March 14, 2024 • 38 mins
As I sat with 17-year-old Peter Rygg on the newly placed bench under the shade of the old oak at our local church, I realized the true depth of his initiative, "Visit with a Veteran." This episode is a heartfelt exploration of Peter's journey to create spaces that bridge the gap between veterans and the community, inspired by his grandfathers' own service. We unpack his vision of benches as more than just resting spots—these are places where stories of bravery and sacrifice are shared, and where the silent struggles of our veterans can find a voice.
Peter's story is an impressive reminder of what can be achieved with determination and a cause close to your heart. Tackling the logistics of fundraising, he navigates social media landscapes and taps into local networks with a maturity that belies his years. Balancing academics and soccer, his story is a powerful encouragement for young leaders everywhere. It's a testament to the idea that age is but a number when it comes to making an impactful change in your community.
This episode transcends a simple conversation; it's a call to action for each of us to reach out and truly listen. We explore how even a single bench can become a cornerstone of support, understanding, and mutual respect. Join us as we celebrate the ripple effects of Peter's project, and perhaps find inspiration to spark our own transformative connections within our communities. Through sharing these narratives, we continue to build a more connected, enriched world—one bench at a time.
LINK TO FUNDRAISER: https://givebutter.com/vwv
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Connecting the dots, Connecting his guests to the
world, Creating more connections.
Welcome to the Connection.
Meet your host.
Author, coach, Air Forceveteran Jay Morales.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm really excited for my guest today.
I'm excited as everyone knowshow near and dear veterans are
to my heart.
But what's even more moving iswhen this generation your age,
peter, professors share stories,shows their adoration.
You show your patriotism, buteveryone expresses in a
different way and people aregoing to learn.
(00:51):
So today I have Peter Rigg.
Peter, if you could, you're17-year-old.
When did you turn 17?
February 2nd.
February 2nd.
So you're a young 17-year-old,and the reason why I want to
highlight your age is becausewhen people think of
17-year-olds today, some of themthink that they miss out on
history or our past, or maybethey're just too much in the
(01:14):
present.
And I want to help debunk that.
And I think today is such agreat conversation to talk about
history Veterans are militaryand being patriotic.
So, peter, tell us a little bitabout yourself.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So I'm 17.
I go to Ackwam South HighSchool.
I play soccer pretty muchyear-round.
I play for a club as well, andyeah, are you nervous?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Don't be nervous.
It's okay, listen, it's okay tonot, it's okay to be nervous.
By the time we get into themeat and potatoes you just
interview, you're going to feelbetter.
So I just want you to relax.
This is a conversation betweenme and you, but remember, it is
pretty impactful.
So take your time and let'sjust really really get into it.
Okay, all right.
So I know your mother, kathy,and I know that.
(01:59):
I know she's a great mom, notbecause I like her as a person
or she's really cool.
I know that she raises herchildren right and I know that
it reflects when you see kidsmimic or imitate or act like
their parents do.
And what caught me about you,peter, is your level of, I
(02:19):
should say, honor for ourveterans.
So let's describe this projectwe have coming up first, and
then we'll go backwards into thehistory.
So tell me about this amazingproject that you're working on
for veterans.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So the project is I'm going to be fundraising and
placing two benches at thechurch that I go to in
recognition of veterans.
It's called Visit with aVeteran, so people can go and
sit on the benches and then theycan talk to each other and then
, if there's one veteran andthen one non veteran, or a
veteran and a veteran, they canjust share stories and
(02:53):
communicate with each other,which I think is a great way of
expressing yourself andconnecting with others.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
So visiting with a veteran?
That's a simple title.
It's very easy.
Why is that so important tovisit with a veteran?
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I think it's important because veterans have
gone through a lot, they've seena lot, they know a lot, they
can share a lot.
And maybe younger generationsthey may not know as much, and I
think it's a good way toconnect with people and through
conversation, it's a healthy wayto express yourself and get to
know someone, and I think that'sa great part of just talking
(03:27):
with each other.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
So let's just play this out.
I'm a veteran, right?
I've served 10 years.
If I was sitting on one benchand you're sitting on the other,
what are some of the questionsyou would ask me, or what are
some of the things you want toknow?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I probably want to know favorite and least favorite
, favorite part of being aveteran and serving for the
country and least favorite?
Oh no, and I'd probably alsowant to know what were the
hardships and the highs of beinga veteran, yeah, and why you
became a veteran or in serve forthe country.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Why is that important to you?
Why is it important to Peter,who's 17 years old and Elkhorn
Nebraska?
Why is it important to you?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I think it's important because it's not just
because you're a veteran, whichis a great part of it, but I
think getting to know someoneand what they've been through
and what the experience of theexperiences they've had is just
a great part of connecting withsomeone.
And then, past that, they didserve for the country and it's
very patriotic of someone andbrave of someone to do and I
(04:32):
think it's very honorable.
So it's a great way to get toknow someone and respect them.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
So when you see veteran today right, sometimes
they have a veteran hat thatsays veteran.
They might have an old patch orthey might have a shirt that
says you know, I'm a veteran.
You're in the airport.
This happens a lot, right?
Do you ever stop and sayanything, or do you want to say
something to those people?
And if you don't, it's okay,but I'm just wondering what goes
(05:00):
through your mind.
You know what goes through yourmind.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I think my see a veteran as recognizable.
I more think of scenarios andquestions that I would ask them,
but I don't go up to themreally, because it's kind of a
public scene where there's a lotof people around there as
approach of old Understood, andthat's why I think just a bench
in a nice park where you can sitdown with someone is a great
(05:22):
idea.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Man, you know what?
I never thought about it likethat, right?
Because everyone's into thiswhole.
Hey, thanks for your service.
And it's four seconds ofinteraction.
You're looking for deeperinteraction, getting to really
know somebody and being braveenough to sit with them and say,
hey, I'm here to listen to yourstory, right, I'm here to learn
(05:44):
from you, you know?
Let's go back.
When did this idea first hityou?
When, okay, you're 17 now.
When did this hit you?
When did this come intofruition?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I think it's been brewing for a very long time,
because both of my grandfathersare veterans.
One is 99 right now.
He served in World War II inthe Navy and then another one is
84.
And he served in the Air Forceas a dentist in Vietnam.
Wow.
So I've been around a lot ofveterans and the stories that
(06:21):
they've told, and just them,their influence on me, has
really impacted me.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So either, or I don't care, who Does he do, either of
them share stories with you.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
My grandpa's Adam, who is in Vietnam, shares Air.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Force.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
He's with me, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Yeah, when he tells you the stories.
I'm not going to ask you whathe shares, but I want to ask how
it makes you feel and if youneed color context to tell me,
here's why it makes me feel thatway.
What does he tell you?
What does he say?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
He tells me about a lot of the kind of one-off, kind
of more light-hearted, funnystories that he experienced, and
I think it's a great way toshare his experience through
that and how he got throughbeing in the armed forces yes,
armed forces, yeah and just howhe kind of like his day-to-day
(07:20):
life and stuff like that.
Yeah yeah, and how he gotthrough it.
So Cause I think it's great tohave the funny comedic moments
kinda throughout your life,cause it's gonna stick you going
.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I if his ability to talk with you and be jovial
about it and lighthearted ispretty incredible.
Has he shared any like on thegrim side, you know?
Like what they went through andit's this is okay to share?
I mean really this is.
Have they said like, oh, youknow, vietnam was Vietnam, or
you know?
Have you heard any stories,maybe that?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
He's told a lot of stories about people he knew
that experienced those reallyhard times.
Yes, and my grandpa Reg tellsmore like serious stories or not
as like gruesome or anythingUnderstood.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Understood.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
They're still like more into war and things like
that.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
So when, when either grandpa talks to let's talk
about grandpa Reg when he, whenhe talks to you and he tells you
some of the serious stories,deep conversations, these aren't
like hey, by the way, how doesthat make you feel about?
You know them.
