Author and historian Jared Frederick

Author and historian Jared Frederick joins us to talk about the contributions that Alabamians have made to our military forces on this Memorial day weekend. We also talk about the roll Alabama played in the civil war.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
This is Viewpoint Alabama, a publicservice of the Alabama Radio Network where we
talk about the people, the places, and the things making news in our
state. And I'm your host,John Mountain. Coming up on Monday,
it's Memorial Day. It's the daywe remember the sacrifice made by so many
to protect our country and our wayof life. And if you're looking for
some great reading this weekend, Irecommend to you the new book Fierce Valor

(00:23):
by Jared Frederick and Eric Dort.Jared, Welcome to the show. Thank
you so much for having me.So I'd like to talk to you a
little bit about your book, notonly your book, but also some of
the other stuff that you're You havebackground in because you're the host of something
called Real History on YouTube and aninstructor of history at Penn State in Altoona,

(00:43):
so you know a lot. Also, you've worked at Gettysburg, right,
that's correct, I mean the park, not the battle. Yes,
thank goodness. So you've written abook on almost every war fought by over
American soldiers, and I wanted tostart with one that was fought right here
on the American soil, the CivilWar. Living here in the South.

(01:04):
I've got mixed feelings about this warbecause I love our country and I always
pull for America. The people ofthe South who fought in the war,
they fought, they thought that theywere fighting for the right side too,
and so I can't always condemn theSouth for fighting for what they believed in,
even if maybe I didn't agree withall of it. So I thought,
I thought i'd start with that andtalk about your perspective on that.

(01:26):
And you're well aware Montgomery, Alabamawas the first capital of the Confederacy.
We were also the first to secedefrom the Union. How did all that
come about? Well, there's alot to unpack in that question. There's
a lot of nuance in our interpretationsof the American Civil War today and a

(01:47):
lot of that it's really nothing new. People who fought in the war themselves
got involved in hotly debated partisan issuesover its meanings, its legacies, how
it affects us today, and westill confront many of its legacies. We

(02:09):
continue to debate what is the roleof government in our lives? How do
the various racial divisions stemming from theAmerican Civil War affect us as well?
And as I always tell my students, whether we realize it or not.
We live the legacies of the AmericanCivil War every day, and regardless of

(02:35):
what thought of the issue you comedown looking at, I think we'd be
hard pressed to find that there aren'tmany many lessons that we can find from
it. Absolutely, because you know, it's not like it just happened overnight.
Gradually the North and the South haddifferences, and at some point that
the enough people in the South saidthe only way to solve this is for

(02:55):
us to become a separate nation.Clearly it didn't work out any number of
reasons, but I think it isimportant to remember these lessons because here today,
where you know, there's different partsof the country. Who are you
see all the time where I justsaw where part of Idaho or part of
Oregon is thinking of seceding and becomingpart of Idaho. There's always these places
where we're mad and we're going toleave this place and go to that place,

(03:15):
and you kind of wish they couldsolve their problems. And I like
what you said that you don't leadwith slavery. There's no question that slavery
was a major issue involving the CivilWar, but it wasn't the only issue.
Well, it was a long boilingissue, and slavery is truly at
the heart of the matter. There'sreally no way around it. And as

(03:37):
you look at the articles of secessionfrom the various the Southern states that did
secede, that is the primary issuethat is referenced in all of them.
But in a more immediate sense,with the election of Abraham Lincoln, there
was the perception that he would threatenslavery's expansion into these new westward territories.

