Episode Transcript
Welcome to a new season of the Collective Perspective Podcast. As we dive into this season, we're focusing on the pivotal upcoming election. Widely considered as one of the most important of our lifetime. Join us on this journey as we navigate through diverse perspectives, dissect key issues, and explore the profound impact on our shared future.
Get ready for insightful discussions and thought provoking insights. Welcome to the Collective Perspective Podcast Season 3.
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the collective perspective. This is Jeff. And today I have my buddy Jawad. Hey, what's up? We have in the studio, a real life hero, Mr. James Burse, Mr. James, could you tell us about yourself? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Hey, how are you doing? I'm James Burse. I'm a 10 year veteran, retired purple heart, three tours.
What branch are you in? Army. Combat engineer, 12 Bravo. Got tricked into that too. I have a whole life of being tricked and coming out on the good side of it. It ends up being like a pretty good thing. Who tricked you? Oh man, for sure. Well, I already knew that. You know, small town of Georgia, small education.
I heard engineer. In my mind, engineer sounds like you're a smart guy. You know, hey, you're an engineer. You should be able to get a job. And I ignore combat engineer. I thought I was going to be like laying bridges and stuff and it didn't happen. What is your involvement with Operation Barnabas? Well, I started at the bottom of Operation Barnabas.
A person that uh, needed help, needed a hand up. Now I'm the operations guy. So I run all the operations of Operation Barnabas right now. And you're getting ready to move and start a new position as well? Yes, sir. We're getting ready Further in that story, August 19th, I get donated a mortgage free house by Building Homes for Heroes.
Five bedroom, four bath house. We've already, we'll get into that too. Yesterday, we was just in Orlando signifying and signing a deal with Barnes and McDowell. Top 100 company in the world. They got people over there probably more excited about me coming down there than I am coming down there. They're ready for me to jump Barnabas off down there, so that's what's about to happen.
Can you share your journey in the military and the circumstances under which you received the Purple Heart? So you served in the army, and you were over in what operation? Yes, sir. So, we was the first unit since the Civil War to switch battlefronts. We went from Iraq to Afghanistan in one day. We had trained for Iraq for like, Two years straight.
And then we went there and this dude gets promoted. You know how it is with lieutenants and, uh, the president had came, he was like, what do y'all do? I'm not going to lie. We was in Baghdad. There wasn't nothing going on in Baghdad. Honestly, if you had to ask me, we was wasting time. We weren't doing anything.
And it was like, cool. The dude that got promoted left and another dude got up in his position. And for those guys, you know, you have to get deployed. You have to take a unit to another country to get promoted. And then, uh, the mission came up and there was, he was like, yeah, we're going to Afghanistan. And we were like, what?
Yeah, we're going to Afghanistan. And we were like, With what vehicles these vehicles and it's mountains. It's not a desert. It's not a rat. It was a mountain So we did it. We went there. We lost half our company. We was an aggressive platoon and they had a Bunch of missiles stacked up at a doorway on one mission It was like dogs and squirrels.
It was like, you know, oh snap, you know, I mean and that's our thing we see Something that needs to be blown up. We're going to blow it up. And I was like, the only time we really get to touch explosives is if we find something. So we were like dogs in heat when we seen it and we were like, Oh, let's go to it.
And they had like mine set up around the building. It was a straight booby trap. It was like out the movie. They had us, they knew it and we should have did a better job, but we didn't, we were just hungry for some action. Two trucks went down and I was the lead gun truck at the time. I was in a turret, usually not in the turret.
I'm usually in the gun. I'm usually in the Huskies, the one man vehicles that get blown up all the time. So I'm usually in that. But for this mission, I was in a Husky as the two Huskies went down and then our platoon sergeant ran up there and that's the medic vehicle. And that one got flipped too. So three trucks got blown up.
We rushed in cause we started receiving fire and stuff. And then I remember, looking at my iPod and changing the song from many men 50 cent. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember looking at the iPod, turning the song off. And then I remember waking up and telling my boy, I can't feel my legs.
He's like, Hey, yo, bro, chill. Is there anything in that truck you need? And I was like, dog, what's going on? It was like, we put you on a helicopter. And I was like, he was like, bro, just chill. Woke up, couldn't feel my legs, started freaking out on the helicopter. They passed me back out with whatever medication that they use.
Then I woke up in row three, turned to the side with the thing on my neck and check for internal bleeding the hard way. You know what I mean? And it was like the finger. And you know what I mean? It was like, yo, what's going on? And it was like, you guys are maternal bleeding. We need to put you to sleep for a while.
So some of the damages, you know what I mean? Your body heals better this way. Just trust us, whatever, whatever. So I woke up in a row three in Afghanistan. With the Canadian general giving me a purple heart. Other than that, man, I just had a normal career leading up to that normal engineer stuff. Got in trouble a couple of times.
Did it competed in a couple of death marches. Did the baton death march. I really wasn't a high speed soldier and like for real, for real, like it just kind of got thrusted onto me. Like I didn't want to be airborne. I didn't want to be a sapper. I didn't want to be a ranger, man. I think honestly, I was just kind of brainwashed at that time.
I remember when September 11th happened and I went to a Christian school. I remember that's the only thing we looked at. We stopped doing work. And the only thing we was looking at was CNN and watching military invade Iraq. And it's just, I remember going home and RP my dad, he died last week, but I remember my dad getting mad at me about, uh, he's like, boy, what are you doing?
I'm like, what's up? He was like, why are you watching that stuff? I'm watching green MVGs, Tracer shots shooting over there. Watching CNN as they in bed with the guys. I'm like, Oh man, that's cool. So I think I was kind of like. I don't know, brainwashed at an early age to just go to the military and do what I gotta do, so.
Yeah, I was in the Persian Gulf, two tours of the Gulf, relieving the Nimitz, the USS Kitty Hawk, in the mid 90s. So, the war had been going on for almost over a decade before you even got over to Iraq. Yeah. How many burning oil fields did you see? None. None. Like I said, when I went to Cause I got the effects from the burning oil fields.
So my breathing effects come from the poop on So you have rhinitis? Um, I don't know what I have. Your nasal cavity is congested. It's either sinitis or rhinitis. Rhinitis is your nose. Sinitis is your Honestly, I haven't been checked. Bro, that's something that's probably in your medical record. Yeah. The Poupon, explain that.
The big bass is, you know, they kind of made their own bass management system. Kandahar, you can Google it, it's funny, you can Google the Poupon Kandahar and it'll pull it up right there on the bass and you'll see it. I don't know how big to describe, but it's, you know how Camp Blanding, you know that, that circular?
So that's a Poupon full of the waist of the bass sitting right there in the sun in the open. On the base. And it just sits there and you just breathe it in 24 seven. As long as you're on a base, you just breathe it, breathe in. Can't blend. You know, it's, so it's like feces from all of the camps. Yeah.
Everyone that does number two, they put it in a pond and you guys. Live around this pond. Oh man, live right next to it. Sometimes we know a P. T. running by it. Man, you know some kind of bacteria that come off that thing? Bro. You know in like the, the 1600s, like back when they, before they created like a way for waste to be funneled out of a village?
