Episode 62: Interview with Purple Heart Hero and WWIA Guide-Eddie Hoffmann

We’ve got another outstanding episode in store for you today, as WWIA Founder and CEO, John McDaniel proudly welcomes an American Hero and friend of the Foundation to the podcast. Today, we are joined by Purple Heart recipient and WWIA Guide, Mr. Eddie Hoffmann.

Eddie grew up outside of Tampa, Florida, and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in early 2001 as an 0311. Eddie was assigned to Third Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, 2004 and 2005-06. During his final deployment, Eddie was injured by an Improvised Explosive Device and subsequently awarded the Purple Heart Medal for his wounds. Eddie would finish his 8 1/2-year career with Weapons and Field Training Platoon at Recruit Training Depot, Paris Island, SC, before being medically retired in February 2010.

Shortly after retirement, Eddie enrolled at the University of Tampa and returned to his hometown with his wife, Mollie. After graduating in2013, Eddie began working in various roles in Mental Health as a Peer Specialist in the VA and continues in this role today. Eddie is an avid deer and turkey hunter and enjoys surf fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. He has a daughter and a son who accompany him on outdoor adventures whenever possible. We look forward to sharing Eddie’s story with you and allowing you to get to know him better.

Takeaways:

• The WWIA Podcast aims to honor and support combat wounded Veterans by connecting them through shared experiences and healing activities.

• Eddie Hoffmann, a Purple Heart recipient, shares his journey from enlistment in the Marine Corps to his challenges and triumphs in combat and recovery.

• The podcast emphasizes the importance of camaraderie and support among veterans, illustrating how shared experiences can foster healing and connection.

• Eddie's transition from military service to a career in mental health highlights the significance of peer support in navigating the complexities of post-combat life.

• The discussion includes the therapeutic effects of outdoor activities, such as hunting and fishing, in aiding veterans' emotional and psychological recovery.

• The podcast underscores the necessity of community involvement and the impact of volunteer efforts in supporting veterans' reintegration into civilian life.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Foreign.
Welcome to the WWIA Podcast.We're honored to have you join us
in our mission to bring honor,connection and healing to America's
combat wounded Purple Heartheroes. If this is your first time
listening to this podcast, wewelcome you. If you're a returning

(00:22):
listener, thanks for comingback. Please be sure to tell others
about our podcast and leave usa review if you're enjoying what
you're hearing. We've gotanother outstanding episode in store
for you today as WWIA founderand CEO John McDaniel proudly welcomes
an American hero and friend ofthe foundation to the podcast. Today

(00:44):
we're joined by Purple Heartrecipient and WWIA guide, Mr. Eddie
Hoffman. Eddie grew up outsideof Tampa, Florida and enlisted in
the United States Marine Corpsin early 2001. As an O3.11, Eddie
was assigned to 3rd Battalion,7th Marine Regiment and deployed
in support of Operation Iraqifreedom in 2003, 2004 and 2005. 06

(01:11):
during his final deployment,Eddie was injured by an improvised
explosive device andsubsequently awarded the Purple Heart
Medal for his wounds. Eddiewould finish his eight and a half
year career with Weapons andField Training Platoon at Recruit
Training Depot, Parris Island,South Carolina before being medically
retired in February 2010.Shortly after retirement, Eddy enrolled

(01:35):
at the University of Tampa andreturned to his hometown with his
wife Molly. After graduatingin 2013, Eddie began working in various
roles in mental health as apeer specialist in the VA and continues
in this role today. Eddie isan avid deer and turkey hunter and
enjoys surf fishing in theGulf of Mexico. He also has a daughter

(01:56):
and a son who accompany him onoutdoor adventures whenever possible.
We look forward to sharingEddie's story with you and allowing
you to get to know him better.So without further delay, let's join
the conversation with John andEddie right now.

(02:16):
Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founderand CEO of the Wounded warriors in
Action Foundation and this isour podcast, Honor, Connect, Heal.
So today, Geez, what is this?This is September of 2025 and I have
a special guest with me todayin my office in Apollo Beach, Florida.

(02:38):
I have Eddie Hoffmann with meand Eddie is a Marine and a great
American. He's one of ourguides. He's a Purple Heart recipient.
He's been helping our heroesfor several years now and he's got
a great story to tell. Welcometo the program, Eddie.
Thank you. Good to be here.
Yeah, good to see you again.So I was telling him in the pre show

(02:59):
I was like, Eddie, I kind ofhave to pretend like I don't Know
you that well. So that theodd. So that the audience, he's like,
oh, I get it. So here we are,man. You know, I heard the commandant
of the Marine Corps, and Idon't know his current name, and
probably neither do you wouldhave a good reason to because you're
no longer on active duty. ButI heard the commandant, or read maybe

(03:20):
the commandant say, thecurrent commandant that, you know,
we used to refer to Marinesas, you know, former Marine. I'm
a former Marine, like, I mightbe a former soldier. Well, the commandant
came out and said BS to that.If you were. You are. If you were
a Marine, you're always aMarine. So I introduced you as a
Marine. I probably. I imagineyou felt that way anyway.

(03:42):
Yeah, I mean, it's. It'ssomething like I'll introduce myself
as sometimes as a formerMarine just because people don't
understand that. But, youknow, it's. But yeah, I think amongst
Marines, that's kind of how wefeel that we're always, you know,
part of the. The tribe. If youwill try the brotherhood.
If Eddie's got Eddie sportinga really fancy beard, it's. It's

(04:04):
down towards, you know, themiddle of his chest, and it looks
like. Looks like something nota Jeremiah Johnson like. Like Hatchet
Jack might wear. But thatmight be a giveaway that you're no
longer wearing a uniform. Butyou look svelte. You're in good shape.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So you are a Purple Heart recipient?
Yes, sir.
Yeah. And, yeah, you're aguide for us. So let's talk a little

(04:29):
bit about just cranking offthe program here. Let's get right
into it. When you were. Tellus about your experience in the Marine
Corps, who'd you serve with?And then just build up to, you know,
hit the wave tops of that. Andthen let's talk about combat operations,
if you don't mind. I. I knowyou got a great story and we'd love

(04:50):
to hear it.
Yeah, I mean, I grew up in thearea here out in Brandon, Florida.
Valrico, Florida. So not toofar from here. And it was. Graduated
99 from Brandon High Schooland basically wasn't doing much.
I was working for a localelectric company as an apprentice,
and they were sending me toschool. And this is all prior to,

(05:12):
you know, September 11, 2001.And I remember one of my. I was sleeping
on the floor basically of oneof my friend's houses because I'd
gotten bumped out of my house,basically, and he was joining the
Marine Corps, and I'd nevereven thought of joining the military.
I had some family that hadbeen in the military, but he was

(05:34):
like, hey, if you join withme, we can go another buddy program.
Like, what is that? So he tookme down to the recruiter, and you
know how they're pretty goodsalesmen. So he was telling me about,
you know, oh, yeah, we can getyou. You'll at least go through boot
camp together. And I guess myASVAB score was high enough that
he wanted me to do somethingother than infantry or whatever.
But my buddy was goingsecurity forces, so he had to go.

(05:56):
Basically, I was infantry. Hadto go through school of infantry
and all that. And I was like,well, I want to go with him all the
way through. And he's like,well, you could do something else.
And let's just say a secondhere. Security forces, is that like
the Marine Corps police Department?
So it's like they guard theembassies. They.
Okay, right, right.
They got the fast team. Like,so that's. That's the Marine Corps

(06:17):
security force. So you gothrough boot camp, school of infantry,
and then you go through theschool, security forces school or
whatever. So I was figuring atleast we'd be together for like six
months and if I had to go in.When I go in with a buddy or something.
But. But. So the recruiterwasn't very happy. Just say I ended
up having to get a waiveranyway and having to go infant. He's
like, now you. Now you have togo infantry. I'm like, that's what

(06:39):
I wanted. Anyway. So, longstory short, with that, it. Basically,
that's how I ended up joiningas an infantryman. The Marine Corps,
August of 01. So I'm sleepingon his floor. I hadn't even told
my parents yet. And I'm wakingup one day, you know, September 11th,
and there's planes flying inthe buildings in New York City. And

(07:00):
my first thought was, like,oh, what did I do? You know, I just.
I just enlisted, goinginfantry. Haven't told my parents,
so I had to tell them.
So you're enlisted at the time911 kicks off you, but you haven't.
You haven't gone to boot camp,you haven't deployed.
We were. We were set to goOctober, so the next month.
Oh, man, it was like, noquestion in your mind what was going

(07:21):
to.
Happen at that point? Yeah, atthat point I was like, all in. I
knew. Kind of figured that,you know, some. Some it's going to
change the trajectory ofwhatever career I ended up with in
The Marine Corps, yeah. And,you know, sure enough did. I mean,
October. I mean, it was amonth later, October 9th, I'm at
Parris island going throughboot camp and all that. And of course,

