In this episode, Tudor honors Memorial Day with Chad Conley, a former Green Beret and founder of 50 for the Fallen. They discuss the significance of Memorial Day, the impact of COVID-19 and social unrest on mental health, and the importance of celebrating the lives of those lost in service. Conley shares his personal journey and the creation of his organization aimed at supporting veterans and their families. The Tudor Dixon Podcast is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network. for more visit TudorDixonPodcast.com
Learn more about Chad's 50 for the Fallen CLICK HERE
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. It is Memorial Day,
and I am saying we are celebrating Memorial Day because
it's a day when we can celebrate our freedoms and
thank the people who made the ultimate sacrifice to give
us those freedoms. This morning, I was with my girls
in the car and I said, this is Memorial Day,
(00:21):
So what are you guys thankful for on Memorial Day?
And my eleven year old said, I'm thankful for the
people who chose to go over and fight and give
their life so that I can live in this country
for free. And I was like, yes, you get it.
I was so happy, and I want to share that
with everybody today because I think that it is a
day to honor and memorialize the folks who did that
(00:42):
for us. And so we have someone with us today
who's going to help us do that. His name is
Chad Connelly and he is a former Green Beret and
Army Master Sergeant who served our country for twenty years
with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he started
an organization that I think is pretty awesome. And I
saw this because you guys have seen Jennifer Say on
(01:04):
this program. She runs a clothing organization called xx x Y.
You can see it on his hat there if you're watching,
and if you want to watch, you can check this
out on YouTuber rumble. But I just want to say
that I saw that you are partnered with them and
you have an organization called fifty for the Fallen. So Chad,
welcome to the podcast, Tody.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Thank you. Happy Memorial Day to you and to the
people that are going to listen and watch this. First off, though,
happy belated Mother's Day. I don't I have a wife
and I have a little girl, and the work you
guys put in is tireless, it's thankless, and I want
to say thank you because y'all don't get it enough.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So well, thank you for that. And honestly, we feel
like we get to do that in this country because
of the people who do and have done what you've done,
and we thank you for that. And I think that
you know, a lot of people say Memorial Day is
about the people that we've lost, but I think no
one feels it more than certainly the families of those
(02:11):
who have served and given the ultimate sacrifice for us,
but also the men and women who served alongside those
that they lost. And I know that that's your story
and that you started this organization because you realize that
there were a lot of people that were struggling, right.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, myself included. It was May of twenty twenty. There
had been a spate of suicides going through special operations
and where I was at the unit I worked with,
and I went out for a walk during that time
when everything was just chaotic. You had the George Floyd incident,
in the riots starting to kick up, you had all
(02:48):
of COVID starting, and everyone was separated, and I went
to for a long walk to connect and say goodbye
to some friends who had died. Turned out to be
fifty miles and I walked in on my own that
day and just did it. And that's where it started.
I actually had a breakthrough going up a hill and
(03:09):
started missing a friend of mine. Got to the top
and just sat down and let it out, and it
felt great because I was actually able to say it bye.
That's propelled us now to doing events all over the nation,
working with a bunch of them, making amazing organizations, meeting
amazing people like Gin and now yourself and others. And
that's where that's where the Lord's put us now. So
(03:29):
it's pretty amazing to see where we are from me
just clearing my.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Head that I mean. Okay, so let's start from the beginning,
because you have a really interesting story in general. The
clearing your head is kind of the point that you're
at now and starting this organization and helping other people
to get there. And as you're saying that there's so
many things that go through my head, I'm like, man,
(03:54):
I would love to go take you. You're like, I
went to take a walk and it ended up being
fifty miles. I'm like, no, No one says that that's
a very long walk, but so needed. And that's that time.
This is something that you know, years ago, it would
have been pretty normal to say I need to clear
my head, I need time, I need space. And now
we're in this environment where you don't feel like you're
(04:16):
allowed fifty miles. You don't feel like you're allowed that time.
You do fifty miles in eighteen hours.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Correct, Oh, it's a prescribe, yes, ma'am. We make fifty
miles in eighteen hours. We do stops every ten miles,
we do foot checks, medical, we go through food, water,
and all that. But it makes the people communicate because
you're walking slowly and having a conversation at this you know,
pretty much pace here that we're talking. You can have
that while you walk.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I love that because I do think it's hard to
convince ourselves to slow down. Yeah, and that's when I
think that all of the things that haunt you get
worse because you just don't have the time to face
it and for you to have done this on your
own and to realize that, hey, I could do this
(05:04):
with a lot of people and help them. But your
story is interesting from the very beginning because I'm reading
that you were like one of the east blue haired
guys with big gauge earrings, and then something happened nine
to eleven, like change your life or what happened.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, So I grew up in southern Ohio, a very
poor little Ohio.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I'm a Michigan girl. So we have to be rude
to you.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's okay, I'll break for you right now, go bucks.
But no, So, yeah, I grew up that way. My
dad was very sick, you know, he had passed, and
I was finding myself and all this so blue hair,
the earrings, other stuff, that'll you know, just hey, look
at me. Pretty much is what it is. And you
use an ego to edge God out. That's what I
(05:51):
was doing. But I found my way to the recruiter
after nine eleven and I was looking for a sense
of purpose. I walk in. The Navy guy looks at
me and goes nah, and he just turns around and
walks back in his office. The Marine Corps guy actually
laughed at me. He didn't even get it from his desk.
He just started laughing. The Army needed people. Next thing,
you know, they flowed this eighteen X ray contract in
(06:14):
front of me, and you know, it was what I needed.
You know, I was put there for that reason and
said yes, and then had an amazing career in Special Forces.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
That's so interesting because we think now, I mean, and
today is obviously a different story because they they need
recruits and I look at the people that are there today.
We just see these videos recently where when Biden was in,
it was like these men who were doing recruitment videos
and then it would be from them in their uniform
to them in drag. So imagine getting pushed out when
(06:48):
you walk in with earrings and blue hair, you know, today,
It's like they were under Biden. They would have been like,
you're perfect, could you put a skirt on?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, that would have been a different world. I'm glad.
I'm glad I came and what I did. But those
are interesting times. I'm glad I can say now that
I'm out, I'm retired, I'm glad. We're looking at a
different future now.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
But you went in. I mean, and you spent a
lot of time. It wasn't we hear that story of
you know, the kid that went to military school and
then the parents sent him off to the military, like
you're going to shape up. But you went on your own,
which I think is impressive for someone who said at
the statement you made about it was ego edging out God.
(07:35):
That is big at that age to say I need something.
I gotta be a part of something bigger than me.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I'd spent a lot of my life. My dad was
very sick when I was young, so I helped to
raise my sister, and I at that point took a
moment back and said, okay, what you know, and I
was praying about it. It was alling me. Then I found
my way in there and it was like it was
what I need, and I was looking for the National
Guard recruiter, but I ended up going to the active
duty full time. And you know, little did I know
(08:03):
that would be a twenty year career.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
The twenty years, multiple tours, you have seen every aspect
of combat. You come back and it's twenty twenty something
none of us have ever experienced. I mean, you know,
I can say why I haven't experienced active combat. None
of us had experienced being as vulnerable as we were
(08:28):
during the pandemic. Because you're in the situation where you
don't know whether you can see your parents, your grandparents,
You're being locked away, the government's taking control. We've never
been in that situation before. But it was also I mean,
I can step back and say, there was a lot
of fear over who's going to get sick and die?
