April 2, 2025 • 53 mins
Today on Tripwire, we’re having a fireside chat of sorts. OD and Staci catch up on life, share some personal reflections, and give well-deserved shoutouts to the incredible members of our veteran community. There’s laughter, a few tears, and a heartfelt reminder of the power of checking in on one another. Tune in to hear what’s next for our Naperville VFW and beyond—you won’t want to miss it!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Good afternoon everybody. It is Tripwire time. We've got Stacian
in her studio. I'm on the road in an undisclosed
location in the Midwest. But it is Tripwire time, Wednesday,
April second. It's gonna be a great show. We've got
so much to talk about. Catch up, a lot of
things going on with the Commander in Aprilville, a ton
(01:00):
of stuff going on.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Welcome, Welcome to the show. Good to see you again. Yes, it's.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Been busy, We've been busy around around these parts.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Well, and as always, you know, I'm either in class
or I'm freaking in some crazy travel thing going on wherever.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So it is what it is. It's fine. But this location,
well I had to just you know, I had to
play it up.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I mean, I'm in Ethan, Ohio near Cleveland, so I
had to make it spicier than what it was.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, no, I understand, I got it. Okay, So what if,
I mean, what have you.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Been doing that's like really super interesting with with class
and with.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
What you've.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So uh So, what our viewers don't see is the
behind the scenes stuff that we do and the text
messages and the emails and the chop busting by not
only my co host, but I'm my producer as well,
because I always seem to be in class. And this
started back when I was in Virginia on a contract
(02:15):
and I had to take some classes at the Army
Sustainment Institution and and behold, I was in class. Well,
I've been in class since February third now with a
vocational program through the VA. I'm crane operator certified, I'm
heavy equipment certified in eight different pieces of adult sized
(02:35):
taka toys. And today I started CDL, which is the
actual commercial driver's license for the eighteen wheelers, the big rigs.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So it's been a whole thing.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Last week, yeah, last week it sounded like I had laryngitis,
which is why we replayed Josh's thing because I sounded
like ant Edna who's been smoking for freaking eighty five years,
like with lucky strikes and uh, you know, you guys
were both like, oh, no, you can't bring that voice
on this show.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Voice note on the phone. You can have a voice
note on the phone. And I was like, yeah, I
get it, so this guy.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, but things are going good.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
The weather's crazy, absolutely crazy, but it's the Midwest though,
but what do you expect?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
So yeah, yeah, okay, so let's see where do you
want to start. I mean, I'm trying to look back
at some of the stuff that we've had going on
and what we've got happening. So we had the Saint
Patrick's Day Parade, which was.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Super cool here in Naperville, all.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Right because it was on a Monday, but you guys
had the braide that.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
We Yeah, we had the parade on a Saturday.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So the.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Fish Fry, we've had four weeks of that so far,
and so that goes through Lent that started on March seventh,
and it goes through April eighteenth, so.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
We have three more weeks left.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
And it's so fun because it's open to the public,
as you know. And it just so last year the
Saint Peter and Paul didn't have their fish fry, so.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
We were like, okay, we're going to get a little
more business and because we're going to you know, be
accommodating people that might might go there. But so we
we have food. We get our fish.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
It's caught from Draft Picks in Naperville, and we bring
that over and Scott, my husband, he cooks it and
we have pizza, We have shrimp, and he cooks that
back there in the kitchen, and we've got help from
Josh helps us out in the kitchen too. Britney who's
been on the show, helps this out, and some of
(05:03):
some of our other friends. And we've just been getting
so many compliments from how good the fishes and the
quality of the fish, and how fast the services, and
everybody's just doing a really, really good job. And you know,
we were concerned that we would be losing a little
bit of business, but we're not at all, So we're
(05:26):
super happy about that. And I just love the camaraderie
and the fellowship. You know, it's just veterans with people
in the community that support veterans, and we've got music playing,
the bars open, the food is fantastic, and it's like
three hours of awesome fun. And I think I've talked
a little bit about how, you know, we we set
(05:47):
it up to where we've got because.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
You know how I am.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
I love having the community involved with everything that we do.
I think it benefits everybody.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
In a lot of ways.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
We have each week a different group or community organization
come in and they help serve the tables and they
have a suite. Yeah, so then they sell there. They
sell their desserts to make money for whatever. Uh fun
they you know, always have a fundraiser for something that
they donate the money to or if they're a nonprofit, and.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
So they sell out of their suites. It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
We've been so busy that we've packing people downstairs in
the canteen, delivering fish down there to them, and it's
just really it's just a really good time.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
And I just I'm really I'm.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Really grateful that the community is coming out and supporting
the VFW while we do this and and meeting each
other and and and just having a really good time.
It's the collaboration of like heart of a veteran. The
Legion Riders are selling their merch, We've got Apriville Women's Club,
We've got just the veterans support clubs in both of
the high schools, and the auxiliaries out there.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Just it's it's it's remarkable. Is coming this Fridary, Fridery Fridary,
the Rotary of Ville.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Naperville Rotary is coming this Friday, and uh, I'm part
of the rotary as well, so I know, and it's
gonna be.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, they're they're an awesome.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
The rotary or the rotary so much fun. I think
we're in Middle Earth with the frogery, like you know,
Bilbo Baggins and them all.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
So that's really good, Okay.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
And so then this past Saturday was Vietnam Veterans Day
and we had a beautiful service, uh Veterans Park, and
we had we had a reef laying there and then
we did another reeflaying at the gold Star Memorial. So
we had color guard, our combined Color Guard with the
(07:55):
American Legion in v f W. We had our Combined
Honor Guard as well the American American Legion in VFW
and uh, the Legion writers were there and I think
you probably saw a lot of those photos. Jim Houlk
is amazing how he documents everything. We do love having
him there. We always know that we've got like beautiful
shots of.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, I mean, and you know the history.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Were you guys using Were you guys using the parking
lot across the street with from the church, because that
is not a big parking lot over there at the
Veterans Memorial at the Veterans.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Park using the parking lot, Yeah, it's a very.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Small parking lot, right, but it's a very small parking
lot at the veterans park in the at the memorial.
So I mean, where's everybody parking across the street at
the church or okay, everybody we have.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
The police are out there.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
The police are out there and they're like directing traffic
and everything, and and uh yeah, so yeah that they yeah,
everybody parked over there.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
And then I'm not trying to be really, did you
give another speech?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
No, I was just in the I was in the
color guard. I was holding the DFW flag.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
So yeah, No, the the speeches are by the Vietnam veterans.
You know, usually I talk, I talk different times. Wayne
Fisher talked, and uh, Phil Mayhem and Jim off Nall
did and Bob Grimber I believe, and the mayor said
(09:30):
some words. Really yep, he's always there too, yep. So yeah,
I mean it's just really moving. And I made a
post I think you probably, yeah, you read it on
Facebook about for me with you know that there's I
think there was twelve thousand killed, eighty eight thousand wounded
(09:54):
over you know, during the sixty five to step nineteen
seventy three, and that with in itself is you know,
those those numbers are are staggering and you but but
for me, when I hear the stories from from these
these vets, these Vietnam veterans, and how they weren't supported
and they weren't just they weren't really they weren't welcomed home,
(10:19):
you know. I mean, this is why, this is why
our honor flights, and this is why our community involvement,
this is why getting our youth involved is so important
these days.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Is because I.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Mean, definitely the veterans of today deserve all of that
as well, but we get we've always.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Gotten a little bit more support.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
There's always been a little bit more patriotism on the
home front for us.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
You know, our generation, forgotten generation.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
They are and like I said, when they tell their stories,
you know, and you see that pain in their eyes,
and some of them don't even want to tell their stories,
Like my father in law doesn't even want to talk
about it. You know. Yeah, it's because they just it's pain,
it's sadness, it's loss, it's they don't have that support
system in place, and they were like they never were
(11:11):
able to get a lot of them were never able
to really get truly involved with the VFW, like a
lot of the guys I know, and they've they've missed
out on how how it's.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Evolved throughout the years.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
So I really enjoy, you know, being in the canteen
and listening to these guys. I call them my elders,
and I say that with love because I have so
much respect for them when they tell me their stories
and they teach me things, and they tell me like
how they've done things and what their experiences are, and
not just with.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
With war stories, right, but life stories.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
You know, I think that we miss so many of us,
so many, especially younger generations, they missed that opportunity to
learn about life, unless from some of these older folks
because they don't they forget they have so much to offer.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Well okay, so but you know, even like we've only
got a couple World War Two veterans that are left
in the in America, you know, the greatest generation is
about to be gone from our access, you know, from us,
from us being able to talk to them, to have
conversations with them. We Korea is about the same. Uh
(12:31):
in numbers, I think, you know a little bit better
than World War Two. But Korea is the same. Uh,
there is still a I mean, I'm I'm literally in
a parking lot right now in my truck on this
call with you, and I'm seeing I'm seeing Vietnam.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I'm seeing Vietnam.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Metal stickers on plates all over the place. That is,
I'm just looking out the windshield of my vehicle. And
we have we have plenty of time to talk with
these people and to learn from them from their generation,
you know, share whatever stories they want to share. Open
open our arms and open our minds to what they
(13:09):
what they have to share with us.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
There's a different I believe that they what they went through.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
There's a lot of them that don't have closure because
they weren't accepted home. They weren't they weren't given the
love that they deserved when they got home.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
You know, there was.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Something I wanted.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I'm trying to pull up real quick. There was something
I was going to tell you I got.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
You know, I'm the district chair for the Women Veterans
Programs and we had this great article that was put
out by v FL w HQ about the female Vietnam veterans.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
That I include them in my post on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yeah, they just were not recognized when they came home
at all.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
And you know, I'm going to put a link actually
to all add a link in here.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Ingrid Canaday. You know who she is.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
She's my surgeon, my surgeon, she's a nurse here and
she was Air Force and she interviewed one of the
female I'm going to try to actually pull it up.
