The Days Grimm Podcast
The Days Grimm, "arguably Indiana's most comical, thrilling, and controversial podcast", This three-pronged mandate acts as a primary filter for their guest selection. The "comical" aspect is reflected in its official genre of "COMEDY INTERVIEWS" and its history of hosting local stand-up comedians. The "thrilling" component is evident in interviews with individuals who have extraordinary life stories, such as people who survived shootings, rare medical conditions, and combat. Finally, the "controversial" element is demonstrated by Brian & Thomas’ willingness to engage in difficult or unfiltered conversations, touching on topics like homelessness, artificial intelligence, and religious hypotheticals.
A crucial element of the show's tone is its tagline, "Brought to you by Sadness & ADHD (non-medicated)". This self-aware and raw positioning signals a modern comedic sensibility that embraces vulnerability and finds humor in personal struggle. The podcast's brand is not built on polished narratives but on the authentic, often messy, intersection of hardship and humor. The most compelling guests are those who have navigated a "Grimm" reality and emerged with a story to tell, and ideally, a sense of humor about it. This dynamic is the core of the show's appeal and the primary filter for identifying a story worth telling.
The Days Grimm Podcast
Ep.246 Building a Tribe After the Military: Ruck and Rosary with Paul Linberg
What happens when a retired Marine takes the discipline of the military and applies it to faith, fitness, and community?
In this episode of The Days Grimm, Paul Linberg returns for round two to share the incredible growth of his mission and the impact it is having on men across the country. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Paul realized the civilian world often lacked the "tribe" mentality essential for growth, leading him to co-found Ruck and Rosary, a program designed to challenge the mind, body, and soul.
Paul breaks down the origin of Ruck and Rosary, which combines a five-mile weighted ruck with the five decades of the rosary. This isn't just a workout; it is a structured environment where men discuss the pillars of being a better man, a better husband, and a better father. Paul explains how these "universal truths" are shared through both biblical scripture and the wisdom of Stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius, proving that the pursuit of discipline is a timeless human endeavor.
A significant portion of this conversation focuses on the power of community in personal transformation. Host Brian Day shares his own journey of returning to the Catholic church at St. Benedict Cathedral after 25 years, a move directly inspired by the support and brotherhood he found within Paul’s rucking group. This episode highlights how a simple invitation to "ruck" can lead to profound spiritual and personal changes.
This conversation goes deeper than fitness. Paul opens up about combat experiences, traumatic brain injuries, and the long-term mental health challenges faced by veterans. The group discusses why talking openly, doing hard things together, and building consistent routines can be life-saving, especially for men who struggle to slow down or ask for help.
The episode also takes a deep dive into Paul’s military history, specifically the events of December 15, 2006, in Ramadi. Paul recounts the harrowing details of a VBIED attack involving a cement truck filled with explosives and the complex ambush that followed. His "Alive Day" story serves as a powerful reminder of the perspective gained through service and the resilience required to keep moving forward when the "RPMs" of life feel overwhelming.
Finally, Paul discusses his newest project, The Watch and the War podcast, and how he manages a life filled with family, ministry, and security training. Why podcasting can be therapeutic, and how connecting the right people at the right time can change lives.
From stoicism and faith to addiction, discipline, and family priorities, this is an honest, grounded conversation about building a life with purpose after service.
Whether you are a veteran seeking a new tribe or someone looking to balance high-intensity life with spiritual peace, Paul’s insights on routine and "standing in the breach" offer a compelling roadmap for the modern man.
This episode offers real-world insight.
no fluff, no shortcuts.
KEY TOPICS COVERED:
* The origin and mission of the Ruck and Rosary program
* Building a resilient tribe after the Marine Corps
* Mind, Body, and Soul: The structure of a 5-mile spiritual ruck
* Comparing Stoicism and the Gospe
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[The Days Grimm is brought to you by]
Sadness & ADHD (non-medicated)
Oh, hello, hello, hello, everyone, and welcome to another thrilling episode of the Day's Grimm. My name is Brian Michael Day. My name is Thomas Grimm. Joining us in the studio for round two, none other than Paul Lindbergh. What's up, sir? What's up, guys? Really emphasize the in on that. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. I've known you for a while now. I sent I sent uh my priest. There's a funny story behind this. So Paul and I have known each other, you know, for about four months now or whatever. Your priest is sent as Paul's priest? No, no, no. He goes to St. Ben's, I go to uh Sacred Heart, uh St. Boniface. But, anyways, so I chose Paul to be my sponsor, right? Like AA sponsor? Yeah. Whatever. Yeah, kinda. That's right. That's the only thing he can relate it to.
SPEAKER_03:He's like, do you have problems, bro? What are you talking about? You gotta send a letter to the Pope?
SPEAKER_06:But I I send a I send a letter or I send an email to my priest, and I was like, hey, here's my sponsor's name, Paul Limberg. L-I-M-B-E-R-G. Like Paul Limberg. He was like, okay, I'll get I'll you know, I'll get you schedules and all that stuff. Cool. And I was like, all right, so and then I screenshotted that and sent it over to Paul. I was like, hey, just so you know it's official. He was like, spell my last name right next time or something.
SPEAKER_07:I was like, God. I was like, dude, I've been spelling it wrong for four months. Are you shitting me?
SPEAKER_02:I was like, check. All right, anyways.
SPEAKER_04:He always gives me shit when I'm behind the computer for spelling. And I'm like, dog, like, like the rucking rosary emails, like, that's where you check it. Because at the bottom of the rucking rosary emails, like, like we spelled Corey mock wrong. Oh, yeah. Or mock. I don't know. Mock. Mock, yeah. And like I like before the episode went live, I just checked the email. I was like, Everybody's on the email. Yeah. Well, see, except Brian Day.
SPEAKER_06:Brian Day is not on the I'm not getting them, bro. We've been talking about this. I've been getting them this year all the time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. The days Grim gets it.
SPEAKER_06:Oh, and I don't have the days Grim Podcast email. Oh, okay. It's on me. You know, I didn't know that, man. Yeah, that's why you've been doing it. It's all Tom's fault, bro. Remind me, I'm gonna shoot you. I'm gonna text you my actual personal email. I don't think I have your personal email. Sure you do. Oh, yeah, you do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I sent you a reszi. Anyway, I'll add it. That here nor there. So I'm a big dumb idiot, been spelling your name wrong for four months. I just wanted to point that out. It's all right, man. Uh how the hell are you? Are you doing okay, sir?
SPEAKER_02:I'm doing good, man. I uh and on that note, I want to say uh so he did ask me to be a sponsor for OCI. It's uh to kind of come in. Yeah, blood in, blood out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and it the funny first off, honored that you asked me to do that.
SPEAKER_06:I don't know if is that an improper thing that I shouldn't have brought up just now. No, perfect. Okay, okay, cool. No, because I can edit that shit out. I think it's great, dude. No, I'm super pumped, man. Thank you again.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you're super dope. And it was funny because the the priest that he's talking about, he know we know each other pretty well. And you know, before Brian even threw my name out there, I guess he said, No, I think Paul might be a good sponsor for you. And I said, Man, if he's picking me, then he you've got some problems, dude. We we're gonna we're gonna be good.
SPEAKER_07:You know him and I got dinner together. I tell you about that. Yeah, he went to the ruck, right?
SPEAKER_04:Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. One time, uh clean shaved fella. We can might as well just talk about the ruck this little first part. Yeah, yeah, why not? Yeah, no, for sure. We went to it, we had a ruck yesterday. Yeah, we did.
SPEAKER_06:Let's talk about two miles around the originberry compound. That's right. Can we go to the origin how it all started? Yeah, we could do that. Walk me through that. So the one that first off, for how it started for us was we had you on the podcast, and then you were like, these guys are okay. And then you were like, hey, I do this ruck and rosary thing you brought up after the show, I believe.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you guys were talking about a guest that you had that was really cool, talking about religious this and that. Yeah. I just kind of casually threw it out there, this thing that me and my buddy Tanner had put together, and you were like, Oh, that's cool. We'll go to that thing. And I was kind of like, Yeah, okay, sure. Here you go. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. So then he he hit us up post-show about it, and I was like, All right, Tom, we're going. So I got hit him up and reminded him, and he was like, Oh, yeah, I'm already in. So we show up, and that's how that's like our origin, but that was only the second one. The Burdett Park one was the second.
SPEAKER_02:It was the third.
SPEAKER_06:We did we did two at the house. So, what does the origin for ruck and rosary look like for you?
SPEAKER_02:Um, I'm gonna get there because speaking of the one you guys were on, it was hilarious too, because we're out there rucking, and I'm in the back talking to Brian, and we're just still getting to kind of know each other, and he's in the middle of talking to me, and all there's people walking around, and all of a sudden he says, Hi, mom. This lady walks by, ignores him, and he's like, Mom! And I'm like, Did you just seriously run into your mom doing this? And she's just like, What are you doing? And you're like, Oh, I'm doing this rocking rosary, and she's like, No, you're not. What are you really doing?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, but yeah, that was she walks the trails with a weighted vest. Yeah, my mom's you know, essentially a navy SEAL. That's where I get all my talent and yeah, murderous activity from. So yeah, she's a straight killer, dude.
