September 6, 2025 • 18 mins
Pod Crashing episode 386 with U.S. Army Veteran JR Martinez from the podcast Medal Of Honor Stories. Rewarded for bravery that goes above and beyond the call of duty, the Medal of Honor is the United States' top military decoration. The stories we tell are about the heroes who have distinguished themselves by acts of heroism and courage that have saved lives. From Judith Resnik, the second woman in space, to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice, these are stories about those who have done the improbable and unexpected, who have sacrificed something in the name of something much bigger than themselves. Every Wednesday on Medal of Honor, uncover what their experiences tell us about the nature of sacrifice, why people put their lives in danger for others, and what happens after you've become a hero. Special thanks to series creator Dan McGinn, to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Adam Plumpton. Medal of Honor begins on May 28.
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Episodes available here:
Https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-medal-of-honor-stories-of-126797849/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-view-from-the-writing-instrument--1023245/support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. Let's
(00:01):
do some pod crashing. Episode number three eighty six is
with US Army veteran JR. Martinez from the podcast Medal
of Honor Stories Arrow.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Nice to meet you man. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
On, absolutely, and thank you for serving our nation the
way that you continue to be there, because right now
you're doing something that Colonel Oliver North always told me
to do. You are not a broadcaster until you share
the stories of the men and women that have served
this nation.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yeah, that's I mean when you said that, it kind
of like sparks something to me. I immediately kind of
stood at attention. You know, it's just part of that
you know, part of that trauma, I guess, right. But no,
it's great, man, And I think that is the key.
I think that's, you know, something that I really bought
into after I got out.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
As that service continues.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I thought it ended when I was told that I
couldn't see in the military, but then I realized, no,
it continues, and it's just going to look different. And
but nonetheless it's still finding ways to serve and show
up and tell the stories of other individuals that are
you know, that have done some incredible things in our
in our military.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Isn't it the Marines that say, once a marine, always
a marine. I believe the same is true for that.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, listen, I think at the
end of the day, the Marines are the ones that
have that. You know, we're probably already having a marine
listen right now that is trying to figure out how
to dial a phone number and call a lawyer and say, hey,
they're taking our slogan, right, there's some copyright in your
infringement there.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
But the point is is that.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
That's me just kind of making a dig at the
Marine Corps and just you know, that's what we do
in the military, right. But at the end of the day,
it's also like I think all of us embody that,
all of us. You know, the Marines are the ones
that officially say that, but I think all of us
feel that way that once you serve, once you wear
that military uniform, no matter what branch it is, it
is something that you were part of, that you've just
(01:49):
bought into, and it's hard to kind of ignore and
get away from that.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
And when you listen to these stories, and I think
that's why, you know, for me, the opportunity to you know,
to participate in season two of Medal of Honor Stories
of Courage, it was just kind of organic because it
was like, Man, this is my way of using the
gifts that I have as far as like being a
storyteller and my boys and really bringing these stories to
(02:15):
life and creating a picture for the listener. Like I
get into the studio, man, and I start recording, I
start telling these stories and I'm really trying to put
you there as a listener. I'm really trying to create
the picture. And when the moments call for it, where
you know, you know, it starts to get a little
bit more action packed, let's go there. Let's let's elevate that.
(02:36):
When the moments get a little bit more somber and
get a little more tougher, let's lean into that as well.
And I think that's what we've learned, at least what
I have learned from listening to season two with Malcolm Gladwell,
who's the host to now season two as we're recording,
is what I've learned from every single one of these stories,
of all these Medal of Honor recipients, is that they've
(02:59):
when things got different, cold Man, they just leaned in.
