Lt Col John J McBreaty USA Part 2
This podcast episode delves into the multifaceted narratives of veterans, emphasizing the significance of storytelling as a therapeutic endeavor for those who have served. We provide a platform for veterans to articulate their experiences, transitions, and the myriad opportunities presented to them through various nonprofit organizations. Our esteemed guest, Colonel Mack, shares insights into his writing journey, highlighting his collaboration with fellow veterans to document their stories and foster a supportive writing community. The discussion also touches on the profound impact of mentorship and shared experiences in navigating post-military life. Ultimately, this episode serves as a testament to the resilience of veterans and the importance of their voices in shaping a collective narrative of healing and growth.
Takeaways:
- This podcast serves as a crucial platform for veterans to share their experiences and stories.
- The importance of mentorship and support within the veteran community is emphasized throughout the episode.
- Listeners are encouraged to explore various writing opportunities as a therapeutic outlet for veterans.
- The discussion highlights the significance of community involvement in supporting veterans' transitions to civilian life.
Host: Aaron Seibert
Retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer (FMF), Combat Wounded Veteran
Transcript
Hey, how's everybody doing?
Speaker B:Welcome to Combat Vet Vision.
Speaker A:Hey, this is a place, a platform for our veterans, our combat veterans, sponsor, supporters, volunteers and those that really care just wants to get on here and talk about, hey, what they're doing, how things are going for our veterans, for them to tell their story, their transition, how that, how that's going, how it went, opportunities that arise and a lot of non profit organizations that are doing incredible things.
Speaker A:There's always a lot, a lot of different things going on in our lives.
Speaker A:A lot of different amazing opportunities that can show up.
Speaker A:You don't know necessarily how to navigate some of that stuff.
Speaker A:This, this podcast kind of gives kind of perspective and some different insights as to how that's being used, how that's being resourced, and all kinds of other things that are important for our veteran community.
Speaker A:Hey, but my guest today and, and I don't have my co host today.
Speaker A:JB Brown is out.
Speaker A:Chef, jb, world renowned chef.
Speaker A:You know, he's part of the Veterans Transition Resource center and I am in the Veteran Transition Resource center studios today.
Speaker A:However, he's not with us because he, he just uh, he lost his voice today.
Speaker A:So he said, hey, hey, doc, you got it on your own today.
Speaker A:So here, here I am, uh, holding it down and I got Colonel Mack back on deck.
Speaker A:This is part two.
Speaker A:So if you want to see Colonel Mack again, he, uh, did a part prior podcast with me.
Speaker A:He, our podcast evolved into a book that he wrote, Survivor's Guide to, to Transition, whole bunch of cool things like that.
Speaker A:But he writes books.
Speaker A:He writes books all the time.
Speaker A:He loves writing.
Speaker A:He has a writings club, all kinds of stuff.
Speaker A:Colonel Mack, how you doing, brother?
Speaker A:Good to have you on deck.
Speaker C:Hey, it's good to see you again, Chief.
Speaker A:Yeah, you've done 10 minute segments with me.
Speaker A:You, I mean, 10 minute segments, not 10 seconds, that's a quick time, but 10 minute segments.
Speaker A:You know, you've, you've sent me to some of your, your, your, your deals and hanging out with you, talking to veterans and really getting the inspiration of writing out there to be a real epic opportunity.
Speaker A:So talk about, you know, you, you, you can always go back and see his other other stuff, but what do you got going on now and what's going on with you and give a quick brief of your, your history and, and all the things that you've been doing and, and where we're at now.
Speaker C:Well, Chief, again, it's humbling to be, you know, a guest on your show once again and it's a Real honor.
Speaker C:And the, the book that Chief and I collaborated on is this was our first podcast together.
Speaker C:And I got the idea to, to turn it into a book because it was honestly that that podcast was so inspirational to me and to other veterans.
Speaker C:And I just saw people, dozens and dozens of people tuning into that podcast.
Speaker C:And I said, you know, we got to get the message out.
Speaker C:And you've had some traumatic experiences, your military, civilian careers.
Speaker C:You know, I wouldn't say it's traumatic, you know, situation, but I've had some ups and downs.
Speaker C:And if you read any of my memoirs, you'll, you'll certainly attest to that.
Speaker C:Some real challenges in combat with a very challenged commanding officer that we were just forced to work with.
Speaker C:I've got leadership books written about that subject.
Speaker C:But anyway, this book I really want to stress to your audience because this was written for their, for your audience.
Speaker C:This is written for veterans and it's your story and my story.
Speaker C:And it's brief.
Speaker C:If you look, it's only, it's only about 75 pages.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:And it's like $2 or something on ebook.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker A:And it's like, yeah, 3.99.
Speaker A:Yeah, 3.99 or 9.
Speaker A:$9.
Speaker A:$9 For the, for this.
Speaker C:I made it 9.99 for the paperback so that it'd be affordable.
Speaker C:And I'll be honest, Chief, I go to the VA and, and I'll buy a dozen of these copies and hand them out and I put them in the lobby, you know, for them to read.
Speaker C:And they always, when I show up, return, they're always gone, so somebody's reading them.
Speaker C:But it's, it's talks about your transition and my transition from the military experience.
Speaker C:We both were career lifers, you know, to becoming civilians.
Speaker C:And that whole shock, like, what the heck are we going to do with ourselves?
Speaker C:And we address all those issues.
Speaker C:And that's kind of my, my mantra and what I've come to terms with in my post military career is, you know, I stumbled through, through several VA support programs, I stumbled across a mentor.
Speaker C:That's Andreas Kosak from Cal State San Bernardino.
Speaker C:He was a former professor there and he has started a group called Written by Veterans.
Speaker C:And all these books are resolved.
Speaker C:And I mean, I'm not the only veteran doing this.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:He has been instrumental in creating an environment where veterans can share their stories with the written word.
Speaker C:And he helps them polish it and get it formatted so that they can self publish.
Speaker C:And we do Amazon, kdp, Kendall Dryer Publishing, which is Very user friendly.
Speaker C:They set it up so that just about anybody, if you have the willpower to do the work to publish a book and they have the tools.
Speaker C:So over the last several years he's taken me under his wing, he's trained me, and now I am passing on that information and supporting other veterans with their literary pursuits because it's therapeutic.
Speaker C:It was for me, I wrote these memoirs.
Speaker C:I've got these five.
Speaker C:You asked about the current projects and I'll discuss these at length.
Speaker C:And then if Brian wants to put up, I have the screenshot of all five books.
Speaker C:That would be a good one to put up.
Speaker C:If you can do that.
Speaker C:The five books, I can put it up on my screen too.
Speaker C:And that gives you an overview of what I'm doing.
Speaker C:And let me, let me do a screen.
Speaker C:Screen.
Speaker C:Can I do a screen?
Speaker C:There it is.
Speaker C:That is what I've been doing over the last two years.
Speaker C:And Memoirs from Operation Iraqi Freedom is my story.
Speaker C:And it started out with a 2, 500 page journal I kept in the combat zone.
Speaker C:And it's written in real time, I mean day to day over a two year period.
Speaker C:I documented as many things as I could from there.
Speaker C:The boring stuff, what we ate for breakfast and lunch and who's.
Speaker C:Who's arguing with who or firefights and loss of life and the serious stuff, you know, everything in between I wrote.
Speaker C: I took that: Speaker C:And I kept editing and cutting down and cutting back.
Speaker C:And now I have this five book series.
Speaker C:And I set it up so that the fourth one, Whispers of Mutiny, would come out on July 4th for the 250th birthday, USA.
Speaker C:And then each one came out a month prior, for example, the burden of command.
Speaker C:And that's my personal story about commanding a battalion and having several soldiers killed in action under my watch and what the ordeals I dealt with in that situation.
