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00:00Welcome to Operation Healing Heroes. Join us today as we feature Army and Air Force veteran
00:09Lucas and Danae D'Pierre. These are the faces of heroes. Many still bearing the invisible wounds
00:20of war, PTSD, and trauma. I left Vietnam, but Vietnam never left me. That's how I'm living.
00:32Why did I come back? Why are they gone and I'm not? You know, what have I done to deserve
00:40to be here? Our mission is listening and hearing, helping and healing for those who sacrificed
00:50and those who continue to sacrifice. The mission today and every day is Operation Healing Heroes.
01:01Brought to you by Great Clips. Just off Manasota Key in beautiful southwest Florida, you'll
01:14find the aquamarine waters of Lemon Bay. Today, we'll be spending some time
01:20around Stump Pass, enjoying the scenic waterways, the abundant wildlife, and of course, the world-class
01:27fishing. For Lucas and Danae D'Pierre, raising their son Everett in southwest Florida is a
01:34welcome change from the cold wetters of New Hampshire. Yeah, it's basically vacation every
01:40day and a lot of our friends and family, I don't think, I think they stopped replying to
01:45our Snapchats and our texts of the pool and in the beach. I don't know if it's just overkill.
01:52I mean, it's never too much for us. We can't get over it every single day. It's amazing to live here.
01:57The community is incredible as well. So I know we've been living in our beach walk community now
02:03for a while and we absolutely love it. What's not to love, right? But I'm interested in learning more
02:09about your military service and the time that you guys spent defending our freedom in our country.
02:13So I'm really excited about today. I mean, I know it's about fishing and catching fish and going swimming
02:17and having fun, but I'm really excited about learning more about what you guys did for our country
02:22and provided us with this, which is absolutely awesome.
02:25We're excited to tell you. Looking forward to it. Yeah.
02:28My parents went through a pretty rough divorce. My dad was military the whole time I was growing up.
02:37So your dad was all, was an air force guy and you wound up in the army. How'd that work?
02:41Um, I was a very confident person. Just kind of didn't like people telling me what to do.
02:50And if I set my mind to something, I was just going to do it.
02:53Good for you. Miss independent type person. I still am.
02:56Um, but essentially I, I wanted to do something badass.
03:03I wanted to do something. If I was going to go for it, I was going to go for it.
03:08And I felt like I wanted to go all in and, um, potentially get into some of the crazy stuff.
03:15And I have always been an adrenaline junkie. And so I felt like that was more me.
03:19Yeah. I wasn't really trying to have a steady career or anything at that point.
03:24If I wanted that, I probably would have taken a different route.
03:27Um, but I was looking for adventure and I thought that army would be more of an adventure.
03:33But my dad almost killed me when he figured out that I did that and that I didn't go the air force or, um.
03:41Something safe.
03:42Oh yeah. So his, his reaction was, why are you doing that?
03:46He was not happy with me at first.
03:49And your answer was to what?
03:51I said, I don't need to be treated like a princess dad.
03:54I'm pretty sure it was my response.
03:57And he said, all right, we'll talk in a few years.
03:59And then I got deployed to overseas and then we, we talked a few years later.
04:04Lucas would join the military after encouragement from Danae.
04:09What really got serious for me is when Danae and I started to kind of reconnect.
04:14She told me to go in the air force cause, uh, it's better.
04:17She even admitted that.
04:18Um, we get hotels, um, you know, sleep out in tents.
04:21Um, the food's better and all that.
04:23So we, she actually brought me to the recruiter.
04:27Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Great Clips,
04:33Craval Boats, and by Suzuki Marine.
04:38Operation Healing Heroes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the lives of our U.S. military veterans.
04:49In addition, we also provide financial support and treatment for post-traumatic stress.
04:54Your donation will help heal our heroes.
04:57Hello, my name is Roger Taylor.
05:06I'm with Craval Boats.
05:07And I want to let you know that we are proud sponsors of Operation Healing Heroes.
05:11A lot of people know us for fishability on our hybrid boats.