I wonder if I can pull it up while we're talking.
She interviewed one.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Of them on her podcast.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Yeah, and she probably can't pull it up, and she
I'm going to put the link into it because it's
really powerful actually, But how the contributions that the women made.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
In Vietnam. And it wasn't just the medical, it wasn't
just the nurses.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
They had them in intelligence logistics. There was a lot
of different positions that these women held and they're just
not they're just not recognized at all.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
And there was even.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
A few two or three that were commanders of full units,
even of mostly men at that time.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
God, I wish I could find that that email.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Of course I'm trying to look for it while we're
talking on here, so it's like not productive.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Uh, well, I talked to.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I talked to my uncle, so my uncle Richard and
I are the only two combat veterans left in the
family I had. When I say combat veterans, I have
an uncle who's still alive that served during Vietnam, but
he never went to Vietnam. He was on active duty
elsewhere in the military.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Uh, and he his dementia.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I don't know where his dementia is at the moment.
But it's not like I could not like I could
potentially have a conversation with him.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
My uncle Richard though, UH.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
My dad's brother Tom and then married into the family.
My my uncle Kenny, Uh, they have both since passed.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Uh. Tom was with.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
First Air cav and my uncle Kenny was a naval
METAVAC pilot off of a frigate or a carrier, picking
up pilots out of the drink when they ejected based
on being shot up so much over Vietnam. So he
was a metavac pilot pulling pilots out of the drink,
(16:56):
you know, the so you know. So the three of
them served in Vietnam. I think I think Richard did
one or two tours, Tommy did one, Kenny did one.
But I at least I can still talk to Richard
and I love I love Richard. We're both very unique
in our own continkeredness. I mean we're very continkered type
(17:18):
of people, you know. I mean we have our idiosyncrasies
based on time that we've spent in combat and how
we how we view the world.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
But I can always have a laugh with him.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
And I got from Jojo about Mission barbecues thing on
Vietnam Veterans Day, and I shared that with him a
week prior, and then I sent him a thing on
Friday saying, hey, you know, make sure you go tomorrow.
Take a couple of your buddies and you guys, you
know that they're you're gonna have a great time because
it's great food. They're a little bit further north than
(17:54):
you are, up in care. He is up and carry.
But I mean he's a great he's a great man.
I've almost had like a throwdown blow to blow with
him about his benefits through the VA when I came
back from my first tour in three four as far
(18:15):
as him filing, you know, because a lot of these
the vast majority of the Vietnam veterans, none of them
gave to rats asses about filing with the VA because
of how they were treated when they came home, you know.
And I think it has prolonged his life. He's had
he's got a pacemaker now through the VA.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I think he had a replacement shoulder, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I mean, my point is it's just it's helping him,
it's improving his as he gets into his winter years.
I mean, he just turned seventy seventy six. My dad's
turning eighty in May, so I think he was. I
think he's seventy six. But you know, as you get
into your winter year, having the ability to based on
(19:03):
your service, to rely on and we've had conversations about
the VA, regardless of how messed up they are in
certain districts, whatever. But to have that institution be there
for him to improve his way of life, to prolong
his life so that he can enjoy it more is
I think it's phenomenal, Absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
So sor right, I got off on a tangent. You
were busy looking.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Though, I go off on tangents, but I did find
what I wanted to say. So, okay, so this is
what I think is really cool. Okay, So from nineteen
fifty five to nineteen seventy five, two hundred and sixty
five thousand American women volunteered to serve worldwide, so an
eleven thousand, nearly eleven thousand women were directly deployed to Vietnam.
(19:52):
I don't think a lot of people know that, you know.
And ninety percent of the women that were in Vietnam
were in life save positions as nurses.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So then that's when I was telling you.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
There was some that were air traffic controllers and President Johnson,
Lynden Johnson openly promoted, he opened promotions for the women,
and that's where I said a few of them were
able to command units that were made up of hundreds
of men's men. And then there was one.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
That the one nurse that became a two star admiral.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Maybe Buckley, Yeah, yes, Rear Admiral Francis H. Buckley, pioneering
figure in the Navy Nurse Corps. First Navy Nurse Corps
officer to achieve a two star rank. So that was
and that was, you know, during the Vietnam and she
was in the operating room in the USS repose. So
(20:57):
she retired in nineteen eighty three. Yeah, lots of really
cool things about women in Vietnam and it's Uh, there's
there's different there's different people. Donna Allen with Alan Force
does something with with her force.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
They they they're starting honor flights for for women. There's
a lot of things going on out there for these
these ladies. But I mean, I hate to say this,
but they need to hurry up, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, No, I get it.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
You're absolutely right. It isn't that the way of it though,
you know, better late than never, but it's it's always
usually a little bit too late when it comes to.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
How are you how.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
How institutions and communities react to an idea that should
have been there from the get go, as we respond
to what veterans' needs are or you know, a a
demographic of veterans because that is a unique demographic of veterans.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Yes, well, and so and the more and more, you know,
and the last year.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
I've started to meet a lot of really cool people.
So being part of the women's kind of organization, I mean,
I'm a woman, I'm in the VFW, but getting involved
with leaders, let's just well, there's another person that I
want to bring on for an interview, Eva Marie Duffin.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
She is at the state level, and she was a commander.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
And I don't remember exactly what post she was at,
but I have become friends with her over the past
few months and she is incredibly cool and I want
to bring her on.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
She's also friends with Brittany, who we've talked.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
To, and we had Brittany on what two weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Three weeks?
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Yeah, And so with Eva, I think that with with Eva,
and then with Donna, Donna, with Alan Force and with
what they're doing with the female honor flights, and then
they have these she she Force, she Force.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Events. There's the word is escaping me.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
It's like a weekend retreat, retreat that they've got and
then they have these her stories. So they've got a
lot of these things going on where the women are
really coming together to talk about what we're doing now,
but to keep these stories alive.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
You know, from the past, which I.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Think is super important, right, and especially with these veterans clubs,
so the student the veteran student veteran clubs. Okay, So
we've got these these kids that are remarkable at and
and I talk about these kids.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
At Maapleville North and Aperville Central because.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
We do so much with them you know, and I
would love to see some of the other high schools.
I know there's interest there because I've talked to kids there.
It's just kind of a matter of getting it, getting
it going. But it is really a nice mix of
boys and girls. So it's not just a lot of
the boys and then a couple girls. It's pretty half
and half. And they're very you know, they're very involved.
(24:06):
And what I love to see about it is it's
not just patriotism, it's about they really are you know,
the veteran piece is there. They're the girls are really
interested in what the women have done, you know, in
the military and what we are doing now. But these
these kids are really involved with community and doing other stuff,
(24:28):
which it's not you know, the veteran piece is important
to us obviously, but they're doing they're very productive members
of society and at their young age. One yeah, this
one young lady named Taylor. She reached out to me
from an Apriville Central and she said, can we set
(24:50):
up a table at the fish fry for a club
that I am on the board of. And it's called
Special Spaces where they redecorate bedrooms for kids with cancer.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
And I said, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Look, come on, and I just.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Love that, Like you know what I mean, when you're
like thirteen, fourteen, fifteen years old and you are caring
about people that are less fortunate than you, that speaks
volumes to the kind of.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Kids fifteen years of age and they're thinking about an
eight year old is yeah, suffering from cancer.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
I mean these kids, Yeah, these kids are that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
And I know there's amazing kids in other towns. I
know there is, you know, but I'm just very involved
with these kids in Naperville. And you know, our surrounding areas,
we've got plans, we go, they all come, you know,
kind of come around, and they they get involved with
our VFW because we're pretty we're pretty robust, you know,
on the map.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
But they just are so cool.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I heard they've got a very powerful commander. So what
I said, I heard.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
They got a very powerful and uh and you know,
proactive commander. So I'm not surprised that these outside uh,
these outside subdivisions are going to be a part of
your the VFW in Aperville because it is robust and
there is the the magnet. It's like, what is the
(26:17):
magnetism the magnetism of the VFW in Aperville is NonStop,
absolutely NonStop, and it has to do with all the
leadership that's going on over there.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Well, I mean, we we are trying to do a
lot of things, and I'm very fortunate that I've got
such a good, uh support system within within the VFW
with all the leaders and the elders, and I mean
and our town, you know, like our are the fire department,
the police department, the Mayor's office, the city Council, the
(26:48):
Naperville response for veterans. I mean, we have the jc's everybody,
it's everybody just worked so well together.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
Okay, so let's look at some of the other things
that we've got going on. So we had so we
had the Vietnam veterans and you know, one of the
cool one of the cool things that we didn't do
at our post, but the Lamont Post did. I was
reading about their event was super cool. They had this
like big map and where everybody would go and like
(27:22):
mark where they were or what what unit they were with.
