doing that. And one of
the greatest things is that where theVA skips to beat or is over over
woll Right, we've got great organizationslike Operation Red Wings Foundation and and you
(04:35):
know, Camp Hope and a lotof our other organizations here in Texas that
that fill in those gaps, helpin the VA to meet her mission.
Because Americans care about about our veterans, and God love you for it,
because we need you, and we'rereally happy to know that that you care.
(04:59):
Any so well spoken. I mean, I heard your story and it's
a pretty intense story. But butwhat you did. You took this trauma
and you became an attorney, andyou you started in an area that was
very unique. You're specifically geared towardshelping our military who might have also experienced
(05:23):
some form of trauma. Well thatwasn't me, that was God. Okay,
because okay, I'm gonna tell youthis is my testimony. So I
was working in the laboratory as amicrobiologist and something happened and I had to
switch gears, right, and soI ended up going to law school.
(05:45):
Excuse me and Dan Gerald Trees fromSouth Texas College of Law. He was
being on veterans, so he's onthe radio, right. He was already
aware that I was going to havesome challenges, but he was prepared to
help me meet them, and hedid. You know, the entire school
was just so so supportive. Iwas going back to school as a second
(06:09):
career. I was going back backto school as an adult amongst a people
who were at least ten years myjunior and had the energy ten years my
junior. And God put me outthere and I got all of these great
opportunities. And then the year thatI graduated law school twenty ten was the
(06:30):
same year that Congress opened up VAlaw for lawyers to practice at the level
that is an entry level, right, And so I just it was it
was God given, so off Iwent to learn how to do that and
did a lot of internship apprenticeship.I was helped by Texas Veterans Commission and
(06:56):
the DAZ here in Houston as wellas the Houston VA Regional Office gave me
an internship and everyone supported me tobecome a voice for veterans. So that's
what I do. That's that Iunderstand a lot of the different things that
they go through. And now thatI'm a little bit older, right,
(07:16):
I'm fifty two now, and sonow that I'm fifty two, I see
a lot of these younger veterans,especially female veterans, that I can identify
where they are in place and timewith not only acceptance of these new limitations
that PPSD and different types of diagnosisis take them, but also the anger
(07:44):
barometer, right, the anger levelof having to accept something that they didn't
ask for, right, a diseaseor an affliction that now limits their their
their natural selves in a way thatthey never never ask for and never even
knew they were going to have todo. And so I try to help
(08:05):
quell that while working with them.And that's what I love about being a
team lead over at Operation Red Wingsbecause I get to see the gamut of
where everyone is in that acceptance.And normally I have some kind of a
story or some kind of a crazyfun events that happened to me when I
(08:28):
was going through that same kind ofa stage that they tell me helps them,
and and that's that's enough, right, That's less blessing. So that's
amazing. Yeah, he looks ifpeople. I'm sure there might be a
family member watching you, listening toyou right now and like, oh my
(08:50):
gosh, she might be the answer. I mean, do you do,
will you help people? What?How could people get in touch with you?
