December 6, 2023 • 56 mins
What if you could peek into the seldom-shared tales of our veterans - those who have bravely served our country? In our engaging conversation with Brad Hoops, the founder of Remember and Honor, we bring you just that. Brad’s remarkable project is dedicated to preserving the stories of our veterans through personal interviews, and our discussion uncovers the impact they have on both veterans and interviewers.
We learn about Brad's moving experience with a World War II veteran, which deeply impacted him and shed light on the generational disconnect between veterans. Our focus then shifts to the distinct experiences of veterans from different wars. From Korean War veterans to Vietnam veterans, each has their unique insights and challenges. We also touch on the changing landscape of veterans' organizations and the potential role of social media in fostering a sense of camaraderie that may be dwindling elsewhere.
We wrap up our conversation by shining a spotlight on the personal experiences of veterans, especially those who might feel guilt or shame about their roles or assignments. We emphasize the importance of supporting all veterans, regardless of their military role. We explore the power of storytelling through interviews with World War II and Vietnam veterans, revealing the varying perspectives within the veteran community. Join us as we amplify the voices of our veterans, honor their service, and explore the complexities of their experiences.
Remember and Honor Stories on YouTube
Reflections of Our Gentle Warriors - Brad's Book
Contact Thad - VictoriousVeteranProject@Gmail.com
Thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Thad David (00:00):
they feel not understood by other veterans and
I wonder how much that goesinto it.
And have you heard anythinglike that where veterans of one
generation don't feel connectedto veterans of another
generation?
Brad Hoopes (00:14):
I know I've heard from a number of Vietnam
veterans that came back and wentto join the VFW or the American
Legion and were told by theguys there oh you know, that
wasn't a war you were in.
I mean there's a little bit ofhostility there still from some
of the guys.
It's like I walked away fromthere and never even thought
(00:36):
about joining again because theWorld War II and Korean guys saw
Vietnam a little bit different.
And I can tell you there wasone thing that really stood out
with me is, like I said, I wason the board of Honor Flight and
I don't know if you're familiarwith Honor Flight or your
viewers, but it's a program thattakes veterans back to DC to
(01:00):
see all the various monumentsand such and it started out as
purely to take World War IIveterans back and we were one of
the first hubs that startedtaking Korean and then Vietnam.
And there was a very distinctchange in the aura of the flight
.
There was some anger.
You could tense the feel, theanger when the Vietnam veterans
(01:22):
started going.
Thad David (01:23):
My name is Thad David.
I'm a former Marine recon scoutsniper with two deployments to
Iraq.
As a civilian, I've nowfacilitated hundreds of personal
and professional developmenttrainings across the country,
and it struck me recently thatthe same things that help
civilians will also helpveterans succeed in their new
roles as well.
Join me as we define civiliansuccess principles to inspire
(01:44):
veteran victories.
Welcome to another episode.
I'm here today with Brad Hoops,the founder of Remember and
Honor.
How are you doing, brad?
Good?
How about yourself?
I'm doing excellent.
I'm very excited to have you on.
You're doing so much work forveterans and just for the
veteran community in general.
(02:04):
I'm really excited to unpackthat, and really quick for
anybody that doesn't know whatis, what's the elevator pitch of
what is Remember and Honor.
Brad Hoopes (02:14):
It's just a project to preserve the stories of
veterans, to get them down onpermanent records so that
they're never lost or forgotten.
Thad David (02:22):
Okay, so what do you do?
What does it look like?
Where do those stories getpreserved?
Brad Hoopes (02:28):
Well, it's primarily just a kind of a
combination between just acasual conversation with a
veteran and like a 60 minutes TVshow type interview.
Sit down and it's really theirlife story, but with major
emphasis on their time in themilitary.
Thad David (02:46):
Okay, and where can anybody find these?
Where do you post them up?
What does that look like?
Brad Hoopes (02:52):
Yeah, I've got a YouTube channel.
It's youtubecom.
Slash at Remember and HonorStories is where I've started
uploading.
I don't have them all uploadedyet, but chipping away at the
stone with that.
Thad David (03:09):
Okay, that's.
Thank you, Roman.
How many did you have?
Currently Nearly 600.
600 is absolutely amazing.
What got you into it and whendid you start this and what made
you wanna to do?
Brad Hoopes (03:22):
this.
Well, it was about 20 years agoand I had read an article about
how the Library of Congress wasstarting their project, the
Veterans History Project, tocollect veteran stories and I
thought, well, geez, why not tryto do something on the local
level to feed this program?
So I went out, just went out,bought a video camera and just
started doing it.
It was really kind of a I guess, a perfect storm of interest
(03:47):
for me.
I mean, I love history, alwaysloved history.
I should have been a historymajor.
I was.
I've always loved, enjoyedmeeting people and learning
their backstory and I've justalways had a reverence for
veterans.
So it just all, it just allcollided and went from there.
Thad David (04:05):
That's amazing, and being around for 20 years doing
it, I would imagine that you'veheard some, some pretty
incredible stories.
Brad Hoopes (04:14):
Oh, it's beyond incredible to me.
I mean, I didn't servepersonally, so you know, and you
look at life, I guess, and youthink, oh, you know, a human can
only be stretched this muchphysically and mentally.
Then you hear the story aboutthe guy that was stretched this
much, that guy that wasstretched that much, and it's,
(04:35):
it's just, it's truly amazingfor some of these people.
Thad David (04:39):
What was your?
I mean just thinking about allof them.
What's your favorite, yourfavorite interview or the most,
the most amazing story, if youcould pinpoint?
Brad Hoopes (04:49):
That's always a tough question.
I get that asked quite a bit.
I mean, it's much like you knowasking you tell me which one of
your children's favorite.
There's quite a few of them, Iguess, but it's you know, and I
can honestly say of the 600,there isn't that any of them
that I haven't found interesting.
(05:12):
I think probably probably thecrowd favorite and quite frankly
one of I guess one of myfavorites was a World War II
veteran over in Europe, royLayman, from Fort Collins, and
he was telling his story abouthe was with with intelligence.
So he said you know, I wasclose enough to the front lines
(05:35):
that I didn't get shot at.
But far enough back, closeenough to the front lines they
didn't have to wear a tie, butfar enough back I didn't get
shot at.
But he, you know, he traveled,he rode the front line.
So he saw all the death anddestruction and maiming and such
and he could just really tellthe sadness in his eyes 65 years
later the experiences of it.
But then he told about a threereprieve when they were in the
(05:59):
Netherlands and they got put upin various families' homes and
he became instantly attached tothis family, in particular their
eight-year-old girl, one of thedaughters, and they just became
best friends and you could justsee the light in his eyes, the
sparkle, as he told about thatthree weeks.
And then, of course, the frontline moved and he had to move on
(06:20):
and so he had to leave thefamily behind.
And that night I mean, like allmy interviews, they all seemed
to seep into my dreams at night,and that one in particular I
got the next morning.
It's like geez, I gotta see ifI can't find this little girl.
And I was able to track herdown and connect them so and
that's how did he react to that.
(06:43):
It was pretty incredible becauseI only had a picture.
I didn't have a last name.
It actually had the first namemisspelled.
But I knew the town so I got onthe internet.
I mean, this whole story justis testament to the power of the
internet.
I got on the internet and foundthe local newspaper and I had
to jump back and forth with thetranslation service till I found
(07:03):
the news tip button and Iexplained what I was doing and
didn't hear anything.
And then all of a sudden I gota message from a reporter, said
yeah, I'll do the story.
So he did it.
He goes, it'll appear onSaturday morning.
And so I got up real early onSaturday morning, turn on the
computer and boom, there she was.
(07:24):
They had her neighbor had readan article, and I read the
article and they took a pictureof her and and and then
corresponded back.
And what was really cool aboutthat too, I must.
I don't know how many emails Igot from citizens in that in
that town reading that article.
Every one of them ended with wecan't thank the Americans
(07:46):
enough for what, what we had,you know what America had done
for us.
And the thing was he had talkedabout how you know they, they
had played games together andand took walks and and how, for
Christmas Eve they made him feellike a family and took him to
(08:08):
fam, to their church services,and that's where they went out,
that's where her mean was hername, that's where she posed for
the picture that she sent thatmorning, and so I hadn't told
Roy about it and so I tookeverything over and they were
all excited.
So we we did a video and sentit off to them.
But what was really cool was thereporter then did a follow-up
(08:29):
story with her and she talkedabout once again, about how the
games they played and the, thewalks they took, and and pulled
out a diary entry where he'dsigned it, and then she told the
story about going.
He came over and he said, well,we got to go, we're gonna go
see this great general's in town.
So he walked her down there andshe sat on his lap and he get
(08:52):
the general gave her a bag ofdonuts and of course, as an
eight-year-old she had no cluewho general Eisenhower was and
and it was just it was.
It was very cool, but sadly sixweeks after they connected she
got a brain tumor and passed,and then Roy passed two years
later.
But yeah, so long story shortthat I guess, if you got a pin,
(09:14):
point me, that's my favoritestory.
Thad David (09:16):
I could.
That.
I can definitely see why thatand that's absolutely.
That's incredible.
What an amazing thing just tohear a story and then the fact
that you were the, the catalystto that reconnection point I
meant the world to to both ofthem yeah, it was, it was good,
yeah, wow.
And you said that one's a justa crowd favorite as well yeah,
(09:38):
what I'm when with the video.
Brad Hoopes (09:40):
And I wrote a book and that's one of the stories in
the book and that seems to be.
Everybody seems to comment onthat story in particular and for
anybody listening if you wouldshare your, share your book the
title is reflections of ourgentle warriors hmm, and when
did you, when did this one comeout?
(10:01):
that came out in 2015.
I had it is kind of aroundabout side thing that came
out of that.
I was the Loveland newspaperwas doing a series on Loveland's
World War II veterans and askedme to be a contributing writer,
and so I had 18 storiespublished and another 12 on deck
to be published.
(10:21):
And then they sold the paperand discontinued the series.
And so I was getting calls fromthese other 12 guys and when do
you think my story is gonnapublish?
And it's like I hate to tellyou it's not.
They sold the newspaper but Ithought, well, geez, you know
I've got these 30 storiesalready.
Why don't I sit down and watcha few more of my own videos,
write a similar S-like essay andthen bundle it all into a book?
(10:44):
So I wrote in red that was 30stories and I watched another 40
.
It was the 17th anniversary.
I thought, well, that 70stories and 70 anniversary.
So I'm gonna look into a bookand publish it so now, that's
just it.
Just it's there.
They're very, you know, threeor four page quick stories, just
(11:05):
a wide range of servicebranches, wide range of
experiences, and just to give, Ithink, people a general
overview of of World War two,for those who may not know much
about it or nothing about it,and hopefully, for lack of a
better word, a gateway drug forthem to want to go on and learn
more about that period of timeyeah, is, and so that book in
(11:27):
particular is specifically onWorld War two.
Thad David (11:30):
Yeah, that was just World War two veterans, correct?
That's sounds of an incredible,because that's one thing I love
little, bite-sized chunks andhaving something that I can just
go in and grab one page or youknow, like you said, two or
three pages, I can sit down, Ican read one section at a
one-story over coffee, exactly,yeah, yeah, exactly.
(11:51):
And so you've obviouslyinterviewed.
It sounds like a lot of WorldWar two veterans yeah, out of
the 600, probably about 400.
Brad Hoopes (12:00):
Or World War two.
I mean I I've never had, Inever set out to specifically
target any veteran.
I to me, any veteran thatwalked out the door deserves to
have their story told.
But in the beginning I Itargeted World War two primarily
, just because the clock wasticking with that group and and
(12:21):
yeah, so I jumped at that.
But, like I said, no rules onhow I want a particular veteran,
any veteran, I'll sit down andtell their story.
