Walk me through the day that you ended up getting shot by a anti tank rocket.

I saw a flash and an explosion.

Shit's on fire.

And I just felt like someone just fucking socked me in the face.

I started throwing up.

This is not good.

And I was like covered in blood.

I'm getting dragged.

I start seeing all this blood start coming out.

I felt like someone was just squeezing my head and I was getting colder and colder.

What the fuck?

And it's funny because insane.

You ready, bro?

Ready.

This is going to be a really, really good episode.

I'm, I'm really looking forward to this conversation for many reasons.

One, you had a lifelong goal of becoming a Marine.

You did.

You ended up joining the Marine reserves.

Yeah.

You did six years in the reserves, which you ended up joining, becoming an O3 11.

I'm sure you got the wildest stories with that.

During that time you're working as a paramedic.

Yeah, I was working in the ambulance.

Yeah.

Ambulance world.

You do six years in the, in the Marines in the reserve.

You get out because you like the medical field and you end up joining the Navy.

Then you go Navy corpsman for a few years, working in the hospital, doing some other things along those lines before getting out of the Navy.

Then you go into the hospital life, you start working at an emergency room as a paramedic, doing all the crazy trauma wild in la.

That, that's where I am really excited to talk about hospital, ambulances, everything that goes on with trauma in LA that you're dealing with.

And during this time you wanted to go and felt that you wanted to help over in Ukraine as a combat medic.

So you take PTO time off from your job, buy some gear and head your ass to Ukraine, which you ended up actually being hit in a Humvee by an anti tank rocket which ended up leading to you losing an eye.

Yeah.

Which now you're still in the medical field.

You're in school, getting a degree, going through the whole entire thing.

You're in nursing school.

You're one of them.

You're very fascinating dude to me because reading your bio and just getting to know you from the last day and having dinner, everything that you have set your mind to in your life, you have accomplished, which is incredible.

Thank God.

Yeah, that's, that's all.

God, I couldn't, you know, gone through any, any of what I've gone through without, you know, his strength and.

Yeah.

Okay, so we got a really good conversation to have first.

We don't have any bread on the Table.

But we got a fresh loaf of bread from you, from the kids.

We're going to send you home with that from the Sour Be Bread and Garden start as a homeschool project and turn into an actual bakery for our kids now that they run and it's been a lot of fun.

So normally we have a fresh loaf of bread for you, but everybody that's listening, we have a table full of gear that is covered in blood instead, which is wild chaos.

This is the gear that you were wearing when you were hit with an anti tank round, which we're going to get into this into the episode.

And second, I got some swag for you, dude.

I got some wild chaos tees, a hat.

And then you got a tank top from linear, which is a badass dude.

He was on the show, went through buds, went through all the SEAL training and ended up getting injured during the training and didn't make it.

But he started this apparel company and make really fine apparel.

So yeah, I got you home some wild chaos swag as well.

I was, I was looking at, I was admiring the hat of breakfast.

I was like, that's pretty sick, man.

Yeah, makes sense.

I love it.

Thank you.

Well, Geo, we got some to jump into, man.

So let's get started because you have quite the life story of everything that you've chased after you have accomplished.

So let's just get right into this.

We're gonna start it how we start every show.

Who are you?

Where are you from?

So my name is Giovanni Roman.

I, I'm from Southern California.

Okay.

And yeah, I, I'm a, I am the youngest of three boys.

Another, my older brother's a Marine vet too.

But I, my parents are, you know, they were immigrants from Mexico.

You know, came out here for a better life for us and you know, blessed enough this country definitely, you know, blessed.

My parents gave us, gave them opportunity to, you know, raise us in a, and with a better life.

And we knew that since we were young.

I mean we didn't grow up wealthy.

But my parents worked hard to provide for us.

And you know, me and my brother, my older brother, we couldn't think of a better way to return that favor of our country.

You know, it's by we, we serve our country, joined the military.

Yeah.

So did you.

Were you guys citizens at this point?

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, I had some guys in my platoon that joined the Marine Corps and helped get their green card.

Yeah, we have a couple of those

too, which was, I thought was great.

Like, yeah, 100 support that.

If you Come to this country and you can fast track your green card by joining the military.

Yeah.

And serving the country that you are now wanting to belong to.

I 100 support that.

No, we were born here.

My parents are the ones that they, they became citizens here.

And yeah, I, I love, I take pride in telling people I come from immigrant parents.

And you know, I've done this during the Marine Corps.

Done a lot.

You know, I think that's the best representation for AS at the best reflection of somebody's, you know, work ethic is, Is, you know, come here and give back to the community.

Give back to the country.

Yep.

So.

So you mentioned from birth you wanted to be a Marine.

Yeah, so since third grade, my brother was in boot camp during 9, 11.

Oh, okay.

And so I was in third grade at the time and I knew right off the bat when I saw those towers get hit, I knew we were going to go into some kind of war.

I was young, but I could understand that.

And during that time, I remember I literally started going to the playground and doing pull ups because that's all I saw Marines doing, you know, on commercials and like whatever books I could find, they're cranking out pull ups.

So from third grade onward, I was known as the kid that was going to join the Marines.

I was doing pull ups till like my hands were like blistered and raw.

Just trying to prepare for, you know, however I can at the time.

And so, yeah, that's kind of one of the things I was known for growing up was.

Yeah, future Marine.

So you just knew from day one.

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

I was always reading, whatever, checking out whatever books in the library.

Old school, like 90s books that talk about the Marines, you know, and these Marines are wearing like the old school, like woodland camo.

And.

Which is funny because that's.

Those are the types of camo pants I took to Ukraine with me.

Oh, no.

Yeah.

I wanted to wear like the old school.

Yeah, yeah.

The multi cam ones.

Yeah, yeah.

So, yeah.

So you go through.

How was high school for you?

Where'd you.

I mean, so high school, so middle school.

High school was good.

I, I was in a, you know, I wasn't a genius, man.

I was very focused on.

I knew I was going to join the Marine Corps.

Okay.

So college wasn't really something I, you know, thought too much about.

Yeah, I knew I was going to eventually go to college.

It's just right now my mindset and preparing it was for the Marine Corps.

After, after high school I was working at a gym and I was getting ready to join the Marine Corps.

I also took an EMT course, so I was doing that.

And that's kind of what was setting me up to, like, work in the ambulance and.

Yeah, started my first ambulance job doing 91 1.

It was a 911 company, and, man, it was.

It was an amazing time.

So a 911 company, you're just taking strictly 911 calls?

Yep.

So are you.

Do you have a designated hospital or is it just the closest you're just running and gunning?

It depends.

So I worked in la, in Huntington park, which is.

It's the hood.

Like, it was fun.

And you go by.

The hospital isn't necessarily the closest.

Like, when you're on scene, you call.

There's a base hospital in that area.

And while you're on scene, the firefighters are calling the hospital and saying, hey, we have this patient.

This is the mechanism of injury.

Like, this is what we have.

You're our closest, but where would you want us?

And then based off of that, they tell us, yeah, you can come here or go to this hospital.

Okay.

And then they'll call and give the report as we're heading over, you know, with the patient.

So if it's a trauma, we'll go to, like, the nearest trauma center.

And, yeah, that's.

That's kind of how that worked.

It was a lot of fun because there was times where you would think, like, this has got to be on the news.

This is crazy.

You know, shoot.

Like, we had a dude get shot off his skateboard, and he.

I could have sworn this dude was shot up, like, four times.

This.

He got shot once, but it was like a AK round.

So it, like, as he was running, it, like, went through his wrist, his stomach, like, his arm.

It was officers from one round that went through.

Oh, you thought he got shot four different times, but that was just one bullet.

Yeah, yeah.

And I'm like, it was a bloody mess, man.

Our gurney was just covered in blood.

And that's when I started to realize, like, this is just everyday life out here.

Like, it's stuff that happens in these neighborhoods.

You would never hear about it.

Do you remember your first 911 call?

Yeah.

What was my first 911 call?

No, you know what?

I don't.

But I.

Like, in the beginning, maybe my first week working in the ambulance, I had one mass casualty incident and one, like, cardiac arrest in the first week.

Like, a lot of my buddies, they were still in training.

They weren't getting the crazy stuff that I was Getting so you're just.

Yeah, Like, I was on the newspaper for this mass casualty, like, a week after.

Well, I was still in training.

Oh, no.

Yeah.

What was the mask has.

It was a bus that was a hit.

I guess a truck ran a red light, hit this, like, city bus, and the bus flipped on its side.

Oh, God.

And, yeah, I'll.

I'll pull up the picture, but it was of.

Of all the.

The patients, you know, there was a lot going on.

Like, I'll show you a picture of the patient that we wound up taking.

But it was.

It was.

It was hectic because you're already, like, going.

Lights and sirens going on scene.

You see these helicopters in front of you, and you're like, what in the world is going on?

As you pull up, you see a bus on its side, and you're like, damn, this is not gonna be.

This is not gonna be good.

Yeah.

So is there a lot of people in that bus?

Yeah, we.

I mean, we only took one patient, but they had them all, like, lined up.

Those that could sit on the curb, they set up, like, a little triage area.

So the first, like, critical ones were the ones getting, like, kind of as a.

As ambulance.

Ambulances came in.

They're thrown on, given a quick report, and then tell you, go to this hospital.

We already called.

They're waiting for you.

Yeah, so I. I mean, you learn a lot.

You learn a lot about how, like, triaging works, how to organize, like, the flow of ambulances, how to direct traffic and stuff like that, so.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

There's a lot of logistics that goes into it, and it's.

It's very, very interesting.

So you guys are just chilling, just driving around at night.

Are you parking a place?

Are you out of, like, a building, like a center?

Because you're not working for an ambulance or a fire station.

Yeah.

You're like a contractor.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So they would tell us, like, post at this intersection and.

And kind of, you know, wait or stick around this area.

So before we got that call, funny enough, is my partner, we were trying to find something to eat.

And so my partner finds this place and he's like, let's try this place.

It's Cali tacos, dude.

It's a good.

They have huge burritos, and it's an orange.

And we go and we order our food.

And as we pick up our food, we get, like, the call standby.

There's a mass cast.

So we're over here, like, getting.

Getting ready to go.

We didn't even Eat our food.

We responded to the bus thing, and as we put our patient in the back, she's like, I smell food.

You know?

Yeah, we're just like, oh, yeah.

Like, you know, we're not gonna tell her.

Like, oh, yeah.

We got burritos before we got this call.

Yeah.

We were trying to eat dinner.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This ruined our night.

You learned to.

To kind of eat fast and like, not expect to eat when you get your food, because they could page out a call.

You could be the closest unit or something to a call, and then you have to go.

What was the wildest ambulance call that you went on?

So one of my favorite, most memorable calls was a shooting that happened in.

In like, Compton area.

Okay.

I was.

Huntington Park.

Compton's right next door.

And we.

It was like a. I want to say it was a drive by or something, but we arrived, we were like first unit on scene.

And it smelled like the shooting range, dude.

Like, I was already a marine at the time, so it kind of smelled like the range.

Okay.

And our gurney's like, running over shell casings.

It was just crazy.

I was like, this just happened.

And we were the first ones on.

And we're waiting for the fire truck to.

To make its way around.

Cuz the streets over there are very narrow for these, you know, big engines.

And me and my partner, it was a shooting.

So I go, I help one guy who's.

He was hanging off the.

The seat by his seat belt, but the car door was open.

There's a handgun on the ground.

And you know, me and Marina at the time, I was like, I want to go see, you know, know what that is.

My partner ran over to this other patient.

I, you know, pull.

Cut the seat bel.

Pull the guy out.

He had blood on his shirt.

It was obviously like gang shooting.

Cut his shirt.

He had a.

Like a pneumo thorax, like a.

He had a second chest wound for sure.

So put the chest seals on, roll them over.

I go help my partner after, because I was like, we just need to get this guy out.

But there's a second patient.

Second patient was shot in the neck.

And he was fighting my partner because my partner's trying to assess, like, you know, how to clear his airway.

But this dude's like, choking on his own blood, pushing my partner away.

My partner is a army combat medic, like 2005.

Like, he seen some.

Yeah, dude, but he's like, annoyed too, because he's trying to hold this guy.

This guy's fighting.

So I go and I go help him out, trying to hold this guy down to control the bleeding.

I look over at my guy, and I stopped seeing, like, the belly breathing, the work of breathing.

And I was like, dude, what?

Like, did I do something wrong?

What's going on over there?

I let go of him.

They.

And they just kind of resume struggling, fighting.

Dude.

And I run check back on this guy.

I. I peel the chest seal to see if it needs to, like, burp or something.

No, the check pulses.

Nothing.

So I started doing compressions, and finally the fire.

The fire truck rolls in.

I hear, like, the hissing.

The truck stops.

I'm like, okay, cool.

We got help.

And as I'm doing compressions, this firefighter just shines a flashlight at me.

He's reading my badge and my name, and he goes, giovanni Roman.

And he, like, said, my home city where I live.

And I stopped.

I was like, how heck does this guy know where I live?

And he looks at me, he goes, it's me.

