August 6, 2023 • 30 mins
Tyler Ryan speaks with Col. Kevin Shwedo about the Fisher House Foundation House of Columbia.
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Carolina Cares is hosted by award winning radio and television personality Tyler Ryan, and recorded at iHeart Studio in Columbia South Carolina, and air across the state of South Carolina on the South Carolina Radio Network. In addition to Carolina Cares, Tyler Ryan is seen weekday mornings on ABC Columbia’s Good Morning Columbia television program, where he serves as the Host and Morning Weather Anchor.
Tyler is also a professional Emcee and Brand Ambassador.
If you have an idea for a Carolina Cares topic our would like to appear on the show, you can reach out to him at Tyler@CarolinaCaresRadio.com
You can find Tyler on Instagram www.instagram.com/tylerryanonline and Facebook www.facebook.com/tylerryanonline
You can learn more HERE.
Carolina Cares is hosted by award winning radio and television personality Tyler Ryan, and recorded at iHeart Studio in Columbia South Carolina, and air across the state of South Carolina on the South Carolina Radio Network. In addition to Carolina Cares, Tyler Ryan is seen weekday mornings on ABC Columbia’s Good Morning Columbia television program, where he serves as the Host and Morning Weather Anchor.
Tyler is also a professional Emcee and Brand Ambassador.
If you have an idea for a Carolina Cares topic our would like to appear on the show, you can reach out to him at Tyler@CarolinaCaresRadio.com
You can find Tyler on Instagram www.instagram.com/tylerryanonline and Facebook www.facebook.com/tylerryanonline
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to CarolinaCares and iHeartRadio production here on the South
Carolina Radio Network. My name isTyler Ryan. Thank you so much for
joining us today as you do everyweek after week after we've been doing the
show a long time. My goodness, week after week. It means a
lot that you join us across thestate of South Carolina, from the upstate
down to the low Country, theGrand Strand, Horse Country, beautiful horse
(00:22):
Country, and of course right herein the Midlands, which happens to be
our flagship station, w VOC AMand FM. As always, if you
have an idea, an agency andorganization, a message you'd like to hear
on Carolina Cares, you can alwaysemail me Tyler at Carolina Cares Radio dot
com. It's Tyler at Carolina CaresRadio dot com. If you think you
know what I make a good guest, I've got something to say, we
(00:44):
need to chat about it. Andof course I always do ask you to
follow us on the socials. We'reon the Facebook Carolina Cares Radio. It's
kind of a theme we're working on. And if you want to hear this
show again, and you probably aregoing to want to, you can do
that after dairs, of course,we go ahead and we put it up
onto the iHeartRadio app into the podcastand you can listen to it again and
again and again along with the otherhundreds of Carolina Cares programs. If you
(01:06):
don't have that app, it's supersimple to get you just go to your
app storey play store, look upiHeart Radio, you download that and then
the same thing, go right backto Carolina Cares Radio and love for you
to be a part of the show. Well, guys, you know,
for over two itter and forty fiveyears, brave men and women, they've
taken an oath. They've trained nearlyto the point of failure or at least
exhaustion anyway, they've put on auniform, they've picked up a weapon in
(01:30):
many cases, and defended this nation, this experiment, as it was known,
called the United States of America.Now, these heroes, for that
two hundred and forty five years andtoday sacrifice. They give up fortune or
oftentimes at least a high paying job. They give up what we might call
a regular family life, and theyask those family members that they do have
(01:52):
to sacrifice the same, and inultimately cases they do pay that ultimate price.
Themselves. They pay it for youand for me. Now. Thankfully
that sacrifice isn't always the ultimate one. However, sometimes it may seem that
would have been the worthy alternative tothe scars of battle, be they physical
or emotional. And for these injuries, which are often permanent, it means
(02:15):
for the rest of their lives afterserving their country, they need and thanks
to the Veterans Administration, they findmedical treatment the treatment they need now.
Although the majority of soldiers medical costsare not pass on to them directly,
there are still costs of coming toa VA hospital, especially if the treatment
or care is more than just atrip to the doctor. It's the cost
(02:38):
of the family, Yes, thatfamily that sacrificed alongside. It's that cost
that they have to absorb. Thecost of travel. Now, if you've
gone on vacation recently, you knowthe cost the hotels, the food,
just existing away from home. Andwe do one on vacation because we want
the kids to be happy, ormaybe we just need to decompress ourselves,
(03:00):
so we make that sacrifice. WeOkay, I'm gonna spend that money,
but imagine the stress. If itisn't a choice, it's not a pleasure
trip, but it's a requirement becauseyou need to be close to that loved
one who's being treated. See thisis where our guests come in today.
For over thirty years, the FisherHouse Foundation has been there for that very
mission, providing a place for thefamilies of our heroes who find themselves needing
(03:22):
that treatment at no cost, savingthousands of unneeded and in many cases,
unpayable bills. Soldiers and families arelucky enough to have two here in the
Palmetto State, one in Charleston anda newly opened one here in Columbia near
the dorn Va Medical Center. Joiningme this morning from the Board of Directors
of the Fisher House of Columbia,Colonel Kevin Schwado, Colonel good morning,
(03:46):
Good morning, Tayler. How areyou. I'm very well, And first
let me jump off the rip andsay thank you for your service, your
long service to your country, andyour continued service to the state of South
Carolina. And I want to thankyou for all you do to go ahead
and get the word out about allthese great military causes. You've been a
friend of the military for as longas I've known you. You've been one
of our greatest advocates, and youreally made a difference not only here in
(04:09):
the Columbia area, but state andnationwide with your words of wisdom. So
thank you. That means a lotto me, sir, it really does.
Let's talk about you for just aminute, because you throw the word
colonel around if folks. If folksdon't know, listeners don't know. Of
course, you may be familiar withthe name Kevin Schwado. You are currently
the director of the Department of MotorVehicles, but for a long long time
(04:30):
you've served our nation on a muchhigher level too. Can you talk to
us about that? Well, youknow, part of a military family.
It seems like the people that joinedthe military most oftenly have great role models
in their family. And I sortof followed my father's footsteps along with two
of my brothers. In interesting mybrother in law, I was able to
(04:53):
stay for thirty two years as aninfantrymen. We moved in that time twenty
four times in thirty two years.My son was never in the same school
two years in a row until hisuh sophomore year in high school. We
uh, we've all done well.My son, in fact, followed me
into the army he was a tankerdown at Fort Benning. My daughter came
(05:16):
in as an army civilian and whichfielding a thing called c RAM which is
an acronym for counter rockets, artilleryand mortars. And I retired out of
Fort Jackson as the deputy commander abouttwelve years ago. That's incredible. I
mean, so I guess, Iguess you would be the appropriate person to
talk about the sacrifice of family thatthese folks, these folks make it.
