Latest / The Lost Art Project: Veterans’ Voices / #595 FireSide Chat w/ the Crew; 10 Jul 2026

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#595 FireSide Chat w/ the Crew; 10 Jul 2026 · The Lost Art Project: Veterans’ Voices

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1:07
Hello, hello, my friends,
1:08
and welcome back to the Lost Art Project
1:10
Veterans Voices.
1:11
I'm your host, Andrew Cox,
1:12
and today we're having a fireside chat
1:14
with the crew.
1:16
But before we get into the episode,
1:18
are you enjoying these podcasts?
1:19
Make sure you hit up the website.
1:20
That's the
1:20
lostartprojectveteransvoices.org.
1:23
We are a new nonprofit,
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so if there's any way you can help
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us out, it'd be much appreciated.
1:27
Big shout out to the Tilva Hala Project
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out there doing amazing things.
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If you don't know anything about them,
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go check them out.
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Even if you do, check them out again.
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You can find them at tilvahalaproject.com.
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And if you're out there in need of
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a veteran service officer,
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don't you worry.
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The Marine Corps League has you covered.
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You can go to mcleague.org,
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do the VSO locator, or heck,
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you can just dial seven zero three.
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And yeah,
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I'm just excited to be a part of
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that.
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And with that,
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I think I've got a message from the
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Marine Corps League.
2:28
Are you a Marine veteran?
2:30
Are you missing that bond you had on
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active duty?
2:33
Then I have a place for you.
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Join the only congressionally chartered
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2:59
oh man oh man we're back we're here
3:04
we're live yeah buddy we're live i guess
3:08
we can go around robin here see how
3:09
everybody's doing so uh i guess i'll start
3:12
with vick vick
3:17
What's up?
3:17
How you doing, man?
3:18
Life is good.
3:18
Let's see.
3:19
I just rode a five hundred and five
3:20
miles today from Jackson.
3:22
Well, about an hour east of Jackson,
3:24
Mississippi to here.
3:26
Max temperature was one hundred and three.
3:28
I was in about one hundred three degree
3:30
weather,
3:30
one hundred three degree weather for about
3:32
two hours.
3:33
a couple hours at one hundred and one.
3:35
So that's my hottest ride so far.
3:38
But it was good.
3:39
You know,
3:39
every time I'd stop every ninety minutes,
3:41
whether I needed to or not,
3:42
chug a thirty two ounce bottle of water
3:44
and
3:44
uh whether i needed it or not and
3:46
keep going uh and then by the end
3:49
of the day i was able to scrape
3:50
off all the the sunscreen with my
3:51
thumbnail it was every time i stopped i
3:54
put another layer of sunscreen on uh but
3:57
no it was a good time bike's running
3:58
like a top it's uh it's been uh
4:01
been a therapeutic i dare say spiritual
4:03
journey it's been a good journey okay it's
4:05
been a good time got to spend some
4:06
time with my mom and my sister and
4:09
uh yeah a good time yeah nice digging
4:12
it
4:13
Well,
4:14
not all of us got to ride our
4:15
motorcycles around today.
4:18
That's probably because not all of us have
4:19
a motorcycle, but that's okay.
4:22
Someday, someday, I'll have a motorcycle.
4:25
When it's that hot,
4:26
you can visit the spirit world.
4:28
The spirit world, yeah.
4:30
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
4:31
Jess, how you doing, man?
4:31
Spirit world.
4:33
It's just... Nah, just, you know,
4:38
wrapping up my week, so...
4:40
uh it's swamp pass hot out here and
4:43
uh yeah we're uh it's july so it
4:47
must be headed to a funeral tomorrow for
4:49
a friend of ours passed at nine years
4:52
old but he was an amazing guy so
4:54
i'm not saying he he died he won
4:56
so
4:58
He had more miles on his bikes than
5:00
he did his truck.
5:01
So that was a biker win,
5:03
especially in South Dakota.
5:05
Life goals.
5:07
Yep.
5:07
Mexico, Canada, all across the US,
5:10
out to Virginia.
5:11
I mean,
5:11
he was just all over the place.
5:13
You know, it's funny that you say that.
5:15
I found out when I went to Sturgis
5:17
last year that I was part of a
5:19
very small niche in motorcycling,
5:24
the long haul club.
5:27
There's not a whole lot of bikers out
5:30
there that are long haulers.
5:32
Most guys,
5:33
when they want to go do something that's
5:34
far away,
5:35
they put their bike on a trailer.
5:36
We used to make fun of those guys
5:38
all the time.
5:40
They're bikers, right?
5:41
Yeah.
5:42
They're trailers.
5:44
I actually have a patch on the back
5:46
of my vest that says I rode mine
5:47
to Sturgis.
5:50
That's a very small minority.
5:52
Yeah.
5:53
Yeah.
5:55
Wow.
5:55
There was a part when I was a
5:56
kid that the bikers would come through and
6:00
they'd tear up a town.
6:02
Not really on purpose.
6:03
They were just like, we're bad.
6:05
The Roadhog guys.
6:06
I'm like, yeah, that's cute, guys.
6:07
So our first fairway on our golf course
6:13
would parallel the highway.
6:15
And every once in a while,
6:16
you could shank one right into a crew
6:17
and see what happened.
6:18
Yeah.
6:20
he said bounce on the highway and they
6:21
see a golf ball like bouncing up like
6:23
oh my god they started it yeah mostly
6:29
the the twin cities dennis that was that
6:34
crew and the doctors and the podiatrists
6:37
hey they got a ride too rebel bikers
6:41
rebels yes wild hogs yeah
6:47
Never the Angels, never the Mongols,
6:48
never like the Patch Boys.
6:50
It was always like the, yeah.
6:53
The yuppies.
6:54
Yeah, you can tell.
6:55
They stood out.
6:56
But no, it's a busy week.
7:00
Always is.
7:01
Here we is.
7:02
But here you are, man.
7:04
Yeah.
7:05
You made it.
7:06
You made it.
7:06
Let's jump down.
7:07
Look, Steve-O has come back.
7:08
He's saying hi to us yet again.
7:10
Steve-O is becoming a regular here.
7:12
So, Steve-O, how are things?
7:17
I'm trying to figure out how to mute
7:18
this here.
7:20
You're good now.
7:21
I'm on my tablet tonight,
7:22
so it's a little different.
7:23
So how's everyone going?
7:25
How y'all gentlemen doing today?
7:26
Yeah, good, man.
7:28
Nice to be back.
7:29
Nice to be back again.
7:31
Always nice to be with you, gentlemen,
7:33
and on the fireside chat.
7:35
Yeah.
7:36
So I have a lot of people.
7:37
My friends are over on TikTok watching.
7:39
Oh, bonus.
7:43
Bonus.
7:43
Now, you just shared it on TikTok.
7:45
Is that what you did?
7:47
No, actually,
7:48
I shared your link and told them to
7:50
follow you on TikTok.
7:51
Oh, I see.
7:52
Okay.
7:53
I don't know if you're streaming on TikTok
7:55
right now.
7:56
It should be.
7:57
I haven't looked, but it should be.
7:59
I just looked down at my phone and
8:00
somebody said, we're checking it out.
8:03
Okay, cool.
8:04
Yeah, nice.
8:05
I like it.
8:05
Yeah.
8:07
So what have you been up to?
8:10
Oh, man.
8:11
I think since we last talked,
8:12
my kid was in and out of the
8:13
hospital.
8:14
Oof.
8:16
Working on a project right now.
8:18
So I don't know if you all know,
8:19
I've written a book called The Broken
8:21
Mirror.
8:22
It's about military transition, self-help,
8:24
personal development.
8:26
So I don't really want to leave the
8:28
cat out of the bag,
8:29
but I've already sent it to the desk
8:31
of the Sergeant Major of the Army.
8:33
So...
8:36
What we're trying to do is we're trying
8:38
to get that implemented in the Army right
8:40
now to see if it's going to fly.
8:43
I don't think it's going to fly in
8:44
this budget this year.
8:46
It's got to be in the budget,
8:47
according to the executive assistant.
8:50
I think her name is Dr. Sorrells.
8:53
He doesn't have a military person that's
8:55
his aide or assistant.
8:58
does all the type and stuff so she
9:01
has it and has passed it on but
9:04
i thought of an idea i had a
9:05
friend my friend cody after contact the
9:08
guy that had the gear he's like hey
9:10
man
9:12
We do PMCS,
9:13
pre-maintenance checks and services on our
9:15
vehicles.
9:16
So why don't we issue a PMCS or
9:19
a technical manual when you get out?
9:23
Like it's maintenance of your life for the
9:26
rest of your life.
9:27
So we took the cover off the broken
9:29
mirror, which is this here.
9:32
okay and andrew has and this is the
9:35
design right now as a technical manual
9:38
this is only a draft so if they
9:41
approve it they can change the name but
9:43
it's the maintenance of your mind as a
9:46
technical manual for soldiers
9:48
transitioning out so yeah pretty cool
9:52
thanks
9:53
Yeah.
9:54
That's a, that's a great idea though.
