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Oscar Mike Radio – 512 – John Mollison – History Is Nutritious · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

1:01
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Learn more at my camp.com. The brain to perfect for the
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body. Am I in your arrest?
3:11
He results in innocent man in front of his wife and baby
3:14
groom. Do you remember any of that?
3:17
Does the defendant have any priors?
3:19
Resisting arrest, DUI, assault? Hey, my client has been awarded
3:25
a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star medal for his combat service.
3:28
I'm ordering you to undergo a 60 day outpatient rehabilitation
3:31
program. Good luck.
3:36
No, I'm not doing that. Do you know what the VA S put me
3:38
through? If you have a brain in your
3:40
head, you're going to listen to me right now, because the next
3:42
time you try to provoke a lethal response from law enforcement,
3:44
you might not have an Angel sitting on your shoulder.
3:46
The courts think that you're going to fix me.
3:48
I hate to disappoint you, but I can't fix you.
3:51
That's your job, not mine. Did you know that your father
3:54
got out? He's a dangerous man, Calvin, be
3:57
careful. We came back and they spat on us
4:01
at the airport. No home calling parade, no
4:04
celebrations. You can't pretend like you have
4:06
any idea what it's like to be in combat.
4:09
No, but what I do know is this field of work that I've
4:13
dedicated my life to has helped a lot of people.
4:16
When you got back, something was different.
4:19
It wasn't that you'd changed, you'd been replaced.
4:26
You lose your morality when you go to war, and the hard part is
4:29
coming back to a civilian society that doesn't have any
4:32
idea what's going on in your head.
4:35
It's hard to believe my enemy is the man I used to be.
4:40
But you wonder, where's my tribe?
4:43
And I ain't talking about no friendship neither.
4:45
I'm talking about brotherhood. What is it that you truly want,
4:52
Calvin? I just want to wake up in the
4:54
morning and feel something. My pain is relative, son.
5:00
Sometimes we got to fall apart to find ourselves all over
5:04
again. Wait for me there.
5:07
Wait for me there. We're willing to give your life
5:12
for your country now maybe you can try living for it.
5:21
What are you feeding this guy? Look at that.
5:23
What do you want? I did 4 tours of The Cheesecake
5:26
Factory. Oh, OK, Little spicy, little
5:30
spicy. The movie, music, news,
6:10
television, promos, trailers, and videos used by OM Radio are
6:14
protected by the Fair Use Act, Section 107 of the Copyright Act
6:19
One. The purpose and character of the
6:21
use, including whether such uses of commercial nature or is for
6:24
nonprofit educational purposes. 2 The nature of the copyrighted
6:29
work. 3. The amount and substantiality of
6:32
the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
6:36
4 The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of
6:40
the copyrighted work. What does the life after service
6:44
look like? Kicking back, Taking it easy.
6:50
We believe it looks a little different.
6:53
It looks like leading for all veterans, helping shape policies
6:56
to make certain they get the benefits they've earned, and
6:59
ensuring every veteran's voice is heard.
7:03
It looks like advancing to meet today's veterans where they are,
7:07
lifting them up and strengthening the bond that
7:10
unites us. It looks like rolling up our
7:13
sleeves, serving those in need, cleaning up our communities to
7:17
make them better for everyone. Because a veteran's mission
7:22
never truly ends, and neither does ours.
7:29
Thevfwstillleadingstilladvancingstillservinggetinvolved@stillserving.org. Hello and welcome to OM Radio.
7:49
My name is Travis, Marine Corps veteran and your host OM Radio's
7:54
Co producer Sensible in Productions.
7:56
What's your podcast doing? I want to thank my sponsors TNT
8:00
Pin Company, Outright dot AI and my supporters Case on Shaving
8:05
Company, Exceptional Parent Magazine and Fight Camp.
8:08
Be your strongest combination. I love these kind of shows.
8:11
Not where, you know, I go out and find a cool guess to talk
8:14
to, but when somebody I've collaborate in the past says,
8:17
hey, you got to talk to this person, like get them on your
8:19
show now. So a big shout out to Ben
8:23
Buehler Garcia, BBG from American Warrior Radio for
8:27
referring my next guest to me. And then he did.
8:30
And as you will see, or you're seeing now, this is just there's
8:34
several layers here to my next guest, which is John Mullison.
8:37
History is nutritious, amongst other things.
8:40
Welcome to OM Radio. Thank you.
8:43
Thanks, Travis. Ben introduces us and he's like
8:48
Travis, this, this, this, this guy is right up your alley.
8:51
You've got to get on this now. And when Ben speaks, I listen
8:54
because we have a good relationship.
8:56
And I just started scratching the surface.
8:59
And then I get a little like, you know, supply drop from you
9:04
and, you know, there was this, there was the, the, the coin and
9:08
the drawing of the aircraft. And I start finding out that
9:11
you've done a whole lot in filmmaking, storytelling,
9:15
creative, you know, processes that I, I am still just dipping
9:20
my toe into after all this time. And so I was really hoping to
9:23
talk with you because not everybody does what you do.
