From Combat to Community: The Story of Otis Miller

The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the impactful journey of Otis Miller, a veteran and former corpsman who shares his experiences transitioning from military service to civilian life. As a member of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, Otis discusses the profound influence of camaraderie and brotherhood among veterans, emphasizing how these relationships provide crucial support during challenging times. He elaborates on his current role in promoting physical and mental health within the military community in Hawaii, highlighting innovative programs designed to enhance overall wellness. Otis also reflects on the significance of mental health, particularly for service members facing the isolation of being stationed far from home. Throughout the conversation, we explore the importance of maintaining health and well-being, both physically and mentally, as a means of fostering resilience and connection among veterans.

The narrative presented in this episode unfolds as a rich tapestry of experiences shared by Otis Miller, a former corpsman with the illustrious 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. The dialogue intricately weaves through the challenges and triumphs of military life, illuminating the inherent difficulties faced during the transition to civilian existence. Otis's reflections on his service provide a compelling insight into the dichotomy of expectation versus reality, particularly in terms of the rigorous training he undertook and the unpredictability of his assignments. He candidly discusses the physical ailments that led to his decision to leave the military, offering a relatable perspective for many veterans who struggle with similar issues. This exploration of personal history is not merely a recounting of past events; it serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by service members and the complexities of adjusting to life outside of uniform.

As the conversation progresses, Otis articulates his ongoing commitment to the health and wellness of his fellow Marines in Hawaii, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive health that encompasses not only physical fitness but also mental and emotional well-being. He details innovative health promotion programs he has implemented, which address the multifaceted nature of wellness, including nutrition and stress management. This holistic approach is vital in recognizing that the challenges veterans face extend beyond the battlefield and into their daily lives, where issues such as isolation and mental health can profoundly impact their quality of life. Through his work, Otis exemplifies the significance of creating supportive environments for service members navigating their post-military journeys.

In conclusion, this episode serves as an invaluable resource for understanding the intricacies of life as a veteran, highlighting the necessity of community, support, and open dialogue. Otis's experiences and insights provide a lens through which listeners can appreciate the importance of prioritizing health and well-being, as well as the transformative power of connection within the veteran community. His story is a testament to resilience and the enduring bonds formed through shared experiences, making it an essential listen for both veterans and those looking to understand their journeys.

Takeaways:

• Veterans have a platform to share their experiences, fostering community and understanding.
• The transition from military to civilian life can be challenging yet fulfilling through support and education.
• Physical fitness and mental health are integral to overall wellness for veterans in Hawaii.
• Building camaraderie among veterans is essential for emotional support and resilience.
• Engaging in meaningful work post-service can help veterans maintain a sense of purpose.
• Continuous education and self-care are vital for veterans to thrive in civilian life....

Episode Transcript

(00:09):
Hey, welcome to Combat Vet Vision.
This is a platform for ourveterans, myself, to be able to talk
about things that reallyaffect our lives, affect other people's
lives and our veterans get it,get a chance to come on here.
Our sponsors, supporters andvolunteers also get to tell their,
their scope of why they'reinvolved, what they're doing and

(00:29):
doing some really incredible things.
And my guest this Week isanother 3rd Battalion 5th Marine
brother of mine, fellowcorpsman Otis Miller, all the way
from Hawaii.
And he'll be talking about hisstory, his, his evolution into the
military and why hetransitioned out and what he's doing
now to still be involved asservice to this country and to our

(00:52):
veterans in the Hawaii area.
And then we'll have JB on deck too.
JB, my co host, world renownedchef JB Brown for JB's kitchen in
his segment as well.
So looking forward to all that.
Otis, how you doing, brother?
Hey, thanks a lot for popping on.

(01:13):
I know.
Hey, thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Appreciate it.
Hey, it's great to see you.
I know we had a chance to talkthis last week.
You know, you popped on realquick and, and said a couple things
and it was great to have youcome, Come on and hey, talk, talk
about your, your history, brother.
Let's talk about three, five.
Let's talk about some cool things.
Being a corpsman and nowgetting out and being a, you know,

(01:35):
you know, Director of PhysicalHealth in, in Hawaii.
So go ahead, brother, let'stalk about it.
Yeah, man, it was like apretty easy transition, but, you
know, like my time as corpsmanpretty much helped out.
Pretty much.
With the transition doing here.
You know, that, that, that,that, that time span fit fit me well.