9:56
This is the civilian side.
9:57
This is the civilian side,
9:59
the broken mirror.
10:00
It's a six time award winning book and
10:03
nominated for the Eric Hopper,
10:05
two thousand twenty five prestigious book
10:07
award.
10:08
Didn't get the award,
10:09
but got the nomination.
10:12
But yeah,
10:13
that's the project that I'm working on.
10:15
And, you know, I,
10:17
told aj that i combined all three books
10:22
into one and this is the mirror the
10:24
broken mirror and no filter in the
10:27
reflection series legacy edition very very
10:30
nice laminated very nice very heavy very
10:33
sturdy working with ingram on that project
10:37
couple little bugs in it but it's out
10:40
it's on barnes and nobles walmart.com
10:45
books a million hasn't hit amazon yet
10:48
because of the the flaw in the back
10:51
i don't like this picture right here i
10:53
did a picture of me and my daughter
10:56
if you know what full bleed is you
10:58
see that border around it fully that takes
11:01
up the whole page uh and they did
11:04
they did the border
11:05
This is the only thing that's wrong with
11:07
the entire book.
11:09
That right there.
11:09
Because if you go to the front...
11:12
Mark knows all about the...
11:14
those people in the publishing company.
11:18
Right there.
11:19
Yeah.
11:21
But they still have a line at the
11:22
top, but that's already been worked out.
11:24
But yeah,
11:25
it's a pain in the butt because it's
11:28
approved through the program manager.
11:29
And then when it gets shipped over to
11:31
like the approving people,
11:34
somehow they want to change the
11:35
manuscript.
11:36
And those last two pages is what's wearing
11:39
everything.
11:39
I don't know, man, but.
11:41
We'll see, but that's the project,
11:43
and I'm getting ready to go out and
11:44
speak on my Purpose Tour in October.
11:46
Yeah, that's cool, man.
11:48
I like where that's going.
11:50
What is your purpose in life and your
11:52
five-year plan?
11:53
I'm an advocate for mental health and
11:56
PTSD,
11:57
and I don't get paid for this shit,
12:00
man.
12:00
I use all the money out of my
12:02
retirement,
12:03
and the money goes to my kid in
12:06
case I'm no longer here.
12:07
I'll shut up now.
12:11
Well, thanks for doing that, Steve-O, man.
12:13
That's a good thing.
12:14
I like where it's going.
12:15
Yeah, man.
12:15
I appreciate you having me on there and
12:17
talking about it.
12:18
Yeah, for sure.
12:19
For sure.
12:20
All right, Mark, out in California,
12:23
loving life, perfect weather.
12:26
How you doing, Mark?
12:28
I tell you,
12:29
you hit it on the head.
12:30
The weather is perfect.
12:33
There's nothing else I can say about the
12:34
weather.
12:39
The only thing I can complain about are
12:41
the three P's out here.
12:46
Prices, politics, and politicians.
12:52
I love it.
12:53
The three P's.
12:53
I'm going to remember that.
12:54
That's pretty good.
12:56
I like that.
12:57
But, uh,
12:59
A great thing.
13:01
I just had like an hour and a
13:03
half meeting with a new project manager
13:06
from my publishing company.
13:08
A new one, huh?
13:09
Yep.
13:10
So we just had to have a good
13:12
old, you know, come to Jesus meeting.
13:17
Did you inspect, not expect?
13:23
Oh,
13:24
we went line by line on my contract
13:26
that I paid money for.
13:28
And so things should be getting better.
13:34
Things should be getting better now.
13:36
Mark, what do you write about?
13:38
What do you write about, Mark?
13:39
So I got a book called Validating
13:41
Leadership.
13:42
I just, you know,
13:43
took all the leadership I've learned in my
13:44
life and put it into my five rules,
13:49
you know,
13:49
how my mind organized it and how I
13:52
led by it.
13:56
Is that it?
13:57
Right there.
13:57
Hey, do you know JJ Harding?
14:00
He does a leadership podcast.
14:03
No.
14:04
I'm going to get you in contact with
14:05
him to get you on his podcast.
14:06
He's a chief warrant officer, retired.
14:11
I'll send it to Cox and he'll send
14:14
you information.
14:16
His whole podcast is leadership, man.
14:19
I love it.
14:20
Sorry about that.
14:23
I love it.
14:23
I already talked to the Master Gunny up
14:26
at the Marine Memorial Club in San
14:30
Francisco.
14:31
He's reading the book.
14:33
I'm going to meet the author probably
14:36
October, November, October time frame.
14:40
The editor of the Marine Corps Association
14:48
is reading the book right now.
14:49
Hopefully it'll be in Leatherneck and the
14:51
Marine Corps Gazette.
14:53
by October, November timeframe.
14:55
Dang.
14:57
Is that all the new publisher or whoever
15:01
it is?
15:01
Yeah,
15:02
Colonel Woodbridge runs the Marine Corps
15:05
Association.
15:06
Yeah.
15:06
And so it has the Leatherneck and the
15:08
Marine Corps Gazette.
15:10
Nice.
15:12
Next up is Commandant's Reading List.
15:13
Hello.
15:14
I know.
15:15
Well, that's the next step.
15:19
I know a guy.
15:20
I know a guy.
15:21
A guy just came on the podcast,
15:23
General Lukeman.
15:25
Do you know General Lukman?
15:26
General Lukman, oh, heck yeah.
15:28
He was on the podcast?
15:30
Well, he told his story.
15:31
Yeah, I recorded him today.
15:33
So his story will be out next week.
15:34
But, yeah, so he came on, did that.
15:38
Yeah,
15:39
I'll hit him up because he knows the
15:41
commandant pretty well.
15:42
Of course,
15:42
and I just had breakfast with General
15:46
Paxton when I was shooting Quantico.
15:50
I gave him a copy of the book.
15:52
Plus, he's referenced in there.
15:57
Very nice.
15:59
Hey, Willen and Dylan, man,
16:00
we got to make it happen.
16:04
I feel less than.
16:05
I don't feel bona fide because I'm the
16:09
only dude that doesn't have a book out
16:12
there.
16:12
I'm going to have to write a book.
16:13
Yeah, you are.
16:15
You're going to have to write something.
16:16
Right?
16:18
you're gonna have to write about all your
16:25
cross-country trips it's funny they should
16:29
say that it's not but so why i
16:30
was on all my cross-country trips on the
16:33
uh for recruiting duty i uh i was
16:36
listening to a bunch of audio books and
16:38
i'm like i could write a book
16:41
I listen to sci-fi and fantasy.
16:44
I started coming up with these ideas for
16:47
a fantasy book.
16:48
I've got a lot of ideas.
16:52
I might write a fantasy trilogy or
16:54
something like that.
16:55
Yeah, you just got to do it.
16:57
You just got to write it, man.
17:00
You got to set aside some time.
17:03
Every day.
17:04
You got to
17:07
Get rid of all other things going on
17:11
and just do it.
17:12
Yeah.
17:14
It's true.
17:14
It's true.
17:16
Yeah.
17:18
Good night, Chesty Puller,
17:19
wherever you are.
17:21
I'm going to get one made that says,
17:22
good night, Sergeant Major,
17:23
wherever you are.
17:24
He's in a meeting.
17:27
He's in a meeting.
17:29
He's having breakfast.
17:30
Yeah.
17:32
He's talking to us.
17:32
That's the scourge of it.
17:33
That's the scourge.
17:34
Always in meetings.
17:38
Oh, man.
17:39
You guys love that shit.
17:40
It's not bad.
17:42
Sorry, say it again, Jess.
17:44
They love that shit.
17:45
Don't even let them convince you
17:46
otherwise.
17:47
I was always falling asleep in them.
17:49
I was dying.
17:50
I was always falling asleep.
17:52
it tells you how important they were
17:54
exactly oh that's good stuff so i was
17:59
uh talking to general lukman it was
18:00
amazing how many people uh like general
18:03
officers that he served with growing up in
18:05
the marine corps and how they were all
18:08
like they just all grew up together all
18:10
became generals i mean it's craziness yeah
18:14
that's it's a pretty cool story so uh
18:16
everybody out there needs to watch it um
18:19
he's a good dude
18:23
I'm pretty sure I'd have to look at
18:25
my book,
18:25
but I'm pretty sure he was the commanding
18:27
general of MCRD when I was in boot
18:29
camp.
18:32
No, no, no.
18:33
His dad.
18:35
His dad, his dad.
18:37
Yeah.
18:37
Oh, okay.
18:39
So his dad retired,
18:40
I think he said a three star, uh,
18:43
he retired a two star and, uh,
18:46
but he basically from the time he was
18:48
born, uh,
18:49
he was moving around with the Marine
18:52
Corps.
18:52
He went everywhere with his dad.
18:54
And then, uh, he, he got out, went,
18:57
uh,
18:57
was ROTC and then got joined the Marine
19:00
Corps.
19:01
And so his dad was still in whenever,
19:03
uh,
19:04
I think his first like eight or nine
19:05
years, something like that.
19:07
And then he retired.
19:10
I don't know.
19:11
Okay.
