Speaker 1: Oh, beat force. If it doesn't work, you're just not
Speaker 1: using enough. You're listening to Software up Radio Special Operations,
Speaker 1: military news and straight talk with the guys and the community.
Speaker 1: And Hello and everyone, Welcome back to software radio dot com.
Speaker 1: I'm your host today, Steve Alstrei joining me. We're very
Speaker 1: pleased to have c Freeman, vice President of the Board
Speaker 1: of Directors of the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association.
Speaker 1: See and I are gonna be talking about there's a
Speaker 1: big push on getting a Desert Storm memorial built in
Speaker 1: the Washington, d C. Area. We're gonna get into all that,
Speaker 1: but we're also going to talk to See about his
Speaker 1: own personal history. I guess you could say he served
Speaker 1: in the eighty second Airborne as a member of I
Speaker 1: believe it was eighty second Signal Battalion and Desert Storm.
Speaker 1: He also served in Company GIF one forty three Infantry,
Speaker 1: which is a long range of aillance unit of the
Speaker 1: Texas Army National Guard as an eleven Bravo for Treuman.
Speaker 1: So we have a lot to talk about before we
Speaker 1: go any further. Let's welcome See to the podcast. See
Speaker 1: how you doing this afternoon, I'm doing sir. Let's talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about you. I know you live in Texas.
Speaker 1: Are you a Texas native? I am. I was born
Speaker 1: and raised in Dallas, and in eight moved to Houston,
Speaker 1: and I've been here now going on thirty years. I'm
Speaker 1: sorry forty I'm I'm turning fifty in May, So forty years,
Speaker 1: you're still You're still a young guy, Yes, sir. So
Speaker 1: you grew up in Texas, you joined the Army of
Speaker 1: what you okay, and then you went right to uh
Speaker 1: Airborne School. I take it from there, Yes, sir, basic
Speaker 1: training A I t at Fort Gordon and then and
Speaker 1: then right into airyone School. And you were a thirty
Speaker 1: one charlie I'm reading here, a single channel radio teletype operator.
Speaker 1: So you went right to the eighty second Signal Battalion.
Speaker 1: Did you operate in the battalion or were you farmed
Speaker 1: out to one of the line units. I actually operated
Speaker 1: in the battalion itself. I was. I was in the
Speaker 1: General GP platoon, you know, purpose platoon, and then when
Speaker 1: does a shield kicked off? I got transferred over to
Speaker 1: third Fast but it was in the batalion Bravo Company actually.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so let's talk about that time, because a
Speaker 1: lot of our listeners, some of them weren't even alive
Speaker 1: back then, you know, because we're dating ourselves. I was
Speaker 1: in the military at that time as well, and you know,
Speaker 1: the summer of eighty nine, the eighty second was being sent,
Speaker 1: you know, first over to Kuwait, and that was the
Speaker 1: whole Desert Shield thing, and you know, uh, at that time,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of talk that the eighty second
Speaker 1: was nothing more than a speed bump for the Iraqi Army.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about that. What was it like at
Speaker 1: that time? Remember the eight second, you know, heading over
Speaker 1: to the desert. That was actually my second field exercise
Speaker 1: if you can believe that. I was training in at
Speaker 1: Fort Chaffee, Arkansas if at j RTC when Desert Shield
Speaker 1: kicked off, and so we were pulled out of the
Speaker 1: field that field exercise, and you know, Patune sergeant brought
Speaker 1: us all together and let us know what we're about
Speaker 1: to embark on. And things changed quite drastically from that
Speaker 1: point on. So I was like, Wow, these guys are
Speaker 1: really fired up. I finally realized what, you know, what
Speaker 1: we had signed up for. And so up to that point,
Speaker 1: I'm literally I was at the division for only June
Speaker 1: two July, just a month and a half before Desert
Speaker 1: Shield kicked off. They had just recently got back from Panama,
Speaker 1: jumping into Panama, so you know they were you know,
Speaker 1: fired up about that. But then this happened, and um,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh boy, here we go. So I
Speaker 1: was just a private I wasn't even a private class.
Speaker 1: So as E two, new to the Army, new to
Speaker 1: the division, new to everything, it was quite the eye
Speaker 1: opening experience. But it's what I signed up for. And
Speaker 1: so we went back to Fort Bragg and started getting
Speaker 1: everyone to in the deployment mode. Yeah, you know, it's
Speaker 1: funny you mentioned that because in was when you know,
Speaker 1: we were all finishing. I was stationed in Panama, so
Speaker 1: eighty second was down there for you know, the whole
Speaker 1: uh operation just we used to call it just because
Speaker 1: it's just cause and the whole Noriega mess, and you know,
Speaker 1: as a member of the seven Special Forces Group, we
Speaker 1: were assigned there. We were still cleaning up all that
Speaker 1: mess from Panama. Went all this kicked off, and we
Speaker 1: were we were watching you guys on the news, deploye
Speaker 1: out of fat fell in Fort Bragg, pulled Air Force
Speaker 1: Base and heading over there. So you were brand new
Speaker 1: to the unit. You've only been there a very short time. Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: I was the cherry. How was the newbie? And uh
Speaker 1: and I even you know, like I said, I would
Speaker 1: started out at g p platun and then Third Fast
Speaker 1: needed a thirty one Charlie, a rat rig operator, so
Speaker 1: I got transferred over to their patun. So I really
Speaker 1: was the newbie then. That always makes it difficult than
Speaker 1: especially being a private. I mean it's you're an n
Speaker 1: c O, but if you're a private, I would imagine
Speaker 1: all the bad details went your way. They did. Yes,
Speaker 1: I had the night duties I had, you know, I
Speaker 1: was instructed I was going to be the one to
Speaker 1: take off my gas mask if if we didn't have
Speaker 1: any alarms out there. So the tree, So that's what
Speaker 1: I had in my mind. I'm gonna end up sitting
Speaker 1: under the tree and they're not gonna take my mask off,
Speaker 1: They're gonna shoot me. So so I was that guy. Yes, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: So let's talk about that. I mean, you guys were
Speaker 1: there obviously for many months before everything finally kicked off.
