Speaker 1: Multiple people in my family clean my father, are veterans
Speaker 1: and the.
Speaker 2: Troops that have been to war and now they're back.
Speaker 3: And think and be grateful for their service, sacrifice, love
Speaker 3: for their country, just unselfishness, all that they do for us.
Speaker 2: There are some people in this country who take extraordinary
Speaker 2: steps to provide for the freedom and security.
Speaker 4: We forget that those people exist.
Speaker 1: We know them as the Army, Navy, air Force, Marines,
Speaker 1: and Coast Guard. They call themselves soldiers, seals, rangers, airmen, sailors.
Speaker 5: Devil dogs, and so much more.
Speaker 1: We call them fathers, brothers, sons and husbands, mothers, daughters,
Speaker 1: sisters and wives.
Speaker 4: We call them friend and neighbor.
Speaker 1: These veterans answered the call, now we answer theirs. They
Speaker 1: are the best our country has to offer, and we
Speaker 1: love them. Today, we honor them and we serve them.
Speaker 1: David Malsby is your host, and he welcomes you to
Speaker 1: this community of veterans, as together we are building the
Speaker 1: road to hope.
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Speaker 4: in the studio with us Today, got a great show
Speaker 4: for you. We've got George you want to reintroduce yourself
Speaker 4: to the world. George is currently on staff at Camp
Speaker 4: Hope where you serve your branch.
Speaker 6: That kind of thing.
Speaker 5: Join the Marines back in two thousand and four, served
Speaker 5: till all the way to two thousand and eight, do
Speaker 5: three deployment deployments to Iraq one Westpac. I've been on
Speaker 5: staff with the Foundations for two years.
Speaker 6: And what do you do?
Speaker 4: What's your typical day.
Speaker 5: I'm the intake coordinator. I'm the first person these gentlemen
Speaker 5: see when they come into camp. I make sure they
Speaker 5: get all squared away and put in their new home.
Speaker 4: Absolutely and also on the show with Us Today's Gentlemen,
Speaker 4: that's currently in the program at Camp Hope. Joe, you
Speaker 4: want to introduce yourself.
Speaker 2: Yes, my name is Joe Driver. Born in a small
Speaker 2: town Griffin, Joy Rodia. Graduated in eighty eight and I
Speaker 2: joined the Navy in eighty eight.
Speaker 4: So what is the the pride of Griffin is it?
Speaker 4: You know, every town seems to have its thing, whether
Speaker 4: it's well corn dogs or barbecue or.
Speaker 2: Well, once upon a time it was the football team
Speaker 2: the Griffin.
Speaker 6: Bears when you played for him.
Speaker 2: Well, actually I played like on the JV but I
Speaker 2: end up quitting in practice.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So, but they had a great football team first, yes, sir,
Speaker 4: all right, so what position did you played.
Speaker 3: Before you Well, yeah, I was. I was gonna be
Speaker 3: the wide receiver. I can see that, you know.
Speaker 2: You know how Allen Iverson kept talking like we talking
Speaker 2: about practice. Now, Yeah, I didn't get hit hard during
Speaker 2: the game. I got hit hard at practice and my
Speaker 2: football career was over.
Speaker 4: Well, I got hit once, the hardest I ever have
Speaker 4: been hit in my life.
Speaker 6: Now that even mentioned that I was in practice football practice.
Speaker 6: That's the truth. That's the hardest I've ever been hit
Speaker 6: in my life.
Speaker 4: Yes, sir, I was a little bitty, still not exactly
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2: Ye've been small my whole life. Also, normally the skinniest
Speaker 2: guy in the room.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I was up against like the biggest, baddest
Speaker 4: dude on our team. Yes, during practice, oh my soul.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But however, though, I was in j r OTC in
Speaker 2: high school and I was on the drill team. So
Speaker 2: that what led me to the military, because I enjoyed
Speaker 2: the ROTC so much that I decided to join.
Speaker 4: Okay, was there any family affiliation into the military.
Speaker 2: Well, my uncle Kenny, he was in the Army in
Speaker 2: like the seventies or whatever. Yep, and he's like the
Speaker 2: only one. But like I say, I enjoyed, you know,
Speaker 2: the drill team and ROTC so much, and I was
Speaker 2: kind of tired of school, didn't want to go straight
Speaker 2: to college, so I decided to join the military.
