1 00:00:07,919 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: For seven years. I had a small ranch in the 2 00:00:10,199 --> 00:00:15,519 foothills of Temecula, California. The area is pretty much avocado 3 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:20,399 groves and hillsides and it is beautiful. My property, however, 4 00:00:20,719 --> 00:00:26,160 had ruby red grapefruit trees, lemons, a prolific red apple tree, 5 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,399 and one huge lime tree. We were set for margaritas. 6 00:00:31,239 --> 00:00:34,359 I had two eighty pound dogs, one a Shepherd Akita 7 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,799 mix and the other a Shepherd coyote mix, a Koi dog. 8 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,880 Coi dogs are either smarter than a teenager or dumber 9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:43,840 than a rock, and I had a smart one and 10 00:00:44,119 --> 00:00:46,960 she was a great dog. I have to say I 11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,840 love your videos with your hounds all running around and 12 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,799 tails wagging as they explore everything. It makes me miss 13 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,679 my dogs leading every walk or trip to the barn 14 00:00:56,719 --> 00:01:01,119 on my quad. I hadn't given big Foot any thought 15 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,799 since nineteen sixty nine and the release of the Patterson 16 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,760 Gimlin film because one, I figured they were up north 17 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,760 in the woods, and two because I would never encounter 18 00:01:11,879 --> 00:01:16,599 them in southern California at least that was my mindset 19 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,640 so much for that. When I started watching your channel, 20 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,439 I couldn't get enough of the videos. Any channels videos 21 00:01:25,079 --> 00:01:28,120 I spent hours and hours watching them after my accident. 22 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,079 Did you ever have a real epiphany in your life? 23 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:34,640 I mean one of those stop you in your tracks, 24 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,640 hit you in the face moments where you realize something 25 00:01:37,719 --> 00:01:39,879 that was right there in front of you all along 26 00:01:40,439 --> 00:01:44,239 and you had missed it. As I watched a video 27 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,719 one day, the story about two marines stationed at Camp 28 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,599 Pendleton who had come face to face with a twelve 29 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,799 foot tall sosquatch and a mock city at the back 30 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,319 of the base, and it was ducking to get through 31 00:01:56,359 --> 00:02:00,640 a ten foot high doorway. Their guns were loaded with blanks. 32 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:02,959 They were between the back of the town and the 33 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,079 squatch's path to the canyon behind it. It began to growl, 34 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,400 and one marine told the other to lay his gun 35 00:02:09,439 --> 00:02:12,280 on the ground, and when they did, as they backed 36 00:02:12,319 --> 00:02:16,000 out of the sasquatch's path, he strode by them in 37 00:02:16,199 --> 00:02:18,879 huge steps and then took off at a speed they 38 00:02:18,879 --> 00:02:22,639 were awed by. My ranch was nine miles up the 39 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:27,039 canyon from that base, and then right in the face, 40 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,199 I had an epiphany that lasted ten minutes, as suddenly 41 00:02:31,319 --> 00:02:34,639 everything that I had encountered on my ranch was replayed 42 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,319 in my mind with an overlay of all the sasquatch 43 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,639 stories I had heard. I shook when I thought of 44 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,080 the times I must have been within feet of them 45 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,240 trying to find who was around my barn at midnight. 46 00:02:48,479 --> 00:02:51,639 My dogs were no lap dogs and guarded the property 47 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,199 like lions, afraid of no animal, and no person had 48 00:02:56,199 --> 00:02:58,400 to shoot at the feet of a mountain lion one 49 00:02:58,479 --> 00:03:00,719 day as they were backing it in to my barn, 50 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,639 about to get themselves killed. They never ran from anything, 51 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:08,159 and they charged everything, and they were imposing as a pair. 52 00:03:09,879 --> 00:03:12,319 As I was running the pass through my mind, I 53 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,719 recalled that they had on several occasions come running like 54 00:03:15,759 --> 00:03:18,319 the wind up to the house, with the Akida even 55 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,199 jumping up in my lap, which he never did. And 56 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,479 the Koi dog loved to sit in the love seat 57 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,520 with me while I smoked cigars in the evening, but 58 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,080 he wasn't a tough guy. I had put the dog 59 00:03:31,159 --> 00:03:33,400 door on the back door to the garage where they 60 00:03:33,439 --> 00:03:36,599 had beds under the stairs, and on those nights they 61 00:03:36,639 --> 00:03:40,000 would get into their beds and not come out. Now 62 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,400 I remembered how the night was dead silent on those nights. 