WEBVTT 00:00.140 --> 00:03.850 All right , well let's get started . Um , 00:03.860 --> 00:06.510 why don't I start off with Sean ? If I 00:06.510 --> 00:08.790 could on the left , why don't you just 00:08.790 --> 00:11.012 tell me about this opportunity that you 00:11.012 --> 00:12.957 have to talk over with your family 00:12.957 --> 00:15.068 through this video . Something that's 00:15.068 --> 00:17.290 coming up and getting started . What do 00:17.290 --> 00:20.560 you think of this technology ? I think 00:20.560 --> 00:22.338 it's just great . It's a unique 00:22.338 --> 00:24.504 opportunity for us to be able to share 00:24.504 --> 00:26.727 the story from Iraq with the folks back 00:26.727 --> 00:28.782 home . I think it's especially great 00:28.782 --> 00:30.893 that Fargo Morehead is the first city 00:30.893 --> 00:33.060 to have the opportunity to do this and 00:33.060 --> 00:35.282 it's just my privilege to be able to be 00:35.282 --> 00:37.338 here today with a great team of guys 00:37.338 --> 00:39.393 from cargo and from north Dakota and 00:39.393 --> 00:42.680 Minnesota Sean . Have you ever had an 00:42.680 --> 00:44.736 opportunity to talk like this before 00:44.736 --> 00:47.720 with your family ? Well , I've done a 00:47.720 --> 00:49.860 couple of tv interviews , spoken . My 00:49.860 --> 00:51.860 family most of the time . Just be a 00:51.860 --> 00:53.971 telephone . So yeah , that's a unique 00:53.971 --> 00:56.082 opportunity . Uh real thankful for it 00:56.082 --> 00:58.082 and I'm thankful that all the folks 00:58.082 --> 01:00.249 back home can see some of the progress 01:00.249 --> 01:02.416 and hear from the guys on the ground , 01:02.416 --> 01:05.190 so to speak . Uh , how do you think 01:05.190 --> 01:07.870 that helps with morale ? Uh , 01:07.880 --> 01:10.530 can you say your question again ? 01:10.700 --> 01:13.220 Sure . How do you think that helps with 01:13.230 --> 01:15.920 troop morale ? Well , I think it helps 01:15.920 --> 01:18.260 tremendous . Uh , as we all know over 01:18.260 --> 01:20.482 here , the one thing that's constant is 01:20.482 --> 01:22.760 the support for the , for the soldiers , 01:22.760 --> 01:24.927 sailors , airmen , the marine from the 01:24.927 --> 01:26.982 american public . So I think it just 01:26.982 --> 01:29.038 helps our morale tremendous when you 01:29.038 --> 01:31.149 get an opportunity to share our story 01:31.149 --> 01:33.260 with the folks back home , especially 01:33.260 --> 01:37.020 our families . Uh any five of you have 01:37.020 --> 01:40.510 younger kids at home . Uh 01:40.520 --> 01:43.090 Well my Children , I've got a couple of 01:43.100 --> 01:46.430 20 I've got one that's 23 1 , 21 . All 01:46.430 --> 01:48.652 my kids I guess or now either teenagers 01:48.652 --> 01:50.708 or adults . So I guess the answer is 01:50.708 --> 01:53.650 known from this end . Uh I've got , 01:53.660 --> 01:57.140 I've got five , I've got four , I've 01:57.140 --> 01:59.540 got four kids at home from 17 to 4 year 01:59.540 --> 02:01.550 old , four years old . So quite a 02:01.550 --> 02:05.180 spread their uh I've got for 02:05.180 --> 02:09.140 also uh there's 02:09.140 --> 02:11.196 probably gonna be quite a difference 02:11.196 --> 02:13.418 when you have an opportunity to finally 02:13.418 --> 02:15.640 see them and how they grow and mature . 02:15.640 --> 02:17.862 Oh yeah , especially with the four year 02:17.862 --> 02:21.040 old , the older kids , I've got 1 17 02:21.040 --> 02:23.262 year old getting ready to go to college 02:23.262 --> 02:25.590 and uh you know , the four year olds 02:25.590 --> 02:27.590 getting ready to go to kindergarten 02:27.590 --> 02:29.812 next year and he'll be in school when I 02:29.812 --> 02:31.701 get back . So that would be a big 02:31.701 --> 02:34.080 change . Are you going to be able to be 02:34.080 --> 02:37.880 there when he goes off to college ? Um 02:37.890 --> 02:40.270 I'm gonna be missing his graduation , 02:40.280 --> 02:42.280 which we had a long talk about that 02:42.280 --> 02:45.840 before I left and uh it's gonna be 02:45.840 --> 02:48.740 touch and go on the departure for 02:48.740 --> 02:51.240 college . It's right around the same 02:51.240 --> 02:53.351 time that I'm gonna get my leave from 02:53.351 --> 02:55.870 here . So uh that'll be sometime next 02:55.880 --> 02:58.250 september october time frame . So it'll 02:58.250 --> 03:01.310 be close . What did you to discuss 03:01.310 --> 03:05.170 about him