Speaker 6: All right.
Speaker 4: Is that about the time the Navy was saying to
Speaker 4: join the Navy sea the world. Yes, sir, Yes, sir,
Speaker 4: we're watching some of those commercials. Yes sir, from the
Speaker 4: inside of a ship. That sounds great, Yes, sir.
Speaker 2: I graduated in nineteen eighty eight, and two weeks after graduation,
Speaker 2: I was in boot camp.
Speaker 6: All right.
Speaker 4: All right, so we're gonna run to break here in
Speaker 4: just a moment. Just remind her PTSDUSA dot org for
Speaker 4: all the information on our programs both at Camp Hope
Speaker 4: as well as our combat veteran support groups are family
Speaker 4: support groups. PTSDUSA dot org. Everything we do is absolutely
Speaker 4: zero costs.
Speaker 6: PTSDUSA dot org. Be right back, all right.
Speaker 4: You said it was Griffin Georgia, so Griffin, Georgia got
Speaker 4: a good football team.
Speaker 2: They used to have until they split up the schools.
Speaker 2: I mean, we only used to have one high school.
Speaker 4: So Griffin's on the map. Now they got more than
Speaker 4: one high school.
Speaker 3: Three four different high schools.
Speaker 4: Now, George, where are you from? Originally in Okay? So
Speaker 4: we have more than one high school?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you were right around the corner from each other.
Speaker 6: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4: Uh, okay, so good at good at football until they
Speaker 4: split the school into two. Uh what was the best
Speaker 4: If I went to Griffin, Georgia? There where would be
Speaker 4: the spot to go eat?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Man, I haven't lived in Griffin in so long? Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: I live in Atlanta now, like gotcha?
Speaker 4: Well, there's a few to choose from Atlanta.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, quite a few places in Atlanta. But ever
Speaker 2: since I got out of the military, that's where I
Speaker 2: resided in Atlanta.
Speaker 6: Gotcha? All right? So you joined the Navy. What you're
Speaker 6: again eighty eight?
Speaker 3: In eighty eight? Yes, sir?
Speaker 4: Why why did you choose the Navy over or anything else?
Speaker 2: Well, to be honest with you, I didn't want to
Speaker 2: sleep in the woods. I didn't want to sleep outside.
Speaker 3: I said it side be on the ship.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, no, no, yeah, everybody's got the reasons. Yeah, that's
Speaker 4: why I asked. That's the I wouldn't want to be
Speaker 4: on a ship.
Speaker 3: Yeah, kind of like a sitting duck. Huh. Yeah.
Speaker 4: And I'm not clusterphobic, but I can't imagine being on
Speaker 4: a boat for like three months or you know whatever.
Speaker 5: It's not fun.
Speaker 4: Well have you been have you done that?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I was on the USS Ogden for one of
Speaker 5: my deployments and they had us in like a little
Speaker 5: coffin rocks.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's snowboy's claustrophobic.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, like actually, you know, the longest ever
Speaker 2: did at sea without hitting a port, there was no
Speaker 2: more than like thirty three to forty days. So like
Speaker 2: if the ship is gone for six months, they may
Speaker 2: hit ten thirteen ports. Why they gone unless you know
Speaker 2: it's time for some action or whatever. Then yeah, still
Speaker 2: other scenario.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I just.
Speaker 4: The thought of the only way out is you're one
Speaker 4: thousand miles away, so you're not going to swim there,
Speaker 4: so you're you're stuck. That's just something about that that
Speaker 4: doesn't don't sit right. No, I'm not done with that.
Speaker 4: But to each thron you want you didn't want to
Speaker 4: sleep outside.
Speaker 3: That's cool. Yeah, that's that's the honest truth, you know.
Speaker 2: I cause, like I say, my uncle was in the
Speaker 2: Army and I was in the Army j r OTC.
Speaker 2: And but you know, some reason I decided to join
Speaker 2: the Navy.
Speaker 6: All right.
Speaker 4: So your first deployment was what.
Speaker 3: Year ninety ninety one.