SPEAKER_04:Shout out to my mom. Yeah, they didn't have a backpack on, and me and the guy in the front were just like crushing.
SPEAKER_03:Running, yeah, we were like speed running in the mall, you know. Yeah, like you just fading religion back and forth between there's some men back here with weight on their back.
SPEAKER_07:Slow down. Yeah, I think we even had to say something. We were like, hey, Tom, fucking dial it down.
SPEAKER_04:Dude, this time, this last time there were the two older guys in the front, they were getting it. That was my old man. Yeah, that was my dad up there in the front.
SPEAKER_02:Damn, I missed meeting your dad. Yeah, old Dan. They were getting it, dog. I'm so pissed. So, yeah, so I get out of the Marine Corps last June, and I was like, man, I need to I need to like find a tribe, you know, like because you were yeah, you're living in these communities, you know, near base or on base, and you're just around. Like is like all of my neighbors were vets or active duty, yeah. Like all of them. Some of the best people I've ever met, and you're just around these this kind of lifestyle and culture all the time, and it was awesome. You know, promoting mostly good things, like you know, uh staying fit and eating healthy and being outside. And uh you know, we moved back to the Midwest, and it was um not exactly that sometimes.
SPEAKER_06:You might call it the polar opposite.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. There was a lot of a lot of casseroles and uh you know, staying inside and yeah, a lot of Netflix and chilling. Yeah, yeah. So I was like, man, I need to find a I need to just I need to stay active, I gotta stay busy. So I started doing jujitsu and I ran into a bunch of guys and met them. And I started an actual rucking club on Facebook and it was just like I'm just gonna put it out there and see if any there's any dudes out there that just want to ruck. And you know, we'd get four or five guys that would show up. We did a couple of them, but it was it wasn't really like scratching the itch. And um at that time I was really starting to get like pretty hard back into church and faith, and I was like, man, there's gotta be something else that we can do. And I kind of had this idea of doing a rucking rosary, like rucking five miles, and each mile you pray a decade of the rosary, and you get a little bit of you know, you it's it's it's mind, body, and soul, right? So people that are, you know, you you get a physical activity, you know, you're kind of working out. It's hard. Yeah, you want it to be hard. You get a little bit of faith in there if you're looking for that. And if you're just looking to clear your head, I mean, going out and doing something hard, it's a good way to clear your head and kind of get back in the right mental space, if you will, at least for me it does. And I I ran it by my wife, and she was just like, Yeah, sounds cool, you know, do it. And I was like, Alright, I'm gonna do it. And along the way, I had met Tanner Babb uh through a mutual friend of ours, and Tanner's just I mean, we hit it off like immediately. We were like, Do we just become best friends? Like, like really cool dude. Uh he was a Marine as well. Um we hit it off, we and he was on his kind of path back into really getting into faith as well. So we were clicking on a lot of different levels, and then I pitched the idea by him, like, hey man, what do you think about doing this? And he said, Yeah, do it, do it. And I was like, uh, one of these days we'll do it, we'll do it. And like three months later, he just kept kind of pinging me on it, and I was like, Alright, fine, let's just do it. All right, we put it out there, we sent it out to our buddies that we knew that would probably be interested. Um, and the first one we ever did, we had 14 guys show up, which was like mind-blowing to me. Yeah, that's crazy. Um and it just and it was real awkward, you know, like the first one I ever did. Like I've never like prayed in front of Crumb before. You know, yeah, it's gonna be really like whatever, let's just do it, and then uh we did it, and it was like really it was really um um I think I mentioned it at the ruck yesterday. Like it's been very uh healing for me and like helpful. Um it's helped me in a lot of ways that I never thought it would. Because every one of these that we do, there's always like something I get out of it. And kind of selfishly, but I get something, or I hear something, or I learn something about somebody, and it's these little testimonials that you get along the way from different guys. And the idea was originally kind of like a veteran thing, but then I was just like, man, there's more people out there that need this than just vets, and it really turned into anybody who wanted to come could come.
SPEAKER_04:And you don't have to be Catholic to go. No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_02:You don't even have to be religious to come if you don't.
SPEAKER_06:I mean, you can just show up. Atheists need apply. No, all jokes aside, uh, but speaking of like the little tidbits you were picking up, so you guys uh every mile you pray you pray a decade up the rosary. Yep. However, along with that, you guys also do like a related topic, yeah, which is nice, and that's kind of where I'm assuming you're getting some of these like quote testimonials from because like I don't know what you're on now, but like we were doing like season of the the better man or whatever.
SPEAKER_02:So like not the better husband. Now now we're on to better husband. Uh so the first one we did, it was just a rosary, it was pretty cool, and there was a lot of guys chatting and talking, and then I was like, man, there needs to be something a little bit more to this to just a little to get some interaction. Yeah, just a little extra um and so I you know, through the help of you know AI kind of created a year-long program broken down into four-month segments. Yeah, four-month. Doing the math in my head, quick math. Uh so the first four months were you know different ways of being a b uh a better man.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:The next four months were being a better husband, and then the last four months will be being a better father. And that can apply to I mean if you're not married, you know, you could be looking to get married, or this is what you're you should be like maybe someday when you are married, or if you if you don't have children, you can look at it as a friend or a mentor. There's different ways.
SPEAKER_06:Or even like boyfriend, girlfriend. Like, I mean, it it's still applicable. Like if you're with like in a serious relationship.
SPEAKER_04:Well, and the the the better father thing is too just like a better mentor, like you were saying. Like no matter who you are, there's people that look up to you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, and and so each each month, so the better man had it was you know, four months, different aspects of manhood, like discipline, communicating. Um, I forget some of the other ones, but in each decade, I would read a little narrative about an aspect of being a more disciplined man. All right, and then we combined um uh kind of quotes from the Bible and then quotes from some stoics that are out there that are essentially saying the same thing, but with the crowd that we have, some people just relate better to hearing it from Marcus Aurelius, and it sounds clearer and cleaner than you know, St. Paul. But I think it was saying the same thing, right?
SPEAKER_06:I mean, I was in the room with both of you at the same time, and it may have been our first interview together when we talked about stoicism and like religion, right? And no, actually, it wasn't Paul. Now I remember it was the fly boy that we just interviewed. Um Alex. Alex, it was Alex. Um, and uh we were talking about like stoicism versus religion, and essentially how one is just the same as the other. Like stoics are just saying, repeating, reiterating things said from the book or from the gospel, yeah, but they're just not putting the gospel's name on it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they're uh they're just a remix of the original, right?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it's kind of like uh punk goes crunk, you know what I mean? Like it's the same thing, it's just a different little kind of flavor. Some of the stoics were BC, but yeah. They were I'm not like a stoic at all.
SPEAKER_02:Brian doesn't know history, pretty much all of them, but I know history up to like we hit up to 1912.
SPEAKER_06:My boy 1976.
SPEAKER_02:Well, yeah, I mean a lot of them are like the they're they're universal truths and principles that are just rebranded, right? Yeah, yeah. Um but still it it's still so I'll read a little chunk of uh what someone said, and then we I pose a question to the to the group while we're rucking, and it's encouraging them to take that question and with the guy in front of them and beside him to kind of talk about it and open up a little bit.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and um it's it's a nice icebreaker if like two guys don't already have something to talk about already. You know, yeah. I've been lucky enough that you know I get a new person every time, and by doing the podcast, you know, I kind of just go in like talk mode of like get to know you, tell me about you, you know, stuff like that. But like there are some dudes that like you can tell that like they they're waiting for that talking point.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, yeah. It it's like a prompt to get them to and I encourage all the guys every ruck to you know if you don't if there's somebody you don't know, go stand next to them and get to know them. Oh yeah. But um, I mean the whole idea behind it though was really man, it's just like to to it's building community, right? And it's not just vets or non-vets, it's like building all of these guys together, and just some of the feedback that I've gotten out of it is, you know, I've got guys that are like you, like vets, you know, good looking. I'm one of a kind, brother. Yeah, I'm one of a kind, bro. One of one. We got these big monsters, big strong guy, veterans, right? And then we go. I don't talk about how big like that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you know who I'm gonna do. I was like, I was like, uh, you lifted with Brian yet? And he's like, no, Brian's hardcore. I said, well, next time you see him, go up and put on a lighter weight for him, you know? He's like, dude, it's like Brian does not fuck around in the gym. I was like, yeah, he likes to think he's a thoroughbred. Yeah, dude, I am a fucking thoroughbred. I don't like it.
SPEAKER_02:He's still young enough to feel that way.
SPEAKER_04:I think it's funny that you mentioned that because like that's how I kind of describe uh like the watch in the war. It's like I'm like, dude, like it's an interesting because it's like you got Paul in the room, ex-military, you got my Brian in the room, ex-military, you got Brian Bishop in the room, all law enforcement, y'all are jacked, and then there's like me in a corner, you know. Hell yeah.
SPEAKER_06:I get it, dude. You know, it's nice, dude.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but then we also got like dudes that I've met at church, you know. Yeah. Uh, you know, just really, really strong in faith, maybe not as physically fit or whatever, but somehow these two worlds meet and they're all buddies now. Like they all know each other and they can mix in. And I mean, even I mean, I I think your story is like that. That's like my favorite story of the whole thing.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it's been nice, dude.
