Latest / Aired Out / Claudia Harisch - Vermont Infantry Marine

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Claudia Harisch - Vermont Infantry Marine · Aired Out

• 0:29
  Speaker 1: It's going to be a real, real nice day today.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: We're at 43 right now in the Granite City. But
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: partly sunny for later this afternoon. Going to start out
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: with the clouds and the fog. But 66 later today,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Courier Park, perfect forecast if you're getting out to the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Farmers Market concerts. And of course.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: The amazing food that they're always serving up on Wednesdays. So, yeah,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: sounds good. Cloudy tonight down around 33, 70 tomorrow. Partly sunny.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Isn't that nice? The foliage is just popping. It's beautiful.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: We got 40 degrees tomorrow night. And then, let's see,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: looks like a Friday partly sunny at around 72. I
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: think is what they're saying. Very good morning. Hope you
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: have to a great start. We had a lot of
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: stuff going on. And there's some crazy stuff in the
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: news this morning. Vermont Route 104 in Fairfax is back open.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I'll give you some details on that in just a
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: little bit. Deb Phillips from The World, one of the
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: busiest ladies that... Frankly, I know. She and Gary Haas
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: and the rest of the team work so hard behind
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: the scenes all week long just for Wednesdays. That's the
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: day when the world newspaper comes out. Deb Phillips is
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: with us. Good morning, Deb. How are you?
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Good morning, J.D. Doing good.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Pleasure to have you on board. Thank you ever so much,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: not only for what you do, of course, for sponsoring
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the Aired Out podcast, but What you and Gary and
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: everyone does, you guys work so, so hard every single day.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: It's not just like you come in Tuesday afternoon, you
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: bang out a few stories, and you publish it on Wednesday.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: It is around the clock for all of you, isn't it?
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. It is. You're right.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Listen, Deb, before we get into today's world... What do
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: folks do if they want to advertise? What do they do?
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: How easy is it? Do they reach out to you directly?
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they can either call or email me, you know,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: or they can come into the office and we can
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: work with them there. You know, any way that works
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: for them.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Okay. What do you have in today's paper, which I'm
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: so much always looking forward to getting?
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: Well, one of the exciting things that we have in
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: this week's paper is an insert. We have the Vermont
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: Fall Guide. It is loaded with events and arts and
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: all kinds of things like that. So that's a separate
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: insert in this week's paper. And then we have the
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: National Hunting and Fishing Day is Saturday, September 26th. It's
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: a day of recognition for contributions of hunters and anglers
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: to the conservation of natural resources and sporting heritage. And
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: we also have, so if you're looking to do some
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: fall repairs or renovations, we have the homeowner service guide.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: These local professionals are the ones to call. And they're
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: there to help you with whatever you need from the
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: roof to the basement. Yeah.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: And you know what? We need that right now. There's
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: so many projects that so many of us have been
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: putting off all summer, and now it's starting to get chilly,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: and we're like, I need to get my furnace cleaned.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: I need maybe a couple of new windows or something.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: That's perfect that you guys have that. I love the
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: fact that the world is always publishing that.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Then we also have our Bridal Directory, Pet Care Corner,
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: and then we have Autumn Outings, and that includes Chicken
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Pie Suppers and Crack Bears.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: So great. You guys are always promoting the local stuff.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: I rely on the world to get my information, like
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the Granite Festival that you did, everything that's going on
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: over at the Berry Opera House. Robert Cray, you guys
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: are pushing that show real hard. And many other shows
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: that are coming up.
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: Well, one of the shows coming up at the Berry
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: Opera House is Puppy Pals Live.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's huge.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: It's going to be so much fun. And the world
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: is a co-sponsor of that event.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Fantastic.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: So that's Saturday, October 3rd. So we're hoping lots of
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: people come because it's really going to be a good show.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Things are bottlenecking. Right now, Deb. There's just so much happening.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, the foliage, like I said, is just exploding
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: right now. And everything is the fall festivals and Halloween
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: and everything. There's just so much going on.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: It is the best time of year.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: It really is. Anything else that you would like to
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: promote or talk about this morning, Deb?
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: Well, I do want to remind people that we have
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: the history page every week. You know that I know
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: you enjoy it, J.D.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: Always read it.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah. And that, you know, so this week it's glimpses
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: of Vermont's past. And this is Third House, 1850 to 1851. Really,
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: really interesting information about Vermont's history.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Awesome. I'll be I'll be reading it. And that's out today.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: They're there.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: They're.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: Right now, getting them delivered.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: That's awesome. There's my cup of coffee and my plan
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: for this afternoon. Deb, I appreciate you so much. Anything
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: else that you can think of?
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: I think that covers it pretty well. All right.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: And if you can think of anything, you know how
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: to get in touch with me, and I'll promote anything
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: you have going on.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: I appreciate that.
