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“Walk a Mile in My Shoes,” America’s broken promise to wounded veterans · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

• 0:11
  It's the tip of the spare in the epic battle to defend the United States of America.
• 0:19
  And National Security Hour exposes the wolves in sheep's clothing and the nefarious plots to undermine and destroy U.S.
• 0:27
  national security.
• 0:31
  Welcome to the National Security Hour.
• 0:34
  I'm your host, Blanquita Cullum on the America Out Loud Network.
• 0:40
  And you know, you've heard the saying walk a mile in my shoes.
• 0:45
  People talk about that all the time.
• 0:47
  You don't know what I've gone through.
• 0:48
  You need to walk a mile in my shoes.
• 0:51
  Well, think about the veterans on that statement, okay?
• 0:55
  I have to tell you, I have a very special feeling towards the veterans and a special relationship with them.
• 1:02
  And I'm just going to put it out there right up front because as many of you know, through all the time I've been doing this program, this will be my 23rd year to serve as the MC for the National Memorial Day Parade, the nation's largest in the country, sponsored by the American Veterans Center.
• 1:21
  And I wanted to talk to a guy who I've just started to get to know, Glenn Baker.
• 1:27
  He's a desert storm army veteran.
• 1:31
  He's a musician, he's an entrepreneur, and he is the founder of the Finish This Fight Foundation.
• 1:38
  He just did a movie, and it's and it's such an interesting film because it's called Finish This Fight, The Diary of a Pissed Off American Soldier.
• 1:50
  And it features his cross-country mission of interviewing experts and veterans about solutions to America's really pressing challenges.
• 2:00
  And I wonder how many of you, I asked this question to a lot of good friends, even know what an exoskeleton is.
• 2:06
  Sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie.
• 2:09
  Well, it's very inspirational, and my brand new friend Glenn Baker is joining us here on the show.
• 2:16
  Glenn, I'm so happy to have you.
• 2:18
  I can't wait to tell everybody and have you share uh your fight to help these veterans that have been paralyzed.
• 2:26
  Blanquita, thanks for having me.
• 2:28
  Um, we're gonna do a redneck thing on your show today, is we're gonna chew the fat.
• 2:33
  I you know, as a person that's always watching my weight, I like to chew the fat.
• 2:37
  That's right.
• 2:38
  And and here we go.
• 2:39
  This is important because you tell us how you got started with this project that's working with the veterans that have been paralyzed and exoskeleton equipment that helps them walk again.
• 2:52
  Blanquita, I just came back to music about six years ago after taking 19 years away.
• 2:57
  Um, my background is a Southern gospel quartet singer back from about 92 to 03, went through divorce, hung it up, didn't think I'd ever sing again.
• 3:06
  And then God pulled me back in this direction in 2020.
• 3:09
  So I had released my second single in 2022, and people just kind of started paying attention.
• 3:16
  And uh it was a song called No New Normal.
• 3:19
  I'm a little controversial.
• 3:21
  I just got to tell you.
• 3:23
  Well, we like and well, we don't want you on here if you're boring.
• 3:25
  That would be the closest thing to taking a nap, man.
• 3:28
  Yeah, and and we have a special heart for the veterans, and some of those veterans uh were engaged in trying to help our country and came back and they were damaged, they were hurt, many of them paralyzed.
• 3:41
  Well, and that's what I saw.
• 3:43
  So I had a chance to go do a uh show.
• 3:45
  I had an offer to go do a show with General Michael Flynn, and it was for an organization that was raising money at that point to put an exoskeleton on a paralyzed marine so he can walk again.
• 3:55
  And uh I went in and did my thing and went out into the audience, and they wheeled this young man up on stage.
• 4:02
  Seven years in a wheelchair, and I saw this Marine stand up and walk around a room.
• 4:06
  So telling everyone he can reach the top shelf for his wife.
• 4:11
  He he's gonna get to walk his daughter down the aisle again someday.
• 4:15
  He feels like a man.
• 4:16
  I'm in the corner crying like a baby, and just tears out of my beard, you know, it broke my heart.
• 4:22
  And I knew I needed to help, or I wanted to help.
• 4:25
  So you you put together this film.
• 4:27
  Tell tell us every give us the journey.
• 4:29
  Tell us the journey.
• 4:31
  Well, the the journey began right there, and I wrote the song to shine a light on that other organization.
• 4:37
  Very difficult song, took me a little while.
• 4:39
  It was an emotional song.
• 4:40
  I had to go back to the studio three times because it just didn't think we were there yet.
• 4:45
  Finally got it done, and about a year ago, July, I went to North Georgia to shoot the music video, and I found out at that point there wasn't a whole lot going on with that organization.
• 4:54
  They kind of pulled back and we're helping veterans a lot.
• 4:57
  And I'm like, well, crap.
• 4:58
  And Blanquita got giggled at me at that point.
• 5:01
  He said, Boy, don't you see?
• 5:03
  This is the plan.
• 5:04
  You're gonna do this.
• 5:06
  And so I got deeply involved and started doing my research at that point.
• 5:09
  I thought I was just writing a song and found out there was a whole lot more than that.
• 5:13
  So we uh from that point, we uh we began to film the movie.
• 5:17
  Uh 90 days later from from July the 29th, 90 days later, we had an hour and 53-minute documentary called Finish This Fight Diary of a Pissed Off American Soldier.
• 5:28
  Got some great people involved.
• 5:30
  Colonel Alan West is in this thing with me.
• 5:33
  Um, Colonel Ivan Raquelin, uh guy named Nate Kane, who's a former FBI whistleblower, Craig Craig the Sawman Sawyer, and we all felt the same way.
• 5:43
  But this is not the country that we fought for.
• 5:45
  Um, there's so much corruption that's involved with this count with this government, top to bottom, not just at the top, it's clear down to the bottom, and that it's just not helping veterans like they should.
• 5:56
  You know, when you become a uh a soldier, sailor, marine airman, whatever it is, Coast Guard, you sign a dotted line and you sign over the very the not only your life, but the best of who you are, you know, your health, your youth, your creativity, all those things go with that.
• 6:14
  And when these boys get hurt and come back, they're given the bare minimum back for their efforts, and that's just not okay.
• 6:22
  Now, how many right now are eligible to be able to get an exoskeleton, you know, uh uh a machine, something that will help them to be able to regain some of their life back.
• 6:37
  Well, with the older technology that's been available for about 14 or 15 years, there's in the neighborhood of 10,000 that could use that right now.
• 6:45
  There's been less than a hundred that have gone to veterans in the last 14 years, out of that 10,000.
• 6:50
  Um, the difference being is this older technology, these people have to be strong enough upper body and hand strength to use canes for balance.
• 7:00
  The machine will stand them up and walk for them, but they still have to balance and hold themselves up.
• 7:00
  The machine will stand them up and walk for them, but they still have to balance and hold themselves up.
• 7:06
  I'm working with a company that's coming in out of France and has a technology that's in under FDA approval right now, looks like it's going to take place in about three or four weeks.
• 7:06
  I'm working with a company that's coming in out of France and has a technology that's under FDA approval right now, looks like it's going to take place in about three or four weeks.
• 7:15
  And this machine self balances the client.
• 7:15
  And this machine self-balances the client.
• 7:19
  So they don't have to have the strength anymore.
• 7:19
  So they don't have to have the strength anymore.
