Echo Valor Podcast

In this episode of the Echo Valor Podcast, we tell the gripping true story of Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart—two Delta Force snipers who gave their lives during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu to protect the crew of a downed Black Hawk. With unmatched courage, they volunteered to insert alone into hostile territory, fighting against overwhelming odds to defend their brothers-in-arms. Both were post...

Built by Fire: The Life and Legacy of David Burnell is more than a book—it’s a raw, unfiltered journey through war zones, disaster sites, rescues, faith crises, and personal redemption. In this complete 5-hour, 36-minute MP3 audiobook, David Burnell shares his life of service, sacrifice, failure, and faith, taking you from battlefields and Haiti’s rubble to the quiet moments of grief and grace that shape a warrior’s soul.

You will w...

Lessons From The Fire is a distilled collection of hard-won truths forged in the heat of missions, failures, victories, grief, and service. David Burnell shares what the flames taught him about courage, faith, brotherhood, family, and living with purpose in a world that will test you. The fire is inevitable, but it can refine you if you let it.

This chapter is a call to step through the flames, not just survive them. It’s a reminder...

What We Leave Behind is a call to reflect on the quiet legacy we build through sacrifice, service, and the scars we carry. In this final chapter, David Burnell shares how the fire that refines us also clarifies what truly matters: the people we lift, the lives we touch, and the courage we pass on to the next generation.

EchoValor.com was born from these ashes—a mission of remembrance, music, and community for veterans, res...

In Epilogue: Still Standing, Still Burning, Still Becoming, David Burnell closes Built by Fire not with an ending, but with a call to rise. This chapter is for those who have walked through flames, carrying scars that the world cannot see, and are ready to let those scars speak life into others.

It is a reminder that survival is not the goal—transformation is. That grace can reach where guilt once lived. That purpose can be forged f...

In Reforged in Faith and Purpose, David Burnell steps into the most difficult mission yet—facing the quiet, internal fires of loss, divorce, shame, and despair, and allowing Christ to rebuild what was broken. It is a raw, unfiltered look at what happens when the warrior’s battles shift from combat zones to the silence of an empty home, and when the fire that once drove him threatens to consume him from within.

But this chapter is no...

Thy Will Be Done is the chapter where the warrior’s fight shifts from external enemies to internal surrender, discovering the most powerful transformation of all: letting God use your life, scars, and mission for His purposes. It explores what happens when a rescuer, fighter, and protector finally drops to his knees—not in defeat, but in holy submission—declaring, “Thy will be done.”

David Burnell reveals how surrender to God is not...

Ashes and Aftermath is a raw, honest chapter exploring the hidden costs of a life spent in service. While missions and rescues leave visible scars, the deepest wounds often remain unseen—paid in missed moments, quiet distance, and relationships strained under the weight of duty. This chapter shares the personal story of how answering the call to serve during crises like Haiti’s earthquake led to the unraveling of a 26-year marriage...

The Cost of the Mission reveals the quiet truths hidden behind the missions and medals—the unseen price service demands in missed birthdays, heavy hearts, and scars that don’t always show on X-rays. It tells the story of a moment that changed everything: a training accident that left nerve damage and a limp, but also brought humility, compassion, and a deeper understanding of what it means to keep going when wounded. This chapter i...

Brotherhood and Bonds explores one of the greatest treasures service can give: the unbreakable connections formed in the heat of shared trials. This chapter honors the men and women who stand beside us in storms, who carry our packs when we falter, who risk their lives without hesitation, and who remind us that we are never alone in the mission. From military deployments to humanitarian rescues across Haiti, Japan, and Burma, and i...

Whispers in the Jungle takes you into the shadows of Burma’s forgotten war, where a quiet mission of courage, faith, and service unfolded far from the world’s eyes. This chapter follows a journey with David Burnell and a Special Forces legend turned humanitarian, as he trains Karen medics to save lives amid conflict, landmines, and the weight of an $80,000 bounty on their heads. It is a story of lifting the fallen, laughing amid fe...

"Into the Green: The Rama Mission" takes you deep into the jungles of Nicaragua, where muddy rivers are roads and the thick canopy becomes both teacher and test. Following a call from fellow warriors Maddog, KUDA, and the legendary Shiva, David Burnell joins a mission to prepare for training doctors and nurses who will one day serve in the world’s hardest places.

This chapter is about learning to survive before you can tea...

Into the Wave takes you into the heart of Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami, where over 20,000 lives were lost in moments, and entire cities were swept into the sea.

Driven by a vivid, prophetic dream, David Burnell traveled alone into the devastation—through radiation zones, collapsed highways, and the icy ruins of Onagawa—joining forces with the legendary Mexican rescue team Los Topos to recover the dead and comfort the living.

T...

"In the Path of the Storm" takes you into the heart of Alabama’s deadliest tornado outbreak in modern history. Over four days in April 2011, a super outbreak of tornadoes devastated communities across the South, with Alabama bearing the brunt of the destruction. Entire neighborhoods vanished in minutes, and families faced unimaginable loss.

Answering the call, David Burnell joined the mission in Tuscaloosa to assist with s...

When a 7.0 earthquake shattered Haiti, David Burnell deployed as Chief of Security for the Utah Hospital Task Force, charged with protecting over 120 doctors, nurses, and volunteers in a lawless, devastated nation. This chapter takes you into the ashes of Port-au-Prince, where streets reeked of death, gangs ruled the night, and desperation was currency. Yet amid the chaos, another mission emerged: the hunt for a kidnapped three-yea...

When the call came to step into the world’s most dangerous environments, it wasn’t about prestige—it was about purpose. This chapter takes you inside David Burnell’s transformation from a warrior and rescuer into a protector on the global stage, becoming a certified PSD operator through Crisis Response International’s grueling counter-terrorism and bodyguard program. From live-fire drills to SERE training and TCCC under fire, every...

When the world is burning, the mission doesn’t end. In Built by Fire - Chapter 11: The Fire That Followed, David Burnell shares the story of running toward a burning building in Las Vegas, pulling people and pets to safety, and returning quietly to his day. This chapter reveals a deeper truth: we don’t get to choose when the mission calls—we only get to choose how we respond. Whether it’s a rescue under ice, a fire in the city, or ...

In 2002, David Burnell founded the Urban Warfare Center, driven by a relentless mission to prepare warriors for the chaos of real combat. For a decade, this facility opened its doors free of charge to military units and police officers, offering intense, realistic, scenario-based training that ensured they could fight, survive, and come home. Born in the wake of 9/11, the Urban Warfare Center was more than a facility—it was a sanct...

In Built by Fire – Chapter 9: The Business of Becoming, David Burnell shares how the journey from battlefields to boardrooms was never about chasing profit—it was about becoming the person God was calling him to be. From launching a wireless communications company to a $50 million exit, to building a tactical gear brand that served warriors worldwide, to helping others find purpose after service, David’s business ventures became a ...