see how things got so crazy i was naked. the right thing to hopefully start to bridge the gap this is the great american people. it's day two in new england and steven makes his way to a historic restaurant to meet with a local vietnam veteran in a single father who is had more than a few obstacles to overcome come on come on oh my goodness we're going to go see high. good afternoon gentlemen how are you doing good what's your name. bruce i'm steve just a real. piece pretty cool ah. you guessed. history a city. you can tell they're really impressed well

you want to ask but i need some help when you take him for a walk. thanks buddy yeah. he can probably go right down there by the water. and bruce jr and rio set off to have some good clean fun. while you do it so bruce as i understand it the old no here is one of your frequent hangouts of my correct yes well. you're like me brother. you're a little smarter than maybe you look. back you know this is that it yeah it is beautiful it's fantastic tell me some more about this neighborhood this town because we've been mean some of the folks and just the folks in massachusetts just seem so thanks so nice that they have the self-proclaimed nickname mask. west minister of the town. it's

a very nice town it's very quiet small town as you see right now it's very quiet peaceful well as are you except for that. people got to eat burgers yes they did. where you're you born i was born one nine hundred forty eight forty eight i was born in sixty six close. nineteen fifty eight forty eight forty eight all not even close. to the reason i'm just the host of the program yeah we can agree more when you go to school. in lexington school system graduated then got drafted so i was nineteen i was drafted and i think sixty eight read i suppose. no kid i was to wow drifted right into the military one nine hundred sixty eight take me through after

the draft tell me the story i was drafted in the spring i went through basic training i went down to fort dix new jersey then i was in fort bliss texas for vance individual training and went from there to california and was shipped to vietnam all in the same year and what aspect of the military was it was in the i mean i was in a small outfit were. called quad fifty's it was cool fifty caliber machine guns mounted on the turret which was on the back of a deuce of a half or five times that i know better. and what division were you in and all that she battery sixty fifth that till. i where did you go first and be at no denying then i was shipped up to down. and everywhere you went it was just nuts you know i was on the frontline ninety percent of a. time holy moley i was in ash i value i don't know if you ever heard of hamburg

until. i was on eagle's nest which overlooks the valley we were surrounded one night and they brought off the magic dragon puff the magic dragon. yeah that was a c one thirty that napalm c one thirty had many guns and the whole underneath of the c one thirty goal of any nation and the total drive was just to just to shoot bush everybody back to protect you guys they show at all night and then when they ran out of ammunition they brought in cobras and they shot . they were our only protection. and then i guess they drove the seal way and then they went up i think to him ok hill and then that's when that whole fiasco started there both hamburger hill. and then were you outside of the

hamburger hilson are you or did you have miles away. they had us around and if it wasn't here for scum and it was. helicopters we wouldn't. know they still. i don't know a couple miles away that was overrun before i came out to this particular position . they lost almost everybody on that hill and then of course hamburger hill that was a massacre. we lost guys there to a lot of guys but your guys in the whole movement on this were were ok we just hunkered down lucky. a man. i don't believe in luck. i believe in god. absolutely

now let's check in with real to see how they're doing on their. looks like it's going to. tell me the story you had some problem with a fellow soldier we were out on. had been. placed on the side of the mountain they give you fifty thousand. now that it. was at that time we had taken. the. hit. they were better and. so they had the guy. as a. top of my helmet and told. he. yeah.

yeah. yeah. yeah. and did he respond yeah good yeah see now it just goes to show you bruce these days you want to just give your kid a little spank on the bottom in the twenty first century there's probably better ways to discipline your children what i do is take the phone away or the tablet works even better yeah read it you don't whack little bruce on the head with a tablet ok. better when you're in somebody else's easy to hit somebody else's then you know you should probably avoid that as well my question is so. with you and your comrades who are over there what do you do for downtime we're playing cards we basically play chi. when he had the opportunity to go sleep because they would attack at night. and we would sleep during the day. yeah night you could smoke

because. that would be zero in for them be a cause to shoot at you when they see the cigarette they see the flash and they just shoot. yeah and they shoot at that point so at night even if you smoke you smoke like this couple. so that they couldn't see the cigarette because that lights up a dead giveaway that could have been a big problem yes but script now. eighteen years. you're a smart man. either they're doing laps around the restaurant or they've only traveled twenty feet in that time. a lot of famous movies about vietnam. and there's one movie that shows like this helicopter coming for some entertainment for the troops you know you're experience one of the no. i'm sorry i haven't the only thing i

didn't bring the playboy bunnies into hamburger hill i know what they did was they brought to us so girls right in to opposition. for i guess a half an hour and were just stared in from like a hundred yards away now we got to talk with them and they just were nice and they were just nice and we just like sit down and just having a conversation so to speak because we didn't have anyplace else to go actually because the position we were at was on top of a mountain. and then they. lifted back out. how long were you. active in vietnam that was the first tour and i was always only there for one tour i extended my time so i could. get in early out of this or i stayed fourteen months. total because they only had two years in the service if you had

