Behind the Lens: Luke Basso's Mission to Capture Veteran Experiences

Episode Transcript
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All right.
All of the business being outof the way, I want to welcome to

(02:33):
the show Mr.
Luke Basso.
Luke, we had the honor ofmeeting at the Coastal Comic Con
in Wilmington, North Carolinajust a few weeks ago.
And honestly very intriguedand right at the get go because actually
one of our, one of our friendsthat was there at the Comic Con immediately

(02:54):
looked you up after they sawyour card and was like, he's got
more followers than you do.
I was like, a lot of peoplehave more followers than we do.
But regardless, I was veryintrigued by your story.
So Luke is in Wilmington,lives in Wilmington, North Carolina.
He is a college student inWilmington and has an extremely interesting
background in how he becamemore popular than me.

(03:18):
Luke, can you tell us a littlebit about yourself?
Well, I'm a YouTuber.
My channel is called Filmperiaand I interview veterans and historical
witnesses from World War II tothe modern day to preserve their
stories.
I've had about, I want to say80 to 85 interviews from all points
of history.

(03:38):
Well, first hand accounts,points of history and too many documentaries
of two World War II veterans.
I know I've been doing thissince I was 15 years old, since I
lived in upstate New York.
And I've continued to do thisas much as I possibly can.
Yeah.
And checking out your page, Imust have watched 15 or 20 videos
of interviews that you didwith veterans.

(04:00):
And what was first of all,just from a film aspect, from the
production value.
Fantastic.
You said you started doingthis when you were 15 years old.
What was your inspirationbehind starting this, this whole
project which, which basicallyis, is become like a lifestyle.
How, what was your inspiration?
Well, I've always likedhistory, especially military and

(04:22):
political history growing up.
And how I, how the channelitself got started was I have to
go back to during COVIDthere's this World War II veteran
named Doug Brown.
He was turning 100 years old.
There was a celebration and aparade happening for him.
I attended the parade andcelebration for his upcoming 100th
birthday.
And I asked the family, hey,can I meet him?

(04:43):
And it's like, oh yeah, sure.
I met him briefly and it'slike, well, if you want to come back
to tomorrow, we can actuallytalk to him and sit down.
So I came back the next day.
There's two cameras set up andthey record our whole conversation
for about two Hours And Ithought, why don't I do the same
thing?
I know a lot of veterans and Ilike history and I like making videos,
so why not combine that all?
And it started out my veryfirst video I uploaded was, was one

(05:08):
of my friends, Dr.
John Southwick.
He was a former army doctor inGermany during the Cold War.
But the very first interview Iactually did, I just didn't get a
chance to upload.
All my videos are not in orderof uploading just because of time's
sake.
But people ask me, what's yourvery first interview you did?
So it's confusing but thefirst video, the first interview
I did was with my friend Tony Gagliardi.

(05:29):
He's passed away recently, buthe was at Iwo Jima, Okinawa.
And he was also the first minidocumentary I did and.
Sorry, what was your question?
Just your inspiration, likewhat was it?
Yeah, just always likinghistory and military history, knowing
a lot of veterans and I gotstarted through that World War II
veteran Doug Brown, Iinterviewed the interview, what him
and I did for that two hourconversation with the family recorded

(05:53):
that was that, that was notpart of my channel but that got me
started, started with my, theidea of my channel and about two
years later I interviewed himlike officially for my channel.
And at that point I knew whatI was doing and he was, he was 102
then.
I don't know if he's stillalive or not.
Goodness, I think he isbecause I haven't heard he passed
away.
So he'll be 105 this year ifhe is still alive.

(06:15):
That's amazing.
That's amazing.
Did you have any sort ofbackground in journalism or like
from earlier before, did youhave any filmmaking?
Was that something you wereinterested in even like before the
age of 15?
No, just making videos really.
I made a few videos before andmade videos with my friends, but
no real experience, not at all.
I just.
One thing led to another andhere I am now.

(06:37):
Yeah, it's extremelyintriguing, you know, because I have
a lot of friends that areeither currently active military
or are, are on the verge ofretirement having served either in
Iraq or Afghanistan.
Like they've, they have, theyhave been in war situations over
the last 20 years betweenthose two wars and they have either

(07:01):
retired or on the verge of retiring.
And you know, they're like myage and I'm, I just turned 46.
So it's, it's, it'sinteresting hearing their stories
and then also seeing theinterviews that you conducted where
their, their stories aredifferent from a Technological standpoint,
but just the, the, the, thebattles that they, they fought in

(07:24):
the, the Afghanistan isabsolutely an extreme unit, extremely
unique environment when itcomes to having to fight a ground
war.
From the perspective of, youknow, it's, it's, it's extremely
mountainous roads going in and out.
And when, when they werefighting ISIS in Iraq and then they

(07:45):
were fighting the Taliban inAfghanistan, it was.
The driving on what was anestablished road became a trap.
You know, there were, therewere so many different situations
and I've heard severaldifferent stories that they've told
just on what would haveconsidered, considered just a routine
assignment to go out andretrieve something and bring it back

(08:07):
to the base.
How did you develop the skillsto conduct the interviews and create
these basically these minidocumentaries that you've created
on your, on your YouTube page?
Well, I've only had too manydocumentaries just because they take
too long to make sure they'rereally good.
They are really, really good.
I appreciate that.
Thank you.

(08:28):
Just mixing old war footage,music and their experience from their
point of view and combiningall together, we get a around 15,
20 minute documentary abouttheir World War II experience.
The first one was I mentioned Tony.
He was in the Navy during IwoJim in Okinawa.
And then another one is JohnEgg who was in the Western Front

(08:50):
during World War II.
He was in France and Germany.
And that was an originallyemotional interview.
He was crying during theinterview and he goes into detail
how graphic the battles hetook part of.
It was a really emotionalinterview and I'd say that probably
is my most emotional one.
He was crying and he remembersit as was Yesterday and after 80

(09:11):
years it still haunts him tothis day.
Yeah, I think that's one ofthe unique things about the stories
that I like I said even myfriends that are of retirement age
from the military is just theexperiences that they went through,
the people that they were inunits with that they lost or the
scars of the battles they were in.

(09:33):
They continue to, you know,through everything.
They relive these situations.
And to go and have thatdocumented I think would be such
an honor for them.
You know, the service thatyou're doing, not only just for them
as individuals, but forveterans as, as a whole is as I'm,

(09:56):
I'm inspired by it.
You know, our podcast, we dida sit down interview with two veterans
of, of the Iraqi war inAfghanistan as well as this was several
years ago.
This was actually just afterthings finally got settled.
I want to say it was 2022, butwe did a Fourth of July episode to

(10:19):
honor veterans.
And we had, we also had athera, a therapist that, that did
therapy for veterans out ofthe university here at South Carolina.
And, and so it was, it was a,it was an interesting conversation
to have between the two ofthem who were not in the same unit,
but did have very similarstories and very similar losses and

(10:42):
things like that.
And then the perspective of atherapist from a, from a post war,
the veteran side of it to beable to give a, an idea of how she
helps those veterans workthrough those things.
What's been some of the mostpowerful or emotional stories that
you've heard from, from your interviews?

