Rally Point 19

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
Good morning, rally Pointers, Welcometo the Rally Point Show on one hundred
point nine FMWCCF. I'm Amanda Macchiatomccanue, and I'm here with Jay the
Sarge Hemingway, I know it,and we are here to bring you another
spectacular show. Welcome to Show numbernineteen, brought to you today by ETNA

(00:28):
Medicare Solutions. So we're just goingto jump right into the show today if
you didn't know it. March twentyninth, twenty twenty four is Vietnam Veterans
Remembrance to Day. And with that, I want to hand things over to
Jay the Sarge to tell you aboutsomething really exciting that we have coming up
to honor our veterans. Outstanding folks, First and foremost, thank you once

(00:51):
again for listening on to the RallyPoint Show. You guys make us who
we are and I say thank youfor that. But the Right Point Show
on one on point nine FLM proudto recognize and honor Vietnam Veterans Day on
March twenty ninth. This glorious day. The significance of this day commemorates the
sacrifices and service of veterans who bravelyserved during Vietnam War. It is a

(01:15):
national observance that recognizes veterans who servedthe US military during during the Vietnam War.
On this day, we commemorate theservice and sacrifices made by nearly three
million service member members who bravely servedduring the challenging period. It is time
to hon those who had the courageand resilience to represent our country. Join

(01:36):
us as we pay tribute to ourVietnam veterans with a special segment of our
show and tune in today to hearinspiring stories, heartfelt messages, and words
with gratitude dedicate to these couragos menand women and folks. Honestly speaking,
disremember without them, we wouldn't behere where we're at right now. As
a part of our commitment to supportingveterans and their families, the Rilly Punt

(01:59):
Show invites our listeners to participate inhonoring these Vietnam veterans on this particular day.
Whether sharing a story, express andappreciation, are simply tuning into our
short for support, every gesture makesa difference. In addition to our broadcasts
on air tribute to our veterans,every single broadcast. The Rally Punch Show

(02:21):
is exactly is actively involved in supportingveterans by officially partnering up with Reeds Across
America. Yes, folks, weare officially partners with Reeds Across America.
Starting in April, we shall startour drive to provide reads for the maximum
number of reads and for our veteranswho pay the ultimate sacrifice. We are
doing this because, as of Decemberfourteenth, we want you to join us

(02:44):
and to lay down those reads inremembrance to all those who serve our country
and may the ultimate sacrifice. Thismeaningful event is powerful and it's a way
for us to remember and appreciate ourfallen heroes. We invite you to be
part of our special date by sponsoringremembrance reads, launsteering at Reas's Day,
or attending with our family, yourfamily and friends. Your support helps us

(03:04):
honor the sacrifices of our veterans andensure that their legacy lives on. Together,
Let's hope and remember, honor,and teach future generations about the value
of freedom and the sacrifices made byour Vietnam veterans. Join us at the
Riot Point Show at one point nineFM as we pay a tribute to our
heroes. Now, folks, youcan also catch our show also at one

(03:27):
point nine FM, also on theiHeartRadio app, the WCCF, the Odyssey
app, and the tune in app, whereby we will be on the air
with resacross America at three pm EasternStandard time the hear Our Show on their
radio show and I say thank youbecause of you, they found us and

(03:49):
you can find us here at onepoint nine FM. With that being said,
Amanda, who do we have onour show today? Well, Jay,
we have a pretty good lineup,especially given the day significance. So
our first interview is going to beMike Lansford and Paul Poleshi. They both
served in Vietnam. We'll be talkingto them for our Voices of Valor segment

(04:10):
Voice of the Veteran. We're goingto have Randy Smith from the Epic Program
out in Inglewood, and then forBenefit Beat, we're going to continue our
conversation about service dogs and we've actuallybrought a local group into the studio today.
We're going to have Mark Frye andSteve Copeland talking with us from Wolfhound's
Legacy about their mission to rehabilitate dogsthat are maybe in shelters, compare them

(04:32):
to a veteran, thereby saving twolives in the process of pairing them together
so that that dog can be theirservice dog and help them to lead a
more productive and a more fulfilling life. Out of standing, I like it.
I like it. So let's getthis show startup, folks, and
now onto our Voices of Valor segment. Today, we have Mike Lansford and

(04:57):
Paul Poleshi here to tell us theirstories of their service in Vietnam. Mike,
how you doing today. I'm doingvery well, Thank you very much.
Awesome. Well, let's just jumpright in. We just want you
to tell us about your experience inVietnam and your service over there. I
can instructing the beginning. I gotin country thirteen December sixty eight at five

(05:23):
point thirty in the morning, andwe were in the middle of a rocket
attack, so I got indoctrinated rightout the door, I guess you could
call it. And then I wentup to the one hundred and first up
in Camp Eagle and went out andwe walked out of the Ashaw Valley with
the second Battalion, eleventh Tartilla,we Brabo Battery one five five split trails

(05:44):
and we were on I think analystfirebases. But the most pronounced one which
Hill nine three seven operation in PatrieSnow at Hamburger Hill, that probably stands
out more than any of them.Wow, Mike, Mike, call you
Mike. Yes, sir, thisis James Hemingway. First and foremost,

