may taking questions from members of the house of commons. later, secretary of state rex tillerson meets with qatar's foreign minister and takes questions from reporters. ♪ >> this week on "q&a," executive director of paralyzed veterans of america. mr. gillam, a retired marine corps officer, takes about his paralysis and the work is organization does to help paralyzed veterans. ♪ brian: what is your job? sherman: i am the executive director of charlize theron's of america. brian: what is it? i am the executive director of paralyzed veterans

of america. brian: what is it? sherman: i empower veterans who have suffered catastrophic disabilities, to help them find their way back into life. it reflects my own experience. that's what i get up and do everyday, empower people to help us carry out our mission. brian: how many paralyzed veterans are there that you serve? sherman: we estimate about 60,000 in this country, most have spinal injuries, but a number have multiple sclerosis, lou gehrig's disease, there is spinal cord dysfunction. the common experience is the that spinal cord dysfunction has on just about every bodily system. we are bonded by that experience. unique in terms of the impact it has on our lives.

there sort of a core within veterans population. brian: i read that the veterans that paralyzed veterans of america was established after world war ii. his of the government organization -- is it a government organization? sherman: it was started as a club, a membership organization. but he was about advocacy. you had other bigger veterans service organizations of for a while that they were not advocating for the unique needs of veterans in that era. things like equal access in society, research. 18 months if in you had a spinal cord injury back then. hero buttton was a war he died of a spinal cord injury in 1946 because the medicine and research have not caught up with the desire to live with that injury.

over time, that band of paralyzed veterans group into what is now a 76-year-old organization, member led advocates who look for other paralyzed veterans and pulled them in and take care of them. brian: where does the money come from? sherman: 100% from individual donors and corporations. we don't take government funding. that is a struggle. we have to deliver results. we have to have impact, and we are proud of that because we do have impact. because we are free from government funding, we are not down by those -- we are not bound by those relationships or having to deal in that way. be the opposition, and truly advocate for our members because we have independent spirit -- independence. brian: what year did you join the marine corps and why?

sherman: i thought about it, i was probably a sophomore in high school. whoever did the advertising was looking for me. i think back there it was a dragon with the marine in dress blues. brian: where were you? sherman: buffalo, new york. i was smart enough to go to school but i did not think that was for me. i wanted to get out of buffalo and see the world. uniforms, but i wanted to be a military police officer. i'm not sure why i have that fixation early on. feltted to do that, and i the marine corps was the path because of the reputation of the discipline. , myined on my 17th birthday mother had to sign the papers for me to even talk to the recruiter. i was pretty certain the young age this is what i wanted to do. brian: what year was that? joined boot0, i camp right after high school. brian: what was your experience in the marine corps like? sherman: i grew up in a single

parent household, my mother was the father figure and the mother figure, but the marine corps became that father figure. i gravitated to that instantly, i love the discipline. hard it was, it felt like something i needed to earn. it took a lot of pride in the difficulty i endured to get that uniform, that title. but it fills a hole for me in my life. i a lot ofthis day what i am to that early experience of embracing the marine corps as a father figure, embodied in drill instructors and mentors i had in the early years, and a lot of my judgment today, the way i view life, it began in those days through those people. brian: you mentioned drill instructors. they have somewhat of a reputation for people outside of

the marine corps, tough guys. you ended up being one. how did that happen, and what year in your marine corps time did you be -- did you become a drill instructor? sherman: i went back to paris island in 1997, so seven years later. it was a choice i made. i was a sergeant in the marine corps, and that is about the time you have to decide what you option, the recruiter become a security guard, a drill instructor. that is to give you a little diversity in your career. i said, i want to go back and be that person i admire. that is exactly how i pattern myself. i had a great set of drill instructors as a recruit. i wanted to him you lay them. because i knew the -- i wanted to emulate them. because i knew the impact it had on me, i wanted to do that same

thing for a lot of young men who probably shared my experience. i fancied myself as being that mentor and example that would shape their worldview, and the choices they would make later in life. it is an eclectic mix. you think of the marine corps as type a jocks, but you get the nerds, the gang bangers, the loners, they are all looking for something. that's why the marine corps works, it get you that identity that everyone can get behind. brian: what was your approach as a drill sergeant that you decided to take the cousin of the drill sergeants you might have had in the past? did you have any rules for yourself? sherman: one thing i took for my senior drill instructor, you have to be an example first.

