Flatbill Pastor Episode 14: Reflections on 9/11 - Memories and Veteran Perspective

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Imagine being a high school senior or a middle schooler on the morning of September 11, 2001, witnessing the world-changing events that were about to unfold. This episode of the Flatbill Pastor Podcast brings you right into those classrooms with Matt and Bryson, who were students at the time and later became veterans. Becca, Brooke and Clint explore the memories of that fateful day, the immediate shock, and the confusion that permeated the halls of their schools. 

Matt and Bryson share their deeply personal narratives, from the disrupted routines of a normal school day to the life-altering realization of the attacks' significance. Their paths from witnessing 9/11 to serving in the military illustrate the profound impact that day had on their futures. Listen as we traverse their journeys from high school and college to the intense days on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their stories reveal the brotherhood and sacrifices made, painting a vivid picture of military life and the transitions back to civilian roles in public safety.

We also reflect on the broader emotional and psychological effects of 9/11, not only on those who served but on us all. Becca shares a personal account of a disrupted grandparents' day that turned into a sobering moment of understanding. Our discussions illuminate how these tragic events have shaped our collective consciousness and continue to influence personal and professional decisions. Join us for an emotional and insightful episode as we honor the memories and sacrifices of those affected by 9/11.

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Episode Transcript

Becca (00:09):
All right, hey y'all, we are back for the 14th time.
It's our 14th episode of theFlatbill Pastor Podcast.
Hey.

Clint (00:18):
What's up?

Becca (00:20):
I am Becca.
I'm your host today and I'vegot over here.
Brooke, my co-host, goodmorning, and Clint, over here,
what's up?

Clint (00:32):
What's poppin'?

Becca (00:33):
What's poppin'?
We're talking about some toughthings today, some heavy things.
This is 9-11, and I've got somefew friends, some veterans,
that we want to speak on today,9-11.
Yeah, so over here I've got myfriend Matt.

Matt (00:57):
Hello, how are you Great?

Becca (00:59):
Awesome.
So can you tell me a little bitabout yourself?

Matt (01:04):
Yeah, I'm from Peachtree City mostly and I joined the
Army shortly after 9-11 andserved in Iraq during the
invasion and now I work forFayette County Fire.
Still live in Peachtree CityWife, two beautiful daughters.

Becca (01:26):
Oh, awesome.

Matt (01:26):
Sums me up succinctly, oh yeah.

Becca (01:29):
Yeah, that's all.

Matt (01:30):
That's it.

Becca (01:31):
Well, we're happy you're here, Thank you.
Thanks for coming on, and thento this side of me.
You just make your hands likethis If I do this, you see the L
.

Clint (01:42):
It's like like left side that way, that's it, it's fine,
it's subjective, that's right Ifyou're doing dangerous fingers.

Bryson (01:51):
That's right, and you're like wait a second?

Becca (01:52):
It's fine.
I'm just not going to look atClint anymore.
He's trouble.
But to my left so proud of youI left is my husband of 10 years
too.
Bryson Wood, thanks for coming.
You're so welcome, you didn'treally have that much of a

(02:13):
choice.
Didn't have a choice, but.

Bryson (02:14):
I'm glad I'm here now, voluntary, voluntary.

Becca (02:17):
For sure.
When we were doing this, I waslike, oh, he's on it.
He doesn't know it yet, buthe'll be here Tell me.
Last night yeah, by the way,you had a podcast On the way
here, by the way, that's right.
No, but give us a little intro.

Bryson (02:33):
Yeah for sure, like you already said, been married 10
years the infantry and served inAfghanistan opposite of Matt.
We were more Afghanistan area,we did not get to go to Iraq,

(02:54):
but after that shortly we cameback at our knucklehead, logan,
and then, shortly after, oliviacame along and we were born and
bred here in Noonan.
So we came back here to stay.
Where are we at now?
Yeah, I guess, in contrast toMatt, I just finished about five

(03:15):
years with Grady EMS and now Iam at Piedmont, noonan, as a
paramedic.
Nice, yep, super excited Dayfour.

Clint (03:23):
That's good Right, I'm pumped that y'all decided to
jump in and be a part of thepodcast.
We were looking at significantthings that I think our
community should have moreconversations about.
We looked at the calendar forthe fall, and September 11th
obviously is one of those datesthat always sticks out in any

(03:44):
American's mind, and so we said,hey, we should use our platform
and have a conversation withsome folks that we would know
have a relationship with.
The 9-11 played an importantrole in decisions they made that
have shaped their entire lives,which both of you fall into
that category, which we'll getinto those decisions in a second
.
But let's start with where wereyou on the morning of September

(04:09):
11th?
Just walk us through thedetails.
For me it was senior skip day,and so I was in bed.
My dad called me and I was likeso my dad knew it was senior
skip day and so I was like bro,you know I'm sleeping in like
leave, so I didn't answer thephone.
He calls back again.
I'm like nobody calls twice, sowe'll put him on silent right.

(04:32):
Third time.
It's like good gracious alive.
So I answer the phone like yes,dad, and he's like turn on the
news.
No, no, no, no, senior skip day.
I don't want to watch the news.
He's like turn the news on andof course I just high school
senior me.

(04:52):
Uh, I was like what's happening.
He's like someone flew up aplane into the world trade
center and I was like where isthat?
It was was like New York cityand I was like hold on Aren't
there, are there two of those,like the twin ones?
He's like turn, turn on the TV.
I'm like, okay, I turn it onand, sure enough, like I'm

(05:14):
watching, and then boom towertwo hits, and so I'm sitting in
my living room in, uh, at thetime, stock bridge, georgia.
I'm Stockbridge, georgia.
I was a senior in high schooland that's where I kind of
watched it unfold.
So how about the two of you andladies also, like let's just
all kind of weigh in?
I think everybody, when theylisten to this, will be thinking
about their particular morning,what you got, yeah for sure I

(05:36):
remember I was in sixth orseventh grade, mr Reynolds class
, math class.

Bryson (05:40):
Mr Reynolds class, math class, and similar to you.
Somebody ran in and said, hey,they just hit one of the World
Trade Centers and being a sixthand seventh grade, I was like
where is even New York?
So, it didn't have a huge impacton me the first time, but then

(06:00):
they wheeled a TV in and we allkind of were around the TV and
we watched the second plane hitthe second tower and being young
and in seventh grade, naturallyyou're like this is obviously
an accident, this is, you know,you kind of go through, you
start to try to rationalize andthen as I got home, you know my

(06:22):
father was big into currentevents, especially military
operations and stuff, becauseboth my granddads had served in
the military and so we were veryaware by that evening what had
happened.
And that made an impact on me,just because at a young age
you're still trying to figureout why somebody would do this

(06:43):
and generally cause pain tosomebody else.

Clint (06:48):
I think that was my biggest question that I had was
why somebody did this, and I'msure that was most of
everybody's question right offthe rip is why, as a sixth or
seventh grader, what are thereasons that you, if you can
remember that you would havethought somebody would have done
this to the country I live in?

Bryson (07:08):
I think right off the rip I was thinking, probably
again in my seventh grade mind,that there was somebody
important, one single personthat was important in that
building that they were tryingto hurt, and then when you
figure out that it's more on aglobal scale, on a terroristic
scale, that they weren'ttargeting any one person, it was

(07:31):
this mass attempt to cause painand agony and then to wrestle
with that Because again, insixth and seventh grade you have
bullies, you have people thatyou don't like, but to globally
hate a certain type of peopleyou know, to hate the West or to
hate Americans, that wastotally foreign to me and as
that started sinking in, youknow, your mind and the way that

(07:53):
you think about things almostkind of gets opened up a little
bit, because you're like, wow,there's people out there that
really do hate a group of people, oftentimes for no reason.

Clint (08:07):
And it's wild that you know just to like push pause on
the 9-11 thing, but just to makesure, contextually, everyone's
listening and gets the frame ofreference.
You know, obviously it's like2001, but the key thing you said
was they rolled a tv in.
Yeah right, so, yeah, so that?
So that's a completelydifferent mindset.

Bryson (08:25):
No smart board.

Clint (08:26):
If my kid were to listen to you say that, right, he's 13.
If he were to hear you say theyrolled a TV in, he'd be like
they rolled a TV in.

Brooke (08:33):
Yeah, from?
Where?

Clint (08:33):
Like why wouldn't they just turn on the smart board
that's hanging, the huge,enormous screen?

Bryson (08:38):
Ted's screen yeah.

Clint (08:40):
Or they roll one in Right .
That's wild.

Brooke (08:42):
Probably one TV for the whole hallway.

Bryson (08:45):
You have to check out from the media center.
Correct, it wasn't even one perclass.
It'll be here in 30 minutes.
We'll roll it in.

Brooke (08:50):
Right, right, all the classrooms come to here to watch
.
We had to substitute that day.

Clint (08:54):
Yeah, that's right.

Bryson (08:56):
That's right.
Couldn't find a TV anyway,we're watching Bill today.
That's honestly what I thought.
I mean truly.
You know, we were the, the, the, the first tower was hit and
then they started wheeling a TVand I was like man, somebody's
really mad.
I guess we're going to do amovie day.
It hurts somebody's feelings.
I had, no, I had no concept ofwhat was going on.
Um, and I think that probablymade the biggest impact on me

(09:19):
again once I got home and theand the days to come, the
gravity of that situation andhow just unaware and naive I was
Again, seventh grade, youexpect it, but the impact that
it made obviously brought ushere today, yeah as well.