(11:02):
Well, our Vietnam veterans,they never really got a welcome home.
A lot of them were spat on orcall baby killer, beaten up.
And with Vietnam, gettingVietnam veterans to talk, which I
understand 100% why it'sharder for them, but getting, getting
them to open up is really emotional.
This is the first time theywere talked about publicly after

(11:25):
50 years.
They were shamed after theycame home for a.
It was just, you can, just theway they talk and the way they describe
it and you can tell just howdifferent it was than these World
War II veterans, or let's saywar in Iraq veterans, These Vietnam
veterans, a lot of them gotAgent Orange, a lot of them, some

(11:48):
of them became homeless.
I haven't interviewed anyhomeless veterans, but I've met a
lot of homeless veterans,veterans who were homeless.
Vietnam was way different.
Not just the warfare, there'sa lot of politics involved.
There was the home front, likeI mentioned when they came home.
And a lot, a lot of them arehesitant that when I say, you want

(12:11):
to talk about your time inVietnam for historical reasons, they
understand why I'm doing it.
They just don't want to, whichI understand completely.
But Most World War II guys,they say yes.
Almost all of them say yes.
And then along with otherveterans, the more recent veterans
I get, they say no becauseit's so recent.
But Vietnam veterans arealways the one that most of them,
almost, not almost all ofthem, but I'd say about half the

(12:31):
ones I meet say no, which Iunderstand completely why.
Yeah, so it's really emotional hearing.
Not just when I interview,when I talk to them, like when I'm,
let's say I meet one at likeat a restaurant or something or if
I run into one just doing mydaily thing and talking to them and
saying welcome home to themmeans the world to them.

(12:53):
Because I never got that.
Yeah, yeah.
Do you have any.
How, like, what is yourapproach to Making that initial contact
with, With.
With.
With a veteran, whether it'sVietnam or World War II or Iraq or
Afghanistan.
How.
How do you.
How do you go about theprocess of actually, like, finding

(13:15):
a veteran?
That, that.
Or reaching out to someone to.
To have their story documented.
When I first started, it wasreally hard.
I didn't know where to start.
I knew.
I knew that I started with theveterans I knew.
And I just asked everyone,hey, do you know anyone I can interview?
And then some of them say yes.
All of them would say no.
Then I started reaching out toVFW and American Legions, which helped

(13:37):
me a lot, is all the mediaattention I got.
And the veterans and theirfamilies started reaching out to
me, saying, hey, my husbandwas in Vietnam, and I think he's
ready to talk, or I think hewon't talk to me.
Maybe you can convince him totalk to you instead.
And that works.
Sometimes they never sharethese memories with their family
members, but they'll share itto me.

(13:58):
How else have I.
Oh, some of these veterans Iinterviewed, they're public figures
already.
Some of them have writtenbooks before.
Some have been interviewed before.
Some of them are known forother things, just other public work.
So it's easier to reach out to them.
Now with World War II andKorean War veterans, World War II
veterans are.
They were all born in the 20s,so most of them are around 100 years

(14:20):
old, so they're rare to find.
But when you do find one, theystick out because people are always
thanking for the service andpraising them and giving them special
attention.
Korean War veterans as well,they're getting older, too.
And they're called.
It's sad that it's called theforgotten war because they shouldn't
have been forgotten.
But, you know, it was betweenWorld War II and Vietnam, and they're
around the same age as WorldWar II veterans, a little bit younger.

(14:42):
And I'm having trouble findingmore Korean War veterans than World
War II veterans, interestingly.
Now, to answer your question,how do I find them is I just ask
everyone I know.
Sometimes I reach out to them.
Sometimes I'll go to AmericanLegions or BFWs or Veteran Events
in general.
Oversee just a veteran wearinga cap.
Like a veteran cap.
Yeah, I'll go up and talk tothem and tell them what I do in there.

(15:05):
Well, a lot of them areimpressed and happy that a young
person is helping preservetheir stories.
Yeah.
And that's.
That's what gets them talkingand more intrigued because instead
of just like the local newsreporting or just like someone doing
it just for like school orcollege or something like that, they
understand that.
They understand why I'm doingit and that I'm young for historical

(15:26):
reasons and they want theyouth to remember what they fought
for.
Yeah, absolutely.
Like I said, I know I keepgoing back to this, but it's incredible
to me and inspiring.
Just from the perspective of,you know, you're obviously not doing
this for fame.
You're not doing it to make adollar on YouTube.

(15:47):
You're doing this to preservethose stories.
And I want to just remindeverybody, please go check out the
YouTube page.
Go watch the videos, becausethey're, they're, they're, they're.
First of all, so from, fromthe perspective of someone that produces
and engineers tell video andaudio fantastic work.

(16:07):
You know, so from thetechnical aspect, it's really, really
good work that you've done andI think that's amazing from the perspective
of the stories that you'regetting to basically get out there
into the ethos so that theycan always be viewed.
These aren't things that willbe forgotten.
These individuals that you'veinterviewed, they won't be forgotten

(16:30):
because you've done them theservice of getting them on recording.
And I'm inspired by that.
I think that's fantastic.
Well, thank you.
Have, have any of yourinterviews changed the way you view
history or war or military service?
Yes, a lot of stuff I'vewatched, well, for example, movies

(16:53):
or documentaries or learningabout it when I was younger throughout
school or.
I don't really read books, butsometimes I like back then, the few
history books I have, I justdon't read books.
I just don't.
Plenty of people on this showdon't read.

(17:14):
Sometimes I watch like indepth YouTube videos about battles
during World War II or like the.
Just history videos or justother historical videos.
Just hearing it from theirpoint of view, it's different because
they didn't know it was history.
They didn't know.
They're.
They're living in the moment,just trying to live.
Yeah.
Make sure that they'd survivetill the next day.

(17:35):
They didn't know the outcome.
They didn't know.
A lot of them didn't know.
I don't want to say whatthey're fighting for, why they're
fighting, but they were, theywere just in the moment.
They didn't, they didn't knowthe context of what's happening.
They didn't know if they'regoing to win or lose.
They didn't know.
They just wanted to make surethat they're going to survive until
the next day, win the war,come out alive with their friends.
And it was like I said, itwas, it was in the moment thing.

(17:56):
And you can question, go like,oh, why, why didn't General Blank
do this?
Or why didn't General thisunit do this?
Well, they didn't know.
They didn't have the knowledgeat the time.
You can look back on history,it's like, oh, what if this happened?
Or why didn't this happen?
Well, they just didn't havethe knowledge.
It was in the moment.
Like, what would, what wouldyou and I do if we were in their
situation?
Probably what, exactly whatthey did as well.