I mean, I know you're anattorney, a very busy attorney,
but you know and I know you. I work with other organizations. I
can't hope and Operation Red Wing Foundation. Yes, well, if you can't,
if you don't want to sign upand get to know me by coming
(09:11):
out doing a retreat, which Ihighly recommend, you can also just call
me my I have all of mynumbers. I only have one number and
just likes miss mister mcinvale. Itook his advice one number and published it
right and and I'll just have todo this. Text me and I'll get
(09:31):
back with you, and we'll sitdown and we'll talk and and we'll find
find a way to get you thehelp that you need. You know,
I can't always be everywhere all thetime, but I am very open to
to giving my time and giving ofmyself to make sure that you get in
(09:52):
touch with the right person to helpyou no matter what that might be,
so I'll do my thing. Dorothy, you are you just I'm sure you
never had any idea when you walkedacross the street, thinging, oh this
is this is going to be great, growing going to the recruiting office what
God we call it the Road toDamascus. You had no idea what God
had in store for you. Ohno, I thought I was just going
(10:13):
into the Navy with my friend,who, by the way, she didn't
end up in the Navy, sheended up in the Marine Corps. And
were pretty together on the journey afterwe thought we were gonna be And she's
a Houston native as well, andher name is Sonia. And hopefully you'll
one day we'll all get to gettogether and you can you can hear a
(10:37):
little bit more about that story.But it was pretty funny. It was
pretty funny the way we ended upin the military. But yeah, you
can. Like I said, ifanyone wants to get in touch with me,
I have a LinkedIn profile. That'sprimary, that's my primary point of
contact with social media. My phonenumber is listed there. Give me a
(10:58):
call. And I want my viewersto understand that your pretty happy face wasn't
always so happy. You went throughsome incredible stuff and you the techniques that
you use to pull yourself out ofit pretty amazing. So Dorothy could definitely
help you if you need or ifyou have a family member who needs help,
(11:18):
and I would encourage to reach outto her and check out maybe go
up to a Huntsville and check outthat incredible retreat up there. One percent.
You know, I learned a longtime ago, and I think it
started when my father died when Iwas seven and he I was Daddy's girl
completely, And what I learned isthat life goes on and you must learn
(11:41):
from it. And so no matterwhat is thrown at you, you got
to turn that around and you've gotto own it, and you've just got
to move forward. You don't lookback because you're not going that way.
Let's just see it. Don't lookback, You're not going that way.
Look forward, and and there's somuch more before you that God has for
(12:03):
you that you have no idea youhave. I'm so glad you stuck around
so you could share this message withus right now, because that's what people
need to hear. So Dorothy adelight. I'm so glad I met you.
It was pretty cool. You know, you're like, I can't believe
I'm speaking after Mattress Mac. Heloved your discussion. He learned so much
(12:26):
from you. Called me the nextday. He called me the next day.
Wasn't she amazing? So just soyou know, yep, well,
so thank you again for you.You know, you're a military mom,
and God love you. Military momsare the best. We're pretty tough cookies,
but man, it is tough tough, but it's people like you who
(12:50):
keep us going. So we appreciateyou so much. And we'll get all
the information up on our socials sopeople can reach out to you. Okay,
Dorothy, You're delight. Prefer yourtime
Don't let her pretty happy face foolyou. Dorothy went through some incredible times
while she was in the Navy,so much so that she actually became an
attorney to help out our military veterans. You've got to hear her story.
She is a delight. Mattress Macalways sponsors my Dana Tyson podcast and my
(00:21):
guest today Dorothy actually spoke after Mattressspoke at an incredible military event and the
two of them got together. Theylove each other. So now please listen
to Dorothy and her incredible story.Now, Dorothy, I met you when
you spoke in front of this wonderfulaudience and Mattress Mac, who was one
(00:43):
of the featured speakers talking about mentalhealth post traumatic stress syndrome, and you,
my beautiful lady, were in themilitary and had some very interesting experiences
there that launched you into a careerin law, very unique position that you
(01:03):
hold, and now you're helping othersin the military who kind of suffered,
might have suffered some all kinds ofincidents. You are now kind of a
speaker an ally for our men andwomen in the military. So tell us
a little bit about your life,Dorothy. Okay, Well, first off.