So people were just coming from all around.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
So well it was Saturday, it was the twenty ninth
that they did this, but they were coming all you know,
they were coming all around, just going out to the
post and they were having this kind of party where
everybody was just annotating on a.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Map where they were.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
And what was cool is you had people that like
didn't know each other or or hadn't seen each other
or you know, it was almost like a reunion. You know,
wait a minute, you were there, That's where I was.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
You know, yes, I just can.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
It just seems really cool.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
And then, uh, Bill Foster, our congressman here, he had
a pinning. He did a pinning for Vietnam veterans. I
believe he did them. He did that Sunday. I don't
know the exact location, but that was really cool that
he did that.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Did we talk about I was going to ask you.
I was going to ask you about that, but then
I also, okay, so I'm going to call you out
because I care about you as a friend and I
want to see how mom is doing with her with
her son in in his adventures.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Cord Man, he's, well, I actually did talk to him today. Uh,
he's he does get phone calls periodically.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
I think like the two four, uh six.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
You got to let everybody know what he's doing. You
gotta let everybody know what he's doing.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Well, he's in, he's in, he's in boot camp, and
he graduates on May eighth.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
We we.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
His job may be changing, so I will stay tuned
for that. But there's nothing negative about it. Uh, everything
is on course. I am super happy about this. If
anybody knows me or my son, Corbin, he has been
working really really hard to go into the Navy. He's
(29:24):
been working on retaking his asvabs, getting medical waivers, and
getting himself in a position where I would say market
ready and the quality that uh, you know, the Navy,
the Navy expects, and I'm really excited to see where
he goes from here. But I did talk to him
today and it's funny because you know, he was he
(29:46):
did he did go in and he was one week
out from from graduation and there was medical issues and
so he had to fight to get back in. And
that's been years and I'm I remember talking to him
on the phone when he was twenty and it was,
you know, we're different people when we're twenty versus twenty six.
(30:09):
And I love the young man that he's now become.
He's just really steadfast in his journey and his goals
and what he wants to do and accomplish, and how
he believes in himself more now and knows what he
wants to do. And I think that, you know, God,
God has a plan for us all, and it happens when,
(30:30):
not necessarily when we want it to, and things happen
where we're hold on a second, you know, I think
we've laughed about this because I've been told, wait a minute.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Slow your role. You're not doing it, ma'am. You're not
doing that yet, ma'am. But I want to do it now,
not right now, and so right now you have to wait.
So but yeah, things are going, things are going really
good with that.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Well, I had to give you a proud I had
to give you a proud mama moment, thank you, because
we haven't talked about it on.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
The on the show. Yes of yet, yeah we have.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
I wanted I wanted to make sure that our audience
knew that your son, finally, after all this time, was
able to actually ship off the boot camp and now
he gets to graduate soon.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
That's awesome. I'm so I'm proud.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
I'm so proud of it, as you should be, as
you absolutely should be.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
But I wanted to.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
I wanted our audience to under to understand not just
our investments as individuals, because you know, I'm a crusty
old veteran, You're a much more refined veteran, but also
that we have members in our family that are doing
it now, even to this in this new generation. Yeah,
and it's that's important. It's important. So I wanted to
(31:51):
make and they both worked.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
You know, he worked up at the VFW uh before
he left, and then when he left, my younger son,
Drew is nineteen now works at the VFW you know,
doing We we have a haul that we rent out
and we have tons of events pretty much every day
and we will host events with hundreds of people and
(32:16):
there's different setups and tables and chairs and a v
setups and so my son does that.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
He also has another job.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
So that's there, you know, every and then you've got
my and then you've got my husband in the back
cook and cook and fish over three hundred people in
a three hour period.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
You family is working their butt off.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Well yeah, yeah, and you know, yes, that's it's just
it's a family affair and it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
I think it's awesome. It really is and.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Let's get to this rock march because oh my f
and there was so many people and it was so awesome.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Arvin, Arvin let me use his.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Photo, uh, with his with his kid on carrying the
American flag. I don't know where he was in the
in the line, but he let me use it for
the pledge.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
In the front as the guide.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
On another there's another Navy guy leading from the front shot.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
So this was Linda. Okay, So Linda Whaley, which she's
an amazing woman. Okay.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
So she was in the Air Force. She was an
Air Force medic. I hope I don't get that wrong.
And she's actually a member of the Sandwich American Legion,
but she is transferring over to us. And she has
been on the color Guard with me for the past
couple of years and we have become great friends. And
I love her dearly and I nominated her for a
(33:52):
quilt of Honor, which she received through the Neaperville Rotary
UH and deserves it. She is one of those people
that just really emulates that still serving mentality, still shows
up every day.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
You know.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
She's always that one person that's going to be your
battle buddy no matter what. And she had this idea,
and she came to Nadia and Jennifer Sloan and myself
and said, I rarely want to do this twenty two
a day, or not twenty two a day, but twenty
two suicide awareness rock March that combines the American legions
(34:28):
idea of be the one, but with we wanted to
make it our own because we wanted to combine it
with the VFW and the American Legion. We wanted to
combine our strengths. So we wanted it to be to
be the one to help carry the load. So we
combined it to make it something of our own. And
(34:50):
we you know, you know, I always in my mind,
because you know me, I like to do things big,
So I'm always prepared for hundreds, and I've always got
news is going to be on the bar, is going
to be open, everybody knows if you know, I'm going
to carry a speaker to a microphone. I am ready
to make this a big event, right, And she, you know,
just was a little unchuir because she's never really been
(35:12):
in charge of an event, so she didn't really know
if it was going to be successful. But we knew,
we knew it was going to be successful. She has
a great idea, she has a beautiful heart, and all
of those things together really just people. We had thirty
people come from I think it was the Wheat and
Post we had, I mean groups of people come from
the Red, White and Blue team, which I have talked
(35:35):
about for people for veterans to get involved in with fitness,
fitness activities which I love, and we I mean, we
had so many groups of people, families, families pulling their
kids and wagons, people with their with their their ruck
packs on. I had my my my bulletproof plates that
(35:56):
were thirty pounds that Corbin got me. I was wearing
that my flack jacket and so my flat vest. So
you know, everybody was just Matt Whisto and Cadence and Arvin.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
What did you say?
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Arvin was up in the front.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
It's called cal carrier.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Okay. I was in the Navy. Give me, give me
a break.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
I was.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
I was a corman in the Navy. So thanks, I
appreciate I appreciate this. So yeah, and then it was great.
It was very successful and the goal was to raise
money for Support Over Stigma, which is a wonderful nonprofit
and Zoe Kiner is somebody that I've worked with.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
With the Resilience Tactics Workshop.
Speaker 4 (36:43):
Tiffany Wells is one of my dear friends that is
on our auxiliary and she's also on the board of
Support Over Stigma, and she is hugely involved. Everybody in
her family is a veteran. I mean, like literally, I
I don't know if there's anybody in her family that
that that isn't a veteran's she's auxiliary and her efforts
(37:06):
for veter the veteran community are just NonStop and she's
just amazing. And so we raised we raised money.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
We raised money for Supportive Restigma, and I think that
we ended up going before we had very little expenses
because we had a lot of people that donated.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
We Linda took care of some out of pocket costs.
She paid for some things on her own. But I
think we ended up getting over twenty six hundred, give
or take, and then had a little bit of expenses
with T shirts. So I think that that is great
and we were super happy with being able being able
to raise that money, and we were going to do
(37:49):
it again next year March twenty second, So again next year,
it's going to be a Sunday.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
I know that.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
You know, I was thinking about if we want to
keep it on that date, it's going to end up
being a Monday and a Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
How we're going to do that.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
So we may end up having to figure that out.
But well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
But I would say, you can always just change it
to the third Sunday of every March.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
Yeah, we could do that. We could do that something, yeah,
something like that. So we had about one hundred and
twenty ruckers.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
People.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
The pictures, Yeah, the pictures looked like there was a
hell a lot more than one hundred and twenty people.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
But yes, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
First first first opening day of this, first time out
the out the out the gate.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Ya, that's that's awesome. That's awesome. It really is.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
So some of the other things, oh sorry you frozen
and started, and I'm very happy.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
I'm just very happy it turned out it was.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
It was awesome.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
So we've got some other stuff going on too. We've
got the American Legion is holding a spaghetti dinner for
the Naperville North High School Veterans Club and the I'm
going to look up the exact date the it's May.
(39:14):
I believe it's May ninth. Yes, it's May ninth, and
they are raising money for their Veterans Club the spaghetti dinner,
and that's posted all over social media. And then we're
having a pig roast.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
You might want to come back into town on this.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
Yeah, well that's yeah, that's u. That's gonna be in
the canteen, so it'll be downstairs. Pig roast, May sixteenth,
the spaghetti dinner upstairs in the kitchen. May ninth, the
Legion Riders, the American Legion Riders are doing a chili
dinner to raise money for the Special Olympics.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
On twenty fifth.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Yeah, I believe that that's April twenty four, canteen.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
That's going to be upstairs in the hall.
Speaker 4 (40:08):
Yeah, all right, so we've got so April twenty fifth,
we've got the American Legion Riders Chili dinner raising money
for Special Olympics. I'm going to post, you know, as
we talk, I'll post all these links and stuff in
here so you can see how put like the flyers
up and stuff so people will see then. So in
(40:31):
May we've also got which is really cool. So as
you know, the NPC Phoenix Natural Noble Warrior. And what
I love about this show, in addition to me being
the promoter and the owner of it as Phoenix Productions.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
It is because of the collaboration.
