WEBVTT

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Once the media got a hold of, you know, what

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was going on, I think it had to be, you know,

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within the first week or couple weeks that I

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was thrown in prison. And then, obviously, from

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there, it skyrocketed. One being, obviously,

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you know, I was being charged with murder. So

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that's a big headline. But then, because I was

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a Navy SEAL, it made for sexier headlines. Welcome

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to the latest edition of Erase the Podcast where

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our guests come on and share their emotional

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journeys of cancellation. Today's guest is an

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extraordinarily war -decorated hero in our eyes,

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Eddie Gallagher, Navy SEAL, who served many,

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many missions in Afghanistan. Ruck, and he's

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coming on to share how things went terribly wrong

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in the field, and he was accused of literally

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murder and got completely distorted in the media,

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and it does have a happy ending, but we're here

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to talk about that path, how it went from craziness

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to a final resolution and all the nutty stuff

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that happened along the way. Eddie Gallagher,

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welcome to our show. Welcome to our show. Hey,

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thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.

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Thank you. You know, a lot of people, you've

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been very generous with sharing your story on

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the Internet in long -form podcasts as well.

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I don't want to spend a whole lot of time talking

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about who you are and what you did. If you wouldn't

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mind, in brief, maybe take a few minutes and

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tell us about your military career and tell us

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exactly what happened that led to all of the

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attention that you got. Sure. Yeah, I'll try

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and break it down as briefly as possible because

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there's a lot of intricacies in the story, which

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is why we had to write the book, The Man in the

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Arena, which describes all of it. That really

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gets into detail. But yeah, I joined the Navy

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in 1999, pretty much right out of high school.

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Did my first five years with the Marine Corps

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as a medic because the Marine Corps does not

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have their own medics. The Navy provides them.

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was in an infantry unit uh for those four years

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uh went to scout sniper school uh during that

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time and then did the invasion uh of iraq with

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with uh one eight um after i came back from that

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then i went to uh buds which is the navy seal

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selection process uh made it through there um

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and from that point on it was just uh i did about

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uh nine combat deployments in total, going back

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and forth from Iraq to Afghanistan. And it wasn't

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until my last deployment, which was in Iraq,

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Mosul, Iraq, which was actually the first place

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that I had deployed to in the beginning of the

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war. So we were back there again, trying to take

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it back from ISIS. and during that time uh we

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had uh i had a couple disgruntled uh seals in

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my platoon um and they started a rumorville campaign

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uh because i was in charge i was the platoon

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chief um and we just our personalities did not

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jive and that happens um but yeah these guys

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started a pretty much rumorville um which then

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you know it started off very small as uh you

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know that They didn't like working for me, that

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I was too aggressive. I was putting them in danger.

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When nobody was paying attention to that, they

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escalated it to I was stealing things from them.

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All of this was done to try and just ruin my

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reputation. Everything that they were saying

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was untrue and was proven untrue at the time.

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And then they escalated it in 2018 when we came

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back from deployment. Seven months after the

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deployment had ended, they escalated it to that

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I was committing war crimes, that I had stabbed

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an ISIS prisoner to death. Here's a question

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for you. Who's writing your story? You or some

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random dude on the internet? If you're sick of

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Google, gossip blogs, or that one angry ex controlling

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how the world sees you, it's time to do something

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about it. Erase .com helps you take back your

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narrative by removing harmful content. outdated

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info, and straight -up lies from search engines.

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Your past shouldn't be a permanent headline.

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Erased .com gives you the reset button that the

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internet forgot to include. So don't let the

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web define you. Go to Erased .com, use code ERASED

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for 10 % off, and start owning your story today.

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Links in the description. Click it. Your future

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self will thank you. got out. It sort of got

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out of their hands. NCIS, which is the Naval

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Criminal Investigative Service, it's kind of

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like the, it's the investigative body for the

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Navy and Marine Corps. If there's any crimes

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or anything like that, once they got involved,

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it skyrocketed. You know, there was a corrupt

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NCIS agent named Joel Warpinski who took charge

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of the case. And he pretty much came up with

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his own conclusion right off the bat that I was

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guilty. And the way that he conducted his investigation

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was that I was guilty the whole time. I ended

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up being thrown in military prison nine and a

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half months before my trial because they said

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that... Because I was a Navy SEAL, because of

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all the training that I had done, that I was

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a danger to the investigation and dangerous to

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the guys that were accusing me of these lies.

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Once I got thrown in military prison, my wife

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took the reins. She stood up and started speaking

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out. She started a organic social media campaign

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about what was actually going on, the truth about

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what was going on, because at that time the story

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had blown up so much that, you know, the liberal

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media and everybody had picked it up and they

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were demonizing me, and everything that they

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were saying was pretty much flat -out lies. So

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my wife was combating that. So let's back up

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for a moment. So specifically, as I understand

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it, There was an event where a lot of ISIS were

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taken out, except for one teenage kid who was

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pretty damaged himself. And from your perspective,

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we've heard that you were really just trying

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to save the kid's life, but they turned the story

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into you actually killed the guy? Is that what

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happened? This is where it gets complicated,

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because I think people... Look at combat as black

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and white, and there's a lot of gray area. Yes,

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we had bombed a building. We had just gotten

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a firefight that morning that lasted a couple

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hours. We had killed probably 30 to 40 ISIS fighters

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just with our organic weapons. The rest of them

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hid in a building. We ended up dropping two Hellfire

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missiles on that building, killing the rest of

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them except for... This one individual who was

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pretty much on his way out. He was wounded bad

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enough. He wasn't going to survive. The Iraqi

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partner force that we were working with brought

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him back to our position. And there was two choices

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to make. Either let them have him and they would

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have just tortured him to death, which is what

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they did with all the other prisoners in front

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of us. Or we could just do medical treatments

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on him until he went out. And that's what we

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decided to do. We did medical treatments on him,

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proper medical procedures, not just willy -nilly,

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but he ended up passing, yes. And they turned

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that whole incident into a, that I had stabbed

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this, you know, prisoner, not even a prisoner,

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this ISIS fighter to death. And what was the

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picture situation? What happened around that?

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I didn't really understand that. Afterwards,

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after the ISIS fighter had passed, we were tasked

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to stay out there for another couple hours just

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in case ISIS decided to have a resurgence and

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push back and start fighting us again, which

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they didn't. It was pretty much two hours of

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standing around. The ISIS body was right there.

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And if you have a bunch of bored Navy SEALs that

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aren't doing anything, we started messing around,

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taking pictures with the body. Just goofing,

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really, and that is pretty much all that was.

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So basically the media took maybe what situation

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happened, maybe a picture in poor taste, and

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just blew it all up and made you. Oh, yeah, yeah.

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Okay. They weaponized that picture as best they

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could, yes. So talk to us about, so basically

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your wife, you were in a military prison. Your

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wife came in. you know trying to combat you know

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the media on on the insanity which we've been

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through ourselves so we know exactly how that

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feels it's crazy how they can just come at you

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on all sides like these bombs just going off

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and they exaggerate everything so we've been

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there we know how it feels and that's why we're

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doing this show because we want to hear your

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journey you're part of that i mean how did it

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feel from from what i'm understanding what i

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heard about you i mean you were this you know

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big time guy i mean you were you were the trainer

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of the trainers you were somebody who everyone

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looked up to and respected what were you feeling

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when all of a sudden you know you you feel like

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the world is against you you're being attacked

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on all angles how does it feel like uh you know

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i i think coming from uh you know a community

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where You give everything to, you know, I completely

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was a true believer in the SEAL teams and what

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we were doing. I gave my, you know, heart and

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soul, blood, sweat and tears to that institution

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and to have them completely turn their back on

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me. try and demonize me, make up lies about my

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character, and then just play along with the

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liberal media. It's, I mean, the only way to

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describe it, it's like one of the ultimate forms

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of betrayal. And yeah, it's not, it was a lot

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to sift through. I had nine months in a prison

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cell to process it. But yeah, it was, you know,

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there was... There were some dark times while

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I was fucked up in prison, just trying to make

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sense of what was going on. You got to think,

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you know, cancel culture, you know, that really

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wasn't a thing when this was going on, at least

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that I knew of. Coming up in the military, you

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really don't pay attention to the news too much.

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You're so fixated on the job and deploying constantly.

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So we really had to drink through a fire hose

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of just how fake news, how the media twists things

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around to fit their narrative and how they'll

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outright lie, which was an eye -opener, I think,

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for me, just because you don't... you wouldn't

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think that people would actually do that um so

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it was uh yeah i we would looking back now um

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it definitely there's a lot of uh similarities

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between you know other people getting cancelled

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and what they did to us um you know they they

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they make a narrative um and then they try and

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feed that narrative constantly through the, through

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the media or, you know, headlines. A lot of it

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is, you know, and a lot of the headlines are

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like clickbait stuff. But what we learned is,

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you know, the first thing people read is what

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they believe. And then to change their mind thereafter

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is very hard because they don't, they don't want

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to believe that they were lied to. So, so you're,

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you know, Navy SEALs are like the toughest people.

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On earth, really. And I have so much respect

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and admiration for guys like you. And here you

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are in a prison. I think the prison's probably

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different from the normal civilian prisons. Are

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you alone? Do you have cellies? Are you in solitary?

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You said things got pretty dark. Tell us a little

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more about that. When they first put me in there,

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they threw me in solitary confinement. for about

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four or five days because I was a SEAL. They

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treated me like I was the biggest threat in the

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prison. They didn't know what I was going to

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do, which, I mean, that, and a lot of that is,

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you know, I'll blame that on Hollywood or whatever

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else. It's, you know, SEALs are not anything

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remarkable. We're just regular dudes that chose

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to do an extraordinary job. We're not. Jason

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Bourne or however the movies and TV shows portray

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us. But because of that, because of the way they

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portray us, they treated me like I was. So they

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threw me in solitary confinement. And then eventually

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they let you out into Gen Pop. And so while I

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was in Gen Pop, I had a prison cell that was

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my own. And you just spend pretty much the whole

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day. either in gen pop or in your cell, depending

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on, they have lockdown procedures all through

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the day. And I mean, it is very, I'd say some

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of it is very similar to a civilian prison. I

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think the only difference is that it houses,

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you know, people in the military. So you have

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the prisoner in there is not, they have at least

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some smarts to them, you know, and they're just,

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it's a little. different breed of character.

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But other than that, they do treat it like a

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regular prison. I would assume there's not a

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lot of random violence like you might see in

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a regular prison. Yeah, that's what I was trying

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to get at. Or gangs, right? Yeah, there's not

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a lot of gangs. The prison that they put me in

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was a sexual offender prison. So about 85 % of

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them. were sex offenders or pedophiles. And then

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they had about, you know, the other 15 % that

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were just people that had, you know, violated

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the uniform code of military justice in some

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way. But I mean, it's as ridiculous as, you know,

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there's kids in there that, you know, failed

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a drug test because they made a mistake and they're

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serving five years in military prison, which

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is not, it's not right. Because I had no clue.

00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:05.720
you know, really about this, about military prison

00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:07.700
or anything like that until I was thrown in there.

00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:09.960
And, you know, and I was thinking, you know,

00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:13.759
these kids that made mistakes at 18, 19 that

00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.320
are now serving five years, if they had gone

00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.000
to college and not raised their right hand to

00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.080
serve this country, none of this would be an

00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.940
issue. But because of the Uniform Code of Military

00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:25.539
Justice and how broken that system is and how

00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:28.220
corrupt it is, you know, they ruin people's lives

00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:35.419
on a daily basis. Yeah, it was an experience.

