Army Stories

Multiple people in my family clean my father, are veterans and the troops that.

Have been to war and now they're back and think and be grateful for their service.

Sacrifice, love for their country, just unselfishness, all that they.

Do for us.

There are some people in this country who take extraordinary steps to provide for the freedom and security.

We forget that those people exist.

We know them as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. They call themselves soldiers, seals, rangers, airmen, sailors.

Devil dogs, and so much more.

We call them fathers, brothers, sons and husbands, mothers, daughters, sisters and wives. We call them friend and neighbor. These veterans answered the call, now we answer theirs. They are the best our country has to offer, and we love them. Today, we honor them and we serve them. David Malsby is your host, and he welcomes you to this community of veterans, as together we are building the road to hope.

And indeed we are glad to have you along. On a Sunday afternoon, those of you listening through the kPr C the nine to five oh on the AM dial here in Houston, Texas. Thank you for joining us, and those of you who are listening through the Magic Podcast, thank you so much for doing so. I hope you

To stay in that category of things to learn. And you've asked us all at the beginning to show what branch we're in. So I'm wondering where your cognitive awareness is. You're saying with all marines.

I was trying to trying to help you guys out, just didn't work.

Anthony Murou, lead mentor at Camp Hope, originally from southwestern Pennsylvania, served in the US Army with two deployments to Afghanistan.

All right, keep your turn cap Bond's pressures on.

Yes, yes, it's a little pressure, but I can't.

I can.

I can handle it.

From Kansas City, Missouri.

Missouri, I say that show Yes, sir, you got to show me.

Okay, fresh n I.

T I'll show you a better cap to wear.

That ain't gonna happen. Sorry, I'm sorry, this is just not gonna happen. I'm always wear this cap is always gonna say Kansas City on it. Unless I wear something from my late pops that's that'll be a pay had it now. I'll do that for him. But other than that, it's gonna be Kansas City baby.

All right? And where Wayne, did you deploy again?

I deployed to Iraq eight and nine with the first Armored Division out of Germany.

Okay, and then we have an Army VET that's currently in our program at Campope. We'll talk a little bit about that as we hear these guys story. Ryan, want to terad yourself a.

Right, Pastor, Ryan Schaffner. I'm from Houston, Texas. Hey, thanks, born and raised to the show. Joined the Army four got out in nineteen. I have two deployments, one to Iraq. My first appointment was Iraq and that was from two thousand and six to two thousand and seven. That was when they came out with the fifteen month deployments. I was eight months into it and it's like starting halfway

Okay. When did you join the army.

In two thousand and four.

Four, yes, sir, what were you doing before that?

Before that? I was in high school?

Okay, so he went straight out of high school.

Straight out of high school.

I was, Uh it was my sophomore year when uhame in high school.

Claim to fame. I was the chaplain of the FFA.

Really, yes, sir, I didn't even know they had a chaplain for the f f Absolutely I was the chaplain.

Did you do anything or just oh, I had a title.

I prayed us in and held the title.

Okay, didn't strain your back then?

Doesn't absolutely not, you know, clean up the stalls anything like that. I definitely had to clean up stalls, you know. As a matter of fact, on the way over here, we were talking about that because Kit bought a house that's right by the agbarns for Katie is SD and I told him. I was like, yeah, man, I remember when they first built that and there was only four because Katie only had four high schools.

Uh.

Now they've just opened their tenth high school in Katie I s d U. I graduated from Taylor High School in two thousand and four and went in the army. But yes, freshman year, I had a Lamb. My mother named it Bert Lambcaster. I told her, so, I don't names, because you know what's gonna happen.

Did you eat it?

Uh?

Some someone lucky.

People got to eat it again. They paid it. They paid one thousand dollars to Lamb.

That's awesome. So all right, we're gonna be running to a break here in just a second. But real quick, let me give you our number, our crisis trauma line eight seven seven seven one, seven seventy eight seventy three. A combat that's going to answer the phone eight seven seven seven one seven seventy eight seventy three. We'll be right back.

In the corn.

I saw you in.

So you fellas from outside of Houston. You heard him talk about the the growth of the Katie is SD. See here in Houston, we build things, we grow, we we get bigger. Unlike how many people live in Pennsylvania now a couple hundred fifty.

Once again, they can't need an evaluation. But I like that you call us failers, trailers, hey, tailors.

Trying to home.

For those that are new to this, UH, this podcast and radio station pastor is definitely feeling it today, So I highly enjoy the uh the banter here this morning.

Remember it's morning somewhere but not here. Just letting you know hey real quick. I love to share these stories when some of our guys who went through our program previously just randomly write messages and share them either or on social media or sindirect messages to me. This is from Joe mclinney. Did you know Joe? I can't remember when he came through.

I'd have to look at the tracker.

