September 3, 2025 • 38 mins
This week's episode is powerful.... you'll meet Retired U.S. Army Sergeant Eric Donoho: combat veteran, Purple Heart, suicide survivor. Eric has seen the worst of war. He did the PTSD work—and still felt stuck. In this raw conversation, he explains the piece most men miss: moral injury—a soul-level wound of guilt and shame that standard PTSD tools often don’t touch. He shares how faith and service helped him climb out, and how you can spot moral injury in yourself or someone you love.
What we cover
The horrors of combat and life after war
Why PTSD didn’t tell Eric’s whole story
Moral injury vs. PTSD (fear vs. shame/guilt) in plain language
Eric’s suicide-survivor testimony—and what finally moved the needle
Faith, meaning, and service as a path forward
How first responders, healthcare workers, and pastors face this too
How to host a free moral injury workshop in your city
If you’re in crisis: Call/Text 988 (Veterans press 1). You’re not alone.
Connect with Eric
Website: ericdonaho.com (confirm spelling)
Instagram: @ebdonaho
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Hello and welcome back to the Rev RX Podcast.
My name is Chad Potts, and I'm your host.
Today's episode is a very near and dear one to my heart.
As many of you know, I work veryclosely with veterans.
They have a soft spot in my heart.
They are truly our nation's heroes.
And today in our interview, I sit down with retired Sergeant
Eric Donahoe. He is AUS veteran.
(00:35):
He is an author. He is an advocate for veterans
everywhere. And he's a suicide survivor.
You heard that right. He's going to share with us his
story. He's going to share with us how
the things that our U.S. military sees and experiences
overseas, it changes them. Many times they come back
(00:56):
different than how they went. And you've heard of PTSD.
But Eric is on to something a little bit different, what he
describes as moral injury. And he's going to share what
that's teaching us about our veterans, how to take care of
those veterans that are close toyou and how to gain perspective
into their point of view, into their lives, into their mindset
(01:19):
in order to help them live theirbest life.
So if you're a veteran out thereor if you love a veteran, this
episode is for you. I want you to meet my new
friend, Eric Donahoe. Let's dig in.
Eric, brother, thank you so muchfor joining us today on the
show. Man, what a privilege it is to
have you here. And let me start off by saying
(01:40):
thank you for your service, brother.
I really appreciate you having me and, and opening your
platform up to this message. It's it's an honor to be able to
talk to, to you and all your listeners and, and people who
who follow your message. Well, man, I've, I've, I relate
to a lot of what you're doing ina lot of different ways.
We talked about that before we jumped on here live and, and
(02:03):
man, there's just a deep appreciation for the message
that you have that you're putting out there.
And I can't wait to get into that.
But before we do, I'd love for you just to introduce yourself
to my audience. Help us to, to get to know you a
little bit better. Tell us your story and kind of
what led you to where you are today.
Sure. So in an effort to be short and
(02:24):
concise and quick with this, my name is Eric Donahoe.
I'm a retired Sergeant from the US Army.
I got retired in 2009, well put on the TDRL list, temporary
retirement list in 2009 and thatbecame official, I believe in
2011, 2012 for getting blown up one too many times and during my
(02:48):
employment to Iraq. So really the journey for me
started when I was 26. I was working in sales and
marketing and I just didn't really feel very fulfilled.
And we were in the middle of a war and there were a number of
things that had happened and, and for me in life around that
(03:11):
time frame. And I decided that if I didn't
join then it would be too late at some other point down the
line. So AT26I joined the military
infantry, went on to Airborne school, and then got assigned up
to what was at the time the new battalion or brigade, 4th
(03:33):
Brigade, 25th Infantry Division in Alaska.
And then more specifically, I was assigned to the Third
Battalion, 5 O Ninth Headquarters Unit and was a part
of their Scout sniper team. Awesome.
Now combat veteran Purple Heart recipient, right?
(03:53):
Yep. And author.
And you know we don't. Think a lot of that.
I'm still, I'm still, I'm still getting used to that title.
That's a new thing. And I love how you share your
military experiences in a way that that's really helping men
(04:14):
and women today to #1 become their best self.
But then #2 you're an advocate. You're an advocate for veterans
and their families. And I'd love for you to talk a
little bit about your role as anadvocate and kind of how that
shaped you and how that's evolved over the years since
you've gotten involved with thatseveral years ago.
(04:35):
So in 2008 was when I first put my feet in the whole advocacy
thing for veterans. It was pushing for the Post 911
GI Bill and I was still activelyin the military, but I was going
around having people sign the petition on base to to let our
(04:58):
elected leaders know that, you know, it's not just veterans who
support this. It's active duty.
It's the whole gamut of people. And because of a whole lot of
amazing work from people in DC and veterans in DC that got
passed and, and then over the years I volunteered off and on.
(05:21):
And then in 2018, I became more of a regular fixture in DC,
coming in every quarter, at least on a minimum, to
communicate what's going on in the veteran world to our elected
leaders and things in areas where we can do better.
(05:42):
And one of the things that I found interesting with that and
rewarding at the same time was that while I am in a fortunate
place to be able to do that, noteveryone is and not everyone
feels comfortable enough to walkinto a sitting senator's office
(06:06):
or Congress person's office and say what you're doing is wrong
and is hurting people. And, and I, I don't have a
problem speaking truth to power.Like that's never been an issue
for me. And so it just kind of fit like,
you know, being a voice for things that makes sense and that
(06:30):
are reasonable and that we're a part of our contract, right?
Because that's the other thing, right?
You're not going to see me on the hill advocating for new
things that were not a part of my contract.
Now, others may, right? But that's not me.
It's just, you know, I believe in holding them to that piece of
(06:52):
paper. And so a lot of everything that
I've been a part of has been about holding them to that
culminating. So I did some work with the
Elizabeth Dole bill that just got passed.
But my biggest bill that I'm themost proud of, or the two bills
that I'm the most proud of are the very first one that I helped
(07:15):
work when I started, which was the 988 Suicide Hotline Act and
then the PACK Act, for which I was invited to the White House
for the bill signing. And those things were, you know,
amazing opportunities to learn and grow.
But it also opens, you know, thecurtains on how the sausage is
(07:35):
made and that that's, you know, that's a hard thing to try to
figure out. How do you navigate now?
And you know. Yep.
Well, and your voice is important, and your voice
matters. And being an advocate for others
who may not be able to use theirvoice in the same way is a
really, really is a, it's a privilege, I'm sure.
(07:58):
And so I appreciate. The work you do.
Yeah, I, I, I honestly, I feel honored that people share their
stories with me. I feel honored when people reach
out on social media. I mean, I kind of keep most
accounts low key. I'm not on most accounts.
So if you really want to connectwith me, find me on Instagram.
