May 19, 2025 • 43 mins
There are those among us who quietly go about the business of doing good—who don’t look for praise or recognition, but whose steady presence and giving spirit make all the difference. The mission of the Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation is built upon the shoulders of such Patriots—men and women, families and businesses—who choose to stand in the gap for our combat-wounded Veterans. They offer not only their resources, but their hearts, their homes, and their hands. And because of them, healing happens.
On this episode of the WWIA Podcast, Founder and CEO John McDaniel introduces us to one of those quiet giants—a man whose life and legacy have become deeply intertwined with the WWIA story. We’re honored to welcome Mr. Joe DePriest, President and CEO of Western States Fire Protection.
For over 28 years, Joe has poured himself into a career marked by excellence and integrity, leading a company known for its strong values and outstanding people. But if you really want to know Joe, you have to look beyond the boardroom. You’ll find him out in the fields of Northwest Missouri, tending to his farm and animals with his beautiful wife, Kim. You’ll find him relaxing in nature, something he’s loved since childhood, as well as hunting and fishing, and sharing those experience with some of the Heroes he welcomes to his property each fall.
Nearly a decade ago, Joe and Kim opened up their farm—and their hearts—to the WWIA family. What began as a gesture of support has grown into a powerful partnership, one that has brought countless Purple Heart Heroes into their care and into the healing embrace of nature. They don’t do it for credit. They do it because it’s their way of giving back and saying thanks to our Heroes for their service and sacrifice.
So today, we invite you to listen in as John sits down with Joe for a heartfelt conversation about service, stewardship, and the incredible impact one family—and one company—can make. This is what it looks like when gratitude meets action, and it's the heart and spirit of WWIA.
Takeaways:
- The Wounded Warriors in Action foundation aims to honor, connect, and heal combat wounded veterans through various initiatives.
- Joe DePriest, president of Western States Fire Protection, exemplifies philanthropy by supporting veterans and their families through outdoor experiences.
- The partnership between Joe and his wife, Kim, with WWIA has provided therapeutic hunting experiences for numerous Purple Heart recipients.
- Engaging with veterans in nature fosters healing and connection, allowing them to share their stories and bond over shared experiences.
- The emotional impact of connecting with veterans and providing them support can lead to lasting friendships and positive memories.
- The foundation's work highlights the importance of gratitude and giving back to those who have served our nation.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Foreign.
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
(00:21):
a returning listener, thanksfor coming back. Please be sure to
tell others about our podcastand leave us a review if you're enjoying
what you're hearing. There arethose among us who quietly go about
the business of doing good,who don't look for praise or recognition,
but whose steady presence andgiving spirit make all the difference.
(00:43):
The mission of the Woundedwarriors in Action foundation is
built upon the shoulders ofsuch patriots, men and women, families
and businesses who choose tostand in the gap for our combat wounded
veterans. They offer not onlytheir resources, but their hearts,
their homes and their hands.And because of them, healing happens.
(01:06):
On this episode of the WWIApodcast, founder and CEO John McDaniel
introduces us to one of thosequiet giants, a man whose life and
legacy have become deeplyintertwined with the WWIA story.
We're honored to welcome Mr.Joe DePriest, President and CEO of
Western States FireProtection. For over 28 years, Joe
(01:30):
has poured himself into acareer marked by excellence and integrity,
leading a company known forits strong values and outstanding
people. But if you really wantto know Joe, you have to look beyond
the boardroom. You'll find himout in the fields of Northwest Missouri,
tending to his farm andanimals with his beautiful wife,
Kim. You'll find him relaxingin nature, something he's loved since
(01:53):
childhood, as well as huntingand fishing and sharing those experiences
with some of the heroes hewelcomes to his property each fall.
Nearly a decade ago, Joe andKim opened up their farm and their
hearts to the WWIA family.What began as a gesture of support
has grown into a powerfulpartnership, one that's brought countless
(02:15):
Purple Heart heroes into theircare and into the healing embrace
of nature. They don't do itfor credit. They do it because it's
their way of giving back andsaying thanks to our heroes for their
service and sacrifice. Sotoday we invite you to listen in
as John sits down with Joe fora heartfelt conversation about service,
(02:35):
stewardship, and theincredible impact one family and
one company can make. This iswhat it looks like when gratitude
meets action, and it's theheart and spirit that of WWIA. Let's
join the conversation now.
(02:56):
Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founderand CEO of the Wounded warriors in
Action foundation, and this isour podcast, Honor Connect and heal.
So today I have with us on theprogram a gentleman by the name of
Joe DePriest, who happens tobe the president and CEO of Western
States Fire Protection.Welcome to the program, Joe.
(03:19):
Thank you, John. Glad to be here.
Yeah. So, yeah, let's getright into it. You are, you've earned
your company, you and yourcompany have earned a four, the four
star Patron award forcumulative gift giving in excess
of $40,000, which is a monsteramount of money that you guys have
(03:41):
raised for our MO-KAN,Missouri Kansas chapter dating back
to 2015. So let me firstexpress my great gratitude on behalf
of our nation's combat woundedfor your amazing philanthropy. It's
very impressive. That's a verylarge sum of money and you've helped
(04:06):
so many heroes with that. Ijust wanted to say thank you.
Oh, thank you, John. We'reglad to be a part of the program
and you know, thank you, youknow, for founding the program. It's
an amazing, it's an amazingprogram and it's, you know, a lot
(04:28):
of, there's a lot of otherprograms out there and the WWIA is
different to me and it's, youknow, donating money is, is a very
important cause and reason,but the, the differentiator here
is, I mean, these guys andgals getting to come and experience
(04:49):
the outdoors.
Yeah, yeah. And, and do so.And, and, and what, you know, arguably
or not arguably is one of ourtop events. If not, you know, we
always, you know, joke insidebaseball about, you know, mokan being
the 800 pound gorilla. Well,it is, you know, I mean, there's,
(05:13):
there's no other mission like,like MO-KAN. You can't really compare
it to anything. And there areevents that maybe have similar components.
But, but MO-KAN has been aleading entity, an event for the
Foundation ever since its, itsinception. As a matter of fact, Brian
and his, you know, and hisinside circle on that very first
(05:38):
year when we did the veryfirst mission, you know, about, I
don't know, a day or so intoit, they're like, met us in a parking
lot, you know, and the heroeswere staying in a hotel and Jake
and I, Jake Whipkey and I werein the, in the parking lot and Brian's
like, yeah, hey, come on overhere. You know, and I said go over
(05:58):
back by, you know, back of histruck or something. And he hands
me this bag, it's bulging bankbag. And I, I unzipped it and I looked
inside and I zipped it back upand I handed it back to him because
it's full of money. And Isaid, I don't know what this is,
but what you had in mind here,but I don't know, you know, this.
(06:19):
He goes, that's for you. Youkeep it. I go, it's for me. He goes,
yeah, yeah, just keep doingwhat you're doing. You're doing good
stuff. You know, we raisedthis for you. Hummel. Hummel. You
know, and. And so that was thevery first event that ever produced
any resource in support of ourmission, and I'll never forget it.
And to this day, you guys justcontinue to knock it out of the park.
(06:42):
And we're very humbled bythat. And the heroes all love your
mission. It's really great.But I understand you're also a hunter.
I mean, obviously, I assumethat. That you are. But did the heroes
actually. Are they hunting aspart of the program? Are they on
your personal property? What'sgoing on there?
(07:04):
Yeah. So on the MO-KANchapter, we usually. Each year. Oh,
usually about 11 Heroes come in.
Yeah.
And as you know, you know,they. They can deer hunt, they can
trap, and they can duck hunt.And so there's a big group of volunteers,
great guys that volunteer, andwe split those hunters up and take
(07:30):
them, you know, whatever theywant to hunt for the day. And a lot
of the. A lot of the guys,both the duck hunters and the in
the deer hunters, will, youknow, take them to their personal
property and, you know, mayhave blinds set up or whatever, and
take them out for the day.
And they're huge deer, too. Imean, like, the success rate. Guys
(07:52):
kill, like, usually, like,over 100 ducks. Every time you're
out there with these guys,almost everybody gets a buck. And
if they don't get a buck, youknow, it's because they were being
picky, you know. And then thetrap line, which is actually run
by the department of naturalresources, you know, it's heavy on
(08:14):
predators and problem species,but they run this amazing trap line.
