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Check a Vet_ Formation · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

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The station where our veterans voices are heard MBR talk.
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Hey, thanks. For tuning.
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In welcome back program are those of the speakers and do not
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necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they
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represent. Find.
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Us on the web at MB Radio dot US for your five the.
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Unseen wars in all. Lines and in all homes.
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All right, Welcome to the first episode of Check Event Nation.
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I'm Mike Turbo. Phil.
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Most people call me Turbo. I'm a veteran husband, fighter
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and your host. This show was born out of pain,
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purpose and a promise. For years after Iraq, I kept my
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mouth shut. I didn't talk about the
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darkness, the anger and the nights I couldn't sleep, the
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guilt in the silence. But as we all know, silence
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kills. And that's why we're here, to
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break the silence, to share the stories most people don't want
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to hear. Because the truth is, veterans
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are dying not just from the battlefield, but at home.
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This isn't just a radio show, it's a movement.
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Czech events about showing up for each other, our brothers,
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our sisters, and ourselves. And this first hour, I'm going
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to take you on a journey from what this mission means to what
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brought me to the edge and back again.
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We're going to talk about hope and healing and about holding
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the line. So let me tell you what all
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started for me 2008, I joined joined the Army and ended up
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being put in 3rd Infantry Division.
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We went to Iraq of course and we got back home and I started
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being a bit of a shit bag, right?
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Things started doing stupid stuff ended up getting getting
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out and then for the next, I don't know, 10 years, I drove a
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truck and thought everything was fine and then, but really it
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wasn't right. One night my wife came to me and
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she told me that we had an argument over over something my
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son had wanted a video game or something like that.
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And then she had come to me and told me that she was, she was
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scared of me and that she was terrified that one day her
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parents were going to be watching the news and find out
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that she, that I killed her and the kids and, and myself
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included. And after that, I immediately
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went to the VA and started getting, getting some help.
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So after three years of being in therapy and doing the hard stuff
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that nobody likes doing because I mean, it's not fun, right?
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That's, that's super hard stuff to deal with is to bring back
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all your demons. But after three years, I started
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a podcast called It's a Veteran's Life, and through that
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is where I'm at the president of Czech event, which is Michael
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Carmichael. He's not with me here today and
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every day he's not going to, but from time to time he'll pop in.
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But anyway, so through the process of It's a Veteran's Life
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is when I met Michael Carmichael and they kind of stayed in
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touch. And now he's brought me on to
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the Czech Event platform. And what we do is we spread
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education and stories. And the education we try to
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spread is our mission is geared to end veteran suicide.
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But our information is really geared to those that have loved
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ones that are veterans. You know, what are tools they
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can look out, what are red flags they can look out for, What are
3:30
tools they can use and things of that nature.
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You can find us at NASCAR events.
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We were just at Texas Motor Speedway this last weekend.
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Week before that or two weeks prior to that, we were at
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Bristol. We're going to be in North
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Carolina the end of this month. We're we're all over the place.
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We're going to Sturgis this year.
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So come check us out, come have fun with us and come Share your
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story. You know, hopefully one day we
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can maybe do this live on scene. You know, today is not really, I
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don't have anybody lined up for today, which is unfortunate, but
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it'll be all right. We'll have some, I got some
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stuff in the works. But anyway, so about Michael
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Carmichael, he was in the he was in the Army for 2026 years. 24
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of that was an SF. He retired as a Warrant Officer.
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He's a very good guy and check of that started pretty much as
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his neighbors checking in on him and that's why he called it
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check of that. He was in a place to where he
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was just kind of sitting in his house and not getting out and
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doing anything. And his neighbors are going to
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check and let him be like, hey man, come on, let's go be on.
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Let's go for a boat ride, Let's go hang out, let's go do
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something. And after a while, they finally
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started going out and hanging out with his friends.
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And then he started to get into to helping others.
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And that's kind of what I've done too.
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You know, I found out through my therapy sessions that
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storytelling saves lives. And that's what I'm here to do
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is share stories because I really believe that going
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through that and, and talking about it, maybe not necessarily
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all the bad things that happen, just talking in general
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definitely helps you get stuff off your mind.
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But anyway, feel free to leave some comments and we can chat
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and turn my phone off. No, anyway, Joel's there in the
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background. If he's got anything he wants
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to, he wants to chat about. Oh, hey, I think you're doing
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fantastic. I want to let the viewers and
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the listeners to know at home that, you know, we're trying
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this different system with TikTok, you know, and with
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TikTok now we don't really have to manage it.
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Whenever somebody writes something, you're going to hear
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it on the thing, for example, like I'm going to go to I'm I'm
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I'm going to go to it And of course I don't turn my phone off
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either. So you know, you're you're in
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good company there. So if I go to TikTok part and I
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tried to do the let's see here. I I say I'm going to I'm going
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to go to the live and I'm going to put how are you turbo it?
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It will speak to us. Watch.
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Now watch this when we play the. Right, the Jeopardy music.
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Yeah, yeah. All right, well, maybe it just
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doesn't work today. Look at there man, getting us
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all excited. Well shit.
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Oh well. Anyways, I'll I'll keep working
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on it. All right, all right.