(08:50):
Because I know people now will say, oh, if I
get COVID, it's no big deal. But when COVID initially hit,
there were people in our families that we were losing
because their their immune system couldn't handle it. There was
a lot of fear. There was a lot of vulnerability,
and then you say, all of a sudden, there is
this division in the country, with the George Floyd riots
(09:11):
and did that Do you think that combination of factors
was what kind of brought you to that point of saying,
I need, I need to deal with some things.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
It absolutely was. We went through through something as a
family before that that really affected me, and then when
the everything kicked off, it was just like, I got
to get out of here and go for a walk.
And I told my wife and she was like, Okay,
she's used me doing silly, stupid things, so you know,
(09:40):
it's part of the job being in the military. Sometimes
you just got to go get out there. But I
just I said, I got to go do this. So
I went out and went for the walk, and through it,
I found a lot of myself because when you get
you know, tired and beat up, at some point you
can't hold up that ego because physically you're holding yourself
up to keep it together. And through that time you
(10:00):
have a little bit of just realization of who you are,
what's going on, and you are able to say, Okay,
what do I need to deal with here that really matters?
And some friends' death came up and I got to
address that, I got to say goodbye, I got to
do that. Since doing that, I've had one friend of
mine do three of my events walk one hundred and
fifty miles to say goodbye to a friend who committed suicide.
(10:22):
And it took him one hundred and fifty miles to
do that. And it was We were in Pearl Harbor
December of twenty twenty two for this event, and we
had walked from Kenaoa to Pearl Harbor to be there
the morning of December seventh to pay honor and you know,
just to say thank you to the veterans that were
there and those that you know survived and defended Pearl Harbor.
(10:43):
But he stood up in front of everyone was like,
here's what I went through. Here's me saying goodbye to
a friend who I can finally do. And that's what
we do these events now is you're gonna get people
that come out. They're gonna walk a mile, they're gonna
walk fifty and we don't care what you do. Just
be involved. There's no phones, there's no music, it's just
you and the people with you, and that connection opens up.
(11:03):
So it was big, you know, and you mean you
think like today with Memorial Day, we've done this on
Memorial Day in twenty twenty two, we went to Washington,
d c into a fifty mile or starting in Walter Reed,
walked down to Mount Vernon, came back up when we're
on the mall, and finished at Arlington to say goodbye
to our friends there. And we need to take Memorial
(11:25):
Day and understand that, yes, it's a somber day. It's
a day to say thank you and goodbye and I
will see you again and I love you to our
friends who are gone, but it's also a day to
celebrate their lives. And that's something that we like to
do with our events is I make everybody run it
in at the end, So like the last quarter mile
to tenth of a mile, depending how tough it's been,
we're all sprinting in and going for it. The event
(11:48):
I bring up for Memorial Day of twenty two, we
are getting halfway across the bridge to Arlington and at
that point I'm like, all right, let's go, and everyone
starts running and I'm like, oh no, this is much
longer than I thought. So we're and then we're like
our tank is just depleting. We're getting so beat up.
But we came in and there were a lot of tears,
(12:08):
a lot of I misuse, a lot of talking to
our friends who aren't there, but they're you know, we're
looking at their headstones and saying goodbye. Section sixties just
riddled with friends. And every time I go to DC,
I find my way there say goodbye to some people,
but or to say hi or I'll see you later.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
And I think that's the power of this day, is
that there are so many people who are saying goodbye
and celebrating, and I think that's important. What you said
is that this is also a celebration, but there are
folks who came home and they struggled. Like you talked about,
it's the same thing you experience. But we've even had
(12:47):
people on this program who have talked to people who
have been suicidal, and in times they've lost those people,
all the times they've been able to bring them out.
What is that like when you are celebrating a day
like this and it wasn't somebody who died in combat,
it's somebody who died because of the wounds of combat
(13:08):
that didn't go away.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
It's a bittersweet moment because you know the person for
who they were at the best moment, and you know
the individual that stood up and said I will defend
this country from threats both foreign and domestic, and got
out there and did it. And then to see those
invisible wounds come back and that bullet to hit or
that person to die, it is it's like sweet poison
(13:36):
and how it hits you because you get to feel
all the good things that goes on from knowing them,
but at the same time, that bitter burn hits you
of saying what could I have done for that person
or what could have been said. To date, we've stopped
four suicides on our rucks. We've had four people come
to us during and after and say I want to
kill myself? What can you do? And we've gotten them healthy.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Hey, guys, stick around. We've got more coming up with
fifty four The Fallen founder Chad Conley, But first I
want to take a moment for our partners at IFCJ.
We are seeing something truly disturbing right now. Anti Semitism
is on the rise around the world, and sadly, as
you saw right here in America, Jewish schools are being targeted,
(14:18):
synagogues threatened, families living in fear. It's something we hoped
we'd never see again in our lifetime. And let me
tell you this, silence is not an option. This is
a moment that we need to take a stand. It's
not a moment to be silent. That's why I want
to tell you about the International Fellowship of Christians in
Jews or also known as IFCJ. You've heard me call it.
(14:40):
That they are on the front lines. They are providing
real help where it's needed most. They're giving food and
shelter to Jewish families under threat, building bomb shelters for children,
helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. And they don't
just respond to crisis, they work every day to prevent it.
Your gift of only forty five dollars will help support
(15:01):
their life saving work by helping to provide food, shelter,
and much more. The Bible says I will bless those
who bless you. Supporting IFCJ is a spiritual stand. It's
showing up for God's people when it counts. So please
call eight eight eight four eight eight I f c J.
That's eight eight eight four eight eight four three two
(15:23):
five or go to IFCJ dot org. Every dollar helps,
don't wait, be the difference. You guys saw it just
last week. It's so important. Visit IFCJ dot org or
call eight eight eight four eight eight if CJ right
now now, stay tuned. We've got more after this. How
(15:45):
many people have done this? I mean, because it seems
like it's it's so needed, and you it seems to
be growing quickly. So tell us about the process of
when you started it and how people started to learn
about it and come to it.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
More so, we've all seen fight clubs, so it was
kind of the fight club thing of hey can I
join you know, like, and that's really how it started.
I did this and the next year with the twentieth
anniversary of nine to eleven, and some friends of mine
were like, hey, can can I join you if you're
going to do one? And I said, let's go to
New York and I prayed on the next thing. I know,
I'm connected to some amazing people and some organizations out
(16:21):
there that provided us security for that event. And that
was all God. And I'll say it because we were
starting in the Yankee Stadium, fifty miles around the city
at the time, I couldn't shut down the Arizona I
can now, so when we go back, we'll shut down
the Arizona and go from all five boroughs. But for
this event, we start up there next to Yankee Stadium
(16:42):
and we have police escore, you know, blue light and
playing clothes. And then we go into you know up
there and to the Bronx and what do you have.
You have a lot of impoverished people, You have a
lot of ghettos and such, and these gang bangers legitimate
looks ask me like what are you doing here? And
we're very aggressive, and I'm like, hey, I'm taking these
people on a very long walk. We're here because tomorrow
(17:02):
is a twentieth anniversary of nine to eleven? Do you
want to join? Do you want to help out? And
then we had honest to goodness gang security helping us
like make sure we were good on their side. We
have police security, and like we walked it all the
way down. But it all started from people saying I
need that in my life. I need to be challenged,
I need the hard thing today. There isn't it right
(17:22):
of passage from adults or from teenagers and young adults
to adulthood really to say hey, you are now ah man,
you are now a woman now and being a woman,
you do have that biology biologically, you guys have certain things.