(07:44):
the tone changes. You know,drill instructors are all talking
about, you're going to combat,you're going to combat. We go get
through boot camp, go toschool of infantry, you're going
to combat.
I would imagine just. Justsaying, okay, what I know about basic
training in general, not theMarine Corps, but the Army's basic
training, understand thatprogram pretty well. I would imagine

(08:09):
that you approached thingswith a heightened sense of awareness
is that everybody had to, right?
I believe so, yeah. I mean, itwas definitely. You had that in the
back of your mind, like, Ineed to. I guess sometimes, you know,
it's just a check in the boxor it's just. You can tell what they're
doing is just part of theprogram. And I was able to pick that

(08:31):
kind of apart. But then therewere those things that I'm like,
I really should under. Ireally should get an understanding
of this, because, you know,Marine Corps boot camp, it's not
geared toward. It's gearedtowards general. Marine Corps knowledge,
general fitness, the wholeidea of, you know, instant obedience
to orders and all that kind ofstuff, and then you go off to your

(08:51):
MOS school and. But there werestill some elements that, you know,
were specific to what I mightbe doing in the infantry or whatever.
So, like, basic marksmanship,Like. Yes. I mean, you'd be thinking
to yourself, yeah, I'mshooting it, you know, at plastic
targets here to a distance of,I don't know, 500 meters or something.
But, you know, I really bettertake this pretty serious.

(09:14):
Absolutely, yeah. I mean,stuff like that, you know, it's just
kind of. A lot of. It wasgeared towards, and it still was,
even after, you know, I'm not.I'm assuming they changed some things
now, but towards, like, youknow, big ground wars against. You
know, we still had Ivantargets. We still had. Right. You
know, crawling under barbedwire and all this other stuff.
Well, we were. We were. All ofus were planning and preparing to

(09:37):
fight the Russians. Right. Youknow, I mean, that was. That was
like the. The way our mindsetwas. We were all the way through
the basically 70s and 80s andinto the 90s. I mean, that was our
closest peer competitor, andwe were preparing for force on force
and the fold, a gap and, youknow, and all this other stuff, you
know, but, yeah, nobody.Nobody really saw and nor were we

(09:57):
really prepared to fight theglobal war on terror, you know, from
a general purpose forceperspective, if you will. But yeah,
so go on your basic training.You get through that, and you're.
And you get through your. Yourindividual training. That's what
the army calls it, your MOStraining. You know. How long was
that about?
I think it's two months for an0311, which is just a regular rifle.

(10:18):
0311.
So 0311 is a basic rifleman.Right. In the Marine Corps.
I remember that from the movie 0311.
Congratulations.
You made it.
Oh, yeah, yeah. So we. And wehad, I mean, our whole company from
SOI school of infantry. Theywere all expecting us to end up at,
like, Lejeune, because that'stypically, you know, East Coast.
You go off to the east coast,but they sent all of us over to 29
Palms, California. This wasearly 2002. Google wasn't a thing.

(10:42):
So we're thinking 29 Palms,California. That sounds nice, you
know.
Yeah, it does sound nice.
It sounds really nice. Butit's not. It's not. You know, we
get. We get out there, we goon bus at night, and they get us
all in our rooms. I could tellit was warmer. You know, it was.
It was in the spring, so itwasn't too bad. But wake up the next
morning, I walk out and I seenothing but the hills, mountains,

(11:04):
which we're not used to inFlorida, and just desert, all that.
And I just like, what do we. Ididn't see any palm trees. You know,
that's the joke. It's calledthe stumps because there's no palm
trees. But, I mean, we hit theground running. I. I guess we kind
of figured they're sending usall out in the desert. We're coming
from the east coast, and it's.I mean, it's where everybody in the
Marine Corps went for deserttraining. So we're kind of like,

(11:27):
okay, they're probablyprepping us for. We figured Afghanistan
at the time and then. But no,I mean, we had a whole year to work
up.
Do you know which unit which.Which Marine Corps unit you're going
to at this stage?
You do at. When you're. Whenyou get your orders after soi. So
I was at 3rd Battalion,Submarine Regiment.
So where are theyheadquartered up at the time?

(11:48):
29 palms. So, okay, yeah, 7Marine Regiment is out of 29 palms,
but it makes up you also have3, 4 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines,
because they're. Theirheadquarters are in Japan because
of something that happenedyears ago where they Surrendered
their colors or whatever. Sothey had to. They can't be headquartered
out of the United States orsomething like that. It's okay. Some

(12:09):
history there. But you hadthem. You had first tanks. We had
AEV Battalion, had everythingyou needed. And that's where they.
Everybody in the Marine Corpsgoes for combined arms exercises.
So that became our weekends.Was doing all these combined arms
exercises. Did a lot of othercool things.
And are you staying inbarracks at this point?
We got the barracks. So we'dhump out, you know, force march out

(12:31):
there, you know, on a Fridayor something and come back on a Monday.
And it was just like, youknow, every weekend just about seemed
like. Or we do some othertraining. But we. In the back of
our mind, it's Afghanistan.But then Iraq started kicking up.
Right.
So we're on. We had a block ofleave that Christmas.
This is probably 2000.
2002.

(12:52):
Yeah. Okay.
So we're block of leave forChristmas. We had a whole month which
our senior guys were like,that's weird.
Did you come back to Florida?
I actually went to Chicago to.My family was going up Chicago to
visit my family there.
Cool.
So I went up there andsurprised my mom. She didn't know
I was gonna be there. It waspretty cool. But. And I had to stay

(13:12):
there through New Year's andall that. But then they called us
while we were on leave andthey said, when we come back, we're
prepping to go to Iraq orwhatever. We're prepping to go somewhere.
And it wasn't a month later.We were in our ex. So it was like
January 24th. We left, youknow, and I. We. We found out about
it 2nd of January or somethingof 2003. So. And I only remember

(13:35):
the date because it was 23rdis my birthday. So in my. So we're
having this big party and thenwe were the only. The only unit on
20m palms that had the desertcamouflage on. And we had a little
thing going with one with 1stBattalion, seven Marines, across
the chow hall parking lot. Sowe called them out. We were supposed

(13:56):
to fight with them a littlebit, but instead the PMO showed up
and they had green cammies on.So we ended up with them. A bunch
of people got in trouble, so.But they let everybody go because
we were deploying. And I justalways remember, you can fight.
Your Marines were actuallythrown down in.
The park because once everyonewas taught. Yeah.
It was like rivalries runningtheir cake holes.

(14:16):
Yeah. So then it ended upbeing PMO that showed up. But all
we saw was green camouflage.So they, they became target. So that
was always something Iremember because my.
Gotta love it.
Yeah. Staff and CEOs weren'thappy because they had to come up
and dump all the alcohol. Butmy squad leader saved me a six pack
because of my birthday. So Ialways remember.
That's cool.
Kind of the day that we endedup leaving. I mean we got there to

(14:38):
Kuwait. There wasn't anythingthere. It was like a few tents. And
then, you know, within acouple months there was just a city
basically, you know. And thenMarch, I guess it was 20th, 19th
or whatever. We set out andthat was basically.
Are you on foot or you areyou, are you just straight. We would
call it straight leg infantry.Were you motorized? How are you getting

(15:01):
around?
So we were, we had the, likethe AVs, the fibus assault vehicles.
I think when we got there,they just drove us all out buses
basically from the airport to,to there.
Default to fall in on thisequipment. Was the equipment there?
There were, there wasequipment there. But they, I believe
they traveled with us becausewe had a, we had a forward unit that.

