Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Multiple people in my family clean my father, are veterans.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Troops that have been to war and now they're back and.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Think and be grateful for their service.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
Sacrifice, love for their country, just unselfishness, all that.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
They do for us. There are some people in this
country who take extraordinary steps to provide for the freedom
and security. We forget that those people exist.
Speaker 5 (00:27):
We know them as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,
and Coast Guard. They call themselves soldiers, seals, rangers, airmen, sailors,
devil dogs.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
And so much more.
Speaker 5 (00:42):
We call them fathers, brothers, sons and husbands, mothers, daughters,
sisters and wives. We call them friend and neighbor. These
veterans answered the call, now we answer theirs today are
the best our country has to offer, and we love them. Today,
(01:06):
we honor them and we serve them. David Maulsby is
your host, and he welcomes you to this community of veterans.
As together we are building the road to hope.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
And indeed we are glad to have you along.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
On a Sunday afternoon, those of you listen on the
nine to five oh the AM dial in Houston, Texas,
thank you for joining us. Those of you listening through
the magic of podcast Thank you very very much for
doing that. Wherever you listen to podcasts, just look for
Road to Hope Radio.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
There we are.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
It's all free, just like everything we do with PTSD
Foundation of America, zero cost to you. We love it
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(02:02):
particularly combat related to PTSD, and the work the mission
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(02:24):
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(03:10):
And then when it's time to take a look at
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Speaker 3 (03:29):
This is it. It's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Folks from outside of the state of Texas, don't think
they are pretty pretty spots. This is a beautiful spot.
Republic Grand Ranch dot Com. All right, we got a
couple of combat vets in the studio with us today,
one who's been with us before, currently on our staff,
been on our staff for a while. They've done a
great job. Justin, I want to reintroduce yourself to the world.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Hey, my name is Justin.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
I've been with the Foundation for three years. I got
to Campope about four years ago. And yeah, I'm the
resident liaison at Camp Hope and Branch and where you serve.
Odds served in the Marine Corps and I served in Kosovo.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Okay, all right, so we'll get into a little bit
about what that means, the veteran liaison. We'll talk about
that a little bit of course of the show. We
also got a Army vet with us from currently in
the program at Camp Hope.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Want to introduce yourself to him.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yes, Tim served twenty years in the Army, four years
of combat and specialized in information technology and cyber defense.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
And where were you of those four years?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I did one tour in missoul another two and the
Baghdad area as well as Dialla River Province, and one
more in Afghanistan throughout the country.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Okay, twenty years, that's a while.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah, indeed, it was twenty years of stay in combat.
Get ready to go, come back, get ready to go again.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
That's got to take a toll, I mean, just common sense.
That has to take a toll.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So you're from where originally? Los Angeles, Los Angeles, born
and raised there. I was born there and raised there
until I left for the service.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Okay, right after high school or period in between.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I made an attempt at some college and just found
that that was not necessarily for me, and so I
wanted to apply my skills to the serve of the
country in the way that I felt it was best
applied in information technology.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
What was your claim to fame in high school? I
actually was the it support for the high school. Okay,
did you apply for that? And the reason I asked
just a little funny. Friends of ours had a son,
and this was a man twenty something years ago.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Now.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
He was quite smart, particularly in the world of computer
and internet, and I think he ended up doing some
things for the school because the school found out he
had ways to get in there and do things he was.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Not supposed to feel to do. So I said, let's
put this to a better use anyway. Okay, So you
were the it guy.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
So they would pull me out of class to go
fix teachers computers. They would start up, you know, two
hour classes just to give me something to do, and
they would let me go to work early for the
town's internet provider a period at the last period of
the day.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Wow. Nice, Were you ever actually in class?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Then?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I would say, Given as poor of a student I was,
I actually needed the credits.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So those easy a's were certainly well.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Oh yeah, absolutely found a way to be good at it,
right right, Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
That's creative. I like it.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Let's let's figure a way to make it work. Just
a quick reminder as we go through the course of
the show, some of the things we talk about funny,
but sometimes some of the things we talk about can
be a bit triggering. I want to give you our
combat Trauma Crisis line. Even if you think you'll never
need it, Please put this number in your phone. You
never know who you may come across that needs the number,
(07:18):
that needs that lifeline. Eight seven seven seven one seven
seventy eight seventy three.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
I'll give it to again.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Eight seven seven seven to one, seven seventy eight seventy three.
Here's the thing you need to know about that phone number.
When you call it anytime, day or night, a combat
veteran will answer the phone. And not just any combat veteran,
someone who's been there, done that, gone through the program,
received an additional tremendous amount of training before they are
able to be a part of that eight seven seven
(07:47):
seven one seven seventy eight seventy three. A combat that's
going to answer the phone. All right, We'll be back
with more Road Hope Radio in just a moment and
(08:14):
were welcome you back, rode to Hope, Rady, glad to
have you with us today. Got marine with us. Twenty
year army that got a lot to unpack. Let's hop
to it.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
So why the army? Why did you choose the Army? So?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I have a great deal of respect for the Marines.
I had thought that making my use is more broad
than you know, infantry applications, so I wouldn't probably have
as great of a track for my specialization in technology
given what I understood about the Marines at time.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Why'd you chose the Corps? Justin Oh, it's funny.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
I was actually one to go into the Marines as
a satellite interpretation in the Intel, and the school was
too long out and I was ready to go, so
I was like, hey, can you switch me to the infantry.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
My recruiter said, there's a jump.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
Let me see if I can pull some strings to
get you in the infantry. So my first choice was Intel,
but I chose infantry, and I figured if I was
going to join the military, was going to be the Marines.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
I mean, all right, okay, so technology cybersecurity for John
Doe that's driving around six 'teen right now and has
no clue what that might mean. One, how did you
(09:46):
We'll just start there. How'd you get into that in
the army. I'm sure you had to test out on something.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
I transitioned from general information technology, which would be like
your general PC server technician, to cyber defense, which is
kind of like anti hacking for lack of a better term,
at the sixteen year mark.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
How'd you learn all that?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I had just a fascination with that since the late nineties.
