00:00:00ROWELL: Today is March 15th, 2023. This is an interview with Lisa Fauster, who served in the Wisconsin Army National Guard from 1987 to 1993. This interview is being conducted by Kate Rowell at the Mukwonago Community Library in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. The interview is being conducted for the I Am Not Invisible project and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum oral history program. So Lisa, let's begin with where you grew up.
00:00:24FAUSTER: I grew up in a town not too far from here, about an hour north-ish, West Bend, Wisconsin. And went to all of my schooling there and then joined the military joined the Guard when I was 19. And then my life took a whole different turn from West Bend.
00:00:55ROWELL: And so what was that like for you when you were growing up as a kid?
00:01:01FAUSTER: Um, not good. Um, I grew up in a household that, in today's standards, probably would have been criminal violence towards myself and my sisters, who are both younger than me. I have two younger sisters, and so yeah, it wasn't good, and it was every day. Occasionally a day break here or there, but it was pretty awful. Now, I did enjoy high school, because then I could get really active in extracurriculars. During school I was bullied as well, from first grade up till eighth grade, so I was bullied at home, so to speak, and bullied up. But high school was a different experience.
00:02:04ROWELL: Yeah, do you want to say more about that?
00:02:05FAUSTER: Well, I, um, like I said, I got involved with extracurriculars like yearbook, uh, was, I was one of those drama kids. I, uh was involved, was very involved with choir and in musicals and working behind in sets and things like that, and there I started to form some really good friendships. Two of the gals I'm still really good friends with thirty-plus years later, so it's pretty cool.
00:02:43ROWELL: Um, and were there any veterans or service members in your family or in your kind of social group?
00:02:48FAUSTER: Yeah, and my dad was an Air Force vet. So were all of his brothers, which is three other brothers. On my mom's side, let me see, both of my uncles. At least that was the case while I was growing up, as I got older, on my mom's side, very many of my, not necessarily my cousins, my male cousins served, but their kids, many of the third generations really got active in the military.
00:03:29ROWELL: What was your impression of the military as a young person?
00:03:32FAUSTER: Oh, I loved it! I would say that from very young on I was very patriotic. A quick story that I'll share is it was the Bicentennial in 1976, and we went and saw the fireworks and we listened to a band and then we got home Mom had the Boston Pops on. She loved the Boston Pops' patriotic concerts. And so she had that on. It just kind of had this this itch. And so I asked her, it was late night, and I was pretty young. I was under 10. Yeah, I was nine at the time. I said, do you mind if I take a walk? Just, I want to go outside if that's okay. And then when it was late-ish, it was like nine or 10. She's like, sure, just right around the block and then you come back. And so I didn't go around the block. I went up to the tech school that was several blocks away and I stood in front of the flag and I prayed for our country. And then I put my hand in my heart and I sang the national anthem. So yeah, I've been a patriot all my life, especially loving law enforcement. We had several of our family members have served in some capacity in that manner, but also definitely of our military. I always felt very grateful for them.
00:05:18ROWELL: Um, and so when did enlistment arise as an option for you?
00:05:23FAUSTER: That's the story, too. Of course, I shared with my upbringing. Well, I met a boy in high school in my senior year. And of course, we were all so in love. And so we got married, let me see, eleven months after we graduated high school. And things were tense between us. I figured, well, he's not--he's not hitting me so I can withstand the mental and the emotional sort of abuses. And I was also a doormat, you could say, at the time, and he joined the Guard. [Gestures to noise coming from off camera] I don't know where that's coming from.
00:06:18ROWELL: I don't either. It's very unusual.
00:06:21FAUSTER: But, um, and he joined the Guard about a month after we got married and he said you know we really need the money and you need to join because if you don't join well we may have to go our separate ways. Mind you, I had just gotten married, so like a good doormat, I joined. I joined the Guard, and yeah, it was an interesting time. I didn't even know--. My recruiter said, this is the MOS [military occupational specialty] we're going to put you in because while there is a bonus, and I had no clue what that MOS was, 31 Charlie, a radio teletype operator and I didn't find out what that was until I was in basic training, talking to my buddy that I was assigned to. I'm like, oh, okay, communications, okay that's cool. It turned out I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the camaraderie. I didn't have to, I mean, the physical part of it was kind of a drag, but it's a drag for everybody. But I ended up passing my PT [physical training] tests and all of that just fine. I enjoyed the discipline. But yeah, being a part of something greater was really cool for me.
00:08:00ROWELL: And did your husband enlist also?
00:08:04FAUSTER: He did. He did enlist, he also was booted out about a year and a half after we started basic training.
00:08:18ROWELL: Okay. Do you wish to talk more about that?
00:08:21FAUSTER: Oh sure, he did not like it from the start. During basic training, you don't really get phone calls in the middle of training. He called, gosh, four or five times, now I had to restart. I had an eye ulcer, so it didn't allow me to qualify with my rifle. Boy, was I upset about that, because we were just about into week seven, and I got restarted to week two with another company, and that was interesting, but I ended up qualifying just fine. And so, yeah, he called, and he's like, oh, I really hate this, but we need to do something. I'm like, well, by then I had kind of, kind of grown up just a little bit, being around in that sort of environment. I'm, like, but, we need just to stick this out. This is what we said we were gonna do. Yeah, he allowed himself to get overweight. And of course, fitness is a big deal in the military. He wasn't all that mentally stable. I ended up, that year and a half later, I ended up starting a relationship. Not good. I was married. But I knew that was falling apart. So I guess in the back of my mind, I'm like, well, I don't care. And he, of course, was very upset about this, as he should be. But he acted, he took his M16 loaded into the male's barracks. I was the only female in our platoon, so, and we all came back from the field. I went to my own barracks, which is kind of cool. I had the whole barracks to myself. Now the guys, they were in their own and he was sitting there and he threatened the guy that I was sort of dating and several of the other members in our platoon and so he was then he went AWOL for four days basically dropped his rifle and ran. He was found and he was he was kicked out I believe he got a general discharge.
00:11:15ROWELL: So it was not other than honorable?
00:11:20FAUSTER: It might have been. I know it wasn't honorable because he was very upset about that when he come home and we were in the process of officially splitting.
00:11:33ROWELL: And was this during your basic training or during AIT [advanced individual training]?
00:11:36FAUSTER: AIT. Well, actually, no, this is after AIT, when we were both reassigned to our Guard unit.
00:11:45ROWELL: All right, let's take a pause just for a moment.
00:11:46FAUSTER: Sure.
00:11:47ROWELL: And we'll come right back. So this ends segment one of the interview with Lisa Fauster on March 15th, 2023.
00:11:54ROWELL: This begins segment two of the interview with Lisa Fauster on March15th, 2023. So we were discussing your husband's discharge.
00:12:03FAUSTER: Yeah, and yeah, that was a very strange type. I mean, truthfully, I know I was making bad choices. Especially with a baby daughter. Because, of course, having a child fixes everything. [Laughs] At least that's a common disbelief, anyway. And, yeah, it was just a very weird time in both of our lives, in my unit's life. But we made it through. And eventually, I mean, they didn't, my unit didn't find me at fault with anything. But they certainly started proceedings to discharge him out. And I just continued to move on, truth be told. After that, I didn't move on too very well, actually. I got home. I had a new apartment at the time in the same town that my unit was. It didn't have, oh yeah, I had car. It was just kind of not working the greatest. But anyway, I made it back to the apartment. My parents and my sisters were looking after my daughter while I was on the annual training, and I had a nervous breakdown. Basically, a picture of one of picture of a of me I didn't have food but I had plenty of MREs [Meals-Ready-to-Eat] left over. I ate, kind of ate on those, smoking, drinking a lot. And kind of doing the rocky thing for about three weeks. My parents had no idea. They tried to call me on my landline. Cells weren't a thing back then. I didn't have a bag phone, so. And they would slide notes underneath my door. And yeah, I was just not there, so to speak. I never did have any sort of treatment for that. During that course of that time, they called up my ex and explained, we're trying to get hold of Lisa. We should do it. We don't know where she is. We can't keep taking care of her because, I mean, they had jobs and lives of their own. And so she went with her dad. And I eventually lost physical custody of her. I was also becoming an alcoholic at that time. Still making drills, still participating as much as I could, and during those drills going to annual trainings, trying to do the best I could and then I lost--. The government decided well your MOS doesn't really like suit the needs of a growing technology, growing technology and so I lost my MOS. My unit disbanded, um, it was during '92, yeah, and um. The Guard sort of shifted and changed up some in the state. And I ended up at a unit, instead of the 64th RAOC [rear area operation center] in Hartford, I ended going to the 1158th maintenance company. And so I had no MOS. I was waiting to see if they were going to retrain me. And it never quite happened. The last several months of my six-year enlistment, I was pretty into the bottle by then. Trying to drink away everything that had happened in the past with growing up, with being with him, with just everything. And And, God bless my unit. I was starting to not make drills. Because, you know, partying was all important. And even if I thought I could go, I really couldn't. There was no way I could reasonably or legally drive to my unit, and I didn't make the last couple of drills. And, like I said, God bless him. They really could have kind of like thrown the book at me for missing and not being there. Now I would call, and I'm sure they could hear it in my voice, the state I was in. So honestly, they allowed me an honorable discharge. They didn't actively seek out to retrain or to say, hey, you're so great! Let's get you signed up for another enlistment, term of enlistment, and you know it was what it was. I had a lot of wonderful time when I served. I was very proud that I served, regardless as to some of the background noise that was going on in my life. Yeah, I'm very grateful that I had the chance to be part of the National Guard.
00:18:36ROWELL: Thank you for sharing that.
00:18:37FAUSTER: You bet.
00:18:38ROWELL: So going kind of back to the beginning here, talking about the period in which you were first enlisting at the behest of your partner at that time, so why did you specifically, why was the Army National Guard specifically the choice?
00:18:57FAUSTER: Oh, well, you know, I really I really liked the idea that I could serve and then still have a life at home, especially several, like a year after I enlisted, when I was getting ready to have a baby. Um, I really appreciated the fact that I could go home and work and have a life but still serve. And even though that was the case for me with being in the National Guard, I certainly was--if I were activated for whatever reason, be it something here at home or Persian Gulf during the Gulf War I, I was ready to do that because I knew that was part of the deal. [Laughs] So I guess that's why why I appreciated the Guard and being a part of it.
00:19:59ROWELL: And can you state for me your full maiden name?
00:20:02FAUSTER: Sure. My maiden name is Lisa Verena Fauster. While I was in the Guard, I was Meyer. And then I was Hardee. And then after we divorced, me and the second husband, he was the guy that I was fraternizing with, we ended up living together and getting married. We were together for sixteen years. But then it was Hardee and then after he and I split up and divorced, I retook my maiden name.
00:20:40ROWELL: And now it's Fauster.
00:20:42FAUSTER: Yes, and I appreciate you saying it correctly. Most people say Foster.
00:20:47ROWELL: We took notes on it to make sure.
00:20:48FAUSTER: Ah.
00:20:49ROWELL: Um-hm. It's in the notes here. It's very important, right?
00:20:54FAUSTER: Sure.
00:20:55ROWELL: Um, so, um, and then, uh, what do you remember about the day of your induction in '87?
00:21:03FAUSTER: Oh my gosh. Um, well, yeah, being at MEPS, [Military Entrance Processing Station] having done well on my ASVAB [Armed services Vocational Aptitude Battery] and passing all the, doing the duck walk and everything, and being explained what my contract was, being able to raise my right hand and take the oath of enlistment, oh my gosh. My heart was swelling with pride. And whereas, yeah, the reason that I originally joined was pretty messed up. But that day, I'm like, this is amazing. [Laughs] Yeah.
00:21:59ROWELL: And so, can you state where you went to boot camp?
00:22:03FAUSTER: Yeah, I went to Fort McClellan, Alabama. Like I said, I did my thirteen weeks there. First with the Foxtrot Company and then restarted to a Charlie Company. And then I went to Fort Gordon, Georgia, for my AIT. And, yes, I was distinguished honor grad there. So that was pretty exciting.
00:22:30ROWELL: I bet.
00:22:31FAUSTER: Yeah. I loved it.
00:22:33ROWELL: And so did you and your husband at the time attend boot camp together?
00:22:39FAUSTER: No. He went to Fort Jackson.
00:22:43ROWELL: Okay. And how did you feel going into it? You were going into a period of time separate from each other.
00:22:52FAUSTER: I was nervous, of course. A little scared. Basic training, who me? My picture shows, sure, my picture is what we all kind of jokingly say it's the, what the hell did I do? Look.
00:23:15ROWELL: How old were you in that picture?
00:23:17FAUSTER: Nineteen. Although everybody like, all of my friends today, like to joke, oh my gosh, you look like you're 12. Or, did you have to have your mommy sign your permission slip? Stuff like that. Like, you know, I was 19. I just kind of had and thankfully kind of still do have a youthful look. So.
00:23:38ROWELL: Definitely.
00:23:39FAUSTER: Thanks. Yeah. I am a female veteran of the steel pot and then kevlar generation.
00:23:49ROWELL: Yeah. And so what do you first recall about arriving there at basic?
00:23:57FAUSTER: Oh, to basic? It was in the middle of the night. I'm like, Okay, I don't know where the heck I am, because I really didn't travel outside of Wisconsin at all.
