Ranger Rick's Wild Ride (Rick Burroughs)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, my name is Charles Richard Burroughs.
I go by Rick, and then friendsthat I ride with in the American
Legion Riders group know me asRanger Rick.
I was born in Detroit.
I grew up between Royal Oak andMuscatine, iowa.

(00:21):
Mom and dad went different ways.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Okay, and how old were you when they uh proud ways
.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
I was about two.
Okay, all right, jeb, brothersand sisters, I'm the eldest of
13.
Good lord, yes, 13.
And I've, I know them all.
I'm close with all of them.
Um, unfortunately, some of themI'm the eldest, but some of
them have already passed over.
Uh, but, um, yeah, I've got acouple of them that are just

(00:52):
amazing and I'm still in touchwith, and so, yeah, I, I grew up
back and forth, um, in fact, sodid you?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
so did you live in um Royal Oak then with your mother
, and then you just went to Iowato visit your dad?
Yes, that was the way it was,was it like all of you just head
out to Iowa?
What was that like?

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Well, no, it was me and my mother had remarried and
it was stepfather and he was abad dude.
He was an alcoholic and he wasabusive to my mother and he was
abusive to me because he hadother children from her and I

(01:39):
was baggage, and so him and I wedid not have a good
relationship at all.
He actually, when I was a boy,would put me up against a
stanchion post in the basementand whip me with a leather razor
strap about two and three timesa week until a doctor saw the
scars on my back and chased himaround a table.

(02:00):
This went on for years, butchased him around the table and
he said if you ever lay a handon that kid again, I'm jumping
over the backyard fence becausehe lived behind us and I'm going
to clean your clock.
And that stopped that abuse.
But that's what it was likegrowing up.
And if my real father wouldhave known about it which he
didn't Right, oh, it would havebeen terrible.

(02:24):
It would have been.
There would have been somechanges there.
But I remember my mother wassorry that she had left him
because she would stand at thekitchen sink and just cry and
I'd say, what's, what are youcrying for and she'd say you
look just like your father.
One time I found a picture of aman in a sailor suit and I went
to her and I says I don'tremember wearing this.

(02:45):
She says that's not you, that'syour father.
So growing up was a little bitrough.
Yeah, I was on my own at 14.
I left home on my own at 14.
I got tired of being beat upRight when my stepfather beat me
up one time when I was gettingout of the shower.
Stepfather beat me up one timewhen I was getting out of the

(03:05):
shower, beat me up down next tothe toilet.
I said never again and I left.
And I was.
I still stayed in the Royal Oakarea, but we're talking the
sixties.
Yeah, so I'm that hippie kidout there with a guitar on his
back, with his thumb out, youknow, and I'm getting rides to
friends, I'm staying atdifferent places and, uh, I
tried going to school for alittle while and then they

(03:26):
pulled me into the office andsaid you're not paying taxes and
you don't live at home anymore.
So one of the counselors founda guy that needed some help for
a job and so I went to workcleaning restaurants on Woodward
Avenue for him and I slept inhis garage and eventually I made

(03:49):
some money.
So I got a room in downtownRoyal Oak until his business
went bust.
And then I was back on thestreet but some friends picked
me up that I had known fromschool and they helped me get my
belongings out of the roomwhere I had been staying that I
couldn't afford anymore.

(04:10):
It was locked up.
So they helped me get my stuffout and I went out to Pontiac
and I stayed with them for alittle while and they helped me
get on my feet and I startedgoing to different factories on
Stevenson Highway and eventuallyjust grew and I could afford

(04:32):
myself.
And then I was working in afoundry in Clawson, michigan,
and I don't know anybody, and,uh, they made pistons and parts
for automotive uh, industry, forthe automotive industry, and so

(04:56):
they're an auto supplier.
Then, uh, they were amanufacturer, okay, and one of
my jobs was to grind pistons.
And one of my jobs was to grindpistons, get the birds and
flashings off of them, yeah.
And then they decided I had ittogether enough that they put me
on what they called anautomatic polishing machine,
which is about the size of thisroom maybe a little bit larger.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
For anybody listening .

Speaker 1 (05:19):
We're in a pretty big room, yeah, so you put parts on
here, it goes through, themachine comes back out and then
you take them off.
Here there's big polishingwheels and everything polish
everything, make them shinybefore they can be chromed.
So then one day I've steppedout into the main aisle, I've
changed some wheels on this bigpolishing machine and I'm

(05:41):
looking at my work to make sureit's angled right and there is a
young man comes around a corner, about 30 feet from me.
He's on a high-low and theforks are up in the air and he
caught me in the mouth and hecarried me for about 20 feet
Another 10, I would have hit abeam, I would have been
decapitated.
As it was, I slid off the forkon the ground and everybody's

(06:06):
gathering towards me.
You know they've set an alarmoff and I'm in a lot of pain.
They came and they ran me upwith morphine, called a hospital
and off I went and so I had myteeth and my mouth all wired for
like six weeks and then theydid dental work to try and fix

(06:30):
them.
The ones in the front werecapped and replaced and stuff.
And then I was 17 and I had tosign a release so I could get
back to work.
I didn't have a parent aroundat that time to step up and say,
hey, this, I would have beendriving cadillacs, you know

(06:51):
right.
But um, I didn't have anybodyand I had a room I had to pay
rent on.
So, um, I signed a release, Isaid you know, I'm not going to
hold them liable for anything.
And I, I had lied about my ageto get the job.
They thought I was 18.
Right, right.
So I got my job back and it'sthe first day on the job and I'm

(07:14):
just aware of what's going onaround me and I see this young
man and I've been watching himand he clocked out early.
And I clocked out early and Ifollowed him out to the parking
lot and he said hey man, hey man, I'm sorry, you know, I I
didn't mean it was an accident.
I says, I know, I understand,but it just hurt too damn bad.

(07:37):
And so I beat him up, not ahigh point in my life, but I
beat him up.
And when I was doing that, I'mhearing the crowd saying the
cops are coming.
I could hear sirens in thebackground or anything.
And the next thing I know Ifeel this hand on the back of me
and it pulls me off.
He says come on, man, you gotto go.

(07:59):
And this guy throws me in theback of his convertible and we
speed out of there as the copsare coming in and he says well,
I didn't like that job anyhow.
What about you?
I said no, and so he had seenthe day of the accident.
He knew what was going on, um,and he says what's your story?
I says, well, I got to find aplace to live and I'm going to

(08:20):
have to find a new job.
He says, oh, okay, well, I knowwhere we can get a job.
It'll take maybe about a weekfor us to get hired, but I know
where we can get a job.
My brother's already workingthere and you can come stay at
my house.
He lived in downtown Detroit,so I moved in with his family
for a while and we got a job outin Birmingham delivering salt

(08:45):
for water softeners and forgarden supplies.
Then he decided he wanted to gointo the service and I says, oh
boy, what am I going to do?
Well, I might as well go too.
So we both signed up and it wasfunny.

(09:09):
We went down it was like sixo'clock in the morning down at
Fort Wayne and uh, so this isFort Wayne.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
Detroit, detroit.
Yeah, a lot of people don'trealize there was a Fort Wayne
in Detroit.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Yeah, it was like a step away from ghetto, yeah,
yeah.
And so we start going throughthe physical and everything and
they're asking us all kinds ofquestions and things like that.
Well, david, my friend that washis name, david David was done
at noon and he was out and himand his brother were waiting for

(09:47):
me, got tired waiting for meand so they were asking where is
Rick?
And I was only halfway throughand so they said, okay, we'll
come, let's go get some lunch.
And then they came back andthey waited all afternoon.
Well, I came out and it's likesix o'clock and they said where

(10:07):
have you been?
What happened?
I says, well, I had to lie.
They said what do you mean?
Well, they kept on turning medown and I said if you're going,
I'm going to.
And what I said?
Yeah, I get up to a station.
The guy say no, you've hadspinal problems and we're not
going to accept you.
You've had this or that problemand we're no.
And I said they'd send me ontothe next station, Then they'd

(10:31):
sign.
They wouldn't sign thepaperwork, they just sent me on
the next station, which wassupposed to turn me away, right?
And uh, I'd wait in the halland they would change shifts.
When the new guy came in, I'dwalk up in front of him and I'd
be all frantic and everything.
Oh my God, I don't know what todo Now.
This is a Vietnam era.
All they really want is bodiesRight and so they really don't

(10:54):
give a care, but I'd be allpanicky, oh man.
They sent me back and I wassupposed to have this signed and
went through and I did this.
And what do I do here?
Give me that they signed it andI'd go.
I had to do that like three orfour times to get through, so I
didn't get done until sixo'clock that night, but I was in
.
It's a lot of work.
And so then we were given like Idon't know three, four months

(11:19):
before we were actually supposedto report and they had us all
on this, these bleachers, andthey they were asking okay, who
wants to go in the Navy?
Guys would raise their handsand okay, you go, sit over there
.
And who wants to go into thearmy?

(11:40):
Okay, okay, you guys, sit overthere, marines, and I'm okay.
So I got into the army.
One, um, all my relatives havebeen Navy.
I figured I'm going to dosomething different.
And David's going to army, I'mgoing to army.
So, um, there it was on thebench.
And then they come along andthey say they look at David and

(12:03):
me.
They say you two, you're fromDetroit.
Yeah, sit over there.
They singled us out because wewere from Detroit.
They figured we're tough guysor something, right, they
separated us.
So, okay, fine, we sat overthere.
So there I was in the service.
So there I was in the serviceand I had always, I had been a

(12:35):
businessman already in my life.
I was on my own for years.
Um, there was always an anglethat I had going where I was
buying and selling somethingRight.
And uh, before I had worked atGrant steel, I had a painting
company and, uh, I had guysworking for me, I was painting
condominiums.
People didn't know I was soyoung, you know they, they never
saw me, you know, it was justover the phone or different

(12:57):
things.
And okay, I'll have guys on thejob and something wasn't up to
snuff.
Well, we fix, we'd fix that.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yeah, you're a survivor.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yeah, making money.
Yeah, so I got into the servicethere and it's like what do I
do?
You know where's theopportunity here?
So we're in these barracks.
We were in what was called thenew barracks, so they're cinder
block, not wood buildings, andwe're up on the second floor.
And they tell us that we're upon the second floor and they
tell us that we're to stay inthose rooms.

