WEBVTT

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the south Carolina National Guard

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Medical Command has been a large

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support unit for the entire

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organization . Combat medics , nurses

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and doctors have deployed individually

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with almost every unit as part of their

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mission at home . They examine and

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treat each soldier in each unit before

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and after they deploy to ensure medical

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readiness . The medical command has

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grown and improved since 911 which

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soldiers previously required to get a

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physical health assessment every five

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years now . Each soldier is seen once a

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year . And just in terms of the entire

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process has completely been revamped

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since I first joined the ph A process

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is entirely different . I . M . R . X .

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S . Or P . S . We've really spent a lot

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of time over the years kind of refining

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the process and improving it to make

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sure that soldiers and units are

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capable from a medical standpoint to

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carry out the mission . Every time a

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soldier gets quote , it's called to

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duty , they either physically or

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virtually go through mega man . We have

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to approve all of that , make sure that

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they're up to date on their dental and

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their hearing and their medical

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requirements and make sure that when

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someone's injured that we are able to

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return them to the unit fully mission

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capable . While overseas in a deployed

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environment , medical personnel provide

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medical treatment , make the assessment

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for injuries on if a service member can

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be rehabilitated to return to the fight .

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Need to be transported to another

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location for care or need to return to

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the states for further treatment . From

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a medical perspective , we look at

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deployment a little differently for us ,

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it's kind of the same thing we do in

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the civilian world except we're getting

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to take care of soldiers and so being .

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So , we kind of look at it from a

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little bit of a different perspective .

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We're doing what we're trained to do

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normally outside of individual

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deployments by medical personnel . The

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two 51st Area Support medical company

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deployed in 2013 to 2014 as a unit ,

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we deployed as a single entity from

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south Carolina as a to 51st day SMC

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attached to an active duty medical

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brigade in our main mission at that

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time was to provide health care in the

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Kabul based cluster . We had five

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clinics set up in the Kabul based

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cluster and we had an emergency Um

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evacuation platoon at bagram airbase

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which provided basically 911 services

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internally for for for bagram .

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Additionally , the 251st area support

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medical company served in response of

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the Homeland Defense as part of the

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United States Northern Command .

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Seabourn consequence management

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response force , also known as sea

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smurf . The unit was part of a robust

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federal reaction force that was

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prepared to mitigate loss of life and

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relieve suffering in response to a

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seabourn attack anywhere in the United

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States . Making sure service members

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are medically fit and ready is the

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primary mission of the medical command

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for the south Carolina National Guard

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and ensuring service members are

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medically capable of meeting the

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demands of the mission . And a deployed

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location is what makes the medical

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community an important asset for

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mobilizations . Yeah .

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One of the reasons the south Carolina

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National Guard is able to meet , their

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mission is due to the support of the

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families . It is because of the wives

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and husbands , moms and dads , brothers

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and sisters and sons and daughters

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knowing that the home and Children are

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taken care of while a service member is

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deployed allows for that soldiers or

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airmen to better focus on the mission

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at hand . When we talk about

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deployments , um , from a soldier and

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airmen perspective , we generally know

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what our jobs are going to be . We know

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our risk . Uh , we know that it's a lot

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of times , uh , long periods of uh ,

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maybe even boredom or um , not a

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lot of action going on . And then those

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intermittent times when things could

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get really , really tested . But I

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think in hindsight and having talked

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with my wife and other uh spouses and

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family members and and my and my kids ,

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especially my kids . Uh , they didn't

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have the luxury of knowing that uh , it

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was mommy or dad has gone away . My

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husband , my wife is gone there in

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harm's way . They saw the 32nd Sound

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Bites on CNN or Fox News that showed

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the horrific things that can happen in

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war and quite naturally . That's what

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they believe the environment that their

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loved one was in 24/7 in some degree

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that that possibility always existed .

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But you know , I've really looked at

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and I had my oldest son deployed in ,

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It wasn't so difficult for me to step

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on that plane to go . Um An adult

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background of working in law

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enforcement , having served at that

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time um close to 20 years in the

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military . I felt like I was prepared

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and trained for whatever . But when it

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was time for my son and the sons and

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daughters of a lot of others , it's a

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different different field . 9 11 did

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not only impact the lives of those

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currently serving in the armed forces ,

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it also impact their family members .