63 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,439 Delu's Creek had a zillion frogs a singing, but not 64 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,719 on those nights. And the more I thought about it, 65 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:56,080 the stupider I felt. I never harvested the lime tree, 66 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,520 which easily produced a thousand lines, and there was never 67 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,520 more than ten limes on the ground. I had a 68 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,039 gated ranch, so nobody was picking them, especially from the 69 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,520 top of a thirty foot round and fifteen foot high tree. 70 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,319 I did give away grape fruits to people because I 71 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,600 didn't have time for the business, but the trees were 72 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,839 always picked clean above six feet as soon as the 73 00:04:19,879 --> 00:04:23,680 fruit was right. Most of the trees were fifteen plus 74 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,720 feet high and large diameter. Man I was feeling stupid 75 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,639 at this moment. The apple tree was always picked clean 76 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,600 above six feet and it was bigger than the lime tree. 77 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,879 I shot a coyote one night as it came way 78 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,279 too close to the house, which I could not have 79 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,160 as my two year old granddaughter and her mother were 80 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,000 living with us at the time. I figured I would 81 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,439 get it in the morning and bury it with my tractor. 82 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,079 I woke up at five am with my dog standing 83 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,720 on the driveway looking to where the dead coyote was. 84 00:04:55,439 --> 00:04:58,160 I say, that's where it was, because it was gone. 85 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,600 Something had dragged it a ten feet down the slope, 86 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,480 and that's where the marks stopped. The more I thought, 87 00:05:05,519 --> 00:05:09,759 the more I realized I had inadvertently flown my plane 88 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,199 too close to Camp Pilton while circling my ranch one day, 89 00:05:14,439 --> 00:05:17,000 I was shocked when a voice came over the radio 90 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,240 telling me it was an Apache something and if I 91 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,120 didn't turn to a three hundred and forty degree heading, 92 00:05:23,519 --> 00:05:27,000 I would be shot down. My plane was starting to 93 00:05:27,079 --> 00:05:29,800 vibrate as I looked out my passenger window to see 94 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,759 an Apache chopper with a pilot pointing to three hundred 95 00:05:32,759 --> 00:05:36,879 and forty degrees. I rocked my wings and headed that way, 96 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,720 noting my position. My ranch was only nine miles up 97 00:05:40,759 --> 00:05:43,120 the canyon from the back of the base and thirteen 98 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:47,959 miles from the Pacific Ocean. I pondered this incident during 99 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,800 my epiphany, and I thought of how many times the 100 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,519 county sheriff in our area had asked me if I 101 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,839 knew anything about people disappearing along Deluge Road, which ran 102 00:05:57,879 --> 00:06:01,959 along the creek for miles, starting five miles from the 103 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,439 back of Camp Pendleton Marine Base. It was also a 104 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,879 back route to coyote smugglers who used to run illegals 105 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,920 into Orange County. In the last few months, several of 106 00:06:12,959 --> 00:06:18,199 the illegals had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The sergeant wanted 107 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:20,240 to know if I knew where the holes were dug 108 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:24,680 around the area. I'm afraid stripping avocado crops can be 109 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,600 a capital offence in some ranchers eyes. There were holes 110 00:06:28,639 --> 00:06:31,920 with bags of lime in waiting around the hills in 111 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,920 several places. However, I had never heard of anyone actually 112 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,160 using one. I thought they were more of a deterrent 113 00:06:39,319 --> 00:06:43,279 story for the local thieves. Since I was out of 114 00:06:43,319 --> 00:06:46,399 ways from town. I had a refrigerator in my barn 115 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,959 that I kept stock with sodas and water for the 116 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,560 police and Border patrol guys in the area. I liked 117 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,519 them being on the property, knowing my dogs and just 118 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,959 shooting the breeze about what was going on in the area. 119 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,839 Sergeant knew I had previous police experience. I was included 120 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,800 on several things. I came home one afternoon to find 121 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,439 a black chopper sitting in front of my barn with 122 00:07:10,519 --> 00:07:15,519 three Sheriffs vans and four black suburbans. I was introduced 123 00:07:15,519 --> 00:07:19,319 to the chopper pilot told he was a dea officer. 