I was born in New Orleans andthen moved to Pasadena, Texas when
(01:26):
I was about eight years old,and graduated from Laport High School and went
into the military right after. Idecided I didn't really like college. I
started over at Sanjustina College and itit didn't feel like the right fit for
me at the time. And myfriend was joining the military, and she
(01:48):
said, oh, come on,let's go. So I went over across
the street to the recruiter's office andI joined the Navy, and off I
went May twenty third of nighteen eightynine, and I was probably one of
the last people anyone ever thought wouldjoin the military. But I had the
greatest time, I really did.I started off in Florida and ended up
(02:15):
somehow in the Persian golf during theFirst Persian Gulf War. The Gulf mine
was called Operation Desert Storm, mypiece of that war, and I got
to refuel helicopters. I was apurple shirt on the flight deck. I
worked in the engine room. Igot to see all of these different places
(02:36):
in the world that I probably neverwould have seen before. I got to
see where all different parts of Japan, Malaysia, Korea. You just name
it. You know, we stoppedand we did stuff there the Philippines,
which was really interesting. That's wherewhere my mom's family is from. So
(02:57):
I got to even take leave thereas the military member. If you visit
a home sort of at least inthe Navy, where your family is from,
and you have family there, thenyou're eligible for leave if that's allowed
at the time. So when thewar was over and our way back,
I got to take leave there.It was just a wonderful experience. And
(03:19):
yes, there were sometimes that youknow, you don't want to forget them
because you learn from them, andthey are traumatic. I mean, it's
war, and uh, some thingshappened. We were a gender integration combat
vessel, so you can pretty muchexpect that there's going to be some issues,
right, first time men and womenhave ever sailed together, and we
(03:45):
weren't supposed to be in the combatzone, but our sister ship had a
mind and so therefore there we went. And so that added I think a
little stress. But what we wewe all gave our very best. Our
mission was accomplished for our country.Uh, some of us suffered a little
more than others, and in respectsof personal trauma, However, our government
(04:11):
and our VA, upon notice,has has taken really good care of us,
and we thank all of our countrymenfor doing that. And one of
the greatest things is that where theVA skips to beat or is over over
woll Right, we've got great organizationslike Operation Red Wings Foundation and and you
(04:35):
know, Camp Hope and a lotof our other organizations here in Texas that
that fill in those gaps, helpin the VA to meet her mission.
Because Americans care about about our veterans, and God love you for it,
because we need you, and we'rereally happy to know that that you care.
(04:59):
Any so well spoken. I mean, I heard your story and it's
a pretty intense story. But butwhat you did. You took this trauma
and you became an attorney, andyou you started in an area that was
very unique. You're specifically geared towardshelping our military who might have also experienced
(05:23):
some form of trauma. Well thatwasn't me, that was God. Okay,
because okay, I'm gonna tell youthis is my testimony. So I
was working in the laboratory as amicrobiologist and something happened and I had to
switch gears, right, and soI ended up going to law school.
(05:45):
Excuse me and Dan Gerald Trees fromSouth Texas College of Law. He was
being on veterans, so he's onthe radio, right. He was already
aware that I was going to havesome challenges, but he was prepared to
help me meet them, and hedid. You know, the entire school
was just so so supportive. Iwas going back to school as a second
(06:09):
career. I was going back backto school as an adult amongst a people
who were at least ten years myjunior and had the energy ten years my
junior. And God put me outthere and I got all of these great
opportunities. And then the year thatI graduated law school twenty ten was the
(06:30):
same year that Congress opened up VAlaw for lawyers to practice at the level
that is an entry level, right, And so I just it was it
was God given, so off Iwent to learn how to do that and
did a lot of internship apprenticeship.I was helped by Texas Veterans Commission and
(06:56):
the DAZ here in Houston as wellas the Houston VA Regional Office gave me
an internship and everyone supported me tobecome a voice for veterans. So that's
what I do. That's that Iunderstand a lot of the different things that
they go through. And now thatI'm a little bit older, right,
(07:16):
I'm fifty two now, and sonow that I'm fifty two, I see
a lot of these younger veterans,especially female veterans, that I can identify
where they are in place and timewith not only acceptance of these new limitations
that PPSD and different types of diagnosisis take them, but also the anger
(07:44):
barometer, right, the anger levelof having to accept something that they didn't
ask for, right, a diseaseor an affliction that now limits their their
their natural selves in a way thatthey never never ask for and never even
knew they were going to have todo. And so I try to help
(08:05):
quell that while working with them.And that's what I love about being a
team lead over at Operation Red Wingsbecause I get to see the gamut of
where everyone is in that acceptance.And normally I have some kind of a
story or some kind of a crazyfun events that happened to me when I
(08:28):
was going through that same kind ofa stage that they tell me helps them,
and and that's that's enough, right, That's less blessing. So that's
amazing. Yeah, he looks ifpeople. I'm sure there might be a
family member watching you, listening toyou right now and like, oh my
(08:50):
gosh, she might be the answer. I mean, do you do,
will you help people? What?How could people get in touch with you?