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Well, it was. It was a good, good promise,
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just a horrible execution. There, man, right.
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So if you both leave your phone's on, does that mean
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you're going to have a ring dinger of a show today?
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I think we already had already had whatever already are.
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You know what the sad part is? It was actually him that sent me
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a text. And terribly.
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Oh shit, I forgot. I am not used to doing these
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live, man. Normally it's a podcast.
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No, I hear you. I hear you.
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Yeah. So my my whole plan today was
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kind of pretty much given my background, which I ran through
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that a heck of a lot quicker than I planned on doing.
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But that happens, right? Well, you know what?
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Share some knowledge. Share some knowledge with us as
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as you're a veteran, like on everyday series of life things
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that come your way, like if there's a wreck or something
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happened to your child or something happened to your
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significant other, like how do you how do you cope with that
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without having a complete meltdown?
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Because I'm sure that some veterans would love some advice
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because, you know, if if you're not raised a certain way, then
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you're going to. Well, the the first thing I want
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to say is it's kind of a joke. Nope.
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I'm sorry man. Know what we're?
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Still there? Yeah, there we are.
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Yeah. So, so first thing that came to
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mind when you asked me that was the, the VA cocktail.
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You know, I think that's great. That's great stuff, right?
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But just kind of joking about that because honestly, I'm
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trying to find ways to do this without the VA cocktail because
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I've got, I'm on 6, what is 6 different meds, But at the
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moment without those, I'm kind of an ass.
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Be honest with you. I kind of got to have those.
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But the biggest thing I've noticed, which is kind of weird
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for me because up until about 6 months ago, I was gone all the
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time because I've been over the road truck driver, which is kind
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of what I was using to hold my sanity, right?
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But in reality, I was isolating. And now that I've come off the
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road and I am, I'm home full time and I'm, I have a, a
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regular quote UN quote job, I've come to find out that what I was
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doing was isolating and it was, was really hurting my psyche and
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the way that I communicate with others.
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For instance, like when I drove a truck, somebody cut me off or
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whatever. I could just cuss them out, get
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into a fight in the street, whatever.
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It didn't matter. But, well, it wouldn't matter.
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But you know what I mean? Now, now that I'm home and I
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have to work with the same people every day, I've had to
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find ways to actually get along with people.
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And it's been kind of tough. Like some of the guys I work
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with are, let's just face it, we all work with idiots, right?
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And, and the biggest thing that I can can tell somebody is just
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take, just take a step back and take a breath.
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Just because that person is, is making a comment or they're
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acting a certain way, it doesn't mean it's about you, right?
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That they could be having a bad day with something else there.
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Their kid could be in the hospital there.
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They could have just lost their mom or whatever.
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Just just because they're treating you in a, in a
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despicable way doesn't mean that it's that it's because of
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something you've done because the world's not about you.
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It's not about me. It's about all of us together.
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And you know, the more you get out in public and the more you
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work with people, the more you talk with people, the easier,
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the easier it gets to be in public.
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Again, one of the biggest things that I noticed driving a truck,
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I would get lost in my mind all day and just have this like this
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merry go round going, going and going and going.
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And I've kind of thought that I was losing my mind.
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I kind of thought that I had AI had memory issues.
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You know, my wife would tell me something that I'd I'd forget it
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or there is something that I needed to remember and I
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wouldn't. Well, since coming off the road
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and getting into school and getting into a job or actually
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have to use my brain a little bit and doing this podcasting
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and now, now radio show, I've learned that kind of like any
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other muscle group, the more you use your brain, the, the more
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you retain information and the more things come back.
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And it's, it's called neuroplasticity, if I'm not
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mistaken. And like me just being in a job
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where I didn't have to use actually use my brain made me
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lose a lot of the a lot of my memory just made me feel like I
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was stupid when somebody asked me something.
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But now that I'm in school and stuff and I'm having to stretch
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those those memory bands, a lot of my memory is coming back,
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which is I think it's awesome. But I think we're coming about
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15 minutes in now, guys. So let's take us a quick little
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moment to to take a break and do what you guys need to do We
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back. Love you, Daddy.
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Love. You too, girls.
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The station where our veterans voices are heard MBR talk.
16:19
Hey, thanks. For tuning.
16:23
In welcome are those of the speakers and do not necessarily
16:28
reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
16:31
Find. Us on the web at NB radio dot U
16:34
web. All right, welcome back to Czech
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event team room that was die tire but better off alive, which
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kind of brings me to kind of the next thing you know, if you ever
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got kind of in a bad spot and you're thinking that it may be
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it's it's better off for you to just, you know, make a permanent
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solution for a temporary situation.
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That's not the case, guys, trust me, there's been plenty of times
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where I myself and countless, a lot of people I know have been
17:07
down that road. And I promise you that you're
17:12
better off here with your family and your kids.
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And don't tell me you don't have family because I promise you,
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you do. Just pick up your phone and call
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anybody. Heck, you can get get him with
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me on Facebook, you know, Facebook, check him at 365 on
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Instagram, TikTok, all that stuff.