Speaker 1: Can you talk a little at about that time when
Speaker 1: it was like in the eighty second starting out. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know that a lot of the listeners know the
Speaker 1: history of the eighty second, but very high standards and
Speaker 1: soldiering and so the one distinct thing that I always
Speaker 1: bring up to everybody over there. When we got there,
Speaker 1: everybody else had booty caps except for the eighty second.
Speaker 1: The eighty sewod wore their kevlars. So I I like
Speaker 1: to tell everybody started out as like any good soldiers.
Speaker 1: We were griping about having to wear our k pod
Speaker 1: you know, the whole time. So that's what started out
Speaker 1: in country, you know, getting in there and the heat
Speaker 1: just hitting you and getting acclimated was chore. I deployed
Speaker 1: with my lieutenant and um he was gung ho and
Speaker 1: wanted to get everybody acclimated. So that's what we did
Speaker 1: when we first got there. So it was I open experience.
Speaker 1: I've never been anywhere outside of the country like that.
Speaker 1: Oh actually that was my first time out of the country,
Speaker 1: so oh wow. Yeah, and to go to the Middle
Speaker 1: East at it's pretty different than what we're used to
Speaker 1: here in the United States. Yeah, a little different. So
Speaker 1: everything was not set up so it just was different.
Speaker 1: So but anyways, yes, sir, it was quite the experience
Speaker 1: to begin and and think youmcast signed up here for
Speaker 1: this for college money, right, And so here we were
Speaker 1: and then and then of course desert storm kicks off.
Speaker 1: You know, our guys, including the coalition guys who were
Speaker 1: with us, I mean, they kicked some serious but over
Speaker 1: there and one through the Iraqi is pretty fast. Can
Speaker 1: you talk a little bit about what you were doing
Speaker 1: at that time? I was blessed by being on a
Speaker 1: base called Champion, Maine. That's where the eight swond was.
Speaker 1: That was their base. And so starting out from I
Speaker 1: guess auguste when I got there, we moved to that base.
Speaker 1: We would go out, you know days at the time.
Speaker 1: We used the time and go train and get prepared
Speaker 1: for this, and then we would come back get ready,
Speaker 1: you know, get cleaned up and get ready for the
Speaker 1: next exercise to go out. So we've been on that
Speaker 1: base for a long time, considering August to January sixteenth
Speaker 1: we were there. So we we had perimeters set up
Speaker 1: around a Ramco old fields if you're or the Ramco
Speaker 1: compound I would call it. But that was a part
Speaker 1: of our mission, is what I understood as a private
Speaker 1: So as a private, I understood we were guarding a Ramco.
Speaker 1: So the ventry was out in the field guarding them,
Speaker 1: and we would you know, provide comms for him. So
Speaker 1: we would go out and train and train and train
Speaker 1: and train. So everybody had heard rumors, Okay, we're going home.
Speaker 1: Now we're going home. This this is not our mission.
Speaker 1: This is we got over here. We stopped the halts,
Speaker 1: you know, speed bumps all that. I heard that a lot.
Speaker 1: But we were so brainwashed that we're like, I don't
Speaker 1: know what they're talking about. We can take them on,
Speaker 1: you know. That's the way that was our mentality is
Speaker 1: like we got some laws, we got them sixties, we
Speaker 1: got grenades, were good, you know, whole missiles, I mean
Speaker 1: all that. So that was what was going through our heads.
Speaker 1: So we were there training a whole lot. So come
Speaker 1: January the seventeenth, we were ready. We were we were
Speaker 1: trained up. Everybody was itching to go. Apprehensive, yes, because
Speaker 1: of the you know, you heard all the casualty reports
Speaker 1: that were supposed to happen. They were even telling us
Speaker 1: we were gonna be you know, killed, So we were prepared.
Speaker 1: Who was signed our wheels. We did our last videos
Speaker 1: to our families as a twenty year old. That's pretty tough.
Speaker 1: I just remember that, Okay, who who's my money gonna
Speaker 1: go to? You know? And that's the truth. And so
Speaker 1: you know, mom and mom and dad got half and
Speaker 1: sister got half, and um, that's the way. Not my
Speaker 1: fiance did. I was supposed to get married in December
Speaker 1: during that time, so I spent my first wedding night.
Speaker 1: There is how I always portray it. But he was
Speaker 1: getting half, I forgot. My sister was not. But but
Speaker 1: then I'm to tell you we were we were trained up,
Speaker 1: ready to go. We knew what our mission was and
Speaker 1: we were ready. And that's how I believe everybody felt.
Speaker 1: Everybody was ready to get it on. That's that's very good.
Speaker 1: So how long did you stay in for your enlistment,
Speaker 1: because I know you went to college afterwards that uh,
Speaker 1: you just do the one hitch, yes or And I
Speaker 1: actually was a three year man, which was odd. I
Speaker 1: mean most people are four years. But when I was
Speaker 1: at the you know, at going and signing up, my
Speaker 1: my stepdad went with me, and being a young kid,
Speaker 1: I was wanting just get some college money and and go.
