WEBVTT 00:05.540 --> 00:07.762 good day . Today I'd like to share with 00:07.762 --> 00:09.929 you and sit down with Sergeant Russell 00:09.929 --> 00:12.096 Helmut Berger who is a retired veteran 00:12.096 --> 00:14.151 who wants to share with us his story 00:14.151 --> 00:16.373 about his injury , his recovery and the 00:16.373 --> 00:18.373 reason why he is in full support of 00:18.373 --> 00:20.429 donation to the armed services blood 00:20.429 --> 00:22.651 program . So please share with me today 00:22.651 --> 00:24.707 this opportunity to talk to Sergeant 00:24.707 --> 00:26.818 Russell hamburger . So Russ . How are 00:26.818 --> 00:28.818 you today ? Very well thank you for 00:28.818 --> 00:30.873 asking . You know um you have a very 00:30.873 --> 00:33.096 unique and interesting story you know . 00:33.096 --> 00:34.984 Um I was truly impressed with the 00:34.984 --> 00:37.810 experiences that you had prior to your 00:37.980 --> 00:40.350 injuries but more importantly with your 00:40.350 --> 00:42.980 recovery from and your injuries that 00:42.980 --> 00:46.680 day . Mhm . Um This is your happy with 00:46.680 --> 00:48.730 deployment . It was on your second 00:48.730 --> 00:52.040 deployment . Um You would you mind 00:52.040 --> 00:54.262 talking about that day ? I mean I don't 00:55.140 --> 00:58.700 I remember every little detail and it's 00:58.700 --> 01:00.922 so strange . I don't know how I made it 01:00.922 --> 01:03.089 either because every N . C . O . In my 01:03.089 --> 01:05.200 chain of command at the company level 01:05.200 --> 01:07.450 was either killed or injured . I don't 01:07.450 --> 01:09.561 know how that happened when I look at 01:09.561 --> 01:12.380 me and even before my injury about two 01:12.380 --> 01:15.880 months before my direct supervisor was 01:15.890 --> 01:19.150 killed . And I'm like how can those 01:19.150 --> 01:22.400 people have died and there are a lot 01:22.400 --> 01:25.680 better than me what made me so special . 01:25.960 --> 01:28.690 So you know what was my attitude did I 01:28.690 --> 01:30.860 have that ? You know I'm bigger than 01:30.860 --> 01:33.780 everything that's how I was and then 01:33.780 --> 01:36.100 here I am and next thing you know I'm 01:36.100 --> 01:40.060 out and to me it was like a normal day 01:40.070 --> 01:43.420 and searching vehicles had some Iraqi 01:43.420 --> 01:46.020 special forces commandos training them . 01:46.020 --> 01:48.242 So it was just me and one other soldier 01:48.320 --> 01:50.487 and the car just came up like a normal 01:50.487 --> 01:52.590 day . They came up . The search is I 01:52.600 --> 01:54.850 think we were probably like 15 ft out 01:55.340 --> 01:57.970 and again it looked like a normal car 01:58.590 --> 02:01.920 normal day . I'm like what are we gonna 02:01.920 --> 02:04.250 be having down at the fob for lunch And 02:04.250 --> 02:07.260 then poof it felt like a hair dryer on 02:07.260 --> 02:09.710 my face and I'm next thing you know , I 02:09.710 --> 02:11.821 like pick myself off the ground but I 02:11.821 --> 02:13.988 really couldn't get up and I just knew 02:13.988 --> 02:16.154 there was an explosion because I could 02:16.154 --> 02:18.470 feel the it ended up being blood . I 02:18.470 --> 02:20.760 felt like heat everywhere and I'm like 02:22.140 --> 02:25.160 this is not what I expected , what am I 02:25.160 --> 02:27.271 supposed to do ? I really couldn't do 02:27.271 --> 02:29.271 nothing . That was one of the first 02:29.271 --> 02:31.250 times I