Speaker C:That's my story in part four and that comes out this Saturday, which is D Day, December 6th.
Speaker C:So I always release these books on historically significant dates.
Speaker C:Like it was first Firefight I released on 19 May, which was the Battle of Lexington and Concord that started the Revolutionary War.
Speaker C:The shot heard around the world and so forth.
Speaker C:So I think on patrol is Memorial Day.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And we would know what that was.
Speaker C:And then from home to hell.
Speaker C:One of those is Armed Forces Day in there somewhere.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker C:But this project is what I've been doing and I set it up so that there'd be pre sales available.
Speaker C:So all These books, Burden of Command comes out Saturday.
Speaker C:Whiskers and mutiny comes out 4th of July, but you can actually still get them on Amazon, pre sale on the E book and all the others are out.
Speaker C:You get paperback, hardback, ebook, whatever floats your boat.
Speaker C:But this is a soldier, a military officer soldier about going down range.
Speaker C:Took 1,000 soldiers from the California Army National Guard.
Speaker C:We trained them up.
Speaker C:We went to Fort Lewis, Washington, Yakima, Washington.
Speaker C:We went to ntc, Fort Irwin.
Speaker C:All the train up that the army makes you do.
Speaker C:To get qualified to go to combat, you have to pass a test.
Speaker C:You don't pass that test, you don't go to the show.
Speaker C:So we got there and interesting.
Speaker C:In part one, we almost didn't go to the show.
Speaker C:And that tells about part one, tells why.
Speaker C:It's an unbelievable story.
Speaker C:Unbelievable story.
Speaker C:And anyways, that's been my life for the last two years, putting this project together.
Speaker C:And I've got a compilation of all books in one book.
Speaker C:But right now it's at about 640 pages and I, I have to edit it down a little bit and I don't know where to cut.
Speaker C:It's like, you know, it's like my baby.
Speaker C:It's like, where do I cut?
Speaker C:It's tough.
Speaker C:So that's kind of my overview, Chief.
Speaker C:That's what I've been doing.
Speaker A:Hey, that's, that's awesome.
Speaker A:You know, that's, that's always inspiring to talk to you because you're always doing some incredible things, but one of those, some of those incredible things that you're doing is, is hitting up book signing club, you know, book signing areas.
Speaker A:And, and talk about that.
Speaker A:How does that work for you, you know, as a book writer?
Speaker A:How do you book those?
Speaker A:And, and where you, where are you going with all those book signings?
Speaker A:And how does that, how does that feel for you?
Speaker C:What, What?
Speaker C:I might.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:In the Army.
Speaker C:But you're drinking from them folks.
Speaker A:That's a lot of motivation right there.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker C:This is where it all started for me.
Speaker C:And that, and if you read my biography stuff, I tell my story.
Speaker C:I've got dozens of YouTube videos.
Speaker C:I tell my story.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:But anyway, you, you know, Chief, I started out enlisted Marine Corps.
Speaker C:I was.
Speaker C:Did something right.
Speaker C:I got a lucky break.
Speaker C:I commissioned Marine Corps.
Speaker C:And I was downsized in the 90s, meaning, adios, don't need your services anymore.
Speaker C:That was after Desert Storm.
Speaker C:There's a storm.
Speaker C:I got called up for like one day.
Speaker C:That was kind of a sign.
Speaker C:Like, oh, wow.
Speaker C:I guess they don't really need us.
Speaker C:Anyway, I was discharged sometime after that and so I went on.
Speaker C:The army offered me a job, you know and I went up going full time with them and the active Guard Reserve program did a total of 32 years.
Speaker C:And you know, now I'm this fat, you know, happy retired guy.
Speaker C:So you want to.
Speaker C:Your question was about book signings and clubs and all that.
Speaker C:Okay, so if prime was to put up the social media a couple pages I put.
Speaker C:Yeah, this is an example.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:When I started I got into this veteran writing.
Speaker C:You know, I got into a club club.
Speaker C:You know there's groups, writing groups, support groups and written by veterans in Cal State.
Speaker C:We mentoring and we have monthly meetings, bi monthly meetings and zooms and in person that all created like kind of got the wheels in motion.
Speaker C:And you know one book was my master's thesis which, which is that one American history back there that let me see if you get the camera to go back here.
Speaker C:That was my master's thesis and that, that Andreas helped me get that going and then I had a couple others.
Speaker C:Along the way I taught myself the process of writing and editing books.
Speaker C:So everywhere I read dozens of books on how to do this stuff.
Speaker C:I mean I devoured them and a common thread was talking about social media and me coming out of like a cold war career into, you know, war on terror.
Speaker C:When I went in the military, they didn't have computers.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:I mean maybe the fire support guys did and the pilots did, but you know, the growns we didn't have computers and even the offices, we didn't have computers.
Speaker C:We had fax machines and you know, typewriters.
Speaker C:Typewriters and Xerox machines.
Speaker C:So the whole computer evolution occurred under my watch and, and I had a top secret security clearance meaning that the powers to be in the military frowned on any social media.
Speaker C:And when top secret guys they just said, you know, you're not doing social media.
Speaker C:So I didn't know anything about social media but everything I read about promoting your books and stuff, even if you have a traditional publisher, you know that's, that's going to put 10, 20,000 books out in the bookstores.
Speaker C:They don't do a lot to market.
Speaker C:It's up to you, the author.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So I got into social media and that page showed you some of the YouTube videos I've produced.
Speaker C:So I it all manifested itself over time and of years and put out another book and another book and creating a, like an email distribution list and contact list and creating a following.
Speaker C:So I've Been blessed by the grace of God.
Speaker C:I've been blessed that some people like my work and they follow me and they buy my books, they do some do reviews, and one thing leads to another.
Speaker C:So then your work gets out there and they're like, oh, veterans, group hero, that bfw.
Speaker C:Oh, he.
Speaker C:This guy.
Speaker C:He's right.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Okay, you're a colonel.
Speaker C:Oh my God.
Speaker C:Can you come talk to us?
Speaker C:Can you come talk to us?
Speaker C:So it's kind of worked its way up so that like, I, I've done pretty much everything on grasses.
Speaker C:I just do it out of love with my heart and veterans.
Speaker C:But now they're paying me to do these speaking engagements and, you know, it just, it didn't happen overnight.
Speaker C:It took a lot of work.
Speaker C:I mean, I'm over 20 books.
Speaker C:I've got I don't know how many YouTube videos, 60, 70, I don't know.
Speaker C:But it's a labor of love.
Speaker C:I mean, like I mentioned before, it's like a calling, you know, And I think my bottom line is, you know, you were in combat chief, obviously, and you saw probably worse stuff than I did.
Speaker C:But, you know, I mean, there was a time where there was a Humvee.
Speaker C:I was supposed to be in that Humvee.
Speaker C:I got pulled off at the last minute by a just a whacked out commander.
Speaker C:That hum didn't make it to its destination.
Speaker C:So unbeknownst to him, he saved my life.
Speaker C:He didn't even know it.
Speaker C:He didn't intend it, but I mean, you know, those kind of close calls.
Speaker C:You know, one of our first mortar attacks, I mean, I never told my family, but those things landed about 20 yards from me, those kind of experience.
Speaker C:And I'm not saying, hey, I'm the, I'm not a special forces guy, kicking indoors and all that.
Speaker C:I was a major, I was an exo.
Speaker C:I didn't.
Speaker C:I was out there, you know, as.
Speaker C:All the time.
Speaker C:I mean, I went out the truth when I could, but I don't want to come off as like something I'm not because I. I was more of an administrator and a resourcer and a manager.