I was on the on the dial up and somebody
you know, had basically kicked me off of the Internet
for something, and I was fascinated, how the heck did
this guy pull this off?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So you want to counter that, I wanted to learn more.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I wanted to be able to, you know, leverage the
same capacity at and be able to be the little devious,
devious one.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
Yeah, And at that time, everything was new, and it
was you know, guys like you know, you and I
figuring this stuff out. For people much older than us,
it didn't have any clue what was going on. So
you were on the cutting edge of everything that was happening.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Oh yeah, it was a while less at the time,
a lot of people had no clue what was happening,
and I think that it just carried forward in different
abstractions of the same.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, what you'd you join the arm by the way
two thousand and one.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Yeah, because I think a lot of people forget this
that actually did live through it. We were all going
to die when it hit two thousand, remember that. I mean,
we were all going to die. Computers weren't gonna be
able to handle it. That was just the craziest thing
in the world. Everything was going to reset. Make sure
you get your money out of the ATM. Yeah, man,
is crazy. When you stop and think how much has
(11:32):
changed in such a short time. It's insane because, like
you mentioned, there wasn't that much to even talk about,
you know, the hacking and all that kind of stuff.
Back then, rarely heard of it. Now it's part of
our everyday jargon. Oh well, yeah, every got to have
all kind of ENCRYPTID this, that and the other, plus
(11:53):
firewalls and whatever else. Stuff that It's way way out
of my knowledge base, which is fine. I'm just glad
to know there's people out there that do know how
to do it, because it is not my thing. It's
kind of like cars. I can start the car. If
I had to, I could probably figure out, you know,
the oil dipstick and you know it's oil.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Oh, you've got all these computers in the car. Now
you don't have to do that anything more than that.
It's going to a professional. Yeah, which you almost have
to because it's also computerized.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Trying to get my money. I always try and find
another way to get my money. Okay, so you join
in one. Where'd you go first?
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So I went to Fort Benning, Georgia, you know, home
of the infantry. So I got a good introduction to
the infantry style of basic training. This is pre nine
to eleven. We were still worried about the Red the
Red Army or whatever they call that. And while I
was in advanced a t following that that was at
(13:00):
Fort Gordon, we had nine to eleven attack and quickly
transitioned over to the War on Terear.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
And so.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
In that early point in time, we had a very
sparse amount of technology and we had transition to striker
brigades and then had a massive transition with the technologies
we implemented at the time.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Okay, so give us a little idea of what that
looked like. It was the day in your life.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
So early service, we would go to the field.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I was in an artillery unit and we wouldn't have
a computer out there, and so I would work on
the radios and set up you know, retransmission sites to
propagate our radio from one site to another.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Given the amount of terrain, you know, there would be
a hill.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Or a mountain or something, we would be able to
need to talk from one side to the other, and
you need to set up antennas at the top of
the mountain.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Okay, So you went in O one got out twenty
years later, So twenty one, how would you describe the
the change in the technology of what was being used
in war is We were obviously pulling out of Afghanistan
about that time, but a lot has changed.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
So in the early service with the artillery, we were
beginning to fly drones to fire artillery and have point target.
Not point target, but the effect of the precision was
beginning to use drones, and towards my last tour in Afghanistan,
(14:42):
I was enabling commercial internet in Helmand to yield drone
strikes to help re establish a foothold in Helmant okay.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
In your first deployment was where again.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
This was in Missoil, okay, and what year was that?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
This was in two thousand and four, four, so very.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Early on really okay.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
In your last deployment, that was the sixteen month Afghanistan
rotation sixteen months.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Nice?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
What years were those fifteen and sixteen?
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Okay, So a lot changed in that time period.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
That was a significant transition to the capabilities. We were
routing our communications over commercial internet and using a lot
of encryption to basically seal it.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Now you you mentioned during the break before the show,
while it or technology cybersecurity was your thing, you were
also treating the wounded.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
So in my early combat experience, I would I had
volunteered to do quick Reaction for US or qre F
for those I might've heard it in that way.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
And we did a high degree of raids.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
And such and and the UH the tactics of the
adversaries were to to you know, cause bodily injury to
bystanders or anybody, just to get us to have to
commit efforts to UH to those in aid.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yeah, I guess just as you were talking during the break,
so you such a wide variety of things that you
were doing.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
That just fascinates me.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Uh, sometimes you think of the nerdy guy just like
they're just you know, in a closet somewhere. You never
really see him until you're your computer. You can't figure
it out. And then half the time they don't. They're
doing it from the closet. They're not looking at your
physical computer, they're doing it online.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
It's crazy. Uh, you did a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I was in a number of striker brigades, and then
I had a nominative assignment to go work in the
Pentagon for the Joint Staff, and so I was happy
to make my way through just about all the places
that I could ever wish to be.
Speaker 6 (17:18):
Yeah, there's a lot of cross training in the military.
You know, if you the more well rounded, and there's
some downtime. If you got a guy that's proficient in this,
and hey, I want to be more proficient in that,
you show me. I was a machine gunner, so we
used to go shoot mortars and show the mortarmen how
to shoot the machine guns. But yeah, you wanted that
well rounded marine or soldier, not just sitting around. Hey,
(17:41):
come help us out, man, when the stuff goes down.
You want to yes, someone watching your back that knows
what he's doing, not the first time.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, all right. We're going to run to
a news break. Those of you listening on the nine
to five, oh, those of you on podcasts, just stick
through a little bit of music and we'll be back
with more of Road to Hope Radio.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And we welcome you back Road to Hope Radio.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Mentioned earlier in your introduction justin veteran liaison at Camp Hope.
Camp Hope for those of you who may be hearing
that term for the first time, interim housing facility. We
were in a program designer last six to eight months.
Sometimes guys are in the program up.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
To two years. We've had a couple of those guys.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
It is very comprehensive, it is at zero cost to
the veteran of their family, and it's proven to be
very effective. Peer to peer is the basis of it,
and we add a lot to that, but the DNA
organization is there to pure model. Again, all that information
(19:03):
is available on our website, which is PTSD Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder PTSDUSA dot org. Love for you to follow
us on social media PTSD USA on Facebook and x
and YouTube. PTSD us a PTSD Foundation of America on Instagram.
(19:25):
So there we are. You can follow us free. Please
do so, Please share as often as you can. Retweet Rex.
I don't know how they do that now that they
achieve REACX sounds kind of weird.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I don't know how they do that.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Anyway, whatever it is, you know what it is. Just
do it please and thank you for the Road to Hope
Radio show. Road to Hope Radio on Facebook and on
any platform where you listen to podcasts. Road to Hope
Radio got over eight years of shows out there, lots
of stories, lots of hope, and everyone you cross paths
(20:01):
with could use a little bit of hope. So we
truly do appreciate you sharing the show. Justin so you
came through the program, which is you know, almost all
of our staff on Camp they have done so be
a part of the mentoring program. You have to have
done so. Veteran liaison at Camp Hope, give us an
(20:23):
idea of what that means. What's your actual role?