124 00:07:19,959 --> 00:07:22,839 Supposedly the whole deal was to rate a six acre 125 00:07:22,959 --> 00:07:26,399 pot grow they had found out by the creek. The 126 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,519 dudes in the black windowed at berbs never came out. 127 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,560 It was common for the pot guys to hook into 128 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,800 grow irrigation and set up grows in the bottoms, so 129 00:07:36,839 --> 00:07:39,319 I didn't have any reason to doubt it, But I 130 00:07:39,399 --> 00:07:43,160 should have thought it out a little better. The week prior, 131 00:07:43,439 --> 00:07:45,959 my sergeant friend had asked me if I had seen 132 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,839 anyone by my barn on a specific night. I told 133 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,439 him that I hadn't, and as he knew, my dogs 134 00:07:52,439 --> 00:07:56,040 would have shredded anyone on the property at night. He 135 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,240 then told me two junkie thieves had gone missing that night. 136 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,879 One of the wives told the police he and his 137 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,920 power were going to steal a tractor which was sitting 138 00:08:04,959 --> 00:08:07,160 next to a dirt driveway at the back of a 139 00:08:07,199 --> 00:08:11,680 property off my road. The sergeant said, you're the only 140 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,519 one with a nice tractor sitting in that situation. Yep. 141 00:08:15,639 --> 00:08:17,879 If they had opened my barn door, they would have 142 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,800 been right on the dirt road between the properties. Law 143 00:08:21,879 --> 00:08:25,319 enforcement had found their truck and trailer down on Delu's Road, 144 00:08:25,519 --> 00:08:29,600 where they could have coasted my tractor downhill. No trace 145 00:08:29,639 --> 00:08:32,279 of them was ever found other than the truck and 146 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,399 the trailer. And then I thought of all the nights 147 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:38,799 my dogs were in their beds when I was feeling 148 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,480 someone or something was on my property. Using my million 149 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:46,440 candle power light to scour the property from my hilltop home, 150 00:08:46,799 --> 00:08:50,080 I could see almost all of it. After a while, 151 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:54,159 I decided I was just being unnecessarily cautious. And then 152 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:57,559 one morning I found my pool with a film and odor, 153 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,600 which nearly choked me. When I cleaned the skimmers the 154 00:09:01,639 --> 00:09:04,320 next day, there was dark brown hair in them that 155 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:07,759 nearly plugged them up. Since I had no fencing and 156 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,879 it was a beach entry pool, I just figured the 157 00:09:10,919 --> 00:09:15,559 neighbors' kids had been in again with their dogs. The 158 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:19,440 coup de gras came a week after my epiphany. My 159 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,960 excavator who dug my pools and I were discussing my 160 00:09:23,039 --> 00:09:26,600 epiphany at breakfast one day. He had worked for me 161 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,399 for years and had been on my ranch since then. 162 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,600 I had moved to San Diego, where he lived. He 163 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:36,240 laughed at me when I told him about it and 164 00:09:36,279 --> 00:09:39,320 how I figured that they wouldn't be in southern California, 165 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,720 and then he told me about how he went to 166 00:09:42,759 --> 00:09:46,960 build a large retaining wall in Alpine, about thirty miles 167 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,120 outside of San Diego in the foothills, for a well 168 00:09:50,159 --> 00:09:54,519 known doctor in San Diego. One day, while leaving the job, 169 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,919 he met the doctor on the drive to his ranch. 170 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,360 The doctor waved him down and asked him to s stop, 171 00:10:00,759 --> 00:10:04,240 and when Paul stopped, he saw a fifty caliber stainless 172 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,120 steel revolver in the seat next to the doctor. Paul 173 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,039 asked him why he was carrying a hand cannon on 174 00:10:11,159 --> 00:10:15,559 his seat, and the doctor hesitated a minute and then said, Paul, 175 00:10:15,639 --> 00:10:18,159 this is why I stopped you. At the risk of 176 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,480 sounding crazy, I need to warn you about something on 177 00:10:21,519 --> 00:10:24,679 this property. I have the big guys living at the 178 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,399 back of the property. There's a whole family of them, 179 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:31,759 and so far I've had no problems with them. Paul 180 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,600 asked what he meant by big guys, and the doctor 181 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,799 explained that his property was so close to the border 182 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,200 that the sasquatch roamed along his