• 7:21
  It's an it's an AIM like self balancing.
• 7:21
  It's an it's an AI analyzed self-balancing.
• 7:24
  So let me ask you so technically, and I've seen some of I've seen part of your film.
• 7:24
  So let me ask you so technically, and I've seen some of I've seen part of your film.
• 7:30
  Uh so some of these, as you say, young men, they they've had to have the upper body strength of the arms, but but you could literally have someone that didn't have that.
• 7:40
  Exactly.
• 7:41
  Yeah, the only manipulation they have to have now is to be able to control a um a joystick.
• 7:46
  So it's a little bit of a joystick, they use their hands, so they don't have to have that strength.
• 7:50
  Um now, with that being said, that brings the people that could use that up close to 30,000 person mark.
• 7:58
  Oh, so there's that many.
• 8:00
  Wow.
• 8:01
  How expensive is this process for just even one person?
• 8:05
  Well, with what we're doing, I have a lot of 150,000 per unit, and that's close to the retail price of that.
• 8:13
  So we're including some transportation, uh, some physical therapy and things like that.
• 8:17
  Here's the great news.
• 8:19
  The older technology takes about 25 sessions before a veteran is certified to use this thing at home.
• 8:26
  This new technology, as it's FDA approved, only takes five sessions.
• 8:31
  Wow.
• 8:31
  Yeah, in the course of a few days, they're ready to roll on their own.
• 8:36
  Not just their have you already seen people that have you know made use of the new technology.
• 8:41
  I mean, yeah.
• 8:43
  Well, last year we had a chance to take a young man to New York.
• 8:47
  Um, he was he was wounded in 03 in Iraqi Freedom.
• 8:52
  He was able to walk with for years with steel braces on his leg.
• 8:55
  Did you see the movie Forrest Gump?
• 8:57
  Yes.
• 8:58
  So he had braces like that, hidden knee and ankle.
• 9:00
  He was able to walk.
• 9:02
  Three years ago, December Blanquita, he was in his closet.
• 9:06
  He turned his head to the left just like that, his neck snapped.
• 9:10
  Oh, wound completed.
• 9:11
  And so it chest down paralyzed him.
• 9:14
  Um, but we were able to take him and his wife to New York last year, got him in the clinical trial.
• 9:19
  Now, this is not the exact exoskeleton that's going to be available for in home use, but it's the same technology.
• 9:26
  Got him in the clinical trial 15 minutes after we got in the clinic, he stood up and walked over and hugged his wife.
• 9:33
  Oh my goodness.
• 9:34
  Yeah.
• 9:34
  And when they, I mean, this is I mean, we're talking just the ridiculous things that someone that can walk asks when they've lost the sensation of the feeling of their legs.
• 9:48
  What does that feel like for them?
• 9:50
  Can they sense anything?
• 9:52
  Can they do they have any kind of nerve, a reaction to the movement of their legs when they're walking?
• 9:58
  I think for him, it was more of a ghost sensation, but he said it felt like he was walking on a cloud.
• 10:06
  Wow.
• 10:06
  Um, like he was plugged into an avatar where he knew it was walking, he really couldn't feel it, but all of a sudden he was six foot two instead of four foot eleven sitting in a in a wheelchair, and he saw life from a different perspective.
• 10:22
  And how long does the equipment last?
• 10:25
  I mean, is it something you get a lifetime guarantee there?
• 10:28
  I mean, obviously, there's there won't be a lifetime warranty, but as we're fundraising, I'm also used putting together a slush fund to be able to help maintenance and things like that.
• 10:38
  Blanquito, we're launching a very large fundraiser in October, and I haven't even spoken to you about it.
• 10:45
  Well, you're gonna tell me about it right this single second.
• 10:48
  Well, we've I've brought some people into place with the finish this fight foundation.
• 10:53
  We've got a board of directors that has put it being put together, some very powerful business people.
• 10:58
  Um I can't throw a name, but I'll throw a little hint.
• 11:02
  If you remember GameStop, I've got one of the former vice presidents on my board of directors right now.
• 11:09
  We are launching the walk for a hero fundraiser in October with a walk for a hero concert here in Boca Boca Raton.
• 11:18
  And uh, this walk for a hero fundraiser is going to be a walk-a-thon that can be done from anywhere in the United States.
• 11:24
  We've developed an app, and you can download this app from the website.
• 11:29
  The website's gonna be active here in a couple of couple of weeks, but we're not really pushing it until October.
• 11:35
  Um, but the app is transparent fundraising, like it's never been done before.
• 11:41
  So we're we're recruiting a hundred veterans that can't walk, a hundred veterans that are chest down paralyzed to be recipients of exoskeletons over the next year.
• 11:52
  If you want to participate in our walk-a-thon, you go to the app, you pick out which hero you want to walk for, right?
• 11:59
  Stories and pictures and videos and everything, you pick out the hero you want to walk for, you go find 10 friends that are willing to give you a minimum of a dollar a mile for only 15 miles.
• 12:09
  That's what we're limiting to.
• 12:11
  And you get to walk and if you want to go, if you don't want to walk in the heat, go to the mall and put press play, press start, and it's gonna track you.
• 12:19
  But here's the cool thing about it the whole world is gonna be able to see this app.
• 12:23
  So you remember the uh do you remember the uh ice bucket challenge?
• 12:27
  Yeah, I do.
• 12:29
  So the ice bucket challenge raised 220 million dollars for ALS, and there's nothing really that's changed from that.
• 12:37
  It was cool, everybody had a great time, but there's still the same number of uh people that have ALS as they did before that.
• 12:44
  Um their budget is the same as it was before that 220 million dollars.
• 12:50
  Wasn't really anything that's changed with what we're doing, people are gonna get take part in it and see a veteran go from wheelchair to walking over the course of a few months.
• 13:01
  So this culminates into a 25 city tour next year that's got three major corporate sponsors, and uh, we're gonna get a minimum of a hundred men on their feet next year with the walk for a hero fundraiser and the walk for a hero tour.
• 13:17
  How foreign, how long can these men walk with the exoskeleton?
• 13:23
  I don't think I mean can they walk uh a mile?
• 13:27
  Can they walk in their home?
• 13:29
  Oh, clearly they can walk in their homes and they can walk in the hospital.
• 13:32
  But let's say, could if they could they could they get in a car and then you know go to a location and and walk around a football field?
• 13:42
  I mean, how long can you walk?
• 13:44
  These these units are capable of going up and down steps, up and down ramps.
• 13:48
  Uh, they can navigate over rocks, they're they're AI analyzed.
• 13:52
  So there's an analyzing going on at each joint, which self balances them.
• 13:56
  They've got a great self driving car, right?
• 13:58
  In a way, similar, yeah, similar, except they're a car is already stable.
• 14:00
  Yeah, similar, except they're a car is already stable.
• 14:04
  Um, you know, a paralyzed veteran's not.
• 14:04
  Um, you know, a Paralyn's veteran's not.
• 14:06
  So it's um it's analyzing the steps and movement and making sure the balance is all in place, even over difficult terrain.
• 14:06
  So it's um it's analyzing the steps and movement and making sure the balance is all in place, even over difficult terrain.
• 14:14
  So the answer to that, I don't think they've tested the complete limits yet.
• 14:14
  So the answer to that, I don't think they've tested the complete limits yet.
• 14:17
  But this gentleman that I told you about that hadn't taken a step in three years in the clinic in three one hour sessions, took 2300 steps.