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (20:28):
So, I mean we have guys from all different stages
of life, and a lot of times we have guys
that have some legal issues, have gotten gone down the
wrong pass and that could be from self medication, substance abuse,
domestic violence, a little bit of everything, and sometimes they
(20:51):
need a little help, little assistance. A lot of times
it could be caused by PTSD. It doesn't absolve what
they've done, but it could explain a lot. And then
sometimes we work with outside organizations and they truly want
this veteran to get help. So my job as a
veteran liaison is to coordinate and communicate with different legal
(21:14):
whether it's DA's, different counties, to make sure that the
veteran is where they need to be when they need
to be there and check in and so it's it's
really a blessing in disguise. But we've partnered with different
counties throughout the country, with different veteran treatment courts throughout
the country to help veterans make that change in their life.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
When people ask me about CAMPO, I kind of, you know,
there's no way to really fully describe it, so I
generally just respond to us in some form or fashion
along the lines of it's never boring at our place.
There's no two days that are ever alike. There are
some similarities, but there's no two days. It's crazy. Does
(22:02):
keep things from getting boring, literally keeps the job interesting,
keeps you on your toes.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
Yeah, we see and hear things that I mean, they're
stranger than fiction. And we have some real characters that
come through Camp Hope. But the biggest thing I mentioned
guys in different walks of life and and all that,
and uh, it's really reminds me of the military. We
were all goofballs, but we can all be goofballs together
(22:32):
and it really Uh, I think that's the uniqueness of
Camp Hope is is having that far reaching guys and
putting us all together. It's it's definitely uh fresh every day.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Uh well, it's a it's an interesting job. Uh, it's uh,
it's it's a it's an amazing opportunity.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Though.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
I look at what happens around there in the course
of a day, course of a year, a course of
several years now, and you see some things and observe
some things that honestly, I would not believe if someone
told me this is yeah, this is the change that transpired,
(23:18):
and this is the result, and not just in that
individual's life, but their families, their communities, you know, all
their relationships. You just you see some things that are
just how is that even possible? But we get to
see it over and over again. Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 6 (23:36):
Biggest blessing of working there and seeing that transition and
guys when they come in and then six months down
the road they go back to the same court that
sent them to Camp Hope and the judge is like, wow,
you know this is a different person and it's that
same person that was inside, but maybe I was, you know,
(23:58):
using substances to to treat myself, my my undiagnosed PTSD.
And it's amazing to see that change. And then to
send those guys home and their families get to see
that change. You can't say you're changed, it's you're You're
gonna be judged by your actions. And man, the trajectory
of guys' lives has changed through Camp Hope and that's
(24:19):
the biggest blessing.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
We have our struggles every day, but all of us, you.
Speaker 6 (24:24):
Know, we have those little wins, those little victories, and uh,
we get to see that change and that I think
that's the greatest gift.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Uh, just a h tim what obviously PTSD is part
of your life, or you wouldn't be a Camp Hope.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
The combat trauma. Uh.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
What were the first signs for you that you realize
something's not quite the way it should be.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
It started immediately following my first tour. I was I
was doing some help from my family and we used
to deliver uh Ce's candy to the to the l
a X or different other spaces in Los Angeles, and
I was having a you can call it, for lack
of a better word, a panic attack because I had,
(25:17):
you know, started to trigger on you know, different ethnicities
and in the space where I thought there was an
I D on the on the X ray machine, it was.
It was It was a serious eye opening that that
that level of uh, you know, conviction I had for
that was what was happening. Was you know, it was
(25:39):
going to be a soft target that was about to
have a you know, I d E go off.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
I'm guessing you didn't talk to anybody about.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
It, shared amongst family, but you know, I don't think
the people really didn't know how to respond to that. Yeah, okay,
so that was your first four Yeah. Then next one
I think came two thousand and six or seven.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
But you were already noticing, oh, absolutely symptoms.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Yeah, that was several hundreds of emissions of raids, ID disposal,
a couple of cop of major events.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
The job you had and the work is you did,
not only you know, for your job description, but outside
of that, coming home and taking all that uniform after
twenty years of that had to be I don't even
know the word, but it had to be really really difficult.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
For you after all that prolonged war.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah, it's all you're more or less tuned for expecting
to potentially happen with no real rationale for these things
to ultimately be happening in relatively safe space. You know,
it's more dangerous to drive down the freeway than they
expect some you know, explosion checkout asle you know.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
Sure, And you know, I think people if they had
an idea, if they have an idea, a legitimate understanding
of PTSD. I think in the early days that was
a big part of the problem. People just didn't understand it,
didn't even want to try to understand it.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I think some of the.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Movies and you know, being around it more. It's more
prevalent today than it was twenty something years ago. People
have at least heard the term. They have a better
understanding and understanding that's what was going on. It was
not somebody you know, gearing up, going out and just
shooting up like the wild wild West. That's not what
(27:38):
they were doing. People had to understand that. It took
a little while, and there's still some misunderstanding and misinterpretation
of what PTSD does, but my experience of all these years,
it very much so turns more inward than it does outward.
That's why reports tell us that we're losing up to
forty four veterans every single day they whether it be
(28:02):
suicide or addiction and overdose. That forty four day number
is staggering. And that's why organizations like the PTSD Foundation
of America, our program Camp Hope, our outreach programs, that's
why we have them. That's why we are doing everything
(28:22):
we can to grow them, grow our outreach. We want
to help reach guys just like Tim and there is hope,
there is healing. Sometimes it may be difficult to hear
that and to believe it when you're in the darkness,
but that's why we're here sharing some stories from guys
(28:44):
who are experiencing it, Guys who have experienced there is hope,
there is healing, there is change. There is life in
front of you, and it can be better than you
ever dreamed. PTSD USA dot org. We're going to take
a final break and then we'll be back with more
to Hope Radio in just a moment.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
And we welcome you back. That justin United States.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
Marine Corps veteran lead the Aison Relief veteran the Ason
Camp Hope ten United States Army veteran, twenty years in
the United States Army, four combat deployments, last one in
twenty sixteen seventeen O correct. Okay, but you started with
symptoms of PTSD after the first deployment. How did you
(29:43):
get through twenty years of that and three more deployments
and then life you know while that's going on, what
I say in post army, that's.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Why I certainly developed some alcoholism along the way, Okay,
And that was a terrible coping strategy for me that
I was able to surmount. Been about six years now
that I haven't I've been sober. How'd you do that?
That was through some buddy support. They were able to
help me get some treatment and get off the bottle.
(30:14):
And and for me to see you just exactly what
that was doing in my life. However, you know things
you know, UH still turn up after after some trauma.
I had, uh, you know, an airman take his life
that sat across me for a week, and that really
is what set me into spiral.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
What did you go to the VA or did you
go to private care? How did you handle that?