00:24:08ROWELL: Did you take a bus or a train or?
00:24:10FAUSTER: We flew. I flew down and the bus from the airport to. And of course, the Army came and picked me up, amongst many other new recruits, and getting off that bus, and at that time, the drill sergeants, they were pretty rough, and you know what, I'm okay with that. I mean, you're starting to go into a really serious career, and, you know, just the yelling and just the--. You better go where they say. It was kind of nerve wracking, but it was exciting too at the time. And of course, getting your, being in formation, and all of that, that was something. But yeah, scared and excited both at the same time.
00:25:07ROWELL: And did you train in an all-female group?
00:25:10FAUSTER: Yes. There were no co-ed at the time, so I was with a female company from my first unit as well as my second company, I should say. Once I got to AIT, of course, that was co-ed, but it was just strictly female when I went to basic training.
00:25:34ROWELL: Yeah. And what was your impression of the other women who were in the same company as you?
00:25:39FAUSTER: Wow, like I said, I didn't really leave West Bend, so it was quite the eye-opener to see so many different women, all different life experiences, some kind of similar to mine, some not at all. West Bend at the time, we had our first black family when I was a senior in high school. So being in a company where, or a platoon at the time or company, that was so integrated, that was kind of exciting for me. I never grew up with this sort of preconceived notion of people. People are people and there are good people, there are bad people in whatever walk of life. And so, in fact some of my really good friends, I got my basic training nickname from Ruth Marie Brown who lived in New York. She worked at the Empire State Building. And And she, you know, it was just really great. Waking up at 4 a.m. Or or with the PT wasn't so great but eventually you know you just kind of like well this is what we got to do. You just kind of deal with it, and it just becomes just becomes normal while you're there. Yeah my nickname was Lisa Lisa because Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam was very popular at the time. And so, yep, I was Lisa Lisa.
00:27:33ROWELL: And so, who are some of those people that you bonded with while you were at basic?
00:27:37FAUSTER: Oh, definitely Ruth. My buddy, Terry Gallagher. She was, who was she? She was really important to me. You know, I don't really remember a whole lot of the other names. I do remember faces. My drill sergeant, Drill Sergeant Woods, he he was something else. Of course, you know the PX trips that we were allowed to take, get soap and whatever. Of course some of us will bring candy back and we were really not supposed to have candy in basic training, but he and gosh, I can't remember our other drill sergeant, both males, one would push the other one in a rolling chair down the big aisle and um kind of half-heartedly yell at us about having candy and our payment was to allow him to grab as much of it as he wanted and so of course we didn't really end up with a whole lot afterwards but it was kind of a fun, funny experience
00:28:53ROWELL: Definitely. Are there any other memories you'd like to share from boot camp?
00:28:58FAUSTER: Um. Oh. One of my proudest moments was near the end of my time at basic training. We did just about everybody, I don't know how it is now, but yeah, I think they still do a version of this. We did a 20-mile road march, fully rucked with our M16s, steel pots, all of that. And time. And it was night time and Fort McClellan was kind of on the foothills of the lower, I don't remember what the mountains are down there.
00:29:44ROWELL: Is it Appalachia?
00:29:47FAUSTER: Yeah, I think so. But being able to, I mean I knew that was, that was like the pinnacle of everything that we had done. Being able to, you know you just sort of like get into the zone of it, at least I did, being able to help some of my teammates and my sisters at the time up the foothill. Some of them were having trouble, I broke my toe and it just sort of numbed out while was going up the side of the big hill. And some of the girls, they just kind of wanted to fall out. Like, they're not gonna quit on me. And I started like drill sergeanting at them, but not like yelling or anything. And marching up backward or going up the hill backwards, trying to encourage them up and we all made it up. And oh. This was amazing. Being able to be at the top, and our drill sergeants had arranged it so that there was hot cider and hot cocoa up there. And just how proud they were of all of us. And then they said, and now you're a soldier. Oh, I get goosebumps thinking about it. And them asking us to look over to a different direction, overlooking some older-looking barracks. And they explained to us that those were the barracks of the WACs, Women's Army Corps, back in World War II. I really appreciated the history of being part of the military and I was always such a patriot, but seeing that, I mean I get emotional today thinking about it, where those women came from and how they were the trailblazers so that I could break a toe and go up that big hill and encourage others and then to be called a soldier. It was because of those women before us. That will forever be my fondest memory of being in basic training.
00:32:30ROWELL: Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that.
00:32:33FAUSTER: You're welcome. I like to share that story.
00:32:34ROWELL: It's a great one.
00:32:35FAUSTER: Yeah.
00:32:36ROWELL: It really is. Did you ever end up getting treatment for that toe?
00:32:41FAUSTER: No. I had just like, I had band-aids, I just kind of bandaged them all the, it was the second toe to the big toe, it's kind of curved still today, but eh, whatever. I was so close to graduating, I wasn't going to do anything to screw that up, not after being in basic for thirteen weeks [laughs].
00:33:05ROWELL: Yeah, with the eye issue, right?
00:33:07FAUSTER: Yeah.
00:33:08ROWELL: Yeah, that must have been very frustrating.
00:33:09FAUSTER: Oh yeah, it was.
00:33:11ROWELL: Oh yeah.
00:33:12FAUSTER: I'm just like, a week and a half from graduation, what do you mean I have to go back to a week 2? But I get it. You gotta be able to shoot your rifle when you're in the military. And eventually the eye healed and I ended up being one shot away from expert. So it was what it was.
00:33:33ROWELL: It's impressive though.
00:33:34ROWELL: Yeah, it's kind of a funny story to tell people now.
00:33:37ROWELL: Yeah. And you already had the PT down. And then, what do you remember about your graduation?
00:33:46FAUSTER: Mmm. Just this sense of accomplishment, this sense of relief. Pride I didn't have anybody there for my graduation, and that was okay. My parents are going through their own thing. My mom was in the process of divorcing my dad. And I understood. Now, I didn' t know that they were in that process because they kind of held that back from me, but yeah, I just knew that they weren't going to make it. But regardless, I still felt incredible. Being in formation and being able to be a graduate from basic training. Like, wow, I've arrived, at least that's how I felt at the time.
00:34:40ROWELL: And the accomplishment was your own. So, moving on to AIT.
00:34:46FAUSTER: Yeah.
00:34:47ROWELL: Where did you go for AIT?
00:34:50FAUSTER: I went to Fort McClellan, or no, Fort Gordon, Georgia, and uh, wow, uh, talk about something entirely, it was the same but different, because the discipline wasn't, I mean of course we had PT and things like that, um, but not having the drills like in your face all the time is like, oh, we're kind of grown up now. And my company, we had ten women. It was strictly a company of people who were going into commo, like I was. My MOS, 31 Charlie, wasn't really very much, not very many women went into it. Because, of course, they had to be out in the field, although I worked at headquarters eventually too. But we had ten women. In the end five of us graduated with our company of like 200 plus So yeah, I had a I had an incredible time and In AIT really, I didn't really bond a lot with the women which was a little strange. Um, I don't know what that was I don' know if we all And if some of them had the mentality of, I'm here to do the job and go home or go to my next unit, most of them were in regular Army, and I knew I was going back home. So there was a little bit of tension there. But you know, I got along great with my brothers. My husband at the time, he also went to Fort Gordon because he was in the same MOS. He was in a different company altogether. And so he was several weeks ahead of me because well he did the eight weeks I did the longer so I mean it just it that's just makes sense. And so I have hung out a bunch with him of course But yeah, that great drill sar--, and I ended up pregnant. I guess, you know, we love each other and we're gonna help strengthen our relationship by having a kid. Well, you heard my story earlier, so it's not so much. But [coughs] excuse me. Being in all the different classes and cadence. Oh, I love cadence, I still love cadence. It sounds so cool and just. And being, moving on in each of my classes or units. I graduated at the top. Eventually I started a study group during our free time off of our schooling and after a PT, because our PT wasn't in the morning anymore, it was after, in the afternoons. And I started study group and trying to help some of the others who were having a difficult time with figuring out learning encryption or whatever it might be. Yeah and that was that was something else. I loved it. Being pregnant I had the option to either get an honorable discharge. I had the option to go home, have the kid, and then start over, or just stay, and I stayed. I mean, it was early in my pregnancy. I was sick all the time. I lost 30 pounds in my first trimester, most of which I spent at Fort Gordon. Um, but... And I had modified PT, and it still all worked out okay. And it didn't work against my standing with my class. I got jumped ahead in each unit. Because if you finished one, they just moved you forward. And graduating with a distinguished honor grad, that was pretty amazing. I had a great time in AIT. I didn't injure myself or anything, so I'm didn't have to restart.
00:39:46ROWELL: So how far into AIT did you learn that you were pregnant?
00:39:52FAUSTER: About a month or a month and a half. I suspected it because I was not feeling well, I was doing well, I was already having morning sickness pretty early on, so.
00:40:06ROWELL: How did leadership react when you informed them.
00:40:10FAUSTER: Oh, I got, oh man, they really gave me a ribbing for it. Some of my, the leader or captain of our company, the officers, they weren't so happy about that, but they were happy with how I was doing in my classes, in the varied units. So, for them, I got a really stern talking to, and you know what, it's okay. I get it. But my drill sergeants at the time, I mean, they poked fun, but they were just, they were, just wanted to be there to help encourage me and help keep me going and keep doing well.
00:41:06ROWELL: Hm. Um. How did that stern talking to go? What did they say to you?
00:41:12FAUSTER: Oh lord, um--. You should know better, it's irresponsible, you're here for AIT, you are not here to fraternize with your husband, even if it was my husband, it still, you know, messing around on base. And when it was in our hotel room, we were generally frowned upon. I mean, they all know what happens, but, yeah, they weren't exactly pleased with me. And you know, it was what it was. After I left that meeting, I didn't feel any like, how dare they or anything. I'm like, well, I'm in the Army.
00:42:10ROWELL: Do you have any sense for whether your husband received a similar talking too?
00:42:14FAUSTER: I have no idea.
00:42:15ROWELL: Hm. Okay. And how did your the people in your cohort kind of react to--your classmates?
00:42:22FAUSTER: [Laughs]. They gave me grief.
00:42:24ROWELL: Oh yeah. How did that go?
00:42:25FAUSTER: Oh, man. It's like, Meyer, what are you doing? You loose woman. You know, it's just what buddies do back and forth with each other.
00:42:38ROWELL: Goofing around.
00:42:40FAUSTER: Yeah, goofin' around.
00:42:42ROWELL: And did you have, did they supply you with specific uniforms for your pregnancy?
00:42:48FAUSTER: Uh, that was available to me, but because I had such bad morning sickness and losing all that weight, um, they weren't necessary in my case.
00:42:59ROWELL: Okay. For your whole time?
00:43:00FAUSTER: Right.
00:43:01ROWELL: Wow.
00:43:02FAUSTER: Well actually, you know, once I got into, got back to Wisconsin to serve at my unit, they did give me pants and a larger size top. They didn't have pregnancy tops necessarily, not at my unit, but it all worked out okay.
00:43:25ROWELL: Did you know any other women who also had that experience of becoming pregnant?
00:43:29FAUSTER: At the time, no.
00:43:30ROWELL: Okay. How did the other women react? Was it kind of the same as some of the men?
00:43:35FAUSTER: You know, actually a couple of the women, um, in my barracks, so we had separate rooms at one time and then we all kind of, once there were a few more of us, we ended up in a bay with bunk beds on each side. You know, a couple of the women, they were very kind to me, because they knew how sick I was. After the day was done, and I knew the school, and I swam for PT once I found out I was pregnant. Once I was back from the pool, most often times I would try to eat, and that wouldn't hang around all that long. So I would go lay down. And they would bring me crackers. Oh, I heard that laying on your left-hand side is a little bit healthier, might help you. Yeah, they were pretty nice to me. I think their own sort of, I don't know, mothering instincts, because in some way or shape or form, even if you don't have like a kid, a child yourself, we all, I think as women, we all mother in all sorts of different ways. Either our nieces, our nephews, our neighborhood kids, our pets, when we see another veteran in trouble, our neighbors. You know, I think we all do that in one way, shape or form. But yeah, they were very kind. And, you know, in a way, it was kind of like it opened up more of a--and I don't know about a friendship, but definitely a kind of a more friendly relationship in a way.
00:45:37FAUSTER: Yeah. They were sweet.
00:45:39ROWELL: Yeah. And you mentioned a little bit of a dynamic between those who are going into Army full-time and yourself, you were going into the National Guard. Can you say a little more about that?
00:45:53FAUSTER: [Laughs] Yes. Eventually, you know, during that time, AIT, people pretty much knew whether you were regular or whether you're going to be in the Guard. They're in, no good, no go, no go. You know, NG, National Guard, no-go. And so, there was some of that. Most often, just sort of like, uh, kind of giving each other some stuff back and forth. It really meant nothing. Nothing mean or anything, but some of the others, like you weren't good enough to sit there and go on active duty. Like whatever, it was what it was. And you know what? I had so many male friends when I was in the AIT. Really did have my back. They didn't allow that sort of talk all that much. Yeah, there was a little bit of difference there. Whether it was, oh, you're not good enough, or maybe even, man, I wish I were going back home.
00:47:13ROWELL: Um. And this is kind of a funny question. Now you've got short hair.