(15:21):
Or forward group that would goto unload all the ships as they came
in.
Yeah, but so at this point,you know, you're, you're a trained
infantryman. Okay. You fall inon your unit, you're deployed, you're
in Iraq, and they. No, youhave some familiarity with this vehicle
that you're gonna. This aav,which is a, Is a wheeled vehicle,

(15:44):
looks like an.
It's tracked.
It's a tracked vehicle.
It's the tracked ones that canfloat but also go on land or whatever
because, you know, we'reamphibious. So. But I've never, I
never actually.
It's not like a 113 trackvehicle from a long time ago, but
it.
Would be like how many, how many.
Marines are in the back ofthis thing?
Well, it's supposed to fitlike a squad, so like 15 or 20, but
we got like 30 back there orsomething with all the ammunition

(16:06):
and everything.
Is that big? Supposed to put 15.
It's, it's big enough. You gota center seat and you got some seats
on the side. So.
But you guys are inside,inside. You're not like hanging out.
It's all covered.
Matches are closed. You gotthe diesel fumes, right.
So. So when this, this thingstake. Takes you into combat, there's.
It's a light skinned vehicle,right. If it took a 50 cal, it'd

(16:27):
go right through it. Probablymaybe stop that.
We hang our packs on theoutside. So Those tend to stop, deflect
rpg. That's part of the armor,we call it. In fact, my. One of my
pouches on my, my Molly packhad all my socks in it. Yeah, I got
hit with an rpg, so I had nosocks for the rest of the deployment.
And. Well, until we got somemore things like that. But it was

(16:48):
like my, my combat bootsbecame like slippers or something.
It was actually reallycomfortable. So it was. Right, so
it worked out. But I mean, wewere wearing the mop suits. The.
Right.
We had green mop suits, of course.
Because, you know, so it'shotter and it's hotter than Hades.
You got these, these chemicalwarfare suits on. You're in the back
of this aav. You don't knowwhere you are, where you're going

(17:09):
because you're just a crunchy.
Yeah.
Right. And then. Yeah. And allof a sudden just mount. You know,
the, the ramp drops and youguys get out and go do your thing.
That was probably the, theweirdest thing. I mean, that's where
like muscle memory or yourtraining kicks in because you really
don't know. I mean, they tryto give you like an update, but it's
so loud in there you can'thear anything.
All you want to do is either.Is either eat or sleep.

(17:31):
Yeah. You're running out theback and they're yell over the berm
or contact right or whateverit is your formation you're going
to get into. And, you know, ithappened. Our part of the invasion
wasn't too bad. I rememberthinking there was one point where
we were the most or thefarthest north deployed regular unit.
And we were like, oh yeah,we're cool, you know, whatever. We're

(17:53):
of course for the Marine Corpsor whatever, but we met up with some
guys in the middle of thedesert with beards and a Humvee that
was all chopped up with anM60. And you know, we're like, who
are these guys? End up beinglike Special Forces guys. But, but
like. So we got, we got aquick education on kind of how everything
goes. They've been there awhile, but. But yeah, it was weird

(18:13):
being. I mean, like you said,I was a year, year and a half in
or something, still reallynew. And. And you see where that
instant obedience to ordersfrom boot camp kicks in. Like why
they press that or, you know,push that so much is because if you
actually thought about what wewere about to do, jump out of the
back of a vehicle that's atleast it's light armored and then

(18:37):
go Jump on a berm somewhereand you don't know what you're getting
into.
Typically, you didn't see it coming.
No, you couldn't see it.
You couldn't see anything. Youwere just in the back of this thing.
It might have been a 15 minuteride. It might have been a two hour
ride. You're just back there,your rucksacks are, you know, are
fixed to the outside of thisvehicle. You're packed in there like
lemmings. Some dudes eating anmre, some dude's sleeping.

(18:59):
You're holding bottles foreach other to urinate in or something.
Exactly, exactly.
This is a lifetime.
This is the life of aninfantryman. Yes.
And it was hot from the dieselengines and everything. And just,
I mean, I, I often think, nowI look back and how do we make it
through it? How did I gothrough that and like, survive that
part of it even? It was justbecause you had to. Right?

(19:20):
You know, you had to.
Yeah.
So your deployment is a year.
So that deployment actuallywas nine months. It was supposed
to be. We get to Baghdad andwe leave because, I mean, that's
the way the Marine Corps, youknow, typically in the past has always
been kind of set up. And Ithink they're trying to get back
to that now.
Right.
I mean, we're expeditionary.The Army Air Force will come in and
kind of occupy. That's usuallyhow it go. So we were sitting in

(19:42):
the middle of a desert afterBaghdad. I think we got really by
101st or something like thatin Baghdad. And we're sitting there
for. We're supposed to sitthere for four days and then start,
you know, retrograding back orwhatever. Going back to the States.
Are you in com. Have you beenin combat at this point?
Yeah, it was.
You guys are exchanging firewith the enemy, you know, periodically.

(20:05):
Correctly.
Yeah, it was pretty. I mean, alot of times they. We had, we definitely
had skirmishes and all that.It wasn't too bad for us.
It wasn't like going into Fallujah.
No, no.
I mean, it was the early partof. This is the early part of the.
The invasion.
Yes, the invasion. I mean.
Oh, two time.
A lot of them ran. A lot oftimes you're coming up on their position

(20:26):
and their clothes are there,their IDs are there, their weapons
are still there and they're. They.
These are Iraq is. You're,you're fighting Saddam's at this
point. We're fighting Saddam'sregular Army force.
Correct.
Forces.
I mean, there was times, youknow, Baghdad where we'd hear their
tanks rolling around, but thenour tanks would typically take them
out. I mean, a lot of it wehad. I remember the Cobras and all

(20:49):
that circling over.
We still don't have Saddam atthis point.
No. But I remember Baghdadbeing kind of interesting because
you met a lot of people thathad been tortured or whatever because
they spoke out against Saddamand how happy they were and everything.
But I also remember it thengoing into chaos because there was
nobody in charge and.
Right. You know, Uday andKuse, his two sons, are right, you

(21:12):
know, at large. We're huntingthem, too.
We didn't find them to. My. Mysecond deployment didn't find them
because I remember being on a.On a patrol, and all of a sudden
everybody's shooting in thecity, but I guess they're shooting
up in the area. That's howthey celebrate.
They were happy that they were found.
Out about it, but. But, yeah,I mean, that. That deployment was
supposed to be. I guess ifwe'd left then it would have been
about three months or so,because, I mean, the invasion actually,

(21:32):
you know, only took like, amonth or so. So we're sitting there,
and then our. They needed, Iguess, five battalion infantry battalions
from the Marine Corps to stayback. So our battalion commander
volunteered us and then leftus a few weeks later. But it was
supposed to be for a month. Itturned out to be five more months.
We ended up in Karbala, Mosularea, Najaf, like, all in that kind

(21:53):
of area. And it was prior toIEDs, so it was just a few times
they would mortar us orsomething and move on. And. Wasn't
too bad. I mean, it was. Iguess it was like, for me, it was
a good way to see the countryfor what it was or the people.
Right.
Instead of it just being ourenemy or whatever.

(22:13):
Let me. Let me ask. Ask you,Eddie, at this, at this stage, your.
What are your thoughts andfeelings about. I mean, it's hard
to go back maybe. I don'tknow, but what are your feelings
about being a Marine at thispoint? You liking it? You hating
it?
I'm liking it. I think I'mliking. I, I. The biggest thing for
me was always, no matter whathappened, no matter what we were

(22:34):
going through, we still founda way to laugh or something or we
still had a good time.
You got your buddies, man.
Yeah, and I never really hadthat. I mean, growing up, I had friends
or whatever, but not thatclose. Yeah, not that close. Not.
And that always. That alwayskind of. I just sit There sometimes
be like, how are we. I mean,there was this sandstorm while we
were on the way up. It got. Itwas so bad. You know your goggles

(22:56):
that they gave you, theydidn't work. But we had to stop for
a day because the vehiclescouldn't make it through all the
sand. And then it rained thatnight because.
They couldn't see it.
Couldn't see, couldn't. Thevehicles couldn't.
Like just a major dust storm.
It was bad. I mean, youcouldn't see anything. That night
it started raining like thebiggest raindrops I can remember
in my life. So it turnedeverything in the mud. All that dirt

(23:16):
that you had on you was mud.Now and then somebody sees movement
out of the left side. Youcouldn't tell what it was because
pitch black. And we couldn'tuse lights because we're in combat,
so you don't want to beflashing. So we're trying to look
through our megs and a donkeywalks up. So we tied chem lights
to the neck of a donkey justso we know what it was. It was just
walking through everything.