05:14But I got to tell you, we are a family-oriented fishing boat.
05:18Look at what we're doing here today.
05:20We're getting out on the sandbar.
05:21We got these unique people out here that have served our country.
05:25And we really are very, very proud of them.
05:28Get your family, get your grandkids out here, whoever it may be, your friends.
05:32Just come and enjoy the day on a Craval Boat.
05:34So do you attribute your success now as an individual in the workforce to your military career?
05:40A thousand percent.
05:41It really set a lot of good discipline in me and, you know, helped my morale and confidence in that sense.
05:50And actually really kind of propelled me to be like a leader in a sense.
05:54Again, Danae was one that really helped me get to that point too.
05:58She didn't, you know, she was encouraging about it.
06:01It showed me the benefit of it and it brought a lot out of me that wasn't at the forefront for sure.
06:07It was Danae's father, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, who would swear her in to the United States Army.
06:14It was a good moment.
06:15It was probably the first moment that I felt really connected to my dad in a long time.
06:19And I think our bond really grew because we had something in common for the first time that I remember in my life.
06:25I did end up leaving three days after I graduated high school.
06:29So I remember my mom through a combination graduation slash Danae going away to the military party.
06:37And I was young and right out of high school.
06:40And I was, I was gone.
06:42So tell me about basic training.
06:44So I went into basic, you know, ready to go.
06:49Yeah.
06:50Hot out the gate, just so confident.
06:52And I was strong from being a gymnast.
06:55I could do push-ups just like the guys.
06:57I was physically very fit, very confident mentally.
07:01And it wasn't long into basic that I ended up getting a blister on my heel just from the boots.
07:10They give you, you know, standard issue boots and we marched a lot.
07:15It doesn't seem like a big deal, right?
07:18So I kept an eye on it and then it kept growing and getting worse.
07:23And I went to my drill sergeant and I said, hey, I noticed some other people have had to go to sick call.
07:30I've seen some other people go for blisters.
07:31Do I need to go?
07:32Can you just check this out?
07:33And the response I got was, I thought you were one of the tough ones.
07:38Like I was counting on you to be one of the women that is not trying to take the easy road or cry baby and all that.
07:49Right.
07:50There was a change in the demeanor of my drill sergeant as soon as I asked if I could basically.
07:56Get this checked out.
07:57Get it checked out.
07:58So for me, I didn't want to disappoint anybody.
08:01I thought, wow, they believe in me.
08:04They think I can be one of the good ones.
08:05So I'm going to try to power through.
08:08So I said, oh, never mind.
08:10Right.
08:11And I went back and we kept marching and the blister kept getting worse and worse.
08:15And I went again and said, hey, it's getting worse.
08:18Should I go now?
08:19No, you're fine.
08:21It's a blister.
08:22You're a soldier, you know?
08:25And then I woke up one morning and it wasn't just a blister anymore.
08:29It was my whole foot was infected very badly and all sorts of colors that it shouldn't be.
08:36And I had blood clots trailing up my leg.
08:39And I said, now should I go?
08:42And the look changed a lot.
08:47Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Great Clips.
08:52Beach Walk by Manasota Key.
08:55And by Blue Water Boat Club.
08:58I don't think there's any fish left in that rod.
09:04Did you know that there's fish in rods?
09:06Did you know that?
09:07There's only like so many fish that you can catch in one rod.
09:09And then after that, you got to retire the rod.
09:11Did you know that?
09:13Did you know that?
09:16If you'd like to see more behind the scenes footage, follow us on social media and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
09:24If you'd like to learn more and go deeper into the subject of healing, tune in to the all new Operation Healing Heroes podcast, Feel the Heal.
09:32Hear from veterans, first responders, doctors, nonprofit leaders, and Gold Star families as they share powerful stories of hope, healing, and resiliency.
09:41Tune in and feel the heal.
09:43After being sent to the hospital for a severely infected foot, Danae was sent back to her unit in a walking boot and expected to continue marching.