Who would like to have it toldhave you interviewed veterans
from pretty much every war sinceWorld War two yeah, I would say
it probably, like I said, forprobably about 400 World War two
(12:42):
, about a hundred Korean, aboutin about 60 Vietnam and then the
rest you know that have servedbut weren't in any sort of
conflict and only a few of ourmost recent conflicts of just a
handful of that group.
Why is that?
You know, I I can't have abroke into that group and I
(13:05):
think my thought is that maybeit's still too fresh.
I mean, everybody else, theWorld War two guys have had 60
plus years to chew on it, theVietnam guys 40, 50 years to
chew on their experiences andand I think they were ready to
talk.
I don't know, it's just atheory, but I think it's it's
still very fresh and and and ourmost recent veterans are
(13:31):
probably still chewing on it,really them, do you reach out?
let me do you actively reach outand try to grab them up you
know, and that's, I think, beena big part of it too, is finding
them.
You know that certainly theWorld War two and Korean and
Vietnam veterans they collect,they do things together.
(13:53):
I think more of the most recentrecent veterans or individuals,
I think more individuals theydon't seem to to group up and
certainly don't join I don'tthink in the numbers of the
other conflicts, like theAmerican Legion of the VFW, so
they're hard to to track down isprobably a big part of it.
(14:15):
My, my biggest source throughthe years was I used to be on
the board of Honor Flight andI'd get, I would get the, the,
the flight list and whiteeverybody.
So that was very easy.
And then, you know, probablythe second biggest source is you
know you'd interview a veteranand they tell two friends who
tell two friends but yeah, so Ihaven't, I haven't, I haven't,
(14:36):
just haven't cracked that grouphmm, and it's interesting that
you brought up they don'tcollect up in the same way that
the other groups do.
Thad David (14:44):
What?
How do the other ones collectup that that newer generations
don't seem to?
Brad Hoopes (14:49):
well, like I said, I, you know you, I think you
talk to anybody at the, the VFWand and the American Legion, I
think, like any serviceorganization, rotary, whatever,
I think that's on the decline.
Memberships are under theclients.
They don't seem to join thatyou know.
You have the VFW or the, theVietnam guys that like to
(15:13):
collect and and get together.
I just I don't know.
I just feel like they're moreindividual, individualistic than
than the other groups.
Thad David (15:26):
Like you know, pure speculation yeah, yeah, well,
and that's what I think that Iwas.
I was very excited.
One of the things is what I'veobviously to hear the stories
and the collections that youbrought to the tables is
fascinating, and I love to learnfrom history.
I love to learn from you know,hopefully, if somebody else's
(15:47):
walk to a similar path to me,what, what insights can I take
away from it?
And that's what I've reallyenjoyed about tapping into some
older generations and hearingtheir stories.
But common threats and it'sinteresting that you brought up
that they group up and then, forsome reason, ours doesn't to be
like I said.
Brad Hoopes (16:06):
It could be wrong in that regard.
I just haven't.
I haven't found the collectivegroups with these groups, but I
agree with you, I would.
I would love to connect theolder and the younger to share
their experiences that you know.
These guys have walked a walkthe road now and it's anything I
think could be helpful for thenew guys to.
(16:26):
You know, I think we're kind ofshameful in our past history of
how our veterans were treatedand how how they were learning
of.
You know, I guess one thingthat bugs me and I could be once
again wrong, I didn't serve,but it seems like the
government's very good abouttaking a civilian and holding
(16:50):
them into us into a warrior, butthen when the time comes to to
let them go, it is like okay,sign here, thanks, you're out,
you know, thanks for yourservice.
Instead of that, that sameprocedure to bring them back
from a warrior down to acivilian again and and I think
(17:11):
you know, sadly, our previous orolder vets and walked a pretty
rough road and you know, thankGod I think we're starting to
learn we needed that.
We need to treat our veteransbetter and and help them along
and and I just I just thinkthere would be.
There would be a lot of good toconnect our old and and new
veterans Together.
(17:32):
I think they could both learnfrom each other to, quite
honestly, yeah.
Thad David (17:37):
How was it for Just with that too?
How and how was it for, like,world War two veterans coming
back home?
Is it similar, because I onlyknow I we hear so much about
what it's like for veterans.
Now, were there common threadsof what they dealt with, or did
it seem like my impression of,as they just kind of came back,
I'm like, well, we're gettingback to work?
Brad Hoopes (17:57):
Well, that's just it.
Yeah, there's very distinct,distinct lines.
I mean the World War two, IMean that generation, I think
was humbled to begin, is humbledto begin with, but yeah,
they're the philosophy there was.
They got back home and, youknow, kind of just brush
themselves on and and Went onwith life.
(18:17):
I remember one guy In the SouthPacific, gone for two and a
half years, had, you know, hadchoked at home, you know, missed
out on two and a half years.
He got home on a Thursday andwas back at his old job on
Monday and there was just, youknow, that was just the attitude
the Korean guys, they're, youknow, truly, the end, you know,
(18:44):
forgotten.
Veteran Nomar is is definitelyDescribes that group.
I think the vietnam, to me, theVietnam and our present
conflicts have have very similar, are very similar, and that's,
I think those are the two groupsI would probably match up with
the Vietnam and and our mostrecent conflicts I there's just,
(19:07):
to me, a lot of similarities inthat regard, although you know
the nice thing about Mostrecently, we've come to
appreciate our veterans whenthey get home, or is with the
Vietnam, as you know, with theVietnam vets, it was despicable
how, how they were treated whenthey when they returned home.
Thad David (19:27):
It was.
I actually just did aninterview with Vietnam veteran
recently and I was asked, I wascurious to ask him about his
experience coming back.
He was like, honestly, I don'tknow if they just weren't when I
landed, he was like, but Inever experienced it.
I landed back in the States.
I think he landed up innorthern California and got
another airplane, flew back homeand Texas, I believe, and he
(19:50):
was like and then I just Startedworking and I never there was
nobody around.
So he for in his experiencethat Very obviously the Vietnam
veterans were treated as a wholeand then not great way and it
was interesting that his he waslike I know that it was there
and I just never had to evenThink about it, but that was
very much.
(20:10):
He was very much more like theWorld War two that that asked
him what his Experience was,what what's that also, and he
was like I got back to work,yeah, I'm here.
Yeah, I've been married to mywife for 40, you know, 40 years.
Yeah, just Incredible.
Yeah, absolutely.
So you think a lot ofsimilarities with Vietnam and
(20:33):
the current generation,different than the World War two
veterans.
Brad Hoopes (20:37):
I Think so.
You know.
I Certainly no expert, no, Ithink you know.
I think if you describe thelast, I Guess they called the
good war was World War two, andand you know, I think there's
been controversy between, andwell, and Korea.
(20:58):
I think Korea was probably aGood or just war.
I don't know if that's wordsshould even be attached that.
But but Vietnam and our mostrecent conflicts, I mean there's
a lot of controversy as to whywe were there, what was the, the
end game, how it ended.
I mean, those are to me, arethe similarities, hmm.
Thad David (21:20):
It's such an interesting thing to think about
just coming back home for more.
And you know, having gone intoI did the initial invasion in
Iraq, went back again foranother deployment shortly after
that, and Just having ourexperience of it, just it
fascinates me to think aboutother generations that I think
(21:40):
when I was younger, I was veryyoung and I'll just speak for me
personally.
You know, I think my biggestthing when I went to, when I was
in the initial invasion in Iraq, was I was like I wonder if I'm
gonna be home before I turn 21,.
You know, like am I?
You know it's like is thatreally?
You know You're in a war zone,like why are you thinking about
that?
And it's interesting to me toreflect on it and think about
(22:04):
just wonder what it was like forfor other generations that went
off and and thought and andtheir generations were.
Brad Hoopes (22:13):
Well, you know and once again I go back to the fact
that I didn't serve and what acommon thread that always seems
to Weave through all myinterviews.
As you know, I look at thesepeople.
You know 17, 18, 19, 20 yearsold and what they went through,
and it's like you know what wasmy life like during that period.
Well, my biggest worry was thatmath test on Wednesday and with
(22:36):
that cute girl in English, evergo out with me and and the big
Pressure or the week is you knowwhat are we gonna do on Friday
night?
You know what's going on andhear these.
You and these other veteransare in war zones, and that's
another thing, too.
That I can't wrap my headaround is is a war zone.
I mean, I know it's man-made,there's got to be the most
(22:58):
unnatural place for a human tobe in, and I Don't understand it
.
Thad David (23:02):
I think For me and I was just talking to a buddy,
that just reminded me I wastalking to him last week but for
me, I always, I've alwaysthought about it just every.
Personally, I think war hasbeen around for as long as
mankind.
Oh yeah, I think that as longas we have mankind it's gonna be
(23:24):
there and while the battlefieldis gonna change, that it's,
it's always gonna be a part ofit.
And so I've alwayscompartmentalized it in that
manner that that was just mebeing able to go and and serve
my country and be a part of it.
So it wasn't.
I Didn't view it in thisgrandiose way.
It was just me going to do whatI'd sign up to do.
Mm-hmm, that makes any sense,I'm sure.
(23:47):
And the other thing that itmakes me think about too is
interesting is it's having doingtwo deployments.
A common theme that we had waswe left the initial invasion and
Iraq came back home and for, aswe had, our platoon was
supposed to go out on a mu andMarine expeditionary unit where
we jump on the Navy boats and wetravel and go from San Diego,
(24:08):
and we were supposed to justbounce around.
We were gonna go to Hawaii,australia, you know, just do the
live the life.
Yeah right, we ended up,essentially, we went to Hawaii
and did a training up there, butwhen it's basically straight to
Iraq, I went, got dropped offin Kuwait, went right back in,
and One of the things that weremembered was that all the time
that we were home I think wewere home for I don't know the
(24:30):
timeframe and spec guessing ninemonths, but it felt like that
was just a little.
That nine months of being homewas a dream and it felt like we
had just never left that, thatspace.
And it was that that space andit was.
It was just interesting havingto go back over again, but I
(24:50):
just don't.
I don't think about it in thatway.
It's a conversation my sisterhas with me.
Often she's like well, youdon't realize what it's like to
talk to you, having gone to war.
I just did what I signed up todo.
It doesn't.
Brad Hoopes (25:06):
Did your sister, and I don't know if you were
married before you went offtalking about your sister.
Does she see a different person?
Thad David (25:17):
Yeah, that's a good question.
I don't know.
I've never asked her thatactually and I feel like I
probably should.
I noticed joining the militarywas a big shift in general, so I
would say yes, but we haven'thad a big deep conversation
about it.
And one interesting thing thatI discovered recently through
(25:42):
just another interview actuallywith a spouse, was the.
I've always told myself I'llshare whatever you want to share
.
I'm an open book and just askme.
I just tell people all the time, just ask me.
And I was talking to my buddy'sfriend of ours.
His wife has been married tohim through three deployments.
He's still in the reserve, sonow he's just a lot of stuff.
(26:05):
But she said her biggest thingwas she's never known what to
ask.
So she always loves it when hegets together with his buddies
because they just start talkingand she hears the stories that
she wants to hear.
And she's like I don't know howto open that up.
And it was a big a ha for methat I think I might have seemed
more closed off than I intendedto be because I wouldn't ever
bring it up.
I would just ask me about it.
(26:25):
Nobody asked and I was like, oh, that's fine, I didn't hurt my
feelings.
And then I thought about it.
I was like, wow, my sisterprobably never asked, because I
bet she didn't know what to ask.
And I talked to her about itafter the fact and she said I
was always very open in that shenever felt like I was.
But it's an interesting space.
Brad Hoopes (26:45):
So well, I tell you , I think if I had a dollar for
every child or spouse that saidthanks for doing this, we didn't
know his story I'd be doingthis broadcast from my private
island somewhere and you talk tothe guys about it and I said
well, you know, I didn't want toput this on my family.
