WEBVTT 00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:09.339 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:16.500 is Veterans Radio. All right. Hello, everybody. 00:00:16.620 --> 00:00:19.679 I'm Dr. Eric Fretz, one of your part -time hosts 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.920 on Veterans Radio America. And we're here this 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.000 morning for a fantastic episode with a local 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:27.800 notable veteran helper and old -time friend of 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:29.859 mine, Josh Parrish. We're going to be talking 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:31.399 about a variety of things I think you're going 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:34.039 to find very interesting. And then we will talk 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.280 about a really cool initiative he has now that's 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:38.899 going nationwide and is an app that will really 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:40.659 help solve a number of problems the veterans 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:42.659 and veteran community are facing. So without 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:45.140 further ado, welcome, Josh. How you doing today? 00:00:45.859 --> 00:00:47.479 I'm doing well. I'm doing well. You know, Eric, 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:50.140 it's always a pleasure to just do anything with 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:55.420 you. You and I have a pretty long and fruitful 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:59.640 storied friendship, and I'm excited to have people 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:02.740 understand a little bit better about the dynamic 00:01:02.740 --> 00:01:06.599 of our friendship. But also a lot of people don't 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:10.400 know this. You know, I I never really, truly 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:13.000 wanted to get into the veterans space. I left 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:16.500 the military and I was just kind of over it. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:22.239 And you really, I would call you a mentor. And 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:25.159 so I'm sure I'm not the only one in this community 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:28.000 that calls you a mentor, but I don't know if 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.760 I'm thanking you or blaming you for having me. 00:01:32.890 --> 00:01:35.629 get so ingrained in this space, but I guess I 00:01:35.629 --> 00:01:37.510 will say thank you. All right. Well, I appreciate 00:01:37.510 --> 00:01:40.409 you joining the cult. So yeah, so that's great. 00:01:40.590 --> 00:01:42.390 And so for those of you who aren't familiar with 00:01:42.390 --> 00:01:44.670 Josh, you know, he is a Marine Corps veteran 00:01:44.670 --> 00:01:47.609 and army. Oh, sorry. Army veteran. Very, that 00:01:47.609 --> 00:01:50.510 was a terrible mistake. Sorry. Oh, that's okay. 00:01:50.650 --> 00:01:53.310 No, listen, man. Mixing up soldiers and Marines 00:01:53.310 --> 00:01:55.950 is a quick way to go. Don't worry, man. I'm just 00:01:55.950 --> 00:01:58.390 saying I could care less. I mean, I think if 00:01:58.390 --> 00:02:00.730 you serve, you serve, but Those Marine Corps, 00:02:00.849 --> 00:02:03.739 those Marine Corps people, man, they... They've 00:02:03.739 --> 00:02:05.819 been drinking that Kool -Aid. Oh yeah, they're 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:08.659 a unique bunch. They're a unique bunch, yeah. 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:11.379 Came back, had a story that's common to a lot 00:02:11.379 --> 00:02:14.620 of us with some struggles coming back and I think 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:16.659 you, similar to me, have a really fantastic woman 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:18.360 in your life that you give a lot of credit to 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:20.240 and so we have a lot of similarities there. In 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:22.099 our early days we were, I think in the earliest, 00:02:22.259 --> 00:02:24.020 was probably the veteran courts. One of my first 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:25.560 things was to get involved in the veteran treatment 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:27.800 courts and I know you were involved in one of 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:29.460 those as well. I think some of our earliest discussions 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:33.259 were around those. Yeah, I think I just ended 00:02:33.259 --> 00:02:36.900 up cold calling you or cold emailing you one 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:39.379 day when I was working for Livingston County 00:02:39.379 --> 00:02:45.439 Veterans Services. And it's a story that is a 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:49.360 little too common for me. And there's so many 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.960 things throughout the veteran space that are 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.759 common, but should be uncommon. And this is one 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:59.039 of them. I was their program director for their 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.860 emergency relief fund. And I was getting these 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:04.620 veterans that would come in and they would ask 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:07.280 for, you know, help with assistance for various 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:11.479 things. And one time a veteran had come in and 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:14.319 he had just gotten out of jail. And I said, well, 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:17.560 you know, I wonder why our office wasn't notified. 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:19.319 You know, there should have been some type of 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:23.419 warm handoff. And so I went over to the sheriff's 00:03:23.419 --> 00:03:26.419 department and I said, can I see your intake 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:29.439 form? and on their intake form there was no I 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:31.340 think about veteran status that could be checked 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:33.520 hey have you ever served in the military and 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:36.819 so once we started cross -referencing checking 00:03:36.819 --> 00:03:43.139 those boxes what I found was was alarmingly I 00:03:43.139 --> 00:03:46.000 was taken aback a lot of the people that I'd 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:48.000 been seeing in my office had been previously 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.199 incarcerated and then if you know the way my 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:53.879 mind works, you know, I'm either like a little 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:57.000 bit of a rain man or, you know, I, my, my wife 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.159 jokes all the time that the way my brain works, 00:04:00.180 --> 00:04:03.979 it's just kind of like a spider web of, um, you 00:04:03.979 --> 00:04:07.900 know, just hodgepodge stuff. And so I started 00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:10.159 thinking, okay, all right, is there correlations 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.000 between, you know, the negative interactions 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:16.240 with law enforcement tying back to military service? 00:04:17.060 --> 00:04:19.920 And so what we found is you know, a lot of these 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.759 veterans that had negative interactions with 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:24.620 law enforcement, you could tie it back to their 00:04:24.620 --> 00:04:26.860 military service, you know, mental health related. 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.720 And really, if you want to go one step deeper, 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:33.240 it's because a lot of these veterans that I found 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:36.680 in this subset had reached out for help to the 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:40.220 VA and had never received it. So essentially, 00:04:40.459 --> 00:04:42.759 then I start going down a larger rabbit hole 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.079 and I find that on average, And this is before 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.639 chat GPT, mind you. So, you know, I actually 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:53.720 had to do some field work myself. Yeah. And so 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:56.519 I found veterans will ask for help on average 00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:59.759 three times. And if they don't get that help, 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:02.259 meaning they ask the VA, they ask, you know, 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:05.019 these local counterparts that are supposed to 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:07.819 guide them. Essentially, they just blend back 00:05:07.819 --> 00:05:11.519 into society. And then when these veterans don't 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:14.199 get the help, what do they turn to? negative 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:18.500 coping mechanisms, alcohol, prescription drugs 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:22.420 of the sort. Acting out, yeah. Acting out, yeah. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:24.500 And then inevitably what happens is they get 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:27.839 arrested. And then these veterans treatment courts 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:32.339 are so phenomenal if they're run correctly. That's 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:34.740 the caveat here. If they're run correctly, if 00:05:34.740 --> 00:05:37.660 they have a great team behind them. Because these 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:42.160 veterans will be able to, in lieu of jail sometimes, 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:46.819 they'll get a delayed sentence and you know we'll 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:49.740 actually it's sad that we catch these veterans 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:52.639 after they've fallen through the cracks and so 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:56.410 I think that Those conversations with you even 00:05:56.410 --> 00:06:00.269 back then were set the groundwork for what I've 00:06:00.269 --> 00:06:02.389 been trying My wife and I've been trying to build 00:06:02.389 --> 00:06:04.430 today. So sure man. That's a great start to the 00:06:04.430 --> 00:06:06.149 story Yeah, and the points are very well taken 00:06:06.149 --> 00:06:08.209 and you know it ever after starting in Buffalo 00:06:08.209 --> 00:06:10.350 in like 2008 the veteran courts are really spread 00:06:10.350 --> 00:06:12.089 all over the nation now So there's hundreds and 00:06:12.089 --> 00:06:14.370 hundreds of them and there's over 50 in Michigan 00:06:14.370 --> 00:06:16.829 alone So there's a great nationwide nonprofit 00:06:16.829 --> 00:06:19.110 called justice for veterans that does a lot of 00:06:19.110 --> 00:06:20.889 training and standardization across all those 00:06:20.889 --> 00:06:22.730 courts and neither of us are involved in the 00:06:22.730 --> 00:06:23.990 the courts anymore, but yeah, there's a great 00:06:23.949 --> 00:06:27.050 start. So I appreciate that. And then of course, 00:06:27.129 --> 00:06:30.769 you know, we led both you and I wandered into 00:06:30.769 --> 00:06:33.949 a new state level organization that was years 00:06:33.949 --> 00:06:36.529 ago that was called the VCAD, the veteran community 00:06:36.529 --> 00:06:39.209 action team that was paralleling something the 00:06:39.209 --> 00:06:41.990 VA does called a CVEB or Community Veteran Engagement 00:06:41.990 --> 00:06:44.850 Board to build local coalitions. And I know, 00:06:44.850 --> 00:06:46.509 you know, I have very fond memories for a number 00:06:46.509 --> 00:06:50.019 of years you were assigned As a contractor you 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:52.300 were assigned as my regional coordinator and 00:06:52.300 --> 00:06:55.180 we were just kind of sidekicks building this 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:57.759 coalition across six counties and 50 ,000 veterans 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.300 and You know, I think one of the great things 00:07:00.300 --> 00:07:02.800 was your vision for something bigger and you 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:04.959 know, you suggested this Why don't we you know 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.970 instead of having these tiny little events like 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:10.970 oh a veteran info session at the VFW and you 00:07:10.970 --> 00:07:14.449 end up with 20 veteran helping charities and 00:07:14.449 --> 00:07:17.829 20 people or 30 people all there to help veterans 00:07:17.829 --> 00:07:20.850 and you serve food and you you do whatever sometimes 00:07:20.850 --> 00:07:22.750 you don't serve food and they're all sitting 00:07:22.750 --> 00:07:24.970 there with their table and their keychains and 00:07:24.970 --> 00:07:27.329 their little pens and they're ready to talk with 00:07:27.329 --> 00:07:31.180 their brochures and you might get 12 veterans 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:34.439 through there in four hours, while 20 people 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:36.699 sat there. And you said, you know, we got to 00:07:36.699 --> 00:07:39.300 flip this on its head. And we got to create something 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:41.480 that creates so much of a gravity well that it 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:43.779 just pulls in the veterans and their families. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.560 And we got to create entertainment and a really 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:50.019 compelling environment. And then we arrange all 00:07:50.019 --> 00:07:53.740 these information sources and service sources, 00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:55.360 all of these veterans serving organizations, 00:07:55.500 --> 00:07:57.610 we arrange them on the periphery. and they can't 00:07:57.610 --> 00:07:59.430 help but come in contact with all these resources. 00:08:00.129 --> 00:08:01.970 And you know, it seemed so enormous. And I remember 00:08:01.970 --> 00:08:03.509 when we did that first one, I think it was in 00:08:03.509 --> 00:08:05.410 like a parking lot at Mount Brighton or something. 00:08:05.730 --> 00:08:08.230 You know, I was just like, oh, that's right. 00:08:08.490 --> 00:08:10.529 Yes, I was the first one. Yeah. And I just thought, 00:08:10.930 --> 00:08:13.230 how are we going to get this plane off the ground? 00:08:13.629 --> 00:08:16.269 And but it worked and it got bigger each year, 00:08:16.269 --> 00:08:18.449 you know, and two or three years of that with 00:08:18.449 --> 00:08:21.970 this. But this vet fest that really sort of sets 00:08:21.970 --> 00:08:23.610 a standard really got a lot of attention because 00:08:23.610 --> 00:08:25.290 there wasn't anybody else in Michigan doing anything 00:08:25.290 --> 00:08:27.850 like it. And then, you know, when your time on 00:08:27.850 --> 00:08:30.009 the team ended and you went and started vet life, 00:08:30.029 --> 00:08:31.730 you know, you then just took vet fest as this 00:08:31.730 --> 00:08:33.830 marquee event in Livingston and just launched 00:08:33.830 --> 00:08:35.769 it. And it's really into the stratosphere now. 00:08:35.970 --> 00:08:39.649 So I think maybe just a minute or two left in 00:08:39.649 --> 00:08:41.230 this segment. But, you know, talk a little bit 00:08:41.230 --> 00:08:43.830 about the success of that fest over the years. 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:47.669 Yeah, I think I need to tell you why we even. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:51.500 talked about vet fest is you hit the nail on 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:55.700 the head that the state was giving me money as 00:08:55.700 --> 00:08:58.620 part of the budget to go out and do these town 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:01.240 halls. You know essentially you'd get the resource 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:04.340 providers and hopefully the veterans would attend 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:07.440 but you know they'd give me thousands of dollars 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:11.320 to do this and I'd get 30 to 40 resource providers 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:16.340 but I'd only get a handful of veterans and understandably 00:09:16.340 --> 00:09:20.809 so this is the real issue. If you get 30 or 40 00:09:20.809 --> 00:09:23.649 resource providers and only 10 veterans, the 00:09:23.649 --> 00:09:26.289 bandwidth of these veterans, once they get from 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:29.429 resource provider one to resource provider 20, 00:09:29.830 --> 00:09:32.870 you know, I mean, it's very limited. And so we're 00:09:32.870 --> 00:09:35.649 actually doing these veterans a disservice by 00:09:35.649 --> 00:09:38.649 not giving them what they want, you know, and 00:09:38.649 --> 00:09:41.590 that's the real problem is we think we know as 00:09:41.590 --> 00:09:43.789 the government what these veterans want, but 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:46.919 we never asked the veteran. Is this what you 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:52.419 want? And so we flipped the script. We went and 00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:54.720 asked these veterans, what do you want? And we 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.740 did that survey. And overwhelmingly, what we 00:09:57.740 --> 00:10:01.419 found is that veterans want their spouses involved 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:04.159 in the process. And nobody was doing that, and 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:06.440 it all boiled down to money. And I know we're 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.299 wrapping up this segment, but I think it's worth 00:10:09.299 --> 00:10:12.820 mentioning, Eric, that we did so well that the 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:16.149 state tried to fire me. because I was making 00:10:16.149 --> 00:10:20.570 them look, our region was so over producing that 00:10:20.570 --> 00:10:24.110 we were making the other regions look bad. In 00:10:24.110 --> 00:10:25.629 the sense of what we were delivering in terms 00:10:25.629 --> 00:10:27.429 of that. In the sense of what we were delivering, 00:10:27.570 --> 00:10:30.470 yeah. And so I got called into the director's 00:10:30.470 --> 00:10:34.409 office and I believe back then it was the buddy 00:10:34.409 --> 00:10:37.769 to buddy program. They had reached out and they 00:10:37.769 --> 00:10:41.629 had said, made a complaint about me because I 00:10:41.629 --> 00:10:46.669 was bypassing that archaic system and going straight 00:10:46.669 --> 00:10:49.830 to the veteran and their family. And you would 00:10:49.830 --> 00:10:53.029 think that people would embrace that concept. 00:10:53.549 --> 00:10:56.450 But as you can tell, I mean, it in the veteran 00:10:56.450 --> 00:10:59.070 space, they're one of my favorite sort of frets 00:10:59.070 --> 00:11:01.509 phrases is in the veteran space, there are two 00:11:01.509 --> 00:11:04.179 kinds of individuals, people. who want to help 00:11:04.179 --> 00:11:06.899 veterans and people who want to be seen helping 00:11:06.899 --> 00:11:10.200 veterans. Those are two very different animals. 00:11:10.779 --> 00:11:12.879 And when you mix them, you get interesting results. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:15.659 VetFest is really, really successful with VCAT, 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:17.259 and it's become even more successful now. And 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:19.120 you're still running that annually. Eventually, 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:20.399 I think it's probably going to wear you out. 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:22.139 But I know there's probably another one coming 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:24.220 up this year. So people can look for that. And 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:25.970 of course, you know, VCAT. obviously following 00:11:25.970 --> 00:11:27.950 that lead we did great stuff like partnerships 00:11:27.950 --> 00:11:30.029 with USA hockey where we have the big hockey 00:11:30.029 --> 00:11:32.409 event and that's actually coming up next weekend 00:11:32.409 --> 00:11:34.370 on the 21st if any veterans are hearing this 00:11:34.370 --> 00:11:36.850 in the Michigan area around Plymouth and Ann 00:11:36.850 --> 00:11:38.950 Arbor that's going to be a fantastic event with 00:11:38.950 --> 00:11:41.169 free food and great hockey game and of course 00:11:41.169 --> 00:11:44.250 all the service providers. All right well let's 00:11:44.250 --> 00:11:47.590 take a quick break and we'll be back at another 00:11:47.590 --> 00:11:53.379 moment with our friend Josh Parrish. The Congressional 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:55.620 Medal of Honor Society Convention will be held 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:59.639 in Detroit from September 29th to October 3rd 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:03.639 of 2026, featuring the largest gathering of living 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:07.480 Medal of Honor recipients. It brings together 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:10.759 as many as 60 living Medal of Honor recipients 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:13.120 for a series of public and private events aimed 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.899 at sharing their heroic stories and promoting 00:12:15.899 --> 00:12:19.139 the values of the Medal of Honor, such as commitment, 00:12:20.059 --> 00:12:25.120 integrity, courage, sacrifice, citizenship, and 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:29.000 patriotism. This event will also include community 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.759 engagement activities along with recipients to 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.480 connect with the local Metro Detroit students, 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.879 veterans, and active military members. This convention 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:42.440 represents a unique opportunity for the city 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:45.240 of Detroit and surrounding area to honor its 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:48.860 military heroes and foster a spirit of patriotism 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.399 and community engagement. You can learn more 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:56.299 about this upcoming convention at medalofhonoredetroit 00:12:56.299 --> 00:13:00.679 .com. You can go there to support it with financial 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:04.559 resources and volunteer support. Let me tell 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:08.480 you about one of these men, Sammy Lee Davis. 