9:26
So before we get into all the good stuff and it's all good,
9:30
kind of start with, you know how you got your start down this
9:33
creative path, John? Well, I would say it came from
9:37
my mom and my dad. When I was a little kid, about
9:40
age 3, my mom used to keep me occupied by grabbing my dad's
9:46
model airplane boxes. And they put them in front of
9:49
the table or mom would put them on the table and then she'd dump
9:53
a bunch of crayons and paper and she would say, look at the
9:56
airplane box and then draw what happened next.
10:01
Now the airplane boxes, you know, are I've got a couple
10:04
around here, but they're, you know, they've got these really
10:07
fantastic scenes and, you know, you know, paintings.
10:10
And then I would have to imagine what happened next.
10:13
And it was a good way for my mom's to keep me occupied.
10:17
And that's how I got into learning about airplanes,
10:20
learning about history. I, I learned how to read by
10:24
reading a model airplane instructions.
10:26
So I really just want to thank the Ravel, Airfix, all those
10:32
companies for starting me on a a really, really, really cool
10:36
trajectory. And in that trajectory, what was
10:40
it about aircraft that you like? Because some people like the the
10:43
shapes and some people, you know, like the technology and
10:46
realizing that, you know, in about 150 years you've gone from
10:50
flying 100 yards with the Wright brothers to, you know,
10:53
supersonic flight and, you know, interstellar, well, inner
10:57
atmosphere flight. It's just amazing how fast it
11:01
all goes and the fact that it works as well as it does.
11:06
Yeah, and I same same reason you just expressed there, Travis.
11:10
Airplanes are just cool. I'm a gearhead.
11:12
I like the things that, you know, burn fuel and and make
11:16
power and roar. Well, you're doing that, but you
11:19
also, I'm like, wait a minute, you know, some of the movies and
11:23
film projects you created are are like, wait a minute, where
11:26
did all that come from? That's a different story all
11:31
together. And I really appreciate,
11:34
appreciate telling, telling people because if you don't
11:38
mind, I'll bring up I, I, there's a phrase I put on my
11:43
coin. It says when an old man dies, a
11:45
library burns. And I was very fortunate in my
11:49
life. I'm probably one of the luckiest
11:51
people you'll ever meet, or at least I think I'm lucky.
11:53
But I got to have a lot of professional experiences and
11:59
moments young in my career that I began to recognize were rare.
12:07
But also what I began to recognize was I really wasn't
12:11
mentally, spiritually, whatever you want to call it, prepared
12:16
for them. And even though you you kind of
12:20
have a certain level of success in your rising and you start
12:22
realizing you're maybe getting out of altitude.
12:27
I was befriended by a number of World War 2 veterans.
12:31
And it was really just conversation.
12:34
And I started to realize that there was more that I could
12:37
learn from old people. And I started to have these
12:41
collect these mentors and, you know, I've been through all the
12:45
executive, you know, development courses and stuff like that.
12:48
And, and, but it was talking to these old veterans that gave me,
12:54
I just let my brain on is, oh, this is the good stuff.
12:57
It isn't always, you know, reading on the back of the
13:00
latest, you know, business self help book.
13:03
And you read the, you know, look at the back picture and you'd
13:05
think, wow, that guy's my age. He's famous for writing books.
13:09
You know, I want, I want to learn about real leadership.
13:12
And so these, it's just one thing came to another and I
13:17
would, I would offer to draw a veteran's airplane, get it
13:22
printed. I was in a position where I
13:23
could, you know, first straight printing and then I'd give the
13:27
prints to the family in exchange for an interview.
13:33
Well, I learned quickly that the interviews, you can't interview
13:38
somebody like this in 30 minutes, 90 minutes, 30 days, 90
13:45
days. And so they became not just
13:49
mentors, but they became friends.
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And from then on, you know, I'd write about it.
13:54
My artwork would get distributed more.
13:57
And, and because I've always been in media production and it
14:00
was like, oh, maybe we should make a film and blah, blah,
14:03
blah, blah, blah. And then, you know, here, here I
14:05
am today and and I'm pretty, pretty proud of a great body of
14:11
work. But at the same time, it's
14:14
really been about me figuring out what it means to be in this
14:19
planet, in this world, a nation, country, husband, father, all
14:26
those things. So that's a long answer to your
14:30
question, Travis. But when an old man dies, a
14:33
library burns. I feel that very deeply.
14:37
Matter of fact, yesterday I just got a call from one of a, a
14:42
Vietnam War squadron that I got to befriend or they befriended
14:46
me that their, their former Squadron Leader, Crawford
14:52
Shockley flew West and he's one of the profound impacts on my
14:59
life. Known him for, you know, 15
15:01
years and visited him in his home and got to know his family,
15:05
blah, blah, blah. And it's, and I really taking
15:10
this down a kind of a rabbit trail maybe that you weren't
15:13
looking for, but for me drawing airplanes and interviewing old
15:18
guys is it's a, it's a quest for truth.
15:22
How's that? Well, first of all, this is just
15:26
the rabbit hole I want to go down because.
15:29
Turn off on a tangent there buddy.
