I'm Ken Harbaugh, host of Warriors in their own words.

During our interview with today's guest, Major Ojeada, we ran into some technical issues.

As a result, the interview cuts off briefly in the middle and at the end.

But Major Ojeada has an extraordinary story that I know you'll want to hear despite the glitch.

Thanks for your understanding and enjoy.

Thank you. glitch. Thanks for your understanding and enjoy. I'm Ken Harbaugh, host of Warriors in their own words. In partnership with the

Honor Project,

we've brought this podcast back at a time when our nation needs these stories more than ever.

Warriors in Their Own Words is our attempt to present an unvarnished, unsanitized truth

of what we have asked of those who defend this nation. Thank you for listening, and by doing so,

honoring those who have served.

Today, we'll hear from Major Richard Nice Ojeda II.

Ojada served in the Army for 24 years.

During that time, he deployed to Germany, Korea, Iraq, Haiti, and Afghanistan,

and was almost killed five times.

Thank you. and Afghanistan and was almost killed five times. Well, I grew up in a place in southern West Virginia called Logan County, and when I was

graduating from high school, it was pretty much

plain to see that there was only a couple paths that you could take. And basically where

I come from, it was did coal, sell dope, or join the military. And half of my family were coal miners.

And they had pulled all of us together when we were growing up and said, do not follow us into the mines.

Because, you know, we had seen, you know, feast or famine.

You know, half of my uncles would be on strike, the other half would be working, and we would all come together to make sure that the families that were on strike never went without. So, you know, we didn't want to go into the mines. And then sadly, the other half of my family were the dope men. So I watched all of my uncles on one side of the family go to prison for drugs. I mean, I had an

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