May 14, 2025 • 12 mins
What really goes on during a special operations mission? Tuesday, military veteran and author Jack Stewart will join Mornings with Eric and Brigitte with a look inside the world of combat and a story of overcoming PTSD, anxiety and depression through the grace of God.
Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshow/wrmb
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:04):
You're listening to mornings with Eric and Bridget right here
on Moody Radio 89.3.
S2 (00:09):
I remember years ago a local organization, or probably national,
but with a local chapter, Honor Flight, but on a
whole military day appreciation event. And I went to it
and they had all these antique aircrafts from past wars
and battles going back to World War two, even that
you could see maybe even climb in. And that's as
(00:31):
close as I've gotten. Eric, how close have you gotten
to something quite like that or even being in one?
Jumping out of one?
S1 (00:38):
Oh no. Never jump. But I have been to the
Air Force Museum in at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We
used to go there all the time as a family.
We lived up in that area. That was an amazing
facility to just kind of feel the, the, the respect
that you, you have for those that serve our nation. Uh,
you know, I was able to go on an honor
(00:59):
flight myself, uh, a few years back. And just the
the loyalty and the camaraderie that was there and just
the just the respect they had for their, their nation
and the reason why they were serving and the stories
that they were telling. It was it was a really
impactful day that I had a few years back.
S2 (01:20):
Yeah, well, many of us will never know what that cost.
You know, each individual and each family. And that's why
we do owe our gratitude to those who serve our
nation and have served. And Jack Stewart is joining us,
former Top Gun pilot. And we do want to start
just by saying thank you for your service to our nation.
S3 (01:41):
Well, thank you very much. It was my honor to
serve for 23 years. And, um, I'm just fortunate that I,
you know, lived in a country where I could do that.
S1 (01:49):
You know, this book that you've written, it is not
a true story, but does it come out and try
to tell maybe the story of what it is like?
Is that is that kind of the purpose of it?
S3 (02:02):
Yeah. So, um, my, my writing partner, Chad Robichaux, he
was a Force Recon Marine and and served in special operations,
in particular with the JSOC task force as a fighter pilot.
I spent most of my time in combat in the air. However,
I did spend some time on the ground with the
same JSOC task force. So we had similar experiences. And
(02:25):
the one thing that we both had in common is
we were both married. We both, you know, fathers, we
both had, um, a faith that was tested in combat.
And we wanted to kind of expose the reality of
war and hopefully resonate with, you know, readers who may
have similar experiences and kind of are struggling when they
(02:46):
come home. And and we hope it provides a message
of hope for those people.
S2 (02:50):
And is it for those of us who don't have
that experience to kind of give us an inside look into, understand,
and how do you do that through your main character
in the book, Silent Horizons? That's the book we're talking about.
This novel that you co-wrote is Foster Quinn. Tell us
about who he is. And do you want those of
us who don't have any experience like his to kind
(03:13):
of understand it better through his story?
S3 (03:16):
Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the you were talking
about the honor flight earlier, I'm, I'm also an airline pilot.
So I've had the opportunity to to take veterans on
those flights. And, um, one of the things that always
struck me, and I feel it very personally, is when
I've flown Vietnam veterans, uh, to Washington, DC, I get
(03:39):
a little bit choked up because I know that they
weren't when they came home from from war, they weren't received, um,
the way I was when I came home. And, um,
and so I think we're doing a better job of
letting the public know what our warriors are experiencing. But
we can we can go even further. We can hopefully
(04:01):
expose through books like Silent Horizons what the the toll
is the human toll. And, um, and so that was
our hope was that Foster Quinn would be somebody that
that everybody would recognize, you know, as your as your brother,
as your uncle, as your neighbor down the street. It's
just a guy. And he does some pretty remarkable things, um,
(04:23):
and suffers some, some trauma. And we, you know, as,
as American citizens need to kind of rally around them and,
and help lift them up.
S1 (04:33):
It's not just the the warrior. It's the family, though, also,
isn't it?