back property line in 183 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,240 the trees. When Paul told me this, almost choked like 184 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:49,080 he did when he heard it. Finally, Paul understood the 185 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,879 doctor wasn't kidding and he better keep his eye peeled 186 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,879 when working back there, I employed dozens of illegal aliens 187 00:10:56,919 --> 00:11:00,320 in my business over forty years. It's how things got 188 00:11:00,399 --> 00:11:04,519 done back then. In the business. There were no gringoes 189 00:11:04,639 --> 00:11:08,519 or kids or adults doing the digging work my business required, 190 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,000 and I spoke Spanish fluently, and I had heard them 191 00:11:12,039 --> 00:11:15,320 talking about the people going missing at the border many times. 192 00:11:16,039 --> 00:11:19,120 Some claimed there were monsters at the border eating them. 193 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,039 Others told them that they were loco. And now I 194 00:11:23,159 --> 00:11:26,879 wonder has sasquatch been feeding on illegals coming to the 195 00:11:26,919 --> 00:11:31,159 border for decades. Every year hundreds of them come to 196 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,720 America and are never heard from again by their families. 197 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,080 It is written off to the smugglers killing them by 198 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:42,639 the authorities, supposedly, which makes no sense, and I've only 199 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:46,320 heard of rare cases of that happening. Why kill someone 200 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,120 who was worth three thousand dollars to you? I know 201 00:11:50,399 --> 00:11:53,120 I never saw a sasquatch, but it makes my blood 202 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,679 run cold to realize that I was out with a 203 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,240 shotgun in the middle of the night searching for what 204 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,440 I thought were people on We had silent nights where 205 00:12:01,519 --> 00:12:04,039 owls were all I could hear all around me in 206 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:08,600 the trees. Ranchers had owl boxes to keep the rodents 207 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:10,919 at bay, so I never thought a thing about it. 208 00:12:11,879 --> 00:12:14,120 My dogs would sit on the porch at the house 209 00:12:14,159 --> 00:12:17,399 and watch me patrol on those nights. I just thought 210 00:12:17,399 --> 00:12:20,639 they were being lazy. Damn. I just thought of a 211 00:12:20,759 --> 00:12:22,759 night when the dogs were on the porch and I 212 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,120 was searching along the treeline of a huge eucalyptus grove 213 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,320 with trunks three foot in diameter, and I called my 214 00:12:29,399 --> 00:12:33,320 dogs many times and they would not budge. I suppose 215 00:12:33,399 --> 00:12:35,799 I was five feet from a si squatch with my 216 00:12:35,919 --> 00:12:39,000 back to him. Oh, it sends chills up my back now. 217 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:44,000 And I finally became too curious about the supposed pot raid. 218 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,759 When I thought the day was over, the sheriffs went 219 00:12:47,799 --> 00:12:50,360 in on foot through the grove next to me, toward 220 00:12:50,399 --> 00:12:53,879 the creek. The black birds went out my driveway and 221 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,639 headed toward the road on the other side of the creek. 222 00:12:57,639 --> 00:12:59,960 I took my quad a week later, and I thought 223 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,200 of the path the sheriffs took to the creek. There 224 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,159 was no evidence of any pot grow and nothing was 225 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,679 cut down. And then I'll realize not one sheriff had 226 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:14,639 a machette. The chopper, with infrared and heat tracking capabilities 227 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:16,799 went off to the north, out of sight for a 228 00:13:16,879 --> 00:13:20,279 short time, and when it returned, it began hovering over 229 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,799 the creek and slowly heading toward Camp Pendleton like it 230 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:28,679 was tracking someone. For all the specialized pot locating equipment 231 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,720 on that chopper, I never saw it again in that 232 00:13:31,799 --> 00:13:37,679 pot rich area searching for pot. Yeah, my ass. Looking 233 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,559 back on the whole thing, I feel pretty stupid. But 234 00:13:40,879 --> 00:13:44,399 as my shrink says, you can't act on information that 235 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,879 you don't have. Now do I believe sasquatch lives in 236 00:13:48,919 --> 00:13:52,759 the Cleveland National Forest, which is only six miles north 237 00:13:52,799 --> 00:13:56,759 of my ranch through the canyons and creeks. I absolutely 238 00:13:56,879 --> 00:14:00,639 do believe sasquatch lives along the border, and he does 239 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:07,039 possibly feed on illegal aliens. Yes, Los Montrose de la Fonterra, 240 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,120 the monster of the Border are real and I believe that. 241 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,080 Thank you for your channel cam. Without it, I would 242 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,639 have never realized any of this. Your narration kept me 243 00:14:18,759 --> 00:14:23,399 interested enough to continue researching the subject and research I have. 244 00:14:24,159 --> 00:14:26,399 God bless you and your family and your dogs and 245 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,039 your chickens. And he signs off, but he wants to 246 00:14:30,039 --> 00:14:33,679 be anonymous. But man, what a cool story. This man 247 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,559 lives in southern California. You heard the whole story, but 248 00:14:37,799 --> 00:14:40,799 he never really had an experience. But he feels like 249 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,279 they're there and that he was close to him all 250 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,240 this time, and he's putting two and two together. Anyway, 251 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:48,960 I want to read the first part of his email. 