So guys that are interested inlearning how to trap and the finer
art of the truck associatedwith it, you know, they're. They're
out there with the departmentof natural resources running a trap
line. It's just so cool. And.Yeah, and like you say, people giving
(08:35):
up of their personal property,I mean, oftentimes they wouldn't
let their brother hunt ontheir land, but they're letting these
heroes that they've never metbefore go out there and kill this
trophy buck that they've beeneyeballing for two years. You know,
that, to me, Is, is anexpression of gratitude that, you
know, it's hard to get yourhead around. I mean, if you're a
(08:56):
non hunter, that probablydoesn't mean a lot to you, but if
you're a hunter and you knowwhat it means, letting somebody on
your property is like lettingthem into your living room, you know,
literally. I mean, that to meis a, you know, that, you know, you
don't get access to myproperty unless you're invited and
much less, you know, get achance to sit in one of my tree stands
(09:20):
and take an animal that we'vebeen groomed, you know, that we've.
Maybe we've seen it, maybe wehave it, but just to take a large
whitetail or any, you know,large game animal off of my property
is, is, is a big thing. Ofcourse, I let them do it all the
time. But not only the heroes,you know, I've never had, I can't
think of a, a time where I hada friend even, and most of my friends
(09:44):
be like, nah, I don't want todo that. You know, they don't want
to take a buck off of theproperty that may maybe would have
gone to a hero, you know, soit's pretty neat what you guys got
going on there.
No, it is. And you know, it'son the deer hunting, it's into me
anymore. It's. I enjoy taking,you know, those heroes more than
(10:06):
I desire going myself. Youknow, it's kind of like taking a
youth or a kid hunting. Youknow, it's just so much more enjoyable
and, and you know, some ofthese, some of these folks have never
hunted before, deer huntedbefore. You know, some deer hunt
a lot and, but it's, it's goodto have the variety and, and be able
(10:30):
to experience some of these,these good times like we have.
And so tell us a little bit,Joe, about Western states fire protection,
how you got involved in MO-KANand how in the heck have you raised
so much money? Along withawareness, of course. But you know,
(10:50):
tell us about that, you know,connection with MO-KAN and your company.
I'd love to hear that story.
Sure. So Western Sstates FireProtection, we're a life safety company.
We install and maintain andinspect life safety systems like
(11:12):
fire alarm and fire sprinkler.And we're a part of the API group
as our parent company. Andback in, I know it was 2015 or 16,
a good friend of mine, SeanVandaloo, also a co worker, he and
Brian Rodrick had a mutualfriend and they got connected through
(11:38):
that mutual Friend. And. Andthat year, I guess Brian had mentioned
something to Sean that theyhad lost their sponsor for the MO-KAN
dinner that we used to do atthat event. And Sean come to me and
kind of asked me. He's like,hey, would this be something that,
(12:00):
you know, Western states wouldbe interested in? And he kind of
got me all the details and.And I was looking at it, and in our
parent company, and ourcompany's always been big on supporting
veterans. You know, we hirefrom helmets to hard hats and. And
hire a lot of vets and. And doa lot of things. Some other things,
(12:23):
too. But, you know, when Seanbrought this to me, I'm like, you
know, this is a. This is agreat. A great deal. You know, we
should get involved in this.And so I did. I got the company involved
that year by sponsoring thedinner at the. At the event. And
then I also. That's when I gotinvolved on a personal level and
(12:46):
got involved with taking.Taking some of these folks hunting.
So it's. It's been a good,good run here.
Awesome. And are you. Are youlike. Did you grow up in Missouri?
I mean, is this your. Likeyour, you know, where you've spent
most of your. Most of your life?
(13:06):
Yes, I live pretty close towhere I. Where I grew up, actually,
so kind of stayed around, wentthrough school, all the way through
school in the same area, andso got a lot of friends from that,
and. And we're just making alot of new friends through the wwia.
Yeah. Do you. I'm justcurious, are you still in contact
(13:30):
with any of the heroes thatyou've served or, you know, like
Facebook or, you know, you gotthem on a text or phone call or anything
like that, so.
Yeah, that's kind of. Kind ofneat that you ask. And that's one
thing about this program is,you know, making. Making those friends,
and a lot of them you stay intouch with. And I'm sure, you know,
(13:52):
Steve woke.
And, oh, yeah, great American.
Yep. Maybe Bob Hill. And so,yeah, we. We stay in touch with them
through text and differentthings, off and on. And, you know,
a year later, I'll get a textfrom, you know, a hunter that I took
the year before and saying,you know, good luck this. This season
(14:12):
and that kind of thing. Andthat's. Yeah, that's what really
makes this even better isbecause that.
Well, you know, I always say,you know, for me, anyway, when I'm
on a mission and I'm. I'mworking, you know, I mean, I. Like,
we have a Camp up in northernWisconsin we call Camp Hackett. And,
and when the Heroes are in andon mission, you know, you're, you're
(14:39):
giving it your best, right? Imean, you're President and CEO, you
know, and you're, you know,I'm sure every day, you know, when
you go work, you're giving ityour best because you're the senior
leader in the organization andthat's what people expect. And that's
part, you know, it's your job,right? You're going to give it your
(15:02):
best every single day becausepeople are looking at you, they're
going to want to know what'she thinking, what's he saying, what's
he doing, you know, why isthis important to him or her? You
know, and so I feel like whenI've got the heroes at my camp, I,
I feel like, heck, I feel likeI did back when I was in a Ranger
(15:22):
regiment, you know, it waslike, you better bring it every single
day and give it 110% and thatthis, this thing you're doing, you
know, has got to besuccessful. You got to anticipate,
you know, and then now you're,you have to get to know them, you
know, genuinely want to spendsome time and get to know them and
(15:43):
be on for every one of thoseconversations. And, you know, community
members are coming up to youat the end of the day when it all
over and they're gone andthey've disbanded and they're going
back home. I always refer toit as like the post event coma, you
know, because it just hits youlike, whoa. I mean, you just don't
realize how invested you are,at least for me anyway. You know,
(16:04):
I mean, I feel like I'm, youknow, like it's kind of emotionally
draining to be on like thatfor three or four days and there's
a lot of intense thingshappening. You know, it's not like,
it's not like intense like,you know, hey, we're, we're, you
know, getting ready to go intocombat intense. But there's a lot
of emotions there. There,there's a lot of things happening,
(16:28):
a lot of layers to this spaceand it can be emotionally and physically
taxing when it's all said anddone, you know, you did something
right.
Yeah, it's, it is a lot ofwork and you're right just, you know,
having to be on all the timeand, and, but, and I don't do near.
I mean, you look at Brian and,and Kyle and Brad and Sean and, and
(16:52):
what those guys do, you Know,through that week, it's just. It's
amazing. And I, you know, I'msure that by the end of that, you
know, they're beat. And Iappreciate all they do because it
is. It's. It's a lot of work,but it's definitely rewarding and
it's worth it.
Yeah. Yeah, it is. And I don'tknow, you look back on it and it's
(17:17):
nice to be able to give, Iguess, is the best thing. It's like
that, you know, you could.What are you given? You know, well,
you're opening up somethingthat's sacred, you know, your land,
your home, your friendship,you know, your resource. You're just
saying to them in an indirectway that what you did for this country,
(17:40):
you know, while you werewearing a uniform is valued. And
this is our way of sayingthanks, right?
Absolutely. You know, we livein the greatest country in the world,
and, you know, a lot ofsacrifices, you know, have been made
over time. The reason forthat. And, you know, it's easy to.
It's easy to get complacentand take things for granted. And.
(18:05):
But, you know, this program,it's these amazing individuals, you
know, and it's a way to giveback. And, you know, I often sit
back and think, you know, Ishould do more, but it's a way of
giving thanks and it's worthit. And, you know, you know, you
see across to the spouse'sinvolvement, you know, in this program,
(18:29):
even though, you know, thespouse may not be out hunting or
whatever, but just the supportfrom the spouses and the other things
that they do. I mean, youknow, when we used to do the banquet,
I know Carrie Evans, I mean,she just worked her tail off putting
those things together. And,and, you know, my wife enjoys being
(18:50):
involved and supporting me andhelping, you know, helping do it
every year.
And yeah, many hands make forlight work. But you're. You're right.
The. The spouses, I mean, whatthey've gone through and been through,
you know, after their husbandor. Or maybe in some cases their.
(19:12):
Their wife gets hurt andwounded in combat, they've got all
that to deal with, you know,the uncertainty of, you know, is
he going to be the same? Youknow, is he going to be okay? And
that whole recovery thing is aprocess and part of that process,
(19:35):
and we got to thank them for,I don't want to say allowing them
to go, but to supporting themwhile they're seeking, actively seeking
to get better. And what doesit really mean to get better? Right.