15:31
No, no, no, it's fine because I, I still think back to World War
15:36
One. I read a book called Eye Deep in
15:38
Hell and I realized everybody talks about the World War 2 vets
15:44
and Vietnam, so on and so forth. But we missed out on supposedly
15:49
the war to end all wars. And, and, and so every time, I
15:54
mean, you're telling one of these stories or gathering this
15:57
information, it's not been sanitized through a
16:01
communications team. It's not been, you know,
16:05
polished up. It's, it's how that person felt
16:08
at the time. It, it must seem like a time
16:11
warp for you, like you've gone back in time.
16:14
And do you feel what they're talking about when they're when
16:16
they're telling you these stories, John?
16:21
I think that's the first time I've been asked that question.
16:24
You certainly empathize it with it, but I'll, I'll answer it
16:29
differently. What I feel is I feel like I'm
16:34
learning more about the whole human experience.
16:39
And that sounds pretty lofty and maybe abstract, but it's, it's
16:44
hard for me to compartmentalize. I mean, I can think about
16:47
generations. I know I understand generational
16:49
dynamics. Certainly when you start hanging
16:52
around with people twice your age, you learn about
16:54
generations. But to me, I, I think I feel
16:59
more about what it just the human, the, the human condition.
17:05
If I'm asking or answering your question, for example, when you
17:10
meet like PO WS or people who've gone through incredible trauma
17:15
or you've meet people who've had significant leadership, or I'm
17:20
thinking about a number of Medal of Honor recipients that I've
17:23
I've been able to, to, to talk to.
17:25
And then you start thinking about not only courage and
17:29
excellence and duty, but then the responsibility afterwards.
17:33
Those to me are are all experiences that every one of us
17:37
has to appreciate at some point in life.
17:40
Every one of us can learn from. We may not all get a Medal of
17:45
Honor experience and God forbid we all experience what war is.
17:50
But these are all experiences that if we learn and if we we
17:54
take our time to appropriate them and and think bigger, they
17:58
can shape our lives in great ways.
18:00
And I think it, when I've talked to veterans, that sense of this
18:08
is going to make me sound maybe a little more self important
18:10
than I than I want to. But I get a sense of, John, now
18:13
that I've given you this story, tell it to somebody else in a
18:17
way that they can re relate to. And that I think is, is the the
18:23
the important thing that I get out of it.
18:26
So I don't know if I answered your question question Travis,
18:28
but that's the answer you get. All right, no, that's, that's
18:31
fine. I'll, I'll take what I can get
18:34
there is the creative process. And I'm curious when, when you
18:38
get a, a veteran like this in front of you, do you have like
18:42
a, like a, a template you use to define the story or do you how
18:47
do you do that? Because some people have a very
18:50
defined template of things they want to know some people, I
18:53
guess I'm in this group. I kind of want to meet the
18:56
person, meet with them where they are and see what what
18:58
happens versus trying to get a an angle, if you will.
19:03
But I'm curious how your structure works.
19:06
Yeah, I, I stay away from the angle.
19:08
I mean, I live in media and public relations and, and you
19:11
learn quickly that you can steer an interview or somebody's
19:16
memories really any way you want it.
19:18
And I don't want to do that. These, these veterans are not
19:21
public figures typically. And their, their story is what
19:27
it is. It's not my job to, you know,
19:31
put my spin or perspective on it.
19:35
And I try to just let the story go wherever the veteran wants to
19:40
go. And I've, I've got really one
19:42
process and that is can I earn trust and then not break it
19:52
ever? That's, that's, that's a built
19:57
in headwind that keeps my ego in check.
20:01
Just always thinking, OK, this is their story.
20:03
This is their story. I've, I remember a time right
20:06
now that is the first film that I produced in Vietnam.
20:10
I was with a. Gentleman by the name of Colonel
20:14
John Stiles and we got into Hanoi late.
20:18
It was at a where last people in the hotel.
20:21
We're getting food where we probably had too much wine on
20:24
the plane and we're tired. We've been up for 30 hours and I
20:28
remember we were a little cranky.
20:30
I was with my #2 on the production team and, and John
20:36
leans over to me and he goes, listen, this is my story.
20:40
And I thought I was by that time I was pretty seasoned at
20:44
interviewing veteran veterans, but I, it occurred to me never
20:49
forget that there's a wall that can't be crossed between me and
20:55
them. And now John and I get along
20:57
great. He, he wrote a great book.
20:59
Actually, let me, let me be in his book.
21:02
But when you interview veterans, I try to show up with nothing
21:09
other than let's talk. I mean, let the story go.
21:13
But again, it to me, it's not a 30 minute deal or a 90 minute
21:17
deal. I'm not trying to get a certain
21:19
thing within this much time. My thought is, is now I'm going
21:23
to know you. I'm going to know you for life.
21:25
And when something is worth recording for somebody else,
21:29
that'll just happen, if that makes any sense.
