Guest Colonel Christopher J. Douglas

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Man in the Arena, brought to you
by Life Back, the airway clearance device that has now
saved over thirty five hundred lives in thirty nine countries.
Go to lifefack dot net get the original authentic lifefac
use code MIITA for discounts on protecting those you love.
Teddy Roosevelt said it best. It is not the critical accounts,

(00:30):
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in
the arena. What inspired Arthur Lee protecting his daughter and
then the world success Leaves Clues will explore each chapter
of author's book, Sorry Can't as a lie, and hear
from other men and women in their arenas. Get ready

(00:52):
to be inspired. Welcome to the Man in the Arena.
I'm Rick Thatcher, joined by CEO and inventor of Life
Back or Arthur Lay.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
I'm very impressed. You sound very radio ish.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, well, we had Jim Kerr on last.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Week and to the ultimate moment for us is goofy
radio people. They'll have a guy that's the pro.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, he's been in fifty years in broadcasting and it
sounds like it. We've been you know, five weeks or so.
So yeah, yeah, we're getting there. We're getting there. Rome
was not built in a day. No, So last week
we talked with Jim Kerr Radio Legend. We got away
for a moment in time. The book that you wrote,
Sorry Can't Just Lie and on the man in the Arena.

(01:37):
We usually bring in this theme, this great book that
you wrote. We encourage everyone if you're going to tune
into us weekly and we're in Orlando, we're in Houston,
We're in New York, Sir w Ward, I mean, this
is all this is where it all started. And then
we're also in Los Angeles. It's so great to be
reaching all these communities, but to spreading the awareness not
only of life fact, but of your book Sorry Kanda's Light,

(02:01):
to bring in other men and women the arenas and
we're going to meet one today.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yeah, we'll use the book is kind of a talking point,
you know, it's an ability to take things of significance
and if you could buy in some of the underlying
characteristics you need to do something and then you look
at life back and say, okay, that is something everyone
can do this, anyone could do it. I did it.

(02:26):
So but how do we share together right in a
conversation And I'm not preaching when we're just sharing and
saying this is kind of ideas or thoughts that came
to me. Maybe they appie, maybe they don't. You know
a lot of people have read the book said you know,
I laughed, I cried, and I made my kids read it.

(02:47):
So I think there's hope that it's useful and it
look it stimulated this great discussion we're going to have
from a little quote about you know, my little world
and what made me understand what being a wingman and
having a wingman is much more significant in CJ's world.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Resolutely absolutely. And last week we met for the first
time newest life Facker member of the Life fac Team,
Colonel Christopher C. J. Douglas of Gosh. We met him
only a few years ago, but he came to us
introduced as you got to meet this guy, he's a legend,
And that was Brian Killmead. And when he speaks so

(03:28):
highly of a person, you take note and we met
him on the road and he does not disappoint. Great man,
great family, great marine, great hero, and we're blessed to
be in his presence today and a member of the
Life Fact family. Colonel CJ. Welcome back to the show.

Speaker 4 (03:45):
As always, it's a pleasure to be here. It's always
great to see you guys.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
The topic, haven't you know. I'm glad we wrote in
in this sense of playing with this topic, right, we
were really disgusting and it was kind of bouncing around
in and out of our heads. And you showed a
story with me that was so different than what I
would expect right when you helped that corporal, And I said,
you know, there's a lot that goes into being a wingman,

(04:11):
building a wingman, whether you are one, And in the book,
I say you have to be one to get one, right,
that bond And for me, you know, it came from
my friend Steven widlife Act exists. I'll tell a story
quick because it's my world of how it started to
come to fruition and backed into other people like my dad,

(04:34):
my uncle. So I'm driving home. My friend Steve's mom's
in the hospital, just not it was a procedure was
an a major But he was sitting there and I'll
never forget. It was cruddy night, it was raining, I
was coming down and I wanted to go home. I
was tired. I said, you know, I'm sitting there by himself.
You know, he's always been there for me. I'm going

(04:57):
to go just sit with him. Now we talk about
a pivot point in life. So when I went there
and sat with him, and we were sitting together, and
that's when he pointed the guerney and said, a seven
year old choke to death. This is, you know, almost
fourteen years ago now, and he told me about a
seven year old that choked, and now they did everything.

(05:20):
I would not have gone if I wasn't a wingman
for him, and he wasn't a wingman for me. But
if you look at this team and known Rick for
forty years, everyone who works for me, I probably know
for thirty average seems forty dollars since I was sixteen.
The point of the matter was that the godwink of

(05:41):
being a wingman, because he was always to me, created
this mission. The people who are doing it are my
wingmen and women. So he really stimulated the chapter and
I started looking back about you know, whether it was
a fight or a significant challenge, who's there, who's not?

(06:05):
And I when I was met you and I was
that chapter was filtering in my head on our ride here,
I said, Holy Cay, you want to talk about a
group of men and women that are necessitated of that
trust and that bond and that you go, I go mentality.

(06:29):
And that's why I thinks were so blessed that you
could share some of the the Marines visions of a wingman.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
And it started early for you. The Marine Corps while
you were in high school was a I'm not going
to say it out, but it was there something you
desired to do.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Did you join the Marines right out of high school?

