Memorial Day, homeless vets, and Positive Perspective

Are we going to play around this town And let what I've been saying come true Do 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, run in Jesus' name I'm gonna 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, run in Jesus' name I'm gonna 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 all figure Just a boyish grown machine Shit is a jigger Now we gonna stand for that Oh yes I really will decide I'll be brother As you stand in your glory I hope you don't mind If I tell a whole story Pardon me sister I know you think you've come a long way I know you think you've come a long way As I walk the streets of Skid Row You can see my hands Ain't shaking but my legs ain't tripping me I turn the corner and keep up the trash Look up at the street sign It says San Julian Look back down and make eye contact with his brother And now I'm feeling like I'm standing somewhere I shouldn't be He looks around a thousand of his friends That raised their crackpots to the lips And his is almost cleaning sleep Telling me yeah I'm getting high I'm feeling good And sister don't you knock it till you try And now I'm standing here with visions of crooked politicians And Michigan records lining their greedy pockets So think it's a joke And folks are living low from social injustice And we've noticed now how we're falling for the lies We can get up, stand up We're all you want We're all you want We're all you want We're all you want We're all you want Welcome to the Qumran Report 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, St. Louis, New York. I'll call in numbers 800-893-9562. You can listen to us live or download our show in any past show by Googling in Qumran Report. Now this week on the Qumran Report, we will talk about Memorial Day and homeless veterans with Chaplain Buddy, who is a former Marine, not former Marine, he's still a Marine. And then at the latter part of our show, we will have here our monthly section entitled Positive Perspective, hosted by Willis Board and Shante Duncan. And we also have with us in the studio, Rose Hughes. So welcome to the Qumran Report. Hey, hey, hey, how you doing? Thanks for having us. All right, let's do it. Now, before we get into our interview with Chaplain Buddy, my co-hosts Earlene Anthony and myself, we're going to read some information about Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the men and women who died while serving in the country's armed forces. The holiday, which is celebrated every year on the last Monday of May, was formerly known as Decoration Day and originated after the American Civil War, which was a time of great concern to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the war. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who had died while in the military services. It's typically marked the start of summer vacation season while Labor Day marks its end. Now, a fact that you should probably know is that African Americans are the reason that Memorial Day exists in the first place. According to Professor Daniel D. D. D. D., who is a professor at the University of Michigan, the event began on May 1st, 1865, where a group of former slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, gave a proper burial to 257 Union soldiers who had been put into a mass grave. The black community of Charleston then consecrated the new cemetery, which is now the Memorial Day Cemetery, with an unforgettable parade of 10,000 people. The event was initially called Decoration Day and was led by 3,000 black school children who started off by singing the song, John Brown's Body. They were then followed by hundreds of black women with baskets of flowers and crosses. After that, black men marched behind the cadence followed by Union infantry.growngrowngrowngrowngrowngrowngrowngrowngrowngrowngrown All football teams joined the Naval Reserve, okay? And then the next thing you know, the Navy, of course, the Marines are part of the Navy. And you know why God invented the Navy, don't you? Oh, why? Because Marines got tired of walking on water. Okay. So, anyway, the next thing I know, there are actually... Go ahead. So the next thing I know, the Korean War breaks out. And then so I'm called into the reserves. I'm in the reserves. And so I go down there and they come down the line. And I look like I'm 13 years old, although at the time I'm really 19. And so they say, well, this kid's going to go to boot camp. And the other one said, no, no, look at his grades. He gets to be an officer. I thought, oh, boy, I get to be an officer. They backed up and said, this kid knows machine guns. He's combat ready. I'm the only Marine to my knowledge that never went to boot camp. Within a month, I was on the front lines fighting Chinese. Now, what I was going to do, I was never going to pull a trigger. Because I just didn't believe in killing people. There I was. The next thing I know, a guy gets wounded. I see blood. Well, I start pulling triggers. To make a long story short, by the time I get to that, I was ready for discharge. At that time, they would discharge you after a year. You'd go home after a year of combat. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. rocket launcher and he came there and then he commandeered a flamethrower. I got up there and I pointed to the rocket guy and I said throw in three rockets. He says I got no rockets. I said why did you come? He says because you're a sergeant you gave me an order. So I turned to the flamethrower I said juice it up. He says I got no juice. Why? You gave me an order. So anyway make a long story short my men were trapped and so forth so I got in there and started throwing grenades getting off the trap but a Chinese guy was smarter than me rolled a grenade at my feet it exploded and caught me in the chest arm throat and leg and go to the hospital they put me in a body bag and they had mesh tents but I got my finger out and I'm waving. The Catholic chaplain says got a live one here. So to make a long story short they said I'd never talk again because I was hitting the throat. Well obviously because of prayer and a lot of friends I begin to whisper after three years. And then now I can yell if I want to. Praise the Lord. That's wonderful. So you grew up out here in California? Was that in California? No I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. Naptown. Naptown and the slums of Indianapolis and the boxing clubs where I was telling them that where I learned to lie, cheat and steal and so our folks knew that we're if we stayed there we were all going to be killed or die. So they moved us out into the country. So that's how I got from Indianapolis to here. So I moved to Indianapolis out into the country and so I had the best of two worlds. I had the city and I had the country. So that's why I get along with country folks or city slickers. Now when did you become a chaplain? How did that come about? Well you know people ask me that to say how could you be a sergeant and how did you get to be a chaplain? Well when I was in graduate school during the Vietnam War they sent a letter around from the chaplain general and he says you know Sergeant Clark if you waive your disability, you ain't gonna get away.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\ I trained at the Indianapolis hospital, the insane asylum. I trained at boys schools. I trained at prison facilities. Name almost anything, I've been a chaplain there. I'm currently a chaplain for an evac, emergency volunteer air corps, and a retired chaplain for the civil air patrol. And then I was a former chaplain for the, not the Venice, but for the Wilshire Christian Church chaplain and consultant there. We sold our church. So now my ministry is in Venice and my ministry is on Skid Row. Wonderful. Now, what are your thoughts on the situation that's in the news? You know, the situation in Phoenix with these veterans who've been dying because of the delay in the service at the VA? Well, you know, it used to be that way at the VA here in Los Angeles. But now they're really working it up well. But some VAs are different than other VAs. And as far as I know the records, this is what I read. What you read may or may not be the truth, but apparently what they were doing, they were putting veterans way back and not getting to them for well over a year. And they could have come to them sooner. And then they were cooking the books, saying they saw them when they didn't. So the problem really exists in not seeing vets at certain places. Now, the VA at Los Angeles, they're super. In fact, I go in the fifth to get my eye operated on. Okay? And they'll do a good job, a really good job. Different VAs. But the problem now that's existing with the VA properties in other areas is that they're cooking the books, saying they're doing things they're not doing with vets. So it's a lot of bureaucracy. Absolutely. That's what's happening with it. Absolutely. Okay. Look, I like to play, because I'm a veteran myself, Marines. Really? Yeah, 69 and 71. And I would like to play a clip from two of my brothers who were veterans also in the Air Force. Now, this week on the Coon Round Report, we are celebrating our veterans on this Veterans Day, Tuesday, November the 11th, 2013. I am a veteran, U.S. Marines, 1969 to 71. And I come from a family of veterans. Out of a family of seven males and two females, six of us are veterans. Six of us served in the military. Two in the Air Force, three in the Army, and I served in the Marines. And we have on the line two of my brothers that served in the Air Force. Rashad Wali Muhammad, coming at us from Las Vegas, Nevada, and Reverend Freddie Johnson, coming at us from Memphis, Tennessee. Rashad, Fred, welcome to the Coon Round Report. Hey, I'd like to greet you brothers with a greeting of peace and love. Peace be upon you. Thank you so much. Coming out of Memphis is Freddie. Yeah, let's start with Reverend Freddie Johnson. Can you tell our listening audience what branch you was in and what years you were in? United States Air Force, September 64 to April 69. Uh-huh. And now, let me ask you this, Fred. What advice would you give these young veterans coming out of these war zones? And trying to adjust back to society? Well, first of all, I'd like to say thanks for their service. And in order to adjust back to society, you have to come back to society. And what I'm saying is, when you come back to society, apply, make sure you do this. Apply for your benefits. And you might not get them right away, but don't give up on them. If they're denied or anything like that, keep applying. Because the military will offer you the opportunity to appeal any decision that they might make in your behalf. I was in March 69 to September 73. Uh-huh. Now, what advice would you give these young veterans coming out of these war zones trying to adjust back to society? Well, the first thing they got to realize that when they come out to war zones, that they have been in a place that they would never thought they was going to be in the first place. And they have been changed from the person they was when they went in there or when they come out. Many of them are mental ill. And many of them just have to keep going what Fred was saying, you know, make sure you file for your benefits and everything. Uh-huh. And also, veterans got to stop depending on the government all the time because veterans got to help veterans. Uh-huh. Veterans that are getting benefits should be helping veterans that do not have their benefits. Veterans that are homeless. Veterans that are laying out on the street that I see most of the everyday where I'm at. So I realized that when a young brother come out, it's easy to get frustrated. And the one thing they should never get frustrated, they ended up in jail houses or penitentiary. Uh-huh. Or on drugs or something like that, you know. Uh-huh. Okay. That's my two brothers, veterans. They're commenting on their experience and some advice for veterans. Now, Buddy, let me ask you this. Before I ask you this, can