Episode 50: Interview with Chris Diesing, Host of the Bayfield Cast & Blast

Takeaways:

• The WWIA Foundation has operated for nearly 19 years, supporting combat-wounded veterans.
• Chris Diesing emphasizes the importance of creating connections among veterans through shared experiences.
• Transformations in veterans’ lives are evident as they bond over outdoor activities.
• The Bayfield Cast and Blast event combines fishing and hunting to foster camaraderie.
• Chris's dedication to honoring those who served is rooted in his family's military history.
• Guides play a crucial role in facilitating meaningful interactions and experiences for veterans.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Buskey Bay Resort- https://buskeybayresort.com/
• Northwoods Playground Cabin Rental- https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/45990242
• Dairyland Fence Company- http://dairylandfence.com/
• Whitetails Unlimited- https://www.whitetailsunlimited.com/

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Hello and welcome to the WWIAPodcast. We're honored to have you
join us in our mission tobring honor, connection and healing
to America's combat woundedPurple Heart heroes. If this is your
first time listening to thispodcast, we welcome you. If you're
a returning listener. Thanksfor coming back. Please be sure to

(00:25):
tell others about our podcastand leave us a review if you're enjoying
what you're hearing. As 2024is quickly coming to a close, WWIA
is about to begin its 19thyear of operation. It's been a high
honor and privilege to work onbehalf of our combat wounded veterans
and we couldn't do what we dowithout the generosity and hard work

(00:47):
of our event hosts. One littleknown but important fact is that
since our inception we havenever solicited anyone to host an
event. It's been purelyorganic with kind hearted and selfless
patriots across North Americareaching out us to indicate their
interest in hosting an eventfor our heroes. This is simply remarkable

(01:08):
and it's a reflection of theincredible people and the heartbeat
behind what we do. It's asignificant part of why we're closing
in on two decades of bringinghonor, connection and healing to
our Purple Heart heroes. Onthis latest episode of the WWIA podcast,
John McDaniel welcomes alongtime event host and good friend

(01:29):
of the foundation to theprogram, Mr. Chris Deeson. Chris
is the host of the WWIABayfield Cast and Blast event, which
has been proudly honoring andserving America's Purple heart recipients
for 12 years in the beautifulnorth woods of Wisconsin. He's the
owner of Busky Bay Resort,Northwoods Playground Cabin Rental

(01:49):
and a weight loss coach who'spassionate about the great outdoors.
His heart is in the woods andon the water in the beautiful wilds
of Bayfield County. An avidand seasoned outdoorsman, Chris has
fished in the area for 50years and has been hunting for 43.
His family is steeped witharmy veterans, and although he and
his wife Brenda didn't havethe privilege to serve our nation,

(02:11):
they've dedicated their time,talents and energy to serving those
who have served us as a way tohonor and thank all the men and women
of the United States ArmedForces. Let's listen in on the conversation
with Chris and John now.

(02:33):
Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founderand CEO of the Wounded warriors in
Action foundation, and this isour podcast, Honor, Connect, Heal.
So today I have with us agentleman who's quite the entrepreneur
and has been serving ourheroes up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin
for 12 years. This is 12thyear Chris Deesing. Welcome to the

(02:57):
program.
Well, thank you, John. I'mhappy to be here.
Yeah, it's good to see you,man. So we go back about, about 12
years, and we'll talk aboutyour event there. It's, it, it's
the Bayfield Cast in Blast. Soyou're, you're hunting for, as I
recall, you're hunting forwhitetail up there, but you also

(03:19):
put the guys on the water, isthat right?
Correct. Yeah. Their first dayalways starts with a muskie fishing
trip.
Oh, you started off with muskie.
I, I have a reason for that.So they're gonna catch fish.
Yeah.
And they're gonna get trappedin a boat. They can't go anywhere.
They're forced to talk witheach other, you know, so they get

(03:40):
to know each other. And yeah,there's some good backstories to
it, too. So without namingnames, one of my fishing guides has
a degree in counseling, so hechats these boys up pretty good.
And typically when they gethome, they have a book waiting for

(04:03):
them that might help them withsome of their dark times that they
expressed during that fishingtrip. But anyway, the, the fishing
trip, they're going to catchfish. We average five to seven muskies
a year out of five guys. And,you know, when they get back to the
cabin, they're alreadysmiling. They have high fives going

(04:24):
on in stories to tell. So Ialways want to start it with fishing.
So it starts with success.
That's a great idea, and Iappreciate that. You know, this,
you know, all groups gothrough this, you know, storming,
norming, and forming thislittle model. You know, I'm not a
sociologist or anything, but Iremember reading that once upon a

(04:46):
time. But I've seen it justscores and scores of times. You know,
once the heroes, you know,start to feel comfortable around
each other and start hackingon each other, which you can guarantee
they're going to do. But bythe time they get off that water
on the first day at yourevent, you know, they, you've already
set the conditions forsuccess. So that's really, really
super smart. That's a, that'sa really good, really good move.

(05:10):
So I, I, I applaud that. Andthen, so then they go out and they,
I, you have a. It's awhitetail hunt, right? Is it archery?
Are we doing archery? We are.
Right, Right. Yep.
Archery.
I, I know we call it cast andblast. Early on in our years, we
included grouse hunting.