• 14:17
  But this gentleman that I told you about that hadn't taken a step in three years in the clinic in three one hour sessions, took 2300 steps.
• 14:27
  Wow.
• 14:27
  Wow in three sessions amazing.
• 14:28
  In three sessions.
• 14:32
  I said, that's amazing.
• 14:33
  And I'm sure that his wife, his family, the hospital staff, the doctors, I mean, everyone, I'm sure was just completely gobsmacked.
• 14:41
  I'm sure they were up every there wasn't a dry eye in the place.
• 14:44
  No, I had I really looked like a little baby over in the corner again with the camera.
• 14:48
  It was crazy.
• 14:49
  I and I don't mind.
• 14:50
  I'm a well-grown man, but I'll cry too.
• 14:53
  Well, that's okay.
• 14:54
  You get to do that.
• 14:55
  I'm a Latina.
• 14:56
  We cry a lot, and we cry for joy, we cry for hope, we cry for hero, we cry for the anticipation that someone will have their life restored in a way that doesn't make them feel completely broken, that there's that there's opportunity.
• 15:13
  And how are these veterans selected these 100?
• 15:17
  Because I'm sure as you talked about it, there's so many that have been affected.
• 15:22
  How do you how do you make the selection?
• 15:25
  Well, through the app, they're gonna get a chance to either be um um either either ask for the selection themselves, they can apply, or they can be uh they could be put in by somebody else.
• 15:36
  So through the app, then we're going to start communication with this veteran.
• 15:41
  They can upload their their medical documents through the app.
• 15:45
  They're gonna have a uh they're gonna have some telephone interviews, there'll be a little bit of psychology behind it.
• 15:51
  We got to make sure their living conditions are compatible with an exoskeleton.
• 15:56
  I mean, it's 150,000.
• 15:58
  This is gonna sound bad, but I think there's other people that will help take care of this.
• 16:02
  We can't give this machine to someone that can't take care of it.
• 16:06
  Right.
• 16:06
  There's a selection process.
• 16:08
  I'm wondering then, will you be working in collaboration with some of these great or organizations like the Tunnel for Towers organization that builds the homes for these these veterans severely handicapped?
• 16:23
  I mean, is there a way for you to collaborate with them to make this even more possible?
• 16:27
  Yeah, we've got a we've got a few um knocks on doors with tunnels to towers right now.
• 16:32
  We've got connections with folds of honor.
• 16:34
  We're talking with folds of honor right now as well.
• 16:36
  Yeah, there'll be some collaboration.
• 16:38
  This is not a blanket.
• 16:40
  I just thought I was writing a song.
• 16:41
  This is not what I intended to do.
• 16:44
  But this is what's happening, and this could be the largest feel good participation movement of the century when it's all said and done.
• 16:53
  And yeah, we're not selfish, we'll work with other people 100%.
• 16:57
  Well, we're talking with our new friend here, Glenn Baker himself is a veteran from Desert Storm, talking about his new organization.
• 17:05
  He's the founder of the Finish This Fight Foundation and getting exoskeleton capability in a lot of veterans who've been paralyzed.
• 17:13
  We're gonna take a little break.
• 17:15
  We have we'll give more information when we come back.
• 17:18
  Can't wait to have Glenn tell us more.
• 17:20
  I'm Blanquita Kellum.
• 17:22
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• 18:12
  And I quote you and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
• 18:16
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• 18:21
  Or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness.
• 18:27
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• 18:29
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• 18:38
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• 18:51
  Welcome back to the America Out Loud Network.
• 18:55
  This is the National Security Hour, and I'm your host, Plunkita Cullum.
• 18:59
  We talk about national security.
• 19:01
  You think about all the people historically through all different decades and engagements that have put their lives on the line to protect our national security.
• 19:12
  And for many years, some of these men have been wounded.
• 19:16
  And to the fact that they've been paralyzed.
• 19:18
  And in fact, they weren't killed on the battlefield, but their lives were taken away because they can't go back to having a normal family life with their wives and their children because they can't walk.
• 19:30
  And I have to think that we remember the Marines always think you never leave a man behind, but you can leave them behind even if they're not on the battlefield if they are stuck and they can't walk.
• 19:42
  Glenn Baker is a great guy.
• 19:45
  He's a musician.
• 19:46
  What instrument is like or do you play, Glenn?
• 19:49
  This is my instrument right now.
• 19:51
  They're boys, huh?
• 19:52
  Yeah, I do write this music most of it.
• 19:55
  And uh I sing and really I just noticed something.
• 19:59
  And I owe you an apology.
• 20:00
  You're on this camera, you're looking so beautiful.
• 20:02
  You got your makeup on, you look, and I did not put my man makeup on before this interview.
• 20:07
  Oh, now you're looking at it.
• 20:08
  I'm a little bit embarrassed.
• 20:09
  So now I look at it.
• 20:10
  Oh, no, oh, you look totally cool.
• 20:12
  And you know, I started my career.
• 20:13
  A lot of people don't know.
• 20:15
  I started my career in a country western station in San Antonio, Texas.
• 20:19
  K Buck, the country kicker.
• 20:21
  And I said, Well, Darlin, what's your name?
• 20:23
  And I said, Blanquita.
• 20:25
  And they said, Oh no, darling.
• 20:27
  If you're gonna work for us, if it's longer than like a name like that, we can't fit it on a belt buckle, so they cut it in half and they call me BQ.
• 20:36
  Yeah.
• 20:37
  A lot of my friends call me BQ, and country musicians have been very, I mean, legendary with their solid support for the American military.
• 20:47
  And every year, as I mentioned, this is my 23 year and seeing this parade.
• 20:52
  We've had some great stars that have come forward and they give their time to play.
• 20:58
  And one of the great men that's always there with his lieutenant Dan Band is none other than the great Gary Sinise.
• 21:00
  Great men that's always there with his lieutenant Dan Band is none other than the great Gary Sinise.
• 21:07
  Finish this fight foundation, and I love the name of your documentary film.
• 21:07
  Finish this fight foundation, and I love the name of your documentary film.
• 21:13
  Finish this fight, the diary of a pissed off American soldier.
• 21:13
  Finish this fight, the diary of a pissed off American soldier.
• 21:18
  Yes, man.
• 21:18
  Yes, man.
• 21:19
  You know, uh, we we think of of them being pissed off, but the other part of this is these young men and women who are in the nation's military.
• 21:19
  You know, uh, we we think of of them being pissed off, but the other part of this is these young men and women who are in the nation's military, they got a special edge.
• 21:31
  They are very patriotic, but they're fit, they're ready to go out and do the job to serve the country at a time when not even some people want to be able to engage to support the country.
• 21:43
  So, how do we say thank you when they come back and they're on their back and they can't walk again?
• 21:49
  Probably some of them from the neck down.
• 21:52
  It's it's a terrible situation.
• 21:54
  You're talking about these exoskeletons on this film.
• 21:58
  How can we see the film?
• 22:00
  People need to see this documentary film.
• 22:02
  It's very important.
• 22:04
  Well, the film is uh I built my own streaming platform, um, just because it's a little bit controversial, and I didn't want YouTube to have control and take it down.
• 22:15
  So it's at finish this fight.us, finish this fight that us films there.
• 22:22
  Information on the exoskeleton is there.
• 22:24
  We're getting ready to launch the walkforahero.com.
