1
100
3
-
https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/files/original/c27530161c841704e6ae49ea8f9bf579.mp3
4b34d70a02d90beae9a5ffa898433ae1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
RICHES Podcast Documentaries Collection
Alternative Title
RICHES Podcast Collection
Subject
Podcasts
Documentaries
Description
RICHES Podcast Documentaries are short form narrative documentaries that explore Central Florida history and are locally produced. These podcasts can involve the participation or cooperation of local area partners.
Contributor
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/podcastsblog.php" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries</a>
Cassanello, Robert
Language
eng
Type
Collection
Coverage
Altoona, Florida
Apopka, Florida
Astor, Florida
Barberville, Florida
Brevard County, Florida
Bushnell, Florida
Clermont, Florida
Cocoa, Florida
Cocoa Beach, Florida
College Park, Orlando, Florida
Coral Gables, Florida
Daytona Beach, Florida
DeLand, Florida
Disston City, Florida
Eatonville, Florida
Eau Gallie, Melbourne, Florida
Fort King, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Geneva, Florida
Goldenrod, Florida
Groveland, Florida
Hannibal Square, Winter Park, Florida
Holly Hill, Florida
Hontoon Island, DeLand, Florida
Indian River, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Key Biscayne, Florida
Key West, Florida
Kissimmee, Florida
Lake Apopka, Florida
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake County, Florida
Lake Mary, Florida
Marion County, Florida
Merritt Island, Florida
Mims, Florida
Mount Dora, Florida
Newnans Lake, Gainesville, Florida
New Smyrna, Florida
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Ocala, Florida
Ocklawaha River, Florida
Ocoee, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Ormond Beach, Florida
Osceola County, Florida
Oviedo, Florida
Parramore, Orlando, Florida
Reedy Creek, Florida
Sanford, Florida
Silver Springs, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Cloud, Florida
St. Johns River, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Titusville, Florida
Vero Beach, Florida
Weirsdale, Florida
Winter Garden, Florida
Winter Park, Florida
Ybor City, Tampa, Florida
Contributing Project
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/podcastsblog.php" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries</a>
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/podcastsblog.php" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries</a>
External Reference
<span>"</span><a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/podcastsblog.php" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries</a><span>." RICHES of Central Florida. http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/podcastsblog.php.</span>
Has Part
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/137" target="_blank">A History of Central Florida Collection</a>, RICHES Podcast Documentaries Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Is Part Of
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/" target="_blank">RICHES</a>.
Rights Holder
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES<br /></a>
Sound/Podcast
A resource whose content is primarily intended to be rendered as audio.
Original Format
1 audio podcast
Duration
16 minutes and 48 seconds
Bit Rate/Frequency
128kbps
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
RICHES Podcast Documentaries, Episode 17: Public History in Central Florida: The Kerouac House: A Legacy of Perseverance
Alternative Title
Kerouac House Podcast
Subject
Podcasts
Documentaries
Kerouac, Jack, 1922-1969
Orlando (Fla.)
Beat generation--Florida
Description
Episode 17 of RICHES Podcast Documentaries: Public History in Central Florida: The Kerouac House: A Legacy of Perseverance. RICHES Podcast Documentaries are short form narrative documentaries that explore Central Florida history and are locally produced. These podcasts can involve the participation or cooperation of local area partners. <br /><br />Episode 17 focuses on author Jack Kerouac's life in College Park, Florida. Kerouac moved to Florida in July 1957, while awaiting the publication of <em>On the Road</em>. Kerouac also wrote <em>The Dharma Bums</em> while living in Central Florida. This podcast includes interviews with the Jack Kerouac House Board of Directors, American literature professors and a personal friend of Kerouac. The Kerouac House is located at 1418 Clouser Avenue in College Park, Orlando, Florida.
Abstract
Beat author Jack Kerouac lived in College Park during his rise to fame after the publication of On the Road. While living in Central Florida, he also authored The Dharma Bums. Kerouac House Board of Directors, American literature professors and a personal friend of Kerouac elaborate on the significance of Kerouac House to Central Florida and the lasting legacy of the writer.
Type
Sound/Podcast
Source
Original 16-minute and 48-second podcast by Lindsay Turnbull, October 31, 2011: "RICHES Podcast Documentaries, Episode 17: Public History in Central Florida: The Kerouac House: A Legacy of Perseverance." <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/podcastsblog.php" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries</a>, Orlando, Florida.
Is Part Of
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/podcastsblog.php" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries</a>, Orlando, Florida.
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/70" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries Collection</a>, RICHES of Central Florida.
Coverage
Jack Kerouac House, College Park, Orlando, Florida
Creator
Turnbull, Lindsey
Publisher
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Contributor
Kealing, Bob
Quattro, Joseph
Amram, David
Date Created
ca. 2011-10-31
Format
audio/mp3
Extent
15.4 MB
Medium
16-minute and 48-second podcast
Language
eng
Mediator
History Teacher
Geography Teacher
Humanities Teacher
Provenance
Originally created by Lindsey Turnbull and published by <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>.
Rights Holder
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Accrual Method
Item Creation
Contributing Project
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/podcastsblog.php" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries</a>
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
External Reference
Amram, David. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48800599" target="_blank"><em>Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac</em></a>. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002.
"<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/items/show/2469" target="_blank"><span>RICHES Podcast Documentaries, </span>Episode 17: Public History in Central Florida: The Kerouac House: A Legacy of Perseverance</a>." RICHES of Central Florida. https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/items/show/2469.
"<a href="http://kerouacproject.org/information/history-of-project/" target="_blank">History of Project.</a>" The Kerouac Project of Orlando. http://kerouacproject.org/information/history-of-project/.
Kealing, Bob. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56091117"><em>Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends</em></a>. Orlando: Arbiter Press, 2004.
Kerouac, Jack. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36597852" target="_blank"><em>On the Road</em></a>. New York: Viking, 1997.
Kerouac, Jack. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71427510" target="_blank"><em>The Dharma Bums</em></a>. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Lawlor, William. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57577410" target="_blank"><em>Beat Culture: Icons, Lifestyles, and Impact</em></a>. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
Click to View (Movie, Podcast, or Website)
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/files/original/c27530161c841704e6ae49ea8f9bf579.mp3" target="_blank">RICHES Podcast Documentaries, Episode 17: Public History in Central Florida: The Kerouac House: A Legacy of Perseverance</a>
Date Copyrighted
2011-10-31
Date Issued
2011-10-31
Requires
Multimedia software, such as <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/" target="_blank"> QuickTime</a>.
abstract expression
alcoholic
alcoholism
Amram, David
art
author
Baudelaire, Charles Pierre
Beat Generation
Beowulf
Burroughs, William S.
Clouser Avenue
College Park
Corso, Gregory
Darden Foundation
documentary
Florida Magazine
Gannon, Barbara A.
Ginsberg, Allen
Ginsberg, Irwin Allen
Hemingway House
historic preservation
Homer
Jack Kerouac House
Kealing, Bob
Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends
Kerouac, Jack
Key West
literature
Lowell, Massachusetts
music
New York City, New York
On the Road
orlando
podcast
poet
poetry
preservation
Quattro, Joseph
RICHES Podcast Documentaries
Rollins College
Socrates
The Dharma Bums
The Odyssey
Turnbull, Lindsey
WESH-TV
writer
-
https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/files/original/015dea079c2bff50258a4f23ba24650c.pdf
7165340f0c29989db1de005b3c42e3ae
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Creative Sanford, Inc. Collection
Alternative Title
Creative Sanford Collection
Subject
Seminole County (Fla.)
Folk plays
Sanford (Fla.)
Description
<span>Creative Sanford, Inc. is a non-profit organization created to manage <em>Celery Soup: Florida's Folk Life Play</em> community theater productions. The original idea for the Celery Soup project came from Jeanine Taylor, the owner of a folk-art gallery on First Street in Sanford, Florida. Their first production was </span><em>Touch and Go</em><span>, a play focusing on the people of Sanford and their determination to overcome various obstacles, including the Freeze of 1894-1895, the fall of Sanford's celery industry, and the closing of Naval Air Station (NAS) Sanford in the 1960s. In the process of producing the show, Creative Sanford decided to rehabilitate an historic building, the Princess Theater, which is located on 115 West First Street and owned by Stephen Tibstra. The Creative Sanford offices are housed in the Historic Sanford Welcome Center, located at 203 East First Street.</span>
Is Part Of
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/16" target="_blank">Sanford Collection</a>, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/44" target="_blank">Seminole County Collection</a>, RICHES of Central Florida.
Language
eng
Type
Collection
Coverage
Historic Sanford Welcome Center, Downtown Sanford, Florida
Princess Theater, Downtown Sanford, Florida
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
External Reference
"<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">WHO IS CREATIVE SANFORD, INC?</a>" Celery Soup. http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about.
<span>"<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/about/" target="_blank">About: History and Purpose</a>." Celery Soup. http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/about/.</span>
"<a href="http://www.communityperformanceinternational.org/sanford-florida" target="_blank">Sanford, Florida: How do you make Celery Soup? Add stories, then stir</a>." Community Performance International. http://www.communityperformanceinternational.org/sanford-florida.
Contributor
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
Thompson, Trish
Interviewee
Bridges, Elizabeth
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Oral History of Elizabeth Bridges
Alternative Title
Oral History, Bridges
Subject
Sanford, (Fla.)
Energy--United States
Description
An oral history of Elizabeth Bridges. Bridges discusses what life was like in Singapore as a child in the 1960s. She also talks about how she met her first husband, Victor Green. Green worked on an oil rig in the Pacific Ocean for HuffCo. Bridges tells what it was like for her husband to work for that company. She had to learn how to cook Southern food and adapt to life in America. Her first husband died of lung cancer in 1991. She then met her second husband, Jack Bridges, and married him in 1998. After her husband overcame his alcohol addiction, he ran for city commissioner in 2005. He brought many positive changes to the city and was a well-known and successful attorney.
Type
Text
Source
Bridges, Elizabeth. Interviewed by Trish Thompson. 2010. Audio record available. <a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a>, Sanford Florida.
Requires
<a href="https://get.adobe.com/reader/" target="_blank">Adobe Acrobat Reader</a>
Is Part Of
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a>, Sanford Florida.
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc. Collection</a>, Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Is Format Of
Transcript of original oral history: Bridges, Elizabeth. Interviewed by Trish Thompson. 2010. Audio record available. <a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a>, Sanford Florida.
Coverage
Singapore
Indonesia
Sanford, Florida
Ritz Theatre, Sanford, Florida
Creator
Bridges, Elizabeth
Thompson, Trish
Date Created
2010
Format
application/pdf
Extent
208 KB
Medium
23-page digital transcript
Language
eng
Mediator
History Teacher
Civics/Government Teacher
Provenance
Originally created by Trish Thompson and Elizabeth Bridges, and transcribed by Freddie Román-Toro.