(04:00):
And the more immediate sense or implicationof secession is that you had many people
who didn't want to abide by theresults of a perfectly legal presidential election.
And so that in a nutshell isthe long term ripple effects of the Civil

(04:23):
War and what led to it.Although a lot of the people who fought,
the majority of the people who foughton the side of the South were
not themselves slave owners. There werea lot of people who themselves might be
working on a farm, but theywere not the slave owners. In fact,
I would dare say most of theslave owners were not on the front
lines. About two thirds of whiteSoutherners were in fact to poor to own

(04:47):
slaves. And it's been a pointof speculation. There are even some Confederate
soldiers themselves who wrote this that theywere involved in a rich man's war and
a poor man's fight, which isoften one of the universal things that we
sometimes hear about warfare. But thatdoesn't necessarily mean that Confederate soldiers weren't fighting

(05:13):
for the opportunity to own human propertyat any one given point, and the
Confederacy offered them that opportunity. Andso once again there's some nuance to it.
And if you read between the linesand look at period newspapers, you
can really get a sense of thepassions and the perspectives of the era.

(05:34):
And it was far from a fairfight between the North and the South.
There's no question the North had theupper hand. They had the infrastructure,
they had the railroads, they hadthe supply lines and all these things that
made the war a lot easier forthe North. There's a mixed bag to
all of that. Both sides hadtheir various advantages. Much of the wars
fought in the South, and somany of the Confederate forces had what we

(05:56):
could call a home field advantage.The one downside to that is that it's
their homes and their property and theirinfrastructure, which is simultaneously being destroyed as
these vast armies are marching across theirterritory. But US victory in the war

(06:17):
was, at least until eighteen sixtyfour, never a foregone conclusion. Abraham
Lincoln himself thought that there was astrong possibility that he wouldn't win re election
in eighteen sixty four because the conflictwas going so poorly. And so when
we look at manpower and mechanics versusthe political dynamics that were at play,

(06:42):
that was the real eight ball thatwas in the equation. And the likes
of Roberty Lee believed that if ifhe could blody the nose of US armies
as much as possible, that thatmight weaken the will of northerners to continue
the fight, and they would therefor vote Abraham Lincoln out of office.

(07:02):
That's that's one of the big objectivesthat they were pushing for in eighteen sixty
four. And you do make agood point, because a lot of the
war was not fought. Much ofthe war's not fought in Alabama just because
we there was not many people livingin Alabama. Georgia got the brunt of
a lot of Tennessee. You know, they pretty much Sherman pretty much burned

(07:23):
down Atlanta. So you know,that's the reason why a lot of people
in Atlanta still very feel, veryup They're still very upset over one hundred
and fifty years later that, youknow, we had to start over thanks
to the Civil War. Wherever youwant to blame, it's they're still kind
of upset about that. Can youtell me why? Because I always kind
of wondered this part. Montgomery startedoff as the capital of the Confederacy and

(07:44):
then it ended up in Richmond.How did that take place? Virginia was
a more populous state, It wasmore prominent from an economic standpoint. I
think at the outset of the CivilWar, leaders of the Confederacy realized that
Virginia was going to be front andcenter in the conflict because it was more

(08:07):
so a border state. It wason that periphery between north and South,
and in the days before telecommunications andthe easiness of politicians being able to communicate
with their generals, I think theyrealized the centrality of Virginia and that was

(08:28):
one of the primary reasons why thecapitol was relocated from Montgomery to Richmond Ferry
early on in the conflict. Soto wrap up my conversation about the Civil
War with you a little bit,because this is Veteran's Day, I don't
know, as a historian, youprobably have a unique perspective on this.
We honor the sacrifices of our veteranson Veterans Day, the ones who fought

(08:52):
for the United States. But thereare people who fought, for whatever reason,
fought on the side of the South, who are buried all over the
South. Are do we consider themto be These are our ancestors some of
us. Some of us, dowe consider them to be veterans although they
were fighting actually against the United States? Or are they considered you know,
and technically it was another country,but at the same time it was our

(09:13):
country all at the same time.Yeah, And I think I think you'll
offer a great question for descendants tothink about in that regard. And it's
an issue that the federal government itselfgrappled with in the decades following the conflict,
because they're emerged these bureaucratic questions ofwho qualifies as a veteran, what

(09:37):
sort of benefits do they get,how should they be cared after they get
a tombstone provided by the government whenit's all said and done, and sometimes
that varied state by state and situationby situation, and ultimately you know whether

