MSG Leesha Dixson: From WAC to Warrior

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Our Veterans, Our Stories podcast with the Hancock County Veterans Service Office. This is where we give our local veterans an opportunity to share their stories with our community and beyond. There is a real brotherhood among all vets, and it will be great to help others to know their stories about serving our country. And it gives us an opportunity to introduce the community to our team at the Hancock County Veterans Service Office so people can learn a little bit more about what we do and how we can help. Okay, today we have retired Master Sergeant Leisha Dixon. And I've always been curious about her story, and I'm hoping that today you can uh you know share your story with us, and I'm anxious to hear.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Okay, I have no problem with that.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Alright. So tell me a little bit about yourself right now.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Right now, yeah, I am retired from every job that I've had. I mean, I've only had two jobs that I could retire from, and I'm retired from uh from both of them. So basically my day is whatever I want to do. If I don't want to do anything, I don't do anything. I do some volunteer work at the Humane Society though. And I go and pet the dogs and cats, and that's my main job there. So I love it. And um I I don't do anything. I'm I'm an old woman now.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

So you just do what you want. Yes. That's great. That's good to hear that you've you've earned that and you're there.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Yeah. Okay, now that you're retired, let's talk about how you got to that point. Um, tell me your story about how you entered the service. What made you decide to join the service? What made you decide to join the branch that you went into, uh, your MOS? Tell me some of those things.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Okay, this is the crazy part. Oh, right. I was a senior in high school. My best friend was gonna go and find an after-school job, and it was after school, so I said, Well, I'll go with her just to hang out. So we went to this place. They were, it was a uh a chicken restaurant, and turns out they didn't need somebody after school, they needed somebody during the day. And so we said, Oh, well, you know, that's not gonna work. And I looked across the street and there was an army recruiting station there. And I told my friend, I said, let's go over there and see what's up, you know, maybe pick up a little papers or something like that. And having been a recruiter myself, I know that once you walk into that office, you might as well just put your hand up and and swear.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Because uh They say the right things, don't you?

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Yes, yes, and and you know, they made it sound so uh fun. And um, but I was still senior in high school. So I went into the delayed entry program.

unknown 2:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

And uh after I graduated from high school a month later, I was in the army.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

So it's just like that.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Yeah, yeah. They had what would they say in the army, uh, that they put you in a chair and spin you around.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Yep, you had no hair, yep. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

So, yeah, so when I went in, uh that was in 1974. And that was when the the end of the uh towards the end of the Vietnam War, but it was towards the end of the women's army corps. So I was actually a whack when I first joined. Oh, I see. Yeah, so yes, yes. So that's something I'm really proud of.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Yeah. Well, tell me a little bit more about that, what that is, and uh let our viewers know what that is and uh explain your experience with that.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Well, the women's army corps was technically a separate branch almost of the military. So of course it was all females. We had our own uh basic training. We had everything was separate, I mean the barracks and everything were separate. And it was funny because um about a year later, or less than a year later, they decided to integrate women into the regular army. So they decided as part of that they were going to move all the women from the female barracks over into the male side, and they didn't have any place for us. So they had to move the guys back a couple of barracks, and back those days, it was probably still the same way now, they had just you know, just regular glass windows and they had curtains up to the windows. Well, all the guys had to give up their curtains so we could have privacy, but they would stand in front of the the uh windows and do the craziest stuff, so it was uh it was a laughing minute, but that was in Fort McClellan, Alabama, so that was fine. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Gotcha. So um the women's corps, did you have an MOS there or did you choose an MOS after that?

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Actually, um during the Women's Army Corps, that was my basic training in AIT. Well, AIT, they wanted me to be a groundbreaker and uh become a wireman.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Oh, like a lineman for like electrical? Yes. Oh wow, okay, yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

It was me and my friend Irene Hepp, who I met in the military, and we're still friends now. And um so we were standing out looking at this uh, I think it was a 30-foot pole, and we had all our gear, had our gaps and everything in our shoes and everything, in our boots. And Irene kept, you know, say, I can't do it, I can't do it. So I said, I'll do it first. So I climbed up to the top of the pole, you're supposed to climb to the top, touch the top, and then come back down. Well, I climbed to the top, touched the top, and then I was coming back down, my gap hit a knot in the wood, and I panicked and I let go, and thankfully I didn't hug the pole because that's what they tell you not to do because you get splinters. But I was close enough to the pole where I just slid down the pole and hit the ground. So that was one of my uh injuries later on. I helped my hurt my back.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

