When Veterans Snap: Examining Recent Tragedies and Personal Growth

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The beautiful innocence of childhood provides a stark contrast to the troubling headlines that dominate our news cycle. This morning's reflections begin with a heartwarming story about a weekend park adventure with my grandson, who surprised me by conquering the big slide he'd always feared. His sweet, uninhibited approach to making friends on the playground—"Hey, you want to play with me?"—serves as a powerful reminder of humanity's natural desire for connection before life's complications set in.

Against this backdrop of joy comes the sobering reality of two mass shootings perpetrated by Iraq war veterans. The Michigan church attack and North Carolina restaurant shooting share disturbing similarities that point to potential failures in supporting those who've served our country. The North Carolina case particularly stands out with the shooter's history of filing conspiracy-laden lawsuits, raising questions about mental health resources available to veterans after combat. These tragedies demand we examine how we're caring for those who've sacrificed so much.

Finding confidence in our authentic selves emerges as another powerful theme as we discuss Jasmine Mitchell from The Great British Bake Off, who proudly represents the alopecia community. Her decision to forego wigs resonates deeply with my own journey toward embracing baldness. After years of alternating between wigs and going without, I've finally recognized that true freedom comes from accepting ourselves as we are—something my husband has been telling me for years. On this National Coffee Day, perhaps we can all reflect on how we take life like many take their coffee: in its purest form, without unnecessary additions masking its true essence. What parts of yourself have you learned to embrace rather than hide?

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello, good morning.
Happy Monday.
I hope you all had a greatweekend.
We did, or at least I did.
I shouldn't maybe shouldn'tspeak for the gent.
We had the Grand Cam onSaturday.
Oh my gosh, y'all, he was sosweet.
He's getting so big.
I took him to the park becauseit was a beautiful day.
And we have a nice park where welived right down the road from

(00:21):
us.
And uh, oh my gosh, y'all, hegot out of the car and went
straight in there, went up tothe big slide, and he has not
been on the big slide.
He would never go down the bigslide.
He was too scared.
He didn't even he just went upit.
He just climbed up that ladderand went down the big slide.
I'm like, what in the world?
How did this happen?
And then, oh my gosh, thesweetest thing.

(00:42):
He would go up to kids at theplayground.
Hey, you want to play with me?
Hey, you want to play with me?
It was so sweet and so innocent.
Oh, it just melted me.
Oh.
Okay, I'm sorry.
We need to move on.
Uh oh, I got to find I drove towork today without Father Mike.

(01:05):
I have grown so used to himtalking to me and giving me the
good message on my way intowork.
But again, I have not been ableto find my place.
I need to do that today.
I'm going to find my place whereI would left off.
I was like at 260-something daysin.
And so instead, I had to Ilistened to Prince tell me about

(01:27):
all I wanted, you know, was mykiss, and then Janet Joplin
trying to give me a little pieceof her heart.
So I listened to music on theway in.
Alright, we need to move on.
I have three stories for you.
Well, really two.
The third one is not really thatmuch of a story, but we're gonna
talk about it anyway.
Uh the thing is though, uh, sothis church fire, I don't know

(01:50):
much about I have did not watchthe news hardly at all this
weekend.
Uh there apparently there was achurch in Michigan, I guess,
where a guy drove his truck intoit and then shot up a bunch of
people and then set it on fire.
And he apparently is uh anAmerican, but uh some kind of uh

(02:14):
veteran.
Let me go see if I can find thefront page news on the New York
Post and see.
Uh oh, come on, go to topstories.
Okay, I'm sorry, latest stories.
I'm sure it's gonna be here'sthis yeah, so the deranged man,
nope, this is a different story.
I see.
I have two stories here.
Both of them concerned death andum veterans.

(02:43):
Is that the one?
War veteran Thomas or yeah,okay, here's the first one.
The deranged madman who killedat least four people and wounded
eight others at a MichiganLatter-day Saints Church is a
40-year-old Iraq war veteran whoserved in the U.S.
Marines.
The post can confirm.
Goodness he goodness.

(03:03):
Thomas Jacob Sanford rammed hisChevy Silverado truck into the
building before opening fire onthe worshippers at a Sunday
service at the Church of JesusChrist of life.
They don't, I don't think theygive us a reason why.
You know, of course, we alwayswant a reason why these people
do these things.
But if is any kind of reasonthat they give us going to be

(03:24):
okay?
No, of course not.
He also set the church ablaze,causing the entire structure to
burn down.
Authorities fear they may so howdid he do that?
He had enough time to shootpeople and set the church on
fire.
He was killed minutes after thefirst 911 call came in.
Um God, this is just terrible.

(03:48):
Cops said they were hundreds ofworshipers inside.
They still think there may bepeople that were killed in the
fire, too.
Oh my god, this is justterrible.
And then this other, excuse me,the other story is another war
veteran.
This one is really strange.