(01:58):
You know, I think, I think Iwas groomed to kind of be in the
military a little bit.
You know, my dad wasn't, hewas never in the military, but he
kind of ran the house like,like he was.
So.
Yeah.
So, you know, I had a lot ofchores, had certain days to do them,
certain times to do them,stuff like that.
So, you know, when I got toboot camp, you know, things being
so structured was real easyfor me.
You know, a lot of guys arecrying, freaking out, but for me,

(02:20):
like, it was like another day,you know, just you got to do things
when you got to do them.
So, you know, boot camp waspretty easy for me.
I had a good time.
And then after that, you know,because, you know, actually me being
a corpsman, I got a, the guy,the, the recruiter told me that he
said you know, you're gonna bewearing your whites all the time,
and you'll be in the hospitalnine to five.
It's like a regular job.

(02:41):
You'll forget you're in the military.
And that's how he sold me.
And I was like, okay, great.
But then I end up gettingthree, five orders and I spent half
my time in the dirt.
And yeah, yeah, there wasnothing like.
He said, like, you thought youwere just going to be a hospital
corpsman, but you were a greenside foreman.
So that green side.
That green side is totally adifferent element.
Yes, yes.

(03:01):
Yeah, completely different.
It was.
It was good stuff, though, man.
I'm actually glad it workedout the way it did because I'm, you
know, I get complacent real easy.
So if I actually ended up inthe hospital nine to five all the
time, it probably would havebeen a little different for my personality.
But it worked.
It worked out really well for me.
I wouldn't trade those yearsfor literally anything, though.
It was.
I met some good people whowere still friends.

(03:22):
Today we're in our group chat,you know, and even the Marines I
was stationed with, you know,I still talk to them now.
So it worked out the way itwas supposed to, I think.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, I think, you know,being part of 3rd Battalion, 5th
Marines, and going into combatthe way that we did and coming back,
the brotherhood that, that,that kind of created is definitely

(03:46):
such a strong element of howwe still stay communication today
on our 3, 5 Corman group, aswell as, you know, so many other
groups and, and talk about that.
I mean, you got out.
What.
What was your driving force tokind of get out and move forward
in.
In the direction that you went.
And obviously you went tocollege, you got.
Got your Ms.
Doing a whole bunch of cool stuff.

(04:07):
So talk about some of thattransition piece and, you know, maybe
some of the.
The struggles of making thosedecisions to really get yourself
aligned with the path thatyou're on now.
Well, the.
Like I was saying, thetransition wasn't really that hard
of a decision to make.
I didn't.
I didn't want to get out, butmy body was a little beat up at the

(04:28):
time, and, and I wanted tostay greenside, but if I was going
to stay green, so I needed a.
An able body and I didn't have it.
Both my knees are pretty much shot.
One rotator cuff was down.
There's no way I can keephiking and things like that all those
miles, and there's no way I doall that, you know.
The physical fitness aspect ofit with the beat up body.
So I made the decision to getout pretty easy with a heavy heart.

(04:50):
I did it though.
But I, you know, because my,my intent was to retire, but, you
know, all things don't workout the way, you know, you want them
to sometimes.
So I had to just take thebullet and kind of move on.
But, you know, I still wantedto stay in the, in the medical field.
So I, you know, when I gotout, I started to work at Scripps
for a while, the hospital.
So I was doing, doing like EMTwork and things like that, but some
of that stuff seemed a littlebit too real, in all honesty.
You know, some of the calls,yeah, man, it took me back to Iraq

(05:17):
a couple of times, you know,give me some bad memories.
So I ended up transitioningfrom that to dermatology, if you
can.
If you can believe it.
Yeah, they gave me the most.
I kept complaining about like,no, the calls, the calls, the calls.
And they're like, well, it'sthe EMT work.
What do you expect?
And I was like, yeah, buttaking me to a bad place and like,
you know, you try to explainthat to people and they don't really