(13:25):
We can never leave.
So this is basic training then.
Yeah, this is basic.
And where did you go to basic?
At Fort Knox, kentucky.
Okay, all right, lovely, fortKnox.
Yes, so I'm picturing whereyou're at now, yeah, so, um,
they tell us that, uh, you can'tgo out to the mega wing and
there are catering trucks thatcome onto the base at night and

(13:46):
they just sit out in the opening.
Anybody that's brave enough toget out there and give them
money they're selling to andwe're not supposed to leave the
barracks.
But what do they teach you todo in the Army?
Crawl through things overthings, right, be stealthy,
don't get caught, yeah, yeah.
So I'm down all the way on theend, me and David has the last
bunks, and I climb out thewindow and I can step on the top

(14:10):
of the kitchen door.
I can then reach the railingfor the back porch where the
kitchen's at.
Go down the steps, run outthere, buy as much as what I can
Come back in, climb back in,and then there's guys that will
buy everything I've got At aprofit, right At a profit.
And wait a minute, guys.

(14:31):
Here's the main thing.
None of this paperwork can everany of your trash.
I don't care where you put it,but don't let anybody find it.
We're all done.
And so that was a good gig andI'd get put on KP.
So I'm supposed to be out doingsalt shakers or something.

(14:51):
Uh-uh.
I go to the storeroom.
I say, hey, go do salt shakers.
No, no, no.
I'm assigned here and I'mtelling you, go out there
because you're going to do saltshakers, because I'm working in
here and I would stealeverything I could.
I would steal boxes of cerealand apples and bananas and I'd
put them down in my blouse pantsand I'd be walking up back to

(15:13):
the barracks bow-legged.
And then, when I got up there,of course everything's for sale,
right, and guys are hungrybecause they're working us hard,
and except for now, bananas.
You can have the banana, butyou gotta give me back the peel
Because you see, I'm gonna shredthat peel, I'm gonna take the
cover off of the radiator, I'mgonna dry those peels.

(15:38):
I've been over to the PX.
I bought candy that I sold allthese guys.
I had money.
I bought rolling papers and Iroll them up and make banana
joints.
I sell them for a dollar and aguy's off of work that day
because of it, raises histemperature and makes him throw
up, and then the rest of the dayhe's got off to go and do
whatever he wants.

(15:58):
You had quite a deal going here.
I was resourceful, so I was abusinessman.
So then business came crashingdown around me.
You know, you do these anticsand then you get in trouble.
Everyone always gets caught atsome point.

(16:19):
That I was caught, it was thatwe had to write home to somebody
and I wasn't writing home to.
So they said you got to call,you got to write somebody.
I'll write my grandmother, okay.
So I wrote my grandmother andshe writes me back.
She says well, how are youdoing there, you know, are you
getting enough to eat?

(16:40):
And you know what are theyfeeding you?
And I said I wrote her back ina little letter and I says well,
it's not like, you know,sitting at your table and you
know there's no seconds oranything like that, right, and I
says but you know, the childwas okay.
Grandma reads that and she saysoh my god, sunny boy is not
getting enough to eat.
What?
Just so happens that her cousin, my, my Uncle Bill, is William

(17:04):
Broomfield, congressman forMichigan.
Great, yes, I don't knowGrandma's doing this, but she
contacts Uncle Bill and the nextthing, you know, I'm called
down to the captain's office andit's like what I says what do I
do, dave, dave, what do I do?
He says what do you mean?
You better get your ass downthere.
I says but I don't know what todo when I get down there.

(17:25):
I'm just in basic, you know.
And I says what do I do when Iget there?
Do I salute or what?
And he says well, he's acaptain, he's asked you to get
down there.
You better get down there.
I said, but if we're supposedto be saluting somebody or not,
he says go down there and justdo that.
They know you're, you knowwe're green, they understand,

(17:49):
just go down there and do that.
So I go down there and I knockon the door and the door is
opened and I kind of do that onmy hat and he says yeah, the
captain says come on in here.
He's got two sergeants with him, a staff sergeant and master
sergeant, and he says what'syour problem?
I says I got no problem.
He says no, you got a problem.

(18:12):
You're making it my problem.
What's your problem?
I says I don't know what you'retalking about.
He says at ease, sit down here.
He says you guys can go, I Igot this, so it's just him and
me.
Now he says look, there's aproblem here with you.
Uh, something about your food,I don't know what you're talking
about.

(18:33):
Takes his letter and flips itover at me and I see it comes
down from congress, congressletterhead or anything like down
the bottom.
I says oh, that's uncle bill.
He says that's what Bill.
He says that's what, that's myUncle Bill.
He says do you know what you'vedone?
I says no, I was able to figureout.

(18:59):
Grandma got ahold of Uncle Bill.
Well, back then there was a lotof graft going on.
They had food going out theback door for money and into the
community and that was theirlittle side deal.
Well, he says from now on, hesays this is what's going to be
the deal.
If you want to go back to thechow line twice, you go back
twice.
If you want to go back threetimes, you go back three times.

(19:21):
But you're going to eateverything on that plate or I'm
going to cram it down yourthroat.
Yes, sir.
He says, not only you but yourplatoon, your whole goddamn
company, is going to go throughthat.
You get as much to eat as youwant.
Oh, okay, what am I going tosay?
That's bad for business though.

(19:41):
Yeah, so yeah, that ruined hisbusiness and so mine was coming
to an end anyhow.
So, all right.
He says why didn't you come tome?
I says, well, I tried to.
He says what do you mean?
I says I went to the bucksergeant and the buck sergeant
said if you don't like it, writeyour congressman.
And I didn't know.

(20:02):
I knew I didn't want to doanything like that.
I didn't want no trouble.
So I wrote Grandma and UncleBill and Grandma got together
and here we are.
So that letter followed me allthe way through the service.
Really, yeah, people would think, oh, lucky you.
Uh-uh, you don't want to be theprivileged kid, you know.

(20:25):
You just don't want that.
Under the radar is kind ofwhere you want to be right.
Right, yeah, just one of theguys.
So the next thing I know is I'msent to a cook school and
business is good.
I had been through a class fortyping and for filing and with

(20:53):
the typing class, david and Ididn't attend.
We marched up the stairs likewe're supposed to.
Instead of going into theclassroom, we went straight
ahead into the bathroom and outthe bathroom window and over to
the PX and drank 3-2 beer allday and goofed off.
Then it came the day of thetest.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
So, really quick though, I know what 3-2 beer is
because my parents used to driveto Ohio to get it.
So anybody that doesn't know3-2 beer is you can't get drunk
on it, no, it's 3.2% alcohol andyou could buy it at a younger
age and in, yeah, in otherplaces, yeah, so, yeah, it's
like no beer, right, right soanyway, I just want to sit there
all day.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
It's something to do, you know but because I had
things going, I had business anddavid was a pool hustler and so
he was making money.
It comes the day of the testand david already been talking
to the two guys that were goinghome it was their last day oh,
and he comes to me he says look,you know, here's the deal.
So we went out and we talkedwith them because we couldn't

(21:54):
pass the test.
Uh, we didn't know how to typeand filing abc one, two, three,
come on, so um.
But there I found out later,there was guys couldn't do that.
Yeah, but um takes all kinds.
So we get up there and we sayso, how are you getting home?
This is your last day.
Yeah, when we're done with thistest, we're out of here, we're

(22:15):
done, we're discharged.
Already, we're, this is done,it's our last duty thing.
Really, how are you gettinghome?
Well, one guy was going to takea bus to Texas.
Another guy was going to take abus to California.
I said, oh my God, that's along ride.
Jeez, I've done somehitchhiking.
You can make faster timehitchhiking than riding a bus.

(22:35):
But wow, why don't you take aplane?
Well, we don't have money forthat.
You don't how long you been inthis army.
You don't have money for aplane ticket home, oh, my
goodness.
Well, let me ask you a questionwhat if you had the money to
fly home?
I mean you would, wouldn't you?
Well, yeah, but we don't havethe money.

(22:56):
Well, what if let's just say,just just as just, we're just
talking here, what if, say, somemoney just kind of fell out
here on the desk someplace andall you had to do was just pass
us, not make us first and secondin the class, just get us
barely by, but we pass?
Do you think something likethat could be worked out?
Yeah, I think that.

(23:17):
You know what do you thinkthey're talking?
Yeah, we could do somethinglike that.
Oh well, what's that over there?
Money's out.
Okay, well, thank you guys.
You know, see you never Wellonto a cook school ago.
Businessmen's working awaythere.
Guys, come in, give me a hardtime.

(23:37):
The shot record gets missing,whatever.
They don't give you a hard timeafter that because they got to
go and have them all done again.
But the smart thing is theywould bring me.
They made chicken and piesthere at this cook school and
every day when they got done inthe kitchen with their cooking,
I got a tray of chicken.
Now, a military tray is huge,oh yeah, and it's mounded with

(24:02):
chicken legs and I would getfour pies on a tray.
Those come in.
Okay, thanks guys.
Well, of course I'd go to thecompany commander and say, sir,
when you go home tonight becausethey're living off base, of
course, when you go home today,I'd like you to take this pie
for you and the family.