You're like, oh, hey, I'm and to being a woman. Now,
men we don't have that. So a lot of guys
reached out to me originally and said I need this,
(17:45):
and that's where it started, and then soccer moms joined in,
people from pro sports, other individuals from government. We're just like, hey,
I need this, and everyone who's done it you finish,
you're crying, you're laughing, you're hugging people you've just met.
But in a way, it's a trauma bond because you've
(18:06):
gone through this long thing together and in that long thing,
you found out things about yourself and you've dealt with
things that you've been burying. But when you're so tired,
they just come to the front. You have to address them,
and you're talking with total strangers. But at the end
of it, you're sharing your story. You're saying, what's your
reason for walking such a long period or just being up.
(18:27):
Some of the most amazing conversations come from individuals who
maybe walk a mile total, but they're helping the whole night.
They're setting up our tables, you know, helping with feet
like feet wrapping and medical and all that, and they're
just there and they're just as open and vulnerable, and
they'll say, oh, I can't walk like that. It's like that,
I don't care. Can you be there and be apart?
(18:49):
And in doing such, they give so much of themselves
that they're filled in the end because everyone's hugging and
saying thank you, and everyone walks the end of it. Everybody,
if you've supported or not, hey, at the end, get
out of the truck, the van, whatever, we have, let's
go in together.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
How many events do you have and is there an
ongoing outreach after this or what is it? Tell us
a little bit about it.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
So for the events every year, it varies. In twenty
twenty three we did eight fifty milers around the nation,
with smaller events as well. Last year we did four
major events like long events like we did the Honolulu
Marathon twice. We were in Cincinnati doing what the Sainsny
Bengals had some stuff. Because I'm also the head of
(19:36):
military engagement for Spartan Race, So all the obstacle courses
I take people out there for that I direct I
bring them into the military. I'd love to discuss some
of that with you, I think you find it fun actually,
And this year we've done three smaller events already. We
have the Chicago Bulls coming up. Or we're doing an
event in the United Center fifty miles inside the United
(19:58):
Center in August, where you're going up and down the stairs. Yeah,
the stairs on the concourse, that's going to be fun.
I'm not looking forward to that one.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
That's going to be a lot of walking.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah, if I can't do the event with the team,
if I'm juggling things as well, because I manage it
all as I do it, I'll go out before and
run the fifty miles do the event myself because I
want to make sure everyone knows, hey, it can be
done because I've done it. So I do that with
all of our events, so I'm always on the ground
with our people walking. So I get to do that one,
and then we'll do one this fall. We're talking a
(20:30):
couple of NFL teams to put one on. We did
one suicide Prevention Rock last year with the Sergeant Major
of the Army, SMA Whimer. That was a great event.
He's an amazing American. But yeah, that's what we've had.
So it's been great. It's been hundreds of folks who
have come out. We get people who will satellite in
from other locations and they'll be like, hey, I couldn't
(20:51):
join you, so I walked over here, and then we'll
just keep in contact with them and then when we
finish the ruck of those people need help, we will
get them to the help they need with resiliency, brain
health and Kapel Texas. They do amazing work on brain
mapping and working with individuals and that's that's been a blessing.
We have now expanded from military to police fire and
(21:11):
ems and we've had a few swats from one LA
swat went through another individual. I apologize, I forget where
he came from, but it was a hey, we need someone.
He's got to go now, okay, but just no questions asked,
get him where he needs to go. So we do those.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
So tell us about you said you have a partnership
with the Spartan Race. Is that like a warrior dash
or there's a couple of different types of Is that
like an obstacle race or what is that?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yes, ma'am, so Spartan Race incorporated. We have forty four countries,
I believe around the nation, and we're around the world
and we're doing events everywhere. I am the head of
Military Engagement right now, I'm actively working to change how
we focus on our veteran population. And I'll be forty
read this Christmas. I'm retired, so I am a veteran
(22:03):
it's all, and I'm done, but I'm not done. I
have to continue. I've got at least another forty three
years of life. I have a young daughter who's four
years old, and I have to be there for her.
So I cannot give up now just because I retired.
And I see a lot of our veteran population. They'll
retire and then they'll like distance themselves from the military,
(22:23):
or they'll let themselves go a little bit. They'll do
these things. When that's your time to burn, Let's go
get the fire going, keep moving, keep moving, and we
take those folks, we get them together. And I'm working
right now with some people in DC to change how
we look at our veteran population and the way we
(22:44):
can better them, which is through staying in a community
and staying fit. And if you're fit and you bring
your family out, you guys do an event together. You
feel better, better moments, make days, make for a better life.
So that's what we're doing at Spartan Race.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
That's awesome, and you personally, it's it's your other organization
that has partnered with Jennifer right with the xxx Y.
So tell us about that partnership, because we have had
Jennifer say on quite a few times and we've talked
about her organization, and obviously we have been huge proponents
(23:20):
of making sure that women are safe in women's sports
and that girls' sports continue to dominate for girls, and
make sure that biological men are not in girls' sports.
So how did that partnership ship come about? And what
does that mean for Memorial Day? What should what does
that mean for your organization?
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, so Jen and I came together because I heard
her on a podcast with Tulca Gabbert and I know Tulsi,
So I hit her up and I said she's awesome,
you know, I said Jen's awesome, Taulci and all this,
and she connected us and that led to Jen and I,
you know, going to lunch and having a very open,
(24:02):
candid conversation. And this was after she left Levi and
we went through all that, and you know, I've seen
this company, Xxxy blossom into where it is now, and
I think it's on the cusp of exploding throughout the
nation and taking on a movement. Because yes, it's a
really good apparel company. They're my favorite workout shorts, you know,
(24:24):
I can say that with confidence. But it's what they're
doing on the other end that I think matters the most,
which is showing girls you matter, that you still matter,
and it's okay to say, hey, this is for the boys,
this is for the girls. Let's have that we fought
so hard, you know, as a nation for Title Night
and actually give girls a voice and let them go
(24:45):
out there. So to have us now try to retract
that and be like, oh, actually, let's do this instead
and bring boys into girls' sports. To me, it's lunacy,
I know.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
And that's been the crazy part about watching what's happened
just since the election, because it seems like the folks
on the left side of the aisle are continuing to
push that. I mean, we see that here in Michigan.
They just took a vote on protecting girls' sports, and
of course all the Democrats voted against. It seems bizarre
(25:16):
to me that we have this divide, and I don't
really believe that the people who are parents of girls
or were in sports as a woman themselves believe this.