09:59I was in one of those little raised walking boots and trying to keep up and continuing to go to my doctor's appointments.
10:06And I'm trying to march with my group and over time, my hip started hurting, the opposite hip from that boot.
10:14Trying to compensate.
10:15I was compensating, leaning, and it didn't feel right.
10:18So I ended up graduating basic training. I got through everything that I needed to, but my hip didn't feel right going into AIT.
10:29My confidence was shot. I didn't feel the way that I did when I came in.
10:35Essentially, I ended up then compensating for my hip to my opposite foot.
10:42So my opposite foot started having issues.
10:45I was kind of a hot mess when I got into AIT mentally, physically.
10:50And from there, I struggled a lot in my training.
10:56I ended up having to be at appointments for my hip, my foot, bone scans, MRIs,
11:02all these things trying to figure out what was going on.
11:05And I just lost all of that confidence in myself and got to a pretty dark spot at one point in my training.
11:17I ended up reclassing to a different job.
11:22So that kind of deflates the whole ego as far as wanting to do what you joined the military for.
11:28Right.
11:29Yeah, I joined the military to be a medic. I wanted to do that. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,
11:36the coolest job that you could have. And then my whole reason for joining really was gone.
11:44I was in logistics from that point, which I didn't want to do logistics.
11:49I don't care about working in a warehouse. I was, you know, the whole reason was gone.
11:55And I was deflated. And my past started creeping in.
11:59And I ended up eventually, I actually tried to commit suicide.
12:06I've never told anybody that besides him.
12:09Oh, my gosh.
12:10Um, failed.
12:12Thank God. Luckily.
12:14Thank God.
12:15I'm sorry to hear that.
12:18Sorry.
12:20Don't be.
12:26But, oh, when that didn't work, thank God.
12:35Um, it set a light, you know, a fire inside of me to get back to that person that I remember,
12:56who was confident and nothing could touch her.
13:01And, uh...
13:06Look at you now.
13:08See, God has plans for all of us.
13:10Yeah.
13:11So, um, from there I said, listen, I'm never going to slack in school again.
13:17I'm never going to give it half effort ever again.
13:20Mm-hmm.
13:24Um...
13:25And I ended up for this stupid logistics job that I never wanted.
13:29I ended up as the honor grad and I put my mind to it and I said, you know what?
13:34I'm here now.
13:35I have no choice.
13:36This is what I'm doing, so I'm just going to do it.
13:38Faster.
13:39Give it all I got.
13:40And, uh...
13:41Good for you.
13:42And that's how I try to do everything now.
13:44It's like I got a second chance, I guess, right?
13:47Yep.
13:48And so that's how I try to live my life now and...
13:53Good for you.
13:54Not that I'm glad that that happened, but I don't think I would be as strong as I am now.
13:59Two quick things.
14:06Losing one veteran to suicide is too many.
14:09Statistics say that up to 22 veterans a day take their own lives.
14:13Operation Healing Heroes can help.
14:15Number two, we need your help.
14:17We can't do it alone.
14:18Log on to OperationHealingHeroes.org and help us in our mission to continue healing our heroes.
14:25Warrior Canine Connection.
14:28Enlist recovering warriors in a therapeutic mission of learning to train service dogs for their fellow veterans.
14:35Visit WarriorCanineConnection.org for more information.
14:40If you'd like to personally thank a veteran that you've seen in one of our episodes
14:44or nominate a veteran to be featured in a future episode, log on to our website, OperationHealingHeroes.org.
14:51Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Battle Born Batteries, Wiley X, and by Hoist Hydration.
15:06After her unsuccessful suicide attempt, a switch had flipped inside of Danae.
15:13Feeling like her old self again, Danae would qualify as an expert marksman, earning her the nickname, Top Shot, in her battalion.
15:22I actually got the nickname with my leadership, Top Shot.
15:26And, I mean, my first sergeant, everybody that knew me in leadership that was, what's up, Top Shot?
15:32My battalion commander thought that was pretty cool that I was this little girl and was the top shot and beat all the guys in my battalion.
