Transformative Tales of Triumph and Redemption

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Charlie Mike the podcast Veterans helping
veterans.
Talking about things happeningin the veteran community, Things
we've experienced and overcome,such as addictions, PTSD,
depression, legal trouble, andwe also promote veteran-owned
businesses.
If you're talking about it,we're talking about it.

(00:24):
This is Charlie Mike thepodcast.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yo, what's going on everybody?
Welcome back to another episodeof Charlie Mike the podcast.
As always, I'm your host, Raulman.
Hey, I've been having a hopeeveryone's Christmas went well.
You know, I'm excited to bringa new guest and continue to
share the the mission of charliemike.
Continue the mission, man.

(00:49):
Today I have a very specialguest.
That you know, man.
Okay, so the way we met waskind of weird.
He's uh, I heard him.
He cracked a joke at a familyevent.
I was like, hold up, thatsounds like my people over there
.
So we talked and, man, we gotto talk in a little bit.

(01:16):
Introduce yourself.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
Hi everyone.
Just like Charlie and Mike said, hey, I hope everyone's
Christmas is going great.
Hope the family's doing well.
It's been an awesome trip heremeeting the in-laws.
Ran into this guy right herewho's awesome already.
I'm sure y'all already know,but it's my first podcast, so

(01:42):
just work with me.
You know what I mean Ever.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Ever oh dang Never done one, bro, never, never,
just work with me, you know what.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
I mean Ever.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Ever, oh dang, never done one, bro, never, never done
one.
If I had a dollar for everytime.
Someone told me to get on andtell your story right, and I
believe this is subliminal tohim.
You know what I'm saying.
I believe he put you in my path, man.
I believe it too, because if I,man, I'm telling you, if I had
a dollar for every time, yeah.
So here I am.
You know, here I am.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
So let's start off a little bit.
Man, when are you from?

Speaker 4 (02:13):
So I'm born in DC in 81.
, single mom, single parent,whatever.
She met my stepdad at thePentagon one day, man, and they
hit it off, got married.
He PCS'd, pcs'd military changeof station to Fort McClellan

(02:33):
Alabama.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Wait, your mom was military too.

Speaker 4 (02:35):
She was government.
Okay, okay, okay, she workedgovernment on the civilian side
of the.
Pentagon.
He was in uniform.
Okay, okay okay, so they linkedup whatever got married PCS'd,
he PC, he pcs.
She followed along to fortmcclellan, alabama.
Uh, they both retired at fortmcclellan.
Uh, I can't remember here, butI was about eight, yeah, so up
until eight I was in dc and thendc to alabama you remember dc

(02:59):
do I remember?
Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, I've been coming out there
, man, yeah that's what's up.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
That's on my list.
Man DC is definitely on my list.
I ain't quite made it out thatway.

Speaker 4 (03:08):
Yeah, but I want to go.
It's nice, it's nice, it's nice, it's fast.
You know what I'm saying?
The people is a littledifferent.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (03:20):
yeah, that's a southern thing.
You already know that's thesouthern thing we don't have
that.
Yeah, take me home bro yeah, soalabama, you, you living in
alabama yep, yeah, whole life.

Speaker 4 (03:34):
And then uh graduated high school.
There 99, uh lost my mom manwhen I was about my mom man,
when I was about let's see, oh,let's see 99, oh, over 2000,
2001, I was about 20.
Uh, but I was her hospice manin high school, my senior year.
I didn't tell anybody, bro,that she was dying of cancer,

(03:55):
you know what I'm saying.
So I was her hospice for like ayear.
Um, because of the medicaltreatment that was retired.
It wasn't covering everything,you know what I'm saying.
So he had to go back over theroad to the truck driver to pick
up the extra insurance, okay,and I was the only kid that
could stay back.
So that's mom.
I was my best friend, of course.
So that means say less, ofcourse I do it.

(04:30):
So I turned into of like 18, 17man, uh, just full-time hospice
bro for my mom, uh.
So, uh, you got brothers andsisters.
Yes, I got a younger sister, anolder sister, she passed an
older brother, passed an olderbrother that's in still in va.
And then, uh, I got some, some,some branch offs up in Virginia
.
Dad was a little, you know whatI mean.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,several hats.
They did it different back then.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
I'm in the same situation.
I'll tell you a funny story,man.
I was in Iraq, one of my toursman and I had this girl reach
out to me on.
It was MySpace back then onFacebook?
I don't remember but she said,hey, I to me on uh, it was
myspace back on facebook, Idon't remember.
But she said, hey, uh, hey, I,I've been looking for this guy
named carlos that's my brother'sname, yeah, and he's got a
brother named raul.
Uh, you know, are you him?

(05:12):
And I was like, well, I do gota brother named carlos.
So I I text, I, uh, you know,got in, got contact with my
brother.
I told my brother I say, hey,man, I think you owe some czech
child support.
Dude, she, she's looking foryou.
So I told him and then comedown.
Many years after that it turnsout that she's my half sister.
So my dad was the same way.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
Yeah, they were cut different back then.
Yep man.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, yeah.
So, alabama, you were takingcare of your mother until she
passed, right?
Yeah, man, so damn.
I couldn't imagine that.
As far as witnessing that fromhealthy to cancer yeah, it's

(06:05):
another thing.
What brought you, what made youwant to join the military?
How did all that begin?
Was that always an option.

Speaker 4 (06:16):
It was always growing up in the military home.
You know it's one of those.
Either you're just straightagainst it or what was your step
day?
Uh 11, bravo, oh, he was army.
Yeah, yeah, get the out of here, yeah yeah okay, two vietnam
tours.
He was a hard ass, bro, damnyeah yeah, yeah yeah, yeah he
did 24, his brother did 26, Ithink, retired star major uh.

(06:41):
So uh, he never really pushed iton me.
I just remember as a kid likehe was a.
He was a senior drillinstructor at Fort McClellan,
straight up.
So I remember as a kid beingoutside and he'll run the
platoon by calling cadence.
You know what?
I'm saying he used to just firethe hell out of me, I believe
it man, oh yeah.
So even as a kid I was Cadenceand stuff like that.

(07:02):
But like when mom passed, likethe hard part of him that you
know made me a man.
It kind of folded me after shepassed because there was no love
.
Like I was a few, I was like anhour and a half late and the

(07:24):
only thing that I got from himwas if you were here on time,
you'd see the past.
That was it.
I left when I was like I hadlike I called pop and he was
like after she passed I wantedto go to a uh, the movies with
my girlfriend and he was inBirmingham.
He was like no, I'm like no, andhe was like yeah no man and I

(07:47):
said huh, and I never reallytalked back to my parents and he
said you heard what I said.
No, you know what I'm saying.
I said but, dad, I'm goinganyway Leave, don't come back.
I never came back.
Oh shit, you know, one of histhings was you know, there's
only one room in one house forone man.
See, I didn't understand whathe was doing, you know.
So I left.
I had like 60 bucks in my name.

(08:07):
Left never looked back andnever had any support either,
man, you know, like with my mom.
So, fast forward, my buddies andstuff.
You know they were messingaround with drugs and alcohol,
what have you?
And I'm dealing with this stuffon the inside, you know, but

(08:28):
with a smile on my face, asalways.
And, um, man, one day it was,it was, it was.
Can I say what it was?
Yeah, you say what you'reactually man, it was x, yeah,
yeah, and uh, man, you know, man, bro, because I was down and
out, they could, they could tellit was, you know, and say all
it does is kind of release theendorphins, make you feel good.
I don't know, not there.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
But one day I did and, bro, itwas just a weight off.

(08:48):
It just unlocked those doorsand it let me talk and it let me
cry and it let me laugh.
It was just everything all inone.
And uh, I remember, uh, tellingpeople that I, I really didn't
consider the drug you know whatI'm saying because I labeled
drugs as going out, stealing,robbing.

(09:09):
I would just, I take it andjust talk to people, just get it
off, get it off, get it off.
And uh, and it, uh, it was, I'mnot gonna lie man, it was, it
was the biggest stress relief atthe time.
Yeah, um, and uh, of course,that that rolled into the
alcohol.

(09:29):
You know what I'm saying, andstuff like that.
And you know, they say thatmarijuana is a gateway.
We were like, yeah, it is, yeah, it really is.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
It was the the big difference between, uh, the, the
x and the alcohol they havedifferent effects on on the mind
of course uh, one, you knowthey use one for counseling, uh,
ecstasy and in shrooms, right.
And there's a couple of veteranorganizations now, man, that are
using shrooms, uh, fortherapeutic purposes, where they

(10:00):
take you because it's not, it'snot legal here in the united
states to take it for thatreason, but they take you
because it's not it's not legalhere in the united states to
take it for that reason, butthey take you overseas into,
like a, uh, you get a sherpa anda sherman and they give you, um
, that I, I, I don't want to sayI'm, I'm naming it, uh, shroom
type cocktail and you experiencethe whole cocktail and you

(10:30):
experience the whole inner,outer body experience.
And, bro, I, I've known veteransthat have sworn by it, really
that have sworn by it, say that,that, and then people are like,
well, it's gonna, it's agateway, it's not a.
They said, man, we goexperience that, come back and
that's not something you everwant to do again.
You know, because it just, itbrought you to this.
You know, to the, the clearmind, thought everything that

(10:50):
you, you, uh, oh, look it up,man, we'll, we'll get more off
this, yeah, yeah, yeah man, butit's crazy.
Um, yeah, so, so you.
So you, eggs, alcohol, eggs,alcohol, weed, and this was all
in your early 20s.