Speaker 2: We were sent to the Gulf and we was there
Speaker 2: for a little while, and then all of a sudden
Speaker 2: they had picked my battle group to go back on
Speaker 2: another mission up toward the Mediterranean Sea, and we picked
Speaker 2: up some refugees in Liberia, Africa and ended up dropping
Speaker 2: them off up by Morocco Africa.
Speaker 3: And yeah, that was there was.
Speaker 2: Quite an experience that I don't want to experience again, really.
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 4: No, George, where were you in nineteen ninety one?
Speaker 6: How old were you?
Speaker 3: Maybe?
Speaker 5: Third grade?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh man, I've been out so many years that
Speaker 2: you know, a lot of things that was done and
Speaker 2: seen and said kind of run.
Speaker 3: Blur together, people forget.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I don't know if it's all time is
Speaker 2: coming earl or is it some of the medications that
Speaker 2: I'm on or what have you, you know, But my
Speaker 2: you know, mentally my mind, it's like comes and go.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So since you're at Camp Hope, you obviously understand. We've
Speaker 4: got guys that are they're they're that are younger than you,
Speaker 4: got guys that are older. And you've got guys that
Speaker 4: stepped out of Afghanistan not that long you said, eighteen,
Speaker 4: Is that when you left?
Speaker 5: I left when I was eighteen?
Speaker 6: Yeah? No, no, no, what year did you leave? Combat?
Speaker 4: Oh wow, relative speak seven oh seven? Okay, all right,
Speaker 4: so it's been a little while then, yeah, okay, all right,
Speaker 4: but we've got some guys that stepped out of Afghanistan
Speaker 4: twenty twenty one, so not that long ago. We got
Speaker 4: Vietnam VET guys. Yes, that it was fifty plus years ago.
Speaker 4: So there's a whole lot of everything around care. But
Speaker 4: here's the thing. Like last week we had a guy
Speaker 4: on here, one of our staff members served in Somalia.
Speaker 4: A lot of our guys or a lot of calm
Speaker 4: if you went on the man on the street kind
Speaker 4: of mission, you know, and he just went downtown with
Speaker 4: the microphone, said, hey, tell me what happened in Samalia.
Speaker 4: They just kind of if they saw they happened to
Speaker 4: see the movie Black Hawk Down that's where they would go, right,
Speaker 4: you know, the goal for a lot of the same
Speaker 4: kind of response. I don't have a clue. Now, we're
Speaker 4: not a war story show, so that's not what it
Speaker 4: deal is. But here's the war is war wherever it was, right,
Speaker 4: Trauma is trauma, whatever the trauma is, sir. At Campope,
Speaker 4: obviously we're dealing with combat related trauma, but all other traumas.
Speaker 4: Once you get there, it's it's everything. Right, we dumped
Speaker 4: the whole truck, so it's a little bit of everything.
Speaker 4: But there's no comparison.
Speaker 2: Right, sir, it's not. But it was like a major
Speaker 2: It was like a big explosion that happened on my
Speaker 2: ship and the compartments were filled with black smoke like instantly.
Speaker 2: So you know, like when you first get to a ship,
Speaker 2: they blindfold you and they train you how to get
Speaker 2: around on your ship not being able to see. And
Speaker 2: I was thanking God for that, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: because you couldn't see your hand half an inch from
Speaker 2: your face, you know. And then we had to find
Speaker 2: out what it was and we had a big, major
Speaker 2: electrical fire aboard the ship, which that it was the year.
Speaker 2: It was a lot of mishaps happening in the army
Speaker 2: and the Navy, and I'm not really sure about the Marines.
Speaker 2: Maybe two, but it was probably maybe ten to thirteen
Speaker 2: mishaps that happened. And like I say, between that, the
Speaker 2: refugees out of Africa and I was short deployment to
Speaker 2: the Gulf, you know. Like I say, it all runs
Speaker 2: like a blur, you know, and I would have dreams,
Speaker 2: you know about those things, you know, And like I say, though,
Speaker 2: being that young, I was seventeen years old and my
Speaker 2: mom had to sign me in and she wasn't gonna
Speaker 2: do it, but when she saw I wasn't giving up,
Speaker 2: she went ahead and signed. And you know, we know
Speaker 2: what we joined for to protect our country or whatever,
Speaker 2: but you really don't know till you get there. You
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. It's like, now you're gonna do.