Speaker 4 (06:48):
So I didn't. My goal was to join. I really
wanted to serve. And so my great grandfather, grandfather father
had all served in one of the branches of service
and rele you know, cousins and so growing up, you know,
it wasn't it wasn't like it was an option. It
was a decision. I had this call that I really

(07:09):
wanted to serve. It was only because I ended up
instead of you know, after wrestling season, instead of playing soccer,
my final year of high school, I decided that I
would try out for the football team, and as the
coach told me during pre season, I was terrible, so
he sent me over to kick, and it turned out
I could kick, so which led to going to college,
delaying my my goal of service. But part of the

(07:32):
way through the school year I was I really I
still felt compelled, so I went and ultimately joined the
Army Reserve.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Did you kick college football?

Speaker 2 (07:40):
I did?

Speaker 3 (07:41):
Really? What's cool?

Speaker 4 (07:42):
Maris College?

Speaker 3 (07:43):
Maris three at the time. Yeahly cow, that's cool.

Speaker 4 (07:47):
That's kind of a big deal.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Do you have a kick? Like what's your longest field goal.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
Game or practice game game? I think it was thirty
nine twenty nine ninety nine thirty nine practice sixty. Yeah,
you had a three.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
Made a great kick, kicked the crud out of the ball.
Did you ever try.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
If I got a chance to punt it?

Speaker 3 (08:09):
Not off the te No, if you could punt the
ball like three quarters that the year of the Flying Squirrels.
I was finally on your team, and I'm the Kamakazi kid.
So when you would punt the ball, I would still
get on and it would bounce and go to their
goalie and I had a chance to crush him and
smash him right into the goal because if the ball

(08:30):
was there, I was allowed to hit it. But I
love when you punt it because that gave me that mission.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
That yes, the assistment. But it's funny c J. Just
down the road at Maris, I wasn't there at s U.
Similar temperature, similar.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
Maras beautiful, Yeah, beautiful, great school. Okay.

Speaker 4 (08:48):
So while I was in college, I enlisted in Army Reserve.
When off for training, came back, continued football and continue
on with the reserves. I as I was going through school,
I had that continue you'd called service, but wanted to
go to my original decision of going to into the Marines.
And at this point I wanted to become a marine officer,

(09:10):
lead Marines. I wanted to be an infantry marine and
ultimately when I graduated, you know, I played my last
season of football for you know, the most phenomenal coach
in football history was a guy named Rick Party. He's
a whole story all on his own.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
Rick Party.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
We're going to alert to this show, and I've heard
stories about Rick Party, and if we have time later,
I want to hear I want Arthur to hear this
story about the you know, the tappan Zee Bridge and
the can't quit but but go ahead.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
But so you know, and he was one of my
recommendations from my Officer Canada application. I got accepted, made
it through Officer Canada school, became an infantry officer, served
four years and uh in Camp ul June with Herbatinie
six Marines, some great Marines, and left active duty to
pursue a career in law enforcement and go into the reserves.

(10:00):
So as a result, you know, over thirty seven in
the years of military service, a mix of active and
reserve because you know, of course it's nine to eleven
happened began to it was recalled to active duty like
many of us in the reserves were, and what led
to a couple of activations and then five separate combat
tours to a rocket accounts.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
So how does it work when you're you kind of
go back into the Marines, right? So are you then
like a marine again? Like, well, you're always a marine?

Speaker 4 (10:31):
Oh you know, so even if when you're in the
reserves you're just a you're you're a part time marine.
My full time job was started out as a trooper
and then as an narcotics detective, which you know. I
retired after twenty four years and returned to active duty
full time for the Marines in Marine Central Command.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Sounds like you got a break from the stress. By
the way, a lot of people come back and they're
a gardener or something like, well, you're.

Speaker 3 (10:51):
You're you're finding everything you've done has been driven by
doing the right thing and love of country too, whether
it is an officer or in the military. When you
went back, the last time was to Afghanistan.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
The last time I went back was to be the
G five, which is the Plans, strategy and policy security
cooperation for the Middle East. And so what that led
to that time period was the withdrawal and ultimately the evacuation.
And so while I didn't go to back to Afghanistan

(11:27):
for the evacuation, I made it to Katar, was able
to work through and assist a number of our Afghan
counterparts and allies and partners to make their way through,
and once that was complete, then transitioned to being one
of the lead investigators for the Abbeygate investigation that investigated

(11:49):
the thirteen service members that were killed and the actions
at the gate you know that ultimately as well lost
We lost one hundred and seventy Afghans approximately. So it
wasn't a like one of my previous deployments, which was
specifically for a rack or Afghanistan. You know, this was
you know, specific to being a staff officer reinforced the.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
Central Well, you know, as we've got to know each
other and listening to a lot of the remembrances of
missions and some of the things you had to deal
with that are beyond normal people's scope. And then I
asked you about the wig Man, and it was totally
an unexpected story. Can I tell that story? It's so

(12:32):
right now. I'm thinking, these are men in battle and
and and she says, well, you know, there was a
corporal was coming back. He had drink that night before.
He wasn't drunk, he slept it off, did the right
thing right, kind of drinks came in. Guys on base,
they smell alcohol, kind of pull them in. They're going
to talk to him. He calls his first commander. I

(12:54):
guess the first call he.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
Called, right, He called first freaking senior enlisted for the unit.
And he was, you know, who lived about an hour
away and was kind of like good luck.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
So his next goal it's the colonel. And as a wingman, well,
he did the right ding. You should call that guy
for us should have went over. CJ goes, okay, I'll
beat it, comes down, work through it. Right. The guy
had a little bit of a problem, right. But the
guy at the MPs, I guess says, we never had

(13:29):
a colonel come down for a corporal that smelled the booze, right,
never had a colonel come down, And of all the
wingman stories, I did not expect that, but it was
so cool and so appropriate. It didn't matter. Obviously botfly's there,
but he's there then too. Now after tell him that
did you circulate into any other like black and white

(13:52):
wingman stories that you felt, because just to back up
a second, that the wingman basically is your bond, right
that you know if you have a problem, I'll be there,
good or bad, right, because we talked about that too.
Good stuff, your kid's wedding, you're going to be there. Bad,

(14:12):
you're going to be there. But I think that the
bottom line was a true wingman being or having you
just go. There is no hesitation and there's no like
that night. I always think back. I was tired, I
didn't feel good. I wanted to go home in this
treffle a week. Shut up, you got to be there,
that's your buddy, right. So did any other kind of

(14:34):
black and white stories come to you?