you don't ask anybody to do something you're not willing to do, and to do it at the same level of excellence. you can't have a bad day, you have to be ready. i went into every contact with michael tunes -- with my platoons to be that model of perfection as close as i could become. allre our fellow -- we are fallible, but when you're on a run, you don't show weakness. and you are consistent. that is one of the secrets of being a disciplinarian, you are consistent. don't go too far in any one direction, expectation does not waver. i think recruits appreciate consistency in the demand for discipline. i tried to in the late that as emulate -- tried to in you that as much as i could. happenshat do you think

with a civilian who goes into the marine corps and it is a tough situation with the discipline? sherman: you get tested along all of your vulnerabilities. something they are not appointed to be good at. i don't know of a single recruit that was perfect at anything, marksmanship, swimming, running, being able to take stress. a lot of recruits would wrestle with things they brought to boot camp. you could tell the guys that did not have a lot of good parenting but wanted something better ended on a how to achieve it. you actually develop these sort of one-on-one engagement with these young men, even though there are a lot of them, you try to figure out what is that thing you are going to overcome? dad and wanting that completeness. but i think everybody finds that one thing they need to overcome,

you all get the same uniform at the end. it is a true meritocracy, but you all at the end of it, you of all achieved the goal and you get uniform and the drill instructor shakes her hand. that means everything, because you have overcome a demon or something personal to get there. brian: what was your best moment -- your toughest moment at the camp? sherman: for anybody or specifically for me? brian: from what you have observed. sherman: the realization that you made a choice you probably regret in that first week. i think you realize you stepped into something very serious, these are usually 18 to 22-year-olds and they've never taken anything serious in her life to this level. once you get there, you are not a prisoner because you could leave, you can quit, but there is something inside of you that compels you to tough it out, it

comes at a cost. you lose your sense of yourself. chaos, i am isolated, i feel alone, i don't know these people. at the same time, you understand you are going through a metamorphosis, you are there to be changed and transformed and this is what it takes, it takes understanding that this is what marines do and how they are created. like a being pounded diamond from a piece of coal. it is a tough process in the beginning but if you can indoor that --beginning. that, you can endure will make it. brian: what percentage don't make it? sherman: it fluctuates. ,hen i was a drill instructor we had a concerted effort to not drop as many recruits. probably 10% at the

platoon level appeared -- level. about 10% ofbably the platoon level. i had one kid who was really overweight but was really determined, and i decided to keep him. at the end of six months, i did not recognize him. see somebody really appreciate the change and transformation. while some instructors were quick to get rid of the weak ones, i tried to hold onto the ones who had heart. brian: when did you leave the marine corps? sherman: 2002. brian: what happened in 2001? where was your accident? sherman: it was in 2002, at camp pendleton.

the day began pretty neat. i was training for the ally marathon, and we were -- the los angeles marathon, and we were in california. we were training with the pendleton running team and i was finalizing my affairs because we were getting ready to deploy to afghanistan. i have a lot going on. it was an inflection point in my life. i left the base. brian: southern california. sherman: san diego, the oceanside area. brian: near where richard nixon used to live. sherman: yes, a big base their pure -- base there. base in my car, i left the like i did all the time. i call it a freak accident

because the was no rhyme or reason for how it happened. got cut off by a guy who's worked in front of the truck, i guess he missed his exit. i only know this because i read the reports, i do not recall any of it. he cut the truck off, the truck swerved and i swerved to miss the truck and lost control and my car flipped three times, landed on its roof. that was the story, according to the report i read. evaced.et in fact -- med c4 vertebrae,my and i woke up about three days later at scripps memorial hospital, and that was the new chapter. brian: were you married then? sherman: no. brian: what was your first

thought when you woke up? sherman: my first thought was i cannot breathe. i wasn't sure what happened to me but i was on a machine and i did not know i was hooked to it until i try to take a breath and i heard it slow my breathing down. i tried to take another breath and it stopped me. i saw the connection, felt the connection through the breathing and i thought, i'm going to suffocate. i don't know where i am or what happened but i am going to suffocate because this thing is stopping me from taking a deep breath. that was my very first thought. the next thought was, how did i get here? brian: was that anybody you knew near me at that -- near you at that time? sherman: i think a nurse had passed by and i tried to yell and i couldn't because i was integrated -- intebated.