Speaker C:But I guess what the point of my conversation is, I always ask myself, you know, coming back, you know, I had five guys did not come back home to see their families.
Speaker C:A thousand soldiers, their lives were turned upside down.
Speaker C:Like their families are turned upside down, like mine was.
Speaker C:And their lives always forever be changed.
Speaker C:Any combat veteran knows this.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker C:You know, Chief, it's probably why you and I get along so much.
Speaker C:We have so many of the same common, you know, life experiences.
Speaker C:But I always asked the Lord, I said, you know, why am I here?
Speaker C:And I. I really had a hard time with that for a long time.
Speaker C:It's commonly known as survivor's guilt.
Speaker C:And I think a lot of com.
Speaker C:Most combat vets have it to very varied degrees, but I really came to, like, a realization that I think that the man had a plan for me.
Speaker C:And this is the plan.
Speaker C:Telling the story of my soldiers, telling my story so that the soldiers in my unit, their legacy would live on.
Speaker C:My five to six soldiers, they would never be forgotten.
Speaker C:God bless them.
Speaker C:And my legacy, of course.
Speaker C:And I really wanted my kids and grandkids to know, hey, what did I do all those years in the military?
Speaker C:What did I do when you were gone for two years?
Speaker C:Why is daddy different now than when he came home before he left?
Speaker C:You know, because we were different, man.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker C:Word changes you, okay?
Speaker C:And it's not all for the better.
Speaker C:So anyway, that's kind of my purpose.
Speaker C:And when you have, you know, the Lord on your side, when you have that kind of inspiration, I don't think you can fail, you know, because I. I got the man with me, you know, so that's kind of my.
Speaker C:My story, man, you know?
Speaker A:No, it's.
Speaker A:You know, it's always.
Speaker A:It's always good to hear you talk because you really are able to paint a picture because you write books and.
Speaker A:And in writing, I believe that allows you to be a better storyteller in.
Speaker A:In doing so.
Speaker A:You know, when you spend all that time kind of putting the ink to pen, pen to ink and paper, then, you know, you have to articulate your thoughts and put them down.
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:It's amazing.
Speaker A:And, you know, the other thing that's really cool, too, is that you.
Speaker C:You've.
Speaker A:You captured our podcast in that book, but you're capturing all kinds of cool things.
Speaker A:You have the writing clubs that come together, so that gives you that.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker A:That's a great collaboration because, you know, if you could, you know, talk about that, why.
Speaker A:Why that's so cool.
Speaker A:And you invited me to come down and be a guest speaker 1.
Speaker A:And, you know, we did.
Speaker A:We did it on Zoom.
Speaker A:I was at Warrior Built at the time.
Speaker A:I got to hang out and talk to some of the guys Captain Kelly was on.
Speaker A:You know, like I said before, and it's just amazing that you have these guys that are there to tell their stories, but you're all helping each other out, too, so, you know, talk about why Those clubs are so important.
Speaker A:And what.
Speaker A:What's involved in that?
Speaker C:Well, you know, I forgot to ask you, Brian, if my audio is okay, because I can, I do have earphones.
Speaker C:I can plug in it.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:And, and that's.
Speaker C:Remember we talked about echo or anything?
Speaker A:Well, there's a little bit of the room.
Speaker A:You know, the room sounds like it's hollow.
Speaker A:You need to put like some carpet up on the wall or on the floor.
Speaker A:No, your, Your audio is great, though.
Speaker E:Don't.
Speaker A:Don't worry about that.
Speaker C:And put in the earphones and see if that less echo effect.
Speaker C:And my apologies to the audience, but I just want to make sure we get it right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Is that better?
Speaker C:Well,.
Speaker A:Yeah, it still kind of has that hollow kind of sound, like, like you're in a hall of, you know, stone or something.
Speaker C:In my office and everything's hardwood floors.
Speaker A:Yeah, the hardwood.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker C:That could be it.
Speaker C:So this one's not impacting it?
Speaker A:No, it's, It's.
Speaker A:It hasn't changed at all.
Speaker A:But that's okay.
Speaker A:It sounds great.
Speaker A:It still sounds great.
Speaker A:Yeah, don't worry about that.
Speaker C:My apologies to the audience, but we only had about two minutes before.
Speaker C:Together before we cast off the ship.
Speaker C:So your question is about the writing group.
Speaker C:Support group?
Speaker A:Yeah, the writing group.
Speaker A:And why.
Speaker A:That's so cool.
Speaker A:No, you get.
Speaker A:You got plenty of time.
Speaker A:You got a Good, you know, 15 more minutes or so.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So it started out like, again, I went through several support groups with the VA Guitar for Vets.
Speaker C:I got in after about a one year.
Speaker C:Wait to get in there because I always wanted to play the guitar.
Speaker C:I grew up as a kid playing the trumpet and a little bass guitar in high school, but always wanted to play the guitar.
Speaker C:I was always kind of, you know, the 70s rock and roll guy, Rolling Stones and, you know, Crosby, Stills, all those, you know, my genre.
Speaker C:So I got in that program, got up and running on guitar, and there's another continuation program called Strings.
Speaker C:I got with them.
Speaker C:And then one of the counselors, you know, he.
Speaker C:He said, oh, I wrote a book.
Speaker C:And that's got me all through the writing thing.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker C:So I was in the guitar club support group for veterans and then a writing support group with the veterans.
Speaker C:And then I started a golf support group because I as a golfer and, you know, my whole golf in Iraq story, you can Google that or look at it on cbs.
Speaker C:You know, there's dumb stuff and throw up that CVS image if you would, Brian.
Speaker C:It's kind of a cool experience getting you Know.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Where you're like on a shooting range but hitting a golf ball.
Speaker C:Yeah, there.
Speaker C:There it is.
Speaker C:So that's me building a golf course in the middle of a war.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And I wrote a book called Combat Golf.
Speaker C:And you know, that's.
Speaker C:I'm kind of negotiating publishing deal for that and it tells my whole story.
Speaker C:But if you look on Google or whatever, Stars and Stripes, that story's out there all over the place.
Speaker C:But anyway, so I was in three different support groups right there.
Speaker C:And then they had a Thursday group with writers and I got in with them and then I started searching other writing groups because I just was thirsty for knowledge.
Speaker C:The first couple of years particularly, I was, you know, backlining mission.
Speaker C:How can I get better at this?
Speaker C:And with the purpose, I wanted to get this word out, you know, and I did not want to have to haggle with publishers and all the horror stories.
Speaker C:I hear like two to three years to get one book out, man.
Speaker C:Dude.
Speaker C:And that much time, I put out over a dozen books.
Speaker C:So I don't have time for that because life is too short, as cheap as, you know.
Speaker C:And I know we've seen up close and personal death and destruction.
Speaker C:So you don't.
Speaker C:Life is very precious.
Speaker C:So time is very precious.
Speaker C:So I wasn't going to waste a lot of time with that.
Speaker C:And I don't really care about getting famous or rich or off whatever.
Speaker C:It's not my intent.
Speaker C:So, you know, I'm a retired lieutenant colonel, have some disability issues from the bird bits and all that.
Speaker C:And you can just Google the PACT act.
Speaker C:Pact.
Speaker C:And then my.
Speaker C:I'm like the PACT ACT poster boy, you know, So I couldn't really work a conventional type of situation and that the writing thing was just natural for me.
Speaker C:So a couple different support groups.
Speaker C:I did research and there was.
Speaker C:Oh, there was one in the high desk.
Speaker C:I saw a poster at High Deserts, got this group, California Writers Club.
Speaker C:Oh, and they had one closer to me in Ontario.
Speaker C:So boom, got with them.
Speaker C:They welcomed me, open arms, let me become a guest speaker and they put my publications out.