(05:30):
Yeah.
So. And dog hunting and thingslike that, but, yeah, we, we've condensed
everything to be a model ofmuskie fishing and deer hunting.
That's good. That's. Iactually like that. You know, I like
that. That's a lot too, by theway. You know, it is. Are the heroes
that go out on. On your eventin the Woodline where they're hunting,
archery, hunting for whitetaildeer. Are. Do they have a guide with

(05:53):
them?
Yeah, typically they do. Our.Our hunt is usually on Saturday and
Sunday and then they fly homeon Monday. But there are times. So
like this year I got my opboard and I'm so excited because

(06:13):
three of the five guys arearriving at 10:30 in the morning
on Thursday. So that means I'mgoing to get a whole extra hunt out
of them. In which case,because my other guides are working.
Excuse me. I have three spotsset up where I'll be sitting with
one, another guy will besitting with another one and then

(06:36):
a third guy. And I've alreadyconfirmed that this is cool with
him. I'm going to walk him in,take him to a stand, walk out and
I'll come back and pick him uplater. So I'm excited to have an
extra, you know, half day huntfor them guys.
Nice. Nice. Yeah. So let'sjust set the stage here. You're Bayfield,

(06:56):
Wisconsin. What county isBayfield in?
The northernmost county inWisconsin. So if you, if you look
on a map at Lake Superior,it's kind of like a great big peninsula
that goes up into the lake. Wehave the Apostle Islands National
Lakeshore there. A lot goingon. It's the second biggest county

(07:17):
in the state, but also theleast inhabited. And one of my favorite
things to say about Bayfieldcounty being the second largest county
in the state. We don't have asingle stoplight.
No kidding. Yeah. I love it. Ilove it. Man. You got a big smile
on your face. It's God'scountry. I've been up there. And

(07:39):
you're an entrepreneur. Andyou and your bride Brenda operate
at the Busky Bay Resort, right?
Yes.
And that's pretty cool. Tellus about what happens at Busky Bay
Resort. This is, this is a barrestaurant with accommodations, right?

(08:00):
Yeah, correct. So there'sactually four owners. It's myself
and my wife Brenda and thenher aunt and uncle. And just through
process of a couple ofbusinessmen, we've split the business.
Brenda and I, we run therestaurant and her aunt and uncle
run the rental portion of theproperty. So I'm mainly just. I'm

(08:25):
the bartender.
Cooking bottle washer, right?No, I Seen that action, man. I know,
I know what that's like, man.That's just. It's a full time job
and it's a lot of work, youknow, keeping a bar, restaurant running,
especially, you know, whenit's hopping right. I mean, you know,

(08:45):
for sure, that's tough.Getting the food right and all of
that. I mean there's, there'sa lot going on there.
Yeah, we're, we're prettypopular for our food in the summer.
We're serving a couple hundredplates on a Friday night, it's, it
gets to be pretty crazy. Andthat's in a condensed time. We have

(09:05):
Wisconsin supper club hours,which is like that, 4 to 9, 5 to
8 on the weekdays.
So. Yeah, you know, I gotta, Igotta tell you, just on the topic
of supper clubs, you know,Wisconsin's huge and supper. I love
supper clubs. You know, when Igo up there to our property, I'm

(09:27):
always looking for a supperclub and a new one just to have that
experience. And I just thinkthey're so cool. And you think, what
in the world is a supper club?You could just talk about that. That
could be a whole program, thewhole series, you know, just on the
idea of a, Of a wis. Of a. Ofa Wisconsin supper club. There's

(09:49):
books on it. A buddy of mineand I were chatting about doing a,
you know, a podcast series onsupper clubs. So he sends me this
book. You know, it's, it'sabout as thick as the New York telephone
book and it's chocked full ofWisconsin. It's all Wisconsin supper
clubs. So it highlights thesesupper clubs. It's a pretty cool
idea. You know, everybodyloves a supper club.

(10:10):
You know, it's cool andthere's definitely resurgence in
supper clubs and, and there'sa following. It's kind of a cult
following. Yeah, we, we, weget a lot of visitors that I've never
seen before and I'll probablynever see again. And it's because
they're just trying to hitevery supper club in Wisconsin.
There you go. There you go.That's pretty cool, man. So, yeah,

(10:33):
so let's, let's transition alittle bit back to, you know, the
core of what the foundation isdoing. I mean, you and I have known
each other for probably 13years because you didn't start right
away. You know, we got to knoweach other and I remember that. But
it's hard to believe you're onyour 12th year already. But you and

(10:56):
Brenda approached thefoundation. But let's start right
there for a Minute you tellthat story about how you got involved,
what was the motivation, andhow has it changed, you know, and
then we can talk after thatabout, you know, some of your experiences
with the heroes. But let'sstart with, you know, the idea. You

(11:19):
know, where did you get theidea? How'd you find out about us
and talk us through the earlyyears and just fast forward the tape
to today?
Sure. So the idea was actuallygiven to me by somebody I met, but
I'm going to back up a littlebit and tell you why it was always
in my forethought and soimportant to me. So. And I've told

(11:43):
this story to every veteranthat's visited us up here. When I
was young, When I was 17, itwas my destiny to join the army like
everyone else in my family. Mydad, my uncles. My uncles were in
World War II. I lost a greatuncle in Pearl Harbor. I've lost

(12:07):
a cousin in the Middle East.And so it just. It was a part of
me and my family, and I wasgoing to serve. That's just how it
was going to be. Well, Isigned up with a recruiter. Um, my
dad was elated to find out Iscored high enough to be intelligence.

(12:27):
And then about a week later,we get a call that I failed the physical.
And I've worn that on mysleeve my whole life. I'm. I'm like,
I. I'm gonna try not to getchoked up over it, but I'm angry
about it. And so I've alwaysfelt like a failure, even though
my dad has told me, dude,you're not a failure.

(12:49):
Whatever, you're not.
Yeah. And so one day, I wasdoing a little construction work
at a gentleman's house thathad one eye, and I noticed he had
some mounts around. And wejust struck up a conversation. We
jammed right away, and he wastelling me that he's a Marine. I

(13:12):
saw the emblem on the wall,his artwork that he had around. And
we just started talkinghunting and stuff. And I don't even
remember how the topic cameup, but he said, you should take
veterans hunting. In ourconversation, he knew that I had

(13:33):
a lot of assets up here. I hada cabin in the Northwoods. I hunt
and fish all the time. I knowa lot of people. And. And, you know,
he. He encouraged me to reachout to you, actually, and we had
that initial conversation.
Josh. Are we talking aboutJosh Krueger?