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For Miss Susan Mccarty , wife of Major

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General Van Mccarty , she was a second

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grade teacher at the time . It was

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until her husband's first deployment in

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2004 that the full impact of 9 11 had

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set in shortly after that . Um

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My husband was activated to go to Iraq

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and it was a very short

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timeframe from when he got notification ,

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there was warnings along and along ,

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but nothing materialized though . I was

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cautious about it feared at some , but

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with each time it didn't materialize ,

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I thought it's not going to happen ,

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it's not gonna happen . Along with my

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feeling that it really wasn't going to

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happen . I didn't prepare like I should

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and I really didn't know what I needed

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to do . Uh we lived in a community

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where there are very few National Guard

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or were very few National Guard members

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and so when he was activated and

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deployed , we were by ourselves . I

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was and my Children were in school and

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um , so it was kind of difficult to be

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all by yourself . Everybody else is

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going along . Normally we look like

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we're normal because we're still doing

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the same things but we weren't normal .

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We were all kind of afraid With the

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number of deployments the South

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Carolina National Guard conducted over

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the past 20 years . Family members were

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the ones to step up and take on the

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extra responsibilities of having a

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member of the family overseas in some

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instances for an unknown amount of time

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and I worked very hard . So I had a lot

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of experiences in the classroom , but

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when I tried to transition to um , an

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administrative position , I felt like I

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was looked over because of course after

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school I had to leave to take my kids

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to sports and I felt like they looked

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at me as if I was almost a single

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parent and that maybe I wouldn't be

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available for all the night things they

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had and the weekend things ,

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fortunately I've always been very

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independent . So Van kind of encouraged

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me to be that way . And so when he said

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he had to go , I continue to do

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everything I always did . He just

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wasn't gonna be , there is the

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difference . I do not think I handled

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all of it as well as I should have uh

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went into kind of a robotic kind of

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where I focused on what I needed to do ,

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try to keep everything normal , tried

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to schedule everything , keep kids in

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school plan for everything . But I

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forgot the emotional part of it because

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I , I guess I didn't want to deal with

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it and I thought my Children would see

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me continuing on as we always did and

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that they would feel all right . But I

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should have given them more opportunity

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to talk about their feelings ,

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expressed my feelings so they knew they

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were that it was okay to be afraid and

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to have some questions about dad being

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overseas . The south Carolina National

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Guard offers support systems within the

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organization to help family members

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including family programs with the

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service member and family care

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directorate and other support systems

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are encouraged for family members when

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their loved ones are deployed as well

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as resources for their service members

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Thankfully I did have my family close

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five vans parents lived about 45

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minutes . My mother was very close to

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us a couple of miles down the road and

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so I had them . I would encourage

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also that um partners

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participate in activities that

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include other National Guard people so

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that they make connections and have

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some kind of networking system , other

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people they can call that are in the

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same situation . They are either

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through a flood or a hurricane or you

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know it's a deployment . It was

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difficult when van was deployed and he

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was deployed twice Iraq and Afghanistan

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and like I said , I went in robot mode

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and kept going and focused forward .

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When he came back from the first one ,

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it was the most difficult time we've

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ever gone through as far as our married

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life and our family . The deployment

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was tough but during that time I became

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the leader , the one who made the

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decisions and I had never been in that

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position . So my kids look to me to ask

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could they do things get permission And

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so when he came back , I don't know

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that he resented it but he wanted to be

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back the way it was but it wasn't the

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way it was because it had been a year ,

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you know different . So he had to fall

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back in . The other thing . He was

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extremely angry when he came back and I

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share that with you because there's

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nothing wrong if somebody comes back

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very angry . He had seen people

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that worked , you know 100 times

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harder than we do physical labor and

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you know very difficult conditions So

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they could provide for their family

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just like we want , you know to make

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sure they have food on the table roof

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over their head , teach them skills so

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they could be able to be out on their

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own . So they're very much the same in

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what they want for their family but

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they face so much more hardship trying

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to , to do that . And so he saw that

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and he came back and he saw that we had

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so much and that we didn't appreciate

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how much we had . And it made him very

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angry when he came back to see that .