i remember he stopped, looked at me and then walked away. i thought, i'm going to die, this guide is not realize i'm going to suffocate. i must have passed out after that, i don't remember too much until i was awakened again by the surgeon, who explained, and i am on morphine and all kinds of medications, he explained i have been in an accident and i accepted it. , am a pretty stoic individual it's the way i was raised, and the marine corps. but i wanted to know details. what happened, did anybody else get her, where am i, what happened? i did not get a whole lot of that until later. andmy brain was alive firing off, but my body was not connected. different senses of myself. brian: to do ever meet any of the people involved in the -- did you ever meet

any of the people involved in the accident? sherman: i did not, i did talk to a police officer, a first responder. he gave me a brief explanation then took saw, and down my story, he had to get details for my point of view and i gave him what i could remember. but i never did, i would love to do that, but i don't know their names. i would not even know where to look, i'm not sure if it is in the medical records or not. brian: who was held as being at fault? sherman: the driver of the car that cut off the truck was at didt, i found out later he leave the scene but turned himself in a day later after he got an attorney. he was an out of work actor, a smalltime actor, nobody famous. that was about it. i think i wanted to detach from the situation by not knowing too

much, so i did not blame the person. brian: how long were you in the hospital? sherman: the first hospital, 11 days, which is about on average to stabilize. i got transferred to the v.a. medical civil -- medical center in san diego for three months. brian: when did mom find out? sherman: either the same day shortly after, a lot of the family was called. my family flew in that week to see me. i have family in california already, so they gave her a lot of details. i was really tough, because am her oldest son. i probably had seen her just about a month before, and my sister two days before that. i was upright and walking around, and then here i am in this position where there is a lot of uncertainty about how

this will turn out. heart.ly did break their it probably hurt them more than it hurt me can -- me because they could not control anything, they do not have information. it left a scar that i think runs pretty deep today. brian: a couple of weeks ago you made a recitation in front of a group telling them the story -- a presentation in front of a group telling them the story of pain and all that. what was the group? sherman: it was the paralyzed veterans of america held since -- health summit that we put on every year. the group was about 900 spinal injury professionals who work with spinal cord diseases and dysfunction, therapists, doctors, nurses, social workers, anyone who would touch that population. we have this once a year, it is the largest in the country. also mostly employees of

the department of veterans affairs. it is a convening of that specific group of professionals. a 32nd clip of you describing the accident, it may be redundant, but let's watch it. you also have a technique that we will show. sherman: close your eyes for a moment -- close your eyes, i see you. [laughter] sherman: trust me, empathy. i want you to stretch your imagination. crashing] sherman: open your eyes. that is how fast it happens. in a blink, no warning. brian: the reaction of the audience was dramatic. did you expect that? sherman: i don't know what i expected. i think i just wanted something different, something to register that these people you are caring

, theyre not born this way did not just happen to fall into your care. something bad happened, and maybe the sound effect, maybe help that. i wanted something different to register, to set the tone of what we would talk about. brian: you talk about empathy and compassion. discuss that a bit. sherman: i think there's any doubt that most providers are compassionate and how they do their work. the point i made was compassion is about healing. you are healing these people, you are trying to release pain. empathy is different. it is difficult to empathize with people you don't immediately identify with. when you are a doctor or nurse, i found in my experience, they don't immediately empathize or understand what it feels like. you are relieving pain, but do you understand, some of the things you say makes a difference.

i talked about how my doctor told me for the first time i would never walk again, very callous. it lacked humanness. i said to myself, would that dr. want to hear that that callously? maybe that is the profession, to stay detached, that it was not helpful, it did not help me see him as a healer. it made me mad. it's the same way you find out you have a cancer diagnosis, it is just, you have cancer. you are a healer on more than one level. when you are telling somebody news that bad, how about -- you are talking to a human being, not an object. that plays out when you are in care for a long time and we have , you see tooab

many instances of that. i pointed out to them now, and i try to remind them, you are dealing with a world war ii , you are au are mad nurse, and the sky has probably sacrificed more than you ever will for this country. have some empathy, what if this would your grandfather or dad? that was the tone i wanted to set. i did not want to give them a tongue lashing. i wanted them to know i appreciate the path they chose, but the lack of empathy is why the v.a. found itself in the position where it is now being challenged in terms of its purpose and whether we need to have this system of care as we know it today. describing is you being paralyzed. sherman: at this point, stop moving.

this side of the room, you are quadriplegics, stop moving. this side of the room, you are paraplegic, you are the lucky ones, you cannot move, bear with me. you cannot move, you're paralyzed. you have to accept it. over here, you can wave your arms and scratch but don't stretch her legs because you cannot. brian: when you woke up in hospital, how much could you move? sherman: nothing. when i woke up, i could move my head, i was in a philadelphia collar, but i could not feel my body. it is a very surreal state of being. the only thing i could compare it to that would make sense to someone who does not know what it feels like, if you stood at the edge of a cliff with your toes hanging off and you leaned your head over. one push, and you go over.