They can find they continue to find ways to show
up without knowing. You know, we're sore conditioned and we're
force fed this narrative that we've got to have everything
figured out right, that's what we do. I mean, you
go up to a toddler and you're like, what's your
name and what do you want to be when you
grow up?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
And you're like, this kid is four.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
This kid barely knows you know, like anything, let alone
you know what they want to be when they grow up.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
But that's sort of how we're wired.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
And when you hear these stories of these individuals that
are in these situations that they don't know what the
outcome is going to be. They don't know if they're
going to lose their life, they don't know if they're
going to be severely injured, they don't.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Know if they're going to make it out.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
They don't know anything, but they still find ways to
show up because what they've bought into is that it's
bigger than them. They've bought into this idea that it's
about service. They've bought into the idea that their purpose
is to show up for their comrades and for the
people around them. And I think all of us, all
of us, no matter who you are, whether you served
or serving in the military currently, I think all of
(04:03):
us can learn take something away from that. You know,
it's always finding ways to just show up. And when
you think about you know a lot of our service
members in the last couple of decades, which is what
was recently, what we all remember and we hear the
stories unfortunately that a lot of them have struggled making
that transition into what we call the civilian life. Is
(04:24):
that in some way, we as civilians have failed to
show up for them. And when these individuals have completed
and cried out for help, whether it's through social media,
whether it's through some news outlet, or whether it's shown
up at some business or listen. You know. I know
(04:47):
you're in the North Carolina area, and I've spent a
lot of time there, and I used to come down
to Charlotte and Raleigh and North Carolina a lot. And
I used to go to you know, NASCAR and the
Charlotte Motor Speedway and and and and and post up
there and with the nonprofit that I was associated with,
and just kind of help inform people, educate people, and
(05:08):
ask people to contribute whatever they could, whether it's you know,
a dollar, whatever they could do. If it's more fantastic, otherwise,
do whatever you can and spread the word, like raise awareness,
and you know, and you encounter people that are all
about it, that get it, that understand it.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But then you encounter a lot of people that don't.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And you know what, you know, as we on the
heels of Memorial Day, and you know, you know those
that that day is a day to remember those that
have made the ultimate sacrifice that are no longer with this.
It's not about me, it's not about any other VET.
It's about those that unfortunately are no longer with us,
you know. And for a long time I used to,
you know, get upset with civilians. How do you not
(05:49):
know what Memorial Day is all about?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Right? You know? How do you not understand that?
Speaker 3 (05:52):
And what I realized is as I've gotten older, is
I mean kind of that's what we want as service members.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
We want you to go and live, you alive.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
That's what we fought for, That's what we bought into,
is that we're willing to put ourselves in that scenario.
So you don't really have to. But all we're asking is,
as you're living your life is to pause for a moment.
It's to pause and remember and reflect and keep the
memories alive and keep the stories alive, and keep the
legacies alive. And you know, I can tell you that
(06:22):
from you know, episodes from season one and episodes of
season two.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I have a thirteen year old daughter. My son who's three,
is young.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So but my daughter, I mean, We're at dinner and
I'm telling her stories of these individuals.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I'm telling her, I'm telling.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I'm talking to her about this stuff because I want
her to understand that. And everybody should understand this, is
that when you hear a Metal of Honor recipient, I mean,
and immediately just sort of puts them in this other sphere, right,
It immediately just puts them this other category that most
of us believe, we don't we will never have access
to that category.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
But the reality is when you start to listen to
these episodes and these subjects.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
They're ordinary people.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Like there's one subject that said, what prepared me for
the military was not that I played sports, was not
that I was like sort of visit lead athlete.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
What prepared him was the fact that he used to
chase chickens.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Every night in the north in the northwest part of Arkansas.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Like you're like, what, that's a thing, chasing chickens, Like.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
That's a real and he's like, that's But my point
is they come from humble beginnings, and these are people
that have just leaned into those experiences and to that
way of life, and they've gone on to be these
incredible individuals that have saved a lot of people's lives
and just done these incredible things. And so it's not
it's it's but again, it just really comes down to
(07:50):
the reason they're Medal of Honor recipients is because they
just continue to find ways to show up. And every
single one of us can continue to find ways to
do that more and more every day in our life.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
About it is that you're doing something that my father
couldn't do. And he was in World War Two and
he never would ever talk about the experience. And I
think that's the reason why I'm so attracted to this,
because I feel like that my father might be sharing
his story through the words of other people.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, yeah, you're so right, And I think that's also
what we're trying.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
To change as well. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
That's part of our little agenda over at Pushkin is
in telling these stories, is to the more we can
tell these stories, hopefully there's somebody out there, and a
service member as well, but just a civilian that is
navigating some real stuff in their life that they can say,
you know what, I need to talk about this. You
know what, this person navigated something and they talked about it.