(24:23):
You know, it'd be nice if, ifyou could do that.
So I'm, I'm, I'm, thank you,sir, and uh, so things are
smooth for me Right Now.
At night I wake up a cookie andI say here's the deal.
You get some bread, I don'tcare how you get it, you get
some, some bread, get some mayo,and we're making sandwiches and

(24:46):
we're slicing pie and we tookthem around to all the poker
games on base and at fort knox.
There's poker games going oneverywhere at night and we're
making money.
I'm making the larger portion,but he's making money too.
That was your idea, right, yeah, yeah, so, uh, everybody's
happy, but he's making money too.
That was your idea, right, yeah, yeah, so everybody's happy.

(25:10):
Then I get transferred.
We're separated, david and I.
That went in on the buddy plan.
He goes to Florida and I getsent out to Coventry, rhode
Island, and that's where I amsupposed to be a clerk typist.
So I walk in not knowing thatthese two clowns that passed us

(25:34):
made us first and second highestin the class.
So you got a prime job right.
So I get there and I report tothe base commander and I said
you know, here I am, I'vereported.
In it.
He says, okay, I'll show youyour duty, you can leave your

(25:54):
stuff here.
And he takes me out into theduty room and he says okay,
there's four desks here.
He's got that one, that one andthat one and this one will be
yours.
Stuff comes in, it's put here,you type it up in triplicate and
you file it over there.
That's what you do, okay.

(26:17):
Okay, stole your gear and getback to work.
Stole my gear and came back andI'm sitting at that desk, jigs
up.
What am I going to do?
Well, I better go seeLieutenant Colonel Logan.
I thought I got rid of you.
He says Well, sir, I've got alittle problem.
Okay, what is it?

(26:39):
I says well, I want you toremember something.
When I came in and I was stillin basic, they told me that you,
sir, we were to think of youlike our mother or father.
Is that correct, sir?
What'd you do?
Well, here, sit down.
So here I am, sitting down infront of an officer again.
He says tell me what you did.

(27:01):
So I told him the whole thing.
I told him the whole story andhe says do you know what I could
do?
He's laughing so damn hard he'salmost falling out of his chair
.
He says oh my God, I own you, Iown you, I own you, I own you.
He says I could put you in jail, I could send you back to
square one, I could.
There are so many things Icould do.
I could make you start all overagain.

(27:22):
He says but I'm not going to dothat.
I own you.
Anything that I need or wantyou're going to get for me,
right?
Yes, sir?
He said all right, as long asthose three out there can do the
work of four, you're off thehook.
Tomorrow morning I want a carout front, gassed and cleaned

(27:42):
and ready to go, and you'redriving me.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yes sir.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
So then it started and I ended up like Radar
O'Reilly I'm trading promisesfor stuff, and everybody back
then the big thing was jumpboots.
Everybody wanted jump boots,and so we were going to
different bases and after Idropped off, uh, the Lieutenant
Colonel, I would go aroundwhere's your storerooms, where's

(28:10):
the warehouses and stuff, andI'd go run find stuff and I'd
make more promises and I wouldtrade some stuff that I maybe
had in the trunk, like some pieor some food or hot dogs, or
maybe there were mechanic stuff,tools and things, other stuff
that came along my way, you knowmaking these trades, and then I

(28:31):
get the jump boots.
So then everybody would behappy.
And then I was considered theguy to go to and business was
good and the Lieutenant Colonelwas happy and I was driving him
up to Quonset Naval Base andwe're getting great lunches and
he wants to go off base to thebars and drink and he's buying.

(28:52):
So hey, that's great.
And so if there's an officer'smeeting, I don't mind pouring
coffee.
That means I'm eating officer'schow that day, right, great,
they put us out for war games.
Okay, so I'm outside for threedays.

(29:13):
They've dropped me off, I'm ina hole.
They say, okay, we'll come by,we'll drop you off food and just
stay in the hole.
Don't leave this hole.
Okay, I heard that story before.
Don't leave this room.
Don't leave the base.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
Don't leave this hole .
Okay, I heard that story before.
Don't leave this room.
Don't leave the base, don'tleave the base.

Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, I got you.
So I start walking around andit's summertime, there are
blueberry bushes everywhere.
Why would I want to open upthose biscuits out here?
Oh my God, they're terrible,and I'm not going to eat those
lima beans, but I know there'llbe some clown that'll want them
Still those.
So I'm eating blueberries forthree days.

(29:49):
They come back and they get me.
Did we win?
Oh, yeah, we won.
Okay, great, great, get in.
So then they take me back tobase, but I still have half a
helmet of blueberries.
I am fed up with blueberries.
I don't want to see blueberriesanymore.
But what am I going to do?
I take that helmet half full ofblueberries and I knock on the

(30:09):
kitchen door and the cookiecomes to the door.
He says, yeah, what do you want?
I says I've got theseblueberries.
He says, yeah, what do you wantme to make you a pie?
I said, no, no, no, no.
These are for you, for me.
Well, yeah, yeah, see, if Igave you these, I'm planting the
seed for him, I'm helping him.

(30:31):
If I give you these, you couldmake a pie and you could give it
to the bc, the base commander,and you'd make some points.
Right, yeah, but what do youwant?
Listen, man, man, I've been outin this hole for three days and
I'm hungry.
I want a steak.
No, you're enlisted.

(30:51):
You don't get steak.
You don't get blueberries.
All right, listen, sit over inthat corner.
Don't leave that.
I suppose you want potatoes anda vegetable with that right,
that'd be very nice.
Thank you, don't leave thattable.
Okay, hi, child, it was great.
So time goes on and the BC comesto me and he says all right,

(31:14):
well, I've got orders, I'm goingto go over the pond and so I
won't see you for a while.
I says I'm sorry, you'releaving, sir, and you know I'm
gonna miss you anything.
You won't miss me very long.
I says what do you mean?
He says You're gonna haveorders this afternoon.
I says no, no, no.
No, see, you're airborne, I'mnot.

(31:35):
So I Says no, no, you're goingto jump school.
You're not gonna go all the waythrough, but you have to know
of what goes on there for yourduty.
He says and then I'll be therewhen you get off the.
You're not going to go all theway through, but you have to
know of what goes on there foryour duty.
He says and then I'll be therewhen you get off the plane, shit
Okay, and he was, he was agreat guy, uh-huh.

(31:57):
And uh, my brother was incountry and uh, he was killed.
And Lieutenant Logan came to meand he said I got to talk to

(32:18):
you and uh, I got some news Igot to tell you about and it's
going to be tough, so braceyourself.
Okay, your brother's beenkilled and you're going home.
I said what do you mean?
Well, again, there was thatletter in my file.

(32:41):
You see, when you're sent toSaigon, that's not in country,
you're on US soil.
So that's where I was at.
They didn't want to have twobrothers lost in the same
campaign.
So my brother came home and Icame home and they discharged me

(33:05):
early because of it.
I got an honorable discharge,but they said you know I would
be on um, I forget what it'scalled, but you're still in the
army, but for a certain amountof time.
If they call you for some kindof inactive ready reserve.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
Yes, yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:20):
And uh.
So I came back and they sent meto um interesting, the East
coast again, interesting, theEast Coast again.
And I went to a Navy base.
I was discharged from a Navybase, they had all my papers

(33:43):
there and they said you're here,you're free to go.
And I said, well, I'llhitchhike home.
Then, I guess.
And I didn't have any money,and I remember I still had my
uniform on and I walked outsidethe gate and I put my thumb out
and two MPs came out after meand they said what do you think
you're doing?
I said I'm going home, man, I'mdone.
I got my paperwork, I'm done.

(34:04):
And they said no, no, no, no,you can't, look, you can't
hitchhike here.
Go on down the road a mile, wedon't care if we can't see it,
we don't care, but you can't doit here.
Oh, okay.
Well, I was smart enough toknow that if you're in uniform,
you're going to get picked up.
If you're not, then oh well.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
So, uh, I walked down the road and, uh, got picked up
.
I walked down the road and gotpicked up.
The guy took me to a town and Isaid this is good enough for me
, I'm just looking for a diner.
And I went into the diner and Isat down at the table and
waitress comes over and she sayswhat do you want?

(34:45):
And I says well, let me tellyou what I want.
I want a steak.
You've got a steak.
I want a steak and I want somevegetables.
I want a bowl of vegetables andI want some rolls and I want
some mashed potato and gravy.
I want a bowl of mashedpotatoes and a bowl of gravy.
And then I'm going to want piefor dessert and I want a

(35:07):
chocolate shake.
She says what are you going todo with this food?
I said I'm going to eat it.
I want this food.
I just got discharged, I'm out,I'm done, I'm going to eat this
food.
She says okay, that guy comesout of the kitchen, she's
talking with him.
She comes back over to me.
She says the owner wants toknow have you got money to pay

(35:29):
for this?
And I says, yeah, I pulled outmy cash.
I says I got money to pay forit, no problem.
And they lined the table withfood and I just pigged oh my God
, I didn't eat it.
I don't know we I could, butthat's what I wanted, right, I
was home in a way, yeah and uh.
So from there I left and Ihitchhiked and, uh, I got picked

(35:52):
up in Rochester, new York, bysome young guys and uh, they
said where are you headed?
I said I'm going to Detroit,because I was going to go back
to David's family actually-huh.
And so then they said have yougot any money?

(36:13):
I said no, that's why I'mhitchhiking, man.
And the guy turned around tothe other guys in his car and he
says you guys got any cash?
We need gas money.
We're going to Detroit.
And they drove me all the wayto the front door.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
That's pretty awesome .

Speaker 1 (36:27):
And they said have a nice life, man.
They were really cool kids.
They weren't like you know,because I was military.
I mean, when you come back andyou land in california, they

(36:49):
don't like you right, you knowthey throw stuff at you.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
Uh, you're a baby killer.
And what year is this?
That you, that you came home?

Speaker 1 (36:54):
I came home in 60.
Well, I started in 68 and Icame home in 70.
Okay, all right.
So Detroit 1970.
Then yeah and uh.
So I was around David's familyfor a little bit and uh, it was
time to strike off on my own.
So I struck off on my own and Iended up then coming back to
Iowa and I spent time with mydad, um, and then I went back

(37:19):
and saw my mom and uh, she hadeverything from my brother.
Yeah and uh, I came back on thesame plane, but I couldn't deal
with anything.
After that.
I just split and uh.
So I told my mom I says, listen,I'm, I'm between jobs and I'm
just getting my feet back on theground.