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:12.320 He describes himself as just a regular kid growing 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.220 up in the Dayton, Ohio area. The family had a 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:20.590 long history of military service, and early on 00:13:20.590 --> 00:13:24.269 he learned as the big brother when his dad told 00:13:24.269 --> 00:13:26.710 him, son, don't ever leave your little brother 00:13:26.710 --> 00:13:31.549 behind. He joked that he went to Vietnam on his 00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:38.909 senior trip and it was in November 1967 when 00:13:38.909 --> 00:13:43.350 his unit became ferociously attacked by the Viet 00:13:43.350 --> 00:13:47.370 Cong that Sammy had to climb onto a burning howitzer 00:13:47.690 --> 00:13:50.250 operating it alone, firing round after round 00:13:50.250 --> 00:13:54.110 to support his beleaguered colleagues. When he 00:13:54.110 --> 00:13:56.350 realized there were wounded soldiers across the 00:13:56.350 --> 00:14:00.309 river filled with hostile fire, he inflated an 00:14:00.309 --> 00:14:03.230 air mattress, paddled across, despite his broken 00:14:03.230 --> 00:14:07.509 back, and pulled the injured men to safety. And 00:14:07.509 --> 00:14:12.610 he received the Medal of Honor in 1968. He really 00:14:12.610 --> 00:14:16.129 said, I went to war and found out about love. 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:19.419 What real love is, I didn't go war to kill people. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.679 I went to war because I loved my daddy and I 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:24.299 wanted him to be proud of me. I went to war because 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:27.379 I loved my grandpa and I loved my country. And 00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:30.240 when I got over there, the reason we fought so 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:32.399 hard was because we discovered that we loved 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:35.659 each other. We were all we had and we became 00:14:35.659 --> 00:14:40.720 brothers. There in Vietnam, I learned about what 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:47.620 real love is. Post service, Sammy Lee Davis has 00:14:47.620 --> 00:14:51.740 been speaking to schools and kids and citizens 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:58.259 about civics and duty in America. Actually a 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:01.240 part of his story was used in the film Forrest 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:04.820 Gump. You can learn more by going to Congressional 00:15:04.820 --> 00:15:10.620 Medal of Honor Society site cmohs .org and remember 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:20.399 to visit medalofhonoredetroit .com. Hello everybody, 00:15:20.580 --> 00:15:23.019 we're back. This is Dr. Eric Fretz on Veterans 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:25.559 Radio America with our good friend Josh Parrish 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:26.879 and we're going to talk a little bit more about 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:28.440 some interesting stuff he's doing in the veteran 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:31.200 space now on a larger scale because over time 00:15:31.389 --> 00:15:32.710 I mean, we spent a little time talking about 00:15:32.710 --> 00:15:36.549 some of the early days and now you're much broader 00:15:36.549 --> 00:15:39.370 impact in your position now is with a charity 00:15:39.370 --> 00:15:42.289 that basically spans Michigan and actually reaches 00:15:42.289 --> 00:15:44.710 out and touches veterans now in almost probably 00:15:44.710 --> 00:15:46.850 every state through some different initiatives. 00:15:46.850 --> 00:15:48.610 So I'd like to hear a little bit from you about 00:15:48.610 --> 00:15:51.389 the start of vet life. You know, it's it's one 00:15:51.389 --> 00:15:53.750 of a number of of charities. But unlike I think 00:15:53.750 --> 00:15:55.450 a lot of veteran charities, they sort of start 00:15:55.450 --> 00:15:57.629 small and stay small. And in your case, this 00:15:57.629 --> 00:15:59.850 is like a growing entity. So a little bit about 00:15:59.850 --> 00:16:02.179 sort of the start, the growth. kind of where 00:16:02.179 --> 00:16:05.919 it's headed and then maybe segue into Battle 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:07.679 Buddy. But I'd like to hear more about all the 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:10.059 things that VetLife is doing to start. Yeah. 00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:12.820 Yeah. So I've been working for the state of Michigan. 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:18.559 And I wouldn't say he was a close friend, but 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:21.820 he was a friend. And him and I had served around 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:27.480 the same time. Iraq, initial invasion. came home 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:30.539 he struggled and I had just kept in contact with 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:34.419 him but he had taken his daughter his wife had 00:16:34.419 --> 00:16:36.580 left him he had been drinking pretty heavily 00:16:36.580 --> 00:16:40.379 and his wife ended up leaving him and he had 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:43.840 somewhat custody of his daughter and there's 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:47.200 this online program called vet ticks where veterans 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:52.200 get free tickets so he took his daughter to one 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:56.200 of those monster truck rallies in Detroit dropped 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:59.899 his daughter off, immediately went home, went 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:05.380 out into a park in the Flint Fenton area and 00:17:05.380 --> 00:17:11.740 committed suicide. But it's not uncommon to hear 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:14.420 that. And I was just getting so frustrated with 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:20.059 the system because I didn't think that I was 00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:22.359 getting I thought if I worked for the state of 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:24.559 Michigan, I would be able to make a meaningful 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:27.099 impact in the veteran space. And I realized that 00:17:27.099 --> 00:17:29.779 I wasn't going to be able to change the structure 00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:33.359 from the inside. And so I had just graduated 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:36.759 law school. I took the bar exam. And for all 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:39.440 intents and purposes, I was going to be an attorney. 00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:42.930 If you would have asked me, hey, Josh, Would 00:17:42.930 --> 00:17:45.369 you like to get into the nonprofit space and 00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:48.190 be, you know, wholly underappreciated for everything 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:52.210 that you do? I would have said, no, sir, probably 00:17:52.210 --> 00:17:56.190 not. I think I'll stay away from that. But, you 00:17:56.190 --> 00:17:59.450 know, I like to take challenges on and if something's 00:17:59.450 --> 00:18:03.289 personal to me, I'm going to do it. And so my 00:18:03.289 --> 00:18:05.890 wife and I were sitting down one day and we said, 00:18:06.049 --> 00:18:08.809 OK, hey, let's start a nonprofit. She's got a 00:18:08.809 --> 00:18:12.299 marketing background and So she came up with 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:15.119 the name, the logo, everything. And when we first 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.720 started, I said, if we're going to do this, we 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.519 got to do a big, you know, I said, if we don't 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:21.440 hit a five year growth Mark, uh, you know, from 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:25.400 startup to scalability, our skillset is too unique. 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:29.160 We got to go do something else. And so we started, 00:18:29.259 --> 00:18:31.039 you know, we had done the events and whatnot, 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:33.279 and we started doing more outreach events to 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:36.819 get the communities involved. And then we were 00:18:36.819 --> 00:18:40.420 helping a lot of people at these events, but. 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:45.019 You know, Michigan is home to 475 ,000 veterans. 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:49.119 In 2019, less than 18 % had ever been connected 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:52.119 to any federal benefit that they earn through 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:55.480 their service. So we sat down again and we said, 00:18:55.539 --> 00:19:00.440 all right, what can we do? We know that 99 .99 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.460 % of people in this country have a smartphone. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.720 Why are we not digitally touching people with 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:12.490 incremental bits? of micro learning, the basics 00:19:12.490 --> 00:19:16.349 of what benefits they're entitled to. So we started 00:19:16.349 --> 00:19:19.269 out with a text -based app, and we were texting 00:19:19.269 --> 00:19:22.250 veterans, hey, about their benefits. And then 00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:26.130 that blew up into a full -scale app called Battle 00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:29.430 Buddy. And it's very simplistic in its concept. 00:19:29.769 --> 00:19:33.990 And here's where VetLife doesn't compete in anybody's 00:19:33.990 --> 00:19:36.109 space. We're more of a complimentary service. 