Speaker C:Every month they have a newsletter.
Speaker C:Then I got the Diamond Valley Writers Guild and Temecula's got a club, so American Writers Society of America.
Speaker C:I mean, so I started getting these different groups because each group I would get information, knowledge, you know, a little piece here, a little piece there, put it all together and I. I finally got with a former commanding general of mine, General Gravett, Peter Gravett, and found out he had been writing his memoirs and books and stuff and he did Battling While Black, which is an interesting take on African American community in war, World War II patent and all that.
Speaker C:It's great, great read.
Speaker C:I contacted him and he had similar pursuits.
Speaker C:And I said, sir, I always wanted to do a writing group with, you know, my colleagues I served with and military guys.
Speaker C:My group, I call the shots.
Speaker C:And he jumped on board.
Speaker C:And then another two star General John Harrell jumped on board.
Speaker C:And then we had a couple retired police chiefs jumped on board.
Speaker C:Got a, got a lawyer jumped on board.
Speaker C:We got a retired, we had doctor.
Speaker C:I mean, they're all, these guys are pretty professional guys, but we have, we have some senior NCOs in the mix.
Speaker C:We commit our major retired types, but everybody's got their foot in the water when riding.
Speaker C:And we have this Mayhew, Lieutenant Colmeu.
Speaker C:He's a retired guy and he's working on a big fictional book.
Speaker C:So I turned him on to my editor, a proofreader, and they're working together.
Speaker C:He's trying to get his first book out.
Speaker C:And anyway, so that's my group and I bring in a guest speaker and you were gracious enough to chime in with our group, that particular group.
Speaker C:And man, oh man, it hit a home run because most of them are older guys, older than me, you know, like the all, almost all Vietnam era guys, you know, and they don't know social media for the most part.
Speaker C:They, you know, it's all foreign to us.
Speaker C:So the fact that you do podcasts and we're doing the webinars and all that, it's like enlightening them to broaden their, their horizons.
Speaker C:So I was so happy to see you get Captain Kelly on, you know, following that, because that means what I'm doing is working, you know, and getting, sharing my knowledge, information to other veterans and help them.
Speaker C:And so now what I'm doing, and I have a couple anthologies.
Speaker C:I don't know if you can see this stack of books.
Speaker C:I have a camera that kind of follows me around.
Speaker C:I don't know if you can see or not.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's not, it's not following you.
Speaker A:No, I could see, so that's okay.
Speaker B:From Home to Hell.
Speaker A:I can see that.
Speaker A:Okay, now I can see the stack.
Speaker C:It's like a stack of books there.
Speaker C:And then I, I, in that stack is two anthologies that I worked on and I'm doing an anthology, another one that I am producing and I'm editing and that's for Loma Linda VA Medical, the hospital, and they have a writer's support group there, and I'm putting a book together for them in anthology, so.
Speaker C:And they're older dudes, some Korean War.
Speaker C:We have a guy that's 93 years old in that group, God bless him, drives himself to the meetings.
Speaker C:I mean, he's amazing guy.
Speaker C:So, you know, all these.
Speaker C:And most of them are Vietnam guys, Vietnam vets and combat vets.
Speaker C:And not that that's a requirement, but that just seems to be who's in our group.
Speaker C:And so I'm working with them and they've taken me under the wing and I've been kind of training them up a little bit on what I know.
Speaker C:And so that's me coming full circle as a author veteran.
Speaker C:Now it's my turn to do what Andreas Kosak's been doing for these many years, helping other veterans do what I do and move on.
Speaker C:And hey, maybe one of them get home run and get famous someday.
Speaker C:And if I had a piece of that, I'm happy, man.
Speaker C:You know, that's great.
Speaker C:But in the meantime, we have a common bond, and that's through the written.
Speaker A:Word, you know, Definitely, definitely Angel Figueroa sending us some messages up there.
Speaker A:She's all happy to see us turn into burning.
Speaker A:She's out in Texas.
Speaker A:She's a veteran that just is involved in her life and really doing some good stuff.
Speaker A:So it's good to see her comments.
Speaker A:Thanks for, for hanging out with us.
Speaker A:And, you know, it's really cool because I feel like there's a lot of, A lot of guys and gals out there would really like to write stories, right.
Speaker A:And they don't know where to go.
Speaker A:And I think, you know, if you want to get in touch with somebody that's going to be able to help you out.
Speaker A:Colonel Max, your guy, you know, he's, he's, he's inspired.
Speaker A:He loves to spend the time, you know, to get involved in these writing clubs.
Speaker A:So many different opportunities, you know, if you could just kind of shed some light on that, any, you know, any final words and any kind of if how people might get a hold of you, that'd be great.
Speaker C:Well, yeah, It's.
Speaker C:John writes history.com or certainly through Chief Siebert, John writeshistory.com and, and your link tree is.
Speaker A:Your link tree has been on the whole time, so.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, the link tree has everything.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's got the Amazon store, it's got some of the social media stuff that.
Speaker C:The most social media I do really is YouTube, because I.
Speaker C:My undergrad degree was in media and Filmmaking and radio, television, film production.
Speaker C:So even though it was 40 years ago, 35 years ago, you know, I had this basic, you know, training in the fundamentals of putting together, you know, show.
Speaker C:So I had one up on a lot of my, you know, contemporary peers out there.
Speaker C:So for me to sit down and crank out a YouTube video of quality, it's.
Speaker C:To me, it's like, becomes second nature.
Speaker C:But when you've done 50, 60 of these, you kind of get the hang of.
Speaker C:It's like writing a book.
Speaker C:That first one was kind of tough.
Speaker C:The second one a little easier, third one easier.
Speaker C:Now I can do it my sleep, you know, I mean, literally.
Speaker C:And I've got a handle on the whole formatting now, which is a big animal.
Speaker C:Usually you have to pay people to do this stuff for you, but Andres has taught me, and I.
Speaker C:These books, I format it myself, you know, ebook, which is a whole different animal in the print archiving, anyway.
Speaker C:It's a whole part of the process.
Speaker C:And to do one book like this, chief, I mean, you can pay people to do this stuff.
Speaker C:It'll cost you anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000 to produce that one book.
Speaker C:And I guess what I do for other veterans is we can do this book together, and It'll cost you 65 bucks for.
Speaker C:For your filing fee with the copyright office.
Speaker C:And that's your.
Speaker C:If you choose to do that, you know, you have to do that.
Speaker C:So with a little effort, you know, I can help a veteran get their story out.
Speaker C:And I have never to take this to the grave.
Speaker C:I've never met a veteran that didn't have stories and good stories, you know, and.
Speaker A:So true.
Speaker C:Could be a vehicle to help them get that story documented, you know.
Speaker A:Definitely.
Speaker A:Hey, well, thanks.
Speaker A:Thanks a lot for.
Speaker A:For being on deck.
Speaker A:Is there any.
Speaker A:Any other things you want to talk about before we go?
Speaker C:No, it's just, you know, like.
Speaker C:Like I said, life is short, and you never know when the Lord's going to throw you a curveball.
Speaker C:So, you know, you shoot straight, you live right, treat other people right, live by the golden rule.
Speaker C:And I think, you know, you're going to leave this world, you know, in a good, good place.
Speaker C:And I have to say, you know, God bless you all and thank you very much for.
Speaker C:For reading my books.
Speaker A:Hey, thanks a lot, Colonel Mack.
Speaker A:I look forward to having you back on deck anytime something comes up.
Speaker A:You know, this show has the opportunity and to help and push and.
Speaker A:And just give you the opportunity to kind of take on meeting somebody that maybe is in the Same way wheelhouse as you or going in the same pathway as you in some direction is going to cross your pathway.
