April 26, 2024 • 28 mins
Debbie Lee lost her son Marc on August 2nd 2006 He was the first Navy Seal killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom Less than a year later, she held a picture of her heroic son while standing onstage with other Gold Star family members behind Tim McGraw as he performed a new song called "If You're Reading This" on national television Knowing he won't be returning home, the poignant song is a soldier's last letter to his wife and family It received a long tearful standing ovation from the audience at the Acadamy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas
The next morning Tim Hattrick was supposed to interview Debbie about her son and the experience on stage with the country superstar, but he couldn't He was overcome by the powerful emotion of the the song and Debbie's story and he couldn't speak
17 years later, Tim finally got the chance to make good on that missed interview Debbie Lee talks about Marc's spirit, kindness and bravery and how her joke-telling "class clown turned warrior" made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of his platoon mates She tells Tim how she turned the pain of of losing Marc into America's Mighty Warriors- an organization that serves Gold Star families, active duty military and their families and Veterans Finally she shares the story of that powerful night onstage with Tim McGaw while a national tv audience, and Tim Hattrick, watched and wept
The next morning Tim Hattrick was supposed to interview Debbie about her son and the experience on stage with the country superstar, but he couldn't He was overcome by the powerful emotion of the the song and Debbie's story and he couldn't speak
17 years later, Tim finally got the chance to make good on that missed interview Debbie Lee talks about Marc's spirit, kindness and bravery and how her joke-telling "class clown turned warrior" made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of his platoon mates She tells Tim how she turned the pain of of losing Marc into America's Mighty Warriors- an organization that serves Gold Star families, active duty military and their families and Veterans Finally she shares the story of that powerful night onstage with Tim McGaw while a national tv audience, and Tim Hattrick, watched and wept
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
I'm Tim Hatrick and this is iHeartCommunities. In two thousand and seven,
a performance by country singer Tim McGrawlive on the Academy of Country Music Awards
left everyone in tears. Dressed inblack on a darkened stage, Tim sang
a heartbreaking song about a letter writtenby a soldier to his wife and family,
delivered after he had been killed inaction. Fury nes Ma Mama Sidney
(00:28):
Luksau on a god one way toget a read. What made the moment
even more powerful, Near the endof the song, the lights came up,
revealing one hundred gold Star family memberswho'd recently lost a loved one in
the war. The song, andespecially those mothers and fathers, wives and
(00:50):
kids received a long, tearful standingovation Furyves Collodi. The very next morning
(01:12):
on our radio show, we triedto do an interview with a Valley mom
who'd been one of the people onstage with Tim McGraw the night before because
she'd lost a son who was servingin Iraq. And I say we tried
because after listening to the song andhearing the crowd's reaction, I was so
overcome by emotion I couldn't speak.I couldn't even make it through her introduction,
(01:38):
so unfortunately we cut the interview short. Well, I'm happy to say
that today I get another try atit. My special guest is Debbie Lee,
founder of America's Mighty Warriors and themom of Mark Allen Lee, whose
picture she was holding on stage withTim McGraw that night. Debbie, thanks
for being here. First of all, Mark was Kia August second of two
thousand and six, meaning that nightin this was less than a year later,
(02:00):
and what was going on there,I imagine your emotions must have been
very raw. It was still veryraw. It brought so many emotions and
it still does today when I hearthat there's tears and I get a lump
in my throat, but very powerfulsong. Tim got it right, Yeah
he did, and you somehow managedto take the pain of losing your son
and turn it into something so great. America's Mighty Warriors dot Org. We're
(02:23):
going to find out all the thingsyou do for gold Star families, active
duty military and veterans. But let'sstart with Mark. Tell me about your
son. Yeah, he was mythird born child. I have a son
and a daughter that were before him, but he was always was a giggly,
happy, smiley, amazing sense ofhumors. He brought so much joy
into our life. Ended up gettingclass clown two years in a row as
(02:44):
junior year and senior year, andI'm like, okay, this is going
to get you to college. HowBut so many great memories of him and
his joy and just very much wouldbe if you were the underdog and being
bullied or picked on, he woulduse that humor to walk alongside you and
deflate that difficult situation that could begoing through. But what a blessing,
what a gift he was, andhe left lots of us, lots of
(03:06):
fun memories to remember him by.On your website is the last letter sent
home from your son about two weeksbefore he was killed. He's a Navy
seal, so obviously he's an amazingwarrior, but in that letter you see
he is a class clown. It'sreally He ends his letter with to my
family and friends, do me afavor, pass on the kindness, the
love, the precious gift to humanlife. And as you said, one
of the toughest warriors we have inAmerica and one of the most kind,
(03:30):
compassionate carrying men as well, andhow God got those all mixed in one
body together is pretty amazing. Hedid something that's just incredible to me.
He was training to become a Navyseal and he quit or rang the bell.
Yeah, it's very humbling when youdo that and you choose to quit
and give up. Yeah, thatseems impossible, like it's never happened before.
Yeah, they're not very open,don't want you quit, to allow
(03:52):
you to come back, because again, like I said, how did they
know you're not just going to dothat again? Obviously seals have to be
physically tough and strong, but psychologicalyour teammates have to know that you're going
to be there when they need youmost. How on earth did Mark in
another chance? He went through classtwo three nine and an hour before he
would have been rolled forward and beenable to continue with his class, they
(04:14):
had done a medcheck on him andfound that he had pneumonia and he had
pulmonary edemus, so he had waterinside the lungs and water outside the lungs.
Even at that point when they saidthey were going to have to pull
him, He's like, no,no, no, I got this,
I can do this, And theysaid no, we had a guy die
two classes to go with exactly whatyou have, we cannot allow you to
go through. So he had abow out of his original class because of
his health, and he joined thenext seal class. And what happened there?
(04:39):
It was hell week Monday night,and he called me and he said,
Mom, I rang the bell.And I'm like, no, you
did not. I know how badyou wanted this, you know, And
the joke stirred that he was.I'm like, he's playing with me,
and he's like, Mom, I'mserious. I rang the bell again.
I just kind of blew him offand he's like, Mom, it's Monday
night, a hell week. Iwouldn't have privileges to call you if I
(04:59):
was still in And I'm like,oh, you're right. And so he
got assigned to the USS Eisenhower inVirginia Beach, but was in dry docks.
So he was driving a shuttle busfor the army. I have a
picture of him with his head onthis huge steering wheel and you know,
his head on his hand, like, oh my gosh, what happened to
me? Yeah, And I rememberhim calling me and saying, Mom,
I made a mistake. I'm likewhat'd you do now, you know?
(05:20):
And he's like, I shouldrang thebell? And I said, are you
sure you're positive that's where he's supposedto be. You prayed about this and
he's like, yep, that's wherewe're supposed to be. Mama, like,
you get your butt back there,then you do whatever it takes.
If that's where you're supposed to be. You know, if you're not happy,
you're going to come home and kickthe dog, yell at your wife.
Nobody's going to be happy. Ifthat's where God designed you, you
need to get back there and doit. It took a year. He
(05:41):
had to go through extra evals,physical training, meeting with officers and rightfully,
so, how did they know you'renot just gonna quit again? But
he was in running for honorman hisplatoon. He wasn't the one selected to
be honorman, but he got histriedent and class two five to one.
