is going to be very unusual.I am going to be a guest on the Ben Maynard program out of California.And he wants to interview me as part of his Veterans Day podcast.So the way this came about is
Pepper Ann, which is a pseudonym for a lady that I had on my podcast, is an author.And she wrote a book.And she was a guest out of Texas.And Ben also had her as a guest.And she suggested that he talk to me about a podcast.So Ben did.
and I have no idea what he's gonna talk about, but what I thought I would do, because he's not a familiar name around here, I am going to record this podcast.
What I'm gonna do shortly is put this on pause, and when he calls me from California and he starts his podcast, I'm going to pick it up from there.So I don't know what to think of this.Is it going to be a good one, bad one?I don't know.
Because neither one of us prepare, I don't think, for podcasts.And this will be no exception.So we'll have to see what happens.And Veterans Day, as fellow veterans, Tomorrow's my day, Monday.I enjoy it.
Fortunately, I'm gonna be at Little Charlie's tomorrow at the restaurant, and I will post this.Ben's gonna call me at 4.30, so it's 10 after four now.His time in California, it's 1.30.So I presume the podcast will be somewhere around an hour,
And what I'm going to try and do is post it tonight because
Tomorrow morning, I'm going to probably be at Little Charlie's from about 10.30 to four or five o'clock and giving out complimentary books to veterans on my baseball shooter and friends book.And so I'm going to leave it at that.
And the next thing you hear will be the introduction of the Ben Maynard program when he calls me.
Welcome into the Ben Maynard program.Thanks for being here.Before we get started, I'll let everyone know and remind you that this program is available wherever podcasts are streaming.So just simply search the Ben Maynard program.
You'll see all the different options to choose from all the different platforms out there.Choose your favorite and just go with it.And, you know, interact too.I think all of these
streaming platforms have a way to, you can send an email, you can contact the show host, that kind of stuff.So interact, that's what it's all about.
Secondly, if you can't resist all this right here, and you're watching on YouTube, then thank you so much for doing so.Please subscribe to the channel.Give me a thumbs up and leave a comment. because I read all your comments.I love comments.
I just like the interaction with the audience.Let's see, last but not least, follow me on Instagram, Ben Maynard Program, all one word, okay?And so with that, there are plenty of ways to take in this show for your dancing and listening pleasure.
And with that, you can see I've got the studio arranged a little bit differently.I'm looking straight at you instead of on an angle. There's a reason for that.Okay, you'll see right here in front of me.
I've got a book right here in front of the in front of the camera and I've got someone on the phone right now.We're going old school with this one and I'm bringing on to to help
complete the Veterans Day weekend portion of what I do here at the Ben Maynard program.My guest today is Larry Reedy.Thank you so much, Larry, for being here.
Well, it's a real pleasure, Ben.I enjoyed your show.
Well, thank you.It's it's, you know, you and I, we were put in touch with one another through a previous guest that I had on on the podcast and pepper and yes, yes, she that's her pseudonym, but she's great lady.Yeah, exactly.
I don't know if she really wants her name out there.So we just stay with pepper and but But yeah, she's a great woman.She wrote a great book.And she just reached out to me.
She said, Hey, there's this guy, Larry Reedy, I think he'd be great for your show, so on and so on.And then, you know, was it I don't know, a couple three weeks ago, you and I we talked on the phone, you are just
You know, I listened to a couple episodes of your podcast as well.We're going to plug it here for everybody at home too.Okay, so don't we're not going to get away from that.But I listened to a couple episodes and and we talked on the phone and
You're just a patriot through and through and I love it, Larry.And yeah, I just thought that you and I would have some fun here on the show.So thanks again.
Absolutely.And I hope Pepper Ann wasn't delusional when she mentioned that about me.
Hey, you know, she was, you know, whatever, it's okay.Before we get into it, though, I've got here on the on my table, on the stand, facing the camera, I've got one of your books, Larry has authored two books.I've got the first one here.
It's, it's titled my quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.And, um, I want to love the title.And I've been able to get into it a little bit, Larry, we're going to talk about this book here.
And it what I like about it is, you know, as I was, as I was kind of thumbing through the pages, I noticed there were no chapters.It was all written, like in journal form.
Right?And Well, what I tried to do, you know, I'm by no means a talented author or anything, but what I wanted to do, I wanted to just tell a story.Originally it was for children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren.
A close friend of mine who's authored and published like 10 books, he read it and he said, yeah, you've got to go public with this.And so I did that.
And the main thing I wanted to do, and I think I accomplished that because so many people have told me that, I wanted people not to be reading a book.I wanted them to think. they were sitting at a table with me and we were talking.
And accomplishing that instead of just reading and just taking it as a journal, I thought, I left out a lot of things that I didn't want anybody to know about me.But I really felt that
between, I had an interesting life, my service, I've had lifelong friends, I've been all in for veterans, I went into the service as kind of a, maybe a smart-ass kid, so to speak, and I came out as a reasonably respectful adult.
and I wouldn't change.I spent three years in National Guard and then I joined the Army, three years in the Army, and I wouldn't change a thing.The career wasn't a career for me, but I would never trade that time for anything.
And over the years, I have tried to just do everything I could for veterans.But if you skim the book as you go through it, you're going to find that I've had a pretty interesting life and I'm very grateful for it.
I did start reading it, and it is great.I'm about, I'm almost a quarter of the way through it.So I'm still in your military years.So actually, let me see where I am.I think I just kind of got past the, your story about about baby Huey.Yes.
But you know, there's, you know, in the back of the book here, there's some great pictures. some great photographs of you and your family and some of your buddies.And it's just so good.But you know, this one thing is awesome here too, Larry.
It's on page 218.Final thoughts, faith, family, friends, country.Everything else is background music.And I love those words.I love those words.
I've been saying that for about 50 years.
Well, I love it.Because I think without faith, it's tough to have family.Without faith, it's tough to have good friends, without faith, what are you doing in your country?What are you doing for your country?And I love it.
But I love the fact that it starts with faith.
Oh, absolutely.My wife and I have been married 62 years. Seven children, 18 grandchildren, and the eighth great-grandchild coming up.Big family.
That's great.And here I pound my chest because I have six grandkids.That's it.
Well, the thing is, some of my children are older than you.
Well, Larry, let me see.I think you're 84, right?
No, I'll be 86 in January.
So honestly, I was trying to give you a couple of years.Come on.
Oh, I'm writing that down.Hold on a second.I got my note.
I'm sorry, what was that?
Oh, yes.Happy birthday to Larry.Yeah.See, Larry's 86.That's what I just wrote on my note.I have my show log here on the on the table.And so it's just got my quotes and stuff like that.But, you know, the title, the title of the book,
your quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.Why that title?
Well, I'll tell you, when you're looking, life is what it's all about.Liberty, you can't have life without liberty.And if you're not a happy person, you're a waste of oxygen.
So and I did it from 1939 to 1980 in cover or I'm sorry for two from 1939 to 2009 for 80 years of my life And I figured somebody asked me, are you going to do a sequel?
And I'm telling you, between that and the second book, the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.It is.Wow.And because I started out with that as a 500-page outline.And I thought, nobody's going to read that.So I hit a cut a lot of it out.And then.
You're telling me you edited half of it?No, no.It was an outline, but then before I start putting it on paper... I start cutting out segments that I had in my mind.
And I made some of the businesses shorter than it should have been, some of the military, and some of my early life.But the thing is, I also recognize the fact that
at my age and a lot of people even in their 50s, the standard 9-inch font is too small.So I went with a size 14 font.
