Oral History Interview with Todd Haskell

BLUMENBERG: See if this thing is running. Yeah. Okay. All right. Today is July 6th, 2017. My name is Tom Blumenberg, and I am doing a veterans history project interview with an interesting gentleman by the name of Todd Wayne Haskell, who I met through his mother, who I also interviewed. Just mention that I am not associated with any organization and Todd, and I are just getting to know one another. So, we'll see how this goes. So, welcome, Todd.

HASKELL: Thank you.

BLUMENBERG: We will get going with this interview.

HASKELL: Awesome.

BLUMENBERG: So, we'll start with very basic information, like, when and where were you born?

HASKELL: [XXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXX].

BLUMENBERG: 1989. Wow.

HASKELL: [Laughs] Yeah. Right.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. And can you tell me about your parents?

HASKELL: My mom was 00:01:00in the military before she met my father, who was also in the military. My mom raised me pretty much by herself. She was really hard at work and worked all the time. My dad kind of left when I was a kid, about two or three. Yeah, and then he kind of bounced around the world, but now he's doing pretty good. Got remarried. He lives in California.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. Where were you born, then?

HASKELL: [XXXXXX], Wisconsin.

BLUMENBERG: You were born in [XXXXXXX]?

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: You were conceived in Washington state?

HASKELL: Yeah. Somewhere like that? Yeah. I'm not really sure. I think-- I think they'd just gotten out before I was-- my mom was even pregnant. So, they must have just gotten out and moved to Wisconsin.

BLUMENBERG: Oh. All right. She was stationed out in--

HASKELL: Yeah, Washington.

BLUMENBERG: Washington state. Yeah. Okay. All right. So, tell me a little bit about your parents. They were military, and then I know your mom has moved around a little 00:02:00 bit.

HASKELL: Yeah, she-- My dad really does kind of odd jobs and stuff like that. And then he kind of suffered from, like, alcoholism. So, I think there's a while there he really wasn't doing anything. And then yeah, my mom just worked like crazy. And she got remarried and had my brother and sister, and now she's a stay-at-home mom. But she also did medical transcription. So, she got divorced again. She raised all three of us. So.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. And then there was some time that you spent in Illinois there or--

HASKELL: Yeah, a few years, I think. We lived in Illinois. I don't remember when we exactly moved Illinois. I was pretty young, but then I think I moved back to Wisconsin in the fourth grade after my grandpa died.

BLUMENBERG: So, when you moved back, were you in Couderay?

HASKELL: Yeah, we moved right to his house in Couderay.

BLUMENBERG: Oh, okay.

HASKELL: He passed, then we got the house or whatever.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah, all right. So, then you said you have siblings?

HASKELL: Yep. Twin brother 00:03:00and sister. They're twins. Joe and Sarah. And they're pretty good kids.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. And did any of them serve in the military?

HASKELL: No.

BLUMENBERG: Your mom did, and you did.

HASKELL: Yeah, [laughs] that was it. Just us two.

BLUMENBERG: And so, you were-- you grew up in Couderay, and then, tell me about your schooling while you were there. You went to--

HASKELL: To Winter.

BLUMENBERG: Winter High School?

HASKELL: Yeah, school was K through 12, so pretty much from fourth grade on, I went there. I got expelled [laughs] when I was a junior. I had a plastic fake gun in my car, but it was-- it was a see-through gun, I wasn't waving it or something, it was kind of one of those last straws kind of deal. [Laughs] I was kind of a delinquent. I just-- I had more interest in, like, making money. So, I had two jobs from the time I was thirteen. I just didn't care about school. I like my things, my cars, my clothes, stuff like that [laughs], you know? But yeah.

BLUMENBERG: So, you were expelled when you were a 00:04:00 junior.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: And then what happened?

HASKELL: This. [Both laugh] I tried getting into every school around and like I said, I was a delinquent, I wasn't-- I kinda always liked, like, you know, Tony Soprano and stuff like that. So, I kind of always wanted to be the bad guy. So, I was just, you know, constantly in trouble and stuff. So, when I applied to all the schools around here, by the time I got in search and rescue stuff, 'cause I was constantly getting suspended or something, but--

BLUMENBERG: And then you were working search and rescue while you were--

HASKELL: Yeah, while I was in high school. Up until I was about-- until I went in the military, really. But yeah, so, I applied to all the schools around here. They all said no after they had the interview with Winter, which I totally get. And then I had not a lot of options left [laughs]. So, I'm joining the military. That was kind of my thing. [Laughs].

BLUMENBERG: So, your mom said something about the military was good for you.

HASKELL: Yeah. Pretty much. It saved my life, really. [Laughs].

BLUMENBERG: Well, that's good for you, then.

HASKELL: That was nice.

BLUMENBERG: It's good for all of 00:05:00 us.

HASKELL: [Laughs] Exactly BLUMENBERG: Okay. So, you were out when you were a junior then you did things for how many years before you got into that?

HASKELL: Actually, right away I just joined the military. I went to the Army recruiter, and they told me they could send me to classes in WITC to get my high school equivalency. Whatever. So, I was thinking about that, and the National Guard recruiter told me they could send me to a school in Arkansas for two weeks, and it's like a GED school. I have to enlist, but I get paid my basic rank and then I get a GED. So, I went that route and enlisted the National Guard, and they sent me to Arkansas for two weeks.

BLUMENBERG: Where did you end up in Arkansas?

HASKELL: I don't even remember a town, [laughs] to be honest with you. It was like a thirty-minute drive from Little Rock. I remember that because of the airport ride. But, yeah, it was like, just a little, I think, National Guard base. Maybe. Not sure. No, it was an active-duty base.

BLUMENBERG: The air base in Jacksonville?

HASKELL: No, it wasn't there. It was a lot of the Army 00:06:00sends their enlisted, like, sergeants and stuff to schools later on and it's all there. I forget the name of it.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. That's fine. I'm not familiar with it. I know that Jacksonville Air Base or Little Rock Air Base is, you know, both on the outskirts of Little Rock.

HASKELL: Yeah. But like I said, you know, eleven years ago now. [Laughs] A lifetime.

BLUMENBERG: So, you were there for two weeks and then--

HASKELL: Yeah, it was like basic training. You know, they get you ready for basic then during the day they'd-- after PT and all, they'd send you to classes at the end of the week, two weeks you took your test, and you don't even know if you pass or not until it came in the mail.

BLUMENBERG: Oh, wow.

HASKELL: So, yeah.

BLUMENBERG: And so, that was Army?

HASKELL: No, National Guard.

BLUMENBERG: National Guard.

HASKELL: Yeah, I was in the National Guard before I went active duty.

BLUMENBERG: All right.

HASKELL: So, yeah. It was kind of cool. You got 900 bucks, you know. [Laughs] I got a little-- lost a little weight while I was there. Pretty nice.

BLUMENBERG: Got into 00:07:00 shape?

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. Then you finish that up and where did-- where'd you go?

HASKELL: Um, I was still in the National Guard, so I was waiting to go to basic. No, I went to basic a few months after I got out of there. About two or three months after.

BLUMENBERG: And you were back in Wisconsin at that time?

HASKELL: Yeah. I came back to Wisconsin. Pretty much got ready for basic. Worked a little side jobs, you know, stuff like that. And yeah, flew out to basic training that winter.

BLUMENBERG: And you ended up where?

HASKELL: Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for AIT and basic. So, that was-- it was [inaudible], whatever, so we went down there for basic, and we stayed at the same place [inaudible] until AIT. So, there was no basic training, graduation for family. They were just like, okay, well, tomorrow is AIT. You graduated basic. So, it was nineteen weeks just straight.

BLUMENBERG: Straight.

HASKELL: Yeah. It was pretty cool though. It's a lot of 00:08:00 fun.

HASKELL: Yeah. [Laughs].

BLUMENBERG: And what date was that? You got your DD-214 there.

HASKELL: Yeah. I got my-- It says 2007. I know I got out I think June 2007.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. So, 2007, and you were in the Army.

HASKELL: Yeah. Pretty much. Well, yeah, I got while ever my whole class was graduating in 2007, and I was [inaudible] doing basic training.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. So, same timing.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: So, your AIT. What was that? What did that involve?