Speaker A:You know, my, my agenda here is to see your pathway and look at it and just go along that pathway with you, because that's your pathway, it's not mine.
Speaker A:I'm not trying to push my pathway on anybody, but our pathways cross and they cross in really cool directions.
Speaker A:You know, I get to speak to veterans all day, every day.
Speaker A:I get to hear their stories, I get to interpret the direction that they are going and help them navigate that a little bit.
Speaker A:That's an important factor in life because I don't think we have enough support in our personal thought processes.
Speaker A:And really, I want to know your, your personal thought processes because part of my job and part of my aura is to be intrusive into your life in a way that says, hey, I care.
Speaker A:I want to make sure that, that if I'm gonna help you, I want to make sure I have a good idea.
Speaker A:I spoke to two veterans this morning.
Speaker A:A veteran helping another family member out, trying to go through stuff.
Speaker A:Another guy that's, you know, just going through some stuff with his, with his, with his, with his marriage, getting ready to bail on that.
Speaker A:And these things are struggles in life, but it's, it's an important factor.
Speaker A:It's great to be part of the PTSD foundation of America.
Speaker A:Well, the Warrior Bill foundation, the Veterans Transition Resource Center, Recon Chief Incorporated, and this podcast, Combat Bad Vision.
Speaker A:So many cool things.
Speaker A:And this, this week I got the opportunity to, you know, last week I had William Estrella come on for a 10 minute segment to just kind of talk about this T shirt that he.
Speaker A:T shirt that he developed that basically says, you know, the struggles in life are real kind of thing.
Speaker A:Nobody fights alone with, you know, a QR code for, for, for donations to the foundation, the PTSD foundation of America, with, with his.
Speaker A:With upland group on one side and the PTSD emblem on the other.
Speaker A:That's just his idea to kind of help navigate some stuff.
Speaker A:And I went to a great event that was put on by Graystar that they're opening a new property down in Hotel Circle in San Diego.
Speaker A:I had a chance to meet him down there and hang out and have this dinner party where I got to give a speech a little bit to some of the Gray Star personnel and other other entities that are in the construction business and management business of apartment complexes.
Speaker A:And I got to spend some time with some people that really cared and to listen to them kind of come out with saying, hey, I struggle with mental health issues and being that this is Mental health Month.
Speaker A:So many incredible things to be able to talk about freely.
Speaker A:But I want to say, you know, one of the most important things, and it's strange, but it's just one of those things that we're always evaluating ourselves and feeling like we might not be worthy of that seat that needs to have you in it.
Speaker A:And I mean this in the most positive way.
Speaker A:I would say it's better for you to get in a seat with the understanding and maybe you can go in there full heartedly saying, hey, if someone needs this more than me, pull me out of the seat.
Speaker A:But I'm gonna sit here until you pull me out of the seat.
Speaker A:Because there's nothing worse than watching 20 seats go by and everybody's looking at it with drool in their mouth.
Speaker A:With hearts to be.
Speaker A:I wish I was sitting there, but I'm saving it for somebody who's missing an arm or a leg or two arms and two legs and measuring that out.
Speaker A:So it's important that we get in those seats and kind of ride that, that train.
Speaker A:But I also got to spend some time with Warrior Built this weekend.
Speaker A:Warbuild foundation had their golf tournament on, on Friday put together by, you know, Tom Luska, good buddy of mine that, that originally put The.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker A:The PTSD foundation of America in SoCal with Tom Gibbons from Darts Only Golf, who's given job opportunities and stuff like that.
Speaker A:We're gonna listen to a video right now.
Speaker A:Him and I shot right on the course hanging out at Warry Built.
Speaker A:And it was a great opportunity.
Speaker A:So stand by.
Speaker B:Hey, this Aaron Siebert again.
Speaker B:You know, thanks for listening to the podcast.
Speaker B:Thanks for being part of it.
Speaker B:I'm here with Tom Gibbons.
Speaker B:Hey, Tom Gibbons is.
Speaker B:Did the podcast with me before, so a lot of things, but he is a.
Speaker B:He's Darts Only Golf, but he's a logistics and entertainment company that basically sets up golf tournaments for multiple different reasons, whether you're a corporate entity, non profit organization, whole bunch of other things.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But he's here today to make sure that the WAR foundation got a chance to do its golf tournament, which is what is today.
Speaker A:20.
Speaker A:20.
Speaker B:26.
Speaker E: Yeah,: Speaker E:Seventh year, right?
Speaker A:Seventh year.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so we're out here doing this golf tournament.
Speaker B:It's an amazing thing.
Speaker B:This helps raise money for the foundation, does a lot of things, but he does it for so many other foundations.
Speaker B:There's plenty of foundations that, you know, trying to make things happen.
Speaker B:They're starting off new.
Speaker B:They may not be as big as this, this particular one, but you know, when you're starting off slow, you got to take the time to kind of develop.
Speaker B:And sometimes it doesn't develop as well as you want, but most of these tournaments turn out amazing.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Tom, just talk about why, why this is.
Speaker B:You've been sponsoring Warrior Built since.
Speaker B:Since the PTSD foundation of America made it into.
Speaker B:To camp into.
Speaker B:Into Warrior Built.
Speaker B:You've been wanting to do something.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker A:You've had this for two years.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker A:This is like a year and a half of.
Speaker B:Of really kind of running these tournaments.
Speaker B:You're running them daily.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker B:He's also hiring our veterans for, you know, part time type work.
Speaker B:You can have a full time, but, you know, with, with the amount of VA appointments and things that you have going on, restrictions to your, you know, disabilities, he's taking that into consideration, allowing you to come out here and be.
Speaker B:Be part of it.
Speaker B:So having a job all over Southern California doing these golf tournaments.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker B:Really incredible stuff.
Speaker B:Talk about why you're doing it and what, what's.
Speaker A:What's it about for you?
Speaker E:Yeah, no, we, we love being here and I've been a big supporter of Warabu back since my real estate days.
Speaker E:We helped build your facility out in Lake Elsinore and we launched our golf business to really support these charities and drive better net proceeds and experiences.
Speaker E:So we're super excited to be here.
Speaker E:I think today is a great day.
Speaker E:Beautiful weather, tons of experiences, tons of fundraising opportunities.
Speaker E:But we're here to support the veterans near and dear to my heart and the Veteran Impact Initiative that we launched together to hire more veterans into our workforce.
Speaker E:We're super excited about that.
Speaker E:It's been very humbling to me to be able to do that with you, and we're super excited to see where that goes and give them more purpose and get out there and get in the workforce.
Speaker E:So I think in the end, if you, if you have a charity or a nonprofit or a corporation, you know, we're here to help.
Speaker E:We're a consultant, we're a planner, but our goal is to help you build it up.
Speaker E:And whether it's first year or 10th year, there's always ways to do things better.
Speaker E:So we're here to help and I appreciate you having us out here today to help you with the event.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, if you could see all the sponsors that Warrior Built kind of has in its, in its repertoire.
Speaker B:There's tons of sponsorships out there doing incredible things and a Lot of them are on the course today.
Speaker B:Yokohama's giving away two sets of tires.
Speaker B:Monster Energy's on deck handing out, you know, drinks and hanging out and doing some stuff.
Speaker B:We got some incredible sponsors doing incredible things.
Speaker B:You know, talk about some of the.
Speaker A:Sponsors that are new to bringing on deck for, for Warrior Built that, that you have.
Speaker B:I mean, he's, he's got a repertoire of sponsors too that ends up coming out and, and selling their products and advertising their products and doing some incredible things.
Speaker B:So these things become an awesome advertising entity.
Speaker B:But not only that, but it's a great time to come together and talk and be able to talk about that.
Speaker B:And that's civilian, military, whatever it is.
