Some of you may have noticed that my other website, copycodethree.com, has disappeared.  With my current schedule, there was simply no way to maintain it.  Producing an episode of that podcast easily took about 20 hours or more.  It’s a shame, because it was easily the most popular and successful thing I have ever done on the web.  But, as is true to form with my life, the things I am good at make absolutely no money.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  Gomerville will never make a dime.  But I don’t make my family all sad by spending 20 hours per post to maintain Gomerville.  So Gomerville stays, and Copy Code Three had to go.

So I thought I would take the episodes that were produced for that project and give them a permanent home here.  There is also the possibility that I may make another episode every now and then.  Want to hear a little secret?  I have a pile of raw audio that was recorded months ago, just waiting to be edited into a new episode.  Somewhere in that pile of audio Chris Montera starts to cry while telling a story.  Priceless!  So, while Copy Code Three will never be published in any regularity, it may raise itself up from the depths of the grave whenever I get a bit of free time and decide to dust off my mixing board.  Keep in mind though that I am a busy guy.  No promises.  (But if anyone wishes me to send them a looped mp3 of Montera crying, simply send me an email.  I will be happy to oblige.)

So here is the first episode of Copy Code Three.  Since this was the pilot, this was the roughest episode from a technical standpoint.  I was still learning the ropes of audio editing in the style of This American Life which was the inspiration of the show.  To be honest, I failed miserably.  But the content of the interview is fantastic, so please excuse my sophomoric editing skills.  (Things improved by about 1000% by the next episode and I hit that one out of the park.  That will be posted later.)

And since this is being re-published I thought I would take a moment to give the reader some more back story as to this episode.  This man’s story is the main reason why I started this project.  What happened to him was simply amazing.  Its one of those things where people say, “Hey, you need to write that down,” or “somebody should do a story about that guy.”  So strong was my urge to document this that I actually started a website and a new podcast.  The story was so compelling that instead of simply telling him that he should record this somehow, I put my money where my mouth was and went to great lengths to do it for him.

He came over to my house one afternoon with his fiancé and we recorded the raw audio in my dining room.  It was not much of a studio.  If you listen closely you can hear my wife walking in and out of the room.  His fiancé sat in the next room and sat in shocked silence as he gave up things during that interview that she had never heard before.  During a break I found her misty eyed.  I was surprised that I was able to get him to talk about these things.  He is a very private man.  And I am honored that he allowed me to document this.

Anyway, his story should be required listening for any young person thinking about joining the military or getting into EMS.  It is also an interesting study in the effects of our hawkish military policies and reactions to 9/11.  He is still a conservative and I am of course a rabid liberal.  However, we find a very common ground with this subject and he would be the first to warn his fellow conservatives of the dangers of our foreign policies.  And I would be the first to preach to you about my disappointment and disillusionment at the current administration’s inability to change all of this.  Despite the fact that we come from very different political ideologies, a common ground is reached very quickly which I think is something quite rare nowadays.  If more people from different sides of the aisle were able to communicate like this, I truly believe our nation’s policies would be much more realistic and effective.  Listening to his story will make you think long and hard about what happens to our men and women who go overseas.

But this story goes beyond politics.  This is a very human story from a very human perspective, which is why I pursued it so vigorously.  What happened to him after this interview is also fascinating and I have often thought that I would like to go back and record another session.  He has left EMS and has found much relief and happiness.  This is another theme in Gomerville which continues to dismay some of my readers.  No one is trying to accuse me of undermining EMS yet, but it is only a matter of time before someone makes the claim.  Be warned though, while I continue to find people who were excellent providers and well suited to the field find happiness and release after leaving, I will continue to discuss it here. At any rate, please enjoy this humble offering and forgive my first attempts at editing.  In the end, you get what you paid for.

Here is the original description of the episode:

Episode #1: A Soldier’s Story
by Buck Feris on Jul.12, 2009

The first episode of Copy Code Three tells the story of a paramedic who gave up his patch, and went to the Middle East to avenge the death of four family members. He was left for dead during a mortar attack, woke up three days later, and was told that he would be disabled for the rest of his life. Over the last few years he has confounded his doctors and become a paramedic again.

Music in this episode courtesy of Music Alley from Mevio:

“Ain’t No Reason” by Brett Dennen
“Fading” by Al Stravinski
“Dark Eyes” by Blue Jar
“Bagdad” by Don’t Be a Stranger
“Is That a Riot” by Youngblood Brass Band
“Passage to Papeete” by Kahuna Kawentzmann

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