Yeah. People were dying from You know, I remember a Canadian soldier was dared to jump in, and he jumped in and immediately got sick, and I think he died. Out there. Uh, yeah. We just paid, you know, that's not radioactive. Oh my God. He jumped in. He jumped in, immediately got sick. Went in a shock, and then I think he died.
I don't know. How was your military service and being a Purple Heart recipient impacted your life? Uh, started out as a shame. You were shamed? Yeah. Why were you shamed? Uh, I was raised by a whole bunch of war babies. So all the guys that brought me up in the military was guys that deployed in the first invasion of Iraq.
So those guys was already gone. They was real hardcore men nine times out of ten to them. If you get a purple heart, you should be dead at the time We was losing guys that was getting that purple heart, you know what I mean? And that we're dead it was just a thing like it was this I mean one of the guys was like, yeah, if you did the job, you wouldn't got that type deal They call it the enemy marksmanship badge.
So, you know how we got a marksmanship badge for shooting That's the enemy marksmanship badge that they got one, you know That world that come combat world Over there, it's, it's dark. Some of the things you hear, some of the things you redo, it's just, to some people, it's like, Whoa, you guys are twisted.
And that's just how that world is. It's toxic. Very toxic. Because for a minute there, I was embarrassed for having a purple heart, you know what I mean? Like, you know, dudes was actively making fun of me about having a purple heart. It was shameful for them. And then Who was? Military? Military people. My own brothers, actually, my own, my own friends, you know, it's just, man, it wasn't hardcore to be able to get a Purple Heart because that means you got hit, that means you didn't find a bum, that means the bum found you.
It led me to just always be kind of, when people be like, Purple Heart, I be like, oh man, trying to turn my, turn my head because I don't want to really be, you know. Eventually, I had to learn a blessing, that it was. The type of legacy now that I feel like I have to uphold and the type of people that a lot of my brothers, I did bury, get the purple heart.
So I feel some type of way now that I carry it, that I want to uphold some type of legacy to show the world or what a purple heart person is and what they can do and give back to society. Oh, I praise God for you. That's unbelievable that you would be heckled for going in the line of fire and not, not honored for your bravery.
That's, Weird to me. I don't know. Those guys are jealous, you know, I don't know they were jealous about it But man is it there's a lot of things like they used to say to be a real combat engineer You had to get blown up three times before you was respected among the core of the guys have been blown up like six seven Times and those are the guys like you look up to like, okay, and so I want to get blown up So it was kind of you said you couldn't feel your leg Yeah, how long did it take you to kind of recover?
Let me tell you this I remember somebody that tied down a 50 cal barrel when the medic truck got blown up. It bounced around on the inside of the truck and shattered the legs of our medic. So he was down the bed from me. That was the first time I thought I got my purple heart that I felt like I still got something to give.
I remember crawling to his bed because he was choking on his own blood, but I couldn't do nothing for him. The nurse wasn't there. So I had to crawl down to the second floor and get the nurse. And I was like, my boy's dying. So she ran up there. They turned to the side, he's spitting the ball, his blood and stuff.
And then they came to me. And then they, they told me that was like, Hey man, if you go home, we're mission ineffective. So that means we had lost that many guys where the department of the army was finished shut us down. I couldn't be the one to do that. I couldn't be the one to shut us down. I want to revenge.
I had a hatred at the time they came out with the automatic turrets where I didn't have to use my body. I could just use my hands. At that time, I jumped on crutches about two weeks later, I was on crutches. I had the feeling back in my leg, but my legs wasn't moving as fast as my mind wanted it to. I had internal bleeding.
My kidneys was like a soccer ball. We just got me in a turret, and I just sat down, and I just used my, my hands to be able to still be able to complete the mission. So we didn't become anything ineffective. So I finished out my last three months healing from being blown up. By the time we got back to the States, I didn't need a cane no more.
And then, uh, I continued on about seven more years till it finally caught up to me again. I was hit two more times after that. Small bombs, nothing crazy, just pow, lost my, lost my tire, knocked me out. Nothing crazy like that one. Took 10 years for it to finally be like, I can't stick up with these young kids.
My back is getting swollen. My knees are jacked up, took seven years after that, so that I, I felt like I was like 40 and I was like 25. Let me go back up a little bit. From what I gather, you, I thought you got the Purple Heart and you were out. So you stayed in another seven years after that? Yeah, did two more tours.
You are, you are amazing, bro. Matter of fact, Hold on, let me wrap this around. I just gotta wrap my mind around this. You actually sustained a back injury and could not walk. You willed yourself back to walking. And as soon as you got where you were functioning enough to, to go back, back to duty, You got, you went back and served again in another war.
I had orders to Korea two weeks after I got back from Afghanistan. And then after Korea, they asked me what I wanted to go. I was like, I want to deploy again. So I was with the Fort hood. And in two weeks after landing in Fort hood, I caught up to my base. I caught up to my unit and the crazy thing about it.
I had a colonel request me, colonel Kelly. He was like, we're going to Kandahar where you lost all your friends at, straight up told me like that. Where you lost all your friends at, where you got blown up at. I need you. I want you to be my gunner. And that's what I did. Went, called up to him in Afghanistan, was his personal PSD gunner.
And that was a whole mind trip too. Deploying and seeing flashbacks. I'm like, I was just here. Oh, don't tell me where we go. I already know where we're going. You know what I mean? And it was like, Oh, down this road, I'll put my boy in a helicopter. He died. You know what I mean? It was just like being able to relive that.
I don't know what I was looking for. I was out there looking for revenge. And at the time that we weren't in that type of war anymore, I continued. Yeah, I continue on, man. Wow, you decided to get out. My life started catching up to me. After that last deployment, I came home. I was married at the time. My wife didn't cheat on me.
My family hid the fact that my mom had breast cancer from me. My life at that point was nothing but Partying and drugs. So let me tell you after my first deployment when we landed, you know, you go to the little srp center You put to tell the doctors what's going on? What's going on? I had a nco stand up and tell her straight up if you go talk to the wizard And you tell them you're having bad dreams.
You tell them you're affected you tell them you got ptsd your career is over So, let me tell you this you go up there. Don't say nothing Can you explain what a non commissioned officer is? The non commissioned officer is the guy that tells you what to do. Pretty much when you're, he's your sergeant. So my sergeant, yeah, at the time I was, I was, I was a PFC.
Private first. So my sergeant straight up told us, and this dude had multiple deployments. He's been blown up already, so he's like a hardcore dude. And he was like, I'll teach you how to cope. And, you know, they taught her how to cope with drugs and alcohol. Partying and that's kind of how we managed anything else outside of that was weak and toxic.
That's that world I live in just like having a purple heart. It was like it's toxic. That's the world I live in So I had to be like, hey, are you okay? Yeah, we see here that you went through i'm good Okay, we'll sign here for good And I'm out. How did your military career end? I was doing so. You were 10 years in?
Huh? 10 years in? I'm at 10 years. I'm uh. I quit after 10 as well. Huh? I stopped after 10 as well. Yeah, it was. Was it a higher tenure or? I was an E 5 at the time. Okay. Yeah, I was a sergeant. Soldiers loved me. Company loved me. Everything was good. I was that guy. Came from PT. The brigade running. Oh, that's the, that's the old sergeant.