felt helpless and I'm like 02:32.240 --> 02:34.490 maybe this is it . But then you know my 02:34.490 --> 02:38.150 team came and my last memory 02:38.160 --> 02:41.200 is seeing the helicopters come pick us 02:41.200 --> 02:44.360 up . The next thing I remember is 02:44.360 --> 02:47.260 waking up in texas and people are like , 02:47.260 --> 02:50.520 oh yeah you were in Germany for a week 02:50.830 --> 02:54.180 and then you came here and but I didn't 02:54.180 --> 02:56.550 have no family , none of my team 02:56.550 --> 02:59.310 members were there and it was just me 02:59.740 --> 03:02.050 alone for 03:03.740 --> 03:07.350 89 months and it was terrible . I mean 03:07.350 --> 03:09.820 it was that people will come in , take 03:09.820 --> 03:12.530 your blood and then poof poof , they're 03:12.530 --> 03:16.410 gone . This kind of feels terrible . I 03:16.410 --> 03:19.970 remember that I saw my dD 2 14 that was , 03:19.980 --> 03:21.980 that was probably like the third or 03:21.980 --> 03:24.760 fourth last time I cried that that hurt 03:25.230 --> 03:29.130 my first memory as a kid was 03:29.130 --> 03:32.500 being a soldier and sometimes it hurts 03:32.500 --> 03:34.990 when I go to work . Even today seeing 03:34.990 --> 03:37.046 you in uniform . I don't want to say 03:37.046 --> 03:39.101 I'm jealous . But man , I envy you . 03:39.370 --> 03:42.760 Like you can still do your part . But 03:42.760 --> 03:46.720 then when I did pcs to 03:46.720 --> 03:48.831 my second last duty station , I had a 03:48.831 --> 03:51.053 neighbor who was in the navy working in 03:51.053 --> 03:53.276 that program , the blood test program . 03:53.276 --> 03:55.480 And he was just like , hey , why don't 03:55.480 --> 03:59.370 you come down ? I'm like for what he's 03:59.370 --> 04:01.370 like , oh , you know , don't donate 04:01.370 --> 04:03.537 blood . I'm thinking , you know what ? 04:03.537 --> 04:05.920 There were regular , normal people that 04:05.920 --> 04:08.253 did that and that's why I'm alive today . 04:08.340 --> 04:12.200 Let me go help out and you know , 04:12.200 --> 04:14.367 fast forward two years later , here we 04:14.367 --> 04:16.533 are . Because you said a couple of key 04:16.533 --> 04:18.660 words that wrong to me is first when 04:18.660 --> 04:21.430 you said that you , I kind of had a 04:21.430 --> 04:23.652 little envy that I was still in uniform 04:23.652 --> 04:25.874 that I could still do my part . When we 04:25.874 --> 04:27.930 say doing our part , we also have to 04:27.930 --> 04:29.930 recognize that doing our part isn't 04:29.930 --> 04:31.986 just wearing the uniform . Doing our 04:31.986 --> 04:34.208 part is what you're talking about right 04:34.208 --> 04:36.208 now is in donating blood and giving 04:36.208 --> 04:38.097 back to um to our service members 04:38.097 --> 04:40.208 whether they are injured in combat or 04:40.208 --> 04:42.430 whether injured driving down the street 04:42.430 --> 04:44.041 or our blood donations don't 04:44.041 --> 04:46.208 necessarily stay within the military , 04:46.208 --> 04:48.541 they helped americans period . You know , 04:48.541 --> 04:48.490 whether in the military or not . But I 04:48.490 --> 04:50.601 also want to touch on the fact that I 04:50.601 --> 04:52.657 remember in our previous discussions 04:52.657 --> 04:54.823 where you said that , you know , prior 04:54.823 --> 04:57.046 to the injury , thank you wasn't really 04:57.046 --> 04:59.212 a word in your , in your lexicon , you 04:59.212 --> 04:59.160 