How To Stay Grounded As The World Goes Crazy | Eddie Gallagher | Ep. 62

In this powerful episode of The David Rutherford Show, I sit down with Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher to talk about faith, brotherhood, and what it means to live with purpose in today’s divided America.

Eddie opens up about his wrongful imprisonment, the moment he gave his life to Christ, and why that decision still shapes every aspect of his life and family. We dive deep into the dangers of social media, political division in America, and how faith and community can guide us through chaos.

From surviving prison to leading on the battlefield, to raising the next generation—Eddie Gallagher’s story is one of redemption, resilience, and hope.

👉 Don’t miss this conversation on faith, unity, and living with courage.
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of my favorite things in the whole world to
do is to get on the microphone with friends, and
not only friends.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
That really I admire for not.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Only their service, but also for their stance and what
they believe and the ability to hold true on that
stance and never adjust one way or the other based
on pressure from social media or pressure from outside influences.
But really people that stand on their morals, they stand
on their values and really adhere to their belief systems.

(00:34):
And so for me being able to have Eddie Gallagher
come on to show is just like the coolest thing
in the world. He's a person that I've known for
a while now, all the way back to when he
was wrongfully accused of war crimes which was ultimately complete
bullshit which he was vindicated for, but also to watch
him flourish and to become just a real positive role

(00:56):
model in our space, but also for this in the
space for young men and young women across the country.
So again, it's just an honor and a privileged Eddie.
Welcome to the show, brother, my.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Brother dude, thank you so much for the kind words,
and you know, coming from you, it's it's that stumbling uh,
you know, just for the audience that's listening out there.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Man.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
You know, when me and you connected first, we didn't
know each other in the community, we didn't work together,
but uh, you know you back then you were on
a team never quit the podcast with Marcus, and you
had my wife and brother on as we were going
through that, And I can't tell you how much I like,
greatly appreciate you guys giving them the voice, and it
really like exemplified what brotherhood means because at that time

(01:40):
it was a lot of people back in the way,
but you guys had a backbone and you allowed my
brother and wife to come on and actually explain what
was going on.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Then.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Of course, you know, I couldn't wait to meet you
when I got out, and we ended up meeting I
think at the Charlie Daniels event, and uh, you know
that was the first time I got to meet you
face to face. And dude, you're one of the best
human beings I know. You know, for me, as I
was getting out, I saw how you acted there. I mean,
your your upbeat, you're motivating people, you're inspiring people, and

(02:08):
you give a lot of energy and I was like,
this guy has something, you know, that that I want,
you know, or not want, but I want to work
towards because I was going through my own little battles
at the time and you've just been You've been an
inspiration to me, man, and I couldn't be more humbled
to be on this.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thank you, brother, God bless you.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
Dude.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
I'll never I still never forget you tell me the
story of just you know, when you were in that cell, man,
and you got down on your knees and you just
gave it up to Christ.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
And I still tell that story today.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
And it's been wild lately I've had, especially with this
whole Charlie Kirk thing, and you know, I just I
don't know if it's going on with you, and i'd
like to hear what your thoughts are. You know, we
see all this uptick in political violence, just the Ice
shooting that happened this morning, and obviously with Charlie clk
assassination attempts on the president.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
I mean, it's it's pretty crazy out there.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
But the result of this thing is this, you know,
revival if you will, towards faith and Christianity. And I've
had multiple people in the last two weeks like approach
me and go, hey, man, you know, how do you
dial in your faith? Like?

Speaker 2 (03:22):
What did you do? How did you get there?

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Because you know a lot of these people had listened
to my you know, my show with Sean which was
you know, all about the journey to get to there
to be a real believer, and man, I I you know,
on several of them, I've said, well, let me tell
you the story, my buddy Eddie Gallagher. Man, I mean,
there's no worse place you could be than you know,

(03:45):
in military prison, facing life away from your family, with
a bunch of bullshit, and you know, like it's all
stacked against you, the size of what the government can
bring down on you, the commune unity turning against you,
the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Man.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
But it was that story that you told me that
you just gave it up to Christ and you said,
all right, I'm in it. Just I'll follow with you.
And you know, are you seeing that? Are you getting that?
Are people hitting you up more and more about the
strength of your faith and how to implement that right
now in their lives.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah, that's one thing I'll never stop, you know, giving
my testimonial.

Speaker 4 (04:23):
I can never tell that story enough to people.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
And I do have people reaching out, you know, And
I run a podcast here with my buddy, you know,
shoot Me Straight, and our main theme is very faith based.
You know, our guests don't have to be believers, but
we really try and bring everything back towards faith and
just because I think that's how most people get through adversity,

(04:46):
you know, depending on their story.

Speaker 4 (04:48):
But yeah, I.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Think with this whole Charlie Kirk thing, obviously tragic, beyond
I think it affected this country way more than people
will realize.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
You know, he he wasn't a very he was a
very effective debater. He made you know, he he had
positive results wherever he went. He was doing exactly what
needs to be done in this country, which was going
to the youth and actually debating with them and having
these conversations with them without without like throwing insults or

(05:25):
causing fear mongering or any of that other stuff. I mean,
the guy did it in such an effective way, which
is why I think he was taken out, you know,
And I don't and I'm not going to get into
who I think did what, because there's there's too much.
That's when you start going down the wormhole. Like we
talked about the pressures of social media and you know
what side are you on? But I do think, you know,

(05:46):
just like you know what we've seen with cancel culture,
right when a lot of the times when one side
tries to cancel the other, you really just make that
person stronger. You it's the I think what they call
the barber striis and effect or whatever. It's like now
their voice is more powerful. And I think that's what
we're seeing with Charlie Kirk. You know, you took him out,
but you've made his voice that much stronger. And his

(06:07):
voice was God's voice, it was you know, he was
a man of faith. That's what he preached. That's what
he wanted to be remembered by. And I think we saw,
you know, at that revival he had, which was I
mean beyond amazing how many people showed up to that.
And I think it's it's making people question across the country,
like what what do I really stand for? And I

(06:29):
really think I'm seeing more dudes like start questioning like
what am I doing with my life?

Speaker 4 (06:34):
What purpose do I have? Because I think Charlie did.
He was a role model not just for the younger generation,
but he was a role model for us as well.
I mean he was younger than us.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
I mean, this guy spent his whole life going out
there preaching the word, trying to change you know, minds
to follow Jesus. And I think a lot of us
older guys are seeing that, like, Okay, what am I
doing with my life?

Speaker 4 (06:57):
What is my purpose? Am I?

Speaker 3 (06:58):
It's what I'm doing actually serving you know, greater society
or my serving myself. And I've seen a lot of
guys ask questions like that, and I think it is
going to bring a lot more people to, you know,
to Jesus. And I think we're seeing that, and you know,
and I do, I do get a lot of questions,
especially this event I was just at you know, people
were like, oh, you talk about faith and like how

(07:18):
does that you know, how do you implement that? And
I'm like, I it drives my whole life now, Like yeah,
it's not just implementing it in my life.

Speaker 4 (07:26):
It is my life, like.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
I And it's not something that you know, I'm not
one of those people. I can't sit here in quote
scripture to you and like this and that. I'm still very.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Like like Jared Hudson, right, yeah, like Jared Man whipping
out the entire Bible at you.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, and you gotta get I got to get someone
like Jared Hudson on to you know, to preach to
you like that. But I I'm able to speak from
a personal experience of what it did for me and
then what it is still doing for me, and that
the the it is the only reason I'm thriving and
me and my family are thriving to this day is
because of that. And I've done every treatment known to man,

(08:03):
you know when I got out, and they're all good,
not bad, nothing bad about it, even like the psychedelic
you know I went, did I begin and all that,
and I that has its purpose. But at the end
of the day, I tell guys, and like, none of
it is a game changer, none of it is, like, hey,
that the end all be all. The only thing that
you can do is turn to Jesus at the end

(08:23):
of the day because all that stuff, they're drugs or
their treatments, they wear off, right, and then you're back
to your own thoughts, your own you know, whatever's going
on with you. And I'm like, you need to turn
to God and give him everything, you know, like everything
that you're feeling all of your emotions, all the pain
that we feel on a daily basis, the frustration, the anger,

(08:44):
the confusion. No one's above that. I mean, we're all
in it together in this in this society. We all
have this anxiety box in our pocket that we all
look at. And so you have to safeguard yourself if
you are going to partake in that, you have to
safeguard yourself beforehand and talk to God and having like,
hey Lord, let me put you first and everything that

(09:06):
I do help me do that, because I'm not gonna
be able to do that on my own. So, I mean,
it's you know, and it's one of the it's one
of the main reasons my family's thriving. My wife and
I put God first, you know, we put God before
each other, and that's the only way that it will work. So,
you know, I hope that and you know, and we
live in America, and so I'm like, you practice whatever

(09:28):
religion that you want, but I'm like, I really do
hope for the non believers or like the so called agnostics,
that it's really starting to help them question like why
am I here on this planet?

Speaker 5 (09:41):
You know?

Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yeah, yeah, that's I love that it's like, why am
I here? I mean, we have a frameworker I think
because of maybe the I don't want to call it
a system. I mean obviously the the integration of of
of the the educ occational you know, program that was placed,

(10:04):
you know, from you go to kindergarten, you know, you
go k through twelve, you go, you know what, you go,
you know, into college, maybe do that. Then you go
to your job, and then you're in your cubicle, you know,
and it's this thing. You know, I think for us
as we jumped off that train to go really explore
ourselves and who we were, what we were made of,

(10:26):
what we wanted. You know, that was the whole impetus
for me is because like I didn't know who the
hell I was at eighteen nineteen twenty. I was like,
I'm just some fuck up at in school and I'm like,
this is not what I want, man, and this is
not what I need. And because I didn't have any
of that faith built up. And you know, I didn't
grow up in the church. I never went to church.

(10:47):
I never anything. I mean, you know, I went to
Episcopal High School and I was a kid sleeping in
chapel three times a week, you know, And but it
was it was ultimately the journally in the teams that provoked, hey,
you need something more, you need something deeper. And I
think the way you I analyze it, like that's what
these young people out there are doing now, especially these

(11:08):
young men, they're starting.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
To go, well, what do I believe in?

Speaker 4 (11:13):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (11:13):
And you know, yeah, and for guys like us, you know,
and I was the same as you Dave were, you know,
when I was in you know, I would have called
myself a believer, but I was. I mean, I was
a half assed you know, Thank god I was married
to my wife, who was a full on you know, she's.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
Dedicated from day one.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
But for guys like us, I think Jesus or God
like chooses certain people and to really like get the
word out and to you know, get on his path.
And for guys like us, we're stubborn individuals.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
We're like, nope, you.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
Know, we're gonna run through every wall, you know, as
possible before we actually admit that we don't have control anymore.

Speaker 4 (11:56):
But I think God knows that. He's like, I'm going
to let you hit rock bottom and then raise you
back up, right. And I think for us.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
That's that's a common thing for most team guys or
guys from the Special Operations community, is you know, we're
in control over situation.

Speaker 4 (12:13):
We're trained to be in control over situation. We're trained.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
You know, Hey, if you get thrown in a certain
scenario or put in a certain place, the first thing
you do is adapt, improvise and take charge right and
start figuring out what's going on. And that works for
a certain amount of time until it doesn't, and then
it's like, Okay, I'm no longer in control of my situation.
I don't have the bandwidth nor the fortitude to like

(12:38):
keep pushing going forward. So and that's what made me realize, like,
I can't do this on my own anymore. I've been
doing everything on my own, or I thought I was
doing on my own my whole life, my whole career,
everything that I accomplished, it was me, me, me, me,
I did it. I did it, And that couldn't be
farther from the truth. You know, God was always there,
but I think it took me to get to a

(12:59):
point where I I can no longer go forward anymore,
and I just gave it all to God out loud,
in my cell and to this day, I've never had
an experience, and I've done every drug possible.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
Nothing felt like that.

Speaker 3 (13:13):
Physically felt like that, spiritually felt like that, emotionally felt
like that. And from that moment on, I felt nothing that.
It wasn't like I'm home free. It's like but I
felt safe, like I felt like someone he was watching
me from that point on, and just having that feeling,
I was like, I was so confident going forward and
no matter what happened, you.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Know, well, it's awesome because like every time I get
to watch you and tell that story, it's like you
get to that point, man, and I don't know what
it is it's, but it's probably the Holy Spirit kind
of hits you with that truth and you just feel it.
You can see it in your eyes. You can see
it like I remember watching with Sean when you were

(13:55):
with Shawn, and Dude, I swear to God, I rewound
that multiple times.

Speaker 2 (14:01):
I'm like, you can see the whole shift.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
In your your every your energy, the whole thing about you,
because it's like that's conviction, right, that's where you know
it's true. Did you ever over the course of your
your long career and deployment. After deployment, was there ever
kind of a moment where you were just like huh,

(14:24):
you know, or there was somebody in one of the
platoons that was you know, real devout or something and
you just kind of like that moment where you're like, huh,
how is my faith? You know, like that question period
did that ever hit you or was it ongoing?

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Did it hit you a bunch?

Speaker 1 (14:42):
You know?

Speaker 3 (14:43):
I was luckily I had to have some guys in
my first Hope platoons. Actually a really good buddy of
mine that we actually were with in the Marines together
and then we ended up in the same he went
to buds as well, and we ended up in the
same platoon at Team one, and he was a very
strong person at Faith. Corbyn Cornelison just a phenomenal individual.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
And watching him.

Speaker 3 (15:06):
And just how he handled the teams, uh, you know,
and you know how it is, Dave.

Speaker 4 (15:10):
You know, when we get there, it's you know, what's
the drink fight?

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Fuck? And you know I swallowed that whole thing.

Speaker 3 (15:17):
Man, it's you know, you get wrapped up in it.
And I was able to watch him like he was
able not to get wrapped up in all that but
still maintain his reputation as an operator. And I was
always like, Okay, there's something there, but I never I
you know, maybe wish I would have like started delving
into it more than but I always looked at him

(15:38):
as like, it can be done. And you know, I
knew there was he had something different than the rest
of us, and that's you know, of course he caught
a lot of shit. Uh, but the only reason he
caught a lot of ship was because other guys saw
it as well, and they're like, Okay, this guy has something,
but I don't have.

Speaker 4 (15:54):
It, So I'm gonna bust his balls for it. That's right.

Speaker 3 (15:57):
And you know, obviously you question us and faith as
you go through multiple combat deployments.

Speaker 4 (16:03):
You know, the things that you see, the things.

Speaker 3 (16:04):
That you do, you know the amount of carnage loss,
and then you know, you talk about, you know what
our job entails, which is killing people.

Speaker 4 (16:16):
I was very bought in.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
I still would be if I was in, but I
I took my job seriously and I got pretty good at.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
At doing it.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
And uh, it's one of those things where you don't
think about when you're in it, but then you know,
I remember when I you know, when I got out,
I was like, okay, you know, especially diving deeper into
my faith, you know, was what we were doing right?

Speaker 4 (16:41):
You know? And you can and I would get like
answers from different.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
You know, No, you were fighting for you know, good
and you know, the America and our country, and I'm like, well,
how that's take all that out. I'm like, in God's eyes,
like we're all you know, he loves everybody who we're
all humans.

Speaker 4 (16:58):
So there's that dichota me. And at the end of
the day, you know, I know, I'm comfortable with.

Speaker 3 (17:05):
What I did, and I know I will be judged
when I get there, and I'm willing to face that
judgment because I don't know. I won't say one hundred
percent sure what we did was absolutely right or what
we did was absolutely wrong. But that's you know, that's
up to God. And I think I've just come to
the conclusion like I will continue to live my life
for him, and then when I get to the pearly gates,
I'm willing to face whatever judgment's coming from me from

(17:26):
my actions.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
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Speaker 2 (19:16):
Ooh yeah, you know one of the I saw you.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
I watched one of your your shows where you're talking
about or how your family was affected by Charlie's assassination,
in particular your son, and would you would you mind
just talking a little bit about that dialogue, because I
think there's a lot of people out there that are
trying to figure out how to have those dialogues with

(19:40):
their young family right now, in particular they're young men,
like what what do you say? What did you say
to each other? And and what did you what were
you trying to provoke out of your son's ability to
rationalize all this?

Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, So it was actually the day that had happened.
I was get up my son from school and I
had no clue what happened. He got in the truck
and he's like, did you hear And I'm like no,
and he you know, told me He's like a Charlie
Kirk got shot. And I'm like okay, and of course
the video was out. He shows me the video and
I was like, son, he's dead. I've seen that one

(20:16):
multiple times. And so he it was very quiet for
like five minutes driving him home, and then he was angry.
You know, He's like, I'm so angry, and he was like,
I want to hurt somebody. And I, you know, for
as a father, You're like, okay, and I understood because

(20:37):
I was like, it is very frustrating. But at the
same time, it a maze me that And what we
talked about earlier is how much he affected the youth. Well,
my son my daughter also called us that same day, devastated, crying.
They both bost him, you know, they followed him, they
see clips of him.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
So I let it.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
You know, at first, I was like, okay, let me
process this because I was feeling the same thing. I
was angry, frustrated, you know, and guys like us, when
we see something like that, it's we're men of action
and we're like, Okay, something.

Speaker 4 (21:11):
Needs to be done. But at the end of the day,
what what are you going to do?

Speaker 1 (21:15):
Right? It's like I had I have one dude, I
follow a lot, and he was like, all right, you
need to give all the GYT guys thirty days, right,
we get we all get an official pardon, and we'll
go clean it up, you know in thirty days. Yeah,
in our in our wedd that would be yeah, that's right,
that's right, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 3 (21:33):
But the reality is and then the reality and this
is just you know, our society today is like, that's right.
There's there's nothing that we can do to affect the situation.

Speaker 4 (21:43):
It's just that's the bottom line.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
And so, you know, my wife and I were talking
about it, and so I ended up, you know, going
to my son's room and I was like, hey, hey, buddy,
you know, I know I understand how you're feeling.

Speaker 4 (21:57):
I'm feeling it too, moms feeling it. We're all crushed
by this.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
And I told him, I was like, you're you're right
to feel these emotions. It's there's nothing wrong with that.
But it's what you do with your emotions that matter.
I'm like, so you can sit here and stew and
be angry and let this bottle up. And I was like,
and I'll tell you right now, stay off social media
for the next four days. And I was like, this

(22:22):
is only going to get worse. But I was like,
my suggestion to you and I was like, your mom
and I are doing the same thing, is we are
going to give all these emotions to God.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
We are going to pray and like, Lord, take this
from me. You're the one in control. I am not.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
And I was like, and I told him, I was like,
you know, I told my son, I'm like, you're id,
You're the clone of me.

Speaker 4 (22:41):
You're identical to me.

Speaker 3 (22:43):
And I'm like, and what I don't want to see
happen is the mistakes I've made in the past is
letting those emotions ruminate in me and then they're going
to come out in some way or the other. And
ninety nine percent of the time it's not a good outcome.
It's it's going to affect either this family negatively or
someone else negatively. And so I'm like, you need to

(23:03):
realize that and get these emotions out, given to God
and then just process what's going on. And so we told,
you know, we told our daughter the same thing. We're like,
stay off social media and just pray, pray for pray
for this family, Pray for the Kirk family, and that's
all we can do right now. To affect the situation
because it was it's it's a tragic thing, man, you know.

(23:26):
And I yeah, it was crazy how much it affected,
you know, like my wife and I And I'm not
afraid to admit it.

Speaker 4 (23:33):
Like I think three days later, I was still stewing.
I was laying in bed.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
I was tears were going down my face because I
think and I couldn't believe.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
I was like, dude, how was like, I didn't know, Charlie,
you know. But I think it's more for us. It's like, dude, we.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
Spent our lives fighting for this country, you know, and
I truly believe we all did it for just reasons. Yeah,
And to see the country sort of turn on itself
like it is right now, it's heartbreaking, man. And it's
I think that's why we get so angry, because obviously
anger is a secondary emotion to sadness or anything like that.
I think most of us are heartbroken over it because

(24:12):
it's like, what all this work that we thought we
put in to defend this country and to keep it
the way it is, and to see it turn on
itself like this and see you know, all the vile
things being said back and forth on both sides. It's like,
this is not this is not the America that I
signed up to defend, you know, or this is not
the outcome that I wanted from it. And so at

(24:33):
the end of the day, I'm like, dude, we just
need to keep keep praying. Pray for this country and
not just one side, pray for everybody in it. Everybody
in this country needs it right now. And you know
that's so I put that video out and it was
funny because and that's one thing I'll discuss Dave is
I was repulsed by the amount of people that were

(24:54):
taking advantage of the situation and take into their Instagram
and like oh this and this and given their thoughts
and opinions or just even from our community, like seeing
people come on like oh, let me I was a sniper.