So I can see how that happened.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Yeah.

unknown 6:03

My gosh.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Yes, so you were a part of the the initial the pioneering days when the women and and men were integrated and that that exciting time.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

It was because it was difficult for the men to comprehend that, you know, now instead of the females being over there somewhere, we're going to the same PXs, going to the same gyms, going to the same everything as they were. And uh and I I don't know any women who said that I I can't do it and left. But I was I was excited about it. My brother's a Vietnam veteran, and I came in during Vietnam. So I was very proud of his service, so I wanted to be just like him.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

That's great. Yeah. And you were? Yeah. That's awesome. So where where were some places you were stationed? Uh you were active duty?

SPEAKER_00 6:55

I was active duty.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Active duty there? Yeah. Uh, where were you stationed?

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Uh okay, we're talking about almost 16 years or so.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you just let me know some of the throughout your career, kind of how it progressed and where you were stationed, and maybe then we'll just go go with that.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Well, let me see. After Fort McClellan, and then after Fort, I went to Fort Dix for my advanced training, and then I went to Germany, and that was exciting. And my initial enlistment was only uh it was less than three years, I think it was two-year enlistment. And um, so being in Germany, I I I was the first person in my immediate family who's ever left the country. So I enjoyed the heck out of Germany. I did everything. I did the shopping, I did the tourist thing, and uh it was exciting, it really was. And so after I came back uh from Germany, I'm trying to think where I went to after that. Um, oh I went to Fort Uh Fort Hood, Texas. And I was in uh, they call it Coscom. So I was in communication because uh after the lineman thing didn't go through, then I became a uh, they called it a voice radio operator. So I operated radios. And so I went to Coscom over in Texas, which was great because I can go over the border and go to Mexico and go shopping. Because shopping was my my fun uh uh thing to do. So after uh Texas, I didn't go immediately to Korea. I went to uh oh, let me say, okay, I went to Fort Dix, I went to Texas, and um then I I I went uh someplace else in Texas, El Paso.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

And then Fort Bliss, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Yeah, I went to Fort Bliss. I've been to Fort Bliss twice.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Actually I've been to Korea, I mean Germany three times.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Yeah. I've been to Korea once. But uh I was basically hopping from one place to another, and if they were it was it was if it was a plane going someplace, I was on it.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Anything smoking you were trying to get on?

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Yeah, because I I I found that I loved traveling. And so I, you know, that was it was great for me to go from living in Chicago, being, you know, one of uh eight, well, one of nine children, and I had barely left Chicago, except to go to we have a farm in Mississippi too, and I would go there every summer, but other than that, I became a world traveler, and that was that was exciting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

That's great. So um were you active your whole time?

SPEAKER_00 9:39

I was active for 15 years and four months.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Active for 15 years and four months?

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

A lot of traveling there.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Um, did you go on to join the reserves or I joined the IMA, Individual Mobilization Augmentee.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

So basically, uh IMA is a person who is assigned to uh active duty unit and we do backfill, so if they get deployed, then we stay back in the rear and and do their job.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

But in my case, they decided to send me to Iraq and kept the supply person there uh doing his job. So that's how I ended up going to Iraq. But I was uh uh uh once again attached to a whole nother unit. I didn't know any of these people. And uh I don't think I've met probably 10 of those people in the years I was there.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

So what what was your job with that active duty unit? You uh mentioned supply?

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Yes. You mean when I was deployed?

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

When I was deployed, they needed somebody uh because at the time the the things that were coming into Iraq were just pretty much dropped off. You know, we had the BIOP, the big uh the airport, and you didn't know from one day to the next whether or not somebody from, I mean, another country, for example, like China sent us uh sent us uh cars. Uh and uh so they just dropped them off. And so I would have to go and do the inventory and decide where the the uh the vehicles or whatever was gonna go to. So that was my job. And I basically I worked along. They gave me a vehicle, I had a uh Ford uh Ford Explorer, and they said, you know, when you get up in the morning, just find out where our uh materials are and inventory it and come back at the end of the day. I was even on a whole separate part of the base, and I it was one part to go from the biop to, I mean from the unit to the biop, you were on actual uh roads. And I was, you know, it was just me and the M16.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

So if I remember correctly, that was a pretty dangerous road, too. It was, and it was it was a very dangerous road, yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