He getting out there. He's calling cadence as he's running down the street. Yeah. Yeah. I was a soldier sergeant, so I took care of the soldiers. I didn't care about the officers. I didn't care. Hey, as long as the guys are good, the new ones is doing work. I was one of them. I know what it is, you know, for the disrespect them.
So after I left work, I was a mess. I was a mess, man. I was dysfunctional. I was trash, man. And then finally they did a room inspection one day. They seen all the cans, all the alcohol. They was like, man, you're doing enough stuff. You should be dead, dude. What are you doing? What's wrong with you? So they sent me to like a 30 day treatment facility in Odessa, Texas.
And then I came back and, yeah, that's how jacked up my life was. I didn't have the money. I was spending it on alcohol, booze, partying. I didn't, I didn't take care of my money. The only thing I was looking forward to in life at that point was getting back to war. That's the only thing that made me happy. I wanted revenge.
I was a totally different person than I am now. Yeah. People see me now as the happy guy, whatever, but that wasn't me. I wanted, I wanted revenge. I wanted blood. And you know what I mean? A sergeant, a command sergeant major saved my career. She put her rank on the line for me. I had 187 days of leave saved up.
That means I ain't been home in three years. Why haven't I been home in three years? Asked the army. They gave me no time. I went from station to station, to training, to training, to war, to war. I never got the chance to go home. So it was, I had a lot going against me. What were the biggest challenges you faced in that transition?
Going from, you were in the military yesterday and today you're not. What'd you mean? Where'd you go? Oh, Fort hood. So you got out and they sent you home or. Sent me home with 50 percent disability. They told me go to your local VA. It ain't going to be hard. You got a purple heart. You can, you'll get a hundred.
So they rushed me out in the military. I got to a clinic cause there wasn't no VA where I lived at in Waycross, Georgia, where I'm from. I put in the paperwork and I was denied multiple times. Then after being denied, You try to get a job and you tell people what you do and then they're like, so you don't have experience.
No, I just did 10 years in the military. How can I? Okay. I went to UPS. I went to CSX, FedEx. I went to all the nice jobs in the area. Denied all, every time. Couldn't get a job, which led me back to drugs. Cause I'm embarrassed. Everybody that sees my record sees me as some type of war hero. Some war hero that has to work at McDonald's.
No, I'd rather suffer. I'd rather be homeless. I had a lot of pride. and stuff. I went homeless in Miami. Went homeless in Miami because somebody told me if I went to a PTSD program there's no way that I'm not gonna get the benefits I deserve. So I went to a PTSD program for three months and still got denied and went homeless.
What would you say are the, uh, the main hurdles veterans face when they're trying to access the proper health care? There's two different sides of the VA. There's the health care side and then there's the compensation side of the VA, right? Yes, sir. Well, let me tell you that was a story. I just put and how did you only get 50 percent I mean Are you even diagnosed with rhinitis?
Do you know in the rhinitis? It's probably my nexus to sleep apnea Wow, and you got it the same way. I got it But just, you know, you were, I had oil, you had poop. Both laugh. I'm just hoping that we laugh about it, but yeah. We try to make some humor on the show. I'm sitting here in shock. Hey, that's just the world we live in, it's dark, man.
I'm sitting in here. But you know, I didn't even realize it. Sorry. I'm sitting here like, wow! It's just, this whole thing is just really, really extraordinary. Did they give you an explanation for why they denied you your benefits that you literally almost died like numerous times to, to earn? I even had a lawyer sue them and it got me to 90%.
And then I had another CMP exam. So they sent the letter to the Miami VA the Miami VA was late getting it to me if you miss one of those CMP Exam appointments. It's automatically you are done. So I end up missing. That's the private company that valuates your help. Yeah So if you miss and it was crazy because that's when I snapped what year was this that was like in 2012 no, I got out in 2015.
So that was like in 16 17 time frame because I I got out two weeks before 9 11 and then I applied for the VA and then I applied for the VA, uh, this year.
They never gave you an explanation. They just it always seemed really hard to to get to even get it When you get the denial paper, it just says you don't meet the requirements. That's you know, that they don't that's it. No, i'm confused What are the guidelines? It's crazy you put your life on the line you Literally was, couldn't walk for like, you, you, what else do you want to know?
I couldn't walk. Good Lord, man. It's, it's, it's as easy as saying my head. I have, I have frequent headaches. Doesn't get the picture. You have to say, I have insane, extreme, some, some giant word. Yeah, they want you to hit them with the words. You have to know the terminology that the VA uses for it to get to them that this is extreme.
Reading my claim, it tells you where, it tells you that, okay, for rhinitis or hemorrhoids, you're at 0%. Mm hmm. 10 percent rated with this or 20 percent rated with this or 30%, you have to meet the certain criteria. So that's the answer for you already. Yeah. So, You know, for example, I have, uh, hemorrhoids. I don't know if I want to use this.
I use this right here. I have 30 percent for headaches. 30 percent doesn't count till it's over 50%. So if you really add up what I have, I have like over 175%. Do you have sleep apnea? No, no. So they, if, if it's stuff is, I know for me, it says that if it's not over 70%, it doesn't count towards the total. Oh my God.
Have a crazy math, man. Oh my God. So I looked at my stuff. I'm like, dude, I'm, I'm 135%. Well, 10 percent don't count. 20 percent the ones you know, so I don't want this to be about me. So that's why I'm gonna strike No, but it is about you guys. It's a collective. Yeah, it is It's well, it is a collective between us, but the interviews about him not me But the beauty of what's going on right now is that y'all are relating a familiar experience that is a consistent problem with the VA and acquiring your percentages to, to be compensated for your lives.
I mean, it's disgusting. It's insane. They just brought out an article today that just said it costs the VA billions because of Ms. Miss missed, uh, wrong percentages wrongful denials. Cause you know, if you wrongfully denial a veteran and he continues that process and he finally gets somebody 10 years down the road to finally say, Oh, you messed up 10 years ago.
You got to pay that veteran back. So they got to compensate you for the whole 10 years. You got to come for you for the whole team. So they're just not figuring out. Oh, well, we need to get it right the first time. Yes. You have to get it right the first time. So that's why I got the speedy trial. Did they like I, they spent so Did they?
Yeah, so two months. Well, let me tell you this my boy got me a hundred percent of two weeks They came out with the decision you get compensated everything Backpay from from 50. No, I didn't because first I used a lawyer the best of lawyers So you got the lawyer best of lawyers said they can do is 90 percent unemployable On the polls 3, 000 a month and you can't work so they stuck you and you can't go to school.
So they stick you there I can't survive off this I deserve what I deserve. So my boy was like, I got a doctor named dr Lopez in orlando He's gonna put his whole doctorate on the line and say y'all are lying. He's 100 percent So I was like dude, if you can do this, bro, i'll pay you whatever you want to do name blake He did it 100% Two weeks later, I'm getting a free house, I'm building homes, I'm heroes.
Jesus. That's amazing, man. Jesus. God is amazing. I thank God for all of us. For both of us. Oh my God. I'm looking at You know, we were talking about with the last interview, last interview we had, John, who's the CEO of Operation Part of Us, about the camaraderie, like, I already know he loves me and I love him.