(08:43):
And you know, I recently had a conversation with Captain
Charlie Plumb, who was a Navy fighter pilot and was
a pow for nearly six years in Vietnam.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Wow, and you talk to this man and first of all,
you just want to hug him. And I mean he's
a total cool.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Guy, still moving and grooving, you know, but has no animosity.
Is all about forgiveness and has even went back to
Vietnam decades later and met the camp commander that ordered
a lot of the torture.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And I'm like, Captain Plum, what was that like?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
And he said, well, first and foremost there probably wasn't
what I was hoping is in regards to like an
apology for.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
His role in it.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
But what it did is it gave him closure, and
I think for him it was more for him than
it was for that camp commander. It was about being
able to have that sort of closure. And you know,
that's such a powerful thing, man, And I think all
of all of us, all of us and you know,
can lean into a little bit of what Captain you know,
Charlie Plum, how he's lived his life, and he's done
(09:48):
a lot of healing. He spent a lot of time
being vulnerable. He spent a lot of time talking about it.
He spent a lot of time connecting with the community
and finding other people outside of his community to connect with.
And the more that he shared, the more that he
just continued to build on that community. And it's it's
allowed him now to get to this point in his
life where I mean, he is this incredibly noble individual
(10:11):
that I think all of us, you know, similar to
all these Medal of Honor recipients.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
You just admire and you just have such a deep
love for and a lot of.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
These same stories, man, they're kind of retold to a degree, right,
maybe not maybe not what you know a person did
while in the military, but you know, there's a lot
of similarities in you know, people's upbringings prior to the military,
and a lot of similarities in people's life after the military.
And so when you talk about your father and it
(10:40):
is probably you know, his story is being told through
a lot of these Yeah, it's yeah, absolutely. I mean,
you know, a society, we tend to sort of repeat cycles, right,
and so these stories to some degree we've heard before, right,
And whether it's a service member that is you know,
unfortunately Henry Johnson from season one, who is the Medal
of Honor recipient from all but in New York and
(11:02):
comes home and is given a parade and has given
all this stuff. But he was a black man and
during that time there was obviously segregation and he struggled
with that. And you know, he comes home and he
talks about the challenges that he experienced, and the country
kind of turns their back on it because all we
want to hear is the positive. All we want to
hear is how great things are going. And the man,
(11:24):
unfortunately dies nine years after the fact that he received
the Medal of Honor from a weak heart. That's a
broken heart to me, because he feels like everyone turned
their back on him, and we hear that story. Unfortunately,
you know now like with service members not making it
when they come home from combat, not because of physical wounds,
but emotional and mental wounds. And we hear about that
(11:45):
just in everyday life. And I'm not trying to be
negative here and just trying to but the point is
is that that's the reality. And when those individuals we
come across them, or if we are in that space
as a human beings, we just got to find ways
to just lean in and show up and just as
from a human to another human, just be there. And
that's what this podcast is really intended to do, is
(12:08):
to keep those memories alive, the legacies alive, but equally
remind people about the importance of just showing up.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Please do not move. There's more on the way with JR. Martinez. Okay,
let's get back to that conversation with JR. Martinez, the
host of Medal of Honor? Are you going to start
writing books? And the reason why I bring that up
is because I'm blessed with the opportunity to share conversations
with a lot of soldiers who have turned to writing
stories and taking their experiences and putting it inside those pages.
(12:36):
And I just feel that you're such a communicator. It's like,
why don't you have that book yet?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Well, thank you for that, man.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I mean, I have written a book that just unpacks
a little bit about my life up to the point.
And when I writ or when I wrote that book,
it's called full of art, so almost the Medal of
Honor tag line, but it's full of heart, my story
of survival, strength and spirit. And you know, the cool
thing is is that what I've learned when I got
out of the military. I was nineteen when my injury
(13:05):
took place, and when I got out of the military
at twenty two, you know, I was kind of like, man,
what am I going to do with my life?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Right?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I can't serve anymore. I really love that idea of service,
and I can't do that anymore. And then I realized
when I started doing a little bit of speaking. I
vividly remember a lady coming up to me after an
engagement and she said, I could relate to you. To me,
I don't see burns on your body, I don't you know.