Speaker 4 (11:07):
Yeah, yeah, man.
And then that's kind of whatdelayed me joining the military.
You know what I mean.
I was torn, you know.
I had my son, which you saw Boy, that's a big boy, that's a big
old boy.
Yeah, that's a big old boy,that's a big old boy, yeah, he's
a big old boy.
So me and his mom were back andforth, you know what I mean.

(11:30):
And so when we were off that'swhen I wanted to join she never
wanted to leave, yeah, so oncewe got back together, I pulled
it back.
So it was like a yin-yang, backand forth, back and forth.
And she wasn't pregnant withhim at the time.
She had a.
She had her first, you knowwhich.
I took him in his mind.
You know I'm saying still, mybaby, yeah and uh.

(11:51):
So we had him for like fouryears prior to even having my
son.
So that was the back and forththing that we had.
Finally, we it was a heartbreakthat we had and I made my mind
up.
I said, bro, I gotta, you knowwhat I'm saying.
And I believe she was pregnantat the time.
Matter of fact, I know she was.
And so I had my son January 27,2006.

(12:14):
And after I had him.
I had to do something.
You know I was still using, butI had to do something, you know
.
So I joined the military.
I had to do something, you knowso, joined the military and man
, I'm going to tell you a littlestory, tell me my little break,

(12:35):
man and I, in the course of mejoining the military, man, I
went to Panama City and just akind of out before I left out
you know, had a good time.
You know how we do down there.
Right, I come home and I wasdoing car stereo at the time,

(12:56):
man and a good friend of mine,rodney, his wife had joined the
Marines, she was doing very well.
They just bought a house inBirmingham and he's like, bro
man, I would love for you tocome visit for the weekend.
Very well, they just bought ahouse in Birmingham.
He's like, bro man, I wouldlove for you to come visit for
the weekend.
I'm like, yeah, barbecueda-da-da-da-da, we're going to
hit Hooters da-da-da.
Man, just come through, man.
They've been asking for a while.

(13:16):
I'm like you know what.
I'm going to do it.
I'm going to do it.
We jump in the truck.
Ronnie been drinking all day.
I think he had been on a coupleother things and and, uh, I
kind of took the wheel.
I'm like, bro, you know.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
I mean you know the better of the two, if you will.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
You know, yeah, I'm better than you we both are up,
you know, yeah, so we I hit thewheel, we had the brimham and
his wife gets on the phone, bro,and she's just, you know, just
just going off.
Man, and it was just throwingthe vibe off a little bit.
He was like you know, we'regonna go to the house, we're
gonna hear hooters.
I'm like all right, cool, right.
So we hear hooters and he getsthe heck in there.
Man, it's kind of crazy.

(13:55):
Um, that, uh, that was that waspretty rough.
Lee there hit taco bell, normalshit.
Right two o'clock in themorning hit taco bell, boom, hit
the house.
We get to the house, bro, andthey just had a newborn little
boy.
Man, just a little one so shehands me the baby and I'm
playing with the little boy andthey go at it, man, and uh, uh.

(14:20):
Last thing, I know I hear man,you know john, you know John,
you know help, help, help.
And I'm like man.
I mean what do I do?
I mean I just walked in, I'mlike I got this baby in my hand,
what do I do?
I think I found like a little alittle a little carrot stain to
put the baby in.

(14:40):
I ran back and I helped that'swhat we do, right, get them off.
I said hey, and I ran back andI helped that what we do, right,
get them off.
I said, hey, mama, get yourstuff and go.
And, uh, she leaves.
I thought that was the end.
Nah, that was the beginning.

Speaker 3 (14:57):
He turned on me, man, you know, just yelling me why'd
you let it go?

Speaker 4 (14:59):
why'd you let it go?
Why'd you let it go?
We fought, we fought before um.
I probably skipped some details,you, you know, because we
fought, we fought, we fought,and man, it was at the end.
Man, you know how you got a kidwhen the house is quiet?
And you got a kid.
What are you doing?
Right?

(15:19):
And it was just an awkwardsilence, man, no answer, no
answer.
And I go to the back, I cut thecorner.
Yeah, yeah, and I just it wasjust an awkward silence, man,
that's all.
No answer, no answer.
Not go to the back, I cut thecorner.
If I've never seen the devil,bro, it was.
I mean, it was all it was on.
Uh, finally somebody overheardit.
Man called the police orwhatever, I hear sheriff, I'm

(15:42):
like thank god, thank god.
So I come out from behind a manand and he's just passed out
asleep.
You know, I'm like hell, yeah,finally.
So I go to the door and I tellthe sheriff.
I said he said, man, what'sgoing on?
I told him everything's goingon.
He said where is he?
By the side of the couch.
I flipped backwards, man, um.

(16:03):
So I said he's on the back sideof the couch.
He's done past that, all right,let's go check on him.
So we go around the couch.
He's about to color your shirt.
Yeah, yeah, done.
So I'm like man, what can I do?
He won't let me do anything.
That I'm like what?
And I'm losing it.
Man, I'm whatever I call hiswife and I'm like, hey, come
back, she comes back by thistime.

(16:26):
I'm in the back of the damn copcar, right.
So I'm looking through thewindow like what and whatever I
call his wife and I'm like, hey,come back, she comes back by
this time.
I'm in the back of the damn copcar, right.
So I'm looking through thewindow like what the hell is
going on.
I just see people running in.
I get to Birmingham and talk tothe investigator guy.
Man, he leaves and he comesback, and I could hear the wife

(16:46):
was in the other room and it wasalmost like they told us the
story at the same time.
You know, he was like man, hedidn't make it and I just
screamed and I'm like, oh, Ijust, I just lost it.
I was lost.
I could hear her screaming andhe kind of just dropped his head
, bro, and he was like man.

(17:06):
You know, john, I gotta, gottatake you to prison for murder,
man.
And I'm like what?

Speaker 3 (17:27):
are you saying yeah, you know what I'm saying.
What are you?

Speaker 4 (17:30):
saying he takes me downstairs, man, and this is the
same jail as First 48,birmingham right, they don't
play bro, so I'm in line.
I call my dad at like 3 in themorning and his wife answers.
She said John was wrong and I,you know, she passed the phone
to him and he just keeps askingme, man, what's going on?

(17:51):
I said what's going on?
What's going on?
I couldn't tell him, bro.
I couldn't tell him, Like youknow what I'm saying, this man
gave me his whole life.
Man, you know what I'm saying,mom, I'll be okay and I said Dad
you're just not going to see mefor a while.
Man, he was like what happened?
I mean just prying, prying,prying, prying, prying.

(18:12):
And I told him.
I said, dad, I'm about toprocess here in Birmingham for a
murder.
He's a pastor man.
He just fuck, he just you know.
And I could tell that it was aletdown because of something
that my mom had asked him.
You know, make sure my babywould be okay.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
Right, right right.

Speaker 4 (18:30):
So I, yeah.
So I said, Dad, they want thehouse man.
He said that ain't going towork, son, that ain't going to
work.
I said, dad, that's what theywant.

(18:51):
They don't want anything else.
He said let me tell yousomething.
The truth will set you freeyeah.
I told my dad.
I looked to my left and lookedto my right.
I said dad, the truth ain't inhere, man.
He said, yes, it is.
I said no, it's not dad.
The truth ain't in here, dad,I'm telling you, I'm standing in

(19:14):
here, I'm in line, I'mlistening to these guys talk.
The truth is not in here dad.
He said so, yes, it is the truthis in there, the truth that the
, the, the god is in there andthe truth is that you free.
Finally, I said, okay, bro, Iget off the phone with him.

(19:36):
I walk from about here to thatwall, the end process.
I go to grab the paper and thelady puts her hand on top of
mine and she starts praying.
Bro, another lady behind herheard her praying, came behind,
grabbed her hand, startedpraying.
Another lady started prayingand it was like a prayer chain.

(19:57):
As soon as I got off the phoneand after that was done, I had a
process and I go to anotherlady pulling me out the line and
she says hey, I need you to goover here.
There's a gentleman who wantsto talk to you.
I go over there and I talk tothe guy and he said hey, man,
I'm going to put you in, I'mgoing to put you in psych ward,

(20:20):
okay, and I'm like all right,cool, and I'm like whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, I'm claustrophobic.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm thinkingyou familiar.
I'm like no, no, no, I'm wipingmy tears, I'm wiping my tears,
I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine,I'm fine, I'm fine.
He's like no, and he says no.

(20:44):
And he kept just nicely sayingno, no, no, that's where you're
going to go.
So, man, I go to psych ward,right, no clothes, nothing, man,
just up there, and I had thislittle window I could look out

(21:05):
of every day, and I could lookout the window, and sometimes I
could see the cars that wereleaving and going to work around
about the same time.
You know what I'm saying Backand forth, and all I could think
about was you know, man, howquick your life can be over?
Who wouldn't go to a barbecueif they?

Speaker 2 (21:18):
were invited.

Speaker 4 (21:19):
Free food, yeah, yeah .