Speaker 4 (14:36):
Well, yeah, but you know, to finish with this one,
you know, I mean, I can't emphasize enough. I mean
the marine. If he'd been stopped out, you know, off
the base, you know, he wouldn't have you know, passed right, Yeah,
he wouldn't have been driving even while ability impaired because
the base threshold is so much lower. So you know, yeah,
like you said, he counted his drinks. He had done
everything responsible. But he stated to have money, just what

(14:59):
you're supposed to. And so when he left, you know,
to go home in the morning. And that's that's what
the point that came. But it went back to the
culture of the team. I've been fortunate. I've had some
amazing mentors. I've had some amazing marines that I've served
with it at all ranks. And this team was incredible.
You know, established the expectations upfront what they could expect
of me and what I expected of them. And this

(15:21):
was one of the expectations like if one of us
needs you to, we'll call it. So it just happened
to be that he called me, and he was I mean,
he was a rock star. I mean he was just
a great marine. And so when upon completion of that,
he could have just been like this is terrible, the
Marine Corps terrible eyed, but he went on to be
just such a high performing marine that it was inspirational.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah. Inadvertently, your your leadership in a I won't say
a non critical life and death, you proved to him
you'd be there, right. And I think there's two things
that happened. One for you at the point in your
career was what you do. And for him, and this
is the place where that happens. They didn't just let

(16:03):
me sit here. And obviously in your world that faith
in each other is everything, right.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
Yeah, And we're going to be back right after this
break with Arthur Lee, founder and CEO of Life BAC,
and Colonel C. J. Christopher Douglas, who has joined the
Life BAC team on a special mission. We're going to
talk more about Wingman. Stay tuned.

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Speaker 1 (17:56):
Now on iHeartRadio. More of the Man in the Arena
the Life Back Radio Show Him again are Arthur Lee
and Rick Thatcher.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
Along with Colonel C. J. Douglas, Colonel before the break,
we were talking about like one particular example of wing men,
but must have been others. You know, we talk about
it from real life. You talk with your vast military experience,
you know, where the other stories that came into your
dashboard reading about wingmen in the book Sorry Can't.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
Is a lie?

Speaker 2 (18:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (18:28):
Absolutely. I mean there's a number of Marines that I've
served with on a in a couple of different units,
a couple of different times, some multiple deployments to Afghanistan.
You know, with us, it resonated because when you say,
you know, when Arthur references wingman, you know, for us
it's either you know, buddy team or battle buddy. Conceptually,

(18:51):
it's the same thing. It's that person that you know
that if you need somebody that you can count on.
It's not there's no strings, there's no conditions on it.
It's like it's not transactional. It's like, hey, I'm here
for Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
I can already picture a group pictures that we've been
in of one of your deer wingmen. Yeah, SAME's John Money.

Speaker 4 (19:13):
And John Monni is is exactly who I was going
to transition to because John Monni is someone that not
only did I serve with him in a RAQ and
uh with you with the Marines, we served together in
law enforcement and John, you know, was was just an
incredible person to work with. You could count on him
always being there if you said, hey, I've got a problem.

(19:34):
I mean he was a drop anything and be there.
And he was just an incredible mentor in law enforcement
because you know, Frankly, you know, I'll I'll say, you know,
I was a better Marine officer than I was a
narcotics detective or investigator.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
I bet you it was close.

Speaker 4 (19:47):
Well now it wasn't even, but but that but that said,
John Monni was was a you know, an incredible person
that you know would like, hey, you know he could
do that. But that's just a bit you know, I'm
not going to tell you how to do it, but
I want to tell you the right way to do it. So,
so that said, you know, just an incredible person to
work with.

Speaker 3 (20:03):
Do you think that you said your grandfather served, your
father served, and you served, right with this kind of
hindsight type looking back with you forward, do you remember
any stories from them that kind of highlighted what it
takes to be that kind of put your hands in
each other's lives? Like, do you think that was part

(20:25):
of the attraction to the military, that brotherhood that or.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
Was that a different time?

Speaker 4 (20:30):
I think that was a different time. And so you know,
I didn't know my great grandfather who served. My grandfather
I knew, you know a little bit. I know, you know,
we used to go to the VFW with him, and
so I couldn't I couldn't even Yeah, and so you
know as far as.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
Grandfather was, yeah, World War Two he was.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yet was it life saving price?

Speaker 3 (20:51):
Ryan?

Speaker 2 (20:51):
The scene where at the end, like the whole family
appreciates and loves their grandfather, but they really hasn't showed
emotion shared stories. I think, I guess with getting in
touch with our sensitivities and our own mental health. It's
helped to kind of you know, break that down and
have folks share their military experience. That's the sense that

(21:14):
I get from looking at your grandfather great grandfather.

