November 11, 2021 • 35 mins
Host Rob Riggle speaks to fellow former Marine Elliot McKenzie, whose combat experience resulted in PTSD which affected his professional and personal life upon his return home. Now, a self taught musician, producer, and sound engineer, Elliot uses music to help heal and bring awareness to mental health issues.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Please be advised the following episode contains references to violence
and may not be suitable for all audiences. Welcome to
Veterans you should Know a podcast from My Heart Radio
that celebrates the men and women who have honorably answered
a call to serve their country and the armed forces.
(00:23):
I'm Rob Real, actor, comedian, and former Marine raw In
this special series Honoring Veterans Day, I'll be speaking with
four incredible veterans as they detail challenges they've faced and
how their experiences in military service served them in their
everyday civilian lives. The therapist that I talked to you
(00:43):
at this VET center, she was very very good at
explaining the science behind PTSD, and so she said, you
mentioned to me that you you'd like to sing, and
that you were writing songs in your car when you
were homeless and doing this in that right, and she said,
you know, you can use that as a form of
natural therapy for your depression, in your anxiety. For this episode,
(01:08):
I'm here with fellow Maureene Elliott Mackenzie. Elliott received highly
specialized training as part of the Fleet Anti Terrorism Security
Team and Presidential Support duty. His combat experience during his
deployment to Iraq resulted in post traumatic stress disorder and
severe depression. Music has been a new way forward for Elliott.
(01:32):
He writes to inspire and uses his songs to communicate
his personal experiences, hoping that by sharing his music he
can foster understanding and help others through tough times as well.
(01:53):
Welcome Elliott, Glad you're here. Thanks Rob. How are you doing.
I'm doing great? Thank you. Um. Before we get to
your music career and which is outstanding and I'm very
proud of you, I would like to go back. Since
we are this is a veterans you should know. We
we want to talk obviously about your time in the military,
(02:13):
time in the Marine Corps and the army. How did
you find your way to the military. How did your
life and the military begin. So my journey with the
military began in junior high. Actually, do you remember that
famous Marine Corps commercial with the marine standing on that
bridge with the dragon? Yeah, exactly, So that commercial is
(02:39):
what got me. If you the Proud the Marine, that
commercial is what drew me in and what attracted me
to the Marine Corps initially, and then from there it
was just a good fit because I was really physically
active so I was physically fit, I played football, I
(03:01):
was in sports. I just I like to work out myself.
So I felt like culturally the Marine Corps was a
good fit for me. It's something that can make my
family proud. And then also it would buy me some
time because I didn't really know myself when I was
in high school and junior high. Didn't know what I
wanted to do with my life. I hadn't really figured
that part out yet. I knew that college probably wasn't
(03:24):
really an option, and so I figured, Hey, I've wanted
to be a marine since I was in junior high.
Let's go into the Marine Corps. And it's a good
fit for me too. So that's kind of what led
me to becoming a marine. That's awesome. Uh, And I
know what you're talking about. I've had I've actually okay,
I go back to the first thing, that commercial. I've
talked to a couple of marines that have said that
commercial was one of the reasons that hooked him in earlier.
(03:45):
So that's so funny you said that too. Now you joined.
Let's go back, so we get a time frame on this.
You joined, We're talking around two thousand three, so pretty
much right at the beginning of the major hostilities. I
know we were engaged is Afghanistan two thousand two two,
but two thousand three, ye is when Iraq started, and
(04:05):
that's about the time you joined. What did your family
think about you joining a Marine Corps right at the
threshold of what appeared to be some major wars going forward?
So my mom was not thrilled, right, but she knew
that I wanted to be a marine from a young age.
(04:28):
I had all the Marine Corps mooto stuff from the
recruiter's office in my room. Even after Iraq and Leven
happened and we went to war, she knew that wasn't
going to prevent me from going in, so she kind
of prepared for it, and she kind of told me, like,
I know this is what you want to do, but
I also know that we're in the middle of al
war right now that just started, so I'm kind of nervous,
(04:50):
But this is your dream. Go get your dream. My
mom was very supportive. I was raised by a single
mother who was an amazing parent. She adopted myself along
with three other kids, and gave us lives that we
would have never had without her. Oh my gosh. I'm
grateful for her to this day. The support was always
there from the beginning, with a little hesitation because she
knew that I was gonna be possibly going to Iraq,
(05:12):
which I ended up doing. Wow, what an amazing lady
to adopt as a single mother and take on the
challenge of raising truly inspirational I. But she's a very
special lady. Oh yeah, absolutely, and she was probably very
worried about her baby. Listen, the youngest of all. He's
going off to war. That's a big deal. Elliot knew
(05:36):
he wanted to be a Marine since the ninth grade,
so he enthusiastically signed up as soon as he could,
but he still had his senior year of high school
to complete the Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program a k
A depth allowed him to train for an entire year
before heading to boot camp. During this time, Elliott learned
(05:58):
the expectations of what it meant to be a marine,
allowing him to put his feet in the yellow footprints,
a term that signifies the first step of a transition
into a United States Marine. All his preparation paid off,
and Elliott was selected for presidential support duty, an elite
(06:18):
team of security Forces who are charged with the protection
of the president of the United States, not your everyday assignments.
Before he could go on to such specialized training, he
had to complete the second phase after boot Camp s
o I, the School of Infantry. So this is where
my story in the Marine Corp gets kind of interesting.
(06:41):
While I was in recruit training, one of my drill
instructors pulls me aside and he's like, you've been selected
for this unique job. Go here at this time tomorrow
and I'm like, Roger that sir. I show up and
there's other recruits in the room. There's probably about fifteen
of us, and they basically tell us, you guys have
been selected for what's called Presidential support duty or Yankee
(07:02):
White as submarines might know it. So the process for
that is you go to recruit training, you graduate, you
go to s o I. But then after s o I,
I went to Security Forces training because Yankee White is
part of security forces. So you have to go into
Security Forces school and become a security Marine before you
can go into Presidential support duty. So for people at
(07:25):
home that might not know security forces, that includes embassy
type security duties. It includes guarding nukes, with the Navy.
Uh so it's really high profile, a little more advanced
security training than you know, your rank and file marine
would receive by far right, So I go to Security
(07:46):
Forces training and then I got orders to the wrong
place somehow. The staff at the Security Forces school got
me orders to a FAST platoon. So FAST is another
element of Security Forces and it an acronym and it
stands for Fleet Anti Terrorism Security Team. And basically, in
a nutshell, what FAST is, it's a Marine Corps squat
(08:08):
team that's trained to go into buildings like embassies and
take them back if they've been taken over, like recently
there was the Iraq embassy that was taken over. They
sent it, I believe it was three FAST platoons to
go in there and take it back. That's a lot
of specialized training it is. It was actually really fun.
The training with FAST was a lot of fun. And
(08:28):
then I got sent to my primary MS which was
three eleven at Camp Pendleton's and that's when I went
to Iraq. In two thousand five, Elliott was ordered to
the first Battalion, fifth Marines. Up unto that point, his
duties that kept in state side. His new assignment a
combat deployment to Iraq. So what happens you joined one
(08:52):
five and you go to Iraq? Holy cal Um, can
you tell us about that? What was that experience? Like?