Speaker 2 (21:20):
Right, yeah, I'm game .
Who's cooking?
Yeah, yeah, right, yeah, I'mgame.
Who's cooking Right?

Speaker 4 (21:25):
Who wouldn't go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I'm like and I'm here, mylife is over with.
It's overdone.
So I'm speaking to peoplecoming this and the third every
day, and doctors and nurses orwhatever it was that came

(21:47):
through and after a couple ofdays, man, I just accepted that
I was never going to go right.
Or one day my intercom thinggoes off and I said, hey,
there's somebody here that wantsto speak to you and you know
they had to bring my clothes andstuff like that.
So I brought my clothes and I'mthinking it's another doctor,
whatever, and so I put onwhatever they gave me and I walk

(22:11):
out and it's the same detectiveright, but it's the detective
and his partner.
We go to a room a littlesmaller than this and he says,
hey, just go over to the store,we just need to hear the story.
And I told him the story andafter I told him the story, he
said go home fuck out of herelike that.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
I said what, so I'm you want me to, you gotta tell
me twice hey.

Speaker 4 (22:45):
I ought to be gone.
You see your dad's downstairswaiting.
Man, good dude, you know.
I walked down my son is just aninfant bro.
Just a little Post bail, or Bro?
I never had a court date.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:00):
I never had a probation date, I never had
parole.
I never nothing, man, nothing,walked out.
You can't tell me that ain't aGod, bro.
That's craziness.
You can't tell me that ain't aGod.

Speaker 3 (23:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:13):
So my son was down there, my son's mom and my dad,
and we took off Now.
Mind you, I was halfway throughjoining the military, yeah
Right.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
You ever?

Speaker 4 (23:22):
shared this story before A halfway through joining
the military.
Yeah Right, you ever sharedthis story before A couple of
times yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm halfway through joiningthe military, right Walk into
the recruiter's office.
He's like, bro, where you been?
Well, what happened?
So I tell him he's like allright, he just trooped with it's

(23:47):
like all right, he just troopedwith it.
Man, all right, all right, cool, Okay.
So they reach out to Birmingham, the detectives.
He had them write up a memo,man, and then had to go all the
way up to a four-star yeah.
Right.
Four-star kicked it back andwas like yo, yo, you gotta take
this last blurb off right,because the military taking me
in means they're taking, they'reowning what I did prior right

(24:11):
right, right.
So he was like man.
I don't know if they're goingto take it off.
And the last sentence pertainedto something about um, because
there was no statute oflimitations.
Right, right, so oh yeah, yeah,you know what I mean, yeah.
So he's like, well, let's try,let's try, let's try, let's try.
So we shouted up there to himdude, took it off, took the
paperwork, sent it back, went tomaps.

(24:33):
I was there for like a minute,bro, you know, because it, you
know like the process, or whathave you and uh, I got in.
You know what I'm saying, and it, it was life changing, bro, and
and I don't think there's toomany people, bro, that are

(24:59):
wearing these clothes that I cansay that they were charged with
.
That man and I never had acourt date.
I never had a I date, I neverhad a another.
That was never on parole.
Yeah, and, and so I took offwith the military career from
there, man, and I did very well,um, but do you ever keep

(25:22):
contact with that detective?
No, I never did.
I think he's.
I'm almost positive.
He's one of the detectives onthe first 48.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
Get the fuck out of here.

Speaker 4 (25:33):
Yeah, yeah, get the fuck out of here.
I'm going to tell you right now, when you're in that room you
cannot lie.
I wouldn't.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
No, you can't lie.
I tell you I've done some lyingin my day.
But yeah, I see that in my day.

Speaker 4 (25:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was rough Like going up in the
elevator.
There was two dudes in therewith me, right, sheriff, in the
elevator, these twomotherfuckers were arguing about
who shot the last one.
No, dude, I shot the last one.
No, dude, I shot the last one.
No, you didn't, I'm the one Ishot him.
Remember?
You shot the guy before that.
I'm like oh bro, I'm not gonnamake it so fast forward.

(26:18):
That guy overheard me talkingto my dad and he and the prayer
chain.
He knew I wasn't gonna make itupstairs, you know.
So he pulled me to the side tosave my life.
You know I'm saying, and andlet me not go into general pop
he put me in a psych ward bymyself.
I didn't know it then.
That's why he wouldn't let me.

(26:39):
When I said that, when Ithought I was gonna do this, he
went here and he was like no man, yeah, yeah, yeah, you where
you gonna go, you know what I'msaying.
And uh and uh yeah that's crazy, yeah and uh.

Speaker 2 (26:55):
So oh, I got.
I got a lot of questions so soyour military career.
You went into the military andyou did the damn thing.
Yeah, so were you stationed,just stayed in the States.

Speaker 4 (27:09):
No, germany first.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
duty Fort Benning first duty yeah Before Stuart
when.

Speaker 4 (27:15):
Oh, fort Stuart, Hold on.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
That would have been 10 through 14 maybe yeah sweet
dog face soldiers, dog face babyman.
I went to Iraq that was myfirst duty station oh really.
I went to Iraq with them thefirst couple times.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, man.

Speaker 4 (27:39):
So three, I did, yeah , I did, I did.
So you remember, you rememberbuilding one yeah, yeah, yeah so
I was, I was the.
I did so.
You remember, you rememberbuilding one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I was, Iwas the.
I was the, the exec admin forthe post commander and the post
army.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (27:52):
Yeah, interview for like a bunch of punching cats,
interview man, and I got picked.
You know what?
I'm saying, and I was like realclose to becoming the voice of
the mark, yeah yeah so, yeah, Iwas in command man a lot of the
time that I deployed with thoseguys, um and then, uh, that's
where I met my wife yeah, whereat afghanistan?

(28:14):
No shit, yeah, so I was thencic.
I'm 85 down there so I was thencic of the cat card office and
uh, she came in sitting in thein the lobby whatever get their
id card and uh and uh, normallyI didn't because I'm in the show
, I see I know I don't go outand grab people, but we have to
be busy that day.
So I was helping the soldiersout when I grabbed a clipboard

(28:34):
and I did a quick scan and Iseen her down on the end on the
left resting face from hell.
I'm like I like it, you know.
So I skipped everybody andcalled her up too and man, we
talked and if you know Jess, youknow she's not real, yeah.
So I'm like.

(28:54):
I tried to give her an Oreo.
She pushed it back.
Damn, she wasn't even taking anOreo.
But I did write my number downon a.
You don't have to look when youget a debit card.
A little sleepy, but yeah, yeah, yeah, number down on there and
then you know calling later.
We had a couple of times andthen hit it off.
Man, that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
You ever thought you'd meet somebody in
Afghanistan.
No, no, that's how you say itout loud.

Speaker 4 (29:19):
Well, you know what they say if you man what you
meet in the sandbox, you gottaleave it in the sandbox, bro,
like you.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Hey, bro, yeah, no comment.
Yeah, yeah, nah, man, oh,that's crazy though man yeah, so
, so afghanistan, you came backand uh, y'all just continued to
talk, yeah never, never broke umnever, uh, just never lost

(29:50):
communication.

Speaker 4 (29:50):
There was some hiccups, bad mistakes that I
made yeah, yeah, you know what?
I'm saying, uh, you know.
They say uh, uh, you reallydon't know the.
You got to go through the badrelationships in order to get to
the right one.
Yes, I wish they had told methat.
Yeah, so I, I made a mistakeand got into a, uh, a really

(30:12):
really, really bad relationship.
And uh, that's why, like, ifyou, well, you and I were
talking man, um, you know, um,the, the woman we choose, the
woman we choose, determines ourtomorrow.
Yeah, man, and I will alwaysstand on that and I will, I will
never sway from that man, um,and that girl, she's, she's,

(30:38):
she's been my rock.
I mean, uh, uh, when I don'twant to, I don't want to be here
anymore.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
She jumped on a plane from.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
Cali, she said just hold on Hold on baby, hold on,
hold on and she jumped on aplane man that day and flew from
Cali all the way to 3ID.

Speaker 3 (30:58):

Speaker 4 (30:59):
And just took me to a hotel room in Atlanta and just
talked all weekend.
Took me to a hotel room inAtlanta and just talked all
weekend.
And, bro, just you know, like aman, being able to be

(31:26):
vulnerable and open to his womanis critical.
Yeah, it's a critical man.
A lot of us have been lied toand told that a man that cries
is a weak man.
It's not true.
The one that can't voice is theweak man.
Yeah, the one that can't cry isthe weak man.
Real men cry and you know thevulnerability part of crying man

(31:53):
.
Imagine being that vulnerableto someone that doesn't
reciprocate it, that tells youyou know, quit crying, you know
what I mean, or you know, and itforces you to re-bottle all
that stuff in and the person I'mtalking about is the person we
chose, you know, because Ibelieve the home and the woman

(32:17):
is our sanction.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah, dang, yeah, she's always been one of my
favorites man.
She's always been that quietperson, that real chill, but
she's good people.
I've been in love with herwhole family since I was a kid,
you know what I mean.
And all amazing people.

(32:39):
That's crazy, though.
It's just the way things cometo life, and or you know?
Uh, yeah, I hate too many lovestories.
I start off with I met her inafghanistan.
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 4 (32:55):
You know what I'm saying did we tell you to leave
that shit in the sandbox?