didn't say thank you very often . What 04:59.160 --> 05:01.540 was the switch ? What made you realize 05:01.540 --> 05:04.130 that you know , yet you weren't in this 05:04.130 --> 05:06.370 by yourself and that , you know , being 05:06.370 --> 05:09.680 thankful is something that we as all 05:09.680 --> 05:12.230 americans should be thankful for your 05:12.240 --> 05:15.960 vocabulary wise . Thank you was not a 05:15.960 --> 05:19.760 word that I would use often when I was 05:19.760 --> 05:23.190 in service . And uh looking back , I 05:23.200 --> 05:25.860 really wish I could change that . But I , 05:27.440 --> 05:29.607 I was kind of thinking on the way here 05:29.607 --> 05:31.551 driving back , I'm like , man , if 05:31.551 --> 05:33.607 there was some way that you can like 05:33.607 --> 05:35.773 turn back time and relive a moment , I 05:35.773 --> 05:37.884 would not change one thing . I mean , 05:37.884 --> 05:40.051 even if they would bring me one minute 05:40.051 --> 05:42.350 before my injury , I wouldn't run . I 05:42.350 --> 05:44.410 wouldn't hide . I would stay there 05:44.410 --> 05:47.790 because I knew I needed that . And it's 05:47.790 --> 05:50.770 strange . But I'm like , I remember 05:50.780 --> 05:54.050 waking up thinking I can't do anything . 05:54.940 --> 05:57.107 I couldn't brush my teeth , I couldn't 05:57.107 --> 05:59.520 eat , I couldn't do nothing . And there 05:59.520 --> 06:01.970 was just like people would do things 06:01.970 --> 06:04.137 and I think maybe after a day or two I 06:04.137 --> 06:07.270 was just like I need them . You know , 06:07.270 --> 06:10.690 so thank you was like like every other 06:10.690 --> 06:12.912 word , every other sentence that I'd be 06:12.912 --> 06:15.023 talking to some of this is like man , 06:15.023 --> 06:14.880 I'm grateful for you helping me out 06:14.890 --> 06:17.180 because if not I would just be laying 06:17.180 --> 06:20.600 here totally helpless . So the whole 06:20.600 --> 06:22.910 thank you thing man , I mean I wish I 06:22.910 --> 06:25.590 could say it more often . Yeah . Yeah , 06:25.590 --> 06:28.470 that's that's a underutilized , 06:28.470 --> 06:30.581 unfortunately underutilized phrase in 06:30.581 --> 06:32.692 our society that people don't realize 06:32.692 --> 06:34.914 how interdependent we are on each other 06:34.914 --> 06:36.914 and then how we take each other for 06:36.914 --> 06:39.137 granted . So thank you for sharing that 06:39.137 --> 06:41.359 with us . And and now to that the blood 06:41.359 --> 06:43.359 donation part and you're doing your 06:43.359 --> 06:45.581 part even though you're not necessarily 06:45.581 --> 06:47.692 in uniform anymore . You contributing 06:47.692 --> 06:49.803 and giving back by your supporting of 06:49.803 --> 06:51.637 the blood donation program . You 06:51.637 --> 06:53.859 donating yourself whenever you possibly 06:53.859 --> 06:56.026 can understanding that You know of our 06:56.026 --> 06:57.970 population , only about 38% of our 06:57.970 --> 07:00.192 American population is even eligible to 07:00.192 --> 07:03.350 donate . And of that 38% , only three 07:04.240 --> 07:07.480 actually donate . Which you know , it's 07:07.490 --> 07:10.080 it's a it's a sobering fact but it's 07:10.080 --> 07:13.600 also kind of on par with um 07:13.610 --> 07:15.880 military service because you know that 07:15.890 --> 07:19.740 you know of our of our 330 odd 07:19.740 --> 07:21.740 million americans , you know , only 07:21.740 --> 07:23.907 about 