19:11
So his dad would have been my CG.
19:13
Yeah.
19:13
Good.
19:14
That's a possibility.
19:15
Yeah.
19:15
Got it.
19:18
Yeah, General General, the son,
19:20
General Lukeman, is he's much younger.
19:24
So but yeah,
19:27
he did forty forty just over forty years
19:29
total.
19:31
It's a long time.
19:33
I mean, Mark, you did what?
19:34
Sixty, right?
19:37
Thirty.
19:39
Two hundred and fifty one years.
19:44
So, Mark, Mark,
19:45
are you part of the Wounded Warrior
19:47
Project?
19:48
I work for the Wounded Warrior Project,
19:49
yes.
19:49
Oh, okay.
19:51
They're helping my buddy in Miami try to
19:54
get a hundred percent.
19:55
Yeah, I tell you,
19:57
we have the benefits program is
20:00
phenomenal.
20:01
Like the guy who works right across the
20:04
hall from me,
20:07
he used to be a raider for the
20:09
VA and now he works for us.
20:12
So he teaches everybody else exactly what
20:17
needs to be said.
20:19
Great.
20:21
Yeah, that's a good deal right there.
20:22
And speaking of the Wounded Warrior
20:27
Project, we just got on the, oh man,
20:30
I wish I could remember the name.
20:31
What's the list that I sent you?
20:32
Do you remember?
20:34
I'd have to look it up, but yes.
20:38
Yeah, we're on that list now,
20:40
which was pretty cool.
20:43
So, yeah, I like it.
20:45
I like it.
20:46
We're moving up in the world.
20:47
You know what I'm saying?
20:47
Your book, you know, your book,
20:49
that Manual for the Mind.
20:54
I bet our independence program or the
20:57
mental health program would really like to
21:00
get a hold of that.
21:01
Yeah.
21:03
I'll talk to you offline.
21:05
So I'm actually trying to get it into
21:07
the system for free to help veterans.
21:12
I mean, if you buy it from Ingram,
21:14
they're going to charge you.
21:15
But I'm sure Wounded Warrior or whoever or
21:18
the project, they can just print it.
21:22
You know, I mean,
21:24
they could print it or we could do.
21:25
And it's also on audio, too.
21:27
Yeah, I'm sure they I mean,
21:29
there's other books that they, you know,
21:32
they buy bulk and pass them out to
21:34
everybody.
21:35
So they probably do that for your book
21:37
also.
21:38
So what I'm trying to do is it's
21:39
a fifteen dollar book I'm trying to sell
21:41
to the army for like fifty cents or
21:43
a dollar.
21:43
Uh huh.
21:46
Because, you know, I mean,
21:48
I really think that this book because what
21:50
I don't understand is this.
21:51
OK,
21:51
and I wanted to bring this up and
21:55
they focus on the warfighter.
21:57
They always focus on the warfighter,
21:59
but they don't focus on the warfighter's
22:02
mind when they leave the military.
22:04
It doesn't matter if you're a one or
22:06
a nine or a freaking officer,
22:09
like a private or a sergeant.
22:12
It's time that people like us develop and
22:16
I've already had this project has been out
22:18
since two thousand twenty four.
22:20
It's already saved four people's lives now
22:24
and steered one guy who's getting out of
22:25
the military right now because he was
22:28
I want to say suicidal, but, you know,
22:31
he was close and he got the book.
22:34
He got the audio book and I signed
22:36
it and I sent it to him.
22:38
And now he basically loves it.
22:40
So I thought that I would turn it
22:42
into a technical manual instead of having
22:45
to cover.
22:47
And I'm sure the army will bite into
22:49
it or you guys, you know,
22:52
I sent the information to Cox.
22:54
So great.
22:54
Right.
22:59
I'd be really good if you could get
23:00
in.
23:01
It's not their job to fix us on
23:04
the way out.
23:04
The military.
23:06
Exactly.
23:07
I know that.
23:08
But what I'm saying is when you get
23:09
out of the military,
23:10
it's like a DD-FORM-II-XIV.
23:12
You get a little bit of training.
23:14
How many seniors have you seen get out
23:16
of the military and can't write a resume?
23:19
That is in the broken mirror,
23:21
resume writing from military lingo to
23:25
civilian.
23:27
That book has been approved by the
23:28
Pentagon Review Board.
23:30
Not many books are approved.
23:34
Most of them go through their network,
23:36
and they go through the resume writing
23:37
class.
23:40
I just say it's not their job to
23:42
get us ready for the civilian world.
23:45
It could be,
23:46
but that transition is broken because
23:47
that's why the VA exists.
23:50
Yeah, I understand.
23:52
There's a capability gap.
23:54
You have a lot of veterans that sit
23:55
on their butt,
23:56
and they think that the benefits are going
23:57
to come to them.
23:58
And you network, and you get educated.
24:02
You have to get your ass up off
24:03
the ground,
24:04
because even though you get ten percent or
24:05
thirty percent,
24:07
maybe you are supposed to be a hundred
24:08
percent.
24:10
And what is it, the P&T value?
24:12
What is it?
24:13
P&T?
24:13
Permanent and total?
24:15
Yeah.
24:17
The evaluator that does the review for
24:20
claims or whatever.
24:24
The adjuster,
24:25
when they look at you and say, OK,
24:27
this guy's thirty percent, but really,
24:29
you know,
24:29
that adjuster had a bad day and could
24:32
have had you there a little bit longer.
24:33
You know,
24:34
I've seen where people go and go to
24:36
see another PNC evaluation.
24:39
They go to a PNC evaluation,
24:41
they go to another one and they give
24:42
them like seventy percent, you know.
24:45
But I won't lie.
24:46
I went to a lawyer, Jane Dills,
24:49
out of West Virginia.
24:51
And somebody told me in the Navy when
24:53
I was working for the Navy as a
24:55
civilian, hey, man, call them up.
24:58
They do a consultation.
25:00
I did it like six months later.
25:02
I didn't even know.
25:04
They didn't even call me.
25:05
I looked online.
25:06
They said,
25:07
congratulations on a hundred PNT.
25:08
I was like, what is that?
25:10
I didn't even know what that was.
25:11
I wasn't even educated.
25:14
And then I called the lawyer place and
25:17
they were like, yeah,
25:18
we're just going to take twenty percent of
25:20
your back bang from eighty percent to one
25:22
hundred percent.
25:24
And they never talk to you ever again.
25:26
And I thought it was amazing.
25:28
But I mean, Wounded Warrior,
25:30
they do it for free, right?
25:31
Correct.
25:32
Correct.
25:33
Yeah.
25:35
And I have a buddy who I have
25:37
a buddy.
25:37
Check this out.
25:38
I have a buddy who is a Purple
25:39
Heart recipient and three bronze stars.
25:42
He has reached out to ten different
25:43
organizations to help him.
25:46
you know, for like his home and AC.
25:49
He actually reached out to the Purple
25:50
Heart Foundation and hasn't heard anything
25:53
back from them.
25:54
He reached out to that Marine Corps
25:57
veteran thing for Purple Hearts and
25:59
Immediately they called him and they're
26:02
sitting down with him and they're going to
26:03
get him a brand new AC unit and
26:05
everything.
26:06
And he's even a part of the Purple
26:08
Heart Foundation.
26:09
And he's also tried benefits.
26:12
So he went to the Wounded Warrior and
26:14
they're now working with him to get one
26:15
hundred percent.
26:16
OK, that's good.
26:18
Yeah.
26:18
As you went through the Injured Marines
26:20
Semper Fi Fund, America's Fund.
26:23
I believe that's what it called.
26:24
So I had Joel Travera,
26:26
the Army veteran who's blind on my
26:28
podcast,
26:30
and he does building homes for heroes.
26:34
And he told me to tell my friend,
26:38
reach out to the Marine Corps.
26:40
And he was like, I'm in the Army.
26:42
He's like, well, the Marine Corps is,
26:43
like, all branch for Purple Heart.
26:46
So all he has to do is send
26:47
his orders into
26:48
DD-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM-D-FORM
26:54
probably the best estimate and send like a
26:58
team member out to look at the situation.
27:01
So hopefully that is the Indian Marine
27:04
Separate Five Fund slash America's Fund.
27:07
Okay.
27:08
Yeah, I think I'll check with him,
27:10
but he told me he's like, man,
27:11
you're amazing, dude.
27:12
I can't believe that you even did that
27:14
for me.
27:14
I'm like, yeah, I didn't do it.
27:15
Joe told me and I told you because
27:18
you've been my soldier.
27:19
You know,
27:19
you were in a soldier for like when
27:21
we were in combat.
27:22
You got injured.
27:23
I didn't.
27:24
I'm trying to help you, brother.
27:26
My wife worked for them for fifteen years.
27:29
Oh, wow.
27:31
Where are they based out of?
27:36
San Diego.
27:37
Actually,
27:38
they got a headquarters in Quantico.
27:43
Do they?
27:44
But they're...
27:45
They're very little brick and mortar.
27:46
They go as much remote as possible to
27:50
keep the cost down.
27:51
Oh, yeah.
