An Army of Normal Folks - What Your Brain Does With Trauma—And How to Finally Heal It (Pt 1)

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

Dan Jarvis came home from Afghanistan carrying wounds that didn't show up on any medical chart. In this episode, he breaks down what trauma actually does to the brain - why it hijacks your responses, why willpower alone can't fix it, and how understanding the neuroscience behind your pain is the first step to healing it. Dan built Healing the Hero, a nonprofit that has helped over 18,000 people reclaim their lives! This is a conversation about what it really takes to heal—for both veterans and civilians. It might just help you or someone you love.  Learn more about Healing the Hero hereSupport the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So Corey shot and killed himself last night, the same night that I was considering it. And I do say this. Corey saved my life. Unfortunately, it's when he took his own. Doing the memorial service, let guys get closure. When I saw how it affected the guys, I realized, okay, I cannot go out this way. I cannot give permission to my men to do this. The fear was not letting them down, but giving them permission.

Because you knew they were all struggling. They're all struggling. Welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney. I'm a normal guy. I'm a husband. I'm a father. I'm an entrepreneur.

And I'm a football coach in intercity Memphis. And that last part, well, it somehow led to a film about one of my teams that actually won the Oscar. That movie's called Undefeated. Guys, I believe our country's problems are never going to be solved by a bunch of fancy people in nice suits using big words that. nobody ever uses on CNN and Fox, but rather by an army of normal folks. That's us.

Just you and me deciding, hey, you know what, maybe I can help. That's what Dan Jarvis, the voice you just heard, has done. Dan was a squad leader in Afghanistan, and his traumatic experience there and returning home led him to plan on becoming part of the statistic of 22 veterans committing suicide. every day. Thankfully, he didn't. And today, his nonprofit, Healing the Hero, is spreading a trauma resiliency protocol

that helped him heal, has since helped over 18,000 people, and he is just getting started. Dan is yet another example of how you can transform your pain into your greatest purpose and how you can be a dog on a bone not letting go of your mission until every single person has access to the solution. I can't wait for you to meet Dan right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors.

Pride is like love. You feel it in your heart. IR Radio, Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts, including IHart Pride Canada, your favorite hits and must have party bangers, plus personalized and curated playlists. Like back in the day pride. Come together, celebrate love. Take pride with you. Anytime, anywhere. Just ask your smart speaker to play IHart Pride Canada.

Stream us on your phone. Or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. I love the sounds. The buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place soccer, football, it's home. Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom for my mom.

I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great. A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture.

I took an elbow to my head, which cracked my... It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that? Nobody likes that. As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the My Coutura Podcast Network, available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support. and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people. Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming.

I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartum depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it.

Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that.

I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, Here's the thing I'm speaking with more artists, policymakers, and performers like composer Mark Schaman. Once you've established that you have the talent, it's about the hang. It's the pleasure of hanging out with the people that you're with. You know, Rob and I was always a great hang.

We would sit in kibbits for hours and then eventually get around to the music. That's what I mostly think of when I think of him, the time together laughing. Lawyer of Robbie Kaplan. The great gift of being a lawyer is the ability to actually change things in our society in a way that very few people can. I mean, you can really make a difference to causes in the United States

if you bring the right case at the right time. Marriage equality. Yeah, Windsor's the perfect example. Director Morgan Neville. Film school teaches you all the wrong things about making documentary. What do you want to say? Documentary is all about your ear. What do you hear?

I feel like my job is listening really, really hard. Listen to Here's the Thing on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts. or wherever you get your podcasts. Dan Jarvis from Winterhaven, Florida, drove up from Dallas to be with us. How you doing, man? I'm good. How you doing, Coach? I'm good.

Thanks for being here. Appreciate you. Everybody, Dan Jarvis, is the founder of Healing the Hero from Winter Haven, Florida. Travels around a lot. This is an interview that I am really excited about because it combined. two things that I'm actually very passionate about, which is the brain. I'm a psychology major, which many of our long-time listeners, I've said that probably 20 times, and I really enjoy the science behind psychology, and you're a veteran, and I have an enormous

amount of respect and appreciation for those who've served our country in your capacity. I've said this before, but I sleep really well at night. no one been like you are on the wall. And so before we start, I really want to say to you. And I don't, I hate it when it comes off almost like when people say, hey, how you doing this morning? They really don't care how you are that morning. It's just a greeting.