Speaker 2 (33:02):
yeah, that's crazy though, man.
Man, that's amazing.
When did you get out?

Speaker 4 (33:09):
2016.
Why did you get out?
It was a MEB.
There was some stuff mixed intoit.
Did you see the change?

Speaker 2 (33:18):
The change, the military change.

Speaker 4 (33:20):
Yeah, I didn't, I ain't gonna lie man, I made it
to Staff Sergeant.
Yeah, I didn't, I didn't, Iain't gonna lie man, I made it
to staff.
Sorry, and I didn't really likethe political part of it.
Yeah, it was changing.
Five was okay, six.
You know you're in the commandof staff with lieutenant
colonels and perverts, stufflike that, which the right never
scared me.

(33:40):
It's the people that hold it.
You know what what I'm saying?
So no, I did not like thechange at all.
No, man, I just didn't.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
You get a little man in a big position and he forgets
about it.
Yeah, yeah.
He let this yeah, he let this.

Speaker 4 (33:57):
Uh-huh, he can proceed with it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know whatI'm saying perceived it.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what I'm saying.
No, I mean I can't.
I said it a couple times, man,like, don't let this rain fool
you, bro, I'm a man.
First I'll smack the shit outof you, we'll both go to jail,
quit, yeah, yeah, man, yeah.
So in 16, you got out and didyou notice a culture like a

(34:23):
culture change as well?
Because I know I got out in 15.
Yeah, 15.
Did I get out?
Yeah, 15.
Out of Fort Hood.
I retired out of Fort Hood andit was a change, man.
It was a change.
A lot of my feelings hurt, allthis other bullshit, and it

(34:46):
wasn't like that.
When you know, in 05, or whenwe first were going into the
military, yeah, did you see alot of that?

Speaker 4 (34:56):
A lot of change in the military.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (34:59):
Yeah, yeah, big change, man.
I'm sure you held the NCO rankright a couple times.
Yeah, it's a different podcast.
Yeah, man, I did.
It was like you know me and acouple ncos used to talk and it

(35:22):
almost felt like we werepowerless.
Man, we were powerless to theprivate.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
Yeah, yeah, bro.

Speaker 4 (35:30):
The private.
In all actuality, the privatehad more pull than we did.
Man, you did yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
Quick to run jump on the chain.
Call everybody, skip the chain.
Yeah, call everybody in theirmoment.
Yeah, skip the chain, bro.
Yeah, not patient advocate.
Yeah, uh, was it not?
Was it not patient advocate?
What was it that advocacy?

Speaker 4 (35:50):
uh, uh, uh, uh uh uh.
I know asap uh uh I can't.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
I can't think of it right now, but you know what I'm
talking about yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah yeah yeah.
So, uh, man, it was is just, itwas a lot, it was a lot
different, man.
I know when, uh, uh, you know,when I was getting close to
getting out and they were like,well, we can do this, do this.
And you know, you couldn'tsmoke soldiers, no more.
You couldn't do that littlething because I was in, uh,

(36:21):
where was I?
I was in el paso when theystarted my board and, uh, and
then they were like, you knowjust, I just noticed so much
changing.
I was like, nah, I can man up,we're good, we got it, you know.
So I got uh stationed to forthood and then, uh, I did about a
year and some change there andI was just like saint james,

(36:42):
yeah, yeah, I was like, let mego ahead and uh start this med
boy process yeah, yeah yeah, Isaid I need to do what was best
for for me.
not knowing, though, man, I justI, I wasn't ready, but I wasn't
ready to get out.
To get out, yeah, I didn't knowwhat, um, I just saw getting
out, I didn't, I didn't know I,I wasn't prepared, I didn't have

(37:05):
anything figured out, I didn'tknow what I was going to do
after that.
I didn't know that the effectit was going to have on me
mentally as well as you knowwhat I'm saying.
Like, I just didn't, I wasn'tprepared at all, and all those
classes they make you take allthat you know what is it?
ACAP yeah yeah, I didn't payattention to that.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
Nope, I just wanted to get out man.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
Hey, sign this thing.
Put the stamp there, let me go.
I didn't pay no attention and Iwish I did, but I didn't.
So you getting out coming homein 16?
Yeah, what was life like?
Did you know what you wanted todo?

Speaker 4 (37:46):
No, so same Rough, yeah, rough, it was rough, it
was hard, man, it really was,because I didn't, you know, I,

(38:10):
you know it, it.
You know how sometimes you canfind out too much at one time.
Oh yeah, something can happenand it just all falls on you at
one time.
That's what happened when I gotout, man, it was, you know, I
found out some stuff that tookplace in my home growing up that

(38:31):
that impacted me tremendously,man, um, and then the military
getting out, uh, choosing thewrong individual, um, then you
put uh substance abuse on top ofthat yeah and uh, but, but, but
, but no, I wasn't ready, man.

(38:52):
I uh, man, my drive was there.
I was always my drive.
The military drive was alwaysthere.
You know I did the.
You know, I don't know if youhad it, but before you could get
your CDLs, or you were still inuniform, you had to take a
little bit of your GI.
So I did that, I did the troopstransportation.

(39:13):
That's what it was.
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
So when I got out I did that.
That sounds familiar.

Speaker 4 (39:16):
Yeah, I did that and I did okay with it, but my mind,
man, my mind wasn't right.
You know what I'm saying,mm-hmm, and you know I didn't
know, like you said, I didn'tpay attention to those briefings
, man about like ACAB and stufflike that and mental health

(39:37):
services that.
Come on, man, just let me getout of here.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
Let me roll, let me roll, let me roll.
I didn't think it was necessary.
I didn't think I thought, hey,I'm good, and then getting out
of the military and then goingback home and just be like man,
you know, I'm, I'm, I'm the sameone.
Yeah, you motherfuckers arecrazy.
You know what I'm saying, butbut I'm good, that was.
That was what I always thought.

Speaker 4 (40:04):
Yeah, and that's and that's.
That's funny how you bring thatup.
I, when I was in that was to itwhen I got to benning, but
that's when it got rough.
It's like um, uh, I went tomental health at benning man,
probably three four times withthe eisenhower, inpatient man,

(40:29):
no joke, you know.
And uh, at Benning, um, I mean,I mean, I'm sorry.
Yeah, at Benning, um, it's,you're in, you're a psych ward
Like.
You're in there with skits,you're in there with, um,
sociopaths, split personalities,you're in there with everybody.
Yeah, so it was like.
It was like, uh, it was ablessing, but it wasn't at the

(40:53):
same time, because I wasn't thatfucked up, right?
Like, oh, y'all are fucked up,you crazy.
Yeah, so when I walk, so at theend of my 30, 45, I go
downstairs, I'm looking up likeyo, them motherfuckers.
Yeah, right.
So it really didn't do me a goodservice, right, because I'm in
there on a level of treatmentthat I'm, you know, I'm not

(41:15):
skits, I'm not, I'm not one ofthem, I don't, I don't.
You know, we found my up in theceilings.
We found dudes.
That man it was one soldiercame in and and and it was a
great experience, man, because Ididn't, I really slept on
mental health up until then.
Um, I uh, you know, growing upwith my dad, man, I didn't, I

(41:40):
didn't, uh, um, mental healthwasn't allowed.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what?
I'm saying suck that shit up broyou know what?
I'm saying what you know and,and it just wasn't so, being on
the floor, man on the war withthese dudes that come in, that
are just done, and I'm like, oh,and I'm sleeping beside this

(42:00):
guy every night and, uh, once,once, once, you know, after a
few times of me going, man, itwas, um, it was really
eye-opening man with the wholemental health thing and how
critical and how real that is.
It is real, bro, um, so, uh, uh, um, uh, you know, and, and,

(42:24):
and, and, and many people, asyou know.
I say you know, I say there'snothing wrong with falling five
times as long as you get up sickand so I kept going, I kept
going and I kept going and, uh,the problem was was my home was
a lot of the reason why you knowwhat I'm saying, what that's
why I say about a man in hishome and the woman he chooses.

(42:45):
I was getting all this greattherapy, I was getting all this
great treatment, I was gettingall this variety, but I was
going home to the problem, youknow what I'm saying, saying.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Then I pick up again, go back.
So it became a cycle, you know.
But yeah man mental health isreal bro.
It is it's real?

Speaker 2 (43:06):
Man.
One of my favorite things isalways to say man is, it's okay
not to be okay.
Yeah, and mental health, I feellike in the last few years, has
come out and it's talked aboutmore, which is good, which is a
great thing actually, becausemore light has come to it.
It is, you know, the same thingwith addiction.

(43:27):
I feel like addiction has cometo light where you know people
see it, where you know peoplesee it.
And, uh, when people thought ofan addict, they would always
think of the worst type ofaddict, not the.
You know the, the addicts thatare.
I mean, of course there's allkinds of that, but you know what
I'm saying like, uh, you know,it's just, it's just, um, what

(43:50):
was in your road to recovery,what was?
Did you have an oh shit moment?

Speaker 4 (43:59):
Yep February 8th 2022 .
Yep February 8th 2022.
Yep February 8th 2022.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
It's up to you.

Speaker 4 (44:23):
You don't have to share.
It's all good.
I'm just trying to figure outhow we're to pin this man.
There's an old friend of mineman, he worked at Building One
with me and 3ID and I called himthe week before and he didn't
answer.
But he kept calling back.