Speaker 1: So it was laid out by the recruiter that okay,
Speaker 1: for a two year enlistment you get this much, three
Speaker 1: year you get this much, four year, you get this much.
Speaker 1: And but on the two year enlistment, the training was
Speaker 1: not counted for on your enlistment, so you would go
Speaker 1: through and a half years with your training, six months
Speaker 1: of training, and only get paid for two years. So
Speaker 1: my stepdad was smart enough to say, hey, you might
Speaker 1: want to sign up for six more months and get
Speaker 1: you know whatever it was back then, ten thousand more
Speaker 1: for college. And I'm like, well that's pretty bright. So
Speaker 1: as a kid, I would have signed up for the
Speaker 1: two year and missed out on six more months of
Speaker 1: college fund. But yes, so I was a three year guy.
Speaker 1: So when I got out, we got back April first,
Speaker 1: nineteen one, went home, got married in June eight, which
Speaker 1: was kind of funny. When I started working with the
Speaker 1: Desert Store Memorial, they kept saying June eighth was They
Speaker 1: just kept saying, were you part of the National Victory
Speaker 1: Parade in Washington, D C. And I said, I don't
Speaker 1: remember that at all. I mean, eighty second was always
Speaker 1: asking the march here there or whatever, so you know,
Speaker 1: I just didn't remember it. So I googled it researched it. Well,
Speaker 1: it was my wedding day, so I got herry in
Speaker 1: June eighth n and that's when the National Parade was
Speaker 1: in d C. Which I had no clue of because
Speaker 1: I was getting married. So kind of cool story. But anyways,
Speaker 1: I got out. My wife came and joined me for
Speaker 1: about eight months there. You know, we did our stint.
Speaker 1: I got out, I came back home. I went back
Speaker 1: to work for UPS and started my uh junior college career.
Speaker 1: I guess took me about two and after three years
Speaker 1: got that done and then I transferred to a college
Speaker 1: called Eterno, got my other two years out of the way,
Speaker 1: and got my Bachelor of Science degree. So I had
Speaker 1: my wife pushing me to get it done. And in
Speaker 1: order to get the military pay, you had to take
Speaker 1: twelve hours twelve semester hours of college, so that that helped,
Speaker 1: you know, get my Army college fund and the g
Speaker 1: I bill just by staying in school. So she held
Speaker 1: me to it and got me through it. So, yes, Sir,
Speaker 1: graduated in So it took me a little while. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well it took on us a long time through college.
Speaker 1: I mean I took classes the whole time I was
Speaker 1: in the military. I probably you know, if you look
Speaker 1: at my transcripts, you're like, this guy went to college everywhere,
Speaker 1: because we're whatever college was offering courses on the base
Speaker 1: would be at Fort Bragg or you know, down in Panama.
Speaker 1: I take it, of course, whenever the opportunity availed itself,
Speaker 1: which wasn't often, but you had to do what you
Speaker 1: had to do. But yeah, during that time, you served
Speaker 1: with the Texas National Garden. Uh was that that was
Speaker 1: a long race of ailance unit? Right, it was, yes?
Speaker 1: Or And funny story is just you know, I got
Speaker 1: out and I was in the inactive reserves, our are
Speaker 1: I had, I had my son, and you know, times
Speaker 1: were you know, it was tight back then. I was
Speaker 1: a full time college student, worked for UPS part time,
Speaker 1: and I said this. You know, I've been ingrained to
Speaker 1: be airborne and nothing else but airborne. So I was
Speaker 1: not gonna go join the regular you know, uh, National
Speaker 1: Guard or reserve unit. But luckily I found out about
Speaker 1: you know, Company G one, forty third Infantry to infantry
Speaker 1: unit and it was alersed unit. So I went down
Speaker 1: there and they were jumped qualified, so they jumped So
Speaker 1: I went down there, told him in MS. There was
Speaker 1: a thirty one Charlie slot available, and so I had
Speaker 1: to do a PT test. I still could run back then,
Speaker 1: and do you know, but anyways, I had to prove
Speaker 1: to him I was still in shape. So I joined them.
Speaker 1: I kept saying, hey, I want to go to p LDC.
Speaker 1: You know p LDC. That was my big deal, you know,
Speaker 1: to get promoted sergeant. So I was a specialist then
Speaker 1: and long story short, Uh, they put me in a
Speaker 1: lem Bravo slot. Come time to go, they said, well,
Speaker 1: you're not MS qualified, So I said, well what does
Speaker 1: that mean? So where you're a thirty one Charlie and
Speaker 1: a lem Bravo slot, you know you can't go to
Speaker 1: PLDC without that. So that's well what I need to do.
Speaker 1: So what you want to go to school? I'm since, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll do it. So long story short, I went out
Speaker 1: my leven Bravo identifier, so I became infantry. So that
Speaker 1: was the National Guard tour and then come time for
Speaker 1: p LDC school. We we had a mission come up
Speaker 1: that we were going to Australia and so all funds
Speaker 1: were going towards you know, it's called Operation Tandem Thrust.
Speaker 1: We were gonna go to show Bay and do some
Speaker 1: training with the ass's And so the school went away
Speaker 1: and I jumped into Australia, got my Australian jump wings
Speaker 1: which was pretty cool, did that and then got out.
Speaker 1: So I only did my two and a half years
Speaker 1: or two years roughly in UM National Guard. But it
Speaker 1: was a high speed unit. Gung ho guys, I mean,
Speaker 1: great group group of guys, and I believe now they
Speaker 1: they're under the hundred seventy three if you can believe
Speaker 1: that out of Italy, I believe. Yeah, that would have
Speaker 1: been nice, definitely. Yeah. Yeah, alright, well now you're on
Speaker 1: your own construction firm, that is correct. My brother in
Speaker 1: law and myself are co owners of company called Mako Construction.