you introduce Rose over here? This is Rose Hugh. And Rose Hugh is one of my extremely very best friends. And she just does this. She just does everything. Rose, tell them what you do. Thank you. I met Buddy through Wilshire Christian Church. That's how we became friends. We shared a love of photography. We have a heart for the things that we find. We find things, good items. And we have a heart for a thrift store, which he did open up. And he will create programs for vets through that thrift store. He set that aside for a while. He's going to go back to it. And there will be programs for the vets through that. Part of the logo on the back will be Vets R Us. Uh-huh. On the back of the shirts that he plans on having for employees for the store. Okay. Wonderful. Now, Buddy, let me ask you this. What kind of advice would you give to these veterans coming back from these war zones and all that? Uh-huh. You know, we've got some veterans that are getting ready to come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, areas like that. What kind of advice would you give them? You know, the advice that was given over the radio that you just gave from your brothers? I thought that was absolutely spot on. And I could only reiterate what they said. But I would say the main thing is talk, talk, talk, talk. Please talk about your experience. Please talk about your experience. Please talk with your mother. Please talk with your father. Please talk with your siblings. Please talk with your cousins. Talk with strangers. But talk about what happened and what's happening, what's going on with you right now. So it's important that you talk. And then because and then if you can't talk, well, write it out. Start to write it out. If you can't write, act it. Don't act it out too much. In other words, don't overreact physically. Because, you see, we came out of a physical environment where if you push our buttons, we're going to react. If you push our buttons, we're going to kill somebody or do something. So you have to be very careful about that within yourself. It took me, I would say, about eight years before I could really settle down to where when somebody yelled at me, I might just react to them. Or somebody might just touch me. One guy touched me in Bible college. I threw him down three flights of stairs just automatically. So you have to be very careful. But talk about your feelings. Now, how about the families? What advice could you give them? How can you get the families to help them make the adjustments to these veterans that's coming back to the community? The only thing that works is love. Just love them the best way that you can. No matter what they do, no matter what they say, love them. And then if at all possible, the family needs to become part of the therapy and part of the healing. Because these families have been hurt too. Like my mother. She thought I was dead three different times. So she needed help when I got home. She said, buddy, I don't know. I thought you were dead three different times. And my sisters and my brothers, all they, but they need help too. So help each other. But if necessary, bring in third parties for counseling. Work as a team. Work as a team. Where you have two people talking and a third person will listen to what you're saying and say, well, you're saying this, you're saying you're relaxed, but your fists are like that. So how can you be relaxed when your hands are like that? And I think that's a great question. And I think that's a great question. And I think that's a great question. So how can you be relaxed when your hands are like that? You know, I can say I'm very relaxed, but you look at my body posture. So talk to everybody that you can and allow people to help you. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Now, what are your thoughts on Skid Row and the homeless veterans in Skid Row? Well, as I told you before, I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. And so Indianapolis, Indiana at the time was kind of a Skid Row boxing club and these kinds of things. But I think the thing that basically in Skid Row, I think you have to look yourself in the face and say, nobody's going to help me but me. And so when you finally realize that, don't seek help from other people for your own problems. Look deep into yourself and say, hey, this is me. I'm strong. I can do this. Then when you do that and then start helping other people, when you help other people, you help yourself. So go ahead. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Let me ask you one more question. And then we'll take a little break for our community calendar. We're going to get into positive perspective and open it up for discussion. But what are your thoughts on honorably discharged veterans who are deported because they catch a felony, you know, and they don't they've served the country, but they don't have the American citizenship? Well, our next door neighbor, Mexico, is a fine example. And I think we have several Mexican boys that were nominated or earned the Medal of Honor. And yet they cannot get citizenship. They cannot be recognized. They cannot get veterans rights. These kinds of things. I think that, well, I take it even farther. I take it all over the world. I take it to Chinese veterans that we fought against the Chinese. I take it to the Iraqis. We fought against them. I think we're all veterans. And we should recognize that. And particularly our neighbors next door, our people in Canada. Because if you fought for your country, you deserve the benefits of every veteran. Okay. Thank you, buddy. Look, let's take a break for our community calendar. And then we're going to come back with positive perspective and open it up for discussion. This is the community calendar for upcoming events. Tuesday, June the 3rd, 2014 at 7 p.m. We'll be right back. Drummer stage Kunran presents a performance of If the Shoe Fits. These are voices from solitary confinement. Written by Andy Griggs and Melvin Ishmael Johnson. In this performance, you