(44:43):
He knew something was up.
He kept calling.
I wouldn't answer the phoneFollowing the weekend.
The weekend's gone.
You know, on February 8th Icalled him and, uh, you know,
man, I'm brand?
now I don't know, I'm just tired, bro, timing, tired of hurting

(45:06):
people, tired of hurting myself,just tired of it.
I become a, an evil person, man, I'm becoming mean man, you
know.
And uh, his reply was this uh,stan song lego danny leggins his
name.
And uh, he said you need help,you need help.
And I said, uh, okay, he can'tbe sure, I can't be sure.

(45:29):
Okay, so, let's get you somehelp.
Okay, so, let's get you some,yeah.
So, uh, we get on the phonewith the va, and you already
know, right.
And I'm like I need to go besomewhere.
Whatever, right, va, yeah, thatwas, it was, that was a.
We got to get better with the va, bro, because there's a lot of

(45:50):
veterans that are here that hadthat moment and they couldn't
reach anybody, they couldn't getto a room, they couldn't get
anywhere.
And uh, so I go to the localhospital.
Hospital, bro, I'm sitting inthe hospital.
I'm like I, because I gottastay sober until I get into this
facility, I can't go back, Ican't, I can't, I can't, I can't
go to this hospital.

(46:11):
I'm sitting in there for like13, 14 hours.
I finally get up and I'm like,hey, when are y'all going to
have a bed for me, anythingwhatever it's va called, and
they're like um, who are you?
I wouldn't even know the roster.
Get the out of here wasn't evenon the roster, I lose it, I
leave.
You know I call my wifegirlfriend at the time.

(46:31):
You know, at this point she'sscared of me.
You feel me rightfully so.
You know, unpredictable man.
You know, at this point she'sscared of me.
You feel me Rightfully so.

Speaker 3 (46:36):
You know, unpredictable man.

Speaker 4 (46:38):
And so I didn't have anywhereto go, bro, but I knew I
couldn't get high again.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
I knew I couldn't drink.

Speaker 4 (46:46):
That's all I knew, that's all I knew.
I just couldn't get high,couldn't drink, fall to fall to
fall to fall to fall.
And I finally got the VA to getme in.
Man, and so at this time, meand the wife, we weren't talking
, you know, and I'm on the phonewith the VA lady and she's like
, do you have anybody that cantake me in?
I'm like I'm just going to dothis myself.
She said you don't have agirlfriend.

(47:10):
I said yeah butzy if.
I could come by and just saysomething.
She said, okay, come by.
So, on the way there is, when Iwas on the phone with the
V-Lady and I think Jaz overheardme say Jaz overheard me say you
know she won't take me.
And Jaz looked up and said yes,I will.

(47:33):
She took our running man andwent and got her keys and she
drove me up.
It was cold, man.
It was cold when I got thereand the door was locked, of
course, to the treatmentfacility and she stood out there
with me.
About an hour, bro, until theyfinally came, I locked the door
and gave each other a kiss and Iwent home you know what I'm

(47:55):
saying and I didn't know whatwas going to come of that.
I didn't know what was going tobe the end-all outcome, you
know, but I couldn't worry aboutthat.
I had to worry about me.
That's what my buddy, dannyLeggett, said on the phone.
He said, man, listen, because Istarted to talk about jazz you
know, and he said once you fixyou room, everything else will

(48:23):
fall into place and once again Isaid okay.
So I went, I did 45 days and Iran.
I got up to like a mile and ahalf.
Blood work really went all thatgreat.
You, you know what I'm saying.
Enzymes were a little high inthe liver, you know what I'm
saying.
But I went on a straight fruitand vegetable diet.
Water, that's it.
No meat, no, nothing.
Got my results back.

(48:45):
I did it again.
The lady was like what did youdo?
Like you're like below normaland I told of what I did.
But I came out and I didn'tlook bad bro, but what happened
to you when I got out?
I had failed out of schooltwice Me too.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
What, yeah, get out.
I'm in school right now.
Get out.

Speaker 4 (49:10):
Man, we got the same damn story.
So I'm trying to be an addictbut productive at the same time
Me too.
It doesn't work.

Speaker 3 (49:17):
Yeah, it doesn't work I tried it this way, I tried it
that way.

Speaker 4 (49:21):
I tried it this way and it didn't work.
Yeah, so I called New York andHamburg man, this is my military
advisor at the college and I'mlike I'm back, you know.
You know she's about thesweetest damn lady bro.
Yeah, roll me back in.
If we get back in, I get backin school.
It's crazy, man.
And um I, they started a newprogram at this college and it

(49:43):
was like for boeing and this andthe third, what have you
internship, right?
And I'm like she said you wantto go to.
And I'm like, yeah, I'll do it,you know, so I go to the
interview, bro, go to.
And I'm like, yeah, I'll do it,you know.
So I go to the interview, bro.
Go in, these huge fortune 500companies are there.

(50:03):
I do the interview, I walk outand, uh, this is a few months
after I got sober, right, I walkout and I see one of the hr
ladies in the parking lot and Isaid how do I do this?
And I see one of the HR ladiesin the parking lot and I said
how do I do?
She said are you serious?
You know, so much stuff is badhappening to you like when
something good is happening.
You're like, man, this can't bereal, right, right, right.
She said they're in therefighting over you right now and

(50:24):
I'm like get out of here, bro.
Within two weeks I got a Boeingcalled and they said not only I
know you interviewed for aninternship, right,
part-time-time, $16 an hour,right, but I want to offer you a
full-time job.
Not only do I want to offer youa full-time job, I want to offer
you a job as a manager, sixfigures.

(50:44):
So when I say, like God, put iton me quick, right, I can't
believe this.
She says check your email,let's see how much those numbers
look, right.
I look at the numbers and I'mlike huh, you know, you know,

(51:05):
it's like playing poker.

Speaker 2 (51:07):
Right, you can't be too anxious.

Speaker 4 (51:09):
You know, I'm like, let me see, let me sleep so yeah
, so, um, so yeah, so yeah, thathappened, bro.
And then I graduated while Iwas at Boeing.
I'm a mechanical engineer bytrade and so, but the walk at

(51:29):
Boeing was insane right.
Getting there there was alittle lady named Miss Connie.
We all know that lady at workAt six in the morning, hey bro
hey.
All day long, right.
So I catch this little ladycoming down the stairs one day
and she stopped me.
She said I know you're here,You're the new manager, or

(51:52):
whatever.

Speaker 3 (51:52):
I just want to let you know that that's not why
you're here.

Speaker 4 (51:54):
She said you're here, you're the new manager, or
whatever.
I just want to let you knowthat that's not why you're here.
She said you're here to tellyour story, you're here, to help
a few people.
I said really Lord told me totell you that man and the amount
of people that I helped at thatplace.

Speaker 3 (52:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (52:11):
My favorite one is a 27-year-old man.
I told the story to a goodfriend of mine, project manager
way up there, been with Ballforever.
Just told my story.
One day, six months later,we're in a conversation and he
says because of something yousaid first time he said it.
I didn't catch it.
Second time he said it.
I said huh.
He said you remember you toldme that story about you and your

(52:34):
sobriety and your addiction.
I said yes, sir.
He said I was on the way out ofa 27-year marriage.
My wife had put me out.
I was sleeping in a camper whenhe told me that story.
Man, you know what I'm saying.
This one of the regularemployees, this guy's up there,
you know yeah.
And he said that's how bad myaddiction was.

(52:54):
And he said your story inspiredme, inspired and I'm gonna show
you how much.
And he opens up an app and doeslike this right, and the app is
a running clock and I'm likewhat is that?

(53:16):
He said that's how many daysI've been sober because of you,
damn.
And he just celebrated a year.
Just celebrated a year.
Not too long ago, wife took himback in.
He's no longer in the camperand walking in the morning I see

(53:42):
him in the tier meetingsbriefing executives and stuff
and I say what's up, Tim?
That thing's still rolling, man.
You hold it up, Tim Grahl Jr.
That's what's up, man.

Speaker 3 (53:51):
Rob Markman Jr.

Speaker 4 (53:51):
You know what I'm saying and that that man um
helped quite a few people and Ididn't really help him.
I just told him my story, youknow what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (54:01):
I just told him my story.
You know what he saw?
Hope, wow, yeah man.
Yeah, he saw a possibility.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (54:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
I believe it.
That's what it's about, man.
It's about somebody needing tohear a message and then having
somebody like me and you sittingon that side Like, oh man, it's
not possible, it's not possible, and then seeing somebody like

(54:38):
us like, oh shit, maybe it ispossible.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
To have that little bit ofbelief is what is what's needed.
Yeah, I'm five and a half yearssober and clean, bro.

Speaker 4 (54:47):
That's something I never in my life thought I would
say six years ago, somebodywould have told you that you
would have laughed at them intheir face.
Six years ago, somebody wouldhave told you that you would
have fucking laughed at them Intheir face bro.

Speaker 2 (54:57):
Yeah, and then, yeah, as I was drinking, yeah, it
just didn't, man, until then, Ijust didn't.
You know, life has beenfreaking incredible, man.
I've been blessed with so manyopportunities and so many things
.
I've been blessed with so manyamazing people in my life.
I, uh, I've changedrelationships, you know.