Speaker 2: You gotta do what you trained to do or whatever,
Speaker 2: you know, because you want to survive whatever happened, and
Speaker 2: the person next to you, and if you don't do
Speaker 2: your train and then.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it could be problems.
Speaker 4: Well you joined eighty eight, yes, sir, that would have
Speaker 4: been considered peacetime.
Speaker 3: Well, yes, sir, yes, sir. Peace sign to the Gulf
Speaker 3: war kicked off.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I mean I would think to some degree,
Speaker 4: how old were you when you joined seventeen seventeen?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so.
Speaker 4: One at seventeen, we all think we're you know, we're invincible, Yeah,
Speaker 4: which we're not, but we kinda live our life that way,
Speaker 4: like you're ever gonna die. Yeah, but even to some degree,
Speaker 4: there had to be a realization I'm joining the Navy.
Speaker 4: There's always the possibility, though, I think it, you know,
Speaker 4: going back to eighty eight, probably not first and foremost
Speaker 4: on your mind at age seventeen, that hey, I could
Speaker 4: be going to war.
Speaker 3: Yep, it was No, it wasn't.
Speaker 2: And then you know how you usc on TV like
Speaker 2: a person that said they going to war, and they'd
Speaker 2: be like gung ho or whatever. Like when you actually
Speaker 2: there and you're told that you're going, uh if like
Speaker 2: twelve hundred marines aboard my ship and probably about six
Speaker 2: seven hundred navy and you could hear a pin drop?
Speaker 6: Yeah what ship were you on?
Speaker 3: I was on the inch on out of Norfolk virgin All.
Speaker 4: Right, okay, we're gonna take a quick break. Reminder of
Speaker 4: eight seven seven seven one seven seventy eight seventy three
Speaker 4: is our combat trauma crisis line answered by a combat
Speaker 4: that eight seven seven seven one seven seventy eight seventy three.
Speaker 4: Gonna take a quick break and be right back with
Speaker 4: more of Road.
Speaker 6: To Hope Radio. All right, welcome back to Road to
Speaker 6: Hope Radio.
Speaker 4: David Maulsby here, Glad to have you along.
Speaker 6: Got George, who is a.
Speaker 4: United States sub Marine Corps veteran currently serves on the
Speaker 4: staff at Camp Hope, PTSD, Foundation of America. Got Joe,
Speaker 4: United States Navy veteran hails from Griffin, Georgia, but currently
Speaker 4: at Camp Hope. Remind me again, well more time, the
Speaker 4: name of that ship you were.
Speaker 3: On, the Incheon?
Speaker 4: The Incheon? Okay, I should remember that.
Speaker 6: All right?
Speaker 4: What was the best meal you had on the Incheon?
Speaker 4: That's the most important question of the show, by the way,
Speaker 4: the most important show question.
Speaker 3: Uh, I don't know. I believe it was that they
Speaker 3: had rabbit. You had rabbit one day and it actually
Speaker 3: a rabbit stew or no, oh they.
Speaker 2: Just yeah, all right, you know how you got the
Speaker 2: chocolate candy like you look like the rabbitt with the
Speaker 2: eye think, yeah, yes, it looked like that. The Eastern rabbit. Yeah,
Speaker 2: the bunny. It looked just like that in the pan.
Speaker 2: Like at first, I was yead to eat it, but.
Speaker 4: Uh, pretty good, pretty good. And it tastes like chicken. Yes, sir,
Speaker 4: everything tastes like chicken.
Speaker 6: That's not cha. All right, how long you been at
Speaker 6: Camp Hope.
Speaker 3: By the way, I've been at Camp Hope.
Speaker 2: What probably about thirty eight the thirty nine days something
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 6: Okay, what's the best mo you've had some fort Camp Hope.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's been a few good meals.
Speaker 6: Better than rabbit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I was actually scared to eat that rabbit.
Speaker 2: But uh, I said, it looked like a rabbit. You
Speaker 2: know what I mean, you used to meat it, don't normally?
Speaker 2: It looked like the animal that it came.
Speaker 4: No, no, I can see the whole, you know, if
Speaker 4: you're gonna you know, yeah, clean it, parcel it out.
Speaker 6: Make a stew. I can see that.
Speaker 4: I just yeah, but anyway, go ahead, best meal, Camp Hope?
