Stories of Service, Sacrifice and Strength
Podcast Transcription
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Maddy: Hi everyone. Welcome to PFCU's Money Talk podcast. I'm your host Maddy. We are kicking off a very special series in honor of Veterans Day. I had the privilege of sitting down with a few of PFCU’s veterans. I can’t say enough what an incredible experience it was to sit down with each of these individuals and hear their stories.
This first veteran is amazing and through her story, we are definitely reminded of the courage and commitment of those who serve. We hear how her experience has shaped her into the person that she is today and the hard work and dedication that she poured into serving this country. In this first episode of this series, we will hear firsthand about Lariza’s journey, her experiences, and the impactful message that she shares. So, please join me as I sit down with Lariza and as we honor our veterans, reflect on their stories and express our deepest gratitude.
Well, thanks for joining me today. I'm so excited to have you.
Lariza: Thank you.
Maddy: And we were just saying how it's not your first time on the podcast so welcome back.
Lariza: I love contributing.
Maddy: Love that.
Lariza: I love contributing because I actually put something in here that was marketing can change someone's life. It can. It did. That was one of the big pieces of why I joined the military. I know it's crazy.
Maddy: No, I'm excited to hear the story. And let's start with that story. Can you give some background and share that story of your military experience and how you decided to join the military?
Lariza: Yes. It is the most vain, non-profound story you will ever hear. We received a little postcard, and it had people marching in their dress uniform. I fell in love with the uniform.
Maddy: I love that.
Lariza: It's just so like not profound. There's no like big dramatic story.
Maddy: Yeah.
Lariza: It's just, I fell in love with the uniform. So, at the grand old age of I believe, nine, I sent them, I wrote my name on the postcard, and I sent it back.
Maddy: At nine.
Lariza: Yes. Because I really liked their outfit. So, they send a letter back, which I really should have kept in hindsight, stating that they were very thankful that I responded, but that we had to wait until I was 18. And that was their slogan back in the day was, it's not just a job, it's an adventure. How fun, let's go have some fun.
Maddy: Yeah.
Lariza: Hello?! So, that really was the catalyst of, I like their outfit and let's go have fun. Profound. I had no idea about serving my country. I had no idea. I just wanted to go look like them.
Maddy: And you did, right?
Lariza: I did; I did. Fast forward to when I was a junior in high school. One of my friends had joined. He came back in his uniform to school to visit. And I happened to be working in the counselor's office, and I saw him and I'm like, you're wearing the uniform that I saw. And I'm like, cause now 17, you know, who's thinking anything. And so, I asked him to take me to the recruiter, and he did. And the rest is Navy history.
Maddy: That's the best story. I think it's so awesome that you saw that at nine and then you ended up joining when you were 18, did you join?
Lariza: Well, I joined when I was a junior in high school.
Maddy: Okay.
Lariza: And then that was a whole process because we had to convince my parents to let me join at 17. But then we ran into a little hiccup. I ran cross country, and we would run over 20 miles in a day, 20 miles in a week. And so, I couldn't gain weight. You need to weigh at least 100 pounds to join the military. Little FYI. And I could not get to that point. Every week my recruiter would pick me up. We would go and eat a massive amount of junk food and Snickers and Mountain Dew and McDonald’s, and she would just, Burger King actually, and she would stuff me and then we'd go for the weigh in. She's like, I need you to stop running. I'm like, it's not gonna happen lady. That is not gonna happen. So, we had to wait until I graduated so that I had to stop running literally because I wanted to letter in cross country. Who doesn't? And so, I had to wait until I graduated to stop running. And then we just literally it was like, I think it was 101 and she was like, okay.
Maddy: We did it!
Lariza: Yes. And so, and in the meantime, I joined the... There's terms for it, but it's like you're waiting to enlist technically, but you're recruited. And so, every week she would pick me up, I would get into my PT gear, and I would exercise and I would like, they run you through the military training. And then you get to watch all these videos and super boring things that I'm like, okay, this is, I don't know what this is, but okay. And so, I did that for a year until I graduated. So yeah, I was determined. Just give me a minute, just wait for me.
Maddy: Right, I'm coming.
Lariza: It's like not like a profound story. It was just, you know, very vain, very like lighthearted story.
Maddy: And it's interesting because I'm gathering that from everyone I've talked to that everyone's story is so different on how they ended up in the branch that they served. And it's so cool to hear how everyone got to where they are.
Lariza: From far and wide.
Maddy: Yeah. And how long were you in the Navy?