I mean, the guys all say tome, I've heard this so many times,
I can't count. Like, hey, sir,I don't need any more stitches. I
(19:57):
don't need any more pills. Youknow, two weekends ago, I was on
the water fishing. It wasn't asanctioned WWIA event. I suppose
it was because I was on it. Iknow I was the one that created it,
I guess. But I have a goodfriend of mine who is a Vietnam veteran
(20:18):
and, you know, they're, Godbless them, but they're. We're all
getting older. Something youcan't stop. But, you know, this might
be, you know, one of his lasttrips. You know, I mean, he's pretty
banged up and, you know, he'sgot. He's had over a hundred surgeries.
He told me this is true story.He says to me, I've met him at the
(20:42):
marina. We're going to gooffshore fishing over near Pompano
Beach. Delray Pompano. Andthat. That part of Florida on. Down
on the. What is the EastCoast. And so we're, you know, we're
not going to go far offshorebecause the Gulf Stream is. Is. Comes
(21:04):
pretty close to the shorelinethere. You don't have to, you know,
go out for an, you know, anhour to get into the fishing, you
know, but the waves were. Thewind was pretty stiff that day, and
it was calling for inclementweather in the afternoon. And so
we. He can. And he's. Kid'sgot a hard time, you know, ambulating,
(21:26):
and he's big man, and so wegot to get him from the dock down
into the boat now, you know,we're out there and the sea state's
starting to get rough, andwe're just getting our teeth rattled
out of our heads, you know,and. And I'm like, geez. I said,
but, you know, we don't haveto do this. He's like, ah, well,
I'm fine, I'm good. But acouple guys on the boat weren't.
(21:47):
Aren't good, you know, they'returning green and. But this particular
gentleman that I was with, youknow, told me, he's like, yeah, I
just kind of got to be alittle careful. He says, I just,
you know, just two days ago Ihad my hundredth surgery. I was like,
you had surgery two days ago?He's like, yeah, I didn't want to
(22:08):
tell you, you know, and. Andso he's got, you know, they. They
cut into his back for Lordknows how many times, you know, but
it was his hundreds he wascelebrating his hundredth surgery
and didn't want anybody to,you know, to know that, you know,
he'd been recently cut on. Buthe was concerned that his stitches
weren't going to get openedup, you know, and he goes, my wife
(22:32):
wouldn't be real happy with meif that happens. Well, we're out
there now, it starts raining,okay? And this storm comes now it's
raining sideways. We got, youknow, four foot rollers out there
and a Vietnam veteran who twodays ago had his hundredth surgery,
you know, And I'm just sittingthere thinking to myself, you know,
(22:52):
you can't make it up, but Imean, it's gotta be one of the toughest
guys I've ever met in my life.And the captain, afterwards, we dropped
him off and we did terminatethe trip a little bit early just
cause of the foul weather, youknow, but, you know, we helped him
up out of that boat and on thedock and then into his car, you know,
(23:13):
he was being driven by hisfriends. So, you know, we got him
in there and then we got backon the boat and all this. And the
captain's just like shakinghis head. He's like, I think that's
gotta be the toughest guy I'veever met in my life. And I go, yeah,
I think you're right. I'mright there with you, buddy. You
know, and that's, you gottathink about that like we're, you
(23:35):
know, the spouses, right?Here's a guy that's got all this
going on, but you know, what'sthat, what's that journey been like
for his wife, you know, Godbless her, and all of them that are
out there supporting their,you know, you know, their spouses
to do things like this, butit's important work and, and, and
they have to feel alive. I'msure that, that, that Bob did this
(23:59):
to feel, to spend some timewith me again on the water, did this
partially to feel alive, you know.
Absolutely.
And you know, I don't know,here's the guy, he's not going to
complain, I can tell you that.I mean, you're not going to get a
word of complaint out of thatguy. You know, you got four foot
(24:20):
rollers and it's rainingsideways and he just had surgery
and then half the crew'sgetting sick and he's just like,
is this all you got? Right?You just got to love it. You got
to love it. Now that's,that's, that's, that's testament
to the human spirit right there.
If you ask me amazingindividuals and, and you know, I
(24:42):
love them that come in.They're just, they're so appreciative
and thankful, you know, forwhat we're doing and it's, you know,
they just can't believe it.And I'm like, you know, it's nothing
compared to what, what you'vedone, so.
Yeah, I feel the same thing. Ido too. I. Absolutely, I do. Yeah.
So do you have any, any, anyvery, any particular. Some guys do,
(25:04):
some guys don't, you know, anyparticular special memories that
you want to share with usabout your experience and support
to our nation's combat wounded?
Oh, I've got, I've got a tonof them. I mean, every year there's
something, you know, that,that sticks in your brain, that,
that, you know, it's likeyou'll never forget. But you know,
one of the, one of the times Iasked many years ago and I had one
(25:28):
of the heroes, his first timeever deer hunting. And, and you know,
these guys are coming in andthey're using someone else's gun,
you know, they're not familiarwith. And, and you know, it's kind
of nerve wracking, I'm sure.But yeah, this. He came in and put
him on some deer that morningand seen quite a few. And finally
(25:49):
I eyed this buck and it was,it wasn't a huge buck. It was a,
it was a nice symmetricaleight point and, and he pulled down
on that. I said, you know,there he is. I said, it's legal if
you want it, you know, takethe shot. And he pulled down on it
and I mean, made a heck of ashot. It was, I don't know, it was
(26:11):
well over 200 yards and, and Imean, just, and knocked it down.
And of course, you know, wewaited for, for a good while and
we went up there and we, wecouldn't find it, couldn't find any
blood. And I knew right whereit was standing and like, I know
you hit it, you know, there'snot a, not a drop of blood. So we
(26:34):
get to looking around and thatdeer had went like maybe 20 yards
just into the brush and, andthere it was. But first deer, heck
of a shot. And he just, Imean, he had a grin from ear to ear
and you know, and that waslike, this is worth it. This is why,
(26:54):
you know, I enjoyed doing,doing this and, and taking the time
just for moments like that.
Yeah, but I'm guessing you hithim and you ran it right through
the lungs or something on him.
Yeah, well, I Don't rememberwhere he hit it, but yeah, it didn't
go 20 yards, and it was justpiled up right there and he found
(27:16):
it. I went up the hill and hekind of went down the hill just a
little bit, and there it was.
That's a great.
Fantastic. It was a good hunt.
And that's what. That's theother part about this that we don't
talk a lot about. But you'recreating memories. You're creating
very positive memories andthose endorphin rushes that we get
(27:42):
all humans do from somethingthat's enjoyable or something that's
satisfactory in some cases.You know, also you get that from,
you know, other things aswell. But those. Those are positive
memories that you're creatingor help create. And that. They'll
be that memory, I promise you,will be with that man for the rest
(28:06):
of his life. And, you know,and I think that what we're also
doing is taking these positivememories and helping, you know, to
fill that cup up, if you will,of positive memories post, you know,
traumatic event. In otherwords, them being wounded in combat.
(28:30):
Some of them had woundedseveral times, you know, but the
more that you can fill thatcup up with positive memories and
goodness, eventually that cupbecomes a lot heavier than the other
cup, which has got some maybesome not so nice and, you know, memories
from their past in it. And Ithink there's something to that.
(28:52):
I don't know how. What aclinical psychologist may say about
that, but I just know thatit's good. I think that's a good
thing that, you know, thatwhat we're doing and getting them
together, because they share acommon bond, you know, not only do
they fight for our countrysomeplace, they were wounded while
they were doing it, and theyshare that in common. And they also
(29:15):
share the fact that they likethe hunter fish in common or they
wouldn't be there. And I thinkalso that because people like you
and your great community areopening their homes and their properties
and their access to waterwaysand this kind of thing to them. That's
(29:35):
a great expression of kindnessand. And the value, you know, you're.
We're giving value to whatthe, you know, adding value to their
lives. And so. Yeah, that'sall good stuff, Joe. Thanks for what
you guys are doing.
Yeah, I got. Yeah, I got onemore here for you, John, that I think
(29:59):
after the fact, I understoodit more than I did during the. During
the time that it happened. ButI had one of the Heroes. We had been
hunting and seen several deer,and he was just Maybe a little bit
off, and something was kind ofbothering him. Seemed like. And finally,
(30:19):
as we were sitting there. Andof course, if you in one of those
enclosed blinds, it's reallynice because you can actually visit
a little bit while you'rehunting and get to know one another.