27:52
That makes sense.
27:53
Is that the Semper Fi Fund?
27:55
Yeah, Semper Fi Fund, America's fund.
27:57
Yeah, we're writing checks, I think,
27:58
to San Diego this week.
27:59
Good, good.
28:02
So everybody's a former Marine,
28:03
always a Marine?
28:05
Well, I didn't make kids,
28:06
so I'm not a former.
28:08
You're either a Marine or a dead Marine.
28:10
Okay.
28:11
So have all you been to Quantico Museum?
28:15
definitely i have it's amazing it's
28:18
amazing i played for the grand opening oh
28:21
wow so the only way to go through
28:24
that is with a docent because they know
28:26
all the tricks and the one that threw
28:28
me off was when you look at the
28:30
iwo jima the egas and the the doc
28:34
badges and if you look through your phone
28:37
you actually see the american flag that or
28:41
that the landing
28:43
it's amazing really i did not know that
28:46
some tour group was ahead of me and
28:48
i just threw my phone up and it
28:50
looks like you can actually see because
28:52
you can't see it on the glass on
28:54
the but when you throw your phone up
28:56
and you look through your lens it you're
28:59
in an l you're in a landing craft
29:01
going ashore i'm not joking that's why i
29:05
said you got to take like the tour
29:07
or you're missing half of it man huh
29:10
they'll just look at it straight on it's
29:12
like there's i don't see what he's saying
29:13
and then i pulled my phone up and
29:14
looked through the lens and it was like
29:16
you could you're in an they took a
29:18
photo from an atlantic craft going ashore
29:20
and he got the sarabachi on one side
29:22
of the airfield dust going up everywhere
29:24
and it's like you're in a landing craft
29:26
going ashore wow all the egas and the
29:29
all those that that display it's like yeah
29:33
amazing
29:36
well hey they've done all kinds of cool
29:37
stuff in there there's levels of detail in
29:39
there or like when you first walk in
29:40
and you're in the wheat field from the
29:42
german's perspective and seeing them come
29:44
at you on the charge but yeah that's
29:48
you can spend days in there that was
29:51
my uh my happy place when i was
29:52
stationed at quantico i hated my oic
29:54
couldn't stand him he's one of those guys
29:57
that ran his unit on fear threats and
29:58
intimidation
30:00
So whenever I needed like a way,
30:03
something to get away from him during
30:04
lunch,
30:05
I just go across the street to the
30:06
museum and spend twenty,
30:08
thirty minutes in museum just just
30:10
decompressing because I couldn't stand
30:12
that guy.
30:13
What a leadership.
30:15
But give you a whole class on it.
30:18
But, uh,
30:19
so like my daughter was born and then
30:22
on, uh, on October,
30:23
so I took ten days of maternity leave.
30:25
And when I came back the day that
30:26
I came back was the opening ceremony for
30:28
the, and I was stationed at Quantico,
30:30
was the opening ceremony for the museum.
30:33
So, uh, the, the OIC,
30:35
or actually the staff at OIC was like,
30:37
get in your blues,
30:37
be here at this time.
30:39
I'm like, okay.
30:40
So I literally was my first day,
30:41
my first day back after paternity leave.
30:43
uh, was playing for the grand opening.
30:45
Uh, but like when we got there on,
30:48
uh, when I showed up,
30:49
like everything was already set up,
30:50
they set it up the night before.
30:52
Uh,
30:52
so all the band was all set up,
30:53
ready to go.
30:54
And then, uh, when I got there,
30:56
docents were taking groups of Marines, uh,
30:59
including the band, uh,
31:01
and giving them tours of the museum before
31:03
it was open to the public.
31:04
And then about an hour later,
31:06
two hours later, something like that,
31:07
we did the opening ceremony.
31:09
All the Navajo Code Talkers were all
31:11
there.
31:12
I mean, it was awesome.
31:14
Yeah.
31:15
There was like ten of them there.
31:16
Holy cow.
31:18
Well, they just opened up the GWAT wing,
31:19
too,
31:19
which is what a lot of us were
31:21
waiting on because there's an LAV in
31:24
there,
31:25
and each LAV crewman is going to go
31:27
see if it's one of their old pigs.
31:28
Oh, yeah.
31:29
Yeah.
31:31
If it's one of our old hogs,
31:32
everybody's like, it's mine.
31:35
We all know our numbers.
31:37
That's funny.
31:38
We're waiting.
31:40
The first one to get the vehicle ID
31:41
off of it is going to win.
31:43
The entire association is excited.
31:47
You can get a head start on that,
31:49
man.
31:49
You can make some phone calls.
31:51
I can just do the old trick and
31:53
spray paint my number on there, too.
31:54
It really went.
31:58
I got fucking stencils.
31:59
I'll fix this right now.
32:00
Hey,
32:00
you got to do what you got to
32:01
do, you know?
32:05
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
32:06
Something like that.
32:07
It's not the first time I've acquired
32:08
something from stencils and spray paint.
32:10
It's ours now, bitch.
32:14
That's messed up.
32:17
That's accurate.
32:18
That's how it works.
32:19
Yeah, well, that is true.
32:22
Possessions by intensive law.
32:24
So my brother and his program,
32:26
they're down southwest for a longest time.
32:28
And they had like generators and a bunch
32:31
of stuff to run the aerostats.
32:33
And
32:34
They got this marine engineer unit crashed
32:38
on their base one day.
32:39
And they're just like,
32:40
stuff's there coming up missing.
32:41
And I was like,
32:44
I know where this is going to go.
32:46
So one of my brother's crew members was
32:50
one of our weather guests was on the
32:51
view.
32:51
He just walked over the engineer.
32:52
He was like,
32:53
give that shit back right now.
32:55
I know you guys got it.
32:57
That's ours, that's ours, that's ours,
32:59
and that's ours.
33:01
We're not going to start shit.
33:04
It's going to show up back at our
33:05
place tonight or we're going to have a
33:06
problem.
33:10
And then I first started college at USD
33:13
and a chaplain came out from the
33:14
engineering unit that was attached to my
33:16
old unit.
33:17
And he's like, yeah,
33:19
we're doing the Najaf fight in the
33:20
cemetery and all that.
33:21
And I'm like, oh, yeah.
33:23
You ever work with the Eleventh Mew?
33:24
And his face went stone cold.
33:25
And I'm like, yes,
33:26
he has worked with our unit.
33:30
So what happened is, like,
33:32
they stole my pulpit.
33:33
And I was like, what?
33:36
And then when I was chasing that crew,
33:38
they stole the altar.
33:40
Oh, my god.
33:42
These two guys were running down the
33:46
gravel, like,
33:48
like the ankle breaker rocks and they were
33:51
carrying it.
33:51
They were out running him as he's trying
33:53
to get stuff back.
33:54
It was like, wow,
33:56
that's my boys nailed down.
33:59
It's going to grow legs.
34:02
My heart just kind of expands like
34:04
traditions, traditions.
34:09
You did the opposite of the Grinch.
34:11
His Grinch goes down, yours went up.
34:13
Yes.
34:14
It never ends.
34:16
Nice.
34:17
South Dakota Guard got rude lessons in
34:19
being attached to a Marine unit.
34:22
What's ours is ours.
34:23
What's yours is ours too.
34:27
It's like the toddler rules.
34:32
And if it's broke, it's all yours.
34:34
yeah yeah don't bring it here yeah so
34:42
aj are you guys going to be part
34:43
of hero stock part of what sorry say
34:47
it again hero stock heroes hero stock is
34:52
i believe it's uh it's an organization so
34:55
they have a hero stock podcast
34:58
i think i've heard of the podcast but
35:00
they have a big event for veterans called
35:03
hero stock in august i believe they have
35:07
a lot like you can reach out to
35:08
this the founder and get like a tent
35:11
like a booth and your stuff because it's
35:15
all branch it's all different branches
35:18
where where is it at uh i want
35:21
um
35:23
I don't know.
35:24
Maybe somebody in the comments can help me
35:26
out.
35:26
Hero stock.com.
35:28
Um, so, um, they do do apparel, but,
35:34
um,
35:34
they also have a podcast that I've been
35:36
on a couple of times.
35:37
So, but, um, they do,
35:40
they do this thing,
35:41
this big event every year called hero
35:43
stock.
35:45
So pretty amazing.
35:47
Uh,
35:48
i don't want to say what state because
35:50
i don't want to be like oh he
35:51
said that wrong uh he's putting out false
35:53
information so maybe you guys can look it
35:55
up i know you're looking at right now
35:57
so i'm trying to find it yeah hero
36:00
stock so uh it's a huge event oh
36:04
it's a country music festival thing yeah
36:07
yeah okay so they have boosts and stuff
36:10
i think that you can i don't know
36:11
if you since you're it'd be a non-profit
36:13
they'll let you go to it or something
36:15
so i know a couple people that are
36:17
going to have boosts there
36:20
I wonder if – oh, man,
36:23
what's the guy's name?
36:25
Country singer.
36:27
We had him on.
36:27
Oh,
36:29
are you talking about the guy I had
36:32
on my podcast?