(37:40):
Do you think it would be okay?
Could I come and just stay herefor like two weeks max?
And she says, well, well, Igotta ask your stepfather, this
is okay, ask me.
And he said it was okay.
So it's the very first night andI'm upstairs in bedroom and I

(38:02):
hear some fighting going ondownstairs and I hear what I
think is my mom just got hit orslapped or something.
I come running down the stairsand she's on the sofa and she's
crying.
And I say to her did he hit you?
She says, never mind, nevermind, let it go, let it go.
I says I asked you, did he hityou?

(38:24):
And she says just let it go,rick.
And I walked out the front door.
He's pulling down the drivewayand I say, hey, listen, old man,
let me tell you something thistime.
Um, you could just keep goingnow that you're in that car.
You don't need to come backhere.
I'm home, I'll take care ofthis here.
You just keep in your car andkeep going.

(38:46):
Nobody's going to beat my momup anymore.
That's not going to happen.
And he pulled back up in thedriveway.
He says what's your problem?
I says get back in your car andjust leave.
I'm not putting up with this.
Get in the house, we'll talkabout this.
No, I'm standing right here.
You got something to say.
You say it to me.
And then get in your car.

(39:09):
He made a mistake of pushing meand then taking a swing at me.
Well, I'm out of the servicenow.
You're not a little kid anymore.
Nah, you're right, I'm not alittle kid anymore.
Yeah, and I don't really feelany allegiance to you.
And uh, he walked up the stepsunder the porch there.
These were the sugar shacksthat they built after world war
two and and so he's standing onthe porch and I don't know.

(39:31):
I just blanked out.
I picked him up mid-waist.
My mom was at the door.
She said, rick don't.
She closed the door.
We went through both the stormdoor and the inside door.
It just went into pieces,stopped at the closet door and
we're in the living room andtussling around and he pushed me

(39:54):
back and I hit the couch andsprung off and drop, kicked him
right out the front picturewindow and I stepped through the
window and I told him I saiddon't get up, just don't get up.
And he got up.
So I kicked him off the porchand I got down.
I said don't get up, don't getup.
He was all groggy by this time.
He's out of it and he threw acouple of punches and I threw a
couple of.
I just didn't have the heart tohit him anymore.
The guy's done and uh.

(40:15):
So I just walked away and Iwent and saw some friends on the
next block and they put me upfor a couple of weeks and I was
off and running again and itwasn't long before.
Well, I was asked to come backto the house after a couple of
weeks.
He would never, ever talk to me, right.
But I was asked to come backfor dinner and I did.

(40:37):
But I went off in life.
And then I met a nice lady andwe were to get married.
I bought a house and she leftme at the altar and uh, no, she

(40:59):
was, so we were talking off offcamera.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
She was actually like the boss's daughter she ended
up.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
Yeah, you didn't know this.
I'm working in a um schlesingerconstruction or something like
that metal works and uh, I metthis gal.

(41:26):
Uh, she was.
I was working there and I wasin the parking lot and I
whistled at her.
She turned around.
We Then we dated and I didn'tknow she was the foreman's
daughter, my foreman's daughter,right, right.
And so then she left me at thealtar and she was pregnant with
my child, right.
And then I was let go.
I didn't have a job anymore,and she had the child.

(41:50):
I saw the child the next dayafter he was born at Providence
Hospital, and for two years Iwas denied being able to see the
child and they wanted childsupport and after two years I
said I'm not paying.
No more If I can't see my son,put me in jail, I don't care,
I'm done.
And so I hired Equal Rights forFathers.

(42:12):
At that time they were juststarting, two attorneys were
just starting and I didn't haveany money.
But I took a ring off my hand.
It was a gold ring.
I says will that start?
He says yeah, puts it in hisdesk drawer.
He says you can have it backwhen you give me the money.
And off.
We went, we went to court and onthe second and third time she

(42:32):
didn't show up.
She had left for Texas wherethere's no extradition.
That meant they can't legallymake her come back Any other
state.
You can do that A couple ofplaces.
There's a place in California,a place in I think it's Nevada,
I think it's Reno or someplacelike that.
That.
That applies, but the entirestate of Texas.
There's no extradition.
So my attorney said I'm sorry,son, but you lost this one and

(42:56):
you're going to have to let thisgo because you could go down
there and get residency, takesix months, see her in court
again, should just come backhere.
So you got to let it go.
But I did trace my son's nameacross the country for several
years by postmasters and then Igot a lead.
Once the computers came in, theinternet came in, going back to

(43:24):
the time between yeah, so you.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
You didn't see him for 47 years, right, so you?

Speaker 1 (43:30):
so you well, 45 years right, because he was two years
with his mother.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
So in between that time you're still kind of trying
to make sure you know wherehe's at.
Yeah and then um, but you're.
So what are you doing in inthat?

Speaker 1 (43:46):
oh, I was 45 years.
Yeah, I was a businessman.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
A legitimate businessman, though right, you
weren't stealing food out of theback door.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Well, I went working in factories for a little bit
and everybody's always askingfor more money.
And we're out on a picket lineand I'm telling them look, you
guys are going to get what youwant, but only half of you are
going to be here next yearexpected to do the same amount
of work.
Guys, this place are going to behere next year expected to do
the same amount of work.
Yeah, it's not.
You know, guys, this ain'thappening.
This place is going to end upclosing.

(44:14):
And they said, no, we don'tcare.
Okay, well, that was time whenI realized this ain't a place
for me.
I don't like this labor.
So I took a layoff and I took myunemployment money and saved it

(44:42):
up and started buying guns.
And I had a house full of guns,man, I had them hanging on
racks on the ceiling and I wouldtake them to the gun and knife
shows and I'd make money.
And I was like, oh, my God, youknow, I'd come home on a Sunday
night and I got a lot of cash.
This is great, yeah, and thisis legit.
And then I got a letter fromthe ATF and they said well, yeah

(45:07):
, but you've got to do themajority of your sales from a
business place.
Well, I had a deal worked outwith a store that was in town
that every 1911, 45 that camethrough I would buy it.
Every used one that they hadcome in I would buy it from.
I go up and I told them I'llgive you $500 for a gun, I don't
care the condition, what it is,if it's a 45 and this is 1911,

(45:28):
I'll buy it.
And so I had built up arelationship there.
But the guy that was the ownerthere had taken it over on a
land contract from the originalowner and he's spending money.
He ain't getting no money back.
He's, he's going in the hole.
So I went to him and I said hey, look, I'll make you a deal.
Um, everything that comes inthe door I'll buy used.

(45:51):
We can put it on my license Ihad gotten a license by this
point.
We can put it on my license oryour license.
Anything that's new that'syours, that's on the shelf, I
have nothing to do with it.
But anything that's used I'llgive you half of the profit.
So that's a pretty good dealfor you.
You're making something youdidn't have to invest in, or
nothing, right, okay, and thatworked for about a year until he

(46:12):
stuck me with a hot Luger,somebody's war souvenir, and
that doesn't fly with me, right.
When I found out that was thedeal, I went over to a detective
that I knew in Royal Oak and Isaid here's the deal, here's the
gun.
I don't want it, it's stolen.
I didn't know about it.
I told him everything that wentdown.

(46:36):
He says just take it.
I says but you know what am Igoing to do with it?
It's a, it's a stolen gun.
He says I never registered it,so there's nothing we can do.
So you know, it's like a nocrime.
He says just put it on yourbooks and sell it and get on
with life.
Okay, I went back to that storeand I took every gun that I had
in the place out of there.
I emptied it and within a coupleof weeks it closed.

(47:00):
And I knew of another storethat was a couple miles away
that had just closed up.
And I went to the owner thereand I said hey, what's the story
with your store here?
I'd like to rent this store.
He says, well, he had beenclosed up by the ATF Um and he
had to sell his stuff off andthey gave him a year.
He said, if I sold his stuffoff for him, I could rent there.

(47:23):
Fine, great, let's make thedeal.
So I put my stuff in, I'mselling my stuff and his stuff
and I'm going to the gun andknife shows.
I'm still making money.
And around the corner was aprinting business and it was a
cinder block business.
The one I was in was the oldestbuilding in Madison Heights and

(47:44):
it was wood floor.
I mean it was heated by apotbelly stove.
I mean you had to feed thatdragon all day long.
So here I am, I've made a dealat the printing shop.
They're closing up.
I go in there with a contractor, we make counters and racks and
everything, and I'm in businessand everything worked out.
I'm right on John R.
It was great.

(48:06):
But there were some people thatwere in the city that just were
not anti-gun and they wanted megone.
Lesson to learn if they wantyou gone, just go.
You're going to lose your buttfighting them and I fought them
for two years.
But then they came in byeminent domain.
That's six cents on the dollar.
You're going to lose your ass.
Great, your best bet when theydo that to you.

(48:29):
Anything you can buy at a yardsale, anything you can buy
anywhere, bring it in the door,put it on the floor, because the
guy is going to come in, he'sgoing to inventory everything
there and that's how they judgetheir value and then they give
you a check and you're done ofcourse.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
How long were you in the business there?

Speaker 1 (48:47):
well, I, was there for two years and a year before
at the place before and probablyabout almost a year at the one
in Royal Oak.
Okay, which interesting becameDr Kevorkian?
Everybody knows about the oldDr Death Right, he rented an
apartment upstairs from us.

(49:08):
Oh yeah, he wasn't a bad guy,really Right, he gave out
prescriptions for people on thestreet.
Dr Death Right, he rented anapartment upstairs from us.
Oh yeah, he wasn't a bad guy,really Right, he gave out
prescriptions for people on thestreet that were poor.
Yeah, he was German, but it'slike, it's not like that.
You know, he was actually apretty good guy.
He was helping people.
He didn't charge anybody, it'slike okay.