And he said his name.

This firefighter was my middle school history teacher.

No shit.

He became a firefighter after I graduated middle school.

And, yeah, here we are on this random Saturday night, like, 911 call.

And I was like, oh, my God.

Like, it was.

I couldn't believe it.

We wind up, like.

I, like, quickly said, hi, we're continuing compressions.

Load this patient up.

We take them to the trauma center.

He followed us to the trauma center.

I took a picture with him outside after the call.

But he.

Yeah, he asked me.

He's like, did you.

Did you join the Marine Corps?

And I told him, yeah, I'm in the Marines.

He's like, why?

Remember you, like, always talking about that.

I would purposely.

He taught history, so I knew.

Even back then in middle school, I knew every battle the Marine Corps fought.

And I would read all these books, so I would purposely.

And he would answer or ask the class history questions.

And if you got it wrong, you'd have to stay behind and do, like, jump squats or burp burpees or push ups.

I knew the answer.

He knew it.

I would purposely get them wrong just to go get, like, you know, get a workout in.

Oh, yeah.

And he would get annoyed.

He's like.

He would.

He would ask me, and he'd be like, you're gonna do push ups?

Just answer the question correctly.

I'll still make you do them.

Yeah.

And you guys end up meeting.

Yeah.

Shooting.

Yeah.

Years later.

Yep.

He became a fight.

I would have never expected that.

Damn.

Yeah.

So what are the odds of that?

I know, and we wound up.

I met with him like a year and a half ago because he did see me after everything happening in Ukraine, and he's like, this is you.

And I was like, yeah.

And we met up, we caught up, and I was telling him more.

More stories.

But, yeah, we still keep in touch.

He lives in the same city that I do, so.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

Yeah, man.

So I've had.

I've had a lot of amazing stories.

You know, the ambulance.

A lot of my partners are.

My old partners are firefighters or police officers now.

I met my best friend Scott while.

While working there, and he wound up joining the Marine Corps stationed with me.

He's a police officer now, too, and he's my best friend, you know, he.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah, he met his wife in the academy and everything and.

Yeah.

So it's.

It's.

It's awesome being in an ambulance.

I can only imagine the pure chaos that happens in the back.

Oh, yeah.

What's one of the craziest things that's happened in the back of the ambulance with somebody?

I mean, shootings and stuff are messy.

Baby delivery in the bath.

Delivery.

Yeah, I'll tell us.

I.

So after the ambulance, you know, I worked in the er, but the first delivery I saw was in the back of the ambulance.

And, dude, this mom's water broke in the back and it's like a freaking water balloon exploding, dude.

Like, I was.

Yeah, I didn't know that.

It was crazy.

Baby comes out, everything was healthy.

But talk about a messy call.

Yeah, that was it.

Like blood and stuff.

Yeah, yeah, blood and stuff.

Traumas.

Yeah.

But trying to deliver a baby in an ambulance when there's like three dudes and we're all standing and the ambulance is going lights and sirens through the streets of la, like, it's.

It can get chaotic because, dude, driving code 3 in LA is crazy, man.

Some.

Some drivers just freeze up and you're like, honking the horn, so now you have to oppose traffic.

And that's also scary for both of us because you're going into oncoming traffic.

So these cars are freaking out too.

They're stopped and you're trying to, like, get back into, like, your own lane, but, you know, it's.

It's chaos.

And if you break too hard or something, like, they're gonna feel it.

They're gonna feel it worse back there because they not restrained or anything.

So.

Yeah, so you're just hanging off your dear life, flying through the streets of la, just praying to God that you t boned or head on or anything like that.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's happened before.

Thank God.

I was never in any accidents.

Oh, for sure.

But yeah, I know there's stories of, you know, either they're people.

Not.

They're running reds even though.

Or they just ran into the back of an ambulance.

Okay, so for people listening, if an ambulance is coming flying up behind you, what do you want people to do?

Pull over to the right, like as.

As safely and as quickly as you can.

Because you have to know you're an ambulance.

You're.

You're trying to get exactly where this.

You're.

You're driving to this ambulance is trying to get past you.

So you got to kind of think, like, where's he trying to go?

Like, what's a quickest way for him to get past me?

Yeah.

And a lot of times, just get to your right.

Get to your right.

You just see people freeze.

Freeze.

Yeah.

Or.

Or even sometimes there's people that just don't give a man.

I was going license.

We were going license sirens one time to this call, and this dude is just crossing the street, sees us, but still takes his time crossing the street.

We're like, blowing the horn.

He just flips us off.

And as he's walking, just doesn't give a.

And we're just like, man, keep going.

Like, what could we do, man?

Yeah, yeah, what can you do?

It's frustrating that people.

Some people don't have a.

Don't care.

Yeah.

So, yeah, that's.

They're in their own little bubble.

Yeah.

Okay, so during this time, you end up actually wanting to join the Marine Corps since this has been your childhood dream.

So you're working as a paramedic on an ambulance, and then you.

I was already in the Marine Corps.

Okay, so you're already in the Marine Corps.

Then you got your job as paramedic.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay, so you joined the Marine Corps.

What's it like finally achieving this goal that you've wanted to be your whole entire life is this Marine that's coming true.

Like, you got a brother that's did the push of Fallujah and all this.

Like, what.

What's all this like?

I mean, or how stoked are you?

It was.

I was.

I was shocked, man.

It feels surreal, for sure.

I remember when I got my.

My ega, right?

I was, you know, they make you, like, run up the Reaper and all this.

And one of my drone instructors comes up to me because I was winded, and he, like, grabs me and he's like, congratulations, Maureen.

And he shakes my hand and he goes, your brother, Corporal Roman was.

They were in the same unit.

Oh, no.

Yeah, but he hit me with that, like, when I became a Marine, which made a lot of sense because he was the one always with me, like, for no reason, dude, just pulling me aside and just me up, making me do push ups, just scream.

Oh, man.

It all made sense afterward.

It did, it did.

I know.

Hey, man, there's.

So.

I'll tell you a funny story.

So, you know, boot camp, we do.

We do the hygiene inspections, right?

And every night.

Now, my last name, Roman.

We had another recruit, his last name was Roland.

So it sounds very similar from far away.

And after a hygiene inspection, you know, we're about to get cut for.

For bed, and they give the list of like, medical.

Like, who needs to go to medical the next morning.

And I. I heard what I thought was my last name, or me and him are looking at each other from across the way.

And.

And I was, like, shocked because I'm like, maybe that's me.

So I take a step forward and I run to the drone instructor, and I'm like, you know, good evening.

This recruit, Recruit Roman has a question.

And he.

My drone structure screams at me, dude.

And he's like, get the back.

Get away from me.

And I like, run back.

And I'm like, what the did I do?

Like, I said, you know, spoken third person said the proper greeting.

And then I. I just hear, try again.

And so I like, I run and I go over and I'm like, running.

And I'm like, good evening, sir.

And he once again screams, dude.

And I was like, preparing to, like, get like, smacked or something.

And he's like, get back.

So I was like, I go back and I'm like, is he.

I'm just getting fucked with.

And so he screams again.

I run up and I'm like, good evening, sir.

And he stops me.

He's like, roman.

He's like, tuck in your ball sack, dude.

I didn't realize my balls were hanging out of my tighty Whitey's, dude.

Oh, my God.

Because I was so nervous and so.

So, dude, I.

So now I run back and I'm like, fixing myself, dude.

Nobody wears tidy white.

No, so I. I'm.

I'm back online, right?

And I'm looking at the recruit in front of me.

He's just, like, trying not to laugh, and I'm.

Now that's making me, like, smile.

So we're all looking at each other and then now they're like, okay, you guys want to be gay?

Like, so now we all have.

We're getting, like, up, dude.

We had to go outside at nighttime in San Diego.

We're, like, doing mountain climbers, getting up and then we go to bed, dude.

We're already dirty and stuff.

So a bunch of kids the next morning woke up with pink ey.

And dude, oh, dude.

All because my balls were hanging out of my tighty whities, dude.

Oh, yeah, that's the.

That people just don't ever like, they never know what goes on in these places.

Yeah, that's what I love, love these stories.

Yeah, dude.

So boot camp was the most fascinating social experiment on the planet.

And then you can't laugh.

Like.

Yeah.

And it's the funniest place where you can't laugh ever.

It really is like, I, I, I'm horrible with bearing.

Like, I laugh at everybody and everything.

Yeah.

So like me, if I ever had to be a drill instructor, there's no way, bro.

There's just.

I, I laughed all the.

Like, I had these to drill instructor Staff Sergeant Barnes.

He was like this four foot tall black dude, had the biggest chiclets for front teeth.

And he would just, like, he'd snap, but, like, he'd have to look up at me.

He'd always be like, you eyeballing me?

And I'd just be like, yes, sir.

It's like, dude, it was just a game.

And I'd just be dying laughing, like.

But it was the funniest.

Yeah, the funniest time of your life, but you can't even, like, laugh at anything.

Oh, yeah, dude.

No, there was a.

How?

There's one Pagia.

He's small Filipino dude, drone instructor sergeant Pagia.

He.

And funny story about him.

One time he, some recruit, I guess, tried to, like, kill himself or with a shaving razor, just cut his, like, wrist.

Not very successful.

Right.

Yeah, I was the witch doctor, like, recruit because I had access to the first aid kit in the whiskey locker.

And so I just hear the, you know, them scream for, like, witch doctor.

And I'm like, oh.

And I run up and.

And he's holding this kid's wrist, and he's like, nope, Roman, go back, Sound your siren.

And I'm like, oh, dude.

Right?

And then I was like, I run back and I, I, dude, I didn't want to because I was gonna start laughing.

Yeah, Yeah.

I run back and he's like, no.

He gives me his hand, like, holds his wrist.

He's like, take him and sound your Siren run around the squad bay.

So, dude, I had to run around the squad bay making ambulance noises all the way around, and everybody starts, like, cracking up.

So now three more of the drone surgers come out of the.

The little duty hut, and they're everybody up as I'm.

And he never told me to stop.

So I'm still like running around in circles making ambulance noises with this kid who's.

Who's crying.

Cuz, you know, he tried to kill himself because he hates boot camp.

So he's crying as I'm pulling him around, I'm making ambulance noises, and then everybody's getting up on the.

Oh, dude.

Yeah.

And it's crazy because a few years ago, you know, I was trying to go.

I was trying to be a firefighter.

Yeah.

Well, drone structure.

Sergeant Pagia is now a firefighter in Scottsdale.

Yeah, dude.

And I saw him during one of the interviews.

I was like, oh, dude, it's you.

I haven't seen them since.

Since boot camp.

So they're the most creative human beings on the planet.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, the.

That they do, man.

I had to run around, and I've told this story before on the podcast, but I had to run around one night with two potpourri cans in the squad bay, just spraying, like, doing laps on the outside of the.

The bunks on the racks.

Did you know how long those things go for?

My God, the whole day, field day.

Like the whole platoon's fielding on, you know, field day and on my job is I'm running and then these things run out after for ever, bro.

I'm drenched, I'm sweating.

Just running laps in the squad bay, just spraying potpourri.

So I give him back to the drill instructor, and, dude, this dude just drop kicks them, kicks him down the squad bay, shakes him, spikes him, throws them everywhere, throws him out the window.

I got to go all the way, three decks down, get him out of the little sand pit, bring him back up, and he goes.

He goes, wrong.

Go get two more, bro.

So after, like, three times of this, and he would.

So before I went back, bro, I'm trying to break the caps off.

I'm trying to like, snap.

You'd go get a pen and stick it in there, and if it made any noise, dude, I ran all day drenched in sweat, spraying potpourri, dude.

It was the light little aerosol cans.

Yeah.

That lasted forever, bro.

This is non stop.

That's so funny, dude.

They're sadistic, man.

Yeah.

I want to get a drill instructor on the podcast just to have them tell just the most fucked up stories because, like, those guys live for that shit.

That would be hilarious.

So boot camp was a breeze for you or what?

Because you've prepared your whole life for it at this point.

I mean, you've wanted to be a Marine since you were three.

So what's it like?

Going to boot camp is like your most physically fit dude.

So I came into boot camp, I was able to crank out like 20, 25 pull ups, like, easy.

So it's funny because, you know, people struggle, but when it came down to me doing it, they would.

They would.

I would crank them out and they got tired.

They're like, you know what, Roman?

Just run.

Go chase the airplanes.

And I've been like, look at your San Diego.

Yeah.

And so, like, I'm over here chasing these airplanes.

And he's like, no, I want to see your wings.

So now I had to run with my hands out like.

Like an airplane.

Oh, dude.

So, yeah, I would.

I got good at running.

Like, that's all you did.

Yeah, because I could crank out the pull ups easy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So.

So what's it like being a reservist in the Marine Corps?

So you may get through boot camp and then.

So now you're doing your one weekend a month type of deal.

Why didn't you go active duty since you wanted to be a Marine so bad?

So, because my brother was encouraging me to be an officer.

Okay.

Smart.

And so, you know, I figured I can go enlisted, which will, as an officer, will give me a better understanding once I.

