WEBVTT 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.560 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:14.960 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. Good 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:18.379 day. I'm Jim Fausone. I'm the officer of the 00:00:18.379 --> 00:00:20.500 deck today here on Veterans Radio, and thanks 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:23.309 for joining us. We've got some interesting stories 00:00:23.309 --> 00:00:25.410 for you. We always want to remind you, you can 00:00:25.410 --> 00:00:28.489 find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook 00:00:28.489 --> 00:00:32.310 site or at the web, veteransradio .org, where 00:00:32.310 --> 00:00:35.070 we're on the web 24 -7. You can find a lot of 00:00:35.070 --> 00:00:38.189 our podcasts there as well. We post new ones 00:00:38.189 --> 00:00:42.270 every Tuesday, so you can get a new story, a 00:00:42.270 --> 00:00:44.929 new interview, something you didn't know before 00:00:44.929 --> 00:00:49.100 by going to veteransradio .org. And before we 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:52.039 get started, we want to thank our sponsors. First 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:54.840 up, we want to thank National Veteran Business 00:00:54.840 --> 00:01:00.579 Development Council, NVBDC .org. It was established 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:04.180 to certify both service -disabled and veteran 00:01:04.180 --> 00:01:06.540 -owned businesses. You'll find out how they can 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:12.140 help your business by going to NVBDC .org. We 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:15.680 want to thank Legal Help for Veterans. Legal 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.519 Help for Veterans fights for veterans' disability 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:21.840 rights all across the nation. You can reach them 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:30.219 at 800 -693 -4800 or on the web at legalhelpforveterans 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:35.900 .com. And finally, PuroClean. PuroClean is the 00:01:35.900 --> 00:01:38.480 paramedics of property damage. It provides water 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.799 damage remediation, flood water removal, fire 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:45.659 and smoke damage remediation, mold removal, biohazard 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:50.599 cleanup. It also has a focus on veteran franchisees. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:54.180 You can learn more about them by going to pyroclean 00:01:54.180 --> 00:01:57.019 .com. First up, we're going to hear a little 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:00.260 bit about Folds of Honor, a national organization. 00:02:00.739 --> 00:02:02.599 You may have heard a little bit about it, but 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:04.620 this is going to tell you about what they do 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:07.700 and how you can help locally and nationally. 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:11.960 We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today a 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:16.060 couple of board members of Folds of Honor Motor 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:19.639 City Chapter. This is going to be a discussion 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:23.120 about what Folds of Honor is and does and what 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.219 they're doing in the state of Michigan in particular 00:02:25.219 --> 00:02:28.180 with these board members in an upcoming event 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:32.139 that they've got. But let me start with get some 00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:35.770 introductions here. John Peltier is a member 00:02:35.770 --> 00:02:38.669 of the board. He served in the Air Force for, 00:02:38.710 --> 00:02:43.330 oh, it looks like seven, eight years. John, welcome 00:02:43.330 --> 00:02:46.349 to Veterans Radio. Thank you very much, Jim. 00:02:46.370 --> 00:02:47.870 I appreciate it, and thank you for having us 00:02:47.870 --> 00:02:51.310 on. Oh, we're glad to. And Bill Flohr, he's got 00:02:51.310 --> 00:02:54.289 the fancy title. He's the Regional Impact Officer, 00:02:54.550 --> 00:02:56.889 and we'll have him explain what all that means 00:02:56.889 --> 00:03:00.069 later. But, Bill, welcome to Veterans Radio. 00:03:00.629 --> 00:03:02.610 Yeah, thank you very much for having me. Appreciate 00:03:02.610 --> 00:03:05.039 it. Well, I'll let either one of you take this 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:08.520 first thing. I think most people who are listening 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:11.080 to Veterans Radio are veterans and friends and 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:14.159 probably have heard of Folds of Honor because 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.979 it's a big national organization. But why don't 00:03:16.979 --> 00:03:20.300 you tell us a little bit about it? Yeah, so, 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.819 again, thanks a lot. So it was started right 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:28.900 here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2007, when our 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:32.439 founder, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, was coming 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:36.680 back from his second tour duty and and uh was 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:39.500 on a flight with uh unfortunately a fallen soldier 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:42.360 and decided that he wanted to do something had 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:46.020 a small golf event um up in grand haven called 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:48.759 the grand haven golf club uh raised a little 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:52.120 bit of money but for the family and then decided 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:54.900 that uh to create folds of honor and what folds 00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:57.780 of honor does is provide educational scholarships 00:03:57.780 --> 00:04:00.889 to families of wounded and fallen veterans as 00:04:00.889 --> 00:04:04.710 well as first responders so and then you know 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:09.889 look uh about you know 15 years later or so we 00:04:09.889 --> 00:04:12.830 now have the american dunes golf course up in 00:04:12.830 --> 00:04:16.350 grand haven which all the proceeds and profit 00:04:16.350 --> 00:04:19.610 from that golf course go right into our scholarship 00:04:19.610 --> 00:04:24.629 program and in this just after this year We have 00:04:24.629 --> 00:04:28.790 donated over 62 ,000 scholarships totaling over 00:04:28.790 --> 00:04:33.709 about $296 million. Well, and Folds of Honor 00:04:33.709 --> 00:04:39.620 is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Tell me about 00:04:39.620 --> 00:04:42.560 the – well, let's do this because I made fun 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:46.620 of you to begin with, Bill. What is the regional 00:04:46.620 --> 00:04:48.959 impact officer? Are you the guys who go around 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:52.040 and punch people if they don't contribute? Yeah, 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:54.839 yeah. If they don't support our mission, we go 00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:58.860 around slashing tires. Strong arm. Yeah. No, 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:01.259 so I handle the state of Michigan for the Folds 00:05:01.259 --> 00:05:03.500 of Honor, and I work closely with – the Motor 00:05:03.500 --> 00:05:06.199 City chapter, as well as the Michigan chapter, 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:09.819 and American Dunes up at Grand Haven. So I'm 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:14.339 just support for all of them, and I'm really 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:18.800 a conduit between them and the contacts with 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.379 a lot of our corporate partners and fundraising 00:05:22.379 --> 00:05:26.800 efforts all over the state. It's really an amazing 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:30.220 number. You said it. I want to slow down and 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:34.980 say it again because it's so amazing. 