(23:37):
Hilarious.
People were trying to run. Imean, it's just stuff like that that's.
You don't expect. You don't.
You'll never forget it though.
No, I never forget it. I mean,camels grabbing your MVGs off your
head as you're walking by awall or something.
I can just hear the radiochatter now. Break two fort. This
is two six. Roger. We just putsome chem lights on this donkey.
Just so you know. That'swhat's walking out in front of you

(23:58):
there. Over.
Yep. They had to warneverybody. And I mean it was. It's
just stuff like that. I thinkthat stands out to me. I mean, as
much as like some of thenegative things. So, yeah, I was
definitely liking it. I wasliking the, the structure. It was
pretty easy. I mean, you justdid this and you.
Were you an athlete in, inhigh school?
No, not really.
Really.
I think I was anti. I was likean anti athlete where I wasn't in

(24:21):
the best shape, but I couldrun, I could do. I was going to do.
I still got my under 18 minutethree miles, like, and I just kind
of. I think I was juststubborn or whatever. You know, I.
I tried. I did play basketballin my senior year. It was at a small
school in Oklahoma when I wasgetting. I had gotten a little bit

(24:42):
of trouble. I had to go outthere, but it was.
That sounds like anotherpodcast, buddy.
Yeah, yeah. No, but I mean,I've gotten, I think I was just one
of those. I could play likewhatever sports or do whatever.
I just never really gravitatedtowards the organized athletics.
Okay. I was just curious. Youknow, most infantry men, you know,
they're athletic. You know,whether you did organized athletics

(25:04):
or not. They're justbasically, you know, or athletic.
They weigh, they weigh about145 pounds dripping wet. They could
hump all day long.
I just, I think I just had, Iwas determined and I was stubborn
and like if they told me, youknow, I never, I never was over my
weight limit or whatever, butsometimes I have to get taped or

(25:25):
something. But I was in thegym too and stuff. But I think my
journey into the military andinto the infantry was like so weird
compared to some of the guysthat I talked to. Different pathway.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's a weird one. Interesting.
But yeah. So let's go back to,let, let's, let's fast forward the
tape to the, the, to themoment. The, the, the combat operations

(25:49):
where, where you get, whereyou get wounded. What, what happens
there.
So we'd have to go. We endedup there. We got back like October
of 03. We weren't supposed togo back again, but we were back over
there in February of 04because Id started happening.
Thanks to Iran.
Yeah. So Id started happening.We were hearing it on news. So they
sent us back four months laterand we ended up up Deer Huseba and

(26:14):
Al Qaim area. And some peoplemay know Jason Dunham, he was one
of the guys in our, ourcompany. He's a different platoon
but good, good guy. Who. Ithink it was the first one we lost
that deployment, but he endedup getting medal of honor and all
that. But some of usposthumously. Yes. Yeah, it was,

(26:36):
it was a big. That's a wholeanother story. But it was something
that my company commander anda few of the others really worked
on for years because the, theway it went down. But so I think
after that one, I mean thatwas 04, we did a seven month. That's
what the Marine Corps was doing.
Things are heating up at thisstage. We got IEPs happening like

(26:57):
O5,04,05,04,05,06 are justbad, bad times for the Fallujah was
starting. Yeah, that's it.
So we were, we were stuckthere. They took all our tanks from
us. We, we replaced a calvaryunit, army cavalry unit and we had
nothing. We had no high backor we had no apartment humvees or

(27:18):
anything. This was early 04.So they left us a couple Humvees,
but when they were showing usaround, we were riding in tanks and
Bradley's and they're like,you guys are gonna do this on foot?
We're like, yeah. And they'relike, man, they mess us up in tanks
at Bradley. So. So we werekind of worried about it. They left
us a few up armored Humveesthat the Air Force had left them.
But I mean, we were usingKevlar blankets if we could find

(27:40):
them. You're getting sandbagsthat you're. It was. It was a.
You mean to. To. To. To addsome additional protection to the
vehicle.
Correct. And then you did IEDsweeps where you basically rode up
and down the road hoping tofind them or they'd blow up on you.
You know, it's just like a. Itwas a weird time somehow. We.
Psychologically, though, ifyou think about that. Right. I mean,
you. You. You know that. Andthat's part of the whole, you know,

(28:02):
instilling, you know, terror,uncertainty, confusion, you know,
this idea. If I'm going downthe road with my platoon, I'm either
on foot or I'm on a vehicle.In most cases, they want to get a
vehicle, they want to get aconvoy. And then, you know, bang.
You know, you're. You're inthe middle of this thing and there's

(28:22):
nobody there to turn youranger against.
No.
You know, and that's. That'sthe, you know, the chicken shit thing
about it, if you ask me. And Ialways just really, you know, that
we were not really. Who couldbe prepared for that? I'm saying
we were not prepared for that.Who could be prepared for such a
thing?
It was definitely a momentbecause I get. So my third deployment
is where I got injured. But Ithink this employee. This deployment

(28:44):
was important leading up tothat because it was where I got to
the point. All that positivitythat I felt like during. After the
invasion, where people werehappy to, you know.
Yeah. You felt like, hey, I'mliberating the country. These. The
local populace.
Yes.
Is applauding me. There's goodinteraction. Boy, this is a good
thing.
Yeah.
And that changed then.

(29:05):
You get there and all thisstuff's happening. We had our civil
affairs guys would give usmoney to go out in the community.
So each squad would kind ofpick a platoon, maybe would pick
kind of a project for thatplatoon to go out there and fix a.
Well, we. We were doing agirls school. You know, girls build
a girl school. Girl school. Wehad donations from the states and.
Everything the week beforeHearts and minds.

(29:27):
Yep. The week before. That'swhat. Yeah. Build the hearts and
minds. Week before the schoolwas supposed to open, some insurgents
went in there, killed a coupleof teachers, and said, if anybody
comes to the school, you know,they're done. And we're like, that's
what the Vietcong.
Did, you know, so, you know,in the 1960s, and that's where we
got to the.
How can we compete with that?

(29:47):
Yeah, how can you.
And you're still there. You'restill having the, you know, the whole
no better friend, no worstenemy, all that.
And you're. You're.
I think a switch kind offlipped there where it was like,
it went from less enjoyment. Idon't know. I guess I enjoyed the
aspect of, like, helping otherpeople. But then it became all about

(30:09):
making sure the guys got homeor whatever, you know, and that.
That's very dangerous environment.
I think everybody kind of wentto that. So that led to my survival.
I mean, that's your. Thatsurvival mode. Yeah.
And it, you know, led. Youknow, we had done them, had gotten
killed, and then three of ourguys from our squad ended up getting
hit with a rocket and duringa. A mission we shouldn't have been
on. But that's a whole notherstory. But so it was like a really.

(30:32):
That was really negative point.
It gets real, real quick atthat stage.
It does. And I was on my wayout. That was over for, oh, five.
We. We had a whole year beforewe were supposed to deploy again.
So my plan was.
You mean a third on your third deployment?
On my third. So, yeah. Becausethat was only seven months. Like,
we do seven month deployment.So after that deployment, I'm still

(30:53):
having these feelings.
What pay grade are you at this point?
At that point, I'm E3, so. AndI'm a team leader.
Okay, so you got like three orfour dudes that work for you.
They got four because we endedup splitting up our weapon splatoon
and turning it into, like,integrating it.
You're a pfc and they gaveyou. And they gave you it.
So theory would be LanceCorporal, but it's basically.
Oh, Lance Corporal. That'sright. That's right.

(31:13):
Yeah. So, I mean, we had a. Wehad a lance corporal as a squad leader,
too. I mean, it was justwhoever's the best at the job, but.
And at that time, picking upcorporal in their first four years
was almost, you know, unheardof. The cutting score was so high
and everything because theywere retaining everybody, you know.
Right.
So we get Back, and we have ayear to work up to the next deployment.

(31:34):
It was supposed to beAfghanistan, so.
You go back to 29 palms.
Go back 29 palms. We got a lotof time.
Garden spot.
And we have a year. I'm goingto be getting out at the end of that
year. That's the end of myfour years. So I figured out, and
they're going to Afghanistan,supposedly. And at that time, Afghanistan
was like vacation spotcompared to Iraq. But that was also
when it started ramping up alot. And so my plan was train up

(31:56):
my guys, get them ready to go,and then I'm out, you know. But as
it got closer, I'd met my wifeat the end of my last deployment.
During my second deployment,we had started talking a little more.
And then. So my plan was kindof get out, go to school. She was
already going to University ofFlorida. I thought maybe I'd go there

(32:17):
and just kind of do that wholething. But I. As it got closer, I'm
like, I don't really want tolet. They're going to Afghanistan.
Not that bad. I don't. I hadthis feeling like, you know, like
I said, everything kind ofswitched to keeping your guys alive
type thing. So I picked upCorporal a few months before I got
out. I was going to get out.So I'm like, man, I'd love to go

(32:38):
back as a. An NCO and, youknow, lead my guys in another spot
or whatever. So I went aheadand extended my contract for a year
so I could do that deploymentwith them. It wasn't a month later.
They said, we're going back toIraq. I'm like, oh, no.
You were wanting to go toAfghanistan or thinking you were
going to go.
Yeah, that was a plan. Goingto Afghanistan.

(32:58):
So it's three the third timeyou're going back.
Yeah. And it was going to beseven months. Nothing crazy. I was
going to. I think we leftAugust of.
You're. You're an E5 now. Imean, this is E4. Okay. So that's
right. Lance Corporal E3.Corporal E4.
Correct.
You know, hard stripe in aleadership position.
You got the cross rifles andyou got. Yeah, all that stuff.