My guest is Debbie Lee, founderof America'smighty Warriors dot org and mom to
Mark Lee, the first Navy sealkilled in Iraq in August of two thousand
(06:03):
and six. Me, if youdon't mind take me through marks last day
August second, two thousand and six. You know, as you can imagine
as a parent, worst day ofmy life, the day that we found
out that Mark had given his lifeto defend, to save his teammates and
defend the freedoms that we enjoy eachand every day. But he had been
fighting an intense firefight for two hours. They had been in the rooftop.
(06:24):
As you mentioned, Ramadi was wherehe was killed back in two thousand and
six. That's where the majority ofour casualties were coming from. If there
wasn't at least one a day,there were two, three, four every
day coming out of Ramadi. Mark'steammates said that was the hell hole of
Iraq, or the worst piece ofreal estate over there. It's portrayed in
the movie American Sniper in that scenethere, but they're on that rooftop.
(06:44):
Marx buddy Ryan had been severely injured. The bullets had hit his weapons,
so he had severe shrapnel injuries tothe head and he dropped to the ground.
There were four seals on that rooftop. Two of them quickly dropped to
their knees to help Ryan. Markcould have made that very seem choice that
day, but his choice was tostand up in the direct line of fire
right where Ryan had just got shot, hoping that he could lay down some
(07:06):
suppressive fire to be able to getthe medica up to the rooftop. And
he was able to do that.The medic got up there and took one
look at Ryan and so we gotto get him out of here immediately.
There's no chance for survival. It'snot just once by himself. A second
time again, he did that andstood up in the direct line of fire
again to provide that cover so theycould move Ryan off down off the rooftop,
(07:28):
and they got him down, senthim off for medical attention, and
they climbed into their Bradley's and headedback to that base, which I'm proud
to tell you was named Camp MarkLee and his memory, and I got
to visit there. I'm the firstgold Star mom in history to be in
the combat zone. My first tripin two thousand and seven, I went
over to Camp Mark Lee. Actuallywent on patrol three different times with the
first of the fourth Calve in theDoor neighborhood outside of Baghdad. But as
(07:50):
I went there, I got tosee where Mark slept, where he walked,
where he spent his last days beforehe went out on his mission and
brought back some of the soil fromthat base and remembered him. But as
they got back to that base,you know, I knew Chris Kyle well,
and later he told me that Ithought probably Ryan couldn't have survived those
injuries. And they're waiting for thehospital to call and give them that information.
(08:15):
And you know, we've watched ourNavy seals do some absolutely amazing things.
At times they seem superhuman to us. But those are my boys now,
They're just as real as you orI are. And as they got
some water to fresh themselves and theytook their gear off, the chief came
in and said, we just foundthirty of the insurgents that just attacked us.
And without hesitation, Mark said Rogerthat let's go get them. They've
(08:37):
done their mission for the day.I've been to Camp Mark Lee. I
know there's a marine base on theother side, a big marine base.
If it would have been me,I'd have said, go get some marines
that are fresh and gong go andready to go today. But that's not
who these guys are. And sothey climbed in their bradleys and they headed
back to that god forsaken place.They cleared several buildings and they went in
(08:58):
the last building. Mark would bein the bottom of it. And they
started up the stairs and they heardMark yell on me, and that meant
he's saying, I got the leadon this. You guys follow me.
There's something bigger we need to doupstairs. And as they started up those
stairs, they drew fire through awindow, and for the last and final
(09:18):
time, Mark made that decision againto turn into that line of fire to
save his teammates. He could haveducked below the wall. He probably would
have lost half his platoon, buthe made the choice to stand up in
the line of fire and give hislife selflessly. And I'm so proud of
that young man. But as Ican tell you, the most devastating news
(09:39):
that anyone could ever hear when youfind out that you've lost your child.
You mentioned Chris Kyle, who manypeople know from the story and the movie
American Sniper. He and Mark actuallyserved together. Yes, So in that
movie American Sniper, Tay and Chris'scharacters the two main character. Then the
seal that's in the movie next themost that was played by Luke Grimes was
(10:01):
supposed to be Mark. They dida terrible job, literally threw him under
the bus, not his personality,his characters, heroic actions, you know,
other than his name. They usedhis name. But his teammates were
furious at the way he was portrayed, as we were, and they reached
out to History Channel who did adocumentary on Mark called the Story of Mark,
Lee and Charlie Platoon. And that'sthe real story, that's his teammates
(10:24):
telling it. I actually had amore violent physical reaction when I was notified
that Chris had been killed than Idid with Mark. Now, I love
Mark much more than I loved Chris, even though Chris was, you know,
one of my adopted boys, notyou know, legally, but you
know that's Mark's teammates. So they'remy you know sons now too. As
they call you, Mama Lee,that's what. Yeah. And you actually
(10:45):
had a relationship with Chris and StuckFoundation was was working with him, right.
Yes, he talks about us inthe book American Sniper that he did
right before he was killed, andhe talks about me, me and a
Surgut mom, and we were oneof two foundations that he supported, and
so yeah, we were super close. You hear about soldiers returning to the
battlefield at some point, like youknow, World War Two veterans visiting the
(11:05):
beaches of Normandy. You went tothe place where your son gave his life
while it was still an active hotwar zone. What was that like?
Well, my first trip over wasin two thousand and seven and I went
over at Christmas time to take apiece of America over to our troops that
were serving. I didn't go overthere. People like, so'd you feel
like you get closure? I'm like, that's not why I went over there.
(11:26):
I went to love on our troops. Not everybody has that opportunity to
be able to go, like yousaid, in the midst of combat still
happening. It wasn't like I hada death wish and wanted to just go
over. In my life over there, I had talked with Mark's teammates and
said, here's my crazy idea.What do you guys think? And they
said, you know, wow,yeah, we think that's awesome. Mamma
Lee. If you want to go, just make sure you don't do anything
on the ground. If you goanywhere, make sure you take you know,
(11:50):
helicopters to get to the different bases. Of course, when I first
got there, it had taken us. I've been up for about three days
and I went as embedded reporter.Okay, so I got in and so
we knew we were going to haveto wait for our credentials, and they
said, well, probably be aday or so you'll be here. And
I'm like, I'm going to bedand I've been asleep just a couple hours
when they came and woke me upand they said, you know, we've
(12:11):
got a humvee that's going to takeyou to your base where you're going to
be stationed. It's like, I'mnot going to go. Excuse me,
I'm Mark's mom. I need ahelicon. I'm like, no, if
it's good enough for the troops,it's good enough for me. And it
was one of their holidays, Ithink it was called ID and they were
shooting off firecrackers and their guns incelebration. But I didn't know anything.
(12:31):
I didn't know anything different. SoI'm like, okay, I'm in the
combat zone. But it was anamazing opportunity as we work, you know,
through our foundation now with our veterans, to get a glimpse into the
smells, the sounds, what theysaw, the lay of the land.