will hear the stories of those who have been held in state sanctioned torture. This is a free event. Pre-parking refreshments will be served. The location of this event is the vortex 2341 East Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles. East Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, the corner of Olympic and Santa Fe. For more information, please contact DramaStage1 at yahoo.com or 213-479-1764. We're asking you to please save the date. Thursday, June 19, 2014 at 7 p.m. In celebration of Juneteenth, DramaStage Coon Run will do a stage reading of The 101 Club, written by Judith Bowman and Melvin Ishmael Johnson. The 101 Club recalled the Freeman Field Mutiny, a series of incidents at Freeman Army Airfield, a U.S. Army Air Force base near Syracuse, Indiana, in 1945, in which African-American members of the 447th Bombardment Group attempted to exercise their rights as officers to use the base offensive. The location of this event is the Ford Theater, the Edison Plaza, 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Also, if your organization would like to advertise in our booklet or display some of your information on the table for this event, and you can contact DramaStage1 at yahoo.com or 213-479-1762-1764 or nomodrama.com. Or time to write at gmail.com or 626-703-1230. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the information to DramaStage1 at yahoo.com. Attention, Earlene Anthony. The call-in number for our show is 800-893-9562. Now, back to our host. Okay, thank you, Earlene Anthony. Now, before we get started, I want to say thank you to our guests. Thank you, Earlene Anthony. Thank you, Earlene Anthony. Before we move into positive perspective, I would like to give a shout-out to Jeff Norman and the Veterans Project. The Veterans Project threw a party for the veterans today. And to find out more about the Veterans Project, hit them up at theveteransproject.org. T-H-E-V-E-T-E-R-A-N-S-P-R-O-J-E-C-T dot O-R-O-G. And now, positive perspective. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Here I am. Here I am, Lord. Here I am. Lord, here I am. To worship. Here I am. To bow down. Lord, here I am. To say that you're my Lord. Here I am. To worship. Here I am. To bow down. To say that you're my Lord. To worship. To bow down. To say that you're my Lord. I used to slide with the brooks of the dark. Ride and spark. Cry me real gritty, just a lowlife shark. I was a snake in the grass. Always mad. They colored me bad because I ran with the rip rap. Before I gave his glory up, the story was right. I suffered through truculent times. I was blind and lost. I often visioned my coffin. My mind was off. So empty inside. I never cried. Ready to die. Now I seek eternal life. Stepping towards the light. All the friends I thought were tight. Now I'm cold to sight. Cause I'm not ashamed to shout his name while clapping my hands. I let the music bump while I jump, stomp, and dance. Singing his praises. I'm raising my amazing Lord high. Escaping the ground from lessons learned. Eager to fly. No longer do I ask why. Cause I'm knowing he's great. So every step I take, you best believe I'm walking in faith. Lord. Here I am. Going with the king. To hell. Standing right in front of Jesus. Yeah, that was excellent. That was Here I Am by Pastor Ben Seiler of the Bright Hope Worship Center International in San Bernardino, California. Young pastor that is doing marvelous things with the youth. And just a brilliant young man that I hope that God is going to bless, is already blessing. My name is Willis Boyd. And I'm Shante Duncan. And you are listening to Positive Perspective. Where we shine a positive light on Jesus Christ, the scriptures, music, our communities, and world issues. Tonight our in-studio guest is Shante Duncan, who's got some new music out. And I'm dying to hear some of it. And also to hear about some of what's going on with her on the UC Irvine campus. First, we're going to start off with some discussion on scripture. Some Bible discussion on the scripture John 15, 13. And that scripture is Jesus talking. Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friend. Now that's Jesus talking. And he says greater love has no one than this than to lay down his life for his friends. And we're going to have some discussion on that. And then kind of compare it to our Memorial Day. So what does that mean, anybody? Well, I think it means exactly what it says. Well, tell me what that means. Well, it means that you're willing that you think more of someone else than your own life. And that you forget about yourself. And you give your life for them because you think their life's worth giving. And so you don't stop to equate your life to that. But in the scriptural sense, it means that scripture says there's sacrifice almost all the way through. And sacrifice comes back to scripture, there's always blood. You know the movie that says there will be blood? Well, there seems to always be blood. And so we're saved, we're washed in the blood of the Lamb. Okay. Now, when it says that greater love has no one than this. I mean, when you say to lay down his life, is that, I mean, does that happen just to like if Earlene was out there and she's getting ready to get hit by a car or something and I jump out and save her life? Or, I mean, does it have to, I mean, where does that come from? Do we just have that in us or where does that come from? Or do you understand what I'm saying? Okay, thank you. Well, I am a Christian and I, how I take that is that God laid down his life for us. And through that, we are forgiven. You know, our sins are forgiven. And if you're equaling that statement, that scripture. To Memorial Day, that's what our servicemen have done for this country. Okay, so we're all of our servicemen Christians. No. Okay, now, and that's what I'm saying. If I'm Joe Blow out there on the street and I save somebody, I mean, or our servicemen, were they Christians that they laid down their life for the guy standing next to them or fighting next to