This podcast episode delves into the intricate narratives of military service, emphasizing the profound impact that such experiences have on personal growth and career trajectories. Our guests, both veterans, share their unique journeys into the military, recounting how motivations often stemmed from a desire for direction and purpose amidst life's challenges. The discussion further explores the evolution of military medicine and the vital role it plays in contemporary healthcare, particularly in response to modern threats. Noteworthy anecdotes reveal the camaraderie and resilience found within military life, illustrating that the bonds formed in service extend far beyond the battlefield. Through this dialogue, we aim to illuminate the multifaceted lives of veterans, challenging the perception that their stories are solely defined by combat, while also encouraging a greater understanding of their contributions to society. The dialogue between Speakers A and B unfolds in a candid and engaging manner, revealing their personal experiences and reflections on military life, notably their journeys before and after service. Speaker B, a Navy veteran, reminisces about his motivations for joining the military, shaped by a familial legacy of service and a desire for direction in life. The conversation highlights the transformative power of military service, as both speakers recount the impact of their experiences, particularly in the context of camaraderie and personal growth. They reflect on the complexities of transitioning to civilian life, discussing the challenges faced and the skills acquired during their service, which continue to resonate in their current endeavors. The episode encapsulates the essence of veteran narratives, emphasizing the importance of sharing stories that reflect both the trials and triumphs of military life, and the bonds formed through shared experiences. As the discussion progresses, a notable theme emerges regarding the evolution of medical practices within the military, with Speaker B detailing his journey into the medical field post-service. His experiences as a corpsman, coupled with subsequent advancements in emergency medicine, underscore a commitment to continuous learning and adaptation. This perspective is particularly relevant given the rapid advancements in medical technology and practices, both in the military and civilian sectors. The exchange serves as a poignant reminder of the resilience required in the face of adversity and the ongoing quest for knowledge and growth, particularly in the context of healthcare. Ultimately, the episode reinforces the notion that the lessons learned in service extend far beyond the battlefield, shaping a lifetime of experiences and contributions to society. Concluding with reflections on the significance of storytelling, the speakers emphasize the cathartic nature of writing and the importance of sharing personal narratives. Speaker B’s journey into writing, spurred by his military experiences, illustrates the therapeutic power of expressing one’s thoughts and emotions through the written word. The conversation encourages listeners to embrace their stories, regardless of the medium, highlighting the healing potential inherent in sharing one’s truth. The episode encapsulates a broader message about the necessity of community and connections forged through shared experiences, advocating for a culture of openness and understanding, particularly among veterans. As the speakers navigate their pasts and present, they illuminate the path forward, encouraging others to reflect on their journeys and the narratives that define them.

Takeaways:

1. The speakers reflect on their military backgrounds and the personal motivations for joining the armed forces, emphasizing the importance of direction and purpose in life.
2. They discuss how their experiences in the military shaped their careers and personal lives, illustrating the transformative power of service and camaraderie.
3. The conversation highlights the challenges faced during the transition from military to civilian life, particularly in terms of maintaining relevant skills and adapting to new environments.
4. The speakers underscore the significance of storytelling and writing as a therapeutic outlet for veterans, allowing them to process their experiences and share their narratives with others.
5. They note the importance of building relationships within the military community, which often leads to career opportunities and support in civilian life.
6. The discussion touches on the evolving nature of medicine and emergency response, particularly how military experiences have influenced advancements in these fields.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. johnnygilpin.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Listen on Apple

Hey, welcome to the show, Johnny.

How you doing, man?

I'm doing great.

It's a nice Friday night.

Not a great way to start off the new year.

Yeah, I agree, man.

Somebody asked me last yesterday.

Yeah, yesterday it was like two in the afternoon.

They're like, you have a happy New Year?

Then, what, 10 hours?

Yeah, I had to work this year.

Oh, did you?

Yeah, yeah, I worked two shifts and I worked New Year's Eve and the yesterday in the er, so that's what I did.

So.

Okay, well, why don't we dive into a little bit of back history.

I know you're Navy veteran and what brought you to the military, man?

You know, a lot of guys, I, I'm a Pat Tillman scholar and I listen to a lot of the guys in there.

You know, when you're reviewing their, their stories and listening to Pat talk about his story and how he got here, you know, I'm 55, so my story is a little different than most goes.

You know, I was already out of the military when the towers fell.

And so for me, you know, my dad was a Vietnam vet.

My uncles, my grand.

My.

My grandfather fought in World War II.

And honestly, it was, you know, early 90s, and I was struggling to find a way.

So I joined the Army National Guard first here in Oklahoma, and I was a crew chief on a Huey.

Okay.

With.

With the first of the 245th Special Operations Aviation Battalion.

It was a National Guard element for the 1/60, so it was a pretty cool gig.

And until we lost our special operations designator.

And we went from being flying every day to a maintenance company, and I'm like, I could still do that on the farm.

Yeah.

So I went active duty Navy from there.

So honestly, for me, joining the military was I. I needed a little direction.

I didn't know what I wanted to do.

I had two friends of mine show up at my house and told me I needed to sober up.

And, you know, I had just a little other direction.

And so that's pretty much what, you know, there's no profound, you know, motivation other, you know, other than this.

Found the moment.

But my dad, you know, we came from pretty poor background and stuff, and it.

Everybody I knew, it had done it.

It had put them on a greater path.

And so I was hoping they would do the same for me.

Yeah, you know, I came in as well.

Our story is real similar.

I came in before 9 11.

I came in in 94.

And I came in because I got married right out of high school and realized with marriage comes jobs and responsibilities and, and all I had was a wife.