Joining one five was unique because, like I said, I
had been in security forces for a little bit and
that was where my experience was. The fleet as we
call it, which is basically all the infantry battions in
the Marine Corps, is different in the fact that the
(09:14):
I guess, the level of camaraderie is brought up because
those are the battalions that are going to combat in Iraq, Afghanistan, etcetera.
So I got there and it was like an instant
brotherhood and I loved that about it. I was like
brought right in. So I get there in two thousand
five and early, like January two five, and then we
leave for Ramadi in I think it was in March
(09:35):
two thousand five. So two months later I'm in Ramadi, Iraq,
and I'm in combat. It was a very quick turnaround,
a very quick turnaround. And as you transition from state
side and prepping for deployment, and then within the blank
of an eye, it feels like you find yourself walking
(09:55):
the streets of Ramadi, and I'm sure that you have
some harrowing experience this is over there with the insurgents,
the terrorists, all kinds, all kinds of people over their
cousin hate and discontent, especially during that time frame when
you found yourself on the pointy end of the spear,
as they say, and you're you're out on patrol. What
(10:15):
were you thinking? I mean, did you feel like you
were ready when you got there? So I have a
story for you. So it's kind of funny. So the
moment that that lightbulb went off, when I kind of
realized that, I was like, oh crap, I'm really in combat.
This isn't training anymore. So we get there and one
of the first things I'm thinking is I gotta go
to the bathroom. So I jumped to a porter potty
(10:37):
and I'm in this porter potty and I'm doing a
number two, and all of a sudden, I hear this
weird whistling sound is feed. I'm like, what is that?
And then all of a sudden I hear boom and
a mortar went off. I'm guessing it was probably about
fifty yards maybe Les's probably like between thirty and fifty
yards away. From my porter potty on the base and
(11:00):
the door flew open. The ground started shaking a little
bit during the explosion, like the rocks and the inside
the porter party flew up, and I was like, oh crap, Okay,
this is real, Like this isn't training anymore, Like that
was a real explosion, Like okay. So that was when
I kind of like flipped from like okay, I was
in training mode to like, okay, this is actual combat now. Yeah,
(11:21):
there's a moment when either a bullet goes by or
mortar hits close by, that you realize someone's trying to
hurt you. And it's different. It's just different. Um. I
assumed that you you finished your dump pretty quickly. Oh yeah,
I Um, I pulled my pants up and then I
ran straight over to the where my platoon was and
I was like, what was that you guys? So yeah
(11:43):
it was that was at that moment. I never wanted
you never want to die on the craper. So tell
us about your missions if you would real quick. Uh,
you we found yourself over there on foot patrols, you said,
a lot, and and where are you looking for weapons? Caches?
Where you looking for bad guy? Is? Were you just
doing security to make sure your perimeter was safe. Like
(12:04):
what what did you find yourself doing most of the
time when you were out there and really exposed. You know,
in this type of war, as we learned with I. E. D. S,
and there is no necessarily front everywhere. It's a three
sixty battle space, So everywhere you look in turn, there's
danger everywhere, which is causes a whole another level of
anxiety exactly. So when you're over there, your radar, as
(12:27):
I like to call it, is completely on twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week, your anxieties through
the roof your your level of awareness is super high.
So our average day would consist of three two to
three foot patrols. And so the r o E or
the rules of engagement over there were that we were
not allowed to fire or shoot until we were shot
(12:49):
at first. We'd go into foot patrol and just wait
to get shot at. That was how we operated because
we couldn't find the enemy until they found us first.
If we did, then we'd engage and we get into firefights,
and if we didn't, then it was just to walk
around Ramadi. We came back and that was probably about
(13:10):
ninety five of it. The other five percent we had
specific missions, like specific targets that we would go look for,
specific people that we would go look for, or we
would also do i e. D. Sweeps with the army. Wow.
So you had a full deployment, a lot of action,
a lot of kinnectic environment that you had to live
(13:31):
in every day. Uh and being outside the wire being
exposed constantly. When did you decide to that you you
were going to transition back to civilian life. That decision
got made probably about six months before I ended up
getting out. Stay tuned for more of Elliott's story after
(13:55):
the break Welcome back to veterans you should know. So
after Ramadi, we went to Okanhawa, Japan. One of my
(14:19):
marines who knew that I liked to see, introduced me
to a marine who was stationed in Okinawa who was
a music producer and he had like a small recording
studio set up in his barracks room, and so he
was like, you guys should work together. I know you
like to sing, he's a producer. Make it happen. And
I ended up recording an entire album with this person,
along with some other Marines who were rappers and that
(14:41):
kind of like I guess you could say, lit a
fire in me to kind of like pursue music. And
that's when that really kind of like started. And there
was a program at the time where if you got
accepted to a college, you could actually get out of
the Marine Corps up to six months earlier than your
contract states. So I took advantage of that resource. So
I ended up getting out of the Marine Corps because
of that. So I got accepted to Musicians Institute in Hollywood,
(15:05):
and I got out three months early. When I got
back from Okinawa, I kind of like really decided to
pursue music, and that's when it happened. So that's awesome
because I too chose a life in the Marines and
the arts, and so I have a great appreciation for
what you're describing because that first taste, that first taste
(15:28):
of it, because I I was a fan of comedy
my whole life, but I never did anything until I did.
And then once you do it, at first now I
hated it, but then I realized that it was bigger
than me and it was a calling almost as you
transition out. That transition is tough for a lot of veterans,
for multiple reasons, whether it's post traumatic stress disorder, whether
(15:52):
it's actual physical wounds from the battlefield, whether it's just
an ability to assimilate back to a civilian world after
coming out of such a high intensity military world. Also,
we have a lot of veterans that I've talked to
that feel a sense of isolation because there was such
a brotherhood, there was such a connection with the people
they served with, and then they go back to the
(16:13):
civilian world and they can't find that deep connection and
they get isolated. Tell us about your transition. So my
transition out of the Marine Corps was extremely difficult. I
first started noticing the anger issues immediately when I got out.
I got out in two thousand seven, and I think
(16:36):
it was a couple of months after I got out
I started noticing I was constantly piste off for no
reason at all. For example, I'll be walking in a
grocery store or something, or somewhere where there's a crowded
place and somebody would accidentally bump into me or something
like that. Them bumping aem me would piss me off
and make me want to fight that complete stranger for
(16:57):
absolutely no reason. So my adrenaline was super high, my
anger was super high. My hyper awareness was always on,
just like I was back in Ramadi. I was always
worried about somebody attacking me from behind, from the left,
from the right, from anywhere. So I would always have
my head on a swivel. I felt like that switch
you turn on when you go to combat. I never
(17:19):
turned it back off. It just stayed on forever. And
I went to Musicians Institute for a couple of months,
but I couldn't really focus and I couldn't really succeed,
so I dropped out and I ended up going back
home and just kind of like working random jobs here
and there. So the transition was really difficult with my
(17:40):
mental illness. And then just remembering that I was a
civilian again. Wow, that that would be incredibly challenging. And
I know what it's like to stay in a fight
or flight mode where you're peak awareness. And if you
stay at that level, when you're constantly in fight or flight,
you're the physiology of your body. It's so hard on
(18:01):
your body to be in that state. And mentally it's
hard to be in that state because as you fatigue,
you get angry, and then you know the slightest. You know,
a cool breeze that hits you in the wrong way
could piss you off. And it's inexplicable because you're aware
of yourself to a certain degree. You know that that's
not right, but you still can't help but want to
(18:22):
lash out. So what happened from there is this two
thousand eight? Are you still struggling with this? So this
is still two thousand seven. This is probably late two
thousand seven, And I guess it all came to a
head when I was at home getting ready for a job.