I mean, I know it all becomes a blurred about who was here when. But anyway, he wrote, I would love to thank PTSD Foundation of America for changing my life and connecting me with God on a more personal level. He got a selfie there with his house in the background. It looks like it looks like he's in a rural place that looks very peaceful and a big smile on his face. How about that.

That's awesome.

Yeah, which you were talking a minute ago before the show. You and I were both surprised Kip having been around as long as he's been around. When did you first get to Camp.

Hope out there in twenty twenty three?

Twenty two three, so he's been around for a while. You haven't been on the show somehow, and I don't know how you did that. But Anthony referred to the difference between today and your first day. Do you remember much about your first day?

I remember a lot about my first day.

How'd you hear about Camp Hope? Let's start there.

So I was in a program in Kansas.

City and I had a eight What kind of program?

It was a VA program. It was called PRWP. So this was out of Topeka for combat trauma. Yes, okay, there was a guy named there's a guy there that I didn't think I would get along with.

Those are usual ones that help you the most. It is true.

Yeah, it's still my good friends to this day. We've been good friends since that program. He actually told me about this place in twenty twenty two, teld me I need to get down to Houston because they could probably help me.

And what was going on? What land did you in that program?

Uh?

What didn't you know? Uh?

This is for the people out there driving around sixteen. I have no idea who is short. So I have to tell that to Anthony because he'll take an hour and a half and he'll think it was ten minutes.

It's hard, it's hard to shorten these things.

The green apps in the middle of him telling the story.

Oh, these will keep you on the edge of your seat.

You know what I mean?

Car Uh let me long, long story, short high speed.

Chase with the with the cops, got me there, uh twenty eighteen. I Uh I ran until I couldn't run no more.

Is that what you're doing then? Running or you.

I've been running from my running, running from everything.

Uh and uh A high speed chase with the with the law, with law enforcement, helicopters, three other different UH agencies. Uh, we're on my tail and uh I ran out of gas.

Man.

That's basically That's basically what happened. I ran out of gas.

I ran out of gas. All of the above that was my signs.

So clearly you thought this thing through well and planned for the chase very much.

No, absolutely not.

What happened when they call you.

Uh I gave up, I put I raised my hands up, I smoked a cigarette, and uh uh I surrendered.

Okay.

I spent a year in prison and uh I had to.

Do some soul search.

Yeah. For those listening, think that sounds this whole sounds a little weird. I have to insert some levity in here, because these stories can get pretty pretty deep pretty quick. Your first stay at camp, what was that experience like coming to a place that you had no idea who it was. I'm guessing you've probably never been to Houston, Texas before. Absolutely not a little anxiety into that.

A lot, a lot of anxiety. But I fought everything. I fought everything they were trying to do for me. I didn't want to be away from my family.

I didn't want to I didn't want to give up whatever a little bit.

I thought I had myself to someplace that I had I had no trust in you know what I mean. I'd had no faith in anything. So I was very rebellious. So I can tell you that, uh. And I didn't want to I don't want to listen. But they were patient with me. And I think that's what I needed, somebody to just listen to me.

Uh.

I think in the within the three within three weeks, uh, I was in Oliver's office and I cried. UH talked about a few things that were bothering me. And I couldn't I couldn't help myself anymore.

Uh.

They started they.

Started falling down my face man and and Uh. I remember Oliver writing a little note on his door and he put a put the date on there and he said, today that was a win. I didn't quite understand what he meant by that at that time, but I do understand what he means by now.

Yeah, Ryan, let's go back to right out of high school, you're joining the army. By the army.

By the way, my grandfather served in the army, and uh, I was the only boy, and all my cousins were all girls and I was the only boy. And uh, he told me everything. You know, he didn't tell my mom the stuff that he told me. And I was like, you know what I want to I'd love to be in the army, and stuff like that.

Nine to eleven happened. I was, Uh.

We watched the second plane hit and lo and behold. My mother's on a flight to New York that day, and I was having a meltdown. I was like, you gotta be kidding, you know, I didn't know if it was her flight. And after that that was the uproar. You know, the whole country's up up in arms. And I'd say a good fifteen to twenty percent of my class to join the Armed services, and I was one of them. I turned eighteen January seventeenth of four and January eighteenth, I was at the recruiter's office.

So you knew you were going to go to war?

I did? I did. They straight up told me say they you know you're going to wars? Yeah, I know that. I signed up too good to war.

Why Why Because I was angry with somebody hitting us in the gut, just like Pearl Harbor December seventh, nineteen forty one, when the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor, everybody you know was angry. It's like, you know, punching us in the face, and we weren't having it. So I believe I wanted to get my piece.

Out of it.

What were you doing on your first tour?