that is what it feels like collect the connection to your body. it feels like i am going to fall any moment and somebody is holding me up, but i feel like any moment, a gust of wind will push me over. that does not even adequately describe it, that there is no analogize for can the able-bodied world. it feels like that, you will fall over at any moment. brian: how much pain did you feel? sherman: not at first. you can't feel anything. there is no pain there. brian: are you saying in the car or in the hospital? sherman: i would say the first 10 days, i could not feel anything. i was on so much morphine at the time. the pain is just the uncertainty, anxiety, fear. and the real pain does not kick in until you start to heal and the condition resolves itself and the nerve pain begins to creep then and you start to

realize, i can still feel my body but now it hurts. i don't know if you have ever badfrostbite it is pretty condition, imagine your whole body feels like that, and the pins and needles and it does not stop. if you have joint problems with shoulder rotation and all of those things, all the exercises and pushing the chair and those kind of things. brian: what did happen to you physically? sherman: the spinal cord injury itself was incomplete. that is hard to explain for people who don't understand what that means, but you have a complete injury where the spinal cord is completely severed, and you have incomplete where it has been damaged but not severed. , becausees a paralysis there is sell that, they don't

get oxygen, and that makes it permanent, but only partially. even though an energy -- an injury happened here. you had christopher reeve lose everything, he had complete injury. but it is different for everyone. considered anwas incomplete spinal cord injury at a certain function level, i can move my arms, move certain muscles below the waist. i cannot move them, but i can feel them. you have sensory but not motoring. there are things you feel and don't feel. brian: how many operations to do had -- did you have? sherman: just one to repair my spinal cord. i was fortunate. brian: what's the worst thing some but he can say to someone who is had a spinal injury or any injury, and you spend all

that time of the hospital, i am sure you have heard it. sherman: the worst thing i hear is that maybe one day you will walk again. gym orou will get in the -- will perform a miracle and it is not the intention behind the words that make it bad, it is the fact that i am fine with how things turned out. i'm having a pretty good life, i got married, i have a child postinjury, am doing fine, i have a full-time job. there is a perception that there is something more or something wrong with me from people who ,on't understand that sometimes you accept your condition and move on. it's not the walking the bothers me, maybe it's not having full manual dexterity or other that alwaysut

bothers me a little bit, although i understand why somebody would say it. i think that's probably the one thing i would rather not hear. brian: back to this event you have for the 900 people who work in this kind of world helping people. this is about 50 seconds, and this again goes back to the actual moment when the accident happened. you are sitting there in early paralyzed as you are, the next time you hear after the accident you severed, it is not a chainsaw or lawnmower, it is the jaws of life. [motor] your car is cut open like a can, the things you remember are the smell of twisted, burnt metal. it will haunt you for the rest of your life. your body is extricated from the

vehicle, and the last sound you will hear before going completely unconscious is this. [sirens] then it fades to black. brian: did you have that same >> i imagine i did. i was conscious. wereaware the jaws of life used. the body goes into protection mode where the brain does things shock.ect itself from happened, iand what piece it together. recall itot say i

totally. : people you see who come theof combat, what is difference between what they got and what you got. a my first case was young marine who shot himself in the stomach because he thought his comrades were wanting to kill him. there was another kid who was iud and wasan

paralyzed. profound state a of being that i cannot compare through.t i went these guys carry so much more because they have a survivor's guilt. if they have a traumatic brain injury, that is a challenge unto itself. i saw a big difference in the way life has changed when you whenn a car accident and someone tried to kill you. pgot to appreciate that it is rofound.

sense of you get any what impact it had on those 900 people when you did this presentation and have you done it before? >> this one was about me, the feedback i got was we needed this because i know what they go through. andal with the secretary those who talk about what the department of veterans affairs is and should be. i speak from a lot of places about this problem but in that room, i'm telling them, this is the problem. this is what i see from a advocacy perspective, you have to emphasize that will make it the ideal provider for veterans

who have gone to combat and sacrifice. they appreciated the wake-up call that we gave them at the event. host: one more clip from your presentation. >> when you wake up -- this is the first thing you hear. like towhat it sounds be maintained by a machine. these are the next set of sounds you tryl haunt you as to figure out what happened as you sit starring in the dark.