I was working as a security guard at the time,
and me and my older brother got into a verbal argument.
(18:45):
That verbal argument turned physical, and it was just me,
my mom, and my older brother living at home at
the time, and this physical altercation was happening in the
living room. My mom comes out of her bedroom because
she hears all the commotion and she sees her two
big son's physically fighting, are about to physically fight in
the living room. I grab a kitchen knife and I
(19:07):
started brandishing this kitchen knife at my brother, saying I'm
gonna I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna stab you. Leave
me the hell alone. Blah. Blah blah, and my mom
freaks out and she calls the police. So I end
up throwing the kitchen knife across the room and just
walking out and like, f this, I'm gonna go to work.
I'm out of here by and I see my mom
on the phone with the police, so I kind of
knew they were coming. So I'm walking to work. A
(19:30):
Sheriff's department vehicle comes up and says, are you Elliott McKenzie. Yes,
put your hands behind your back, et cetera, et cetera.
So I get put in handcuffs. They drive me back
to the house and luckily the sergeant on that call
was an Army veteran, and he spoke to my mom,
spoke to me, kind of got some background about what
happened about my history, and he goes to me. He's like,
(19:50):
I'm gonna give you two options. Your mom told me
that you are a Marine Corps veteran who came back
from Iraq and you've been having some angry issues and
some things like that since you've been home. I think
you might have pt D and you haven't figured it
out yet. So you have two options. Like one, I
can charge you with assault, with a deadly weapon for
throwing the knife at your brother, or I think you
need some help, and I can drive you to the
(20:10):
v A myself. Because I'm an army veteran, I understand,
and I want to see if the v A can
get you some help. So obviously I took the second option.
I said, drive me to the v A, see if
they can get me some help. So he did that,
and I think that's what ended up kind of like
saving my life in a way, one of the one
of the many things that ended up kind of helping
me out. So he drove me to the v A
that evaluated me, figured out that I had PTSD and
(20:33):
a whole bunch of other issues. And when I got released,
I called my mom my brother. I said, Hey, I'm released.
Can I come back home. They were like, we're scared
of you now after what happened. We don't think we
can trust that you're not going to do that again.
We're kind of worried about your condition. We don't know.
So I had nowhere to go, so I ended up
just sleeping in my car for like, I want to say,
(20:55):
a week and half, almost two weeks, and I didn't
know about resources back then, so that's why I didn't
I think I had any other options. So finally, after
the two weeks in my car, I'm like, I gotta
do something. I can't live in my car forever. I
had the number when they released me from that hospital.
They gave me phone numbers, said hey, if you need anything,
call us. So they ended up connecting me to a
nonprofit organization that has transitional housing for homeless veterans. And
(21:19):
I got lucky and I got a spot at one
of their transitional housing facilities in Long Beach and I
ended up living in that transitional housing place for about
a year and a half. What a blessing though, that
that police officer and former veteran recognized and took the
time to ask the right questions to get you some help.
(21:42):
God bless you know, veterans looking out for each other. Yeah, absolutely,
because that's what that sounds like to me. And it
gave you it sounds like a better option obviously in jail,
and gave you a chance to maybe understand more about
yourself and your situation. Wow, what a journey that. That
must have been a hard couple of weeks in your car. Yeah,
(22:04):
it was. I would have to go to a local
park to take showers. There was a park that had
a swimming pool that was open to the public, so
I'd go there to take showers. I'd sleep in my
back seat. I would write songs in my car when
I was having a bad day, when I was having
you know, just I just wanted to get something off
my chest. And then I'd played like a beat through
the speakers in the car, and I'd sing to that beat,
(22:25):
and I'd write the lyrics on a piece of paper.
That was how I spent a good amount of my
time every day, was just doing that, just to kind
of get things off my chest. What an amazing way
for you, in your solitude and in your you know,
moment of pain, but also discovery that you were able
to find this creative outlet, this wonderful creative voice inside
(22:49):
of you that needed to come out and buy a
necessity almost it did come out. While living at a
homeless shelter, Elliott maneuvered from job to job, but his
PTSD made it challenging to hold down a steady one
for any long stretch of time. He ended up leaving
the shelter and moving in with an old high school friend.
(23:11):
Who had an available couch. That couch was Elliot's bed
for a year until he eventually moved back in with
his family. He also discovered the post nine eleven g
I Bill, a benefit to honorably discharged veterans to pursue
higher education. After three years of attending junior college and
(23:32):
trying to get his life back on track, Elliot's depression
and PTSD overwhelmed his studies and he dropped out. But
it was a turning point for Elliott and he realized
that after five years of living with these feelings after
leaving the Marine Corps, it's time to get help. So
(23:55):
I got lucky in the fact that the therapist that
I talked to at this VET center, she was a
former Marine, She was a sergeant in the Wrinkle herself,
and she was very very good at explaining the science
behind PTSD. Basically it came down to this. She was like,
give me the laundry list of symptoms that you're experiencing
and tell me about what you experienced sin Ramadi, and
(24:15):
she said, I'm gonna break down each of these symptoms
for you, Explain why you're doing them, Explain the science
behind how they're happening in your brain and then connect
them to what you experienced cin Romati. And that's when
the light bulb kind of went off for me because
she explained why I was doing what I was doing.
And so she said, you mentioned to me that you
(24:37):
you like to sing and that you were writing songs
in your car when you were homeless and doing this
and that right, And I was like, yeah, music has
been a big part of my life since I was young.
And she said, you know, you can use that as
a form of natural therapy for your depression, in your anxiety.
She explained the science behind adrenaline and endorphins and how
performing on stage you release endorphins in your brain. And
(24:58):
she taught me about how endorphins or the natural fighter
of depression specifically and anxiety. When I'm performing or when
I'm writing songs and I'm singing, I'm not depressed anymore.
I'm I'm feeling good. I'm I'm getting that out of me.
It's like flushing the toxic energy out of your system. Absolutely,
she was like, you can use that. She's like, go songwright, sing,
(25:20):
try to get book to perform record music. Used that
as a natural way to combat what you're going through.
And so I took that information and I just ran
with it. I started writing my butt off, I started marketing,
I started reaching out to people in the music industry
telling them about myself, started performing in l A and
all of Socow and it was working. That's what started
(25:45):
my positive progress, and that's what started saving my life.
Fast forward two years, two fifteen comes around and I
feel like I'm better enough to go back into college.
So I re enrolled in college, the same college that
I had just dropped out of two years earlier. Two
thousand sixteen comes and I ended up graduating with my
(26:05):
associates degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis and behavioral science.