36:35
No.
36:36
I don't know.
36:36
He might have come on yours, too.
36:37
I don't know, but I can't remember.
36:38
Scotty Frazier?
36:40
Scotty Frazier?
36:40
No, no, no.
36:41
It's not Scotty.
36:42
There's another guy,
36:43
country artist that –
36:45
has been on he's right remember no no
36:49
he's not a veteran he was the guy
36:51
that got shot like ten times or something
36:54
uh was only in for like maybe a
36:57
year and a half or something like that
36:59
uh wow oh wait a minute yes i
37:02
see the face but i don't remember his
37:03
name i don't either i'm really bad with
37:06
names he came on the show twice right
37:09
he might have i don't know i don't
37:12
remember
37:13
Anywho, I'll find it.
37:16
Talk amongst yourselves while I work.
37:22
Sounds like every teacher I know.
37:25
Don't break anything.
37:26
I'll be back in a second.
37:28
So, Mark,
37:29
you work with a publishing company,
37:31
or you said somebody would be interested
37:37
in a manual book?
37:38
Yeah.
37:39
Oh, you have a publishing company?
37:41
Yes, I work with... No,
37:42
I just work with one.
37:44
Oh, okay.
37:46
Yeah,
37:46
I'll send the information in the
37:47
manuscript to Cox,
37:50
and you can take a look at it.
37:52
The only thing I would have to do
37:53
is go inside the manuscript and change
37:55
everything from Broken Mirror to the
37:59
Lifetime Manual, you know?
38:01
be weird to have like a title of
38:03
a lifetime manual and you open up and
38:04
be like, damn,
38:05
what did you just throw a cover on
38:06
here?
38:06
And it's a broken mirror or something.
38:09
I don't want to do that.
38:10
I don't want to do that.
38:11
I'll change,
38:12
I'll change the whole manuscript so that
38:14
it can go in, you know,
38:15
probably gonna have to do that when I
38:16
do the army.
38:17
But you know,
38:18
if the army see you all using it,
38:20
they'll be like, Hey,
38:21
maybe we need to jump on that,
38:22
you know?
38:23
So yeah, I'll have to figure out,
38:24
I'll have to reach out to who in
38:28
the winter war project handles that type
38:30
stuff.
38:31
Okay.
38:31
You know.
38:31
Scotty Hastings.
38:34
It's in Lincoln.
38:36
That's who it is.
38:37
Scotty Hastings.
38:37
I wonder if he'll be performing there.
38:39
Oh, Scotty Hastings.
38:40
Yeah, that guy, he's got some pipes.
38:42
Yeah, that dude's got some pipes.
38:45
Yeah,
38:45
he sang at the Fourth of July thing
38:47
in D.C., if I'm not mistaken.
38:48
Oh, wow.
38:51
Yeah.
38:51
It's in Lincoln.
38:51
No, he's only been on one.
38:54
And he told us,
38:55
we ever wanted him to give us backstage
38:57
passes or something like that.
38:58
Yeah.
38:59
Yeah.
39:00
He, I did go see him live.
39:03
I was pretty drunk,
39:05
to be honest with you.
39:07
So.
39:08
Were you backstage?
39:08
No.
39:11
No,
39:11
but he came down and said hi to
39:12
me.
39:14
I told the lady that was doing the
39:16
booth or whatever that's selling this
39:17
stuff.
39:17
I was like, hey,
39:19
I'm really drunk right now,
39:20
but I need you to go tell Scotty
39:22
to come down here and say hi to
39:23
me.
39:24
And then I told her who I was.
39:25
She was like, okay.
39:26
She went up and got him.
39:28
He came out and he's like, hey, man,
39:30
what's up?
39:30
And I was like, I'm sorry, I'm drunk.
39:31
I just wanted to say hi.
39:32
It was pretty funny.
39:36
Wow.
39:38
Yeah, it's going to Lincoln, Nebraska.
39:40
Lincoln, Nebraska.
39:42
Ashland, Nebraska,
39:44
which is part of Lincoln.
39:45
I think they do it up there all
39:45
the time, don't they?
39:47
That's what I'm looking at.
39:49
Is that the norm?
39:50
You talking about Hero Shop?
39:51
Yeah.
39:53
It's a huge event.
39:54
What was the date?
39:57
August the.
39:58
What is it?
40:00
August the fifteenth.
40:01
Oh,
40:04
Scotty played at that the year that he
40:06
came on whenever I guess it was last
40:07
year when he came on,
40:08
he played at it or was going to
40:10
play at it, if I'm not mistaken.
40:13
So they've got Blackhawk.
40:16
OK, the trainer band,
40:19
Briella Steiner and the Wicked Ones,
40:21
Shelby Kay and the High Class Hillbillies
40:23
and more.
40:25
And more, I haven't heard of and more,
40:26
but.
40:28
And more, yes.
40:32
That was good.
40:33
There's a star next to their name,
40:35
so they must be important.
40:36
It has to be.
40:38
There's a star next to the name.
40:40
Jeez.
40:41
You're moving up in the world.
40:42
You get stars next to your name.
40:45
There's a golf tournament, too.
40:47
Yeah.
40:49
I got stars next to my name.
40:53
Those are asterisks,
40:54
and they're not the same.
40:59
So AJ, last time I was on,
41:02
we talked about a green star family and
41:05
I know Jess was looking up some stuff
41:06
with red star and green star,
41:08
but it looks like green star is going
41:11
forward because there's a lot of
41:13
advertisements out there now and it looks
41:16
like it's getting ready to be approved.
41:17
So really know a green star is like
41:20
a modernization, right?
41:24
Suicide for families.
41:27
Yeah.
41:28
I'm actually trying to get them to come
41:30
on my podcast and talk about what Green
41:32
Star is.
41:34
So but I've communicated with a couple of
41:37
them that work behind the scenes on
41:40
TikTok.
41:41
I don't know because they did tell me
41:44
that.
41:46
So Green Star is only for I got
41:50
the difference now.
41:51
Green Star is only for military.
41:56
Red Star is military and first responders.
42:00
Oh,
42:02
that is what that is what Green Star
42:04
told me.
42:05
So because I was like, hey,
42:06
I was on the podcast and we're trying
42:08
to figure out what the Red Star is.
42:10
They're like, oh,
42:11
that was started a long time ago and
42:12
that is already approved.
42:14
And that's military and first responders
42:18
like EMTs and police and all that.
42:21
So interesting.
42:22
Yeah.
42:24
So.
42:25
and and but both of them uh still
42:27
uh for veterans that commit or whoever
42:30
that commits suicide correct yes yeah you
42:33
know it's uh i've been noticing that green
42:35
star has been putting up uh i don't
42:38
know if i like it or not where
42:42
a family member passes away and they make
42:44
a post
42:46
know and talk about they don't say what
42:48
happened they just say you know this
42:50
service member served and this and you
42:54
know couldn't make it through you know the
42:56
time and we're now giving them the green
42:59
star you know like they have like the
43:02
official thing so you know that's that's
43:05
kind of a a tricky tricky place to
43:09
be in you know uh
43:12
you if you want to recognize them but
43:14
at the same time you know uh the
43:16
families want to let people know that and
43:19
a lot of times families don't they don't
43:20
want people to know that a lot of
43:23
people a lot of people just go as
43:25
statistics yeah
43:28
yeah but yeah i'm really hoping that you
43:31
know a few of us can get together
43:34
and try to i mean you can't do
43:37
it overnight and i i just you know
43:39
i want to start with the army with
43:41
the broken mirror or the manual and see
43:44
if at least we could just at least
43:46
try to get them in a direction when
43:47
they get out that they don't commit
43:49
suicide because like
43:52
For two thousand fourteen and two thousand
43:54
twenty four, I was suicidal.
43:57
I was suicidal when I was trying to
43:59
write the broken mirror.
44:00
So, yeah,
44:03
my first three I wrote was calm before
44:06
the storm.
44:06
I was sitting on my back porch talking
44:08
my little dog I've had for twelve,
44:09
thirteen years and looked at my dog and
44:12
said.
44:13
I don't know.
44:14
I think I should unalive myself because I
44:16
don't have a civilian job no more.
44:17
And it was the biggest thing that I
44:19
was doing.
44:20
So I worked civilian government and I got
44:22
terminated for my mental health.
44:25
So I became an advocate after that because
44:28
my mouth got me in trouble.
44:31
And now my mouth is helping people.
44:34
So because the broken mirror was not
44:36
written,
44:36
the broken mirror was spoken on my phone
44:38
because of my tremors.
44:40
then i had a buddy who uh writes
44:43
for the gettysburg battlefield used to
44:45
he's now he edited it and he's like
44:49
yeah i knew you talked to your phone
44:51
because there's a lot of liking hands in
44:52
that one like i've never i've never edited
44:57
something that had five thousand likes in
44:59
it because it sounds like your your
45:01
vocabulary is nothing but like you know so
45:06
But it turned out really good.
45:07
I've had it edited about three or four
45:09
times.
45:10
And then it was a one-time go when
45:12
it went to the Pentagon review board.