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Finally , instead of fussing , I said

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something to him and it just all

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came out . You know what he was angry

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about . And so that communication

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started and that's what , you know , I

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think it's so important . We were not

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communicating up until that point . If

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someone comes home and the family

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experiences the same kind of

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frustrations . Uh , the person comes

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home and they're angry , they're

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anxious or depressed . We have services

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available that they could contact

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someone and they will work with our

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soldiers and airmen so that they can

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help them work through these things

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that there um , may be harboring inside .

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It's really important that you address

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those things don't wait . Does

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something terrible happens And you know ,

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they have behavioral health , We have

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counselors , we have family support .

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We have individuals available to work

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with them . Um , if they , if they come

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back and they feel that they're not

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doing working up to their capability .

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It's not only military spouses who

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experienced the hardships of deployed

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loved ones when a service member

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deploys , they are leaving the husbands

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and wives to go serve their country ,

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but also sons and daughters . Brothers

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and sisters and mothers and fathers

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Since the conflicts have continued for

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the past 20 years , some families find

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themselves in unique situations when

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multiple generations have mobilized in

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support of the war fight with . Now

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adult Children deploying to the same

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regions their parents have served at in

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the past . It was more difficult

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being the parent of a son who was

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deployed . I did both . Um , I had my

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husband deployed twice and then our son

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was deployed and he was sent to

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Afghanistan and he was very young .

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Just started manhood , just gotten a

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full time job and the career choice he

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has chosen really kind of enjoying life

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had gotten out of school , you know ,

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um had lots of friends when he was

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called up . I looked at it very

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differently . My husband and I had been

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married for 20 years , 20 something

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years . He was the man he was supposed

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to be . You know , he'd gone through

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experiences and God had

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made him into who he was meant to be ,

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he was strong , he was sure of himself .

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Our relationship was good . Uh , it was

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tough when he came back but then it got

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better . Our son though , he was young ,

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he had not gone through those

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experiences . I felt like he didn't

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know who God meant for him to be yet

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and he was going to go overseas and go

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through experiences that might change

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him into something . He wasn't meant to

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be so worried about things like that .

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So I really encourage families to talk

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about that allow their

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dependence to realize it's okay

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to feel like that and you can talk to

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me about it . I feel that way to , you

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know , let's work through it very

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thankful and grateful to the families

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of those who had loved ones to go

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and for most they did return . Uh ,

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some return though with those invisible

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winds of war and they still struggle

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with that as reflecting back over

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two decades now of , of deployments

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for , but not just of soldiers and

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airmen of south Carolina National Guard

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for all of our services . Uh , there

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has been a tremendous price that has

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been paid . And that price though goes ,

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uh , to the heart of it . When you talk

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about those that made the ultimate

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sacrifice in defense of this great

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nation . I believe , what

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is one of our responsibilities as a

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nation and that is remembering the

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service and sacrifice of those who have

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fallen . And yes , there's a nation .

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We do have a memorial day and that is a

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time when the nation as a whole and

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pause and pay respects to the fallen .

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But to those families that lost a loved

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one , a son or a daughter or a husband

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or a wife . Um , each and every day is

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a memorial day . What I have found is

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somewhat comforting and even

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encouraging , um , is the spirit

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of our gold star mothers and their

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families . Um , I

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understand I say you understand , I

16:38.300 --> 16:40.540
know they hurt and the loss of their

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loved one , but many of them have been

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inspirations to others to include

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myself of , of the really

16:50.040 --> 16:53.000
what it means to serve this great

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country , this great nation . I've

16:55.480 --> 16:57.647
talked with a lot of gold star mothers

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and family members over the years and

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two things constantly come and part of

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that conversation , one is that their

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son or daughter or their husband . Um ,

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if they would have had the ability to

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turn the , the hands of time back to

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moments before the event that that

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they gave their life in service to this

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great nation . That if it meant

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somebody else was going to die in their

17:26.722 --> 17:29.560
place or if it meant that the mission

17:29.560 --> 17:33.380
may not be successful . Uh , they said

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they wouldn't , they knew their son and