So when we're working with them,those struggling with post traumatic stress, traumatic
brain injury, we've got that abilityto relate to them on a small scale
(12:54):
to what they went through, whatthey endured, and what they give for
us. Certainly, fighting a waranywhere is unpleasant, but I always think
about how hot it is over there. Yeah, the Daymark died, it
was one hundred and fifteen to onehundred and twenty degrees and he carried one
hundred and eighty pounds. He carriedthe big gun, so he carried more
than most of them do. Buthow you do that in those extreme temperatures
we live here in Phoenix, right, We saw way too many days last
(13:16):
summer over one hundred and ten.But I can guarantee you and I weren't
out carrying one hundred and eighty poundsto anything, no, or having bullets
whiz bias. You know, ifwe were out in those extreme temperatres.
We're in our swimming pool, youknow. And so what our troops give
and the sacrifices they make so thatwe can live free every day is absolutely
amazing. And I never take forgranted, who pays that price for the
(13:37):
freedom so I enjoy every day whenwe come back. I want to find
out about the anxiety you must feelwhen your child is deployed with our special
forces. I'm talking with Debbie Leeof America's Mighty Warriors dot Org. I'm
Tim Patrick, and I'm talking withDebbie Lee of America's Mighty Warriors. She
founded the organization in response to theloss of her son, Mark Lee,
(13:58):
the first Navy seal killed in Iraq. Debbie, when our special forces are
deployed, whether they are Navy Sealslike your son Mark, Army green berets,
arrangers, Marine recon, they're notheaded where it's safe and comfortable,
right, They're always doing the dirtywork, the most dangerous jobs. Emotionally,
what is that like as a parent, day in, day out,
knowing that your son is in harm'sway so far away. For me,
(14:20):
I'm not a worrier of fred erThat's just not my personality. But we
had Mark visit us before he deployedin March. It was actually his birthday's
birthday's March twentieth, and I hadtaken him too. Of the Royals and
the White Sox playing and after theseventh inning, across the marker board,
I had them put up their happytwenty eighth, the birthday, have a
safe deployment, love mom. Andyou know, as he's sitting there watching
(14:41):
the gaming, saw a dog drinkinghis beer and I'm like Mark, Mark,
look and he's like, oh yeahcool. You know, it didn't
seem too excited. But the guysaid when he got back to the base
there he was like, you knowwhat my mom did for me. That's
But as he was leaving that deployment, we were standing out on the lawn
saying goodbye, and my oldest son, Christopher was there with me. As
he pulled away, I said,man, I don't feel good about this,
(15:01):
and he said, neither do IMom, And as I said,
neither one of us. That's notour personalities to be worries or fretters.
I prayed more for Mark than Iprobably prayed for anything in my life,
you know, for his safety.But it's not like every day that a
black car went by that I'm like, oh my gosh, this today the
day is today the day. Butthe night that we found out, I
was actually at my Bible study atmy small group and we'd been celebrating my
(15:24):
birthday, and it had been theweek before, but we hadn't gathered.
And my girlfriend had given me oneof the willow tree angels, and those
are the wooden angels with the wirewings, and each one has a different
character quality, and the one shegave me was courage, and she said,
you just remind me of such awoman of courage with all you've been
through in your life, and yetyou're still positive and you still love God.
And you know, little did weknow how much more courage was going
(15:48):
to be required in the next halfhour. How did you get the terrible
news? And my son Christopher calledme, and nothing in his voice to
alert me. He wasn't crying,he wasn't speaking too fast. He's just
like, hey, mom, ah, are you. I'm like, well,
Wednesday night, my Bible study?Why what's up? And he said,
how long will it take you toget home? And I thought that's
an odd question. I said,I don't know, five minutes, seven
(16:11):
minutes. Why what's up? Andhe said, you just need to come
home. And I knew when hesaid that what was going to face me
when I got home. They hadbeen trying to find me in Oregon.
Mark had died in the morning,and I had moved a couple of years
before Mark was killed down here toArizona. I know he called me an
(16:32):
updated the paperwork. They had thecorrect address, but for whatever reason,
they were trying to find me upin Oregon. And finally, after about
eight hours, one of the neighborssaid, she doesn't even live here anymore.
She lives in Arizona. So typicallywe have in the seal community a
seal you know, CaCO officer andteam member that goes with them, and
usually it's someone close to the lovedone. But because they were afraid I
(16:53):
was going to find out on thenews, they just sent one of the
CAKE officers from Luke Air Force Baseout and a chaplain. And when I
got home, they've been in myhouse for a couple hours because they've been
trying to find me. I guessI'd be a little lucive at times,
but they said, we can tellby being your home and your woman of
faith, and you're going to needto rely on that faith for what to
tell you. Your son, MarkAllen Lee has been killed in action,
(17:15):
and the most devastating news as aparent that you could ever receive. And
yet, being a believer, Iknew my circumstances had drastically changed. But
my God was still the same Godon August second as he was on August
first, and that's where the strengthcame through for me to be able to
sustain and endure it and you know, not be defeated by that. But
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it's a process to go through thegrief. It doesn't just happen quickly.
I just saw amazing things happen inthe strength that he gave me. We
had great support from when we werenotified until you know, the funeral,
and then everybody went back to theirlives. I don't live in San Diego
where the sealed community is. Ilive here. I'm a widow. I've
been a widow for thirty years.So now I'm starting the grieving process by
(17:57):
myself and not one to have apity party for myself. But it was
like, you know what, Ican change this so nobody else has to
go through this alone. That there'ssomeone else there that understands the process.
And I didn't know. Seven weekslater, we lost Mike Monsieur, who's
Delta Platoon, Mark's Sister Platoon,but part of Task Unit Bruiser in the
most highly decorated special Forces unit asfar as I know, still to this
(18:21):
day. Amazing group of men.But I knew I needed to be there.
I didn't know what I was goingto do, but I knew I
needed to be there. And thatwas also when Mar's teammates were coming home,
and to be there and welcome themas they got off those planes,
you know, not as oh mygosh, there's poor Marxmorrow. We didn't
bring him home, but to behey, the rest of my boys are
home, you know, thank goodness. Were they surprised by that attitude,
(18:45):
I think very much so. Youhear Jocko and Lafe both talk about that,
how they called thinking they were goingto be supporting me, and that
first night, once they knew I'dbeen notified, I was like, what
can I do for you? Guys? What do you need? How can
I support you? I'm praying foryou, And that's just something that's developed.
And Jocko just did a video forMark's birthday bash that we just celebrated,
(19:06):
and I'd never really thought about itthat way, but he said,
you know, Mamma Lee was therein the beginning for us Charlie Boys,
and then it expanded to Task UnitBrewser and then it expanded to the Seal
community and now it's the all militarycommunity. You know that she's not their
supporting and that's just how you know, God's equipped me to be able to
be there and support them, soto be able to start America's Mighty Warriors,
(19:26):
to continue to support our veterans whosacrifice and give so much, to
support our active duty, the otherfamilies who've lost a loved one. The
meaning Mark's name means mighty warrior.That's what Mark means. And he definitely
lived up to his name. Butit's not just about Mark. That's the
personal story I tell. But ourfoundation is America's Mighty Warriors because it's about
(19:47):
every man and woman who's served.It's about every other gold Star family member,
you know, and so to beable to support them and provide programs
that provide healing and hope and respitefor them, you know, that's where
we're folks. This is Debbie Lee, founder of America's Mighty Warriors dot org.