15:40I just went full throttle. I did everything to the, you know, best of my ability.
15:46I went into my deployment with that and eventually it led me to become a 240 Bravo gunner for convoy security missions in Kuwait and Iraq.
15:59While she was deployed, her proud father would literally count the days until her return.
16:06That was your decision to be a gunner on top of an MRAP doing convoy security between Kuwait and Iraq.
16:13And I fully supported it. I was very concerned.
16:21As a matter of fact, after you left, I got this hat that I'm wearing now.
16:27It says I never met a real hero until my daughter became one.
16:34And that's how I felt.
16:38So, on my hat, I wore this every day that you were over in the Gulf.
16:43I put hash marks along the side of it for every day that you were gone, that I was wearing it, until you came home safely.
16:53But when I got home, my mom ended up kind of putting a little birdie in my ear that this one over here kept asking about me.
17:03And shortly after, Danae would convince Lucas that the Air Force was the right path for him.
17:09Fate would take its course.
17:11But we got engaged basically right after I got home from basic.
17:15You know, like I said, I'm afraid of where I would have ended up if it wasn't for her.
17:24She's, I said it, she's caring. She's loving. She's gorgeous.
17:32And the love that she has for me and the support that she had for me to go in and change my life and saw the potential that I had.
17:46You're going to have downs in all of that, but how we both came out of where we were in our lives really to where we are now is pretty incredible.
17:58I think for, you know, what we grew up with. You know what I mean?
18:02And it's pretty amazing that you guys both kind of attribute the military to being able to do that for you, which is awesome.
18:07Yeah.
18:08You know what I mean?
18:09And it's great to hear that you guys are two success stories where two different, completely different stories, but the reality is, is it did the same thing for both of you guys.
18:17And that's, that's awesome to hear that. And that's encouraging because it, you know, someone who's thinking about going into the military right now may hear this story and say, Hey, listen, that's me.
18:26I need that. I need that in my life right now. I need the structure. I need the discipline. I need the encouragement.
18:32And to hear you guys talk about that, it's, it's enlightening for me.
18:37Lucas and I have been married for 10 years this month and we have a six year old boy who is wild, just like his mom and dad.
18:47Um, but our goal now is to make sure that we're raising him to become the type of person worth fighting for.
18:57We signed a blank check and, um, it was to defend our country and to serve for everybody, you know, serve for people like our son and you.
19:10So we try to have those discussions, um, about what being a veteran means and what it means to have to fight for freedom. It's not just free. Um, the military is how we have that.
19:25We want to say thanks to your mom and dad for, for their time and service. Remember other veterans and they served for us, right?
19:32So we, we got mom a rod here and it says in appreciation of your sacrifice and service. And it has her name on it.
19:38That's so cool.
19:40And then all of a sudden we got one for dad too, for his time and service. You like this one?
19:44Yeah.
19:45This one again has your name on there.
19:47Awesome.
19:48Thank you so much for you.
19:49I appreciate it, man. Thank you.
19:50That's awesome.
19:51And then guess what?
19:52We got one more rod.
19:54No way.
19:55Whose name is on here?
19:57Mine.
19:59How cool is that?
20:00You got your own fishing rod now.
20:02I'll take that one.
20:03You got to look official.
20:04Oh my gosh.
20:05How cool.
20:06Look at this.
20:07Now you get your own fishing jersey.
20:10And whose name is that on there?
20:12Hold on, your mic's on there.
20:13Leave that on for now.
20:14We can grab some.
20:15Here's one for you.
20:16Thank you so much.
20:18Thank you for your service.
20:19Thanks for sharing your story.
20:20We appreciate you guys.
20:21This is so cool.
20:22There you go, brother.
20:23Oh man.
20:24Love it.
20:25Appreciate you, man.
20:26Thank you so much.
20:28If you would like to personally thank a veteran that you've seen in one of our episodes or
20:35nominate a veteran to be featured in a future episode, log onto our website, operationhealingheroes.org
20:40and click on the nominate button.
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