(09:58):
you feel they were in the rightor the wrong. I think there's all
sorts of lessons that we can learnfrom our ancestors. I also think while
we should remember our ancestors, it'salso important to disassociate ourselves with them a
little bit. And I think it'salways important to remember that the actions of
your ancestors are not a reflection uponyou, unless you wish them to be

(10:24):
good or bad. Just because yourgreat grandpa did this or that, or
he fought for this side or didn'tfight for that side, that's not a
reflection on you. History is somethingfor us to learn about. We can
grow from it, but that doesn'tnecessarily mean that we have to live in
the shadows of the people who've gonebefore us. And so I think that's

(10:48):
something important to think about. Goodpoints m lam A forward to a more
popular if a war can be popular, more popular war that's been um,
I guess you know, we've we'vewe've kind of romanticized it has been insconsin
so many books and movies and stuff. In World War Two. I guess
for me, it's the one Ialways like to read most about because I

(11:11):
have I can trace myself back to. I have family members who fought,
multiple family members who actually fought inWorld War Two. And you know,
here in Alabama. I don't knowif you've ever been down to Mobile,
but we have the USS Alabama,which was a battleship that was deployed in
the Pacific during the war. Haveyou ever been there? I have been
there. It's it's a tremendous tripback in in time to walk around on

(11:33):
the decks there. When I wasin boy Scouts, we had the opportunity
to actually spend the night on theship and we would sleep in the bunks
that the soldiers slept in, Andyou really can can kind of get yourself
in the mindset of what it waslike for these soldiers who were serving at
sea, what a day was like. Can you walk me through what a
day would be like for one ofthese men who was serving on just a

(11:56):
regular guy I guess would be aNavy officer or a Navy officers, enlisted
Navy guy, a seaman, whatit was like for him to fight and
live on one of those ships.Yeah, I can certainly relate to the
story that you just shared. Myown grandfather served on a slightly bigger ship

(12:16):
at the end of the war thatpeople can likewise go visit. That's the
USS North Carolina. It's located inWilmington, North Carolina. And like you,
a number of years ago, Ihad the opportunity to spend a weekend
on that ship, and I cantell you what I gained a whole new
perspective and appreciation on life at seabecause it was one thing yet for a

(12:39):
few dozen of us to be stayingon the ship for a weekend, But
when you think about such vessels atfull capacity that might have anywhere between two
and four thousand men on them,sailing through the South Pacific, it's like
living in a sauna for months ata time as you across the vast expanse

(13:03):
of the oceans. And it wasan incredibly crowded lifestyle. You know,
there was always this joke that sailorswere fed better than ground troops. But
when you look at all of thehurdles and challenges from their confined living spaces

(13:24):
to the heat, to the coustrophobiaIt certainly gives you a new appreciation for
what those sailors had to endure.And I think when one goes and visits
the USS Alabama they can gain thosesorts of insights and appreciations. And I
always encourage people to go visit historicsites as such. And one of the

(13:48):
things that is different even now whenyou go there is they somehow reprofitted it
with some air conditioning. They didn'thave air conditioning bactor back in the forty
So that gigantic chunk of metal thatyou were standing on, you know,
in the middle love the South Pacific, that was hot, It ready to
heat back at you in the seasonthe sun. It had to be incredibly
uncomfortable on those things. It was. It was walking up on the deck.

(14:11):
It's uh, it's like walking ona baking sheet in an oven in
some cases. And so yes,it was incredibly humidum Just a few months
ago, I toward part of theSouth Pacific, I had the opportunity to
go visit Iwajima and use these aredesolate, humid, incredibly arduous bits of

(14:37):
terrain that these individuals scraped their wayacross as they were pushing across the South
Pacific and so once again, ifif you want to, you can read
a book, you can watch afilm. You never truly understand the experience

(14:58):
though, until you go walk intheir footsteps, and if you have the
ability to do that once against stress, it's so worthwhile to go and visit
these places absolutely and really put yourselfin the mindset of your your father,
your grandfather, great grandfathers who hadto serve on these ships for months and
sometimes years at sea. Not tomention the fact that you could, in

(15:20):
addition to all the other unpleasantries,you could die because somebody could actually,
you know, hit you with amissile. So yeah, yeah, these
are all things to bear in mind. Jared, I you there's so much
we could cover, but you covera lot of this in your books.
What are some of the books thatyou've written. My latest book is entitled
Fierce Valor, The True Story ofRonald Spears and his Band of Brothers.