(05:41):
And you know, I always,I do always make sure that we understand
that the service isn't just isn't justyou or your brother, or your father
or your son who put on theuniform and go serve. Every family everyone
associated is serving and is sacrificing andgiving up just you know as much you
know your son who doesn't get tohave for you. We all remember it's
good to have friends, you know, every two years, my gosh,
(06:03):
and you know, just the sacrificesin life that the family makes all the
right alongside of that soldier, youknow, they make sacrifices as well,
but if you, if you treatit appropriately, they become whatever call that
agents for change as well, whichare very very positive with regards to both
(06:26):
my kids. Although they change schoolssomewhat frequently, they made new friends at
every at every installation. The otherinteresting thing is you go from school to
school, you're forced to compete tobreak into lineups and sports teams, and
as a result, they're competitive edges. They went from school to school,
you know, not only made thembetter athletes, but I think it also
(06:46):
made them better friends because they hadto give a little hard harder in relationships
to develop relationships, and I thinkit's helped them both as they've gone through
life. The real sacrifices, asyou know when you alluded to a little
earlier, are those individuals that whenmom and dad deployed to a combat theater
of operations, you know, sittingaround at night talking about what's going on,
(07:11):
not really knowing. And you know, I've got a brother and a
brother in law that have both deployedto Iraq in Afghanistan about six times to
each of those combat dealers about andso when they're separated, you know,
in these cases it was mom athome taking care of kids, dealing with
the anxiety of things and helping themthrough those. Now we don't deploy nearly
(07:36):
as much as we used to,but you still have a lot of issues
to overcome. As as the familystart yelling together. One of the things
that happens is, you know,in a traditional role where dad may go
off to war, it doesn't matterwhether his dad or mom. The other
spouse has a lot to deal withand is now serving the purposes of both
(07:59):
mom and dad and will be establishingthose relationships when you come home. Uh,
you know, are are a littlemore difficult, but it also again
when you do those things, reallybrings the family together to work through those
issues. Sure, and and it'sclear that's there. I mean you can
tell from from your dad to youand your brother and your your kids,
and there is that I don't know, there's that that pride, that service,
(08:24):
that dedication, that love of countrythat is handed down. So it
does that really bonds? You know, you think of it with law enforcement.
You know a lot of times you'llhave police are generational. You know,
my dad was a cop, mybrother's a cop. That kind of
thing. Um, you know,I think that service is passed down.
Would you agree? Realize that myson didn't realize that he was at four
(08:45):
betting George, he comes up tome, goes, Dad, you have
two minutes. I said, sure, son, what's up? He goes,
I'm worried, and go what's thematter. He goes, Dad,
I'm becoming you. Well, Iknow I would say that's probably not a
bad thing. Colonel No. Asa matter of fact, I've never been
prouder of the design. I loveit. I love it. Let's let's
(09:07):
talk about UM first, the VAUM. You know, we're can talk
about the Fisherhouse, but you know, just kind of let's just get get
some of the window dressing so wekind of understand the bigger issue, the
Veterans Administration. Of course, that'sa federal that's a federal um. It's
a benefit, I suppose, buta federal opportunity to serve soldiers. And
so what is that required to becometo get treatment at the VA hospital.
(09:30):
Uh. I don't know all thespecific details. I know that for the
most part, you've got to bea a veteran, and veterans don't always
include every person that served. Forexample, if you were a traditional National
guardsman and you've ever been federalized,you may not qualify. But it's basically
(09:50):
a person that has a d Dtwo fourteen that was honorably discharge that had
a disability rating for their time andservice, and so you get a complete
medical work up at the end ofyour time and service. And for example,
you know a lot of parachuters willhave bad knees, bad backs at
(10:11):
the end of their their tour ofduty. They'll record that and then anytime
they have a medical issue with oneof those ailments that they had on duty,
they can go to the VA andget care forward for the rest of
their lives. And that's at nocost to them. Correct, it's at
no cost to them. As amatter of fact. In many cases,
(10:33):
if you've got to drive a distance, for example, to the VA,
the VA will pay your transportation costsup and back or at least mileage.
So they're doing everything they can tomake it accessible to all the veterans.
In a matter of fact, thereare a lot of veteran organizations out there
that will they've gone out, forexample that the Disabled American Veterans, the
(10:56):
American Legion, the Veterans of ForeignWars. They will actually physic go out
and buy vans and seek volunteers todrive the vans to and from the local
areas to the VA and back becausewe've got to make sure those that need
care get care, especially when they'renot capable of getting there themselves, you
know, And I think that's animportant, you know, thing to remember
too. There's about ten ten VAhospitals in say, South Carolina. Is
(11:20):
that roughly I'm trying to think.I looked at a map earlier. Two
large facilities in South Carolina. There'sanother one in Augusta, Georgia. And
let's have a bunch of satellite offices, and I think the numbers probably closer
to twenty of the satellite offices.So what you do is you get the
large total care at the VA hospitals, but you know, when it comes
(11:43):
to routine appointments and vision care anddental care and things, you're typically able
to get those at some of thesatellites. Every satellite's got a different capability,
but they share those capabilities with you, so you can go to the
one that's nearest to you and getthe best service. And of course the
issue therein though, and which goesher back to the point of the VFWS
(12:05):
and the folks arranging rides, isthis is a pretty big state, colonel,
and you know, you may nothave the ability to drive yourself,
whether it's whether it's you can't physicallyor you may not have the car,
you know, And if you've gotto get to the Dorn VA Hospital for
some reason and you live, youknow, way way down in the low
country, then you know that thatcreates a bit of a problem, you
(12:26):
know. And I love it.I didn't realize how extensive this network is,
but I had a high school classmatefrom Cleveland, Ohio, moved to
rock Hill and she found out aboutit. She'd never had anything to do
with the military, but she andher husband have been great supporters, and
she now drives one of those vansroutinely from the rock Hill area down to
(12:48):
the VA in Columbia. And soit's a total package. It is the
community supporting the veteran. It's whywe retired in South Carolina. I've never
seen a more military friendly group ofpeople after moving as many times as we
do, as we see here inSouth Carolina. Well, and I'm very
proud to sam in South Carolina,and I agree with you, this is
(13:11):
a very military friendly state. Iwish that. I wish it was a
tie with forty nine others. Ifyou know if it were me. But
I'm just saying, you know,you think about you think about the first
responders in general, police fire,but I mean you think about the sacrifice
that we ask of you. Youknow, yes, there's no draft,
you're doing it. You you raiseyour right hand and go do it.