Speaker 4 (40:47):
That we've got going on with our Military First Responders,
our recruiters, Army Fitness demo teams, American Legion riders are
going to be there. We've got the UH, We've got
the American Legion, We've got the VFW, We've got the
Veterans support clubs from the high schools, We've got our
Military First Responder Tribute, the color Guard on stage. We
invite everybody up onto the stage. So it's a big
(41:10):
collaborative effort that for me, my goal with this bodybuilding
competition is community involvement and patriotism.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
And so I submitted it.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
To National Headquarters, the FW Headquarters as you know, as
our posts want one of our posts stay of service events,
you know, just because it's something that I'm very passionate about.
Like you know a lot of people will rebuild like
a park and do things like that and which which
(41:44):
you know, I love.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
I love that doing that too.
Speaker 4 (41:47):
One of the things I like doing is just really
getting the community connected.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
So they're all on the same.
Speaker 4 (41:55):
Page with the importance of the veteran community support and
patriots of our country and how we can all keep
that strong. And so I submitted my proposal and our
post got chosen as one of the top twenty five
in the nation out of five thy five hundred posts.
(42:15):
So we're I'm so excited because we're going to get
a lot of extra media attention and support because of
what we're doing. And I'm just really really happy because
the people that are involved. You know, there's so many
people involved in this, that are involved in this before
we were going to.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Have extra media coverage and attention, and they deserve it.
They deserve to have that.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
Attention, and I'm excited that that we can provide that
on that level.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
And I want.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
I love seeing the veterans come up out of the
audience and come up on stage, you know, when the
national anthem is being sung and our combined color guard
is there and then everybody is just clapping. I just
I love seeing that and I'm just really excited that
that's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
So and then may I am actually when I'm done
with class, Like I there's an end to this there's
a there's a light at the end of the tunnel
of my class time. I'll be leaving the school mid
to late April, if I am, If I am in
(43:20):
Chicago for your weekend, because I can't make it to
Florida for the Yeardy Memorial weekend, I would like to
be there with you.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
Oh, that would be great. We'd love it. We'd love it.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Yes, I think I look forward to that.
Speaker 4 (43:36):
Because Master Blaster, I mean Master Blaster is a sponsor,
so I mean, you know, you're part of the event.
So I mean I'm looking at your I'm looking at
your logo. I'm a big poster right now. That's what
That's what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (43:52):
I'm looking over in that direction. And uh yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:55):
So our donation is is being prepared now and it
will be in the mail soon for you.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
Excellent.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
The go ahead, I keep interrupting.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Go ahead, officer.
Speaker 4 (44:16):
I call it an officer induction and I and I
don't know why, because it's an installation of officers, but
we're also inducted. I think the word is the same.
May thirtieth, and we've got Joe Kintafio. That is our
entertainment and we have. Yeah, no, it's going to be
it's going to be great. I'm really excited about it.
Speaker 3 (44:35):
Uh it was.
Speaker 4 (44:36):
It was a beautiful event. And it's it's open to
the public. I actually really you know, go out and
and invite. It's on our ticket source link with the
rest of our with with the rest of our events
that we do where you need to R s v
P and there there is not a fee for this,
but uh, you know, obviously donations are always graciously accepted,
but not definitely not required. We we we cater in
(45:00):
a really beautiful menu from Draft Picks and they have
a catering menu and so it's great food. And we've
got just a beautiful setup and I set up this
huge flag in the back of the red carpet so
we have a place to have photos taken.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
Nice. Hell yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (45:23):
And so the installation of the officers from the VFW
and our auxiliary and that's May thirtieth. So if anybody's
watching and you're interested in that, I will put.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
A link in the comments and then you can.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
Actually so I'll be I'm obviously coming after I'm done here,
I'm coming back to Chicago, So that I can spend
some time with Dad. I've been I here since February third.
I just want to before I go on to my
next adventure, wherever that may be, with whoever I'm working for,
I want to make sure that I'm only six hours away.
(45:59):
There's absolutely no excuse why I shouldn't get my ass
back there to spend time with my dad and see
my sisters, and which also by proxy, means I'm going
to be in your canteena and we should we should talk.
Maybe maybe we could talk our producer into like you
and I sit in your studio and do it and
do a show together.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
Right, Yeah, we can. We'll figure that out if you're
up for it.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
So I'm not trying to invade your personal space in
your studio there, but you know what.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
I'm saying, Yeah, I don't mind, right, that would be yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
Well even even maybe a little off camera because I
know who runs the show here. I know who runs
the show here. It's all good. So but so yeah,
looking forward to that. A lot of stuff going on.
EUD community is doing great. Very good friend of mine
who is the he's a very high end. He's not
(46:59):
the army command sergeant major, but he's the twentieth He's
the twentieth Seaburn Command sergeant major, who's in charge of
that above that higher archy of an entity is in
charge of EOD across the board in the United States Army.
He is going to be the guest speaker at the
memorial this year, which I think is fantastic.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Dave Silva, I've known him since I.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
Was a private, private first class.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
Great guy, just phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
I'd love to try and get him out here sometime,
but we may have to wait till he's retired because
he's so damn busy, because he's still wearing the uniform
and he's flying everywhere. And yeah, you know, kids are good,
family's good. You know, there are blessings in each day.
(47:47):
I've been able to talk catch up with a lot
of veterans. Over the last couple of weeks, I started
trying to be more proactive. I have more time on
the weekend, so I've been trying to reach out to
people that I have and talk to in you know,
six months, twelve months, whatever, and be more proactive in
reaching out to them and then putting myself holding myself
(48:08):
responsible or accountable and putting them on like a schedule
where I don't let it go xt number of days
without reaching out to them.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
You know, well, even if it's just two.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
Weeks, three weeks, four weeks, whatever, once a month, check
in with these people. I'm trying to be more proactive
about it rather than some of the groups that belong
to And then I get a random phone call at
two thirty in the morning and I'm talking somebody off
of a ledge or making sure they don't you know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
And I'm trying to be more proactive about that.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
And I'm trying to let people know that it's within
their power to do the same thing. It's in their
power to even if they they know them or they're
just an acquaintance or whatever.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
Paul and check on people. Be proactive.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
Don't let it get to the point where you know,
it's it's like they're massively hurting and you the goal
is to get them clinical help. If you can call
them prior to that, you may actually you may actually
(49:17):
help them not get to that point. Does that make sense?
Speaker 4 (49:22):
So yeah, I was. I was like the other day
I was heading to a meeting. It was the third Monday,
and I was heading to a meeting at Rosie's for
the Veteran Business Connection and I got I had to
call Jennifer Sloan on the phone, and I just was
pulled in like eighteen different directions and I was so frazzled.
And she's one of those people that like much like you,
(49:45):
that I can actually be myself with. And I kind
of like snapped and I just said, I can't.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
I just can't.
Speaker 4 (49:51):
I can't make it. I can't make it and I can't.
I can't do it. And then like all day I
was just trying to get my thoughts.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
String and I just yeah.
Speaker 4 (50:05):
And so then she texted me later in the day
and she's like, hey, can I can I can you
call me real quick? And I was like, you know,
I thought she needed something or whatever, and I was like, yeah,
what's going on?
Speaker 3 (50:15):
What you know? What do you need? You know, what
do you need help with?
Speaker 4 (50:18):
And then she like literally was just calling a check
on me, yeah, and make sure I was okay.
Speaker 3 (50:25):
And tell me that she appreciated me.
Speaker 4 (50:27):
And I like started to cry and I was like
I felt better instantly, And it was a really small gesture,
but like.
Speaker 3 (50:37):
It was it just really meant so much.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
Like it was just a small gesture like I wasn't
expecting it, you know, and uh from someone that I
respect and value. And I was like yeah, and I
mean I wasn't. I was nowhere near at the level
some of these people are that you're talking about, you know.
Speaker 2 (50:59):
Just like I don't.
Speaker 4 (51:00):
I wasn't at that place, you know. But I it's.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
It's very powerful what a small gesture like that can do.
People don't realize it.
Speaker 2 (51:10):
Absolutely agreed, Yeah, agreed.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
So any any last thoughts, Well, we I'll.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
Be going to Springfield.
Speaker 4 (51:23):
I'll be going to Springfield in June, the first weekend
of June. Okay, So we got our posts, got all American,
which is great. We checked all of our boxes off.
We've been busting our butts with community service and one
hundred and two percent of our membership, which is as
you know, over six hundred. The involvement the things we
(51:45):
do in the community, you know, our Honor Our Honor
Guard is phenomenal. Just the fact we are people at
the VFW and Aperville like show up, you know. I mean,
as a commander, I get a lot of credit for that,
but man, it's so much bigger that these people are
just doing things that are just you know, selfless upon belief.
Speaker 3 (52:08):
It's just crazy.
Speaker 2 (52:09):
That's fantastic, that's great, that's great.
Speaker 1 (52:13):
Well, I think we'll leave it on a very high note.
We'll just leave it right there. And as always, I
appreciate our I feel like this is a do you
remember let's go back to the greatest generation. You remember
FDR did the fireside chats over the radio back then
in that timeframe, and you know, he utilized what he
(52:34):
had to reach the masses. And I feel like this
episode has been our little version of that, letting you
sharing positive things, sharing great stories, and you know, paying
attention to wonderful people that are doing fantastic things out
there in their communities, not just for veterans, but for
(52:57):
people in general. And and that's ultimately what it's all about.