(13:54):
Yeah, Josh Krueger.
What a great American he is.What? I mean, I have always thought.
Yeah, I always thought theworld of that cat you know, hey,
let me, let me. I'm going tohit the pause button figuratively
here for a second. And I wantto tell you something. I tell this
to a lot of guys because Imean it and I believe it in my heart,

(14:15):
you know, regarding, you know,service and, you know, to our country,
you know, and I understandyour story and you're not alone,
number one. Number two, youknow, what you're doing right now,
Chris, I can almost guaranteeyou is more important than what you
would have done wearing auniform. And I promise you that,

(14:36):
okay? So let all that go. Thework, everybody has a destiny, man.
You can't affect it, right? Imean, maybe a little bit left and
right, but you and I andeverybody on this planet, you know,
has a destiny in a purposedriven life, okay? And so you are
where you are for a reason.And the work you're doing right now,

(14:58):
I can promise you, is moreimportant than the work you would
have been doing wearing auniform. Okay? So, you know, I want
to thank you and I'll thankyou repeatedly throughout our time
together today. But what youand your community and your bride
have done for the foundationis amazing. Okay? Think about how

(15:18):
much enrichment there's beenin your life. Right? Think about
that. It's huge, isn't it?
Yeah.
So I didn't mean to interruptyour story, but I wanted to just
put an explanation mark behindthat because there's no doubt somebody
out there listening today andthey're thinking the same thing,
like, hey, listen, I feelinside of me like I must give something

(15:40):
back, right? You have thatfeeling or you wouldn't be doing
it. You're a servant or youwouldn't be doing it. Okay? And so
the foundation is just anopportunity for the American sportsmen
and women and anybody else whowants to help our nation's combat
wounded. I think the mostdeserving of all veterans, you know,
those who bleed in the, youknow, in the boots they were issued

(16:03):
and the uniform they weregiven of the United States of America,
right? And now you're doingsomething where the need is greatest,
and that's post traumaticevents. You know, they've all been
wounded. That's traumatic.They've all seen and done things
that we would never, we wouldhope nobody would ever have to do.
But they've done it andthey've done it valiantly. And now

(16:25):
here we are, you know, tohonor, you know, connect and help
heal them. And, and that's,that's interstage left where you
came in. I didn't find you.You just Told a story. I didn't come
to you and say, hey, Chris,would you help us? I didn't do that.
I didn't do that with anybody.I've done that zero times in my life,
you know, and so everybodywho's on this team has found their

(16:48):
way to us. And that's what youwant. You want people who are, you
know, who are volunteers whoare doing this to fulfill something
within themselves. And that'ssuper important because that's the
bedrock of why this works. Soplease continue. You're doing great,
man. By the way, what you guysare doing up there is phenomenal,
and I want to thank you forit. So continue on. You're, you know,

(17:10):
you meet Josh Krueger. Okay.And then you contact us and then
we're off and running.Something like that.
Yeah. So. Well, and thank youfor that. But the community that
I live in currently up here inBayfield county, it's. There's a
lot of veteran support here,and I knew it would be easy for me
to reach out to this community.

(17:31):
Yeah.
So just for an example,whenever I have a fundraiser at the
restaurant, this smallcommunity of 11, 48 people, they
flood through the doors andthey donate and they volunteer time,
whatever. So there's a fewveterans in town that have helped

(17:53):
me over the years and arestill solid with the organization.
And, you know, Army Rangersand if I can name them, Russ Heule
was one of the first ones thathelped me out both financially and
as a hunting guide and helpingme out with a lot of other things.

(18:14):
Dan Bourassa is another armyguy that is very involved with WWIA
and his wif Nancy, is just amonster of a fundraiser.
Oh, my gosh, they do such agreat job. They really. They really
do. It's. The brasses are justwonderful people and, you know, they
have their own event now, youknow, and Ross Heule, you know, another

(18:40):
great American. I mean, he hasa. He's an entrepreneur, he's a businessman,
and he supports theorganization Dairyland Fence Company.
Isn't that right?
Correct.
My memory serves me proper.Yeah. I mean, he. He's always, you
know, financially supportingyour activities up there. So, you
know, you've got an amazingnetwork. And isn't it. Isn't it just

(19:03):
a great feeling? I had thesame thing going on in my camp and
which is the original event,you know, there in Phillips, Wisconsin,
at Camp Hackett, you know, andthese people that. That pour out,
you know, and give of theirtime and their resource and, you
know, to support the activity,activities that happen up there.

(19:25):
It's just humbling, isn't it?Isn't that just an amazing feeling?
Sometimes I just sit back andI take it all in, which is odd for
me.
Right. You got to, though. Yougot to let it absorb, man.
Yeah. Yeah. And I have tomention, another guy that I don't
believe you've met, but he'samazing, too. Jimmy Klobuchar. So

(19:48):
he's. You don't. Okay. Sothere's the White Tails Unlimited
banquet up there, and he runsthat with Dan.
Okay.
And they make sure they getfunding for event.
Yeah.
But he's got a family cabin.Him and his brother Keith have a
family cabin. And I. I hopeyou can check it out someday. It's.

(20:12):
I'd love to.
The upstairs is all bunks, andit sleeps 14. So these guys that
we get, I stay there, theother guides stay there. And then
the veterans are upstairs inthose bunk beds. Again, they're forced
to be in the same room.They're in their bunks, just like

(20:34):
the old days.
That's what we got going on atCamp Hackett. It's the same dang
thing. I. Yeah. I love. Yougotta love it, man. You just gotta
love it.
Yeah, I love it. So, you know,the fact that they're donating their.
Their family cabin. They'veserved and they continue to serve,
and they have a monstrousinvolvement, and they've helped me

(20:55):
elevate this event in waysthat it just. It. It seemed like.
I don't know how else to putit. Like, oh, this is no big deal,
but. So when we get a deer,typically we would take it to a local
processor and get itprocessed. Not with the clover chairs.