And then on my second book, that was really difficult because I did all the photography and I was dealing with, you know, it was a gun book, and I was dealing with four editors at Orange Fraser Press who never published a gun book before.
And I had, you have to submit text separately, photos separately, sometimes they'd mix them up and they didn't know what I was talking about if I said 1911 or you know if they're all women editors and we had a lot of fun but that was yeah
The thing about that one was nice is I discovered Grammarly Pro.My first one there's some grammatical errors in there but I don't feel bad because you can go to Wikipedia or any website and I went to one on Wikipedia on a 10-page thing.
There were 70 errors on it.And my grammarly pro corrects all that.So I hid that for my second book.But I'm glad that I did it.If COVID wouldn't have come along, I was so bored, I probably wouldn't have written anything.
But anyway, that's the story of the books.
Yeah, well, actually, and because you mentioned the font size, and I did, I noticed as soon as I opened up the book, I noticed the font size.And I was like, yes, I put my feet away.I really didn't need to wear my glasses to read it.
So I thought I was back in like the second grade, because the font size was so large.But
But, yeah, I did notice, yeah, the second book, and I'll talk about that in a minute, but I'm kind of looking through the pages, and yeah, the font size is just a little bit smaller.
But, you know, to what you said regarding the title, you know, I was looking these up, and it's really pretty much what you said, though.Life is the present state of existence. as in a manner of living or conduct as it relates to morals.
And I think that's something that, wow, just a tremendous, a number of people within our country have really lost sight of, and that's morality.Yes.Liberty, freedom from restraint.
A man enjoys liberty when no physical force operates to restrain his actions or volitions.So, like you said, without liberty, you don't have life.
and the pursuit of happiness, the primary method by which men can know and then apply the law as it pertains to humans.Without the last two, you can't maintain the first one.
Well, I wholeheartedly agree.
Yeah, so they all fall right in line.And it's a great title for your book, Larry.And that tells me, really honestly, it tells me almost everything I need to know about you as a man, as an American, as a patriot.
you know, I know that you and I fall on the same side of the aisle.I know we're both conservative men when it comes to our political view.I know we're both religious men.And, um, so I know that we align in a lot of that.
And I guess, you know, getting back to, you know, your birthday coming up on January 20th, well, just this past Tuesday, we had our, We had our presidential election, and if you want to say that the good guys won, well, then great.
If you want to say sanity prevailed, great.If you want to say that, to me, it was more like rational thought and common sense won out.
I agree 100%, and I think the divisiveness in this country has really been brought about not by Democrats, by Democrat politicians, and not all of them, but they're so in-stepped with this foolishness, with this woke generation.
I mean, it's just, it's a sad state of affair.I mean, this is not Harry Truman's party.I mean, Harry Truman, and honestly, I've only voted for one Democrat.I voted for JFK strictly because I've watched that convention
And Nixon made me uncomfortable perspiring like that.And JFK was calm, cool, and collected.And I honestly think if he would have lived out his term, he would have been a better than average president.Because I think he was a good, rational person.
and kind of not that far-leaning left.And after JFK with the Democrat presidents, it was all downhill for me.
Right.That was in the obviously, you know, me being born in 1965.That was, that was almost two years before I was born.But just listening to folks that certainly are my senior, and that are old enough to know, when it came to JFK, he came off more
He, his policies and his, his platform was more Republican than some Republicans.
And so I think that's why Like, you know, I mean, you, you know, you, you, um, you believe in that you believe in that.I think that you liked what he had to say, cause it aligned with what your beliefs were, your, your conservative beliefs.
And, and so you're like, well, I just, yeah, I gotta go this way.
You could almost say that JFK was a Jeffersonian Democrat.
Okay, right.And you know what, okay, you brought up, you brought up three past presidents right now in JFK, in Harry Truman, and Thomas Jefferson, and I want to touch on this.
You do something on your podcast that I think is so cool when it comes to our past presidents.So here, Larry, I want you to talk about your podcast.I don't want to be the pitch man for you.
I want you to talk about your podcast and some of the stuff that you do on there, especially in regards to our presidents.Can you do that?
Oh, sure.Well, let me start at the beginning.First of all, I have no, several years ago, I've never listened to a podcast.
So anyway, my favorite candy store in Batesville, Batesville Liquor Company, had a whiskey tasting one evening, and I usually would go in there. walked in the door, and Mike and Terry Gardner owned the place, and Mike said, boy, I'm glad you're here.
I said, oh, I'm glad to be here, Mike.He said, you know, we got a podcast tonight.I said, oh, that's nice.He said, yeah, it's Across the Line 1524.They're all set up.I said, that's good.He said, you're the guest. I said, what?
He said, you're the guest.He said, I forgot to call you.So I get up there, and it coincided with my book signing on, My Quest for Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness. And anyway, we hit it off really good.So there's four of them.
And I said, you know, we've got to have you back on another one.I said, really?Yeah.And said, we're just hit.We've got to have you back.So they had me back on, and I was having a lot of fun.And I thought, you know, I can do this.
I don't know if anybody's going to listen, but I can do this. So I went out, bought good equipment, had trial and errors.You know, like right now, we're in my dining room, and I have... I have two microphones in here.
I have a Rodecaster Pro, and then I have the Duo.And in my Morton building, I have four microphones that are condenser phones.They're omnidirectionals, where this is a direct thing.So any noise in the background, we're not picking up.
So anyway, and that's what I did. It was, I started out with just a weekly and, you know, not getting many listeners and then I start, well, we're gonna, I'm gonna hit 350 podcasts in a, probably in the next week or 10 days, but.
I'm just gonna say, you know, most, and I started out with, it was like pulling teeth. to get somebody to be a guest on the show.And then after a while, I was in a doctor's office one day and he said, when are you gonna hear me on your podcast?
And this went on and on.I've had mayor, fire chief, police chief, lawyers, doctors, industry, the whole bit.But then,
And this is for my I've always been kind of a history buff getting back to the president's and I thought you know I Want to grade these people.I want to find out about them and so I have recorded a
My take on all 46 presidents, the last one comes out in June.I did Donald Trump's early.He was still coming back in June.But I put him on last Sunday before the election because
A lot of information I get is history.com and it's very good for another podcast I use this day in history.But the thing is they lean left.So I'm looking at what their take is on Donald Trump's presidency.
And they had, well, Donald Trump's impeachment hearings, and they had Russia interference with the election.I'm thinking, these guys aren't even mentioning any of his accomplishments.
So I went to another favorite site, whitehouse.gov, and thought, this is interesting, because I did this on Barack Obama, and there was six pages about his administration.
And that's kind of standard for most of them, except for Lincoln and Washington.Donald Trump. His accomplishments on whitehouse.gov, 136 pages in one term.He accomplished more in four years than any other president in history.
Now, that doesn't include, you know, like Louisiana Purchase or, you know, taking Texas from Mexico and all that.You know, these were monumental things, but they were singular things.But I forgot about a lot of his accomplishments.
And when I did the podcast on him, I had to just highlight everything.The guy did wonders for this country.
and he's gonna do it again, and I hope these whiny Democrat politicians get their act together, because it's not, if you get further into my book, I wrote four things about people voting for Democrats. First, they're misinformed.
And I think that covers the majority because they listen to the crazy news that we have on the network.Second, they're delusional.Third, this doesn't cover too many, but covers some, simple-minded.And fourth is, they're just evil pricks.
That is my take on why people vote for Democrats.And I think most of the time it's because they don't have time on a busy schedule or they don't have the inclination to really investigate.
