HOUSE ARREST ep 30 - JAMES TOPP ”THE TOPPINATOR”
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 37 minutes
Words per Minute
186.41786
Summary
James Toppenator has been a member of the Canadian Forces for over 20 years. He is a veteran of the First World War and has been with the First Battalion, First Regiment, First Company, First Battalion Regimental Combat Team for the past 15 years. James is also a World War II veteran who served in the First Canadian Expeditionary Forces. James has been in the military for over 30 years and is a dedicated service member.
Transcript
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If you're carrying a flag, conduct yourselves accordingly.
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What that flag is about, what Terry Fox was about,
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is about determination, dedication, and perseverance.
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Why we're doing what we're doing is to rise, to stand tall,
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including all my brothers and sisters in uniform.
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and the time to overcome our differences is now.
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I just got to change the screen, change this backdrop here a little bit.
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I mean, I had maintained a certain level of fitness, but when I decided to jump into this
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thing, it was a couple of weeks of preparation while I was running around, not really working
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Started doing the business in them coming out of Vancouver.
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Back in February 20th, it went really fast, really, really hard, and my feet kind of got
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So I think what happened was that I caused some complications with swelling.
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So basically, they swole up, went back to normal, swole up again.
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My red ankle's a little bit bigger than another one now, but it's all good.
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Well, my world record, my all-time ruck record, I think might be 30 or 31 kilometers, so pathetic
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When I first saw that you were doing this, I remarked to Morgan earlier that everything
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that we've done and everything that's happened since, you've just been walking this entire
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Well, we changed over, so I'm hoping that most of your folks are going to know the lingo,
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but we changed over from fall, winter marching order to spring, summer marching order.
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When we were moving through the mountains, because I wanted all the guys to have a sleeping
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bag, shelter, socks, toques, gloves, windproof clothing, all that crap, and so it was a bit
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heavier actually going through the mountains, which was kind of slowing us down.
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You are aware that cars break down trying to travel through those roads.
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Well, well, we did, we did, there was a section where we, I don't know if you've ever been
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out this way, and if you haven't, I mean, damn, come on out here, because driving through
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There was one section between a place called Manning Park and on Highway 3, Crow's Nest
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Highway, and a town called Princeton, BC, where it was just, it was too treacherous.
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Like, you would have thought you were back overseas again.
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And with snow on the shoulders, there was just no way, so we had to cut that section out.
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I was talking about you on the last episode of the yesterday, Wednesday evening, I've
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decided, I've been calling you the Topinator now, because this is a very, I was a great,
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I love those films, and this is, if anyone's a human Terminator, it's you.
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I mean, you'd have to leave it to the infantry in CO to just go, I'm just gonna, I'm just
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I'm just gonna put a rucksack on and march until it's all, so it's destroyed.
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Um, I just, I'm not sure if you're familiar with my particular story, so I'll fill you
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Like, I had been in the armed forces since 1990.
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And, you know, I transitioned to the reserves in 2019.
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And when doing so, that enabled me to get a position, um, as a civilian with RCMP working
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So, uh, as of March, 2021, I was a reservist at a unit in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
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And I'm now, I have my civilian job working for the RCMP as a range manager.
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And, uh, this is an indoor range that the RCMP uses to run all of their, uh, RCMP members
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So, they're called their annual firearms qualification.
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So, it was the most amazing job, like, I know, if you've ever watched The Simpsons.
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Well, there's an episode when Homer puts his job at the power plant to go work at the polling
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I'll refrain from making any RCMP comments today.
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Even when I was, even when I was changing urinal pucks.
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I mean, you know, to go from full-time army crop to doing something like that, you know,
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And just, you know, because you got, you got to, uh, um, do a little bit of shooting,
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take care of cop guns and stuff, work with some really switched on firearms instructors.
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Uh, I learned a ton of stuff from, so anyway, really awesome job.
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Uh, man, you know, come, then now we have the announcement of the mandates in August for
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And then come November, they're like, well, um, you know, I have an objection to this, uh,
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And, uh, I, I'm, you know, I'm not going to, I'm not going to play ball.
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So that was the first soccer punch right there.
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A couple of weeks later, um, I get, uh, I get told by the chain of command of my reserve
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unit that I'm going to be released now on, uh, item five, but we're not following chief
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I have a feeling that's not going to go over too well with a lot of people here in the near
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Well, I don't, the thing is, I don't think that a lot of people realize what is actually
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going on and what getting released on an item five F it means.
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Um, you know, it wasn't because, uh, I was a total, uh, you know, excuse my language here.
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Um, but I did, I did, uh, you know, I did, I got in a bit of trouble back in the day.
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I after, you know, keeping my nose clean and doing the business to the breadth of my abilities
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for, you know, 20 or so years to have, to have me, I'm getting released on a five
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And then, you know, having those two things happen.
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Uh, so, and I think I have to say, like, one of the things that kind of kept me hanging
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on was to see in like shows like yours, you know, at least there was other dudes out there
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that kind of had the same idea that was like, okay, all this, all this stuff is messed up.
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Uh, I can't tell you how much, I mean, that's, that's the, that was, that was the beginning.
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I, the reason why I started doing this in the first place is because there's a lot of
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us that, uh, you kind of lose your way, especially when you get out of the military.
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But like, for me, I don't imagine it's much different for you.
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I know you've mentioned it in some of your videos that, uh, you kind of, it starts kind
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of a psychological spiral every time you see something like, um, you know, somebody's
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rights being stripped away or, or something, you know, anything like this that the government's
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And then you can't help but think like, uh, you know, the guys we left overseas and
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all the things people had to do and go through.
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And it's like, you don't, you don't get to make these decisions.
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So, and, uh, you know, we, uh, I was, I don't know if you followed that when I, when
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I was in Ottawa, I was, I was there with the, you know, air quote protesters or, well, they
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They're all wearing their medals and CBC neglect.
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They called them protesters and said that we attacked the memorial.
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Uh, you know, I was like, how dare you even think that this belongs to you, that you even
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get to make this decision that you get to preclude, uh, you know, me and these guys and the
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rest of the country from visiting, uh, you know, our national war memorial for, you know, it's
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So to go back to your original question, seeing that happen, um, but also I just, I'll
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just back up a little bit after I was placed on leave without pay, like I am getting a
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I have, I have a home and hope, which is, uh, you know, like that.
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So I got my mortgage being paid for, but that said, like, I still need other income.
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So I, I got a job as a tow truck driver and I just started to realize, and I'm sure you're
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And, you know, we spent our lives in the warm embrace of, uh, the, the government given
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our paychecks and, and, you know, health care, health benefits and all the other stuff.
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And to see what, uh, you know, folks in the, in the public have to do, um, to make a living
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I was kind of, I was kind of shocked to be honest.
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And, um, I just realized that they're the ones paying, they were, they were the ones paying
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us for our, our, our careers and everything we did.
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I mean, we got to, we got, uh, put our lives on a line, but I don't know, I thought we
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It wasn't bad, but I know, I know what you mean.
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I know you feel like I see these people being, uh, a bunch of people assemble.
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Well, like, I feel like a lot of the people in the country are hurting and suffering and
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Like you said, like, it's our job to defend these people.
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That's what we asked to do is what we wanted to do.
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And now, like, as you said, and I agree, this is a national crisis of the country's coming
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Who do, who is, who is expected to, uh, you know, step up and say something.