(18:17):
Yeah, I'd send in drones.
I would.
I wouldn't, I think, becausethat, that's the, that's the impression
I get now is that everythingis nowadays.
Many years ago.
Do you, in your interviewingof veterans, World War II to the
Korean War and then on to thewars, the more recent ones with Vietnam

(18:41):
and Afghanistan and Iraq, doyou see a difference in some of the
ways that maybe their storiesare told based on, you know, what
technology they had orinformation that was available to
them, just like, you know,just like we're talking now, like,
you know, World War II, you had.
I think what I, what I seefrom documentaries and videos and

(19:06):
such that I see like on theInternet, it seems like the information
that was provided in World WarII to the soldiers on the ground
that made its way down thesoldiers of the ground was based
on, you know, spy informationor that it was, it was, in some cases
it was out of a newspaper.
Like I remember seeing adocumentary where they were talking

(19:28):
about before Normandy thatsome of the British and American
intelligence came from newsarticles that came out of German
newspapers about troopmovements, basically letting people
know in France how to preparefor Germans coming through their

(19:50):
town.
Did you see any, do yourecognize any sort of difference
in the way some of the storiesare told between from World War II
all the way up through current wars?
Well, for the, I guess thepolitical aspect of it, back then,
there wasn't any technology.
So you didn't really likethese veterans who fought in Iraq.

(20:12):
A lot of them questioned whythey were there.
Even the ones who were inVietnam, they questioned why they
were there too.
Even though there wasn'tnecessarily modern technology during
the Vietnam War, the news iscovering it constantly and there
is a massive home frontmovement to bring the troops home.
And the political aspectComparing World War II veterans and
Vietnam veterans is way different.
The information that World WarII veterans, well, they're fighting

(20:33):
for two different causes.
But during World War II,newspapers and espionage to double
agents or radio or newsreelsat the movie theater, that's the
information you got.
You had no other way ofgetting it, or the only information
you got is from the news andyour government.
As time progressed, you wouldget independent sources or, you know,

(20:56):
the Internet.
As the last two conflicts inIraq and Afghanistan, and for the
political aspect, it's changeda lot throughout time.
And for the.
For the actual fighting, yeah,it's pretty.
It's pretty different.
We're not necessarily in Iraqand Afghanistan, at least the last

(21:18):
part.
The first part of Iraq.
Yeah, we're fighting uniformson uniforms.
But, you know, it turned toguerrilla warfare in Afghanistan
and Iraq.
Same in Vietnam.
Yeah, yeah.
The NVA had uniforms where theVietcong in the uniform did not have
uniforms.
In Korean World War II, theenemies had uniforms.
So it's, you know, it's.
It's different styles of warfare.
We have guerrilla warfare andthe more recent conflicts.
And now back then, it wasarmies fighting armies, and.

(21:40):
Well, okay, we'll use train,for example, which Vietnam was jungle,
was mostly jungle warfare.
World War II was all sorts ofdifferent warfare.
Iraq and Afghanistan wasdeserts and mountains.
The way they thought was so different.
Yeah, absolutely.
How do the veterans and theirfamilies typically react to seeing
their stories shared throughyour YouTube channel?

(22:02):
Well, they're pretty gratefulthat they get a voice, and the families
are even more grateful becausethis is the first time they ever
talked about it for some ofthem, and probably the only time
they'll ever get on recordingand special all at once.
They might hear storiesthroughout the years of, like, one
time at dinner or somethinglike that, or they might just randomly.
They never heard everythingall at once.
So they're very grateful thatI can get it all and within two hours

(22:25):
or an hour of just talking tothem, and that's.
It's there forever.
Yeah, and they're extremely grateful.
So are the veterans, too,because they can, a lot of them share
with their friends instead of.
They don't have to repeat itover and over again.
They can just share it out andsay, this is what I did.
And they're very happy thatthey can share their voice, even
if it was hard for them totalk about.

(22:45):
Yeah, a lot of them find ittherapeutic, too, because there's
some of them, they don't wantto talk about it, which I understand
completely.
And there's some of them whodo want to talk about it.
They just don't know how totalk about it.
One of the.
One of the things that I readwas that you were invited to participate
in the honor flight to Washington.
Yes, that was my.
That was my junior year ofhigh school.

(23:06):
What was that experience like?
That was amazing.
I'll remember that forever.
That was my junior year ofhigh school, and I lived in upstate
New York, and I was invited asa special guest on the honor flight
because of all my work withveterans, and we got to see all the
memorials, and the whole daywas honoring these veterans and what
they'd done for our country.
Going around Washington, D.C.
they really felt grateful.
They really felt honored andrespected, and what they fought for

(23:30):
really meant something.
So.
And I was happy to be withthese group of veterans for the.
Throughout the entire day.
How did that come about?
How.
How did you wind up working.
Working your way onto that.
Onto that experience inupstate New York?
I stay in every.
Every area and county isdifferent how they operate on our
flights.
But where I used to live inClinton county in upstate New York,
they had honor flightceremonies four times a year.

(23:50):
Okay.
And where I live now, theyonly have one honor flight a year.
Right where I used to livethere for.
But I would go to every singleceremony, so I got to meet the people
and talk to them.
And then a lot of the veteransI interviewed were going on there
or had some sort of involvement.
Plus, the media attention I'vegotten helped me a lot through my
YouTube channel and getting onthe honor flight.
Yeah.

(24:10):
And plus other people pullstrings for me to get on there, too.
It's like, all right, let'sget this kid on the honor flight.
Let's get him on there.
So that helped, too.
It's got to be a prettyamazing experience.
Did.
When.
When we met.
Did.
Did I understand correctlythat you also got to be in audience
for the Normandy anniversary?

(24:31):
Yes, I was at the 80thanniversary D Day.
I skipped my high schoolgraduation to go there.
Now.
Now here's the.
Now here's the thing.
A lot of people say, why wouldyou do that?
Well, I was only that highschool for one year, so I didn't
really.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
So if this was, you know, theschool I was up to before, that might
have meant.
That would have meant more.
But they graduate a different time.

(24:51):
They graduate like a few weeks later.
So I just went.
I went that one to it.
Not.
Not to.
Just to see it.
But my.
My senior year of high school,I lived in.
I went to Ashley High Schoolin Wilmington, North Carolina, and
I skipped that to go to theanniversary D Day.
Yeah.
It was sad because I didn'tget to have an actual graduation,
but I'd rather be at the last.
This was the last majoranniversary D day they'll probably
ever have.

(25:12):
Yeah.
Because most of These WorldWar II veterans are 100 years old
and they do the major onesevery five years.
So there might be like a dozenof them the next time to do this.
Not even maybe.
And the one we're talkingabout was the one that was just.
What was this back.
This was in 20.
2020.
Just this past June.
In 2024.
Yeah.

(25:32):
You got to hear President Biden.
Biden.
Did Biden speak at that?
I can't remember.
No.
Here's the thing.
Special dignitaries were atthat one.
That particular speeches andlike those particular speeches where
the dictators dignitaries were.
I was not there on there onthat day.
Only certain people were allowed.
But I was at Gold beach wherethe British landed.
If I am correct.

