November 13, 2025 • 51 mins
Ever thank a living veteran on Memorial Day? We start by drawing a bright line between honoring the fallen and celebrating those still with us, then dive into what service really looks like beyond the holiday hashtags. From PTSD that ripples through families to the slow grind of the VA system, we keep it frank, respectful, and practical—because respect without access isn’t enough.
We swap stories across generations: a draft-era Navy dad, an Air Force combat medic who learned to stabilize trauma and then pivoted into labor and delivery at 19, and a son who considered service but ran into family fear and a culture that doesn’t explain the path clearly. If you’re curious about the military as a career, we break down how ROTC can boost rank and pay, why the Air Force approach to job selection before boot camp matters, and the real difference between enlisted and officer tracks. We also talk about the shift in recruitment and media—fewer ads, more noise—and what that means for young people who only see extremes in their feeds.
Most importantly, we focus on outcomes. The GI Bill, community college within the branches, and hands-on training can translate into high-value civilian roles. Preferred hiring, federal jobs, and contracting can build a second career that honors what you’ve done and who you’ve become. We flag predatory “helpers,” point toward trusted resources, and emphasize peer-to-peer guidance without gatekeeping. If you’re a veteran, a family member, or someone considering service, this conversation meets you where you are—with clarity, realism, and gratitude. Subscribe, share with someone who needs straight talk, and leave a review telling us the one change you’d make to better support veterans today.
Keeping Veterans Fit, Inc.
Keepingveteransfit.org
Please follow Pops and Son Conversations on the website, popsandsonconversations.com, and social media @popsandsonconversations
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:57):
Pops and song conversations raw and uncut.
All right, welcome to anotherepisode of Pops and Song
Conversation, Raw and Uncutversion.
Raw and uncut, man.
Alright, of course, is yourfavorite soil Fox Rob Malloy?
You already know who I am.
Check three times, baby.
(02:19):
It ain't nothing changed.
Yo, uh, you represent, werepresent Happy Veterans Day to
all my fellow veterans andfamily members.
You gotta show love to thefamily members because they're
the ones that support, you know,while uh Oboe is going through
PTSD, man.
You know, you gotta havesomebody looking after them.
Nah, it's real.
(02:39):
Real talk.
Real.
Real talk.
I think everybody that hasexperienced being in the
military for any amount of timereally has uh uh PTSD, man.
And I think PTSD can even carryover to the family member,
right?
Because they've never seen theirfamily member in this state of
(03:00):
mind.
Right.
Right?
So it can be that serious.
But uh but we're just gonna jumpinto this thing, man, and we'll
go all over the place becauseit's raw and uncut.
Raw and uncut.
Right?
So we can do what we want to do,how we want to do it, and when.
And now's the time.
Yes, sir.
All right, so look, uh, again,you know, Veterans Day is uh
really important, right?
(03:21):
Um for numerous reasons.
But before we even get intothat, I want to talk about the
difference between Veterans Day,which is today, November the
11th, and Memorial Day.
SPEAKER_01 (03:32):
Okay, what is it?
Right?
And a lot of times, do you knowthe difference?
Uh Memorial Day is forremembering past lives, right?
People that passed away.
Yeah, exactly.
Okay, right.
SPEAKER_00 (03:42):
So when you think about it, you're membering or
remembering and uh memorializingthose that fought for this
country.
So obviously they're not stillhere.
Right.
Right?
So uh I remember talking to afellow veteran earlier today,
and you know, we were justdiscussing uh how a lot of
civilians mix up Veterans Dayand Memorial Day.
(04:03):
Like, please, please don't tellanybody who is alive thank you
for your service on MemorialDay.
That's complete disrespect.
Oh, man.
SPEAKER_01 (04:13):
Yeah, it happens every year.
Thank you for your service onMemorial Day.
On Memorial Day, man.
SPEAKER_00 (04:18):
And they're telling somebody that's alive.
SPEAKER_01 (04:20):
Damn.
SPEAKER_00 (04:20):
So that's tough.
Don't do that.
So just remember Memorial Day,remembering those lives that
fought uh for this country, yourfreedom, our freedom.
And so we'll just kind of leaveit at that.
Veterans Day are the folks thatthey they still around, man.
Still around, man.
So veteran covers uh retirees.
Okay.
It also covers, you know, uh,those that actually served that
(04:43):
did not do a full career in themilitary.
So that's where they considerveterans.
So either you're veteran or aretiree.
Right.
And as far as I know, man, I'monly utilizing veterans for the
military services.
Like you can be a veteran in thefire department.
I I'm not really talking abouty'all.
Oh, okay.
So law enforcement, we're notnow.
No, y'all got your own day.
(05:05):
Or at least you should.
I was about to say, do they havea day?
Probably.
Probably.
Who knows what goes down onthose days, man?
Boys and blue, man.
Black and blue.
SPEAKER_02 (05:16):
Leave it for black leaving folks, black and blue.
Black and blue is crazy, bro.
That's crazy.
But it's true.
Hey, hey, hey, it's real.
SPEAKER_00 (05:28):
Hey, but it's true.
Several things can be true atthe same time.
That's right, that's right,that's right.
So back to our normallyscheduled situation, man.
So, yeah, so big differencebetween those days.
But getting back to VeteransDay, man, I think it's really
important to celebrate itbecause, man, all our veterans,
and y'all know I'm United StatesAir Force veteran.
Uh, my pop, shout out to my pop,uh, retired chief Robert L.
(05:51):
Malloy, uh, United States Navy.
Shout out.
Uh, my sister, man, your auntieSherry.
Yeah.
Marines.
Marines, right?
Right, right.
So, you know, we we we fullyrepresented all throughout the
family.
And uh, you know, we we needthat type of acknowledgement,
man, because it's tough for theveterans out here.
You know, um, here in Atlanta,uh, there's over 30,000 uh
(06:14):
homeless veterans.
30,000 homeless veterans uh inin Atlanta and uh in surrounding
areas.
And so, you know, the thebenefits, the VA hospital care
and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (06:28):
Yeah, that's one of the things.
When I hear about veterans, Ialways hear about how, I don't
know, maybe they're like theystruggle to get the there's
some, there's always like sometype of discrepancy with them
and receiving their benefits orsomething.
Like, what's up with that?
Uh it it it's just a whole Theyjust make you pull teeth to get
you.
It's it's tough, man.
SPEAKER_00 (06:46):
Look, look, teeth, legs, discriminating, all that.
You know what I mean?
Ears.
But uh it's just tough becausethere's so much paperwork
involved.
And then you have to go back andget your records.
Your records may be in in thisuh state if it's after a certain
time period, or they may be overhere.
Okay.
Then further back, some stuff isis in the paper, some stuff is
(07:09):
on on a disc.
It's just it shouldn't be likethat, man.
SPEAKER_01 (07:13):
It shouldn't be like that.
It's uh it's a it's a toughprocess.
SPEAKER_00 (07:18):
It's a tough system, man.
The whole VA system is is reallytough.
Now, obviously, there's nosystem that's perfect, but that
is one of the toughest becauseyou're dealing with people that
serve this country and put theirlife on the line.
Exactly.
Right?
So I know that there's other uhofficial, you know, there's
other uh official um bodies ofof uh veterans and whatnot and
(07:42):
services, but nothing like themilitary, man.
Nothing like it, man.
Nothing like it.
Nothing like it.
So I won't even get into thatbecause then my PTSD may kick
in.
So we're not here for that,right?
Right.
So we want to get through thisshow.
We want to get through it.
But uh, so so it's important,man, that we just have some type
of acknowledgement.
(08:03):
And so what happens typically onVeterans Day, certain
organizations and restaurantsparticipate in giving some free
meals or coupons, whatever thecase is.
I think that there should bemore of that.
Like uh I've always pushed formore military discounts on a
regular basis, right?
So I remember going to certainstores and I'm like, do you have
(08:25):
a military discounts?
Oh yeah, you know, everyThursday, or on uh uh, you know,
Veterans Day or something likethat.
I'm like, man, what if theveterans decided not to go in to
work?
Right.
But certain days, so you know, Imean, it's kind of one of those
things we just have to deal withand continue to, you know, fight
for more benefits.
SPEAKER_01 (08:47):
Yeah.
And uh and create, you know, andcreate our own.
I was about to say, I just feellike for America, you know, like
the most patriotic country, themost like you would expect that
it would be different, you know,for for the veterans and their
benefits.
SPEAKER_00 (09:05):
Right.
Yeah, it's it's crazy work, man.
And you know, uh it's again,it's one of those things that
it's sad, but at the same time,we're thankful for our lives,
we're thankful for those thatthey take advantage of the
benefits, whether it'seducation, uh, whether it's
disability benefits, whetherit's certain things to where it
provides something substantialto each household.
(09:28):
And um, you know, there's someother things that that we get as
well that uh uh maybe I'll dolike a tutorial or something
about benefits for veteransdepending on your percentages.
SPEAKER_01 (09:39):
I don't know.
Like I'm I'm a little bit in thedark, so I'm sure there's plenty
of people out there that's justkind of like what is what is it?
What are you missing out on?
What maybe they got somebodythat like how how accessible is
the knowledge to veterans?
Like, do they do a lot ofveterans know like immediately,
like, all right, I need to goand get my benefits, or like is
that kind of like Yeah, I don'tthink that the average veteran
(10:01):
knows uh what route they'regonna do.
Like what access they have, orlike what's available to them.
SPEAKER_00 (10:07):
A lot of times, man, it's like peer-to-peer is how
you get most of the information.
SPEAKER_01 (10:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:11):
Right?
And and hopefully somebody willput you up on game and not uh
gatekeep.
Right.
Like that's gatekeeped too, man.
Yeah, I've seen it.
Right.
But uh, you know, so when itcomes to those benefits, you
know, you can always go to uh,you know, the website, check
those out.
Um, also recommend YouTube.
There's some really greatsources out there that lets you
know how to get started withyour benefits, what you need.
(10:33):
And uh, you know, uh and I'llmake sure that I drop some
information on some of theorganizations that actually help
people get their benefits andstuff like that that I would
recommend.
SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:43):
Right?
Because there, you know, there'sfolks out there predatory, you
know, predatory on on, you know,that's it.
SPEAKER_02 (10:49):
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's right.
Right, right, right, right,right.
Yeah, they don't look forThey're gonna look for some ways
to get to it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Right.
But uh, so let's jump into this.
Um, veterans, Veterans Day isimportant.
Of course, everybody has areason why they became a veteran
or went into the military.
So I want to jump into that realquick.
Uh I'll shout out Pops.
Now, Pops is 81.
He'll be 82 in January.
So that's back in the day,right?
(11:15):
That was back when they wasdrafting folks, man.
Yeah, I had no choice.
Like, you ain't had no choice,man.
Hey, he looked you got theletter.
Hey, you remember public enemy?
I got a letter from thegovernment.
You heard that before, Bubble?
What is that?
What is that?
Public enemy, man.
I don't put them up on that.