(15:43):
It just came out in paperback andfor any of your listeners who may be
familiar with the acclaimed HBO series Bandof Brothers, it traces the life of
one of the famous officers depicted inthat film and some of the mysteries and
legacies associated with his expo. It'sin World War Two and subsequent conflicts.
Jared Frederick, thank you so muchfor joining us today on Viewpoint, Alabama.

(16:06):
And up next as we close outMay, it's still Mental Health Awareness
Month and Ryan Gorman has several guestson the subject of mental health. Ryan,
who's your first guest? I'm joinedby doctor Jennifer Strauss, National Director
for Women and Gender Related Mental Healthand the Veterans Health Administration Office of Mental
Health and Suicide Prevention. Doctor Strauss, thanks so much for coming on the

(16:26):
show. And first of all,can you run through some of the work
you do in your department. Guys, we do a lot. I think
we kind of focus on at leastthree different things. One is standing up
thinking about what PA already does reallywell and looking for ways of infusing some
tailoring to make sure that our cliniciansknow how to tweet. Would already know

(16:49):
that they've known for Aisle to takecare of women. There's some mental health
problems that only women experience. Soin that case, I think we've had
this stand things up from scratch,create something that wouldn't have been there necessarily
fifty years ago. And the otherthing that is just an ongoing talent and

(17:10):
so which is one of the reasonswhy I'm so appreciative of the time here
with you, is to get theword out. You know, I don't
think can we still here of womenwho don't know that VA takes care of
women, let does a good jobat it. There is so much that
has just evolved and and expanded forthe women's mental health nationally over the last

(17:32):
space fifteen years that we really needhelp making sure that women know that these
resources are there for them. Andthe amount of women who are veterans who
you care for, that number hasincreased quite a bit in recent years,
right absolutely, I mean all that'sexponentially. Yes. I think last year.
Last year we took care of roughover six hundred thousand women, which

(17:57):
is close to half of the popularand the women veterans. So you're seeing
more women who are veterans come infor mental health care. Do you know
if that's just because there are moreof them, or is there more of
them because there's a greater and growingmental health crisis than what we've had in

(18:18):
recent years. That's a hard questionto answer, But here's what I can
say to that. In terms ofveterans using VA services, we see higher
rates of mental health, say likemental health problems, say in the population
of the women veterans who are usingVA today versus say, ten years ago.

(18:40):
It's not clear, though, ifthe rate of mental health problems have
increased versus awareness and and willingness toask for help. Maybe it's a little
of both, but I see.I think part of why we think we're
seeing higher rates is because thankfully we'rethe stigma is not as big as it

(19:03):
was, and we talk about thingsand we recognize them. What is the
difference between women who are veterans andmen who are veterans who end up being
diagnosed with a mental health condition?You know? So even with the general
population, we see higher rates ofmental health problems in women versus men,
and higher rates of seeking care inwomen versus men. The VA population,

(19:29):
the rates of mental health diagnoses area kind of stunning. Among our women,
nearly sixty percent have been diagnosed witha mental health condition. In comparison,
thirty seven percent of our male veteranshave been diagnosed with a mental health
condition. So I don't know,it's not surprising that we see higher rates
in women because that's the pattern everywhere. What is I think kind of stunning

(19:53):
is just how high those rates are. Over half of our women carry in
mental health diagnoses. Doctor Jennifer Strauss, National Director for Women and Gender Related
Mental Health in the Veterans Health AdministrationOffice of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention,
with me for Mental Health Awareness Month. Doctor Strauss, thank you so much
for taking a few minutes to comeon the show. Really appreciate it.

