Veterans Advocacy Connection debut with readings and call-in

Are we going to play around this town? And let what I've been saying come true? Get off of me. I can get up if you want to understand me. I can get up if you really want to help me. I can get up. But in Jesus' name, I'm going to get up. If you get off of me, I can get up if you want to understand me. I can get up if you really want to help me. I can get up. But in Jesus' name, I'm going to get up. The people who are talking to me. Are we going to play around this town? And let what I've been saying come true? Good for nothing. They're all talking to me. I'm a figure. Just a boy who's grown. My shit was jiggered. Now we're going to stand for that. Oh, is that really worth a sight? I'm your brother. As I stand in your glory. I hope you're mine. And I'll tell the whole story. Part of your system. I know you think you've come a long way. I know you think you've come a long way. As I walk the street. As I say it wrong. You can see my hands ain't shaking. Darker than blue. By Willis and Shante. And Willis Boyd will be the special musical guest at the Veteran Day celebration. Tomorrow, Tuesday, November the 11th, 2014 at 1 o'clock. At the Lake Street Community Center. 227 North Lake Street. And that's near Beverly and Alvarado. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This week on the Coon Round Report, we will begin a monthly section of the Coon Round Report dealing with veteran resources, issues, and interviews. Entitled Veterans Advocacy Connection. Hosted by military veteran Irene Cruz and Teresa Thompson. And also in the latter part of our show, we will have a short reading from Wallace Terry's book, Bloods, about the African American experience in the Vietnam War. Read by professional actor Marvin Gaye. Welcome to the Coon Round Report. Yay. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson. Coming at you live from Skid Row Studios. And I'm in the studio with my co-host Earlene Anthony. Our call in number is 1-800-893-9562. So let's go around and introduce ourselves. Let's go. Let's go. Let's start on the scene. Right. Hi. My name is Irene Cruz. I'm a six-year Marine Corps veteran. And I'm very active in the veteran community with the American Legion. I'm also chair of my union's Veterans Caucus. And I'm Teresa Thompson, TT. And I'm working with the Veterans Resource Corps. And what we do is provide services to veterans. We help them to navigate the system to get the resources that they need, whether it's housing, employment, education benefits, DD-214, whatever it is, we try to help them to get that need fulfilled. And, oh, I'm an Air Force veteran of four years. Hi, I'm Mello Desire. I'm a filmmaker for inner-city youths, the incarcerated, and for veterans as well. And I have a special guest. So, I have media with me as well. Hi, I'm Hector Escobar. I'm part of Matrix Plus Media. And part-time, I'm a developer for Filipino American Service Group Incorporated that helps World War II veterans and transitional housing in the downtown district. Hi there. I'm Marvin Gaye, actor. I didn't have the honor of serving in the military, but my father did. And I want to thank all the veterans who have served. Cool. Thank you. Oh, I'm Earlene Anthony. I'm co-host. Okay. Now, let's move right into our newly monthly section, Veterans Advocacy Connection with Irene Cruz and Teresa Thompson. Thank you. I spent six years in the Marine Corps. I spent six years in the Marine Corps. I spent six years in the Marine Corps. I spent six years in the Marine Corps. Between 1984 and 1990, I was stationed here in Tustin, California. And I was in air traffic control communications tech. So I've been a veteran for about 24 years. And I joined the American Legion approximately about four years ago. And it is an opportunity. And it is an opportunity to assist other veterans who have been going through a difficult transition. And I think that having veterans work with veterans would be more effective because we can relate to some of the issues that they're dealing with. And so they hired all veterans to work with them. And so we're like veterans benefit counselors. We counsel them about the services that are available. And then we help them navigate their way through those services to get what they need. But it's housing, employment. It might be something simple as ordering a DD-214 or getting their ID. Down here on Skid Row, we have many people that don't have their ID. So we can help them get their ID. Thank you. It is a privilege. It is a privilege. It is a privilege. It is a privilege. So we're the Veterans Advocacy Connection. My name is Irene Cruz and we also have Teresa Thompson. We leave no veteran behind. Oh, because we want to connect you to the services you need. So we really want you to pay attention, listen to us and check us out and we'll be able to help you get the resources you may need. You can find us on Facebook under Veterans Advocacy Connection, as well as you can email us at veteransadvocacyconnection at gmail.com. So if you're listening right now, please go to Facebook and like our page. Okay, this is our first show. So you know, so we're working it out, you know, and one of the things we were discussing, Irene and I. Was what did we really want to focus on? What did we want to talk about? And the idea had come to us to have a guest, but we decided, let's talk about some of the studies that have been done for, regarding women veterans and the state of the American veteran. And this report that I have is the state of American veteran was a Los Angeles County veteran study through the USC School of Social Work. And they went about. Interviewing veterans and talking with them and having them to do the surveys. And they compiled this report, which they released at the end of September of this year. So this, we're going to talk about some of those issues because later on, as we continue to grow with our show, we're going to talk about some of those issues specifically. But today we want to give a general overview of what's happening. So with the. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. a wide range of needs that cannot be easily provided by a single organization. Thirdly, veteran support organizations are not organized to provide holistic support to current and returning veterans. And lastly, most veteran support organizations are focused on meeting acute and chronic needs of veterans such as homelessness, immediate or severe health issues, or acute or chronic unemployment. Very little attention is given to preventing these conditions or intervening early to prevent them from becoming chronic. And I think those last two are very key issues that we have come across, Theresa and I, in our working with veterans. We have found that some agencies won't assist veterans until, let's say for instance, you're behind in your rent and you just need some help catching up. But what they'll tell you is, you know, when you get an unlawful detainer or an eviction notice, then come back and see us. And so we always ask ourselves, why does it have to get to that point? So I'm very glad to hear that they have come to that conclusion as well. And, you know, in discussing the first one, I think it's important to note that many service members, and many service members leaving the military are not prepared for the transition. And that's because the military doesn't prepare them. It doesn't take the time. They've started some programs to give them a little bit more information, but many times you get out, you just supposed to just transition back naturally into the general community, but it doesn't always work like that. What they're seeing here, they have found that out, that most of them are not prepared for the transition. And that's an issue that the VA and community organizations have to deal with. How can we help them be better prepared? What are the needs to get them prepared? What's required to get them taken care of so when they transition from military, because today, my co-hosts and I, we went to a filming of a television show for all. And we had a woman who was a female veteran. And we had one of the female veterans that was talking about how assimilating back into society, that they were having a problem with that. But having the family support, she had been deployed several times, having the support of her family helped her to make that transition. And not all vets have that family support. Another veteran, she has served eight years. She said that she didn't understand, she really didn't know who she was and what her place was in society. Why? Because she had had that uniform. And she felt that when she went in that first day of basic training, she was no longer that person, but she said her name and then now U.S. Navy. And who she was before was gone. She became a Navy person. So when it got to that point where it's time for her to get out and she got out, it's like, okay, well, I don't have to go home. All right. go to work every day for the military. What am I to do? And who am I? And, you know, so that's one of the issues as part of the transitioning process. They did talk a lot about having to reinvent themselves. And I think something else that's not taken into consideration is that all vets don't necessarily go back home where they came from. A lot of them, they may go back for a little while, but like myself, I went back home for a little while, but then I came back out to California because this is where I was stationed. At the time, I still have friends here who were in. So I came back here, but I didn't have that family support group because all my family's on the East Coast. So those are things I think that need to be taken into account. And there needs to be better um, better work. I think there's a lot of work on getting the word out, especially now with social media and things like that. And I think the older generation needs to catch up. The younger generation, they're using their cell phones, they're on Facebook, they're on Twitter. And so I think more of that needs to be out there in those venues where the younger vets are and will find them. And I think that's a big part of it. And then on the second one, you said many military veterans have a wide range of needs that cannot be easily provided by a single organization. And that is so true in my work. Our organization can help you with certain things, but we have to generally refer you out to somebody else that handles that specific need. Say, for instance, if they want to upgrade of their discharge papers. Well, we have several options. We may have to send you to The Veterans Justice Center, because they have lawyers that can work with you and help you. And they might do it a different way than going straight to just applying for an upgrade. Then we also have the Los Angeles County Department of Military and Veteran Affairs that we can send you to. Because they have somebody on duty that does that, that does the upgrades. So if you're talking about ordering a DD-214, well, we can help you with that right away. To find out if you're eligible for the grant per diem program, guess what? You've got to go to the VA or talk