You know just how you look atthem, as a grandpa or as a
person.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I think it really builds their character in my
eyes of being respectable andhonorable and someone to look up
to, because they went throughthose really hard times and they
saw all these things andthey're still here telling the
stories, able to expressthemselves.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Have you thought, has it ever translated into any of
your every day?
Like man?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
if they did that, yeah, Sockers, not hard like
right, like it's definitely mademe think more and be more
determined and tougher, becauseI realized that I don't have to
go through all that and I'm justkind of living my day to day
life.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah it is.
So it might take you a secondto think, and I want you to take
your time.
How, how is any of theirstories?
Can you recall a time whereyou've had to pull from that
strength?
Or to say what would my grandpado, or what would my grandpa's
do, or, you know, have you everhad to live that in your own
(09:22):
life through, at least you know,borrowing some of their
strength?
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think most of the time when I recall these stories
and think back to what they sayis when, like exhausted
especially during soccer, I getvery exhausted and then I don't
want to go anymore.
I feel like I can't but I justneed to keep going, because I
remember that they kept going.
Yeah it's.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
It's easy to give up.
You know, and you can probablysee their parenting style and
how they raised your mom right.
Do you ever see, you knowperhaps?
Oh yeah, I can tell my mom camefrom a military family.
Do you ever see any mannerisms,maybe from your mom, that
Maddie carried over from theirparenting style?
Or?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
what she experienced?
Yeah, I definitely can.
She's very, she's tough on me,but to a good degree.
She keeps me in line.
She makes me a respectableperson yes, things like that.
And she makes me, she shapes meto the person that I am right
now.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
That's pretty cool, that's.
I mean, that's a lot to thinkabout, even at 17 years old,
right?
Most 17 year olds right now areon Minecraft.
Let's be honest, right, they'reprobably sucking down a
bandwidth from our, from our,from our transmission right now.
But, peter, how is this goingto work?
Like, tell me what is going toentail, tell me the timeline,
(10:42):
tell me how it'll work.
You're going to have to gothrough, like, let's break this
out, tell me your plan, becausemost people are going to say 17
years old, what he's doing this,first of all, it's hard.
It's hard enough to sellfundraising popcorn at school.
Let's be honest, right, we'renot fundraising for popcorn.
What is the target money amountthat you need to raise?
Speaker 1 (11:04):
So the target money amount we're going to be doing
two benches and then at thededication there's going to be
food and drinking, things likethat, and the money amount is
$5,000 that we're looking toraise.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
You're kind of doing this in conjunction with your
church.
Can you kind of describe?
Let's describe that.
And then let's go backwards soyou're going to reveal, tell me
how this works.
Tell me how you're going toshare the story in church.
Tell me everything Like let'sjust walk through the plan right
now.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Yeah, so I'm going to share the idea of visit with a
veteran at both of the serviceson March 17th at the Sunday
service.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And then I'm going to have like a little table at
coffee hour after that wherepeople can come and ask me
questions, and then thededication will be November 10th
2024.
After the, it's kind of in themiddle, I think it's at 11 am.
Some of them around then, sure,sure.
And then there's going to belike the color guard there.
Everyone's going to be there,there's going to be food and
(12:03):
drinks and then we're going tohave a bigger view of both the
benches and yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So let's fast forward to that date, right?
Yep, how many people are therein your mind?
Let's speak this into existence.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Probably thinking close to maybe a hundred.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Yeah, I like it.
Right or more Right Is there?
How do you picture things going?
If it was up to you to wave themagic wand, here's how I would
want it to go.
What are some of the things?
Okay, people arriving.
You're in between services,right.
One's leaving, one's coming on.
People are anticipating this,right.
Who's what's happening next?
People arrive, here we go.
(12:41):
It's 11 o'clock.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
So it's 11 o'clock.
I'd probably get up on somesort of podium or just in front
of everybody, have a quicklittle short speech, kind of
telling everyone the processthat I went through.
And then the idea is wide again, just to get everybody on the
same page, and I think I'llprobably reveal the benches and
tell you a big moment.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
I can see your energy change because you're
visualizing it now.
Right, this is almost real.
You're almost like this isgonna happen, right?
Did we mention how much was?
How much do we need tofundraise?
Do you have a number in mind?
5,000.
So how did you even find thesebenches?
Did somebody help you do this?
Did you do this on your own?
Did you what, what, where, how?
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, so I researched online.
I went through about 10different bench options and
narrowed it down to three.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I went through that, narrowed it down to two, and I'm
kind of in between two rightnow, but leaning towards one
other, and then also at the sametime, I'm gonna get a marker.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
So tell me about these benches.
Where do these benches comefrom?
Like, how do you even start?
Who did all the work?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah, so I researched about 10 bench options that I
was looking at and narrowed itdown to three, and then right
now I'm in between two right nowand then I should be able to
get down to one pretty soon andat the same time with the two
benches.
On the pathway at StAugustine's I'll have a marker
in the middle that says visitwith a veteran and there's gonna
(14:12):
be a QR code on it that will goto a Facebook page dedicated to
the project visit with aveteran and it'll have a like, a
description of what the projectis and then a little video of
me explaining it as well.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
That's pretty awesome .
My question is how did you evenknow to do this?
How'd you even know?
Did someone say, hey, you needto look here here?
Or was it all pretty much doneon your own?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Pretty much done on my own.
I just kind of went on Googlesearch benches, good options,
outdoor versus indoor materials,things like that, and then,
yeah, all on my own.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
You know, what kills me is most teenagers today, and
I don't want to just say they'reall bad, I'm saying they're too
caught up in other things to beworried about something like
this.
Right, like this is an extracurricular activity on top of
your soccer, top of your school,top of everything else that
you're involved in.
Right?
And let's be honest, the wordfundraise scares people.
(15:11):
Yeah, how do you feel aboutfundraising and what should?
If you were to tell somebodyI'm so scared to fundraise, I
don't, I don't like to do thatstuff, what would you say?
Speaker 1 (15:21):
I'd probably say one.
It's necessary for anythinglike this.
You won't be able to just getthe funds out of nowhere and I
think I'd say it's a good way totalk to people and get more
comfortable to talking tobusinesses or other people,
because you're going to need tobe able to do that later in life
and it just makes it easiersocially for yourself.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
What are you learning most about at least the
fundraising process?
Like you're getting ready to doit.
Maybe you've have you askedanybody yet kind of or do you
have an idea where you're goingto start fundraising?
I talked to 45 year olds andthey're like I can't ask for
money.
No, no, I don't like to askpeople for money.
Where are you going to start?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
So I'll probably start with friends and family,
just start off small, and thenI'll put a description of the
project in the church'snewspaper that gets sent out
weekly, and then I'll have theFacebook page, and then I'll
probably also do some othersocial media marketing something
like that, of course, likeFacebook or Instagram or
something like that and thenI'll go to the page a gift
(16:29):
butter page for visit with aveteran, absolutely One center
of spot.
So, and then maybe littleflyers I could put around town.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
I think that's a good idea.
So, outside of you fundraising,who else are you going to
recruit to fundraise?
I know I'm going to help.
You can count on that right.
So besides Jay right Cause,what if I fall short?
Who else?
I have you approached?
People say, hey, I need yourhelp, or are you kind of waiting
, or what are you doing withthat?
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I think right now I'm kind of waiting and pulling off
until I have everything kind ofready to go like go out.
But I think in the future, inthe next couple of weeks or
months, I'll probably get tryingto get more people on board.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, I think you should have an initial kickoff
meeting.
I know you're going to have oneat church.
Okay, I get that, but do youever picture getting your
friends and family in a room,maybe like this, 10, 15 of them
saying I need your help?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, I completely envision myself doing that.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Completely Not.
Everyone's going to doeverything that you're going to
do.
You're taking ownership of this.
This fails or succeeds with you, right?
And to put yourself out there,do you think there's a
possibility that you're like, ohmy gosh, this is a big task.
What if I don't make it?
Do you think that at all?
(17:48):
Or have you thought that?
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Not really.
I'm 100% confident myself thatI can do it.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
That's awesome.