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Thanks, Deb. Deb Phillips right there from the world. Listen,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Vermont Route 104 in Fairfax is back open this morning
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: following that early morning structure fire at Nairns Mobile Station.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: This was huge. Crews were called out to the convenience
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: store around 3 a.m. with heavy fire reported from the
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: roof around 4.52 a.m. A store employee described the scene
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: as complete chaos and said the fire is a significant
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: loss for the community, while expressing appreciation for the first
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: responders who rushed to the scene, mutual aid there. More
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: information is expected as firefighters investigate the cause and the
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: extent of the damage. But from what I understand, from
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: what I've heard this morning, no injuries. So great news
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: right there. I have a young lady who is joining
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: me this morning on Aired Out on Sweethearts and Heroes
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Day every single Wednesday. We try to push good news.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: We try to push stories about being better, trying harder,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: looking at a glass that is half full, and pushing
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: through life in the best way that You can, you know,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: and I've said to Tom Murphy before, it's almost like
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: free therapy. I mean, just last Wednesday, Josiah, the stuff
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: that was, everybody that speaks on Wednesdays is so insightful
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: and so inspiring. And I think this lady right here
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: is probably going to be delivering the same thing. Claudia Harnish,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: good morning. I am so honored to have you with
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: us this morning here on Aired Out.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Hi, thanks for having me, J.D.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: We should probably preface by saying.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: Who you are.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, you're a Vermonter. You're from St. Albans, born
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: and raised, but also the daughter of Tom Murphy of
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Sweethearts and Heroes.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: Yep, that's me. Yeah, he's my dad.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: You are currently not in Vermont. You live where now?
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: I live in North Carolina.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I live by the coast around the Sneeds Ferry,
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: Holly Ridge area.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: For anyone that knows that, it's right by Lejeune.
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: So tell us, you know, Tom has given me just
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: a real brief kind of.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Snapshot on your life. And basically what he has said
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: is you are kind of almost the poster child of
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: a young woman who has taken on something that most haven't.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: And you have pushed through some obstacles and some challenges
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: in life at a young age in a very condensed
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: amount of time. Would that be kind of an accurate
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: description of you?
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say that that's true.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: I think that I went through, like, a sort of
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: canon event that takes place over, like, maybe a decade. But,
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: you know, they say that the Marine Corps ages everyone
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: 10 years. So, like, it's not that surprising because, you know,
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: I was in for four years. It feels like four or,
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: you know, 10, but.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Four years is... in the Marines and there's more
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: to it than that. You are the first woman in
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: American history to graduate from the advanced infantry school on
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: the West coast.
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: The mortar course. Yeah. So there are different, um, uh,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: different courses there were.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: So it's like, There's, um, advanced infantry mortars, advanced infantry
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: machine guns, and then advanced infantry riflemen.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: At that time that I went through, I was the
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: first and only woman to have gone through the mortar course.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: What, what, what has this experience been like for you?
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: Um, definitely interesting. Um, um, it, It's been insightful.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: It has been a huge opportunity of growth.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: And a real challenge.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: At 18 years old, you dropped the bomb on, and
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: pardon the pun there, on your dad. Yeah. At 18
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: years old, that's only a couple of years older than
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: my daughter right now. And I can't even imagine being
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: in Tom's shoes. What did you say to your dad
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: at 18?
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: I just basically told them that I wanted to go
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: join the Marines and be in the infantry, which I
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: had no idea what it was. And I think what
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: made it easier for everyone is neither did they, they
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: didn't really have a concept. We're not a military family.
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: My grandfather was in the Marines in the seventies. Um,
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: and he was, he was, um, an administrative guy. So
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: it wasn't, it's not something that, you know, as we
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: have a family history of, so none of us really
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: had a clue. Um, so I think that's what made
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: it kind of easier. My sister, uh, had also gone
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: into the Air Force a few years prior.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: So I think that.
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: He was more so okay with it because he saw
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: what my sister was doing in the Air Force and
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: he's like, oh, it's gonna be like that.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know what he thought, but it.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: Definitely wasn't like that.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: And I don't think any of.
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: Us, especially me, really expected what it actually was, which
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: is kind of silly.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm just thinking, and I'm kind of a
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: naturally inquisitive guy, but did you get into the, did
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: you know what you were getting into? No. Yeah, did
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: you have some self-doubt? I mean, here you are, just like,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: this is not, the everyday story.
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah I really had no self-doubt at all because I
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: didn't really know what I was even getting into so
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: it's pretty hard to have self-doubt about something you're completely
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: ignorant of.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: So I just I.
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: Went to the recruiter's office and I said I want
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: to be in the infantry it was this thing I
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: had heard of and that wasn't really explained to me
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: very well but I just knew that it wasn't something
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: women did. And I was like, well, I could do that.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: And that is what set me on that trajectory. I
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: met with the recruiter and, you know, he's like, how
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: many pull-ups.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Can you do? And I was like, okay. And he's like,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: I don't know. And so I went on the pull-up
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: bar at the office.
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: Because every like recruiting station for the Marines has one.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: And I did my pull-ups. I did, I think 10
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: or something like that. And he was like, yeah, you
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: could do it. And I was like, okay, cool.