to the liaison from the VA to find out if you're eligible for the grant per diem program. So when they found out that not one organization can handle all the needs, this is very true. Because just in what we're doing, because in housing, we can't handle the housing. We don't have housing. So we have to refer them out to another place. We have to refer them out to another place to get the housing. And it's just being organized and having the connections to those resources that can help people. That's very important. Medical help. A lot of veterans don't realize that they can apply for the VA help now. Okay? So we can supply that, but we can direct you to it. We can tell you about it. Like we've had people come up, well, I need some dental care. Does the VA offer dental care? Yes, they do. They offer that now. And at a very low cost, depending on what your needs are, you can get dental care. You can get medical care. When we went to the entrepreneur networking event last week, I got a chance to talk with a young lady that signs veterans up. And it's based on their income from medical help. If they don't have Medicare or Medi-Cal or any other type of medical care, they don't have to be without it. She said, just have them to call me. Or you call me, and I can do it over the phone and find out if they're eligible based on their income. But a lot of vets don't know that. So having the various organizations is necessary where we can get the veteran to the help that he needs. Thank you, Teresa. And that's exactly why we started the Veterans Advocacy Connection, so that we can connect our veterans to the resources they need. The study that we just talked about, the state of the... Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. women veterans survey that was done in 2011 and their key findings were many women veterans are unaware of state and federal services and benefits. Women veterans need help finding employment when they separate from the service and women veterans want services geared toward their unique needs including women-specific health care and help with military sexual trauma. Now I read that to say this one was done in 2011 and the state of the American veteran was done in 2014 and their findings are very similar. So I think we have a lot of work to do in order to get those veterans connected to the resources that they need and get the word out there. So again that's why we're here. Yeah and reading the findings from the state of the American veterans is over two-thirds of today's veterans reported difficulties adjusting to civilian life and reported that they do not know where to go or who to connect to to get help. That's the number one finding that they found out and that is so true because a lot of veterans other than the VA that's all they know is the VA and they don't want to go there. You know they've been turned off by the long lines, the waiting, the apathy towards them so they don't want to go to the VA. So this this is a good finding and then what you were talking about with the job it says nearly eight in ten service members leave the military without a job. Eight in ten leave without a job expecting to quickly find meaningful employment because they haven't been briefed. They don't know what to expect in the employment world. And they come out oh you know I got all this training I've been in eight years I've done this oh won't be no problem finding a job and unless they started preparing beforehand they are a little lost you know because the military hasn't prepared them and told them what's actually happening. If you've been doing a job for eight years or ten years and you get out there and you find out it's not that easy in today's society to get a job maybe at one time it was you know you can get a job real quick get a job at the post office you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is so important is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is for that job, but they don't know that. You know, I didn't know a lot of these resources were available until I started doing this job. It's like, oh, wow. Oh, okay. I find out daily, you know, about some new place where I can send a veteran to get the help that they need. Speaking about getting a job when you get out, I'll speak personally. I was an air traffic control communications tech in the military. So I worked on radios and radars and did micro miniature component repair. I was sure that I could get a job when I got out, right? Uncle Sam trained me, spent all this money training me. And when I got out, I tried to get a job in electronics. My barrier was terminology. The terminology we, used in the military was a lot different from the terminology in civilian life. The other obstacle was that the equipment that we worked on in the military was 10 years ahead of what is out here in the civilian world. So we were using like now all the phones have touchscreens and things like that. We were doing that in the 80s. And, you know, so, it was very hard to get a job in the electrical field for me because they would ask me a question and I had no idea what they were talking about. And when I would go and look it up and I'm like, Well, why didn't they just say that? So I ended up... By chance, I consider myself kind of lucky. I couch surfed for four months until I found a job. A friend that was a veteran brought me an application from McDonnell Douglas and they were hiring. And I went to work for them as a structural mechanic building airplanes. So I sympathize and I understand, especially if you're in a technical field in the military. So