Father Mike Olsen served as a medevac pilot in Vietnam in 1970, until he had to be medevaced out himself when his helicopter had an unfortunate encounter with an enemy quad 50 machine gun. While the army wanted to give him a medical retirement, Father Mike worked his way back into shape, demanded a medical board and was able to return to Vietnam,,, where he was promptly shot down again two months later. While the was was done with him, Father Mike stayed in the Army, eventually retiring as a Colonel. Post military, he enjoyed a career as a contractor with NASA, and now serves a different calling as a priest in New Mexico.  Father Mike talks with us about the mental aspect of returning to war after injury, realizing the affect his military service had on his family, reconciling his faith in God after witnessing the horrors of war, and what we can do as a community to help our veterans.  We hope you enjoy

Jack Schmitt served as an artillery observer with the US Army in the Vietnam War. Jack talks about beating the cloud of PTSD that he carried with him, and we do mean it was a real cloud that he could see, the not so welcome home he received, reconnecting with friends later in life, and using the skills he learned in the army to transition into a successful civil engineering career after his service.

He is also the author of the book, Potato People, about his time in the Army. It can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Potato-People-Tales-Trenches-Army-1967-ebook/dp/B07QMQCSZY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GNRHM72MI1FS&keywords=potato%20people%20jack%20schmitt&qid=1654725680&sprefix=potato%20people%20jack%20schmitt%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1&fbclid=IwAR1L5BuHeMpjVQ986AmL9qvn81N_BmbfO5Ar0ptwt1sIJDH0M2m3HyzPgnw

Admiral Center's naval career spanned multiple conflicts over his 35 years of service. Starting with a summer "internship" in Vietnam while at the Naval Academy, through Desert Storm, as well as as an arms negotiator with the Joint Chiefs of Staff that saw him in the middle of the nuclear negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. 
Admiral Center talks about the long lasting malaise he felt after being on duty during the Fall of Saigon, his surprise to find out that the movies are actually pretty spot on when it comes to the sound of bullets coming at you, the plusses and minuses we have seen with the transition to an all volunteer military and advice for finding your career in the civilian world. It's an insightful conversation and we hope you enjoy.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joe Wankelman joined the US Army in 2000 and served as a Forward Observer with the 43rd ACR for six years before moving to the 1st of the 229th to be an apache helicopter pilot. During his time in the army, he served 3 tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. 
CW3 Wankelman talks about what it feels to like to fly such an incredibly powerful weapon at a relatively young age, what it's like to hit rock bottom after you return home and how to pull yourself up from your lowest moments., as well as the best way we can "thank a veteran".
Joe is also proud to now work with veteran owned and operated Bonefrog Coffee and Bonefrog Cellars. Learn more about them here as you enjoy this week's episode.
Coffee: www.bonefrog-coffee.com
Wine: https://bonefrogcellars.com/

Sergeant Smithson served with the Army from 1987-2012 and was deployed to both Operation Just Cause in Panama as well as Operation Desert Shield in Iraq. Keith was a Logistics Quartermaster with 3rd Battalion 82nd Artillery and as an Army Recruiter. We talk about subjects like what it takes to deploy an army half way around the world, how just because Panama was seen by the media and many civilians as a walk in the park versus a small country, it doesn't make the bullets any less deadly when coming inbound, and and encouraging other veterans that it is okay to talk about your experiences.

Please enjoy this week's episode and make sure to give us a like, follow, or review.

Jim served as a combat medic in Vietnam with the 93rd and 24th Evacuation Hospital units. He also holds the very distinct "honor" of being drafted in the very first draft lottery of the Vietnam War. We talk about the horrors faced on an everyday basis by doctors and nurses at war, the support he had when leaving the army (spoiler alert... not much), and talking about your experiences. 

We hope you enjoy this week's episode.

Mike Schindler is a Navy veteran, CEO of Operation Military Family, and surprise (even to him) filmmaker. Mike talks with us about what it's like to find your true self and your purpose in a civilian world after having a job like monitoring nuclear weapons. 

His film, It's VUCA, explores how lessons learned in the military can help deal with an increasingly unknown world. More information on the film can be found at https://itsvuca.com/

Captain Pugh served with the US Air Force, including four 6 month tours of duty during the Vietnam War as a navigator and counter electronics officer on B-52 bombers. In that time, he flew 180 arc light missions as well as four missions over Hanoi during Operation Linebacker 2. Captain Pugh talks about the power of working in a team environment and how that carries over to the public sector, as well as the power of being around others who have shared your experience. 

Please enjoy today's episode and remember to give us follow and review on wherever you get your podcast content.

This is the second time back for Chris and Jim after they both appeared in their own episodes last season. We have a wide ranging show today as we talk about the special bond they share with each other as veterans, even though they fought in different conflicts, as as the role music has played in their friendship, their time in country, and healing after the war. 

More importantly, we talk with them about the Afghanistan withdrawal through their eyes as a Vietnam veteran and an Afghanistan veteran. The anger, the frustration, the dredged memories and feelings of 50 years past, it's all on the table here. Hear what they have to say about their own points of view as well as their advice for other Afghanistan and Vietnam veterans who have been through a roller coaster of emotions over the last two weeks.

Captain Messinger served two tours in Vietnam flying Huey helicopters, gunships, and the Skycrane. Captain Messinger is a witness to history... literally. His gunship was in a certain area of the country at a certain time that led to him sitting in front of the Peers Commission on the My Lai Massacre. The fact that he did not see anything did not stop him from being, as he described it, interrogated in the bowels of Pentagon.

After retiring from the Army, Captain Messinger became a college professor and serves as the treasurer for the National Vietnam War Museum in Texas. We talk with Captain Messinger about his time in the Army, finding his way in the world after separating from the military, starting a museum from scratch, and the importance of getting other veterans talking about their experiences. We hope you enjoy today's episode.

Find out more about the National Vietnam War Museum: https://www.nationalvnwarmuseum.org/