I didn't have the jobs.

So I, I came in to support my family.

The ironic part is I, I myself did 10 years with the 1 60th.

So that is, it's kind of ironic.

You were the predecessor to the task force and then later became the 160th Regiment.

So.

Yeah, so it was kind of funny.

As a young friend of mine, you may know him if you were with 160th.

His name is John Ross.

John Paul Ross.

Okay.

Yeah, it was, you know, John.

Yeah, he was.

Yeah, he's from my hometown here.

And when me and his uncle grew up together and he was talking about it and he would see me and we, what we were doing here, we sported the first SF group.

Mostly that's when JRTC was still at Fort Jaffe and John was talking about it and he's.

And so we took him down one time and showed him what kind of what we were doing.

And that's how he went and made his career with the 160th.

I mean, he spent the majority of his career.

I think he retired the first sergeant out of the 160th.

And.

Yeah, yeah, he was.

When I left, I left in.

I'm pretty, I'm pretty sure he was still there when I left, actually.

When, when did he retire?

He probably 16 maybe.

Okay, 16 around there.

He's got a place here in Oklahoma City called Oklahoma Tactical, and so he just teaches tactical shooting to people.

Okay.

Yeah, I, I think when I left, he was actually like an E6 or an E7.

He wasn't a first time yet, so.

But yeah, it's small world.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

So you, you come in the.

What, you came in the, the Navy, and what did you decide to do in the Navy?

What was your, your core?

I was a corpsman.

Yeah, that's Corman.

I had opportunity when medicine was never in my wheelhouse.

I grew up farming ranching, you know, I could mechanicing, you know, different things.

And so we had the opportunity.

I was going to school in Lawton, Oklahoma, which is where Fort SEAL is, and they had a dust off unit there and they still had Hueys.

And of course, most everybody had transitioned on active duty, had transitioned to Blackhawks.

And so there was very, you know, very few November guys.

And so they said, hey, if you guys want to go and work with this dust off unit, you know, you can go fly with them.

And it was great because I was going to school.

Well, it wasn't so great for my college degree, but because I got.

But it was great for me because I was flying.

These guys were, you know, most of our, all of our warrant officers, they had all served in Vietnam same way with the group there with the Oklahoma, with the, that.

I mean, these guys could make a Huey just dance.

It was just amazing what they could do with them.

And so I got to flying with this dust off unit and that was my first time to ever be exposed to medicine.

And I liked, just intrigued me.

And we lost our designator.

You know, there is 95, 94, because I went 95 in the Navy.

So yeah, so 94, we lost our designator.

And so we went from having aircraft flying all the time to not, you know, we had delta model 47s.

And then all of a sudden we didn't have, you know, we're very.

Keeping anything alive to fly.

So it was, it was.

And I went in and, and I really, you know, being an army guy, I was like, medicine.

I said, hey, what about going to, you know, like an 18 delta or they had that program and they weren't taking any National Guard people.

And so that I went to the next door to the Navy recruiter and he's like, yeah, come on in.

You just got to go back to the boot camp stuff and you know, because you got to learn how to fight fires on the ship and all of that stuff.

And it was really pretty good for me because I, I was, I dried me out and that's what it did.

It was, it wasn't hard, it wasn't difficult other than the part that they told me I was going to Orlando and it was January and I said, well, that won't be too bad.

It'll.

It'll drive me out, you know, I'll be in the sun.

And I got the maps to go and they said, no, you're going to Chicago.

I'd never seen three foot.

I'd never seen three foot lake effect snow.

Yeah.

And that was some of the most miserable months of my life.

But yep, yeah, man, it was good for me.

I did some time up there in the.

When I owned my trucking company.

And it's crazy.

You can, you'll be on one side of that lake and then as you, as you're passing, I think it's i80.

As you're passing that lake, man, the weather will just change.

It's Completely different.

And so yeah, it, it is.

Chicago is definitely not Orlando.

That is for sure.

I look like that movie Cool Runnings about the Jamaican bobsled team where the first time they, I mean, I just like, what the hell is this?

Yeah.

Anyway, it was, it was a great thing.

Yeah.

So how long were you in the.

When did you get out of the Navy?

I got out in 99.

Out of the Navy.

I.

We had ended up having a bad day working for Uncle SAM and I'm 100 now Marines, you know, corpsman.

Do you know what corpsman do for marines?

And ended up costing me my lungs and a few other things.

There's a lot of bad stuff in a burning 46 and a boring cobra.

So.

Yeah, so yeah, so you know it.

So 28.

Been pretty much retired, you know, since I was 28.

And then when you got out, did you go directly into the medical field?

Well, I still, when I was in, I was, I had a, I had some really good mentors and the n. Unlike the army, where the army, the 68 whiskey guys, they are made to maintain.

You have to maintain your basic EMT skills and you have to take your national certifications and stuff.

The Navy doesn't do that.

You know, there's a lot of differences in training where the basic.

Same combat medic school, the same time frame.

Corman and 68 Whiskey.

Well, when a corpsman graduates, they're just a quad zero, basically.

I think they've changed the dot, the designators now.

But you're a basic corpsman where it.

When you get out, you're a combat medic.

Well, to be then, to be a combat medic in the Navy.

I'm using these terms across the board.

You become, you're an FMF corpsman or a greenside corpsman.

It's another eight week school called fuel med service school or now it's called fmtb.

They have one in Camp Lejeune.

They have one San Diego.

Basically it's Marine boot camp.