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Reach out at any point in time if you all if you need to talk
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to somebody and I'm sure Joel will say the same thing if you
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need to talk, but you can always go to a check event.org and find
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out the resources we have there kind of some things that look
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out for some red flags. One of the things I like to talk
17:47
about it shows is a lot of people always come up to me and
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say, you know, they, they never would have thought that the
17:54
person that they lost would have made the decision they did.
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And they wish that they were, that they would have been signs.
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And you know, some of those signs or, or things that guys
18:08
that you might not pick up, right?
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Pretty, pretty easy when people start giving away their
18:14
belongings, their prized possessions, start selling
18:18
things dirt cheap, that that could be a sign there, right?
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But you don't want to just go up to them and, and be like, hey,
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man, are you, are you going to, you going to commit suicide or
18:27
you going to hurt yourself? That's, that's not how you want
18:29
to approach somebody. You just want to come up to and
18:31
ask them, Hey, are you OK? Have a conversation with them.
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You know, you don't want to come at them confrontational.
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It needs to be a conversation. Let's see.
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That's a lot harder to do an hour live than what I thought it
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would be, Joel. I told you, I told you.
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Oh yeah, man. Hey, the thing that you have
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done really great so far. OK, Sorry I had to cough.
18:58
It's not that I was trying to laugh or anything, but one of
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the things that you've done so far is when I pointed at you,
19:05
you you talked, you know, so many people when they first
19:08
start, you know, they think it's going to be easy getting in
19:11
front of the mic and talking. But like you don't really have
19:14
anybody looking at you. So it's almost like if
19:18
somebody's looking at you in the window and we don't see a mic
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they think you have, like, you know, schizophrenia or.
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Something. You know, it's not normal just
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sitting there talking to yourself.
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So that's that's the main reason why a lot of people freeze right
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in front of the mic when they get ready to do the radio.
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So you're doing fine, you're doing fantastic.
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Don't worry about it. Oh, man, there's, there's
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already a couple things I'm here like, Oh yeah, I got to do
19:47
better about that. Like, so my script when I had it
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in my head and with my bullet points and stuff, I'm like,
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yeah, man, I can make this last an hour, 15 minutes segments.
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And I started getting through it.
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I'm like, oh, no, this is not enough.
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Oh man. Well.
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You know, so one of the shows that's going to be on the
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network later today after this one is beyond the headlines.
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And I bet you anything that they would love to hear your point of
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view as a veteran as, you know, not like getting political or
20:20
whatever, but you know, it, it's it's been brought to the
20:25
attention today that the the president wants to change the
20:29
name from veteran's day to something else.
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Being a veteran, being that you served over there.
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Yeah. What do you think of that?
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You know well. That's a hard one.
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That's a hard one for me. And and the reason why I say
20:45
that is, is because like, like my wife bought me one of those.
20:49
What is is Operation I wreck your freedom hat, right?
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And I've worn it out a couple of times and I don't really, well,
20:59
I, I love it, my wife. It's a great gift for my wife.
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And the problem is as I don't like, I don't really like
21:05
wearing it because I don't want that.
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I don't like having that, that, hey, look at me, I'm a veteran,
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right? Yeah, you don't want that
21:10
recognition. Well, but it well then again.
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But do do, don't I? Because I'm right here, right?
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Well, there's a difference between wait, wait, hold on,
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hold on. I I see where you're going this.
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There's a difference between wanting the recognition and then
21:28
just, you know, let like absolutely, it's absurd.
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You're you're not going to get the recognition.
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You know, it's it's always nice to know that there's a that
21:40
there there's a day, you know, everybody has their day, their
21:43
their birthday. OK, some people don't think it's
21:47
much, but you know, that's, that's the one day a year that
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you can give the person like a pep rally, a parade.
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Hey, you know what, dude, I'm so glad that you're still here kind
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of thing, you know, because we all we all get stuck in our own
22:05
bubble and sometimes we forget to reach out to, you know, one
22:09
of those friends that we have. Yeah.
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By chance, do you know what he wants to change it?
22:17
To believe it's America winning day.
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America winning day because, because it happened, you know,
22:27
during World War One, World War Two, we won both wars.
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America's winning day. That's what he wants to change
22:33
it to. Yeah, but I mean, we, this is
22:37
going to ruffle some feathers maybe, but we lost Vietnam.
22:41
We we lost Vietnam. I don't care what anybody says.
22:44
We lost Vietnam. We lost Iraq, we lost
22:47
Afghanistan. I mean.
22:48
Well, you know, those, all those wars were all those wars were
22:53
kind of political driven for, for money and stuff.
22:57
I mean the, the reason why World War One and World War 2 is just
23:01
special is because, you know, literally we went against the
23:06
big guy to to stop the bad shit that he was doing.
23:12
So, so I just pulled it up on my other computer here and it says
23:16
in a late night post, the president said he plans to
23:20
change the name of November 11th from Veteran's Day to Victory
23:24
Day for World War One. Yeah.
23:27
OK, so. So that's kind of like changing
23:33
them back, isn't it? I mean, originally that's what
23:38
that's what it was for, though, was the honor of the veterans of
23:41
World War One and it kind of morphed into what it is today,
23:45
right. So I, I don't necessarily agree
23:48
to it because now we're going to change how many generations, But
23:54
you got the the G white guys like me and you, you got the
23:57
Vietnam era guys, You got the this what's, what's the new
24:00
generation called? I don't even know, you know, is
24:05
that just going to throw all of us to the to the door like it is
24:09
it going to go back to being just World World War One guys?