45:15
So they didn't take anything out of it.
45:17
Everything was cool.
45:18
It also talks about long-term medication
45:21
use in the VA system.
45:23
Yeah, what it does to your body.
45:27
Yeah, so.
45:33
Now,
45:33
I really don't know the middle guy too
45:35
much.
45:35
I don't see your name there,
45:36
but what are you about, sir?
45:40
Who?
45:41
Me?
45:42
Yeah.
45:43
Yeah, what are you about?
45:46
Drumming shit, man.
45:49
When you do your podcast,
45:51
isn't it Cox and Jeffs that are the
45:52
host and co-hosts?
45:55
I've known Andrew since he was six grade.
46:01
I was his first drum teacher.
46:04
I started giving him private lessons when
46:05
he was a sixth grader and I was
46:06
a sophomore in high school.
46:09
Then I went on to college and just
46:13
as I was graduating,
46:15
I started teaching music band.
46:17
I was a band director for a semester.
46:20
Andrew graduated high school,
46:22
did three semesters in college,
46:23
and said that wasn't for him.
46:25
So he went to the Marine Corps band
46:27
or went to the Marine Corps recruiter and
46:28
said, I want to be in the band.
46:30
Or actually said, like, hey,
46:32
when the recruiter asked him, hey,
46:33
what do you do?
46:34
He said, I play in the band.
46:35
He's like, well,
46:35
you're going to be in the band then.
46:36
And then Andrew got roped into the band
46:38
because he had such a great drum teacher.
46:41
And then while I'm hating life because I
46:44
had to turn off the cable on my
46:45
cell phone and go back to eating ramen
46:47
noodles and peanut butter jelly like a
46:48
college freshman.
46:49
Andrew calls me and says, hey, man,
46:50
this band gig might be a sweet gig.
46:52
You should look into it.
46:54
So I auditioned on like July twenty six,
47:00
I think.
47:01
No, June, June twenty six.
47:02
And on August seventeenth, I shipped.
47:06
Uh, and so, uh, uh, I actually, uh,
47:09
Andrew joined the Marine Corps six months
47:11
before me, uh,
47:13
and I retired a year before him.
47:15
So I did, uh,
47:16
twenty-four years in the Marine Corps,
47:17
retired as a Master Sergeant.
47:19
Um, and, uh,
47:21
we spent our first duty station together.
47:23
Yeah.
47:24
Um, uh, because, uh,
47:26
when we went to the school, the,
47:27
the platoon sergeant hooked us up and put
47:28
us at the same duty station together.
47:30
And then we kind of like did this
47:31
for our careers.
47:33
Um, and, uh,
47:34
we got stationed on the same coast a
47:36
couple of times, but not, uh,
47:37
together again until, uh, uh,
47:40
senior gunnery sergeant and a master
47:41
sergeant, uh, at camp Pendleton,
47:44
he was acting bandmaster or band officer.
47:46
And I was acting bandmaster.
47:47
Uh, and then, uh,
47:49
I had one more duty station retired, uh,
47:53
You know,
47:53
you just threw me off there for a
47:54
minute when you walked off and walked
47:56
behind him.
47:57
I was like,
47:59
are these guys sitting side by side or
48:01
are they in the same room?
48:05
How did you just do that?
48:09
Magic.
48:13
That's like because when I was watching
48:15
the picture like when you guys were
48:17
talking.
48:17
I'm very I analyze I'm like that door
48:20
frame and that door frame look exactly
48:23
like I
48:25
I'm like, there must be,
48:26
I don't know what's going on there,
48:27
but I don't know if they're roommates.
48:29
That's funny.
48:29
And then he can reach over and point
48:32
at you.
48:33
That's pretty wild.
48:33
That's a good one.
48:36
I've never seen that on a podcast before.
48:40
That's funny.
48:40
Yeah, he just got here.
48:42
What did you say, five hundred miles?
48:43
Yeah,
48:44
five hundred and five hundred and five
48:45
miles today.
48:46
Wow.
48:47
Yeah, he just got here.
48:49
Ten hours.
48:49
Literally.
48:50
about ten minutes before uh the show
48:52
started is when he showed up so do
48:55
you do a harley or indian or i'm
48:58
an indian writer okay okay i have an
49:00
indian uh roadmaster limited okay yeah i
49:04
tried to do somewhere around a four
49:06
thousand mile road trip over the summer
49:08
i'm not a rider but a lot of
49:10
my my veteran friends ride for the vfws
49:12
and stuff the legions and all that the
49:15
legion riders or something
49:18
marine corps leaders or something i don't
49:20
know a lot about it but i've had
49:22
a couple friends that have big bikes that
49:25
their husbands and wives go out and do
49:26
that stuff so yeah i've done a uh
49:30
several group rides uh i've done wreaths
49:32
across america uh i want to do the
49:35
ride for the wall that's the one that
49:37
i want to do during memorial day uh
49:39
do because uh i i played one year
49:42
i played for the start of the ride
49:44
on the west coast
49:46
uh so it was a group of about
49:47
twenty riders that started on the west
49:49
coast and as they made their way across
49:51
the country uh they kept picking up riders
49:54
and kept picked up more riders pick up
49:55
more riders until they get all the way
49:57
to dc for the you know the ride
50:00
for the wall event which is at the
50:01
vietnam memorial um it's pretty cool hey
50:06
jay do you know brian ruth
50:09
I do, yeah.
50:11
Send him an invite and have him come
50:12
in, man.
50:12
I just saw him pop up, man.
50:14
I know he's live out of California right
50:16
now.
50:17
Is he live?
50:18
No, he just popped up.
50:20
I just saw him go, errr.
50:22
Yeah.
50:24
But yeah, have you done processions,
50:26
like funerals?
50:29
What's the name of the group?
50:31
I did it like...
50:33
Three or four of them,
50:34
like the Honor Guard or something like
50:36
that.
50:36
I can't remember.
50:37
Patriot Guard.
50:40
Patriot Guard.
50:40
That's what it is, Patriot Guard.
50:41
I've done the Patriot Guard like three
50:43
times, three, four times.
50:44
Okay.
50:46
Um, but it's, uh,
50:47
some of that stuff is rough, you know?
50:49
Um, and at the time it was, uh,
50:52
cause I was still transitioning out of the
50:54
Marine Corps and it, that was,
50:56
that was a little bit much for me,
50:58
you know, transitioning.
50:58
And then I'm seeing all these veterans
50:59
die.
51:00
I'm like, uh, this is tough.
51:04
yeah it's um it was tough it was
51:06
tough so i'm like i i think i
51:07
need to step away in but i i
51:09
see myself going back and doing it again
51:11
maybe when i retire fully retire um
51:14
because they they come up almost daily um
51:18
there's there's patriot guard events
51:20
almost daily
51:21
um so i feel real bad because i'm
51:23
still on the registry and i get all
51:25
the notifications uh but i i very rarely
51:29
ever contribute anymore just because it's
51:31
i i i i teach you now so
51:34
i teach full time so uh if it's
51:36
not on a saturday sunday i can't even
51:37
entertain it so i have a question i've
51:40
never heard before so the tomb the tomb
51:42
of the unknown is guarded by the old
51:45
guard army right yeah does the marine
51:49
guard anything anywhere
51:52
do they have embassy the white house okay
51:58
you have like the gates of heaven yeah
52:00
change they do like changing of the guard
52:03
or anything like that no but that they
52:06
do uh uh presidential uh stuff security at
52:09
the white house they also do security at
52:12
the uh
52:15
Camp David.
52:16
Thank you.
52:17
Up at Camp David.
52:18
And then they also do for Marine One,
52:20
they do security on that as well.
52:24
Did you see the video of the Marine
52:25
that was standing outside in the
52:27
thunderstorm by the White House door and
52:30
the lightning struck and he like slowly
52:32
slid inside the door?
52:33
Yeah.
52:36
But he was like the precision,
52:39
the way he did it,
52:40
like like facing movements.
52:43
He didn't just like step away.
52:45
You know, I thought that was pretty wild.
52:46
So Marines are HMX one, two.
52:48
So the presidential helicopter is piloted
52:51
and guarded by Marines.
52:52
OK.
52:53
All right, Brian,
52:55
you got I should have knew that I
52:57
try to look at history and stuff.
53:01
So he makes one is that Quantico.
53:02
So they have for I don't know about
53:06
veterans, but active duty,
53:08
you can submit your unit to do what
53:10
they call cage tour.
53:12
And you can go in and look at
53:13
the helicopters, both of them.
53:17
Oh, is that where Marine One is?
53:19
Yeah.
53:20
Oh, it's kept there.
53:21
Now, didn't they, didn't they,
53:23
I believe I talked to Brian about this
53:25
one day.
53:25
We were talking about AI.
53:27
Didn't they,
53:28
did they retire the old Marine One and
53:30
have some kind of new aerial?
53:32
Didn't they go to the Osprey?
53:35
I don't know if they stayed with it,
53:36
but I thought they were going to go
53:37
to the Osprey.
53:38
The H-sixties and the Ospreys.
53:39
Okay.