HASKELL: Military police training a lot. You know, a couple of weeks of advanced combat training, stuff like that. And then it-- what MPs do. See, I went to basic in '07, they were-- they just revamped all basic pretty much. A lot of places were doing that trench warfare stuff in the early 2000s and, you know, all that broke out. So, we had to change up our training. So, we were kind of-- about a year or two into it, 00:09:00I think, we were just getting, you know, training like mount, mobile-- I forget the name of it. Urban fighting. Like clearing rooms, stuff like that, a lot of convoy training. And then it went to just regular cop training after that. Driving around in squad cars, stuff like that.

BLUMENBERG: Okay, so you had nineteen weeks at Fort Leonard Wood. And you remember any of your instructors there?

HASKELL: Drill Sergeant Peralez. I remember him because he had braces, and he was like, in his thirties, and I always thought that was funny, but that's about it. [Laughs]. And Drill Sergeant [Busic??]. I don't remember why. I thought that was a cool name. That's really all I remember.

BLUMENBERG: And you remember any details of them or--

HASKELL: Besides Drill Sergeant Peralez had those braces, and I remember he'd scream at us because the braces, when I was a kid, I remember it had the rubber bands in the back to keep your jaw. And if you broke rubber bands, then it would be 00:10:00a worse punishment session. But he broke rubber bands all the time. [Both laugh] So, those things break for no reason.

BLUMENBERG: And what about your training? I mean, was there anything that you recall as being especially difficult or--

HASKELL: No, like--

BLUMENBERG: Interesting.

HASKELL: I remember, like, you know, I went to that thing beforehand, and they almost treated you worse and that than they did in basic. So, I wasn't like, the yelling and stuff, wasn't really a big deal. Plus, you kind of expect that. But I remember, like, a lot of the cooler stuff I did like, riot training for riots, stuff like that. Do a mount with paintball, this kind of that, stuff like that.

BLUMENBERG: So, then that-- when you were done, or you spent that nineteen weeks there and you came out and-- you then had a MOS of military police?

HASKELL: Yeah. 31-Bravo. Yeah. I was military police. And 00:11:00that was back in Wisconsin again, waiting to do whatever. [Laughs] I was National Guard, so you just wait for trainings.

BLUMENBERG: Okay.

HASKELL: But I did about six months of that. Then I was like, I have to go active duty. And I ended up in between me, those six months, I moved out to California for a couple of months just to change it up. And then, yeah, I got in touch with recruiters with them out there, switched over to active duty, and then went to San Diego MEPS.

BLUMENBERG: So, how did that-- how did that work? You were National Guard and they just flipped you into active duty?

HASKELL: Yeah, it's actually a whole thing. And you can tell they really don't like doing it, people, because like, they'd both be kind of fighting over you. But yeah, I got in touch to Army recruiters because they're actually two separate, totally separate branches, and got in touch with them out there. And they sent me to San Diego MEPS, and I had to actually get discharged from the National Guard, go to MEPS and re-swear back in. So, I was prior service technically. 00:12:00It was National Guard, but like, I was discharged on a Thursday, and then Thursday afternoon I was in the Army kind of deal [laughs], you know what I mean.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. So. You flip from one to the other.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: And remind me, MEPS, um, military--

HASKELL: Yeah, I don't remember.

BLUMENBERG: It's a-- it's a place where you're inducted.

HASKELL: Oh, yeah. I thought you meant the acronym. Yeah, I don't remember how you-- what you say all the way, but yeah, the MEPS in San Diego was actually a lot bigger than the one in Minneapolis. I can tell you that. But yeah, that's where they take you. They put you up for-- mine was two nights a second time because I was prior service, you know. So, just they get you all ready to go and then they give you a plane ticket and send you on your way.

BLUMENBERG: And where did they give you your ticket?

HASKELL: Fort Campbell, Kentucky. 101st Airborne. So, that's where I got to go.

BLUMENBERG: So, San Diego to Kentucky.

HASKELL: Yup. I remember I got off the plane in Nashville and had no idea how to get to Fort Campbell. So, 00:13:00it's also a lot of people, the other families live on Fort Campbell when they deploy, those also where a lot of guys fly back in from deployments. So, I ended up finding some staff sergeant and asked him how to get to Fort Campbell and him and his wife drove me there [laughs].

BLUMENBERG: Really?

HASKELL: Yeah.

HASKELL: So, it was like--

BLUMENBERG: Right from the airport?

HASKELL: Yeah. It was at nine o'clock at night I got to-- then about nine-thirty, ten, got to Fort Campbell and then signed in.

BLUMENBERG: Nice. [Both laugh]. You didn't have to hitchhike in.

HASKELL: Yeah, that was kind of cool.

BLUMENBERG: That's a-- that's a-ways. Yeah.

HASKELL: About an hour drive or something like that. Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. And so, timing wise, what year would that be? That was 2009?

HASKELL: '08.

BLUMENBERG: 2008. Okay. And then--

HASKELL: The beginning of 2008. Okay.

BLUMENBERG: Fort Campbell.

HASKELL: Yeah. January 2008, actually.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. And then what occurred while you were there? You were-- you were stationed there.

HASKELL: Yeah, I was, you know, I signed in 00:14:00then you got in-processed Fort Campbell, so that takes a month, and they sent me to my battalion or my unit that I'd be with. For the next five years of my life, I never left Fort Campbell besides to go overseas and stuff.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah.

HASKELL: So, I got to 101st-- it's called HHB now, it was originally 101st Division, Special Troops Battalion, and it was a lot of, like, finance, stuff like that, people. And but they had this unit, they were pulling people from all over the Fort Campbell to go to a mobile reaction force, is called a Murph Unit. So, that's where I got thrown into. And I got to my unit. They're like, okay, this is, you know, Sergeant [Byrd??], your team leader. And we're leaving for Afghanistan in two months. So, just get ready to go. And then we just trained for two months, went to ranges, did convoy training, stuff like that.

BLUMENBERG: So, that went quick.

HASKELL: Yeah, that was pretty 00:15:00fast. Yeah. So.

BLUMENBERG: And what were you thinking at that time?

HASKELL: I was pretty scared. I mean, I was-- like, I was barely eighteen. I turned eighteen in basic, you know, so I was scared. But I knew from basic, my drill sergeant with the 101st combat patch, you know the eagle, I wanted it. And plus, I'm a huge history buff and I knew kind of what they did and stuff like that. I knew they were in famous wars. Not really what they did, you know.

BLUMENBERG: So, you were part of it.

HASKELL: Yeah. So, I was excited. [Laughs] You know? I was pretty pumped up. I'm like, hell yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. So, then you trained for two weeks or--

HASKELL: Two months.

BLUMENBERG: I mean two months, and then you shipped out.

HASKELL: Yup. Then according to this it says March 11th, which I ain't realized that. Yeah, I turned nineteen on March 2nd. And then I was on the plane March 11th.

BLUMENBERG: And that was 2009.

HASKELL: '08.

BLUMENBERG: 2008. I'm sorry. Yeah. Wow. So, you were-- you were probably one of the youngest.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: In your group.

HASKELL: Yeah, I was the youngest and the tallest. [Laughs] So, that 00:16:00was fun. [Both laugh].

BLUMENBERG: Okay. And where-- then you, your unit shipped out, and you ended up where?

HASKELL: Bagram, Afghanistan. They told us we were one of the only units in military history, during the time of this war, to go over there knowingly to do fifteen months in a row. Usually, they get twelve and then they get extended.

BLUMENBERG: Okay.

HASKELL: But we were going for fifteen. We knew we were doing fifteen. So, went there for, yeah, we landed, and we got, you know, 82nd Airborne, which is who we were taking the battlespace over from, you know, a lot of it we had to ride around and kind of learn the job from them, you know, because an incoming unit has to learn from the old one. And I remember seeing them guys, they were just like, just fucking like, the stereotypical battle hardened, like cigarette [inaudible], I was like, holy shit. It scared me seeing them guys. It was pretty scary. But you didn't want to show that, you know, you can't be scared. You got to be tough and 00:17:00 shit.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah.