why are you preparing for a job? Because you should be able to get one. You have all these training. You have all these skills. And you can do all these things with little or nothing. And so I think coming out into civilian world is basically a culture shock. You don't understand why you can't get a job because at one point you're considered a hero. Right? And then when you get in the civilian world, people are looking at you like you're a zero. You know? And so it's that bridge. And that on your self-esteem, on your self-respect, it's hard. So I understand some of the issues and difficulties that veterans say that go through. It's almost like where they say like cancer is the silent killer. Which is why we have 22 veterans. We have 22 veterans a day committing suicide. More have committed suicide than have actually died in the actual war. And then, you know, people don't understand that. And it's because being a veteran, it's hard. It's difficult for you to come to ask for help. And when you do, you need it now. We're not used to going to ask for assistance. And somebody says, oh, we'll come back next week. And it's like, well, wait a minute. I'm homeless. What am I supposed to do until then? And you're telling me to come back next week. And then next week, all I get is a bus pass. You know? So I'm glad they have got these findings. But boots on the ground, as we call it in the military, which is us, veterans, we have to take care of each other. Mm-hmm. So I always... I always ask those who can help those who can't. Mm-hmm. And you brought up homelessness. And one of the fourth findings said many veterans have unstable living arrangements yet do not meet the Department of Housing and Urban Development definition of homelessness. And that's dear to my heart because I've had to deal with clients. In fact, one of my coworkers has been homeless. He served 10 years. But he's been homeless off and on over the past. Five years. He went to this place and this place. Yet when he applied for VASH, they were denying him because they were saying he wasn't chronically homeless. Well, why not? He was chronically homeless. But you know what I found out, Irene, was that it has to do with the interpretation of who's doing the paperwork. So one person said he wasn't eligible because he went from one Grandpa Dan program out there in Inglewood. He went to 1L. He went to West LA. Then he went somewhere else. Now, with times in between where he was homeless or living in his car. And they were saying, oh, you're not chronically homeless. That was one person's interpretation of the guidelines. But then another person, when they open up some of the housing down here, he was found eligible for it. And it caused him a lot of stress. He was getting very stressful and had attitude. He was angry. And this angry was coming. He was going out because of the fact they were denying him. And all he wanted was permanent housing. And they kept denying him. You know, when you have when you're couch surfing, like what you mentioned. Oh, no, you're not eligible for VASH. Why? Well, you got some place to stay. But you're sleeping on this person's couch. You go over here. You sleep in this person's couch. You sleep on the floor over here. But they don't consider you chronically homeless because of the fact you do have a place to stay. And this is something that we have to, you know, keep bringing up and ask for some changes. And, you know, we have to get through this. You know, we have to get through this. You know, advocate for that. Because if a person doesn't have their own key to their own place, they really should be considered homeless. If you're living in your car, you're living in somebody's house, couch surfing here, you know, your cousin, your friend, your whatever. It means you need help. And that's where we're having the frustration coming with veterans. Especially, okay, you can't get, can't find a job, can't get ready to look for a job because I have found. I got to get you in housing, stable housing first. Once I get you in that, then I can help you find the job. And that housing, the homelessness definition, I'm seeing, hearing too many interpretations of it. And that's something that we'll be dealing with later on, too. So these are some of the topics that we are going to discuss over the course of the Veterans Advocacy Connection. But right now, we'd like to turn it back over to our host, Melvin Johnson. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I mean, excellent start. Excellent start. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Irene Cruz, Theresa Thompson, Veterans Advocacy Connection. I know it's going to be a great show. I know it's needed. Let's take a break for our community calendar. And then we'll come back with a reading from the book, Bloods, read by Marvin Gaye. And also open up the discussion to a roundtable. Okay. This is the community calendar for upcoming events. This Tuesday, November 11, 2014, is Veterans Day. And at 1 p.m., the Full Scope Veterans Project will be celebrating by presenting special musical guest Willis Boyd, special guest speakers, veteran Irene Cruz, veteran Lydia Nahal, and veteran Theresa Thompson. MC for the event will be Greg Sheffield. The event will be Greg Sheffield and Melvin Ishmael Johnson. Refreshments will be served. The location will be the Lake Street Community Center, 227 North Lake Street, Los Angeles 921. This is near the corner of Beverly and Alvarado. There is free parking and all are invited to attend. For contact information, you can call 213-479-1764. Saturday, November 15, 2014. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The third annual downtown Los Angeles stand down, which is for military veterans. And some of the services offered will be free breakfast and lunch, medical exam, housing and shelter, clothes, counseling, entertainment, and much, much more. The location of this stand down is the Vortex, 2341. And the location of this stand down is the Lake Street Community Center, 227 North Lake Street, Los Angeles 921. The location of this stand down is the Vortex, 2341 East Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. And this is near the corner of Olympic and Santa Fe. For more information about the stand down or to preregister, please contact the Veterans Project at 310-478-3711 or 626-730-1230. The Roby Theatre Company presents The Magnificent Dome of the United States. The Magnificent Don Bar. A stage play written by Levely Simon and directed by Ben Guillory. Opening night will be Saturday, November 22, 2014 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. And the center is located at 514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles. This play is about the 30s and 40s on Central Avenue in Los Angeles. The Dome is a! The Dome is a! that you would like announced on our show, send the information to dramastage1 at yahoo.com Attention, Earlene Anthony. And the call-in number for the show is 800-893-9562. Now, back to our host. Okay, thank you, Ms. Earlene Anthony. Now, at this point in our show, I would like to turn it over to the actor Marvin Gaye, who will be reading from the book Bloods by Wallace Terry about the African-American experiences in Vietnam. He'll be reading the part of Sergeant Major Edward A. Huff from Glaston, Alabama. When I retired, I had been Sergeant Major longer than anyone on duty at the time in all the services. I was a senior enlisted man in the whole United States Armed Forces. I could look back to becoming the first black Sergeant Major in the Marine Corps, serving 19 years and being Sergeant Major to General Cushman three times, including Vietnam, when it was the largest Marine force ever assembled. After I made Sergeant Major, it was 12 years before the Marines made another black one. That's a long way to come for a boy who'd come into the Marines so poor he had just a quarter in his pocket, had pasteboard in his shoes to cover the holes, and one pair of drawers with a knot. Tied in a damn seat to keep them from flapping around like a dress. I was six when Daddy died. And it was just me and Mama. He was gassed while serving in Europe in World War II. I think he never got over the effects. Mama made $3 a week working for white folks, and I used to rake coke from the white people's ashes they threw away so we could get some heat in the fireplace. But when I got to be 12, Mama wanted me to have a gun. And learn how to shoot, because Daddy was a soldier boy. So she took in washing for 50 cents a week until she got enough money to buy this gun. It was a single barrel .22. When I was 15, Mama got sick and needed an operation, so I dropped out of school. I guess it was the eighth grade. Went to work at the Republic Steel. By 1942, I was making $1.40 a day and was the first black man to ever operate an overhead crane at the steel company. I was still walking four miles to work, though. Well, one morning this white man, Mr. Wilcox, who was going to relieve me, had this newspaper. And he showed me a story. Ed, he said, here's a new thing starting. If a Negro is qualified, he can join the Marines. That's the greatest outfit that's ever been. I was a Marine, and if you joined the Marines, you were a Marine. You were a Marine. You were a Marine. If you joined the Marines, you'd go places. It will take nothing but a lot of hard work, and you'd do what you're told. I heard the Marines were the toughest outfit in the world, and I knew they couldn't be any tougher than what I was going through, so I decided to join. Mama said, son, I don't want you to go into the service, but it was your father's wish. He wanted a soldier boy and a Red Cross girl. So I walked down to the post office at 6th and Broad. I was a little scared, but I was a little scared. I was a little scared, but I was a little scared. I was a little scared, but I was a little scared. But the Marine recruiter wasn't there. I asked the Army recruiter when he'd be back. I asked the Army recruiter when he'd be back. This Army sergeant said, ain't no niggers in the Marine Corps, but we got them in the Army. Come on, let me sign you up. It was a common thing in those days for a white man to talk to you any way he wanted to. to talk to you any way he wanted to. He'd call you a nigger. It's like, hello, James. Hello, Ed. Wasn't no big thing. And besides, I looked good to him. I saw the Marine recruiter the next day, and he didn't talk like this Army sergeant. He said, boy, can you read? He said, boy, can you read? I said, yes, sir. What does that sign say? Walk on in? Well, come on in. Well, I passed the written test, but I needed $1.80 to get to the bus to Birmingham and back for the physical examination. to get to the bus to Birmingham and back for the physical examination. I had 7 cents. Mama had 13 cents. Well, Mr. Wilcox loaned me $2, and I paid him back on my first payday in the Marine Corps. They notified me on June 26, 1942 that I was going into the Marine Corps, one of the first 50 blacks to get accepted. one of the first 50 blacks to get accepted. In September, I got my papers, my orders, and train tickets to report to duty in North Carolina. to report to duty in North Carolina. I put on