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: And it's kind of a crazy long story. My contract
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: when I went to boot camp was an infantry. In
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: the beginning, it was something that I actually fought for
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: while I was in boot camp. It was kind of
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: a crazy situation. But going back to like what I
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: thought it was. I had no idea, um, because I
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: didn't even sign the right contract. Um, when I was
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: there because I literally had no basis for the military.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: Wow. Yeah.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: I mean, uh, you know, I, I, I think a
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: lot of the, the message here this morning is basically, um, Well,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of messages here to unpack, but one
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: of them is, I think, having grit and the gall
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: to attempt something that, like you're kind of alluding to,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: that maybe you're not fully privy to all of the
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: details of what that might be. But, man, it's like.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Diving in headfirst to something like this and then not
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: wanting to jump out so quickly is really impressive. This
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: is also a story about resilience, not giving up. It
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: wasn't easy for you in the Marines. What, what, why, what,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: what happened?
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, um, well, I'm a girl, I'm a woman.
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: And so that was the first initial problem I think
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: is everyone just didn't really, not everyone.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say everyone, but like a good majority of.
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: The men in the infantry, especially at that time, just
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: didn't want me there because of that. And yeah, I
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: think that's why it was so hard initially. I think
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: another part of it was myself.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: I was just not prepared. I was prepared for the Marines,
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: but not all Marine Corps jobs and fields are the same.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: And there's different cultures in all of them.
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: Like if you were, you know, in an S shop,
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: or if you were in the air wing or in
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: the infantry of the Marine Corps, they're all just very
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: different cultures. And the infantry culture, I was prepared for
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: the Marines in general, you know, like running and pull-ups
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: and things like that.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: But for the infantry culture, I just, I wasn't, I
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: didn't prepare for it.
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: I should have done a better job of understanding actually
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: what I was doing. So I think that, the hindsight
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: is always 2020, right? I would have, you know, probably
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: trained a lot differently. And I don't know, I just,
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: I also think that I was young and kind of
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: reckless and impulsive. And so, you know, not everyone makes
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: good decisions. You still know, especially when.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: You're 18, 19, 20, 21, right?
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but look at the road you're on now. Look
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: at the course that you're on for the rest of
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: your life. I mean, it's beyond just having clout at
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: this point. Knowing what you know now, and you talk
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: about hindsight, if you could go back and relive your life,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: going back– 16, 15, 16, 17 years old, knowing exactly
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: if you were to look in a crystal ball of
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: where you're sitting right now, would you have done it again?
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: Yes, I would have because I wouldn't have my husband
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: if I didn't. He was, you know, we met in
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: our unit and he was a machine gunner in a
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: different platoon than, you know, because I was mortar. So
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: I was in a different platoon.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: So.
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: I definitely would not have met him if I didn't
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: take this path or if I didn't make every single
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: decision I had made up until that point.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, I would do it all again.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: What advice do you have for anyone, any teenager or
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: young adult who is considering going joining the military and
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: specifically the Marines?
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: Any advice I would have? I think it's a great
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: idea to join a branch of service. It enables you
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: to be set up.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: For so many things.
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: You know, if you want to stay in and do
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: your 20 or get out after the first four years,
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: I think it's a great idea. I think it's a
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: great opportunity that more young people should utilize. Um, and
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: I would say that, um, you just gotta have resiliency, um,
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: to push through. Um, you're going to make dumb decisions,
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: but that doesn't mean that you can't come back from them. Um,
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: and just don't give up, you know, uh, and just
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: do the best that you can with what you have.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Hmm. What about specifically, um, a young woman, young girl,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: who is considering a path in her life like this.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: Same advice?
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: Are you talking specifically Marine Corps infantry or just military
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: to a young woman?
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Military. Just general military at this point.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a really easy target. I mean,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: you know what?
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: I can't really speak to military in general, because my, um,
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: my experience was so different than a lot of other
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: women's who I've talked to, um, without like a infantry job,
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: combat MOS job.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: My, my, uh, experience was just very different in comparison. Um, so.
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: I can't really give any solid advice for women who
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: want to go into the military at large, other than
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: what I just said, um, in general. Um, but for
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: those specifically looking to go into maybe a combat MOS, um,
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: just the physical portion, like it's probably the easiest part,
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: the mental and emotional, um, psychological aspect of it will
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: be your biggest challenge. And, you're going to have to
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: have some real grit to get through that. If you
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: want to do that, I would never discourage a young
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: woman to seek, you know, a combat MOS if they
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: want to.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: I think women should be allowed to do that. But
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: if you're looking for camaraderie, community, there might be a
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: better place for you to find that.
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: Hmm.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: So women belong in, in, the infantry. Would you, would
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: you sum that up by saying, yes, women belong in
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: the infantry?
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, everyone's opinion on this is different. I've
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: talked to a lot of women since being out, you know,
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: I'm doing this book now that's kind of surrounded on
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: a lot of different experiences with women in the infantry.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: And I've talked to a lot of them and all
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: of us have different viewpoints. And I think the key
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: word you just said is belonging. because we know that
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: women can be in the infantry. We know that they
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: can do it and with no problem, right? They can overcome,
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: you know, the physical portion, the cognitive portion. And a
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: lot of women are better than, you know, their male counterparts.
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: I mean, that just depends, you know, on the level
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: of intensity and, you know, just the drive, right?
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: So, but belonging is, Um, it's a tougher question.
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: I think personally, I wouldn't speak to anyone else and
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't say this is the view at large, but personally,
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: I think that women could probably find their belonging in
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: better places.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Um, because it's, it's not so much that you shouldn't
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: be there.