I mean, I know you're anattorney, a very busy attorney,
but you know and I know you. I work with other organizations. I
can't hope and Operation Red Wing Foundation. Yes, well, if you can't,
if you don't want to sign upand get to know me by coming
(09:11):
out doing a retreat, which Ihighly recommend, you can also just call
me my I have all of mynumbers. I only have one number and
just likes miss mister mcinvale. Itook his advice one number and published it
right and and I'll just have todo this. Text me and I'll get
(09:31):
back with you, and we'll sitdown and we'll talk and and we'll find
find a way to get you thehelp that you need. You know,
I can't always be everywhere all thetime, but I am very open to
to giving my time and giving ofmyself to make sure that you get in
(09:52):
touch with the right person to helpyou no matter what that might be,
so I'll do my thing. Dorothy, you are you just I'm sure you
never had any idea when you walkedacross the street, thinging, oh this
is this is going to be great, growing going to the recruiting office what
God we call it the Road toDamascus. You had no idea what God
had in store for you. Ohno, I thought I was just going
(10:13):
into the Navy with my friend,who, by the way, she didn't
end up in the Navy, sheended up in the Marine Corps. And
were pretty together on the journey afterwe thought we were gonna be And she's
a Houston native as well, andher name is Sonia. And hopefully you'll
one day we'll all get to gettogether and you can you can hear a
(10:37):
little bit more about that story.But it was pretty funny. It was
pretty funny the way we ended upin the military. But yeah, you
can. Like I said, ifanyone wants to get in touch with me,
I have a LinkedIn profile. That'sprimary, that's my primary point of
contact with social media. My phonenumber is listed there. Give me a
(10:58):
call. And I want my viewersto understand that your pretty happy face wasn't
always so happy. You went throughsome incredible stuff and you the techniques that
you use to pull yourself out ofit pretty amazing. So Dorothy could definitely
help you if you need or ifyou have a family member who needs help,
(11:18):
and I would encourage to reach outto her and check out maybe go
up to a Huntsville and check outthat incredible retreat up there. One percent.
You know, I learned a longtime ago, and I think it
started when my father died when Iwas seven and he I was Daddy's girl
completely, And what I learned isthat life goes on and you must learn
(11:41):
from it. And so no matterwhat is thrown at you, you got
to turn that around and you've gotto own it, and you've just got
to move forward. You don't lookback because you're not going that way.
Let's just see it. Don't lookback, You're not going that way.
Look forward, and and there's somuch more before you that God has for
(12:03):
you that you have no idea youhave. I'm so glad you stuck around
so you could share this message withus right now, because that's what people
need to hear. So Dorothy adelight. I'm so glad I met you.
It was pretty cool. You know, you're like, I can't believe
I'm speaking after Mattress Mac. Heloved your discussion. He learned so much
(12:26):
from you. Called me the nextday. He called me the next day.
Wasn't she amazing? So just soyou know, yep, well,
so thank you again for you.You know, you're a military mom,
and God love you. Military momsare the best. We're pretty tough cookies,
but man, it is tough tough, but it's people like you who
(12:50):
keep us going. So we appreciateyou so much. And we'll get all
the information up on our socials sopeople can reach out to you. Okay,
Dorothy, You're delight. Prefer yourtime
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