62 ,000 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:41.120 scholarships. Yes. Over $290 million in all 50 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.279 states. Yep. Talk to us about the students who 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:47.980 get these scholarships. That's a whole lot of 00:05:47.980 --> 00:05:53.100 kids. It is an amazing amount of kids, and we 00:05:53.100 --> 00:05:57.350 continue to grow. Really every year, you know, 00:05:57.350 --> 00:06:01.389 so we handed out in 2024, like just the end of 00:06:01.389 --> 00:06:05.689 this past year, 11000 scholarships. So we still 00:06:05.689 --> 00:06:10.209 had 8000 applicants that we could not fill. I 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:14.310 mean, that's how much we're growing. And so these 00:06:14.310 --> 00:06:17.569 students are all, you know, they can be. the 00:06:17.569 --> 00:06:21.009 children they can also be the spouses of a fallen 00:06:21.009 --> 00:06:23.649 or wounded vet or first responders so it's really 00:06:23.649 --> 00:06:26.889 you know there's no better way than to help a 00:06:26.889 --> 00:06:30.050 family than just to provide an educational experience 00:06:30.050 --> 00:06:34.170 and that's exactly what what we do and and uh 00:06:34.170 --> 00:06:38.269 tell us a little bit uh maybe about the this 00:06:38.269 --> 00:06:43.019 is uh scholarship educational support In a whole 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:45.660 lot of directions. We're not just talking, hey, 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:48.579 if you go to an Ivy League college, we'll help 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:51.959 fund it, is it? No, definitely not. No, it's 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:57.319 trade schools. It's private education for elementary, 00:06:57.500 --> 00:07:01.199 all the way down. It's Michigan, Michigan State. 00:07:01.339 --> 00:07:06.439 It's Lawrence Tech. It's really any school that 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:11.000 the child or spouse chooses. One of the other 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.620 things that I was sort of surprised at is the 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:18.379 makeup of the scholarship recipients, which I 00:07:18.379 --> 00:07:20.560 think is something to brag a little bit about. 00:07:20.740 --> 00:07:26.519 So can you talk about that some? Yeah, so like 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:30.680 you said, there's 45 % of our recipients are 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:35.660 minority -based. So we're very diverse, just 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:39.139 like the country we live in, right? And, you 00:07:39.139 --> 00:07:42.259 know, out of every dollar, 91 cents goes into 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:46.339 that scholarship program. So we're very high 00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:49.600 rated as far as the charity is concerned. But 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:52.100 we're incredibly diverse. You know, when you 00:07:52.100 --> 00:07:56.060 look at, you know, the military, the first responders, 00:07:56.259 --> 00:07:59.420 there's not a single person that that talk about, 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:04.000 you know, race or anything like that. But we're 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.089 so diverse inside. Of all those units, that's 00:08:08.089 --> 00:08:10.949 exactly the way our country is, and that's exactly 00:08:10.949 --> 00:08:13.550 the way our organization is as well. Exactly. 00:08:13.750 --> 00:08:17.829 It mirrors what the society is and what our base 00:08:17.829 --> 00:08:21.089 is with the military. But explain to us, why 00:08:21.089 --> 00:08:24.910 did you get involved? Sure. As I mentioned to 00:08:24.910 --> 00:08:27.269 you prior to the call, I had worked at a company 00:08:27.269 --> 00:08:30.250 in Canton, and we have a gentleman who is our 00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:33.659 president, Russ Bruner. who is he's a great patriot 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:36.000 and he just felt there was a need to do something 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.139 around here there really wasn't that much presence 00:08:38.139 --> 00:08:42.940 for this type of organization so he had rounded 00:08:42.940 --> 00:08:46.000 up a few friends and uh kind of was kicking around 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.919 the idea made a few calls to folds of honor they 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.600 had said well here just uh have a golf outing 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:53.840 for us which is which is a very common thing 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.940 um and maybe you'll raise five thousand dollars 00:08:56.940 --> 00:08:59.200 or such well we ended up raising about thirty 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:02.659 five thousand dollars that first year And my 00:09:02.659 --> 00:09:05.960 boss was a former Marine, and he had mentioned 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:08.799 to Russ that I would probably be a good candidate 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:12.019 with the number of contacts I have as well as 00:09:12.019 --> 00:09:15.539 my military experience. So he'd asked me to join 00:09:15.539 --> 00:09:18.259 the board, too. So that all started in 2017 from 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:22.179 the very get -go. And since then, we have raised 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:26.159 multi -millions of dollars with our board. So 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:30.549 we've really progressed. through the tough times. 00:09:31.470 --> 00:09:34.169 It's kind of tight right now. We're really struggling 00:09:34.169 --> 00:09:37.690 for sponsorships, which is one of the reasons 00:09:37.690 --> 00:09:40.409 we're really trying to hit the pavement this 00:09:40.409 --> 00:09:42.909 time of year while budgets are being created. 00:09:43.129 --> 00:09:46.769 So in a nutshell, that's what I had done. I'm 00:09:46.769 --> 00:09:50.049 a huge fan of the military. My dad was a loadmaster, 00:09:50.269 --> 00:09:54.049 a 24 -year Air Force veteran, a retired E -9. 00:09:55.049 --> 00:09:58.389 I followed in his footsteps. You know, here we 00:09:58.389 --> 00:10:00.649 are today, still supporting our military men 00:10:00.649 --> 00:10:04.370 and women and first responders now. Well, let's 00:10:04.370 --> 00:10:08.110 face it, your dad is a loadmaster. He knew how 00:10:08.110 --> 00:10:10.789 to pack the station wagon for vacations, didn't 00:10:10.789 --> 00:10:15.809 he? You would not believe. Absolutely. Absolutely, 00:10:15.809 --> 00:10:21.029 he did. And so John was voluntold to get involved 00:10:21.029 --> 00:10:24.950 in this organization and dove deep into it and 00:10:24.950 --> 00:10:28.590 is doing a great job. Bill, how did you get involved? 00:10:29.429 --> 00:10:32.970 Well, John actually got me involved. So I was 00:10:32.970 --> 00:10:35.950 a baseball coach for a long time at Northville 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:39.889 High School. We would do armed forces days there. 00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:43.149 where we would just teach our players and stuff 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:46.330 about the sacrifices of so many that allow them 00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:50.269 to play high school baseball and be free. We 00:10:50.269 --> 00:10:52.470 started raising some pretty good money. We had 00:10:52.470 --> 00:10:55.090 a concert in downtown Northville that raised 00:10:55.090 --> 00:11:00.009 about $40 ,000 for homes for our troops. John 00:11:00.009 --> 00:11:02.269 got wind of it because I was working at Staples 00:11:02.269 --> 00:11:06.149 at the time, and John was a customer. They brought 00:11:06.149 --> 00:11:08.730 me in and started talking about Folds of Honor. 00:11:09.629 --> 00:11:11.950 And what I did on the side, and John's like, 00:11:12.070 --> 00:11:14.730 hey, would you consider picking Folds of Honor? 00:11:14.950 --> 00:11:17.850 And I'm like, sure. So we had another event downtown 00:11:17.850 --> 00:11:20.470 Northville with the Killer Flamingos, raised 00:11:20.470 --> 00:11:24.370 about another 45 grand, I think, for Folds of 00:11:24.370 --> 00:11:26.690 Honor. And then all of a sudden, they were asking 00:11:26.690 --> 00:11:30.049 me to join their board. And I've always had a 00:11:30.049 --> 00:11:33.159 great passion for the military. You know, being 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.419 in baseball, we went out to San Diego and saw 00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:39.259 how much the Padres were part of the, you know, 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:41.840 the naval community out there. And we wanted 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:46.240 to do that here. So we did. And it's been a huge 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:48.620 part of my life. That's for sure. He's a little 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:52.240 bit humble, Jim. If you see his basement, he 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:56.559 is a World War II aficionado. And that's kind 00:11:56.559 --> 00:11:59.179 of what one of the events he put on in Northville 00:11:59.179 --> 00:12:02.799 High School. He had displays out front of Northville 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:05.019 High School, and it was humbling. It was very 00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:08.179 humbling. And he is a true patriot, and he does 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:12.580 a ton for pretty much for everybody. One of the 00:12:12.580 --> 00:12:16.220 things that has expanded over time is the families 00:12:16.220 --> 00:12:21.299 that are eligible for these scholarships goes 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:23.940 beyond just military members nowadays, doesn't 00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:28.570 it? Yeah, it definitely does. Again, in 2022, 00:12:28.889 --> 00:12:34.590 on September 11th, our CEO, Lieutenant Colonel 00:12:34.590 --> 00:12:36.029 Rooney, had made the