Speaker 4: What should give me your best to or threw?
Speaker 2: I want to say what they had? They like casa
Speaker 2: shrimp with the red beans and rice. That was a
Speaker 2: pretty good meal.
Speaker 4: Uh, I do that all day every day?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Oh, what was your favorite.
Speaker 5: That's a hard choice right there. Camp Hope actually has
Speaker 5: a great staff of cooks.
Speaker 3: They really do.
Speaker 5: Miss Kim the breakfast works breakfast or breakfast is amazing.
Speaker 5: You gotta shove. And then Ms Patty her food is amazing,
Speaker 5: especially the homemade homsses she makes.
Speaker 6: Yeah, oh nice.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So while you are a resident at Camp Hope, were
Speaker 4: you a resident like during the holidays ever? Okay, so
Speaker 4: one of my faves about Camp Hope is yes, we
Speaker 4: do have a great cook staff, fantastic, but we have
Speaker 4: a great community of supporters and sometimes you know, it's
Speaker 4: a group that brings in sacklynches or something like that
Speaker 4: that's kind of simple and basic, and that's very much
Speaker 4: appreciated as well because it gives our staff a bit
Speaker 4: of a break chance to captch up on other things
Speaker 4: that they need to be doing. But there's also groups
Speaker 4: like at Thanksgiving there's a guy and probably twelve of
Speaker 4: his friends from a small church and Katie that come
Speaker 4: in the day before and they start prepping for Thanksgiving
Speaker 4: dinner and they fire up that you've seen the smoker.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you've been there where the smoker's
Speaker 4: been lit up, But when it gets lit up. Everybody
Speaker 4: knows it's going to be a good day. So they
Speaker 4: would come out the night before, they'd start prepping and
Speaker 4: end up they smoke, you know, between thirty and forty turkeys.
Speaker 4: And by the way, you know a lot of people
Speaker 4: try to smoke a turkey, not everybody can actually do it.
Speaker 6: These folks know how to do. Yes, I wouldn't even try.
Speaker 6: I know better.
Speaker 4: Like one, I don't have the patience for that, but two,
Speaker 4: I don't want to spend that much time and it
Speaker 4: turned out.
Speaker 6: To be a dud. They that would just be mad
Speaker 6: all day.
Speaker 4: But these folks know what they're doing and put on
Speaker 4: a spread like no other. Uh anyway, It's just one
Speaker 4: of the favorite things I like to see around camp.
Speaker 4: Hope some of the folks come in and donate and
Speaker 4: serve you guys, not knowing who you are, your stories,
Speaker 4: names or anything like that.
Speaker 3: Yes, sir, all right, so.
Speaker 4: Go four you come home. What did you step out
Speaker 4: of the Navy?
Speaker 2: I got out the Navy in ninety two. Uh yeah,
Speaker 2: And it's like when I got out the Navy, it
Speaker 2: was almost like they just throw you away, you know.
Speaker 4: Any different today, By the way, from the Marine Corps, George.
Speaker 5: So when I got out, about when I went to
Speaker 5: Camp Hope, it was like one long blur. But now
Speaker 5: life is amazing.
Speaker 6: No, no, I know.
Speaker 4: But when when they when you left the Marine Corps,
Speaker 4: I guess we go look got it this way. One
Speaker 4: of the guys not too long ago talked about the
Speaker 4: fact that they spent six months training for war, zero
Speaker 4: time training you to transition back in the world.
Speaker 5: Oh, we had no training. We probably had like a
Speaker 5: week of taps and that's about it. It's just like,
Speaker 5: here's your paperwork, go home.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of like they just throw you away,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And now you were belonging
Speaker 2: in a part of something. Now all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: it's like you a nobody.
Speaker 4: Well not only part of something, you're part of something,
Speaker 4: the greatest military force the world's ever known.
Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
Speaker 2: And like I say, once I got out, I begin
Speaker 2: to have dreams, you know, and from the dreams I
Speaker 2: ended up self medicating. I wasn't aware that I could
Speaker 2: have medical, dental, that I could go talk to doctors
Speaker 2: and psychiatrists. I'm out the military ten fifteen plus years.
Speaker 2: Even before I knew I could get some help.
Speaker 4: When you got home? How long was you're mentioning time?