If I did become an officer of what, you know, the guys go through.

Yep.

And on top of that, going enlisted, I was able to pick my mos.

As a reserve.

You can pick exactly what.

What mls you want.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

And I wanted to be a grunt.

Okay.

And so I did that.

And, you know, I go check into my unit and you start realizing all these, like, reservists, a lot of them were prior active duty guys that were, like, in the push, you know, in Fallujah.

They were.

They.

They've done some.

A lot of them had just come back from Marja, Afghanistan, and Sanyan, and so now they're reserves.

And these guys are like police officers, you know, in LA or around SoCal.

And so it's.

It's definitely more on your own.

Like, no one's holding your hand.

So if you want to be a good Marine, it's on you to learn your okay.

And you'll see it, man.

There's some reservists that join that, you know, they.

They don't give a. Yeah.

And they think it's the cool thing to not.

Not care about or, like, try already.

Try to be that salty, you know, Lance, when they haven't done.

That's, I feel, is a huge.

Because there's always a rift between active and reservists.

Like, when you go to the range, any training time, whenever any units get together, and you'd be like, oh, so the.

There's the reserves, like, oh, the reservists are here.

You know, it was always that.

Especially on the rifle range.

Oh, yeah, dude.

It was always.

Nobody liked the reservist.

But yeah, because I think a lot of it has to do with the image of just being overweight.

Like, they don't have the 247 Marine Corps bred into them.

Exactly.

And yeah, man, I don't know.

I was.

I was promoted ahead of my peers, man.

I was meritoriously promoted.

I volunteered for stuff all the time because I. Dude, I was out running, my team leader out hiking, like, shooting.

So, you know, my unit, my chain of command saw that and I was able to, like, I did a super squad competition.

I was selected for the Marine Corps super squad, which is like the Olympics for infantry.

I've never heard of this.

Yeah, apparently it was like, big in the 90s.

It was televised on ESPN.

Yeah.

And it.

And it.

I.

They.

They would do it, I think in the 90s they did in, like, Okinawa or the Philippines.

And it's like a three day, three, four day, like, like big field op.

Like, but you're running a squad, okay?

So every unit picks, like, 12 of their best dudes in that.

In that company, and they put them together and you're learning.

You got to be on top of, like, all your infantry knowledge, like, you know, patrols, everything.

And you're tested on that.

So we.

We got to do that.

I got selected and we got to, like, try out for it, and I was able to make it through.

We got to go to Alaska to go participate.

We're competing against other infantry units.

Oh, and it's cool, dude.

Like, you start off, helicopter picks you up and drops you off at an lz.

You have to, like, have all your tight, like, you know, lined up.

We go do a O course, like an obstacle course.

It was fun, dude.

I. I mean, dude, I was pretty strong, so I. I was able to run through that stuff.

And we, I think we had to do it like, twice the whole thing.

Okay.

And then we're given, like, coordinates and we have to run to this next LZ where the helicopter is, like, coming to pick us up, taking us somewhere else.

And we're just tested on, like, setting up ambushes, you know, kicking out patrols.

And in Alaska, dude, where we were doing was wild.

I've never been up there, but it was a lot of, like, mountains and jungle environment, and you could.

I was tired as, dude.

And I look at the time.

It said 23:30.

Like, nighttime, but it looks like California noon.

Yeah.

And so I'm over here.

Like, this is weird, man.

Isn't it?

Yeah, it's a trip.

It is.

And the.

The cool thing is we wound up winning that.

That whole competition.

And so we got to wear this golden shooting badge on our dress, blue uniforms.

Rifle expert badge.

Yeah.

I've never seen anybody with that or knew that was a thing before.

They brought it back, I think, my year.

This was in 2015, 2016.

Oh, okay.

I wonder when they stopped doing it.

I think, like, right after 9, 11.

Oh, okay.

That's probably why I heard of this.

So.

Yeah, it was.

That's interesting.

Well, good for you guys for winning.

That's pretty badass.

It was fun, man.

It was.

I loved it, dude.

It was a.

We're just getting up because we do, like, unknown distance shoots, then run to a shed and take, like, a infantry knowledge test.

Okay.

We got graded on everything, so it was.

It was cool to be able to

represent anything in the Marine Corps.

For the Marine Corps has got to be a pretty cool feeling.

It was a good feeling, man.

And for me, like, I. I loved.

I loved it, man.

I like.

I said every.

Some of the salty guys would make fun of me that I do your two moto or all this.

Yeah, man.

There was times where, like, you know, during the week, I'd work in the ambience doing these 911 calls.

And then I'd just be like, dude, I gotta go.

This weekend we're gonna be training because we just literally go to the field.

I'd be so excited, man.

You know, they'd give us the things, show up formation at this time.

I'd be so excited.

Get my ready cammies, my gear that I'm gonna take to the field.

I show up to the gate.

And this happened during my career in the Marine Corps.

Happened at least three times.

And I'd show up to the gate, and I'm like, formations at 4:30.

I show up at, like, 3:30, dude.

And like, just chilling.

And I'm like, dude, it's 4 o'.

Clock.

4:15.

There's nobody there.

And I'm like, what the, dude?

I like pull out my phone and dude, I got.

Because working night shift, working 24 hour shifts, I lose track of the day.

So I was there a whole day early.

Oh, God.

God.

Yeah.

And I'm like, dude.

And so, like, I. I just drive back home.

Like, I was so excited, man, to learn.

I was always like going over my.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so, yeah, man, I was very, very eager to.

To learn what I could.

And.

And I loved it, man.

I love being a marine and I take pride in it because even now, like, I. I try to still, you know, people.

When people think you're.

Even when you're a marine vet, like, they, they think, oh, like this guy knows their.

Yeah.

You know, So I. I'm a big believer even now, dude, I could run a freaking 300 PFT.

First class PFT.

I could still crank out pull ups despite everything.

I.

You know, I've gone through even Ukraine having shrapnel in my hands.

I'm still cranking them out, going to the gym whenever I could.

I wonder what my PFT would be.

Yeah, dude, I will run one after this.

Let's run one after this.

Yeah, yeah.

I wonder, man, I'd be interesting to do a PFT empty.

Let's see.

I think they changed it.

I don't know.

All of it's changed now that they do like a combat one now where you have the ammo cans and all that.

Yeah, I did that towards the end of my career, which it was.

That was just coming out when I was leaving.

Yeah, the over the head ammo buddy drag and all that.

Good.

Yeah, the CFT or whatever they call that one.

Right?

Yeah.

I don't know how to feel.

I don't know how that's gonna.

I mean, after everything's said and done, having been through combat, I don't know how raising an ammo can over your head, I mean, it's gonna help.

Who knows?

Yeah, I see an old Pete Hegseth out there doing it in the field, like trying to.

Oh, yeah, and shaking and everything.

It was pretty sad to watch, but.

Okay, so you do six years in the Marine Corps and then you get out.

You're still working in the paramedic field?

Yeah, I was working in the ER at that.

Okay, so you've transitioned to the ER and then you want to go Navy corpsman.

What made you want to leave the Marine Corps to go to join a Navy corpsman?

So I actually, I.

For me just talking to the corpsman One thing I did kind of while I was in the Marine Corps, I went to boot camp with this guy who.

His dad is a doctor at one of the local trauma centers, and they trained.

Corpsman.

Yeah.

So I was actually able, as a Marine, to just go and take that course.

Really?

Yeah.

Okay.

And.

But it was obviously like, all like, no, no, like, paperwork or anything, because I couldn't get certed for it.

I was a Marine.

Okay.

But I got to do a lot of.

Cool, man.

And I. Dude, I was like, intubating patients and doing stuff like that.

Okay.

So.

And I.

Talking to our corpsman in the Marine Corps, like, just kind of seeing how they run things, you know, during the week I'm doing 911 calls in LA or working in the ER, and then I see how things are done in the military.

Things are done, you know, civilian wise.

But it was really interesting and I figured I could still stay in because I loved, you know, serving my country.

But being a grunt wears you down, right?

Oh, for sure.

And so if I could be a Corman instead of.

And just carry like a.

A regular M4.

And at the time, I was carrying a DMR rifle.

Big ass thing with a suppressor in the front.

Yep.

It was heavy, but, I mean, I loved it.

I.

If I can go being a corpsman, I would be great because I. I know the infantry side since I was a grunt, but I know the medic side.

And so literally three months before I got out of the Marine Corps, I was already having my paperwork ready to join the Navy, so there was no, like, lapse in.

In.

In service.

I went literally from one month to the next.

Just changed over uniforms, really.

And what's.

That's got to be interesting.

It was, man, I almost felt like a traitor, dude.

Putting on the.

The Navy uniform.

Was that weird at first it was

because I still try to wear, like, a Marine uniform, like rolling up the sleeves nice and tight, and the Navy has patches on their.

On their thing, so it's a little stiffer and.

Yeah.

But I. I was.

It was cool because I was able to go back to my infantry unit and help out, like, the corpsman, the chief there, like, because he knew who I was, I knew who the guys were and help them with their, like, medical stuff.

Yeah.

And I mean, even in the Marine Corps, while I was in the Marine Corps, I was helping the corpsman.

I was giving the guys flu shots and everything.

So I was already kind of getting a feel for that.

That side, how that worked.

And so I would do that, you know, on the weekends, I worked in the ER during the week.

And it was, it was interesting, man.

The Navy's much more relaxed.

Okay, so this is, this is something that is I guess the age old question that you can answer.

You went from the Marines to the Navy.

What's the biggest difference in the two?

For me, the biggest shock was seeing females in uniform because.

And you know, as a grunt, you don't really see that.

And just everybody's so much friendlier and like, even from like the officers, the higher, like the higher ups.

Everybody has like smiles on their face.

Dude.

Like, it's not like you're fucking gunny who's all fudgeing, pissed.

Staff sergeants all fucking stressed out all the time.

Yeah.

So that was that.

And it's funny because I met one of my, one of my docs, one of the doctors I work with now in the er.

He was my, he was a commander in my unit.

He was my commander when I was a corpsman in the Navy.

Oh.

Yeah.

So over there I'd have to like salute him, you know, and then.

But it was, he, he knew who I was.

We, you know, and.

Yeah.

And even now we still work together and he's still in, actually, and.

It's a small world.

Yeah.

If you could do it again, knowing the difference between the Navy and the Marines, which would you pick?

I would have still done it the same way.

Marine Corps.

The Navy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's, it's, it's good to know.

I, I feel like Marines should have their own, like, still go through Marine boot camp and then go on to, like to learn the, the corpsman stuff.

Just because you get a better understanding of, you know, the Marine Corps, a basic rifle team, how that works.

Yeah.

But I wouldn't have done it any other way.

I loved, I loved it.

I just knew I couldn't.

I didn't want to stay.

I was already.

I was trying to go be a firefighter, so I was going.

That was your end goal the whole entire time, to become a firefighter?

Yeah, firefighter or police.

But I liked, you know, the medical side.

And if, if I were to do that as a cop, I think you could be like a SWAT medic.

Okay.

But you still have to be on patrol and stuff.

Yeah.

Which, yeah, I was just kind of leaning more towards the fireside.

I would have gone through anyone, you know, whoever had hired me, unfortunately, because, you know, moving on, going to Ukraine, getting hurt, losing my eye, I couldn't go that route.

Ended up taking that from, you yeah.

So you.

You're in the Navy.

You do two years as a corpsman.

Are you.

Are you green side or blue side?

Are you working hospital, or are you in the field?

Okay.

Y.

When.

So they had me at the hospital in Pendleton, like, right off the main gate.

Yep.

And.

But when my unit infantry, and I needed help, I was, like, texting the chief.

I was like, let me know if you need me.

I'd rather much be with my Marines and then be out here because I don't know too many people, and nobody really with me either.

Navy said.

Because I knew I was a Marine first, so it was.

Yeah.

So.

And I'd rather PT with the Marines, man.

The Navy.

PTS was a.

It was a joke, dude.

Oh, yeah.

Oh.

I was like, we're done with pt.

I thought we were just warming up or stretching, but that was the pt.

It was.

Yeah.

I.

And I wasn't like a PT stud, man, but I was like, this is it for pt, like you.

I remember one time I.

We did the Navy's like, pft, and I ran it and finished.

I was, like, the.

One of the first ones done with the run.

And then after, like, did the whole thing easy.

Then the officers did it.

And so when my CO worker, or my CO worker, like the doctor I work with now, did it, I figured I'm gonna run it with them, too.

So I ran with all the officers, and I was talking mad shit to all of them.

Oh, cause you already ran it?

Yeah.

Cause I already ran it, and I was still, like, you know, beating them.

And then I just made sure I was with, like, my doc, and so I was like, come on, like, pushing him.

Let's go, sir.

And it's hard because, like I said, I've known him since before as an ER doc.

So I'm like, let's go, man.

Push.

Push.

I'm pushing him.

He made it to the finish line.

He just, like, drops and starts puking, and I'm like, oh, dude, come on.

But not cut for it.

Yeah.

And.

Yeah, so that was.

That was.

That.

And, you know, then I would see him during the week.

I worked in.