So I'm going to kick us off and say as
we as we close this down, thank everybody from showing
up for trip Wire tonight. Remember that the path of
freedom is paved with courage and honor.
Speaker 3 (53:16):
Is the wire that we never trip
Speaker 1 (53:20):
H
Good afternoon everybody. It is Tripwire time. We've got Stacian
in her studio. I'm on the road in an undisclosed
location in the Midwest. But it is Tripwire time, Wednesday,
April second. It's gonna be a great show. We've got
so much to talk about. Catch up, a lot of
things going on with the Commander in Aprilville, a ton
(01:00):
of stuff going on.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Welcome, Welcome to the show. Good to see you again. Yes, it's.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Been busy, We've been busy around around these parts.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Well, and as always, you know, I'm either in class
or I'm freaking in some crazy travel thing going on wherever.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So it is what it is. It's fine. But this location,
well I had to just you know, I had to
play it up.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I mean, I'm in Ethan, Ohio near Cleveland, so I
had to make it spicier than what it was.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, no, I understand, I got it. Okay, So what if,
I mean, what have you.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Been doing that's like really super interesting with with class
and with.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
What you've.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So uh So, what our viewers don't see is the
behind the scenes stuff that we do and the text
messages and the emails and the chop busting by not
only my co host, but I'm my producer as well,
because I always seem to be in class. And this
started back when I was in Virginia on a contract
(02:15):
and I had to take some classes at the Army
Sustainment Institution and and behold, I was in class. Well,
I've been in class since February third now with a
vocational program through the VA. I'm crane operator certified, I'm
heavy equipment certified in eight different pieces of adult sized
(02:35):
taka toys. And today I started CDL, which is the
actual commercial driver's license for the eighteen wheelers, the big rigs.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So it's been a whole thing.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Last week, yeah, last week it sounded like I had laryngitis,
which is why we replayed Josh's thing because I sounded
like ant Edna who's been smoking for freaking eighty five years,
like with lucky strikes and uh, you know, you guys
were both like, oh, no, you can't bring that voice
on this show.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Voice note on the phone. You can have a voice
note on the phone. And I was like, yeah, I
get it, so this guy.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, but things are going good.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
The weather's crazy, absolutely crazy, but it's the Midwest though,
but what do you expect?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
So yeah, yeah, okay, so let's see where do you
want to start. I mean, I'm trying to look back
at some of the stuff that we've had going on
and what we've got happening. So we had the Saint
Patrick's Day Parade, which was.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Super cool here in Naperville, all.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Right because it was on a Monday, but you guys
had the braide that.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
We Yeah, we had the parade on a Saturday.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So the.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Fish Fry, we've had four weeks of that so far,
and so that goes through Lent that started on March seventh,
and it goes through April eighteenth, so.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
We have three more weeks left.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
And it's so fun because it's open to the public,
as you know. And it just so last year the
Saint Peter and Paul didn't have their fish fry, so.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
We were like, okay, we're going to get a little
more business and because we're going to you know, be
accommodating people that might might go there. But so we
we have food. We get our fish.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
It's caught from Draft Picks in Naperville, and we bring
that over and Scott, my husband, he cooks it and
we have pizza, We have shrimp, and he cooks that
back there in the kitchen, and we've got help from
Josh helps us out in the kitchen too. Britney who's
been on the show, helps this out, and some of
(05:03):
some of our other friends. And we've just been getting
so many compliments from how good the fishes and the
quality of the fish, and how fast the services, and
everybody's just doing a really, really good job. And you know,
we were concerned that we would be losing a little
bit of business, but we're not at all, So we're
(05:26):
super happy about that. And I just love the camaraderie
and the fellowship. You know, it's just veterans with people
in the community that support veterans, and we've got music playing,
the bars open, the food is fantastic, and it's like
three hours of awesome fun. And I think I've talked
a little bit about how, you know, we we set
(05:47):
it up to where we've got because.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
You know how I am.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
I love having the community involved with everything that we do.
I think it benefits everybody.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
In a lot of ways.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
We have each week a different group or community organization
come in and they help serve the tables and they
have a suite. Yeah, so then they sell there. They
sell their desserts to make money for whatever. Uh fun
they you know, always have a fundraiser for something that
they donate the money to or if they're a nonprofit, and.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
So they sell out of their suites. It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
We've been so busy that we've packing people downstairs in
the canteen, delivering fish down there to them, and it's
just really it's just a really good time.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
And I just I'm really I'm.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Really grateful that the community is coming out and supporting
the VFW while we do this and and meeting each
other and and and just having a really good time.
It's the collaboration of like heart of a veteran. The
Legion Riders are selling their merch, We've got Apriville Women's Club,
We've got just the veterans support clubs in both of
the high schools, and the auxiliaries out there.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Just it's it's it's remarkable. Is coming this Fridary, Fridery Fridary,
the Rotary of Ville.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Naperville Rotary is coming this Friday, and uh, I'm part
of the rotary as well, so I know, and it's
gonna be.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, they're they're an awesome.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
The rotary or the rotary so much fun. I think
we're in Middle Earth with the frogery, like you know,
Bilbo Baggins and them all.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
So that's really good, Okay.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
And so then this past Saturday was Vietnam Veterans Day
and we had a beautiful service, uh Veterans Park, and
we had we had a reef laying there and then
we did another reeflaying at the gold Star Memorial. So
we had color guard, our combined Color Guard with the
(07:55):
American Legion in v f W. We had our Combined
Honor Guard as well the American American Legion in VFW
and uh, the Legion writers were there and I think
you probably saw a lot of those photos. Jim Houlk
is amazing how he documents everything. We do love having
him there. We always know that we've got like beautiful
shots of.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, I mean, and you know the history.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Were you guys using Were you guys using the parking
lot across the street with from the church, because that
is not a big parking lot over there at the
Veterans Memorial at the Veterans.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Park using the parking lot, Yeah, it's a very.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Small parking lot, right, but it's a very small parking
lot at the veterans park in the at the memorial.
So I mean, where's everybody parking across the street at
the church or okay, everybody we have.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
The police are out there.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
The police are out there and they're like directing traffic
and everything, and and uh yeah, so yeah that they yeah,
everybody parked over there.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
And then I'm not trying to be really, did you
give another speech?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
No, I was just in the I was in the
color guard. I was holding the DFW flag.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
So yeah, No, the the speeches are by the Vietnam veterans.
You know, usually I talk, I talk different times. Wayne
Fisher talked, and uh, Phil Mayhem and Jim off Nall
did and Bob Grimber I believe, and the mayor said
(09:30):
some words. Really yep, he's always there too, yep. So yeah,
I mean it's just really moving. And I made a
post I think you probably, yeah, you read it on
Facebook about for me with you know that there's I
think there was twelve thousand killed, eighty eight thousand wounded
(09:54):
over you know, during the sixty five to step nineteen
seventy three, and that with in itself is you know,
those those numbers are are staggering and you but but
for me, when I hear the stories from from these
these vets, these Vietnam veterans, and how they weren't supported
and they weren't just they weren't really they weren't welcomed home,
(10:19):
you know. I mean, this is why, this is why
our honor flights, and this is why our community involvement,
this is why getting our youth involved is so important
these days.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Is because I.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Mean, definitely the veterans of today deserve all of that
as well, but we get we've always.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Gotten a little bit more support.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
There's always been a little bit more patriotism on the
home front for us.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
You know, our generation, forgotten generation.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
They are and like I said, when they tell their stories,
you know, and you see that pain in their eyes,
and some of them don't even want to tell their stories,
Like my father in law doesn't even want to talk
about it. You know. Yeah, it's because they just it's pain,
it's sadness, it's loss, it's they don't have that support
system in place, and they were like they never were
(11:11):
able to get a lot of them were never able
to really get truly involved with the VFW, like a
lot of the guys I know, and they've they've missed
out on how how it's.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Evolved throughout the years.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
So I really enjoy, you know, being in the canteen
and listening to these guys. I call them my elders,
and I say that with love because I have so
much respect for them when they tell me their stories
and they teach me things, and they tell me like
how they've done things and what their experiences are, and
not just with.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
With war stories, right, but life stories.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
You know, I think that we miss so many of us,
so many, especially younger generations, they missed that opportunity to
learn about life, unless from some of these older folks
because they don't they forget they have so much to offer.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Well okay, so but you know, even like we've only
got a couple World War Two veterans that are left
in the in America, you know, the greatest generation is
about to be gone from our access, you know, from us,
from us being able to talk to them, to have
conversations with them. We Korea is about the same. Uh
(12:31):
in numbers, I think, you know a little bit better
than World War Two. But Korea is the same. Uh,
there is still a I mean, I'm I'm literally in
a parking lot right now in my truck on this
call with you, and I'm seeing I'm seeing Vietnam.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I'm seeing Vietnam.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Metal stickers on plates all over the place. That is,
I'm just looking out the windshield of my vehicle. And
we have we have plenty of time to talk with
these people and to learn from them from their generation,
you know, share whatever stories they want to share. Open
open our arms and open our minds to what they
(13:09):
what they have to share with us.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
There's a different I believe that they what they went through.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
There's a lot of them that don't have closure because
they weren't accepted home. They weren't they weren't given the
love that they deserved when they got home.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
You know, there was.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Something I wanted.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I'm trying to pull up real quick. There was something
I was going to tell you I got.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
You know, I'm the district chair for the Women Veterans
Programs and we had this great article that was put
out by v FL w HQ about the female Vietnam veterans.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
That I include them in my post on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yeah, they just were not recognized when they came home
at all.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
And you know, I'm going to put a link actually
to all add a link in here.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Ingrid Canaday. You know who she is.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
She's my surgeon, my surgeon, she's a nurse here and
she was Air Force and she interviewed one of the
female I'm going to try to actually pull it up.
