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AVS Media, Papa Hotel, Lima E November Radio Kick Papa November,
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Good Afternoon, Richard Pie, Good.
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Afternoon, Read you five as well, Papa Echo November.
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The X Zone Radio and TV show is largely an
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opinion talk show. All opinions, comments, or statements of fact
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expressed by Rob McConnell's guests are strictly their own and
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are not to be construed as those of The X
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Zone Radio and TV Show or in any manner endorsed
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by Rob McConnell, Realmar McConnell Media Company, talk Star Radio Network,
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It's affiliated stations or employees.
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All radio Welcome to the X Zone, a place where
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fact is fiction and fiction is reality.
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Now here's your host, Rob McConnelly, and welcome to the xceone.
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Everyone monnay, mister Rob McConnell, And for the next four hours,
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I'm your host and your guy, as together we cross
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the time space continuum to this place that I call
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the X Zone. It's a place where people dare to
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believe and dare to be heard. It's a place where
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fact is fiction and fiction is reality. The Xzone comes
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to Monday through Friday from ten pm Eastern until two
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am Eastern on the Talk Star Radio Network, X Zone
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Broadcast Network, UK High Definition Radio, your O High Definition Radio,
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Star Cable, and our family of broadcast affiliates right across Canada,
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the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, the Pacific, realm, Asia, India,
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Africa and Europe. My website www dot xone Radio TV
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dot com and if you'd like to send us an email,
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xone at exxonradiotv dot com. My first guest tonight Xon
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Nation is Mike Lagori. He's the author of The Sandbox
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Stories of Human Spirit and War Now. Mike is a
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former United States Marine and veteran of the Iraq War.
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His short story memoir, The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit
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and War chronicles Mike's two tours in battle, as well
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as his struggle coming home from service. His personal battle
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is PTSD and finding a purpose after the war. He
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is an active He's very active in the veteran community
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through advocacy events ranging from lobbying veteran legislation on Capitol
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Hill with Iraq Afghanian veterans of America to speaking on
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numerous panels and hiring veterans in today's workforce. Mike has
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also contributed to the development of the Santa Mateo County,
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a Veteran Treatment court, which provides veterans rehabilitation through court
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mandated programs and poor pure mentorship. Joining me now is Michaeligorian. Mike,
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Welcome to the X Zone.
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Hey, thank you for having me.
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Hey, Mike, you spent four years in the Marines. Thank
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you for your service and to the service that is
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being done and continues to be done by men and
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women who have volunteered to protect democracy, to protect freedom,
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and to protect those of us.
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So thank you, oh so thank you. It's my pleasure.
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It was a wonderful experience. It taught me a lot
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about myself, and more importantly, I was able to serve
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the people, so and then that was a humbly and
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experience in themself.
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Mike, you're quite a busy man. I understand you're doing
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a lot of advocacy work, you know, And there's going
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to be a lot more veterans coming home soon. And
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are we prepared to welcome the vets home to give
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them proper care that they so rightfully deserve.
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Yes and no. And the reason why I have such
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a mixed answer is mostly because right now. What's happening,
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especially in the media circuits, is we're seeing the average
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veteran is waiting over six hundred days for a disability
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claim from the Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA has
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also come out and said that that number is going
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to exceed one million veterans by next month. From a
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medical disability financial standpoint, we are not ready. We have
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not been able to to find a solid structure in
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order for us to kind of welcome these veterans coming
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home from the Afghanistan campaign I rack, you know, wound
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down about two years ago, and we're still seeing this
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huge influx. But on the social side, the society that
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we live in today is more welcoming a military veterans
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wants to hear the stories of the post traumatic stress,
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the battles that we're being engaged in. So from a
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societal standpoint, we are more welcoming. We are more encouraging
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these veterans to find jobs, to hiring veterans, to finding
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some sort of reintegration.
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All right, Meg, stand by you and I have to
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take a two minute commercial break. We'll be right back
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x O nation. My guess this hour is Michael Lagori
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he's the author of the Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit
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and War, and Mike and I will be back on
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the other side of this two minute commercial break as
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the exone continues with yours Trollie, Rob McConnell from our
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studios in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Once again, our toll free
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number is one eight hundred and sixty ten seven zero
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three five. Email Xon at Xon Radio TV dot com,
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on MSN, messenger, Xon Radio TV at hotmail dot com
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and our website www dot Xon Radio tv dot com
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for more information. And Mike has asked us to give
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out this website, Operation Work Warriors dot RG. Mike and
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I will be back in two minutes. Don't go away
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anything for you.
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You un he said.
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Explanation. Michael Igry is my special guest this hour. He's
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the author of the Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit and War.
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Www Dot Operation Work Warriors dot Org as a website
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to visit. And Mike, tell me what was it like
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about ira.
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Well, you know, as Iraq is just one of those
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places that words cannot scrap, but somehow always managed to
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do it and put it in a book. But it's
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not prime real estate. It's it's very flat less, really
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really uh scarce vegetation. The people. Half of them liked
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you and believed in the cause of you freeing the
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freeing them, and the other half hated you because they
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considered you invaders. So it was very difficult experience.
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What was the one thing you took away from from
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your deployments besides.
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The fact that I survived, I would probably say I
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took away the meaning of friendships. And I served with
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a bunch of guys that I had met two weeks
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prior before my deployments Iraq, and I became close with them, family, trust,
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all those things that we value in friendships. I had
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learned that the importance of that, of what it really
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means to have a strong bond in brotherhood with other people.
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In two thousand and six, you were honor honorably discharged
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from from the Marines. Mike, what was the trend Pansician
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like coming out of the service back into the civilian world.
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It was really difficult. Imagine you coming home and not
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having anything in common with anybody at all. Wow, I
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had these really really intense experiences. It was difficult for
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me being shot at and then transitioning right into a
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college classroom. Here I am at twenty four years old
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as a freshman, and the rest of my colleagues or
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classmates so to speak, are eighteen years old, coming directly
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in from high school, very little life experience. So it
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was hard because I was the only one that had
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served in a combat zone while all these other kids
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just went from living with mom and dad and then
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went to the local community college. It was a very
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hard experience. It's very isolated. I felt alone a lot
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of the time, and my conversations were people with were minimal.
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Now, you mentioned somewhere being recalled back to service during
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the President Bush troop surge, and that was when you
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knew something wasn't right mentally. Can you tell me more
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about that.
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Yeah? Sure. In two thousand and seven, President Bush had
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initiated a troop surge to go and make sure that
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the al Qaeda insurgency wasn't getting stronger in Iraq. It
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was kind of like the final blow, right, and President
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Bush had gone through all the inactive reserves that they
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call them, the guys who had gotten out after four
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years but were still technically under contract, and kind of
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tapped the reserves. When I got that letter in the
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mail a year after I had gotten out of the service.
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I immediately had this flashback, this paranoia. This heared like
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almost childlike behavior, where I was so fearful of going
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back to that place for a third time that I froze.
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I didn't even feel like myself. And I remember I
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came home immediately after I got that letter, and I
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locked myself in my room and I would only come
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out for food and water, and I didn't go to
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school for three weeks, and it was very hard for me.
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I knew right then and there that this was not
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normal behavior, and so I needed to figure out what
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it was.
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At that time, Mike, did you have any idea that
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you may have been suffering with PTSD?
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I didn't even know what it was. Let's just put
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it this way. It wasn't in the brochure when I
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first joined. It was not advertised to me. It was
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not something I was completely aware of as a consequence,
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nor you know, was it something that they made they
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put on the risk waiver and then saying, hey, by
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the way, you could have most traumatic stress and all
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these other injuries. So never knowing what it was, I
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did you know it was? It was kind of It
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was this new terminologomy. It was almost like Greek. It
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was an ancient language I had. I had no idea
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what mostmatic stress was at all.
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Why did you write your book The Sandbox Stories of
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Human Spirit and War.
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I thought it was needed for myself.
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Was it part of the healing process?
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I'm sorry?
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Was it part of the healing process?
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Yeah? Absolutely, writing saved my life. I had gone to this,
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I had gone to therapists, and with the therapist we
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had worked through some of the emotional trauma and some
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of the uh the reoccurring trauma that had been happening
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over my tours in Iraq, or as they call it,
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layered trauma. But I wasn't doing writing. And even though
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I was getting professional help, the writing part for me
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was my own self administered therapy to gain perspective, to
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understand that my experiences were a bigger part than just myself.