(27:06):
I they wouldn't understand.
Unless you were there Iwouldn't understand.
I'll talk to my buddies aboutit.
So they've closed off from fromquite a few of them, most of
them actually.
Yeah.
Thad David (27:20):
Well, and it's interesting, we had a, probably
my proudest, because I'm I don'tI'm not very boastful of my
time and service.
I'm not very good at stuff upjust so I think anybody watches
a new video I want to like.
If they're like who's this guytalking about the military, At
least you can see that I was inthe military and that's.
But if you go around my houselike this, there's not, there's
(27:43):
not a lot of stuff around, somuch.
So like this Veterans Day, myson gave me a his school.
He drew a little picture thatsaid happy Veterans Day.
And he was like did you knowit's Veterans Day?
I was like yeah, and I was likewhat did you?
You know?
What'd you talk about school?
And he's like I told my teacherthat my dad's a veteran and
they like hit me in my core.
It was like my proudest momentof ever being a veteran and for
(28:07):
whatever reason.
Just it gave me all the feels.
But I started looking at my sonloves to collect all my medals
from races.
If I do races and stuff likethat, like I did a marathon or
just a half or whatever, he justlikes the medals.
I was like I never thought todo it, but I've never.
Actually I don't have any of mymedals, like all my, like some
veterans have like shadow boxesand stuff like that.
I showed it to my wife andshe's like why do we not have
(28:28):
this stuff?
I was like I don't have a goodreason, why not?
And it was.
It struck me that that'ssomething I started ordering
just to be able to give to myfamily and kind of let them into
that world and right from thepeople that didn't share, you
know, because I think that thefamily really does want to know
about it and I don't want to,you know, and that's what I like
(28:49):
about learning from these pastgenerations and and be able to
have conversations like this.
That's why I'd love to tap intoyour knowledge of kind of what
they, what they experienced withit.
Brad Hoopes (28:59):
Right, right.
So along those lines, itreminds me of a story of a World
War II Marine that was on IwoJima, sole survivor of his unit,
badly injured, in the hospitalfor a year and a half.
Afterwards, years later, hisson comes up to him and says
well, dad, can you drive me downto the costume store?
And he goes well, what are youdoing?
He goes well, I'm in a play andI need a military uniform.
(29:21):
He goes well, once you justwear mine, he goes you're in the
military.
I mean, there's a incrediblestory and no clue, I don't know.
Thad David (29:29):
Yeah, and that's.
I think a lot of people arekind of in that same boat, but
with no ill will towards it.
Brad Hoopes (29:37):
Oh, no, no.
Thad David (29:39):
It's just, you know, for whatever reason it'll come
up whenever it manifests itself,right, in that case, a
Halloween costume, just so, withthat too, because of you
mentioned the World War IIfamilies not hearing about it.
So you've connected with a lotof the families as well.
Brad Hoopes (30:03):
Oh, very much so.
Yeah, well, not many of thefamily.
You know, the funny thing isI'll hear years later from
family members that you know wewere dads past.
We wanted to let you know thatdads past and we discovered, you
know, going through the stuff,that this interview and oh,
(30:24):
thank you for doing this, wedidn't know we had this.
And so that connection, thestarting I mean I've met quite a
few during the interviews butI'm starting to meet more now,
years later, as they're comingacross these interviews, and I
mean I've had a couple thatfound their dad on YouTube,
(30:44):
didn't realize they, you know.
Once again, that humbleness, Iguess, is just putting it aside.
Thad David (30:52):
Jumping on sharing it.
It's wild to think that theywould do the interview and then
not share it with anybody.
Wow, and I can only imagine howthose families felt to be able
to step into their loved ones,their deceased loved ones, a
(31:12):
little bit of their past.
So it's, you're doing amazingthings.
Brad Hoopes (31:16):
And I've always said I mean one vision that's
going to be going through allthese years.
I've always had this visionthat you know, someday that the
grandchildren of these veteransare going to sit down with their
grandchildren and pop thisthing and say, you know, I'd
like you to meet my granddad ormy grandma.
I mean, I've always just hadthis vision.
That's when I was at my lowest.
I just kept going with thatvision.
Thad David (31:36):
So yeah, Was it a struggle for you, or has it been
a struggle to keep interviewingand to keep it all going?
Brad Hoopes (31:45):
Yeah, I suppose it has.
I mean that's yeah, how come?
Oh, just financially.
I mean, the thing is, you know,when I first started this thing
out it was just purely a sidehobby, like I said once again,
just to satisfy my love ofhistory.
But as I started hearing moreand more stories, it's like
(32:07):
things started to change and Ican tell you the day that the
trajectory made a sharp turn.
From that I'd gotten a call thenext morning from the wife of a
World War II veteran.
I'd interviewed him the daybefore and she said you know,
I'm just calling to thank youfor doing this.
You know the kids and I don'tknow his story and we look
forward to getting the DVD andwatching it.
(32:28):
She goes.
I also wanted to let you knowthat last night was the first
time in 60-some years he sleptthrough the night and it was
game over.
I pretty much just droppedeverything else I was doing and
just took on just this projectjust consumed me.
It just vowed that I was justgoing to do anything I could to
help and honor veterans in anyway I can.
(32:50):
So you know, from a financialor business standpoint it wasn't
very wise to my approach, butcertainly no regrets in what
I've done.
Thad David (33:00):
Well, so, just from simply I would say simply but
from being able to share thestory, allowed him to sleep
through the night.
Brad Hoopes (33:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, and I've since fallen.
You know he had stuff to getoff his chest, you know, and
that's why I'd like to connectthe old and the new.
And I vowed.
Then, like I said, I justbecame totally consumed and I
wanted I don't want mostcertainly the most recent guys.
(33:31):
There's no reason that they,for the next 60 years, can't
sleep.
We've got to do everything tomake sure that that ends, that
we do whatever we can to makesure that for, for example,
you're yourself, I want you tosleep now.
I don't want you to gosleepless for the next 40 years.
Thad David (33:53):
Have you seen other or heard from other veterans
that have said that, the similarthing?
Brad Hoopes (33:58):
that after opening up and sharing, yeah, it's
happened numerous times sincethen and then, and then the
other end of the spectrum aswell.
You know, there's really twogroups that I come across when I
do interviews, those that youknow experience things that they
just soon not talk about orshare again, and you know, I
respectfully back away from that.
(34:19):
But there's the larger groupthat'll say, oh, I didn't do
anything, I don't have a story.
And and I'll argue until I'mblue in the face with that group
and there was one guy that hewas the poster child for that
Vietnam veteran and his wifeactually set up the interview
and up to the point that, till Iturn the camera on, he said I
don't know, I'm sitting here, Idon't have a story, I don't have
(34:40):
a story.
But of course he had a story.
It ended up he had a great story.
Well, a story great isn'talways the exact word but she
called me like a couple weekslater and she goes Brad, you
know, we just sat down andwatched that, that interview or
the DVD, and she goes.
I just wanted to tell you, forthe last three days he's been
walking around with his chestpuffed out.
So he realized you know, youknow we did have a story.
(35:01):
So, yeah, wow.
Thad David (35:05):
And I that's very interesting to think that.
How long has been walkingaround thinking you didn't have
a story to share, exactly?
Yeah, I guess over time youstart to believe it.
If you keep telling yourselfthat you know, for depending on
how much time goes by, I meanyou're going to start believing
that thing that you're tellingyourself about it.
(35:26):
And then once you lay it alldown there and you're like wow,
it actually was pretty unique.
Brad Hoopes (35:35):
Like I said, when I first started out, I thought,
oh, the benefactor of these isgoing to be the families that
didn't know the story, and thenit's down on record, that's
proven to be obviously the case.
But yeah, there's therapeuticvalue to these as well.
I'm certainly no expert, I'm notherapist, and I think these
(35:56):
guys just need an outlet to telltheir story and to hear
themselves talk.
I think has been beneficial.
Thad David (36:04):
They say that and it brought to mind a few things.
But the idea that happiness ithappens not from the experience,
but the reflection of theexperience.
And that's why journaling,writing down gratitudes, is such
a powerful thing, because it'sthe reflection of it, the value
(36:24):
and the appreciation of it.
And thinking about veteransthat aren't sharing and, for
whatever reason, they have tonot share that, the moment they
finally get to share it andthink about it, they're like oh
wow, I actually am really proudof that time and that really was
an amazing thing.
So I can definitely see that.
And then I know you said you'renot a therapist and I appreciate
(36:49):
you sharing that out there.
I know you're very humble witheverything that you're doing,
but the idea that there's thisold management article that I've
always thought about with justbeing a veteran and that the
don't take the monkey I don'tknow if you've ever heard of
that, but if two people, ifsomebody comes and vents to you
(37:11):
and they are just complainingabout their day, that they give
the monkey to you, and now youhave this complaint on your back
or their problem, they give youtheir problem and it's sitting
with you.
But if you just keep holding it.
You'll just keep holding.
All these monkeys will just beclinging to you.
But the moment you share things,and things like your story or
allowing people to share it, youget to like.
That monkey leaves your backand if they've been holding that
(37:35):
story for so long, never havingshared it, not only the
appreciation of be able toreflect on the good they did,
but if there was anything thatthey just wanted to get out that
I could see, that would be aheavy rock to finally drop down.
That's amazing.
I love what you're doing.
(37:56):
What can you share about theKorean war veterans, because you
mentioned earlier, kind offorgotten about.
Brad Hoopes (38:08):
Yeah, it's obviously.
You've heard it's called theforgotten war and the forgotten
veteran, and they truly have.
We had the World War II, whichobviously was just a major world
event, and then it caught inthat gap.
And then the other side is, itwas Vietnam and those guys were
(38:29):
just forgotten and you know theywere an amazing group of people
too and it was a short periodof time.
You know, I think it was what atwo year, three year war.
You know, 38,000 were killedand Vietnam went on for a decade
and 58,000 were killed.
So it was a major war for us.
(38:52):
I mean, it's still considered aconflict, I think.
And the thing that I alwayslike to point out, I think you
can say whatever you want aboutour military and our politics
and such, but that is a primeexample of what the American
soldier did for the world.
When you look at, if you'veever seen that nighttime
(39:13):
satellite photo of the KoreanPeninsula and you can see the
DMZ, it's very distinct.
Everything south of the DMZ islit up like a Christmas tree,
everything north is pitch blackand what we've, what we one
often did for that country, andit's just just to me an example
(39:33):
of the American soldier and thegood we do in the world.
Thad David (39:40):
But how many interviews have you done with
Korean vets?
Maybe about a hundred, okay, sosubstantial amount.
What thoughts or feelings dothey have about their experience
, their time in?
Brad Hoopes (39:55):
They're probably closer linked to the World War
II guys Just went off, did theirthing, came home.
You know it was a little bitdifferent.
You know each, obviously, eachwar is different.
I mean, you said you had anumber of deployments and a lot
of these guys, multipledeployments.
You know the World War II guyswent off and they were in the
(40:16):
government, had it.
It was open, ended.
You came home and we were doneKorean.
That changed.
I think they just did a oneyear.
Some of them did, I think, a 13month deployment and then
Vietnam was just one and then.
But then it changed again withyou guys.
So but so yeah, a lot of themit's.
They're very similar to theWorld War II guys and a lot of
(40:38):
them were in World War II,served and went off and they got
called up again.
So I would, I would probablylink them into, bundle them in
the World War II crowd in that,went off, did my, did my thing,
came back and brush myself off,went to work, you know, moved on
with life.
Thad David (40:57):
So yeah, it's interesting to me just to see
those comparisons and it hit mealso earlier about the grouping
together, how the you know, theVFW, just all of that is
shrinking down, which I andpersonally I've never.