Tell me why A lot of peoplecan't even sell $50 worth of
fundraising tickets for kidsbaseball.
That's to be honest, right.
Why are you so sure?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
I think it's because I know myself and I'm a pretty
personable person and I can talkto people, so I think that
helps with networking and thengetting more people on board and
I just believe in the projectand that because it's for a good
cause and that peopleunderstand that and don't what
are some of the skills thatsomebody like yourself needs,
you think, if they're going tobe heading on a project like
(18:24):
this?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
what are some of the skills that have made you
sharper, or that you said, oh,maybe I need to tune this up?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I think, definitely, leadership is one big skill that
you need.
You need to get things going.
You can't just say you're goingto do it and then not do it.
You need to act on it.
Responsibility you need to beresponsible and stay on top of
things and can't let things flyby you and be late.
Right, I think you need to bepersonable, because I think I am
(18:55):
to approach people, get peopleon board and so they can see
that you're a good character towork with.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, most people are going to believe in you before
they see this two benches.
Some people aren't even goingto care about the two benches,
they're just going to care aboutyour character, and I think
that's important.
You said something that mostpeople, even my age, don't talk
about, which is leadership.
Leadership encompasses so much.
Leadership encompasses actingon your words, responsibility,
(19:23):
ownership.
Say what you're going to do.
That's a lot of pressure.
You're going to be very visiblehere.
Somebody says to you hey, I'msorry, but I don't want to
donate, I don't want to.
What's your reaction?
Like, true, like I mean sure wehave to be cordial about it,
but is it wrong?
Or how would you handle?
(19:44):
Somebody said no.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
If someone doesn't want to donate yeah, I don't
want to donate.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
No, I don't think it's a good idea, right, how we
deal with that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
I just say that's fine, that's your opinion, and I
move on.
I wouldn't let it affect me,because then you just go
spiraling down and then you getnegative and don't think you can
do it.
So I just need to stay positiveand stay up.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yeah, absolutely.
Have you run this idea pastanyone besides your family?
Like out any of your friends?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I've talked to a few of my friends about it.
I talked to the father of thechurch and the groundskeeper of
the church and they're on boardwith it.
So, and then I think in thenext few months I'll be telling
more people spring a word andthen have a launch day.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Right, let's go public and then the name of your
church is Saint Augustine's.
Saint Augustine's, okay, and Iknow that you have a awesome
relationship with thegroundskeeper.
What's his name?
Jim Keepers.
Let's what His last name iskeepers.
That's the best.
Okay, I can't even make that up.
Talk to me about Mr Keepers.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
He's a great guy.
I think I met him about maybe ayear, year and a half ago when
I volunteered to mulch for thegardens yes, he's in charge of
all the mountains and thingslike that and he just started
talking to me and he was askingme questions about where I go to
school, what do I do.
I was talking about soccer andI just connected with him really
well and we shared like stuffabout each other and, yeah, we
(21:11):
just connected really well Outof curiosity, and does he have a
connection to veterans ormilitary?
Yeah, he was a veteran.
I'm not sure what service, okay, anything like that, but he was
a veteran, so he is.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
There's a connection.
So no one, mr Keepers, is aveteran.
If you were sitting here atthis table, what would you tell
him right now About a service?
Speaker 1 (21:31):
About a service.
Yeah, I'd thank him, obviously,and then ask him the questions
that I told you before and maybewhy he got into groundskeeping,
if that his service affectedhim at all or if he was always
passionate about that.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yeah, yeah, because it's what makes people tick
right.
Yeah, I mean, everyone'sdifferent.
What are some of the challengesthat you've heard veterans face
today?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I've heard that they face a lot of PTSD and their
mental health is a big one andthat it can really affect them,
and I think talking to peopleand communicating with people is
a great way to combat that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
It's the number one way.
It's better than prescriptiondrugs, it's better than alcohol,
it's better than narcotics.
When people start talking,people start opening up,
people's lives are saved.
Do you realize that?
Let me teach you this for asecond World wars are started
over silence.
Cold wars are started oversilence.
(22:31):
Terroristic activities startedover silences and we just?
Marriages are broken up oversilence.
Right Brothers and sisters.
Animosity over silence.
Hatred begins because ofsilence.
These two benches solvesomething, even sitting across
from a stranger, knowing andunderstanding that these are
(22:55):
what do you call them?
Again, they are visiting.
Visit with the vet?
Yeah, okay.
Visit with the veteran?
I want to try to get there.
Visit with the veteran?
We already know it's impliedthat there's going to be some
communication, even if it'snonverbal.
How powerful do you think it'sgoing to be for some guy who's
77 years old to sit across fromsomebody at 17 years old and say
(23:18):
, hey, you might be thehighlight of their day, you
might be the conversation theyneeded, they might confide in
you say, hey, I just neverwanted to share this with
anybody, but you realize it'sgonna be a safe place for them,
right?
And they're gonna share as muchas they wanna share and share as
much as they don't wanna share.
But do you realize the impactof what you're doing?
(23:39):
That has to do with mentalhealth.
And I'm gonna say it, the decayof mental health or the
pressure and stresses of lifelead to suicide.
You know that.
Okay, we can talk aboutdepression all day, we can talk
about how sad people are, andthose are real things, but
ultimately someone's going todie and take their life.
(24:03):
If the world had benches atevery church, at every corner,
at every ballpark, could youimagine the conversations had?
Do you know, peter, that Idon't like to talk about certain
things?
Or well, I don't wanna call myfriend and I'm making up these
names.
I don't wanna call my friendMitch, because he might get mad.
(24:26):
I don't wanna call him andcheck.
People don't ask for help.
That's the problem.
Okay, this solves that problem.
Somebody sits down.
They're not gonna say hello, Ineed help, they're just gonna
want a conversation, and thatconversation might be what you
and Mr Keeper said.
Mr Keeper is probably happy withyour generation.
You know, when people say thankyou for your service Not that
(24:50):
it doesn't mean anything to meLike I appreciate that right,
I'm like awesome.
You know what I appreciate moreSomeone like you making the
fullest out of your life.
So the things that I didoverseas are not in vain.
Do you get what I'm saying?
You don't ever have to saythank you for your service to me
.
You're doing it.
By doing this, the ghosts behindthe grave don't wanna say, they
(25:12):
don't wanna hear, thank you foryour service.
They wanna see you live yourfullest life.
So that's just something Imaybe I get too deep on, but I
think, peter, that you need tohear this.
You need to hear it often,right, and I think you need to
talk to veterans.
In this journey.
I'm going to recommend that youreach out to people who are
(25:34):
veterans.
Maybe ask Mr Keeper, or ask me,or ask people have great
conversations with them, hey,and all you gotta do is say, hey
, I'm building this bench.
You know, bob, what do youthink?
I need some of your ideas, Ineed some of your stories and oh
, hey, I'd love to get involved.
But do you know that that mightbe a conversation enough to get
their head out of a bad placeand make them look forward to
(25:57):
November?
Speaker 2 (25:58):
And maybe they might join you too.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
You know what I mean.
You never know when someone isone day away.
So what does that make you feellike when I tell you all that
stuff?
Speaker 1 (26:08):
I think it gives me more determination and hope for
my projects, because I thinkit's amazing that it can do that
and that affects and be had onpeople, that you get a 77 year
old veteran and a 70 year oldkid and they can just connect
with each other and it canchange both their lives, both
(26:30):
lives, and then you can that'sthe ripple effect.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
If both of you connect, guess what happens.
You just put one ripple in thewater and you've been around the
lake before a pool, you see theripple and it goes all the way
across the pool.
And then someone else does aripple.
And guess what happens toripples?
They intersect and when theyintersect, great things happen.
I'll tell you that this ispretty moving for me too, and I
don't know if I sharedeverything with you, but I
(26:56):
myself went through a baddivorce right when I got out of
the military.
I didn't have an address for along time.
I had no one to talk to People.
Hey, are you okay, jay?
I'm like yeah, what's wrongwith you?
I'm okay, are you okay?