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daughter or their loved one wouldn't do

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that . Um , they were proud of with

17:39.870 --> 17:43.820
service , they enjoyed soldering and

17:43.820 --> 17:45.970
they were committed to their battle

17:45.970 --> 17:48.650
buddies , their friends and I think

17:48.650 --> 17:52.040
that's a very strong

17:52.050 --> 17:55.980
statement coming from are again gold

17:55.980 --> 17:58.202
star mothers and gold star families and

17:58.202 --> 18:01.860
I think we have to recognize and try to

18:01.860 --> 18:03.860
appreciate uh ,

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what it means to serve what it means

18:08.630 --> 18:10.686
more importantly though to sacrifice

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and truly giving to a greater calls

18:14.380 --> 18:17.050
than just yourself and giving of your

18:17.050 --> 18:20.590
life . There is nothing from a human

18:20.600 --> 18:22.600
perspective than we can give that's

18:22.600 --> 18:24.544
more and more significant and more

18:24.544 --> 18:26.910
important than that . The other point

18:26.910 --> 18:30.850
that that they told me is oh

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we we must tell the story . We must

18:36.790 --> 18:40.520
not just remind um the

18:40.520 --> 18:42.770
citizens of this great nation , but we

18:42.770 --> 18:46.550
must reflect upon and tell that story .

18:47.040 --> 18:50.900
So that the service men and

18:50.900 --> 18:53.950
women who sacrificed that their

18:53.960 --> 18:56.340
Children , their family will recognize

18:56.340 --> 18:59.160
that others appreciate that sacrifice

18:59.160 --> 19:01.720
and they valued the service of their

19:01.720 --> 19:04.430
loved ones and that we don't forget

19:04.430 --> 19:07.210
them and that we don't just put their

19:07.210 --> 19:10.660
name on a plaque and put it on the wall

19:10.660 --> 19:14.170
somewhere that we paul's and honor

19:14.170 --> 19:16.810
their service and reaffirm our

19:16.820 --> 19:19.170
commitment to serve going forward .

19:20.140 --> 19:23.670
What we've got to remember from 9 11

19:24.140 --> 19:28.140
is the cost that we paid In the lives

19:28.150 --> 19:31.500
of our 17 soldiers , all who

19:31.510 --> 19:34.060
made the ultimate

19:34.540 --> 19:37.910
Sacrifice because of the world terror ,

19:37.920 --> 19:40.360
which origins began in 9 11

19:41.940 --> 19:45.030
And 20 years later . We owe it to each

19:45.030 --> 19:47.030
and everyone and we owe it to their

19:47.030 --> 19:50.060
sacrifice , to give it our best each

19:50.070 --> 19:52.920
and every day we put on the uniform and

19:52.930 --> 19:55.770
to say the names from

19:57.040 --> 19:59.950
Algernon Adams all the way to try

19:59.950 --> 20:03.880
various moments . We , we owe

20:03.880 --> 20:07.270
them so much . We can never forget Yeah .

20:07.940 --> 20:11.090
Where we are at today . Obviously many

20:11.090 --> 20:13.201
of our careers have been closely tied

20:13.440 --> 20:15.590
To the events that occurred on 9:11 .