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: It's just, you probably won't find that sense of community
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: or camaraderie that you are probably searching for when you
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: go to join the military. But that's not to say
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: that you can't do it or you shouldn't do it.
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: It's just my personal experience is that I probably wouldn't
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: tell a young woman to go down that path because
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: then you have to live. I know it's kind of
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: hypocritical coming from me saying I would do it again,
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: but you're going to have to live with some things
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: afterwards that you might not want to live with.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm sitting here, I'm listening to you, and
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: I'm thinking to myself, man, if I owned a bookstore
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: anywhere in Vermont, I'd be chomping at the bit for yours.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Can you tell us the title? Can you give us
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: an idea of when it might be out?
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no outdate yet.
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: I'm still in the early days of this project and
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: the writing. I have interviewed a bunch of amazing women, strong,
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: incredible women, and I've taken down their stories and I'm
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: writing those out right now. I'm in the process, but
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: it's called The Fewest and the The title comes from
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: a longstanding kind of term for the Marine Corps at large.
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: The Marines are known as the fewer and the prouder
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: or the few and the proud. And then the women
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: in the Marine Corps are the fewer and the prouder
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: because they're the least amount of women in every service branch.
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: There's the least amount of women in the Marine Corps specifically.
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: And then the fewest are those in the infantry or
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: in combat positions because they are the fewest people in
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: this country that are in the Marine Corps. There was
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: a new study that just came out saying that there
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: are just over 700 women in combat positions in the
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: Marine Corps out of our, you know, 1.7 million service members,
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: I think. So it's definitely, that's where the name comes from.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: So I just have to ask here, in your four years,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: did you serve any combat missions?
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: No. Nope. I did not serve in any combat positions, missions.
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: And we're just, when I was in, we're just not
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: at war right now. So I just did my two deployments. Um,
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: I did, uh, the 31st Mew was one, and then
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: I did a UDP into Okinawa.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: Um, I've been to some really interesting places.
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: I went to, um, Abu Dhabi to train with the Emiratis, Emiratis, uh,
• 28:06
  Speaker 4: and then I went to, uh, Korea. I've been to
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: all over different ports, um, from the Mew.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: So, um, but nope, no combat.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Where'd you go to bootcamp?
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: I went to bootcamp, uh, right over there, uh, right
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: next to where I live in North Carolina.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: I went to camp Geiger.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: And what's that bootcamp?
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: The, Oh, South Carolina. Sorry. I thought you meant to, um, ITB. Sorry. Um,
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: I went to Paris Island.
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: In South Carolina.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: At any point, um, while you were serving or, or
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: in training, And I may have asked you this before,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: but for the folks that are just joining us, did
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: you at any point say, oh, man, I might be
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: in over my head here. What the hell have I
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: gotten into? Can I get out?
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: Can I get out?
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: I definitely had thought that, man, I'm in over my
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: head many times. There were some pretty dark moments, especially
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: when I got into the fleet in the beginning. There
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: was some intentions of, you know, escaping. But I never
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: really thought to myself, can I get out of this?
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: I actually remember one specific moment. It was at the
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: end of my first deployment. where I was taken by
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: some seniors, some good seniors that I had that actually
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: cared about maybe what happened to me. And they asked me,
• 29:50
  Speaker 4: they gave me the opportunity. They're like, do you want
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: to go to headquarters when we get back?
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: When.
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: ever relieve, you're not going to have like me or
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: this other senior Marine around, you know, so you'll just
• 30:07
  Speaker 4: be left kind of on your own. And I thought
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: about it for a moment. I seriously thought about it.
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: And I said, no, I said, I won't give up
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: on this. I said, I was going to do this.
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: I've come this far. Um, I'm not going to go
• 30:26
  Speaker 4: to the headquarters platoon to be a part of kind
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: of the office or the admin side of the Marine Corps.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: I'm going to do this and I'm going to.
• 30:38
  Speaker 4: Go all the way with it because I said I
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: would and I didn't come this far just to, you know,
• 30:43
  Speaker 4: prove them right.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: You didn't come this far just to prove them right. Wow.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: Your dad has referred to you as I'm not surprised.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: Where do you think I get it from?
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: He also says that you're a piece of work. And boy,
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: my family says that about me. But there's something in
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: you that's got some drive and some passion that's far
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: beyond just being bullheaded. There's really something that you're pushing for,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: you're striving for. You are determined with a capital D.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: What happened? You got out of the Marines, and you.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: You dropped the clutch real fast, right to the floor,
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: and went headfirst into a completely different life, Claudia.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I sure did.
• 32:14
  Speaker 4: It was kind of a crazy time. I feel like
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: every moment since I left Vermont has been kind of
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: a crazy time. Yeah. and it's just been full throttle. Um,
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: so I got out and I spent a month traveling.
• 32:32
  Speaker 4: I drove from, uh, California where I was stationed all
• 32:36
  Speaker 4: the way back to Vermont.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: And during that.
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: Time I was getting out of the military and I
• 32:44
  Speaker 4: was planning a wedding and I was moving my whole life, um,
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: to a different state that.
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: I'd never been to before.