21:33
Well, so, so it's, it's interesting because so often in,
21:36
in, in my show, I'm told, hey, you got about 30 minutes with
21:41
this guy and then he's done. You know, you're going to get
21:44
like 30 minutes out of him. And then you're going to see
21:46
where by, by minute #59 you're, you're, you're not going to get
21:50
what you want. Or I've been told, Hey, I know
21:52
we told you we, we had an hour for you.
21:55
Something's come up. You have 20 minutes.
21:57
Good luck. So it's, it's an interesting
22:01
path I have to take in, in, in in my world.
22:06
I would love sometimes to have more time, but I'm not
22:10
complaining. It's just the reality I'm in.
22:12
Right. But I I like the fact that you
22:14
can take the time to get to know the person.
22:17
And I think, yeah, you, you, you hit on something.
22:19
A lot of us can smell when someone is just there to, you
22:23
know, either, you know, they have an agenda or they're just
22:27
trying to. OK, I got to do this interview,
22:29
you know. Hey, here's next one.
22:31
Get this guy done and get him out of here.
22:33
And so we respond differently. You've gotten in media, you've
22:39
done film. You know, I, I was looking at
22:44
your, your website and the old guys and their airplanes really
22:48
stuck out to me because I saw the B52 and I'm like, OK, I'm
22:51
all in. Because I joined the Marine
22:53
Corps from Barks, from Bosier City where Barks to Air Force
22:57
Base is. And they have them there.
22:59
And I started digging around like you, you have gone back and
23:03
really carved out this space in military aircraft.
23:07
Is it, is it the dream come true, John, where you were a
23:11
little boy playing with planes and now you're a big boy filming
23:17
planes. And it's just you're, you're
23:19
just an internal kid and you get to do it or, or what's, what's,
23:23
what's the, what's the driver for that?
23:25
Because you can tell that you you like doing it.
23:30
Yeah, I, I think the, the, the driver is I, I just want to be
23:35
better as a, as a human. And, you know, Travis, there's
23:39
two parts. I mean, yeah.
23:40
Do I walk up to AB52 and think, yeah, this is really cool.
23:43
I mean, you're there with somebody who's flown the
23:46
airplane and you can go into your head space and you can, you
23:48
can imagine. But at the same time, I have a
23:53
sense that their stories are worth something to the rest of
23:58
us. So I want to make sure that I
24:00
get that story to somewhere else.
24:03
I really think it's a, it's just about inspiration for me.
24:06
What do, what can I do to produce to inspire somebody
24:10
else? Otherwise, we're going through
24:14
life just learning as we go. And I've got this treasure trove
24:20
of wisdom and it's not mine, but it's the people that I know.
24:25
And you end up spending a day with somebody and then somebody
24:29
who's who's been through the Crucible, somebody who's
24:32
experienced something great, somebody who's knows five times
24:37
what I know. It's how do I share that?
24:42
And so that's why I've gotten into developing educational
24:45
materials for classrooms, etcetera.
24:48
This is all about just becoming a better person and a smarter
24:53
person, a sharper person, whatever that is.
24:55
Where where, you know, what did Thoreau write?
24:59
That the masses of men live lives of quiet desperation.
25:03
Well, I don't, I don't want to be in a world of quiet
25:05
desperation. I want to be a part of world, a
25:07
world that grows and is strong and getting better.
25:10
And this is my way of doing it and sharing it is the whole
25:14
purpose. I mean, if I just sat on half
25:16
the experiences that I've had, which I probably have, I just
25:21
haven't written about him. He had her produced anything on
25:23
him, and I think that's a pretty crying shame.
25:27
What happens when you check something out?
25:29
You talk to that person, you to know them and you tell their
25:33
story and then you show them your work.
25:37
What's it like watching their reaction to your work, John?
25:41
Yeah, I have a story for that. I've got tons of story, Travis.
25:45
I can, I can, I can keep boring your, your listeners forever.
25:49
But there's one story. I developed a relationship with
25:54
an A1 Sky Raider pilot, Vietnam War veteran, and his name is
25:59
Rich Hall and Rich Rich. Rich trusted me, but his wife
26:07
didn't. And so I'm interviewing Rich and
26:11
again, to get to know the family.
26:14
And this was, I don't know, I've probably known him for maybe 9-9
26:18
months and finally decided to to create a little old guys in
26:25
airplanes episode with him. I think Rich was our first or
26:28
second that we produced and asked for his wife to be a part
26:35
of the interview number one, just to kind of get some trust
26:37
building so she could watch off camera.
26:40
But on the other part, her her name is Marlene and Rich had
26:45
sweet Marlene painted on the side of his sky Raiders cowl
26:49
engine cowl. And so how cool is it that you
26:52
get to talk to somebody and then go back in time to 1968,
26:57
whatever, and also be with, you know, the inspiration for his
27:03
nose art. You know, that's happened a
27:05
couple times and it's really cool to see the stability of a
27:08
of a marriage, the stability of a commitment, etcetera.
27:12
Well, when I made the deal and Rich told me, he says, you know,
27:18
Marlene wants to see everything before you, you, you know, put
27:22
it on the web or, you know, send it to PBS or whatever we were
27:25
going to do with it. And I said, sure, we'll have a
27:29
little, little, you know, premier in your living room.