(49:29):
That's an interesting side note,yeah, so here I am and I'm in a
domain they give me the money.
Okay, I'm going to buy thatstrip across the road on the
other side.
They can't say that they've gotto widen the road there, right?
I mean, I told them.
I says I'm four cement blocksback from the road here, you
know, and at the corner you'reusing half of a block and you

(49:52):
put up a rail.
Why are you doing this to me?
Because they want you gone andI'm too dumb to realize.
I'm just stubborn.
So I buy the strip across theroad and I come in and I remodel
it and I put in two morebusinesses.
So now I've got a gun shop, apawn shop and a jewelry store
Things.
I put in two more businesses.
So now I've got a gun shop, apawn shop and a jewelry store.
Things are going good.

(50:12):
If they can't get you out ofthere one way, there's another
way.
An organized crime approached meand they wanted me to put some
guns in the pawn shop.
I told them.
I said I've got a gun shop nextdoor.
I'm not competing with myself.
And they said no, we're goingto put them in here.
And I said I got a gun shopnext door, I'm not competing
with myself and they said, no,we're going to put them in here.

(50:34):
And I said I'm not putting themon the shelf without proper ID.
And they left them there.
And five minutes later a guycomes in with a gold badge from
the state department.
He's been following them.
They've been buying guns in outof state, against the law, out
of state, bringing them toMichigan.
They're selling off thesporting arms and anything that
isn't a sporting arms.
They're running across thedetroit river to canada.
So, um, I got caught up in allof that.

(50:58):
I was innocent.
Um, I told the guy from thestate department says you want
to turn this over to localpolice?
They work in the court.
Says you want to turn this overto local police?
They work in the court.
The FBI had been in the city foryears trying to catch all the
dirt Right and a thousand otherstories.
But I said they're going tocome after me.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
Nah, nah, you're all right?

Speaker 1 (51:24):
Well then they did.
I'm in the pawn shop and I comethrough the door and a guy that
I knew, who had been in thebusiness, who I bought the first
store from where I rented,actually he's there.
He's working for the court myaccountant.

(51:45):
I had gotten from him.
He came later in the daybecause if he wanted to check my
paperwork, he said so he'sthere and he's there.
And then came in organizedcrime, entered the front door
and closed the blinds and saidyou're out of business.
And I retreated back into my gunshop, pulled down a barrier we
had in the ceiling.
It had been a garage before Ileft that.

(52:06):
Yeah, I had a plate glass putin a half wall, put up floors
put in and I had cameras.
I'm calling the atfs who saidthey were going to protect me.
They're on another job, theycan't get there two o'clock in
the morning.
They call me, are you okay?
Yeah, I'm talking to you on thephone.

(52:26):
They just looted out my jewelrystore in my pawn shop.
Okay, yeah, I'm talking to youon the phone.
They just looted out my jewelrystore and my pawn shop and I
said, well, go home and we willbe at your house tomorrow
morning and we will interviewall your employees, have all of
your employees at your house.
Well, by this time I've got notjust that, I've got two other
gun shops.
Yeah, and you know I'm one ofthe one of the two largest

(52:51):
dealers at the show, at the gunand knife shows at that point.
And uh, so everybody's at myhouse.
The next morning they come,they interview every one of my
employees.
Then they take me into thekitchen of the house and they in
front of me says, well,everything's checking out.
You know, to the kitchen of thehouse and they in front of me
says, well, everything'schecking out.

(53:11):
You know he must be telling usthe truth so you can let your
employees go back to work.
I says, okay, guys, you can goback to go open up and I'll be
there shortly.
They said no, no, no, no, no,your life is in danger, you
can't go back.
I says I'm the owner, I'm theboss, I gotta run the place.
They said you can't go back.
I had trusted employees.

(53:31):
I was fortunate that way.
Right, they don't know how tobuy, they don't know how to sell
.
That's me.
So the ATF put me in what theycalled a safe house.
I was there for two days andthey came to me and they said we

(53:54):
have a problem, it's beenbreached.
So do you have some place thatyou could go that you think
would be safe?
I said, well, I got a godfatherin Gregory.
Okay, they took me out toGregory, my godfather, and then
I'm there like four days andthere's a knock on the door and
it's the state department thistime and they talked with my

(54:15):
godfather.
He comes to me.
He says there's a problem.
They know that you're here andso you're not safe here.
And I've got kids, man.
I said no, no, I understand,you know.
He says they're going to putyou on a plane.
You can go to your dad.
I understand, you know.
He says they're going to putyou on a plane, you can go to
your dad.
So, okay, they put me on a planethat night and I went to um,

(54:35):
illinois, um, forget the airport, but anyhow, in the middle of
the night my dad and a brothercame and picked me up and took
me back to the farm in Iowa.
And, uh, that night my dad saysdon't know, don't tell me
nothing, just we'll talk aboutit at breakfast.
And so I ran it all down to himeverything that had happened,
because I had already built up areally great relationship with

(54:58):
my real father at that point inlife.
And, uh, he was a businessman.
He understood.
Um, in fact, he had beenthrough eminent domain in the
town that he lived in and theyfiled bankruptcy because they
didn't pay him right.
So, um, there I was.

(55:19):
I was there for eight and ahalf months.
Uh, the first attorney groupthat I hired in manison heights,
michigan, came to me and saidwhoa, whoa, whoa, it, whoa, whoa
, it's too hot for us, we can'thandle this.
So then I, by luck, one of myemployees' father had a
relationship with the previousattorney for the city of

(55:39):
Detroit's police departmentattorney.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (55:43):
And I went and saw him and I told him everything
and he says, okay, I'll take thecase.
And I told him everything andhe says, okay, I'll take the
case, go back to iowa.
So I went back to iowa.
While I'm in iowa they came inthe front door of my dad's bar.
As I'm going out the back, theyasked the barmaid um, did they
know where I was at?
And I'm out the door, I don'tknow these guys.
And I went upstairs and they'relooking in the back alley.

(56:06):
I could watch them out a window.
They didn't know where I went.
So then my father was calledand my father moved me back to
the farm and then from therearound to some of the different
houses, because he was very well, he did very well in business
and he owned some homes andstuff.
And he moved me around until Igot a call one day from my
attorney.

(56:27):
I had been back a couple oftimes.
My attorney told me do not comeback to michigan unless I tell
you to, because they they callme back for me to show them my
records to the atf.
Right, it wasn't the atf, theywere at my front door.
Um, three cars on the road.
I'm looking through thecurtains.
I'm not moving them, I'm justlooking through the curtains and

(56:49):
there's two big men on thefront porch.
There's two big men in that carand there's four in that car
and it's like no.
So I hunkered down behind thefront door with my 45.
And I figured if they comethrough the door it's on.
What have I got to lose at thispoint?
I woke up about two o'clock inthe morning.
Everybody's gone Before in themorning.

(57:13):
Everybody's gone.
Before that I had called thecops.
I said I was the neighboracross the road.
Cops come around the corner.
First car pulls away the othertwo guys.
They wave, the four guys haveducked down and the cops keep
going.
I called them back.
Hey, you don't know, you don'tthink we know what we're doing.
Fine, so two o'clock in themorning, like I say, I wake up.
No cars there.
My dad had given me a carbecause he owned a dealership

(57:35):
and iowa plates are the samecolor as michigan.
I ran to that car and sped outof here fast as you could.
Man, they were following methrough the neighborhood.
They had the house staked out.
They were following I throughthe neighborhood.
They had the house staked out.
They were following me I'mzigzagging.
I got on the expressway and hitthat Cadillac and I was gone.

(57:55):
So eight and a half monthslater I get a call from my
attorney and he says you cancome home.
I said, what do you mean?
He says it's all over with.
I don't understand.
You can come home.
Then Just come home,everything's fine, everything's
been worked out.
And come to my office tomorrowand go to the day you get back

(58:17):
and I'll tell you everything.
So okay, I came back.
By this time I've lost a wife.
I've lost my store because ofnobody.
Eight and a half monthsnobody's there to run anything.
Right, you know they've paidsome bills from any money that
came in from selling anything.
All my inventory is gone.

(58:37):
You get it from the wholesalerin the spring, you pay for it in
the fall.
I haven't got any inventoryleft.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
So I go to see the attorney and he says well,
here's what's happened.
Apparently, you need to talk toyour godfather.
I says, okay, let's get him onthe phone.
Okay, so he gets him on thephone.
My godfather's closest friendwas a multi-billionaire and

(59:07):
because of that he had attorneyson staff all the time and he
had called my godfather to himand said what's going on with
Rick?
And he said well, rick's gotteninto some trouble and it's not
his fault.
This is what I know about it.
He says, okay, I'm going to getinvolved and we're going to get
this handled, because he had toknow everything that was going

(59:29):
about.
Anybody around him a wealthy,wealthy man, I mean, in this
circle iacocca is part of thecircle and everybody knows that
name.
So, um, my godfather used totake iacocca's wife shopping.
He gave him a car, you thatkind of stuff.
So my godfather tells me thatthis man I won't mention his

(59:56):
name, he's deceased but forprivacy, he got involved and he
exchanged money with this crimegroup and my poor ass was bought
off for more money than it hasreally ever been worth.

(01:00:16):
And uh, so that was the end andand I had to try and start over
in order to pay the bills.
I was going back and forth andbuying surplus in Iowa, bringing
it back to Michigan on trucks,and I was making it, but then my
wholesalers called me and saidno, you got to pay us off.
I'm giving them 15, each onewas like four of them.

(01:00:37):
I'm giving each one of them$1,500 a week and it's not good
enough.
So I was done and I get calledin by the ATF and I said look,
I'm there behind plate glasswindows, oh my God, the door and
everything.
It's up in Troy.
And they said I'm there withthe director and he says you're

(01:01:01):
done, it's over with.
I says whoa, whoa, whoa.
You guys know how deep and widemy ass is at this point.
You know I've lost everything.
Go get these guys.
Why aren't you going andgetting them?
You know about they tried touse my license that you guys
asked me to give.