Rights Holder
Copyright to this resource is held by <a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a> and is provided here by <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a> for educational purposes only.
Accrual Method
Donation
Contributing Project
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a>
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/" target="_blank">Celery Soup</a>
Curator
Román-Toro, Freddie
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a>
External Reference
Symposium on the Development of Petroleum Resources of Asia and the Far East, United Nations, ECAFE Petroleum Symposium, and Symposium on the Development of Petroleum Resources of Asia and the Far East. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/246028555" target="_blank"><em>Case Histories of Oil and Gas Fields in Asia and the Far East: (Third Series)</em></a>. New York, NY: United Nations, 1971.
Yancy, George, and Janine Jones. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/810119075" target="_blank"><em>Pursuing Trayvon Martin: Historical Contexts and Contemporary Manifestations of Racial Dynamics</em></a>. Lanham: Lexington Boos, 2013.
Transcript
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Tell me a little bit about how you and Jack [J. Bridges] met.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Jack was a former attorney for my first husband, Victor Green. They don’t call him Victor Green. He goes by his middle name “Mapes.” Mapes and I were his clients.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Is that his mother’s maiden name or something like that? That’s an unusual name.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yes, because they didn’t want to call him Victor or Junior, so they called him by his middle name. He’s known here in Sanford. Everybody knows Mapes, but he was another generation. so the Greens and the Bridges were here in Sanford and they didn’t live too far from one another—3 Grandview Boulevard,<a title="">[1]</a> which is the former airport. So Alfred Green worked on the railroad with Jack’s daddy, and I think Alfred Green was the supervisor. He was higher in rank than Alfred. We have always seen Jack as our attorney. [<em>laughs</em>]</p>
<p>When my husband passed away in [19]91, we were all living in the same neighborhood, and Jack was divorcing in ’91 too. I think he and Beth [Bridges] separated when they were [inaudible] April, and they got divorced in ’91. My husband died in December of ’91. A year later, Jack and I met, and he was patrolling the neighborhood, but he has a very commanding voice. I had always heard that he was a very good trial lawyer, and he would speak to me with that tone. I would have to remind him that I’m not his client and that we’re not in a courtroom—to tone his voice down.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, Jack was a fabulous attorney. I always heard it. I was never a client of his, but if anybody was ever going to be in a trial with him, they were scared.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I think it was because of his practice with Mac [Cleveland]. They gave him all of the cases that came along, so he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, so he tried them all.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Okay, so Mac Cleveland wasn’t a trial lawyer? Did he do more estate work?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I don’t know anything about what he did, but I know Jack was a junior attorney at that time, and Mac would let him do a lot. I think that in ’91, they split up the firm. Mac wasn’t practicing that much and Jack was doing a lot of cases ,so he told him he’d like to split it, so that’s why the name of the office used to be, “The Law Office of Jack J. Bridges.” Jack didn’t do too well either. He was on his own with…</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Oh, a little bit of drinking.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>But later when he quit that, his business picked up.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I didn’t realize that his business went down because of his drinking.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yeah, it was bad. When his business picked up, even the lawyers would call him so he would represent them. He would do it.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>And then he was city commissioner.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Originally, he wanted [inaudible] to run city commissioner and all this is new, because he had two positions before. So he told Jay [Bridges], “You should take this.” He wasn’t too sure if people would accept him. I’ve heard other people ask Jack, “Why didn’t you become a politician?” Jack says he couldn’t have, because people could not accept him, because of what he was.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson <br /></strong>Did he not have confidence?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I think his past—it took him a little while before—we got married in ’98, and he ran for city commissioner in 2005, so it took him a couple of years. He wanted to get established and let people know he really meant what he said.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I remember that Mayor [Linda] Kuhn just loved him to death and everything he said was golden.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Well, he knew—he knows his business and he always looked ahead for the city. Remember the parades every Christmas? They always had parades, but Christmas was the only time that families would join in and throw candy. After I went to one of the parades, he told me to quit giving out candy. and it was because of me that they had to quit giving out candies. Jack was sitting on my right and I was on his left, and when I throw candy it’s kind of hard for me to throw this way, because I’m right-handed. So since he was in my way, some of the candy fell and he was very afraid for the kids. He told the mayor that they couldn’t allow it any longer, because they would sue the city if any kids came by.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So he was always looking out. You did a really good thing.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, I was embarrassed. I thought, <em>It was just because of me.</em> I felt bad. Then they had that “splash pad.” Do you remember that they had that “splash pad” when they built that? Everything went well. They had it built and all, and Jack thought about it and says, “Have you ever thought about the lightning that comes with this Florida weather? We have no insurance and if the kids get hurt…” So they had to look into that and I think they got insurance, but then they made sure to close the splash park. when the rain was coming.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I know they do that at [Walt] Disney [World] at one of their wave parks. Because I remember being there one day, and they said we had to leave. And we thought it was weird, because it was sunny out, but they said, “No. we have radar and there’s a storm six miles away.” Everybody had to leave. and it was the worst storm in the world when it came.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>This was just a splash pad, but if lighting comes—so he warned the city. When he sat on the Board, he and Nicky always wanted to move Sanford forward and not backward. Sometimes I can see that he gets very frustrated. They move forward one step and move back two steps. He says he doesn’t enjoy that part.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Does he have any stories about his famous cases or when he was a kid?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, he doesn’t share the cases that he tried, because of client-attorney privilege. They’re confidential, so he can’t share.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, I’m thinking more of personal stories that he might have shared with you of growing up. Anything about his parents or about how Sanford was when he was growing up?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I can’t think of too much right now, but he was raised very poor. He said he was very quiet when he learned in school. He always made better grades and the teacher would compare his grades to his brother’s, and his brother didn’t like that. His teacher expected his brother to make grades as good as Jack’s.</p>
<p>Jack was always quiet in school and I think it was because of his background. and I told him that there’s nothing wrong about being raised poor. A lot of the rich people were poor when they were growing up. I say, “At least you’re humble and honest.”</p>
<p><strong>Thompson <br /></strong>Well, tell me stories about you when you were a little girl.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Let me finish one part of Jay and Jack working on the Ritz Theatre. He was the usher, and then he became a chief usher. And when he’s home, he can watch movies over and over again and I have seen those movies so many times.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>He can watch the same movie over and over?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>That doesn’t bother him. He’ll watch different movies. If it comes on, it doesn’t bother him. He’ll watch it.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Probably because he was an usher at the theatre and he watched the same show over and over again [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Then he’d pick up little words from the movie. He’d say, “Buzz off.” Don’t you remember they’d say that in that part of the movie? I couldn’t remember what show it was and say, “Okay.” [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So he would quote movies to you? [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I’m not Americanized. We weren’t raised with televisions, you know? We don’t have American movies. We’ll watch every now and then, but we don’t have that. I don’t understand the humor and all of those things, because I was raised in Singapore. They taught us the King’s English. When we were at home, we spoke Hainanese. It’s one of the dialects. They’re so many—Cantonese, Hakin, Taichu, etc. If they write in Chinese, I can read it and tell you what they’re saying, but…</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So the written word is the same, but the dialects are all different?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>When I went to school, we would have to learn English, so we wouldn’t speak English at home. Only in school. We have Indian neighbors now that are Muslims. We don’t understand what they speak at home, but if you speak English, we could all communicate. We also had to learn Mandarin as a language, just like you do Spanish here. In my later years, when my brother went to school, half the subjects were taught in English and the other half were taught in Mandarin. They wanted everybody to be bilingual.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So Mandarin was the official language there?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>It was the official language for all Chinese people.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>When you were in school and you learned the King’s English, did you have an English professor from England that taught you?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, they were all local, but they went to English schools. We<a title="">[2]</a> got our independence in ’57. That was the year I was born, so when I went to school in the ‘60s, we were all taught by English teachers.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Then you came to the United States?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yes, I married my first husband, and I met him as he was working in an oil field in Indonesia. When he had his break, he came to Singapore. My friend introduced me to him. That was Mr. Green.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Oh, so he worked in the oil fields? See, I thought he was agricultural. I don’t know why.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He was in charge of all the heavy equipment—the ship, the boats, the crane, the fleets, etc. He was the supervisor and the Indonesians loved him and did the work.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>What did he do when he came back home?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>When oil prices went bad in the ‘80s, it was much cheaper for them to hire the English and the Australians than to hire the Americans, so they didn’t want to renew the work permit, so they sent us home. When they hire the Americans over there, they give us vacation time one week every six months. Another six months later, and we have 35 days to come to the states, and they pay for it. Other families that have kids in elementary school—they have their own schools over there. They bring the teachers over there. But when they go to high school. they have to send them to Singapore. If they want to come to college, they come stateside. Then the mother gets to come here twice a year, and the kids fly over there three times a year. All of this is paid for by the company. They pay for the schooling too. They provide housing, cars, gasoline. The house is furnished, etc.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Which company was that?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Roy M. Huffington, Inc. was the company. Have you heard of <em>The Huffington Post</em>? It was from Houston, Texas.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Oh my goodness.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yes, they were big companies.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Boy, they sound like they were wonderful to their employees.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>We didn’t have to pay for the house. We didn’t have to pay for the utilities. If a light bulb needed to be fixed, you would just get on the phone and call them and they’d come and fix the light bulb. The pay was about $65,000 tax-free. That was the incentive. The only thing you have to pay is food and clothes. My husband would tell me, “Enjoy.” I didn’t understand, because we didn’t have a home here, but then we came back and I saw what he was talking about.</p>
<p>We had our own bowling alley and our own swimming pool. We had our own commissary too. We could buy our own food. Every other month, a shipment would come in off the coast of Texas.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Now, did he have to go out on oil rigs? Could he come home at night?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, it was close to home. That was the second job. On the first job, he had to go away. On Monday morning, a bus would come and then they’d fly them over on a helicopter. On Friday evening, they’d come into town [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>The honeymoon’s every weekend [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yes, they had to do it that way, because they figured it was cheaper. For a while, they would work two weeks and then they’d have one week off. All the families would stay in Singapore. We were civilized there, but when you moved to Indonesia, you had to stay in the jungle.</p>
<p>Everybody has to get along with everybody, so what the women would do was, they would have cooking class. Have coffee once a month. I would go to Sears[, Roebuck & Company] and buy this sewing stuff and bring it over there. I like the felt stuff. You know how you sew on it? I don’t like the glue stuff. I like the sew-on like stockings and stuff. Some people were good at cross-stitching and needlepoint and they’d teach. That’s how we entertained one another.</p>