HASKELL: So, yeah, we took over for their Murph platoon, and that's when we got to where we were also quick reaction force, which is QRF, which means if something happens, then we had to respond to it. So, fucking fifteen months, we did-- my platoon did 1,100 combat missions.

BLUMENBERG: Oh, no.

HASKELL: And then fourteen air assault missions, which were pretty much just they Chinook you into places and drop you off and then fly out, come pick you up later. They're not the true air assault, which is zip lining down, you know, Special Forces stuff. We didn't do any of that. But we did those missions. I got promoted E-2 the day we left on the plane, so I was like, I was so green, [laughs] it wasn't even funny, you know, to be thrown into this. You know, it's nuts.

BLUMENBERG: So, your mind was racing at that time?

HASKELL: Yeah. I mean, 00:18:00it's hard. You got to laugh at yourself. Because I remember, our first patrol outside the wire, we had-- I've never seen that many people in one area before. It's crazy, you know? And like this, the locals and stuff. It was like three, four days after you got there. I remember it being hot. And I was just scared. I was so scared, and the guy was-- they sit you down in the briefing, they talk to you more about IEDs and stuff, what they could look like. I remember a donkey crossed in front of the road, and I thought that, like, we were going to get blown up because [laughs] they had to slow the donkey or the convoy down. I was so scared. Like, I didn't even want to move. It was a terrible experience. [Laughs] But it was fun, though, because--

BLUMENBERG: Well, you don't know what to expect.

HASKELL: You don't. I mean, after that, it's kind of crazy. Just the adrenaline and all that. You just feel like you're almost superhuman, but you're not, you know.

BLUMENBERG: Well, you're eighteen.

HASKELL: [Laughs] Exactly. You know. Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Well, tell me-- tell me again, just back up one half a step, as you were in Bagram, 00:19:00Afghanistan. And what was the name of the base there?

HASKELL: Bagram Airfield.

BLUMENBERG: Oh, that was it.

HASKELL: Yeah, that's the main hub.

BLUMENBERG: Okay.

HASKELL: So, I mean, that's where we were stationed out of, but--

BLUMENBERG: But you weren't there that much.

HASKELL: No, we weren't there very much at all actually. We did a lot of missions. We ran stuff down to different bases, either driving or, you know, flying whenever, stuff like that. We set up a vehicle patrol base, which I actually just saw a picture online of the place now, and it's like a legitimate base, but when we took it over, it was just a big complex with an open area in the middle, like a big square, and these little, like, eight-foot L walls all the way around. And it was just garage doors, like a storage unit, almost. And that's all it was. And we took that over, set up a base there, stayed there for two weeks out of every month. We'd alternate back and forth, and now it's like a thriving-- 00:20:00you know.

BLUMENBERG: They changed it a little.

HASKELL: Yeah. [Laughs] I wish I still had my camera because I had pictures of us setting that place up. [Laughs] Like, oh, that's crazy.

BLUMENBERG: Would you ever want to go back there?

HASKELL: Yeah. Yeah, I wanted to bad. I tried getting a job to go back there. You know, as much stuff-- because I, for my first deployment, like, I got promoted all the way to E-4 during that fifteen months, which was pretty good.

BLUMENBERG: Really?

HASKELL: I started from like, a guy in the back seat of the convoy to being the lead gunner. I worked my way up all the way. So, anything, you know, with machine guns, that's what we did. Or I did. So, I got messed up. And that's because of that first deployment, even though it was bad, and stuff happened, that's how I got my 100 percent [inaudible] disability rating. For a lot of that. So, it's still, you know, doing pretty good. You know, making money and stuff.

BLUMENBERG: Well, obviously, you saw a lot of action.

HASKELL: Yeah, I mean, I got my combat action 00:21:00badge. You know, that was about the only award to me that actually, I think, I feel like I earned on this entire thing here. [Laughs] But, I mean--

BLUMENBERG: I'm sure you earned them all.

HASKELL: Yeah. It's--

BLUMENBERG: Some mean more to a person than others.

HASKELL: Yeah. Yeah. You know, like I said, I look at my brother and sister, they just turned twenty, like I think of the stuff that I went through before them, you know. I'm like, holy shit. [Laughs] You're nothing, you're just a child.

BLUMENBERG: Well, are you comfortable talking about what happened to you over there?

HASKELL: Yeah, I can talk about some things.

BLUMENBERG: Well, you take it away because, you know, this is your history, and I'm just here to kind of guide things. So, you're in Bagram on the airbase, and you're out of this place, and you're-- had all these different missions. So, if there's any of that you want to mention or if you want to generalize, it's up to you.

HASKELL: Yeah. I mean, we-- like I said, one of 00:22:00the coolest things that I did, we ran a lot of stuff to this place called to Tagab Valley, which was a Special Forces base for our special forces, Romanian, British-- it wasn't that big. It couldn't have been that much bigger than this building, to be honest. That was cool because that's where we earned a lot of our stuff. I mean, that's where pretty much was-- I don't know why military decides to build bases right on the bottom of mountains, but the base was here, the mountain was here, which made the valley, which was like a fourteen-mile stretch. And there's a town on this side, well, every time we go down there, we pretty much take fire. That was-- I lost a friend of mine down there. That was pretty tough. Pretty-- we got there in March, and it happened in May, so it was real quick.

BLUMENBERG: And were you the lead at that time?

HASKELL: No, actually, at that time, we had taken down some finance people because they still had, you know, their stuff, they had to take care of, you know, they're still 00:23:00people and they have lives back home. So, we take finance down there. They'd finance other people, different kind of-- the S shops, S4, S3, stuff like that, if they had any issues, so they could take care of it with these people with their pay or whatever.

BLUMENBERG: So, I'm ignorant. S shop?

HASKELL: Yeah. That's like the financial people, like your HR or stuff like that. Not the real HR but, you know, Army's equivalency. People like that, they do-- They give you your, like, paperwork for when you're going on leave or your ERBs or your DD-214s, all that stuff. So, we had these guys with us at [inaudible], which is the big combat buses, we used to call them, that's all they could use them for. And they went out before us to clear the road and we could see it happening, but we couldn't go. We couldn't because we had our vehicle stage on the outset, we couldn't leave. They told us to stay in there because we had all these people 00:24:00on the back of our, you know, so then they were scared they were going to get shot or whatever. So, we had to watch them get hit. Well, at [Forward Operating Base] Morales-Frazier, our other group came down to support fire. That's when my friend got-- he was lead gunner for theirs. I was lead gunner for ours. And he got hit with the rocket and it took him out. And the other three people, they were pretty messed up. But which is kind of-- that was one of those things that sucked because then they had to drive back, medevac right by us. So, we had to watch the whole thing, listen on the radio and couldn't actually go, you know.

BLUMENBERG: So, you heard [inaudible]?

HASKELL: Yeah, you could see it.

BLUMENBERG: But you couldn't respond.

HASKELL: Yeah. We couldn't do anything. So, that was-- that was pretty shitty. That was bad. But we also in that same place, that was my favorite place because we go down there, like, that happened right away. So, it was easier for me to kind of distinguish, like, the enemy and stuff in my brain and separate myself because that happens so it's 00:25:00whatever. But we do, like, one time I remember this. This is like, the main thing I remember from that war. We had a dismounted patrol down there. So, we went down two days before and got all ready, you know, help them out with stuff.

BLUMENBERG: And this is in that same valley?

HASKELL: Yeah, same area.

BLUMENBERG: What you call it, Gob?