I worked at 2ers.

Okay.

At the time.

And that was.

That was fun, man.

Had some good times there, too, at the er.

Yeah.

Let's talk er.

And are you still in LA at this point?

No, No.

I mean, it was a er.

It was, like, on the border of LA and oc.

Okay.

What's it like working in an er?

It's.

If you work in a busy er, you get Real good at what you.

At your skills.

Because in the ambulance, you, you know, you're trying to stabilize and.

And do what you can in transport.

Yeah.

And like, if it's like a cardiac arrest, you know, you're doing compressions the whole way to the hospital, and then you put the patient on their gurney, and it's like, all right, they take over.

You get your signature from the nurse, the handoff report, and you leave.

So you're not there to see, like, what happens after, if they make it or if they don't make it.

So you're working in the ER now.

You see the handoff, and now this is your patient.

So you're continuing compressions, you're working the code.

You actually see the family come in and watch you do compressions and, you know, see if the patient makes it or if they don't make it, you know, you're there while the doctor is saying, all right, Jill, we're going to do another round of compressions, but we're going to bring the family in here, because after this, if we don't.

After these two minutes, if we don't have pulses back, like, we're going to call it.

So I'm over here, I've been doing compressions, and, like, these.

The family comes in and they're, like, whispering to, like, their dad or, you know, their husband, like, I love you.

Because, you know, they say that you're doing compressions.

Yeah.

As you're doing compressions.

It's one of the things that.

That way the family can see that we're really trying to do everything we can.

And they do say that your hearing is one of the last senses to.

To go before you pass away.

Okay.

So that's why they come around, and they're like, saying, I love you.

Keep pushing, like, and, you know, just try to encourage them.

And then if they don't make it, then, like, you know, you stop compressions, check a pulse, and if they don't make it, then they call time of death.

So you're there to see everything.

And then after that, like, it's either, you know, you put them in a body bag, you know, clean all that up.

And so, yeah, there's a lot more, you know, on the hospital side that you have.

You're doing chest compressions as the families, because.

Yeah.

It's such a violent thing to do.

It is.

It is.

And usually we try to, like, re.

Explain to them before, like, this is what we're doing is what's going on.

Do you want to come See, we're really trying.

And then, like I said, if it's not looking good, we'll really try to bring the family in and just so they could see what we're doing and they could actually, like, maybe say their goodbyes.

If there is, like, you know, brain activity and the hearing is less to

go, is it quiet in the room?

I mean, because when you're chest compressing, are you hearing crunching and clunking in the beginning?

Yeah.

So when you first start compressions on someone who's like.

Like fresh cardiac arrest, and you do those first few compressions, it feels like your knuckles cracking because you're just cracking like, the.

The sternum.

Yeah.

And because you're.

You're trying to get to pump the heart, and so you got to crack through the ribs.

And so now you crack the ribs.

Now you're actually, like, pumping the heart, since it's not pumping.

So that's what it feels like initially, but after a few cycles, like, it's just not much, but just you could feel the.

The heart pumping, and it is violent, but it's quiet.

I mean, at that point, when the family's there, it's just like, it's just a nurse that's communicating the doc saying, hey, I'm pushing epi, or, you know, just quick orders.

But a good code team like that hospital, we were solid, man.

Like, you wouldn't.

Everybody knew their roles, so there's not yelling or anything.

Everybody knew what they had to do.

We'd switch off compressions or everything was smooth.

And it's amazing what.

Because I've been in codes where there's good codes like that everybody knows the role.

And I've been in chaotic ones where it's like, people are yelling over this.

And it.

Same concept applies even, like, in the military.

You got a clear, clear communication.

Stay calm, stay cool.

And.

And, yeah, and so it was.

It was a lot of.

A lot of good.

Good training, good experience there.

And.

Yeah, I mean, I had a lot of good times.

I delivered a baby there in the waiting room.

Oh, my God.

Dude.

What is it?

Wait.

Terrifying.

It was.

You delivered a baby in the waiting room?

In the way, like, she.

There she was in the van.

She was getting out of the van.

Yeah.

And, like, the husband comes out, like, my wife's in labor.

They waited too long, obviously, to come in.

I see her getting out of the.

Of the van, and we quickly try to put her in a wheelchair to take her up to labor and delivery.

And as she's coming out, like, I Just see, like, blood in her, like, PJs and stuff.

So I'm like, man, we gotta get you on the wheelchair.

When I sit on the wheelchair, she's already, like, sitting on her side and just breathing fast.

It's like that.

That quick, like, you know, breathing.

And I'm like, dude, this is not good.

I see all this blood, and I'm like, it was a lot.

It just kept coming out.

So I'm like, ma', am, I need a. I'm gonna check.

And I call for help for some nurses.

As I'm cutting, dude, I already see the baby's head right here.

I just saw hair, dude.

And I'm like, oh, my God.

Get the baby.

And I'm like, if she gets down, we're trying to get.

Get her on a gurney.

Someone's wheeling a gurney.

And.

And I remember I, like, I put my hand to support, like, the baby's head.

Yeah.

And, dude, she lets out this loud scream.

And it scared me.

I screamed, too, dude.

Like, as the baby was coming out, she screamed and I was screaming.

It scared me, dude.

It was like a streaking scream.

Oh, God.

And so we're both screaming, and a baby comes out.

And it was a baby girl, dude.

I got it.

And what's that feel like?

Oh, dude, I was scared because I saw it, and I'm like, okay, it's moving because I saw it, like, kind of like bringing its arms closed.

And then it started crying.

And that's when I'm like, oh, good.

But I remember as she was pushing, dude, she also pooped because they're pushing so hard.

So I like, dude, all over my.

My forearms and stuff, and I'm, like, holding this baby.

I got poop on me.

And I'm like, oh, God.

And they don't teach you that in school, dude, that they like themselves.

So.

Yeah.

And thank God.

Baby was good.

Baby healthy.

Cry, but you feel happy, but at the same time, you're just like, oh, God, it's.

Yeah.

I'm so glad this got brought up, man.

That is.

Is that the only baby you've had to deliver?

I mean, between the ambulance and the ambulance, we did two deliveries, but this one was one where I was, like, alone for a lot of it.

Okay.

Before.

Because you're trying to get help.

Get a gurney, blankets and stuff.

Yeah.

What a cool feeling, though, huh?

Oh, it's amazing, man.

It's you.

You learn to, like, cherish those little

cries because you're just holding this brand new.

Yes.

Oh, dude, it's.

It's I tell people even now, like, it's a gift from God for sure.

Even now, after, you know, we're going to get into it.

But, I mean, after everything I've seen and been through, it's very easy to be angry at God.

And you know, why these things happen.

And how can you not believe in God when you look into the eyes of a little newborn?

For sure.

It's.

It must be amazing.

And that's one thing more than ever, wanting to be a Marine.

I've always wanted to be a dad.

Yeah.

And so.

Because it's just such a precious thing to have there, you know, your baby.

And I've done.

I've done CPR on babies, too, so it's one of those things that you.

You learn to cherish, that cry, the moving arms and stuff.

Because I've had, like, we had babies that are days old or.

Or.

Yeah, like, it was a SIDS baby one time I had to do compressions on, and that one messed me up because we're doing compressions, and it was like 4am I'll tell you a funny story about that.

And we're doing compressions on this baby.

It's like 4am and we're trying so hard.

We tried for like an hour, hour and a half to try to bring this baby back.

And we finally, like, the mom was in the room, and we're.

I'm doing compressions with two fingers, right?

So I'm, like, switching off on the incubator, facing this way to do this arm, right?

And when the doctor was like, hey, we're about to call it, like, we brought, like, the mom was right there.

And the doctor told the mom is.

What's going on?

I stop compression.

We check a pulse, and the doctor says, okay, well, like, time of death caused the time of death.

And the mom, she was a young mom.

She, like, started crying, and she looked at me and grabbed my arm and put it back on the baby's chest and goes, please keep going.

And I didn't know how to.

I didn't know what to do, man, because the doctor obviously said, stop.

And then the mom's over here looking at me with these tears in her eyes.

So it's.

It's rough, man.

So, yeah, they didn't.

That baby didn't make it.

And I'll.

I'll never forget because the family showed up after, and they showed up in a bus, man.

Like, they.

It was a. Oh, no, no, that was a.

That was a different.

I'll get into that call, too.

But the family shows up and you're over here trying to, like, explain to them with the doc.

There was times where I had to translate because I speak Spanish and tell them what happened.

And it's.

It's hard to explain and make someone understand when they don't have the knowledge, you know, but you can do.

You just do your best.

Yeah.

So that's got to be pretty rough.

That's.

That's the, like that nobody talks about with doctors in trauma, nurses and things like that.

Is.

Is doing a compression on a baby for an hour and.

Yeah, dude.

And then after that, then you just.

You go to the next patient who comes in because they have shoved something up their ass.

You know, like, it's.

Or.

Or you go to the waiting room to try to get a deep breath, and people are like, I've been here three hours, like, and they're, like, yelling at you, and you have to, like, calm down.

It's so easy to be like, come into the room and look what.

You know.

Yeah, you can't do that, obviously, but I wish people had an understanding of it.

What's going on behind the clothes.

Exactly.

Exactly like it, dude.

The er, there's always going on, even if it's not the waiting room.

There's ambulances coming through.

There's this other story.

We had a full arrest.

It was, like, a young dude.

He was, like, 35, 36.

He was found down in the restroom by family.

So they're doing compressions, and they bring him in.

We're doing compressions.

Family.

The patient's not going to make it, it seems like.

So we bring the family in, and they're, like, crying.

It was the mom and the, like, three daughters and one son.

And the son, I guess, had kind of some kind of, like, disability.

And when we called it, we brought the family in, and the doctor said, can you explain to my son?

Because he's a little slower to respond, so.

Spanish speaking.

So me and the doc are in there, and I just didn't know how to tell the kid, but I'm like, you know, your dad is with God now.

He's with Jesus.

Like, you know, so you'll.

You'll see him later on, but, you know, he's not here anymore.

And the son was like, okay, like, where is he?

And I'm.

Once again, we're trying to, like, explain to him what's going on, what happened.

And after that.

And it's.

The funny thing is, the son had the same name as me.

And we.

We say bye.

They're Leaving.

And as they're leaving, they're going out in front of the waiting room, they're going out into the rain to the sidewalk.

And I'm like, what the hell?

And so I call them back and I'm like, are you guys, do you guys have a car?

And they said no, they took a bus.

And they had like their family initially, in the morning drive them, like neighbors and stuff.

And so I, I bring them back into the waiting room, I run to the cafeteria and I like buy each of them like breakfast trays and I come back and I bring it to them and I'm like, here.

And I call an Uber and it's.

I had to stay over.

I remember I ran up, I didn't want to get in trouble.

I ran to punch out, come back and this was all out of my own pocket.

And I was scared too, because I don't want to say anything because I know you can get in trouble for this by your managers.

And you know, they're crying that I did this for them.

And you know, a year later I had, I think I, I had left, I deployed.

So we got activated in my unit.

I left, came back from deployment and one day I'm like helping here and they're like, hey, this kid over here needs a splint.

And I look in the order, I look at the kid and I'm like, oh dude, same name.

And then I like walk into the room and I'm like, hey, we're going to do a splint.

And I walk in and it was the mom and the kid from that.

Oh no, that day.

Yeah, she looked at me, started crying.

She's like, we never forgot about you.

Like, you helped us so much during that time.

That's cool.

Yeah.

So you got to see him again after that?

Yeah, he like fell on the playground, like broke his arm or something.

But yeah, things come full circle.

So in an ER you see all kinds of.

And you kind of alluded to it and my wife has showed me this page recently.

It's like this doctor Tick Tock page where people just put in their ass all day.

How often do people come into the ER with put up their butt?

Dude, I would say that I've seen at least once a month, maybe something like that.

Dude, I work night shift, okay?

So it's funny cuz a lot of times when they do, they come in at like six in the morning cuz they, they're over here hoping that would have come out by on its own the night before.

Okay.

But yeah, like, we've had.

I'll show you some pictures.

You got pictures?

Yeah, I want to see these, like, X ray images.

Got bowling balls.

You got.

Which is amazing.

Bowling balls.

What?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll show you a picture.

Yeah, bowling balls.

We had, like, just toys.

A lamp.

Like, a little lamp one time, which was mind blowing because.

Yeah, it's a lamp.

Like a ceramic lamp up this dude's ass.

He.

And he's.

Mag lights.

I've seen mag lights, those police flashlights.

Yeah.

And it's crazy, dude, because some of these people, like, they're.

They're professionals.

They, like, work as, like, city councilmen.

Like, you know, for.

Is this mainly dudes?

Dudes.

All dudes.

All dudes.

All dudes.

If.

Because honestly, like, we get.

For girls, if it is.

It's like, you know, a sex toy or something, but.

Or girls.

A big thing is tampons.

Like, some girls would forget that.

Like, they have a tampon in there or something.

On the shock or what?

Anaphylactic shock?

No, no, they just go into.

They.

They forget.

They put tampons and something, and then all of a sudden, it starts hurting.