My first tour, I was a PATCHI crew chief and manning Apache helicopters, sitting them out twenty four to seven to eyes in the sky and keep our ground troops safe. We worked eighteen hours a day easily. We'd sleep for four hours, get back up, get back on the flight line. We had twenty four hour ops continually going. And that's not just in Iraqi, that's that's stateside too, So we worked twenty four hours a day.

Just real quick, How different was your second tour from the.

First second tour? That was Afghanistan? That was it was different. I was I was a sergeant at the time, and I was split from my unit and they sent me down to shank and that was nicknamed Rocket City.

So, uh, Houston's.

Rocket Houston Rockets.

But they weren't well in certain parts of town. It could be.

Absolutely. I definitely agree with you, you know, I can. I can definitely tell you in would over there, you know, go over there. I don't even think the police officers go over there.

Gun's point yea, Oh absolutely. Websites ptsd USA dot org. Ptsd usa dot org not only for Camp Hope, which is a six to nine month program baith based peer to peer, but also our Warrior groups both for veterans and our support groups for family members. Our family groups all available online. Uh. Ptsd USA dot org. Got to take a quick newsbreak for those of this, you know, nine to five. Oh, we'll be right back with more of Road to Hope.

Radio Beautiful Heroes proved again Liberating Strife.

Full disclosure. I have a hard time breaking in on that song right there, that just feels unpatriotic to talk over that, that version that voice. Mm hmmm, I'd list that all the time. I love that Welcome Back Road to Hope Radio. Glad to have you along here. All right, So first day it's some anxiety. What would you what would you say your attitude was? You're just canna give him emotion? For what your attitude was?

What was it?

I mean too, was just anger, which is almost every single vet that comes into our program.

Yeah, pretty much. I didn't know how to deal with that. That was an emotion that I like to just keep underneath. I didn't like to express it. I didn't know how to, especially without substances. So substances were uh sometimes that was my escape, escape from anger, and I mean a place now I can't do that, you know, I have to, I have to feel these emotions.

And I didn't know it. I didn't know what that looked like.

You know, you mentioned the three weeks in. Was it three weeks in when you broke down and cried yes, sir, okay. So often I'll have people ask me, you know, how do you kind of gauge the progression of someone in the program, And generally speaking for me, it's it's when you see someone smile for the first time, you know something's starting to click. And I mean it's the very, very very beginning. But guys come in so angry with everything and everyone, and it's hard to get out of that.

Ah?

Was this? Was that that version of you? The current version of you? Is that what you were prior to? Absolutely not No, I mean prior to combat to Oh yes.

I like to.

I like to laugh and smile, and I like to make other people feel good. And I mean I think everybody likes to be feel good about themselves.

That's you know.

I don't think people want to walk around feeling bad about themselves, so sure, but I like to give that to other people, and I think smelling is my way of doing that.

You know, Anthony, you've been around in a mentor for quite a while. You mentioned earlier you lead mentor basically mentor to the mentors. He mentioned something that we hear literally almost every week on the show, but we never

So obviously it's a very dynamic process when it comes to every individual. Two are the same. But I would like to think whether it be an intense childhood trauma, whether it be a lot of guys go to war and they come home and their families are broken, or they're broken and their family doesn't know how to interact with them or vice versa, or you know, and like

And if that.

Responsibility is just abruptly and a lot of times, you know it's done in a way that that a combat vet has resentments. I've heard so many stories of guys saying, look, you know, I was just let go, or they just said they're done with me, or they you know, discharged me.

Ryan. Let's get back to your second tour. You mentioned being in a rocket city, and your two tours were a fair distance apart. They weren't stacked right on top of each other. Obviously PTSD's party life. He wouldn't be at camp Hope. When did you first notice some issues or did somebody help you notice those issues?

I can tell you right now I was having flashbacks.

So while you were still in, when I was.

Still in I got back from my second employment in two or twenty thirteen.

Talk to anybody about it?

I did not I did was the obvious.

The stigma, yeah, of don't go to mental health, that'll ruin your career, and uh, you know you're weak if you if you, if you need help, and that's how that's how we were treated. And somebody set off, uh just jokingly as a brand new private and we're out in the field, uh, doing a field exercise, and he set off the same alarm that uh, the incoming alarm, and I I came to underneath the bed.

I mean I almost died from that.

I mean I had a rocket come in and uh blew on the other side of my tent, and if I was laying on the underneath my bed with my uh, my body armor sprout out over me and uh, somebody busted in and said are you okay? And I jumped up and I was like, okay, I had to get my bearing and went to the bunker. So I had I'd have flashbacks from that, just certain sounds would set me off in that I didn't understand it, and I

So give me just a little bit about your journey from that to arriving at Camp Hope several years later.