(01:01:21):
I wasn't even here to be ableto give it to you.
They stole it off the wall,took it to another place and
tried to use it and you bustedthem.
And they're both court officersand never even lost their job
or their gun privileges ornothing.
Come on, he says just relax.
You want a cigar.
He knew I smoked cigars inthose days.
He's handing me a Cuban.
For God's sake, no, I don'twant your cigar.

(01:01:44):
He says look, it's over with.
Just go start your life overagain with what?
So after that I was done, filedbankruptcy, lost everything, all
my stores, and uh was gratefulto a couple of my employees,

(01:02:06):
that was, they were justoutstanding trying to help.
Yeah, and still I'm in contactwith them today, and this is
years and years ago.
This is 30, 40 years ago.
So I'm sitting in a house on amilk crate and I get a call.

(01:02:26):
This is my godfather.
What are you doing?
I says well, I'm sitting herein an empty house on a milk
crate with no money.
He says you better come out tothe farm and Greg will be here
for a little bit.
We'll help you get back on yourfeet.
So I went out there and after acouple of weeks his wife gave me
some utensils to come home andI could fix myself something to
eat.
I found a job sellingfertilizer at night on the phone

(01:02:55):
.
So for four hours a night I'dbe on the phone and I'm selling
fertilizer.
And one of the guys came to meand he says have you eaten today
.
I says no, I don't have anymoney.
He says come on with me.
And he took me down to thecorner store and every day
before work he'd take me down tothe corner store and he'd buy
me a sandwich.
He says you got to eat, man.
I said well, I don't have anymoney, you know, and
everything's gone.
And he says I'll help you.

(01:03:16):
Well, then a guy comes to meand says you know, you're one of
the best salesmen here.
You make more money here thananybody.
I said, but it's need a goodjob.
He says be in this parking lottomorrow morning.

(01:03:37):
I was in the parking lot thenext morning and he had a
father-in-law that worked forMichigan Bell and both of us got
jobs in sales.
I ended up doing business salesfor Michigan Bell, ameritech,
sbc, until AT&T took it over.
I was one of the two topsalesmen in Michigan.
For that Made buku bucks.

(01:03:58):
They owed me $30,000.
When the Pinkertons camethrough and took everybody to
the front door and we were allgone, at&t the big gorilla came
in and so then I had to startover again.
So a very nice man whom I hadknown in the business I was one

(01:04:18):
of the largest in the businessat the shows and he was second
largest or tied whatever, and hewanted to give me a job.
Sure.
So he had a newspaper.
He wanted me to work gettingadvertising for that.
It was a sportsman paper.
He had his own store and he hadtaken over the gun and knife

(01:04:44):
shows and he had turned to meand said do you want to work
with me?
I says yeah, what do you got?
He says there's a show everysix months.
I want you to find locationsaround the state of Michigan.
I want one every week someplacedifferent.
Okay, I'll pay you a weeklysalary and I'll give you a big
bonus.
Any signed contract, okay.

(01:05:06):
So I took it serious and I wentand did it and uh, then I went
to work with for him on his uhnewspaper and then he wanted me
in the store.
So I worked in the store for alittle bit and he came to me and
he says listen, um, everybodyis afraid to work on the range.
I said why?
He says well they're just afraidit's kind of dangerous.
And I says no, it can't be.
He says, well, they're justafraid it's kind of dangerous.

(01:05:28):
I says no, it can't be.
He says would you do it?
I said, sure, I'll do it.
One stipulation what's that?
It's my house.
When I go in there, that's myrange.
I run it the way I want.
Nobody's my boss, nobody tellsme what to do.
It's my range.

(01:05:49):
He says okay.
So I did that for a little bitand then I went to him.
I said listen, it's too damnboring in there.
I want to do something.
What do you want to do?
He says I want to form ashooting team.
You want to form a shootingteam?
Yes, I want to form a shootingteam.
What do you need?
I'll give you anything you want.
I says I'm going to need sometargets.
Maybe we'll have somecompetitions.

(01:06:10):
I'll need some prizes.
He says, yeah, sure, no problem.
So I formed the number oneshooting team in Michigan for
national competition, not state,although the state they went to
and I think it was national.
They could go out of state.
Uh, and we had the top teammale, female and junior shooters
for 10 years straight in a rowbefore I retired after 15 years

(01:06:36):
working in the store and itstill kept first place for a
couple of years.
After that I was gone and itkind of went dissipated.
But then I was home, I wasretired.
I was retired.
I tried a couple of differentplaces to, you know just
part-time to, so I wasn't stuckin the house.
You know Right.

(01:06:56):
I tried Walmart that wasn't forme.
I tried Roking that wasn't forme.
And I heard that this man whohad hired me in the gun business
had had a stroke and so Icalled him.
I says man, are you okay?
Cause he had been my boss buthe was my friend for 50 years, I
mean we're close.
And uh, when I didn't haveanything, he put money in my

(01:07:19):
pocket and said we're good.
So, um, I says, what do youneed?
He says I need you.
He says I've been trying to getyou to come back for two years.
He says, but I need you.
I says what do you want me todo?
He says I need you at the shows, not at the store.
I need you at the shows.

(01:07:44):
If somebody comes through thefront door or back door or
whatever with a gun and theystart shooting anybody everybody
, that's a vendor there is goingto lose their livelihood, right
, you know, and there won't beany more gun and knife shows.
He says I know you, I know yourcapabilities, um, I want you.
I said, okay, when do you wantme?

(01:08:05):
And so I went back workingsecurity for him at the gun and
knife shows.
And uh, it was just supposed tobe for a little bit until he
got on his feet.
It's been three years now.
He's doing just fine, uh-huh.
And uh, he's moved me up in myposition at the shows.

(01:08:26):
And uh, so I work part-time,making more money than I would
on a regular part-time job, andit's something I know how to do.
You know right.
People come in with guns, theyhave to make sure that they're
cleared.
Your average guy doesn't knowabout the different makes and
models like I do, and at onetime I was court certified for

(01:08:48):
knowing in handguns Europeanhandguns especially but handguns
not just what it was by model,but what period, how many
improvements had been made on itand during what period.
I knew all of this stuffbecause when I had my stores,
every gun that came in I tookapart before the gunsmith and
cleaned it.
Then I gave it to the gunsmithand if I couldn't figure out how

(01:09:10):
to get it back together then hewould show me.
And I had the first certifiedgunsmith in the state of
Michigan.
I was very proud of that.
He made just a lot of money.
So because I've got thisbackground, I know how to clear
guns, strap them properly sothat when somebody brings one
into cell it's carried aroundsafe.
No ammunition is allowed tocome in with it.

(01:09:31):
We hold that until they'releaving.
Sometimes they say I don't wantit, I sold a gun.
Sometimes they're leaving withthe gun in here or maybe it's
their personal handgun thatthey're carrying.
Okay, I'm sorry, but it's gotto be strapped.
I'll take your magazine, anyother bullets, okay, and I give

(01:09:52):
it back to them when they leave.
So that's been my life.
I, because of my time in theservice, some things I don't
talk about, right, I choose notto.
I suffer from what is known asPTSD that's the name for it
today.
They used to call it shellshock.
They used to call it, from alot of different names, combat

(01:10:12):
fatigue, yeah yeah, but um, Iwon a uh, a claim with that uh a
year ago and got a buttload ofmoney and I had tried three
times and the third time was acharm.

(01:10:33):
The person over in Howell forthe VA resources is just
phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (01:10:40):
Livingston County takes really good care of its
veterans.
I think Above and beyond iscrazy.
One of the best counties and Ithink that started with Bob
Bazzat when he was a sheriffhere.
Yeah, and it just sort ofcarried on.

Speaker 1 (01:10:54):
And this last guy that has come in, this guy he
has seen more combat and beendecorated more than anybody that
I have met personally.
He is phenomenal.
And so I told him about whathad happened with me and I had

(01:11:14):
turned in these claims and I'dbeen turned down twice.
Um, they said records didn'texist and blah, blah, blah.
He says you got to let this gal, I got you got.
You got to go, come on into theoffice and talk to her.
And I did.
And it took almost a year.
Yeah, but she followed itmonthly, then weekly and then

(01:11:35):
daily.
And when it was stamped denied,she called up the person who
denied it on the phone directlyand chewed him out and said what
the heck are you doing?
This guy is so entitled to it,it's crazy.
And he says well, but he wassupposed to go and see this
doctor.
She said that was the second,second set of doctors.

(01:11:56):
He went to the first set.
Why would he have to go to asecond set?
It's on page da-da-da-da-da.
And he looked back in the paper.
He says oh my God, yes, he has,he's met all the qualifications
.
He says I'm stamping this andwalking it myself personally
right over to accounting nowDone.
She called me on the phone.
She says well, I've got somegood and I've got some bad news

(01:12:17):
for you.
She says what do you want first?
And I says I don't care, I'vebeen turned down twice.
I'm expecting bad news, youknow Right.
And I says turned down twice,I'm expecting bad news, you know
.
And uh, I says just, just tellme.
She says well, the bad news is,it's done.
I says yeah, I figured you know.

(01:12:39):
She says and you won.
I said what?
And she says you won.
I says wow, that's phenomenal.
She says now do you want toknow how much money you're going
to get?
I says okay.
She says are you sitting down?
I says no, she's just down.