27:32
So we, he lived on a kind of a rural, rural, you know, farm.
27:36
He was a he was a crop duster, believe it or not.
27:39
And we're in their home and Marlene is looking at me like
27:44
I'm just just, you know, you better thinking this woman I
27:50
will not want to cross. And I've never seen nervousness
27:55
or tension like that when we're sitting down in front of the TV.
27:59
You know, we're you know, we hit play on the on the DVD.
28:05
But that experience to me really woke me up to the idea of I am
28:09
now poking around in somebody's life and especially somebody's
28:15
life #1 Rich, I admire, I look up to him.
28:18
He's a, he's a, a great man. And then the, the one woman he's
28:23
loved for decades and starting to know their kids.
28:28
I that moment, I'll never let it leave my soul because that, that
28:34
again was one of those those times when I'm, I'm thinking,
28:37
OK, this is headwind here. This is always going to keep my
28:42
ego in check. This is always going to keep my,
28:45
my vision for the story, not around what's in my head, but
28:49
what's in their head. So I remember that, that moment
28:53
really great. Now at the end, you know, I'm
28:54
looking over, I look at Marlene and I, and I just noticed she's
28:57
got a one tear coming down her, her cheek and she looks at me
29:03
and it's just very so soberly. I think she said something like,
29:07
this is good. And I was like, wow, yeah, I
29:11
remember that really clearly. But Shay can repeat that, you
29:16
know? You know, I don't know how many,
29:18
how many dozens of times, but I don't know if that answers your
29:21
question, but I it was good to remember Rich.
29:24
Rich flew WA few years ago. So it's another one of those,
29:28
you know, those poignant memories that once they're gone,
29:35
you know, it's my job to keep him alive somewhat.
29:39
So I, I ladies and gentlemen, when, when I received the supply
29:43
drop from John, I got this lovely card, the coin, the coin
29:48
was here and I, I already uploaded it to my, you know,
29:53
brav coin online ball and it's on my Osmic radio flag.
29:57
But it was, it was so personal, you know, and, and I really, I
30:03
really was I, this, I couldn't tell.
30:08
And I and I and I, I don't know my World War 2 aircraft like I
30:11
think I should, but this. Is what did I draw is.
30:15
This an F8? Is that a Corsair?
30:17
Yeah, it's a coursair. I got it right.
30:19
F4U. F4, not the F. 8F8 BearCat.
30:23
No, no. So yeah, I I wrong as a nation,
30:26
but right, right aircraft. But what's the fish?
30:35
I guess I've seen the fish all embedded throughout everything
30:37
you do, but I'm like, wait a minute, how does the fish relate
30:41
to aircraft telling war stories? Or so on and so forth.
30:44
It might be a simple question, but it did piqued my interest
30:48
greatly. Yeah, thanks for asking.
30:51
The fish, Well, if you look at fish, they're like airplanes in
30:55
the ocean. I mean, if you ever swam in the
30:57
ocean, you see a shark. They're they're just like Saber
31:01
jets, you know? They're so freaking cool.
31:03
The fish is so it's an airplane, but the fish is also a
31:09
reflection of my Christian faith.
31:11
But I don't like to make a big deal of that.
31:14
And because I think just a lot of personal things.
31:17
I don't like it when people, you know, you know, put their their
31:21
faith out there too much sometimes that that's just not
31:24
who I want to be. But I did want to have a little
31:27
homage to, you know, the good Lord that gives me all the good
31:30
fortune that I've had. But then if the other than the
31:33
other part in there. If you notice the little fish
31:36
has teeth. Yes.
31:37
I, it's maybe a nod to my, you know, type A nature.
31:44
And people have told me I have teeth.
31:46
So the fish is, is a story in and of itself, and it's more
31:51
about me than anything else. Oh, and if you look in the eye,
31:54
it's a little copyright symbol. Now, now, wait a minute.
32:00
So I got, I got this, ladies and gentlemen.
32:02
Yeah, it's under Travis. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it, dude.
32:07
Now, now, ladies and gentlemen, this is next level.
32:10
This is next level. Well, you know, when it comes to
32:13
faith, I'll just say this as I've had several guests on my
32:15
show who were very in touch with their faith.
32:19
If it was a part of them, I've been very respectful.
32:22
I believe in God myself. God's done some wonderful things
32:24
in my life. So, you know, your faith is, is
32:27
honored here and respected. I want to go technical just if I
32:30
can for a couple minutes. You get all the stuff together
32:34
and I understand you guys get the, the cameras, the lighting,
32:38
the power, the, the sound and all the extra stuff to make a
32:43
production transport with you or go small enough that it still
32:47
works. Bring it all back, offload
32:50
everything and start putting it together.
32:53
And a lot of people think, wow, it's just like my iPhone just
32:56
going to take a videos with my iPhone and just import it and
32:59
bam, there's a, there's a movie. I'm learning through Davinci
33:02
Resolve, John, that that is not the case.
33:07
How, how do you have you gotten good at that process?
33:11
Because I'm, I'm, I'm getting better at it, but I'm still
33:15
amazed at how people do that part of the craft.