(06:08):
thank you for your sacrifice as wehave Vietnam Membrance Day today. First and
foremost, I wanted to say toall my guests that we have on our
show, thank you for paving theway for soldiers like myself. I'm in
the Army and I'll tell you this, whether you're an Army, a Marine,
or a seaman, it's soldiers likeyou that sit the standard for US

(06:31):
soldiers today and future veterans to come. And you guys kind of set the
standard for us to live by.And the reason why the riot point exists
is to make sure that that wemake sure that you get the benefits of
your sacrifice that you made all yourlives to make this country what it is
today. And I take my hatoff to you, sir. But that

(06:54):
being the case, I want youto introduce yourself to America and tell them
a little about yourself, your rank, where you've been, and what company
you serve for. Sir, Yeah, I had I was a sergeant.
Uh, I was a second Italianeleventh Artillery. We won five five split
trail with one hundred and first everyoneand uh later after the hill, we

(07:17):
we lost some guns. We weused to volunteer that went out with a
couple of alert teams and I don'tremember who they were, just the ones
that were out in the valley andwe didn't go out on I guess stuff
we did that we didn't realize whatwe were doing at the time, but
it was just a landy to helppeople. And from my perspective, I'm
able to be here as a vet. I'd like to think that all the

(07:41):
stuff we did at all, allof you know, the down the negative
side, we got, we gothold our country, had learned what veterans
really are and maybe maybe some stuffthat happened to us, something good came
out of it after all. Well, as a veteran myself of the art,
I mean, I will tell youyour sacrifices that you endured when you

(08:03):
came home as unspeakable, but asI would say to my soldiers, I
can't fix the past. I candamn. We make sure we can make
it, to make it right todayfor tomorrow. And you know the past
is I learned. You know,if people are going to think what they
want in that just public opinion.I decided who I am and how I

(08:26):
am, and what I say reflectson Vietnam veterans as a whole, and
I didn't want to let that down. Everything I say or do reflects upon
us, and I want to Iwant to uphold our tradition if all we
we had good people, and youknow, we didn't forget each other,
that's for sure. Amen to that. And I will say that I will

(08:48):
also wish upon any civilian to walkone day, one day, yes,
in your in your shoes during thatparticular time when you took the service of
your country over consideration of your ownwell being. And that, my friend,
I call personal courage, knowing you'regonna do something, not knowing what
the outcome is going to be,you know, and my thoughts I didn't

(09:11):
realize. I guess the military changedme in a lot of ways, good
or bad. It gave me adifferent perspective of life, I got home.
I didn't know what I had tillI got home. In my first
meal at home, I deferred toeat. My mother was upset because I
didn't. I've been so long becauseI eat off a plate and drink out

(09:33):
of a glass. I just wantto look at it. And then I
knew what I had. Amen toothat I still eat fast. Unfortunately,
I can't break myself out of thathabit. Either you eat fast or you
lose it. So did bad habityou? But it was just, you
know all I told her. Inever told her what I did because I
didn't want my mother to cry.But my dad knew because he was the

(09:54):
World War two bad in the Pacific. So I said, mother. She
said, what it's that bad?I said, no, ma'am, it
was worse. I said the restof my life, if I have nothing,
I still be better than where Iwas. And I still live by
that. Now. I live asimple life. I don't need many things.
I just sustain my needs and Ijust try to be a better person

(10:15):
every day, and I try towear my hat so people will know that
we weren't all bad. We weren'tall what was hyped up to be.
We would go out of our waythat we would give our life to save
a stranger's life, and we stilldo that because we took an oath.
Absolutely. I was going to say, your generation, in my opinion,
was the bravest of all, havingto face you know, a draft and

(10:35):
everything like that. I mean,for you to go through that and then
come home and be treated the wayyou were and you still hold your head
high, you still keep your moralsand your ethics intact. That says a
lot. And I do, andPaul and I have talked about this.
I wonder people that and they hadI understood the other side of how they

(10:56):
felt, but I wonder how they'relife turned out. Did they make a
difference in our world because we triedto, but you know we so we
didn't do what we could do.And I'd like to think maybe they made
something good out of our country likewe tried to do. Well. You
did make a difference because when yournation called, you went, you answered,

(11:16):
and that's important. And you seta very high standard, like Jay
said, as far as an exampleof service, an example of selflessness,
and that's so important. I mean, that did truly did Jay's absolutely right,
helped pave the way for all ofus that came after, you know,
to know what it's like to makesure that we walk the walk.

(11:37):
We talked the talk, and itwas because of examples like yours and that
of so many others that really helpedto cement that. So absolutely you made
a difference. As for the peopleon the other side of the you know,
opinion fence, if you will,hopefully they did too. And it's
wonderful that you keep that perspective thatyou just hope that they did something that

(11:58):
made a difference even and if youagree at the time, you know,
and I never hated anybody on theother side that I just I didn't want
I wanted to be the better partyor take the higher road any way you
want to look at it. Iwanted to be positive, I wanted something
something. I wanted to make somethinggood out of what happened in my life.