Public enemy, man.
I've heard of public enemy, butI don't know.
Public enemy have had, you know,they're the ones who fight the
(11:36):
power.
They always talked about ChuckD, man.
They always talked about, youknow, the government and and
how, you know, how they how theydid folks, man.
Yeah.
You know, and still doing folks.
Yeah, we need it.
SPEAKER_02 (11:49):
We need it in hip hop, too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:51):
We need that back in hip-hop, man.
I think they're paying folks ahush.
SPEAKER_01 (11:55):
Oh, for sure.
For sure, man.
Don't talk about that.
People getting a check not totalk about it.
They're getting a check not totalk about it, certain things,
but they getting another checkto push certain things as well.
SPEAKER_00 (12:07):
The narrative is crazy.
Yeah.
But hey, that's a whole nother.
SPEAKER_01 (12:12):
I'm about to say that's yeah, that's a different
episode.
But if you feel like because Iused to always think growing up,
like I'm I'm old enough, butlike I'm also young enough to
see the shift too.
Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah.
Like I was around, you know,growing up in the 90s, the
Tupac, the biggest, like, andthe conscious rap and stuff.
What was on the radio?
That's right.
But then I saw the shift to thenarrative and what the content
(12:35):
in the rapture.
Yeah, just blow out.
Disrespect of each other.
Of your own people.
Right.
I like your point.
When did that become a littlebit more?
We wasn't really on there.
(14:14):
Spin a block and what are y'alltalking about?
SPEAKER_00 (14:17):
What is this?
What is this thing about takingsomebody baby mama and
humiliating them?
Is that part of it too, man?
I don't understand.
Isn't that like heavy?
SPEAKER_01 (14:26):
That's like a trope.
That's a heavy hip-hop trope.
And some boochus lip clock.
Like that is crazy work.
I don't understand it.
That is crazy, man.
That wasn't, was that like athing, though?
Like it couldn't have been.
Back in the 90s or like 90s hiphop, that wasn't something you
brag on.
(14:46):
No, no, what?
Nah, they weren't talking aboutthat.
SPEAKER_00 (14:48):
It wasn't, man.
And plus, even then, and we wekind of go on channel, but they
love this too, right?
But even with that, though, whenyou think about, you know, rap
and hip-hop and stuff, it'sstuff that you want to repeat.
Like you remember certain versesand hooks and stuff like that.
That's not something that you,you know, you walking in the
(15:09):
house, mom's cooking dinner.
SPEAKER_01 (15:11):
No.
And you talking brazy.
Yeah, yeah.
See?
Yeah, you could you the some thelines, the hip-hop lines, you
used to be able to rap in thecrib.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (15:20):
And they wouldn't even know what you're talking
about, right?
SPEAKER_02 (15:22):
Because you kind of just saying the right.
You're not even really rappingthem.
SPEAKER_01 (15:25):
Yeah, you can't do that today.
SPEAKER_02 (15:27):
Man, you can live in that.
The back of the head meet tookoff, man.
SPEAKER_00 (15:31):
Like, what did you just say?
So, so let's get back on topic.
Back on topic.
So, so dad got drafted.
SPEAKER_01 (15:38):
Right, no choice.
Right, right.
SPEAKER_00 (15:40):
Um, and then he ain't confirming, but he ain't
denied either, right?
Because he wound up doing likeover 25 years service.
So obviously it worked, right?
Right.
And so it obviously it wasdifferent back then.
Uh, I went in, man, let's see.
I went in the year you was born.
SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
94.
SPEAKER_00 (15:58):
Yeah, I went in in 94.
So when I went in, man, uh lessthan a year at high school, and
I was just trying to figure outwhat to do.
I didn't want to go to college.
Um, I didn't want to like work aregular job.
Because back then, man, it waslike six dollars an hour, five
(16:18):
fifteen.
Yeah.
Oh my God.
Yeah, it was like five, it waslike five dollars an hour, man.
That is terrible, man.
That's still pretty low.
That is terrible.
That's 20, 30, 30 years.
Yeah.
That's ugly.
So uh so I went in just forstability, and then I was like,
(16:42):
if I'm gonna go into a certainbranch, I'm gonna go into the
Air Force because I wanted to domedical.
Plus, I just felt like Air Forceis the elite branch in terms of,
you know, the opportunities thatyou have, you know, and so um I
went in as a as a medic, combatmedic, and man, I had a great
(17:02):
career.
So I enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_01 (17:04):
Can you talk a little bit about it?
What is like combat medicdescription?
What is like what do you do?
SPEAKER_00 (17:11):
Yeah, yeah.
So uh, of course, you know, younever know exactly what you're
going to do, right, until you'rein it.
So after we went into training,I went to about 18 months of
training.
And uh when I got into my actualduty station, you know, they
trained us to basically beindependent medics in the field,
(17:32):
like wartime.
So we patching folks up,stitching folks up, putting IVs
in them.
Just like in the movies.
Just like in the movies, man.
And so that's that's that's theskill set that we learned, but
we were also able to work inlike a hospital setting.
Oh, that's cool.
In in any type of environment.
Matter of fact, my first job inthe military, man, I worked um
(17:53):
in the maternal ward.
Really?
Now at 19 years old, I was inthe maternal ward.
So that consists of thepostpartum after the ladies had
a kid.
Right.
The nursery, and then umpostpartum nursery, and then
labor and delivery.
Wow.
Labor and delivery, man, overthere massaging funduses.
(18:16):
Is that like is that common for?
Yeah, I mean, you know, UncleSam's gonna put you like for me,
that was being frontline.
Like, no experience or anythinglike that.
But once you train, you're notgonna keep training and
simulating.
They're putting you in thefield.
So, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_01 (18:34):
You still remember like your first day in the
field?
SPEAKER_00 (18:36):
I don't remember my first day, but I do remember
just being shocked with being 19years old and these grown women
and their husbands.
I remember their husbandslooking at me like, what you
think you're finna do?
Huh?
You you think you're about tochange my wife's pad right now?
Right.
No, bruh.
(18:59):
That's how that's how that waslooking, right?
But listen, that's how I startedout.
But then when, you know, uhshe's going through what she's
going through, experiencing, youknow, going to the lake.
Now you're looking for anybody.
Yeah, bro.
SPEAKER_02 (19:11):
Hey, hey, bruh, come on, come on in, man.
SPEAKER_00 (19:12):
She's going through.
You can't do nothing.
You look crazy.
And then mind you, these wereactive duty guys.
So, you know, they could be 6'5,Swoller.
Yeah.
No, bruh, I got to take care ofyour wife now, right?
SPEAKER_02 (19:26):
Stay over there.
SPEAKER_00 (19:27):
Stay over there, be.
And then thinking about, hey,think about it.
They getting lightheaded andnauseous and stuff like that.
So now I got to hold you.
Now I got Hey, hey, just sitdown, sit on down, relax.
Drink drink this water.
SPEAKER_01 (19:41):
Right, right.
Right?
SPEAKER_00 (19:42):
And relax.
So uh it was a really coolexperience, man.
I enjoyed.
So they trained us to be in thehospital setting or uh during
wartime.
So, you know, well, I mean, wehad M16 training, you know.
Okay.
Uh yeah, so we was able to do itall.
You know, combat.
So the the combat medic doesn'tmean that it's just, you know,
(20:04):
wartime, but like we had to havea special set of skills as well.
Right.
So, you know, the gas masktraining, you know, um, just all
kind of stuff.
And it was cool.
It was a really good career,man.
So I was thankful.
Um, I used the GI Bill, I usedevery single benefit possible.
Of course.
You know, because that was oneof the reasons why I went into
it because I didn't want to goto college, but I knew at some
(20:26):
point, if I wanted to go tocollege, at least it'd be paid
for.
So that's what, you know, theAir Force allowed me to do.
That's right.
Um, and so, you know, eventhinking about that, and you
where you're at, like, how doyou feel?
Like, what is your impression onthe military right now?
SPEAKER_01 (20:41):
I always wanted to go.
SPEAKER_00 (20:43):
Tell me that.
SPEAKER_01 (20:45):
Possibly.
SPEAKER_00 (20:46):
I would have taken you on out of uh South Alabama,
man.
SPEAKER_01 (20:48):
Listen, listen, from a young, and it's so crazy.
I don't know if this is I don'tknow how it is, but I wanted to
be in the Air Force.
I would tell my mom, my mom, allthe time, I wanted to be in the
Air Force.
unknown (21:00):
What?
SPEAKER_01 (21:01):
I wanted to be, she would, she, she was against the
military.
She didn't want me to go.
Okay, she discouraged this, sothat's why I didn't.
SPEAKER_00 (21:08):
That's the only reason I didn't do it, but I
ain't never, I I I didn't getthe memo.
SPEAKER_01 (21:12):
I always wanted to go in the memory.
And I don't I don't know.
I mean, I don't like I see thething is I don't know how it
works.
Like, I feel I'm 30 years old.
Like, is that I think you got to36.
Hey, man.
I still do it.
I still do it.
Hey, hey, hey, we're talkingabout these days Sally Bitney,
bro.
Sally Bitney.
I'm being so serious that and Idon't know why I why I was so
(21:37):
young, man, but I just remember.
I remember like yesterday.
I asked my mom, like, yo, can I,you know, I want to I want to do
the mint.
She was, she was no.
She was just like afraid oflike, you know, she wanted me to
go and then we go to war.
Yeah, yeah, that's what she was.
She just didn't want to do it,so she discouraged me.
So after a while.
SPEAKER_02 (21:57):
Yeah.
All that.
SPEAKER_00 (21:59):
Get you on my mother.
So anyway, that's interestingthat you say that, um, because I
think a lot of people um aroundyour age bracket don't really
know what to expect.
Right.
Because if you go off of socialmedia, then hell no.
Yeah.
Right?
Because it's like they're gonnaput you on front line as soon as
you enlist.
(22:19):
Right?
As soon as you get out of theboot camp, front line.
Right?
Nothing in between.
Like, what you gonna do, right?
You're not even trainedproperly.
Just out there.
Just out there, man.
Trying to figure it out, man.
But I think that uh around yourage bracket, people don't really
know what to expect with themilitary.
(22:40):
And since my pops went in, backwhen he went in till now, I
mean, obviously, there's been alot of changes, right?
It's changed drastically.
Right.
But at the same time, when itcomes to those benefits, though,
we're still talking about, youknow, GI Bill, you know, still
(23:38):
exists, uh, you know, certaintraining and stuff like that.
And obviously, you have a skill.
And then there's colleges withineach branch, people forget
about.
Right?
There's community college withineach branch, and then there's
universities.
All right.
So even people that, um, andthis is what I would have done
different if I knew that I wasgonna go directly to um the
(24:03):
military, I would have gone intoROTC.
You remember ROTC?
We used to pick at the folks inROTC in those universe and
marching, right?
With them shiny shoes, right?
Like we used to pick at them,but you get credit for that
going into the military.
Oh, that's true.