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The book was the first time you told anyone of
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your experiences in the war and coming home. What made
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writing these experiences easier than just talking to someone nobody.
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On the other end of that book? When I first
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started writing, it was listening to me wow, So there
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was no judgment. It was a reflection of myself. I
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could write whatever I want and not have to be
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susceptible to criticism or you know, have a the emotional
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end where people may be crying or maybe emotionally affected
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by my stories. This was me talking to myself on
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a piece of paper eight hours a day for six months.
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Let me ask you this, Mike, how could anyone criticize
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you for going across across the oceans following the orders
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of the commander in chief, the president of the United States,
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for defending democracy, for defending freedom. How could anyone criticize you?
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Believe it or not, it happens a lot of people
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associate veterans with the foreign against of the war. I
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have had people. I was actually on MPR last week
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and there was a woman there who had said to
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me that she could not believe that I had actually
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died to join and fight for my country, despite the
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fact that I was not in favor of the war.
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Now as a veteran looking back that, but I was eighteen,
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I didn't know anything. All I wanted to do was
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through my country.
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And you know, when I hear people taking a negative
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connotation to what you have done or what your beliefs
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were that person certainly didn't want to go put her
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life on the limb to protect it.
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Yeah. Absolutely, you know, I tried to main very non
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judgmental towards it. People have their make their town choices.
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The beauty of democracy is that you can't say whatever
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you want without being persecuted or killed for it. In
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our country, unfortunately, though, you can hurt people with what
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you say. But I have in the past, the life
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that I've been in, with all the events and the
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you know, the trauma and the war experiences, I have
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learned that to remain non judgmental towards those people, because
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those are the people that I decided to risk my
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life board to protect them. So they can say that stuff.
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To me as a little bit difficult that.
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May be to say, I don't personally, my friend, I
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don't think it gives them the right to say anything.
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But that's just my opinion, Okay. I think if you're
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not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
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And thank god, thank god, there are people like you
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out there who want to be part of the solution.
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So once again, thank you for doing what you've done
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and to what the men and women around the world
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who are fighting for freedom and democracy are doing.
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Oh, thank you and thank you to all the listeners
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out there there are supporting our troops right now in
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the Afghanistan conflict, in the draw down from Iraq tew
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years ago and seeing the influx of errans. So thank
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you to everybody out there for supporting our troops.
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Let me ask you, let me ask you an off
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the call, off the cuff question here, how did how
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did the members of the forces feel when there was
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not one ounce of weapon of mass destruction found?
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I think I actually got told that last week that
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a top British study, that these high top British study,
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the sources there were told that the members of the
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Bush administration are members of the of the military. You know,
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the military were informed that there was no no known
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active WMDs there. And that was the first time I
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had heard about it was last week. You know, people
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are saying you've been lied to, and you've been you've
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been you know, they've they've de seated you and they've
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you know, they they try to make you believe in
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something that wasn't there. And all I'm going to say
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is this, Yeah, you know, even if there was no
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WMDs in there at that time, at eighteen years old,
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I believed in the mission of the United States of America,
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even though looking back on it, it was one of
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the war a complict that we responded quickly to what
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had happened September eleventh. Yeah, regardless of the fact though,
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whether I was light or not, whether it was no WNDS,
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there are members like me in the Armed forces who
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will tell you that they loved their military experience and
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they would not trade in their war experiences at all.
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Mike stand by you and I have to take our
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news break at the bottom of the hour. Excell Nation.
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Just this hour is Michael Logori. He's the author of
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The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit and War. And Mike
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and I will be back on the other side of
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this commercial break with the news as the Exon continues
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right here from our studios in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. My
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name is Rob McConnell. The x ON comes to Monday
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through Friday from ten pm Eastern until two am Eastern.
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Another network picks it up from two am until six am.
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Then our third network picks up the show from six
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am until ten pm, and the Circle starts all over again.
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If you'd like to send us an email, send us
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your thoughts. Xxone at Xzone Radio TV dot com. Michael
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Igory is my guest and we'll be back on the
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other side of the news. Don't go away, you.
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Play.
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You could be through and through, but you can have
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your way.
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You're listening to the x Zone Radio Show live around
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00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.640
the world on the Talk Star Radio Network and x
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Zone Broadcast Network. Visit our website at www dot x
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Zone radio TV dot.
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Com to you am through the morning fog.
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I see visions of the things to be, the pains
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that are.
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With help for me, Hi Realalizon. I can't see that
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suicide is painless.
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It brings on many changes and I can take on
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leave it if I please.
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And welcome back everyone. This is the x On. My
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name is Rob McConnell, coming to you from our studios
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in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, worldwide, toll free one eight hundred
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and six ten seven zero three five. Email x On
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at x On Radio TV dot com, on MSN, messenger,
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00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:58.359
x On Radio TV at hotmail dot com, and our
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website www dot x On Radio TV dot com. You
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know I played the theme from MASH because we had
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Mike Farrell on Mike, who played Captain b J. Honeycut
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on the Mash series. And you know, here is a
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man who portrayed a surgeon in a MASH unit during
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the Korean conflict, and he had nothing but the highest
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respect and the greatest things to say about the men
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and women in the military. And I can't understand. I'm
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still baffled that people give you give you grief at times.
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Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't say like.
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All people give me.
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You know, there's with every great cause or you know,
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great kind of social support that you get for military veterans.
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There are always people that cannot disassociate the war with
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the military the people who are serving in it. And
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it's unfortunate because that's their political opinions dilute their support
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for the men and women that are serving.
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Mike. At the end of your book, you've recount your
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very own suicide attempt and talk about an intervention that
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happened right as you were about to go through with it.
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Can you tell us about that about the attempt and
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the intervention.
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I was in therapy when it happened. I was at
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the last week and with everything that was going on
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in my life. You know, it was years and years
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of trauma all coming out in my in my sessions,
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and they were very intense sessions, ninety to one hundred
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and twenty minutes weekly, wow with a person that I
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didn't know, and you're reliving everything that you ever saw
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and experienced. And it's amazing how our brains are. Because
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our brains are these are these supercomputers that can store
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memories that we may have forgot about. But the moments
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that you start seeing something or you get a song,
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it automatically pulls that memory up and you relive the
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whole entire thing. And for me, it was words, it
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was smells, it was telling the descriptions of the scenario
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and of the scenarios of Iraq, and everything came out
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at the end of the therapy session. When I was
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in my last week, I had felt so much pain
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and depression at that time because it was all coming
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to the surface. I didn't want to be a burden
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to anybody else, not to my family, not to my girlfriend,
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not to my friends. I just didn't want people to
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know about the world that I was living in. It
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was my personal battle and I felt at that time
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the easiest, you know, an option for me, and it
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may have been the easiest way out of this, was
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to commit suicide, you know. And I was alone in
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my house when it happened, and it was a it
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was a muggy day in December, and I decided to
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walk into the kitchen and I was going to grab
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a knife. And when I had decided in my mind,
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this was probably the best way for me to stop
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all the pain and the suffering that I was going
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through and to keep my friends and family out of
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this kind of dark the darkest days in my life.
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I just figured it was going to be the easy,
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easiest thing for me to do. But right when I
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went to go grab that knife, I felt my hand
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kind of freeze, and there was almost a point where
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I thought it was me just kind of getting stage fright.
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But the more I tried to move it towards the knife,
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the more I couldn't. And then it got really quiet,
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almost to the point just to kind of relay this
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this quiet to you, it's almost like the calming before
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the storm. And uh, in the in the in this
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in the desert or the sandbox, as we some of
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the service marriage. Will call it the comming before the
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storm usually always came before you were going to get
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into a firefight, before mortars were going to rain down
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on you, or before you were going to hit an id.
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Either way, the calming before the storm was such a
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kind of thing, bad thing, and how ironic it was
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that the comming before the storm had happened to me
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in my own kitchen alone. And at that very moment
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in time, I also felt something that I didn't feel
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when I was in Iraq, which was this light presence,
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this coat, this kind of like this uh, this this
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kind of this shield that was being built around me.
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And I had felt as if I was being embraced
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by the most loving people in the whole entire world.
