It's no secret that unfortunately many of our nation’s Veterans are among the unhoused
for a multitude of reasons. We are forever grateful to every one of them. Many of the friends we have met on the streets are Veterans. We recognize that they each have their own unique experiences and feelings about their service. Often, it can be hard for Veterans to share their story from the trauma that occured. Therefore, we respect their decisions around if, when, and how much they wish to share those with us. We are here to honor, celebrate, thank, listen, or simply to hold space for them as best we can.
This is our friend Robert’s story, we appreciate him choosing to share it with us (he is a great
storyteller) We appreciate his years of service and sacrifice, and most of all we just appreciate him for being Robert.
Robert starts off our interview with a bit of a disclaimer, he had a stroke a few years ago and
because of that he has suffered with some memory loss. Bits and pieces have come back but not everything. I continued to reassure him that he can just skip anything he isn’t clear on. However, for a man with memory loss Robert is sharp, adaptive, and a quick talker. If he is struggling to pull up some lost image or series of events, you would never know it. He admits he covers it well. He says he’s always been able to do this – appear like he’s calm and together on the outside, while on the inside he’s searching for the right fact or skill he needs to get him out of a tough spot. This is no doubt a skill that served him well when he joined the Marines in 1976 at the age of 22. “You know we were called the Devil Dogs” he says proudly with a grin.
Robert, originally from Will’s Point, Texas played basketball and football while in school and
now at 69 years old it is easy to see why. He is tall and still athletically built. He thought that he might play football professionally for a little while after high school but when that didn’t work out, and after seeing some pictures of what was happening in Vietnam, Robert decided he wanted to join the military. He recalls having zero doubts about signing up, he just felt it was the thing to do. He did have some serious concerns however when it came to telling his mama what he had done. When asked how she took it “oh she lost it” he says, “she was real worried. She was a good mama.”
As expected, Robert was quickly sent to Vietnam. Memories around war time are tricky even
without having had a stroke. Robert and I talk about this a little, and then we didn’t talk about some other things he didn’t want to remember even if he was able to drag them back up through the damage the stroke had done. We also talked about a few things that I’m opting not to share because I think they just belong to Robert and it’s ok for him to have that. Robert is however, open and honest about the tough decisions and close calls he had to make in war. He talks about seeing his friends die and about having to kill other people. He says though that he was good in a crisis, he could stay calm and talk others through it as well, helping to keep them from panicking. He quickly moved up through the ranks.
He was tough and not easily deterred. He was shot twice during one attack. One shot hit him in the hand, destroying his finger, and a second shot hit him in the shoulder. He isn’t exactly sure what he was shot with, but it was not a normal bullet. Instead, he says it was something else, he describes it as “kinda like buck shot but not buck shot”. Robert didn’t want to get sent to the hospital and leave the fighting and the men he oversaw, because he was friends with the medic treating him, Robert convinced him to let him wrap up the mangled finger and dig the “bullets” out of his own shoulder so that he could stay amongst the fighting…at least for a while. It became obvious though that he needed to see a real doctor sometime later and he was forced to go and get treatment for his wounds. Part of his finger was amputated, and he spent time recovering from the damage done to his shoulder. He was offered a medical discharge but refused it. He returned to finish his tour. He admits that while none of that really scared him, he did not tell his mama that he had been shot until he absolutely had to (she was bound to notice the missing finger) because he was scared of her reaction. As expected, “she went crazy” he laughs.
Robert spent 10 years as a Marine before deciding to forego another tour to settle down and
start a family. “If it weren’t for that” he reports “I would have kept going”. He says he
particularly wanted to have kids though, he thinks he must have learned to value children as a result of some of the things he saw during his time in Vietnam. After coming back to Texas,
Robert found a job doing manual labor for a man his mother knew who owned a landscaping
business. He quickly proved himself a hard worker and worked himself up within the small
company. In fact, his boss helped him start his own landscaping business when he retired.
Robert says he was doing well and providing for himself and his family until he had the stroke. He lost so much of his memory and his ability to focus and manage daily tasks that the business went under. So did many of his relationships, both because of the stress and because he says he lacked much context for them anymore. Robert is still in contact with his family, and they see him when possible, but his relationships with them were profoundly changed by his stroke and the aftermath. He bounces between them and staying in a tent outside.
Robert says he was doing well and providing for himself and his family until he had the stroke. He lost so much of his memory and his ability to focus and manage daily tasks that the business went under. So did many of his relationships, both because of the stress and because he says he lacked much context for them anymore. Robert is still in contact with his family, and they see him when possible, but his relationships with them were profoundly changed by his stroke and the aftermath. He bounces between them and staying in a tent outside.
The benefits he receives as a Veteran help keep him afloat, but they aren’t enough to cover all his living expenses. He has invested in a few extra tents, set them up with mattresses and
allows others needing shelter to rent them. Unless it’s cold, in that case he states he just let’s
people stay there for free. Robert says that yes, he wishes the government did more
financially, but really what they need is more mental health programs. “Some of those guys got real messed up over there. That’s why they out here now” he states.
However, when asked how he feels about his service all these years later Robert’s reply is
instant “I have a lot of pride about that. A lot of pride. One of the best things I done with my
life. I would do it again no doubt. I would go back today if they’d let me”.