Sep 13, 2018
Hi friend, I hope you are having a most awesome day.
Today I want to share a special story with you. My guest on this podcast is AJ Miller. She is a Boot Camp Challenge® (BCC) trainer and BCC Master Trainer. She is also the daughter of a Vietnam veteran who passed last year.
What AJ did not know was her father had left behind a journal, a memoir. After trying several times to read the memoir, and failing, she decided to return to Vietnam and retrace her father’s footsteps. Her purpose is to unveil her fathers’ story and share his memoirs right where they happened. She has only been able to make it through one entry so far but it was a big one. In it he talked about flying his chopper, thoughts of suicide, how he felt he never really came home and what his job was in the US Army during the war – he was a Scout. And, according to him, a killer.
It was the last line that caused AJ to freeze. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. She’ll explain in the podcast what happened next, and let’s just say, shocked is an understatement.
As AJ continues traveling across this country and visiting places her father stayed, she is trying to understand her father. How did he live with such cruel and unimaginable memories? How did he appear to function in society after the war? How did he manage his undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
AJ also shares the following:
- Her FIRST reaction when learning her father was a killer.
- Meeting a Viet Cong soldier who fought against her father in a coffee shop.
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – what it really looks like.
- How she compares Vietnam and fitness.
AJ also shares some stories about war that may be difficult for you to hear. If this topic is a trigger or draws you to a place of darkness, best you skip this podcast and we will catch you in a few weeks when our next one drops. We get quite emotional and the language, quite real. In fact, it may be offensive to some.
Please take all of this into consideration before listening. There are lots of components of the wellness wheel. While we usually focus on the fitness and nutrition components, today, we focus on the emotional. In AJ’S word’s, this was boot camp for the soul.
Smiles,
Lori
xoxo