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: Um, So I then went to North Carolina after I
• 33:02
  Speaker 4: had made it back home to Vermont, grabbed all my stuff.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: Because, you know, when your parents when you leave your
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: parents house for good, it's like take all your stuff.
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: So I gathered up all my.
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: Things and I packed up my tiny little Chevy Cruze,
• 33:17
  Speaker 4: had like a little donut on top of it and
• 33:20
  Speaker 4: drove back. to North Carolina where I then that week
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: moved into, uh, an apartment watched, um, and then married my.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: Husband later that week.
• 33:33
  Speaker 4: And cause he was there, um, for some training he
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: was doing, he stayed in the Marine Corps. Um, and
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: then I got out and followed him over there. And
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: then he was graduating from a course that week. And
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: then we were to get married that weekend and we
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: had been separated for all that time.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: We'd been probably separated for a year, I think.
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: And it wasn't until then that I saw him, um,
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: the week that we got married for the first time again.
• 34:02
  Speaker 4: And so, um, yeah, so got there, moved in, got married,
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: started my new life, jumped into school. And then, um,
• 34:14
  Speaker 4: decided i and then i started coming up with this
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: idea for this book and then that's where that journey
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: really kind of took me well i mean.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: Come on you there's gotta be a book here i
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: mean you know with everything how could you not write
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: a book there's so much to be said here.
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah there's definitely a lot to be said um i
• 34:41
  Speaker 4: think and a lot that just people just don't everyone
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: I think talks about females in combat positions, this, that,
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: and the other thing, but a collective voice of women
• 34:50
  Speaker 4: in combat positions has never come up and been like, Hey,
• 34:55
  Speaker 4: you guys.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: Are talking about us. Here's what's really going on here. Right.
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: So that's kind of what I did.
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: I spent a lot of time interviewing because after I
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: got out, I got connected to the most female infantryman
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: that I'd ever met. During my whole four years of
• 35:18
  Speaker 4: being in that position in the Marine Corps, I only
• 35:22
  Speaker 4: ever met one other female infantryman or talked to one
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: other female infantryman.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: She's a great friend of mine.
• 35:30
  Speaker 4: But I started getting connected after that with a whole
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: bunch of other people that had done the same thing
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: as me or a similar thing as me.
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: And I.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: Was talking to them.
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: And I realized that, you know, from the first female
• 35:47
  Speaker 4: machine gunner, Savannah chase to me now, you know, almost
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: a decade later, our stories are very similar. Um, where
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: experiences are very similar and I'm like, okay, well, let
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: me talk to these other women. And it turns out
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: we all have very similar experiences and it's just, it
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: was kind of incredible to me that, um, that nothing
• 36:12
  Speaker 4: has changed, you know, from her to me to whoever
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: comes along. And so I wanted to contribute this to
• 36:21
  Speaker 4: society and maybe get it into the hands of a
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: young woman who is thinking about doing this so we
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: can give her realistic expectations, you know, and not to
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: say that recruiters don't do their best to give realistic expectations.
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: But it's kind of hard when, you know, you not
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: every recruiter was an infantryman that has no real basis
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: for that. And not every recruiter is a woman. So
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: we just yeah. So that's what I started doing. I
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: started collecting all these stories and I just think that
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: it will contribute to maybe a positive thing one day.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah. This is incredible. So how long have you been married?
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: I've been married since 2024. All right.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: So a couple of years in, and your husband is
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: in special forces.
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, listen, even if he wasn't, he'd have
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: to be a badass if he was married to you.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, let's just say it. Like it is. He
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: ain't some fat dude who's sitting on the couch eating Cheetos,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: watching TV all day.
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: No, I think that if he was, I don't think
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: we would have.
• 37:47
  Speaker 4: A lot in common.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: How?
• 37:51
  Speaker 4: That doesn't mean that he doesn't love his Cheetos on
• 37:53
  Speaker 4: the couch sometimes.
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: He definitely does.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: So do you guys, and I know that you do
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: jujitsu as well.
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: You love combat sports.
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: I do. I've been doing them ever since I was little. Um,
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: obviously with my dad, um, I, you know, went from there. Um,
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: I think I was the only one to really take
• 38:22
  Speaker 4: to it. Like out of my siblings, I, from a
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: very young age, just had this kind of, I don't know,
• 38:28
  Speaker 4: intensity about me.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: Um, and this kind of drive or grit, um, And
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: that manifested at, you know, like six years old when
• 38:37
  Speaker 4: I wanted to wrestle. So, yeah, I've been in love
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: with all types of combat sports ever since I was little.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: So let's look at this. You're 25, very much in shape, tough, Marine, infantry, jujitsu,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: tougher than nails. Peak of your conditioning in your life.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: Versus mid-50s former champion. Super badass, Tom Murphy.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: Are you saying who would win in a fight?
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm getting there. You know, lots of experience. in
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: the cage. A lot more experience than you've had. He's pissed.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: You're pissed. You're both in the cage. Bare knuckle.
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: Oh, boy.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: Talk me through it.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm pretty fast.
• 39:59
  Speaker 4: So he's getting a little slow in his old age,
• 40:03
  Speaker 4: you know, and he can't, you know, his eyes are going.