Speaker 4 (21:17):
Right, And I would I would agree with that, and
I would say that you know, those generations and you know,
and movies like that and others have done the service
to those generations for you know, we'll say the Enduring
Freedom and Iraqi freedom, you know, Afghanistan and Iraq veterans
that you know the you know, people are more willing

(21:39):
to ask questions, are more willing to talk about their
experiences the previous generation that didn't.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
You know.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
The problem is is you know, as grandkids and kids,
you didn't know what you didn't know. It was unconscious
and competence so that you didn't know to ask them like, hey,
well tell me about this. Like one is you know,
going back to the beginnings of time where people talk
around the campfire and they'd share that and be cathartic
for the person sharing it, but would also help to

(22:05):
develop that family history and that cohesion within the family network.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
Oh, you think about it briefly, just a segment out.
My dad would talk me about listening to the radio
right listening to the Lone Ranger. But if you think
about it, if that was over, they kind of round
the side around and talked right. Pre TV, we were
the first generation that was kind of had a lot
of TV, but there was two four, seven eleven. You know,
you did junk on. You shut it off. Like we

(22:31):
would have a fire every night and everyone would talk
and then you would dinner and maybe watch a little TV.
It's scary for our veterans. We don't talk. We're on
cell phones, we're tiktoking, we're watching we're watching our phone
where you know, and that's not good. I think if
you look at the the unanticipated part of a wingman

(22:53):
being and having is the ability to talk. Right, I
didn't even think about that till this second. That we
protect ourselves and bill walls and do not share what
we maybe should.

Speaker 4 (23:06):
Yeah, communications key and and so as we talk about
you know wingmen, you know, and you know mentioned John
Monni and other people that have just been you know,
it's like, hey, you're there. I tell you that the
unsung wingmen in this really for me is you know,
my wife Susan and and my son brit Now you
know what you mentioned as far as like, you know,
did my family service influence me? I don't think I

(23:28):
can say that it can. It was a feeling from within.
And so my son, brit you know, he had, you know,
many of the guys that I served with, you know,
the one team I had, this group of captains that
were phenomenal, and so as I'd be at work, like, hey,
do you mind if we grab your son and take
confiicient And so they were the ones that influenced him
into because that's influenced him into just some of the

(23:50):
you know, some of the shenanigans that he should have
you know, should have gotten into with other people. You know,
looking back, they're a little more responsible. But that said,
quite frankly, it took probably COVID for me to to
really start, you know, talking about some of my previous
service with Susan, who I would say is is my
ultimate wingman as well. When I realized with Britt when

(24:11):
he you know, he shared it his commissioning ceremony, because
as you both know, he's a he's an Army lieutenant
married to Hillary, and uh, just a great team they are.
But when he shared that, you know, he recalled going
back and forth to my unit while I was deployed
to Iraq with his mom, and you know, listening to

(24:31):
Toby Keith and you know, it was just it was
inspiring and patriotic for him. But when I knew it
was something that came from within, was I was preparing
to go to Afghanistan. He had transitioned from being an
Eagle scout to a volunteer firefighter. And we were standing
at a neighbor's house and at the end of our road,

(24:54):
and there was a fire and a number of neighbors
around and as as Britt and I were standing there,
you know, and there was a loud screeching of tires
behind us, and then the impact just you know, uh,
you know, clearly metal on something plastic. I turned and
started to run, and I came to the realization that

(25:15):
Britt was with me. We didn't exchange a glance, we
didn't exchange any communication, and nobody else moved and so
we got there, you know, assisted amazingly, the you know,
Saratorea County Sheriff's Department was right there on the scene.
I mean, you could you know, the Community Service ambulance
was right there immediately, and you know, so we had

(25:35):
very little to do, you know, while we were the
first ones there, you know, there was very little to
do and and fortunately not a serious injury, just allowed
crash and.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
Yeah, but you just had the proof of wingman. That's
the where I'm going, Yes, and that is awesome.

Speaker 4 (25:51):
Yeah, And so as I say, you know, while I've
got you know, so many people, and so you know,
from each unit that I served with in combat, you know,
comes back to the person that has been my shoreline,
you know, being Susan and being able to say, hey,
you know, this is some of the experiences that I
those that I served with went through. And then with

(26:11):
Britt again you know now the shared service that we
both have. But when I realized for him that it
wasn't anything that was learned, it was within him. It
was I saw that he took action and that you know,
as a wingman, because.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
You were going, he was going, and I asked him.

Speaker 4 (26:29):
He didn't have to say a word, you know, and
as I found, you know, somebody had mentioned later, you know,
you you both turned opposite, so it wasn't like you
were looking at each other, it was just you moved
at the same time, right, and so and again you know, you.

Speaker 3 (26:42):
Know, if you think about it in the long run,
and I don't have a you know, life and death situation.
But I played hockey with a buddy and we could
throw the puck. Who knew he'd beat it, right, he
would go in the corner, eye go to he didn't look.
I could make a pass by my back. I knew
where he was. And I think that if you go

(27:02):
to the deeper like that story, right, you took off,
he took off. It's another way that you develop a
relationship of strength that you know you can count on
without even thinking or saying. You know, we had soccer fights, man.
First one was Brian, I'm it. I took off running nothing. Yeah,

(27:25):
because that my team, right, they knew I would be
there and nothing. It didn't really matter who When it
mattered that I went right, I had to go so
with well And that's that's just the story. But the
CJ made a good point too. And his wife. You know,
your wife could be your wing man, no doubt they're

(27:48):
going to be there as you go into battle and
support your God. Look what she's had a deal with
and say put up with that would be God. Yeah,
it is a lot, but you know having just you
gotta go, well you gotta go in months, and but
I think it's really important how you acknowledge that she's

(28:08):
your wingman too, and that can be anybody. It can
be anyone that you can count on and they count
on you.