00:47:17FAUSTER: Yes.
00:47:19ROWELL: I can't tell from the photo. Did you also have short hair at that time?
00:47:22FAUSTER: I did.
00:47:23ROWELL: And did you keep that all throughout the time you served or?
00:47:25FAUSTER: Yes.
00:47:26ROWELL: Okay.
00:47:27FAUSTER: Grew a little bit longer, but I usually kept it pretty short. It was just easier to deal with.
00:47:32ROWELL: Convenience?
00:47:33FAUSTER: Yeah.
00:47:34ROWELL: Did that start when you joined or was that before?
00:47:37FAUSTER: That was before. I had a little more wave and perm-y and it was the '80s. Actually, before I joined, I had no hair on one side, and all of this on this side, kind of like, I don't know, I tried to style it after one of the chicks and the Prince and the Revolution, who I loved. But eventually, before I joined, that had grown out, and I trimmed that off. It was similar to what it is today, but not exactly.
00:48:18ROWELL: Okay. All right, so is there anything that you want to tell me maybe about your radio courses and some of the things you learned, you remember learning? You mentioned cadence too, do you remember anything you said or while marching, things like that?
00:48:35FAUSTER: Yeah, yeah. Yellow Bird is always a good one. Yellow Bird with the yellow belt was standing on my window sill. And, well, it keeps going on and on and on. As a song, you know, it was interesting. I'm like, well I don't take up the airborne, but man, this sounds really cool. And it's funny. I've got two of my best girlfriends in the world. And they served. In different timeframes, both Army, one was Army and Army Reserves. We all met on Facebook. We actually vacationed together several years ago and we went out to, we all walked to dinner and we walked back and on the way back we did the Yellow Bird cadence all the from the restaurant to like a half a mile or so down to the hotel, it was funnier than hell. We had some people, I mean, we were calling out really loud. Audra was calling it out and we were, Angel and I were responding back. It was fun.
00:49:48ROWELL: That's great.
00:49:49FAUSTER: But um I'm sorry I totally lost your question.
00:49:54ROWELL: Oh no I just I asked you know you mentioned really loving cadence and stuff so I asked which ones you remember maybe your favorites.
00:50:01FAUSTER: Yeah, Yellow Bord for sure. Yellow Ribbon. Oh God. I can hear it in my head, but I just can't remember the words.
00:50:12ROWELL: Oh, that's okay.
00:50:13FAUSTER: I can hear lots of them in my head.
00:50:16ROWELL: Yeah.
00:50:17FAUSTER: But I'd have to YouTube 'em or look up lyrics real quick. I'm like, oh yeah, that what it is.
00:50:25ROWELL: But it never really left, you? And then, yeah, so what are some of the things that you remember learning in AIT for your MOS?
00:50:34FAUSTER: Oh, um. Typing. Of course, we all needed to be proficient at typing. I still type with my hands on the home key. I know a lot of people do the hunt and peck or the two-fingered and are really great at it or--. Yeah, I still type like this and you had to become proficient. I ended up moving ahead like two weeks before everybody else. When we were, speaking of cadence, when we were being marched to a typing class, there was the, [sings] we are typing, we type. Ding. It was like a cadence like that. It was really silly. And of course everybody knew that we were the newbies there. And then some of the other stuff, just being hands-on, learning all the different equipment, radio, teletype. We worked in the field, we worked out of out of what we called rat regs. Rat rags, usually 142 GRC vehicles learn how to set up doublet antennas and the I just saw the equipment that went to it. And remember as we moved along you know the lifespan at one time for for the MOS you're doing was nine seconds because the enemy could triangulate on your radio signal. Well, isn't that nice? I guess the big thing was, shoot, communicate, move on out. So that was another little tiny piece of a cadence that we did. And it's still, I talked to vets who were in commo way back when, even today. And we all still know that. It's funny. I love the hands-on stuff. I loved being able to actually work the equipment and see how that all worked between each vehicle as we would communicate with each other. I thought learning the encryption things was really fascinating. Turns out that once we graduated, we had a secret clearance. So, so I'm kind of proud of that too. I'm like, wow, nifty. I didn't know that. But um, but yeah, I really love the hands-on stuff. And being out in the field and being in AIT, of course, we have porta-potties that we could go use if we needed to. Have to go ways to get to it, but that's okay. Now, when I was at my National Guard unit, I was the only female on my platoon. Guys don't need porta-potties, right? And so we would set up our base out in the field. I'm like, see that bush, that's my bush, so I could hide behind and do my thing and they all respected that.
00:54:13ROWELL: Well, you just had to pick one, that was yours. And then, what do you remember about the encryption, how it seems like you took some of these things really well? How was that for you?
00:54:26FAUSTER: Oh, it's just, um. Oh my, just the importance of it, learning about how passwords and how that changed, at least once daily, learning about the different methods, the book that we were never to lose ever because, well, that had all the keys in it. And yeah, that was, that challenged my brain quite a lot. Of course, so did everything else, but for that, it was just kind of like drove home just how important my MOS was at the time. I mean, every MOS is important. But yeah, just kind like, yeah, don't mess that up because it's between you and headquarters or you in another vehicle or what have you. So yeah, I really--. That was kind of neat yeah.
00:55:39ROWELL: Yeah. You mentioned the comments about how about the lifespan of of yeah commo you know people uh was that maybe a relic of some some of the training instructors were they maybe involved in vietnam? Was that--?
00:55:55FAUSTER: Yeah, most of ours were and so they understood that probably more fully. I mean when you're in theater and in situations like that from the very beginning of wars definitely in Vietnam. That was that was something that that they knew intimately, I think.
00:56:25ROWELL: Do you feel that influenced your training much?
00:56:27FAUSTER: Yeah, because I highly respect Vietnam vets, always have. I always felt it was pretty crappy the way that they were treated, how some people in the media treated them. And knowing so many Vietnam vets now, as I do today, I still feel that way, if not a little bit more, because I've heard personal stories from these, from my brothers who came home and our sisters who came home from Vietnam. They have different stories, and some of them are pretty traumatic. So, yeah, I've always had a great respect for our Vietnam vets.
00:57:16ROWELL: Before you move on from AIT, is there anything else you want to tell me about it?
00:57:23FAUSTER: Just a quick, fun story, me and this gal who were going to our graduation. But then I knew my parents were splitting, and so they weren't there for that. And that was okay, too. It didn't bother me one way or the other. I think for myself it was like, it was okay with me because this was something, even though I joined for some kind of really messed up reasons, midway through basic training and then on I just really had held on to it. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the discipline. I enjoyed the camaraderie. That was the biggest piece there. And of course, all the things that I learned was important too, but being a part of something greater was really cool. But anyway, me and this gal, we were going to the graduation field and some of the guys who had arrived later, and they were still in school. And she and I were just walking along, going along next to each other, kind of chit-chatting, and the guys there, eyes right, and they all looked at us and saluted. [Laughs] And you know, that was fun.
00:58:55ROWELL: That's a great story.
00:58:56FAUSTER: Yeah.
00:58:58ROWELL: All right. So, when did you finish AIT? What year? Do you remember the month maybe?
00:59:03FAUSTER: Yeah, it was May of '88, or not May, March, sorry.
00:59:10ROWELL: Um. And so from there, did you take a period of leave at all or did you go right into your next duty station as a member of the Guard?
00:59:18FAUSTER: Yeah, I went right to my unit. I didn't have to report for several weeks. I did have to go there just before to be issued my gear and to sign off on a little bit of paperwork there and my dog tags revamped.
00:59:43ROWELL: For your change of name or?
00:59:46FAUSTER: Ah, for--actually, no. They just gave me new dog tags. I don't quite know why.
00:59:52ROWELL: Yeah, 'cause that wouldn't have lined up with your name change yet, right?
00:59:56FAUSTER: No, but and then what actually my husband and I, our reporting date was the same, because he asked if he could hold off until I arrived and they allowed that. Um, and so we went to, went to the 64th RAOC, uh, rear area operation center. In Hartford, Wisconsin, and I think that was in May of '88.
01:00:38ROWELL: And when did you have your child?
01:00:41FAUSTER: In September. Oh no, wait a minute. Yeah, September of '88.
01:00:51ROWELL: So before we get to that, let's talk a little bit about the 64th RAOC, right? So what were your key responsibilities while you were there?
01:00:59FAUSTER: Um, well, I was part of the commo platoon. There was motor pool, there was admin, and there was maintenance, and then there was commo. And so there were several companies or platoons that help make up the 64th. Being a rear area, we did whatever was needed on the in the back lines, let's say, if we were called up. Yeah, it was kind of a smallish building. I can still, to this day, recollect the smell of it, just like motor oil and gun oil and just Army smells [laughs].
01:01:54ROWELL: Yeah. Canvas maybe. All right. And so what kind of communications were you kind of working with, if that makes sense? What sort of transmissions were you working with?
01:02:07FAUSTER: Um. Truth be told, we did a lot of maintenance of our equipment while we were at at the unit. We did have opportunities to take our rigs out into White Farm Field that some of the I guess the farmers knew, had an agreement with our unit to do stuff in land that they weren't using. So we'd set up and triangulate signals and go back and forth on radios or through our teletype in that manner, which was fun. I really enjoyed being able to actually like do my job. I mean, yeah, doing our job is making sure our equipment is working. I was kind of like, oh goody, we get to work, gotta make sure our field phones are working again. So they were always in very good maintenance, very good working order I should say. So there was a lot of that. But there were also like a little mini classes that we would do. Each person was assigned. Hey, Fauster, I want you to do a class on camouflage. So we did things like that, too, to the platoons. So we would do that. Yeah, it was kind of, I mean, some of it was very mundane, in a way. All important stuff. But it's like, Okay, here we go again. But I really loved when we were able to go out in the field and do things like that.
01:04:06ROWELL: Did you end up working with your husband often at all?
01:04:10FAUSTER: No, he was in a different platoon.
01:04:12ROWELL: Okay.
01:04:13FAUSTER: Or no, he was in the same platoon. He was just in a different squad than me. Turned out that, I mean, eventually it was my squad leader who I started fraternizing with. And they don't know. Yeah, but yeah, he was in a different platoon and you know what? I don't know if his I want to go home a sort of attitude during basic training kind of carried on. I think some of the guys could see that and he tried to participate but in other ways it was kind of like he would disappear quite a lot and eventually, I just kind of had to learn to because they would come to me say, hey Meyer, where's your husband? And eventually, I just sort of had to brush it off and just like, you know, he's going to do what he's gonna do, but I'm here to do this and not fail my squad and try to do the best that I could.
01:05:21ROWELL: And you were the only woman, you said.
01:05:22FAUSTER: Yes.
01:05:23ROWELL: So you had barracks to yourself.
01:05:25FAUSTER: Well, um, because it was, well, definitely during our annual trainings, I had barracks to myself. At the unit itself, we didn't have to stay overnight at the unit. We could go back home if that was feasible for us. I only lived at the time, I was like, less than half an hour away so go back home and then show up at 0-dark for formation.
01:06:00ROWELL: Uh-huh, where were you living?
01:06:03FAUSTER: Uh, at the time, I lived in West Bend still. We went back to West Bend and lived there. And then eventually I was in Hartford, and then I was in Milwaukee when I realized that, where the squad leader and I realized that we wanted to continue on with our relationship.
01:06:26ROWELL: Mm-hmm. So, how long did you stay with that group, with that unit, the 64th?
01:06:34FAUSTER: I was with the 64th for just about five years of my enlistment. Then the restructuring of the Guard happened in like '92, and then I went to the 1158th, which was out of Milwaukee.
01:06:57ROWELL: Um, and so, so were you still, you were still with the 64th in '91 then?
01:07:02FAUSTER: Yeah.
01:07:03ROWELL: So that was when the Gulf War happened. What were your feelings about that as that was unfolding?
01:07:07FAUSTER: Oh man, I wanted to go! I wanted I wanted to do my part on that scale. When when all that started to go down and we started getting rumblings of that, it was like, oh, I wonder if we'll be called off or called up. Will we be activated? And yeah, there was there was quite the energy and kind of some tension. But, you know, I was kind of like, oh, wonderful to be called up. That that it'd be so cool. I mean, that's kind of a dumb, a dumb word for it, but it was, um, that would be really great to be able to go there and do my part in that way. Our unit, the 64th itself, wasn't called up. We stayed home. Our entire battalion, the exception to our unit, went. Army said, you know what, we've got the RAOC stuff covered. We've got all the admin stuff, we got our own commo covered, we have got all this. So we just don't need you. Thank you very much. We did some, like more full time stuff back at our base. I helped some with some of the admin work. Because since the 64th RAOC was the headquarters for the 64th Troop Command, which is my battalion, and so there was plenty of work to be done for our other varied units who did get deployed, and that's how I served for the Gulf War.
01:09:07ROWELL: Were you Active Guard Reserve AGR at any point?
01:09:11FAUSTER: No.
01:09:13ROWELL: Okay, uh, and uh, just to check, so but you were full-time at one point.
01:09:20FAUSTER: Well, you know what, only for a few weeks.
01:09:23ROWELL: Okay, yeah. Other than that you were part-time, yeah.
01:09:26FAUSTER: Correct.
01:09:27ROWELL: And so what did you do during that period with the 64th aa a civilian for work?