Speaker 4 (25:06):
Let me give you like my scenario.

Speaker 3 (25:08):
And it's like, dude, okay, you're doing that for your
own self, like to get more clicks or more whatever.
And so I've I was complaining about that, and then
I was like, you know, all these people have children
and their kids are watching you. Their kids are watching
how you react to this, and guess what the way

(25:29):
you react is what they're going to emulate. So that's
that sort of drove me to put out that video.
And I wasn't going to discuss the whole situation. I
was just like, hey, be aware, like for you people
that are going on here talking about violence or talking
about you know, we need to do this or that,
or giving your thoughts on it. I was like, your
kids are watching you, so you should probably be careful

(25:50):
on what you put out there, you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (25:52):
And that was just my I guess public service announcement.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
It was sage wisdom.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
That's what I love about you, dude, is like, man,
even with your background and and you know how much
combat you've seen, man, you always seem to just hit
the temperament at the right place and you know, and
I think that's it was repulsive to me, is like
within hours there are people trying to capitalize on the incident,

(26:19):
and within a day it's like, oh, you know, he
was killed by this group, using this group, and he
was doing this, and you know, and it wasn't just
the crazies that they were trying to you know that
were on the left like oh great, he's dead type
of stuff for what you know, to hell with him.
It was even the right and whatever the right is now,

(26:41):
which seems to be almost as fractured as the left is,
you know. And what I'd love for you to do
is just share that little piece about about you know,
the past and what destroyed us and what's going to
destroy us in the future, and just to kind of
go on a tangent a little bit about that, because
I think that when you said that to me before
we opt on, man, that just ripped right through mecause

(27:03):
it's so true.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Yeah, So I'll get to like how I got to that.
So I you know, I shared a tweet that I saw,
which like hit me the same way.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
I'm like, there it is. You know.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
I was talking to my wife not too long after
the incident and I was like, you know, I really
do think social media is going to be the downfall
of our society.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
I think it's there's obviously there's pros to it.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
You can spread positivity, but I think the cons far
away the pros. And I think we've seen it like
it's it's you know, it's driven our country to go
against each other. Nobody knows what the truth is anymore,
nobody can think for themselves.

Speaker 4 (27:45):
They just it's whatever their algorithm is.

Speaker 3 (27:47):
Feeding them, right, and we all like, you know, I
can go online and my algorithm is probably mostly conservative
or whatever things that just get fed to me, and
you know, I don't.

Speaker 4 (27:57):
It's just the way it is.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
It's like, because it knows what you are, you better
than you know yourself half the time. So we had
this conversation about it, and from that, of course the
phone's listening, so it starts to promote me the you know,
stuff on that subject.

Speaker 4 (28:11):
But I did.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
I saw a tweet and it said, you know, social
media will be the downfall of our society. The dinosaurs
had the asteroid, we have the algorithm. So brilliant, man, Yeah,
that was I thought that was one of the most
brilliant things I saw.

Speaker 4 (28:27):
And I was like that that could not be more
of the truth.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
So, and it's what's fascinating to me, you know, is
that you can sit there and tell somebody till you're
blue in the face, Hey man, you're you're falling into
the feed that they want, you know, I mean the
whole the people that designed these algorithms in conjunction with coders,
like they're the top psychologists psychiatrists, right, people on the planet. Right,

(28:54):
Like they they went to you know, wherever, Harvard or
Northwestern or studying Ford whatever, and they're like, you're gonna
come work for us. We're gonna show you this machine
learning algorithm. How do we program this thing to drive
people into silos.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
To where we can get whatever we want out of them?

Speaker 1 (29:13):
You know?

Speaker 2 (29:13):
And it's like, oh, that's simple.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
A human being if they see something twenty four times
in a row that shifts the you know, it programs
them and now all of a sudden, they're just they're
pressing like pressing, like pressing leg and now.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
You know, you got them.

Speaker 1 (29:27):
And and if you don't get that, like, dude, I
just saw yesterday what it was. There was a big
bust in New York City and the lead up to
the big un thing that they've busted like four places
in New York around this area that were bot farm banks, right.
I don't know if you saw those, the you know,
the huge rooms fold with you know, these bot farms,

(29:50):
and like you can show that and saying, hey, dude,
this is who you're arguing with. Man, Like, this is
who you're screaming at, This is who you're going at
after and people like I don't give a damn dude,
like it is. It is what it is, and so
you they're addicted and that's what it is. And direct
how do you how would you recommend that people kind

(30:15):
of get back to that space of not even just
like shutting your phone off. I mean, that's the easy route,
but it's really I think a deeper more what is it?
Almost a deeper uh framework of how you think and
like you said, it's how people aren't thinking critically anymore.
How would you what would be your advice to anybody

(30:38):
our age young people to just check themselves and to
kind of think through these narratives in a more uh
maybe not construct but a healthier way, I guess is
the best best.

Speaker 4 (30:53):
So I think I I think this.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
You know I give this advice to be every once
in a while, and you know my wife gives it
to me all the time. Is you know, instead of
being looking on your phone, like see what's in front
of you, like, do things in your community that make
a difference. Go out and talk to people in your community,
Talk to your neighbors, join some kind of group that
gives you purpose, that serves your community in some form

(31:20):
or fashion.

Speaker 4 (31:21):
I was like, you'll see then like, no, there's not
that much hatred out there. There's not that much you know, division.

Speaker 3 (31:28):
People are still able to talk no matter what side
of the aisle that you sit on. But if you
are on your phone twenty four to seven, I'm like,
that's what you think is going on in this country,
that we are completely divided and that's all that matters.
And one side hates the other. Obviously the extremes on
both sides have the loudest voices, so that's who you
think is representing the left or representing the right. But

(31:51):
if you put your phone down, you'll find the exact opposite.
And that is what I mean at the end of
the day, you know, going back to faith, that's what Jesus,
you know, called for us to do, is be involved
in the community, do service, help others where you can.
And then I would think, you know, with these stories
that come out, that is, you know, if you really

(32:14):
want to dive into the truth of what's going on,
you're going to have to set aside some time and
actually do your own research because everything that's put out
there is obviously full of half truths, half lies, uh,
you know, or find find somebody that you trust, like
a podcast or like if people watch your show or
somebody like, Okay, I want to know their thoughts, and
you don't have to take their thoughts at one hundred percent,
but at least get their perspective, get somebody else's perspective,

(32:36):
and form your own, you know, your own, your own decision.
I guess on what you think.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah, but that's a hard, diffical thing to do, right,
Oh God, easier said than done.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
And I honestly that's I was selling.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
This is a more like pessimistic view that I get
every once in a while when I just get fed
up with because you can recommend or give advice to
people all day and they're like, oh yeah, they just keep.