Clint (09:35):
Yeah, becca, where were you?

Becca (09:37):
I was also in class, not thinking super what grade?
Were you in?
Yeah, I guess sixth grade, yeah, sixth or seventh.

Clint (09:45):
Okay, so I'm the senior in high school great.
And then sixth and seventhgrade it's fine, You're not?

Becca (09:52):
We were also in class Stop.
I'm sure it was a similarscenario with the TV situation.
It was actually grandparents'day, so I was super irritated
because my grandparents weresupposed to come and bring me
lunch.
Like we had this whole thingplanned out, I was getting

(10:14):
checked out.
So, like in the backside of mymind, I was like this is like
super cramping.
My style I was you know, you'reegocentric at that age too Like
you're not even thinking aboutwhat else could be happening.
You're in this like littlenaive world and I start we were
watching it.
I didn't even it didn't clickand I'm like, oh, something

(10:36):
bad's happening far away.
What does that have to do withme and where I live?
Are we in danger?
We're not in danger.
This is super far away.
And in my mind I'm thinkingwell, these people are going to
get saved, they've gotfirefighters on the way,
everything's fine.
And then it changed when Istarted seeing people jump out

(10:57):
of the building and after thatlike nothing else mattered.
You can't wrap your mind aroundthat at a young age, why
someone would do that and whyare they letting us watch this.
So many thoughts were goingthrough your head at that young

(11:18):
of an age.
I can only imagine my kidswatching that and what they were
thinking if that could everhappen.
So I mean.

Clint (11:29):
What school were you going to?

Becca (11:32):
It would have been.
I think I was in.
You know what, madras?

Clint (11:36):
You were in Madras, yeah, okay.

Becca (11:38):
Yeah, I'll think about that for a second.
Yeah, so it was just crazy yeah.
Yeah, so it was just crazy.
But yeah, just to think thatthought process as a young age,
to process what's going on, livewhile it's happening and not
understanding why the adults inyour life at that point your

(12:00):
teachers are so distraught andupset and calling everybody.
So it was chaos.

Bryson (12:03):
Yeah, yeah, I think that was the biggest thing too, so
it was chaos, yeah, yeah.

Becca (12:05):
Yeah, I think that was sorry, no, you're good.

Bryson (12:08):
I think that was the biggest thing too, and it
reminded me that several adultsin our school were running down
the halls trying to call peoplethat they knew that either
worked in the World Trade Centeror were in the area of New York
City at the time.
And then that was anotheraspect of it, that again,
seventh grade, you're so farremoved and, like I said, you're

(12:29):
so egocentric.
But when you see teachers thatyou love, you know and that
you're with, you know all schoolyear, you see them so heavily
distraught trying to call theirloved ones and see if they're OK
.
It broadens your scope of whoit affects and it almost forces
you to be less egocentric inthat way that I mean you know

(12:51):
you have a teacher that you careabout and they've got a family
member that's in New York or,you know, in that part of the
city.
I mean it does affect you onthat side of things for sure.
Yeah, no doubt.

Becca (13:01):
How about you, Matt?

Matt (13:04):
I was also a senior in high school.
I didn't skip school ever Ever.
Goody two-shoes, goody stars Isthat true Senior skip day or
not, I was there, but for real.

Bryson (13:16):
I was in economics class .

Matt (13:17):
I believe I was in economics class.
The teacher had the TV on likeC-SPAN or something all day
because of the class, but itwould be on mute.

Brooke (13:26):
We were doing our work City money.

Matt (13:29):
No TV on wheels in 2001.

Becca (13:33):
It had it in the corner it had a mount.

Clint (13:37):
But it was one of those square TVs right Probably
weighed 600 pounds Tube TV.
Yeah, they had to get a GC tocome in and put that thing on
Wall anchors?

Matt (13:45):
yeah, no doubt, and uh, but it was on mute all day, you
know for because the nature ofthe class, it was like c-span or
whatever the program was.
But it switched over to thelive feed of the first tower
being hit and the smoke comingout and for, I think, most of
the world was, well, okay, why,what's?

(14:07):
What is this?
This could be 100 differentthings, and then, as the day
progressed, the other tower washit.
It became pretty clear this wasintentional.
Um, I think initially theytried to hey, let's just keep
school going on as normal, andthen it just devolved into kind

(14:31):
of not chaos.
But no one's paying attentionto the economics lesson or the
history lesson anymore.
We're watching history, sowe're going to watch it.
I believe they sent us homeearly that day Half a skinnier
skip, I believe we went homeearly.
I remember turning it on at thehouse and hours on end just

(14:56):
following along and watchinghistory in the making, really
Trying to make heads or tails ofit.
Knowing that it was supersignificant.
Yeah, even at the time likethis is big, that's good yeah
and you were at which highschool?

Clint (15:14):
McIntosh, peachtree City, brooke?
Where were you?

Brooke (15:19):
a little bit similar to your beginning of the day, but
also a lot different.
Um, it was my off day.
I had already graduated fromthe high schools, so I was
working at Noonan Pediatrics,the way the schedule ran.
I had an off day during theweek because I worked on
Saturday, so I think it was aTuesday, maybe.

(15:41):
I think that was my off daythen, and I was sleeping in
because I was young, and that'swhat you do when you're young.
Um, so my mom was blowing up thehouse phone because she
couldn't get me on the cellphone, so she just kept calling
and calling and calling andcalling and calling, and so

(16:01):
finally I was like geez, rebecca, what, what is what?
What is going on?
And she was like don't turn theTV on.
So, the exact opposite of whatyou guys had.
She's like don't turn the TV on, but I need you.
I know she was like I need youto come up to the office.
Uh, something pretty badhappened, but I don't want you

(16:21):
to go through this alone, I wantyou to be with people.
So get ready, come up in yourpajamas, I don't care, but don't
turn the radio on, don't turn,don't turn the TV on.
Just come up here and because Iam a good child, I did just
that.
I got dressed real fast and wentto the office and everyone it

(16:43):
was like the whole office hadjust stopped there were.
It didn't matter that thewaiting rooms were completely
full of sick and well children,everyone just stopped and we
were all gathered into the twowaiting room spaces at the front
of the office just sittingwatching everything happen.
And I remember just just likeit just felt like it was a movie

(17:10):
gone bad, like it was at anymoment they were going to come
on and be like, oh, this is aprank.
Like it just didn't feel realum at all.
And again, very much so likeyour question why, why in the
world would anyone do this?
Like what is happening?

Clint (17:27):
um, so it just definitely it was just shocking to the
core yeah, now, obviously, youknow, matt and bryce, we have
the two of you here because thatday played a significant role
in some decisions that both ofyou made, that's, I mean,
honestly impacted every part ofyour life.

(17:50):
You know, moving forward andnot that and I were, some
significant decisions made thatprobably are more impactful than
simply experiencing or goingthrough it or witnessing it on

(18:12):
TV, and then you know theemotions that come with that.
The two of you decided to dosomething a little bit more,
with that being the cause.
So, matt, why don't we startwith you?
Because you were a little olderand a little closer to that
decision?
Walk us through from that dayto how you decided.

(18:37):
I think I want to join the army.

Matt (18:42):
That's a big question.
I never really had a lot ofdirection, my especially my
senior year.
You know, mackintosh being thetype of school it is got people
going to all sorts of greatschools and going on to do great
things and I didn't have thebest, didn't really know what I

(19:02):
wanted to do.
I was working at Wendy's, youknow, working fast food and just
kind of lost, Not lost, but youknow that typical senior with
BC average- what do I want to dofor the rest of my life?

(19:24):
Yeah, and I showed up at workone day.
I worked with a buddy, chris,and and he is just beaming like
chris, what's, uh, are you sohappy about this man?
I just I just joined the armyman and I got signing bonus and
I want to go be a wheeledvehicle mechanic and get money

(19:46):
for college.
And he told me how 9-11 kind ofdrove him to that and I kind of
really clicked and got the wheelturned.
And he said, well, what are youdoing after high school?
It's only a few short monthsaway, and I don't know.
And he said, well, you want togo talk to the recruiter?

(20:08):
I was like, yeah, so that thatafternoon I wrote a note to my
mom on the counter.
Back in the day we wrote notes,remember.
I'm going to talk to the armyrecruiter.
Be back later.
That went over, yeah.

Brooke (20:22):
Yeah, like a lead over, yeah, so good.

Matt (20:24):
Yeah, like a lead balloon, yeah, like a fart in church.

Clint (20:27):
Not great.
Did she call you in the middleof?
I didn't have a cell phone.
Okay, no cell phone.
She drove up there.
Did you have a pager?

Matt (20:35):
Just messenger pigeons.

Clint (20:36):
No, I didn't have none of that Messenger pigeons Nothing.

Matt (20:45):
You were set.
We just did notes on thecounter and scooted on off to
the Army.
Recruiter Just left BRB joiningthe Army so I joined what's
called the Delayed Entry Program.
You go through some of thepreliminary processes with a
contract.

Clint (20:58):
Is that because they weren't sure about you, or you
weren't sure about them BecauseI hadn't graduated yet?