But but we as as America,we ask a lot of you, and
(13:35):
we appreciate it. Well, it'san honor to serve. I mean,
it's it's sort of like a calling. Got to be something that you want
to do. It's got to besomething that you volunteered to do now,
which is really great. We don'thave a draft. I'm not convinced that
we'll need a draft anytime soon.The fact of the matter is is that
(13:56):
when you've got people that come inand it doesn't matter what their motivation is,
it's very interesting. The motivation allgels together and you become a far
stronger organization as a result of thekinds of personalities. Yeah, everybody talked
about diversity and inclusion. You willnot find a more diverse organization anywhere in
(14:20):
the world than our servant And theytruly represent the fabric of this great country,
which is what makes fighting along alongsideeach other, an easy thing to
do. You gel together, youovercome obstacles, and you make a difference
as a result of the great teamyou build together. Speaking this morning with
(14:43):
retired Colonel Kevin Schwedo, talking militaryobviously here on Carolina Cara's but specifically talking
about the Fisher House, getting backto getting back to that travel. Uh.
You know, if for some reasonyou're your loved one, you're able
to get to the hospital you needto get to in this case, you
know, the dorn Va hospital herein Colombia. There's other expenses. So
(15:03):
sure, the treatment to the soldier, that's included, maybe some travel money.
But if you've got to stay localwith your loved one and you can't
stay there in the hospital with them, those bills for hotels, for food,
those those can add up pretty darnquickly. They can. Let me.
Let me share with you where thefirst time I saw it come as
(15:24):
a deeply personal kind of thing.We've actually got a number we have probably
more Medal of Honor recipients per squaremile in South Carolina than any other state
in the country. But one ofthose great Medal of Honor recipients was a
guy by the name of Master chargein John Baker as a matter of fact,
and he got out of the militaryretire He actually went to the Dorn
(15:46):
VA and worked there as an ITadministrator and he did a great job.
But there was one time before heneeded treatment at the VA Charleston, there
was a capability that they had thatthey didn't have in Columbia. So he
was going to go down there justfor one day with his wife don Elle.
(16:08):
And he gets there and they've gotto make him an impatient, and
they didn't realize how long he wasgoing to be there. He was there
for thirty days, and unfortunately hiswife had to pay for a hotel for
that entire time so she could stay. And Charleston's not an inexpensive city,
(16:29):
it's not, you know. Andso you know, at one point in
time when the Fishers, who havethe Fisher Foundation, who have built these
Fisher houses, you know, askedher to bring her experience on board so
that other servicemen and women don't haveto go ahead and foot that kind of
bill. I want you to thinkabout what happens in Columbia, for example,
(16:52):
during just two or three periods ofthe year. You know, one
is a football weekend. Another onemight be the Master's weekend. Another one
might be the NCAA basketball team upplaying in Colombia. Any of those things
are going to cause hotel rooms coststo spike and become honorable. And now
(17:12):
I want you to think about theperson that is in the VA hospital over
there. There's a thing called WarriorsWalk. It is a hospice unit.
It's where, unfortunately, families cometo say goodbye to loved ones who don't
have much time left on earth.The VA's facility is magnificent. It might
(17:32):
as well be a five star hotel. It is trying to make that experience
as good for the servicemen and thefamily for that last opportunity. If your
family member is there and you're notable to get in and see them with
regularity, you know there's no wayto recover from that. Now, with
the Fisher House there, we've gotsixteen suites for sixteen families that can come
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in and be with their family members, whether it's Warriors Wore Walk, they're
going through cancer treatments, whatever itis. We want the family together with
that the service man or woman,so that every minute is taken care of
and it's with family, as youcan imagine, if it's not as dire
as hospice care, having family membersthere can certainly help with the recuperative process.
(18:26):
You want them there, You wantthe soldier and the family to bond
together, and that bond will getthem through that period of time much more
fast. And I think that anygood doctor will tell you that that experience
will help the healing process. Soit's a win win opportunity. It will
tell you that it is the communityaround the state that helped donate the money
(18:49):
to go ahead and bring it now. Unfortunately, we didn't raise all the
money that we needed to build it, but the Fisher House added the money
in spite of our inability to getto our target goals to build the home
and it's open, it's functioning rightnow. The biggest thing that we're going
for the operational costs. We've gotto get and raise the money every year
(19:14):
to make sure that the Fisher Houseis run and as a top notch facility
that we have, you know,all the what it's called, all the
linens are are you know, areup to standard that we can pay for
meals as they come in and onthose rare times to where we don't have
enough rooms at the Fisher House tohandle the capacity. We will pay the
(19:40):
hotel rooms for those individuals that wecannot support because it's the right thing to
do. Wow. So the FisherHouse, there's ninety four them according to
the website, ninety four around theUS, Germany and the UK. So
this is a fairly big operation.They're not thirty years if if I'm not
mistaken, it has been thirty years. The first ones were down in the
(20:00):
San Antonio area and that's where thegreatest need was. When we were bringing
injured troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan. They were going all the way back
to Fort sam Houston to the medicalfacilities that we had there, and that's
where they built the first couple offisher Houses and it made all the difference
(20:22):
in the world. And as thedemand started growing otherwhere, we started building
what we're called Warrior chief I can'tremember the name of them. Basically,
they were company and battalion sized unitsthat were based around army hospitals around the
country. We built fisher Houses therebecause we wanted soldiers to be in the
(20:47):
same area as to where their familieswere and other people could come in and
support them. So, for example, you know there's a Fisher House down
at the the the VA at Augusta. We've got a Fisher House in Charleston.
We've got a Fisher House at manyof the military hospitals that go ahead
and support soldiers, like we doat Fort sam Houston. But it's really
(21:11):
critical that. As a matter offact, you mentioned there were ninety four
when I talked to one of thevice presidents of the Fisher Foundation about two
months ago. If I recall thiscorrectly, we're going to go ahead and
cut the ribbon for the one hundredthsometime here in the than the next year.
