Barbie nods, perking up a bit at the question. "Yes, Sir. Well, I was until about a year ago. My father insisted I come up, to the point of bringing politics into it, so I could be home with my mom as her health declined. It was a moot point by the time I go home," he says, shrugging a bit dismissively though it's a sore and painful spot he doesn't prod at often.

"Before that though I was special forces with the U.S. Army and did two tours in Afghanistan and around the middle East. You?" Most who asked like that had been there done that themselves, or so he's hoping.