Speaker 4 (33:01):
Doing the same thing. I'm like, I think. I'm like, dude,
I just treat it now like life's a selection process.
I'm like, just like when we were in Buds, I'm like, dude,
you're you. You've been told what to do, what the
standards are, what to meet. If you don't meet those,
you're gone, right, and you you have all the information
out there to do the work ahead of time. You know.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
It was those guys that showed up at buzz that
within the first week, they're like, oh my gosh, I
didn't expect this or I'm quitting and you're like, what
did you not? Like look into this, and I realized
there was information back there, but there was enough to
know like this is the hardest training military the world
has teeth.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
And so I look at it on the outside too.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
I'm like, there is enough information out there to make
informed decisions, but you have to go out there and
actually look for them. And I think people have just
gotten complacent and more relaxed and just being told what
to think. Uh, and they're like, Okay, that's what I
believe now. And it goes on to everything. It goes
your your health, your diet, your what you're putting in

(34:05):
your body. Like you know, people can sit there and
point fingers all day and they like, oh, well, they're
putting all these chemicals in our food and that's why
I'm unhealthy. It's like, no one forced you to put
that in your mouth. Like you can look up on
your own and see what is out there. I mean,
there's especially now in this day and age, there's plenty
of information on what's healthy for you and what's not right. Yeah,

(34:27):
So at the end of the day, if you don't
want to do the research and you don't want to
be purposeful about looking after your own uh spiritual, emotional,
physical health, then you're deselecting yourself. Like I'm sorry, I
love at the end of the day, that's that's the
reality of the situation.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
Life is a selection. I love that, man, that's genius.
And it's funny. You know when you get guys that
you train, because I know you do courses all over
the country. You know, you get these these men that
are showing up and I'm sure the ages are very
you know, pretty right when they show up. Are are
you having these discussions in between, like during water breaks

(35:08):
or at lunch or dinner or whatever like are are
are are people seeking you out for more than just
you know, tactical pistol in doc right or long rifle.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
I'm sure like man, because.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
You're you have a reputation for that kind of wisdom
and a willingness to discuss it and and the way
you deliver it, man is succinct. And it's to the point,
are you getting a lot of those questions too? When
you're out there training people?

Speaker 3 (35:35):
Yeah, I do, you know obviously, because Dave, I know
you were in the instructor space for a while, right,
And so you get a it's a mixed bag, and
you know, you'll get some of the some of the
people that want to come out and really they just
want to like talk and you know instead of shoot,
you know, they might want to shoot little bit, but
they want to sit there and bs and so if

(35:55):
they want to do that, then yes, I'll turn it
into a constructive conversation, you know, rather and they tell
me war stories or tell me this. It's like, now,
let's talk about something that's important, like what's going on
with you? What are you doing in your life? And
I'll be able to have those conversations with them. But then,
you know, obviously there's some people that don't, you know,
and they just want to train, which I'm about to

(36:16):
I'm like, hey, that's that's.

Speaker 4 (36:17):
What we're here for.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
Yeah, if the people do want to come out and
have like conversations, and yeah, I'm willing to impart any
kind of wisdom or advice.

Speaker 4 (36:27):
That I have.

Speaker 3 (36:27):
And then I actually get a lot from it as well,
because you know, some some people that come out are
way more intelligent than I am, and you know, are
sitting there pouring into me.

Speaker 4 (36:35):
So it goes both ways.

Speaker 1 (36:38):
And that's what I love and I think when you
talk about because a lot of times, you know, people
in their their their regular lives, they're so busy raising kids,
they're they're working their brains off because everything's so expensive,
you know, and they're just grinding. So when they do
cut out for something, is is you know, for them
as massive as it is to go take one of

(37:00):
your courses or go work with DJ or you know
all the guys out there that are really putting on
quality stuff. You know, it's like, oh, man, I have
the opportunity to talk to a.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Warrior, what are they going to say?

Speaker 1 (37:15):
And the thing that I found over the years and
you know, and I'll still do you know, five six
courses a year just through you know, uh first trust
and I get the same thing, man, just like the
the event we did together when I first started there.
You know, it's the same thing. It's like they want
to just hear our idea of it because it's like,

(37:38):
all right, it's quantifiable that they've gone through the selection process, right,
they've then they've gone down range well, what what have
they learned from all that? And so like yeah, that
and so like getting that opportunity for people to ask
those good questions instead of like.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
Is it off a fake? Is it all just bullshit?
You know, instead of the conspiracy things.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
Man, Dude, I've had a couple of speeches in the
recent last year man that it's just been like I
answer questions for two and a half hours about about
conspiracy theories. It's like, I'm like, it is because it's
like whoa, whoa, whoa where did you get that?

Speaker 2 (38:22):
Where?

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Like honestly, where did you where are you conclusive about
that information? And they're just like I saw it on
X you know, I saw it on the Gram, I
saw it on Facebook, you know, I saw it on
TikTok and I was like, okay, all right, well let's.

Speaker 6 (38:39):
Let's let's be your answer right there, there's your answer, right.

Speaker 1 (38:43):
So that's why it's like, man, you know, I really
wanted to bring you on is so that you could
talk about some of that wisdom that you're employing in people,
because I know you're a public figure and people are
always wondering, all right, you know, how is how is
a guy like this going to process all that right,
you know, in terms of preparation.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
You know, obviously I.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
I had sarah Ia Adams on and talk pretty extensively
about an active imminent threat. You know, when people hear
that sort of thing on on for those people that
are former you know, agency personnel or operators or whatever,
who are you know, tracking that doing that for a living?
You know, when you I'm sure like they see that

(39:28):
on in that and they come to you frenziers and like, yo, Eddie,
what the fuck over?

Speaker 2 (39:33):
You know? Is this real? Do I need to like
get you know, how do you react to that?

Speaker 1 (39:38):
What do you tell to people who are you know,
see something like Charlie get assassinated, seeing their snipers shooting
at ICE agents, seeing you know, telling there's an al
Qaeda plot or terrorist plot that's going somewhere in the
country in the next few weeks. Like what do you
tell people to to one, you know, turn the dial down,

(40:01):
but two to also instill some confidence in them that
you know, hey, if you think about it like this,
you'll you'll what is it, it's you'll you'll stabilize that
emotional unsteadiness.

Speaker 2 (40:14):
What do you say to people?