I haven't joined, haven'texplored it and I don't have any
(41:18):
good reason why or why not.
I think, and actually I justhad a thought that hit me with
that yeah, I always thoughtabout it as an older generation
or different, differentgeneration.
But the social media, yeah, myphone's over there, but I think
(41:39):
there's a lot of social mediagroups that I think give the
feeling of that camaraderie butit's not as visible as a.
You know, you're driving downthe road and you see the VFW.
It's there.
Because if there's a socialmedia or a private social
network group, like I know I wasa sniper in the Marines, so and
if you're a Marine Corps scoutsniper, there's actually a
(42:00):
private social media group justfor anybody that's a Marine
Corps scout sniper, you can sendin your DD214 and or you know,
and there's other ways ofverifying you, but you can join.
So I wonder how much that masksit.
But it's interesting that thattoo, because something that I
talked to another veteranearlier is that they feel not
(42:23):
understood by other veterans andI wonder how much that goes
into it.
And have you heard anythinglike that where veterans of one
generation don't feel connectedto veterans of another
generation?
Brad Hoopes (42:36):
I know I've heard from a number of Vietnam
veterans that came back and wentto join the VFW or the American
Legion and were told by theguys there oh you know, that
wasn't a war, you're in.
I mean, there's a little bit ofhostility there still from some
of the guys.
It's like I walked away fromthere and never, never even
(42:58):
thought about joining again,because the World War II and
Korean guys saw Vietnam a littlebit different.
And I can tell you there's onething that was that really stood
out with me is, like I said, Iwas on the board of Honor Flight
and I don't know if you'refamiliar with Honor Flight or
your viewers, but it's a programthat takes veterans back to DC
(43:22):
to see all the various monumentsand such and it started out as
purely to take World War IIveterans back and we were one of
the first hubs that startedtaking Korean and then Vietnam,
and they for the longest time.
We did 22 flights and probablyoh I don't know, probably about
(43:45):
the 15th flight we startedtaking Vietnam veterans and
there was a very distinct changein the aura of the flight.
I couldn't, I couldn't believehow much.
I mean.
It was a drastic the trip.
They were all great trips, butit was, there was some anger.
(44:06):
You could tense the feel, theanger, when the Vietnam veterans
started going.
It was it, just it, completely.
It was still, like I said,still a great trip, but boy, you
could, you could, and youtalked to anybody that was
involved with that and they'dprobably all say the same thing.
Now the mood changed when westarted taking the Vietnam
veterans.
How so?
And what was the change?
I think it was, there was angerthere was.
(44:31):
I think there was.
There was some anger.
The previous trips you had, youknow, we asked everybody, we
gave him t-shirts so he, youknow, kind of keep, look out for
each other and keep everybodytogether.
And it was, everybody just kindof went as as the tour went,
(44:53):
and with the Vietnam vets, youknow, it's like no, I don't want
to wear a shirt, I'm going towear my, my vest and I'm going
to go off and do this.
No, I may not go, may not gowith you on that one.
It was just like I said it was.
I'm overemphasizing it probably, but there was a change, there
was a.
There was just a different auraor a different mood on on those
(45:14):
trips.
And then the last bunch werejust purely.
By then we started losing prettymuch all the the World War II
veterans in Korea, so it'd be ahandful, but mostly Vietnam.
And yeah, it was just.
It was just a different tripand amazingly too, from a health
standpoint.
You know, when we startedtaking taking Vietnam veterans,
(45:37):
I was talking to Stan Cass whowas the Colonel, stan Cass who
led up the program.
I said, well, stan, I guess wewe can cut back on our medical
personnel and and and the numberof wheelchairs we take.
He goes no, no, we got to rampup.
We took more wheelchairs in thelater flights than we ever did
in the earlier flights with theWorld War II guys.
It was yeah, yeah.
Thad David (46:00):
Wonder why.
Why did we do that?
Because that's definitelysomething that two days still
happens, where we're almostgetting segregated and it's a
different even from people fromthis, this one war over in, you
know, iraq, afghanistan, thatthat's happening with that.
So it's interesting I wonderwhy we do that as veterans.
Brad Hoopes (46:22):
Yeah, I can't figure it.
Thad David (46:26):
It.
Also, I don't want to say it's.
I'm sawless is the right word.
Just knowing that it was stillhappening then doesn't make it
right today.
It almost brings me a littlejoy knowing that it wasn't.
It's not a new thing.
That's just sparking up todaybecause I think that I heard
somebody I was.
(46:48):
What was that that I washearing again here?
Oh no, it was about that.
There's this thing about combatveterans and it's like that's a
thing like different than aveteran and it's like some
combat veterans that say they'redifferent than a regular
veteran.
Brad Hoopes (47:02):
Well, that's what I , you know, and that's one thing
I can't sort out either and Idon't know with your group if
it's how much it plays into it.
But you look at, you got yourWorld War II veterans, you got
your Korean veterans, and thenyou get to the Vietnam War and
you're either a Vietnam veteranor you're a Vietnam era veteran.
(47:23):
If you weren't boots on theground, you're a Vietnam era
veteran.
And I don't get that.
And I don't see, you know, anAfghan or Iraqi era veteran.
That one certain group it'slike.
You know, if you weren't, ifyou weren't in country, you're
(47:45):
an era veteran.
And it and everybody I talked to, nobody can seem to answer that
question.
I can't Like, why it's there?
Why it's there?
I mean you know World War II,korea, you know nobody, not
everybody, was over in thePacific or over in over in
Europe.
There was, you know, here inthe States.
(48:07):
I mean, once again, I don't Itry not to comment on it because
I'm not a veteran but I mean,you know, I truly appreciate the
, appreciate the frontlineveterans that were up at the tip
of the spear, but you know, forevery one of those guys there's
10 people behind them that needto support that, and to me this
is important, oh yeah.
Thad David (48:30):
But I wonder and I'm excited to dive deep into that,
or deeper, because it's, it'sinteresting and again makes me
happy to see that it's similarit doesn't make it okay.
Yeah, right, because I see itnow and I'm like, why, why?
Why are we, you know?
Because I'm just happy thatanybody served, simply because,
like you said, like there's, nomatter what you did, no matter
(48:50):
what role it was.
There's, I think 90% are goingto.
There's a needs to be 90% ofsupport to be able to get the
boots on the ground.
And they're equally asimportant because without it it
doesn't happen.
Brad Hoopes (49:02):
And coupled with that, I mean when you enlisted
one off, or Uncle Sam pulled youout the door the minute you
signed up, you had no clue whereyou, what your lot was going to
be, where you were going.
You didn't know if you're goingto the frontline, or you know
back in Ohio peeling potatoesthe whole time.
So you know.
(49:24):
I don't know I don't understandit, but once again I try to back
off of it because I'm not aveteran and I don't feel like
I've got a right to weigh in onit and I can understand.
Thad David (49:37):
It's a very common thing that you know for a lot of
civilians to not want to chimein and I can definitely respect
that, although I do think that,just given the nature of 600
interviews with variousgenerations of veterans and
conflicts and wars and it's Ithink you have a lot of
knowledge on it it made me thinkof just being in.
(50:00):
You know, I was a recon marineand once you in the Marine Corps
and I don't I would imagineit's still the same today but
when I was in the, any marineyou get your green PT gear, you
get your green silks, you getyour green shirt and that's your
, that's what you work out in.
But once you graduate fromMarine Reconnaissance School you
get black PC gear and that'sthe way you earn black PC gear
(50:24):
and and I remember just being atour unit, like there better not
be anybody that hasn't beenthrough the school wearing black
PT gear.
If somebody's going to go saysomething and I really like
that's such a small thing, butit seems such a like a similar
parallel to you, weren't youknow if Vietnam era versus
(50:45):
Vietnam veteran, and it seemslike a very similar thing, that
it's one of those, like I earnedit.
So you can't claim it Right,right and not saying it's right,
wrong and different.
But it seems like it's happeningon a small scale, so it doesn't
surprise me that it's happeningon a larger scale as well,
because I'm definitely guilty ofthe black PT gear.
So it's, it's an interestingthing.
(51:09):
But it's interesting to see itbecause, on the flip side, now
that so many veterans thathaven't deployed that's also one
thing that's coming up with thenewer generation of veterans,
because it's so many veteranshave been able to deploy or you
know, I say have been able to alot of veterans, or a lot of
people in the military, want to,especially if there's a
(51:32):
conflict, that's something theywant to go do, but several don't
get to and there's almost thisdepressive nature around not
having.
You know, I was in the militarybut I didn't get to go over and
they have a guilt that they'reholding by not going, which is
an interesting thing to see.
Have you interviewed, have youinterviewed from different
(51:53):
generations, people that weremaybe a Vietnam error veteran,
that didn't actually get bootson the ground?
Brad Hoopes (52:01):
Oh, yeah, yeah, like I said, the only rule I've
got with my project is I have norules and so, yeah,
particularly, I mean, what isreally interesting is the World
War II veterans, those thatstayed stateside or didn't get
(52:22):
into the action, and even moreso that those that through
medical conditions, whatever,couldn't enlist at all.
And there is a deep shame withthat group that those that never
served or stayed stateside,that they didn't get into the
action even years later still.
But with the Vietnam guys, I'mtrying to take some of the the
(52:48):
era veterans.
They would, I guess they were alittle bit more modest.
Well, you know, don't have muchto story.
I, you know, I was inCalifornia or I was on Okinawa
the whole time, didn't, didn'tget it in the country, don't
really, I guess, talk too muchabout it.
(53:10):
Yeah, I don't know how, justtrying to think of some of the
era veterans that I met, yeah,they don't really, I guess, one
way or the other, talk too muchabout their thoughts on that,
other than, and some of them sayin what I know now, you know,
my God, I didn't, I didn't gointo country, you know right.
Thad David (53:33):
Well, I'm at the end of the day and you mentioned it
earlier, but when you sign up,you have no.
Well, that's, that's a choice,yeah nobody asked me if I wanted
to go Exactly, yeah, and I washappy to, but it just for
anybody that didn't go.
So I know I wouldn't judgesomebody because you didn't get
a choice Right, like themilitary, like the one thing I
(53:53):
know for a fact is the militaryreally doesn't care what you
want, right, and we're the other, like they really don't care,
they're going to do what theyneed to be done, what needs to
be done, and that's just how itrules.
Brad Hoopes (54:02):
So yeah, and my, like I said, my philosophy is
anybody that served in themilitary.
They're all standing around thespear.
Some of them are closer to thetip, but you know a lot held a
lot closer to the spear than Iever got, so they're just a deep
respect for that.
Thad David (54:16):
Yeah, I'm sure the same thing.
I love anybody that's willingto step up and just sign on the
dotted line.
So, man, thank you so much fortaking some time and, oh, I
appreciate this time Veryenjoyable to share as to what
you're doing, and I definitelyencourage anybody to jump on.
(54:38):
You said the best place to findyour interviews is on YouTube.
Brad Hoopes (54:42):
Yeah, that's where they can get a general idea of
what they're all about.
Okay, and what's some greatstories.
Thad David (54:50):
to be sure, I'm going to go remember and honor
on YouTube.
I know I'm already subscribed.
What's that?
I remember and honor stories?
I think is the best way.
Remember and honor stories.
Yeah, all right, and then I'malready subscribed.
I'm going to seek out.
You said Roy Lehmann.
Brad Hoopes (55:10):
Lehmann, yeah, the video is the soldier and the
little girl.
Thad David (55:13):
Okay, I'm going to go find that one.
I'm also going to go grab yourbook.
Brad Hoopes (55:16):
Thank you the reflections of our gentle
warriors.
Thad David (55:18):
Well, it sounds just amazing.