(12:18):
And that's just that was my call. Amen to that most definitely.
And one of the things that Iwill say as a veteran myself, as
that you're sacrifice has set the way, you set a standard and taking the
higher road is like is our callingsthat we were trained to do. Sitting

(12:41):
there looking at wounds. Complaining aboutproblems. It doesn't solve the mission.
You got to think about the mission. And I wish that a a lot
of our civilians could spend a dayor a week where you've been and then
come back home. I will guaranteehalf of the problems we have in our
country would evaporate immediately. And I'vealways believed that the younger generations, and

(13:03):
to me, they never should havestopped the draft for the not for seri
of bad reason, but to teachthe generations of just how blessed this country
really is, and how what youhave to do to protect our freedom and
our way of life. It's it'snot it's not easy. It's not always
good and clean. It's sometimes it'sbrutal, but it's just it's not an

(13:24):
option exactly. Mike. I'm sittinghere looking at a board here it says
Hamburger Hill, and I'm seeing abunch of pictures here, and Paul brought
it into the studio with us,and I see a bunch of a couple
of your guns there that you movedaround. Can you explain to America a

(13:46):
little bit about what Hamburger Hill isand where it was and what went on
there. Yeah, the hill officialname we named we named it Hamburger Hill.
Our fire base was our base kurrkHere, which one hundred first time
means we stand alone. And wewent in early. We went we stayed
the infantry in a stage out ofan old CIA airstrip, airstrip called Tabat,

(14:09):
which is not too far away.But we went out early to recon
ware to put the firebase and weended up we dropped three guns in and
started firing on the hill, Ithink three or four days early, and
we fired six hour shifts around theclock until the infantry started their assault up
the hill and then then we justwe just kept firing. It was a

(14:31):
never ending cycle and I always wantedour fire support. And I know we
lost three guns and the thirty oneto eighty seventh title had major casualties.
We went. We went in withwith Lieutenant Frank Bochia he's buried in audingten
and blended in because he needed troopsright there. And bringing out new people

(14:56):
was not always a good idea becausenew people had no combat experience, no
you know, in no end countryanything, and they didn't they didn't do
well. But we already, we'dalready been there. So we went up
in several flanking positions and found alot of bunkers, a lot of spider
holes, a lot of really badthings, and we just tried to you

(15:18):
know, we took the hill thehard way that we fought uphill and that's
not combat tactic, but that's justthat's kind of what we had to work
with. Wow. That Uh,what was it? What was the average
when you said a new guy,what was the experience of a new fresh
soldier onto the on the field.How how were they? I was twenty

(15:39):
years old. I was considered anold man other than uh, you know
military men that have been like,you know, made a lifetime commitments.
I mean higher ups were you know, been there forgure My sergeant had been
there six years. Wow. Andhe never came home. He got killed
the week before they uh, thefall of US Vietnam, and he but

(16:00):
he loved it. That's what hewanted to do. He said, I'm
here to win it. Period.That's what he did. And that's what
I learned from you win. Youknow, just it's not you know,
there is no second place in combat, no, sir. That's from the
mission first, folks, uh Andfor you guys and in the audience out
there, there are four basic thingsme being in the army, I lived

(16:22):
by and in the fourth one youcan't remember the other three, always remember
the last one. The first oneis the mission always comes first. Second
roual is no defeat, and you'llnever quit. And if you can't remember
those three, remember you leave noone behind. That's number four. And
if you can live your life bythose four principles, leave no one behind,

(16:44):
your life is a lot better.My dad, Yeah, my dad
taught me before when he used tolook. He said, you're gonna be
a se see and be around alot of really bad things you've never been
around. But he should always rememberthis, she said, no matter how
hard it did, she said,always get up and fight back. Don't
ever give up. Don't quit.He said, if you give up and

(17:06):
quit, you die. He said, that's pretty basic knowledge. Aim into
that, Aim into that any questionfor for make well I am. I
was gonna say, I saw aphoto too of you, and is it
Ashaw Valley just ma'am? Was thatwhen you guys had the nurses come out
there? Can you tell us aboutthat? Because I do think women and

(17:26):
women in the military in general,but especially women in comments settings isn't really
talked about, so I would loveto hear about it. Only one the
Donut Dollies, and they need morerecognition than they've got. Her name was
Betsy Tanner, and I still keepin touch with her. I didn't know
her name until I contacted the dolliesand they told me about a hold of
it. She came out one dayout in the valley. I thought that

(17:48):
was the bravest thing. I mean, pilots didn't want to fly out there,
and she showed up and it madeus, for one day feel like
we were normal, you know,feel like this was the world as we
remembered it, and it really madeus just feel good about everything, you
know. I was so terrified tostand next to her. I didn't know

(18:11):
what to say because I hadn't beenaround the girl and a month. You
hadn't been back in the world fora hot minute. Yeah, you're youngle
living a hard life and just reallyround eyed American girl shows up and tells
you hello, and I was ata loss for words. You probably thought
I was the dumbest, dumbest gownthe planet, but she still keeps in
touch with you. So there's that. I mean, that says something.