And I ended up going from failing grades to nothing
but straight a's and straight bes, and I graduated on
the Dean's list, And it was amazing transition. That's a
total transition, right, So it was like day and night
like I was super depressed, super failing, and then I
ended up using the music to turn my life around.
(26:26):
And I went from f to as and b's and
I transferred to a university and same thing there, got
nothing but straight ais and straight bes. And I ended
up graduating with my bachelor's degree in two thousand eighteen
in behavioral science. That's fantastic. Wow, what a journey, thanks brother.
What a journey and a triumphant one too, in my opinion,
(26:46):
to go through all of that, to hit those lows
and then come back and hit those highs. I think
it was Booker T. Washington who said judgment man's accomplishments
by the obstacles he had to overcome to get there.
And so you know, we use that as our gauge.
You have overcome so much. So what you've achieved is
truly truly remarkable. Thank you. What is your advice to
(27:10):
veterans that are one young people that are thinking about
joining the military and to those who are leaving the
military to pursue a life, whether it's in the arts
or just leaving the military to go on into civilian life.
So the high school students who want to join the military,
and to their parents, I would say this, there are
a lot of students who are thinking about college as
(27:32):
an option. The post nine eleven g I Bill is
an amazing resource to tackle that and not be in debt.
I have three degrees now, my associates degree that I got,
my bachelor's and then I also went back and got
a certificate in peer mentorship. I'm zero dollars in debt
because of that. So you've got two paths. You can
take high school straight to college. You've got to pay
(27:54):
for it on your own. Right now, you're in debt
thousands of dollars. After you've got your bachelor's degree or
your master's degree or whatever degree you end up with,
or join the military for four or five years, get
an honorable discharge, take advantage of the resource that's there,
the post loving g I Bill. Now your education is
paid for and you get a paycheck on top of that.
School is your job, so you can focus on the
(28:15):
school and you can do really well. And then there's
a ton of resources when you get out that you
can utilize to make sure that your life is successful,
including the g I Bill, amongst many others. And then
the advice that I would give to veterans who want
to get out and go into the arts. The way
that it happened for me was completely natural and completely unexpected.
After all that happened in two thousand and seventeen, I
(28:37):
wanted to write a song telling people about the combat
and the PTSD experience for US combat veterans. And so
I wrote a song called Gunshots, and I did a
music video for that song, which is on YouTube. And
that's when it happened for me. I wasn't doing that
(28:59):
song and music video and hopes like, oh, I want
to become famous. No, I was doing it because I
was like, I wanted to use it as therapy for
myself and then educate the general population about what combat
veterans go through. And that music video ended up exploding
pretty much, and that's what put me on the map.
So I would say, do it for a reason that's
really close to your heart, that doesn't include fame or money.
(29:23):
It's just something that you care about, like a cause
that you care about some maybe a story that you
want to tell through whatever art you do. And I'm
now in a position where I'm blessed to be able
to inspire people worldwide through my story and my music.
My inspiration now is my fans, So I'm trying to
inspire and motivate as many people as I can. Good.
(29:44):
Keep it up because it means a lot. Not to
be overly dramatic, but you're saving lives every day. Somebody's
gonna hear that message right when they need to hear it.
Trust me. Yeah, I actually have so these two. I
have tattoos on my arms. So this is a quote
from a fan who's a here in an Army veteran
and it says, just her ju new album, it saved
(30:04):
my life. This was a comment that I got on
my YouTube. And then this one is actually a message
that I got on Facebook from another Army veteran fan
and they're basically veterans who were suicidal and they listened
to my album my first one therapy session and they
decided not to kill themselves. That was one of those
moments when I realized, this is my purpose, this is
what I'm here for. I'm meant to try to save
(30:25):
lives through my platform. That's fantastic. We'll keep doing it
because it's working clearly. Thanks brother. What's coming down the road?
What can we look forward to? Because I'm really excited
to hear what projects you got going. And then the
last thing is you've got this audience, You've got a
chance to to give them one nugget of wisdom that
they can put in their pocket and say, wow, I'm
probably gonna carry that around for the rest of my life.
(30:47):
So my album came out earlier this year. A Therapy
Session came out in March, and that's sixteen songs of
beautiful music. I like to call it a mix of
R and B music and inspirational songs with the purpose
of inspiring people to get through those hurdles that they
might be going through, whether their veterans or not. My
(31:07):
next single is called be You, and it's releasing on
October twelfth, and it's a song that's inspiring people to
be themselves, to discover who they are at their core
and be proud of that. So this single is going
to be part of my next project I'm and I'm
gonna call it follow Up. And then I'm working with
Veteran Television right now on a Grunts Live Season two.
(31:28):
I was in a Grunts Live Season one, one of
the principal characters, and so I'm just working my butt off,
just trying to be successful. And then the advice that
I would give to veterans. Honestly, the thing that's really
changed my life most recently is coming to terms with
who I am as an adult, as a person, as
a man, as a veteran, as a recording artist. I've
(31:52):
had a tough time over the years of accepting who
I am and really just learning about me because, as
you know in the in the Marine course specifically, it's
all about your brother and your sister, to your left
and your right, it's not about self. When you get
to a point where you know yourself, you know what
your purpose in the world is, and you know what
truly makes you you and makes you happy, nothing can
(32:14):
bother you and nothing will ever get to the point
where you're getting like stressed out or anything like that,
because you're always happy because you know your life's purpose.
I couldn't agree more. I I could not agree more.
I know thyself is one of mine. I even have
a necklace on that says know thyself. So I believe
(32:35):
that wholeheartedly because I think once you do know yourself
and all the ways you just described, you start going
with the grain instead of against it, and life gets
so much easier and it gets so much more joyful. Yes,
thank you for your service, Thank you for your your
journey and for sharing your journey and being so open
and honest with us today and your inspiration through your music,
(32:56):
And what a joy to meet you today. Uh whom.
Everybody can google you, Elliott mackenzie. They can also uh
find you on social media. I have no doubt. People,
I hope you stay, Start looking for your album, start
looking for follow up when that's ready. It's all very exciting.
I think we're gonna hear a lot more from you.
We need more marines out here, uh, filling up the
(33:17):
airwaves and the and the silver screen. So that's the plan.
Thank you, Elliott, Thank you for being here and joining us.
I really appreciate it was an honor to meet you today. Hey,
thank you brother, thank you for your service to absolutely man. Hey,
a big thank you to Elliott mackenzie for sharing a
story of service. Congratulations on your release of the new
(33:40):
single b You and working on your second album. I'm
very excited to see the music and content you're creating
the future. I know everybody else is, and I have
no doubt that you will be changing people's lives with
your gift. Thanks for listening to veterans. You should know
(34:03):
to hear more inspiring stories of perseverance and camaraderie. Check
out all our episodes, including those from season one, featuring
veterans who have overcome incredible obstacles and found renewed purpose
in their civilian lives. If you enjoyed this episode, please
rate and review the podcast. We would love to hear
from you. You can listen to the show on the
(34:24):
I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen
to your favorite podcast. Veterans you Should Know as a
special four parts series from I Heart Radio and hosted
by me Rob Wriggle. Our show is written and produced
by Molly Sosia, Nikkia Swinton, and Jackie Perez, with assistance
from Quincy Fuller. The show is edited, sound designed and
(34:47):
mixed by James Foster and Matt Stillham.