(04:09):
I mean, not that that other onewasn't, but let's see if I can
find it.
Is this uh okay?
Here we go.
This is it.
So Southport mass shootingsuspect identified as Nigel Edge
after targeted and highlypremeditated deadly attack on a
crowded North Carolinarestaurant.

(04:32):
So this guy, this madman whotargeted a crowd, uh crowded
dockside restaurant in a highlypremeditated mass shooting in
North Carolina, is a PurpleHeart recipient and heavily
decorated Marine who served inIraq before changing his name
and filling a slew of conspiracyladen lawsuits according to

(04:53):
authorities and what ishappening with our veterans?
Y'all, what is happening?
Nigel Edge, who changed his namefrom Sean De Okay, DeBavoy,
DeBavoys, De Bavoise, in 2023,was arrested, so they got him

(05:13):
alive, was arrested Saturdaynight for launching his deadly
assault on the American FishCompany restaurant in Southport
Yacht Basin, about 30 milessouth of Wilmington, when he
suddenly sprayed bullets intothe crowd and unsuspecting
diners.
Oh dear, I gotta check on Lily.
Three people were killed, eightwere injured.

(05:36):
Uh one of the wounded victims isstill clinging to life.
Goodness gracious.
Edge, who is 39 years old, wasarmed with a short-barreled AR
rifle equipped with asuppressor, with a folded stock
and scope court document church.
Oh, there's a movie with JuliaRoberts and Mel Gibson.

(05:58):
I can't think of the name of it.
I think it's called ConspiracyTheory.
Uh so of course my mind withthis story goes all over the
place with conspiracy,especially with Iraq war
veterans.
You know, the what was the MKUltra experimentation back in
the day, the 70s, late 60s,something like that.

(06:19):
You know, I'm wondering if thisI hate I'm I'm afraid to even
say it out loud.
I'm afraid to even say it outloud.
Some of these left-leaningliberals and they're with their
gun control.
I'm wondering if there's somekind of something behind this
with uh our own peoplebrainwashing people to go out

(06:39):
and do this, some kind of mindgames.
Oh my gosh, okay.
The suspect described as a lonewolf by authorities faces three
counts of first degree murder,five counts of attempted first
degree murder, and five countsof assault with a deadly weapon.
The motive has yet to bedetermined, police said.
Well, the the motive was to killpeople, but records show Edge

(07:02):
has been behind several bizarrelawsuits filed in North Carolina
this year, including oneaccusing a Southport church of
trying to kill him.
See, something is up with this.
Something is not right.
The suit this I want you to goread the story.
It's on the New York Post.
I do not have it out on my Xfile.
The suit filed in May claimed Idon't want to read all the suit.

(07:23):
Oh, wait, let's read it.
The suit filed, I wanted to getto his all his decorations that
he got when he was in the war.
The suit filed in May claimedthe Generations Church was
behind a civil conspiracymasterminded by the LGBTQ
community and white supremacistpedophiles to kill Edge because

(07:43):
he's a straight man.
In January, Edge filed a similarsee, I'm thinking somebody is
getting to him.
Someone in January, Edge filed asimilar lawsuit against the
Brunswick Medical Center,accusing it of being part of a
conspiracy launched by LGBTLGBTQ white supremacists, who

(08:05):
were allegedly out to get himbecause he survived their attack
in Iraq.
I want to move on.
He received a number ofprestigious awards during his
service, including a PurpleHeart.
He was also awarded the MarineCorps Good Conduct Medal, Combat
Action Ribbon, Sea ServiceDeployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign

(08:29):
Medal, and two bronze stars,humanitarian service medal,
armed forces uh uh expeditionarymedal.
Uh I you know, some people inthe some people say you can get
medals for nothing, but but apurple heart, that's pretty
good.
So, oh, and get this.
This is another weird thingabout him.

(08:50):
He was previously seen on thered carpet accompanying American
Idol star Kelly Pickler to theCountry Music Awards in 2012.
What in the world?
What is going on with thesepeople?
I don't somebody tell me.
Um, alright.
I mean, I'm afraid this justpopped in my head and I'm afraid

(09:11):
to even say it out loud.
But I know it's a movie, TheConspiracy Theory with Julie.
I know I've already talked aboutit, but I, you know, I'm
wondering if there's justsomething else going on behind
this.
My conspiracy brain wants to gothere.
Alright, the last story I haveto you is has nothing to do with
any of this, and it is aboutbake-off's jasmine.

(09:35):
Oh, come on, hurry up and openup.
Sorry, it's taking forever thisarticle to open.
Open, open, open.
Anyway, okay.
Jasmine Mitchell, and she's onThe Great British Bake Off, a
show that I do not watch.
But the reason I picked thisstory is because she has
alopecia and she's bald,completely bald like me.