And and uh I I hadn't met the first sergeant, I hadn't met the commander, because once I got there, I uh went to the S-4, I was S-4 NCOIC. It was me, the two Air Force people worked together, an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and an E3. So we worked in this building. Uh the good thing was I had my own separate room because I was with the Air Force. And uh so just the three of us worked together. And it was exciting because our actual job was we had all these people uh at different locations who would get the equipment and and send it to where it was supposed to go, and plus they worked with the uh, we were the contractors. We were contracting. So if uh Iraqi uh company wanted to work with the federal government, we had to vet them. So we had people in different locations, and uh we would go and and check with them, see if everything was okay there. So that was exciting too. At least I didn't have to travel by myself.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

That's cool. I've been to a couple of those yards and I remember the term frustrated cargo, and everybody was like, I don't know where this is gonna go. I don't know what, I don't even know what this is.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Well, let me expand.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

That frustrated cargo that let me expound on that.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Yeah. So it was, I was uh a master sergeant there too, and it was another master sergeant, and they said, you know, well, we got all this equipment, and it was a change of command going on. The new commander wanted to inventory the stuff from the old commander. The old commander didn't know what his stuff was. So they sent us to Kuwait for two weeks, going on different airfields, with a piece of paper in hand, looking up the Dodacks and trying to figure out where this property belonged to. And so that was an exciting trip, too. So, yeah, it it there's a lot of lost equipment over there. Yeah, it's probably still sitting there on the air air strips.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Yeah, yeah. I noticed you brought a picture in. You want to share that picture? That's a that's a good picture.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

I call this my baby picture.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Your baby picture?

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Yes. You want to hold her, you want me to hold it?

SPEAKER_01 14:13

You hold her right up there.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Okay, this is my baby picture. I call it that because I was uh maybe 20 years old and I joined the army at 18. So um I was I was fresh faced. Like I said, I never left home. Uh never went any place without my a brother or sister with me. And so here I was in the army, a spec four, and you know, I I was I was a big girl.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Yeah, but I was still a baby. Yeah. So with my army issue glasses.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

I know I've got some of them at home from basic too. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

And I I had one ribbon.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

The Army Service ribbon. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

National Defense Service ribbon. Yeah. Or what they call the everybody pen.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

The everybody pen? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Yeah. I think that was when actually when I was in Germany too. Yeah. That was the old uniform. The shirt was a brown shirt. Yeah, instead of white. So yeah, that's my baby picture.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Yeah. So after all this service, what did you end up doing? You you retire out of the military.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Now remember, I stayed in the military for from the age of 18 until the age of 60.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Oh, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

So I did a lot of moving around, a lot of traveling, a lot of meeting people.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

So if I remember correctly, at age 60, they they tell you to go away. Don't go away, mad, just go away.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

And I was happy to go away.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Yeah. I was happy because um, I mean, retiring from the military does not mean that you're retiring from the people that you used to work with. The good thing about retiring is that you get a nice little card and you can go to PX, you can go, I mean, you can go on post because a lot of times military people miss that life. And that's why I re-enlisted because I actually, after two years, I got out. And I got home and I found out that everything was not what it was in the military. I missed all my friends. So about a year and a half after I got out, I went back on active duty. So I even now, every now and then, you know, me and one of my friends uh will go down to Wright Patterson just to be around other military people and hit the PX in class six door.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

That's great. Yeah, yeah. I got you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Yeah. So as I mentioned earlier, um, we see at a lot of our events here, about every one of them, and it's always a joy to see you there. Um, you were also a veteran of the year for Hancock County. Yes. Um a couple years back, if I remember.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Yes, a few years. And it was a it was a surprise. I I didn't even know they had a veteran of the year. I mean, when I got back uh from Iraq, all I wanted to do was get back to work and try to catch up on all the stuff that I missed because I I had an actual job working in Marathon and somebody was taking my place, but I w I had to relearn everything that I learned before and uh and try to get back into being a civilian again after being in a war zone.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

So um how was that transition? Um, what were some of the things that you maybe faced or uh had difficulty with?