00:19:36.879 --> 00:19:40.660 In Michigan alone, and these are staggering statistics, 00:19:41.140 --> 00:19:44.380 in Michigan alone, the preferred method for a 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:46.900 veteran to gain access to their benefits is through 00:19:46.900 --> 00:19:49.220 an accredited veteran service officer. Pretty 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:55.220 common nationwide. In Michigan, for every 1 ,812 00:19:55.220 --> 00:19:58.559 veterans, there's only one accredited VSO. In 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.420 this country, for every 7 ,000 veterans, there's 00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:05.309 only one accredited VSO. And so, you know, I 00:20:05.309 --> 00:20:10.569 was listening to the VFW testifying in Washington 00:20:10.569 --> 00:20:15.589 last week, and the fact that they're still trying 00:20:15.589 --> 00:20:19.210 to embrace this whole, let's get an accredited 00:20:19.210 --> 00:20:23.009 VSO in the active duty military installations 00:20:23.009 --> 00:20:26.069 through the transitionary process, the TAPS program, 00:20:26.710 --> 00:20:29.609 it's just, it's dead on arrival. You know, even 00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:33.640 if you get one or two people in there, A, you 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:38.000 gotta wonder, is this person just checking boxes? 00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:41.980 Or is this person actually motivated to make 00:20:41.980 --> 00:20:44.259 sure that these men and women get the benefits 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:48.299 that they deserve? And I just, it baffles me 00:20:48.299 --> 00:20:52.039 sometimes that really, really intelligent people 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:55.960 can't grasp the concept that We have to go to 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:58.119 the veteran. We can't wait for the veteran to 00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:00.099 come to us. And there's a scale problem there 00:21:00.099 --> 00:21:02.759 too. Yeah. So even if you had most of them, obviously 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:05.819 these VSOs are volunteers, right? Yeah. And you're 00:21:05.819 --> 00:21:07.759 asking them to go onto this base and interact 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:09.759 with this TAP class that could have 10, 20, 30, 00:21:09.900 --> 00:21:13.339 40 people. And of course, all of them might possibly 00:21:13.339 --> 00:21:15.700 have a VA claim involvement. And so now they're 00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:18.299 taking on like 40 new cases instantaneously. 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:20.859 You know, it's a scale issue for sure. Even if 00:21:20.859 --> 00:21:23.880 you could make it happen. you get a look at the 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:26.819 scale issue for sure yeah so yeah scale issue 00:21:26.819 --> 00:21:29.039 and you know i'll give you a real world example 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:33.640 my uh intro to constitutional law class had like 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:37.170 200 students in it do you think that that professor 00:21:37.170 --> 00:21:40.470 at the end of the day knew my name? No, I was 00:21:40.470 --> 00:21:44.990 student number 000176. But that's the same way 00:21:44.990 --> 00:21:47.910 with these VSOs. A lot of them are very well 00:21:47.910 --> 00:21:49.910 intentioned, but at the end of the day, it's 00:21:49.910 --> 00:21:53.410 just a bandwidth problem. And then if this is 00:21:53.410 --> 00:21:56.769 the generally accepted practice on a federal 00:21:56.769 --> 00:22:04.339 level, I mean, where we, we're almost, guaranteeing 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:06.359 that these veterans aren't going to get the services 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:10.119 that they need. And then the TAPS program, you 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:13.140 know, there was a guy on LinkedIn that I follow 00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:15.640 and he said, you know, a lot of people criticize 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:18.400 TAPS. And I responded, I said, yeah, because 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:21.680 it's a broken system. You know, we pump hundreds 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:25.119 of millions of dollars into this for a lot of 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:28.220 people to just check boxes. And I was talking 00:22:28.220 --> 00:22:31.559 to a Sergeant Major a couple of weeks ago and 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.210 he goes, you know, Josh, TAPS program's great. 00:22:34.289 --> 00:22:37.849 It was great for me. I said, yeah, but what was 00:22:37.849 --> 00:22:40.690 your rank in the military? You know, is that 00:22:40.690 --> 00:22:43.710 E9 Sergeant Major? I think is it E9? I said, 00:22:43.809 --> 00:22:47.210 I think TAPS is a little bit different for you 00:22:47.210 --> 00:22:50.289 than it is for that E4 or E5 that's going to 00:22:50.289 --> 00:22:52.630 be getting out. I had the same conversation with 00:22:52.630 --> 00:22:55.210 a two -star general one time and it's just like 00:22:55.210 --> 00:22:58.759 it goes way over their head that These aren't 00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:01.940 standardized services. When that two star retired, 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:03.700 they had a personal assistant handling all of 00:23:03.700 --> 00:23:05.720 their paperwork for them, I'm sure. But yeah, 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:07.579 I mean, probably instead of saying like broken, 00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:09.599 I would say it's sub optimized. Right. I mean, 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:12.299 it's like any bureaucratic thing. It's it's done 00:23:12.299 --> 00:23:15.220 by mandate. Right. It's done everywhere. It's 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:17.559 a, people see it as a, I've got to do this as 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:19.880 part of my, you know, as a part of my retirement 00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:22.539 and leaving the base, I've got to do TAPS. And 00:23:22.539 --> 00:23:24.680 so a number of them just go in there with that 00:23:24.680 --> 00:23:26.519 sort of, oh, it's just my final thing I've got 00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:29.220 to do as opposed to this opportunity to really 00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:31.480 pull some knowledge. And, and it really, of course 00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:33.460 it always varies on the quality instructor too. 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:35.680 Yeah. So, I mean, I would say TAPS is definitely 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:37.839 sub optimized. Interesting. I'm, I'm currently, 00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:40.960 uh, I'm a coach and mentor for a really interesting 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:44.059 group called the Honor Foundation. And they do 00:23:44.059 --> 00:23:48.440 essentially real taps for special operators who 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:51.500 are retiring. So it's limited in scope. Somebody 00:23:51.500 --> 00:23:54.240 in the special operator community said, we got 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:56.279 to do taps right. And that's really, I'll send 00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:58.019 you some of the information. It's a, it's really 00:23:58.019 --> 00:23:59.960 fascinating because they do really intense coaching 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:02.940 and counseling, talking about all sorts of interpersonal 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:06.319 skills and resume and Simon Sinek's why process 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:08.789 and all of this. really would be wonderful to 00:24:08.789 --> 00:24:10.769 have something like this, you know, for every 00:24:10.769 --> 00:24:13.170 service member, but I digress. So, but speaking 00:24:13.170 --> 00:24:15.190 of reaching every service member, your idea was, 00:24:15.390 --> 00:24:17.450 okay, how do we scale this? Right? Yeah. Well, 00:24:17.490 --> 00:24:19.589 and I just want to go back because, you know, 00:24:19.750 --> 00:24:22.509 people, when you say broken, there's such a negative 00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:25.390 connotation attached to that. But I think people 00:24:25.390 --> 00:24:29.930 can, in this space can have conversations with 00:24:29.930 --> 00:24:33.940 each other and even vehemently disagree whether 00:24:33.940 --> 00:24:36.859 it's suboptimized or broken. And at the end of 00:24:36.859 --> 00:24:39.319 the day, they want the same thing. They want 00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:42.359 a system in place that's going to help rather 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:45.839 than hinder people. And so I think people like 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:49.640 me and you even exist because of the system being 00:24:49.640 --> 00:24:53.259 suboptimized. For sake of argument, we'll say 00:24:53.259 --> 00:24:56.759 suboptimized. Because I was with Senator Gary 00:24:56.759 --> 00:25:00.089 Peters last week in Washington. And it was funny 00:25:00.089 --> 00:25:02.230 because we were talking about kind of similar 00:25:02.230 --> 00:25:05.890 stuff and I said something and he chuckled and 00:25:05.890 --> 00:25:07.809 he goes, I love the way you put it. He goes, 00:25:07.970 --> 00:25:10.789 man, I wish I could I wish I could be more, you 00:25:10.789 --> 00:25:13.769 know, politically incorrect. He goes, but I have 00:25:13.769 --> 00:25:17.170 to, you know, I have to make sure that I, you 00:25:17.170 --> 00:25:18.650 know, because everything's a soundbite. He's 00:25:18.650 --> 00:25:21.009 got to parse your words more carefully. No, I 00:25:21.009 --> 00:25:22.589 totally get it. I have I have the same issue 00:25:22.589 --> 00:25:24.970 sometimes at the university because I'm alarmingly 00:25:24.970 --> 00:25:27.049 direct. You know, sometimes I'll look my students 00:25:27.049 --> 00:25:29.089 in the face and I'll say, I need you to understand 00:25:29.089 --> 00:25:32.490 that if I was your boss and you did this, I don't 00:25:32.490 --> 00:25:34.250 use the nice hand, but I look them in the eye 00:25:34.250 --> 00:25:36.009 and I say, if I was your boss and you were my 00:25:36.009 --> 00:25:38.809 employee and you did what you just did, I would 00:25:38.809 --> 00:25:41.640 fire you on the spot. And sometimes these students 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:43.720 jaws just kind of, you know, hit the table like 00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:46.079 what and I'm like, I'm not saying this to hurt 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:48.000 your feelings. And what's interesting is that, 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:50.000 you know, years later, I've gotten multiple emails, 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.220 right? Some students five, 10 years later saying, 00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:54.660 you know, Dr. I never forgot that moment, we 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:57.460 had that really tough conversation. And you changed 00:25:57.460 --> 00:25:59.559 my whole life with that. And I was like, okay, 00:26:00.019 --> 00:26:01.920 so somebody, I mean, you know, the bluntness 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:03.640 isn't acquired days, as you mentioned at the 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:06.000 start, you know, we both kind of share that characteristic. 