25% are eligible for service and 07:23.907 --> 07:27.140 of that 25% less than 1% actually put 07:27.140 --> 07:29.362 on the cloth and where the cloth of our 07:29.362 --> 07:31.084 nation . So you know that that 07:31.084 --> 07:33.196 commitment of giving back and service 07:33.196 --> 07:35.300 to our nation isn't necessarily 07:35.550 --> 07:38.030 isolated too wearing a uniform . Let's 07:38.030 --> 07:40.290 talk about that . The blood donation 07:40.290 --> 07:42.457 aspect . And , and you know , you're a 07:42.457 --> 07:44.640 realization that you know , one , I'm 07:44.640 --> 07:47.460 not here if there weren't individuals 07:47.460 --> 07:49.650 who give of themselves and donate , 07:50.040 --> 07:52.262 donate blood and you know , not knowing 07:52.262 --> 07:55.010 how much blood that you were had to be 07:55.010 --> 07:57.440 utilized or consumed to assist you in 07:57.440 --> 07:59.662 recovering and get you get into getting 07:59.662 --> 08:01.718 you to where you are today . Let's , 08:01.718 --> 08:03.829 can you expand on that a little bit ? 08:03.829 --> 08:05.884 It's a humbling feeling . Looking at 08:05.884 --> 08:09.860 how a normal person's blood kept me 08:09.860 --> 08:12.100 alive while I was doing combinations 08:12.840 --> 08:15.650 and I'm no longer kicking down doors , 08:15.660 --> 08:17.771 snatching and grabbing , shooting and 08:17.771 --> 08:19.993 moving . But it's like I could still do 08:19.993 --> 08:23.810 my part , I can still be helping people 08:23.820 --> 08:27.820 who are in theater getting hurt or even 08:27.820 --> 08:30.042 if they're not , it might be at a local 08:30.042 --> 08:33.490 hospital when you think about it , 08:33.580 --> 08:37.110 Everyone is special . And all they have 08:37.110 --> 08:39.700 to do is , you know , check out online , 08:39.710 --> 08:41.690 see what they have to do , make an 08:41.690 --> 08:43.468 appointment , make sure they're 08:43.468 --> 08:45.634 hydrated . You know , a little healthy 08:45.740 --> 08:47.830 and at least make an attempt because 08:47.830 --> 08:49.997 not everyone can attempt to put on the 08:49.997 --> 08:53.330 uniform . So it's , it's , I mean , I 08:53.330 --> 08:55.663 look at my kids and I'm like , you know , 08:55.740 --> 08:58.670 you all can help out once you're of age 08:58.680 --> 09:00.847 you don't have to necessarily put on a 09:00.847 --> 09:04.550 uniform to help . I mean , and , and 09:04.550 --> 09:06.606 you say that you look at your kids , 09:06.606 --> 09:08.828 how old are your kids now ? They're all 09:08.828 --> 09:11.120 in middle school ? You know , it goes 09:11.120 --> 09:13.342 back to the question is , are your kids 09:13.342 --> 09:15.342 even here if somebody didn't donate 09:15.342 --> 09:17.287 blood because are you here to even 09:17.287 --> 09:19.287 father them if there wasn't a blood 09:19.287 --> 09:21.398 donation ? So you know , when you say 09:21.398 --> 09:23.509 that to your Children , hey , you can 09:23.509 --> 09:25.731 help too . You can even give blood . Do 09:25.731 --> 09:27.787 they even realize the implication of 09:27.787 --> 09:30.009 hey , if somebody hadn't given blood to 09:30.009 --> 09:32.231 dad , then maybe we're not here to have 09:32.231 --> 09:34.287 a conversation with dad because this 09:34.287 --> 09:36.342 never transpires . Yeah , I think we 09:36.342 --> 09:38.509 have that conversation every once in a 09:38.509 --> 09:38.260 while and they might not think it's 09:38.260 --> 09:40.149 important because they're young . 