I was too proud, peter, is whatI'm telling you?
I'm teaching you this right nowthat when was the last time you
(27:18):
really asked for help?
No, I'm gonna tell you, your momsays, hey, do you need help?
No, I'm good, because in yourworst moments you shut away from
the world.
You know, when you're upsetpeople are like, hey, peter, I
don't wanna, not right now.
Right, that's real life.
Imagine being upset every day.
Imagine not only being upsetbut having nothing to look
(27:40):
forward to.
And then you compound that onlooking for your next meal.
And then you compound thatlooking for your next a place to
lay your head.
But if I had somebody to talk toand just connect with, those
are the times that I felt worthsomething.
See, veterans don't feel seensometimes.
You know they're.
Oh, they look at them, butthey're not seen.
(28:03):
They're heard, but they're notlistened to.
Do you know what I mean?
Again, this is pretty amazing.
I have not heard anything likethat and I'm pretty aware.
Right, and if there is, great,there is.
But I think it sounds like anoriginal idea.
You know, originally it wassupposed to be one bench.
Is that right?
Yeah, yeah.
And then probably thinking like, okay, if I turn my neck, that
(28:26):
probably won't work.
But I think it's genius thatyou thought too the behind the
name.
You kind of told me that.
You know the why.
You told me that.
But how many other names didyou come up with?
Or how did you even come upwith the name?
Were you helped?
Did you research it Like?
Speaker 1 (28:47):
I was so at first I had like I had no ideas for the
name.
I was like bench, veteran,veterans bench, yes, but then
that didn't really.
You gave a or a convey thatmeaning behind it and like what
the purpose of it is.
I was thinking something withcommunication and then veterans
and they could like throw abench in there.
(29:07):
But then I had eventually leftthat out because it's not that
important and I was thinkingwhat is kind of like similar,
like phonetically, to veteranvisit, veteran.
And then I just thought visitwith the veteran, it's perfect
because you sit on the benchesand you talk to primarily
veterans about their stories andstuff.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, it's gonna encourage the world to talk to
you, peter.
I mean, it would be cool.
And how will you make sure thatpeople continue to use that?
Let listen, your church willknow about it.
Mm-hmm, but that's it.
Maybe people from this podcast,but how will you keep promoting
it?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
I think probably after this I could expand and
put more benches in areasthroughout the city and things
like that, and then I'llprobably also for advertising
get trying to get something inthe Omaha World Herald so it
gets a wider range of people.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
But yeah, I think expanding after November 10th
and then putting them in otherplaces would be a great.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
It's pretty cool.
I mean I think it's got its ownplace.
Either during Memorial Day orVeterans Day or Armed Forces Day
, there's Gold Star Families Day.
Do you know what a Gold StarFamily is?
I know Gold Star Family someonewho lost someone killed in
action.
So that's another attribute.
But the families deserve to beon that bench just as much as a
(30:31):
veteran does.
You know what I mean.
So just ideas, right, I'malways full of ideas.
So you're going to raise $5,000.
What do you think?
Fundraising is going to startagain.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Probably April 1st.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
April 1st OK, april 1st.
You're talking to a 17 year oldnow sitting across from you and
they're like, hey, man, that'spretty cool.
What do you say to somebody?
Because you get their attention?
Now, right, this is your moment.
What are you gonna do to this?
(31:06):
What will you continue to dofor your generation now to make
sure that they keep lookingforward at this visit with a vet
?
Our veterans are.
What will you do?
How will you keep this messagegoing?
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I think it's important to also let people
know like we still have peoplein the armed forces, in the Navy
, air Force, military Marinesand everything like that.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Forget space force.
I don't know why I should notsay and space force?
That's a real thing, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
And it's important because things could happen
again.
Yes, working on that thingagain, yes, and it'll be real
for them.
So I think it's important forthem to realize that it was real
for other people as well.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
It's a big deal and I'll kind of go over some
statistics because I wanna makethis real for our people.
So it's about 195 homelessright now that are documented in
Douglas County, just in DouglasCounty, in the surrounding area
, in 2000.
And I'm paraphrasing and I'llupdate the statistic, but let's
just say in 2021, there were 50veterans that took their lives
(32:17):
here in Douglas County and thator Nebraska, I should say, let's
say Nebraska documented.
What documented means isthey're either working with a
case worker or they were a knownveteran and that was reported
that way.
Think of how many people sliponto the radar and never get
counted right.
When I was homeless or had noaddress, I didn't tell anybody.
(32:42):
I didn't go to the VA and say,hey, I need help, right, I was
just couch surfing, sleepingwhere I could.
What you're doing, peter, rightnow is, I think, raising an
awareness, not just for thebenches but for mental health.
And when people talk aboutmental health, how big a deal do
you think that is today?
Speaker 1 (33:03):
That was huge with social media, with everything
going on in the world andeverything that, I think, is
very big.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
What do you hear?
What are some of the things youhear about mental health at 17
years old?
Speaker 1 (33:16):
Lots of like self-image sort of things
self-deprecation because ofother people online, poor
outlook on the world because ofwhat's going on in the world and
there's just not much hope.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I think yeah yeah, but you're on the flip side of
that coin, right?
You're so busy, you're sofocused, you're involved, right?
Do you have self-care for you?
How do you take care of yourmental health?
That's, if you know, how do youdeal with that?
Speaker 1 (33:46):
I think a great way is I talk to a lot of people at
school, I express myself with myfriends, things like that, and
I'd stay busy, so I don't havetime to dwell on things if
something happens.
I think I stay busy with soccerschool and I think, wow, I'm
just positive in general too.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
So yeah, no, that helps, right.
Yeah, I would say you are aleader amongst your peers.
I would say that this is prettyincredible, because I just know
a lot of people who don't havea lot of time and the people who
do have time that don't.
I don't chastise them for that,but the fact that you're making
time going to school.
Do you work anywhere too?
(34:26):
Not right now, not right now,good, okay, probably gonna be a
bit of a time endeavor withinitself, but you know, I'm just
telling you that I'm veryimpressed by your project, thank
you.
But I don't want it just to bean empty like oh, this is so
good.
Peter, what you're doing isrelevant to the time that we
live in, it is timely, it'ssymbolic, it's so powerful in
(34:50):
its message.
Some things I will promise youthat I will share your story,
and I have a pretty big mouth.
If you can't tell that, justask the people that you asked
your mom, right.
But I wanna make sure that Idon't contort your message.
I wanna make sure that I don'tuse in my own words.
So, in conclusion, if you cantell somebody, this is worth it,
(35:18):
because we kept that for me andwe'll leave with your final
thoughts why is it so worth itto you?
Speaker 1 (35:26):
I think it's worth it because it really helps you
understand other people, whichin a world like today, I think
it's extremely important tounderstand people and connect
with them, because you can buildrelationships with them and you
can move forward with them, andit helps both of you.
(35:46):
So I think it's very, it's justa positive thing in general to
communicate with people andunderstand each other.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
You see enough stuff online where people love to
change my mind, or, hey, I'mgonna debate you.
Right, this is not debate, thisis connection.
This is the opposite ofeverything online.
Hey, let's talk about this,let's talk about this.
How about?
Let's just have two peopleconnect?
That's pretty profound, right?
(36:15):
And I'm just gonna tell youit's not clickbait, it's not
gonna get you a lot of attention, right, and it's not like
you're not doing it for views,though.
No, if you can affect one life,that's pretty incredible.
Anything you wanna say to yourgrandfathers now, or any message
(36:37):
that, if they were around here,what would you say?
Speaker 1 (36:41):
I'd probably just thank them for helping me
understand what they've beenthrough veteran the military
side and non-military side, justgrowing up and what they've
experienced, and them expressingtheir wisdom and knowledge onto
me Well.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
I wanna thank you, Peter, for your time today.
I wanna thank you for yourdedication and your hard work
that you're about to.
You know the hard work thatyou've done already, but the
effort that you're going tostart and you're I'm gonna watch
this all the way through andI'm pretty excited for you, you
know, and I think this is gonnabe more monumental than you even
(37:20):
think it's gonna be.