00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:08.180 And you know, people vary. And you know, it's 00:26:08.539 --> 00:26:12.539 It varies, but there's a certain value in sort 00:26:12.539 --> 00:26:14.539 of being honest and straightforward about things 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:17.240 that need to be fixed, because if you put what's 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:18.920 wrong behind like a smoke screen or whatever. 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:20.259 I mean, don't do anything about it. It never 00:26:20.259 --> 00:26:22.819 gets better. Yeah. So tell us more about, you 00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:24.920 know, how BattleBuddy is kind of addressing this. 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:27.299 I think what's really cool is I see these occasional 00:26:27.299 --> 00:26:29.079 reports about, you know, these new hundreds of 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:31.140 thousands of users and this sort of, you know, 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:32.700 this, that fact that it can just be downloaded 00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:34.960 by anybody. You could be a veteran over in like 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.220 Germany and wondering about what do I do? Cause 00:26:37.220 --> 00:26:39.200 I'm about to get out and come back to Des Moines, 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:42.200 Iowa and, uh, and BattleBuddy can be having a 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:45.960 positive impact in Germany. Yeah, and not to 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:48.839 get off topic but on LinkedIn a woman from the 00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:53.680 UK retired military officer reached out and said 00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:56.819 hey we'd love to have a conversation about how 00:26:56.819 --> 00:27:00.480 to replicate your battle buddy system overseas 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.720 to really make it an international model. Because 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:07.680 I think veterans in France and throughout the 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.640 world, Canada, they all go through the same things 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:13.660 when they leave the military. There's a lot of 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:16.240 commonalities. But if you were to boil Battle 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:19.359 Buddy down just into kind of one sentence or 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:22.680 a few terms, it's a single source touch point 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:25.299 for every single benefit you're entitled to. 00:27:25.849 --> 00:27:29.509 And I hope I articulate this efficiently when 00:27:29.509 --> 00:27:33.190 I say this. When you leave the military and you're 00:27:33.190 --> 00:27:36.769 provided with a myriad of documents, a lot of 00:27:36.769 --> 00:27:39.190 the times you're not going to pay attention or 00:27:39.190 --> 00:27:40.829 ingest that. A big folder, a packet, a hundred 00:27:40.829 --> 00:27:44.230 flyers, yeah. Yep. And so I tell people, you 00:27:44.230 --> 00:27:46.869 know, every single veteran that leaves the military 00:27:46.869 --> 00:27:50.190 needs time to decompress, whether that be three 00:27:50.190 --> 00:27:52.930 months, six months, nine months a year. But at 00:27:52.930 --> 00:27:56.819 some point that veteran may not have needed a 00:27:56.819 --> 00:27:59.859 VA home loan or educational benefits or disability 00:27:59.859 --> 00:28:03.119 compensation when they leave the military, but 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:05.640 at some point they're going to want to access 00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:10.180 that benefit. But by the time that they do, either 00:28:10.180 --> 00:28:12.440 they've lost all that paperwork or they don't 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:15.200 have those primary points of contact or they 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:18.480 still don't have access to the online systems 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:21.240 they had when they were active duty, this app 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:25.940 is there for you 24 -7 -365. Now here's another 00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:29.779 issue too. There's similar, there were apps out 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:32.619 there before I created BattleBuddy that were 00:28:32.619 --> 00:28:37.059 literally just information dumps. I mean, it 00:28:37.059 --> 00:28:40.559 was like, we're not vetting any of this information 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:45.789 or resources. Here it is. Here's 27 things that 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:48.630 help address veterans and financial crisis. And 00:28:48.630 --> 00:28:49.890 I know exactly what you're talking about because 00:28:49.890 --> 00:28:51.890 we tried to create, we actually did create a 00:28:51.890 --> 00:28:54.230 list like this with VCAT, which I think serves 00:28:54.230 --> 00:28:56.740 its purpose, but it wasn't. I specifically said, 00:28:56.740 --> 00:28:59.079 I don't want the volume dump. We basically just 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:00.859 said, give it, let's, let's agree on the top 00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:03.039 five resources for homelessness, top five resources 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:05.140 for financial crisis. And then we've distributed 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:06.539 that and people have been very appreciative, 00:29:06.539 --> 00:29:08.279 but that's very limited because it's like, okay, 00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:10.460 here's your top five things over your top eight 00:29:10.460 --> 00:29:12.400 issues. But like, as you mentioned, there's a 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.279 hundred things. And so what's great for BattleBuddy 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:17.440 is it's this sort of computer helper on top of 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:19.220 the pile that says, you're interested in what? 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:21.339 Oh, let me go, let me go get that for you. Right. 00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:24.400 Yeah. Yeah. And I'll just use one example, but 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:28.539 I mean, This one example attaches itself to every 00:29:28.539 --> 00:29:32.539 single other benefit. So let's say you want to 00:29:32.539 --> 00:29:37.160 file a disability compensation with the VA. You 00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:40.119 have to do an intent to file. And when I worked 00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.950 for the county, Half the problem was the veteran 00:29:42.950 --> 00:29:45.349 would come in and everybody knows that the intent 00:29:45.349 --> 00:29:48.190 to file takes about three minutes. It's just 00:29:48.190 --> 00:29:52.029 saying, effectively, I'm starting a contract 00:29:52.029 --> 00:29:54.349 and take a flag and say that I was. Yeah. And 00:29:54.349 --> 00:29:59.009 you have 365 days to gather a bunch of documents. 00:29:59.930 --> 00:30:01.690 So what would happen is these veterans would 00:30:01.690 --> 00:30:03.769 come in. We do the intent to file and then I 00:30:03.769 --> 00:30:07.049 would never see them again until about, you know, 00:30:07.190 --> 00:30:10.380 18. months, two years later, then they'd have 00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:12.220 the documents like, Oh, sorry, I was waiting 00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:14.599 on this document from the government. And so 00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:16.799 no, you lost your effective date. So we have 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:19.400 to start all over again, which functionally means 00:30:19.400 --> 00:30:22.200 that if it is approved, they've lost two years 00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:25.079 of back pay benefits. Correct. Correct. Yeah. 00:30:25.420 --> 00:30:29.500 Oh, it is a shame. So what this app does, we 00:30:29.500 --> 00:30:33.339 will help you with the intent to file. Then we 00:30:33.339 --> 00:30:35.690 give you a checklist. And what we have built 00:30:35.690 --> 00:30:38.650 in is we know that one calendar year from the 00:30:38.650 --> 00:30:41.049 intent to file, you have to do the FDC, the fully 00:30:41.049 --> 00:30:45.410 developed claim. And so, uh, we will set in, 00:30:45.410 --> 00:30:47.670 you know, kind of biomarkers where, you know, 00:30:47.750 --> 00:30:50.670 Hey, Eric, you got six months left. You got four 00:30:50.670 --> 00:30:52.769 months left. You got three months left. Then 00:30:52.769 --> 00:30:55.190 the beauty of the app is if you get down to like 00:30:55.190 --> 00:30:57.809 30 or 45 days and you still haven't, you know, 00:30:57.970 --> 00:31:00.130 checked off all the documents that you have, 00:31:00.609 --> 00:31:04.480 it will prompt the system the agentic AI system 00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:07.980 will prompt to reach out to the veteran and say, 00:31:08.059 --> 00:31:12.099 Hey, I can geo fence the closest accredited veteran 00:31:12.099 --> 00:31:16.200 service officer to help you cross that next step. 00:31:16.220 --> 00:31:18.700 Yeah. Make that next step. Yeah. What documents 00:31:18.700 --> 00:31:22.000 are you missing? And so again, you know, I mean, 00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:25.539 I'm, I'm acting like, or I'm cutting down that 00:31:25.539 --> 00:31:29.519 ratio from 7 ,000 to one to pretty much one to 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:32.339 one, because a lot of these benefits that these 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:34.980 veterans are entitled to, they can do it themselves. 