Speaker 1: Were designed build down here in Houston, Texas. Our niche
Speaker 1: market is church construction. So I always tell everybody I'd
Speaker 1: build the Lord's house all over the state of Texas.
Speaker 1: And yeah, but anyway, so yes, sirry, that's what I
Speaker 1: do now. Yeah, you know it was funny when uh,
Speaker 1: when I was stationed down south, there was I wanted
Speaker 1: to buy it. Um there was this old stone church,
Speaker 1: a tiny like a tiny stone church, and uh it
Speaker 1: was for sale. I guess they, you know, something whatever
Speaker 1: came up and they decided they were going to close
Speaker 1: it down. But oh my god, whenever I think of
Speaker 1: church construction, I was like, because I actually saw her
Speaker 1: inside of that. It was all stone. It was absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 1: And then I saw it later on. The guy who
Speaker 1: ended up buying it, he was pretty wealthy, so he
Speaker 1: was able to keep at of that construction the same,
Speaker 1: with all those stained glass windows in there, and he
Speaker 1: made it into a beautiful place. But well, that's off
Speaker 1: to you. You're doing what we call, I guess the
Speaker 1: Lord's work. So yes, sir, but let's switch it over
Speaker 1: to the other thing that you're up to, and that
Speaker 1: is the National Desert Storm War Memorial. How did you
Speaker 1: get involved with this? I got involved with it one
Speaker 1: of my one of my friends, and I wasn't great
Speaker 1: friends with him, but I was good friends with his brother.
Speaker 1: His name is Stephen we. Steve we wrote a book
Speaker 1: called g Day Rendezvous with the Eagles, and it was
Speaker 1: a chronological book on Desert Storm and his Desert Shield.
Speaker 1: Desert Storm, I guess his journey and he was an
Speaker 1: older guy at that time, as was his second go
Speaker 1: around to get into the into the army, and so
Speaker 1: he was very detailed. He was afford deserver, so he
Speaker 1: took very good notes and so he wrote this book.
Speaker 1: And um, one day I was given the book on
Speaker 1: Sunday and I read the whole book the whole day.
Speaker 1: I never put it down. It was a great book.
Speaker 1: So I started following him on Facebook and one day
Speaker 1: popped up National Desert Storm War Memorial Association first annual
Speaker 1: golf tournament to build the National Desert Storm and Desert
Speaker 1: Shield Memorial, And I'm like, oh, And it was in Austin.
Speaker 1: So I called Steve and asked him if I could help.
Speaker 1: I wanted to, you know, bring some money down from
Speaker 1: Houston raise money for it. And I didn't want to golf.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to work because I've helped a few
Speaker 1: golf tournaments like a church, you know are our churches
Speaker 1: I have been involved with. We do golf tournaments and
Speaker 1: things like that to raise money, so I know how
Speaker 1: much work it is. I just said, I just want
Speaker 1: to work. So that's how I got involved with IS.
Speaker 1: I went down there on a Thursday and helped Steve.
Speaker 1: I was like his right hand man and anything he
Speaker 1: needs done I tried to do it and got to
Speaker 1: to meet the board of directors at that time. I
Speaker 1: believe three of them came down for the for the
Speaker 1: golf tournament, and that's where I met Scott Stump. The
Speaker 1: president of the board, Bill Kerrigan was there, I believe,
Speaker 1: and another gentleman was there that's no longer with us.
Speaker 1: But long story short, we held the golf tournament. I
Speaker 1: worked my tail off. They saw the work ethic. I
Speaker 1: told him what I did for a living, My brother
Speaker 1: in law and myself wanted to do a promotional video
Speaker 1: for him to help it when that time came, and
Speaker 1: just told him we would donate it to the memorial
Speaker 1: at that time. So I guess they wait. Scott describes
Speaker 1: is they took note of what I did and my
Speaker 1: work ethic, and they called me about I would say
Speaker 1: two or maybe a two or three days or maybe
Speaker 1: a week. I don't remember. It's all a blur now,
Speaker 1: but he asked me if I would join and be
Speaker 1: part of the design team. So there was a spot
Speaker 1: available and I jumped right on it. So that's how
Speaker 1: the journey started, just by volunteering at the at the
Speaker 1: golf tournament. So let's talk about the you know, the
Speaker 1: war memorial project that you guys are involved in, and
Speaker 1: so you know, explain to our our listeners what it's
Speaker 1: all about, Uh, what you guys are planning to do
Speaker 1: and what you hope to accomplish, and you know how
Speaker 1: far along you are up at this point? Okay? Sure? Um.
Speaker 1: Back in two thousand ten, Scott Stuck Uh, he's a
Speaker 1: marine out of North Carolina, had this idea of commemorating
Speaker 1: U Desert Storm and Desert Shield in our nation's capital,
Speaker 1: which we didn't have a presence in. He just said,
Speaker 1: it's time to do something like this, I mean the
Speaker 1: Desert Shield and Desert Storm betters that we know, I
Speaker 1: mean during some ceremonies, there's times where it's you know,
Speaker 1: just not thought of and not brought up. So you know,
Speaker 1: he didn't want this to go away, the victory that
Speaker 1: was there to go away in history. And that's what
Speaker 1: he felt like it would do if if we didn't,
Speaker 1: if he didn't do something something like this. So he
Speaker 1: started the process throughout the years. Back in two thousand twelve,
Speaker 1: met up with an architect firm up in Indiana, which
Speaker 1: it's called CSO Architects. They're more of a partner than
Speaker 1: than a consultant with us because they jumped right on it.