Speaker 4 (28:15):
As Actually it was Susan that had talked to me
before my first deployment to Iraq, and she's like, you know,
you don't develop a support network, you don't develop a
family readiness group as you're there. It comes down to trust.
You know, trust that you have with a wingman. When
you develop that physically, you know, you can develop physical capacity,
you can develop mental acuity. That morale or that teamwork, unity,

(28:38):
cohesion and harmony is something that they're all synergistic, but
it's something that is integral to that being a good wingman,
so that when it comes to that time, like you're
already developed. You know, you're not like, hey, wow, I
have a crisis. You know your friend was in the hospital.
You had you already had a history with Steve right

(29:00):
and it's like, hey, I'm going you know the right.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
But you can't. It's like trust. You got to gain trust, right,
you got to gain your wing But to have one,
you got to be one. And you know you mentioned
it with the you have the different terminology, the comfort thing.

Speaker 4 (29:13):
What's the comfort based decision?

Speaker 3 (29:15):
Comfort based decision? Self sacrifice or sacrifice? In general, we
see it less. I think it's important to acknowledge your
wife has made sacrifices to be there for you so
you could help our country. A wingman will make sacrifices.
They will not always go with the comfort based decision,
but that is an indication that you have a true wingman.

(29:38):
If you deserve that honor, you better make sacrifices for them.
It's not something that you put on your abacus. Oh
another word abous. Yeah, it's not like I did three
for you. It's a traditional right.

Speaker 4 (29:52):
It's not transactional.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
You know.

Speaker 4 (29:53):
It doesn't mean as you mentioned, yeah, you're not keeping
it on the abvocus like I'm not keeping score that
I did this from then things for you. Now you
need to, you know, to do this something for me.
Sometimes you might not ever be repaid. And that's fine.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
Of golden rule in this but you know what.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
But that's what the book's about. It's how do we
learn these golden rules? You know, you hear them whatever.
Now we come in with stories of the corporal that
needed you of you know, my buddy having his mom.
These are the real golden rules to me, that's what
the book is about. And I was just sitting in
my head saying, these are some punk people listening right now,

(30:34):
going man, you know my friend Robert Mitchell, Mitchell and
Mountain Man, what a bond. Tragic situations and they bonded.
He was there for him, He's there for them. And
I would be hopeful that someone listening picks up a
phone and calls one of their wingmen and and shares
that they're grat.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Thank you, and then drop us on Tommy.

Speaker 3 (30:56):
Pubert called me the other day. Do you know Tommy. Yeah,
he's one of my wingment, but I hadn't talked to
him in a while.

Speaker 4 (31:03):
And the reality of it is is oftentimes you have
you you have an impact on people and they never
know that you know, until you know, once in a
blue moon, as they call you out of the blue
and say, hey, you know, I want to let you
know I didn't quit because you did this, or you
set this, or you inspired me to like I had

(31:24):
no idea. Yeah, wow, gosh, you know you're that's that's
pretty amazing.

Speaker 3 (31:28):
I've had that happen. It is amazing, and yeah, you know,
I I it's in there too about you know, the
simple wave, uh prevented a guy from committing suicide, and
you take, we don't know the impact we can have.
And occasionally and I've gotten the calls home and said
this something I said and helped them and my involvement
with him and think much of at the time said

(31:51):
he saved their life, you know, And I think that's
an important thing to remember. When we learn these skills
and we are friends to others and friends to us,
we probably have a glow. Who was it that someone
said they're in the life Back team. They were like,
oh my god. You know, this is this environment right
your your team and it's functioning at its peak. Is

(32:13):
something to be admired and learned from right to feel
what it's like to do that and the glowing outside,
you know, has a positive effect.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
It's definitely President in the Hall of Saves.

Speaker 3 (32:27):
Yeah, no doubt, Yeah, no doubt.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
And listen, we're going to be right back after this
break with Arthur Lee, Colonel Douglas and this is the
man in the arena. It's his stay tuned.

Speaker 6 (32:36):
I was in the living room when I heard my
son Carter, who was two at the time. I looked
over and I saw him grabbing for his face. I
grab a life back. I put the mask on his
face and placed push pull. The light back dislodged the
ice cube from his airway. When he started crying, the
most amazing sound I've ever.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
Heard in my entire life.

Speaker 6 (32:58):
Please protect your family, get a life back.

Speaker 5 (33:02):
LIFEAC is proud to be at the forefront of innovation
in choking rescue. Recently, the American Red Cross updated its
guidelines to include anti choking devices as an option for
choking emergencies. This life saving update recognizes the importance of
tools like LIFEAC designed to help when traditional methods may
not be feasible or fail. LIFEAC is there when seconds

(33:23):
matter most. Join the thousands of families who trust Lifeact
LIFEAC can make the difference between life and loss. Go
to life back dot com to get yours today.

Speaker 6 (33:33):
Hi.