Speaker 3 (30:42):
I was?
Speaker 2 (30:42):
I was treated while in the army, Well.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
In the army, Okay, who or when or diagnosed? You?
Would you get the diagnosis?
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I had gone down to the I was stationed in
uh in Texas, and I and I went down to
San Antonio for some treatment.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
So you were getting some treatment moving along? What what?
What brought you to the place where you decided you
needed something more, something like a Camp Hope where we
may not have known about it at the time, but
you knew there's something more that I need.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Is uh is as bad as it sounds. I came
straight from jail to Camp Hope. First, my family had
helped get me coordination to come to Camp Hope to
you know, alleviate some of my legal issues. And I'm
committed to getting through the program to you know, not
(31:44):
only work on work on myself, but also to be
able to to look at that accomplishment as my you know,
my conviction to just settling my penance for less for
lack of a better word.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Okay, were you in jail when you heard about Camp Hope?
I presumed in I did. Okay, your family find it,
they had, Okay, what'd you think when you heard about it?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I wasn't sure what to expect, honestly, and when I
showed up, I was.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I was still in jail mode.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
And you know, after a couple of months of being there,
there's some adjustment for me in any of these circumstances,
because that's just one of the symptoms to PTSD.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
Justin do you remember when you first got to camp?
Speaker 3 (32:31):
Yes, uh uh.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
I'm a by nature. I'm like the world's biggest introvert.
If I had my choice, I would always be in
the very back corner of whatever the room was and
not talk to anybody. It Like, I'm just that natural introvert.
So I kind of think of, Okay, what would be
like to be coming from whether it's jail or living
in the sam Houston Forest, or your wife's saying, you know,
(32:55):
get help or don't come back, or whatever the situation
is that leads you to place going to a place,
so you have no idea where it is, what it
looks like, who's there? I mean, do they have things?
Are they waving around? And since all the time, what
am I walking into? The anxiety it would have to
be through the roof man.
Speaker 6 (33:11):
I tell people going to Camp Hope was scarier than
going into the Marine Corps, like going to boot camp,
going to overseas, I was less scared. I was more
scared coming to Camp Hope because I knew I had
to face me and I had to be honest with me,
and I don't know what to expect. Are these guys
going to judge me? It was the scariest thing I've
(33:33):
ever done with the biggest reward.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
Tim, You've been with us a couple of months now.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
That's correct, about two months.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Anything changing. Let's do it this way.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
When you woke up this morning versus when you woke
up four months ago, five months ago.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
I didn't think that there was going to be a
community uh such as this that had so many people
that could directly relate to what you're you had experience
in many ways, and then to find people that you actually,
you know, you look up to for the heroisms that
they've they've you know, uh, they they've breathed to their
(34:28):
story to life.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
You know, in their own accomplishments.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
There's a lot of people that I tremendously respect there
for their support, but just their story too.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
Yeah, and the peer to peer and people that you know,
until you go through something and doesn't have to be combat,
but just you're in some sort of support mechanism with
people with the shared experience, whatever that shared experience is. Uh,
you've never been through something like you cannot really understand it.
But when I look at our peer to peer.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
And see like guys like you.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
Cybersecurity and all the things that you did, we got
guys that were well, let's just you know, you're a Kosovo,
so completely different experience, one hundred percent different.
Speaker 6 (35:13):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
But the one I really love about is sometimes, like
as we do currently, some Vietnam guys, and I just
love what happens with that because I know they come
in a little anxious with the added anxiety of everybody's
going to be like a kid or a grand kid.
(35:35):
But you talk about you know, the heroes, like man,
what of these guys did and what they had experienced,
it's you.
Speaker 6 (35:41):
Know, it's some of the most modest part of my
job is I have to vet the DD two fourteens
of the guys that come in, and I see their accomplishments.
And that's not my story to tell. But you see
these guys, you don't hear it. They share some things,
but it's there are really just the most modest, humble
people that will do anything for anyone else.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
But it's Camp Hope.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
Is part of it of taking care of yourself so
that you can help them. I know every single person
at Camp Hope would gladly trade places with someone else
who didn't come home, but that's not reality. We can't
do that. But now it's our time to work on
each other. But these guys are the most humble, modest
people that walk this earth.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
Important question here, Tim, don't fail me.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
How's the food?
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Food's actually really good? Uh?
Speaker 1 (36:37):
You know, it's almost arguable to say that there's too
much of it.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
I'm tired of eating beef all the time. Well, there
are we get great donations. There are times when there's
way too much of certain things.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Yeah, like sweets. Well they'll just steak again.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
I don't want to offend anybody might be listening I'll
just say sweets.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
There's a lot of that that comes in.
Speaker 6 (36:59):
Yeah, take it up, play home with yes, exactly, get
that out of this building.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
They get somewhere else. Uh no, but it's great.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
Well I joke about it, but seriously, I mean, you
know you're going to go to someplace be there for
sixty nine months.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
I'm sure you have to at some point. Thing.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
I wonder what it's gonna be like, even the most
basic things, because you have to eat to put on
thirty pounds in the program, good weight good right, Well,
because there are also there's some you know, tea time
going on and Jonathan Kim Jim so, yes, sir, some
guys are walking down bear Bagade Boulevard and that's all
(37:37):
they can do. But that's great. Yeah, do what you can. Absolutely, Oh,
we seen guys. This is true like Leviticus. Uh, We've
had guys come in that could barely walk.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah. Uh and some some of them.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
In wheelchairs are using walkers or by time they're leaving,
they are in so much better physical shape. It's like,
that's not who we are and what we do, but
it's just a side effect to what happens.
Speaker 6 (37:57):
Absolutely, yeah, I spent my time in the gym, but
I've guys come in on crutches or on walker and
just having the support of your brothers around you, it's like,
you know what, I'm gonna try again today, I'm gonna
do I'm gonna go a little further today, and there's
so much support from one another, just like being in
the military. But yeah, it's it's amazing the transformation. Yeah, mind, body,
(38:19):
and soul.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
Absolutely, I got like ten seconds. What do you want
to get out of this program?
Speaker 1 (38:25):
I would love my PTSD symptoms to go into remission
and try to live a long and fruitful life.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
Can be done.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Got lots and lots of testimonies walking around that campus
showing you it can be done. All right, we are
out of time. Thank you very much for joining us again.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, look for Road to Hope Radio,
hit that subscribe button, and when you can, please share
it with your network, your friends, your family, coworkers. You
never know who might need to hear what we were
(38:56):
doing and.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
How it's what it's all about.