I think that that there has become such a cult
like faction to the Democrat Party today that you have
to be a part of it. You have to say,
you have to toe the party line, even if it's
(25:38):
to the detriment of your own children. It seems shocking
to me.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, I agree, because if you had those people who
voted no for that, you know, on that side of
the aisle, if you said, Okay, I'm going to put
boys in your little girls sport and they're bigger, faster, stronger,
you're okay with that? Because that's what's going to happen
right now. I would love for them to say, oh,
yes I am and actually follow through with it. You're
not going to see that. You're going to see people
quietly fighting tooth and nail, or they're going to move
(26:04):
their kids somewhere.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
That's what they do. They put their kids someplace where
it can't happen, and then they fight to make sure
everybody else's kid is in that position. You know, I
just saw this video last week and it was my
own home school district from Illinois. I grew up in Illinois,
and the school district had parents coming in and they
were they had you know, they were all seated with
(26:29):
their I can't remember what the sign said, but it
was something that was like pro biological males in girls sports.
And they had their flags and everything. And the mother
stood up and she and obviously she had a transgender child,
and she said, for the girls out there that are
concerned about not winning, this is a good life lesson
(26:50):
because you're not going to win everything, and she'd get
used to it now. And I was thinking to myself,
what a terrible way to speak to girls. You have
so little chance anyway, you should just get used to
the bad news.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Can we go back to the eighties in the army
where we just said can you be all you can be?
Speaker 1 (27:09):
That's just so right?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yes, exactly a joke.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I'm serious here, Can we I know what a great
slogan that was.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah, can we just all go back to saying, hey,
be the best girl you can be, be the best
boy you can be, and then be the best person
you can be. And what we're doing right now is
we're having an overreaction Olympics and people are going for
the gold trying to make this happen, and it's the
silliest stuff you need to do. There's nothing wrong with
just saying, hey, it's okay to be a girl, it's
(27:38):
okay to be a boy. And we've had for years
toxic masculinity as a catchphrasing slogan, and now they're trying
to do it to toxic. To me, it's like, toxic
femininity is what they're going for, and they're going against
women being women.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
It could be more toxic masculinity than a man pretending
to be a woman and taking her trophy.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yeah, how about we.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Just take your testosterone muscles out of here.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah maybe that, Maybe that's a way to do it,
you know, and look at it that way, you're like, wow,
you're such a talk masculinine, toxic guy. Whatever however you
want to phrase it, that you have to come into
women's sports. Good good job, bro.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
a Tutor Dixon podcast. Earlier last week, the women's college
that gave Rachel Levine an honorary degree because you know,
she's such an awesome transgender woman and I think, how
would you feel if you actually did the work, you studied,
(28:42):
you paid for the degree, you paid to go there
for four years. And they're like, you know what, we're
going to give this guy who dresses in an outfit
that a woman would dress in, a degree from a
women's college. And I mean, this is we can't deny it.
This is what these men are doing. They're dressing and
dresses and then they're taking the accolades that a woman
(29:05):
should get and it's this, Oh, we're celebrating the first
woman who's done this and the first woman who's done this,
and it's a man. Yeah, And as I have four daughters,
you have a daughter. I mean, this is the thing
that I just I want to protect that and I
want to stand for that. You know, you go into
the we were just in Washington, d c. With the
(29:25):
eighth grade class, and you go into the statuary hall
and you see the statue of the three women that
fought for women's suffrage and there's a part of that
statue that is un built, you know, it's unsculpted. And
they say, well, that's for the women who are to come.
You know, that's representative of the women who will do
(29:47):
great things. And I think to myself, that statue is
there because it was so much harder for those women
to stand up than it was for men.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
You know.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
For those women, they broke through, they broke free from
what they had been holding them back. And today today
there are people who will stand in front of that
statue and gladly say they should chisel a man's head
in there who wears a dress.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Yeah, it's strange times. These are strange.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
It makes me so mad because I feel like a
there is a value to what this country is and
the freedoms that we have and the power that everybody
in this company or in this country wields because it
is we the people, and because of you know, all
(30:39):
the people that we've talked about today, all the people
who gave their life for this country to continue what
it is and to continue to hold people up and
make sure that everybody has the right to be free
and be involved in sports, or be the CEO of
a company or start their own company. And those thing
(31:00):
is are being whittled away by radicals. And I think
this is an important day to sit back and say
the traditional values of this country and the people who
fought for those are to be honored and celebrated.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I could not agree more. I mean, our day to day,
if you look at it from what it is, is
just to be grateful for who's common, who's done, and
you know, we need to keep that alive and we
need to keep it sacred and say thank you and
give that moment of honor and that moment of solace.
(31:35):
But we got to do it every day for everyone.
And we have to understand that, yes, we are all
flawed people and today's world, with social media, technology and
everything we have, everyone feels alone when all you got
to do is put it down, don't look in your hand,
look up, talk to folk and get connected and understand that, hey,
we're not all that different. And it's not that it
(31:58):
has to be right versus left. We don't have to
have this red blue war. It just needs to be hey, great,
let's do what's best for our kids, because that's what matters.
Because that's what we're actually doing, is we're building a
world our kids get to inherit. It's not like we're
going to keep this world and we die. It goes away.
That it seems that way now with how people act,
but make it better for your kids.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, what is American? You know, b what is American?
I love that. Don't look at what's red or blue,
look at what's red, white and blue. What do we
see as a country? And I do believe that. I mean,
there's radicals on both sides, but I do believe that
most of us feel the same way about things. Most
of us want the same things, and maybe there's slight differences,
(32:42):
but I think for the most part, most Americans are
grateful for the country we live in. They're grateful for
the freedoms that we have, and they want the same thing.
They want to be able to leave a country for
their children that is similar to the country that they
grew up in. So before I let you go, I
enjoyed talking to you, But tell us you're on your
(33:02):
partnership with xxx x Y. What habits can do people buy?
Does do the proceeds go to you? How does that
help your organization?
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Yeah? So right now xxx Y and I are joining
forces for Uptroough Memorial Day and a little after and
a percentage of what you purchase from there is going
to go to us and send veterans to therapy, and
we'll get taken down resiliency, brain health and compel Texas
and for two weeks they're going to get themselves at
a baseline, get themselves built up, and then they stay
with them and we do too. If you join a ruck,
(33:35):
you're a part of us forever. At any point you
can reach out and say, hey, I need help, can
you yeah, what do you need? The email goes straight
to me. The phone number on the email is my
personal phone number. I answer, I call, I talk to
these folks. So with that said, if you need anything,
go to fifty FtF dot org. Give us a look.
Reach out to me. Chad at fifty FtF dot org.
(33:59):
Give you my email, reach out. I'll talk to you.
If you want to come to an event, we'll make
it happen. I'm working with gent Tour. We can put
on a women only rock. I'm just going to give
them all the keys to what I do for this
and say, hey, you guys, go out there and just
go get it, have fun, and at the end of it,
you'll be better than you were when you started.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
I love it. It's amazing. I'm glad I had you on.
I actually I saw Jennifer's post and I was like, oh,
I want to talk to them. I want to see
what they're doing. So I think that's great. If so,
if you go and you buy merchandise at which is great,
I will agree with you. We have some of the shorts,
we have a few leggings, we have some shirts. The
(34:40):
quality is amazing, the fabric is perfect. I mean, Jen,
she knows what she's doing. She does a great job.
That is an awesome company. It's summertime. You guys need
to go get new workout gear. Don't lie. We all
know you do. Everybody wants to put off getting that
new workout gear. You got to go get it. Go
get it now because this is a good cause. So
buy some to make sure you help out fifty for
(35:02):
the fallen Chad Connelly, thank you so much for being on.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
It was awesome to be here. Tutor, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
So much, absolutely, and thank you all for joining the
Tutor Dixon Podcast. For this episode and others, go to
Tutor diixonpodcast dot com or you can go to the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
And remember you can always watch on Rumble at Tutor Dixon.