(55:19):
I I've rebuilt bridges that Iburnt.
Um, well, I burnt them becauseof my addiction, you know what I
mean, and it wasn't, it wasn'ttheir fault, it wasn't.
It was me thinking that I wasright or done right or did right

(55:43):
.
And you know, it was just, um,I got to make a lot of changes,
man.
I got to, I got to to fix a lotof things.
I got to be a, a father.
You know, I was always a father, but I wasn't a father.
There you go.
So it was just, it's just, uh,you know it's just.

Speaker 4 (56:03):
I got too.
I don't happy.
That's what's up here, that'swhat it's about.
I'm happy, that's it.
And outside of the bottom yeah,outside of the addiction,
outside of and there is hope,there is hope.
You give me hope, man.
You know I'm saying talking toyou and your story gave me,
gives me hope.
And um uh, uh, I'll tell yousomething.

(56:24):
Man, my sponsor was, he was anbro.
I got sober one time rightbefore I.
I got sober one time rightbefore I made it three.
I woke up, I quit eating meat,shut everything off, did man?
I wrote and wrote and wrote forlike a week, then leave the
house.
Bro Got sober, was going strongsix months, relapsed, went to

(56:53):
my sponsor.
He said what happened.
I told him.

Speaker 3 (56:56):
I said, man, I was sober, I was doing this changed
my habit, changed my eating.

Speaker 4 (57:01):
I was pescatarian,da-da-da-da-da.
He said that's why you relapsed.
I said what the fuck are youtalking about, man?
Ain't that the fucking point?
What are you?

Speaker 3 (57:10):
Huh.

Speaker 4 (57:13):
He said huh.
He said you think your sobrietyis for you, it's not for you.
God pulled you out of the fireand you just walked away.
You didn't look back, youdidn't reach back, but you took
the brother back there burningman.

(57:33):
But you took the gift that hegave you and you held it
selfishly to yourself so he hadto let you go back out there and
figure it out again, man.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
I said bro, huh yeah.
I said yeah.

Speaker 4 (57:55):
He said you didn't tell your story.
How many times you tell yourstory?
I said nine.
He said you didn't tell yourstory.
I said no.
He said you didn't tell yourstory.
I said no.
He said no.
He said no.

Speaker 3 (58:00):
He said no selfish and I'm like this dude is
beating me to fuck up.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
I'm already feeling bad.

Speaker 4 (58:11):
I'm like damn bro, I'm like damn but the dude was
right and minding your walk andwhat he took us through and
brought us out of, he knew wewere going to come out.
And the only reason he broughtus through so we could reach

(58:34):
back, you know, hand stickingout of the fire.

Speaker 2 (58:38):
I say that when people tell me, like, what is
something that defines you, whatis something that you think of
when you think of your life, Ithink of you.
Know, there's a guy, he's on a,he's on, he's climbing a rock,
he's climbing a mountain andhe's at the top.
And what does he do?
He doesn't celebrate.
He turns back to extend hishand to help the next person of

(59:01):
course, yeah, you know and it'sthe old saying man, like it's I,
and it's an old saying man, Imean, it's fun.
Well, this saying is used indifferent terms, but it ain't no
fun.
The homies can't get some, butthat's a different.
You know what I'm talking about.
But I like, yeah, yeah, butthat's one thing I like to say.

Speaker 4 (59:26):
If you're out there and I skipped your rotation, man
, I'm sorry but it's true.
And guess what, bro, isn't itcrazy that the only person that
can reach a fucking addict is afucking?

Speaker 2 (59:42):
addict, 100%, 100%.

Speaker 3 (59:44):
The only person that can spot an addict is another
fucking addict is a fuckingaddict.
100, 100, the only.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
Thing that can spot an addict is another fucking
addict.
It's like veterans spottingveterans.
That's right.

Speaker 4 (59:54):
I'm no longer an addict in my body, but I
wouldn't always be in there.
My mind will always.
I would always have an addictmind you don't come out and I
will.
That's why we will alwaysunderstand the current addict.
We can me and you can reach anaddict in about 45 seconds yeah,

(01:00:14):
you can.
You.
You put that same dude withmillions and millions of dollars
of therapy.
Yeah right, 300 people don'ttalk to him, but I, me and you
can touch him.

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:00:26):
That's true, man.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
It's like going to counseling and and listening to
somebody that has all thedegrees in the world, but you
ain't never experienced it.
If you ain't experienced it, Iain't hearing shit.
That's right.

Speaker 4 (01:00:39):
I made a Facebook post one time and it said it'd
be a cold day in hell when Itake marriage advice from
somewhere that's never wentthrough it.
Oh man, you got to tell mesomething you got to tell.
You got to tell me how you lostit and got it all back yeah,
yeah, yeah, you know what I'msaying yeah yeah, man, it's true
, damn it's true, you know yeahyou know, you know, you.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
You go to meetings.

Speaker 4 (01:01:01):
You still go to meetings that's crazy is I've
been to one, yeah, one we wentto a 410 shift and the fridays I
was just kind of sitting aroundthe house.
I told her.
I said I'm, I gotta dosomething.
I'm gonna go to a meeting.
I went, it was okay, um, but no, I, I, I, I hate to say that to

(01:01:21):
the, to the guy that's that.
Don't stop, man, don't stopgoing to a meeting.
I just haven't been.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
There's nothing wrong with that.

Speaker 4 (01:01:29):
And I felt like my meetings were at work.
You could do that.
My mission and my purpose hasbeen at Longhorn.
Yeah, it's been at Walmart andit's been, in passing, at a
barbershop.
So, um, so no, to answer yourquestion, I have not been to an

(01:01:50):
actual aab and I've been to oneyou know, I uh, I uh.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
I go occasionally to just stick my head in um and
this may sound fucked up, butjust to find that humbleness
again.

Speaker 3 (01:02:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
That thankfulness, that like oh shit, that was me
yeah.
You know what I mean and it'slike that.
I do it occasionally.
When I need to, I try.
I need to actually step in more.
But can I ask you a question Doyou believe that relapse is

(01:02:29):
part of recovery?

Speaker 4 (01:02:34):
Yes, yeah, yes, mm-hmm, I believe.
Yes, I do, and the reason I saythat, through my walk, the

(01:02:57):
reason I relapsed, was becausehe allowed me to relapse.
I was trying to do itJonathan's way.

Speaker 3 (01:03:03):
He already gave me the gear so let me let you See,
I wasn't, I was trying to do it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:05):
Jonathan way, yeah, he already gave me the gear.
So let me, let me, let me letyou figure it out of you always
and, since you can, since yougot this, let you figure it out.
And so I think that the relapsewas allowed to happen to me in
order to bring me back betterRight, and I'm a firm believer
in growth.

(01:03:29):
It was in the form of lossright, so I needed to.

Speaker 2 (01:03:30):
I needed to lose my sobriety one more time in order
to gain it back I know, yeah, Ifeel it, yeah, I feel it, yeah,
yeah, uh, that's um man, ah shit, bro, you're just just hearing
your story is fucking incredible.
I mean, it's insane just tohear it, to just know everything

(01:03:51):
that you've, uh, you've gonethrough.
Well, now that you you'vereached, you know, three years
and and you keep pushing has,have you noticed the change in
relationships?
Have you noticed the, thechange in you, your feeling,
your outlook on life?

Speaker 4 (01:04:10):
Man, 100%, 100% man.
You know, one thing I had tolearn was there's getting sober.
Learned was uh, um, there'sgetting sober and there's one

(01:04:31):
part we always forget and that'slearning to live sober.
Because everything evolvedaround the addiction shooting
pool, eating food, having sex,right, being in a relationship,
saying I love you, right.
All that evolved around theaddiction.
So I had to relearn all that,man.
I had to relearn all that shit.

(01:04:51):
I had to learn as, like a damnchild, I had to learn how to
love again.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
And like, bro was fuckingboring, right, the excitement
from the adrenaline rush fromgoing and getting the product.
Bro, it was fucking boring,right, the excitement from the
adrenaline rush from going andgetting the product to getting
the liquor right, that was arush, man, that was a high.

(01:05:13):
I would get drunk before I evengot to the liquor store.

Speaker 3 (01:05:17):
in my mind, you know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 4 (01:05:19):
Before I could get to the plug I was already high,
yeah, so chasing that rabbit, Ihad to learn how to live life
without the rabbit there and um,it's.
It's taken me every morning manto listen to motivational um
therapy every morning.

(01:05:40):
I do it every morning and it'suh, and and just learning to
live sober and it's that's.
I think that's the hardest part.
Putting it down is pretty easy,but learning to live sober like
people places things yeah, man,it it because that shit
consumes your whole world.

(01:06:01):
Yeah, it does.
It does everything evolvesaround it.
And um, and can I hit youanother story?
Go for it all, right, cool.
So my uh and I'm sure somepeople are gonna know who this
is um, my uh, my, my son's mom,uh, was a huge advocate in my

(01:06:23):
sobriety.
She helped a lot of people.
Her name is Candace Rivers.
She's very TikTok, famous andknown all over the world for
touching people, and it was asobriety message All kinds.
I had to send you some of herstuff.
I think she had almost amillion subscribers.