Speaker 4 (38:58):
Zero cost PTSDUSA Dot.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Look forward to being with you again next week for more
of Road to Hope.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Radio HM
Multiple people in my family clean my father, are veterans.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Troops that have been to war and now they're back and.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Think and be grateful for their service.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
Sacrifice, love for their country, just unselfishness, all that.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
They do for us. There are some people in this
country who take extraordinary steps to provide for the freedom
and security. We forget that those people exist.
Speaker 5 (00:27):
We know them as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,
and Coast Guard. They call themselves soldiers, seals, rangers, airmen, sailors,
devil dogs.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
And so much more.
Speaker 5 (00:42):
We call them fathers, brothers, sons and husbands, mothers, daughters,
sisters and wives. We call them friend and neighbor. These
veterans answered the call, now we answer theirs today are
the best our country has to offer, and we love them. Today,
(01:06):
we honor them and we serve them. David Maulsby is
your host, and he welcomes you to this community of veterans.
As together we are building the road to hope.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
And indeed we are glad to have you along.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
On a Sunday afternoon, those of you listen on the
nine to five oh the AM dial in Houston, Texas,
thank you for joining us. Those of you listening through
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doing that. Wherever you listen to podcasts, just look for
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Speaker 3 (01:39):
There we are.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
It's all free, just like everything we do with PTSD
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(02:02):
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(02:24):
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And then when it's time to take a look at
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Speaker 3 (03:29):
This is it. It's absolutely beautiful.
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Folks from outside of the state of Texas, don't think
they are pretty pretty spots. This is a beautiful spot.
Republic Grand Ranch dot Com. All right, we got a
couple of combat vets in the studio with us today,
one who's been with us before, currently on our staff,
been on our staff for a while. They've done a
great job. Justin, I want to reintroduce yourself to the world.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Hey, my name is Justin.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
I've been with the Foundation for three years. I got
to Campope about four years ago. And yeah, I'm the
resident liaison at Camp Hope and Branch and where you serve.
Odds served in the Marine Corps and I served in Kosovo.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Okay, all right, so we'll get into a little bit
about what that means, the veteran liaison. We'll talk about
that a little bit of course of the show. We
also got a Army vet with us from currently in
the program at Camp Hope.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Want to introduce yourself to him.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yes, Tim served twenty years in the Army, four years
of combat and specialized in information technology and cyber defense.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
And where were you of those four years?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I did one tour in missoul another two and the
Baghdad area as well as Dialla River Province, and one
more in Afghanistan throughout the country.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Okay, twenty years, that's a while.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah, indeed, it was twenty years of stay in combat.
Get ready to go, come back, get ready to go again.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
That's got to take a toll, I mean, just common sense.
That has to take a toll.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So you're from where originally? Los Angeles, Los Angeles, born
and raised there. I was born there and raised there
until I left for the service.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Okay, right after high school or period in between.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I made an attempt at some college and just found
that that was not necessarily for me, and so I
wanted to apply my skills to the serve of the
country in the way that I felt it was best
applied in information technology.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
What was your claim to fame in high school? I
actually was the it support for the high school. Okay,
did you apply for that? And the reason I asked
just a little funny. Friends of ours had a son,
and this was a man twenty something years ago.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Now.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
He was quite smart, particularly in the world of computer
and internet, and I think he ended up doing some
things for the school because the school found out he
had ways to get in there and do things he was.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Not supposed to feel to do. So I said, let's
put this to a better use anyway. Okay, So you
were the it guy.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
So they would pull me out of class to go
fix teachers computers. They would start up, you know, two
hour classes just to give me something to do, and
they would let me go to work early for the
town's internet provider a period at the last period of
the day.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Wow. Nice, Were you ever actually in class?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Then?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I would say, Given as poor of a student I was,
I actually needed the credits.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So those easy a's were certainly well.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Oh yeah, absolutely found a way to be good at it,
right right, Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
That's creative. I like it.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Let's let's figure a way to make it work. Just
a quick reminder as we go through the course of
the show, some of the things we talk about funny,
but sometimes some of the things we talk about can
be a bit triggering. I want to give you our
combat Trauma Crisis line. Even if you think you'll never
need it, Please put this number in your phone. You
never know who you may come across that needs the number,
(07:18):
that needs that lifeline. Eight seven seven seven one seven
seventy eight seventy three.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
I'll give it to again.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Eight seven seven seven to one, seven seventy eight seventy three.
Here's the thing you need to know about that phone number.
When you call it anytime, day or night, a combat
veteran will answer the phone. And not just any combat veteran,
someone who's been there, done that, gone through the program,
received an additional tremendous amount of training before they are
able to be a part of that eight seven seven
(07:47):
seven one seven seventy eight seventy three. A combat that's
going to answer the phone. All right, We'll be back
with more Road Hope Radio in just a moment and
(08:14):
were welcome you back, rode to Hope, Rady, glad to
have you with us today. Got marine with us. Twenty
year army that got a lot to unpack. Let's hop
to it.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
So why the army? Why did you choose the Army? So?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I have a great deal of respect for the Marines.
I had thought that making my use is more broad
than you know, infantry applications, so I wouldn't probably have
as great of a track for my specialization in technology
given what I understood about the Marines at time.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Why'd you chose the Corps? Justin Oh, it's funny.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
I was actually one to go into the Marines as
a satellite interpretation in the Intel, and the school was
too long out and I was ready to go, so
I was like, hey, can you switch me to the infantry.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
My recruiter said, there's a jump.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
Let me see if I can pull some strings to
get you in the infantry. So my first choice was Intel,
but I chose infantry, and I figured if I was
going to join the military, was going to be the Marines.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
I mean, all right, okay, so technology cybersecurity for John
Doe that's driving around six 'teen right now and has
no clue what that might mean. One, how did you
(09:46):
We'll just start there. How'd you get into that in
the army. I'm sure you had to test out on something.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
I transitioned from general information technology, which would be like
your general PC server technician, to cyber defense, which is
kind of like anti hacking for lack of a better term,
at the sixteen year mark.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
How'd you learn all that?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I had just a fascination with that since the late nineties.
I was on the on the dial up and somebody
you know, had basically kicked me off of the Internet
for something, and I was fascinated, how the heck did
this guy pull this off?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So you want to counter that, I wanted to learn more.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I wanted to be able to, you know, leverage the
same capacity at and be able to be the little devious,
devious one.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
Yeah, And at that time, everything was new, and it
was you know, guys like you know, you and I
figuring this stuff out. For people much older than us,
it didn't have any clue what was going on. So
you were on the cutting edge of everything that was happening.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Oh yeah, it was a while less at the time,
a lot of people had no clue what was happening,
and I think that it just carried forward in different
abstractions of the same.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, what you'd you join the arm by the way
two thousand and one.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Yeah, because I think a lot of people forget this
that actually did live through it. We were all going
to die when it hit two thousand, remember that. I mean,
we were all going to die. Computers weren't gonna be
able to handle it. That was just the craziest thing
in the world. Everything was going to reset. Make sure
you get your money out of the ATM. Yeah, man,
is crazy. When you stop and think how much has
(11:32):
changed in such a short time. It's insane because, like
you mentioned, there wasn't that much to even talk about,
you know, the hacking and all that kind of stuff.