They get like a UTI because, you know.

And then.

Yeah, I guess they forget sometimes that.

And you got to fish that out.

Yeah, yeah.

Sometimes with the guys.

Do we have to, like, literally, like, just.

Just.

Just legs over, like, over your shoulder as a doctor's, like, in there trying to, like, freaking fish it out and.

What do you mean in.

You're doing this hand gesture.

Like, you're in there with your hand.

The doctor is trying to get in there with.

With their hand, like, the gloved hand, trying to, like, get in there to pull it out.

And then if they can't do, then they go to surgery and they, like.

How do you remove a bowling ball from someone's ass?

That guy had to go to surgery, dude.

Does it come out their stomach or do they go through their.

I think it's so con.

I don't know.

Big.

Yeah.

How big of a bowling.

Bowling ball, dude?

Yeah.

A normal bowling ball?

I would think so.

I'll show you the X ray, dude.

It's.

It's crazy.

It's.

I don't know.

It's.

Yeah.

And.

And you get funny, dude.

Like, ah.

It's just.

It's never a dull moment, man.

We got.

Just last week, this dude, like, was tired of waiting in the waiting room for, like, 20 minutes.

He faked a seizure, complete with, like, and pissing himself.

And the whole time while he's having A seizure.

He's like looking at me and I'm like, dude, no, you'd be rolling your eyes and all this stuff.

And then when he got done, he's like, I need help.

I'm like, if you really had a seizure, dude, you'd be confused as like, post take to all this stuff.

Once we saw like, we, we brought him back, took his vitals, he was fine.

Dude, he's here for a rash.

And he, he was like, oh, you guys aren't gonna help me?

I'm.

He's like, this hospital, he just left, walked out, like.

So he fake.

Wait, so he comes in for a rash, fakes a seizure, shits and pits himself on purpose?

Yeah.

And then once you guys real.

Yeah, once he saw we weren't giving him a bed or anything like that.

Just left.

Just left.

What's it like dealing with the mentally ill in a hospital?

Oh, dude, it's.

You learn.

You quickly learn to do like to you.

You de escalate situations, man.

How are you de.

Escalating them?

Like somebody that's just tweaking in a hospital.

You, you talk to them, you reassure them that they're safe and that you're there to help them.

And do you try to.

Like, obviously you don't try because we have restrained patients.

We do four point restraints.

Okay.

So you obviously don't want it to get to that point.

You try to talk to them, calm them down, but sometimes it comes down to like, for their own safety, you have to restrain them.

Four point restraints.

Because they could, they could hurt the nurses.

I've had schizophrenic patients.

One just come up to the nurse and goes, I want to leave.

Let me leave or I'm going to kill you.

And I'll quickly, like, put myself in between them, like, hey, what's up, buddy?

Like, what's going on?

Let's talk in the room.

And this dude wasn't having it, dude.

So like, at a certain point you have to like go hands on.

And then it sucks because, like, while you get your buddies that come help you, like, you're over here.

I was taking punches the stomach as I'm just trying to like, hold him down to the bed and it's.

It can get crazy.

That's got to be tough to do because you're trying to detain somebody and at the same time not hurt somebody.

Exactly.

Cause more injury.

So you're.

You're just enough to detain, but meanwhile they're flailing and flopping and screaming and yeah, batshit.

Crazy.

And you're trying to not hurt this person.

Yeah.

We had a patient one time, he covered like he took a.

On the ground, took the.

And just covered himself with it.

Ran out in one of the texts.

I was there, dude, this guy, I have my own thoughts, but it's too scary to like grab him.

And this dude runs out of the ER and I, by the time he got, I was running out the ambulance bay doors.

That's when I like heard commotion.

So I ran out and I see him and I'm like running after him and he just runs and takes a flying leap off the ambulance bay.

Just cracks his head.

It's like 20ft.

So it's, it can get crazy, dude.

God bless.

Yeah.

And.

And once again, like that's just one patient.

You gotta go back to work and.

Yeah.

And deal with.

With.

Dude, I had like one of more recent stories.

This happened years ago, but we had a cardiac arrest of a pregnant seven month old mom.

And they did like an emergency C section.

They're on the gurney in the waiting room, dude.

Like as ambulances coming in to get the baby out.

So now baby was also unresponsive.

So they're doing CPR on the baby next door and then on the mom.

I was already committed on doing compressions on the mom.

And I'm doing compressions on the mom as the doc is over here trying to like suture her, starting on that end.

So her intestines are like spilling over this on my side.

So now I'm doing compressions with one hand trying to hold her intestines from like come like slipping off the gurney.

And what was crazy is we had the, the husband come and we're the doctor's like, hey, like let's have someone explained to the husband that through a translator like what's going on?

And we're trying and so I'm doing compressions.

We bring the husband to the mom's room first.

I mean they're separated by a curtain to show them that we're really trying.

And dude, I remember looking at his as I'm doing compressions and he just had like a poker face.

No reaction or anything.

So I thought that was a little fishy.

Right.

My spidey senses were like, yeah, not.

This is not good.

We're doing compressions.

Doctor says call it so mom doesn't make it.

They're still trying on the baby next door in the little incubator trying to save this baby.

None of them made it, dude.

Damn.

And there was a.

The mom was Young dude.

She was in her 30s.

And long story short, they did like the whole autopsy and everything.

Spleen was ruptured, so she bled out.

She took a hit to the spleen and husband left the country.

No.

Yeah.

So it's.

You got like that dude.

Yeah, dude, this is a.

You guys are dealing with every day, all day.

Oh, yeah, dude, it's.

It's never a dull moment, man.

Like, how was the gunshots?

I mean, how much.

How much gang affiliated wounds are coming in?

Are you dealing with a lot of that?

It depends.

In my hospital, where I'm at, not so much now, but in my older.

Yeah, dude, you get like.

And we weren't a trauma center, but we get like homeboy drop.

We call them homeboy ambulance because they just bring their homeboys and.

Yeah, yeah, it's.

You get them and it's.

It's.

For me, it's mind blowing how some of these dudes are okay getting dropped off by a car and they're like bleeding internally.

You know, their bellies are getting bigger from all the internal bleeding.

And yeah, for me, like, I'm in nursing school now.

I got, you know, seven months left.

I want to try to like, mandate, you know, at least stop the bleed certificate, something where, like, you learn how to use tourniquets and stuff like that.

Because at my old hospital and even now here, they don't supply tourniquets like those, those cat tourniquets.

So the times you get something crazy, there's times where I have to run either I have one in my backpack to use one of my personal ones because.

And a lot of nurses, at least my old hospital, they've never seen those tourniquets, so I've had to teach them.

And I'm.

I want to try to like, at least incorporate something where every hospital has like a backpack with some like combat gauze and like a cat tourniquet, at least in the er because they're not just laying everywhere.

No, dude, they're like.

Because that's considered like a pre hospital intervention in a sense.

Like ambulances and stuff have them.

So you're not using a lot of tourniquets in a hospital?

No, because, dude, like, if we've had to.

I use my personal one.

They just usually do pressure.

I do like, I've done the like ace wrap and you know, you can.

Ace wrap is almost like an Israeli bandage where you can just cross and do the little X's to put more pressure on.

But no, dude, like, at least the hospitals in.

In you know where I'm at.

Don't have them.

Interesting.

And I. I would love to, like, we do have to have, like, a CPR research every two years to keep our CPR cards updated.

But if we could do something where.

Mandate that a quick, like, stop the bleed course into, like, make it mandatory for everyone, it would be amazing because there's basic skills, man, that sometimes nurses don't.

They don't use for a long time.

And with the way this world is getting, I think it's important that everybody should.

Should learn the basics.

I mean, dude, I've gone upstairs, like, to a code, and some of the nurses, they haven't done compressions in a long time.

And it shows because, you know, the form is off.

And I get it.

If you don't use a skill, it lose it.

You lose it.

Yeah.

But in this world where, you know, there's, you know, mass shootings and stuff like that happening, like, first thing people are gonna do is point at you and be like, you're a nurse or you're a Marine vet or something.

Like, you know what to do.

You got to be able to at least stop a bleed, apply a tourniquet.

If you can drag somebody out of the way.

And sometimes I see some nurses, I'm like, dude, you should know how to, like, apply a tourniquet and stuff like that.

Pretty simple.

Yeah, dude.

And it's mainly not ER Like, ER because we deal with that.

So we.

We always kind of use those skills.

But it's like, you know, different floors, some that don't see, you know, okay.

That kind of stuff.

And so it's still good to know, like, you know, you got to a mother, baby nurse, or L. D nurse.

It's like, they should also, like.

It's good to know how to apply that because maybe they may be off duty or somewhere.

And if something goes down, mass shooting or something, it's still important for them to.

To know.

Absolutely.

So hopefully, you know, I could have some kind of influence on that when I'm done with school.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

So during this time, you've lived your life as a Marine, join the Marine Corps.

Check that life goal off.

Want to become a Navy corpsman?

Check that off.

You're working in an ER Working on your school.

You get this bright idea that you want to go to Ukraine and help either in the hospitals there or in the front lines.

Yeah.

You just want to go and provide your services as a.

As a medic, combat medic, whatever it may be, what sparked that.

So, dude, I Was watching.

Obviously, tensions were escalating between Ukraine and Russia, and I was keeping a close eye on it, dude.

Because honestly, even when I was in the Marine Corps at some point, you know, like I said, I was always willing to learn and learn stuff.

I personally took it upon myself to learn Russian.

Okay.

I signed up for a Russian class back in 2014 and I started.

It was like a.

Started at like 3pm as you level up, you, you know, it gets later and later in the day.

So I couldn't do it because now the classes are starting at 7pm and I'm starting my night shift at work.

Got it.

Okay.

But I know how to read Russian.

Their Alphabet was definitely a lot easier because I was debating between Mandarin or Russian.

And the Russian Alphabet is 33 letters.

It's still easier.

Some of the letters are very similar to ours.

They just make different sounds.

Okay.

Like their P RP makes the R sound for them.

Got it.

So, you know, still a little similar, just different rules.

So.

Because I knew where you're gonna be finding the Chinese or the Russians one day, that's why I was between those two.

Got it.

And so now, you know, fast forward, I see that there's.

These tensions are escalating in that area.

And I knew.

I'm like, dude, if Russia invades, this is going to be wild.

Because this is a.

Clearly, it's.

They're one of our adversaries.

And for them to invade this country, they're a superpower.

And what does that show us?

Or, you know, what are they trying to show to the world?

Like, they can try to invade this country.

And a week before the invasion started, I had a reunion with my boys from first platoon.

Okay.

And we're drinking, dude, having a good time.

We're grappling as Marines do.

And then we're just talking about current events.

And I was like, guys, if goes down, like with Russia, are we gonna.

Are you guys gonna go back in?

Are we gonna join?

Because I, I absolutely will.

And they're like, yeah, yeah, let's go up some Russians.

And we're gonna, we're drinking.

That was Saturday.

On Thursday, I was on my way to my night shift and I just got there and I see on the TVs Russia is invading Ukraine.

And I was just like, wow, this is happening.

I couldn't believe it.

It.

I was watching the news, man, and I, I saw these big ass.

Ukraine has some amazing, like, beautiful churches, dude.

Christian Orthodox churches.

But they're beautiful.

They're huge.

I just see these like, churches Explosions in the background.

I remember I saw them with, like, a golden dome type thing and a little tower.

It was pretty.

And I see the reporter talking, and I was like, man, this is going on right now as we speak.

And I'm over here.

I felt almost guilty.

Like, I'm in clean scrubs in a safe place, but these guys are over here getting bombed.

You know, soldiers by superpower.

That's a superpower that's always been our enemy.

Like, we never trusted the Russians.

They're always spying on us.

We're spying on them.

And I felt guilty.

I was like, I need to.

I need to find a way to help.

So I hit up my chain of command.

My boys are still in my officer.

I was like, what's the plan?

Like, are we going in?

Because I'll go, like, tomorrow and get back in.

And they're like, no, we're just standing by, like, we don't know if we're gonna get involved.

And I couldn't wait, dude.

So I already knew I was gonna find a way to get over there.

And so I started looking online.

There's, like, these veterans that are, like, talking about going over there.

And then I heard.

So that was Thursday.

Like, Friday, as this is happening, President Zelensky says, like, hey, if there's any international soldiers around the world that want to come fight for, you know, not only the freedom of Ukraine, but freedom in Europe.

And so right there, I was.

That I bought my plane ticket, and I was just.

I had.

All I had at the time was, like, my old.

From the Marine Corps.

Like, I had a sling.

Like, ACLs or not.

Sorry.

A cls bag.

Okay.

And some.

Some.

I didn't want to take my camis because that'll identify me as, like, a modern, like, you know, Marine.

That'll get you marked.

Yeah, absolutely.

And so I was taking, like, just old.

Dude.

I took some hiking pants that I bought at rei, like, in.

And some hiking boots.

And the one Marine Corps thing I did take with me that I still have is my waffle top, my little brown one.

Yeah.

Things warm.

Not warm enough for Ukraine, dude.

