Borne the Battle

When Bill Czopek decided to transfer to the Naval Academy, he knew that he wanted the structure and support of a military career. Through persistence and dedication, he was accepted. Little did he know, that experience would lead him to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

In this week’s episode of Borne the Battle, Special Agent Bill Czopek discusses his time in the Navy, his experience in the DEA, and some things Veterans should be ...

In 1945, warehouses in Birmingham, England, were brimming with unsent postal mail intended for U.S. soldiers at the frontlines. At the same time, African American organizations pressed the War Department to create more opportunities for African American Women’s Army Corps members to serve. Tackling two issues at once, the War Department started recruiting African American women and formed the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battali...

If you know of Black Rifle Coffee Company or watch Mayans MC on FX, you may already know this week’s Borne the Battle guest – Army Veteran, entrepreneur, actor and overall entertainer Vincent Vargas.

It was a windy road that led him to this point in his life. Too many wild parties got him kicked out of college and ended his childhood dream of playing professional baseball. At 20, as a young father who was no longer playing ball or a...

David Bonilla grew up in El Monte, California, where, as a child, he had the opportunity to be involved with a few film projects. Through his mother’s connections, he gained both experience in the film industry and an interest in filming and directing. He initially had no plans to join the military, but when a recruiter offered to buy him lunch, his life found a new direction.

Bonilla discusses his deployments overseas to Baghdad an...

On September 11, 2001, Air Force flight surgeon John Baxter showed up to work at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, to a full load of patients and completing physicals–just like any other day.

Halfway through his morning while getting his next patient, he saw that a civilian airliner had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers.

While with the patient, Baxter said he noticed the background noise in the Pentagon changed. It s...

This episode of Borne the Battle – a benefits breakdown – features HUD-VASH, a collaborative program between HUD and VA that provides support to help homeless Veterans and their families – and those at risk of becoming homeless – to find and sustain permanent housing.

Veterans Matter is one of the many nonprofits which work alongside and enhance HUD-VASH’s ability to reduce homelessness among Veterans.

According to the 2020 Annual Ho...

On this episode of Borne the Battle, Army Veteran Tommy Davis shares his story about deploying to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and Afghanistan, then later working in the video game industry.

Tommy always enjoyed playing video games, but his journey to working in the video game industry was not straightforward. After taking some courses at a community college, he still felt uncertain about the future and what he wanted to do. He s...

Army Veteran James Stejskal spent nine years in West Berlin during the Cold War, serving in a clandestine and small special forces unit known as Detachment A. His mission bordered on the impossible, tasked with being ready to cross into East Germany and sabotage the Soviet army at a moment’s notice in case the Soviet Union ever decided to launch an invasion.

He spent 23 years in service with special forces and 13 years operating und...

Links to programs and resources mentioned in this episode:

In 1954, the United States became actively involved in the Vietnam War. John Ligato followed suit and joined the Marine Corps to serve his country after receiving a draft notice in 1966.

Ligato breaks down his experience during the Battle of Hue City from an operational view. He discusses what he calls the three missing days in Marine Corps history due to the nature of the battle, and how he pushed for 13 years to get the medals tha...

VA's Office of Community Care (OCC) aims to place the choice of provider in the hands of eligible Veterans and assist them in finding the best options for their care.

On this episode of Borne the Battle, Dr. Elizabeth Brill, chief medical officer at OCC, breaks down the process of determining eligibility, making appointments and receiving care through community care.

Types of care available under Community Care include:

One day, while in his university dormitory in the late 1950s, Billy Mills opened a window and set a chair against it. He then got up on the chair and mentally prepared himself to jump. As he stood, he thought about his difficult upbringing as an orphan and the racism he faced, even as an NCAA All-American runner. He simply wanted to leave all his troubles behind.

Suddenly, Mills felt a jolt of energy moving beneath his skin. That wa...

This week we revisit the Episode 72 featuring Marine Veteran and Hollywood Stuntwoman, Leaphy Khim. eaphy was born to Cambodian refugee parents and joined the military after Sept 11 as a way to give back to her parents' adopted country. In 2002, she enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. From here, she received intense combat and weapons training through the Corps for more than 6 years. Now, she's pursuing a career in ...

Robinson entered the film industry with little more than his Marine Corp background and a drive to succeed. However, he leveraged his experiences, formed connections and learned the Hollywood lingo to land gigs working on some of the biggest films of his time. 

His success even allowed him to eventually tour with the likes of Whitney Houston, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. Overall, with perseverance, some help from his 1956 Cor...

Denise Jelinski-Hall felt stuck in her small hometown of Little Falls, Minnesota, so she created a new future for herself by joining the Air Force. Years, later, Jelinski-Hall became the highest-ranking enlisted female in United States military history.

On this episode of Borne the Battle, Air National Guard Veteran Denise Jelinski-Halldiscusses her selection as Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, the ...

This week’s episode of Borne the Battle features Air Force Veteran Marti Moore, who discusses her military career and she became group vice president of technology implementation at Spectrum Charter Communications. Moore served 11 years in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve as a systems engineering chief, and developed software for satellite tracking systems at Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado.

In 1995, Moore transitioned to c...

This week’s episode of Borne the Battle features Texas Army National Guard Veteran Cindy McNally and Marine Corps Veteran Nate McDonald, the president and vice president of Irreverent Warriors. McNally and McDonald discuss Irreverent Warriors’ mission to improve mental health and prevent Veteran suicide worldwide by providing a space to build camaraderie at their Silkie Hike events.

McNally is the CEO and president of Irreverent War...

High military aptitude test scores and high school curiosity earned Jonathan Kingham a place in the Navy that started him on the path toward a career as a singer-songwriter. On this episode of Borne the Battle, Kingham discusses how the Navy helped him enter the Seattle music scene, the evolution and future of the music industry, and how singers and songwriters make a living from music.

A high school friend convinced Kingham to skip...