host: you have been in both private hospitals and the va hospital, do people who are working there know what it sounds like, all the noise in the background and can anything be done about it if you do not sherman gillums: when you're in a low state of misery laughing.ar the staff it is a cacophony of confusion. because you're paralyzed, you already feel like you have gi ven up control. it is usually in darkness it is

more pronounced and it does op until you fall asleep. make it bad.to that is just the way hospitals are. the experience for me, the noises is what i took away. host: you found yourself in the white house. >> this is called the choice program improvement act. this bill shows it improves the veterans choice program so that more veterans can see the doctor of their choice. we have made a lot of strides

for our veterans. they have not been taken care of properly. sherman gillums: i will always qualify by saying that is correct but in many cases -- it just depends on the situation. there are some hospitals that are part of the va system that are great but there are egregious instances where veterans were not taking care of properly. host: what was it like being with the president? sherman gillums: we are there to get business done. we do not get enamored by the moment. you are the leader of this country, what are you going to do to fix this? i looked at it as though it was my opportunity and obligation to speak for men and women who have never had this audience.

i felt the weight of that responsibility more than an ything. say this exhale and is the white house and the president but first you have to the people you represent. the act was to continue veterans choice program. there is no reliable formula on tow to fix what is going on a the va. this took away some of the red tape. step towardsfirst improving what was known as the choice act.

host: what would you tell the likedent that you would done for paralyzed veterans? sherman gillums: i told him a ccuring andges are o everyone has different ideas about what is best for veterans. there are veterans who have suffered catastrophic disabilities. if you do right by that population, you will be able to fix everything else. the problem starts with those who need the most from this department. right, it willit bring greater things later. we have had good gains since that time in terms of investment in what are known as

foundational services. directed 5% ofas hospital budgets needs to be invested. this was while we are talking about expanding care to the community. most veterans can get pretty good care outside of the va but there are things va does well. you cannot outsource it. it/have to invest in . i think we are going in a good direction. host: when you have hundreds of billion ands and 180 a budget, how do you keep compassionate and in the end that organization -- in that

organization? sherman gillums: we have to be intelligent advocate. thosee a presence in spinal cord injury centers and ourong as we do not forget forose, which is to speak them. it is about the individuals who give us our purpose. psych visits.ur we speak directly to the patients. n to the people. host: if you go into one of those spinal care centers, what you see? sherman gillums: every sight

visit is a comparison of that center to what we consider the model. happened lastwhat changes arehat taking place. we have nurses who are experts in what should be happening clinically. we talk to the different disciplines in the spinal cord injury team. there are three questions i asked, how is the food? if it is cold when it is given to patients, you are probably understaffed. how is the cleanliness? that helps us understand the morale and the final question staff and the nursing

how responsive the nursing staff is to your needs. when you had that costs which, does it ever go unanswered -- switch, hit that call does it ever go unanswered? identifye you can understaffing, a leadership issue, whether there are equipment issues or injury issues. host: what would be the difference if you had had that accident this year versus when you had it in 2002? sherman gillums: the difference today, certainly there have been gains in medicine. first responders have a different protocol. i was given a steroid shot when i was found which is not

considered as effective. there are cold their fees, therapyt ways --cold and there are machines that stand you up, different medications that make life a little easier. i would explore how different things are than they were before. otten my own patient experience. can maximizew we progress for today's veterans. in iraqat is happening and afghanistan in regards to this spinal cord injury?

sherman gillums: folks assumed there was a great deal of spinal cord injuries in the recent conflict but there has not been. the body is protected a lot better. cases of two or three where the service member was shot in the spine and he walks today because of the battlefield medicine. statest you back in the within 48 hours. before, if you did not survive you would beon, stuck somewhere. total we have counted injuries spinal cord

00. only about 250 to 39 host: what do you think about the way congress and the president deals with veterans overall and how the public treats them and how much money is being spent? sherman gillums: today, the money is there. it is how we spend it. it is how he gets prioritized. that is the question. while the spirit of patriotism ofthere, there are not a lot people joining the military. there is a recruiting problem. was than 1 percent and this after we got attacked. raisedot of people their hand to fight.