• 22:27
  You're going to be able to see about the fundraisers that we're doing and the concerts that are coming up and all that.
• 22:33
  We're we're in the process of launching that in October.
• 22:36
  Well, the great news is that for people that are kind of going through a hard time, but they want to support them, these guys and uh that have been so severely wounded.
• 22:46
  It's not so expensive that they can't pledge a dollar for 15 miles.
• 22:51
  Sure.
• 22:52
  15 bucks is at a time when everyone is kind of going through it financially.
• 22:57
  It's nothing they can do, but to a great outcome to liberate someone that's been paralyzed.
• 23:04
  Well, and here's the great news, Blanquita.
• 23:06
  We have three corporations that are going to match that dollar for dollar.
• 23:09
  So their $15 is going to turn into 60.
• 23:12
  And now it's starting to get some substance.
• 23:14
  You get 100,000 people doing that.
• 23:16
  We've raised some money and helped some people.
• 23:19
  And here's the interesting part.
• 23:21
  And again, and I kind of hinted at this earlier, but there's a lot of lot of money that's been raised online and through TV and all this.
• 23:28
  And I remember it.
• 23:30
  I remember growing up that even the Jerry Lewis Telephone.
• 23:33
  Yeah.
• 23:37
  I was a little kid, Blanquita, in Northeast Oklahoma, going door to door, knocking on doors to try to get some money to give to Jerry's kids.
• 23:46
  But at the end of the day, you couldn't really see any change.
• 23:50
  Um, you couldn't see the results.
• 23:53
  And I think there's a lot of these organizations that had good hearts and good minds, and we're doing it the right way.
• 23:58
  There's also a lot of them that stuff 85% of that into their administration fees and pockets.
• 24:03
  Right.
• 24:03
  So we're doing something completely different.
• 24:05
  As we've we've built an app where all of the money raised is going to be transparent.
• 24:10
  You're going to be able to go online and see it on a running total, going in, going out, seeing who's been helped, and literally get to see somebody go from wheelchair to walking over the course of a few months.
• 24:23
  Yeah, that's just phenomenal.
• 24:25
  And and we want that to be a success.
• 24:28
  And we certainly are going to continue to make sure that we advocate and trying to announce this on the program periodically, because we want like you, we care about the American veterans.
• 24:38
  Sure.
• 24:39
  And we care about the fact that uh it's really disastrous for them, but it's also hard for their families.
• 24:46
  I'm sure that when you have, I mean, so many great family members have been they serve themselves because they they they have to pay an outcome after the the veteran comes back, and if they've been wounded, they're caring for them.
• 25:01
  And and it's it's got to be very difficult.
• 25:04
  But this is at least inspiring hope for them.
• 25:08
  Yes, that is an absolute key right there.
• 25:11
  And it's inspiring hope for the veteran, but I believe we're also going to be inspiring hope for the American to be able to take part in something that they get to see the results.
• 25:22
  Um, and not wonder, you know, I gave a hundred bucks to that organization.
• 25:25
  I wonder what happened.
• 25:27
  No, you're gonna get to see it.
• 25:28
  You're gonna get to take part.
• 25:30
  We are gonna help you help them help us.
• 25:34
  Right.
• 25:34
  It's it's very synergistic.
• 25:36
  And by the way, and I didn't tell you this.
• 25:39
  Since we've put this together and getting ready to launch it, you're the very first person I've told in in an interview that this is taking place.
• 25:48
  I'm thrilled about that.
• 25:50
  Well, and I'm honored too because the veterans mean so much to me.
• 25:55
  I can't tell you every year.
• 25:57
  Um, you know, we we cover every engagement the United States has been in, whether it's the Civil War, the Spanish American War, the First World War, Vietnam, Korea, the Forgotten War, all these wars, you know, including the most recent ones, and people get so inspired uh by the patriotism, but then they get heartbroken too when they see the gold star mothers carrying the photos of their loved ones.
• 26:25
  Well, think about the inspiration that we will have in the future, and I hope sooner rather than later to have some of these guys who are walking and these exoskeletons to say it ain't over until it's over.
• 26:41
  Right.
• 26:42
  And tell us a little bit about some of the guys you mentioned.
• 26:45
  Why, but tell us about some of the families and the and the guys that you've met along this journey.
• 26:50
  Well, I've been focusing on growing this organization for about a year and a half.
• 26:55
  Um, I've met several gentlemen that I think we're gonna are going to qualify for this.
• 26:59
  But Joshua Holm is my primary focus, the first one that's gonna be walking across the stage with us in October in public for the whole world to see with this new generation exoskeleton.
• 27:13
  But here's what I can tell you Joshua is one in a million.
• 27:17
  He uh I told you earlier, you know, three and a half a little over three years ago, his wound completed and he was chest down paralyzed.
• 27:25
  Most people would just curl up in a ball and quit.
• 27:28
  Joshua has a ranch that he's building in Mineral Wells, Texas for other veterans and first responders to come heal, and he's doing it from a wheelchair.
• 27:38
  Wow.
• 27:39
  He is a powerhouse, but don't think it's been easy.
• 27:43
  His wife has been his caretaker for 20, what is it, 24 years, 25 years?
• 27:52
  And there's a lot of things that go into that.
• 27:54
  That's not just money, that's PTSD.
• 27:58
  That's she's been wounded too.
• 28:00
  Oh, absolutely.
• 28:00
  That's the whole family has suffered through that.
• 28:01
  Has suffered through that.
• 28:03
  Because here's the thing, Blanquita.
• 28:03
  Because here's the thing, Blanquita.
• 28:05
  I'm I guess people may say, Well, you're just a male chauvinist.
• 28:05
  I'm I guess people may say, Well, you're just a male chauvinist.
• 28:08
  And I'm okay with that because I'm really not, but I I believe in God's God's creation and the way he's created us to be.
• 28:08
  And I'm okay with that.
• 28:10
  Because I'm really not, but I believe in God's God's creation and the way He's created us to be.
• 28:16
  And as men, he's put us here on this earth to be protectors and providers.
• 28:16
  And as men, he's put us here on this earth to be protectors and providers.
• 28:20
  And oh, alpha, you know, that well, that's toxic masculinity, Glenn.
• 28:20
  And oh, alpha, you know, that well, that's toxic masculinity, Glenn.
• 28:25
  No, it's just masculinity.
• 28:25
  No, it's just masculinity.
• 28:28
  We get too hung up on that stuff.
• 28:28
  We get too hung up on that stuff.
• 28:30
  Honestly, we do.
• 28:31
  And sometimes I wonder if a lot of problems don't aren't a result of that.
• 28:36
  Yeah.
• 28:37
  I 100% agree.
• 28:39
  So here's where we're at.
• 28:40
  You know, as a soldier, you go in and give the very best of who you are.
• 28:44
  You come back, and all of a sudden the doctor looks you in the eye and says, Well, Joshua, you're never gonna walk again.
• 28:50
  Oh boy.
• 28:51
  That's not just walking that they're taking away.
• 28:53
  That's protecting.
• 28:54
  But you go from being a six foot two guy to four foot eight guy in a week or in a wheelchair, you know.
• 29:00
  Um, can no longer feel like you're the man.
• 29:02
  You can't protect providing is almost impossible.
• 29:06
  So the manly things that we've grown up with all of a sudden is stripped away too.