You're in it right now.
There's a whole bunch of peoplewatching you.
Yeah, so good for you, I'm sohappy and I'm happy for you and
I'm proud of you.
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Thanks for tuning in to the Connection.
It's been a fantastic journey,exploring stories, insights and
inspirations that bridge ourlives.
Remember every connection hasthe power to transform.
Please subscribe, rate andreview.
Your feedback keeps us going Inthis connected world.
(37:54):
Let's make meaningfulconnections that enrich lives.
Now signing off until next time, the Connection, Keep
connecting and let's go.
Connecting the dots, Connecting his guests to the
world, Creating more connections.
Welcome to the Connection.
Meet your host.
Author, coach, Air Forceveteran Jay Morales.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm really excited for my guest today.
I'm excited as everyone knowshow near and dear veterans are
to my heart.
But what's even more moving iswhen this generation your age,
peter, professors share stories,shows their adoration.
You show your patriotism, buteveryone expresses in a
different way and people aregoing to learn.
(00:51):
So today I have Peter Rigg.
Peter, if you could, you're17-year-old.
When did you turn 17?
February 2nd.
February 2nd.
So you're a young 17-year-old,and the reason why I want to
highlight your age is becausewhen people think of
17-year-olds today, some of themthink that they miss out on
history or our past, or maybethey're just too much in the
(01:14):
present.
And I want to help debunk that.
And I think today is such agreat conversation to talk about
history Veterans are militaryand being patriotic.
So, peter, tell us a little bitabout yourself.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So I'm 17.
I go to Ackwam South HighSchool.
I play soccer pretty muchyear-round.
I play for a club as well, andyeah, are you nervous?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Don't be nervous.
It's okay, listen, it's okay tonot, it's okay to be nervous.
By the time we get into themeat and potatoes you just
interview, you're going to feelbetter.
So I just want you to relax.
This is a conversation betweenme and you, but remember, it is
pretty impactful.
So take your time and let'sjust really really get into it.
Okay, all right.
So I know your mother, kathy,and I know that.
(01:59):
I know she's a great mom, notbecause I like her as a person
or she's really cool.
I know that she raises herchildren right and I know that
it reflects when you see kidsmimic or imitate or act like
their parents do.
And what caught me about you,peter, is your level of, I
(02:19):
should say, honor for ourveterans.
So let's describe this projectwe have coming up first, and
then we'll go backwards into thehistory.
So tell me about this amazingproject that you're working on
for veterans.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So the project is I'm going to be fundraising and
placing two benches at thechurch that I go to in
recognition of veterans.
It's called Visit with aVeteran, so people can go and
sit on the benches and then theycan talk to each other and then
, if there's one veteran andthen one non veteran, or a
veteran and a veteran, they canjust share stories and
(02:53):
communicate with each other,which I think is a great way of
expressing yourself andconnecting with others.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
So visiting with a veteran?
That's a simple title.
It's very easy.
Why is that so important tovisit with a veteran?
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I think it's important because veterans have
gone through a lot, they've seena lot, they know a lot, they
can share a lot.
And maybe younger generationsthey may not know as much, and I
think it's a good way toconnect with people and through
conversation, it's a healthy wayto express yourself and get to
know someone, and I think that'sa great part of just talking
(03:27):
with each other.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
So let's just play this out.
I'm a veteran, right?
I've served 10 years.
If I was sitting on one benchand you're sitting on the other,
what are some of the questionsyou would ask me, or what are
some of the things you want toknow?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I probably want to know favorite and least favorite
, favorite part of being aveteran and serving for the
country and least favorite?
Oh no, and I'd probably alsowant to know what were the
hardships and the highs of beinga veteran, yeah, and why you
became a veteran or in serve forthe country.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Why is that important to you?
Why is it important to Peter,who's 17 years old and Elkhorn
Nebraska?
Why is it important to you?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I think it's important because it's not just
because you're a veteran, whichis a great part of it, but I
think getting to know someoneand what they've been through
and what the experience of theexperiences they've had is just
a great part of connecting withsomeone.
And then, past that, they didserve for the country and it's
very patriotic of someone andbrave of someone to do and I
(04:32):
think it's very honorable.
So it's a great way to get toknow someone and respect them.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
So when you see veteran today right, sometimes
they have a veteran hat thatsays veteran.
They might have an old patch orthey might have a shirt that
says you know, I'm a veteran.
You're in the airport.
This happens a lot, right?
Do you ever stop and sayanything, or do you want to say
something to those people?
And if you don't, it's okay,but I'm just wondering what goes
(05:00):
through your mind.
You know what goes through yourmind.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I think my see a veteran as recognizable.
I more think of scenarios andquestions that I would ask them,
but I don't go up to themreally, because it's kind of a
public scene where there's a lotof people around there as
approach of old Understood, andthat's why I think just a bench
in a nice park where you can sitdown with someone is a great
(05:22):
idea.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Man, you know what?
I never thought about it likethat, right?
Because everyone's into thiswhole.
Hey, thanks for your service.
And it's four seconds ofinteraction.
You're looking for deeperinteraction, getting to really
know somebody and being braveenough to sit with them and say,
hey, I'm here to listen to yourstory, right, I'm here to learn
(05:44):
from you, you know?
Let's go back.
When did this idea first hityou?
When, okay, you're 17 now.
When did this hit you?
When did this come intofruition?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I think it's been brewing for a very long time,
because both of my grandfathersare veterans.
One is 99 right now.
He served in World War II inthe Navy and then another one is
84.
And he served in the Air Forceas a dentist in Vietnam.
Wow.
So I've been around a lot ofveterans and the stories that
(06:21):
they've told, and just them,their influence on me, has
really impacted me.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So either, or I don't care, who Does he do, either of
them share stories with you.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
My grandpa's Adam, who is in Vietnam, shares Air.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Force.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
He's with me, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Yeah, when he tells you the stories.
I'm not going to ask you whathe shares, but I want to ask how
it makes you feel and if youneed color context to tell me,
here's why it makes me feel thatway.
What does he tell you?
What does he say?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
He tells me about a lot of the kind of one-off, kind
of more light-hearted, funnystories that he experienced, and
I think it's a great way toshare his experience through
that and how he got throughbeing in the armed forces yes,
armed forces, yeah and just howhe kind of like his day-to-day
(07:20):
life and stuff like that.
Yeah yeah, and how he gotthrough it.
So Cause I think it's great tohave the funny comedic moments
kinda throughout your life,cause it's gonna stick you going
.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I if his ability to talk with you and be jovial
about it and lighthearted ispretty incredible.
Has he shared any like on thegrim side, you know?
Like what they went through andit's this is okay to share?
I mean really this is.
Have they said like, oh, youknow, vietnam was Vietnam, or
you know?
Have you heard any stories,maybe that?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
He's told a lot of stories about people he knew
that experienced those reallyhard times.
Yes, and my grandpa Reg tellsmore like serious stories or not
as like gruesome or anythingUnderstood.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Understood.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
They're still like more into war and things like
that.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
So when, when either grandpa talks to let's talk
about grandpa Reg when he, whenhe talks to you and he tells you
some of the serious stories,deep conversations, these aren't
like hey, by the way, how doesthat make you feel about?
You know them.
You know just how you look atthem, as a grandpa or as a
person.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I think it really builds their character in my
eyes of being respectable andhonorable and someone to look up
to, because they went throughthose really hard times and they
saw all these things andthey're still here telling the
stories, able to expressthemselves.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Have you thought, has it ever translated into any of
your every day?
Like man?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
if they did that, yeah, Sockers, not hard like
right, like it's definitely mademe think more and be more
determined and tougher, becauseI realized that I don't have to
go through all that and I'm justkind of living my day to day
life.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah it is.
So it might take you a secondto think, and I want you to take
your time.
How, how is any of theirstories?
Can you recall a time whereyou've had to pull from that
strength?