00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:38.220
I could see that actually being a whole hour

00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:41.139
show. Maybe I'll have you on the Layla show just

00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:43.240
to talk about your experience in prison. Maybe

00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:45.399
it sounds like there's some reform that needs

00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:48.240
to come out of that. Well, there is. There's

00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:50.279
definitely some reform, which is, you know, we

00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:53.080
can get into my wife and I started the Piper

00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:57.860
Foundation. after all this whole ordeal went

00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:00.720
down and what we do is we support active duty

00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.279
military members law enforcement and first responders

00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.500
if they're being unjustly accused for doing their

00:16:05.500 --> 00:16:08.899
job we step in provide emergency relief aid to

00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:11.100
their families we raise money for the legal defense

00:16:11.100 --> 00:16:14.419
because as as we found out the only rights that

00:16:14.419 --> 00:16:16.440
you have are the ones that you can afford wow

00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:19.980
and we also advocate for these individuals And

00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:21.840
try to actually put out the correct narrative.

00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:24.000
So you know what? If you don't mind, I would

00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.679
love to put you on my show, The Layla Show, and

00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:28.539
I'd like to spend like the whole hour talking

00:16:28.539 --> 00:16:30.559
about what you saw on there and your nonprofit.

00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.379
You think we can do that on my other show? I'll

00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:36.940
check my schedule. Yeah, for sure. I can have,

00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:39.559
for now, we'll put your nonprofit in the show

00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:42.399
notes as well as your book that you wrote. But

00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:45.480
if you want to spend more time just on that nonprofit,

00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:48.379
my husband and I have a foundation as well. and

00:16:48.379 --> 00:16:50.659
we support different nonprofits, and we also...

00:16:50.659 --> 00:16:53.159
We give, and we're not receivers. Yeah, we donate.

00:16:53.299 --> 00:16:55.659
We donate money to different... When we sold

00:16:55.659 --> 00:16:58.059
our company, we donated some money to a donor

00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:00.759
advised fund, so we actually donate money to

00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:03.740
different foundations. But we could talk about

00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:05.359
that more, because I also have a wellness center

00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:08.160
where we are helping some Navy SEALs that have

00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.619
PTSD after getting out. So we have more to talk

00:17:11.619 --> 00:17:15.579
about later, aside from the Erase show. Oh, awesome.

00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:18.960
But I love that you're making something out of

00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.460
this. Yeah, and that's the point I was getting

00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:24.019
to. Plus, you know, another arm of the nonprofit

00:17:24.019 --> 00:17:27.279
is we are pushing for reform in the UCMJ and

00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:29.500
trying to get things done, things changed in

00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:32.019
that manner. I love that. How many people, just,

00:17:32.099 --> 00:17:33.720
sorry, quick question. How many people were in

00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:37.920
that prison, approximately? Off the top of my

00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:40.420
head, I won't be approximate. I can say there

00:17:40.420 --> 00:17:44.380
was... I think four or five different pods. So

00:17:44.380 --> 00:17:47.980
each pod is a general population. And mine, I

00:17:47.980 --> 00:17:53.859
think, had about 80 people in there. So a lot

00:17:53.859 --> 00:17:57.319
of this started with a bunch of your direct reports

00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:01.579
who were complaining about bullshit kind of stuff,

00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:05.960
right? And maybe you were a bit of a ball buster

00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:11.599
in the field. I'm really, you know, we comment

00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:13.920
on this a lot. We feel like the younger generation

00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:19.079
is like soft and entitled and all that. Is that

00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:21.900
kind of like where all this started? And it's

00:18:21.900 --> 00:18:25.259
surprising, if so, I find it surprising and ironic

00:18:25.259 --> 00:18:29.359
that these are also Navy SEALs as well. Younger

00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:31.140
Navy SEALs, I suppose, that are supposed to be

00:18:31.140 --> 00:18:33.119
tough as nails, and yet they were complaining

00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.519
about like minor little stuff and trying to set

00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:37.839
you up and take you down. Is that sort of how

00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:40.700
this whole thing started? Yeah, I mean, pretty

00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:44.720
much it's, you know, and to, I get, you know,

00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:46.480
people are like, well, these are maybe SEALs.

00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:49.559
How can they, you know, act like this? You know,

00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:50.900
unfortunately, there's always going to be your

00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:53.420
bottom one, two percent that make it through

00:18:53.420 --> 00:18:56.180
SEAL training and that don't belong. I can tell

00:18:56.180 --> 00:18:59.980
you that when I was, I was an instructor at BUDS

00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:03.759
for about a year and a half, around 2011, 2012.

00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:08.460
And, uh, that is when Obama was, he put out an

00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:11.680
order to grow the seal force. Um, he wanted to

00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:17.259
grow it by 500, which is a huge ask. Uh, so the

00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:20.500
command decided to up the number of people that

00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:22.480
were attending buds each time. So you'd have,

00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:25.660
instead of a class of like 150, you'd have a

00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:28.059
class of 250, but you still have the same amount

00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:31.799
of instructors, which then that one or 2 % that

00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:35.119
should make it now turns into, you know, three

00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.400
to four percent uh the numbers go up and just

00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:39.539
to catch up when there's a class of 250 that

00:19:39.539 --> 00:19:41.539
doesn't mean that all 250 will graduate and become

00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:44.420
seals correct no right only a percentage thereof

00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:49.319
yeah we have about it i think it's a uh 80 uh

00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:51.700
dropout rate or quit you know people that quit

00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:56.240
so um but that being said you know you always

00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.299
have like one or two guys that shouldn't be there

00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:00.859
uh but they somehow squeak by but when they up

00:20:00.859 --> 00:20:03.819
the number of classes you then now you have like

00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:06.400
four or five guys that probably shouldn't be

00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:08.500
there and so if you have seven classes a year

00:20:08.500 --> 00:20:10.960
that's 35 individuals that really don't belong

00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:14.420
in the teams and we are not a very huge organization

00:20:14.420 --> 00:20:16.839
so just having that massive amount of number

00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:20.900
of guys who are kind of entitled uh that feel

00:20:20.900 --> 00:20:24.700
like you know they are owed something for being

00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:27.339
for going to be a seal and a lot of that has

00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:29.759
to do with the popularity that the seal teams

00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.480
got over the past decade especially with the

00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:35.359
osama bin laden thing um you had a lot of guys

00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:38.339
wanting to join just to say they were navy seal

00:20:38.339 --> 00:20:41.079
not really to do the job and that's what i had

00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:43.440
in my platoon and it wasn't the whole platoon

00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:46.339
it was like three or four guys uh that really

00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:49.339
weren't there for the right reasons and i think

00:20:49.339 --> 00:20:51.720
they found that out on deployment uh once we

00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:55.549
started getting shot at and you know uh all the

00:20:55.549 --> 00:20:57.210
other atrocities that we saw that deployment

00:20:57.210 --> 00:21:00.329
i think instead of realizing that hey maybe i'm

00:21:00.329 --> 00:21:02.490
not cut out for this job they decide to point

00:21:02.490 --> 00:21:04.690
the finger at me and say you were the reason

00:21:04.690 --> 00:21:06.730
that this is happening you're making us go out

00:21:06.730 --> 00:21:09.670
every day it's a very childlike behavior but

00:21:09.670 --> 00:21:13.690
yeah that's you know i think whatever is going

00:21:13.690 --> 00:21:16.750
on in society transfers over to the military

00:21:16.750 --> 00:21:20.029
in some form or fashion is there a gap in the

00:21:20.029 --> 00:21:23.069
navy seal training that doesn't prepare these

00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:28.319
young people for, like, being barked at or emotional

00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:33.279
challenges that happen in actual combat? No,

00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:36.839
there's no gap. You know, our training is we

00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:39.279
try to make it as realistic as possible. You

00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:44.119
know, before we deploy, we train pretty much

00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:48.660
80 % of the year. Very hard, very rigorous. We

00:21:48.660 --> 00:21:51.180
try to simulate what combat is like on every

00:21:51.180 --> 00:21:54.660
training block. at the end of the day training

00:21:54.660 --> 00:21:57.079
is training right uh we're not shooting at each

00:21:57.079 --> 00:21:58.740
other with live rounds we're shooting shooting

00:21:58.740 --> 00:22:00.299
each other with like paint rounds or simulation

00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:03.839
rounds um and so i don't think that there you

00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:08.839
you can't simulate it uh 100 so you don't know

00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:10.819
how people are actually going to react when the

00:22:10.819 --> 00:22:14.039
real rounds start flying and i've seen it before

00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:17.640
there's guys that that do deploy and once we

00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:20.000
start getting shot at or having to you know do

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.039
something high risk or dangerous on deployment

00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:24.779
where we could possibly die they realize like

00:22:24.779 --> 00:22:27.119
maybe i don't want to do this but they finish

00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:29.140
out the deployment and then get out which there's

00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:32.240
nothing wrong with that but these guys decided

00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:36.700
to blame it on me so i i want to go back to you

00:22:36.700 --> 00:22:42.380
being in prison um knowing you were falsely accused

00:22:42.380 --> 00:22:45.440
and you've got nine months to sit there and just

00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:49.690
think and feel What's going through your head?

00:22:49.910 --> 00:22:54.369
Share with us the emotions from the ups and the

00:22:54.369 --> 00:22:58.190
downs and how you got through it. What did you

00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:02.670
do to keep yourself sane? Well, like you said,

00:23:02.710 --> 00:23:04.970
it definitely was a lot of emotions. It was a

00:23:04.970 --> 00:23:09.250
rollercoaster ride the whole time in there. And

00:23:09.250 --> 00:23:13.670
knowing that my wife was on the outside fighting

00:23:13.670 --> 00:23:17.089
for me and my brother as well. My brother was

00:23:17.089 --> 00:23:20.759
a... My brother and my wife both are the only

00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:22.900
reason that I'm sitting here talking to you today.

00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:25.779
I think knowing that she was out there fighting

00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:28.400
for me, definitely there was comfort in that.

00:23:29.460 --> 00:23:33.839
But at the same time, yes, you go through a lot

00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:36.500
of thoughts that you never thought you would

00:23:36.500 --> 00:23:39.160
have to think of. I was facing life without parole.

00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:43.660
I had to get it through my head that I could

00:23:43.660 --> 00:23:46.539
possibly be found guilty because of the system

00:23:46.539 --> 00:23:50.680
that was so corrupt. You know, just they were

00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:54.460
trying to, you know, come at us at every angle.

00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:58.160
And it was like we would make strides, you know,

00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:59.880
two steps forward, but then they would do something

00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:01.740
that would set us like five steps back. And then

00:24:01.740 --> 00:24:04.559
it was a constant fight to try and try and get

00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.599
the truth out there. But while I was in there,

00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:10.630
yeah, I had to, you know. sort of set myself

00:24:10.630 --> 00:24:13.589
up mentally that I could possibly be in prison

00:24:13.589 --> 00:24:17.170
for life. And that's a hard pill to swallow.

00:24:18.150 --> 00:24:22.289
You know, I think my, you know, I had a breakthrough

00:24:22.289 --> 00:24:25.890
about two and a half, three months in. I had

00:24:25.890 --> 00:24:28.829
a phone call with my wife and, you know, all

00:24:28.829 --> 00:24:31.529
the calls are recorded. You only get about 15

00:24:31.529 --> 00:24:34.450
minutes a day if you even get to have the phone.

00:24:34.869 --> 00:24:39.539
But I was still under the belief that the command

00:24:39.539 --> 00:24:41.839
that I had worked for was going to do right by

00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:44.519
me. And I would ask her all the time, you know,

00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:46.839
what were they doing? What were they saying?

00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:49.400
And she finally had a straight come to Jesus

00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:51.839
moment. And she was like, nobody is coming to

00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:54.940
help you. The command is against you. Everybody

00:24:54.940 --> 00:24:57.640
is against you except me, except me and your

00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:01.400
brother and the people that are obviously following

00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:04.640
her. So she's just like, you know, you need to

00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:07.619
get that through your head. So I went back to

00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:10.339
my cell. At that point, I was like at a loss

00:25:10.339 --> 00:25:13.119
because, you know, even while I was in there,

00:25:13.140 --> 00:25:16.000
I was still trying to control what was going

00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.380
on, which I really couldn't. And so I just got

00:25:19.380 --> 00:25:21.920
on my hands and knees, spoke out loud to God

00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:25.920
for the first time in my life. And, you know,

00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:28.839
I just gave him complete control. I was like,

00:25:28.900 --> 00:25:32.059
you know, whatever your will is, I accept it.