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And it's like, you know, people are doing what they're doing, but I mean, at the end of the
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day, the, the veterans, I mean, guys, uh, you know, I tell all of them that there's
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a lot, especially the ones that are at home deployed to Ford operating based living room
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couch and, you know, working on the bottom of a, of a whiskey bottle or something.
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Like, uh, the country needs you and can really use your, your voice and your, uh, your, your
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credibility and your support and your leadership.
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And, um, to see what you're doing is, uh, my, I, I remember when I first saw that somebody
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sent this to me right before I started whatever episode that was.
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And I was, I watched it and I was like, is this man insane?
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Um, I mean, I'm not, but that's the point of it, right?
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Like it's inspire, it's, it's inspire those guys.
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Like I'm, I'm, I'm still, I'm still, uh, I'm, I still haven't been released yet because,
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um, the file is still sitting in Ottawa and also, uh, probably I'm going to be getting
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court-martialed for, um, um, because I made that announcement in full uniform at a rally.
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I don't know if all your folks have seen that one, but I've played it for, I'm going to play
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it again when we're towards the end here after you're, after you're done, I'm going
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to play that on the way out, uh, cause cause it's a little bit longer and I wanted to get
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And that's another, another huge, uh, um, you know, brick to your credibility wall is
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that, you know, people say and do things all the time, but not, not often at their own
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I like to tell a story all the time about, uh, a war officer I had when I did basic and
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And they do the obstacle crossing section with the razor wire and he demonstrated on his own
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body, how, you know, a man, he lays across the razor wire and the whole platoon
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walked across his back and he just got up and was like, that was it.
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And go off to your next, I caught up with him years later.
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He's like, dude, I needed like 20 stitches, you know, but I respected him for the rest
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of my life for that because I knew this guy will literally bleed just to help me.
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So to see what you're doing and putting yourself on the line like that.
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And, um, I mean, of course, yeah, they're going to court martial, they're going to do
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all the things they're going to do, but that's because, you know, it's, it's, you know,
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And there's so many other people in the CF that I'm sure are aware of what you're
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Um, that's gotta be giving them something to think about, or at least I hope so.
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I mean, this is, uh, nothing, what I see happening within the, with the CAF and with,
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uh, you know, within the RCMP to, uh, to the same extent as a civilian employee, it was
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just, you know, this, this, uh, unquestioning, you know, unquestioning adherence to this policy
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Well, that, that's how I was always brought up or trained is like, that's not what we do.
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That's where, you know, in the Canadian army, you don't just, you don't just do something
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You know, we're supposed to know what we're doing and have a clear understanding of what the
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And if it's ethical and morally correct, like we don't, uh, we don't do unethical and moral
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things in the, in the Canadian forces, or at least when I, when I was, uh, when I was
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trained anyway, apparently things have changed dramatically since then.
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Well, I think, I think what's happened is that, um, we've just, we've just had this new belief
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And, and it's that belief system is, uh, the foundation is, is health and, and you
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need to be afraid of everything in order to maintain your health.
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This is, this is the same army, by the way, of people listening that, that wouldn't, that
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refused to adopt stricter, uh, PT standards or health screening.
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This is the same army now that's really concerned about health all of a sudden.
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Why don't you just, can you get out of bed in the morning?
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I, I remember actually I was thinking about, um, the best way to, to answer that.
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Like what, so what compelled me to do this was that like, I mean, it's a demonstration,
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And you're, that's kind of what I'm hoping that the dude's like.
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You're sacrificing probably, you know, your job, your body, your time, your, you know,
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And I talked with us yesterday or whatever that was that a couple of days ago that there
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were sections of the highway that you, you know, we, it's just too dangerous.
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The switchbacks and stuff, you know, we talked about, but so you're, you're planning to, you're
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You're going to go back and like circle a building, however many times you have to, to make up
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What we'll do is I anticipate, you know, we'll have to do, um, in order to, to maintain a
00:18:01.280
So I just, uh, we'll, we'll do some victory laps in, uh, in the national capital region.
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I got, I want to, I want to touch out, touch on a couple of things here for a sec, just
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so everybody's in, uh, this is another, uh, I want it to be perfectly clear to everybody.
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That, um, we started this as, uh, as this was, uh, the, the idea of what to do just doing
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So, um, there's been a bit of investment on, on, on all the folks that got into this.
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And, um, we are now kind of realizing that in order for this to go forward, okay, well,
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But it's, it's, it's something I'm very, very, I am open and transparent about any monies
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that we receive and anybody who wants to inquire about it, what I get, we are getting, uh,
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for example, there's barn, there's barn dads, um, you know, there'll be a donation bucket
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It gets put into a pot and then we're going to do the same way in the same way that the
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Uh, the junior ranks and the messes will have a similar type of accounting system, right?
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So everybody is going to be able to, anybody who wants to, anybody who is, uh, wanting
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to inquire about how we're using those funds, um, they'll, they'll be able to, you know,
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They, uh, everybody's wanting to follow the money and try to find something wrong with
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what you're doing so they can, they can shut you down and stuff.
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I just, I was just curious if anyone has ever walked, anyone's ever marched from Vancouver
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So are you going to be, you're going to be dancing at this barndance?
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Like, do you just, uh, yeah, we're actually going to Monarch, uh, so we're going to a
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town called Monarch, Monarch Alberta, and then we're going to meet some, um, um, organizers.
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There's, uh, a group there called taking back our freedoms and, uh, they've arranged for
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us to be a part of this, this, uh, this, this, uh, barn, countryside barn thing was already
00:20:48.560
on the works in order to raise funds for taking back our freedoms and they invited us
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So we're going to meet them in Monarch Alberta, and then we're going to meet up with the freedom
00:21:03.840
And then there's also a bunch of other folks who want to march with us and do a slow roll.
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So Calgary is, uh, about two and a half hours north of Lethbridge.
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So we're not actually going to Calgary until the next day, because we've invited up to a
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rally there and then we'll go, we're going to drive up to Calgary because, um, the point
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of this is it's, we're going to stay east on highway three, go through Lethbridge, hit
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medicine hat, then hit highway one and maintain, uh, the movement eastwards.
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It's, uh, Calgary would just kind of be, um, uh, uh, we'll drive up there, do the business
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and then drive back down to our end point and then start marching from where we stopped.
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I just got a couple of, uh, messages here from some people, uh, some weekends and Tuesday
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says kicking ass, one package of mole skin at a time.
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Dan, the raging Canadian says infinite respect, uh, for you, sir.
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The blue taco says, James, you're an absolute monster.
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It's amazing that the lamestream media isn't saying a word about this.
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St. Maurice Barrett says, God bless the infantryman.
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Have you, uh, that was one of the questions I had.
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Has anyone tried to talk to you or reached out for comment at all from, you know, CBC,
00:22:30.260
I, I have to say that after I made my announcement back in February at that rally and did the
00:22:37.740
TikTok video, there was, uh, a lady did approach me from CBC, but knowing the treatment that
00:22:49.200
all y'all got back in January, February, right.
00:22:54.140
I was like, no, the woman from the state, uh, Jillian Findley.
00:23:05.860
And, um, I've been actually been advised by, uh, I have a lawyer now.
00:23:13.660
He's like, you know, you should, you should make more effort to talk to them.
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But initially they, that one lady did reach out to me, um, way back when just a full disclosure.