And then I started asking her, were you in the military.
Did you spend this nearly three years in the hospital
(13:33):
recovering And she's like no, no, no, no, And I
was like, then, how can you relate to me? And
what she could relate to was not what I endured
and my experience is. What she could relate to was
the emotion that I had as I navigated all these things,
you know, the sense of loss of identity, the sense
of dealing with change, the sense of having to reinvent myself,
(13:54):
the sense of trying to find community and connectionally and mentally.
That's what she connected with. That was when the light
bulb went off for me, and I was like, man, oh,
this is what it's about. We too often lean in
and focus on well, if you know, if you haven't
experienced what I've experienced, I can't talk to you. And yes,
there is a component of finding people that.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Have experienced what you've experienced. Yes, I understand the importance
of that.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
But I've opened myself up to people that have not
even gotten close to what I've experienced and have actually
been able to look at each other in conversation and say, yeah,
you remember how that felt, right, And then we're.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Like, yeah, I remember how I felt.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
But we're talking about two different experiences, but we're talking
about the same emotion and I think that's what a
lot of service members have discovered in the most recent
you know, decade or so, that you hear a lot
more service members talking, a lot more service members servant,
you know, speaking and writing and doing podcasts and sharing
(14:55):
all these things that they've learned, because you know, we're
not liabilities, man, service members, veterans are not liabilities, and.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Too often people thought that we were.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
We're assets, and we got to be we got to
be in the position where we're reminding people that that's
who we are and that's what we're capable of.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
My God, I love your strength. I love how you
do this, and I think one of the things that
I really love the most about this is that there
are people that are trying to erase a lot of
history inside our government. And the thing is is that
once you put this up on your podcast, dude, it's
up there forever and nobody can take it down.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, And I think that's that's the goal.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
That was the intention, you know, with the series creator
Dan and you know, Malcolm Gladwell and pushing you know,
bringing this to a lot.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
It's the goal for season two as well.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
It's like, you know, we don't know what's going to
happen with all this information, right, we don't know what's
going to happen with all these stories, the archival stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
We don't know. So we want to be able to
play a.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Little part in service and you know, telling these stories
and allowing them to live somewhere. I have these conversations
with my daughter. My daughter's thirteen, you know, like I said, like,
I'm sharing these stories with her, and I think that
it's not to instill fear in her.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It's to instill in her.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
That one moment, one moment, and the choice that you
make could be the moment that saves yourself and saves
someone else's life. But it's the willingness to find yourself
in that moment, to stay calm, and to find ways
to make that decision, whatever that is, and to try
to exercise a little bit of that courage and listen.
(16:37):
As we know, if you're raising a teenager, as I'm
in the early stages of it, I mean, it's ever
so important to really share these stories and the importance
of standing enough for what you believe is right and
be in a voice and it's incredible, man. I mean
season one, obviously from talking about Medal of Honor recipients,
you know, and you know, the season one, Malcolm In
(17:00):
interviewed a teacher in Tennessee, and you know, that prevented
a school shooting just by she's a counselor, just by
simply just sitting down with this student and creating this connection,
and you know, and then the way that she showed
up for that student after the fact he was arrested,
and I mean it's incredible to this season, we're talking
(17:21):
about Judith Resnik, who received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So we're kind.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Of thinking outside the box too, and not just limited
it to the military, but thinking of individuals that you know,
we could probably connect with on a different level because
you know, we're all civilians now.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
And so it's great, man.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
I mean, the team at Pushkin is incredible, from Meredith
Rollins the writer, to from stunts of the executive producer,
to the team that does all the research and you know,
puts this thing together. And then I'm just the final
piece that comes in. And really when I get into
the studio, I really try to just take the listener
on a journey, because these stories are journey and there's
(18:01):
action involved, there's pain involved, but we lean into every
bit of it. We tell the organic and candid story
as they are, So I really hope people will lean
into listening to Metal of Honor, Stories of courage. You
can find it anywhere you listen to your podcast, or
you can go to Pushkin dot fm and there's more
information about it. But I'm so honored to be a
part of it. And honestly, my friend, it's a team
(18:23):
effort and you're part of this team. And thank you
so much for the time to be able to talk
about this project and to educate your listeners about it
and hopefully get more people to tune in.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Will you be brilliant today? Okay, sir hey man, thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Brother, you have a great day, man, take care.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Thank you.
Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. Let's
(00:01):
do some pod crashing. Episode number three eighty six is
with US Army veteran JR. Martinez from the podcast Medal
of Honor Stories Arrow.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Nice to meet you man. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
On, absolutely, and thank you for serving our nation the
way that you continue to be there, because right now
you're doing something that Colonel Oliver North always told me
to do. You are not a broadcaster until you share
the stories of the men and women that have served
this nation.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yeah, that's I mean when you said that, it kind
of like sparks something to me. I immediately kind of
stood at attention. You know, it's just part of that
you know, part of that trauma, I guess, right. But no,
it's great, man, And I think that is the key.
I think that's, you know, something that I really bought
into after I got out.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
As that service continues.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I thought it ended when I was told that I
couldn't see in the military, but then I realized, no,
it continues, and it's just going to look different. And
but nonetheless it's still finding ways to serve and show
up and tell the stories of other individuals that are
you know, that have done some incredible things in our
in our military.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Isn't it the Marines that say, once a marine, always
a marine. I believe the same is true for that.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, listen, I think at the
end of the day, the Marines are the ones that
have that. You know, we're probably already having a marine
listen right now that is trying to figure out how
to dial a phone number and call a lawyer and say, hey,
they're taking our slogan, right, there's some copyright in your
infringement there.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
But the point is is that.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
That's me just kind of making a dig at the
Marine Corps and just you know, that's what we do
in the military, right. But at the end of the day,
it's also like I think all of us embody that,
all of us. You know, the Marines are the ones
that officially say that, but I think all of us
feel that way that once you serve, once you wear
that military uniform, no matter what branch it is, it
is something that you were part of, that you've just
(01:49):
bought into, and it's hard to kind of ignore and
get away from that.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
And when you listen to these stories, and I think
that's why, you know, for me, the opportunity to you know,
to participate in season two of Medal of Honor Stories
of Courage, it was just kind of organic because it
was like, Man, this is my way of using the
gifts that I have as far as like being a
storyteller and my boys and really bringing these stories to
(02:15):
life and creating a picture for the listener. Like I
get into the studio, man, and I start recording, I
start telling these stories and I'm really trying to put
you there as a listener. I'm really trying to create
the picture. And when the moments call for it, where
you know, you know, it starts to get a little
bit more action packed, let's go there. Let's let's elevate that.
(02:36):
When the moments get a little bit more somber and
get a little more tougher, let's lean into that as well.
And I think that's what we've learned, at least what
I have learned from listening to season two with Malcolm Gladwell,
who's the host to now season two as we're recording,
is what I've learned from every single one of these stories,
of all these Medal of Honor recipients, is that they've
(02:59):
when things got different, cold Man, they just leaned in.