So we're going to continue to buildbecause it's the right way to take
(21:34):
care of families and service members.Now, the one thing that you said
a little early, I'll go aheadand correct. Basically, it's really designed,
and I think the number is atwenty five miles circumference that you know,
if you're within twenty five miles youcan probably get to the Fisher House
(21:55):
somewhat reasonably. And then outside ofthat twenty five miles, we start bringing
families in to uh to spend moretime with their or their family you have
to draw the line somewhere if you'regoing to optimize the amount of capacity we've
got. And and that's and thatmakes a whole lot of sense of course,
um, you know, and andwant I want to talk about the
(22:17):
the cost I mean, and justjust kind of put that why it's so
important that that you're there to supportthe families, to give them a place
to stay, to feed them,you know, if you think about it,
when you've got somebody hopefully not onthe hospice, on the Warrior Walk,
but but you know, having somelong term care. First of all,
the service member who is back toa civilian isn't working and earning money
for the family. If that ifthat wife or that spouse, that husband
(22:41):
is here and you know here intown to support that member. Well,
they're not making money either. Andso to your point of you know,
a game day weekend, when hotelsare four hundred bucks apiece two weeks,
you know, there's no income.They're still trying to you know, pay
all the bills at home, notmaking any more money. Now you're dipping
into the savings of a soldier whowe all know y'all don't make like huge
(23:02):
money. So from the rip.You're not starting out from a you know,
from a Vanderbilt kind of thing.Well, I'll go one step farther.
Many of these people at the VAonly source of income in many cases
because they may not have a soldier'spension from a twenty year retirement, they
may be living on nothing but socialSecurity. Now try to go ahead and
(23:25):
pay for those things. When youronly source of income is social Security,
It just it adds up so fast. Speaking with Colonel Kevin Schwedo this morning
from the Fisher House in Columbia hereon Carolina, cares about the Fisher House
about military, about why it's soimportant that whatever whatever way you can help
support soldiers, whether it's Fisher Houseor volunteering to drive or anything, why
(23:49):
it's so important. So it lookslike and I of course did at a
little show PRIP we call it,and perused and learned about the Fisher House.
But there are several different programs,hero programs, service wards, and
scholarships that the Fisher House also doeswell. There are and uh, and
I don't have a whole lot ofdetail about the you know, the scholarships
(24:11):
and things like that. We werereally focused on the construction and getting it
open and now handling the operating corecosts. And I know that we're probably
going to talk about it, andI'm probably jumping a little ahead, go
ahead, but you know we've we'vegot now a fundraiser that UH that is
being supported locally by E. R. A. Wilder and RMO and Freeway
(24:34):
Music in Lexington, uh a Battleof the bands at the Ice House Amphitheater
on the eleventh of August at fivethirty. That tickets too, and anything
you purchase within will help fund thefisher Houses operating costs. And we're hoping
to get a large crowd there notonly to make them more aware about the
(24:57):
Fisher House, but also to goahead and be able to support those day
to day costs of the Fisher House. They you know, that's where we're
going to go ahead and quote unquotemake our money to make it successful.
What do you have an idea youmay not have in front of you the
ball park of the annual operations forthe Fisher House here in Columbia. I
(25:18):
haven't seen the dollar amount yet.I know that, you know we have
to hire a full time care keeper. I know that, and that's that's
just one person that really comes in. You've got, you know, the
food that you want to go aheadand prepare for the individuals. So the
focus not a meal preparation, buttaking care of their families. You know,
(25:42):
I wish I had the dollar numberavailable, but but it's it's not
going to be an inexpensive thing becausethere are going to be no shortcuts taking
care of taking a place with thesixteen families who may be in those sixteen
suites, especially now if it goeson and we have to pay for hotel
(26:03):
options and the local go ahead,I'm sorry, sorry, I mean to
cut you off. No, Iwas gonna say. And the other piece
of that one is that the FisherHouse doesn't just draw a line in the
sand says all right, you gotyour Fisher House. If we find that
all of a sudden we've got suchgreat demand and we're pushing people out into
(26:25):
hotels, they will, you know, certainly entertain building another one. I'm
hoping that the demand is not therefor a whole lot of obvious reasons,
but if they are. If itis, the Fisher House is not going
to abandon the community. They're goingto help us meet the demand because it's
the right thing, you know.I love the mission, and I'm new
to the Fisher House. I've I'veheard of it, you know. I
(26:48):
know I knew sort of what itwas, but but to learn all of
this the background of this amazing organizationis is pretty incredible. Colonel Well,
you know one of the things thatI want to do now that you mentioned
it, and you and I goway back, as I want to take
you down to the Fisher House onetime, and I want to take you
down Warriors Walk to see the hospitalhere. You've got a tremendous audience in
(27:11):
there, and they are very militaryfriendly. And if you can see it
from a first person perspective, youwill be able to be as strange,
as strong, and as a vocaland advocate as I am when I run
around the community bragging about these twoplaces. And I'll take you up on
that at one hundred percent. Iwill take you up on that offer,
for sure, and I will shareit with everybody as well. Once again,
(27:34):
guys, the Fisher House here inColumbia is not almost one hundred I
guess you know soon. But there'sa couple here in the state, this
one in Columbia, the Va DornMedical Center. The fundraiser that the Colonel
was talking about is Friday the eleventhin Lexington. Is a great if you're
not from the area. The Amphitheatersare great venues and outdoor music venue.
It starts at five thirty. TheReggie Sullivan Band is playing Civil Remedy and
(27:56):
Natalie and the Boys are all playing. Those are all Reggie's, Reggie's more
than regional name, Civil Remedy,Natalie and the Boys the Great it's a
battle of the bands. Fifteen dollarsfor tickets for adults and kids A to
twelve are ten and kids on rateof free. Just to get in those
of the details. But I mean, this has been a this has been
a great conversation, colonel, justtalking about the sacrifice, hoping people understand
(28:19):
why it's important they sacrifice for us. I think we can sacrifice fifteen bucks
and get a knight Him entertainment right, absolutely, and for what it's worth.
I really want to go ahead andthank the sponsors. I mean,
this is the fifth annual. Thisis not something that they did and they
cut in the run and h andonto the next charities. You know,
(28:41):
there are those charities and they're allgood, but they'll come in the sponsor
you for one year and then they'llgo to a charity. They have made
this a passion in their lives,their advocates. They've been down there to
see the Fisher House. They understandhow important it is. And so you
know, from e realty to wish. I had the other names of the
(29:02):
other sponsors in front, Jim Hudson, and there's a third one as well.