(09:56):
And now she's uh getting some uhfame for it.
After Jasmine Mitchell, one ofthe stars from this season's
Great British Bake Off, openedup about the shock of losing her
hair at the age of 12 and howshe decided to forego wearing
wigs as she got older.
Fans have flooded her socialmedia with supportive comments.

(10:18):
Many of the alopecia communityhave also called the 23-year-old
medical student an inspirationand thanked her for sharing her
story, saying how importantrepresentation on screen is.
Now I'm not famous like her, I'mnot on screen, but I probably
should get more involved withthe alopecia foundation and all

(10:39):
that.
After a couple of episodes,Jasmine decided to speak about
her alopecia during themuch-lauded bread week where she
was seen making some celebratorybread with an intricate plated
design as part of theShowstopper challenge.
So, you know, commenting on oneof her Instagram posts

(11:00):
afterwards, one fan also hasalopecia wrote, Love seeing you
tell so much.
They're not there's not enoughbeautiful bald alopecians on
screen.
Thanks for being an inspiration,not only in cooking, but in
alopecia community as well.
In response, Jasmine replied,It's my pleasure.
I see, there's a lot of womenthat have hair issues.

(11:22):
Now, whether they're completelybald or not, so I like I said
before, I have been in wiggroups where people, I mean,
some women wear their wigs tobed.
Some people wear their wigs togo work out.
Some people won't let theirhusbands see them without their
wigs.
And they're just so frightened.
And I I wish, I wish more womenwere confident with themselves

(11:48):
to not put so much on theirhair.
Y'all, it's just hair.
Uh I I've been I prefer to gowithout wigs.
The only reason I buy wigs isbecause I think they're fun and
I'll wear them, but I don'treally like them anymore.

(12:09):
I just and not that I like themwhen I wore them.
When I wore them, they were kindof cute for you know an hour or
so, and then I got bored withit, and they're not really
uncomfortable anymore.
They're not like theold-fashioned wigs that used to
be around.
They're they they make themquite comfortable, but they're
expensive.
I say you I don't wear humanhair wigs because that that that
that freaks me out.

(12:30):
The human hair wigs are reallyexpensive.
I'm talking thousands ofdollars, but the other synthetic
wigs or the heat-friendly wigs,they're you know, they're a
couple hundred dollars, okay?
You can get some of themcheaper, depending.
Depending on the capconstruction, I mean, there's a
whole big whole thing with wigs.
You would not believe it.
Um, a lot of knowledge you haveto learn before you buy one.

(12:55):
Um, but I don't know.
I don't even know why I got onthis tangent.
I in fact, I'm not wearing a wigtoday.
I feel much more comfortablewithout my wig.
And I told my husband the otherday, you know, I've been trying
on my whole journey with the wigand with the wigs and
everything.
I told him, I said, I just wishsomebody would tell me, whether
it's my husband or friends orfamily, other family members, I

(13:16):
just want them, somebody to say,I think you're prettier without
the wig.
I think you look better withoutthe wig.
So, and he said, I've beentelling you that for three years
now, that I like you betterwithout the wigs.
So I'm not wearing wigs anymore.
I still have them.
I'm trying to get I don't knowif I'm debating if I want to
donate them or try to sell themor just keep them.

(13:38):
I don't know.
Because I have fun with themsometimes.
They're sometimes I do like towear them just for fun.
But I'm like, why?
Why am I wearing this wig?
It's stupid.
Okay, I don't know why I got offin that tangent.
I'm sorry, y'all.
Maybe you can figure it out forme.
Okay, I guess we need to do thequestion of the day.
Oh my gosh, y'all, it's anational coffee day.

(13:59):
Happy National Coffee Day.
I know I've asked you this agazillion times before, I am
sure.
How do you take your coffee?
If you drink coffee, how do youtake your coffee?
Uh black for me.
I have, but through my wholejourney of being alive on this
earth, I have taken my coffeeseveral different ways.

(14:20):
Cream, cream and sugar, black,but right now I'm back to just
having it black, unless I get itfrom Starbucks, then it's a cold
coffee.
And let me see if I can go to myapp and I'm gonna tell you what
I order.
I'm gonna you're gonna beappalled because it usually
people are usually appalled whenI tell them what I order.
You ready for this?

(14:41):
Alright, let's see if theprevious, let's see, let's see.
I want to here we go.
You ready?
Okay, I'd get I get the icedbrown sugar oatmeal shaken
espresso, and I get four shotsof espresso.
I get four pumps of the brownsugar, and I get it with light

(15:01):
ice.
So that's what I get.
And I get it the large size, theventi.
The very the largest size theyserve it in.
Alright, yeah, no wonder I'mhyped up this morning.
Okay, I gotta go.
Thanks for listening.
Bye.