<p>We had cooking classes too. Sometimes you get to know your neighbor well. She was from Houston, Texas, and she taught me how to cook American food. She’d write me a recipe and I’d go back and look at the ingredients and call her and ask, “What does half-and-half mean?” [<em>laughs</em>] I would ask her, “What does ‘a stick of butter mean?” That’s because our butter would come in one pound, and she said, “You have to cut it length-wise.” I’d say, “Okay.” That was a big help, because that prepared me for when I came to the states.</p>
<p>A lot of people overseas don’t ever lock their doors. You can knock on the door and come in. The coffee pot’s on, you pour yourself a coffee, and sit down. Over here, I don’t know my neighbor. We feel so lost, but our friends are scattered all over the United States. We would get in a car and go all the way out to Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, etc.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>To visit all your friends who were in Indonesia with you?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Then they’d come and reciprocate, because of Disney World.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I bet you had a lot of company with people going to Disney World. It’s wonderful that you made such life-long friends.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Even now, I still communicate. There’s this lady in Boise, Idaho. She’s a widow now. She used to do needlepoint and she’d even do weaving. She loved to lace stuff and she would crotchet. She must be up in age too. We write once a year. We send Christmas cards.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, it almost sounds like the military. My parents were Navy and they made life-long friends with the people in their stations. When they got out of the service, they always kept in contact.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I know of a lady from Texas who would babysit her neighbor’s children. When the wife went out of town, she’d take one kid, go out, and get some dental work done, and leave the other kid with her husband. Now, you know men can’t cook. so she would take the kids when they got out of school and she’d feed the husband too. They would do the same, so they were all very close. Once you get to know a few families, they’re all very close.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>When you came here did you find a family that you could be friends with?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, I don’t know them very well. I kind of miss that.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>There’s good Oriental contingency in Seminole County, I know. Not very…</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I don’t practice that anymore. I don’t cook the food anymore. I don’t long for the Chinese food anymore. Not like some Vietnamese that I know like [inaudible] fiancée. They always have to have their rice. They always have their Chinese food. They cannot sub, but I can, because my first husband was American and now I’m with Jack. I say, “If I don’t have bread, I’ll have potato.” [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p>I found out that they have their Chinese squash and everything, but the zucchini is almost the same stuff. You can use it to sub for the Chinese squash. But they have to have it exactly the same as before.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Isn’t that strange that they can’t adjust?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I have a friend in North Carolina and she could adjust. There’s some who can’t and they go back. They say, “America is not for me.” It’s a cultural shock. I couldn’t do that, because I made up my mind, because I married an American. I said, “I married an American. This will be my country and you have to adjust.”</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>And you learned how to make your first Southern food. What did Mr. Green say when you made your first Southern food?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He didn’t like my biscuits. He said they were too hard. [<em>laughs</em>] Everything we had to do was from scratch. We didn’t have the stuff that you do. It’s very convenient.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Yeah, you can have it frozen. “Oh, you want biscuits? Here’s half a bag.” [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I used to make my own bread and hamburger buns. We used to invite our neighbors and ground beef meat was very expensive. They’d say, “These hamburger buns are so good.” My husband would say, “That’s because they’re homemade.” In Singapore, the bread didn’t last very long, and the flour would have weevils in it, and American women would teach me, “You take it and sift it twice.”</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>To get the weevils out. Why were the weevils—because they’d been in storage?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /> </strong>I think that it’s because when they shipped it, they shipped the old stuff to us. By the time it cleared customs, the humidity would get to it. We were so excited to have American stuff. We loved Cheetos in a can [<em>laughs</em>]. We would all grab American stuff. We would grab toilet paper, because we didn’t like the local stuff. It was stiff. It wasn’t soft, so we’d buy a whole bunch. We figured that if we left the country another family would buy us the stuff. When we knew there was a new shipment, we’d run to the coast and load up, because you don’t know when the next shipment would come in.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So you were doing “bulk” before Sam’s [Club] ever showed up [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Over there we just buy a bunch of stuff. We buy our meat. We buy the whole piece—the whole pork loin. We would go to the supermarket, buy it, and tell them to freeze it. We’d tell them when we’d want it picked up, so they’d wrap it up and put it into boxes. Then they’d tie it and tape it and all, and we’d pick it up and we’d bring it to the hotel and tell them, “We want it in your freezer.” Then we’d tell them at what time we’d come to get it and our bus would come to pick us up and take us to the airport.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>To go from Singapore to Indonesia?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>The flight would last two hours and 20 minutes. Then we’d rest and catch a 45-minute flight. If you pack them well and you only open them once, you should be pretty good. Prime rib was $15 a pound. This was back in the ‘80s.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Oh my gosh.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>We’d usually try to bring a few pieces of meat. We’d live on seafood a lot over there. When you buy fish, you have to buy the whole fish—head and all—and the fish 50 cents a kilo.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>A fish for 50 cents? Amazing.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Usually the fish is about two to three pounds, but it was fresh. We’d also have a lot of shrimp and lobster too.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I bet you know a lot of great recipes for shrimp, lobster, and fish, don’t you?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, I didn’t have to cook very much over there. I buttered them a lot and broiled them. Seafood was abundant. [inaudible] I would go to the local market. They would always have some trouble with us, because they don’t encourage you to go outside the city.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Was it dangerous?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>It wasn’t dangerous, but if an American like you—a Caucasian—goes there, you’ll be surrounded and you’d be shot. They don’t like Americans. For me, I’m Asian with an Asian [inaudible], so it’s a little bit better. I learned that when you carry your basket to town, you just let the boys carry it so they don’t bug you. You pay them 100 rupees. That’s 10 cents and they walk with you while you buy your groceries and they put it in a cart for you.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So if one of the boys that you see on the street comes, he attaches himself to you and then none of the boys bother you? That happened to us in the Dominican Republic. A boy attached himself to my mother and he went everywhere with us throughout the whole day.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>This was only in the market though. That way you get rid of them, because they all want to help you, and you end up paying extra money. I also found out that we’d pay the lawn boy $5 a month and we’d pay the maid $15. $15 is the maximum, and they say $10 is the going rate. One of our doctors from Texas would pay $15 and the maid would carry laundry from the city every day. After they worked for the Americans, they’d go work for the nationals expecting to get paid $15 a month, but the nationals would only pay them $10 maximum. They’d say, “That’s not fair.” They’d tell us we couldn’t spoil them.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>You see? We’d look at that as entrepreneurship. If you do the best, you get paid more.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Right. They also liked blue jeans, so what we’d do is come to the states and buy blue jeans and give it to them as a Christmas gift. That’s why they like working for the Americans.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, your husband was very right when he said, “Enjoy it.” [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Well, I didn’t understand, but now I do.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>What was your first shocking experience when you came to the [United] States? Did you come in through Texas?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, we came in through Maryland. Yes, because his Army friends stayed at Fort [George G.] Meade, so we’d stay with our friends. The men would go somewhere else and the women—was very nice. She took me to the commissary. I said, “I want to go to the commissary.” I walked in and I said, “Oh, look at the eggplant. It’s so nice. Look at the lettuce.” Because our lettuce is terrible-looking, but we still ate it, because that’s the best they had to offer. She just looked at me. [<em>laughs</em>] I said, “I want to buy this. I want to eat this.” Of course, we had more money than they did, so we paid for the groceries, but she let me pick what I wanted. The green peas were so green and narrow, but over there they were kind of bulky.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So the first big shock was the groceries? I bet the food was a lot cheaper too, wasn’t it?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yes, because any canned food that came over into Indonesia were three times more expensive than here.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Did you ever go back?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I went back to Singapore, but not to Indonesia. It’s not the same for me anymore. I guess I’ve been gone too long. The heat and the humidity is like Florida weather in the summer. I can’t take it. [<em>laughs</em>] Jack always wanted to go there, but he never made it. I went back in 2004, when my brother had just died of lung cancer. And Jack wanted to go but he couldn’t. so I said, “I’ll go.” Do you remember the bird flu<a title="">[3]</a> that went around? They said that if I came back, I’d have to be in quarantine for 10 days. Jack was a little sick at that time. I think I wanted to go in November, but I went in the spring.</p>
<p>Jack said he always admired the Chinese culture. He handled one or two cases and he said he had yet to see a broke Chinese person. I was raised Chinese. During the New Year, you have to pay off all your debts. We didn’t owe anything. Jack said, “What about your mortgages?” I said, “Well, I guess that’s one thing that you can’t pay off, but everything else has to be paid off.” Another thing is that you never lend to friends or family, because you’ll never get it back. That’s very, very true. Jack would say that the Chinese and Egyptian cultures are very, very old but he likes them more.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>It’s also a very good practice. You’re not in debt. So many Americans are in debt.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yeah, but when I was talking to Jack’s mother—she’s old school. It parallels what the Chinese do.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Yeah, not to be in debt, because she lived in the [Great] Depression. She’s of that generation.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yes, and she’s very frugal just the way I was raised.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>What did your parents do?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>My mother was a homemaker and my father was the chief electrician, so he was gone a lot. My mother raised us, and when my father came back, we would like it, because he would spoil us. He let us go to school early, and my mother didn’t like that. We started school at 7:30 and were off at 1:00. The next year, you go from 1:00-5:00. That way they use the school, so the school isn’t sitting there empty.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Did they always have a group in there?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yes, all the time. They alternated it so one year a student goes in the morning and the next year he goes in the afternoon.</p>