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And I, I declined because I just, I wasn't at that particular point.
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Didn't really have, I have to say there was a part of this that was really instinctual.
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It was just like, okay, I have to do something.
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So I declined to talk to her at that particular point because it was just, I don't think I would
00:23:50.140
have been able to explain it as I can explain it to you now.
00:23:55.920
Are you, when you get, when you get into Ontario, you, I mean, I seem to have picked
00:24:03.380
It looks like, are you going to have a brigade amount of people by the time you get into the
00:24:11.080
Well, you're, you seem to be adding on, like you left by yourself and now there's a, how
00:24:14.820
many people you say there's about a dozen of yous now?
00:24:17.220
Well, there's nine of us, but like the dudes rotate through different jobs.
00:24:22.860
Um, we bought, uh, I put some money down on an RV and, um, I got into like a private
00:24:38.460
And, uh, if we hadn't had that, we wouldn't have got it as far as it's bad.
00:24:42.160
And I had to have it going through the mountains.
00:24:48.160
How, how much, um, I mean, I, I think I learned, I know a little bit about your history.
00:24:52.200
Apparently we were in a third battalion together at the same time, which is ironic.
00:24:55.800
It's funny because all the other guys were, you know, they're chirping me because, you
00:24:59.180
know, of course, yeah, no, Patricia had to, had to step up and fix everything.
00:25:02.380
And I was like, well, and Hey, now wait, we're going to, we're going to, we get to
00:25:06.520
Were you a, did you have an RCR hat badge then?
00:25:16.300
You probably don't recognize me because I have a beard and I'm not miserable.
00:25:24.360
I don't know what's going on, but yeah, I wasn't, uh, I didn't know too many of the
00:25:29.760
We definitely passed each other in the hall because I, I, yeah, yeah, totally.
00:25:41.480
I think he's, uh, I think he might be the mic company warrant there now.
00:25:43.980
I'm not sure, but, or OPSO or OPSO or something.
00:25:55.520
I think we, I messaged you on the phone and I've talked, I've talked with a story on the
00:25:58.020
podcast before I was in the canteen there at third battalion and it was the day remembrance
00:26:01.140
day and it was the, the Frank where we had the, the guys made the Sergeant Frank Gervais
00:26:05.340
It's kind of a joke for like the worst soldier of the year because you're so bad.
00:26:10.360
The guy that, uh, did the stolen valor thing on remembrance day and not first.
00:26:14.440
He's got the guy in Ottawa with the outrageous epaulets.
00:26:23.000
And he had, uh, well, we were there and nobody noticed right away cause they're doing the
00:26:26.360
regular remembrance day stuff and we're just talking and then, uh, somebody, but he had,
00:26:32.340
And then you look closer and he's a Sergeant and you're like, wait a minute.
00:26:37.820
And the other two, the other guys at the table, there's a couple of Sergeants at the
00:26:40.200
table that were Pathfinders and he, and they were like, if you're here and I'm here, who
00:26:48.240
He's pretending to be one of like five people in the whole army.
00:26:53.460
Oh guys, if you're going to try, if you're going to pretend to be a soldier, pick something
00:26:56.760
much less, much more obscure, you know, just private machine gunner number two, no one
00:27:00.640
would ever know don't, don't impersonate a Sergeant Pathfinder or three or four hog and
00:27:05.520
become a, you know, full Lieutenant commander of the space Marines or something.
00:27:15.240
Did you, did you do any, um, like how, I mean, mentally this has got to be quite a stress.
00:27:23.380
Like I've also found that in my, my career and things I've done where it's like things
00:27:26.600
can start really hard and then you just kind of adapt to it and you become this soulless
00:27:32.920
Well, I got to say that it's been, um, an amazing experience in a couple of different
00:27:38.020
ways in that, like, dude, I was the guy that was going to go live in the forest.
00:27:43.120
Like I wouldn't, you know, I didn't want to have anything to do with anybody and not
00:27:50.580
You know, folks coming up to me and greeting me and stuff, but it turned out to actually
00:27:57.220
be more of a people person than I thought it was.
00:28:04.400
And, um, you know, like the support, like when, when I did that thing in uniform, like
00:28:11.860
almost immediately folks were like, Hey, I want to help you.
00:28:21.560
And that's, that's the thing I can tell the guys, like there's, there's people, they
00:28:25.620
And, and, you know, we're kind of in a unique position as veterans and, you know, representatives
00:28:29.080
of a, of an idea or, or the fly or something right.
00:28:32.500
That represents the, you know, the national identity of Canada or what it, you know, what
00:28:36.180
it was or what it should be or what we believe it to be.
00:28:38.800
And there's a lot of people that identify with that, but they don't really know.
00:28:41.040
They want to get behind somebody and then they see somebody like you show up and with
00:28:45.500
their, with your sash on and your medals and everything.
00:28:47.940
And they just, you know, they're ready to go, man.
00:28:51.700
And, you know, to me as well, I remember used to think this when I was, you know, uh, you
00:28:55.080
know, a lot younger, young, before I visited in the military that, you know, these guys
00:28:58.540
are, uh, they're, they're, they're set apart from, from say the police or definitely,
00:29:06.240
There's the warriors of the nation that are ready to go fight and die for the people that
00:29:10.040
live here and for everybody that lives here, not a, not a political party or a specific,
00:29:13.980
uh, you know, anything it's, if you're, if you're with me, then get behind, you know,
00:29:18.420
if you're with us, get behind me and we'll, we'll take care of it.
00:29:23.600
And, and I mean, God, I can't say enough about how this is crazy what you're doing.
00:29:27.660
And I, I suspect that was where the joke came from.
00:29:29.860
I was like, do you think they're in, do you think they're in parliament right now?
00:29:33.380
Like he's not going to be here tomorrow or anytime soon, but every day he's getting closer like
00:29:38.040
the terminator, I would, I would, if I was them, I would be concerned because here's
00:29:46.200
I'm not sure if all your folks are realizing this, but I actually, I am going to pay my
00:29:52.420
respects at the war memorial, at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
00:29:56.620
That's that's part of my mission to take that back for us.
00:30:04.000
Like I, you know, had a lot of conversations with the dudes that are with me and, you know,
00:30:08.760
with myself, not, you know, usually not out loud, but having a plan when we get there,
00:30:14.820
because it was like, okay, what I had to ask myself, like, what am I doing?
00:30:26.980
And the government who they actually worked for, because I think they've forgotten that
00:30:32.220
and we're going to do it because that's what we're doing by doing this March.
00:30:37.380
And that's what I did is I posted a letter on the Canada marches.ca website.
00:30:42.980
So that letter is getting sent out by email and regular mail to every single member of parliament.
00:30:50.520
And if we get enough interest and we will, we're not just going to have, um, you know,
00:31:00.020
request an audience, we're going to demand it because that's not right.
00:31:06.320
I'll just, uh, and your website pulled up there for a minute.
00:31:09.920
If you want to go to Canada marches.ca, you can keep up with, uh, James there and you can
00:31:15.640
You can click on and, uh, pinpoint exactly where you're at.
00:31:23.000
Just outside Fort McLeod, you're, uh, coming up.
00:31:30.020
And then you're going through Colehurst and Lethbridge and wow, this is wild.
00:31:38.260
And, and what, what's your anticipated, uh, date of, you know, complete, like, do you,
00:31:43.720
You must have like a, you're shooting for so many farmers per day.