(01:13:00):
I'm not going to tell you.
Let's just sit down, okay, I'msitting down in the dining room.
My wife is in the kitchenmaking dinner and she says this
is how much you're going to get,and it was thousands and
thousands.
And thousands.
Yeah, she read me the number andI went what she says you will

(01:13:21):
be getting a check inside of twoweeks and it's been set up to
go into your bank account.
Plus, I also added at the lastminute, so it didn't go afoul,
that your wife is your caregiverand so she gets as well, and
you are going to see in youraccount this much, and monthly

(01:13:41):
you are going to receive thismuch as well, which also
includes her portion of it.
I says really, and I startedlaughing, and I started laughing
and I set the phone.
I'm laughing.
I was laughing for five, six,seven minutes and I said I'm

(01:14:02):
sorry, I'm sorry, I can't talk,I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
And she says no, no, no, she'skind of laughing a little bit.
On her side of the phone shesays I understand, this is my
favorite part of the job.
Yeah, she says, go ahead andget yourself together.
And I told my wife then andshe's what, what?
Yeah, we're supposed to get allthis money.

(01:14:23):
It's coming no way, you know.
I said I'm telling you, this isfor real, this is for real,
we're going to.
So life changed.
We no longer need to go to afood pantry to get food Right

(01:14:52):
the front of the house gets anew porch.
A new porch where the dog goesin and out.
He's gotten old, can't do thestandard steps, so let's make
him some five inch steps, Alldone by a contractor.
New front, big porch on thefront of the house.
Oh, my goodness, A new doorwall on the back of the house

(01:15:13):
that was letting air in in thewinter.
Um, new landscaping.
And they said they came out andthey said what does your wife
want?
And I says I don't know.
I got to go get her and broughther outside and they said well,
we could suggest some things.
She says I don't know, you knowshe's.
They turned to me and I sayswell, I like roses.
They said, okay, put roses down.

(01:15:34):
Okay, what else do you like?
I says, um, I don't know,there's big flowers.
I like big flowers, yeah, andmy wife started naming a couple
of things she liked.
They said, okay, we'lllandscape the whole thing.
We're going to bring in mulch.
Um, the whole thing is going tohave flowers in it and small
little flowering shrubs.

(01:15:55):
It's going to have flowers init and small little flowering
shrubs.
The sidewalk will bestraightened.
It was just patio blocks.
We were in the country, Right,it was like, oh my goodness.
And so we got to watch all ofthis being built.
And then I hired a contractorand didn't have a garage.

(01:16:16):
I had him build me a barn.
Nice, If we built a nice bigbarn, you can only build it to
half the size of your house.
But he might have fudged overthe line a little bit.
It passed and it's a woodenbarn.
They won't allow where I livesteel barns, but it's a
beautiful barn with cement floorand everything.
My motorcycle is safe there.

(01:16:43):
They tried to steal it twicefrom a woodshed.
Sheriff said I didn't thinkthat anybody would booby trap a
shed like that.
I says I do, I'm a non-vet.
No, you ain't getting my bite.
So we got a beautiful barn,gravel in the driveway, the
house all fixed up and I get totake my wife out once or twice a

(01:17:07):
week to dinner and we don't goto the grocery store anymore and
say I don't know, maybe weshould wait a week.
No, it's like you want that.
Yeah get it?
Yeah, get that.
Yeah, okay, good, let's get aton of fruit and yeah, we need
more meat.
You know, it's no longer aproblem.

(01:17:28):
The bills are paid, no problemat all.
If we need or want something,okay, and if it's more than what
we have that month, no problem.
There's another big checkcoming besides.
Our social security pays all ofour bills, now Right, and then
gives us a little bit left over.

(01:17:48):
That's the way I set it up.
But then we get this check thatcomes from the VA every month
dependable from the VA everymonth dependable.
You can count on it, oh my gosh.
And it hits the bank accountand you can buy big things.
This fall I'm going to buy me atractor.
I'm going to buy me a six footwide, zero turn.

(01:18:11):
It's not going to take me fourhours to do the lawn.
It's going to take me an hourand I'm going to get more gravel
.
I'm going to build in a littleside part on the barn.
I'm actually going to carpetpart of the barn where I keep my
bike and all of its trophies,because it's a rare bike.

(01:18:32):
I got lucky when I found it.
So life is good now, and a weekand a half ago, my son that I've
been talking to and texting,whom I found seven years ago,

(01:18:52):
whom I did not say a bad thingabout his mother.
I said you got to go ask herabout that.
Well, about a week and a halfago we met for the first time
and it was great.
I have my son back.
I found my son.
I have my son, I have my boy.

(01:19:14):
The last thing for my bucketlist was to find my boy and get
my boy back.
So I traveled down toHuntsville, alabama.
He works for the DefenseDepartment, he is a director, he
makes buku bucks just bought ahalf a million dollar home this
week.
He's smart, he's big andthere's no question.

Speaker 2 (01:19:41):
um, he's smart, he's big and there's no question,
he's my boy and I.
I'm just well, we're going tohave a future, yeah well, so I I
really want you to talk abouttoo.
Um, when you say you know he'syour boy, you were telling me
about dinner oh yeah, we went on.
Tell me what his wife wassaying.

Speaker 1 (01:19:58):
Well, it was his girlfriend or his girlfriend.
Yeah, and, by the way, I am agreat, great grandfather.
Oh yeah, that was pretty cool,yeah.
So when I'm down in Huntsville,he picked me up and we did our
first meeting and stuff, and Ibought lunch and everything like
that and he said he had to goback to work.
He was supposed to have thewhole week off but they were

(01:20:19):
working on a project that theyasked him to take over because
of what he's done and hisaccomplishments in the past.
He's wanted, he's needed, he'svery smart.
So he came pick me up fordinner and we went back to his
house that he was leasing atthat point and, uh, I met his
girlfriend and we all went outto dinner to a nice swanky place

(01:20:41):
right downtown that's calledrocket city, by the way, lots of
contractors, lots of defensedepartment there, research.
So we're in this restaurant andhe's ordered, I've ordered,
she's ordered his girlfriend,and we started eating and
everything like that.

(01:21:02):
And his girlfriend startslaughing and he looks over.
He says what, what are youlaughing about?
She says everything the two ofyou do is the same.
What do you mean?
Your mannerisms, everythingthat you two, you hold the fork
the same.
You do the same hand gestures,the way you guys walk, the way

(01:21:23):
you guys talk, everything is thesame.
And I said, well, that's my boy.
And that was the first time Icould just out and out, say that
straight like that.
It felt great.
But um, he said my son sittingacross from me.
He says show her your arm.
I says, oh, well, here's my arm.
Yeah, I had cancer removedthere.
And she went oh my God, that'sthe same arm where he had cancer

(01:21:46):
removed.
And he says well, tell her therest of it.
I said, yeah, I had cancerthree times in my head.
Uh, one under my brain, one atthe back of my neck and one on
the top of my head.
Uh and uh.
She says, oh my god, you hadtwo on your head too, in the
same place.
And he just laughed.

(01:22:08):
He says, yeah, okay, my son andI at this point have been able
to talk about growing up and theway he grew up and his
stepfather and the way I grew upand my stepfather.
They're the same story.
The only difference is hedidn't beat his up, he, his

(01:22:30):
father, died.
Yeah, um, so, um, so, yeah.
I when I say I've got my boyback.
It's in so many ways it's I'mI'm kind of completed because of
there is and then his son.
If you take a picture of one ofhis sons who graduated from the
university down there, if youtake one of the pictures of his

(01:22:53):
son and me at the same age,they're like looking at twins,
it's crazy.
So, yeah, I'm on cloud ninebecause I found my son, I have
my son back and everybody,everybody that knows me and I do

(01:23:16):
mean everybody, because I'veworn a lot of hats.
Another hat I wore was in theministry.
I founded the Garden Path ofSpiritual Light Church in the
city of Detroit with the solepurpose of helping orphaned
children and after nine years 19years of speaking around
Detroit and serving churchesfrom Canada to Lansing six

(01:23:36):
different churches every month,pastoring a church over in
Roseville I retired and movedout to Fowlerville after 19
years.
So people know me.
I put on motorcycle shows andso people know me, and so people

(01:24:01):
know me.
I've been with the americanlegion and built things there
that brought members in from.
I was the seventh rider, activeduty, active rider in howell,
and it grew to 130 because Istarted doing the blessing of
the bikes there.
Now, now I'm over in Brighton.
I was asked to go over toBrighton and start the group up
over there help, and I'm theassistant director for the

(01:24:23):
riders in Brighton.
So people know me and everybodythat knows me knows Rick found
his son, rick got with his son,rick met his son and they're all
congratulating me, they're allhappy for me.
I got so many smiles, I got somany texts and I shared pictures

(01:24:45):
with so many people.
What can I say?
I'm a proud papa, grandpapa andgreat grandpapa.
I have a family out there,proud papa, grandpapa and
great-grandpapa.
I have a family out there thatI hadn't known and I've got life

(01:25:07):
on the clock yet that I canmeet them and know them, learn
about them more.
My son's going to be coming herein the spring and I'll be going
back and forth Once he getssettled in his new home.
He wants to get a car and, uh,he wants to build a hot rod.
And I told him.
I says, let me know, I'll comedown and help you because I'll

(01:25:27):
have the means now, right, and Ididn't have the means before,
but I do now.
And uh, besides that he's, he'swell healed.
Oh my God, right.
So, um, this half a milliondollar home that he bought.
That's all brick, just gorgeous, huge rooms in it are just

(01:25:51):
absolutely take up my wholehouse.
But, uh, but I'm on cloud nine.
Life is great right now, yeah,and the things that I learned
while in the service have servedme well.
Only now they're legit.
You know, after I came out,everything went legit and so I'm

(01:26:15):
known.
I was working in Mason,michigan, and I was teaching
people how to shoot.
I was helping people get theirconcealed pistol licenses.
My wife and I will be all theway over in Heartland shopping
at a Rural King and somebodycomes up and says, hey, you're

(01:26:37):
Ranger Rick.
Yeah, that's how I'm known,because I was the range officer
there.
The manager thought he was goingto kind of stick it to me a
little bit by teasing me.
Because I was the range officerand my name's Rick.
He started teasing me, callingme Ranger Rick, like a little
raccoon children's thing, and Ididn't know about that.
I just took it to heart and Isaid, yeah, okay, I'm ranger

(01:26:59):
rick and to this day, even whenI'm riding on my vest, it has um
here someplace.
Oh, there it is.
It's got a ranger rick.
That's my road name.
Everybody knows r Ranger Rick,I can walk into a club, a
motorcycle club.
People know who I am, even ifthey've never personally met me.