Just so much thanks and appreciation fortheir sponsorship, because we wouldn't achieve
those operating costs without sponsors like themto help us. All right, Colonel
Kevin Schwado, I appreciate it.Thirty minutes goes by so fast. Once
again, thank you for your service. We'll put details at Carolina Cares radio
(29:23):
dot com to the Fisher House,my friend, I will talk to you
soon. Please travel safe and thankyou once again for everything you do.
Always an honor of frivilege, andthank you for everything you do to support
the military. Tyler your special person. It is my absolute pleasure. Guys,
this has been Carolina Cares, aniHeartRadio production on the iHeartRadio network.
My name is Tyler Ryan. We'regone through thirty minutes already, which means
(29:44):
it's time for me to say I'llspeak with you in seven days.
Good morning, and welcome to CarolinaCares and iHeartRadio production here on the South
Carolina Radio Network. My name isTyler Ryan. Thank you so much for
joining us today as you do everyweek after week after we've been doing the
show a long time. My goodness, week after week. It means a
lot that you join us across thestate of South Carolina, from the upstate
down to the low Country, theGrand Strand, Horse Country, beautiful horse
(00:22):
Country, and of course right herein the Midlands, which happens to be
our flagship station, w VOC AMand FM. As always, if you
have an idea, an agency andorganization, a message you'd like to hear
on Carolina Cares, you can alwaysemail me Tyler at Carolina Cares Radio dot
com. It's Tyler at Carolina CaresRadio dot com. If you think you
know what I make a good guest, I've got something to say, we
(00:44):
need to chat about it. Andof course I always do ask you to
follow us on the socials. We'reon the Facebook Carolina Cares Radio. It's
kind of a theme we're working on. And if you want to hear this
show again, and you probably aregoing to want to, you can do
that after dairs, of course,we go ahead and we put it up
onto the iHeartRadio app into the podcastand you can listen to it again and
again and again along with the otherhundreds of Carolina Cares programs. If you
(01:06):
don't have that app, it's supersimple to get you just go to your
app storey play store, look upiHeart Radio, you download that and then
the same thing, go right backto Carolina Cares Radio and love for you
to be a part of the show. Well, guys, you know,
for over two itter and forty fiveyears, brave men and women, they've
taken an oath. They've trained nearlyto the point of failure or at least
exhaustion anyway, they've put on auniform, they've picked up a weapon in
(01:30):
many cases, and defended this nation, this experiment, as it was known,
called the United States of America.Now, these heroes, for that
two hundred and forty five years andtoday sacrifice. They give up fortune or
oftentimes at least a high paying job. They give up what we might call
a regular family life, and theyask those family members that they do have
(01:52):
to sacrifice the same, and inultimately cases they do pay that ultimate price.
Themselves. They pay it for youand for me. Now. Thankfully
that sacrifice isn't always the ultimate one. However, sometimes it may seem that
would have been the worthy alternative tothe scars of battle, be they physical
or emotional. And for these injuries, which are often permanent, it means
(02:15):
for the rest of their lives afterserving their country, they need and thanks
to the Veterans Administration, they findmedical treatment the treatment they need now.
Although the majority of soldiers medical costsare not pass on to them directly,
there are still costs of coming toa VA hospital, especially if the treatment
or care is more than just atrip to the doctor. It's the cost
(02:38):
of the family, Yes, thatfamily that sacrificed alongside. It's that cost
that they have to absorb. Thecost of travel. Now, if you've
gone on vacation recently, you knowthe cost the hotels, the food,
just existing away from home. Andwe do one on vacation because we want
the kids to be happy, ormaybe we just need to decompress ourselves,
(03:00):
so we make that sacrifice. WeOkay, I'm gonna spend that money,
but imagine the stress. If itisn't a choice, it's not a pleasure
trip, but it's a requirement becauseyou need to be close to that loved
one who's being treated. See thisis where our guests come in today.
For over thirty years, the FisherHouse Foundation has been there for that very
mission, providing a place for thefamilies of our heroes who find themselves needing
(03:22):
that treatment at no cost, savingthousands of unneeded and in many cases,
unpayable bills. Soldiers and families arelucky enough to have two here in the
Palmetto State, one in Charleston anda newly opened one here in Columbia near
the dorn Va Medical Center. Joiningme this morning from the Board of Directors
of the Fisher House of Columbia,Colonel Kevin Schwado, Colonel good morning,
(03:46):
Good morning, Tayler. How areyou. I'm very well, And first
let me jump off the rip andsay thank you for your service, your
long service to your country, andyour continued service to the state of South
Carolina. And I want to thankyou for all you do to go ahead
and get the word out about allthese great military causes. You've been a
friend of the military for as longas I've known you. You've been one
of our greatest advocates, and youreally made a difference not only here in
(04:09):
the Columbia area, but state andnationwide with your words of wisdom. So
thank you. That means a lotto me, sir, it really does.
Let's talk about you for just aminute, because you throw the word
colonel around if folks. If folksdon't know, listeners don't know. Of
course, you may be familiar withthe name Kevin Schwado. You are currently
the director of the Department of MotorVehicles, but for a long long time
(04:30):
you've served our nation on a muchhigher level too. Can you talk to
us about that? Well, youknow, part of a military family.
It seems like the people that joinedthe military most oftenly have great role models
in their family. And I sortof followed my father's footsteps along with two
of my brothers. In interesting mybrother in law, I was able to
(04:53):
stay for thirty two years as aninfantrymen. We moved in that time twenty
four times in thirty two years.My son was never in the same school
two years in a row until hisuh sophomore year in high school. We
uh, we've all done well.My son, in fact, followed me
into the army he was a tankerdown at Fort Benning. My daughter came
(05:16):
in as an army civilian and whichfielding a thing called c RAM which is
an acronym for counter rockets, artilleryand mortars. And I retired out of
Fort Jackson as the deputy commander abouttwelve years ago. That's incredible. I
mean, so I guess, Iguess you would be the appropriate person to
talk about the sacrifice of family thatthese folks, these folks make it.