252 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,240 I didn't want to read it first because I thought 253 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:55,840 people might click away. This man's had a remarkable journey 254 00:14:56,399 --> 00:15:00,200 and these epiphanies. I'm not sure whether they came before 255 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,519 this accident I'm about to read for you or after, 256 00:15:04,279 --> 00:15:07,600 he probably said in his email. But anyway, I'll just 257 00:15:07,679 --> 00:15:11,159 read his It's three or four paragraphs. It's real interesting 258 00:15:11,399 --> 00:15:15,759 how he has recovered from a horrible accident. And let 259 00:15:15,759 --> 00:15:18,240 me just read it to you, he says. I don't 260 00:15:18,279 --> 00:15:20,519 know if you remember me, but I'm the guy who 261 00:15:20,639 --> 00:15:26,360 introduced you to Thunderbird with my experience from nineteen fifty eight. Yes, sir, 262 00:15:26,399 --> 00:15:30,639 I remember that story well. I was also writing a 263 00:15:30,679 --> 00:15:34,440 fictional book about Sasquatch at the time. Well, as the 264 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,960 saying goes, life can turn on a diamond, Mine surely did. 265 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,879 Walking back from dinner one evening in Pacific Beach, California, 266 00:15:42,919 --> 00:15:45,840 where my wife and I lived, I tripped over a 267 00:15:45,919 --> 00:15:49,039 sidewalk that had been raised nearly six inches by a 268 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,559 huge tree route. It was pitch black, and I never 269 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,960 knew I was falling until I was regaining consciousness with 270 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:59,840 my wife frantically trying to wake me up. The fall 271 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,919 almost killed me. Every doctor and the surgeon said the 272 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,799 break of my humorous was the worst they had ever 273 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,879 seen humorous. I think that's his leg. I'm not a 274 00:16:09,919 --> 00:16:13,840 doctor or an anatomy genius. I think he broke his leg. 275 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,320 It looked like you took a huge sledgehammer to a 276 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,080 wicker basket, the doctor said. I was in and out 277 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,080 of consciousness for over a week. With a major brain 278 00:16:25,159 --> 00:16:28,440 trauma too. I spent nearly a year laid up with 279 00:16:28,519 --> 00:16:32,440 a Swiss cheese memory. One thing that helped me in 280 00:16:32,559 --> 00:16:35,600 my quest to remember who I was and what I 281 00:16:35,759 --> 00:16:39,480 was about was reading the book I was writing about Sisquatch, 282 00:16:39,519 --> 00:16:42,840 which was nearly complete. Much of the book I had 283 00:16:42,919 --> 00:16:46,399 narrated into a recorder. As I went about daily life 284 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,080 and work, and as I listened to it, I would 285 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,519 struggle to remember where I was and what I was 286 00:16:51,559 --> 00:16:54,039 doing at the time that I had narrated that part 287 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:58,039 I was listening to. Now, this struggle to remember forced 288 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,679 me to dig deep and use the memory portion of 289 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:05,400 my brain. My neurologists was very pleased and impressed with 290 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:09,519 my progress. It was his opinion that my ability to 291 00:17:09,559 --> 00:17:12,319 put back together the year prior to my accident through 292 00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:17,799 the recordings was incredibly important in my recovery. Now I'm 293 00:17:17,799 --> 00:17:20,079 not out of the woods yet, but I am functioning 294 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:24,240 closer to normal. I did lose the ability to design 295 00:17:24,279 --> 00:17:28,240 the custom pools and landscapes I have created for forty 296 00:17:28,279 --> 00:17:31,920 five years. I can't collate the projects in my head 297 00:17:32,039 --> 00:17:36,000 any longer. With that said, I want to tell everyone 298 00:17:36,039 --> 00:17:39,000 who might hear my experience something near and dear to 299 00:17:39,079 --> 00:17:42,920 my heart. In my years of having a large swimming 300 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:47,640 pool construction business, I have hired vets with PTSD. Now, 301 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,920 I always had a heart for those guys. I saw 302 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,960 their struggle to find themselves and return to normal life, 303 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,640 often having wives and children that they couldn't support with 304 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,880 their condition. And as I laid around in a daze, 305 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,200 my mind went to those young men and what they 306 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,319 had suffered. I knew then what it was like for 307 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,200 them to try to live life on any normal level. 