You have one usually E5, E6 Marine who thinks he's Gunny Hartman from Full Metal Jacket, you know, and then you've got some Corman who wants to be Gunny Hartman.

And so, you know, when we went through, they were still in these old open squad bays.

I think they've got new barracks now, but you know, they come through kicking the trash can down the hallway.

And, and for a lot of Navy guys, that's a rude awakening, right?

Oh, I bet.

And so you're out learning infantry tactics and you know, you're learning more combat skills, but you're also learning infantry tactics, so, so you can fit in.

And then there's, there's more training on past that.

But I had some really good mentors who said, man, if you could get these opportunities, every once in a while they would offer classes to go out and get your civilian certifications.

And I had a guy submit every class they offered.

Whatever it is, you take it.

He went on to become the, the Mar4land.

He was the command master chief for all the east coast, one of the senior command E9s in the Navy.

And he, but he was like, man, take these classes.

So I did, I, I kept taking anytime someone was offered.

Then I started working out on town, you know, doing volunteer work and stuff.

And so that kept it transferred over when I hit the ground.

I had had some skill sets and, and something, you know, not to make a lot of money, but when I got out, went back to school, I was able to work as a lab tech and do some other things and, and then went back to school and, and I stayed in medicine.

This is my 30th year in Madison.

Um, it's kind of bounced back.

I've, I've stayed in pre hospital medicine.

I got, it, went back, got a degree in microbiology, infectious diseases.

Then I did a bioterrorism and emerging infectious disease fellowship with the nih, focused on ag terrorism.

And then I went to work for Department of Homeland Security, the Center for Domestic Preparedness out of Aniston, Alabama.

And we traveled all over the world training people on how to respond to terrorist events.

And then I worked with the State Department's Anti Terrorism Assistance team, worked in the Philippines, Africa, Middle east, all while trying to get into PA school.

I did not get into PA school until I was 46.

Oh, wow.

So you had some big jobs, man, you know, that, that whole, you know, using disease and chemical warfare, that's not, that's not futuristic stuff.

That's, that's reality.

You know, if you're trying to take, take on a country that's bordered by two other countries that are, are all allies, North America is a big continent to try to hold ground on.

So it is, it is, it would make sense that that would be the, the form of attacking.

So yeah, you, you had big shoes, man.

Those are big roles to play, that's for sure.

And it all stems from the same thing is that I never said, you know, somebody looks at my resume and they're like, it kind of looks like you took paint and just, you know, what's that?

A Pollock painting?

It's just kind of thrown up there.

But I just took a class and you know, here I'm working on a project now, 30 years later, and I'm working with a guy that I serv with 30 years ago who's now an assistant fire chief at Disney.

And I'm working with another guy that I met 10 years ago or almost 20 years ago on another project who's an AFSOC, retired, you know, so, you know, in 10 years I'm working on another project that I met this.

It's so these different pieces, you know, all these different things that play together.

And somebody remembers I met somebody.

And you know, I tell people, take that class no matter what it is, because you won't remember what is in that class ten years from now.

I probably won't even remember the name.

But you know, I always say, go to the lunch with the people you're there with or go to dinner if it's a couple nights class.

And if you do that, get to know those people, build those relationships, build that community.

Because those where the jobs come from, that's where the next gig comes from.

That's, you know, that's where all the cool stuff comes from.

Because somebody will remember you're doing something and they'll call you and say, hey, Johnny, I got this.

You know, somebody called me one time and said, hey, do you have a passport?

And I was like, yeah.

And they said, hey, what are you doing for the next two weeks?

And I'm like, well, I'm off for the next two weeks because I work 30 days on using.

30 days off.

And they said, you want to go to Mexico?

And I said, to do what?

They said, well, we need somebody to go down and teach epidemiology and biostatistics at this medical school in Guadalajara.

And I was like, sure.

Next day I'm on a plane and.

And so you just never know.

And that turned into a 10 year gig.

Yeah, several times.

Several times a year I'd go down there and get good tequila and, and had a good time.

I bet.

I bet, man.

So, you know, it sounds like you've lived a, a life, man, that could probably fill about 50 books.

And, and you, you are now a PA. You said you did go to PA school.

I, I assume you're now a PA.

I am, yeah.

I would do pediatric emergency medicine.

Okay.

Man, it's like taking, it's like taking care of Marines again.

Except for the kids don't cry as much and they don't eat as many crayons, but the mentality is about the same.

Sounds about right, man.

Most of my friends are marines, so, you know, I either catch the butt of the jokes or, or they just become the butt.

One or the other.

So yeah, yeah, it's funny.

It's.

Kids are great.

I mean, they just really are.

You know, some days are bad.

You mean, it's like anything else, but it's, it's rewarding.

Yeah.

You know, it, it is one of those situations.

Right.

Where the medicine field is so broad and the benefit is, I think that's one of the branches that the military really does focus on and stays pretty close in technology wise with the civilian counterparts.

Unlike an army mechanic, we're working on stuff that's 30 years behind.

So when we get out, there's that huge gap between where we were at versus what the.

The civilian world is, is working with.

And, you know, having.

Talking to buddies of mine that were flight surgeons and, and flight medics and, and the schools that they got, man, it was, it was pretty impressive the stuff that they were doing.

You know, I wish more of the military was like that.

Yeah.

You know, a lot of what happened over the 20 years or 20 plus years in Afghanistan and st drove modern medicine.

It was, you know, a simple concept which I, I got to be, I got to watch.

I, I wasn't part of, but I got to see.

In 97, I got to go to a, a program that said, why teach tactical medicine to special operation commanders and whatnot.

And it was Captain Frank Butler.