announcement that we were 00:12:36.029 --> 00:12:39.009 going to start supporting first responders, including 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:43.850 the police, the fire, and EMS, just for the simple 00:12:43.850 --> 00:12:46.350 fact that they do the same type of mission only 00:12:46.350 --> 00:12:49.309 internally in the U .S., providing that blanket 00:12:49.309 --> 00:12:53.269 of safety. And support for medical situations 00:12:53.269 --> 00:12:56.769 and fire whenever called upon 24 -7, you know, 00:12:56.769 --> 00:13:01.169 365. So that need was great. There's, you know, 00:13:01.169 --> 00:13:04.509 they have fallen officers. We've unfortunately 00:13:04.509 --> 00:13:09.750 seen that grow at certain times. So the support 00:13:09.750 --> 00:13:11.830 there is needed. We're trying to get that message 00:13:11.830 --> 00:13:15.929 out too. many of the different units, and we've 00:13:15.929 --> 00:13:18.629 had a lot of good luck with the folks up in the 00:13:18.629 --> 00:13:21.649 Linden area. They've got the fire department 00:13:21.649 --> 00:13:25.090 very involved, and we've got a few of the honor 00:13:25.090 --> 00:13:27.149 guards here that we have at all of our events, 00:13:27.350 --> 00:13:30.309 our golf event in September, and then our gala 00:13:30.309 --> 00:13:33.110 again in March, which is kind of the repetition 00:13:33.110 --> 00:13:36.710 that we've been using each year. So yeah, they 00:13:36.710 --> 00:13:38.789 definitely need the support. There is that need, 00:13:38.909 --> 00:13:42.460 and we are here to help fulfill it. One of the 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:44.559 things that I guess I wanted to get across, because 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.740 this interview will be heard all across the country, 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:51.159 is talk to us, and Bill, maybe you're the best 00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:55.259 spot to do it, is Folds of Honor is a national 00:13:55.259 --> 00:14:00.299 charity, isn't it? 100%, yes, sir. Yeah, so we're 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:03.519 in 35 states right now, so we have 35 chapters. 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:09.409 We've got five more that's... Should be up and 00:14:09.409 --> 00:14:11.789 running in a couple months here, so we'll be 00:14:11.789 --> 00:14:14.809 at 40. So we have multiple, obviously, in the 00:14:14.809 --> 00:14:18.990 state of Michigan. So Lieutenant Caroni is based 00:14:18.990 --> 00:14:23.149 out of Tulsa, so that's where our national is 00:14:23.149 --> 00:14:26.629 located. But, yeah, basically every state, pretty 00:14:26.629 --> 00:14:28.570 close, you should be able to find a Folds of 00:14:28.570 --> 00:14:31.730 Honor chapter. Well, let's talk about how folks 00:14:31.730 --> 00:14:35.529 can go online and learn more about. Folds of 00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:38.330 Honor and see if there's something in their state 00:14:38.330 --> 00:14:41.809 or see if there's a way for them to be in touch. 00:14:42.009 --> 00:14:46.210 So where would they go to do that, John? Well, 00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:51.509 we've got regional, each different Folds of Honor 00:14:51.509 --> 00:14:55.250 chapter has their own website and contact points 00:14:55.250 --> 00:14:58.990 and information regarding what their events are, 00:14:59.090 --> 00:15:02.149 as well as the national Folds of Honor webpage. 00:15:03.049 --> 00:15:07.950 So you can each, even the Folds of Honor is foldsofhonormotorcity 00:15:07.950 --> 00:15:12.690 .org. And they can reach out and take a look 00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:14.769 on our website. And we try to keep that updated 00:15:14.769 --> 00:15:18.190 with our events. We've got swag that we try to 00:15:18.190 --> 00:15:21.750 sell. We go to different events that support 00:15:21.750 --> 00:15:25.509 our cause, like the golf show. and different 00:15:25.509 --> 00:15:29.269 car events. And just wherever we see a kind of 00:15:29.269 --> 00:15:32.570 a good fit, we try to attend those events. So 00:15:32.570 --> 00:15:35.649 mainly we are on all social medias. We've got 00:15:35.649 --> 00:15:38.370 a big presence on Facebook. We've got a presence 00:15:38.370 --> 00:15:42.389 on Instagram as well. So we can also be found 00:15:42.389 --> 00:15:44.750 just by using the search engine and going on 00:15:44.750 --> 00:15:47.009 there and looking for Folds of Honor Motor City 00:15:47.009 --> 00:15:51.070 or Folds of Honor Org. And Folds of Honor National 00:15:51.070 --> 00:15:54.090 lists all of the chapter locations. So that's 00:15:54.090 --> 00:15:57.210 a good place to see if they're represented. There's 00:15:57.210 --> 00:15:59.809 one in Toledo. So if your bandwidth spreads down 00:15:59.809 --> 00:16:02.269 Toledo, those people will know about it. the 00:16:02.269 --> 00:16:05.429 Motor City, and then again in Grand Rapids. So 00:16:05.429 --> 00:16:08.590 that's three within this region that are available 00:16:08.590 --> 00:16:11.850 for the people to focus their attention on and 00:16:11.850 --> 00:16:14.230 look for opportunities for scholarship applications. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:20.600 You'll also see our logo on so many products 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:24.139 out there. Budweiser is obviously our biggest 00:16:24.139 --> 00:16:28.840 supporter. They've donated over $23 million since 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:32.539 we've started. So you'll see our logo every summer 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:35.720 on Budweiser and on their trucks all over the 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:40.480 United States. But Budweiser and pretzels, ketchup, 00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:43.620 red gold ketchup, and Coca -Cola. I mean, you'll 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:46.870 see. Our folded fly with the Folds of Honor written 00:16:46.870 --> 00:16:49.669 right underneath it on so many products across 00:16:49.669 --> 00:16:52.230 the nation. Yeah, I want to direct people to 00:16:52.230 --> 00:16:56.289 thefoldsofhonor .org of the National. There's 00:16:56.289 --> 00:16:59.049 up on the banner, there's the chapters, and there's 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:01.289 three in Texas, for example. There's three in 00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:04.750 Florida, a couple in California. So they're really 00:17:04.750 --> 00:17:09.690 spread from what looks like Boston. to Southern 00:17:09.690 --> 00:17:12.410 California, really all across the state. You 00:17:12.410 --> 00:17:14.329 brought it up. I want to expand on this a little 00:17:14.329 --> 00:17:16.869 bit because you can't do this kind of work without 00:17:16.869 --> 00:17:20.049 significant support. You have a lot of corporate 00:17:20.049 --> 00:17:22.670 sponsors at the national level. And again, those 00:17:22.670 --> 00:17:25.490 are listed on the national site. Who are your 00:17:25.490 --> 00:17:30.089 sponsors? Who are on the corporate side is helping 00:17:30.089 --> 00:17:35.910 Folds of Honor Motor City? Yeah, so you're so 00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:39.099 right. We could not do this without. any partner 00:17:39.099 --> 00:17:42.099 corporate or you know personal private partner 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:46.019 but so like locally motor city lineage logistics 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:50.460 is a very huge partner uh mcdermott uh coppercraft 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:53.740 we're coming out with a new uh uh folds of honor 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:56.859 whiskey that's uh uh i probably should have said 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:58.740 that because i'm spilling the beans but it's 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:02.279 coming out this summer uh where's your bat yeah 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:06.490 we'll advance yeah okay in michigan but like 00:18:06.490 --> 00:18:11.009 jacob matthew jewelers allied insurance um panasonic 00:18:11.009 --> 00:18:17.430 automotive is huge um eotech Kendra Scott, Vet 00:18:17.430 --> 00:18:20.750 Tech. And then, you know, coming on board soon 00:18:20.750 --> 00:18:24.190 is Meijer. I mean, I think people in Michigan 00:18:24.190 --> 00:18:28.029 know Meijer a little bit. Absolutely. As well 00:18:28.029 --> 00:18:29.990 as Spartan Nash Grocery Stores. You're going 00:18:29.990 --> 00:18:33.349 to see a lot of stuff in 2025 in both of those 00:18:33.349 --> 00:18:38.869 retail outlets. They're just unbelievably patriotic, 00:18:38.890 --> 00:18:42.799 but community oriented as well. You've got to 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:44.880 have corporate support, but you also have individual 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.180 support because that's where volunteers come 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:52.220 from. That's funny you say that because we don't 00:18:52.220 --> 00:18:55.220 have a ton of paid employees like John here and 00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:57.220 Russ and all of our board members. They're all 00:18:57.220 --> 00:18:59.980 volunteers. They're all volunteers. And, you 00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:02.900 know, being in Motor City, you know. You know 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:05.339 how Detroit is, man. Everybody wants to give 00:19:05.339 --> 00:19:08.240 and help. And, you know, we're looking for those 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:11.759 motor partners, the Fords and GMs and all those 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:15.420 tier ones to hop on board with all of our volunteers 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:18.359 with corporate sponsorship as well as, you know, 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:21.900 their veteran giving and cause marketing that 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:25.000 they have. But so many volunteers and that's 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.579 why we're so good at the Gold Star, you know, 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:31.200 91 cents. is our rating. It's just unbelievable. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:36.720 The overhead. Just minimal overhead. Where I'm 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:38.960 trying to go is you've got to get the individuals 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.440 out, and one way to get individuals out is their 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:44.500 participation in a couple of your signature events. 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:47.880 You have a signature event coming up in March 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:51.259 of 2025. One of you want to tell us about it? 00:19:52.329 --> 00:19:56.950 Our gala that we do is right at St. John's, which 00:19:56.950 --> 00:19:59.809 is absolutely just one of the most beautiful 00:19:59.809 --> 00:20:03.529 resorts in Plymouth, Michigan. It's great. They're 00:20:03.529 --> 00:20:07.130 really great partners. It's our Red, White, and 00:20:07.130 --> 00:20:11.990 Blue Gala. It's March 15th, right at St. John's. 00:20:12.509 --> 00:20:15.450 We'll have probably about 350 people in there. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:19.480 And it's just great to learn about our mission. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:23.460 You'll hear stories of our recipients. There's 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:27.019 a ton of military and veterans that attend. You 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:29.220 know, Rich Luterman is our emcee. He's been from 00:20:29.220 --> 00:20:31.660 day one. And this will be our fifth one this 00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:36.259 year. I mean, our fifth one so far. And Rich, 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:38.819 all I do is I call Rich and he's like, yep, I'm 00:20:38.819 --> 00:20:41.000 in. Because, you know, he's an Air Force veteran 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:44.960 himself. But he's our emcee. And it's just a... 00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:49.579 unbelievable, patriotic night. People are interested 00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:54.420 in attending or supporting Folds of Honor, Motor 00:20:54.420 --> 00:20:58.700 City. John, what's the best way for them to do 00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:03.660 that? Go to our website, our Motor City website, 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:07.799 and there is a link on there to One Cause. And 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:10.660 One Cause is basically our platform that we use 00:21:10.660 --> 00:21:14.660 for ticket sales and merchandise, any type of 00:21:14.660 --> 00:21:18.259 financial functions that we try to route them 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:23.539 through that One Cause. Or you could reach out 00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:28.700 to Bill Flohr. Bill's email address is bflohr, 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:34.500 F -L -O -H -R, at foldsofhonor .org. And Bill, 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:38.140 he fields a lot of those calls, especially from 00:21:38.140 --> 00:21:41.740 some of the higher level sponsorships. But go 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:43.839 to that location. You'll see that information 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:46.720 on there. We try to keep it on our Facebook page 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:48.420 as well, and it will take you right to ticket 00:21:48.420 --> 00:21:51.299 sales. It will also provide opportunities for 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:54.380 sponsorships on there as well. So that's one 00:21:54.380 --> 00:21:55.819 of the main things that we're looking for. We 00:21:55.819 --> 00:21:58.740 generally get a decent number of individuals, 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:01.660 but we're always, always pounding the pavement 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:04.640 looking for additional sponsors. And I think 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:06.599 that's a repetitive theme you've heard here today. 00:22:07.299 --> 00:22:12.940 Well, I want to thank both John Peltier and Bill 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:16.859 Flohr with Folds of Honor Motor City and Folds 00:22:16.859 --> 00:22:19.880 of Honor Michigan for educating us a little bit 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:22.259 about the great work that they're doing in providing 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:24.980 scholarships. We greatly appreciate it, and we 00:22:24.980 --> 00:22:27.500 greatly appreciate your time, Jim. This has been 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:31.599 a fantastic opportunity for us. Absolutely. Thank 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:34.769 you so much, man. Thanks, gentlemen. Right after 00:22:34.769 --> 00:22:37.430 some words from our sponsors, and I hope you 00:22:37.430 --> 00:22:39.930 learned something about Folds of Honor, but as 00:22:39.930 --> 00:22:42.049 we were talking, sponsorship is so important 00:22:42.049 --> 00:22:44.869 to keep these nonprofit endeavors going on, like 00:22:44.869 --> 00:22:48.970 veteransradio .org. So you're going to hear from 00:22:48.970 --> 00:22:51.529 our sponsors, and then we're going to probably 00:22:51.529 --> 00:22:55.809 bend your mind a little bit about at what age 00:22:55.809 --> 00:22:58.190 is it appropriate or not appropriate to be in 00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:00.250 military service, and what are the consequences 00:23:00.250 --> 00:23:04.500 of age in military service. fascinating discussion 00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:09.680 military veterans touch everyone's life I'm guessing 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:11.920 right now you're thinking of a veteran a close 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:15.420 friend relative maybe it's you even the toughest 00:23:15.420 --> 00:23:17.700 of us sometimes need help but don't know where 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:20.049 to turn for support You don't need special training 00:23:20.049 --> 00:23:22.549 to help a veteran in your life. Even small actions 00:23:22.549 --> 00:23:25.049 can make a world of difference. If you know a 00:23:25.049 --> 00:23:27.450 veteran in crisis, please call the Veterans Crisis 00:23:27.450 --> 00:23:34.849 Line, 800 -273 -8255, 800 -273 -8255. A message 00:23:34.849 --> 00:23:36.509 from the U .S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 00:23:36.930 --> 00:23:39.269 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of 00:23:39.269 --> 00:23:41.470 Veterans Appeals, contact Legal Help for Veterans 00:23:41.470 --> 00:23:46.160 at 1 -800 -693 -4800. They're experts in handling 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.440 cases before the U .S. Court of Appeals for Veterans 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:52.400 Claims. Their number again, 1 -800 -693 -4800. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.779 We also couldn't do this work here at Veterans 00:23:55.779 --> 00:24:00.099 Radio without the support of sponsors such as 00:24:00.099 --> 00:24:03.180 the National Vietnam Veterans of America, the 00:24:03.180 --> 00:24:06.819 local VSOs like Vietnam Veterans of America, 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:10.380 Charles S. Kettles Chapter in Ann Arbor, VFW, 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:14.339 Graf O 'Hara Post 423 in American Legion. Press 00:24:14.339 --> 00:24:18.380 Corn Post 46 in Ann Arbor. So we want to recognize 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:21.079 all their support over the years as well as we 00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:23.740 move into our next interview, which I say may 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:26.839 bend your mind a little bit. We want to welcome 00:24:26.839 --> 00:24:31.279 to Veterans Radio today, Lieutenant Colonel U 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:35.119 .S. Army Retired Lanny Snodgrass, who more importantly, 00:24:35.140 --> 00:24:38.420 I should say, is Dr. Lanny Snodgrass, a respected 00:24:38.420 --> 00:24:41.259 psychiatrist. Lanny, welcome to Veterans Radio. 00:24:42.059 --> 00:24:45.759 Thank you. Well, this is a real pleasure to talk 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:50.279 to somebody with your experience and your expertise 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:54.500 in the field of psychiatry and your time in the 00:24:54.500 --> 00:24:58.880 Army. So let's start with this. You earned your 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:01.400 Ph .D. in psychology from the University of Oregon. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:05.539 You went on and got your M .D. degree. And then 00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:07.980 you went off and did residency and training and 00:25:07.980 --> 00:25:10.880 all of that and then worked for... Almost 20 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:14.819 years, I think, with the Veterans Affairs, doing 00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:21.240 psychiatry. And with the Department, well, let's 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:23.900 see. Yeah, well, it'd be also with the Department 00:25:23.900 --> 00:25:26.779 of Defense, because I volunteered to leave the 00:25:26.779 --> 00:25:32.700 Veterans Service and go into the Gulf War and 00:25:32.700 --> 00:25:36.539 be assigned to the 98th General Hospital in Germany, 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:40.799 in Nuremberg. You developed through all of that 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:45.160 experience and expertise, if you will, in PTSD 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:48.180 and military psychiatry. Is that fair to say? 00:25:48.940 --> 00:25:53.640 Yes. And somewhere along the line, later in your 00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:58.019 life, in years, you said, hey, I want to get 00:25:58.019 --> 00:25:59.940 off the sidelines. I actually want to join up 00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:04.359 and serve. Talk to us about that process at what 00:26:04.359 --> 00:26:08.490 some might say is an advanced age. Well, for 00:26:08.490 --> 00:26:12.789 decades, you know, I had witnessed the profound 00:26:12.789 --> 00:26:16.950 impact of war upon veterans in active duty, visible 00:26:16.950 --> 00:26:21.690 and invisible scars, only I was dealing primarily 00:26:21.690 --> 00:26:26.230 with the invisible scars. Although we know that 00:26:26.230 --> 00:26:30.690 certainly psychiatric problems can lead to also 00:26:30.690 --> 00:26:34.029 somatic problems or, you know, other disorders, 00:26:34.309 --> 00:26:36.950 medical disorders. It's all integrated, the mind 00:26:36.950 --> 00:26:41.819 and body. But after listening to these soldiers, 00:26:42.420 --> 00:26:47.380 these service members, soldiers, airmen, all 00:26:47.380 --> 00:26:51.599 of the different branches of the service, and 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:59.980 hearing the problems of depression, anxiety, 00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:05.799 post -traumatic stress that they were dealing 00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:11.380 with. I felt like there was something that I 00:27:11.380 --> 00:27:19.059 had to do to fill this void that I had. Not having 00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:26.539 ever joined that group of people known as the 00:27:26.539 --> 00:27:32.039 Battle Buddy, I felt that fraternity was something 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:35.430 that I had to become a part of. I just had to 00:27:35.430 --> 00:27:38.069 become a part of it before I got here. And so 00:27:38.069 --> 00:27:44.130 this just gnawed at me like a discomfort. It 00:27:44.130 --> 00:27:46.950 chased me through most of my career. Until at 00:27:46.950 --> 00:27:52.609 age 63, I dove in. And in spite of the fact that, 00:27:52.630 --> 00:27:54.930 you know, having waited three years after my 00:27:54.930 --> 00:27:59.069 physical examination for the military to give 00:27:59.069 --> 00:28:03.549 me a pass for my age. I had developed a heart 00:28:03.549 --> 00:28:06.769 condition. I had a base rate of 43, and I was 00:28:06.769 --> 00:28:08.490 skipping beats about three and a half seconds 00:28:08.490 --> 00:28:11.789 between beats. I was very marginal to go into 00:28:11.789 --> 00:28:16.410 any kind of basic exercise or training. But I 00:28:16.410 --> 00:28:20.809 said, you know, if this kills me, okay, but I'm 00:28:20.809 --> 00:28:24.349 going to do it and build my life. Well, I mean, 00:28:24.369 --> 00:28:27.150 this is an amazing part of the story is a guy 00:28:27.150 --> 00:28:30.849 who's 60 years old. professional, accomplished, 00:28:31.089 --> 00:28:34.150 has done so much, still has this burning desire 00:28:34.150 --> 00:28:37.789 of saying, hey, I want to serve. And really the 00:28:37.789 --> 00:28:40.210 name of your book that we're talking about is 00:28:40.210 --> 00:28:42.829 The Ageless Call to Serve, Rethinking Military 00:28:42.829 --> 00:28:49.150 Service for a Changing World. And you go in, 00:28:49.230 --> 00:28:51.150 as you say, it takes them three years. You're 00:28:51.150 --> 00:28:56.630 63 when you go into basic training. You know, 00:28:56.650 --> 00:28:59.390 the average age is probably down in the 20s. 00:28:59.750 --> 00:29:04.970 Talk to us about the physicalness of this. Yeah, 00:29:04.970 --> 00:29:06.930 I was a bunch of other grandchildren. They were 00:29:06.930 --> 00:29:14.170 like, I mean, I was like another planet. So green 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:21.769 in so many ways. It was, I had no real pre -orientation. 00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:31.640 Getting down there, I remember meeting one of 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:39.119 the enlisted coming in, and she said, well, where 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:42.160 were you having our meetup? I said, I don't know. 00:29:42.180 --> 00:29:44.980 I'm trying to find it myself, the building. And 00:29:44.980 --> 00:29:47.400 she said, well, I said, what do you do in the 00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:57.419 military? And she says, well, I pass gas. And 00:29:57.419 --> 00:30:02.019 I'm thinking, whoa, they've got some new nomenclature. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:05.660 I'm going to have to really bone up here to find 00:30:05.660 --> 00:30:08.119 out what this culture is all about. Well, it 00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:10.960 is an interesting culture to be in the military, 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:13.619 and certainly most of us do it at a younger age. 00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:16.980 But you got yourself through basic, and this 00:30:16.980 --> 00:30:21.920 is... 2003, the Iraq War started. There's a huge 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:25.640 shortage of military doctors. That's probably 00:30:25.640 --> 00:30:28.920 why the standards on age got relaxed in your 00:30:28.920 --> 00:30:31.059 instance. And I know some other doctors who went 00:30:31.059 --> 00:30:34.160 in around that time, again, at a more advanced 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:37.700 age because they have the specialty and the services 00:30:37.700 --> 00:30:41.940 that are needed. But I found your book interesting 00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:44.519 because you tell us a lot about some history 00:30:44.519 --> 00:30:47.630 I wasn't paying any attention to, I guess. On 00:30:47.630 --> 00:30:53.710 the age of those who fight or those who get drafted, 00:30:53.769 --> 00:30:58.029 in the Civil War, the draft was up to 45 in age. 00:30:58.130 --> 00:31:01.690 In World War II, it was up to 35 in age. In Britain, 00:31:01.809 --> 00:31:04.430 in World War II, they had our Home Guard. If 00:31:04.430 --> 00:31:07.769 you were between 40 and 70 years, you can serve. 00:31:08.109 --> 00:31:11.710 And even today, apparently, in the Russian Army 00:31:11.710 --> 00:31:14.670 and the Ukraine War, if you're up to 70, they 00:31:14.670 --> 00:31:18.960 still may pull you in. The American model, which 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:21.640 is just focused on youth, is not necessarily 00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:25.220 used all around the world, is it? Not at all. 00:31:25.299 --> 00:31:30.279 It isn't at all. It's been very inflexible. Essentially, 00:31:30.900 --> 00:31:37.559 we have not changed the limits or the age restrictions 00:31:37.559 --> 00:31:46.269 in the military, the upper or lower. Okay, the 00:31:46.269 --> 00:31:50.130 last two years, I think the Navy changed the 00:31:50.130 --> 00:31:56.849 upper limits of enlistment for those that were 00:31:56.849 --> 00:32:01.930 39 to move that to 41. But other than that, I 00:32:01.930 --> 00:32:05.410 mean, there has been virtually nothing done. 00:32:05.670 --> 00:32:09.710 And I don't think that there's any mandate out 00:32:09.710 --> 00:32:15.900 there by the upper echelon to even Give serious 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:18.640 thought to this. Well, let's admit young recruits 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:21.220 have to be a whole lot more malleable than an 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:25.240 old crusty guy like you who's been around the 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:27.180 world before and said, I don't know if this makes 00:32:27.180 --> 00:32:29.839 sense. But the reason this is important, this 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:32.519 age issue is important, is what you write about 00:32:32.519 --> 00:32:36.500 in the book too on how, and I'd like to expand 00:32:36.500 --> 00:32:43.640 on this, how younger recruits, younger enlisted 00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:48.730 folks, are more likely to find themselves exposed 00:32:48.730 --> 00:32:51.930 to and suffering from PTSD in the long term. 00:32:52.049 --> 00:32:54.529 I found this discussion on age really interesting. 