Speaker 1: Um you know, we didn't have any Scott didn't have
Speaker 1: any money back then needed the Memorial Association. So they
Speaker 1: worked for us for years for for pro bono. So
Speaker 1: they partnered up with They saw that this was worthy
Speaker 1: of it, partnered up with us and really got us
Speaker 1: along on the design. And through this process it's a
Speaker 1: it's a really long process to do. And Scott always mentions,
Speaker 1: you know, why is there the Commemorative Works Act Is
Speaker 1: because to keep people from building memorials in d C.
Speaker 1: So we've been navigating through it for quite some time.
Speaker 1: And um on, I guess. Two thousand thirteen, Congressman Phil Roe,
Speaker 1: great congressman that helped us out. He wrote our I
Speaker 1: guess you would call it the the he introduced the
Speaker 1: HR four PAIN which it states the National Desert Storm
Speaker 1: and Desert Shield War Memorial Act, which states that the
Speaker 1: National Desert Storm War Memorial Association may establish the National
Speaker 1: Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial as a commemorative work
Speaker 1: on federal land in the District of Columbia to commemorate
Speaker 1: and honor those who as a member of the Armed
Speaker 1: Forces served on active duty in support of Operation Desert
Speaker 1: Storm or Operation Desert Shield. So that's the law that
Speaker 1: enabled us to move forward with the Desert Storm and
Speaker 1: Desert Shield memorial. Do you already have a piece of
Speaker 1: land set aside for this, yep. So in we got
Speaker 1: the law passed and that enabled us to start the process.
Speaker 1: So it's a twenty three step process. First process is
Speaker 1: to get the site selection. So we hired some consultant
Speaker 1: out of the see A Coom and they've been a
Speaker 1: great partner of ours two and they've navigated us through
Speaker 1: this process along with our design team and um So.
Speaker 1: We took about a hundred sites that were available in
Speaker 1: the district Columbia area and in the surrounding areas that
Speaker 1: are designated for future memorial sites. We narrowed it down
Speaker 1: to thirty, narrowed it down to fifteen, ten, all the
Speaker 1: way down to two and those sites. One was really
Speaker 1: close to Arlington National Cemetery and the Ladybird Johnson I've
Speaker 1: called the forest, but it's a it's a memorial site.
Speaker 1: And then we the preferred site that we wanted was
Speaker 1: at twenty three Avenue and Constitution, which is at the
Speaker 1: corner if you're facing the Lincoln Memorial. It's directly to
Speaker 1: the right of it, about four d fifty meters from
Speaker 1: the Lincoln Memorial. It's directly across the street from one
Speaker 1: lot in between of the of the Vietnam Memorial. So
Speaker 1: we felt that was the spot we wanted to go.
Speaker 1: After long story short, after about three and a half years,
Speaker 1: we got that site. I could bore you with all
Speaker 1: the details about how many we've had with so many
Speaker 1: different commissions, but it's you know, it's a very hollow ground.
Speaker 1: Any of that ground is very hollow, especially that piece
Speaker 1: of property. So absolutely that I don't know the area
Speaker 1: that you're talking because for a very short time I
Speaker 1: was up with the Old Guard up in Washington that
Speaker 1: does all the ceremonies and uh that area around the
Speaker 1: Lincoln And that's a beautiful site too. That will be
Speaker 1: a tremendous spot for it once the actual I guess
Speaker 1: construction begins, right, that's correct, sir. Do you guys have
Speaker 1: a plan yet of what you want to construct there? Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: we we have already gone through and so the next
Speaker 1: step is the design approval process. So we've been doing
Speaker 1: that since two thousand and eighteen, and and really before that,
Speaker 1: I mean we started. You have to show them at
Speaker 1: least what we were thinking to go there. So long
Speaker 1: story short, yet we do. It's we like to call it.
Speaker 1: It's not over the top, you know, because of the
Speaker 1: site where we're at, we can't have something that's over
Speaker 1: the top. We have to be very respectful to the
Speaker 1: Lincoln Memorial and to all the other surrounding areas in
Speaker 1: that spot. So it is a very I don't know
Speaker 1: how to describe it other than its um profound simplicity
Speaker 1: is what we like determine as. But it is on
Speaker 1: our website you can see some of the design we
Speaker 1: we unveiled the what we are trying to push for,
Speaker 1: the not the final design, but the conceptual design approval process.
Speaker 1: We had to show this and this is what it
Speaker 1: looks like. It's you know, commemorate Desert Shield, the veterans,
Speaker 1: Desert Storm veterans, the fallen of course, the Remembrance Wall,
Speaker 1: and the coalition. You know. Desert Storm was very very
Speaker 1: instru mental in that we had over thirty five countries
Speaker 1: come together too um complete the mission. So the coalition
Speaker 1: is going to be recognized at the memorial too. So
Speaker 1: those four elements are what we are wanting to represent
Speaker 1: and to portray and show what happened in Desert Shield
Speaker 1: that storm, to tell the story and to commemorate all
Speaker 1: of those aspects. Okay, and then now, you know, when
Speaker 1: you're talking about this the coalition, I mean you think
Speaker 1: back to that time and uh, General Schwartzkoff, who was
Speaker 1: the you know, overall commander there, what a job he
Speaker 1: had of trying to hold that because you know, we
Speaker 1: kind of work in coalitions a lot these days, a
Speaker 1: lot of our military operations now working coalitions. And when
Speaker 1: you go back to that time frame, the job General
Speaker 1: schwartzkov did trying to hold all that together and that
Speaker 1: was kind of uncharted territory at that time. Yes, or
Speaker 1: it's the first time where the un actually worked is
Speaker 1: what we always portray And yes, and it was from
Speaker 1: the top down from you know President Herbert Walker Bush,
Speaker 1: you know forty one, all the way down to you
Speaker 1: know General schwartz Coough And I mean the diplomacy was huge,
Speaker 1: it was unheard of. Just the the master I guess
Speaker 1: how they conducted that was unprecedented. So yeah, and you
Speaker 1: know you had well you know the dynamics of it.