Matt (21:02):
Okay, no, so joined the delayed entry program.
You know they send you to takethe ASVAB.
What does?

Clint (21:13):
ASVAB stand for.

Matt (21:14):
Armed Services.
You're going to put me on thespot.

Clint (21:16):
Armed Services.
You can make up whatever youwant.
I will have no clue.
I got you on this one.
Armed Services VocationalAptitude Battery Dude you heard
it here first, nailed it, Ipromise you.
So good.
I guarantee that peoplelistening to this the
overwhelming majority will, forthe very first time in their
life, hear what that stands for.

Brooke (21:35):
For some people, maybe the first time they've ever
heard of the ASCAP.

Matt (21:40):
Right, I did not take the SAT.
I couldn't tell you what thatstands for Armed services
vocational aptitude battery.
And what that basically does isit scores you and tells you
what you might be good at in themilitary, so they can kind of
get a gauge of where we can putyou.
I scored well and the recruitersaid you can almost pick any

(22:01):
job, any duty station, if it, ifit exists, we'll make it happen
.
And I said okay, well, I wantto be at Fort Benning, georgia,
and I want to join the infantry.
And he was like, eh, we've gotto give that to the low-scoring
guys.
And I was like, no, I want toFort Benning infantry.
And he's like, okay, I guessyou're low-scoring, so you know,

(22:23):
got through the delayed entryprogram and shipped off August 8
, 2002 to basic training.

Brooke (22:33):
Okay, that was my next question.
Where's basic training for?

Matt (22:36):
the Army, all infantry goes through Fort Benning,
georgia.
Now it's called Fort.
What is it called?

Bryson (22:42):
It will always be Fort.

Matt (22:43):
Benning, it's always Fort Benning.

Bryson (22:44):
Okay, it does not matter what it's called Fort.
What is it called, it willalways be Fort Benning.
It's always Fort Benning.
Okay, it does not matter whatit's called right now.

Clint (22:49):
So basic training, and your station is Fort Benning,
correct?
Am I understanding that rightyeah?

Matt (22:55):
I chose my duty station after basic training to be Fort
Benning, Georgia that's cool.
So once I graduated basictraining in November of 2002,
right yeah, I had like a fewweeks off and then went to my
actual unit assignment at FortBenning, which was the 3rd

(23:17):
Infantry Division 3rd.
Brigade let's go Rock of theMarne.

Clint (23:20):
So what was the?

Matt (23:21):
last part Rock of the Marne, that's their motto.

Clint (23:23):
Rock of the Marne.
Yeah, it comes from.

Matt (23:27):
World War I, all right, world War I.
I believe Somebody mightcorrect me on that.

Clint (23:31):
So when you say infantry, that feels to me like a vast
selection of weapons, sure.

Brooke (23:41):
Yes, so it's like hey.

Clint (23:41):
I can go shoot some guns, I can shoot some tanks, I can
do some mortars.
Yeah, I can be a sniper.
Yeah, I can be like anything inthat is.
Am I in the right?

Matt (23:51):
ballpark.
So for me it was.
You know, when you're a kid,you run outside and you're
playing with your friends.
No one's playing, cook, no whatno one's or mechanic no one's
playing mechanic you're holdingthe flashlight for your dad, so
you're like I'm not going to beme, so if I'm going to join, I
want to do the army stuff.
I want to do that.

(24:12):
And so 3rd Infantry Division isa mechanized infantry unit.
So you have mechanized infantry.
What does mechanized meanAirborne?
Essentially, you have vehicles,you have tanks, bradleys armor.

Clint (24:28):
Bradleys are a tank, sort of Okay.

Matt (24:34):
It's a mix between an armored personnel carrier.
A tank doesn't have infantry inthe back.
Gotcha, it's a very angry tankthat spits out six or eight
dudes out the back it's a spicytank.
When you make it mad, it's likea A spicy tank.
A spicy tank, it's like aYellow Jacket's nest of tank
Gotcha.
It's got a 25-millimeter chaingun as its main gun and then

(24:58):
some other bells and whistles.
But yes, it has tracks like atank.
It has a three-man crew Gunner,bradley, commander, driver and
then six to eight angry fellas.

Clint (25:10):
Any chance you know who the Bradley is named after?
General Bradley From World War,something or other.

Brooke (25:18):
Do you know?
I don't know.

Clint (25:20):
You asked, like you knew the answer.

Brooke (25:21):
I know For sure General.

Clint (25:22):
Bradley, general Bradley.
So when I hear infantry I knowFor sure General Bradley,
general Bradley.

Brooke (25:25):
So when I hear infantry, I think immediately like
frontline, right, right.
So like it's crazy to me thatyou'd be like, yeah, I'm looking
at this list of opportunities,sign me up.
This is the one.

Matt (25:41):
They do a really good job of selling it Okay, they ought
to.
They got cool, really good jobof selling.
It Okay, they ought to, theygot cool videos and posters and
a tank, yeah, and the tankscoming across the battlefield
and they really sell you on theinfantry and it looks really
cool and sometimes it is Most ofthe time it's not yeah, so it's

(26:06):
very much um frontline so whatwas your specialization?

Clint (26:11):
where'd you end up falling in?

Matt (26:13):
um, mostly I was a machine gunner on the m249 light
machine gun, the saw is it on?

Clint (26:21):
is it mounted on a vehicle?
No, no, no, okay, you carrythis one with you.
Yeah, got the little kickstandon the front.
Bipod, yeah, bipod.

Matt (26:28):
Bipod on the front Kickstand bipod.
My squad leader took my strapoff because it made me stronger.

Clint (26:36):
Okay, can verify Right.

Matt (26:39):
Took the strap off.
You're just going to carry thatthing all 140 pounds of mat at
the time.

Brooke (26:45):
Bob, you're just going to carry that thing, all 140
pounds of mat at the time, andhow much did you weigh?

Matt (26:49):
at the time, depending on pre-Iraq, during Iraq, during
Iraq I probably got down to like125 pounds.
Jeez yeah, just dysentery andwhatever else you catch over
there.
So the light machine gun, theSAW, and then .50 Cal gun,
machine gunner on Humvees, andthen I drove Bradleys.

(27:11):
I also did.

Clint (27:13):
How fun is that?
It's great there's no roads.
I'm assuming there's roads, butwhen you get over there, when
you get into the battlefieldtype of thing, it's not like,
hey, there's roads, we're justdriving this wherever I want,
cross country and there's veryfew things I would imagine that
can say no, you can't take aBradley here.

Matt (27:30):
It's true, yeah, but I got them stuck.
Okay, you'd be surprised.
All right, yeah.

Clint (27:35):
How do you get a Bradley unstuck?

Matt (27:38):
You leave it.
It's like in the movies you'vegot to blow it up and leave
their sewage system in Iraqisn't what we have here, so it's
more just creeks, so to speak,and you can't really see the
right side of your vehicle.
You're relying on the guy inthe turret to see.

(27:59):
I got too close to one of thosecreeks and really kind of
buried that Bradley in the we'llcall it mud.

Brooke (28:04):
Okay.

Clint (28:05):
Yeah.

Matt (28:05):
Up to, basically, the top of the brand.

Clint (28:08):
Okay.

Matt (28:09):
Do you get out of the top?
Yeah, so the driver gets out ofthe top guys in the back not
happy because they start seeingwater and stuff in their little
view and stuff not and theBradley's listing listing to the
right greatly.

Becca (28:26):
That wasn't in the videos I showed you.

Matt (28:28):
No no.

Becca (28:29):
Look at this that was my second tour.

Bryson (28:32):
You want to get stuck?
We got the job for you.

Matt (28:35):
That was my second tour in Iraq and drove Bradley's a
little bit my second tour inIraq and, yeah, got it stuck.
That ruined the mission we wereon for the day.
Okay, double-edged sword.
So some people were like, well,okay, I had to get in the creek
and hook up the toe.
Shackle, not fun.
Yeah that's yeah, that's thepart they don't tell you about

(28:56):
in the videos for sure.
So um overall, yeah, um machinegunner, bradley driver yeah
infantryman extraordinaire doyou have a great picture?

Clint (29:08):
I didn't ask you this ahead of time.
Uh, bryce, same question foryou do you have a great picture
that we might be able to shareon social media of you deployed
overseas, like I don't know,just in some type of gear type
thing that would just show thedifference of, hey, like
130-pound, you just feels tiny.

Matt (29:31):
Yeah, it is.
I'm about 220 now.
You're a grown man Bigdifference, that's right.
Yeah, I do.

Clint (29:40):
I can show you that.
That'd be cool.
Bryce, do you have one that wecould post?
Yeah, I'm sure I've got yeahfor cool.

Bryson (29:43):
Yeah, bryce, you have one that we could post.
Yeah, I'm sure I've got.
Yeah for sure, absolutely.

Clint (29:45):
Maybe we could post it just so that people can see.

Matt (29:48):
Yeah for sure, these grown men slash little boys.

Becca (29:51):
Yeah, I could blow you away when you got back.