Back then, rarely heard of it. Now it's part of
our everyday jargon. Oh well, yeah, every got to have
all kind of ENCRYPTID this, that and the other, plus
(11:53):
firewalls and whatever else. Stuff that It's way way out
of my knowledge base, which is fine. I'm just glad
to know there's people out there that do know how
to do it, because it is not my thing. It's
kind of like cars. I can start the car. If
I had to, I could probably figure out, you know,
the oil dipstick and you know it's oil.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Oh, you've got all these computers in the car. Now
you don't have to do that anything more than that.
It's going to a professional. Yeah, which you almost have
to because it's also computerized.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Trying to get my money. I always try and find
another way to get my money. Okay, so you join
in one. Where'd you go first?
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So I went to Fort Benning, Georgia, you know, home
of the infantry. So I got a good introduction to
the infantry style of basic training. This is pre nine
to eleven. We were still worried about the Red the
Red Army or whatever they call that. And while I
was in advanced a t following that that was at
(13:00):
Fort Gordon, we had nine to eleven attack and quickly
transitioned over to the War on Terear.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
And so.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
In that early point in time, we had a very
sparse amount of technology and we had transition to striker
brigades and then had a massive transition with the technologies
we implemented at the time.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Okay, so give us a little idea of what that
looked like. It was the day in your life.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
So early service, we would go to the field.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I was in an artillery unit and we wouldn't have
a computer out there, and so I would work on
the radios and set up you know, retransmission sites to
propagate our radio from one site to another.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Given the amount of terrain, you know, there would be
a hill.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Or a mountain or something, we would be able to
need to talk from one side to the other, and
you need to set up antennas at the top of
the mountain.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Okay, So you went in O one got out twenty
years later, So twenty one, how would you describe the
the change in the technology of what was being used
in war is We were obviously pulling out of Afghanistan
about that time, but a lot has changed.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
So in the early service with the artillery, we were
beginning to fly drones to fire artillery and have point target.
Not point target, but the effect of the precision was
beginning to use drones, and towards my last tour in Afghanistan,
(14:42):
I was enabling commercial internet in Helmand to yield drone
strikes to help re establish a foothold in Helmant okay.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
In your first deployment was where again.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
This was in Missoil, okay, and what year was that?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
This was in two thousand and four, four, so very.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Early on really okay.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
In your last deployment, that was the sixteen month Afghanistan
rotation sixteen months.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Nice?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
What years were those fifteen and sixteen?
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Okay, So a lot changed in that time period.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
That was a significant transition to the capabilities. We were
routing our communications over commercial internet and using a lot
of encryption to basically seal it.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Now you you mentioned during the break before the show,
while it or technology cybersecurity was your thing, you were
also treating the wounded.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
So in my early combat experience, I would I had
volunteered to do quick Reaction for US or qre F
for those I might've heard it in that way.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
And we did a high degree of raids.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
And such and and the UH the tactics of the
adversaries were to to you know, cause bodily injury to
bystanders or anybody, just to get us to have to
commit efforts to UH to those in aid.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yeah, I guess just as you were talking during the break,
so you such a wide variety of things that you
were doing.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
That just fascinates me.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Uh, sometimes you think of the nerdy guy just like
they're just you know, in a closet somewhere. You never
really see him until you're your computer. You can't figure
it out. And then half the time they don't. They're
doing it from the closet. They're not looking at your
physical computer, they're doing it online.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
It's crazy. Uh, you did a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I was in a number of striker brigades, and then
I had a nominative assignment to go work in the
Pentagon for the Joint Staff, and so I was happy
to make my way through just about all the places
that I could ever wish to be.
Speaker 6 (17:18):
Yeah, there's a lot of cross training in the military.
You know, if you the more well rounded, and there's
some downtime. If you got a guy that's proficient in this,
and hey, I want to be more proficient in that,
you show me. I was a machine gunner, so we
used to go shoot mortars and show the mortarmen how
to shoot the machine guns. But yeah, you wanted that
well rounded marine or soldier, not just sitting around. Hey,
(17:41):
come help us out, man, when the stuff goes down.
You want to yes, someone watching your back that knows
what he's doing, not the first time.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, all right. We're going to run to
a news break. Those of you listening on the nine
to five, oh, those of you on podcasts, just stick
through a little bit of music and we'll be back
with more of Road to Hope Radio.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And we welcome you back Road to Hope Radio.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Mentioned earlier in your introduction justin veteran liaison at Camp Hope.
Camp Hope for those of you who may be hearing
that term for the first time, interim housing facility. We
were in a program designer last six to eight months.
Sometimes guys are in the program up.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
To two years. We've had a couple of those guys.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
It is very comprehensive, it is at zero cost to
the veteran of their family, and it's proven to be
very effective. Peer to peer is the basis of it,
and we add a lot to that, but the DNA
organization is there to pure model. Again, all that information
(19:03):
is available on our website, which is PTSD Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder PTSDUSA dot org. Love for you to follow
us on social media PTSD USA on Facebook and x
and YouTube. PTSD us a PTSD Foundation of America on Instagram.
(19:25):
So there we are. You can follow us free. Please
do so, Please share as often as you can. Retweet Rex.
I don't know how they do that now that they
achieve REACX sounds kind of weird.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I don't know how they do that.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Anyway, whatever it is, you know what it is. Just
do it please and thank you for the Road to Hope
Radio show. Road to Hope Radio on Facebook and on
any platform where you listen to podcasts. Road to Hope
Radio got over eight years of shows out there, lots
of stories, lots of hope, and everyone you cross paths
(20:01):
with could use a little bit of hope. So we
truly do appreciate you sharing the show. Justin so you
came through the program, which is you know, almost all
of our staff on Camp they have done so be
a part of the mentoring program. You have to have
done so. Veteran liaison at Camp Hope, give us an
(20:23):
idea of what that means. What's your actual role?