They listen to ABC, CNN, NBC, all of the lefty stations and take it for gospel. And that's a sad thing.And I mean, but Trump's accomplishments have been amazing.And people might not like Trump.
I don't think I could sit and talk to him for an hour, because all I do is talk about himself. I don't, I, the guy gets the job done.He surrounds himself with good people.
He listens, he listens to consensus of opinions, but he's smart enough to make the right decision. and this is what we need in this country.Forget these boys pretending to be women, playing women's sports.
I mean, and that idiot Waltz putting tampons in boys' restrooms in schools.What is wrong with some of these people?And it's not the average person in your community It's the Democrat politicians have gone out of their mind.
You know, even Joe Manchin can't take any more of it, for God's sake.
That's right.But Larry, when it comes to just the absolute bizarreness in some of the stuff that's going on, you mentioned here, just right now, I mean, Men, boys, men in girls or women's sports, in their locker rooms, tampons in boys' restrooms.
Larry, that stuff is absolutely insane to even think about, to even have the word come out of your mouth, but... The thing is, Larry, we are told, we are told, the entire nation is told, if you don't accept this, there's something wrong with you.
We were told that's supposed to be normal.Yeah, it's communist indoctrination.That's what they've done.And they've been using this slogan there for quite a while, and they backed off of it because too many people found out about it.
They were saying forward.Well, that's been a communist.They've been using that in ads for 50 years.Communists have always said forward.
And it's just, it's a shame, and I think, you know, it's Veterans Day, I don't want to continue about politics, but the thing that I couldn't understand, some of these presidents, after reviewing all 46 of them, I'll tell you,
On a scale of one to 10, George Washington gets a 10.He did more for this country, and there was no precedent.He established everything. Abraham Lincoln was a number 10.
And when I got done with those two, I thought I gave Reagan a number nine out of 10.But I thought there's nobody else to give you a 10.After I read
Whitehouse.gov about Trump, I gave him a 10, because he did more for this country, for prosperity, for morality, for taking care of, he made things easier for women.
the salary level he just did just so much for this country in four years and he's like the energizer bunny you know he's in in his 70s and the guy just is on the move he's uh keeps going yeah and just doesn't stop yeah and he and he eats big macs and mac fish sandwiches
He'll never be accused of being a health nut.
Right.Which is a good reason for him to bring RFK Jr.into his administration.I think that's a great move.
And Elon Musk is so smart.He's from another planet, I think.And the guy just, he gets the right people.And again, I just think it's great.But the thing that bothered me, some of these presidents,
Like, you know, there are one or, and even though there's character flaws, I still could never understand why anyone at any time in history thought it was okay to own somebody.That's slavery and the Civil War was so stupid.
And then to top it all off, You know, when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and, you know, free three million slaves, basically.And they championed this, and it's still, they were him in trouble.
They were free people, and they kept getting them to vote, and they ensured their safety and everything. And then I'm thinking, you know, that is wonderful.But now, the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 allowing women to vote.
Now you talk about some male chauvinist pigs.You know, how in the name of God could they ever think women didn't have the intelligence to vote.
And even in the early days of the Revolutionary War, when George Washington became president, to vote, the first people who were allowed to vote, they had owned property. So a guy that worked for a printing shop or something he couldn't even vote.
He didn't own any property.And then they changed that.But I'm thinking, you know, how could all Jefferson he's probably the smartest guy that's ever been President of the United States, but how could he you know, just think it was okay to own slaves.
You know, again, character flaw.I look at JFK and Clinton, they got a woman flaw, you know.
And as men, as human beings, period, we are all flawed. We, you know, it's an unfortunate thing that we're not perfect, like our Lord and Savior, we're all flawed.And, but it's how you overcome those flaws, how you handle those flaws.
And, you know, sometimes we're able to deal with them and overcome that, and sometimes we're not.
But, you know, to something that you're saying, and I didn't mean to cut you off here, but you said something, and it's stuck in my head, and I don't wanna forget this. But you're talking about presidents here.
And everybody, look at the bottom of the screen.And if you're on YouTube, you see who my guest is.It's Larry Reedy.And if you're listening, my guest is Larry Reedy.He's an Army vet, a National Guard vet.We're getting a history lesson right now, too.
He's an author and an historian, as you can tell if you're listening in on this conversation.But Larry, I have thought about this over time.
You know, the greatest, I shouldn't say the great, but the great ones that held the office of president and the ones that were willing to go against the grain, stand on their own and their own principle, not every single one of them, but the primary ones throughout our nation's history, Abraham Lincoln, JFK,
President Reagan, Donald Trump, and then I'm going to throw in RFK and Martin Luther King.Oh yeah, non-presidents, I agree.
These political figures and Martin Luther King's case, civil rights leader, these people stood against everything else that was wrong. And they said, they tried to show, no, there's principles here.
Here's the right way to go through life or, you know, or run our country here.And what happened was they got taken out.So somebody didn't want them standing up for what was right and standing up for America.
And even in the case of civil rights, you're not standing up for one class of people over another, one race over another.You're standing up for humanity, period.And what happened?They were murdered.
And unfortunately, in the case of Reagan, they came close, but they couldn't get him.In the case of Donald Trump, they came close, but they couldn't get him.So we have to celebrate that.
that we've got now a man who's going to take office again on your birthday.And, you know, he's not going to be perfect.But, and I've said it before, he is not perfect, but he is the perfect man for the job.
Absolutely, I think we're gonna have the next four years, the prosperity is gonna be unbelievable.It's gonna cost a lot to deport the illegal immigrants and he'll start with the gangs, the terrorists and everything.And we know where they're all at.
It's just a question of rounding them up and shipping them out.And the thing is,
if you look at just look at statistics as far as they always the democrats always talk about gun violence you know well I've never heard of an NRA member shooting anyone and we're ranked I believe we're second or third in the world of gun violence but if you take out
the big Democrat cities, New York, LA, Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, St.Louis, you take out those seven cities, we're number two in the West, number two as far as least gun crimes in the world.
Yes, but there's a certain party that doesn't want the population of this nation to know that.
Oh, I know.They don't want to know anything.If they knew everything, Democrats would have never been in power.
Absolutely right.And it's a shame.But, you know, we have to, we have to stand on
the Constitution and we have to stand firm on that Second Amendment because without that Second Amendment, that Second Amendment assures you, me, and everybody else that our First Amendment rights are upheld.
Well, you know, the reason that we will never be invaded, I mean, by troops, and I'm not talking about whether it be another war or anything, but is there are 330 known, 330 million guns that are known about.
It's not bought at gun shows, but are registered in families.The average right now, it's I think 52% of the homeowners have at least one or more guns in their house.So when you hit, if somebody would try to invade this country,
You know, the soldiers that do the job, everybody's gonna do the job, but so will the normal citizen.
And the veterans, you know, I don't know of any veteran that doesn't have a gun in their house, except if somebody's got really bad PTSD, they're not gonna allow them to have a gun.
Sure.Well, wasn't it somebody, maybe it was after World War II, maybe it was even during World War II, maybe it was a Japanese leader was asked about invading America, and they said, there's no way we'd invade America.
And it was kind of like, well, why?Well, it was put to him, well, because behind every blade of grass is a gun.
Yep.Yep.And yeah, you're right.And it's, you know, the thing is, If a guy, if they made certain guns illegal, if it was like Canada right now. All that does is somebody that wants a handgun will just pay more for it on the black market.That's all.
Or an AR or whatever.The crazies are out there and there's telltale signs that they haven't acted on because Well, they might have a problem, but they don't really act upon it.