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And in my ear I heard this voice. I told me, Michael,
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put the knife downside. It's not your time to go.
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You have a job here to do, and it's not
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your time to go yet. And I remember when I
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00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:33.960
heard that voice, I tried to I thought maybe it
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might have been my conscience talking to me. Well, really,
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what I felt was is that it couldn't have been,
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because at that moment in time, the voice kept getting stronger,
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but it was more compassionate and caring, and it repeated
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itself to me, and it encouraged me to not grow
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out that knife, and I decided I didn't want to
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do it. I decided that it was too hard for
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me to even go through this kind of selfish act
397
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of wanting to leave this world and not deal with
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my problems. And right when I decided to retract my
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hand and close the knife drawer, I cried for hours,
400
00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:21.920
an hour straight. And at that point in time, that
401
00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:28.559
was when I realized that I was destined for something greater,
402
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because if I was able to stop myself from killing
403
00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:35.160
myself at that time or committing suicide, then something in,
404
00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:39.119
something in the works and life was meant for me.
405
00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:44.839
How many years ago is that, Mike, It will.
406
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Be three years in December.
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00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:52.200
Looking back over those three years, have you come to
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00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:56.799
discover who or what that voice was?
409
00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:04.400
Yeah, I've tried to answer try to answer that question.
410
00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:09.839
You know, people that I've been very very close to,
411
00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:13.000
you know who do who are?
412
00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:13.319
You know?
413
00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:16.160
Pres and work in the religious kind of organizations have
414
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:18.119
said that God had spoken to me at the time
415
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when I needed to be saved from myself. I've had
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00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:27.640
spiritual advisors tell me that it was God talking to
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me to reinvigorate me with purpose. I've even had very
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very highly intelligent atheists tell me it was my conscience
419
00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:41.000
telling me at the time where I didn't go thoroughly
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go through the decision making process. I have heard it
421
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:49.200
from all three rounds, but honestly, I stopped asking that
422
00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:54.759
question a couple of months ago. And here's why some
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00:28:54.960 --> 00:29:01.599
questions are better left and in order for me to
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00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:05.359
continue on this growth that I'm going on. Regardless if
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00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:08.640
it was God or not, or if it was a
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00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:10.880
deity or whatever you would like to say it is.
427
00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:15.400
The point is is that I would saved for myself
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00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:19.240
and it gave me new purpose, and it's helped me
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00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:23.079
in my transition home, and it's helped me It's put
430
00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:25.640
me in positions to help my fellow veterans. It's put
431
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:28.599
me in positions to talk about the struggles that men
432
00:29:28.680 --> 00:29:32.519
and wounded face when get back from a combat zone. Yeah,
433
00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:36.559
Iraq and if Danistan wars are the longest war conflicts
434
00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:40.319
we have ever seen in the US history. There's going
435
00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.799
to be a lot of stuff I'm going to surface
436
00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:45.720
within the next couple of years. More injuries. We're going
437
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:50.200
to see more wounded veterans, and these are the type
438
00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:52.200
of things that if I were to ask my question
439
00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:56.519
and get answered about who spoke to me, I think
440
00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:59.400
that would almost ruin the whole entire reason why I'm
441
00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:00.440
doing what I'm doing.
442
00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:05.240
You know, you say you feel more alive than ever before.
443
00:30:05.880 --> 00:30:09.880
Would you attribute that to your your attempt or more
444
00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:11.559
so on the journey you're on?
445
00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:16.319
Well, I think it's both. Definitely, the attempt was the
446
00:30:16.359 --> 00:30:20.920
catalyst for the for my feeling more alive than ever.
447
00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:26.839
Suicide is a very selfish act. You think at that
448
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:29.599
moment in time, it is about yourself. It is about
449
00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:32.880
what you don't want to go through anymore. But what
450
00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:36.279
you don't realize is is that that the tons of
451
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:39.599
people that you can affect if you were to go
452
00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:45.839
through with it. But because I didn't, I felt that
453
00:30:47.079 --> 00:30:50.519
the journey I've been on had been a roller coaster ride.
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00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:54.759
I mean, I remember there was a point where I
455
00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:57.680
went to the White House and I sat with President
456
00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:01.000
Obama's staff and I was hearing my fellow veterans telling
457
00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:04.240
their stories of what it was like for them after
458
00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:08.559
Iraq in Afghanistan, and then you know I would go
459
00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:12.720
and buy my English exam in college. And you know,
460
00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:15.000
it's kind of one of those things where it's such
461
00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.160
a it's such a high point and such a low
462
00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:20.920
point that the journey kept me going.
463
00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:29.960
If you could tell everyone listening tonight around the world
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00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:33.839
one thing about mental health, Mike, what would it be?
465
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:40.200
Mental health is not a joke. It can kill you.
466
00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:44.519
I have a dear friend of mine in Wounded Warrior
467
00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:48.559
Project who had told me about the experiences when he
468
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:56.480
when he met his first they're pelegic wounded veterans, and
469
00:31:57.480 --> 00:32:02.400
he had said, I'm not insured, but and here I am,
470
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:06.480
and I just have post traumatic stress. And here I'm
471
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:08.519
looking at a guy who's gotten his leg blown off
472
00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:12.400
by an ID. You know how am I just as
473
00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:17.160
injured as he is? And I remember asking him, well,
474
00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:20.319
why would you think that? And he said, because people
475
00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:25.640
don't realize that post traumatic stress is a silent killer.
476
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:32.240
Anxiety if not taken proper care of to make it worse,
477
00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:36.640
it can make you insaine, It can make you delusional
478
00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:42.359
and depression. You basically lose your motivation for life. You
479
00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:46.400
can even stop eating. The one thing about mental health
480
00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:48.640
is is we have to take it serious at any
481
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:54.000
time that it's being brought up as a possible problem,
482
00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:58.039
part of the problem, whatever it is, we need to
483
00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:59.160
take it more seriously.
484
00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:06.599
Mike, What can what can citizens do to help the
485
00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:08.960
the men and women who are going to be coming
486
00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:12.880
back home? How can we help? You know, like you
487
00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:17.200
you were saying that it's going to take what six
488
00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:21.160
hundred or more days for the veterans to receive their benefits.
489
00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:25.319
They need to eat, they need to pay rent, They
490
00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:27.680
they've got families to take care of. Who helps the
491
00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:31.079
veterans until they get that money exactly?
492
00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:34.119
And the biggest problem that we are facing in that
493
00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:39.680
is jobs. And it's not veterans not getting jobs. Everybody
494
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.039
went through a really difficult trans you know, recession period
495
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:46.240
in the country. But now that we're getting back to it,
496
00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:51.000
veterans are style. Veteran hiring is picking up, but the
497
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:54.839
national average is still higher, or excuse me, it's still
498
00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:59.839
lower than the veteran unemployment rate. What people can do
499
00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:05.400
is volunteer with organizations, lend in hand. If you know
500
00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:07.799
that a guy's looking for a job or a woman's
501
00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:11.400
looking for a job, help him get a job, give
502
00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:14.519
them a sense of purpose. If it's hard for them
503
00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:20.719
to work, encouragion to go out, meet people, volunteer, do
504
00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:25.360
whatever you can to the to help them come back
505
00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.760
and feel like they're part of society. Believe it or not,
506
00:34:28.840 --> 00:34:31.960
in here does a whole lot if you offer it
507
00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:32.559
to somebody.
508
00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:36.800
Tell me, we've got about a minute before I have
509
00:34:36.840 --> 00:34:39.360
to go to my commercial break here. Mike, tell me
510
00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:43.039
a little bit about the organization that that that we
511
00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:46.840
were giving the website for Operation Work Warriors.
512
00:34:47.719 --> 00:34:50.679
Yeah. Sure. Operation Work Warriors was a nonprofit that I
513
00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:55.039
started in twenty twelve, right after I got back from
514
00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:58.079
Capitol Hill. I had seen that there was a huge
515
00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:02.519
need for veteran It's some sort of life coaching by
516
00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:05.760
a fellow veteran who has been there, and I launched
517
00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:09.280
the organization hoping that I could provide special and individualize
518
00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:13.599
attention to a couple veterans over a certain time period
519
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:16.320
in order for them to kind of guide them through
520
00:35:16.360 --> 00:35:20.679
the transition process, you know, getting their VA benefits claims,
521
00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:24.679
you know filed properly and listed, you know, enrolling in school,
522
00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:29.159
looking for a job, learning how to network with people.