So instead of going in like justno rank or no nothing, you
(24:24):
actually get some stripes.
Okay.
You get that.
Just like if you go to collegeand you went to college and
graduate, have your degree, youcan go in as an officer.
Oh, okay.
So a lot of people don't knowthat enlisted means that you uh,
you know, you're going instraight from, you know,
civilian life, but going in asan officer, you have a college
(24:47):
degree.
So that's the difference betweenenlisted and an officer.
So obviously, you know, with theofficer, you know, the money,
but you still, you know, youstill got to go up through the
ranks and stuff like that.
So if I would have done it alittle bit different, I probably
would have done ROTC, but I wastoo busy with sports and and
working and other stuff likethat.
(25:07):
So if parents, if your kids areinterested in the military, have
in their instill in high school,let them go through ROTC because
that'll get them prepared uh toactually have a better
understanding.
So it won't be such a shock whenwhen they go through basic
training and then they go and uhactually get their uh the
(25:30):
schooling.
SPEAKER_01 (25:31):
Yeah, you're right, though.
We definitely they got picked onfor sure.
Yeah, definitely, man.
They got picked on.
SPEAKER_00 (25:38):
But at the same time, man, when you think about
it, man, what is one of the mostopportune times to learn
discipline, consistency, uh, andactually camaraderie as well?
Right?
Because you really got to knowuh know your personnel, right?
And build that type of trust.
So I think that, you know, umit's it's definitely a
lifestyle.
SPEAKER_01 (25:58):
Yeah, for sure.
That's what I always admireabout it too.
Like anytime, you know,military, it's just like a
different swag, man, a differentprestige that you that you gain,
I feel like, that you get goingthrough that process.
It's almost like um, you know,like the same like like the
brotherhood thing.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's just, you know, it'sjust a different vibe.
It is.
(26:19):
It's it's that's what I always,I always, you know, admired
about it though.
SPEAKER_00 (26:23):
Yeah, I mean, so so we'll go ahead and play this
game because I know that peoplewhen we start talking about the
military, different military uharmed forces, uh, they like to
talk about uniforms.
SPEAKER_01 (26:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:34):
So, so what uniform for you stood out the most when
you saw uh somebody in the armyuniform, navy uniform, marine
uniform, air force uniform, andthen of course you got the Coast
Guard.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
Don't disrespect the Coast Guard.
Well, they got like what, theum, it's like a white cap or
something, the blue.
What's the Coast Guard?
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
Yeah, that's them.
SPEAKER_01 (26:56):
I don't know.
I I feel like I always thoughtArmy the most.
Okay.
That was swaggy too.
So so the green.
Yeah, the green.
Yeah, that was that was swaggy.
Okay.
I thought that was that wascool.
SPEAKER_00 (27:06):
Yeah.
I I would say um what stood outthe most for me would be the
Marines.
Marines.
Marines, they were the ones thathave the black coat, the blue
dress pants, right?
Um, and and uh those would bethe ones with the sword.
Oh, they're always the ones withthe sword, right?
Right, yeah, yeah.
So uh so I so I I'll say this,I'll give you guys an exclusive.
(27:27):
I originally, I originallysigned up for the Marines.
I did.
So what happens is, and and Idon't know if they still do it,
but you know, the recruiterscome to the school.
Yeah, yeah, they didn't.
Right.
So they came to the school, andI was just like, the guys, the
Marine guys.
Matter of fact, you know, theywas the one that was pretty much
swole, and then I again theuniform, right?
(27:48):
So I was like, yo, I want to, Iwant to do it.
So I think at the time I wouldsay I was 17, 16, 17.
So the parents had to sign forme to move on.
So yeah, so the Marine recruiterhe came, and uh my parents, you
know, my dad was like, okay,what you want to do?
I said, yeah.
So he signed, and um, what windup happening is they they was
(28:12):
doing too much.
They were pulling up everywhereI was at.
Yo.
Basketball court, they wouldcome to my classroom, they would
come by the house and said, nah,nah, nah, man.
Y'all, y'all, y'all tripping.
And I don't even know what I'mgonna do yet.
Right?
So it was crazy, man.
So I just I said, uh, hell no tothe military altogether.
(28:34):
Oh, man.
And so after I graduated, then Iwas like, you know what?
Let me take another look.
Rethink it.
And so then uh, for some reason,man, this recruit spot, I was
looking back in Jacksonville,and it was crazy because in this
plaza, they was boom, boom,boom, boom.
Like they was next door to eachother.
SPEAKER_01 (28:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:56):
So you could accidentally walk into the wrong
place if you were payingattention.
And be like, hey, I want to signup.
And you don't even know whatyou're signing up for, right?
Next thing you know, you in theMarine Corps, dog.
You you was looking to be in thearmy, right?
That's crazy.
And so um, I went and I talkedto the to the Air Force
recruiter, and he was like,Well, what do you want to do?
(29:16):
What do you what do you wantyour career to look like?
Right.
And I said, I want to dosomething medical.
I want to be a doctor, I want tobe in the in the nursing field,
or whatever the case is.
He said, Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (29:25):
Can I pause you real quick?
Now that was an aspiration thatyou just always had being in the
medical field.
Where did that come from?
SPEAKER_00 (29:32):
Yeah, yeah, I think that came from um just having a
passion to want to help peoplefrom a health perspective.
SPEAKER_02 (29:40):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (29:41):
Right?
So yeah, I just wanted to uh,you know, I didn't know for
sure.
But so that's kind of why I wentinto the medical field to see
what those options were.
Okay.
Because the options could havebeen, you know, in the lab, or
it it could have been, you know,in the nursing area, it could
have been a medic.
Um, so the medic was the onethat actually contained
(31:51):
everything.
So I could be on the ambulanceas a medic, or I could be on the
field, I could be in thehospital.
So that was the one that gave methe most uh, you know, uh
diversity uh as far as when itcame to options.
So it was like, yeah, I so I hadto wait like uh maybe like five
months.
Five months.
You know, I had to wait fivemonths.
(32:13):
Well, see, that was the thing.
And in the other branches, ifyou wanted to do something, man,
they get you in right away.
Like two weeks, they shippingyou won't.
Yeah.
But they're not gonna tell youwhat your job is.
So you don't find out untilafter your boot camp.
Roll of the dice.
What kind of career is that?
So I felt like, and I don't evenknow if it's like that still,
(32:36):
but the Air Force was the one,you pick what field you wanted
to go to.
Yeah, that's a lot better.
Right?
And so they're not shipping youout until that becomes
available.
SPEAKER_02 (32:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:46):
Right?
Because it was very strategicwhen it came to how many people
in this field, how many go intoboot camp, how many go into the
tech school, and all that.
SPEAKER_01 (32:55):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (32:55):
So that's how that came about, man, and uh, and I
enjoyed it.
I actually worked an additionaleight years once I got out the
uh the uh uh Air Force in themedical field.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, so you know, total aboutyou know 14 years of medical
before I retired out of thatfield.
Yeah, yeah, that's fine.
(33:16):
So, you know, um with that beingsaid, what what do you think
would happen, like like say forinstance, uh your baby sisters,
right?
All your baby sisters.
What do you how do you thinkthey feel about military?
How they look at mil in today'smilitary.
(33:38):
Um even those in that agebracket as well.
SPEAKER_01 (33:42):
Right, just around that age.
Uh yeah, I don't know.
I don't know if they really areconsidering the military like
that because it's so, what doyou mean, just like as a as a
life path or just as a lifepath?
unknown (33:55):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (33:56):
It ain't happening, bro.
It's just so like the landscapeis so different.
Yeah.
Even from 10, 20 years ago.
Like there's so many otherthings that people want to be
like.
Right.
Yeah, they probably want to be astreamer or a YouTuber or
something like that.
SPEAKER_00 (34:08):
Yeah, I was gonna say influence the tigers.
SPEAKER_01 (34:10):
Right, yeah, like influence a social, like there's
the landscape is just completelydifferent.
So I think there's a lot morethat's coming before the
military to consider.
Right.
I think they probably look at itas like a last option or like a
f something to fall back on, orsomething like that.
SPEAKER_02 (34:24):
That makes sense.
SPEAKER_01 (34:24):
As opposed to like, this is what I actually want to
do.
Yeah.
I think maybe my generation atleast, or maybe the ones a
little bit younger than me, Ithink a lot of them look at it.
SPEAKER_00 (34:33):
Well, so where do you think the influence comes
from, though?
Like, even if you look at from amedia or social media, um, I
don't I don't think that themilitary itself is heavily
pushed as far as what does thatlifestyle look like?
Because even when he when hetalks about influence and
streamers, sometimes you'll seesome uh a military person with a
(34:54):
bunch of followers and uh aYouTube page and the whole
situation.
SPEAKER_01 (35:00):
Well, you know, I remember coming up and seeing
like a lot of Navy commercials,right?
I don't really, I don't evenknow if the and I don't know if
that was like a big thing.
Like they For that time.
Right, for that time, like theyjust needed people to join.
Yeah, heavily right.
So that that was the push.
Like, I don't know if they arethey pushing it like that now?
(35:21):
I don't see it.
SPEAKER_00 (35:21):
Nah, I don't see it uh I don't think it's the same.
Yeah, I don't see it at all.
And and one thing that I I Iwould question is does the
recruiters also come to college?
Do they try to recruit them asofficers to come in, you know,
once they graduate?
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
Yeah.
I've never heard of that.
Yeah, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00 (35:39):
So I always wondered that, but I do feel like there's
not a heavy uh media push.
Um even with social media andthings like that, just the life
and lifestyle.
It's not in my algorithm.
SPEAKER_01 (35:51):
No, it's not you know what I mean.
I mean like you'll see, like Isee some, like like you said,
there are some influencers andthey're doing their thing, like
they in the army, you know, theyright, but it's not that
content.
Like it's they may be doingTikTok dances.
Right, yeah, they're notrecruiting you.
It's not saying some joint, theyjust got their uniform on and
they're doing a dance orwhatever.
SPEAKER_00 (36:12):
Almost like a distraction for me.
Hey, we can warrant it, right?
Right.
Like, I'm probably not reallytrying to think about not coming
home to my family and stuff likethat for the next, you know, 18
months.
Exactly.
24 months or something likethat, man.
But, you know, uh shout out toall of our active duty, um, and
(36:33):
even those that are reserve.
Like, you know, the reservelifestyle is an option for
people too, because um, youknow, it's it's it's uh I think
like maybe two weekends.
SPEAKER_01 (36:45):
You know, that's a that's that's another thing.
The two weekends is cool, but Ithink about, you know, because I
used to drive trucks.
So you know, I'd be I'd be onthe road for two or three weeks.
But military, you gone formonths at a time.
That's a completely differentlifestyle to, like you said,
being away from your family andstuff.
(37:06):
That's a that's a big sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00 (37:07):
It is a big sacrifice.
Um, but also if if you if you'regoing to college, you might go
away from college, right?
True.
So but however, obviously therisks are a little bit
different.