That's a great place to start ifyou want to find out more about
her son, the organization, whothey help how you can be involved.
(20:11):
What's the first thing people should checkout Mark's last letter home, amazing letter
that talks about so many things ofdeep compassion and deep thought. But he
said, when's the last time youpaid for a stranger's cup of coffee or
meal or tank of gas. Wecould change our reputation as a country just
by doing those things. And soI started doing those things. You know,
(20:32):
I could afford to buy a veteran'scup of coffee. Randomness, yes,
basically yes, and that's what hecalls him, random acts of kindness.
Then I would just happen to bein Washington, d C. When
we had another seal with his faceblown off, and to be able to
go into the room. A lotof people can't handle that. They walk
in and see the depth of theinjuries and they just start crying or you
(20:53):
know, they can't function. AndI thrive in those to be able to
go in there and give people hopeand encouragement in the midst of those struggles.
Another one, I just happened tobe in Washington, d C.
Again when one came with legs lawnoff. And you know, after it
happenstance so many times we talked aboutthis before. It's not just coincidences,
and I was like, oh,I get it. I've got a new
(21:14):
mission in life. And without thepain of losing Mark, I wouldn't have
the passion and the purpose that Ido to be able to do what to
do. I love being able todo those random acts of kindness or support
our veterans who are struggling with posttraumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, many
of them suicidal. My husband committedsuicide thirty years ago. Again one of
(21:36):
those things that prepared me to beable to help our veterans. Many times
they've you know, we've been onthe phone when they're suicidal and they're like,
you don't have any idea what I'mgoing through. I'm like, well,
actually, my husband committed suicide thirtyyears ago, and you just fill
the walls come tumbling down, andthey just open their heart and pour out
to me because they do know thatI understand. You know, our program
(22:00):
director was one of our's teammates whoyou know, was suicidal, went through
our program and has had ae hundredand eighty degree turnaround to where he's at.
So again, someone else that understandswhat they're going through and to be
able to provide those therapies that arehealing them, not just masking the symptoms.
There's so much they're trying, andI get it why they want to
try anything and everything. Yeah,but we've got those therapies through the hyperbaric
(22:22):
oxygen therapy, hormone supplepment, therapiesthat are healing them, not just masking
the symptoms. Talk about how youtake care of other gold Star families.
So our gold Star families. Wehave the Hero's Hope Home here in Arizona.
We have the Serinity Hope Home that'sin Florida. We pay for their
airfare, rental car they come stayfor a week. We just love and
pamper them and let them know won'tforget their hero and we won't forget them.
(22:44):
We do retreats in East Texas forthem. Our random acts of kindness.
We go to a five thousand dollarsgrant be sending out a check today
for a family that's struggling. He'sa retired seal and we do all branch
of the military, but just happensto be a Seal family. She has
stage four cancer and the chemos causedheart failure issues. There as well.
He's got his own business. Hecan't work because he's taking care of his
(23:04):
wife now, and so to beable to send a five thousand dollars check,
to be able to help them inthe middle of their crisis, to
let them know you're not alone.We sent fifty thousand dollars last summer to
Hawaii for the veterans that lost theirhomes in many of them their businesses there
as well. Helping Heroes Heel programthat I mentioned that it is for our
veterans from combat who have postmatic stresstraumatic brain injury, paying for the hyperbaric
(23:25):
oxygen therapy, the functional medicine,the hormone supplement therapies. We do a
big event before the Army Navy gameevery year that we do a dinner for
gold Star families before we've sent Christmasornaments to gold Star families. There probably
isn't anything I wouldn't do for ourtroops because I do understand who pays that
price. But it's our honor tobe able to do that for those who
would sacrifice everything for us. Wehonor our veterans and our troops in many
(23:48):
ways. There's Armed Forces Day,there's Veterans Day, many people blend them
all together and say, hey,it's a data thank the troops. Tell
me how a gold Star mom observesMemorial Day, which is coming up.
Memorial Day, people like thank theveterans on Memorial Day, and it's like,
you know, I I honor andthank our veterans all the time,
but this is a day that corporatelywe come together as a nation to specifically
(24:12):
remember those who gave their lives onthe fields of combat in service to our
country. We don't celebrate, youknow, we've lost them. Do we
celebrate who they were? Yes?Yeah. When you're doing your barbecues,
when you're having your swim parties,take the time to set aside time to
(24:32):
remember. If it's someone that youknow in your community, go take them
to lunch, or ask them ifyou'd like to go to you know,
if they're buried near them, togo to the cemetery with them, have
them tell stories about their loved one. But in your sphere of influence,
use that opportunity to teach your children. It is that day that we remember
and honor the sacrifices that have beenmade. Debbie, what can people do
(24:55):
if they want to join forces withyou and be a part of America's Mighty
Warriors. I think advocacy, whetheryou're getting the word out there to those
who need our support, whether they'regold Star families, our veterans, are
our active duty, you can bethat advocate for us. Everybody can do
that. We all have a voice. That doesn't cost us anything, but
we do need those funds. Soif you can sign up, we have
(25:17):
about twenty thousand people that are currentlyon our contact list. If they all
signed up, just to give fivedollars a month, not a week,
but a month, that's over amillion dollars our budget this year's two million
dollars. That's more than half ourbudget in just that simple way. We
always need volunteers. You know,if you're a graphic artist or social media
and you can donate your services,ninety six percent of what comes into our
(25:41):
foundation goes back to our veterans,troops and gold Star families. Well,
I think what you've done is remarkableand I plan to be a part of
your organization, America's Mighty Warriors dotorg. With a couple of minutes we
have left, I want to goback to where we started. The night
you appeared on stage with Tim McGrawholding a picture of Mark, who you'd
lost less than a year earlier.Obviously, it was so moving to me.
(26:04):
I couldn't even interview you that morningafter. But how did that all
come about and what was it likefrom your perspective. Yeah, we got
an invitation that I thought was justto go to a Tim McGraw concert and
had no idea what the ambas were, and had told my other two kids
that they were invited as well,and I said, it's in Vegas,
and you know, they're paying forus to get there, and he did.