Join me next time on the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Have
a blessed day,
Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. It is Memorial Day,
and I am saying we are celebrating Memorial Day because
it's a day when we can celebrate our freedoms and
thank the people who made the ultimate sacrifice to give
us those freedoms. This morning, I was with my girls
in the car and I said, this is Memorial Day,
(00:21):
So what are you guys thankful for on Memorial Day?
And my eleven year old said, I'm thankful for the
people who chose to go over and fight and give
their life so that I can live in this country
for free. And I was like, yes, you get it.
I was so happy, and I want to share that
with everybody today because I think that it is a
day to honor and memorialize the folks who did that
(00:42):
for us. And so we have someone with us today
who's going to help us do that. His name is
Chad Connelly and he is a former Green Beret and
Army Master Sergeant who served our country for twenty years
with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he started
an organization that I think is pretty awesome. And I
saw this because you guys have seen Jennifer Say on
(01:04):
this program. She runs a clothing organization called xx x Y.
You can see it on his hat there if you're watching,
and if you want to watch, you can check this
out on YouTuber rumble. But I just want to say
that I saw that you are partnered with them and
you have an organization called fifty for the Fallen. So Chad,
welcome to the podcast, Tody.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Thank you. Happy Memorial Day to you and to the
people that are going to listen and watch this. First off, though,
happy belated Mother's Day. I don't I have a wife
and I have a little girl, and the work you
guys put in is tireless, it's thankless, and I want
to say thank you because y'all don't get it enough.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So well, thank you for that. And honestly, we feel
like we get to do that in this country because
of the people who do and have done what you've done,
and we thank you for that. And I think that
you know, a lot of people say Memorial Day is
about the people that we've lost, but I think no
one feels it more than certainly the families of those
(02:11):
who have served and given the ultimate sacrifice for us,
but also the men and women who served alongside those
that they lost. And I know that that's your story
and that you started this organization because you realize that
there were a lot of people that were struggling, right.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, myself included. It was May of twenty twenty. There
had been a spate of suicides going through special operations
and where I was at the unit I worked with,
and I went out for a walk during that time
when everything was just chaotic. You had the George Floyd incident,
in the riots starting to kick up, you had all
(02:48):
of COVID starting, and everyone was separated, and I went
to for a long walk to connect and say goodbye
to some friends who had died. Turned out to be
fifty miles and I walked in on my own that
day and just did it. And that's where it started.
I actually had a breakthrough going up a hill and
(03:09):
started missing a friend of mine. Got to the top
and just sat down and let it out, and it
felt great because I was actually able to say it bye.
That's propelled us now to doing events all over the nation,
working with a bunch of them, making amazing organizations, meeting
amazing people like Gin and now yourself and others. And
that's where that's where the Lord's put us now. So
(03:29):
it's pretty amazing to see where we are from me
just clearing my.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Head that I mean. Okay, so let's start from the beginning,
because you have a really interesting story in general. The
clearing your head is kind of the point that you're
at now and starting this organization and helping other people
to get there. And as you're saying that there's so
many things that go through my head, I'm like, man,
(03:54):
I would love to go take you. You're like, I
went to take a walk and it ended up being
fifty miles. I'm like, no, No one says that that's
a very long walk, but so needed. And that's that time.
This is something that you know, years ago, it would
have been pretty normal to say I need to clear
my head, I need time, I need space. And now
we're in this environment where you don't feel like you're
(04:16):
allowed fifty miles. You don't feel like you're allowed that time.
You do fifty miles in eighteen hours.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Correct, Oh, it's a prescribe, yes, ma'am. We make fifty
miles in eighteen hours. We do stops every ten miles,
we do foot checks, medical, we go through food, water,
and all that. But it makes the people communicate because
you're walking slowly and having a conversation at this you know,
pretty much pace here that we're talking. You can have
that while you walk.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I love that because I do think it's hard to
convince ourselves to slow down. Yeah, and that's when I
think that all of the things that haunt you get
worse because you just don't have the time to face
it and for you to have done this on your
own and to realize that, hey, I could do this
(05:04):
with a lot of people and help them. But your
story is interesting from the very beginning because I'm reading
that you were like one of the east blue haired
guys with big gauge earrings, and then something happened nine
to eleven, like change your life or what happened.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, So I grew up in southern Ohio, a very
poor little Ohio.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I'm a Michigan girl. So we have to be rude
to you.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's okay, I'll break for you right now, go bucks.
But no, So, yeah, I grew up that way. My
dad was very sick, you know, he had passed, and
I was finding myself and all this so blue hair,
the earrings, other stuff, that'll you know, just hey, look
at me. Pretty much is what it is. And you
use an ego to edge God out. That's what I
(05:51):
was doing. But I found my way to the recruiter
after nine eleven and I was looking for a sense
of purpose. I walk in. The Navy guy looks at
me and goes nah, and he just turns around and
walks back in his office. The Marine Corps guy actually
laughed at me. He didn't even get it from his desk.
He just started laughing. The Army needed people. Next thing,
you know, they flowed this eighteen X ray contract in
(06:14):
front of me, and you know, it was what I needed.
You know, I was put there for that reason and
said yes, and then had an amazing career in Special Forces.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
That's so interesting because we think now, I mean, and
today is obviously a different story because they they need
recruits and I look at the people that are there today.
We just see these videos recently where when Biden was in,
it was like these men who were doing recruitment videos
and then it would be from them in their uniform
to them in drag. So imagine getting pushed out when
(06:48):
you walk in with earrings and blue hair, you know, today,
It's like they were under Biden. They would have been like,
you're perfect, could you put a skirt on?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, that would have been a different world. I'm glad.
I'm glad I came and what I did. But those
are interesting times. I'm glad I can say now that
I'm out, I'm retired, I'm glad. We're looking at a
different future now.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
But you went in. I mean, and you spent a
lot of time. It wasn't we hear that story of
you know, the kid that went to military school and
then the parents sent him off to the military, like
you're going to shape up. But you went on your own,
which I think is impressive for someone who said at
the statement you made about it was ego edging out God.
(07:35):
That is big at that age to say I need something.
I gotta be a part of something bigger than me.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I'd spent a lot of my life. My dad was
very sick when I was young, so I helped to
raise my sister, and I at that point took a
moment back and said, okay, what you know, and I
was praying about it. It was alling me. Then I found
my way in there and it was like it was
what I need, and I was looking for the National
Guard recruiter, but I ended up going to the active
duty full time. And you know, little did I know
(08:03):
that would be a twenty year career.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
The twenty years, multiple tours, you have seen every aspect
of combat. You come back and it's twenty twenty something
none of us have ever experienced. I mean, you know,
I can say why I haven't experienced active combat. None
of us had experienced being as vulnerable as we were
(08:28):
during the pandemic. Because you're in the situation where you
don't know whether you can see your parents, your grandparents,
You're being locked away, the government's taking control. We've never
been in that situation before. But it was also I mean,
I can step back and say, there was a lot
of fear over who's going to get sick and die?