Speaker 1: So I'm assuming that the design, once you have it finalized,
Speaker 1: will take any consideration all the the countries that were
Speaker 1: involved in the coalition that will be recognized as well.
Speaker 1: That is correct, Yes, sir, there's a center element that
Speaker 1: actually has every one of the country's name and there
Speaker 1: the at least it's what we're wanting to present. So
Speaker 1: it's not nothing is final final yet, but you know,
Speaker 1: the center pieces, the coalition piece, and um it will
Speaker 1: have every country's name on it in their language and
Speaker 1: in ours, so they can go up anybody from that
Speaker 1: country who's you know, visiting d C, which is over
Speaker 1: close to eight and nine million that that visit the
Speaker 1: Lincoln Memorial every year all across the world. So you
Speaker 1: can actually go to their spot, touch it, feel it,
Speaker 1: take pictures with it, know that their country had a
Speaker 1: piece in history that we haven't seen that kind of mission.
Speaker 1: I guess victory since if yes me, yeah, well that's uh,
Speaker 1: that's pretty awesome, you know when you think back of that,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's funny because like I said,
Speaker 1: we we we're used to seeing our guys now operating coalition.
Speaker 1: So that was that was really the first time. As
Speaker 1: you said, everything worked, you know, uh, and it's great
Speaker 1: to see that. You know, you guys are going forward
Speaker 1: with this now, do you You have an organization obviously
Speaker 1: that's putting this together. It's not just a certain group
Speaker 1: of guys. This is open to the public where you
Speaker 1: know they can donate to the to the cause, so
Speaker 1: to speak. Yes, sir, And if I could back up
Speaker 1: a little bit, just part of the coalition. We as
Speaker 1: a board like to always talk about the pivot. There
Speaker 1: is the pivot moment in the memorial also, and that
Speaker 1: pivot is from the Vietnam syndrome, coming from the Vietnam
Speaker 1: War and then going into this and the great victory
Speaker 1: that we had, and we attribute that too. All of
Speaker 1: our senior leaders were Vietnam veterans, from Colon Powell, all
Speaker 1: the General Powell, all the way down, I mean division commanders,
Speaker 1: so you everyone and were Vietnam veterans, and they said
Speaker 1: not on this watch. And that is the way the
Speaker 1: government handled it. And so we attribute Desert Storm, the
Speaker 1: victory and Desert Storm and Desert Shield to the pivot
Speaker 1: of the country coming together actually recognizing our veterans the
Speaker 1: way they're treated today. Vietnam veterans were not treated that
Speaker 1: way when they came back from Vietnam, and so that
Speaker 1: is that's part of this huge history of why we're at,
Speaker 1: why we are where we're at, because we have that
Speaker 1: kins that kinsmanship with Vietnam veterans. Veterans from Desert Shield,
Speaker 1: Desert Storm on have I say, benefited from the country
Speaker 1: treating them the way they are from the Victorian Desert Storm. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you mentioned that, because when the guys came home Vietnam,
Speaker 1: they obviously had a a very different experience than those
Speaker 1: who came back from Desert Storm. We were all witnessed
Speaker 1: to that. I think the country as a whole recognized
Speaker 1: that the Vietnam veterans, I mean, we understood that it
Speaker 1: was a very unpopular war, but unfortunately a lot of
Speaker 1: our citizens took it out upon the guys who represented
Speaker 1: our country and soldier, sailors, Marines, airmen, you know, whoever
Speaker 1: went over there. And I think that that's set in
Speaker 1: motion kind of what we see today because again, you
Speaker 1: look at you know, how those guys were treated when
Speaker 1: they returned from Vietnam, and a lot of them were
Speaker 1: draftees who honestly probably didn't want to go there either,
Speaker 1: but you know, the country called them to go and
Speaker 1: they did. And uh, it's and I like the fact
Speaker 1: that where you guys are gonna be located as almost
Speaker 1: like catty corner to between the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and
Speaker 1: the Lincoln Memorial. I think that's very important because that's
Speaker 1: when everything I think changed when you agree with that. Yes,
Speaker 1: or it did, and and we call that change the pivot.
Speaker 1: So and that will be represented in uh in the
Speaker 1: in the memorial. Is this going to be built with
Speaker 1: public funds or is this going to be strictly donations?
Speaker 1: Strictly donations. We could I think we could have acted that,
Speaker 1: you know, for help, but we wanted to just keep
Speaker 1: it separate and keep it to where we can design
Speaker 1: it and try to get what we feel like should
Speaker 1: be there and not what somebody else wanted. I guess
Speaker 1: you could say, so, yes, sir, it's all. It's all
Speaker 1: individual donations. V s os have donated greatly, you know, individuals, companies, corporations.
Speaker 1: That is where we're gonna that's how in foreign countries,
Speaker 1: and that's how we're gonna build it, Yes, sir, So
Speaker 1: you know and from what I read about this when
Speaker 1: we spoke earlier at the estimated cost is going to
Speaker 1: be in the neighborhood of forty million dollars, Is that correct?
