[00:00:00] Scott DeLuzio: A lot of veterans know what it’s like to keep moving because slowing down means dealing with everything that you’ve been trying to outrun. The PTSD can make it hard to focus, hard to relax, hard, to figure out what to do with all the anger, the stress, and memories that still come at you even years later.

[00:00:17] This episode is going to get into one way to deal with all of that in in a practical way. Our guest today, Ken Webb, talks about why he stopped waiting for the next thing to come around. He moved to Peru and put his time into writing a novel that helped him work through betrayal, fear and old Combat Stress in this episode deal here, how he gave himself structure again, why reading and writing helped him stay focused and why creating something with your own hands can give you a sense of purpose when you need one. Before we get into this episode, I wanna take a moment to raise awareness for something that’s deeply important to our community. The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation.

[00:00:57] This organization is working to build a permanent [00:01:00] national memorial in Washington DC to honor the service members, families, and civilians who are impacted by the global war on terrorism. This memorial will be both a tribute to those who served and a way to ensure that their sacrifices are recognized and remembered for generations to come.

[00:01:14] If you’d like to learn more or find out how you can support their mission, visit GWOT memorial foundation.org. Now, let’s get into today’s episode.

[00:01:23]

[00:01:36] Scott DeLuzio: Hey, Ken, welcome to the show. Really glad to have you here.

[00:01:39] Ken Webb: Thanks for having me.

[00:01:40] Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet.

[00:01:41] Hey, before we kind of jump into the conversation would you mind telling us a little bit about your, your background and, and a little bit about yourself, just for the listeners maybe who aren’t familiar with you and, and who you are.

[00:01:51] Ken Webb: Yes, I’m, from a town called Conga, Pennsylvania, right outside Philadelphia. Grew up in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and then also [00:02:00] in Texas. Graduated from the University of Texas in Arlington. Not the main campus, the, you know, the, the big horns, but I, I was, I I was an ROTC graduate.

[00:02:12] Prior to that I was enlisted always in the Army Reserves. 30, 33 years. Most of it as an officer. Was an armor enlisted. And then as an officer of military police, I had a hard time, but I did branch transfer to military intelligence. I have some combat deployments Kosovo,

[00:02:32] Iraq, and then Afghanistan, and then back to Iraq.

[00:02:36] At the embassy in Baghdad, Iraq,

[00:02:38] Scott DeLuzio: Okay.

[00:02:38] Ken Webb: and falling under the State Department, even though I was army on a diplomatic mission, couldn’t carry a firearm. So, I also am, I’m retired from the Army Reserves. I’m also retired from American Airlines, I did about seven months as a Department of Defense contractor in kut.

[00:02:55] Doing some intelligence. I’m living down in the Mira [00:03:00] Flores district of Lima, Peru. It’s on the coast picture, California, Santa Barbara, someplace like that. Also have the earthquakes, but right now it’s