But reach out to me if you've got something going on, reach
(08:19):
out if, if my knowledge can can help someone connect to another
person or you know, maybe it's aorganization, Hey, reach out to
this person. Or it could just be, hey, I
don't know, give me a few weeks.Maybe I can help, maybe I can't,
but I won't forget about you. And, and then just recognize
(08:42):
that there are a lot of those messages that are coming through
on a daily basis. So Please be patient because I
do try to get through them all. And I spend more time on some
because of what they're sending me and then I do on others
because it can be like, hey, I can connect you to somebody who
(09:02):
can take care of this for you. And then there are other times
where I'm like, I have no idea. This is so unique like I don't
know. Don't know well, and you know,
it's, it's important to have a place to go.
And so I want to encourage any veterans out there with any
issues that you're having, if you want your voice to be heard,
Eric's a good resource for you. And so reach out to him.
(09:23):
I'll put his his link in the show notes as well.
Well, and, and remember, there'sa lot going on right now with
all kinds of lawyers who are willing to represent veterans
clear across the board. My only advice to that is just
make sure your eyes are completely open and that you
understand what they're coming for, which is your money, and
(09:46):
that there are services out there that are good and just as
aggressive that will come for far less money or free.
So make sure you're doing your due diligence.
It breaks my heart to see peopletaking advantage of people like
this, but that's, you know, that's the world we live in, I
guess. It's a lot, you know,
(10:06):
disability, VA disability and compensation is a lot of money
and that is another group of people who are trying to turn it
into a billion dollar a year business.
Yeah. Well, we talked before.
I've got a soft spot in my heartfor veterans and one of the
things that I see in my setting and that you've seen a lot of,
(10:29):
unfortunately, is veteran suicide.
You are instrumental in getting the suicide hotline established
and I'd love to kind of go therea minute because that's not
something that I think we talkedabout enough.
But when veterans come back to civilian duty, something is
different. There is something that's not
(10:51):
whole a lot of times and it can lead them down a very dark path
and I see that, you see that, but can you speak to that a
minute? I can, I can.
So let me start by just a littlehousekeeping.
I wouldn't call myself instrumental in the 988 suicide
hotline. With everything that's going on
in the in the veteran community,I try to always make sure that
(11:14):
I'm authentic and honest as muchas possible.
And even I get like frustrated, like at myself because I know
how easy it is sometimes to misspeak, right?
So like I'll say, you'll hear mesay 18 months or 14 months for
my deployment. And the 18 months is how long my
brigade was there and the 14 months was how long I was there.
(11:35):
And sometimes you can use those interchangeably as an
individual, right? And it's not.
Now that isn't the case for whatI'm talking about in this
situation, but I just want to beclear like I always try to keep.
Sound disclaimer, yeah. Yeah, I always try to keep
myself humble and and recognize that I'm just a spoke in a
larger wheel of thousands of other advocates who are doing
(11:58):
the same thing as me. Yeah, appreciate.
That, yeah, with the 988 suicidehotline act and why that was
important to me was I'm a survivor of suicide myself and
I've lost more than 19 friends to to suicide stopped counting
(12:18):
after 1919 was my best friend Brent, who actually was the one
who pulled me back from the edgeand kept me from from attempting
again. And so the fact that I wasn't
able to be there for him, you know, is something I still carry
(12:39):
today. But in all of this, what I
realized is a few years back, I got thyroid cancer related to
burn pits. And it was in that moment that
you kind of look and you're like, all right, if I were to
go, what would be my legacy here?
(13:00):
And I looked around and, you know, I've got this amazing
daughter, I've got this amazing son who are going to, I believe,
go off and do just amazing things.
Like I believe and know in my heart that God has big things
planned for them and the way that they attack life, it's just
hard to not see that. And but I also thought like, OK,
(13:21):
if that's my only legacy, then all this information I have
inside about what I've learned since that suicide attempt just
goes away. And so that was the whole, one
of the whole purposes for this book.
And then when I decided to writethis book, the reason that I
(13:41):
kept it authentic and raw and real is because I wanted both my
kids and the people out there tobe able to a be believe, believe
it right. And then on the same time have a
road map and be like, well, hey,I do some of that same stuff
too. This is what he did.
Maybe this will work for me. Maybe you know I I don't know if
(14:05):
it will or not, but it did for me.
Yeah, yeah. And so all of this comes back to
what I learned was moral injury.Yeah, which is what you were
trying to get to and it took me a long time to get.
To no, that's that's great yeah,set the scene a little bit so.
But that's that's the core of ofwhat is driving being veteran
(14:26):
suicide. And that's not just me who says
that that is a study out of the New Jersey VA.
When you look at veterans as groups, the group who are
suffering from moral injury are at the highest risk level for
actually pulling the trigger on suicide.
(14:50):
And, and so when I learned that information and I started to dig
into that information, I thought, well, what have we done
in the last 10 years to effectively help moral injury to
get this information out there to the veteran community and to
the, you know, larger military community and sure responder for
(15:17):
that matter. And so as I started to look at
all of this, it became very clear that we in the last 10
years have spent $0.00 on moral injury.
And they out of 1100 new programs created to combat
veteran suicide both at the DoD and VA, zero of them focus on
(15:39):
moral injury and. So that's a big deal, yeah.
That's a huge deal. And then immediately, you know,
I'm like, this can't be right. So during my book launch week
last September for Suicide Awareness Week, I headed out to
DC and that was what I talked tolawmakers about and the the
(16:03):
reality that I heard from every single one of them and it was
more questions than it was me directing it to them.
Is anyone talking to you about this or any of the major VS OS
on the Hill communicating this to you?
Or has this information that's come out from the New Jersey VA
been something you've seen? No, no, no, over and over.
(16:27):
I think I met with a total of 35to 40 offices in two days.
Wow. And it was a consistent.
This is not something we've heard about.
This is not something we've talked about.
Yeah. And so, you know, taking all of
that into consideration, then I started to reach out to the VS
(16:47):
OS organizations that I've worked well with and have
connections at, and I started toget pushed back on from there.
So if you go to any of the majorVsos and you type in moral
injury into their search engine,you might get a page that has a
(17:09):
list of articles where that topic has come up, but you don't
have the only organization. DAV is the only organization has
a dedicated page to moral injury.
And even in on that page, they try to make it more sterile and
clinical, where you try to remove the spiritual and soulful
(17:32):
aspect of what moral injury actually is.
And so why this all? I know I'm on a long tangent.
No, just good. Why this all matters is because
moral injury manifests the same symptoms that PTSD does.
Yeah, except moral injury will not get better with traditional
(17:54):
PTSD treatments. So for, for me, I had been in
PTSD treatment since I had come home in 2008 and all the way to
when I attempted my own suicide in December of 2015.
And the part of what got me there was that I wasn't making
(18:15):
any progress at all. And, and even though I was
trying, even though I was showing up and doing the work.
So that's really why moral injury is so important, because
as soon as I started focusing onmoral injury, that's when things
started to change. That's when I started to see a
(18:35):
light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah.