HASKELL: Tagab. Tagab. Yeah. So, we went down there, got ready, and we were going to do this nine-mile dismounted walking patrol pretty much. So, I had a 240 because I was, you know, [inaudible] a machine gun, like I said, I carried the 240, had all my ammo. Well, this nine-mile patrol turned into a-- I remember thinking of like, I think we did the whole valley. All fourteen miles. But we were-- something happened on my route. We were all running out of water, out of food. We were gone for, like, ever. Like, you know, move that and thirty people through a village takes a long time. So, we're walking around, I remember we were walking by a field, and I could smell a familiar smell. I look out and they had big pot plants with huge pot buds growing off 00:26:00of them. Stick them in our helmets and like, I see the helicopters flying over. [Inaudible] Vietnam, this is crazy! But anyways, at the end of the day, we got to this village. We had to go a little bit farther after that village, so we decided to just kind of stop and regroup because all of us had no water. Nothing. The 240 with the full combat load, you're adding like 300 pounds to yourself. So, I mean, we were [laughs] we were tired. So, we got to the village, and I remember, you know, a lot of people hated Afghanistan, Muslims, all that stuff. And they say that, you know, things, they'll wipe them all out, whatever. I remember, like, they were running around, this is a village out in the middle of nowhere. And it's-- there's nothing. There's like, literal slaughterhouses where the meat's hanging at 120 degrees sun. You know [laughs], like, it's disgusting. And we're walking through and they're running through the houses getting us like, Zamzam, which is like their equivalent of Coke or like Super Cola. They were getting us refreshments and there was this really old guy. He might have only been forty, 00:27:00but they look like just terrible. It's a hard life. He was like, trying to hand us, give us bread. He'd clearly eaten out of it, but I think that was like, his last piece.

BLUMENBERG: And he was a--

HASKELL: Of bread. [Laughs].

BLUMENBERG: And he was handing it to you?

HASKELL: Yeah. He was so thankful that we were doing that to get those people out of there, because the Taliban's not like, a widely accepted thing, you know, they're assholes. They take over cities and kill people. So, they were like, [inaudible]. Like, you don't-- they actually were really thankful we were there, you know, we were helping them. So, that was-- that was pretty powerful. I remember.

BLUMENBERG: You know, that is powerful.

HASKELL: I still think about that a lot actually. But yeah. And then, you know, you got days and stuff where you're over there and you don't know why you are. Like, what's the point? Then you see shit like that. And like, I guess, [laughs] you know, it makes sense. So, that was cool.

BLUMENBERG: So, you-- you're there and you're on these patrols and some days you say, what am I doing here?

HASKELL: Yeah. [Laughs] There's 00:28:00a lot of times, you know, where you're like, fuck it, maybe I should have went to college. [Blumenberg laughs] Been a better kid.

BLUMENBERG: And what about-- what about your commanding officers? They ever, like, pump you up and say, you know, we're here for a reason or--

HASKELL: Yeah, I mean, they did their best. I mean, you still like, you know, they could try to pump you up and get you jazzed and do things for you, but they're still like, when it's Christmas Day and then you're-- it's three o'clock in the morning and driving down the road, you know your whole family's back. You know what I mean? You're kind of like, fuck. But eventually it becomes your home. I mean, that was the first stable place I lived after I got out of basic, you know, that was the longest I've been anywhere. So, it became a home. You know, it gets to the point, you know, you come back on mid-tour leave for your fourteen days, seven months in, and then you leave back to go overseas. It's like, this is where I live now. [Laughs] This is my thing, you know. But yeah, I was--

BLUMENBERG: Back home and 00:29:00familiar surroundings.

HASKELL: Yeah. I mean, really, you know, you grow up there, you learn a lot about yourself and even though it's shitty and things happen, you get shot at, you learn who you are. You know? You learn what you're about.

BLUMENBERG: So, you grew up while you were there?

HASKELL: Yeah. You know, to a point. The first time. [Laughs] You know, I realized it was serious. Because I wasn't-- you don't really take your career in the military quite that serious until you start getting shot at, then you're like, holy fuck, I got to be the best at this [laughs]. So, I just remember being-- I wanted to be the best and just train, like, constantly. Again, on my off time. And I was just like, okay, well, if we're going to make it out of here, we got to live, you know, got to be good, got to be better. So, we just trained and went on missions.

BLUMENBERG: So, that was your individual choice. But were there other people that you were with that said--

HASKELL: Oh, my whole squad, we were all like that. Yeah, we were all-- we knew what we had to do, and we all wanted to get home, you know? So, we all got really close. We still had fun. You know, we played video games 00:30:00and got to meet celebrities, stuff like that.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. Well, that was one of my next questions is like, did you have any special friends or colleagues while you were there?

HASKELL: Um, yeah, like, my whole-- my first squad was awesome, that I was with, you know. We got broken up and squished out during the middle or towards the end to consolidate the platoon, but my buddy Richards-- okay, Jeremy Richards, a kid named Steven Rogers, which is [inaudible] the Captain America's name, but he was not close to Captain America [laughs]. A trailer park kid from Arkansas. No, Alabama.

BLUMENBERG: Did you give him crap-- did you give him crap about that?

HASKELL: Yeah, [laughs] all the time. He was just a-- he was a good kid, but really hillbilly. And then a kid named Wesley and my best friend, you know, Garrett Gentry was my team leader. He was twenty-three, so he was pretty young to be E-5. And after that, we-- even after deployment, we hung out, 00:31:00became really good friends afterwards.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah.

HASKELL: So, that was cool. Then my one buddy, Nicholas Eckstrom actually, I don't know if you've seen, like, those things on the internet or whatever, those pictures that there's like, a guy in combat load. It's like, "thank a veteran" or some shit. Or it's like the memes, like if Trayvon Martin was in Afghanistan, there was a picture of this guy, he's got glasses on and he's carrying a big machine gun. It's all over, those pictures, in the Pentagon I guess, everywhere. That was my buddy, they took that picture on one of our air assault missions. So, that was kind of cool [laughs].

BLUMENBERG: That was really him?

HASKELL: Yeah, that was my friend Nick Ekstrom. Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Well, I'm gonna have to go look at that.

HASKELL: Yeah, I'll have to-- I don't even know how I get it to you, but I'm sure if you saw the picture, you might be familiar with it.

BLUMENBERG: I'm sure-- I'm sure I did see it.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: I'd like to look at it again.

HASKELL: Yeah, they did-- they added to, like I said, the Pentagon. It's like, in the war room and everything. I learned later on. [Laughs] So, that was pretty cool.

BLUMENBERG: And you look like a mirror image of him?

HASKELL: No, not at all 00:32:00[laughs]. Yeah. He's a short-- you know, it's kind of cool because he's not, like, the cliche soldier. Like, you know, like the big, ripped guy, he was just like-- I guess he had the big BFG nerdy glasses, you know? And then he had-- just looked like a regular guy, but he had a machine gun, and he was getting shot at [laughs], you know. Kind of-- I don't know, I always thought it kind of made the soldier image. Did better for that, you know, like, holy shit, that it was the average Joe kind of deal. But yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Just trying to survive.

HASKELL: Yeah. Pretty much. So, it's pretty cool.

BLUMENBERG: So, you mentioned that you didn't have some time off or a little bit away from the combat action.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: And you did what? Video games?

HASKELL: Yeah. We played like, you know, I was single and not married. Nothing. So, just spent my money on-- I had a-- actually had, like, a flat screen in my room at Bagram. I had my Xbox. We played a lot of Rock Band. We also lived right next to the MWR [Morale, Welfare and Recreation] B-hut [barracks hut] so whenever their celebrities 00:33:00would come up, they live right next door. So, we got to hang out with like Sevendust, the WWE Divas, some actors. Like, not anybody huge, you know, but it was still pretty cool stuff.

BLUMENBERG: And how often did people come in?

HASKELL: It would depend, you know, they-- sometimes they'd be there two, three times a month we get a new rotation of people in. You know, like the Vikings cheerleaders came up. They're just a bunch of people. So, that was pretty cool.

BLUMENBERG: And that helped morale.

HASKELL: I mean, that was cool, you know. We all sat around the fire-- the warehouse standing right outside. We were hanging out with WWE Divas for like eight hours. So, we just have these hot chicks hanging out with us, you know [laughs], chain smoking cigarettes and buddy's playing guitar. It was pretty cool. So, yeah, I was kind of like, you know, some normality. You know?

BLUMENBERG: It must be tough to flip the switch from--

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Having that type of activity to going back on into the--

HASKELL: Yeah, you could almost doesn't. [Laughs] I mean, it doesn't flip until you try 00:34:00to flip it off. So. But yeah, it was pretty cool.

BLUMENBERG: Well, did you have any opportunity to stay in touch with the family or friends back home?