24:13
Well, this is my take on it, my take on it.
24:18
If it's not fixed, why, why? Or if it's not broken, why, why
24:22
fix it? You know, just like, like I
24:25
understand why he changed the name of the Gulf of America.
24:28
I, I, I, I get that. OK, there's something petty
24:31
because, you know, Biden signed something to where he couldn't
24:36
drill anywhere off of the shore ever, blah, blah, blah.
24:39
So what did he do? He uses a loophole to change
24:42
the, the name. And if, if people don't see like
24:45
the bigger picture, I, I can't really help you, you know, and
24:48
just because I, I don't dislike the president, doesn't mean that
24:53
I'm going to agree with every single move that he has made,
24:58
which I don't, I don't agree with every single move that he's
25:01
made. I think he's just kind of made
25:04
things, you know, a little bit worse.
25:06
And then, you know, instead of fixing the worseness, what kind
25:11
of like letting the stuff fix itself out.
25:16
I get that. I get that feeling that, you
25:19
know, he's just changing names because he's bored.
25:25
That's I'm starting. Dude I don't I don't stay enough
25:29
in politics to even really have an opinion on.
25:34
And see, I, I don't really, I don't really either, but you
25:37
know, it's just like. It's.
25:39
I do find it interesting. Though it's, it's the same
25:43
thing, like if I had a squad leader and, you know, all this
25:47
stuff was wrong. But yeah, you know, hey, his car
25:51
is detailed. I mean, it's picking span.
25:54
Yeah. You can see the Chrome nest from
25:56
2 miles away. You know, that's great.
25:58
You can have your little fun and stuff.
26:00
But you know, don't forget there, there, there's soldiers
26:03
over here that still need to be released so that they can go to
26:06
chow or, you know, something like that.
26:09
You know, and I don't, I don't know, man, I don't.
26:16
I don't say it needs to be changed.
26:19
You know, I, I don't. Think it needs to be changed
26:21
either. It's not a big deal.
26:24
My thing is we have so much other things that is wrong today
26:30
that they kind of need the attention compared to what this
26:36
needs to be. You know, instead of, you know,
26:40
instead of worrying about the name change, let's, let's figure
26:44
out how we're going to survive the next, you know, 6075 days
26:49
because unfortunately, you know, he's all comfy in the White
26:54
House. He he he's not living on the
26:57
streets like some some of these people are.
27:00
Right, right. You know, and he's not.
27:04
Thinking there's so many, there's so many other things
27:07
that will make more sense to go after in my opinion.
27:11
What we can talk about the VA all day long.
27:14
You know a lot of guys aren't proponents to VA.
27:19
Likely my VA. And, you know, and he wants to,
27:22
he wants to do that, that strip thing in Gaza and stuff.
27:28
Why haven't they did something in the United States?
27:32
Take something that is completely broken and put people
27:37
to work on it. Right.
27:42
And I mean, look at what he's doing with, what do they call
27:45
it, Doge? They're, they're, they're coming
27:47
in and going through all the financials and stuff like that,
27:49
trying to find all this money. There's a lot of other things
27:52
they can do too. You know, right.
27:54
And at this point, at this point, well, I, I don't want to
28:00
get political on your show. So I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll just
28:04
shut up on on that point. But, you know, just in general,
28:10
I can just say this in general, I'm tired of people bringing up
28:14
stuff that has happened good to them and the past and, and boast
28:21
about, you know, stuff about them rather than getting down
28:26
and dirty and, and showing a reflection of what needs to
28:33
happen in the United States 'cause I, I don't, I don't
28:35
really see that right now. Right, right.
28:39
You know, I like I said, I don't, I don't pay any attention
28:43
to politics and I I totally probably should, but like I tell
28:49
my wife at the end of. The day when I go to the grocery
28:53
store and I don't see any meat in the like the little area
28:57
because of all the, like the, the, the marketing and the, the
29:02
trucking industry and, and all that stuff with the, with the
29:07
tariffs and all this, they're the talking.
29:10
I've noticed in this world that things don't have to happen for
29:16
there to be an effect. For example, when we're going
29:18
down the highway and a car sees a state trooper, it don't matter
29:23
if anybody's in the state trooper car or not.
29:25
What's the very first thing everybody's going to do?
29:27
No. You're not wrong.
29:29
They're going to slow down, they're going to slow down.
29:33
You know, hell, if you slow down, they already know that you
29:36
speed guys. So it doesn't matter if.
29:40
You slow. Down or not, you know, they
29:42
already know. But isn't that funny?
29:45
As soon as some people see state trooper, it don't matter if they
29:48
were speeding or not. They're always going to check
29:50
their sales. They're always going to, you
29:53
know, go breaks. What happens when the stock
29:55
market goes down? No, no.
29:57
You know, everybody like, tries bail on it or, you know, they
30:00
try to, you know, sell their stuff.
30:02
You know, everybody freaks out. Look at what happened with
30:06
COVID. Everybody bought out toilet
30:08
paper. Which that makes no sense.