00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:37.319
And I felt a very, just this heavy, heavy presence

00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:42.039
take a weight off my shoulders. And I tell people

00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:44.359
that story all the time because, I mean, that

00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:47.460
is exactly what really got me through the rest

00:25:47.460 --> 00:25:50.420
of my time in there. Not that it wasn't easy,

00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:54.519
but I always, since talking out loud to him and

00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:56.579
then I would speak to him every night, I had

00:25:56.579 --> 00:26:00.519
a level of confidence that I was going to be

00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:03.339
okay. You said that and I felt it, you know,

00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:06.660
my eyes got a little watery. I felt it, especially

00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:09.380
you say that that was the first time you've spoken

00:26:09.380 --> 00:26:14.680
to God. Yeah. Well, I mean, what made you, what

00:26:14.680 --> 00:26:18.519
called you to just surrender to God? I think

00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:21.579
that after having that talk with my wife and,

00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:26.460
you know, she's, you know, she's my number one

00:26:26.460 --> 00:26:31.059
fan. She's like my best friend. you know she's

00:26:31.059 --> 00:26:36.220
my hero so i you know having her say that to

00:26:36.220 --> 00:26:38.180
me i was just like i had to let that sink in

00:26:38.180 --> 00:26:40.940
um and then i think it was just too much for

00:26:40.940 --> 00:26:45.440
me to take uh as far as like nobody you know

00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:47.880
no before my command was gonna stick up for me

00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:49.740
or do anything in fact they were against me it

00:26:49.740 --> 00:26:52.019
was just a lot to take on and i think i just

00:26:52.019 --> 00:26:55.619
i had no other no other where nowhere to go at

00:26:55.619 --> 00:26:58.319
that point uh so i just gave it you know it was

00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:02.720
just a natural Reaction, I think I was just saying,

00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.920
you know, and I grew up I grew up Catholic and

00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:08.519
then you know, my wife Is Christian. So when

00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:11.619
we got married that was a huge thing that she

00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:13.299
was like, you know, you need to be a believer

00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:16.460
and I was, but I don't think I had completely

00:27:16.460 --> 00:27:19.079
given 100 % of myself to him until that moment.

00:27:19.579 --> 00:27:21.720
So he surrendered to God, but even still, it's

00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:23.980
two and a half months, still thinking that this

00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:26.140
is it. He could be locked away for the rest of

00:27:26.140 --> 00:27:29.079
his life. It just happened to work out over the

00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:30.960
next, I guess, six and a half months that things

00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:35.039
worked in your favor. Yeah, not without fighting.

00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:39.299
There was a lot going on, too. I had a set of

00:27:39.299 --> 00:27:41.180
lawyers. I mean, this is a whole other element

00:27:41.180 --> 00:27:43.240
to the story that I don't think people really...

00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.039
you know, pick up on just because of everything

00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:49.640
else that overshadowed it. But before I was locked

00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:52.440
up, I had gotten a couple of lawyers that worked

00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:54.819
for a nonprofit called United American Patriots.

00:27:55.920 --> 00:28:00.000
They were actually that that nonprofit was started.

00:28:01.130 --> 00:28:03.529
For the exact reasons that we started our nonprofit

00:28:03.529 --> 00:28:06.650
except along the way it got corrupt Which we

00:28:06.650 --> 00:28:10.130
found out these lawyers had no intention of really

00:28:10.130 --> 00:28:14.430
representing me They were using my face and likeness

00:28:14.430 --> 00:28:17.990
to raise money Which they were saying was for

00:28:17.990 --> 00:28:20.430
our legal defense, but we've come to find out

00:28:20.430 --> 00:28:23.250
that most of it was just going back to them They

00:28:23.250 --> 00:28:25.670
actually ended up extorting trying to extort

00:28:25.670 --> 00:28:28.589
my us saying they were gonna leave me in prison

00:28:28.589 --> 00:28:32.720
for another year if we hadn't, you know, we didn't

00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:36.799
give them a certain amount of money. So we ended

00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:41.400
up, you know, firing them probably like a month

00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:43.480
and a half before my trial. And I got a whole

00:28:43.480 --> 00:28:45.559
new legal team, which was a whole nother like

00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:49.180
battle of like, you know, it's scary because

00:28:49.180 --> 00:28:51.579
you're firing these individuals who've been on

00:28:51.579 --> 00:28:55.960
your case for now, you know, almost a year. And

00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:57.799
then you're completely going over to another

00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:00.339
set of lawyers. But I can tell you this, that

00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:03.539
was like divine intervention. This new set of

00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:06.079
lawyers that I had were just remarkable. Tim

00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:09.380
Parlatori, Mark Mukasey, and then Bernie Carrick,

00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:11.619
who was a police commissioner. Bernie Carrick.

00:29:11.819 --> 00:29:14.000
He's going to come on our show, actually. Because

00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.619
he has his own story of cancellation. Yes, he

00:29:16.619 --> 00:29:20.200
does. So when I say divine intervention, Bernie

00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:23.160
is really what I'm talking about. He actually

00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:25.599
had seen some articles written about me. Former

00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:29.099
police chief for New York City, Hunter Giuliani.

00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:32.059
So he had seen some articles that were coming

00:29:32.059 --> 00:29:33.859
out about me, and because he had already been

00:29:33.859 --> 00:29:35.539
through something similar, he smelled something

00:29:35.539 --> 00:29:38.279
fishy going on. He had called around, asked about

00:29:38.279 --> 00:29:41.339
my reputation to some other SEALs, got nothing

00:29:41.339 --> 00:29:44.480
but good responses. And so he then reached out

00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:48.759
to my wife, Andrea, and they had talked, and

00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:50.599
he was sort of asking, like, you know, what are

00:29:50.599 --> 00:29:53.789
your lawyers now doing? he's asking the questions

00:29:53.789 --> 00:29:56.349
that needed to be asked because this was our

00:29:56.349 --> 00:29:58.210
first time going through it so we were you know

00:29:58.210 --> 00:30:01.170
kind of kind of lost and of how things are actually

00:30:01.170 --> 00:30:03.470
supposed to work and so he ended up coming on

00:30:03.470 --> 00:30:06.049
our team as an advisor and he brought those two

00:30:06.049 --> 00:30:08.650
new lawyers and from that point on it was like

00:30:08.650 --> 00:30:12.369
we had the a team they were calling out the prosecutors

00:30:12.369 --> 00:30:16.690
so the prosecutors got caught spying on my legal

00:30:16.690 --> 00:30:20.470
team they sent a beacon through an email trying

00:30:20.470 --> 00:30:24.490
to get everything that uh that we had on our

00:30:24.490 --> 00:30:26.369
case because they knew they they knew that they

00:30:26.369 --> 00:30:28.049
were going to lose they they knew that their

00:30:28.049 --> 00:30:30.329
their whole case was built on a mountain of lies

00:30:30.329 --> 00:30:33.329
so they were trying to spy on us to try and uh

00:30:33.329 --> 00:30:36.430
you know counteract the truth but we caught them

00:30:36.430 --> 00:30:41.190
um and the i mean this is how like in a in a

00:30:41.190 --> 00:30:45.069
civilian court of law the case would have been

00:30:45.069 --> 00:30:47.750
thrown out right there uh but because it's a

00:30:47.750 --> 00:30:50.440
military justice system All they did was relieve

00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:52.599
that prosecutor and put another one in his place

00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:56.400
and just said, keep going. Wow. So, I mean, and

00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:59.299
there's so much more to it. Like, there's the

00:30:59.299 --> 00:31:02.220
amount of corruption and deceit that they tried

00:31:02.220 --> 00:31:04.400
to pull and that we caught them at every turn

00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:08.380
was pretty crazy, which, you know, it's all in

00:31:08.380 --> 00:31:11.779
the book. But at the end, yes, we ended up going

00:31:11.779 --> 00:31:16.039
to trial. The trial lasted about two weeks. And

00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:19.200
I was found innocent of everything, all the charges

00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:22.859
except for taking a picture with a dead terrorist,

00:31:23.019 --> 00:31:27.539
which is really a slap on the wrist. But because

00:31:27.539 --> 00:31:30.500
I was at a court -martial, they threw the book

00:31:30.500 --> 00:31:33.119
at me. When you say they threw the book at you,

00:31:33.180 --> 00:31:36.420
how long did they give you for that? Well, I

00:31:36.420 --> 00:31:40.240
already had time served because I was in prison

00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:42.880
for nine and a half months before. But then they

00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:47.369
tried to take my retirement. Pretty much like

00:31:47.369 --> 00:31:51.150
I had never served 20 years. Wow. Did that happen?

00:31:51.970 --> 00:31:56.490
Nope, because President Trump at the time had

00:31:56.490 --> 00:32:01.710
stepped in. So while I was in, because my wife,

00:32:01.869 --> 00:32:04.910
I told you she started that social media campaign,

00:32:05.190 --> 00:32:07.549
garnering a lot of attention, and eventually

00:32:07.549 --> 00:32:10.269
her and my brother were being invited on Fox

00:32:10.269 --> 00:32:13.279
News. They went on. I think Fox and Friends,

00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:15.940
and I think that's what got the president's attention

00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:19.640
at that time. So he took interest in it. He looked

00:32:19.640 --> 00:32:24.259
into the case, got all the details, and he ended

00:32:24.259 --> 00:32:29.180
up tweeting, as he does, to let me out of prison.

00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:32.740
Wow. He was like, he wasn't saying I was guilty

00:32:32.740 --> 00:32:34.960
or not guilty, but he was like, let him out so

00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:37.019
he can properly defend himself before trial.

00:32:37.099 --> 00:32:39.700
Because I was, while I was locked up, I was not

00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:42.200
allowed to see my lawyers. I was not allowed

00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:46.859
to, you know, work on my case. I was denied medical

00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:51.660
visits. I mean, they were having the guards.

00:32:52.220 --> 00:32:55.599
So my command and NCIS were briefing the guards

00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:59.160
weekly on Mondays to try and make me snap. So

00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:02.779
they come in and toss my cell all the time, do

00:33:02.779 --> 00:33:04.480
strip searches all the time, just trying to,

00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:07.579
like, poke and prod at me. um so it was one big

00:33:07.579 --> 00:33:09.299
game the only reason i knew that was good you

00:33:09.299 --> 00:33:10.880
know going on is because a couple of the guards

00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:12.559
were actually cool and they came and told me

00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:14.980
like hey we're being told to you know make you

00:33:14.980 --> 00:33:17.960
snap they the prosecutor was also hiring other

00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:20.940
prisoners or talking to other prisoners um saying

00:33:20.940 --> 00:33:24.059
that if they could get me to say something or

00:33:24.059 --> 00:33:26.180
whatever that that it would help lessen their

00:33:26.180 --> 00:33:30.059
um punishment but you know these prisoners would

00:33:30.059 --> 00:33:31.440
come up and tell me that they were doing all

00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:36.960
these things so uh yeah it It was a, I mean,

00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:40.519
just battling through all that and becoming victorious

00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:45.759
was really something else. So did President Trump's

00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:48.700
tweet get you out of prison, or did he end up

00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:52.819
pardoning you? No, I was not pardoned. I went

00:33:52.819 --> 00:33:55.660
to trial and was found not guilty of everything.

00:33:55.799 --> 00:33:58.359
What he did, he tweeted to get me out of prison

00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:01.079
so I could defend myself before trial. And then

00:34:01.079 --> 00:34:03.599
after the trial, when they threw the book at

00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:06.599
me, for taking a picture with a dead terrorist,

00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:12.760
which has been done throughout all wars. He saw

00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:15.760
what the punishment they were giving me was definitely

00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:18.480
unjust and unfair. So he stepped in again and

00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:21.360
said, no, he's going to retire with everything

00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:25.300
he's earned over the past 20 years. And so that

00:34:25.300 --> 00:34:29.219
was the second time he stepped in. And then he

00:34:29.219 --> 00:34:34.900
stepped in one more time when... And the Navy

00:34:34.900 --> 00:34:39.599
decided to award the prosecutor's medals for

00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:43.300
their case against me. Wow. And so then he stepped

00:34:43.300 --> 00:34:44.960
in again and was like, nope, you're not getting

00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:47.400
any medals. You guys cheated. You guys lied.

00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:50.019
Wow, that's awesome. You guys did not act in

00:34:50.019 --> 00:34:52.940
an according manner. So he took that from them

00:34:52.940 --> 00:34:57.599
as well. Wow. When was that? This was in 2019.

00:34:59.739 --> 00:35:02.920
Oh, so you're lucky, too. Had this been a year

00:35:02.920 --> 00:35:06.159
later, whew! Oh, I'd still be in prison. Oh,

00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:09.900
whew, your time was on your side. Tell us about

00:35:09.900 --> 00:35:13.539
your family. So Andrea is your wife. How long

00:35:13.539 --> 00:35:14.940
have you been married? And I believe you have

00:35:14.940 --> 00:35:19.039
some kids as well. Yep, so we're going on 18

00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:22.420
years of marriage. We have three children, so

00:35:22.420 --> 00:35:25.719
we have... My oldest, Trevin, is in the Marine

00:35:25.719 --> 00:35:28.219
Corps right now. He's 25. We have a daughter

00:35:28.219 --> 00:35:32.480
that's 21, and she's about to graduate from Jacksonville

00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:35.860
University this year. And then we have a son,

00:35:36.019 --> 00:35:39.019
Ryan. He's 15, so he's sophomore year at high

00:35:39.019 --> 00:35:41.579
school. My wife and I have known each other since

00:35:41.579 --> 00:35:43.539
high school. We were best friends in high school.

00:35:44.460 --> 00:35:47.139
Sort of got separated. I joined the Navy, and

00:35:47.139 --> 00:35:50.000
then she moved down to Florida, but we reconnected

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:53.130
five years later. Ended up getting married, and

00:35:53.130 --> 00:35:54.929
she was pretty much with me through my whole

00:35:54.929 --> 00:35:58.010
SEAL career. She was your rock, it sounds like,

00:35:58.070 --> 00:36:01.309
unwavering through this entire process and pretty

00:36:01.309 --> 00:36:04.329
clever and resourceful to start this social media

00:36:04.329 --> 00:36:07.349
campaign that got a lot of attention. I would

00:36:07.349 --> 00:36:09.030
have done that for you too, honey. Thank you.

00:36:10.769 --> 00:36:15.530
We've been through our own stuff. Two rounds

00:36:15.530 --> 00:36:18.909
of cancellation. I've had one, and we've been

00:36:18.909 --> 00:36:21.110
there for each other the whole way. It's everything.

00:36:21.389 --> 00:36:24.389
And it did strain us at one point. It strained

00:36:24.389 --> 00:36:28.010
us a little bit. It strained you, not me. And

00:36:28.010 --> 00:36:30.150
it strained me. It strained me a little bit.

00:36:30.230 --> 00:36:32.289
But then I got my head on straight, and I realized

00:36:32.289 --> 00:36:34.869
it wasn't her, really. You got his head on straight

00:36:34.869 --> 00:36:37.710
fast, fortunately. Yeah, I mean, that's... when

00:36:37.710 --> 00:36:39.730
you're going as you as you guys know when you're

00:36:39.730 --> 00:36:41.730
going through something like that you know you

00:36:41.730 --> 00:36:44.989
need to be um supporting each other at every

00:36:44.989 --> 00:36:48.150
angle even as because as you know too like when

00:36:48.150 --> 00:36:50.389
they're trying to cancel you or come after you

00:36:50.389 --> 00:36:52.809
one of the one of the ways they do it is by trying

00:36:52.809 --> 00:36:54.849
to cause undue stress onto your marriage trying

00:36:54.849 --> 00:36:56.650
to break you guys up so you guys start fighting

00:36:56.650 --> 00:37:00.309
each other um and we you know we've always had

00:37:00.309 --> 00:37:04.210
a rock solid relationship uh we've you know Having

00:37:04.210 --> 00:37:07.130
her with me through my SEAL career and my children,

00:37:07.329 --> 00:37:12.989
they had already been through enough trauma just

00:37:12.989 --> 00:37:18.150
from losing teammates, just the rigorous schedule

00:37:18.150 --> 00:37:21.250
that you have during that time. So my wife is

00:37:21.250 --> 00:37:23.230
already, I mean, she was a rock before then.

00:37:23.309 --> 00:37:26.250
She was definitely one of the most resilient,

00:37:26.329 --> 00:37:30.349
strong people that I know. And I think that this...

00:37:30.829 --> 00:37:33.369
If you want to look at it as an opportunity,

00:37:33.570 --> 00:37:36.610
it was an opportunity for her to shine and for

00:37:36.610 --> 00:37:40.349
people to see just how remarkable she is and

00:37:40.349 --> 00:37:45.929
just how strong she is. And it showed. No one

00:37:45.929 --> 00:37:48.630
messes with Mama Bear. I love it. I love it.

00:37:48.710 --> 00:37:52.630
And how did your kids handle it? Did they get

00:37:52.630 --> 00:37:56.329
teased or bullied at school and college? What

00:37:56.329 --> 00:37:59.550
were they dealing with? Because it impacts everybody.

00:38:00.250 --> 00:38:03.530
Oh, yeah. You know, I think that they definitely

00:38:03.530 --> 00:38:07.590
impacted them in some ways. As far as, like,

00:38:07.610 --> 00:38:10.090
bringing it up at school, you know, luckily,

00:38:10.230 --> 00:38:14.150
I had moved my family from California out to

00:38:14.150 --> 00:38:19.489
Florida right before I was locked up. So everybody

00:38:19.489 --> 00:38:22.170
here where we moved in Florida was very supportive.

00:38:23.449 --> 00:38:25.789
about what was going on so they weren't you know

00:38:25.789 --> 00:38:28.829
really messed with too much obviously just dealing

00:38:28.829 --> 00:38:30.909
with the fact that their father was in prison

00:38:30.909 --> 00:38:34.690
is you know hard enough but i would say the you

00:38:34.690 --> 00:38:37.969
know again the reason they did so well during

00:38:37.969 --> 00:38:40.789
this was because they could look to my wife and

00:38:40.789 --> 00:38:43.329
see you know exactly the strength that she had

00:38:43.329 --> 00:38:46.989
um she refused to play the victim card uh you

00:38:46.989 --> 00:38:49.369
know she wasn't out there crying about what was

00:38:49.369 --> 00:38:51.489
going on she was fighting back and i think you

00:38:51.489 --> 00:38:54.199
know my kids definitely you know looked at both

00:38:54.199 --> 00:38:58.559
of us uh and you know when they saw her standing

00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:01.079
up standing up tall and strong and fighting back

00:39:01.079 --> 00:39:03.900
i think they took on those same attributes as

00:39:03.900 --> 00:39:07.760
well you know my my oldest son was in college

00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:11.659
at the time up at santa cruz so he was definitely

00:39:11.659 --> 00:39:16.639
dealing with um some blowback but luckily you

00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:21.480
know his my my uh ava and trevin they're my stepkids

00:39:21.480 --> 00:39:24.960
uh i've had them since they were tiny, so I don't

00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:27.679
even like saying that they're mine, but they

00:39:27.679 --> 00:39:32.340
have a different last name. So it was a good

00:39:32.340 --> 00:39:34.619
thing that he had his last, you know, different

00:39:34.619 --> 00:39:36.679
last name in that college because, yeah, he was

00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:38.139
telling me there was a lot of stuff being said

00:39:38.139 --> 00:39:40.960
about me. But, you know, when I talked to him

00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:42.900
on the phone, I was like, just ignore it, you

00:39:42.900 --> 00:39:46.320
know, and just focus on doing your best at school

00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:49.860
and just don't tell anybody that, you know, you're

00:39:49.860 --> 00:39:53.239
my son. You know, these things happen. Family

00:39:53.239 --> 00:40:00.039
is thrust into crisis mode. Yeah. With us, it

00:40:00.039 --> 00:40:02.019
was like that. Within a matter of days, the media

00:40:02.019 --> 00:40:05.320
is camped outside our school every day. For you,

00:40:05.480 --> 00:40:08.960
did you see it coming? Was it a slow -moving

00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:11.179
train, or did it all happen very quickly, and

00:40:11.179 --> 00:40:15.480
they're taking you away like that? Or did you

00:40:15.480 --> 00:40:20.719
have any advance warning? No. So I was put under

00:40:20.719 --> 00:40:24.360
investigation. I'm trying to get the years right

00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:30.039
here. 2018, I think around January, February

00:40:30.039 --> 00:40:32.900
time frame, I was told I was being investigated,

00:40:33.019 --> 00:40:36.980
but there was no details. I wasn't even told

00:40:36.980 --> 00:40:39.679
what I was being really investigated for. They

00:40:39.679 --> 00:40:41.360
were just like, you know, there's some accusations

00:40:41.360 --> 00:40:46.440
of laws of armed conflict that you're under investigation.

00:40:46.519 --> 00:40:49.059
They pulled me from my job. sort of shunned me

00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:51.280
and put me in an office and they were like, hey,

00:40:51.300 --> 00:40:52.820
you're just going to sit here until this investigation

00:40:52.820 --> 00:40:57.380
is over. And it was there really wasn't much

00:40:57.380 --> 00:41:01.539
being said. And at the time, you know, we were

00:41:01.539 --> 00:41:04.460
like, this is ridiculous. And we just really

00:41:04.460 --> 00:41:09.119
didn't pay it as much attention as I guess. I

00:41:09.119 --> 00:41:11.199
mean, at that time, we were just like, this is,

00:41:11.239 --> 00:41:14.699
you know, these allegations are, you know, ridiculous.

00:41:14.860 --> 00:41:16.400
We don't think this is going to go anywhere.

00:41:17.449 --> 00:41:19.389
because they were so ridiculous and then i think

00:41:19.389 --> 00:41:26.429
uh around june time frame is when um this is

00:41:26.429 --> 00:41:29.130
where it really escalated i got called i got

00:41:29.130 --> 00:41:32.909
told to come in to uh check in at work at 7 00

00:41:32.909 --> 00:41:35.929
a .m to go meet with the executive officer just

00:41:35.929 --> 00:41:40.050
to have a one -on -one talk with him um i showed

00:41:40.050 --> 00:41:42.809
up there and uh opened the you know he opened

00:41:42.809 --> 00:41:44.889
the door and there was about six ncis agents

00:41:44.889 --> 00:41:48.099
there they handcuffed me They told me they were

00:41:48.099 --> 00:41:51.039
going to take me down for interrogation. They

00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:53.579
paraded me in front of the whole command handcuffed.

00:41:55.039 --> 00:41:57.500
Once I got to the interrogation room, I told

00:41:57.500 --> 00:41:59.679
them, you know, I was like, I'm not going to

00:41:59.679 --> 00:42:02.719
talk to you without a lawyer. And so then they

00:42:02.719 --> 00:42:05.679
locked me in there for seven hours while simultaneously

00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:11.320
conducting a raid on my home. My wife was not

00:42:11.320 --> 00:42:14.500
home at the time. She was at a brunch down the

00:42:14.500 --> 00:42:18.840
street with a friend. And my youngest son, Ryan,

00:42:19.179 --> 00:42:21.559
who was eight at the time, and then my oldest,

00:42:21.719 --> 00:42:23.579
Trevin, who was 18, were the only ones home.

00:42:23.980 --> 00:42:28.039
So they raided our house, about, you know, 25

00:42:28.039 --> 00:42:32.500
to 30 NCIS agents, you know, kitted up with guns.