(33:19):
Cool rank, right?
Yeah, yeah. So you got. Andyeah, I mean, you're. You're. I'm
still. I think I was still ateam leader at the time, but, I mean,
it wasn't a month into it.That's when I got hit. But, you know,
we go to Ramadi. That's ourthird deployment. Ramadi was not
good at the Time, you know, itwasn't good for a while, but we took

(33:43):
a lot of casualties. It wasmore. It was. We still had a lot
of IEDs, but it was a lot moreof RPGs flying, a lot more mortars,
a.
Lot more intensity from. Fromthe first deployment in O2 to fast
forward to third deployment in04. Yeah, things have changed.
So third point. So 5, 06, endof that. 04 was the second and then

(34:08):
O3 was basically first. Butyeah, it's a lot. So in that time,
a lot has changed. I mean,Ramadi is the capital of the Alhambar
province. Basically. It'swhere everything goes through. So
it's pretty important. We hadthe government center there that
we were in charge of. We hadarmy units all around us that were
also helping Camp Corregidorfurther down. And then Blue or Camper

(34:31):
Maddie was an army base. So,you know, it was a lot of, A lot
of troops in there. And youknow, a month into it, a month and
a half into it, we're drivingdown same road we go on MSR Michigan
every day. And driving infront of one of our, the other company,
I think it was Lima company'sposition right at this intersection.

(34:53):
295 and was the name of thator what we called it. And I. There
was something in the road. Itold the driver to swerve left out
of, you know, muscle memoryand instead of blowing up under us,
blew up right outside my door.And you swerved.
You, you. What were you in?
It was a high back Humvee. Soit was like one of the Humvees that

(35:16):
just had like the open back onit, you know, so you just sit troops
in there. But it had likearmor on the back. But it was one
of the. It was like the backupmedevac vehicle. I was the vehicle
commander. It was just me andthe driver, basically. Okay, so just
in our training, you know, ifyou're have him swerve left because
if, if I get taken out, that'sokay because he could still drive

(35:38):
potentially out of the dangerzone. But so it just out of practice
or whatever told him swerveleft. So if it had blown up underneath
us, we had no armor underneathit, so it would have been a bad deal.
But. But yeah, it, you know,you swerve left and take the blast
pretty much swerve left, tookthe blast outside my door and the

(36:00):
door held up thankfully. Itblew it off the hinges into my leg,
basically, which is. I gotsome nerve damage in my leg now,
but it caused some burns andshrapnel. Still got a little piece
of my face but it. It gave mea really bad tbi. It was the big
thing because I mean I was soclose to it. It. I remember I didn't
lose consciousness right away.I had enough time to check on the

(36:22):
driver. He had a big gash inhis arm and like I had. So I had
enough time to check on himand then call on the radio and say
hey, I'm good pose hurt. Ithink I'm gonna pass hell basically.
And I did. I passed out and Iwoke back up to one of my guys where
we had what we called killcards, you know, in our IFAC in our
first aid kit. And so theypull that out so they call in the

(36:44):
Cassavac and he was leaning onmy leg, which was hurting a lot at
the time. So I woke up, Iwould get off, you know, I just.
I yelled at him and that's howI came to. Took me to Campomati.
He was treating your initialtreatment of your wounds?
He was trying.
Trying to.
Yeah, he was trying to. And Iyelled at him. But Berg Falco's name.

(37:05):
He was just one of our bootsor one of the new guys. But yeah,
so much happened. I mean it.
Right.
It was a blur. They gave memorphine, put us in the back with
like the military working dogwho apparently the guy that the handler
didn't like blood so he wasn'twatching what his dog was doing because
his dog was licking our legsand stuff. It was a mess.

(37:25):
These are the kind of thingsit's just. We can't make it up. No.
And we get in there and we putus on the bed on morphine. I re enlisted.
Apparently on the. While youwere on morphine on the hospital
bed. They got a picture of itbecause I'd done reenlistment paperwork
because I was.
Thinking about doing it.That's not usually how it works.
You're on morphine and youreenlist for another.

(37:47):
So I have no picture of mereenlisting because it was on the
hospital. But I don't think. Ithink they're worried that, you know,
it would. But anyway, Ireenlisted then granted, I couldn't
do the. I couldn't get the,you know, incentives or whatever.
Reenlistment incentives reallybecause I was then non deployable
because I couldn't do it.
I just don't understand howthe Marine Corps or any service branch

(38:10):
would reenlist a guy who's inthe hospital recovering from his
wounds when they don't know ifthis guy is going to actually be
able to continue to serve. Yougot a tbi. You know, you're, you're.
It's just definitely it, itcaused some issue. I mean they asked
me. I remember everybody thatneeded to be there was there and
I remember them asking me if Iwant to do it. I was like, yeah,
let's do it. But I wasliterally on morphine in the hospital.

(38:33):
And so. And there's a wholestory about why I don't have the
picture. The first sergeantwasn't happy because I wouldn't let
him use it as a poster and allthis other stuff. Yeah, it was a
mess. But. But you know, Iended up parasyl in my last four
years. It's a non deployable,not doing drill insurance.
They took care of you?
Yeah, they. They got me out ofthere and took care of me. I made

(38:54):
it back to the unit.
Good.
But parasol was a whole notherstory. I mean it's a, a training
command, so all they careabout is can you run, wear your uniforms?
All that stuff. It was in the first.
It's. It's basic training.Right. I mean, and we're.
And the. I was a weapons buildtraining battalion. So we were running
like the repel tower, the gaschamber, the training support. Yes,

(39:17):
all that stuff. So it's didn'tnecessitate me to be.
You still need good Marinesdoing that work.
Yeah. And it, I was. When Igot there, I think it was the first
one that had come any combator anything, so.
Oh, wow.
It eventually filled up with alot of other combat vets. So that
became great because then wecould. That's where I realized how
important it was to have likethe whole peer support aspect of

(39:39):
it. But originally, I mean Igot there. My first sergeant was.
He'd been on the drill fieldso long he was a mail clerk, which
I didn't know was a thing.
Hmm.
So I, Yeah, I did that when I,when he told me that like. Huh. And
he's like. He thought I waslaughing at him. So he had me go
to S4 and. Or 3 or whateverand pull all my stuff to make sure
I rated everything and go getheight and weight, all this stuff.

(40:01):
So he didn't like me at thatpoint. But you know, long story short
with that, like my last fouryears, I struggled to get back to
where I could run a firstclass pft. And I did. I got to where
I could do that again. Runningwas a hard thing because with the
nerve damage, I can't reallyfeel my leg feels like it's on fire
when I'm running or when I'mwalking. But so in my mind it's on

(40:22):
fire, it's hurting, it's a lotof pain. But I had to work through
that mentally to where Ibasically could deal with it and
just understand that it's notactually hurting, it's just the nerves.
But. And then, yeah, I gotback to where I could run because
the whole time I was E4, Icouldn't pick up. I had the score
for sergeant, but until Icould run a PFT, I couldn't get it.

(40:43):
So I did that within about sixmonths of me having to get out. I
ran a first class pft. So Ishould have been able to get promoted,
but then they put me on a medboard and they medically retired
me, you know, a little whilelater. But, you know, the, you know,
kind of rewinding to the. WhenI got hurt, I think that's when I

(41:04):
realized how much like mygirlfriend at the time, my wife now
kind of meant to me becausethe. She was first one I wanted to
call and kind of all that. Andshe was like really supportive of
me while I was recovering andeverything. So that was. So by that
point, you know, I was like,you know, I'll just get out of school.
Her and I had been married,had gotten married eventually and

(41:26):
I'll just start my life. Butthen they got me out after my EAS
date, so I had to re enroll inschool. It was like anything they
could do, they just made ithard getting out, so.
Well, I appreciate you sharingthat with us, buddy. That's. Yeah,
I hadn't gotten that far intoyour story, but I really enjoyed
it. I'm sure others will toohere. So the other thing I want to

(41:50):
chat about here, switchinggears on you a little bit is your
current work. I mean, you'vebeen doing this for a while now.
12 years.
12 years. Wow. 12 years. Youwork at the Department of Veteran
affairs, right?
Yes, sir.
So tell us a little bit aboutwhat you're doing now.
Sure. I work in mental healthclinic as a Pierce A peer specialist
is the title. When I wasgetting out of school in 2013, they

(42:13):
had signed a bill like kind ofmaking it a thing, basically. So
peer specialist, peer supportgoes back to kind of what I was talking
about, you know, that my lastfour years and even in college, like
we started a student veteransorganization at the University of
Tampa and it was providingpeer support. We didn't really know
it as that, but that was kindof the concept behind it was bringing

(42:35):
in veterans with the mentalhealth or substance. Substance use
disorder or both who are inrecovery, have been for a little
while and are showing signs ofrecovery, and just kind of teach
them the skills to helpsupport other veterans. So that first
year was, man, two weeks oftraining I went to. And then you

(42:59):
had to have like 500 hours ofactual experience before you could
get certified that you can gethired. So went through that whole
process. I started that downin Sarasota as part of. Down there.
Their pro. Their hospital downthere. Okay.
A va. A VA Hospital.