523
00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:34.760
We're just learning to just get back into society. So
524
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.039
the you know, the nonprofit's been around for a year.
525
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.079
I've had the opportunity to help out a couple homeless
526
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:43.960
veterans and it's been great. And you know, right now
527
00:35:44.039 --> 00:35:47.920
we are continuing to do the work that we've set
528
00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:50.079
out to do, which is kind of coach veterans and
529
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.199
you know, help them transition back to society.
530
00:35:53.400 --> 00:35:55.039
All right, Mike, stand by you and I have to
531
00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:59.239
take our commercial break. We'll be back shortly. Excellanation are
532
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:05.039
very special and a man who all I can say
533
00:36:05.159 --> 00:36:07.800
is nothing but great things about all the veterans. God
534
00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:11.159
bless each and every one of you. Michaelgori is the
535
00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:14.360
author of The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit and War
536
00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:19.199
and the Operation Work Warriors website is www dot Operation
537
00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:23.360
Work Warriors dot org. Mike and I will be back.
538
00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:29.719
Don't go away some day, So this is all I
539
00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:46.079
have to say.
540
00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:02.880
Come back everyone. Michael Logori is my special guest. Mike
541
00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:07.119
is the author of The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit
542
00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:09.239
and War. First of all, Mike, want to thank you
543
00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:11.159
so much for joining us. It's been a great hour
544
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:13.280
speaking with you, and once again, thank you and all
545
00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:16.360
the men and women around the world who are actively
546
00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:19.360
serving or who are veterans. For everything that you guys
547
00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:23.800
have done and continue to do, it is much appreciated.
548
00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:27.360
Oh, thank you, and then once again, thank you to
549
00:37:27.400 --> 00:37:31.519
all our listeners. I really appreciate it for your support.
550
00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:35.280
And remember that we're still in Afghanistan. Yeah, and there's
551
00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:38.800
still a lot of women fighting over there, and they're
552
00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:41.199
coming home soon, so we need to make sure that
553
00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:44.079
we take the time to thank them and help them
554
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:45.159
out as much as we can.
555
00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:49.039
Mike your book, The Sandbox, Stories of Human Spirit and War,
556
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:52.320
I understand that a certain percentage of the sale of
557
00:37:52.360 --> 00:37:54.920
the books goes to helping veterans.
558
00:37:55.440 --> 00:37:58.440
Right, so every time a copy is purchased off Amazon,
559
00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:04.039
our web sided Operationworkwarriors dot Org, or they can go
560
00:38:04.119 --> 00:38:09.000
to Books Inc. And it's books Inc Dot org dot com.
561
00:38:10.119 --> 00:38:13.880
Every copy that is bought for the Sandbox is a
562
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:17.480
portion of the proceeds will be given back into Operation
563
00:38:17.559 --> 00:38:21.679
Work Warriors to help veterans retransition back into society.
564
00:38:22.199 --> 00:38:28.079
Fantastic and any more books coming down the pipe, I
565
00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:28.679
sure hope.
566
00:38:28.679 --> 00:38:32.880
So I'm I'm enjoying this one right now, but I
567
00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:36.119
know that there's more work need to be done. I
568
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:40.119
will I am currently writing a couple more with one
569
00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:43.280
with a collaborative project and another one on my on
570
00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:45.960
my kind of endeavors in what I've experienced a fart
571
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.360
just doing all the advocacy work, and you know, seeing
572
00:38:48.360 --> 00:38:51.000
what I can do, maybe a self help book, maybe
573
00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:54.320
a just maybe another short story memoir.
574
00:38:54.840 --> 00:38:56.840
You know, we've only got about two minutes left, Mike.
575
00:38:56.920 --> 00:39:00.239
And if there was only one thing people could take
576
00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:04.360
away from the book, your book, and I'm talking about
577
00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:07.239
the sandbox stories of human spirit and war, what would
578
00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:07.519
it be.
579
00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:12.280
Life goes on. You got to keep on pushing through
580
00:39:13.159 --> 00:39:18.639
and value every single minute that you have. And if
581
00:39:18.679 --> 00:39:23.360
you really are having problems with mental health, are you're
582
00:39:23.400 --> 00:39:27.840
going through a rough patch in your life, remember two things.
583
00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:30.920
That one, there's people out there who want to listen
584
00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:33.280
and we'll talk to you if you need them to.
585
00:39:34.199 --> 00:39:37.599
And that it's important for you to understand that better
586
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:40.679
days are always ahead and life is cyclical. So I
587
00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:43.079
think the book is you know, the book kind of
588
00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:46.719
just shows perseverance and how powerful the human spirit really is.
589
00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:49.320
Mike, we've come to the end of the hour. I
590
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:51.440
want to thank you very much for joining us. I
591
00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:55.519
wish you much success and ex ollnation if you'd like
592
00:39:55.559 --> 00:39:58.760
to get a copy of The Sandbox Stories of Human
593
00:39:58.800 --> 00:40:01.360
Spirit and War, quickly tell them how they can get
594
00:40:01.400 --> 00:40:01.760
a copy.
595
00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:06.679
They can grab a coffee off the website Operationworkwarriors dot Org.
596
00:40:07.400 --> 00:40:10.360
Or they can go to Amazon and buy the paperback
597
00:40:10.480 --> 00:40:13.760
or kindle edition. Or if you're a good old fashioned
598
00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:15.800
visitor of the book storage, you can go to any
599
00:40:15.800 --> 00:40:18.000
book seeing store located on the West coast of the
600
00:40:18.119 --> 00:40:19.119
United States.
601
00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:23.760
Michae Legor thank you very much for joining us. Take care, Oh,
602
00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:25.000
thank you, it was my pleasure.
603
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:26.360
I would look forward to talking to you guys in
604
00:40:26.360 --> 00:40:26.800
the future.
605
00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:29.280
You bet. Michael Logori has been my special guest of
606
00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:33.920
this hour ex ownation. The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit
607
00:40:34.039 --> 00:40:37.599
and War is his book. It's available on his website
608
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:42.960
and once again that's www dot Operationworkwarriors dot org, Amazon
609
00:40:43.039 --> 00:40:47.039
dot com Booking. And the next time you see a veteran,
610
00:40:48.280 --> 00:40:51.760
go over to him or her and say thank you,
611
00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:54.480
put out your hand, let them know they are appreciated,
612
00:40:55.960 --> 00:41:00.079
because if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't live in
613
00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:03.320
these great countries that we do, where we enjoy democracy
614
00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:09.480
and the freedom that we so preciously guard. I'll be
615
00:41:09.559 --> 00:41:11.199
back on the other side of this commercial break with
616
00:41:11.320 --> 00:41:14.400
the news as they AXIM continues with you Australia. Rob
617
00:41:14.480 --> 00:41:19.119
McConnell from our studios in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Don't Go Away.
1
00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:06.480
AVS Media, Papa Hotel, Lima E November Radio Kick Papa November,
2
00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.640
Good Afternoon, Richard Pie, Good.
3
00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:12.759
Afternoon, Read you five as well, Papa Echo November.
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00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:20.839
The X Zone Radio and TV show is largely an
5
00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:24.640
opinion talk show. All opinions, comments, or statements of fact
6
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.800
expressed by Rob McConnell's guests are strictly their own and
7
00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:29.920
are not to be construed as those of The X
8
00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:32.960
Zone Radio and TV Show or in any manner endorsed
9
00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:37.200
by Rob McConnell, Realmar McConnell Media Company, talk Star Radio Network,
10
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:40.399
It's affiliated stations or employees.
11
00:00:47.359 --> 00:01:01.240
All radio Welcome to the X Zone, a place where
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00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.280
fact is fiction and fiction is reality.
13
00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:29.079
Now here's your host, Rob McConnelly, and welcome to the xceone.