(01:27:22):
They know of me so many places.
So anybody that knows me orknows above me about me knows I
found my son, cause I talkedabout it my whole life.
And here you are and here I am.
And so now I'm 75 years old and, uh, I'm living the dream.

(01:27:47):
It took a long time to get here, but I'm living the dream.

Speaker 2 (01:27:51):
Well, and I want to.
So I want to ask you a question.
I mean, uh, you know, uh, allthe way the way back to you know
, you found that picture of aguy in a sailor suit and found
out that was your dad, and itsounds like the genes run strong
in his family, because you all,you all look like each other.
You know, you have gone fromleaving home at 14 to time in

(01:28:12):
service, serving in Vietnam,running your own business,
having it all and having nothing, and having it all and having
nothing.
And here you are today we'rehaving this conversation.
I wouldn't have guessed you were75, to be honest with you.
But it's all come together.
You're married, you have a niceplace to live, you have the

(01:28:34):
means to take care of yourfamily and now you've found your
son.
So that's a really good story.
But I always want to ask onefinal question of everybody that
I interview as we kind of wrapup our discussion today, and
that is you know, when you lookback on all of this and when
someone listens to your story orwatches your story years from

(01:28:57):
now, when neither one of us arestill around, what message would
you like to leave for people?

Speaker 1 (01:29:06):
Well, two things, first thing.
Two things, first thing.
While I was in the service,they said why did you enlist?
And I said because I want tohear the other side.
There's all these anti-protests.

(01:29:27):
I wanted to learn the truth, Iwanted to see the other side,
and so I've learned it.
I believe that was a war thatnever should have been fought.
I believe that war makes moneyand bails out economies at the
expense of children.
When you have the capability ofdoing it without using soldiers

(01:29:55):
on the ground in the field, whyin the world would you lose so
many lives?
Don't tell me about populationcontrol, because we've got the
science to be able to feedeverybody.
That would be number one.
Pay attention to who you votefor.

(01:30:15):
Learn, listen, be involved.
That would be number one.
Pay attention to who you votefor.
Learn, listen, be involved.
Don't just listen to whatsomebody else said.
Do the research.
Your vote counts.
You're free because of you getinvolved, not because of a war.

(01:30:37):
People talk about theDeclaration of Independence and
all this.
No, you're free because you payattention and you get involved.
That's why, if you're a vet,get to an American Legion Hall
or a VFW hall.
I don't care what your feelingsmight be about it, but go and

(01:31:00):
check one out.
I didn't for a long time.
I didn't go to the VA forhealth care for a long time and
then I found out there's goodand bad ones.
The one in Detroit it's a sewer.
The one in Ann Arbor they giveme such great care.
I've had operations that didn'tcost me a dime Cancer care,
doctors that stood on a phoneyelling at surgeons why haven't
you seen and done somethingabout this?

(01:31:21):
Go to the VA, they really arethere for you.
Now again, there's always goodand bad.
There's good and bad people.
There are lazy people out there.
Don't be one of those.
And then the other thing ispeople out there.
Don't be one of those.
And then the other thing isI'll pass along a lesson that my
father taught to me.

(01:31:43):
My father was successful in oh,so many ways.
He had so many businesses allat once and we would go to work
in the morning.
One of the things was he was acontractor, he had a bar, he had

(01:32:05):
a restaurant, he had apartmentbuildings, he kept and raised
horses, he had a car dealership.
I mean so many things he wasinvolved with.
But we'd go to work in themorning.
We always met first thing inthe morning, had breakfast and
then we'd all go out to workDifferent assignments, different
places, wherever he needed us.

(01:32:28):
You see people come home atthree, four, five o'clock.
Put their feet up, grab a beer.
They're done for the day Boy,they're glad they're home.
Put their feet up, grab a beer.
They're done for the day Boy,they're glad they're home.
If you're doing a job you don'tlike, find one that you do and
do it.
You'll be more successful.
You don't think you can Getsomebody that'll help you.
Take an idea and don't beafraid.

(01:32:49):
Get out there and buildsomething for yourself.
And you don't stop work atthree, four or five o'clock.
There's still daylight.
What are you doing?
Sitting around?
Find another job.
If you can't get everything youwant in life because your job
ends at three, four or five, goand get another job.
You're telling me you can'twork till nine, maybe 10, but go

(01:33:13):
and do something.
That's the way it was I wasraised.
My dad said no, you're not done.
There's horses to feed.
There are so many other things.
Right, go help out in thisother job.
Go help out in the bar.
Uh, go help out in therestaurant.
Um, come with me.
We're going to the car auctiontonight and three, four nights a

(01:33:34):
week at least we're going tothe car auction tonight, and
three, four nights a week atleast we're out at the car
auction.
Saturday comes we're at anestate sale.
We're at another auction.
You buy things and you sellthings and you do things, but
you be involved.
Don't quit when there'sdaylight, because otherwise
you're just throwing your lifeaway and you're going to get old
and you're going to be poor andyou're not going to have

(01:33:55):
anything.
Go and do something more.
I had an ex-wife she said to meone day.
She said nobody would believethat you work a full-time job
during the day and then you goout and do this ministry at
night.
Okay, she says I can't keep upbecause of four or five nights a

(01:34:18):
week.
When I was here in Michigan,I'm out, I have an agent and I'm
speaking religion to differentcivic groups around the Detroit
area.
I serve churches, six differentchurches, from Canada to
Lansing, pastored over inRoseville, and she said I can't

(01:34:39):
keep up.
From Canada to Lansing,pastored over in Roseville, and
she said I can't keep up.
I had Bible classes twice amonth Wayne County and Hazel
Park Okay, but I did what I wascalled to do.
And when you're doing somethingthat you like, you don't feel
tired.
You can get tired but you'rehaving a good time.

(01:35:04):
And if you can do it and helppeople, that's another thing.
And if you can do it and helppeople and make money doing it,
maybe you've got a product thatyou've thought about.
Somebody should do this or that.
Do it.
I'm an ancestor of the man whoinvented the adding machine.
He failed.

(01:35:26):
But today everybody knows ofburroughs corporation.
A lot of people in michiganknow that one time there was
burroughs farms same family,yeah.
And I'm registered at the fordfairlane estate as being an
ancestor of john burroughs,another family member,
horticulturist, one of the fourhorsemen ford firestone, edison,

(01:35:50):
edison, john burroughs and Ford.
So don't quit halfway throughthe daylight and say I'm done
for today.
Anybody can have a day off andsay you know, I just wanted a
break.
Sure, but keep your shouldersto the grindstone.

(01:36:11):
If you want to make it, it'sout there for today.
You know, start a secondbusiness at night doing
something, you know.
Start a second business atnight doing something, you know.
I even thought at one point.
I thought I wonder what wouldhappen if I bought a bunch of
apples and I started going doorto door and say I'm selling
apples, would you like someapples?
I wonder if a guy could makemoney doing that.

(01:36:32):
I mean, they used to have fruitcarts that came down the
streets in Detroit, right, andpeople complained about going to
this store or that store andthey can't get good vegetables
or fruit.
Well, go down to the Easternmarket and buy some.
Try selling them, I don't know.
But find your own idea and,instead of quitting at three,

(01:36:54):
four or five, go work on yourown idea.
Maybe it's just something youthink.
Build yourself an airplane.
I don't care what it is, but goand do something.
And you never know, as peoplesee you being steadfast, having

(01:37:16):
the will to do, it 'll say whatcan I do?
Can I help?
And next thing you know you'reoff and running right, because
they'll find that idea good tooright.
And if the idea fails, fails,well, who cares?
You tried, find another one todo it again.
Keep doing it until you're asuccess.

(01:37:39):
I've been a success.
I've lost it a couple of times,but I've been very successful
in my life.
Now I'm at a point in my lifewhere god has blessed me and
it's not about money anymore.
I'm 75.

Speaker 2 (01:37:54):
Bless me, and it's not about money anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:37:57):
I'm 75.
But that doesn't mean I don'tthink about.
I wonder what I could do.
You know, I wanted to have abakery at one point.
My wife says nope, so okay.

(01:38:19):
But there are still ideas thatpeople can grow to make
themselves prosperous and tohelp their neighbors and help
this country find one.
Just think of one.
Go do it, even if you onlystart part-time.
I've never had any job that Istarted full-time.
Right, everything alwaysstarted out with the first one
and then buy another, and thenbuy another and then buy another
.
But just make sure you sellthem at a profit.

(01:38:40):
And sure, sometimes you'regoing to have to break even,
just so you can.
I learned a mistake.
I'll do better this next time.

Speaker 2 (01:38:47):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:38:49):
But just don't quit.
That's what I would say toanybody.
I would say don't quit.

Speaker 2 (01:38:56):
I think that's great advice for people.

Speaker 1 (01:38:58):
That's absolutely that's what life really is.
Yeah, you will be happier in somany ways.
You'll have the reward andpride of your work, not somebody
else's, that you're working foryour work.
You'll have that hot, thatpride.
You'll have the pride of theresponsibility of being able to
help others to lift themselvesup and you'll be known that it

(01:39:19):
gives you a little bit ofattention.
And just remember, when itcomes to that, be humble.
It's hard, but just be humble.

Speaker 2 (01:39:29):
I think that's a great message for people.
That's my story.
I'll stick into it All right.
Well, thanks for taking outtime today to sit and talk with
us.
It's been great to meet you andhear your story, ranger.
Rick, we appreciate it.
Thank you so much.

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