Speaker B:We all need a chance to talk.
Speaker B:You know, I was given the chance.
Speaker B:Hey, do you want to golf today?
Speaker B:I don't really want to golf because I love coming to these things and actually talking to the sponsors, talking to the people that are just enjoying their day and why they're doing it.
Speaker B:I want to know the pathways and how that works.
Speaker B:If you talked about some of the.
Speaker A:Guys that you got on deck that you, you brought on and.
Speaker E:Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker E:Like, we, you know, the whole point is to bring out experiences.
Speaker E:You know, obviously War Build has a ton of great sponsors.
Speaker E:Yokohama Monster.
Speaker E:I mean, the list goes on in the, in the construction, automotive world, you know, but we brought in the experience.
Speaker E:We have Emerald Spirit Tequila here and Navy Seal Found It Tequila, which is amazing product, but no additives.
Speaker E:We have Tacos de Moriscos bringing out the ceviche and the shrimp tacos and all the good vibes.
Speaker E:Then we have fuel station out here bringing out custom water bottles for, for the players and they get their name laser engraved.
Speaker E:Maxwell Golf.
Speaker E:Bringing out a very core organization bag, which is great for the military, for the home, for the car.
Speaker E:You know, all those different touch points.
Speaker E:And then the money raises we're doing.
Speaker E:We have Smartpin Darts only partner with Smartpin.
Speaker E:So we have a money raise where actually the players can win money while they're giving money.
Speaker E:And it's just great stuff.
Speaker E:I mean, it's a good experience.
Speaker E:It's fun.
Speaker E:We do our national anthem, we get the vibes up, we have the drinks flowing, and then we're gonna go out reception and give out some great awards here for some of our competition combat veterans today.
Speaker E:They're going to speak this afternoon to really know why we're doing this.
Speaker E:It's all fun and great, but in the end, this is for a good cause and where the impact's really Going to hit most is to our veterans.
Speaker E:And to see that and have them talk and have a chance to partake in this event is just great to see.
Speaker B:Yeah, and it's absolutely amazing because, you know, there's some amazing food vendors here, too.
Speaker E:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:You know, food vendors, drink vendors, hat vendors, melons here on deck doing some stuff, and they're out golfing, hanging out, doing some incredible things.
Speaker A:You know, talk about the food for a minute.
Speaker A:I mean, look, you got.
Speaker A:You got the ceviche guy.
Speaker B:He's talking about.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:Talk about ceviche.
Speaker B:This is the best ceviche you're gonna get on this side of the border.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, other than.
Speaker E:Well, technically, it's from the other side of the border.
Speaker E:He brings it here, so.
Speaker E:So, Danny, shout out to you.
Speaker E:Tacos, eat tacos, eat moriscos.
Speaker E:You know, he brings the vibes every time.
Speaker E:He's a super supporter of us.
Speaker E:He always gives great pricing to all the foundations.
Speaker E:You know, the ceviche people that say they don't like ceviche, they try it now, they like ceviche.
Speaker E:The shrimp tacos, he does aji tuna.
Speaker E:The menu goes on.
Speaker E:And then you guys, we had some great donations on the.
Speaker E:The brisket or we had tri tip this year.
Speaker B:No, brisket.
Speaker E:Brisket, Right.
Speaker A:That was.
Speaker A:That was Paul.
Speaker E:Paul, yeah.
Speaker E:Paul brought that in.
Speaker E:Limitless.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And he.
Speaker B:That's a whole 17.
Speaker B:And I rode a bicycle out there to get to that and had some earlier.
Speaker E:Well, it was an electric bike.
Speaker E:It didn't really ride it.
Speaker E:Well, you cruised out there.
Speaker B:I had to ride it until I.
Speaker A:Learned it was electric.
Speaker B:Once I learned the systems a little bit.
Speaker E:But I.
Speaker B:But I.
Speaker B:But I pedaled it uphill until I.
Speaker A:Finally figured it out.
Speaker B:And then it was downhill from then.
Speaker B:But it was a great opportunity to get out there on the course.
Speaker B:And this is therapeutic effect, you know, for me, with all my injuries, you know, the bike can be a little bit rigor, rigorous if I have to pedal it, but luckily it is electric,.
Speaker A:So thank goodness for that.
Speaker B:But if you look at this golf course, maybe you could pan out and see it.
Speaker B:But it is absolutely amazing to get out here for the therapeutic effect being on green grass, hanging out in this.
Speaker E:The.
Speaker B:The wind's blowing by.
Speaker B:Kind of nice and easy, man.
Speaker B:It's the environment.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker A:Just perfect.
Speaker B:It was kind of cloudy earlier, sunny now, but the temperature's probably perfect.
Speaker E:That's perfect right now.
Speaker B:Might be a little bit on the.
Speaker A:Cool side, but we're so used to.
Speaker B:The Hot heat when you got to be outside that this is a perfect feel.
Speaker E:Yeah, it's a great day.
Speaker E:Great.
Speaker E:Cause we're doing good work.
Speaker E:I mean we're hoping to bring a pretty good number in today for you guys on the foundation.
Speaker E:And you know, we're excited to do it next year.
Speaker E:Keep elevating it and keep bringing it to another level, bring bigger sponsors in and you know, it goes down to if you want to build a charity event or a corporate event, it's first year is the hardest and you kind of have to have a strategy that it's not a one year plan, it's a two to three to five year plan and we can help with those plannings, you know, and, and see what we can do.
Speaker E:But you know, it's hard work and that's what we're here to do to help take that load off and make your guys lives easy.
Speaker E:I think hopefully you guys showed up and had a good time and everything was already set up and good to go, right?
Speaker B:Oh, it was, it was great.
Speaker B:And this is, you know, I just want to re.
Speaker B:Reiterate.
Speaker B:This is a job opportunity for veterans that are associated to the.
Speaker B:All the organizations that I'm part of to include adding some organizations should, should they be suggested, those nonprofit organizations that really want to have some great job opportunities that are therapeutic in effect, that are going to give that opportunity for our veterans to get out there and make a couple bucks.
Speaker B:But on top of that, really have a great day.
Speaker A:On top of that.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker B:But I want to thank, you know, Darts Only Golf for making this happen.
Speaker B:This is such a great Dean.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker B:Yeah, this is Tom's, Tom's baby, Tom Gibbons.
Speaker A:And, and thanks for making it happen.
Speaker E:Yeah, man.
Speaker E:Brother, we appreciate you.
Speaker E:Another good year.
Speaker E:If you're a veteran need work, reach out to Chief Seabird or our Darts Only Golf page.
Speaker E:If you're a veteran organization, hit us up because we love to flow more veterans into our program, give them work.
Speaker E:As we're growing, they can grow with us and have a great time doing what they're doing.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker B:And we got a couple golf tournaments coming up.
Speaker B:One that, that, that, that I'll be with Tom at.
Speaker A:And it's going to be with the.
Speaker B:American Patriot music project, the PTSD foundation of America in Morongo.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker E:August 7th at Morongo, Tuckwood and Morongo in the casino.
Speaker E:Great, great, great program there.
Speaker E:It's a first year event for them.
Speaker E:So that event just launched.
Speaker E:You can check out Darts Only Golf on the Instagram you have all of our links there.
Speaker E:You can sign up there.
Speaker B:American Patriot Music projects.
Speaker B:Yeah, their, their band is going to be there playing and that band is off the chart.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker B:So if you want to be part of a golf tournament, it's really going.
Speaker A:To be pretty cool.
Speaker B:It's its first year.
Speaker B:Obviously it may maybe a little bit less than what it is, but it's going to be an incredible time.
Speaker B:Anyway, sign up for the golf golf deal and listen, let's get it going.