(21:15):
It's happening right there.
Yeah. And. And so we're.
We're.
They have a heated garage withstainless steel tables and a winch.
So a ceiling mounted winch. Sowe bring the deer in there, they
hoist it onto the table, andthey tell everybody to grab a knife
and. Yeah.

(21:35):
And the guys are learning.They're learning to process the game
that they just harvested. Andthat's so incredible. Critical to
put your hands on it and seeit and do it. Right. That's great.
It is. And the first time thatwe did that, which was just a couple
years ago. That's whateveryone talked about.

(21:57):
Exactly.
And they were taking their ownmeat home with them because we had
time to freeze it andeverything. It was. It was unbelievable.
None of these guys had everprocessed an animal before, including
this guy. So it was just. Itwas. You know how that camaraderie
happens around a campfire.Well, it also happened around that.

(22:19):
That stainless steel tablewith seven guys with knives in their
hands.
Absolutely. Well, you see,here's the thing. And that's why
they're so tight after theycome back from, from, from a unit
in combat, you know. Yeah.I'll tell you exactly why it is.
Because they've shared acommon experience that very. That
only people in that group did.Right. There's nobody else on the

(22:43):
planet that saw what they did,that did what they did. They did
similar things in other parts,you know, of the battlefield, you
know, in other parts of theworld and other times in our history,
but they didn't do anything.They did that together, you know,
and so they share that. Andit's the same thing whether it's,
you know, on, on the boatfishing for muskie on day one or

(23:04):
day three after the harvestwhen they've got, you know, you know,
knives in their hands andthey're processing a whitetail deer.
They're sharing an experienceand they're doing it with their hands
and they're doing it together.And, and that is what, that's what
creates bonds and positivememories, right? Super positive memories.
Sure. Yeah. And you know, thejokes come flying out. Oh, yeah.

(23:29):
It's just a good time.
It is a good time, man. That'sso cool. I love the smile on your
face, you know, you, you.
Well, you know, I may neverhave told you this either, but I
do this as a birthday presentto myself. So you're my birthday
baby.
Are you in October?
Yeah.
What day?
October 14th.

(23:50):
Dude, I'm the 12th. Myyoungest son, Luke is 13. So we got
12, 13 and 14 cornered, man.
Awesome.
That is cool. Well, there yougo. There you go. You're a Libra.
That makes a lot of sense,man. I knew we shared quite a bit

(24:12):
in common. I always got thatvibe from you. I don't know what
it is about the Libras. Mysister married a library whose birthday
is on 12th October. Her oldestson is a Libra whose birthday is
on the 12th of October.There's a lot of October ness in

(24:36):
my life and all those peopleand I share, I don't know, I mean,
I'm not a big astrology personor that kind of thing, but I can
tell you the people who wereborn, you know, that a Libras that
are born around the time I wasborn, we all share certain things
in common. It's. It's kind ofodd. Like our personalities seem
to like sort of mesh in oneway or another.

(24:59):
There's got to be something to it.
It's got to be something toit, man. Well, that's super cool.
Well, happy early birthday.
Thank you.
Yeah, and you. Yeah, there yougo. All right. Hey, so drive on.
Drive on there, buddy. You,you're telling a great story. I mean,
obviously, you know, thisimpacts your life, right? I mean,
you can't say it doesn't. Hey,listen, man, if I wasn't still highly

(25:23):
motivated, I would not bedoing this. You know, I'm just highly
motivated by the work and theresults of the work and when I get
stories. That's why I wantedto do these podcasts, you know, I
wanted to have an opportunityin a forum for you to tell the world
about your experience, youknow, and for me to hear it, because

(25:45):
I, you know, I can't be allplaces. It's just impossible today.
And it wouldn't be good if Iwas there in all the, you know, places.
You know, it's better. Youknow, this is the model here is,
you know, central planning anddecentralized execution. I mean,
you're out there doing yourthing, man. You've been given guidance,

(26:07):
you know, you've been givenresources. You've been getting purpose,
direction and some motivationand an operations order that sort
of guides you loosely throughthe, you know, through your weekend.
But, you know, what'shappening on the ground is just magical.
The testimonials that comefrom your event are phenomenal, you

(26:31):
know, and I'm certain that youand your family and your community
have created a lot of amazingbonds with a lot of great American
combat wounded veterans.Right? That last today, that, that
continue today. Right?
Yep. We. We all do buddychecks and things like that. It's,
you know, back before I movedup here, it was a 12 hour round trip.

(26:56):
Right. You were from GreenBay. I remember you guys started.
Oh, I beg your pardon. It was.That's when I met the Milwaukee.
Because I remember you guyswere you, you had a cabin or something
up there and you werecommuting. And then at some point,
maybe five, six years ago, ormaybe even beyond that, but my, my
memory serves me correctly.You're like, hey, man, I'm moving

(27:16):
up there. And then. And then.And then Milwaukee was in the rearview
mirror.
Correct? Yeah. But, you know,in, in that drive, it gave me time.
So it was perfect opportunityfor me to call on them guys in the
past and say, hey, man, what'sup? And let's talk hunting for a
while.
That's it, buddy. That's thegood stuff right there. They know

(27:36):
that that's the thing. Like,that's the people, our veterans,
you know, just want to knowthat people respect what they did,
you know, and care about whatthey did. And they want to feel like
they're, they're, that thiscountry broadly, you know, did the

(27:57):
same thing. You know, likethey, what they did, wherever they
did it was valued back here.And what you're doing, what everybody
else is doing is just thatit's an expression of your commitment,
it's an expression of yourpatriotism and it's the value that
you place on what they did forour country that makes it so meaningful.

