Contagion Effect

Bryan Roof, a Marine Corp Veteran joined us this week and we had the pleasure to hear about his journey in the Marines.  He joined shortly before the 9/11 attacks and shared how things changed drastically after.  We learned about his time in Basic Training to his time in Iraq.  Bryan told us about his PTSD and injuries from  the service didn't show themselves till a little later in life.  He...

Wow, the stories... We had the pleasure of having Thomas (Tom) Lee join us. Tom is an Air Force Veteran who lives in our local area Modesto/Turlock, Ca.  Tom was an MP and dog handler in the Air Force.  He shared some stories when he was deployed out of country, and some while in country.  We don't want to give his stories away, he tells them the best.  We will say, learning how things work w...

Scott Fredenburg a Retired US Army and Reserve veteran shared his road to the military and his deployments to Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  During his time in the reserves, he worked in the Department of Corrections and also as a Personal Trainer.  We were able to hear why Scott started Ruck-It up 4Warriors a 501(c)(3) that works to fight Veteran suicide.  They have planned events like Ruck marc...

Had a great time talking with Britton and Pat from Blue Line.   We started by learning about Britton and his time in the US Army, and why he decided to join. Shared that he went in wanting to be an MP and did exactly that.  Shared some pictures and stories of his time out of country.  When he decided to leave the military he did take about a year and a half off to "party" before using hi...

In this Episode we enjoyed speaking to Donald Dunn, one half of the Two Drunk Dudes in a Gun Room Podcast.  Donald is a US ARMY Veteran who served 20 years.  He shared about his time in the military and the transition back to civilian life.  Donald also shared that the transition wasn't necessarily easy, and there were some struggles. We learned more how the Two Drunk Dudes in a Gun Room Podc...

We had the honor of having Retired Marine Corp Veteran Tom Ettinger on the show again.  This time Tom is sharing some great things he has going on since we have seen him last.  He is getting ready to launch the SitRep 22 clothing line.  Which should be coming in a week or so.  He also shared he has launched a Podcast called Every Second Counts.  Tom will also be speaking with veterans and really f...

We had the pleasure of speaking with Jason Steiner a Marine Corp Veteran and Jesse Cunningham an Army Veteran.  We had the opportunity to learn about Jason and Jesse and their military careers and what led them to this point.  This point being Vetstock 2023.  Vetstock 2023 was the brainchild of Jason looking for a way to have a fun night for Veterans to get together and also have other veteran org...

Join us as we speak to Taylor Ullom Director of Development with Guitars for Vets.  What an amazing story teller, and energy!  Taylor shared her early life as a Marine Corp brat traveling the world and her time in Okinawa as a teenager.  Where she first learned her love for the guitar.  We moved on to her time in the Air Force and some amazing stories that you have to watch/listen to hear.  Some p...

We are excited to have Sheri Smith President and Founder, Navy Veteran of Warriors and Rodeo.  Sheri shared her journey in the Navy a bit for us, along with her husband who she met in the Navy.  How she became a sports agent for Rodeo Athletes and after awhile, learned that she had a calling to take her business a little bit different direction.  By working with Veterans and First Responders in th...

Our 50th Episode has come and gone!  Eric and I would like to first thank all of the awesome people out there that have supported us on this journey.  We would like to thank all of the amazing guests we have had since we started, it has truly been a blessing. We sent out invites to alot of our past guests and didn't know who could show up or not.  It was great to get the group we did.  Actual...

What a great conversation we had with Kat.  Learned a little bit about her service being active duty Air Force.  Kat is the definition of a thrill seeker with her many endeavors.  Things like free climbing, paragliding(you have to listen to her take on this), being a mom, marketer and promoter for her husband Schaefer Mueller, horse back riding, and Roller Derby.  If you want to follow her Roller...

Spoke with Shawn Laurie, a US Army Veteran who I believe doesn't sleep.  He is doing so much to combat Mental Health issues in the veteran community and beyond.  If he isn't sending out positive messages through his multiple Social Media channels, you can read his book or listen to one of his podcasts.  Watch as he shares his time i the service and how he hit rock bottom which created th...