(25:53):
I was going to fact check meon that probably.
That's okay.
If I.
If I remember correctly, thatwas Gold beach where the British
landed.
And that's where I spent.
That's where I spent the day.
Then the very next day I wentto Omaha beach where was more accessible
through for.
Throughout anyone just for that.
The actual day of theanniversary was Pat Crowder from
dignitaries from all aroundthe world.
Yeah, one of the.
One of the cool things aboutthat where.

(26:15):
Where the British actually landed.
Not the Americans becauseAmericans were at Omaha, but the.
On the British side.
One of the things that Ithought was really cool was there's
a program that I watch is fromthat's British television that is
called Richard Hammond's Workshop.
And he has.
Richard Hammond, of course foryears and years was a coast for or

(26:37):
a presenter for Top Gear.
And one of the things thathe's done now post Top Gear, post
Amazon Grand Tour is that hehas this workshop that they do a
documentary about sort of adocumentary style television program
for.
And one of the things they dois they restore old vehicles.
Well, they restored the RollsRoyce that Churchill drove on the

(26:59):
beach.
So be.
After restoring that vehicle,they got to deliver the vehicle to
France and then down to thebeach and then they actually got
to drive the vehicle on thebeach just like Churchill did.
And it was all.
It was all done for by theBritish government.
They took care of all the costand everything like that.

(27:19):
But it was such a coolexperience to watch because there
were so many.
There were so many veteransthat were there.
So you may have actually beenthere on the day they were filming
that episode.
I might without even realizing.
Yeah, exactly.
That's pretty cool.
But.
But then there were.
There were some old Jeep.
I can't remember exactly whatthe model is.

(27:39):
My brother would shoot me ifhe knew I didn't know it.
But the American Jeeps.
Yeah, the American Jeeps.
But there were severalAmerican jeeps.
They got to drive around inone of those.
C.J.
I have never seen that muchWilly Jeeps.
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah.
I've never seen that manyWillie Jeeps and that many Sherman
tanks in my entire life all at once.
There's probably hundreds ofthem, as well as dozens of World
War II air aircraft flying allover the air.

(28:01):
Yeah.
Also, I've never seen thatmuch during Fourth of July parades
or Veterans Day events.
There's American flags everywhere.
I saw more American flags atNormandy than I've ever seen in my
entire life.
Amazing.
That's how grateful they arefor the United States and Normandy.
Yeah, it's.
I think the experiences thatyou have.
You have had and that you arecontinuing to have are just absolutely

(28:26):
incredible.
And I, you know, as we, as.
As you continue your journey,I definitely want you to come back
onto the show to talk moreabout it because.
And because you and I knowthere's things you have in the plans
that, that.
Yeah, I'm excited.
What are.
What are some of the biggestchallenges you faced while working
on Filmperia?
I don't get these veterans in time.

(28:47):
We lose hundreds of veteransevery single day from all conflicts.
Basically, the World War IIKorean War veterans are losing them
the most, but we have otherveterans who are just with health
problems, like Vietnam withAgent Orange, or veterans from Iraq
and Afghanistan who arekilling themselves every day.
So it's hard to get thesepeople in time.

(29:07):
There was times I'll reach outto the families and go, hey, can
I interview your uncle?
They're like, yeah, sure.
Just give me a few weeks andwe can sort something out.
I'll email them back in a few weeks.
Oh, he just passed away.
And this has happened multiple times.
And I'm just devastated.
I'm like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry.
And I wish I was able to getthere faster to preserve the story.

(29:29):
And there's some veterans wholike, yeah, I'll do an interview.
And then they're just not able to.
Or it's like, oh, there'shealth reasons most of the time why
they can't.
And then sometimes it never happens.
Sometimes it passes away.
Sometimes they're just notphysically able to as much as they
Want to.
Or they'll be.
They'll be.
They'll.
Some of the older ones willget transferred to a nursing home,

(29:49):
like to a different state, andI just.
I won't have access to them anymore.
Yeah.
So that's the biggestchallenge is because we lose so many
of them every day, and there'sdozens of veterans who I want to
interview that wasn't able to.
Yeah.
Have you ever had an interviewthat didn't go quite as you planned?
Well, sometimes there's.
Well, when I was younger, Ididn't really know what I was doing.

(30:10):
When some veterans didn'treally know what I was doing either
and didn't really take me as seriously.
When I first met them, theywould say it's some exaggerated story
when I first met them, and Itell them, hey, can I interview for
my YouTube channel?
And then they're like, oh, maybe.
And then I convince them, andthen I'll sit down with them.
And those stories were exaggerated.
That was when I was like, 15,16 years old.

(30:30):
They just.
They thought I was like.
They just didn't take me as seriously.
And then they found out what I did.
They're like, oh, I actuallyhave to say the actual story that's
happened a few times back thendidn't really bother me.
I just found.
I found it more funny than anything.
I'm like, okay, but now then.
Now they know what now.
Now I have, like, businesscards, and I've been on the news
a bunch of times.
Yeah, I can.
And they actually looked at my channel.

(30:51):
Now they take me seriously.
I just.
Even if that didn't happen, Ijust don't think they would do that
anymore.
I think that was just more of.
Because I was younger.
They did that.
Yeah.
Other times, too.
Go ahead.
Sorry.
Other times, too, was when thefan members got information wrong,
and they'll say, oh, he didthis, this, and that.
And then I'll.
And then I'll talk to the veteran.
They go, oh, I never did that.
And I feel like an idiot.
I'm like, oh, that's what yourdaughter or son told me.

(31:12):
And then.
And it's like, well, they gotthat wrong, too.
They don't.
They.
I guess they don't know mystory either.
So then I.
Then.
Then I get.
Then I get the actual story,what they did.
So just like, some of thefamily members aren't as knowledgeable
as you would think they are.
Would be about their.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
You know, I'm pretty sure thatI have some pretty.
Some pretty inaccurate.

(31:33):
Inaccurate preconceived.
Notions about what it.
Because my.
My grandfather was in WorldWar II on my mother's side, that
he was.
You know, we.
I have so many different stories.
You know, I have a story,there's a story of that he told that
I may remember correctly.
I may remember incorrectly,but that he never saw any wartime,

(31:56):
like, he never actually sawany fighting, that he was on an aircraft
carrier or a ship down near Australia.
And one of the stories that hetalks about was any time they crossed
the international date line,anyone that had not done that before.
There was.
There was something that.
There was a.
Basically a hazing that wouldtake place for whoever it was that

(32:17):
was crossing the internationaldateline for the first time.
And then I also heard thatwhen he was in World War II, I don't
remember what point, but thathe and a buddy of his that worked
in the.
I guess, what are they.
What did they call the vehiclemaintenance group, that he would
ship parts of an old JeepWillie back home to him himself in

(32:41):
the States, and that from thatthey built a Jeep, they built a vehicle.
I don't see.
That's the thing.
I don't know if these storiesare true.
You know, it's just.
It's one of those things thatyou colle over time.
And is it.
Is it his story or is itsomeone else's story?
And that's why firsthandaccounts are always the best accounts,
because they tell you how itactually happened.
Absolutely.
And my grandfather passed awayon December 26, 1993.