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: I think I have a good shot. I think I
• 40:07
  Speaker 4: stand a chance. And Marines, they don't, they don't, they
• 40:11
  Speaker 4: fight dirty.
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: Okay. They're not above fighting dirty.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: I understand, but we're talking about a former UFC champ here.
• 40:18
  Speaker 4: Come on.
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: I don't know. You know, he's... Have you seen the
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: guy recently?
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: A little wider. A little wider around the midsection. I
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: see that. The biceps are good. Biceps are good, but
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: a little wider in the midsection. That's all I'm saying.
• 40:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: And that's all that... Hey, that's all that needs to
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: be said.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's all. That's it.
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: Um.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: Your husband, I'm guessing he's into jujitsu as well.
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: No.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: He's not.
• 40:56
  Speaker 4: No.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: No, no.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: He is not a fan of it. He tried it.
• 41:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he tried it for a month with me, and
• 41:03
  Speaker 4: he was a good sport about it. It's just not
• 41:05
  Speaker 4: his thing.
• 41:06
  Speaker 3: Not his thing.
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: Interesting.
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: He said he might try, you know, again someday, but.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: You've... You have... Traveled quite an interesting road here in
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: just a few short years. Where are you going to school?
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: I'm going to school at UNCW, University of North Carolina,
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: Wilmington right now.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: What's the major?
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: It's right over there. Creative writing.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: Good for you. Damn. You really... You really are on
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: to something here. Let me ask you this. Public speaking, TEDx.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: I have no idea.
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: Sweethearts and heroes. Keynotes. You thought about any of this?
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, listen, you have to admit your dad kicks
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: it hard when it comes to this stuff.
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: He does. He does.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 42:19
  Speaker 4: Nope.
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: I have not JD. I haven't thought about that stuff.
• 42:23
  Speaker 4: Um, I mean, have I like, I mean, has the
• 42:26
  Speaker 4: idea pops into my head for sure.
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: I think that many ideas pop in and out of
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: my head constantly.
• 42:32
  Speaker 4: Um, but as like, uh, a thing to pursue at
• 42:36
  Speaker 4: the moment, um, I have not thought about it seriously.
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: I'm just working currently on writing the book.
• 42:45
  Speaker 4: Um, I am working on growing a social media because
• 42:49
  Speaker 4: that comes along with writing a book.
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: Nowadays, apparently.
• 42:53
  Speaker 4: And, um, I'm working on just connecting with amazing writers and,
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: you know, getting some really cool experience and insight. Um,
• 43:05
  Speaker 4: but I mean, I'm not opposed to any of that stuff,
• 43:07
  Speaker 4: you know, I'm just going to see what comes my way, um,
• 43:11
  Speaker 4: and roll with the punches and just not think about
• 43:14
  Speaker 4: it too hard.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: Um, There's so many of us, Claudia, that aspire to
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: do something different in our lives, maybe something that's a
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: little out of the comfort zone, maybe something that's way
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: out of the comfort zone, something that's really far-fetched, whether
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: it's a challenge physically, mentally, something that we're in not
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: familiar with, maybe intimidated by, and maybe something that we
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: wouldn't even exercise the thought verbally in front of even
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: some of our best friends or our spouses. What would
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: you say to those individuals?
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: What would I say to those individuals who are looking
• 44:13
  Speaker 4: to do something unique in their life that they might
• 44:16
  Speaker 4: not be comfortable bringing up?
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: Um, or having some pretty serious doubt that they might
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: be able to, that they would achieve it.
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 44:30
  Speaker 4: Um, I think that every single day I have serious
• 44:34
  Speaker 4: doubt every single day. Um, with the work that I'm
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: doing now, um, with the thing that I'm trying to
• 44:40
  Speaker 4: accomplish now every single day, I think, Ever since I started,
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: I've thought about quitting because it's just like this little voice.
• 44:47
  Speaker 4: I think everyone has it in the back of their
• 44:49
  Speaker 4: head telling them that this is stupid or it's not
• 44:51
  Speaker 4: good or like it's going to be bad or you're
• 44:53
  Speaker 4: not ready or you're not good enough or you're not this,
• 44:56
  Speaker 4: not that, whatever. Everyone has that little voice in the
• 45:00
  Speaker 4: back of your head. And it's not escapable, but it
• 45:06
  Speaker 4: is the choice whether you listen or not, right?
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: And so I.
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: Just think that I'm pretty uncomfortable with social media right now.
• 45:18
  Speaker 4: I deleted all of my social media years ago. And
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: just to find out that I need an account again
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: to get this book to take off.
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: And this, that, and the other thing. So I've gotten
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: pretty uncomfortable with it.
• 45:30
  Speaker 4: And there's been a lot of doubt surrounding this new
• 45:33
  Speaker 4: journey with social media so far. But I think that
• 45:36
  Speaker 4: the only way that we grow as human beings is
• 45:38
  Speaker 4: by being uncomfortable. And I, if you can't stomach being
• 45:43
  Speaker 4: uncomfortable or feeling silly or having some self doubt, you're
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: not going to go anywhere and you won't achieve the
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: things or do the things that you want to do. Um,
• 45:54
  Speaker 4: because that little voice is always going to exist and
• 45:56
  Speaker 4: you're always going to be uncomfortable when you are growing.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Wow. Incredible. Listen, when you get back to Vermont, and
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: I don't know when that'll be, if you're able to
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: carve out a couple of weeks, listen, and I know
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: you're going to be crazy busy. Um, but if you're, if,
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: if you're ever able to carve out some time to
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: get here and, and sit in the studio with me, um,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: I w I would love that. I would welcome that, um,
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: with open arms. And especially when this thing gets published, uh,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: get over here and let's hammer this. What a story.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Claudia, so much for joining.