Speaker 4: So that's where I'm going here. When you got home?
Speaker 4: How long was it before you start having those nightmares
Speaker 4: and such?
Speaker 2: It was pretty much right off to bed. I had
Speaker 2: a few nightmares even before I was released, you know,
Speaker 2: but you don't know what it is.
Speaker 3: I don't. I didn't.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't know the symptoms or the problems that I
Speaker 2: was having until you know, the VA end up diagnosing me.
Speaker 2: You know, with these certain conditions.
Speaker 4: What you're or how long ago was that roughly?
Speaker 3: Uh went out the diagnosis?
Speaker 2: Maybe ten twelve years ago. I've been out thirty plus years. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and you know they asked me, did I want some help?
Speaker 2: And you know, I've been to a couple of other places,
Speaker 2: but you know, I was telling a doctor like I
Speaker 2: needed something more, some with some longevity. And to make
Speaker 2: a long story short, that's how I became aware of
Speaker 2: Camp Hope.
Speaker 6: Someone at the VA. Yes, sir, all right, so yeah.
Speaker 4: You mentioned it already, But I'm i joke from Oklahoma,
Speaker 4: not real good at numbers. But that is roughly thirty
Speaker 4: three years from the time you stepped out of the
Speaker 4: Navy to the time you stepped onto the doors or
Speaker 4: on the road of Camp Hope called Bear Brigade Boulevard.
Speaker 4: That's a long time to carry all that, Yes, sir,
Speaker 4: it is. So you did some self medicating, which is
Speaker 4: not unusual. Right going through the VA being diagnosed. Somewhere
Speaker 4: along the way, somebody mentions Camp.
Speaker 6: Hope to you.
Speaker 4: Yes, sir, so do you remember what they told you
Speaker 4: about it?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 2: They Well, first, you know, I don't think they knew
Speaker 2: that this was a six to nine month program that
Speaker 2: concentrated on PTSD and selfstance abuse. And you know, it
Speaker 2: ain't like I started self medicating just overnight, and I've
Speaker 2: been doing it a while, so I was more open
Speaker 2: to coming to Camp Hope. And I thank God for
Speaker 2: Camp Hope because now it's like the camaraderie and the
Speaker 2: love from the other veterans, the staff, the lead personnel,
Speaker 2: and it's like I feel like I'm a part of
Speaker 2: something again, you know what I mean, like making a difference.
Speaker 2: So Camp Hope is making a difference, you know, in
Speaker 2: these veterans' lives, you know, because you know, or some
Speaker 2: veterans are worse than others. By however, Camp Hope has
Speaker 2: a way of serving each and every one of their needs.
Speaker 4: And for some listening this may be a bit redundant.
Speaker 4: For some though, this is the first time you've heard
Speaker 4: about who we are, what we're doing in our veteran community,
Speaker 4: serving our vets and their families who are dealing with
Speaker 4: combat related PTSD. But we do have Camp Hope, which
Speaker 4: we talk about a lot, and it is designed to
Speaker 4: be a six to nine month program. Some it takes
Speaker 4: up close to two years to go through the program,
Speaker 4: so it's very individualized. It's not some so programmed program
Speaker 4: that you've got to do it in this amount of
Speaker 4: time and once you get to this point, somehow magically
Speaker 4: the magic wand is waged and you're ready to go.
Speaker 4: It is a very personalized program. But we also have
Speaker 4: our Warrior Groups are family support groups that operate much
Speaker 4: like any other support group you might know of aa NA,
Speaker 4: divorce recovery, any kind of recovery program.
Speaker 6: Those are all available on our.
Speaker 4: Website PTSDUSA dot or we have some in person. We
Speaker 4: also have them virtually, so if there's not something going
Speaker 4: on specifically in your area, you can join the virtual
Speaker 4: support groups all at zero cost. Camp Hope is at
Speaker 4: zero cost PTSD post traumatic stress disorder PTSD USA dot
Speaker 4: org eight seven seven seven one seven seventy eight seventy
Speaker 4: three is a combat traumaized curnt line. We'll be back
Speaker 4: with more of Road to Hope in just a moment,
Speaker 4: and we welcome you back Road to Hope Radio. Glad
Speaker 4: to have you along with us. Those you're listening on
Speaker 4: the kPr seed, those of you listen to the magic
Speaker 4: of podcasts. Wherever you listen to podcasts, just look forward
Speaker 4: Road to Hope Radio. There we are a little over
Speaker 4: eight years now of shows, lots of stories, a few
Speaker 4: news articles that we commented on throughout these eight plus years.