(05:38):
understand it.
So I guess, you know, squeakywheel gets the oil.
So after a while, you know,they just like, well, let me just
move this guy.
So they moved me to the mostdocile place you could think of,
and they moved me to skin, youknow, did dermatology, looking at
moles all day.
So.
Yeah, so I tried that for awhile, but then it got kind of like,
you know, kind of boring.
So then I moved on from thatand then I started applying at the,

(06:00):
at the bases because that'swhere I feel more comfortable, you
know, in, in.
I think some people, you know,if you're not in the military, probably
don't.
They probably wouldn't get it.
But, you know, I don't have towatch my mouth necessarily as much.
You know, like, there's a,there's an element of that where,
like, I like, where I don'thave to say too much.
You know, I don't have tolike, be professional all the time

(06:22):
because, you know, I'msurrounded by a bunch of people who
say the most foul things inthe world.
So, you know, you know,working in the bases, it's more comfortable
here.
It's real, it's real comfortable.
So, you know, they don't makeme feel like I have to like, be,
you know, with my suit and tieand buttoned up all the way all the
time sometimes, like, youknow, I like the, the ease of being
here and I know theenvironment and I can relate to these
guys real, real easy.

(06:43):
I used to be them at one point.
So you know, a lot of theyoung guys that come in and like,
you know, we, I have twopsychology degrees.
So you know, I, I, A lot ofwhat I do here is mental too because
you know, a lot of these guys,you know, not, not even just combat
based.
A lot of these guys that comeinto my office and like, they just
want to talk.
They, they genuinely just wantto talk because it's their first

(07:04):
time away from home or thingslike that.
And especially here, being inHawaii, like, you know, it's not
like you can just get in thecar and just drive home.
Like this is a plane flight nomatter where you're from, just a
plane flight back homeregardless of where you're from.
So they feel real isolatedhere sometimes.
So like, you know, the mentalaspect of a lot of these, a lot of
these kids here, it's, it's,it's, it's pretty deep, you know.
But yeah, the school aspect ofit, yeah, man.

(07:28):
I always tell people like whenI, when I do my, when I do my con,
my, my classes that you know,there's a lot of education up there.
I know you saw it, I sent youmy, my bio.
But there's a lot of stuff up there.
But I tell them all that I didwith the post 911.
So like, you know, I alwaystell these kids like best bang for
your buck, man.
Like you do your researchbefore you go to the schools, you

(07:50):
can find a school that's, youknow, that's not as expensive and
then you can use the stretch adollar a little bit further and you
can, you can get, you canaccomplish all you want to, not to,
not to discredit any of thehigh quality, you know, universities
obviously because I have somefriends that went to use their post
911 to go to Duke and UCLA,things like that.
So like not to discreditanything, but I'm just put it out

(08:11):
there, just do your,definitely do your research and you
know, before you just starttossing money anywhere, find out
the classes that you're goingto take, make sure they're actually
what you want, the curriculumis what you want, things like that.
And then you can definitelyget a lot of bang for your buck because
I end up getting 5 degrees andit was like 7 or 8 certification
off of these, off of that post9 11.
So you can do it you can do it.

(08:33):
Just, you really gotta justget down and do your research, but
you can do it.
And now like, you know, I livein Hawaii where Peach and people
like to vacation and you know,I don't have many complaints.
No, you don't.
And hey, and talk about whatyou're doing.
I mean you're in the physicalfitness realm.
But that's so cool because youbrought up the fact that you have

(08:53):
the two psychology degreesthat really, you know, the mental
capacity of, of everything sosuper important.
And I would say that's, that'sprobably bigger than, than anything
physical because you reallyneed to tone your mental, you really
need to bend that mentalcapacity to, to kind of accept where
you're at and what you'redoing and especially if you're coming

(09:14):
from, you know, your homes faraway and like you said, an airplane
flight no matter what.
And we were in Okinawa, Japan together.
So this isn't your firstisland or anything, but you definitely
understand the isolationprocess and how that's really affecting
people.
I think that's super important.
But you know, talk about someof the places you've been and what
you're doing in the physicalfitness world and how that's working

(09:35):
for you, brother.
Yeah, so now I, I run thehealth promotion department here
on, on Marine Corps BaseHawaii KB and I also do it, I run
the health promotiondepartment on Camp Smith as well.
So there's two bases that Itake care of.
You know, it's.
It was kind of tough when Ifirst got here, but now, you know,