That was horrible.

But it was.

So I get to Ukraine.

Oh.

And before that, I hit up my boys.

I was like, hey, guys, are we doing this?

All of them are like, hey, let's.

Let's play this out.

Like, let's.

Let's see how this goes.

Let's not make any moves yet.

They all had their.

Their reservations about.

Yeah.

And they.

Someone had kids.

And I completely agree.

Like, you have a family that's your priority.

And so they, they were just telling me to be careful.

Are you sure you want to do it?

And I said, yeah, dude, I use all my, I put in for using all my PTO at work to go.

And I flew out of, I flew out of John Wayne Airport, okay.

To, it was like, John Wayne Airport to San Francisco, San Francisco to Warsaw, Poland.

And I, I'm just going online and people are saying go on Reddit and there's like a, a place for people that are volunteering.

So just through Reddit, I see this, People are starting to like, talk about like, what they see, what they're seeing so far in terms of like, what, what the Russians are doing.

And this guy, he posted, hey, if there's any volunteers, I need a ride to Ukraine.

I'll drive you.

So I kind of just took a long shot, sent him a message.

I was like, hey, I'm in Poland right now.

No, I.

So we went from San Francisco to Switzerland for like an hour.

Switzerland to Poland, which is like another hour.

Yeah, but I'm in, I'm in Switzerland.

And I'm like, dude, I'll be in Poland at this time.

I'm landing in, in Warsaw.

And he replied, and he replied with a screenshot of the map.

He's like, oh, I'm 46 minutes away.

I'll pick you up and I'll take you.

And I was like, okay, like, interesting.

This is going to be interesting, dude.

Good friend, I still keep in touch with him now.

He, he's a tech guy on the tech company.

But he's.

Since the war started, he was going back and forth taking refugees from Ukraine to Poland, taking supplies to Ukraine.

And he picked me up and, and he showed up with his friend because apparently at the time there was already like Russian infiltrators trying to like target these guys.

Okay.

And so he picked me up, never charged me for the gas or anything.

He drove me straight to the, to the border.

Okay, okay, so you land in Poland, you say, and you're getting a ride to the Ukrainian border.

What's going through your head at this point?

Like, are you like processing or like, hol here?

I have no weapons.

The gear that I brought, I mean, did you bring your flack and everything then or.

No?

I, I brought an old, old school, like, carrier.

My first thing was it's cold.

Okay.

I was not used to that cold.

I mean, I was born and raised in SoCal.

So did you bring proper gear or no?

No, cuz I didn't realize how cold it was going to be.

I just brought, like, sweats, the hiking pants, hiking boots, like, what I would kind of try to bring on to the field.

Yeah, right.

And it was on short notice, so, like, I didn't have too much.

And so we got there.

I got to the Ukrainian border, and they're, like, looking at my passport, and they're like, what are you doing here?

Until I'm here to help.

I'm a Marine vet.

I'm.

I'm a medic, like.

And they, like, sent me to this other checkpoint.

They're very grateful.

But I remember, like, crossing through the border, and there was, like, a crowd of people as far as the eye can see of just women and children trying to leave the country.

Was that kind of an eye opener for you?

Yeah, because it was.

You could feel the tension in the air.

Okay.

It was just cloudy, cold.

Yeah.

It was just like, oh, this is it.

Like, this is real.

And I get to this camp.

It was called Yavari Yardav.

What?

Yeah.

Okay.

And it got.

He wound up getting hit with, like, cruise missiles, like, two days later.

And that's where, like, the first international soldiers were coming in.

And they're like, okay, you're gonna talk to the colonel.

He's gonna help you out.

So this colonel dude, this guy, the first officer I spoke to, he had, like, a 1911.

And he's like, oh, American?

And I'm like, yeah.

And he goes, oh, where from?

And I just said, los Angeles.

He's like, oh, Hollywood.

He' shakes my hand, and he's like, okay, we're gonna send you over here.

Talk to this colonel.

I talked to this colonel.

He sits me down.

This dude was, like, in sweats, and he's like, why are you here, Giovanni?

Do you just want to kill people?

And I was like, the.

I was like, no, sir.

Like, I'm.

I'm a Marine veteran.

I'm a medic.

I can go help out in a hospital if you need me to.

I work in.

In a hospital back.

Back in California.

I'm good with.

I gave him, like, the list of rifles.

I was a designated marksman in the Marine Corps.

I'm good with that DMR rifle.

I'm good with, like, the M4, M16, the SAW.

So I could be a medic, a combat medic, or I can be in a hospital.

And he goes, look, right now, hospitals are getting bombed just without without end.

So if you want a chance to, like, have some defend yourself with, you should be a.

A combat medic.

Okay?

And I said, okay.

And he goes, but you got to sign a three year contract.

And I'm like, well, I'm not signing no contract.

I'm like, I'm literally here from.

On my own.

I'm using my PTO from work.

I didn't tell him that part.

Yeah.

I was like, no one just signed a three year contract to join the Ukrainian.

It was military or.

No, because it was the Legion.

And it was like, literally like in its infant stages.

So they were just trying to.

Like that was right off the bat.

Yeah.

And I was like, no, I want to leave whenever I can because I'm just here to help as much as I can, but, you know, I got obligations too.

And he goes, okay.

He's like, well, there's some Ukrainians that are coming back from.

They're fighting right now.

They're going to come pick up ammo and stuff.

Like, you go with them.

Don't worry about signing a contract.

I said, all right, cool.

He.

He's like, okay, five, five, six, seven or seven, six, two.

And I'm thinking I'm gonna get like an M4.

I'm like, 556.

And he gives me this like, Belgian FNC rifle.

Like, the charging handle was on the side.

It was weird.

And he gives me some mags and stuff, an ammo can.

He's like, all right.

He goes, happy hunting, my friend.

And he shakes my hand and I was like, what the is going on?

You know, that's how you got introduced to Ukraine.

Like this colonel saying, happy hunting.

It just gives you a mag and a foreign gun.

Yep.

Is it sinking in at this point that you are.

No.

And when I say that, I mean, like, you're about to be in the.

Yeah, I mean, I knew that.

Why is it at this point, like, what's going on?

Like, how I was already starting to realize, like, this could happen because it's.

It's an invasion.

Like, what do you expect?

I was thinking, like, it was going to be like, like in the cities.

This girl of warfare and stuff.

Yeah.

At the time, the Russians were trying to take Kiev, the capital.

So we wound up.

I remember we wound up, we got to Kiev and this colonel, different colonel, wants me.

I'm in a minivan with him because he wants the medic with him.

And we're driving through this, like, village on the outskirts of Kiev, and it's just on fire.

You hear artillery and stuff like that.

And there was like grenades rolling around the dashboard of this van.

And I'm like, what the, dude?

Like, everything I'VE trained for in the Marine Corps and stuff like that.

Going to war, all this stuff.

And I'm in a minivan, dude, in the old ass plate carrier with, you know, like my waffle top.

And it just, it was crazy, man.

Then a few hours later, we were just told, all right, George.

Walking down the road and the Russians are over there.

And we started getting shelled with artillery.

And immediately.

So you were getting showed the entire time.

But I don't know, dude.

Like, the Russians either saw us from a distance or something.

And so we had to like hook right into like a forest, like, like a, A dense forest.

Because they were like, there's Ukraine's on somewhere down this way.

So we're running and dude, it was a dense, dense forest, trees everywhere.

And we wound up linking up with these Ukrainians and we were in that forest for days, just eating artillery, dude.

And you guys dug in.

They had already like a dug in position there, the Ukrainians, but me, like in the Marine Corps, you know, they teach you when you're setting the defense, the corpsman stays away from the main line.

So I was kind of trying to do the same thing.

I went.

I stayed back a little bit from the main hull because in case, you know, artillery landed directly on them, it wasn't.

I was able to still be able to run in and help.

So there we're getting like little firefights there while getting hit with artillery.

And I remember that was the first time I saw a drone.

There was this drone, like buzzing around the.

The trees and stuff.

And they were like, that's a Russian drone.

It had a grenade.

It had like brown grenades strapped to it.

When you're watching this thing.

Yeah, because it was like pretty low, but we didn't want to shoot it because it had grenades.

And if we were getting hit with so much artillery, dude, that all these trees were falling around us.

And so at one point I saw the drone get tangled up in a tree that was falling from getting hit and it fell down.

So that was like.

That took care of that and we were there for a few days.

What I'm trying to picture this like some Saving Private Ryan or what's the old school one?

Band of brothers, right?

Like they're in these woods and they're just getting shelled for like days and days and days and trees are just exploding and they're shrapnel.

The ground is shaking all the time, man.

The.

Is this like, like how you're just laying there just taking these rounds, like.

Yeah.

What was your Guys's mission just.

We were.

Dude, that's the thing.

It was chaotic.

Like, we didn't know what the we were waiting for.

We were waiting for further orders, like, push up into the village.

But the Russians were there.

And I remember at some point, like, the second day, we were told that the Russians were like, they had us in a horseshoe, like, insert.

Trying to encircle us.

And I'll never forget, dude, there was this dude with face.

Like, he had a face tattoo.

It looked like a Mike Tyson, like, face tattoo.

And I had briefly run into him before.

He's like, nice guy.

Gave me a fist bump.

He's like, American.

I'm like, yeah.

And during maybe that second day, I just see him come out of nowhere.

And this dude is, like, standing over us.

I'm in the hole and he's, like, moving.

He's like, we're gonna go over here, like, yelling.

And, dude, there's like, rounds going off.

This dude's just standing tall.

And I'll never forget because some artillery round landed close to us and, like, knocked us, even me in the hole, like, knocked us down.

And for him, it knocked him down.

He just kind of, like, sat on his butt and, like, his rifle fell because he didn't have it on a sling.

And he likes.

We're still, like, looking at each other, and he, like, gets back up and I just see him run, like, towards that direction.

I was like, this guy's a beast, dude.

Like, giant.

Like, dude, Ukrainians are some of the most badass dudes, man.

Like, they.

This showed no fear.

And, yeah, freaking.

What happened?

So there was a.

At a certain point, this artillery round landed behind me, knocked me out of my hole.

And I remember looking at the sky.

I woke up looking at the sky and I was looking at these clouds, and I'm like, oh, my God, that could have been it.

That could have been the end of Geo.

I would have just been like, you know, the.

You know, everything I've done up to my life just to, like, end right there in this shitty wood line with trees.

And I remember looking at the sky, and just the first thing I thought, dude, was my favorite bible verse.

Romans 8, 18.

It goes, these present sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us.

And I figured, you know what, dude?

If I die in the next 10, 15 minutes, or if I die tonight, I'm going to be chilling with my dad.

My dad passed away a few years ago of a heart attack.

And that sounds a hell of a lot better than being here, you Know, So it's crazy because at that point, dude, I kind of accepted what could happen.

And you.

I. I was a little more gutsier in terms of, like, not scared of, like, running through.

Through fire to check on some of the Ukrainians.

One of the Ukrainians, he was, like, in the prone, and a artillery round landed in front.

It, like, blew up a car, and a piece of the shrapnel like, hit him in the arm.

And it was his right arm, and it was a piece of, like, metal, because when I ran up and we scraped the metal, it was just, like, a heavy piece of metal that fell on the ground and.

But it had, like, cauterized his arm.

He wasn't, like, bleeding or anything.

It was just, like, a nasty burn.

So I'm, like, wrapping him up, right?

And I, like, look at him, and I'm like, your lucky day.

And he was, like, scared.

Yeah, dude.

All I had was Motrin, like.

So I'm like, here, give him some motion.

He looks at me, and he's like, oh, like, ecstasy.

And he starts laughing, and I'm like, take it, dude.

Like, here you go.

And he give it to him and gives me a fist bump.

And, dude, it was.

It was crazy, man.

You learn a lot.

Okay, so you're.

I'm just trying to picture, like, you guys getting shelled.

So your first.

Your first 24 hours in Ukraine, you end up in a forest just being artillery for a couple of days.

Yeah.

That's your first exposure to being in Ukraine.

Yeah.

And it was that we were.

It was the Russian airborne that was there.

Those are the guys that were, like, initially trying to, like, take Kiev.

Yeah.

And so that's who we were fighting.

So you find yourself in a battle gunfight with the Russian paratroopers or.

Yeah, they're VDV.

Yeah.

In the forest within 24 hours of landing in Ukraine, and you're just like, oh, what.

What the.

Going through your head at this point?

Just at that point, like, it's.

It's.

You revert back to, like.

I was reverting back to everything I learned in the Marine Corps.

You know, in the Marine Corps, they teach you.

Like, they were still, like, Iraq, you know, our.

My combat instructors and all that.

They're all Iraq vets.

So they're like, hey, like, you're getting hit with artillery or something.

Start looking around for.

For spotters.

Yep.

And so I'm, like, looking at, like, rooftops and stuff like that, and.

But, dude, there was still civilians in these villages, and they were just kind of like, poking their heads out and stuff like that.

And it was crazy because you don't know who.

No, you don't know who's who.

And yeah, man, we were there.

It was.

It was surreal.

Like I said, everything was just.