(33:05):
So it's been a long time sincehe passed away.
And he was.
He, you know, he.
He had amazing stories, and hehelped raised us.
You know, I wish that I hadthe foresight to record those things.
I had not yet worked my wayinto me wanting to do TV and radio

(33:25):
and pod, you know, podcastingwasn't even a thing back then.
I did eventually work inradio, but, like, if I had had that
foresight, I absolutely wouldhave recorded conversations with
him.
And I wish that I had.
What's something that you'velearned about storytelling and filmmaking
through.
Through this process?
Like, what's something thatyou could say to someone else that
has that sort of same drivethat wants to do this as well, as

(33:49):
far as, like, advice maybe?
Well, a few things come tomind is let them talk.
Just let them talk.
Don't interrupt them.
Just let them talk, becausethey're always gonna have something
to say.
Every veteran has a differentstory, or every person's a different
story about their life andtheir experiences, and just let Them
talk.
Just listen.
Another thing too is noteveryone is storytellers.

(34:10):
I know this is a littleopposite of what I just said, but
not everyone is storytellers.
And what I mean by that isthey're just.
They'll have a good story, butthey still know how to tell it.
And sometimes you need to bearwith them that it might not be what
you expected, but still berespectful and still guide them into
a way to make it the way youwant it to be.

(34:32):
Yeah.
Do I have any other advice?
There's always post production.
Do research, I guess.
Do research on the personbeforehand so you know who you're
talking to and what they didand who they are.
So we'll take you more seriously.
And so the interview andwhatever you're doing is more professional.
Always do your research onthese people beforehand if you can.
Sometimes it's hard to look upsome of these people, but there's

(34:54):
always something about someoneon the Internet nowadays, it's so
easy to find people now.
It's like the easiest it'sever been.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Again, I think what you'redoing is really cool.
What would you say ispotentially like, your.
Like the whole reason you'redoing it?
And I don't want to speak foryou, but I think it has a lot to

(35:17):
do with just recognizing thevalue of the veterans.
But, like, from yourperspective, like, what.
What is it that you're tryingto accomplish?
Is there an end game?
Well, I don't plan on stopping this.
And when you kind of spoke forme there, a little part of it was
preserving these stories foras long as possible and giving these
veterans a voice.
But also, I can get.

(35:37):
I gain out of it, too, becauseI enjoy learning about history and
hearing firsthand accounts ofWorld War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq
and Afghanistan.
And, oh, I forgot to mention,it's not just veterans.
I've had, like, historicalwitnesses on my channel, too, like
Holocaust survivors andvictims of communism.
So it's important to preservethese stories for as many people

(35:59):
as possible.
What I gain out of is I get tolearn about history, and I feel I'm
honored that I'm able to helpthese veterans share these stories
and other historicalwitnesses, talk about their experiences
for sometimes the very first time.
You are currently a student.
It's Cape Fear Community College.

(36:19):
Correct.
How does that tie into yourgoals for your future, like your
personal future, yourprofessional goals, that sort of
thing?
What is it you're doing thereas far as preparing for what comes
after college?
Well, the thing is, I try notto think about.
Too hard about college.

(36:40):
I'm only at a communitycollege right now.
Trust me, most of us don't either.
And I'm getting an associate'sart degree that could pretty much
transfer to anything.
Sure.
And I don't know, right nowI'm taking college day by day, but
the experience just mattersjust as much as the degree.
So I hopefully I can dosomething as a career that's similar

(37:01):
to what I'm doing right now.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that I can reallyanswer your question there.
I didn't really know.
It's.
Obviously it's one of thosequestions, like.
Because if somebody asked me,what do you want to do when you grow
up?
I don't know.
I fucking do this.
This is.
This is kind of what I do every.
You know.
You know, I have to have a job to.
To.
To pay for doing this.

(37:21):
Right.
I don't make.
I don't make money off.
Yeah, I'm doing this.
I do this to.
For the sake of these veteransand historical witnesses.
Yeah.
Have you had any.
Has there ever been anyonethat's approached you as far as saying,
hey, we really like what you do.
We'd really like to maybe bumpthis into a level that could potentially
make some sort of income or atleast passively a.

(37:45):
Pay for what it is you'realready doing?
Because this has gotta.
This costs you money.
You travel.
You have to.
Well, I get a lot ofopportunities out of this.
I get to meet a lot of people,as you see in my wall behind me.
There's a lot of influencebehind on my wall, who I've met over
the years, but I get a lot ofopportunities from this and people
invite me to events or justother opportunities.

(38:07):
Well, by the time this videois released, this will already happen.
But there's this Vietnamveteran who's a Medal of Honor nominee,
and I'm traveling to SouthCarolina with him to help him out.
With.
Help him out.
Help him and his team out witha few things going on and hopefully
that he will get the Medal ofHonor within.
Hopefully this year.
He's 87 years old.
I have his poster right here, actually.

(38:29):
Where in.
Where in South Carolina areyou going to be?
Thing is, I don't know thetown yet.
I just know where he was born.
Okay.
I look back at my textmessages because we're just going
there for a few days, but I'mtraveling with him and his team.
He only lives like an houraway from me, so I was.
That's why I was able to, youknow, efficiently get this worked
out.
Gotcha.
But other opportunities.
Well, in April, I'm going toGeorgia to.

(38:51):
I'm one of the guest speakersfor a veterans rally.
So I'll be speaking thereabout the importance of veterans
and as a veterans firstresponders rally.
So I'll be talking about theimportance of first responders and
our veterans along with a fewother guest speakers.
And I'll be invited tosometimes fancy dinners or something
like that or other.

(39:12):
Not just veteran events, but just.
Not just veteran events, butjust other opportunities in general
that will help me in thefuture is meeting amazing people.
Like all these people.
Want to have my wall over there.
I'll hang up A few more peoplewho I met recently up there.
Has, has.
Doing.
Has speaking with all these veterans.