00:31:50.120
I usually planned to get the, you know, I wanted to get there like by June 20th, just
00:31:56.060
because that's my mom's birthday, but I'm realizing now I'm going to have to be a little bit more
00:32:00.500
flexible because, um, there's things like, okay.
00:32:08.740
Like as much as I would like to be a, uh, unstoppable robot, uh, I do need to fuel up
00:32:18.620
So, and then there's the aspect of like, you know, the, the Calgary thing, like there's folks,
00:32:24.280
uh, that wanted us to really, they really wanted us to come up and be a part of that.
00:32:36.620
Like, what an, what an insane, like they should make a statue of you.
00:32:44.780
I know you would never accept it and neither would I, but I'm just saying, uh, well, and
00:32:52.660
It's that, it's that typical, um, classic infantryman NCO attitude, man.
00:33:02.920
And I can't, I mean, I'm probably in a better position to appreciate it more than, more than
00:33:08.060
There is a, there is a lot of veterans that watch this Americans and, you know, British
00:33:11.100
as well that, uh, I don't know if people understand exactly how, like just a 10, I remember when
00:33:16.920
I first joined the military, I think the first like five or 10 kilometer rucksack march I did
00:33:20.580
was like, uh, I contemplated suicide for much of it.
00:33:26.920
I was a little guy too, when I got in and to this is, uh, this is crazy.
00:33:30.720
And you went up through these mountains and the whole thing and it's, how, what's the
00:33:37.900
40, 4,293, but that's, that's, that's just, you know, that's a Google map racking.
00:33:47.120
Is this a, is this any kind of world record or something?
00:33:49.500
Like there's gotta be some kind of, uh, insane.
00:33:55.020
You know, this is a crazy, uh, feat of endurance and mental endurance as well.
00:34:00.720
Um, no, but you know what, um, one of the, one of the reasons what inspired me to do this
00:34:07.340
too, because I had spent a lot of time after I got posted out of three RCR, I went to where
00:34:13.800
they got, uh, the advanced warfare center in Trenton, uh, spent a bunch of time working
00:34:24.620
And, uh, I met this guy and if you ever want to look him up, his first name is Rune, R-U-N-E
00:34:38.080
Um, so I didn't use a phonetic spelling there, but, um, Rune, uh, is a Norwegian who actually
00:34:45.400
crossed, um, the width of Antarctica on foot by himself.
00:35:07.040
There's, I've done, I've never done anything remotely that difficult, but there is a satisfaction
00:35:10.580
in doing something, uh, very challenging to your, to your spirit and your soul.
00:35:14.280
And then, and then, and then a cotton doing like, why do people climb mountains?
00:35:18.380
Um, people like, and you know, Goggins, like I just mentioned that they do these extremely
00:35:21.680
down, challenging, difficult mental tests where it's a much more difficult on your brain,
00:35:27.280
Uh, and it's just the guts it takes to even attempt something like this is, uh, something else.
00:35:37.520
You've never, it's, it's that, it's that, you know, like, I don't know if you ever, uh,
00:35:42.540
got your, your, uh, your wings or not, but, or anything, you know, you ever did repelling
00:35:47.080
or, or anything that we did in the military, you know, even going out.
00:35:52.380
Like, I I'm sure you probably remember the first time you ever threw a grenade.
00:36:08.360
So it was kind of like, um, that was one of the scariest jobs ever had was being the
00:36:13.400
grenade pit NCO from 17 year old kids doing this.
00:36:23.660
It was just, but once you, once you got out the door, right?
00:36:26.540
Like once you overcame that, that first initial, it becomes normal.
00:36:32.040
Well, I, I wouldn't say it's that cause there's mornings where I'm like, you know, I'm just
00:36:46.980
Well, you're a quarter of the way there already.
00:36:48.820
I mean, I say already because I, I, uh, I, uh, I'd read it, I'd heard about it and I played
00:36:53.640
the thing here and I know we talked about it and then I had so much stuff going on and
00:36:57.200
we all, you know, and I just kind of, and then it popped back up again.
00:36:59.660
I was like, Oh my God, that guy's still, he's just been marching this whole time.
00:37:03.060
And, uh, and you were already through the mountains, which is like, gotta be, that's
00:37:06.900
But, uh, yeah, we were saying before, when, before you came on here, this is kind of like,
00:37:10.340
uh, the endless March to nowhere, you know, you can't even see it.
00:37:14.560
It's just, it's going to be like that for a while.
00:37:16.700
I don't know if you've walked through Saskatchewan and Manitoba before, but yeah, it's well,
00:37:23.920
the thing is too, even when we were marching through the mountains, there was times when it
00:37:29.040
just got to be like, you're moving at, you know, four to six kilometers an hour and, uh,
00:37:37.920
you're looking around going, yeah, it's a nice view.
00:37:46.760
If you don't mind my asking, uh, can we not go there?
00:37:55.680
So I, you know, I don't, I was like, I don't even know.
00:37:58.880
I mean, I'm not, I mean, you probably have a lot of injuries as well.
00:38:03.020
You get banged up and you get problems and stuff.
00:38:10.140
You know, you, that's, that's what kind of what I want to do with this.
00:38:12.740
You know, it's like get folks to think about what, what is like realistically possible.
00:38:18.760
What, what can you do and not, because I think a lot of the times we've got folks are
00:38:27.720
And I'm honestly like, I'm sure I've slacked off my training probably the last year or
00:38:32.320
so, cause it hasn't been, uh, but I, I was, I was doing some pull-ups and stuff earlier
00:38:35.920
and I was like, whenever I don't want to do anything, like, I don't really feel like I
00:38:44.560
I have to, I'm like, well, I have no excuse whatsoever.
00:38:51.900
Like, it's just changing, changing the way we think about things sometimes.
00:38:56.340
And like, I was like, I was thinking of like, you know, going back to the initial question,
00:39:05.440
It's kind of like, okay, well, I, I feel very strongly about what the, what's happening
00:39:11.380
with the, with the truckers and what's going on with the freedom convoy.
00:39:25.300
And I was just like, I know exactly what I can do.
00:39:32.820
I mean, and there's something inspired and it's like, uh, I learned that from a, from a
00:39:37.220
Cause I had, um, one of my first, uh, section commanders, uh, you don't know who Teddy
00:39:41.080
Stoneham as many chance to say again, Ted Stoneham heard that name.
00:39:48.720
He was kind of a two RCR legend for a long time.
00:39:50.520
He was in the British military for a long time.
00:39:53.380
So he's a, he's a British guy, but he was, but he, he'll tell you he's Canadian.
00:39:59.840
I don't know how, I think they had to kick him out because he was in for so long.
00:40:05.020
And, uh, he was 50 or 51 when I came to his section, I think I was 19 and he was running
00:40:14.460
And I was like, I, from the, I was like, Oh, okay.
00:40:16.900
So as long as you just keep working, you can, you can be an animal well into your fifties
00:40:26.960
So, and, and, and, you know, the other guys, there's always, I had lots of those guys
00:40:30.100
too, when I was a young corporal and stuff and they'd be like, Oh, we'll see what you're
00:40:33.880
See what you're saying when you're my age when they're 37.
00:40:39.560
Well, that was, that was the kind of mindset that I tried to avoid because I found that,
00:40:44.700
you know, it was like self-defeating something that was hitting me was like, you know, okay.