30:11
I I've never, I've never understood why TP was the thing
30:16
that everybody bought out like. Well.
30:20
I mean, you know. Think about what what what is
30:22
one thing that you could you could live without, but you just
30:26
can't live without, You know, I, I think it would be that tissue
30:30
paper. You know, for the longest time
30:32
we used, we used John. What's his name?
30:39
I'll think of his name. We got to go on break, but I'll
30:42
think of his name. John Wayne toilet paper.
30:44
You know, the kind that they give you with Barrett.
30:47
John Wayne toilet paper. All right, yeah, everybody
30:52
we're, we're going to regroup. We're going to go on music
30:54
break. And when we come back, what are
30:56
we going to continue this conversation with?
31:00
Oh, man, I don't know. We can go into some some suicide
31:04
risk factors. How about that?
31:05
We can talk about some of that stuff.
31:06
OK. All right, So whatever you need,
31:08
stay with us. You're listening to Czech event
31:11
right here on MVR. I'll.
31:15
Be The station where our veterans
35:19
voices are heard. MBR talk.
35:23
Hey thanks for tuning. In Welcome back are those of the
35:27
speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions
35:32
of any entities they represent. Find.
35:34
This on the web at NB radio dot US.
35:39
Hey, welcome back to Czech Event Nation here at the Czech Event
35:42
Studio in Helena, Mt. When we left I said I was going
35:45
to talk about some. Oh man, I lost my train of
35:49
thought there. Suicide risk factors.
35:52
But but before I get into that, I kind of want to get into some
35:55
ways, some meaningful ways you can engage with not just a
35:59
veteran in your life, but anybody that's that that you're
36:02
worried about. So just touch base with them,
36:07
send frequent notes and text messages or make phone calls and
36:11
try to do it at times that works best for them.
36:14
And when they do getting back in touch with you, return their
36:17
messages quickly or call them back.
36:19
You know, when you as soon as you can, you know, and I, I can
36:25
help may seem thoughtful, but it places the burden on them to
36:29
come up with a plan. Instead, offer a specific
36:32
activity, you know, at a certain time, like let's go fishing on
36:35
Saturday or hey, let's, let's go bowling tomorrow or let's go get
36:38
dinner. And they can choose to accept or
36:42
decline. But when you make these offers,
36:45
always follow through. That's that's the thing you want
36:48
to make sure you do. I try to create some sort of
36:53
sense of normalcy with visiting. Schedule regular visits and
36:57
focus on interest and abilities that that they like to do.
37:02
Active listening sends an important message that they're
37:06
heard and supported. Try to really hear and
37:10
understand how they're doing. Even if you put, even if you
37:14
must put your own fears and feelings aside.
37:17
Active listening. That's the keyword there.
37:20
Active sends an important message that they are heard and
37:24
supported. And be patient, supportive.
37:28
Focus on positive emotions and things like family, friends and
37:31
hobbies in their life. If they want to talk about the
37:34
stress and feelings or subjects, stay on topic while being
37:37
supportive and non judgmental. Think the veteran is distressed?
37:41
Then ask the direct questions or you haven't thoughts about end
37:44
of your life and if they are then stay with them and offer
37:48
hope until you can get them professional help.
37:51
Don't be afraid to ask questions and be willing to hear what they
37:54
are saying. Like I said earlier, please use
37:58
our resources at check avet.org and be ready to seek
38:01
professional help and connect them when to the help they need
38:05
and keep trying. As we all know we can be hard to
38:10
reach out to. We isolate, we often put up
38:14
barriers, but gently and patiently try to earn your way
38:18
through those barriers. It's going to take sincerity,
38:21
patience and resolve. A great way to get guys to open
38:25
guys and girls open up and have meaningful conversation is talk
38:28
about the service. Ask them about their day, ask
38:30
them about their, we ask them what they're doing now.
38:34
Just just be open and honest with them.
38:37
Just talk to them. I mean, at the end of the day,
38:40
at the end of the day, most people, all they want to do is
38:43
have somebody to talk to. They wish they could tell
38:45
somebody something and best treat other vets differently
38:50
than they treat anyone else. If they've been completely
38:53
isolated, then reach out to someone that they served with,
38:57
talk to or respects. You might have to check on them
39:01
with that person. It's difficult, but it's better
39:04
than quitting and just saying the heck with it, right?
39:08
But like, like I said, for, for me, when I was going through all
39:13
the shit that I was going through, the one thing I wanted
39:16
more than anything was I felt like I had nobody that I could
39:20
talk to. I felt like nobody understood
39:22
me. I didn't have that person I
39:24
could reach out to. But but in reality, I did.
39:27
I could have called my buddies that I served with.
39:31
Heck, I could have called my mom, right?
39:34
But in my mind, for some reason, I, I never did.
39:38
Why I, I don't know. I, I don't know why, but at the
39:45
end of the day, most of the time all somebody wants is for
39:47
somebody to listen, to truly listen.
39:53
So yes, get inside some of the, some of the risk factors and
39:57
some of the, excuse me and protective fast factors.
