Hub and spoke. Audio Collective.

This is Rumblestrip. I'm Erica Heilman, and I am running today's story in honor of Veterans Day.

A few years ago, my sister told me she had a feeling I should maybe talk with her hairdresser, Vaughn Hood.

Vaughn and his wife, Bev, ran a hair salon in St. John'sbury.

My sister said that Vaughn had mentioned his time in Vietnam to her while he was cutting her hair.

They didn't talk much about it, but she thought that maybe somebody should. It turned out that

Vaughn hadn't really talked with anybody about his time in Vietnam or not

at great length. So we sat down in the back of his salon one day in those chairs with the attached

dryer helmets and I turned my recorder on and we had one of the most extraordinary conversations

that I've ever had in my life. Here is an American life with

Vaughn Hood. Welcome. I grew up in a small town in southeastern Michigan. It had a population

of 150. And most everybody worked in factories. I'm from working people. And I'd overheard my father

say that he'd like one of his sons to become a barber. He grew up during depression.

So he said barbers didn't make very much money, but he said they got a dime of haircut.

They did make money. Whereas he said nobody else made money.

So he thought barbering was depression proof.

So when I realized I couldn't go to college, I decided, I guess I could be a barber.

So I saved my money for about six months and had enough money to pay for my tuition

of barber school, which was quite an experience for me being

a country boy.

Because it was in Detroit, Michigan.

Couldn't believe how tall the buildings were, you know.

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