(43:19):
Correct.
Okay.
And then my daughter was born,so I wanted to get closer to Tampa.
They had a spot open. So 10years ago, 11 years ago almost, I
moved out to Tampa, and I'vebeen there ever since at the mental
health clinic. I've worked inthe substance use disorder service
clinic. I work now in the PTSDprogram. So, I mean, the gist of
it is a lot of times, youknow, like a new vet coming in, new

(43:42):
to the va, maybe new to mentalhealth treatment, or just in general,
just, you know, they could.Could have been out 10 years, 20
years, two days. But, youknow, sending it my way, helping
with navigating the system.The VA has a lot of good programs.
There's. There's some thataren't so good, so, hey, steer clear
of those.
But.
But, you know, just somebodythat can sit down with them and figure

(44:04):
out what their goals are, whatthey're trying to do, and then use
my own experiences to maybehelp them find resources or anything.
I mean, I. I saw a vet in theparking lot the other day. He had
a purple heart attack. So Iwas like, hey, man, you like to hunt
and fish and pull them aboutthis program. You know, just stuff
like that where you're tryingto find. For me anyway, it's like

(44:25):
trying to find that one thingfor them that'll click. And, you
know, I'm. To a point now inmy own recovery, you want to call
it that, where I have a hardtime looking back and seeing anything
negative, because I like who Iam now. I like where I'm at, where
I'm going. So it's like, howcould you think negatively about
some of the stuff you've been through?
Well, let's. Let's talk aboutthat for a second, because I think
it's an important topic, youknow, and in life, regardless of

(44:50):
whether or not you've beenthrough combat and been wounded and
the trauma that you Know thatyou've been through and the healing
and the recovery and all ofthat. And, you know, this idea of,
of finding something thatclicks. Yep. This idea of, of being

(45:12):
successful at something thatyou enjoy and being surrounded by
other people and being. Havingthem be successful at whatever you're
engaging in. So you, this samething, you go back to the Marine
Corps. One of the things Iwanted to share or mention when you
were chatting about, you know,that I was in hospital and I enlisted,

(45:32):
you're like, okay, you know,there's something going on here.
Right. And one of those thingsis, you know, that shared commonality
of experience. You know, thedust storm with the guys, the donkey,
you know, rattling around inthe back, you know, of an AV humping
it up a hill. You know,they're all these things that when

(45:53):
you share these challengingtimes with other others in your unit,
it serves as a bonding agent.And combat does. Takes that to a
whole new level. Andespecially when you see, you know,
your buddies, you know,perishing and being wounded and,
you know, then it makes it,you know, really real. And then the,

(46:14):
you know, the, all of the, theloss that goes with that and, you
know, the grieving and allthat. I mean, this, all these things
can either either take you oneway or they can take you the other
way. You know, I had a bossonce, guy by the name of Bill Steiger
is my battalion commander. AndI was his scout platoon leader. And
long story short, he calledfor guidons, which was all commanders

(46:38):
to come to a location. Andthen the scout was included in guidons.
Even though I wasn'tcommanding, I was a lieutenant. There's
a lieutenant, all thecaptains, and then the battalion
commander. But before theother commanders got there, I got
there first to this darkhilltop one night and it was just
the two of us, Colonel Steigerand I standing around. And here's

(46:58):
a lieutenant sitting next to atwo time combat veteran from Vietnam,
the 1st Cav, you know, I mean,he might as well been God. Right,
right. I mean, and I didn'tknow what to say. I mean, I was just,
just a good little. Trying tobe a good little scout, you know,
platoon leader. But I just.Something came out of my mouth. I
just said, you know, we werekind of just kibitzing a little bit

(47:19):
and I said, hey, sir, mind ifI ask you a question? He's like,
yeah, what's that, scout? Isaid, well, because I had just come
out of college, you know, notlong ago, I studied the Vietnam wars.
I just revered men who hadbeen in Combat in Vietnam, had seen
the movies and all this stuff,you know, and so I was like, you
know, acer, how come it isthat, you know, some guys, you know,

(47:42):
went off to Vietnam and theycame back and they were just, you
know, all screwed up. And thensome guys went and had, you know,
similar experiences and, youknow, are okay, you know, I said,
I just. I can't get my headaround that. He's like, well, it
breaks down like this. Hesays, combat makes strong men stronger

(48:03):
and weak people weaker. And Ijust thought about that, and thank
goodness that we've got suchgreat support networks around these
guys, because everybody getsto a turning point. You can just
go one way or you can go theother. And the fact that we've got
through the VeteransAdministration and all these wonderful

(48:25):
charities that are out theretrying to help these guys, and networks
like the veteran serviceorganizations that are out there,
places for these guys to goand turn to in dark moments. And
I think that's what we've got.Just, we've kind of cracked the code
on that, you know. And you'rein that position still today, helping

(48:47):
guys try to find somethingthat clicks, right?
Correct. Yeah. I mean, for me,it was hunting and fishing. That's
why I kind of gravitatedtowards this. But. But, I mean, it
really was getting back intothat, maybe tapping into something
from my childhood, whatever itwas. And yoga, honestly, was a big
thing that I always like, oh,that's. That's stuff my wife does
or something, you know. Butthe first time I tried yoga, I was

(49:10):
like, oh, my God, my backdoesn't hurt as much.
Yeah, no, I tried it. I triedthat hot yoga once. I couldn't take
it, man.
Yeah, but it's just tryingdifferent things, finding that one
thing that clicks or a couple things.
Getting engaged.
Yeah, getting engaged. I mean,it. You know, for me, it was really.
I mean, for a lot of vets,when they get out, I think there's
a period to go through whereyou have, like, a. This identity

(49:33):
crisis. You're trying tofigure out, who am I now? I mean,
in the Marine Corps, it waseasy. I was. I was an infantry man.
You know, I was. I was agrown. I was this and that. You know,
I got a Purple Heart, I wentto combat. All the stuff you'd want
to have, like, to come out.But then I go into college, they
don't care about that. Like,if anything, that's a negative thing
towards me, so. And I realizedreal quick, like, there was a Vietnam

(49:55):
vet that I had talked To. AndI. He didn't tell me till about 15,
20 minutes into theconversation that was Vietnam bit.
I was like, why didn't youlead with that? Like, to me, that's
pretty cool. He's like, I'vejust done so much since. And I really
didn't get that. Like, Ididn't understand.
Great. That means it's justpart. It's compartmentalized.
It's part of his life, madehim who he is. However, he's done
so much since then that.

(50:16):
Right.
That's not what he leads withanymore. And I didn't understand
at the time.
I love that. That's great,man. Yeah.
And around the time I heardthis quote that I still quote to
everybody. I mean, now it's.You're not always responsible for
where you are, but you'reresponsible where you go from here.
So we don't, you know,circumstances, life, whatever gets
us to a certain point where weget to that point where we're like,

(50:36):
I don't like where I'm at. Andit could be our fault. Could not
be our fault. It could be justlife in general, the way the world
runs, whatever.
There's a choice involvedthere, but there.
Is a choice involved to where.It's, like, from this period on where
I realize there's some issues,it's up to me to kind of get myself
out of that. So those twothings happening around the same
time, like, we're, I guess,life changing in a way to me, but

(50:58):
also kind of open my eyes totry new things and stuff like that.
And, you know, I kind of gotback in the hunting a little bit,
and then. Yeah, I mean, therest is pretty much, I guess, history.
It was.
Yeah. No, you. You have. Youhave what? You know, when I. When
I look at individuals and lookto, you know, put them on the. On

(51:19):
the team. First off, you know,you have to be selected by one of
your peers. You go on a WWIevent. You know, we serve all Purple
Heart recipients, regardlessof, you know, the era that you were
wounded or the service branch,you have a Purple Heart. You're you.
You know, you can get on thisteam. And then our guides look at

(51:40):
you, and if you're one ofthese people that stands out for
whatever reason, and it's notnecessarily that you have this great
acumen in hunting and fishing.You're skilled. That's okay, and
that's great. But that's notwho we're looking for. The leadership
that we provide are those thatwe serve. But you obviously stuck

(52:03):
out somebody Identified you.You went on a couple of events, and
the next thing you know, youknow, we're meeting each other, I
think, at guide school. Yeah.And I'm like, wow, you know, I was
just checking you out. And Iwas like, you know, he's kind of
quiet. He's definitelyswitched on. He's observing, you

(52:24):
know, everything. And hiscomments are. Are spot on. He's engaged.
I was like, you know, there'sa relative calmness about Eddie,
and I like it, you know, andthat's perfect. So you got to have.
In our space, you got to havewhat they call high eq, emotional
intelligence. And it's notjust about being in command of your

(52:44):
faculties emotionally, becausethat's part of it. It's really more
about how well do you interactwith others. Are you somebody that
can engage well socially,individually, in small groups, and
you've got that, but becauseyou got it mostly because you care
about your fellow, you know,brothers and sisters, if you will.