Speaker A:On, but I look forward to some.
Speaker B:Other golf tournaments with you in the future.
Speaker B:And until then, strength and honor.
Speaker E:Absolutely, brother.
Speaker E:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:Thanks, brother.
Speaker E:Take care.
Speaker A:Well, that was a awesome experience this, this weekend.
Speaker A:And you know, these golf tournaments obviously are fundraisers for multiple different organizations.
Speaker A:Matter of fact, I'll be, I'll be at one with IRAM, which is the Inland Real Estate, forget what the AM stands for, but I'll be with them on the 17th of June.
Speaker A:I'm looking forward to getting down there to Corona, to helping out.
Speaker A:Help helping out.
Speaker A:The, the process of that and that, that's going to be for the PTSD foundation of America.
Speaker A:And I don't know, I just look forward to so many different things.
Speaker A:Working with Tom on, on different things and all these, you know, all these abilities to give our veterans a platform to kind of navigate where they might not navigate themselves, they might not be inspired enough to kind of take the initiative to get out there and do something cool.
Speaker A:When those cool opportunities arise and they come my way, I tend to, you know, put it out there.
Speaker A:And, you know, I don't have 20 guys waiting for a job, but I have, I might have one guy that really wants to do something like whatever you're going to suggest.
Speaker A:And so I'm trying to put that out there a little bit more.
Speaker A:I also got to speak with some of the, some of the guys that were on the golf course, businesses and managers and, you know, owners on why it's important to give our veterans the 20 hour job week.
Speaker A:Because it's very difficult for them to navigate 40 when they're dealing with all their injuries, when they're dealing with their disabilities and they have doctor's appointments because the VA does not treat you like you're 35 or 40, they treat you like you're 70.
Speaker A:And the appointments are only during the time that, you know, it really sucks to kind of be a reliable resource to a company, have to say, hey man, I have to pull out for the next two days because I have doctor's appointments.
Speaker A:And so the 20 hour work week really becomes a very awesome opportunity.
Speaker A:And I try to work with, with companies and, and different, different vendors for that.
Speaker A:But hey, I'm gonna pull Brian Colburn on deck for, for Feed Drops.
Speaker A:And again, we talk about Feed Drops all the time and Feed Drops is.
Speaker A:And Brian Colburn is on the road.
Speaker A:So this is a logistical exercise of what we're doing in the podcast.
Speaker A:As Brian's on the road, he's my, you know, he produces the thing and manages it from behind and I threw a whole bunch of stuff at him today and you know, we're throwing stuff up on the screen and you know, he's got to navigate a lot of stuff this week and he's on the road and before he was in the back of his truck, you know, just chilling in the back, but you know, the heat decided to shut down his computer so he had to pull himself into the cab.
Speaker A:So the adventure is real.
Speaker A:And, and that's what's cool about this thing because Brian has taught me that I can do this podcast anywhere, anytime, from anywhere.
Speaker A:So reminds me of being in the military because you just have to be logistically capable.
Speaker A:And Brian right now is logistically capable.
Speaker A:He had to throw it in the air conditioned cab.
Speaker A:And this is, this is him.
Speaker A:Hey, Brian.
Speaker A:Welcome, brother in the United States Marine Corps.
Speaker A:And Feed Drops is his baby.
Speaker A:If you look it up, it's a podcast and he's going to Feed drop this podcast right now.
Speaker D:First off, thanks, chief, for putting up with the nonsense I put you through.
Speaker D:I've taught you you can podcast from anywhere in the world.
Speaker D:I'm learning, teaching myself with your show, how to produce a show from the back end from anywhere in the world.
Speaker D:I'm literally sitting in a truck stop in Green River, Utah, getting ready to head through the Rockies into Colorado.
Speaker D:But Starlink's on the roof and the only thing I didn't account for was his laptop overheating.
Speaker D:So that's, that's the story today, dude.
Speaker D:Good show.
Speaker D:Great content.
Speaker D:I love what Colonel's doing for the vet community.
Speaker D:Would really love to hear more about the process of a veteran getting involved and taking an idea or maybe a story that they verbally told into print.
Speaker D:And whether it be an ebook, a physical hard copy, or.
Speaker D:Or even audio, since, you know, I'm a fan of audio.
Speaker D:It's all possible these days relatively easily.
Speaker D:But it's awesome.
Speaker D:You know, I'm a fan of story and I study story and I study storytelling.
Speaker D:And for him to have these workshops for veterans because, you know, you ask a vet a story, just think if you had to redact every cuss word in a print book, you know, half the book would be redacted.
Speaker D:A veteran telling a story.
Speaker D:So it's cool that he's putting on these workshops and he's walking people through, finding that five second moment to hook the story around, to really entertain, educate the, the reader, which is phenomenal.
Speaker D:So great.
Speaker D:Great to see him back on the show and love what he's doing.
Speaker D:And Chief, I think honestly, today you've been the most calm you have with all the craziness going on with today's episode, videos and photos, last minute and screen shares and you handled it like a pro, man.
Speaker D:You were just flying through the transitions.
Speaker D:You, you crushed it today.
Speaker D:So whatever, whatever you had for breakfast, do that every Tuesday.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, often, you know, I tell people no matter what I'm doing, and this is, is a secret.
Speaker A:I'm not a podcaster, but I play one real in real life on Tuesdays.
Speaker D:You know, your, your episode count and your statistics would beg to differ with that.
Speaker D:You are a podcast.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:At some point I'm not going to be able to use that as a ex, as a real comment anymore.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:And you know, before I forget, I want to put this out there because I've been putting it out there all over my social media this week and I just asked Brian if he can make it down because he's heading Colorado.
Speaker A:He's actually going to a cello right.
Speaker A:Concert some.
Speaker A:Am I correct?
Speaker D:I'm going to see Yo Yo Ma and the Colorado Symphony play at Red Rock.
Speaker A:Dude, it sounds like awesome.
Speaker A:You know, when I was 20, it would have sounded like, man, that's a, you know, that's an old guy's concert.
Speaker A:What's going on?
Speaker A:You know, and to be honest, you grow in culture.
Speaker D:I've never been to a classical concert, but I appreciate music and I've never been to Red Rock and those two things were on my list.
Speaker D:So I, I get to check two boxes off my list with one.
Speaker D:Well, it's, it's been, it's been quite the adventure the last few days, but with one trip and A, that's kind of cool.
Speaker D:But B, not only is is it classical, he's the world premier cellist.
Speaker D:I get to go listen to what the world considers the best cell cellist in the world play and that venue.
Speaker D:It should be an amazing evening.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And Red Rock should be an awesome deal.
Speaker A:But you know, on his way back I asked him to join me, see if he can go to this day of gratitude.
Speaker A:June 6, honoring veterans and military at the Allegiance.
Speaker A:At the Allegiance Stadium.
Speaker A:You know, it's featuring Coffee Anderson for one.
Speaker A:I can't remember who else is coming, but just, you know, those kind of things.
Speaker A:For veterans that are free and parking's free, a whole bunch of things.
Speaker A:It's great opportunity for you.
Speaker A:Get a gal, get out there.
Speaker A:And I'm in the Vegas area.
Speaker A:Brian comes through.
Speaker A:It's great to see him when he's here or talk to him, whatever it is.
Speaker A:And it'll be great to see you come back.
Speaker A:If that's.
Speaker A:If that's.
Speaker A:If that's in the.
Speaker A:If.
Speaker A:If that's in the cards, it'd be great.
Speaker D:Well, I.
Speaker D:While the show is going on, I canceled my bookings for the fourth and the fifth in two cities, so I need to secure some lodging, but I will be back through for sure.
Speaker D:And whether I get to the concert or not, we'll definitely break some bread, brother.