Speaker 4: Glad to have you along.
Speaker 6: Truly appreciate it.
Speaker 4: When you share with your network of friends, your network
Speaker 4: of co workers, folks you do business with. Road to
Speaker 4: Hope Radio, truly appreciate it.
Speaker 6: You never know who might need what we do.
Speaker 4: So thank you for your support, thank you for sharing,
Speaker 4: thank you for listening. We are truly appreciative. PTSDUSA dot org.
Speaker 6: All right, so.
Speaker 4: You've been camp a little over a month. So you've
Speaker 4: made it through blackface, yes, sir, and then the red.
Speaker 3: In red black phase.
Speaker 4: I don't know your famous situation all, you don't really
Speaker 4: have to talk about that. But anybody at home that
Speaker 4: you were cut off from for a.
Speaker 2: While, well, well, no, not really because my main support
Speaker 2: is my mother, which is a Christian you know, she
Speaker 2: forty plus years clean from drugs. And my father, he's
Speaker 2: a pastor, so you know, I was raised in the church,
Speaker 2: you know, so I.
Speaker 3: Got a good support group.
Speaker 2: It just I guess it would be the matter of
Speaker 2: me reaching out to them or what have you. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I got a good support team at home, that.
Speaker 4: Is yeah, yeah, which is awesome because yeah, even to
Speaker 4: be in there just thirty plus days, you've seen there's
Speaker 4: some guys come in that they don't have that all right.
Speaker 3: See, yeah, you're right, a lot of them.
Speaker 2: I mean, like I said, you know, most guys that
Speaker 2: get on drugs. They used to call me like a
Speaker 2: functional user, And I'm like, you might be a functioning
Speaker 2: user for so long, but if you keep going sooner
Speaker 2: or later, you're gonna go over the cliff. And I ain't,
Speaker 2: you know, Thank god, I still got my bridges, you know,
Speaker 2: cause you know, they gave me, like I said, my
Speaker 2: mom and my dad gave me ultimate support, you know,
Speaker 2: so they motivating me to complete this program, and my
Speaker 2: main objective is to remove myself from the equation so
Speaker 2: I can let go and let God, because if I
Speaker 2: put myself in the equation, then I don't know, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, because the devil don't ever quit
Speaker 2: and nothing truth. Yeah, do you remember day one to camp, Yes, sir, Yes, sir.
Speaker 3: They one.
Speaker 2: Day one I got there, the first person I saw
Speaker 2: was Danny, and I got off the van and I
Speaker 2: went up to Danny and I apologized to him off
Speaker 2: the rip because I don't know. I came to Camp
Speaker 2: Hope in like October November last year, and but I
Speaker 2: came in with that street mentality, me against the world,
Speaker 2: and you know, I had a few issues, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean.
Speaker 6: But you're not the first to come in with that.
Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
Speaker 2: And I was a straight junkie, you know, smoking. But anyway, Yeah,
Speaker 2: my first day back, I was so happy to be
Speaker 2: back then, and I was welcome back with open arms,
Speaker 2: like welcome home, you know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And that's that's It's one of the things I
Speaker 4: particularly love and celebrate about Camp Hope is the second, third,
Speaker 4: fourth chance, and some some try to turn that into
Speaker 4: some kind of a failure it's like you missed it
Speaker 4: because we celebrate that as an organization. To us, that's
Speaker 4: a win, right, it's not. Yeah, you've been through some
Speaker 4: tough junk and yeah, first time around, you're not ready
Speaker 4: for it. Second time or third or fourth whatever happens
Speaker 4: to be.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, I think I'm more ready this time because
Speaker 2: I'm approaching everything more with an open mind, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean, because you know, my mind was closed
Speaker 2: the first time I come and I'm looking at for me,
Speaker 2: I'm you know what I mean, but not realizing that
Speaker 2: love that's given there is real, you know. Yeah, And
Speaker 2: I had to acknowledge that. And uh, I gotta say, man,
Speaker 2: I thank God for CAMPB ho man, because CAMPB Hope
Speaker 2: is giving me hope. It's given other veterans hope opportunities,
Speaker 2: you know, long as you let do the work that's required,
Speaker 2: and the program gonna work for you, you know.