33:19
Yeah, Well, OK, first thing, I've been producing media for
33:23
all my life. I'm in radio commercials, TV
33:26
commercials. I've even, you know, shot stuff
33:29
on film, real film, real film kind of makes me feel like an
33:33
old guy, you know? But I got a team, you know,
33:40
there's a film that we produced, The Gentleman Next Door.
33:44
And if people want to look at what filmmaking is and can be,
33:49
just watch it, recognize all the music's original.
33:53
Dalton Coffey did terrific editing.
33:57
We, the rest of the team read the credits.
34:00
I, I don't produce this stuff on my own.
34:04
And I think you learn that in media production.
34:06
I mean, when you look at a, a movie and you see all those
34:10
people that are scrolling down, you know, Adorer, the person who
34:15
polished your shoes. I mean, if you're, if you're
34:17
going to produce media and you want to have any kind of sense
34:20
of personal excellence, you have to delegate it because you know,
34:25
and it's not because one person can't do it all.
34:29
One person can do it all, but you trade off in the resources
34:32
of time and energy. And I always saw it again that
34:36
these stories aren't really mine.
34:38
I don't have an agenda and not making a 30 second commercial.
34:42
This is somebody's story in their life and we're trying to
34:45
get the story out. So the more people that I that I
34:48
can bring in, I mean, if you look at all of our old guys and
34:51
airplanes credits, jeez, there's, there's a lot of people
34:55
involved. And I, I, it's not production by
34:59
committee, which I think is a horrible thing, but it's all of
35:03
us who, who want the same thing. And that is to tell these people
35:08
people's story and do it in an ethical way, do it in a
35:11
respectful way. It's just we all get together
35:16
and we all produce. So you brought something up.
35:19
It's not as easy as it looks. I think a lot of social media,
35:23
and I'm not disparaging social media by the way, but a lot of
35:27
we have a real rinse and repeat consumable culture when it comes
35:31
to reels, etcetera. And I just don't want to be a
35:34
part of that. I want to produce something
35:36
really good and really nice and be different, not just the
35:42
talking head telling the same old story.
35:45
So if that narrows our audience some, great.
35:49
But it, it takes a team and it it really does.
35:53
And you got to make the decision it.
35:54
Is original music worth it to you?
35:57
And if it is, then you make it work.
36:00
Is original photography worth it to you?
36:04
Well, then you make it work. There's a few of our films that
36:07
have some stock footage, but for the most part, jeez, I mean,
36:12
we're using that veteran's stuff.
36:16
And I want that to come across in our film.
36:18
But at the same time, I don't want to be the guy who's saying,
36:21
you know, look, this is entirely original and, and oversell
36:25
something. I I think you can.
36:27
That's where you get your ego in front of yourself and that's
36:29
where mistakes start to happen. Maybe I should have lived with
36:33
this first thing, but you're talking about the, you know, the
36:38
ingredients, if you will, to telling a story.
36:43
So what in your mind makes a good story, John?
36:49
Well, first you've got to start with somebody who's who's
36:51
articulate and able to tell it. The very first time that we got
36:59
together to tell a veteran's story, it never got produced as
37:05
a gentleman by the name of Hank Snow.
37:08
And you know, I got to write his bio and he his his claim to fame
37:13
is 666 combat sorties in three wars.
37:19
So this and this came in how many?
37:21
I don't know how many DF CS he's got 7.
37:23
You know, I mean, something like that.
37:26
And I'd known Hank for a number of years, but by the time we
37:30
finally got to show up with a camera and lighting and cameras,
37:36
Hank had had a stroke. And I'm thinking back on that
37:41
moment right now. It just breaks my heart.
37:44
So all this man's great story, great legend, but a simple
37:48
stroke kept him from communicating, kept him from
37:54
expressing himself. We talk often.
37:58
Is there anything that we can do to salvage this footage?
38:02
And the answer is really no, not to do it respectfully.
38:08
So the question is you first you've got to start with
38:10
somebody who's able to articulate and share a great
38:13
story. And once you then it's just
38:17
simply, you know, rolling tape and or rolling, you know, data,
38:21
so to speak, and getting out of the way.
38:26
So what does it take? It takes starts with a good a
38:30
good story, but most veterans maybe aren't.
38:34
So I mean, they know they've got a good story.
38:37
I mean you, Travis, I mean, you were, you were part of a missile
38:42
battery. You know, you've got good stuff
38:45
to share. You know, you've got great
38:47
stories in in your in your head about the relationships, the
38:50
mission, the moment, the history of it all.
38:54
And it's up to for like, if you and I were sitting down and
38:57
having a conversation, you know, I, it's my job to not pull it
39:02
out of you, but just make it really easy for it to come out
39:06
of you. Everybody has a story.
39:08
You've got to get past the things that hold people back.
39:12
Lack of trust, maybe lack of confidence expressing
39:15
themselves. You certainly don't have to
39:18
worry about that. You present well, you know, God
39:20
gave you a great voice and plus you've got this really, really
39:23
cool channel, your podcast. But I think you got to just
39:29
start first with the veteran and then get out of the way.