eighteen months when you return to the united states to get out of the world and that's what you and i had enough. but you did just got lucky and just did what i posted i did the last two months. burning the what we used to call the and light the showers. were sent me as well as out houses and they had. fifty five gallon drums cut in half and under me and that's where you went to the bathroom they had holes in the house also that was my duty the last two months. so you finished up the eighteen months. i got lucky i got home and nine hundred seventy tell me about that. word that we got when we were still in vietnam as he didn't want anybody to know where you came from. because it wasn't

a very popular. so i went and got my tickets. when i had my uniform on and then i took my uniform off . and got on the plane and went home. i called my family from boston and they came up and got me. obviously there's a lot of bad memories. associated with. that being an unpopular war. so how long after you got home could you even start saying yeah i was i was i'm a veteran i fought in vietnam. and i would see. up until a couple years ago.

running. close to the best out of the children. to have to concerts i was planning to perform i had actually passed my sons to die i. don't know said he'd. studied custody. as most of. the snow and homo stuff time to narrow. this country to us. but he had a good seven solution. so we'll see. what. was it he could with us the. us get more clear to me she. had to finish the. toilet b.s. get the job i.

joined me every thursday on the alex i'm unsure when i'll be speaking to get off of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. that's in american interest to not see any russians die in terrorist attacks as it is in russian interest to prevent any terrorist attacks in the united states or elsewhere in the world so i don't think there's any dispute on that in congress and i think maybe some of the posturing is frankly political as opposed to substantive .

so how long after you got home could you even start saying yeah i was i was i'm a veteran and i fought in vietnam. and i would say. up until a couple years ago. so probably in the last ten years. since they've been coming out with veterans. and recognizing that ignites back so it's kind of it's a good thing yeah it is now. can you look back on all that and say. you know. with all of what was reported in the way all the story happened is there a party maybe now that understands the confusion in your heart and mind are you sitting still it doesn't matter i was serving my country. i can understand it. because in the beginning it was it was botched then. as the

wall went on people were against it so i can understand. the change of heart or feel that if. they did. they wanted us to come. they just wanted to stop. but guys like you were stuck in the middle of that you know she got home. and you laid low and would you do after that if you work. well actually. i bought a new truck a new boat and went fishing for ten months. i don't love what you catch oh i was going close right past anything that i could catch and sell down on cape cod oh yeah. i just want to fish i would go out and make enough money from the fishing. to buy gas for the truck the boat and buy some beer. what more was there. what kind of beer to drink st pauli

girl i drink the same product but nonalcoholic i have an allergy to alcohol. i break out in handcuffs. ok. and just me and. my luck with. mine did too i don't drink anymore but still fish. i just hope i get to come back some time and visit you're good to you fish and. i'm sure they would be best friends speaking to best friends let's check in with rio and his new pals. are on their thirty ninth lap around the old mill. tell me about your son bruce he's walking in rio the pomeranian how old is he he's twelve. this big boy for

twelve yeah he's growing like that we like the risk of him you know what's it been like for you the reality of bruce jr coming into your life and then how that's affected things up until now well it's been your single dad yeah his mother has had some problems and that's why he's with me it's just been tough to. take care of him and then having cancer. my goodness you know whole cancer when i. i was in the service. i was exposed to agent orange. how long after that did you find out about i just found out. the cboe the year and a half ago you were exposed to agent orange fifty years ago yeah so it was in my body all that time i didn't know. i just couldn't sleep one night when in the hospital. they did a bunch of blood tests and they came up with the fact that i had bone cancer the doctor told me that. i had only about

a year to live because it was stage four right he asked me if i had been in the service and i told him yes then i wanted to know what branch were you when i said i mean he asked me was vietnam i said yes he said age and already i said really didn't look good i had stage four and i had to go in the chemotherapy treatments. i guess the chemotherapy can really mess up my course toxic process and i was at the point where i didn't know who i was aware i was i was double checking everything i was doing because i was you weren't sure if you forgot yeah and i thought maybe i didn't have all the time and so it dementia because my memory wasn't there how will you sixty nine i'm fifty one. and i got the worst dang memory bruce no kidding you just asked him that ten minutes ago if my

kids and my wife make fun of me. i'm fifty one i'm going lord what lives did you just prayed outside yeah it's a you worry about it's a little bit so in the times you got we got more to be worried about so we forget more yeah. and how you doing today good it's been four months since i had a stem cell transplant today. the technology. they have the stem cell transplant see if i was diagnosed ten years ago would have been a death sentence what did you learn about that how did this help you in addition to maybe normal chemo or any of that you go through an awful lot to get the stem cell done i went into the hospital they cut in neck and they put a tube down and they had three poor. so that they don't have to keep sticking you when you're in the us but i had to lay in a bed for about six hours. and they pump your blood

through a machine and just goes in a circle and they take the stem cells out and they put them in a bag and then they freeze it. and then when you go to have the transplant i had three days of chemotherapy high dose chemotherapy then they take the stem cells out far out of them out and then they put the stem cells back in chemotherapy kills all disease and all the cancer in your body after that when they put the stem cells back in those stem cells a cancer free to right so that when they put it back in. their strength and because the cancer has been beat back so what helps your bones get healthier and stronger faster is the rejuvenated stem cell yes. man in that something yeah that is if i told you then after you got back from vietnam we could do

