1 00:00:00,710 --> 00:00:05,290 - I'm specialist Samuel A. Shepard. 2 00:00:05,290 --> 00:00:10,280 S-A-M-U-E-L S-H-E-P-A-R-D. 3 00:00:11,470 --> 00:00:14,730 I'm part of the 198th medical detachment 4 00:00:14,730 --> 00:00:19,000 of the 11th Field Hospital, under the Ninth Hospital Center. 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,270 When I was notified about receiving a phone call, 6 00:00:22,270 --> 00:00:26,110 my first reaction was just excitement. 7 00:00:26,110 --> 00:00:29,530 I was ectatic that I was chosen 8 00:00:29,530 --> 00:00:33,650 by our unit to be the representative to talk 9 00:00:33,650 --> 00:00:37,510 to the President and his Chief of Staff, 10 00:00:37,510 --> 00:00:41,263 or Joint Chief of Staff, and the Secretary of the Army. 11 00:00:44,550 --> 00:00:47,950 I wasn't nervous at first, but after a little bit, 12 00:00:47,950 --> 00:00:49,000 it started getting to me. 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,060 Last night, it was kinda hard to sleep, trying to think 14 00:00:52,060 --> 00:00:53,730 about, oh man, what am I gonna say? 15 00:00:53,730 --> 00:00:54,870 What am I gonna do? 16 00:00:54,870 --> 00:00:56,070 You know. 17 00:00:56,070 --> 00:00:58,790 I was in the middle of reconning sites 18 00:00:58,790 --> 00:01:01,260 whenever I got the first phone call, I had to sit 19 00:01:01,260 --> 00:01:06,260 out the second recon to talk with all the press and whatnot 20 00:01:06,650 --> 00:01:08,523 at the White House about the call. 21 00:01:10,740 --> 00:01:12,960 Right before we went to the third site, we had to park 22 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:16,563 in a parking lot so I could make the actual call. 23 00:01:19,430 --> 00:01:22,400 He said a few words, just thanking all the service members 24 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,130 and everybody for the hard work and everything 25 00:01:25,130 --> 00:01:28,483 that they've put towards our mission right now. 26 00:01:30,783 --> 00:01:31,973 Once he was finished, 27 00:01:31,973 --> 00:01:35,260 the Secretary of Defense said a few words 28 00:01:35,260 --> 00:01:36,870 about what was going on 29 00:01:36,870 --> 00:01:39,460 and then the Joint Chief of Staff made it a point 30 00:01:39,460 --> 00:01:43,400 to bring up this is a hard time for the service member 31 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:45,740 and the families and that they're dong everything they can 32 00:01:45,740 --> 00:01:48,040 to protect the force and protect the families. 33 00:01:49,900 --> 00:01:51,690 Then, I was the first person to speak 34 00:01:51,690 --> 00:01:52,913 outside of those three. 35 00:01:53,990 --> 00:01:56,010 The President actually, he thanked me. 36 00:01:56,010 --> 00:01:59,217 He said, "Sam, thank you for your beautiful words. 37 00:01:59,217 --> 00:02:01,367 "I appreciate everything you're doing, being boots 38 00:02:01,367 --> 00:02:04,677 "on the ground and taking care of New York like you are. 39 00:02:04,677 --> 00:02:06,467 "A rapid response and everything. 40 00:02:06,467 --> 00:02:07,417 "That's what we're looking for 41 00:02:07,417 --> 00:02:09,147 "and that's what we're here to do." 42 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:16,920 Being in for two years, I joined with the thought process 43 00:02:18,670 --> 00:02:20,670 of, okay, I'm gonna be a medic, 44 00:02:20,670 --> 00:02:24,060 and I'm gonna put my warrant officer packet together 45 00:02:24,060 --> 00:02:27,030 and I'm gonna become a flight warrant in no time. 46 00:02:27,030 --> 00:02:32,030 I had no idea that I was gonna be deployed to New York City 47 00:02:32,810 --> 00:02:35,110 and deployed to New York City on the Advon team 48 00:02:35,110 --> 00:02:36,940 and talking to the President of the United States 49 00:02:36,940 --> 00:02:37,803 within a week. 50 00:02:40,170 --> 00:02:42,620 I've never experienced anything like this before. 51 00:02:43,473 --> 00:02:44,590 The President of the United States, 52 00:02:44,590 --> 00:02:46,240 most powerful man in the country. 53 00:02:48,700 --> 00:02:50,900 Just excitement. 54 00:02:50,900 --> 00:02:51,860 Never... 55 00:02:55,030 --> 00:02:57,820 Unfeasible, something you never think's gonna happen. 56 00:02:57,820 --> 00:03:00,250 You just think little old specialist me is never going 57 00:03:00,250 --> 00:03:04,080 to come into contact with any higher-ups 58 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:05,000 or anything like that. 59 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,720 You're never gonna be a big essential part of a mission 60 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:13,720 to where they would pick you to talk, but you never know 61 00:03:15,410 --> 00:03:19,600 if it's gonna be you or the person sitting next to you. 62 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:20,980 You never know what role you can play 63 00:03:20,980 --> 00:03:22,503 until you show your strengths. 64 00:03:25,100 --> 00:03:26,380 My unit is... 65 00:03:27,821 --> 00:03:29,363 We have a very close bond. 66 00:03:30,816 --> 00:03:31,980 It's a very tight ship. 67 00:03:31,980 --> 00:03:33,590 We take care of each other. 68 00:03:33,590 --> 00:03:36,260 We're all really close. 69 00:03:36,260 --> 00:03:37,093 We... 70 00:03:38,900 --> 00:03:40,710 We tend to all go to the same exer... 71 00:03:40,710 --> 00:03:42,670 We all go to the same exercises together. 72 00:03:42,670 --> 00:03:44,820 We all help each other out. 73 00:03:44,820 --> 00:03:46,760 We're always there for each other. 74 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,660 You hear a lot about us. 75 00:03:50,660 --> 00:03:54,130 We're always the first for things. 76 00:03:54,130 --> 00:03:58,490 After we transitioned over into a field hospital, 77 00:03:58,490 --> 00:04:02,020 our unit's been the first to do this, the first to do that. 78 00:04:02,020 --> 00:04:03,910 It's just... 79 00:04:03,910 --> 00:04:07,273 That alone has been an amazing experience.