01:09:33FAUSTER: Ah, you mean during the Gulf War?
01:09:36ROWELL: Uh, during the Gulf War or just when you were with the 64th in Hartford, in West Bend did you take on civilian jobs as well or no?
01:09:44FAUSTER: Oh, yeah, yeah. I worked at a local restaurant as a waitress and a cook, and it was a small mom-and-pop place, so I worked during the evenings there, eventually taking care of our baby girl, so that took up a lot of time.
01:10:09ROWELL: And did people in the community know that you were in the Guard?
01:10:11FAUSTER: No.
01:10:12ROWELL: Okay. Was that an intentional choice or just happened to be?
01:10:15FAUSTER: Just, it just happened to be, I mean, our family knew, but, and a few friends. But outside of that, it wasn't like, I knew that there was a Guard unit in West Bend. They do helicopter maintenance over there. But outside that, I wasn't known that, well, that girl who lives over in that street, she's in the Guard.
01:10:47ROWELL: Um, and so how did, um, leadership or your colleagues, uh, treat you, I guess, as a new parent? Uh, you or your husband as new parents?
01:10:57FAUSTER: Oh, they were great. I breastfed my daughter for about seven months until my body just said, nope, can't handle that anymore. But they were very understanding if I had to excuse myself so I could pump. They were very, they gave me the time that I needed to be with her full-time without having to worry about drill. They gave me two two months of drill time two weekends she was born on September 17th so they gave me October and November and then I was to report again in December. Our drill was usually the first weekend of the month. So is so, you know, they were very accommodating and they were excited and they gave me a little when they knew that I was going to start my maternity leave They gave me little shower gifts and they were all very cool. Yeah, I loved I love the guys that I worked with.
01:12:13ROWELL: Absolutely.
01:12:15FAUSTER: And leadership was great.
01:12:16ROWELL: So you had mentioned you developed a relationship with your squad leader.
01:12:22FAUSTER: Mm-hmm.
01:12:24ROWELL: So how did it go when that was eventually maybe discovered or divulged, I guess? How did that go?
01:12:37FAUSTER: It was weird. My husband, at the time, he wasn't very well-liked. And he really didn't do anything to be well-liked. He didn't really try to fit in or to get along, even when he and I were still married and committed to the relationship and freshly with a little girl. I was all in to make that work until it was very obvious that it wasn't going to. But my platoon, they, they were kind of glad. Finally, what were you ever doing with him? And they would call him some names I won't repeat here on camera. But, you know, it wasn't that big of a surprise, I guess. Because it was very obvious that I just kind of meshed well with my platoon, with my squad, with my brothers. And we would go out and have a little bit of fun and, pardon me, and Mike just never fit in. So, yeah, they were kind of happy. My platoon sergeant he he was kind of happy but of course there was that platoon sergeant and we got a stern talking to which we deserved. There's no way I should have been in a relationship like that as well as Steve should have never been in relationship with somebody who was under him. And as long as we didn't let that interfere with any aspect of our training, they really didn't say much.
01:14:54ROWELL: Did they change any of the leadership structures at all?
01:14:57FAUSTER: No.
01:14:58ROWELL: Okay, all right.
01:15:01FAUSTER: They didn't see that there was any sort of favoritism going on. Now, they did talk to some of, to the other guys in our squad, as well as some of the other guys within our platoon to see if there was, if any of them thought there was favoritism or any sort of letting me kind of slide back in my duties because I was in a relationship with Steve. I guess that must have gone pretty well because they didn't restructure anything.
01:15:40ROWELL: It seems that they were very supportive.
01:15:43FAUSTER: Yeah, in some ways. As long as I didn't mess up, as long as he didn't mess up.
01:15:49ROWELL: And so, um, how long, you mentioned that your husband left the Guard, or was asked to leave the Guard, I guess.
01:15:59FAUSTER: He was kicked out [laughs].
01:16:01ROWELL: Yeah, he was kicked out of the Guard and so when did that happen, what year?
01:16:08FAUSTER: Let me see. I think that was in '89.
01:16:13ROWELL: Okay, so you were still with the 64th?
01:16:14FAUSTER: Oh yeah.
01:16:15ROWELL: And you remained with them for a couple years after that?
01:16:17FAUSTER: Several years afterwards, yeah.
01:16:19ROWELL: Before you moved to another unit?
01:16:20FAUSTER: Correct.
01:16:21ROWELL: Mm-hmm. And then, so, is there, is there, did your divorce also take place within that period while you were with the 64th?
01:16:34FAUSTER: Yes.
01:16:35ROWELL: Okay. And so did you have a name, you have name change while you're in service?
01:16:39FAUSTER: Truthfully, I did not.
01:16:41ROWELL: Okay.
01:16:45FAUSTER: Steve and I, we didn't get married until well after our time with the National Guard. I was still Meyer. I did not return to my maiden name because of the way that I grew up. I didn't want anything to do with that last name because it was his last name. It wasn't. My mom was abusive in the fact that she was unavailable and wasn't there with my dad being the primary. Nope, I didn't want that name back [laughs].
01:17:24ROWELL: Yeah, you decided to keep that distance for yourself.
01:17:27FAUSTER: Yeah, at that time, yes.
01:17:30ROWELL: Um, so, is there anything else that you want to talk about being with the 64th RAOC before you move to discuss your next assignment?
01:17:44FAUSTER: I just really enjoyed my time there. I made a lot of good friendships. Some of the mundane nature of our training kind of blew, but it was all necessary. Um , yeah, just smoking and joking so to speak. One of the times that we were on annual training, our platoon we were we're on a field exercise and we came across a small brush fire and because it was extremely dry we were at Fort McCoy so we came across this brush fire and well and some of us emptied our canteens, most of us just like stomped it up. And one of the guys, he liked to smoke cigars, so he always had some cigars in his ruck. And so after the fire was out, we all sat around. We took five, or took a knee or whatever. And he goes, Hey, Meyer, you don't smoke cigars. You're a woman. I said, give me a cigar. I'm gonna smoke with my brothers. And so afterwards, isn't that ironic? We just put out a fire, but we're gonna light up a cigar afterwards. But yeah, that's a fun story from being at Fort McCoy.
01:19:24ROWELL: For sure.
01:19:26FAUSTER: But yeah. I enjoyed my time there quite a lot. I was very sad. And when I had to leave, because that was home.
01:19:37ROWELL: Did you often or always go to Fort McCoy for your annual training?
01:19:41FAUSTER: I went to, oh my God, my very, I don't know how I could forget this with the RAOC. This happened during the Gulf War, when the Gulf War was just about finishing up, and most of the time I went a Fort McCoy. There was one year, I was supposed to go to Germany, but I was very pregnant. They don't want you to have a baby, I don't know why when you're deployed overseas or the chance of, so they kept me home, I did paperwork. But one of our annual trainings was to San Luis Obispo, California, and we had to convoy our equipment over. Most everybody flew, but there was some of us who were part of this convoy from Hartford all the way over. And I got to be a part of that. And this trip to and then from was during the end. We had just., yay, we wont, Kuwait's safe. And we all had CBs in our vehicles so we could talk back and forth as we needed to. And of course, that meant we got to talk with the truck drivers and things like that. And a lot of people were just so excited that we had won in such a short time that people in vehicles are, hey, open up the windows, hey thumbs up, it was so fun. A lot of partying but you know got on the road just exactly when we needed to but talking back and forth with some of the truck drivers, of course the guys would all be talking to them. There were twenty of us and I was driving with our motor sergeant. He was great. Guy made me drive most of the way [laughs]. That's what happens when you're in E6 and you're in E3. But anyway, a lot of our teammates would sit there re-talking to the truck drivers and all of a sudden my voice would pop on in. Who's happy in here? I would just talk grief like the rest of the guys, and that was a lot of fun. That was a great trip back and forth. Being able to be in California instead of Fort McCoy was huge!
01:22:39ROWELL: Had you ever been before? How long did it take to drive there? Convoy there?
01:22:45FAUSTER: We were given, it took us four days, now we would stop at varied Guard or Reserve bases along the way and sleep and then get back onto the road. Our platoon sergeant at the time was in charge of the convoy. He worked it out so that we could spend a little extra time. One of the stops was, we were going over into San Francisco, and so he wanted to give us time to stop at the, I forget the name of the park, that's so dang famous and overlooks the bay. But we were able to do that. The earthquake had happened over there a couple of years beforehand, and uh we were able to, one of the bridges was still down, so we went over that. I had a really big fear of heights at the time. I'm like, Oh my God. Fear of heights, fear of very deep water. Well, then. So he's like, you're going to overcome that fear today. And I did. But that was great. He also worked in extra time so that we could stop in Reno and do a little gambling. So it took us a little bit longer to get there than it probably should have, but yet it all worked out with the higher ups, so. Well, that was fun. And then we had our two weeks. So being on the convoy and being part of the, you know, training for the two weeks, I was on just over three weeks.
01:24:40ROWELL: And was your daughter with you at that time?
01:24:44FAUSTER: Uh, she was staying at my parents.
01:24:48ROWELL: Okay. And was that typical or was it for that trip?
01:24:52FAUSTER: Uh, yeah, it was typical for us, like for annual trainings, she either stayed with our parents or his, mostly mine, but sometimes his parents as well, and they both lived in West Bend, so it worked out well for us.
01:25:11ROWELL: Mm-hmm. And so what do you remember about the exercises that you did while you were in California?
01:25:19FAUSTER: Oh, we were out in the field quite a lot. Some classes kind of like refreshers on the encryption and things like that that we were going to be working with and that environment because of course every every place it's the same but different because it needs to be and some of us would spend some time at at headquarters. I remember being really hot. And I was pregnant at the time. Was I? Yeah, I was pregnant at the time with Steve's kid. By then, Steve and I were together. Didn't know I was pregnant at the time, but I was. I wasn't near as, I didn't have the morning sickness at all like I did with Kelly. But we did classes, worked out in the field quite a lot, and then sometimes. People were chosen to go work at the headquarters station and relay a commo from the field to headquarters and to whomever it needed to go to. So yeah, it was really good training. I enjoyed it a lot.
01:26:54ROWELL: So, not to go too much into the personal elements, but I'm kind of curious if you want to talk about it, what the dynamic was like once your ex-husband had left the Guard but you were still in. How that kind of affected your life, maybe.
01:27:11FAUSTER: Oh, you know what, I felt freer. There were some--. No, the mental and emotional sort of abuse didn't really happen between Steve and me until later. But I felt so much more free. I felt more like I was an individual as a part of the whole. It was like I could, I didn't have to deal with all the background noise near as much as I did before. And so I was able to, I think do a better job for the Guard.
01:27:59ROWELL: And so you then were pregnant with your second child while you were in the Guard. And what year kind of was that?
01:28:07FAUSTER: That was in '91.
01:28:09ROWELL: Okay, so '91, so during the Gulf War kind of period?
01:28:11FAUSTER: Yeah.
01:28:12ROWELL: Yeah, you were saying. It was right after?
01:28:13FAUSTER: Mm-hmm.
01:28:14ROWELL: Okay, that makes sense. And then in what year did you were you moved to a different unit?
01:28:22FAUSTER: Uh, that was, uh, let me see, I don't know, the very end or very beginning of '92. I think at the beginning of '92.
01:28:42ROWELL: You mentioned that there was restructuring going on.
01:28:43FAUSTER: Yeah.
01:28:44ROWELL: And did those two things coincide? Were they parallel, you moving to a different unit, and the MOS is being, you know, personnel being restructured?
01:28:54FAUSTER: Yes. So it was a very confusing time for me. I don't have my MOS anymore and I don't have my home unit anymore. So I ended up actually working in the motor pool in dispatch. I was just a little commo. And between dispatch and I was kind of like our platoon's Radar, in a way. People need their parts or whatever, Guard Fauster, she'll get it ordered for you. And so that's what I did.
01:29:38ROWELL: And so can you state again for me what unit what your next unit was?
01:29:44FAUSTER: The 1158th Maintenance Company.
01:29:47ROWELL: And based out of where?
01:29:48FAUSTER: Ah, In Milwaukee.
01:29:51ROWELL: Did you commute from West Bend to Milwaukee?
01:29:53FAUSTER: Well, by then I lived in Milwaukee.
01:29:54ROWELL: Okay.
01:29:55FAUSTER: Steve the second, he lived in Milwaukee and I moved down to be there with him. Eventually during the early-ish part of our relationship. So, yeah, it was just a drive across town, really.
01:30:15ROWELL: Yeah. And was he also in that second unit or not?
01:30:20FAUSTER: No, um, he with his second term had ended and he decided that he no longer wanted to be a part of. So he discharged out the way you would normally discharge out with an honorable and I was still in.
01:30:47ROWELL: How were those dynamics for you at that time?
01:30:49FAUSTER: Oh that was fine. Okay. That was really no big deal.
01:30:53ROWELL: More independence anyway?
01:30:57FAUSTER: Yeah, it was good outside of the fact when my alcoholism was really ticking off.
01:31:08ROWELL: We'll definitely get to that. Talking about that that period of transition your MOS. Change, you know, you were you no longer had an MOS You change your move to different unit, right? Um, did your can clarify for me? Did your former unit--.
01:31:24FAUSTER: Well it wasn't--.
01:31:25ROWELL: Was it activated or?