Due to Mike being sick STILL and not communicating, we ended up not having a guest and just talking about some subjects going on around us.  One of those being the Stanford Guide to acceptable Words.  Here is a link to the actual PDF.  https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/stanfordlanguage.pdf Now some of these make sense, but others just sit there and make you shake your head. Also, spoke...

We had a great conversation with Scott DeLuzio an Army Reserve Veteran who saw some combat time in Afghanistan around 2010.  Learned about his time growing up in Connecticut and why he ended up joining the military.  The story about losing his brother in war, and some glimpses into his book Surviving Son.  Also, had the opportunity to learn the why behind starting his podcast.  Scott had some grea...

Eric and Mike decided since we did not have a guest, let's invite our audience to join us on the show.  We ended up with some really great conversations with some past guests of ours.  Don't want to give it away, just have to listen to hear where the conversation goes. Thank you to everyone who joined us! Thank you to Scotty Hasting for the new intro song, please go visit and support him...

This week we spoke to Joey Edibles, a Retired US Air Force Veteran.  Joey is now breaking down the walls of YouTube along with the Stand Up Comedy scene. We learned about his early life and his not so easy road getting in to the Air Force.  Joey shared about some of his 20 years of service along with a tour to Iraq. After leaving the service in 2015 bounced around a bit, but really found a home on...

Tonight we had a Special Guest Host Scott Thatcher that helped to fill in for Mike since he did not have a voice.  Thank you Scott! We had the pleasure of speaking to US Army Combat Veteran turned Songwriter,  Schaefer Mueller.  Schaefer was born and raised in Virginia and after almost graduating with his Civil Engineering degree, when he decided to drop out and join the US Army.  After going thro...

Join us as we speak to Retired Marine Corp Combat Veteran, now Author Chris Whittemore.  What a humbling conversation learning his story.  This man put his life on the line selflessly multiple times, re-enlisting and going to combat areas.  We didn't want to take away from his book, but still had the opportunity to learn about what these brave men and women dealt with in Iraq.  From searching...

Watch/listen as we speak with Tom Ettinger a Retired Marine Corp Veteran.  Tom shared with us his time growing up in New Jersey and going to a Technical High School for HVAC.  He graduated and went to work for a small company, and when that did not work out, found himself joining the Marine Corp.  Learned about his time working as a Marine Corp Recruiter and some of the mental challenges that are...

Great time talking with Chuck Tyler a US Army Veteran.  We learned about his growing up in Virginia and path to joining the military.  Was able to hear about his time in Iraq and the work he did to help in some of the rebuilding process.  Chuck shared his story of being homeless in LA and answering a Craigslist ad to be a Production Assistant and getting the opportunity to turn what he learned in...

We had the opportunity to have a great conversation with Ryan & Samara from COMBAT VETERANS MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION 33-2 out of Stockton, Ca.  They shared the great things CVMA is doing for  local veterans and their families.  Both Ryan & Samara explained how this amazing group of veterans is working tirelessly to get veterans off the streets.  We learned the darkness of how mental health i...

We had the honor of speaking to Chief Dennis Thompson from the North Platte Fire Department.  The Chief is the father of one of our other great guests, Derek Thompson.  The Chief shared the trials and rewards of working with the Fire Department.  He also shared some insight on some of his struggles in life and how he has worked through them with his wife Shawna.  We also learned that he has had a...

We had the pleasure of speaking to Matt Ippolito, Coast Guard veteran turned Youth Pastor.  Matt shared about his time growing up and some of the issues he encountered while in the Coast Guard.  He explained that even though his circle was close, he still struggled with some things.  We were able to learn about the great things he is doing at Hope City Church in Surprise, Arizona.   Go check them...

We are back after some vacation and started off by celebrating Eric's birthday with a little surprise video.  Lucky enough to have some of his family and past guests join us in wishing him a happy birthday.  This week we changed it up a little, our guest wasn't a veteran.  We did however talk about some struggles and making life work when you have a child.   Nate Sisneros joined us and s...

Spoke with Shannon Book a Navy Corpsmen Veteran who served 17 years with two tours to Iraq, including one to Fallujah.  Shannon shared some great stories growing up ( a must listen).  his time in the service and what led him to music.  We were able to play a couple of his songs like Not Alone and Dear Mom.  Don't pass this up! Check out his website at https://shannonbookmusic.com/ Thank you t...