• 29:10
  What's these and just time out for that for a two seconds because we want that manly bravado when you get a soldier, you don't want a guy that's gonna go into the military that doesn't have that bravado.
• 29:24
  It's like going in and playing football or basketball.
• 29:28
  You have to have a certain DNA and chemistry to get in there and compete.
• 29:32
  You have to have a patriotic value, have to love the country.
• 29:36
  You go in there and you know that you're encountering danger.
• 29:40
  You don't expect in this brain of yours, you think we'll all escape it, but then you don't, and then you have to readjust your whole life to fit in that and still find a way to be able to honor your family.
• 29:53
  I can see that from what you're saying, the wives and the kids, it's just gotta be brutal because they also don't want to uh emasculate this man who's who's us who's a hero.
• 30:07
  Well, and that's the exact term that takes place when they're told they're no longer walking in.
• 30:11
  It's an emasculation.
• 30:13
  Um, we are oh my gosh, I don't know if I can say this.
• 30:17
  We're giving them their back, you know.
• 30:20
  Uh that's good.
• 30:22
  We you and you can say that.
• 30:23
  Let me tell you, you know what's so wonderful about MC and the National Memorial Day parade is being with all these thousands of people, and you know, the parade always gets a little slow at some point because you know a lot of people that are participating, and so I'll ask the audience so well, you know.
• 30:40
  Anybody out here love this country, and the crowd goes crazy.
• 30:45
  Anyone that served in the air, oh, they go crazy.
• 30:47
  The marines, you see these guys that are the protective services working with the police, they stand up and they get straight, you know, semper five, the Coast Guard, the Navy, and it's and you know, the ability to say they love the country, they love the military, they love these patriots without concern that anyone's gonna push up their nose and and treat them with disrespect.
• 31:10
  Right, right.
• 31:12
  Well, and that's where we are, and we're not politically correct, and we're gonna be very respectful, but let's get these boys back on their feet, let's give them hope again.
• 31:22
  Let's help them feel like men again, where they can be the leader in that home.
• 31:27
  And and and you know, we're missing strength.
• 31:30
  We've become a very weak nation.
• 31:33
  I think the whole country in some some way or form has been emasculated, and uh it's time to bring it up.
• 31:40
  I think it's just sleeping.
• 31:41
  Okay, I'll tell you that people always say to me, they'll say, 'Bq, do you think that uh we have a greatest generation?' And I do believe we have a greatest generation.
• 31:51
  I've I've seen it even when 9-11 happened.
• 31:54
  You had people calling my program.
• 31:56
  Do you think they'll take me back?
• 31:57
  I served in I served in Vietnam.
• 32:00
  You'll say, I'm going to become a block captain.
• 32:02
  Uh, we saw even with the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, young people coming together to try to be able to say, you know, that they were going to pray for him, that they were going to try to practice their faith without fear.
• 32:16
  And I think that uh the American spirit is there, it's just a little dormant.
• 32:23
  It is, and we we need to present hope.
• 32:25
  Um, we need to we need to let people know that are on the verge of going one way or the other.
• 32:30
  There's still hope.
• 32:32
  This country was founded to be the light on the hill, and the light's still there.
• 32:36
  We just need to throw so throw some wood on the fire and make it a little bit brighter.
• 32:40
  And we're we're gonna be part of helping that take place over the course of the next circuit.
• 32:44
  Well, I gotta tell you, I think Glenn Baker, that part of that is we don't like bullies, we don't like people being abused.
• 32:53
  Really, the American people, they like good guys.
• 32:56
  We like guys that wear the white hats, even though I know you're wearing a black hat, they can't see it's got a beautiful looks very country.
• 33:02
  I like it a lot.
• 33:04
  But the main thing is we like uh we like knowing that there's some way that we can empower people, especially the people that have stood up for us, yeah.
• 33:12
  And and that's a way for us to say thank you to someone that took the risk that enlisted, and I want you to give all the information.
• 33:23
  We got to make sure we say it a couple more times, because we don't have a lot of time.
• 33:27
  How can they go to the finish this fight foundation?
• 33:31
  How can they give money towards this walk?
• 33:35
  Tell us all about it again.
• 33:36
  Finish this spike.us, that's where the movie is.
• 33:39
  You're gonna see the exoskeleton technology there.
• 33:42
  Be looking, and I don't have it published, but be looking for walk for a hero dot com.
• 33:49
  Oh, course of the next couple of weeks.
• 33:51
  Walk for a hero.com.
• 33:54
  Let's walk for a hero so we can help them walk for themselves.
• 33:58
  I love that so much.
• 33:59
  And um, the main thing is that those of us that take a few bucks, $15 for some people is a lot of money right now.
• 34:09
  But the main thing is when you look and you see what it's accomplishing, how that $15 is gonna go and help a man stand up again, a man takes steps again.
• 34:21
  You know, we cry.
• 34:22
  I've got grandbabies, you know, and I I get all emotional and my grandbabies take walks, you know.
• 34:26
  I'm a little on this now, just turned uh a little bit over a year, and I'm sitting there like you, like a baby just crying when she's out there taking her first steps.
• 34:36
  Well, I'm sure that's how all of us as Americans should feel when we're seeing these great paralyzed veterans that were wounded in service of this country, uh, take their steps.
• 34:48
  I mean, that's important.
• 34:50
  You know, at the end of the day, Blanquita, I just want people to be able to be involved and feel like they made a difference.
• 34:57
  And here's the great news, y'all.
• 34:58
  I don't care if you're Democrat, Republican, left, right, gay, straight, white, brown, yellow, black, it doesn't matter.
• 35:00
  Democrat, Republican, left, right, gay, straight, white, brown, yellow, black.
• 35:06
  It doesn't matter.
• 35:07
  We're Americans, and it's time to come together for something that will actually make a difference.
• 35:07
  We're Americans, and it's time to come together for something that will actually make a difference.
• 35:13
  And then you can look back and say, a year from now, I see Joshua Holm on national.
• 35:13
  And then you can look back and say, a year from now I see Joshua Holm on National.
• 35:19
  I walked for him.
• 35:19
  I walked for him.
• 35:20
  I have to be able to walk again.
• 35:20
  I have to be able to walk again.
• 35:23
  What is that gonna do for our country?
• 35:23
  What is that gonna do for our country?
• 35:26
  Absolutely.
• 35:26
  Absolutely.
• 35:27
  I I always say really it's not right versus.
• 35:27
  I I always say really it's not right versus left, it's right versus wrong.
• 35:33
  Yes, ma'am.
• 35:34
  Yes, this is right.
• 35:36
  And when you want to know how you can make a difference, this is a way you know, you can make a difference.
• 35:41
  All of us want to make this world better.
• 35:44
  That's what my father used to say.
• 35:46
  He used to say to us, he didn't care what we did in this life.
• 35:49
  Well, he he said, be the best at it.
• 35:51
  He'd say, didn't care whether you were sweeping streets or going out there and being a member of Congress.
• 35:57
  He didn't care if we wanted to become a CEO or if we wanted to become a nun, be the best one and make a difference for good.
• 36:05
  So now this is an opportunity for us to try to make a difference for good.
• 36:10
  And I'm gonna ask you again, please give all the information as we're wrapping up our little segment.
• 36:16
  Well, we're gonna get you back on again.
• 36:17
  You know that.
• 36:18
  Oh, I know.