And so, you know, you're diagnosed with this disorder,
post traumatic stress disorder, and you're treated according to
the most recent guidelines and nothing happens, nothing gets
better. And I imagine that being a
pretty hopeless situation. You know, think of it with any
(18:56):
other disease state, right, Right.
You know, think about if you have diabetes and it's out of
control and you start taking insulin and it's not working and
you're just, you're, you're spiraling, you know, I mean,
you, you can't deal long with that.
Well, no, much less something that affects every part of your
body like that. Right, well, and you know that
you'll hear veterans and organizations talk about, you
(19:17):
know, we're here to give you tools to put in your toolbox so
that when things come up, you'reable to use them, right.
And so I had a whole shed full of brand new tools that I had
gained over all of those years going to PTSD treatment.
And every time I try to institute and work those, those
those tools, it they didn't work.
(19:39):
And it wasn't that I didn't havePTSD because most of the time
these two injuries run concurrent.
Yeah. And so it wasn't that I didn't
have it. It wasn't.
And it wasn't that those tools that they gave me wouldn't work
for PTSD. It was that the biggest injury
for me that I needed to deal with first was that moral injury
(20:03):
was that injury to my soul and my spirit, because that was what
gave me the ability to then catch the pause.
And between the stimuli and the response, and then to allow me
to utilize all of those tools with regards to the issues that
I have with PTS. So, you know, it's a simple
(20:26):
thing, yeah. Yeah, that's why I'm drawn to
the work you're doing because I'm a big proponent of mental,
physical, emotional and spiritual well-being is all
interconnected. You know, there there's a
tendency to make PTSD treatment about only the physical.
(20:49):
Moral injury speaks more than just to the physical.
And, and man, I resonate with that.
So can you break this down for us so that for those of us that
may not be aware of the differences between moral injury
and PTSD, or really what moral injury is, can you, can you
break that down for us and help us to understand that a little?
Bit better actually. I, I, I, I've got a great, I've
(21:10):
got a great book out. It's a companion guide that goes
along with my book. It's about moral injury.
And I actually break it down here and it says moral injury
and PTSD are often mentioned in the same breath, but they are
not the same wound. While both carry deep scars,
their roots and pathways to healing differ.
(21:31):
PTSD is a clinical condition, a response to trauma where fear
overwhelms the mind and body, often leaving a person trapped
in a cycle of anxiety, flashbacks, hyper and hyper
vigilance. It's about survival in the face
of overwhelming threat. Moral injury, on the other hand,
(21:53):
is a wound of the soul. It can come from what we did,
what we failed to do, or what was done to us, experiences that
violated our deepest sense of right and wrong.
It's the silent weight of guilt,the quiet ache of shame, the
haunting questions that replay when the world is still.
(22:14):
PTS speaks in fear. Moral Moral injury whispers
you're the problem. Everyone would be better off
without you. You don't deserve peace.
You're unworthy. That's the difference between
PTSD and MARL injury. Yeah.
(22:34):
And that's really important to understand.
So for the veterans out there, you know, if you're dealing with
some of these things, you know, Eric has done a fantastic job of
breaking that down. For those who love veterans and
you have loved ones who may be struggling in this way, I think
that's a really helpful way to break that down.
(22:54):
Well, and it's not just and it'snot just veterans real quick,
right and. That was one of my questions I
was going to leave with, yeah. So you're a pharmacist, right?
I'm going to throw this out there.
You're in the medical field, you're dealing with people in a
very real way and and in that you're dealing with life or
(23:15):
death and accidents and traumas happen and people pass on and
you know, you may find yourself in a situation where you're now
carrying or moral the weight of a moral injury.
Yes, yes. Healthcare professionals, first
responders, police, fire, ambulance, paramedic, pastors.
(23:38):
I, I mean, you're, you're doublyscrewed because you're a pastor
and and. Appreciate that.
But what I'm getting? At yeah, you're going to.
Just veterans. And while I don't have the data,
I do think that this is a largersystemic problem that all of us
in America are facing. And it's what allows that
(24:00):
division and for people to create that division within our
society. Yeah, 100%.
And, you know, I just spoke withsomebody this week and it was a
healthcare provider and they hada they had a patient pass away
and they were dealing with, you know, what could I have done
differently? What did I do something that
(24:22):
that could or did I not do something?
And, and a lot of what you just said speaks to that.
What did I do? What did I not do?
What could I have done? That's that guilt, that's that
shame, that's that moral injury.And so when you when you unpack
that just now, a light bulb cameon them and I'm like, yeah, this
is, this is not just a veteran'sthing.
It's not just a military thing. It's it's you're on to something
(24:44):
that I think is a is a very common human condition.
It is, and it's something that we've sterilized from society
over decades and decades, right?We all know that we have a
spiritual core to our son, You know, that people, people chase
it through. I mean, maybe not through God
(25:05):
like me or you, but people chasethat spiritual core through
meditation, through yoga, through other religions.
I mean, you know, there's to break it down DoD, you know,
most likely to affiliate if you have some sort of spiritual
connection, right. So just in the DoD, 71% of of
(25:29):
the military identifies as some sort of religious connection.
That's not even including the people who say, hey, I do yoga
because it recenters me. I do meditation, you know, so
you're, you're talking in the 80% range of population.
But we've, we've taken this conversation about the soul and
(25:51):
the spirit out of things becauseyou can't talk about God.
And it's not really about God. I mean, that is the where I
believe I'm getting this messagefrom and I believe he is calling
me to do. But you know, this genuineness
(26:12):
of of healing, this idea that you want to go live a good life
requires faith in something. Oh yeah, and man, you're
speaking my language. And if you don't have faith in
something, right, it doesn't have to be my faith.
Like I'm not here to, you know, I, I believe God has given me my
message and I'm, I, I, I'm putting it out there.
(26:34):
And what happens from that happens.
I'm not the guy who can sit hereand quote all these different
Bible quotes and, or, you know, scripture and, and even if I
could, I'd probably get some of it messed up because of all the
brain injuries and then that would cause problems.
And so Drake, just very specifically with regards to
this, because it's so personal to me and because I saw the
(26:57):
healing that happened in my own life, I know that this is real.
And so if I can put this out there and even if it just helps
a fraction of the people and we can start to bring down the
suicide numbers from veterans, that can start proving the
larger point for society. And maybe if we can start
(27:17):
getting it out in the first responder community, you know,
specifically police, firefighters, ambulance,
paramedics, they bear the biggest burdens when it comes to
these situations. Most people vilify cops, but I
have never met a cop who has been like, yeah, I just like,
(27:41):
they carry that stuff. They may act tough on the
outside, but inside it's eating them up because everyone who
everyone I've met who's gotten into law enforcement gets into
law enforcement to help. Yeah, yeah.
And that's a big problem in our society.
And that's, you know, there's a lot, a lot I could say there.
