WEBVTT 00:03.040 --> 00:05.080 there is a tremendous interest for 00:05.080 --> 00:06.858 people to understand more about 00:06.858 --> 00:09.080 themselves and where they came from and 00:09.080 --> 00:11.302 their place in the universe . They just 00:11.302 --> 00:13.413 don't realize that history is the key 00:13.413 --> 00:16.020 to unlocking that my mom and dad both 00:16.020 --> 00:17.798 served in the Air force . And I 00:17.798 --> 00:19.742 remember when I was a boy we had , 00:19.742 --> 00:21.798 there was a historian that worked in 00:21.798 --> 00:23.798 the same building with my dad and I 00:23.798 --> 00:25.964 just thought it was a news job . I got 00:25.964 --> 00:25.910 approached while I was in college by an 00:25.920 --> 00:28.087 Air force historian that was trying to 00:28.087 --> 00:30.142 fill a position . I got selected . I 00:30.142 --> 00:32.087 ended up being an intern for three 00:32.087 --> 00:34.309 years and I experienced the entire side 00:34.309 --> 00:36.309 of the Air force . Every one of the 00:36.309 --> 00:35.970 mission sets I've been assigned I think 00:35.970 --> 00:38.660 to five different match comes , you 00:38.660 --> 00:40.716 know , I got a call about a cemetery 00:40.716 --> 00:43.940 that was potentially that was A report 00:43.950 --> 00:45.950 from a book that had been published 00:45.950 --> 00:48.630 since 1945 . And lo and behold through 00:48.630 --> 00:51.020 the course of investigations . 00:51.030 --> 00:53.440 Following up in newspaper records and 00:53.660 --> 00:55.910 archaeological investigation with 00:55.920 --> 00:58.142 involving dozens and dozens of people . 00:58.142 --> 01:00.142 We came to conclude it actually did 01:00.142 --> 01:02.253 exist on the base and being the first 01:02.253 --> 01:04.476 person to get that call . Being able to 01:04.476 --> 01:04.140 see that finally , we're going to give 01:04.150 --> 01:06.317 these people their eternal rest and be 01:06.317 --> 01:08.150 a part of that is unbelievable . 01:09.440 --> 01:12.480 There's more history displayed and 01:12.480 --> 01:14.702 available to the public probably in the 01:14.702 --> 01:16.930 last five years than there has ever in 01:16.930 --> 01:18.652 the history of the base . It's 01:18.652 --> 01:20.874 different when you do it from the heart 01:20.874 --> 01:22.986 and that's what steve does . But he's 01:22.986 --> 01:24.819 like a kid recess . What kind of 01:24.819 --> 01:26.930 project do I have others in history . 01:26.930 --> 01:26.900 Let's go out in the swamps and let's go 01:26.900 --> 01:28.844 look for this . You know , I can't 01:28.844 --> 01:30.956 imagine what a better historian would 01:30.956 --> 01:32.956 be other than what he contributes . 01:33.840 --> 01:35.896 Well , my most recent employment , I 01:35.896 --> 01:37.673 got a chance to write about the 01:37.673 --> 01:39.673 evacuation of Afghanistan as it was 01:39.673 --> 01:41.451 happening . Those were the last 01:41.451 --> 01:43.451 historian that was assigned for the 01:43.451 --> 01:45.673 wing at bagram to be able to put it all 01:45.673 --> 01:47.896 together . And I definitely felt it was 01:47.896 --> 01:50.118 like what I was almost built for giving 01:50.118 --> 01:51.896 kind of closure to the american 01:51.896 --> 01:54.007 experience and at least for air power 01:54.007 --> 01:53.870 in Afghanistan was definitely another 01:53.870 --> 01:56.037 highlight of my career . I never would 01:56.037 --> 01:58.259 have thought that I could be able to be 01:58.259 --> 02:00.148 part of something as recognizable 02:00.148 --> 01:59.950 international consciousness is that 02:01.340 --> 02:03.284 history is something that's in the 02:03.284 --> 02:05.396 textbook for a lot of people . But in 02:05.396 --> 02:07.451 the course of this job I've realized 02:07.451 --> 02:07.290 it's something that's very , very 02:07.290 --> 02:09.457 personal , very raw to some people . I 02:09.457 --> 02:11.068 get to experience it through 02:11.068 --> 02:13.068 vicariously through somebody else's 02:13.068 --> 02:15.179 family and I I can totally appreciate 02:15.179 --> 02:17.457 how personally defining history can be . 02:17.457 --> 02:19.401 But no one ever sees it that way . 02:21.040 --> 02:23.040 Every single person that walks this 02:23.040 --> 02:25.207 earth . There's probably three or four 02:25.207 --> 02:27.318 moments in their life where they have 02:27.318 --> 02:30.030 the chance to make a huge impact . The 02:30.030 --> 02:32.252 people that really make a difference in 02:32.252 --> 02:34.252 history are the ones that stand out 02:34.252 --> 02:36.141 from the background noise at that 02:36.141 --> 02:38.197 moment in their life rosa parks on a 02:38.197 --> 02:40.530 Montgomery bus . It's such a simple act , 02:40.530 --> 02:42.641 but it stood in such contravention to 02:42.641 --> 02:44.974 everyone and everything that was around . 02:45.340 --> 02:47.062 We have the power every day to 02:47.062 --> 02:49.118 completely change the world . If you 02:49.118 --> 02:51.229 don't write your story , someone else 02:51.229 --> 02:51.660 will do it for you .