Speaker 4 (40:16):
Yeah, so.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
As far as you know, with all the craziness that
goes on in our country, and you know, this is
what's happening right.

Speaker 4 (40:24):
Now is nothing new.

Speaker 5 (40:25):
I mean we've i think at this point, it's like, dude,
We've gone through about a decade of just insane craziness
and it just doesn't seem like it's going to stop
at any time.

Speaker 4 (40:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (40:37):
What I tell people, man, is like again going back
to what we were talking about with community, is like, listen,
you can control what goes on in your house, in
your yard, and then in your community, right, get your
house stable, and then start branching out into your community, right,

(40:58):
But you should also know, like I'm like, the reality
is there is good and evil in this world.

Speaker 4 (41:02):
That's that is That's.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
The one truth that I can give you from my career,
Like that I know is solid. I'm like, there is
good and there's evil, and I've seen it, you know,
hands down, and so you do. While I tell people
like I'm like, don't you should not be living your
life in such like this ultra vigilant manner or like
I'm constantly on guard and like something's going to happen.

Speaker 4 (41:26):
I'm like, no, you should not live your life like that.

Speaker 3 (41:29):
But at the same time, you should be aware that
evil does exist and you should have a lease plan
if you do encounter evil at some point, right, And
so I set a stress on yes, you should go train.

Speaker 4 (41:42):
Now.

Speaker 3 (41:42):
I understand that people have their own lives and their jobs,
and you.

Speaker 4 (41:46):
Know, they don't have the time.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
But what I tell them is, like, dude, all it
takes is doing like at least a couple of courses
to have that in confidence instilled in you, like, if
something does happen, at least I'm fifty percent confident that
I can react to this situation rather than zero percent confidence.
And that especially for men, I'm like, you're the protector
of the family, like that should be at least on

(42:10):
your top five priorities is if something does happen, I'm
confident and protecting my family. So, you know, I just
tell people to have some sort of a plan to
be prepared, but at the same time, don't live your
life in this heightened state.

Speaker 4 (42:25):
And you know, I see them and a lot of them.

Speaker 3 (42:27):
It's it's funny, you know with these when you get
out and you see these civilians that they're usually the
ones that are like, oh, I wish I.

Speaker 4 (42:33):
Would have joined the military, but I never did.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
So now they're like seem like they're trying to make
up for it in their civilian life, and they're like,
my back needs to be against you know, I need
to be looking at the exits and this and that.
And it's just like, hey, man, okay, whatever floats your boat.
But I just like living your life in that manner.

Speaker 4 (42:48):
I just can't. I was like, where's the enjoyment?

Speaker 3 (42:51):
Like you need to like let the gas off a
little bit, you know what I mean, and enjoy as
you have in front of you, Enjoy your family.

Speaker 4 (42:59):
You know, they want to be a party.

Speaker 3 (43:02):
So if you're constantly a hypervisilant, they're not getting your
full one hundred percent, you know what I mean. So
it's starting that fine line of like, hey, I'm prepared
if something does go down, but I'm also not going
to live my life and fear or be on guard
and be looking for it. I'm like, and also, you
know this day, if you're looking for it, you're going

(43:22):
to find it.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
Oh my god. Yeah, yeah for sure.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
That's why I'm always just like I say the same thing, man, hey,
don't you know, but alleviate some of the worry by
just having a plan, training a little bit, know how
to use your weapon, you know, talk about it a
little bit. Like both my girls went to the mall
yesterday with friends and I'm like, hey, I walk into
their rooms. What do you do if there's an active shooter? Stop, look, listen,

(43:49):
figure out where it's coming from. Then figure out where
the exit is. And you all ask, Okay, great, have
fun with your friends. And now it's happened so much
like it's just like a little pre brief that's it.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
But they don't. They're not walking around crazy and low crawling.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
And going from from you know, fromming across the street.
Yeah they're they're not doing that. But it's just like, hey,
b heads up and that's it. And so we've integrated
into where it's not overwhelming for sure.

Speaker 3 (44:17):
And I think asking the civilians just and the kids
to be heads up is yes, that's the biggest thing,
because I'll say this, their heads are down.

Speaker 4 (44:25):
And their phone ninety percent of the day.

Speaker 3 (44:27):
So I think that is that is definitely the best
advice you can give everybody. It's like, be heads up,
be aware of your surroundings.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
Just pay attention and it's just that and and you know,
I think you know that a little bit of intuition
that can convert up to a little bit essay and
and you're there like and you don't need And then
then you can spend the ninety five ninety eight percent
of your other day looking towards the things that make
you happy, right, engaging with your friends and engaging going

(44:56):
to the gym and you know, going wakeboard and whatever
is that fires you up, like focus on that man,
and and and that gives you, like that that balance
because I think what I think what's happening now is,
you know, the scale feels like it's tipped so far
one way towards this fatalistic Oh the sky's falling, everything sucks,

(45:19):
We're going into civil war, world War three, whatever it is.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
You know that it just destroys people.

Speaker 1 (45:25):
And what I try and say is, hey, you know,
you know, if you spend that much time just in
that space, that's what you're gonna get. But if you
spend you know, a little bit of time seeking out
those positive emotions, those positive things, man, the weight of
that like throws that scale right back down again. And

(45:48):
it doesn't take merely as much effort on the negative, right, No,
And I.

Speaker 3 (45:53):
Think if more people practice that, we'd have less of
a you know, mental health crisis and that we have
in this country, because I think that is another leading
cause of it is you know, people like you said,
that scale has been tipped, so people are walking around
on just like ashells and you know, have all sorts
of negative thoughts in their head because that's what they're
being fed all day. And it's like, yeah, that that

(46:14):
is going to cause you to have mental instability.

Speaker 4 (46:17):
Yeah you're not. You're not immune to that, you know.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Yeah, awesome, all right, I want to just pivot real quick,
and I don't want to spend too much time on it.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
But there there is.

Speaker 1 (46:29):
This growing division in the communities out there, right, and
I think we just the most recent thing we just
saw was, you know, the thing with uh, you know,
Tig and Oz and and those guys, you know, and
even Jack came out and sent something to Sean that

(46:50):
he read about, you know, going against with apparently the
d boy guys that were there that day, and you know,
and I ended up getting this great call from a
buddy of mine that had been over there for a while,
and it was. He was just like, hey, man, like,
can you tell your you know it, would it be
possible to tone it down a little bit? You know,

(47:10):
like you know, these guys really went through a ton
of stuff to you know, get the plane, to get
the group to get over to benk Ozzie, to get
the militia to get there to get them. You know,
they really put out for that. And and so like,
you know, I had, I had reposted what Sean had

(47:33):
said about Jack's letter he wrote in and because he
had reached out to me to get in touch with Sean,
and and uh, and then my other friend calls me
and tells me this, and so then I was just like, hey, man,
you know, I believe them. I believe them, But is
there a way we can get to a place where
we're not fighting each other? Like, let's fixate on let's

(47:55):
fixate on Hillary Clinton and what she did. Let's let's
fixate on you know, if it's like conventional guys. Now
I'm seeing that pop up a lot, Like there's a
the conventional guys are pissed at the soft guys or
you know, fucking for like eight months it was team
guys pissed at you know this, and and I know

(48:15):
and I know you spent some time in that as
a result of your interpretation of of that you know,
character verse ambition with with some of the stuff with Tim.
But you know, I think, you know, what are your
thoughts on how do we just like start to move
away from that battle and figure out how to like

(48:37):
come back to how to work together for the love
of Jesus, man, please, That's that's all I want, is
like to see some more love and like guys on
and be like, oh dude, what you did was awesome.
Oh what you did was awesome. Oh man, what we
all did was great. And the people that fuck this
fucked us, you know, but a little bit more of
that unity.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
What what are your thoughts?