(28:02):
I'm, I'm, you know, different conversation for different day
maybe. Yes.
But this is this is critical because you're right, you can,
you can say you don't want to talk about God, you can say you
don't want to talk about spirituality, you don't want to
talk about the soul. That doesn't change the fact
that there is a component of spirituality in every one of us.
And so if you want to be whole and if you want to be healed,
(28:25):
it's going to take focus on thatarea.
And let me ask you this. So when we're when we're
shifting you, you've laid out for us very clearly the
difference between PTSD and moral injury.
And they can happen concurrently, same time.
Where does the treatment shift? So what are some techniques,
what are some healing practices that you have found that helps
(28:49):
with that voice that tells you, you know what you know, the
world's better off without you. What have you found through your
journey and what are you coaching and teaching that
really centers on the soul? Service, service and faith, you
know, if you don't have faith, you don't have hope, you don't
(29:14):
have life. And, and what I tell guys like
when, when all of this started for me and I was at my lowest
and, and I and I started moving forward, I was pretty angry with
God still at a number of things that had happened in my life.
And so I wasn't ready to put my faith in God.
(29:35):
He and I were, I mean, while we had our, our Lieutenant Dan
moment, which is in my book, he and I were still like, from my
perspective, I'm like, all right, I'm willing to to listen,
but I don't know. We're going to have to see on
this. And so where I put my faith was
in my wife's faith because I knew and believe and trust in
(30:02):
her. And so for me, that was where I
put it. And what I tell guys all the
time is it doesn't matter if it's in God at to begin with or
if it's in a piece of property that brings you peace when
you're there. What matters is that you start
to find it, and then you start to cultivate what that faith
(30:24):
means. And the only way you can
cultivate what that faith means and looks like is when you start
serving somebody other than yourself.
Wow. And you know that, that that's
what healed me. That's what helped me find my
path. And none of the things that I've
(30:46):
done, like my best friend takinghis own life.
And I knew that I was spiralling.
I knew that I had failed him or at least felt that way inside.
He can't make it. How am I going to make it?
And then I had a friend, a mentor's voice running through
my head. Eric Weimer's.
(31:07):
He's like Eric, when you have all this adversity facing you,
all these negative ripples in your own pond going on, you take
that energy, all that negative energy, and you do something
good for someone else. It will calm the storm and it
will reframe those ripples and the damage they've done.
(31:29):
And so I leaned into that and I took 8 wheelchairs to Nepal.
I had no idea about wheelchairs.I had no plan.
I had to raise $11,000 in like 10 days.
Like it was just an insane amount of work and I had no idea
how to make it happen. But I had faith that God was
(31:53):
calling me on this path and thatfor some unknown reason I just
needed to keep walking it. Yeah.
And those initial 8 wheelchairs ended up and bringing in a
wheelchair fitter and a wheelchair engineer ended up
creating a wheelchair repair center in Nepal.
(32:16):
And what went from 8 wheelchairsis now well over 1000.
Wow, I don't. You know, I don't have anything
to do with it except cheer line it from the side.
That was the whole point. Wasn't me.
It was to give a hand up to someone else to celebrate
somebody else. And now with the Wheelchair
Foundation here in America, theythat's their go to place in
(32:40):
Nepal. And so that's one of them.
I leaned into, you know, advocacy work on the hill,
leaning into the weight we carry, which is what I read from
the book and this new series that's going out nationwide.
And by the way, if any of your listeners want to hold or host a
(33:03):
a moral injury workshop, connectwith me.
They're free to host. You just have to provide the
space and you have to have a guest list.
Otherwise, I'll show up for free.
Free to talk about this in your hometown.
Just reach out to me, yeah. Eric and I are going to try to
get something together here where I am and.
(33:24):
Yes, yes, absolutely. I'm, I'm digging it because it's
Georgia. We need to fit it into Georgia.
I don't have Georgia yet. So yes, I'm all about it.
Love it, man. You're an inspiration.
And there's a message here for all of us.
And there's something to service.
(33:46):
There's something to making lifeabout more than ourselves, all
right. And so serving others and then
serving God, serving, you know, finding that higher power.
And I love what you said, Eric, about how you weren't ready to
put your faith in God, so you instead, you put your faith in
your wife's faith. You know, I talk to men a lot
and a lot of men come to faith that way.
(34:09):
You know, you're, you have your questions, you have your doubts,
You're not ready to make that decision yet.
But you know what? You've got that person that's
been walking it out in front of you and you can put faith in
their faith. And, and granted, you know, what
we're not saying here is that someone else's faith can save
you. That's, you know, we understand
that, but that can. But someone else's faith can
light that fire and can be that bridge to get you to where
(34:30):
you're ready to put your faith in the One who can save you.
She was the fertilizer that cultivated the seeds that God
planted in me all those years ago.
I love. That that's the truth.
And so I want to want to make this message out there for those
faithful spouses, faithful family members, and maybe your
spouse or your son or your daughter.
(34:51):
They're not walking in the faiththat they that you want them to
or that, you know that they needto keep being that lighthouse,
keep being that light that showsthem the way.
And people like Eric have stories to tell of how that
changed their life tremendously.But Eric Mann, you are putting
out a message that I think is much needed, not just for the
(35:11):
military community, but largely that's where your context is.
And so that's the people that you're reaching.
I'm convinced that whatever we're delivered from, we are
then supposed to go out and helpdeliver others from the same
thing. And you're doing just that, and
you're making a big difference. And I can't wait to work with
you on a closer, more personal level here in my state.
(35:34):
But man, can you tell our listeners where to find out more
information about you, about your book, about your
foundation, and about how to reach out to you if they want to
host one of these events where they are?
Yeah. So real quick, it's not a
foundation from the standpoint that I am a social for profit
entity, meaning the profits thatcome in, you know, roll back in
(35:59):
to go out and help. I'm consistently trying to
figure out how to uplift. And in the veteran space, we
have over 48,000 veteran nonprofits nationwide.
I don't think we need another one.
We just need somebody who's actually willing to toe that
line and to, to put their mouth where their money is.
(36:19):
And that's where I, I try to do this.
So all of this is typically funded through the sales of my
book and through consulting and speaking engagements and things
along those lines. Yeah.
So you can reach me at ericdonahoe.com and you can find
all, all about me there. You can connect with me there.
(36:42):
I also want to encourage everyone to follow me on
Instagram. That's EB Donahoe EBDONOHOI.
Try to keep it light hearted andfun.
I talk a lot about moral injury,but I also throw up a lot of
humor too. So please give me a follow
there. And I look forward to working
(37:05):
with Chad about coming down to Georgia.
Man, it's going to be fun, you guys.
Check him out, check out his book.
You're doing great things in theworld, brother.
Keep being great. I'm so glad that you had
somebody who came alongside you and showed you the path forward,
and now you're repaying that to lots of other people too.