(26:26):
He covered all the expenses, flewone hundred gold Star family members in
and as they were getting ready todo the dress rehearsal the day before,
we started to go up on stagewith them, and you know, they're
all like, ah, you can'thave those families up here. They're not
part of the Writers Guild or whatever. Yeah, Actors Guild or but that
still didn't stop him. He chosethen to hire all of us. He
(26:49):
had some staff come in and helpus fill out, you know, the
all our information and tax things andbecome a member of the guild. And
then I think we were paid eachlike one hundred and eighty dollars whatever the
going rate was, but what anamazing song. And as he performed that
at the ACMA, there was acurtain that blocked us so that people couldn't
(27:11):
see the gold Star family members.And right at the end of it,
the curtain went up and the lightswent on. And earlier that day he
told the family members, if you'vegot a picture of your loved one,
you know, please bring it thatnight. And lots of times his gold
Star family members will have a button, you know, that they wear with
their loved ones picture on there.But I had been there doing an event
(27:33):
standing against the anti war crowd andwas out there with a big two x
three picture of Mark that I wouldtake with me and I said, I've
got a picture of It's big,and He's like, that's awesome, bring
it. I'm tall, you know, almost six foot tall, and so
I'm always in the back row inthe middle when people gather together. But
they said, we want you rightout front with that picture so people can
see it. And as the screenwent up that night, the lights went
(27:56):
on. There's just this big lightthat just happens to shine write down on
Mark's picture and it was just somoving, like you know, the beams
of light from heaven just you know, accenting him. And you know,
we still stay in touch with TimAgraw. We just auctioned off a guitar
that he'd autographed at Mark's birthday bash, and he gives us tickets from time
to times for the different events tobring gold Star families. And I'm just
(28:18):
so proud of him. And youknow, he's got some amazing music,
but his heart is what makes Timso special. Debbie Lee, America's Mighty
Warriors dot org. Thanks God blessyou've been listening to Iheartcommunities. I'm Tim
Patrick from one of two five knix
I'm Tim Hatrick and this is iHeartCommunities. In two thousand and seven,
a performance by country singer Tim McGrawlive on the Academy of Country Music Awards
left everyone in tears. Dressed inblack on a darkened stage, Tim sang
a heartbreaking song about a letter writtenby a soldier to his wife and family,
delivered after he had been killed inaction. Fury nes Ma Mama Sidney
(00:28):
Luksau on a god one way toget a read. What made the moment
even more powerful, Near the endof the song, the lights came up,
revealing one hundred gold Star family memberswho'd recently lost a loved one in
the war. The song, andespecially those mothers and fathers, wives and
(00:50):
kids received a long, tearful standingovation Furyves Collodi. The very next morning
(01:12):
on our radio show, we triedto do an interview with a Valley mom
who'd been one of the people onstage with Tim McGraw the night before because
she'd lost a son who was servingin Iraq. And I say we tried
because after listening to the song andhearing the crowd's reaction, I was so
overcome by emotion I couldn't speak.I couldn't even make it through her introduction,
(01:38):
so unfortunately we cut the interview short. Well, I'm happy to say
that today I get another try atit. My special guest is Debbie Lee,
founder of America's Mighty Warriors and themom of Mark Allen Lee, whose
picture she was holding on stage withTim McGraw that night. Debbie, thanks
for being here. First of all, Mark was Kia August second of two
thousand and six, meaning that nightin this was less than a year later,
(02:00):
and what was going on there,I imagine your emotions must have been
very raw. It was still veryraw. It brought so many emotions and
it still does today when I hearthat there's tears and I get a lump
in my throat, but very powerfulsong. Tim got it right, Yeah
he did, and you somehow managedto take the pain of losing your son
and turn it into something so great. America's Mighty Warriors dot Org. We're
(02:23):
going to find out all the thingsyou do for gold Star families, active
duty military and veterans. But let'sstart with Mark. Tell me about your
son. Yeah, he was mythird born child. I have a son
and a daughter that were before him, but he was always was a giggly,
happy, smiley, amazing sense ofhumors. He brought so much joy
into our life. Ended up gettingclass clown two years in a row as
(02:44):
junior year and senior year, andI'm like, okay, this is going
to get you to college. HowBut so many great memories of him and
his joy and just very much wouldbe if you were the underdog and being
bullied or picked on, he woulduse that humor to walk alongside you and
deflate that difficult situation that could begoing through. But what a blessing,
what a gift he was, andhe left lots of us, lots of
(03:06):
fun memories to remember him by.On your website is the last letter sent
home from your son about two weeksbefore he was killed. He's a Navy
seal, so obviously he's an amazingwarrior, but in that letter you see
he is a class clown. It'sreally He ends his letter with to my
family and friends, do me afavor, pass on the kindness, the
love, the precious gift to humanlife. And as you said, one
of the toughest warriors we have inAmerica and one of the most kind,
(03:30):
compassionate carrying men as well, andhow God got those all mixed in one
body together is pretty amazing. Hedid something that's just incredible to me.
He was training to become a Navyseal and he quit or rang the bell.
Yeah, it's very humbling when youdo that and you choose to quit
and give up. Yeah, thatseems impossible, like it's never happened before.
Yeah, they're not very open,don't want you quit, to allow
(03:52):
you to come back, because again, like I said, how did they
know you're not just going to dothat again? Obviously seals have to be
physically tough and strong, but psychologicalyour teammates have to know that you're going
to be there when they need youmost. How on earth did Mark in
another chance? He went through classtwo three nine and an hour before he
would have been rolled forward and beenable to continue with his class, they
(04:14):
had done a medcheck on him andfound that he had pneumonia and he had
pulmonary edemus, so he had waterinside the lungs and water outside the lungs.
Even at that point when they saidthey were going to have to pull
him, He's like, no,no, no, I got this,
I can do this, And theysaid no, we had a guy die
two classes to go with exactly whatyou have, we cannot allow you to
go through. So he had abow out of his original class because of
his health, and he joined thenext seal class. And what happened there?
(04:39):
It was hell week Monday night,and he called me and he said,
Mom, I rang the bell.And I'm like, no, you
did not. I know how badyou wanted this, you know, And
the joke stirred that he was.I'm like, he's playing with me,
and he's like, Mom, I'mserious. I rang the bell again.
I just kind of blew him offand he's like, Mom, it's Monday
night, a hell week. Iwouldn't have privileges to call you if I
(04:59):
was still in And I'm like,oh, you're right. And so he
got assigned to the USS Eisenhower inVirginia Beach, but was in dry docks.
So he was driving a shuttle busfor the army. I have a
picture of him with his head onthis huge steering wheel and you know,
his head on his hand, like, oh my gosh, what happened to
me? Yeah, And I rememberhim calling me and saying, Mom,
I made a mistake. I'm likewhat'd you do now, you know?
(05:20):
And he's like, I shouldrang thebell? And I said, are you
sure you're positive that's where he's supposedto be. You prayed about this and
he's like, yep, that's wherewe're supposed to be. Mama, like,
you get your butt back there,then you do whatever it takes.
If that's where you're supposed to be. You know, if you're not happy,
you're going to come home and kickthe dog, yell at your wife.
Nobody's going to be happy. Ifthat's where God designed you, you
need to get back there and doit. It took a year. He
(05:41):
had to go through extra evals,physical training, meeting with officers and rightfully,
so, how did they know you'renot just gonna quit again? But
he was in running for honorman hisplatoon. He wasn't the one selected to
be honorman, but he got histriedent and class two five to one.
My guest is Debbie Lee, founderof America'smighty Warriors dot org and mom to
Mark Lee, the first Navy sealkilled in Iraq in August of two thousand
(06:03):
and six. Me, if youdon't mind take me through marks last day
August second, two thousand and six. You know, as you can imagine
as a parent, worst day ofmy life, the day that we found
out that Mark had given his lifeto defend, to save his teammates and
defend the freedoms that we enjoy eachand every day. But he had been
fighting an intense firefight for two hours. They had been in the rooftop.
(06:24):
As you mentioned, Ramadi was wherehe was killed back in two thousand and
six. That's where the majority ofour casualties were coming from. If there
wasn't at least one a day,there were two, three, four every
day coming out of Ramadi. Mark'steammates said that was the hell hole of
Iraq, or the worst piece ofreal estate over there. It's portrayed in
the movie American Sniper in that scenethere, but they're on that rooftop.