00:42:32.659 --> 00:42:35.519
They pointed guns at my kids in their face. They

00:42:35.519 --> 00:42:36.960
drug them out to the street in their underwear,

00:42:37.219 --> 00:42:41.679
made a whole spectacle of it. And my wife found

00:42:41.679 --> 00:42:44.920
out from a neighbor that had called, like, hey,

00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:47.090
your kids are in the street. or actually they

00:42:47.090 --> 00:42:49.409
called my daughter, what he then called my wife.

00:42:49.530 --> 00:42:52.590
Oh, my God. So then my wife rushed home, and

00:42:52.590 --> 00:42:56.130
then they tried to interrogate her. And, you

00:42:56.130 --> 00:42:58.030
know, that is really where we were like, okay,

00:42:58.090 --> 00:43:01.969
this has gotten out of hand. But unfortunately,

00:43:02.090 --> 00:43:04.670
when you fall under the UCMJ or when you're in

00:43:04.670 --> 00:43:07.449
the military, you don't have any rights. You

00:43:07.449 --> 00:43:09.869
don't, not the rights that you think you have,

00:43:09.989 --> 00:43:11.969
especially if you were a civilian. There's no

00:43:11.969 --> 00:43:13.369
ban on it. You just sort of have to sit there

00:43:13.369 --> 00:43:18.750
and take it. So we, you know, from that point

00:43:18.750 --> 00:43:21.070
when they raided the house, I moved my family

00:43:21.070 --> 00:43:22.949
to Florida not too long after. That was like

00:43:22.949 --> 00:43:24.670
the final decision. Like, yes, I'm retiring.

00:43:24.869 --> 00:43:27.489
I'm getting out. This is ridiculous. And they

00:43:27.489 --> 00:43:30.349
waited until I came back home. I came back to

00:43:30.349 --> 00:43:33.250
San Diego after moving my family to Florida because

00:43:33.250 --> 00:43:35.030
I was just going to finish out the rest of my

00:43:35.030 --> 00:43:39.110
time in Geobatch. And that's when they I actually

00:43:39.110 --> 00:43:41.750
I went to a TBI traumatic brain injury clinic

00:43:41.750 --> 00:43:45.539
to get checked up, which is what. most operators

00:43:45.539 --> 00:43:48.280
do before they get out uh just to like hey what

00:43:48.280 --> 00:43:51.599
all the injuries that you sustain is to try to

00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:54.599
sort of prep yourself and uh for the best uh

00:43:54.599 --> 00:43:57.719
outcome possible before you get out into the

00:43:57.719 --> 00:44:00.440
civilian world uh while i was there is when they

00:44:00.440 --> 00:44:04.440
came and arrested me on september 11th and handcuffed

00:44:04.440 --> 00:44:05.900
me again and threw me that's when they threw

00:44:05.900 --> 00:44:08.079
me in military prison and that's really where

00:44:08.079 --> 00:44:12.440
it skyrocketed what's the process where it became

00:44:12.440 --> 00:44:17.039
uh the news became exposed to the mainstream

00:44:17.039 --> 00:44:20.260
public. How did that happen? I can't pinpoint

00:44:20.260 --> 00:44:22.760
exactly when the news started covering it. I

00:44:22.760 --> 00:44:25.079
mean, it couldn't have been too long after I

00:44:25.079 --> 00:44:29.440
was locked up. Once the media got a hold of what

00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:32.619
was going on, I think it had to be within the

00:44:32.619 --> 00:44:36.739
first week or couple weeks that I was thrown

00:44:36.739 --> 00:44:39.340
in prison. And then, obviously, from there, it

00:44:39.340 --> 00:44:44.960
skyrocketed. One being, obviously, I was being

00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:48.059
charged with murder, so that's a big headline.

00:44:48.219 --> 00:44:51.420
But then because I was a Navy SEAL, it made for

00:44:51.420 --> 00:44:56.880
sexier headlines. So you had every media outlet

00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:00.519
wanting to cover this story. And unfortunately

00:45:00.519 --> 00:45:03.659
at the time, the prosecutors were giving the

00:45:03.659 --> 00:45:08.079
media all the lies that they were trying to.

00:45:08.849 --> 00:45:11.909
throw at me or accuse me of. And the media was

00:45:11.909 --> 00:45:14.590
printing them as fact. Like, this is what's going

00:45:14.590 --> 00:45:18.550
on. And we hadn't even had close to our day in

00:45:18.550 --> 00:45:24.469
court yet. But it's like jury by media. That's

00:45:24.469 --> 00:45:27.329
our experience. We had no voice. So that's sort

00:45:27.329 --> 00:45:29.630
of why we created this podcast. I mean, are you

00:45:29.630 --> 00:45:34.010
allowed to sue the media for defamation? Because

00:45:34.010 --> 00:45:38.969
a normal civilian can. Is it because you're in

00:45:38.969 --> 00:45:41.969
the military? Because, you know, President Trump

00:45:41.969 --> 00:45:44.590
sued and he won, and there have been recently

00:45:44.590 --> 00:45:46.989
a few lawsuits because the media is just really,

00:45:47.050 --> 00:45:49.110
I really think that they need to get slapped

00:45:49.110 --> 00:45:51.230
around a lot more to learn their lesson because

00:45:51.230 --> 00:45:54.170
what they're doing to people's lives, it's wrong.

00:45:54.449 --> 00:45:58.730
It's wrong on every level. It's wrong. It's evil

00:45:58.730 --> 00:46:05.389
what they do. And while you're in, one, you can't

00:46:05.389 --> 00:46:08.679
sue the military. while you're in because they

00:46:08.679 --> 00:46:11.400
have this thing called the ferris act and then

00:46:11.400 --> 00:46:16.719
once i got out i was told i was a public figure

00:46:16.719 --> 00:46:20.039
whether i wanted it to be or not and that when

00:46:20.039 --> 00:46:22.699
you're a public figure the media can pretty much

00:46:22.699 --> 00:46:24.960
have their way of how they want to write stories

00:46:24.960 --> 00:46:28.099
about you and we had you know i think we had

00:46:28.099 --> 00:46:29.940
considered a couple times especially you know

00:46:29.940 --> 00:46:32.820
there was one journalist david phillips who had

00:46:32.820 --> 00:46:37.650
worked for the new york times He had just, I

00:46:37.650 --> 00:46:40.429
don't know, this hard -on for this case and for

00:46:40.429 --> 00:46:45.210
me and really demonizing me. And we had considered

00:46:45.210 --> 00:46:48.429
him in the New York Times, but at the end of

00:46:48.429 --> 00:46:52.289
the day, they have a lot more money than us and

00:46:52.289 --> 00:46:54.409
a lot more time. And it's like you could either

00:46:54.409 --> 00:46:57.550
sit there and combat that and get back into it,

00:46:57.590 --> 00:47:01.170
you know, the whole legal system. But that's

00:47:01.170 --> 00:47:03.530
bullshit. You're a public figure because of this.

00:47:03.869 --> 00:47:06.409
controversy yeah yeah i mean it's it's you know

00:47:06.409 --> 00:47:09.929
it's not i guess uh it's not fair but it happened

00:47:09.929 --> 00:47:13.289
you know what were the biggest lies that the

00:47:13.289 --> 00:47:16.010
media told about you that you want to just take

00:47:16.010 --> 00:47:20.090
this opportunity to just completely debunk uh

00:47:20.090 --> 00:47:22.489
well i mean besides the fact that you didn't

00:47:22.489 --> 00:47:27.630
commit murder but they go deeper you know so

00:47:27.630 --> 00:47:30.730
what else were they spewing They were portraying

00:47:30.730 --> 00:47:36.690
me as some kind of warmonger. It was really crazy

00:47:36.690 --> 00:47:41.809
because you give everything that you have to

00:47:41.809 --> 00:47:45.849
go overseas and to fight our nation's enemies

00:47:45.849 --> 00:47:51.050
and try and get rid of evil over there. And while

00:47:51.050 --> 00:47:53.789
you're doing it, you're portrayed as like, yes,

00:47:53.809 --> 00:47:55.550
you're a patriot. This is what you should be

00:47:55.550 --> 00:47:59.420
doing. But then once... They want to turn on

00:47:59.420 --> 00:48:01.519
you. They kind of use that against me. And they're

00:48:01.519 --> 00:48:03.980
like, oh, look how many times he wanted to go

00:48:03.980 --> 00:48:06.400
to war. He just was addicted to war. He just

00:48:06.400 --> 00:48:09.460
wanted to kill people. They were like, you know,

00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:13.920
he was a they call me a psychopath or sociopath.

00:48:14.659 --> 00:48:17.880
They said I was going out on my own and just

00:48:17.880 --> 00:48:21.000
like while we were in Iraq, I was doing stuff

00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:23.260
by myself, which is all ridiculous. Like it was

00:48:23.260 --> 00:48:26.780
just completely made up on a stuff. But, you

00:48:26.780 --> 00:48:29.730
know, there's no. while that's going on, there's,

00:48:29.730 --> 00:48:31.590
you know, I don't have a voice to be like, that's

00:48:31.590 --> 00:48:34.170
not true. So you just sort of have to take it

00:48:34.170 --> 00:48:36.769
on the chin. And you, and that's why, you know,

00:48:36.789 --> 00:48:38.170
it's like, you're going to have your day in court.

00:48:39.110 --> 00:48:41.090
But unfortunately for some people, you know,

00:48:41.110 --> 00:48:43.150
you get your day in court and the jury has already

00:48:43.150 --> 00:48:45.110
made up their mind because you've been all over

00:48:45.110 --> 00:48:48.769
the media. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, there've been

00:48:48.769 --> 00:48:52.110
people, we've read some comments about us and

00:48:52.110 --> 00:48:53.710
I, and I read these comments, like these people

00:48:53.710 --> 00:48:56.849
have no clue who we are. They have completely

00:48:56.849 --> 00:49:02.110
formed this biased opinion because of the left

00:49:02.110 --> 00:49:05.010
-wing media that has a heart on for conservatives

00:49:05.010 --> 00:49:10.730
and for whoever they have their eye on. And it's

00:49:10.730 --> 00:49:12.610
just like a bunch of bullies in the playground.

00:49:15.130 --> 00:49:17.869
You know, and they don't stop until they've got

00:49:17.869 --> 00:49:20.750
blood. And that's why I'm glad all these lawsuits

00:49:20.750 --> 00:49:22.769
are coming out. You know, my husband and I are

00:49:22.769 --> 00:49:25.630
truly contemplating suing the Miami Herald because,

00:49:25.690 --> 00:49:28.130
you know, what they did to us and what they're

00:49:28.130 --> 00:49:30.369
doing to others, we feel like we need to take

00:49:30.369 --> 00:49:33.949
a stand for humanity. You know, we need to take

00:49:33.949 --> 00:49:37.070
a stand for others who can't fight because it's

00:49:37.070 --> 00:49:42.050
wrong. The news is supposed to be, A, unbiased,

00:49:42.050 --> 00:49:46.820
and B, They really need to present both sides.

00:49:46.980 --> 00:49:50.320
But the way they skew the words, the way they

00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:52.920
say things are blatant lies. Like with us, we

00:49:52.920 --> 00:49:55.559
were making a huge charitable donation to the

00:49:55.559 --> 00:49:57.960
city and they kept calling it an investment.

00:49:58.639 --> 00:50:01.500
They kept saying we were investing in public

00:50:01.500 --> 00:50:03.719
land that we were getting for free. I mean, it

00:50:03.719 --> 00:50:08.039
was just the lies and the lies and the lies that

00:50:08.039 --> 00:50:10.659
create this public opinion. And then you're right.