And he was.

Captain Butler's a physician, Navy seal.

Amazing dude.

Amazing dude.

He's an optometer.

He's an eye doc.

And the first time I met him, he was.

I was getting my glasses and I'm like, here's this SEAL doing my eyes.

I'm like, this is kind of weird.

But he was really cool guy and he invited me to go to that class and that became tccc.

He was talking about tourniquets and how tourniquets save lives and whatnot.

And we've been teaching that for years now.

And it's been cool to see the transformation from there to cup.

About a year ago, I've got this one resident I work with.

It was his first Day.

First day as a resident was a year ago.

He comes in, this gunshot wound comes in, and this kid in the arm.

And, you know, we've got two tourniquets on, trying to get it done.

And we're holding.

And I grab him, and I don't know where the.

We're waiting on the surgeon, and I.

This other dude standing there, and I'm like, I grab him and I stick his thumb in there and.

And then they say, what?

I said, hold this.

I said, I gotta go call that damn surgeon.

I don't know where he's at.

And he goes, damn surgeon standing right here.

And I'm like, oh, sir, It was a new.

It was a new fellow pediatric fellow.

But he just.

He didn't.

He was cool enough that he's like, you got.

He said, you guys knew what you're doing.

Look like you had a.

And.

But where it was, we couldn't use.

We had.

Couldn't get a tourniquet on, stop the bleeding.

So we ended up walking with this kid down to the or.

But, you know, it's pretty cool to see these concepts and, and as they've come across.

You know, like I said, I wasn't part of the.

Any of the training, but I just got to watch it from a distance, and it's been pretty neat to see.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think.

I do think there's just so much on the.

On the.

The.

The front side of medical, and.

And now with AI, it's bringing technology to a lot of different fields.

So it'll be interesting to see how the military, you know, goes up through the years and, and how much it does change.

Let me ask you, when.

When you.

When you decided you're going to start writing books, right?

What was.

What was.

What made that decision process happen?

Well, I was at PA school, and as a Tillman Scholar, I got introduced to TJ Brannan.

TJ is the editor, kind of founder of the Warhorse Journal.

Are you familiar with that?

I am not.

If you're not, you should be.

It's called the Warhorse Journal.

It's a online journal.

TJ's the one who, you remember, the Marines United, the big deal where they had the females.

They were posting all the nude pictures and stuff.

You know, it was a big Marine.

TJ, he was a 18 Marine.

He fought in Fallujah.

He's the one that kind of broke that story.

Okay.

He said there's still friends of his, won't talk to him about it, but, you know, it saved lives.

And if you hear the actual story that happened.

You know, somebody was stalking somebody there on Camp Lejeune.

And he was watching it, you know, and he pushed it until, you know, it was a, it was a.

It's a really bad.

You actually hear his side of the story and what happened.

You're like, man, this is.

It's a really messed up deal.

And so anyway, I got to meet TJ and one of our other scholars, she was on the board and they were having a lot of.

Of fellow or scholars writing articles for that.

But it was predominantly all post 9 11.

And I had wrote a story called Haven't Seen the Last these Marines I've Been Riding.

And I sent it in and it was the first.

They were like, we, we do post 9 11.

And my article was the first article that was pre 911 and broke the mold or whatever and let them start writing.

Now they've got it's veterans across the spectrum.

But TJ opened the door for me and let me write my first story and talking about, you know, writing.

Got to go to Washington D.C. the Washington Post.

And so I ended up.

I've wrote several more stories for them.

So I got into writing.

Never, you know, non scientific writing.

Yeah.

And so I started my fellowship, emergency medicine fellowship.

The pandemic started, right?

Yep.

And so what a hell of a time to start.

And so one of the things that I've.

My dad was a Vietnam vet and he had died of Agent orange cancer at 55.

But he had taken me.

We lost 14 guys before.

Four days before my 25th birthday.

And at some point afterwards, he took me to a meeting with him and said, don't wait 30 years to talk about stuff, you know, and.

And that was kind of what I was talking about, that burning helicopter and all that stuff.

And anyway, so I've stayed plugged into programs and.

And it's kind of my passion right now is to help healthcare workers and stuff.

But anyway, my counselors and stuff and anybody talk to you about writing stuff and you know you need a journal and whatnot.

Yeah, well, man, you know as well as I do, I don't need to.

Writing the bad stuff doesn't do me any good.

Yeah, I've written some of the bad stuff and I've written Like when I wrote my article, my first one, you haven't seen the last of these Marines.

If you get a chance, you can read about it.

But you know, when that my, you know, my 25th birthday was, a memorial service for these Marines and corpsman and fellows, one of our staff sergeants from the armies, you know, General Wilhelm was talking about, you know, you haven't seen the last these Marines when you need a most, when you're wore out, you're tired, you know, all of this stuff, you're going to look around and these guys are going to be there.

Well, it was the last of my didactic training in PA school and I was just wore out.

And I had one test left.

I had my emergency medicine test.

Well, that was pretty much the most important test for me to wanted to go do emergency medicine fellowship.

And it was the next day I come home, five o', clock, I've been studying.

I was like, screw it, I'm done.

I've had enough.

I'm over it, right?

What happens, happens.

And so I walked down about, about eighth of a mile down to our mailbox, me and the dog.

I came back up and I don't know why I really.

It was a God thing because it was going through all the letters, you know, vote for me and you know, other schools asking for money.

And it was the Marine Corps scholarship.

I still have it hanging up over here somewhere on my wall.