And so as the time went on andwe kept seeing deer and he'd kind
of pass or whatever, and Ifinally. He finally admitted, and
(30:41):
he's like, man, he said, I'mafraid. I'm afraid I'm going to miss.
And I said, and I'm sure inthe military, you know, you're. You're
taught not to miss, right?
Yeah.
And, you know, maybe. Maybescolded for it if you do. And, and
of course, like I said before,you know, using someone else's gun,
never shooting it, you don'tknow what the. The recoil is. Like,
(31:02):
you know, you just. And youknow, they just flew in on a plane
and then said, you know, gotin the truck and got in the blind,
hand him the gun and say,here, you know, but figured out,
you know, he was. He wasafraid of missing. And I said, I
told him, I said, in thissituation, I said, not shooting is
the same as missing.
(31:24):
So that's great.
I said, take the opportunity,and missing is no big deal. You know,
we'll find another one if youmiss one. So.
Wow. Yeah, that's. That'spretty powerful too, right? And see,
but you just gave himpermission to fail.
Yep.
You know, and that's. That's ahuge thing, you know, it is. It's
(31:47):
the same thing with kids.Right? It's the same thing with anybody.
Employees too. You know, Imean, hey, we. Nobody wants to fail,
but oftentimes, if you're aforgiving person and you give somebody
permission to fail and you.And you just put it in another way,
like, hey, listen, you know,if you don't. If you don't make the
(32:09):
shot, it's all good, you know,I mean, like you said, if you don't
take the shot, that's. That'sthe same thing as failing. You know,
we just want you to try. Youknow, I used to be a hockey coach,
you know, and, and, and I,when I would teach and you know,
edges and things like this on,you know, how to, how to skate faster
and better. You know, I said,you know, this idea of your edge
(32:32):
work, inside, outside edges,you know, we'd run in these drills,
I say, like, I expect you guysto fall down. If you don't fall down,
it means you're not Tryinghard enough, you know, you're never
going to get better. You gotto fall down. You know, I want you
to be on the edge. That's whythey call it on the edge. You know,
I want you to be pushing that.And I think if you have a kind of
(32:54):
a culture in your organizationor in your family where failure is
expected and oftentimesencouraged, you go, that just sounds
so weird. You go, well, it'strue. It's true. I mean, I expect
you to. Here's the rub. I wantyou to learn from that experience
(33:16):
and get stronger and getbetter. And if you're not going to
get punished or admonished inany way, shape or form, I just gave
you permission. You know,that's powerful, right? To me, that's
like leadership. That's theposition you want to be in now. You
got people in your company orpeople in your family or organization
or whatever that know, youknow, I'm not going to get crushed.
(33:39):
He's not going to go, dude,you suck. You know, that's just not
going to happen, you know. Oh,and think about that, right? What
does that do to somebody?That's a great. That's. I appreciate
you sharing that one with us, Joe.
No, absolutely. Yeah. Youknow, after the fact, I thought about
it, you know, just like youdid, and I'm like, you know, these
heroes are in the militaryfor, you know, a lot of them for
(34:02):
a long time and, you know,wounded and then back into the civilian
war world. And, you know,they're. They're kind of caught between
two worlds. And it's trying tosay, you know, it's okay, you know,
civilian world. Not everythingapplies, you know, in your. In your
military world. And gettingpeople to kind of being able to make
(34:26):
that transition has got to bevery tough.
Well, you bring up anothervery good point. It is tough, but
you know that. And it doesn'thappen overnight.
Right.
At all. And that's the thing.I'm glad you mentioned it, because
I will tell you one of thethings that I don't talk a lot about
(34:47):
and want to hear now becauseit's the, you know, you've just spurred,
you know, a memory or athought that I've had for years and
years that I don't rarelyhave. I may not have ever expressed
it, but that's why what you'redoing as the leader of a very successful
(35:13):
organization, Western StatesFire Protection is important as you're
the President and the CEO andyou're a successful man. And to have
these Heroes who are trying totransition and that transition. People
(35:33):
go, well, transitions canhappen like that, okay? But most
transitions don't happen likethat. You know, this transition from
the, from the world of themilitary, you know, combat operations,
to being back in a. In a lifeof normalcy, if that's even possible.
(35:55):
You know, they, they. Many ofthem don't know what that looks like,
you know, and they don't evenhear, here you are, you know, as
a model, okay, as somebody whothey can look at and go, wow. And
they probably didn't even knowthat you're the president, CEO. And
it doesn't, you know, itdoesn't matter. But if they did know
(36:16):
and did find that out, theywould probably be. Be like, wow,
you know, this guy, this guyjust gave. Let me go out and hunt
on his land. And, and there.But they're looking at. There's modeling
happening, you know, and yougo, how would they else. How in the
world else would they ever getthe chance to be with a person? Like,
(36:36):
you think about that. Whereare they going to get that opportunity?
Where's that going to happen?You know, now they're back from.
From combat, they've gone onthis event, and the next thing you
know, they're hunting with youon your property. And you just told
them it's. It's okay to, youknow, it's okay if you miss, you
know, but that's. They need alot of that. That transition, you
(36:59):
know, to normalcy is ajourney. It's not something that
happens like, you know, thebutterfly that comes out of the cocoon
and is now flying. That's atransition, you know, but that transition
happened real quick. Like,this transition oftentimes takes
years. And, you know, beingexposed to people like you successful
(37:22):
people, is super important,especially when they find out that
you're a normal and wonderfulkind person. That, to me, is. That's
the good stuff. That's thebest there is.
Well, you know, John, you'reright. You know, it doesn't matter
what you do or what your titleis. I mean, we're all human beings.
(37:44):
And it's just. It's good tospend time with them, try to help
them along any way that youcan. And they say, my wife, Kim,
I mean, we'll bring in. She'llmake cookies or we'll bring him in
and have lunch and, you know,just. Just be a normal person to.
And it's. It feels good.
(38:06):
Yeah. We used to say if itlooks good and feels good, it is
good.
Yep, absolutely.
And that's. That. That'sthat's, that's, that's where this
is. Well, God bless you, Joe.I really want to thank you and everybody.
Your wife, your family, yourfriends, your community, of course,
(38:30):
Brian Roderick and the MO-KANteam. Everybody who's part of that
thing. I mean, it's the 800pound gorilla, you know, and granted
the gorilla might, you know,you might think of gorilla as something
that's imposing and sometimesgorillas can be. But if you look
at that silver gray backgorilla. I just watched something
(38:52):
on a, on a, on a, an outdoor,you know, nature channel thing I
was watching the other night.I've always been fascinated by gorilla
little sidebar. But you know,the silver gray back male gorilla,
the one that's in charge ofthe troop, the tribe, whatever they
call it. You know, that guy islike 99.9% of the time he's just
(39:15):
being Fonzie. He's just cool.He does not doing anything besides
being himself. He's just allthis glory and there, there he is,
you know, he's just, he's, youknow, they got a, got a little chimpanzee
or a little baby gorillapulling on his ear and poking him
in the eye. He doesn't doanything. He just, just sits there,
you know, but everybody knowshe's in charge. You know, it's just
(39:36):
this monster glorious thingthat if he decided to rip your arm
off you, you know, he'd dothat so quick and make your head
spin and then go about beatyou, beating you over the head and
the neck with it, you know, Imean, not even, not even think twice
about it. Right? But that,that's MO-KAN, you know, and I mean,
I mean it, you know, veryaffectionately because it's filled
with tremendous people and,and I'm really proud of you and everybody
(40:00):
that's on that team and Ithank you for all that you've done
and it's an honor to havespent some more time here with you
today, getting to know youand, and I always like to give my
guests the last whack at thepinata, if you will. And is there
anything else that you'd liketo, to share with us, Joe, before
(40:23):
we, before we say goodbye?
Well, John, I just, I'd liketo thank you for your service and
you know, WWIA and your team,for all that you do to make all this
happen and along with the, youknow, the MO-KAN team, it's, it's
spectacular all these, allthese folks involved and it's something
(40:43):
special that that's beencreated here. And I'm just. I'm happy
to be a part of it.
I call it the mocan magic. Igotta say that. I gotta say that
for Brian, but that. That'swhat it is. People want to touch
the magic, right? You know,and you guys are creating it, and
you're at the point now whereit's been referred to as irreversible
(41:07):
momentum, you know, and that'sjust a great feeling, you know, when
you know that you've got ateam that's going to perform. You
know, I'll put that team onthe field any day of the week, any
place, anytime, anywhere, andjust marvel at what you accomplish.