00:40:51.580
Guys are telling themselves how they're falling apart and they're in their mid to late thirties.
00:40:59.360
And I'm just like, well, you're in the prime of your life.
00:41:06.980
Like, you know, I think Muhammad Ali was world champion at that age.
00:41:14.200
Like, you're just telling yourself you're falling apart.
00:41:19.540
So I don't imagine you're the type of warrant officer to give out like MIR chits too easily.
00:41:23.120
I don't, I don't, I don't, I'm not getting that vibe from you.
00:41:27.040
I just had to look at them and, you know, shake my head.
00:41:31.560
I could smell like, I can smell your fear and weakness.
00:41:36.460
It was, it was, it was at a point where I was like, okay, I'm going to do what I'm going
00:41:42.060
to do and if that's your thing, um, I'm not you, right?
00:41:46.960
I can't, I, I don't have to look at myself in the mirror.
00:41:53.060
And then you'd walk away and then that guy would sit there quietly and then then he'd
00:42:09.700
He says three shots for James top immense respect for you, sir.
00:42:14.660
That's probably good advice says, uh, deepest thanks James for this heroic effort.
00:42:18.740
Uh, seeing the drawings and gifts received from so many children is absolutely heartwarming.
00:42:22.740
You're giving so many Canadians hope and renewal of national pride.
00:42:25.460
Best of luck on your journey and deepest respect.
00:42:27.840
And thanks to our veterans who served so honorably.
00:42:34.520
And, um, I always look forward to hearing from the guys I served with too.
00:42:38.840
I've heard that from a couple of them since I was going to started, I was going to ask
00:42:43.840
about that, how, what the reception has been like from, uh, cause I, I get messages from
00:42:47.560
guys that are still in and all the time, but they don't want to, they can't say much
00:42:50.840
publicly or anything because there'll be, you know, how has that been on your end?
00:42:57.340
There's been a couple of dudes who have, who are still serving who have reached out
00:43:03.900
And, um, there's, uh, there's a lot of guys who I, who I did know, like, uh, I knew, um,
00:43:11.780
a good buddy of mine from back in the day in Afghanistan, actually, he was in my section
00:43:16.540
and recce, he contacted me and, uh, Kieran, if you're watching, hope you're doing all right,
00:43:22.160
Um, then, you know, I was like, that's, you can curse me or you can, uh, you can, um,
00:43:31.220
hate on me, but I really, once I heard from guys like that, I was like, I don't care what
00:43:36.660
I, same thing, uh, for me, I don't, I, I did a, uh, kind of a one man protest sort of thing
00:43:44.440
And I didn't know how it was going to be received or what was going to happen.
00:43:46.840
I've put my medals on and I went down there, they're giving this guy money and he's, he's
00:43:49.700
doing a speaking tour about how much of a victim he is and all this kind of thing in the city
00:43:53.140
of, uh, you know, where my roommate was killed, Chris Stanix, uh, he's, he's from, you know,
00:43:59.520
And I, and I went out and did it and then I was like, I don't know how that's going to
00:44:03.780
And I had so much overwhelming, like the only people I really want the, um, you know, the,
00:44:10.600
I don't know if it's approval or is, is your peers, you know, the other guys.
00:44:13.860
And if they're, if they're behind me, I'm like, I don't care what the fuck anybody says
00:44:22.120
It's, it's quite a, cause you're going to, you're going to have enemies, you know, it's going to,
00:44:25.180
as soon as you take a side on anything, that's just part of the game.
00:44:27.640
And, you know, a lot of people, I just don't understand it.
00:44:32.500
Like I just don't, I do get, you know, it has been not happening as frequently, but, um,
00:44:39.840
there's occasionally, you know, you get a car will come up pretty close or something like
00:44:46.260
And you'll get, uh, or if there's, if it's, uh, if we're going into oncoming traffic, like
00:44:52.180
sometimes I do on two lane highways, you know, you'll get the middle finger and
00:44:55.380
And then I just, yeah, it weighs on me a little bit because I can't imagine why this would
00:45:04.520
It's, uh, it's, it's people are just, um, and, and that's, um, I've been blamed.
00:45:09.560
I blame the media for this, you know, because they lie so much.
00:45:13.580
And, uh, you know, these, these politicians and these governmental organizations, bureaucracies,
00:45:17.500
these, they would never get away with any of the things they're doing if it wasn't for
00:45:20.400
the media cheerleading for them and covering for them and lying for them and telling lies
00:45:23.740
about, you know, what they've done, you know, the people in Ottawa and so on.
00:45:26.440
And who knows what they, they, they think something about you.
00:45:28.980
I've had people say things to me that are so off base and so incorrect when they're so
00:45:33.560
sure of themselves because they read it on CBC and it's, uh, you know, it's like I blame
00:45:41.240
I feel bad for them in a lot of ways where it's like, I know what it's like to live in
00:45:44.040
a kind of a false reality where you believe one thing is true and it turns out to be,
00:45:50.280
And it's a terrible, you know, so, uh, it's, it's, it's the, the, the harm that has been
00:46:03.980
I just, I, I can't, it's like, we have, we have been, uh, divided to such an extent
00:46:11.660
I'm not even sure at this point, if it's bridgeable, yeah.
00:46:18.700
Well, you got to try and, uh, you know, that's absolutely you got to try, but I, I agree with
00:46:23.620
I don't know how, I mean, they've done irreparable damage to society.
00:46:26.080
I mean, families have been torn apart, um, for a long time, friendships, divorces, like
00:46:30.720
all over, uh, over this, uh, you know, theater and, and craziness that they've been, you
00:46:35.820
know, uh, peddling in the nonsense and the lies.
00:46:37.980
And I mean, it's not even any, but one subject in particular, it's everything they've divided
00:46:42.160
everybody along any kind of talking point or cultural point or, you know, aged even like,
00:46:47.880
all right, boomers and zoomers have to fight each other.
00:46:53.380
You could put a picture of a toaster on Twitter.
00:46:55.620
I'll just put up a picture of a toaster and someone will say, I like toast.
00:47:01.960
You can't have anything anymore where the people will fight over anything.
00:47:04.540
Twitter is the Jerry Springer of social media apps, I guess.
00:47:12.580
And I'm just, at this point, what I would ask is what do you, what do you think the solution
00:47:21.440
What do you, what do you think would repair all this?
00:47:28.300
It's, uh, ideally you, we need, um, we need, we need transparency.
00:47:34.920
Um, people are getting away with things that they shouldn't be getting away with.
00:47:38.020
And there's no, there's not two sides of the conversation.
00:47:40.760
We're being dictated to, um, by the television, you know, via, via these officials.
00:47:47.540
That needs to, people need to know what's going on.
00:47:49.720
There needs to be open, uh, transparent dialogue and then, you know, and the facts need to be,
00:47:56.260
The police need to act without bias, without political affiliation.
00:47:59.240
I mean, there being a lot, in a lot of cases are acting as political activists, uh, you know,
00:48:03.180
ignoring certain things and enforcing certain other things.
00:48:06.120
And that's not, um, people need to do their jobs.
00:48:08.560
And, uh, we wouldn't have these problems if that was the case.
00:48:11.740
I mean, the, the institutions and everything we have set up, uh, if they were functioning
00:48:16.900
If people did their jobs, if the media told the truth, if the, you know, the police didn't
00:48:20.140
act with bias and, uh, you know, this kind of thing, we would be fine.