(08:50):
Because I know people now will say, oh, if I
get COVID, it's no big deal. But when COVID initially hit,
there were people in our families that we were losing
because their their immune system couldn't handle it. There was
a lot of fear. There was a lot of vulnerability,
and then you say, all of a sudden, there is
this division in the country, with the George Floyd riots
(09:11):
and did that Do you think that combination of factors
was what kind of brought you to that point of saying,
I need, I need to deal with some things.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
It absolutely was. We went through through something as a
family before that that really affected me, and then when
the everything kicked off, it was just like, I got
to get out of here and go for a walk.
And I told my wife and she was like, Okay,
she's used me doing silly, stupid things, so you know,
(09:40):
it's part of the job being in the military. Sometimes
you just got to go get out there. But I
just I said, I got to go do this. So
I went out and went for the walk, and through it,
I found a lot of myself because when you get
you know, tired and beat up, at some point you
can't hold up that ego because physically you're holding yourself
up to keep it together. And through that time you
(10:00):
have a little bit of just realization of who you are,
what's going on, and you are able to say, Okay,
what do I need to deal with here that really matters?
And some friends' death came up and I got to
address that, I got to say goodbye, I got to
do that. Since doing that, I've had one friend of
mine do three of my events walk one hundred and
fifty miles to say goodbye to a friend who committed suicide.
(10:22):
And it took him one hundred and fifty miles to
do that. And it was We were in Pearl Harbor
December of twenty twenty two for this event, and we
had walked from Kenaoa to Pearl Harbor to be there
the morning of December seventh to pay honor and you know,
just to say thank you to the veterans that were
there and those that you know survived and defended Pearl Harbor.
(10:43):
But he stood up in front of everyone was like,
here's what I went through. Here's me saying goodbye to
a friend who I can finally do. And that's what
we do these events now is you're gonna get people
that come out. They're gonna walk a mile, they're gonna
walk fifty and we don't care what you do. Just
be involved. There's no phones, there's no music, it's just
you and the people with you, and that connection opens up.
(11:03):
So it was big, you know, and you mean you
think like today with Memorial Day, we've done this on
Memorial Day in twenty twenty two, we went to Washington,
d c into a fifty mile or starting in Walter Reed,
walked down to Mount Vernon, came back up when we're
on the mall, and finished at Arlington to say goodbye
to our friends there. And we need to take Memorial
(11:25):
Day and understand that, yes, it's a somber day. It's
a day to say thank you and goodbye and I
will see you again and I love you to our
friends who are gone, but it's also a day to
celebrate their lives. And that's something that we like to
do with our events is I make everybody run it
in at the end, So like the last quarter mile
to tenth of a mile, depending how tough it's been,
we're all sprinting in and going for it. The event
(11:48):
I bring up for Memorial Day of twenty two, we
are getting halfway across the bridge to Arlington and at
that point I'm like, all right, let's go, and everyone
starts running and I'm like, oh no, this is much
longer than I thought. So we're and then we're like
our tank is just depleting. We're getting so beat up.
But we came in and there were a lot of tears,
(12:08):
a lot of I misuse, a lot of talking to
our friends who aren't there, but they're you know, we're
looking at their headstones and saying goodbye. Section sixties just
riddled with friends. And every time I go to DC,
I find my way there say goodbye to some people,
but or to say hi or I'll see you later.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
And I think that's the power of this day, is
that there are so many people who are saying goodbye
and celebrating, and I think that's important. What you said
is that this is also a celebration, but there are
folks who came home and they struggled. Like you talked about,
it's the same thing you experience. But we've even had
(12:47):
people on this program who have talked to people who
have been suicidal, and in times they've lost those people,
all the times they've been able to bring them out.
What is that like when you are celebrating a day
like this and it wasn't somebody who died in combat,
it's somebody who died because of the wounds of combat
(13:08):
that didn't go away.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
It's a bittersweet moment because you know the person for
who they were at the best moment, and you know
the individual that stood up and said I will defend
this country from threats both foreign and domestic, and got
out there and did it. And then to see those
invisible wounds come back and that bullet to hit or
that person to die, it is it's like sweet poison
(13:36):
and how it hits you because you get to feel
all the good things that goes on from knowing them,
but at the same time, that bitter burn hits you
of saying what could I have done for that person
or what could have been said. To date, we've stopped
four suicides on our rucks. We've had four people come
to us during and after and say I want to
kill myself? What can you do? And we've gotten them healthy.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Hey, guys, stick around. We've got more coming up with
fifty four The Fallen founder Chad Conley, But first I
want to take a moment for our partners at IFCJ.
We are seeing something truly disturbing right now. Anti Semitism
is on the rise around the world, and sadly, as
you saw right here in America, Jewish schools are being targeted,
(14:18):
synagogues threatened, families living in fear. It's something we hoped
we'd never see again in our lifetime. And let me
tell you this, silence is not an option. This is
a moment that we need to take a stand. It's
not a moment to be silent. That's why I want
to tell you about the International Fellowship of Christians in
Jews or also known as IFCJ. You've heard me call it.
(14:40):
That they are on the front lines. They are providing
real help where it's needed most. They're giving food and
shelter to Jewish families under threat, building bomb shelters for children,
helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. And they don't
just respond to crisis, they work every day to prevent it.
Your gift of only forty five dollars will help support
(15:01):
their life saving work by helping to provide food, shelter,
and much more. The Bible says I will bless those
who bless you. Supporting IFCJ is a spiritual stand. It's
showing up for God's people when it counts. So please
call eight eight eight four eight eight I f c J.
That's eight eight eight four eight eight four three two
(15:23):
five or go to IFCJ dot org. Every dollar helps,
don't wait, be the difference. You guys saw it just
last week. It's so important. Visit IFCJ dot org or
call eight eight eight four eight eight if CJ right
now now, stay tuned. We've got more after this. How
(15:45):
many people have done this? I mean, because it seems
like it's it's so needed, and you it seems to
be growing quickly. So tell us about the process of
when you started it and how people started to learn
about it and come to it.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
More so, we've all seen fight clubs, so it was
kind of the fight club thing of hey can I
join you know, like, and that's really how it started.
I did this and the next year with the twentieth
anniversary of nine to eleven, and some friends of mine
were like, hey, can can I join you if you're
going to do one? And I said, let's go to
New York and I prayed on the next thing. I know,
I'm connected to some amazing people and some organizations out
(16:21):
there that provided us security for that event. And that
was all God. And I'll say it because we were
starting in the Yankee Stadium, fifty miles around the city
at the time, I couldn't shut down the Arizona I
can now, so when we go back, we'll shut down
the Arizona and go from all five boroughs. But for
this event, we start up there next to Yankee Stadium
(16:42):
and we have police escore, you know, blue light and
playing clothes. And then we go into you know up
there and to the Bronx and what do you have.
You have a lot of impoverished people, You have a
lot of ghettos and such, and these gang bangers legitimate
looks ask me like what are you doing here? And
we're very aggressive, and I'm like, hey, I'm taking these
people on a very long walk. We're here because tomorrow
(17:02):
is a twentieth anniversary of nine to eleven? Do you
want to join? Do you want to help out? And
then we had honest to goodness gang security helping us
like make sure we were good on their side. We
have police security, and like we walked it all the
way down. But it all started from people saying I
need that in my life. I need to be challenged,
I need the hard thing today. There isn't it right
(17:22):
of passage from adults or from teenagers and young adults
to adulthood really to say hey, you are now ah man,
you are now a woman now and being a woman,
you do have that biology biologically, you guys have certain things.
You're like, oh, hey, I'm and to being a woman. Now,
men we don't have that. So a lot of guys
reached out to me originally and said I need this,
(17:45):
and that's where it started, and then soccer moms joined in,
people from pro sports, other individuals from government. We're just like, hey,
I need this, and everyone who's done it you finish,
you're crying, you're laughing, you're hugging people you've just met.
But in a way, it's a trauma bond because you've
(18:06):
gone through this long thing together and in that long thing,
you found out things about yourself and you've dealt with
things that you've been burying. But when you're so tired,
they just come to the front. You have to address them,
and you're talking with total strangers. But at the end
of it, you're sharing your story. You're saying, what's your
reason for walking such a long period or just being up.
(18:27):
Some of the most amazing conversations come from individuals who
maybe walk a mile total, but they're helping the whole night.
They're setting up our tables, you know, helping with feet
like feet wrapping and medical and all that, and they're
just there and they're just as open and vulnerable, and
they'll say, oh, I can't walk like that. It's like that,
I don't care. Can you be there and be apart?
(18:49):
And in doing such, they give so much of themselves
that they're filled in the end because everyone's hugging and
saying thank you, and everyone walks the end of it. Everybody,
if you've supported or not, hey, at the end, get
out of the truck, the van, whatever, we have, let's
go in together.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
How many events do you have and is there an
ongoing outreach after this or what is it? Tell us
a little bit about it.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
So for the events every year, it varies. In twenty
twenty three we did eight fifty milers around the nation,
with smaller events as well. Last year we did four
major events like long events like we did the Honolulu
Marathon twice. We were in Cincinnati doing what the Sainsny
Bengals had some stuff. Because I'm also the head of
(19:36):
military engagement for Spartan Race, So all the obstacle courses
I take people out there for that I direct I
bring them into the military. I'd love to discuss some
of that with you, I think you find it fun actually,
And this year we've done three smaller events already. We
have the Chicago Bulls coming up. Or we're doing an
event in the United Center fifty miles inside the United
(19:58):
Center in August, where you're going up and down the stairs. Yeah,
the stairs on the concourse, that's going to be fun.
I'm not looking forward to that one.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
That's going to be a lot of walking.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah, if I can't do the event with the team,
if I'm juggling things as well, because I manage it
all as I do it, I'll go out before and
run the fifty miles do the event myself because I
want to make sure everyone knows, hey, it can be
done because I've done it. So I do that with
all of our events, so I'm always on the ground
with our people walking. So I get to do that one,
and then we'll do one this fall. We're talking a
(20:30):
couple of NFL teams to put one on. We did
one suicide Prevention Rock last year with the Sergeant Major
of the Army, SMA Whimer. That was a great event.
He's an amazing American. But yeah, that's what we've had.
So it's been great. It's been hundreds of folks who
have come out. We get people who will satellite in
from other locations and they'll be like, hey, I couldn't
(20:51):
join you, so I walked over here, and then we'll
just keep in contact with them and then when we
finish the ruck of those people need help, we will
get them to the help they need with resiliency, brain
health and Kapel Texas. They do amazing work on brain
mapping and working with individuals and that's that's been a blessing.
We have now expanded from military to police fire and
(21:11):
ems and we've had a few swats from one LA
swat went through another individual. I apologize, I forget where
he came from, but it was a hey, we need someone.
He's got to go now, okay, but just no questions asked,
get him where he needs to go. So we do those.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
So tell us about you said you have a partnership
with the Spartan Race. Is that like a warrior dash
or there's a couple of different types of Is that
like an obstacle race or what is that?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yes, ma'am, so Spartan Race incorporated. We have forty four countries,
I believe around the nation, and we're around the world
and we're doing events everywhere. I am the head of
Military Engagement right now, I'm actively working to change how
we focus on our veteran population. And I'll be forty
read this Christmas. I'm retired, so I am a veteran
(22:03):
it's all, and I'm done, but I'm not done. I
have to continue. I've got at least another forty three
years of life. I have a young daughter who's four
years old, and I have to be there for her.
So I cannot give up now just because I retired.
And I see a lot of our veteran population. They'll
retire and then they'll like distance themselves from the military,
(22:23):
or they'll let themselves go a little bit. They'll do
these things. When that's your time to burn, Let's go
get the fire going, keep moving, keep moving, and we
take those folks, we get them together. And I'm working
right now with some people in DC to change how
we look at our veteran population and the way we
(22:44):
can better them, which is through staying in a community
and staying fit. And if you're fit and you bring
your family out, you guys do an event together. You
feel better, better moments, make days, make for a better life.
So that's what we're doing at Spartan Race.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
That's awesome, and you personally, it's it's your other organization
that has partnered with Jennifer right with the xxx Y.
So tell us about that partnership, because we have had
Jennifer say on quite a few times and we've talked
about her organization, and obviously we have been huge proponents
(23:20):
of making sure that women are safe in women's sports
and that girls' sports continue to dominate for girls, and
make sure that biological men are not in girls' sports.
So how did that partnership ship come about? And what
does that mean for Memorial Day? What should what does
that mean for your organization?
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, so Jen and I came together because I heard
her on a podcast with Tulca Gabbert and I know Tulsi,
So I hit her up and I said she's awesome,
you know, I said Jen's awesome, Taulci and all this,
and she connected us and that led to Jen and I,
you know, going to lunch and having a very open,
(24:02):
candid conversation. And this was after she left Levi and
we went through all that, and you know, I've seen
this company, Xxxy blossom into where it is now, and
I think it's on the cusp of exploding throughout the
nation and taking on a movement. Because yes, it's a
really good apparel company. They're my favorite workout shorts, you know,
(24:24):
I can say that with confidence. But it's what they're
doing on the other end that I think matters the most,
which is showing girls you matter, that you still matter,
and it's okay to say, hey, this is for the boys,
this is for the girls. Let's have that we fought
so hard, you know, as a nation for Title Night
and actually give girls a voice and let them go
(24:45):
out there. So to have us now try to retract
that and be like, oh, actually, let's do this instead
and bring boys into girls' sports. To me, it's lunacy,
I know.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
And that's been the crazy part about watching what's happened
just since the election, because it seems like the folks
on the left side of the aisle are continuing to
push that. I mean, we see that here in Michigan.
They just took a vote on protecting girls' sports, and
of course all the Democrats voted against. It seems bizarre
(25:16):
to me that we have this divide, and I don't
really believe that the people who are parents of girls
or were in sports as a woman themselves believe this.
I think that that there has become such a cult
like faction to the Democrat Party today that you have
to be a part of it. You have to say,
you have to toe the party line, even if it's
(25:38):
to the detriment of your own children. It seems shocking
to me.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, I agree, because if you had those people who
voted no for that, you know, on that side of
the aisle, if you said, Okay, I'm going to put
boys in your little girls sport and they're bigger, faster, stronger,
you're okay with that? Because that's what's going to happen
right now. I would love for them to say, oh,
yes I am and actually follow through with it. You're
not going to see that. You're going to see people
quietly fighting tooth and nail, or they're going to move
(26:04):
their kids somewhere.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
That's what they do. They put their kids someplace where
it can't happen, and then they fight to make sure
everybody else's kid is in that position. You know, I
just saw this video last week and it was my
own home school district from Illinois. I grew up in Illinois,
and the school district had parents coming in and they
were they had you know, they were all seated with
(26:29):
their I can't remember what the sign said, but it
was something that was like pro biological males in girls sports.