S3 (04:38):
Oh, 100%. I mean, I you know, I always, you know,
people say thank you for your service and I really
do appreciate appreciate that. But, you know, my family, um,
they're heroes in their own right. You know, my wife,
I have three kids. And and they were there with
me for, you know, my entire military career and all
my deployments and and they suffered, you know, my sons
(05:00):
had to spend, you know, six, eight, ten, ten months
without a father, um, you know, being home that they
could rely on. And my, my daughter had to do
the same thing. And it's just, um, you know, it's
it's tough. It's a tough life for military families. And
and so I'm not the only one that has to
come home and deal with the emotional tolls of being
(05:22):
in war, but the family does as well. And so
this book definitely helps expose some of that.
S2 (05:27):
So tell us about your main character, Foster Quinn. What
is that like for him to be a family man
and a warrior?
S3 (05:34):
Yeah. That's so. Foster. Quinn. Um, like, Chad was a
Force Recon Marine, and he is has been asked to
join this, uh, special operations task force going into undercover, um,
to help find, um, a arms dealer who is who
is selling weapons that are destroying families around the world.
(05:56):
And so, you know, he he has he leaves his
wife and his daughter at home, and he goes and
does this. And in order to assume this other identity,
he kind of has to ignore his real life and
his family and put them on the back burner, which, unfortunately,
is what a lot of a lot of our warriors do. Um, is,
is they sort of, uh, create an alternate identity to
(06:18):
confront the harsh realities of war. And sometimes they don't
pick up the real life when they come home. And
that that separation, um, kind of creates two halves that
are not working in unity. And, and it causes a
lot of strife emotionally, psychologically. And I think that's why
you're seeing a pandemic with a lot of veteran suicides.
S1 (06:42):
What role does faith play in all of this? Uh,
not just your your main character, but yourself. You, as
you were out on, you know, as you were doing
your job. How important was your faith behind that?
S3 (06:55):
Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, one of the
things I recall personally, I grew up in a Christian
household and, and faith was very important to me. But
I think when I went to the military, I sort
of put that on the back burner. Um, and I
didn't pick up the Bible, I didn't pray. Uh, I
always respected and admired the ones that did, but I
felt like in order for me to survive, I needed
(07:17):
to kind of live in a secular world, which was false,
and I wish I had could go back and tell
the 18 year old version of me like, hey, this
isn't true. Um, so we are with Silent Horizons. We're
kind of portraying a similar thing with with Foster Quinn.
And the reason for it is because I think a
lot of our, our warriors either have never known Christ
(07:39):
or have but feel like in order to go to war,
they need to put that kind of aside and that
that makes it difficult to survive. Um, I think Chad's
personal experiences, you know, he was almost a statistic. He
almost became another veteran suicide, um, until his his wife
helped him find God, and now he's found a renewed purpose.
(08:03):
And so, you know, I think, um, the purpose of
this book for us was to, to, you know, minister
to maybe those people who don't have that relationship. And
it's kind of ironic that it ended up ministering to me.
And I now have have a stronger relationship than I,
than I did during my military career.
S1 (08:20):
I think many of us could look back at our
18 year old self and say, spend more time in
God's Word. Don't avoid it. Lean on him as you
start a career. I mean, I think it's not just
the military. It's that's a message for all of us
to hear, I think.
S3 (08:35):
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And that's, you know, I now have
a 19 year old son who's a freshman in college
or just finished his freshman year, and I have a
17 year old son getting ready to kind of start
down the same path that I was. And so that's
that's my message to them is, hey, this is the
mistake I made. Let's not make the same mistake yourself.
And it'll be life will be a whole lot easier
(08:57):
when you just put your faith in God.
S2 (08:59):
I love that you get that opportunity now to speak
to your younger self through this book, Silent Horizons, and
your character in it, Foster Quinn, but also your actual
real life son and say, here's here's what you need
to know. And so what is the big takeaway then?
Is it exactly that or is it even beyond that?
As you write this book, Silent Horizons and want to
(09:21):
see it get into the hands of those who will
be in the military or in the arm, the military,
or even those of us who are civilians.
S3 (09:28):
Yeah. I mean, the biggest takeaway is that it's okay,
wherever you are. Um, God will meet you. Um, and
if you read this book, you won't find a character
that has a strong faith. You won't find a character
that is is even resisting. But he's kind of ambivalent.