53:42
They just had the Ospreys up in North
53:43
Dakota.
53:44
at the Roosevelt Library opening.
53:47
But they also got the crash on, too.
53:49
Okay.
53:56
Speaking of Marine One,
53:58
what about Air Force One?
54:01
Not today, big head.
54:06
What?
54:07
So when Trump was coming back from the
54:12
Middle East,
54:13
he didn't want to fly in the new
54:15
Air Force One that was donated by Turkey.
54:18
Is that what it was?
54:20
Cairo.
54:21
Yeah, whatever.
54:23
So because he didn't feel safe.
54:25
So he flew back in the old Marine
54:27
One or Air Force One,
54:28
the old Air Force One.
54:31
weird i still think i still think there's
54:33
bug like they're you know they said they
54:35
combed that thing i still think that
54:37
there's they know somebody's listening to
54:41
everything you know truly i mean that
54:44
plane i mean the plane was basically free
54:48
but the upgrade you hear how expensive the
54:50
upgrades were gracious it was like the
54:55
whole freaking your tax budget for the
54:57
whole year the whole ten years good
54:59
gracious
55:01
Now, they only have one, right?
55:02
Now,
55:03
did they retire one of the Air Force
55:05
Ones or whatever it's called?
55:08
I don't know if they retired it.
55:10
Did they?
55:11
There are two Air Force Ones.
55:13
Okay.
55:15
Wouldn't it be an Air Force One and
55:17
Air Force Two?
55:18
Or no,
55:18
because the Vice President has Air Force
55:20
Two.
55:20
Is that right?
55:22
Yes.
55:25
That's what I thought.
55:26
I could be wrong.
55:26
Brian,
55:27
I sent you a message with the link
55:29
if you want to jump on.
55:31
you're still listening i don't know if you
55:32
are it's a call sign it's not a
55:33
plane so it's a call sign okay yeah
55:36
okay so it's the same plane brian's a
55:42
great dude man
55:44
Yeah.
55:45
No, it's it's just a call sign.
55:47
Yeah.
55:48
So just depends on who's on it, correct?
55:50
Yes.
55:51
Yeah.
55:51
OK.
55:53
OK.
55:53
And so it's not the plane so much
55:55
as its communication suite,
55:57
an active defense suite and the passive
55:59
defense suite.
56:00
So.
56:01
Right on.
56:05
It's just like.
56:07
Everything else, it's cool on the outside,
56:09
but the inside is what matters.
56:13
Because if it can't communicate with
56:15
anybody, it's no point.
56:16
I'm watching you guys here to support.
56:20
Whatever, man.
56:21
Jump on.
56:22
I don't want to hear that crap.
56:23
That's how I started.
56:26
I was sniping at you guys on the
56:28
comments.
56:30
That's how it all started.
56:33
I sucked it.
56:34
All these Marines, Brian,
56:35
tag-teaming me in here.
56:40
If Brian came in from the other side,
56:41
I'd be hurting.
56:43
I think, Brian,
56:45
I think is either going live tonight or
56:49
went live earlier.
56:50
I can't remember.
56:51
What is it going to be, Brian?
56:53
What's it going to be, boy?
56:54
Yes or no?
56:56
You know I run my mouth.
56:57
Yeah, I know.
56:58
I know.
56:59
What's it going to be, boy?
57:00
Yes.
57:06
You've been listening to too much
57:07
craziness on your ride.
57:08
Yeah, I can't really.
57:10
I listen to music on the motorcycle,
57:13
but there's too much wind noise to listen
57:15
to my audio book.
57:17
Because if I know the song and I
57:19
can hear all the peaks of the song,
57:21
I can sing along with the song on
57:22
the motorcycle.
57:23
But with all the wind noise,
57:25
I can't pick up some of the words.
57:28
I don't listen to audiobooks while I'm on
57:29
the bike.
57:31
Are you using through the speakers on the
57:33
bike?
57:33
Yeah, through the speakers on the bike,
57:36
yeah.
57:36
I have an in-ear, well, not in-ear,
57:38
but an in-helmet system,
57:42
but it's not very powerful at all.
57:44
It has to be quiet outside and not
57:47
a whole lot of traffic,
57:48
and I have to crank it all the
57:48
way up,
57:49
and I can take phone calls when I
57:51
need to, but that's about it.
57:54
I don't really watch the news.
57:55
Anybody got the idea on the Richard Starr
57:58
Act that's going on right now?
58:02
no jess too soon i can't say too
58:07
soon we can't speak of that yet okay
58:10
i can't talk politics man i was just
58:14
asking because i don't watch the news and
58:16
i i see like on facebook and i
58:17
don't know what to believe like the
58:20
richest star act people i know that
58:21
there's a lot of people lots of veterans
58:23
right now in dc trying to uh advocate
58:26
for that
58:29
Well, if it was on the face pages,
58:31
it's real.
58:32
I mean, if it comes from face pages,
58:35
it's gospel.
58:36
You know,
58:36
that's the way I see it for everybody.
58:38
No, I'm just kidding.
58:42
Well,
58:44
I've heard some different podcasts on both
58:47
sides of the aisle.
58:49
I have not done any research into it.
58:52
I just know the VFW is opposed to
58:55
it,
58:56
but the DAV and AmVent are for it.
59:00
But there's...
59:02
uh basically all the the guys that are
59:04
opposed to it are the the organizations
59:06
that are posted are saying that they're
59:07
stripping money uh by lowering um some of
59:11
the identification of some of your
59:13
disabilities they're stripping money from
59:15
that to pay for other things so they're
59:17
robbing peter to pay paul so they're
59:21
robbing if you've got kids to pay paul
59:24
say again it's
59:27
all right so to increase the fund they
59:29
have to decrease they have to balance it
59:31
somewhere else right so it's not going to
59:33
reduce now it's going to reduce next
59:35
generation so apnea and tinnitus now
59:40
they're not it's there's a lot to this
59:43
and this is not probably the forum for
59:45
it wow yeah they're not they're not even
59:49
rating those no more right tendonitis
59:53
I don't know.
59:54
I don't know either.
59:55
I remember seeing in the VFW newsletter
59:59
that went out,
1:00:00
the commander of the VFW went to Capitol
1:00:03
Hill and opposed it.
1:00:06
She's on record as saying, you broke it,
1:00:08
you bought it.
1:00:11
That's her stance right now.
1:00:15
She's new.
1:00:15
She just took over, right?
1:00:16
Last year?
1:00:17
Yeah, last year.
1:00:17
A year ago.
1:00:21
a year ago yeah there's one yeah she's
1:00:23
out of iowa and she's she's a demon
1:00:26
so she's good people wait is demon good
1:00:31
demon okay she's just like she's gonna
1:00:34
she's gonna fight hard but yes like okay
1:00:37
she's checking all right i'm not up on
1:00:40
your lingo you know uh she'll fight like
1:00:43
a demon for you so that's why she's
1:00:45
got a lot of respect in the bfw
1:00:49
TikTok is the real news.
1:00:50
That's what Brian says.
1:00:53
TikTok is the real news.
1:00:55
You're not getting your news from the
1:00:57
TikTok.
1:00:59
The TikTokers out there.
1:01:01
Underneath this hat, I'm Fabio.
1:01:02
So keep that in mind.
1:01:06
Just say random shit out loud.
1:01:11
oh my god it's good stuff no there's
1:01:13
about ten layers to that star act because
1:01:16
it's the care act and there's a lot
1:01:18
a lot more to it yeah it's the
1:01:21
stuff that's buried into it too so it's
1:01:23
kind of along the lines of the bonus
1:01:24
army that's what they're comparing it to
1:01:27
so you got to read the provisions and
1:01:30
down the line on it and that's where
1:01:32
the big fight is but they're fighting this
1:01:33
out on social media so that's where you
1:01:37
got to be careful as organizations and
1:01:40
Hatch Act people.
1:01:43
You better be careful what you're saying
1:01:44
and when and how.
1:01:46
There's just a lot more to it.
1:01:47
I'm saying nothing.
1:01:51
I don't speak much about the Richard Starr
1:01:53
Act.
1:01:53
I just see what's going on on Facebook.
1:01:55
I do talk out about the Green Starr
1:01:58
family thing.
1:02:01
Something needs to be provided for them.
1:02:04
Yeah.
1:02:09
I'm going to have to look it up.
1:02:12
What?
1:02:12
I don't know much about the Richard Starr
1:02:13
thing.
1:02:18
Oh, man.
1:02:20
That's going to be a lot of reading.
1:02:21
All right.
1:02:22
Not doing that right now.
1:02:24
This is not your seat, man.
1:02:25
Yeah.
1:02:27
There's about ten years of this you might
1:02:28
want to start if you want to go
1:02:30
back to the beginning of it.
1:02:31
I think I'm good.
1:02:34
Well, you guys know what time it is.
1:02:37
You guys know?
1:02:39
You know.
1:02:40
I know what time it is.
1:02:41
You know what time it is?
1:02:43
Around Robin.
1:02:52
That's right.
1:02:52
Words of wisdom, baby.