And it was, it said, Dear Mr. Kilpin, you know, and it said, we want to thank you and tell you that Nancy west donated a very significant sum of money in your name.

And man, I just lost my.

And I'm on the floor, a grown man lying on the.

Sitting on the floor, tears rolling down my eyes, dog, you know, licking licked off my face.

And when I write about it, you know, you talk about, well, most guys will think, well, what's the big deal about this letter, this Nancy West?

Well, one of the guys that was killed that day, his is a truly good friend of mine.

His name was Eric, or Eric Kirkland called him Kirk.

We'd been sitting in the galley talking about what we were going to do for my birthday.

And we flew off the ship before him and he was on this aircraft and he was killed that night.

And so in my mind, here was this letter from his mother.

Nancy west was his mother.

And in my.

To me here, they always said when you needed the most, here I got this letter and it says Nancy West.

And I'm like, this is Kirk talking to me, right?

Yeah.

And so I went back and I studied till 9am or 9 or 12pm and I got up at 6am, went to school.

My test was at 9am it was the best grade I made in PA school.

That's awesome.

So.

So I wrote that story.

And so getting back to the book.

Sorry about.

I rambled, but that's okay.

But getting back to writing.

Nobody want writing that.

So I sat down and I started writing the good stuff about what happens.

You know, there's a lot of dumb things that happens in the military.

People do dumb.

And it makes you laugh.

There's a lot of good memories.

And so I just started writing in.

Of course, if you've seen the book and seen the cartoons.

One of my other buddies, he was a corpsman, he originally drew these.

He's an amazing cartoonist.

And he started drawing these cartoons back when we were at Camp Lejeune 30 years ago.

And.

So I just took the cartoons and started drawing and using the cartoon to stories.

And you know, there's a deal about sea stories.

And the difference between a C store and a fairy tale is once upon a time is what a fairy tale starts off as.

And in a C story starts out well, there I was.

And so that's how I started writing.

So I just started writing good things.

So I come home from work, you know, you can't come home.

Tell your wife about somebody died at 7am this morning.

You had to go out and tell their parents, kids that their dad died at 7am this morning.

And because you couldn't, they couldn't come into the hospital.

So they're out in the parking lot and then you go out and then at 4:30 in the afternoon, you have to go back out and tell them that their mom died.

You know, so.

So that became my outlet.

It just became an outlet for me just to start writing and typing and.

And.

And so it.

I wrote the first story and the characters in the book, I changed the names to protect the guilty.

The main character in the book, his name is Stanley.

It's based off a one, an actual person.

And it was kind of funny when the individual, his wife read the book.

She was like.

I asked him, I said, well, what's your wife think about it?

And she comes out and says, please tell me you're not Stanley.

Like she knew immediately who it was about.

And then I had another one of our friends call me and tell me.

She goes, I'm not happy with you.

Basically, you know, you know, summarizing our conversation, she was not happy with me because, you know, I'm like, why are you not happy?

She goes, I read the book and.

And she goes, I know that Sergeant Hart is, is Mark her husband?

And I said, yeah, that's correct.

And you know that.

And his wife, that's me.

I'm like, yes, that's correct.

They're based off of you two.

And she goes, I was there for those stories.

And I'm like, well, yeah, you were.

I said, did I get them wrong?

She goes, no, you didn't get them wrong.

I said, so what's the problem?

She goes, well, the name you gave me in the book.

And I'm like, I don't get it.

What's the problem?

And for anybody whose name is Tiffany out there, I apologize.

But she goes, you gave me a stripper's name?

I'm like, what?

She goes, she goes, you know that Tiffany is a stripper's name in Camposview, North Carolina.

And I was like, well, yeah, maybe so.

And so I, yeah, so.

But the writing, I wrote it for me, I'll be honest.

I originally wrote it for me and.

But when I sent it, so one of my.

He was my squad leader who became the Sergeant Major for 2nd Marine Division and he wrote a section, he wrote a blurb for the book.

I sent it to him and he wrote it back about what it was like.

And, and then another guy who was the command I talked about, who's the command?

He was a command mat him and the other guy was, he was the command master chief senior Navy enlisted and at the same time that he went on to be the command master chief for mar.

For land.

And there's other people that you high ranking people and enlisted and officers who read the book that wrote great, you know, affirmations about the book.

But I sent it to my battalion commander or not, but tank commander, my battalion surgeon that I'd served with at that time.

And what he wrote back.

And it, he sent me back this very great email.

He didn't say one word about the book.

Really.

What he wrote about was how he remembered his time in the military time with us and training.

You know, he went on, he's a physician, he works at Mayo Clinic, he trains with residents all.

And it just this.

How the book made him remember that and then also made him remember the corpsman with Brent, the, the corpsman that we lost and how that Brent had given him this Cuban cigar a couple days before he Got killed and how Doc still had this cigar, you know, it's been almost 30 years, you know.

Yeah.

And this.

He still has this cigar at his hunting cabin on the mantle over his.

So then I.

It made me realize, hey, this book has done more.

And, you know, when I put it out there, of course there's a couple people.

If you look on the Amazon, there's a couple people who didn't like it.

But most people.

I had people coming up and say.

One guy said, yeah, my kids have read the book and now they can understand the language, the jabber coming out of my mouth.

I had another guy that I knew who was a Vietnam vet.

He reached out to me, he said, after reading it, he said it, first time in 50 years he felt like he could talk about his military service.

Interesting.

I. I had another guy who had served at Quezon and way with the 5th Marines as a corpsman in Vietnam, reach out to me, had me come speak in Kansas City.

It.

That's what it was interesting for me because I wrote about.