them? Right. But what I think the situation is. Is that the first step, what you have here, this is what makes a veteran is so important and such a disgrace when we see homeless veterans laying out here. Because veterans who have laid down, who are willing to lay down their life for the country as a whole. And they view, we as a veterans view. We may not agree with everything that's happening. That's happening within, say, the United States and stuff like that. But we're willing to go to war, take a chance on losing our life for the value system that we believe here in the United States. That's going to get better. And then one other thing. I think it boils down to what the Messiah Jesus was saying when they asked him about the greatest commandment. And he pointed out that. The greatest commandment, you know, is here you, Israel, the Lord, that God is one God. You're to love God with all your heart and all your soul and love your neighbor as yourself. And that second part is so important because people can speak with a mouth all the time that they love God. But the proof of it is how you feel about your fellow man. Are you willing to make your sacrifice for the fellow man out here? That's the proof. Now, Melvin, you took that somewhere else here. Now, we were talking about guys giving up their lives for the man standing next to him fighting. Now, you brought something else into that where you're talking about a man is laying down his life for his country. OK. I mean, you understand what I'm saying? I'm talking about we're talking about you're on the battlefield and that guy is saving your neck. You're saving his neck. And so. I mean. I mean, that that takes it. Yeah. But because the fact is, and this is where I think there's a lot of mistake made by a lot of Americans in looking on America as a Christian country. This is what creates so many problems. But America is a plural country with all different kind of religions, political beliefs and all that kind of stuff. And I think when you hear that. I think when you have believers and non-believers that are willing to go to war for the believers and the non-believers for the good that they see in the particular country, you know, not not as a whole. Because I don't view America as just a Christian country. I view America as a country. The reason that we fight and that a person that a veteran would go over there to fight is that a person would have. Freedom of religion. To worship. If you want to be a non-believer, you can be a non-believer. You want to be a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Jewish, anything that you want out here. That's supposed to be the American idea there. Now, in relationship to what you were talking about, in relationship to what the Messiah Jesus was talking about. I think we have to also take it in perspective in which the time period and environment. In which Messiah Jesus was speaking this in. See, he was speaking this in where their situation would have been a little bit different than where we are now. It would have been similar, say, to Iraq. Because Messiah Jesus grew up his whole life under an occupied power. You know, under the Roman Empire. That was a superpower in which the area of Judea where they were living in. So. And then you had a lot of sections within the faith that was following you. You had the Sadducees, the Pharisees. You can just go down the line. And then you had those that believed totally in what the teachings, what the Messiah Jesus was speaking of. And I could get a little deeper there because he made distinctions in the people that was following the laws of Moses or Judaism at that time. When he pointed out who his true followers was. He made a distinction. His true followers, the one that they call Christians today, was the ones who showed mercy. You know, he pointed that clearly out when he gave, you know, the parable of the Good Samaritan and all of that. Well, Melvin, I wonder if I might just bring us back to the combat in Veterans Day. Now. There's a bonding that goes on between men and the military. Yes. Yes. There's a bonding that happens there. Now, when I went to go rescue my men, I was not doing it for the country. My men were trapped. I loved them. I cared for them. Now, I got wounded that same day. My men came and got me because of the bonding. Now, that bonding went beyond country. It went person to person, the bonding that takes place. And I think for me in my relationship with Christ, there's a bonding there. There's a bonding there that can't be broken. But also, we fight against a spiritual war. It's not just a physical war. And the spiritual war is far more difficult to fight that spiritual war. You know, we put on the helmet of salvation the sword of the spirit and these kinds of things to go to war. And so that is something. So there's a bonding that happens. And for me, the bonding that takes place between Rose and myself through Christianity is an incredible bond that goes beyond our inability sometimes to fight. It goes beyond our inability sometimes to have problems. The bonding that we're building together now, the bonding that I could be building with two Willises, by the way. We don't look like it, but we're twins. There's a bonding happening here now. And you see, and probably if you stepped out into the street, I wouldn't think anything about grabbing you or pulling you aside or maybe putting myself in front of you. It's a conditioned reflex. It's a conditioned reflex for people who care. I know, but everybody doesn't have that. I know that. I know that. I was just watching a thing in Santa Barbara. Yeah. And they showed a clip. I guess he shot in the store and there was a girl on the floor and a young man. That guy, he scooted right past that girl like she wasn't even there and around into that aisle. And I'm like thinking, you know, cover her and slide her back over there. But he didn't think about that in one set. You know, not that. I would've liked to have that for one moment. I was wondering, Shontay, we were writing