Speaker 3 (33:33):
I'm Marthur, the inventor, founder and CEO of life BAC
and a proud father. Did you know choking is the
fourth leading cause of accidental death. Tragically, one child dies
every five days now. Imagine your child, your spouse, or
someone you love choking. You have only seconds to act.
It's a situation no one wants to face, but it

(33:54):
can happen to anyone. That's why I created Life Back.
LIFEVAC is a life saving airway clearance the that's already
saved over three thousand lives. It's easy to use, non invasive,
and gives you the power to act when every second counts.
Don't wait until it's too late. Visit lifefact dot net
today and use promo code life to save twenty percent

(34:15):
on your life back home kit. That's Lifeact dot net
Promo code Life. Join thousands of families who own Life
Fact life thatac can make the difference between life and loss.
Go to lifeact dot net and get yours today.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
Now on iHeartRadio more of the Man in the Arena,
the Life Back Radio Show. Here again are Arthur Lee
and Rick Thatcher.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
Along with Colonel Christopher Douglas talking about wing men. We're
talking about the book Sorry Can't is a Lie, which
you can get at life fact dot net and encourage
you to get this book. Go to lifefact dot net
and by the way, use code Miita stands for man
in the arena. We sometimes we say mighta.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
I always wondering what it was. That's a good but
what a cool conversation, you know, to actually delve into
things that I won't say we take for granted because
we're grateful, but we don't know the depth of it.
You know, it's kind of fun to actually use that
gratitude to push yourself into understanding. And that's what happened
in the book. I started to say, how did I

(35:19):
get so blessed to have these people that are willing
to jump in and fight this fight with me? And
then I realized, well, I fight for them too, so
it's cool. But speaking of that, we we have a colonel.
You're on board to take on one last mission maybe.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
But it really is it's got a lot more fighting.

Speaker 3 (35:38):
Well, this is a this is kind of a you know,
you've you've talked about some of the missions you've been
on and I love to hear them, and this is
another one. Do you feel that way that this is
a mission? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (35:50):
I do. I mean, again, as you had shared with
me the you know, your initial why you started this,
and then the you know, as it evolved over time,
you know, when you've adapted to the circumstances. The event
that resonated with me, as we've talked about in the past,
has been the veteran who is an amputee who sadly

(36:12):
died of choking and no life was available. And so
you know, again for me, that was, you know, having
lost marines and in combat, having lost marines to suicide.
It resonated, especially because you have to say, you know,
what's the price of a human life, and you know
what's the price of a life back, so these you.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
Can't put a price, you know when people will still
complain about it, but well.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
You know, you got it. It's an interesting thing because
when I went in it, blinders saved my daughter. Blinders
have other people be able to save their kids. Now
I'm in the arena and the lights are on, and
the first time that really hit me of this this problem,
this gap in our ability to equally save people. Mother

(37:03):
came up to me, son a down syndrome, several polesy
big kid bawling, headed my shoulder, never forget it, grabbing
my arm. Thank you God. It was the one thing
that terrified me every single day because I knew of
he choked. I couldn't do anything right. No, this was
I was speaking at a cebal Polesy meeting and that's

(37:24):
when it hit me. Right now, I'm still not to
the veterans, right, I'm still saying, oh, now I have
another group of people that desperately need this mission that
I started to save my daughter and then save other kids.
And then just now now I go to I told
you a little bit. We volunteer and they do leftists,
save live guys, great guys. They do free comedy shows.

(37:46):
My volunteer job is to get a gentleman from his room,
take them on a wheelchair, take them down, listen to
the story, take them back to his room. You know
what happens when you do that? You're talking to the
hero right. I had to World War two guys. It
was a while ago, it was like ten years ago.
And they're telling me these amazing, unbelievable and like it's

(38:10):
nothing right, and I'm like, oh my god. And that's
when it really started to bother me. These guys, these
humble heroes, are sitting next to a post that that
doesn't represent them.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
And then Solus, you're talking about the standard choking poster
that is everywhere where it should be, but it's woefully inadequate.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
Well you know what, Look, I'm not a rock thrower.
Well and it didn't exist, right, So it's not no
one's fault now it is. We need change and the
Red Cross now is out there. But that's where the
evolution of that wingman. These are your wingman, These are
your guys, and you now know that we got to

(38:55):
take this on and get changed. And it's not a
huge it's pretty black and white, right.

Speaker 4 (39:03):
Right it is. And when you look at it, as
I mentioned, you know, losing somebody in combat is terrible.
You know, you think you lose a grandparent, you lose
a parent, you kind of expect, you know, given the circumstances.
When it's traumatic, i e. Combat, you know it's it's
life changing the day does it go by. I don't
think about the Marines that I lost in combat. I
think about you know. But then when you look at

(39:25):
you know, a car crash, you know, when a young
life is lost, or another you know, an overdose, or
when you look at choking and as violent as that is,
and how it can be prevented like first aid, first responder,
multiple other medical courses and performed in a capacity, you know,
to save lives. When you think about this, you know,

(39:48):
I never thought about it from the perspective until you
shared about the you know that veteran and I thought, gosh,
if you know a larger veteran like you know, I
remem I've retained some physical fitness as as I've transitioned
from service. When you look at, you know, a compromise,
a veteran with a you know, potentially a compromise that

(40:10):
or airway, you know, an amputee in a wheelchair, you know,
whether they have a spouse or a relative. You know,
how on earth are they going to perform that? If
they know how to how to perform life saving aid,
are they going to be able to perform it in
that situation? And I would submit that they're you know,
much like having a toolbox, you don't just have a

(40:31):
toolbox with all hammers, you have multi You've got to
have other options available. And as you mentioned, yeah, you
know we need the protocol needs to be updated. These
need to be available.

Speaker 3 (40:41):
But look, it's the thing though that that really gets
me with that analogy. Another club in the beg this bag,
Carly is empty. I don't have anything right, and we
talk a little bit about the fact that if we
are able to use the Red Cross statement of if
not feasible, that's in there for these guys. You know,
it's also in there for the kids in the Sarapolsi units.