39:32
There's really nothing more to it than that.
39:34
I wish. I wish there was some other
39:35
secret ingredient. Well, until sometimes.
39:38
Sometimes the biggest secret is that it's just simple.
39:41
Very simple. Yeah, it's right out there,
39:44
Yeah. And, and the other thing that
39:47
after a while, I, I would say, you know, if you're asking the
39:51
greater question, you know, for somebody else to how do I go out
39:55
and, you know, collect these stories?
39:58
I think sometimes there's an intimidation factor that when
40:02
you you're with somebody. Again, I bring up the Medal of
40:05
Honor. Royce Williams, one of our
40:08
nation's recent Medal of Honor recipients.
40:10
He's 101 years old. His story when you read it or
40:14
you when you watch, we did a film on it.
40:17
It's intimidating. But you know, yesterday, 2 days
40:22
ago, I talked to Royce and I've been to his house a number of
40:26
times. And there's a confidence that
40:29
comes when the other person realizes I'm, you know, me, I'm
40:36
not intimidated. And then it's kind of like, OK,
40:41
I can deal with you now on a peer-to-peer basis rather than
40:47
a, we've got a little nervousness here.
40:49
I can tell you're nervous or you're not making me feel any
40:51
more confident about telling my. Story.
40:54
Before you showed up. So you've got to go into the
40:57
story with it, with the the confidence and the ability to
41:02
let it happen and not be take this, take this, make sure that
41:09
you get this Travis, you can't be too odd by the other person
41:16
when you're interviewing you. You can't, because if if you do,
41:20
you'll start thinking, well, maybe I shouldn't ask that.
41:23
Maybe I shouldn't ask that or, and then, you know, it's like,
41:28
it's like, you know, wolves can smell fear.
41:30
You don't want to do that. So.
41:35
So there is that aspect of journalistic attachment.
41:39
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I and I see what
41:42
you're saying there. That's good advice.
41:44
That's, you know, journalistic detachment.
41:46
I'm going to think about that. Thanks, Travis.
41:48
And that's a. That's a good way to look at it.
41:50
Well, just just thinking about this, I have to ask then you
41:54
know, what's what's on the horizon next for you?
41:57
What are you getting ready to create at A at a for a big
42:01
project or a small project at this point, John?
42:04
Yeah, I'm looking for ways to get back into the OR not get
42:09
back. I'm already in, but to develop
42:11
how we take our material and bring it into the classroom.
42:15
I've got something if you've got a second here.
42:19
I do, I do. I'll call this out.
42:20
So go ahead and. Yeah, I've got the messiest
42:24
studio, but if there's always cool stuff in here, perhaps I
42:27
wish you could be here right now, but blah, blah, blah.
42:33
Let me think, here I will talk about, I'm going to talk about
42:37
Royce Williams, as a matter of fact.
42:44
All right, Well, you can roll tape.
42:46
Well, first of all, I am getting into the model airplane
42:50
business. So what this is?
42:54
This is a Mig 15. Yes, it is.
42:58
And the reason it's important is because it's part of this guy's
43:02
story. Royce Williams and I produced
43:06
these educator kits and they get distributed in schools and they
43:10
got cool maps and and yes, they have cut out airplanes and they
43:16
do fly. Let's.
43:18
Go, John, let's go. Let's.
43:21
Go. But here's something you get,
43:23
you got to look and and kids love this stuff.
43:26
And here's something that we got to accept is that kids today,
43:33
you know, 25 and under, they've been living on screens all their
43:37
lives. And I think the older
43:38
generations go, oh, those kids, they're addicted to their
43:41
screens. Most of them look at the screen
43:44
as like an appliance and you give them something that they
43:47
can actually cut out with a scissors.
43:49
I'm not, I'm not trying to be some nostalgic here.
43:52
Kids dig the hands on, oh, you're giving me paper, paper
43:57
really. I get to glue stuff, you know,
44:00
when I was a little kid, that's all we had was good, but kids
44:04
today love it. So I design educational
44:09
materials and I make little airplanes.
44:11
You know, this is 3D printed and so you can and I think I've got
44:15
hell yeah. Here's what the packaging looks.
44:16
Oh, here's an SR71I mean but. Yeah, I'm trying to.
44:22
I'm trying to get too odd right now, John.
44:24
But no, no, don't do it. It's, it's just, it's how we
44:29
have to teach. It's how we have to take, for
44:33
instance, your life and make it relevant to the rest.
44:37
If we lose our connection to history, if we lose our
44:40
connection to the people that made it, we start to become open
44:43
to ideas and stuff that aren't true, or maybe they're a
44:47
modification of somebody else's modification of an idea.
44:50
And we've, we've got to start teaching our history better,
44:55
more thoroughly, and connecting did this important part of the
44:59
human experience to life. If we don't, we end up with
45:03
attention spans that are this big, believing a bunch of stuff
45:07
that may or may not be true. And we we lose our self and our
45:11
value in the process. So history is nutritious.
45:14
Yes, 100%. When an old man dies, a library
45:18
burns. Absolutely.
