WEBVTT 00:01.149 --> 00:03.410 It was a trip . It was a wild trip . 00:04.480 --> 00:07.099 I'm assuming anybody who loses a parent 00:07.110 --> 00:09.221 is gonna feel a lot like how I felt . 00:09.221 --> 00:11.069 But I think I just , 00:13.260 --> 00:15.482 there's a greater realization to that . 00:15.482 --> 00:18.760 Right . Take post 00:22.409 --> 00:24.930 a master sergeant , Brian Dune ss I 00:24.940 --> 00:28.180 hail from Noelle New York by way of 00:28.190 --> 00:30.520 Mount Vernon New York . And I'm with 00:30.530 --> 00:33.540 the 911 A sts martial arts has been in 00:33.549 --> 00:35.771 my background since I was about seven . 00:36.669 --> 00:38.891 I've always had an interest in it . One 00:38.891 --> 00:41.270 of my uh favorite people was Bruce Lee 00:41.279 --> 00:43.335 since I was a little kid uh into the 00:43.335 --> 00:45.446 Dragon was one of the best films ever 00:45.446 --> 00:48.540 filmed . In my opinion , my father took 00:48.549 --> 00:50.660 me and my brother . He saw us one day 00:50.660 --> 00:52.771 wrestling around . He saw that we had 00:52.771 --> 00:55.105 an affinity for trying the martial arts . 00:55.105 --> 00:57.271 So he found a program for us and , and 00:57.271 --> 00:57.020 took us up there and we trained since 00:57.549 --> 00:59.660 we were little kids until adulthood . 01:04.470 --> 01:08.379 For the first time in my whole life , I 01:08.389 --> 01:10.278 realized that I was on the planet 01:10.278 --> 01:12.222 without my father . And that was a 01:12.222 --> 01:14.445 surreal experience . I don't think I've 01:14.445 --> 01:16.650 ever given it any thought of what it 01:16.660 --> 01:18.549 would be like to be on the planet 01:18.549 --> 01:22.489 without my dad . My dad passed away in 01:22.500 --> 01:26.410 the beginning of the pandemic and 01:26.419 --> 01:28.197 no one knew what was going on . 01:28.197 --> 01:30.308 Everybody was taking precautions . So 01:30.308 --> 01:32.475 there were no funeral services , there 01:32.475 --> 01:34.760 were no wakes that can be had . Um , I 01:34.779 --> 01:37.370 couldn't even see him in his last , uh , 01:37.500 --> 01:39.959 couple of hours on the planet , you 01:39.970 --> 01:41.970 know , and I , I'm a medic so I , I 01:41.970 --> 01:43.914 kinda understood the risks and I'm 01:43.914 --> 01:45.970 standing outside the hospital on the 01:45.970 --> 01:48.026 phone with one of the nurses and I'm 01:48.026 --> 01:47.480 pleading and I'm saying , listen , I , 01:47.489 --> 01:49.660 I'll sign anything . I just need to go 01:49.669 --> 01:51.669 in and , and just let them know I'm 01:51.669 --> 01:54.919 here . And no , I'm assuming anybody 01:54.930 --> 01:57.097 who loses a parent is gonna feel a lot 01:57.097 --> 01:58.839 like how I felt . But I think 02:01.949 --> 02:04.171 there's a greater realization to that . 02:04.171 --> 02:06.116 Right ? You don't realize that the 02:06.116 --> 02:08.889 wedding is for the family until you get 02:08.899 --> 02:11.770 married , right ? It's the same thing 02:11.779 --> 02:13.679 with the , with the funeral . The 02:13.690 --> 02:15.579 funeral is not for the person who 02:15.579 --> 02:17.801 passed . It's for the family to mourn . 02:17.929 --> 02:21.830 I didn't get that with my dad . If 02:21.839 --> 02:24.061 anything , any piece that I got in that 02:24.061 --> 02:26.117 is that my dad was a military member 02:27.929 --> 02:30.039 and a veteran with an honorable 02:30.050 --> 02:32.217 discharge . And he was able to be laid 02:32.217 --> 02:34.383 to rest at Calverton National Cemetery 02:34.383 --> 02:35.383 in Long Island . 02:39.100 --> 02:41.610 With that said , I know that there was 02:41.619 --> 02:43.880 an honor guard detail present that 02:43.889 --> 02:46.550 helped bury my father and given my 02:46.559 --> 02:48.559 background with the honor guard , I 02:48.559 --> 02:50.615 know that somebody thought of my dad 02:50.615 --> 02:53.250 other than just a number or a body and 02:53.259 --> 02:55.481 uh they folded that flag and sent it to 02:55.481 --> 02:56.481 me . So 02:59.839 --> 03:01.139 it was rough man . 03:04.270 --> 03:06.492 One thing I learned from my troops over 03:06.492 --> 03:08.714 the years is that it's important to ask 03:08.714 --> 03:10.826 for the help . I preached that to him 03:10.826 --> 03:13.130 for a very long time . And when it was 03:13.139 --> 03:15.889 time for me to receive the help , I had 03:15.899 --> 03:18.066 fell short at first until I remembered 03:18.066 --> 03:20.449 Saul's . You tell your troops all the 03:20.460 --> 03:22.182 time to reach out if they need 03:22.182 --> 03:24.238 something . So how are you gonna sit 03:24.238 --> 03:26.349 here and be silent about this thing ? 03:26.349 --> 03:28.071 And so I reached out about the 03:28.071 --> 03:30.238 depressions that I had about losing my 03:30.238 --> 03:32.349 dad and the stress that it brought me 03:32.349 --> 03:34.404 in my life and I was able to receive 03:34.404 --> 03:36.738 help and support from , from my toolbox . 03:36.738 --> 03:38.682 Right ? I grabbed the tools that I 03:38.682 --> 03:40.738 needed for that particular firefight 03:40.738 --> 03:42.793 and I , I was in the fight , but I'm 03:42.793 --> 03:42.300 not gonna win the war without the 03:42.309 --> 03:43.309 support . 04:19.058 --> 04:21.114 You guys gotta be crying on camera . 04:21.114 --> 04:22.239 I'm supposed to be Sergeant Souls .