(41:28):
And that's a great, greatfeeling. And I feel more than anything,
I feel blessed because I knowthe lives that you've changed in
the past and the ones thatyou're changing in the present and
the ones that you're going tochange in the future as well. For
(41:48):
all that you guys do again, I.I'm honored and I really appreciate
what you've done and I wishyou and yours the best moving forward.
And I'm always here for you ifyou ever need anything. I don't know
what that would be, but Ipromise you I'd give you my best.
I appreciate it, John. Andthanks for having me on today. I
(42:12):
appreciate that. Also spendtime with you.
Absolutely. Okay, we'resigning off. Thanks for all you do,
Joe. We'll talk to you soon.
Thank you for listening to theWWIA podcast. To learn more about
the Wounded warriors in Actionfoundation and how you can get involved,
(42:34):
please visit our website atwwiaf.org or follow us on social
media on Facebook, Instagram,Twitter and LinkedIn. If you'd like
to comment or offer feedbackabout our podcast, or if you have
a suggestion for a futureepisode, please email us at. Podcast
(42:57):
thank you for your support andfor helping us honor, connect and
heal our combat wounded PurpleHeart heroes through the power of
the great outdoors.
Foreign.
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
(00:21):
a returning listener, thanksfor coming back. Please be sure to
tell others about our podcastand leave us a review if you're enjoying
what you're hearing. There arethose among us who quietly go about
the business of doing good,who don't look for praise or recognition,
but whose steady presence andgiving spirit make all the difference.
(00:43):
The mission of the Woundedwarriors in Action foundation is
built upon the shoulders ofsuch patriots, men and women, families
and businesses who choose tostand in the gap for our combat wounded
veterans. They offer not onlytheir resources, but their hearts,
their homes and their hands.And because of them, healing happens.
(01:06):
On this episode of the WWIApodcast, founder and CEO John McDaniel
introduces us to one of thosequiet giants, a man whose life and
legacy have become deeplyintertwined with the WWIA story.
We're honored to welcome Mr.Joe DePriest, President and CEO of
Western States FireProtection. For over 28 years, Joe
(01:30):
has poured himself into acareer marked by excellence and integrity,
leading a company known forits strong values and outstanding
people. But if you really wantto know Joe, you have to look beyond
the boardroom. You'll find himout in the fields of Northwest Missouri,
tending to his farm andanimals with his beautiful wife,
Kim. You'll find him relaxingin nature, something he's loved since
(01:53):
childhood, as well as huntingand fishing and sharing those experiences
with some of the heroes hewelcomes to his property each fall.
Nearly a decade ago, Joe andKim opened up their farm and their
hearts to the WWIA family.What began as a gesture of support
has grown into a powerfulpartnership, one that's brought countless
(02:15):
Purple Heart heroes into theircare and into the healing embrace
of nature. They don't do itfor credit. They do it because it's
their way of giving back andsaying thanks to our heroes for their
service and sacrifice. Sotoday we invite you to listen in
as John sits down with Joe fora heartfelt conversation about service,
(02:35):
stewardship, and theincredible impact one family and
one company can make. This iswhat it looks like when gratitude
meets action, and it's theheart and spirit that of WWIA. Let's
join the conversation now.
(02:56):
Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founderand CEO of the Wounded warriors in
Action foundation, and this isour podcast, Honor Connect and heal.
So today I have with us on theprogram a gentleman by the name of
Joe DePriest, who happens tobe the president and CEO of Western
States Fire Protection.Welcome to the program, Joe.
(03:19):
Thank you, John. Glad to be here.
Yeah. So, yeah, let's getright into it. You are, you've earned
your company, you and yourcompany have earned a four, the four
star Patron award forcumulative gift giving in excess
of $40,000, which is a monsteramount of money that you guys have
(03:41):
raised for our MO-KAN,Missouri Kansas chapter dating back
to 2015. So let me firstexpress my great gratitude on behalf
of our nation's combat woundedfor your amazing philanthropy. It's
very impressive. That's a verylarge sum of money and you've helped
(04:06):
so many heroes with that. Ijust wanted to say thank you.
Oh, thank you, John. We'reglad to be a part of the program
and you know, thank you, youknow, for founding the program. It's
an amazing, it's an amazingprogram and it's, you know, a lot
(04:28):
of, there's a lot of otherprograms out there and the WWIA is
different to me and it's, youknow, donating money is, is a very
important cause and reason,but the, the differentiator here
is, I mean, these guys andgals getting to come and experience
(04:49):
the outdoors.
Yeah, yeah. And, and do so.And, and, and what, you know, arguably
or not arguably is one of ourtop events. If not, you know, we
always, you know, joke insidebaseball about, you know, mokan being
the 800 pound gorilla. Well,it is, you know, I mean, there's,
(05:13):
there's no other mission like,like MO-KAN. You can't really compare
it to anything. And there areevents that maybe have similar components.
But, but MO-KAN has been aleading entity, an event for the
Foundation ever since its, itsinception. As a matter of fact, Brian
and his, you know, and hisinside circle on that very first
(05:38):
year when we did the veryfirst mission, you know, about, I
don't know, a day or so intoit, they're like, met us in a parking
lot, you know, and the heroeswere staying in a hotel and Jake
and I, Jake Whipkey and I werein the, in the parking lot and Brian's
like, yeah, hey, come on overhere. You know, and I said go over
(05:58):
back by, you know, back of histruck or something. And he hands
me this bag, it's bulging bankbag. And I, I unzipped it and I looked
inside and I zipped it back upand I handed it back to him because
it's full of money. And Isaid, I don't know what this is,
but what you had in mind here,but I don't know, you know, this.
(06:19):
He goes, that's for you. Youkeep it. I go, it's for me. He goes,
yeah, yeah, just keep doingwhat you're doing. You're doing good
stuff. You know, we raisedthis for you. Hummel. Hummel. You
know, and. And so that was thevery first event that ever produced
any resource in support of ourmission, and I'll never forget it.
And to this day, you guys justcontinue to knock it out of the park.
(06:42):
And we're very humbled bythat. And the heroes all love your
mission. It's really great.But I understand you're also a hunter.
I mean, obviously, I assumethat. That you are. But did the heroes
actually. Are they hunting aspart of the program? Are they on
your personal property? What'sgoing on there?
(07:04):
Yeah. So on the MO-KANchapter, we usually. Each year. Oh,
usually about 11 Heroes come in.
Yeah.
And as you know, you know,they. They can deer hunt, they can
trap, and they can duck hunt.And so there's a big group of volunteers,
great guys that volunteer, andwe split those hunters up and take
(07:30):
them, you know, whatever theywant to hunt for the day. And a lot
of the. A lot of the guys,both the duck hunters and the in
the deer hunters, will, youknow, take them to their personal
property and, you know, mayhave blinds set up or whatever, and
take them out for the day.
And they're huge deer, too. Imean, like, the success rate. Guys
(07:52):
kill, like, usually, like,over 100 ducks. Every time you're
out there with these guys,almost everybody gets a buck. And
if they don't get a buck, youknow, it's because they were being
picky, you know. And then thetrap line, which is actually run
by the department of naturalresources, you know, it's heavy on
(08:14):
predators and problem species,but they run this amazing trap line.
So guys that are interested inlearning how to trap and the finer
art of the truck associatedwith it, you know, they're. They're
out there with the departmentof natural resources running a trap
line. It's just so cool. And.Yeah, and like you say, people giving
(08:35):
up of their personal property,I mean, oftentimes they wouldn't
let their brother hunt ontheir land, but they're letting these
heroes that they've never metbefore go out there and kill this
trophy buck that they've beeneyeballing for two years. You know,
that, to me, Is, is anexpression of gratitude that, you
know, it's hard to get yourhead around. I mean, if you're a
(08:56):
non hunter, that probablydoesn't mean a lot to you, but if
you're a hunter and you knowwhat it means, letting somebody on
your property is like lettingthem into your living room, you know,
literally. I mean, that to meis a, you know, that, you know, you
don't get access to myproperty unless you're invited and
much less, you know, get achance to sit in one of my tree stands
(09:20):
and take an animal that we'vebeen groomed, you know, that we've.
Maybe we've seen it, maybe wehave it, but just to take a large
whitetail or any, you know,large game animal off of my property
is, is, is a big thing. Ofcourse, I let them do it all the
time. But not only the heroes,you know, I've never had, I can't
think of a, a time where I hada friend even, and most of my friends
(09:44):
be like, nah, I don't want todo that. You know, they don't want
to take a buck off of theproperty that may maybe would have
gone to a hero, you know, soit's pretty neat what you guys got
going on there.
