WEBVTT

00:01.033 --> 00:04.091
^- [Narrator] Today, there are more than 309,000 airmen

00:04.091 --> 00:06.760
^serving in the active duty Air Force.

00:06.760 --> 00:09.923
That means there are 309,000 lives out there

00:09.923 --> 00:12.906
and each of those lives have a story.

00:12.906 --> 00:16.289
So what if we could glimpse into those lives?

00:16.289 --> 00:18.793
What if we could hear those stories?

00:18.793 --> 00:20.710
Now, we can.

00:21.082 --> 00:24.082
This is Storytellers.

00:24.707 --> 00:27.357
- In high school, I was overweight.

00:27.357 --> 00:31.211
Even playing in sports, I was still overweight.

00:31.211 --> 00:33.797
And after high school, it just got worse.

00:33.797 --> 00:35.690
- And then at one o' clock is when I thought of him

00:35.690 --> 00:38.434
and I was gonna call him but I got too busy.

00:38.434 --> 00:41.776
And because I got too busy, I never made that call.

00:41.776 --> 00:45.276
And it could've stopped the suicide maybe.

00:45.674 --> 00:48.551
- Climbed a tree, fell about 30, 40 feet.

00:48.551 --> 00:52.718
Broke 26 bones and after that,

00:54.267 --> 00:56.237
I kind of decided for myself,

00:56.237 --> 00:57.140
I was kinda under the impression

00:57.140 --> 01:01.187
that I would never do anything really physical again.

01:01.187 --> 01:02.437
- I am a nurse.

01:03.303 --> 01:07.420
And it's a story that I have walked others through

01:07.420 --> 01:10.276
but I've never thought that it would be my story.

01:10.276 --> 01:12.373
That it would be part of my journey.

01:12.373 --> 01:15.706
- I was sitting in my living in my house

01:16.079 --> 01:17.627
and all these things start to flood my mind

01:17.627 --> 01:20.046
and you know thoughts of relatives and other friends

01:20.046 --> 01:23.207
that I lost over the years, you know, military or not.

01:23.207 --> 01:25.077
And I'm just kind of being overwhelmed.

01:25.077 --> 01:27.558
And instantly, feel emotions that

01:27.558 --> 01:30.093
for whatever reason turned into anger.

01:30.093 --> 01:33.413
- You lose your insurance, you lose your driving privileges.

01:33.413 --> 01:36.006
You lose stripes, and that's the only side

01:36.006 --> 01:37.862
of the story you ever hear.

01:37.862 --> 01:40.853
You don't hear the side of what happens to a family.

01:40.853 --> 01:42.206
- My name is Kari Schmidt.

01:42.206 --> 01:44.021
- My name is Teri Jones.

01:44.021 --> 01:45.191
- My name is Ryan Bigelow.

01:45.191 --> 01:46.861
- My name is Alisha Begum.

01:46.861 --> 01:48.598
- My name is Stephen Hunter.

01:48.598 --> 01:50.931
- My name is Jennifer Moran.

01:52.053 --> 01:55.190
This is my story.
(melancholy orchestral music)