(39:33):
You know, you haven'tmentioned any sort of desire to be
in the military.
Has, has.
Has meeting with all these veterans.
Yeah, there's a whole story of.
I tried, I tried joining awhile ago.
It didn't work out.
That's a whole story foranother time.
And I don't remember all thedetails, but.
But it was something you wereinterested in?
Yeah.
Yeah, it was.
Yes.
And that was actually.
Right.
A little bit right after I gotstarted on this and I tried joining

(39:57):
back in upstate New York.
I tried joining a fewdifferent branches.
A few different branches.
It didn't work out and I'm alittle upset about it.
But I don't want to sayeverything happens for a reason,
but if I joined, I wouldn'thave been able to do everything I'm
doing right now.
That's what I was going to sayis the effect that you're having
now is likely greater than anyeffect you would have had as an active

(40:18):
military service member.
Even if I was in the reservesor anything like that or like, I
don't think I still would havethe opportunities that I have right
now.
Yeah, no, I completely agree.
And you know, while.
While I certainly recognizeand appreciate all of the sacrifice
and that every service memberhas ever given and will give, you

(40:39):
know, there, there are.
It's certainly the effect thatyou're going to have for not only
future veterans, but theveterans that have already come and
the ones that we've been, thatyou like you've mentioned, we've
lost some that you'veinterviewed before.
So that's.
I, look, I think it's amazingand I'm appreciative of it because
I've had many of my familymembers were active military, were

(41:03):
in war times.
And you know, like I said, Iwish that I Wish that I had the forethought
to.
To.
To go and actually record someof that.
Do you plan on expanding filmPeria, beyond YouTube maybe into
a documentary series or a podcast?
I haven't really necessarilythought that far, but, yeah, I do
have plans for the future formy channel, and there's a lot of

(41:26):
get.
There's a lot of guests,special guests, who I.
Who I probably will have inthe future.
Two of them won't come up.
Who said they will do aninterview eventually is.
Yeah, well, former CIADirector General Petraeus and former
National Security AdvisorGeneral Flynn.
They both said they would do one.
Petraeus is extremely busy,and I talked to him a few times and

(41:48):
he's like.
He's like, luke, I'll do onewith you eventually.
I have a few pages of eventsand other obligations I gotta do
first.
Just build your channel in themeantime and I'll do an interview
with you eventually.
That's very cool.
You know, Flynn said.
He said he'll do it when I hadto go through his PR team and organize
all the complicated stuff there.
Yeah, no doubt.
Yeah.

(42:08):
And ultimately, Flynn'slooking to be on television anytime
he can.
I know that.
That's Mike Flynn.
Yeah, no, he's.
He, He.
He definitely served his country.
You know, that's.
That's.
I'll just move on.
Politics.
I know.
He's a really nice guy.
Yeah, I like talking to him.
And, yeah, politics aside, Ithink I started.

(42:30):
Try to stay politically neutral.
There's people on who are bothDemocrats and Republicans.
I'm interviewing.
I don't.
I don't drag politics into this.
These people serve theircountry and they deserve to have
a voice.
And I want to talk to them.
Yeah, it doesn't matter.
You know, Patrice is aDemocrat, Flynn's a Republican.
Why does that matter?
It shouldn't.
No, no, you're absolutely right.
It shouldn't.
And ultimately, I think that.
That I don't.

(42:51):
I don't think any service member.
I think for the most part,most service members don't join the
military because they haveaspirations of some political life
after the fact.
No, they do it because theylove their country.
Yeah, absolutely.
During World War II, whenPearl harbor is bombed, they joined
to defend their country.
When 911 happened, a lot ofthem joined.
That was.

(43:11):
Yeah.
You know what I'm talking about?
Yeah, absolutely.
It was a huge uptick in.
Because I'm sure you rememberthat I wasn't even a thought then.
I was gonna say.
No, I was.
I was gonna say being.
Being only 20 years old.
You, you.
It was, it, it had happened,you know, three or four years before
you were born.
And I, you know, that's,that's one of those interesting,
that's one of thoseinteresting topics that, that doesn't

(43:33):
get to come up with a lot ofour guests when it comes the perspective
of 9 11.
Like you grew up in a post 911world and I guess technically I grew
up into.
And then after a 911 world.
But like I've told the storybefore that one of the things that
I remember because I, I movedto Colombia.
I actually moved into myapartment eight days before 911 occurred.

(43:56):
No, I'm sorry, nine, ten daysbefore 911 occurred.
So I had lived in Colombia forabout six months, moving back and
forth between Columbia and Atlanta.
And I remember the night thatTuesday evening we were, we were
standing outside of a, a poolhall where we'd go every Tuesday

(44:17):
because they had, I don'tknow, it was, it was half price drinks
or something like that.
And I remember standingoutside and, and looking up at the
sky and not seeing a singleplane in the sky.
And, and, and just that, that,that odd silence.
That, that sounds really eerie.
Yeah, it was, it was weird.
And then, and then out ofNowhere you'd have 2, 2, 2 fighter

(44:39):
groups of F18s come flyingthrough the skies because they were,
they were flying up and downthe coast monitoring for any potential
other attacks.
And it was like that forprobably I want to say it was like
that for maybe two weeks or so.
But even from the perspectiveof friends that were active military
at that time, I had a friendwho was, I can't give too much information

(45:02):
about it, but I can say thatthe stories he told me he was the,
the night after, the nightafter 9 11.
So on 912 he was immediate.
He and his unit wereimmediately deployed to Afghanistan
where within, within two daysthey had over.
This is his story, so I may beinaccurate, but within two days they

(45:25):
had, they had taken over theCabal or the airport, the main capital
airport basically so theUnited States could begin using the
airport for flights in.
Because he, when 9911happened, he was active military.
He was, he was wherever it wasthat he was at.

(45:46):
And, and they were, they wereactivated within.
Within an hour of the firstplane hitting and they were on their
way somewhere.
They didn't know where theywere on their way to.
Information was still comingin, but they were, they were, they.
They were on a plane on their way.
And you know, so those are thekind of.
And I, he lives In Wilmington.
I could potentially get you intouch with him, if that.

(46:07):
Yeah, please do.
I will, I will.
I will reach out to him andsee if that's something I can get.
But he, He's.
He's an amazing storyteller.
I'll.
I'll get you that information.
He's.
He's really good.
Thank you.
Have you had anyone after, youknow, you.
You obviously have a decentnumber of subscribers.
Your videos get a fair amountof views.

(46:27):
Have you had anyone approachyou and ask you for advice on.
On how you do the filmmakingthat you do?
How you approach and ask andinterview these people?
Has it brought you any.
Any sort of fame that you'vebeen recognized for?
I mean, obviously you've beento awards, you've spoke.
I mean, you've been to dinnersand you've met with people and things
like that.
But anything that stands outis the.

(46:49):
Question of have people askfor advice.
Some people have asked me, howdo you find these people?
And they're more referring tothe public figures people, the ones
who are, you know, more known.
They have a big influence.
And people have asked, how doyou get in touch with them?
I just ask them.
I'll just email them and tellthem what I do.
And the worst I can say is noor not respond.
And that happens a lot.
You're going to get no a lotfrom these people, which I understand.

(47:10):
Why would you want to talkabout the worst days of your life?
I understand that, but some ofthem, they know why.
They understand for historical reasons.
But people have asked, how doyou get in touch with these people?
My advice is reach out to them.
The worst they're going to dois not respond because we're so busy,
or they won't see it, orthey'll say no and just reach out
to them.
Really.
They'll be like, let's say.

(47:31):
Let's say I have a.
There's 10 veterans I reachout to, to them respond, and one
of them agrees.
The other one says, no, but Iappreciate what you're doing.
The other one says, yes, I'lldo it.
So you're going to.
You're going to get rejectiona lot and a lot of no's, but there's
going to be that small amountof yes and agreement.
And just my advice, as I said,I keep on repeating, just don't be
free to reach out.