They can find they continue to find ways to show
up without knowing. You know, we're sore conditioned and we're
force fed this narrative that we've got to have everything
figured out right, that's what we do. I mean, you
go up to a toddler and you're like, what's your
name and what do you want to be when you
grow up?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
And you're like, this kid is four.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
This kid barely knows you know, like anything, let alone
you know what they want to be when they grow up.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
But that's sort of how we're wired.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
And when you hear these stories of these individuals that
are in these situations that they don't know what the
outcome is going to be. They don't know if they're
going to lose their life, they don't know if they're
going to be severely injured, they don't.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Know if they're going to make it out.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
They don't know anything, but they still find ways to
show up because what they've bought into is that it's
bigger than them. They've bought into this idea that it's
about service. They've bought into the idea that their purpose
is to show up for their comrades and for the
people around them. And I think all of us, all
of us, no matter who you are, whether you served
or serving in the military currently, I think all of
(04:03):
us can learn take something away from that. You know,
it's always finding ways to just show up. And when
you think about you know a lot of our service
members in the last couple of decades, which is what
was recently, what we all remember and we hear the
stories unfortunately that a lot of them have struggled making
that transition into what we call the civilian life. Is
(04:24):
that in some way, we as civilians have failed to
show up for them. And when these individuals have completed
and cried out for help, whether it's through social media,
whether it's through some news outlet, or whether it's shown
up at some business or listen. You know. I know
(04:47):
you're in the North Carolina area, and I've spent a
lot of time there, and I used to come down
to Charlotte and Raleigh and North Carolina a lot. And
I used to go to you know, NASCAR and the
Charlotte Motor Speedway and and and and and post up
there and with the nonprofit that I was associated with,
and just kind of help inform people, educate people, and
(05:08):
ask people to contribute whatever they could, whether it's you know,
a dollar, whatever they could do. If it's more fantastic, otherwise,
do whatever you can and spread the word, like raise awareness,
and you know, and you encounter people that are all
about it, that get it, that understand it.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But then you encounter a lot of people that don't.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And you know what, you know, as we on the
heels of Memorial Day, and you know, you know those
that that day is a day to remember those that
have made the ultimate sacrifice that are no longer with this.
It's not about me, it's not about any other VET.
It's about those that unfortunately are no longer with us,
you know. And for a long time I used to,
you know, get upset with civilians. How do you not
(05:49):
know what Memorial Day is all about?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Right? You know? How do you not understand that?
Speaker 3 (05:52):
And what I realized is as I've gotten older, is
I mean kind of that's what we want as service members.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
We want you to go and live, you alive.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
That's what we fought for, That's what we bought into,
is that we're willing to put ourselves in that scenario.
So you don't really have to. But all we're asking is,
as you're living your life is to pause for a moment.
It's to pause and remember and reflect and keep the
memories alive and keep the stories alive, and keep the
legacies alive. And you know, I can tell you that
(06:22):
from you know, episodes from season one and episodes of
season two.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I have a thirteen year old daughter. My son who's three,
is young.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So but my daughter, I mean, We're at dinner and
I'm telling her stories of these individuals.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I'm telling her, I'm telling.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I'm talking to her about this stuff because I want
her to understand that. And everybody should understand this, is
that when you hear a Metal of Honor recipient, I mean,
and immediately just sort of puts them in this other sphere, right,
It immediately just puts them this other category that most
of us believe, we don't we will never have access
to that category.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
But the reality is when you start to listen to
these episodes and these subjects.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
They're ordinary people.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Like there's one subject that said, what prepared me for
the military was not that I played sports, was not
that I was like sort of visit lead athlete.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
What prepared him was the fact that he used to
chase chickens.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Every night in the north in the northwest part of Arkansas.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Like you're like, what, that's a thing, chasing chickens, Like.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
That's a real and he's like, that's But my point
is they come from humble beginnings, and these are people
that have just leaned into those experiences and to that
way of life, and they've gone on to be these
incredible individuals that have saved a lot of people's lives
and just done these incredible things. And so it's not
it's it's but again, it just really comes down to
(07:50):
the reason they're Medal of Honor recipients is because they
just continue to find ways to show up. And every
single one of us can continue to find ways to
do that more and more every day in our life.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
About it is that you're doing something that my father
couldn't do. And he was in World War Two and
he never would ever talk about the experience. And I
think that's the reason why I'm so attracted to this,
because I feel like that my father might be sharing
his story through the words of other people.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, yeah, you're so right, And I think that's also
what we're trying.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
To change as well. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
That's part of our little agenda over at Pushkin is
in telling these stories, is to the more we can
tell these stories, hopefully there's somebody out there, and a
service member as well, but just a civilian that is
navigating some real stuff in their life that they can say,
you know what, I need to talk about this. You
know what, this person navigated something and they talked about it.
(08:43):
And you know, I recently had a conversation with Captain
Charlie Plumb, who was a Navy fighter pilot and was
a pow for nearly six years in Vietnam.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Wow, and you talk to this man and first of all,
you just want to hug him. And I mean he's
a total cool.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Guy, still moving and grooving, you know, but has no animosity.