I wonder if I can pull it up while we're talking.
She interviewed one.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Of them on her podcast.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Yeah, and she probably can't pull it up, and she
I'm going to put the link into it because it's
really powerful actually, But how the contributions that the women made.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
In Vietnam. And it wasn't just the medical, it wasn't
just the nurses.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
They had them in intelligence logistics. There was a lot
of different positions that these women held and they're just
not they're just not recognized at all.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
And there was even.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
A few two or three that were commanders of full units,
even of mostly men at that time.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
God, I wish I could find that that email.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Of course I'm trying to look for it while we're
talking on here, so it's like not productive.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Uh, well, I talked to.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I talked to my uncle, so my uncle Richard and
I are the only two combat veterans left in the
family I had. When I say combat veterans, I have
an uncle who's still alive that served during Vietnam, but
he never went to Vietnam. He was on active duty
elsewhere in the military.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Uh, and he his dementia.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I don't know where his dementia is at the moment.
But it's not like I could not like I could
potentially have a conversation with him.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
My uncle Richard though, UH.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
My dad's brother Tom and then married into the family.
My my uncle Kenny, Uh, they have both since passed.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Uh. Tom was with.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
First Air cav and my uncle Kenny was a naval
METAVAC pilot off of a frigate or a carrier, picking
up pilots out of the drink when they ejected based
on being shot up so much over Vietnam. So he
was a metavac pilot pulling pilots out of the drink,
(16:56):
you know, the so you know. So the three of
them served in Vietnam. I think I think Richard did
one or two tours, Tommy did one, Kenny did one.
But I at least I can still talk to Richard
and I love I love Richard. We're both very unique
in our own continkeredness. I mean we're very continkered type
(17:18):
of people, you know. I mean we have our idiosyncrasies
based on time that we've spent in combat and how
we how we view the world.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
But I can always have a laugh with him.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
And I got from Jojo about Mission barbecues thing on
Vietnam Veterans Day, and I shared that with him a
week prior, and then I sent him a thing on
Friday saying, hey, you know, make sure you go tomorrow.
Take a couple of your buddies and you guys, you
know that they're you're gonna have a great time because
it's great food. They're a little bit further north than
(17:54):
you are, up in care. He is up and carry.
But I mean he's a great he's a great man.
I've almost had like a throwdown blow to blow with
him about his benefits through the VA when I came
back from my first tour in three four as far
(18:15):
as him filing, you know, because a lot of these
the vast majority of the Vietnam veterans, none of them
gave to rats asses about filing with the VA because
of how they were treated when they came home, you know.
And I think it has prolonged his life. He's had
he's got a pacemaker now through the VA.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I think he had a replacement shoulder, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I mean, my point is it's just it's helping him,
it's improving his as he gets into his winter years.
I mean, he just turned seventy seventy six. My dad's
turning eighty in May, so I think he was. I
think he's seventy six. But you know, as you get
into your winter year, having the ability to based on
(19:03):
your service, to rely on and we've had conversations about
the VA, regardless of how messed up they are in
certain districts, whatever. But to have that institution be there
for him to improve his way of life, to prolong
his life so that he can enjoy it more is
I think it's phenomenal, Absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
So sor right, I got off on a tangent. You
were busy looking.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Though, I go off on tangents, but I did find
what I wanted to say. So, okay, so this is
what I think is really cool. Okay, So from nineteen
fifty five to nineteen seventy five, two hundred and sixty
five thousand American women volunteered to serve worldwide, so an
eleven thousand, nearly eleven thousand women were directly deployed to Vietnam.
(19:52):
I don't think a lot of people know that, you know.
And ninety percent of the women that were in Vietnam
were in life save positions as nurses.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So then that's when I was telling you.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
There was some that were air traffic controllers and President Johnson,
Lynden Johnson openly promoted, he opened promotions for the women,
and that's where I said a few of them were
able to command units that were made up of hundreds
of men's men. And then there was one.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
That the one nurse that became a two star admiral.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Maybe Buckley, Yeah, yes, Rear Admiral Francis H. Buckley, pioneering
figure in the Navy Nurse Corps. First Navy Nurse Corps
officer to achieve a two star rank. So that was
and that was, you know, during the Vietnam and she
was in the operating room in the USS repose. So
(20:57):
she retired in nineteen eighty three. Yeah, lots of really
cool things about women in Vietnam and it's Uh, there's
there's different there's different people. Donna Allen with Alan Force
does something with with her force.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
They they they're starting honor flights for for women. There's
a lot of things going on out there for these
these ladies. But I mean, I hate to say this,
but they need to hurry up, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, No, I get it.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
You're absolutely right. It isn't that the way of it though,
you know, better late than never, but it's it's always
usually a little bit too late when it comes to.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
How are you how.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
How institutions and communities react to an idea that should
have been there from the get go, as we respond
to what veterans' needs are or you know, a a
demographic of veterans because that is a unique demographic of veterans.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Yes, well, and so and the more and more, you know,
and the last year.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
I've started to meet a lot of really cool people.
So being part of the women's kind of organization, I mean,
I'm a woman, I'm in the VFW, but getting involved
with leaders, let's just well, there's another person that I
want to bring on for an interview, Eva Marie Duffin.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
She is at the state level, and she was a commander.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
And I don't remember exactly what post she was at,
but I have become friends with her over the past
few months and she is incredibly cool and I want
to bring her on.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
She's also friends with Brittany, who we've talked.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
To, and we had Brittany on what two weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Three weeks?
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Yeah, And so with Eva, I think that with with Eva,
and then with Donna, Donna, with Alan Force and with
what they're doing with the female honor flights, and then
they have these she she Force, she Force.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Events. There's the word is escaping me.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
It's like a weekend retreat, retreat that they've got and
then they have these her stories. So they've got a
lot of these things going on where the women are
really coming together to talk about what we're doing now,
but to keep these stories alive.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
You know, from the past, which I.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Think is super important, right, and especially with these veterans clubs,
so the student the veteran student veteran clubs. Okay, So
we've got these these kids that are remarkable at and
and I talk about these kids.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
At Maapleville North and Aperville Central because.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
We do so much with them you know, and I
would love to see some of the other high schools.
I know there's interest there because I've talked to kids there.
It's just kind of a matter of getting it, getting
it going. But it is really a nice mix of
boys and girls. So it's not just a lot of
the boys and then a couple girls. It's pretty half
and half. And they're very you know, they're very involved.
(24:06):
And what I love to see about it is it's
not just patriotism, it's about they really are you know,
the veteran piece is there. They're the girls are really
interested in what the women have done, you know, in
the military and what we are doing now. But these
these kids are really involved with community and doing other stuff,
(24:28):
which it's not you know, the veteran piece is important
to us obviously, but they're doing they're very productive members
of society and at their young age. One yeah, this
one young lady named Taylor. She reached out to me
from an Apriville Central and she said, can we set
(24:50):
up a table at the fish fry for a club
that I am on the board of. And it's called
Special Spaces where they redecorate bedrooms for kids with cancer.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
And I said, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Look, come on, and I just.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Love that, Like you know what I mean, when you're
like thirteen, fourteen, fifteen years old and you are caring
about people that are less fortunate than you, that speaks
volumes to the kind of.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Kids fifteen years of age and they're thinking about an
eight year old is yeah, suffering from cancer.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
I mean these kids, Yeah, these kids are that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
And I know there's amazing kids in other towns. I
know there is, you know, but I'm just very involved
with these kids in Naperville. And you know, our surrounding areas,
we've got plans, we go, they all come, you know,
kind of come around, and they they get involved with
our VFW because we're pretty we're pretty robust, you know,
on the map.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
But they just are so cool.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I heard they've got a very powerful commander. So what
I said, I heard.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
They got a very powerful and uh and you know,
proactive commander. So I'm not surprised that these outside uh,
these outside subdivisions are going to be a part of
your the VFW in Aperville because it is robust and
there is the the magnet. It's like, what is the
(26:17):
magnetism the magnetism of the VFW in Aperville is NonStop,
absolutely NonStop, and it has to do with all the
leadership that's going on over there.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Well, I mean, we we are trying to do a
lot of things, and I'm very fortunate that I've got
such a good, uh support system within within the VFW
with all the leaders and the elders, and I mean
and our town, you know, like our are the fire department,
the police department, the Mayor's office, the city Council, the
(26:48):
Naperville response for veterans. I mean, we have the jc's everybody,
it's everybody just worked so well together.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
Okay, so let's look at some of the other things
that we've got going on. So we had so we
had the Vietnam veterans and you know, one of the
cool one of the cool things that we didn't do
at our post, but the Lamont Post did. I was
reading about their event was super cool. They had this
like big map and where everybody would go and like
(27:22):
mark where they were or what what unit they were with.
So people were just coming from all around.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
So well it was Saturday, it was the twenty ninth
that they did this, but they were coming all you know,
they were coming all around, just going out to the
post and they were having this kind of party where
everybody was just annotating on a.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Map where they were.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
And what was cool is you had people that like
didn't know each other or or hadn't seen each other
or you know, it was almost like a reunion. You know,
wait a minute, you were there, That's where I was.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
You know, yes, I just can.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
It just seems really cool.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
And then, uh, Bill Foster, our congressman here, he had
a pinning. He did a pinning for Vietnam veterans. I
believe he did them. He did that Sunday. I don't
know the exact location, but that was really cool that
he did that.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Did we talk about I was going to ask you.