SPEAKER_02 (37:19):
You go to Germany, not not uh Georgia State, right?
It's a little bit different.
Different genes.
A lot of miles.
It's a lot of miles, right?
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (37:34):
And requirements, right?
Right.
You can't just be like, it's agood weekend to go home.
No.
Right.
Not Germany, man.
SPEAKER_01 (37:43):
FaceTime is your best friend.
SPEAKER_00 (37:44):
FaceTime, man.
Video chat all day long, man.
But uh, so yeah, I do think thatit the recruitment is a little
bit different, yeah.
Not as heavy.
But I mean, obviously, peopleare still going in.
You know, people are still goingin every day, graduating from
basic and boot camp and stufflike that.
You know, I see that a lot on mytimeline.
The graduations, right?
(38:06):
So um, especially uh people likearound my age, they're either
their grandson, I don't know ifthey could be that old.
SPEAKER_01 (38:14):
No, probably not that old, but you know, their uh
their daughter or their songraduating from boot camp or Do
you think it's more of like howdo you say, like legacy?
Like they probably, they,they're probably, oh, I wanna
say their influence or knowledgeof the military comes from a
family member or a father or amother, right?
There's probably not as a lot ofpeople that's just saying, oh, I
(38:36):
want to do it without havingsomebody in the family or
somebody.
SPEAKER_00 (38:39):
Yeah, um I think that has changed.
I think the lineage of uh ofthose that are going in, you
know, because of that is a lotdifferent.
I think a lot of generations areskipping it, uh, only because,
again, there's there's so manymore options.
Right, right.
You know, you so with with usbeing in the information and the
tech age, those are some heavyoptions.
(39:01):
Like you can you can go into themilitary or you can go get a
tech job that's gonna pay you180.
You know what I mean?
Right away.
Right, right.
You know what I mean?
And so um uh but but it's stillgood to see because some people
need some people's kids and somepeople need that type of
discipline.
Right.
Um, a lot of times because theymay not have uh that positive
(39:24):
influence in their community.
So they need to see somethingthat is different from what
they're accustomed to if theydon't have that uncle, that
grandfather, that father thatwas in the military and said,
hey, you know, it'd be good foryou.
Right.
And they give you theperspective of not shipping you
off, but more of the benefits ofeducation, traveling the world,
(39:45):
it's all about it, meeting newpeople.
SPEAKER_01 (39:47):
Yeah, how the information is translated and
passed.
That's what it's about.
Because you got one, you got ared pill and a blue pill.
You got somebody to they tellingyou all the negatives and all,
and I feel like that's kind ofwhat I went through.
Like, I didn't get the mom wasgiving the guard in.
I mean, she didn't she didn'tlike she just basically was
like, yo, like I don't want youto do this, war.
You could I don't I don't wantto lose my baby.
(40:07):
Like all that stuff, like likethe like guilt.
Like, you know what I mean?
Like you make me feel guilty,but this is right that this is
actually something I considerand I want to do, and I'm coming
and telling that.
And mom, if you seen a lot, shedon't see a bunch of the city.
Somebody don't send it to a bro.
I ain't trying to, you know,because hey man, life works how
it works, but you know, that'smy lived experience.
(40:29):
That's how I, you know, process,and you only really get to
understand in hindsight when youlook at back on stuff.
And it's like you start to thinkabout like, damn, man, what if I
had actually gone to the middleand stuff like that?
SPEAKER_00 (40:41):
Yeah, I mean, you know, timing, you know, uh God's
timing is different than ours.
And so uh things was put inplace to where, you know, um it
might not have been that time,right?
So we we we good with it.
We here right now.
SPEAKER_01 (40:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (40:55):
Right?
Right, so so so uh, you know,kind of finishing this uh
conversation up, again, happyVeterans Day to all the veterans
and the family members.
Because uh the month of Novemberis military and family month.
A lot of people didn't know thatas well.
Right?
So we have to give shout outs,especially the the spouses of
the military veterans.
SPEAKER_01 (41:16):
They go through it, huh?
Oh my God.
They go through it.
SPEAKER_00 (41:19):
Listen, I know that um with with in within my
family, even you know, mom, whenwhen dad was in the military,
man, four kids at the house,man.
Two boys, two girls.
So, you know, moms was holdingit up and down.
Right?
She was holding it up and down,and I just I remember those
times where dad would uh hewould come back home, and we
(41:44):
don't know how long he would bethere.
And I think that they were verystrategic in not telling us so
that we didn't anticipate that,you know, he's leaving in two
weeks, or he's only here forfour months.
Now, the Navy is one of thosethings to where they're out to
sea for a long time.
You know, ain't no uh I'm goinghome, so they give you a
(42:05):
personal jet to fly off the shipto get home.
SPEAKER_02 (42:09):
Imagine how many personal planes that would have
to I'm heading home.
SPEAKER_00 (42:20):
Like, cause because right, think about it.
So sometimes they submarines,too.
So you know a submarine ain'tlifting and letting folk dip
out, man.
So it would have to be thoselarge aircraft carriers, man.
And so they're not lettingregular folks regular Popeyes
just leave.
Black Popeyes, dog.
(42:40):
Ain't no way.
This should have been a blackPopeye, right?
Why is it never a black Popeye?
That's crazy word.
SPEAKER_02 (42:48):
Hey man, you know how it is.
The disrespect?
You know how it is.
SPEAKER_00 (42:52):
The disrespect continues, man.
But uh, but anyway, so we uh wedidn't really know or really
understand, you know, that thatwhole Navy lifestyle.
We we knew the militarylifestyle, meaning, you know, we
kind of bounced city to city,state to state, wherever uh, you
know, dad is stationed.
(43:13):
Um I actually was it a lot?
Like, well, see, I was gonnasay, for me, I I came around
during the end of his career.
Oh, okay.
Like uh the last three, fouryears before he retired.
Okay.
Now, now everybody else, theythey bounced.
Okay.
Right?
They bounced, uh, right.
(43:34):
Me, I was a little bit more onthe stable side, right?
So they figured it out.
That's not the way I camearound.
SPEAKER_01 (43:41):
Time changes give you a completely different
experience.
It did.
Outlook.
Right, right.
SPEAKER_00 (43:45):
I never saw that.
You know, I never saw the moveup and moving and stuff like
that, like uh like my siblings.
They talk about all the time.
They talk about how, you know,kind of bouncing and having to
move and pick up friends andschool and stuff like that.
That's tough.
So I didn't have thatinstability.
I didn't have a child withinstability, though.
(44:06):
That's it, man.
I I remember my guys, man,growing up.
Uh but anyway, um, so I wouldjust say finally, man, I think
that uh it's very different.
Um, I don't even know what themilitary will look like in the
next 20 years.
Like you mentioned, you know,those, you know, under you
(44:26):
having so many other options ofnot going into the military
because, again, it's not a wholelot of advertisement.
And then with the the uh thedifferent presidential
campaigning going on, like thatis another factor.
SPEAKER_01 (44:43):
That's a factor, too.
Yeah, it's another factor.
SPEAKER_00 (44:45):
Like maybe depending on who's in office, folk will
go.
It's crazy how the you know, theinfluence of making a decision
on on your career, how peoplebase it on, you know, kind of
what's going on in the world.
Oh, yeah.
Um but but at the end of theday, I mean, we we haven't had
you know any wars.
I mean, we we've had some thingsgo on.
(45:07):
Yeah, we haven't declared it,too.
Not not a major war.
So when you think about it, umit has for the most part been
peacetime.
Oh, yeah.
You know, so somebody could havehad a span of 10 years by now.
Oh, yeah.
Who went in?
You know what I mean?
Somebody could have had a uh uhuh a new career at that point.
(45:29):
You know, I think what happens alot, and we'll finish it with
this, and we'll have to revisitthis again, when people uh get
into the military and theyexperience going to different
countries and things like that,a lot of them get out of the
military and stay in thatcountry.
Right?
Yeah.
I uh I never went to um, youknow, the the Germanys and
(45:52):
Thailands and the Philippinesand China's like that because
when I was in Alaska, that wasconsidered overseas.
Alaska was considered overseasbecause of course it's not
attached to what we call thelower 48, lower 48 states.
Right.
And then then, of course, youknow, Puerto Rico and um, you
know, Hawaii and Alaska, theywasn't considered um that.
(46:12):
So uh, you know, people reallydo get out because you have a
skill at that point, right?
You have a skill.
So uh whatever you did, whetherit was engineering, whether it
was a supply, whether it was amedic, whether it was law
enforcement, you take thatskill, you can add to it and
grab some additional education,and then you can do it wherever
(46:33):
you're at.
SPEAKER_01 (46:34):
I'm about to say that um you you have that skill,
and then you also got like, I'msure there's some prestige that
comes with saying you got thisskill from you know the military
trainer, like you're not just anengineer, you're military
training.
SPEAKER_00 (46:49):
Right, right, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (46:50):
So you probably get a little lag up too.
SPEAKER_00 (46:51):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
You definitely get, you know,preferred hiring.
Uh you definitely get um and ifyou want, and what a lot of
people also may do is they maygo and start either contracting
with the government or get agovernment job out of the
military.
And you get to keep, you get tokeep your rent, like your rank
transfers.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah, so those are really somegood options, especially if
(47:13):
somebody's looking to, you know,retire in that same field or um
they want that type offlexibility.
So that's pretty dope.
SPEAKER_01 (47:22):
Yeah.
Hey, man.
Yeah.
It's not all bad, man.
It ain't all bad.
But I think that, like you said,it's just times are changing.
Like it was, we were sodependent.
Well, just in previous years, itwas just such a strong push and
the uh the strength was there,but over time it's just
(47:42):
dwindled, man.
So man, we'll see the next 20will be.
SPEAKER_00 (47:46):
We will.
Hey, hey, as a matter of fact,um we appreciate you guys, you
know, checking out this episode,Pops the Sun Conversations, uh,
raw and uncut.
And um shout out again to allthe veterans, the retirees,
happy veterans day, happyveteran and family month as
(48:07):
well, military family month.
You know, we know that uh itcould be a lot, um, but at the
same time, man, you have toappreciate what you've been able
to accomplish as a unit.
And, you know, we encourage youguys to just uh you know do what
you need to do to stay together.
And obviously, if you need somehelp, you know, find the right
uh agencies to do that.
(48:29):
The veterans already know yougot the veterans crisis line.
Um, and uh if you guys ever needsome help, you know, you can
always Google and get thatinformation as well.
Well, that's it, man.
That's it.
We did it, man.
All right, so look, we'll seeyou guys uh next episode.
And of course, follow us on allsocial media platforms.
(48:50):
You can always go to ourwebsite, uh, which is Pops and
Son Conversations with theNess.com.
Uh the YouTube is Pops and SunConversations, well as IG and uh
Facebook.
Now the TikTok is a littledifferent.
Everywhere.
Pops and Sun, right?
Pops and Sun Combo Combo, short.
Pops and Son Combo?