Speaker 1 (48:58):
Brother?

Speaker 3 (49:00):
So I think, well, first I'll just say with all
of the drama that has come to light out on
social media or wherever the past like year with the
vet community, and I'll say this, like, I think it's
a bigger deal to us because we're involved in it.

Speaker 4 (49:18):
So that's obviously we see all that stuff right now.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
My algorithm shows me that kind of thing, and you know,
and there's nothing wrong with that, Like we should be
you know, concerned with the community that we came from,
and if we're representing ourselves well and as a whole,
not just special Operations and then infantry. It's like, as
a whole, we're all on the same team. We all
did the same thing. We all went over there and
fought for our country.

Speaker 4 (49:41):
Yeah, but I got to ask this, like, Hey, what
what's the deal, Like, who's you know between Green Berets
and seals and all this, And I was like, we're
all equally gay. I was like, I'll tell you that
right now. That's where I'm at with it.

Speaker 6 (50:01):
I was like, dudeah, but but I do think you know,
there's again going back to like social media and the
pressure it puts on certain individuals, like you know, I see.

Speaker 4 (50:19):
Guys that when they get out and all.

Speaker 3 (50:22):
And I do, especially with team guys, like I don't
care who are like, if you need help promoting whatever
you're doing, I'll promote it. I want you to be successful.
And what I've seen with certain individuals and they get
to a point where they are starting to be successful,
right and they're putting stuff out, well, then that's where
this pressure comes in to be like Okay, if you
want to remain relevant, you need to do more. You

(50:46):
need to then become this character that people want to see,
and some guys unfortunately go down that path and they
create this character of themselves or like my story is
the story, you know, and this and that, And I
think that where the toxicity comes in because other individuals
are like, that's not who that guy is.

Speaker 4 (51:07):
Like I worked with him, and i've you know, and
I've seen it since I got out, and I don't
I don't have any judgment on anybody, Like if they're
I'm like, dude, that's the way you want to go,
and that's how you want to portray yourself. They good,
like more success to you.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
But I do think that there is a point where,
you know, speaking on you know, obviously the tim thing
I did agree with with that like that being called
out because I was like, okay, that right there is
the definition, exact definition of stile valor. And I have
no problem with guys calling it out because it was
the truth and all the receipts came to light and

(51:45):
it's like, yes, this happened, but I also knew and
I actually talked to the anti hero guys about it
when I went down there I was like, this will
cause a cascading effect because you're getting a lot of
you know, views and everything for this Tim Kennedy thing,
and nothing wrong with that. I think what you guys

(52:07):
are doing is right, and I think you're doing it
in a very respectful manner. But what I see happening
is there you have all these other veteran influencers who
are like, well, I want a part of that, so
now I'm going to be just report on negative stuff.
And you see it across the board with these YouTube
channels and some of these podcasts that these veterans have.

(52:27):
It's once you go down that path into just promoting
negativity and trying to take other people down, you're stuck
like that's the only reason people are viewing you. That's
your viewers are there just for the negative content. So
the second you start trying to promote positive content or

(52:47):
you're going to lose your viewership because that's where you've
painted yourself in that corner. And I just think that
over the past year, year and a half, it's gotten
to a point where.

Speaker 4 (52:57):
Yeah, it's like ultra toxic.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
There's a lot more people, a lot more veterans out
there promoting negativity to try and get views, and I
you know, I think at some point I just wish
the same as you, Like, hey, man, like, let's support
each other.

Speaker 4 (53:13):
You know you don't. You don't have to like everybody either,
like that you're saying.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
Yeah, Like I was in the teams, I had guys
and platoons that I freaking couldn't stand, you know, Like
I wouldn't go hang out with that person, but at
the end of the day, I would take a bullet
for that person without question, because that is part of
my team. That's somebody that's standing next to me as
we go overseas. And I feel that same way on
the outside, Like there's guys I see on social media

(53:39):
who I don't agree with. I'm like, dude, I don't
I don't like the way that guy's portraying himself whatever.
But at the end of the day, I'm like, I
would still, you know, be friends with that person as
long as they're not negatively attacking me or doing whatever.
But I just think to it, and I think, like
with Sean, with you, there are other individuals out there
that are promoting positivity and helping better and you know,

(54:01):
build themselves up. And I really hope that those people
that are promoting that negativity that they'll see that eventually
and be like, Okay, we need to stop this because
and you know, with the whole Bengazi thing, I mean,
I think with those guys, they've had.

Speaker 4 (54:15):
Drama from the start. Uh.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
You know.

Speaker 4 (54:17):
I've talked to a couple of those individuals where they
were writing the book.

Speaker 3 (54:20):
And there was a lot of infighting. So I mean
that I don't you know, I don't know, that's that's
on them. They need to figure that out between themselves
and communicate. But dragging other units into it, being like, oh,
this unit didn't do this, this unit didn't do that.

Speaker 4 (54:34):
It's like, dude, come on, yes they did. They did
what they could.

Speaker 1 (54:39):
You know, Yeah, yeah, exactly, Yeah, yeah, I I you know,
I mean from the get go.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
And I've been doing this a long time now, man.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
Like the one thing I realized early is, you know,
and it goes back to what you had said about
the way people are behaving online or what they're saying,
and you know your kids are in that.

Speaker 2 (55:01):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (55:01):
And then and then not only your kids or your family,
or your friends or your community, but all the you know,
the thousands or hundreds or millions in your case of
people that are are you know, looking up to you,
you know, as a as as as an influence, as
a positive influence. And I you know, I know, I
think it's this you know, double edged sword with influence

(55:24):
or whatever the shit that means. You know, it's you know,
it's just like you know, I I I My whole
thing is, Man, if I can, if I can help people,
you know, going back to that that story, like that
you helped me with, and which is you know, being
on on your knees in that cell, in that moment.
If there's something that I can bring from my experience

(55:45):
in those moments and give it to somebody else, man,
that's worth it. And if there's a thousand dudes, you know,
from infantry, army guys too, you know, aviators to flight
crew guys to coastguard, I don't give a shit. Like, man,
that's a positive thing. Because one of the thing we

(56:08):
definitely need to do is we need to promote the
reality of serving the country right and in particular now,
I think more than ever, I think we need to
have a resurgence of faith in the country. Yeah, there
was many years where a lot of questionable stuff decisions
at the upper echeland.