Not about battles I didn't write, you know, or the dying and the dead.

You know, we lost multiple people with different things.

You know, I.

My experience wasn't combat.

My experience was all training and, and peacekeeping and that kind of stuff, but I wrote about the good stuff.

Yeah, I think, I think people forget that, you know, the last 20 years wasn't all bad.

And, And I think that's one problem that the civilians don't understand is, is all these stories that they hear are made up over time because they're, there's.

There's the small portions of what.

All we did while we were over there, you know, most of the time was trying to figure out what we're going to do to eat up time and, and not be focused on.

On our families at home and everything else.

So coming up with dumb games, playing dumb jokes, or, you know, making camel spiders and scorpions fight with each other and whatever to, to just, you know, kill time.

And the stuff, the stories that they, they see and they hear of the, the negative stuff are, is just glimpses of what really happened.

I think a lot of people forget about the camaraderie that's built from, you know, two people on guard duty for 12 hours at a time or whatever.

You know, it is.

It's good that there's people out there that are writing about the good stuff that happened with military veterans as well.

Yeah.

You know, I watched.

When I watched Generation Kill and I read the book Generation Kill, I watched that and I Laughed and la.

I was watching me and a couple other guys and we just laughed our asses off at, you know, and everybody's like, why are you laughing?

Because most of that.

Most of that show was about the stupid that Marines.

And.

And I was like, this is real.

This is realistic.

This is what Marines do.

You know, don't eat the charms.

God, you know, that's bad luck.

Don't eat the charms.

You know, that, you know, so it was.

Is realistic.

And.

And, you know, and I think that's one of the things that if you.

There's a really good.

Sebastian Younger, you know, he was with the 173rd and he was a photojournalist and he wrote a couple of different books.

But one of the books he wrote was Tribe.

And of course he says, you know, he came back home after a year with these guys embedded with them, and, you know, he had a hard time coming back and fitting in and whatnot.

But he was talking about, you know, he wrote writes where he goes back to like Ben Franklin.

You know, most people think of Ben Franklin as this old guy with getting struck by lightning in a kite and a key.

Yeah.

But he was a really badass during the French and Indian wars and stuff.

But he talked about how if people, women and kids, got taken by the Indians and they didn't get them back in the first little bit, he said they would run.

He said they would get them back, you know, six months later, whatever, then they would run back, they would want to be back with the Indians.

They gave them this tribal mentality, you know, And I think that's were.

I don't think people crave combat.

I don't think, you know, people crave that.

They crave.

They crave to walk among giants.

That's the way I talk about it.

We had a tornado here.

I'm on a disaster response team.

And this town, it's a community that I've worked in many years, and it just decimated this town.

And I mean, you walk through it and it's just.

It's just heartbreaking.

And I feel really.

I found myself, after about four days, I found myself in the shower just crushed.

But I wasn't crushed because of what happened.

I found myself crushed because those had been some of the four best days of my life in a very long time.

Because I was alive, I had.

And not because I was doing anything other than I was walking among giants.

And I think those of you, whether you served in combat or didn't serve in combat in the military, if you Ever get to walk among giants?

You crave to walk among giants for the rest of your life.

And that when I was there with these guys, everybody had a purpose.

They had a mission.

Their mission was to protect that community, to help people.

Everybody had one goal in mind.

And I, I was walking among giants again, and it was freaking amazing.

I felt alive and I felt really bad because to do that, all this damage had to happen.

Yeah, I think, I think you're right.

You know, we.

Everybody says that, that they would go back over again, but I don't think it's about the fighting or the combat.

It's.

It's about the simplicity.

You know, you are in a group that legitimately cares about you.

It's a brotherhood, you know, and, and people would lay down their lives for you.

And that, that bond and that closeness, I think, brings people to the point where, where they realize how different it is when you're in the States and then you take away all the outside noise, there's no, you know, worrying about the bills.

There's no worrying about, you know, is the car running, kid going to daycare.

I mean, all of that, that stuff is gone.

It's.

It's broken down to literally get up, do your job, stay alive, wash, rinse, repeat.

And, you know, that's combat.

I, I think that's, like you said, that's what.

One of the things that people miss and, and the fact that we're doing something and we're part of something that's so much bigger than, than us, you know, any one individual.

Again, you were talking about Pat Tillman, you know, what out there.

How many things out there could make somebody give up millions of dollars to put on a uniform and, and fight for their country?

You know, there's not a lot of things that could happen out there that, that would cause something like that.

And.

But yet it did over and over again.

It wasn't just him, you know, So I do think, like you said, those are the giants, that, that, you know, people want to walk around, walk with.

And B.

So I think that makes, that makes perfect sense when, when you start, when you write, right, you write in such a different style than what I did.

So it's really tough.

The way I do it, It's, It's.

I struggle, you know, especially with, like, the editing process and everything with the way you write.

Do you have any spots where you get to and you're like, man, I'm struggling to, to keep the FL or keep this moving.

You have those same, oh, yeah, every time and, you know, I stop and, you know, there's a deal on my wall here.

It says, it's Ernest Hemingway.

It says, sometimes when I start a new story and I could not get going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze a pill of oranges in the edge of the flame and sputter.

Do not worry.

You have always written before and you will always write now.

Says all you have to do is write one true sentence.

Write the truest sentence that you know.

And so, you know, I was taught that.

And so I kind of, you know, Hemingway is kind of one of my.

I mean, to me, he is.

I mean, he lived the life.

I mean, he was a real deal.

He's a combat.

You know, that he did.

I mean, there's a lot of more and more I read about him, you know, but just sit down and write, you know, and write that.