00:31:35.539 --> 00:31:39.259 They just need to be educated in a way that they're 00:31:39.259 --> 00:31:42.680 going to understand. I'm sorry to say this. I 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:45.839 was just saying, they're capable of walking 10 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.579 steps, but they don't know where the door is. 00:31:48.900 --> 00:31:50.579 And if you give them the direction to the door 00:31:50.579 --> 00:31:52.900 and you give them the key, they'll walk over 00:31:52.900 --> 00:31:55.589 there and they'll do it. But absent that, you 00:31:55.589 --> 00:31:57.349 know there's a lack of certainty. Yeah and it 00:31:57.349 --> 00:31:58.690 sounds like you're answering some of those questions 00:31:58.690 --> 00:32:01.309 so they can find it and get into it. Yeah well 00:32:01.309 --> 00:32:03.130 and think about it this way you know a lot of 00:32:03.130 --> 00:32:05.190 the information being pushed out for veterans 00:32:05.190 --> 00:32:08.490 is either made by non -veterans or made by veterans 00:32:08.490 --> 00:32:10.670 that have never really went through some of the 00:32:10.670 --> 00:32:14.569 things that junior enlisted or even senior enlisted 00:32:14.569 --> 00:32:17.529 have went through and so what I've done is I've 00:32:17.529 --> 00:32:21.000 just Created bite -sized chunks because we all 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:23.559 know the attention span of people these days 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:26.200 is you know slower pretty much Non -existent 00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:29.559 and if you don't get them in the first 15 seconds, 00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:31.859 you're gonna lose them So yeah, just think about 00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:37.539 the battle buddy app as a 365 or 24 7 365 digital 00:32:37.539 --> 00:32:40.079 touchpoint you know if you want to get up at 00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:42.960 4 in the morning and Learn more about your VA 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:46.619 home loan. You don't have to call ex, you know, 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:50.619 County Department of Veterans Affairs and hopefully 00:32:50.619 --> 00:32:53.880 get in contact with somebody just to ask a question. 00:32:54.519 --> 00:32:57.119 You can go right on the app and it'll walk you 00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:00.079 through every single step. But we go one step 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:05.740 further. We work with a limited amount of very 00:33:05.740 --> 00:33:08.500 vetted providers. Again, I don't want to work 00:33:08.500 --> 00:33:11.740 with 40 different home loan people. when I can 00:33:11.740 --> 00:33:14.400 work with a handful that I know that are going 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:16.839 to return that phone call or return that email 00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:20.980 or follow up. And so that's that's what separates 00:33:20.980 --> 00:33:24.039 us from from other, you know, apps in this space. 00:33:24.380 --> 00:33:26.380 So if somebody is interested, as they should 00:33:26.380 --> 00:33:28.359 be, if a veteran citizen checking out Battle 00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:31.339 Buddy, it seems like it would probably be as 00:33:31.339 --> 00:33:34.160 simple as go to the Google app stores or the 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:38.019 Apple app stores and just search for Battle Buddy. 00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:41.440 Simple as that. Yep, and then you download it 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:43.200 and is a you know, is there like a process there 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:45.200 once you download it Do you need to set up an 00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:48.220 account or is it just kind of open -ended or 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:50.339 how does that right now? It's open then it's 00:33:50.339 --> 00:33:53.460 open -ended because we want ease of access You 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:56.140 know, we're gathering the data and here's the 00:33:56.140 --> 00:33:58.579 nuts and bolts of what I'm trying to do where 00:33:58.579 --> 00:34:01.849 nobody else is doing so you have these gdx reports 00:34:01.849 --> 00:34:04.769 by the government it's called geographical distribution 00:34:04.769 --> 00:34:07.650 of expenditures it tells how much federal money 00:34:07.650 --> 00:34:11.110 through the benefits process trickles back down 00:34:11.110 --> 00:34:14.489 into these economies what the problem is is we 00:34:14.489 --> 00:34:18.429 don't know really what the unmet needs in the 00:34:18.429 --> 00:34:21.989 veteran community are until about 18 to 24 months 00:34:21.989 --> 00:34:24.110 later when these reports come out and they say 00:34:24.110 --> 00:34:28.260 hey you know we had a x amount of VA home loans, 00:34:28.380 --> 00:34:31.820 X amount of disability, education benefits. So 00:34:31.820 --> 00:34:33.699 we're doing a pilot project with the Michigan 00:34:33.699 --> 00:34:37.320 Army National Guard right now, where we're going 00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:41.159 into, we're inserting Battle Buddy into all 38 00:34:41.159 --> 00:34:43.079 National Guard Armories throughout the state 00:34:43.079 --> 00:34:46.139 of Michigan. And I can tell you real time what 00:34:46.139 --> 00:34:49.400 these veterans are searching for. Yeah, I'll 00:34:49.400 --> 00:34:51.280 give you an example. We went into the Howell 00:34:51.280 --> 00:34:55.679 Armory and we identified two veterans that were 00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:00.650 homeless. Okay. Here's the conundrum. And those 00:35:00.650 --> 00:35:03.690 are people who are in the Guard? Actively drilling, 00:35:03.949 --> 00:35:08.349 yeah. So here's the conundrum that I face when 00:35:08.349 --> 00:35:10.690 I think about things like this. So I reached 00:35:10.690 --> 00:35:12.690 out to these two veterans and I said, you know, 00:35:13.590 --> 00:35:15.869 I'm so -and -so and I'm here to help. I'm not 00:35:15.869 --> 00:35:18.690 part of the National Guard. So, you know, I'm 00:35:18.690 --> 00:35:21.750 just here solely to help you. And both of those 00:35:21.750 --> 00:35:24.849 veterans said that they felt ashamed to go to 00:35:24.849 --> 00:35:28.079 their leadership. that they felt like they were 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:29.719 a failure, that they were going to get kicked 00:35:29.719 --> 00:35:32.199 out of the military if they went and said, hey, 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:36.119 I'm homeless. I'm living on my mom's couch. But 00:35:36.119 --> 00:35:40.579 here's the crazy part. The VA definition for 00:35:40.579 --> 00:35:43.920 chronically homeless says that you have to be 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:47.199 actually homeless. Literally on the street. You 00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:49.619 can't be living in your car. You have to be sleeping 00:35:49.619 --> 00:35:53.599 under a bypass two times in one calendar year. 00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:56.570 And it's like, how can these veterans get this 00:35:56.570 --> 00:35:59.269 help? And again, these National Guard veterans 00:35:59.269 --> 00:36:01.989 that have been deployed, some of these people 00:36:01.989 --> 00:36:04.030 don't think they're real veterans because they 00:36:04.030 --> 00:36:07.409 didn't serve active duty. And so I say, did you 00:36:07.409 --> 00:36:09.670 sign up for VA healthcare? Well, no, no, I'm 00:36:09.670 --> 00:36:11.670 still actively drilling. I can't do that. And 00:36:11.670 --> 00:36:15.329 I go, you have a discharge paper. You can enroll 00:36:15.329 --> 00:36:17.789 in VA healthcare. So long story short, I was 00:36:17.789 --> 00:36:20.650 able to get both of those veterans linked up 00:36:20.650 --> 00:36:25.429 with the Ann Arbor VA homeless uh program i believe 00:36:25.429 --> 00:36:29.010 it's ran by gay para and so you know the resources 00:36:29.010 --> 00:36:31.389 are out there there's just a lot of misconceptions 00:36:31.389 --> 00:36:35.550 lack of education and you know i'm able to give 00:36:35.550 --> 00:36:38.130 the state of michigan real -time information 00:36:38.130 --> 00:36:41.409 on what these veterans unmet needs are you know 00:36:41.409 --> 00:36:44.829 food insecurity you know where to focus the resources 00:36:44.829 --> 00:36:49.320 yeah refocus the resources instead of just blindly 00:36:49.320 --> 00:36:51.860 saying, you know, we think this is the problem. 00:36:52.300 --> 00:36:55.199 I'm literally telling you what the problem is. 00:36:55.519 --> 00:36:57.679 I get to the get to the smoldering embers before 00:36:57.679 --> 00:37:00.940 it's a fire. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like that analogy. 00:37:01.659 --> 00:37:04.619 So I think might be helpful to just have you 00:37:04.619 --> 00:37:07.719 for a moment. Walk us through the sort of the 00:37:07.719 --> 00:37:10.059 menu because, you know, you've given some specific 00:37:10.059 --> 00:37:13.159 examples, you know, like homeless resources and. 00:37:13.239 --> 00:37:15.920 you know of all of these and we know if you really 00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:18.659 tried to count them all including like say you 00:37:18.659 --> 00:37:22.440 know some small equine therapy for PTSD out of 00:37:22.440 --> 00:37:24.280 saline michigan or something right i mean some 00:37:24.280 --> 00:37:27.380 small charity of there's there's literally thousands 00:37:27.380 --> 00:37:31.599 but in terms of like the benefits that that they 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:33.960 need that veterans need to be aware of give us 00:37:33.960 --> 00:37:36.639 a give us a sense of the length of the menu of 00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:38.760 everything that battle buddy can put people in 00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:41.780 touch with So you get on the app and what I love 00:37:41.780 --> 00:37:44.000 most about the app too, and this is my wife's 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:46.860 brainchild It's not just specifically designated 00:37:46.860 --> 00:37:50.460 for the veteran but there are also benefits that 00:37:50.460 --> 00:37:54.039 Dependents are entitled to that are even Little, 00:37:54.219 --> 00:37:57.019 you know even less well -known. Yeah spouses 00:37:57.019 --> 00:38:00.400 and caregivers and all that. Yeah Yeah, so the 00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:03.059 way my mind works is I want to work with nationally 00:38:03.059 --> 00:38:07.500 scaled programs So, you know you mentioned caregivers 00:38:07.869 --> 00:38:12.170 So Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Blue Star Families, 00:38:12.369 --> 00:38:15.510 are nationally recognized organizations with 00:38:15.510 --> 00:38:18.190 footprints throughout the entire country. And 00:38:18.190 --> 00:38:21.420 yes, there's nothing against... Bob's Equine 00:38:21.420 --> 00:38:25.000 Therapy and Random Town Michigan, but that's 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:28.320 not what I want this app to do. I want this app 00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:31.559 to empower veterans to be their own best advocates. 00:38:31.579 --> 00:38:34.860 And I think by doing that, by offering that, 00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:37.199 it's going to reduce the veteran suicide rate. 00:38:37.739 --> 00:38:40.360 So examples of what the app can do, we already 00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:42.980 touched on, you know, disability compensation, 00:38:44.300 --> 00:38:48.019 dependent, indemnity, DIC, which is known as 00:38:48.019 --> 00:38:51.500 widow's pension. That's on their education benefits, 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:54.820 VA home loan benefits. We've just created, and 00:38:54.820 --> 00:38:58.320 we actually utilize a veteran that's in a master's 00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:01.179 program at University of Michigan to build out 00:39:01.179 --> 00:39:04.599 an AI companion called SAM. So think about it 00:39:04.599 --> 00:39:07.400 this way. I don't have the numbers. Normally 00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:11.099 I do, but this is kind of a, A, it's a taboo 00:39:11.099 --> 00:39:16.440 topic, but the numbers are, I think are skewed 00:39:16.440 --> 00:39:20.969 so low. which is the veteran suicide rate. And 00:39:20.969 --> 00:39:24.550 I think veterans aren't just waking up one day 00:39:24.550 --> 00:39:26.570 and they say, hey, I don't wanna be here anymore. 