No, it is. And you know, it'son the deer hunting, it's into me
anymore. It's. I enjoy taking,you know, those heroes more than
(10:06):
I desire going myself. Youknow, it's kind of like taking a
youth or a kid hunting. Youknow, it's just so much more enjoyable
and, and you know, some ofthese, some of these folks have never
hunted before, deer huntedbefore. You know, some deer hunt
a lot and, but it's, it's goodto have the variety and, and be able
(10:30):
to experience some of these,these good times like we have.
And so tell us a little bit,Joe, about Western states fire protection,
how you got involved in MO-KANand how in the heck have you raised
so much money? Along withawareness, of course. But you know,
(10:50):
tell us about that, you know,connection with MO-KAN and your company.
I'd love to hear that story.
Sure. So Western Sstates FireProtection, we're a life safety company.
We install and maintain andinspect life safety systems like
(11:12):
fire alarm and fire sprinkler.And we're a part of the API group
as our parent company. Andback in, I know it was 2015 or 16,
a good friend of mine, SeanVandaloo, also a co worker, he and
Brian Rodrick had a mutualfriend and they got connected through
(11:38):
that mutual Friend. And. Andthat year, I guess Brian had mentioned
something to Sean that theyhad lost their sponsor for the MO-KAN
dinner that we used to do atthat event. And Sean come to me and
kind of asked me. He's like,hey, would this be something that,
(12:00):
you know, Western states wouldbe interested in? And he kind of
got me all the details and.And I was looking at it, and in our
parent company, and ourcompany's always been big on supporting
veterans. You know, we hirefrom helmets to hard hats and. And
hire a lot of vets and. And doa lot of things. Some other things,
(12:23):
too. But, you know, when Seanbrought this to me, I'm like, you
know, this is a. This is agreat. A great deal. You know, we
should get involved in this.And so I did. I got the company involved
that year by sponsoring thedinner at the. At the event. And
then I also. That's when I gotinvolved on a personal level and
(12:46):
got involved with taking.Taking some of these folks hunting.
So it's. It's been a good,good run here.
Awesome. And are you. Are youlike. Did you grow up in Missouri?
I mean, is this your. Likeyour, you know, where you've spent
most of your. Most of your life?
(13:06):
Yes, I live pretty close towhere I. Where I grew up, actually,
so kind of stayed around, wentthrough school, all the way through
school in the same area, andso got a lot of friends from that,
and. And we're just making alot of new friends through the wwia.
Yeah. Do you. I'm justcurious, are you still in contact
(13:30):
with any of the heroes thatyou've served or, you know, like
Facebook or, you know, you gotthem on a text or phone call or anything
like that, so.
Yeah, that's kind of. Kind ofneat that you ask. And that's one
thing about this program is,you know, making. Making those friends,
and a lot of them you stay intouch with. And I'm sure, you know,
(13:52):
Steve woke.
And, oh, yeah, great American.
Yep. Maybe Bob Hill. And so,yeah, we. We stay in touch with them
through text and differentthings, off and on. And, you know,
a year later, I'll get a textfrom, you know, a hunter that I took
the year before and saying,you know, good luck this. This season
(14:12):
and that kind of thing. Andthat's. Yeah, that's what really
makes this even better isbecause that.
Well, you know, I always say,you know, for me, anyway, when I'm
on a mission and I'm. I'mworking, you know, I mean, I. Like,
we have a Camp up in northernWisconsin we call Camp Hackett. And,
and when the Heroes are in andon mission, you know, you're, you're
(14:39):
giving it your best, right? Imean, you're President and CEO, you
know, and you're, you know,I'm sure every day, you know, when
you go work, you're giving ityour best because you're the senior
leader in the organization andthat's what people expect. And that's
part, you know, it's your job,right? You're going to give it your
(15:02):
best every single day becausepeople are looking at you, they're
going to want to know what'she thinking, what's he saying, what's
he doing, you know, why isthis important to him or her? You
know, and so I feel like whenI've got the heroes at my camp, I,
I feel like, heck, I feel likeI did back when I was in a Ranger
(15:22):
regiment, you know, it waslike, you better bring it every single
day and give it 110% and thatthis, this thing you're doing, you
know, has got to besuccessful. You got to anticipate,
you know, and then now you're,you have to get to know them, you
know, genuinely want to spendsome time and get to know them and
(15:43):
be on for every one of thoseconversations. And, you know, community
members are coming up to youat the end of the day when it all
over and they're gone andthey've disbanded and they're going
back home. I always refer toit as like the post event coma, you
know, because it just hits youlike, whoa. I mean, you just don't
realize how invested you are,at least for me anyway. You know,
(16:04):
I mean, I feel like I'm, youknow, like it's kind of emotionally
draining to be on like thatfor three or four days and there's
a lot of intense thingshappening. You know, it's not like,
it's not like intense like,you know, hey, we're, we're, you
know, getting ready to go intocombat intense. But there's a lot
of emotions there. There,there's a lot of things happening,
(16:28):
a lot of layers to this spaceand it can be emotionally and physically
taxing when it's all said anddone, you know, you did something
right.
Yeah, it's, it is a lot ofwork and you're right just, you know,
having to be on all the timeand, and, but, and I don't do near.
I mean, you look at Brian and,and Kyle and Brad and Sean and, and
(16:52):
what those guys do, you Know,through that week, it's just. It's
amazing. And I, you know, I'msure that by the end of that, you
know, they're beat. And Iappreciate all they do because it
is. It's. It's a lot of work,but it's definitely rewarding and
it's worth it.
Yeah. Yeah, it is. And I don'tknow, you look back on it and it's
(17:17):
nice to be able to give, Iguess, is the best thing. It's like
that, you know, you could.What are you given? You know, well,
you're opening up somethingthat's sacred, you know, your land,
your home, your friendship,you know, your resource. You're just
saying to them in an indirectway that what you did for this country,
(17:40):
you know, while you werewearing a uniform is valued. And
this is our way of sayingthanks, right?
Absolutely. You know, we livein the greatest country in the world,
and, you know, a lot ofsacrifices, you know, have been made
over time. The reason forthat. And, you know, it's easy to.
It's easy to get complacentand take things for granted. And.
(18:05):
But, you know, this program,it's these amazing individuals, you
know, and it's a way to giveback. And, you know, I often sit
back and think, you know, Ishould do more, but it's a way of
giving thanks and it's worthit. And, you know, you know, you
see across to the spouse'sinvolvement, you know, in this program,
(18:29):
even though, you know, thespouse may not be out hunting or
whatever, but just the supportfrom the spouses and the other things
that they do. I mean, youknow, when we used to do the banquet,
I know Carrie Evans, I mean,she just worked her tail off putting
those things together. And,and, you know, my wife enjoys being
(18:50):
involved and supporting me andhelping, you know, helping do it
every year.
And yeah, many hands make forlight work. But you're. You're right.
The. The spouses, I mean, whatthey've gone through and been through,
you know, after their husbandor. Or maybe in some cases their.
(19:12):
Their wife gets hurt andwounded in combat, they've got all
that to deal with, you know,the uncertainty of, you know, is
he going to be the same? Youknow, is he going to be okay? And
that whole recovery thing is aprocess and part of that process,
(19:35):
and we got to thank them for,I don't want to say allowing them
to go, but to supporting themwhile they're seeking, actively seeking
to get better. And what doesit really mean to get better? Right.
I mean, the guys all say tome, I've heard this so many times,
I can't count. Like, hey, sir,I don't need any more stitches. I
(19:57):
don't need any more pills. Youknow, two weekends ago, I was on
the water fishing. It wasn't asanctioned WWIA event. I suppose
it was because I was on it. Iknow I was the one that created it,
I guess. But I have a goodfriend of mine who is a Vietnam veteran
(20:18):
and, you know, they're, Godbless them, but they're. We're all
getting older. Something youcan't stop. But, you know, this might
be, you know, one of his lasttrips. You know, I mean, he's pretty
banged up and, you know, he'sgot. He's had over a hundred surgeries.