1:02:54
We are here.
1:02:55
We're doing some words of wisdom.
1:02:57
But before we get into that aspect of
1:02:59
it, Jess, give us a book report, man.
1:03:01
What do you got?
1:03:02
One or two.
1:03:03
Give me the option.
1:03:03
Oh, wow.
1:03:05
Let's,
1:03:06
Mark has to guess this one this time.
1:03:08
You gotta pick.
1:03:08
One.
1:03:08
All right.
1:03:12
It's a picture book,
1:03:12
so AJ's gonna love it.
1:03:14
Yes!
1:03:16
Yes!
1:03:17
So,
1:03:18
we got the air show coming up next
1:03:19
weekend in Sioux Falls,
1:03:21
and one of the exhibitors is always
1:03:23
amazing.
1:03:24
His name is Hector Curiel,
1:03:27
and he did a graphic novel, which is...
1:03:30
Joe Foss, fighter pilot, American Ace.
1:03:33
Nice.
1:03:33
And it is amazing because we're going to
1:03:35
be on Foss Field and he'll be out
1:03:38
there with his book.
1:03:39
And it's all pictures.
1:03:41
It's a graphic novel.
1:03:42
You're going to love this.
1:03:44
Oh my God,
1:03:44
I need that book so bad.
1:03:46
So bad.
1:03:47
So bad.
1:03:48
It's about Guadalcanal.
1:03:49
It's amazing.
1:03:50
It's about his life out here on the
1:03:52
prairie and how many times he got shot
1:03:54
down at Guadalcanal.
1:03:56
great artist great writer and will
1:03:59
actually be at the airfield named after
1:04:01
him as uh they fly over some uh
1:04:05
the list is getting massive now so because
1:04:07
that's tomorrow show the picture you said
1:04:10
that's tomorrow next weekend okay yeah my
1:04:13
daughter flies in there tomorrow sioux
1:04:16
falls
1:04:18
that's cool hey i think that's like a
1:04:21
covering book dude i think you could cover
1:04:23
that too i think i'm gonna give you
1:04:29
sharpie eyebrows just out of spite just to
1:04:31
hook you up don't color my book man
1:04:34
it's a signed book so i got a
1:04:36
signed copy bro oh nice not not no
1:04:38
not your book
1:04:40
when she flies in mark there is a
1:04:42
wildcat cafe and tell her to go check
1:04:45
that out it's got some amazing pictures
1:04:47
right when she comes down the escalator
1:04:48
all right and then that big bronze statue
1:04:51
that is yeah yep i've been there yeah
1:04:52
well very cool that's what we call home
1:04:58
and it's gonna get real loud over town
1:05:00
for the next two weeks because they're
1:05:01
gonna be blasting stuff nice
1:05:05
So we've got the Thunder Chickens coming
1:05:07
in and all sorts of big prop jobs.
1:05:10
And yeah, well, the Thunderbirds, I guess.
1:05:16
Whatever.
1:05:17
Not a cat.
1:05:21
No.
1:05:21
So yeah, great book.
1:05:23
It's on Amazon.
1:05:25
American Ace, Joe Foss.
1:05:27
I recommend it.
1:05:28
And be glad Mark picked one because two
1:05:31
was going to smoke your mind.
1:05:33
Thanks, Mark.
1:05:34
I appreciate it.
1:05:35
You got the book I needed.
1:05:37
Because that's what the book two was.
1:05:39
Oh, God.
1:05:39
Whoa.
1:05:41
There's probably not one picture in that
1:05:43
book.
1:05:44
There's all sorts of great pictures in
1:05:45
this.
1:05:45
Oh, is there?
1:05:46
Okay.
1:05:46
All right.
1:05:49
I don't know about your definition of
1:05:51
great, but there was a picture.
1:05:53
They're in museums.
1:05:55
So all sorts of great uniforms.
1:05:59
Okay.
1:06:00
All right.
1:06:00
All right.
1:06:03
the heavy reading looks like glossy looks
1:06:06
glossy it is glossy yeah it's a fancy
1:06:09
book wow all right buy that on their
1:06:12
show that's for sure you got it ooh
1:06:15
it's an aws here uh vick it's your
1:06:17
turn man all right i will say uh
1:06:20
after reflecting on my motorcycle ride
1:06:22
today motorcycles teach one of life's most
1:06:24
important lessons balance comes from
1:06:27
moving forward
1:06:30
That's yeah, that's good.
1:06:31
And it's actually really good.
1:06:34
Yeah.
1:06:35
Yeah.
1:06:39
Steve, oh, man, what do you got?
1:06:42
My dog.
1:06:43
But I learned one thing from Brian Ruth.
1:06:47
Diversity.
1:06:47
Yeah.
1:06:48
Diversity.
1:06:50
There's a lot of there's a lot of
1:06:51
hate between the veteran community and
1:06:54
active duty community online.
1:06:56
And I've seen people being targeted.
1:06:58
And I just wish that we could spread
1:07:02
positivity.
1:07:05
The old heads like us are trying to
1:07:07
help these people get out.
1:07:09
And they don't want to hear it.
1:07:11
But then years later,
1:07:12
when they're struggling,
1:07:14
then they try to come back.
1:07:15
Or they target people online and stuff,
1:07:19
cyber bullying.
1:07:21
I've done it.
1:07:21
I won't lie.
1:07:22
I've done cyber bullying.
1:07:23
And you know what?
1:07:24
I learned my lesson.
1:07:25
and you know what brian told me man
1:07:27
diversity man you got you got everybody it
1:07:30
doesn't matter if you went to combat or
1:07:31
you didn't go to combat you know uh
1:07:33
if you served you serve and everybody has
1:07:35
a story so yeah that's right yeah man
1:07:39
let's try let's try to keep the positive
1:07:41
man stop pointing the finger at people
1:07:43
brian's got the no label use the hashtag
1:07:46
no labels stop labeling people
1:07:49
yeah yeah man labels yep nice all right
1:07:55
all right well are you ready that's it
1:08:01
man i just waiting for mark to smile
1:08:14
I just wish you could see everybody as
1:08:16
that is going and how big the smiles
1:08:18
get and, uh,
1:08:20
the dancing that happens whenever that's
1:08:22
happening.
1:08:23
Uh, it's, it's a good deal.
1:08:24
You don't get the behind the scenes for
1:08:26
everybody that's out there, but, uh,
1:08:27
you did man.
1:08:29
It's good.
1:08:29
It's good.
1:08:31
The man, the myth, the legend.
1:08:35
Sergeant major retired Marco Lachlan.
1:08:38
Okay.
1:08:39
Before you're up.
1:08:41
A few podcasts before,
1:08:43
I spoke about the mind,
1:08:45
where the mind is a battlefield,
1:08:47
be its commander, not its soldier.
1:08:50
So I'm going to build up on this
1:08:53
one so that everybody knows that the mind
1:08:58
is not a vessel to be filled,
1:09:01
but a fire to be kindled.
1:09:03
Ooh.
1:09:03
Dang.
1:09:04
Bringing the heat tonight.
1:09:04
Literally.
1:09:09
Literally.
1:09:10
I feel targeted.
1:09:13
I feel triggered.
1:09:16
That was good.
1:09:16
That was really good.
1:09:18
Hey, that's why .
1:09:21
We call him Sergeant Major Humdinger.
1:09:27
It's good.
1:09:28
It's good.
1:09:29
Well, fellas,
1:09:30
thanks for coming on and doing this.
1:09:31
Much appreciated.
1:09:33
Hopefully, you guys have fun doing this.
1:09:35
You keep coming back,
1:09:35
so I'm assuming you're having fun.
1:09:37
I don't know.
1:09:37
But to everybody out there,
1:09:39
if you're struggling, you need help,
1:09:40
anything like that,
1:09:41
don't forget the VA does have some good
1:09:42
resources.
1:09:43
You can dial nine, eight, eight,
1:09:44
press option one.
1:09:44
You can always text eight, three, eight,
1:09:45
two, five, five,
1:09:46
or go to veteranscrisisline.net.
1:09:48
Click on that chat icon.
1:09:49
Any of those options will put you in
1:09:50
contact with somebody that can help you
1:09:51
out.
1:09:51
But remember,
1:09:52
one veteran life lost is one too many.
1:09:54
I care about you.
1:09:54
The crew cares about you.
1:09:56
The whole veteran community cares about
1:09:57
you.
1:09:57
So please reach out for help.
1:09:58
And if you're out there,
1:09:59
you're not struggling,
1:10:00
reach out to the buddies you served with,
1:10:01
ask them how they're doing.
1:10:02
And if they need a helping hand, please,
1:10:03
please give it to them.
1:10:04
All right, fellas, one last time.
1:10:06
You guys rock.
1:10:06
I don't care what he says about you.
1:10:09
Everybody out there, stay motivated.
1:10:11
Change your socks.
1:10:13
Come on, you sons of bitches.
1:10:15
Your story needs to be archived also.
1:10:18
Listen to Dan Daly.
1:10:19
Tell your story proudly on the Lost Art
1:10:21
Project Veterans Voices.