SPEAKER_02:We casually bring it up after a podcast, and then you start coming to the rucks.
SPEAKER_06:And I don't play no bullshit. My word is gold, brother. My word is gold.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and then like three, four months later, you hit me up randomly, and you're just like, Hey, what church do you go to? And I was just like, Well, I go to St. Ben's and why? And he's like, Well, I'm thinking about going back. And I said, Well, how long's it been? 25 years. It's a good time to get back in it, buddy. Calls up the Pope. We got another crusader. Yeah, we got a potential, and so I said, Hey, you know, when are you going? And he told me when and he told me where, and I said, Perfect, because Father Drosti is there and he's a he's the boss, he's the man. Oh, dude, yeah, he love Father Drosti rips, dude. Yeah, and I was like, That's perfect. I was like, Can I go with you? He said, Yeah, please. I don't remember all of the the things, right? And I was like, perfect. And then on the side, I texted all the guys from the ruck. It's like, hey man, Brian's gonna come back to church. Why don't you guys show up and we'll support him? So me and Brian walk in and we're sitting there. He hadn't been in church in 25 years, and like one by one, like seven or eight guys from the ruck were all sitting in this pew next to him. Yeah, it was nice.
SPEAKER_04:That's what I think's super cool about the ruck, too, is like like I think anybody in that group, like if you were to get their contact information somehow, like they would be there for you if you needed it. Oh, 100%.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it it genuinely is just like a gang. It is kind of like a gang of misfits. Like, there's all there's all kinds of like different strengths and weaknesses in that group, but then like combined together, it's just like just a bunch of genuine folks. Like it's just super nice.
SPEAKER_02:It's just it's just a bunch of guys who are trying to be better, right? Yeah. One aspect or another, or all aspects, and we all need it, right? We all are are lacking. We've all fallen short in the glory of God. Some of us more than others, but you know. Why are you looking at me, brother?
SPEAKER_03:I didn't get the look that time of you.
SPEAKER_02:No, I and it's it's just man, it it it was just this thing that kind of popped out of nowhere, and it's just really been like uh and it's like good for my family. I mean, my wife gets really into it. I mean, she's always there and helping out, and uh, she's encouraging it. She saw she sees what it does for me. And um, you know, to wrap up Brian's story, I mean, what four or five months later, now I'm sponsoring him in OCIA, which is awful as hell. And taking them out into the woods. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So teaching them how to use a gun. Yeah, just I'm just bringing them right along, you know.
SPEAKER_07:Listen here, young fella. All right, teaching him how to use a gun.
SPEAKER_04:I don't know about that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Uh I actually taught Paul everything.
SPEAKER_04:It was like, he's like, I shot my deer from like 40 yards, and I'm like, I shot my four first deer like from like 200 yards with a rifle in Kentucky.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it may have been 30 yards. It was pretty damn close. Yeah, it's probably 30, 35 yards.
SPEAKER_07:It was pretty damn close. I mean, uh next he'll be getting a bow.
SPEAKER_06:I'm already I'm already buying a buying a bear this year.
SPEAKER_02:I was gonna say, I'll I was gonna buy a new bow. I'll give you my old one. Yours is yours left or right. Yeah, you know this. So you're holding with the left? Holding holding with your right hand, pulling, drawing with the right hand. Yeah, right. You draw with the left, yeah. You use a trigger. It's a compound bow, not you have to use, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Let me let me let me cop that off you. Let's get you a new bow.
SPEAKER_04:You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_06:Nice bow.
SPEAKER_04:Have you ever gone to any bow competitions? I have. I haven't shot at them though. I've gone and hung out at them. They're fun. Yeah. I used to go when I was little with a recurve bow. It was like recurve bow shoots. Yeah. And then um my dad was like, let's get you the compound, like you know, because he's a big hunter. And so like it would be just be my like me and my dad outside shooting compound uh compounds or whatever. I went to the first one and like one first place, and I was like, I'm done. Like I want to retire at the time. I'm good, dog.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, quit while I'm ahead, you know. Yeah, but then there's only worse for me.
SPEAKER_02:No, to put a cap on the rosary, though, it's uh this yesterday we had six father-son combos there. Oh yeah. Yeah, and over the last six months doing this, we've had 150, 152 people that come out and row. Dude, that is wild. And and actually, what's really cool is I got another picture from my buddy in Panama City. City Beach. Um, I went down because he's doing it too. I went down in November and I rucked with him to kind of show him how we do it. And he had two guys with him. He started a little chapter down there doing the same thing that we do. No way. Yeah. So he sent me the picture of him and his buddies, and he even sent me a message saying, like, yeah, one of the guys was saying how much it helped him and he needed to open up, and it's been really good. And I was like, Oh, that's cool, man.
SPEAKER_04:My favorite thing about it too is like we left the ruck, I uploaded it or whatever. And then like I was looking to like the stats of it. So we did like 5.2 miles with like a 240 feet in elevation, whatever walk. But uh by the time it's done, you've got your first you got your 10,000 steps in for the day.
SPEAKER_06:Oh, yeah. E yeah, easy, easy, easy 10k. Yeah. Um, damn, I had a good point that I wanted to bring up because you mentioned the guy.
SPEAKER_04:While you think about it, I want to just uh on the little uh ADHD here, but like you're a very busy man. I'm extremely busy with like you do multiple things. You got like the ruck, you got your your your main job, then now we got the watching the war, and then you got three kids and a wife at home, like four. Four kids and a wife.
SPEAKER_02:Four kids and a wife, yeah, I forgot. I'm also running uh a uh like a men's retreat out of church right now, too. We're getting ready to run.
SPEAKER_04:And the ruck, like how do you how do you manage it all and stay organized?
SPEAKER_02:Barely? Uh no, organized, probably my wife. She's I there's no organization in my life.
SPEAKER_04:How do you keep like the RPMs down though? Because I feel like like right now I'm like run redlining, you know what I mean? Like I'm running at maximum RPMs, like 8,000, you know. And it's like like, you know, you already have an idler, you know, from like the military and everything. Like you're already up before you get going. So it's like, what do you Man?
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. Like, I if there's one thing I hear all the time since I've retired, is people tell me to slow down, and it like drives you mad when it's infuriates me. It's where I think that because I'm just like that. There's not a switch to slow down. Like, I've I've got time to do things, I'm gonna do it. And I still spend a ton of time, most of my time, with my family. Like, there's no putting them off to the side, like they're number one every day, all day. Um I think it's like getting into a routine has been the best thing that's been helpful for me.
SPEAKER_04:What about like when like one of those situations of like the other things is like a lot and it puts you in a bad mood? How do you like go home and take that uniform off of the bad mood to like be there with your family and not be in that? Because we talked about it a little bit in your first one.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And I know you've mentioned it on a few episodes of The Watch in the War where like you were coming home in like a bad mood and like your kid coming up to you and stuff. So you know, what was that? Like what helps you do that?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's man, like that's a good question. I know like my my last uh duty station, I had to do a lot of uh kind of turning it on and being personable and happy and talking to people a lot. And man, I would like fly into a city and just not want to do it, but I'd have to like flip a switch in my head and be like, alright, come on, we're at work, let's go. Um there was a lot of that kind of training that I kind of trained myself on, but then honestly, like just sti like having a routine and like sticking to it as as close as I can, like getting up early, I always take time to I mean I probably stay sane because I will I will lock out times in the day to just stop and pray. No matter what. Uh in the morning, first thing in the morning, I make coffee, sit down, I will either read a little bit of the Bible and pray, get 20, 30 minutes to just do that, and the rest of my day is fine. You know, um every meal, stop and pray at night before I go to bed. I pray with my children, I pray you know by myself. Um, I don't want to make this whole thing religious, but that that's been like the rock to kind of keep me balanced and like understanding that this isn't just you know, this isn't just uh me running around doing whatever I want to do, right?
SPEAKER_04:So we kind of talked about that when we had my therapist in like having a mantra and like prayer is almost like a mantra to it, yeah, especially in Catholicism, because yeah, you guys like it. It's like meditation.
SPEAKER_02:I mean it is meditation, but it's it's not focusing on yourself, it's focusing up and out rather than down and in. Right. Um better than meditation, I would call it. But um no, that that's been a big part of it. Um eating healthy as I can and trying to work out at least uh Monday through Friday, just doing physical things and getting smart getting that, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Dude, a lot of guys with like I know for me, from my past experience, but I've talked to a lot of military folks after they've gotten out or been out for a while, and like that's the number one thing is like stay active. Yeah. Like you have to. Yeah, like if you've been in situations where like you had like some kind of stress or trauma that kind of sticks with you and will always stick with you, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. If you have that kind of thing and then you just leave that job one day, you're gonna be fucking tortured unless you exhaust yourself physically, yeah, and that will ease the mental angst throughout the day. That's a like wake up early in the morning and torture your body first thing in the morning. Then you go about your day, nine to five job, whatever you do, but your body is so beaten up and tired that you have so much less energy to even begin to think anxiously.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Well a lot of it too, man, is just like while I have the energy, yeah, while the motivation, I want to do it. Like I was talking to my wife about this the other day. I was at the gym and I seen I saw this like old, old gentleman, and he's just like he's sitting here doing whatever he can, and I'm pushing this sled, you know, and he's kind of looking at me, and I was just like, okay, whatever, man. And then like I get done, and I'm like, Man, one day I'm not gonna be able to do this.