(05:41):
And you know, I always,I do always make sure that we understand
that the service isn't just isn't justyou or your brother, or your father
or your son who put on theuniform and go serve. Every family everyone
associated is serving and is sacrificing andgiving up just you know as much you
know your son who doesn't get tohave for you. We all remember it's
good to have friends, you know, every two years, my gosh,
(06:03):
and you know, just the sacrificesin life that the family makes all the
right alongside of that soldier, youknow, they make sacrifices as well,
but if you, if you treatit appropriately, they become whatever call that
agents for change as well, whichare very very positive with regards to both
(06:26):
my kids. Although they change schoolssomewhat frequently, they made new friends at
every at every installation. The otherinteresting thing is you go from school to
school, you're forced to compete tobreak into lineups and sports teams, and
as a result, they're competitive edges. They went from school to school,
you know, not only made thembetter athletes, but I think it also
(06:46):
made them better friends because they hadto give a little hard harder in relationships
to develop relationships, and I thinkit's helped them both as they've gone through
life. The real sacrifices, asyou know when you alluded to a little
earlier, are those individuals that whenmom and dad deployed to a combat theater
of operations, you know, sittingaround at night talking about what's going on,
(07:11):
not really knowing. And you know, I've got a brother and a
brother in law that have both deployedto Iraq in Afghanistan about six times to
each of those combat dealers about andso when they're separated, you know,
in these cases it was mom athome taking care of kids, dealing with
the anxiety of things and helping themthrough those. Now we don't deploy nearly
(07:36):
as much as we used to,but you still have a lot of issues
to overcome. As as the familystart yelling together. One of the things
that happens is, you know,in a traditional role where dad may go
off to war, it doesn't matterwhether his dad or mom. The other
spouse has a lot to deal withand is now serving the purposes of both
(07:59):
mom and dad and will be establishingthose relationships when you come home. Uh,
you know, are are a littlemore difficult, but it also again
when you do those things, reallybrings the family together to work through those
issues. Sure, and and it'sclear that's there. I mean you can
tell from from your dad to youand your brother and your your kids,
and there is that I don't know, there's that that pride, that service,
(08:24):
that dedication, that love of countrythat is handed down. So it
does that really bonds? You know, you think of it with law enforcement.
You know a lot of times you'llhave police are generational. You know,
my dad was a cop, mybrother's a cop. That kind of
thing. Um, you know,I think that service is passed down.
Would you agree? Realize that myson didn't realize that he was at four
(08:45):
betting George, he comes up tome, goes, Dad, you have
two minutes. I said, sure, son, what's up? He goes,
I'm worried, and go what's thematter. He goes, Dad,
I'm becoming you. Well, Iknow I would say that's probably not a
bad thing. Colonel No. Asa matter of fact, I've never been
prouder of the design. I loveit. I love it. Let's let's
(09:07):
talk about UM first, the VAUM. You know, we're can talk
about the Fisherhouse, but you know, just kind of let's just get get
some of the window dressing so wekind of understand the bigger issue, the
Veterans Administration. Of course, that'sa federal that's a federal um. It's
a benefit, I suppose, buta federal opportunity to serve soldiers. And
so what is that required to becometo get treatment at the VA hospital.
(09:30):
Uh. I don't know all thespecific details. I know that for the
most part, you've got to bea a veteran, and veterans don't always
include every person that served. Forexample, if you were a traditional National
guardsman and you've ever been federalized,you may not qualify. But it's basically
(09:50):
a person that has a d Dtwo fourteen that was honorably discharge that had
a disability rating for their time andservice, and so you get a complete
medical work up at the end ofyour time and service. And for example,
you know a lot of parachuters willhave bad knees, bad backs at
(10:11):
the end of their their tour ofduty. They'll record that and then anytime
they have a medical issue with oneof those ailments that they had on duty,
they can go to the VA andget care forward for the rest of
their lives. And that's at nocost to them. Correct, it's at
no cost to them. As amatter of fact. In many cases,
(10:33):
if you've got to drive a distance, for example, to the VA,
the VA will pay your transportation costsup and back or at least mileage.
So they're doing everything they can tomake it accessible to all the veterans.
In a matter of fact, thereare a lot of veteran organizations out there
that will they've gone out, forexample that the Disabled American Veterans, the
(10:56):
American Legion, the Veterans of ForeignWars. They will actually physic go out
and buy vans and seek volunteers todrive the vans to and from the local
areas to the VA and back becausewe've got to make sure those that need
care get care, especially when they'renot capable of getting there themselves, you
know, And I think that's animportant, you know, thing to remember
too. There's about ten ten VAhospitals in say, South Carolina. Is
(11:20):
that roughly I'm trying to think.I looked at a map earlier. Two
large facilities in South Carolina. There'sanother one in Augusta, Georgia. And
let's have a bunch of satellite offices, and I think the numbers probably closer
to twenty of the satellite offices.So what you do is you get the
large total care at the VA hospitals, but you know, when it comes
(11:43):
to routine appointments and vision care anddental care and things, you're typically able
to get those at some of thesatellites. Every satellite's got a different capability,
but they share those capabilities with you, so you can go to the
one that's nearest to you and getthe best service. And of course the
issue therein though, and which goesher back to the point of the VFWS
(12:05):
and the folks arranging rides, isthis is a pretty big state, colonel,
and you know, you may nothave the ability to drive yourself,
whether it's whether it's you can't physicallyor you may not have the car,
you know, And if you've gotto get to the Dorn VA Hospital for
some reason and you live, youknow, way way down in the low
country, then you know that thatcreates a bit of a problem, you
(12:26):
know. And I love it.I didn't realize how extensive this network is,
but I had a high school classmatefrom Cleveland, Ohio, moved to
rock Hill and she found out aboutit. She'd never had anything to do
with the military, but she andher husband have been great supporters, and
she now drives one of those vansroutinely from the rock Hill area down to
(12:48):
the VA in Columbia. And soit's a total package. It is the
community supporting the veteran. It's whywe retired in South Carolina. I've never
seen a more military friendly group ofpeople after moving as many times as we
do, as we see here inSouth Carolina. Well, and I'm very
proud to sam in South Carolina,and I agree with you, this is
(13:11):
a very military friendly state. Iwish that. I wish it was a
tie with forty nine others. Ifyou know if it were me. But
I'm just saying, you know,you think about you think about the first
responders in general, police fire,but I mean you think about the sacrifice
that we ask of you. Youknow, yes, there's no draft,
you're doing it. You you raiseyour right hand and go do it.