And just having thosebite-sized chunks, knowing that
I can grab and read a sectionThank you so much.
I know you're doing a ton ofstuff here in our local area not
far from me.
You do a ton of stuff forveterans and I'm excited to come
out and check out your wholebreakfast here on Saturday
(55:38):
morning.
Brad Hoopes (55:38):
Yeah, very much.
So you need to get down for thepan-veh breakfast on Saturday
morning is at a level and that'sgood fun for sure.
Thad David (55:45):
It's amazing that I had no idea that that is even
happening and it's under 10minutes from my house, yeah, so
I'm excited to come check it outand meet everybody, oh, very
cool yeah.
Yeah, thank you, brad.
Thank you for your breakfast,you betcha.
they feel not understood by other veterans and
I wonder how much that goesinto it.
And have you heard anythinglike that where veterans of one
generation don't feel connectedto veterans of another
generation?
Brad Hoopes (00:14):
I know I've heard from a number of Vietnam
veterans that came back and wentto join the VFW or the American
Legion and were told by theguys there oh you know, that
wasn't a war you were in.
I mean there's a little bit ofhostility there still from some
of the guys.
It's like I walked away fromthere and never even thought
(00:36):
about joining again because theWorld War II and Korean guys saw
Vietnam a little bit different.
And I can tell you there wasone thing that really stood out
with me is, like I said, I wason the board of Honor Flight and
I don't know if you're familiarwith Honor Flight or your
viewers, but it's a program thattakes veterans back to DC to
(01:00):
see all the various monumentsand such and it started out as
purely to take World War IIveterans back and we were one of
the first hubs that startedtaking Korean and then Vietnam.
And there was a very distinctchange in the aura of the flight
.
There was some anger.
You could tense the feel, theanger when the Vietnam veterans
(01:22):
started going.
Thad David (01:23):
My name is Thad David.
I'm a former Marine recon scoutsniper with two deployments to
Iraq.
As a civilian, I've nowfacilitated hundreds of personal
and professional developmenttrainings across the country,
and it struck me recently thatthe same things that help
civilians will also helpveterans succeed in their new
roles as well.
Join me as we define civiliansuccess principles to inspire
(01:44):
veteran victories.
Welcome to another episode.
I'm here today with Brad Hoops,the founder of Remember and
Honor.
How are you doing, brad?
Good?
How about yourself?
I'm doing excellent.
I'm very excited to have you on.
You're doing so much work forveterans and just for the
veteran community in general.
(02:04):
I'm really excited to unpackthat, and really quick for
anybody that doesn't know whatis, what's the elevator pitch of
what is Remember and Honor.
Brad Hoopes (02:14):
It's just a project to preserve the stories of
veterans, to get them down onpermanent records so that
they're never lost or forgotten.
Thad David (02:22):
Okay, so what do you do?
What does it look like?
Where do those stories getpreserved?
Brad Hoopes (02:28):
Well, it's primarily just a kind of a
combination between just acasual conversation with a
veteran and like a 60 minutes TVshow type interview.
Sit down and it's really theirlife story, but with major
emphasis on their time in themilitary.
Thad David (02:46):
Okay, and where can anybody find these?
Where do you post them up?
What does that look like?
Brad Hoopes (02:52):
Yeah, I've got a YouTube channel.
It's youtubecom.
Slash at Remember and HonorStories is where I've started
uploading.
I don't have them all uploadedyet, but chipping away at the
stone with that.
Thad David (03:09):
Okay, that's.
Thank you, Roman.
How many did you have?
Currently Nearly 600.
600 is absolutely amazing.
What got you into it and whendid you start this and what made
you wanna to do?
Brad Hoopes (03:22):
this.
Well, it was about 20 years agoand I had read an article about
how the Library of Congress wasstarting their project, the
Veterans History Project, tocollect veteran stories and I
thought, well, geez, why not tryto do something on the local
level to feed this program?
So I went out, just went out,bought a video camera and just
started doing it.
It was really kind of a I guess, a perfect storm of interest
(03:47):
for me.
I mean, I love history, alwaysloved history.
I should have been a historymajor.
I was.
I've always loved, enjoyedmeeting people and learning
their backstory and I've justalways had a reverence for
veterans.
So it just all, it just allcollided and went from there.
Thad David (04:05):
That's amazing, and being around for 20 years doing
it, I would imagine that you'veheard some, some pretty
incredible stories.
Brad Hoopes (04:14):
Oh, it's beyond incredible to me.
I mean, I didn't servepersonally, so you know, and you
look at life, I guess, and youthink, oh, you know, a human can
only be stretched this muchphysically and mentally.
Then you hear the story aboutthe guy that was stretched this
much, that guy that wasstretched that much, and it's,
(04:35):
it's just, it's truly amazingfor some of these people.
Thad David (04:39):
What was your?
I mean just thinking about allof them.
What's your favorite, yourfavorite interview or the most,
the most amazing story, if youcould pinpoint?
Brad Hoopes (04:49):
That's always a tough question.
I get that asked quite a bit.
I mean, it's much like you knowasking you tell me which one of
your children's favorite.
There's quite a few of them, Iguess, but it's you know, and I
can honestly say of the 600,there isn't that any of them
that I haven't found interesting.
(05:12):
I think probably probably thecrowd favorite and quite frankly
one of I guess one of myfavorites was a World War II
veteran over in Europe, royLayman, from Fort Collins, and
he was telling his story abouthe was with with intelligence.
So he said you know, I wasclose enough to the front lines
(05:35):
that I didn't get shot at.
But far enough back, closeenough to the front lines they
didn't have to wear a tie, butfar enough back I didn't get
shot at.
But he, you know, he traveled,he rode the front line.
So he saw all the death anddestruction and maiming and such
and he could just really tellthe sadness in his eyes 65 years
later the experiences of it.
But then he told about a threereprieve when they were in the
(05:59):
Netherlands and they got put upin various families' homes and
he became instantly attached tothis family, in particular their
eight-year-old girl, one of thedaughters, and they just became
best friends and you could justsee the light in his eyes, the
sparkle, as he told about thatthree weeks.
And then, of course, the frontline moved and he had to move on
(06:20):
and so he had to leave thefamily behind.
And that night I mean, like allmy interviews, they all seemed
to seep into my dreams at night,and that one in particular I
got the next morning.
It's like geez, I gotta see ifI can't find this little girl.
And I was able to track herdown and connect them so and
that's how did he react to that.
(06:43):
It was pretty incredible becauseI only had a picture.
I didn't have a last name.
It actually had the first namemisspelled.
But I knew the town so I got onthe internet.
I mean, this whole story justis testament to the power of the
internet.
I got on the internet and foundthe local newspaper and I had
to jump back and forth with thetranslation service till I found
(07:03):
the news tip button and Iexplained what I was doing and
didn't hear anything.
And then all of a sudden I gota message from a reporter, said
yeah, I'll do the story.
So he did it.
He goes, it'll appear onSaturday morning.
And so I got up real early onSaturday morning, turn on the
computer and boom, there she was.
(07:24):
They had her neighbor had readan article, and I read the
article and they took a pictureof her and and and then
corresponded back.
And what was really cool aboutthat too, I must.
I don't know how many emails Igot from citizens in that in
that town reading that article.
Every one of them ended with wecan't thank the Americans
(07:46):
enough for what, what we had,you know what America had done
for us.
And the thing was he had talkedabout how you know they, they
had played games together andand took walks and and how, for
Christmas Eve they made him feellike a family and took him to
(08:08):
fam, to their church services,and that's where they went out,
that's where her mean was hername, that's where she posed for
the picture that she sent thatmorning, and so I hadn't told
Roy about it and so I tookeverything over and they were
all excited.
So we we did a video and sentit off to them.
But what was really cool was thereporter then did a follow-up
(08:29):
story with her and she talkedabout once again, about how the
games they played and the, thewalks they took, and and pulled
out a diary entry where he'dsigned it, and then she told the
story about going.
He came over and he said, well,we got to go, we're gonna go
see this great general's in town.
So he walked her down there andshe sat on his lap and he get
(08:52):
the general gave her a bag ofdonuts and of course, as an
eight-year-old she had no cluewho general Eisenhower was and
and it was just it was.
It was very cool, but sadly sixweeks after they connected she
got a brain tumor and passed,and then Roy passed two years
later.
But yeah, so long story shortthat I guess, if you got a pin,
(09:14):
point me, that's my favoritestory.
Thad David (09:16):
I could.
That.
I can definitely see why thatand that's absolutely.
That's incredible.
What an amazing thing just tohear a story and then the fact
that you were the, the catalystto that reconnection point I
meant the world to to both ofthem yeah, it was, it was good,
yeah, wow.
And you said that one's a justa crowd favorite as well yeah,
(09:38):
what I'm when with the video.
Brad Hoopes (09:40):
And I wrote a book and that's one of the stories in
the book and that seems to be.
Everybody seems to comment onthat story in particular and for
anybody listening if you wouldshare your, share your book the
title is reflections of ourgentle warriors hmm, and when
did you, when did this one comeout?
(10:01):
that came out in 2015.
I had it is kind of aroundabout side thing that came
out of that.
I was the Loveland newspaperwas doing a series on Loveland's
World War II veterans and askedme to be a contributing writer,
and so I had 18 storiespublished and another 12 on deck
to be published.
(10:21):
And then they sold the paperand discontinued the series.
And so I was getting calls fromthese other 12 guys and when do
you think my story is gonnapublish?
And it's like I hate to tellyou it's not.
They sold the newspaper but Ithought, well, geez, you know
I've got these 30 storiesalready.
Why don't I sit down and watcha few more of my own videos,
write a similar S-like essay andthen bundle it all into a book?
(10:44):
So I wrote in red that was 30stories and I watched another 40
.
It was the 17th anniversary.
I thought, well, that 70stories and 70 anniversary.
So I'm gonna look into a bookand publish it so now, that's
just it.
Just it's there.
They're very, you know, threeor four page quick stories, just
(11:05):
a wide range of servicebranches, wide range of
experiences, and just to give, Ithink, people a general
overview of of World War two,for those who may not know much
about it or nothing about it,and hopefully, for lack of a
better word, a gateway drug forthem to want to go on and learn
more about that period of timeyeah, is, and so that book in
(11:27):
particular is specifically onWorld War two.
Thad David (11:30):
Yeah, that was just World War two veterans, correct?
That's sounds of an incredible,because that's one thing I love
little, bite-sized chunks andhaving something that I can just
go in and grab one page or youknow, like you said, two or
three pages, I can sit down, Ican read one section at a
one-story over coffee, exactly,yeah, yeah, exactly.
(11:51):
And so you've obviouslyinterviewed.
It sounds like a lot of WorldWar two veterans yeah, out of
the 600, probably about 400.
Brad Hoopes (12:00):
Or World War two.
I mean I I've never had, Inever set out to specifically
target any veteran.
I to me, any veteran thatwalked out the door deserves to
have their story told.
But in the beginning I Itargeted World War two primarily
, just because the clock wasticking with that group and and
(12:21):
yeah, so I jumped at that.
But, like I said, no rules onhow I want a particular veteran,
any veteran, I'll sit down andtell their story.
Who would like to have it toldhave you interviewed veterans
from pretty much every war sinceWorld War two yeah, I would say
it probably, like I said, forprobably about 400 World War two
(12:42):
, about a hundred Korean, aboutin about 60 Vietnam and then the
rest you know that have servedbut weren't in any sort of
conflict and only a few of ourmost recent conflicts of just a
handful of that group.
Why is that?
You know, I I can't have abroke into that group and I
(13:05):
think my thought is that maybeit's still too fresh.
I mean, everybody else, theWorld War two guys have had 60
plus years to chew on it, theVietnam guys 40, 50 years to
chew on their experiences andand I think they were ready to
talk.