graduating ? Uh you 03:05.170 --> 03:07.560 know , he was , he was a little upset 03:07.560 --> 03:09.616 that I wasn't going to be able to be 03:09.616 --> 03:12.090 there with him at graduation . In fact , 03:12.090 --> 03:14.201 I wrote to my sister and asked her if 03:14.201 --> 03:16.257 she could stand in for me , so we're 03:16.257 --> 03:18.479 still trying to work through that got a 03:18.479 --> 03:18.330 couple more weeks before that can 03:18.330 --> 03:20.600 happen . Um and then the old father and 03:20.600 --> 03:23.260 son talks about being a man of the 03:23.260 --> 03:25.960 house and he really proud of Michael , 03:26.120 --> 03:28.342 my oldest , because he's really doing a 03:28.342 --> 03:30.509 bang up job to help him taking care of 03:30.509 --> 03:33.990 my wife and his three brothers and I 03:33.990 --> 03:36.157 know she preached appreciates it every 03:36.157 --> 03:39.200 day , so he's doing good work back 03:39.200 --> 03:42.220 there . How often are those thoughts on 03:42.220 --> 03:44.620 your mind about not being able to be 03:44.620 --> 03:46.676 there for some of those major events 03:46.676 --> 03:48.564 back here at home because there's 03:48.564 --> 03:50.676 something you think about often or is 03:50.676 --> 03:52.842 there so much going on where you don't 03:52.842 --> 03:54.898 really have time to think about that 03:54.898 --> 03:57.064 too much . Well of the panel up here , 03:57.064 --> 03:58.953 Sean and I worked together and we 03:58.953 --> 04:01.560 pretty much start today around 6 30 04:01.690 --> 04:03.912 we're going until about 10 o'clock , 11 04:03.912 --> 04:06.134 o'clock at night . So it's a busy day , 04:06.134 --> 04:08.246 There's enough to keep you busy , but 04:08.246 --> 04:10.357 you get the opportunity to talk about 04:10.357 --> 04:12.079 it in the office , you get the 04:12.079 --> 04:14.680 opportunities to uh think about it on 04:14.680 --> 04:16.680 occasion , but for the most part of 04:16.680 --> 04:18.624 your staying engaged and working , 04:25.440 --> 04:26.607 I'll go over to mike 04:31.240 --> 04:33.407 the first time in Iraq ? What are your 04:33.407 --> 04:36.300 thoughts so far ? Uh It's 04:36.310 --> 04:39.030 uh been a pretty interesting experience , 04:39.030 --> 04:42.490 I'll give you that . Uh I 04:42.500 --> 04:44.611 had no idea what to expect when I got 04:44.611 --> 04:46.910 here and we had a little opportunity to 04:46.920 --> 04:48.976 get a little education before I came 04:48.976 --> 04:50.920 here to kinda have an idea what to 04:50.920 --> 04:53.870 expect . But that doesn't really touch 04:53.870 --> 04:56.037 it with regard to what is really going 04:56.037 --> 04:58.259 on , what we're really are experiencing 04:58.259 --> 05:01.110 here . You're going to be able to speak 05:01.110 --> 05:04.670 with your wife later on today . Um 05:04.680 --> 05:07.450 Well I hope so , but we'll just have to 05:07.450 --> 05:11.140 see I guess . Have you been able 05:11.140 --> 05:13.430 to see her face to face and communicate 05:13.430 --> 05:17.120 with her face to face yet ? No , I have 05:17.120 --> 05:19.231 not just talking on the phone through 05:19.231 --> 05:21.453 the email , that's uh that's the extent 05:21.453 --> 05:23.620 of our opportunity to communicate with 05:23.620 --> 05:25.842 each other at this point . What are you 05:25.842 --> 05:28.064 looking forward to ? The opportunity to 05:28.064 --> 05:30.064 finally be able to possibly see Her 05:30.064 --> 05:32.231 face to face ? Will not face to face , 05:32.231 --> 05:34.560 but Well she'll be able to see me 05:34.560 --> 05:36.727 anyway , it's I don't think it's a two 05:36.727 --> 05:38.949 way street here , but she'll be able to 05:38.949 --> 05:41.590 see me , so she'll just have to see how 05:41.590 --> 05:45.240 that goes . She's going to be looking 05:45.240 --> 05:47.900 forward to it , I'm sure , yes , I'm 05:47.900 --> 05:51.580 sure she will be , go ahead . But 05:51.590 --> 05:52.590 you're saying 05:55.840 --> 05:59.690 uh sorry I was I wasn't saying 05:59.690 --> 06:02.560 anything might be other kids back at 06:02.560 --> 06:05.860 home . Do I have one at home ? 