- 2 weeks ago
Operation Healing Heroes S02E10
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00:00Welcome to Operation Healing Heroes. Join us on the boat today as we feature retired
00:09Purple Heart recipient Tim Smith. They served for us. They sacrificed for us. Their stories
00:23deserve to be told. Every military veteran has a story to tell. Join our host, Jay Garstecki,
00:35as we honor the stories of our true American heroes, one soldier at a time. The mission
00:43today is Operation Healing Heroes. Brought to you by Great Clips.
00:53Operation Healing Heroes traveled to northern Wisconsin to meet an American hero on the shores
01:03of Lake Superior. It is here in Ashland, Wisconsin, where we connected with Tim Smith to do a little
01:12fishing for whitefish on the Shequamegan Bay.
01:16You on? Yep. This time. He's not coming. He's not getting off, right? Hopefully.
01:27Is that a good one? Yeah, fair. They fight good, don't they? Yes.
01:35Got him. There you go. Got him. It's in the bag, as they say.
01:46Yes. Good work.
01:49Nothing to it. So how old were you when you got drafted?
01:57Twenty. Twenty years old, huh?
01:59Yeah. And did you know any other kids from your neighborhood that got drafted or no?
02:04No. No, I didn't. Scared not until I got the orders Vietnam. After that, I flew to Vietnam,
02:16and I was on orders for the Big Red One, First Division, but the Fourth Division got needed replacements.
02:27So I got shipped to the Fourth Division, and I lucked out, I guess, because I was in a mechanized unit,
02:39and I rode a lot in the APC. I got there in January 1 of 68. We spent a lot of time being ambushed
02:52with the NVA or whatever. We dealt mostly with the NVA, not Viet Cong so much. We got hit with a B-40
03:03rocket in February of 68. The story was we were just trying to get somebody to basically shoot at us,
03:17but half of the guys went down what we called a blue line, a stream, and walked a stream to see what they could find.
03:27And the other half stayed with the APC, and we followed the ridge line above the stream, and we got somebody to shoot at us.
03:40Somebody from across the rice field fired a B-40 rocket, and hit the front of the APC, and there was four of us on it.
03:56And Junior got wounded, Trujillo got wounded, I got wounded, and Harms, kicked from Iowa.
04:07Where were you standing in the APC when that happened?
04:12In the back, drinking a canteen of Kool-Aid.
04:17A canteen of Kool-Aid, huh? Yeah.
04:19Oh, so not even a month and a half that you've been in country, and you're already getting hit by a rocket, huh?
04:25Right. I was in the back, but I was standing up. There's hatch that opens. I was standing up looking out forward.
04:36So I saw the puff of smoke where he fired, and we returned fire.
04:43You know, in training, they said, you know, fire steady bursts, short bursts, so you don't burn your barrel out.
04:54Well, that went by the wayside because all I could think about was returning fire.
05:03And the first sergeant said we got him, and between the doors, I got it.
05:12Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Great Cliffs, the Yance Valor Foundation, and by the Al Lynch Foundation.
05:27Operation Healing Heroes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the lives of our U.S. military veterans.
05:34In addition, we also provide financial support and treatment for post-traumatic stress.
05:40Your donation will help heal our heroes.
05:49Tim was awarded the Purple Heart while still in the hospital, immediately following the missile attack on his armored personnel carrier.
05:58Well, the first sergeant came to the hospital with the, basically with the Purple Heart awards, and he said, you guys, you got him three times.
06:13And what were your injuries from that?
06:16Left side shrapnel.
06:19Did it feel good to be back at the unit?
06:21No.
06:22No?
06:24I was scared. I was, you know, I knew enough to be a little more...
06:32Vigilant?
06:33Yeah.
06:34A lot of times it was ambush and fire through rounds at us and take off.
06:42So there was nobody to shoot.
06:47Basically, they were gone before we got organized enough to shoot back.
06:55When I first got out there, we were walking up in the mountains,
07:00and we came upon a big bunker complex,
07:08and there was nobody there to speak of.
07:13They think there was two cooks there, and they fired on us,
07:18and they put three rounds between my feet.
07:22And either it was a bad shot or a good shot,
07:27but he didn't hit me.
07:29So they called in an airstrike,
07:34and they said, everybody go over to the other side of the hill.
07:39So we did.
07:41500 bombs, the jets were dropping.
07:47And I put my head down on the ground,
07:51and the pot was every time a bomb would hit,
07:58gravel and dirt and .