I don't know, it's just atheory, but I think it's it's
still very fresh and and and ourmost recent veterans are
(13:31):
probably still chewing on it,really them, do you reach out?
let me do you actively reach outand try to grab them up you
know, and that's, I think, beena big part of it too, is finding
them.
You know that certainly theWorld War two and Korean and
Vietnam veterans they collect,they do things together.
(13:53):
I think more of the most recentrecent veterans or individuals,
I think more individuals theydon't seem to to group up and
certainly don't join I don'tthink in the numbers of the
other conflicts, like theAmerican Legion of the VFW, so
they're hard to to track down isprobably a big part of it.
(14:15):
My, my biggest source throughthe years was I used to be on
the board of Honor Flight andI'd get, I would get the, the,
the flight list and whiteeverybody.
So that was very easy.
And then, you know, probablythe second biggest source is you
know you'd interview a veteranand they tell two friends who
tell two friends but yeah, so Ihaven't, I haven't, I haven't,
(14:36):
just haven't cracked that grouphmm, and it's interesting that
you brought up they don'tcollect up in the same way that
the other groups do.
Thad David (14:44):
What?
How do the other ones collectup that that newer generations
don't seem to?
Brad Hoopes (14:49):
well, like I said, I, you know you, I think you
talk to anybody at the, the VFWand and the American Legion, I
think, like any serviceorganization, rotary, whatever,
I think that's on the decline.
Memberships are under theclients.
They don't seem to join thatyou know.
You have the VFW or the, theVietnam guys that like to
(15:13):
collect and and get together.
I just I don't know.
I just feel like they're moreindividual, individualistic than
than the other groups.
Thad David (15:26):
Like you know, pure speculation yeah, yeah, well,
and that's what I think that Iwas.
I was very excited.
One of the things is what I'veobviously to hear the stories
and the collections that youbrought to the tables is
fascinating, and I love to learnfrom history.
I love to learn from you know,hopefully, if somebody else's
(15:47):
walk to a similar path to me,what, what insights can I take
away from it?
And that's what I've reallyenjoyed about tapping into some
older generations and hearingtheir stories.
But common threats and it'sinteresting that you brought up
that they group up and then, forsome reason, ours doesn't to be
like I said.
Brad Hoopes (16:06):
It could be wrong in that regard.
I just haven't.
I haven't found the collectivegroups with these groups, but I
agree with you, I would.
I would love to connect theolder and the younger to share
their experiences that you know.
These guys have walked a walkthe road now and it's anything I
think could be helpful for thenew guys to.
(16:26):
You know, I think we're kind ofshameful in our past history of
how our veterans were treatedand how how they were learning
of.
You know, I guess one thingthat bugs me and I could be once
again wrong, I didn't serve,but it seems like the
government's very good abouttaking a civilian and holding
(16:50):
them into us into a warrior, butthen when the time comes to to
let them go, it is like okay,sign here, thanks, you're out,
you know, thanks for yourservice.
Instead of that, that sameprocedure to bring them back
from a warrior down to acivilian again and and I think
(17:11):
you know, sadly, our previous orolder vets and walked a pretty
rough road and you know, thankGod I think we're starting to
learn we needed that.
We need to treat our veteransbetter and and help them along
and and I just I just thinkthere would be.
There would be a lot of good toconnect our old and and new
veterans Together.
(17:32):
I think they could both learnfrom each other to, quite
honestly, yeah.
Thad David (17:37):
How was it for Just with that too?
How and how was it for, like,world War two veterans coming
back home?
Is it similar, because I onlyknow I we hear so much about
what it's like for veterans.
Now, were there common threadsof what they dealt with, or did
it seem like my impression of,as they just kind of came back,
I'm like, well, we're gettingback to work?
Brad Hoopes (17:57):
Well, that's just it.
Yeah, there's very distinct,distinct lines.
I mean the World War two, IMean that generation, I think
was humbled to begin, is humbledto begin with, but yeah,
they're the philosophy there was.
They got back home and, youknow, kind of just brush
themselves on and and Went onwith life.
(18:17):
I remember one guy In the SouthPacific, gone for two and a
half years, had, you know, hadchoked at home, you know, missed
out on two and a half years.
He got home on a Thursday andwas back at his old job on
Monday and there was just, youknow, that was just the attitude
the Korean guys, they're, youknow, truly, the end, you know,
(18:44):
forgotten.
Veteran Nomar is is definitelyDescribes that group.
I think the vietnam, to me, theVietnam and our present
conflicts have have very similar, are very similar, and that's,
I think those are the two groupsI would probably match up with
the Vietnam and and our mostrecent conflicts I there's just,
(19:07):
to me, a lot of similarities inthat regard, although you know
the nice thing about Mostrecently, we've come to
appreciate our veterans whenthey get home, or is with the
Vietnam, as you know, with theVietnam vets, it was despicable
how, how they were treated whenthey when they returned home.
Thad David (19:27):
It was.
I actually just did aninterview with Vietnam veteran
recently and I was asked, I wascurious to ask him about his
experience coming back.
He was like, honestly, I don'tknow if they just weren't when I
landed, he was like, but Inever experienced it.
I landed back in the States.
I think he landed up innorthern California and got
another airplane, flew back homeand Texas, I believe, and he
(19:50):
was like and then I just Startedworking and I never there was
nobody around.
So he for in his experiencethat Very obviously the Vietnam
veterans were treated as a wholeand then not great way and it
was interesting that his he waslike I know that it was there
and I just never had to evenThink about it, but that was
very much.
(20:10):
He was very much more like theWorld War two that that asked
him what his Experience was,what what's that also, and he
was like I got back to work,yeah, I'm here.
Yeah, I've been married to mywife for 40, you know, 40 years.
Yeah, just Incredible.
Yeah, absolutely.
So you think a lot ofsimilarities with Vietnam and
(20:33):
the current generation,different than the World War two
veterans.
Brad Hoopes (20:37):
I Think so.
You know.
I Certainly no expert, no, Ithink you know.
I think if you describe thelast, I Guess they called the
good war was World War two, andand you know, I think there's
been controversy between, andwell, and Korea.
(20:58):
I think Korea was probably aGood or just war.
I don't know if that's wordsshould even be attached that.
But but Vietnam and our mostrecent conflicts, I mean there's
a lot of controversy as to whywe were there, what was the, the
end game, how it ended.
I mean, those are to me, arethe similarities, hmm.
Thad David (21:20):
It's such an interesting thing to think about
just coming back home for more.
And you know, having gone intoI did the initial invasion in
Iraq, went back again foranother deployment shortly after
that, and Just having ourexperience of it, just it
fascinates me to think aboutother generations that I think
(21:40):
when I was younger, I was veryyoung and I'll just speak for me
personally.
You know, I think my biggestthing when I went to, when I was
in the initial invasion in Iraq, was I was like I wonder if I'm
gonna be home before I turn 21,.
You know, like am I?
You know it's like is thatreally?
You know You're in a war zone,like why are you thinking about
that?
And it's interesting to me toreflect on it and think about
(22:04):
just wonder what it was like forfor other generations that went
off and and thought and andtheir generations were.
Brad Hoopes (22:13):
Well, you know and once again I go back to the fact
that I didn't serve and what acommon thread that always seems
to Weave through all myinterviews.
As you know, I look at thesepeople.
You know 17, 18, 19, 20 yearsold and what they went through,
and it's like you know what wasmy life like during that period.
Well, my biggest worry was thatmath test on Wednesday and with
(22:36):
that cute girl in English, evergo out with me and and the big
Pressure or the week is you knowwhat are we gonna do on Friday
night?
You know what's going on andhear these.
You and these other veteransare in war zones, and that's
another thing, too.
That I can't wrap my headaround is is a war zone.
I mean, I know it's man-made,there's got to be the most
(22:58):
unnatural place for a human tobe in, and I Don't understand it
.
Thad David (23:02):
I think For me and I was just talking to a buddy,
that just reminded me I wastalking to him last week but for
me, I always, I've alwaysthought about it just every.
Personally, I think war hasbeen around for as long as
mankind.
Oh yeah, I think that as longas we have mankind it's gonna be
(23:24):
there and while the battlefieldis gonna change, that it's,
it's always gonna be a part ofit.
And so I've alwayscompartmentalized it in that
manner that that was just mebeing able to go and and serve
my country and be a part of it.
So it wasn't.
I Didn't view it in thisgrandiose way.
It was just me going to do whatI'd sign up to do.
Mm-hmm, that makes any sense,I'm sure.
(23:47):
And the other thing that itmakes me think about too is
interesting is it's having doingtwo deployments.
A common theme that we had waswe left the initial invasion and
Iraq came back home and for, aswe had, our platoon was
supposed to go out on a mu andMarine expeditionary unit where
we jump on the Navy boats and wetravel and go from San Diego,
(24:08):
and we were supposed to justbounce around.
We were gonna go to Hawaii,australia, you know, just do the
live the life.
Yeah right, we ended up,essentially, we went to Hawaii
and did a training up there, butwhen it's basically straight to
Iraq, I went, got dropped offin Kuwait, went right back in,
and One of the things that weremembered was that all the time
that we were home I think wewere home for I don't know the
(24:30):
timeframe and spec guessing ninemonths, but it felt like that
was just a little.
That nine months of being homewas a dream and it felt like we
had just never left that, thatspace.
And it was that that space andit was.
It was just interesting havingto go back over again, but I
(24:50):
just don't.
I don't think about it in thatway.
It's a conversation my sisterhas with me.
Often she's like well, youdon't realize what it's like to
talk to you, having gone to war.
I just did what I signed up todo.
It doesn't.
Brad Hoopes (25:06):
Did your sister, and I don't know if you were
married before you went offtalking about your sister.
Does she see a different person?
Thad David (25:17):
Yeah, that's a good question.
I don't know.
I've never asked her thatactually and I feel like I
probably should.
I noticed joining the militarywas a big shift in general, so I
would say yes, but we haven'thad a big deep conversation
about it.
And one interesting thing thatI discovered recently through
(25:42):
just another interview actuallywith a spouse, was the.
I've always told myself I'llshare whatever you want to share
.
I'm an open book and just askme.
I just tell people all the time, just ask me.
And I was talking to my buddy'sfriend of ours.
His wife has been married tohim through three deployments.
He's still in the reserve, sonow he's just a lot of stuff.
(26:05):
But she said her biggest thingwas she's never known what to
ask.
So she always loves it when hegets together with his buddies
because they just start talkingand she hears the stories that
she wants to hear.
And she's like I don't know howto open that up.
And it was a big a ha for methat I think I might have seemed
more closed off than I intendedto be because I wouldn't ever
bring it up.
I would just ask me about it.
(26:25):
Nobody asked and I was like, oh, that's fine, I didn't hurt my
feelings.
And then I thought about it.
I was like, wow, my sisterprobably never asked, because I
bet she didn't know what to ask.
And I talked to her about itafter the fact and she said I
was always very open in that shenever felt like I was.
But it's an interesting space.
Brad Hoopes (26:45):
So well, I tell you , I think if I had a dollar for
every child or spouse that saidthanks for doing this, we didn't
know his story I'd be doingthis broadcast from my private
island somewhere and you talk tothe guys about it and I said
well, you know, I didn't want toput this on my family.
(27:06):
I they wouldn't understand.
Unless you were there Iwouldn't understand.
I'll talk to my buddies aboutit.
So they've closed off from fromquite a few of them, most of
them actually.
Yeah.
Thad David (27:20):
Well, and it's interesting, we had a, probably
my proudest, because I'm I don'tI'm not very boastful of my
time and service.
I'm not very good at stuff upjust so I think anybody watches
a new video I want to like.
If they're like who's this guytalking about the military, At
least you can see that I was inthe military and that's.