Yeah, man. Yeah. That's why it's like mind blowing that you say, like, I don't want it to be about me, but it is. It's one organism of a beautiful people, group of people that served our country. I love it. And we all have to, you all have to represent yourselves as one entity. I love the fact that I got white friends.
I love the fact that I got Asian friends. I love it. It's about all of you collectively. I work at an old black church. Don't like the cool white guy in the back. Like, Oh, that's money. Know, he, no, he's amazing, bro. He's amazing. Can you share your personal experiences or stories about the difficulties you encountered obtaining healthcare?
So, uh, how, I mean, you don't have copays after, after, uh, what, 50 or, I really, I think the only thing that really, man, I, like I said, I've been so blessed. The only thing that really happened to me is like two weeks after the military, I tore my Achilles randomly just walking and just snapped. Other than that, I really didn't have no difficulties, man.
If you don't get it right the first time, if you don't find the person that cares the first time, cause there's a way. Do you hear these stories that these guys that get out, they get a hundred percent. You hear these stories, these guys go to the VA like yourself and it's good and it's smooth. But I'm going to tell you as the guy that's answering the phone for Barnum, but that's a whole nother dark side.
I know guys at the pool with me that have seen stuff like me, that have been hurt like me that are still fighting today. Unbelievable. You said you were at the bottom. You reached the bottom, probably. Yes. And then there was Operation Barnabas and it changed your life. At this time, I had got my 90%. I was just happy with that.
I was like, you know what? I'm done. Cool. I'm gonna go live. I was out here street racing, doing bad things, drinking, drugging, started drugging, got addicted to cocaine. Just out here, just going a hundred mile an hour. And then, uh, just old Navy veteran that works down here at the DAV. He works with widows. He puts bingos and special nights on for the widows, for the, One thing about it, right now in my life, I'm so proud of each and every military veteran out here just trying to do more and it's trying to impact the community in some way, man, I got you, man, if you need me to do something, I'm coming for free, I'm doing it.
So I went up there a couple of times to help with the widows, help bingo, help collect their money, show them some love, like, we love you, what's up, how you doing, seeing a smile on their face, cause I'm a young man and there's some old widow that missed their military husbands, but I'm making them smile and that made me smile, so he looked at me one day in traffic, he asked me one simple question, are you okay?
And usually I get spit off, I'm good. But before I knew it, I had said no, he was like, man, pull over and follow me. So he knew Barnabas, reached out to Barnabas, the hurricane had hit. They was going out there to provide aid to the hurricane, a couple of guys. And the dude looked at me and was like, you're supposed to be with us.
I can feel it. And I was like, I need some help. I do whatever it takes. I do whatever it takes to not be like this because I'm about to lose my wife. I don't want to be married. I just want to, you know, Just live, live life like this. I'm happy for it, but I knew I needed to change. I did four months doing hurricane cleanup, volunteering down there at St.
James. And those four months is what I needed. I had guys pouring into me. I had guys that knew what I was going through. I had them reach reintroduce, you know, the Bible to me and just believe in me. After that, I was like, you know what, I'm gonna follow this program. I'm gonna follow these dudes. I'm gonna give it a shot.
And then this one thing after another, after another, after another door started opening, I'm just volunteering. I'm just volunteering. And the next thing, you know, people are catching on to my story. People are donated to Barnabas because of me. People enjoy my energy. People want to hang around me. People love me.
And it's like, Every time I kept progressing, Barnabas kept getting bigger and bigger. But now we got a tiny home and we was at Barnes and McDowell yesterday. Dude may want us out there in the Midwest. We're taking over a jail pod. We're about to run the jail pod in the new Duval County jail. I'm about to do the same thing in Orlando.
I was at the bottom, man. I just had to believe. I just had to try it. Give it a try, man. Like it's insane what you see every Tuesday at 630 when you allow a bunch of veterans to get together and eventually, eventually. Something's going to crack, something's going to happen, some relationship is going to happen outside of what you tried to structure.
Not everyone will get it. We can't save the world, but if that one guy gets it, that one guy gets better, it was all worth it. That's one life we saved. This week I went to Operation Barnabas weekly community meeting and it was great to hear everybody's stories. Felt like I was blessed to not have the mental breakdown after military service.
Yeah. I've talked to you about it before Jawad, but there's a difference between a combat veteran and a veteran. And I think it's kind of obvious, but you know, it's not only the physical damage that your body encounters, but it's the mental damage your body encounters. I did see, you know, I went out to see twice.
I saw people get stuck in the jet intake. Yeah. I come up from getting sterilized water because I was in the dental department. This guy is full of blood, and there's blood everywhere. To someone, they put down the phone systems, we're in Port, we're in Port San Diego, and they're working on the comms, so everybody's on radio, and it's like med, All medic stat, stat, stat, and somebody had hung themselves in a hangar bay.
You know the big elevators that bring up the, uh, the planes to the top? There's a, there's a bank underneath there. And how that affected my life every day after that. So. To the guy that got caught in the jet. Guys directing traffic up there on the flight deck. He went, he went And that jet intake is just So he went to heaven.
Intake, yeah. No, he survived. Oh, wow. His foot got on edge, uh, caught on the edge and it was just kind of like nicking his head. Uh, kind of just taking chunks out of his skull. But he survived, I believe. But there are people that just Out the back. That too. There's an intake and then the outtake. It's like a So they go through the engine?
Like a wood chipper. Like a wood chipper. To be real, to be candid. And so it's really important to stand in the right position. That's extreme! I worked in the medical facility, I was never I had to be up there during those times, but Hey, honey, you know, I'm just blown away, man. These stories of bananas! Bro, I saw a different kind of combat than you.
Obviously, I wasn't on land. I mean, we did see ports and stuff like that, but man, it was, it was like the wild west. Like I think my longest firefight was 12 hours. I was in like over 187 hours of firefights that year. They should have automatically given you a hundred on the way. Yeah, man, I'm blown away, bro.
But it's so polluted with so many different stories. Like by the time I tell you I have this story, y'all may think is, but I'm pretty sure somebody in the VA probably heard it before. You got all this fake valor stuff going on and it's catching up because we're overpaying a lot of veterans that didn't even do anything.
But it's sad, but we did a bad job tracking stuff still to this day. I try to figure out how could we track that? He was hoping back then that your unit. Asked you what you was involved in and then put the people that was involved and then name that battle And then that closed that file those people in that battle that existed That is the battle those people deserve, but they didn't do that you deployed.
Yes, what unit? Okay Don't know how we can track that but we're just gonna take your word on it And then some dude gets 100 a guy like he comes in and tells you a story. They're like Oh, you can walk. You're good. A lot of my, like they say, PTSD is, uh, it's, it's inside. It's not really a lot of outside and I'm just blessed.
I don't complain a lot. I don't really complain a lot. And when people do see me, they kind of be like, man, you've got a purple heart. How? Even my friends back then, they were like, you look okay. And I wanted to be tough. I didn't want you to look at me. I didn't want to eat. I didn't want nobody to he has a purple heart.