When I get stuck, I write that one true sentence.

And then, you know, of course I. I wish I could write drunk and edit sober.

As he says.

Don'T we all?

Yeah, but that probably wouldn't go over very well.

But when I write, you know, I'm writing different things.

I've been working last.

The last two years, I've been working on these workbooks.

So it's a little different now.

I'm getting back to writing another book again.

So it's.

I just write.

I mean, I just write what's on the paper.

I just write.

I sit down and write.

I've got another good friend of mine.

He's a Tillman scholar, former Navy corpsman.

His name is Terry Weaver.

And.

And he's like, just write, you know.

And I had another friend of mine who is a.

He's a.

He was a preacher friend of mine, and he writes, and he's a book editor and publisher for a lot of books.

And he said, just get the.

On the paper.

He said, just get the on the paper.

That's what he told me.

He said, you got to get that shitty draft done and doesn't matter.

Just write, you know, and just type and don't make whether makes any sense at all and just write and then go back and edit.

Just, you know, you can figure that out.

And so.

And that's hard to do.

It is.

My.

My wife has got eagle eyes.

We're hoping to help grow it as time goes by.

But it.

So it's a, it's, it's a platform is what it is.

Yeah.

And, you know, just getting stuff out there, writings can be difficult, you know, but I just sit down and do it when I'm ready.

Yeah.

You know, you said something that, that so many young writers should, should take into account when I, the first book I wrote.

And, and one of the things that made it so hard was I was trying to write and edit and, and that is the, the wrong method to do it.

You know, when, when the ideas are flowing and the things are coming to you, you should just be writing and not, and like you said, not worrying about the flow and the context.

And when you go back and edit, then you can worry about word choices and how to join topics together and so forth.

But I just struggled with that first book because I was doing it backwards.

I was trying to do it all in one and become that perfectionist.

And everything has to be right and everything has to be perfect.

And a lot of people, I think most veterans with their first few books, that that's what comes out there.

They don't want to let go of it yet because they still think that there's things that need to be fixed or things that need to be changed and, and like you said, just put it on the paper, you know, get it out there.

And, and some people read.

Sometimes I read something the other day as some been reading the 5am Club and it says sometimes done is better than perfect.

And, you know, so that's getting it out there.

And then the other thing about writing is reading.

I still read all the time and, or sometimes I listen to audiobooks about the genres I like to read.

You know, it's kind of crazy.

I don't know if.

Did you read my book?

Did you buy it and read it?

I have not.

Not yet.

Okay.

When you read it, you're going to find that my style of writing for my book is different than my stuff on the Word is more like a Jimmy Buffett style of writing.

Okay.

And so everybody talks about Jimmy, but.

And of course, I spent 85 days in the Keys this last summer.

We're going back for 120 starting in May.

But I, I, you know, I grew up and, you know, I knew who Jimmy Buffett was.

I knew who Margarita wasted away in Margaritaville, of course, and come Monday.

But I really didn't know who Jimmy Buffett was, I didn't, I didn't know this whole Parrot Head lifestyle.

Yeah.

And there was a little bit of that part of me that caused me to join the Navy too.

I.

Somebody gave me a book called Tales from Margaritaville.

Factual fiction and fictional fact.

And it was his first novel that he wrote.

And it.

There was a guy in there, cowboy by the name of Tuli Mars from Heartbreak, Wyoming, who left with his horse, Mr.

Twain and found his way down to the, to the Caribbean and to the ocean and anyways, a book of short stories.

That is how I found Jimmy Buffett.

And then when I was deployed I read his other next book was Where's Joe Merchant?

Which is about Frank Bama, which is the character he played.

If you saw him on Hawaii Five zero.

He played a character called Frank Bama.

You know, so.

Yeah, yeah.

So that character's from the books.

Where's Joe Marchant?

Okay.

And so had that book.

And then his next book was called Salty Piece of Land, which was a carryover.

It was a full novel dedicated to Tuli Mars.

But his style of writing, of course if you love his music, you'll love his writing.

But the, it's, he's just, he was the first.

He's one of three people to ever have a number one New York bestseller on fiction and non fiction at the same time.

And one of those three people in that group is Hemingway and Twain and him.

So he had, at the same time he had a number one best fiction.

He's got his book Pirate Looks at 50.

It talks about his life at 50 years old and different things.

And so anyway, that's how I got to know who Jimmy Buffett was.

Not because of his.

I then I found his music.

I found his writing, then I found his music.

Music.

And so riding different than most people.

It is.

Yeah.

And so now I've been living.

I, you know, I tell people Gilpin is found somewhere between Buffett and Hemingway in the book.

Book style.

So.

But writing, writing is probably the most cathartic.

It's, it's.

I tell veterans riding, you write for yourself.

Yep.

You know, understand the audience that you're writing for.

What are you trying to do?

What do you, you know, when you sit down to write, you know, are you, are you writing for you?

Are you writing to make a million dollars?

What is you're trying to do that way you're not disappointed.

You know, if you're just writing to you and whatever happens after, that's great.

But if you're just trying to write and get your story down, you know, and then anything that happens after that is great.

You know, my book has become a calling card.

It was a, you know, a number one bestseller for medical fiction and number one doctors and medical humor, which is great now.

It's a great calling card.

It's a great conversational starting.

But just write, you know, when you write whatever you want to write, you know, if you want to write the.

Write about, you know, the stuff that's giving you, you know, keeps coming back up, great.

If you want to write about your lifestyle, whatever, whatever you want to write about, write about it.