(53:08):
You're one of those peoplethat genuinely cares. And I. You
know, I sense that from themoment I met you. So the work that
you're doing with thefoundation now dovetails into the
work that you are currentlydoing with the VA and dovetails into
the work that you did whereyou were wearing a uniform.
It's definitely as soon as Irealized what the foundation was

(53:30):
and what y' all did andeverything else, like, man, this
is. You know, when they. Youknow, the guy that asked if I'd be
interested, I was like, man,sign me up. Because, I mean, really,
I guess for me, it's. Irealized in college that I could.
I mean, I was 30, I think 29,30. And these kids, all they cared
about was, like, going out andpartying and all that. I'm like,

(53:50):
how could I ever have anythingin common with them? But I realized
we're all there for the samereason. We're all. Well, we're trying
to pass the class, at least.So when it all boils down to it,
we're trying to get ourdegree. We're trying to do something
similar. So all the otherstuff aside, if I could focus on
what we had in common and justkeep that in my mind rather than
all the other stuff that wouldkeep me from talking to these people,

(54:14):
then at least I could getalong with them and. And be able
to work with them towards ourcommon goal. And I guess that getting
into. Yeah, working for theva, it's the same thing. It's. I
always kind of sit back andlisten to people, and you Know, anybody
can do this. Just sit back,listen to them, and there's something
they're gonna say that youmight be able to relate to. And then

(54:34):
you can just focus on, makethat kind of like you're in to talk
to them. Because like, Ibelieve, you know, recovery is. Anybody
could recover from anything inmy mind, like, it could be, it'll
be hard. It'll be, you know, alot of work and all that. I don't,
I don't sugarcoat it. However,you know, you're not going to.
Do it alone and you can'tavoid it. You can't avoid it. You've

(54:55):
got, you've gotta, you gotta,you gotta deal with it. Right. One
way or the other. Because ifyou just suppress it, you know, things
just have a tendency to get,to get worse.
Yeah. And that's our naturalreaction. I mean, our mind works
to self preservation is like ahuge thing. So, you know, we built
up these walls. I always saythat with the Vietnam vets, it's
like they have these wallsbuilt up over so many years that

(55:16):
you're trying to take thoseback down and then ask them to open
up about stuff that they'vebeen, you know, suppressing for so
many years. That's tough to doand doing it on, doing it on your
own is difficult. So for me,it's. If I can talk to somebody and
get an in with them, relate insome way, get them to open up a bit
and just listen to me talkabout what's available and you can

(55:38):
find that one thing that mightclick then. And I guess it's kind
of like, you know, you findJesus, you want to tell everybody
kind of thing, you know, asthey say. But it's the same thing
with like recovery for me isjust kind of. It's possible. I've
seen it happen with a lot ofvets and you can always find some
common ground with somebody.You just gotta listen more than you

(55:58):
talk sometimes.
Yeah, I had a boss, I had aboss once for sure, you know, a boss
once who talked about loyalty,you know, as a being a pile of bricks.
Now you talk about a wall,right? I mean, these Vietnam veterans
and modern day post 911veterans, we all build walls. Why
do you build a wall? Well, toprotect yourself, right. And to defend

(56:20):
against any, any sort ofincursion. That's why we have, you
know, walls. But he would say,you know, he talked about this pile
of bricks and the analogy wasthat, you know, every day that you're,
you know, around your platoonand your Men and people in general.
This pile of bricks, you caneither build walls with it or you

(56:42):
can build a bridge. And yougotta have a plan, and every day
just lay a good brick part ofthat, and that's what that is. But
at the same thing, on thetopic of loyalty, it's an interesting
topic. I think it's a valuethat's just way underrated for the
most part. But loyalty'salways been a big thing for me. But

(57:07):
he said, in one instant, inone event, you can build a wall with
that pile of bricks. You'retrying to build this great bridge.
It might take days, weeks,months, years to build this solid,
wonderful bridge between youand your unit, between you and your
friends, your family, etc. Butin one disloyal moment, you can build

(57:32):
a wall that's impenetrable.And that's the funny thing about
relationships. Right? Butthose are really, really good points.
I want to switch gears onemore time on you as we wrap this
thing up. And you were just onan event back up at Camp Hack. You've
been to Camp Hack more thanI've been to this year.

(57:54):
I've been pretty lucky. Yeah.
Yeah. So Camp Hack is ournorthernmost healing center in the
north woods of Wisconsin. It'swhere all this, you know, where the
foundation began. And, youknow, it's 410 acres of wild, remote
property. There's everyfurbearer known to man, you know,
roaming the woods. It'suntouched, pristine wilderness. And

(58:14):
it's where we hold an annualbear hunt up there, which is led
by Colonel Arthur Kandarian. Avery dear friend of mine runs that
event for us. And you wereslated as being one of the guides
to help Arthur. And we had, Iwant to say, three bear tags. First
we only had two, and then wegot a third. So that covered the

(58:36):
heroes, the Purple Heartheroes that were on that event. And
then a fourth tag becameavailable. And I was like, perfect,
because now Eddie's going toget to take a, you know, to take
a bear. And the bear are justthick up there. Like, this is the
first time, I think, in thehistory of the organization that
we just, We. We. We tagged outfour bears at. @ Camp Hackett in

(59:01):
the north Woods. And I justlove to hear your, you know, your
experience, because when Ifound out we got that third bear,
I was like, because I'm backhere in the rear with the gear, you
know. But I heard through thegrapevine immediately when that third
bear went down that I saidthat my first thought was Eddie's
going to get a chance. So ifyou don't mind share share that story
with us because you got to befeeling pretty good about.

(59:23):
Yeah, it was first time I'veever bear hunt. I mean, I've hunted
a lot of, you know, deer andturkey and hog and everything and
grow up in Florida, alligator,whatever. But bear is never usually
on the table. And, you know,I. I love it up there at Camp Hackett.
So I was just happy to go upthere, just to be up there. One of
the heroes was actually in 3,7 with me at the same time and had

(59:45):
gotten injured.
And you didn't know that oryou did know.
We did. We figured it outearly. When I first called him, okay,
he looked up my name. He's. Hethought it sounded familiar. And
he's like, yeah, I was in Kilocompany. He was in weapons. But I
remember when he got hurt. AndI knew a lot of his marines, he served
with the stuff. So I wasalready kind of looking forward to
just, you know, the campfires.Hey, do you know this guy?

(01:00:05):
Yeah.
Yes. But so to be able to.Yeah, once I was able to get a tag
and I'd be, you know, fourtotal and all that. And I just. I
love the people up thereanyway, Mike and all them. Oh, my
God, Jeff and everybody,they're great. And then I hadn't
met Art yet, but I was lookingforward to it.
So. Hurricane Art.
Yeah, no, he was great. Imean, I sat the first day for 12

(01:00:26):
hours, and what was supposedto be the best stand. I don't know
what I was doing wrong, butdidn't see a bear. First bear was
shot that day by one of theheroes. The next day, I sat for six
hours and did see one. Andthen that third day, I sat for about
six. Then I got one. So it wasa lot of sitting.
You put the time in, man.

(01:00:47):
I did. And I forgot how hardit is or how draining it is to sit
still for 12 straight hours orfor six straight. It takes a lot
out of you, but. But I. Ireally. I really enjoyed it, you
know, I just. I like. That'sthe thing about being in the woods
is just. It's kind ofgrounding for me. It reminds me not
everything's easy in life. Yougotta work at some stuff.

(01:01:07):
You gotta pay your dues, man.
Yeah, you get. Get your mindgoing. Which could be good or bad.
For me, it's usually prettygood. You know, I just sit there
and just think about stuffthat it was.
The weather was nice, weatherwas great.
I mean, yeah, Especiallychange from here. I mean. Yeah, I
think it was 90 when I got onthe plane. And when I got off in
Mosinier up there in WausauAirport, it was, I don't know, 60s,

(01:01:29):
right? I think. Yeah.
There's no humidity. No humidity.
It was beautiful. I mean, itrained on us a little bit, but it
didn't even care. It was just.It was great. I mean, so it was a
good time. I mean, in there.We also went goose hunting. We went
muskie.
Put the smack down on themuskie casting.
Yeah, it was a little warmthat morning, but. But it was a good
time. I mean, it was good tocatch up with the. The one hero from

(01:01:52):
3 7. And it was also good tomeet the other guys, Dan and Conrad.
And we had a good time. Ithink we clicked pretty much right
away. It was pretty. A goodgroup of guys. We all kind of had
similar experiences. And then,you know, obviously the people up
there, Jeff and them, took usin, you know, to whenever we got
a bear and fed us and stuff,and just.