(09:57):
I've got the range, so we'regood to go.
But on a whole what we do isbasically just we look at the whole,
the, the overall wellness ofthe Marine.
It's not so much as just likethe physical part just like you were
talking about.
Like it's the physical is the mental.
You know, it's everythingthat, everything in between.
We do things that are actually we.
I started three programs herethat no Marine Corps installation

(10:19):
in the world does them and I'mpretty proud of that actually.
There's three installationsright now that are trying to mimic
the programs that I'm doingjust because like they work.
You know, I have a greenmachine program that we give them
a week's worth of classes orwe'll give them strengths and measurement
classes, we give them sleepclasses, nutrition, performance nutrition,

(10:40):
things like that.
So we're touching every aspectof the body just to make sure they
understand like everythingfrom physical to the mental to stress
related things to justeverything in between.
Just to be sure that theyunderstand that it's just not one
thing.
You know, sometimes you got togo to the gym and like, and punch
it out, or sometimes you justgot to go to sleep to kind of get
rid of the stress that you gotgoing on.
Some people think that theycan't sleep when you're stressed

(11:01):
out, but some people you knockright out when you stress and some,
you know, it just depends onthe person and things like that.
But there's, there's, there'smore than one way, you know, you
know, to, to accomplish these,these, these things, especially when
it comes to like, mental health.
I work closely with the mentalhealth department here.
Sometimes they come out anddo, and do talks for me, things like
that.
During my courses.
We also do a mission nutritioncourse that I have on my shirt right

(11:24):
now.
You know, we have that goingon my Food for Thought course, which
is ongoing nutritionalguidance for the Marines here as
well.
So, you know, like I wassaying, from mental to the nutrition
to the physical, we try to,try to, try to make sure that we
knock all that out to be surethat, you know, that they understand
that there's more than just,you know, the physical part of it.

(11:45):
Because, you know, the MarineCorps, they push, you know, pain
is weakness leaving the body.
And like, you know, every timethey take one of my courses, I always
like, you know, tell them thatthat's not true and then they always
get mad at me.
So like they don't like when Isay that they don't like that.
Yeah, because you, you know,you already been there, you know,

(12:07):
in the combat scenario andespecially three, five, I want to
say it was Lieutenant Ericksonor that would always say that pain,
you know, pain is weaknessleaving the body.
And you know, only one pushup, one plus one is one.
Kind of that math, you know,so you're just doing push ups and
everything till the end of the day.

(12:28):
But hey, man, that, that isawesome that you're doing all these
cool things and you, you know,you've been doing this for how long
now because you, you didn'tjust, you know, end up in Hawaii.
You were actually at CampPendleton for a long period of time
doing some stuff in NorthNorth Island, I think.
Right.
Talk bases you've been to andwhat you've been doing in those.
Oh yeah.
So I worked at 30, I worked at32nd street for a little bit and

(12:50):
then that was actually myending duty station.
I ended up staying there forlike a little bit.
Then from there I went to Okinawa.
I Was back, I was up, back inJapan for a while.
So I was working, just, justworking the front desk there.
But about a month into thatjob, somebody quit.
And then I got to run theathletic department there for maybe
about a year and a half.
So that was pretty good totransition from there to Pendleton

(13:10):
where I was running gyms andhit centers and things like that.
Then from there I came here.
So it's been almost like a 15year journey basically working for
MCCS and things like that.
But it's like I was tellingthis kid the other day, you know,
when I was like some little,little stupid kid out here in the
world and I really needed some guidance.
It's not, and it's not like todiscord in my parents, you know,

(13:31):
my, like my parents oranything like that.
You know, my dad's probablythe best guy I've ever met in my
life.
But you know, when it came toreally me actually growing, growing
up and like being by myselfand like making decisions like the
military was right there forme, you know.
So I feel like I needed togive back to some of these kids who
feel almost exactly the sameway that I did when I was, when I

(13:52):
was their age, when I was 19,20, 21, 22.
Like, it's in that earlyrealm, you know, there's a lot of
decisions that need to bemade, especially like if you're in
the military.
And it helps to have like someof these, you know, some of these
old heads around here to like,kind of help you through these things
because, you know, I had someguys to talk to a few guys, you know,
when I was, when I was there,I had a, you know, Chief Bureau back,
you know, back, way back inthe day.