something like that you wouldn't believe why would i believe i had cancer in the first place through veterans' affairs and all that did you have everything you needed you were taken care of no i had to fight for everything. as i've been going it took me quite a while to get recognition stating the fact that yes we acknowledge that you were exposed to agent orange in vietnam and that's what's caused the cancer and there you are one hundred percent this. able and they finally recognized the fact. february that's when i received my first check in a letter. and they're going to cover all those costs to pay all those how. i go to fitch which is the next town over and go to the v.a. and they take care of anything and everything. fine that's the way it should be my friend. so is this is it accurate to say it's been four months you've been cancer free yes. so blessed brother. that's good stuff right

well i've notice within the last. four months as i progress from my previous. what a difference i can now balance my check for breath i got lucky again somehow. miraculously the cancer didn't come sooner just happen to come out whenever it came out like fifty years later so you can immediately go in and get the treatment you needed so that yeah ten years ago they would have been able to do what they don't want to mess up no. it's nice to since. you're at a place of peace it seems to me like you're content you're ok with all of it now you can just. do your best to take it one day at a time and stay in the solution you know i'm a life. so to speak. as we wrap up our interview with bruce.

stephen is distracted by a sound that spiritualism. these bikers are on a pilgrimage of the room and worked up quite the appetite. and it looks like bruce jr has finally gotten tired of walking steven's dog. my friend. there is here's my memory no. thanks bruce i got you to hang out a little bit you like my body real he's the prince of the pilgrimage. you come sit here young man thank you so much. god bless you guys don't get up bruce right you get to shake hands with the rio de janeiro. i'll see you take care of it don't you too buddy. good afternoon how you all do it a nice day for a bike ride a heard the engines

a little bit ago i used to ride bikes when i was younger i'm steve baldwin but your name from my signature or your what your sweater all about offering to help a time when he takes shelter dogs and train them thank you and so you out that are in a sense every time but yeah that's also totally cool i've heard of service dogs for events but i never heard of what work is shelter dogs being you know taken out cared for trained what's the name of the organization i'll be reapers more cyclical we're in boston massachusetts or well tell me more about delta ducks actually i have a brochure from the event today oh well there's been for operation jump start that we actually are innocent a charity event today to raise money for the our children station on earth which will be presented to them. i'm going to stay. where they have one of their larger events going to always go to the supporter be

a beautiful so today the blue reapers did a bike ride as a fundraiser for operation delta dock correct how many bikers are on the run twenty one due to fall i think it's so amazing i would love to hear more about it if it's already you guys have a safe ride and if it's a rick and i circle back with you on this one later i'll stop and i'll be in touch and appreciate it thank you. after meeting with. learning about the long term effects of the vietnam war and also can you read another group of veterans who are sponsoring a charity that's close to stephen's heart it's time for steven to hit the road and meet back up with max who was filming the kaiser. and with our heroes reunited they head into being in town to learn what it means to be boston strong. next time on the great american pilgrimage there were two of our friends are running the marathon and reste heard the first bomb go off and how it sounded like

a cannon going off a few minutes later the second one off the building shook his saw people just running running and people with blood were like what the hell is going on you know when i took the picture of the two the two brothers were in the picture. yet. i still have a you want to see it. despite

its time given the history of the soviet union has dominated international sport however this was not about the use of those champions from the. right moment you were. born will bear with me if you're going to do through. describe for the order of your workers the first computers or bitter your you were to the first some of your limpid team of nine hundred fifty two manipulated seeds of life as concentration camp prisoners and frontline soldiers pushed their first baby in the earth it's good to go from here with corruption because you and watch do not have an issue. because you're more significant for them one for push and forward to get out of the earth with you if you think that the area or. the variations your question or

through personal purse or enthusiasm when you do when you're at the national more simply be put in your work for workers here we are in the book guys in token we. some my money more and entertainment have become good in our culture and we have children grow up playing playing war games on the computer this war has somehow been to mystic cited as entertainment to russia just there's nothing funny about it is so serious russia will be the last to give up nuclear weapons because russia regards nuclear weapons as the bulbul of against inflation a waltz by a superior covetousness force.

in america a college degree requires a great deal. paying a decades on debts for. studying so hard it requires trust to. go through humiliation to enter an elite society. and paci into debt sometimes quite literally. other true colors of universities in the u.s. . i .

think. this is the stories that shape the week the twenty team winter games kick off in south korea but dozens of russian athletes have their hopes dashed just hours before the opening ceremony as their appeals against a doping related ban are rejected. by the u.s. led coalition syrian pro-government forces reportedly killing nearly one hundred people the pentagon claims it was carried out to defend an american backed group. and republican lawmakers in the u.s. threaten to cut funding to a global cancer research program after america's most widely used weed killer made by monsanto the cancer.