(41:03):
It's also there for the the kids in school who
may have a halo brace or a scoliosis brace and
have no option. But when we succeed, our hero veterans
will once again have saved our country because they're going
to raise awareness to that supposed to be an inadequate
no it's fault. They're going to raise awareness to the

(41:23):
fact that the Red Cross acknowledges the fact that they
don't have anything now and they in turn will save
us again because if the VA gets it and the
awareness goes, holy cow, we have kids in this school
that can't be I'm like, we have kids in our
special needs ccilia camp. We have people in our elder
care that camp behind like the veterans once again.

Speaker 4 (41:45):
Well and you know, I mean, I like how you're
addressing the root of the problem, which is, hey, right now,
this is you know, there shouldn't be rocket science. It's
you know, here is a technique that is available that
in some cases is really the only option, and that's
you know, how do we get that into the hands
of everybody. And so that's where I'm excited at the

(42:07):
the opportunities and to explore opportunities. I mean, we've got
a new Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and you know, his
message of how we're going to deliver timely and access
care to you know, eligible veterans and put veterans at
the center of everything does and all those things seem
to tie into the message that you're saying. And you know,

(42:29):
and so to tie that back to you know, the
wingman how you know, hey, we we don't leave anybody behind.
And well, really in this case, everybody is a wingman.
It isn't just about combat veterans. You know, it's about veterans.
It's about people you know that that you know require
assistance in any form. But even you know, it could
be any one of us sitting in this.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
Roh my god, totally. And and plus you know they
in the elder side, they necessarily be in a wheelchair
choke and it's not a very good thing to crush
people at that age that body breaks down. We have
and you know, you said something important when you were
it was like a connected dots thing we were talking.
No one's thinking about it right, right, And I guarantee

(43:09):
if they were the right people sitting here, they'd say,
oh my god, Mayde signed a paper. We have to
get that awareness of a solution to a problem that
actually exists, not made upright, and take care of it.
And that's our mission to make aware that this is
a problem. But guess what, for the first time, usually
here is a solution, right, You never get that.

Speaker 4 (43:31):
And as you mentioned, I mean, you know or the
h or as I said before, you know, what's the
price of a human life? You know what's an acceptable loss? Well,
I would submit like you having lost people in combat
and that resonates with you, sticks with you forever. And
when you talk about somebody choking to death, that's not
an acceptable loss.

Speaker 3 (43:49):
We donated the unit to every time els Howe home.
And I was down in Florida where they gave a
home to this gentleman, and I'm in his home with
this and it's freaking all some that they do. And
they had all these features and I'm thinking of he
don't have a life back these stuff, these all this
great stuff. Now we get one, they make sure they
have one. Talk to two guys outside. Blew my mind.

(44:11):
Get one with a paratrooper dude deploying it like one
hundred feet. I'm like, oh my god, heroes humble both
in the wheelchair. Gave them both life bacts. But when
it was in the guy's house at tungs hous courageous
and brave and strong enough to donate to them, And
I said, without this, they could freaking die Tomar in

(44:33):
this super dup of great house. Right.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
But it all ties back to we're addressing the root
of the problem and what other opportunities are available. But
as you mentioned, I think in some cases it's not
a matter of not caring. I think it is as
we talk about, it's unconscious, incompetent. It's not thinking about it.
They don't people don't know what they don't know, right,

(44:57):
And so it's like, well, you know, like we're gonna
tell I don't happened to somebody else, like you know,
you know, hey, I can't imagine it to be terrible.
You know, I'm gonna get one of those life macks
next year.

Speaker 3 (45:06):
But relating to the Wigman, conversation. You know, it goes
almost more to me, to the emotional side of sharing. Right,
we have this. It's not a blatant thing. It's subtle.
They die, but now we know, and now we're going
to try and be good wing man and address something
that's kind of under the radar. Right, It's this is
more almost like the you know, hey, can we talk?

(45:29):
This is like, by the way, you know, I'm blatant.
It's not blaring. There's a lot of blatant blaring problems,
blatant blaring, but they may not have answers. This is
a subtle one kills guys every single day, and there
is a solution.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
Absolutely. You've been listening to Arthur Lee, inventor CEO of
Life Fact, along with Colonel Christopher Douglas. I'm Rick Thatcher,
and we're going to be right back with more of
the man in the arena after this.

Speaker 3 (45:56):
I'm sorry to bother you, but I have thirty seconds
to give you a very important messa. My name is
Arthur leeam the CEO inventor of life Back, a simple
choking rescue device that could save a life in a
choking emergency. We've saved over three thousand lives now, but
we're not there. Five thousand people you choke to death
one child every five days. Please consider protecting your family

(46:18):
in a choking emergency with life back. Go to lifepac
dot net today. Thank you for your time.

Speaker 5 (46:24):
LIFEAK is proud to be at the forefront of innovation
in choking rescue. Recently, the American Red Cross updated its
guidelines to include anti choking devices as an option for
choking emergencies. This life saving update recognizes the importance of
tools like LIFEAC designed to help in traditional methods may
not be feasible or fail. LIFEAK is there when seconds

(46:45):
matter most. Join the thousands of families who trust life aact.
LIFEAC can make the difference between life and loss. Go
to life bac dot com to get yours today.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
Hi, I'm Arthur, the inventor, founder and CEO of life
BAC and a proud follow them. You know, choking is
the fourth leading cause of accidental death. Tragically, one child
dies every five days. Now, imagine your child, your spouse,
or someone you love choking. You have only seconds to act.
It's a situation no one wants to face, but it

(47:15):
can happen to anyone. That's why I created life Back.
Life Back is a life saving airway clearance device that's
already saved over three thousand lives. It's easy to use,
non invasive, and gives you the power to act when
every second counts. Don't wait until it's too late. Visit
lifefac dot net today and use promo code life to

(47:35):
save twenty percent on your life back home kit. That's
lifefac dot net promo code Life. Join thousands of families
who own life back. Life Back can make the difference
between life and loss. Go to lifeback dot net and
get yours today.