He told me this is true story.He says to me, I've met him at the
(20:42):
marina. We're going to gooffshore fishing over near Pompano
Beach. Delray Pompano. Andthat. That part of Florida on. Down
on the. What is the EastCoast. And so we're, you know, we're
not going to go far offshorebecause the Gulf Stream is. Is. Comes
(21:04):
pretty close to the shorelinethere. You don't have to, you know,
go out for an, you know, anhour to get into the fishing, you
know, but the waves were. Thewind was pretty stiff that day, and
it was calling for inclementweather in the afternoon. And so
we. He can. And he's. Kid'sgot a hard time, you know, ambulating,
(21:26):
and he's big man, and so wegot to get him from the dock down
into the boat now, you know,we're out there and the sea state's
starting to get rough, andwe're just getting our teeth rattled
out of our heads, you know,and. And I'm like, geez. I said,
but, you know, we don't haveto do this. He's like, ah, well,
I'm fine, I'm good. But acouple guys on the boat weren't.
(21:47):
Aren't good, you know, they'returning green and. But this particular
gentleman that I was with, youknow, told me, he's like, yeah, I
just kind of got to be alittle careful. He says, I just,
you know, just two days ago Ihad my hundredth surgery. I was like,
you had surgery two days ago?He's like, yeah, I didn't want to
(22:08):
tell you, you know, and. Andso he's got, you know, they. They
cut into his back for Lordknows how many times, you know, but
it was his hundreds he wascelebrating his hundredth surgery
and didn't want anybody to,you know, to know that, you know,
he'd been recently cut on. Buthe was concerned that his stitches
weren't going to get openedup, you know, and he goes, my wife
(22:32):
wouldn't be real happy with meif that happens. Well, we're out
there now, it starts raining,okay? And this storm comes now it's
raining sideways. We got, youknow, four foot rollers out there
and a Vietnam veteran who twodays ago had his hundredth surgery,
you know, And I'm just sittingthere thinking to myself, you know,
(22:52):
you can't make it up, but Imean, it's gotta be one of the toughest
guys I've ever met in my life.And the captain, afterwards, we dropped
him off and we did terminatethe trip a little bit early just
cause of the foul weather, youknow, but, you know, we helped him
up out of that boat and on thedock and then into his car, you know,
(23:13):
he was being driven by hisfriends. So, you know, we got him
in there and then we got backon the boat and all this. And the
captain's just like shakinghis head. He's like, I think that's
gotta be the toughest guy I'veever met in my life. And I go, yeah,
I think you're right. I'mright there with you, buddy. You
know, and that's, you gottathink about that like we're, you
(23:35):
know, the spouses, right?Here's a guy that's got all this
going on, but you know, what'sthat, what's that journey been like
for his wife, you know, Godbless her, and all of them that are
out there supporting their,you know, you know, their spouses
to do things like this, butit's important work and, and, and
they have to feel alive. I'msure that, that, that Bob did this
(23:59):
to feel, to spend some timewith me again on the water, did this
partially to feel alive, you know.
Absolutely.
And you know, I don't know,here's the guy, he's not going to
complain, I can tell you that.I mean, you're not going to get a
word of complaint out of thatguy. You know, you got four foot
(24:20):
rollers and it's rainingsideways and he just had surgery
and then half the crew'sgetting sick and he's just like,
is this all you got? Right?You just got to love it. You got
to love it. Now that's,that's, that's, that's testament
to the human spirit right there.
If you ask me amazingindividuals and, and you know, I
(24:42):
love them that come in.They're just, they're so appreciative
and thankful, you know, forwhat we're doing and it's, you know,
they just can't believe it.And I'm like, you know, it's nothing
compared to what, what you'vedone, so.
Yeah, I feel the same thing. Ido too. I. Absolutely, I do. Yeah.
So do you have any, any, anyvery, any particular. Some guys do,
(25:04):
some guys don't, you know, anyparticular special memories that
you want to share with usabout your experience and support
to our nation's combat wounded?
Oh, I've got, I've got a tonof them. I mean, every year there's
something, you know, that,that sticks in your brain, that,
that, you know, it's likeyou'll never forget. But you know,
one of the, one of the times Iasked many years ago and I had one
(25:28):
of the heroes, his first timeever deer hunting. And, and you know,
these guys are coming in andthey're using someone else's gun,
you know, they're not familiarwith. And, and you know, it's kind
of nerve wracking, I'm sure.But yeah, this. He came in and put
him on some deer that morningand seen quite a few. And finally
(25:49):
I eyed this buck and it was,it wasn't a huge buck. It was a,
it was a nice symmetricaleight point and, and he pulled down
on that. I said, you know,there he is. I said, it's legal if
you want it, you know, takethe shot. And he pulled down on it
and I mean, made a heck of ashot. It was, I don't know, it was
(26:11):
well over 200 yards and, and Imean, just, and knocked it down.
And of course, you know, wewaited for, for a good while and
we went up there and we, wecouldn't find it, couldn't find any
blood. And I knew right whereit was standing and like, I know
you hit it, you know, there'snot a, not a drop of blood. So we
(26:34):
get to looking around and thatdeer had went like maybe 20 yards
just into the brush and, andthere it was. But first deer, heck
of a shot. And he just, Imean, he had a grin from ear to ear
and you know, and that waslike, this is worth it. This is why,
(26:54):
you know, I enjoyed doing,doing this and, and taking the time
just for moments like that.
Yeah, but I'm guessing you hithim and you ran it right through
the lungs or something on him.
Yeah, well, I Don't rememberwhere he hit it, but yeah, it didn't
go 20 yards, and it was justpiled up right there and he found
(27:16):
it. I went up the hill and hekind of went down the hill just a
little bit, and there it was.
That's a great.
Fantastic. It was a good hunt.
And that's what. That's theother part about this that we don't
talk a lot about. But you'recreating memories. You're creating
very positive memories andthose endorphin rushes that we get
(27:42):
all humans do from somethingthat's enjoyable or something that's
satisfactory in some cases.You know, also you get that from,
you know, other things aswell. But those. Those are positive
memories that you're creatingor help create. And that. They'll
be that memory, I promise you,will be with that man for the rest
(28:06):
of his life. And, you know,and I think that what we're also
doing is taking these positivememories and helping, you know, to
fill that cup up, if you will,of positive memories post, you know,
traumatic event. In otherwords, them being wounded in combat.
(28:30):
Some of them had woundedseveral times, you know, but the
more that you can fill thatcup up with positive memories and
goodness, eventually that cupbecomes a lot heavier than the other
cup, which has got some maybesome not so nice and, you know, memories
from their past in it. And Ithink there's something to that.
(28:52):
I don't know how. What aclinical psychologist may say about
that, but I just know thatit's good. I think that's a good
thing that, you know, thatwhat we're doing and getting them
together, because they share acommon bond, you know, not only do
they fight for our countrysomeplace, they were wounded while
they were doing it, and theyshare that in common. And they also
(29:15):
share the fact that they likethe hunter fish in common or they
wouldn't be there. And I thinkalso that because people like you
and your great community areopening their homes and their properties
and their access to waterwaysand this kind of thing to them. That's
(29:35):
a great expression of kindnessand. And the value, you know, you're.
We're giving value to whatthe, you know, adding value to their
lives. And so. Yeah, that'sall good stuff, Joe. Thanks for what
you guys are doing.
Yeah, I got. Yeah, I got onemore here for you, John, that I think
(29:59):
after the fact, I understoodit more than I did during the. During
the time that it happened. ButI had one of the Heroes. We had been
hunting and seen several deer,and he was just Maybe a little bit
off, and something was kind ofbothering him. Seemed like. And finally,
(30:19):
as we were sitting there. Andof course, if you in one of those
enclosed blinds, it's reallynice because you can actually visit
a little bit while you'rehunting and get to know one another.
And so as the time went on andwe kept seeing deer and he'd kind
of pass or whatever, and Ifinally. He finally admitted, and
(30:41):
he's like, man, he said, I'mafraid. I'm afraid I'm going to miss.
And I said, and I'm sure inthe military, you know, you're. You're
taught not to miss, right?
Yeah.
And, you know, maybe. Maybescolded for it if you do. And, and
of course, like I said before,you know, using someone else's gun,
never shooting it, you don'tknow what the. The recoil is. Like,
(31:02):
you know, you just. And youknow, they just flew in on a plane
and then said, you know, gotin the truck and got in the blind,
hand him the gun and say,here, you know, but figured out,
you know, he was. He wasafraid of missing. And I said, I
told him, I said, in thissituation, I said, not shooting is
the same as missing.
(31:24):
So that's great.
I said, take the opportunity,and missing is no big deal. You know,
we'll find another one if youmiss one. So.
Wow. Yeah, that's. That'spretty powerful too, right? And see,
but you just gave himpermission to fail.
Yep.
You know, and that's. That's ahuge thing, you know, it is. It's
(31:47):
the same thing with kids.Right? It's the same thing with anybody.