It was a show.

It was pretty.

It was unorganized to begin with.

That was my next question.

How organized is this legion regime, whatever you want to call it, that you're now attached to in Ukraine?

Like, are they just, hey, we're gonna drive down this road till we get contact or.

Yeah.

Missions you guys are running, what is the.

It was just like a buffer essentially.

Just trying to like, throw like people to like, start slowing down the, the advances.

And so how many of you are there, dude?

At the time, I mean, we were tun size, squad size, like a squad, if that.

We.

When we met with the other Ukrainians that were there, they were actually like Ukrainian military.

So I don't.

I can't remember how many of us there were total because like I said, I was also towards the back away from the main.

The main trench that we had dug in there, that they dug in there.

And it was.

It was crazy, man.

I. I remember we were there and we just heard over the radio that the Russians had gone to Chernobyl and they were like digging in or something.

And at the time I'm like, what the, dude?

And there was rumors that there was like a 40 mile long convoy of like Ukrainian armor trucks and stuff that were heading towards that direction.

And it's funny because I'm thinking like, dude, if we had like, the air support, if we had like an A10, dude, that would.

That would have annihilated.

That would have been the end of that invasion.

Right.

And it's.

It makes you grateful for, you know, our.

Our superior superiority.

Yeah.

And, you know, it makes you grateful for the training that I got in Marine Corps because the basics are the same, dude.

You know, return fire, take cover, return accurate fire, that kind of stuff.

I was just kind of falling back on what I didn't know.

And yeah, I was there.

And what was crazy is now fast forward.

Like, I'm.

I had to come back home.

Okay, how long were you there?

For the first round.

So I was there for about a month.

Okay.

Yeah.

And in that month, what, how many fight are you getting?

Firefights daily, dude.

It was non stop, dude.

Like artillery.

Everything was non stop.

There was like, we were getting like sniper fire, just pop shots too.

Like, it was a show, man, because we.

We didn't know how organized they Were.

Oh, okay.

So that was my next question.

How organized are the Russians compared to the Ukrainians?

Is this.

They were using a lot of Soviet tactics, dude.

Throw buddies that they couldn't cross danger areas for, dude.

Because you'd get, you know, they'd get dropped and then they would still try to cross that, that road, leaving their wounded guy there and just running past them, trying to, you know, trying to cross the road.

But at the cost of bunch of dudes.

The Russians would.

The Russians, Yeah.

It's a lot of Soviet tactics now.

I saw more of that my, My second trip.

Okay.

So I, I had to come back because I had to come back to work.

And it's crazy, dude, because I, after all that, I laugh, I come back and I'm back in la and literally two days later, just.

I had to just come back to work and just do my, my duties.

You go from fighting in Ukraine, getting shelled and mortared daily.

Yeah.

And then you just get on a flight because you have to come back to work in the United States.

Yeah.

At the hospital.

And so you just catch a flight home.

Yeah.

After being shell shocked for a month and you just walk right into a hospital and you're like, yeah.

To work.

Yeah.

How the does that work, work?

I mean, dude, it's not.

What was your mind?

I knew right off the bat when I went back to work and I was back, I. I knew I was going back.

I knew I'm like, you know what?

I'm gonna go back, but I'm gonna be a lot more prepared than, you know, the I had.

So, like, from the time I got back to the time I just knew.

I started.

I started saving money and just buying, like real, like buying good stuff.

This is when I started saving up to buy the plate carrier and stuff like that.

And dude, this is stuff that, like, freaking, you know, I bought on ebay, like used stuff.

But it was better than nothing.

Yeah.

And I was just mentally preparing myself.

Okay, what else can I use?

I brought a big trauma bag.

I was like, just trying to find ways to.

Even with work.

I've bought a.

Or I was, I bought.

I was able to put in at work, like actual leave.

Like, put in for some leave.

Okay.

So that got me, you know, a couple months off.

And I was just preparing like, okay, what stuff I wish I had what stuff that can work and that's.

You learn a lot.

Your first one over there, like, medical gear wise, what you lacked, what you were gonna need, everything.

So you.

So you got a little trial run Was the, The.

Were you dealing with a lot of trauma your first time there?

Just shrapnel, like the biggest things.

Dude, shrapnel can people up.

Even if it's just from wood, like, it will tear through cammies.

It'll tear through.

And you know, me and my, like, training and stuff, you think shrapnel, like metal, like fragments from, you know, artillery rounds and stuff like that, but wood was.

Can shred through people and a lot of bleeding control, stuff like that.

So I knew like tourniquets, combat gauze is gold.

All that hemostatic stuff.

Did you have a lot of that over there your first time?

No.

Were you trying to find and acquire stuff?

It was all what I had in my.

In my.

Yeah, see, I left everything there.

I like, passed it off to like, other dudes who were staying this time.

I was kind of like, just like I said, trying to acquire more tourniquets stuff to like, like, like pressure gauze, Israeli gauze, Ace wrap.

You could use that, you know, to apply pressure to wounds.

So, yeah, I was, I. I brought a huge backpack this time and I also was looking.

I had at that point made some connections in Ukraine and that's when I like, made my Instagram before I went to Ukraine the first time, just to update people.

So I stayed in touch with some people that are still in Ukraine through Instagram.

Yeah.

And someone hit me up and goes, hey, there's a unit here that's actually part of the Ukrainian military, but they have ACOGs and they have 556.

So I'm thinking we're getting M4s.

And I was like, that's perfect because, dude, like, I learned how to shoot with an acog.

Yeah.

And like I said, I was a designated.

Designated marksman in the Marine Corps.

I was a good shot and with the ACOG too.

So I wanted to go into that unit.

And I was already definitely more organized.

I knew the right people who to get in touch with when I.

When I got there.

And so I went in December still of 2022, and that's when I was able to like, take the leave of absence from work.

I left for a few months and I got to.

It was the 59th Brigade and they were fighting at that point in Eastern Ukraine and we were based out of.

I mean, it's.

It sucks because right now that where we were based out of is under Russian occupation.

They took it over.

Oh, really?

Yeah, recently, like picross.

That's where they're at right now.

And Russians took over that city.

But we were kicking out missions from there.

And their, my commander, his name was Yuri, he's also an American army veteran.

And he's like, yeah, we need a medic.

Like, doc, this is what we're going to be doing.

We literally, we just took over a village house.

Yeah.

And we were kicking patrols out of there.

Or like we'd get in humvees.

Our goal was just taking Russian trenches.

And it was, we'd get in the humvees, stack as many dudes we can in Humvees and we would roll up to trenches with the 50 calorie support and we just dismount and assault on foot and so into a trench, into a trench.

And it was crazy.

It was, it's funny because you get there and, or when we went on like one of the first missions, it reminded me of just like, just gangster style, dude.

Like the Humvee turns off the headlights and then we just roll up to, you know, as close as we could to the trench.

The 50 cal opens up and now there's like an exchange of fire.

You're like opening door.

Everyone's like dismounting.

It's a show, dude.

And that's, that's how it was.

Like I remember we dismounted, we're on the ground and you see the 50 cal, they're exchanging fire.

This PKM is shooting at us, shooting at the, at the Humvee.

And I had these, your earring hearing protections that, they're the electronic ones that amplify sound.

So dude, when we like dismounted and we landed and there's, there's an exchange of fire, we're shooting, trying to suppress too.

And then you could, when there's like a lull, you could hear the Russians like racking their charging handle.

You could hear them whispering or like talking.

You're that close to these dudes.

Your headphones are picking up.

Yes.

Russian conversation on them.

Yes.

And then the Ukrainians start yelling at them.

They're like talking and for a sec I'm like, wait, are they talking to like friendlies?

Is there people up there?

No, it was a Russian.

They were just cussing and yelling at each other.

You guys are that close.

Yeah.

Screaming at each other.

Yes.

And then, and, and then the, the part that scared me was the fact that we could hear the Russians turn on their tanks.

So you could hear like a rusty like engine thing.

And you could hear it started like crunching through.

You could tell it was moving, it was dark as we couldn't see anything.

But the moment we heard that, that.

I think even some of the, the guys that were still in the Humvee, like our driver and interpreter, they heard that.

So they made a U turn and dipped out because that's our.

That's literally our only way to get out.

Your drivers dip?

Yeah, they dip.

So now they dip.

And now it's just us and the Russians and they're yell.

The Ukraines are yelling at them.

For a little bit I was like, yelling and like, you all this.

And then I'm like, you know what?

Like, dude, they're gonna know there's Americans here too.

Right?

So just to throw them off, I start cussing in Spanish and it's.

You're cussing at Russians in Spanish while you're clearing a trench?

While you're trying to get to the trench?

Yeah.

What the.

And it's funny because it's insane.

The Ukrainians are looking at me at a certain point.

They're like, like, what the did you say?

Like, Doc, what?

And I'm like ignoring them, like, just because my whole thing is just eyes up front, you know?

And then the Russians would shoot up loom rounds, like those flares.

Yeah.

There.

Yeah.

And they now.

It lit up the night sky.

So now this PKM and whatever they had is shooting at us, like over our heads.

And I'm just trying to like, make myself small, like into a flat as possible.

Yeah.

And like, as missions went on, I started realizing, like, for example, I can't.

I was wearing like these fleece gloves with my mechanics gloves over them, so I had grenades and I couldn't.

At one point I wanted a prepper grenade, but I.

My finger wouldn't fit with the mechanics gloves.

It wouldn't fit in the ring.

So literally in the prone there, I'm like taking off my glove, the fleece, just to like prep and be able to throw this grenade.

So after that mission, one of the Ukrainians, he's like, Doc, like, like, he gave me his gloves.

He had like an extra pair, but it was like these fingerless ones, which was cool because when it came time to like treating casualties, opening the combat gauze or, or anything like that, I had more dexterity in my fingers.

But I mean, as you can see, they got up when I got hurt.

Okay.

I'm trying to just process this trench warfare because since this Ukraine, Russia war started, it's blown my mind that we've reverted back to trench warfare, which we have not fought in trench warfare since like World War I or whatever.

So the fact that we're reverting to like these old school trench warfare, turning corners and enemies right there like.

So when you guys are pulling up to assault a trench, are you getting dropped off on like an end and you just end in an end and you start clearing it or you just, you just running to get into a

trench like the middle of wherever we can.

It wasn't necessarily on the end.

Okay.

Just wherever we.

They deemed safe.

I don't.

It was night time a lot of our missions.

So if it was a daytime mission it was QRF and it was mainly because they needed a medic.

Okay.

But yeah, we, we didn't know like the like what end of the trench we were in.

We just knew the Russians were in front of us and so you're getting

dropped off in the dark and you're just running till you hit a trench pretty much or what?

No, we're, we, we knew.

I mean I do.

When we're running, when we're pulling up, there's already PKMs shooting at us and stuff like that.

There's rounds hitting the Humvee.

So like I made it a point too to.

We were, we started going on missions.

I started telling everyone to start strapping tourniquets on their, on each thigh and on each arm because if you got hit like when we opened the door, dude, like it was, you could already be the door, could be getting hit with like PKM fire.

Like you could hear rounds hitting the Humvee.

So I told the guys, if you dismount and you're hit, like our priority is still setting up a base of fire.

And so if you're hit, it might

be a minute or so.

Yeah, tighten that up and I promise I'll get to you if I could.

And so we were running missions that way too.

You sound like suicide missions.

Oh dude, that's exactly what every mission I always thought was a suicide mission.

Every mission, dude, I, before we went on missions, dude, I always read my Bible, read a Bible verse and then I would leave my phone and my Bible right there in my rack.

And it's crazy because there was a few times where we would say we're going on Mission at 9pm so by 6pm dude there's already like these Ukrainians outside the house like geared up, ready to go like smoking and dude, talk about the resiliency and the bravery of these dudes.

A lot of these dudes were civilians a year before owning cell phone shops and stuff like that.

There was a guy who's diabetic and he had an insulin pump and this dude would give himself insulin and then put his shirt down and put on the plate carrier and go, go on missions with us.

And it, I, you know, now I go, I go talk to active duty Marine units and I, I tell them about this because, dude, how many times, you know, in the Marine Corps did we have dudes who are like, oh, my ankle hurts, I can't run pft today or something where there's dudes out there that are legit, like they, they would have been disqualified from the military for sure.

They're hooking and jabbing.

Yeah.

And yeah, it's, it's incredible how they're, they've been pulling through and they've been whipping ass, dude.

It's hard.

And they're going up against a superpower.

Yeah.

But there was times we'd go on these missions and just in the beginning I saw these guys showing up to this house super early.

We don't have to kick out for another few hours.

Oh my God, this is going to be a big one.

Like this could be it.

And so I would pray and I get.

There was times I was so nervous, I would call like one of my buddies, we had Starlink.

Okay.

And I would call him and I went to paramedic school with him.

Big, he's Christian guy.

And I told him, hey man, like, I can't say much but I, I could use a prayer right now.

And I would go outside away from like the Ukrainians, Ukrainians.

And he would just be like, okay, hang on.

He'd go get his bible and he would pray and I have him on speaker.