HASKELL: Yeah. I mean, we did-- Skype was real big when I was over my first time and on Bagram, you could pay like, sixty bucks a month for internet in your room because we lived in, like, the big B-huts, you know, made out of plywood, but they'd run internet cables to all the rooms. So, yeah, we had functioning internet. It wasn't, you know, high speed or nothing. But it worked for phone calls and email. Myspace was big back then. That's a period piece.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah.

HASKELL: Stuff like that.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. So, you had that opportunity. Then-- so, you were there for one fifteen-month tour.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: And then?

HASKELL: And then we trained in 82nd again because they came to take back over.

BLUMENBERG: So, you flipped back 00:35:00 from--

HASKELL: I was still in 101st but 82nd came back.

BLUMENBERG: 101st, but then 82nd came back.

HASKELL: Yeah. To take over. So, we trained them and then yeah, we got back to Fort Campbell. And it was June, I think. 2009. 2009. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's on my thing here.

BLUMENBERG: March. We said March was right after your birthday, you [inaudible] so fifteen months after that would be--

HASKELL: June.

BLUMENBERG: June?

HASKELL: Yeah. I think. If I'm reading this right, yeah. Yeah, we got-- yeah, we did. We got back June 15th or June of 2009. June 15th, 2009.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. So, back in Kentucky.

HASKELL: Yeah. And then--

BLUMENBERG: And you had a ride to the-- from the airport [laughs].

HASKELL: Yeah, this time I had a ride. And a whole plane. [Laughs] Yeah, we-- they reintegrate you for a week, which is just like, you go see random counselors or you go to doctor's appointments for a whole week, and then 00:36:00they're like, okay, you can start block leave now, where you get a month to go back to wherever you want to go. So, I waited a little bit. I waited till July to take my leave because my buddy had a wedding, I came back up to Wisconsin for a month. And then we just trained for the next ten months because we only had eleven months back in the States.

BLUMENBERG: Well, can I ask you something? You said something about a hundred percent.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: And was that after--

HASKELL: Yeah. I mean, a lot of that was traumatic brain injury.

BLUMENBERG: And that was after your first--

HASKELL: Tour. I didn't get the hundred percent till I got out, but because the things that I sustained during the first one, that bumped it up to, you know, a lot. Some of the minor stuff happened later on or in, like, shoulder pain, stuff like that.

BLUMENBERG: So, you're in-- you're in the middle of that, you're back at Fort Campbell.

HASKELL: Yeah. Not knowing really what's wrong [laughs] with you. You just know you're not right.

BLUMENBERG: So, you felt that when you were back?

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Stateside, 00:37:00 right?

HASKELL: Yeah. I was in a lot of pain all the time. And because I actually, like, I gained a bunch of weight, and I wasn't really taking care of myself as good as I could have been, because it was hard to be back, [laughs] you know? But then, we found out we were leaving again. It'll be six months from when we found out. And that's when I kind of cracked down and got myself back to go. I actually was more excited going back to Afghanistan than I was about the thought of being-- staying in Kentucky. I didn't want to be there. I didn't like the Army if we didn't have a job to do [laughs], you know. Sucks just sitting in an office all day or going out training.

BLUMENBERG: You wanted to be busy?

HASKELL: Yeah, yeah.

BLUMENBERG: All right. Then-- and that would be-- what would we say? Timewise, that was in June of 2009 and then six months later, so that would be about December or January of--

HASKELL: 2011 through '12, I think.

BLUMENBERG: Okay. So, then you were back in Afghanistan.

HASKELL: Yeah. We got told around 00:38:00the same time, that six months before we left, that we were-- we got-- a few of us got hand-selected from my old deployment because of the things we did over there. And then they picked-- they had almost like interviews for other people throughout the battalion to come join this new group that we were doing. So, we switched over from Murph platoon where I got thrown into personal security. So, then we didn't know who we were personally securing for. We didn't know what it was, but because of we knew we had VVIPs we were protecting, so they sent us to-- they brought the guys up who trained the CIA and personal security to protect the president and stuff, they brought them up for a week and pretty much crash coursed that. So, we got-- that's when the high-risk personnel security thing, class.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah, I saw that.

HASKELL: Yeah, that came in. Which they still got, like, three college grads for, to be a bodyguard, that's kind of cool. And then, the anti-terrorism invasion place, we went down to-- 00:39:00back to Fort Leonard Wood, where I started basic at, where the whole thing-- I actually got to go see my old place and all that, you know? Went back down there for a two-week driving course, which was they take these old beater cars and pretty much just have you wreck them, and it was pretty fun [laughs].

BLUMENBERG: And what do they call that course?

HASKELL: Anti-terrorism evasive driving. Because yeah, it was-- it was pretty cool. I remember doing, like, this drill, you had to go like, ninety around a track and there'd be three cars in front and two in back. The instructors, you know, there's an instructor in each car and they'd say, "rotate." So, then one of the cars from out back would come over. And then you'd all have to keep shifting like that, but you could only be three inches away from the other car. So, it was-- it was really fun. It was a good time.

BLUMENBERG: You couldn't do that on the streets--

HASKELL: No.

BLUMENBERG: In Couderay.

HASKELL: No. It was so much fun. I had a blast. But yeah, we did that. And then we got told who we were. This was my favorite deployment. It was enjoyable, but we got told we 00:40:00were doing PSD-- yeah, PSD for Lieutenant General Rodriguez.

BLUMENBERG: PESD.

HASKELL: Personal security detachment.

BLUMENBERG: Okay.

HASKELL: I think that's what it is.

BLUMENBERG: Okay.

HASKELL: For Lieutenant General Rodriguez, who last I knew was a four-star, now working at the Pentagon or whatever. So, we got hooked up. Found out there's eleven of us guarding him. And then they took eleven to guard Brigadier-- a two-star Brigadier General Campbell, who was in charge of Fort Campbell. Or Major General. I don't remember. Yeah, it's two- star. And another group of guys who are getting sent out to do like, one-star security. So, we got the most important. So, that was kind of cool. I felt really badass for that. But we-- there's eleven of us going out there. This says 2012 through 2012, I don't know if that's right. Seems like it'd be-- no, 00:41:00it's '11 through '12. Anyway. It was when those volcanoes were going off and those riots in Thailand and all that in 2011. So, they put eleven of us on a C-5 airplane. Fourteen because they took two other people who were intelligence officers from somebody and sent us on a different course to Afghanistan. We were supposed to get there in four days this other way. It's a fucking two and a half weeks to get there. We got laid over in Hawaii for, like, a day. Got drunk as hell and got back on the C-5 all hung over. Got laid over in Guam for fourteen days. We landed and the pilots all had their scuba gear. "We're going to be stuck here for about two weeks." Like, why did you have your scuba gear? So, we stayed in Guam on the Air Force base there for about seven days. Seven or eight days, yeah. And we just got drunk the entire time there. We had nothing to do. So, got to hang out in Guam, see the Marianas Trench, all that stuff for free. Didn't have to pay for anything. Pretty cool place.

BLUMENBERG: Well, you were getting paid 00:42:00for what you were doing.

HASKELL: [Laughs] Then we-- yeah, we got back on the plane, went to Thailand for about eight hours because the rides were going, we couldn't really leave. And then we went to Diego Garcia, it's a Navy base down there. It's an island. And we were down there for three days getting drunk with the Navy guys. So, I got to see all the oceans in [laughs] one trip though. Besides the Arctic, you know. That was pretty cool. So, we [laughs] had a lot of fun, just stayed on. I remember being hung over still when we got to Bagram Airfield, I was like, oh fuck, this is terrible [laughs].

BLUMENBERG: Yeah, they turn the page on that one.