And a lot of people greet vets with thanks for your service. But it almost seems just kind of like a comment in passing. But I mean, Dan, when I tell you that I appreciate your service, I want you to know how deep please, and sir, I am when I say how much I appreciate you and your brother's in armed service to our country and to the people of our country. Well, thank you for being worth it. That is a crazy good response. And it also makes me feel even bigger like a tool shed that I did serve.

I'm worth it, but I didn't do anything to earn it. We'll let him reassess it at the end of the interview, whether you've been worth it or not. Yeah, that's a good point. All right. All right, one last thing before we go. A lot of people bring their wives or their girlfriends or their friends with them. And they just kind of sit over there in an interview and ask questions. And you have a girl with you who is extremely close to you.

But unfortunately, I don't think she'll respond to my questions. Mays. Mays, yes. We're going to tell you the story about how Mays came into your life. but everybody, Mays, is a former service dog or current, what do we call Mays? She's a service dog. She's a service dog. She's a service dog.

And she's beautiful. She's half German Shepherd and half. Belgian Malawan. Which for those who don't know what that is, those are those crazy dogs that can jump all over everything and jump on top of ladders and stand. And she's been hanging out with me a little bit. She's perched under the table. And she's beautiful. And she's really friendly.

So I guess Mays, welcome. Welcome to Mays Ben. Another guy that I have a lot of respect for, Scott Mann, recommended you to us. Do you know Scott? Oh, I know Scott very well. Alex asked Scott what some of his favorite nonprofits were, and he named Healing the Hero, which we're going to spend most of our time on together. But I think it's absolutely germane to the story when we talk about healing the hero, why that meant so much to you.

And I think it's best to start on March 2nd, 2013, when you found yourself looking down the barrel of a rifle. Can you tell us about that? But most importantly, what brought you to that place? Yes, that was a turning point in my life. It's when I was so overwhelmed emotionally, I couldn't regulate. And all I would do is drink alcohol because it's a central nervous system I'm depressed.

I didn't realize what was going on. I didn't know what was happening. I just thought I was stronger than that. Why am I experiencing these emotional roller coaster rides? You know, if you go back up a year, prior to that, I was deployed to Afghanistan. And in my squad, eight of us were awarded Purple Hearts to include myself. How many people on a squad? There's usually nine, but then plus usually a gun team, so 11.

And eight had been wounded. Eight had been wounded. Four of them left theater, not to return because of the injuries. One left in a flag-drape body bag. And when we lost Doug, it was August 19, 2011, it was 9.36 in the morning. And I know this because I'll never forget that moment. 9.36 a. 9.36 a.m.

Yeah. It was in the Zobel province of Afghanistan, which is between Kandahar and Helman province. and we were doing a mission off the main ring road. There's like one asphalt ring road around the entire country of Afghanistan. They called it ring road. And then all the others are dirt roads. We were on Route Snake. One of our other platoons, sister platoons,

had discovered an IED on a hilltop. The lieutenant there actually stepped on it, and it kind of fizzled out. So we were escorting the explosives guys, the bomb techs. We should have stopped on the main road. stepped on it and it fizzled out? Yeah, it didn't detonate. That'll wake you up.

Yeah, I'm sure Lieutenant Howard probably still thinks about that, right? He literally stepped on this thing. He stepped on it. It was, you know, one of those, they're like toe poppers and it didn't detonate. Sure. Yeah, he's, there's a lot of us that have had close calls. So that day that we lost, Doug, we were on a black route, which means the route hadn't been cleared. and originally the Romanian military was supposed to do it,

but they refused the mission because of the route. They refused the mission. They refused the mission. The Romanians were responsible for a kilometer off the main road. So they did all of the IAD exploitation. And if it was one kilometer north or south, that was their responsibility, and we took care of everything else.

So remember that specific mission, we had just gotten back from being at a patrol base. We were out for a week. We were going to get a couple days down. down and then the mission came up, like literally as soon as everybody got cleaned up, weapons got cleaned, and then we had to go right back out. And we just did what we did, our normal brief as we get ready to go. One of the vehicles that was in our convoy was a what's called an MGS, a main gun system strikers, a 105 millimeter howitzer. So it looks like a tank, but on wheels.