Or to say what would my grandpado, or what would my grandpa's
do, or, you know, have you everhad to live that in your own
(09:22):
life through, at least you know,borrowing some of their
strength?
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think most of the time when I recall these stories
and think back to what they sayis when, like exhausted
especially during soccer, I getvery exhausted and then I don't
want to go anymore.
I feel like I can't but I justneed to keep going, because I
remember that they kept going.
Yeah it's.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
It's easy to give up.
You know, and you can probablysee their parenting style and
how they raised your mom right.
Do you ever see, you knowperhaps?
Oh yeah, I can tell my mom camefrom a military family.
Do you ever see any mannerisms,maybe from your mom, that
Maddie carried over from theirparenting style?
Or?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
what she experienced?
Yeah, I definitely can.
She's very, she's tough on me,but to a good degree.
She keeps me in line.
She makes me a respectableperson yes, things like that.
And she makes me, she shapes meto the person that I am right
now.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
That's pretty cool, that's.
I mean, that's a lot to thinkabout, even at 17 years old,
right?
Most 17 year olds right now areon Minecraft.
Let's be honest, right, they'reprobably sucking down a
bandwidth from our, from our,from our transmission right now.
But, peter, how is this goingto work?
Like, tell me what is going toentail, tell me the timeline,
(10:42):
tell me how it'll work.
You're going to have to gothrough, like, let's break this
out, tell me your plan, becausemost people are going to say 17
years old, what he's doing this,first of all, it's hard.
It's hard enough to sellfundraising popcorn at school.
Let's be honest, right, we'renot fundraising for popcorn.
What is the target money amountthat you need to raise?
Speaker 1 (11:04):
So the target money amount we're going to be doing
two benches and then at thededication there's going to be
food and drinking, things likethat, and the money amount is
$5,000 that we're looking toraise.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
You're kind of doing this in conjunction with your
church.
Can you kind of describe?
Let's describe that.
And then let's go backwards soyou're going to reveal, tell me
how this works.
Tell me how you're going toshare the story in church.
Tell me everything Like let'sjust walk through the plan right
now.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Yeah, so I'm going to share the idea of visit with a
veteran at both of the serviceson March 17th at the Sunday
service.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And then I'm going to have like a little table at
coffee hour after that wherepeople can come and ask me
questions, and then thededication will be November 10th
2024.
After the, it's kind of in themiddle, I think it's at 11 am.
Some of them around then, sure,sure.
And then there's going to belike the color guard there.
Everyone's going to be there,there's going to be food and
(12:03):
drinks and then we're going tohave a bigger view of both the
benches and yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So let's fast forward to that date, right?
Yep, how many people are therein your mind?
Let's speak this into existence.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Probably thinking close to maybe a hundred.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Yeah, I like it.
Right or more Right Is there?
How do you picture things going?
If it was up to you to wave themagic wand, here's how I would
want it to go.
What are some of the things?
Okay, people arriving.
You're in between services,right.
One's leaving, one's coming on.
People are anticipating this,right.
Who's what's happening next?
People arrive, here we go.
(12:41):
It's 11 o'clock.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
So it's 11 o'clock.
I'd probably get up on somesort of podium or just in front
of everybody, have a quicklittle short speech, kind of
telling everyone the processthat I went through.
And then the idea is wide again, just to get everybody on the
same page, and I think I'llprobably reveal the benches and
tell you a big moment.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
I can see your energy change because you're
visualizing it now.
Right, this is almost real.
You're almost like this isgonna happen, right?
Did we mention how much was?
How much do we need tofundraise?
Do you have a number in mind?
5,000.
So how did you even find thesebenches?
Did somebody help you do this?
Did you do this on your own?
Did you what, what, where, how?
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, so I researched online.
I went through about 10different bench options and
narrowed it down to three.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I went through that, narrowed it down to two, and I'm
kind of in between two rightnow, but leaning towards one
other, and then also at the sametime, I'm gonna get a marker.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
So tell me about these benches.
Where do these benches comefrom?
Like, how do you even start?
Who did all the work?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah, so I researched about 10 bench options that I
was looking at and narrowed itdown to three, and then right
now I'm in between two right nowand then I should be able to
get down to one pretty soon andat the same time with the two
benches.
On the pathway at StAugustine's I'll have a marker
in the middle that says visitwith a veteran and there's gonna
(14:12):
be a QR code on it that will goto a Facebook page dedicated to
the project visit with aveteran and it'll have a like, a
description of what the projectis and then a little video of
me explaining it as well.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
That's pretty awesome .
My question is how did you evenknow to do this?
How'd you even know?
Did someone say, hey, you needto look here here?
Or was it all pretty much doneon your own?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Pretty much done on my own.
I just kind of went on Googlesearch benches, good options,
outdoor versus indoor materials,things like that, and then,
yeah, all on my own.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
You know, what kills me is most teenagers today, and
I don't want to just say they'reall bad, I'm saying they're too
caught up in other things to beworried about something like
this.
Right, like this is an extracurricular activity on top of
your soccer, top of your school,top of everything else that
you're involved in.
Right?
And let's be honest, the wordfundraise scares people.
(15:11):
Yeah, how do you feel aboutfundraising and what should?
If you were to tell somebodyI'm so scared to fundraise, I
don't, I don't like to do thatstuff, what would you say?
Speaker 1 (15:21):
I'd probably say one.
It's necessary for anythinglike this.
You won't be able to just getthe funds out of nowhere and I
think I'd say it's a good way totalk to people and get more
comfortable to talking tobusinesses or other people,
because you're going to need tobe able to do that later in life
and it just makes it easiersocially for yourself.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
What are you learning most about at least the
fundraising process?
Like you're getting ready to doit.
Maybe you've have you askedanybody yet kind of or do you
have an idea where you're goingto start fundraising?
I talked to 45 year olds andthey're like I can't ask for
money.
No, no, I don't like to askpeople for money.
Where are you going to start?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
So I'll probably start with friends and family,
just start off small, and thenI'll put a description of the
project in the church'snewspaper that gets sent out
weekly, and then I'll have theFacebook page, and then I'll
probably also do some othersocial media marketing something
like that, of course, likeFacebook or Instagram or
something like that and thenI'll go to the page a gift
(16:29):
butter page for visit with aveteran, absolutely One center
of spot.
So, and then maybe littleflyers I could put around town.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
I think that's a good idea.
So, outside of you fundraising,who else are you going to
recruit to fundraise?
I know I'm going to help.
You can count on that right.
So besides Jay right Cause,what if I fall short?
Who else?
I have you approached?
People say, hey, I need yourhelp, or are you kind of waiting
, or what are you doing withthat?
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I think right now I'm kind of waiting and pulling off
until I have everything kind ofready to go like go out.
But I think in the future, inthe next couple of weeks or
months, I'll probably get tryingto get more people on board.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, I think you should have an initial kickoff
meeting.
I know you're going to have oneat church.
Okay, I get that, but do youever picture getting your
friends and family in a room,maybe like this, 10, 15 of them
saying I need your help?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, I completely envision myself doing that.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Completely Not.
Everyone's going to doeverything that you're going to
do.
You're taking ownership of this.
This fails or succeeds with you, right?
And to put yourself out there,do you think there's a
possibility that you're like, ohmy gosh, this is a big task.
What if I don't make it?
Do you think that at all?
(17:48):
Or have you thought that?
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Not really.
I'm 100% confident myself thatI can do it.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
That's awesome.
Tell me why A lot of peoplecan't even sell $50 worth of
fundraising tickets for kidsbaseball.
That's to be honest, right.
Why are you so sure?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
I think it's because I know myself and I'm a pretty
personable person and I can talkto people, so I think that
helps with networking and thengetting more people on board and
I just believe in the projectand that because it's for a good
cause and that peopleunderstand that and don't what
are some of the skills thatsomebody like yourself needs,
you think, if they're going tobe heading on a project like
(18:24):
this?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
what are some of the skills that have made you
sharper, or that you said, oh,maybe I need to tune this up?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I think, definitely, leadership is one big skill that
you need.