Employees too. You know, Imean, hey, we. Nobody wants to fail,
but oftentimes, if you're aforgiving person and you give somebody
permission to fail and you.And you just put it in another way,
like, hey, listen, you know,if you don't. If you don't make the
(32:09):
shot, it's all good, you know,I mean, like you said, if you don't
take the shot, that's. That'sthe same thing as failing. You know,
we just want you to try. Youknow, I used to be a hockey coach,
you know, and, and, and I,when I would teach and you know,
edges and things like this on,you know, how to, how to skate faster
and better. You know, I said,you know, this idea of your edge
(32:32):
work, inside, outside edges,you know, we'd run in these drills,
I say, like, I expect you guysto fall down. If you don't fall down,
it means you're not Tryinghard enough, you know, you're never
going to get better. You gotto fall down. You know, I want you
to be on the edge. That's whythey call it on the edge. You know,
I want you to be pushing that.And I think if you have a kind of
(32:54):
a culture in your organizationor in your family where failure is
expected and oftentimesencouraged, you go, that just sounds
so weird. You go, well, it'strue. It's true. I mean, I expect
you to. Here's the rub. I wantyou to learn from that experience
(33:16):
and get stronger and getbetter. And if you're not going to
get punished or admonished inany way, shape or form, I just gave
you permission. You know,that's powerful, right? To me, that's
like leadership. That's theposition you want to be in now. You
got people in your company orpeople in your family or organization
or whatever that know, youknow, I'm not going to get crushed.
(33:39):
He's not going to go, dude,you suck. You know, that's just not
going to happen, you know. Oh,and think about that, right? What
does that do to somebody?That's a great. That's. I appreciate
you sharing that one with us, Joe.
No, absolutely. Yeah. Youknow, after the fact, I thought about
it, you know, just like youdid, and I'm like, you know, these
heroes are in the militaryfor, you know, a lot of them for
(34:02):
a long time and, you know,wounded and then back into the civilian
war world. And, you know,they're. They're kind of caught between
two worlds. And it's trying tosay, you know, it's okay, you know,
civilian world. Not everythingapplies, you know, in your. In your
military world. And gettingpeople to kind of being able to make
(34:26):
that transition has got to bevery tough.
Well, you bring up anothervery good point. It is tough, but
you know that. And it doesn'thappen overnight.
Right.
At all. And that's the thing.I'm glad you mentioned it, because
I will tell you one of thethings that I don't talk a lot about
(34:47):
and want to hear now becauseit's the, you know, you've just spurred,
you know, a memory or athought that I've had for years and
years that I don't rarelyhave. I may not have ever expressed
it, but that's why what you'redoing as the leader of a very successful
(35:13):
organization, Western StatesFire Protection is important as you're
the President and the CEO andyou're a successful man. And to have
these Heroes who are trying totransition and that transition. People
(35:33):
go, well, transitions canhappen like that, okay? But most
transitions don't happen likethat. You know, this transition from
the, from the world of themilitary, you know, combat operations,
to being back in a. In a lifeof normalcy, if that's even possible.
(35:55):
You know, they, they. Many ofthem don't know what that looks like,
you know, and they don't evenhear, here you are, you know, as
a model, okay, as somebody whothey can look at and go, wow. And
they probably didn't even knowthat you're the president, CEO. And
it doesn't, you know, itdoesn't matter. But if they did know
(36:16):
and did find that out, theywould probably be. Be like, wow,
you know, this guy, this guyjust gave. Let me go out and hunt
on his land. And, and there.But they're looking at. There's modeling
happening, you know, and yougo, how would they else. How in the
world else would they ever getthe chance to be with a person? Like,
(36:36):
you think about that. Whereare they going to get that opportunity?
Where's that going to happen?You know, now they're back from.
From combat, they've gone onthis event, and the next thing you
know, they're hunting with youon your property. And you just told
them it's. It's okay to, youknow, it's okay if you miss, you
know, but that's. They need alot of that. That transition, you
(36:59):
know, to normalcy is ajourney. It's not something that
happens like, you know, thebutterfly that comes out of the cocoon
and is now flying. That's atransition, you know, but that transition
happened real quick. Like,this transition oftentimes takes
years. And, you know, beingexposed to people like you successful
(37:22):
people, is super important,especially when they find out that
you're a normal and wonderfulkind person. That, to me, is. That's
the good stuff. That's thebest there is.
Well, you know, John, you'reright. You know, it doesn't matter
what you do or what your titleis. I mean, we're all human beings.
(37:44):
And it's just. It's good tospend time with them, try to help
them along any way that youcan. And they say, my wife, Kim,
I mean, we'll bring in. She'llmake cookies or we'll bring him in
and have lunch and, you know,just. Just be a normal person to.
And it's. It feels good.
(38:06):
Yeah. We used to say if itlooks good and feels good, it is
good.
Yep, absolutely.
And that's. That. That'sthat's, that's, that's where this
is. Well, God bless you, Joe.I really want to thank you and everybody.
Your wife, your family, yourfriends, your community, of course,
(38:30):
Brian Roderick and the MO-KANteam. Everybody who's part of that
thing. I mean, it's the 800pound gorilla, you know, and granted
the gorilla might, you know,you might think of gorilla as something
that's imposing and sometimesgorillas can be. But if you look
at that silver gray backgorilla. I just watched something
(38:52):
on a, on a, on a, an outdoor,you know, nature channel thing I
was watching the other night.I've always been fascinated by gorilla
little sidebar. But you know,the silver gray back male gorilla,
the one that's in charge ofthe troop, the tribe, whatever they
call it. You know, that guy islike 99.9% of the time he's just
(39:15):
being Fonzie. He's just cool.He does not doing anything besides
being himself. He's just allthis glory and there, there he is,
you know, he's just, he's, youknow, they got a, got a little chimpanzee
or a little baby gorillapulling on his ear and poking him
in the eye. He doesn't doanything. He just, just sits there,
you know, but everybody knowshe's in charge. You know, it's just
(39:36):
this monster glorious thingthat if he decided to rip your arm
off you, you know, he'd dothat so quick and make your head
spin and then go about beatyou, beating you over the head and
the neck with it, you know, Imean, not even, not even think twice
about it. Right? But that,that's MO-KAN, you know, and I mean,
I mean it, you know, veryaffectionately because it's filled
with tremendous people and,and I'm really proud of you and everybody
(40:00):
that's on that team and Ithank you for all that you've done
and it's an honor to havespent some more time here with you
today, getting to know youand, and I always like to give my
guests the last whack at thepinata, if you will. And is there
anything else that you'd liketo, to share with us, Joe, before
(40:23):
we, before we say goodbye?
Well, John, I just, I'd liketo thank you for your service and
you know, WWIA and your team,for all that you do to make all this
happen and along with the, youknow, the MO-KAN team, it's, it's
spectacular all these, allthese folks involved and it's something
(40:43):
special that that's beencreated here. And I'm just. I'm happy
to be a part of it.
I call it the mocan magic. Igotta say that. I gotta say that
for Brian, but that. That'swhat it is. People want to touch
the magic, right? You know,and you guys are creating it, and
you're at the point now whereit's been referred to as irreversible
(41:07):
momentum, you know, and that'sjust a great feeling, you know, when
you know that you've got ateam that's going to perform. You
know, I'll put that team onthe field any day of the week, any
place, anytime, anywhere, andjust marvel at what you accomplish.
(41:28):
And that's a great, greatfeeling. And I feel more than anything,
I feel blessed because I knowthe lives that you've changed in
the past and the ones thatyou're changing in the present and
the ones that you're going tochange in the future as well. For
(41:48):
all that you guys do again, I.I'm honored and I really appreciate
what you've done and I wishyou and yours the best moving forward.
And I'm always here for you ifyou ever need anything. I don't know
what that would be, but Ipromise you I'd give you my best.
I appreciate it, John. Andthanks for having me on today. I
(42:12):
appreciate that. Also spendtime with you.
Absolutely. Okay, we'resigning off. Thanks for all you do,
Joe. We'll talk to you soon.
Thank you for listening to theWWIA podcast. To learn more about
the Wounded warriors in Actionfoundation and how you can get involved,
(42:34):
please visit our website atwwiaf.org or follow us on social
media on Facebook, Instagram,Twitter and LinkedIn. If you'd like
to comment or offer feedbackabout our podcast, or if you have
a suggestion for a futureepisode, please email us at. Podcast
(42:57):
thank you for your support andfor helping us honor, connect and
heal our combat wounded PurpleHeart heroes through the power of
the great outdoors.
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