Operation Insight: New Name, Same Mission

The Mid-America Veterans Museum is a nonprofit relying on community donations to preserve veteran stories. The Operation Insight podcast educates and shares veteran experiences, transitioning from Dog Tag branding. Hosts discuss the importance of gaining insights into veterans' lives and experiences. Co-hosts Ethan and Nina share their military backgrounds and reasons for involvement, emphasizing the spirit of service and struggles faced post-military service. They aim to amplify veteran voices and serve the community through storytelling and education. The Mid-America Veterans Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit business. The museum would not exist without the donations of our generous community. Your donations ensure the museum continues to share and preserve the stories of our veterans. Would you like to be part of something special? To donate, visit mavm.org and click on Donate. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only. The primary purpose of the Operation Insight podcast is to educate. The views, information, or opinions expressed on the Operation Insight podcast are solely the views of the individuals or guests involved and by no means represent absolute facts. Operation Insight does not accept responsibility for their views or comments. The Operation Insight podcast may at times cover sensitive topics, including but not limited to suicide, abuse, violence, severe mental illness, sex, drugs, and alcohol addiction. You are advised to refrain from watching or listening to the Operation Insight podcast if you are likely to be offended or adversely impacted by any of these topics. Either the company, host, director, or the guest shall at any time be liable for the content covered causing offense, distress, or any other reaction. [♪ music playing ♪ Welcome to the Operation Insight podcast from the MidAmerica Veterans Museum with your host, Jason Galvin, and co-host, Sergeant Ethan Groves. Well, we're co-hosting this podcast together now and a new iteration of the podcast. We also have our executive director with us today, Nina D'Angelo, who is an Army veteran. Welcome, Nina. Hi, guys. So this is kind of our intro to the new podcast. As you heard on the last episode of the God Tag, we told you that we were going to reiterate with a new branding, so Operation Insight is where we landed. Anybody want to share some feedback on why that branding sounded good? Well, to me, you know, this is a joint effort between all three of us here, Jason, Nina, and myself. Operation Insight, I think, has several different kind of interesting connotations, one of which is, you know, once you get out of the military, whichever branch that you serve, a lot of veterans feel as though the operation isn't complete and the operation extends into your civilian life. That's where I think the Operation part of our title has some meaning, especially for our listeners who are veterans themselves. And then the Insight portion, I particularly like that because, you know, podcasts are meant for education. Sometimes they're meant for entertainment. I think we can have a little bit of both of that. I think you certainly had some of that in the previous podcast, especially with somebody like Dominic Masters. He brought a lot of color to the podcast. But the Insight's important because that's what we're looking for in this podcast, Jason. I think you agree with me when I say the purpose of us speaking to veterans is not only to preserve their story and their experiences but also to gain that insight into them as a person and what makes their heart beat and what makes their blood flow and all those types of things that make a person a person. Absolutely, I agree with that 100%. I think, like I gave a little teaser on the last episode of the Dog Tag, of what we're going to look forward to in this new podcast with our first guest, the intensity, the transparency, the history, all those things, this is going to be all of those things on this podcast. And we have Nina. I want to bring Nina in here officially. We have Nina to thank for this rebranding and the smoothness of transitioning from Dog Tag to Operation Insight. I want to thank you for that. For sure, for sure. I think Dog Tag kind of, it just, you know, with growth always comes growing pains, right? And so the museum has been going through some growth. And I think maybe because we're basically an all-volunteer base, except for myself here, and you guys give of your time, and I'm very grateful for that, you've got to work around your day-to-day too, right, whenever that happens. And I feel like what a great opportunity for us to just kind of bring just a fresh new look into the podcast, right, and I feel like this name, it really, it better captures our commitment to veteran voices and the mission-driven conversations that we have previously had on the Dog Tag with just a fresh new look, if you will. And I'm super excited because I feel like we had a little bit of a lull there for a little while in, you know, Dog Tag episodes being recorded and uploaded and all the things. And this is a great time for us to kind of, you know, take the opportunity to continue to do what we do best, but just bigger and better, if I can say that. Absolutely. And I think it's important also for the audience to know who they're listening to. And so I'm going to let Ethan share a little bit about his background. And, again, in the last episode of the Dog Tag, you heard a little bit about Nina. We're going to have her share again on this episode, and then I'll share last. So kind of what I'm looking for, Ethan, is a little bit about yourself and why this is important for you to do. I'd be happy to talk about that. I joined the Army in October of 2017, went to basic training at Fort Jackson, Rolaxon, Jackson, a great spot for basic training. I won't get into all the nitty-gritty, but ETS, which is my end of term of service, that was June of 2023. In between that time, I was stationed at places like the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. which was, for just a moment there, known as Fort Liberty, went back to Fort Bragg. I was also deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan during the evacuation in August 2021. So I had a pretty wild military experience. And I'm still currently serving in the reserves out of Kansas City, primarily out of Fort Leavenworth. Not there as an inmate. I'm