(06:44):
Marx buddy Ryan had been severely injured. The bullets had hit his weapons,
so he had severe shrapnel injuries tothe head and he dropped to the ground.
There were four seals on that rooftop. Two of them quickly dropped to
their knees to help Ryan. Markcould have made that very seem choice that
day, but his choice was tostand up in the direct line of fire
right where Ryan had just got shot, hoping that he could lay down some
(07:06):
suppressive fire to be able to getthe medica up to the rooftop. And
he was able to do that.The medic got up there and took one
look at Ryan and so we gotto get him out of here immediately.
There's no chance for survival. It'snot just once by himself. A second
time again, he did that andstood up in the direct line of fire
again to provide that cover so theycould move Ryan off down off the rooftop,
(07:28):
and they got him down, senthim off for medical attention, and
they climbed into their Bradley's and headedback to that base, which I'm proud
to tell you was named Camp MarkLee and his memory, and I got
to visit there. I'm the firstgold Star mom in history to be in
the combat zone. My first tripin two thousand and seven, I went
over to Camp Mark Lee. Actuallywent on patrol three different times with the
first of the fourth Calve in theDoor neighborhood outside of Baghdad. But as
(07:50):
I went there, I got tosee where Mark slept, where he walked,
where he spent his last days beforehe went out on his mission and
brought back some of the soil fromthat base and remembered him. But as
they got back to that base,you know, I knew Chris Kyle well,
and later he told me that Ithought probably Ryan couldn't have survived those
injuries. And they're waiting for thehospital to call and give them that information.
(08:15):
And you know, we've watched ourNavy seals do some absolutely amazing things.
At times they seem superhuman to us. But those are my boys now,
They're just as real as you orI are. And as they got
some water to fresh themselves and theytook their gear off, the chief came
in and said, we just foundthirty of the insurgents that just attacked us.
And without hesitation, Mark said Rogerthat let's go get them. They've
(08:37):
done their mission for the day.I've been to Camp Mark Lee. I
know there's a marine base on theother side, a big marine base.
If it would have been me,I'd have said, go get some marines
that are fresh and gong go andready to go today. But that's not
who these guys are. And sothey climbed in their bradleys and they headed
back to that god forsaken place.They cleared several buildings and they went in
(08:58):
the last building. Mark would bein the bottom of it. And they
started up the stairs and they heardMark yell on me, and that meant
he's saying, I got the leadon this. You guys follow me.
There's something bigger we need to doupstairs. And as they started up those
stairs, they drew fire through awindow, and for the last and final
(09:18):
time, Mark made that decision againto turn into that line of fire to
save his teammates. He could haveducked below the wall. He probably would
have lost half his platoon, buthe made the choice to stand up in
the line of fire and give hislife selflessly. And I'm so proud of
that young man. But as Ican tell you, the most devastating news
(09:39):
that anyone could ever hear when youfind out that you've lost your child.
You mentioned Chris Kyle, who manypeople know from the story and the movie
American Sniper. He and Mark actuallyserved together. Yes, So in that
movie American Sniper, Tay and Chris'scharacters the two main character. Then the
seal that's in the movie next themost that was played by Luke Grimes was
(10:01):
supposed to be Mark. They dida terrible job, literally threw him under
the bus, not his personality,his characters, heroic actions, you know,
other than his name. They usedhis name. But his teammates were
furious at the way he was portrayed, as we were, and they reached
out to History Channel who did adocumentary on Mark called the Story of Mark,
Lee and Charlie Platoon. And that'sthe real story, that's his teammates
(10:24):
telling it. I actually had amore violent physical reaction when I was notified
that Chris had been killed than Idid with Mark. Now, I love
Mark much more than I loved Chris, even though Chris was, you know,
one of my adopted boys, notyou know, legally, but you
know that's Mark's teammates. So they'remy you know sons now too. As
they call you, Mama Lee,that's what. Yeah. And you actually
(10:45):
had a relationship with Chris and StuckFoundation was was working with him, right.
Yes, he talks about us inthe book American Sniper that he did
right before he was killed, andhe talks about me, me and a
Surgut mom, and we were oneof two foundations that he supported, and
so yeah, we were super close. You hear about soldiers returning to the
battlefield at some point, like youknow, World War Two veterans visiting the
(11:05):
beaches of Normandy. You went tothe place where your son gave his life
while it was still an active hotwar zone. What was that like?
Well, my first trip over wasin two thousand and seven and I went
over at Christmas time to take apiece of America over to our troops that
were serving. I didn't go overthere. People like, so'd you feel
like you get closure? I'm like, that's not why I went over there.
(11:26):
I went to love on our troops. Not everybody has that opportunity to
be able to go, like yousaid, in the midst of combat still
happening. It wasn't like I hada death wish and wanted to just go
over. In my life over there, I had talked with Mark's teammates and
said, here's my crazy idea.What do you guys think? And they
said, you know, wow,yeah, we think that's awesome. Mamma
Lee. If you want to go, just make sure you don't do anything
on the ground. If you goanywhere, make sure you take you know,
(11:50):
helicopters to get to the different bases. Of course, when I first
got there, it had taken us. I've been up for about three days
and I went as embedded reporter.Okay, so I got in and so
we knew we were going to haveto wait for our credentials, and they
said, well, probably be aday or so you'll be here. And
I'm like, I'm going to bedand I've been asleep just a couple hours
when they came and woke me upand they said, you know, we've
(12:11):
got a humvee that's going to takeyou to your base where you're going to
be stationed. It's like, I'mnot going to go. Excuse me,
I'm Mark's mom. I need ahelicon. I'm like, no, if
it's good enough for the troops,it's good enough for me. And it
was one of their holidays, Ithink it was called ID and they were
shooting off firecrackers and their guns incelebration. But I didn't know anything.
(12:31):
I didn't know anything different. SoI'm like, okay, I'm in the
combat zone. But it was anamazing opportunity as we work, you know,
through our foundation now with our veterans, to get a glimpse into the
smells, the sounds, what theysaw, the lay of the land.
So when we're working with them,those struggling with post traumatic stress, traumatic
brain injury, we've got that abilityto relate to them on a small scale
(12:54):
to what they went through, whatthey endured, and what they give for
us. Certainly, fighting a waranywhere is unpleasant, but I always think
about how hot it is over there. Yeah, the Daymark died, it
was one hundred and fifteen to onehundred and twenty degrees and he carried one
hundred and eighty pounds. He carriedthe big gun, so he carried more
than most of them do. Buthow you do that in those extreme temperatures
we live here in Phoenix, right, We saw way too many days last
(13:16):
summer over one hundred and ten.But I can guarantee you and I weren't
out carrying one hundred and eighty poundsto anything, no, or having bullets
whiz bias. You know, ifwe were out in those extreme temperatres.