00:48:27.560
I think, uh, probably the solution is you just, you know, we got to talk to more people
00:48:31.100
and get more of this, this messaging out because that's, for me, that's, that's what
00:48:34.580
kind of snapped me out of it was, was finding new information that had been hidden from
00:48:37.880
me, um, and, you know, seeing different viewpoints.
00:48:42.340
Well, I, I think you just hit on something there because I think that's what we can, what
00:48:47.380
we can do is try to get people to do more self-reflection because that's what you, that's
00:48:55.140
what, that's what I, you know, kind of got to, how do I know my particular set of truths
00:49:02.580
is more valid than those folks who believe on other things.
00:49:09.800
Well, uh, I made sure that what I believed in was like actually true, you know, by thinking
00:49:15.820
about it and, and, you know, looking at different sources of information and, you know, getting
00:49:24.120
a variety of opinions and, and then, you know, coming to my own conclusions.
00:49:28.540
So I think if we can encourage other people to do that, then maybe we could start that.
00:49:38.080
And that's like you said in one of your videos that, um, people need to have the, the right
00:49:43.500
they do, they should, but it's not being protected.
00:49:45.400
The right to have their own opinion and the right to think and believe and feel what they
00:49:48.500
want and say what they want and express themselves the way they want.
00:49:50.740
I mean, as long as you're not hurting anybody, you know, you're not going out and attack.
00:49:54.280
I, I, I, you know, I have the right to hit people off the head with a pipe wrench.
00:49:59.480
If you say what you want and, you know, if you don't like it, I mean, I, you know, we're
00:50:03.640
not, you know, I mean, I wasn't born yesterday.
00:50:07.160
I remember the days before Facebook and social media is like, you didn't, you didn't like
00:50:11.980
You know, I don't, I don't like this, then turn it off and don't listen to, and that's
00:50:15.940
But now there's a, there's a, there's this urge to this authoritarian desire to control
00:50:22.920
And if people don't conform to whatever, you know, the current thing is, then they're attacked
00:50:30.560
You know, and, and, you know, you know, Morgan and some other people are actually in the middle
00:50:36.000
of, you know, trying to get some, some lawsuits and stuff off the ground in, in one of the
00:50:41.580
When you say that, um, you know, you need to do this or you lose your job, that's protected
00:50:46.580
under, under the bill of rights and the Canadian, you know, constitution, you can't do that
00:50:50.580
You can't pull a Harvey Weinstein and say, I'm putting you, I'm, you're putting, I'm putting
00:50:55.660
And, and that's, I mean, I thought we, you know, that's what I said about the war memorial
00:51:00.800
I said the rights and everything that we're supposed to be enjoying right now, and they, they were
00:51:07.500
That's where all those names, all the blood that we've shed, that's our, the price has been
00:51:11.240
So for you to take something away that we already paid for is, is theft.
00:51:15.760
So, you know, I, I, to say I'm angry about it is not even scratching the surface about
00:51:22.380
Um, you're angry enough to walk across a continent with a, with a front sack on.
00:51:27.580
So, I mean, uh, I, I, you know, kind of predicted that a while ago too.
00:51:31.940
Some people get angry right away and they yell and scream, this kind of thing.
00:51:34.720
And I said, if this keeps continuing, you're going to start seeing some real serious guys
00:51:37.480
get off the couch and they're not going to do little things.
00:51:39.480
They're going to, they're going to really, you know, get involved in a, in a big way
00:51:43.400
And I think that's, um, yeah, it sounds like what happened to you.
00:51:46.440
Um, you don't seem like, uh, you seem like a quite, quite a serious fella to me.
00:51:51.520
Yeah, no, it's, it's a serious business and that's what it's, you know, it's not just
00:52:00.480
It's guys like you, it's guys like, uh, I'm in touch with, uh, now the folks who set up,
00:52:07.560
uh, veterans for freedom, who are some organizers of, I was going to ask you about that.
00:52:11.440
Um, yeah, they're, they're, uh, you know, um, police on guard, veterans for freedom, uh,
00:52:31.120
And now we're going to, you know, coordinate our efforts.
00:52:35.380
And, um, it's like, this shit is starting up, like for real.
00:52:38.640
I feel like we're at a real tipping point here.
00:52:43.840
Things are starting to pop up like this, this, these things didn't exist a couple of years
00:52:47.060
And now some, like I said, some, some serious guys that are, uh, they're not going to get
00:52:52.240
I mean, these guys did, you know, some of these guys did seven rotos and stuff, right?
00:52:55.480
Like these are serious guys that don't, uh, they're not screwing around.
00:52:58.780
They're going to, they're going to do it until it's done or they're dead.
00:53:00.580
One or the other, um, and we're, you know, and our adversaries are people that, uh, you
00:53:05.740
know, hide behind desks and think that, you know, you know, words are assault and, you
00:53:13.180
I don't know if you have the will and the resolve to go toe to toe with these guys and
00:53:22.800
I think, uh, with this crew, I got here and working with, uh, with guys, you
00:53:32.880
Other people are going to get folks together and it's going to be like, have you ever seen
00:53:37.440
that, uh, uh, that, uh, that movie, the bad news bears, maybe an old one.
00:53:46.160
It's a, it's an underdog story about baseball, but everybody loves those ones.
00:53:53.520
And the other thing too, is once people like yourself or anybody that's getting involved
00:53:57.060
in your story and any of the, the stuff that happened in Ottawa, people don't get involved
00:54:03.340
I've noticed over the past couple of years, like once they're in, they're in.
00:54:05.940
And, uh, that becomes a, that becomes a big part of their life.
00:54:09.380
So it's just spreading and becoming more, more prevalent around the country.
00:54:13.820
And I mean, the government's response so far has just been to squeeze harder as if that's
00:54:19.560
going to fix things somehow by, well, just punish people even more to prove how we're
00:54:25.640
We're going to imprison protesters and freeze bank accounts and hit people with, you know,
00:54:31.200
uh, carbines and trample them with horses and so on to prove how benevolent and, you
00:54:36.520
It's, it's like, yeah, yeah, it's, it, it really is upside down land.
00:54:44.060
And I haven't, I haven't used that word very often until, you know, in and around 2020.
00:54:55.500
It's, I can't, you know, something like that, something crazy like this would happen
00:54:59.200
every 10 years and now it seems like I'm daily on a daily basis.
00:55:01.880
I, I, uh, I did like a funny, just a stupid, you know, kind of an advertiser for my channel
00:55:06.360
It was just, I was just waking up out of bed and I just, I spend probably a good five
00:55:15.080
I don't want to know what night, what fresh hell is awaiting me on that, on that screen.
00:55:29.220
That, that's why this is in one way, this is a good thing because I can just, you know,
00:55:37.780
I can focus on my mission and, uh, like, uh, you're making good part of it.
00:55:46.120
I don't have to, uh, pay too much attention to it.
00:55:48.720
Well, it's, you can only, you can only control what's in front of you and what, what you have
00:55:51.880
And, um, I think you're doing a pretty damn good job.
00:55:55.340
Um, yeah, everybody's, uh, a lot of people watching this, having, having a good time.
00:56:08.140
Well, I'll probably get a sunburn here soon, you know, walking across the prairies.
00:56:11.820
And you left in the winter time, which is equally like, what was the date you left Vancouver?
