Time Summary:
00:30 introduction; date and place of birth, branch of service and rank
1:05 early life and family military history
3:10 reasons for enlisting in U.S. Navy
5:21 4-year enlistment as hospital corpsman; resisted 6-year enlistment
6:30 attended boot camp in San Diego; played in Navy band
8:30 trained at Naval Hospital in San Diego; chose specialty in Labor and Delivery; lived nonmilitary lifestyle
13:30 developed drug use problems
16:35 Marine boot camp at Camp Pendleton was challenging; learned navigation and leadership skills
19:06 brother died during Marine training
22:50 assigned to Okinawa; received exceptional medical training
25:57 enjoyed field training in jungle with Marines; practiced field medicine
28:00 recreation on Okinawa included diving and exploring; gave up drugs
29:00 volunteered for Valiant Thunder deployment to Korea, Thailand, Japan, Philippines
32:54 called mother prior to going to Persian Gulf and mother informed him that U.S. was at war
34:30 a high tension boat ride from the Philippines to the Persian Gulf; two typhoons and a news shutdown
39:00 arriving Marines farmed out to different battalions; stationed at the Marine hospital in Al Jabail, Saudi Arabia; set up field hospitals during Desert Shield; worked with French, British and Saudis; felt insulated and received vague intelligence
45:50 a story about Thanksgiving turkey and Saudi body parts together in a freezer
47:00 assigned to New Year’s guard duty in violation of Geneva Convention; 6-hour rotations included filling sandbags in blazing heat
50:00 local flavor and customs; met many men named “Mohammed,” ate spicy food, and loved exploring country and seeing camels roam
51:50 Gulf War began; soldiers came to hospital for respite
52:50 contact with home from Saudi Arabia
55:00 symptoms of PTSD appeared 24-years after service; submitted disability claim with VA; has experienced a good quality of care
1:02:00 memories of the 100-hour war in Kuwait: little intel, on front line until Army infantry arrived; SCUDs, burn victims and casualties, POWs, days of filling and emptying sandbags, harassment by Saudi religious police
1:08:00 flew to Okinawa at end of the war via Belgium and Alaska in donated airspace; returned to States and a good reception, had 30 days leave in States before leaving military
1:14:00 transition from military: ambition to work in ambulances did not work out; began work as rock and roll concert stage electrician from 1991-1999 in San Diego
1:15:00 met wife in 1991; wife died from ovarian cancer in 1994, grief over personal loss mixed in with PTSD
1:18:00 had fun careers following military service; worked as an audiovisual technician and diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
1:23:00 enrolled in Waldorf teacher training in Oregon; began working at Camp Hill in Soquel, CA with special needs adults, worked at Easter Seals
1:28:00 moving to Virginia with fiancé to begin new life; will use available military benefits to help
1:30:45 how service positively and negatively affected his life: GI Bill provided opportunity to learn new skills, has utilized medical knowledge, has long-term medical issues due to toxic exposures; meets criteria for Gulf War Illness
1:40:00 how service changed his thinking about military and war: thinks women in combat is disruptive in field, thinks experimenting medically on young soldiers is not taken seriously enough, is cynical about military news reporting
1:45:00 advice for future generations: tough military training has purpose, no single answer to question regarding joining military; he would make the same decision twice; important to “do something powerful” with one’s life