putting real skin in the game. anyone's to divine intent or love for the country but i am surprised how peo willing to sacrifice for their country. pain, do talked about you have it? sherman gillums: i have the nerve pain throughout my body. a lot of people take a lot of medications. i take very little if any. it has side effects. i would rather live life and indoor pain then to be limited pain than todure

be limited by a drug. host: how often do you spend your day and that will chair -- your day in that wheel chair? sherman gillums: i sleep about six hours a day and the rest is in this chair. host: can you walk at all? sherman gillums: no. there is a lot of research going on. some of it is promising. animal research is controversial right now. i have seen indications -- researches such that you have to be patient. kthroughs happen when

they happen. in researvested a lot ching the spinal cord. afterlls be regenerated they die, how we can replace functions that were killed off by a trauma to the spinal cord. i'm not a researcher. we are in partnership with yale va.the new haven host: you mentioned animal research, here is the congressman dave on the floor the house of representatives. op my amendment will st funding for dog experiements at the va.

we were disturbed by the types of experiments conducted on the puppies. the type of work they were doing was on the level of torture. host: where does that issue stand now? sherman gillums: this was a report out of the richmond be a medical center. testedere canines being with cardiovascular research. in report talked about -- this case he is the congressman from the state of virginia and he took that report and fashioned legislation that would ban all of the specific type of animal research that causes pain. the issue for us was not that there should be accountability in this case.

there should be accountability. the undersecretary can stop funding and shut down a lab. the individual found in violation was removed and that is where it should have stayed. vote and had a voice they banned animal research. for us it was not about banning animal research, it was understanding what the implications are when you stop research. research reasons way.ns in a certain things thatbeen

came out of animal research. a pacemaker, the artificial pancreas, insulin. anyre not going to defend specific research but we're going to have a conversation about the implications if you stop certain things. host: senator john mccain talking about an issue that you have a lot to say about. >> it has been more than a month since allegations that some 40 veterans died while waiting for va werethe phoenix th first made public. the obama administration has yet to respond. problemsffering from in this culture that require strong leadership.

host: the head of the v.a. at the time left. i read that the inspector general of the va said there died.nly 6 out of 40 that sherman gillums: that story grew a lot of tentacles. it would not matter if it was one or 100. if someone dies, they should be held accountable. there was clearly inefficient. 2011 that they had a staffing problem. it was not addressed. theome level, it needed attention. the undersecretary at the time was not a good leader. this was inevitable.

it went way too far because it was not fixing the problem to demagogue the issue so that nothing was good enough. the reality is it was a system underfunded and understaffed too long. andne measured the need provided the wherewithal to meet that demand. phoenix is where the bottom fell out that there are many facilities that couldhave been phoenix. good peoplen by but it was going to fall apart at some point.

host: any improvement? sherman gillums: there has been improvement. because the public is aware of this and looks for it, that is doentive for va leaders to better, to be more mindful and listen more. secretary mcdonnell started a l ot of initiatives. leaderseeing acknowledge the problem. thatis the best transition i have seen undertaken and i hope fort is the best fixing what is happening. host: how much money do you need to raise to function per year? sherman gillums: $100 million.

it goes to our programs. our core mission is to provide medical assistance, fight for the civil rights and dignity of our members and to educate the public. a majority of our share goes to those functions. host: how many people work for you? sherman gillums: 260. we have offices in 68 locations around the country and in puerto rico. picked to run you this organization? sherman gillums: a lot of it was luck. was aality is there me, and dear mentor to former executive director of paralyzed veterans of america. we lost him last year. years withr 42

the injury. i met him on one of the assignments for the committee and he saw something in me. went to washington and he handpicked me to run the veterans benefits department and then replace them. ill credit his wisdom for why i was selected but i'm trying to live up to every expectation he has of me. people who want to -- host: people want to give to the group you run or get in touch with the group, what should they do? sherman gillums: anyone who wants to give, learn about what we do. gov.org. we do not talk about ourselves

enough in public and try to do that. us on pva 1946 on facebook and twitter. we have partners who have great programs. we have penske truck rental. ups. great companies that have been with us for a long time and love what we do. host: what was your last rank when you left the marine corps? sherman gillums: i was a chief officer. host: when did you meet your wife? sherman gillums: 2011. my youngest son is four. , he is thean gillums executive director of the paralyzed veterans of america. thank you so much. ♪

announcer: if you enjoyed the intervew, here are some other things you might like. his series about

severely wounded veterans. and david semple on his book "thank you for your service." ♪ announcer: cspans washington journal. usa today washington correspondent and darlene superville discuss the week ahead and we talk about the mortgage interest reduction. be sure to watch "washington journal" at 8 p.m. eastern. announcer: next, british prime minister theresa may takes questions from the house of