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Well, one of the things about being in a war zone is that, especially when you're deployed and they don't see what you do every day. They the the people when you come back want you to uh go back into the mindset that you had before you were deployed. And it's kind of difficult sometimes to sit someplace and you do your work, and then all of a sudden you have a crying jack or you have a memory, and then you know you need some time to yourself. So um, you know, I would take the time myself. I had age on my side too, because I know a person who joins the military at 18, and then they do three years and come back, and then they have so much more on their shoulders, um uh trying to get back into the swing of being a civilian. I had maturity on my side. I had all those years in the service, so I knew how to say to my supervisor, you know what, I need some time to myself for a minute. And, you know, knew that I was gonna be worried about losing my job behind that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

That's great that you were able to have that experience and that that age factor. That's that's important, I think. Yes. Yeah. I noticed you um you've used our office for things. How has our office kind of helped you in those areas with transitions and uh things like that? Have you found value in our office?

SPEAKER_00 19:03

You know, it's funny that you say that because when I first came here, now um they uh when you were over in Iraq and you uh you come back and you transition uh in uh on post, they tell you that you'll be able to go to the the uh shopping malls, you'll be able to go someplace and find some help and transitioning back. And I found out that wasn't the case here. So we had another person who was working here, and um so you know, I'm looking for the place where I can go to where they said that it's gonna be somebody to talk to. They didn't have that there. And like this one person was like, Well, you know what, if you want to talk to other veterans, I'll leave you a coffee pot, you know, I'll leave the office open for you to work with, but you basically have to find the people and have discussions with them. We all this, you know, when things were transitioned over to the office as it is now, I found it much more helpful because it was people there who understood what I was going through. It was people there who I could communicate with and maybe meet other people who had been overseas or, you know, in a war zone and talked with them about how life was. Um it's a lot of resources uh that I didn't know that was available. I mean, I basically thought, okay, you know, I'll I'll get the GI Bill, I'll go to school, and that's all I can get. Well, that's not the case, you know. I mean, I didn't know where, living in Finley, we don't have a VA hospital here. I didn't know where I can go for VA uh services. So I found that out out coming over into the um the veteran service office.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

I remember one time you came in, I think you had, was it three grandchildren with you?

SPEAKER_00 20:56

I had three great nieces. Great nieces, okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

That's okay. But they were playing around and they boy, they were fun. They were fun to have in the office too.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Yeah, you gave them some souvenirs. You had just started working there, I believe. Yeah, it was shortly after I started working there, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Yeah. That was fun.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Yeah, it was. They live in Indiana now.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Oh, I got you.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Yeah, so but um, you know, I really appreciate what what uh we get from the Veterans Service Office because number one, I never hear that any other place that they have that uh type of setup where you can go in, be relaxed, and you know, talk to somebody who has similar uh experiences that you have. And uh the resources, I there was a lot of things, like I said, I didn't know that was available to me. And you know, I mean things, just simple things, you know. Even just trying to get someplace, the transportation that y'all have is available. That's great. Um the get togethers, as I call them, that y'all have, those are nice because there's a lot of guys who would Come out to uh a group setting like that, but y'all make it so user-friendly because you have a lot of people set up, get a lot of little goodies to take home with you, and the the food and the Dunkin' Donuts.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

It's nice to Dunkin' Donuts.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

And the coffee.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

And the coffee.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Yes, yeah. But other than that, I really appreciate the Veteran Service Office. And I hope that other people will, if they haven't located the Veteran Service Office, that they go and find out where it is and actually sit down and talk to somebody.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

I hope they do too.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

And I hope it's not just uh uh veterans of the former wars. The Vietnam veterans still need help. And a lot of them did not get the same services that we get now. So now that it's open to everybody, then they they should be able to appreciate that too. My brother, when he left Vietnam and came back home, there was nothing for him. And the things that I learned from the VSO here, I shared it with him. He was shell-shocked, he had all kinds of problems being from Vietnam. When my brother went to Vietnam, he was 18. When I went to Iraq, I was in my, I think I was in my 40s or 50s or, you know, so it was a maturity level that he didn't have. And it was a almost like a dishonor for him to use the Vietnam, uh, the veterans services because they felt like, you know, you go, you do your job, you go home, and you just transition back to the person that you was. Well, he finally went to the VA and finally found out all the services that are available. And I'm so happy because like I said, he he had it hard. He really hard. He did some scary things when he came back from Vietnam. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

I'm glad he found it. Glad he found it for him, yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

And he's a much happier person, too. And he would call me up and say, sis, you know, you guess what I did today? What did you do today? And it's kind of funny, you know, me being a master sergeant and he was like a PFC when he got out, and I'm like, okay, I want you to go over and do this. Not, hey brother, you know, you want to go over there and do this. No, I want you to go over there and do it.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

So yeah, yeah, I love that about it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

That's great. And I know you're uh also a graduate of Guitar Servets. That's another program. Yeah, that was yeah. In fact, our banner, when you see our banner, you're all you're on there.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Yes, I am. And ask me when was the last time I picked up a guitar? Well, I could just never get my fingers to actually well, I couldn't remember the chords too.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

So I had a problem with that. But uh this morning when I was uh getting up, I was thinking, you know, it's time for me to pick up that guitar again. And maybe get a smaller guitar.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Maybe we could assist you with that.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

So what advice do you have to anyone maybe considering the military nowadays?

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Well, as a senior non-commissioned officer, one of the things that we used to tell people who was um who lived on on post was don't become a barracks rat. So I would tell a person who is going into the military, don't just stay on post. There's so many things out there that's available to you. I went uh one year I was at Fort Bliss for some training. And before I went to Fort Bliss, there was a show on TV. It was like a mystery show, but they showed this place called Rocket Buster Boots. And I said, wow, if I ever get to Fort Bliss, I'm gonna go there. And I actually went there, and they made me a pair of custom boots, and it's on the front of my boots is a buffalo for buffalo soldiers. And I was so happy about stuff like you know, stuff like that. It's so nice. So get out, explore the area, you know, uh mingle with other people and learn from them. And of course, if you get a chance, go across the border. Go down to Mexico. Well, it used to be safe to go to Mexico, now it's kind of hard.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

I think when we went, when we were down there, we walked across.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Walked right across, right in, right out. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Yeah, you well, we uh I would drive and park my car.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

And then you pay, now you pay, I think, 35 cents to go across the border. Oh, right. Because I've been there, I was over there about three years ago. Before we really got dangerous.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

But um uh take advantage of that, uh, take advantage of the the schooling. Uh that was the reason why I went off, I got off active duty in the first place, because when I had almost 16 years of service, and I was saying, I only got four more years to retire, what am I gonna do? I had a high school education, that's it. So I took that break and like I said, went into the IMA, went to University of Illinois, used the GI Bill and the Illinois Veterans Grant, because some states have grants for veterans. So I used the Illinois Veterans Grant, got my undergraduate degree, and then I still had some GI Bill left, and I got my master's from there too. And that's how I ended up coming to Finley because Marathon came to University of Illinois and recruited me from there.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

So that's how I ended up in Finley, Ohio.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Well, glad they found you and brought you here. I I am too.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

I am too. It's a really nice place, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

So I've been eyeballing your cup there. Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

This cup. Yeah, my sister, Sarah, she's um she's my closest sister to me in age. And um she was really a supporter of me when I was in Iraq and in the military in the first place. I actually think that she probably would have uh gone to the military if she had thought about it, if she hadn't gotten married instead. And uh a couple years ago, she said, I got a present for you. And I said, What does she have for me? And when she came out with this cup, I don't know if you could see all of it. When she came out with this cup for me, it brought tears to my eyes. Because I love being in the military, and I didn't even think my sister would think along the lines of doing something like this for me. And it's I I told her it's the favorite, uh, the most favorite present I've ever gotten for anybody, and especially from her. So yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Yeah. And it's one of a kind.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

It's it's it's one of the kinds.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

So no, you can't order one. Because the lady who made it, well, she's probably still around. I would say that she was dead just so you know other people couldn't get one.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

Just so they couldn't get one like you.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Yes. But yeah, I was I was really amazed. But I really love that cup. I take it everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Well, Master Sergeant, it's um it's been an honor uh interviewing you, and uh I'm I'm glad to finally know your story, and um again, it's just been an honor, and I thank you for your service. Thanks for having me. Everything you do and everything you continue to do for the community and and and other veterans. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

So I enjoy it. Uh veterans uh just like my brothers and sisters now. So I really enjoy being around them. That's why you see me over at Owens Community College when y'all have the get-togethers. I'm there.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

You are.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

Yeah, so we thank you for that.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

Uh uh, thank you, and I appreciate that. And we'll see you at the next one.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

Yes, yes. As long as you have pizza and Dunkin' Donuts, I would be there.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

Okay. I'll put a note down about that. For more stories like this, please stay tuned to our podcast, our veterans, our stories. See you at the next one.