(37:29):
The world needs your voice, brother, and I'm so glad that
you're using it in a way that that brings others help.
So thanks, Eric, brother, bless you.
Look forward to talking to you soon.
Bless you too. Thank you.
Thank you everyone. Thank you for listening to the
Rev RX Podcast. We hope you enjoyed what you
heard today and if so, we'd loveit if you would hit that
subscribe button so that you'll never miss a new episode from
(37:52):
us. Also, feel free to leave us
reviews and comments as we'd love to hear from you.
Be blessed and be the very best you.
Hello and welcome back to the Rev RX Podcast.
My name is Chad Potts, and I'm your host.
Today's episode is a very near and dear one to my heart.
As many of you know, I work veryclosely with veterans.
They have a soft spot in my heart.
They are truly our nation's heroes.
And today in our interview, I sit down with retired Sergeant
Eric Donahoe. He is AUS veteran.
(00:35):
He is an author. He is an advocate for veterans
everywhere. And he's a suicide survivor.
You heard that right. He's going to share with us his
story. He's going to share with us how
the things that our U.S. military sees and experiences
overseas, it changes them. Many times they come back
(00:56):
different than how they went. And you've heard of PTSD.
But Eric is on to something a little bit different, what he
describes as moral injury. And he's going to share what
that's teaching us about our veterans, how to take care of
those veterans that are close toyou and how to gain perspective
into their point of view, into their lives, into their mindset
(01:19):
in order to help them live theirbest life.
So if you're a veteran out thereor if you love a veteran, this
episode is for you. I want you to meet my new
friend, Eric Donahoe. Let's dig in.
Eric, brother, thank you so muchfor joining us today on the
show. Man, what a privilege it is to
have you here. And let me start off by saying
(01:40):
thank you for your service, brother.
I really appreciate you having me and, and opening your
platform up to this message. It's it's an honor to be able to
talk to, to you and all your listeners and, and people who
who follow your message. Well, man, I've, I've, I relate
to a lot of what you're doing ina lot of different ways.
We talked about that before we jumped on here live and, and
(02:03):
man, there's just a deep appreciation for the message
that you have that you're putting out there.
And I can't wait to get into that.
But before we do, I'd love for you just to introduce yourself
to my audience. Help us to, to get to know you a
little bit better. Tell us your story and kind of
what led you to where you are today.
Sure. So in an effort to be short and
(02:24):
concise and quick with this, my name is Eric Donahoe.
I'm a retired Sergeant from the US Army.
I got retired in 2009, well put on the TDRL list, temporary
retirement list in 2009 and thatbecame official, I believe in
2011, 2012 for getting blown up one too many times and during my
(02:48):
employment to Iraq. So really the journey for me
started when I was 26. I was working in sales and
marketing and I just didn't really feel very fulfilled.
And we were in the middle of a war and there were a number of
things that had happened and, and for me in life around that
(03:11):
time frame. And I decided that if I didn't
join then it would be too late at some other point down the
line. So AT26I joined the military
infantry, went on to Airborne school, and then got assigned up
to what was at the time the new battalion or brigade, 4th
(03:33):
Brigade, 25th Infantry Division in Alaska.
And then more specifically, I was assigned to the Third
Battalion, 5 O Ninth Headquarters Unit and was a part
of their Scout sniper team. Awesome.
Now combat veteran Purple Heart recipient, right?
(03:53):
Yep. And author.
And you know we don't. Think a lot of that.
I'm still, I'm still, I'm still getting used to that title.
That's a new thing. And I love how you share your
military experiences in a way that that's really helping men
(04:14):
and women today to #1 become their best self.
But then #2 you're an advocate. You're an advocate for veterans
and their families. And I'd love for you to talk a
little bit about your role as anadvocate and kind of how that
shaped you and how that's evolved over the years since
you've gotten involved with thatseveral years ago.
(04:35):
So in 2008 was when I first put my feet in the whole advocacy
thing for veterans. It was pushing for the Post 911
GI Bill and I was still activelyin the military, but I was going
around having people sign the petition on base to to let our
(04:58):
elected leaders know that, you know, it's not just veterans who
support this. It's active duty.
It's the whole gamut of people. And because of a whole lot of
amazing work from people in DC and veterans in DC that got
passed and, and then over the years I volunteered off and on.
(05:21):
And then in 2018, I became more of a regular fixture in DC,
coming in every quarter, at least on a minimum, to
communicate what's going on in the veteran world to our elected
leaders and things in areas where we can do better.
(05:42):
And one of the things that I found interesting with that and
rewarding at the same time was that while I am in a fortunate
place to be able to do that, noteveryone is and not everyone
feels comfortable enough to walkinto a sitting senator's office
(06:06):
or Congress person's office and say what you're doing is wrong
and is hurting people. And, and I, I don't have a
problem speaking truth to power.Like that's never been an issue
for me. And so it just kind of fit like,
you know, being a voice for things that makes sense and that
(06:30):
are reasonable and that we're a part of our contract, right?
Because that's the other thing, right?
You're not going to see me on the hill advocating for new
things that were not a part of my contract.
Now, others may, right? But that's not me.
It's just, you know, I believe in holding them to that piece of
(06:52):
paper. And so a lot of everything that
I've been a part of has been about holding them to that
culminating. So I did some work with the
Elizabeth Dole bill that just got passed.
But my biggest bill that I'm themost proud of, or the two bills
that I'm the most proud of are the very first one that I helped
(07:15):
work when I started, which was the 988 Suicide Hotline Act and
then the PACK Act, for which I was invited to the White House
for the bill signing. And those things were, you know,
amazing opportunities to learn and grow.
But it also opens, you know, thecurtains on how the sausage is
(07:35):
made and that that's, you know, that's a hard thing to try to
figure out. How do you navigate now?
And you know. Yep.
Well, and your voice is important, and your voice
matters. And being an advocate for others
who may not be able to use theirvoice in the same way is a
really, really is a, it's a privilege, I'm sure.
(07:58):
And so I appreciate. The work you do.
Yeah, I, I, I honestly, I feel honored that people share their
stories with me. I feel honored when people reach
out on social media. I mean, I kind of keep most
accounts low key. I'm not on most accounts.
So if you really want to connectwith me, find me on Instagram.
But reach out to me if you've got something going on, reach
(08:19):
out if, if my knowledge can can help someone connect to another
person or you know, maybe it's aorganization, Hey, reach out to
this person. Or it could just be, hey, I
don't know, give me a few weeks.Maybe I can help, maybe I can't,
but I won't forget about you. And, and then just recognize
(08:42):
that there are a lot of those messages that are coming through
on a daily basis. So Please be patient because I
do try to get through them all. And I spend more time on some
because of what they're sending me and then I do on others
because it can be like, hey, I can connect you to somebody who
(09:02):
can take care of this for you. And then there are other times
where I'm like, I have no idea. This is so unique like I don't
know. Don't know well, and you know,
it's, it's important to have a place to go.