00:50:10.739 --> 00:50:15.070
The jury has been listening to this stuff. being

00:50:15.070 --> 00:50:17.230
bombarded with it who of course who are they

00:50:17.230 --> 00:50:20.750
who are they going to believe yeah exactly they

00:50:20.750 --> 00:50:23.710
made their mind i mean that's you know unfortunately

00:50:23.710 --> 00:50:26.690
like you said they're in a perfect world yes

00:50:26.690 --> 00:50:29.489
they would report report both sides of the story

00:50:29.489 --> 00:50:33.170
but i would say about 90 of the media is on one

00:50:33.170 --> 00:50:36.750
side and that's it and they're against the other

00:50:36.750 --> 00:50:39.329
side so they're going to report whatever they

00:50:39.329 --> 00:50:43.500
can uh to make the other side look bad even if

00:50:43.500 --> 00:50:45.920
it's lies and i think you know like you said

00:50:45.920 --> 00:50:49.500
it's it's crazy to watch these journalists just

00:50:49.500 --> 00:50:52.860
outright fabricate and lie in their articles

00:50:52.860 --> 00:50:55.420
and there's no accountability for it um you know

00:50:55.420 --> 00:50:58.019
and we we catch them and you know my lawyer would

00:50:58.019 --> 00:51:00.340
call them to like hey what you wrote in your

00:51:00.340 --> 00:51:02.199
article was completely untrue and they'd be like

00:51:02.199 --> 00:51:05.460
oh okay we'll fix it and The next day, it's just

00:51:05.460 --> 00:51:07.400
like they one -line something out of it. But

00:51:07.400 --> 00:51:09.559
it's already too late. You already put it out

00:51:09.559 --> 00:51:12.679
there. People have already read it. Sorry, I

00:51:12.679 --> 00:51:15.039
had to cut quickly. Was the Miami Herald involved

00:51:15.039 --> 00:51:18.300
in Florida as well for you? I'm sure. This is

00:51:18.300 --> 00:51:22.519
national news. Yeah, it was national. I don't

00:51:22.519 --> 00:51:25.219
even think we were paying attention to the Miami

00:51:25.219 --> 00:51:27.559
Herald or anything like that. I'm sure they were.

00:51:28.179 --> 00:51:32.239
It was that David Phillips guy. Yeah, David Phillips,

00:51:32.400 --> 00:51:35.539
working for the New York Times. I was, you know,

00:51:35.559 --> 00:51:39.179
we still dealt, after I got out, obviously, you

00:51:39.179 --> 00:51:42.820
know, it doesn't end. You know, and that's, I

00:51:42.820 --> 00:51:44.579
think that's the one thing, you know, when you're,

00:51:44.579 --> 00:51:46.320
when you go through something like this, and

00:51:46.320 --> 00:51:48.360
I'm sure you guys can attest to it, you know,

00:51:48.360 --> 00:51:51.159
you might come out, you know, victorious, like,

00:51:51.239 --> 00:51:55.420
hey, we proved in court, this was all lies, see,

00:51:55.659 --> 00:51:57.719
but it doesn't matter at that point. You are

00:51:57.719 --> 00:52:01.219
still... like looked at in a bad light by a certain

00:52:01.219 --> 00:52:03.780
part of the country so like yeah when i got out

00:52:03.780 --> 00:52:06.880
and i was trying to get jobs or do certain things

00:52:06.880 --> 00:52:10.320
um you know the the small media outlets will

00:52:10.320 --> 00:52:12.599
then report like all this war criminal you know

00:52:12.599 --> 00:52:15.880
they were calling me a war criminal um they also

00:52:15.880 --> 00:52:18.920
the big rumor that they still spread or tries

00:52:18.920 --> 00:52:21.380
that i was pardoned i was not pardoned whatever

00:52:21.380 --> 00:52:24.659
whatsoever i i actually went and faced my accusers

00:52:24.659 --> 00:52:27.280
and was found not guilty uh but that is like

00:52:28.029 --> 00:52:31.570
What I became is what I call a political football.

00:52:32.309 --> 00:52:36.170
When they need to bash Trump or anybody in that

00:52:36.170 --> 00:52:37.929
administration, they'll pull me off the shelf

00:52:37.929 --> 00:52:40.150
and just be like, oh, look, remember this war

00:52:40.150 --> 00:52:42.969
criminal? And then create the lies all over again.

00:52:43.250 --> 00:52:45.809
So here you are, proven innocent. You went through

00:52:45.809 --> 00:52:47.349
the entire process. You were proven innocent.

00:52:47.449 --> 00:52:49.750
I bet to this day there's still some percentage

00:52:49.750 --> 00:52:52.170
of the population that hears your name and just

00:52:52.170 --> 00:52:53.869
thinks all these horrible thoughts about you.

00:52:53.969 --> 00:52:55.809
And there's nothing you can do to change that.

00:52:55.869 --> 00:52:59.690
And before that, you were a pillar of humanity

00:52:59.690 --> 00:53:02.949
in a way, a real hero to all of us. How does

00:53:02.949 --> 00:53:06.429
that feel? I know how that feels. Maybe you could

00:53:06.429 --> 00:53:09.190
share with us. We were at one point Miami's most

00:53:09.190 --> 00:53:11.949
philanthropic couple. And then it's just boom,

00:53:12.090 --> 00:53:16.119
you know, overnight. So how does it feel knowing,

00:53:16.219 --> 00:53:19.380
walking around, there's some people that still

00:53:19.380 --> 00:53:22.119
are latching on to some of these mistruths and

00:53:22.119 --> 00:53:25.840
mischaracterizations? I mean, well, I'll answer

00:53:25.840 --> 00:53:35.960
that in two parts. One, I've never considered

00:53:35.960 --> 00:53:40.920
myself a hero or anything like that. It's not

00:53:40.920 --> 00:53:46.579
how we look at ourselves. you know it was actually

00:53:46.579 --> 00:53:48.980
it's kind of awkward to you know for people to

00:53:48.980 --> 00:53:50.780
say that it's like oh you're like a hero you're

00:53:50.780 --> 00:53:54.320
this or that i it's just i'm i'm a husband i'm

00:53:54.320 --> 00:53:58.800
a father uh and i was a navy seal and i you know

00:53:58.800 --> 00:54:03.360
i did my job to my utmost ability uh but you

00:54:03.360 --> 00:54:05.440
know when you once you get out that was definitely

00:54:05.440 --> 00:54:09.099
something i had to um get over um you know the

00:54:09.099 --> 00:54:13.139
the negative comments uh still the articles that

00:54:13.420 --> 00:54:15.420
of lies that were still being put out even after

00:54:15.420 --> 00:54:18.500
i had retired from the military um you know and

00:54:18.500 --> 00:54:21.139
at first it it's frustrating because you're like

00:54:21.139 --> 00:54:23.000
like you said you're like you don't even know

00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:26.079
who i am but yet you're sitting here you know

00:54:26.079 --> 00:54:28.659
we were getting death threats on you know my

00:54:28.659 --> 00:54:30.280
kids were getting death threats on their social

00:54:30.280 --> 00:54:34.719
media it just you know it was rampant um but

00:54:34.719 --> 00:54:37.119
what i what i came to find out is you know what

00:54:37.119 --> 00:54:39.900
it's like that certain part of the population

00:54:39.900 --> 00:54:42.969
i don't care It's like, if that's, if that's

00:54:42.969 --> 00:54:44.829
what you want to believe, then believe it. I

00:54:44.829 --> 00:54:47.710
don't, I'm not trying to win you over. I really

00:54:47.710 --> 00:54:51.090
don't care what you think. And, and honestly,

00:54:51.210 --> 00:54:52.929
it's kind of, it's like cutting the fat out of

00:54:52.929 --> 00:54:56.230
your life. It's like, okay, now I know. Yeah.

00:54:56.429 --> 00:54:58.909
You can relate to that. She's watched, she's

00:54:58.909 --> 00:55:01.130
built like that. Me, I had to, the journey to

00:55:01.130 --> 00:55:05.010
get to that point. I said, you know what, great.

00:55:05.269 --> 00:55:08.099
We just, we just got the. The debris out of our

00:55:08.099 --> 00:55:10.980
lives, you know. We just got the, you know, the

00:55:10.980 --> 00:55:15.119
residue out of our lives. No, I'm over it. They

00:55:15.119 --> 00:55:17.559
did us a favor, you know. That's how you feel

00:55:17.559 --> 00:55:20.280
about me because I'm trying to take a stance

00:55:20.280 --> 00:55:23.699
on a, you know, experimental vaccine that I don't

00:55:23.699 --> 00:55:26.440
want injected in my body or I'm not going to

00:55:26.440 --> 00:55:28.719
mandate at my school, you know. It's just like,

00:55:28.739 --> 00:55:31.139
don't be my friend. Hate me. I don't care. Hate

00:55:31.139 --> 00:55:35.860
me all you want, you know. The piece that I truly

00:55:35.860 --> 00:55:38.360
feel more people need to stand up against is

00:55:38.360 --> 00:55:42.179
the media. And I really, really feel more people

00:55:42.179 --> 00:55:47.150
need to sue them. to teach that they cannot destroy

00:55:47.150 --> 00:55:49.710
lives like this and you can't fix it with a little

00:55:49.710 --> 00:55:52.250
tiny retraction no they need to do the right

00:55:52.250 --> 00:55:54.750
thing at the bottom of an article otherwise the

00:55:54.750 --> 00:55:57.130
headline is still scathing and it's just it's

00:55:57.130 --> 00:56:00.250
just not yeah otherwise i keep i hope they keep

00:56:00.250 --> 00:56:02.409
getting hit with these 50 million dollar lawsuits

00:56:02.409 --> 00:56:05.389
100 million dollar lawsuits until they stop until

00:56:05.389 --> 00:56:11.200
they realize that that them being fake news them

00:56:11.200 --> 00:56:13.940
distorting and spewing these lies is going to

00:56:13.940 --> 00:56:16.820
cost them more money than the clickbait that

00:56:16.820 --> 00:56:20.519
they think that they're generating. The little

00:56:20.519 --> 00:56:24.039
bit of revenue is going to be nothing compared

00:56:24.039 --> 00:56:25.599
to the amount of lawsuits that they're going

00:56:25.599 --> 00:56:28.619
to get for their lies. And that's one of the

00:56:28.619 --> 00:56:30.519
things I'm hopeful with President Trump. I mean,

00:56:30.599 --> 00:56:34.579
like, there isn't anybody better than him. to

00:56:34.579 --> 00:56:37.019
sign an executive order that says you know what

00:56:37.019 --> 00:56:40.780
you've abused all the the laws that we put in

00:56:40.780 --> 00:56:43.179
place to protect you and we're going to put some

00:56:43.179 --> 00:56:45.639
transformation in place to make sure that you

00:56:45.639 --> 00:56:48.059
can no longer destroy innocent people's lives

00:56:48.730 --> 00:56:50.789
You were here to tell a story, and that's it.

00:56:50.929 --> 00:56:53.530
The media has too many protections. Too many?

00:56:53.650 --> 00:56:57.389
Yeah, so like military or this slap thing, I

00:56:57.389 --> 00:56:59.110
don't remember, some sort of legislation where

00:56:59.110 --> 00:57:03.889
you have to pay for their legal fees if you lose.

00:57:05.369 --> 00:57:08.409
There's way too many protections that they have.

00:57:08.429 --> 00:57:11.210
If you're a notable figure, then you're out of

00:57:11.210 --> 00:57:17.000
luck. Exactly. My question for you, you know,

00:57:17.019 --> 00:57:19.780
what has it been like since with a couple of

00:57:19.780 --> 00:57:22.360
guys that, you know, really tried to do you harm?

00:57:23.199 --> 00:57:26.820
Have you made amends with them? Do they, you

00:57:26.820 --> 00:57:29.139
know, where are they? Are they still in the military?