Bryson (29:54):
Oh, you really yeah Like just like little.
Yeah, it's interesting.
Even the body weight like itseems like when you're deployed
130 to 145 is pretty muchhealthy.
It was pretty much where yousit between the missions that
you're running and stuff likethat.
You just burn all that.
I mean it doesn't matter whatyou eat.
I mean 130, 145, I probablycame back around what 135, 140,

(30:18):
128, something, you knowsomething like that for sure.

Becca (30:21):
Yeah.

Bryson (30:22):
Yeah, yeah.

Clint (30:24):
So now, that's how you jumped in Bryce.
How did you jump in or makethat decision?
How did 9-11 play a role inthat?

Bryson (30:32):
So I had a period really of eight or nine years waiting,
obviously because I was inseventh grade.

Clint (30:40):
So they don't do the delayed program for eight years.

Bryson (30:42):
No, I'm sure that if I signed in seventh grade they'd
be like hey, dude, at 18, we'recoming.

Brooke (30:47):
For sure, yeah, for sure .

Bryson (30:49):
Hey, remember in seventh grade.

Matt (30:51):
You signed this Every year just a friendly reminder, Bryce
Harper of the Army.

Bryson (30:53):
Yeah, exactly yeah just yeah, no, I mean.
So 9-11 happened.
We already spoke about how thatimpacted me.
We already spoke about how thatimpacted me, but where it
really got nailed home for mewas as I was leaving high school
junior, senior, and then myfirst year in college.

(31:19):
I was in classes with thesedudes that had served and were
now using their GI Bill to go toschool.
And every one of them that Imet that was in the infantry or
special operations or rangerbattalion or something like that
.
I was like these dudes hung themoon, this is where it's at.
And I had always wanted to dolike Matt said.

(31:40):
I've always wanted to be heyman, if we have this job to do,
let me be in the front doing it.
And so I spoke to some guys atUniversity of West Georgia again
who had come back from servingalready and now were taking
advantage of their GI benefits.
I was like, hey man, I want tojoin the Army, I want to join

(32:03):
the infantry specifically.
And they kind of were saying,hey, well, this is what it's
going to look like and, likeMatt said, they do a great job
of painting a picture of the beall.
You can be.
Hey, you can shoot this gun.
You're going to look cool allthe time.
It's going to be awesome.
You know, chicks dig it, thewhole deal right.

Becca (32:22):
I did not.

Bryson (32:26):
Ch.
Whole deal right, I did not.
Chicks don't dig it.
Yeah, this chick did not dig it, I did not, she dug something.

Clint (32:29):
Oh yeah, I mean I came back.
It was more of a me thing.

Bryson (32:30):
It was obviously, you know.
So I got my first year of well,first semester of college done
and I remember just wanting togo, wanting to serve, wanting to
be a part of something biggerthan myself.
I had grown up in Noonan andCarrollton my entire life and I

(32:54):
knew nothing outside of Noonanand Carrollton and I did want to
place my life somewhere thatserves somebody or something
bigger than me.
And I remember sitting in itwas a 30s music appreciation
class 30s, Like like 1930s.
Yeah, like how the 1930simpacted theater and vice versa.

(33:14):
And I remember sitting theredoing our you know final exam
and I'm on question six or sevenand I'm like there's no way I'm
fit, no, I'm not, I'm not doingthis anymore.
And so I walked up to the frontof the class and gave her the
test and she looked at mebewildered and I was like, uh,
I'm gonna go join the military.
This is not for me.

(33:35):
And I left and I walked out andI remember telling her and I
was like I was like, hey, man,we done, I'm gonna go join the
army and did you leave a stickynote on the counter?
No, I went the not good kid way.
Yeah, I went to the recruiterwithout my parents knowing.

Clint (33:56):
Or me.

Bryson (33:57):
And then I took the ASVAB without them knowing.
And then I got my results backand the guy he comes bumping
down the hall.
He's like hey, man, you scoredthis.
You got like crypto lingo, yougot all the smart kid stuff and
I'm not a smart kid, but we cantalk about how the ASVAB is
geared towards certain people.

(34:18):
And he was like crypto, you cando language, you can go to
Germany, you can go to.
I mean you can do biologicalstuff can go to germany, you can
go to.
I mean you can do biologicalstuff in antarctica.
And I'm like, similar to him.
I was like I was like infantry,and he was like no man.
And I'm like, yeah, and he'slike.
He's like dude, you gotta putyour name on the paper to be an

(34:40):
infantry.
I was like, and I did that andI'm like.
I was like and I told therecruiter I said, hey, look,
dude, I won't ever have this,but if I ever did have my degree
, I would still want to join theinfantry.
Nothing is going to steer meaway from that.
Um, the men that I met prior toenlisting, hearing their stories

(35:00):
, it echoed what I was lookingfor.
And throughout that time you'vegot to remember, like from 2001
to 2010 or 2009,.
You know time frame, we stillhad, you know, attacks that were
being carried out and so,unlike Matt, who was already

(35:21):
actively serving, I got to seethat on the news, on YouTube, on
WikiLeaks, on all thoseplatforms that show you that,
hey, this is not going away, andit kind of solidified my
decision that I was going tohelp stop this.
Not that the people before meweren't or couldn't, but I

(35:44):
wanted to have my foot in thatdoor to be a part of history,
truly.
I mean, because this was youhear it a lot with dudes like
Matt and me this was our war,our parents had Vietnam, and so
you just keep going back.
And so I enlisted, I went allthe way through MEPS without
telling anybody what is MEPS.

(36:04):
You're the acronym guy MEPS, soI'll explain MEPS.
Okay, you go through MEPS, youbasically do.
You basically.
So it's horrible and it'shilarious.
I mean, anybody listening who'sbeen through MEPS?
You're like, yeah, I saw thatin MEPS.
You see some things that,especially if you're sheltered,

(36:26):
that you would not see, and itis almost like a shock to your
system.
You're like, wow, there'speople out there like this.
But MEPS, it's a medicalscreening.
You do a battery of differentmedical and physical vision, all
the kind of things that wouldget you ready for a job in
combat arms or just in themilitary in general.

Matt (36:47):
Military Entry Processing Station.

Bryson (36:50):
There's my acronym.

Brooke (36:51):
I would love to hear more about this because, for
sure, the things that my twoboys had to go through with MEPS
, I feel like, is significantlydifferent than you guys post
COVID, like I think they had torecord themselves doing like the
all the sit-ups and pushups andall that kind of stuff.

Bryson (37:07):
This was obviously face to face.
You're in like a holdingpattern.

Matt (37:12):
You're not sure when you're going to your unit or to
basic, your basic training date.
So you're you're kind of stuckwith all.
These guys are just have allthis nervous energy.
You're about to go throughbasic.
They don't make you do pt oranything like that.

Bryson (37:28):
In meps we're not really well, so meps is meps is
different for, for you and I sowhy, well.
So meps for me, me was all thepreliminary documentation that
says medically and this, thatand the third, you're good to go
.
And then when you leave Mets,you leave to go to basic
training.
And again, matt and I mirroreach other.

(37:49):
We both were at Fort Benningand I remember getting to Fort
Benning and they're like youknow, you're going to go to 30th
AG.
I don't know if that rings abell.
So 30th AG was a very cleardelineation that you are not
technically at MEPS anymore, youare in the military.
Now we're processing you frombeing a civilian to being in the

(38:10):
military and I remember we gotseparated from and Matt can echo
this it's the Army.
Well, let me rephrase, it's theinfantry, then it's everybody
else, and that becomes a sourceof pride and a standard that you
hold.
And so I remember sitting thereand there's like 200, 250 of us

(38:34):
kids there, you know, and we're, you know, real tightly packed,
packed close to each other onthis wall, going down the deal,
and there's these real sergeantsand they and or you know, and
they're just, they're screamingand yelling the wildest obscene
things that you can ever hear,and there's kids behind me

(38:54):
crying, kids in front of mecrying, you know, and I'm
sitting there like this is whereI'm supposed to be, like this
is it man?
Like I have found my home, yellat me more, yeah, yeah, I mean,
I was like hit me.
You know, I was like let's do it, you know and so, but I've
always been that way, I'vealways been.
You know the crying kid.

(39:18):
I would be too Terrified, yeah,but I mean, like they broke,
you don't even oh no, don't getit twisted.
I cried like a baby, like ababy.

Matt (39:28):
Like a baby.
Like a baby.

Bryson (39:31):
But, like I was still like this is where I'm supposed
to.
I have never felt more at homethan I did in the military,
truly, Um, and so I know youlove hearing that, but um, but
then we left, um, we got throughbasic training, Um, and when I
tell you I loved everymillisecond of basic training,

(39:52):
that is not a lie.
I mean you.
You, you can change yourviewpoint and you can change
your outlook, but at the end ofthe day, you're getting paid and
fed to dress up in camouflageand run around with some of your
new best friends that you'renever going to forget, ever and

(40:14):
shoot weapons and crawl on theground and throw grenades and
yell and scream and fight andjust do all these boy things.
Play in the mud and play in themud, but throughout basic
training, there is no confusion.
You're training to this caliberand they're doing these
checkoffs, whether that be squadautomatic weapons, handguns or

(40:38):
your M4, you are doing this inpreparation that you are going
to go, in my case, toAfghanistan to kill the enemy.
And we were very clear on whywe were doing what we were doing
.
And so again, for somebodywho's already hungry, all you're
doing is stoking the fire.
So I left Fort Benning aroundChristmas time, right after

(41:02):
Christmas time, and we went toFort Carson, colorado, and I was
with 212 Infantry out of 4th ID.
So Matt was 3rd ID, I was 4thID.
What is ID Infantry?