Please be advised the following episode contains references to violence
and may not be suitable for all audiences. Welcome to
Veterans you should Know a podcast from My Heart Radio
that celebrates the men and women who have honorably answered
a call to serve their country and the armed forces.
(00:23):
I'm Rob Real, actor, comedian, and former Marine raw In
this special series Honoring Veterans Day, I'll be speaking with
four incredible veterans as they detail challenges they've faced and
how their experiences in military service served them in their
everyday civilian lives. The therapist that I talked to you
(00:43):
at this VET center, she was very very good at
explaining the science behind PTSD, and so she said, you
mentioned to me that you you'd like to sing, and
that you were writing songs in your car when you
were homeless and doing this in that right, and she said,
you know, you can use that as a form of
natural therapy for your depression, in your anxiety. For this episode,
(01:08):
I'm here with fellow Maureene Elliott Mackenzie. Elliott received highly
specialized training as part of the Fleet Anti Terrorism Security
Team and Presidential Support duty. His combat experience during his
deployment to Iraq resulted in post traumatic stress disorder and
severe depression. Music has been a new way forward for Elliott.
(01:32):
He writes to inspire and uses his songs to communicate
his personal experiences, hoping that by sharing his music he
can foster understanding and help others through tough times as well.
(01:53):
Welcome Elliott, Glad you're here. Thanks Rob. How are you doing.
I'm doing great? Thank you. Um. Before we get to
your music career and which is outstanding and I'm very
proud of you, I would like to go back. Since
we are this is a veterans you should know. We
we want to talk obviously about your time in the military,
(02:13):
time in the Marine Corps and the army. How did
you find your way to the military. How did your
life and the military begin. So my journey with the
military began in junior high. Actually, do you remember that
famous Marine Corps commercial with the marine standing on that
bridge with the dragon? Yeah, exactly, So that commercial is
(02:39):
what got me. If you the Proud the Marine, that
commercial is what drew me in and what attracted me
to the Marine Corps initially, and then from there it
was just a good fit because I was really physically
active so I was physically fit, I played football, I
(03:01):
was in sports. I just I like to work out myself.
So I felt like culturally the Marine Corps was a
good fit for me. It's something that can make my
family proud. And then also it would buy me some
time because I didn't really know myself when I was
in high school and junior high. Didn't know what I
wanted to do with my life. I hadn't really figured
that part out yet. I knew that college probably wasn't
(03:24):
really an option, and so I figured, Hey, I've wanted
to be a marine since I was in junior high.
Let's go into the Marine Corps. And it's a good
fit for me too. So that's kind of what led
me to becoming a marine. That's awesome. Uh, And I
know what you're talking about. I've had I've actually okay,
I go back to the first thing, that commercial. I've
talked to a couple of marines that have said that
commercial was one of the reasons that hooked him in earlier.
(03:45):
So that's so funny you said that too. Now you joined.
Let's go back, so we get a time frame on this.
You joined, We're talking around two thousand three, so pretty
much right at the beginning of the major hostilities. I
know we were engaged is Afghanistan two thousand two two,
but two thousand three, ye is when Iraq started, and
(04:05):
that's about the time you joined. What did your family
think about you joining a Marine Corps right at the
threshold of what appeared to be some major wars going forward?
So my mom was not thrilled, right, but she knew
that I wanted to be a marine from a young age.
(04:28):
I had all the Marine Corps mooto stuff from the
recruiter's office in my room. Even after Iraq and Leven
happened and we went to war, she knew that wasn't
going to prevent me from going in, so she kind
of prepared for it, and she kind of told me, like,
I know this is what you want to do, but
I also know that we're in the middle of al
war right now that just started, so I'm kind of nervous,
(04:50):
But this is your dream. Go get your dream. My
mom was very supportive. I was raised by a single
mother who was an amazing parent. She adopted myself along
with three other kids, and gave us lives that we
would have never had without her. Oh my gosh. I'm
grateful for her to this day. The support was always
there from the beginning, with a little hesitation because she
knew that I was gonna be possibly going to Iraq,
(05:12):
which I ended up doing. Wow, what an amazing lady
to adopt as a single mother and take on the
challenge of raising truly inspirational I. But she's a very
special lady. Oh yeah, absolutely, and she was probably very
worried about her baby. Listen, the youngest of all. He's
going off to war. That's a big deal. Elliot knew
(05:36):
he wanted to be a Marine since the ninth grade,
so he enthusiastically signed up as soon as he could,
but he still had his senior year of high school
to complete the Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program a k
A depth allowed him to train for an entire year
before heading to boot camp. During this time, Elliott learned
(05:58):
the expectations of what it meant to be a marine,
allowing him to put his feet in the yellow footprints,
a term that signifies the first step of a transition
into a United States Marine. All his preparation paid off,
and Elliott was selected for presidential support duty, an elite
(06:18):
team of security Forces who are charged with the protection
of the president of the United States, not your everyday assignments.
Before he could go on to such specialized training, he
had to complete the second phase after boot Camp s
o I, the School of Infantry. So this is where
my story in the Marine Corp gets kind of interesting.
(06:41):
While I was in recruit training, one of my drill
instructors pulls me aside and he's like, you've been selected
for this unique job. Go here at this time tomorrow
and I'm like, Roger that sir. I show up and
there's other recruits in the room. There's probably about fifteen
of us, and they basically tell us, you guys have
been selected for what's called Presidential support duty or Yankee
(07:02):
White as submarines might know it. So the process for
that is you go to recruit training, you graduate, you
go to s o I. But then after s o I,
I went to Security Forces training because Yankee White is
part of security forces. So you have to go into
Security Forces school and become a security Marine before you
can go into Presidential support duty. So for people at
(07:25):
home that might not know security forces, that includes embassy
type security duties. It includes guarding nukes, with the Navy.
Uh so it's really high profile, a little more advanced
security training than you know, your rank and file marine
would receive by far right, So I go to Security
(07:46):
Forces training and then I got orders to the wrong
place somehow. The staff at the Security Forces school got
me orders to a FAST platoon. So FAST is another
element of Security Forces and it an acronym and it
stands for Fleet Anti Terrorism Security Team. And basically, in
a nutshell, what FAST is, it's a Marine Corps squat
(08:08):
team that's trained to go into buildings like embassies and
take them back if they've been taken over, like recently
there was the Iraq embassy that was taken over. They
sent it, I believe it was three FAST platoons to
go in there and take it back. That's a lot
of specialized training it is. It was actually really fun.
The training with FAST was a lot of fun. And
(08:28):
then I got sent to my primary MS which was
three eleven at Camp Pendleton's and that's when I went
to Iraq. In two thousand five, Elliott was ordered to
the first Battalion, fifth Marines. Up unto that point, his
duties that kept in state side. His new assignment a
combat deployment to Iraq. So what happens you joined one
(08:52):
five and you go to Iraq? Holy cal Um, can
you tell us about that? What was that experience? Like?