You know, there's a lot of cool out there to write about.

Yeah.

People get wrapped up in thinking that if they write something, they have to share it.

And you know, I agree with you 100 that the writing is, is good in multiple ways.

You know, when I wrote my first book, it was about my issues going through the military and my life.

And it was literally wrote as a document to my family.

I wanted to explain to them the things that I went through without having to have a conversation about it.

And it wasn't even a book.

My daughter convinced me to publish it.

But, you know, you don't have to plan on sharing it.

The thing about it, the good part, especially if you, is the fact that you can write and look at from a third person standpoint and it will allow you to see why you made some of the decisions and realize that the things that are going on in your head aren't fact.

Right.

You're not a piece of crap, you're not a dirt bag.

You made decisions the best you could based off of the situation that you were in.

And a lot of people forget about that.

So there's a lot of good things that writing does for people.

And the other thing you were talking about too, with the editing process and thinking that it has to be perfect.

I personally, in today's world, I like to see things that have a little bit of a mistake here, there or something.

Right.

Because in the world of AI, I like to know that the person that wrote it was a human.

And, and you're not going to have those little mistakes that you have from a human that AI writes.

And that's where the authenticity comes from.

That's the, you know, stamp of approval, the.

Yep, it's, it's legit type calling card as, as you said.

So those are, those are the things that I, I like when, when I'm looking for books as well.

And it's just because of the unsurity of what's out there anymore.

But, yeah, I. I agree with you 100%.

I'm gonna move.

I know we're getting to the top of the hour, but I want to move into our.

Our next segment.

And.

And this first question is, is I'm really looking forward to seeing what you say.

If.

If you could pick one person, alive or dead, to have dinner and a conversation with, who would you pick?

Teddy Roosevelt.

Really?

I did not see that coming.

He's.

To me.

To me, you know, it would be between him and Hemingway, but I think Teddy Roosevelt, to me was a.

He's.

He's.

I have on my wall.

The man in the arena is hanging here in my wall, talking about, you know, the.

You know, the man and, you know, the arena in the dirt.

That's.

That's one of my big things.

But the other thing that drives me and gets me in a lot of trouble is he had a saying that said, if somebody asks you to do something, you tell them, yes, sir.

And then you get to figuring out how to do it.

That's how I've lived my life.

I've read a lot about Teddy Roosevelt.

I loved his conservationist aspect, his hunting aspect.

You know, if you read about him, he was a very sickly kid, and he.

He used.

He.

He made his own gym and, you know, made him who he was.

I don't know.

He just.

He wasn't.

You know, he was a individual who.

Whether you were in a ballroom or, you know, whatnot, it was great.

And then I was reading in a book, I think it's Tyrannosaurus rex is as the name, or Theodore Rex.

I think it's Theodore Rex.

And it talks about one time one of the Rough Riders came to the White House, and they weren't going to let him in, and.

And he told the guy, he said, well, shoot him next time.

You know, told the Rough Rider, just go ahead and shoot him next time and come on in.

You know how he was loyal to his Rough Riders years later down.

You know, and here's a guy who got shot.

You know, that's why, you know, even before the whole Trump thing, you know, take Trump out of it.

But here's a guy who got shot giving a speech, and he got up and still gave his speech.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I did an article for a.

A veteran magazine about the differences in leadership style between presidents that served in the military and the ones that didn't.

Right.

And I think Teddy Roosevelt would have been the oddball out there.

You know, most of the Presidents that did not serve in the military, they cared more about the business and, and finance of the United States.

You know, bringing in money, paying off debt and, and expanding territory and, and building an empire.

And the ones that served were more focused on giving the people a better life and taking care of the people that are serving the military and so forth.

And Teddy Roosevelt was the exact opposite from most of them that did not serve.

He was a person for the people.

He made a lot of revolutionary changes to the way the manufacturing process was done.

I mean, and you know, he had people sitting in court that, that you would never think would see the day of court, you know.

So, yeah, he is a very interesting man.

I did not see that coming from your pick, but yeah, I, that would be a really good conversation while you.

Eddie liked to drink.

Yes, he did.

He did, yep.

He definitely did like his whiskey.

So if you guys are at dinner, right, what are you guys having?

What is the go to meal that you guys are going to have during this conversation?

An elk steak.

Oh wow.

Baked potato.

And we're gonna have rum because he talked about, he had, he had good rum when he was in Cuba.

Okay.

And I'm a sailor, I like rum.

Yep, absolutely, man.

Well, Johnny, I'm give you the opportunity to tell everybody where they can find your books and, and where they can follow you and, and all that good stuff.

Yeah, you can reach out to me@johnnygilpin.com that's J O-N N I E G I L P E N.com and you could just put my first name in there, Johnny Joh n I e at and then the johnnygopen.com reach out to us.

Websites getting rebuilt, but it should be up and going pretty soon.

All right.

Yeah, I think everybody out there, you know, now you're, you're getting a taste that, that there's more out there to choose from than just, you know, the word veteran and mental health.

Those two things don't have to go together.

You know, mental health is not just a veteran problem, it's a human problem.

And you know, not everything that they did in the military has always been combat or war.

And you know, the people it served are people.

And the stories that, that we do are a little bit on the extreme.

So you know, a book like Johnny writes is, is going to be a good alternative to all the negative and, and trauma fed rhetoric that's out there.

So I want everybody to go out there, make sure you, you follow him and, and pick up a book and you know, I guarantee you.

You will not.

You will not regret it.

So I hope all of y' all have a great day.

Don't forget, don't let the day kick your ass.

Kick the day's ass.