(14:13):
I still talk to him today actually.
Good, really good guy.
It's probably one of thebetter chiefs I had being being in
the military.
Good, really good guy.
And I, I still quote him today.
There's just a couple quotesthat he uses.
I still quote today.
Some of these kids just an allaround good dude.
So like, you know, if you're,you got some of these older guys
that are around here, like,you know, now I'm, I guess I'm that

(14:34):
guy now.
I'm one of the older guys now.
I'm talking to these, talkingthese younger kids.
So, you know, I try to helpthem out as much as possible because
like, I definitely needed itwhen I was their age.
So I try to definitely bethere for them just even outside
of like the, the, the capacityof which they get sent to Me, because
a lot of times they're justsent to me because they're on, they're
on the body compositionprogram or on the BCP program or
even on the Navy side, they'reon the fe, the FEP program.

(14:56):
So they're, you know,basically they're out of standards,
so they have to come see me.
So for nutritional guidanceand things like that.
And then like, just to dotheir, their body composition scans.
So, you know, while we'redoing that, I, you know, I talk to
them just to see what thepersonal aspect is.
Because a lot of times, youknow, when these guys are out of
standards or they're gainingweight, sometimes it has nothing
to do with their physical abilities.
A lot of times it's justbecause you're away from home for

(15:18):
the first time and like,you're just depressed about it.
You know, that's.
It could be really that simple.
Has nothing to do with like,can you actually do a pull up or
not?
It just has everything to dowith the fact that you grew up with
your mother, a single mom, thewhole way, and now you guys are apart
for the first time and youcan't handle it.
It may be that simple, youknow, So I try to talk to these guys
and point them in the rightdirection whenever they need help.

(15:40):
Well, that's, it's always amazing.
You know, I feel like wealways take it upon ourselves to
kind of make a better decisionto be involved in someone's life,
however that might look evenoutside of the job, you know, because,
hey, somebody's saying, it'snot my job to do that, but sometimes
it's upon us because we havethe knowledge, we have the, the passion

(16:03):
to give that feedback back.
And that's so awesome thatyou're doing that.
Hey, before we transition tojb, if he's on, but any last final
words, and if somebody wantsto get a hold of you, if they want
to talk to you, how, how canthey do that?
Obviously through my show.
And, you know, that'sdefinitely a possibility.

(16:25):
So.
And then on top of that, youknow, how can they get a hold of
you outside of that if youwant them to get, get a hold of you?
Oh, outside.
I mean, you know, actually ifanybody's listening to this and they're
on, you know, if you're on, ifyou have access to Global, I'm really
easy to find.
I'm, I'm probably the onlyOtis Miller that works in, in Hawaii,

(16:45):
so I'm, I'm pretty sure I'mthe only oldest Miller Here, so I'm
easy to find on Global.
My first and last name, youknow, 31yahoo.
Is pretty much my.
My email address if you wantto get a hold of me.
Yeah, man, we just.
Last words.
I mean, I just want to say,like, you know, just, I tell people
a lot how I end the majorityof my.

(17:06):
Of my stress management classes.
I tell people, you know, focuson your health the best you can.
I mean, go get your checkupsdone, get your physicals done.
Uh, don't sway away from these things.
Uh, you know, because a lot oftimes sometimes things are going
on with you and you don't evenknow it.
Sometimes you look.
Look fine and feel fine, butthings are.

(17:26):
Things are going on.
So you might want to just.
Just for a peace of mind, justgo ahead and take care of your health.
Because especially as we getolder, I know when you're 20, 21
years old, you don't thinkabout these things, but like, when
you.
As you get older, definitely,you know, keep your health in the
back of your head because, youknow, you don't want to castings
a little bit too late.
So just make health a priority.