00:39:27.030 --> 00:39:30.889 I think it's a systematic failure of the system 00:39:30.889 --> 00:39:34.969 as they perceive it. And so what if we could 00:39:34.969 --> 00:39:38.769 just talk to somebody in a non adversarial way, 00:39:38.829 --> 00:39:42.349 they're not gonna judge you for being weak or 00:39:42.349 --> 00:39:45.949 at a vulnerable moment. That's what this AI companion, 00:39:46.190 --> 00:39:49.949 Sam, does. I'm beta testing it right now. I talk 00:39:49.949 --> 00:39:52.090 to it every single day. You know, it'll tell 00:39:52.090 --> 00:39:55.329 me a joke and it'll just be, you know, empathetic. 00:39:55.510 --> 00:39:58.750 But also it has built in parameters in it where 00:39:58.750 --> 00:40:02.550 if it notices that you're speaking more in terms 00:40:02.550 --> 00:40:06.690 of, you know, darker and darker. Apocalyptically, 00:40:06.949 --> 00:40:09.429 yeah. More apocalyptic, yeah. You know, our dark 00:40:09.429 --> 00:40:12.500 veteran humor. that it's going to get you to 00:40:12.500 --> 00:40:15.760 the right services. And so I know that I'm not 00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:19.179 going to, I'm not gonna be able to save every 00:40:19.179 --> 00:40:23.699 single veteran, but at the end of the day, if 00:40:23.699 --> 00:40:27.400 I can just offer somebody hope that's in a very 00:40:27.400 --> 00:40:30.000 dark time. And if Battle Buddy is widely adapted 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:31.980 and lots of veterans have Battle Buddy, then 00:40:31.980 --> 00:40:35.619 you're increasing the chance that you'll. it'll 00:40:35.619 --> 00:40:37.559 be with a veteran who's struggling, and then 00:40:37.559 --> 00:40:39.739 you have this easily accessible source of support. 00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:42.780 I mean, I think that's a great idea. Yeah. Yeah. 00:40:43.239 --> 00:40:48.960 So yeah, I'm really excited about that. If you 00:40:48.960 --> 00:40:50.920 were to ask me about one thing about the app 00:40:50.920 --> 00:40:54.539 that nobody else is doing, I would say this AI 00:40:54.539 --> 00:40:57.539 companion right now is cutting edge. But at the 00:40:57.539 --> 00:40:59.639 end of the day, I mean, you literally can go 00:40:59.639 --> 00:41:04.449 on there and access any of your benefits. You 00:41:04.449 --> 00:41:07.530 know, we're not physically like tied in with 00:41:07.530 --> 00:41:10.269 the VA's infrastructure, you know, the API portion, 00:41:10.369 --> 00:41:13.829 but we've embedded it into the app where I don't 00:41:13.829 --> 00:41:17.230 know if you know this or not, but the VA has 00:41:17.230 --> 00:41:23.869 like 57 apps and 56 of them suck. Or I will say, 00:41:24.050 --> 00:41:26.489 as you would say, sub -optimized. Yeah, they're 00:41:26.489 --> 00:41:29.610 sub -optimized. So, you know, Gary, Gary Peters, 00:41:29.610 --> 00:41:31.710 if you're listening to this, I'm trying to be 00:41:31.710 --> 00:41:35.110 more politically correct now. Yeah. So yeah, 00:41:35.230 --> 00:41:38.409 I would say that the best app the VA has is just 00:41:38.409 --> 00:41:42.170 that app. It's just the blue VA. Yeah, I use 00:41:42.170 --> 00:41:43.989 that all the time to manage my health care appointments 00:41:43.989 --> 00:41:46.409 and I've been very impressed with it, right? 00:41:46.610 --> 00:41:49.610 Access to the - Yeah. If you're the app builder 00:41:49.610 --> 00:41:52.650 that built this, reach out to me because you 00:41:52.650 --> 00:41:55.989 are a unicorn, my friend. But they just added 00:41:55.989 --> 00:41:59.530 the certificate of eligibility for VA home loans. 00:42:00.119 --> 00:42:02.320 Ask any veteran back in the day trying to get 00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:06.179 one of those COEs. God, I mean, you have to ask 00:42:06.179 --> 00:42:08.260 for a congressional hearing back in the day. 00:42:08.539 --> 00:42:11.219 And so we've embedded that into the app now. 00:42:11.320 --> 00:42:14.340 So like I said, the beauty of the app is you 00:42:14.340 --> 00:42:17.199 don't have to go to 40 different resources to 00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:20.380 get all of the benefits you're entitled to. And 00:42:20.380 --> 00:42:22.159 you don't have to go to some random Facebook 00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:26.019 page of some Iraq, Afghanistan, GWAT veterans, 00:42:26.460 --> 00:42:29.510 ask a question. And then all of a sudden, You're 00:42:29.510 --> 00:42:32.170 going to get 20 different answers. And not all 00:42:32.170 --> 00:42:34.010 of them are helpful. Yeah, exactly. And all of 00:42:34.010 --> 00:42:35.849 them are helpful. And then all of a sudden, they're 00:42:35.849 --> 00:42:38.769 like, it turns political. And you're like, I 00:42:38.769 --> 00:42:42.750 just asked where the nearest certified official 00:42:42.750 --> 00:42:46.329 for my voc rehab or VR &E was. and somebody wants 00:42:46.329 --> 00:42:47.710 to tell a story about how they didn't get what 00:42:47.710 --> 00:42:51.150 they wanted or whatever, yeah. So it sounds like 00:42:51.150 --> 00:42:53.530 it's really doing what we used to say in VCAT 00:42:53.530 --> 00:42:55.829 was this idea of a warm handoff, right? Veteran 00:42:55.829 --> 00:42:59.550 has problem X. You literally walk them over to 00:42:59.550 --> 00:43:03.389 the provider for X and you put one hand in the 00:43:03.389 --> 00:43:06.469 other and say, here, this is Joe who helps with 00:43:06.469 --> 00:43:09.949 X. Joe, this is Bob. Bob needs help with X. And 00:43:09.949 --> 00:43:12.510 it sounds like in an app you're just leveraging 00:43:12.510 --> 00:43:16.170 at a really high level. that same concept. So 00:43:16.170 --> 00:43:18.989 just to be, I'm pushing for specifics, because 00:43:18.989 --> 00:43:21.110 I think a lot of times people just aren't that 00:43:21.110 --> 00:43:23.389 clear. So we've got things like, you know, connecting 00:43:23.389 --> 00:43:26.449 people to the VA home loan. There's a bunch of 00:43:26.449 --> 00:43:29.210 other VA programs, such as educational benefits, 00:43:29.369 --> 00:43:31.829 chapter 31, 33, 35. So there's a whole bunch 00:43:31.829 --> 00:43:35.440 of educational benefits. There's the entire disability 00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:38.400 or what's known as comp and pen process. I'm 00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:40.440 assuming you probably have there's a whole section 00:43:40.440 --> 00:43:42.239 of the VA. A lot of people don't understand the 00:43:42.239 --> 00:43:44.980 VA kind of has the three sort of subunits basically, 00:43:45.039 --> 00:43:47.559 and there's one that does just, you know, funerals 00:43:47.559 --> 00:43:49.579 and cemeteries, right. So there's a bunch of 00:43:49.579 --> 00:43:51.099 stuff there that people should probably be aware 00:43:51.099 --> 00:43:54.219 of what and then you mentioned some other national 00:43:54.219 --> 00:43:56.760 level charities that they you're connected to 00:43:56.760 --> 00:43:59.500 to also or Yeah, I want to be careful when I 00:43:59.500 --> 00:44:02.300 say this too, you know, I think the largest problem 00:44:02.300 --> 00:44:05.519 in the veteran space is over saturation. It's 00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:08.559 not that all of these NGOs, these nonprofits 00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:11.659 and foundations aren't well -intentioned, but 00:44:11.659 --> 00:44:15.159 I think everybody that left the military is trying 00:44:15.159 --> 00:44:18.840 to start a nonprofit and they're very well -intentioned, 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:21.760 but you're saturating the space. Yeah, but you 00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:23.539 mentioned there's over a hundred thousand, right? 00:44:24.349 --> 00:44:27.010 All I want to do with this app for the most part 00:44:27.010 --> 00:44:31.949 is just educate you and get you connected. So 00:44:31.949 --> 00:44:34.889 think about when we were at the VCAT together, 00:44:35.210 --> 00:44:37.949 that's exactly what we did. Instead of us trying 00:44:37.949 --> 00:44:41.170 to be subject matter experts, why not just connect 00:44:41.170 --> 00:44:43.409 you to the subject matter expert? Be the connectors, 00:44:43.730 --> 00:44:47.010 yeah. Be the connector, as you always said. So 00:44:47.010 --> 00:44:50.349 I won't go into the more nuanced benefits, like 00:44:50.349 --> 00:44:53.969 the tribal veteran guaranteed loan program or 00:44:53.969 --> 00:44:56.510 the, you know, you know, specially optimized 00:44:56.510 --> 00:44:59.929 arthritic tinnitus, you know, this and that. 00:45:00.409 --> 00:45:03.510 All I want to do is just educate you on what 00:45:03.510 --> 00:45:07.250 the main benefits are. The large high level national 00:45:07.250 --> 00:45:10.650 level kind of things. Yeah. And so, and then 00:45:10.650 --> 00:45:14.309 I want to work with national partners. So think 00:45:14.309 --> 00:45:16.690 about it this way. One of the things that I'm 00:45:16.690 --> 00:45:20.090 really excited about right now is in the gaming 00:45:20.090 --> 00:45:23.400 world. you know, veterans are big in the gaming 00:45:23.400 --> 00:45:27.380 world. So we want to work with like -minded organizations. 00:45:27.420 --> 00:45:29.539 So there's this gentleman out of Texas named 00:45:29.539 --> 00:45:32.039 Chris Earl, and he's a Marine Corps veteran, 00:45:32.280 --> 00:45:34.420 not an Army vet, he's a Marine Corps vet. And 00:45:34.420 --> 00:45:37.860 so Chris created this organization called Regiment 00:45:37.860 --> 00:45:42.579 Gaming. And so why are we not all working together? 00:45:42.780 --> 00:45:44.960 Because think about it this way, a veteran goes 00:45:44.960 --> 00:45:48.199 to Regiment Gaming for something probably more 00:45:48.199 --> 00:45:51.130 mental health related. but they're not getting 00:45:51.130 --> 00:45:54.550 disability, VA home loan, this or that. That's 00:45:54.550 --> 00:45:57.150 where we come in. You know, we can be that connector 00:45:57.150 --> 00:46:00.110 for them. And it's the same thing with Blue Star 00:46:00.110 --> 00:46:04.289 families. They deal with caregivers, but what 00:46:04.289 --> 00:46:07.150 about all of the other benefits that these veterans 00:46:07.150 --> 00:46:10.170 or dependents are entitled to? Let us be the 00:46:10.170 --> 00:46:12.590 connector for that. But as you would say back 00:46:12.590 --> 00:46:16.130 in the day, let's be the force multipliers for 00:46:16.130 --> 00:46:19.719 this. And let's have some accountability in place 00:46:19.719 --> 00:46:22.420 where with right now, if a veteran reaches out 00:46:22.420 --> 00:46:24.820 to somebody at the VA, nine times out of 10, 00:46:24.860 --> 00:46:28.500 there's no accountability if the ball is dropped. 00:46:28.900 --> 00:46:32.519 And so now there's a level of accountability 00:46:32.519 --> 00:46:36.219 in place with us where if these resource providers 00:46:36.219 --> 00:46:39.460 don't answer the phone or if we get complaints 00:46:39.460 --> 00:46:42.579 on the app, we're going to do an escalation process. 