Take it easy. Nah, let's go. What challenges do veterans face when dealing with the VA system for healthcare and benefits? What'd you say? Knowledge. Being having the proper information knowledge, man. That's the biggest. What would you say the the best route because I got personally I got sucked into the Outsource companies the the companies that you see on probably on my Instagram feed almost every day And they they want a percentage of your pay Unfortunately that's help you so they help you but they take care of you Yeah, well they saw the dude or something like that 10 percent even those are are fishy right even the even some of them overtard you Yeah, like there's like I said, they just figured out that they're doing something wrong in the beginning of the stage I think it's hard for me to believe that a doctor sends a recommendation and then somebody without the proper background can deny it.
So if you, how can you tell a doctor if you're not a doctor that he's wrong? I think that's why they got that private company to that private company is like an intermediate, you know, like they have a doctor. Yeah, they have a doctor to tell them like, okay, you want to really put my PhD on the line. And that's what this guy did for me.
He has doctors on retainer that, Hey, did you want to challenge me? Because we'll go to a big lawsuit and usually they'll settle. And that's what really happens. And then this dude only wanted, I'll tell you straight up, he charged me a thousand dollars and he was like, pay me back any way you can. A hundred dollars, ten dollars.
He was like, honestly, a lot of people take stuff and run with it because I really can't charge people. I just want people to be good to me because he had his benefits taken away and then he learned the system. And now he just wants to help veterans and that that's just what he does. And I've gave him six people and all six people have came back with improved ratings.
You just got to get lucky, man. Like you, or you catch a person that really cares. You know, when I got out of the military, they told me there's specific VAs for specific people. If you're Spanish, go to the VA down in Miami because mostly Spanish people work there. If you're a black guy, go to the VA in North Georgia or in Chicago.
If you're a white guy, go Go to Texas. Go to, go to Florida. Go to, that was specific. You hear war stories, man. You hear stories about, uh, you got to go, uh, act crazy. You got to go do all the extra stuff just to get in the, and these dudes are doing it. I went to a PTSD program. I was the only one in there that was combat.
And these guys, and I was like, I just do how many times have you been in this program? He was like twice. I'm like, for what? He was like, yeah, I got 100 percent this first time, but I'm trying to get told I'm permanent the second time. I'm like, what is this a game? And finding out that I was the only one in the class that actually went to war.
After I got out of that class, I still got denied because I tell you what happened. We had a dude commit suicide in the program. And then the program had to become a success story. And what better way to have a success story than a Purple Heart veteran who went in, jacked up and came back. Okay. At the end of the day, my doctor's telling me I'm jacked up, but I had to learn then that the knowledge told me that.
Every time you go to an appointment, you can read the doctor's notes. So one day I read the doctor's note and as he was talking to me about, yeah, you're all right on the thing, he's typing good if medicated. So when I got denied, that would have said good if medicated. And I was like, wow. And how do you fight that?
You can't sue the federal government. I can't go in there and rid the wall. You sign a document that's free healthcare for you. You have to deal and you have to get lucky. And that's just kind of what happened to me. Knowledge is the biggest key. Did you know that you could at 70 percent you can go to in your situation when you were, when you had your 90 percent you could have went to the actual state government and applied for the same benefits.
The other day I was talking to one veteran that his grandson goes to my son's karate class and he was just like, Oh, so now you can go, he's like, okay, you got your 70, you can go, now you can go to the state. Government and apply for disability and get both social security. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I knew that. Okay I was like, I'm not gonna do that.
I could still work I just everybody keeps on telling me you you earn this money. Go get it. Go get it They told me I didn't work long enough in the civilian world. I don't have enough work credits to for social security I didn't pay enough in it or something like that. Didn't you hear another guy? And I think that's they like I'm in this lady swarming down.
She was like no no veterans I don't want to put nobody out, but there was a meeting that I went to and I say right here in Jacksonville Social Security told me straight up. Hey, you don't know veterans with 100 percent don't get Social Security She straight up said that to me in my face and I looked at her and I'm like lady You don't know who are you?
And she was like, what do you turn on this? I'm like no ma'am, you're supposed to be in charge. You don't know what you're talking about I know veterans right now with Social Security with a hundred percent I promise you if we're up to you and your opinion What improvements are necessary in the health care system to get better support for veterans?
Uh oh, uh oh, uh, um Because I can tell you that it's probably, here's my, here's my take real quick I think it's gotten better and I think it depends on the administration of who's, who's doing it In the white house, whether you want to like Donald Trump or not, he said into law that if the VA cannot take care of you in two months, you can go on the outside and the VA will pay for it.
Here's my opinion on the VA. One of the only things that as people we can't vote for, you can't vote for a director of the VA. He gets appointed by the president. That's just a homie. I say for the last four and look this up for the last four, all four have been incompetent of misuse of government funds.
So let's start there. Do you want the job? Do you want to do the job? Are you looking for a hot pick to get from new money? Let's start there. I'm about to get, I'm about to get so passionate and emotional because Go for it. There's been 120, 000 soldiers have committed suicide since the war started. I was gonna say, we haven't mentioned the fact that veterans commit suicide every two seconds.
The numbers should be up to 24 a day. Right. Let's be honest. If a veteran gets out the military and gets the benefits he deserves, he can get the chance to actually heal. Instead of getting out stressing about how he getting paid, how he's going to take care of his family. What he's doing next. Hey, when you get out, Hey man, take care of yourself first.
We'll figure that out. But it's not the case for a lot of them. So you're going to push a lot of them into the civilian role where they end up jacking up stuff, end up catching up to them. They end up committing suicide. I feel like the VA is a complicit in a lot of the suicides. To be honest, I get tired of seeing guys.
the directors Taking funds using funds to take their wives overseas or what? They just said the burn pit thing 11. 5 billion dollars just went to misuse of funds of bonuses to the upper hand when that was supposed to be used to hire People to make sure the stuff went. Well, are you kidding me? That's BS in all forms of fashion Who's allowing this stuff and these guys get hit on the hand like a wrist and get to go away with their little retirement It's like nothing happened You just killed a veteran dog.
This is personal now. And that was touching. I forgot his name. Daniel touched and did that when he took his family with, with misuse of funds and went overseas. And then we just had the per burn pit thing. And it just seems like there's every presidential election. We get a director and every director is making the same mistake.
When are we going to set a standard? When are we going to set a, Hey, this is what happens when you. Do veterans this way. You lose everything. Your family lose everything. Your investments gets taken away. Your kids get to look at you as an embarrassment. Your kids get make it made fun of in school. Maybe that teaches people a lesson and I think that's a lot of what the problems we got going on is people look at stuff and see, Oh, he got away with, I can get away with it too.
No, this is different. We got to take care of the people that's taking care of making all this possible. So when you come over here and you misuse and you don't do your job, you're complicit in almost murder dog. It's crazy because these guys get to take these retirements and get the schooled off. I threatened St.
Petersburg one day. I think I forced one of the guys in retirement because I told him I'm about to pull up. And that's the thing, you know, I was in a padded room because I was like, it's atrocious that people like me, real people out here with real stories are getting denied by people who are not even doctors.
And they can deny me and they're completely wrong. Like, like they're really wrong. And the only thing you can get is you don't meet the requirements. And then you find that you always met the requirements. So why, why? Cause a lot of times, nine times out of 10 of veterans out here, they say F that. I don't even want to try for this stuff.