And as the series progresses, you will see foster slip
into an even darker phase where he's sort of struggling with, uh,
(09:52):
an inherent sinful nature. And and he's going to have
to overcome that. And but it is a redemption story.
It is it is a good news story. And I
hope that no matter where you are in your journey,
you know, this book will resonate with you and you
can find that God will meet you wherever you are.
S1 (10:12):
So you have a marine in the room and a
Top Gun pilot in the room, and there's a little
bit of an issue between which direction we want to
go with this novel. Who wins out on that argument?
S3 (10:23):
Well, uh, that's a very good question. Uh, I think
both the both of us are very, uh, you know,
type A personalities. Uh, the good news is we've been
lockstep in what our messaging is and also the story. Um,
this first book really kind of follows Chad's personal experiences
pretty closely. The second book in the series, it goes
(10:44):
off into an uncharted territory. So I think I would
say Chad wins that first, uh, round, but maybe I
win the second.
S1 (10:51):
Lean on your publisher. Blame them. Yeah, exactly.
S2 (10:56):
Well, I love that. And we, you know, just have
a minute or two left. But what's something that you
want us civilians maybe to know about life in special
ops or just behind the scenes? I know you've shared
a little bit from your experience, but what's something you
think we may not realize?
S3 (11:15):
Well, I think, you know, when I was an outsider looking,
you know, looking in from the outside, I thought that
everybody that was in special ops, they were like super men,
you know, they, they could, uh, you know, do incredible
things because they were all these just special human beings,
and they are, but they're really just like you and me.
(11:35):
They're just normal everyday, um, you know, fathers and husbands
and sons and brothers and, and they just are put
in these incredible situations and, and really step up and
rise to the challenge. So, um, I think that my
personal experience in, in deploying with these guys, um, is that,
(11:58):
you know, you wouldn't recognize them if you were just
passing them on the street as being anything other than
just a normal person. And so because they are normal,
they have, you know, the same, uh, issues that all
of us have when it comes to, you know, faith
or when it comes to dealing with stress or family
issues or whatever. I mean, we're just, you know, we're
(12:19):
all the same.
S1 (12:21):
Well, the book is called Silent Horizons, and you can
find out more from our website when you go to
Eric and Bridget. Org. Jack, thank you so much for
encouraging us and letting us know more this morning.
S3 (12:31):
Yeah, thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it.
You're listening to mornings with Eric and Bridget right here
on Moody Radio 89.3.
S2 (00:09):
I remember years ago a local organization, or probably national,
but with a local chapter, Honor Flight, but on a
whole military day appreciation event. And I went to it
and they had all these antique aircrafts from past wars
and battles going back to World War two, even that
you could see maybe even climb in. And that's as
(00:31):
close as I've gotten. Eric, how close have you gotten
to something quite like that or even being in one?
Jumping out of one?
S1 (00:38):
Oh no. Never jump. But I have been to the
Air Force Museum in at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We
used to go there all the time as a family.
We lived up in that area. That was an amazing
facility to just kind of feel the, the, the respect
that you, you have for those that serve our nation. Uh,
you know, I was able to go on an honor
(00:59):
flight myself, uh, a few years back. And just the
the loyalty and the camaraderie that was there and just
the just the respect they had for their, their nation
and the reason why they were serving and the stories
that they were telling. It was it was a really
impactful day that I had a few years back.
S2 (01:20):
Yeah, well, many of us will never know what that cost.
You know, each individual and each family. And that's why
we do owe our gratitude to those who serve our
nation and have served. And Jack Stewart is joining us,
former Top Gun pilot. And we do want to start
just by saying thank you for your service to our nation.
S3 (01:41):
Well, thank you very much. It was my honor to
serve for 23 years. And, um, I'm just fortunate that I,
you know, lived in a country where I could do that.
S1 (01:49):
You know, this book that you've written, it is not
a true story, but does it come out and try
to tell maybe the story of what it is like?
Is that is that kind of the purpose of it?
S3 (02:02):
Yeah. So, um, my, my writing partner, Chad Robichaux, he
was a Force Recon Marine and and served in special operations,
in particular with the JSOC task force as a fighter pilot.
I spent most of my time in combat in the air. However,
I did spend some time on the ground with the
same JSOC task force. So we had similar experiences. And
(02:25):
the one thing that we both had in common is
we were both married. We both, you know, fathers, we
both had, um, a faith that was tested in combat.