Speaker 1: If that was our budget back then. That you know,
Speaker 1: that includes getting to the point of construction also, so
Speaker 1: it's you know, the the actual physical sites not gonna
Speaker 1: be forty million total, but from start to finish it's
Speaker 1: about a forty million dollar project. So yes, sir, that
Speaker 1: that is our budget, and you know we're striving to
Speaker 1: get there. Yeah, and how much has the organization raised
Speaker 1: up to this point? Up to this point we raised
Speaker 1: close to nine million, which that constitutes about five point
Speaker 1: eight five million for the land value that we put
Speaker 1: that figure to that land, and then about three point
Speaker 1: one five million in donations. So I still got a
Speaker 1: long ways to go, right, But you do have a
Speaker 1: website where you know, anyone can obviously click on there
Speaker 1: and donate. Please tell everyone about that, yes or um. So.
Speaker 1: The National Desert Storm War Memorial Association is comprised of
Speaker 1: eight volunteer individuals who have started this process and been
Speaker 1: with it since the inception pretty much on and off.
Speaker 1: But we do have a website where you can go to.
Speaker 1: It's www dot in d s w M dot org,
Speaker 1: so that stands for National Desert Storm War Memorial dot org.
Speaker 1: So that's where they can go to it um. We
Speaker 1: sell a lot of merchandise that's been very helpful. We
Speaker 1: have an Air Force Jill ed her. She she was
Speaker 1: a veteran of the Air Force. She was a Deadest
Speaker 1: Storm era veteran. But she is just unbelievable with her
Speaker 1: and her daughters. They do so much force. But they
Speaker 1: run our memorial store that is helping to raise money
Speaker 1: to I have to fail to mention that. So now
Speaker 1: that's awesome and uh, in fact, the merchandise that you
Speaker 1: guys are also selling to to help raise the costs
Speaker 1: associated with building this memorial is outstanding. I I invite
Speaker 1: all of our listeners to definitely check this out and
Speaker 1: if you're looking for a nice gift for a family
Speaker 1: member or a significant other, especially one that may be
Speaker 1: served during Desert stormy ME. I want to say there
Speaker 1: was probably upwards over half a million soldier, sailors, MN
Speaker 1: and marines involved in that. I could be underestimating that.
Speaker 1: At my right there was over you know, over seven
Speaker 1: hundred thousand that participate there's a lot of veterans who
Speaker 1: served during Desert Film and with our forces over there.
Speaker 1: And again, if you're if you're looking for a gift
Speaker 1: for like I said, a family member, significant other, this
Speaker 1: is for a great cause and we definitely encourage all
Speaker 1: of our listeners to do that. So what's the next
Speaker 1: step for you guys in the memorial? The next step
Speaker 1: is to get the final design approve, you know approval.
Speaker 1: After we get that approval, then we can go into
Speaker 1: construction documents, which are the plans. We do the plans,
Speaker 1: then we go into permitting and then breaking ground. The
Speaker 1: law states we cannot break ground until we raise the
Speaker 1: funds to build it. So we have to prove to
Speaker 1: them that we have pledges and the money's in the
Speaker 1: bank to cover the construction costs before we can break ground.
Speaker 1: So that's that's the next hurdle. If any of our
Speaker 1: there just want to get involved, I mean, you told
Speaker 1: them where they can donate. What if they want to
Speaker 1: get involved with any of this? Can you talk us
Speaker 1: a little bit through that? Yes, sir, I believe on
Speaker 1: our website we have a you know, a sign up
Speaker 1: for our newsletter and also we have an information email
Speaker 1: set up to where if you want to volunteer, you know,
Speaker 1: you can go to that website describe what you do
Speaker 1: and how you can help. And there's eight individuals who
Speaker 1: are on this, but we have a slew of you know,
Speaker 1: hundreds of volunteers all across the United States that are
Speaker 1: helping and in other countries. But it it takes an Army,
Speaker 1: Air Force, you know, Navy, Marines and coast Guard to
Speaker 1: get this done. So, um, you know, we we always
Speaker 1: open to anybody that wants to help. You know, at
Speaker 1: this point, I always say somebody knows somebody. So the
Speaker 1: more people that say, hey, I know this guy that
Speaker 1: works for anheuser bush, I know this guy that works
Speaker 1: well here, that is what we need is you know,
Speaker 1: help with getting some corporate sponsors. You know, the introductions
Speaker 1: is what's hard. You don't know somebody, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: get there. So I always say, somebody knows somebody, and
Speaker 1: you know, put the word out everybody I asked, I
Speaker 1: come in contact. So have you ever heard about now?
Speaker 1: I hadn't heard about you. Well, we're trying our best
Speaker 1: to get it out there. So just you know, you
Speaker 1: tell a friend, you tell a friend and it should
Speaker 1: just you know, get the word out and it's something
Speaker 1: that the Desert field does a storm veterans should be
Speaker 1: very proud of, and the and the gold Star families.
Speaker 1: Of course, that's you know, that's huge for us to
Speaker 1: to to honor they're falling and talking with them. It
Speaker 1: just humbles you and makes you know that what we're
Speaker 1: doing is the right thing. Now I understood that the
Speaker 1: country of Kuwait is pledging some money to this Is
Speaker 1: this correct? This is correct? In December we announced they
Speaker 1: pledge ten million dollars, but their pledges for instruction costs
Speaker 1: only we we could surely use some funds to get
Speaker 1: us through the through the the yes, and so you know,
Speaker 1: I tell everybody we need about one point six million
Speaker 1: to get us to the finish line of when we
Speaker 1: can start applying for permits. You know, that's frustrating on
Speaker 1: our part. But you know, we know we have this
Speaker 1: ten million dollars out there, but yet we've got to
Speaker 1: get to that from point A to B before we
Speaker 1: can actually get the donation. So we have not we
Speaker 1: do not have ten million in the bank. So that's
Speaker 1: the hard part, is Okay, how can we get that next?