(17:47):
Like, I'm.
Like I say, most times, makeyour health a priority.
And, you know, stay up, everybody.
I appreciate you having me on, man.
Hey, Otis, thanks a lot forcoming on, brother.
I know, you know, I don't gotJB on deck, but we'll talk real quick
about Lima company, becauseyou wanted.
You.
We talked this week aboutpossibly getting Lima company on

(18:08):
deck.
And so that's.
Yeah, that's a whole bunch.
That's a whole bunch ofcorpsmen coming on here and, and
telling their stories.
Right, and so you're lookingforward to having Lima company.
We're gonna.
We're gonna set that up in thefuture here, and I'm definitely wanting
to go with that.
So that's pretty cool.
Talk about that a little bit.
What your ideas on that.
Yeah, I think we should, man.
Like, you know, I've.
I've met a lot of corpsmanalong the way, and, you know, we

(18:31):
were.
We were pretty tight group.
You know, we're pretty tight.
Like, you know, even today westill talk.
My.
Actually, my wedding, that,that you.
That you actually saw, it wassupposed to go another way, and they
were going to be my groomsmen.
Like, you know, it's just.
We're just a tight group ofdudes, you know, like, we always
talk and, you know, it's, youknow, even if you lose track for

(18:53):
about, like, maybe like ashort of a year or something.
Like you just come back likeit never happened.
And, you know, I, I couldn'task for like a better group of friends,
you know, like, they just, youknow, you can be vulnerable around
them.
That's something that, like alot of guys, it's, it's hard to do.
It's hard to find other guysthat you can be, I don't know, vulnerable,
sensitive, whatever you wantto say around, and they won't like,

(19:15):
clown you about it, you know.
You know, it's hard to findsome, some friends that are, you
know, then they can equally doit back.
So, you know.
You know, I, I love thosedudes, like for everything, you know,
I remember, I continue to tellyou a quick story.
I, I remember I was in Iraq.
I, I was Hector, like Reyes.

(19:37):
We were together and we'resitting against like this little
sand dune thing.
And I asked that guy, I wasfreaking out that night because there's
a lot going on that night actually.
And I asked him, you know, arewe gonna die?
And he said, there's nothingever going to happen to you as long
as I'm around, you know.
And the reality is that canyou really stop something from coming
out of the sky and like,taking us both out?

(19:57):
No.
But words help.
You know what I mean?
You know, words get youthrough things, whether I know the
reality or not, you know, andfor him to say something like that
and not actually like, kind oflike just bull crap me with a whole
bunch of like random wordsthat, that's helpful, but like, these
are the kind of guys that Ihave around me, you know, stuff like
that, you know, that's why,you know, we're all so tight today.

(20:19):
Yeah, the camaraderie issomething that you can't really measure
in in life.
And the fact that it, that itcomes with a lot of history that
relates to that exact kind ofthing, right when, when things are
at your worst and you're kindof having that downfall and somebody's
right there to pick you upalong the way.
And that's.
That mental health that we'retalking about is such an important

(20:41):
aspect.
And I think that's, that's,that goes.
And Rey is another great corpsman.
He, he actually has got his doctorate.
He's a doctor in Texas rightnow, doing a whole bunch of great
things.
And, you know, he's, he'sright there for us too.
If we need anything, he'sstepping in.
You know, there's such a.
Such a really cool thing.
So I look forward to gettingReyes on Hearing his story as well

(21:01):
and getting Lima.
Yeah.
Here to tell their stuff.
Because that camaraderie is priceless.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I think that's just a cool thing.
And I like the fact that weall like, we all like none of us,
we all took advantage ofeverything that we learned.
Like nobody, nobody slacked off.
You know, Derek's doing his thing.
You know, I'm doing my thingout here.
No, Bo actually stuck.

(21:22):
He did all the way.
You know, chiefd it up.
You know, he retired, did thewhole deal.
Like, you know, you know, wekind of knew he'd be the one to stay
though.
Like, we, we, we kind of knewthat he'd be the one.
And you know, and Ray is like,he's a, this dude's a full on doctor
now.
You know, Like I was like, butyou know, we gotta, we gotta do what
we gotta do, you know, like,you know, I was like, man, raise

(21:45):
is doing this.
I gotta go get my master'sdegree, so I gotta go get mine too.
He goes, being a doctor.
And I was like, well, I ain'tdoing that.
So like, like, all right,buddy, you win, you win.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But those are my guys though.
I love those dudes.
Those are my guys.
Yeah.
And he was up in New York fora while doing some stuff.

