Home Base Nation Favorites: First meet Air Force Veteran and Regional Associate Director, Regional & Tribal Relations, of Home Base Marcus Denetdale, and Cartoonist and Writer Garry Trudeau (part two)

We have published 120 episodes since 2019. For this new season, we thought it would be a good idea to look back on some of the highlights of our conversations and select 20 episodes that resonated with veterans, service members, military families, and the civilians who support them.

But first up, you'll hear from some of the folks at Home Base who wake up every day with the same mission in mind, no matter what they do at the Center of Excellence in the Navy Yard and beyond. 

For this episode, you will hear a brief conversation with Air Force Veteran and Regional Associate Director, Regional & Tribal Relations, of Home Base Arizona, Marcus Denetdale. 

Marcus has been instrumental in facilitating Home Base’s partnership with ASU’s College of Health Solutions to launch the Warrior Health & Fitness program for Arizona Veterans and their families. He has worked closely with tribal Nations and communities in various capacities. As a nonprofit administrator, he has developed college scholarship programs, recruited Native American college students, and secured research grants for higher education projects totaling over $2.4 million. 

Marcus has studied civil, environmental, & sustainable engineering within the sustainability specialty area. His research areas include tribal housing, infrastructure & commercial buildings for economic growth and opportunities. His latest project is partnered with ASU to provide safe water access on the Navajo Nation.

Following my conversation with Marcus, you’ll hear part two of an episode from 2023 with the Pulitzer Prize and Emmy winner Cartoonist, Garry Trudeau. Ron and Garry talk about gaining the trust from military leadership during wartime, with the opportunity to visit Kuwait during the Gulf War after getting the call directly from the battlefield, and how just like visiting Walter Reed, these are chances to Get it Right in order to follow him or her from service member to veteran and from deployment to home. They discuss how he’s not really that guy who could ever really tell a joke, and where his humor seems to come from, about his love for putting on a show ever since he was a little kid, and how he shares the mission to support veterans with fellow cartoonist (among other things), Jake Tapper.

Run To Home Base: Join Ron and his team and sign up individually or on another team at the 16th annual Run To Home Base on July 26th, 2025, at Fenway Park! Go to runtohomebase.org

Please visit homebase.org for updates, programming, and resources if you or someone you know is struggling.

Home Base Nation is the official podcast for the Home Base Program for Veterans and Military Families. Our team sees veterans, service members, and their families addressing the invisible wounds of war at no cost. This is all made possible thanks to a grateful nation. To learn more about how to help, visit us at www.homebase.org. If you or anyone you know would like to connect to care, you can also reach us at 617-724-5202.

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• The Home Base Nation Team is Steve Monaco, Army Veteran Kelly Field, Justin Scheinert, Chuck Clough, with COO Michael Allard, Brigadier General Jack Hammond, and Peter Smyth.
• Producer and Host: Dr. Ron Hirschberg
• Assistant Producer, Editor: Chuck Clough
• Chairman, Home Base Media Lab: Peter Smyth

The views expressed by guests on the Home Base Nation podcast are their own, and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by guests are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Home Base, the Red Sox Foundation, or any of its officials.