We're in our swimming pool, youknow. And so what our troops give
and the sacrifices they make so thatwe can live free every day is absolutely
amazing. And I never take forgranted, who pays that price for the
(13:37):
freedom so I enjoy every day whenwe come back. I want to find
out about the anxiety you must feelwhen your child is deployed with our special
forces. I'm talking with Debbie Leeof America's Mighty Warriors dot Org. I'm
Tim Patrick, and I'm talking withDebbie Lee of America's Mighty Warriors. She
founded the organization in response to theloss of her son, Mark Lee,
(13:58):
the first Navy seal killed in Iraq. Debbie, when our special forces are
deployed, whether they are Navy Sealslike your son Mark, Army green berets,
arrangers, Marine recon, they're notheaded where it's safe and comfortable,
right, They're always doing the dirtywork, the most dangerous jobs. Emotionally,
what is that like as a parent, day in, day out,
knowing that your son is in harm'sway so far away. For me,
(14:20):
I'm not a worrier of fred erThat's just not my personality. But we
had Mark visit us before he deployedin March. It was actually his birthday's
birthday's March twentieth, and I hadtaken him too. Of the Royals and
the White Sox playing and after theseventh inning, across the marker board,
I had them put up their happytwenty eighth, the birthday, have a
safe deployment, love mom. Andyou know, as he's sitting there watching
(14:41):
the gaming, saw a dog drinkinghis beer and I'm like Mark, Mark,
look and he's like, oh yeahcool. You know, it didn't
seem too excited. But the guysaid when he got back to the base
there he was like, you knowwhat my mom did for me. That's
But as he was leaving that deployment, we were standing out on the lawn
saying goodbye, and my oldest son, Christopher was there with me. As
he pulled away, I said,man, I don't feel good about this,
(15:01):
and he said, neither do IMom, And as I said,
neither one of us. That's notour personalities to be worries or fretters.
I prayed more for Mark than Iprobably prayed for anything in my life,
you know, for his safety.But it's not like every day that a
black car went by that I'm like, oh my gosh, this today the
day is today the day. Butthe night that we found out, I
was actually at my Bible study atmy small group and we'd been celebrating my
(15:24):
birthday, and it had been theweek before, but we hadn't gathered.
And my girlfriend had given me oneof the willow tree angels, and those
are the wooden angels with the wirewings, and each one has a different
character quality, and the one shegave me was courage, and she said,
you just remind me of such awoman of courage with all you've been
through in your life, and yetyou're still positive and you still love God.
And you know, little did weknow how much more courage was going
(15:48):
to be required in the next halfhour. How did you get the terrible
news? And my son Christopher calledme, and nothing in his voice to
alert me. He wasn't crying,he wasn't speaking too fast. He's just
like, hey, mom, ah, are you. I'm like, well,
Wednesday night, my Bible study?Why what's up? And he said,
how long will it take you toget home? And I thought that's
an odd question. I said,I don't know, five minutes, seven
(16:11):
minutes. Why what's up? Andhe said, you just need to come
home. And I knew when hesaid that what was going to face me
when I got home. They hadbeen trying to find me in Oregon.
Mark had died in the morning,and I had moved a couple of years
before Mark was killed down here toArizona. I know he called me an
(16:32):
updated the paperwork. They had thecorrect address, but for whatever reason,
they were trying to find me upin Oregon. And finally, after about
eight hours, one of the neighborssaid, she doesn't even live here anymore.
She lives in Arizona. So typicallywe have in the seal community a
seal you know, CaCO officer andteam member that goes with them, and
usually it's someone close to the lovedone. But because they were afraid I
(16:53):
was going to find out on thenews, they just sent one of the
CAKE officers from Luke Air Force Baseout and a chaplain. And when I
got home, they've been in myhouse for a couple hours because they've been
trying to find me. I guessI'd be a little lucive at times,
but they said, we can tellby being your home and your woman of
faith, and you're going to needto rely on that faith for what to
tell you. Your son, MarkAllen Lee has been killed in action,
(17:15):
and the most devastating news as aparent that you could ever receive. And
yet, being a believer, Iknew my circumstances had drastically changed. But
my God was still the same Godon August second as he was on August
first, and that's where the strengthcame through for me to be able to
sustain and endure it and you know, not be defeated by that. But
(17:36):
it's a process to go through thegrief. It doesn't just happen quickly.
I just saw amazing things happen inthe strength that he gave me. We
had great support from when we werenotified until you know, the funeral,
and then everybody went back to theirlives. I don't live in San Diego
where the sealed community is. Ilive here. I'm a widow. I've
been a widow for thirty years.So now I'm starting the grieving process by
(17:57):
myself and not one to have apity party for myself. But it was
like, you know what, Ican change this so nobody else has to
go through this alone. That there'ssomeone else there that understands the process.
And I didn't know. Seven weekslater, we lost Mike Monsieur, who's
Delta Platoon, Mark's Sister Platoon,but part of Task Unit Bruiser in the
most highly decorated special Forces unit asfar as I know, still to this
(18:21):
day. Amazing group of men.But I knew I needed to be there.
I didn't know what I was goingto do, but I knew I
needed to be there. And thatwas also when Mar's teammates were coming home,
and to be there and welcome themas they got off those planes,
you know, not as oh mygosh, there's poor Marxmorrow. We didn't
bring him home, but to behey, the rest of my boys are
home, you know, thank goodness. Were they surprised by that attitude,
(18:45):
I think very much so. Youhear Jocko and Lafe both talk about that,
how they called thinking they were goingto be supporting me, and that
first night, once they knew I'dbeen notified, I was like, what
can I do for you? Guys? What do you need? How can
I support you? I'm praying foryou, And that's just something that's developed.
And Jocko just did a video forMark's birthday bash that we just celebrated,
(19:06):
and I'd never really thought about itthat way, but he said,
you know, Mamma Lee was therein the beginning for us Charlie Boys,
and then it expanded to Task UnitBrewser and then it expanded to the Seal
community and now it's the all militarycommunity. You know that she's not their
supporting and that's just how you know, God's equipped me to be able to
be there and support them, soto be able to start America's Mighty Warriors,
(19:26):
to continue to support our veterans whosacrifice and give so much, to
support our active duty, the otherfamilies who've lost a loved one. The
meaning Mark's name means mighty warrior.That's what Mark means. And he definitely
lived up to his name. Butit's not just about Mark. That's the
personal story I tell. But ourfoundation is America's Mighty Warriors because it's about
(19:47):
every man and woman who's served.It's about every other gold Star family member,
you know, and so to beable to support them and provide programs
that provide healing and hope and respitefor them, you know, that's where
we're folks. This is Debbie Lee, founder of America's Mighty Warriors dot org.
That's a great place to start ifyou want to find out more about
her son, the organization, whothey help how you can be involved.
(20:11):
What's the first thing people should checkout Mark's last letter home, amazing letter
that talks about so many things ofdeep compassion and deep thought. But he
said, when's the last time youpaid for a stranger's cup of coffee or
meal or tank of gas. Wecould change our reputation as a country just
by doing those things. And soI started doing those things. You know,
(20:32):
I could afford to buy a veteran'scup of coffee. Randomness, yes,
basically yes, and that's what hecalls him, random acts of kindness.
Then I would just happen to bein Washington, d C. When
we had another seal with his faceblown off, and to be able to
go into the room. A lotof people can't handle that. They walk
in and see the depth of theinjuries and they just start crying or you
(20:53):
know, they can't function. AndI thrive in those to be able to
go in there and give people hopeand encouragement in the midst of those struggles.