00:32:54.710 --> 00:32:57.750 Could you talk about that? Yeah, well, recent 00:32:57.750 --> 00:33:02.150 studies have come out by people like the researcher 00:33:02.150 --> 00:33:10.190 Dolan and his associates have discovered that 00:33:10.190 --> 00:33:15.700 if you send a person into a war zone, into combat, 00:33:16.019 --> 00:33:23.519 under age 25, that person has way more than twice 00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:26.319 the risk of developing post -traumatic stress 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:31.480 disorder, as those are 25 and older. The prefrontal 00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:36.859 cortex of young people is not mature until around 00:33:36.859 --> 00:33:46.140 age 25. The recruitment objectives are to go 00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:54.599 and recruit these young men or women and to have 00:33:54.599 --> 00:34:01.500 them be the bulwark for the grunt work in the 00:34:01.500 --> 00:34:08.179 line of fire. Now, why are they so attractive? 00:34:08.699 --> 00:34:13.880 Well, because they're... They believe they have 00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:16.679 this virtual vitality, which they have a lot 00:34:16.679 --> 00:34:23.019 of. They also have naivety. And the other element 00:34:23.019 --> 00:34:28.559 is fearlessness. They have fearlessness. So they 00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:31.159 will take an order, even though they know that 00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:33.920 this order by the commander is going to result 00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:37.599 in total annihilation. They will still follow 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:40.559 that order. Well, and our young folks don't have 00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:43.920 the same level of responsibility at home, maybe. 00:34:43.960 --> 00:34:46.579 Maybe they don't have a family yet or a wife 00:34:46.579 --> 00:34:49.639 or a mortgage or a spouse and kids. I mean, it's 00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:52.860 a different, whole different way of thinking 00:34:52.860 --> 00:34:56.519 when you're unburdened by all of that than somebody 00:34:56.519 --> 00:34:59.420 who's 60 years old and says, okay, I've paid 00:34:59.420 --> 00:35:01.199 off the house, I've paid off the bills, but I 00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:04.800 got these other responsibilities. It's very interesting 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:08.909 to think about Should you do something different 00:35:08.909 --> 00:35:13.730 on the age of combatants? Because this is a long 00:35:13.730 --> 00:35:18.409 -term implication. If I'm sending young folks 00:35:18.409 --> 00:35:22.329 in less than 25 years of age and I'm increasing 00:35:22.329 --> 00:35:26.309 their likelihood of PTSD, on the back end, the 00:35:26.309 --> 00:35:30.300 nation has to... pay for those folks for their 00:35:30.300 --> 00:35:32.019 health care, their treatment, their disability 00:35:32.019 --> 00:35:35.559 when they get out over on the VA side. Not on 00:35:35.559 --> 00:35:37.559 the DOD side. I'm taking those young guys in. 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.480 But if you're looking at the total cost of this, 00:35:40.579 --> 00:35:43.400 and this is probably what you saw when you worked 00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:46.619 at the VA, is, hey, these guys come out and they've 00:35:46.619 --> 00:35:50.679 got this problem for a long time. Absolutely. 00:35:50.760 --> 00:35:55.119 The chronicity is what you really worry about. 00:35:55.699 --> 00:36:01.159 It's the one -third. that never get really much 00:36:01.159 --> 00:36:06.679 better. And I dealt with so much of this over 00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:12.019 the years and of how this leaves such scars that 00:36:12.019 --> 00:36:18.179 cannot be healed and they suffer, you know, the 00:36:18.179 --> 00:36:21.500 rest of their life. And then what we've seen 00:36:21.500 --> 00:36:26.590 is that the children of those with PTSD of how 00:36:26.590 --> 00:36:36.309 this affects them. There was some program here 00:36:36.309 --> 00:36:41.090 not long ago that was addressing this and had 00:36:41.090 --> 00:36:46.110 several fathers and children together and talking 00:36:46.110 --> 00:36:50.489 about the impact that PTSD has left on the lives 00:36:50.489 --> 00:36:57.389 and how the children tried to in some way, be 00:36:57.389 --> 00:37:02.590 a healing force, but not knowing how to do it, 00:37:02.630 --> 00:37:05.610 but wanting to care for the father that dealt 00:37:05.610 --> 00:37:12.909 this horrible disease. And it created lots of 00:37:12.909 --> 00:37:18.690 anxiety, even some suicidal thoughts. There's 00:37:18.690 --> 00:37:21.110 a good point I want to jump off from, because 00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:25.519 Again, there's this long -term, you know, you 00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:28.179 want, the book talks about we really should rethink 00:37:28.179 --> 00:37:31.019 this strategy a little bit. And an area where 00:37:31.019 --> 00:37:34.500 you make some interesting observations is the 00:37:34.500 --> 00:37:38.940 recruitment or enlistment screening that is or 00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:42.360 isn't done for things like suicide and generational 00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:45.840 trauma. Can you talk a little bit about that 00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:48.960 so people can get a thought of what your ideas 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:52.630 are here? Well, I've been on the other end of 00:37:52.630 --> 00:37:55.510 this course dealing with those that probably 00:37:55.510 --> 00:37:58.469 should have never come into the military in the 00:37:58.469 --> 00:38:01.650 beginning. And the front loading, I call it the 00:38:01.650 --> 00:38:06.010 front loading, where you have a history of trauma, 00:38:06.170 --> 00:38:11.710 you have a history of abuse. And I mean, some 00:38:11.710 --> 00:38:15.630 people are able to overcome that, but not all, 00:38:15.690 --> 00:38:19.000 not all. I think there should be a psychological 00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:24.119 test. We have a pretty good arsenal of psychological 00:38:24.119 --> 00:38:28.519 tests that can be given to detect those that 00:38:28.519 --> 00:38:32.960 are really on the marginal line of survival as 00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:36.119 far as psychological survival in the military 00:38:36.119 --> 00:38:40.920 and those that aren't. I just don't think enough 00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:45.199 attention is given to that. The pressures are 00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:50.690 really pretty heavy on the recruiter. He's obligated 00:38:50.690 --> 00:38:55.650 in order to keep his promotion moving forward 00:38:55.650 --> 00:39:01.510 and his pension to get that quota met every month 00:39:01.510 --> 00:39:06.409 he has mandates. I think that there have been 00:39:06.409 --> 00:39:13.659 a lot of misgivings about not wanting to to delve 00:39:13.659 --> 00:39:16.940 into the history further, not willing to want 00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:21.800 to get good screening techniques in order to 00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:27.000 not allow some of these that really don't have 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:29.099 the resilience, they don't have the capabilities 00:39:29.099 --> 00:39:33.639 to adapt to this kind of stress. Now, there are 00:39:33.639 --> 00:39:37.119 some of these young people that go in the military 00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:42.409 that they could be salvaged. If there was a mentor 00:39:42.409 --> 00:39:45.829 that they could identify with, a sergeant perhaps, 00:39:45.989 --> 00:39:49.469 that they could identify with, that would give 00:39:49.469 --> 00:39:56.130 attention to help reinforce the right positive 00:39:56.130 --> 00:40:00.190 attitude and emotions towards stress and dealing 00:40:00.190 --> 00:40:02.769 with stress. But they don't have time for this. 00:40:03.489 --> 00:40:07.250 They really don't. And it's very rare you find 00:40:07.250 --> 00:40:13.190 some exceptional. sergeant or supervised position 00:40:13.190 --> 00:40:16.530 of a person that's going to take that kind of 00:40:16.530 --> 00:40:20.510 care and responsibility and time. So I think 00:40:20.510 --> 00:40:23.110 screening is very valuable, very important. It 00:40:23.110 --> 00:40:28.690 would certainly spare a great number of these 00:40:28.690 --> 00:40:35.050 young people from disappointment, from failure. 