But if you go around my houselike this, there's not, there's
(27:43):
not a lot of stuff around, somuch.
So like this Veterans Day, myson gave me a his school.
He drew a little picture thatsaid happy Veterans Day.
And he was like did you knowit's Veterans Day?
I was like yeah, and I was likewhat did you?
You know?
What'd you talk about school?
And he's like I told my teacherthat my dad's a veteran and
they like hit me in my core.
It was like my proudest momentof ever being a veteran and for
(28:07):
whatever reason.
Just it gave me all the feels.
But I started looking at my sonloves to collect all my medals
from races.
If I do races and stuff likethat, like I did a marathon or
just a half or whatever, he justlikes the medals.
I was like I never thought todo it, but I've never.
Actually I don't have any of mymedals, like all my, like some
veterans have like shadow boxesand stuff like that.
I showed it to my wife andshe's like why do we not have
(28:28):
this stuff?
I was like I don't have a goodreason, why not?
And it was.
It struck me that that'ssomething I started ordering
just to be able to give to myfamily and kind of let them into
that world and right from thepeople that didn't share, you
know, because I think that thefamily really does want to know
about it and I don't want to,you know, and that's what I like
(28:49):
about learning from these pastgenerations and and be able to
have conversations like this.
That's why I'd love to tap intoyour knowledge of kind of what
they, what they experienced withit.
Brad Hoopes (28:59):
Right, right.
So along those lines, itreminds me of a story of a World
War II Marine that was on IwoJima, sole survivor of his unit,
badly injured, in the hospitalfor a year and a half.
Afterwards, years later, hisson comes up to him and says
well, dad, can you drive me downto the costume store?
And he goes well, what are youdoing?
He goes well, I'm in a play andI need a military uniform.
(29:21):
He goes well, once you justwear mine, he goes you're in the
military.
I mean, there's a incrediblestory and no clue, I don't know.
Thad David (29:29):
Yeah, and that's.
I think a lot of people arekind of in that same boat, but
with no ill will towards it.
Brad Hoopes (29:37):
Oh, no, no.
Thad David (29:39):
It's just, you know, for whatever reason it'll come
up whenever it manifests itself,right, in that case, a
Halloween costume, just so, withthat too, because of you
mentioned the World War IIfamilies not hearing about it.
So you've connected with a lotof the families as well.
Brad Hoopes (30:03):
Oh, very much so.
Yeah, well, not many of thefamily.
You know, the funny thing isI'll hear years later from
family members that you know wewere dads past.
We wanted to let you know thatdads past and we discovered, you
know, going through the stuff,that this interview and oh,
(30:24):
thank you for doing this, wedidn't know we had this.
And so that connection, thestarting I mean I've met quite a
few during the interviews butI'm starting to meet more now,
years later, as they're comingacross these interviews, and I
mean I've had a couple thatfound their dad on YouTube,
(30:44):
didn't realize they, you know.
Once again, that humbleness, Iguess, is just putting it aside.
Thad David (30:52):
Jumping on sharing it.
It's wild to think that theywould do the interview and then
not share it with anybody.
Wow, and I can only imagine howthose families felt to be able
to step into their loved ones,their deceased loved ones, a
(31:12):
little bit of their past.
So it's, you're doing amazingthings.
Brad Hoopes (31:16):
And I've always said I mean one vision that's
going to be going through allthese years.
I've always had this visionthat you know, someday that the
grandchildren of these veteransare going to sit down with their
grandchildren and pop thisthing and say, you know, I'd
like you to meet my granddad ormy grandma.
I mean, I've always just hadthis vision.
That's when I was at my lowest.
I just kept going with thatvision.
Thad David (31:36):
So yeah, Was it a struggle for you, or has it been
a struggle to keep interviewingand to keep it all going?
Brad Hoopes (31:45):
Yeah, I suppose it has.
I mean that's yeah, how come?
Oh, just financially.
I mean, the thing is, you know,when I first started this thing
out it was just purely a sidehobby, like I said once again,
just to satisfy my love ofhistory.
But as I started hearing moreand more stories, it's like
(32:07):
things started to change and Ican tell you the day that the
trajectory made a sharp turn.
From that I'd gotten a call thenext morning from the wife of a
World War II veteran.
I'd interviewed him the daybefore and she said you know,
I'm just calling to thank youfor doing this.
You know the kids and I don'tknow his story and we look
forward to getting the DVD andwatching it.
(32:28):
She goes.
I also wanted to let you knowthat last night was the first
time in 60-some years he sleptthrough the night and it was
game over.
I pretty much just droppedeverything else I was doing and
just took on just this projectjust consumed me.
It just vowed that I was justgoing to do anything I could to
help and honor veterans in anyway I can.
(32:50):
So you know, from a financialor business standpoint it wasn't
very wise to my approach, butcertainly no regrets in what
I've done.
Thad David (33:00):
Well, so, just from simply I would say simply but
from being able to share thestory, allowed him to sleep
through the night.
Brad Hoopes (33:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, and I've since fallen.
You know he had stuff to getoff his chest, you know, and
that's why I'd like to connectthe old and the new.
And I vowed.
Then, like I said, I justbecame totally consumed and I
wanted I don't want mostcertainly the most recent guys.
(33:31):
There's no reason that they,for the next 60 years, can't
sleep.
We've got to do everything tomake sure that that ends, that
we do whatever we can to makesure that for, for example,
you're yourself, I want you tosleep now.
I don't want you to gosleepless for the next 40 years.
Thad David (33:53):
Have you seen other or heard from other veterans
that have said that, the similarthing?
Brad Hoopes (33:58):
that after opening up and sharing, yeah, it's
happened numerous times sincethen and then, and then the
other end of the spectrum aswell.
You know, there's really twogroups that I come across when I
do interviews, those that youknow experience things that they
just soon not talk about orshare again, and you know, I
respectfully back away from that.
(34:19):
But there's the larger groupthat'll say, oh, I didn't do
anything, I don't have a story.
And and I'll argue until I'mblue in the face with that group
and there was one guy that hewas the poster child for that
Vietnam veteran and his wifeactually set up the interview
and up to the point that, till Iturn the camera on, he said I
don't know, I'm sitting here, Idon't have a story, I don't have
(34:40):
a story.
But of course he had a story.
It ended up he had a great story.
Well, a story great isn'talways the exact word but she
called me like a couple weekslater and she goes Brad, you
know, we just sat down andwatched that, that interview or
the DVD, and she goes.
I just wanted to tell you, forthe last three days he's been
walking around with his chestpuffed out.
So he realized you know, youknow we did have a story.
(35:01):
So, yeah, wow.
Thad David (35:05):
And I that's very interesting to think that.
How long has been walkingaround thinking you didn't have
a story to share, exactly?
Yeah, I guess over time youstart to believe it.
If you keep telling yourselfthat you know, for depending on
how much time goes by, I meanyou're going to start believing
that thing that you're tellingyourself about it.
(35:26):
And then once you lay it alldown there and you're like wow,
it actually was pretty unique.
Brad Hoopes (35:35):
Like I said, when I first started out, I thought,
oh, the benefactor of these isgoing to be the families that
didn't know the story, and thenit's down on record, that's
proven to be obviously the case.
But yeah, there's therapeuticvalue to these as well.
I'm certainly no expert, I'm notherapist, and I think these
(35:56):
guys just need an outlet to telltheir story and to hear
themselves talk.
I think has been beneficial.
Thad David (36:04):
They say that and it brought to mind a few things.
But the idea that happiness ithappens not from the experience,
but the reflection of theexperience.
And that's why journaling,writing down gratitudes, is such
a powerful thing, because it'sthe reflection of it, the value
(36:24):
and the appreciation of it.
And thinking about veteransthat aren't sharing and, for
whatever reason, they have tonot share that, the moment they
finally get to share it andthink about it, they're like oh
wow, I actually am really proudof that time and that really was
an amazing thing.
So I can definitely see that.
And then I know you said you'renot a therapist and I appreciate
(36:49):
you sharing that out there.
I know you're very humble witheverything that you're doing,
but the idea that there's thisold management article that I've
always thought about with justbeing a veteran and that the
don't take the monkey I don'tknow if you've ever heard of
that, but if two people, ifsomebody comes and vents to you
(37:11):
and they are just complainingabout their day, that they give
the monkey to you, and now youhave this complaint on your back
or their problem, they give youtheir problem and it's sitting
with you.
But if you just keep holding it.
You'll just keep holding.
All these monkeys will just beclinging to you.
But the moment you share things,and things like your story or
allowing people to share it, youget to like.
That monkey leaves your backand if they've been holding that
(37:35):
story for so long, never havingshared it, not only the
appreciation of be able toreflect on the good they did,
but if there was anything thatthey just wanted to get out that
I could see, that would be aheavy rock to finally drop down.
That's amazing.
I love what you're doing.
(37:56):
What can you share about theKorean war veterans, because you
mentioned earlier, kind offorgotten about.
Brad Hoopes (38:08):
Yeah, it's obviously.
You've heard it's called theforgotten war and the forgotten
veteran, and they truly have.
We had the World War II, whichobviously was just a major world
event, and then it caught inthat gap.
And then the other side is, itwas Vietnam and those guys were
(38:29):
just forgotten and you know theywere an amazing group of people
too and it was a short periodof time.
You know, I think it was what atwo year, three year war.
You know, 38,000 were killedand Vietnam went on for a decade
and 58,000 were killed.
So it was a major war for us.
(38:52):
I mean, it's still considered aconflict, I think.
And the thing that I alwayslike to point out, I think you
can say whatever you want aboutour military and our politics
and such, but that is a primeexample of what the American
soldier did for the world.
When you look at, if you'veever seen that nighttime
(39:13):
satellite photo of the KoreanPeninsula and you can see the
DMZ, it's very distinct.
Everything south of the DMZ islit up like a Christmas tree,
everything north is pitch blackand what we've, what we one
often did for that country, andit's just just to me an example
(39:33):
of the American soldier and thegood we do in the world.
Thad David (39:40):
But how many interviews have you done with
Korean vets?
Maybe about a hundred, okay, sosubstantial amount.
What thoughts or feelings dothey have about their experience
, their time in?
Brad Hoopes (39:55):
They're probably closer linked to the World War
II guys Just went off, did theirthing, came home.
You know it was a little bitdifferent.
You know each, obviously, eachwar is different.
I mean, you said you had anumber of deployments and a lot
of these guys, multipledeployments.
You know the World War II guyswent off and they were in the
(40:16):
government, had it.
It was open, ended.
You came home and we were doneKorean.
That changed.
I think they just did a oneyear.
Some of them did, I think, a 13month deployment and then
Vietnam was just one and then.
But then it changed again withyou guys.
So but so yeah, a lot of themit's.
They're very similar to theWorld War II guys and a lot of
(40:38):
them were in World War II,served and went off and they got
called up again.
So I would, I would probablylink them into, bundle them in
the World War II crowd in that,went off, did my, did my thing,
came back and brush myself off,went to work, you know, moved on
with life.
Thad David (40:57):
So yeah, it's interesting to me just to see
those comparisons and it hit mealso earlier about the grouping
together, how the you know, theVFW, just all of that is
shrinking down, which I andpersonally I've never.
I haven't joined, haven'texplored it and I don't have any
(41:18):
good reason why or why not.
I think, and actually I justhad a thought that hit me with
that yeah, I always thoughtabout it as an older generation
or different, differentgeneration.
But the social media, yeah, myphone's over there, but I think
(41:39):
there's a lot of social mediagroups that I think give the
feeling of that camaraderie butit's not as visible as a.
You know, you're driving downthe road and you see the VFW.
It's there.
Because if there's a socialmedia or a private social
network group, like I know I wasa sniper in the Marines, so and
if you're a Marine Corps scoutsniper, there's actually a
(42:00):
private social media group justfor anybody that's a Marine
Corps scout sniper, you can sendin your DD214 and or you know,
and there's other ways ofverifying you, but you can join.