HASKELL: Yeah, [laughs] that was pretty bad. But it was fun. So, yeah, we got to Bagram in-- I'm pretty sure 2011 but got there. And then we went to-- we did our integration at Bagram, and they sent us out to Kabul International Air Force Base, which is where Colonel Rodriguez was being-- living. And so, yeah, I became lead 00:43:00driver for him. So, we drove in an armored Toyota Land Cruiser. And these things are so decked out. They had refrigerators in the center consoles and stuff. But Rod wanted to give the impression that everything was safe. So, he didn't want us to wear body armor. So, we'd be driving around the middle of Afghanistan, in Kabul, not wearing body armor, just totally chilling. I mean, it was-- it was pretty hairy, but it was before they started really heavily attacking Kabul, because at that time, their PR, I mean, was they didn't want to attack areas where citizens work because that kills your cause, to kill a bunch of citizens. So, they weren't really doing that. So, we drove like, Kabul International Air Force Base was like a hop, skip and a jump away from the embassy. You know, CIA compound was down there, a bunch of different little compounds. So, we just bounced around to those places, and we'd get in helicopters with them and fly out to different places with him and Command Sergeant Major Bond, who ran the IJC 00:44:00section of Afghanistan, it's a different-- whatever. So, actually, it was really cool because we got to go drive down and meet the president. You know, we had to be in the meetings a lot of times because he had to have security next to him or outside the door. So, there's a lot of stuff we had to, you know, very classified information that you can never, you know, say anything or you just had to forget it. It was just hard because every time you're driving him around, you hear him, and Petraeus talk or McChrystal was still there at the time.

BLUMENBERG: Oh, you were right in the middle of it.

HASKELL: Yeah. When that happened, when they pulled him out, we had those at like eleven o'clock at night, he was on a plane off to Afghanistan. Obama was flying over. We had to get in the trucks and drive Rod all the way up to get to go talk to McChrystal before he left. So, yeah, it was during that whole-- which is kind of cool, because that movie just came out on Netflix, like holy shit [laughs], I was there for that too. That was pretty neat.

BLUMENBERG: Now, when you're driving, I mean, you have your group of eleven.

HASKELL: Well, for the most part. I mean, it was about-- there's-- yeah, there's certain things I can't 00:45:00say, you know, but there'd be three trucks, so there'd be a few of us in each truck. You know, he'd always be in the middle truck, limo, and then you pretty much evasively drive throughout Afghanistan. And then sometimes it was the funnest was to be in the truck that goes out before him. Then you and a couple guys just get in and fucking haul ass to where they go [laughs], and then you got to be the one to say, okay, well, there's a door here, a door here. How do we get there? So, that was cool. That was my favorite job. I didn't do it very much. So.

BLUMENBERG: So, you scoped place out?

HASKELL: Yeah. Sometimes. That was cool.

BLUMENBERG: Call back in and say, here's where you're going?

HASKELL: Yeah. So. And then-- or like, you know, if things don't look good, you can call to be like, get them out of here. Don't come here. You know. Make sure the routes are good and stuff like that. Yeah. It was a lot of fun.

BLUMENBERG: So, you ever have any issues while you were--

HASKELL: Not so much. I mean, Rod was actually really respected throughout the Afghan community too, because the things-- he was a big, goony looking guy. He was about as tall as I was. Taller than me, actually. Yeah, I have a picture of me 00:46:00and him together. He was just a big dork. [Laughs] He would like, hide behind doors and people open them, you know, oh! You think you hit a three-star in the face with the door. [Laughs] But he was a good guy. And yeah. So, we really didn't have a lot of problems. Sometimes we fly in helicopters and the Blackhawks, and they'd start taking fire. But those Blackhawk fliers, they're amazing pilots. I mean, that was-- that was fun. Kind of scary because you start trying to shoot out of a door and you're flying all over the place thinking you're going to fall out. But nothing too really crazy with Rod. I mean, a couple incidents where pop shots with him or something and that-- but that training that I went to, that high risk personnel security, while you're there, you have to learn-- you pretty much throw out everything you learn from the military and relearn how to protect one person. So, that training was phenomenal. So, we--

BLUMENBERG: So, that'd be like Secret Service.

HASKELL: Yeah, pretty much. So, we were-- we were good enough to get him out of there before anything happened. So, it was a whole different style 00:47:00of, you know, like I said, you literally take everything you learn from the Army. Okay, none of that applies anymore. So. [Laughs].

BLUMENBERG: But how did he-- how did he relate to you? I mean, he knew that you were-- you were there to protect him. I mean, how did-- how did he--

HASKELL: He was honestly the nicest person. You wouldn't-- I wouldn't think somebody like that would-- you know, I wouldn't. You got so much on your mind, the things that they would have to-- we'd hear them talking about. I mean, it was so much bigger and grander. Like, I felt insignificant. But he would go out of his way to make-- do great things for us. He'd pop in on us in our team room, you know, give us candy or chocolates or different food items because his personal chef, we had to drive him to places to get, you know, food to pick up for him. So, then he'd be like, "yeah, get them guys all of this stuff and put it on our tab," you know. [Laughs] That. So, I mean, he would, like--

BLUMENBERG: I'm assuming you didn't have a personal chef [laughs].

HASKELL: No, I didn't. We'd get his leftover stuff when they made too much. So, that was cool.

BLUMENBERG: Oh, that's interesting.

HASKELL: Yeah, but I mean, he went out of his way. He was-- 00:48:00everything the leader should be, he was. And you can see why he would be as big as he is. You know what I mean? It was just insane.

BLUMENBERG: Bigger than life.

HASKELL: Yeah, he was. And he really hated public speaking. And like, there's a few things. We had to bring him to a Today Show interview. Forget who was interviewing. For Thanksgiving. It was at Camp Eggers or something. And we took a wrong road, and we were going to be late, and something happened. He's like, "I don't care. I don't want to be on the Today Show." [Laughs] And then he got there. The interview was terrible. It was just fun. He was a really cool guy. But yeah, it was kind of cool being around somebody that important because it also makes you for one, respect higher rank. But then it kind of makes you disrespect lower rank, because "we're saluting," I don't got to salute you. My boss is right over there. [Laughs] You ain't nothing. Got your one-star. [Laughs] You know. So, you get in trouble like that. But yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Keep it in perspective.

HASKELL: Yeah, but you also, like, you learn a lot. And then things once again start making more sense to why. Then you also realize how, you 00:49:00know, a lot of government agencies eat really good over there and don't have to worry about anything. You know.

BLUMENBERG: You had an important job.

HASKELL: Yeah. I mean, it was-- we had to keep him alive. We--

BLUMENBERG: That's an important job.

HASKELL: [Laughs] Jokingly we call them an organic-- we call ourselves organic sandbags because that's what you learn. Like in the high-risk school, you-- if say, you know, me and Rod are over here, Rod's over here with somebody else, you know, shots go off, that guy's got Rod, well, I got to start screaming and making myself the biggest target I can, you know, just to divert the attention. So, you got to get ready, you know what I mean? It stops being about you and starts being about somebody else. It was pretty cool.

BLUMENBERG: And when you say biggest, you're-- how tall are you?

HASKELL: [Laughs] About six [foot] six [inches], I am. I think. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, that's why they loved me. And another guy named [Elderkin??], he was our squad leader. Called them Elder Hawks. He was just huge. But he was about my height, too. And we'd always be next to him, you know, 00:50:00at some point, because we were the biggest. I can take up a doorway [laughs] if it came down to it, so that was pretty cool.

BLUMENBERG: Now, do you have any pictures of yourself with him that--

HASKELL: I do, like, on my Facebook. There's one, my mom's got one framed of me and him.

BLUMENBERG: Because I'd like to see those. Not only that, I would love to do the newspaper article include something like that.

HASKELL: Yeah, I could do that.

BLUMENBERG: A now--

HASKELL: Yeah [laughs].

BLUMENBERG: And now and then picture.

HASKELL: Yeah. Of Rod, that'd be totally cool. Yeah, I could do that. So, that'd be neat. And like I said, actually, the pictures on my Facebook, I don't know how to pull it off there. My mom's got copies of it.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. Okay. Well, maybe I can-- we'll figure it out.

HASKELL: Yeah. Definitely.

BLUMENBERG: All right, so, what else about that? Is there anything else you want to say about that part of your--

HASKELL: I mean, that--

BLUMENBERG: Deployment there?

HASKELL: I was really grateful to just be in that, and it was just an amazing experience. It was. Got to meet so many cool people. There's so many 00:51:00officials. Hillary Clinton, you know, Colin Powell, all those people got to meet. Stuff like that. And so, it was cool. It was. I had two deployments that were, from my perspective and talking to other people, were really out of the ordinary. And I'm glad they both happened, you know. And so, it was fun. It was a good time.