Joining one five was unique because, like I said, I
had been in security forces for a little bit and
that was where my experience was. The fleet as we
call it, which is basically all the infantry battions in
the Marine Corps, is different in the fact that the
(09:14):
I guess, the level of camaraderie is brought up because
those are the battalions that are going to combat in Iraq, Afghanistan, etcetera.
So I got there and it was like an instant
brotherhood and I loved that about it. I was like
brought right in. So I get there in two thousand
five and early, like January two five, and then we
leave for Ramadi in I think it was in March
(09:35):
two thousand five. So two months later I'm in Ramadi, Iraq,
and I'm in combat. It was a very quick turnaround,
a very quick turnaround. And as you transition from state
side and prepping for deployment, and then within the blank
of an eye, it feels like you find yourself walking
(09:55):
the streets of Ramadi, and I'm sure that you have
some harrowing experience this is over there with the insurgents,
the terrorists, all kinds, all kinds of people over their
cousin hate and discontent, especially during that time frame when
you found yourself on the pointy end of the spear,
as they say, and you're you're out on patrol. What
(10:15):
were you thinking? I mean, did you feel like you
were ready when you got there? So I have a
story for you. So it's kind of funny. So the
moment that that lightbulb went off, when I kind of
realized that, I was like, oh crap, I'm really in combat.
This isn't training anymore. So we get there and one
of the first things I'm thinking is I gotta go
to the bathroom. So I jumped to a porter potty
(10:37):
and I'm in this porter potty and I'm doing a
number two, and all of a sudden, I hear this
weird whistling sound is feed. I'm like, what is that?
And then all of a sudden I hear boom and
a mortar went off. I'm guessing it was probably about
fifty yards maybe Les's probably like between thirty and fifty
yards away. From my porter potty on the base and
(11:00):
the door flew open. The ground started shaking a little
bit during the explosion, like the rocks and the inside
the porter party flew up, and I was like, oh crap, Okay,
this is real, Like this isn't training anymore, Like that
was a real explosion, Like okay. So that was when
I kind of like flipped from like okay, I was
in training mode to like, okay, this is actual combat now. Yeah,
(11:21):
there's a moment when either a bullet goes by or
mortar hits close by, that you realize someone's trying to
hurt you. And it's different. It's just different. Um. I
assumed that you you finished your dump pretty quickly. Oh yeah,
I Um, I pulled my pants up and then I
ran straight over to the where my platoon was and
I was like, what was that you guys? So yeah
(11:43):
it was that was at that moment. I never wanted
you never want to die on the craper. So tell
us about your missions if you would real quick. Uh,
you we found yourself over there on foot patrols, you said,
a lot, and and where are you looking for weapons? Caches?
Where you looking for bad guy? Is? Were you just
doing security to make sure your perimeter was safe. Like
(12:04):
what what did you find yourself doing most of the
time when you were out there and really exposed. You know,
in this type of war, as we learned with I. E. D. S,
and there is no necessarily front everywhere. It's a three
sixty battle space, So everywhere you look in turn, there's
danger everywhere, which is causes a whole another level of
anxiety exactly. So when you're over there, your radar, as
(12:27):
I like to call it, is completely on twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week, your anxieties through
the roof your your level of awareness is super high.
So our average day would consist of three two to
three foot patrols. And so the r o E or
the rules of engagement over there were that we were
not allowed to fire or shoot until we were shot
(12:49):
at first. We'd go into foot patrol and just wait
to get shot at. That was how we operated because
we couldn't find the enemy until they found us first.
If we did, then we'd engage and we get into firefights,
and if we didn't, then it was just to walk
around Ramadi. We came back and that was probably about
(13:10):
ninety five of it. The other five percent we had
specific missions, like specific targets that we would go look for,
specific people that we would go look for, or we
would also do i e. D. Sweeps with the army. Wow.
So you had a full deployment, a lot of action,
a lot of kinnectic environment that you had to live
(13:31):
in every day. Uh and being outside the wire being
exposed constantly. When did you decide to that you you
were going to transition back to civilian life. That decision
got made probably about six months before I ended up
getting out. Stay tuned for more of Elliott's story after
(13:55):
the break Welcome back to veterans you should know. So
after Ramadi, we went to Okanhawa, Japan. One of my
(14:19):
marines who knew that I liked to see, introduced me
to a marine who was stationed in Okinawa who was
a music producer and he had like a small recording
studio set up in his barracks room, and so he
was like, you guys should work together. I know you
like to sing, he's a producer. Make it happen. And
I ended up recording an entire album with this person,
along with some other Marines who were rappers and that
(14:41):
kind of like I guess you could say, lit a
fire in me to kind of like pursue music. And
that's when that really kind of like started. And there
was a program at the time where if you got
accepted to a college, you could actually get out of
the Marine Corps up to six months earlier than your
contract states. So I took advantage of that resource. So
I ended up getting out of the Marine Corps because
of that. So I got accepted to Musicians Institute in Hollywood,
(15:05):
and I got out three months early. When I got
back from Okinawa, I kind of like really decided to
pursue music, and that's when it happened. So that's awesome
because I too chose a life in the Marines and
the arts, and so I have a great appreciation for
what you're describing because that first taste, that first taste
(15:28):
of it, because I I was a fan of comedy
my whole life, but I never did anything until I did.
And then once you do it, at first now I
hated it, but then I realized that it was bigger
than me and it was a calling almost as you
transition out. That transition is tough for a lot of veterans,
for multiple reasons, whether it's post traumatic stress disorder, whether
(15:52):
it's actual physical wounds from the battlefield, whether it's just
an ability to assimilate back to a civilian world after
coming out of such a high intensity military world. Also,
we have a lot of veterans that I've talked to
that feel a sense of isolation because there was such
a brotherhood, there was such a connection with the people
they served with, and then they go back to the
(16:13):
civilian world and they can't find that deep connection and
they get isolated. Tell us about your transition. So my
transition out of the Marine Corps was extremely difficult. I
first started noticing the anger issues immediately when I got out.
I got out in two thousand seven, and I think
(16:36):
it was a couple of months after I got out
I started noticing I was constantly piste off for no
reason at all. For example, I'll be walking in a
grocery store or something, or somewhere where there's a crowded
place and somebody would accidentally bump into me or something
like that. Them bumping aem me would piss me off
and make me want to fight that complete stranger for
(16:57):
absolutely no reason. So my adrenaline was super high, my
anger was super high. My hyper awareness was always on,
just like I was back in Ramadi. I was always
worried about somebody attacking me from behind, from the left,
from the right, from anywhere. So I would always have
my head on a swivel. I felt like that switch
you turn on when you go to combat. I never
(17:19):
turned it back off. It just stayed on forever. And
I went to Musicians Institute for a couple of months,
but I couldn't really focus and I couldn't really succeed,
so I dropped out and I ended up going back
home and just kind of like working random jobs here
and there. So the transition was really difficult with my
(17:40):
mental illness. And then just remembering that I was a
civilian again. Wow, that that would be incredibly challenging. And
I know what it's like to stay in a fight
or flight mode where you're peak awareness. And if you
stay at that level, when you're constantly in fight or flight,
you're the physiology of your body. It's so hard on
(18:01):
your body to be in that state. And mentally it's
hard to be in that state because as you fatigue,
you get angry, and then you know the slightest. You know,
a cool breeze that hits you in the wrong way
could piss you off. And it's inexplicable because you're aware
of yourself to a certain degree. You know that that's
not right, but you still can't help but want to
(18:22):
lash out. So what happened from there is this two
thousand eight? Are you still struggling with this? So this
is still two thousand seven. This is probably late two
thousand seven, And I guess it all came to a
head when I was at home getting ready for a job.