Speaker 2 (56:25):
But to go back to what you said.

Speaker 1 (56:27):
We did we we did what we did because of
there was a core virtue in the effort. We knew
that and it was the guy next to you. And
so I think that core virtue if somehow that could
be resonated or re or the revival in us of

(56:48):
that's the mission, right, it's not. It's not going overseas
and taking care of business anymore. But what it is
over here is our mission now is to influence the
young people that now America still is good. America still
is a place of faith, America is still a place
of supporting one another, and and we can embody that positivity,

(57:10):
that motivation in a really significant, healthy way. I think,
you know, that's why you know, in twenty twenty or whatever,
so many of us got canceled because they realize that
whoever they is, you know whatever, you know that that
ve entrepreneurs in the veteran space had so much of
a voice building you know, that they started throttling us

(57:33):
and you know, or canceled this and you know, Google
just admitted it again, which was awesome to see they
admit it. But I'd like to see some punishment, but
that's all the story. But but but that's what I mean,
that's what Christ wants us to do and to go
back to that now. Yes, do you feel like your
mission now is with what you you're doing in your

(57:54):
life obviously raising a family, you know, supporting your your
wife and your family, healing from the years and years
of what you sacrifice, you know, is this other component
a part of your mission now is to bring people
to that space where you know they they can generate

(58:17):
the tools to fight against that negative insurgency.

Speaker 4 (58:21):
Yeah, I mean, I don't think like I had that
planned out. And here's the thing, like I've when I
was in you know when, especially when I took leadership roles,
I wasn't. I never looked in myself like a outlaw'm
a leader like I was, I'm in this role now,
I need to be doing all this. I never changed

(58:43):
what I did because I was like, if I'm going
to lead, I'm going to lead by example. I'm not
going to let my words like define it's my actions.

Speaker 3 (58:51):
And so that worked out well for me too, like
in the teams, because you know, you really can't if
you're in charge and people are like, oh, he's doing
this and that.

Speaker 4 (59:01):
It's like, no, he's doing it.

Speaker 3 (59:02):
Like he's out there leading by example doing it, and
really you don't get any you know, any really like
fight against what you're doing because they're like, if you're
doing that, then I'm going to do it. My leader
can do that, then I can do it. And so
I sort of take that same approach now where I'm
not out there trying to like influence you to do something.

(59:22):
I am going to be myself the same way I
has always been, and I'm going to lead by example.
I'm going to you know, talk about you know God.
I'm going to try and promote positivity. And one of
my pillows and I've been doing it since I got
out is getting the youth.

Speaker 4 (59:37):
To join the military.

Speaker 3 (59:39):
I've gotten more dudes to join since I've been out
then I don't know what. And it's not because I've
sat there and I told him, hey, you should go
in the military. It's because I've hung out with them,
spent time with them, and they look at me and
they're like, whatever you're you're doing, I want like, because
you have this drive and you you you have this discipline,

(01:00:00):
have your day is regimented and you're doing all these things,
and I'm like, you can have that because I didn't
have that at your age.

Speaker 4 (01:00:07):
What gave me that was the military was the Marine Corps.
When I went in, I'm like that I was raising
them by the Marines. And I tell people, I got
my associates with the Marines. I got my bachelors with
the Marine Snipers, and then I got my Masters with
the Seal Teams. I'm like, that is what my whole
life has been.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24):
And I'm like, if that's if that it drives you
to go join the military, then good.

Speaker 4 (01:00:30):
And I think a lot of you know, for our.

Speaker 3 (01:00:31):
Youth, and I can only speak to like because I
haven't gotten any females to join, but like for males
at eighteen nineteen years old, a lot of them are
lost and they have no direction, and especially in today's society,
a lot of them spend all their time on screens,
watching YouTube, doing all so when it's time to actually
pick their head up now and it's like, hay Son,

(01:00:53):
you're nineteen years old, it's time to go into the
real world. A lot of these kids aren't, These boys
aren't set up for it. So I do like give them, hey,
this is an avenue, Like you go join the military,
even if it's only for five years. The military is
going to give you plenty of opportunities to do things.
But what it's going to do is set you up
for success later on down the road, Like it's going

(01:01:14):
to give you that discipline you need. It's going to
show you what discipline is, show you how to regiment
your day.

Speaker 4 (01:01:20):
And you know it's.

Speaker 3 (01:01:21):
I've had, like I said, multiple guys join and they're
all in right now, and none of them regret their decision.

Speaker 4 (01:01:27):
They're like, dude, thank you for you know, for showing
me the way, like I love it here.

Speaker 3 (01:01:32):
Or there's some that are like, hey man, I'm gonna
do my time get out, but now i have an
avenue to go to when I get out. And I
think it's just a good thing that these kids are
proud to serve their country, you know, and this is
a country worth serving. I honestly think my thoughts only
you know, I think our youth at a certain age,
like other countries, mandatory service and not I'm not talking

(01:01:53):
about the military like that could be it, but also
serve your country in some capacity so you earn your
spot here. You really appreciate what this country has to offer,
and I think that's that's missing with our.

Speaker 4 (01:02:05):
Youth as well.

Speaker 3 (01:02:06):
There's a lot of entitlement, which is why you see
these college you know, kids or whatever. They're like, oh,
I hate this country, and it's like I feel sorry
for them because you're like, you.

Speaker 4 (01:02:14):
Have no you haven't like you're talking out of your
ass because you've never been anywhere. You've just been told
these things.

Speaker 3 (01:02:20):
So I think that uh, you know, mandatory service would
be great, but you know, if they don't do that,
I I think serving your country in the military is
one of the most honorable things that you can do,
and it earns your spot here.

Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
I agree wholeheartedly.

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
And uh, you know what I'm looking forward is when
you get that PhD and and and uh your your
spiritual revival capacity. Right when whatever we start figuring out,
there'll be some epic you know, uh stadium where Eddie's
out there in front of preaching the word to at first,

(01:02:56):
and then if you do it revival, I promise you
I will be there with you.

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
I'm the barker, I'm the big top guy. I'll get
everybody inside. I awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
Well Eddie, Man, I love you so much, thank you
so so much for this.

Speaker 2 (01:03:19):
God bless you and your family. Man, and just thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:03:22):
God bless you brother.

Speaker 3 (01:03:23):
Thank you for having me all Man and Dave, we
love you, we love your whole family, and let's link
up soon in person.

Speaker 2 (01:03:29):
Absolutely amen,