Matt (41:14):
Division Okay.

Bryson (41:14):
So 4th ID I got there there and I thought that I was
going to mechanized unit.
I'm like, cool man, we're goingto be in the back of Bradley's,
we're going to be, you know,I'm going to be back there, just
super cool.
They're going to drop the gateand I'm going to run out and I'm
going to do my job, right?
False, very false.
I found out the hard way thatthe 4th Infantry Division at the

(41:35):
time was what's called lightinfantry.
So we walked and ran everywherewith everything, and so I've
never stepped foot in a Bradley,I've never been inside of a
tank to that capacity, and soyou know, but that was what I
wanted.
I wanted to be light infantry,I wanted to carry the big guns,

(41:58):
just like matt said, and do thecool things.
Um, I was fortunate enough thatshortly, relatively shortly
after um I joined, we deployedand we can get into that later,
which is her favorite part ofwhat we're going to talk about
but, um, but, yeah, I mean thatwas that, in a nutshell, was my
entire experience was a giantpush of just.

(42:20):
I mean, that was what I wantedto do and so, like I said, I've
never felt more sense of purpose, as I'm sure you can echo that
you had what you were doingevery day and you knew that you
were doing that every day andwhy you're doing that every day,
every day?
And you knew that you weredoing that every day.
And why are you doing thatevery day?
And for somebody that didn'thave a whole lot of guidance

(42:44):
necessarily, I mean, you makelife too easy for a dude who's
18, 19.
You say, hey, man, this is whatwe're going to do every day,
this is why you're doing it.
Go do it.

Clint (42:54):
Yeah.

Bryson (42:54):
And so.

Clint (42:55):
When, for sure, both of you don't have to share or you
can both just say hey.
I'd prefer an answer to thequestion.
Is there a moment in particularthat you remember, when you're
deployed, that 9-11 pops intoyour mind in the middle of a
mission?
It's like, man, this is a bigpart of why this whole thing is
happening, a big part of whythis whole thing is happening.

(43:19):
Maybe it's in the middle, ormaybe you just completed an
assignment and you're like.
You know, we told you we werecoming.

Matt (43:28):
I can recall, just before the invasion of Iraq, 3rd ID was
part of the, essentially theunit that took iraq in the in
the early days that so wherewere you?

Clint (43:45):
the 21?

Matt (43:46):
days to baghdad.
I was waiting at the border fora few weeks which border kuwait
, iraq border.
Um we got moved out of our camp.
We got pushed out to an areacalled the Tactical Alpha Alpha,
which is an assembly area,alpha, alpha.

Clint (44:04):
Yeah.

Matt (44:05):
We sat there for weeks, living in tents, waiting for the
word.
We didn't know when that wascoming.
There was just rumor.
You're just sitting in thedesert in the middle of nowhere
and there's a berm and that bermis the delineation, that's the
line.
And then the word came downwe're going.

Clint (44:30):
That was a huge moment when the word came down, did you
know what you like to theextent of what was about to
happen?
Or was it just like, hey, ourfirst mission is just to have a
presence and to scare someone?
Or like like what was in yourmind when you say, hey, we're
going, we're going to do what wewe knew it was a full court
press.

Matt (44:50):
Yeah, we were going to take that country over, yeah,
and we knew we were gonna seecombat.
We were gonna do we were aboutto do all of the things.
And so, um, it was not gonna bea, you know, show of force, it
wasn't gonna be, um, some littleyou know two-day skirmish, it

(45:13):
was gonna be the fights on, yeah.

Clint (45:16):
So you're waiting for that bell to ring and did you
leave in the morning or at night, oh, or middle of the day, and?

Matt (45:23):
I, if I recall.

Clint (45:25):
I think it was in the middle of the night, you know
two oh dark 32 how much time didyou have when they said, hey,
we're going to wheels up?
I want to say hours, yeah, okayyeah, yeah, just hey.

Matt (45:37):
The bush said let's go, yeah, and and we um the
engineers, the guys who do allthe explosives, um blew a giant
hole in that berm and we see,when you said berm, immediately
my imagination like saw, like asand dune hill.

Brooke (45:55):
Yeah, big giant 20-foot sand dune, so they blew a hole
in a dune.

Clint (46:00):
A hundred percent, and you just, bradley, tanked right
through them.

Matt (46:04):
The entire 3rd Infantry Division and 1st Marine
Expeditionary Division were thetwo first units in, so we went
straight through that gap?

Clint (46:14):
Did you technically beat the Marines in?

Matt (46:18):
Oh gosh, I don't want to, you know, compete.
But yes, we started the marchto Baghdad and took 21 days from
.
You were driving a Bradley.
No, I was in the back at thetime, so the guys in the back
are called dismounts Prettyself-explanatory.

(46:40):
When the ramp Bradley doordrops, they dismount and they go
handle it.

Clint (46:44):
So you were in the back of a Bradley yeah.

Matt (46:46):
Gotcha, can't see what's going on.

Clint (46:48):
Yeah, it's loud All right Got no windows, no window.

Matt (46:53):
There's a periscope.
You really can't see anything.
Periscope, you really can't seeanything.
It's hot.
There's no AC.

Clint (46:59):
And you Well, you'd naturally take off your gear
while you're inside and like,yeah, just camp out.

Brooke (47:05):
Yeah, because you have so much time when they're ready
to just put everything back on.
There's so much communication.

Matt (47:10):
So the drivers of the Bradleys actually it gets very
hot.
You're up there next to theengine.
Having been a Bradleyadleydriver a little known secret of
bradley and tank drivers, halfof them are pretty much in their
underwear because it's so hotand a little bit of body armor
is probably not going to helpyou.
So if you see a bradley or atank in combat in like a video,

(47:33):
it's a good chance that thatdriver's solid yeah, yeah.

Clint (47:37):
So, as you're heading in, when does the 9-11 thoughts,
kind of as you're going, howlong that take.

Matt (47:45):
You get those speeches from your commander and stuff.
Hey guys, we're going to go dothis and you know, kind of the
rah-rah, let's get pumped up.
The kind of the rah-rah, let'sget pumped up.

Brooke (47:58):
Get that adrenaline going.

Matt (47:59):
At that time in history.
Everyone was so gung-hopatriotic.
You know, we were going to goget our get-backs so to speak.
So we were chomping at the bitand 9-11 was just always just in
the back of your mind.

(48:19):
The front of your mind aboutthat.
You know it was.
We're gonna go get revenge youknow, for that and it's not
gonna be a fair fight, rightlike yeah, yeah, we're mad, we
were mad.

Clint (48:37):
Yeah, yeah, and so we did how long did it take for, from
the time you blew up the bermuntil your part was like, hey,
we're, we're done?

Matt (48:51):
oh so my first tour was from january to july of 03.
Um, but from where they blewthe berm to US forces have
control of Baghdad and all ofIraq was 21 days, 21 days and
you were in country all 21 days.

Clint (49:09):
I was yeah.

Matt (49:12):
And then, after we took Baghdad, we remained in place
and did combat operations untilwe redeployed back home and were
relieved by other units.
But we my first tour wasn't afull year because I guess, hey,
3rd ID, you guys did your parttime to pack it up, don't worry,

(49:34):
you'll be back.
So second tour was 05.
I was there for a full year, 05to January, 05, january 06.

Clint (49:45):
Yeah, what was the most like when you think about, hey,
my dream of, and my like desireand hopes of, what I think I
could be as a soldier, and thenwhat it actually ends up being
right, Because both of you havetalked about, hey, the recruiter
, you know, really sells thisthing, but then you actually

(50:06):
become the real live version ofthe poster, of the figurine that
you played with as a kid or theguys you watched on in movies.
Like, from that experience,what was the most satisfying
moment?
Um, Matt, for you that was justlike hey, this is this is what

(50:28):
I wanted to do, this is this wasworth it.

Matt (50:33):
Hmm, I think for me, the first time you go through a
firefight, a real live thisisn't the range, this isn't
make-believe with blank roundsagainst your buddies, that first
time you hear rounds going byyou and they're not friendly,

(50:58):
like a switch happens in you,right for the.
Actually, the first time we gotshot at, I didn't know what
being shot at really soundedlike.
Yeah, so you're like what isthat?
You know, yeah, and then you'reoh, it's, it's real.
What does it sound like?
Well, that depends how.
How close is it?

(51:19):
Sometimes it's like a whistle,sometimes it's like a crack, and
sometimes it's hitting two feetfrom you and throwing dirt on
you.
So, uh, an ak-47 is a verydistinct report.
It's uh, unmistakable.
And anyone who's fought, guyswho have used those.

(51:40):
You'll never forget that soundyeah.
So when that first firefighthappens is when it's like oh,
I'm GI Joe now.

Clint (51:53):
I'm that guy.

Matt (51:54):
And this is real, and all the things I've trained to do.
The basic training makes youalmost robotic to react to it.
They drill it so much, so hard,that when it happens, you're oh
, I know exactly what I'msupposed to do and so does he
Second nature.
And so does he, and it works.