I'm just listening to the prayer and you know, praying with them.

But as I'm doing that, I'm like looking around like at the snow, as ugly as like the scene was because run down villages, Soviet era stuff.

I'm trying to take everything in, dude.

Like the views, the stars, the cold, like, because I'm like, dude, I might die in a few hours.

And so there's times where he'd be done praying with me and I'm like trying not to tear up.

I'm like, hey bro, thank you.

Like, God willing, I'll talk to you soon.

And yeah, and then we kick out on these missions and.

Yeah, but every mission felt like a suicide mission, dude.

So I always made it, made it a point to like be as good as I can with God for sure.

Even out there fighting, dude, as close as we were getting to, to these Russians, I, I knew as an American that, you know, if I was captured I'd get tortured, man.

Like, there's no denying I. I'm of the American flag tattoo, Marine Corps tattoo.

So I had, like, in my pictures, I had three rounds right here, just in case, dude, because if got bad, I was gonna load an empty mag.

I wasn't gonna let them take me because that would be recorded, and, you know, I would not want my family to.

To see that.

And you just.

You have.

It's one of those things you have to be okay with and.

But it.

It's a mind, dude, for sure, because you.

You want to live.

Not like you, but you.

You're gonna do everything you can.

There was times now where I ran.

I've had reunions with these guys that I was on missions with that the Americans that are here and they're talking about these missions, and I was like, oh, like, they're bringing up stuff that I forgot was happening because, you know, you kind of, like, black out and you're just.

Yeah, for sure.

You know, it's like a very war.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like that.

That.

I call it like the monkey brain.

The fight or flight that takes over.

Like, we would dismount, and a lot of times I was told as the medic to stay in the back or the middle of the stack of guys, right?

Just try to stay in between people because they can't.

I can't get hit.

And we dismount.

And a lot of times I'd be running first and I'd realize, I look back on the Ukrainians are behind me and they're, like, yelling at me.

But once again, you know, the Marine and me, the NCO is like, yo, we got violence of action.

We got suppression.

Like, let's push up as close as we could.

And yeah, it was.

It was.

I just.

Compared to the Wild west, man, like, because if there was a casualty, I'm the only one there.

I'm trying to drag this dude.

Like, there was one mission where we did a.

We did a.

It was during the day.

We were going to hit this position at night, and we.

But we wanted to see.

We did a drive by essentially, during the day just to.

Just to kind of antagonize them a little bit and see how much return fire we were getting so we could see what we were going to go up against that night.

And so we would go literally drive by style.

The.50 cal is on one in one humvee.

My humvee on this mission didn't have a 50, but it had, like, an open turret.

And so when we Went.

I remember jumping up on like first I was like just shooting out the window, sliding over the, the little knob on the Humvee and just shooting out the window.

And then I was like, it.

I could jump on the turret and I would just like, dude.

We would do the drive by and then the Humvees, instead of like just turning around, they just started doing donuts in the same area and just like, just shooting them.

And so I remember getting up on the turret.

We're doing donuts and I'm shooting.

And you just see just RPGs, dude.

Like just whizzing past us.

Like they're just trying to like shoot us.

And we're like, oh, dude.

And I, I just thought it was funny because I'd be looking whenever the.50 cal stops shooting.

I just duck my head too because I only have a rifle.

Yeah.

And.

But it's funny because I see Yuri on the 50 and there's like RPGs going past, past me.

And these, they had these like bursting rounds.

I would like kind of like burst as they're like going towards us.

And.

But I still see him like just getting down and like still like didn't stop with the.50.

I'm like, hey, dude.

And afterwards we were just about like, dude.

Like, we just see like he had like the PKM rounds shooting his shield and stuff like that.

It was wild, bro.

This is insane.

So what is it like fighting in a trench?

I know you're in the back because you're a corpsman or the, the medic and they want you safe.

Obviously if you go down, everybody else is screwed, so.

But what is it like being in these trenches and just turning these corners and there's.

It's not, it's not clean, dude.

Like, these trenches are so narrow.

Like after the first mission, I knew I can't.

I couldn't carry like my big trauma backpack with me.

It's like a little day pack.

But even then, these trenches are so tight that you have to be as mobile as possible.

So I kept my trauma bag in the Humvee.

If we took a serious enough casualty, I would have to radio for them to.

And.

And that's what we would do, but radio for them to come pick me up or I'll go get the trauma bag.

The trenches aren't very.

They're not clean cut or whatnot.

Like, they're.

They're tight, dude.

So a lot of times you.

It was like a single stack.

Like, you know, person run.

Running through the trench.

So a lot of times like, you.

You jump in.

I establish, like, a foothold, but I would just kind of stay in the back and let the Ukrainians go.

Go after me because, you know, I would jump in first, and sometimes there was dudes.

There was like a.

Like a firewatch or whatever.

The.

Their dude there, their century, the Russian, the Russians.

And then after, you know, I stopped that, I would just stay there and like, just have them jump in.

And they would.

They would go in.

You jumped down into a trench and there was a firewatch, a Russian firewatch chilling there or.

Yeah, I don't know.

Whatever he was.

He was doing.

Yeah.

And.

Yeah.

Was that, like, scary, dude?

Definitely terrifying the whole time.

But just like I said, it's very surreal and it's very.

Like, I just wanted them to stop moving, you know, like, just stop and let the Ukrainians take over.

And.

Yeah, it was.

It's.

It's very surreal, man.

A lot of times, like, I look back and I'm like, God, how did I make it through that?

Then after, like, taking or, you know, the trench, the Ukraines would take, the weapons, ammo, stuff like that, we'd get back into Humvee and like, we'd hold a position.

That was our mission.

Hold the position and then wait for, like, the infantry, regular, like, Ukrainian infantry to come take over the position, and then we would dip out.

So you guys are like the tip of the spear for the Ukrainian.

Yeah, I mean, it was a. I don't know, our mission.

We were like, part of the 59th Brigade, which is a mechanized infantry.

Yeah.

Or motorized infantry.

That's what it's called.

So you guys would just get dropped off in the middle of the night most of the majority of the time to get into a trench, clear this trench of Russians.

Then the Ukrainian military, I guess infantry would show up and take over that area, and you guys would just dip.

That is crazy, bro.

We'd be coming back and we're getting, you know, we're getting hit with artillery and everything the whole time too.

So when we made it back, dude, I'm like, concussed as.

Like, my ears are still ringing and.

But I would quickly, like, go on my phone and just text my boy, like, my best friend, like, hey, dude, good.

Hope you're doing good.

Just to.

That was our own little, like, way of like, hey, we're good.

Yeah.

Because I told him if.

If you don't hear from me for like, a week or two, it means something happened.

Just.

He was my emergency contact in case I got hurt.

Yeah.

And it's surreal, man, because I would come back from these missions, obviously, like, concussed adrenaline dump, and I would go on Instagram to, like, update and kind of see what's going on.

And, dude, my co workers and friends, like, it would post, like, oh, eight hours ago.

And my friends are in, like, in Huntington beach, like, at the beach with their, you know, friends and stuff.

And I'm like, it was posted eight hours ago.

I'm like, dude, eight hours ago.

I was on the mission last night, getting my rocked, and they're over here.

Like, you know, it's.

I felt like I was on a different planet.

Oh, for sure.

And there was times where, you know, FaceTiming my.

My girl, I would FaceTime her and she would look at me and I'm all with a balclava and everything, and I would.

She would answer the phone and I'd say, oh, like, hey, what's going on?

And she.

I remember she hit me with, like, baby, are you okay?

Like, she could read my eyes.

That's all she was able to see.

And when she asked me that in, like, the most caring tone, dude, I lost it.

I. I would just want to, like, hang up.

Up.

And I just.

I honestly would hang up, and I would just try to like, how.

What the.

Is there something on me?

Can she see I was dirty, Dude.

And same thing with my mom.

There was another time where, like, she's like, you know, mijo, how are you?

Like, and then she.

At one point, she said, mijo, you need to sleep.

She saw that I haven't slept or.

And it just.

Dude, your mom knows, you know, people.

They could read it for sure.

And so I started feeling, like, very detached in that.

Like, what.

I felt like I was in a different planet.

I'd go on Instagram, people would be like, oh, the price of eggs were getting expensive or some.

And I'm like, dude, what the is going on over there?

Like, there was chickens in our village.

I was gonna start getting eggs, too, and start sending them home, you know,

so you're in Ukraine fighting Russians every day, getting mortared every day clearing trenches, getting shot at.

This.

This war.

And you're getting on Instagram and you're.

You're seeing people bitching about the price of eggs here in the United States.

Like, that's got to be a weird thing, the process that you're fighting to support this country and what's going on there.

Meanwhile, you're watching nobody give a back in your country.

So do you feel, like, pretty alone at this point?

You Feel.

Did you.

Did you start doubting any of your decisions to be there, or does it all just paying off and just, just.

No, not that it was paying off.

I mean, I wasn't getting paid.

I wasn't there for the money.

I wasn't there for anything.

I.

Generally, I knew the.

I could see the severity of what was going on.

Like, you know, Russia invading the small country.

Putin's on record saying he wants to expand the Russian empire back to, like, how it was.

Yeah.

So what does that mean, you know, if.

If Russia takes Ukraine, Poland's next, and then now it's going to be our fault.

Our fault.

Our problem.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's why even now, like, I. I'm an advocate for, hey, let's give them the weapons they need to fight them off.

Y.

That way our boys don't have to go, you know, see the.

The that I saw, and I mean, dude, we would.

Dude, the US Would stomp their dick, bro.

Like, we would win.

We would beat the Russians easy.

But right now, you know, this is the situation.

And night number ones doubted it, man.

It was just obviously the.

I. I felt like I was on a different planet.

There was another time we'd be just going to fuel up or something and I'd FaceTime my co workers in the hospital, and it's like nothing has changed over there.

They're all under clean blue scrubs.

It's another shift for them.

And I'm over here like, you know, with dudes in the back seat with me.

And, like, some of them wound up getting killed.

And just like I said, I started kind of seeing the.

How sheltered we were as Americans for sure.

And it's.

It's good, right, though.

We don't have a clue of what it's like, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't be naive and think none of that stuff could ever happen out here.

We always have to stay ready.

Yeah.

So.

So, yeah, like, going back to, like, these firefights, I was happy that I had a. I was using a Polish Grot rifle.

Polish Grock rifle.

Grot.

Yeah.

It's literally like a Polish M4.

Okay.

556 the ACOG.

Dude, I was happy, man.

Like, there was a mission.

We were in a firefight and this Russian was reloading his pkm and I. I was like, sighting in and everything.

And when I shot with the acog, I just saw this dude's jaw just blow off.

Dude, how close are you guys?

It was closer than 100 meters.

30 meters, 40 meters, maybe 40 meters from a.

A. Yeah, yeah.

And you're just watching this guy reload it.

Yeah, well, he was bringing up a big ass ammo can or.

Yeah, like, you're right there.

Is this in the dark or in the day?

When.

When is this?

It was like dawn, so just enough light.

But it's funny because when I, When I, you know, after that, I was like, man, I love the acog, dude.

This works.

It's ugly, man.

Like, that's one of the ugliest scopes ever created.

Yeah, no, and it's just, Just.

It's just crazy, man.

Like, you know, we talked briefly, but it's.

I. I started to realize, like, why war is such a last resort for.

For countries and nations.

Because it's such an ugly thing, man.

Like, I don't.

I don't regret anything I did over there.

I could answer for everything.

God was watching me and watching over me.

But, man, it's so ugly in my head, I'm like, man, I'm like this punk kid from SoCal, like, how did I end up here?

You know?

And these guys are trying to kill me.

I'm a nice guy.

I'm a medic, dude.

I've helped people.

I've delivered babies.

You know, Like, I.

And to.

To be in this position, which I know, like, I. I volunteered for it.

And.

And it's just ugly.

And that's why now, like, I'm.

I'm just a very big advocate on staying prepared, being ready, protecting your family.

Yeah, because we.

We would fight.

Like, there was one mission where we were with Yuri.

We were.

I was with Yuri, and we dismounted, and he had, like, a handheld mortar tube.

And we had this mortar tube, like, almost straight up.

That's how close the Russians were on the other side of this village.

And we shot off a couple rounds, and with.

As we're rolling up the motor tube and I'm like, packing up the stuff, we parked the Humvee far away so they wouldn't see where, you know, the Humvee was.

Literally, as we're rolling up the motor tube and everything, we just hear a drone.

And the Ukrainians immediately start running, and Gary starts running, and we're.

They're just running into this house, like, jumping in through the window.

And so I'm running too.

I'm gonna jump through this window.

But as I'm running, I'm looking up because I hear the drone.

But all I could see is just the cloudy skies.

I can't see it.

And you don't know if it's A drone that's just like a reconnaissance drone that's just watching.

Or if it's a drone that's going to drop an artillery round, like a little mortar round or a grenade, or if it's like a suicide drone that's just gonna, you know, dive in and try to blow you up.

And we ran into this house with the Ukrainians and where immediately, like, Yuri's telling me, like, don't touch anything.

The house might be booby trapped.