40:04
So these are characteristics that are associated with a
40:06
decreased likelihood of suicide and that includes access to
40:11
mental health care. Access to care for substance use
40:15
disorders. Feeling connected to others, IE
40:18
you know, people calling them people, making them feel like
40:20
they're wanted. Spiritual functioning, coping
40:24
skills, understanding reasons for living, for living, kids,
40:30
family, friends, major life in this to look forward to like
40:34
like getting married or their daughter or son getting married.
40:39
Psychosocial stability suggests enhanced ability to endure
40:43
future crisis without engaging in self-directed violence and
40:47
having something that needs attention or taken care of like
40:50
a pant or pant, pant or plants. You know, like honestly, one of
40:56
the best things that ever happened to me was getting my my
40:58
German Shepherd like he's well, I couldn't have him in here
41:01
right now. He's actually upstairs, but my
41:04
German Shepherd was with me and oh, it was me and him on my
41:08
truck for five years. It was no, what's up, Joel?
41:17
No, no. OK.
41:19
And a couple of other protective factors or, or resilience and a
41:25
sense of belonging and purpose to their military service,
41:29
access to DA mental health care and care for substance use
41:32
disorders and positive coping skills that better learned in
41:35
high stress settings. You know, like, you know, people
41:39
make the joke that basics easy. Well, basics not always easy for
41:43
everybody, right? A lot of the times you're doing
41:46
things that you never thought you would do before you even
41:49
actually in the military. Like me.
41:52
I was, I'm not going to say was because I still am scared of
41:56
heights. One of the hardest things for me
41:58
to do was repel off that tower and then not only that, but jump
42:01
off the diving board blindfolded into a pool and then take my
42:05
trousers off and make flotation device.
42:07
That's one of the hardest things I've ever do in my life because
42:09
I'm scared of heights. But I did it right and it was
42:13
overcoming that fear and doing things that I've learned.
42:17
You can take that and, and bring it to your everyday life.
42:23
So let, let's get into some of the risk factors now, right.
42:26
So alcohol and other substance use is that's a big one.
42:32
And mental disorders, that's yeah.
42:36
Hopelessness, impulsive and aggressive tendencies, history
42:39
of trauma, physical illness, stigma.
42:44
You know what? That that's the thing where
42:45
there's stigma. That's one of the things that
42:49
kept me for so long for actually reaching out and talking to
42:52
somebody. We need to, to end the stigma on
42:57
mental health and, and not just mental health, but all health.
43:01
There's something wrong. Go to a doc.
43:04
Your, your buddy is not going to be able to tell you.
43:06
Well, he might be able to tell you if you got a broken leg, but
43:08
he's not going to be able to tell you.
43:10
Hey, man, yeah, I think you might have TBI or something like
43:12
that. You know, he might, he may see
43:14
the signs, but he can't diagnose you.
43:16
Go to the VA, go get, go get some help.
43:23
But yeah, so there's, there's a good bit of risk factors for
43:26
suicide and I really don't, I really don't like them, but it
43:30
is what it is, right? So, and this, this one's a good
43:33
one too. Local clusters of suicide,
43:35
That's the thing that happens. No suicide pacts.
43:38
It's, it's a horrible thing, but it does happen.
43:43
Lack of social support and sense of isolation, exposure to others
43:47
who have died by suicide, history of interpersonal
43:51
violence and abuse, unemployment.
43:54
You know, these are the things that are like I like to say and
43:57
like Mike likes to say, we've got to stop treating suicide as
44:03
the problem and start treating it as as like this is a test.
44:11
Well, it worked that time, Joel, if that was.
44:13
That's all that. I'm like, what the hell was that
44:18
man? Oh man.
44:25
OK, so but it doesn't post up on on here.
44:35
OK, yeah, I guess it doesn't post up on the on the comments
44:39
section here, but it says it in the.
44:41
OK, that's cool. Anyways, back to where I was at.
44:55
Turbo. Man, that is weird.
44:58
I'm doing good man. Thanks.
44:59
Appreciate you. Yeah, there's a reason.
45:05
I guess some people watch it on TikTok, so right, Right.
45:10
That's probably just you, but anyway, so, so access to mental
45:19
health care isn't just a resource, right?
45:20
It's, it's, it's a lifeline. Veterans navigating invisible
45:25
wounds of service and the ability to speak to a
45:27
professional gets it can definitely mean the difference
45:30
between surviving and thriving. Therapy, counseling, group
45:34
sessions, crisis lines, that they're all tools that can help
45:36
a veteran process trauma, manage PTSD and take steps towards
45:40
healing. But the problem is not everybody
45:43
knows where to turn. Some are met with long, long
45:46
wait lists. Others are lost in the system.
45:49
And we're trying to help bridge that gap.
45:52
But but part of the problem is there's not really a lot of
45:57
mental health professionals out there.
45:59
And then having access to that, which means how's the vet going
46:02
to pay for that care, you know, because if the line's a, a three
46:07
month long wait, well, you either go private or you or you
46:11
suffer. So how, how do we fix that?
46:13
You know, I, I don't have the answer for that.
46:15
I wish I did. But one of the things that check
46:22
a bit is doing is we're creating this program that we call Team
46:25
Room and it's kind of based around the idea of local coffee
46:30
meetups, right? So you've all seen the guys that
46:34
are at your, your local coffee shop or your, your Burger King
46:38
or their favorite dining spot at 9:00 in the morning, every
46:41
morning or whatever, or this group of guys come together to
46:44
chat, hang out and see how they're doing.