(20:14):
Thank you for inviting me. Ireally enjoyed the opportunity to talk. All
right, I'm Ryan Gorman here oniHeartRadio Communities for this special Mental Health Awareness
Month edition, and let me bringin our next guest. We're joined out
by Meredith grow Porter, a licensedmental health counselor. She is the senior
director of Client Services at the CrisisCenter of Tampa Bay. Meredith, thank

(20:36):
you so much for taking a fewminutes to come on the show. And
where I'll want to start is withsome common misconceptions about mental health that you
have frequently encountered in your work overthe course of your career. I think
a main misconception is that it hasto be somebody that's in really, really,

(20:59):
really bad shape. They have mentalhealth issues, people will say,
and it is somebody who they identifyas not being able to function perhaps or
something like that. In the realityis, yes, someone in crisis or
somebody that just you know, can'tget out of whatever life experience they have
or has significant mental health illness.Like that's what people kind of you know,

(21:22):
gravitate towards. And the reality isis that we all have mental health,
just like we all have physical health. We all have mental health and
we need to be taking care ofourselves and really focusing on how to be
our best selves. Has the actualapproach to mental healthcare changed a lot since
you started in this field. Well, thankfully we have researchers in our fields

(21:45):
and our communities that help to learnnew practices and learn new ways to be
evidence based in ways to help peoplewith whatever that they are dealing with.
And that is a really big factor. I think A big focus around around
that is accessibility. So we havenoticed that everywhere in our community here in
Tampa Bay, there is a majorwait for mental health services and it really

(22:10):
can be challenging to get in,especially when somebody doesn't have resources. Thankfully,
people are reaching out, but there'sa greater need for additional clinicians.
And this is not just a FloridaFlorida concerned. This is across all areas.
There's more mental health professional needs aswell as you know. Thankfully,
like I said, the researchers arehelping us to get those evidence based practices

(22:30):
zoy, but we still need moreprofessionals in the field. I'm Ryan Gorman,
joined by Meredith grow Porter, alicensed mental health counselor. She's the
senior director of Client Services at theCrisis Center of Tampa Bay. What are
some of the most prevalent mental healthchallenges that people are facing today? Well,
I think that recognizing that again thatmental health is something that there is

(22:52):
help for, and so I thinka big challenge is on the individual level
when it comes to the vulnerability andthat it takes to reach out for help,
especially that first time mental health conditionslike anxiety and depression, it seems
like they're being diagnosed at a muchgreater level than what we had seen in
the past. Is that correct?Oh? Yes, absolutely, we are

(23:14):
seeing an increase in both anxiety anddepression. But I also wonder if that
might be because people are reporting itmore and people are more comfortable talking about
it now, but certainly when weanswer calls from the community, we also
answer ninety eight eight, which isthe National Suicide Hotline. We are seeing
a lot of anxiety and depression.So what a call comes into one of

(23:36):
the many crisis centers set up acrossthe country. And I'm sure every call
is different and unique in its ownway, but can you give us a
general understanding as to what that callis like? Sure, like you said,
every call is different and every individualis different. But for the most
part, when somebody is calling nineto eight eight, it's because they are
feeling in the moment of crisis.They are contemplating ending their life, and

(24:00):
they're reaching out to talk to somebody. And the individuals that are answering ninety
eight eight calls across the United Statesare specially trained individuals to offer that lend
a voice, basically to have thatperson, that caller on the other line
talk through whatever it is they're goingthrough and ultimately try to collaborate together the

(24:22):
caller and the person answering the linewith developing a safety plan to ensure that
that person will be safe. Thefact that somebody made the call in the
first place what does that tell you? That tells me there's hope. If
somebody's making the call, they arehoping that there's a different outcome, and
there is a different outcome, andwe're so great, but when people make