Another one, I just happened tobe in Washington, d C.
Again when one came with legs lawnoff. And you know, after it
happenstance so many times we talked aboutthis before. It's not just coincidences,
and I was like, oh,I get it. I've got a new
(21:14):
mission in life. And without thepain of losing Mark, I wouldn't have
the passion and the purpose that Ido to be able to do what to
do. I love being able todo those random acts of kindness or support
our veterans who are struggling with posttraumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, many
of them suicidal. My husband committedsuicide thirty years ago. Again one of
(21:36):
those things that prepared me to beable to help our veterans. Many times
they've you know, we've been onthe phone when they're suicidal and they're like,
you don't have any idea what I'mgoing through. I'm like, well,
actually, my husband committed suicide thirtyyears ago, and you just fill
the walls come tumbling down, andthey just open their heart and pour out
to me because they do know thatI understand. You know, our program
(22:00):
director was one of our's teammates whoyou know, was suicidal, went through
our program and has had ae hundredand eighty degree turnaround to where he's at.
So again, someone else that understandswhat they're going through and to be
able to provide those therapies that arehealing them, not just masking the symptoms.
There's so much they're trying, andI get it why they want to
try anything and everything. Yeah,but we've got those therapies through the hyperbaric
(22:22):
oxygen therapy, hormone supplepment, therapiesthat are healing them, not just masking
the symptoms. Talk about how youtake care of other gold Star families.
So our gold Star families. Wehave the Hero's Hope Home here in Arizona.
We have the Serinity Hope Home that'sin Florida. We pay for their
airfare, rental car they come stayfor a week. We just love and
pamper them and let them know won'tforget their hero and we won't forget them.
(22:44):
We do retreats in East Texas forthem. Our random acts of kindness.
We go to a five thousand dollarsgrant be sending out a check today
for a family that's struggling. He'sa retired seal and we do all branch
of the military, but just happensto be a Seal family. She has
stage four cancer and the chemos causedheart failure issues. There as well.
He's got his own business. Hecan't work because he's taking care of his
(23:04):
wife now, and so to beable to send a five thousand dollars check,
to be able to help them inthe middle of their crisis, to
let them know you're not alone.We sent fifty thousand dollars last summer to
Hawaii for the veterans that lost theirhomes in many of them their businesses there
as well. Helping Heroes Heel programthat I mentioned that it is for our
veterans from combat who have postmatic stresstraumatic brain injury, paying for the hyperbaric
(23:25):
oxygen therapy, the functional medicine,the hormone supplement therapies. We do a
big event before the Army Navy gameevery year that we do a dinner for
gold Star families before we've sent Christmasornaments to gold Star families. There probably
isn't anything I wouldn't do for ourtroops because I do understand who pays that
price. But it's our honor tobe able to do that for those who
would sacrifice everything for us. Wehonor our veterans and our troops in many
(23:48):
ways. There's Armed Forces Day,there's Veterans Day, many people blend them
all together and say, hey,it's a data thank the troops. Tell
me how a gold Star mom observesMemorial Day, which is coming up.
Memorial Day, people like thank theveterans on Memorial Day, and it's like,
you know, I I honor andthank our veterans all the time,
but this is a day that corporatelywe come together as a nation to specifically
(24:12):
remember those who gave their lives onthe fields of combat in service to our
country. We don't celebrate, youknow, we've lost them. Do we
celebrate who they were? Yes?Yeah. When you're doing your barbecues,
when you're having your swim parties,take the time to set aside time to
(24:32):
remember. If it's someone that youknow in your community, go take them
to lunch, or ask them ifyou'd like to go to you know,
if they're buried near them, togo to the cemetery with them, have
them tell stories about their loved one. But in your sphere of influence,
use that opportunity to teach your children. It is that day that we remember
and honor the sacrifices that have beenmade. Debbie, what can people do
(24:55):
if they want to join forces withyou and be a part of America's Mighty
Warriors. I think advocacy, whetheryou're getting the word out there to those
who need our support, whether they'regold Star families, our veterans, are
our active duty, you can bethat advocate for us. Everybody can do
that. We all have a voice. That doesn't cost us anything, but
we do need those funds. Soif you can sign up, we have
(25:17):
about twenty thousand people that are currentlyon our contact list. If they all
signed up, just to give fivedollars a month, not a week,
but a month, that's over amillion dollars our budget this year's two million
dollars. That's more than half ourbudget in just that simple way. We
always need volunteers. You know,if you're a graphic artist or social media
and you can donate your services,ninety six percent of what comes into our
(25:41):
foundation goes back to our veterans,troops and gold Star families. Well,
I think what you've done is remarkableand I plan to be a part of
your organization, America's Mighty Warriors dotorg. With a couple of minutes we
have left, I want to goback to where we started. The night
you appeared on stage with Tim McGrawholding a picture of Mark, who you'd
lost less than a year earlier.Obviously, it was so moving to me.
(26:04):
I couldn't even interview you that morningafter. But how did that all
come about and what was it likefrom your perspective. Yeah, we got
an invitation that I thought was justto go to a Tim McGraw concert and
had no idea what the ambas were, and had told my other two kids
that they were invited as well,and I said, it's in Vegas,
and you know, they're paying forus to get there, and he did.
(26:26):
He covered all the expenses, flewone hundred gold Star family members in
and as they were getting ready todo the dress rehearsal the day before,
we started to go up on stagewith them, and you know, they're
all like, ah, you can'thave those families up here. They're not
part of the Writers Guild or whatever. Yeah, Actors Guild or but that
still didn't stop him. He chosethen to hire all of us. He
(26:49):
had some staff come in and helpus fill out, you know, the
all our information and tax things andbecome a member of the guild. And
then I think we were paid eachlike one hundred and eighty dollars whatever the
going rate was, but what anamazing song. And as he performed that
at the ACMA, there was acurtain that blocked us so that people couldn't
(27:11):
see the gold Star family members.And right at the end of it,
the curtain went up and the lightswent on. And earlier that day he
told the family members, if you'vegot a picture of your loved one,
you know, please bring it thatnight. And lots of times his gold
Star family members will have a button, you know, that they wear with
their loved ones picture on there.But I had been there doing an event
(27:33):
standing against the anti war crowd andwas out there with a big two x
three picture of Mark that I wouldtake with me and I said, I've
got a picture of It's big,and He's like, that's awesome, bring
it. I'm tall, you know, almost six foot tall, and so
I'm always in the back row inthe middle when people gather together. But
they said, we want you rightout front with that picture so people can
see it. And as the screenwent up that night, the lights went
(27:56):
on. There's just this big lightthat just happens to shine write down on
Mark's picture and it was just somoving, like you know, the beams
of light from heaven just you know, accenting him. And you know,
we still stay in touch with TimAgraw. We just auctioned off a guitar
that he'd autographed at Mark's birthday bash, and he gives us tickets from time
to times for the different events tobring gold Star families. And I'm just
(28:18):
so proud of him. And youknow, he's got some amazing music,
but his heart is what makes Timso special. Debbie Lee, America's Mighty
Warriors dot org. Thanks God blessyou've been listening to Iheartcommunities. I'm Tim
Patrick from one of two five knix
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