Nicholas Nunlist

I've had my hat since 1992. We've been there and back again a few times to rank the top of the demolitions expert in the military. I served with the 82nd airborne. This is my flag, my infantry deal. You want me to rank? That's about it on there. And I'm starting to see light through it. Believe it or not. The one feather’s an owl feather, and the other feathers are hawk. I just picked them up laying around, and they've been there for—I've had to have 32 years.

A couple years ago, I went to the flea market looking for a new hat, and the lady selling hats told me she wouldn't sell me one. I said, why is that? She said, because that hat on my head wasn't going to last as long as what she could sell me. The hat on my head was going to last longer than what she could sell me. It comes from Australia. It's Kakadu brand. When they make them, they soak them in motor oil for a year and then they dry them for a year. And until I started getting wear and tear, I never got my head wet. Keeps my hearing aid dry too.”

Listen to Nicholas’s story below: