Heroes' Path Podcast

Five weeks in. A U.S. fighter goes down over Iran. One pilot recovered. One still out there. Rescue teams are working inside the country. At the same time, the Strait is tightening, the price of oil is climbing, and whatever talks were underway are starting to fall apart. So we got Jeff on the line. He walks through what changed this week, what’s breaking, and what could come next. Fifteen minutes...

Four Weeks In. Nobody Planned for This. Day 28 of the war with Iran. The Strait of Hormuz is now a toll road — $2 million per transit, collected by the Iranians, for ships they're gracious enough to let pass. Patriot missiles are running low. The IDF Chief of Staff told his own cabinet this week that his force is on the road to collapse if they don't get 15,000 more troops. The diplomati...

We recorded this one on the move. No studio or deep editing. A quick call with Jeff Steinberg while the situation keeps changing. In twenty minutes, he walks through what’s actually happening. The resignation in Washington. The split with Israel. The nuclear question that hasn’t gone away. It’s not polished, but it will provide some clarity nonetheless. If this is the kind of signal you want inste...

The American Revolution was not a foregone conclusion. It was eight years of freezing encampments, shattered supply lines, battlefield defeats, and a Continental Army that nearly dissolved more than once. From the catastrophic retreat across New York to the starvation winter at Valley Forge, the fight for independence was long, desperate, and closer to failure than most Americans will ever know. W...

After surviving a catastrophic blast in Iraq, John Gallina came home to discover that the hardest part of service often begins after the war. In this powerful episode of the Heroes’ Path Podcast , Colonel John Fenzel sits down with the combat-wounded veteran, builder, and co-founder of Purple Heart Homes to talk about service, sacrifice, and what it really means to come home. John shares the story...

Every conflict looks simple from a distance. A few maps on television, a headline about airstrikes, a sentence or two about retaliation, and the impression forms that the shape of the story is already clear. The reality is usually far more complicated, and the early days of a military operation are often the moment when the least is actually known. The United States and its allies are now engaged...

Day 3 in the Ardennes. Today is December 16th. On this exact date 81 years ago, December 16, 1944, the Battle of the Bulge began. For this episode, I stopped in La Gleize, outside the December 44 Museum, to stand beside Tiger II “213”. Up close, it is not an abstract chapter heading. It is scale, weight, and consequence made visible. A reminder that battles are fought not only with firepower, but...

On February 8, 1944, the B-17 Susan Ruth was shot out of the sky over Nazi-occupied Belgium. What followed was a story of courage, survival, and resistance against all odds. In this episode of the Heroes' Path Podcast , host COL Tom Rendall (USA, Ret.) speaks with Steve Snyder—author, son of pilot Howard Snyder, and historian of the 306th Bomb Group—about what it was like to fly bombing missi...

There’s no better—or more urgent—time to listen to the voices of our veterans. This week, Heroes’ Path hosted filmmaker and historian Zach Dunn, founder of Global Veteran Stories, who has traveled across 14 countries—and is currently in Calgary interviewing WWII veterans—to record their memories before they’re lost to time. In this powerful conversation, we discussed why these stories matter now m...

What can today’s generation learn from those who’ve led in the crucible of war? In this powerful episode of the Heroes’ Path Podcast , Colonel (Ret.) John Fenzel sits down with Georges Strachan-Heyes , a retired British Army officer and Director of Operations for the UK and NATO at Onebrief. With over two decades of combat experience across Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Es...

In this episode of the Heroes’ Path Podcast , host John Fenzel sits down with history teacher and storyteller Alex Rowe—the son of Colonel James “Nick” Rowe, legendary Green Beret, Vietnam POW, and architect of the U.S. military’s SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) program, and Susan Whitford Rowe, a devoted lifelong educator. Alex shares how his parents’ extraordinary lives shaped h...

In this episode of the Heroes’ Path Podcast, host John Fenzel speaks with Chloe Gavin Beatty, daughter of legendary World War II commander Lieutenant General James M. Gavin. Lieutenant General James Gavin is one of the best-known military leaders during WWII. Often referred to as “Jumpin’ Jim,” he began the war as the commander of the 505th Parachute Combat Team 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airbo...

🎙️ New Episode: Heroes’ Path Podcast Guest: Jeff Steinberg | "A Republic, If You Can Keep It" What does it mean to lead in a republic that demands both vigilance and virtue? In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Steinberg to explore the enduring lessons of our nation’s founding. With clarity and conviction, Jeff takes us back to Philadelphia in 1787 , where the Constitutional Convention...

Resilience Under Fire: What the Greatest Generation Knew – Heroes’ Path Webinar with Dr. Mitch Yockelson & Dr. Ron Clark | July 29, 2025 What can we learn from the resilience and leadership of the Greatest Generation—and how do those lessons apply to our lives today? In this special inaugural Heroes’ Path webinar, historian Dr. Mitch Yockelson and national security leader Dr. Ron Clark join ho...

Why I Keep Bees. I was thirteen when I opened my first hive. Two colonies, edge of the yard, just past the cornfield. Back then, bees didn’t need much. Shelter. Space. A little respect. I thought I was learning how to keep bees. Turns out, I was learning how to show up, pay attention, and keep going—even when things fall apart. We lost all our hives last year. Mites. Pesticides. A hard winter. Thi...

20 minutes Combat-wounded in Vietnam at 19, Jan Scruggs returned home carrying shrapnel and the invisible weight of PTSD. One night in a theater watching The Deer Hunter sparked his audacious idea: build a memorial that could heal a divided nation. In this fast-moving conversation Jan walks us through the firefight that nearly killed him, the $2,800 gamble that launched the Vietnam Veterans Memori...

Today, on sacred ground, we begin something new. Heroes’ Path is officially launching—a platform for those who believe the past should help in guiding our present. For students, teachers, veterans, business leaders and citizens--all of us who still hunger for purpose, truth, and something real to believe in. Over the next 30 days, we’re rolling out programs, curriculum, stories, tools, and a livin...

What does it take to lead under pressure—when clarity is a luxury and failure has consequences that echo for generations? In the very first episode of The Heroes' Path Podcast , we sit down with Colonel Greg Fontenot (USA, Ret.), a seasoned combat commander, military historian, and author of No Sacrifice Too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War II . What unfolds is a compelling, unsc...