Headstrong Project, Bronze Star and Swimming in Poop - Dustin Shryock

Barracks Stories

Dustin is from a military family, a family whose service in the military goes all the way back to the revolutionary. While his dad doesn’t really want him to join the military because there was a heated war going on back then, he always knew that he wanted to join the military even if he’s unsure as to why exactly.

One conversation with a general definitely stuck to him when the general said that joining the military is going to be both the greatest and the hardest thing that he could ever do. In 2003, he dropped out of college to join the military and serve. He also shared how the events on 9/11 affected his family and the way he sees the world

In this episode, Dustin also talked about his experiences in the bootcamp and shared what he believed gave him strength to continue. He also willingly narrated some funny stories that he had from his deployments. One of which is when a comrade ended up swimming in a pool of poop.

Listen until the end if you want to know what life was like for him after the military and how he made the decision to go back to school and finish what he started instead of staying in the military. Dustin also mentioned how big of a help Headstrong was for him and how it kind of pull him out of the war path of self-destruction.

“When you’re a stupid 19 year old, you think glory is a thing you need. Hmh, not really. But hell, go get it anyway” [6:48]

“Every little lesson was the key lessons.. The tiny things…” [36:17]

“I need to go to school. I said to myself, I can always come back anytime. The army will take me. I just need to get school done. I just need to hit that next chapter, I need to finish what I started.” [46:15]

“There is a yin and yang for anything that you do. That is the give and take.” [48:06]

“Just because you take the uniform off doesn’t mean you stop serving your country.” [1:00:55]

“You can’t go back. You can only go forward in a more positive way than you did yesterday.” [1:02:50]

“There are things that’s gonna fuck your day up. Please ignore those. Get the bigger goal in your head and don’t drop it” [1:03:12]

“Do the right thing today even when no one was looking. Do the right thing. Do the right thing when it’s hard… especially when it’s hard. Do that.” [1:07:56]

“Don’t feel sorry for yourself if you don’t have to and just try to do what’s gonna make you better.” [1:09:13]