But but we as as America,we ask a lot of you, and
(13:35):
we appreciate it. Well, it'san honor to serve. I mean,
it's it's sort of like a calling. Got to be something that you want
to do. It's got to besomething that you volunteered to do now,
which is really great. We don'thave a draft. I'm not convinced that
we'll need a draft anytime soon.The fact of the matter is is that
(13:56):
when you've got people that come inand it doesn't matter what their motivation is,
it's very interesting. The motivation allgels together and you become a far
stronger organization as a result of thekinds of personalities. Yeah, everybody talked
about diversity and inclusion. You willnot find a more diverse organization anywhere in
(14:20):
the world than our servant And theytruly represent the fabric of this great country,
which is what makes fighting along alongsideeach other, an easy thing to
do. You gel together, youovercome obstacles, and you make a difference
as a result of the great teamyou build together. Speaking this morning with
(14:43):
retired Colonel Kevin Schwedo, talking militaryobviously here on Carolina Cara's but specifically talking
about the Fisher House, getting backto getting back to that travel. Uh.
You know, if for some reasonyou're your loved one, you're able
to get to the hospital you needto get to in this case, you
know, the dorn Va hospital herein Colombia. There's other expenses. So
(15:03):
sure, the treatment to the soldier, that's included, maybe some travel money.
But if you've got to stay localwith your loved one and you can't
stay there in the hospital with them, those bills for hotels, for food,
those those can add up pretty darnquickly. They can. Let me.
Let me share with you where thefirst time I saw it come as
(15:24):
a deeply personal kind of thing.We've actually got a number we have probably
more Medal of Honor recipients per squaremile in South Carolina than any other state
in the country. But one ofthose great Medal of Honor recipients was a
guy by the name of Master chargein John Baker as a matter of fact,
and he got out of the militaryretire He actually went to the Dorn
(15:46):
VA and worked there as an ITadministrator and he did a great job.
But there was one time before heneeded treatment at the VA Charleston, there
was a capability that they had thatthey didn't have in Columbia. So he
was going to go down there justfor one day with his wife don Elle.
(16:08):
And he gets there and they've gotto make him an impatient, and
they didn't realize how long he wasgoing to be there. He was there
for thirty days, and unfortunately hiswife had to pay for a hotel for
that entire time so she could stay. And Charleston's not an inexpensive city,
(16:29):
it's not, you know. Andso you know, at one point in
time when the Fishers, who havethe Fisher Foundation, who have built these
Fisher houses, you know, askedher to bring her experience on board so
that other servicemen and women don't haveto go ahead and foot that kind of
bill. I want you to thinkabout what happens in Columbia, for example,
(16:52):
during just two or three periods ofthe year. You know, one
is a football weekend. Another onemight be the Master's weekend. Another one
might be the NCAA basketball team upplaying in Colombia. Any of those things
are going to cause hotel rooms coststo spike and become honorable. And now
(17:12):
I want you to think about theperson that is in the VA hospital over
there. There's a thing called WarriorsWalk. It is a hospice unit.
It's where, unfortunately, families cometo say goodbye to loved ones who don't
have much time left on earth.The VA's facility is magnificent. It might
(17:32):
as well be a five star hotel. It is trying to make that experience
as good for the servicemen and thefamily for that last opportunity. If your
family member is there and you're notable to get in and see them with
regularity, you know there's no wayto recover from that. Now, with
the Fisher House there, we've gotsixteen suites for sixteen families that can come
(17:59):
in and be with their family members, whether it's Warriors Wore Walk, they're
going through cancer treatments, whatever itis. We want the family together with
that the service man or woman,so that every minute is taken care of
and it's with family, as youcan imagine, if it's not as dire
as hospice care, having family membersthere can certainly help with the recuperative process.
(18:26):
You want them there, You wantthe soldier and the family to bond
together, and that bond will getthem through that period of time much more
fast. And I think that anygood doctor will tell you that that experience
will help the healing process. Soit's a win win opportunity. It will
tell you that it is the communityaround the state that helped donate the money
(18:49):
to go ahead and bring it now. Unfortunately, we didn't raise all the
money that we needed to build it, but the Fisher House added the money
in spite of our inability to getto our target goals to build the home
and it's open, it's functioning rightnow. The biggest thing that we're going
for the operational costs. We've gotto get and raise the money every year
(19:14):
to make sure that the Fisher Houseis run and as a top notch facility
that we have, you know,all the what it's called, all the
linens are are you know, areup to standard that we can pay for
meals as they come in and onthose rare times to where we don't have
enough rooms at the Fisher House tohandle the capacity. We will pay the
(19:40):
hotel rooms for those individuals that wecannot support because it's the right thing to
do. Wow. So the FisherHouse, there's ninety four them according to
the website, ninety four around theUS, Germany and the UK. So
this is a fairly big operation.They're not thirty years if if I'm not
mistaken, it has been thirty years. The first ones were down in the
(20:00):
San Antonio area and that's where thegreatest need was. When we were bringing
injured troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan. They were going all the way back
to Fort sam Houston to the medicalfacilities that we had there, and that's
where they built the first couple offisher Houses and it made all the difference
(20:22):
in the world. And as thedemand started growing otherwhere, we started building
what we're called Warrior chief I can'tremember the name of them. Basically,
they were company and battalion sized unitsthat were based around army hospitals around the
country. We built fisher Houses therebecause we wanted soldiers to be in the
(20:47):
same area as to where their familieswere and other people could come in and
support them. So, for example, you know there's a Fisher House down
at the the the VA at Augusta. We've got a Fisher House in Charleston.
We've got a Fisher House at manyof the military hospitals that go ahead
and support soldiers, like we doat Fort sam Houston. But it's really
(21:11):
critical that. As a matter offact, you mentioned there were ninety four
when I talked to one of thevice presidents of the Fisher Foundation about two
months ago. If I recall thiscorrectly, we're going to go ahead and
cut the ribbon for the one hundredthsometime here in the than the next year.
So we're going to continue to buildbecause it's the right way to take
(21:34):
care of families and service members.Now, the one thing that you said
a little early, I'll go aheadand correct. Basically, it's really designed,
and I think the number is atwenty five miles circumference that you know,
if you're within twenty five miles youcan probably get to the Fisher House
(21:55):
somewhat reasonably. And then outside ofthat twenty five miles, we start bringing
families in to uh to spend moretime with their or their family you have
to draw the line somewhere if you'regoing to optimize the amount of capacity we've
got. And and that's and thatmakes a whole lot of sense of course,
um, you know, and andwant I want to talk about the
(22:17):
the cost I mean, and justjust kind of put that why it's so
important that that you're there to supportthe families, to give them a place
to stay, to feed them,you know, if you think about it,
when you've got somebody hopefully not onthe hospice, on the Warrior Walk,
but but you know, having somelong term care. First of all,
the service member who is back toa civilian isn't working and earning money
for the family. If that ifthat wife or that spouse, that husband
(22:41):
is here and you know here intown to support that member. Well,
they're not making money either. Andso to your point of you know,
a game day weekend, when hotelsare four hundred bucks apiece two weeks,
you know, there's no income.They're still trying to you know, pay
all the bills at home, notmaking any more money. Now you're dipping
into the savings of a soldier whowe all know y'all don't make like huge
(23:02):
money. So from the rip.You're not starting out from a you know,
from a Vanderbilt kind of thing.Well, I'll go one step farther.
