WEBVTT

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(gentle piano music)

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- [Male Veteran] I'm in my own world,

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I don't feel any pressure.

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Sometimes I'm out here 12 hours a day.

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With all the ruckus around me, I can just come out here

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and just be myself.

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No stress.

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I was a high school student, enjoying life, then after

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that I went into the military.

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And I chose to go into the Navy.

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- [Narrator] Bruce Empel joined the Navy at 17

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and was assigned to the USS Feckler.

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Soon after checking on board, the Destroyer was sent

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to conduct operations off the coast of Vietnam.

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- Our captain was gung ho, and we went into

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the river area.

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I remember standing on the fan tail, looking out, and

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going this is big time.

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(men yelling)

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(fired shots)

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- [Narrator] The crew fired shells and traded small

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arms fire with the enemy for weeks on end,

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while providing fire support to troops on the ground.

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- [Bruce] It was a challenge.

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Knowing that you could be killed,

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I got grown up.

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- [Narrator] With a close view of the action,

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Bruce saw things most young men never have to see.

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- I went for a interview with the disability compensation,

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and I was ten percent disabled,

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but I didn't want to have it, so I walked away.

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- [Narrator] Upon returning home, he and his ship mates

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received a less than warm welcome from a war weary public.

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- [Bruce] We were spitted on,

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we were finger pointed.

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- [Narrator] That's when the nightmares began.

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- My wife, at that time, we didn't know what

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PTSD was, I just had the attitude that I would rip

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somebody's head off if they got in my way.

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I found myself shying away from people, crowds,

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not going to movies, would go to a restaurant, I would

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make sure that I was backed up to a wall,

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so I wouldn't have people around me.

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- [Narrator] After a violent outburst, Bruce knew it

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was time to face his problems and seek help.

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- I went to the V.A., got adjusted, and found a doctor

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that would help me.

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- [Narrator] Bruce's doctors recommended he find an

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outlet to help him cope with his PTSD.

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That's when he decided to pick up an old hobby

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from before the war.

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- [Bruce] Got involved with the wood, and it took some

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of the pressure away of every day living.

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I would have something exciting to build.

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So I started making toys, and it's my passion now.

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- [Narrator] As for his toys, Bruce found a way to

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use his new found passion to other veterans and active

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duty service members and their families.

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- I will take some of my toys and I'll go down

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to the V.A. hospital, and I'll see a sailor or anybody,

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and I'll just say here, have one.

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It's all yours.

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It's a feeling of accomplishment,

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because I know it's going to a good family.

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And you know, in the military, we all band together,

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and if I can get them out there and save a couple of

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bucks for an officer or an enlisted man, then so be it.

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The fulfillment is seeing a child have one of my toys.

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- [Narrator] When asked what advice he had for other

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veterans struggling with PTSD, he was blunt.

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- You can't do it yourself.

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There are doctors at the V.A. that are very good.

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The more you talk, the better it is.

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Do not hold it in, cause the only one you're going to

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destroy is yourself.

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(gentle piano music)