Lee Wagner | Dangerous Normal Life
On episode 55 of Longest War: The Post-9/11 Veterans Podcast, we talk with Iraq War veteran Lee Wagner about joining the Marines, deploying to Iraq, both sides of active and reserve duty, the value of military work experience, and why we should not talk about the veterans’ suicide rate.
(This episode contains explicit language or subject matter)
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Lee Wagner of Freeport, Pennsylvania kicked around a bit after high school and then followed his big brother into the Marine Corps during the mid 90s. When his reserve support unit was called up to Iraq in 2003, he was among the first to invade the country. In the early days of the war, long before IED warfare demanded more heavily armored vehicles, Lee and his support unit traveled the country side delivering ammunition and fuel in unarmored vehicles–leaving them vulnerable to the everyday threats of SCUD attacks, mortar fire, and small arms firefights, not to mention whatever kind of industrial-type accident that could happen on a daily basis, such as exploding tanker trucks.
War is often not what you see in the movies, Lee jokes, it’s not all intense combat and battle scenes. Instead, much of the time is spent just routinely going about your daily job. Normal, almost. A dangerous normal life, where anything could go wrong at any moment–and kill you.
On episode 55 of Longest War: The Post-9/11 Veterans Podcast, we talk with Iraq War veteran Lee Wagner about joining the Marines, deploying to Iraq, both sides of active and reserve duty, the value of military work experience, and why we should not talk about the veterans’ suicide rate.
This episode was recorded June 28, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Host: Nick Grimes. Guests: Lee Wagner, with Lauren DelRicci. Audiography: Kevin Farkas/The Social Voice Project; recordist: Nick Grimes. Music (available on SoundCloud.com): Pipe Choir Records (“Response Data”), The Daily Loops Project (“21-03-13 Daily Loops”), a.m.c. (“ smooth vibration#17 2_los as schrenza”). ©Longest War: The Post-9/11 Veterans Podcast. Veterans Breakfast Club. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE PODCAST
Rather than judge, our aim is to understand the experiences of post-9/11 veterans through their stories, in their own words. That’s why the Veterans Breakfast Club launched its Post-9/11 Veterans Storytelling Project creating communities of listening around post-9/11 veterans and their stories ensuring that their experiences will be shared with and appreciated by the public. The Longest War podcast is an extension of this effort, featuring stories and conversations with post-9/11 veterans and others with similar experiences.
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