SPEAKER_06:I wonder if he's thinking those ex that exactly. That's what I was thinking. I remember in the day that I could do that.
SPEAKER_02:You know, putting you know, a set of plates and just ripping out, you know, a bunch of bench press, it's like I won't be able to lift this once one day.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know, so while I can, I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know, while I can run around and and be a be involved in church as much as I can and you know, with with podcasts and with work and with rucking and all these things, like someday I'm not gonna be able to.
SPEAKER_06:Well, it's a beautiful thing, though. Not just the physical uh fitness journey that you're on that you're continuing to stay on, but like the like being active in your church, like doing the ruck and rosary, being on the podcast, sharing your story, talking to folks like that don't know you from Adam. Like what you do is it's a beautiful thing in that like you're you're opening folks' eyes to like stories and things that they may have never even been exposed to, and just a different perspective and a different way to think. Because again, we talked on your last episode about the number one thing you took away from the military was perspective. Yeah, you're giving that, you're sharing that as a gift to everyone every time you step into the room and you gift them, you know, like the ruck and rosary, or you gift them like a story from your time over there, or you gift them just a moment of your time at all. Like, yeah, it's a beautiful thing. Yeah, and like kind of that's what's transpired in me, and that's kind of why I'm like rolling on the journey that I'm rolling on. Like you had that effect, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Well, yeah, and it's weird, it's almost like a catch 22 for me, too, because like it uh it helps me a lot, like it does, um, but it it's also like you know, you start hearing the you know, people are saying, Oh, you're doing great, here you're doing great things, and you're doing this and that, and it's such an awkward feeling for me because I'm just like, Look, I'm I'm just I'm just being me, and if it helps somebody, great, but it's it's not me.
SPEAKER_04:It's you know, I I the rather have that that guy that will when you told him you were gonna go be a raider, and he was like, I'll see you back.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's just like and I even told my wife, like if you ever see me start to like put a lot of pride into this, like you know, deadly sin pride, not like proud of it. Yeah, I was like, smack me because I the I can't let any of this stuff. I did this. Look at me. Look at me. I'm when I start saying I am me, I was like, smack me, because I'm focusing on me instead of focusing up, right? Like, that's where it all comes from. So I'm like trying to balance that sometimes is a little difficult, but um, yeah, I feel that. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure you guys probably feel like you know, somebody comes up to you and they'll list to the pots. That's Brian. I'd love to get to get one of those in public. Really?
SPEAKER_06:I don't care for it. No, I don't go out.
SPEAKER_07:Don't like it, dude. Like, I don't yeah, I don't enjoy it.
SPEAKER_02:It's really weird that I actually am like coming on podcasts and hosting one now because like I don't like being in the center of the attention of any like I used to hate opening Christmas presents in front of people because I I just felt weird doing it. Yeah, I've never understood that.
SPEAKER_06:All right, all right, Paul. You go now.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I'm just like whole rooms watching you. Yeah, it's creepy. I don't like it. Sirens are going off. I know. I just checked my phone. I got Oh, there's like tornado watch going off.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, no, I think we're solid right now. Yeah, we're good. Yeah, sure. We'll be fine. I'm scared. There's a base, right? Yeah. Anyways, uh there's no base. We'll put in a good word for you.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah, I'll I'll let them know you're good, bro. Camera fact's out.
SPEAKER_06:Okay, yeah, and a one and a two. Hey, we're back. Sorry about that. Uh okay, anyways, so you you did mention like coming on a podcast, but also hosting a podcast. That's new for you. Yeah. Well, first off, uh, as the I say producers, Tom's been doing a lot of the heavy lifting. You guys, I would call you producers for sure. Tom's producing it more than I am, but uh, but being able to be a part of that has been like really special for us, I know for sure. But what is it like on your end? And again, we're talking about the watch and the war. Yeah. Uh, look them up on YouTube and Spotify.
SPEAKER_04:Uh we're we're gonna work on getting it on Spotify. But definitely on YouTube. For right now, it is on YouTube. Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:What's that been like for you being like now you're going from like speaking on a podcast to being like, okay, now this is our show. This is Brian and I, and we gotta put this, we gotta dance monkey dance type thing. You know what I mean? Like, what's that been like?
SPEAKER_02:Man, it it I mean, we've got you know four or five episodes recorded now, and it so it the shine it hasn't worn off yet, right? It's a lot of fun, like I enjoy it. Um it's therapeutic. What you know what I what I actually love best about it is if I could say I was good at anything in life, it's like trying to connect people, like like this is a good dude, you're a good dude, like you guys should meet, right? Like I really like doing that. And uh being able to introduce you guys to Brian, and then that relationship builds, and now we're sitting in a studio because he had an idea of doing that. Now we're doing this here. Like, I I love that yeah, that you guys are a part of this. I wouldn't have wanted to do it without you because you guys came to the right people. That's right.
SPEAKER_01:The pod, what do you call it? The pod the podfathers. Yeah, the pod fathers.
SPEAKER_06:Let it be known. That's all coming from him.
SPEAKER_03:Like, if you if you want top-ranking podcast in Evansville video, you gotta cover the podcast.
SPEAKER_05:That's his pitch, bro. That's his pitch.
SPEAKER_07:He'll go to people and he'll be like, dude, I really think what you got going on is great. Also, I am the podfather. So if you go with any, I'm like, dude, bro, leave that out of the pitch. Do it right the first time and just come and see me. He does. He does the podfather pitch all the time.
SPEAKER_06:No, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got it squared away. Um, but yeah, so it's been new for you, like hosting something.
SPEAKER_02:No, like Brian, Brian, me and Brian have become friends over the last year, and um he uh he was just like, hey man, I got this idea. I want to start a podcast and wanted you to co-host it. And I was just like, Yeah. I mean, I'd only been on two podcasts ever in my life at that point in time. And they're fun. Like the way I look at it, it's like when do you ever get a time to just sit for an hour uninterrupted and talk to like some buddies, you know? In my life, this never happens. Right. Because I've got kids and everything going on, and I'm obviously busy like we just talked about, but being able to just dedicate an hour and a half to just talking to some friends, like, dude, it's great.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it's sick, dude. Like, I love it. That's the my that's the only reason I still do it, is because over the course of the last five almost six or six years now, I've met so many strange people. Like, yeah, I would have never have met them had it not had it not been for this podcast.
SPEAKER_04:Um we need to TO Well, I think the beauty of the the watch in the war is like you got you have the military aspect, yeah. Brian Bishop has the police aspect, and that kind of plays into the name, but then like you both are extremely active, like in the community, uh physical fitness-wise, and like a lot of those same skills and like out-of-work like hobbies, if you want to call it that, like they overlap. So it's kind of like you guys have a great dynamic, and it's kind of like Brian and I like like whatever I don't know, Brian can cover, and whatever Brian doesn't know, I can cover, which is a lot, I don't know about it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but like in the in the police world, I don't know anything. I'm sitting here making up words that I saw on TV. Yeah, but yeah, no, he like when he when he said it, I was like, Yeah, man, like what what do you want it to be about? Like, what's the purpose? What are we gonna do? And he's just he was kind of rattling off, you know, different ideas, but essentially it was kind of distilled down to just bringing in people from you know our community that have not necessarily, but a lot of them have either military or police backgrounds and the things in their lives that sh shaped and changed them and how they've kind of overcame that and became who they are today. Like focus on that kind of secret sauce that they had, uh, the the motivation, the drive, the willpower kind of how did how did they do it? Yeah. Um and I was like, that sounds great, you know. Um, and we got 40 years between military and law enforcement experience coming to the table. So we you know, we've already interviewed interviewed a few guys that have military and then police backgrounds, which is a very good thing.
SPEAKER_06:Which is always gnarly to see.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, which are there's a lot of them out there. I mean, that's uh it's a pretty common thing. Um, but it's been really cool just meeting different people and talking to them and just really opening your eyes. And we get it, we get a good chance to talk about mental health a lot too, which is like a big focus of it too, which I think is important.
SPEAKER_04:Well, and like you said, like uh, you know, you like to connect people through, and one thing that I've loved about podcasting is like I already had a big network, but since doing the podcast, my network has like times 10. Oh, yeah. And it's like it's only gonna you're only gonna find more people that you can connect.
SPEAKER_06:Like a good example for you doing the watch in the war, like Brian's been talking about that trigger assembly guy forever. Yeah, I bet you've never met him. No. Would that not be just the sickest thing to be able to sit down and talk to that dude? I mean, literally, not to spoil anything, but want a f about his trigger assembly, which never happens. No, yeah, the little guy always gets beat up. Yeah. But he won. Well, there's just all there's it's just like you get to meet you get cool shit like that, and that's just adding to the people of okay, I got your number, dude. I'll DM you, I'll send you funny memes every now and then, or whatever. You know, like it's just it's the best, man.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, it's just like just like Days Grimm, right? Like, there's there's people that you probably meet that you would have never met in your life. Yeah, dude. And then you're you're finding out something interesting, and then other people listening to it can be like, oh, that lady or that guy lives here. I need to go talk to them. That's a cool person that lives in our community. Uh I mean, it's it's really just uh I don't know, man. It's almost like uh I keep going back to the word community, but it's like building this kind of building this camaraderie about people who live here, like being proud of who we are and having like this group of people that it's kind of a catch-22, right?