I was going to ask you about that, but then
I also, okay, so I'm going to call you out
because I care about you as a friend and I
want to see how mom is doing with her with
her son in in his adventures.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Cord Man, he's, well, I actually did talk to him today. Uh,
he's he does get phone calls periodically.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
I think like the two four, uh six.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
You got to let everybody know what he's doing. You
gotta let everybody know what he's doing.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Well, he's in, he's in, he's in boot camp, and
he graduates on May eighth.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
We we.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
His job may be changing, so I will stay tuned
for that. But there's nothing negative about it. Uh, everything
is on course. I am super happy about this. If
anybody knows me or my son, Corbin, he has been
working really really hard to go into the Navy. He's
(29:24):
been working on retaking his asvabs, getting medical waivers, and
getting himself in a position where I would say market
ready and the quality that uh, you know, the Navy,
the Navy expects, and I'm really excited to see where
he goes from here. But I did talk to him
today and it's funny because you know, he was he
(29:46):
did he did go in and he was one week
out from from graduation and there was medical issues and
so he had to fight to get back in. And
that's been years and I'm I remember talking to him
on the phone when he was twenty and it was,
you know, we're different people when we're twenty versus twenty six.
(30:09):
And I love the young man that he's now become.
He's just really steadfast in his journey and his goals
and what he wants to do and accomplish, and how
he believes in himself more now and knows what he
wants to do. And I think that, you know, God,
God has a plan for us all, and it happens when,
(30:30):
not necessarily when we want it to, and things happen
where we're hold on a second, you know, I think
we've laughed about this because I've been told, wait a minute.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Slow your role. You're not doing it, ma'am. You're not
doing that yet, ma'am. But I want to do it now,
not right now, and so right now you have to wait.
So but yeah, things are going, things are going really
good with that.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Well, I had to give you a proud I had
to give you a proud mama moment, thank you, because
we haven't talked about it on.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
The on the show. Yes of yet, yeah we have.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
I wanted I wanted to make sure that our audience
knew that your son, finally, after all this time, was
able to actually ship off the boot camp and now
he gets to graduate soon.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
That's awesome. I'm so I'm proud.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
I'm so proud of it, as you should be, as
you absolutely should be.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
But I wanted to.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
I wanted our audience to under to understand not just
our investments as individuals, because you know, I'm a crusty
old veteran, You're a much more refined veteran, but also
that we have members in our family that are doing
it now, even to this in this new generation. Yeah,
and it's that's important. It's important. So I wanted to
(31:51):
make and they both worked.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
You know, he worked up at the VFW uh before
he left, and then when he left, my younger son,
Drew is nineteen now works at the VFW you know,
doing We we have a haul that we rent out
and we have tons of events pretty much every day
and we will host events with hundreds of people and
(32:16):
there's different setups and tables and chairs and a v
setups and so my son does that.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
He also has another job.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
So that's there, you know, every and then you've got
my and then you've got my husband in the back
cook and cook and fish over three hundred people in
a three hour period.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
You family is working their butt off.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Well yeah, yeah, and you know, yes, that's it's just
it's a family affair and it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
I think it's awesome. It really is and.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Let's get to this rock march because oh my f
and there was so many people and it was so awesome.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Arvin, Arvin let me use his.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Photo, uh, with his with his kid on carrying the
American flag. I don't know where he was in the
in the line, but he let me use it for
the pledge.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
In the front as the guide.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
On another there's another Navy guy leading from the front shot.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
So this was Linda. Okay, So Linda Whaley, which she's
an amazing woman. Okay.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
So she was in the Air Force. She was an
Air Force medic. I hope I don't get that wrong.
And she's actually a member of the Sandwich American Legion,
but she is transferring over to us. And she has
been on the color Guard with me for the past
couple of years and we have become great friends. And
I love her dearly and I nominated her for a
(33:52):
quilt of Honor, which she received through the Neaperville Rotary
UH and deserves it. She is one of those people
that just really emulates that still serving mentality, still shows
up every day.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
You know.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
She's always that one person that's going to be your
battle buddy no matter what. And she had this idea,
and she came to Nadia and Jennifer Sloan and myself
and said, I rarely want to do this twenty two
a day, or not twenty two a day, but twenty
two suicide awareness rock March that combines the American legions
(34:28):
idea of be the one, but with we wanted to
make it our own because we wanted to combine it
with the VFW and the American Legion. We wanted to
combine our strengths. So we wanted it to be to
be the one to help carry the load. So we
combined it to make it something of our own. And
(34:50):
we you know, you know, I always in my mind,
because you know me, I like to do things big,
So I'm always prepared for hundreds, and I've always got
news is going to be on the bar, is going
to be open, everybody knows if you know, I'm going
to carry a speaker to a microphone. I am ready
to make this a big event, right, And she, you know,
just was a little unchuir because she's never really been
(35:12):
in charge of an event, so she didn't really know
if it was going to be successful. But we knew,
we knew it was going to be successful. She has
a great idea, she has a beautiful heart, and all
of those things together really just people. We had thirty
people come from I think it was the Wheat and
Post we had, I mean groups of people come from
the Red, White and Blue team, which I have talked
(35:35):
about for people for veterans to get involved in with fitness,
fitness activities which I love, and we I mean, we
had so many groups of people, families, families pulling their
kids and wagons, people with their with their their ruck
packs on. I had my my my bulletproof plates that
(35:56):
were thirty pounds that Corbin got me. I was wearing
that my flack jacket and so my flat vest. So
you know, everybody was just Matt Whisto and Cadence and Arvin.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
What did you say?
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Arvin was up in the front.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
It's called cal carrier.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Okay. I was in the Navy. Give me, give me
a break.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
I was.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
I was a corman in the Navy. So thanks, I
appreciate I appreciate this. So yeah, and then it was great.
It was very successful and the goal was to raise
money for Support Over Stigma, which is a wonderful nonprofit
and Zoe Kiner is somebody that I've worked with.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
With the Resilience Tactics Workshop.
Speaker 4 (36:43):
Tiffany Wells is one of my dear friends that is
on our auxiliary and she's also on the board of
Support Over Stigma, and she is hugely involved. Everybody in
her family is a veteran. I mean, like literally, I
I don't know if there's anybody in her family that
that that isn't a veteran's she's auxiliary and her efforts
(37:06):
for veter the veteran community are just NonStop and she's
just amazing. And so we raised we raised money.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
We raised money for Supportive Restigma, and I think that
we ended up going before we had very little expenses
because we had a lot of people that donated.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
We Linda took care of some out of pocket costs.
She paid for some things on her own. But I
think we ended up getting over twenty six hundred, give
or take, and then had a little bit of expenses
with T shirts. So I think that that is great
and we were super happy with being able being able
to raise that money, and we were going to do
(37:49):
it again next year March twenty second, So again next year,
it's going to be a Sunday.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
I know that.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
You know, I was thinking about if we want to
keep it on that date, it's going to end up
being a Monday and a Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
How we're going to do that.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
So we may end up having to figure that out.
But well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
But I would say, you can always just change it
to the third Sunday of every March.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
Yeah, we could do that. We could do that something, yeah,
something like that. So we had about one hundred and
twenty ruckers.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
People.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
The pictures, Yeah, the pictures looked like there was a
hell a lot more than one hundred and twenty people.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
But yes, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
First first first opening day of this, first time out
the out the out the gate.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Ya, that's that's awesome. That's awesome. It really is.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
So some of the other things, oh sorry you frozen
and started, and I'm very happy.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
I'm just very happy it turned out it was.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
It was awesome.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
So we've got some other stuff going on too. We've
got the American Legion is holding a spaghetti dinner for
the Naperville North High School Veterans Club and the I'm
going to look up the exact date the it's May.
(39:14):
I believe it's May ninth. Yes, it's May ninth, and
they are raising money for their Veterans Club the spaghetti dinner,
and that's posted all over social media. And then we're
having a pig roast.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
You might want to come back into town on this.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
Yeah, well that's yeah, that's u. That's gonna be in
the canteen, so it'll be downstairs. Pig roast, May sixteenth,
the spaghetti dinner upstairs in the kitchen. May ninth, the
Legion Riders, the American Legion Riders are doing a chili
dinner to raise money for the Special Olympics.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
On twenty fifth.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Yeah, I believe that that's April twenty four, canteen.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
That's going to be upstairs in the hall.
Speaker 4 (40:08):
Yeah, all right, so we've got so April twenty fifth,
we've got the American Legion Riders Chili dinner raising money
for Special Olympics. I'm going to post, you know, as
we talk, I'll post all these links and stuff in
here so you can see how put like the flyers
up and stuff so people will see then. So in
(40:31):
May we've also got which is really cool. So as
you know, the NPC Phoenix Natural Noble Warrior. And what
I love about this show, in addition to me being
the promoter and the owner of it as Phoenix Productions.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
It is because of the collaboration.