I was working as a security guard at the time,
and me and my older brother got into a verbal argument.
(18:45):
That verbal argument turned physical, and it was just me,
my mom, and my older brother living at home at
the time, and this physical altercation was happening in the
living room. My mom comes out of her bedroom because
she hears all the commotion and she sees her two
big son's physically fighting, are about to physically fight in
the living room. I grab a kitchen knife and I
(19:07):
started brandishing this kitchen knife at my brother, saying I'm
gonna I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna stab you. Leave
me the hell alone. Blah. Blah blah, and my mom
freaks out and she calls the police. So I end
up throwing the kitchen knife across the room and just
walking out and like, f this, I'm gonna go to work.
I'm out of here by and I see my mom
on the phone with the police, so I kind of
knew they were coming. So I'm walking to work. A
(19:30):
Sheriff's department vehicle comes up and says, are you Elliott McKenzie. Yes,
put your hands behind your back, et cetera, et cetera.
So I get put in handcuffs. They drive me back
to the house and luckily the sergeant on that call
was an Army veteran, and he spoke to my mom,
spoke to me, kind of got some background about what
happened about my history, and he goes to me. He's like,
(19:50):
I'm gonna give you two options. Your mom told me
that you are a Marine Corps veteran who came back
from Iraq and you've been having some angry issues and
some things like that since you've been home. I think
you might have pt D and you haven't figured it
out yet. So you have two options. Like one, I
can charge you with assault, with a deadly weapon for
throwing the knife at your brother, or I think you
need some help, and I can drive you to the
(20:10):
v A myself. Because I'm an army veteran, I understand,
and I want to see if the v A can
get you some help. So obviously I took the second option.
I said, drive me to the v A, see if
they can get me some help. So he did that,
and I think that's what ended up kind of like
saving my life in a way, one of the one
of the many things that ended up kind of helping
me out. So he drove me to the v A
that evaluated me, figured out that I had PTSD and
(20:33):
a whole bunch of other issues. And when I got released,
I called my mom my brother. I said, Hey, I'm released.
Can I come back home. They were like, we're scared
of you now after what happened. We don't think we
can trust that you're not going to do that again.
We're kind of worried about your condition. We don't know.
So I had nowhere to go, so I ended up
just sleeping in my car for like, I want to say,
(20:55):
a week and half, almost two weeks, and I didn't
know about resources back then, so that's why I didn't
I think I had any other options. So finally, after
the two weeks in my car, I'm like, I gotta
do something. I can't live in my car forever. I
had the number when they released me from that hospital.
They gave me phone numbers, said hey, if you need anything,
call us. So they ended up connecting me to a
nonprofit organization that has transitional housing for homeless veterans. And
(21:19):
I got lucky and I got a spot at one
of their transitional housing facilities in Long Beach and I
ended up living in that transitional housing place for about
a year and a half. What a blessing though, that
that police officer and former veteran recognized and took the
time to ask the right questions to get you some help.
(21:42):
God bless you know, veterans looking out for each other. Yeah, absolutely,
because that's what that sounds like to me. And it
gave you it sounds like a better option obviously in jail,
and gave you a chance to maybe understand more about
yourself and your situation. Wow, what a journey that. That
must have been a hard couple of weeks in your car. Yeah,
(22:04):
it was. I would have to go to a local
park to take showers. There was a park that had
a swimming pool that was open to the public, so
I'd go there to take showers. I'd sleep in my
back seat. I would write songs in my car when
I was having a bad day, when I was having
you know, just I just wanted to get something off
my chest. And then I'd played like a beat through
the speakers in the car, and I'd sing to that beat,
(22:25):
and I'd write the lyrics on a piece of paper.
That was how I spent a good amount of my
time every day, was just doing that, just to kind
of get things off my chest. What an amazing way
for you, in your solitude and in your you know,
moment of pain, but also discovery that you were able
to find this creative outlet, this wonderful creative voice inside
(22:49):
of you that needed to come out and buy a
necessity almost it did come out. While living at a
homeless shelter, Elliott maneuvered from job to job, but his
PTSD made it challenging to hold down a steady one
for any long stretch of time. He ended up leaving
the shelter and moving in with an old high school friend.
(23:11):
Who had an available couch. That couch was Elliot's bed
for a year until he eventually moved back in with
his family. He also discovered the post nine eleven g
I Bill, a benefit to honorably discharged veterans to pursue
higher education. After three years of attending junior college and
(23:32):
trying to get his life back on track, Elliot's depression
and PTSD overwhelmed his studies and he dropped out. But
it was a turning point for Elliott and he realized
that after five years of living with these feelings after
leaving the Marine Corps, it's time to get help. So
(23:55):
I got lucky in the fact that the therapist that
I talked to at this VET center, she was a
former Marine, She was a sergeant in the Wrinkle herself,
and she was very very good at explaining the science
behind PTSD. Basically it came down to this. She was like,
give me the laundry list of symptoms that you're experiencing
and tell me about what you experienced sin Ramadi, and
(24:15):
she said, I'm gonna break down each of these symptoms
for you, Explain why you're doing them, Explain the science
behind how they're happening in your brain and then connect
them to what you experienced cin Romati. And that's when
the light bulb kind of went off for me because
she explained why I was doing what I was doing.
And so she said, you mentioned to me that you
(24:37):
you like to sing and that you were writing songs
in your car when you were homeless and doing this
and that right, And I was like, yeah, music has
been a big part of my life since I was young.
And she said, you know, you can use that as
a form of natural therapy for your depression, in your anxiety.
She explained the science behind adrenaline and endorphins and how
performing on stage you release endorphins in your brain. And
(24:58):
she taught me about how endorphins or the natural fighter
of depression specifically and anxiety. When I'm performing or when
I'm writing songs and I'm singing, I'm not depressed anymore.
I'm I'm feeling good. I'm I'm getting that out of me.
It's like flushing the toxic energy out of your system. Absolutely,
she was like, you can use that. She's like, go songwright, sing,
(25:20):
try to get book to perform record music. Used that
as a natural way to combat what you're going through.
And so I took that information and I just ran
with it. I started writing my butt off, I started marketing,
I started reaching out to people in the music industry
telling them about myself, started performing in l A and
all of Socow and it was working. That's what started
(25:45):
my positive progress, and that's what started saving my life.
Fast forward two years, two fifteen comes around and I
feel like I'm better enough to go back into college.
So I re enrolled in college, the same college that
I had just dropped out of two years earlier. Two
thousand sixteen comes and I ended up graduating with my
(26:05):
associates degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis and behavioral science.
And I ended up going from failing grades to nothing
but straight a's and straight bes, and I graduated on
the Dean's list, And it was amazing transition. That's a
total transition, right, So it was like day and night
like I was super depressed, super failing, and then I
ended up using the music to turn my life around.