You need to get things going.
You can't just say you're goingto do it and then not do it.
You need to act on it.
Responsibility you need to beresponsible and stay on top of
things and can't let things flyby you and be late.
Right, I think you need to bepersonable, because I think I am
(18:55):
to approach people, get peopleon board and so they can see
that you're a good character towork with.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, most people are going to believe in you before
they see this two benches.
Some people aren't even goingto care about the two benches,
they're just going to care aboutyour character, and I think
that's important.
You said something that mostpeople, even my age, don't talk
about, which is leadership.
Leadership encompasses so much.
Leadership encompasses actingon your words, responsibility,
(19:23):
ownership.
Say what you're going to do.
That's a lot of pressure.
You're going to be very visiblehere.
Somebody says to you hey, I'msorry, but I don't want to
donate, I don't want to.
What's your reaction?
Like, true, like I mean sure wehave to be cordial about it,
but is it wrong?
Or how would you handle?
(19:44):
Somebody said no.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
If someone doesn't want to donate yeah, I don't
want to donate.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
No, I don't think it's a good idea, right, how we
deal with that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
I just say that's fine, that's your opinion, and I
move on.
I wouldn't let it affect me,because then you just go
spiraling down and then you getnegative and don't think you can
do it.
So I just need to stay positiveand stay up.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yeah, absolutely.
Have you run this idea pastanyone besides your family?
Like out any of your friends?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I've talked to a few of my friends about it.
I talked to the father of thechurch and the groundskeeper of
the church and they're on boardwith it.
So, and then I think in thenext few months I'll be telling
more people spring a word andthen have a launch day.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Right, let's go public and then the name of your
church is Saint Augustine's.
Saint Augustine's, okay, and Iknow that you have a awesome
relationship with thegroundskeeper.
What's his name?
Jim Keepers.
Let's what His last name iskeepers.
That's the best.
Okay, I can't even make that up.
Talk to me about Mr Keepers.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
He's a great guy.
I think I met him about maybe ayear, year and a half ago when
I volunteered to mulch for thegardens yes, he's in charge of
all the mountains and thingslike that and he just started
talking to me and he was askingme questions about where I go to
school, what do I do.
I was talking about soccer andI just connected with him really
well and we shared like stuffabout each other and, yeah, we
(21:11):
just connected really well Outof curiosity, and does he have a
connection to veterans ormilitary?
Yeah, he was a veteran.
I'm not sure what service, okay, anything like that, but he was
a veteran, so he is.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
There's a connection.
So no one, mr Keepers, is aveteran.
If you were sitting here atthis table, what would you tell
him right now About a service?
Speaker 1 (21:31):
About a service.
Yeah, I'd thank him, obviously,and then ask him the questions
that I told you before and maybewhy he got into groundskeeping,
if that his service affectedhim at all or if he was always
passionate about that.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yeah, yeah, because it's what makes people tick
right.
Yeah, I mean, everyone'sdifferent.
What are some of the challengesthat you've heard veterans face
today?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I've heard that they face a lot of PTSD and their
mental health is a big one andthat it can really affect them,
and I think talking to peopleand communicating with people is
a great way to combat that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
It's the number one way.
It's better than prescriptiondrugs, it's better than alcohol,
it's better than narcotics.
When people start talking,people start opening up,
people's lives are saved.
Do you realize that?
Let me teach you this for asecond World wars are started
over silence.
Cold wars are started oversilence.
(22:31):
Terroristic activities startedover silences and we just?
Marriages are broken up oversilence.
Right Brothers and sisters.
Animosity over silence.
Hatred begins because ofsilence.
These two benches solvesomething, even sitting across
from a stranger, knowing andunderstanding that these are
(22:55):
what do you call them?
Again, they are visiting.
Visit with the vet?
Yeah, okay.
Visit with the veteran?
I want to try to get there.
Visit with the veteran?
We already know it's impliedthat there's going to be some
communication, even if it'snonverbal.
How powerful do you think it'sgoing to be for some guy who's
77 years old to sit across fromsomebody at 17 years old and say
(23:18):
, hey, you might be thehighlight of their day, you
might be the conversation theyneeded, they might confide in
you say, hey, I just neverwanted to share this with
anybody, but you realize it'sgonna be a safe place for them,
right?
And they're gonna share as muchas they wanna share and share as
much as they don't wanna share.
But do you realize the impactof what you're doing?
(23:39):
That has to do with mentalhealth.
And I'm gonna say it, the decayof mental health or the
pressure and stresses of lifelead to suicide.
You know that.
Okay, we can talk aboutdepression all day, we can talk
about how sad people are, andthose are real things, but
ultimately someone's going todie and take their life.
(24:03):
If the world had benches atevery church, at every corner,
at every ballpark, could youimagine the conversations had?
Do you know, peter, that Idon't like to talk about certain
things?
Or well, I don't wanna call myfriend and I'm making up these
names.
I don't wanna call my friendMitch, because he might get mad.
(24:26):
I don't wanna call him andcheck.
People don't ask for help.
That's the problem.
Okay, this solves that problem.
Somebody sits down.
They're not gonna say hello, Ineed help, they're just gonna
want a conversation, and thatconversation might be what you
and Mr Keeper said.
Mr Keeper is probably happy withyour generation.
You know, when people say thankyou for your service Not that
(24:50):
it doesn't mean anything to meLike I appreciate that right,
I'm like awesome.
You know what I appreciate moreSomeone like you making the
fullest out of your life.
So the things that I didoverseas are not in vain.
Do you get what I'm saying?
You don't ever have to saythank you for your service to me
.
You're doing it.
By doing this, the ghosts behindthe grave don't wanna say, they
(25:12):
don't wanna hear, thank you foryour service.
They wanna see you live yourfullest life.
So that's just something Imaybe I get too deep on, but I
think, peter, that you need tohear this.
You need to hear it often,right, and I think you need to
talk to veterans.
In this journey.
I'm going to recommend that youreach out to people who are
(25:34):
veterans.
Maybe ask Mr Keeper, or ask me,or ask people have great
conversations with them, hey,and all you gotta do is say, hey
, I'm building this bench.
You know, bob, what do youthink?
I need some of your ideas, Ineed some of your stories and oh
, hey, I'd love to get involved.
But do you know that that mightbe a conversation enough to get
their head out of a bad placeand make them look forward to
(25:57):
November?
Speaker 2 (25:58):
And maybe they might join you too.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
You know what I mean.
You never know when someone isone day away.
So what does that make you feellike when I tell you all that
stuff?
Speaker 1 (26:08):
I think it gives me more determination and hope for
my projects, because I thinkit's amazing that it can do that
and that affects and be had onpeople, that you get a 77 year
old veteran and a 70 year oldkid and they can just connect
with each other and it canchange both their lives, both
(26:30):
lives, and then you can that'sthe ripple effect.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
If both of you connect, guess what happens.
You just put one ripple in thewater and you've been around the
lake before a pool, you see theripple and it goes all the way
across the pool.
And then someone else does aripple.
And guess what happens toripples?
They intersect and when theyintersect, great things happen.
I'll tell you that this ispretty moving for me too, and I
don't know if I sharedeverything with you, but I
(26:56):
myself went through a baddivorce right when I got out of
the military.
I didn't have an address for along time.
I had no one to talk to People.
Hey, are you okay, jay?
I'm like yeah, what's wrongwith you?
I'm okay, are you okay?
I was too proud, peter, is whatI'm telling you?
I'm teaching you this right nowthat when was the last time you
(27:18):
really asked for help?
No, I'm gonna tell you, your momsays, hey, do you need help?
No, I'm good, because in yourworst moments you shut away from
the world.
You know, when you're upsetpeople are like, hey, peter, I
don't wanna, not right now.
Right, that's real life.
Imagine being upset every day.
Imagine not only being upsetbut having nothing to look
(27:40):
forward to.
And then you compound that onlooking for your next meal.
And then you compound thatlooking for your next a place to
lay your head.
But if I had somebody to talk toand just connect with, those
are the times that I felt worthsomething.