(52:19):
Things start clicking.
But war and firefights areobviously.
You can't really recreate thatanywhere.
And they talk about the fog ofwar.
It's very real, it's veryconfusing, it's not a clear like
I'm here, bad guy's there, typeof thing.

(52:40):
So it's an interestingexperience, to say the least.
I think that for me is when itreally stuck that I'm a machine
gunner in the infantry and I'min a firefight.

Clint (52:58):
you know, and you were how old when that first
firefight happened 18.

Brooke (53:02):
18.

Clint (53:04):
My son's 13.
I cannot imagine him in afirefight five years from now.

Brooke (53:11):
Yeah, I have an 18-year-old and I can't imagine
her in a firefight ever.

Matt (53:17):
You turned 19 during that push to Baghdad.

Clint (53:20):
Okay.

Matt (53:21):
The infantry is a brotherhood and on your birthday
, at least in my unit, theywould jump you essentially.
Same.
They'd give you a good,friendly beating.

Bryson (53:32):
Okay, like a real beating.
I think beating is a gentleword, a beat down is pretty.

Brooke (53:37):
For real they go.

Matt (53:38):
hey, man, we have man, let me see your glasses for a
second and you're like huh.

Clint (53:43):
You know it's coming.

Bryson (53:45):
Is it still allowed?

Clint (53:46):
to happen or is the new?

Bryson (53:47):
army.

Clint (53:48):
I hope so yeah it better be.
I wasn't sure if the new armywas a little more.
It probably isn't allowed tohappen but does it happen?

Matt (53:55):
I hope so.
It's all in how you write it up.
It's all out back in the woodline or in areas where
Lieutenant Nolder is not looking.

Clint (54:03):
That's right.
The good divisions are stilldoing what you're saying.

Matt (54:05):
That's right.

Clint (54:06):
That's right yeah.

Matt (54:08):
The ones who care about preparing people, but on my
birthday.
We were in, I think, najaf,iraq or Nasiriyah one of the two
.
We were taking mortar roundsthat day so they were too busy
to beat me up, so they had toreschedule.
Oh my gosh, pause.

Bryson (54:28):
We hadn't forgotten when you least expect it.

Matt (54:30):
They got me again in 05 when I turned 21.

Brooke (54:33):
Oh.

Matt (54:34):
So I made sure I was remembered.

Brooke (54:38):
So did it not happen?
When you are not deployed, itonly happens on deployment it
especially happens on deploymentI don't know really about in
garrison, so in garrison atleast in our unit

Bryson (54:51):
your birthday you got, you did pt and then you got the
birthday off.
Birthday day off.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Matt (54:58):
The idea is soft.

Bryson (54:59):
Yeah, you had to PT, you had to PT and then you got the
day off, but you were on CQ dutynext.

Becca (55:05):
What is CQ duty?
It's like a.

Bryson (55:07):
You have to sit at the desk all day.
Yeah, you sit at the desk for24 hours.

Matt (55:10):
What does that stand for, though?
Charge of quarters.

Bryson (55:12):
Yeah, basically it depends on if you're staff duty,
like the big army up there withheadquarters, or you're down in
the barracks somewhere doing CQ.
Just basically checking IDs for24 hours You'll sit.

Matt (55:26):
a sergeant and a private will sit at the CQ desk.
Anything the company needs, thecommander needs somebody to run
something over to another unit.
The private's the runner.
They answer phones and hello,this is the Army, this is Matt
speaking.

Clint (55:43):
May I help you?

Matt (55:43):
So to speak.
So it's the secretary for thatbarracks for the day.

Clint (55:49):
Yeah, for that day, the unit of the day.
That's wild.
So, Bryce, do you have one ofthose moments where, for you,
9-11 really jumped?
I mean obviously blowing a berm, running in like, hey, we're
about to take over this entirecountry in 21 days?

Bryson (56:03):
I mean, I think the first time that we went out on
mission, you know when was this?
This is Zabal Province,afghanistan, and so it was
probably one of our first nightmissions.
Because that's, you watch allthe movies, you talk to all the
dudes, you know, did you havenight vision?
Absolutely night missions.
Because that's, you watch allthe movies, you talk to all the
dudes, you know, did you havenight vision absolutely?

Matt (56:22):
yeah, absolutely yeah.
We didn't have an option.

Bryson (56:23):
I mean most of what the infantry does, yeah 98 of it is
in the middle of the night wedon't start until eight or nine
o'clock at night.
Um, yeah, I mean going out.
So he, you know he's been.
He was in bradley's.
We were light infantry so sowhen we traveled in vehicles, we
traveled in up-armored vehicles, matvs, and so they're much

(56:46):
taller, much more top-heavy thanthe Bradleys are.
They don't have a specified25-millimeter gun or anything
like that on there.
The guy in the turret is eitheron a .50 cal he could be on a
Mark 19, which is shooting thegrenades out or you could throw
a .240, which is a big brotherto Saul.

Clint (57:07):
Let me stop you and ask you about the .50 cal.
I heard someone telling a storyabout one time and I don't know
if it was exaggeration.
That's all I'm asking, and I'venever seen a .50 cal fired from
the back of anything, exceptfor like on the movies and I'm
assuming that's what that thingis a big, the big gun, sure.
But this guy said that he, therewas, they, there was a little

(57:30):
ambush that happened, uh, theywere in a little caravan, guy
pulled in front, guy pulled inthe back, and immediately they
were said hey, they saw ithappening.
And there was these houses.
They were in between theselittle houses and this 50 Cal
just cut the houses in half.
I guess he just mowed down theside of this thing and the
houses just started to.

Bryson (57:51):
Yeah, especially if it's a crappy little village or a
crappy little building inAfghanistan or Iraq.
Absolutely that's possible.

Matt (57:58):
That's a big guy.
There's not a lot of things inIraq that stop .50 cal rounds.

Clint (58:04):
I just can't imagine there being these little mud
brick houses and all of a suddenyou look over and it's like
well, it was there it was there.

Matt (58:13):
It was there.
It's not there anymore.
Devastating that's it.
It's been around since the darkages.
It's a devastating weapon.
It's been around since the darkages.
It's the workhorse of machineguns.

Bryson (58:23):
I would much rather prefer a 240, which again, for
all intents and purposes, it's abigger version of the 249 squad
automatic weapon, which is whatMatt and I carried.
Our .50 cals seem to jam a lot,which is what Matt and I
carried.
Our .50 cals seemed to jam alot, which is no fun, and so the
.240 and especially the SAW.

(58:44):
They would jam, obviously, butnot to the degree that the .50
cal would jam.
My favorite weapon to carry wasthe .249.
I mean, even when you fire it,when you fire it, it's amazing,
I mean it's the sound.

(59:04):
Just the sound itself.
The sound is one of the mostbeautiful sounds ever.

Brooke (59:10):
The number of people that are going to immediately
hop off this podcast and look upall of these things to hear how
they sound to see what theylook like.

Matt (59:19):
There's a great YouTube video of a guy stepping into an
alley and firing a saw, and it'sjust.

Clint (59:24):
It's beautiful.
The saw is the 249?

Bryson (59:26):
Yeah, and so the 240 is the big brother.
So the 249 shoots the 556,which goes in your M4, and then
the 7.62 round is what goes inthe 240.

Matt (59:40):
So it's a bigger caliber.

Bryson (59:44):
No, I mean obviously similar to Matt.
Every time we would go out onmission, especially at night.
You play the music.
You rile each other up.
Did you have a go-to song weplayed I?

Matt (59:57):
already know what he's going to say.

Bryson (59:59):
To the window?
No, can I know what he's going?

Matt (01:00:00):
to say To the window no.

Bryson (01:00:01):
Can I guess what he's going to say?

Matt (01:00:03):
It's Bodies by Drowning Pool.

Bryson (01:00:04):
So that was on the playlist.

Matt (01:00:06):
I can't listen to that song to this day.

Bryson (01:00:09):
But we had a song by Five Finger Death Punch that we
played a lot.
But Drowning Pool wasdefinitely on the playlist, for
sure.

Matt (01:00:16):
There's a lot of butt rock being played.

Bryson (01:00:18):
Yeah, for sure A lot of Butt rock yeah.

Matt (01:00:22):
That's the category for like Five Finger Death.

Bryson (01:00:25):
Okay.

Matt (01:00:26):
That post-grunge era radio stations played nothing but
rock.
Gotcha Butt rock Okay.

Bryson (01:00:32):
It is Okay, gotcha, I can get on board with that.

Matt (01:00:38):
So we invaded Iraq to Tim McGraw's greatest hits, believe
it or not.
Okay, somebody wired up aportable CD player, because this
is 2003.
American girl and the BradleyCommander wired it up into the
speaker system inside theBradley, like our radios, and
played one album on repeat for21 days to Baghdad and to this

(01:01:03):
day refuse to listen to TimMcGraw's greatest hits.

Bryson (01:01:11):
barbecue stain on her white t-shirt you're probably so
mad, by the time that thingstops playing, you open the door
.

Becca (01:01:21):
It's like finally, yeah, yeah, yeah, You're like, we're
the.

Bryson (01:01:24):
Green Grand Crew.
Yeah, yeah, just you know nofor sure.
So Tim McGraw.

Becca (01:01:29):
Yeah, yeah, too funny yeah.