And so I want to encourage any veterans out there with any
issues that you're having, if you want your voice to be heard,
Eric's a good resource for you. And so reach out to him.
(09:23):
I'll put his his link in the show notes as well.
Well, and, and remember, there'sa lot going on right now with
all kinds of lawyers who are willing to represent veterans
clear across the board. My only advice to that is just
make sure your eyes are completely open and that you
understand what they're coming for, which is your money, and
(09:46):
that there are services out there that are good and just as
aggressive that will come for far less money or free.
So make sure you're doing your due diligence.
It breaks my heart to see peopletaking advantage of people like
this, but that's, you know, that's the world we live in, I
guess. It's a lot, you know,
(10:06):
disability, VA disability and compensation is a lot of money
and that is another group of people who are trying to turn it
into a billion dollar a year business.
Yeah. Well, we talked before.
I've got a soft spot in my heartfor veterans and one of the
things that I see in my setting and that you've seen a lot of,
(10:29):
unfortunately, is veteran suicide.
You are instrumental in getting the suicide hotline established
and I'd love to kind of go therea minute because that's not
something that I think we talkedabout enough.
But when veterans come back to civilian duty, something is
different. There is something that's not
(10:51):
whole a lot of times and it can lead them down a very dark path
and I see that, you see that, but can you speak to that a
minute? I can, I can.
So let me start by just a littlehousekeeping.
I wouldn't call myself instrumental in the 988 suicide
hotline. With everything that's going on
in the in the veteran community,I try to always make sure that
(11:14):
I'm authentic and honest as muchas possible.
And even I get like frustrated, like at myself because I know
how easy it is sometimes to misspeak, right?
So like I'll say, you'll hear mesay 18 months or 14 months for
my deployment. And the 18 months is how long my
brigade was there and the 14 months was how long I was there.
(11:35):
And sometimes you can use those interchangeably as an
individual, right? And it's not.
Now that isn't the case for whatI'm talking about in this
situation, but I just want to beclear like I always try to keep.
Sound disclaimer, yeah. Yeah, I always try to keep
myself humble and and recognize that I'm just a spoke in a
larger wheel of thousands of other advocates who are doing
(11:58):
the same thing as me. Yeah, appreciate.
That, yeah, with the 988 suicidehotline act and why that was
important to me was I'm a survivor of suicide myself and
I've lost more than 19 friends to to suicide stopped counting
(12:18):
after 1919 was my best friend Brent, who actually was the one
who pulled me back from the edgeand kept me from from attempting
again. And so the fact that I wasn't
able to be there for him, you know, is something I still carry
(12:39):
today. But in all of this, what I
realized is a few years back, I got thyroid cancer related to
burn pits. And it was in that moment that
you kind of look and you're like, all right, if I were to
go, what would be my legacy here?
(13:00):
And I looked around and, you know, I've got this amazing
daughter, I've got this amazing son who are going to, I believe,
go off and do just amazing things.
Like I believe and know in my heart that God has big things
planned for them and the way that they attack life, it's just
hard to not see that. And but I also thought like, OK,
(13:21):
if that's my only legacy, then all this information I have
inside about what I've learned since that suicide attempt just
goes away. And so that was the whole, one
of the whole purposes for this book.
And then when I decided to writethis book, the reason that I
(13:41):
kept it authentic and raw and real is because I wanted both my
kids and the people out there tobe able to a be believe, believe
it right. And then on the same time have a
road map and be like, well, hey,I do some of that same stuff
too. This is what he did.
Maybe this will work for me. Maybe you know I I don't know if
(14:05):
it will or not, but it did for me.
Yeah, yeah. And so all of this comes back to
what I learned was moral injury.Yeah, which is what you were
trying to get to and it took me a long time to get.
To no, that's that's great yeah,set the scene a little bit so.
But that's that's the core of ofwhat is driving being veteran
(14:26):
suicide. And that's not just me who says
that that is a study out of the New Jersey VA.
When you look at veterans as groups, the group who are
suffering from moral injury are at the highest risk level for
actually pulling the trigger on suicide.
(14:50):
And, and so when I learned that information and I started to dig
into that information, I thought, well, what have we done
in the last 10 years to effectively help moral injury to
get this information out there to the veteran community and to
the, you know, larger military community and sure responder for
(15:17):
that matter. And so as I started to look at
all of this, it became very clear that we in the last 10
years have spent $0.00 on moral injury.
And they out of 1100 new programs created to combat
veteran suicide both at the DoD and VA, zero of them focus on
(15:39):
moral injury and. So that's a big deal, yeah.
That's a huge deal. And then immediately, you know,
I'm like, this can't be right. So during my book launch week
last September for Suicide Awareness Week, I headed out to
DC and that was what I talked tolawmakers about and the the
(16:03):
reality that I heard from every single one of them and it was
more questions than it was me directing it to them.
Is anyone talking to you about this or any of the major VS OS
on the Hill communicating this to you?
Or has this information that's come out from the New Jersey VA
been something you've seen? No, no, no, over and over.
(16:27):
I think I met with a total of 35to 40 offices in two days.
Wow. And it was a consistent.
This is not something we've heard about.
This is not something we've talked about.
Yeah. And so, you know, taking all of
that into consideration, then I started to reach out to the VS
(16:47):
OS organizations that I've worked well with and have
connections at, and I started toget pushed back on from there.
So if you go to any of the majorVsos and you type in moral
injury into their search engine,you might get a page that has a
(17:09):
list of articles where that topic has come up, but you don't
have the only organization. DAV is the only organization has
a dedicated page to moral injury.
And even in on that page, they try to make it more sterile and
clinical, where you try to remove the spiritual and soulful
(17:32):
aspect of what moral injury actually is.
And so why this all? I know I'm on a long tangent.
No, just good. Why this all matters is because
moral injury manifests the same symptoms that PTSD does.
Yeah, except moral injury will not get better with traditional
(17:54):
PTSD treatments. So for, for me, I had been in
PTSD treatment since I had come home in 2008 and all the way to
when I attempted my own suicide in December of 2015.
And the part of what got me there was that I wasn't making
(18:15):
any progress at all. And, and even though I was
trying, even though I was showing up and doing the work.
So that's really why moral injury is so important, because
as soon as I started focusing onmoral injury, that's when things
started to change. That's when I started to see a
(18:35):
light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah.
And so, you know, you're diagnosed with this disorder,
post traumatic stress disorder, and you're treated according to
the most recent guidelines and nothing happens, nothing gets
better. And I imagine that being a
pretty hopeless situation. You know, think of it with any
(18:56):
other disease state, right, Right.
You know, think about if you have diabetes and it's out of
control and you start taking insulin and it's not working and
you're just, you're, you're spiraling, you know, I mean,
you, you can't deal long with that.