Most of these guys that have committed mass murders have been warned about them a year or two years ahead of time, and nothing has happened.So, you know, it's just like That guy should have never, ever been on the roof to shoot at President Trump.
That was so mind-boggling that Secret Service let that happen.It's just beyond me.
never happened.And I'm hoping I know there's been some some investigation into it.I'm hoping that the whole truth will come out whether it was just if it was just ineptness, or it was something a little on the nefarious side.
That's what worries me.Yeah, it's, you know, they're, they're people.
Bad people were always afraid, and I'm talking about bad Democrat politicians, were always afraid if Trump got elected again, they're in deep trouble and they're not going to maintain power. They realize what he did in office.
That's why they've gone all out against him in this past election, you know, where the vegetable was elected Biden.But it's just... You know, if the Democrats can't maintain power, then they have nothing to go on.
They love to spend money on stupid things.And this is all going to come to a screeching halt.And eventually, when that wall's built, And the pipeline is built.The money that, you know, we're always going to import oil from Canada.
There's no question about that.But when Trump was in office, we were selling more oil than we were importing. So we were not dependent on oil from enemies.And I just think we're going to have a great four years.And I hope I live for the ride.
Well, I know it, you know, okay, so let's, let's, let's move on.We'll stop boring.We'll stop boring everyone with our political views right now.Okay.
So, um, so getting back to the book, I want to get into your, I want to start with your service time, which is at the beginning of the book and talk about, talk about how you, um, Talk about how it was that you got into the army.
Okay, well, first of all, I knew that I was going to serve.I just didn't know when my brother, Ron, when he graduated from high school, he was on a troop ship on his way to Germany.And before he got to Germany, they surrendered.
My brother Bill was in the Navy four years in Korea on an aircraft carrier.Then he got out for about 30 days, got married, and he wanted to go to Alaska, so he joined the Coast Guard, was there four years.And he spent 28 years in the Naval Reserve.
So, I knew that I was going to go, I just didn't know when.So, when I was in high school, one of my buddies said, hey, he said, hey, Red, that's why I had red hair.He said, hey, Red, how about joining the National Guard?I joined a few months ago.
I said, you know, that sounds good.So I went out there, and the first sergeant talked to me, and he took me into the company commander, introduced me, and the company commander said, how old are you?I said, I'm 16.
He said, hey, Top, take Larry outside. and find out how old he is.We'll walk outside the office.He said, you're 17.Opens the door, we go back in.How old are you, Larry?Oh, you're just the right age.So I joined the National Guard at 16.
We had two weeks at Fort Knox every year.We were an armored recon company, which is tanks.And I hit a, my weapon was a 22 pound BAR, Browning Automatic Rifle.Hit a good time.And so.
Now Larry, Larry, what, what, What's the, what's the time frame on this?
Okay, this was, let's see, in 19, when I was 16, that would have been 1955.
Okay, so we are a National Guard 55.
Okay, so we're close to but we're during the Korean conflict and stuff, right?
Yeah, right, right.Yeah, my brother.My brother was in, you know, he was in the Navy.And let's say I'm trying to think I'd have to check my, my records.But after that, a real close friend of mine, I want two of them.
We decided we were going to join the Army.And so that would have been 1957.And we had this big, big party.And back then, you know, the police were more worried about you having a wreck if you were underage drinking.But we had a lot of beer.
And at the time, if you were 18, you could buy 3-2 beer in Ohio and 6% beer if you were 21.But anyway, to make a long story short, we had this party.And there must have been 300 people there.
But afterwards, my two buddies says, why don't we wait a year? I said, okay, we'll wait a year.
So I worked at a supermarket and a year came by and we all decided we were gonna join the Army Security Agency, which is cryptograph operators and other things.
And my buddy Will, he didn't pass the test, so we, Will and I went in on a buddy plan and joined the MPs. My other buddy who had something happen, he had to wait two months, he thought we were already an Army security agency, so he went that route.
So in 58, I was in Fort Knox basic training.I was an acting platoon sergeant because of my time in the National Guard.And my regular platoon sergeant, whose name was Alvin York.No relation to the World War I hero.
He told me, he says, you're acting platoon sergeant, but you screw up.You're not going to be it.So I was acting platoon sergeant for eight weeks, and we had a
It had some interesting things happen, which you've read in the book already about basic training and such.But one of the neat things was I took my platoon and we trained after hours to compete on Fort Knox, all regular Army, everybody had
platoons in there to win a trophy.And we beat all the regular Army guys, everybody.And we got this trophy, and I wound up with a three-day PS, which you're never supposed to get that in your basic training.
And after that, I also had a chance to get accommodation from the company commander and also the post commander.And with one other gentleman, we performed maneuvers for an hour and I'm real hot, took a break.My regular Alvin York fixed my hat.
10 minutes later, my hat fell off my head. My buddy Jack Webb won that, and from there I went to Fort Gordon, Georgia, MP school.When we graduated from there, there was four of us that were given the MOS, which is basically your job.
So I hit a 951, which was the same as a regular policeman, and the rest of the company either had security, which would be like prison guards or combat MPs, and there I went to Fort Campbell, and that was an
Very interesting thing, because at the end of my MP school, we had to take an eye test.And before I had my cataracts removed, without my glasses, I needed a dog.
So I remember this story.Yeah.
So anyway, I wanted to go.I wanted to go airborne and I mean, I couldn't see the big E on the eye chart.It looked like a big black blob.So I memorized the eye chart. Yes, she did.Yes, she did.
2015, then the guy did, on my driver's license, it showed glasses.And he said, hey, this refraction, there's no way he passed that test.I said, what do you care?And he said, yeah, what do I care?
Somebody wants to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. So went to went to Fort Campbell and the day before I was supposed to start jump school I went to the airborne MP detachment
And this captain interviewed me, and he said, well, you're too short.I said, I'm six foot, what am I too short for?He said, oh, for basketball.He said, what I want you to do, he said, I see your baseball player picture, so I want you to go infantry.
freezing cold, you know, really, really cold.So I want you to go to infantry until baseball season comes, and then I'm going to bring you back in the airborne MP detachment.He said, so you have your jump school and everything out of the way.
I said, Captain, there's no way I'm going to infantry. I watch this guy sleeping out in his tents.That's not why I'm in the Army.And he said, well, do you want to be airborne or a leg MP?I said, I can always jump out of an airplane.
He said, get your ass out of here.So I went to the leg MP detachment and I was at Fort Campbell maybe seven months and I really wanted to go overseas for my, you know, two years.
So a buddy of mine that I met in special services, he said, there's nothing for Germany.The only thing that's open is Korea.I said, well, send me to Korea.
My first sergeant got orders for me to go to Korea, called me in the office, never heard him cuss before.He used some vile language, told me I was too good of a soldier and there's something wrong with my
in my mind, so he tore up the oars in front of me.He said, if you're wanting to go someplace, I'll get you some good duty.So then in December, I was off and running to the Canal Zone, playing them all Canal Zone.And I spent two years there.
And I played baseball six months out of two years.So I was TDY, I had a great time, I MP was great for me.I just, uh, I love my time in Panama.Lifelong friends.I'm still in touch with four guys.
Uh, I was in a canal zone with, and I was discharged in 1961.Okay.
That's beautiful there.You know, while you were, while you were talking and telling, uh, talking about your service, um, You know, it was Friday.Yeah, Friday you had texted me some photos.And so I actually took those photos and I had copies made.
And so I was showing those photos on camera while you were telling your story.And I was trying to point out, I would zoom in the camera as much as I could anyway.And I was trying to point you out in those photos.So I know I got them right.