SPEAKER_06:Because you're displaying this interview on the internet and this like this new sense of community of like, okay, well, we're gonna build this thing and then we're gonna show it to these people online, and these people online are gonna listen and/or watch it. Yeah. Which is like the traditional way now of like community, if you will, like comment sections and all that BS that come along with it. But when you're in the room doing the podcast, you're getting back to like that rudimentary community, that yeah, handshake and a smile, that yeah, you know, that real person-to-person connection, which we're losing like every day. It it's like a social club, man. Yeah, and it's nice, and it's just nice that it's like it's very old-fashioned, it's very face to face. Give me your number.
SPEAKER_04:And I think another cool part too is like, you know, we were talking about like how you've helped Brian and his life and me and my life. We haven't really talked about some of that stuff, but like you're like people, you're a motivating person, you know what I mean? Like, I don't feel like it. Like, if you write that book, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Then you would be I'm just like like my ways to motivate people are like, here's all of the horrible and bad decisions and life choices I've made. Don't do that. Yeah, don't do these things. Don't do these things. Like, I found life is better when I do these things. Uh you know, at your own risk, but I would suggest you try this, right? And you know, even going back to you know how I stay on it, you know, I quit drinking, which was huge. I mean, Christmas a couple days ago was that was 500 days sober for me. That's wild to me.
SPEAKER_06:And you're not doing it for like any particular reason per se. Or at least are we are we cool with talking about that? No, no, we can talk about it. You and I have spoken about it. Because I even asked you one day, I was like, so like I think we were driving to a blind or something. I was like, so why don't you? Like, why'd you stop? Yeah, man. And you were like, uh, well, I don't uh I don't know, walk me through that.
SPEAKER_02:It was um as on beer, by the way.
SPEAKER_06:Sorry.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I I I wouldn't can I wasn't like your stereotypical, like what you would think of someone being like an alcoholic, right? Like I wasn't drinking before work and showing up to work drunk, or you know, I've never had a DUI in my life. I don't I would never even drive drunk whenever I did drink.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um it would just lead to very it would it would let my um uh kind of baser human instincts and bad decisions creep in. Like I would allow myself to be lazy, I would allow myself to do all of the horrible things that I ever did in my life, and I would always blame alcohol for it, even though it was.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, you had an out, you had an excuse.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, I I I I I I created an excuse to continue poor behavior. Yeah, I can see and you know, getting out and having a lot of this really catch up to me, it was like, well, we got to make some changes. Yeah, and you know what? I'm not gonna be able to make changes unless I've got a clear head going forward. And uh so I I cut that out, man. I cut out a lot, I cut out a lot of negative things in my life. I mean, some friends that I've known for a long time. That sucks. I had to cut them away.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it stings. But those are the guys or the girls or whoever that are just like a so it's like that person alcohol. It's like a package deal. Like they're always there. The two of them are always together, and yeah, it's uh it it it just
SPEAKER_02:Man, I mean, and and I love drinking. Like I enjoyed it. Like I could sit and have a few drinks and not have to get drunk, right? Yeah. But it would still like you know, I find myself doing that every night, and I'm like, okay, is this is this really good for you?
SPEAKER_06:But yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean it, you know, when you when you wake up with a fresh head every morning, you know, you it's a lot easier to go to the gym. It's a lot easier to get up and read. And I I'm a crossword nerd. Like I do crosswords all the time. I just love them. Uh keep me kind of mentally sharp there. But um it was really just I kept talking about it and I wanted to be about it, right? Like I'm gonna make life changes. I'm not gonna be able to do this drinking every day. So I need to just turn it off. Yeah, yeah. I'm like an all-in or all out kind of guy. Yeah. So I just cold turkey stopped drinking after, you know, 25 years of it, and it was just like I'm done.
SPEAKER_06:I do it every October, right? For the sober October that everybody does. And it's it is nice to get away from it. Like you and I have talked about it a little bit. Like, it's nice to just know, like, oh, I can put it down and walk away like any moment. Yeah, I'm not like tied to this awful thing, but also like those 31 days that you're just clear-headed and clean, it's like it is, especially on like week two, week three, you're like, golly, this I feel hydrated. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Like, I feel limber. It becomes such a habit that like you know, the the longer I've been away from it, the more I, you know, I I look back and I'm like, man, there's nothing that I did that didn't involve alcohol. Yeah, why is this such a key aspect of my life? Like I couldn't mow the lawn, I couldn't come home from work, I couldn't go to a ball game, I couldn't sit around and do nothing without having alcohol.
SPEAKER_06:It's like American. It's like an American value. It's like built into the American system, I feel like. It's just one goes with the other.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm not disparaging anyone who drinks, right? Like I I'd loved it. Um but it was more like I wanted to be uh like a mastery of self. Right? I didn't like I didn't want anything else controlling me. I wanted me controlling me, right? Like, you know, I didn't want to be a slave to something, you know, an addiction, or as I'm chewing on these, you know, Zen pouch. Yeah, but those are new tropics. Yeah, yeah, true. Yeah, it's a new tropic, dude.
SPEAKER_06:It's for mental uh quickness.
SPEAKER_02:You know, I I I I can stick to some things, right? Like I'm still addicted to caffeine. Like I drink coffee every day and I, you know, um nicotine occasionally, but um, you know, there's just certain things I just didn't want it, I wanted to be in control. And uh Yeah, you don't lose that with and I would give it up for Lent every year for like five years in a row. I would give up drinking for Lent. So it's 40 days of no drinking, which now I gotta come up with something new because now I'm not drinking, so it's like, yeah, shit. I gave these up last year for Lent, and I was I was having a hard time with that. Jones and oh angry headaches, just irritable nicotine. Man, that's a problem if I'm like that when I don't have this stuff. Yeah, nicotine's so I might do it again this year and just kind of kick it and be done with it.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, that's not a bad idea, dude.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, it just it sucks, man. Like it's hard. But if it was easy, everybody would do it, right? If it was easy, everybody would be at the gym every day and you know, not be obese or lazy or binge on Netflix all day, right?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it's getting through that first couple of months where you're just a cranky bitch, dude. Yeah. Because I've quit the nicotine for like, I think I went like a year without it. Ooh. Yeah, like I was done with it, done with it. And then I forget what I I was at a bar or something and hit somebody's vape, and then it was just a downhill spiral because I was drinking, and yeah, poor decision. Nicotine's like that. Nicotine's hard to do that. And that's that's an insight that a lot of people don't get as well. Like, if you're a drinker and you do nicotine, like one they're almost like inherent, they're almost completely intrinsic with one another. But like if you can quit one, quitting the other will be a shitload easier. So, like, if you can just get off drinking and then just get to nicotine, then wait a couple of years and get off nicotine, you it'll it'll be so much easier, or vice versa. If you want to quit nicotine, like when I quit nicotine for a year, I dude, I drank so much less.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, how many people are like, I only smoke when I drink.
SPEAKER_08:Yeah, dude.
SPEAKER_02:And it's like, well, yeah, like then don't drink. Yeah, exactly. Because it it just enables this poor decision working.
SPEAKER_06:Because you just want to get more effed up. Well, and that's the worst part about drinking, honestly.
SPEAKER_02:You know, you're you know, I come home and I'm stressed out about what one thing or another, you know. Think uh my wife is there to just listen to me whine. Um God bless 'em. Yeah. But it's like normally, like, I would go home and pour a stiff drink and just put it down and just zone out and turn off all the noise, but like I don't even have that crutch anymore. Yeah. So I have to like sit there and like work through it. Okay. And I hate it.
SPEAKER_06:Don't disparage me any more than you already are. Okay. I feel like my crutch is getting weaker.
SPEAKER_04:Was that before the earpieces?
SPEAKER_02:Now you can just turn the earpieces down and kind of just dude, those are currently working their way through the mail system. You washed them. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:So speaking of mail system here, this is how we can transition to the military stuff. Uh I found out that the military had like a postal department, like it's a its own branch. So, like, did that branch handle making the flyers for like Fallujah that they dropped?
SPEAKER_02:No, that would probably be um probably would have been HR. No, it's what is the name of the the people?
SPEAKER_04:No, the could you imagine being there's a whole unit?
SPEAKER_02:No, there's a whole unit that has a really cool history. I can't think of what it's called, but don't worry about that.
SPEAKER_06:Golly. All right, anyway. So you were mentioning the Postal Service, and then he said he thinks that somebody called it.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, there's there's you know, units in the military. I can't think of the name. What do they do? But it's what's their job? Deception and you know like propaganda folks? Propaganda folks right.
SPEAKER_04:Maybe I can go into the military. Maybe it's not too late for me.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, it's they have you know people that specialize in that. I mean, look at all the leaflets that they've dropped in every war since they've had planes. There's always like messaging and trying to get people to you know.