I'm going to go work. 20 years. It's a problem, man. It stressed me out. I used to be in my house raging. I go to the, I go to the VA. They like, why your heart rate up? Cause I hate y'all y'all bring me so much stress. Why I get to sit out here and watch some dude who definitely lied with a hundred percent.
Cause he knew somebody that knew Spanish and they clicked up and they made it happen. Like nah, man, y'all, they got up. You still feel that way about the VA? Has it gotten better? You've been dealing with the VA a lot longer, obviously. So has the, has the relationship with the VA, the VA or, uh, the health? I was late 10 minutes for a PTSD appointment.
They rescheduled me nine months later. And that was this year like, and I even called and said, Hey, that was a traffic accident in front of me. I'm going to be a little late. Oh, you're okay. So I pulled up and it was like, yeah, we had to reschedule appointment. I was like, it's mental health. Oh, we still got a and then I flipped out again, bro.
I, I still have that problem. I don't give the VA no cuts, no slack because I know what they can do. When I was in that three month PTSD program, I heard what some of the doctors said about veterans. I heard what some of the students said about veterans tired of these guys thinking of my nerves. Yeah. The student, all this stuff like who you, we pay what I get.
They just need to, first of all, if we're going to cut the money, like the money is supposed to be used to hire people, then use that money to hire good people. Cool. Right. For some reason, the VA takes shortcuts like a civilian doctor would get a mild practice lawsuit out of civilian world and he can go to the VA can portray him to come work for the VA because he ain't gonna get paid again.
But if the VA tell you, I'll give you half that salary, you'll still have a job. He's taking it. He may not even care. Give us somebody that actually care. Give us somebody in those regional offices that diagnosed in PTSD. If the dude says he stumbled his toe and stumbled his toe is 100 percent and just because he didn't say stumbled toe, but you know what he's trying to say, be smart and be like, yeah, okay.
Look at his records and be like, yeah. Okay, don't let a word, a sentence, a comma, a vowel disqualify you for what you deserve. That is the most utter crap I've ever heard. My dad, by the way, is a Purple Heart veteran in Vietnam. Those guys are not even taken care of still. Well, he's, he's at a hundred percent.
I mean, at a hundred percent, a lot of things change. Everything. It's easier to get a house, you're getting a free one and everybody, your family is taken care of. It changed the trajectory of my life. I was able to finally be like, okay, I can focus on healing now, right? I can get my life together now but if you're a veteran out there that was like me that got out and I had all these different problems and you're not Getting to help and then you're forced to go work You're dealing with these problems in dealing with civilians that may not respect you that may not care man You're ticking time bomb and I tell a lot of these veterans out here like oh, man I like bro, don't give up because eventually that monkeys hopping on your back And I hope you got enough resources to keep them off because it's a long ride and you're gonna ride you for a long time.
The V. H. is not being taken care of seriously. Like, I don't know if we should go private. I don't know. I don't know. There's no way that more people have died from suicide than the actual war in our own country. That means we lost the war technically. That means they're still winning. I'm tired of losing, I lose a friend every year at this point, the little ones that I have left and it's like, how are you guys still fighting?
What do you mean? You should be able to tell them I was with fourth engineers, look at the file, second, they should be like, Oh, anybody in that company should be good for a hundred percent. They should not ask nobody in that company questions, shouldn't have to, we've all been vetted, you know? Do you think if they would have, that things would be a lot different for you now?
Yeah. If I would have got, uh, obviously it would have been a lot different for you then. If I would have got out with a hundred, if I would have got out with what I was supposed to, yeah, I think, uh, Do you think a lot of the reasons why you went to drugs and all that was because you didn't have the money or because?
The reason was because it's, it's, it's stressful. Like I want it to be better. I want it to take the time to get my, to go try these different counselings and stuff, but you got to work, you know what I mean? You got to work. And I didn't do a good job saving my money. I needed to work immediately. So when you work, you don't have time for that.
So I really think, well, especially when you can't find a job and you can't find a job, dude, like what I tell you, I went everywhere. I had a kid at 18 years old, just graduate high school, get the job over me because he did a Christmas special UPS has like the little. So he did a seasonal job that date that year before.
So he was like in line to get the next delivery thing. Well, I was one of the first seasonal workers who had his own route. I was in there with a golf cart with a trailer going through the thing delivering my own UPS. Like I'm one of the first ones doing that. It was like, man, you're killing it. Like, dude, I already, I'm already doing a job, but I'm on a golf cart cause everybody's like, you're good.
So I thought I was getting a job. I didn't get the job. They was like, Oh, well, this kid did this. I'm like, this kid, tell him to go live life. I'm sorry. You know what I mean? Like that comes with pride, man. Like kind of funny. I tell people now, like, don't let your pride keep you like, you know, a lot of guys out here that looking for jobs, can't find jobs.
And I'd be the first one to tell them, they go to the gas station, man, go get it, go to McDonald's till you figure it out. And it's like, I wouldn't do that. It's just funny. Just funny, man. I, it's just funny when I tell people now, I was like, man, bro, you should have did that. I should have just taken the job so I wouldn't struggle.
But at that time, there was no Barnabas though, right? That's the deal. We ask you to take this job, but we're going to let you know if you take this little nine to five job. We're gonna provide you food. I'm gonna help you out with food help you out with some guys every now and then we're gonna help You find another job.
It won't you won't be there for too long. We just want you to get something, right? That's different from me saying Go out here and just work go work this stressful job and good luck A lot of things has changed on my mindset on a lot of different things. Like I still don't know the perfect answer I just think a little love a little care if we can employ more veterans in those positions maybe Maybe that'll work.
Maybe a veteran can see, look at this dude's story and be like, Oh, that's a bunch of, nah, no way that happened. You know what I mean? And maybe, I don't know. How can you encourage more veterans to engage? Oh, well, hold on. I don't know if you want to go over. Do you think it's important to talk about the elections this year for veterans?
A veteran's perspective.
Let me tell you something. It's hard. It's hard because Obama was the president. When I was in, like I say, standards are met. To keep, to keep things straight, right? If you're a thief, they cut your fingers off back in the day, so you learn not to steal again, right? But the standard was, in the military, was you don't make fun of your commander in chief.
You don't disrespect your commander in chief. That's your commander, that's your boss. Whether you like him or not, you have to respect your commander in chief. I didn't care who it was. I respected him, but I was met with a lot of backlash from just like an Obama. I didn't even vote. He was just my commander in chief, man.
There's a, I don't like to use the race car, man, but I tell you what, man, they'll tell you there's race specific jobs in the army, right? Like. The black guys are in the motor pool, probably cooks. The white guys are in combat. The Asian guys are probably at the, uh, doing the numbers. The only reason they say that because you're more likely to get promoted in those areas.
If you have somebody that look like you above you, he's more likely to promote you. And that's kind of how it went, man. Being the only black guy in a company, it was kind of hard to survive. I had a dude from Wisconsin as my platoon sergeant. He made me walk the first two months in Colorado to learn the base.
He didn't allow nobody to give me rides in blizzards. I watched a white dude who grew up in New York get beat up and kicked out the army because they didn't know what he was. They couldn't figure him out. I knew who he was. He was the white guy that hung around a bunch of black people. They was like, oh, you're trying, you're pretending.