But, you know, there's a great couple pictures here at the back of the book.And I'm showing my viewers at home.There's one of your beautiful bride, Nancy.It was the announcement.
And then there's the two of you walking down the aisle on your wedding day.And great, great, great photos.Just great stuff.How have you been so lucky? to hang on to your wife all these years?
I have no idea.She has a good sense of humor.But it's, you know, the thing is, during the service, you It's totally different.We still have eighth grade reunions, high school reunions, but
The service, when you're 24-7 with people in the service, whatever branch you're in, there's a camaraderie that never changes.And every vet that I've met, it's the same thing.You just, you might have been in a different time.One thing that I'm,
really grateful besides, you know, family and everything.You know, I have friends from in their 20s and their 80s.And, you know, it's just it's just great.It keeps it kind of keeps you young.But the veterans.
I have never, if I'm in a restaurant and if I see somebody with a veteran hat on or if I see a couple of policemen or firemen, I pay for their meal.I would never let them buy a meal if I was around.
So, and I have more respect as I've interviewed different veterans.I told you about one gentleman who still has 36 pieces of shrapnel in him.His name's Fred Hellman. terrific interview.
I had to kind of go in a different direction towards the end because I felt he was in a bad place, getting a little emotional and we started talking about other things.
But another one that was really interesting, retired from the Air Force and he does some consulting work now and he's president of a local country club, but he did everything
including espionage, and his last tour of duty, he was with the group that planned the Bin Laden raid.So, yeah.
And still a young guy, but just, and I don't know, I think I did 12 or 15 veteran interviews, and I remember the one I said, I told him, I said, you know what, I know how you are, keep your potty mouth to yourself, because I don't edit.
He said, don't worry, I'll go on.That lasted about five minutes. But I just, everything that we can do, I can do for veterans and some of the non-profits, I do.I've been fortunate in life.
I, you know, it has to be more by treasure than by actions because I, you know, I've got a bad knee and I just, I can't do the things I could do five or 10 years ago.
Okay.Come on.That's understandable.But, you know, um, yeah, just, uh, You mentioned, you know, the one vet who you had to kind of go a different direction at the end there.I invited another vet to come on the podcast.
I had talked to him probably four or five months ago when I first thought about doing this.And I thought, you know what, Veterans Day is, I mean, before I know it, it's going to be here.So I wanted to make sure I planned.
And I knew we had some vets in the church.And so obviously, you saw Ronnie, and I invited him and he was just gung-ho right from the beginning.But there was another gentleman that I had talked to, and he also served in Vietnam.
And when I mentioned it to him, I, you know, I said, Hey, you know, I'd love to have you come on my podcast.
And when it gets closer to Veterans Day, I want to celebrate, you know, veterans and, and, you know, say thanks and bring recognition to your service.And he kind of like looked at me and he's like, Whoa, Ben, I don't know about that.
You know, I still I'm dealing with a lot of stuff.And he's like, you know, 82 years old.And, and, but I'm writing a book.And, you know, I'm trying to document all this stuff.And I'm trying to get it out later the in this year.
And I said, Okay, that's look, that's fine.Understandable.I'm not going to ask you again, I said, just know the offer is still there.The offer stands. But I don't want you to feel any pressure coming from me.I want the decision to be wholly yours.
And the following week, he sees me at church.He calls me over.He says, hey, have you met my wife?Nope.He introduces me to his wife.She says, oh yeah, Mel was telling me about your podcast.So what is it exactly you want to do?
And I explained it to her. And she said, yeah, you know, he's dealing with a lot.And I just had to tell her the same thing.Listen, that's fine.I understand.I said, if he gets the book out, that'd be even better to come on.We can talk about the book.
we can we you know he can talk about his experience whatever he wants to do but listen again this is i'm not asking again you guys will have to come to me and i he either forgot because he's 82 years old or um or he just just hasn't been able been able to kind of come to terms with that and you have to maybe
I guess, talk about it in little dribs and drabs, maybe and not kind of, you know, spill your guts all at one time.I'm not sure.
Well, you know, Fred Hellman, the guy told you to still have 36 pieces of shrapnel.It's it's therapeutic for him.He gives talks at library and everything.And it keeps his mind off of it.
But I had, several of my uncles were in World War II, and several of Nancy's uncles were in World War II.But back in the 70s, my uncle Art, have you heard of the bridge at Morrogan, Remagen?
Okay, well anyway, this was a bridge that The Germans were trying to keep open to transport troops and tanks and such.And the US and Brits were trying to just blow it off the map.So this bridge at Moraga, my uncle was a medic.
And they were, for the Germans, they wanted to shoot the medics so they couldn't give aid, but then they found out they were giving aid to the Germans too, so he got through all this. And it was a terrible experience.It was a bloodbath.
So in the 70s, my uncle lived in Cincinnati.He was still alive, and I had aunts.So I had a couple uncles and a couple aunts come down to Batesville, our home.And I got Art aside.He was drinking a beer. And I said, Art, let me ask you something.
You never, ever talk about World War II.I said, I was a little kid when we were at my grandmother's house and you got out of a cab with a duffel bag over your shoulder after World War II.He said, I can't talk about it.I still have nightmares.
Now, so then, When he died, he was a bachelor when he died and he had this little apartment.My one cousin went down to check out anything and see if there was anything that they wanted to salvage or give to the Salvation Army or St.
Vincent de Paul or anybody.And he found this box and since World War II, every president sent him a Christmas card.Now, we never, I mean, George Bush and Trump sent me Christmas cards because I gave money to their campaign.
He never gave a dime to a political party. And I just find that remarkable.And I know he wasn't a Medal of Honor winner, but he did something extraordinary for him to get from 1945 to when he died in the late 70s a Christmas card every year.
That is, that's beautiful.You know, going back to what you're talking about, you know, World War II, you know, it must have really, really just been something.
And, uh, before I get into it, I, you know, before we started, I sent you some photographs as well.Like I told you, I discussed them a little bit and those photographs, I'll put them on the screen here as well.Um, the very first one that is, uh,
My mother's biological father, he served in the army.He was an MP, just like you, Larry.He was in an accident and he died while on duty.And that happened before my mother was born.So my grandmother was still pregnant with my mom when that happened.
So she never got to even meet her dad. biological in any way.And then my grandmother married this gentleman right here, who served in the Navy.So I guess you can see where my grandmother was going.She liked a man and a woman.So he served in the Navy.
And then I don't know if I ever shared this one with you before, but my dad, he served in World War II.My dad would have been 101 this year. And he served on a destroyer in the Pacific.
And so that's the next photo I'm showing on the screen is the third one I sent you.It's my dad in his blues and it says Huntington, West Virginia above his head.
Yeah, it's, you know, there's a, let's see, the second, this other one here, another larger photo, that's kind of, it almost looks like a Navy mug shot, but, you know, there's, there's dad right there as well.
And sorry, I'm a professional broadcaster, I just knocked over my microphone. Anyway, so then the third one I sent you, it's a much smaller photo.I'll try to zoom in my camera here for the people at home.
It's a picture of my dad in his blues, and he loved photography, so he's holding a camera right there.Now, the reason why I want...
You know, I just wanted to show you these because, again, I'm celebrating veterans, whether they are my family, your family, or anyone else's family.I'm celebrating them.
But you brought something up that has really just, it's made me think over the years, Larry, World War II was something else.It didn't matter because we were fighting on two fronts, the Pacific and we were fighting in Europe as well.