(01:02:14):
It was crazy watching himwork, isn't it?
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, it'sjust done pretty quick.
Yeah. What a great bunch ofpeople up there. It's.
Yeah. I always, like. So whenI had the opportunity to go back
again and I. I got to go upfor the safety symposium, and like,
in two years, I've been upthere three times. I've just been
pretty lucky on that.

(01:02:35):
But it's a magical place,isn't it?
It is. It is. And I think thepeople make it that way. But also,
just what you said, it's like,kind of untouched. It's like. I don't.
I mean, even here in Florida,you don't. There's not a whole lot
of places that are oldFlorida, as they used to call, or
they like to call it. But sobeing able to get out there and,
I mean, I saw a porky. I saw abunch of different. The other guys

(01:02:56):
just saw bears. I saweverything else, really. I saw porcupine.
Never seen one of those.
Aren't they cool? Well, yeah.
Red fox, everything.
Oh, you saw red fox?
Saw red fox. I didn't knowwhat it was at first till. But it
was really red compared towhat I'm used to.
Right.
And like, here, South Carolina.
Working on his winter coat,probably. Yeah. Yeah.
So it was just. It was a. Ialways say it's almost like a. It's

(01:03:18):
not religious, but more like aspiritual thing for me, just being
out there and that's country.Yeah. And I don't. I don't always.
You know, no matter where I'mat, if I get some, I get something.
But. Right. And I think atthis point, as much as I like helping
others with recovery, it'salso that thing with hunting where
you. You get to a point whereyou've done so much, it's like, you
want to share that. I mean, Igot kids now, too, that I'm sharing

(01:03:39):
my knowledge with. They'retrying to take them out. So one of
the. One of the heroes thatwas on that, he didn't hunt a lot.
So being able to just like.But he was the first one to get a
bear, like, three hours intoit, you got a bear.
I'm like, this is easy.
Yeah. So. But even that, like,I spent the next day for six hours.

(01:04:01):
Maybe this is why I didn't seea bear that day. But I was on my
phone looking for stuff in hisarea that would help him, teach him
how to hunt and stuff, maybe,or get him out. Because that was
his question to me was, howdoes somebody my age get started
in something like that? And Iwas like, you know, I guess I just
kind of went to my job. It'slike, okay, let's research this and
find something.
But, well, he got a bear.He's. He's hooked for life, probably

(01:04:23):
now.
It was cool. I've never beenthat close to a bear library otherwise.
I never even seen one. Firstone I saw is what I. I shot, basically.
I think I seen one, a wildone, when I was up in Ocala National
Forest, and me and my brotheralmost hit it with a. With our Jeep
or something.
Cool critters, aren't they?
They are. I mean, they're.They're. They're pretty. Not what

(01:04:46):
I was expecting as far as,like, size and everything, so it
was pretty cool. It wasdefinitely a good experience.
Awesome. Awesome. Well, Eddie,listen, man, I gotta. I gotta say
thanks for all that you'vedone to help all those whose lives
you've. You've touched inleadership positions and in your
work with the VA and certainlywith your work with the Foundation.

(01:05:09):
You're an amazing man, and.And I appreciate all that you've
done and continue to do andspending some time with us today.
That's just outstanding. I'dlike to give you the last whack at
the pinata here. If there'sanything else you like to share with
us, this would be youropportunity to do it.

(01:05:30):
I mean, I appreciate theopportunity and I appreciate the
opportunities that, you know,I found Through Wounded warriors
and Action Foundation. It's.I'm very passionate about recovery
as well as hunting andfishing. I think they go together.
And so the. You know, themission resonates with me and just
in what I chose and work andstuff like that. But, you know, it's

(01:05:51):
also. For me, it's. It's achance to give back. But, you know,
show my family, my kids andstuff, you know, use what God's given
you. Use the abilities youhave and all that maybe to help other
people, and, you know, you canget something in return. I. I think
one of the things with work isI don't always. I always approach
it, like, always treat everyinteraction as if that's the last

(01:06:15):
time you'll get to talk tothat individual and make sure it's
impactful in some way,hopefully in a positive way, you
know, and good advice. And Ifeel like it's a good way to be,
because even if I'm having abad day, I can. You know, it can
be a positive at least. Youknow, you could at least feel good
about. I can look back andsay, hey, you know, at least I gave

(01:06:37):
that guy, that individual someinformation. But what I like about
the guide, you know, justbeing able to go out with the guys
and stuff, I mean, by the endof it, we're. When the last bear
was taken down, I mean, wewere ecstatic. You know, we were
out there with Mike. He washelping us drag it and stuff, and
we had the ranger out there,and we were just ecstatic. And. And

(01:06:59):
so I get it. It's like, atwork, I don't always see if I have
an impact sometimes, but evenif it's not what I'm doing on these
events, but just in generalbeing there, you can see, like, the
impact that something likebeing out in the woods can have on
somebody or just some. Maybegetting their first animal or just
seeing the. You know, the. Thelove and sacrifice of the people

(01:07:24):
in the area. Like, so theseguys are blown away by Mike and Bob
and some of them and Jeff andall them. Casey taking us goose hunting.
You know, I think it was Johntaking us fishing and all. Like,
just blown away that, youknow, even the people that donated
the tags, you know, and I'mlike, yeah, the world's. There's
people all across this countrythat do that, you know, give of themselves,
some of them in the work. Youknow, going up to last year, I had

(01:07:48):
an opportunity to go toAshtabula, Ohio, and walleye event.
Yeah. But it's one of the youknow, from my understanding, it's
one of the. They're not therichest area, but they throw a huge
event every year, and they,you know, and there's people all
across the country that dothat. And to me, that's just amazing.
Like, you know, they'reserving us in a way. They may not

(01:08:11):
have served in the military, alot of them, but they're serving
those that have. And, youknow, so if anybody listening is
part of those communities,like, you know, we appreciate that
service because it's. It goesa long way. I mean, it has for me,
and it, um. It's just areminder to me that, you know, not
everybody. I remember going toNew York for an event. My thing was

(01:08:32):
I learned. I learned that allof New York is in New York City,
you know, Right. There arestill. It's not just a hustle bustle.
It's not like, were you onKeith's event or. Yes, that was the
first event I ever went on, soI got lucky on that one. But. But,
you know, just realize, hey,there's people like me everywhere.
That's right.
And you can relate to them.And that's a big thing. I try to
push this. You may not bereally able to relate to them any

(01:08:56):
other way, but hunting andfishing, like, you can realize I
don't always have to hangaround bets. Like, I can connect
with people in other ways, andthat's what I learned in college.
And it can expand your supportsystem, and that's important. So
I guess that's a big takeaway.Just open your mind a bit.
Yeah, those are great. Thoseare great points. But, you know,
going back to what we said alittle bit ago, you know, find something

(01:09:18):
to connect with somebodyabout, you know, and these great
volunteers that may or may nothave ever served are reaching out
to us to want to connect withyou. And men like you and those connections,
you know, go a long way.
Oh, yeah.
You know, there's a lot ofdepth and meaning in that space.

(01:09:42):
And, you know, hunting andfishing is just, you know, a connect.
It's kind of like a vehicle.
That's right. It's. It's aconduit, if you will. Again, going
back to, you know, sharedcommon interests and. And, you know,
experiences. You're going tohave those experiences and those
memories, those positivememories of what happened up there,
not just what you did whileyou were hunting, but what others

(01:10:05):
did while you were hunting andwhile they were hunting. And to actually
make it all come together,it's really a very. It's humbling
for me to see all of it, youknow, unfold before me and then to
hear first person testimonialsfrom you and many others. You know,
it's just a, like I say, it'sheartwarming. And we appreciate what

(01:10:27):
you did for our country whileyou were wearing a uniform. And now
that you've taken the uniformoff again, Eddie, thank you very
much for all that you've done.And we wish you, you know, farewell
and following seas throughoutthe rest of your journey. And may
God bless you and your familyand all those whose lives you touch
moving forward. Thanks for allyou do, buddy.

(01:10:49):
Appreciate it.
All right.
Pleasure.
Thank you for listening to theWWIA Podcast. To learn more about
the Wounded warriors in Actionfoundation and how you you can get
involved, please visit [e-mail] or follow us on

(01:11:09):
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(01:11:30):
heal our combat wounded PurpleHeart heroes through the power of
the great outdoors.