MAJ (R) Phil Weaver

MAJ (R) Phil Weaver sat down with me for Heroes I Know. Eighty minutes. He tells of interviewing the Taliban. Sunday school first. Then the tape.

South Florida. Sports. Fishing. Did not care all that much about school unless something interested him. Nobody in the family had ever gone that way. Then a chance to become a member of the 82nd. All five of his hands went straight up. Airborne school. First Gulf War with First Brigade. A door would open. He would jump in.

Afghanistan. Called into the hospital. Mental health evaluation. He sat down in a cell almost knee to knee with a man in shackles. Two guards at the shoulders. Years later his jaw dropped. Same man. Doha. Part of the Taliban delegation negotiating with the Americans.

OIF-1. Promoted to first lieutenant in Iraq. Daughter Darcy. Medic. National Guard. Nursing school on her own GI Bill. Last semester. The slideshow is still here. The conversation is the story. Thank you, sir. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.