And there was a lot of stuff that went down and you You know, we bring up PTSD a lot when we talk about our veterans, and it's a serious thing.And back then, you know, it wasn't called PTSD.It was called shell shock or something, you know?
And so my dad, he was, I guess, you know, guys from that generation, men didn't talk about their feelings.They didn't talk about things that they were going through dealing with or whatever.
And I believe that I don't know for a fact, but you just have to kind of look back and analyze things.And I think my dad found solace in the bottom of an alcohol bottle.And he was an incredible belligerent alcoholic.
And when I was growing up, I never I mean, I, I'll be honest, the only thing I really ever heard my dad talk about when it came to serving in World War Two was he served on a destroyer.I loved it.
Actually, I love that his he had the the Navy tattoo on his forearm just like Popeye. So I always dug that.And I wear his ring.I wear his Navy ring on my finger.
I don't do it all the time, but I am doing it this week, and I'm showing it to the camera.But I've got my dad's Navy ring that I'm proud to own it.I'm proud that he served, but I always wonder
why it was he couldn't cope with the things that happened.
Like I said, the only thing I ever remember him mentioning was he served on a destroyer, obviously during World War II, and that he saw some of his buddies die, you know, standing right next to him, that stuff like that.And that was basically it.
Like you had said, talking about this stuff, you know, some men don't realize it, but talking about your stuff, getting it out, it can be quite therapeutic.
It's just the guys back then, even really until recently, until probably the last 40 to 50 years, guys didn't talk about what they were thinking, no matter what.
Well, you know, something that I have said, I guess since maybe in my 20s, I've always said, George Washington and his ragtag troops that he got from farmers, the shop owners, and everything.
If it wasn't for them, we would be having tea and crumpets at happy hour.I mean, he saved the country, but the greatest generation saved the world.
And we would be bowing before a king.
Yeah, but they saved the world.And that's not only the ones in the service.I'm talking about women working in factories and keeping the home front running and everything.
But there has never, ever been, and we will probably never see a generation like this again.I mean, it's just a...
And yeah, it's unfortunate.
I mean, my dad passed away at 75, but I thought it was just a beautiful thing at the, we're not gonna get political here, but I thought it was a beautiful thing at the NRC when that World War II vet, 98 years old, stood in front of that microphone and said his piece.
And the one thing I loved most about it is that, you know, he said, America is... I'm sorry, I'm getting... What?I'm sorry, I'm just getting emotional here.I'm sorry.
I apologize.I don't mean to be a ball bag here, but he said, you know, America is our home. And when he finished his speech, he said, God bless our home.
Yeah, that's those words.Yeah.Yeah.That's really does work.You know, the sad thing, you mentioned World War II vets. flight.It's been seven or eight years ago.And there were eight World War II vets.Now some of them have one or none.
So, you know, in another few years, nobody's going to be And the problem is I don't think the younger people understand what an impact that that generation, you know, when World War II was over, they had to come back and adjust to civilian life.
General, well, Dwight D. Eisenhower was probably the most underrated president in history.And besides establishing 45,000 miles of interstate highway, he was a calming effect.
On veterans, you saw homeowner growth that people never dreamed that they could own a home.And that was tough to come back from because we lost a half million people.And when Harry Truman dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki,
That was a tremendous decision that he had to make because there was so much collateral damage.
But he was advised by generals that if they would have invaded Japan, it would extend the war for another seven to 12 months and a half million more troops would bite the dust. And that's, and you know, a lot of people thought that was terrible.
But can you imagine him, that he had to make that decision on killing innocent people to keep more of our people from dying?I mean, it's just, you know.
No, it's a decision that, I'm sure you or I are happy we'll never be in that position to have to make.
But see, going back to something we talked about very early on in our conversation, we were talking about President Trump and the stuff that the media, the leftist media, just never wants the American people to know.But there was that,
It was one of our, one of our drones that was shot down by Iran.Um, I don't recall what year it was and he had his staff, uh, I think at the time was John Kelly still and advising him, you know, giving him all his plan.Okay.
We're going to attack here.We're going to do this.We're going to do that.We're going to drop a bomb here.And what did, what did president Trump do?He asked, what is the what's the collateral damage in this?And how much is it going to cost in lives?
And they came back and said, this is how much it's going to cost in lives.There's going to be collateral damage, innocent people.And he said, You know what, one of our stinking drones isn't worth that.
We will take you on and delay in another manner. Well, you know, he's a warmonger though.
A lot of politicians are because they're, you know, you know how many, when you, when you look at Washington, you know, the, there's so much corruption going on in there.And when you got people in big pharma and,
You know, and any of the weapons, the ammo companies, all this other stuff. They just keep, they shouldn't be allowed to even have anyone talking to anyone in Congress or anyone connected as far as a quid pro thing.It's awful.
But the lobbyists, there are 2,000 lobbyists in Washington.
Now, I think there should be a law, I think it should be a felony if anyone in Congress or connected with Congress or the administration to ever speak to a lobbyist and I think lobbyists should be barred from Washington.
Amen to that.Okay, I want to move on a little bit more in your in your story, okay, you were a small business owner, you no longer own your small business.So why don't you share with us what that was?
Okay, what would happen?I, when I came out of the army, I sold life insurance, Metropolitan Life Insurance. Okay, and we start raising a family.
And I'm thinking, you know, most of my work is done at night, I set up appointments during the day, the husband has to be there working days.So selling insurance, and I thought, I've got to get away from this.So I want to work for Sun Oil Company.
And I was a the first non-college graduate that they hired in 16 years throughout the company.And I had a good run there.And I did some things for Sun Oil Company, but they were this conservative Philadelphia company.
And there were some guys that were territory managers. They would pull me out of my territory and send somebody else in, so I would lease service stations for these guys making three times the amount of money that I was making.
And I did a couple of neat things that made Sun Oil Company a lot of money.And I thought, I just can't live with this, what they're paying me and what they're paying people, not for performance, but for longevity.So I eventually,
I came home one night, we had a daughter that was, let's see, she was two years old, I think.We had another daughter that was 12 months old, and then we had an infant that was two weeks old. So we're two, we're Irish twins.
One was born January and one was born December.So anyhow, I came home.
I came home one evening and I said, hey, Nance, I'm going in business.And she said, what?I'm going in business?She said, am I going to have to go back to work?She's an RN.I said, no, that won't happen.So anyway, we had just bought a
home, put $1,500 down on a house, and I had about 500 bucks in a bank account.But my time with Sun Oil Company I had a good relationship with a loan officer at a local bank in Cincinnati.It was called Central Trust.
And he eventually became president of the bank.So I got to perform a statement on how much money I was going to make and everything. This was back in 1965.Yeah, 65 is when I went into business.
So I sat down with him and told him what I was going to do.And I handed him this, I don't know, maybe a 20-page proof of form, a thing that I've written up.And he said, I'm not going to look at that.He said, I want to know two things.
I want to know, number one. how much money are you gonna make?Number two, at the time I'm gonna borrow $5,000.And I said, and number two, how are you gonna pay me back?I said, I'm gonna pay you back within a year.
And I said, I'm gonna make $36,000 my first year.Well, the average wage in 1965 was $6,900 a year. And he looked at me and he said, if you can make that kind of money, I'll go to work for you.I said, no thanks.
But I said, I'll tell you what, if I make that money, you can buy me a steak dinner at the Masonette, which was a real high-end restaurant in Cincinnati. So the first year, I made $39,000.I paid him off in five months.