And they had their flags and everything. And the mother
stood up and she and obviously she had a transgender child,
and she said, for the girls out there that are
concerned about not winning, this is a good life lesson
(26:50):
because you're not going to win everything, and she'd get
used to it now. And I was thinking to myself,
what a terrible way to speak to girls. You have
so little chance anyway, you should just get used to
the bad news.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Can we go back to the eighties in the army
where we just said can you be all you can be?
Speaker 1 (27:09):
That's just so right?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yes, exactly a joke.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I'm serious here, Can we I know what a great
slogan that was.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah, can we just all go back to saying, hey,
be the best girl you can be, be the best
boy you can be, and then be the best person
you can be. And what we're doing right now is
we're having an overreaction Olympics and people are going for
the gold trying to make this happen, and it's the
silliest stuff you need to do. There's nothing wrong with
just saying, hey, it's okay to be a girl, it's
(27:38):
okay to be a boy. And we've had for years
toxic masculinity as a catchphrasing slogan, and now they're trying
to do it to toxic. To me, it's like, toxic
femininity is what they're going for, and they're going against
women being women.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
It could be more toxic masculinity than a man pretending
to be a woman and taking her trophy.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yeah, how about we.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Just take your testosterone muscles out of here.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah maybe that, Maybe that's a way to do it,
you know, and look at it that way, you're like, wow,
you're such a talk masculinine, toxic guy. Whatever however you
want to phrase it, that you have to come into
women's sports. Good good job, bro.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
a Tutor Dixon podcast. Earlier last week, the women's college
that gave Rachel Levine an honorary degree because you know,
she's such an awesome transgender woman and I think, how
would you feel if you actually did the work, you studied,
(28:42):
you paid for the degree, you paid to go there
for four years. And they're like, you know what, we're
going to give this guy who dresses in an outfit
that a woman would dress in, a degree from a
women's college. And I mean, this is we can't deny it.
This is what these men are doing. They're dressing and
dresses and then they're taking the accolades that a woman
(29:05):
should get and it's this, Oh, we're celebrating the first
woman who's done this and the first woman who's done this,
and it's a man. Yeah, And as I have four daughters,
you have a daughter. I mean, this is the thing
that I just I want to protect that and I
want to stand for that. You know, you go into
the we were just in Washington, d c. With the
(29:25):
eighth grade class, and you go into the statuary hall
and you see the statue of the three women that
fought for women's suffrage and there's a part of that
statue that is un built, you know, it's unsculpted. And
they say, well, that's for the women who are to come.
You know, that's representative of the women who will do
(29:47):
great things. And I think to myself, that statue is
there because it was so much harder for those women
to stand up than it was for men.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
You know.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
For those women, they broke through, they broke free from
what they had been holding them back. And today today
there are people who will stand in front of that
statue and gladly say they should chisel a man's head
in there who wears a dress.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Yeah, it's strange times. These are strange.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
It makes me so mad because I feel like a
there is a value to what this country is and
the freedoms that we have and the power that everybody
in this company or in this country wields because it
is we the people, and because of you know, all
(30:39):
the people that we've talked about today, all the people
who gave their life for this country to continue what
it is and to continue to hold people up and
make sure that everybody has the right to be free
and be involved in sports, or be the CEO of
a company or start their own company. And those thing
(31:00):
is are being whittled away by radicals. And I think
this is an important day to sit back and say
the traditional values of this country and the people who
fought for those are to be honored and celebrated.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I could not agree more. I mean, our day to day,
if you look at it from what it is, is
just to be grateful for who's common, who's done, and
you know, we need to keep that alive and we
need to keep it sacred and say thank you and
give that moment of honor and that moment of solace.
(31:35):
But we got to do it every day for everyone.
And we have to understand that, yes, we are all
flawed people and today's world, with social media, technology and
everything we have, everyone feels alone when all you got
to do is put it down, don't look in your hand,
look up, talk to folk and get connected and understand that, hey,
we're not all that different. And it's not that it
(31:58):
has to be right versus left. We don't have to
have this red blue war. It just needs to be hey, great,
let's do what's best for our kids, because that's what matters.
Because that's what we're actually doing, is we're building a
world our kids get to inherit. It's not like we're
going to keep this world and we die. It goes away.
That it seems that way now with how people act,
but make it better for your kids.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, what is American? You know, b what is American?
I love that. Don't look at what's red or blue,
look at what's red, white and blue. What do we
see as a country? And I do believe that. I mean,
there's radicals on both sides, but I do believe that
most of us feel the same way about things. Most
of us want the same things, and maybe there's slight differences,
(32:42):
but I think for the most part, most Americans are
grateful for the country we live in. They're grateful for
the freedoms that we have, and they want the same thing.
They want to be able to leave a country for
their children that is similar to the country that they
grew up in. So before I let you go, I
enjoyed talking to you, But tell us you're on your
(33:02):
partnership with xxx x Y. What habits can do people buy?
Does do the proceeds go to you? How does that
help your organization?
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Yeah? So right now xxx Y and I are joining
forces for Uptroough Memorial Day and a little after and
a percentage of what you purchase from there is going
to go to us and send veterans to therapy, and
we'll get taken down resiliency, brain health and compel Texas
and for two weeks they're going to get themselves at
a baseline, get themselves built up, and then they stay
with them and we do too. If you join a ruck,
(33:35):
you're a part of us forever. At any point you
can reach out and say, hey, I need help, can
you yeah, what do you need? The email goes straight
to me. The phone number on the email is my
personal phone number. I answer, I call, I talk to
these folks. So with that said, if you need anything,
go to fifty FtF dot org. Give us a look.
Reach out to me. Chad at fifty FtF dot org.
(33:59):
Give you my email, reach out. I'll talk to you.
If you want to come to an event, we'll make
it happen. I'm working with gent Tour. We can put
on a women only rock. I'm just going to give
them all the keys to what I do for this
and say, hey, you guys, go out there and just
go get it, have fun, and at the end of it,
you'll be better than you were when you started.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
I love it. It's amazing. I'm glad I had you on.
I actually I saw Jennifer's post and I was like, oh,
I want to talk to them. I want to see
what they're doing. So I think that's great. If so,
if you go and you buy merchandise at which is great,
I will agree with you. We have some of the shorts,
we have a few leggings, we have some shirts. The
(34:40):
quality is amazing, the fabric is perfect. I mean, Jen,
she knows what she's doing. She does a great job.
That is an awesome company. It's summertime. You guys need
to go get new workout gear. Don't lie. We all
know you do. Everybody wants to put off getting that
new workout gear. You got to go get it. Go
get it now because this is a good cause. So
buy some to make sure you help out fifty for
(35:02):
the fallen Chad Connelly, thank you so much for being on.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
It was awesome to be here. Tutor, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
So much, absolutely, and thank you all for joining the
Tutor Dixon Podcast. For this episode and others, go to
Tutor diixonpodcast dot com or you can go to the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
And remember you can always watch on Rumble at Tutor Dixon.
Join me next time on the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Have
a blessed day,
Host
Tudor Dixon
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