<p><strong>Thompso</strong>And then it’s hotter. It’s cool in the morning and hot in the afternoon.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /><br /></strong>Yeah [<em>laughs</em>]. That way the school is used many times, so that they don’t have to build that many schools. Property is very expensive in Singapore. It’s like Hong Kong. Everybody lives in patmas. They call it “flats.” The government will build them and let you buy them. and you could use your Social Security number to buy them.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So they’re like condos, and they’re subsidized by the government. And anybody can buy one?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Not everybody. They have three or four bedrooms, so it depends on your family’s size. The government will tell you if you’re eligible.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So you can’t just have four bedrooms for two of you [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Bridges <br /></strong>And you can tell them what location you want. Not a problem. If they build, you put your name in and they were very cheap. I remember my mom got a three bedroom for 15,000 in the ‘70s.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Wow. That was a wonderful deal. Even back then.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>The dollar was like two to one. That’s cheap. Now, you can’t buy a patma for that cheap, but it’s subsidized by the government, and the government wants everybody to live better in wooden homes, because they take up a lot of land. They don’t want that. The island isn’t that big. It’s 25 miles across from east to west and 15 miles from north to south, and it’s got a population of two million people. It’s the cleanest city in the world.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>The crime rate is very low. They will not tolerate drugs. It’s a law and order country. Do you remember that Michael Fay went down there and got caned? He got caned, because he took the stop sign down, and his family got sent home.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Yeah, I had heard that about Singapore. That was an international incident.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>[Bill] Clinton, the American president, pleaded and the government said, “This is a law and order country.”</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>And there are no exceptions.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>This lady brought drugs in. I don’t know if she’s Australian or what, but they asked the Queen of England<a title="">[4]</a> to plead and they said, “No.”</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>The Queen couldn’t help. Well, just think—if it’s 25 miles long and 15 miles wide, it’s the same size as Sanford’s 22 mile square. so your whole island is probably the size of Sanford. It has two million people there and we only have 54,000. People don’t understand how lucky they are to live in a place like Sanford.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Right, because over there it’s very competitive. You have to do well in school. If you don’t do well in school, you get a terrible job. My mother always said, “You see that road-sweeper? That man that sweeps the street? That’s where you’re going to end up. Digging the ditch.” [<em>laughs</em>] Then when they came up with that machine that cleans the street and she said, “See? They don’t even need you anymore.” [<em>laughs</em>] She pushed education, because both my parents were raised on a farm on Hainan Island in China. Do you remember where our plane landed in China? It got confiscated by the Chinese government.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>No, I don’t remember that.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>An American plane landed there and they wouldn’t let us take our plane home. They had to go through and check, because they wanted to check out what the Americans had in equipment and technology.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So it was probably a military jet that crash-landed there or something?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I don’t know how it landed there, but I know it landed there. The Chinese government got involved and I remember saying, “It’s Hainan Island. That’s where my mom and dad were born.” My mother said that the communist government would give you two pieces of material and that’s all you get. She patched them and they would look like embroideries, and she was very frugal raising us.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So it was two pieces of material per person in the family or just two pieces?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>It was two pieces a year. That’s all you get. We always had hand-me-down clothes because my aunt was from American Families, and the kids had all the clothing, and we got to pick what we wanted to wear. so if I said, “I don’t like this dress,” she wouldn’t throw it away. She would pack it up and send it to China. It was for her nieces, you know?</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Yeah, so whatever you didn’t like went on to another family.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Right. She wouldn’t give it to the neighbors or friends they could use it. She would send it to her family. My mother—she didn’t work, because she raised us. but she knew that education was very important. When we’d come home, we’d speak the dialect. We didn’t speak English. And we’d bring our report cards and she’d say, “What does it say? And “You’d better tell me the truth, and if it’s not what it says here, you’re in trouble.” [<em>laughs</em>]</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So she taught you how to be honest.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>She didn’t mind us going to school, because that was the only way we were going to do better than her, and many Asian communities are the same way. A lot of my cousins are in Virginia. My aunt does not speak English and my cousins speak broken English, but their children are very educated. They’re honor students. They’re doing real well and they’re taking care of their mom and dad.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well now, did you ever have children?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So you have step-children from…</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>My first and second husbands.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Oh, both. That’s wonderful. Do you see them?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Originally, [inaudible] lives in Orlando and the other two live in Pennsylvania, but now they’re back in Florida. They love the Florida weather. We brought them to Florida. We took them to Disney World. they always have a place to stay, and they loved it so much. They got tired of the snow.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Who wouldn’t be? I like Florida too. My sisters wanted me to move to Tennessee, and I said, “You know, I like Florida. I love you, but I don’t love your weather.” [<em>laughs</em>] She said, “But you have hurricanes.” I said, “But I don’t have snow.”</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Well, Jack’s son was born and raised here. Jack only had one child.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Oh, is that right? Is it John?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, Tory [Bridges] is his child. Tory’s mother, Mary Carly, is in the insurance business on Lake Mary Boulevard when you pass—that’s Jack’s first wife.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Oh, Debbie or something?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>She married Brent Carly. He owns the insurance business on Lake Mary Boulevard.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I know Mark Carly. He’s Brent’s brother. I know him better than I know Brent. I believe it was you, Jack, and Jack’s brother that made it out to the restaurant one time and I was able to meet her once.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yeah, she’s in assisted living now—Spring Lake Hills on Lake Mary Boulevard, across from the forest. She has a bad case of dementia and she gets very excited. She can’t sit down for too long. I think that’s part of the disease. When I went to see her right after Jack died, she kept asking me where Jack was and we told her. And her cousin, Linda, told me that when she went to Jack’s service, she thought she was at her husband’s funeral.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Oh, so her dementia was really bad.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>When I see her she asks me how Jack is and I hate repeating it to her, because it hurts me to tell her to tell her that Jack’s gone, because I’m grieving and it’s hard for me, so I say, “He’s okay.” Then later she says, “Oh, he’s gone isn’t he?” I go, “Yeah. he’s gone.”</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So sometimes she will remember that he did die.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Now instead of saying that Jack is coming to take her home, she says that her mother is coming to take her home. They go back. They revert to their childhood. She doesn’t remember her other son, Stevie [Bridges]. Stevie does not come around too often.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well that’s the one everybody compared to Jack, so he didn’t feel too good about it.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yeah, but they always favored Stevie a lot. Stevie stayed at the house with them, but he later moved out. Maybe they catered to him, because Jack was a family man. They figured he was married and Stevie never got married, so they took care of him more. I don’t know.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson <br /></strong>What kind of work does Stevie do?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Well, he went to college and got his degree from University of Florida. I don’t know what he majored in, but he decided he didn’t want to use what he learned in school, so he worked for a welding company and became the chief welder.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Yeah, because I remember seeing him in work clothes, like a working person—blue collar.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Right. They told him they would give him a desk job, but he said no. He preferred to be blue-collar. That’s what he wanted. Then they let him go and he was applying for other jobs. I don’t know. It didn’t work out.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So he’s not working at all now?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He turns 60 in February and he said he’s going to wait and draw retirement and Social Security [Insurance].</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, he’s got two years until he can do it.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He has a big payout and Jack was trying to tell him how to invest. and I told Jack, “If he was smart enough, he would have gone back to work and worked ‘til he was 65, and let that money build and draw better Social Security.” That’s what I’m doing.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, I worked ‘til 62, but my husband was very ill. So I just went in and said, “I’m closing the restaurant.”</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I don’t blame you. You had your hands full. That’s different. Being a caregiver takes all your energy.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>It does. I had two years with him. We were very lucky. On July of 2008, I walked in the door and said, “We’ve got parties that we’re doing on the 4<sup>th</sup> of July and we should be out of food by next Wednesday.” I said, “We’re closing the doors of The Rib Ranch forever on the 8<sup>th</sup> and 9<sup>th</sup> of July.” I put a big sign up saying, “Come and say goodbye.” Everybody came and got barbecue, but on July 2<sup>nd</sup>, the guy who owned the business right next door to me made me an offer for my property, and I took it and we had our closing 15 days later. I had two years completely free to be with my husband, because he couldn’t drive anymore. He was going blind. He had a lot of physical problems. I spent a lot of time going to doctor’s offices.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>It’s like what Jack said towards the end. his social calendar towards the end was all doctor’s appointments. Jack got sick in 2009. He was in this hospital and then they told him they had to send him up to Shands[?]<a title="">[5]</a>, because he had abdominal blockage. They said, “You need surgery. There’s a tumor right there. That’s why it’s doing that. Shands might be able to get you in.” The doctor that tried to get him in just got back from church and he said, “There’s a bed available.” So he was happy, and I packed four days’ clothes. stayed there three and a half weeks. He wouldn’t let me come home. He said, “Don’t leave me.” He was very lonesome.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>He needed you.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I had a lot of vacation time, so I called Penny Fleming and she said, “Take it.” I was planning on coming home and working Monday through Friday and then go up on weekends, and she said, “Well, whatever you want.” Then I decided, “Well, maybe half a day on Friday.” She says, “That will be better and you won’t have to drive during the night.” Then I told Jack what she said and Jack said, “No.”</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>He needed you there.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He wanted me there.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, the thing I found out about, when your husband’s sick, is that even though I depended on him being smart and understanding everything. He was being stoic, but he wasn’t comprehending what the doctors were saying, because, internally, he was panicked. He would say, “What did he mean by that?” I would have to research it and find out what the doctor meant, because he wouldn’t tell him he was scared.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Jack was the opposite. Jack was very sharp and he still had a sense of humor. I remember they almost put him on a ventilator one time up in Shands. Scared me to death. Jack didn’t like too much medication, but they gave him medication and he crawled to bed. And when he came in, there was this person sitting in his room and he woke up and said, “Oh, have you met my warden?”</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Who was the person sitting in his room?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>It was the nurse. And they had to explain that he was trying to climb over the bed. When he was up there, he would tell me to do things he wasn’t supposed to do. He wanted a Slurpee and he said, “Go get me one.” and I’d say, “The doctor says you can’t have anything.” He’d say, “If you don’t get it for me, then I’ll go down to get it.” I said, “Then what do you want?” He said, “Strawberry.”</p>
<p>At that time, he had that abdominal problem and they had to pump it out. There was a little container behind him and the doctor could see the red from the strawberry and he panicked, “Oh, it’s blood.” Jack said, “No. I just had strawberries.” [<em>laughs</em>] The doctor shook his head. Jack said, “My mouth is very dry, so I asked her to get me that.” The doctor said, “How about changing the flavor?” Oh, he was something else.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So what’s happening with you now?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I’m just back to work. I’m just doing my routine and putting in my time working at the Sheriff’s Office until my retirement. I’ve got 10 years to go. I’ve already got 14 years. I hate to retire so early, because what am I going to do for health insurance? If I retire right now, I’ve got eight years. 62 is early retirement. They penalize me five percent for every year under. I figure I don’t have much going right now, so I just try to keep myself occupied.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I think that’s a good thing too. If I didn’t have all this, I’d be going crazy.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>But I sure miss him though, because every time I go to the parades, I see all the people and politicians and it kind of depresses me a little bit.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, what do you think he would have said about everything that happened with Trayvon [Benjamin Martin] and the city?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I don’t think he would have let the case go as far as it did, because he would know how to tell them. Who is it [inaudible]? He said he didn’t know the legal procedures or the steps to take. He said it wasn’t right that [Bill] Lee didn’t arrest [George Michael] Zimmerman. but if you can’t prove anything yet, how can you arrest somebody? There’s no evidence.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I thought it was really strange that people don’t understand that the police investigate, but it’s the state attorneys that say they have a case and have them arrested. My illustration was, “Haven’t you seen <em>Law & Order</em>?” Half the show is about what the police do and the other half is about what the attorneys do.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Well, I think that on the legal side, you have to have evidence to show before you can convict and arrest a person, but there’s nothing to prove him guilty. People were so upset. They wanted them to do it now and it got worse and worse. When it came to the commissioner, people were saying Commissioner Lee wasn’t doing his job.