(47:52):
Yeah.
If you could interview anyhistorical figures, do you have a
list in your head of thehistorical figures that you would
have potentially liked tointerview from any war, Trojan War?
Okay.
Well, there's two people whoare alive who I do want to interview,
which I know I want to be ableto just because of.
Well, okay, there's two peoplewho would.

(48:13):
I would have had a realisticchance to interview just through
connections and all that, buttheir mental and physical capabilities
aren't.
They're not public and they're.
They're just not.
They're not.
They're not doing injuriesanymore for private reasons.
One of them is General Kalugin.
He's a former KGB general who.
He lives in the United Statesnow after the Soviet Union fell.

(48:33):
I would love to interview him.
He doesn't.
He doesn't do interviewsanymore, sadly.
Another person is Imelda Marcos.
She's the former first lady ofthe Philippines.
And that's more.
That's more political history.
But.
But I've talked to privately.
My connection there.
She's just unaccessible now.
Just completely unaccessible.
Another group of.
Not a group of people.
Well, I consider to be a groupof people, obviously.
I interviewed a lot of Allied veterans.

(48:54):
I do want to hear the other side.
If I can find a German orJapanese veteran, I would love to
interview them.
I'm sure that's.
Well, I know that's harder to find.
Almost impossible.
World War II veterans aloneare hard enough to find fighting
a German or Japanese veteranwho, you know, they've been shamed
for what they've done, and they.
They're on the losing side andthey're, you know, the bad guys.

(49:15):
They don't really want to talkabout it, but they.
The ones who have beeninterviewed, I've seen online, they
understand.
They understand for historicalreasons, and they were just there.
A lot of them were just forcedto do it.
But my point is, I want tohear the other side, too.
Yeah, I've.
I've only ever.
I've talked to very few peoplewho are on the opposing side.
Someone else I interviewed,who was on.

(49:35):
Who is on.
Who used to be our partner, meas former KGB agent Jack Barski,
who's.
He's on our side now.
Don't worry.
But what is our side?
I can't pinpoint what our sideis currently.
So, you know, I honestly, Ilook at it this way that, you know,
for every war, there aremillions of individual stories.

(49:59):
Yes.
And those.
And it's.
It's history.
It actually happened.
It doesn't matter who's goodor bad.
Right.
I want to hear all sides of history.
And, yes, I do.
Even I wanted to interview,like I said, German, Japanese or
even The Soviets on our side,they have a completely different
point of view of World War II.
I, I don't know any SovietWorld War II veterans.
I don't know any German or.
Oh, I met a Hitler Youthmember, former Hitler Youth member.

(50:21):
She passed away though.
And she didn't, she, shewasn't with enough to do a video,
an interview for my channel.
But I would still talk to her occasionally.
When I'd see her, she wasstill with it enough to understand
what was going on there.
But I didn't want to put acamera in front of her face when
she was already confused enough.
But sure.
That's amazing though.
Yeah, it's incredible to lookback because you mentioned Hitler

(50:45):
Youth.
It wasn't her fault.
People gotta understand thiswasn't her fault.
She was about 8 years old, herfather was a German police officer
and she was indoctrinated tobelieve in the Third Reich.
Yeah, this wasn't her fault.
These people were brainwashed.
The people who were around my age.
I'm not saying there's a lotof bad, bad Germans out there and

(51:07):
Nazis out there, but you know,there's still a lot of them out there
who were, you know, forced todo this or they were brainwashed
completely.
And this history, it actually happened.
It's important that weunderstand both sides of history.
No, and I think that's one ofthe things about history is if you
don't know what happened inhistory, you're doomed to repeat
the same thing.
I mean, we have, you know,there are people in this, not in

(51:28):
this.
I'm sorry.
There are people on thisplanet that are brainwashed now to
believe what isn't true.
In order to push their agenda forward.
We need to understand all that.
United States, we've donecountless of horrible acts throughout
history, but it's importantthat we are aware of that.
We need to know what actually happened.
It can't just be a one sided thing.
History is violent.

(51:49):
And a lot of times both sidescan be just as bad as another.
Yeah, not always, but there'stimes where, you know, it can just
be baggage versus bad guys.
It's not always good guysversus bad guys.
Yeah.
Outside of, outside ofjournalism and filmmaking, what are
some of your other personalinterests and hobbies?
Well, I just have, I have alist of things I'm doing on my schedule,
so I have a lot of thingsgoing on, a lot of things, but I

(52:10):
enjoy them.
Even though college is the onething that's slowing me down.
I stomach.
I.
Look, don't come to me for Anyadvice about college?
I am, I am.
I am still not a graduateafter nearly.
How 46.
So after 26 years, I'm stillnot a graduate.

(52:32):
So, you know, that's okay.
College isn't for everyone.
That is correct.
That is correct.
And as long as college isexpensive as it is, it shouldn't
be for everyone.
Yeah.
There's a lot of things youcan do without college.
It just for certain people.
Not just for me.
Just like if you want to be adoctor, lawyer, you need college.
For me, yeah.
A degree is going to make melook a lot better and I still going

(52:52):
to get experience from there,even though I already have the experience
from outside of college, other aspects.
But the degree will make youlook better.
I'm still going to go tocollege regardless.
I just, I'm.
I'm too.
I'm too invested into it topull out right now.
Right, yeah, yeah, no, I get that.
I think one of the otherthings that I wanted to ask you about,

(53:14):
and this is not for me, thisisn't a political topic, but it is
something I think that is important.
It's something that I havedredged on about for years is the.
You mentioned the homelesssituation, the lack of.
When it comes to veterans andthings like.
I guess one of the things that.
I think that from theperspective of being in the United

(53:35):
States, the United Statesbeing the richest country on the
planet, that if, if you could,if you could focus in on any one
specific issue for veterans,what would that, what would that
be for you?
Well, there's a lot of issues.
They suffer from PTSD tohomelessness to drugs, alcohol, as

(53:56):
well as physical, mentalissues, what they've gotten from
their service, their years of service.
So that's a hard question toanswer because when the veterans
transitioning from militarycivilian life, they're completely
two.
They're two different worlds completely.
And that's a hard question to answer.
If you're making me choose topick one between all those aspects

(54:16):
that are affecting them everysingle day.
That's hard because they allshould be fixed, which is.
That's not possible.
But these veterans have doneso much for our country and then
they come home to havingdaily, daily struggles of having
nightmares, remembering theirbest friend dying right in front

(54:37):
of them, or having.
Having Agent Orange fromVietnam or some of them will have,
you know, still metal in theirbodies from like a grenade going
off.
Yeah, yeah.
Overall, just veteran.
Veteran health and recognition.
I think it sounds like that'ssomething that's important to you.
Yeah, there's.

(54:58):
There's so many differentbattles to fight for our veterans.
And I am absolutely one of thepeople that stands up and that our
country should do right by thepeople that have given that sacrifice,
that have sacrificed theirminds, their body, their souls to
stand out every day.
They didn't know if they weregoing to come back or not.