Speaker 3: And I'm not saying I'm fixed. I'm not fixed.
Speaker 2: I still got issues, but I'm a work in process.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And just to me, I want to give you
Speaker 4: something to think about for a second, and when I
Speaker 4: come back to you want to kind of hear what
Speaker 4: your ultimate hope is and that's not about a job
Speaker 4: or a career. It's just what's your ultimate hope for
Speaker 4: your life. But just a quick reminder, and we don't
Speaker 4: talk about this a lot because this isn't the point
Speaker 4: of the show, but just a reminder. What we're able
Speaker 4: to do with Camp Hope PTSD Foundation of America is
Speaker 4: because of individuals companies, both small and large, that truly
Speaker 4: understand it takes more than a bumper sticker on the
Speaker 4: back of your car to support the troops. And we
Speaker 4: love the bumper sticker, great, you love the troops, but
Speaker 4: at some point in time, it takes more than that.
Speaker 4: What we do is costly. We get something from the
Speaker 4: electric company every single month for our fire of Acre
Speaker 4: Campus and it is not a thank you note. If
Speaker 4: you're interested in making sure there's always a place for
Speaker 4: our veterans who are struggling and need some hope, need
Speaker 4: a second chance PTSDUSA dot org. And whether it's five
Speaker 4: dollars a month or whatever it happens to be, it
Speaker 4: all adds up and we say thank you. It makes
Speaker 4: it possible, and it gives us an opportunity to provide
Speaker 4: our veterans a chance, a place, a program with surrounded
Speaker 4: by fellow veterans, surrounded by people who've been in these
Speaker 4: same shoes and have moved forward. We're able to do
Speaker 4: that because of our community. So a big, big thank
Speaker 4: you to everybody who's able to be a part of that.
Speaker 4: Let's close it out this way though. What's your your
Speaker 4: you're newly in black phase is very simple. It's basically,
Speaker 4: you're shut out from the world. We're trying to settle
Speaker 4: red phases where you start to get into the meet
Speaker 4: in the program and you're very early in. But if
Speaker 4: you come into a program that you already know is
Speaker 4: sixty nine months long, it's an all day, everyday thing.
Speaker 4: What is your ultimate hope when when you have completed
Speaker 4: this program and you're moving forward, what's your ultimate hope
Speaker 4: for the rest of your life?
Speaker 3: Well, uh, I got several.
Speaker 2: Goals that I'm working on, but my main thing that
Speaker 2: I want to be is, for one, I want to
Speaker 2: be drug free.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 2: I want to be financially stable, and I want to
Speaker 2: be able to.
Speaker 3: Hopefully not have.
Speaker 2: As many dreams like I usually have about you know,
Speaker 2: the fire that was a boardership and so on, to
Speaker 2: have less dreams and to I guess be alike to
Speaker 2: another veteran or someone else, be able to get me
Speaker 2: a home, be able to have my own place, be
Speaker 2: able to take care of my kids, you know. And
Speaker 2: Camp Hope is helping me to accomplish.
Speaker 3: These goals, you know. Yes, give me a good foundation
Speaker 3: to start building.
Speaker 6: Awesome.
Speaker 4: Well, what Camp Hope does, very short version, provides the place.
Speaker 6: This is a safe place.
Speaker 4: It provides the program, a program we know works, the
Speaker 4: peer to peer model with the addition of clinical support.
Speaker 4: It's available to all of our veterans as well as
Speaker 4: our staff. So the place, the program, and the people.
Speaker 4: The people's the main thing. It's the peer to peer
Speaker 4: It's as you mentioned a little while ago, Joe, it's
Speaker 4: it's a true and a deep love. It's it's real,
Speaker 4: it's not fake. PTSDUSA dot org Get our crisis line
Speaker 4: eight seven seven seven one seven seventy eight seventy three.
Speaker 4: Those of you listening, thank you for listening. Wherever you
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Speaker 4: thank you for sharing, and look forward to being with
Speaker 4: you again next week. For more of Road to Hope Radio,