01:31:26FAUSTER: It wasn't, I should rephrase that, or restate that, no phrase, it wasn't disbanded, it was moved.
01:31:38ROWELL: Okay.
01:31:39FAUSTER: And they no longer had the staffing needs as they once did because when they were moved, they strictly went into more of the admin support to the 64th Troop Command, the big headquarters, and so quite a few of us actually ended up at different units with a handful or two remaining with the 64th.
01:32:19ROWELL: Did you know that was coming?
01:32:22FAUSTER: Um, there were rumblings of that, but I wasn't 100 percent sure until it happened.
01:32:26ROWELL: And how did that go for you and your brothers in the unit? How did you kind of deal with that at the time?
01:32:36FAUSTER: That sucked. That was really hard. I mean, we were given a little bit of a heads up. And it was hard and it sucked and it was cold because it was like one day we went to drill and we knew that was going to be our last one there. And there was, I mean there were like good luck to yous and there wasn't any sort of we're going to miss. I mean yeah we're gonna miss you but it was we were at drill and all of a sudden boom we were gone. And, yeah, that was really, really strange.
01:33:19ROWELL: Very abrupt.
01:33:21FAUSTER: Yeah. Abrupt is a good word for it. Even though we knew it was coming, it was just like, okay, hi, everybody. And I know that happens in the military. It happens all the time, but it just felt really strange, especially since we were losing our MOS at the time too.
01:33:43ROWELL: Yeah, so was that a common experience for most of the common people that you're working with as well?
01:33:48FAUSTER: Probably so, because at that time, they were starting to move into satellite communications. The technology was growing, and our equipment was basically Korean War equipment, which wasn't going to be really needed anymore, because they were growing and technology was getting better. And so I'm sure that happened to a lot of us, whether we were active duty or in the Guard or in the Reserves. So I know it was a common occurrence for at least my platoon.
01:34:41ROWELL: Mm-hmm. And so you also talked about kind of restructuring the Guard, like a large restructurng of the Guard. Based on your impression, were those two things related? Did they coincide? What did that kind of consist of?
01:35:00FAUSTER: What I understand today and actually the kind of the explanation we were given is that the restructuring was going, it was happening because the needs were a little bit less now that we're pulled out of the Gulf. And I notice that happens after after each big war happens. It's like, okay, now that we've done that, we can kind of come down off of, out of recruitment and things like that. So we were told that, because the needs weren't as great, that's why it was happening. It just is kind of coincidence strange sort of parallel thing that was going on with the MOS and the restructuring. I mean, the MOS thing, that's in a way restructurng, but it's only because technology was getting better.
01:36:13ROWELL: So it happened that they were happening at the same time, and they were drawing down after the Gulf War. So now being at your new unit, how was the working culture, how different was it from your previous unit?
01:36:32FAUSTER: Well, I didn't have most of my brothers there anymore. The platoon sergeant that I rode to San Luis Obispo with, he ended up being the platoon sergeant there, or the motor sergeant there, which was frikin' awesome. I didn
01:36:53FAUSTER: 't know that, but when I got in there, wow, it was so good to see him. No way, I didn't feel like a complete fish out of water. Oh, I know a couple of people here already because a few of our guys from the motor pool had moved to that motor pool as well. So it was kinda neat. I guess never really, um--. I mean some of the guys, I didn't really know a heck of a lot of people there outside of the few that I knew in the motor pool. And I don't know if that's because of me, or if it was because you're all these new people coming in, and so it was just as weird for them having new people join a unit that was probably pretty cohesive, I would figure. There was never any sort of animosity, or weird dynamics going on. It's just kind of what I felt.
01:38:15ROWELL: And were there other women who you were serving with in this new unit?
01:38:22FAUSTER: There were other women, but I didn't necessarily talk to them.
01:38:26ROWELL: Mm-hmm. Did you feel like there were any different, similar gender dynamics in your new situation?
01:38:34FAUSTER: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. There were a few more women. I mean, in my unit, at the RAOC, there were quite a few women.
01:38:45ROWELL: Okay.
01:38:46FAUSTER: They were just in other companies or other platoons.
01:38:51ROWELL: So you didn't interact with the women?
01:38:52FAUSTER: Not really.
01:38:53FAUSTER: On a daily basis?
01:38:54FAUSTER: Right.
01:38:55ROWELL: Did that remain kind of the same, or were there other women who you were working with on a daily basis?
01:39:00FAUSTER: No, that remained pretty much the same. There weren't, I think there was one other female in the motor pool at the time. But she and I got along fine.
01:39:14ROWELL: So how long were you now in this unit?
01:39:17FAUSTER: I was there for approximately a year, a little over a year.
01:39:24ROWELL: And you mentioned kind of a drinking culture.
01:39:28FAUSTER: Well, yeah, that happens in every branch, Reserves. Guards. It's like you work hard, you party hard and it's kind of the way it goes. I don't know that that's necessarily, I mean I do know that it happens, but I think there's a little more awareness of policing yourself and not--. I don't know. I know, kind of like an adoptive son that I have, Andy, my third relationship that I have, he served in the Army at Fort Campbell. He was a grunt, infantry, so there was a lot of partying, but there was also a lot of hard work too. And I think some of the things that he told me is that yeah, partying happens, but he doesn't think it's on such a scale as it once was, like when I served.
01:40:42ROWELL: Uh, and so was that the case when you were with the, the REOC?
01:40:44FAUSTER: Yeah.
01:40:45ROWELL: Okay, so it started there?
01:40:46FAUSTER: Oh shoot, we had a bar in the unit.
01:40:49ROWELL: Oh, okay. All right.
01:40:51FAUSTER: I mean, it was just a little thing. But after drill was over with, yeah, we'd go there. And there was the initiation of the new people. You had to drink from the boot, big glass boot. And if you got it, and you had to drink it a certain way, and it splashed all over your face, if you couldn't control the flow of the beer coming out, then you had a buy a round for everybody. So yeah, there was that culture there. That wasn't really such a thing when I was at the, with the 1158th.
01:41:32ROWELL: Okay, so it was more cultural from where you came from.
01:41:34FAUSTER: Mm, yeah.
01:41:35ROWELL: Where you started and then less so.
01:41:36FAUSTER: Yeah.
01:41:37ROWELL: But um from your description it seems like for you that that picked up. Your--.
01:41:43FAUSTER: Oh yeah.
01:41:45ROWELL: Your relationship with alcohol changed as you as you moved away actually from the 65th, 64th, rather. Do you want to talk a little more about that at all?
01:41:57FAUSTER: Sure, I come from a long line of alcoholics. There are alcoholics in recovery in my, oops, sorry, in my family yet today. Thankfully, we've all found a program that works for us within our family. I was an active alcoholic. Part of why I lost custody of my daughter was because of that and the nervous breakdown. I did not. We adopted the, my second, Steve and I, the second husband, we did not keep our son. We gave him up for adoption right away. Honestly, just there was no way that we could take care of him financially. But yeah, it really took off. I actively drank for, I was an active alcoholic for seventeen years. I eventually found recovery. I lost my, or I left my second ex-husband to go into recovery. He was, he drank not quite as hard as I did. He sure did love his marijuana though. Me, I could take or leave it. It wasn't, it was kind of like a--. I didn't mind having that or any other extracurricular drugs. Take my bottle, I'm gonna fight you for it. That's kind of the way I felt at the time. I left him, went into a residential treatment facility that was all women. Was blessed to be able to be there for eight and a half months. I have been sober since April 21st of 2005 and one of my main drivers to be sober was knowing that my daughter, I wanted a better relationship with her even though I didn't physically raise her. We still visited quite a lot, but our relationship obviously deteriorated as I went further on into my despair. And we rebuilt and forgave. And she and I are happy. I'm so blessed to have her in my life. I'm extremely grateful that my grandkids have never seen me drunk the way that she did. She was pregnant. She was 16 and pregnant. She was partying hard and ended up pregnant. I got into my residential treatment facility, I guess. I was estranged from my dad and I had a much closer relationship with my mom. A lot of relationships were rebuilt, boundaries remained with others. And I'm so grateful to be sober. It has brought me so many blessings. And to be able to be there for another person who's struggling is such an honor. And through sobriety, I reintroduced myself with being a veteran too.
01:46:09ROWELL: So on that topic, on that note. So that was something that you struggled with when you left the Guard and then following.
01:46:18FAUSTER: Yes.
01:46:21ROWELL: Did you become kind of detached from the military community and veterans during that period.
01:46:27FAUSTER: Well, you know what, I felt very ashamed. The last several months of me drilling I know I drilled under the influence. I know that that I was not all that I could be. I did not, didn't make my last two drills until they graciously gave me my honorable. My exit from my service was filled of sadness and shame. And so I fell away from the vet community quite a lot. I didn't feel like I belonged in that community the way that I had served out the rest of my time. And truth be told, I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere while I was drinking. I had a lot of chatter in the back of my head. Certainly being a vet wasn't part of that. Part of that was just it feeding on the shame. So, yeah, I fell away quite a lot until I rejoined it, and that was in sobriety.
01:47:48ROWELL: Was, if you want to say, if you feel like you can answer. So we established that there was a very heavy culture of drinking among other military members when you were in the Guard, and that, in fact, your second spouse, you know, he was involved in that too, and that was something you experienced together simultaneously. In terms of your perspective on your own relationship with alcohol, did you feel that there were likely other people experiencing similar things who were also--?
01:48:27FAUSTER: You know maybe, um, but truthfully when you're into alcoholism you feel like you've got it worse than anybody else and you don't look at other people who oh well geez they're going through the same experience as I am um I know I didn't and if I saw somebody struggling well, I was going to tell them how they could fix it, even though I had no way, shape or form was fixing my own life. You know, there may have been people within the units that I was at who were going through the same things. And if they were, I wasn't aware. And if there were, I hope they found a better way of living, a healthier way of loving. Because that's much more better than being stuck in a bottle someplace.
01:49:29ROWELL: So the drinking was kind of, the partying was done, but maybe the addiction aspect wasn't talked about, really, in your opinion?
01:49:39FAUSTER: In the military?
01:49:40ROWELL: Yeah.
01:49:41FAUSTER: No
01:49:42ROWELL: Okay.
01:49:43FAUSTER: It was kind of partying was kind of accepted as long as you did your job.
01:49:50ROWELL: And kind of built in, in some cases it seems, with the Guard.
01:49:53FAUSTER: Well, yeah, at the 64th it was at the time.
01:49:59ROWELL: So, and so when you went into your recovery, was that in Milwaukee?
01:50:03FAUSTER: Yes.
01:50:04ROWELL: Did you at any point as a veteran, either before or after your recovery, interact with the VA or seek out veteran care?
01:50:14FAUSTER: Um, after my. After I got sober, I did reach out to see if I would qualify for any sort of benefits. Being in the Guard and not being activated or deployed to for Desert Storm, I did not have enough active-duty time at the time, and so I didn't qualify. Which, you know, at the time when I was seeking services, it wasn't because I was in any sort of crisis or that I was concerned about some aspect of my health. It was just well let's see. But when I was denied then, I figured, you know what, that's okay because there are so many other vets who truly need the services. The time that I went and looked towards the VA for potential resources, I was in a new relationship because obviously I left the second to get sober. I was single for probably a year and then I got another relationship. I guess Andy is my fourth. He was in recovery. He relapsed. That was very ugly. I told him to get out. I gave him a few chances. And then I told them to get up and then I was homeless for a little while. I landed in a soft place in a friend's house who was in recovery. Then eventually Andy and I got together. Well, Andy and we have a very healthy relationship. And did so when I was looking into resources from the VA. And so for me, I had no sort of like anger, or like, well then, or anything like that. I just like, whoa, we know, we know far too many who come back with TBI [traumatic brain injury], or with PTSD [posttraumatic stress disorder], although PTSD goes back many years prior. They decided to add a code to it, but anyway, there are so many people who are coming back from military sexual trauma who need those resources. There are people who are physically not, who physically need that and I'm pretty healthy, so it's okay. I never felt slighted or indignant or anything of that nature. And I still feel that way today.
01:53:19ROWELL: So, thinking about the period, your period in your recovery where you started to regain a bit of contact with other veterans and establish that relationship, get involved, can you tell me a bit about how that happened?
01:53:33FAUSTER: Through Facebook. With my recovery I often joke, I'm like, thank God there were, I didn't know about social media. There wasn't any sort of social media back when I was drinking, because oh boy, I'd burn all sorts of new and other bridges. Anyway, but yeah, through Facebook, I was online and I started to get to know other people who were vets and little by little, I started, opened up that that I served. And I said, oh, but, but I was in the National Guard. Knock it off. You served. You're willing, you signed that, you sign that check. Like, oh wait a minute. I guess I did. But you know what? I was in a much--.. I was on my own healthier living journey at the time and I guess I was at that place where I could accept that. Maybe I am a vet. Isn't that interesting? I really didn't feel like I deserved that sort of, but then it was like I kind of like, kind of fell into that. And it was people online that helped me with that. And then I was invited to a vet Facebook group and I was so, so excited about that. I told, I, oh, I'd be so excited, that I'd, I be honored. And, And just, it was like online smoking and joking and sharing stories like vets do. And that's what helped me reignite that pride again. Because obviously while I was drinking that patriot inside of me. I mean, I was still patriotic, but it was tamped down. And a lot of that was reignited once I had gotten sober. But yeah, online, of all things, that's what opened me up again to being a vet.