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (20:28):
So, I mean we have guys from all different stages
of life, and a lot of times we have guys
that have some legal issues, have gotten gone down the
wrong pass and that could be from self medication, substance abuse,
domestic violence, a little bit of everything, and sometimes they
(20:51):
need a little help, little assistance. A lot of times
it could be caused by PTSD. It doesn't absolve what
they've done, but it could explain a lot. And then
sometimes we work with outside organizations and they truly want
this veteran to get help. So my job as a
veteran liaison is to coordinate and communicate with different legal
(21:14):
whether it's DA's, different counties, to make sure that the
veteran is where they need to be when they need
to be there and check in and so it's it's
really a blessing in disguise. But we've partnered with different
counties throughout the country, with different veteran treatment courts throughout
the country to help veterans make that change in their life.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
When people ask me about CAMPO, I kind of, you know,
there's no way to really fully describe it, so I
generally just respond to us in some form or fashion
along the lines of it's never boring at our place.
There's no two days that are ever alike. There are
some similarities, but there's no two days. It's crazy. Does
(22:02):
keep things from getting boring, literally keeps the job interesting,
keeps you on your toes.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
Yeah, we see and hear things that I mean, they're
stranger than fiction. And we have some real characters that
come through Camp Hope. But the biggest thing I mentioned
guys in different walks of life and and all that,
and uh, it's really reminds me of the military. We
were all goofballs, but we can all be goofballs together
(22:32):
and it really Uh, I think that's the uniqueness of
Camp Hope is is having that far reaching guys and
putting us all together. It's it's definitely uh fresh every day.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Uh well, it's a it's an interesting job. Uh, it's uh,
it's it's a it's an amazing opportunity.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Though.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
I look at what happens around there in the course
of a day, course of a year, a course of
several years now, and you see some things and observe
some things that honestly, I would not believe if someone
told me this is yeah, this is the change that transpired,
(23:18):
and this is the result, and not just in that
individual's life, but their families, their communities, you know, all
their relationships. You just you see some things that are
just how is that even possible? But we get to
see it over and over again. Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 6 (23:36):
Biggest blessing of working there and seeing that transition and
guys when they come in and then six months down
the road they go back to the same court that
sent them to Camp Hope and the judge is like, wow,
you know this is a different person and it's that
same person that was inside, but maybe I was, you know,
(23:58):
using substances to to treat myself, my my undiagnosed PTSD.
And it's amazing to see that change. And then to
send those guys home and their families get to see
that change. You can't say you're changed, it's you're You're
gonna be judged by your actions. And man, the trajectory
of guys' lives has changed through Camp Hope and that's
(24:19):
the biggest blessing.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
We have our struggles every day, but all of us, you.
Speaker 6 (24:24):
Know, we have those little wins, those little victories, and uh,
we get to see that change and that I think
that's the greatest gift.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Uh, just a h tim what obviously PTSD is part
of your life, or you wouldn't be a Camp Hope.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
The combat trauma. Uh.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
What were the first signs for you that you realize
something's not quite the way it should be.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
It started immediately following my first tour. I was I
was doing some help from my family and we used
to deliver uh Ce's candy to the to the l
a X or different other spaces in Los Angeles, and
I was having a you can call it, for lack
of a better word, a panic attack because I had,
(25:17):
you know, started to trigger on you know, different ethnicities
and in the space where I thought there was an
I D on the on the X ray machine, it was.
It was It was a serious eye opening that that
that level of uh, you know, conviction I had for
that was what was happening. Was you know, it was
(25:39):
going to be a soft target that was about to
have a you know, I d E go off.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
I'm guessing you didn't talk to anybody about.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
It, shared amongst family, but you know, I don't think
the people really didn't know how to respond to that. Yeah, okay,
so that was your first four Yeah. Then next one
I think came two thousand and six or seven.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
But you were already noticing, oh, absolutely symptoms.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Yeah, that was several hundreds of emissions of raids, ID disposal,
a couple of cop of major events.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
The job you had and the work is you did,
not only you know, for your job description, but outside
of that, coming home and taking all that uniform after
twenty years of that had to be I don't even
know the word, but it had to be really really difficult.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
For you after all that prolonged war.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah, it's all you're more or less tuned for expecting
to potentially happen with no real rationale for these things
to ultimately be happening in relatively safe space. You know,
it's more dangerous to drive down the freeway than they
expect some you know, explosion checkout asle you know.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
Sure, And you know, I think people if they had
an idea, if they have an idea, a legitimate understanding
of PTSD. I think in the early days that was
a big part of the problem. People just didn't understand it,
didn't even want to try to understand it.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I think some of the.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Movies and you know, being around it more. It's more
prevalent today than it was twenty something years ago. People
have at least heard the term. They have a better
understanding and understanding that's what was going on. It was
not somebody you know, gearing up, going out and just
shooting up like the wild wild West. That's not what
(27:38):
they were doing. People had to understand that. It took
a little while, and there's still some misunderstanding and misinterpretation
of what PTSD does, but my experience of all these years,
it very much so turns more inward than it does outward.
That's why reports tell us that we're losing up to
forty four veterans every single day they whether it be
(28:02):
suicide or addiction and overdose. That forty four day number
is staggering. And that's why organizations like the PTSD Foundation
of America, our program Camp Hope, our outreach programs, that's
why we have them. That's why we are doing everything
(28:22):
we can to grow them, grow our outreach. We want
to help reach guys just like Tim and there is hope,
there is healing. Sometimes it may be difficult to hear
that and to believe it when you're in the darkness,
but that's why we're here sharing some stories from guys
(28:44):
who are experiencing it, Guys who have experienced there is hope,
there is healing, there is change. There is life in
front of you, and it can be better than you
ever dreamed. PTSD USA dot org. We're going to take
a final break and then we'll be back with more
to Hope Radio in just a moment.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
And we welcome you back. That justin United States.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
Marine Corps veteran lead the Aison Relief veteran the Ason
Camp Hope ten United States Army veteran, twenty years in
the United States Army, four combat deployments, last one in
twenty sixteen seventeen O correct. Okay, but you started with
symptoms of PTSD after the first deployment. How did you
(29:43):
get through twenty years of that and three more deployments
and then life you know while that's going on, what
I say in post army, that's.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Why I certainly developed some alcoholism along the way, Okay,
And that was a terrible coping strategy for me that
I was able to surmount. Been about six years now
that I haven't I've been sober. How'd you do that?
That was through some buddy support. They were able to
help me get some treatment and get off the bottle.
(30:14):
And and for me to see you just exactly what
that was doing in my life. However, you know things
you know, UH still turn up after after some trauma.
I had, uh, you know, an airman take his life
that sat across me for a week, and that really
is what set me into spiral.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
What did you go to the VA or did you
go to private care? How did you handle that?
Speaker 3 (30:42):
I was?