Speaker 1 (47:53):
Now on iHeartRadio, more of the Man in the Arena
the Life Back Radio Show. Here again are Arthur Lee
and Rick Thatcher.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
Along with Colonel Christopher Douglass. We call him CJ. And
CJ the newest member of the life Back team. And Arthur,
I'll ask you you identified I knew CJ for a
long time. You met him and you identified something that said, hey,
he can help and you have a great team around you.

Speaker 3 (48:20):
I had a guy interview once from a job and
I said, do you know I had to work computer?

Speaker 4 (48:24):
No?

Speaker 3 (48:25):
Do you know how to do customer service?

Speaker 4 (48:27):
No?

Speaker 3 (48:27):
Do not answerphone. No, you know, what would you do?
I was butcher. I got up before in the morning,
I dedicated and he told me about what he did.
And I said, you're hired, right, because I could teach
you how to do all that, but I can't teach
you what he told me in those few minutes of
how he compromised. He didn't compromise on his job. All
those things he told me way more important than teaching

(48:48):
them how to go like this. And same with CJ.
I just felt it. I knew we needed a mission leader.
Obviously he's capable of that. So he's a customer site, right,
you know. I'm psyched. Well that that was a big
point that he said he'd got his wife had gotten it,
and but it was more customer. It was that competent
and understanding that this could be a bad thing.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
Right. I met a customer of the VA or a
pssion of the V, but certainly an advocate a believer
from early on before we started talking about, you know,
joining the team. Uh, they were on board with the
just the mission of life.

Speaker 3 (49:25):
I want to thank you, I really I thought it
was really cool when we went in and out of
kind of a subtle commitment to each other that is
not so subtle in the military, but brought out in
my book. So that was fun.

Speaker 4 (49:40):
Yeah, you know, one of the things as you just
talked about, you know, with building the team and kind
of the culture with life back and whatnot, was you know,
it made me think of a close friend of mine,
retired seal, a guy named Greg Hackey, and he made
a statement that said, uncommunicated expectations go unmet every time.

(50:03):
So when you you know, when you just shared the
story about like, you know computers now this no, you know,
but you know I get up every day, Well, he
showed a level of dedication, a work ethic, a commitment, yeah,
and a tenacity that you know, like, yeah, you can
train all those other skills, the measures of performance right

(50:23):
that he's doing things right, and then the measure of
effectiveness whether he's doing the right things right. You can
train all of that or educate. It was kind of
cool that the first thought I had was of that
and how you communicate them.

Speaker 3 (50:36):
Do you think about that? Was a cop, an air
freight guy, a finance guy, then another shipping guy, then
an admin. They had the heart. They had the heart
and soul they had. They were wig men right, and
that's why, like I said, I he isn't no idea.
What we're talking about don't matter. You learn what's the

(50:59):
passion kick say it's over, Johnny. He knows there's a
mission to be done. We'll get it done right.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
And the initial training at Life Fact is come on
in to work. It fits the jacket, Johnny, Bravo, I'll revisit.
So go from Balton, Spa, New York to you know,
Life Fact. For those of you in LA and Houston
and Orlando and even here in New York at w

(51:26):
o R. Life Fact is situated out on Long Island
in Wisconsin, and we encourage everyone to please go to
the website get the original, because that's a whole other show.
Knockoffs counterfeits big problem. So go to life fact dot net.
Use the code m I T a meta that stands
you asked earlier, and we cleared that up for man

(51:47):
in the arena. And we've been talking with Arthur Laco,
inventor of Life Fact. He's here every week. And newest
member of Team Life BacT, Colonel Christopher Douglas. I'm Rick
Thatcher and it's so great to be reaching all these communities,
to spreading the awareness not only of life fact, but
of your book.

Speaker 3 (52:04):
Yeah, we'll use the book is kind of a talking point.

Speaker 4 (52:08):
You know.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
It's an ability to take things of significance and if
you could buy in some of the underlying characteristics you
need to do something and then you look at life
back and say, okay, that is something everyone could do this,
anyone could do it. I did it. So but how
do we share together right in a conversation And I'm

(52:32):
not preaching when we're just sharing and saying this is
kind of ideas or thoughts that came to me. Maybe
they apply, maybe they don't. You know a lot of
people have read the book said, you know, I laughed,
I cried, and I made my kids read it. So
I think there's hope that it's useful and it look
it stimulated this great discussion, guys.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
Any parting thoughts in the remaining seconds.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
Gratitude for me, I'm grateful could sit here and talk
and uncover and delve in and be grateful for Wingman.

Speaker 4 (53:06):
Yeah it is and and Wingman and how that ties
into service because you know, as I've had a life
of service, you know, and you can see that, you know,
given the the the associations of people, you have, the
mission of which you've undertaken and what you're looking to do,
you know, it's really it's it's service in a different direction.

Speaker 3 (53:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:26):
Yeah, And I hope this show reaches Britt and Susan
of course has been listening in.

Speaker 3 (53:30):
And author pleasure to be grateful for them. And absolutely women.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
Absolutely, I'm Rick. I'm with Arthur Lee, CEO and venor
of Life BacT on the Man in the Arena.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
The proceeding was a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.