08:02And I finally got brave enough to look up,
08:08and it was two of my fellow squad members
08:13throwing dirt and rocks on me.
08:16They'd been there a long time.
08:18So they were messing with you.
08:20Yes.
08:21So you thought this was all explosion debris coming down,
08:24and instead it was two of your own guys
08:26throwing rocks and debris on you, huh?
08:27Yep.
08:29One night I woke up,
08:31I was sleeping on the ground.
08:32I don't know why, a long time ago.
08:35But anyhow, I felt something warm under my chest,
08:39and it was a rat sleeping on my chest,
08:42staying warm.
08:43So my sisters would send me something that was breakable.
08:53They would pack it in popcorn.
08:56Well, back then, brandy bottles weren't always plastic.
09:02So they'd pack it in popcorn.
09:05I would scatter popcorn around for the rats to eat.
09:10So they weren't eating you, huh?
09:11Well, I didn't really like that one in my chest.
09:16No, I can imagine not.
09:17Yeah.
09:18Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Enbridge,
09:25Northern Clearing,
09:27and by St. Croix Rods.
09:31All right.
09:32Good job.
09:33Look at the size of that one, huh?
09:34That's a nice one.
09:35Look at the size of that one.
09:36Come out here more often.
09:49If you'd like to see more behind the scenes footage,
09:52follow us on social media,
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09:56If you're a US military veteran in Illinois,
09:59Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota,
10:02or beautiful sunny Florida,
10:04log on to our website.
10:05TakeAVetFishing.org to find an event near you.
10:14Tim and all the troops would look forward to letters
10:17and care packages from home.
10:20Did your sister send you booze and popcorn?
10:23You're not supposed to talk about the booze.
10:27What do you think I mixed with the Kool-Aid?
10:30What's that?
10:31The booze.
10:32Most guys had what they call a short-timers calendar.
10:40Mark the days off that last month.
10:44In base camp, they had car salesmen in 68.
10:50So, once I was wondering,
10:54what kind of car would you like?
10:57I said, Corvette.
10:59Well, you can have one sitting there waiting for you
11:02when you get home.
11:03I said, if I get home.
11:05So, I turned it down.
11:08Probably would have killed myself with it, anyhow.
11:12So, you weren't sure if you were going to make it home?
11:16Well, not then.
11:19So, I got down to that last day and I was happy.
11:25So, knowing what you know now,
11:28would you do it all over again, your time in service?
11:30Yes.
11:31Yeah.
11:32I sense kind of silly, but yeah.
11:45Tim is very much a patriotic person.
11:50If we go into a public building and he, like,
11:55like into the school gymnasium
11:57and he sees somebody with their cap on,
11:59oh, he doesn't like it.
12:01He's from the old school.
12:03So, yes.
12:05In fact, during the Iraq War, he said,
12:08if I was still young enough,
12:11I would be there to help them.
12:13I know what Vietnam was all about.
12:18I don't say as I agree with it,
12:22but I would do it over again if I had to.
12:30Yeah?
12:31You proud to have served your country?
12:33Yes.
12:35I don't have to listen to anyone telling me
12:42about how it was over there.
12:45You know how it was?
12:47Yes.
12:48Yep.
12:49How old were you when you got married?
12:51Forty-two.
12:52Forty-two.
12:53So you waited a little bit, huh?
12:54Yeah.
12:55When Tim and I first got married,
12:58he would have dreams in his sleep, of course,
13:01and I always knew.
13:04I was always waiting for the arms to start flying
13:09and the legs to start kicking,
13:11and I knew then to wake him up very gently,
13:16and oftentimes I would ask,
13:20do you know what you were dreaming?
13:23And it was always the Viet Cong were trying
13:27to either stuff him into a trunk,
13:30or there were other places that he thought
13:35that they were going to stuff him,
13:37but that one is very clear to me,
13:39that they were going to stuff him into a trunk,
13:42and he was fighting them off big time.
13:44Where did your love and your passion for the outdoors
13:47and fishing come from?
13:49On the farm?
13:50Yeah?
13:51Probably.
13:52Did you grow up hunting and fishing?
13:54Yes.
13:55Every day I'd get home from school,
13:59I'd either go up on the hill or hunting or in the fall.
14:06So it's a part of the reason I liked up here.
14:10You got everything.
14:12Bear, deer, grouse, fish.
14:17How often do you get to get out and fish?
14:20Not often enough.
14:22I am very proud of, very proud of his service.