00:57:29.159 --> 00:57:31.739
And another question attached to that, why do

00:57:31.739 --> 00:57:35.039
you think your superiors, your bosses didn't

00:57:35.039 --> 00:57:38.239
stand up for you? Were they just protecting their

00:57:38.239 --> 00:57:40.840
career? Like, what do you think happened that

00:57:40.840 --> 00:57:43.679
one? you didn't get the protection that you should

00:57:43.679 --> 00:57:46.719
have because you you guys are you know the navy

00:57:46.719 --> 00:57:50.300
seals are all about loyalty and brotherhood like

00:57:50.300 --> 00:57:54.119
what happened that they that that went away that's

00:57:54.119 --> 00:57:57.719
a misconception okay tell me what what happened

00:57:57.719 --> 00:58:02.300
well was it were they saving their careers like

00:58:02.300 --> 00:58:04.199
what what went down why did why did they just

00:58:04.199 --> 00:58:07.699
abandon you yeah as far as the guys who who accuse

00:58:07.699 --> 00:58:10.760
me uh what they're doing now i really don't I

00:58:10.760 --> 00:58:14.039
don't know. I've completely detached from, you

00:58:14.039 --> 00:58:16.019
know, what I think there's one of them might

00:58:16.019 --> 00:58:19.739
still be in. And I know that his reputation is

00:58:19.739 --> 00:58:25.940
not liked at all. But as far as like, and I get

00:58:25.940 --> 00:58:28.079
what you were saying, and that was like really

00:58:28.079 --> 00:58:30.960
what made a lot of headlines and articles and

00:58:30.960 --> 00:58:32.320
had people ask him like, well, how could this

00:58:32.320 --> 00:58:34.599
happen in the SEALs? They're all, you know, such

00:58:34.599 --> 00:58:37.159
a tight -knit brotherhood. That's a huge misconception

00:58:37.159 --> 00:58:40.239
as well. There is a tight -knit brotherhood in

00:58:40.239 --> 00:58:44.340
the teams, but there's pockets of them. It's

00:58:44.340 --> 00:58:46.360
not just because you're in the SEAL teams does

00:58:46.360 --> 00:58:48.320
not mean you're like, oh, we're all in this together.

00:58:48.699 --> 00:58:50.639
Everyone has their different reasons for joining.

00:58:50.780 --> 00:58:52.860
There are some guys that join to make a career

00:58:52.860 --> 00:58:56.110
out of it that want to be, you know. a master

00:58:56.110 --> 00:58:59.550
chief at some point uh there's other guys that

00:58:59.550 --> 00:59:01.949
joined just to say they were seals so they could

00:59:01.949 --> 00:59:04.429
do maybe their five years get out and then go

00:59:04.429 --> 00:59:07.090
start start a name brand or something and then

00:59:07.090 --> 00:59:09.389
there's the rest of us who joined to actually

00:59:09.389 --> 00:59:12.389
do the job and go to war and actually be with

00:59:12.389 --> 00:59:15.090
each other in war over and over and over that's

00:59:15.090 --> 00:59:17.809
where the real brotherhood is and that's a titanate

00:59:17.809 --> 00:59:21.309
unit but that's not that does not encompass the

00:59:21.309 --> 00:59:25.539
whole community uh believe me and As far as the

00:59:25.539 --> 00:59:29.059
leaders that did not have my back, yes, you hit

00:59:29.059 --> 00:59:32.380
the nail on the head. It's careerism, right?

00:59:32.480 --> 00:59:37.179
So what happened with me is my allegations were

00:59:37.179 --> 00:59:40.340
brought to the admiral, which was Admiral Colin

00:59:40.340 --> 00:59:43.179
Green. He was in charge at the time. Because

00:59:43.179 --> 00:59:46.119
the SEAL community had been under such scrutiny

00:59:46.119 --> 00:59:51.460
over the past couple years as far as drug use.

00:59:53.280 --> 00:59:55.920
All these articles were coming out about us and

00:59:55.920 --> 00:59:58.260
not in a good light, which is what happens when

00:59:58.260 --> 01:00:01.780
you publicize us in the first place and, you

01:00:01.780 --> 01:00:04.639
know, hail us as America's heroes. There's only

01:00:04.639 --> 01:00:06.659
one place you can go, and that's down. And so

01:00:06.659 --> 01:00:09.039
a lot of the liberal media was putting out all

01:00:09.039 --> 01:00:11.139
these articles about the rampant drug use, the

01:00:11.139 --> 01:00:13.900
fights, this and, you know, whatever thing was

01:00:13.900 --> 01:00:15.539
going on in the community, which has been happening

01:00:15.539 --> 01:00:18.099
in the SEAL community and every special operations

01:00:18.099 --> 01:00:20.519
branch since the beginning of special operations.

01:00:20.519 --> 01:00:23.889
You're not. hiring boy scouts to go do this job

01:00:23.889 --> 01:00:26.489
you're you're you know these aren't angels it's

01:00:26.489 --> 01:00:28.690
these are guys that are willing to go do a dirty

01:00:28.690 --> 01:00:33.349
job uh so because of all these allegations that

01:00:33.349 --> 01:00:35.369
were coming out and all these articles when my

01:00:35.369 --> 01:00:37.510
allegation was put in front of the admiral's

01:00:37.510 --> 01:00:39.570
desk and i got this first hand from a guy who

01:00:39.570 --> 01:00:43.230
was in the room he had opened my my uh record

01:00:43.230 --> 01:00:46.250
and looked at saw that i was highly respected

01:00:46.250 --> 01:00:50.530
that i you know was actually a good you know

01:00:51.219 --> 01:00:54.760
seal and he said make an example out of him and

01:00:54.760 --> 01:00:57.300
slid it across and that was it that was the order

01:00:57.300 --> 01:01:00.780
that was given was bury him to make an example

01:01:00.780 --> 01:01:02.599
that we are not going to put up with this mess

01:01:02.599 --> 01:01:05.480
anymore I was supposed to be this message that

01:01:05.480 --> 01:01:08.039
was sent across the seal community that you know

01:01:08.039 --> 01:01:11.039
if you you know do anything that embarrasses

01:01:11.039 --> 01:01:14.920
the institution we will destroy you and so from

01:01:14.920 --> 01:01:18.300
that point on anybody that stood up for me And

01:01:18.300 --> 01:01:20.900
there was multiple instances where people stood

01:01:20.900 --> 01:01:22.699
up and said what you guys are doing to him is

01:01:22.699 --> 01:01:26.320
wrong. They were punished. Wow. Guys that wanted

01:01:26.320 --> 01:01:29.739
to come in and testify for me about my character

01:01:29.739 --> 01:01:32.940
or just come and help in any way were threatened.

01:01:33.500 --> 01:01:35.659
Like, if you go do this, then you are putting

01:01:35.659 --> 01:01:39.280
your career in jeopardy. So there's that whole

01:01:39.280 --> 01:01:42.840
aspect to it as well. Careerism plays a huge

01:01:42.840 --> 01:01:47.119
part in what happened. my case was handled for

01:01:47.119 --> 01:01:49.619
sure. You know, you could say the same thing

01:01:49.619 --> 01:01:52.920
happened around the COVID vaccine because the

01:01:52.920 --> 01:01:57.900
COVID vaccine was really, you know, there were

01:01:57.900 --> 01:01:59.760
so many young people or there's so many people

01:01:59.760 --> 01:02:02.460
that didn't want to take it. But because there

01:02:02.460 --> 01:02:05.940
was this, you know, this aggressive push instead

01:02:05.940 --> 01:02:09.519
of. doing the right thing and and and knowing

01:02:09.519 --> 01:02:12.000
that you shouldn't inject an experimental shot

01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:14.320
into your people who are going to go out and

01:02:14.320 --> 01:02:17.699
fight for us because of the bureaucracy and because

01:02:17.699 --> 01:02:20.079
of people being afraid to lose their jobs all

01:02:20.079 --> 01:02:22.639
these crazy insane decisions were being made

01:02:22.639 --> 01:02:27.340
so you know it's kind of sad that you're gonna

01:02:27.340 --> 01:02:30.559
i mean i you know i guess i can see why they

01:02:30.559 --> 01:02:33.199
did it because Maybe some of these people had

01:02:33.199 --> 01:02:35.519
been there for 15, 20 years and they didn't want

01:02:35.519 --> 01:02:37.739
to lose their retirement. But it's just it's

01:02:37.739 --> 01:02:41.099
kind of a tragedy. Well, and that's that's what

01:02:41.099 --> 01:02:43.739
happened. So our foundation was actually where

01:02:43.739 --> 01:02:45.719
we were actually helping guys in the military

01:02:45.719 --> 01:02:51.119
during the whole pandemic. We, you know, guys

01:02:51.119 --> 01:02:52.739
that were like refusing the vaccine were reaching

01:02:52.739 --> 01:02:54.960
out like, hey, they're about to screw me over

01:02:54.960 --> 01:02:57.280
because I won't take this vaccine. And what who

01:02:57.280 --> 01:02:59.179
they were really going after. And this is pretty

01:02:59.179 --> 01:03:02.179
much the sick part. is the guys that were in

01:03:02.179 --> 01:03:05.519
18 19 years that were like hey i don't want to

01:03:05.519 --> 01:03:08.300
take this and they're like well and i this is

01:03:08.300 --> 01:03:11.619
verbatim uh from officers telling these individuals

01:03:11.619 --> 01:03:14.719
if you don't take this you're going to destroy

01:03:14.719 --> 01:03:17.579
your whole family you're going to destroy everything

01:03:17.579 --> 01:03:19.780
that you've worked for and i will be there to

01:03:19.780 --> 01:03:22.719
help to help destroy you like you are setting

01:03:22.719 --> 01:03:25.380
an example for everybody else you should just

01:03:25.380 --> 01:03:28.679
take it um and yeah they threaten you I mean,

01:03:28.679 --> 01:03:30.860
to a point where you have no choice. It's like,

01:03:30.860 --> 01:03:34.119
okay, I can refuse this vaccine and then have

01:03:34.119 --> 01:03:36.920
everything taken from me or just take it, you

01:03:36.920 --> 01:03:38.719
know. And I don't blame some of the guys for

01:03:38.719 --> 01:03:40.219
taking it because it's like, you know, their

01:03:40.219 --> 01:03:44.599
whole career is being put in jeopardy. It doesn't

01:03:44.599 --> 01:03:45.980
make it, you know, and it doesn't make it right.

01:03:46.539 --> 01:03:49.239
But it was, yeah, it was a sad state of affairs

01:03:49.239 --> 01:03:53.420
over those couple years for sure. And where are

01:03:53.420 --> 01:03:58.989
you at now with your healing journey? Where are

01:03:58.989 --> 01:04:02.250
you at, and do you have more healing to do? And

01:04:02.250 --> 01:04:04.849
then what advice would you have for anybody else

01:04:04.849 --> 01:04:07.190
going through this cancellation? So I guess it's

01:04:07.190 --> 01:04:10.010
three questions in one. Yeah. Where are you at

01:04:10.010 --> 01:04:12.269
now with your healing journey? Do you have more

01:04:12.269 --> 01:04:14.230
healing to do, and what advice would you give

01:04:14.230 --> 01:04:17.690
to anybody else that's going through this cancellation

01:04:17.690 --> 01:04:23.179
journey? Sure. Where I'm at in my healing journey

01:04:23.179 --> 01:04:28.159
right now is I'm in a very good spot. I would

01:04:28.159 --> 01:04:32.400
think from what we went through, we're crushing

01:04:32.400 --> 01:04:38.699
it. We're happy. We live in Florida on the panhandle.

01:04:39.079 --> 01:04:42.619
My kids are all doing well. My wife is doing

01:04:42.619 --> 01:04:44.980
awesome. She's in the real estate business down

01:04:44.980 --> 01:04:48.739
here. i run my own business i do training uh

01:04:48.739 --> 01:04:51.179
i teach law enforcement or civilians you know

01:04:51.179 --> 01:04:54.260
shooting and uh tactics and all that kind of

01:04:54.260 --> 01:04:57.679
stuff uh but you know i i think there's always

01:04:57.679 --> 01:05:01.519
room to heal i don't i i think you're never completely

01:05:01.519 --> 01:05:04.460
100 there especially if you've been through certain

01:05:04.460 --> 01:05:07.800
traumatic events i think that's a work in progress

01:05:07.800 --> 01:05:12.230
you know i i spent my whole First year, I would

01:05:12.230 --> 01:05:14.309
say a year and a half after I got out of doing

01:05:14.309 --> 01:05:17.570
nothing but getting treatments, just trying to

01:05:17.570 --> 01:05:20.369
get my head back on straight because it was just

01:05:20.369 --> 01:05:23.349
a lot to deal with, not only from dealing with

01:05:23.349 --> 01:05:25.590
that whole ordeal, but just from 20 years of

01:05:25.590 --> 01:05:28.230
combat. There's other injuries that come along

01:05:28.230 --> 01:05:32.190
with that that I had to try and recover from.