(55:18):
That was for the entire timethe military, for those X amount
of time they served, theydidn't know if they're going to come
back home or not.
Every day was different.
And what these veterans havedone, a lot of people just can't
put into perspective of.
We really.
We owe them almost every.
Well, pretty much everything.
Our country is free because ofthese people.

(55:41):
And we live in one of thegreatest countries, probably the
greatest country in the world.
So I appreciate what theseveterans have done for us.
Our way of life would havebeen so much different if we didn't
have these people defending us.
Yeah.
Are there any organizationsthat you've worked with specifically
that you think that could usemore attention as far as their support

(56:01):
of veterans?
Well, I want people to lookinto the.
I'm going to be a littlebiased to say the Honor Flight.
Please do.
But I really look into theHonor Flight.
I just written a bunch ofletters to the one in my area so
when the veterans are on theplane, they're gonna.
They'll have some letters toread when they either get back home
or when they're on their wayover there.
VFW's American Legions,they're pretty much every area in

(56:26):
the United States and just goin there and see if you want to help
out or see what you can do, gofor it.
If you want to help ourveterans or there's organizations
online that will takevolunteers or just spreading awareness
is the best way to do it.
Or just understanding whatthese variants have done for and
going up to them and thankingthem for their service.
And if it's a Vietnam veteran,also say welcome home because they

(56:48):
didn't get a welcome home.
Yeah, that's Luke.
Like I said, I think that whatyou're doing is inspiring and I thoroughly
enjoy all of the videos thatI've watched so far.
And I guarantee you by thetime, the next time we talk, I absolutely
will have watched all of them.
Wow, there's.
There's.
You've got it.
You've got a good number out there.

(57:09):
There's.
There's several, but there's a lot.
The problem is there's a lotmore I haven't had a chance to upload.
Yeah, I have Some other onesfrom like over a year ago, I just
haven't.
I just haven't able to get to.
There's a lot of older guys Itry to prioritize first just because
of their age, and some of theyounger ones, I just haven't got
to yet.
As much as I want to get to them.
It's just a lot at once.
And there's.

(57:30):
I'm gonna have videos,interview for videos to edit for
years.
Let's, let's say for somereason I stop this.
I'm gonna have so much videos unedited.
There's a lot of content to come.
I plan on doing this for aslong as possible.
Well, it's an amazing service.
Not only, you know, not onlyfor us as, as the individuals that

(57:50):
get to, to view and watch the,what you've put together, but the
service that you've done forthese individuals and their families
and friends and the peoplethat they served with.
You know, these are, these arestories that are going to live on
forever now because they're onthe Internet.
And I think that what you'vedone is amazing and I look forward
to everything that you've done.
If.

(58:10):
Is there anything else youwant to tell us about before we,
before we wrap this up?
Well, if anyone, if anyonelistening knows any veterans or if
you are a veteran, you want toreach out and talk to me or even
do an interview over zoom, orif you.
I don't, I don't know how manypeople who live in north or South
Carolina are watching this,but if you, if you live within the
state, we can maybe arrangeone in person.

(58:32):
Or if you just want to talk tome, send me a name@lukeb.filmperia
Gmail.com Filmperia is thename of my channel, too.
If you just want to contact methrough there.
But I appreciate all thesupport for everyone who's watching
videos and I appreciate thatyou allow me to talk on your podcast.
Yeah, no, and I'll put, I'llput all your, your information in

(58:52):
the show notes and I'll get,I'll get you.
I'll get information on there,on how they can contact you, your
email address and everythinglike that.
Because I think that thepotential is you'll have several
people reaching out justpurely to tell their stories.
And I think that that'd bereally awesome.
Just, just if, if you'rewatching, just understand if there,
there might be a little bit ofa delay because he's got a fairly

(59:14):
decent backlog of stories to come.
But Luke, it's It's absolutelybeen an honor to have you on the
show.
I wish that Zach could havebeen here because we think you'll
be here.
Next time if I, I hope so.
Fingers crossed.
I can't finger.
Fingers crossed.
You know, but it, it, youknow, his, his situation has definitely
changed with the, theinclusion of two new children.

(59:37):
But, you know, like I said, wethoroughly enjoyed meeting you at
the Comic Con and I am, youknow, I literally, I had your card
sitting on, on my.
It was when you emailed me acouple of weeks ago.
Like, I literally had yourcard sitting here so that I could
get a hold of you.
So don't we.

(59:57):
You were not forgotten.
You definitely left an impacton us just from the conversation.
So like I said, look, all ofthe rest of your endeavors to come
here in the next few weeks tomonths, I ultimately, I want you
to be super careful because Iknow that there's all, there's danger
everywhere and you know,where, if, if you have a press badge,

(01:00:20):
wear that press badge big and,and, and, you know, glitter it up.
If you have to make it, makeit stand out.
So, look, Luke Basso, I reallyappreciate you coming on the show
with us.
Just to, just to remindEverybody that Luke's YouTube channel
is from Paria.
You can find the link in ourshow notes.
Please go subscribe and watchthese videos, listen to these stories.

(01:00:44):
The combination of theindividuals that he's interviewed,
as well as, as theaccompaniment of news reels and things
like that from the wars.
It's, it's done, it's such,it's done very, very well.
The quality is amazing.
So from that perspective isone of the things that I also respect,

(01:01:05):
not just the work you've done,but the content as well.
So, Luke, thank you very muchagain for being on the show.
Again, everybody check theshow notes and go subscribe to Luke's
page because it's, it'sincredible information and just,
it's.
I don't know, it's inspiring.
That, that's the word I keepcoming back to, is inspiring.
Thank you very much, Luke.

(01:01:26):
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, absolutely.
That's going to wrap it up forepisode number 248.
Thank you again, Luke, forbeing on the show with me.
Links to past episodes,podcast platforms, merchandise and
social media are available atour website, theallaboutnothing.com
and if you think our financialmodel of giving away free content
and entertainment is silly andyou're in the giving mood, why not
become an official nothingerand support the show members get
early access to to thisepisode as well as exclusive content.

(01:01:48):
Visitmembers.theallaboutnothing.com or
you can find a link on our webpage.
You can also give us a onetime donation through the same link.
If you'd like to be a part ofthe show you can call and leave us
a message 803-672-0533 or youcan email the show at the allaboutnothing.com
you can join our Discordserver as well links found on our
website.
Thank you everybody for listening.

(01:02:09):
You all stay safe, be kind andkeep your hands to yourself.
The All About Nothing podcastis product of Big Media and produced
and engineered by me, Barrett Gruber.
Thanks to Cake for our intromusic Sick of youf.
You can follow everything Cakethe band@cakemusic.com thanks to
Muff the producer for ouroutro music.
You can follow muff onInstagram ufftheproducer.
You can follow me acrosssocial media by visiting linktree

(01:02:29):
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Wanna support the show?
Visit our webpagetheallaboutnothing.com and become
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There are several tiersavailable that give you early access
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To find links to our socialmedia, podcast platforms and merchandise
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(01:02:50):
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Dial 803-672-0533.
If the time between theseepisodes is more than you can handle,
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