No, that's just who he is. Outside of work. And they didn't like that. So he got beat up by a bunch of white dudes and it was, I was like, yo, what is this? It was hard to be me. It was hard. And now you see me, I'm the guy with the glasses and the cowboy hat, I'm real country. So is this like, I was always in fear of being myself.
I was always in fear to be soft. I felt like I had to be a certain way. It was just so toxic. So you asked me to what I say to encourage veterans. Is that what you said? That was the question. Yeah. What do you have to say to, to encourage veterans? You have this horrific story of how you were treated. Now you're going into how, uh, racially you were treated.
What could you say to someone to keep them instead of coming at them and telling 'em, Hey, these are things that happened to me. How do you stay on the positive track? How do you're in operation Barnabas and you're taking people out from the bottom to the top? It's great that you're positive, even though you have obviously.
In the Navy, we'd call these sea stories. I don't know what they call them in the Army. War stories. Yeah. War stories. Uh, uh, yeah, we all have, all veterans have them. Well, all combat veterans. What's the best advice you can give to someone that, well, I guess somebody that just got out of the military or there's a gentleman there that's 17 years in and he's, and he's already in the program.
You know, you don't have to talk specifically about that gentleman, but I'm just saying my advice. It seems that, uh, every one of us has one thing in common and we have a bug to serve. podcast is, by the way, is getting the word out, serving, serving citizens of the United States and veterans. With that being said, man, uh, I'm going to tell you every veteran, there's not one veteran, and this is not a bluff.
There's not one veteran that gets out that doesn't miss that camaraderie or that brotherhood. There's not one veteran that gets out and that doesn't miss that. I think that's why when we see each other or we recognize each other, or even just walking to the VA, you're just like, Hey brother. Hey brother.
Hey brother. Hey brother. My wife knows I'm giddy like a school girl when I'm around my boys. You know what I mean? And it's like, you got to find. Your tribe is gonna hit you. You're going to want to talk to someone like you. You're going to want to talk to someone who has been through something like it's inevitable.
It's an eventually whatever time that happens when you get out, it's going to come to you where you need a brother. You need a sister. That's going to be like, bro, I was there. What's up? Where are we going with this? What you need pulling up? Um, if I would have met Barnabas the day that I got out, I don't think I was designed to meet.
Barnabas the day that I got out. I think I was designed to go through all this stuff to be where I'm at here today. But if somebody, if I could give Barnabas to somebody immediately, I think it would change the trajectory of their life because as soon as they get out, I'm going to give you knowledge, somebody in Barnabas is going to be able to tell you where to go, how the resources, how to get your wife into college, how to go to college, how to navigate the college world with the BA, how to get your health care, how to tell you that once you get up a hundred percent, your kid can go to any school in the area for free.
Uh, in the state of Florida tell you how the state of Florida will pay your wife to go to school. So in earthly, she gets a check now from the VA. So you bring more money into your family. You'll get all that knowledge. CRSC special combat related compensation, tell you how to get an extra 2, 500 a month because you went to combat.
We just missed the earplug. A lot of people thought the earplug stuff was fake. It wasn't people just got paid. I just got paid from the earplug settlement. That stuff like that, that if you would have got, if you come to a Barnabas straight out the military, you're going to have the sauce. You're going to have the letter to the sauce immediately.
We're not going to play games. We're going to give you what you need and who you need. We're gonna get you right. Because. The sooner you get right, the sooner you get what did you deserve, the sooner you can get better. I can't help you out there when you're living under a bridge for real. You got to go into that mess again.
I can't help you for real. If you're living in your car for real, you got to, you got to wake up in that mess again. But if I can get your life right, if I can get you with a hundred percent, then I can get you to focus on what's going on inside to get you better. How many commands were you in? Oh, how many units?
Uh, started, uh, started out at Fort Carson, fourth engineers. I went to Korea. That's two. I went to, uh, Fort hood with the two units in Fort hood, 36 engineers and first cab. So that means four. Yeah. I was at four different units. Did you not have sponsors every time you went to a new command? Yeah. My sponsor dropped me off at the gut.
The dealership and let them knock me over my head to eventually get my car reposed so he can get a bonus for bringing in business. Let me tell you something. I didn't I didn't have a lot of honestly, I didn't have a lot of people look out for me. Like I said, some people had that NCO that built them like my brother, me and this dude, I call him our brother, but we went into the military at the same time.
He's the one that kind of got me in the military. And you can see the difference when he had people pour into his life. He's a warrant officer right now. And I don't know if my life would have went that well, but there's a difference in if somebody's pouring into you and believing you immediately and show you the sauce while you went to get to where you need to, then somebody just letting you just figure it out.
Well, I'm saying that's, I think that's maybe part of the answer is that everybody needs a sponsor when they get it. Yes. Yes. I think a good sponsor, not someone that's going to take advantage of you. Yeah, yeah, man. I remember when I landed in for, uh, this first time, this. Retired E7 was picking kids up at the welcome center and taking them to a car lot to get them cars.
What? You're taking advantage of soldiers just so you can get a little bonus on your check, dude? It's to be our own people sometimes, like they say, you know what I mean? Like, bro, you just, I think that's very important. We have a problem and pills ain't doing it, dog. People still killing themselves. So that guy, They need to be able to pay someone that's going to life coach you and make sure you're good.
Because the statistics say that you're probably not going to be good for too long. No matter if it's 25 to 30 years to 40 years from now, the statistics say you're going to come sometime when you get out in your life, you're going to have to fight that demon for real and hopefully you're good enough. I think that's a good allocation of funds there is to hire people that are life coaches.
Yeah. Like, uh, give funding to organizations like Operation Barnabas, for example, that do life coaching. What message would you like to share with our listeners about supporting veterans? Well, I tell you what, man, people have a lot to talk about when it comes to the kids of the future, the people of the future.
Where is these young candidates at? Where is these young presidents at? Where is these school teachers? Where is these gyms? We have a fatherless society sometimes, so where are these extra fathers at? Where are these people at? Well, I tell you, that guy may be in his room like I was for two years straight addicted to cocaine.
That guy may be putting up that sign right next to the road saying, Hey, homeless vet, feed me. That's where we're missing. These guys at that school teacher may be over there about the hang himself because he feel like there's no way out. If you want to help society out though, we have so much to give.
You got to think about it. What we was trained to do, what we've been through. That's so much to give to a kid without a father. Right now, my secondary thing is I'm out here. Right here on Fleming Island, helping Jennifer Carroll, she was the former Lieutenant General of Florida. Her son, Nolan Carroll, went to the NFL.
That family got out and now they opened up a junior college for second chance kids to get a chance to go back to the NFL. Showing up every day. I don't show up every day anymore because I'm a bit a lot busier now, but when it first kicked off, I was there every, every day showing those kids love. And it was amazing to see what that meant to these young men, Some veterans showing up and kids love veterans.
They think we're some of the coolest people on earth. So when you walk up as a veteran to a kid and be like, Hey, dog, I love you. Let's go. It changed their whole trajectory. God hasn't blessed me with kids yet, but I think he's blessed me to be in this position to have many kids out here. I have many kids that hit me up every day.