14
00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:31.599
Everyone monnay, mister Rob McConnell, And for the next four hours,
15
00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.239
I'm your host and your guy, as together we cross
16
00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:37.239
the time space continuum to this place that I call
17
00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:40.319
the X Zone. It's a place where people dare to
18
00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:43.400
believe and dare to be heard. It's a place where
19
00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:46.840
fact is fiction and fiction is reality. The Xzone comes
20
00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:49.439
to Monday through Friday from ten pm Eastern until two
21
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.840
am Eastern on the Talk Star Radio Network, X Zone
22
00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:57.959
Broadcast Network, UK High Definition Radio, your O High Definition Radio,
23
00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:02.760
Star Cable, and our family of broadcast affiliates right across Canada,
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00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:08.639
the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, the Pacific, realm, Asia, India,
25
00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:14.520
Africa and Europe. My website www dot xone Radio TV
26
00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.000
dot com and if you'd like to send us an email,
27
00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.199
xone at exxonradiotv dot com. My first guest tonight Xon
28
00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:26.439
Nation is Mike Lagori. He's the author of The Sandbox
29
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Stories of Human Spirit and War Now. Mike is a
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00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:33.120
former United States Marine and veteran of the Iraq War.
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His short story memoir, The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit
32
00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:42.919
and War chronicles Mike's two tours in battle, as well
33
00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:46.400
as his struggle coming home from service. His personal battle
34
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:50.879
is PTSD and finding a purpose after the war. He
35
00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.759
is an active He's very active in the veteran community
36
00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:58.360
through advocacy events ranging from lobbying veteran legislation on Capitol
37
00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:03.000
Hill with Iraq Afghanian veterans of America to speaking on
38
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:08.199
numerous panels and hiring veterans in today's workforce. Mike has
39
00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:11.639
also contributed to the development of the Santa Mateo County,
40
00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:17.080
a Veteran Treatment court, which provides veterans rehabilitation through court
41
00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:24.759
mandated programs and poor pure mentorship. Joining me now is Michaeligorian. Mike,
42
00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:25.840
Welcome to the X Zone.
43
00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:27.719
Hey, thank you for having me.
44
00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:33.159
Hey, Mike, you spent four years in the Marines. Thank
45
00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:36.759
you for your service and to the service that is
46
00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:40.800
being done and continues to be done by men and
47
00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:46.159
women who have volunteered to protect democracy, to protect freedom,
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00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:48.400
and to protect those of us.
49
00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:51.879
So thank you, oh so thank you. It's my pleasure.
50
00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:55.800
It was a wonderful experience. It taught me a lot
51
00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.479
about myself, and more importantly, I was able to serve
52
00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:02.560
the people, so and then that was a humbly and
53
00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:03.599
experience in themself.
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00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:07.879
Mike, you're quite a busy man. I understand you're doing
55
00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:11.800
a lot of advocacy work, you know, And there's going
56
00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:15.319
to be a lot more veterans coming home soon. And
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00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:20.639
are we prepared to welcome the vets home to give
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them proper care that they so rightfully deserve.
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Yes and no. And the reason why I have such
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a mixed answer is mostly because right now. What's happening,
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especially in the media circuits, is we're seeing the average
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veteran is waiting over six hundred days for a disability
63
00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:43.040
claim from the Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA has
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00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:45.040
also come out and said that that number is going
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00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:51.399
to exceed one million veterans by next month. From a
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00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:57.920
medical disability financial standpoint, we are not ready. We have
67
00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:02.600
not been able to to find a solid structure in
68
00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:04.959
order for us to kind of welcome these veterans coming
69
00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:09.680
home from the Afghanistan campaign I rack, you know, wound
70
00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:12.439
down about two years ago, and we're still seeing this
71
00:05:12.519 --> 00:05:18.399
huge influx. But on the social side, the society that
72
00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.079
we live in today is more welcoming a military veterans
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00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:24.120
wants to hear the stories of the post traumatic stress,
74
00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.920
the battles that we're being engaged in. So from a
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00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:31.879
societal standpoint, we are more welcoming. We are more encouraging
76
00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:35.560
these veterans to find jobs, to hiring veterans, to finding
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00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:36.920
some sort of reintegration.
78
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All right, Meg, stand by you and I have to
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00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:41.480
take a two minute commercial break. We'll be right back
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00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:44.600
x O nation. My guess this hour is Michael Lagori
81
00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:47.600
he's the author of the Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit
82
00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.399
and War, and Mike and I will be back on
83
00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:52.800
the other side of this two minute commercial break as
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00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:55.759
the exone continues with yours Trollie, Rob McConnell from our
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00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:59.480
studios in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Once again, our toll free
86
00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.879
number is one eight hundred and sixty ten seven zero
87
00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.439
three five. Email Xon at Xon Radio TV dot com,
88
00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:11.199
on MSN, messenger, Xon Radio TV at hotmail dot com
89
00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:17.560
and our website www dot Xon Radio tv dot com
90
00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.839
for more information. And Mike has asked us to give
91
00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:25.879
out this website, Operation Work Warriors dot RG. Mike and
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I will be back in two minutes. Don't go away
93
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anything for you.
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You un he said.
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Explanation. Michael Igry is my special guest this hour. He's
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00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:22.399
the author of the Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit and War.
97
00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:28.839
Www Dot Operation Work Warriors dot Org as a website
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00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:32.720
to visit. And Mike, tell me what was it like
99
00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:33.720
about ira.
100
00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:39.279
Well, you know, as Iraq is just one of those
101
00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:44.240
places that words cannot scrap, but somehow always managed to
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00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:48.000
do it and put it in a book. But it's
103
00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:53.399
not prime real estate. It's it's very flat less, really
104
00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:59.160
really uh scarce vegetation. The people. Half of them liked
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00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:02.319
you and believed in the cause of you freeing the
106
00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:05.199
freeing them, and the other half hated you because they
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considered you invaders. So it was very difficult experience.
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What was the one thing you took away from from
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00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:19.800
your deployments besides.
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00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:24.879
The fact that I survived, I would probably say I
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00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:29.439
took away the meaning of friendships. And I served with
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00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.200
a bunch of guys that I had met two weeks
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prior before my deployments Iraq, and I became close with them, family, trust,
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all those things that we value in friendships. I had
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learned that the importance of that, of what it really
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means to have a strong bond in brotherhood with other people.
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In two thousand and six, you were honor honorably discharged
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from from the Marines. Mike, what was the trend Pansician
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like coming out of the service back into the civilian world.
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It was really difficult. Imagine you coming home and not
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having anything in common with anybody at all. Wow, I
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had these really really intense experiences. It was difficult for
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me being shot at and then transitioning right into a
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college classroom. Here I am at twenty four years old
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as a freshman, and the rest of my colleagues or
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classmates so to speak, are eighteen years old, coming directly
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in from high school, very little life experience. So it
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was hard because I was the only one that had
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served in a combat zone while all these other kids
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just went from living with mom and dad and then
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went to the local community college. It was a very
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hard experience. It's very isolated. I felt alone a lot
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of the time, and my conversations were people with were minimal.
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Now, you mentioned somewhere being recalled back to service during
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the President Bush troop surge, and that was when you
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knew something wasn't right mentally. Can you tell me more
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about that.
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Yeah? Sure. In two thousand and seven, President Bush had
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initiated a troop surge to go and make sure that
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the al Qaeda insurgency wasn't getting stronger in Iraq. It
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was kind of like the final blow, right, and President
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Bush had gone through all the inactive reserves that they
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call them, the guys who had gotten out after four
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years but were still technically under contract, and kind of
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tapped the reserves. When I got that letter in the
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mail a year after I had gotten out of the service.
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I immediately had this flashback, this paranoia. This heared like
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almost childlike behavior, where I was so fearful of going
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back to that place for a third time that I froze.
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I didn't even feel like myself. And I remember I
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came home immediately after I got that letter, and I
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locked myself in my room and I would only come
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out for food and water, and I didn't go to
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school for three weeks, and it was very hard for me.
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I knew right then and there that this was not
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normal behavior, and so I needed to figure out what
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it was.
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At that time, Mike, did you have any idea that
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you may have been suffering with PTSD?
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I didn't even know what it was. Let's just put
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it this way. It wasn't in the brochure when I
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first joined. It was not advertised to me. It was
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not something I was completely aware of as a consequence,
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nor you know, was it something that they made they
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put on the risk waiver and then saying, hey, by
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the way, you could have most traumatic stress and all
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these other injuries. So never knowing what it was, I
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did you know it was? It was kind of It
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was this new terminologomy. It was almost like Greek. It
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was an ancient language I had. I had no idea
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what mostmatic stress was at all.