a play called Kira Wendell and the second part of that play, we bring up this scripture and it has something to do with love. But it's on a basis of what in context I'm trying to reason with Wendell about wanting to remain friends and still have a love for each other that Christ has for us. He died for us while we were still enemies with him. His love for us and him willing to sacrifice his life is the same love that we can have for each other. And it can come through, like he was saying, bonding with people and having that friendship and a love that goes so deep that you're willing to sacrifice yourself and what you want for that person. But without the circumstances or consequences of war or killing. Yeah, just every day, every day, every day like that, all of us should try to find that in Christ. And we don't all believe in Christ that way. And we don't we don't all have Christ in our hearts, but still loving each other with that. But loving and respecting each other, like with Kieran Wendell, she needs love, but he wants physical love. And she wants true love without, you know, touching or that part. Yeah, rose for Lape and Agape. Right. So, you know, building building into that. So what you said was also interesting about you didn't want to kill anybody until you saw blood. Yeah. And then it was on. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So. Do you care to talk about that or a little bit more? Well, yes, I do. Little by little. I was in combat as a machine gunner for years. The average life of a machine gunner is 15 minutes in combat. So I survived all that time without losing a man or getting myself. So when the grenade exploded, I thought I bounced off a tree. I thought I'm just shell shocked. No problem. But then I couldn't breathe and my arm was paralyzed. I couldn't unlock it. What was happening is I was drowning in my own blood and didn't know it. But my men came and got me now, I think often because before that, I. I had a I could sing double bass or soprano. Great. Danger voice. And I thought, God, why? Why the throat? Never made a sound for three years. But a church hired me when I couldn't even talk. Now that's faith. And so I was sitting in church. I wrote my pastor and said, let's have an evangelistic meeting. I'm sitting there in this little country church singing in my mind. And all of a sudden. I started making sounds because I was trying to sing. So that's progressed little by little to faith and prayer. Now, through that, when I was he's talk about blood and so forth. So I went from not willing to pull the trigger. Just seeing blood. And then I went to machine gunners, kill thousands of people just and I ran three machine guns at the same time. And the last day that I was there. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. That's how far and how sick you could be. So two years later, when I went rabbit hunting in Kansas, I led that rabbit like a machine gunner with three rounds. I took him down. Then I walked up to the poor little rabbit. I took out my .45, and I shot that little rabbit until he couldn't move. Now that's sick. That's how sick you can get. Okay. Oh, wow. I don't know what to say. So any other discussion? Earlene, you've been kind of quiet over there. None, none. Anything else on that? Oh, yeah. Oh, we need to wrap this up now, then, and I have some business with Miss Duncan over there. What's that? I never really heard your take on that verse and Memorial Day. Actually, I think. I think that we take it for granted. I take it for granted. I'm walking around in this free America and complaining about every little thing, and I don't have a lot of time to say, but the Vietnam War, the guy that fixes my cars, he's Vietnamese, and I talked to him. He was a boat people. You remember the boat people? Yes. And everybody says, why Vietnam? Why did that happen? Blah, blah, blah. And they freed him. It was for freedom. And that one man in his heart was so happy that Americans came over there to free them, to help them. They had nothing. They didn't have anything to fight with. And Americans came over there, and they fought for him. And they died for him. So in my opinion, that one man, because of the joy in his heart, and he's got his own business over here now, and he's successful, and the racism when he came over here being a boat person, they didn't want them over here. They wanted him to go back home or go somewhere. But all he wanted was freedom. Right. Okay. So I don't give the vets their props. I don't think we do. I think we're all just a bunch of people over here enjoying what costs, and that's... that's... that... Right. And Christ Jesus is, he's the man. No, I'm just saying. He shed his grace. Right. And that's what we're trying to say that, you know. But I need to get on with this. Shante Marie Duncan. And how much time do we have? Are we short? What do we got? Are we good? Mm-hmm. Okay. Marie, huh? Yes. Oh, yeah. That's a bad habit. Yeah, my middle name has been compromised. I always want to call her that, but I always go back. Okay. Miss Duncan. Okay. So, hey, Shante. Hey, Willis. How are you doing? I'm good. Okay. I hear you got some new music out. Yes. Well, can you perform a song for us? Yeah, I'd love to. Okay. Great. Great. Great. Great. Great. Great. Great. Great.\ Great.