01:55:48ROWELL: Um-hmm. And how were you received by people as a female vet also at that time at that time?
01:55:56FAUSTER: At that time? Um. Oh, funny, a lot of support. Sometimes I felt a little intimidated by the other women just because they seem stronger than me. And looking back, that's only because I felt that way because I was still getting used to having, taking that status back to myself with some pride again. And I think that kind of there was some of that judgment there. I'm still feeling a little weak in that, so, oh my God, they seem so strong. And now, I mean, truly, there are a lot of wonderfully strong women in the military or who are vets. I mean, you just look at, I Am Not Invisible. Holy smokes. But, and now, you know, I'm well received with my online friends as well as the vast majority of my friends outside of online, like in the American Legion.
01:57:21ROWELL: So yeah, so on that topic, how did you get involved with the American Legion?
01:57:26FAUSTER: Oh, you know, there came a point in time, I mean, I was doing things like online and I actually was able to meet some of my online friends in person and go to lunch and forming relationships that way, telephone calls and stuff. I just wanted to do more. Online is great and forming new relationships through phone calls or long messages back and forth, texting. That's great, but I wanted to serve again. And that's why I joined the Legion. Is that I wanted to give back, pay it forward to the community of veterans around me as they did for me. I wanted to be of service to the community at whole. I'm involved with, my home post is here in Mukwonago, Mukwonago Post 375 on East Veterans Way. I've been active with them since September of 2016. And I've been, I'm grateful that I have served on quite a few committees and I still do. I am currently, besides my post activities, I am currently the first Vice Commander of Waukesha County. My good friend Michelle, she is our commander. And so I'm very proud of that. I'm very proud of being on district committees as well. There's big rumblings going on that they're going to put me on the district board in May as their adjutant and that's a huge honor. But I also, at the state level, I serve on the Department of Wisconsin Children and Youth Committee as their chairman. And so, yeah, I've got all sorts of things in the, all sorts of that and children and Americanism and some VA & R [veterans affairs and rehabilitation] and some national security forks, the four pillars, in my collective service, fire service, but you know what a lot of us legionnaires do, so I'm just really grateful to be able to serve that way. In fact, tonight is our county board meeting, so that would be good.
02:00:19ROWELL: Um, we'll get more into that
02:00:21FAUSTER: Yeah
02:00:22ROWELL: Uh, would you like to maybe kind of turn to the each side so we can see what's on your cap?
02:00:27FAUSTER: Oh, certainly. This is where we're from, and this side is always left bare without any sort of metals or pins. That's by the national bylaws and the rules and regs for our covers. And so that we keep that kind of, I guess that's kind of sacred, and so that people know where we are coming from. And on this side is all my tchotchkes. All of which I'm really excited and proud to own. Right here is the Wisconsin, with the keys that come down. I am a Wisconsin Legion College graduate, and a Wisconsin American Legion College graduate and those courses help anyone prepare for leadership. Or if anybody wants to just gain a better understanding of the Legion, take those courses, they're important. But just pins of support, pins of things that I've done. With each level of service, you gain a new cover, so but it's often said, no matter the color of your cover, we all wear blue, underneath maybe, and the blue is our post-home cover, and then the piping changes when you're at the county level, and little whites added when you are on the district level, then you're all white at the state, but we're always blue hats. We're always busy serving our community, we're always busy serving their home posts, we are always serving veterans.
02:02:34ROWELL: So, would you like to tell me a bit about the Legion Wisconsin Children and Youth Committee and what your involvement has been with that?
02:02:42FAUSTER: Oh my, thank you, I'd really like to. We have, we started, I'm thankful that it was part of starting a new award to recognize posts. Instead of, you must report, I want our posts across the state to brag about what they're doing for children and youth activities. Tell me all about it because there are lots of exciting things going on all across the state for children and youth, even more so than, I mean sure the fundraising is great, like for troop family support, or child welfare fund, or temporary financial assistance, all of those things are wonderful, very important, and they affect our communities. But often times you might not know those people unless, of course, I mean, a few of those, they do start at the post level, especially like temporary financial assistance grants that we give to families with children who might need a hand up. Especially during COVID, that was an important resource. But there's so many posts around it. Of the entire state who are doing really cool things for the kids in their community. So please brag about them. And you just might win an award at our state convention and also gain national recognition for doing so. So I was pretty excited to do that. We are in the process of working towards endorsement for a program that one of our committee members started. It's called Be the One for Our Youth. And it's a hard subject to talk about, but youth suicide is number two as to the reasons why kids die in this day and age. First is overdose. But I have to wonder just how many of those kids who overdosed were because they were committing suicide. Oftentimes they go hand in hand. Unless they're just partying, and unfortunately, today's day and age, it seems like anything will kill you. But Be The One for Our Youth is a band program. In fact, I'm wearing it.
02:05:25ROWELL: I did notice that. Yeah, do I show it to the camera?
02:05:27FAUSTER: Sure.
02:05:28ROWELL: All right, be the one.
02:05:29FAUSTER: And on the other side, 988, the national lifeline number. There used to be, the VA used to have a very long 10-digit number and then press 1 for vets to remember if they were in a crisis and needed to call somebody. Well, they changed that to three simple numbers, 9-8-8. But, um, her program reaches out for mental health wellness for our kids, for children and youth. I don't know, it seems kind of weird to say both to me. I just say kids. And we give them bands, hand them out. The Legion does, churches does, other veteran service organizations, other branches of the Legion family. Schools, you name it, you got it. Approximately 19,000 bands have gone on hands. I know at my post level we're going to be handing them out at the big Maxwell Street Days flea market where we get lots of families through there and lots of kids that we can talk to and ask them to be kind and help look out for each other. And if you see somebody that's being bullied, go find a trusted adult and let them know. If you're an older, maybe you're in high school, and you notice a friend that's struggling, or you go to parties, hey I noticed you're partying a little bit, everything okay? Just be there for another kid. And you know what, in turn, those kids who are there for one, they get the backdoor effect of remembering those things. Oh, I can reach out too. I can call 988 because that number is just not for vets, it's for everybody. And it's been, we're working towards endorsement on the state level of this program and that's very exciting. We're involved with this coming up at the very end of April. We're going to be working the interactive craft table, I get to, I'm very excited, at the A&A All the Way Purple Up for Military Kids Day Youth Camp at Lambeau Field.
02:08:15ROWELL: Oh, yes.
02:08:16FAUSTER: Yeah, and that Aaron and Alvin Jones, of course Aaron, think it's Aaron? I don't even watch football, I'm sorry. But, a Packer and his twin brothers, Saskatchewan Roughrider I think is the team. I'm so sorry guys if it's not, if you ever listen to my interview. But they hold a day camp. They're both military kids. Their mom and dad served, and so they're very much into that. And so they are hosting a daycamp where kids and their families currently, or veterans who have served, get to go and get tours of Lambeau, go through the clubhouse, get pictures with the cool football players. We're going to have a table there for Be the One for Our Youth, and the interactive craft table, so Children and Youth is doing that. We're also doing, we've got all sorts of things that we're doing. Our committee didn't used to be really be very engaged, and we're working really hard to make the fourth pillar. The American Legion has four pillars. We have a VA & R. We have national security. We have Americanism. And we have children and youth. Oftentimes, children and youth gets lumped into Americanism, and they're very related, but they're different. And so we're working really hard at making ourselves known. That the fourth pillar is doing is loud and proud. And we're doing everything we can to be more active with our kids. And it's exciting. It's kind of been some transition and certainly a learning curve. Because I was part of the committee just as a committee member when we weren't doing anything. To now I'm the chair and I've got committee members who are really on fire for our kids. And yeah, we're making ourselves known for the good of our kids, and that's exciting.
02:10:54ROWELL: How do you think that change kind of initiated among the committee?
02:10:59FAUSTER: Ah, it's just, you know, I think our leadership had something to do with that. Our past commander, great guy. And I have nothing but good things to say. But that was during COVID. A really weird time. Well, actually, Commander Gregg, he started just after COVID. I guess it was transitioning out. But things were different with the Legion back then. There were different offices, especially during COVID. Back then it was just on making sure that posts could still meet or can we still do this thing virtually. And so there was a lot of transition time through that. So of course, it's difficult to get out in your communities. And some communities aren't really fully back yet. And the Legion's not going to go anywhere. And just step on toes and say, we are going to force our programs onto you. But, you know, I think with things a lot more open now, our current commander, Commander Julie, Julie Mealy. She's a part of the I Am Not Invisible 4.0 campaign.
02:12:28ROWELL: Mm-hmm.
02:12:28FAUSTER: Oh, I'm so excited for her and I know other legionnaires who are also part of our campaign of the campaign campaign prior into the new one that's that's going now. So. Yeah, and she just wanted to get back to basics, and children and youth is part of that, so. Yeah, leadership, the thirst and desire to do something different instead of doing nothing. And so we're working on it.
02:13:02ROWELL: Definitely. And so you're also involved with the First District's Oratorical Contest.
02:13:09FAUSTER: Yeah, the Oratorical Contest is constitutional speech contest for high schoolers. And they have to memorize five speeches. The first one is an eight- to ten-minute speech on anything they want in the Constitution regarding their duties and obligations as a citizen. The other four, they need to prepare on four assigned topics. Picked at the national level. They need to have a three- to five-minute speech memorized on each of those. And then during the contest, an envelope is picked and surprise, you're speaking on the First Amendment today. Or surprise, your speaking on on the fourteenth or whatever. And that changes year to year. And sometimes it's just a part of an article of. So Yeah, it's a really, I don't think I could do it, but we've got some really smart kids out there so we're fortunate that we can do it. I run the oratorical, well currently at the post level I've turned that over, but I also do the county, as well as the district and rhetorical. And I have posts that I have either assigned or picked who want to. I've started and now that they host the contest, I'm the chair, I'm behind the scenes if you need help finding judges or volunteers, please ask, because we really want a successful contest. And yeah, I really enjoy being part of that. I'm also part, I'm the Chair for the Children and Youth Committee, or Children and Youth chair, as well as just recently the Badger Boys State Chair.
02:15:13ROWELL: So what is that?
02:15:15FAUSTER: Oh, Badger Boys. Badger Boy State happens all over the country. In Wisconsin, it's hosted at UW-Eau Claire. It's just in the past couple years been hosted there. And high school juniors, males obviously, they go to the college for a week, and they form mock parties, and it's not Democrat and it's not Republican, because there's messed up on both sides of the aisle, so to speak. But we want the kids, they give the kids that opportunity. They form a party, and they're separated into those parties. And they're the government. They have to work on legislation, and they have to work on finding solutions to civic problems. And it's really fascinating. It gives them a really, really wonderful, in-depth opportunity to take a look at civics and how the government works. Frankly, there's also a program that the American Legion auxiliary runs, Badger Boys Girls, or I'm sorry, Badger Girls State. Anyway. And that it runs the same way. So. And the Legion is working on becoming more inclusive so that everybody can participate. But that's how it's classified. And it's a great opportunity for these juniors to really get a grip and a handle on, hey, what's government doing? They work for us, so it's important for our kids to know what that's all about.
02:17:23ROWELL: A lot of civics-oriented topics. A lot civics education.
02:17:25FAUSTER: Oh yeah.
02:17:27ROWELL: Yeah. Why do you think that's so important?
02:17:32FAUSTER: Oh, gosh. I'm very politically engaged. And I'm one of those people who really feel like it's government. They're the ones that make the laws. They're are the ones who rule on cases. They're they ones who are in the leadership roles. Granted, they--. They work in those capacities, but I think and I think it's very important for today's youth to remember that they work for us, that they have a voice, that it's a very important voice. If anything in the last couple of elections, we've, certain, last few elections, be it on the state level or national level, our votes have been very important. Sometimes it's come down to very slow margins. Get out the vote. It's a privilege to go do that. A lot of countries don't have that. Don't take our freedoms for granted. Remember how our rights given to us naturally through our creator, they're ours and we should fight for those rights. And I don't mean everybody should go join the military because I know it's not for everybody. Frankly, I think it would be really good to have everybody join either two years in the branch of their choice or join in an intensive volunteer project. Get your skin into the game. I think, of course, I mean back in the day there was the draft and there's selective service now. One thing the Legion is working on doing legislatively because we answer to those in D.C. We're nationally chartered. So we're working on opening up selective service for all genders. And not just males, because so many of our girls want to go, if they were thinking about serving, many of them want to come into combat roles and such. And if our boys or our young men adult, young men have to sign up, we feel women should too. Put your skin in the game. But anyway, I really do feel it's just that important to get involved. Work the polls, go out and canvas, find out what it's about. It's easy to complain about what's going on in the world. We all do it. But find out, find what you're complaining about. Have a voice, find out more. Yeah, I think it's very important.
02:20:56ROWELL: Thanks for sharing that.
02:20:57FAUSTER: Sure.
02:20:59ROWELL: So you've served as the first vice commander of for your post 375.
02:21:05FAUSTER: Well, for the county.
02:21:06ROWELL: Okay. All right. So of Waukesha County?
02:21:09FAUSTER: Yes.
02:21:10ROWELL: Okay. Um, can you tell me a bit about that role, what it's like, what you've done, and what you've done in that role?