Shell Oil Company, I borrowed $5,000 from, or no, that wasn't, I borrowed enough money for a 10,000 gallon load of gas.I think it was about $4,500 or something like that at the time.Gas was cheap. And I paid them off at a penny a gallon.
I think I paid them off in six months or something like that.So after that, I figured Standard Oil had its Ohio stations in Ohio. And they had about, I don't know, maybe 400 or 500.
And I thought, jeez, I think if they can do that, I could run maybe 10 of them or something.But anyway, to make a long story short, by one business in 65, I think the year might have been 1970, 69 or 70,
By then I had 17 different businesses and 200 people working for me.
So now all these businesses were not in the same field.
No difference.I had service stations.I was in the parts business.In fact, I designed a franchise.I sold three franchises, one in Cleveland, one in Indianapolis, one in Cincinnati.I had budget rent a car.I, a lot of, a lot of different things.
so because my my dad was an auto mechanic by trade and he was at one time he was in the late 60s he was a union oil guysy and then um by 75
Yeah, by 75 he became a and it was standard oil at the time now Chevron, but he became a standard oil franchisee then and I like to tell people this is when they were they were service stations.They weren't gas stations.
You went in and got gas you get your car worked on you didn't go get gas and go get a soda.
Right, that's what my thing was.And the thing is, once you get into that part of the book, I met some terrific, interesting people.And anyway, after, I guess it was, we decided, we're outgrowing our home in Cincinnati.
wasn't a real problem, but I didn't want to get a postage stamp lot for a bigger house.So what we decided to do, I had bought 41 acres in Batesville in 1970, and it was just sitting there.And so I thought, wow. Let's build a house.
So we built this home, gave them a year to build it, and once we moved to Batesville, one thing led to another, and I start the vesting of businesses in Cincinnati.
One was over a big disagreement with Shell Oil Company that I sued them under the Robinson Patent Act for antitrust violation, and the judge came back with such a favorable opinion, they negotiated a settlement with me.
And anyway, but it goes on and on, but eventually when we, I wound up with going into the motorcycle business in Batesville.A friend of mine that had a Honda dealership in Greensburg wound up with terminal cancer.
He asked me if I wanted to buy the business.I bought that business, consolidated everything.Greensburg's 15 miles. from Batesville.Anyway, we had a good ride at that.I've done a lot of things in business over the years.Met some tremendous people.
One of my favorite was a fellow by the name of Roy was a customer of mine, and he had a company, it was Wine Gartner and Hammonds, and Roy was a plumbing contractor in St.Louis building a Holiday Inn.
His partner, they had key man insurance, his partner dropped dead, Roy took that money to buy the Holiday Inn. And he wound up with, I think he had 37 on his own, and with his partner, Hammonds, they hit another 19.
And Roy came over to me one day, and he said, and he was a Southern guy, and he said, hey, Red, he said, you won't go in the holiday inn business.I said, Roy, you're out of your mind.I don't know anything about it.He said, you don't have to.
He said, I'll help you.He said, you see that big holiday inn across the street from you?Yeah.He said, you know how much money I said, how much, Roy?He said, the bank owns the rest of it.He says, we're partners.He said, the day I opened, I made money.
I said, Roy, I've got a fairly large family.I'm content.He said, if you change your mind, let me know.Well, Roy Weingartner went on not only all these holiday inns, but he
sold them all to Holiday Inns of America and he was named, made president of the company and retained the labor contract for management of all the Holiday Inns.I'm thinking maybe I should have listened to that guy.
I mean, come on.Do you still live on the same 41-acre lot you bought way back then?
Well, no, because two of my sons built homes on part of it.And in fact, what I did years ago, I took a tractor and I built a motocross track in the back.And the boys and I used to ride dirt bikes back there.
And so what I did, since I never go in the backfields anymore, I think I've got 11 acres left and my two sons got the rest of it.They use the back.They want it. And over the years, I've timbered enough good wood, good trees off of it.
And you have to do that to keep sunlight from keeping other trees from growing.I've paid for the property that I bought by three times over.So it's good. I wouldn't change a thing.
We love Cincinnati, but I'm telling you what, when you get in, this town of Batesville is 7,800 people.And this is, people are the salt of the earth.I mean, this is just a great community.
The only drawback is you can never talk about anybody because most of these people are all related one way or another. But it has really been a great ride for me and for my wife and the family.
When I was 80 years old, I threw a party for myself at Izzy's, a restaurant in the country club, and we had 207 people there.And so when I turned 85, this was kind of funny.
I'm sitting there watching football, and my son Matt, we were thinking about going out, just having a nice dinner or something.So my son Matt, who lives next door, he said, hey, why don't Jill and I bring over a pizza and watch some football games?
I said, okay.So anyway, I'm sitting there watching football, And I heard my wife talking to my daughter-in-law, Jill, Matt's wife.And she said, they all call me Poppy.She said, hey, Poppy, can you come here a minute?So I walk in the kitchen.
There's 41 people standing.They're all relatives, OK?Wishing me a happy birthday.And I said, what?I'm looking.And Nancy said, my wife said, Didn't you hear anything?I said, I was watching football.Said, you didn't hear anybody come in?
I said, no, I was watching football.And they still can't understand it.And then there was little kids that were being quiet and everything.So anyway, they had a surprise birthday party on me.And my wife said, you know, you're really gullible.
You don't know anything that's going on.You might know a lot about businesses, but you don't know anything about personalities and what things are going on around you.You're just in the dark.
I could do this the rest of the afternoon over here.I really honestly could.But at some point, we have to let our listeners and our viewers get on with their.
Oh, absolutely.Yeah, because we're we're in an hour and 30 some minutes, I think so.
Yeah, we are.So so but listen, this is what I want to do.I don't want to let you go without mentioning your second book here.Okay, it's called.It's called Batesville shooter and friends.And I'll let I'll let everybody in on it.
It's it's Larry and all kinds of his buddies and they give like they give their personal review on certain firearms, you know, specific ones.There's, I mean, this, this book is bigger than your first book.
And so it's just got just all kinds of stuff in here.And, um, just let me know that I got that right.Everyone's given their own little review.
Well, I did most of the reviews are on my gun collection.Uh, I had, I think 20 different people or 22.I can't remember how many.And, um, It was a lot of fun.It's a lot of work because I had to take all the photos.
I had to send in the script separate than the photos and dealing with four female authors that have never published a gun book before.So it was more work than the first one.
It also, I ordered a lot of books because, again, I told you, veterans, that's my thing.So what I did, I guess two years ago, or it might have been three, but I had Honor Flight Tri-State in Wichita, Cincinnati.
and Honor Flight Columbus, Ohio, I donated 1,100 books.So every member that went out on a flight that year Every veteran got a free book and I dedicated it, you know, thanks for your service and all that and just signed my name to them.
And I got so many thank you notes and stuff from people. that I never will meet, but I've never met a veteran that didn't like a gun.
And I've got a little arthritis in my hand, so I haven't been shooting a lot lately, but I've built a 200-yard range, and I've got, I own 125 guns, rifles, ARs, pistols, revolvers.And-
I told my kids, now, you can do what you want with this gun collection, but if you start selling them and not keeping them among yourselves, if it's not raining and you feel some liquid hitting you on the head from the heavens, guess what's happening?
So, Larry, you have a website, it's simply larry reid.net.That's l a r y r e i d y.net.Yes.And if people go on to your website, they that'll link them to your podcast.It'll link them to where they can buy your books, right?
or they can, my phone number, they can text me and I've done this before for people.If somebody wants a book, I'll send it to them, I'll send them a bill with a return envelope and they can send me a check.