BLUMENBERG: It was fun. But it was--

HASKELL: Yeah, I mean, it was fun. And like I said, I actually smiled. I was so happy to be back in Afghanistan my second time being back there. And it was-- it was still home, you know, for many years afterwards and still felt like it. [Laughs] You know. But yeah, it was cool.

BLUMENBERG: Well, then how did you wind down there?

HASKELL: We got back. They pretty much disbanded our platoon. And they're like, okay, well, we don't really know what to do with you. So, they put me in charge-- I was still an E-4 because I did-- at that point, I knew I was getting out and I was like, there's no point to go to the board and it would have took me forever to get points to become an E-5, 00:52:00so I didn't really bother. And then-- so, they put me, me and another guy that was on both my deployments with me, Sergeant Johnson, William Johnson, and then an E-7 who came over from Fort Knox, Sergeant Million. Millan? Jose Millan? Yeah. He was retiring, too. They put us in this thing called G3, training admins. So, it was me and E-5 and E-4 and I became the lead NCO. I see noncommissioned officer in charge of the specialist, which is a G7, or E-7 slot. I became in charge of all the schooling on Fort Campbell. So, any course, air assault school, you know, ranger training schools, anything, was all through our office.

BLUMENBERG: And how long did you do that?

HASKELL: The rest of the time I was in. About nine, ten months before I got out.

BLUMENBERG: Wow. Now, did you ever think of re-upping again?

HASKELL: No, because 00:53:00I had such a crazy deployment experience and I liked it, but I didn't want to re-up and then not have, you know what I mean, kind of let myself down. I did think about doing Special Forces. I did some pre-selection stuff with 5th Group down there where they, you know, you train with them and do like, APFTs and stuff for something. And I didn't get pre-selected. They were like, yeah, you have a good chance of passing selection. But if you went to-- if you go to Special Forces School, it's called selection. And they have team members of people, you know, different groups watching the recruits and then, so they select the people they want. So, you can go all the way through Special Forces School and not get selected. Well, then you become needs of the Army at that point. So, they just throw you wherever they want. So, I was like, well, there's no way if I don't get selected, I'm going to go back to being Army. So.

BLUMENBERG: You didn't want that.

HASKELL: No, I hated-- I hated garrison Army. I couldn't stand being in the States.

BLUMENBERG: So, 00:54:00you were lucky. You were--

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Well, if you want to call it that. Lucky. You were lucky you ended up doing what you were doing.

HASKELL: Yeah, I mean, I never--

BLUMENBERG: It was a good fit.

HASKELL: Yeah. I never actually sat in a squad guard, did military police stuff. I never-- I got thrown into what I did, and I loved doing it. I was like, I don't think I can top this. If I stay with G7 or G3, whatever it was, and I stay with them, I'd be in the office overseas and I'm not doing that. That's not happening because I couldn't stand being in office in the States. So, [laughs] wasn't going to be in office overseas. So, yeah, I pretty much just biding my time at that point. And it was pretty cool because my-- the leader of the group, I mean, it sounds like a really important job, but really, we didn't-- it wasn't that hard. We didn't do crazy amounts of stuff. And he was on his way out too. So, we kind of, you know, did our own PT, you know, we played basketball every morning or whatever and it was a lot more relaxed. No one bothered us. And we all just got out 00:55:00 separately.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. So, you were discharged, then what?

HASKELL: Yeah, honorably discharged and I went on permanent leave in October where you use the rest of your leave dates up. So, I came back to Wisconsin October of 2012, and I was officially out of the Army in January 2013.

BLUMENBERG: And you were here in Wisconsin?

HASKELL: Yeah, I came back to Wisconsin for that. I left the Army with like 150 bucks, [laughs] I think. I had like, nothing.

BLUMENBERG: Well, yeah. So, my question is how did you transition from doing what you were doing to--

HASKELL: Yeah, I mean--

BLUMENBERG: Back here in Wisconsin?

HASKELL: It was hard. It was-- I wasn't right. You know, you think of yourself back then and it's like, wow, I can't believe you are alive still. I did construction work with my stepdad when I first got out.

BLUMENBERG: And you were still a young guy.

HASKELL: Yeah, I was twenty-three. Five and a half years. You know, just starting my life. So, I did a little construction. Got a little studio apartment on Main 00:56:00Street here in Hayward above Ronnings. At that time then, I got put in for-- I got a-- I had a really shitty day, and I went to the veterans' service office up here, and they had the counselor, [inaudible], who had come, and I started talking to him. I remember talking to him, and I showed him my bank account and I had like, a 7,000 dollar back paycheck. They put me through to ninety percent disability and I was like, holy crap, this is awesome. I had nothing and now I got this. So, I kind of stayed around Main Street. And then I got the job at LP up here. I was in a terrible relationship. Then I got, without me knowing, they still-- and the ninety percent had not factored in my PTSD or traumatic brain injury for my disability rating. So, I got another back paycheck and they put me back to a hundred percent. I was like, this is pretty cool. And just kept working in LP. Had a couple really bad relationships, bought a house, and 00:57:00decided to stay in the area. And then they got my fiance pregnant. And the rest is history. [Laughs] Yeah. Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: So, but can you talk about PTSD or the traumatic brain injury?

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: What happened or how did--

HASKELL: Traumatic brain injury, I was in an explosion when I was overseas. I was next to a lot of big explosions within the blast vicinity. Got my head knocked around quite a bit. Then in some training exercises back in the States, but while I was on leave, I actually fell backwards and beat the hell out of my head again. So, I finally went to a doctor and they're like, "How long have you been feeling like this?" I'm like, "Well, for a while." And they're like, "Yeah, you've had traumatic brain injury." So, they don't know when it happened, they think it was that explosion, but we kind of just [laughs], you know, whatever. And the PTSD, I mean, that's anxiety and depression. I have to take medication for my anxiety because it gets to the point where I can't function and stuff. My 00:58:00house is set up. I bought a house out of the way, but not huge, you know, open floor plan because I can't live in the cramped because, I mean, I struggle with shit like that every day.

BLUMENBERG: Being in cramped space?

HASKELL: Cramped space is terrible. I still don't deal well with people. [Laughs] I'm kind of a loner. You know, my girlfriend is too. That's why it's great that we're together. I mean, crowds, stuff like that, I can't be around. It sucks because you realize you kind of have to go to Walmart. You don't want to go to Walmart. You got to take three lorazepam to go to Walmart. [Laughs] You know.

BLUMENBERG: You need to pick and choose a time [inaudible].

HASKELL: Pretty much. Yeah. Like I went on-- at 4th of July a couple days ago, I was like, it's ten o'clock at night, fire's about to go off. No one's going to be at Walmart. So, I went to Walmart [laughs] and I was like, this is awesome.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah, that's a good choice.

HASKELL: Yeah. [Laughs] But I mean, yeah, there's a lot of stuff that-- there's a lot of stuff that affects my everyday life. I mean, my attendance record at work is not the best because I do have to call off a lot, because there's days I can't get out of bed, or 00:59:00I have terrible dreams. Like, I haven't had my meds in two weeks. I don't know. They got lost in the mail or something, but I mean, so it's been hard to sleep at night because that's when starts for me, the nightmares and stuff. So, then I miss work, or I get all-- I get-- I get so anxious and worked up that I start getting like, ailments, physical ailments, like throwing up or stomach cramps, you know, stuff like that. So, that sucks.

BLUMENBERG: Oh, yeah. [Haskell laughs] That sounds--

HASKELL: So, yeah. And then the ringing in the ears, that's another great thing. But it's whatever. I mean, I'm glad it all happened because without any of that, I wouldn't have-- I get three grand on the first of the month every month, and then I get my health care taken care of. Like, I don't-- I can go to the ER for anything, really. I don't, but I could. I could be like, oh, I got a scraped knee. And it's covered. My daughter, when she's born, she's going to-- I don't know what she's going to have, but I know there's a lot for her and my wife now, you know, for my fiance. And it helped me get my job at work. I think it lets 01:00:00me off on a lot of stuff at work so my tax write off, too. [Laughs] So, I get away with a little bit more, if you're a disabled vet. But I mean--

BLUMENBERG: But you're doing what you can do.