(24:42):
that call. I'm Ryan Gorman joinedby Meredith gral Porter, a licensed mental
health counselor. She's the senior directorof Client Services at the Crisis Center of
Tampa Bay and she's with us forMental Health Awareness Month. What role do
friends and family members vide in creatinga support system for those dealing with mental

(25:04):
health issues? Well, family canplay a big role. I think a
chosen family too. I like tosay so, just because you're bored into
a certain family, they may ormay not be helpful with your mental health.
And so chosen family, whether that'sfriends, colleague, neighbors, or
your biological family, all of thatcan play a very big role. For

(25:26):
example, if you are a parenttalking to your kids about how you're feeling
today, about how they're feeling,asking those follow up questions, you know,
I don't know my kids don't reallyrespond that well to hey, how
is your day at space today?But hey, what made you happy today?
What made you sad? Today,did you get frustrated, what did

(25:47):
you succeed in, what did youfeel? And really having those deeper conversations
because kids themselves, they are notgoing to go in deep with anything,
so you need to ask those probingquestions and normalizing those conversations around how you're
feeling and some of the details ofthe day. Are there any specific warning
signs or symptoms that people should beaware of when it comes to mental health

(26:11):
issues that they should be on thelookout for, either in themselves or in
others well. A change in behavioror a change in thought process is certainly
something to be on the lookout forwhen we're talking about mental health concerns or
mental health changes, behavior changes,any type of change is something to be
aware of and to ask a fewmore questions or provide, if it's yourself,

(26:33):
some reflection on what may be goingon here and is it a good
change or something I maybe you desireto do something about. Are there strategies
for self care stress management that youwould recommend for everyone listening now to improve
their mental health? Absolutely? Thereare, definitely everybody has different ways right
of self care. What works forsomebody may not work for somebody else.

(26:56):
However, some very general and commonlyuse pieces of self care. Some people
like journaling, some people like talkingto their friends, some people like going
for a walk or a run,deep breathing, meditation, yoga. Those
are all very common strategies that wehear about and encourage people to utilize.

(27:18):
Do you find that there are certaincommunities or groups that are more risk for
mental health issues? Well, Ido think. You know, the need
for mental healthcare has no boundaries,So we see anyone and everything, and
I think that the focus really ison who is getting impacted by what in
this time. So certainly if there'ssomething traumatic that's happening in the community,

(27:42):
those are the individuals that we're tryingto see. But you know, mental
health doesn't discriminate, trauma doesn't discriminate. It's anybody in everything. And what
about the role of technology, socialmedia in particular, how much is that
impacting mental health in this country?Well, at plays a role, right,
it's a new way of communicating withothers, or it's a new way

(28:03):
of getting information and information sharing andcommunication. Whether you know the person or
not, it can definitely have animpact on one's mental health. And so
when you think of bullying back inthe day of you know, before all
the technology and social media and allof that, that was you know,
one avenue. Well, that avenueis still there, that in person in

(28:26):
school bullying for example, but nowit's also on social media and it can
be more intense and it can bemore hidden. So there is definitely an
impact that that is having an unfortunatelyincreasing And another thing that our community members
have to face is how do Ihandle this aspect of my life now that
you know, thirty forty fifty yearsago they didn't have to manage. And

(28:48):
final question for you, are theresome resources or support networks you would recommend
for someone who wants to learn moreabout mental health or actually needs immediate assistance
in that area. Well, Idefinitely want to make sure that people are
aware of the National Suicide Hotline,which is nine to eight eight, which
is across the United States and veryimportant to remember it's a quick, easy

(29:11):
three digits, which is a change, so that is very important. But
also through local mental health agencies andtwo one ones across the United States would
be a great resource for people tostart. Meredith Grouporter, a licensed mental
health counselor and senior director of ClientServices at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay
with US for Mental Health Awareness Month. Meredith really appreciate the time and insight.

(29:33):
Thank you so much for coming on. It's my pleasure. Thanks so
much for having me. You've beenlistening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs
program from the Alabama Radio Network.The opinions expressed on Viewpoint Alabama are not
necessarily those of the staff, management, or advertisers of this station.