(28:22):
And that's the good stuff,man. If that's not motivational,
man, I don't know what is.
It's a whole bundle ofgratitude is what it is. And the
whole community feels thatway. And I mean, to the, to the ladies
that are baking cookies in thecabin, you know, it's just, it's,
it's everything. Everyonewants some level of involvement with

(28:45):
this event. So.
Yeah, I remember and I've saidthis before, you're going to start
smiling and nod in your headnorth and south when I say it because
I can almost guarantee it'strue. And I've never even asked you,
but what, what, what host whoround the 10 year corner. Because
you're on year 12. I mean,you're, you're deeply embedded. You're,
you know, you're, you're, youknow, I'd call you a Wisconsin Plank

(29:07):
Holder, right? In, in this, inthis, in this mission. But you know,
one of the challenges youhave, I'm guessing, is what a lot
of people when they round the10 year corner end up having is what
to do with all the help.Right, it, right, sure. You're like,
you're like, yeah, for sure,man. And that's, and that's the thing

(29:28):
is I think the last time wecounted there was something like
42 or 4300 volunteers acrossthe country. Right. And that's, and
that's a ton. But you guys arethe ones that are employing that,
that help, managing that help,you know, and it's always a double
edged sword. But you know, thepeople that are most successful figure

(29:50):
out a way to get thosevolunteers and their energy moving
in the right direction. Sothere's, you know, synergistic effect
and pause. You know, there'smore light and less heat, if you
will. Right. Because that'swhat we want. We got a lot more light
and a whole lot less heat. Butyou know, there's an art to it. You
know, there's an art to it.And I'm just telling you I'm off

(30:12):
the path, but that's me. Butback here at the headquarters, we
have this. On the, on thewebsite there's this volunteer thing
because here we are in Apollobeach, you know, Florida, in between,
you know, Tampa and St.Petersburg and the south shore of
the bay in a sleepy littlehollow, right? And, and we have this
little form on the, on thewebsite says if you want to volunteer,

(30:33):
you know, please click here.Right. And then. And there is a local
thing, right, or right here wesay, you know, we're the headquarters,
we can employ your help. Sothe forms come in here and I read
every single one of them. AndI do our darndest, you know, this
team here, the smallheadquarters team, does our darndest
to get the volunteers, youknow, doing something that's positive.

(30:55):
But it's not easy, you know,because it starts with, you say,
what are you an expert at?What do you want to do? What can
you do? What kind of time canyou devote to this? You know, when
you have a little old lady,God bless her, in tennis shoes that
wants to make a quilt, youdon't say no, Right, Right. Yeah.
You have some wonderful ladiesthat come in for a sandwich and say

(31:17):
they'd like, you know, bakesome cookies. You don't say no, you
say, that would be. That.
You say, that would be great.
Thank you. Right. And then yougot somebody who shows up with a
box of 1970 broadheads thatbeen in his garage forever, and he
says, I'd like to donate theseto you. And you go, wow, that's awesome,

(31:39):
man. Right?
Yeah.
And you take the broadheads,even though you're not sure what
the hell you're gonna do withthem. I mean, welcome to my world,
man.
Yeah, well, you know, John, Ican knock on a hundred doors and
ask permission to hunt landfor myself, and they all say no.
But when I say, that's right,what about for a Purple Heart veteran?

(31:59):
And they all say, yeah, theycan't. That's right. They can't open
their doors fast enough.That's right. We got guys out there
that'll, that'll literally notlet their brother hunt in their stand,
but they'll let a combatwounded Purple Heart recipients sit
there all day long, three daysin a row, as a matter of fact, they'll
sell everybody in theirfamily. You're not hunting out of
that stand. You know, that,that, that's for a Hero, Right?

(32:23):
Correct. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,we. We get to hunt properties that
are. They run quality deermanagement programs off these farms,
but they let our veteransshoot whatever they want.
Isn't that great? God blessall of them. I mean, I'm telling
you. Yeah. And I'm sure we'rethank. I know you're thanking him
in your own way, but, youknow, I'll give you a shout out to

(32:44):
your entire community upthere. Thank you. You know, thank
you.
Can I tell you a quick funnystory? Yeah.
I want to hear.
Yeah. So last year we had agentleman from New York. His name
was Cal, and he had gotten.He's had hunting success and in the
Appalachians over there. Butanyway, he comes here. He was one

(33:07):
of the guys that was gonna sitby himself. That was on the Monday
morning before they flew out,so people were back to work. I dropped
them off at a blind and I wentwith another veteran to a different
blind. And so I'm sitting withmy vet and all of a sudden my phone

(33:29):
buzzes and I look at it andit's Cal in his blind by himself.
And he's sending me a pictureof a eight pointer. And he says,
nice little eight pointer.He'll be a good one next year. So.
And I'm going to pass it. So Itext him back, I said, have you ever

(33:49):
shot a deer in Wisconsin? Andhe came back with no question mark.
So I responded, kill it. Andabout 30 seconds later, I get a text.
It's dead. That was fun. Andso Cal, he is an amputee. I don't

(34:14):
know what the ratings are, butit's below the knee.
Yeah.
So when. When. And super coolguy. And when we found the buck and
we got it out and everything,I start walking away and he's like,
what's up? I said, well, itisn't going to drag itself, so get
started. And I think, youknow, we can laugh at stuff like

(34:37):
that, but I think these guysappreciate that I don't treat them
any differently than I wouldmy best buddy. I poke them in the
ribs and push them aroundmentally a little bit, and they love
it.
Yeah. No, that's becauseyou're one of them, man. I mean,
it's. That's. That's the,that's the good stuff. Okay. I don't
care what anybody says. That,that, that, that's the good stuff

(34:58):
right there. That. That's.That's what you want. And you've
had, you've had some amazingguides support you. WWI guides over
the years. I'm sure you'vedeveloped meaningful relationships
with some of those greatheroes. Right?
I can talk about that. So webegan with a guide right away. And

(35:23):
I knew that was to build trustwith the organization. You wanted
to make sure that I was doingeverything I was supposed to do.
So I was told, year three,dude, you got everything you need
up there, Go ahead and do iton your own. So I did it. And we
had three visitors in yearthree. And I gotta say, I just, I

(35:47):
don't. I don't know how totalk the lingo, the, the veteran
lingo. And it was anuncomfortable situation. And so I
just asked Karina, who'samazing. Yeah, I. I said, you know
what? I would like to have aguide here every year. Somebody that
can talk to them the way theyneed to be spoken to sometimes. So.