• 36:20
  Finish this fight.us, go check out the movie.
• 36:24
  $10.99, 100% of that goes to veterans.
• 36:27
  Um, exoskeleton is there.
• 36:29
  Go to my YouTube channel, Glenn with two ends, Baker, Glenn Baker band, and check out the little mini documentary of Joshua taking his first steps last year.
• 36:39
  It's only 19 minutes long.
• 36:40
  It's called Joshua's Journey.
• 36:42
  Take a look and be involved there.
• 36:44
  You can see when everything launches, and finally be watching for the walk for a walk for a hero.com, which will be published here in the next couple of weeks.
• 36:54
  Uh, and finally, there's one more little little tidbit.
• 36:56
  You're oh, tell us, tell us.
• 36:59
  So we're also going to be launching in October, the walk for a hero video challenge.
• 37:05
  What they're gonna be there are gonna be prizes and and things like that available to people.
• 37:11
  Uh, there's going to be drawings available to people.
• 37:14
  We're gonna give away cars.
• 37:15
  There's gonna be some cool stuff take place.
• 37:17
  I love it.
• 37:18
  But the walk for a hero video challenge is gonna challenge you to create a human exoskeleton for someone that either can't walk or pretending like they can't walk.
• 37:29
  We're gonna have people under each arm, we're gonna have people moving people.
• 37:33
  I love it.
• 37:33
  Well, look, I can't, we're out of time, but you know what?
• 37:37
  We're gonna get you back on.
• 37:38
  You'll you'll have plenty of time to give us in full detail.
• 37:42
  Glenn Baker, we love you, we love what you're doing.
• 37:45
  Finish this fight foundation, the exoskeleton mission.
• 37:49
  We'll be back after this.
• 37:51
  But we love you and we support you 100%.
• 37:54
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• 38:01
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• 38:13
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• 38:28
  Ah, the last segment of the show today brings to back a wonderful dear friend of mine, and we're talking about heroes today.
• 38:37
  And I met Eric Leinhart, I guess over a year ago, and he is so important.
• 38:43
  Is we've been talking about people who served in the military.
• 38:47
  You gotta know Eric.
• 38:49
  Not only is he a highly decorated Air Force veteran, former elite combat controller, he earned two bronze stars and one with V for valor.
• 39:01
  That's a huge deal.
• 39:03
  And uh, I was so happy he was able to join us.
• 39:06
  Uh, I think it was last year for the for the National Memorial Day parade.
• 39:10
  And you've been doing something so wonderful since the last I mean, you're always doing great stuff, but you founded first there, Eric.
• 39:18
  And tell us about that.
• 39:20
  How is this gonna help a lot of the veterans out there?
• 39:22
  Oh, it's first great to see you, and yeah, we didn't meet about a year ago.
• 39:26
  Uh yeah, first there, you know, it was founded over necessity.
• 39:30
  No one knew what a combat controller was, and a lot of my teammates were hurting.
• 39:34
  So I, after a friend of mine and good teammate, uh took his own life, another teammate was gonna take his, and um, that's why I founded first there.
• 39:42
  And uh, we've been going for five years strong, and now we opened it up to all veterans, first responders and their families, and the way first there works.
• 39:51
  I like to say we're on conventional nonprofit for unconventional people.
• 39:55
  And I think the the one key element that we always forget about is the soul.
• 40:00
  And I saw a quote about how important is the soul when God and the devil wants it, right?
• 40:05
  And happen to forget about it all the time.
• 40:08
  At first, there our flagship program, Operation Soul Rescue concentrates on rescuing or helping repair that soul, which a lot of us forget as we grow up, the trauma we endure, and then you know, first responders, the trauma they see, and you know, and everything also goes to our families, you know, we put them through a lot.
• 40:25
  Well, and you think about it.
• 40:28
  Um, I would I would say, and I don't know since I wasn't in the military, but I have to believe there are more people that come back with PTSD than we even can imagine, and it probably hits at a weird time.
• 40:44
  One of the things I remember you telling me is that when you're in combat, there's this rush and all this stuff going on, and then you come back in normal life.
• 40:56
  It's like it's gotta be a tremendous adjustment for someone, especially a young man or woman that's got all this energy.
• 41:05
  Yes, I think it's um you don't realize it at the time because you are young, and and that's what you want to do, right?
• 41:10
  It's like getting in that big game that you've been training all your life to go do, but then when you do come back, it life here or the regular world travels a very slow pace, and especially if you leave the military, then you don't have your friends, you don't have the same type of humor, you don't have the same structure.
• 41:26
  It's you're a fish out of water, basically.
• 41:29
  And I think the trauma, you know, believe it or not, with uh what we've experienced and what we've seen in Operation Soul Rescue that deals with plant medicine, which is ayahuasca and psilocybin, a lot of the trauma comes from childhood.
• 41:40
  So you figure, you know, as you're growing up, you're suppressing those terrible childhood memories or uh events, and then you get into the military, what's even crazier, and then you come home and you're finally, and then eventually I like to say everybody pays the piper.
• 41:54
  So eventually all those emotions suppressed events come up flooding, and that's why I think a lot of veterans you see it more in veterans from first responders because it starts to hit them all at once, and that's why the Prussian alcoholism, all that stuff.
• 42:00
  Veterans, you see it more in veterans from first responders because it starts to hit them all at once.
• 42:04
  And that's why the Prussian alcoholism, all that stuff.
• 42:07
  And this is a different situation because back in the days, psilocybin and all these other kind of mind-altering medications, people took them as like a trip.
• 42:07
  And and this is a different situation because back in the days, psilocybin and all these other kind of mind-altering medications, people took them as like a trip, but this has been used in a controlled way to try to get into the real, as you talk about the soul of the trauma, getting to the point of where.
• 42:18
  But this has been used in a controlled way to try to get into the real, as you talk about the soul of the trauma, getting to the point of where it started and how to identify it.
• 42:32
  Have I got that right?
• 42:33
  Yeah, you're absolutely right.
• 42:35
  Um, back in Nixon, I believe, start made it a schedule one, which you know, it's it's control, right?
• 42:40
  I mean, it's plant medicine, psilocybin ayahuasca, for example, is it's very cheap.
• 42:45
  So it could you imagine if someone's been depressed for a long time, you give them this this medicine, the sacred medicine, and a week later they're they're completely fine that where they're getting over their depression or or cutting down on their drinking.
• 42:56
  So the pharmaceutical world would lose a lot of money.
• 42:59
  Now, I'm not against pharmaceuticals, of course.
• 43:01
  I mean, I think it's everything has its uh place, especially humans are very complex.
• 43:06
  But you're you're right, where back then it was used for fun and people were abusing it.
• 43:11
  So that's why there was a lot of uh, you know, I grew up the same way.
• 43:14
  I grew up Catholic, and it was just it was a drug, right?
• 43:16
  It was like an illegal drug, right?
• 43:18
  And now they're finding out that hey, this if you use it properly and you use it with some respect, it can have amazing um effects on your body to cure or to help cure depression and addictions and things like that.
• 43:31
  So I mean, I it's with any medicine.
• 43:33
  If you start abusing Zoloft or whatever, NyQuil, I mean, you're gonna have negative effects, right?
• 43:38
  You're gonna be able to do that.
• 43:38
  Are you kidding, even with aspirin?
• 43:40
  I mean, you know, if you over if you overdo aspirin, it will rip up your stomach.