Pops and Sun Combo.
(49:11):
Yeah, it's kind of cool though.
It was too long, that's why wecouldn't do it, right?
Yeah, that's weird.
Yeah, that is weird.
SPEAKER_01 (49:15):
Might need to TikTok, but you know, that's
that's the Chinese folks.
I thought that characters did.
SPEAKER_00 (49:21):
I thought they got bought out.
SPEAKER_01 (49:21):
Yeah, they did, they did.
But I think they still, yeah,yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (49:26):
Ain't no way they're gonna give it all the way away.
All right, so we'll see you guyslater.
It's your favorite still FoxRobin Lloyd.
Hey, Mr.
Check three times, baby.
All right, we'll see you guys.
We out.
Fuck y'all niggas.
Fuck y'all y'all niggas.
Except my niggas.
Pops and song conversations raw and uncut.
All right, welcome to anotherepisode of Pops and Song
Conversation, Raw and Uncutversion.
Raw and uncut, man.
Alright, of course, is yourfavorite soil Fox Rob Malloy?
You already know who I am.
Check three times, baby.
(02:19):
It ain't nothing changed.
Yo, uh, you represent, werepresent Happy Veterans Day to
all my fellow veterans andfamily members.
You gotta show love to thefamily members because they're
the ones that support, you know,while uh Oboe is going through
PTSD, man.
You know, you gotta havesomebody looking after them.
Nah, it's real.
(02:39):
Real talk.
Real.
Real talk.
I think everybody that hasexperienced being in the
military for any amount of timereally has uh uh PTSD, man.
And I think PTSD can even carryover to the family member,
right?
Because they've never seen theirfamily member in this state of
(03:00):
mind.
Right.
Right?
So it can be that serious.
But uh but we're just gonna jumpinto this thing, man, and we'll
go all over the place becauseit's raw and uncut.
Raw and uncut.
Right?
So we can do what we want to do,how we want to do it, and when.
And now's the time.
Yes, sir.
All right, so look, uh, again,you know, Veterans Day is uh
really important, right?
(03:21):
Um for numerous reasons.
But before we even get intothat, I want to talk about the
difference between Veterans Day,which is today, November the
11th, and Memorial Day.
SPEAKER_01 (03:32):
Okay, what is it?
Right?
And a lot of times, do you knowthe difference?
Uh Memorial Day is forremembering past lives, right?
People that passed away.
Yeah, exactly.
Okay, right.
SPEAKER_00 (03:42):
So when you think about it, you're membering or
remembering and uh memorializingthose that fought for this
country.
So obviously they're not stillhere.
Right.
Right?
So uh I remember talking to afellow veteran earlier today,
and you know, we were justdiscussing uh how a lot of
civilians mix up Veterans Dayand Memorial Day.
(04:03):
Like, please, please don't tellanybody who is alive thank you
for your service on MemorialDay.
That's complete disrespect.
Oh, man.
SPEAKER_01 (04:13):
Yeah, it happens every year.
Thank you for your service onMemorial Day.
On Memorial Day, man.
SPEAKER_00 (04:18):
And they're telling somebody that's alive.
SPEAKER_01 (04:20):
Damn.
SPEAKER_00 (04:20):
So that's tough.
Don't do that.
So just remember Memorial Day,remembering those lives that
fought uh for this country, yourfreedom, our freedom.
And so we'll just kind of leaveit at that.
Veterans Day are the folks thatthey they still around, man.
Still around, man.
So veteran covers uh retirees.
Okay.
It also covers, you know, uh,those that actually served that
(04:43):
did not do a full career in themilitary.
So that's where they considerveterans.
So either you're veteran or aretiree.
Right.
And as far as I know, man, I'monly utilizing veterans for the
military services.
Like you can be a veteran in thefire department.
I I'm not really talking abouty'all.
Oh, okay.
So law enforcement, we're notnow.
No, y'all got your own day.
(05:05):
Or at least you should.
I was about to say, do they havea day?
Probably.
Probably.
Who knows what goes down onthose days, man?
Boys and blue, man.
Black and blue.
SPEAKER_02 (05:16):
Leave it for black leaving folks, black and blue.
Black and blue is crazy, bro.
That's crazy.
But it's true.
Hey, hey, hey, it's real.
SPEAKER_00 (05:28):
Hey, but it's true.
Several things can be true atthe same time.
That's right, that's right,that's right.
So back to our normallyscheduled situation, man.
So, yeah, so big differencebetween those days.
But getting back to VeteransDay, man, I think it's really
important to celebrate itbecause, man, all our veterans,
and y'all know I'm United StatesAir Force veteran.
Uh, my pop, shout out to my pop,uh, retired chief Robert L.
(05:51):
Malloy, uh, United States Navy.
Shout out.
Uh, my sister, man, your auntieSherry.
Yeah.
Marines.
Marines, right?
Right, right.
So, you know, we we we fullyrepresented all throughout the
family.
And uh, you know, we we needthat type of acknowledgement,
man, because it's tough for theveterans out here.
You know, um, here in Atlanta,uh, there's over 30,000 uh
(06:14):
homeless veterans.
30,000 homeless veterans uh inin Atlanta and uh in surrounding
areas.
And so, you know, the thebenefits, the VA hospital care
and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (06:28):
Yeah, that's one of the things.
When I hear about veterans, Ialways hear about how, I don't
know, maybe they're like theystruggle to get the there's
some, there's always like sometype of discrepancy with them
and receiving their benefits orsomething.
Like, what's up with that?
Uh it it it's just a whole Theyjust make you pull teeth to get
you.
It's it's tough, man.
SPEAKER_00 (06:46):
Look, look, teeth, legs, discriminating, all that.
You know what I mean?
Ears.
But uh it's just tough becausethere's so much paperwork
involved.
And then you have to go back andget your records.
Your records may be in in thisuh state if it's after a certain
time period, or they may be overhere.
Okay.
Then further back, some stuff isis in the paper, some stuff is
(07:09):
on on a disc.
It's just it shouldn't be likethat, man.
SPEAKER_01 (07:13):
It shouldn't be like that.
It's uh it's a it's a toughprocess.
SPEAKER_00 (07:18):
It's a tough system, man.
The whole VA system is is reallytough.
Now, obviously, there's nosystem that's perfect, but that
is one of the toughest becauseyou're dealing with people that
serve this country and put theirlife on the line.
Exactly.
Right?
So I know that there's other uhofficial, you know, there's
other uh official um bodies ofof uh veterans and whatnot and
(07:42):
services, but nothing like themilitary, man.
Nothing like it, man.
Nothing like it.
Nothing like it.
So I won't even get into thatbecause then my PTSD may kick
in.
So we're not here for that,right?
Right.
So we want to get through thisshow.
We want to get through it.
But uh, so so it's important,man, that we just have some type
of acknowledgement.
(08:03):
And so what happens typically onVeterans Day, certain
organizations and restaurantsparticipate in giving some free
meals or coupons, whatever thecase is.
I think that there should bemore of that.
Like uh I've always pushed formore military discounts on a
regular basis, right?
So I remember going to certainstores and I'm like, do you have
(08:25):
a military discounts?
Oh yeah, you know, everyThursday, or on uh uh, you know,
Veterans Day or something likethat.
I'm like, man, what if theveterans decided not to go in to
work?
Right.
But certain days, so you know, Imean, it's kind of one of those
things we just have to deal withand continue to, you know, fight
for more benefits.
SPEAKER_01 (08:47):
Yeah.
And uh and create, you know, andcreate our own.
I was about to say, I just feellike for America, you know, like
the most patriotic country, themost like you would expect that
it would be different, you know,for for the veterans and their
benefits.
SPEAKER_00 (09:05):
Right.
Yeah, it's it's crazy work, man.
And you know, uh it's again,it's one of those things that
it's sad, but at the same time,we're thankful for our lives,
we're thankful for those thatthey take advantage of the
benefits, whether it'seducation, uh, whether it's
disability benefits, whetherit's certain things to where it
provides something substantialto each household.
(09:28):
And um, you know, there's someother things that that we get as
well that uh uh maybe I'll dolike a tutorial or something
about benefits for veteransdepending on your percentages.
SPEAKER_01 (09:39):
I don't know.
Like I'm I'm a little bit in thedark, so I'm sure there's plenty
of people out there that's justkind of like what is what is it?
What are you missing out on?
What maybe they got somebodythat like how how accessible is
the knowledge to veterans?
Like, do they do a lot ofveterans know like immediately,
like, all right, I need to goand get my benefits, or like is
that kind of like Yeah, I don'tthink that the average veteran
(10:01):
knows uh what route they'regonna do.
Like what access they have, orlike what's available to them.
SPEAKER_00 (10:07):
A lot of times, man, it's like peer-to-peer is how
you get most of the information.
SPEAKER_01 (10:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:11):
Right?
And and hopefully somebody willput you up on game and not uh
gatekeep.
Right.
Like that's gatekeeped too, man.
Yeah, I've seen it.
Right.
But uh, you know, so when itcomes to those benefits, you
know, you can always go to uh,you know, the website, check
those out.
Um, also recommend YouTube.
There's some really greatsources out there that lets you
know how to get started withyour benefits, what you need.
(10:33):
And uh, you know, uh and I'llmake sure that I drop some
information on some of theorganizations that actually help
people get their benefits andstuff like that that I would
recommend.
SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:43):
Right?
Because there, you know, there'sfolks out there predatory, you
know, predatory on on, you know,that's it.
SPEAKER_02 (10:49):
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's right.
Right, right, right, right,right.
Yeah, they don't look forThey're gonna look for some ways
to get to it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Right.
But uh, so let's jump into this.
Um, veterans, Veterans Day isimportant.
Of course, everybody has areason why they became a veteran
or went into the military.
So I want to jump into that realquick.
Uh I'll shout out Pops.
Now, Pops is 81.
He'll be 82 in January.
So that's back in the day,right?
(11:15):
That was back when they wasdrafting folks, man.
Yeah, I had no choice.
Like, you ain't had no choice,man.
Hey, he looked you got theletter.
Hey, you remember public enemy?
I got a letter from thegovernment.
You heard that before, Bubble?
What is that?
What is that?
Public enemy, man.
I don't put them up on that.
Public enemy, man.
I've heard of public enemy, butI don't know.
Public enemy have had, you know,they're the ones who fight the
(11:36):
power.
They always talked about ChuckD, man.
They always talked about, youknow, the government and and
how, you know, how they how theydid folks, man.
Yeah.
You know, and still doing folks.
Yeah, we need it.
SPEAKER_02 (11:49):
We need it in hip hop, too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:51):
We need that back in hip-hop, man.
I think they're paying folks ahush.
SPEAKER_01 (11:55):
Oh, for sure.
For sure, man.
Don't talk about that.
People getting a check not totalk about it.
They're getting a check not totalk about it, certain things,
but they getting another checkto push certain things as well.
SPEAKER_00 (12:07):
The narrative is crazy.
Yeah.
But hey, that's a whole nother.