• 46:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, of course.
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: I'd love to. Yeah.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: Amazing stuff.
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
• 46:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: And, and, you know, stay in touch with me with,
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: with everything you got going on. And we, we wish
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: you all of the best. It is remarkable to not
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: only speak with the first woman in american history to
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: graduate from the advanced infantry school on the west coast
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: i have that right.
• 47:15
  Speaker 4: Uh yep just one thing i would add is the
• 47:17
  Speaker 4: mortar course from amc west um so that's advanced mortar
• 47:21
  Speaker 4: course wow because there were there were women that graduated
• 47:26
  Speaker 4: from um the machine gun uh course um before me
• 47:32
  Speaker 4: so oh gotta give them their yeah.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: Of course but Also, that you're so young, you're only 25,
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: and you're a Vermonter. Huge.
• 47:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm so excited to come back up. I'll be
• 47:48
  Speaker 4: there in a couple weeks. I'm going to be like
• 47:51
  Speaker 4: one of them leaf peepers.
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: Make sure you get some maple syrup before you head home.
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, I always do. I always do. The stuff that
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: they have down here. Horrible.
• 48:04
  Speaker 4: Horrible.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: They have no idea what they're missing. Yeah.
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Exactly.
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: Thanks, Claudia. Thank you so much for your time this morning.
• 48:15
  Speaker 2: Thank you, J.D.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: Absolute pleasure.
• 48:17
  Speaker 3: Of course.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: Amazing. Boy, now I feel like I want to go
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: hiking or maybe run a couple of miles. Wow. I
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: had no idea.
• 48:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: That Tom Murphy had a daughter like that, but I
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: certainly do now. Amazing. Amazing. And I look so much
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: forward to having Claudia back on the air one of
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: these days. It's got to happen. Just incredible. What a
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: story of identity, of transition, resilience, I love it. Just
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: to kind of recap this morning, Vermont Route 104 in Fairfax, again,
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: is back open. There was a horrible fire in the
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: middle of the night over at Nans Mobile Station. From
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: what I understand, everybody is okay, but a complete loss.
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: Mutual aid was on scene and had been fighting that
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: fire all through the night and still there. But Route
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: 104 in Fairfax is back open following that early morning
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: structure fire at Nairns Mobile Station, a place that is
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: well-loved in the community. The investigation as to the cause
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: of that fire is ongoing. I'm watching the news. We'll
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: let you know about it. Speaking of fires, we had
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: a fire that broke out late last night at the
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: former Tubbs factory. On River Road in Stowe, a historic
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: building that now houses several businesses, Stowe Fire and Rescue
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: reported heavy flames coming from the rear of the building
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: at around 1130 last night. The fire spread into the
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: walls and floor system of the former sawmill. Crews had
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: the fire under control right around 4 a.m. this morning.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: No injuries reported. Thank God Vermont State Fire Marshal's Office
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: is investigating the cause of that fire as well. They
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: are very busy this morning for sure. Route 9 still
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: closed in the Woodford area between looks like from Barney
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: Road in Bennington to the junction of Route 108 in Searsburg,
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: which is a significant stretch through the Woodford area because
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: of that tanker truck crash with hazardous materials, apparently a
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: highly flammable liquid that's used in making plastics. Officials say
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: the truck crashed Is not leaking, was not leaking, but
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: the tank needs to be emptied before the scene can
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: be cleared. They've got about a thousand foot safety zone
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: around that crash. And again, Route 9 in both directions
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: closed from Bennington to the junction of Route 8 in Searsburg.
• 51:53
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: A lot of stuff going on. Vermont Route 100 in
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: Waterbury closed this morning in both directions. And I'm just
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: taking a quick glance here to see whether or not
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: that has reopened. It may have. I'm not seeing that
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: it has yet. Watching the VT alert. But the area
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: closed between Guptill Road and Howard Avenue because of a
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: motor vehicle crash. So do expect delays. Use an alternate route.
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: While emergency crews are clearing that scene, we'll keep you
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: updated with more info. I'm watching Vermont Alert. Traffic was
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: a real mess yesterday on 89 in South Burlington. Yesterday morning,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: right about the time that I was on the air, uh,
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: multiple cars, but it was a two car crash near
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: exit 14 that, uh, sent one vehicle up in flames
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: and both southbound lanes, uh, were closed for a time
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: causing major backups that went for just miles and miles,
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: no injuries reported though. Um, so that has reopened. Um,
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: What else do we have going on trending this morning?