Is all about forgiveness and has even went back to
Vietnam decades later and met the camp commander that ordered
a lot of the torture.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And I'm like, Captain Plum, what was that like?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
And he said, well, first and foremost there probably wasn't
what I was hoping is in regards to like an
apology for.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
His role in it.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
But what it did is it gave him closure, and
I think for him it was more for him than
it was for that camp commander. It was about being
able to have that sort of closure. And you know,
that's such a powerful thing, man, And I think all
of all of us, all of us and you know,
can lean into a little bit of what Captain you know,
Charlie Plum, how he's lived his life, and he's done
(09:48):
a lot of healing. He spent a lot of time
being vulnerable. He spent a lot of time talking about it.
He spent a lot of time connecting with the community
and finding other people outside of his community to connect with.
And the more that he shared, the more that he
just continued to build on that community. And it's it's
allowed him now to get to this point in his
life where I mean, he is this incredibly noble individual
(10:11):
that I think all of us, you know, similar to
all these Medal of Honor recipients.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
You just admire and you just have such a deep
love for and a lot of.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
These same stories, man, they're kind of retold to a degree, right,
maybe not maybe not what you know a person did
while in the military, but you know, there's a lot
of similarities in you know, people's upbringings prior to the military,
and a lot of similarities in people's life after the military.
And so when you talk about your father and it
(10:40):
is probably you know, his story is being told through
a lot of these Yeah, it's yeah, absolutely. I mean,
you know, a society, we tend to sort of repeat cycles, right,
and so these stories to some degree we've heard before, right,
And whether it's a service member that is you know,
unfortunately Henry Johnson from season one, who is the Medal
of Honor recipient from all but in New York and
(11:02):
comes home and is given a parade and has given
all this stuff. But he was a black man and
during that time there was obviously segregation and he struggled
with that. And you know, he comes home and he
talks about the challenges that he experienced, and the country
kind of turns their back on it because all we
want to hear is the positive. All we want to
hear is how great things are going. And the man,
(11:24):
unfortunately dies nine years after the fact that he received
the Medal of Honor from a weak heart. That's a
broken heart to me, because he feels like everyone turned
their back on him, and we hear that story. Unfortunately,
you know now like with service members not making it
when they come home from combat, not because of physical wounds,
but emotional and mental wounds. And we hear about that
(11:45):
just in everyday life. And I'm not trying to be
negative here and just trying to but the point is
is that that's the reality. And when those individuals we
come across them, or if we are in that space
as a human beings, we just got to find ways
to just lean in and show up and just as
from a human to another human, just be there. And
that's what this podcast is really intended to do, is
(12:08):
to keep those memories alive, the legacies alive, but equally
remind people about the importance of just showing up.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Please do not move. There's more on the way with JR. Martinez. Okay,
let's get back to that conversation with JR. Martinez, the
host of Medal of Honor? Are you going to start
writing books? And the reason why I bring that up
is because I'm blessed with the opportunity to share conversations
with a lot of soldiers who have turned to writing
stories and taking their experiences and putting it inside those pages.
(12:36):
And I just feel that you're such a communicator. It's like,
why don't you have that book yet?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Well, thank you for that, man.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I mean, I have written a book that just unpacks
a little bit about my life up to the point.
And when I writ or when I wrote that book,
it's called full of art, so almost the Medal of
Honor tag line, but it's full of heart, my story
of survival, strength and spirit. And you know, the cool
thing is is that what I've learned when I got
out of the military. I was nineteen when my injury
(13:05):
took place, and when I got out of the military
at twenty two, you know, I was kind of like, man,
what am I going to do with my life?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Right?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I can't serve anymore. I really love that idea of service,
and I can't do that anymore. And then I realized
when I started doing a little bit of speaking. I
vividly remember a lady coming up to me after an
engagement and she said, I could relate to you. To me,
I don't see burns on your body, I don't you know.
And then I started asking her, were you in the military.