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Why did you write your book The Sandbox Stories of
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Human Spirit and War.
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I thought it was needed for myself.
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Was it part of the healing process?
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I'm sorry?
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Was it part of the healing process?
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Yeah? Absolutely, writing saved my life. I had gone to this,
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I had gone to therapists, and with the therapist we
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had worked through some of the emotional trauma and some
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of the uh the reoccurring trauma that had been happening
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over my tours in Iraq, or as they call it,
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layered trauma. But I wasn't doing writing. And even though
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I was getting professional help, the writing part for me
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was my own self administered therapy to gain perspective, to
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understand that my experiences were a bigger part than just myself.
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The book was the first time you told anyone of
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your experiences in the war and coming home. What made
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writing these experiences easier than just talking to someone nobody.
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On the other end of that book? When I first
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started writing, it was listening to me wow, So there
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was no judgment. It was a reflection of myself. I
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could write whatever I want and not have to be
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susceptible to criticism or you know, have a the emotional
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end where people may be crying or maybe emotionally affected
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by my stories. This was me talking to myself on
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a piece of paper eight hours a day for six months.
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Let me ask you this, Mike, how could anyone criticize
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you for going across across the oceans following the orders
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of the commander in chief, the president of the United States,
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for defending democracy, for defending freedom. How could anyone criticize you?
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Believe it or not, it happens a lot of people
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associate veterans with the foreign against of the war. I
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have had people. I was actually on MPR last week
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and there was a woman there who had said to
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me that she could not believe that I had actually
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died to join and fight for my country, despite the
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fact that I was not in favor of the war.
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Now as a veteran looking back that, but I was eighteen,
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I didn't know anything. All I wanted to do was
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through my country.
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And you know, when I hear people taking a negative
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connotation to what you have done or what your beliefs
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were that person certainly didn't want to go put her
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life on the limb to protect it.
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Yeah. Absolutely, you know, I tried to main very non
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judgmental towards it. People have their make their town choices.
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The beauty of democracy is that you can't say whatever
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you want without being persecuted or killed for it. In
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our country, unfortunately, though, you can hurt people with what
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you say. But I have in the past, the life
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that I've been in, with all the events and the
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you know, the trauma and the war experiences, I have
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learned that to remain non judgmental towards those people, because
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those are the people that I decided to risk my
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life board to protect them. So they can say that stuff.
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To me as a little bit difficult that.
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May be to say, I don't personally, my friend, I
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don't think it gives them the right to say anything.
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But that's just my opinion, Okay. I think if you're
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not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
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And thank god, thank god, there are people like you
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out there who want to be part of the solution.
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So once again, thank you for doing what you've done
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and to what the men and women around the world
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who are fighting for freedom and democracy are doing.
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Oh, thank you and thank you to all the listeners
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out there there are supporting our troops right now in
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the Afghanistan conflict, in the draw down from Iraq tew
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years ago and seeing the influx of errans. So thank
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you to everybody out there for supporting our troops.
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Let me ask you, let me ask you an off
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the call, off the cuff question here, how did how
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did the members of the forces feel when there was
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not one ounce of weapon of mass destruction found?
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I think I actually got told that last week that
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a top British study, that these high top British study,
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the sources there were told that the members of the
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Bush administration are members of the of the military. You know,
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the military were informed that there was no no known
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active WMDs there. And that was the first time I
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had heard about it was last week. You know, people
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are saying you've been lied to, and you've been you've
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been you know, they've they've de seated you and they've
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you know, they they try to make you believe in
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something that wasn't there. And all I'm going to say
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is this, Yeah, you know, even if there was no
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WMDs in there at that time, at eighteen years old,
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I believed in the mission of the United States of America,
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even though looking back on it, it was one of
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the war a complict that we responded quickly to what
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had happened September eleventh. Yeah, regardless of the fact though,
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whether I was light or not, whether it was no WNDS,
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there are members like me in the Armed forces who
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will tell you that they loved their military experience and
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they would not trade in their war experiences at all.
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Mike stand by you and I have to take our
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news break at the bottom of the hour. Excell Nation.
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Just this hour is Michael Logori. He's the author of
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The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit and War. And Mike
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and I will be back on the other side of
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this commercial break with the news as the Exon continues
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right here from our studios in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. My
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name is Rob McConnell. The x ON comes to Monday
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through Friday from ten pm Eastern until two am Eastern.
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Another network picks it up from two am until six am.
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Then our third network picks up the show from six
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am until ten pm, and the Circle starts all over again.
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If you'd like to send us an email, send us
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your thoughts. Xxone at Xzone Radio TV dot com. Michael
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Igory is my guest and we'll be back on the
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other side of the news. Don't go away, you.
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Play.
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You could be through and through, but you can have
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your way.
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You're listening to the x Zone Radio Show live around
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00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.640
the world on the Talk Star Radio Network and x
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Zone Broadcast Network. Visit our website at www dot x
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Zone radio TV dot.
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Com to you am through the morning fog.
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I see visions of the things to be, the pains
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that are.
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With help for me, Hi Realalizon. I can't see that
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suicide is painless.
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It brings on many changes and I can take on
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leave it if I please.
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And welcome back everyone. This is the x On. My
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name is Rob McConnell, coming to you from our studios
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in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, worldwide, toll free one eight hundred
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and six ten seven zero three five. Email x On
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at x On Radio TV dot com, on MSN, messenger,
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x On Radio TV at hotmail dot com, and our
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website www dot x On Radio TV dot com. You
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know I played the theme from MASH because we had
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Mike Farrell on Mike, who played Captain b J. Honeycut
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on the Mash series. And you know, here is a
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man who portrayed a surgeon in a MASH unit during
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the Korean conflict, and he had nothing but the highest
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respect and the greatest things to say about the men
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and women in the military. And I can't understand. I'm
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still baffled that people give you give you grief at times.
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Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't say like.
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All people give me.
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You know, there's with every great cause or you know,
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great kind of social support that you get for military veterans.
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There are always people that cannot disassociate the war with
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the military the people who are serving in it. And
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it's unfortunate because that's their political opinions dilute their support
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for the men and women that are serving.
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Mike. At the end of your book, you've recount your
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very own suicide attempt and talk about an intervention that
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happened right as you were about to go through with it.
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Can you tell us about that about the attempt and
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the intervention.
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I was in therapy when it happened. I was at
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the last week and with everything that was going on
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in my life. You know, it was years and years
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of trauma all coming out in my in my sessions,
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and they were very intense sessions, ninety to one hundred
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and twenty minutes weekly, wow with a person that I
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didn't know, and you're reliving everything that you ever saw
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and experienced. And it's amazing how our brains are. Because
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our brains are these are these supercomputers that can store
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memories that we may have forgot about. But the moments
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that you start seeing something or you get a song,
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it automatically pulls that memory up and you relive the
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whole entire thing. And for me, it was words, it
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was smells, it was telling the descriptions of the scenario
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and of the scenarios of Iraq, and everything came out
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at the end of the therapy session. When I was
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in my last week, I had felt so much pain
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and depression at that time because it was all coming
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to the surface. I didn't want to be a burden
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to anybody else, not to my family, not to my girlfriend,
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not to my friends. I just didn't want people to
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know about the world that I was living in. It
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was my personal battle and I felt at that time
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the easiest, you know, an option for me, and it
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may have been the easiest way out of this, was
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to commit suicide, you know. And I was alone in
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my house when it happened, and it was a it
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was a muggy day in December, and I decided to
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walk into the kitchen and I was going to grab
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a knife. And when I had decided in my mind,
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this was probably the best way for me to stop
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all the pain and the suffering that I was going
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through and to keep my friends and family out of
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this kind of dark the darkest days in my life.
359
00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:41.799
I just figured it was going to be the easy,
360
00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:44.680
easiest thing for me to do. But right when I
361
00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:48.640
went to go grab that knife, I felt my hand
362
00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.200
kind of freeze, and there was almost a point where
363
00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:54.319
I thought it was me just kind of getting stage fright.