SPEAKER_01 (12:12):
I'm about to say that's yeah, that's a different
episode.
But if you feel like because Iused to always think growing up,
like I'm I'm old enough, butlike I'm also young enough to
see the shift too.
Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah.
Like I was around, you know,growing up in the 90s, the
Tupac, the biggest, like, andthe conscious rap and stuff.
What was on the radio?
That's right.
But then I saw the shift to thenarrative and what the content
(12:35):
in the rapture.
Yeah, just blow out.
Disrespect of each other.
Of your own people.
Right.
I like your point.
When did that become a littlebit more?
We wasn't really on there.
(14:14):
Spin a block and what are y'alltalking about?
SPEAKER_00 (14:17):
What is this?
What is this thing about takingsomebody baby mama and
humiliating them?
Is that part of it too, man?
I don't understand.
Isn't that like heavy?
SPEAKER_01 (14:26):
That's like a trope.
That's a heavy hip-hop trope.
And some boochus lip clock.
Like that is crazy work.
I don't understand it.
That is crazy, man.
That wasn't, was that like athing, though?
Like it couldn't have been.
Back in the 90s or like 90s hiphop, that wasn't something you
brag on.
(14:46):
No, no, what?
Nah, they weren't talking aboutthat.
SPEAKER_00 (14:48):
It wasn't, man.
And plus, even then, and we wekind of go on channel, but they
love this too, right?
But even with that, though, whenyou think about, you know, rap
and hip-hop and stuff, it'sstuff that you want to repeat.
Like you remember certain versesand hooks and stuff like that.
That's not something that you,you know, you walking in the
(15:09):
house, mom's cooking dinner.
SPEAKER_01 (15:11):
No.
And you talking brazy.
Yeah, yeah.
See?
Yeah, you could you the some thelines, the hip-hop lines, you
used to be able to rap in thecrib.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (15:20):
And they wouldn't even know what you're talking
about, right?
SPEAKER_02 (15:22):
Because you kind of just saying the right.
You're not even really rappingthem.
SPEAKER_01 (15:25):
Yeah, you can't do that today.
SPEAKER_02 (15:27):
Man, you can live in that.
The back of the head meet tookoff, man.
SPEAKER_00 (15:31):
Like, what did you just say?
So, so let's get back on topic.
Back on topic.
So, so dad got drafted.
SPEAKER_01 (15:38):
Right, no choice.
Right, right.
SPEAKER_00 (15:40):
Um, and then he ain't confirming, but he ain't
denied either, right?
Because he wound up doing likeover 25 years service.
So obviously it worked, right?
Right.
And so it obviously it wasdifferent back then.
Uh, I went in, man, let's see.
I went in the year you was born.
SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
94.
SPEAKER_00 (15:58):
Yeah, I went in in 94.
So when I went in, man, uh lessthan a year at high school, and
I was just trying to figure outwhat to do.
I didn't want to go to college.
Um, I didn't want to like work aregular job.
Because back then, man, it waslike six dollars an hour, five
(16:18):
fifteen.
Yeah.
Oh my God.
Yeah, it was like five, it waslike five dollars an hour, man.
That is terrible, man.
That's still pretty low.
That is terrible.
That's 20, 30, 30 years.
Yeah.
That's ugly.
So uh so I went in just forstability, and then I was like,
(16:42):
if I'm gonna go into a certainbranch, I'm gonna go into the
Air Force because I wanted to domedical.
Plus, I just felt like Air Forceis the elite branch in terms of,
you know, the opportunities thatyou have, you know, and so um I
went in as a as a medic, combatmedic, and man, I had a great
(17:02):
career.
So I enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_01 (17:04):
Can you talk a little bit about it?
What is like combat medicdescription?
What is like what do you do?
SPEAKER_00 (17:11):
Yeah, yeah.
So uh, of course, you know, younever know exactly what you're
going to do, right, until you'rein it.
So after we went into training,I went to about 18 months of
training.
And uh when I got into my actualduty station, you know, they
trained us to basically beindependent medics in the field,
(17:32):
like wartime.
So we patching folks up,stitching folks up, putting IVs
in them.
Just like in the movies.
Just like in the movies, man.
And so that's that's that's theskill set that we learned, but
we were also able to work inlike a hospital setting.
Oh, that's cool.
In in any type of environment.
Matter of fact, my first job inthe military, man, I worked um
(17:53):
in the maternal ward.
Really?
Now at 19 years old, I was inthe maternal ward.
So that consists of thepostpartum after the ladies had
a kid.
Right.
The nursery, and then umpostpartum nursery, and then
labor and delivery.
Wow.
Labor and delivery, man, overthere massaging funduses.
(18:16):
Is that like is that common for?
Yeah, I mean, you know, UncleSam's gonna put you like for me,
that was being frontline.
Like, no experience or anythinglike that.
But once you train, you're notgonna keep training and
simulating.
They're putting you in thefield.
So, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_01 (18:34):
You still remember like your first day in the
field?
SPEAKER_00 (18:36):
I don't remember my first day, but I do remember
just being shocked with being 19years old and these grown women
and their husbands.
I remember their husbandslooking at me like, what you
think you're finna do?
Huh?
You you think you're about tochange my wife's pad right now?
Right.
No, bruh.
(18:59):
That's how that's how that waslooking, right?
But listen, that's how I startedout.
But then when, you know, uhshe's going through what she's
going through, experiencing, youknow, going to the lake.
Now you're looking for anybody.
Yeah, bro.
SPEAKER_02 (19:11):
Hey, hey, bruh, come on, come on in, man.
SPEAKER_00 (19:12):
She's going through.
You can't do nothing.
You look crazy.
And then mind you, these wereactive duty guys.
So, you know, they could be 6'5,Swoller.
Yeah.
No, bruh, I got to take care ofyour wife now, right?
SPEAKER_02 (19:26):
Stay over there.
SPEAKER_00 (19:27):
Stay over there, be.
And then thinking about, hey,think about it.
They getting lightheaded andnauseous and stuff like that.
So now I got to hold you.
Now I got Hey, hey, just sitdown, sit on down, relax.
Drink drink this water.
SPEAKER_01 (19:41):
Right, right.
Right?
SPEAKER_00 (19:42):
And relax.
So uh it was a really coolexperience, man.
I enjoyed.
So they trained us to be in thehospital setting or uh during
wartime.
So, you know, well, I mean, wehad M16 training, you know.
Okay.
Uh yeah, so we was able to do itall.
You know, combat.
So the the combat medic doesn'tmean that it's just, you know,
(20:04):
wartime, but like we had to havea special set of skills as well.
Right.
So, you know, the gas masktraining, you know, um, just all
kind of stuff.
And it was cool.
It was a really good career,man.
So I was thankful.
Um, I used the GI Bill, I usedevery single benefit possible.
Of course.
You know, because that was oneof the reasons why I went into
it because I didn't want to goto college, but I knew at some
(20:26):
point, if I wanted to go tocollege, at least it'd be paid
for.
So that's what, you know, theAir Force allowed me to do.
That's right.
Um, and so, you know, eventhinking about that, and you
where you're at, like, how doyou feel?
Like, what is your impression onthe military right now?
SPEAKER_01 (20:41):
I always wanted to go.
SPEAKER_00 (20:43):
Tell me that.
SPEAKER_01 (20:45):
Possibly.
SPEAKER_00 (20:46):
I would have taken you on out of uh South Alabama,
man.
SPEAKER_01 (20:48):
Listen, listen, from a young, and it's so crazy.
I don't know if this is I don'tknow how it is, but I wanted to
be in the Air Force.
I would tell my mom, my mom, allthe time, I wanted to be in the
Air Force.
unknown (21:00):
What?
SPEAKER_01 (21:01):
I wanted to be, she would, she, she was against the
military.
She didn't want me to go.
Okay, she discouraged this, sothat's why I didn't.
SPEAKER_00 (21:08):
That's the only reason I didn't do it, but I
ain't never, I I I didn't getthe memo.
SPEAKER_01 (21:12):
I always wanted to go in the memory.
And I don't I don't know.
I mean, I don't like I see thething is I don't know how it
works.
Like, I feel I'm 30 years old.
Like, is that I think you got to36.
Hey, man.
I still do it.
I still do it.
Hey, hey, hey, we're talkingabout these days Sally Bitney,
bro.
Sally Bitney.
I'm being so serious that and Idon't know why I why I was so
(21:37):
young, man, but I just remember.
I remember like yesterday.
I asked my mom, like, yo, can I,you know, I want to I want to do
the mint.
She was, she was no.
She was just like afraid oflike, you know, she wanted me to
go and then we go to war.
Yeah, yeah, that's what she was.
She just didn't want to do it,so she discouraged me.
So after a while.
SPEAKER_02 (21:57):
Yeah.
All that.
SPEAKER_00 (21:59):
Get you on my mother.
So anyway, that's interestingthat you say that, um, because I
think a lot of people um aroundyour age bracket don't really
know what to expect.
Right.
Because if you go off of socialmedia, then hell no.
Yeah.
Right?
Because it's like they're gonnaput you on front line as soon as
you enlist.
(22:19):
Right?
As soon as you get out of theboot camp, front line.
Right?
Nothing in between.
Like, what you gonna do, right?
You're not even trainedproperly.
Just out there.
Just out there, man.
Trying to figure it out, man.
But I think that uh around yourage bracket, people don't really
know what to expect with themilitary.
(22:40):
And since my pops went in, backwhen he went in till now, I
mean, obviously, there's been alot of changes, right?
It's changed drastically.
Right.
But at the same time, when itcomes to those benefits, though,
we're still talking about, youknow, GI Bill, you know, still
(23:38):
exists, uh, you know, certaintraining and stuff like that.
And obviously, you have a skill.
And then there's colleges withineach branch, people forget
about.
Right?
There's community college withineach branch, and then there's
universities.
All right.
So even people that, um, andthis is what I would have done
different if I knew that I wasgonna go directly to um the
(24:03):
military, I would have gone intoROTC.
You remember ROTC?
We used to pick at the folks inROTC in those universe and
marching, right?
With them shiny shoes, right?
Like we used to pick at them,but you get credit for that
going into the military.
Oh, that's true.
So instead of going in like justno rank or no nothing, you
(24:24):
actually get some stripes.
Okay.
You get that.
Just like if you go to collegeand you went to college and
graduate, have your degree, youcan go in as an officer.
Oh, okay.
So a lot of people don't knowthat enlisted means that you uh,
you know, you're going instraight from, you know,
civilian life, but going in asan officer, you have a college
(24:47):
degree.
So that's the difference betweenenlisted and an officer.
So obviously, you know, with theofficer, you know, the money,
but you still, you know, youstill got to go up through the
ranks and stuff like that.
So if I would have done it alittle bit different, I probably
would have done ROTC, but I wastoo busy with sports and and
working and other stuff likethat.
(25:07):
So if parents, if your kids areinterested in the military, have
in their instill in high school,let them go through ROTC because
that'll get them prepared uh toactually have a better
understanding.