Clint (01:01:31):
That's wild.
Do you get to keep your nightvision goggles?

Bryson (01:01:35):
Absolutely not.

Matt (01:01:36):
No.

Bryson (01:01:36):
And then they yell at you when you go turn it in
because it's not clean enough orit doesn't work the way that
you.

Matt (01:01:41):
The Taliban got to keep it , apparently.
That's what I hear.
Oh, I went there.

Becca (01:01:46):
Oh my goodness, yeah for sure.

Bryson (01:01:49):
Yeah, now unfortunately, you've got to turn like 90% of
your.
What was it?
Your jacket.

Becca (01:01:59):
I made sure that we didn't find that one.

Bryson (01:02:01):
Yeah, we kept several articles of clothing and then
some other stuff.

Matt (01:02:07):
You have your movie.

Becca (01:02:09):
I can't get rid of that thing.
You better not get rid of it.

Matt (01:02:13):
I cannot get rid of that I sleep with it every night at
the fire station.

Bryson (01:02:16):
So I did when I was at the fire station.
That was one of my go-tos, andthen my son Logan.
He uses that almost nightly Imean he, I'm like please.
Logan is super, supersentimental.

Brooke (01:02:30):
I have no idea what this is.
Do you know what a Wobie is?

Matt (01:02:32):
No, A Wobie is the best piece of gear the United States
military has ever created andissued it.
The best piece of gear theUnited States military has ever
created and issued.
It's a blanket.
It's just made out of polyester.

Brooke (01:02:42):
I guess Do all.

Becca (01:02:43):
So when you sweat you feel the sweat against like that
.
It's like that material, but inthe summer it kind of feels
cool to your skin.
Yeah.

Bryson (01:02:51):
Yeah.

Matt (01:02:51):
It's like a.

Bryson (01:02:52):
Yeah.

Matt (01:02:52):
It's a field expedient, blanket and affectionately it's
called a poncho liner.
But it blanket andaffectionately it's called a
poncho liner but it'saffectionately known as the
whoopee.

Brooke (01:03:02):
Whoopee, w-o-o-b-i-e Okay, but you don't know if all
branches of the military get it.
Just for sure.
The army.

Bryson (01:03:07):
The infantry does, so who cares?

Matt (01:03:09):
We're the ones who really sleep outside and use them.

Bryson (01:03:11):
I don't know if the Air Force needs a whoopee.
That's a big thing too.

Brooke (01:03:14):
Like he's not lying, no like I was going to ask my boys.
I was like, hey, what the heckis this?
But they're not going to knowanything about it.

Matt (01:03:22):
The guys on the Navy ships probably don't have whoopies.

Bryson (01:03:24):
Yeah, they're like no we have electric blankets and
night jackets.

Becca (01:03:26):
I have a heating pad Recliners.
I heard that they havewaterbeds by, for sure.

Matt (01:03:35):
I have a who one on vacation when we go on our
honeymoon.

Clint (01:03:38):
You take one as in, you get more, or the same one.
I own three, you own three.
Yeah, you can only get them.

Bryson (01:03:44):
I have two that were issued to me.
If you enlist, are there?

Clint (01:03:46):
like military.

Bryson (01:03:47):
You can buy one on Amazon.
Oh no, but obviously like he'ssaying yours.

Matt (01:03:50):
That's a big deal.
My whoopee I use at work isolder than guys that are getting
hired on the department.
I'm that guy, I got socks olderthan you, you got a whoopee.

Bryson (01:04:02):
I got a whoopee older than you.
They're like is this okay tosay?
You're like, is this?

Clint (01:04:07):
okay to say.
What's wild about the two ofyou is you've got a lot of
similarities in terms of theinfantry, but then also, like
when your military service cameto a close, you've both jumped
into public service, which isstill very front-line-ish in
terms of how you organize andyou know, orient your life

(01:04:28):
day-to-day, provide for yourfamilies, all those things.
Sure, how did the two of you?
It may be completely differentstories, but how did you all get
from infantry to where you'reat in public service today?

Becca (01:04:41):
Why are you giggling?

Bryson (01:04:42):
I was lied to.
That's how?
No, no, no, oh gosh, no, no, no, oh gosh.
So we I, my lovely wife decidedthat she did not want to be an
Army wife anymore, which is fine, it's fine.
It's water under the bridge,it's fine.

Becca (01:05:01):
It's fine, we're still married.

Bryson (01:05:02):
We're still married and so no, but really we sat down
and she was like hey, man, I'mnot doing this anymore.
And I was like but I have thispacket that says I'm going to go
be a super cool guy and I leavein like two weeks.
And she's like guess who's notleaving?
And I'm like I guess this guy'snot leaving.

(01:05:23):
So I had my SF packet ready,signed off to the PT test.

Matt (01:05:29):
SF means SF Special Forces .

Bryson (01:05:32):
So I knew what I was going to do.
I was going to leave theinfantry, I was going to go do
SF and try to be an SF medic.
That was my goal at least.

Becca (01:05:39):
You could have.

Bryson (01:05:40):
I could have just without her, and so I chose, you
know, obviously the wiser pathand we decided to leave the
military path.
And we decided to leave themilitary, um, and I was told
that if I got my emt basic, thatI would have a job waiting for
me when I got out.
Um, unfortunately that did nothappen, um, and so I spent a few
months kind of piddling aroundwith some jobs um security yeah,

(01:06:06):
I did some security gigs hereand there, um, and then henry
county fire called and we bitdown hard on that.
You did security Until 2021,.

(01:06:26):
I officially left, went throughparamedic school, got all my
fire certs, did all the stufflike that.
So you were a firefighter andparamedic.

Clint (01:06:35):
Mm-hmm.

Bryson (01:06:36):
Gotcha.
So much like Fayette County.
Henry County is what's calleddual purpose.
Yeah, so the city of Noonan,for instance, doesn't transport
patients.
Right, they assist on medicalcalls and they run fire calls,
but they don't transportpatients.
They assist on medical callsand they run fire calls, but
they don't transport patients.
Henry County, you can transporta sick older lady one call, you

(01:06:59):
can run an extrication the nextcall, a house fire the next
call, and then you're running apediatric allergic reaction the
next.
So you run the gamut of whatyou can do in a 24, 48 hour
period.
Which I loved.
That was, if you know, I feltlike I had meaning and purpose
and I was at home in theinfantry, in the army.

(01:07:22):
Henry County Fire and the firedepartment as a whole definitely
helped fill that, fill that gap.
You know that, fill that gap,you know, and give me uh, you
know, give me a new purpose or anew direction.
Um, I think the reason that I Iwent into public safety, or you
know, public safety, I guess,um, and, but specifically ems

(01:07:45):
and fire, was because I had adesire and a thought that I
wasn't finished.
I wasn't necessarily finishedserving or making an impact, and
I knew that being a policeofficer for me.
I did not want to be a policeofficer and that's you know.

(01:08:05):
Know, obviously that's fine.
Um, I saw paramedics andfiremen in the city and then I,
you know, had relationships withthem on and off when I was in
the military and then, obviously, when I got out and they made
another big impact on my careerpath to go be a fireman and then

(01:08:27):
, once I was in that career path, it was just highlighted even
more, so that you can be thereon somebody's worst day and
really, from a Christ followerperspective, try your best at
least to show, try to be Christto that person, least to show,
try to be Christ to that person,even though they may not

(01:08:51):
necessarily want it but they forsure need it.
And I think you know, becca andI have talked about this a lot.
You know you'll hear EMS peopleand cops and even military
people, you know say things likeoh, you know, I can't stand
people, you know, or somevariation.
Even military people you knowsay, say things like oh, you
know, I can't stand people, youknow, or some some variation of

(01:09:13):
that, you know, can't standpeople, um, but at the heart of
it, at least 90 of us, I can saywith confidence, have a desire
to help people, yeah, whetherthat be through the interest of
medicine or the interest of you.
You know hazards, you knowhouse fires, execrations with
vehicles or anything like that.
We still have a severe,deep-rooted river that would run

(01:09:38):
through us, so to speak that wewant to render aid and help.
And I think, being a Christfollower at least for me, and
what you and I have spoken aboutis, that'd be awesome if you
can fix somebody medically ordrag somebody out of a burning
building or help extricatesomebody out of a car.

(01:09:58):
But if you can do that withChrist's love and show Christ
through that, that's the icingon the cake, at least for us.
That's the icing on the cake,at least for us.

Becca (01:10:23):
And I think being a Christ follower can not
tenderize.
But it's kind of hard to put inwords.
I guess how— when?

Bryson (01:10:26):
you know grace you're able to give it?
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, thank you, you can justanswer all my stuff.
Give it, yeah, for sure.
Yeah, thank you.
You could just answer my all mystuff from from now on, for
sure, yeah.
I mean, you know you have graceand mercy and you're able to
expound on that and show that tosomebody, um, who either you
feel doesn't deserve it becauseyou know they're chronically
don't take their medication nowthey're in heart failure, or

(01:10:47):
they're a diabetic patient andtheir their blood sugar is four
and they don't take care ofthemselves.
But but you show grace and mercyand you help them, um,
regardless, not only becauseit's your job, because again,
there's a change that goes on inyour heart and you have a
desire to help people, um, andyou want at least in my

(01:11:09):
experience I'm sure Matt's thesame way is you don't want the
next guy to be able to do it,you want to be able to do it.