364
00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:58.079
But the more I tried to move it towards the knife,
365
00:24:58.599 --> 00:25:03.119
the more I couldn't. And then it got really quiet,
366
00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:07.359
almost to the point just to kind of relay this
367
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.000
this quiet to you, it's almost like the calming before
368
00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:13.519
the storm. And uh, in the in the in this
369
00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:16.920
in the desert or the sandbox, as we some of
370
00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:19.720
the service marriage. Will call it the comming before the
371
00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:23.960
storm usually always came before you were going to get
372
00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:27.200
into a firefight, before mortars were going to rain down
373
00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.240
on you, or before you were going to hit an id.
374
00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:33.000
Either way, the calming before the storm was such a
375
00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:36.359
kind of thing, bad thing, and how ironic it was
376
00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:38.559
that the comming before the storm had happened to me
377
00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:44.440
in my own kitchen alone. And at that very moment
378
00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:47.000
in time, I also felt something that I didn't feel
379
00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:51.799
when I was in Iraq, which was this light presence,
380
00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:57.000
this coat, this kind of like this uh, this this
381
00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:00.519
kind of this shield that was being built around me.
382
00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:05.799
And I had felt as if I was being embraced
383
00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:09.440
by the most loving people in the whole entire world.
384
00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:18.279
And in my ear I heard this voice. I told me, Michael,
385
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:23.000
put the knife downside. It's not your time to go.
386
00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:27.119
You have a job here to do, and it's not
387
00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:30.200
your time to go yet. And I remember when I
388
00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:33.960
heard that voice, I tried to I thought maybe it
389
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:37.680
might have been my conscience talking to me. Well, really,
390
00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:40.839
what I felt was is that it couldn't have been,
391
00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:44.119
because at that moment in time, the voice kept getting stronger,
392
00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:49.920
but it was more compassionate and caring, and it repeated
393
00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:52.680
itself to me, and it encouraged me to not grow
394
00:26:52.680 --> 00:26:57.240
out that knife, and I decided I didn't want to
395
00:26:57.279 --> 00:27:01.440
do it. I decided that it was too hard for
396
00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:03.880
me to even go through this kind of selfish act
397
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:08.480
of wanting to leave this world and not deal with
398
00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:13.200
my problems. And right when I decided to retract my
399
00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:18.160
hand and close the knife drawer, I cried for hours,
400
00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:21.920
an hour straight. And at that point in time, that
401
00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:28.559
was when I realized that I was destined for something greater,
402
00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:31.640
because if I was able to stop myself from killing
403
00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:35.160
myself at that time or committing suicide, then something in,
404
00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:39.119
something in the works and life was meant for me.
405
00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:44.839
How many years ago is that, Mike, It will.
406
00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:47.000
Be three years in December.
407
00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:52.200
Looking back over those three years, have you come to
408
00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:56.799
discover who or what that voice was?
409
00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:04.400
Yeah, I've tried to answer try to answer that question.
410
00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:09.839
You know, people that I've been very very close to,
411
00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:13.000
you know who do who are?
412
00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:13.319
You know?
413
00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:16.160
Pres and work in the religious kind of organizations have
414
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:18.119
said that God had spoken to me at the time
415
00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:23.079
when I needed to be saved from myself. I've had
416
00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:27.640
spiritual advisors tell me that it was God talking to
417
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:34.160
me to reinvigorate me with purpose. I've even had very
418
00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:38.079
very highly intelligent atheists tell me it was my conscience
419
00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:41.000
telling me at the time where I didn't go thoroughly
420
00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:44.759
go through the decision making process. I have heard it
421
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:49.200
from all three rounds, but honestly, I stopped asking that
422
00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:54.759
question a couple of months ago. And here's why some
423
00:28:54.960 --> 00:29:01.599
questions are better left and in order for me to
424
00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:05.359
continue on this growth that I'm going on. Regardless if
425
00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:08.640
it was God or not, or if it was a
426
00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:10.880
deity or whatever you would like to say it is.
427
00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:15.400
The point is is that I would saved for myself
428
00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:19.240
and it gave me new purpose, and it's helped me
429
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:23.079
in my transition home, and it's helped me It's put
430
00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:25.640
me in positions to help my fellow veterans. It's put
431
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:28.599
me in positions to talk about the struggles that men
432
00:29:28.680 --> 00:29:32.519
and wounded face when get back from a combat zone. Yeah,
433
00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:36.559
Iraq and if Danistan wars are the longest war conflicts
434
00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:40.319
we have ever seen in the US history. There's going
435
00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.799
to be a lot of stuff I'm going to surface
436
00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:45.720
within the next couple of years. More injuries. We're going
437
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:50.200
to see more wounded veterans, and these are the type
438
00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:52.200
of things that if I were to ask my question
439
00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:56.519
and get answered about who spoke to me, I think
440
00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:59.400
that would almost ruin the whole entire reason why I'm
441
00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:00.440
doing what I'm doing.
442
00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:05.240
You know, you say you feel more alive than ever before.
443
00:30:05.880 --> 00:30:09.880
Would you attribute that to your your attempt or more
444
00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:11.559
so on the journey you're on?
445
00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:16.319
Well, I think it's both. Definitely, the attempt was the
446
00:30:16.359 --> 00:30:20.920
catalyst for the for my feeling more alive than ever.
447
00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:26.839
Suicide is a very selfish act. You think at that
448
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:29.599
moment in time, it is about yourself. It is about
449
00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:32.880
what you don't want to go through anymore. But what
450
00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:36.279
you don't realize is is that that the tons of
451
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:39.599
people that you can affect if you were to go
452
00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:45.839
through with it. But because I didn't, I felt that
453
00:30:47.079 --> 00:30:50.519
the journey I've been on had been a roller coaster ride.
454
00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:54.759
I mean, I remember there was a point where I
455
00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:57.680
went to the White House and I sat with President
456
00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:01.000
Obama's staff and I was hearing my fellow veterans telling
457
00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:04.240
their stories of what it was like for them after
458
00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:08.559
Iraq in Afghanistan, and then you know I would go
459
00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:12.720
and buy my English exam in college. And you know,
460
00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:15.000
it's kind of one of those things where it's such
461
00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.160
a it's such a high point and such a low
462
00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:20.920
point that the journey kept me going.
463
00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:29.960
If you could tell everyone listening tonight around the world
464
00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:33.839
one thing about mental health, Mike, what would it be?
465
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:40.200
Mental health is not a joke. It can kill you.
466
00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:44.519
I have a dear friend of mine in Wounded Warrior
467
00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:48.559
Project who had told me about the experiences when he
468
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:56.480
when he met his first they're pelegic wounded veterans, and
469
00:31:57.480 --> 00:32:02.400
he had said, I'm not insured, but and here I am,
470
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:06.480
and I just have post traumatic stress. And here I'm
471
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:08.519
looking at a guy who's gotten his leg blown off
472
00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:12.400
by an ID. You know how am I just as
473
00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:17.160
injured as he is? And I remember asking him, well,
474
00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:20.319
why would you think that? And he said, because people
475
00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:25.640
don't realize that post traumatic stress is a silent killer.
476
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:32.240
Anxiety if not taken proper care of to make it worse,
477
00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:36.640
it can make you insaine, It can make you delusional
478
00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:42.359
and depression. You basically lose your motivation for life. You
479
00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:46.400
can even stop eating. The one thing about mental health
480
00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:48.640
is is we have to take it serious at any
481
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:54.000
time that it's being brought up as a possible problem,
482
00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:58.039
part of the problem, whatever it is, we need to
483
00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:59.160
take it more seriously.
484
00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:06.599
Mike, What can what can citizens do to help the
485
00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:08.960
the men and women who are going to be coming
486
00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:12.880
back home? How can we help? You know, like you
487
00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:17.200
you were saying that it's going to take what six
488
00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:21.160
hundred or more days for the veterans to receive their benefits.
489
00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:25.319
They need to eat, they need to pay rent, They
490
00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:27.680
they've got families to take care of. Who helps the
491
00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:31.079
veterans until they get that money exactly?