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: Police say that a woman was found suffering from multiple
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: gunshot wounds and an adult man was found dead inside
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: of a home on Putnam road in Newport, New Hampshire. Um,
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: yesterday morning or yesterday evening, last night, uh, shortly before
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: seven o'clock. Um, I know that there's more about this
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: story that is, uh, expected to come out, but the
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: woman was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, reported to be
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: in critical but stable condition. All parties involved have been identified,
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: but their names have not been released pending notification of
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: next of kin. Authorities say that there is no threat
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: to the public. So that's all we know about that
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: story in, again, Newport, New Hampshire. But yeah, there's a
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: lot of stuff that we're following this morning. I will
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: keep you posted. The community calendar is just jammed up.
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's just so many things that are happening
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: right now. Please get out, enjoy, watch the page because
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: we're constantly sharing things that are happening. We got Seth
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: and Sophie that are playing tonight. Or you could say
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: this afternoon, I think they'll start around 530 Courier Park,
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: Ian Barry. Get the family together. Grab a blanket. It's
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: going to be, what are we saying tonight? Let's see.
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: Cloudy and 33, but 66 for the late afternoon with
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: partly sunny skies. So that's a pretty good forecast. Get
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: out to the farmer's market. Hear the live music. from
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: Seth and Sophie. Everything is free except for the food.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: I mean, the food trucks are there too. But, yeah,
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: there's only going to be one more, and that's next
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: Wednesday the 30th, and that's the Messengers here at Courier
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: Park in Barry. And then that's it for the season.
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: Friday night, Upper Valley Cars and Coffee doing a huge
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: car show. I went to one of them on a
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: Friday night at the Powerhouse Mall in West Lab. which
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: is where they're going to do it on Friday night,
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: and there were like 300 cars there. I'm telling you,
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: if you don't have plans Friday night, get to the
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: Powerhouse Mall parking lot in West Lab over behind Louie Louie's.
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: You're going to see cars that you don't get an
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: opportunity to see quite often. Some of these cars are
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: show cars. They only come out for car shows. It
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: is so impressive what Chris has done. Chris Hatch. Really incredible.
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: Friday night's going to be awesome. Into kind of the
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: next week or so, a quick snapshot. We've got the
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: Montpelier Fall Fest on the 3rd from 12 to 4
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: in November. There's a lot of stuff going on. Saturday,
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: November 7th. Just ahead of Veterans Day on the 11th,
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: there's going to be a Veterans Town Hall at the
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: Aldrich Public Library at 10 a.m. VTVetsTownHall.org if you want
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: to learn more about this. But it is going to
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: be amazing. It is an incredible opportunity for you to
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: hear veterans speak. Mark Shelton is coming to town, the
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: Berry American Legion, on the 14th. Looking ahead. Thursday the 12th,
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: they've got the military and veterans dinner over at the
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: Legion Post 10 right here in the Granite City. So
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: much happening. There's so much going on. I love it.
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: I love it. But, yeah, we're watching the situation with
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: what's going on on Route 100, and we're hoping that
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: things are going to be back open soon. Route 100.
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: closed in both directions between Guptill Road and Howard Avenue
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: this morning because of a pretty major car wreck, which
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: seems to be the norm in that area over the decades.
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: So please drive carefully this morning. Thanks to our sponsors
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: who make this possible. Bring me in here every day
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: to share my time and my coffee with you and
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: connection and great stories like the one this morning with Claudia.
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: Claudia Harnish from St. Albans. 25-year-old badass. Love it. But
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: Optical Expressions, one of my sponsors, wearing the glasses that
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: Will over at Optical Expressions made for me. And I
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: got to get over there and get another pair now.
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: And they may be the progressive lenses. I don't know.
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: I can't say the word bifocal. I won't do it.
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: But optical expressions, yes. Wide open Monday through Friday from
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: 8 to 6 on the fourth floor of the Blanchard
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: Block right in Barry. Huge selection of frames and sunglasses.
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: Get your eyes checked. Get the exam. Doesn't have to
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: be Mark Liepert. I'm a big fan of Mark, but
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: it could be anyone there. They'll get you the exam.
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: They'll get you contact lenses. They'll get you prescription eyeglasses,
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: whatever it is that you need. You can get the
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: sunglasses like G has, which are clear glasses. And then
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: when you. go in the sunlight in the afternoon whatever
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: that's called and they get dark they turn into sunglasses
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: metamorphosis you know what I'm talking about great people at
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: optical expressions don't listen to me can you tell I
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: don't work there 223 223-2090 is their phone number. 223-2090
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: to set up an exam today. Tomorrow, we're going to
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: be talking with Christy Swenson. Head Start. Big deal. The
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: Head Start program right here in central Vermont. She's going
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: to be coming over from Capstone. Tomorrow morning, you're going
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: to sit down with us, and we're going to chat
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: about Head Start, what it is, why it's so important.
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: And then, of course, on Friday, we dive headfirst into
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: the weekend. We get wild. We get borderline inappropriate. We laugh.
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: Gee and I are going to share some stories, act silly.
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, he's in his 60s going on 15. So
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: we're going to have some fun on Friday morning. We'll
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: jumpstart your weekend for you. Thanks, everybody. Thanks to our sponsors.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: Thanks to Claudia. Thanks to Sweetheart and Heroes for making
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: my Wednesday and giving me the inspiration to do more,
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: to be better. Thanks for catching the podcast. Aired out.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: Central Vermont's podcast since 2018.