(18:33):
What was their visit like, like, did they come out? Was it
morale? Camaraderie? Was it?Was there a health involved anything? Board
games and told jokes and brought doughnutsout, and but they they were just
for us being around us, what, you know, made us feel like
somebody from the world really cared aboutus and how we lived. And it

(18:56):
made a lot of difference to allof us. It was a mental health
by the sound of it, moraleboost for sure. And I told a
friend of mine she left, Isaid, well, what do we do
now? I said, I said, now I can talk, and she's
already gone. I was. Iwas so afraid. I didn't just I
didn't. I didn't want to saynothing wrong. That was that was my

(19:18):
fear. And it's hard not towhen you live in combat conditions because your
language gets a little rough. Yeah, absolutely, you've experienced some things.
But were you able to talk,you know, with your friends more after
that visit about Yeah, I did, and we were all we were just
I mean, it changed es,even just for one day. It gave

(19:41):
us normalcy in our life. Itgave us you know, I just something
to look forward to, to gohome and be with family and friends and
your girlfriends or wives or whatever youhad at home. It motivated you to
live and get home. Well,that's why mail was so important too,

(20:03):
Mike. Oh, yeah, youknow, mail was a you know,
we didn't get mail out there.It was hard to get mail because helicopter
didn't have a long life. Nowwhat I remember when they landed on the
moon, we didn't hear about itfor almost a month because there was no
intel we had, didn't have alot of updated stuff. And I remember

(20:25):
looking up and I thought, whyare they there? And I'm here,
and I thought, why are weon the moon when we can't stop this
war? And a lot of usprobably felt the same way. Definitely,
Definitely. It's one of those thingsabout perspective. If we have the technology
and the means to get to themoon, ending a war or resolving a

(20:47):
conflict should be second to that.I'm not the smartest me in the room,
but it seems simpler to me.One more question, Mike. I'm
looking on the board again and I'mseeing something that says a bad day.
Could you kind of what what whathappened in that bad day. They describe
a picture. I can give youmore clarification. Well, the picture as

(21:10):
I see I think, I seeyou at your backside, you have patches
on your back, you're laying downwith the medic next to you, and
there's a helicopter below you that's bentup. When I was up on the
up on the hill, we gotin a crossfire with the machine gun.
This popped up, and our mediccame running up to me to doctor me,

(21:34):
and I didn't I didn't know whatwas wrong. He said, I
want to patch you. I didn'tknow I was hurt. And he looked
up and he pushed me down andthey righted just with machine gun fire and
they got him and they got mein the leg across the shoulder, but
I was already hit. A motarhad cut my face open there. I
mean, not superficial. It wasninety six ditches. And I didn't I

(21:56):
mean, it wasn't it wasn't enough. Why I couldn't get up and fight
back, and now it never.What hurt me was they killed doc and
he was unarmed, and that justdidn't sit right. That would just went
against my moral code, I guess. But I was laying there and my
captain was holding a plast bag tokeep the guys that will hurt worsero me
so we could get out. Andwhen we were getting out, they shut

(22:18):
our helicopter down. So it wasreally a worse day than bad days.
I and brother, let me saythis, and again, I come from
a different era, and I willsay, looking at these pictures and your
explanation of those stories, I willdefy any civilian to tell me they're having
a bad day after seeing what youwent through in one experience, and it

(22:42):
puts things in perspective for me.And I'll say, and God bless you
for being on our show and youhaving the opportunity to share your stories with
you and Paul, because the onlyway America is going to learn and my
vet's going to learn how good Ithink we have it is to learn how
it used to be. And likeI said, we wouldn't have the VA

(23:03):
anything about you guys going through youwent through. I wish you didn't have
to, but there's a means toan end, and I'm sure that God
would make things right when the timecomes to the sacrifice they want done.
I take the World War every generationthat goes to war, had the right
people for what we did. Thatapplies to all veterans of war too.

(23:26):
Had you know, they were theirgreatest generation. We had ours, your
generation, had your We were allI guess meant to be what we did,
and we all stood up and defendedthis country and they can't take that
away from us. Absolutely. Wewere actually talking about that this morning,
about how each generation was made forsuch a time as they were in so

(23:48):
with every generation. You're absolutely right, we are made for such a time
as this. I couldn't agree morewith you on that. That's an absolute
fact. And it's just too interestingthat we were talking about that as well
prior to speaking with you, andthen you brought it up again, ma'am.
And I just you know what whatmy from me personally, that's what

(24:10):
I believe, and that's the codethat I live by, you know,
my my oaths of enlistment, andthat that just that don't go away.
Absolutely not you. We backed upwhat we said, and my dad always
told me, when you give yourword, that's just the way it is,
period, And there's no expiration date, Mike, exactly. You know,

(24:36):
it's just call it moral code.But you know and and nothing in
the world is going to change that. It's just the way we are,
and that some people have integrity andthat's a that's a personal choice. And
for me, integrity is something thatis taken, it's given away, not
taken. And without integrity, andmy personal opinion, an individual doesn't have

(24:57):
much in life if your integrity isall you got, and that defines you
as a man or a woman,or as anyone as a being in this
world. And if you lose thatintegrity, your moral compasses, there's no
there's no north for it, exactly, you know, and and my thoughts
on all of my world. HopefullyI'll be remembered as one veteran who lived

(25:23):
true to my oath of enlistment andmaybe a good representative for veterans in our
generation. I want to I wantto be remembered as a good veteran,
as a good person who has stoodup for my country. That's all it
matters. And I'll say this,I don't have to worry. I think

(25:44):
you have to worry about that.That's already done. And I'm pretty sure
our listeners will know that too,because right now I wish and hope you
maintain the standing at who you are, and I will guarantee you you will
reach out and you will you willaffect the lives of our listeners. I
say, think you for being onour show today, alutely, I really
hope so. And then, andI pray a lot. I learned it.