00:56:16.860
I'm going to walk through the February 20th, February 20th.
00:56:25.460
There was a bit of method to the madness there because we did, uh, like, I mean, the weather
00:56:33.460
in the lower mainland is typically mild, right?
00:56:35.920
And then I figured, okay, we're going to get a bit of dicey weather going through the passes
00:56:41.640
and stuff, but I mean, dude, I'm not particularly religious, but there's a lot of stuff that
00:56:48.880
came together in a really weird way that, you know, sometimes I'm just like, damn, like,
00:56:56.180
I mean, we managed to get under like ahead of, or just underneath a couple of weather systems.
00:57:02.460
Like there was a, there was a winter storm in the Kootenays, you know, I was like, you
00:57:08.320
know, just, just kind of just ran out in front of it, you know, just, and then it came in
00:57:15.100
That's a common thread for a lot of people these last couple of years.
00:57:17.800
I'm not really religious, but some weird things have happened to me.
00:57:22.420
It's everything seems to be, you know, it really does feel as though a lot of things
00:57:25.780
are seem to be on a track, like some kind of collision track to a climax or something
00:57:31.720
Like things are happening all over the place that, um, you know, had to happen that way for,
00:57:37.440
And it's just, uh, it's beyond my, I just, I'm just riding the roller coaster now at
00:57:42.100
Uh, Shambo says, uh, see you in Calgary, James.
00:57:58.100
And I also laughed that you, you, you don't even, you don't even take the rucksack off to
00:58:03.520
Like, do you just sleep, you know, just never comes off or.
00:58:15.320
Um, this, uh, this, this, I don't know if I should plug them or not.
00:58:25.200
This particular rucksack because, uh, I left all my army crap at home.
00:58:30.140
Cause I figured, okay, well, they might, they might go seize that or something.
00:58:37.640
But I got this, uh, I got this here just before I left.
00:58:49.560
And it's, it's the bomb as we like to say, right?
00:58:56.880
And, um, but I mean, yeah, after, you know, with this day 41, so you're going to, if you're
00:59:06.380
going to march across the country, across the continent, you should probably invest in
00:59:11.080
I mean, you know, yeah, I assume you're not wearing flip-flops as well either.
00:59:17.080
You don't have like a five 11 sponsors by now, or I did, I did have some five 11.
00:59:28.540
Like, I feel kind of like a wuss cause I switched over to some Hoka one ones.
00:59:36.760
I mean, it was like the, uh, yeah, I don't know if you've ever done a iron man or a mountain
00:59:43.000
man, but, uh, the mountain man, they just do, they just, uh, they do the pick, uh, the
00:59:50.120
picklies, well, the one brigade, they do a, uh, instead of using combat boots, like we
00:59:56.120
did in Petawawa, they do it with, uh, running shoes and shorts.
01:00:02.900
I mean, one, one, we just showed up me and my partner, uh, had no training because
01:00:06.220
they demanded another team from the battalion and it was me and another master corporal.
01:00:11.300
They're like, well, you guys are like, well, when, when are we going to do this?
01:00:15.780
Like, you want me to just, so we did it and we showed up and we were the first, we were
01:00:20.000
like in sixth place when we got to the canoes and we were drinking the night before.
01:00:23.420
Like, we were like, no one expected us to even finish the same thing.
01:00:26.980
And then we were like in sixth place, we were killing it, but neither of us could work a canoe.
01:00:31.620
The Patricia guys rammed our boat and they tried to sink us.
01:00:33.980
So one guy threw a donut at my head, you know, anyway.
01:00:36.220
We ended up doing all right, but we were like, we're going to win.
01:00:38.920
You know, now we came like 27th or something, but.
01:00:48.800
It was like a two thirds of an Ironman or half an Ironman or something.
01:00:51.400
But yeah, I wouldn't try an Ironman on no training and no sleep and no.
01:01:15.980
I don't think you did any kind of, you just kind of.
01:01:33.200
I guess you've missed a lot of these storms and stuff.
01:01:36.380
Well, I mean, we, there has been days where it's been raining and stuff.
01:01:43.560
I mean, my God, there was a couple of days there where I was, you know, uh,
01:01:49.420
three days in a row going up between, um, hope and, uh, and sunshine Valley.
01:01:59.320
That 27 kilometer stretch there was just, you know, pissing down rain every day.
01:02:09.100
Kind of like, uh, being on, being on, uh, fall exercise.
01:02:26.720
And, uh, yesterday was a little bit of, uh, sun and cloud mix, but I mean, I
01:02:33.800
anticipate there's going to be some weather events and, uh, we'll work through
01:02:42.360
That's why we got all our gear because people, well, that's fantastic.
01:02:48.620
I wonder, because there's always been speculation and no one really knows who
01:02:53.220
This has been a, you know, an infantry lore thing going back generations.
01:03:00.560
Do you think they'll deploy the weather machine on you, especially as you get
01:03:03.180
through the Thunder Bay area, maybe to try and slow you down or.
01:03:07.600
He's going to send out the black flies, the black.
01:03:15.060
If people don't know, it's just what happens, you know, it'll be beautiful
01:03:17.960
weather for a month, you know, and then we'll go to the field and in end of
01:03:23.760
And then there's a snowstorm and there's locusts and alligator eats a guy.
01:03:28.460
And it's like, oh, the weather machine was turned on.
01:03:33.060
I remember being engaged on when you're in August and it was.
01:03:44.540
And no, no, I remember it was bone dry and I had my entire rain suit on
01:03:57.580
Because I was beaten, eaten alive by mosquitoes.
01:04:06.880
They were doing PLQ at the time and they were, I don't know if you're
01:04:11.520
And I had been there once briefly, but they were, when they came out of
01:04:20.400
He says, McKenzie, for the rest of my life, I don't care what happens.
01:04:42.360
So I, I think that will be the biggest challenge.
01:04:44.740
One of the, I had an interview yesterday and they were talking about,
01:04:47.160
you know, the black flies going through Ontario.
01:04:51.520
And I think that'll be, that'll be interesting.
01:05:04.780
Maybe you could get a guy to go ahead of you with a flamethrower.
01:05:07.280
Maybe Elon Musk could send, send one of those out and just clear the,
01:05:17.880
You're, I mean, you, you're a Skynet product yourself.
01:05:32.960
We don't, we don't, everything you say is true,
01:05:41.500
James Topp rambled insensibly for hours about Elon Musk being a robot.
01:06:04.920
I have between 38 and 43 kilometers a day to achieve in order to meet the
01:06:13.740
So what's been happening is that by going through the mountains,
01:06:20.580
we had to shorten stuff up, pick up the pace and parts where the terrain was a
01:06:29.600
So some days we would go like, you know, 27, 32, and then the next day,
01:06:40.920
And I think what's going to happen after we hit Lethbridge and do the
01:06:47.600
Those are, we're going to stop flying for real.
01:06:52.880
That's those are some of the scariest words you're ever going to hear.
01:06:55.320
It was when the recce warrant says, we're going to pick up the pace.
01:07:00.580
I can, I can tell you there's a, I can feel the fear when I say that.
01:07:10.240
I can only imagine the, the, the, the fear stick you could wield as the,
01:07:14.020
as the recce warrant or the, or, you know, a CSM or an RSM or something
01:07:20.020
But yeah, I, I don't like, you know, if the thing is, this is a target we
01:07:25.920
So we'll probably make best use of the terrain.