(36:12):
And that's how that evolved.So, yes, I like to have a guide every
year because they deserve agood time too. That title guide means
nothing to me. They come here,they help me out with some logistics,
but I get them in the boat andI get them in the deer stands just
as well as anyone. So it'simportant to me.

(36:34):
Well, thanks for saying that.Because there was a period of time
where we didn't have a trainedcadre of guides. It was before guide
school even started. And soright around the time you and I met,
I'd been doing it for five orsix years on my own at that particular

(36:55):
time. And I had identified inthat, you know, period of time probably
a handful of guys who I saidto myself, like, these are really
special people. These arecombat wounded veterans that we've
served, that I've been on. Iwas going on every single event.
So I was. I had. I hadidentified about one guy a year.

(37:16):
That's about the rate at whichI was identifying guys that had the
capability and, you know, andthe desire and will to perform in
this interesting space thatwe've created and what is the WWII?
And it then became, as theorganization started growing, it

(37:39):
then became very apparent tome that it was going to be way. It
was going to be necessary tocreate a cadre of professional guides
that were all combat woundedPurple Heart recipients so that they
could lead their peers in thefield on these events and do the
kind of things that I learnedto do and learned were necessary

(38:03):
to do, which is interactbetween, you know, within. Interact
with the leadership of theorganization, the foundation's headquarters.
Right. Interact with thehosts. Okay. And do that effectively
and their communities. It'snot just you. They're interacting
with your community and keymembers within your community, and

(38:26):
then to interact and probablymost importantly, with the heroes,
with themselves. You know, Iwas doing it, but hey, I was a retired
colonel, you know, retiredlieutenant colonel, you know, I can
interact with him. But, youknow, there's a lot of yes, sir,
no, sir, and that's not whatwe want. You know, we don't want
that. You know, I mean, I, alittle bit of it's okay, but that's

(38:47):
not going to make the mosteffective program. What's going to
make the most effectiveprogram is if I find these great
Americans, put them through aguide school, you know, a 10 day
comprehensive guide school,and then train them, you know, right
seat, ride them out there withothers that have been doing this
work for a while so that theybecome comfortable and then assign
a guide to every mission thatwe do, and a trained and certified

(39:11):
guide that understands, youknow, how to handle emergencies,
how to deal with communitiesand hosts and heroes and the headquarters,
yada, yada, yada. So that'swhat we have today, a professionally
trained guide force of about25 combat wounded purple recipients
that are out there running,you know, going, going out on these
events. And so you were inthis period of time, interestingly,

(39:33):
right as that idea was formingin my head, you know, so you, you
know, it, it warms my heart tohear you say, you know, you want
the guides there, you know,and it's, and they're important because
I, I really think, to behonest with you, that our guide staff
is the center of gravity forthe organization at present and in

(39:53):
the future. You know, I mean,people come and go. We got a great
team. You know, you, youmentioned, you know, Karina, you
know, there's David, there'sof course Nicole and Caitlin back
here. But, you know, theguides are the ones that are the
critical link, matter.
Of fact, and I can unpack thaton my end.

(40:14):
Yeah, yeah, no, I just drewthe audience can't see this. But
you, you know, you can. I. Andit's, there's a lot going on. It's
a very busy slide. But when Iwas at guide school this last summer,
we were in another iterationat Camp Hackett where we ran five
guys through there. But Ibegan to really think about the guides

(40:35):
as, you know, the center ofgravity, if you will, for the organization
and how they interact with theheadquarters, the communities, the
hosts and the heroes. And so Idrew these three concentric circles
and then just filled out allthe stuff that happens in them. And
it is, in fact you know thatthe guides are the center of gravity
for this work. But it's veryreassuring to hear you, a gentleman

(41:01):
who's been doing this for 12,13 years, who did it without a guide,
who did it with guides, hasgot that perspective. So thanks for
sharing that. Yeah.
So I can tell you, just from acivilian sitting back and enjoying
this event from start tofinish, that the guides that you
are sending, they're 100%complete servants. And what I mean

(41:26):
by that is they're not doneserving their country. They're looking
for ways to further theirservice. But they're serving the
guests that come for thisevent. They're serving me in assistance.
They're serving the community.They're. They're always in the forefront

(41:48):
with their smiles and pleaseand thank you and all that jazz.
Yeah, they're servants withlogistics. They're just like every
guy that you send, and somedayI'll say every guy and gal. I haven't
gotten a gal yet, but, yeah,we have.
We have one.
Okay. So every guy that you'vesent has just been an exemplary example

(42:12):
of how leadership should be.And, you know, it doesn't matter
what their rank was overseas.Their rank here is general, and they
carry themselves like that. Soit's. It's nice.
And you got. You're dialed in,man. I mean, you're like a. You like.
I got a PhD in this stuff now,and that warms my heart, man. It

(42:34):
really.
Well, it certainly evolved.
Yeah.
You know, everything startsmessy, and then you learn from it
and.
That's right.
We've. We've had some growingpains over the years, but I would
say by. By year five, it was apretty well lubed machine. And now
it's just. It just coasts. Idon't have to really do anything.

