Warfighter Roundtable - Brought to you by Foundation 14

Josh Stein and Matt Evens call in from Texas as Foundation 14 makes more moves in different states! Josh Stein opens up and shares lessons he learned while recovering from the injuries he sustained while deployed to Iraq in 2006.  He shares how important motorcycle riding was to his journey and how he has been able to share the love of riding with other amputee veterans. Matt Evens talks about the...

Matt and Brandi Thorp drive up from Indiana to share their story covering their time in the Marines and coming home. Not only do we hear Matt's perspective but Brandi jumps in and gives us for the first time on this podcast a side by side view of the service member and the spouse perspective together through deployments and leaving the military. In the end they share the exciting news of the...

Join us as Nick Queen goes back to his dealer days and walks us from handle bars to highway pegs as we explore ways to add "miles and smiles" to your riding experience. Follow Foundation 14 on Facebook for information on poker runs, bike nights and events mentioned in this episode! If you, or someone you know, needs support and wants to make a change with substances in their life please...

Its finally riding season in Michigan! Join Dan Cowan, Nick Queen, and Josh Wieringa as they share their riding plans for the summer, explore routes across the state, and share favorite memories of events and rides they have done in the past.   Follow Foundation 14 on Facebook for flyers on poker runs, bike nights and events mentioned in this episode! If you are in a place that you want to make a...

Dan Cowan joins Maria Caruso and Josh Wieringa to discuss substance use and recovery. Dan shares from his personal journey on coming home, substances, and becoming a Foundation 14 Bike Recipient. Dan goes into details about his motivators for making change and shares some of the things that have helped him. If you are in a place that you want to make a change with substances in your life please fo...

20 March 2023 was the 20th Anniversary of the 2nd invasion of Iraq and the kick off of one of America's longest and all volunteer wars. Drew, Nick and Josh review the history of Operation Iraqi Freedom while sharing personal experiences to highlight the various struggles and difficulties of deploying and finding meaning during and after coming home.     Resources - Veterans Crisis Line: The V...

In this episode we meet Foundation 14 bike recipient, Pat Calendar and his friend Barry, owner of Fighting Fit. Pat shares his personal journey of coming home and how he has grown and started the healing from his experiences in the US Army. From meeting Jay and Maria to receiving a bike and what happened after how he continued the journey and met Barry from Fighting Fit. Barry shares more about th...

In this episode Chris and Josh Wieringa speak to the spouses of some of our hosts about thier experiences as military spouses. Our guests in studio are Amy Cummings (Drew's spouse), Chante Pegouskie (Goose's spouse) and Kari Wieringa (Josh W's spouse).  We thank them for freely and openly discussing their experiences and sharing their views and hope this can open conversations for o...

 In this episode Chris, Maria and Josh Wieringa speak to Kate Melcher, Executive Director of Fisher House Michigan as she shares with us the mission of Fisher House and their exciting updates for Fisher House Detroit. We also have in studio Andrew Cleveland the Michigan Student Veterans of America (SVA) President. Who shares from his own experience the importance of the SVA and their philanthropy....

Welcome Back everyone!  We are back in the studio!!    A continuation of the conversation from Episode 9- Holiday Reminders. We are joined by Kari Wieringa (Josh's wife) who brings the perspective of a veteran spouse. Not all veterans may have the same experiences, but it can still be a tough time of the year for them and those around them. We appreciate both Josh and Kari sharing their perso...

Welcome Back everyone!  We are back in the studio!! With it being that time of the year, we wanted to take a quick minute to bring up the important messages discussed in this episode from last year on Holidays and veterans. Take a listen.  Stay tuned on Sunday December 4, 2022. We will be releasing a new episode!  This new episode will be a continuation of this conversation and will have a special...

In this episode Moderators Chris Johnson and Maria Caruso are joined by guest hosts Anthony Pegouskie, Josh Mull and Josh Wieringa, as well as guest speaker Elizabeth Robinson of HAP (Health Alliance Plan).  We share a bit about the Foundations Plans for 2022 as we kick off this riding season, as well as some of our background and why we do what we do!   We talk with our guest speaker about the ch...

In this episode Moderators Chris Johnson and Maria Caruso are joined by guests Anthony Pegouskie, and Josh Wieringa. Anxiety is something that most anyone can relate to - not just those who have served in the military.  This episode we discuss anxiety  in general and the  impact it has had in the lives of our guests.  If you have anxiety or perhaps know someone who does this episode aims to demyst...