(01:06:44):
Yeah, she was a loaded man, andso I call her and I tell her
because I didn't tell anybody Iwas going to rehab.
I called two people her and agood friend of mine, david so I
call her and I tell her you knowwhat I'm about to do.

(01:07:05):
She says, john, I know you'regoing for 45 days and they have
our programs that you know.
I could have went up toTennessee to a horse ranch for a
whole year.
The VA is awesome.
It's in place for us, it reallyis, but you also.
I want you to go in thisthinking that it's taking you
this long?
You've done this for this long.

(01:07:28):
What makes you think it doesn'ttake you that long to get sober
?
You know what I'm saying, sodon't ever forget that.
And I said okay, and I went andI walked out.
I haven't picked up and Ihaven't used since, but about I
never really knew why I wassober.

(01:07:50):
I don't know what February 8thwas, man, I didn't know.
I kind of hinted around, kind ofhem-hauled around over the
years, and man, about, oh man,about six, maybe seven months
ago, my son's mom calls and shesays I'm sick, like you said.

(01:08:15):
You say yeah, she said I, I.
They just did blood work on meand she said I thought it was
kidney stones.
I kind of waited around and, um, the doc says that my cancer is
, is is just through the roof.
So I'm going to get a secondopinion.

(01:08:35):
But I said okay, don't worryabout it.
She broke down, don't worryabout it, worry about it, worry
about it.
You know it's hard through,it's all through.
I got a second opinion, man,and uh, uh, within a few weeks
my son called and said I'mtaking mom to uab.
You know her stomach wasstarting to swell or what have
you, bro.
I think she was gone, butrewind of finding out.

(01:08:58):
Finding out, no shit personaltrainer 20 years had her own gym
known for personal fitnesstraining, or what have you?
That's all she does, that's allshe ever did.
And uh, I remember when shetold me the second time that she
was sick and pretty much herdays were numbered, her and I
damn near both said the sametime that's why he got you sober

(01:09:21):
, I said that's why he got mesober.
She said that's why he got yousober.
He got me sober because hecouldn't change what he already
wrote.
All he could do was make itbetter.
And I remember, with jazz, whenwe found out, we were in new

(01:09:41):
orleans and I went back to theroom and I cried and I was mad
at him.
I was mad, I said, because youknow my senior year, I didn't
have my mama.
Man, why are you?
Why are you?
Why?
Why the second time, piers,rose, piers.
And he said, son, I can'tchange what I've already written

(01:10:05):
, but what I can do is make itbetter and I can give him what
you didn't have, and that's you.
So that's why I pulled you outof the fire February 8th.
I pulled you out.
That way you had enough time tobe a father, to learn to live

(01:10:32):
sober, to get the relationshipback to get everything in place
before I called her home, so Igave you everything that he
didn't have, and just to sitright beside me.

(01:10:55):
I said okay alright, I mean,what can I say, you know?
So I just been, you know, doingthe best I can, you know,
coming to Texas with my son man,he, you know, he said he can't

(01:11:16):
remember the last time he openeda Christmas present, you know.
so you know, he just lost hismom recently.
You know and I don't want tosound fucked up but he's got me,
man, and I'm sober, I'm fuckingsober.

Speaker 2 (01:11:36):
You know what I'm saying and that man.

Speaker 4 (01:11:39):
February 8th is the reason why he pulled me out.
I've been pulling all theseother people out, but the real
reason is for my son, Because heknew he was called home.

Speaker 2 (01:11:52):
Yeah, that's a blessing, bro, yeah, fuck.

Speaker 4 (01:11:58):
Oh, man, yeah, same story he and I.
And so what better person,right?
Because nobody can tell thatyoung man how he feels, other
than the addict.
I lost my mom at the same time.
Son, I know, I know, you knowwhat I'm saying.

(01:12:21):
And there's no to have someonethat can understand him and be
his father.
And there's no to have someonethat can understand him and be
his father.
You know what I'm saying At thesame time, rock star, rock star
.
So sobriety, man, it's herewith me, man, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
Damn that's crazy.
But but you know, you said it.
Man guy works in mysteriousways.
Yeah and um, uh, that's crazy.
Uh, your son, how's he enjoyingtexas man loving?

Speaker 4 (01:12:55):
it?
How's he doing?
Uh, all I've been doing is kindof monitoring him, man.
Just see, I know how he movesand I know how he works.
I've just been watching him.
It's been a little bit of a rollof the dice, right, because
he's two hours away in the housethat he grew up in with his mom

(01:13:18):
.
He's there by himself, he hashis aunt and he has his
girlfriend.
That's always there, and Ididn't want to pull him, man,
from high school.
I wanted him to graduate withhis friends.
So we just made a little deal.
I said listen, man, I'm goingto let you stay, I'll be home
every other weekend.
But if that gets a nudge, get afeeling, you start kind of

(01:13:46):
teetering off.
Or what have you coming to getyou?
Rewind?
I said, up in, up in, yeah, I'mcoming to get you.
But the same way that I trustedyou before I come get you, if
the answer were to go south, thesame way I trusted you prior to
me coming getting, I need youto trust me when I say, son,

(01:14:08):
let's go, yeah, let's go.
And he said I'll give you that.

Speaker 2 (01:14:14):
So we just have this, you know, and, and so far, man,
his grades have been straightA's just just hearing him talk
and just like you know you get,he seems like he got a good head
on his shoulders.

Speaker 4 (01:14:27):
His mom did the damn thing with him.
Yeah, it's good.
She did outstanding with my son, that's good.

Speaker 2 (01:14:38):
You can't miss your son in a room.
I don't know if I can stand now.

Speaker 4 (01:14:47):
Holy, yeah, dude, he's right at six.
He's at six-four now about 275.
Yeah that 275 is fucking spreadout Strongest shit man, but he's
strong as shit.
Yeah, he's strong, but just agentle giant man, just a gentle

(01:15:12):
giant.
Bro Got him in therapy, thoughwe did.
It's crazy because going backabout a month before she got
sick we found out she got sick.
I'm at work and we're talkingon the phone and my son is very
well aware of my mental PTSD andstuff like that.
Before she got sick we foundout she got sick.
I'm at work and we're talking onthe phone and you know, my son
is very well aware of my mentalPTSD and stuff like that.

(01:15:33):
Right, I've been verytransparent with him on my
addiction, he knows.
So we're on the phone one dayand he said, uh.
He said, uh, I brought up mymental health and stuff and me
going to you know stuff likethat.
I brought up my mental healthand stuff and me going to you
know stuff like that.
He said, dad, what is therapyand what will that make you do?
And he called me off guard andI said it'll make you cry.

Speaker 3 (01:15:59):
He said really.

Speaker 4 (01:16:00):
I said, yes, sir, it'll make you cry, and we just
kind of left it at that.
No, we didn't.
I said, uh, for you to ask that.
I said, is that something thatyou would think about, maybe
interested in, or something?
You said, yeah, I'll give it atry.
So at that point I had alreadyI talked to his mom about
getting him into therapy.
Right, yeah, you know, becauseI thought that was a filler.

(01:16:20):
So, um, so we already had thetherapy bar rolling prior to
this, even though she was sick.
A therapist that his mom knewgrew up with, or what have you
grabbed him about?
She got about three or foursessions in with him before she

(01:16:41):
passed and I never really askedhim.
I never really whatever histherapy sessions were.
I didn't want to pry into that,right, right.
So I'll just say how was yoursession today?
He set his alarms to go.
He never missed the beat.
I said so how was your sessionsand stuff?
And he said that was good.
It's good because about theabout the fourth or fifth one, I

(01:17:02):
said I was how was therapy?
he kind of paused and he said itmade me cry I said that's how
you know it's working man that'show you know it's working.
Yeah, yeah, whatever happened inthat room, you were able to

(01:17:23):
speak it out of you.
And those tears, it's abeautiful thing.
I said, dad, when dad was intherapy Fort Benning, yeah,
benning, it was a guy tellingthe story and he started crying.
But the first thing somebodydid was grab the box of tissue
and the therapist said put itback.

(01:17:43):
Put the tissue back.
We're all looking like.
She said each one of thosetears is a memory and a story
and we become so conditioned towiping it away.
Yes, right, let him fall, bro.
When she said let him fall, youthought he was crying in

(01:18:06):
waterfall and it was just.
You could just see the feelingcoming out of his eyes and, uh,
so that's, that's what I told,that's that's, that's like the
symbolic thing of the the when Isaid it'll make you cry,
because that's how you know it'sworking.
So, um, but but he's, uh, and Italked to my wife all the time,
you know, do you see anything?

(01:18:26):
Because as a father, right well, she's, she's my own too, but
as a father, we kind of oversee,like, oh, he's fine, yeah, yeah
, yeah.
So I always ask my wife youknow, baby, you you see, you see
anything?
She said no, she hasn't caughtany red flags with him.
I haven't.
Um, he's moving in with us assoon as he graduates.
He's already registered himselfinto uh university of alabama,

(01:18:51):
but it's just an hospital underthe cyber security program, jess
has got him, uh, linked up withher company's owner and ceo.
he heard the story of his mom,and so once jess told him the
story of his mother and what hisprofession was because she
works hand in hand with cybersecurity he said well, when that
young man enrolls you, let meknow and I'll have him intern

(01:19:12):
with me while he's in school.
What magic man, magic god'splan, and that's all through
sobriety, yeah, and, and youknow I'm just flowing man.
You know, when I called my dad,I told him about my sobriety

(01:19:32):
and he said, son, he's beenwanting to get you but he
couldn't.
And I think you mentionedsomething about that earlier.
And I said well, why?