02:21:16FAUSTER: Well, I've been in that role for less than a year, coming up on a year in a few months. Wow. But in that, in that roll, I help support our other board members, especially my commander, where if she needs me. Currently I serve, I'm also the chair of three committees. The ones that I named for the district are also my county chair positions. Also being there in a more of a leadership role for our county vets, who are legionnaires, but you know also sometimes when I'm out in the communities, maybe trying to get funds donated for wristbands or to give to any of our foundations or to Badger Youth Camp or anything like that. We're going into schools and talking to counselors. We'd like your student to participate in blah blah blah. Sometimes it's really, I appreciate the fact that that I have that title because it does carry some weight. But yeah, it's more of a supportive role, really, more than anything, supportive leadership and helping where I can. But I'm very, I was very honored that I was considered and nominated in, or elected in.
02:23:12ROWELL: Yeah. Um, and you have a trustee position, correct?
02:23:15FAUSTER: Yes.
02:23:15ROWELL: Second year trustee, is that correct?
02:23:17FAUSTER: Correct.
02:23:18ROWELL: Okay. Uh, you want to say a little bit about that?
02:23:19FAUSTER: Yeah, that's at the post-level. That's kind of a liaison person between the membership and our and our executive board and I'm a board member but I'm not like in a more more robust leadership role like our vice commanders or finance officer, definitely the commander. But I appreciate being a voice like that. It's kind of a person who try to help keep everything. We have a question about what happened at this meeting. Can you help me understand this and that? Sure. But yeah, it's kind of like a--. I was a three-year, I'm currently the two-year. Now this upcoming year, I'll be the one year. And then it's nice that it works that way because we have fresh eyes, fresh opinions, fresh people to continue looking out for both sides of the equation [laughs].
02:24:37ROWELL: And so is there anything else you'd like to talk about in terms of your involvement with the American Legion before I ask other questions?
02:24:45FAUSTER: Um, that in fact, today, by the way, it is the American Legion's 103rd birthday. First met at the Paris Accords at the very end of World War I in 1919, but I'm so honored to be part of the Legion. I was nervous about whether they'd accept me in the beginning because I was in the Guard. I wasn't deployed, but I had the membership chair at the time talk to the state level and the state level kind of made a quick call to the national and they all said I could join so I was very excited. But I love being a part of the Legion. I love part of being part of Legion family, having the Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion and our Legion Riders all working together for our vets, for our community. I love it and it's an honor and it is a privilege to be able to do so.
02:26:03ROWELL: So is there, in your experience, is there less membership among Guard or Reserve veterans?
02:26:12FAUSTER: I think that's changed.
02:26:13ROWELL: Okay.
02:26:15FAUSTER: I've come across quite a few in the Legion. I didn't in the beginning only because I was new, and I hadn't really done a whole lot of networking at that time. But since then, in fact quite a few people who were active duty eventually they wanted to continue to serve, so after deployment or what have you, or after their time was with active duty then they join the Guard or the Reserves and that's pretty cool. I hear about that a lot, so ah, I think, I think there are quite a few more who are there and now that the standards have before joining have changed it used to be that you could only join if you were in certain time periods. Now it's from anywhere from well unfortunately we don't have World War I vets anymore. But anybody serving during any time, from 1919 hypothetically, all the way to the current to today, can join. If you served, you can join, and I think that's really great. And I think it's going to open up a lot of opportunities for other vets who didn't think they could join the largest veteran service organization. Please come. We need you.
02:27:49ROWELL: Did that change happen before or after you joined?
02:27:51FAUSTER: Oh, that happened afterwards in the last couple of years. So Legion Act was passed in Congress and became part of our national bylaws and constitution. Yeah.
02:28:06ROWELL: How did you feel about that?
02:28:08FAUSTER: I was really glad. It's great to be open to everybody who's served.
02:28:14ROWELL: And can you remind me what year you joined?
02:28:17FAUSTER: In the Legion?
02:28:19ROWELL: Yes, joined the American Legion.
02:28:21FAUSTER: Yeah, I joined the Legion September of 2016, and that very day a clipboard walked was being sent around, we need volunteers for the Oratorical Contest. I thought to myself, well geez, I don't know anybody, but this would be a great opportunity, and I joined to serve, so signed the clipboard. The rest is, here I am.
02:28:48ROWELL: So are there other veterans' organizations that you are involved with right now?
02:28:52FAUSTER: Um, not really. Uh, donating to uh, but and no. My focus really is on at this point. I don't qualify for the VFW [Veterans of Foreign Wars]. But no, I'm just pretty busy with the Legion.
02:29:13ROWELL: Right. Big commitment.
02:29:14FAUSTER: Yeah.
02:29:15ROWELL: Uh. And so just personally why do you think it can be important to have veterans involved in that community, not necessarily with the just the American Legion, but as a whole?
02:29:30FAUSTER: Oh my gosh. So many little kids, I mean, you were a soldier, wow! And it's not because of the wow factor. It's because I think a part of being a vet is to go in and help where it is needed. Continue with the mission. The mission doesn't stop after we get our discharge or DD-214 in our hand, or in my case DD-214 and my National Guard separation papers. But anyway. Our mission doesn't end, it doesn't have to end. We have so much to give to our communities. I mean, events on the whole are pretty driven, protective. They want to serve. And there's so many ways that you can. You can--. How many vets end up once they're finished with their service end up going into law enforcement or in some first responder role. Uh., or vets working working within their churches. I mean so many vets, I mean they may be parents, they get to work within their churches, within their schools, adding just a little bit of a different flavor and a little of a different strength or to add to the strengths that that whatever the community is may already have. Yeah, continue mission. It's not over. I'm very active, at least online, and somewhat through my recovery circles, I'm very active with online or in-person crisis calls for vets who are thinking of becoming that awful statistic, which frankly I think is under-reported. How many people end up. ODing With the purpose of, I just don't want to be here anymore, but that's my opinion. And vets can be involved in that way. They don't want to be involved that way, there's so many different ways that they can be involved in and I think it's really important to Charlie Mike continue mission.
02:32:17ROWELL: And how do you feel also that developing camaraderie with other veterans is important for veterans?
02:32:25FAUSTER: Oh my gosh, because we've we've all I might have not walked in the same combat boots they did or whoever it is, but we have some shared experiences. Kind of an older generation. I still call it a brotherhood or a family or whatever. Now these are my brothers, these are my sisters of all of the same uncle. And so much of what one went through, another went through. And so oftentimes, it's easy for somebody, especially who was in theater, who are now they're back home, where do they fit in? How, what do I do now? And just having that family again might help them. Either reach out for services if they haven't already, if that's something that they need. But that camaraderie, it's priceless, it really is. And I'm so grateful that I let down my own guard, got healthier within myself to allow that to be a part of my life too.
02:33:52ROWELL: Yeah. Do you feel for yourself it's been supportive of other elements, like your recovery and--?
02:33:58FAUSTER: Oh, for sure.
02:33:59ROWELL: Yeah.
02:34:01FAUSTER: You know, when you for me it's helped in accountability, it's helped with kind of like the procrastination if I see any something that needs to be done I guess I just need to do that or if I can't find somebody to do it let's find somebody who can help me. You know that too, asking for help asking for help is hard, especially for necessarily a vet or in recovery. And when you form that bond with each other. You don't feel alone again. If someone is so alone and you're able to, oh, they ask for help. They got it. Maybe I can too. Maybe i can ask them. But um, yeah, I think it's helped in a lot of different areas of my life. Certainly helped with my self-esteem.
02:35:09ROWELL: Yeah, definitely. So some halls still have bars in them, and alcohol is sometimes a part of the Legion culture.
02:35:18FAUSTER: For sure.
02:35:19ROWELL: Um, what's your kind of perspective on that personally and how do you think maybe that has or hasn't changed over time?
02:35:25FAUSTER: I think it's probably the same that it's been since way back to today. I mean that's just kind of part of it. Part of that camaraderie is meeting over a beer and talking over the war stories or talking about how you gave each other grief. I mean, I'm using grief as a different word. But and I think if I were new, and I want to say this, it's never the culture, it is never about let's get you sloshed. It's just about. friendship at the bar, and not about serve you another, serve you another. I've never seen that in my time in the National Guard or in the Legion. Now if you're partying with friends, some of them friends, yeah, have another shot, but generally it's not that way. And I think for me, I think if I were new in recovery, I might have a problem with that sort of atmosphere. But in recovery I've always learned how to have plan B and C and maybe a D if I need it. I know one gal who joined our post. Who was new in recovery, and she didn't come back because of the bar. And I can see where that could be really difficult. She didn't know I was in recovery at the time. She has learned since then. But [coughs]. Excuse me. I'm pretty open with the fact that eh, I'm allergic. I've had enough, thank you. Whatever line I'm using. But for me it's not an issue at all. I'll sit at the bar with the brothers or my sisters and shoot the breeze with them while I'm having my Mountain Dew or whatever beverage I'm feeling like. Now if I'm feeling fancy I'll have a Red Bull Cranberry [laughs].
02:37:49ROWELL: Nice mocktail, huh? Um, you talk about, if you want to. You talked about, you know, your Plan A's, your plan B's, even C's, that kind of thing. Would you like to talk a bit about what that consists of for you? What those structures are like?
02:38:01FAUSTER: Well, for me, it may be as simple as, I mean, sometimes it kind of can grate on me a little bit yet. That happens to every person who's in recovery, just when you get that. And not necessarily, oh, I want to drink, but it's like, man, this is so annoying. And that's happened to me on occasion. But instead of sitting at the bar, maybe it's as simple as moving to a table and sitting with the people who are all having soft drinks. Maybe it's something as simple as if it's an event where there are several different areas. Just moving, just moving away, going, hey, going I'm gonna go look at this booth now. Or if I really need to. Like a meeting, stay for the meeting. Oh, I can't stay afterwards. I mean I don't have to make excuses for taking care of myself. Nobody does. And if I have to leave, I leave. That's what that [inaudible] looks like to me.
02:39:20ROWELL: Thank you for sharing that.
02:39:21ROWELL: Sure.
02:39:22ROWELL: So kind of in that vein here, considering your own experiences, what advice might you give to another veteran who might be struggling with their own mental health or their relationship with alcohol as an example.
02:39:43FAUSTER: Uh, advice, for myself, I talk to 'em a little bit first. See where they're at. Maybe they're not in a really dark place. Maybe they just need somebody to listen to. And I do that. It's interesting. In my recovery, I've learned that people seem to trust me with their dark and with their heavy stuff that they might not necessarily share with another person. And oftentimes, it's while I'm on Facebook or through a text and because they share my number pretty regularly. And they just wanna talk. I'm struggling. Hey, you don't drink, right? And I talk to 'em. I ask them where, I asked them do they want help, because not everybody does. And through having that kind of initial conversation, you get a feel for that, or at least most people get a fee for that. And I've also been certified in two different suicide prevention workshops, classes, seminars. Out of the QPR [question, persuade, refer], as well as RACE [recognize, ask, care, escort] suicide prevention. And in using those skills. Well, you say you don't want to drink anymore. What do you think about, have you ever talked to a counselor? And I start asking questions of what they did. No, I hadn't thought of that. How could they help me? I share a personal story about how that helped me. Sharing of yourself is just a little bit of your dark stuff and how you got through is so powerful. And, um, if, um, just leaving that line of communication open because maybe they're not ready today, but maybe you'll get another message maybe you will get a phone call or and that's happened to me. And at least a couple of 'em anyway, are living better lives for themselves. And that's exciting. Now, in these crisis calls, I also have to take care of myself. And I have to realize that not every crisis call is going to end up with great results. We've lost a couple. Very small group of people and myself consistently reaching out, reaching out, reaching out group messages, reaching out calling, you're doing welfare checks. I've called to Florida. I've call to New York. I have called to Arizona. I called to several different states and law enforcement is very very helpful in doing welfare checks. Um. Sometimes they haven't ended up well. Sometimes we end up hearing that they they finished what they said they were going to do and that's very sad, but there have been a lot of successes, but I still remember I still remember those brothers every now and then I'll get a post, especially recently. Yeah, good buddy of ours named Eddie lived in Michigan. He was a vets suicide outreach person who did not outreach himself. So a lot of us tried to help him and he passed away five years ago, a couple of days ago. I still have his messages, and you know, I just remember them, and I try, you might not be able to save them all, but you can help save one. That's what I do. Oftentimes it's just talking. Maybe pointing them in the right direction if they're ready. I will Google a number for anybody [laughs]. Oh, well, have you thought of what you're going to [inaudible]? We're supposed to be there for each other. I think that's one of our primary missions for anybody, be there for each other. And that's how I do that.
02:45:02ROWELL: You mentioned that you have an adoptive son, and that he is also a vet. Would you like to tell me a bit about him?
02:45:12FAUSTER: I met his dad. He's a friend, I was already involved with Andy, but he, that's a long story. But his name is Connell. I met him on Facebook, he was in a group, a vet group that quite a few of my friends were in, and I got to know the guy. He was uh. Said he was from Scotland. Said that he served SAS [Special Air Service], which is like their ranger version of the special forces for the British military. He had a son and uh let's just say he portrayed himself the way he wasn't at all, which I learned after the fact.
02:46:13ROWELL: This is the friend who is the father to your adoptive--?