06:05.870 --> 06:08.590 Uh while I have actually have two 06:08.590 --> 06:10.812 grandsons and five Children and they're 06:10.812 --> 06:12.812 all the teenagers and above kind of 06:12.812 --> 06:14.923 thing . So , so we got a whole passel 06:14.923 --> 06:17.090 of kids back at home . Um , it will be 06:17.090 --> 06:19.800 interesting to see that our juniors and 06:19.800 --> 06:22.040 I have one that just graduated in his 06:22.040 --> 06:24.262 off to tech school for the Air National 06:24.262 --> 06:26.860 Guard there in Fargo , and one that 06:26.870 --> 06:29.037 just graduated from college . So she's 06:29.037 --> 06:31.148 making her way out in the world . And 06:31.148 --> 06:33.037 then of course , my oldest one is 06:33.037 --> 06:34.592 working there in Fargo . So 06:36.630 --> 06:40.190 things like some , some good genes into 06:40.190 --> 06:42.300 them to keep the military background 06:42.300 --> 06:45.950 going well . 06:45.960 --> 06:49.700 Well , I'll tell about my 31st year in 06:49.700 --> 06:53.080 the military here . And uh , so 06:53.080 --> 06:56.770 far Jordan is seeming to enjoy his 06:56.770 --> 06:59.780 time with the military so far and it's 06:59.790 --> 07:03.660 only been a few months , but I think I 07:03.670 --> 07:05.920 hope he has a sort of a good career . 07:05.920 --> 07:09.840 Yes . 31 years . That's a long time . 07:09.840 --> 07:10.896 What keeps you and 07:15.060 --> 07:18.950 31 31 years is a long 07:18.950 --> 07:21.006 time to be doing anything actually . 07:21.006 --> 07:20.790 You know , 07:26.710 --> 07:28.980 the interesting thing is that most of 07:28.980 --> 07:31.930 the people that I'm working with , a 07:31.940 --> 07:33.996 lot of them working with and most of 07:33.996 --> 07:36.051 the army troopers that I see where I 07:36.051 --> 07:38.051 met , uh weren't even around when I 07:38.051 --> 07:40.880 started the military long ago . So it's 07:40.880 --> 07:42.380 pretty interesting dynamic 07:48.630 --> 07:50.852 stories you guys tell back and forth to 07:50.852 --> 07:53.074 each other , just on your off time . It 07:53.074 --> 07:55.297 doesn't sound like there's much of it , 07:55.297 --> 07:57.186 but you get an opportunity to sit 07:57.186 --> 07:59.186 around and talk about and reminisce 07:59.186 --> 08:01.352 about your family . That feeling going 08:01.352 --> 08:04.910 a little bit stories to get to tell 08:04.950 --> 08:07.970 anyone . It was real funny what you 08:07.970 --> 08:11.960 were saying . Yeah , when you're 08:11.960 --> 08:13.550 sitting around your story 08:19.950 --> 08:21.260 more kind of stories . 08:24.990 --> 08:28.830 Yeah , Yeah . I 08:28.840 --> 08:30.729 think most of the stories we tell 08:30.729 --> 08:33.260 probably marched ourselves , we keep it 08:33.260 --> 08:36.150 here , you know , in Iraq . Yeah , 08:36.160 --> 08:38.327 certainly there'll be a lot of stories 08:38.327 --> 08:40.160 to tell , but I think most of us 08:40.160 --> 08:42.216 probably look forward today . We get 08:42.216 --> 08:41.990 back with our family . Tell those 08:41.990 --> 08:43.990 stories in person is probably a lot 08:43.990 --> 08:45.934 more , but most of the stories , I 08:45.934 --> 08:48.046 think we here are in the office or at 08:48.046 --> 08:50.840 the workplace . Right ? That's what I'm 08:50.840 --> 08:53.062 kind of getting that with you . You sit 08:53.062 --> 08:55.229 around and talk about your family with 08:55.229 --> 08:57.062 one another to kind of keep that 08:57.062 --> 08:59.118 feeling going and keep that positive 08:59.118 --> 09:01.229 momentum going to when you're finally 09:01.229 --> 09:04.000 able to get home , we'll understand . I 09:04.000 --> 09:06.222 think if you were talking about us with 09:06.222 --> 09:08.222 each other , we're all in different 09:08.222 --> 09:10.333 parts of the country right now as far 09:10.333 --> 09:12.444 as our missions are concerned . But I 09:12.444 --> 09:14.444 think , uh , I certainly think that 09:14.444 --> 09:16.611 with your earlier question about do we 09:16.611 --> 09:18.667 get a chance to take of our kids and 09:18.667 --> 09:20.833 our families ? Sure . Um , we are busy 09:20.833 --> 09:22.944 though , so we don't sit and dwell on 09:22.944 --> 09:25.111 it . It's not something that we sit in 09:25.111 --> 09:27.167 uh pine over kind of thing . So , so 09:27.167 --> 09:29.389 sure you think about , you talked about 09:29.389 --> 09:31.611 it and I know what the guys that , that 09:31.611 --> 09:33.389 I'm working with , everybody is 09:33.389 --> 09:35.444 bragging about their kids . So , but 09:35.444 --> 09:37.556 we're also down the business , taking 09:37.556 --> 09:37.430 care of those things that we need to 09:37.430 --> 09:40.770 take care of and uh , moving forward .