14:26And he was a, he's been a wonderful provider for his family.
14:36Yeah, I'm very proud of him.
14:40Very patriotic, and he was very loyal to his country.
14:52The Apostle Highlands Honor Guard,
14:56a combination of VFW Post 8239 and American Legion Post 49,
15:01seeks to honor all veterans, past, present, and future.
15:08If you'd like to personally thank a veteran
15:10that you've seen in one of our episodes,
15:12or nominate a veteran to be featured in a future episode,
15:15log on to our website, OperationHealingHeroes.org.
15:18Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Recon Boats,
15:24Thorne Brothers, and by FVP.
15:30Do they understand why you stutter?
15:38Why is that? Tell me.
15:40Well, I developed two brain tumors in December of 16.
15:48Tim was diagnosed with my static brain cancer.
15:55He had a tumor on both sides of his brain.
16:00And the only warning that he had was he stopped talking.
16:07He was at breakfast one morning with the guys,
16:10and he could no longer talk.
16:13And so, of course, we thought he was having a stroke.
16:19Rushed him over to the hospital, and they said...
16:22And they said,
16:23No, you've got brain tumor, brain tumor, lung cancer, and liver cancer.
16:28So, they took the one on the left side,
16:34in the speech area.
16:36So, when I got tired to talk a lot, I stutter.
16:41So, he has had those removed,
16:44and that's why sometimes his speech gets a little bit slurred,
16:48because one tumor was in the speech part of the brain.
16:52He has survived Vietnam.
16:58He survived the two brain tumors.
17:02He has survived a very deadly COVID.
17:07So sick, they didn't think that he was going to make it.
17:11In fact, they had set us up with hospice and everything.
17:14But he pulled out of it.
17:16Did they tie any of that back to Agent Orange?
17:19The doctor, the cancer doctor, said it very well could be.
17:25They came up with it more than likely.
17:30But, you know, it's 55 years ago.
17:34Uh-huh.
17:35So, but the spray area was where we operated on.
17:41And a lot of times at night,
17:44I'd break out of this terrible rash.
17:49And calamine lotion was the only thing that stopped the itching.
17:56Hmm.
17:57He is still taking the cancer drug, Keytruda.
18:00And that's what's keeping him going.
18:04And no one has lived this long on that drug.
18:08And, um, his doctors, they, every time he goes for an infusion,
18:14they, they tell him that he is a miracle.
18:18And so he has survived the cancer.
18:20He survived the COVID.
18:22Um, he survived, he, he's kind of losing his balance.
18:26So he has survived a fractured, um, pelvic.
18:31And he's survived 35 years of marriage, so.
18:36Do you often get recognized for your time in service nowadays or no?
18:41With, uh, wearing your hat and?
18:43Oh, yeah.
18:44Oh, yeah.
18:45More so, when I was down south in Georgia and places like that,
18:52they always honored your service.
18:57But up north, not so.
19:0050 years ago.
19:02But now, I wear this hat or one of the other ones.
19:08Uh-huh.
19:09Um, people stop and say, thank you.
19:12How does that make you feel?
19:14Proud.
19:17Good.
19:18It should.
19:19Yeah.
19:20Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to honor you for your service, too.
19:24Thank you for your service.
19:25And, uh, I got a little something for you.
19:27If you don't mind, I'd like to give you.
19:28Is that okay?
19:29Sure.
19:30Give me one second.
19:31I guess.
19:35The log is, uh, packed in popcorn.
19:37It's not packed in popcorn.
19:39But if it was, it might have been booze.
19:41So, this is on behalf of St. Croix rods and set that down for you.
19:50Okay.
19:51St. Croix rods and Thorn Brothers, this is, uh, for you.
19:54And this is a custom-built rod that, uh, Thorn Brothers made for you.
19:57It's a St. Croix blank.
19:58And it says, custom-built for Tim Smith.
20:00It's got all the Branches of Service logo on there and the American flag and our logo.
20:05That's for you so that we can continue to catch fish together.
20:08And I got to make you look official.
20:10So, I got you your own jersey.
20:12Tim Smith Operation Healing Heroes jersey.
20:14It's got your name there on the front and, and Smith on the back.
20:18Oh.
20:19And that's for you.
20:20I hope you wear that proudly.
20:22Thank you for your service.
20:23I will.
20:25We all appreciate it.
20:31If you'd 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 on to our website, OperationHealingHeroes.org,
20:41and click on the nominate button.
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