(42:54):
Isn't that great?
Yeah, the movie here's. Yeah,they're well lubed.
Here's. Here's the thing, man.This is what I was saying the other
day to, you know, somebody whoworks for me. We were chatting. I
was talking about time andspace, you know, and I. Slow, ethereal
discussion. But, you know, Iwas talking about my personal time
and space, you know, whileI'm. Well, as, you know, as the guy

(43:19):
that's in charge of thisthing, you know, and that's why I
push off and delegate a ton ofstuff. Like, 95% of the stuff that
needs to be done is delegated.And in the responsibility of somebody
else, there's probably 5% ofit. I'm talking, like, administrative
things back here in theHeadquarters, you know, that I've

(43:41):
got to do. You know, I've gotto sign this. I got, you know, I
got to devise, you know, thisthing. I got to provide guidance.
You know, I know what I got todo. But. But the point of the matter
is, is that, you know, themore space and the more time I have
as the boss, the bettereverybody's going to be, because
then I have the freedom to beable to focus on the things that

(44:01):
are important for theorganization, you know, the leadership,
things that are so critical,some of which are tangible, some
of which are not tangible. Andthat's okay, because, you know, you
look at leadership, you go,you know, it's the art and science,
okay, literally, of providingpurpose, direction and motivation
for a common cause orobjective. And how I work best is

(44:24):
when I don't have monkeys inmy cage that need to be exercised,
inoculated. The paper needs tobe changed. You know, all these things
that monkeys do, they're like,monkeys, you know, my. When my cage
gets full of monkeys, youknow, and it's twofold, and monkeys
start getting sick and theydie, I'm not the guy to manage the
monkeys. I got to get most ofthe monkeys out of my cage so that

(44:46):
I have the freedom of actionto do the things that I need to do.
That a senior leader should bedoing, that add heat and not, you
know, add light and not heatto the overall equation of the organization
to make it better, to make itstronger, you know, to improve the
culture of the organizationthrough other people. Right? Because

(45:07):
if you were to go to yourevent and then go to 10 other events
that you've never been to,didn't even know existed, you know,
what I'm hoping is thatthere's a common thread of culture,
of high, you know, a highculture that people enjoy, that they
feel comfortable in, that theythrive in, that helps this mission

(45:30):
perform to its highestpossible standard. And we could talk
about that for days, butthat's the point. Like when you start
to do that for yourself andyour mission, to give yourself time
and space by farming out andgetting rid of the monkeys in your
cage, the more effectiveyou're going to be. You say, well,
I don't really have much todo. Yeah, right. You know, you mean,

(45:52):
you say, right, you got a bigsmiley face. Yeah, right. You know,
I know, right? I know. I'mthat. I'm that guy, too, you know,
I'm that guy at my camp, andI'm that guy on a. On a much grander
scale, you know, for thefoundation, too. But that's what
I try to do. I try to get itall, all the little monkeys. I might
have a gorilla or two in mycage on occasion. You know, in gorillas,

(46:15):
you got to treat gorillasdifferent than monkeys. I can tell
you that right now. Well,that's what you want.
Leadership doesn't mean youtell people what to do. Leadership
means you delegate people thatalready know what to do, give them
their.
Do it better. Well, everybodythat's out there got a task, you
know, that I, that I delegatedor that they, they're doing those

(46:35):
things a thousand times betterthan I could. Like, a thousand times.
Right. And that just makes mehappy. And there are certain things
that I probably do better thaneverybody else, but that's my job.
Right. That's what I do. I dothose things because that's what
I should be doing.
Sure.
You know, it doesn't mean youdon't do a deep dive every now and
again and get your hands dirtyand, you know, roll up your sleeves

(46:56):
and grab a knife and start,you know, cutting up a buck. Of course
I do that.
Yeah.
I do that because it's. Enjoy.It's enjoyable for me. And, and,
you know, I would never askanybody to do something that I haven't
already done.
Yeah.
Or, you know, wouldn't do.Haven't. You know what I mean? That's,
that's leadership. Right. Soanyway, no, that's all really good,
man. I'm proud of you, buddy.I really am. I think you're doing

(47:17):
phenomenal. Okay. You really are.
Thank you.
And yeah, you guys, just keepit up. Keep it up. Now, I want to
ask you, we're getting closeto our time here, but let me just
ask you to share a story withus. Anything that was really impactful

(47:39):
or that comes to mind on anevent or, you know, that involved,
you know, maybe a hero. Youknow, you've, you've, you've met
a lot of them. You sharedalready a couple stories with us,
but is, is there anything thatreally just, you know, sticks out
that when, when you think backon it, you just kind of go, wow,

(48:00):
is anything grab you there?
It's the transformation. Yeah,it's. You get, you get the guys that
can't be in a room withouthaving their back to the corner so
they can see everything infront of them. They don't talk to
anybody and just thetransformation watching them become

(48:23):
vocal and engage, and then bythe end of the trip, they're hugging
and laughing and crying andhigh fiving and Just, it's the trans
transformation that gets meevery single time. And, you know,
with 11 events, it's tough tosingle out stories because there's
so many of them. I can giveyou a couple. So, like last year,

(48:49):
we had a gentleman, anotheramputee, that had never hunted before,
and he was sitting with JimmyClover, and I was with a veteran
in a clover or alfalfa fieldmaybe 400 yards away. Two different

(49:09):
properties, but two differentfields, two different hunters. Well,
he shot his first deer, and weheard him hollering, and it was awesome.
My guy is high five. And me,I'm high five. And him. And we were
so happy for this other guy.All of the other guests wanted this
guy to get a deer. It didn'tmatter if they got one. They wanted

(49:30):
this guy to get his firstdeer. And so that night in camp was
just amazing. That's a goodstory. Another one is I'm sitting
with a guy in a ground blind,and this. I set it up in a spot where
I had been glassing this fieldfor a couple weeks, and I went, oh,
all them deer are coming outon that one trail. So I set up for

(49:54):
that trail. When we weresitting in that blind, we kept seeing
these deer come out on adifferent trail at the corner of
the field. And my hunter wasdisappointed, and he's like, what
are we going to do? And Isaid, let's move the blind. And he
videotaped me inside the blindholding it up, and I'm carrying it

(50:18):
across the field like somecartoon character. And he shared
that video with his wife, andshe made it go viral, and it was
just hilarious. But there'sjust seems to be a story every year,
and it all involvestransformation, because none of these
guys, they don't know me. Theycome here, they don't know what to

(50:38):
expect, and we put them atease right away. And just watching
that transformation is whatgets me every year and what.
Yeah.
Makes me want to continue todo it, because you literally see
the light switch go on andtheir lives change. So, yeah. Yeah,