my Big Apple hat, my Triple E shoes, my Peg pants and zoot suit, went down to the railhead. It was the first time I ever left home. Of course, I had never been on a train in my life. of course, I had never been on a train in my life. When I got to North Carolina, I felt like a foreigner. It was the first time I ever talked to anybody that wasn't from Alabama. We got trained at Montfort Point next to Camp Lejeune. We had a completely Negro Marine Corps. We had our own barracks, We had our own barracks, our own infantry, our own tanks, our own guns. Couldn't have been more segregated. Of course, the officers was white. In December, I had just finished boot camp In December, I had just finished boot camp when Colonel Woods called me and got a telegram, your mother's real sick. They want you to come home at once. See, I don't have a brother or sister or nobody, just my mother and myself. I said, I can't. I don't have no money to go home. We wasn't getting but $30 a month and I had an allotment made out to my mother. and I had an allotment made out to my mother. He said, I tell you what, I'm going to give you $15 so you can go home to see your mama. I said, yes sir. You don't ask him no questions. You do what the hell you're told. And he gave me a furlough. So I got on the bus and went and pulled into Atlanta. I got off and went into the station. It was two Marine MPs. They walked up to me. One said, hey boy, come here. I started out with my little bag. What you doing with that uniform on? I said, I'm a Marine. They say, there ain't no damn nigger Marines. You going to jail. I give them my furlough papers. They tore them up right in my damn face. Said I was impersonating a Marine. They started to turn me loose. Say, you go in there and pull that damn uniform off. You ain't got no clothes to wear. You go to the relief. I say, I'm not impersonating a Marine. I am a Marine. You're going to get it. They took me down to the jail and had me locked up. One night a Marine captain came in to get some white Marines who'd been locked up for being drunk. I knew a captain when I see a captain. So I asked him to get me out too. I ain't no nigger Marines. We heard about you. I was there 23rd to 24th. I was there 23rd to 24th. And they took us out to pick up the trash and the garbage. And there I was in jail on my first Christmas in the Marine Corps. When the Navy chaplain came in for Christmas prayers, he wouldn't even talk to me. Finally a Marine major came in. It must have been the 28th. And I convinced him to call Colonel Woods, even though he thought I was making up a bunch of lies. He didn't know about Montford Point, but being as it was a brand new camp, Colonel Woods told the major to get me out now and he told me to go home and don't worry about any papers. Colonel Woods is dead now. But I got his picture. Colonel Samuel S. Woods Jr. The first commanding officer ever commanded black Marines. Well, I went from private to first sergeant in just 23 months and became the sergeant in charge of training all the black Marines. When we shipped out to the Pacific, we moved supplies to the fighting units that were all white. After that, I took the first black unit into Shenzhen, and I was the first step on Chinese soil. In Korea, I fought in a weapons company, which of course was integrated by then. But over the years, I was so unhappy sometimes in the Marine Corps, I didn't know what to do. If there's ever a man should be prejudiced as far as the white man is concerned, I should be. Because some of these officers kicked me every what way but loose. But I never let any of these things make me prejudiced right back. Especially in combat. Especially in Vietnam. I am the sergeant major. I take care of all my men, black and white. Now when the Tet Offensive broke out in January of 1968, I was sergeant major of the first military police battalion in Da Nang. At the time, our headquarters was right across the main airstrip. Well, the rebels was trying to get the headquarters of these Vietnam Marines and they made a great breakthrough down on River Road. So we had this blocking force right between the general's headquarters and the rebels. Colonel and I was in the bunker at the time. The fighting was going on about an hour and we figured everything was going pretty smooth because we had radio contact and everything. Then Kenny called in. He said, send help, send help. I thought to myself, that's not the way Kenny calls. He said, the whole area is moving. The whole area is moving. Send help, send help. They got us surrounded. Then he said, help, this is my last transmission. And it was just like a breath was rolling out. And that was his last transmission. And I told the colonel, let's go. At the time I carried a shotgun, a pistol, and a grenade launcher and two bandolas also. And when we got to the scene, you never saw a firefighter more horrifying than all your life. The boys were in a spot as hard as it could be, but they was holding it. And I looked up and the best radio operator you ever saw, name was Rick, was hit and pinned down out there maybe 50 yards. They saw him out there in the field and they were trying to finish him off. They were shooting with automatic fire, you know. And every time Rick would move a little, they would fire out after him. They were just trying to finish him off. Rick was hollering, mother, mother! I couldn't stand it no more. I just couldn't stand it no more. I started out and the colonel said, no, no, just wait, just wait. I said, sorry, colonel. This wasn't a black boy. He was a white boy. I knew I might get killed saving a