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>And none of those commissioners…</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>They don’t understand the legal system.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>It would have been good if Jack were still there.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Linda would have been good too, because she worked at the state attorney’s office. It would have helped the city.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Maybe if we had had a better city attorney. I mean, I don’t know Lonnie Grout, but maybe a stronger criminal lawyer mind would have helped. Who knows? Jack is really missed.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yeah, I feel like he served. The Lord wanted him home, and I feel like Jack knew he was sick but he did not tell me. He knew what was going on. He was talking to Dr. [inaudible] about it. Remember when they put the shunt in? He [inaudible]. I think when they pull it out too fast it can create a clog. That’s what my friends told me. Linda [inaudible] said that was a clog when she saw his hand, and she was right. His hand just got bigger and bigger like my thigh. I asked the nurse, “What happened?” She said, “Oh, nothing wrong. We’re just trying to stabilize.” When Dr. [inaudible] was talking to him, I came in at the tail end of the conversation. Dr. [inaudible] said, “If we have to, we’ll remove it.” I found out after he died by talking to Dr. [inaudible] that he knew he was going, but he didn’t tell me.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I don’t think my husband knew he was going.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He didn’t want me to be upset, and I feel that it’s not fair. At least he could have prepared me, because he went in on a Friday, assigned Saturdays all over the weekend. I had to bring him his Jell-O mixed with fruit. He didn’t want the hospital Jell-O. He wanted iced tea mixed at home. He wanted chicken noodle soup. He didn’t want the can one, so I’d bring the hot broth to the hospital for him to eat. I saw him Saturday, Sunday, and I called Jack’s son about Friday or Saturday to let him know, because we’re working people. We’re always so busy. Maybe we would have more time on weekends. He could have come to see his father, but he didn’t come to see his father until Monday. Jack’s secretary was there on Monday too, and she said, “What is Tory doing here?” I said, “I told him he could come see his father, but I didn’t tell Cathy that she could come.”</p>
<p>During one of our meetings in the room, the doctor came in and he was a very good cardiologist and I liked the doctor very much. And she started asking him questions and the doctor felt—I could see the look on his face. he didn’t want to be interrupted, and he looked at Jack and me. He knew who I was, but I didn’t introduce myself. He didn’t like it. I said, “Next time, I won’t let her come to the hospital to see him, because what if the doctor has to come in and she interrupts everything?” That time she called me from outside the hospital and says, “Can I come inside?” What can I say? She’s already at the hospital, so I told her to come up. After everybody had seen him, he said he’s tired and that everybody has to go.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>This was Monday?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, it was Monday night. I said, <em>Okay. I guess he wants me to go home too so he can rest.</em> Everybody left and I was packing my stuff and he said, “No. you stay a little bit.” I stayed and he said, “Give me a hug.” He wanted me to kiss him. I think he knew. He must have known it was getting close. so on Tuesday I worked half a day. I was going to do a whole week. On Tuesday, I got a message from the doctor saying, “Come right away.” I dropped everything.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So you had just gotten home and then you had to go back and he had died?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>No, I was heading towards the hospital to bring his stuff, but when I got the message I just went straight and left everything. He said, “Come right away,” but he was already gone by the time I got there.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, you can be angry with him, but…</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>But we had a good life. It was a short time with him, and Jack and I had an age difference of 11 years. We both had November birthdays, and we’re 11 days apart. When he died we were married 11 years and 11 months.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson <br /></strong>Oh, 11 is a really important number then.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>When he started having the cancer in December, he said that he would like another 10 years, but if God would give him five he would take it.</p>
<p>In December, he showed me he wanted to go to church. I’m a converted Catholic. Every now and then he’d go to the church. He got very bored. I was surprised he went, and that was the last Christmas.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, it’s tough when we lose them like that.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Jack changed his whole life around from what he was. He went to the opposite end of the spectrum.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>He really did, because he was a rounder. He was a party guy, wasn’t he?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He was. I remember when he told me, “When we get married, I like to go out with my boys once a month.” But he never did it after we married. I let him run as far as he wanted to, but he never did. He always wanted to come home. He knew he had a home to come to. I think that when he was struggling with his alcohol, there was no one to communicate with him emotionally. With my military upbringing, he learned how to be soft to people and love them. I think he felt most sturdy and he said I was his rock.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>You were the stability that he needed.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He turned his life around after that. He learned how to give and found that it was very rewarding and he turned into a public servant. He got what he wanted. He had the intelligence to go along with serving the city. I’m very happy for him. I hated seeing him go, but he achieved what he wanted to do in life.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I think that’s great. I had a different situation with my husband. I’m so happy that he’s gone, because I loved him so. He was a sports lover and he loved <em>Sports Illustrated</em> magazine. He had to read about his sports. He told me on Wednesday, and he died on a Saturday, “Cancel my subscription to <em>Sports Illustrated</em>.” That just floored me. I think now that he passed away, that if he had lived the two years they said he would, he would have been blind. He was in renal failure, so if he lived through that, he would have been on dialysis. He had diabetes and he was losing his legs, so this is not the life he would have wanted. This wouldn’t be living. This would be torture. He wasn’t a man who had the will to live through anything. He had his comforts. I’m so glad he was able to go the way he wanted to go, before these awful things came. He was a very proud man and very private. He hated having nurses having to help him go to the bathroom or go take a shower. It got to me that he had to go through that.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>The last two years of Jack’s life, he was sick and he knew it, and he cried. He said he didn’t deserve it. He was throwing up and there was nothing but liquid coming up all the time. I had to empty his can, because I didn’t want him to smell that all the time. He was already sick. I made sure everything was close by and the less he moved, the better he felt. I’d get his medication, <em>Sports Illustrated</em> magazine—whatever he needed. He said he didn’t like being sick like that. He would say to me, “You’re too good for me.” and he’d cry.</p>
<p>It got me emotionally, and when I’d get to the kitchen, I’d cry. I’d almost be in tears, but I wouldn’t look at him. He’d ask, “Are you alright?” I’d say, “I am.” Then I’d go to the kitchen and cry, because I didn’t want to show him I was weak. But he was ready to go.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Mine was too. At the time I was mad at him for leaving me, but I got over it. Now I’m just grateful that I had him for as long as I did and that he’s not suffering.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>My first husband went very fast. He was up and walking and he fell. One of his blood vessels burst. They called it a “pontine hemorrhage,” because of the pons. It’s like an aneurysm. I was kind of mad, but they say—I was shocked. I didn’t know he was going to go. There was no goodbye or anything. Then God was graceful enough to put God in my life. I had only been in this country for six years—’85-‘91. I didn’t know my way around. I had to learn how to drive when I got here. And my sister and brother-in-law were very good to me and helped me with the funeral arrangements. Then Jack came into my life and I said, “Oh God. At least you could have prepared me.” I didn’t know he was going to get sick. It takes a lot to be a caregiver. You’re not prepared, but that’s life. Jack went so fast, no one expected it. We thought he was doing so well when he came from Gainesville, and they detected cancer and he went for his radiation [therapy] and chemo[therapy]…</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>How long had he been back from Gainesville?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He had surgery in August.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Yeah, but when did he come home? Because when he came home, we had an appointment and I think he died the next week.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He died in March.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>So he wasn’t in the hospital in the spring?</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>Yeah, he was in the hospital. He went in on Friday afternoon and he died Tuesday afternoon.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>I’m thinking of a month before that.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>He had been in and out of the hospital then. They had to put him in hydration, because of his radiation and chemo. They said he got very dehydrated and he had been in and out several times.</p>
<p><strong>Thompson<br /></strong>Well, I talked to him on the phone and he was either in the hospital—it might’ve just been the day before he died. I can’t imagine that though. But I talked to him. maybe a week was either right before he went into the hospital or the day before he died. Because I was completely shocked.</p>
<p><strong>Bridges<br /></strong>I didn’t expect him to go into the hospital. Maybe you talked to him that Monday and he was fine, but then the next couple of days, his arm just got worse. By the end of the week, I figured he better go to the hospital, because doctors are not around on weekends, so I needed to admit him. I couldn’t get a hold of his doctor so that’s why he went in on a Friday.</p>
<div><br /><div>
<p><a title="">[1]</a> Correction: Grandview Avenue.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[2]</a> Singapore.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[3]</a> Avian influenza.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[4]</a> Elizabeth II.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[5]</a> Possibly the University of Florida’s Health Shands Hospital.</p>
</div>
</div>
alcoholism
Beth Bridges
Bridges, Jack J.
Bridges, Mary
Celery Soup: Florida's Folk Life Play
Chinese
Chinese culture
city commissioner
Cleveland, Mac
Clinton, Bill
Clinton, William "Bill" Jefferson
cooking
Creative Sanford, Inc.
cuisine
Elizabeth Bridges
Fay, Michael
Fleming, Penny
Fort George G. Meade
Fort Meade, Maryland
Gainesville
Grandview Avenue
Green, Alfred
Green, Elizabeth
Green, Victor "Mapes"
groceries
Grout, Lonnie
Hainaese
Hainan Island, China
Indonesia
Jack J. Bridges
King's English
Kuhn, Linda
Lake Mary Boulevard
Law Office of Jack J. Bridges
lawyer
Lee, Bill
lung cancer
Mandarin
Martin, Trayvon Benjamin
Mary Bridges
oil field
Ritz Theatre
Seminole County
Sheriff's Office
Singapore
Southern cuisine
Sports Illustrated
Spring Hills Lake Mary
The Rib Ranch
Thompson, Trish
Zimmerman, George Michael
-
https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/files/original/80b4c2cfe328ed23a797b0b8c7d69036.pdf
78ef0ef46396b4098d30b78b2a0b8c68
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
War in Afghanistan Collection
Alternative Title
Afghanistan Collection
Description
Operation Enduring Freedom is the official name for the "military conflict" commonly known as the "War in Afghanistan," which is a group of military actions within the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The operation in Afghanistan is an ongoing conflict between Afghanistan, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) against two Islamic fundamentalist groups in Afghanistan: the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 1996, the same year that international terrorist and Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden immigrated to the country with the invitation of the Northern Alliance. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States presented the Taliban with a five-point ultimatum to the Taliban government, which was suspected of providing asylum to Al-Qaeda terrorists. After the Taliban rejected the ultimatum and the U.S. rejected Taliban proposals to try suspected terrorists under Islamic Shari'a law, the United States and the United Kingdom initiated military action on October 7, 2001. Although the U.S.-led coalition removed the Taliban from power initially and severely damaged Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, the operation has overall had little success in defeating the Taliban insurgency. Operation Enduring Freedom has been transformed into a full war and has thus far lasted significantly longer than expected.
Contributor
<a href="http://digitalcollections.net.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>
Is Part Of
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/24" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project Collection</a>, RICHES of Central Florida.
Language
eng
Type
Collection
Contributing Project
<a href="http://digitalcollections.net.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
<a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a><span>, UCF Digital Collections, University of Central Florida</span>
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Subject
Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001-
Global War on Terror, 2001-2009
Veterans--Florida
Coverage
Afghanistan
Source Repository
<a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a><span>, UCF Digital Collections, University of Central Florida</span>
External Reference
<span>"</span><a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/" target="_blank">About the Project</a><span>." UCF Community Veterans History Project, RICHES of Central Florida, University of Central Florida. http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/.</span>
Center of Military History. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55079497" target="_blank"><em>Operation Enduring Freedom: October 2001-March 2002</em></a>. Washington, D.C.: [U.S. Army Center of Military History], 2004.