SPEAKER_04:How do you think they recruit for that, or does somebody have to sign up? Like, are they just like this is like a question I've thought about over the years, right? So like ever since middle school, I've played this like online war game, right? Yeah. And I'm like one of the top-ranked US players in it, and like like it's all it's all strategy-based. You got offense, defense, but then like uh, I know Brian hates me talking about this, but there's like a there was like a world that I started, like uh a previous one, it takes like 180 days to win, you gotta get 70% dominant. Yeah, yeah. But um, like I was making like screenshots of our tribe and like the tribe chat watching Kingdom of Heaven, and like there was a guy on the interviewing team that I knew loved it, so like I screenshotted and photoshopped him in there, like he was in there watching it with us and like leaked it out to like some people that I think yeah, yeah, yeah. And like they started thinking he was a spy, and like I think that's what it's called.
SPEAKER_02:It's called Mildeck, military deception.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, mildeck, yeah, deception. But I wondered, I'm like, man, how long until like a military guy just knocks on my door and is like, hey, we need you, like Ready Player One or something. Like, I wonder how they find people for that, or do you have to like enlist for it? Like I got ideas. You know I got ideas.
SPEAKER_02:I'm sure that there's some recruiting that happens at you know different colleges or you were correct, Mill Deck.
SPEAKER_06:I uh that's the only reason I'm looking at my phone. Military deception refers to actions taken to deliberately mislead uh adversary decision makers about friendly forces capabilities, intentions, or operations.
SPEAKER_04:Well, didn't they do that with like D-Day? They like got a dead body, put some fake letters and stuff, and like dropped it in the ocean and calculated tracks.
SPEAKER_02:And airplanes staged to make it look like you know, there's it's a whole thing, right? And it's awesome. I think it's cool that they do it. Yeah, it's fucking sick, dude.
SPEAKER_06:It was funny, like you've seen the videos of them setting that up.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and they're just like lifting these tanks that are like to scale staking them into the ground, and they're to scale, they're like the size of Sherman or like the Sherman tank like UFOs from back then.
SPEAKER_04:They thought they saw was just the stakes come out of these tank tanks exploding thousands of miles from.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, it's just a fucking howitzer just floating off in the fucking 180 millimeter cannon just flying off into nowhere.
SPEAKER_04:So like uh for the Fallujah thing, you said they like flew over, they dropped the leaflets. Like, were you guys already like on the ground? Or like were there no boots on the ground when they no, yeah, no, we were on the ground.
SPEAKER_02:A lot of times. Sometimes they I mean they would do it before you would go into an area, kind of. I know like during uh Phantom Fury they had disperse some leaflets saying, you know, get out of the city. Do you like find them on patrol and like put one in your pocket? I used to have a whole bunch of random little things like that. Or you're getting ready to do a big operation, you know, and they'll kind of warn people like, hey, we're gonna come in and and um likely we're gonna keep everyone, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So you should if you have a family, please leave.
SPEAKER_04:Uh isn't that kind of crazy that like World War II people could bring back like Tommy guns and like you know, M1 grands off like German soldiers, but like you can't bring home like probably like a Dershka or No, that is like that is a war crime.
SPEAKER_06:Big frown upon now. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But something like there's a way to do it now, but it has to go through a whole paperwork and they have to like weld the bolt shut on rifles. Like if a unit wants to bring it back and put it on a wall to display it, like a special gun from like Saddam Hussein.
SPEAKER_06:I want to say that there's some like uh like higher tier dudes probably getting away with it. Do you think? Yeah. Yeah, okay. I just wanted to make okay. Yeah, we're on the same page, yeah. Okay, yeah. Uh likely those dudes are frowned upon.
SPEAKER_02:And if you get caught with that stuff, man, you will get burned.
SPEAKER_06:Um but I was saying the SEAL guys, like the like um DevGrew guys, the Delta dudes, they're probably fucking stuff in their pockets. I would've I mean tactically acquiring quite a bit of stuff.
SPEAKER_02:I think that uh if they were, they're probably going through the right procedures to have that done.
SPEAKER_06:I wonder if they have a different procedure because they operate at the level they operate. Well, I mean I do they is there like a rule somewhere in their pamphlet that says like, oh, well, if we have to investigate the weapon, of course we have to fly it home with us. Well, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:You know what I mean? I know there is a procedure because I I had actually worked on it getting back a couple of uh RPKs that we had uh recovered or used that we wanted to bring back. You had to bring back. But you have to like announce it to you know, hey, do you want to bring these back? Okay, here's the paperwork, and it takes forever to get processed to make sure because war trophies are a big thing. Like you will get, I mean, even small things, you know, like which is kind of a bummer. I mean, you if you take uh you know, like a flag off of a dead body or something, that could be considered a war trophy. Yeah, like there's all kinds of stuff that can be a few more.
SPEAKER_06:I think I dude I might edit this out, but just so the room knows, I definitely have a scarf from Afghanistan that I took from somebody.
SPEAKER_07:That green one that's in the pot. Yeah, that came off a guy one time. Yeah, that came off a dude. Uh so he fucked around and found out, and then got his scarf.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, you know, I know some guys who've done some things like that.
SPEAKER_04:I almost asked if you had a throbe. I was like, dude, we should wear throbes and make Brian the odd man out. What's a throbe? The the man robe. The man dress.
SPEAKER_06:Oh, I got a man dress. I'm not the odd man out.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, well, I got an old episode.
SPEAKER_02:I got a whole dress bag of man jammies. Yeah, dude. I love a man jammy. Yeah, it's I got them from like different countries.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. I got mine from doing um um the tr the pre-deployment training. Oh, I played the op for the aggressor for so I had the the whole get up and I just stole it. Yeah, I went to the mosque one time and they were like, here, like cool. Oh, they gave you man jammies? Yeah, they just like standard issue those? No. Oh, no.
SPEAKER_02:They were just like this dude, we want to we want to make sure he's not armed. Yeah, go ahead and disrobe and put this on. Yeah, but you have to get naked in front of us right now. Uh, yeah, see if he's wearing a wire.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Dude, it was wild to go there. Like to the local one. They had like a like a Newburg sheriff out front almost every time just because like, you know, people are afraid around here. It's wild, dude.
SPEAKER_06:I hate that. I hate that. I mean, they should be able to do whatever the hell they want. Sure. The the the the what do you call the Jewishes? The the uh the synagogues, they should be able to do whatever the hell they want.
SPEAKER_04:Uh you know, in a synagogue here, you actually have to submit a form before you go in, and then you go through a metal detector and everything like that.
SPEAKER_06:Oh, yeah. That's another thing. If you think it's hard becoming a Catholic, geez, we have you seen what it's like trying to get into Judaism. Yeah, they don't let anybody I've never uh investigated it.
SPEAKER_04:They don't let anybody kind of the same as OIC for more. No, it's it's worse. Well, you have to go, you have to make appointments to meet because I looked into it. You have to go, you have to like actually sit down with the rabbi, yeah, and then like he teaches you the old testament. You have to be able to read a certain amount of Hebrew, you have to like recite and answer questions a certain way.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it's a big deal. I know that much. But yeah, I don't know. That's too much for me. That upsets me that there has to be security at churches, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04:Or or I mean it's smart though, with like the way the world is going. Yeah, it's garbage.
SPEAKER_02:That's another fun side task I've taken on as well, is doing church security at our church.
SPEAKER_06:Oh, no way. Yeah. So what does that entail? Are you allowed to talk about it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, sure. I mean, I I I you know they have school masks there, yeah, and I go to them because my children go to it. And yeah, I always was there. Just because I'm always thinking, as you probably are, there's somebody out there that wants to hurt some little kids today.
SPEAKER_06:There's a worst case scenario for every aspect, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and then the that that school shooting in Minnesota at church happened, and I was just like, all right, this needs to get organized. So I I went to the priest and the the school leadership and just said, Hey, what's the security plan, you know, for church? No, school's locked down, and they're like, Well, we don't really have one. And I was like, Well, I'd love to write it for you.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, let me put an SOP together for you.
SPEAKER_02:And and they were extremely receptive, which I was a little shocked of how like welcoming they were. Nice. Um, which was great. And we are we have a whole plan in action. The teachers were all doing first aid, you know, tourniquet stopped the bleeding courses. We had evacu evac routes, we rehearsed with them. You know, we I put med kits, like actual medkits, in church, and we've got, you know, a a group of people who are kind of willing and ready to stand in that breach if something does happen.
SPEAKER_06:It sucks that we have to think like that. I know it sucks. It's like finally, it's like, has our day come? Like I I think about it like the US was like the safest place to live for 175 years or 200 years. Yeah. And now here we are at 250 years as a nation, actually this year, I believe, or no, next year.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:And at 250 years as a nation, are we like, is there a uh an amount of degradation? Is there like this? Because in other countries, it's just so common for there to be like violence and civility. Like civility and violence are just like next door neighbors and they borrow each other's fucking milk. You know what I mean? And it's just like it's been so normal for so long in these other countries and so abnormal to us, and we've just taken it for granted. Now it's like, I mean, since Columbine, you know, it's just it's been a downhill it's like the new norm. Yeah, there's a new shooting, stabbing, public violent act every week, it seems like.
SPEAKER_02:And it it the more you think about it, the more depressing it gets. But I kind of looked like there's nothing I can do about that, right? But what I can do now is directly influence where I be proactive, where my kids go to school and where I worship, yeah. And I'm gonna do something.