And we wanted to kind of expose the reality of
war and hopefully resonate with, you know, readers who may
have similar experiences and kind of are struggling when they
(02:46):
come home. And and we hope it provides a message
of hope for those people.
S2 (02:50):
And is it for those of us who don't have
that experience to kind of give us an inside look into, understand,
and how do you do that through your main character
in the book, Silent Horizons? That's the book we're talking about.
This novel that you co-wrote is Foster Quinn. Tell us
about who he is. And do you want those of
us who don't have any experience like his to kind
(03:13):
of understand it better through his story?
S3 (03:16):
Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the you were talking
about the honor flight earlier, I'm, I'm also an airline pilot.
So I've had the opportunity to to take veterans on
those flights. And, um, one of the things that always
struck me, and I feel it very personally, is when
I've flown Vietnam veterans, uh, to Washington, DC, I get
(03:39):
a little bit choked up because I know that they
weren't when they came home from from war, they weren't received, um,
the way I was when I came home. And, um,
and so I think we're doing a better job of
letting the public know what our warriors are experiencing. But
we can we can go even further. We can hopefully
(04:01):
expose through books like Silent Horizons what the the toll
is the human toll. And, um, and so that was
our hope was that Foster Quinn would be somebody that
that everybody would recognize, you know, as your as your brother,
as your uncle, as your neighbor down the street. It's
just a guy. And he does some pretty remarkable things, um,
(04:23):
and suffers some, some trauma. And we, you know, as,
as American citizens need to kind of rally around them and,
and help lift them up.
S1 (04:33):
It's not just the the warrior. It's the family, though, also,
isn't it?
S3 (04:38):
Oh, 100%. I mean, I you know, I always, you know,
people say thank you for your service and I really
do appreciate appreciate that. But, you know, my family, um,
they're heroes in their own right. You know, my wife,
I have three kids. And and they were there with
me for, you know, my entire military career and all
my deployments and and they suffered, you know, my sons
(05:00):
had to spend, you know, six, eight, ten, ten months
without a father, um, you know, being home that they
could rely on. And my, my daughter had to do
the same thing. And it's just, um, you know, it's
it's tough. It's a tough life for military families. And
and so I'm not the only one that has to
come home and deal with the emotional tolls of being
(05:22):
in war, but the family does as well. And so
this book definitely helps expose some of that.
S2 (05:27):
So tell us about your main character, Foster Quinn. What
is that like for him to be a family man
and a warrior?
S3 (05:34):
Yeah. That's so. Foster. Quinn. Um, like, Chad was a
Force Recon Marine, and he is has been asked to
join this, uh, special operations task force going into undercover, um,
to help find, um, a arms dealer who is who
is selling weapons that are destroying families around the world.
(05:56):
And so, you know, he he has he leaves his
wife and his daughter at home, and he goes and
does this. And in order to assume this other identity,
he kind of has to ignore his real life and
his family and put them on the back burner, which, unfortunately,
is what a lot of a lot of our warriors do. Um, is,
is they sort of, uh, create an alternate identity to
(06:18):
confront the harsh realities of war. And sometimes they don't
pick up the real life when they come home. And
that that separation, um, kind of creates two halves that
are not working in unity. And, and it causes a
lot of strife emotionally, psychologically. And I think that's why
you're seeing a pandemic with a lot of veteran suicides.
S1 (06:42):
What role does faith play in all of this? Uh,
not just your your main character, but yourself. You, as
you were out on, you know, as you were doing
your job. How important was your faith behind that?
S3 (06:55):
Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, one of the
things I recall personally, I grew up in a Christian
household and, and faith was very important to me. But
I think when I went to the military, I sort
of put that on the back burner. Um, and I
didn't pick up the Bible, I didn't pray. Uh, I
always respected and admired the ones that did, but I
felt like in order for me to survive, I needed
(07:17):
to kind of live in a secular world, which was false,
and I wish I had could go back and tell
the 18 year old version of me like, hey, this
isn't true. Um, so we are with Silent Horizons. We're
kind of portraying a similar thing with with Foster Quinn.