01:07:31.720
Got, we got our spring, summer marching order on.
01:07:35.500
Cause today we're only going, you know, 25 in the Monarch.
01:07:45.560
So we got to get up that, uh, we're going to get those miles up.
01:07:48.740
There's people in this country that refuse to park any further than three or four spaces
01:07:54.080
from the entry doors to Walmart because it's too far to walk.
01:08:09.200
I just, I can't even, I'm going to check this live tracker thing all the time.
01:08:12.060
I'm just going to maybe get it on my phone and be like, I wonder where he's at now.
01:08:15.220
I wonder how, I think it has your pace on there as well.
01:08:20.120
I mean, we're going a little bit slower now cause, uh, we're doing this, but you know,
01:08:25.900
I tell you, I try, I'm trying to keep it up to, you know, between like five and a half,
01:08:33.740
It doesn't have your speed, but, uh, you know, we could probably, probably guess that.
01:08:43.100
The only place in Alberta I've ever been was, uh, Edmonton, uh, in Lloydminster, I suppose.
01:08:47.100
But coming up Lethbridge and then Tabor, Tabor is coming up on the docket.
01:08:51.560
That's a friend of mine, uh, Brendan Black, your, uh, uh, Danger Cats, Uncle Hack is from
01:09:03.640
Like, do you listen to music or I guess maybe you're doing this.
01:09:08.660
Well, folks drive up like occasionally, like we're, we're going through a more of a built
01:09:13.540
You'll meet some people on the side, but I mean, uh, I'm focused, right?
01:09:20.100
I keep my head up to maintain situational awareness, look to the left and right and maintain 360.
01:09:35.100
You're just going to march all the way to Poland or something from a good, the Soviet
01:09:41.080
So, yeah, I mean, you know, the, uh, I got, we do that eight to 10 hours a day.
01:09:47.420
We, we maintain a march discipline of about 45, 15 or 50 and 10.
01:09:58.880
Well, this is where, you know, we got, uh, we got the RV and we prepare food.
01:10:04.580
Um, for ourselves, because we have the, good, like we were guys, we had food.
01:10:09.220
I assumed you were just like eating souls, like just consuming the souls of your enemies
01:10:13.220
along the way as they did, they become demoralized and like it just strengthens you.
01:10:22.580
Carbs, they're going, you can burn them right off.
01:10:30.020
I, you know, I did the, uh, the selections and stuff in the military and they were, you
01:10:33.000
just eat everything because you're burning it all off.
01:10:37.020
I actually, once I overdid it and, um, they had these little cases of, uh, uh, not, not,
01:10:44.480
Like passion flakes, you know, the little passion flaky boxes.
01:10:52.100
And then I was like, I almost went into a diabetic coma walking somewhere.
01:11:11.120
Some weekends on Tuesday says I quit drinking years ago, but I'll gladly buy this legend
01:11:15.420
of all a legend, all of the beers for what he's doing.
01:11:20.720
A lot of people are pretty pumped with what you're doing.
01:11:29.460
And then you're just, this is your, this is Tuesday for you.
01:11:44.900
You could leave New Brunswick and meet me in Ottawa.
01:12:00.320
I can't, you know, I have to stay home and play video games.
01:12:07.240
I would like, I would like to come in, uh, come down that way when you get close though.
01:12:14.420
And as this goes great game steam, I would imagine as you get closer.
01:12:20.700
It's going to be, uh, it's going to be something special.
01:12:24.480
I don't, I don't think anything like this has ever been done.
01:12:27.720
And you know, you made the, uh, the Terry Fox references and you know what Terry Fox is about.
01:12:33.440
Um, yeah, but I, I don't like, I can't, I can't make that.
01:12:37.900
Cause I know you're not, I'm making the comparison, you know, I'm not going to ask
01:12:41.260
you to, but, but, uh, you, you left the memorial, I think right in Vancouver and, um, in, in
01:12:46.640
comparison in the way that a man is, is willing to put his body on the line, uh, you know,
01:12:50.560
and Terry Fox wore the Canadian flag on his shirt as he, you know, he did his, uh, you
01:12:55.440
And, and, you know, you, you're embarked upon quite a marathon isn't even the right word.
01:13:00.220
You've embarked on, on quite a mission yourself and, um, you know, your body, your, your
01:13:07.240
Your employment and all of this stuff, um, for the, for the sake and the betterment
01:13:11.280
and the, you know, the hopes of the Canadian people.
01:13:13.240
And I can't even, uh, I mean, this is, this is, I mean, find me something more impressive
01:13:20.220
Uh, I don't know what CBC is busy talking about right now.
01:13:23.000
Um, something else, but the Will Smith fiasco, I suppose, is much more engaging.
01:13:26.260
Hang in, hang in there with me with, we'll go, uh, say hi to these folks over here.
01:13:32.860
Uh, the government, he's a friend of mine and he's in, he's in Ottawa, he's an RCR guy
01:13:56.060
Yeah, I'm getting pretty close, uh, so we're going to, uh...
01:14:33.640
how far did he walk during just this interview?
01:14:37.540
We're in an hour and an hour and 15 minutes, though.
01:14:50.420
Do you just get up and eat and go right at 7 a.m.?
01:15:01.960
Like, I mean, I'm working, most of the fellas are, are, uh, like, they're not as familiar
01:15:11.960
So, you know, I try not to make it really hard timing, right?
01:15:17.700
There's no, there's no inspections or anything.
01:15:23.480
What kind of fucking sideburns are those, Mackenzie?
01:15:38.280
Yeah, no, so, you know, I got to respect that, you know, folks are...
01:15:43.540
They're not, they're not, uh, indoctrinated like we are, right?
01:16:08.180
We're going to have to pick up the pace, and you don't want that.
01:16:23.680
Like, this has never been done before, I don't think.
01:16:28.400
It's like, you can interview me while I'm marching.
01:16:35.240
Yeah, people think they're getting flashbacks to the Forrest Gump movie,
01:16:40.620
But Forrest Gump was just doing it purposelessly for no reason.
01:16:51.180
I mean, what you're doing, to me, is astonishing.
01:16:55.140
But at the same time, I understand why you're doing it,
01:17:00.840
This is what I've been doing, because I felt the same way.
01:17:06.660
I hate this feeling of sitting around and seeing everything that's happening
01:17:11.160
I mean, I'm not going to save anything or do it,
01:17:13.260
but if I can help, you know, push the ball up the field an inch or two
01:17:21.620
It's about, you know, going to bed with a clear conscience.
01:17:26.380
I didn't sit here and do nothing, as everything was, you know,
01:17:29.000
burned down and destroyed, and I kept my mouth shut,
01:17:34.380
If I just do nothing, I'll be the last one to get eaten by the alligator,
01:17:37.440
or whatever the Churchill quote is about appeasement,
01:17:40.040
is thinking the alligator will eat you last, you know.
01:17:56.080
and it's bringing a lot of hope and inspiration to people,
01:18:10.400
Yeah, well, that was one thing I found out, too.
01:18:18.320
especially if we're asked in the infantry what we did as a soldier,
01:18:26.080
put compassion in the back seat a lot of the times, right?
01:18:31.660
And, you know, we know the definition of the word,
01:18:38.220
And, I don't know, I just got to that point, I think,
01:19:50.920
what's really disappointing and frustrating to me