(51:00):
that's my favorite part. It's.And again, John, it's. It's tough
for me to single out stories because.
Yeah.
They're infinite.
Yep. Well, I didn't want to. Ididn't mean to put you on the spot,
because I think you have thebest answer. And I'm sure that if
you put me on the spot andasked me to do that, I would struggle
as well. I'd probably duckthat. I'd probably duck that question
a little bit as well, butbecause it is, it is, it's, it really

(51:24):
is about, you know, what yousee and what happens broadly that
makes the most, you know,impact and in your case, you know,
the transformation, you know,and wouldn't happen if they didn't
trust you.
Well, and on a personal level,yeah, it's, it's allowed me to create
more relationships. I'm arelationship guy. I think the greatest

(51:47):
things in life are experiencesand relationships. They're not actual
things. So I've got very closefriends that I met through you without
even an introduction, likeJohn Carlson and Phillips. We're
very tight and.
Wow, I didn't realize. Yeah, Iknew he and I, Chad, he and I chatted

(52:08):
because he went through atransformation, as you know. You
know, and I helped him withthat. I know you did. I know you
did. Yeah. And that'spowerful, right? I mean, it's the
thousand points of light, man.You start connecting the dots on
the foundation. And I saidthis the other day, I was chatting

(52:28):
about it. You know, I'm a big,no single points of failure guy,
right? So when I look at amission and operation, my personal
life, et cetera, you know, I'mbuilding, you know, a network of
success. I'm buildingconditions that enable success. And
I'm doing it with the, in themindset of I won't have a single

(52:51):
point of failure. So when thisthing, whatever it is, falls or,
you know, leaves or dies orgoes away, you know, the whole thing
doesn't go with it. Right. Andso it's like a spider web, you know.
You know, you've looked at alot of spider webs. You pull one
of those webs off, you know,that's connected to something and
it barely changes the shapethat the, you know, it doesn't really

(53:13):
do a whole lot that the web isstill, is still functional, you know.
And a lot of times you gotta,you gotta really do a lot to destroy
a spider web because they'recomplex, they got lots of connective
tissue, you know, they'redesigned a specific way. They're
kind of sticky, you know. Andso, you know, that's really what

(53:33):
the foundation is, is thismonster web, if you will, of connective
tissue with like minded peoplewho all are pulling together on this
mission. And, and so, youknow, you've, you've done that within
your community, you know, and,and it's, it's just, it's just great,
man. I mean, it is themeaningful experiences, you know,

(53:55):
the connections, themeaningful connections to people
that make all this reallywork. And so, again, I want to thank
you and your family and ofcourse, your extended community,
all the great people that areenabling this to happen and pitching
in. And I'm just really proudof you. And I'm really happy to hear

(54:15):
that this is something that'sstill, you know, a glowing fire in
your belly.
It is. It's 100%. It's notgoing out of my life anytime soon.
I love it, man. No, that's.It's really great. And I feel humbled
and very blessed to have youin our lives. And I want to congratulate
you on your success and yourcontinued success, not only as an

(54:38):
entrepreneur at Busky BayResort, but with the work that you're
doing with our combat wounded.I really appreciate it. I know they
do. And it's the good stuff.It's those relationships that really
matter. And thanks for allthat, Chris.
Thank you. I appreciate it.And it's my pleasure and honor to

(54:59):
do it.
Yeah, I feel the same way. Ifeel the same way. Well, you got
an event coming up. When isyour event?
They fly in on the 17th ofOctober and they leave on the 21st.
I don't have it in front ofme, but.
Yeah, that sounds right. Yeah.Well, that's your birthday present
to yourself.
Yes, it is.
Yeah. Happy birthday, man.Thank you, man, and good luck this

(55:21):
year and God bless you. Send.Send my best to everybody out there
that is pulling together andmaking this happen. I tell them how
genuinely appreciative I am oftheir hard work and their caring
and healing ways. It means alot to us all.
Well, I believe I will beposting this and all 15,800 residents

(55:45):
of Bayfield county are goingto see it.
Yeah, There you go. Well, youguys are great, man. I mean, I enjoyed,
you know, a couple years ago,you know, seeing you at your. At
your. At Busky Bay Resort and,you know, came to visit you and was
just really blown away by howbeautiful that resort is and how

(56:08):
well you and Brenda have doneand your entire family, you know,
it did feel like a family inthere, you know, and I know if I
lived there, I mean, I'd befrequenting your place a lot because
the food was delicious, the,you know, the drinks were great and
the people are even better.So, you know, keep.
My staff is family.

(56:29):
Yeah, that's right. Well,that's the way it has to be. You
know, we got a big stormcoming here to Florida and, you know,
you know, I don't want to talkabout that. But it is that season.
But I came in this morning,and one of the. One of the. One of
the people that worked for mewere here, you know, Caitlin. And
I don't think she has a lot ofexperience with, you know, storms

(56:51):
like this. And we were justchatting, and I could see her eyes
getting bigger, and I waslike, go home. Just. No, she. I said,
she's like, what? I said,yeah, just take the rest of the day
and tomorrow and Thursday. Shedoesn't work on Friday. She's part
time. I said, just go and takecare of your family. She's like,
yeah. I said, caitlin, there'snothing you're going to do back here

(57:12):
that's going to change theworld. You know, just go, you know,
we'll make it up. Don't worryabout it. Go take care of your stuff,
you know, and, you know, shewalked out of here like. Like, that
had never happened to her inher whole life, you know, but that's
it, right? They're like family.
Yeah, family.
You got. Yeah, you got to takecare of people. Right? And sometimes
taking care of them is. It'sthe little things that make such

(57:35):
a big difference, you know?Anyway, well, listen, continued success
to you. Thanks for your time,and I appreciate all you do, buddy.
Thanks, man. I appreciate youhaving me.
Right on, man. All right, goodluck out there.
Be good.
All right. Bye.
Bye.

(57:55):
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(58:19):
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