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:40.340 and inability to adapt and continue to fulfill 00:40:40.340 --> 00:40:44.059 their obligation in the military. The burdensome 00:40:44.059 --> 00:40:47.260 problems of this are great when you consider 00:40:47.260 --> 00:40:51.400 the resource that has to be mustered in order 00:40:51.400 --> 00:40:56.860 to take care of those that now have decompensated, 00:40:57.000 --> 00:41:03.659 and their psychiatric condition is such that 00:41:03.659 --> 00:41:06.409 they require a great deal amount of it. of care 00:41:06.409 --> 00:41:10.989 and intense work you can really see that stabilized 00:41:10.989 --> 00:41:13.690 yeah you can see that tension right the retention 00:41:13.690 --> 00:41:16.949 the tension between the recruiting needs but 00:41:16.949 --> 00:41:20.710 in the long -term tension then of there's going 00:41:20.710 --> 00:41:22.969 to be a problem here that's going to take you 00:41:22.969 --> 00:41:25.690 know years and years of treatment because this 00:41:25.690 --> 00:41:29.889 person was maybe a little more susceptible maybe 00:41:29.889 --> 00:41:34.409 they had generational trauma their age There 00:41:34.409 --> 00:41:37.130 really is sort of that tension. Well, if we know 00:41:37.130 --> 00:41:39.090 about susceptibility, that increases the chances 00:41:39.090 --> 00:41:43.789 of PTSD. We know that, especially those that 00:41:43.789 --> 00:41:49.650 are abused. Studies bring out this in terms of 00:41:49.650 --> 00:41:53.369 that age group that is most susceptible to PTSD 00:41:53.369 --> 00:41:57.090 when they are in a war zone, when they're in 00:41:57.090 --> 00:42:08.530 combat, that given those facts, of their maldevelopment 00:42:08.530 --> 00:42:14.070 and not having the resilience, the percentage 00:42:14.070 --> 00:42:17.250 for PTSD goes up to 97 % for those individuals. 00:42:19.630 --> 00:42:23.170 It's really amazing, and it gets you back to 00:42:23.170 --> 00:42:30.849 where you have to really think about this. better 00:42:30.849 --> 00:42:33.809 psychological screening tools would be so important 00:42:33.809 --> 00:42:37.550 but but you also talk about a concept that i 00:42:37.550 --> 00:42:40.949 want to get some of your thoughts on and and 00:42:40.949 --> 00:42:45.670 that is resiliency talk to us about what resiliency 00:42:45.670 --> 00:42:49.769 is and how the military could be a do a better 00:42:49.769 --> 00:42:56.329 job at helping it exist in its service members 00:42:57.230 --> 00:43:01.050 Well, I think resiliency, if the military has 00:43:01.050 --> 00:43:07.489 some preparatory program before basic training, 00:43:07.670 --> 00:43:12.150 before basic training ever starts, and let's 00:43:12.150 --> 00:43:16.090 say it's two weeks, I would say at least two 00:43:16.090 --> 00:43:20.349 weeks minimum of how to adapt to stress and how 00:43:20.349 --> 00:43:24.650 to approach stressful events, issues in your 00:43:24.650 --> 00:43:28.719 life that you're going to, be confronted with 00:43:28.719 --> 00:43:32.659 in your service, in your duty assignments for 00:43:32.659 --> 00:43:38.300 the military. Techniques. I mean, you know, in 00:43:38.300 --> 00:43:40.980 this orientation, what you need is role models. 00:43:41.159 --> 00:43:45.400 You need some good, resilient role models to 00:43:45.400 --> 00:43:51.300 give them the kind of approach, a mental approach 00:43:51.300 --> 00:43:56.199 to dealing with stresses. And perceiving those 00:43:56.199 --> 00:43:59.179 not as problems, but as challenges. And that's 00:43:59.179 --> 00:44:01.139 a whole different mental shift when you look 00:44:01.139 --> 00:44:04.860 at a stress point and an issue that you have 00:44:04.860 --> 00:44:09.219 to confront as a challenge rather than as a problem. 00:44:10.500 --> 00:44:13.340 But the people that really have resilience, that's 00:44:13.340 --> 00:44:19.159 exactly what they do. They perceive those. They 00:44:19.159 --> 00:44:22.199 say, bring it on. You know, I'm here to resolve. 00:44:22.750 --> 00:44:27.909 these things. I'm here to grow from this. The 00:44:27.909 --> 00:44:35.250 approach has to be for all, I think, going into 00:44:35.250 --> 00:44:37.690 the military, for all of these young people, 00:44:37.809 --> 00:44:40.789 we're talking about 18, 19 -year -olds. I'm not 00:44:40.789 --> 00:44:46.530 opposing for the military to not take 18, 19 00:44:46.530 --> 00:44:50.389 -year -olds into service. It's just I don't think 00:44:50.389 --> 00:44:53.460 that I think it's a flawed concept. Well, we 00:44:53.460 --> 00:44:55.119 ought to prepare them. We ought to prepare them 00:44:55.119 --> 00:44:59.980 right, right? To put them into the line of fire 00:44:59.980 --> 00:45:07.119 at that age. Now, you know, 21, older, I don't 00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:10.139 know what the magic age is. That would be the 00:45:10.139 --> 00:45:14.119 really prime age, the appropriate age to go into 00:45:14.119 --> 00:45:19.099 a war zone in combat. I don't know if we, I'm 00:45:19.099 --> 00:45:24.199 not, I'm not. capable of prophetically saying 00:45:24.199 --> 00:45:29.000 what that is, except that I think that that age 00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:31.980 group, I mean, just based on the history, you 00:45:31.980 --> 00:45:35.280 look at Vietnam, you look at what was the average 00:45:35.280 --> 00:45:38.940 age of a combat soldier in Vietnam? 18, 19. That's 00:45:38.940 --> 00:45:41.559 what it was. They come back, there's 30 % of 00:45:41.559 --> 00:45:45.199 them all with PTSD. 20 years later, you're 15 00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:50.070 % of that group. That's half of them. They'll 00:45:50.070 --> 00:45:52.429 have still PTSD and they'll have it the rest 00:45:52.429 --> 00:45:56.289 of their life. I think that we really have to 00:45:56.289 --> 00:45:59.530 look at that clearly and say, what can we do 00:45:59.530 --> 00:46:04.150 to make any kind of adjustments here for mental 00:46:04.150 --> 00:46:09.630 health of our precious service members? We're 00:46:09.630 --> 00:46:13.090 talking to Dr. Lenny Snodgrass, who is a retired 00:46:13.090 --> 00:46:16.510 Army lieutenant colonel, served in the early 00:46:16.510 --> 00:46:23.239 2000s. And it's his observations, his experiences, 00:46:23.320 --> 00:46:26.039 his expertise that's rolled into this book called 00:46:26.039 --> 00:46:29.619 The Ageless Call to Serve, Rethinking a Military 00:46:29.619 --> 00:46:33.599 Service for a Changing World. This is put out 00:46:33.599 --> 00:46:37.940 by Casemate Publishers. It's really a fascinating 00:46:37.940 --> 00:46:42.300 book. talking about some issues you don't normally 00:46:42.300 --> 00:46:46.039 think about. What I liked about it is you offered 00:46:46.039 --> 00:46:48.219 up fixes. We've talked about a number of them. 00:46:50.059 --> 00:46:54.159 But in those fixes is the recognition that in 00:46:54.159 --> 00:46:57.320 today's environment where there is telehealth 00:46:57.320 --> 00:47:03.760 and computers do so much, our professionals can... 00:47:04.440 --> 00:47:07.059 There certainly is a role for older professionals, 00:47:07.320 --> 00:47:11.280 those with experience and mastery, to join and 00:47:11.280 --> 00:47:13.820 serve. They don't have to be the frontline combat 00:47:13.820 --> 00:47:16.659 troops, but you offer up a number of fixes that 00:47:16.659 --> 00:47:19.500 I think are very interesting. Well, the comparative 00:47:19.500 --> 00:47:22.360 model for that is the VA. When you look at the 00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:24.920 60 -year -olds that come in and work at the VA, 00:47:24.980 --> 00:47:29.159 they've retired from their practice. They've 00:47:29.159 --> 00:47:33.090 been in practice for at least 30 years. They 00:47:33.090 --> 00:47:35.230 have all these skills and everything to offer. 00:47:35.489 --> 00:47:37.809 Military won't take them, but the VA will take 00:47:37.809 --> 00:47:41.210 them, and they've proven to be some excellent, 00:47:41.329 --> 00:47:45.070 excellent resource for the medical needs of the 00:47:45.070 --> 00:47:50.590 veterans. The military could use them on an active 00:47:50.590 --> 00:47:54.110 duty basis. I mean, just like you mentioned, 00:47:54.269 --> 00:47:56.550 telemedicine, oh my goodness, we've had an explosion 00:47:56.550 --> 00:47:59.489 of telemedicine during the pandemic, and it now 00:47:59.489 --> 00:48:02.840 has been accepted. in many areas and disciplines 00:48:02.840 --> 00:48:07.440 and in industry and medicine to continue onward 00:48:07.440 --> 00:48:11.400 because it's been very effective. You take a 00:48:11.400 --> 00:48:16.480 radiologist, he can read these films anywhere 00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:20.219 in the world and be as effective as if he were 00:48:20.219 --> 00:48:24.579 there in person reading them and sending the 00:48:24.579 --> 00:48:28.989 data and results and so forth. Well, as your 00:48:28.989 --> 00:48:32.769 subtitle says, it's a changing world. We're talking 00:48:32.769 --> 00:48:35.389 to, and we appreciate the time that Dr. Lanny 00:48:35.389 --> 00:48:38.730 Snodgrass, Lieutenant Colonel, retired out of 00:48:38.730 --> 00:48:41.170 the U .S. Army, gave to us today to talk about 00:48:41.170 --> 00:48:44.610 his book, The Ageless Call to Serve. Lanny, first 00:48:44.610 --> 00:48:49.429 off, I'm glad you got a sense, you got the opportunity 00:48:49.429 --> 00:48:52.090 to quench that thirst that you had to serve, 00:48:52.250 --> 00:48:55.750 even if you had to wait until you were 63 to 00:48:55.750 --> 00:48:58.480 do it. but I think it also gave you some unique 00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:00.519 perspective and insights, and they're certainly 00:49:00.519 --> 00:49:05.159 captured in the book. Well, thank you, and I'm 00:49:05.159 --> 00:49:06.780 going to say that I would do it all over again. 