white boy, but he was my man. That's what mattered. And I took off. Ran through an open field. They was firing from a free line. And I got maybe 20 yards and I got hit by a helmet. And it spinned me around and knocked me down. And I got up and started again. And another round hit on the side of the helmet and knocked me down again. And I started crawling. And it seemed like round after round kicking all the dirt up around me. And I jumped up then and I started running. And I got to him. Then they opened up everything they had right there into that position. And I fell on top of him to keep him from getting hit again. I took my flak jacket all into pieces. And it got me in the shoulder and the arm. Then our people opened up all they had. And the colonel started moving back. And the colonel came out to help me with the stretcher to bring Rick back. And then I went back and I found Kenny. Kenny was killed. He was still holding the transmitter in his hand. They gave me the bronze star for pulling Rick out. And Rick wrote me this letter. And I said, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It says, Sergeant Major, I thank you for my life. Hell, he was one of my men. Black or white. I would have done the same even if I got shot to hell in the process. And I was 48 at the time. That boy couldn't have been much more than 21. Wow. Wow. All in peace. All in peace, a great reading, a great act. Now, you were in the Paul Robeson Festival, were you in Miss Pauline? Yes, yes. The one directed by Duane Perry? That's right, yeah. Yeah, great, great piece, great director over at the Robey Theatre Company, and that was an excellent piece, woo, powerful, the early history of the Marines. As a Marine Corps veteran, I thank you. Great piece. And today is the Marine Corps birthday, actually. Thank you. Okay, let's open it up for some comments. We still got a little time. Let's start over here and just talk about what we heard. And, you know, when I be thinking about it, I get a little embarrassed for being a Marine and think about the early African-American Marines and what they had to go through just to serve the country. Right, and that was true. Like you said, Montfort Point was where the Marines were trained by themselves. Well, the African-American Marines were trained by themselves. They wouldn't let them train at Lejeune. And even actually the Marine Corps was the last branch of the service to integrate. And that had a lot to do with Eleanor Roosevelt. She made that happen. But it brings back, like most of my family is from the South, so it brings back all of those memories of segregation and things like that, the racism. And, you know. I think we got a call on the line. Who am I speaking with? Hello, who am I speaking with? Hi, this is Dale Clough. Hey, Dale, how you doing? You're the one that is dealing with the products for veterans, dealing with pain and all that kind of stuff? Yes, sir, that's correct. Yeah, okay. We have. We have some veterans sitting in here, some outstanding guests. Would you like to make a comment or tell us about your product? Yes, I just been listening to the show and I've really enjoyed what you've been saying. And my heart goes out to all the veterans and everything that they go through. We have a product that is a topical pain relief gel. And we have worked with many of the veterans. We have a product that is a topical pain relief gel. Many of the veterans in the area, I'm on the East Coast, and we are working to try to get this in through the veterans organization or we are working to try to have a program to where we can have it available through some of the stores to where we can have the veterans to show a card identification of some type to where they can get the product at no charge. Mm-hmm. We are building a foundation right now, and it is called painkeyfoundation.org. We are trying to raise some money so that we can have this product paid for so that we can get it in the hands of our military at no charge. You're located in Atlanta, Georgia? Where are you located at? Yes, I'm just a suburb of Atlanta, a little south of the airport. Let me see if my guests, Teresa, Irene, Ms. Malena, have questions for Dale. Well, I'd like to actually hear more about this, as I am a firm believer in holistic products and an alternative to prescription medication. That's what our goal is, is to get this in the hands so that it can be used in the hands of our military. It can be used in place of prescription medication. One example, I had a fellow come into my office one day who had just recently had knee replacement, and he had come directly from his first day of physical therapy, and he was in such pain. He came into my office, and we did the business that we needed to in the office, and then he got to talking about what was happening with him, and the doctor had given him a prescription for OxyContin, and he was in such pain. He said he did not want to take it. He was afraid of it. He was afraid he would have problems with it, and he just didn't want to do it. So I offered him this product to try it. It's topical gel consistency, and he used it on his knees, and he walked around my office, and he came back, and he put a little bit more on. He walked around again. He was doing deep knee bends in my office before he left. He took the prescription. He tore it up into little pieces. He said, I don't need this. I knew I didn't need it. I don't want it. And he calls me periodically for a jar of gel. Now, go ahead. It just does my heart good to see that we do have a product that does help. And my testimony on it quickly