So it won't be such a shock whenwhen they go through basic
training and then they go and uhactually get their uh the
(25:30):
schooling.
SPEAKER_01 (25:31):
Yeah, you're right, though.
We definitely they got picked onfor sure.
Yeah, definitely, man.
They got picked on.
SPEAKER_00 (25:38):
But at the same time, man, when you think about
it, man, what is one of the mostopportune times to learn
discipline, consistency, uh, andactually camaraderie as well?
Right?
Because you really got to knowuh know your personnel, right?
And build that type of trust.
So I think that, you know, umit's it's definitely a
lifestyle.
SPEAKER_01 (25:58):
Yeah, for sure.
That's what I always admireabout it too.
Like anytime, you know,military, it's just like a
different swag, man, a differentprestige that you that you gain,
I feel like, that you get goingthrough that process.
It's almost like um, you know,like the same like like the
brotherhood thing.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's just, you know, it'sjust a different vibe.
It is.
(26:19):
It's it's that's what I always,I always, you know, admired
about it though.
SPEAKER_00 (26:23):
Yeah, I mean, so so we'll go ahead and play this
game because I know that peoplewhen we start talking about the
military, different military uharmed forces, uh, they like to
talk about uniforms.
SPEAKER_01 (26:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:34):
So, so what uniform for you stood out the most when
you saw uh somebody in the armyuniform, navy uniform, marine
uniform, air force uniform, andthen of course you got the Coast
Guard.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
Don't disrespect the Coast Guard.
Well, they got like what, theum, it's like a white cap or
something, the blue.
What's the Coast Guard?
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
Yeah, that's them.
SPEAKER_01 (26:56):
I don't know.
I I feel like I always thoughtArmy the most.
Okay.
That was swaggy too.
So so the green.
Yeah, the green.
Yeah, that was that was swaggy.
Okay.
I thought that was that wascool.
SPEAKER_00 (27:06):
Yeah.
I I would say um what stood outthe most for me would be the
Marines.
Marines.
Marines, they were the ones thathave the black coat, the blue
dress pants, right?
Um, and and uh those would bethe ones with the sword.
Oh, they're always the ones withthe sword, right?
Right, yeah, yeah.
So uh so I so I I'll say this,I'll give you guys an exclusive.
(27:27):
I originally, I originallysigned up for the Marines.
I did.
So what happens is, and and Idon't know if they still do it,
but you know, the recruiterscome to the school.
Yeah, yeah, they didn't.
Right.
So they came to the school, andI was just like, the guys, the
Marine guys.
Matter of fact, you know, theywas the one that was pretty much
swole, and then I again theuniform, right?
(27:48):
So I was like, yo, I want to, Iwant to do it.
So I think at the time I wouldsay I was 17, 16, 17.
So the parents had to sign forme to move on.
So yeah, so the Marine recruiterhe came, and uh my parents, you
know, my dad was like, okay,what you want to do?
I said, yeah.
So he signed, and um, what windup happening is they they was
(28:12):
doing too much.
They were pulling up everywhereI was at.
Yo.
Basketball court, they wouldcome to my classroom, they would
come by the house and said, nah,nah, nah, man.
Y'all, y'all, y'all tripping.
And I don't even know what I'mgonna do yet.
Right?
So it was crazy, man.
So I just I said, uh, hell no tothe military altogether.
(28:34):
Oh, man.
And so after I graduated, then Iwas like, you know what?
Let me take another look.
Rethink it.
And so then uh, for some reason,man, this recruit spot, I was
looking back in Jacksonville,and it was crazy because in this
plaza, they was boom, boom,boom, boom.
Like they was next door to eachother.
SPEAKER_01 (28:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:56):
So you could accidentally walk into the wrong
place if you were payingattention.
And be like, hey, I want to signup.
And you don't even know whatyou're signing up for, right?
Next thing you know, you in theMarine Corps, dog.
You you was looking to be in thearmy, right?
That's crazy.
And so um, I went and I talkedto the to the Air Force
recruiter, and he was like,Well, what do you want to do?
(29:16):
What do you what do you wantyour career to look like?
Right.
And I said, I want to dosomething medical.
I want to be a doctor, I want tobe in the in the nursing field,
or whatever the case is.
He said, Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (29:25):
Can I pause you real quick?
Now that was an aspiration thatyou just always had being in the
medical field.
Where did that come from?
SPEAKER_00 (29:32):
Yeah, yeah, I think that came from um just having a
passion to want to help peoplefrom a health perspective.
SPEAKER_02 (29:40):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (29:41):
Right?
So yeah, I just wanted to uh,you know, I didn't know for
sure.
But so that's kind of why I wentinto the medical field to see
what those options were.
Okay.
Because the options could havebeen, you know, in the lab, or
it it could have been, you know,in the nursing area, it could
have been a medic.
Um, so the medic was the onethat actually contained
(31:51):
everything.
So I could be on the ambulanceas a medic, or I could be on the
field, I could be in thehospital.
So that was the one that gave methe most uh, you know, uh
diversity uh as far as when itcame to options.
So it was like, yeah, I so I hadto wait like uh maybe like five
months.
Five months.
You know, I had to wait fivemonths.
(32:13):
Well, see, that was the thing.
And in the other branches, ifyou wanted to do something, man,
they get you in right away.
Like two weeks, they shippingyou won't.
Yeah.
But they're not gonna tell youwhat your job is.
So you don't find out untilafter your boot camp.
Roll of the dice.
What kind of career is that?
So I felt like, and I don't evenknow if it's like that still,
(32:36):
but the Air Force was the one,you pick what field you wanted
to go to.
Yeah, that's a lot better.
Right?
And so they're not shipping youout until that becomes
available.
SPEAKER_02 (32:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:46):
Right?
Because it was very strategicwhen it came to how many people
in this field, how many go intoboot camp, how many go into the
tech school, and all that.
SPEAKER_01 (32:55):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (32:55):
So that's how that came about, man, and uh, and I
enjoyed it.
I actually worked an additionaleight years once I got out the
uh the uh uh Air Force in themedical field.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, so you know, total aboutyou know 14 years of medical
before I retired out of thatfield.
Yeah, yeah, that's fine.
(33:16):
So, you know, um with that beingsaid, what what do you think
would happen, like like say forinstance, uh your baby sisters,
right?
All your baby sisters.
What do you how do you thinkthey feel about military?
How they look at mil in today'smilitary.
(33:38):
Um even those in that agebracket as well.
SPEAKER_01 (33:42):
Right, just around that age.
Uh yeah, I don't know.
I don't know if they really areconsidering the military like
that because it's so, what doyou mean, just like as a as a
life path or just as a lifepath?
unknown (33:55):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (33:56):
It ain't happening, bro.
It's just so like the landscapeis so different.
Yeah.
Even from 10, 20 years ago.
Like there's so many otherthings that people want to be
like.
Right.
Yeah, they probably want to be astreamer or a YouTuber or
something like that.
SPEAKER_00 (34:08):
Yeah, I was gonna say influence the tigers.
SPEAKER_01 (34:10):
Right, yeah, like influence a social, like there's
the landscape is just completelydifferent.
So I think there's a lot morethat's coming before the
military to consider.
Right.
I think they probably look at itas like a last option or like a
f something to fall back on, orsomething like that.
SPEAKER_02 (34:24):
That makes sense.
SPEAKER_01 (34:24):
As opposed to like, this is what I actually want to
do.
Yeah.
I think maybe my generation atleast, or maybe the ones a
little bit younger than me, Ithink a lot of them look at it.
SPEAKER_00 (34:33):
Well, so where do you think the influence comes
from, though?
Like, even if you look at from amedia or social media, um, I
don't I don't think that themilitary itself is heavily
pushed as far as what does thatlifestyle look like?
Because even when he when hetalks about influence and
streamers, sometimes you'll seesome uh a military person with a
(34:54):
bunch of followers and uh aYouTube page and the whole
situation.
SPEAKER_01 (35:00):
Well, you know, I remember coming up and seeing
like a lot of Navy commercials,right?
I don't really, I don't evenknow if the and I don't know if
that was like a big thing.
Like they For that time.
Right, for that time, like theyjust needed people to join.
Yeah, heavily right.
So that that was the push.
Like, I don't know if they arethey pushing it like that now?
(35:21):
I don't see it.
SPEAKER_00 (35:21):
Nah, I don't see it uh I don't think it's the same.
Yeah, I don't see it at all.
And and one thing that I I Iwould question is does the
recruiters also come to college?
Do they try to recruit them asofficers to come in, you know,
once they graduate?
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
Yeah.
I've never heard of that.
Yeah, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00 (35:39):
So I always wondered that, but I do feel like there's
not a heavy uh media push.
Um even with social media andthings like that, just the life
and lifestyle.
It's not in my algorithm.
SPEAKER_01 (35:51):
No, it's not you know what I mean.
I mean like you'll see, like Isee some, like like you said,
there are some influencers andthey're doing their thing, like
they in the army, you know, theyright, but it's not that
content.
Like it's they may be doingTikTok dances.
Right, yeah, they're notrecruiting you.
It's not saying some joint, theyjust got their uniform on and
they're doing a dance orwhatever.
SPEAKER_00 (36:12):
Almost like a distraction for me.
Hey, we can warrant it, right?
Right.
Like, I'm probably not reallytrying to think about not coming
home to my family and stuff likethat for the next, you know, 18
months.
Exactly.
24 months or something likethat, man.
But, you know, uh shout out toall of our active duty, um, and
(36:33):
even those that are reserve.
Like, you know, the reservelifestyle is an option for
people too, because um, youknow, it's it's it's uh I think
like maybe two weekends.
SPEAKER_01 (36:45):
You know, that's a that's that's another thing.
The two weekends is cool, but Ithink about, you know, because I
used to drive trucks.
So you know, I'd be I'd be onthe road for two or three weeks.
But military, you gone formonths at a time.
That's a completely differentlifestyle to, like you said,
being away from your family andstuff.
(37:06):
That's a that's a big sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00 (37:07):
It is a big sacrifice.
Um, but also if if you if you'regoing to college, you might go
away from college, right?
True.
So but however, obviously therisks are a little bit
different.
SPEAKER_02 (37:19):
You go to Germany, not not uh Georgia State, right?
It's a little bit different.
Different genes.
A lot of miles.
It's a lot of miles, right?
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (37:34):
And requirements, right?
Right.
You can't just be like, it's agood weekend to go home.
No.
Right.
Not Germany, man.
SPEAKER_01 (37:43):
FaceTime is your best friend.
SPEAKER_00 (37:44):
FaceTime, man.
Video chat all day long, man.
But uh, so yeah, I do think thatit the recruitment is a little
bit different, yeah.
Not as heavy.
But I mean, obviously, peopleare still going in.
You know, people are still goingin every day, graduating from
basic and boot camp and stufflike that.
You know, I see that a lot on mytimeline.
The graduations, right?