Well, no, much less something that affects every part of your
body like that. Right, well, and you know that
you'll hear veterans and organizations talk about, you
(19:17):
know, we're here to give you tools to put in your toolbox so
that when things come up, you'reable to use them, right.
And so I had a whole shed full of brand new tools that I had
gained over all of those years going to PTSD treatment.
And every time I try to institute and work those, those
those tools, it they didn't work.
(19:39):
And it wasn't that I didn't havePTSD because most of the time
these two injuries run concurrent.
Yeah. And so it wasn't that I didn't
have it. It wasn't.
And it wasn't that those tools that they gave me wouldn't work
for PTSD. It was that the biggest injury
for me that I needed to deal with first was that moral injury
(20:03):
was that injury to my soul and my spirit, because that was what
gave me the ability to then catch the pause.
And between the stimuli and the response, and then to allow me
to utilize all of those tools with regards to the issues that
I have with PTS. So, you know, it's a simple
(20:26):
thing, yeah. Yeah, that's why I'm drawn to
the work you're doing because I'm a big proponent of mental,
physical, emotional and spiritual well-being is all
interconnected. You know, there there's a
tendency to make PTSD treatment about only the physical.
(20:49):
Moral injury speaks more than just to the physical.
And, and man, I resonate with that.
So can you break this down for us so that for those of us that
may not be aware of the differences between moral injury
and PTSD, or really what moral injury is, can you, can you
break that down for us and help us to understand that a little?
Bit better actually. I, I, I, I've got a great, I've
(21:10):
got a great book out. It's a companion guide that goes
along with my book. It's about moral injury.
And I actually break it down here and it says moral injury
and PTSD are often mentioned in the same breath, but they are
not the same wound. While both carry deep scars,
their roots and pathways to healing differ.
(21:31):
PTSD is a clinical condition, a response to trauma where fear
overwhelms the mind and body, often leaving a person trapped
in a cycle of anxiety, flashbacks, hyper and hyper
vigilance. It's about survival in the face
of overwhelming threat. Moral injury, on the other hand,
(21:53):
is a wound of the soul. It can come from what we did,
what we failed to do, or what was done to us, experiences that
violated our deepest sense of right and wrong.
It's the silent weight of guilt,the quiet ache of shame, the
haunting questions that replay when the world is still.
(22:14):
PTS speaks in fear. Moral Moral injury whispers
you're the problem. Everyone would be better off
without you. You don't deserve peace.
You're unworthy. That's the difference between
PTSD and MARL injury. Yeah.
(22:34):
And that's really important to understand.
So for the veterans out there, you know, if you're dealing with
some of these things, you know, Eric has done a fantastic job of
breaking that down. For those who love veterans and
you have loved ones who may be struggling in this way, I think
that's a really helpful way to break that down.
(22:54):
Well, and it's not just and it'snot just veterans real quick,
right and. That was one of my questions I
was going to leave with, yeah. So you're a pharmacist, right?
I'm going to throw this out there.
You're in the medical field, you're dealing with people in a
very real way and and in that you're dealing with life or
(23:15):
death and accidents and traumas happen and people pass on and
you know, you may find yourself in a situation where you're now
carrying or moral the weight of a moral injury.
Yes, yes. Healthcare professionals, first
responders, police, fire, ambulance, paramedic, pastors.
(23:38):
I, I mean, you're, you're doublyscrewed because you're a pastor
and and. Appreciate that.
But what I'm getting? At yeah, you're going to.
Just veterans. And while I don't have the data,
I do think that this is a largersystemic problem that all of us
in America are facing. And it's what allows that
(24:00):
division and for people to create that division within our
society. Yeah, 100%.
And, you know, I just spoke withsomebody this week and it was a
healthcare provider and they hada they had a patient pass away
and they were dealing with, you know, what could I have done
differently? What did I do something that
(24:22):
that could or did I not do something?
And, and a lot of what you just said speaks to that.
What did I do? What did I not do?
What could I have done? That's that guilt, that's that
shame, that's that moral injury.And so when you when you unpack
that just now, a light bulb cameon them and I'm like, yeah, this
is, this is not just a veteran'sthing.
It's not just a military thing. It's it's you're on to something
(24:44):
that I think is a is a very common human condition.
It is, and it's something that we've sterilized from society
over decades and decades, right?We all know that we have a
spiritual core to our son, You know, that people, people chase
it through. I mean, maybe not through God
(25:05):
like me or you, but people chasethat spiritual core through
meditation, through yoga, through other religions.
I mean, you know, there's to break it down DoD, you know,
most likely to affiliate if you have some sort of spiritual
connection, right. So just in the DoD, 71% of of
(25:29):
the military identifies as some sort of religious connection.
That's not even including the people who say, hey, I do yoga
because it recenters me. I do meditation, you know, so
you're, you're talking in the 80% range of population.
But we've, we've taken this conversation about the soul and
(25:51):
the spirit out of things becauseyou can't talk about God.
And it's not really about God. I mean, that is the where I
believe I'm getting this messagefrom and I believe he is calling
me to do. But you know, this genuineness
(26:12):
of of healing, this idea that you want to go live a good life
requires faith in something. Oh yeah, and man, you're
speaking my language. And if you don't have faith in
something, right, it doesn't have to be my faith.
Like I'm not here to, you know, I, I believe God has given me my
message and I'm, I, I, I'm putting it out there.
(26:34):
And what happens from that happens.
I'm not the guy who can sit hereand quote all these different
Bible quotes and, or, you know, scripture and, and even if I
could, I'd probably get some of it messed up because of all the
brain injuries and then that would cause problems.
And so Drake, just very specifically with regards to
this, because it's so personal to me and because I saw the
(26:57):
healing that happened in my own life, I know that this is real.
And so if I can put this out there and even if it just helps
a fraction of the people and we can start to bring down the
suicide numbers from veterans, that can start proving the
larger point for society. And maybe if we can start
(27:17):
getting it out in the first responder community, you know,
specifically police, firefighters, ambulance,
paramedics, they bear the biggest burdens when it comes to
these situations. Most people vilify cops, but I
have never met a cop who has been like, yeah, I just like,
(27:41):
they carry that stuff. They may act tough on the
outside, but inside it's eating them up because everyone who
everyone I've met who's gotten into law enforcement gets into
law enforcement to help. Yeah, yeah.
And that's a big problem in our society.
And that's, you know, there's a lot, a lot I could say there.
(28:02):
I'm, I'm, you know, different conversation for different day
maybe. Yes.
But this is this is critical because you're right, you can,
you can say you don't want to talk about God, you can say you
don't want to talk about spirituality, you don't want to
talk about the soul. That doesn't change the fact
that there is a component of spirituality in every one of us.
And so if you want to be whole and if you want to be healed,
(28:25):
it's going to take focus on thatarea.
And let me ask you this. So when we're when we're
shifting you, you've laid out for us very clearly the
difference between PTSD and moral injury.