Neumann, Brian F., Lisa M. Mundey, and Jon Mikolashek. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/856994805" target="_blank"><em>Operation Enduring Freedom</em></a>. 2013.
Tripp, Robert S., Kristin F. Lynch, John G. Drew, and Edward Wei-Min Chan. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/427704785" target="_blank"><em>Lessons from Operation Enduring Freedom</em></a>. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2004.
Wright, Donald P. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/316737060" target="_blank"><em>A Different Kind of War: The United States Army in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), October 2001-September 2005</em></a>. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press, US Army Combined Arms Center, 2010.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
Williams, Rachel
Interviewee
Dull, Joshua R.
Bit Rate/Frequency
64kbps
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Oral History of Joshua "Josh" R. Dull
Alternative Title
Oral History, Dull
Subject
Veterans--Florida
Air Force
Global War on Terror, 2001-2009
Afghan War, 2001-
Post-traumatic stress disorder--United States
Mental health--Florida
Description
An oral history of Joshua R. Dull, a Creative Writing student at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida. Dull served in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) during the Global War of Terror (2001-2009) and completed his service as a Senior Airman. Dull discusses his family's military background, his experience in basic training, tech school, the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, deployments in Qatar at Al Udeid Air Base and in Afghanistan, operating cryogenics, leisure time in a war zone, maintaining a romantic relationship while deployed, struggles in life after service, and working at the UCF Veterans Academic Resource Center (VARC) and helping veteran students.
Table Of Contents
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:26 Early childhood
0:03:45 Basic training
0:06:15 Tech school
0:07:09 Active duty/Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
0:07:47 First deployment - Qatar - Al Udeid Air Base
0:09:20 First impression of Qatar
0:10:07 Locals in Qatar
0:12:09 Memorable day in Qatar/leaving
0:13:45 Second deployment ─ Afghanistan
0:15:42 First impression of Afghanistan
0:17:04 Operating cryogenics elements
0:17:30 Memorable day in Afghanistan/movie night
0:19:11 9/11 in Afghanistan
0:20:52 Rocket attack response
0:22:32 Funny story – sabotaging supervisor
0:24:40 Feelings leaving Afghanistan
0:25:58 Being in relationship while in Afghanistan
0:27:49 Life after service
0:29:45 Awards/medals earned for service
0:31:18 Today's activities
0:32:11 Working at the UCF VARC and helping veteran students
0:32:42 How service has affected life
Abstract
Oral history of Joshua R. Dull. Interview conducted by Rachel Williams at the <a href="http://www.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">University of Central Florida</a> in Orlando, Florida.
Type
Moving Image
Source
<a href="http://stars.library.ucf.edu/veteransoralhistories/278/" target="_blank">Dull, Joshua R.</a> Interviewed by Rachel Williams. Audio/video record available. <a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, RICHES of Central Florida, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Requires
Multimedia software, such as <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/" target="_blank"> QuickTime</a>.
<a href="https://get.adobe.com/reader/" target="_blank">Adobe Acrobat Reader</a>
Is Part Of
<a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, RICHES of Central Florida, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/96" target="_blank">War in Afghanistan Collection</a>, UCF Community Veterans History Project Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Has Format
Digital transcript of original 34-minute and 2-second oral history: <a href="http://stars.library.ucf.edu/veteransoralhistories/278/" target="_blank">Dull, Joshua R.</a> Interviewed by Rachel Williams. Audio/video record available. <a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, RICHES of Central Florida, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Coverage
University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona
Al Udeid Air Base, Doha, Qatar
Bagram Airfield, Bagram, Parwan, Afghanistan
Creator
Williams, Rachel
Dull, Joshua R.
Publisher
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Date Created
2014-11-13
Date Copyrighted
2014-11-13
Format
video/WMA
application/pdf
Extent
0.98 GB
190 KB
Medium
34-minute and 2-second DVD/MP4 audio/video recording
20-page digital transcript
Language
eng
Mediator
History Teacher
Civics/Government Teacher
Geography Teacher
Provenance
Originally created by Rachel Williams and Joshua Dull and published by <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>.
Rights Holder
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Accrual Method
Item Creation
Contributing Project
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>
Curator
Cravero, Geoffrey
Digital Collection
<a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, UCF Digital Collections, University of Central Florida
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
External Reference
Belasco, Amy. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/73526824" target="_blank"><em>The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11</em></a>. [Washington, D.C.]: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 2006.
Baker, K. J. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795120466" target="_blank"><em>War in Afghanistan A Short History of Eighty Wars and Conflicts in Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier 1839-2011</em></a>. Dural Delivery Centre NSW: Rosenberg Publishing, 2011.
Collins, Joseph J. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/720899564" target="_blank"><em>Understanding War in Afghanistan</em></a>. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 2011.
Finley, Finley, Erin P. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/732959290" target="_blank"><em>Fields of Combat Understanding PTSD Among Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan</em></a>. Ithaca: ILR Press, 2011.
Click to View (Movie, Podcast, or Website)
<a href="http://stars.library.ucf.edu/veteransoralhistories/278/" target="_blank">Dull, Joshua R.</a>
Transcript
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Today is November 13<sup>th</sup>, 2014. I am interviewing Mr. [Joshua] "Josh" [R.] Dull, who served in the United States Air Force. He served during the [Global] War on Terror and completed his service as a senior airman. My name is Rachel Williams and I am interviewing Mr. Dull as part of the UCF [University of Central Florida] Community Veterans History Project. We are recording this interview at UCF in Orlando, Florida.</p>
<p>Alright. So to start, I’m just going to ask you some basic questions about your early childhood. So can you tell me where you were born?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Melbourne, Florida.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>And what was your child like—childhood like?</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Childhood?</p>
<p><strong>Williams <br /></strong>Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>It’s a very broad question. Um, lower middle class suburban. My dad was actually in the Air Force. I was what prompted him to join the Air Force. So my earliest memories are actually in Alaska. That’s where my youngest sister was born, Heather [Dull], and—yeah. We were stationed at Elmendorf [Air Force Base], at the time. Shortly after that, we moved to Washington. We had two houses there, but we lived in the Tacoma[, Washington] area. I think that could be McChord [Field], but I could be mistaken.</p>
<p>So my dad got out the Air Force and, um—that year. About 1992-’93, we moved back to Florida, so we could be around our grandparents, because our whole family is from the Brevard County area. So, um, yeah. My parents basically stayed broke trying to give us a good—at least, middle class—upbringing. We had a strong support group with our aunts, uncles, grandparents, especially—few of our cousins. So we moved from there to Wyoming when I was in eighth grade—when I was 13. So that was kind of rough, ‘cause we left that whole support group around. Love my parents and they were good people, but they’re kind of hard-lined disciplinarians and kept us pretty sheltered too. At least me anyway, ‘cause I was the oldest. So…</p>
<p><strong>Williams <br /></strong>Alright. So you said your dad was in the Air Force. What did your mother do for a living?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Good question. She kind of bounced around from job to job while we were in Florida. She kind of—her and my dad met at the airport in Melbourne.<a title="">[1]</a> That’s where they—yeah. They were working there at the time and got married from there, but—I don’t know if she worked while my dad was in the Air Force. and then I just remember her having an array of jobs when I was a kid. I think the last one was a—she was a secretary at a[sic] optometrist or an optometry clinic. So she’s working now for Empower Wyoming, which helps teach women self-defense skills, and I believe she has a—yeah. she does something with substance abuse prevention in Wyoming, so yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So your dad served in the Air Force. Did any other family members serve?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>My granddad was in the Navy, on my mom’s side. He was—he served during World War II. I had a couple cousins who were—or great cousins, I guess—who were—I’m not sure—Army or Marines or whatever. They served during Vietnam [War]. Great-grandfather served in World War I. I mean, I currently have one cousin who’s in the Marines. another who’s honorably discharged from the Marines.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So how much education did you have before going into the military?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>High school and like one semester of college.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>How long were you in the service?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Five years.</p>
<p><strong>Williams <br /></strong>And when did you start basic training?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>I began basic training on May 20<sup>th</sup> of 2008.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>And what did you think of basic training?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Sucked.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Why do you say that?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, let’s see. We were herded onto a bus at about 3 in the morning, and as soon as we stepped off, people are yelling and screaming and cussing at you. Well, actually not necessarily cussing. That wasn’t allowed by this time. back in the day it was. They cuss at you in private, but whatever. But yeah.</p>
<p>You know, basic training—it’s not designed to be fun. It’s not designed to be easy. Yeah. my first memories were doing my best to not get yelled at. Kind of following in the group think almost. And I remember we’re standing in our bay outside our beds and there’s this guy named Master Sargent Romero just screaming at us. And he kinda looked like Danny Trejo from <em>Once Upon a Time in Mexico</em>. Scary guy, you know? [<em>laughs</em>]</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Alright. Describe a typical day during basic training.</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>During basic training? Well, at 4:45 in the morning, <em>Reveille</em> plays. Sleep is fleeing from your eyes as your TI [Training Instructor] and others are screaming at you. “Get up! Get up! You make me sick! Get your ass outta bed!” Whatever. You line up in the hallways and wait for the element leaders or whoever to lead us down—down to the pad, which is outside the squadrons. All the squadrons or all the flights in the squadrons had to sound off—the TIs leading them. You start the day with PT—physical training. So running, push-ups. All the while, people are yelling at you. It got better throughout the course of basic training, but at the beginning, definitely not.</p>
<p>Then you had chow. That lasted about five minutes, if you were lucky. You learned to basically just put all your breakfast items between two thick pieces of French toast and that was your breakfast, ‘cause that’s the only way you could eat everything. Then you had to fall out. Then it was just a lot of marching and folding laundry and cleaning up the bay and doing military in-processing stuff. Regular appointments. And also prepping for the graduation ceremony.</p>
<p>So nighttime, the TI would have a—at about 5 o’clock, TI would wind down with us. He’d tell us what went on that day, what we need to accomplish the next day. He gradually got nicer as the course of basic training went on. That was also when you got your letters and stuff, so yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Did you have any special training?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Special training? Like, uh…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Anything other than basic training to get you ready for some special…</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Yeah. Everybody goes to—in the Air Force—well, in the Army, it’s called “A-School,” but in the Air Force it’s called “Tech School.” That’s immediately following basic training. My original job was supposed to be Explosive Ordinance Disposal. So that’s what I began doing. Learning about various explosive devices, bombs, missiles, other projectiles; how to disarm them; which is mainly blow them up in place. We actually got to do that. That was pretty cool. One of the highlights of my service. But unfortunately, I didn’t make it through EOD training. Well, actually I say “fortunately” now in retrospect, but yeah.</p>