(26:06):
I learned oversee it. I learnedhow to cuss better, and pray
better, and run a lot fatter. But I also learned and maybe it's
selfish. And I pray this allthe time before I leave, I'd like
to save one more life. AndI think you just did today. Absolutely.
I'm sure you've empowered other fellow veterVietnam veterans to share their stories and

(26:30):
to tell about their service over there. Maybe you've given someone hope that they
can do that. And y'all,y'all do that, yo, you know,
this is what you do. Ifwe speak up, society learns who
we really were, not worth theirperspective of what they read and heard from
rumors and stories they needed, likelike you say, walk walking a mile

(26:52):
in our boots and you'll know whowe are and how we are. Absolutely,
and it's sharing stories like yours thathelp to enlighten people to that it's
now absolutely well. We remember youon this day, on this Vietnam Veterans
Rememberance Day, Mike Lansford, andwe truly appreciate having you on our show
today. Well, thank you.I'm very humble, I really am.

(27:17):
God bless you, Mike, andGod bless you for serving our country,
and thank you for being on ourshow. And I will we will hope
to have you on our show againsometime to share more stories. I will,
and a good point. Even atmy age, I remember everything.
I have a pretty good memory.I remember all my names, all my

(27:40):
people. But when I left,I gave my word to never forget.
And like my dad said, yougive your word, that's the way it
is. And I didn't forget.Amen to that. Will you take care
of my friend, and God blessyou and your family, and we will
talk to you again, all rightdoing. And as a veteran, we

(28:00):
appreciate what you do. Thank you, sir. That's what counts for us,
absolutely getting your story out there thatmatters, So thank you for allowing
us to share it with these listenersacross the country. Yes, ma'am,
thank you very much. Take care, Mike, it's ma'am, all right,
folks. Now we're on to ournext segment, Voice of the Veteran.

(28:22):
We've got Randy Smith with us today. He's from a program called EPIC,
which stands for Empowering People in christand they happen to have their own
veterans program within EPIC. If youwant to learn more, you can go
to their website EPIC Communitycenter dot orgfor more information. But for now,
we're going to have a chat withRandy about the program. Hi, Randy,

(28:44):
welcome to the show. Good morning, Thank you. It's great to
have you. So if you couldtell us about your military service and what
led you to becoming a part ofEPIC. All right, I joined the
Marine Corps seventeen March twenty s atseventy three, and I was still a
senior in high school. Last combattroops left Vietnam March twenty ninth at seventy

(29:07):
three, so I went to bootcamp and September got out close to Christmas
of seventy three, then went toadvance and training. While I was there,
it was the end of the VinaWar and they needed embassy guards,
which are embassies all over the world. Every embassy you go to American embassy
has the Marine Embassy guards. Soit sounded like pretty good duty instead of

(29:29):
being out in the field humping mountainsand swamps. So I said I'd like
to try that. So they sentme to Henderson Hall, Arlington, Virginia.
I graduated from the program April ofseventy four and April nineteenth I arrived
in my first duty station, whichwas Saigon, Vietnam. Wow. So

(29:51):
when I got there, i'd bethe youngest marina in country for ten months,
and I stayed for twelve months andtwelve days through the fall of Saigon
evacuation, the largest helicopter evacuation stillto this day. And I was the
last Marine to take down the flagpost one American Embascy April twenty ninth,

(30:12):
nineteen seventy five. And then thenext morning I flew off the rooftop on
the second of the last chopper aboutseven o'clock in the morning. From there,
my next duty station was a lotbetter. I went to Geneva,
Switzerland. Oh nice, that wasa good reward for that. It was
indeed, so I spent a yearand a half there and wonderful time.

(30:38):
I was too young to really enjoyit, but fair enough. Yeah,
yeah, so in my last yearI was at Campla June drinking poison water
for a year. Great. ThenI got out in nineteen seventy seven active
duty, and of course when Ijoined the seventeen I'm gonna stay twenty years
and retire and be a beach bump. And after four years I was like,

(31:02):
nope, let me out of herewith my freedom. I'm done.
Yeah, everybody has their own pathwayto getting to the other side of the
d D two fourteen. That's right, that's right. So a lot of
rough years after I got out,you know, the horrible scenes, you
know, the bars and fighting anddrugs and chasing women and all that.

(31:26):
And then when I was twenty seven, I decided to use the gibility to
go to college and so that kindof turned me around, and so I
spent well, I crammed a fouryear program into six years, and so
then I became a school teacher,actually in Pantagrda really for a ten years.