So I wonder how much that masksit.
But it's interesting that thattoo, because something that I
talked to another veteranearlier is that they feel not
(42:23):
understood by other veterans andI wonder how much that goes
into it.
And have you heard anythinglike that where veterans of one
generation don't feel connectedto veterans of another
generation?
Brad Hoopes (42:36):
I know I've heard from a number of Vietnam
veterans that came back and wentto join the VFW or the American
Legion and were told by theguys there oh you know, that
wasn't a war, you're in.
I mean, there's a little bit ofhostility there still from some
of the guys.
It's like I walked away fromthere and never, never even
(42:58):
thought about joining again,because the World War II and
Korean guys saw Vietnam a littlebit different.
And I can tell you there's onething that was that really stood
out with me is, like I said, Iwas on the board of Honor Flight
and I don't know if you'refamiliar with Honor Flight or
your viewers, but it's a programthat takes veterans back to DC
(43:22):
to see all the various monumentsand such and it started out as
purely to take World War IIveterans back and we were one of
the first hubs that startedtaking Korean and then Vietnam,
and they for the longest time.
We did 22 flights and probablyoh I don't know, probably about
(43:45):
the 15th flight we startedtaking Vietnam veterans and
there was a very distinct changein the aura of the flight.
I couldn't, I couldn't believehow much.
I mean.
It was a drastic the trip.
They were all great trips, butit was, there was some anger.
(44:06):
You could tense the feel, theanger, when the Vietnam veterans
started going.
It was it, just it, completely.
It was still, like I said,still a great trip, but boy, you
could, you could, and youtalked to anybody that was
involved with that and they'dprobably all say the same thing.
Now the mood changed when westarted taking the Vietnam
veterans.
How so?
And what was the change?
I think it was, there was angerthere was.
(44:31):
I think there was.
There was some anger.
The previous trips you had, youknow, we asked everybody, we
gave him t-shirts so he, youknow, kind of keep, look out for
each other and keep everybodytogether.
And it was, everybody just kindof went as as the tour went,
(44:53):
and with the Vietnam vets, youknow, it's like no, I don't want
to wear a shirt, I'm going towear my, my vest and I'm going
to go off and do this.
No, I may not go, may not gowith you on that one.
It was just like I said it was.
I'm overemphasizing it probably, but there was a change, there
was a.
There was just a different auraor a different mood on on those
(45:14):
trips.
And then the last bunch werejust purely.
By then we started losing prettymuch all the the World War II
veterans in Korea, so it'd be ahandful, but mostly Vietnam.
And yeah, it was just.
It was just a different tripand amazingly too, from a health
standpoint.
You know, when we startedtaking taking Vietnam veterans,
(45:37):
I was talking to Stan Cass whowas the Colonel, stan Cass who
led up the program.
I said, well, stan, I guess wewe can cut back on our medical
personnel and and and the numberof wheelchairs we take.
He goes no, no, we got to rampup.
We took more wheelchairs in thelater flights than we ever did
in the earlier flights with theWorld War II guys.
It was yeah, yeah.
Thad David (46:00):
Wonder why.
Why did we do that?
Because that's definitelysomething that two days still
happens, where we're almostgetting segregated and it's a
different even from people fromthis, this one war over in, you
know, iraq, afghanistan, thatthat's happening with that.
So it's interesting I wonderwhy we do that as veterans.
Brad Hoopes (46:22):
Yeah, I can't figure it.
Thad David (46:26):
It.
Also, I don't want to say it's.
I'm sawless is the right word.
Just knowing that it was stillhappening then doesn't make it
right today.
It almost brings me a littlejoy knowing that it wasn't.
It's not a new thing.
That's just sparking up todaybecause I think that I heard
somebody I was.
(46:48):
What was that that I washearing again here?
Oh no, it was about that.
There's this thing about combatveterans and it's like that's a
thing like different than aveteran and it's like some
combat veterans that say they'redifferent than a regular
veteran.
Brad Hoopes (47:02):
Well, that's what I , you know, and that's one thing
I can't sort out either and Idon't know with your group if
it's how much it plays into it.
But you look at, you got yourWorld War II veterans, you got
your Korean veterans, and thenyou get to the Vietnam War and
you're either a Vietnam veteranor you're a Vietnam era veteran.
(47:23):
If you weren't boots on theground, you're a Vietnam era
veteran.
And I don't get that.
And I don't see, you know, anAfghan or Iraqi era veteran.
That one certain group it'slike.
You know, if you weren't, ifyou weren't in country, you're
(47:45):
an era veteran.
And it and everybody I talked to, nobody can seem to answer that
question.
I can't Like, why it's there?
Why it's there?
I mean you know World War II,korea, you know nobody, not
everybody, was over in thePacific or over in over in
Europe.
There was, you know, here inthe States.
(48:07):
I mean, once again, I don't Itry not to comment on it because
I'm not a veteran but I mean,you know, I truly appreciate the
, appreciate the frontlineveterans that were up at the tip
of the spear, but you know, forevery one of those guys there's
10 people behind them that needto support that, and to me this
is important, oh yeah.
Thad David (48:30):
But I wonder and I'm excited to dive deep into that,
or deeper, because it's, it'sinteresting and again makes me
happy to see that it's similarit doesn't make it okay.
Yeah, right, because I see itnow and I'm like, why, why?
Why are we, you know?
Because I'm just happy thatanybody served, simply because,
like you said, like there's, nomatter what you did, no matter
(48:50):
what role it was.
There's, I think 90% are goingto.
There's a needs to be 90% ofsupport to be able to get the
boots on the ground.
And they're equally asimportant because without it it
doesn't happen.
Brad Hoopes (49:02):
And coupled with that, I mean when you enlisted
one off, or Uncle Sam pulled youout the door the minute you
signed up, you had no clue whereyou, what your lot was going to
be, where you were going.
You didn't know if you're goingto the frontline, or you know
back in Ohio peeling potatoesthe whole time.
So you know.
(49:24):
I don't know I don't understandit, but once again I try to back
off of it because I'm not aveteran and I don't feel like
I've got a right to weigh in onit and I can understand.
Thad David (49:37):
It's a very common thing that you know for a lot of
civilians to not want to chimein and I can definitely respect
that, although I do think that,just given the nature of 600
interviews with variousgenerations of veterans and
conflicts and wars and it's Ithink you have a lot of
knowledge on it it made me thinkof just being in.
(50:00):
You know, I was a recon marineand once you in the Marine Corps
and I don't I would imagineit's still the same today but
when I was in the, any marineyou get your green PT gear, you
get your green silks, you getyour green shirt and that's your
, that's what you work out in.
But once you graduate fromMarine Reconnaissance School you
get black PC gear and that'sthe way you earn black PC gear
(50:24):
and and I remember just being atour unit, like there better not
be anybody that hasn't beenthrough the school wearing black
PT gear.
If somebody's going to go saysomething and I really like
that's such a small thing, butit seems such a like a similar
parallel to you, weren't youknow if Vietnam era versus
(50:45):
Vietnam veteran, and it seemslike a very similar thing, that
it's one of those, like I earnedit.
So you can't claim it Right,right and not saying it's right,
wrong and different.
But it seems like it's happeningon a small scale, so it doesn't
surprise me that it's happeningon a larger scale as well,
because I'm definitely guilty ofthe black PT gear.
So it's, it's an interestingthing.
(51:09):
But it's interesting to see itbecause, on the flip side, now
that so many veterans thathaven't deployed that's also one
thing that's coming up with thenewer generation of veterans,
because it's so many veteranshave been able to deploy or you
know, I say have been able to alot of veterans, or a lot of
people in the military, want to,especially if there's a
(51:32):
conflict, that's something theywant to go do, but several don't
get to and there's almost thisdepressive nature around not
having.
You know, I was in the militarybut I didn't get to go over and
they have a guilt that they'reholding by not going, which is
an interesting thing to see.
Have you interviewed, have youinterviewed from different
(51:53):
generations, people that weremaybe a Vietnam error veteran,
that didn't actually get bootson the ground?
Brad Hoopes (52:01):
Oh, yeah, yeah, like I said, the only rule I've
got with my project is I have norules and so, yeah,
particularly, I mean, what isreally interesting is the World
War II veterans, those thatstayed stateside or didn't get
(52:22):
into the action, and even moreso that those that through
medical conditions, whatever,couldn't enlist at all.
And there is a deep shame withthat group that those that never
served or stayed stateside,that they didn't get into the
action even years later still.
But with the Vietnam guys, I'mtrying to take some of the the
(52:48):
era veterans.
They would, I guess they were alittle bit more modest.
Well, you know, don't have muchto story.
I, you know, I was inCalifornia or I was on Okinawa
the whole time, didn't, didn'tget it in the country, don't
really, I guess, talk too muchabout it.
(53:10):
Yeah, I don't know how, justtrying to think of some of the
era veterans that I met, yeah,they don't really, I guess, one
way or the other, talk too muchabout their thoughts on that,
other than, and some of them sayin what I know now, you know,
my God, I didn't, I didn't gointo country, you know right.
Thad David (53:33):
Well, I'm at the end of the day and you mentioned it
earlier, but when you sign up,you have no.
Well, that's, that's a choice,yeah nobody asked me if I wanted
to go Exactly, yeah, and I washappy to, but it just for
anybody that didn't go.
So I know I wouldn't judgesomebody because you didn't get
a choice Right, like themilitary, like the one thing I
(53:53):
know for a fact is the militaryreally doesn't care what you
want, right, and we're the other, like they really don't care,
they're going to do what theyneed to be done, what needs to
be done, and that's just how itrules.
Brad Hoopes (54:02):
So yeah, and my, like I said, my philosophy is
anybody that served in themilitary.
They're all standing around thespear.
Some of them are closer to thetip, but you know a lot held a
lot closer to the spear than Iever got, so they're just a deep
respect for that.
Thad David (54:16):
Yeah, I'm sure the same thing.
I love anybody that's willingto step up and just sign on the
dotted line.
So, man, thank you so much fortaking some time and, oh, I
appreciate this time Veryenjoyable to share as to what
you're doing, and I definitelyencourage anybody to jump on.
(54:38):
You said the best place to findyour interviews is on YouTube.
Brad Hoopes (54:42):
Yeah, that's where they can get a general idea of
what they're all about.
Okay, and what's some greatstories.
Thad David (54:50):
to be sure, I'm going to go remember and honor
on YouTube.
I know I'm already subscribed.
What's that?
I remember and honor stories?
I think is the best way.
Remember and honor stories.
Yeah, all right, and then I'malready subscribed.
I'm going to seek out.
You said Roy Lehmann.
Brad Hoopes (55:10):
Lehmann, yeah, the video is the soldier and the
little girl.
Thad David (55:13):
Okay, I'm going to go find that one.
I'm also going to go grab yourbook.
Brad Hoopes (55:16):
Thank you the reflections of our gentle
warriors.
Thad David (55:18):
Well, it sounds just amazing.
And just having thosebite-sized chunks, knowing that
I can grab and read a sectionThank you so much.
I know you're doing a ton ofstuff here in our local area not
far from me.
You do a ton of stuff forveterans and I'm excited to come
out and check out your wholebreakfast here on Saturday
(55:38):
morning.
Brad Hoopes (55:38):
Yeah, very much.
So you need to get down for thepan-veh breakfast on Saturday
morning is at a level and that'sgood fun for sure.
Thad David (55:45):
It's amazing that I had no idea that that is even
happening and it's under 10minutes from my house, yeah, so
I'm excited to come check it outand meet everybody, oh, very
cool yeah.
Yeah, thank you, brad.
Thank you for your breakfast,you betcha.
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