Several years later, so we're talking twelve years later from that. So I got out in twenty nineteen, December first to twenty nineteen. And my wife looked at it as a blessing. She said, don't look at as something bad, look at as another chapter. I didn't know what to do. I was institutionalized. I've the via No. I was institutionalized, like in my mind through the military. So, I mean, that's

Know, when you visit cities or other countries, a lot of people will look around and gift shops and such and fine postcards to send little notes of here's where I'm at having a great time. I should have a postcard from that the rockets coming in. That'd be a cool postcard. Don't you think.

Fourth of July exactly? What are they going to do for fourth of July? For us?

I just got to break the tension a little bit, get to smile back. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back with more of Road to Hope Radio. It's not unusual, but it took a little while to go from all the flashbacks and things that started to dissolve devolve from there. How did you hear about Camp Hope.

As a matter of fact, my dad works at Meadowbrook Farms.

Oh that's right, Yeah, I forgot about that.

He's the assistant pro and they host the the golf tournament.

Well, I don't believe they didn't do it this year.

And meadow Brook Farms.

Birdies for Hope, Birdies for Hope, Birdies for Hope. So my last I've had I've been in and out of the VA sixth floor. I've suicide survivor, I've had three suicide attempts just because it's like Anthony said, I just didn't want to do it anyway anymore than that was the only way out. And God spent me out every single time and said not today, not today, It's not your time. So my dad was like, you know what, he told my mom about it and everything like that.

Remember day one a camp.

Absolutely I walked in uh uh my sister dropped me off at camp and uh Travis and uh he was a resident at the time. Travis and George were sitting on the the uh ah bench outside and waiting on me because I knew I was coming. So I showed up and they said okay. I started uh getting everything put together, and Travis immediately said, welcome home, brother, and gave me a big hug, big old dude and gave

Velvet Vet. Let me tell you remember your first warrior group. Yes, I do.

It was uh it was actually it was actually pretty good. I mean I didn't I didn't say anything in my first war group.

I did not.

It was a bigger setting. I prefer the evening war groups. It's a little smaller setting and you know, get everything out that you want to get out. Warrior groups to me are a phenomenal, you know, way to get stuff off your chest. And it's great because you're gonna be around people that they know what you're talking about. They don't judge you because they've probably been through the same thing.

No, we don't do that.

You take that pastor let's go back to Let's go back to say, when did you get to camp?

By the way, I got to camp. Uh, it was the fifth of May.

May. So let's go back as best you can in your mind to February.

Mm hmm.

Juxtapose waking up in February versus your attitude when you woke up this morning. Uh.

In February, I didn't want to wake up. I didn't want to wake up.

I was questioning my faith, I was questioning everything, and I didn't I really had.

Uh.

I even told my wife, I said, how can I care about someone when I don't care about myself? So I went down. I drug my I drug myself through the dirt. Uh for for several months, oh, actually two months to be exact. And then April I ended up going back to the VA and on the sixth floor and got into West Oaks and then West Oaks to.

Camp Hope.

What are you looking forward to?

Life?

That's what I'm looking forward to. I'm living for today. I'm not living for tomorrow, not living in the past anymore. I don't need to live in the past. What already happened happened. I can't change that. I'm not gonna worry about what's happening tomorrow because it hasn't came yet. So I'm living for today.

Keep you now mentoring training, that's right, But even prior to that, after completing the program, been around camp and seeing a lot of these guys come through and a lot of life change take place on that campus. What's it? What's it like for you when you see the guy come in and go through the intake process like Ryan just described, and whether it's three weeks or three months or five months and you start to see somebody change, What's this like for you?

It's a constant reminder of why I need to do this. It's not just you know, waking up going to a job. It's not just waking up, you know and going throughout the day. Today, There's there's somebody that that may depend on me to be there for a smile, for uplifting you know, comment, you know, you know, for just a ear to you know, just to listen to whatever they

For this one.

There you go. That's one way of putting it. I like that frame reference. That's pretty good, Anthon. We got about a minute. I want you to there's somebody out there and it's probably a family member watching, just like Ryan mentioned dragging his family through so much junk before he got to camp and how difficult they can be on family. But talk to that person out there. Either either is the one who's struggling or they are watching

Go to a warrior group.

I want to go after what Ryan says is, you know we have warrior groups in the Woodlands. We have visual uh virtual warrior groups off of PTSDUSA dot org. And if it's a family member, I would highly recommend calling the crisis line one eight seven seven seven one seven seven eight seven three. We have a lot of stories of combat vet's where they're family members were the ones that initiated the process, So I would highly encourage

And a reminder it's free to share our story wherever you listen to podcasts, look for Road to Hope Brady. If you'll hit that subscribe button, we truly appreciate it. But I also share that also our social media on Facebook x formly known as Twitter and YouTube PTSD USA. That's the channel PTSD USA on YouTube X and Facebook. We'd love for you to share. Follow us on those