[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.54,0:00:02.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Two years ago, after having served four years
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.97,0:00:04.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the United States Marine Corps
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.63,0:00:06.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.99,0:00:09.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I found myself in Port-au-Prince, leading a team
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.94,0:00:12.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of veterans and medical professionals
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.18,0:00:14.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in some of the hardest-hit areas of that city,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.61,0:00:16.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,three days after the earthquake.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.14,0:00:18.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We were going to the places that nobody else wanted to go,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.30,0:00:21.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the places nobody else could go, and after three weeks,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.83,0:00:24.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we realized something. Military veterans
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.84,0:00:27.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are very, very good at disaster response.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.85,0:00:30.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And coming home, my cofounder and I,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.32,0:00:33.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we looked at it, and we said, there are two problems.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.59,0:00:36.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first problem is there's inadequate disaster response.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.59,0:00:39.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's slow. It's antiquated. It's not using the best technology,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.91,0:00:42.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's not using the best people.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.29,0:00:44.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The second problem that we became aware of
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.49,0:00:46.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a very inadequate veteran reintegration,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.97,0:00:49.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this is a topic that is front page news right now
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.12,0:00:51.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.28,0:00:54.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're struggling to reintegrate into civilian life.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.43,0:00:56.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we sat here and we looked at these two problems,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.31,0:00:59.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and finally we came to a realization. These aren't problems.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.04,0:01:02.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These are actually solutions. And what do I mean by that?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.50,0:01:05.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, we can use disaster response as an opportunity
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.57,0:01:07.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for service for the veterans coming home.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.97,0:01:10.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Recent surveys show that 92 percent of veterans want
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.47,0:01:12.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to continue their service when they take off their uniform.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.71,0:01:16.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we can use veterans to improve disaster response.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.38,0:01:19.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now on the surface, this makes a lot of sense, and in 2010,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.45,0:01:22.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we responded to the tsunami in Chile,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.46,0:01:26.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the floods in Pakistan, we sent training teams to the Thai-Burma border.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.35,0:01:28.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it was earlier this year, when one of our
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.98,0:01:33.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,original members caused us to shift focus in the organization.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.09,0:01:35.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is Clay Hunt. Clay was a Marine with me.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.83,0:01:38.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We served together in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.16,0:01:42.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Clay was with us in Port-au-Prince. He was also with us in Chile.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.09,0:01:45.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Earlier this year, in March, Clay took his own life.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.98,0:01:48.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was a tragedy, but it really forced us
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.71,0:01:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to refocus what it is that we were doing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.98,0:01:55.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, Clay didn't kill himself because of what happened
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.45,0:01:58.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clay killed himself
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.06,0:02:01.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because of what he lost when he came home.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.21,0:02:04.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He lost purpose. He lost his community.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.67,0:02:09.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And perhaps most tragically, he lost his self-worth.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.11,0:02:12.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, as we evaluated, and as the dust settled
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.28,0:02:16.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from this tragedy, we realized that, of those two problems --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.59,0:02:19.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the initial iteration of our organization,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.83,0:02:22.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we were a disaster response organization that was using
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.71,0:02:24.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,veteran service. We had a lot of success,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.95,0:02:29.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we really felt like we were changing the disaster response paradigm.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.16,0:02:32.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But after Clay, we shifted that focus, and suddenly,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.57,0:02:35.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now moving forward, we see ourselves
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.04,0:02:39.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a veteran service organization that's using disaster response.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.94,0:02:42.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because we think that we can give that purpose
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.55,0:02:45.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that community and that self-worth back to the veteran.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.73,0:02:47.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And tornadoes in Tuscaloosa and Joplin, and then later
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.96,0:02:51.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hurricane Irene, gave us an opportunity to look at that.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.66,0:02:55.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I want you to imagine for a second an 18-year-old boy
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.07,0:02:57.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who graduates from high school in Kansas City, Missouri.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.54,0:03:00.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He joins the Army. The Army gives him a rifle.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.11,0:03:01.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They send him to Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.78,0:03:04.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every day he leaves the wire with a mission.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.51,0:03:08.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That mission is to defend the freedom of the family that he left at home.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.11,0:03:10.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's to keep the men around him alive.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.20,0:03:12.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's to pacify the village that he works in.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.39,0:03:16.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's got a purpose. But he comes home [to] Kansas City, Missouri,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.05,0:03:18.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,maybe he goes to college, maybe he's got a job,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.65,0:03:21.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but he doesn't have that same sense of purpose.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.01,0:03:23.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You give him a chainsaw. You send him to Joplin, Missouri
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.15,0:03:25.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after a tornado, he regains that.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.51,0:03:28.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Going back, that same 18-year-old boy graduates from high school
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.56,0:03:30.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Kansas City, Missouri, joins the Army,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.51,0:03:33.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Army gives him a rifle, they send him to Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.22,0:03:36.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every day he looks into the same sets of eyes around him.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.12,0:03:39.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He leaves the wire. He knows that those people have his back.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.28,0:03:41.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's slept in the same sand. They've lived together.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.47,0:03:44.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They've eaten together. They've bled together.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.16,0:03:46.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He goes home to Kansas City, Missouri.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.56,0:03:49.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He gets out of the military. He takes his uniform off.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.62,0:03:50.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He doesn't have that community anymore.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.96,0:03:54.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But you drop 25 of those veterans in Joplin, Missouri,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.20,0:03:56.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they get that sense of community back.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.69,0:03:59.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again, you have an 18-year-old boy who graduates
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.13,0:04:00.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,high school in Kansas City.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.78,0:04:02.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He joins the Army. The Army gives him a rifle.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.50,0:04:04.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They send him to Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.04,0:04:08.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They pin a medal on his chest. He goes home to a ticker tape parade.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.39,0:04:10.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He takes the uniform off. He's no longer Sergeant Jones
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.81,0:04:13.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in his community. He's now Dave from Kansas City.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.42,0:04:15.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He doesn't have that same self-worth.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.70,0:04:18.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But you send him to Joplin after a tornado,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.31,0:04:20.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and somebody once again is walking up to him
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.13,0:04:22.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and shaking their hand and thanking them for their service,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.50,0:04:24.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now they have self-worth again.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.82,0:04:27.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it's very important, because right now
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.14,0:04:28.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,somebody needs to step up,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.90,0:04:30.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this generation of veterans has the opportunity
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.85,0:04:33.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to do that if they are given the chance.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.14,0:04:37.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you very much. (Applause)