In this episode Moderators Chris Johnson and Maria Caruso is  joined by co-hosts Anthony Pegouskie, Josh Wieringa and Andrew Cummings. We wanted to give our listeners a chance for a little change.  In this episode we start to scratch the surface of the conspiracy theories surrounding November 22, 1963 - the Kennedy Assassination. In this second part of the talk surrounding the assassination of our...

In this episode Moderator Chris Johnson is  joined by co-hosts Anthony Pegouskie and Andrew Cummings. We wanted to give our listeners a chance for a little change.  In this episode we start to scratch the surface of the conspiracy theories surrounding November 22, 1963 - the Kennedy Assassination. This is just part 1 of a continuing series.  Conspiracy Theories in general can be several episodes a...

In this episode Moderators Chris and Maria are joined by Joshua Mull, and guests Kevin Hensley (TSgt- US Air Force/ Burn Pit 360- Michigan Chapter) and Leon Eggers (DAV Representative for Chapter 114 -Livonia).  We wanted to give our listeners a chance to hear about the controversies of the burn pits not only from first hand victims, but the advocates fighting to help Veterans have a voice.  They...

In this episode we discuss the friendly banter amongst other veterans and other branches.  We just chat about the ways we would get through depoloyments by killing time. Clearly, not all veterans may experience or go through some of these things. Just some insight into the mind of a veteran or at least these veterans. Humor is a powerful thing. Listen with an open mind.  Foundation 14 is what brou...

In this episode Moderators Chris and Maria are joined by Joshua Mull, Michelle Wager and Marissa Strock - both US Army Veterans.  We wanted to give our listeners a chance to hear from these amazing women.  They have a lot share.  This is just part 1 of a 2 part episode.  Unfortunately we had technical difficulties and had to cut the recording short.  It’s well worth the listen!!  Foundation 14 is...

In this episode Moderators Chris and Maria are joined by Nick Queen, Joshua Mull and Daniel Cowan.  This conversation is to address the stigma and misconceptions around Motorcycle Clubs.  We wanted to give the history behind M.C.'s in general and talk about how they help the Veteran community by giving them another sense of family and purpose as they had while in service.  This conversation i...

In this episode Moderators Chris and Maria are joined by Joshua Mull.  They continue the conversation from last week with host Josh Wieringa about the basics of mental health and understanding its complexity.  This added conversation is still just scratching the surface of Mental Health.  Stay tuned for another episode continuation of this one where we discuss it in more depth with other hosts. Fo...

In this episode Moderators Chris and Maria are joined by Josh Wieringa.  They get to talking about the basics of mental health and understanding its complexity.  This is just scratching the surface.  Stay tuned for another episode continuation of this one where we discuss it in more depth with other hosts. Foundation 14 is what brought us all together to talk about veteran experiences, veteran top...

In this Episode Moderators Chris and Maria are joined by hosts Josh Mull and Anthony Pegouskie and speak to a Veteran Business owner.  While speaking with Daryl Wizinsky (owner of Elegant Homes Realty, powered by eXp) they dive deep into his Journey back to civilian life after the military. Foundation 14 is what brought us all together to talk about veteran experiences, veteran topics, as well as...

In this episode moderators Maria Caruso-Foundation 14, and Chris Johnson-USMC speak with the rest of the crew, Josh Mull-USMC, Andrew Cummings-Army, Josh Wieringa-Army, Anthony "Goose" Pegouskie-USMC, and Nick Queen-USMC as we dive into coping mechanisms. Foundation 14 is what brought us all together to talk about veteran experiences, veteran topics, as well as the perspective of those c...

*We apologize in advance for a few small parts of this Episode and Episode 3. We experienced some technical difficulties with the audio from our remote host.  Being that we tape these episodes with no scripts, and just "shoot from the hip" we felt it would be doing our listeners a disservice to re-record the episodes.  So if you bare with us during these few small parts we believe you wi...

This is the very first episode that will be the beginning of many! Moderators Maria Caruso and Chris Johnson discuss what they think and hope the podcast to accomplish.  This is a Previous recording from September 1, 2021 Foundation 14 is the catalyst that brought us all together to talk about veterans and veterans topics.  We are all excited for you all to learn and grow with us as we evolve this...