(01:11:30):
You want to be able to be thetool that heals and helps and
comforts.
And there's a different gravityto that, I mean, versus running
into battle, pulling a triggerand living with the things after
that, things after that, andit's different of holding a

(01:11:54):
child, you know who's notbreathing and doesn't have a
heartbeat in your hand, andyou're that line.
You're the only you're,especially as a paramedic,
you're the only one that makesthat decision at the back of the
truck.
Um, there's a different gravityto it, but I think the
undercurrent is is to eitherprotect or provide for those
that that can't.
Yeah, and I think that's, Ithink that's rooted, at least

(01:12:16):
for us we talk about all thetime.

Becca (01:12:17):
It's rooted in faith, you know so yeah, I could not stop
you at all.
I mean, I just feel like whycan't he be an accountant or
something?
But, yeah, in a safe cubiclesomewhere.
But like you always had thislike burning desire, like, no
matter what that meant, you weregoing to go out and, you know,

(01:12:38):
be that person that on theirworst day, be there for them.
And I mean now seeing it likeit's incredible to watch.

Matt (01:12:51):
So yeah, Ex-infantrymen make outstanding EMTs and medics
.
You know I want that oldgrizzled combat vet covered in
tattoos coming through the doorif it's my family in danger.
They're just really good at itfor all the reasons that they
were good at their job before.
It's like this thing about them, thing about us, that just

(01:13:15):
makes us.

Becca (01:13:16):
And they're probably the most calm.

Matt (01:13:18):
Oh yeah, Calm as a Hindu cow.

Bryson (01:13:22):
And that's the thing that we joke about.
I mean, I think, matt, you andI Sunday even talked about it.
You know, like, how do you staycalm when you know you're
holding, you know, a child oranother person you know, and
they're not breathing orsomething like that, and you're
like I'm not on fire, nobody'sshooting at me?
Yeah, this is my task andpurpose right now.
You know, and you know, matt,you're right.

(01:13:45):
You want the guy covered intattoos that has been shot at,
shot at people seen things thatthis older medic or experienced
medic has seen, because youunderstand that it is to the
only degree that they canunderstand.
It is life and death, whetherthat be shooting and being shot

(01:14:10):
at or saving a life again.
You want to answer that calland you understand that when you
answer the call, that you'regoing to be ready yeah, to them
it's the most stressful, worstday of their life.

Matt (01:14:25):
For us, it's not even close just tuesday.

Bryson (01:14:27):
Yeah, it's just Tuesday.
Not that we're indifferenttoward it.

Matt (01:14:30):
It's just this.
This is nothing.
I can handle this If I couldhandle every day before this.
This is just another one, yeah.

Clint (01:14:43):
As a follower of Jesus.
We'll open our Bibles and we'llread in Romans that Paul speaks
this principle about how Godworks throughout all of human
history, where he would say, hey, he works all things for good
for those who love him arecalled according to his purpose.

(01:15:03):
And when you look at 9-11,certainly God's not the cause of
that.
But he did take other humandecisions and since then has
leveraged the result of thosedecisions, the result of
terrorists exercising their freewill to slaughter a number of

(01:15:27):
Americans that day withairplanes, and from that God has
birthed this desire in so manyindividuals inside the United
States that makes our countryand our community stronger and
safer because of it.
Yeah, you know I it's hard tosit through an experience like

(01:15:56):
9-11, almost regardless of whatage you were, and not say I
should probably do somethingabout that.
Sure, and I admire even moreguys like the two of you that
said, hey, send me to the front.
And you know, we look throughhistory and we see how,

(01:16:19):
ultimately, all of those thingsare kind of intertwined and
meshed together, though, youknow, nearly a decade apart, in
two different countries even.
But the role of terror and therole of people that have access
to opportunities to harmAmericans or honestly just harm

(01:16:42):
anyone that would want to vouchor advocate for human decency in
all areas of the world.
They would want to stop that.
The individuals that said, hey,send me to those places I have a
deep respect for, and not tosay that, everyone else that,

(01:17:08):
whatever way they decided,whether it was, they gave
enormous amounts of money.
Many parents gave theirchildren, maybe not willingly,
but at some point, you know,wives gave their husbands,

(01:17:29):
husbands, wives.
There's a lot of giving thattook place, you know, yeah, and
I think it's a really goodexample of how tragedy can breed
blessing, when people say Iwant to do good as a result of
seeing evil, and I think all ofus are the beneficiaries of that

(01:17:54):
.
I know our church is thebeneficiary of so many guys that
have experienced the thingsthat you've experienced and they
don't need the abbreviationsexplained to them, like maybe
the three of us do.
But I've been right in thethick of it and I'm incredibly

(01:18:16):
grateful for what you bring tothe table and how we can create
a community at Foundation thathelps guys that maybe aren't as
strong in their conviction offaith but they are still just as
strong in terms of what theyhave to wrestle with, with what
they saw and experienced andwhat I found.

(01:18:39):
It's hard for those guys to finda place where they feel safe
enough to explore.
Could I still have a God thatloves me and a Jesus that has
grace for me?
How do I live in the tension ofwhat war is and this supposed
prince of peace that I'msupposed to follow?

(01:19:00):
Right, and because guys likeyou and a few dozen others are
so vocal about the reality oftheir enlisted experience and
their everyday attempts to findand follow Jesus, that makes

(01:19:24):
Noonan better.
I think we could probably talkabout this for like all day.
I have like a million morequestions, but I know there's an
extent to which podcasts willwork, at least in our particular
venue.
So I think I think we shouldprobably bring it to a close and
maybe we'll revisit this atanother opportunity.

(01:19:45):
There's a couple other guys Iwas thinking of that might be
fun to have an even moreexpanded conversation, because I
think there's a whole part twoto this of what you did see and
experience and live through andhow do you walk through that
with Jesus, and I think it's areally big conversation we

(01:20:07):
should probably have, but Ithink we would do best by giving
it its own episode for sureyeah, um, but I I'm just
fascinated with the stories.
I think, uh, the bradley is anew thing.
I didn't know this whole that Ican picture.
I think I've seen it in movies.
Um, I also have never been inthe back of a Bradley.

(01:20:28):
I know my kid loves militarymuseums.
We were out in Colorado and wewent to one with a bunch of
airplanes and stuff and we gotto see a Huey Go to Columbus to
the Infantry Museum.

Matt (01:20:40):
Go to Columbus, to the Infantry Museum.
I've never been there.

Bryson (01:20:44):
It's phenomenal.

Becca (01:20:45):
There's a Bradley there.
The Bradley that's there.
I cried.

Matt (01:20:49):
The crew.
I believe the crew died incombat.
Okay, in Iraq.
Well, they fixed up that,bradley.

Clint (01:20:55):
Wow.

Matt (01:20:56):
They put it in the museum by crane and then put the roof
on the museum, when they werebuilding the museum and all the
mannequins that they use.
There are actual scanned facesof actual soldiers.

Bryson (01:21:10):
That's cool.
I mean like 95% of the thingsthat you see in that museum
either have been used in combator brought back by somebody from
that.

Clint (01:21:23):
And it's in Columbus.

Bryson (01:21:24):
I mean it's right.

Matt (01:21:25):
Next to the level of detail, down to like the sweat
and sand crusties on the arms ofthe soldiers.

Clint (01:21:32):
We might just have to do like a staff family's trip and
have you all be like tour guides.
That'd be nuts.

Bryson (01:21:37):
That'd be amazing.
What are you?

Brooke (01:21:38):
doing for the rest of the day it is my.
What did you say?

Becca (01:21:42):
Sorry so what are you doing for the rest of the day?
Yeah, exactly.

Matt (01:21:45):
What's wrong?
Just grab the camera, let's go.
So to.
Just to close, I didn't startreading the Bible until my first
tour in Iraq.
Somebody gave me one to takewith me.
Thank you, you know you have alot of time on your hands in
between missions, so I read it alot.
Two passages to this day stillstick with me Isaiah 6-8, which

(01:22:11):
is then I heard the voice of theLord say who will I send?
And I said send me.
And then Proverbs 3, 27, whichsays do not withhold good from
those who deserve it when it isin your power to act.
So for me that's kind of thetwo passages.
I really just live my life bySend me, and when I get there,

(01:22:34):
if I can do some good, I have todo it.

Clint (01:22:37):
That's really good.
That's really good.

Matt (01:22:40):
It really drives me every day.

Clint (01:22:44):
That's legit yeah for sure, thank you for sharing that
.

Bryson (01:22:46):
Yeah, that was awesome, cool For sure, good conversation
, yeah, thank sure, thank youfor sharing.
Yeah, that's awesome, cool Forsure.
Yeah, good conversation yeah.

Becca (01:22:51):
Thank you, guys, for being a part of today.
Thank you, like I said I assoon as we talked about doing
this and have this conversation,your names were like brought up
right up, so I'm so glad thaty'all did this.

Matt (01:23:05):
I'm honored.
We could probably do this forthe next six hours.
We could be here all day,that's awesome.

Becca (01:23:11):
Well, anyways, thank you guys and until next time.
Deuces.

Clint (01:23:16):
Deuces.