Hey, thank you, coach. Because something you said, You believing in me, you showing me that it's, it's okay to cry. You showing me that it's okay to have emotions. You show me, but I have to, nobody owes me anything. So I have to have my emotions in check. That, that I think veterans could really help society in many ways that we can get them on track because the government invested so much into us, that it's a shame that millions and billions of dollars just rotting away was being taken away in a blink of an eye because they can't get the help they deserve.
How can listeners get involved and support you in Operation Barnabas? I know you, if you want to allude to what your new position is and where do you see the future of Operation Barnabas? Man, you don't have to, so Barnabas has also led me to Be on the Dean's list at Liberty University for my psychology degree, about to get my doctorates in military resilience.
I wanna eventually come to Barnabas, so it's gonna be doctor jobs soon. Hopefully soon. Hopefully, man, you just gotta care. A lot of times, man, a lot of us just needed to be heard, needed to, needed to let rage out. You asked me to do this podcast. I was ready because this is healing for me to get it out sometimes.
Just go to Operation Barnabas. com and become a weekly donor or simply just share, share our messages, share the stuff we put out. We're trying to show the world that it is possible. It is possible to help homeless veterans. It's possible. I mean, we could get everyone off the street for real. If you're a rich guy out there, tax write offs should be a good thing for you.
Hey, man, drop me a check, write it off. Not only that is veterans that commit suicide. Those aren't just homeless veterans. They're not. If we can, if you can just donate to us, if you allow us to work, we're going to get to those guys because I tell you what, it's like being back in the platoon again with the way Barb is works.
Like I have guys every day checking up on, we can go, Hey, we can go kick it. And I'm not scared to call one of my boys and tell him, bro, I feel like killing myself, talk to me and then he's going to talk to me. I answered that phone at 2 33 34 30 at night. It don't matter. I love to do it. I'm gonna get up and I'm answer that phone.
My wife is on cue now. Hey, babe, the phone's ringing. Cool. I'm up Then there's a lot of people out there like me, but they're damaged right now. I can't be the only one. I'm not special I just love and I have a care for this. So we just need we need mentors We need people who've who've been down in the dirt And it's one of the better things.
How did you get out? Because I need you to tell another guy, how did you get out? Mentors. We need funds and we need people. We about to run to jails. There's about to be veteran pods in the jail. So the veterans don't have to get in and general pop, we'll be able to attack the veteran, not attack, but we are able to help the veteran right there.
So as soon as they get out of jail, we got you a job, we got you a plan. So you can go ahead and get your benefits. You already took a financial class. You should be able to take care of your money. We're going to get you a license and we're going to get you a place to stay. We're going to make sure you're good.
As soon as you get out of jail. If a veteran gets out and they already can't get their benefits. And if a veteran is locked up for more than three months, they lose their benefits. If it was already hard for you to get your benefits, first of all, and you get locked up for three months, they're going to take it away.
You got to fight it again. And I don't hear too many people the second time around even getting anything. It's harder than. We work with Congressman Bean and his people, and they do a good job right now to try to make things happen for people. I'm trying to figure out, in Miami, if you got a service dog, and you're a veteran, at the end of every, at the end of the week, and every month, there's a free veteran's check for your dog.
How many people out there is getting their dog taken care of? For real, it's expensive. So you're telling me that homeless vet out there with his dog, and that's the only thing keeping them alive until somebody can get to them, we need to take care of that dog. If you look in the city of Miami, that has helped a lot of veterans because their dog is good.
That keeps them good enough until somebody can really get to well, such an impactful conversation here. Oh my God. Hey, shout out to you, dawg. Hey, shout out to this program, man. You guys are, uh, I was checking you out when you sent it to John. And man, anytime, anytime you want your boy, anytime I need to beam in from Orlando, I'm down anytime you want me to come up.
I got y'all man. And I need some merch. This is episode 40, by the way, they say, uh, most podcasts don't last three. Let's go. We need to get the word out. What better way to give nonprofits, give veterans voice and be able to be heard. You pass this on to everybody. We'd like to thank you for your time and your insights.
And you can find this podcast in all major networks, MTS Jax FM. Give a shout out to Operation Barnabas for taking on those tough battles that the VA can't fight or you just need some love, some personal attention. Thanks again, man. We appreciate you. Love you. I just want to say thank you for your service to our country.
You deserve seven houses. You deserve more than what we can offer you. And one thing I learned about life is that you can't get back time and, and you spent a considerable amount of time making sure that I'm able to rest peacefully on my, my pillow. And I want to genuinely tell you thank you. I praise God for you.
I appreciate you. for your accomplishments, your achievements, even the struggles were medals that led you to accomplishments and achievements in your life. And again, man, you've got our full support. You both of you guys served our country and you guys are incredible. And I see why the kids love you because you are a real life hero.
You are bro. And, and, and you are too. And, um, I can't thank you enough. I could literally sit here for the next hour just saying, And I praise God for you, brother.
I feel like, man, everybody has their paths. And the unfortunate thing is some people may go through life and never figure that out. What your, what your path was, what your steps were. And that's why I think, man, I really didn't give God enough credit during this, but man, I think that's what's very important with God.
Because, It must be crazy to go through life and don't have nothing to believe in. I couldn't imagine that. My mom used to tell me Psalms 91, though they may fall to the left or right of you, but you won't be touched. He that dwells in the secret place of the most high, shall abide under the shadow of the almighty.
There it is. Hey, absolutely. My mom used to tell me that I used to call my mom. I tried to call my mom for every mission, but one thing she always did was Psalms 91. Absolutely. I lived that. No sudden terror or calamity shall come nigh your dwelling place. I live that. And he said in his word, he promises that he will satisfy you with long life and good health.
I live that. Right. It's very important to have some believing so you can kind of understand that if you are going through something in life, that he doesn't put more into you than you can bear. And there's a reason why you're going through this because you supposed to tell your story. Somebody out there needs you to go through this and make it.
I need you to make it through this so you can tell someone so that someone can hear and they can make it. I mean, thank God I don't look like what I've been through. You look nothing like what you've been through. You shining like a diamond. I appreciate you big doll. That's my doll right there, man. I just, man, I just thank God, man, because I feel like I'm getting pushed into Orlando for a bigger season and I'm ready.
I'm ready to take it world wide. I'm ready to take it anywhere, man. Like, they're already asking us to look at opening another Barnabas in the Midwest. I'm ready. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to keep building this and I'm ready. I want to, I can't look at 120, 000 of my brothers continue to die. I can't, I can't continue to, I can't continue to pick up the phone and my boys being like, Hearing another friend.
I'm tired of talking to friends that I haven't talked to in years. They tell me oh, you know, dude I oh dude killed himself. Like I'm sick. I'm sick of it and It's not hard Pay pay veterans what they deserve man. Absolutely. Thanks for your time, man. I appreciate you. Thank you Absolutely Welcome to a new season of the collective perspective podcast.
As we dive into the season, we're focusing on the pivotal upcoming election, widely considered as one of the most important of our lifetime. Join us on this journey. As we navigate through diverse perspectives, dissecting, Key issues and explore the profound impact on our shared future. Get ready for insightful discussions and thought provoking insights.
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