46:45
And of course, usually as retired guys and that that's
46:48
great. But what what we're doing with
46:51
Team Room is we're developing these programs to where once a
46:56
once a month and hopefully once a week we can all come together
47:02
and hang out. I have no clue what.
47:07
You said turbo, where are you guys based?
47:11
Where are we based? OK, so the Czech event
47:14
headquarters is in Murray, KY, and the studio, which is where
47:18
I'm at, is in Helena, Mt. We're nationwide.
47:22
Our presence on social media just about everywhere is check a
47:26
vet or check a vet 365 S Facebook is check a vet
47:31
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, trying to think of where else.
47:37
But anyway, yeah, it's just check a vet or check a vet 365
47:41
And we also go to a lot of major events.
47:44
We were just at the Texas Motor Speedway.
47:46
We were at Bristol not too long ago.
47:49
We were at the Matt's Truck Show in Kentucky.
47:53
We're going to be at Sturgis this year.
47:56
Let's see, we're going to be in North Carolina at the Coca-Cola
48:00
600 the end of this month. So we're we're all over the
48:03
place. We're not just in one area.
48:06
This program that I'm talking about team room right now, we're
48:10
kind of in the the beta stages of it.
48:12
We're trying to build it and soon we're hoping to bring this
48:15
national. It just takes guys in local
48:18
areas to get to try to get involved.
48:22
But that's that's one thing we're trying to do is get guys
48:25
together to have monthly meetings to just kind of kind of
48:28
build that camaraderie. And, you know, hopefully we can
48:32
get hooked up with some sponsors, you know, they give us
48:34
some, some free coffee and a place to meet and stuff like
48:37
that. But all that stuff is hard.
48:39
It's it's a lot of work, but at the end of the day, you don't
48:44
need groups like mine or anybody else for that matter.
48:47
Just get to get here with a bunch of buddies once a week and
48:50
go bowling or go go fishing, you know, go, just go hang out with
48:53
your friends. If you got a schedule like mine,
48:56
I know that's not always possible, but just send them a
49:00
text. It's when I'm sitting here
49:05
talking about it. I'm like, all this stuff is so
49:07
simple, but then at the same time, I'm also horrible at
49:12
reaching out, right? I don't, I don't call everybody
49:14
that I should. Then I'll send text message to
49:16
everybody that I should because my schedule is so jam packed in
49:19
between the podcast, the radio show, the nonprofit school and
49:23
work and my family. It's like I never have time.
49:26
Well, we got to make time, right?
49:30
That includes me. We've all got to make time to
49:32
reach out to those that we care about.
49:35
And there's, there's one very interesting statistic that
49:40
Michael Carmichael shared with me that the president of Czech
49:42
ABET shared with me trying to pull it up.
49:47
But anyway, the, the VA says states that the, the suicide
49:56
rate per day is, is 22. If I remember, 22 a day.
50:00
Well honestly it's more like around 44.
50:08
OK, so here we go. How many veterans have ended
50:11
their life by suicide since 9:11?
50:13
Well, these numbers are as of 2021.
50:16
So according to the VA their their data says that 133,867
50:25
have died. OK, and that's the suicide, not
50:28
combat. According to Operation Deep
50:31
Dive, 321,281 have died by suicide.
50:37
So that's a factor of 2.4 I think is what it is.
50:44
And up until recently, Montana was #1 state, state wise.
50:50
And did you just send that to me now?
50:54
Oh, Yep. I guess it's not to get back on
50:56
another break, huh? Yeah.
51:00
You'll get better at this. We'll get better at this.
51:04
All right, You're listening to check event right here on MBR.
54:53
The station where our veterans voices are heard MBR talk.
54:56
Hey, thanks. For tuning.
55:01
In welcome are those of the speakers and do not necessarily
55:06
reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
55:09
Find. Us on the web at MB radio dot
55:12
US. Hey, welcome back to Czech of IT
55:15
Nation. So this last little segment
55:18
here, we're not going to really going to take too long because
55:20
we kind of started late and that's my fault.
55:22
So I'm sorry about that guys. But anyway, so I want to kind of
55:26
try something different. And like I was saying earlier,
55:29
this look at suicide is a symptom, but not as a problem.
55:32
The problem is whatever stressor or risk factor is leading that
55:35
person to thoughts of suicide, we need to treat the problem to
55:39
avoid the symptom. You know, let's kind of use a
55:42
dental analogy to help us understand it, right?
55:46
If the problem is an infected tooth, you're going to treat
55:48
that infection because if the problem isn't treated, symptoms
55:52
will begin to manifest. You know, symptoms of the
55:54
affected tooth. What are they?
55:55
They're tooth pain, sensitivity to heat and cold, fever,
55:58
swelling, bad breath. And ultimately, the tooth must
56:01
be pulled, right? So in this analogy, pulling a
56:05
tooth is the worst case scenario, just like suicide is
56:08
the worst case scenario. To stress, we need to identify
56:12
what stressor is leading someone to suicidal thoughts and then
56:15
treat that stressor and then the symptom will never be the be an
56:18
issue. So First things first is
56:23
identifying some warning signs, right?