09:40.149 --> 09:41.927 They're not just looking at the 09:41.927 --> 09:44.204 military aspect of it , But looking at , 09:44.204 --> 09:46.538 you know , hospitals in general , right ? 09:46.538 --> 09:48.704 People are always receiving blood . So 09:48.704 --> 09:48.250 it's like , you know , this could have 09:48.250 --> 09:50.980 helped her , our grandparents , my mom , 09:50.980 --> 09:53.300 it could help anybody . And one day it 09:53.300 --> 09:55.480 could help you . You know , it's not 09:55.480 --> 09:57.536 like you donate blood . Thinking I'm 09:57.536 --> 10:00.170 going to get it back . It's knowing 10:00.170 --> 10:02.337 that you're going to help someone else 10:02.337 --> 10:04.614 out . And then whenever they're better , 10:04.614 --> 10:06.781 they're gonna donate and it's going to 10:06.781 --> 10:08.837 help you . So it goes the whole full 10:08.837 --> 10:10.837 circle . Yeah . And you know , it's 10:10.837 --> 10:12.837 like you said , you know , it's not 10:12.837 --> 10:15.059 necessarily just the military because , 10:15.059 --> 10:17.114 um , you know , every two seconds in 10:17.114 --> 10:19.226 the United States , somebody receives 10:19.226 --> 10:21.281 some type of blood product from from 10:21.281 --> 10:23.960 for a reason that may be an injury may 10:23.960 --> 10:25.849 be a trauma , maybe an illness or 10:25.849 --> 10:27.849 disease . But every about every two 10:27.849 --> 10:30.016 seconds somebody receives some form of 10:30.016 --> 10:29.950 blood products in the United States 10:30.340 --> 10:32.118 based off of the donation . And 10:32.118 --> 10:34.007 understanding that you know , one 10:34.007 --> 10:36.390 donation um can affect and save up to 10:36.390 --> 10:38.501 three lives . Just one blood donation 10:38.501 --> 10:40.668 from an individual can affect and save 10:40.668 --> 10:42.890 up to about three lives , you know , so 10:42.890 --> 10:45.112 that's just the power of the blood . So 10:45.112 --> 10:47.223 if you had one takeaway message , one 10:47.223 --> 10:49.390 closing message that you would like to 10:49.390 --> 10:51.223 share or give to to the american 10:51.223 --> 10:53.390 populist , what would you say ? That's 10:53.390 --> 10:55.612 a big question . That's a that's a real 10:55.612 --> 10:58.130 big question . It really boils down to 10:58.140 --> 11:00.362 do the things that you can while you're 11:00.362 --> 11:02.418 still here . So take a little bit of 11:02.418 --> 11:05.500 your time try to donate . What's the 11:05.500 --> 11:07.722 worst thing that could happen ? The tri 11:07.722 --> 11:09.778 effects of that now , You might have 11:09.778 --> 11:11.889 heard about me trying to donate now . 11:11.889 --> 11:14.056 You might donate or your other friends 11:14.056 --> 11:16.167 might try so we can all save a life . 11:16.167 --> 11:18.000 We don't we don't have to have a 11:18.000 --> 11:20.056 uniform on or be a first responder . 11:20.940 --> 11:22.996 Good , thank you . I appreciate your 11:22.996 --> 11:25.280 time today . Um there's been a great 11:25.280 --> 11:27.447 enjoyable and informative conversation 11:27.447 --> 11:29.558 for me . I look forward to us sharing 11:29.558 --> 11:31.558 our time and sharing a conversation 11:31.558 --> 11:33.724 later on and thank you so much for for 11:33.724 --> 11:36.058 spending time with us today and sharing . 11:36.058 --> 11:37.836 Thank you for the opportunity . 11:37.836 --> 11:38.060 Absolutely . Thank you .