Speaker 4 (40:47):
That we've got going on with our Military First Responders,
our recruiters, Army Fitness demo teams, American Legion riders are
going to be there. We've got the UH, We've got
the American Legion, We've got the VFW, We've got the
Veterans support clubs from the high schools, We've got our
Military First Responder Tribute, the color Guard on stage. We
invite everybody up onto the stage. So it's a big
(41:10):
collaborative effort that for me, my goal with this bodybuilding
competition is community involvement and patriotism.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
And so I submitted it.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
To National Headquarters, the FW Headquarters as you know, as
our posts want one of our posts stay of service events,
you know, just because it's something that I'm very passionate about.
Like you know a lot of people will rebuild like
a park and do things like that and which which
(41:44):
you know, I love.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
I love that doing that too.
Speaker 4 (41:47):
One of the things I like doing is just really
getting the community connected.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
So they're all on the same.
Speaker 4 (41:55):
Page with the importance of the veteran community support and
patriots of our country and how we can all keep
that strong. And so I submitted my proposal and our
post got chosen as one of the top twenty five
in the nation out of five thy five hundred posts.
(42:15):
So we're I'm so excited because we're going to get
a lot of extra media attention and support because of
what we're doing. And I'm just really really happy because
the people that are involved. You know, there's so many
people involved in this, that are involved in this before
we were going to.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Have extra media coverage and attention, and they deserve it.
They deserve to have that.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
Attention, and I'm excited that that we can provide that
on that level.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
And I want.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
I love seeing the veterans come up out of the
audience and come up on stage, you know, when the
national anthem is being sung and our combined color guard
is there and then everybody is just clapping. I just
I love seeing that and I'm just really excited that
that's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
So and then may I am actually when I'm done
with class, Like I there's an end to this there's
a there's a light at the end of the tunnel
of my class time. I'll be leaving the school mid
to late April, if I am, If I am in
(43:20):
Chicago for your weekend, because I can't make it to
Florida for the Yeardy Memorial weekend, I would like to
be there with you.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
Oh, that would be great. We'd love it. We'd love it.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Yes, I think I look forward to that.
Speaker 4 (43:36):
Because Master Blaster, I mean Master Blaster is a sponsor,
so I mean, you know, you're part of the event.
So I mean I'm looking at your I'm looking at
your logo. I'm a big poster right now. That's what
That's what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (43:52):
I'm looking over in that direction. And uh yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:55):
So our donation is is being prepared now and it
will be in the mail soon for you.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
Excellent.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
The go ahead, I keep interrupting.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Go ahead, officer.
Speaker 4 (44:16):
I call it an officer induction and I and I
don't know why, because it's an installation of officers, but
we're also inducted. I think the word is the same.
May thirtieth, and we've got Joe Kintafio. That is our
entertainment and we have. Yeah, no, it's going to be
it's going to be great. I'm really excited about it.
Speaker 3 (44:35):
Uh it was.
Speaker 4 (44:36):
It was a beautiful event. And it's it's open to
the public. I actually really you know, go out and
and invite. It's on our ticket source link with the
rest of our with with the rest of our events
that we do where you need to R s v
P and there there is not a fee for this,
but uh, you know, obviously donations are always graciously accepted,
but not definitely not required. We we we cater in
(45:00):
a really beautiful menu from Draft Picks and they have
a catering menu and so it's great food. And we've
got just a beautiful setup and I set up this
huge flag in the back of the red carpet so
we have a place to have photos taken.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
Nice. Hell yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (45:23):
And so the installation of the officers from the VFW
and our auxiliary and that's May thirtieth. So if anybody's
watching and you're interested in that, I will put.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
A link in the comments and then you can.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
Actually so I'll be I'm obviously coming after I'm done here,
I'm coming back to Chicago, So that I can spend
some time with Dad. I've been I here since February third.
I just want to before I go on to my
next adventure, wherever that may be, with whoever I'm working for,
I want to make sure that I'm only six hours away.
(45:59):
There's absolutely no excuse why I shouldn't get my ass
back there to spend time with my dad and see
my sisters, and which also by proxy, means I'm going
to be in your canteena and we should we should talk.
Maybe maybe we could talk our producer into like you
and I sit in your studio and do it and
do a show together.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
Right, Yeah, we can. We'll figure that out if you're
up for it.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
So I'm not trying to invade your personal space in
your studio there, but you know what.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
I'm saying, Yeah, I don't mind, right, that would be yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
Well even even maybe a little off camera because I
know who runs the show here. I know who runs
the show here. It's all good. So but so yeah,
looking forward to that. A lot of stuff going on.
EUD community is doing great. Very good friend of mine
who is the he's a very high end. He's not
(46:59):
the army command sergeant major, but he's the twentieth He's
the twentieth Seaburn Command sergeant major, who's in charge of
that above that higher archy of an entity is in
charge of EOD across the board in the United States Army.
He is going to be the guest speaker at the
memorial this year, which I think is fantastic.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Dave Silva, I've known him since I.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
Was a private, private first class.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
Great guy, just phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
I'd love to try and get him out here sometime,
but we may have to wait till he's retired because
he's so damn busy, because he's still wearing the uniform
and he's flying everywhere. And yeah, you know, kids are good,
family's good. You know, there are blessings in each day.
(47:47):
I've been able to talk catch up with a lot
of veterans. Over the last couple of weeks, I started
trying to be more proactive. I have more time on
the weekend, so I've been trying to reach out to
people that I have and talk to in you know,
six months, twelve months, whatever, and be more proactive in
reaching out to them and then putting myself holding myself
(48:08):
responsible or accountable and putting them on like a schedule
where I don't let it go xt number of days
without reaching out to them.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
You know, well, even if it's just two.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
Weeks, three weeks, four weeks, whatever, once a month, check
in with these people. I'm trying to be more proactive
about it rather than some of the groups that belong
to And then I get a random phone call at
two thirty in the morning and I'm talking somebody off
of a ledge or making sure they don't you know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
And I'm trying to be more proactive about that.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
And I'm trying to let people know that it's within
their power to do the same thing. It's in their
power to even if they they know them or they're
just an acquaintance or whatever.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
Paul and check on people. Be proactive.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
Don't let it get to the point where you know,
it's it's like they're massively hurting and you the goal
is to get them clinical help. If you can call
them prior to that, you may actually you may actually
(49:17):
help them not get to that point. Does that make sense?
Speaker 4 (49:22):
So yeah, I was. I was like the other day
I was heading to a meeting. It was the third Monday,
and I was heading to a meeting at Rosie's for
the Veteran Business Connection and I got I had to
call Jennifer Sloan on the phone, and I just was
pulled in like eighteen different directions and I was so frazzled.
And she's one of those people that like much like you,
(49:45):
that I can actually be myself with. And I kind
of like snapped and I just said, I can't.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
I just can't.
Speaker 4 (49:51):
I can't make it. I can't make it and I can't.
I can't do it. And then like all day I
was just trying to get my thoughts.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
String and I just yeah.
Speaker 4 (50:05):
And so then she texted me later in the day
and she's like, hey, can I can I can you
call me real quick? And I was like, you know,
I thought she needed something or whatever, and I was like, yeah,
what's going on?
Speaker 3 (50:15):
What you know? What do you need? You know, what
do you need help with?
Speaker 4 (50:18):
And then she like literally was just calling a check
on me, yeah, and make sure I was okay.
Speaker 3 (50:25):
And tell me that she appreciated me.
Speaker 4 (50:27):
And I like started to cry and I was like
I felt better instantly, And it was a really small gesture,
but like.
Speaker 3 (50:37):
It was it just really meant so much.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
Like it was just a small gesture like I wasn't
expecting it, you know, and uh from someone that I
respect and value. And I was like yeah, and I
mean I wasn't. I was nowhere near at the level
some of these people are that you're talking about, you know.
Speaker 2 (50:59):
Just like I don't.
Speaker 4 (51:00):
I wasn't at that place, you know. But I it's.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
It's very powerful what a small gesture like that can do.
People don't realize it.
Speaker 2 (51:10):
Absolutely agreed, Yeah, agreed.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
So any any last thoughts, Well, we I'll.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
Be going to Springfield.
Speaker 4 (51:23):
I'll be going to Springfield in June, the first weekend
of June. Okay, So we got our posts, got all American,
which is great. We checked all of our boxes off.
We've been busting our butts with community service and one
hundred and two percent of our membership, which is as
you know, over six hundred. The involvement the things we
(51:45):
do in the community, you know, our Honor Our Honor
Guard is phenomenal. Just the fact we are people at
the VFW and Aperville like show up, you know. I mean,
as a commander, I get a lot of credit for that,
but man, it's so much bigger that these people are
just doing things that are just you know, selfless upon belief.
Speaker 3 (52:08):
It's just crazy.
Speaker 2 (52:09):
That's fantastic, that's great, that's great.
Speaker 1 (52:13):
Well, I think we'll leave it on a very high note.
We'll just leave it right there. And as always, I
appreciate our I feel like this is a do you
remember let's go back to the greatest generation. You remember
FDR did the fireside chats over the radio back then
in that timeframe, and you know, he utilized what he
(52:34):
had to reach the masses. And I feel like this
episode has been our little version of that, letting you
sharing positive things, sharing great stories, and you know, paying
attention to wonderful people that are doing fantastic things out
there in their communities, not just for veterans, but for
(52:57):
people in general. And and that's ultimately what it's all about.
So I'm going to kick us off and say as
we as we close this down, thank everybody from showing
up for trip Wire tonight. Remember that the path of
freedom is paved with courage and honor.
Speaker 3 (53:16):
Is the wire that we never trip
Speaker 1 (53:20):
H
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