\ You love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me, you love me you love me... failed attempts to scare you off I leave a trail of broken hearts I think you're better off it's not intentional it's just part of my nature love's an investment I think it's best if you don't waste your time believe me when I say I'm not worth it an imperfect person flaws lie beneath the surface my baggage is dead weight that'll sink this relationship you're requesting no question if we'll sink or swim the odds are slim they're not in our favor what traveled down the road I know was just destined for failure I'm a path you should avoid the opposite of might is touch everything I love gets destroyed I thought I made myself clear but my words are falling on deaf ears cause you're blind to my warning signs I couldn't stop you if I tried to force to be reckoned with your love for me it's reckless and hold me close never let me go pull me in like the undertow just hold me close never let me go and pull me in like the undertow hold me close never let me go pull me in like the undertow hold me close never let me go I need someone to save me from myself but it seems I'd rather die than ask for help I shut you out cause in the end I'll only hurt you open your eyes you'll find someone that deserves you the bridges you have built I have burned to ashes but the flames only ignite your passion and I'm afraid to let you shine your light into my soul afraid of getting close yet afraid of dying alone these questions keep me up at night I find myself asking if letting you into my life would really be a bad thing and maybe I believe it you could change me for the better but it seems nobody means it when they say the words forever the feelings are bipolar and change like the winds like the wind like one minute they're so in love the next they're ready to quit and who's to say that we'll even finish what we start and who's to say that what we've committed will end hard and as I lie here surrounded by what ifs I realize I'm no closer to finding what love is was I wrong for keeping you at a distance but all along you're the answer to my existence I think you made yourself clear as you whisper three words in my ears you blind to my warning signs I couldn't stop you if I tried to force to be wrecking with your love for me it's reckless and just hold me close never let me go and please don't let me go and pull me in like the undertow hold me close never let me go and pull me in like the undertow hold me close never let me go my Lord's pulled me in like the undertow and while you love me I'll never know you pull me in like the undertow Amen. Thank you. That's my girl. That's my girl, right? That's awesome. Right? That's all about girl. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Reclaimer. Very good. No, she is so awesome. Those lyrics, that's original. And it's just awesome. I love that. And how creative she is. And I just really proud of you. So anyway, I want to ask you the inspiration behind that. Yeah, undertow is about how I feel or how someone can feel when a person loves you just for who you are, despite how, many wrong things you may do, or just they love you to the very core of who you are and seeing all your flaws and your mistakes and knowing that you're imperfect, but their love isn't unconditional. And that's how I feel that God feels towards me. So it's about me wanting God to, you know, find someone else that's more deserving of his love and him constantly pursuing me because he loves me for who I am. So. That's awesome. That's beautiful. Okay. But yeah, that's awesome. And you did a great job. Great job. Okay. How school, how are things at school? Yeah. At first it was a bit hard to transition because I'm coming from community college where a semester is 16 weeks and UCI is like 10 or 11. So everything's fast paced. But yeah, I think now I've gotten used to it and taking music to another level, learning classical guitar, which is fun and frustrating, you know, that's the discipline of it. But I'm learning so much and with sight singing and just ear training and just everything that's come in my way. And it's a huge blessing and a huge opportunity to go to UCI. Yeah, professors are really challenging me and I'm learning so much and, you know, meeting some really talented musicians and talented people. So it's all a blessing for sure. And what are you getting involved in? Right now I just joined a club maybe about a month ago called, Uncultivated Rabbits. And yeah, they breed art. So they're really amazing and talented group of spoken word artists. So really inspiring me to take my writing to another level and they're teaching different writing techniques and performance techniques with workshops that they hold on Mondays and they hold open mics the first Monday of every month. So yeah, just a really talented group. Yeah. And they're really encouraging, you know, me to perform and to write and it's really positive people. Oh, that's great. And that's how we all need to get it together and step up our game is try to get around positive people. Right. And people that are doing the right things, you know, trying to make right decisions. Okay. So anything else you'd like to say to the youth out there? Yeah. I just would like to encourage them to find something that they're passionate about. And I think that's really important. Yeah. Yeah. It's important to find something that they're passionate about and to go after it with everything they have and to stay positive, like you said, be around positive people, people that are doing good things for the community and to surround yourself with people like that, be in the right environment and work hard for the things that you want in life. Yeah. And I'd like to add to that that selfish people are evil. You know, God gave His Son and the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy. So one comes to kill, steal and destroy. So one came to give and one comes to take. So selfish and not giving back is evil. It's just evil. So give, you know, if you have it, give it and teach it and just try to keep positive and we can all become stronger through that. So I would like to throw it back over to you, Melvin, if you want it. Okay, yes. Do you want it, Melvin? Positive perspective. Positive perspective. Yeah, Willis Vaughn, Shante Duncan, excellent section. Let's go around real quick and give our listening audience your contact information right here and then I'll give my closing Memorial Day statement. Shante. Yeah, our website is positivelight.org and you can also visit our Facebook page. It's facebook.com slash wearepositivelight. Mm-hmm. So Buddy and Rose, what's the contact? Go ahead, Rose, yeah. Thank you. I am part of a mental health advocacy group