00:46:43.679 --> 00:46:46.530 So everything from disability compensation, quite 00:46:46.530 --> 00:46:49.610 honestly to emergency services. You know, we're, 00:46:49.630 --> 00:46:52.550 we're working with national partners right now 00:46:52.550 --> 00:46:54.909 that have a national imprint. And, you know, 00:46:54.969 --> 00:46:57.389 I love Lynn Phillips to death. She's one of my 00:46:57.389 --> 00:47:00.289 great friends here in Michigan. Yeah. She's amazing, 00:47:01.010 --> 00:47:03.789 but you know, honestly, she has a specialty subset 00:47:03.789 --> 00:47:07.469 of a niche that she serves and you know, God 00:47:07.469 --> 00:47:10.429 bless her heart. She goes outside of that anytime 00:47:10.429 --> 00:47:14.269 somebody asks her to, but you know, I can't have 00:47:14.460 --> 00:47:17.800 somebody that only serves three counties in Michigan 00:47:17.800 --> 00:47:21.039 on the app. When I have veterans from all over 00:47:21.039 --> 00:47:23.500 the country that come on this app, so they need 00:47:23.500 --> 00:47:26.559 to have nationalized services. So a lot of people 00:47:26.559 --> 00:47:28.119 don't a lot of people don't know about the fact 00:47:28.119 --> 00:47:31.599 that like the VFW right has this policy that 00:47:31.599 --> 00:47:34.280 it's applicable nationwide right for like emergency 00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:36.500 relief and help with things. So yeah, that's 00:47:36.500 --> 00:47:40.170 that's in a nutshell. Outstanding. Well, OK, 00:47:40.309 --> 00:47:42.210 I think we're getting pretty close to wrap up. 00:47:42.210 --> 00:47:43.789 I'd say before we wrap things up, do you have 00:47:43.789 --> 00:47:45.969 any sort of final thought or anything you'd like 00:47:45.969 --> 00:47:47.610 to share? Again, we're going to emphasize folks 00:47:47.610 --> 00:47:49.670 just go search for Battle Buddy on any of the 00:47:49.670 --> 00:47:51.690 major app stores. And if you're in Michigan, 00:47:52.090 --> 00:47:54.929 take a look at VetLife because they're really 00:47:54.929 --> 00:47:56.670 good and really strong in Livingston County. 00:47:56.730 --> 00:47:59.230 And you can see other things sort of statewide. 00:47:59.269 --> 00:48:01.170 You've got a really every summer, so probably 00:48:01.170 --> 00:48:04.110 coming in I'd assume July is the date set for 00:48:04.110 --> 00:48:08.820 VetFest 2026. August 8th at Cleary University 00:48:08.820 --> 00:48:13.199 from 12 to 3 in Howell, Michigan. And then we'll 00:48:13.199 --> 00:48:16.179 be doing a Vet Fest in November in Oakland County 00:48:16.179 --> 00:48:18.559 as well. Outstanding, Oakland County. Okay, yeah, 00:48:18.599 --> 00:48:20.400 and I know there's been some talk of doing one 00:48:20.400 --> 00:48:22.119 in Detroit and whatnot, so I'm sure you'll keep 00:48:22.119 --> 00:48:25.199 building the Vet Fest empire. And then I also 00:48:25.199 --> 00:48:26.719 recommend if you're a veteran in the Southeast 00:48:26.719 --> 00:48:29.000 Michigan area that we do have the coming up on 00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:32.420 the 21st and that weekend with USA Hockey and 00:48:32.420 --> 00:48:34.960 Plymouth, a really great event that's free to 00:48:34.960 --> 00:48:37.659 veterans and their families. But any final, like 00:48:37.659 --> 00:48:39.199 anything you really just want people to think 00:48:39.199 --> 00:48:42.940 closing words, a message to the veterans out 00:48:42.940 --> 00:48:44.980 there, something you want folks to know about? 00:48:45.300 --> 00:48:47.920 Yeah, you know, I would say this. A lot of us 00:48:47.920 --> 00:48:50.360 struggle when we leave the military and we lose 00:48:50.360 --> 00:48:53.429 a sense of purpose. and we lose a sense of identity. 00:48:53.769 --> 00:48:56.750 And a lot of us feel that we were taught in the 00:48:56.750 --> 00:49:00.349 military not to ask for help, that we have to 00:49:00.349 --> 00:49:03.349 have this persona that we're these strong men 00:49:03.349 --> 00:49:06.989 or strong -willed women. But there's a lot of 00:49:06.989 --> 00:49:10.690 us out there that are here for you. And so if 00:49:10.690 --> 00:49:14.449 you're ever in your darkest moment, just know 00:49:14.449 --> 00:49:17.829 that there's somebody that wants to see you be 00:49:17.829 --> 00:49:20.880 the best version of yourself. and that's Eric, 00:49:21.139 --> 00:49:23.920 that's myself, and that's pretty much anybody 00:49:23.920 --> 00:49:27.920 in the veteran space. So if you're struggling, 00:49:28.920 --> 00:49:32.940 don't feel that you're weak. You can reach out 00:49:32.940 --> 00:49:35.340 and you will not be judged. You will not be judged 00:49:35.340 --> 00:49:39.679 by me. I can say that with substantial certainty. 00:49:40.219 --> 00:49:43.840 But you know what the app can be such a game 00:49:43.840 --> 00:49:47.000 changer for you as well So yeah, I mean those 00:49:47.000 --> 00:49:48.880 would be my parting thoughts for anybody listening 00:49:48.880 --> 00:49:51.760 today wise words wise words pushing back against 00:49:51.760 --> 00:49:53.880 the stigma and whatnot and there's a lot of a 00:49:53.880 --> 00:49:55.960 lot of people who care about vets and most a 00:49:55.960 --> 00:49:58.059 lot of them are vets and You know, it's I think 00:49:58.059 --> 00:49:59.880 as wise words So thanks very much for wrapping 00:49:59.880 --> 00:50:02.619 up with that So this will conclude our episode 00:50:02.619 --> 00:50:05.059 here on battle buddy and I'd like to thank my 00:50:05.059 --> 00:50:08.380 army veteran friend Josh Parrish and I've been 00:50:08.380 --> 00:50:11.349 dr. Eric Fretz your for this episode of Veterans 00:50:11.349 --> 00:50:16.230 Radio and we'll see you next time. We're back 00:50:16.230 --> 00:50:18.869 here on Veterans Radio and I want to thank Eric 00:50:18.869 --> 00:50:21.489 Fretz and Josh Parris for a really interesting 00:50:21.489 --> 00:50:23.349 interview. I hope you really enjoyed that and 00:50:23.349 --> 00:50:26.769 I appreciate Eric giving me a week off. A couple 00:50:26.769 --> 00:50:28.869 of events that are coming up especially the big 00:50:28.869 --> 00:50:33.239 one that Eric mentioned. during the program is 00:50:33.239 --> 00:50:35.940 the USA Hockey Salute to Service Nights and that's 00:50:35.940 --> 00:50:39.239 coming up this coming weekend actually it's Friday 00:50:39.239 --> 00:50:43.539 March 20th and Saturday March 21st and it's going 00:50:43.539 --> 00:50:46.860 to be at the USA Hockey Arena on Beck Road in 00:50:46.860 --> 00:50:50.139 Plymouth, Michigan and this is kind of cool because 00:50:50.880 --> 00:50:52.980 What they do is they honor the brave men and 00:50:52.980 --> 00:50:55.099 women who serve our communities and our country, 00:50:55.260 --> 00:50:57.920 including members of the armed forces and dedicated 00:50:57.920 --> 00:51:01.039 first responders. Across two special nights of 00:51:01.039 --> 00:51:03.360 hockey, they will recognize active duty service 00:51:03.360 --> 00:51:06.360 members, veterans, law enforcement, firefighters, 00:51:06.639 --> 00:51:10.139 EMS personnel, and their families. Each evening 00:51:10.139 --> 00:51:13.159 will feature patriotic pregame ceremonies, special 00:51:13.159 --> 00:51:15.780 recognitions, and tributes throughout the game. 00:51:16.400 --> 00:51:18.440 There will be representatives from the U .S. 00:51:19.300 --> 00:51:21.739 There will be representatives from the VA of 00:51:21.739 --> 00:51:24.159 Ann Arbor Health Care on site to help veterans 00:51:24.159 --> 00:51:26.800 and their families apply for, understand, and 00:51:26.800 --> 00:51:30.159 use their VA health care benefits. They'll also 00:51:30.159 --> 00:51:32.300 share information about a wide range of health 00:51:32.300 --> 00:51:34.739 care services that are available, the PACT Act 00:51:34.739 --> 00:51:37.340 and other valuable VA benefits and resource. 00:51:37.639 --> 00:51:39.619 So we encourage you to come on out. Not only 00:51:39.619 --> 00:51:41.659 will the VA be there, but there'll be all kinds 00:51:41.659 --> 00:51:44.260 of veteran service organizations and everything 00:51:44.260 --> 00:51:46.960 that's associated with veterans here in Southeast 00:51:46.960 --> 00:51:49.699 Michigan. So again, that's coming up. on Friday 00:51:49.699 --> 00:51:53.780 and Saturday March 20th and 21st at USA Hockey 00:51:53.780 --> 00:51:58.420 on Beck Road in Plymouth, Michigan. So make sure 00:51:58.420 --> 00:52:00.860 you do that if you can. I think it's a it's a 00:52:00.860 --> 00:52:03.000 worthwhile fundraiser and it's really fun. It's 00:52:03.000 --> 00:52:05.380 really loud. If you like hockey it's kind of 00:52:05.380 --> 00:52:08.239 cool too and it's nice and chilly. So please 00:52:08.239 --> 00:52:11.500 do that. As we finish up today's program I just 00:52:11.500 --> 00:52:14.539 wanted to remind everybody that Here on Veterans 00:52:14.539 --> 00:52:16.920 Radio, we cannot do this program without your 00:52:16.920 --> 00:52:19.519 help and your support. So we always want to thank 00:52:19.519 --> 00:52:21.539 our sponsors. So first of all, we've got Legal 00:52:21.539 --> 00:52:24.280 Help for Veterans, Specializes in Veterans Disability 00:52:24.280 --> 00:52:27.820 Claims. Call Legal Help for Veterans at 800 -693 00:52:27.820 --> 00:52:31.539 -4800 or go to their website LegalHelpForVeterans 00:52:31.539 --> 00:52:34.739 .com. The National Veterans Business Development 00:52:34.739 --> 00:52:38.219 Council, better known as NVBDC, is the nation's 00:52:38.219 --> 00:52:40.480 leading third -party authority for certification 00:52:40.480 --> 00:52:43.039 of veteran -owned businesses. For more information, 00:52:42.920 --> 00:52:47.079 you can go to their website nvbdc .org or give 00:52:47.079 --> 00:52:52.340 them a call at 888 -237 -8433. We also want to 00:52:52.340 --> 00:52:54.400 make sure that we thank our local veteran service 00:52:54.400 --> 00:52:57.059 organizations the Irwin Prescott American Post 00:52:57.059 --> 00:53:00.219 46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans 00:53:00.219 --> 00:53:03.840 of America Chapter 310 both of Ann Arbor, Michigan. 00:53:04.360 --> 00:53:06.599 If you'd like to support Veterans Radio as I 00:53:06.599 --> 00:53:09.599 said please go to our website veteransradio .org 00:53:09.599 --> 00:53:13.099 and click on the donate button. Okay. So I got 00:53:13.099 --> 00:53:16.940 that done. So I'm gonna wrap up today's program 00:53:16.940 --> 00:53:21.219 with our traditional God bless America and I 00:53:21.219 --> 00:53:24.179 think I am sure you're going to enjoy this version. 00:53:24.440 --> 00:53:26.559 So I want to thank you all for listening to Veterans 00:53:26.559 --> 00:53:30.280 Radio today. We will be back next week and until 00:53:30.280 --> 00:53:47.820 then you are dismissed. God bless America Land 00:53:47.820 --> 00:53:58.559 that I love Stand beside her and guide her Through 00:53:58.559 --> 00:54:05.420 the night with the light from above From the 00:54:05.420 --> 00:54:14.809 mountain to the grave To the oceans white with 00:54:14.809 --> 00:54:31.550 foam God bless America, my home sweet Home, God 00:54:31.550 --> 00:54:51.280 bless America, my home sweet for spacious skies, 00:54:51.659 --> 00:55:01.239 for amber waves of green, for purple mountains' 00:55:01.420 --> 00:55:15.739 majesty above the fruited plains. America, America, 00:55:16.340 --> 00:55:26.480 God His grace on thee, and crown thy good with 00:55:26.480 --> 00:55:59.719 brotherhood from sea to shining sea. To the prairies, 00:56:00.139 --> 00:56:10.159 to the oceans White with foam God bless Pomp 00:56:10.159 --> 00:56:10.340 and Circumstance