(22:06):
And, and you guys, some of theguys went up there and helped him
out to get, get down to Texasand stuff.
It's.
I'm off.
Hey.
And, and that, that's what'sreally cool.
Because a lot of people, a lotof veterans might be out there thinking
that they want to be alone,thinking they want to do their thing.
But after a while, thosethoughts start crow clouding your
mind and you start having yourown thoughts starting to reflect

(22:28):
back and forth to yourself andyou have no kind of reverberation
from that.
And when you have your fellow,you know, when you reach back out
into the veteran community andyou get involved in that, I think
that you just increases yourpathway to a better place.
And I think so often thatthat's, that's a missed understood
thing that I think we all needeach other because we never did it

(22:49):
alone.
We didn't go to combat alone.
We didn't do any.
You know, at one point theysaid, hey, you might be the only
corpsman out there with your,your marines.
And I used to not believe inthat until that actually happens
in combat.
But right when that happens,you just gotta, you know, live up
to the moment.
You know, this is the historythat you've been Heard.
You heard about.

(23:10):
But that doesn't mean when yougo back home, you fall apart.
It means you still staytogether and move forward in these
positive directions.
And I think that's reallyawesome that we, we're able to do
that together too.
Yeah, it's a good thing tocarry forward, you know, like, you
know, I, I don't know most people.
A lot of people don't knowthat, you know, I have poetic material.
I, I write poems and thingslike that.

(23:30):
I wrote a few of them about.
About us, you know, just asCorman hanging out and things like
that.
Some things are from.
Just from memory, things beingout in Iraq and things like that.
But yeah, man, you know, we've.
We've always been like the,the guardrails for each other.
And I was talking to Derek nottoo long ago, and, you know, he said,

(23:51):
like, he told me back then Iwas the more mature one of everybody
because, like, but like, atthe time, I was the only one that
was married and had it, and,you know, I was the only one.
And, you know, none of themwere, so they can be as reckless
as they wanted to be.
So like, I, I couldn'tnecessarily do it.
So he was like, yeah, youknow, you're the most more responsible
one at the time.
I was like, yeah, at the time.
But I mean, that was bydefault, like, you know, you know,

(24:15):
because I wanted to be outthere too.
You know, I want to do mything, but, you know, but like, when
we were on deployment, it'snot like we didn't have any fun and
things like that, but like,you know, I had to be a little bit
more grounded.
But then, you know, as we getolder, you know, you know, like,
you know, everybody's being,you know, alt.
No Derek and, and, and, AndHector, they've.
They become super responsiblefathers and, you know, like, you
know, you can't.

(24:36):
You can't, like, can't hope for.
For better for your friends,you know, I like the way that our
lives have turned out.
You know, when we were kids,like, you know, you.
You think that, like, youknow, all these, all these young
dudes out here doing all thisdumb stuff and like, you know, how.
How do we grow up and becomewhat we become?
You know, but it's with thehelp of each other and the support

(24:57):
of each other and things like that.
I already know.
I always know from back thento right now that if I got something
to talk about, any one ofthem, any one of those three, I can
just reach out real easily.
And like, you Know, they'llget back to me with quickness, you
know, and vice versa, youknow, same thing.
You know, if you really needsomebody, you know, it's nice to
know in the back of your headthat you got these particular people

(25:18):
that like, you know, you canalways rely on.
Of course, you know, when itcomes to, like, things that you probably
can't talk about when it comesto, like your family or like your
spouse or things like that,people who actually understand and
been there or, or better yet,was right there next to you when
it happened, you know, so alot of these things, it's, it's,
you know, because I understandwhat you're talking about when it
comes to best, like to be alone.
But like, you know, I have acouple of.

(25:39):
A couple of buddies that liketo just kind of be a hermit and stay
in their house.
But, like, you know, I try tocheck on as much as I can.
Just be like, dude, you gotta,you gotta talk to people, man.
You gotta get out and talk, man.
It's just being alone byyourself, it does something to your
mental.
Like, if you think you want tobe alone, that's kind of a mental
issue, so to speak, that youwant to be so enclosed and closed
off to the world.
Like, it's kind of a mentalproblem right there.

