Paul Wayman (PW) and Nathanael Roberti (NR)
PW: I did two combat deployments to Iraq, and I would be sleep deprived for months. I would remember drinking just to sleep. And after I got back from my first deployment, I didn’t sleep for three days. I went to one of my seniors and I was like, ”What do I do?” And he handed me a bottle of rum and a PBR, and he was like, ”Here you go.”
NR: For me it started off with just bar fights. I pulled a knife on four individuals, that’s why I ended up in front of a judge. I mean, we’d come back from these deployments and I just felt like, I cannot relate to anybody here in the United States anymore.
PW: The disconnect is huge.
NR: Yeah. Basically what the world’s telling us is, we trained you one way to go kill bad guys, and now that you’re out, you have got to completely change your way of thinking. And how do you do that? How do you switch that around?
PW: Right.
NR: So how did you end up being in front of a judge?
PW: We got word that one of our buddies was killed in Afghanistan. Went to a few bars, was driving home and I got pulled over. I was obviously highly intoxicated. I had my .45 right there and the police found the firearm. And I really needed the help because you walk though a river you’re going to come out wet. It’s funny because I’ve noticed we’ve always thrived in hardship.
NR: Yeah.
PW: But whenever things are easy…
NR: We’re our own worst enemies because we don’t live the quiet normal life.
PW: Yep.
NR: And that’s why we hit it off in the beginning. And we told our war stories to each other.
PW: Right.
NR: And it was important for us to have that relationship because, you and I, we kind of helped each other through.
PW: If you wouldn’t have been here, I do not know how I would have got though this shit.
NR: But now, here we are a year later dude, and I’m running a successful business now. I’m about to be running another business with you. And um, without getting too, you know, mushy, I’ve seen you grow, man. And uh, you know, it’s a good thing to see.