and I got involved with them because I work with those who have disabilities. One of my clients had slash mental health issues. They're a wonderful group. The name is the LACCC, the Los Angeles County Client Coalition. Seven years later, I became vice chair of this group and Buddy is part of that group as well. You can contact me. If you're interested in this group, they're wonderful support. If you need any help, if we can't help you, we have a lot of linkage and we don't turn anybody away. And my email is Rose, all lowercase letters, R-O-S-E underscore Hugh, H-U-G-H, at yahoo.com. Hey, thank you, Rose. Also, we're planning a conference in June. June 23rd. It's our third annual innovations conference and it will be held at the California Endowment. That's 1000 Alameda Street, right next to Union Station. It is an absolutely wonderful time. So if you'd like to register, contact me about that as well. Okay, thank you, Rose. And this is my Memorial Day statement. My message on this Memorial Day is about homeless veterans and skid row. And I'm saying what's happening in skid row should, it should really shame any African American who live in Los Angeles or anywhere in the entire United States of America. Because over 70% of skid row is African Americans out there laying in the street. So on skid row, people are living in tents, pushing baskets, or living in the streets. Many are homeless veterans who have served at the United States of America. Many of the veterans are African Americans. So this is about African Americans and why we as African Americans must seek to solve the homeless problems of skid row. From that African American sitting in the White House, President Obama, to the African American walking the streets of Los Angeles, we must solve the homeless problem in skid row. Don't expect the government or the others to solve the homeless problem in skid row. As I mentioned, skid row is 70% African Americans. So African Americans must come together and be in the forefront of solving the problem of skid row. Here's the solution, the long-range solution. Make the homeless problem the homeless veterans problem and get the government to come up with a think tank, finance a think tank to come up with a solution, and then roll it out for the rest of the homeless population. That's a long-range solution. Something that we can do now, the interfaith community, rent or buy some of this empty city property and develop programs and help bring some of the people living in the streets, off of the streets, into your churches, your mass jails, and your synagogues. Let's come together and want for our brothers and sisters what we want for ourselves. Now, I would like to extend a special thanks to Chapman, Buddy, Rose Hughes, Willis Boyd, and Shante Duncan. My co-hosts, Earline Anthony. Please listen to past shows of the Qumran Report on iTunes, Stitcher, Tumblr, Googler, and skidrow.com. You didn't give your email. Don't worry about it. Buddy, what's your email? My email is venicebarterbuddy at gmail.com. And my website for the veterans is veteransrus247news.com. Okay. Thank you, Buddy. Now, thank you for tuning in to the Qumran Report. And from your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson. Thank you for having us. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. I leave you with the song that opened the show, Darker Than Blue by Willis and Shante, of positive life. Positive Life Ministry. Darker than blue Listen. Are we gonna mirror this town And let what I said come true 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, but in Jesus' name 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, but in Jesus' name I'm gonna get up The people who are darkening the moon Are we gonna make right this town And let what I said come true Good for nothing they all figured Just a boyish rope that shook this jigger Now we gonna stand for that Or is that really worth a sight I'm your brother As you stand in your glory I hope you don't mind you And I tell a 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 streets you see it roll You can see my hands ain't shaking But my legs ain't trembling I turn to the corner and keep looking for trash Look up at the street sign It says San Julian Look back down and make eye contact with his brother And now I'm feeling out of status Of what I shouldn't be He looks around a thousand of his friends That raised their crackpipes to the lips And lends them some more tainty sleep Telling me yeah I'm getting high I'm feeling good And sister don't you knock at me and try Now I'm standing here with visions of crooked piles Of visions of crooked politicians Of mission corrects lining their greedy pockets Some think it's a joke that folks are living low from social injustice And we know that's not how it's supposed to be So if you can get up stand up With desolations depending on you and me Baby poor who I'm talking to Get up and start shooting Get up and start shooting Hi, this is Vic Cohen. What are you doing Wednesday nights at 10 o'clock Pacific time? It's a fair question. Well, whatever you're doing, even if it's making love, I'd like to join you. May I? Hey, it's a fair question. Just go to skidrowstudios.com Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. Pacific time for Vic Cohen's It's a Fair Question. I promise I'll be gentle. Hello, I'm Julianne Good, the host of Psych One-on-One, live on Mondays from 7 to 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Every week I talk with psychology experts as we explore the issues that matter to you. Anything from reducing anxiety to getting better Z's at night. Call in at 800-893-9562 to ask us questions and give us your opinion. We'd love you to join us. We're here to make psychology understandable and give you the information you need to make your life better. And if you can't listen live, our shows are also archived and available for downloading from iTunes. And we're at www.skidrowstudios.com. Join us, please. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you..\