SPEAKER_06:And train your kids too. Let your kids know, I'm sure you know. And we spoke with Brian Bishop a little bit about, or no, Brian Bishop spoke about that a little bit during one of the Watching the Wars podcasts. Yeah. Um, big shoots to him, but having a plan, have these parents, you know, what do you do if A, and they're like, uh, that's the wrong answer. Well, because people don't want to think about it.
SPEAKER_02:I know, and it's just like, well, you know, hope is not a strategy, you know. It's not, dude. It's not still gotta have it, but it's not, you know, you gotta have plan B.
SPEAKER_06:Uh, sorry, we kind of got sidetracked with church security. We wanted to go back to I I believe you've told me this story, but and if you're uncomfortable with sharing it, I understand. But the purple heart. Yeah. We didn't even talk about that in your initial interview. No. What even so when did that happen?
SPEAKER_02:That happened uh, well December 15th, 2006. Shoot. So a couple weeks ago was my they call it our Alive Day. Uh uh 20 years, 21 years. 2006? 21 years? Nineteen. Way off. Uh close enough. Yeah, 19 years ago, yeah. Um I was in Ramadi. Um, we were at a like outpost, which was it was actually an old mortuary, which is really creepy.
SPEAKER_06:Like a JSS, like a single building.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it was a building with a little compound around it, and it had a a graveyard in the back. Okay. That's where they used to kind of prepare the you know, bodies for burying them. Yeah. Uh it was right by a major intersection in the city, and you know, you would as a platoon, you would patrol out and you'd man it for a week, and you'd rotate platoons and just to kind of control parts of the city. Um Yeah. Uh one day we were just kind of sitting there, and I was I mean, I had like you know, boots and ute, so just like a t-shirt and cami pants on, and um a cement truck, you know, with the big spinning thing. Yeah, yeah. It was filled with explosives. Like just drove straight up into the gate and detonated. Um awfully Christian of them.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, we were talking about putting a door there anyways. Yeah, uh, so thanks, thanks, guys.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. I mean it it it destroyed the entire front wall, the generator, like the whole building was on fire. I mean, windows and doors and everything. We had boards and sandbags, and you know, a big chunk of that building kind of came down on me and a couple other guys, and um you know, we were uh knocked unconscious for uh, you know, I don't know, two, five minutes, something like that. And I remember just kind of coming to and just seeing like a couple of my buddies like over top of me, and I'm like, what happened? You know, and I had a you know, obviously I had a headache, and you know, your ears are bleeding, you're you know, and uh my one friend, he was hit worse than me, and they actually we actually had to medevac him. Uh he ended up living though, thankfully. Um but a bunch of guys got hurt that day, and then it was like, you know, hey, they're they're coming at us. It was a pretty complex attack. They had about 15, 20 guys come back. So there was an ambush post-explosion. So they breached essentially. But then they were trying to come through the graveyard to come and attack us, and you know, and it was uh it was like get your stuff on and get up to the rooftop. We're under attack right now. You know, you don't get to go lay down and say your head hurts and go rest it off, you know. You don't get to feel sorry for yourself right now. No, yeah. And I had some like burns and little cuts and little you know, little things, right?
SPEAKER_06:But you can stand on your feet and lift a gun.
SPEAKER_02:So I just you know threw on a you know plate carrier and a helmet and ran upstairs, and we know. I mean it was like it was getting after it. I mean I think as a platoon we shot thousands of rounds. Uh we I think we fired 19 or 20 rockets. Um we actually called in a Gimmler. What's a Gimmler? Um it's like a surface launched, you know, from a vehicle with a shoots, you know, surface to surface missile, I guess you would call it. Uh we I think we we launched a couple of those into key target buildings. I mean I mean half the place was on fire or burned up, but I mean nobody died, which was insane. Blessed.
SPEAKER_04:Um that's insane. Did they replace your whole unit after that? Or like what's that after process? Is it sending a medic and give you guys well?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they they sent a medic down to us and they lined us all up, you know, and it's just like, Are you good? And are you good? And then you're you're just up there like, yeah, I'm good, you know, I'm standing. Yeah. All right. But as soon as it was, I mean, I was like throwing up and like nauseous and like it was all coming in, and you know, we didn't have protocols for TBIs back then. It was just like, hey, I'll go lay down. Um like the high too.
SPEAKER_06:So like the gunfight probably kept you going.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:So you're just adrenaline, like, I gotta put these dudes down, I gotta get my guys good. Oh yeah. You're just like adrenaline pumping, like you're oh yeah, yeah, tunnel focused.
SPEAKER_02:And everybody's face was just like black from like smoke inhalation. We're all coughing up just nasty burnt tires and trash.
SPEAKER_06:And then once it stopped, you were just like, Oh yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um yeah. I mean, it it it could have been a lot worse, but I I mean, in at the time I was just like, Well, I'm I mean, I'm good. I'm not dead, and I'm not missing a limb, so I'm okay. And you did how many tours after that?
SPEAKER_06:Uh eight. May I ask? So going back to just how the the the whole thing kicks off cement truck rolling up to the wire. Yeah. Does it like wreck into the wall and then explode? Or do you like did you guys have like an eye in the sky camera?
SPEAKER_02:There was actually ISR pictures that I used to have of it after the fact, and you can just see this gigantic. I mean, it put a hole in the ground. I mean, it was it was huge. Yeah, I bet.
SPEAKER_06:Um you can get a lot of ordinance in one of those mixer trucks, dude.
SPEAKER_04:Um, I mean I'm sure it's like a grenade, all that metal just dropping over.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. The the a chunk of the roof of the actual spinning thing, yeah, the size of this room was on the third story top of the rooftop of our building. Oh, it's blown up that high and landed right in the middle. I have a picture of it, I'll show it to you. That's fucking wild. But I mean, and then what blows my mind about it though is like this happens, and we're we're a bunch of like 18, 19, 20-year-olds. Yeah, just a bunch of kids. All these dudes just like I mean, just reacted, and it was like game on. And we we repelled the attack, you know.
SPEAKER_06:What's even more slightly darkly comedic about that is a lot of the guys that are carrying out these attacks on these young kids, like you had just described, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, like literally very young adults. Yeah, a lot of the guys that are bringing those attacks to your door are 30 and 40-year-old men. Like, these are these are I mean, yeah, they do have young fighters, don't get me wrong, but like I've always thought about that in contrast, like how many like grown men I had seen laying in the dirt, and I'm like, oh man, I'm a child compared to this person. Way more combat experience than you'll ever know. Yeah, he's been fighting for 20, 30 years. And I'm not all area's been fighting for thousands of years, but it's just wild to think that like we have that capability, we have that fortitude, we have that that whatever it is. I mean, just like you said, I mean, bunch of bunch of youngsters just like got punched in the jaw and could have folded, but they all stood back up and they're like, we gotta get going. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:How many times do you think you've gone like lights out? Um, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:At least a couple. I mean, some of them are like like I remember the the last time I came real close to passing out was we were driving, I was in Afghanistan on I think it was my last deployment, and we were wearing um indigenous clothing, right? So I wasn't wearing a helmet. You're in traditional garb.
SPEAKER_08:Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I had a my bouncer underneath it and you know, backpack full of guns.
SPEAKER_06:Is that like a stab pack, like a stab vest?
SPEAKER_02:What do you mean a bouncer? Uh like a bullet bouncer, like my plates. Oh, I got you, I gotcha. Sorry. So I had plates, it was real thin, but it was like a it was like a t-shirt you could put your plates in, real thin plates. Oh, nice. Okay. You wouldn't even know it. But and we were out doing some work and we were in a um an armored like civilian car. So it doesn't look like it from the outside, but yeah, it's you know, it's like steel plating. It'll stop some rounds, yeah. Oh yeah. And we were moving quick, kind of getting away from an area, and we hit, you know, the roads aren't the best there. And we hit some bump, dude. And I remember bouncing up in my seat and cracking my head on that steel plate so hard. I mean, I was seeing stars and had to sit back for a minute. That's when you know it's coming. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:When everything is like full of things.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I thought I thought we got blown up and it was closing in. Yeah. And then I was just kind of like I blinked a couple times, closed my eyes, and then I was like, all right, we're still in the middle of this. We gotta get out of here.
SPEAKER_04:Well, the reason I asked is because I pass out some often, but I like every now and then every day semi-regularly. Every now and then, though, like like I hear like a self-dialogue, like talking to myself or whatever. I didn't know if you didn't get that experience.
SPEAKER_06:No, no, I don't get that at all, dude. No, no, it's so weird how it like comes on to you too. I like I've been choked out, I've been knocked out. Yeah, I've been choked out. And they're getting tons. I feel like the choking out one is a little weirder because it's a little more onset, a little more slower onset, and it's just like as it's bleeding in, you're just like, Yeah, you see the stars and you're like, oh fuck, it's happening. Yep, it's like a wave that just kind of rushes. And then everything just kind of and then you're like, oh, lights. You're like, oh hey, what's up? What happened?
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, like shallow water black.