Speaker 3 (01:19:42):
And he said because you had something in both your
hands.

Speaker 4 (01:19:50):
How does a man give another man something and he's
already holding something?
You had to let go?
He just been waiting for you tolet go, you know what I'm
saying.
He been waiting for you to letgo the hurt, the forgiveness,
the bag that's on your back thatyou never were meant to carry.
You know, the alcohol, the drug, right, all that was in your

(01:20:14):
hand, how?
And he said and if he wouldhave blessed you holding that it
would have killed you.
Yeah, so you couldn't give itto him.
That's why he worked so fastwith you and you right me, and
you, with our blessing, once wegot sober, because that shit was
piling up.
It was piling up, man, we justdidn't know it because you

(01:20:38):
couldn't give it to him.
Right, we would have tore it up.

Speaker 2 (01:20:40):
Yeah, yeah, pull it up 100% Quick, what yeah?
So what you doing now?

Speaker 4 (01:20:52):
So, as we all know, boeing has airplanes flying out
of the falling out of the damnskies, whatever.
I think we just lost a plane inJapan today 180 passengers, god
dang yeah, on a Boeing 737.
All right, so we're.
You know, everyone knowsBoeing's just really not doing
good, and you know.

(01:21:13):
But the strike up in Washington.
You know what happens after astrike, man, they come to a deal
.
It was a big deal, right?
They got to shave the fat,right?

(01:21:34):
I thought I was good because Iwas on the missile side.
Well, I got, I got the axe youknow what I'm saying.
And, um, you know, I held myhead up.
I held my head up and I uhcalled my wife and my best
friend, bro's rockstar bro, youknow and I and I say uh, babe,
uh, I said well.
She said no.
I said yeah, yeah, I said theygot me.
She said, well, what's fordinner?
Just like this.

(01:21:56):
We went and ate vietnamese thaifood that night and came up
with a plan.
We had already been talkingabout me owning, or us owning,
our own company, me being, Ilove driving big equipment
tri-axle dump trucks, cementtrucks, semis.
I've done all those in the pastand I've just always wanted to

(01:22:16):
own my own.
We've been talking about thatfor years, and I believe that
God closed that door in orderfor me to open a new one, right?
So I spoke it into truth, spokeit into truth and spoke it into
truth long enough, but I didn'ttake the step to do it.

(01:22:37):
I'm making six figures.
Right, who walks away from sixfigures?
Not too many people, not toomany people.
So he just kind of gave me a go.
Yeah, that's how I took it.
Yeah, so within a week of megetting laid off, man, I had I
had my own truck um locals onthe side, dlt mc um.

(01:22:57):
And the day after I got thetruck, um um, slow time in the
wintertime, man for a dump truckis hard man.
The guy bought the truck fromsuper nice guy.
He called me about 30 minutesafter we locked the deal and he
said hey, what are you doingtomorrow?
I said I ain't got no work.
He said now you do.
So I'm gonna plug you up, putme on the sand, run man making

(01:23:20):
really really good money.
Yeah, um, so that's what I do.
I own my own trucking companynow, man.
What's it called Tin man, tinman Trucking, yeah, and got the
little logo at the top VeteranKnown and Operated.

Speaker 2 (01:23:35):
Based out of where?

Speaker 4 (01:23:36):
Huntsville, Alabama.

Speaker 2 (01:23:37):
Yeah, that's what's up.
Man, how does it feel?

Speaker 4 (01:23:41):
Man, it feels good.
It feels good to turn the keyto something that's yours.
Not only is it yours, it's um.
I'm in control of my destinyand one thing that I've always
said, man and it's a littleharsh, you know I mean because
the average person is workingfor someone if you don't build

(01:24:02):
your dreams, someone will hireyou to build theirs man, that's
100 that's the truth.
That's the truth.
It is the truth.
If you don't have the courageand the faith to jump out there
and do what you've always wantedto do, right, someone hire you.
Yeah, man, the person that didjump will hire you.

(01:24:25):
Yeah, you know.
Hell, yeah, and that's.
I don't think they're sayinganything bad, but it's always
rained with me, it's alwaysstuck with me.
You know, I post motivationalquotes every morning, but and
that's one of the ones that Ikind of just hits me more than
the normal and uh, so now I'mwalking in that I'm walking in,
building my dream, and my goalis to continue to preach the

(01:24:51):
word, tell the word you knowwhat I'm saying, my story and
hopefully, one day, man be ableto buy another truck, another
truck and be able to say that I,me and my wife are providing
for a family.
Not building my dream butproviding for a family right.
What I what by me coming out ofsobriety, fast forward five

(01:25:14):
years now I'm able to help afamily.
Yeah, and we want to do it.
You know, like trucking is athankless job.
It's one of those, it's justnot.
It's thankless.
Like a 42 hour for HR, you know, that's one.
We're only important until yourleave gets screwed up or your
pay is screwed up.
That's when the S1 guy is good.

Speaker 2 (01:25:33):
I got truckers, man truckers, farmers.
I think that's a professionthat ain't going anywhere.
It ain't yeah, it's alwaysgoing to be there and it's
always going to be an essential,yeah, yeah.
So going to be there and it'salways going to be an essential
yeah, yeah.
So I mean, yeah, damn, I meanthat's exciting bro.
Yeah, I would uh that I hatedriving bro.

(01:25:54):
I uh, I fucking fall asleepdriving from here to the gas
station.
You, you know what I mean.
But man, that's, that's amazing.

Speaker 4 (01:26:03):
A lot of people love it, you have to me and my wife
talk about that all the time andit's people hear about the
money that you make and you makea lot, especially when you own
it, but there's so much thatcomes with it.
You have to the CB hanging inthe, what you call it, this

(01:26:28):
weird shit that I love aboutthat truck that the average
person would look at you like.
You know what I'm saying andand and it's just being in it
loaded and coming off of amountain on the jake break.
I just bought some straightpipes the other day for you guys
that's out there that know whatI'm talking about.
It's just the sound of theturbo.

(01:26:50):
Music, bro.
I haven't cut the radio on inthat truck since I bought it.
No shit, because I listen tothe motor and I listen to the
turbo.
That's my music.

Speaker 2 (01:27:01):
That's my music.
You found it.
You found what you were lookingfor you found what you needed.

Speaker 3 (01:27:06):
That's dope man.
Yeah, that's dope.

Speaker 2 (01:27:08):
Yeah, uh, man, I'm.
I'm excited to see what nextyear holds for you, the the year
after that.
Man, I'm uh, now you got afriend and a fan bro, so I'm
following.
Thanks, you know what I mean.
So keep keep sharing themessage and and uh, and keep
growing, man, you know what Imean.
I appreciate you coming on theshow, man.
I appreciate you coming on themessage and keep growing, man,
you know what I mean.
I appreciate you coming on theshow, man.
I appreciate you coming on theshow and sharing your message.

(01:27:30):
Hey, man, if anybody'sfollowing right now that wants
to reach out to you, how do theydo that?

Speaker 4 (01:27:35):
Ooh, you got me on the spot there.
Email address maybe.
Yeah, first name JonathanJ-O-H-N, not J-O-N,
j-o-h-n-a-t-h-a-n dot.
Last name, tenor T, as in TomI-N-N-E-R at yahoocom Phone

(01:27:55):
number's known.

Speaker 2 (01:27:56):
Yeah, you decide on that, yeah.
I do, I get some funny calls,man, I didn't talk about that.
Yeah, yeah, no.
But, man, that's, how big areyour feet?
Yeah, yeah, man, fucking Vancebro.

Speaker 4 (01:28:16):
That's all I got to say is fucking Vance.

Speaker 2 (01:28:18):
Yeah, yeah, man.

Speaker 4 (01:28:19):
Or if you know this guy, I mean reach out to him if
you didn't get the email, orwhat have you.
Yeah, just that, he's like yousaid, that's family man.
Yeah, man, always man, it'sbeen a pleasure and it's an
honor, bro.

Speaker 2 (01:28:29):
Thank you for tuning in you guys.
If you like share, subscribe.
Be sure to man follow man, uh,share the message as always.
Reach out to family and friends.
It's the holiday season.
If you're in a crisis, dial 988.
You can also text 988 if you'rea veteran, veteran press 1.
Check on your friends andfamily.
We love you guys, as always.
Charlie, mike, bro, man, that'swhat's up.

(01:28:55):
Man, that's what's up.
How'd I do?
Man, you did fucking amazingdude.
You think so?
Yeah, you know, we talked foralmost two hours.

Speaker 3 (01:29:01):
This episode of Charlie Mike, the Podcast, is
brought to you by Charlie MikeMilitary Apparel.
Make sure you check them out atcharliemikemilitaryapparelcom
and use promo code charliemikefor free shipping.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club

Dateline NBC

Stuff You Should Know

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Transformative Tales of Triumph and Redemption

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club

Dateline NBC

Stuff You Should Know

All Episodes

Transformative Tales of Triumph and Redemption

Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club