And the reason for it is because I think a
lot of our, our warriors either have never known Christ
(07:39):
or have but feel like in order to go to war,
they need to put that kind of aside and that
that makes it difficult to survive. Um, I think Chad's
personal experiences, you know, he was almost a statistic. He
almost became another veteran suicide, um, until his his wife
helped him find God, and now he's found a renewed purpose.
(08:03):
And so, you know, I think, um, the purpose of
this book for us was to, to, you know, minister
to maybe those people who don't have that relationship. And
it's kind of ironic that it ended up ministering to me.
And I now have have a stronger relationship than I,
than I did during my military career.
S1 (08:20):
I think many of us could look back at our
18 year old self and say, spend more time in
God's Word. Don't avoid it. Lean on him as you
start a career. I mean, I think it's not just
the military. It's that's a message for all of us
to hear, I think.
S3 (08:35):
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And that's, you know, I now have
a 19 year old son who's a freshman in college
or just finished his freshman year, and I have a
17 year old son getting ready to kind of start
down the same path that I was. And so that's
that's my message to them is, hey, this is the
mistake I made. Let's not make the same mistake yourself.
And it'll be life will be a whole lot easier
(08:57):
when you just put your faith in God.
S2 (08:59):
I love that you get that opportunity now to speak
to your younger self through this book, Silent Horizons, and
your character in it, Foster Quinn, but also your actual
real life son and say, here's here's what you need
to know. And so what is the big takeaway then?
Is it exactly that or is it even beyond that?
As you write this book, Silent Horizons and want to
(09:21):
see it get into the hands of those who will
be in the military or in the arm, the military,
or even those of us who are civilians.
S3 (09:28):
Yeah. I mean, the biggest takeaway is that it's okay,
wherever you are. Um, God will meet you. Um, and
if you read this book, you won't find a character
that has a strong faith. You won't find a character
that is is even resisting. But he's kind of ambivalent.
And as the series progresses, you will see foster slip
into an even darker phase where he's sort of struggling with, uh,
(09:52):
an inherent sinful nature. And and he's going to have
to overcome that. And but it is a redemption story.
It is it is a good news story. And I
hope that no matter where you are in your journey,
you know, this book will resonate with you and you
can find that God will meet you wherever you are.
S1 (10:12):
So you have a marine in the room and a
Top Gun pilot in the room, and there's a little
bit of an issue between which direction we want to
go with this novel. Who wins out on that argument?
S3 (10:23):
Well, uh, that's a very good question. Uh, I think
both the both of us are very, uh, you know,
type A personalities. Uh, the good news is we've been
lockstep in what our messaging is and also the story. Um,
this first book really kind of follows Chad's personal experiences
pretty closely. The second book in the series, it goes
(10:44):
off into an uncharted territory. So I think I would
say Chad wins that first, uh, round, but maybe I
win the second.
S1 (10:51):
Lean on your publisher. Blame them. Yeah, exactly.
S2 (10:56):
Well, I love that. And we, you know, just have
a minute or two left. But what's something that you
want us civilians maybe to know about life in special
ops or just behind the scenes? I know you've shared
a little bit from your experience, but what's something you
think we may not realize?
S3 (11:15):
Well, I think, you know, when I was an outsider looking,
you know, looking in from the outside, I thought that
everybody that was in special ops, they were like super men,
you know, they, they could, uh, you know, do incredible
things because they were all these just special human beings,
and they are, but they're really just like you and me.
(11:35):
They're just normal everyday, um, you know, fathers and husbands
and sons and brothers and, and they just are put
in these incredible situations and, and really step up and
rise to the challenge. So, um, I think that my
personal experience in, in deploying with these guys, um, is that,
(11:58):
you know, you wouldn't recognize them if you were just
passing them on the street as being anything other than
just a normal person. And so because they are normal,
they have, you know, the same, uh, issues that all
of us have when it comes to, you know, faith
or when it comes to dealing with stress or family
issues or whatever. I mean, we're just, you know, we're
(12:19):
all the same.
S1 (12:21):
Well, the book is called Silent Horizons, and you can
find out more from our website when you go to
Eric and Bridget. Org. Jack, thank you so much for
encouraging us and letting us know more this morning.
S3 (12:31):
Yeah, thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.