Steve Bunting

I'm not trying to glorify any type of drug use here, but in that Steve that was hurting so deeply, I found something in that.

I found some comfort in marijuana.

And that became kind of my go-to thing throughout high school until I joined the military.

yeah there wasn't much how did it even pop up on your radar yeah well i'll credit it to two things right 9 11. so when i was i think it was my ninth grade year um we're sitting in class when 9 11 happened and um i'm sitting in class i wasn't a good student either i was like you know obviously i had attention issues and didn't really understand why i needed to sit in a desk all day and listen to these people talk about stuff they had nothing it wasn't going to fix what i was going through

But I was sitting in class and I remember the teacher grabs the remote and turns on the TV.

in the corner of the room, one of those old crusty TVs just kind of bolted to the side.

And I got to watch the second Twin Tower come down.

And I was like, dude, what the heck is that all about?

I remember having that feeling like I was angry actually.

And I remember that's one of the fond things I remember that time is that there was like, people were patriotic then.

You know, I kind of miss it.

I would never want another disaster, but like we cared.

Like the American flag meant something.

And it was like, there's a little bit in me that gave me some hope that I could be a part of something that was more than just my stuff.

But, you know, I was still early on in high school and I'm still just trying to make it through that process.

The second thing that kind of motivated me there was my brother.

So as I graduated, he, some Marines came to the school and he did some pull-ups and got a t-shirt.

And I remember he called me and he's like, because at this point we're living with my grandparents at this point.

And he's like, dude, the Marines came.

I got a T-shirt.