(26:01):
So.
And it's like, I'm trying totalk to you and you're trying to
fight me off, you know, issues.
But, like, you know, it's not,it's not going to stop me because
I've been there too, where Iwas in the hole.
And, you know, if it wasn'tfor some friends helping me out the
hole, then, you know, Iwouldn't be here now.
So, like, you know, sometimes,you know, persistence is key.
You got, you got to keephelping out and keep showing up.

(26:23):
Definitely.
Otis.
Hey, and stay on just till theend, you know, we'll come back on,
we'll talk after the show.
But, you know, it's soimportant, all these things that
you're saying.
This is, you know, you know,you've known me for a long time,
you get to see all my stuff.
I, you know, I do threewarrior groups a week for the combat
vest through the PTSDfoundation of America.

(26:44):
You know, if there's somebodythat needs to get on there, they
can.
And some of you guys havegotten on there.
And then after this show, Ihave the 1400 time frame where I
just kind of have a openhouse, and that's for anybody that
wants to get on and see in anopen house.
Is really designed for anybodythat wants to come in here and just
talk, chat and do.

(27:05):
Do whatever.
And you got on last week.
That's why we had a reallygood time talking about it.
And I was like, hey, I'm gonnaget you on next week, if that's cool,
Otis.
And so, you know, these thingsare super important to me.
You know, I do a lot withWarrior Built, and I get to hang
out with Warrior built 232,which is.
Stands for WB, the.
The 23rd letter and the.
And the 2.
And so that actually refers toour 232 troops, refers to all of

(27:30):
our sponsor supporters,volunteers that do all that stuff.
So you talk about all those things.
You talked about family, too, man.
And family is such a huge,important impact to lives of our
families and stuff like that.
But, you know, this has justbeen an outstanding time with you.
Hey, we got about two minutes left.
If you got any last things tosay, feel free to put it out there,
brother.

(27:50):
Yeah, again, like I say, like,you know, to everybody, just make
your health a priority.
Please don't, like, disregardanything you.
You see.
I. I see this all the timewhere, you know, things just go by
the wayside, and then theyturn into big problems.
So as a health professional, Ijust like to say, you know, make
your health a priority,especially as we're getting older.
Please take care of yourself.
And to all the vets out there, there's.

(28:11):
There's.
There's so many opportunitiesfor us out there, you know, for mental,
for physical, for nutritionalhabits, for everything.
If you're in the Hawaii area,come see me.
You can definitely.
Yeah, absolutely, man.
Absolutely.
So, you know, if you're inHawaii area, come see me.
If.
If you.
If you're distanced and manhit up Chief.
Man.
Chief has all the hookups, all the.

(28:33):
All the plugs.
She's got all the plugs.
Hey, and I'm.
I'm working on it, man.
I don't, you know, and it's socool because a lot of times I'll
put the word out, and if someof you guys have the answers, you
know, it really steers theseguys in the right direction.
It's something you mentioned.
I just want to say it again.
You know, you mentioned thehealth is so important, and we only
have so much time in our lifeto correct that.

(28:53):
At a certain age, you justcan't correct it.
So that's why it's reallyimportant to check out your lab works
and get.
Get your stuff, you know,checked out and start, you know,
making it making thoseadjustments in your lives now because,
you know, as we get older,those adjustments, you know, you
don't have a chance to adjust.
You just end up, you know, inthe, in the ground, and we want to
keep you from that.
So.

(29:14):
And that's.
That's the other thing, youknow, the mental health piece, you
know, stay out of the groundas well.
Come see us and let's.
Let's do some stuff.
Hey, so until next time.
Hey, this is Combat Vet Vision.
This is a chance for us totalk and really have these cool discussions.
Open, open communication andbe able to tell a good story.
I'm thankful for Otis.
I'm thankful for all my friends.
You know, I just had DerekHudnall, another, another good buddy

(29:34):
we were just talking aboutlast week.
So check out my podcastswherever you watch your podcasts.
And thanks to Brian Colburn inthe background pushing the buttons
for sitradio.com until next time.
Strength and honor out theonly way and we need nothing more
the only way Together foreverthat's for sure.