(31:47):
I taught at East Elementary, andI got married, had children,
and my oldest son was born withsomething called tetrology aflow, which I had
never heard of before, and it'sa congenital heart defect with foreig anomalies,
and yeah, he had to haveopen heart surgery at seventeen. So all

(32:07):
my past, I knew I couldn'tfix my son, but I knew a
person who could, and that wouldbe God Almighty. So I turned my
life around from that date and I'vebeen trying to serve him ever since.
And long story short, fast forwardto a couple of years ago. I've
got a friend, Ronnie Jackson,who is an amazing man, and God

(32:30):
put it on his heart to starthelping people who are helping people in Inglewood.
Inglewood's underserved. You know, we'reparts parts of Ariesota County. They
don't have very many services. Youknow, they have no affordable housing,
no government housing, no very fewthings there services. So we opened up

(32:52):
the Epic Community Resource Center September firstof twenty twenty two, four weeks before
I hit. So of course weneeded to remodel the building to fit our
needs and so we were just basicallyundertaking that and the hurricane hit. So
we started to help in the community. A couple of teams. I had

(33:13):
a team of since I'm a licensedcontractor, put a lot of tarps on
houses, boarded up windows, toreoff. You know, the manufacturing home
parks got hit the hardest and wehad lots of friends living there, so
tearing off their car ports and theiranything aluminum that was torn up. And

(33:36):
then so we spent weeks doing thatand totally all together months helping people after
hurricane. Then we finally started toremodel to get the place. Took a
very long time and went way overbudget. But we opened up officially September
eleventh of last year and then ourgrand opening was November first, And it

(33:59):
was nice to have a county Commissioner, Bill Truex, who's the supervisor of
Charlie County Commissioners, and also RonKutzinger who's assoussid County Chairman of the commission
and they both live in Englewood.Now they said, we don't see a
county line. Okay, try toget something done. Which side of the

(34:21):
line are you on exactly? Youknow, we work with a apartner with
Jewish Family Children Services and Saint Vincent'sDe Paul. There are the two big
players in the area. So butit's very now. They have a hud
Vash program which if you qualify,you can get a voucher to help you
rent a home. What is hudFASH. It's exactly pretty much what it

(34:44):
is is. Uh, it's througha grant providing to end the homelessness for
veterans. So you have to beyou can't be dishonorable to discharge, you
know, they have requirements, buthave to be an honorable or general discharge.
And I hope I'm correct on that, but I think it is so.

(35:05):
And uh, you have to havea job and you have to show
them you know where you are financially. And so I had one homeless veteran
in Engwood. He actually had thehud VASH voucher for Sarasota County, but
he couldn't find a place to liveand he wanted to know if it transferred
to Charlotte County. I found outit does transfer, but it wasn't active,

(35:29):
so it has to be an activevoucher. So basically have to start
all over again. And that's kindof like, you know, difficulty working
with these these programs is that arefunded by the Veterans Administration. It's pretty
laborious and it takes a long longtime to get anything accomplished. Lots of

(35:50):
bureau crazy, as I call it. Some people call it bureaucracy. I
call it bureau crazy. Yeah,it's sometimes you feel like you're pounding your
head again. So all, butwe've got a lot of partners and you
know, being a marine, wedon't give up. We don't leave anybody
behind. I've got a great vsothat comes down and works when I'm like

(36:13):
I said, I'm the veterans caseworkerthere. So when they come in find
out what their needs are and ifthey need to see a Veteran Service officer
for to file a claim, acompensation of pension claim or to upgrade their
current disability rating, I let himknow. Then we scheduled appointment and they
come down. So it's good becausewe are are physically located in Suicide County.

(36:37):
But like I said, Inglewood,you know the line is here,
and you could go, I can'tsee that, but the line is here,
and then you know, one hundredyards away you're in a different county
and it affects things. So butif you're a certified Veteran Service officer,
you can do that anywhere. Andthis guy's fantastic, and I certified.

(36:59):
A great vetter service officer is hardto find and they're worth their weight in
gold. I first of all,sir, thank you very much for being
on our show, and thank youfor the sacrifice that you continue to give
our veteran community and our community asa whole. The work you're doing and
I'm just learning about it offhand rightnow is all. It's inspiring. And

(37:21):
I will say that as a veteran, ourselves the mission mate, we never
leave our occupation. We're veterans stilldoing our job to take care of everyone
in our in our family, Sothank you for that. I will say
that the vsos that we have arepriceless as a VSO for the American Legion.

(37:45):
But I'm looking to get my accreditationfor the simple fact that the multitude
of stores that you'll run into candate back to nineteen forty seven or to
nineteen eighty seven. And the factof the matter is, I feel that
our veterans need to be educated andwhat they their benefits, and they don't.
It's the way our government works isreversed. If we don't use the

(38:07):
venets that we have, they willreduce those benefits for people coming behind us.
And this is why I tell people, I know it doesn't matter if
you don't think you deserve it,get it, because we have to be
accountable to Congress saying that we needthis, we need that. And one
of the things, especially in Englewood, housing is a major major issue.

(38:28):
And right now I am understanding thatthat our governors, I'll sign in to
affect a homeless ban, and Iwant to see how that's going to be
affected because I feel that the hugepopulation of veterans are homeless. Are you
going to incarcerate veterans because they can'tfind a place or afford a place?
How do you feel about something likethat? Yeah? I saw that,

(38:51):
yes, and and I actually forwardedit to my veteran service officer just to
see what his take was. AndI haven't had time to look at it
this morning. But they're supposed tobe providing you know, it's like the
government do this and then they don'tgive you any funding exactly. Well,
he said it's gonna we're gonna,we're gonna be able to house these homeless
veterans. Well that's everybody's goal,but it sounds good. Is a lip

(39:15):
service? I mean, and I'mthinking, well, how can he be
a part of that? You know? Exactly, so exactly and so I
just saw it yesterday. I knowthey've been talking about it, but it
comes into it goes into effect Octoberfirst, I believe. So they're going
to and they'll probably use the sameplayers they always use, right, that's

(39:36):
the issue. There are no playersin Inglewood for that, so it's it's
another one of those things that itsounds, you know, when you hear
they don't want homeless people sleeping onbenches and in parks and things. That's
like, you know, they wantthem all hidden, which is a sad

(40:00):
thing, out of sight, outof mind. But the population is a
lot bigger than people think. Youknow, statistics are in South SUSA County,
they don't really say that there aremany homeless veterans, but I don't
think that's true. And so it'sdifficult. But I'm hoping that the Epic
Community Resource Center will be able toget some type of help with that.