Speaker A:Hey, that sounds great.
Speaker A:That sounds great.
Speaker A:Hey, you know, thanks for.
Speaker A:Thanks for always doing the critique.
Speaker A:You know, you're pretty nice here, but, you know, before I. I used to get critiqued all the time by Brian, and it was like, hey, chief, you needed two tune this up or that.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's a work in progress.
Speaker A:I'm always.
Speaker E:I want.
Speaker A:I always want to be a work in progress because my pathway is here.
Speaker A:I mean, we.
Speaker A:We spent so much time.
Speaker A:You know, the Internet was always a factor.
Speaker A:You're like, hey, man, that.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker A:That 12 upload isn't going to cut it, or 6 upload isn't going to cut it.
Speaker A:We're gonna have to stay here for an extra hour as your.
Speaker A:As the computer catches up with everything.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So these things have really dialed in a lot of really cool perspectives, and it forces Brian.
Speaker A:Brian has forced me to be better at this.
Speaker D:Well, and, you know, so many people think, oh, podcasting's easy.
Speaker D:Let me Google it.
Speaker D:Oh, here's a one page.
Speaker D:I need to follow these steps.
Speaker D:And that's why a lot of shows fail, because they think it's just that they don't understand that people practice.
Speaker D:People rehearse, people script out bullet points or talking points and read through it aloud a couple of times before you record.
Speaker D:And all of that practice makes you better, which makes your show stand out above everybody else's.
Speaker D:And I mean, even professionals, you know, we watch sitcoms and.
Speaker D:Oh, they're professional.
Speaker D:Actors, they do table reads before they record, they practice scripts, they rehearse, they bounce ideas off each other.
Speaker D:It's, it's not just pushing record and running your mouth.
Speaker D:You know, if you want to be good at it, you're going to get out of it what you put into it.
Speaker D:If you put in thought, planning, preparation and a little bit of rehearsal, you know, there's nothing that's going to stop you.
Speaker A:Definitely.
Speaker A:Definitely.
Speaker A:And, and I just want to reiterate, this is not my show.
Speaker A:This is your show.
Speaker A:This is my audience's show.
Speaker A:My, this is, this is, you know, if, if you're in the audience, most likely because you're a combat vet or a veteran, most of you, and there's plenty of them that aren't, but the sponsor, supporters and volunteers, if you want to get on here and tell your story, why you're sponsoring and supporting our combat vets, our veteran, our veteran community, whatever non profit organization you are, and you want to get on here and open your mouth and say something or you want to promote it.
Speaker A:In my 10 minute segments that I have, that's, this is, this is the show for you.
Speaker A:This is, I want to know your pathway and I want to let you express it.
Speaker A:It's not my, it's not my pathway.
Speaker A:This is just a conduit and it becomes a library of support for our veterans that may even be dealing with suicide today and maybe dealing with things that they just can't deal with and they need that, that kind of support, you know.
Speaker A:And I guess, I guess the last thing I just want to talk about is something that became super interesting to me.
Speaker A:I, I come up with the, I, I get these aha moments that change my life in, in so many cool ways.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker A:The one that I want to kind of talk to you about is Memorial Day was not too long ago.
Speaker A:And I'm throwing Cynthia Daniels name out there, Gray Star.
Speaker A:She is the reason why most of the golf tournaments across the United States that support the PTSD foundation of America work and exist as they do.
Speaker A:And usually she says, hey Chief, can you get me a guy, honor him at our, at our golf tournament and have him, you know, bring him down, talk about him and have him give a speech on what, what that means to him.
Speaker A:But this year she asked me to build 18 holes, 18 different storyboards for a memorial for all the veterans that I either serve or have lost.
Speaker A:There's four of them on there that I've lost.
Speaker A:I did four of them, but I didn't do them before.
Speaker A:Memorial Day, the 10 that I did before Memorial Day, these guys are all alive, they're thriving.
Speaker A:They've been involved in groups, they've been involved in their lives.
Speaker A:They're moving forward in positive directions.
Speaker A:And I kind of wanted to capture that.
Speaker A:But in the process of doing this, it made me become, I think it, I think it's did something to my mind to trigger it into a more sensitive.
Speaker A:Because each one of these people I know personally, I didn't look up their information to write these things down or put this stuff together.
Speaker C:It.
Speaker A:It was all stuff that I put, put out.
Speaker A:And I said, hey, I want to write about this person and say this.
Speaker A:I want to kind of say this about this person.
Speaker A:And, and the guiding tools that help make that happen.
Speaker A:And in the process of doing that, that's writing, that's spending some time thinking about the, the thoughts.
Speaker A:It really kind of put me through a pace that was different.
Speaker A:And so Memorial Day, Memorial Day weekend, the whole weekend became more, more important to me, more real, more effective.
Speaker A:And I had to think about writing the four for the four guys that, because I needed eight more, you know, four that are no longer with us and four that are, are thriving, I was forced to be like, hey, I'm gonna have to think about these guys throughout the week.
Speaker A:And I completed that this week.
Speaker A:I just got to tune some of that stuff up.
Speaker A:But I want to thank Cynthia Daniel Daniels for making that happen in so many different ways.
Speaker A:She's pushed me into directions that I, you know, just like, whoa, okay, you want to do that?
Speaker A:The idea is awesome.
Speaker A:And these golf tournaments aren't just about raising money.
Speaker A:It's about actually the impact that it makes on our veterans lives that, that I'm, I'm associated with.
Speaker A:And although I don't always need as much as, or anything that anybody's given, I do like to know that those things exist.
Speaker A:Because if you tell me you got 12 of something and I have only one vet for you, that one vet was really, it's really going to be important for them to take advantage of that situation or whatever it is that, that you're providing for that veteran to, to kind of thrive and giving them a hand up, not a handout.
Speaker A:This is not what I, I'm, I'm about, I'm about really just, you know, making sure these veterans are getting where they need to go and what they need to do.
Speaker A:And those things really come to come to fruition sometimes because of organizations, because of the civilian entity that care about our military members and because they this is also a platform to get the word out, to talk about things and really, really talk and be serious about some things.
Speaker A:And there's a lot of things happening behind the scenes that you can't even keep up with.
Speaker A:I can't even keep up with them.
Speaker A:Sometimes I forget to mention that I have a podcast.
Speaker A:I'm like, oh, I'm involved in this, this and this.
Speaker A:And then I walk away from the conversation.
Speaker A:I'm like, oh, I forgot to tell.
Speaker A:I do a podcast, Combat Vet Vision.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But I'm really thankful for everybody that comes on here.
Speaker A:I'm thankful for, you know, God to be in my life, pushing me in these directions, giving me another chance after I got hit with that mortar round and so many other chances.
Speaker A:So whatever you're doing in your life, be involved in it.
Speaker A:Be involved in it in a positive way, because the positive things are really going to make a difference.
Speaker A:There's plenty of negative things that are going to cross your path.
Speaker A:You're going to have to deal with them.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker A:But finding a way to deal with them in an appropriate manner is the way to go and don't want to forget.
Speaker A:Hey, I got warrior groups on Tuesday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays.
Speaker A:If anybody wants to get involved in that, let me know.
Speaker A:I'm always reaching out to veterans.
Speaker A:Feel free to reach out to me.
Speaker A:Hit me up anytime.
Speaker A:Get a hold of me through this podcast or get a hold of me through the PTSD foundation of America, Warrior Bill Foundation, Recon Chief Incorporated, or the Veterans Transition Resource center right here in Las Vegas.
Speaker A:I'm at the Veteran Transition Resource center studios, and until next time, we'll talk to you later.
Speaker A:Strength and honor out the only way and we need nothing more the only way Together forever that's for sure.