I mean, it's not, and I've never been stiffed yet. It's, yeah, and the thing is, on the website, I don't know who your host is, but Podbean's mine, and every one of my podcasts is on site.And if somebody is in the veteran mood,
What I would recommend, I recommend all the veterans, but I think this Fred Hellman, the guy with the 36 shrapnel in the system, would be a good one to go to.
So if they go to listen and it comes up, and they'll see several of my podcasts, if they go up into the search thing, you know, with the little round ball, and if they type in Fred Hellman,
or episode 24, that pulled Fred Hellman up, and if they want to type in Seth Shields or, wait a minute, I'm sorry, it's episode V5, V for veterans for Fred Hellman, and on Seth Shields it's episode V8, or just type incest shield and come up.
And all the veterans are good ones.But if somebody doesn't want to scroll 300 and some podcast to pick something out, although I've really You might appreciate this one, too.I borrowed this from another podcast.
And, you know, there's evil in the world, and I've always been kind of skeptical, even after seeing the movie The Exorcist.Right.
There's a, I'm Roman Catholic, there's a parish priest in Brookville, Indiana, who is also the Archdiocese of Indianapolis exorcist.And he trained in Rome and everything.And the guy's a great speaker and such.
But I'll tell you, I was spellbound for about a half hour, 45 minutes, whatever it was.And he was talking about witnessing this priest.He said, most of the people are crazy.And he said, there's no doubt about it.
But he said, there's evil in the world.And he said, he was witnessing this one priest and this priest is reading prayers over the demon inside this person, and the chair start going up in the air.And he said he was ready to run out of the room.
And he said, the exorcist doing with the prayers, he didn't miss a beat.He grabbed the guy by the head and slammed him, slammed the chair back on the floor, and then threw holy water in his face.
But there's so many, and I've had so many interesting people on, some that I knew, but I really didn't know them.And the funny thing is, and I'm sure you're aware of this,
When you start interviewing some people, like Seth Shields' wife said, oh, glad he did that podcast.You know more about him than I do.They tend to open up.And I'm sure you found that too, that people will open up once they're comfortable with you.
And that's, I think, that's the, for me, like, that's the bottom line in doing this.
I don't consider any, anyone that has come in studio or streamed or been over the phone like you and I, I don't consider any of this to be interviews or just conversations.And I, I feel like I,
I never want to ask a question that can be answered yes or no.I always want to leave it open-ended so that the guest can really express themselves.And in some cases, I don't even pose a question.I'll just
I'll just say something on a particular subject and then kind of lead them into it and just let them go.Right.
Well, one thing, too, you know, when you're interviewing a person, he's actually doing a mini autobiography of himself.Yeah.Yeah.And I think it was September of 2022, one of my best friends did a podcast with him.Two months later, he dropped dead.
So I'm at his celebration of life and his daughter, Missy, came up to me and thanked me for him on the podcast.And I noticed she had a laptop computer on a table.
And I showed her how to bring up the podcast and to, you know, there's a little thing that you can just copy it and she could put it on her computer or put it in a thumb drive or whatever.I said, just stop and think.
My mother died when I was nine years old.I have no idea what her voice sounded like. Now, won't it be nice that years from now, somebody can look at old pictures of great, great Grandpa Jack and listen to his life?
And I have tried to get everyone that I've interviewed to make them aware that this is available and it's very important that you part of your legacy that you leave behind.
leave a voice so people who never ever had a chance to know you or to know about things during your time, it's very important.And that's one of the reasons I keep doing this.
I want people, there's three million podcasters in the world and a lot of people.
There might be three billion, Larry.
Well, but you know, the thing is, you're like me, there's no editing, I don't have any advertisers, I don't want any advertisers, and this is not a non-profit, it's a negative profit.You're always spending money on equipment.
I have yet to see a return on my investment.
But you know, I told my wife, I said, well, you just stop thinking, it keeps me out of bars.So anyway, but we're going to wind up, we might have the longest podcast yet.I think we're about an hour, pushing an hour and 50 minutes.
Yeah, you know, listen, I guess I could go for another hour and a half here.But I'll tell you what, Larry, this has been an absolute joy to do this.And I wish I was looking at your face right now.
I wish I was able to string you in, but I understand the Wi-Fi situation way out there in Batesville.
So, but you know what?This has been just, I'm tickled to do this.It's a great way to wrap up my celebration of veterans.This will post and I'll give everybody a peek behind the curtain.
I have to be at work at 10 o'clock tonight, so I probably will not be posting this tonight.10 o'clock?Wow.
So you work the light shift.
Yeah, I was in church and I'm getting text messages.Hey, we need you to come in.Can you come in?Like, Oh, gosh.So, you know, it's fine.It's fine.It's not a big deal.But here's the thing.
So it will get posted by tomorrow, which is fine, because it's still Veterans Day, I will make sure this is out in the it'll be out on YouTube, it'll be out, I'll have posted on my Facebook, it's going to post
on Buzzsprout, which is the service I use, Larry.
That's a good one.Buzzsprout's a good one.
Yeah, they distribute to a lot of those streaming platforms for me.So it's great.So it's available everywhere.And I'll make sure it gets out there. Again, it's just been an absolute pleasure.
Here's the deal, Larry, I don't know how much you travel anymore.Yeah, okay.So look, I don't have a problem.I'm going to be coming to you.Okay, I'm going to be coming to you.
And and you and I, we're going to go out and we are going to, we're going to have some pizza. And we're going to have a bourbon or a barrel aged stout.And then our review on these things.Okay.
Wonderful craft brewery run right here.
reviews.And so we're going to do I love it. And I thank you for having me on your show.Uh, this, your, your podcast is actually my first time being a guest on anyone's, uh, show.So thank you.
Well, this is going to be fun.And I'm going to post this tonight on mine.And the reason, cause I'm going to be at this restaurant tomorrow, signing books and little Charlie's that we do the free drinks every year.And, uh,
So I'm going to be I'm by the time I'm done with that, I won't have time to post it in the morning, I've got to load up the books, take the books and get ready, because he opens up at 11.And I'm usually up at 630 or seven in the morning.And
So when you, you're going to close out and when you're closing out, I'm going to listen to that, keep that recording.And then when you're off air, I'm going to close out with the national anthem, which I always do.
Oh, that's beautiful.Just let it play.I'll let it play through.Let me quote, let me, let me put in my clothes, hang with me and we'll play the national anthem.It'd be great way for me to close out my portion of veterans day weekend.Okay.
All right, Larry.So, folks, yes, I know you can wipe your brow.You can go to the restroom.We're wrapping it here. Thanks for being here.Just to remind everyone, this program is available on all the streaming platforms.
Just search the Ben Maynard program.You'll see all the options you have to choose from.If you want to go to Buzzsprout, please do so.That's where my website is, okay?
However, if you're watching on YouTube and you have endured this, God bless you and thank you for doing it, all right?Larry's been great. Um, but if you're watching on YouTube, then please subscribe to the channel.Okay.
Give me a thumbs up and leave a comment.All right.Last but not least, follow me on Instagram, simply Ben Maynard program, all one word.All right. So again, I'm letting you people go, all right?
I'm just gonna say my goodbye, and we're gonna let the national anthem play, okay?So listen up, folks, all right?God bless you.This is the Ben Maynard program.Tell a friend.
I want to thank everybody for listening.I want to especially thank Ben for the honor of being a guest on his program. God bless you.God bless the United States of America.And we're going out with the national anthem.
And I will talk to you on the next podcast.Thanks again.And I can't thank Ben enough for honoring me being on his program.
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