American Veteran

(brooding music) I remember for the first month, you know, every time you go out on patrol, every step you think is a booby trap, every corner is an ambush, and eventually, you just become so used to that heightened level of fear and anxiety (man yelling) that it just, it becomes the new normal. (guns banging) I had no idea what it sounded like to get shot at. I always thought that it was a bang-bang when you hear that, but you actually hear that the supersonic crack of the bullet before you ever hear a bang. So you hear this like a ruler smacking a desk sound. (gun bangs) Prior to my first firefight, I had never heard that sound before. (guns banging) (brooding piano music) I flew in B-17 bombers. I was navigator. Flying over the target, you went through literally a field of bursting shells with flack, these shards of steel coming through the thin walls of the plane and rattling around in the cabin. Of course, my hand was shaking. (man laughs) And bombing Berlin was a 10-hour trip. (air whistling) I was a military police officer in Iraq. Part of our mission over there was to train the Iraqi police. So my first day on the job was like a ride-along. We go and pick up this Iraqi police officer. We have an interpreter with us and you know, we're driving through the city and we're getting shot at. (bomb bangs) -

Man

Goddamn. (tires screech) And I'm like, this is crazy and they're like, "psh, This happens everyday." I'm like, "everyday?" (bomb banging) The civilian world view of combat is somebody shooting at you and you're shooting back at them. The coast guard's combat is mother nature. When somebody's in trouble, it's you and your crew that's gotta go out there and risk your lives to save them. (water splashing) And when you're jumping into 25-foot seas and then you get out and into the surf, you know what its like to battle mother nature. But it was pretty exhilarating when you're able to get out there, effect your rescue and get home. (fast-paced brooding music) You know, there's nothing unmanned about unmanned aircraft. (engine revving) I'm sitting in the box in Southern Nevada and I'm 6,000 miles away from the aircraft that I'm flying. (plane engine humming) There's maybe a two-second delay, I mean, it goes from Afghanistan, hits the satellite, bounces down to the relay station, piped via our secure internet to Las Vegas. (somber piano music) For all intents and purposes, I'm in combat. Mentally that's where you are. It's bizarre. (plane engine roars)