308 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:13,920 And I cried when I thought about one young man 309 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,759 who became lost for three hours on a trip to 310 00:18:16,839 --> 00:18:21,200 a parts supplier only ten miles away. He had even 311 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,240 grown up in the area, and when he finally answered 312 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,079 the phone, he was crying and distraught, and I asked 313 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,240 him where he was and he didn't know. I sent 314 00:18:30,319 --> 00:18:32,799 him to a street corner and asked him to read 315 00:18:32,839 --> 00:18:36,319 the signs. He was sixty miles away from the job 316 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:40,160 and hopelessly lost. I tried to keep him working, but 317 00:18:40,279 --> 00:18:43,119 he realized that he was not able to function well enough, 318 00:18:43,519 --> 00:18:46,319 and he just disappeared one day and he never returned. 319 00:18:47,799 --> 00:18:58,480 Two months later, he committed suicide. He left a lovely wife. Oh, oh, 320 00:18:58,519 --> 00:19:05,240 that's hard to read. That's because my son is an 321 00:19:05,319 --> 00:19:09,920 Afghanistan VETT. I know he deals with this stuff. He oh, 322 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,000 just give me a second. He left a lovely wife 323 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,920 and two little girls and four and six years old. 324 00:19:16,519 --> 00:19:18,640 Now I cry as I write this, and it's been 325 00:19:18,759 --> 00:19:23,200 sixteen years ago. I tell you of this to say this, 326 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,759 I want everyone who knows a VET suffering PTSD to 327 00:19:27,839 --> 00:19:31,519 take a completely different advantage point on these unfortunate men 328 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,480 whom have given up any normal life to protect yours. 329 00:19:36,559 --> 00:19:38,960 I know the pain of trying to remember who I 330 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,799 was and what I was about. I know what it 331 00:19:41,839 --> 00:19:44,519 was like to wonder if I would ever be mentally 332 00:19:44,559 --> 00:19:47,920 whole again. I also know what it is like to 333 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,799 come to grips with the fact I won't be who 334 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,839 I was or what I was. I'm fortunate to have 335 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,319 come back as far as I have, and I thank 336 00:19:57,359 --> 00:19:59,839 God for that because I know that it was because 337 00:19:59,839 --> 00:20:03,119 of of Him who did this for me. You can 338 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,440 read this story of my experience if you like. However, 339 00:20:06,599 --> 00:20:09,599 I do have a sosquatch experience to share with you, 340 00:20:10,319 --> 00:20:15,599 and here it is. And that's the end of the email. Wow, 341 00:20:16,039 --> 00:20:19,440 I'm sorry about that. Got kind of choked up on that. 342 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,480 I had not read that paragraph. I had read the 343 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,160 first three or four paragraphs, and I thought, well, I'll 344 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,359 put this at the end so people may get a 345 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:32,039 little encouragement if they're going through something hard, and maybe 346 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:36,880 catch a tip on how you know, trying to remember things, etc. 347 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,839 And then I came up on the vet and I 348 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:41,720 have a heart for those guys too. I saw my 349 00:20:41,799 --> 00:20:45,200 son come back from Afghanistan I don't even think he 350 00:20:45,279 --> 00:20:48,640 knew he had problems. He thought he was normal. I 351 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:50,720 never said a word. I just let him deal with 352 00:20:50,759 --> 00:20:53,319 it on his own, and he's come out pretty good. 353 00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:57,440 He's got a great job, beautiful family, beautiful wife, three children, 354 00:20:57,519 --> 00:21:00,720 and they're doing fine. He's fine. But those guys come 355 00:21:00,759 --> 00:21:04,839 back with some really messed up memories. I agree with 356 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,359 the writer. We need to remember those guys. It's been 357 00:21:07,519 --> 00:21:11,519 years since they all came home. Those are our sons. 358 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,279 Most of my audience is my age, give or take 359 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,640 ten years. Those are our sons and daughters who went 360 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,319 to fight those wars, those happy kids who grew up 361 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,240 in our front yards and our houses, and they went 362 00:21:24,319 --> 00:21:29,920 off and did some unspeakable things, saw unspeakable things, and 363 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,279 my heart goes out to them. So I'll get off 364 00:21:32,279 --> 00:21:36,160 of that. I just wanted to share my feelings on that. 365 00:21:36,279 --> 00:21:40,720 I really appreciate this email, the bigfoot connections that he made, 366 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,559 and the part that he wrote about his recovery. It's 367 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:47,799 very inspiring. I really appreciate it.