(38:06):
So um, especially uh people likearound my age, they're either
their grandson, I don't know ifthey could be that old.
SPEAKER_01 (38:14):
No, probably not that old, but you know, their uh
their daughter or their songraduating from boot camp or Do
you think it's more of like howdo you say, like legacy?
Like they probably, they,they're probably, oh, I wanna
say their influence or knowledgeof the military comes from a
family member or a father or amother, right?
There's probably not as a lot ofpeople that's just saying, oh, I
(38:36):
want to do it without havingsomebody in the family or
somebody.
SPEAKER_00 (38:39):
Yeah, um I think that has changed.
I think the lineage of uh ofthose that are going in, you
know, because of that is a lotdifferent.
I think a lot of generations areskipping it, uh, only because,
again, there's there's so manymore options.
Right, right.
You know, you so with with usbeing in the information and the
tech age, those are some heavyoptions.
(39:01):
Like you can you can go into themilitary or you can go get a
tech job that's gonna pay you180.
You know what I mean?
Right away.
Right, right.
You know what I mean?
And so um uh but but it's stillgood to see because some people
need some people's kids and somepeople need that type of
discipline.
Right.
Um, a lot of times because theymay not have uh that positive
(39:24):
influence in their community.
So they need to see somethingthat is different from what
they're accustomed to if theydon't have that uncle, that
grandfather, that father thatwas in the military and said,
hey, you know, it'd be good foryou.
Right.
And they give you theperspective of not shipping you
off, but more of the benefits ofeducation, traveling the world,
(39:45):
it's all about it, meeting newpeople.
SPEAKER_01 (39:47):
Yeah, how the information is translated and
passed.
That's what it's about.
Because you got one, you got ared pill and a blue pill.
You got somebody to they tellingyou all the negatives and all,
and I feel like that's kind ofwhat I went through.
Like, I didn't get the mom wasgiving the guard in.
I mean, she didn't she didn'tlike she just basically was
like, yo, like I don't want youto do this, war.
You could I don't I don't wantto lose my baby.
(40:07):
Like all that stuff, like likethe like guilt.
Like, you know what I mean?
Like you make me feel guilty,but this is right that this is
actually something I considerand I want to do, and I'm coming
and telling that.
And mom, if you seen a lot, shedon't see a bunch of the city.
Somebody don't send it to a bro.
I ain't trying to, you know,because hey man, life works how
it works, but you know, that'smy lived experience.
(40:29):
That's how I, you know, process,and you only really get to
understand in hindsight when youlook at back on stuff.
And it's like you start to thinkabout like, damn, man, what if I
had actually gone to the middleand stuff like that?
SPEAKER_00 (40:41):
Yeah, I mean, you know, timing, you know, uh God's
timing is different than ours.
And so uh things was put inplace to where, you know, um it
might not have been that time,right?
So we we we good with it.
We here right now.
SPEAKER_01 (40:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (40:55):
Right?
Right, so so so uh, you know,kind of finishing this uh
conversation up, again, happyVeterans Day to all the veterans
and the family members.
Because uh the month of Novemberis military and family month.
A lot of people didn't know thatas well.
Right?
So we have to give shout outs,especially the the spouses of
the military veterans.
SPEAKER_01 (41:16):
They go through it, huh?
Oh my God.
They go through it.
SPEAKER_00 (41:19):
Listen, I know that um with with in within my
family, even you know, mom, whenwhen dad was in the military,
man, four kids at the house,man.
Two boys, two girls.
So, you know, moms was holdingit up and down.
Right?
She was holding it up and down,and I just I remember those
times where dad would uh hewould come back home, and we
(41:44):
don't know how long he would bethere.
And I think that they were verystrategic in not telling us so
that we didn't anticipate that,you know, he's leaving in two
weeks, or he's only here forfour months.
Now, the Navy is one of thosethings to where they're out to
sea for a long time.
You know, ain't no uh I'm goinghome, so they give you a
(42:05):
personal jet to fly off the shipto get home.
SPEAKER_02 (42:09):
Imagine how many personal planes that would have
to I'm heading home.
SPEAKER_00 (42:20):
Like, cause because right, think about it.
So sometimes they submarines,too.
So you know a submarine ain'tlifting and letting folk dip
out, man.
So it would have to be thoselarge aircraft carriers, man.
And so they're not lettingregular folks regular Popeyes
just leave.
Black Popeyes, dog.
(42:40):
Ain't no way.
This should have been a blackPopeye, right?
Why is it never a black Popeye?
That's crazy word.
SPEAKER_02 (42:48):
Hey man, you know how it is.
The disrespect?
You know how it is.
SPEAKER_00 (42:52):
The disrespect continues, man.
But uh, but anyway, so we uh wedidn't really know or really
understand, you know, that thatwhole Navy lifestyle.
We we knew the militarylifestyle, meaning, you know, we
kind of bounced city to city,state to state, wherever uh, you
know, dad is stationed.
(43:13):
Um I actually was it a lot?
Like, well, see, I was gonnasay, for me, I I came around
during the end of his career.
Oh, okay.
Like uh the last three, fouryears before he retired.
Okay.
Now, now everybody else, theythey bounced.
Okay.
Right?
They bounced, uh, right.
(43:34):
Me, I was a little bit more onthe stable side, right?
So they figured it out.
That's not the way I camearound.
SPEAKER_01 (43:41):
Time changes give you a completely different
experience.
It did.
Outlook.
Right, right.
SPEAKER_00 (43:45):
I never saw that.
You know, I never saw the moveup and moving and stuff like
that, like uh like my siblings.
They talk about all the time.
They talk about how, you know,kind of bouncing and having to
move and pick up friends andschool and stuff like that.
That's tough.
So I didn't have thatinstability.
I didn't have a child withinstability, though.
(44:06):
That's it, man.
I I remember my guys, man,growing up.
Uh but anyway, um, so I wouldjust say finally, man, I think
that uh it's very different.
Um, I don't even know what themilitary will look like in the
next 20 years.
Like you mentioned, you know,those, you know, under you
(44:26):
having so many other options ofnot going into the military
because, again, it's not a wholelot of advertisement.
And then with the the uh thedifferent presidential
campaigning going on, like thatis another factor.
SPEAKER_01 (44:43):
That's a factor, too.
Yeah, it's another factor.
SPEAKER_00 (44:45):
Like maybe depending on who's in office, folk will
go.
It's crazy how the you know, theinfluence of making a decision
on on your career, how peoplebase it on, you know, kind of
what's going on in the world.
Oh, yeah.
Um but but at the end of theday, I mean, we we haven't had
you know any wars.
I mean, we we've had some thingsgo on.
(45:07):
Yeah, we haven't declared it,too.
Not not a major war.
So when you think about it, umit has for the most part been
peacetime.
Oh, yeah.
You know, so somebody could havehad a span of 10 years by now.
Oh, yeah.
Who went in?
You know what I mean?
Somebody could have had a uh uhuh a new career at that point.
(45:29):
You know, I think what happens alot, and we'll finish it with
this, and we'll have to revisitthis again, when people uh get
into the military and theyexperience going to different
countries and things like that,a lot of them get out of the
military and stay in thatcountry.
Right?
Yeah.
I uh I never went to um, youknow, the the Germanys and
(45:52):
Thailands and the Philippinesand China's like that because
when I was in Alaska, that wasconsidered overseas.
Alaska was considered overseasbecause of course it's not
attached to what we call thelower 48, lower 48 states.
Right.
And then then, of course, youknow, Puerto Rico and um, you
know, Hawaii and Alaska, theywasn't considered um that.
(46:12):
So uh, you know, people reallydo get out because you have a
skill at that point, right?
You have a skill.
So uh whatever you did, whetherit was engineering, whether it
was a supply, whether it was amedic, whether it was law
enforcement, you take thatskill, you can add to it and
grab some additional education,and then you can do it wherever
(46:33):
you're at.
SPEAKER_01 (46:34):
I'm about to say that um you you have that skill,
and then you also got like, I'msure there's some prestige that
comes with saying you got thisskill from you know the military
trainer, like you're not just anengineer, you're military
training.
SPEAKER_00 (46:49):
Right, right, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (46:50):
So you probably get a little lag up too.
SPEAKER_00 (46:51):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
You definitely get, you know,preferred hiring.
Uh you definitely get um and ifyou want, and what a lot of
people also may do is they maygo and start either contracting
with the government or get agovernment job out of the
military.
And you get to keep, you get tokeep your rent, like your rank
transfers.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah, so those are really somegood options, especially if
(47:13):
somebody's looking to, you know,retire in that same field or um
they want that type offlexibility.
So that's pretty dope.
SPEAKER_01 (47:22):
Yeah.
Hey, man.
Yeah.
It's not all bad, man.
It ain't all bad.
But I think that, like you said,it's just times are changing.
Like it was, we were sodependent.
Well, just in previous years, itwas just such a strong push and
the uh the strength was there,but over time it's just
(47:42):
dwindled, man.
So man, we'll see the next 20will be.
SPEAKER_00 (47:46):
We will.
Hey, hey, as a matter of fact,um we appreciate you guys, you
know, checking out this episode,Pops the Sun Conversations, uh,
raw and uncut.
And um shout out again to allthe veterans, the retirees,
happy veterans day, happyveteran and family month as
(48:07):
well, military family month.
You know, we know that uh itcould be a lot, um, but at the
same time, man, you have toappreciate what you've been able
to accomplish as a unit.
And, you know, we encourage youguys to just uh you know do what
you need to do to stay together.
And obviously, if you need somehelp, you know, find the right
uh agencies to do that.
(48:29):
The veterans already know yougot the veterans crisis line.
Um, and uh if you guys ever needsome help, you know, you can
always Google and get thatinformation as well.
Well, that's it, man.
That's it.
We did it, man.
All right, so look, we'll seeyou guys uh next episode.
And of course, follow us on allsocial media platforms.
(48:50):
You can always go to ourwebsite, uh, which is Pops and
Son Conversations with theNess.com.
Uh the YouTube is Pops and SunConversations, well as IG and uh
Facebook.
Now the TikTok is a littledifferent.
Everywhere.
Pops and Sun, right?
Pops and Sun Combo Combo, short.
Pops and Son Combo?
Pops and Sun Combo.
(49:11):
Yeah, it's kind of cool though.
It was too long, that's why wecouldn't do it, right?
Yeah, that's weird.
Yeah, that is weird.
SPEAKER_01 (49:15):
Might need to TikTok, but you know, that's
that's the Chinese folks.
I thought that characters did.
SPEAKER_00 (49:21):
I thought they got bought out.
SPEAKER_01 (49:21):
Yeah, they did, they did.
But I think they still, yeah,yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (49:26):
Ain't no way they're gonna give it all the way away.
All right, so we'll see you guyslater.
It's your favorite still FoxRobin Lloyd.
Hey, Mr.
Check three times, baby.
All right, we'll see you guys.
We out.
Fuck y'all niggas.
Fuck y'all y'all niggas.
Except my niggas.
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