20:16.140 --> 20:19.110
Uh it has been a life changing event

20:19.120 --> 20:21.710
for many of us uh the opportunity to

20:21.710 --> 20:25.090
have served with fellow soldiers or if

20:25.090 --> 20:26.812
you're in the Air Guard having

20:26.812 --> 20:29.720
opportunity with fellow airman Creates

20:29.720 --> 20:32.750
a unique and special bond and I look

20:32.750 --> 20:36.160
back now on nearly 20 years and in many

20:36.160 --> 20:38.990
respects , uh , it seems like some of

20:38.990 --> 20:42.810
it was just yesterday . Uh , but I'm

20:42.820 --> 20:45.300
very proud of the service I've had and

20:45.300 --> 20:47.356
I'm extremely proud of the young men

20:47.356 --> 20:49.300
and women today that served in the

20:49.300 --> 20:51.356
south Carolina army and Air National

20:51.356 --> 20:53.467
Guard there to continue the legacy of

20:53.467 --> 20:56.690
what many have have done before and in

20:56.690 --> 20:58.968
answering the call to this nation . Uh ,

20:58.968 --> 21:01.134
and to do the things that we have done

21:01.134 --> 21:03.470
over the years to ensure this country's

21:03.470 --> 21:07.170
freedom and allow us to be a

21:07.180 --> 21:09.300
country that is a world leader . I'm

21:09.300 --> 21:12.190
proud to be a part of that . 9-11

21:12.190 --> 21:14.950
solidified uh , my

21:14.950 --> 21:18.240
responsibility to respond as a national

21:18.240 --> 21:20.407
guardsmen to wherever my country calls

21:21.240 --> 21:25.030
and 9 11 solidified my commitment

21:25.040 --> 21:28.450
to performing my mission to 100%

21:28.460 --> 21:31.570
accomplishment . Whatever mission was

21:31.580 --> 21:35.050
was was assigned I think 9 11 .

21:35.840 --> 21:39.060
Uh , It obviously changed me

21:40.040 --> 21:41.873
as a person . It changed me as a

21:41.873 --> 21:44.207
soldier , but it also changed the guard .

21:44.640 --> 21:47.820
Uh , when you look at how we trained

21:47.820 --> 21:49.931
beforehand , the history of the guard

21:49.931 --> 21:52.780
is quite steeped in in service to

21:52.780 --> 21:56.460
country . But prior to 9 11 , we , we

21:56.460 --> 21:58.682
trained hard . I don't think we trained

21:58.682 --> 22:00.682
quite what the focus we did after .

22:00.682 --> 22:02.920
After 9 11 , the most , you would

22:02.920 --> 22:05.610
probably be away from your home as a

22:05.610 --> 22:09.260
national guardsmen Before 9 11 , uh ,

22:09.270 --> 22:11.650
could be a month , two months unless

22:11.650 --> 22:15.240
you were on some type of tour . Now ,

22:15.250 --> 22:17.139
our training was focused , it was

22:17.139 --> 22:19.361
focused on a new type of war fighting .

22:19.361 --> 22:22.460
It was focused on the inevitability

22:23.440 --> 22:26.760
of deployments and our , our training

22:26.770 --> 22:30.740
was , was , was focused on

22:30.750 --> 22:34.360
what we were going to do in combat

22:35.040 --> 22:37.190
with all of the mission sets and

22:37.190 --> 22:39.134
capabilities of the south Carolina

22:39.134 --> 22:40.912
National Guard . It wouldn't be

22:40.912 --> 22:42.801
possible without the soldiers and

22:42.801 --> 22:45.680
airmen families , civilian employers

22:45.740 --> 22:47.573
and the support of the community

22:47.573 --> 22:50.170
members simply . It's our people

22:51.340 --> 22:54.560
first because of what they can do .

22:55.640 --> 22:57.790
Their , their , their unique , they

22:57.800 --> 22:59.760
understand the history of our

22:59.760 --> 23:02.720
organization and and they bring the

23:02.720 --> 23:04.810
connection to their communities and

23:04.810 --> 23:06.977
what they learn in the community , the

23:06.977 --> 23:08.754
jobs , they bring that on their

23:08.754 --> 23:10.754
deployments worldwide . But I think

23:10.754 --> 23:13.760
it's also who they are patriots , uh ,

23:13.770 --> 23:16.470
those who serve for their love for the

23:16.470 --> 23:19.990
state and for the love for for their ,

23:20.000 --> 23:23.260
for their country . Um , and it's it's

23:23.260 --> 23:26.290
really because of who our guardsmen are ,

23:26.300 --> 23:29.910
uh , and what they do that

23:29.920 --> 23:33.010
we remain a beacon of hope in a

23:33.020 --> 23:36.170
troubled world . Yeah . Mm .

23:38.440 --> 23:39.440
Yeah .

24:00.540 --> 24:03.850
Okay . Mhm .

24:23.040 --> 24:24.040
Yeah .

24:29.340 --> 24:33.170
No . Yeah .

24:34.540 --> 24:36.040
Morning . Yeah .

24:41.840 --> 24:43.230
When you walk up