Verimour Speaks

His quiet voice is difficult to hear but this man is a gem. We met when I interrupted his trek through my neighborhood several years ago to tell him how inspiring I found his daily runs. A veteran of WWII, a survivor of the great depression, he is one of the hardest working and proudest Marines I've ever met. He spent more than 60 years married to the same woman only to lose her at their son's funeral. In his mid nineties, he lives alone, drives himself, walks every single day, is still the go to guy for his kids and has gone to great effort to make sure his grand kids are taken care of after his passing. He has a great sense of humor and the characteristic adapt and overcome mentality so common among our Heroes.  

https://youtu.be/DX6WRsKNgnE

His quiet voice is difficult to hear but this man is a gem. We met when I interrupted his trek through my neighborhood several years ago to tell him how inspiring I found his daily runs. A veteran of WWII, a survivor of the great depression, he is one of the hardest working and proudest Marines I've ever met. He spent more than 60 years married to the same woman only to lose her at their son's funeral. In his mid nineties, he lives alone, drives himself, walks every single day, is still the go to guy for his kids and has gone to great effort to make sure his grand kids are taken care of after his passing. He has a great sense of humor and the characteristic adapt and overcome mentality so common among our Heroes. 

https://youtu.be/XFpMjdmCL5w

 Fishing and other outdoor activities are often a great way to relieve  stress. Hear Matt Witkowski of @flying_fish_hooks and Paul Roy of  @fishing4therapy talk about their favorite fishing stories, how fishing  has helped them manage their post active service world and what they are  doing to share that with other Heroes. I apologize upfront for some of  the spotty recording quality. 

flyingfishhooks.com

https://youtu.be/mZXFo4KqDxw

Fishing and other  outdoor activities are often a great way to relieve stress. Hear Matt  Witkowski of @flying_fish_hooks and Paul Roy of @fishing4therapy talk  about their favorite fishing stories, how fishing has helped them manage  their post active service world and what they are doing to share that  with other Heroes. I apologize upfront for some of the spotty recording  quality.

http://flyingfishhooks.com/

https://youtu.be/kJOq_heJ9fY

Here is the text of the email about the Vietnam Wall. I have not verified these stats, but the sentiment is the same even if the numbers are somewhat different.  If you are interested, I tell more about my father's story in S01E06.

A little history most people will never know. Veterans statistics of the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass, listed by the Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956.  His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps LCpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

Of all the names listed, 39,996 were 22 years-old or younger; 8,283 were 19 years-old.

There are 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall;   31 sets of parents lost two of their sons. 54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. 8 Women who nursed the wounded are on the Wall.  244 soldiers were recipients of the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are listed on the Wall. Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons. West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation.  There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The Marines of Morenci, AZ - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop 5,058) had ever known and cheered.  They enjoyed roaring beer busts.  In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest .  And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the 9 graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

The Buddies of Midvale, UT - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah, on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues.  They lived only a few yards apart.  They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field And they all went to Vietnam.  In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed.  LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22.  Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day.  Tom was killed assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, 1967.   

The most deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 when 245 service members were killed. The most deaths for a single month was May 1968, where 2,415 service members died.

To those  who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created  We are haunted with these numbers because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters  There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.

https://youtu.be/RnE16bCU1yE

For many years I was like the rest of the world rushing my life from weekend to weekend always trying to savor those precious final Sunday night or holiday hours and dreading the sound of the alarm that signaled a new work week. Even then I remember commenting on the irony of it and how unfortunate it all was given how delicate our existence can be. And when I found myself out of work it got even worse instead of better. I suddenly began to hate every day instead of just Mondays. I saw myself as without purpose and lacking value or worth.

For a long time I did everything I could think of to mold myself into something the corporate world wanted. I got certified in PowerPoint, studied change and project management. I changed my resume with every submission in an attempt to highlight whatever skill that particular company was looking for. It didn’t work. I became so desperate to show I could do it all I would oversell myself. Each rejection just drove me further into despair. I began to envy every minimum wage job earner I came across simply because they were drawing a check.

Then one day I began looking inward at my heart. I asked myself “What are your true gifts and what is it that you are passionate about?” Not only was the answer easy, it was one that others had been saying to me for years. I am a people pleaser. Yes, definitely in all the negative connotation ways that has of sometimes being easily taken advantage of, but also in the amazing ways of making total strangers smile with compliments and giving random hugs and getting the response “you don’t know how I needed that”. Yes dear, actually I do because I needed it too. But it was more than that. I love to hear people’s stories and I am inspired all the time by the resilience of human nature and encouraged by the strength I see in those who don’t even recognize it. My heart is also too often crushed by those I meet who have so much to offer, but have been beaten down by life and don’t know how to fight back.

So I began with getting my personal trainer certification and then lent myself to the path as it appeared and soon thereafter got my life coach certification as well as many others. Soon Mind and Body Coaching was born. Now every Monday is a gift because it means the rest of the world is back at work and I can again go out there and interact with them and have the opportunity to change lives. Every Monday is sort of like a New Years day in that it feels like a new beginning and a fresh start. So holidays excepted I get 52 fresh starts a year.

It’s natural that we all experience sort of a reverse bell curve effect with any goal. However, if you start the week miserable where can you go from there? Maybe it’s time to look at your life differently. Don’t wait for a catastrophic event like a job loss, divorce or death to open your eyes to the possibilities. Start figuring out your path, heart and true bliss right now before you have rushed weekend to weekend your entire life away.

In the second part of his interview, Lorne talks about PTSD, discovering giving back as a way to manage his stress as well as embracing alternatives to pharmaceuticals.  

https://youtu.be/5q7ge435RP8

Another Marine Hero steps up to tell his story. Hear Lorne tell what led him to join the Corps in the pre Gulf War days, how that decision was partly informed by being the child of an alcoholic parent, and his surprise at learning that the recruiting process and job placement isn't always as smooth as we anticipate.

https://youtu.be/WV-BdfSy6wA

Repurposed content from the Honestly Speaking/Honestly Dawn podcasts. Dr. Wang tells of growing up in communist China where no one was allowed to move from one city to another without the governments permission and how his mind and world view shifted completely upon coming to the US.

Repurposed content from the Honestly Speaking/Honestly Dawn podcasts. Hear Boris tell of his second near death experience where he wakes from a coma to learn he wasn't even supposed to live, much less walk again. And hear what seem like a surprising revelation about his attitude regarding the entire experience.