is that I was in a car wreck in 2006, and I used everything that I could find. I didn't want to take pain medication, so I was using topical things. I did take Aleve, and I did take ibuprofen, but I was taking two Aleve every day and three ibuprofen at a time, three or four times a day, and it still did not relieve my pain. But I found this product, and it's called painrelief.cc. And I found it, and once I used it, I saw the results that I got. I got from it after suffering for six years, and that was in 2012. And I went to the fellow that developed it, who is also local here with me, and I told him that I wanted to help him market this. Now, Dale, can you give us your contact information so our listening audience can find out more about the product? How can they find out more about it? Yes. The foundation is painrelief.cc. Yes. Painkeyfoundation.org. And that's where you can go to make donations to help raise funds. Is that P-A-I-N-K-E-Y? Yes. Correct. P-A-I-N-K-E-Y foundation.org. Okay. And then if anyone wants to just order the product to get the product, you can go to my site, which is basically just a shopping cart, and it's compassion312.com. Mm-hmm. Now, thank you very much, Dale. Your last name is Klaus? Klaus, spelled with a K. K-L-A-U-S-S. Yeah. You know the famous Jethro Klaus that rode back to Eaton. Yes. You related to him? No. His is actually spelled Klaus. It's K-L-O-S-S. Oh, right. Yeah, very close, very similar. Yes, I've read his books and love that book. Mm-hmm. But once I found this product, though, there's just nothing else out there like it, and I see so many different things that it will do. Basically, it works from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. Oh, okay. You cannot use it too much. And what we want to do is just get it into the hands of the military. Now you know how it works. There's families that can help them out, that they can call and they can go in and make donations. Okay. To the foundation to help to get this rolling so that we can get it into the hands of the military at no charge. All right, thank you. That's what our goal is. Thank you very much for calling in. Thank you so much. Yeah, that sounds interesting. That was very interesting. We have a chance to follow up on that. I will. We'll follow up with that. Let's go around for some closing comments, maybe about 30 seconds of peace. We're winding down. Let's start over and just roll around. Well, I wanted to know quickly, what solution do you think can rectify women who come out and don't identify with their old self or with their previous self, being in the military for so long? I think a big part of that is they need to... Like we said, we need to reach out more on social media and things like that. And so they can find other women veterans who are meeting. Like I held a monthly roundtable for women veterans on the second Saturday of the month. Where is that held? It's held at 1545 Wilshire Boulevard from 1230 to 3 on second Saturday of the month. And we come and we talk about different issues. And... It is... It is... It is... It is... It is... number of people that are in the United States. Veterans are just a small portion. So when you're on base and you're in the active military, it seems like there's a lot of veterans. But once you come out in the community, you don't know where to find them because they're not in uniform anymore. Okay. And it's a great start for your monthly program. We'll be waiting when you can lay this program out on a weekly basis because this is a very important program as far as veterans are concerned. I'm going to just say something real quick. I want to remind the veterans out there, tomorrow is Freebies Day, a free meal. You can start off at Denny's, go to Applebee's, and so many places, Starbucks, California Pizza, go get you some coffee at Starbucks. There's a lot of free places, and you can find it online also. Just look for Freebies for Veterans for 2014, and you'll find out all the restaurants you can go and get a free meal. What about veterans, relatives for veterans? Let's get a quick comment, and then we'll get a quick comment from you, and then we'll go to Marvin. This was a great discussion because I learned that we have to ask the right questions and why and how we have to serve our veterans coming over. So I really do appreciate it. Thank you. Call us your name again. This is Hector Escobar. Okay. Marvin, you got the last comment. Just a quickie. As we eat, make sure that our food is our medicine. I like that. Okay. I would like to extend a special thanks. I mean, that was a powerful, powerful piece. I know everybody over the road would be proud of you for reading that piece. Thank you for the opportunity to do it. It's a blessing. So we got Irene Cruz. Lisa Thompson. Marvin Gaye. And Dale Klaus on the line. Miss Mello over there. Excuse me. Once again. Hector Escobar from Matrix Blitz Media. Mm-hmm. And I would like to spend this. Now, thank you for tuning in to the Coon Round Report. From your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson, and my co-host, Earlene Anthony, may the peace and blessings of the life-giving, creative spirit, be upon you and on your family... Leave you with a song that opened the show... It's called... It's called... I'm gonna let it come true. If you get off me, I'll get up if you wanna understand me. I'll get up if you really wanna help me. I'll get up, run to Jesus, man. I'm gonna get up if you get off me. I'll get up if you wanna understand me. I'll get up if you really wanna help me. I'll get up, run to Jesus, man. I'm gonna get up.