Confessions of a PARA: Tom Pardoe
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
We had a few bits robbed off us. He got his knees hit with the bat, stabbed him in the leg with a kitchen knife.
Would you have gone to prison if you didn't go to the army?
You're learning how to soldier. You're learning how to bayonet. Your testosterone is high. I wanted to go there and I wanted to come back and be able to say that I'd killed someone.
A human grenade.
You're a bit of a hand grenade on the piss. You're going to get into a fight. You're going to get yourself hurt. You're going to get nicked and potentially really hurt someone else.
There's a big difference between being angry and being capable.
I think I come back with, I was like 17 grand, four grand on my teeth. And the rest of that money was in the slots.
How much debt did you get into it?
About 20 grand, because I got more loans out. Is it worth the gamble?
With all due respect, you're an addict.
Two fellas and a donkey, that was a weird one.
That is a lot of effort to go through to fuck a donkey.
Different cultures.
Yeah, that's why we don't want them here. Tom. Yes. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me. Yeah, you are the future of this country in my eyes, and what you're doing is nothing short of excellent. You went from... A paratrooper in the three paras to a broken man on Civvy Street, basically living back amongst civilians. Start by telling me that story.
It's a long story, so I think we've got a bit of time for it. But first off, thank you for the kind words. It means a lot. But I'm just like everyone else, just like everyone else. And I had a bit of an inspiration as to what it is that we're doing now. And I took action on it. And that's one thing I want to sort of get across on this is the emphasis on taking action. And I first heard about that in a book called The Zero Point. I don't know if you've heard of Dr. Joe Vitale. I've heard of him. The author, absolutely incredible. And he did a book called The Zero Point. And it's on an old Hawaiian healing technique called Ho'oponopono, translated to, I love you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you. And he goes into something on that book called an intention being a limitation.
And when you look at it that way, it really is. Because when I come out the army, I intended to do so many things, let's say save money, stuff like that. And they all just stayed as an intention. I didn't take action. And when you take action, that's when you see results. That's when you see change. And that's one thing I'm really emphasizing to men. My sort of audience at the minute is taking action because, yeah, it's all good and well talking about the problems that we've got. But then when we take action at them, that's when we start to see some change. That's when we start to feel better within ourselves. Yeah, talking's the easy part. Of course, mate.
See, I'm 46. I'm 21 years older than you. So I've got a bucket full of friends that still live in the coulda, woulda, shoulda stage. It's like, well, you should have took action. The only thing you should have done was took action. Not sitting around, sitting there off your tits in someone's kitchen, talking about what you're going to do next week.
I know, I know. And listen, I was in that cycle where it was like, I'm going to do this or I'm going to do that. I want to stop drinking, but I never took action at it. Do you know what I mean?
So tell me about taking action while you joined the paras.
So joining the paras in the first place was... Maybe it was ego-driven, but it was something I always wanted to do when I was younger. I was like... a young lad and I was always obsessed with like the military, the army. My dad was in, he was in the Rimi. You call them crap hats and stuff like that if they're not para-edge. I'm not crazy on all that, but it's like a little sort of army joke that you have. And my dad was in and I was just obsessed with like toy soldiers, with ghillie suits, stuff like that. I remember getting a ghillie suit for me. I think it was like my 10th birthday. I'd be hiding in the bushes, getting my mum to get a video recording of me going, can you see me?
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–8:12
2
How did Tom's childhood and gymnastics shape his early identity and drive to join the army?
8:12–25:26
3
Why did Tom choose the Parachute Regiment and what was basic training like for him?
25:26–32:49
4
How did violence, alcohol and nightlife culture escalate during Tom's teens and army years?
32:49–1:15:59
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Dozen with Liam Tuffs
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