<p>So after that, I went to fuels tech school in Wichita Falls, Texas. And that was completed in six weeks, and then I was ready for active duty.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So, where did you go once you were ready for active duty?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>My first and only duty station was Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>And what did you do there?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>I refueled planes and also worked with the lab out there—the fuels lab. And operated the hydro system as well.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>And how long were you there?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, that was my entire enlistment. However, I deployed out of there twice, so, give or take two deployments, five years. Well, actually, that’s a lie, ‘cause I forgot training and all that. I got there February 2009. So from February 2009 to end of May 2013.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So you said you had two deployments. Where was your first deployment to?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>To [Doha, ]Qatar. Al Udeid Air Base.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>And how long were you there?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Six months, give or take a few days.</p>
<p><strong>Williams <br /></strong>And what did you do there?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>I refueled planes. Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So describe a typical day when you were deployed there.</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>In Qatar?</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Mmhmm.</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Qatar was an awesome deployment, in retrospect. Well, a typical day was—at least before the Iraq War ended, ‘cause I was there right when that occurred, I think. It was very busy. You’d get there at work at about—well, you rode a bus to work at about—I—6:30 in the morning. Got there at 7. you’d have a morning briefing. Then you’d just take your backpack, you’d load it up—load it up with water, Gatorade—we used these energy drinks called “Rip Its.” If you can find them over here, you, like, stock up on them, because that’s what you had when you were deployed. But yeah, we had like this big stash of just free food that had been donated throughout. You just—that was basically it. You went to truck and you saw the—the shop again for lunch and the—again, when somebody was relieving you for the next shift to come on. After the Iraq—after the actions in Iraq started winding down, though the work load started to decrease, so you actually got to hang out in the building a little more throughout the day. So that was both good and bad. Got a lot of reading done.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So what was your first impression when you got to Qatar?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Mmm. Kind of a culture shock really, ‘cause, to be honest, I had never left the country before that so. And, I guess, the reality of actually being in a deployed zone, like, never in my—at that time, I think, 22-23 years of life—did I ever actually think I would be in that place. and—I don’t know—it was kind of scary at first, ‘cause I’m removed from everything. I don’t have as much freedom, just because—it’s not a distinctly oppressive environment. it’s just long shifts and you’re away from everything. Don’t have a car. Stuff like that. And I got so used to my little world over here that—so it was a bit of an adjustment.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Did you encounter any locals there?</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Mmhmm.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>What did you think of them?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, Qatar was—that was a very awesome experience, I thought. Very—very eye-opening, in a sense, too. We were actually—because it’s a non-hostile country, we were actually allowed to occasionally go downtown with commander’s approval. I got to do that about three times. I could have done it more, but I worked night shift and that basically meant going off base—meant being awake 24 hours straight [<em>laughs</em>]. But I met, um—I didn’t meet a lot of the actual Qatari nationals, ‘cause they’re considered royalty over there. You see them, but it’s not like you actually stop and converse with them. The few I did, they were seemingly pleasant. Um, there were a lot of Sri Lankan-Nepalese people there that—they worked most the areas and, you know, shops and whatnot.</p>
<p>I had my first experience with bargaining. It was an Indian man named Hakthor. I’ll never forget the guy, ‘cause I remember he’s got this jewelry shop. And I just remember I was looking for presents to send home and he tells me a price and I’m like, “No. I’m not paying that.” He’s like—so he sits here, like trying to justify. He’s like yelling, so I’m yelling back at him like, “No. No way. There’s no way I’m paying for that.” I’m finally walking out the door, I say—he’s like, “Come on. Just tell me a price.” I’m like, “Fine. I’ll give you about 400 riyal for that and that’s it. I’m leaving.” He’s like, “You know how much I sell these for? 800 riyal. I’ll do it for you, but nobody else.” So after I buy it, suddenly he’s my best friend. He’s like, “Thank you so much,” and starts giving me all this free stuff, asking me if I want tea. Pours me up some tea, asks me if I want it with milk, and we just sat there and talked. I still remember where his shop is, so if I’m ever in the souqs in Doha, Qatar, I know all I got to do is walk down this little alleyway and turn right and I can find Hakthor’s shop. So yep.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So tell me about your most memorable day there.</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>My most memorable day in Qatar?</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Mmhmm.</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Leaving [<em>laughs</em>]. Um, I don’t know, ‘cause most of the days were just so similar. Even the days off—like, I had my own routine. Um—crap. Most memorable day—yeah…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Well, why don’t you tell me about leaving—that day.</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Okay. Well, it was a very elating experience, because you spent six months just daydreaming about all the stuff you were going to do once you got back. Because that’s one thing you realize once you get there, is how much of being stateside you take for granted. like being able to just drive somewhere and see people, just being able to go to your favorite sushi restaurant, or you know, just the various things you can do to unwind, like hiking out in the desert. That was something I liked to do out there.</p>
<p>There was a place called Picacho Peak [State Park] between Phoenix[, Arizona] and Tucson. I’d just—randomly, I’d drive there and hike the thing and come down, but you can’t do that over there. You live in a very small compound and—similar area, so—it was—everybody actually cheered when my plane actually left the tarmac, ‘cause we were finally going home. So…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So that was your first deployment.</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Mmhmm.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Where was your second deployment?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>That was Afghanistan.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>And what was it like there?</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Not as cushy [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Williams </strong>How so?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, because you don’t get to go off base there, ‘cause it’s actually dangerous outside. V-22 rockets and mortars are launched at you about twice a week. A little bit more during Ramadan, ‘cause I was deployed for those months. 9/11<a title="">[2]</a> was a particularly scary day. I’m sure those questions are coming up though.</p>
<p>But no, there’s the big burn pits. The air was always kind of smoky. The place was kind of just like—I was in Bagram Airfield[, Bagram, Parwan, Afghanistan], and it was basically like living on a big construction site with an airport. So a lot of left over buildings from the early days of the campaign, and also from the Russian occupation.<a title="">[3]</a> Right where I was living, there was this big, old, disused—well, it’s been renovated, but it used to be the air traffic control tower when the Russians<a title="">[4]</a> owned it. So we—it was rumored to be haunted. Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So how long were you in Afghanistan?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>That was six months and some change. We actually got held over for a couple weeks. We were supposed to be back around Thanksgiving. didn’t get back until December 4<sup>th</sup>. Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Why was that?</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Um, it’s tough to catch a flight out of there, to be honest. They had to constantly change the itineraries. ‘Cause every time somebody updates on social media, they see it, and then they got to change it, so someone outside isn’t watching and knowing what planes to shoot at. At least that was what I was told. I don’t know.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Makes sense.</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>What did you think of Afghanistan when you first got there?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>I was a little more prepared for it, but when I finally saw, like, the living quarters and just the base itself, I thought, <em>Man, I miss Qatar.</em> I used to complain about that place and—yeah. yeah. At least I had a swimming pool there [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So in what way was Afghanistan’s living quarters different from Qatar’s?</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Well, in Qatar—in Qatar, I lived in these things called—well, I don’t remember what the name for them was. I think it was “trailers” probably. It was two to a room—I mean, it was supposed to be four to a room, but they didn’t do that to you. They just put you in with two people. You had like a mini fridge and all that. Bathrooms were located outside though. that kind of sucked. It was basically just this long hallway with rooms off each side, and it was a single-story building. Guys and girls in both buildings—in—in the building. So you weren’t allowed to go in each other’s rooms but, you know.</p>
<p>Afghanistan—there were more dorm-like buildings. They were about three or four stories. Had bathrooms located inside, so that was cool. But it was like three and four to a room and a lot smaller. Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So what were your duties in Afghanistan?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Afghanistan—I ran the cryogenic element and the fuels department. So basically, my duties were to store liquid oxygen and issue it to the various agencies on base that needed it. mainly aerospace ground equipment. I was also in charge of shipping and receiving replacement cryogenic fluid from Al Udeid. So…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>And what was your most memorable day in Afghanistan?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Hmm. Once again, a lot of similar days. I’ll say one of my favorite memories from that was the first time we had a movie night, just—yeah. It’s simple, but it was fun. I mean, it was towards the end, and I guess we were kind of like finally growing closer as a unit, just the few of us that were on day shift.</p>
<p>So one night, we decided to make this like, uh—it was somebody’s day off, so that’s how we do it. it was a tradition. We’d run to the chow hall and load up on like whatever free food we could get. It was all free, but, you know. Then we just rolled back to—we had this tent that was basically designated for recreation and stuff, like there was stuff to work out with. It was a big open space and you could just go in there and chill. And one of our supervisors—this guy, Sargent Little, had a projector. And so we just put a big sheet up, and just picked a movie off of somebody’s external, and just sat there and hung out. I mean, if there had been a 12-pack right there, it would have felt like home. So…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Do you remember what movie you watched?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, I remember we watched <em>Spider-Man</em> and [<em>The</em>]<em> Cabin in the Woods</em>—a couple others. So I don’t know. It was just one of those—it was where it almost felt like I was back home, so that was kind of cool.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So you said that 9/11 was particularly kind of scary. Why was that?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>That’s ‘cause rockets were falling out of the sky all night around base. Every time—and every time something explodes, like usually they landed on the opposite side of where I was—the east side of base. so you’d hear a boom somewhere. It sounded like somebody was setting a dumpster down, you know? But then, all of a sudden, you’d hear the alarms going off and “Incoming! Incoming!” if they saw it on time. If they didn’t see it, then it’s “IDF<a title="">[5]</a> impact! Take shelter! Don IBA!”<a title="">[6]</a> You hear every emergency vehicle on the base and that just kept going on all night.</p>
<p>They were trying to have—they had a commemorative, like five—not 5K [kilometer]—but like “fun run” or something for, you know—to commemorate 9/11,<a title="">[7]</a> which, I think—I thought was a stupid idea, but that’s just me. Gathering a bunch of people in one spot in a war zone. Sure enough, at—this is the first time a rocket landed during the day. It’s like 8 in the morning, the sun’s up, and I just—I was in the bathroom, I heard “BOOM!” And I thought, <em>They have a signal gun or something? They never shoot at us during the day.</em> Sure enough, I hear the alarm. “IDF impact! Take shelter!” So that was when they actually started attacking us, you know, during the day, at more sporadic, less predictable times, so…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So in that event, what did you do? Like when they were attacking during the day?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, you stay in your dorm basically. You weren’t allowed to leave. If they—if you were like, you know—if you had to take shelter, there’s[sic] bunkers that you can dive into if you’re caught outside. If there’s nothing around, you’ve got to basically hit the ground, open your mouth, cover your ears.</p>