Speaker 2 (30:42):
I was treated while in the army, Well.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
In the army, Okay, who or when or diagnosed? You?
Would you get the diagnosis?
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I had gone down to the I was stationed in
uh in Texas, and I and I went down to
San Antonio for some treatment.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
So you were getting some treatment moving along? What what?
What brought you to the place where you decided you
needed something more, something like a Camp Hope where we
may not have known about it at the time, but
you knew there's something more that I need.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Is uh is as bad as it sounds. I came
straight from jail to Camp Hope. First, my family had
helped get me coordination to come to Camp Hope to
you know, alleviate some of my legal issues. And I'm
committed to getting through the program to you know, not
(31:44):
only work on work on myself, but also to be
able to to look at that accomplishment as my you know,
my conviction to just settling my penance for less for
lack of a better word.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Okay, were you in jail when you heard about Camp Hope?
I presumed in I did. Okay, your family find it,
they had, Okay, what'd you think when you heard about it?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I wasn't sure what to expect, honestly, and when I
showed up, I was.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I was still in jail mode.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
And you know, after a couple of months of being there,
there's some adjustment for me in any of these circumstances,
because that's just one of the symptoms to PTSD.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
Justin do you remember when you first got to camp?
Speaker 3 (32:31):
Yes, uh uh.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
I'm a by nature. I'm like the world's biggest introvert.
If I had my choice, I would always be in
the very back corner of whatever the room was and
not talk to anybody. It Like, I'm just that natural introvert.
So I kind of think of, Okay, what would be
like to be coming from whether it's jail or living
in the sam Houston Forest, or your wife's saying, you know,
(32:55):
get help or don't come back, or whatever the situation
is that leads you to place going to a place,
so you have no idea where it is, what it
looks like, who's there? I mean, do they have things?
Are they waving around? And since all the time, what
am I walking into? The anxiety it would have to
be through the roof man.
Speaker 6 (33:11):
I tell people going to Camp Hope was scarier than
going into the Marine Corps, like going to boot camp,
going to overseas, I was less scared. I was more
scared coming to Camp Hope because I knew I had
to face me and I had to be honest with me,
and I don't know what to expect. Are these guys
going to judge me? It was the scariest thing I've
(33:33):
ever done with the biggest reward.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
Tim, You've been with us a couple of months now.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
That's correct, about two months.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Anything changing. Let's do it this way.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
When you woke up this morning versus when you woke
up four months ago, five months ago.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
I didn't think that there was going to be a
community uh such as this that had so many people
that could directly relate to what you're you had experience
in many ways, and then to find people that you actually,
you know, you look up to for the heroisms that
they've they've you know, uh, they they've breathed to their
(34:28):
story to life.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
You know, in their own accomplishments.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
There's a lot of people that I tremendously respect there
for their support, but just their story too.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
Yeah, and the peer to peer and people that you know,
until you go through something and doesn't have to be combat,
but just you're in some sort of support mechanism with
people with the shared experience, whatever that shared experience is. Uh,
you've never been through something like you cannot really understand it.
But when I look at our peer to peer.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
And see like guys like you.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
Cybersecurity and all the things that you did, we got
guys that were well, let's just you know, you're a Kosovo,
so completely different experience, one hundred percent different.
Speaker 6 (35:13):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
But the one I really love about is sometimes, like
as we do currently, some Vietnam guys, and I just
love what happens with that because I know they come
in a little anxious with the added anxiety of everybody's
going to be like a kid or a grand kid.
(35:35):
But you talk about you know, the heroes, like man,
what of these guys did and what they had experienced,
it's you.
Speaker 6 (35:41):
Know, it's some of the most modest part of my
job is I have to vet the DD two fourteens
of the guys that come in, and I see their accomplishments.
And that's not my story to tell. But you see
these guys, you don't hear it. They share some things,
but it's there are really just the most modest, humble
people that will do anything for anyone else.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
But it's Camp Hope.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
Is part of it of taking care of yourself so
that you can help them. I know every single person
at Camp Hope would gladly trade places with someone else
who didn't come home, but that's not reality. We can't
do that. But now it's our time to work on
each other. But these guys are the most humble, modest
people that walk this earth.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
Important question here, Tim, don't fail me.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
How's the food?
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Food's actually really good? Uh?
Speaker 1 (36:37):
You know, it's almost arguable to say that there's too
much of it.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
I'm tired of eating beef all the time. Well, there
are we get great donations. There are times when there's
way too much of certain things.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Yeah, like sweets. Well they'll just steak again.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
I don't want to offend anybody might be listening I'll
just say sweets.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
There's a lot of that that comes in.
Speaker 6 (36:59):
Yeah, take it up, play home with yes, exactly, get
that out of this building.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
They get somewhere else. Uh no, but it's great.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
Well I joke about it, but seriously, I mean, you
know you're going to go to someplace be there for
sixty nine months.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
I'm sure you have to at some point. Thing.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
I wonder what it's gonna be like, even the most
basic things, because you have to eat to put on
thirty pounds in the program, good weight good right, Well,
because there are also there's some you know, tea time
going on and Jonathan Kim Jim so, yes, sir, some
guys are walking down bear Bagade Boulevard and that's all
(37:37):
they can do. But that's great. Yeah, do what you can. Absolutely, Oh,
we seen guys. This is true like Leviticus. Uh, We've
had guys come in that could barely walk.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah. Uh and some some of them.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
In wheelchairs are using walkers or by time they're leaving,
they are in so much better physical shape. It's like,
that's not who we are and what we do, but
it's just a side effect to what happens.
Speaker 6 (37:57):
Absolutely, yeah, I spent my time in the gym, but
I've guys come in on crutches or on walker and
just having the support of your brothers around you, it's like,
you know what, I'm gonna try again today, I'm gonna
do I'm gonna go a little further today, and there's
so much support from one another, just like being in
the military. But yeah, it's it's amazing the transformation. Yeah, mind, body,
(38:19):
and soul.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
Absolutely, I got like ten seconds. What do you want
to get out of this program?
Speaker 1 (38:25):
I would love my PTSD symptoms to go into remission
and try to live a long and fruitful life.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
Can be done.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Got lots and lots of testimonies walking around that campus
showing you it can be done. All right, we are
out of time. Thank you very much for joining us again.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, look for Road to Hope Radio,
hit that subscribe button, and when you can, please share
it with your network, your friends, your family, coworkers. You
never know who might need to hear what we were
(38:56):
doing and.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
How it's what it's all about.
Speaker 4 (38:58):
Zero cost PTSDUSA Dot.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Look forward to being with you again next week for more
of Road to Hope.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Radio HM
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