01:05:32.789 --> 01:05:35.349
So, you know, my wife, again, thank God, she

01:05:35.349 --> 01:05:37.429
told me she's like, hey, when I got out. you

01:05:37.429 --> 01:05:39.510
know i was you know chewing the carpet wanting

01:05:39.510 --> 01:05:42.590
to go go work and she's like no you're doing

01:05:42.590 --> 01:05:46.510
nothing but treating yourself until you know

01:05:46.510 --> 01:05:49.829
you get to some some semblance of like normalcy

01:05:49.829 --> 01:05:53.150
uh so yeah i mean i did everything from hyperbaric

01:05:53.150 --> 01:05:57.889
oxygen uh therapy chamber um i had uh you know

01:05:57.889 --> 01:06:02.190
i did talk therapy um i went and got All my blood

01:06:02.190 --> 01:06:04.289
panels done to make sure, you know, what I was

01:06:04.289 --> 01:06:08.369
deficient in. I even did a psychedelic journey

01:06:08.369 --> 01:06:12.070
down in Mexico, which was a huge game changer

01:06:12.070 --> 01:06:17.530
or helped out. Ayahuasca? Ibogaine. Ibogaine,

01:06:17.530 --> 01:06:19.869
sure. Oh, nice. That's a good one. Ibogaine and

01:06:19.869 --> 01:06:24.550
5 -MeO DMT. Sure. So, yeah, I mean, and that's...

01:06:25.389 --> 01:06:28.710
That is all steps that I took to sort of get

01:06:28.710 --> 01:06:31.869
back on the right path. But again, I'll say that

01:06:31.869 --> 01:06:34.869
there is no end -all, be -all treatment that's

01:06:34.869 --> 01:06:37.670
going to just completely fix everything. I think

01:06:37.670 --> 01:06:40.869
those treatments can push you towards the right

01:06:40.869 --> 01:06:45.389
path. But I think it's an ongoing process. And

01:06:45.389 --> 01:06:48.849
I'll say this, the one and only game -changing

01:06:48.849 --> 01:06:51.829
treatment that I've done is... My faith in Jesus

01:06:51.829 --> 01:06:54.929
Christ. I talk to him every morning. I read my

01:06:54.929 --> 01:06:57.809
Bible every morning. And there's nothing stronger

01:06:57.809 --> 01:07:01.909
than that. And where we're at right now, I think

01:07:01.909 --> 01:07:04.710
that is the reason why we're doing so well right

01:07:04.710 --> 01:07:08.710
now. It's because of our faith. And we just try

01:07:08.710 --> 01:07:10.929
and do the right thing every day, put him first

01:07:10.929 --> 01:07:13.329
in everything that we do. We still try and serve

01:07:13.329 --> 01:07:18.230
others. It's why we started the foundation. After

01:07:18.230 --> 01:07:20.050
living a life of service, you can't just, you

01:07:20.050 --> 01:07:22.110
know, you don't want to just turn that off. You

01:07:22.110 --> 01:07:24.030
want to continue to help others. And especially

01:07:24.030 --> 01:07:28.610
if you go through something like this, you know,

01:07:28.650 --> 01:07:31.989
and you are able to come out on top and be victorious,

01:07:32.289 --> 01:07:34.530
then it is your duty to help others that are

01:07:34.530 --> 01:07:37.829
in the same situation. You can't, and I think

01:07:37.829 --> 01:07:40.730
what the military wanted us to do and the media

01:07:40.730 --> 01:07:43.710
was sort of just go away. Okay, yeah, you guys

01:07:43.710 --> 01:07:46.829
got one over on us. It's like, no. We are going

01:07:46.829 --> 01:07:50.110
to be a pain in your ass the rest of our lives,

01:07:50.210 --> 01:07:51.530
and we are going to help others that you are

01:07:51.530 --> 01:07:54.829
trying to do the same thing to. Do you think

01:07:54.829 --> 01:07:56.309
everything happened for a reason? Do you think

01:07:56.309 --> 01:07:59.929
God had a special purpose, special journey for

01:07:59.929 --> 01:08:06.269
you? Oh, yeah, by far. My wife, while I was in

01:08:06.269 --> 01:08:09.510
the teams, like I had said before, I was completely

01:08:09.510 --> 01:08:14.789
bought in. The SEAL team's above everything else.

01:08:15.289 --> 01:08:18.050
And my wife always warned me. She's like, you

01:08:18.050 --> 01:08:22.109
know, you're putting this institution, this job

01:08:22.109 --> 01:08:25.189
on a pedestal, and, you know, it's not going

01:08:25.189 --> 01:08:28.229
to end well. And so she actually jokes, she's

01:08:28.229 --> 01:08:29.850
like, you literally had to be thrown in prison

01:08:29.850 --> 01:08:32.670
to wake up and see, like, what you were worshiping

01:08:32.670 --> 01:08:36.529
or what you were, you know, doing all these years

01:08:36.529 --> 01:08:42.239
for the teams wasn't right. Not that it was wrong.

01:08:42.520 --> 01:08:45.560
She was proud of my service, and she supported

01:08:45.560 --> 01:08:48.880
it the whole time. But I think God was like,

01:08:48.960 --> 01:08:50.739
you know what? I'm going to put this stubborn

01:08:50.739 --> 01:08:54.859
SOB in prison for a bit, actually have him wake

01:08:54.859 --> 01:09:00.300
up. And now being through it all, yes, it all

01:09:00.300 --> 01:09:04.720
happened for a reason. God has plans that he

01:09:04.720 --> 01:09:06.899
doesn't put anything on your plate that you can't

01:09:06.899 --> 01:09:11.600
handle. It's true. I think if this hadn't happened,

01:09:11.939 --> 01:09:15.739
I'd still be in the teams, but it would not be

01:09:15.739 --> 01:09:20.140
good. I think, you know, that job has a shelf

01:09:20.140 --> 01:09:24.000
life. You can stay in for 30 years, but I guarantee

01:09:24.000 --> 01:09:25.960
you the rest of your life is going to be in shambles.

01:09:26.279 --> 01:09:28.699
You know, I could have been divorced. I could

01:09:28.699 --> 01:09:31.439
have been, you know, my kids, they never saw

01:09:31.439 --> 01:09:34.319
me as much as they should while I was in. So

01:09:34.319 --> 01:09:38.140
now that I'm out, you know, I can see the light

01:09:38.140 --> 01:09:40.640
now and be like, you know, I'm glad all that

01:09:40.640 --> 01:09:44.720
happened, for sure. And there's a saying that

01:09:44.720 --> 01:09:46.079
I tell people when they're going through this.

01:09:46.159 --> 01:09:48.680
It's my favorite saying. It's like, you know,

01:09:48.680 --> 01:09:51.159
this pain will serve you well someday. You just

01:09:51.159 --> 01:09:54.359
have to get through it. Is that the advice that

01:09:54.359 --> 01:09:56.180
you give anybody going through? I like that.

01:09:56.300 --> 01:09:58.020
This pain will serve you. And, you know, we felt

01:09:58.020 --> 01:10:00.960
that. We felt that in our souls. We felt that

01:10:00.960 --> 01:10:04.520
in our core. And I actually. We have a wellness

01:10:04.520 --> 01:10:06.600
center, and the wellness center came from pain.

01:10:06.699 --> 01:10:09.279
It came from me being diagnosed with Lyme disease

01:10:09.279 --> 01:10:11.939
and having all sorts of health issues. So you

01:10:11.939 --> 01:10:15.520
can turn pain into something good. And I'd actually

01:10:15.520 --> 01:10:18.739
love to invite you and your wife for a complimentary

01:10:18.739 --> 01:10:22.960
day at our Settner Wellness. We have everything.

01:10:23.100 --> 01:10:26.159
It's 15 ,000 square feet of just everything you

01:10:26.159 --> 01:10:30.119
can think of, hyperbaric, red light, cold plunges,

01:10:30.119 --> 01:10:34.619
hydrogen shower. incredible workout area so uh

01:10:34.619 --> 01:10:37.340
you know i'd love to give you guys a free day

01:10:37.340 --> 01:10:40.300
for uh thanking you both really thanking you

01:10:40.300 --> 01:10:42.239
for all your years of service and thanking your

01:10:42.239 --> 01:10:45.579
wife for doing such an incredible job of of fighting

01:10:45.579 --> 01:10:47.479
that good fight while you were in there i mean

01:10:47.479 --> 01:10:50.039
really what what an amazing woman this is the

01:10:50.039 --> 01:10:53.260
true definition of a woman who stands by her

01:10:53.260 --> 01:10:56.699
husband i just even i'm regurgitating and my

01:10:56.699 --> 01:10:59.550
eyes are getting watery i mean it's it's a It's

01:10:59.550 --> 01:11:04.029
a story of strength, resilience, and love. You

01:11:04.029 --> 01:11:07.369
know, this is what a relationship is. You know,

01:11:07.430 --> 01:11:13.029
not the transgender HHS he -she that was, you

01:11:13.029 --> 01:11:14.930
know, trying to tell us what health was, right?

01:11:15.390 --> 01:11:18.850
Oh, gosh. We were living in an upside -down world

01:11:18.850 --> 01:11:22.470
for, like, four years. Really bizarre world,

01:11:22.770 --> 01:11:25.810
right? Who do you want to play you in the movie

01:11:25.810 --> 01:11:32.319
of your life? Oh, man. That's a good question.

01:11:32.520 --> 01:11:36.359
Ben Affleck, maybe? Nah, not Ben Affleck. Matt

01:11:36.359 --> 01:11:39.239
Damon. Oh, I like Matt Damon. That's who I get

01:11:39.239 --> 01:11:43.300
told. That or Chuck Norris. Oh, Chuck Norris.

01:11:43.300 --> 01:11:45.500
I like that. His younger version. The younger

01:11:45.500 --> 01:11:47.840
version. How about the younger version of Chuck

01:11:47.840 --> 01:11:52.619
Norris? Thank you so much. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead.

01:11:52.659 --> 01:11:55.960
Yes, thank you so much for your time. What a...

01:11:56.400 --> 01:11:59.340
journey you've been through from combat warrior

01:11:59.340 --> 01:12:02.560
to spiritual warrior and warrior on behalf of

01:12:02.560 --> 01:12:06.340
others whose lives have been treated unfairly.

01:12:06.600 --> 01:12:08.439
Thank you for coming on, sharing your story,

01:12:08.520 --> 01:12:10.600
and come on down to Miami. We'll spend some time

01:12:10.600 --> 01:12:13.460
together. For sure. And I appreciate you guys

01:12:13.460 --> 01:12:15.300
having me on and I appreciate what you guys are

01:12:15.300 --> 01:12:17.479
doing. Like, you know, having people tell their

01:12:17.479 --> 01:12:20.720
stories about, you know, being canceled or having

01:12:20.720 --> 01:12:24.720
their lives go into ruin for a little bit. It's

01:12:24.720 --> 01:12:26.600
hard to explain to people just how that feels

01:12:26.600 --> 01:12:29.159
and just the stress that comes with it. So I

01:12:29.159 --> 01:12:30.899
think it's really cool that you guys are giving

01:12:30.899 --> 01:12:32.659
those people a platform to tell their stories.

01:12:32.859 --> 01:12:34.939
Thank you, brother. Appreciate you too. Thank

01:12:34.939 --> 01:12:36.500
you. Thank you for joining us today.