02:46:17FAUSTER: Yeah. He's a single dad. Mike is estranged from his mom. Mom was even, mom was very abusive. Not necessarily physically, but she allowed a lot of stuff to happen that Connell, his dad didn't know. She allowed a lot of sexual abuse. Towards Mike. But anyway, so Connell ended up with custody. Got to know Connell through Facebook, and on a whim I decided to call him, because he was, oh, he was struggling, so I called him, or I asked him if I could, because by then we were chatting back and forth on messenger. He said he was terminally ill.
02:47:14ROWELL: And you met through a veterans' group?
02:47:15FAUSTER: Mm-hmm. And, um, and he said he wasn't feeling well, and so asked if I could go. And so I did, and I got to talk to the son, and Connell spoke with him. From what I've learned now, not a very good Scottish accent, but to me, from who lived primarily her whole life in Wisconsin. What the hell do I know? I got to talk to Mike, and we formed a friendship and he's terminally ill, he's living in a really unsafe environment, and I learned about this unsafe environment where he and Mike were living. And so we, I talked a lot to Andy about him. Andy knew all about him, we invited him to come and live with us. Because he said that he had only a short time left. And we invited him to come live with us. We live in Eagle, two little towns over from here. And he is one that we couldn't save. He shot himself in our woods.
02:48:39ROWELL: Sorry.
02:48:40FAUSTER: Thank you, that was hard. And he had a son, and one of the promises that we made to him, well, we thought he was just terminal and not going to end his life, was that we would help take care of his son. And by then, I mean, Mike was already in the Army. He was in basic training when his dad ended his life. Making that call to Red Cross, and then having to share with Mike what had happened that evening. It was one of the more hellish days I've had in my life. But so yeah, we adopted Mike into our life. It turned out that Connell, this guy from Michigan, who was mentally ill himself, took on a different identity, one that he identified with. His family is from Scotland. He was not born there and he did not live there except for a couple of years when was just tiny. His dad was serving. He did serve. Turned out he did serve, he was in the Army.
02:50:02ROWELL: In the U.S. Army?
02:50:03FAUSTER: Yeah.
02:50:04ROWELL: Huh.
02:50:05FAUSTER: But yeah, Mike served in the Army, kind of got broken up. He was never deployed, but his body training, he always pushed himself. I don't know how many times Mike is telling me on the phone, because we talked a lot when, after basic training because by then we had already decided that he was going to be my son, and I was going to be his mom, and we called each other like that, we have nicknames and everything. But um, pushed himself. Mike, gotta get yourself on sick call. Gotta go see somebody about that. Okay, I will. Well, then he pushes himself too hard. He's, he's got out at 80 percent because of all of that. Along with PTS. It's very difficult for him to, he lost three guys in his company all within the month after his dad. So yeah, that wasn't good because unfortunately, as we know, suicide and active-duty troops is on the rise as well.
02:51:24ROWELL: Oh, that was the situation?
02:51:25FAUSTER: Yeah.
02:51:26ROWELL: Okay.
02:51:31FAUSTER: But, uh, yeah, so that's how Mike joined our family. It's not official, it's not legal, it just is.
02:51:40ROWELL: It's part of your life and your story as an individual and as a veteran. Is Mike's, so Mike isn't in the Army anymore, he's a veteran.
02:51:49FAUSTER: Right,
02:51:51ROWELL: Yeah. You said he's on 80 percent.
02:51:54FAUSTER: He lives up in Manitowoc.
02:51:55ROWELL: Okay. Do you know what units he served with out of curiosity?
02:51:59FAUSTER: Yeah, he was at the 101st with the 2502.
02:52:07ROWELL: And where was that?
02:52:09FAUSTER: At Fort Campbell.
02:52:10ROWELL: Okay. Gotcha. All right. Thanks for sharing.
02:52:13FAUSTER: Sure.
02:52:15ROWELL: All right, so we've talked a lot about, you know, personal side, all these elements of veteran involvement. Would you like to talk a little bit about your civilian career that you've embarked on after you left the National Guard, your professional career?
02:52:34FAUSTER: Well, for many years, I, in fact, I'm still trying to find my way. But when I was busy drinking, I bounced around an awful lot, because that's kind of the nature of the beast. I wasn't one of those active alcoholics who could maintain a job for more than maybe a couple of years. And they were all kind of --. I don't know, I got in wherever I could, usually in the service industry, somewhere or the other. After I sobered up, I did some housekeeping. Did that for quite a few years, actually. Last housekeeping job I did, I worked for a contractor at the Department of Homeland Security field office in Milwaukee. I was there for six years. And it didn't work out. Plus moving an hour away. That was kind of, kind of a strain. At least on my pocketbook, but wasn't getting a whole lot of support from my employer there, which was unfortunate. She's a good person, but in some ways, I mean, we all have good and we all have bad, but it just didn't work for me. But since then, since leaving there, I'll take care of my mom, who died in 2018 from Alzheimer's. She died on Mother's Day. That was hard. We found out on Facebook. That sucked. More words than I could say. More words I'm going to say here. We knew she was sick, obviously. I mean, I was there for her last rites and things like that. So, yeah, my job was being available to my mom. She lived up in Appleton so she could be closer to her sisters, but going back and forth and helping to get her house ready for sale and things like that, that was a big job. And thankfully we were in a financial position at home that I could do that and not work. And then once she was, she passed away, it was time for me to take care of a lot of physical things. I'm having an MRI tomorrow. It seems like it never ends. I've had quite a few surgeries, I've been for different reasons. I have a few autoimmune, autoinflammatory nasties that are running around in my system that took some time to get diagnosed. I have doctors who actually listen. That's huge, especially for women. Man, that pisses me off. Either you're too young or you're a too young and you're woman. I was like, hey, I think we know our bodies, but whatever. Guess you have the degree. But anyway, I've got a good health care team around me now, but I've shopped hard for them. And things are managed, except my back, and we'll find out more about that. But I really haven't gotten back into the workforce. Now, I did work a seasonal job just this past Christmas or this past how the winter holiday season. I worked for Marcus Theater Corp. and [inaudible] Corp in the sales department and did product fulfillment and survey reports for the customer service and the sales teams. I really enjoyed doing that and I'm hoping to get into the workforce again. A concern I have is I'm 55, and I don't know if that I may be getting aged out. But I don' know we'll see. I know that there's something out there and in the meanwhile my life is pretty busy so and financially, we're okay to do that, but be helpful for me to be working again for our finances but for my own personal well-being as well.
02:57:39ROWELL: If you don't mind me asking, are any of those health concerns that you're dealing with now or any of them connected to your service?
02:57:46FAUSTER: No.
02:57:47ROWELL: Okay. Yeah. Post-service stuff.
02:57:48FAUSTER: Yeah.
02:57:49ROWELL: Gotcha. So, um.
02:57:55FAUSTER: Oh my God.
02:57:56ROWELL: I know. We're almost--.
02:57:57FAUSTER: So many pages.
02:57:58ROWELL: We're almost done. I promise you.
02:58:01FAUSTER: Do you mind if we take a break?
02:58:03ROWELL: Absolutely. All right. So, this ends this segment. Here we go. This begins segment four of the interview with Lisa Fauster on March 15th, 2023. So Lisa, in your personal opinion, what areas do you feel veterans are currently very well cared for and areas that they could be better cared for?
02:58:28FAUSTER: I think mental health is getting better, at least I hope so. I know that there are so many other organizations out there besides let's say the big ones like the Legion or the VFW or those that are really working on helping with mental wellness you know for vets and helping them to become aware of what is available out there for them and I think that's a really great thing to see because if a person might not necessarily feel as though that they can receive the care that they think they need through the VA system so it's nice to see so many other places that they can go to get that help. I hope that the communication between, let's say, receiving VA care versus receiving care on your own, let say, with any outside provider, I would love to see that become better. I know they're working on that, but I think they need a lot more work in that area. Because I know for myself, let's say I ended up needing VA care for I don't know what for reason but any reason and all of a sudden I can't see any of my other, like I mentioned, I have a pretty good health care team around me now. All of a sudden, they're not available to me because the government won't help facilitate that easier. There seems to be a pretty big divide there, yet, and that's very unfortunate. I think that hampers. It hampers some vets anyway, especially vets who live in a more rural area who have to take like a three-hour trip to get to a VA center, that's B.S. So that definitely needs improving, whether it be mental health or physical health, health is health. So I really want to see that improve for our veterans. It really peeves me off to no end that. our Vietnam veterans, the Blue Water Navy, for instance, why did it take until the 2020s for them to receive recognition so that they can receive benefits and a more comprehensive health program for them, especially for our Vietnam vets. They're still dragging their heels on stuff. And they gave a lot for a long time, and the treatment that they received when they came back home was pretty crappy. And unfortunately, we're losing a lot of our Vietnam vets because of Agent Orange and things. I want to see better care for them. I think our younger vets from Global War and Terrorism, I think they're receiving much better care. And I'm glad to see that. But there's still that divide that needs to be addressed. It needs to solved because there are vets out there who are ill for one reason or another and they deserve the care that they were promised. And that's my big issue. But yeah, I do see, it's glad to see more inclusivity. But I also know people who belong in some of those minor groups who disagree with some of the things that is going on. Where some things are being allowed that they think should be allowed afterwards, after service, that it might get in the way of just the mission. But I guess that's up to each person to decide, I don't know. In some ways I think the political correctness is, and the wokeness has made our readiness less than it needs to be, especially as certain threats are really kicking and screaming these days. It really peeves me to no end that because of the pandemic, tens of thousands of our troops were just summarily kicked out when they were really excellent people serving. And now they're not eligible for any benefits. I mean, what the heck is going on there? They signed that check just like any of us vets did. That's just my personal opinion. I know others have other feelings on that. The dumbing down of the requirements doesn't serve us well either. Oh yeah, and I know it's always kind of been that way, either, especially in Vietnam's era, either you do your, either you go to jail or you join the Army. Now I remember, I've heard of some of my Vietnam brothers who have said, yeah that was my option, so I joined, or joined the military, whatever branch, and I know that's I don't know that that necessarily still goes on today, but, um, now it's like you can have a record and you can join. What did you do? Uh, it's just, I don' know, um. Physical requirements have changed. I know that as far as social relationships and things, some things need to change, but don't do it at the... At the detriment of our military. Whether that's politically correct or not, that's just my thoughts.
03:06:34ROWELL: This is kind of a big question, and you're open to kind of interpret it however you wish. But so, reflecting on your term of service with the National Guard, and also if you want also your service as a veteran here, now, what does that mean for you in the present? What is most meaningful to you about it?
03:06:56FAUSTER: Wow. For me. Most meaningful, God, being able to continue to serve as a veteran, knowing that I'm still part of something greater than myself. When I was serving in the Guard. And that I learned during basic training. Being a part of something greater. There's something very personally satisfying about that. That we're all there for one of each other, and whether you're serving in the Guard or whatever branch, and later on as a veteran. I think that's huge. Today I take pride in that I did serve, and I've forgotten forgiven myself, forgotten, for some of the transgressions from before. And part of the reason that I joined the Legion was to somehow make up for that to be a better troop, even though I'm a vet, or being a better troop for the Legion. I think I've made up for that now. But yeah, it's just being there for each other, helping the next vet, helping community where we can. All about service, so yeah, I think that's my big takeaway.
03:08:58ROWELL: Do you have anything to say to young women who may be considering joining the Armed Forces today?
03:09:05FAUSTER: Oh my gosh. Do it! You know, there's so much wide open to women of today in joining the military. Gosh, there's so many educational opportunities. It's not like in the old days where. Or women were looked down as less than in some way, or less qualified, or that the our male counterparts would look down upon, or not expect as much. When there were incredibly talented women who were serving in the military back when I have served and that there are stories about sexual abuse that go on. I want them to remember that their brothers go through it as well. And that in today's military, when things like that are brought into the light that is taken very seriously and that whomever did that to you could very well possibly be kicked out. That the armed services has your back should that occur to you. But there's an incredible opportunity. And that we need their young, their fresh ideas and we need their strengths. But we need their resiliency. We need their determination. The younger people of today, man, they've had to face a heck of a lot more than I ever had to. And there are so many really great young adults out there who have, because of all of the serious things that they've gone through in growing up in today's day and age, they have the opportunity of just taking all of those skills and transferring it over and becoming incredible members of the military. So just do it.
03:11:52ROWELL: All right, is there anything that we did not yet cover that you'd like to discuss?
03:12:00FAUSTER: Gosh. I really don't think so.
03:12:03ROWELL: We covered a lot.
03:12:04FAUSTER: Yeah, we did.
03:12:06ROWELL: Well, then thank you so much for your time today, Lisa. This concludes the interview with Lisa Fauster on March 15th, 2023.
03:12:18FAUSTER: I do have one thing.
03:12:19ROWELL: Yeah, sure.
03:12:20FAUSTER: I just wanted to thank the Wisconsin Veterans Museum for being a real driver in making sure that the I'm Not Invisible campaign is still continues on, of course with the VA's help with that as well. But this is such an incredible opportunity. And I can't wait for next week's event.
03:12:45ROWELL: It's the unveiling of the UWM interviews and banner. All right. Thank you for that.
03:12:52FAUSTER: Yeah, thank you.
03:12:53ROWELL: All right, this concludes that interview on March 15th, 2023.