Did you spend this nearly three years in the hospital
(13:33):
recovering And she's like no, no, no, no, And I
was like, then, how can you relate to me? And
what she could relate to was not what I endured
and my experience is. What she could relate to was
the emotion that I had as I navigated all these things,
you know, the sense of loss of identity, the sense
of dealing with change, the sense of having to reinvent myself,
(13:54):
the sense of trying to find community and connectionally and mentally.
That's what she connected with. That was when the light
bulb went off for me, and I was like, man, oh,
this is what it's about. We too often lean in
and focus on well, if you know, if you haven't
experienced what I've experienced, I can't talk to you. And yes,
there is a component of finding people that.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Have experienced what you've experienced. Yes, I understand the importance
of that.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
But I've opened myself up to people that have not
even gotten close to what I've experienced and have actually
been able to look at each other in conversation and say, yeah,
you remember how that felt, right, And then we're.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Like, yeah, I remember how I felt.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
But we're talking about two different experiences, but we're talking
about the same emotion and I think that's what a
lot of service members have discovered in the most recent
you know, decade or so, that you hear a lot
more service members talking, a lot more service members servant,
you know, speaking and writing and doing podcasts and sharing
(14:55):
all these things that they've learned, because you know, we're
not liabilities, man, service members, veterans are not liabilities, and.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Too often people thought that we were.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
We're assets, and we got to be we got to
be in the position where we're reminding people that that's
who we are and that's what we're capable of.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
My God, I love your strength. I love how you
do this, and I think one of the things that
I really love the most about this is that there
are people that are trying to erase a lot of
history inside our government. And the thing is is that
once you put this up on your podcast, dude, it's
up there forever and nobody can take it down.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, And I think that's that's the goal.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
That was the intention, you know, with the series creator
Dan and you know, Malcolm Gladwell and pushing you know,
bringing this to a lot.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
It's the goal for season two as well.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
It's like, you know, we don't know what's going to
happen with all this information, right, we don't know what's
going to happen with all these stories, the archival stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
We don't know. So we want to be able to
play a.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Little part in service and you know, telling these stories
and allowing them to live somewhere. I have these conversations
with my daughter. My daughter's thirteen, you know, like I said, like,
I'm sharing these stories with her, and I think that
it's not to instill fear in her.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It's to instill in her.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
That one moment, one moment, and the choice that you
make could be the moment that saves yourself and saves
someone else's life. But it's the willingness to find yourself
in that moment, to stay calm, and to find ways
to make that decision, whatever that is, and to try
to exercise a little bit of that courage and listen.
(16:37):
As we know, if you're raising a teenager, as I'm
in the early stages of it, I mean, it's ever
so important to really share these stories and the importance
of standing enough for what you believe is right and
be in a voice and it's incredible, man. I mean
season one, obviously from talking about Medal of Honor recipients,
you know, and you know, the season one, Malcolm In
(17:00):
interviewed a teacher in Tennessee, and you know, that prevented
a school shooting just by she's a counselor, just by
simply just sitting down with this student and creating this connection,
and you know, and then the way that she showed
up for that student after the fact he was arrested,
and I mean it's incredible to this season, we're talking
(17:21):
about Judith Resnik, who received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So we're kind.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Of thinking outside the box too, and not just limited
it to the military, but thinking of individuals that you know,
we could probably connect with on a different level because
you know, we're all civilians now.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
And so it's great, man.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
I mean, the team at Pushkin is incredible, from Meredith
Rollins the writer, to from stunts of the executive producer,
to the team that does all the research and you know,
puts this thing together. And then I'm just the final
piece that comes in. And really when I get into
the studio, I really try to just take the listener
on a journey, because these stories are journey and there's
(18:01):
action involved, there's pain involved, but we lean into every
bit of it. We tell the organic and candid story
as they are, So I really hope people will lean
into listening to Metal of Honor, Stories of courage. You
can find it anywhere you listen to your podcast, or
you can go to Pushkin dot fm and there's more
information about it. But I'm so honored to be a
part of it. And honestly, my friend, it's a team
(18:23):
effort and you're part of this team. And thank you
so much for the time to be able to talk
about this project and to educate your listeners about it
and hopefully get more people to tune in.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Will you be brilliant today? Okay, sir hey man, thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Brother, you have a great day, man, take care.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Thank you.
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