Many of these people at the VAonly source of income in many cases
because they may not have a soldier'spension from a twenty year retirement, they
may be living on nothing but socialSecurity. Now try to go ahead and
(23:25):
pay for those things. When youronly source of income is social Security,
It just it adds up so fast. Speaking with Colonel Kevin Schwedo this morning
from the Fisher House in Columbia hereon Carolina, cares about the Fisher House
about military, about why it's soimportant that whatever whatever way you can help
support soldiers, whether it's Fisher Houseor volunteering to drive or anything, why
(23:49):
it's so important. So it lookslike and I of course did at a
little show PRIP we call it,and perused and learned about the Fisher House.
But there are several different programs,hero programs, service wards, and
scholarships that the Fisher House also doeswell. There are and uh, and
I don't have a whole lot ofdetail about the you know, the scholarships
(24:11):
and things like that. We werereally focused on the construction and getting it
open and now handling the operating corecosts. And I know that we're probably
going to talk about it, andI'm probably jumping a little ahead, go
ahead, but you know we've we'vegot now a fundraiser that UH that is
being supported locally by E. R. A. Wilder and RMO and Freeway
(24:34):
Music in Lexington, uh a Battleof the bands at the Ice House Amphitheater
on the eleventh of August at fivethirty. That tickets too, and anything
you purchase within will help fund thefisher Houses operating costs. And we're hoping
to get a large crowd there notonly to make them more aware about the
(24:57):
Fisher House, but also to goahead and be able to support those day
to day costs of the Fisher House. They you know, that's where we're
going to go ahead and quote unquotemake our money to make it successful.
What do you have an idea youmay not have in front of you the
ball park of the annual operations forthe Fisher House here in Columbia. I
(25:18):
haven't seen the dollar amount yet.I know that, you know we have
to hire a full time care keeper. I know that, and that's that's
just one person that really comes in. You've got, you know, the
food that you want to go aheadand prepare for the individuals. So the
focus not a meal preparation, buttaking care of their families. You know,
(25:42):
I wish I had the dollar numberavailable, but but it's it's not
going to be an inexpensive thing becausethere are going to be no shortcuts taking
care of taking a place with thesixteen families who may be in those sixteen
suites, especially now if it goeson and we have to pay for hotel
(26:03):
options and the local go ahead,I'm sorry, sorry, I mean to
cut you off. No, Iwas gonna say. And the other piece
of that one is that the FisherHouse doesn't just draw a line in the
sand says all right, you gotyour Fisher House. If we find that
all of a sudden we've got suchgreat demand and we're pushing people out into
(26:25):
hotels, they will, you know, certainly entertain building another one. I'm
hoping that the demand is not therefor a whole lot of obvious reasons,
but if they are. If itis, the Fisher House is not going
to abandon the community. They're goingto help us meet the demand because it's
the right thing, you know.I love the mission, and I'm new
to the Fisher House. I've I'veheard of it, you know. I
(26:48):
know I knew sort of what itwas, but but to learn all of
this the background of this amazing organizationis is pretty incredible. Colonel Well,
you know one of the things thatI want to do now that you mentioned
it, and you and I goway back, as I want to take
you down to the Fisher House onetime, and I want to take you
down Warriors Walk to see the hospitalhere. You've got a tremendous audience in
(27:11):
there, and they are very militaryfriendly. And if you can see it
from a first person perspective, youwill be able to be as strange,
as strong, and as a vocaland advocate as I am when I run
around the community bragging about these twoplaces. And I'll take you up on
that at one hundred percent. Iwill take you up on that offer,
for sure, and I will shareit with everybody as well. Once again,
(27:34):
guys, the Fisher House here inColumbia is not almost one hundred I
guess you know soon. But there'sa couple here in the state, this
one in Columbia, the Va DornMedical Center. The fundraiser that the Colonel
was talking about is Friday the eleventhin Lexington. Is a great if you're
not from the area. The Amphitheatersare great venues and outdoor music venue.
It starts at five thirty. TheReggie Sullivan Band is playing Civil Remedy and
(27:56):
Natalie and the Boys are all playing. Those are all Reggie's, Reggie's more
than regional name, Civil Remedy,Natalie and the Boys the Great it's a
battle of the bands. Fifteen dollarsfor tickets for adults and kids A to
twelve are ten and kids on rateof free. Just to get in those
of the details. But I mean, this has been a this has been
a great conversation, colonel, justtalking about the sacrifice, hoping people understand
(28:19):
why it's important they sacrifice for us. I think we can sacrifice fifteen bucks
and get a knight Him entertainment right, absolutely, and for what it's worth.
I really want to go ahead andthank the sponsors. I mean,
this is the fifth annual. Thisis not something that they did and they
cut in the run and h andonto the next charities. You know,
(28:41):
there are those charities and they're allgood, but they'll come in the sponsor
you for one year and then they'llgo to a charity. They have made
this a passion in their lives,their advocates. They've been down there to
see the Fisher House. They understandhow important it is. And so you
know, from e realty to wish. I had the other names of the
(29:02):
other sponsors in front, Jim Hudson, and there's a third one as well.
Just so much thanks and appreciation fortheir sponsorship, because we wouldn't achieve
those operating costs without sponsors like themto help us. All right, Colonel
Kevin Schwado, I appreciate it.Thirty minutes goes by so fast. Once
again, thank you for your service. We'll put details at Carolina Cares radio
(29:23):
dot com to the Fisher House,my friend, I will talk to you
soon. Please travel safe and thankyou once again for everything you do.
Always an honor of frivilege, andthank you for everything you do to support
the military. Tyler your special person. It is my absolute pleasure. Guys,
this has been Carolina Cares, aniHeartRadio production on the iHeartRadio network.
My name is Tyler Ryan. We'regone through thirty minutes already, which means
(29:44):
it's time for me to say I'llspeak with you in seven days.
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