See, veterans don't feel seensometimes.
You know they're.
Oh, they look at them, butthey're not seen.
(28:03):
They're heard, but they're notlistened to.
Do you know what I mean?
Again, this is pretty amazing.
I have not heard anything likethat and I'm pretty aware.
Right, and if there is, great,there is.
But I think it sounds like anoriginal idea.
You know, originally it wassupposed to be one bench.
Is that right?
Yeah, yeah.
And then probably thinking like, okay, if I turn my neck, that
(28:26):
probably won't work.
But I think it's genius thatyou thought too the behind the
name.
You kind of told me that.
You know the why.
You told me that.
But how many other names didyou come up with?
Or how did you even come upwith the name?
Were you helped?
Did you research it Like?
Speaker 1 (28:47):
I was so at first I had like I had no ideas for the
name.
I was like bench, veteran,veterans bench, yes, but then
that didn't really.
You gave a or a convey thatmeaning behind it and like what
the purpose of it is.
I was thinking something withcommunication and then veterans
and they could like throw abench in there.
(29:07):
But then I had eventually leftthat out because it's not that
important and I was thinkingwhat is kind of like similar,
like phonetically, to veteranvisit, veteran.
And then I just thought visitwith the veteran, it's perfect
because you sit on the benchesand you talk to primarily
veterans about their stories andstuff.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, it's gonna encourage the world to talk to
you, peter.
I mean, it would be cool.
And how will you make sure thatpeople continue to use that?
Let listen, your church willknow about it.
Mm-hmm, but that's it.
Maybe people from this podcast,but how will you keep promoting
it?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
I think probably after this I could expand and
put more benches in areasthroughout the city and things
like that, and then I'llprobably also for advertising
get trying to get something inthe Omaha World Herald so it
gets a wider range of people.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
But yeah, I think expanding after November 10th
and then putting them in otherplaces would be a great.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
It's pretty cool.
I mean I think it's got its ownplace.
Either during Memorial Day orVeterans Day or Armed Forces Day
, there's Gold Star Families Day.
Do you know what a Gold StarFamily is?
I know Gold Star Family someonewho lost someone killed in
action.
So that's another attribute.
But the families deserve to beon that bench just as much as a
(30:31):
veteran does.
You know what I mean.
So just ideas, right, I'malways full of ideas.
So you're going to raise $5,000.
What do you think?
Fundraising is going to startagain.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Probably April 1st.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
April 1st OK, april 1st.
You're talking to a 17 year oldnow sitting across from you and
they're like, hey, man, that'spretty cool.
What do you say to somebody?
Because you get their attention?
Now, right, this is your moment.
What are you gonna do to this?
(31:06):
What will you continue to dofor your generation now to make
sure that they keep lookingforward at this visit with a vet
?
Our veterans are.
What will you do?
How will you keep this messagegoing?
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I think it's important to also let people
know like we still have peoplein the armed forces, in the Navy
, air Force, military Marinesand everything like that.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Forget space force.
I don't know why I should notsay and space force?
That's a real thing, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
And it's important because things could happen
again.
Yes, working on that thingagain, yes, and it'll be real
for them.
So I think it's important forthem to realize that it was real
for other people as well.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
It's a big deal and I'll kind of go over some
statistics because I wanna makethis real for our people.
So it's about 195 homelessright now that are documented in
Douglas County, just in DouglasCounty, in the surrounding area
, in 2000.
And I'm paraphrasing and I'llupdate the statistic, but let's
just say in 2021, there were 50veterans that took their lives
(32:17):
here in Douglas County and thator Nebraska, I should say, let's
say Nebraska documented.
What documented means isthey're either working with a
case worker or they were a knownveteran and that was reported
that way.
Think of how many people sliponto the radar and never get
counted right.
When I was homeless or had noaddress, I didn't tell anybody.
(32:42):
I didn't go to the VA and say,hey, I need help, right, I was
just couch surfing, sleepingwhere I could.
What you're doing, peter, rightnow is, I think, raising an
awareness, not just for thebenches but for mental health.
And when people talk aboutmental health, how big a deal do
you think that is today?
Speaker 1 (33:03):
That was huge with social media, with everything
going on in the world andeverything that, I think, is
very big.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
What do you hear?
What are some of the things youhear about mental health at 17
years old?
Speaker 1 (33:16):
Lots of like self-image sort of things
self-deprecation because ofother people online, poor
outlook on the world because ofwhat's going on in the world and
there's just not much hope.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I think yeah yeah, but you're on the flip side of
that coin, right?
You're so busy, you're sofocused, you're involved, right?
Do you have self-care for you?
How do you take care of yourmental health?
That's, if you know, how do youdeal with that?
Speaker 1 (33:46):
I think a great way is I talk to a lot of people at
school, I express myself with myfriends, things like that, and
I'd stay busy, so I don't havetime to dwell on things if
something happens.
I think I stay busy with soccerschool and I think, wow, I'm
just positive in general too.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
So yeah, no, that helps, right.
Yeah, I would say you are aleader amongst your peers.
I would say that this is prettyincredible, because I just know
a lot of people who don't havea lot of time and the people who
do have time that don't.
I don't chastise them for that,but the fact that you're making
time going to school.
Do you work anywhere too?
(34:26):
Not right now, not right now,good, okay, probably gonna be a
bit of a time endeavor withinitself, but you know, I'm just
telling you that I'm veryimpressed by your project, thank
you.
But I don't want it just to bean empty like oh, this is so
good.
Peter, what you're doing isrelevant to the time that we
live in, it is timely, it'ssymbolic, it's so powerful in
(34:50):
its message.
Some things I will promise youthat I will share your story,
and I have a pretty big mouth.
If you can't tell that, justask the people that you asked
your mom, right.
But I wanna make sure that Idon't contort your message.
I wanna make sure that I don'tuse in my own words.
So, in conclusion, if you cantell somebody, this is worth it,
(35:18):
because we kept that for me andwe'll leave with your final
thoughts why is it so worth itto you?
Speaker 1 (35:26):
I think it's worth it because it really helps you
understand other people, whichin a world like today, I think
it's extremely important tounderstand people and connect
with them, because you can buildrelationships with them and you
can move forward with them, andit helps both of you.
(35:46):
So I think it's very, it's justa positive thing in general to
communicate with people andunderstand each other.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
You see enough stuff online where people love to
change my mind, or, hey, I'mgonna debate you.
Right, this is not debate, thisis connection.
This is the opposite ofeverything online.
Hey, let's talk about this,let's talk about this.
How about?
Let's just have two peopleconnect?
That's pretty profound, right?
(36:15):
And I'm just gonna tell youit's not clickbait, it's not
gonna get you a lot of attention, right, and it's not like
you're not doing it for views,though.
No, if you can affect one life,that's pretty incredible.
Anything you wanna say to yourgrandfathers now, or any message
(36:37):
that, if they were around here,what would you say?
Speaker 1 (36:41):
I'd probably just thank them for helping me
understand what they've beenthrough veteran the military
side and non-military side, justgrowing up and what they've
experienced, and them expressingtheir wisdom and knowledge onto
me Well.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
I wanna thank you, Peter, for your time today.
I wanna thank you for yourdedication and your hard work
that you're about to.
You know the hard work thatyou've done already, but the
effort that you're going tostart and you're I'm gonna watch
this all the way through andI'm pretty excited for you, you
know, and I think this is gonnabe more monumental than you even
(37:20):
think it's gonna be.
You're in it right now.
There's a whole bunch of peoplewatching you.
Yeah, so good for you, I'm sohappy and I'm happy for you and
I'm proud of you.
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Thanks for tuning in to the Connection.
It's been a fantastic journey,exploring stories, insights and
inspirations that bridge ourlives.
Remember every connection hasthe power to transform.
Please subscribe, rate andreview.
Your feedback keeps us going Inthis connected world.
(37:54):
Let's make meaningfulconnections that enrich lives.
Now signing off until next time, the Connection, Keep
connecting and let's go.
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