• 43:44
  But the main thing is that we've learned in this journey some of these medications that we just didn't understand how to properly use them.
• 43:55
  And I would I and how many of the how much of this of these trials are being used now on guys and and gals that have been in the military that have some real serious PTST?
• 44:08
  Well, we first there has been around for five years, and we we've done it since.
• 44:12
  And obviously, we we there's a loophole, right?
• 44:14
  The um the religious act, the freedom of religion.
• 44:17
  So the facilitator we have has uh a church, so that was our way of of treating people, and now we've been doing it uh like I said five years.
• 44:26
  The last one was in Mexico, and we have now with President Trump's executive order, which helps, you know, almost the right to try here in Texas, there's that.
• 44:33
  But uh with I I know the President Trump talked about IBiga, which Ibogaine is a little bit more uh for lack of better word, hardcore, and it's it's used mainly to break up addictions, so such as opiates or people that have a pretty severe addiction to something, and with that one's a little bit more dangerous because you do have to have my you know, people monitoring your heart because it you can go into cardiac rest, it changes your rhythm of your heart.
• 44:58
  So it's it's I would say it's the last measure for someone that's very deep into addiction now, psilocybin ayahuasca is a gentler, more spiritual ride that uh lasts a little bit longer, but it also is you know, you're not gonna die from it, right?
• 45:11
  I mean, there's something if you have let's say you've got a military man or woman that is interested in finding out how to be able to get the appropriate treatment from people who are legitimately uh uh, you know, very uh good providers that they don't have to worry about somebody that's trying to get them hooked on drugs or you know, worry about a bad trip.
• 45:36
  Uh, how do they go about that?
• 45:38
  And since our time is sort of limited this time, and you know we have you back a lot, but I want to make sure that they know how to be able to reach out to you on your first there foundation.
• 45:49
  Well, I'm glad you brought that up.
• 45:50
  Yeah, they should definitely do their due diligence.
• 45:52
  They can find us on Google or whatever search transition they have, and it's first there.com or dot org, and the number the word first is not spelled out, it's number one st e r e.org.
• 46:04
  And there's a a form you can fill out, but yeah, this should definitely, you know, now with ayahuasca plum medicine being more mainstream, you want to do your research.
• 46:11
  I mean, you wouldn't want to go get plastic surgery and just pick someone out of Google and go get your face rearranged, right?
• 46:17
  You want to and you also wouldn't want to get somebody that would give you the medicine that is has been doctored or that's not legitimate or that's not appropriate.
• 46:26
  I mean, you know, back in the day there were drugs like salidomide and others, it seemed like they were going to be good for women, and they turned out to cause birth defects.
• 46:35
  And it's first like one ster.org.
• 46:40
  I'm going to repeat that even at the end.
• 46:42
  But I want people to know about that because we do have a lot of military people or people who are veterans that listen to this show.
• 46:49
  And you know, you um you founded this, but what does first there dot org do differently?
• 46:58
  Well, I think that's where we concentrate in, right?
• 47:01
  We we concentrate on the soul, but also a lot of these organizations, which are good on them, but they only treat the service member or that police officer, that fireman, whatever, but they forget to treat the family member.
• 47:12
  And I think if you don't treat the whole family as a as a unit, then when, for example, if I come back and if I was married and I come back to my wife and say, hey, I feel better and thank God I'm okay.
• 47:21
  And I took this medicine, she's gonna have resentment of having putting up with your stuff for the last 15, 20 years.
• 47:27
  I've been dealing with kids, blah, blah, blah.
• 47:29
  And now you're great, and I'm still miserable.
• 47:31
  So we we incorporate the whole family, and I think that's what makes this program successful.
• 47:36
  Plus, it's I mean, it's life-changing where now you have a better dad, better mom, better son or daughter.
• 47:41
  So and it's also cultural, don't you think, Eric?
• 47:45
  Because like me, you're Latino.
• 47:48
  And you know, we have uh a different relationship sometimes with family.
• 47:52
  Absolutely and we have uh like you, I am a Catholic, and I don't know that you're a Catholic still, but there are a lot of things that we have culturally that uh affect us, and whether you're Asian, African American, whatever you are, whatever religion it is.
• 48:10
  I think that has to go into the consideration of when you're trying to heal.
• 48:14
  Well, I'm glad you brought that up because in the conservative circles I've run, and I I get that question, right?
• 48:19
  That conflict, and I'm still Catholic.
• 48:21
  I'm very, but you know, planned religion didn't replace my God, didn't replace God or Jesus Christ.
• 48:25
  It strengthened my faith in God in Jesus Christ.
• 48:28
  God works in mysterious ways.
• 48:30
  So if you're a true Christian and you believe that, that's how God found me.
• 48:33
  That's how Chris Christ strengthened my faith.
• 48:36
  And and that's how he saved me.
• 48:37
  Because I I can tell you that the path that I was going, I probably would have killed myself by drinking or doing something stupid, or I'd be in prison.
• 48:44
  So just I was so depressed and injured, my soul was injured, and now I'm great, thank God.
• 48:50
  Well, thank God, and and you know, it's a journey.
• 48:52
  Sometimes you're better than other times, but at least you have an opportunity to recognize the signs within yourself that say, okay, we're not going down this path again.
• 49:00
  Okay, we're not going down this path again.
• 49:02
  We know how to self-correct in a way.
• 49:02
  We know how to self-correct in a way, and it helps you.
• 49:05
  And it helps you.
• 49:06
  Like, for example, I had a friend, a very dear friend that had called me.
• 49:06
  Like, for example, I had a friend, a very dear friend that had called me.
• 49:10
  Oh, this has been now a couple of years ago.
• 49:10
  Oh, this has been now a couple of years ago.
• 49:12
  He called me and he seemed great.
• 49:12
  He called me and he seemed great, and we had a wonderful conversation.
• 49:15
  And we had a wonderful conversation.
• 49:17
  I had no clue.
• 49:17
  I had no clue.
• 49:18
  And then two weeks later, he killed himself.
• 49:18
  And then two weeks later, he killed himself.
• 49:22
  And I thought to myself, what did I not see?
• 49:22
  And I thought to myself, what did I not see?
• 49:25
  What did I not?
• 49:25
  What did I not?
• 49:26
  What could I have done better?
• 49:26
  What could I have done better?
• 49:27
  How could I have helped help him better?
• 49:27
  How could I have help helped him better?
• 49:30
  I mean, I still pray for him every day.
• 49:32
  But I think to myself, BQ, what can you learn on this to try to be smarter about it?
• 49:38
  Does first there help veterans and family members and others to start understanding it may not just be the veteran, but it may be the family member that's going through the trauma.
• 49:49
  Oh, absolutely.
• 49:50
  Uh, like said earlier, we we we try to try, we it's up to them, obviously, right?
• 49:55
  You got you gotta have your own active part in healing and also God, as we said earlier, I mean, God gave us free will.
• 50:01
  But yes, I mean the family is a big part of it.
• 50:03
  So, I mean, we've tried, uh we've treated um the the service member and the wife and a couple of times because they become better parents, they understand each other, they have connection again, which leads them to you know, the kids starting to come back together because kids absorb all that.
• 50:18
  Oh, yeah.
• 50:20
  But I mean, and you could see it, and they can you they can see the difference, right?
• 50:24
  So, yes, absolutely.
• 50:26
  Absolutely.