Speaker 1: You know that one point six to get us through
Speaker 1: the finish line. So instead of asking for thirty million
Speaker 1: or twenty really we need to balance with their ten million.
Speaker 1: Twenty million balance is what we're looking at. But I'd
Speaker 1: like to say we need one point six million to
Speaker 1: get us to the finish line. That's h That's doable.
Speaker 1: That's definitely doable. Um. You know, with the former the
Speaker 1: first President Bush, obviously you know this was more in
Speaker 1: line with him. But have you contacted the second President
Speaker 1: Bush about getting behind this? You know, I reached out
Speaker 1: to both of them at the same time, and both
Speaker 1: President Bush forty one and forty three responded back to me.
Speaker 1: I sent him both challenge coins forty one passing that
Speaker 1: was really you know, that was just it touched everybody
Speaker 1: around the United States and the world. I mean, he
Speaker 1: was very you know, reverenced around the world. But as
Speaker 1: far as forty I personally hadn't reached out to him
Speaker 1: except for that. But I would love to have his help.
Speaker 1: You know, I think of okay, he can watercolor you know,
Speaker 1: the final design and auction off for one point six million,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean that happened. I believe That's how
Speaker 1: I feel. But no sir, I have not got in
Speaker 1: touch with him. I would love its just it would
Speaker 1: kind of be nice. Uh. I mean that was more
Speaker 1: of his father's legacy than his, but you know, it
Speaker 1: would be kind of nice to see him get involved.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think if if he was to
Speaker 1: make a plea, I think people would answer that pretty
Speaker 1: pretty quickly. And I think that you know, you guys
Speaker 1: are kind of in the ballpark as it is right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're you're about a quarter of the way
Speaker 1: of the total amount amount of money that you need,
Speaker 1: and Quait pledging some ten million for construction costs. You're
Speaker 1: kind of getting in that halfway point. So you know,
Speaker 1: we're obviously we want to wish you all the best
Speaker 1: with that. I think this is a great organization to
Speaker 1: get behind, and uh, you know, when it comes to
Speaker 1: military stuff, you know, one of the things I think
Speaker 1: about the United States is we're not as big on
Speaker 1: building monuments as some of our allies are in other
Speaker 1: parts of the world. I mean, we never had a
Speaker 1: World War Two monument or memorial until just a few
Speaker 1: years ago. And I'm glad to see this getting getting done.
Speaker 1: And and please tell all of our listeners again where
Speaker 1: they can donate, uh, and how to get involved. Yes
Speaker 1: or thank you so much for that. I really appreciate
Speaker 1: this call. And from the board of directors, we really
Speaker 1: really appreciate you allowing us to do this and get
Speaker 1: this platform and and uh you can you can volunteer
Speaker 1: or donate. Go to uh www dot n D s
Speaker 1: w M dot org and if you just google national
Speaker 1: or just Desert Storm War Memorial, it comes up. We
Speaker 1: we we have a Facebook page two, the National Desert
Speaker 1: Storm War Memorial Association page. You know, if they're on Facebook,
Speaker 1: they can donate through through Facebook. That's a good way
Speaker 1: of doing it. That's really been a good, good avenue
Speaker 1: force there. But that is how you do it. Oh,
Speaker 1: that's that's awesome. See. Uh. You know, for all of
Speaker 1: us here at at staff rep dot com, we uh,
Speaker 1: we appreciate everything that you're doing for all of our veterans,
Speaker 1: not just the desert stow in veterans, but speaking for
Speaker 1: all veterans. I think, like I said, but we don't
Speaker 1: do enough. I feel I always feel like we don't
Speaker 1: do enough when it comes to that for our veterans.
Speaker 1: And of course we're all biased being veterans ourselves but
Speaker 1: I think this is a great thing that you guys
Speaker 1: are doing and we wish you all the best with that.
Speaker 1: And uh, as a fellow paratrooper, as Airborne guys gotta
Speaker 1: stick together, yes, sir Airborne all the way. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: would be remissing saying that I would love to jump
Speaker 1: one more time. I don't know if my knees would
Speaker 1: handle it so well, but yeah, maybe a water jump,
Speaker 1: so we'll put that one on the calendar. But yeah,
Speaker 1: we're definitely gonna put this on the calendar from one
Speaker 1: it finally does be completed, and it's gonna be open
Speaker 1: to the public because that's a trip I think gonna
Speaker 1: be definitely on the agenda. I'll do my best and
Speaker 1: keep you informed, so thank you. Yeah, please do that,
Speaker 1: And once again, folks, see Freeman here along with Steve
Speaker 1: Balasturie soft Rep Radio dot com, on time on target,
Speaker 1: and uh, if you guys can I know it's a
Speaker 1: tough time for everyone right now with the coronavirus and
Speaker 1: a lot of people are laid off. But if you
Speaker 1: can spare a little bit of change here and there,
Speaker 1: a lot makes a big difference. Please give to this.
Speaker 1: It's a worthy cause and We look forward to seeing
Speaker 1: this built. It'll be right there on the corner of Constitution,
Speaker 1: near the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veteran Memorial, and
Speaker 1: we're all looking forward to this see. Thank you once
Speaker 1: again for your time. We really appreciate it, and let's
Speaker 1: keep in touch. I will thank you again, all right.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us. You've been listening to self Red Radio.
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