<p>But that definitely wasn’t the worst one, as far as my experience though. Worst one came a couple weeks later. I was, thankfully, still in the dorms, but, the PAX [passengers] terminal right across the street got hit, and that was a loud rocking explosion. Like, it was wasn’t just the sound of, you know, a dumpster being set down. It was real. like I jumped out of my seat. I was sitting there reading, and one of my roommates was outside, and he came running upstairs white as a ghost saying, “I heard it whistle right over my head.” And suddenly you just start to hear stuff just exploding all over the base. I was actually kind of scared at that one—at that point. So we were—yeah, I think I was about an hour—two hours late to work. One of our fuel trucks got hit. One of the contractors was driving it. If he had been parked about three feet back, he’d be dead. Our expeditor pick-up actually took shrapnel too. Busted out the back windows, holes up and down sides. So that was the closest to home it came. Actually, I think I kept a piece of shrapnel. So yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams </strong>So do you have any, like—a funny story that sticks out in your mind while being either in Qatar or in Afghanistan?</p>
<p><strong>Dull </strong>Um, yeah. Can I say it on a camera?</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Go for it.</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Okay. We had a supervisor that pissed us off. He was this guy named Sargent Myer and—just no one liked him but supervision. He threw people under the bus. He was in charge of another shop and he just dealt out these draconian punishments for rules that didn’t even exist. Like doing a walk around. Walking around your truck to inspect it after you parked it. It’s not necessary, but somebody didn’t do that, so he took away all their reading materials—whatever. This guy was a douche.</p>
<p>So I found out about a site called stickerjunkie.com, where you can pay like 25 dollars for a hundred stickers. So I was bored one day sitting at my computer, and I decided to mess around with it and wrote, “Sergeant Myer licks balls and jerks off donkeys with his mouth.” [<em>laughs</em>] My supervisor read it. He’s like, “That’s hilarious. You’re not buying that, are you?” And I’m like, “We get hazardous duty pay. sure, why not?” I bought a hundred of those stickers and distributed them to everybody in the—in the flight that was in on it. And those are to this day still decorating various places in Bagram Airfield, Kyrgyzstan Air Base,<a title="">[8]</a> um, a jet engine somewhere in Al Udeid. Yeah [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>How did your supervisor feel about that? [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, he didn’t find out until like the last day we left. He saw one of them sitting on the USO [United Service Organizations. So he’s like, “Oh, no.” He tried to laugh it off, you know, like, “It’s cool. I’m not mad,” but he was. He had no idea who did it to him either.</p>
<p><strong>Williams <br /></strong>So did you serve anywhere else overseas other than Qatar and Afghanistan?</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>No.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>What did—or how did you feel once you were leaving Afghanistan? Describe your last day there.</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Um, a lot of kind of mixed emotions. I was definitely glad, but—I don’t know. There was just a lot—um, my plan was—well, this is what ended up happening. My deed of discharge was coming up about four months after I got back from Afghanistan. So there was a lot of that on my mind. Knowing that once I landed, I was pretty much gonna have to start getting ready to, um, basically end my entire military career and move back to Florida. Most of that was already in the works. It was just applying to UCF and getting my affairs in order, so there was a bitter sweetness.</p>
<p>Plus, I was in a relationship that was kind of just on its downward spiral. Like, I’d actually—we’d actually broken up once like a week before I got back, but then got back together and—I don’t know. it was just different. I was definitely glad to be back, of course, but it wasn’t—it wasn’t the elating experience that it was leaving Qatar. I guess, just because—I don’t know. I was in a different place then. So…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So you said that you were in a relationship while you were overseas in Afghanistan?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>What was that like?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Hmm. Well, definitely strained. Part of it was—I don’t know. Um, it was cool at first, but that was because we had like just met up before I left, so we were still in that stage of the relationship. We were talking everyday, messaging each other on Facebook, talking about the future when I get back. I’d always—I’d post YouTube songs on her Facebook, you know. Cute stuff like that.</p>
<p>But, after a while, it just sort of—I don’t know—tapered off. I said something insensitive at some point, I guess. I don’t know. I’d probably be—I undoubtedly became insensitive, because, after a while, the stress of the place just gets to you. Pretty soon you can’t, you know—you’re not in a good mood. When you’ve seen enough fallen warrior ceremonies—I helped out with a couple casket missions. I had to see casualties, um, you know—you see stuff like that, suddenly you don’t really want to sit here and type out, “Oh, I love you,” and “Hugs and kisses,” and “Butterflies,” and, you know. So she sees that change and can’t really appreciate it, I guess. so pretty soon, every conversation we were having was just—had this undercurrent of like—what’s the word I’m looking for—I actually wrote a non-fiction piece about it that described it perfectly, but I’ll be damned if I can think of it now. But yeah. Needless to say, there was a lot of strain on that. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So what has life been like after leaving the service?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>It was a stressful transition for me, but part of that was ‘cause, as soon as I landed from Afghanistan, I was trying to deconstruct that life and try and start a new one so. I didn’t really have the time to come down from it, I guess. Um, yeah. I dealt with a lot of just anxiety and depression. I had some—I’d say alcohol abuse. I wasn’t an alcoholic, but it was enough to where it was causing certain people—the VA [Veterans Administration] and others concern. Yeah.</p>
<p>So I don’t know, there was a long period when I first got back here where I was consistently pissed off 24/7. If I wasn’t mad, pissed off, whatever, I was depressed. Um, it sucks, but I only remember like one or two days of that first summer here being actually, you know, kind of happy and at peace. Part of that is just—school’s tough, and part of it was an end of another relationship in Arizona that was anterior to the military. But, also yeah. Just having to face that lack of structure for the first time in a while and kind of being in an alien place again. so…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So do you feel like you still kind of deal with that depression and anxiety today? Or have you kind of gotten over it a little bit?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>I’m definitely a lot better off now than I was a year ago. So it’s still there, but most of that is mostly early childhood stuff that, according to my psychotherapist, was reactivated by my experiences in the military. So, um, yeah. So still kind of a struggle, but not near as bad.</p>
<p><strong>Williams <br /></strong>When was your discharge date for the military?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>19 May 2013.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>And did you earn any awards or medals for your service?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Mmhmm. There are several medals that they give you, like I have Outstanding Unit Award. That wasn’t a personal achievement. That was—I won an achievement medal for my duties in Qatar, actually. and that was probably the only one I can think of that I earned on my own personal merit. And that was just for, um—for working hard, basically being proactive. I impressed enough people and also did some volunteering there too. I took some college courses while I was over there and helped process some blood units to send to other areas of the AOR [area of responsibility]. so…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So what are you doing today?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Today? As in—this. Okay. So today I’m doing an oral history project. Then I’m—I’ve got a class—Women in Hispanic Literature. then I’m going to be conducting my own interview on my friend, Lynette, for that same class. I’m supposed to go to my anthropology lecture hall today, and then community group at my church tonight. and that’s about it. Revising a story.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So what do you do in like your everyday life now-a-days?</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Day-to-day life. I work at the VARC [Veterans Academic Resource Center] about three hours a day there. just helping out other student veterans with whatever issues they have. Our big focus this semester, besides Military Appreciation Week, was just trying to get people off the academic probation list, touching base with them, seeing what we can do to them to help them out and try to direct them to whatever resources we have available for them.</p>
<p>Then I’m taking a full course load. I’m majoring in Creative Writing, so—taking Women in Hispanic Lit, ‘cause you need literature courses and diversity. Advanced Fiction Writing. I’m an intern at <em>The Florida Review</em>, as well. So I’ve been doing a lot of work with them. And then just a gen[eral]-ed[ucation] class. so…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Do you feel that working at the VARC and helping other veteran students—do you feel like that helps you as well?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Mmhmm. Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>In what ways?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, it’s fulfilling to know that you can—that you’ve helped somebody out. And I also enjoy interacting with the other veterans on campus too. I’ve grown pretty close with the work study staff there, as well. Like, we all hang out together and everything. And I’ve made a lot of friends just from people coming in and out of the—out of the VARC. So…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>So how did your time in the Air Force affect your life today?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Well, mostly positive. I mean, before I was living in an apartment in Cocoa Beach with a drug dealer, and a—yeah—psychopath. and I basically had a decision to make. It was either stay in this lifestyle and struggle. I’d undoubtedly end up in jail. No future there. I was always working minimum wage jobs.</p>
<p>Or I could join the military, have a shot at going to college. I’d always wanted to be an author, and I’d always wanted to go to college, but didn’t really get that opportunity coming out of high school. So the military definitely served its purpose. The GI Bill [Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944] had been excellent. I’m done with most of the requirements for my degree next semester. So, yeah. I’ve basically attained a dream. Came at a price though, but…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Is there anything else that we have not discussed that you would like to talk about?</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>Hmm. Not that I can think of.</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Alright.</p>
<p><strong>Dull<br /></strong>I’m better with questions, so…</p>
<p><strong>Williams<br /></strong>Alright. Well, that will conclude the interview. Thank you so much for your service and for talking with us today.</p>
<p><strong>Dull <br /></strong>Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you.</p>
<div><br /><div>
<p><a title="">[1]</a> Melbourne International Airport.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[2]</a> September 11<sup>th</sup>.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[3]</a> The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December of 1979.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[4]</a> Correction: Soviets.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[5]</a> Indirect fire.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[6]</a> Interceptor body armor.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[7]</a> Terrorist attacks on September 11<sup>th</sup>, 2001.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[8]</a> Correction: Manas Air Base.</p>
</div>
</div>
Date Issued
2015-01
Conforms To
Standards established by the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/vets/" target="_blank">Veterans History Projects</a>, Library of Congress.
9/11 Attacks
Abu Nakhlah Airport
Afghan War
Afghanistan
airman
airmen
Al Udeid AB
Al Udeid Air Base
alcohol abuse
alcoholism
Anchorage, Alaska
anxiety
Bagram Airfield
bargaining
basic training
Brevard County
cryogenics
Danny Trejo
Davis-Monthan AFB
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
deployment
deployments
depression
Doha, Qatar
drug addictions
Dull, Heather
Dull, Josh R.
Dull, Joshua "Josh" R.
Elmendorf AFB
Elmendorf Air Force Base
Empower Wyoming
EOD
Explosive Ordinance Disposal
fuels department
fuels tech school
GI Bill
Global War on Terror
GWOT
Hakthor
Heather Dull
Indians
Iraq War
Josh Dull
Joshua R. Dull
liquid oxygen
Little
McChord Field
Melbourne
Melbourne International Airport
mental health
Middle East
Middle Easterner
military family
military training
Myer
Nepalese
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Outstanding Unit Award
oxygen
Picacho Peak State Park
post-traumatic stress disorder
PTSD
Qatar
Qataris
Rachel Williams
Ramadan
Reveille
Rip It
rocket attacks
Romero
September 11 Attacks
Servicemen's��s Readjustment Act of 1944
souq
Soviet Union
Soviet War in Afghanistan
Spider-Man
Sri Lankan
substance abuse
Tacoma, Washington
tech school
terrorism
terrorists
The Cabin in the Woods
The Florida Review
Tucson, Arizona
U.S. Air Force
UCF
UCF VARC
University of Central Florida
USAF
V-22
VARC
veterans
Veterans Academic Resource Center
War in Afghanistan
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wyoming