• 50:27
  And you know, I I I'm glad that you are are are talking about this too on the show because I think it's also a part of our society where a lot of people feel, well, I don't need to go and ask help, I don't need to do that.
• 50:41
  I mean, come on, I served in the military.
• 50:43
  I'm a tough guy.
• 50:45
  I don't want people to think I'm weak or that I'm I'm gonna go out and ask for help.
• 50:50
  But you're saying that's not how it should be.
• 50:52
  No, and that's not how humans are, but you're absolutely right.
• 50:55
  I'm glad you brought that up because when I was going through it, and other people like you said, they don't want to be a burden, right?
• 51:01
  They said, Well, I I should be able to handle it.
• 51:03
  I don't want to call my friends.
• 51:04
  And most of us have over a hundred contacts on our phone that I'm sure if we called and said, Hey, I'm really hurting, someone would say, Hey, I'd rather you come cry or come my house or I'll go there, but I don't want to go to your funeral.
• 51:15
  And but we forget that.
• 51:17
  And for whatever reason we were brought up, you suck it up and and you just don't bother anyone.
• 51:21
  You get through it by yourself.
• 51:22
  And to some degree, yes, but our human emotion and in talking about it, and that's why I talk about it, because for the military member, it was just unheard of.
• 51:30
  And now I'm just, I just say, hey, if this helping me, I know there's other men and women going through it.
• 51:35
  So talk about it.
• 51:36
  And it helps.
• 51:37
  And they don't have to be afraid about it.
• 51:38
  See, that's the great thing with here's the guy that's won these bronze medals, one with V.
• 51:43
  I always like to say that because I'm so proud of your work.
• 51:46
  But the main thing is that it's it says here to them, look, if that guy can talk about it, I don't need to be, I mean, I can probably talk to him in confidence.
• 51:56
  You know, it's the machismo thing.
• 51:58
  Well, it's the same thing.
• 51:59
  We and we're also worried that if we tell someone, will they protect our protect it, not tell the entire neighborhood or put it in Facebook or embarrass us, you know, they don't people don't want to get canceled.
• 52:11
  They're worried about what to say so that it won't become so public that it comes back to haunt them.
• 52:17
  Yeah, it's vulnerability, yeah.
• 52:19
  And there's a lot of people that are scared of that.
• 52:21
  And and the people that do shame people that come out and and are vulnerable, are the people that are the most miserable, right?
• 52:28
  I mean, they're truly if you if you stand back and you look at people like that, they're they're absolutely miserable and they're they're projecting what they feel inside.
• 52:35
  And I feel bad for those people.
• 52:37
  Um, but the people that just say, hey, I'm hurting, or this is what's going on with me, and I need help.
• 52:42
  I mean, it the strongest thing you can do for yourself is is to recognize that, and too, is to ask for help because I mean that those that one word, it takes it takes some courage for you for you.
• 52:55
  And it's it takes courage to your point, and really the person that is unafraid to ask for help is trying to resolve it so that they can get better and get stronger and do more and be more positive.
• 53:09
  And you run up this thought, and I think all of us that listen to this show can remember some bully that we even knew in school, somebody that was picking on some small kid or somebody they didn't think was equal to them, that made them feel like they were great and powerful and they were just weak.
• 53:26
  But it takes a strong person to find the courage to come to a guy like you and say, Listen, uh-uh, can you help me?
• 53:34
  I uh first there, can first there help me?
• 53:38
  Absolutely.
• 53:39
  They can reach out anytime and then fill out a form and we'll get back to them as soon as possible.
• 53:43
  And even if we can't right away, I mean, we'll connect them with someone else.
• 53:46
  I mean, we have a good network of providers or other organizations that we know that are maybe in their city that could they get help right away, right?
• 53:55
  So I mean, it's it's out there.
• 53:56
  I mean, the VA is a lot of people like to knock them, but I mean, they're doing the best that they can with the amount of people that, especially after you know, the end of the Afghan war.
• 54:04
  And so, I mean, they're providing free health care and all that other stuff.
• 54:07
  And I love that President Trump and you know, RFK Jr.
• 54:10
  was we're saying, hey, we got to try something different, right?
• 54:12
  We got to help these guys instead of the usual, well, we're losing 22 a day.
• 54:16
  What are we gonna do?
• 54:17
  We'll just change the color of the poster.
• 54:19
  And now they're actually thinking outside the box and saying, let's do this because it helps.
• 54:22
  So I remember when they were talking about Afghanistan and uh Hillary Clinton, who was Secretary of State, I believe at the time, and and then she they talked about some terrible thing that happened.
• 54:34
  She said, Well, what difference does it make?
• 54:37
  Well, yeah, but we we we we can't look at the people who serve our country as collateral damage that's expendable, it's not expendable, and it affects not just that person's life or their or their their team that they've been there been serving with, but as you say, all the families and extended families and friends that suffer.
• 55:00
  It's important to have organizations like first there.
• 55:03
  Have you I'm sure that you've had a lot of people already tell you that they very much appreciate your help.
• 55:10
  Web Ripples, our our goal is if we can save one person a year.
• 55:13
  I mean, that's a win, a huge win for us because that one person makes such a big impact in the world.
• 55:17
  Now, to your point about um Hillary Clinton, some of these politicians that don't care, or they just send, you know, our our men and women to to war.
• 55:25
  Uh, I think they would care a lot more if it was their own children or their own grandchildren, you know, standing in that front line.
• 55:31
  And and that's why when she I remember when she said that it was just I I can believe that she was still has a platform, you know, especially after saying something like that.
• 55:40
  But yeah, it's um I think that person needs to get right with God to put it in a well, the way we help everyone get right with God, and especially with your own selves is great organizations like yours, the wonderful Eric Linehart, my wonderful friend.
• 55:56
  Tell everybody again.
• 55:58
  I can't believe the time we're gonna get you back on again very, very soon.
• 56:00
  Again, very, very soon.
• 56:01
  Give us the information of to where they can go.
• 56:01
  Give us the information of to where they can go.
• 56:03
  Absolutely.
• 56:03
  Absolutely.
• 56:04
  They can uh go to their search engine and type in number one s t-h e r eorg.
• 56:04
  They can uh go to their search engine and type in number one s t-here.org, and we have a shop in there, so you can pick up a t-shirt or something, or or simple donation, right?
• 56:10
  And we have a shop in there, so you can pick up a t-shirt or something or or simple donation, right?
• 56:15
  You know, that we're a small organization and that goes a long way.
• 56:15
  You know that we're a small organization and that goes a long way.
• 56:18
  And I mean, we're putting it to great use where it's gonna help these men and women uh have a life-changing experience.
• 56:18
  And I mean, we're putting it to great use where it's gonna help these men and women uh have a life-changing experience.
• 56:24
  So yeah, thank you.
• 56:24
  So yeah, I think well, my life-changing experience is being a friend with you, my dear Eric Line.
• 56:25
  Well, my life-changing experience is being a friend with you, my dear Eric Lineheart.
• 56:30
  Oh, it's my pleasure, it's my honor.
• 56:32
  Oh, you're a wonderful guy, and love that you're doing so much good work for all these men and women in uniform and out of uniform and their families.
• 56:40
  Eric Lineheart, thank you for joining us here, and thank you for joining us on the National Security Hour.
• 56:46
  We'll talk next week.
• 56:47
  I'm Blanquita Kala.