45:21
But the library is where we go to learn, right?
45:24
So what's next for me? I'm working at How do I get into
45:29
the classroom deeper, better, harder, faster and without
45:32
losing the the truth in the process?
45:39
Well, I, I just, I just think that, you know, it's one thing
45:42
to, to go into a classroom and show children as a film on a
45:47
screen while they're sitting there wishing they were on
45:50
their, their mobile devices. But hey, you know, take out
45:53
your, your kit and we're going to put this together and this is
45:58
what will look like. It's a totally different
46:01
experience. Yeah, you get connected, you get
46:05
what you know when you hands and you get connected to the to the
46:09
experience and people, people want to know, people want to get
46:16
a connection. Give a little plug here for
46:18
something that I did. I work with the National Park
46:21
Service and if you go into the Minuteman Missile National
46:25
Historic Site, by the way, right off the Interstate, it's really,
46:29
really cool. It is in South Dakota and but if
46:32
you go in, there's my artwork and they have a big, big foam
46:38
board of my artwork of missiles. And if you are a missile leer,
46:42
you get to sign it while they buy a number of these prints
46:47
every year from me. Missileers come in there and
46:51
it's beyond the thank you for your service.
46:54
It's a way of saying, hey, come on in autograph.
46:57
You know your your artwork. And we've, by the way, by the
47:00
time that you know, I think they've probably gone through
47:02
thirty of these big prints chock full of signatures.
47:06
But when you watch it happen and there's like a family behind the
47:11
veteran, everybody stops and goes.
47:15
Something special is happening here.
47:17
And all those missileers, they now never got to see combat,
47:21
thank God, right? But you know what?
47:23
They were a maintainer, they were a guard, they were a cook.
47:26
Whatever people need to see. Hands, eyes, hands of how we're
47:31
respecting history, we're respecting stories.
47:35
And that's another example. So bringing in the classroom,
47:40
cutting out airplanes, making little model planes out of 3D
47:43
printers, you know, 3D printed airplanes, and also creating
47:47
that tactile stuff in museums. Great museums right now are
47:52
engaging history in a hands on way, not just simply turning on
47:57
the film. Everybody sits down and walks.
47:59
You know that turning on the film, the novelty factor was
48:02
great in 1940, but today everybody just sits down and
48:07
watches films and it's boring. So I got to figure out a better
48:11
way to tell the history without rewriting it and keeping the
48:16
interest level high. So classrooms are for me, but
48:19
also any other moment where we can collect people with history
48:23
and then make some lightning happen.
48:27
Well, John, this has just been a really like cool meal, if you
48:31
will, because it is all nutritious.
48:33
How can people connect with you, learn more about what you do and
48:37
maybe engage you if they, I mean, would, if someone said,
48:40
Hey, I'm, I'm a corporate business and want to have a, a,
48:43
a classroom session for my employees about this because,
48:47
you know, for team building or something.
48:48
I'm just being hypothetical here.
48:49
Is that something you would entertain?
48:51
Oh yeah, yeah, I and I do it. And yeah, that I trying to
48:57
trying to stay away from the self promotion as much as I can.
49:00
But you can because again, that kind of create it, it creates
49:03
its own Organism and you get careful with that.
49:07
I don't want to become too much of A brand, if you know what I
49:09
mean. So I like to be in the
49:10
background, but John mollison.com, I'm probably the
49:14
easiest guy in the world to find on the.
49:18
Internet, no, no problem, but I mean, you know, to to me, you
49:24
know, this says a lot. This says a lot and and you
49:27
know, I understand that you're trying to feed, you know, not
49:30
only yourself, but also that the people coming behind these
49:35
people who did these amazing things.
49:37
And I think you've heard the same before.
49:39
Maybe you have, maybe you haven't is as long as we
49:42
remember, then they're never truly forgotten.
49:45
And I, I think, I think from what I've seen, this is this
49:48
embodies all that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
49:54
Live forever again. I think about Crawford Shockley.
49:58
We died, flew W yesterday, 94 years old.
50:03
But as what he taught me about leadership, organizational
50:07
dynamics, excellence, it's my job.
50:12
He'll live forever, at least as long as I'm here to help tell a
50:15
story. And that, to me, is the
50:19
nutritious part for the rest. Well, John, it's just been great
50:23
getting to talk with you. I look forward to seeing what
50:26
you do next. Very, very cool.
50:28
Ladies and gentlemen, go check it out.
50:30
I'll have the link to John's website, Nosmic radio show post.
50:35
And you know, John, I, I, I just hope for many more, you know,
50:40
stories and things to feed us. I really appreciate you coming
50:42
on talking with me. Yeah, thank you.
50:44
Thank you for your forum and you got a great podcast.
50:47
Travis, this is. Really cool.
50:49
Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
50:51
I'm trapped with OM radio Ben Ben Beulah Garcia BBG from
50:55
American Warrior Radio is just thanks again for this
50:59
recommendation. I've really enjoyed the whole
51:02
process and just the whole experience.
51:04
So big shout out to you. We're mission flight.
51:07
We'll see you next time. Thank you very much.
51:11
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