492
00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:34.119
And the biggest problem that we are facing in that
493
00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:39.680
is jobs. And it's not veterans not getting jobs. Everybody
494
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.039
went through a really difficult trans you know, recession period
495
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:46.240
in the country. But now that we're getting back to it,
496
00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:51.000
veterans are style. Veteran hiring is picking up, but the
497
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:54.839
national average is still higher, or excuse me, it's still
498
00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:59.839
lower than the veteran unemployment rate. What people can do
499
00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:05.400
is volunteer with organizations, lend in hand. If you know
500
00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:07.799
that a guy's looking for a job or a woman's
501
00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:11.400
looking for a job, help him get a job, give
502
00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:14.519
them a sense of purpose. If it's hard for them
503
00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:20.719
to work, encouragion to go out, meet people, volunteer, do
504
00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:25.360
whatever you can to the to help them come back
505
00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.760
and feel like they're part of society. Believe it or not,
506
00:34:28.840 --> 00:34:31.960
in here does a whole lot if you offer it
507
00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:32.559
to somebody.
508
00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:36.800
Tell me, we've got about a minute before I have
509
00:34:36.840 --> 00:34:39.360
to go to my commercial break here. Mike, tell me
510
00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:43.039
a little bit about the organization that that that we
511
00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:46.840
were giving the website for Operation Work Warriors.
512
00:34:47.719 --> 00:34:50.679
Yeah. Sure. Operation Work Warriors was a nonprofit that I
513
00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:55.039
started in twenty twelve, right after I got back from
514
00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:58.079
Capitol Hill. I had seen that there was a huge
515
00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:02.519
need for veteran It's some sort of life coaching by
516
00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:05.760
a fellow veteran who has been there, and I launched
517
00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:09.280
the organization hoping that I could provide special and individualize
518
00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:13.599
attention to a couple veterans over a certain time period
519
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:16.320
in order for them to kind of guide them through
520
00:35:16.360 --> 00:35:20.679
the transition process, you know, getting their VA benefits claims,
521
00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:24.679
you know filed properly and listed, you know, enrolling in school,
522
00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:29.159
looking for a job, learning how to network with people.
523
00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:34.760
We're just learning to just get back into society. So
524
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.039
the you know, the nonprofit's been around for a year.
525
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.079
I've had the opportunity to help out a couple homeless
526
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:43.960
veterans and it's been great. And you know, right now
527
00:35:44.039 --> 00:35:47.920
we are continuing to do the work that we've set
528
00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:50.079
out to do, which is kind of coach veterans and
529
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.199
you know, help them transition back to society.
530
00:35:53.400 --> 00:35:55.039
All right, Mike, stand by you and I have to
531
00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:59.239
take our commercial break. We'll be back shortly. Excellanation are
532
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:05.039
very special and a man who all I can say
533
00:36:05.159 --> 00:36:07.800
is nothing but great things about all the veterans. God
534
00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:11.159
bless each and every one of you. Michaelgori is the
535
00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:14.360
author of The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit and War
536
00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:19.199
and the Operation Work Warriors website is www dot Operation
537
00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:23.360
Work Warriors dot org. Mike and I will be back.
538
00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:29.719
Don't go away some day, So this is all I
539
00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:46.079
have to say.
540
00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:02.880
Come back everyone. Michael Logori is my special guest. Mike
541
00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:07.119
is the author of The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit
542
00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:09.239
and War. First of all, Mike, want to thank you
543
00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:11.159
so much for joining us. It's been a great hour
544
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:13.280
speaking with you, and once again, thank you and all
545
00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:16.360
the men and women around the world who are actively
546
00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:19.360
serving or who are veterans. For everything that you guys
547
00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:23.800
have done and continue to do, it is much appreciated.
548
00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:27.360
Oh, thank you, and then once again, thank you to
549
00:37:27.400 --> 00:37:31.519
all our listeners. I really appreciate it for your support.
550
00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:35.280
And remember that we're still in Afghanistan. Yeah, and there's
551
00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:38.800
still a lot of women fighting over there, and they're
552
00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:41.199
coming home soon, so we need to make sure that
553
00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:44.079
we take the time to thank them and help them
554
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:45.159
out as much as we can.
555
00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:49.039
Mike your book, The Sandbox, Stories of Human Spirit and War,
556
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:52.320
I understand that a certain percentage of the sale of
557
00:37:52.360 --> 00:37:54.920
the books goes to helping veterans.
558
00:37:55.440 --> 00:37:58.440
Right, so every time a copy is purchased off Amazon,
559
00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:04.039
our web sided Operationworkwarriors dot Org, or they can go
560
00:38:04.119 --> 00:38:09.000
to Books Inc. And it's books Inc Dot org dot com.
561
00:38:10.119 --> 00:38:13.880
Every copy that is bought for the Sandbox is a
562
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:17.480
portion of the proceeds will be given back into Operation
563
00:38:17.559 --> 00:38:21.679
Work Warriors to help veterans retransition back into society.
564
00:38:22.199 --> 00:38:28.079
Fantastic and any more books coming down the pipe, I
565
00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:28.679
sure hope.
566
00:38:28.679 --> 00:38:32.880
So I'm I'm enjoying this one right now, but I
567
00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:36.119
know that there's more work need to be done. I
568
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:40.119
will I am currently writing a couple more with one
569
00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:43.280
with a collaborative project and another one on my on
570
00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:45.960
my kind of endeavors in what I've experienced a fart
571
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.360
just doing all the advocacy work, and you know, seeing
572
00:38:48.360 --> 00:38:51.000
what I can do, maybe a self help book, maybe
573
00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:54.320
a just maybe another short story memoir.
574
00:38:54.840 --> 00:38:56.840
You know, we've only got about two minutes left, Mike.
575
00:38:56.920 --> 00:39:00.239
And if there was only one thing people could take
576
00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:04.360
away from the book, your book, and I'm talking about
577
00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:07.239
the sandbox stories of human spirit and war, what would
578
00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:07.519
it be.
579
00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:12.280
Life goes on. You got to keep on pushing through
580
00:39:13.159 --> 00:39:18.639
and value every single minute that you have. And if
581
00:39:18.679 --> 00:39:23.360
you really are having problems with mental health, are you're
582
00:39:23.400 --> 00:39:27.840
going through a rough patch in your life, remember two things.
583
00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:30.920
That one, there's people out there who want to listen
584
00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:33.280
and we'll talk to you if you need them to.
585
00:39:34.199 --> 00:39:37.599
And that it's important for you to understand that better
586
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:40.679
days are always ahead and life is cyclical. So I
587
00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:43.079
think the book is you know, the book kind of
588
00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:46.719
just shows perseverance and how powerful the human spirit really is.
589
00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:49.320
Mike, we've come to the end of the hour. I
590
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:51.440
want to thank you very much for joining us. I
591
00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:55.519
wish you much success and ex ollnation if you'd like
592
00:39:55.559 --> 00:39:58.760
to get a copy of The Sandbox Stories of Human
593
00:39:58.800 --> 00:40:01.360
Spirit and War, quickly tell them how they can get
594
00:40:01.400 --> 00:40:01.760
a copy.
595
00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:06.679
They can grab a coffee off the website Operationworkwarriors dot Org.
596
00:40:07.400 --> 00:40:10.360
Or they can go to Amazon and buy the paperback
597
00:40:10.480 --> 00:40:13.760
or kindle edition. Or if you're a good old fashioned
598
00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:15.800
visitor of the book storage, you can go to any
599
00:40:15.800 --> 00:40:18.000
book seeing store located on the West coast of the
600
00:40:18.119 --> 00:40:19.119
United States.
601
00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:23.760
Michae Legor thank you very much for joining us. Take care, Oh,
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thank you, it was my pleasure.
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I would look forward to talking to you guys in
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the future.
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You bet. Michael Logori has been my special guest of
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this hour ex ownation. The Sandbox Stories of Human Spirit
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and War is his book. It's available on his website
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and once again that's www dot Operationworkwarriors dot org, Amazon
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00:40:43.039 --> 00:40:47.039
dot com Booking. And the next time you see a veteran,
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00:40:48.280 --> 00:40:51.760
go over to him or her and say thank you,
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put out your hand, let them know they are appreciated,
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because if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't live in
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these great countries that we do, where we enjoy democracy
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and the freedom that we so preciously guard. I'll be
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back on the other side of this commercial break with
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the news as they AXIM continues with you Australia. Rob
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McConnell from our studios in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Don't Go Away.