(40:24):
We've helped veterans in the past wherewe've only been open officially since November,
but you know, the freezing coldnights, we can put them up in
a hotel. We have to.We don't give them money. You never
want to do that, no,so but we can do that and we've

(40:45):
helped, and not only veterans,but homeless people in general, because there's
a pretty good amount there. Idon't know if you're familiar with Indian Mounds
Park, but they provide meals thereon Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I think
some people are even trying to doit on Saturdays and when it freezing cold,
and where do these people go exactly. It's a tough situation. So

(41:07):
just looking at that program you're talkingabout, where we pass it into the
law and it goes in the factOctober first, it gives us a few
months to try to be able tobe a part of that to help.
So hopefully they'll transpire definitely, Andas my co hosts can probably agree with
this, anything that the Rally Pointcan do to help your organization out,

(41:30):
that's our commitment. Thank you,absolutely, uh, We're here for you.
That's why we like having these groupson the show, so that we
can raise awareness in the community.And then the beauty of this is that
now that we're being broadcast on reafsacross America, radio people can listen all
over the country and have more ofan awareness of what's going on, not

(41:51):
just in their own backyard, butwhat's going on in other parts of America
to help take care of our veteransand to honor that promise that unfortunately doesn't
always get upheld by people who areelected. But that's a story for another
day. With your EPIC program,as far as we've already heard a little
bit about what you do in thecommunity, what are your plans for the

(42:13):
future, Like as the show isairing today, is Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day?
Is what is EPIC doing in regardsto honoring Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day in
the specific on Friday? Is theactual In twenty seventeen, President Trump made
that the actual National Vietnam War VeteransDay. So I'm putting on a program

(42:37):
at the Inglewood VFW. They receivedsignificant hurricane damage and there's still not recovered
from it. And they hired alousy contractor, which anyone around here has
heard those horror stories, and theyunderperformed, left things, undone overcharged them,
and the place it's pretty sad.So I'm trying to raise money in

(43:00):
this program. I've got Colonel JerryBarry if you look that name up and
google him. Interesting man. Heflew eighteen point three straight hours on his
choppers, uged forty six from theships to the embassy and the surrounding area.

(43:22):
And the point three is really important. At about four o'clock in the
morning of April thirtieth, he flewAmbassador Martin off the rooftop and then there
were like forty two of us lefton top. So three hours later that
point three he came back and tookme off the rooftop. Oh that's important
part. Oh, oh, definitely, that's a big point. Yeah,

(43:45):
that point three is huge. Heliterally saved my life. And of course
at the time he was just happyto get out and it's not like you're
shaking hands, Hey, how youdoing there? But I had met him
once before. He ended up beinga a squadron commander over three thousand men,
and he's a great speaker. He'sa great American. He loves his

(44:06):
country, he loves veterans. Sohim and his wife are coming and he's
going to be the guest speaker,and we're trying to raise funds. Like
I said, for the club,it's outdated and old, plus finished stuff
that wasn't finished by the contractor.The bathrooms are it's sad. So we're
gonna raise money for that and hopefullyget some local contractors. I've already got

(44:29):
some bids from some local blinds companyand Beautiful Blinds and give them a shout
out, thank you so much.And quality carpet and Inglewood based company that
I'm going to give us a priceon replacing some stage carpet and then going
the extra miles coming tomorrow to giveus a price on fixing the bathrooms so

(44:51):
they're more operational and functional and updated. So it should be a great night.
The adamind Chuck family ones the Sandbar, Lock and Key and Magnolia's restaurant
and they're donating brisket and one hundredpounds of brisket, fifty pounds of the
bus and bud and some Texas toasts. So every meal that we sell is

(45:15):
going to go to the club themoney we receive, so it should be
a great day. And we're havinglots of YOUNO veterans show up and just
gonna honor them and raise money forthe club. I talked to young veterans,
sorry, we talked to young veterans, and it's like they don't want
to get involved and I told wewent up to the Long the Long Walk

(45:37):
Home for a suicide awareness prevention awalk to raise money a couple of weeks
ago. And I used to coachbaseball in Venice for a long time,
and so some of these younger guysthey went to the Marine Corps. My
son's actually was a Marine Corps sniper, but his buddy was an O three
grunt and congratulations Dad. Yeah,So I said, John, you know,

(46:00):
I know you're only like thirty two. But the benefits that veterans have
have come from you know, thethe FW, the American Legion, the
disabled vets. They get in frontof Congress, and if it wasn't for
them, guys don't get involved,that money is going to go away.