there to do my reserve drill. No blue jumpsuits? No, not for me. That brings the color out in your honor. And so I got back here to St. Louis. I'm originally from the area, Metro East specifically. My parents still live out there. But I came back to the area, and I think a lot of veterans, you know, I think Nina had this experience. I know I had this experience. A lot of veterans, when you get out of the military, out of service, you have all this energy. You want to put forth something. And most veterans have this spirit of service. I know I definitely have that. And I had it as I was getting out. So I was looking for opportunities to give back to my community. And I just so happened to pick up one of the Midrivers magazines out of a schnooks, I think, in Conneville. And in the Midrivers magazine, one of the pages was a small note from Mr. Jim Higgins inviting volunteers to the museum. And so I reached out. Long story short, I began helping and volunteering here at the museum. And this podcast is an opportunity that came up just recently. And Jason, you have been more than gracious welcoming me in as a co-host. And I'm really, really excited about that opportunity to speak to veterans in the community and to get their stories out there for people. Well, we're so glad to have you. We couldn't actually do the podcast the way we want to without someone like you. So thank you so much for volunteering. And, Naina, now we're going to go to you. Tell us a little bit about your background, what you did in the military and what you do now, what your background is like. Yeah, sure. So I joined the Army in 1991, served a little over eight years. It was like eight years and two months. Then separated from service, came back home. And much like you, Ethan, I had all of this energy and all these things that I wanted to contribute, and I honestly felt like I hit a brick wall. It was like, oh, you've got a five-point preference on your resume when you send it in. I probably sent a bazillion resumes out for jobs. Ask me how many phone calls I got for interviews. Zero. Big old donut. And so I struggled. I seriously struggled. I'm like, what am I supposed to be doing? I took all this time to translate military experience into civilian resume, and I could work in a warehouse. I could work doing trucks. I could do inventory control. I mean, like there was all these things I could do because of what I did in the military that nobody seemed to really care. And I don't know if it was just the job market wasn't seeking those specific professions, but to be honest, the jobs were out there. I saw them. I was applying for them. Never got a phone call. So fast forward, I got a job at a local bank, worked there for a little while, about ten years, graduated into a chamber of commerce as a vice president for about ten years, and then that's when the opportunity to come here to the museum and work as the executive director presented itself, and I latched onto it like a leech and wouldn't let go until they actually said I had the job. Hey, I love it. Well, a little bit about me, I was a military dependent from the day I came out of the womb. And my dad was a special operator. He actually, his name was Captain Arthur Galvin. He went into the military as an enlisted guy, and he was a combat control team member. He got out and got his commission. He went to Troy State University and got his commission. He was ROTC Corps commander in college. And when he got his commission, he became a trained navigator. And when we moved, I guess we started his career started in Florida at Herbert Air Force Base, and it ended there. It ended there many years later after getting his commission and coming back to work in a squadron, the 16th Special Operations Squadron, which they flew AC-130 gunships, close air support. And my dad was a part of many, many different special operations missions. He was in Panama for Operation Just Cause, and he was ultimately went over to the desert in January 2nd of 1991. I believe it was January 2nd, the last time I saw him. And by January 31st, his crew was actually killed in action in the Battle of Kofji. A couple of great books out there by an author that I might share on the podcast one time who is the gunship historian and also has been in the gunship family for a long time. But my dad's crew was crew of 14. They were one of three AC-130 gunships on station during that battle on that day and night. And what happened? Well, daylight hit, and they got hit in a devastating way, and they all lost their lives that day. So my dad earned the Purple Heart and Silver Star amongst other medals that he had. He was just a lonely Hispanic guy from California, first generation. He was the first one born in the United States from oldest son of his parents and first generation. His dad actually came over on the belly of a train at 15 years old trying to get a new life for himself. And so I really love my heritage. My dad is my hero. Not only he was an Eagle Scout, he was a football player, guitar player. He was the life of the party. He took his guitar to every TDY they went on, and he played guitar at family events and all that kind of stuff, self-taught. But ultimately, he knew both sides of being enlisted and also being an officer, very well respected, not only by his friends but his family and his community. So the reason why I volunteer at the museum is because, first of all, my dad's story is in the museum. Second of all, I want others' stories to be heard because I know how I felt as an 11-year-old kid when I got that knock at the door. And so although I didn't serve, I served in a way. And those stories are with me, and I want to preserve other stories and be there for others that might have gone through that. So as a Gold Star family member, that's really important to me. So that's why I do this, and that's why we're here. I would like to jump on what you just said about you didn't serve. You absolutely served, sir. Anyone who is a dependent of someone who gets deployed, you guys serve your own kind of hell. I'm not going to lie. That's true. That's true. So thank you for that. I appreciate you saying that. You were in Turkey for a while as well, weren't you? Yeah, my mom actually remarried about three years later. My stepdad, who is also a veteran, he's an Air Force Academy grad, and he was an Anchorage, Alaska police officer for 22 years. And actually, he now is an investigator for the St. Charles County Juvenile Justice Center. He lives in Missouri now. So he's a very, you know, I've had military my whole life, and I've been blessed to have two dads who served in the military. When my mom remarried, we lived in Turkey for a while, and that was an awesome experience. I think that was probably, you know, I turned 14 when I lived there. So I was a kid, and it was almost like a kid in a candy store because we lived in a village. We didn't live on base. And so I was, like, exploring things I'd never seen in my life, you know, total language barrier, you know, culture shock. But I had so many different experiences, it didn't really affect me. So I had a lot of fun. Your story reminded me, Jason. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this. So, oddly enough, it's probably meant to be, I had mentioned that I was in Kabul, Afghanistan during the evacuation. Something I forgot to mention is a really important component of why I wanted to volunteer and specifically volunteer here in St. Charles County is a gentleman whose uniform is not far from your father's story, Lance Corporal Jerry Schmitz. I didn't know him. He was a Marine. I was a soldier. But it turns out he was less than two miles away from me on August 26, 2021, when a suicide bomb went off and killed him and some fellow Marines and Navy servicemen and a soldier. I can still remember that evening in HKIA, Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, when the names were officially released, and I saw Jerry Schmitz, Winslow, Missouri. It really impacted me. Winslow is not far from here. It's in the county. Winslow is not even far from where I grew up. So I just, you know, you shared your story of, and mine is right, story of service. I really appreciate you sharing that with us. It's an impactful story. I want to make sure to pay the homage that's necessary to Corporal Schmitz. Absolutely, and thank you for doing that. If you ever do visit a museum, listener, you'll see an amazing monument dedicated to those service members who lost their lives at the airport that day by a suicide bomber, and that was a gift to the museum by someone who wanted to memorialize. But, I mean, if you go and stand in front of that, right, that granite piece there looming over you with those names, you know, names are just names if there's not a story behind it. Those names mean something to a lot of people, right? And we can never forget those people and what they did, right? I always say that monument over there, when I see it, it's heartbreakingly breathtaking, if you will. It's just the reality of why it was constructed in the first place is very sobering. We all owe gratitude to those individuals. And like a lot of timeless memorials, you know, in Washington, D.C., and there's great memorials in D.C. for sure. I highly recommend it. But like Nina's saying, the more we have here at the Front Museum, I think it's breathtaking in its simplicity. You just let the names speak for themselves, and that really has an impact on people who see it. Absolutely. You know, you go back to people that we were able to interview in the last few years who are not with us anymore, part of the greatest generation, per se. You know, World War II, we've interviewed Korean War vets, Vietnam. Those guys were never welcomed home the right way. You kind of get those people about, you say desert, so I'm like, what was Desert Storm? A lot of people don't remember that it even happened, you know. You've got 9-11. You have Enduring Freedom. You have all kinds of different conflicts that people can relate to or have never heard of. So here you can get all the way through American history. One of the cool things is that I love here at the museum, before we end this podcast, is we have a piece of the Vietnam Wall. It's a retired piece that's part of a traveling wall that's been retired, and it's just an amazing piece. We also have a piece of the USS Arizona that the faculty of this museum worked really, really hard to be able to preserve that here for the America Veterans Museum. So we do have some artifacts that you can never, probably not see some places, but it's really the story, right? One of my favorite, I was just telling these guys, Nina and Ethan, one of my favorite podcasts that I've done is with Matt Sims. He had three Purple Hearts, and when you talk about bravery and love of the country, you can't say that without Matt. He interviewed a dog handler from Vietnam, interviewed so many people, just stories that I'll never forget that this podcast has given me the great benefit of being able to have and share with you guys. So with all that being said, we just wanted to introduce you to Ethan and let you know that this podcast has been rebranded to Operation Insight. Thank you for the insight on that, Ethan. And you guys will be hearing a story of a veteran who is just unreal, but you'll hear that in the next couple weeks, so be ready to listen. And I want to just say one last thing, Jason. I want to pay homage to Private Ralph Borrelli. Without him, this wouldn't exist. And I'm going to paraphrase something he had said at one point before his death, no one is ever gone as long as their memories are preserved. And I think that's our mission here. That's the mission of Operation Insight, to preserve those memories. Absolutely. And if you are a veteran or you are a Gold Star family member or a loved one of a veteran and you want to share someone's story, share your story, reach out. There's going to be a way on our website for you to be able to request an opportunity to be on the podcast, and we would love to have you and schedule you for that. Anything else, guys, before we sign off? Just one thing that I'll say is I just want to invite our audience to join us for a deeper look into service, transition, and legacy, because that's what we do here. Absolutely. We're going to go ahead and sign off of the Operation Insight podcast from the Mid-America Veterans Museum. Operation Insight is brought to you by the Mid-America Veterans Museum. The museum is a 501c3 non-profit business. It's a place where veterans and their families can learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn. Operation Insight is brought to you by the Mid-America Veterans Museum. The museum is a 501c3 non-profit business. Do you like our podcast? With your support, we'll continue to bring you great programming. If you'd like to donate, go to mavm.org and click on Donate.