00:49:07.340 --> 00:49:12.739 If this opportunity ever occurred, it's not something 00:49:12.739 --> 00:49:18.239 that I regret in any sense. I regret never. It 00:49:18.239 --> 00:49:22.980 was a wonderful opportunity for me, and I grew 00:49:22.980 --> 00:49:28.019 from it. And I feel that I have been of help, 00:49:28.119 --> 00:49:31.699 and it's been a life -changing experience for 00:49:31.699 --> 00:49:36.380 me. Much of what I've written in the book is 00:49:36.380 --> 00:49:41.019 about what came out of that experience. Well, 00:49:41.099 --> 00:49:42.900 we really appreciate your time today. Thanks, 00:49:43.019 --> 00:49:46.980 Lenny. Well, thank you. Appreciate the opportunity 00:49:46.980 --> 00:49:51.949 here. It's been an honor. I want to sneak in 00:49:51.949 --> 00:49:54.650 a little bit of an interview that you can find 00:49:54.650 --> 00:49:58.570 on Veterans Radio's podcast. I did this with 00:49:58.570 --> 00:50:06.530 the U .S. Chamber President, Eric Eversol. Interesting 00:50:06.530 --> 00:50:08.769 what they're doing, and we've only got time to 00:50:08.769 --> 00:50:10.530 give you a little bit of it, but I think it's 00:50:10.530 --> 00:50:13.469 worth whetting your appetite. So you go to our 00:50:13.469 --> 00:50:16.989 podcast at veteransradio .org or any of your 00:50:16.989 --> 00:50:21.260 normal podcast programs from YouTube to iTunes 00:50:21.260 --> 00:50:27.840 to anything out there. We feed it through rss 00:50:27.840 --> 00:50:31.599 .com. That's our feed. So listen in. We want 00:50:31.599 --> 00:50:35.500 to welcome to Veterans Radio today Eric Eversall, 00:50:35.539 --> 00:50:39.519 who is president of Hiring Our Heroes, part of 00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:43.079 the U .S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Eric 00:50:43.079 --> 00:50:45.980 is also a Navy vet. Eric, welcome to Veterans 00:50:45.980 --> 00:50:50.030 Radio. Well, thank you. I'm so glad to be on 00:50:50.030 --> 00:50:52.349 your show. Well, we're going to come back and 00:50:52.349 --> 00:50:54.989 talk a little bit about how a kid who started 00:50:54.989 --> 00:50:58.329 in the Indiana Air National Guard ended up as 00:50:58.329 --> 00:51:01.230 a captain in the Navy's Judge Advocate General 00:51:01.230 --> 00:51:04.590 Corps when he retired. But we'll come back to 00:51:04.590 --> 00:51:07.889 that. There's an interesting story there, I suspect. 00:51:08.230 --> 00:51:12.599 But let's start out with... What is the U .S. 00:51:12.639 --> 00:51:14.519 Chamber of Commerce? What is the U .S. Chamber 00:51:14.519 --> 00:51:17.059 of Commerce Foundation? And that'll get us to 00:51:17.059 --> 00:51:20.639 the program Hiring Our Heroes. Well, that's great, 00:51:20.719 --> 00:51:22.900 Jim. You know, the U .S. Chamber of Commerce 00:51:22.900 --> 00:51:25.440 is the world's largest business association. 00:51:26.019 --> 00:51:29.300 Each and every day, the U .S. Chamber of Commerce 00:51:29.300 --> 00:51:33.000 fights for business interests, both at the national 00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:35.019 level as well as the state level, and they're 00:51:35.019 --> 00:51:39.110 quite awesome. fighting the hard fights when 00:51:39.110 --> 00:51:42.409 it comes to legal reform, when it comes to legislation 00:51:42.409 --> 00:51:45.949 that helps propel businesses across the country. 00:51:46.619 --> 00:51:50.219 And within the U .S. Chamber of Commerce, there 00:51:50.219 --> 00:51:52.719 is its foundation, which does a lot of the charitable 00:51:52.719 --> 00:51:55.920 work for businesses. They're very active in doing 00:51:55.920 --> 00:52:00.539 things like relief after disasters. So they're 00:52:00.539 --> 00:52:03.820 very active in North Carolina right now. But 00:52:03.820 --> 00:52:07.019 they also have Hiring Our Heroes, which is this 00:52:07.019 --> 00:52:10.739 veteran employment program. And when did the 00:52:10.739 --> 00:52:16.010 foundation start Hiring Our Heroes? Well, it 00:52:16.010 --> 00:52:19.150 was created back in 2011 when there was a national 00:52:19.150 --> 00:52:23.110 crisis in veteran unemployment at the time. As 00:52:23.110 --> 00:52:26.210 you may recall, back after the Great Recession 00:52:26.210 --> 00:52:29.469 in the 2011 timeframe, we had a lot of young 00:52:29.469 --> 00:52:32.570 men coming back from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, 00:52:32.789 --> 00:52:36.730 and they were facing a tough job market for veterans 00:52:36.730 --> 00:52:40.730 under the age of 25 back in 2011. And this is 00:52:40.730 --> 00:52:44.420 really hard to believe, but... 2011, just a little 00:52:44.420 --> 00:52:49.500 over 14 years ago, 13 years ago, 30 % unemployment 00:52:49.500 --> 00:52:53.960 for veterans under the age of 25. And so the 00:52:53.960 --> 00:52:56.639 chamber, the U .S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation 00:52:56.639 --> 00:53:01.659 created Hiring Our Heroes as a national grassroots 00:53:01.659 --> 00:53:04.260 organization to raise awareness of the challenges 00:53:04.260 --> 00:53:06.960 that our veterans were facing and to importantly 00:53:06.960 --> 00:53:10.260 leverage all the state and local chambers. to 00:53:10.260 --> 00:53:13.280 do hiring events in local communities where unemployed 00:53:13.280 --> 00:53:16.559 veterans were trying to find employment and connect 00:53:16.559 --> 00:53:19.440 them with companies that would give them a chance. 00:53:19.679 --> 00:53:22.880 And so that's really how we were created. It 00:53:22.880 --> 00:53:27.659 was back in 2011, March of 2011, and it was really 00:53:27.659 --> 00:53:31.679 in response to that crisis. Well, part of this 00:53:31.679 --> 00:53:34.840 is transitioning for active duty members back 00:53:34.840 --> 00:53:38.539 into civilian world is difficult. Because in 00:53:38.539 --> 00:53:40.719 part, they don't have that network. If they've 00:53:40.719 --> 00:53:44.719 spent four years or eight or 12 out in military 00:53:44.719 --> 00:53:47.340 service, during that same period of time, their 00:53:47.340 --> 00:53:52.679 peers were developing employer -employee networks, 00:53:52.860 --> 00:53:55.320 moving around from job to job, and that just 00:53:55.320 --> 00:54:00.739 doesn't exist, making it very difficult for transitioning 00:54:00.739 --> 00:54:04.000 members to get... on their first try at the job 00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:06.719 they want, and they often end up underemployed 00:54:06.719 --> 00:54:10.800 or underutilizing their skills. Yeah, you know, 00:54:10.800 --> 00:54:14.559 Jim, it's a great point, and it's a complicated 00:54:14.559 --> 00:54:17.739 challenge that our service members face. And 00:54:17.739 --> 00:54:21.260 for us, once we tackled what was at the time 00:54:21.260 --> 00:54:24.760 veteran unemployment, we really made a strategic 00:54:24.760 --> 00:54:30.199 shift to attack. the source of the problem that 00:54:30.199 --> 00:54:32.559 veterans were facing. And that was that transition. 00:54:32.800 --> 00:54:35.019 How do we, to your point, build the networks 00:54:35.019 --> 00:54:37.460 that service members can connect with companies 00:54:37.460 --> 00:54:41.500 while they're still on active duty? Because what 00:54:41.500 --> 00:54:45.159 we saw was transitioning service members didn't 00:54:45.159 --> 00:54:48.300 necessarily have the right networks, but they 00:54:48.300 --> 00:54:51.139 also didn't have the right skill sets, nor did 00:54:51.139 --> 00:54:56.000 they have the kind of the broader job market 00:54:56.000 --> 00:54:58.780 landscape to understand what economic opportunity 00:54:58.780 --> 00:55:02.079 looked like. So back in 2014, we really shifted 00:55:02.079 --> 00:55:05.480 our focus to the active duty military community. 00:55:05.619 --> 00:55:08.260 So both transitioning service members and military 00:55:08.260 --> 00:55:12.000 spouses. And we really focused on how do we help 00:55:12.000 --> 00:55:16.179 them understand the opportunities that exist 00:55:16.179 --> 00:55:19.280 for them? How do we connect them with companies? 00:55:19.440 --> 00:55:21.900 How do we help give them the skill sets and the 00:55:21.900 --> 00:55:25.789 resources to be successful? As I said, that's 00:55:25.789 --> 00:55:28.469 just a snippet of this interview. You might want 00:55:28.469 --> 00:55:32.469 to go listen to it entirely on whatever your 00:55:32.469 --> 00:55:35.750 podcast platform is or go to U .S. Chamber of 00:55:35.750 --> 00:55:38.670 Commerce Foundation and search for Hiring Our 00:55:38.670 --> 00:55:40.769 Heroes. They'll give you some more information. 00:55:41.590 --> 00:55:44.369 One of the things we try to do here, and I think 00:55:44.369 --> 00:55:48.309 we're pretty successful, is bringing you information 00:55:48.309 --> 00:55:51.469 about the veteran space that you might not hear 00:55:51.469 --> 00:55:54.250 about anywhere else. And I think these are good 00:55:54.250 --> 00:55:58.670 examples of interviews where we've been able 00:55:58.670 --> 00:56:02.190 to do that. We hope you've enjoyed it. We know 00:56:02.190 --> 00:56:07.269 it's a unique kind of topic, but it's an important 00:56:07.269 --> 00:56:10.690 topic. That 1 % who serve protect all of us. 00:56:11.230 --> 00:56:14.010 And we on Veterans Radio want to honor that service 00:56:14.010 --> 00:56:17.150 and tell those stories and provide information 00:56:17.150 --> 00:56:20.429 that will be helpful to veterans as they go about 00:56:20.429 --> 00:56:23.210 their life and transition. Or for even friends 00:56:23.210 --> 00:56:25.869 and family who maybe have kids who are thinking 00:56:25.869 --> 00:56:28.849 about going into service and, hey, what can I 00:56:28.849 --> 00:56:31.130 expect afterwards and what kind of support exists? 00:56:31.349 --> 00:56:34.969 What things should I know about? So, again, thanks 00:56:34.969 --> 00:56:38.440 to all of our sponsors. We really appreciate 00:56:38.440 --> 00:56:44.559 NVBDC .org, Puro Clean, and Legal Help for Veterans 00:56:44.559 --> 00:56:49.519 to bring us on the air. And next week, Dale will 00:56:49.519 --> 00:56:52.139 be back with some interesting stories. And until 00:56:52.139 --> 00:56:55.000 then, you are dismissed.