(26:26):
And I went from f to as and b's and
I transferred to a university and same thing there, got
nothing but straight ais and straight bes. And I ended
up graduating with my bachelor's degree in two thousand eighteen
in behavioral science. That's fantastic. Wow, what a journey, thanks brother.
What a journey and a triumphant one too, in my opinion,
(26:46):
to go through all of that, to hit those lows
and then come back and hit those highs. I think
it was Booker T. Washington who said judgment man's accomplishments
by the obstacles he had to overcome to get there.
And so you know, we use that as our gauge.
You have overcome so much. So what you've achieved is
truly truly remarkable. Thank you. What is your advice to
(27:10):
veterans that are one young people that are thinking about
joining the military and to those who are leaving the
military to pursue a life, whether it's in the arts
or just leaving the military to go on into civilian life.
So the high school students who want to join the military,
and to their parents, I would say this, there are
a lot of students who are thinking about college as
(27:32):
an option. The post nine eleven g I Bill is
an amazing resource to tackle that and not be in debt.
I have three degrees now, my associates degree that I got,
my bachelor's and then I also went back and got
a certificate in peer mentorship. I'm zero dollars in debt
because of that. So you've got two paths. You can
take high school straight to college. You've got to pay
(27:54):
for it on your own. Right now, you're in debt
thousands of dollars. After you've got your bachelor's degree or
your master's degree or whatever degree you end up with,
or join the military for four or five years, get
an honorable discharge, take advantage of the resource that's there,
the post loving g I Bill. Now your education is
paid for and you get a paycheck on top of that.
School is your job, so you can focus on the
(28:15):
school and you can do really well. And then there's
a ton of resources when you get out that you
can utilize to make sure that your life is successful,
including the g I Bill, amongst many others. And then
the advice that I would give to veterans who want
to get out and go into the arts. The way
that it happened for me was completely natural and completely unexpected.
After all that happened in two thousand and seventeen, I
(28:37):
wanted to write a song telling people about the combat
and the PTSD experience for US combat veterans. And so
I wrote a song called Gunshots, and I did a
music video for that song, which is on YouTube. And
that's when it happened for me. I wasn't doing that
(28:59):
song and music video and hopes like, oh, I want
to become famous. No, I was doing it because I
was like, I wanted to use it as therapy for
myself and then educate the general population about what combat
veterans go through. And that music video ended up exploding
pretty much, and that's what put me on the map.
So I would say, do it for a reason that's
really close to your heart, that doesn't include fame or money.
(29:23):
It's just something that you care about, like a cause
that you care about some maybe a story that you
want to tell through whatever art you do. And I'm
now in a position where I'm blessed to be able
to inspire people worldwide through my story and my music.
My inspiration now is my fans, So I'm trying to
inspire and motivate as many people as I can. Good.
(29:44):
Keep it up because it means a lot. Not to
be overly dramatic, but you're saving lives every day. Somebody's
gonna hear that message right when they need to hear it.
Trust me. Yeah, I actually have so these two. I
have tattoos on my arms. So this is a quote
from a fan who's a here in an Army veteran
and it says, just her ju new album, it saved
(30:04):
my life. This was a comment that I got on
my YouTube. And then this one is actually a message
that I got on Facebook from another Army veteran fan
and they're basically veterans who were suicidal and they listened
to my album my first one therapy session and they
decided not to kill themselves. That was one of those
moments when I realized, this is my purpose, this is
what I'm here for. I'm meant to try to save
(30:25):
lives through my platform. That's fantastic. We'll keep doing it
because it's working clearly. Thanks brother. What's coming down the road?
What can we look forward to? Because I'm really excited
to hear what projects you got going. And then the
last thing is you've got this audience, You've got a
chance to to give them one nugget of wisdom that
they can put in their pocket and say, wow, I'm
probably gonna carry that around for the rest of my life.
(30:47):
So my album came out earlier this year. A Therapy
Session came out in March, and that's sixteen songs of
beautiful music. I like to call it a mix of
R and B music and inspirational songs with the purpose
of inspiring people to get through those hurdles that they
might be going through, whether their veterans or not. My
(31:07):
next single is called be You, and it's releasing on
October twelfth, and it's a song that's inspiring people to
be themselves, to discover who they are at their core
and be proud of that. So this single is going
to be part of my next project I'm and I'm
gonna call it follow Up. And then I'm working with
Veteran Television right now on a Grunts Live Season two.
(31:28):
I was in a Grunts Live Season one, one of
the principal characters, and so I'm just working my butt off,
just trying to be successful. And then the advice that
I would give to veterans. Honestly, the thing that's really
changed my life most recently is coming to terms with
who I am as an adult, as a person, as
a man, as a veteran, as a recording artist. I've
(31:52):
had a tough time over the years of accepting who
I am and really just learning about me because, as
you know in the in the Marine course specifically, it's
all about your brother and your sister, to your left
and your right, it's not about self. When you get
to a point where you know yourself, you know what
your purpose in the world is, and you know what
truly makes you you and makes you happy, nothing can
(32:14):
bother you and nothing will ever get to the point
where you're getting like stressed out or anything like that,
because you're always happy because you know your life's purpose.
I couldn't agree more. I I could not agree more.
I know thyself is one of mine. I even have
a necklace on that says know thyself. So I believe
(32:35):
that wholeheartedly because I think once you do know yourself
and all the ways you just described, you start going
with the grain instead of against it, and life gets
so much easier and it gets so much more joyful. Yes,
thank you for your service, Thank you for your your
journey and for sharing your journey and being so open
and honest with us today and your inspiration through your music,
(32:56):
And what a joy to meet you today. Uh whom.
Everybody can google you, Elliott mackenzie. They can also uh
find you on social media. I have no doubt. People,
I hope you stay, Start looking for your album, start
looking for follow up when that's ready. It's all very exciting.
I think we're gonna hear a lot more from you.
We need more marines out here, uh, filling up the
(33:17):
airwaves and the and the silver screen. So that's the plan.
Thank you, Elliott, Thank you for being here and joining us.
I really appreciate it was an honor to meet you today. Hey,
thank you brother, thank you for your service to absolutely man. Hey,
a big thank you to Elliott mackenzie for sharing a
story of service. Congratulations on your release of the new
(33:40):
single b You and working on your second album. I'm
very excited to see the music and content you're creating
the future. I know everybody else is, and I have
no doubt that you will be changing people's lives with
your gift. Thanks for listening to veterans. You should know
(34:03):
to hear more inspiring stories of perseverance and camaraderie. Check
out all our episodes, including those from season one, featuring
veterans who have overcome incredible obstacles and found renewed purpose
in their civilian lives. If you enjoyed this episode, please
rate and review the podcast. We would love to hear
from you. You can listen to the show on the
(34:24):
I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen
to your favorite podcast. Veterans you Should Know as a
special four parts series from I Heart Radio and hosted
by me Rob Wriggle. Our show is written and produced
by Molly Sosia, Nikkia Swinton, and Jackie Perez, with assistance
from Quincy Fuller. The show is edited, sound designed and
(34:47):
mixed by James Foster and Matt Stillham.
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