WEBVTT

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Um , I decided to join the army because

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in 1969 , when you got a draft notice ,

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you had two choices , you can either go

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be drafted , you could go to Canada and

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I wasn't about to give up my American

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citizenship . So uh , I went to Vietnam

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as a , was a PFC . When I got there , I

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was already a college graduate and a

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public high school teacher Before I was

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drafted , They turned me into a medic

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and sent me to Vietnam . I did 13

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months and five days there and came

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home with a lot of bad attitude . Uh ,

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I hid myself in alcohol . I was a

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poster child for PTSD had never heard

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of PTSD . I thought the world was

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really screwed up and I'm fine and all

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the bad things that come out of that

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and after I was home about three years

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long story , but the lord converted me

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one day in my own house , no choirs of

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angels or anything like that . I just

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realized life was either totally

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meaningless or Christianity had the

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answers and uh , I was suicidal at

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that point and I remember saying to God ,

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hey , I've screwed my life up . If

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you'll take it , you can have it . If

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you don't take it , I'll kill myself

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later . And I don't know ,

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I just thought

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felt at that moment I need to be back

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with soldiers and tell them about this

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because what happened , I relaxed

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suddenly first time I had been relaxed

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in four or five years so I didn't

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really decide to to be a

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chaplain . I thought I would be a

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civilian pastor . I went to seminary

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and pastored a church and then people

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started saying , guys who had been in

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the military started just dropping in

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and saying , hey , you ought to be a

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army chaplain , sort of been in the

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army , didn't like it . And then I had ,

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I had a breakfast with a cousin of mine

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who was a Navy chaplain . The other

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fellow at the table did not tell me

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what he did for a living after

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breakfast . He said , hey , I'm the

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chief personnel officer for the army

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chief of Chaplin . I want you to be an

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army chaplain . I'll send you the form ,

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send them back to me . That was in

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August and I was commissioned in

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December of 82 Went to the chaplain

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basic course in 83 . So I backed into

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it . I think the Lord does funny things ,

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you know , he had prepared me for all

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this stuff by all the bad things that I

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went through every one of those has

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turned out to be an asset in what I do

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working with young soldiers . I was

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born on a small ranch out in Nebraska .

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So I've been around horses all my life

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and you know , my kids are riders as

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well as a good horseman . two of them

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have served with the cab . We're pretty

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military family . My dad had no cavalry

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experience in the army . He did World

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War two . Dad came in and I came in

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and my warrant officer Sun came in .

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His privates became N . C . O . S .

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Sent to school . Uh , Dad and I were

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commissioned . Our son was warranted .

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Uh huh . Our daughter is a major out at

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4 11 wars right now . So we're pretty

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sold out military family . The one who

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was a sergeant got out after doing Iraq

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and you know , good decision in his

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case , I think .