Veterans Coming Home

[Elizabeth Hash]: Foxii Brown.

That girl hits so hard.

You have that very competitive, like, oh, I gotta get away from Foxii!

But you're happy that she's on your team when you travel against other teams.

There's a lot of that in the military too.

You've got this guy next to you that you're competing with when you're doing your rifle marksmanship.

He gets 40 out of 40 every time, and you're only getting 39.

But he's the guy you want next to you if something were to go down.

And then if you'd like more information about the National Guard, you can put your phone number and high school name.

We do have some recruiters that are awesome at walking up and saying, "You need to be in the military.

This is what you're gonna do."

I'm low-pressure.

They're setting up to go up the rock wall, and that's a really fun event that we have.

[Kathleen]: And what is this, can you tell us what we're doing?

[Elizabeth]: This is the KU Relay and it's got high schools from all over Kansas and Missouri.

My goal, really, when I'm out talking to people is: let them see me out in the community being engaged.

[Man]: Thank you ma'am, [Man]: I appreciate what you do.

[Elizabeth]: I appreciate what you do.

Then when I talk to kids at school, and they're like, "Oh, I saw you at the relay event," they're not as stand-offish.

"Come on, you know you want to."

[Kid]: No, that aint for me.

[Elizabeth]: You scared?

[Kid]: I'm a college boy.

[Elizabeth]: You're a college boy?

[Girl]: Are you actually in the battlefield?

[Elizabeth]: No.

So that's a common misconception.

People think, oh, everybody who joins the military's gonna kick in doors and stuff.

But really when you join, you do your job.

So, when I deployed, I was supply, which means I really dealt with equipment.

I never wanted to be in the military, to be honest.

My dad was in the military growing up and it was just something my dad did, you know?

His combat boots were always by the door; I'd stub my toes on them, and that was really it.

And then when I turned seventeen, my enlistment packet was done.

So I was like, "What's this all about?"

"Well, we have 6 kids and we're not gonna pay for your college, so you gotta figure out what you're gonna do."

I was like, "Oh!

Well dang!

What am I going to do?"

Say hello!

So, I joined the Guard when I was seventeen.

Hey daddy-o!

[Father]: How you doin'?

[Husband]: Great!

[Father]: What are you doing, huh?

You being shy?

[Elizabeth]: My dad, he was in recruiting too, and is still a recruiter.

Hi Paps.

[Father]: I'm very proud of her.

Well, I kind of pushed her towards the military.

[Father] Cayden will probably be the next recruiter.

[Elizabeth]: Cayden says he's going to be a Marine.

[Kathleen]: Wow!

So you are the third generation recruiter.

[Garrett]: So, you know, we've been at war for sixteen years.

Do you ever wrestle with recruiting people into a military that's so actively engaged in conflict?

[Elizabeth]: It's something that I definitely think about, and I'm honest and open with the people that I talk to about it.

it weighs on you and the kids.

I've enlisted some kids that have been deployed now, and most of them want to... [Garrett]: Does it ever strike you when you're using the term "kids" to describe people that are being recruited into the military?

[Elizabeth]: No.

For me - I just enlisted a guy who is my age, and I still refer to him as my kid, because I have a very strong sense of, like, the mamma bear, kind of over them.

No matter where they go and their career takes them - they could be a colonel, general, something someday, and they're still going to be my kids.

When I came back from being deployed, there was just something missing.

You spend a year overseas with people, and they instill it into each of us that you've got to be willing to die for these people.

Regardless of whether or not you like them, you've got to be willing to die for them.

And that's a pretty intense bond.

So when you come into the civilian world, and you're trying to find friendships, nothing is that fulfilling - until you find something like roller derby.

I'm going to have Killshot go in next.

Are you ready?

[Roller woman]: You can be a misfit, you can be the most proper person on earth.

We're together as one team.

[Elizabeth]: This might be the last jam.

There's a lot of that in the military too, because it brings people from many different walks of life together.

Great job!

Great job!

I am so proud of you all!

And you put your own personal needs and desires aside for the benefit of the team.

[Roller woman]: She's awesome.

She's my go-to person.

If I need something, I'll call her in a second.

[Kathleen] Have you been this close to someone in the military before?

[Roller woman] No, no.

Not at all.

[Elizabeth] You can do it!

Every time I have someone enlist, I stay and watch them swear in and take the oath, and that's a pretty powerful thing.

You're really proud of the decision that the person made, and you think back to when you made the decision.

There's something that it fulfills in me that I can't find anywhere else.