56:26
We got to pay attention to each other and look for warning
56:29
signs. Some common things include being
56:32
isolated, increased anxiety, feeling trapped during
56:35
unbearable pain, expressing hopelessness, increased
56:38
substance use, looking for a way to access lethal means,
56:42
increased anger, arranged rage, extreme moon swings, talking or
56:48
posting about wanting to die and then making plans.
56:52
Don't be afraid to ask the person who's having thoughts of
56:54
suicide. I know that kind of contradicts
56:57
what I said earlier, but hear me out.
57:01
People often worry about asking if someone is having thoughts of
57:04
suicide, and they don't ask because they worry that I might
57:07
put the thought of suicide in their head.
57:09
While that's a common fear, it lacks scientific evidence.
57:13
Thankfully, a scientific review review was conducted in 2014
57:19
that investigated a common fear that inquiring about suicide
57:23
related behaviors may bring about or prompt suicidal
57:26
thoughts. The researchers found the
57:29
opposite and concluded that there was no statistically
57:32
significant increase in suicidal ideation among participants who
57:37
were asked about suicide. They stated our findings suggest
57:42
acknowledging and talking about suicide may in fact reduce
57:47
rather than increase suicidal ideation and may lead to
57:50
improvements in mental health and treatment seeking
57:52
populations. As you listen to the to a
57:56
veteran, let him or her do the talking and you supportive and
57:59
encouraging comments. You can use the following steps
58:03
to let the veteran know you're listening and acknowledging
58:06
Here's a her experience. Talk openly about suicide.
58:09
Be willing to listen and allow a veteran to express his or her
58:12
feelings. Recognize that the situation is
58:15
serious. Do not pass it.
58:19
Don't pass judgment, guys. Don't be judgmental and reassure
58:23
them that help is available and just just just be that ear, that
58:30
shoulder for somebody to, to cry on, so to speak, you know, and
58:35
you know what guys, I'm always looking or always interested in
58:38
speaking with you guys and inviting you on the show to talk
58:41
and share your stories. You can reach me at
58:46
mike.turby@checkevent.org or Mike, it's Veterans life.com and
58:53
you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, all
58:57
that fun stuff. You can reach out to MBR Radio.
59:00
I'm sure that they would love to get you in touch with me if you
59:03
want to be on the show. I want to.
59:04
Have a conversation. Your e-mail is check a vet at MB
59:08
Radio dot US. That's right, you did get me one
59:11
for here. I do have one for here.
59:13
It is check a vet at MB Radio dot USI forgot all about that
59:17
Joel. I got so many emails I got to
59:20
keep track of man I. Dude, I know, I know.
59:24
Well hey, I think you did fabulous for your first first
59:30
show. Everybody in the comments, make
59:33
sure you roast him and Heckle him and give him some nice
59:37
vibes. Man, don't tell TikTok.
59:44
That but until next Monday, I'm I'm glad that you was here Turbo
59:49
and I I can't wait to to listen to you and your Co host.
59:53
He he has to be more entertaining than me.
59:57
Oh, yeah, I tell you what, man, this Carmichael's a great dude.
1:00:02
I'm not sure how often he's really going to be on, but he's
1:00:06
a great guy and I'm, I'm hoping we can get him on soon.
1:00:09
I was just talking to him this morning and sounds like that we
1:00:13
are going to have an interview with one of his buddies that was
1:00:16
in the Group One of the groups. Pretty soon we're trying to get
1:00:20
that dialed in to make it happen, but hopefully we can do
1:00:24
that live instead of having to record it.
1:00:25
But we'll. See, right, right.
1:00:28
Well, everybody, I think it's time for us to get out of here.
1:00:30
You can, you can check this podcast out right after we go
1:00:36
off the air today. And remember, we're here for you
1:00:39
and not for us. You can check out this program
1:00:43
every Monday at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
1:00:48
That's no, no, it'd be 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
1:00:52
I need you to shut up. So whatever you do, stay with
1:00:54
us. Don't go away.
1:00:55
Beyond the headlines is next. Do you have anything else to
1:00:58
say? Turbo?
1:00:59
I I didn't mean to cut you off. No, no, you're good, Joel.
1:01:02
Yeah. Just Beyond the headlines is
1:01:04
next. And like Joel said, 5:00 PM
1:01:06
Eastern. Every Monday we're going to be
1:01:08
here, hopefully most of the time live, but every now and then it
1:01:11
may be recorded. Outstanding.
1:01:13
So take care. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you
1:01:19
for tuning in to Military Broadcast Radio.
1:01:23
As we wrap up today's show, we want to remind you that the
1:01:27
podcast of today's episode will be available right after we go
1:01:31
off the air. So if you missed any part of the
1:01:34
show or want to listen again, be sure to check it out.
1:01:39
And remember, we're here to support and honor our veterans.
1:01:46
Your stories and experiences matter, and we are committed to
1:01:50
giving you a platform to share them.
1:01:54
That's right, we are here to give our veterans a voice.
1:01:58
So don't forget to catch the podcast and stay connected with
1:02:02
us giving our veterans a voice.