Lariza: I was in the Navy for six years total. Two years active. They had a two by four program at the time. And they had two years active, four years inactive, which for me was ideal because while I wanted that uniform, I didn't know how it was going to work out so, it was like commitment, but minimal. And so, I went, and I was up for re-enlistment. We were overseas, so I had to wait until we got back to the States to formalize the re-enlistment. In the meantime, a family situation came to light and I had to go home. And so, that ultimately terminated my re-enlistment potential. So, I got out, I still did my reserve time because I was able to do it from home. And I did that for four years. And my job in the Navy was actually a quartermaster. When you enlist, you're allowed to either come in with a job and you go to school, or you can enlist in a general seamanship. And then you can strike, it's called, for whatever job you like. But you get to like research and almost like, to do like sit-ins in jobs. And so, on your own time, you have to go do this outside of your hours of your job. And so, I ended up, because we all had to do watches in the bridge. And I really enjoyed watching the quartermaster and they are the ones that drive the ship, they're the ones that, or steer the ship and they are the ones that deal with all the navigational everything from cleaning the gutters around the bridge to the charts that actually take us where we need to go and all the instruments involved. So, that is what I decided to do and that was back in the day when you had to do correspondence courses. And so, you had to do all that on your own time. You had to do required watch times. You had to sit with, watch somebody working on the charts. You had to, you know, job shadow on your own time. And so, I did that, and Chief Crawley took me in. She was a little five, is a five-foot nothing ball fire. And she just took me in and she's like, okay, this is what's gonna happen. And I just fell in love with that job, I did. And that's what I technically came out as. I was a QM3 when I left, I was just an E3. And then unfortunately, my home was in Texas. There is not a lot of water in Texas. So, there's another profound story. I ended up having to switch MOS’s in order to do my reserve time because there is no water in Texas. So, I ended up switching to the CBs, the construction battalion. And so, in that, then I was able to train with them, with that unit that was in El Paso and there I learned how to use your Bobcat to your graders. And another little fun note, their weight, those big machines, are weight operated. You need to weigh a certain amount to start the machine. Back in the day, I could not keep weight. So, they needed to put a phone book or a brick or whatever happened to be most handy. And so, we needed to always have that handy in order for me to use the machines so there's another…
Maddy: That's so funny.
Lariza: I'm a funny story kind of person.
Maddy: I just love it. I love this. So interesting. I feel like I could listen to you talk all day about it. And thank you for your service, too. I don't think I've said that yet.
Lariza: My privilege.
Maddy: It's just incredible. Is there a moment that you can think back on that really made you proud to serve? Like, did it hit you at any point in time?
Lariza: Can't make me cry.
Maddy: I’m sorry. Take your time.
Lariza: When you're saying your oath, it's real. That you are going to defend this country against enemies, foreign and domestic. That I'm willing to fight. I'm willing to uphold the Constitution and the laws of this country against anyone. That's real.
Maddy: You are an amazingly incredible person. Like you're gonna make me cry, cause you're crying. Thank you for sharing. I wanted to give you a minute and...
Lariza: Yeah, we’re refocusing.
Maddy: It's all good. Is there anything you wish that more people understood about serving in the military or veterans?
Lariza: We come from a different place. We're different people. We are. In the military, leadership, true leadership, is not common, but it is there. And we come out expecting that, and we rarely find it. And we get disappointed, and we get very... about it. We honor, respect, integrity. It's who we are. Very much part of who we are. It's not something that we get to leave at the door. We don't pick it up and put it down like a hat. Those things are so incredibly important to us. It is important that we, that people, understand that when we don't see that, it hurts us. We feel like we don't belong. We already feel like we're an oddball, but we feel like we don't belong and that leaves us very isolated. When you go to a workplace and you feel like, I like where I work but I don't feel like I belong, that's a lonely place to be. And if an employer can understand, if just people can understand that our views are so, on life, are so different, not wrong, just different, that would be wonderful. Yeah, that’s understanding war and that's just important for just veterans across the board because I think that is true for most veterans across the board. But then you have our shell-shocked veterans. They are the ones with the greatest need and it's bringing light to the agencies, to the organizations that help them and making them a spotlight so that they can have the resources that they need is I think the most important because yeah I want to feel like I belong but that's not different that's very, very different than somebody that needs support to live.
Maddy: Can you speak a little bit to those organizations, and do you work with any, is there anywhere that you would suggest a veteran who is struggling, where they can start?
Lariza: I, unfortunately, and much to my shame cannot. It's not something that, I just, have not had the opportunity to do my life. I just, when we became empty nesters. We've never really been empty nesters. Our children left the home and, but the Lord just keeps bringing opportunities to serve in different areas. And that unfortunately has not been one of them, so.
Maddy: Understandable. It's okay.
Lariza: But so, I cannot speak to that. Sorry.
Maddy: Don't be
Lariza: But I do think it's very important.
Maddy: No, yes, I totally understand. Is there anything else you wanted to share?
Lariza: Thank you for the opportunity to help highlight our community. It's not a popular highlighted community. Like I said, I feel like we're the oddballs. I do feel odd, you know, like just the odd man out, you know, you can always tell where we are, who we are because we're just a little different. And so, I appreciate the positive light that is brought on our community by things like this.
Maddy: Absolutely. And I appreciate your time and your willingness to be open and share about it. And I have learned so much. And I said before, I would have had no idea about your history, and it's been incredible getting to know you better and hearing your story. So, thank you and thank you for your service again.
Lariza: Again, my privilege. Thank you.
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