(46:21):
So we need young veterans. AndI don't know what they're thinking is but
when you're young, it's not asimportant. I don't think it's somebody else
will do it. I'm I wasgoing to say, I'm considered. I
guess a young veteran. I didtwenty years in the year forced and retired,
and a lot of people they eitherdon't want to get involved in some
of the politicking, or you know, maybe some of the shenanigans that go

(46:45):
on behind the scenes and some ofthose fraternal organizations. Unfortunately, but you're
right, they missed the fact thatthese are groups that it's not about what's
happening in the local post necessarily,it's about the advocacy that is happening on
Capitol Hill because of the fact thatwe have so many elected officials who have
never a day in their life served, They've never done the uniform, they

(47:07):
have never walked a mile in ourboots, and so they don't understand and
they don't know what they don't know. But absolutely, we do need our
younger generation of veterans to step upand not be afraid to get involved.
Absolutely to continue that tradition or thatcontinue what was promised to us, and
try to hold people accountable to maintainit. Indeed, most definitely, and

(47:31):
I'll jump in that young person's vote. I also had a discussion with a
younger soldier and an older soldier,and I was reminded that back in the
day World War two and Vietnam vets, there's a little scruff between those two
and in those days, the worldwere two vets. We're in the in

(47:52):
the posts in the other clubs andorganizations, and there's a little of what
was a soldier and some would say, you know what, I don't need
this, I serve my country.I'm out of here. And a lot
of those guys are now saying thatwe're going through the same kind of flux
between we have the Persian Gulf Iraqiwar veterans versus some remaining Vietnam guys.

(48:17):
And I had two different errors sometimesclash and I told them, don't so
much think about it's a different eraof a different time, and with our
aggressions and our operations, things havechanged over time. And it's not that
it's important. Your accurvacy and ourrepresentation in legislature is dinormous, and there

(48:39):
are things about numbers and being inCongress, they're going to like, go,
okay, you're asking for more money, but less veterans are applying for
the benefits. And that's why Itold people it's not a matter of what
you'd need, it's for your battlebuddy coming back coming through after you.
And I'll say that I am incomplete agreement to the point where I feel

(49:01):
that our future is dependent on ouryounger generation and if they get in the
game, a little bit late.My fear is Congress is say, well,
you guys don't need this. Youguys are all okay, No,
we're not. I will say thata person going into the military does not
come out the same person. AndI'll say, and that's for good,

(49:22):
for bad, or for whatever itis. I told people you could take
a pen and put it at thepark, that you win it, that
you're left as a kid. Whenyou come back to that, that pen
will still be there a little bitrusted, but you'll be different or better.
And depending how you as a person, take the skills you've acquired,
and your experiences will define you forthe rest of your lifetime. And I'll

(49:43):
say, what you're doing with theorganization is a shining example of that simple
notion. I feel that our youngergeneration need our Vietnam vests to explain to
them. I'm my father and mygrandfather what you're going through, not the
first time, not by yourself.Help you sit down there, listen.
You might learn something and make yourselfbetter, which is why we're here at

(50:04):
the rally point show. Your storiesin the last five minutes have added a
new perspective for myself and our listeners. Of what you've been through and as
a father, as a soldier,and I will say thank you again because
I cannot say thank you enough becauseagain I define any civilian or any congressman

(50:25):
who's never served their country to liveone day, one week of that lifetime
to get a new perspective, andyou'll come back a different person, like
going ooh, I didn't know itwas like that. Well, that's not
going to happen, but our voices, your voice is the only way they're

(50:46):
going to learn that lesson. Andwe cannot be quiet. Changes that happen
in silence, and what you're doingnow is on the pathogonners in that direction.
Again, Thank you again, verywelcome. Let me touch just briefly
on the when the Vietnam vets cameback because the World War two guys were
leading all the clubs, all theservice clubs, offw's and American legions in

(51:09):
so we were the ones that welost the first war, right, So
they blamed us and we know youdon't blame the combatants. Oh, the
government, Yeah, because poor leadershipman or direction. Yeah, it's sad.
So I thought we made a prettyconsidered effort, so that wouldn't happen

(51:30):
to the younger generation. Obviously,people are people, yes, but anyone
who served their country deserves the gratitudeof the country. Plus older veterans because
you know, we're old, wecan't do it anymore. So we need
people to step up and you know, whatever it takes for this country,

(51:52):
because we love our country. Otherwisewe wouldn't put our life on the line
for it. Well, it's beena pleasure having you on the show,
Randy. Thank you so much,ladies. That's Randy Smith. He is
the vice president, executive board memberand veterans case manager for EPIC, which
stands for Empowering People in Christ Again. If you want more information, you
can check them out on Epiccommunitycenter dotorg. Their phone number is nine four

(52:15):
one for six zero six zero twotwo or they're located in Inglewood if you're
in the neighborhood at six five fiveNorth Indiana Avenue. Thanks again, Randy,
We really appreciate your time. Thankyou for having me, and God
bless what you're doing. God blessyou too. All Right, folks,
that's all the time we have todayfor our show. The Sarage had to

(52:37):
step out a little bit early today, so We'll wish him well. Don't
forget Today is Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day. Please take the time out to give
thanks and gratitude to those who wentand served in Vietnam. We also want
to say thank you to our sponsor, ETNA Medicare Solutions Etna. I'm glad
I met you and Derek get itdone Anderson out on the road today.

(53:00):
Thank you and thanks so much fortuning in to the Rally Point Show.
Until next time, take care andGod bless