HASKELL: Yeah, but you know, still I'm not disabled to the point I can't walk or, you know, something like that, but.

BLUMENBERG: Well, that's sometimes a problem when people take a look at you and say, what's wrong with you?

HASKELL: I know. I don't really-- I don't-- I don't tell people that I'm a disabled vet because it's one of those things, you either they think you have no legs and you're disfigured or you're so messed up with PTSD you're like John Rambo, [laughs] like, you know, there's no like-- it's a stigma. So, I don't really tell people the extent I am like, yeah, I get some money from the government every month, but I don't say what it's for or why.

BLUMENBERG: They don't need to know that.

HASKELL: No, I had to tell my boss the one time, one of my old foremen, and he's like, just let me know if you feel like you're going to start like, beating people up. I'm like no [laughs], I'm not fucking crazy. [Laughs] I got issues, man. That was it. So, it's kind of one of the things then, [inaudible] it's like, the fuck, do I deserve this or what? 01:01:00So, I tend to spend the money before I, you know, have it for too long. So, I like my things. I still do. So, I don't have to work, but I like my five-bedroom house and I have a jacuzzi and I got nice cars and clothes. And you know what-- it's gonna help my daughter throughout her life. That's gonna be cool. So, I feel like I'm--

BLUMENBERG: You'll have another place to put that money in, right?

HASKELL: [Laughs] Exactly. I mean, I feel like I did it all for a reason, if it helps out now. And I wouldn't-- I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. I mean, there's good and bad aspects of that, you know, but I wouldn't have had-- I wouldn't have the discipline. That's kind of why I wanna do my story, because like, when I was a kid and expelled and stuff, I felt like I had no option or nothing going on. And I was like, the whole world was over. And then with me just going and doing all this, it's like I-- I'm doing pretty good now, you know? Like everything was bad, but I turned it around. I had nothing and I tried to make something of myself. And this really helped me do that. [Regress??], you know what I mean?

BLUMENBERG: Yeah, you gotta-- you 01:02:00got put together and you're dealing with--

HASKELL: Yeah. I mean, there's--

BLUMENBERG: There's situations that are not pleasant all the time.

HASKELL: Yeah. There's like, a lot of little things like, you know, you got to find yourself [inaudible] because you go from being a kid to being a soldier to being what are you? [Laughs] You know? But you know, after you kind of figure out who you are and what you are and what you like, you know, finally, it's okay. It's not too bad afterwards.

BLUMENBERG: Well, that's one of the things that I try to get into is like, what life lessons? You've already talked about some of them.

HASKELL: Yeah. I mean--

BLUMENBERG: From your military experience, how do you say that is a life lesson that I--

HASKELL: Yeah, I mean, the one with the man and the bread, I mean, that was the biggest one I think I took away from that whole experience because like, to me, that was like, we're all the same. We're all equal. They're still people. I'm still people. I mean, at that-- it kind of showed me that like, war is-- it's like a horribly 01:03:00terrible-- you see the best and the worst in humanity in the same place, you know, at the same time. And it's cool because a lot of people don't get to appreciate life or the world like that, you know?

BLUMENBERG: Not firsthand.

HASKELL: No. [Laughs] You know, nothing like that. So, I mean, that really put a new perspective on my entire life. I still think about that, like I said, constantly. I mean, there's cool skills. Like, obviously I can't be going around like, grabbing people and trying to save them or anything [laughs], but I mean, like, I know I'm constantly aware of my surroundings. So, like, when I walk in a room, I know how to get out of here. Like, within a couple of minutes. [Laughs] not even, you know, I always have ways out and I know I can deal with a lot more stressful, chaotic situations with a lot calmer, more level head. Once you led people under fire, everything else is just hogwash [laughs] at that point, you know? So, I don't get stressed out at work or nothing. It's whatever. This ain't nothing.

BLUMENBERG: What's really important.

HASKELL: Yeah, exactly. And 01:04:00I mean, a lot of veterans deal with the suicide thing, too. And I've always said once you-- my view from it was once I got shot at, I realized you fight to survive. You never go back from that. You know? So, it's like you just realize how much fight you had in you, I guess.

BLUMENBERG: Yeah. And you get through it.

HASKELL: Yeah. So, kind of stuff like that, you know, I carry with me. But yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Well, now you have a daughter on the way.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: And, you know, this is your first-- this is your kind of early history. You got a lot of history to go.

HASKELL: Yeah.

BLUMENBERG: She can look at this DVD that I give you and what kind of a message you want to leave for her?

HASKELL: That, you know, like, when my friend died, I kind of viewed it as like, my own-- that was supposed to be me kind of deal, because he was lead. I was lead, I could have went. So, for years, none of it, none of anything made sense as to why I was here. Stuff like that. But like, my entire 01:05:00life almost restarted the day I found out Karla was pregnant. The day after my birthday, I was at work, and my whole life started over, and it finally makes sense as to why everything happened the way it did. It was it's all for her. That's why. I think it all-- that's what I want to [laughs] leave for her. Was yeah, it's all for her.

BLUMENBERG: She's gonna like that.

HASKELL: [Laughs] I know, right?

BLUMENBERG: And does she have a name yet?

HASKELL: Evelyn Grace is what we're thinking of calling her, so if she ever sees this and her name is something else-- [both laugh].

BLUMENBERG: Well, I hope she doesn't blame me.

HASKELL: [Laughs] I know, right?

BLUMENBERG: Evelyn Grace. Okay. Well, then, you got a message for her. And tell me in general what you think about the military experience that you had.

HASKELL: Like I said, it was to see the best in both-- or best and worst sides of humanity and stuff like that was-- it was crazy. I mean, a lot of people are always like, you know, I miss 01:06:00the brotherhood or whatever, and that was cool. You know, having my friends like that was cool. But I never felt more in control of my life almost or had a purpose like I did until we were, you know, doing our thing. And it was just an all-around for me. I mean, there was bad days and there was good days, but I loved it. Every minute of it. It's something I don't talk a lot about. I don't tell a lot of people about it. But it's something that I know I'll always be-- have, you know, being part of 101st. [Laughs] You know, twenty-seven months with that is-- it's a hell of a record, [laughs] I think.

BLUMENBERG: And then you mentioned, you know, where you were as a junior in high school and how you changed over time to where you are now.

HASKELL: Yeah, I mean, it's insane. [Inaudible] to look back on my life and thinking how I was and what I wanted to be and do is like, you're an idiot. [Laughs] It 01:07:00saved me.

BLUMENBERG: So, the military did have a big impact on your--

HASKELL: Yeah. It made me who I am, like you said, it changed my life for the better from day one, you know? And that's because that's a big thing, I wanted to get out because a lot of people are like, oh, I can't leave because of my family, I can't-- I said no, you got to do what's best for you. And really it is what's best for, you know, anybody. You know, it's as good of a time as I had buddies that had a bad attitude about the whole thing and did terrible and got into drugs and stuff, but it's what you make of it. So, yeah.

BLUMENBERG: Well, Todd, is there anything else that we didn't discuss that you want to bring up now? I mean--

HASKELL: I can't really think anything. No. [Laughs].

BLUMENBERG: We could-- we can come back here another day and [inaudible] again. It's--

HASKELL: Yeah, it depends on how much you want to get into it, but yeah.

BLUMENBERG: I mean, I learned a lot.

HASKELL: Yeah. Well, I'm glad.

BLUMENBERG: And I guess if there's nothing else now, then we'll just--

HASKELL: Yeah, I think I'm good. Said 01:08:00what I wanted, I still got a few. [Laughs] [Inaudible].

BLUMENBERG: Well, then--

HASKELL: No, we're good man. I'm good. I said what I wanted to say, I think.

BLUMENBERG: Right. Well, I appreciate that. So, I'll end it then. But saying that I'm Tom Blumenberg here in Hayward, Wisconsin, on July the 6th, 2017. And I was honored to interview Todd Wayne Haskell. And I appreciate you spending time with me. And thank you for your service.

HASKELL: Thanks for letting me tell my story. I appreciate it.

BLUMENBERG: That was good, Todd.

HASKELL: Awesome.