And they can happen concurrently, same time.
Where does the treatment shift? So what are some techniques,
what are some healing practices that you have found that helps
(28:49):
with that voice that tells you, you know what you know, the
world's better off without you. What have you found through your
journey and what are you coaching and teaching that
really centers on the soul? Service, service and faith, you
know, if you don't have faith, you don't have hope, you don't
(29:14):
have life. And, and what I tell guys like
when, when all of this started for me and I was at my lowest
and, and I and I started moving forward, I was pretty angry with
God still at a number of things that had happened in my life.
And so I wasn't ready to put my faith in God.
(29:35):
He and I were, I mean, while we had our, our Lieutenant Dan
moment, which is in my book, he and I were still like, from my
perspective, I'm like, all right, I'm willing to to listen,
but I don't know. We're going to have to see on
this. And so where I put my faith was
in my wife's faith because I knew and believe and trust in
(30:02):
her. And so for me, that was where I
put it. And what I tell guys all the
time is it doesn't matter if it's in God at to begin with or
if it's in a piece of property that brings you peace when
you're there. What matters is that you start
to find it, and then you start to cultivate what that faith
(30:24):
means. And the only way you can
cultivate what that faith means and looks like is when you start
serving somebody other than yourself.
Wow. And you know that, that that's
what healed me. That's what helped me find my
path. And none of the things that I've
(30:46):
done, like my best friend takinghis own life.
And I knew that I was spiralling.
I knew that I had failed him or at least felt that way inside.
He can't make it. How am I going to make it?
And then I had a friend, a mentor's voice running through
my head. Eric Weimer's.
(31:07):
He's like Eric, when you have all this adversity facing you,
all these negative ripples in your own pond going on, you take
that energy, all that negative energy, and you do something
good for someone else. It will calm the storm and it
will reframe those ripples and the damage they've done.
(31:29):
And so I leaned into that and I took 8 wheelchairs to Nepal.
I had no idea about wheelchairs.I had no plan.
I had to raise $11,000 in like 10 days.
Like it was just an insane amount of work and I had no idea
how to make it happen. But I had faith that God was
(31:53):
calling me on this path and thatfor some unknown reason I just
needed to keep walking it. Yeah.
And those initial 8 wheelchairs ended up and bringing in a
wheelchair fitter and a wheelchair engineer ended up
creating a wheelchair repair center in Nepal.
(32:16):
And what went from 8 wheelchairsis now well over 1000.
Wow, I don't. You know, I don't have anything
to do with it except cheer line it from the side.
That was the whole point. Wasn't me.
It was to give a hand up to someone else to celebrate
somebody else. And now with the Wheelchair
Foundation here in America, theythat's their go to place in
(32:40):
Nepal. And so that's one of them.
I leaned into, you know, advocacy work on the hill,
leaning into the weight we carry, which is what I read from
the book and this new series that's going out nationwide.
And by the way, if any of your listeners want to hold or host a
(33:03):
a moral injury workshop, connectwith me.
They're free to host. You just have to provide the
space and you have to have a guest list.
Otherwise, I'll show up for free.
Free to talk about this in your hometown.
Just reach out to me, yeah. Eric and I are going to try to
get something together here where I am and.
(33:24):
Yes, yes, absolutely. I'm, I'm digging it because it's
Georgia. We need to fit it into Georgia.
I don't have Georgia yet. So yes, I'm all about it.
Love it, man. You're an inspiration.
And there's a message here for all of us.
And there's something to service.
(33:46):
There's something to making lifeabout more than ourselves, all
right. And so serving others and then
serving God, serving, you know, finding that higher power.
And I love what you said, Eric, about how you weren't ready to
put your faith in God, so you instead, you put your faith in
your wife's faith. You know, I talk to men a lot
and a lot of men come to faith that way.
(34:09):
You know, you're, you have your questions, you have your doubts,
You're not ready to make that decision yet.
But you know what? You've got that person that's
been walking it out in front of you and you can put faith in
their faith. And, and granted, you know, what
we're not saying here is that someone else's faith can save
you. That's, you know, we understand
that, but that can. But someone else's faith can
light that fire and can be that bridge to get you to where
(34:30):
you're ready to put your faith in the One who can save you.
She was the fertilizer that cultivated the seeds that God
planted in me all those years ago.
I love. That that's the truth.
And so I want to want to make this message out there for those
faithful spouses, faithful family members, and maybe your
spouse or your son or your daughter.
(34:51):
They're not walking in the faiththat they that you want them to
or that, you know that they needto keep being that lighthouse,
keep being that light that showsthem the way.
And people like Eric have stories to tell of how that
changed their life tremendously.But Eric Mann, you are putting
out a message that I think is much needed, not just for the
(35:11):
military community, but largely that's where your context is.
And so that's the people that you're reaching.
I'm convinced that whatever we're delivered from, we are
then supposed to go out and helpdeliver others from the same
thing. And you're doing just that, and
you're making a big difference. And I can't wait to work with
you on a closer, more personal level here in my state.
(35:34):
But man, can you tell our listeners where to find out more
information about you, about your book, about your
foundation, and about how to reach out to you if they want to
host one of these events where they are?
Yeah. So real quick, it's not a
foundation from the standpoint that I am a social for profit
entity, meaning the profits thatcome in, you know, roll back in
(35:59):
to go out and help. I'm consistently trying to
figure out how to uplift. And in the veteran space, we
have over 48,000 veteran nonprofits nationwide.
I don't think we need another one.
We just need somebody who's actually willing to toe that
line and to, to put their mouth where their money is.
(36:19):
And that's where I, I try to do this.
So all of this is typically funded through the sales of my
book and through consulting and speaking engagements and things
along those lines. Yeah.
So you can reach me at ericdonahoe.com and you can find
all, all about me there. You can connect with me there.
(36:42):
I also want to encourage everyone to follow me on
Instagram. That's EB Donahoe EBDONOHOI.
Try to keep it light hearted andfun.
I talk a lot about moral injury,but I also throw up a lot of
humor too. So please give me a follow
there. And I look forward to working
(37:05):
with Chad about coming down to Georgia.
Man, it's going to be fun, you guys.
Check him out, check out his book.
You're doing great things in theworld, brother.
Keep being great. I'm so glad that you had
somebody who came alongside you and showed you the path forward,
and now you're repaying that to lots of other people too.
(37:29):
The world needs your voice, brother, and I'm so glad that
you're using it in a way that that brings others help.
So thanks, Eric, brother, bless you.
Look forward to talking to you soon.
Bless you too. Thank you.
Thank you everyone. Thank you for listening to the
Rev RX Podcast. We hope you enjoyed what you
heard today and if so, we'd loveit if you would hit that
subscribe button so that you'll never miss a new episode from
(37:52):
us. Also, feel free to leave us
reviews and comments as we'd love to hear from you.
Be blessed and be the very best you.
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