SPEAKER_06:But then when you smack your head against something, like, I mean, the couple of times I've gone out, like it's just almost like instantaneous. Like it's much quicker.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and I mean, the the thing with it, man, it's like the the TBIs, like the traumatic brain injuries, they're they're like, they're no joke.
SPEAKER_06:I mean, yeah, because your brain's floating in a vat, and then you smack something, your brain smacks into your skull, dude.
SPEAKER_02:There's so much research and data on it recently about how it's like the catalyst to a lot of problems that particularly vets have.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. Anger and violence.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, it it'll it'll change your whole life.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's fucking terrifying. That can't, you get you gotta take it serious and you gotta do the right things.
SPEAKER_06:Who is that guy that made the Netflix series about the tight end oh the CTE guy? Gonzalez. No. Yeah. Was it was his name Gonzalez from the New York or the family or something? From the Patriots. Yeah. That guy. But they he had like medical records indicating severe CTE. And they it was they it was like neglect. I think there's still like ongoing trials in within the family about it, but like, yeah, they just like, oh yeah, your brain is jacked up, but we'll see you on Tuesday for therapy. Yeah. And I'm like, no, this is a serious fucking thing. Like all the changes.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you know, killing themselves. It's like fucking wild. Like causes almost like hormonal disbalance or and imbalances, and it you start going into depression and you know, all the things. A lot of it starts at a TBI. Yeah, there's so many things that'll give you a T. I mean, shooting a gun is like a micro TBI, and it just adds up and adds up and adds up.
SPEAKER_04:You have those mortar guys, too, that stand right next to them when they go off.
SPEAKER_02:You're shooting thousands of rounds over your career.
SPEAKER_06:That was gonna be the point I made. The bigger the round, the more the concussion, or the more the percussion and concussion. It's just a it's a wild thing, man. Um, but I do want to tie back. So, like before before we do close out, while we're talking about mental health, earlier you were talking about um some guy. Oh, it was the guy running the rucks, the ruck and rosaries down in Florida.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Mike.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you mentioned that gentleman and how he had run into a guy who really needed it, needed to open up, and yeah, he didn't realize he needed to open up, but it was good for him, and he appreciated it. Tying that into mental health, though, like that's the only reason I've stayed as positive and as good as I am over the course of the last, you know, 13 years and change going on 14 years, removed from Afghanistan, is being open about it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Tom will ask a fucking stupid question that is like just because he doesn't know anything about Afghanistan or combat over there, and he'll ask me something and then I just lay it out to him like I give him all the details, like here's everything. And not just Tom, like any of my friends, but like anybody that I trust. Yeah. But so long as you have that line of trust, like, and and you have that, if you have this like mental battle that you're that you're within and you're afraid to share it, like that's the wrong thing to do. Yeah. And I think sharing is a huge part and a huge I'm a huge advocate for it, basically.
SPEAKER_04:Uh there's science behind that too, is like just even if like you've done something and it's it's eaten you alive, and you tell one person, it's like you're sharing that burden, but like you feel like that weight's lifted every time you mention the story.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean it it like with with the rucks, like the great thing about them, right? Like a lot of guys will go and they'll they'll talk to somebody like a therapist or whatever, right? Or they'll go to some you know, feel good retreat thing. Yeah. They feel good for a couple weeks and it wears off. But it it's it's every month. It's something that all these guys can it you continue to increase interactions and building that group, right? So if I if I'm feeling you know depressed or I haven't been around my buddies in a while, I know and next week I'm gonna see ten of them at the ruck. So it's like a thing to look forward to and to kind of the more you're around each other, the more we're opening up and the more that we're you know sharing these stories. And it's not from like it's like you're not damaged or broken. It's not like you know what I mean? It's not like oh I'm I'm this you know, fragile thing that needs to talk, just like no man, like real talk. Let's chat. This this is what I'm struggling with. And it's okay to struggle with it, you know, it's fine, but um, as long as you're working through it. But um I mean, broken glass makes mosaics. That's right. Broken eggs make scrambled eggs, or pelts. That's right. They do. Did you did you do it? No, not yet. Well, you gotta do that. You can just just use the yolk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, just just rub the yolk on it. I really want to do a bark tan.
SPEAKER_04:Bark tan? I haven't tried that. You gotta get oak bark, right? There's like ten different trees you need to do. Yeah, yeah. Nice, dude.
SPEAKER_06:But but yeah, so yeah, if you're damaged on the inside, dude, don't be afraid to like talk about it.
SPEAKER_04:Well, instead of uh wrapping up with the like darkest moment and what pulls you through, like let's after you get, you know, blown up in uh Ramadi, like what motivates you to keep going then? Like let's wrap up on that, I think. Like what what after that tour and you have that experience or multiple experiences on that tour, like what motivates you to be like?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, because you can quit now.
SPEAKER_02:Like you've done it all, you've checked everyone. No, so I didn't I I didn't um back then it wasn't a qualifier. What do you mean? For like like getting like losing consciousness and getting like blown up, it wasn't like um you couldn't submit for a purple heart for that. Oh, really? Because it was a long time ago and they didn't really take it seriously. Because kind of like now there's a lot of guys where it said like to get like a combat action ribbon, you have to receive and return fire. And it's like, so you're telling me these guys are getting blown up every day out on the street clearing for IDs who don't have anything to shoot at, you're telling me they're not in combat.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know, so they they I think 2011 they were like, okay, this is really hurting people. Oh this is damaging guys.
SPEAKER_06:I just mean like from the perspective of like not necessarily you could quit and get out, but like what you you still had that dog in you after that. Yeah, you didn't fold in. So what prevented you from folding in? You know what I mean? Like, you could have in your mental checklist been like, okay, I went to the Marines, I did this, I did that, I did multiple tours, I got blown up, I've done everything I can do. I'm gonna go home now.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I I had a what left that dog in I I had a group of just awesome Marines that I worked with. Um and after that deployment, I had a chance to be a squad leader, so I could be in charge of 12 of them, and they were mostly my buddies, and I knew we were going out the door again in you know eight months. Yeah. And like, I'm like, I'm not letting you guys go by yourself. You know, like I'll go and I'll be a squad leader, and then we'll get some new guys, and then you know, I'm gonna everything that I know I'm gonna keep imparting onto you for better or for worse, so that you can get them ready and you know, like the machine's gonna keep rolling with or without you, but if I can influence it right, like I'm gonna I didn't want them to have to go over there without me. And uh that's what really kept me going. And then like after that next deployment to Afghanistan, uh that's when I actually went uh over to Marsak and that those same guys deployed again and uh at least two of my very good friends on my wrist right now died on that deployment. And it was like, man, that sucks. You know, it wasn't anything I could do about it, but a lot of guys were getting hurt, and I mean they were in I think they were in uh Sangin somewhere over in Afghanistan, I can't remember where. It was a pretty big, pretty big deal though. It was a big deployment. If you said the name of it, you would probably recognize it. I can't remember, but it's that like that FOMO, you know, like Yeah, if I would have been there. Yeah. It's like, hey dude, I'm gonna go do this like huge fight. Like you wanna come with me? And you're like, hell yeah. Like, I don't want you to go do that by yourself. Yeah, let's ride, dude. Like, I don't know how much effect I'm gonna have, but I have to go with you. Yeah. Because you guys are like my brothers now, you know. And then when I left to go do the training, and then these dudes are coming back dead, I was like, oh that killed me. That's a tough pill to swallow, man. Yeah, yeah. So um that was probably it, just wanting to be with them. Yeah, just the genuine love for uh the brothers you had to your left and to your right. Yeah, and then you know, as you get you know, you move up in rank and position, you have more uh impact and more control over how things go for them. So it was um it was good to have that and be able to protect them in a weird way, but you know, they were the ones protecting me most of the time.
SPEAKER_06:So uh yeah, that would be it. Well, I'll tell you what, dude. You've got so many cool ass stories. This won't be the last time uh I hope not you see Paul Lindbergh on uh on the Days Ground. Yeah, you can catch some more of these stories on The Watch and the War. Yeah, so tune into YouTube. Uh all you gotta do is search The Watch and the War. And maybe here in the next few years, Paul write a book. I know a guy in Court in Indiana. So Frank Bill, I've got to get you guys together. Yeah, let's do it, man. Uh no, man. Seriously, nothing short of a pleasure. Thank you so much. You could have done anything else tonight on this uh evening of garbage weather, but you came in and hung out with us, and I appreciate you. We gotta drive home in a tornado now. Try not to end up in the Wizard of Oz. That's right. I swear, dude. Rest in peace to my F-150. Uh no, man. So just thank you so much, Paul. Thank you for your time, brother. Uh, thank you guys. Like, share, subscribe if you've made it this far. Um, yeah, and again, check out The Watch in the War on YouTube and uh more places to come in the future. Um, short of that, it's been another thrilling episode of the Days Grimm. My name is Brian Michael Day. My name is Thomas Grimm. And this has been Paul Lindbergh. Thank you so much, sir.
SPEAKER_00:I'm trying to believe, believe in woman. A little bit of leave, some liquor, some block and stuff like my quick win and like a shit. When I'm gonna cool paradin', when I'm back in the table, when I'm parading, you waited this long. Stop debating, 'cause I'm back, I'm on a I know that you got a job. Miss Shane, but your husband's on my problems. Cause I'm like hating so that's