I've seen those. I didn't know what those were. It does look like a tank, but it's got tires and it's got eight wheels. And they're very large wheels. It's a very powerful weapons platform, but it's also, you know, it comes with a big signature, right? You see it, and it looks like a tank.

And when we went down that specific route, we got into a Wadi, we came out of the Wadi. I was in the lead vehicle. So our job was to exploit it, find IEDs, and then we would call up the EOD guys, the explosives guys, they were with us. I've read this. I've read this.

the minute I saw, read that, I thought what I'm about to ask you, what does find IUDs mean? I mean, aren't they under the ground? They're typically under the ground. So what we look for... So how do you find them other than running over the things? You're really looking for disturbed earth, you know, because if they're digging it, depends on when they place the IED there. So you're looking for the indicators.

We had the, we had what was called a mine roller on our striker. But also the benefit is we were, we just fielded the very first double. V-Hull Strikers. So the double V-Hull Strikers is a pretty awesome platform because it allows the energy to dissipate. The MGS striker with the 105-Hawitzer was still a flat bottom. So there's nowhere for the energy to go except through the bottom of the vehicle. And a V-grove, imagine like, I guess, a speedboat? Well, it's a little bit smaller than that kind of a groove. They have, like, sections of the hull that have openings, and there is a little bit of a,

a degree of variation of the metal, which allows it not to appear to be flat. And what it does is when the energy hits it, the energy will dissipate through the sides and the back of the vehicle. Instead of coming through it, I don't know whoever the engineer was that designed that. It's absolutely brilliant. Was we actually fielded the very first hit on one of those IEDs in country. And it was just like a roller coaster ride for the guys inside, but nobody was hurt.

Really? So because of the V, I guess, instead of a flat, when the concussion of the explosion happens, it just kind of redirects it. They redirects the energy and the energy will go out the sides and the back instead of straight through the floor. Okay. So when Doug got hit. Well, so you're in this thing leading this still. Right. And looking for disturbed earth.

We're looking for the disturbed earth. We're looking for anything that may be an indicator. Sometimes you'll see wires if they're command wire. This specific wadi that we had gone through, we have a. what's called a mine roller. So it forces pressure on the earth in front of us. So it's designed to detonate an IED before the vehicle gets to it. How far out in front of your vehicle is it?

It's probably from the very front of the vehicle, maybe it extends out about eight feet. That's all you need? Yeah. The further the detonation is away from the vehicle, the higher likelihood of survivability, like significant. If it detonated 10 feet in front of us or beside us, nobody in the vehicle would be harmed. Maybe get your ears rung a little bit. If you're like me as a truck commander, you're standing up outside of the vehicle. But that day, we went through it.

And I really feel kind of bad because as we made it through the wadi, I'm like, look, I guess boys were still among the living. And then my driver goes, so, drivers, that's messed up. I say, hey, you got to see the humor in this. And then maybe a minute later, we heard the explosion behind us. And that's when Doug got hit. And when that vehicle was hit, what they do is there's a button that you push and you shut off all of the fuel to that vehicle and it shuts the whole vehicle down. Originally, Sarm Rukowski was the truck commander there. He put up a green flag indicating everything was okay.

And then when he turned his handheld radio on, and that's when he requested a medic. And that's when we realized something was not happening. that wasn't good. And I'll never forget that day because the medic is the very last vehicle, the platoon sergeant, and Doc Ledbetter was our medic. And you're just seeing them. They're with a mine detector very slowly kind of clear on earth because they had to get up to the vehicle yet,

and you can't just run up to a vehicle because secondary IEDs, pressure plates, you know, they have no protection. And the bomb guy's amazing. It was a Navy crew, the Naval Special Warfare guys. they exited, they were in the third vehicle, and they still had to go back two vehicles. And that was, you know, you're talking about nobody, we're not like super close.

There's distance. And just watching those guys clearing. I mean, they're like hauling butt back to the back vehicle, and then they cleared all the way up. And then they got to Doug and got him out of the vehicle. And then they announced that he had been killed in action. And that was tough. Nobody else in the vehicle was hurt.

Yeah, Sergeant Rikowski was injured. the other, both of the, there was only three in that vehicle because that vehicle's designed to have a three person, a driver, a gunner, and a truck commander. So the driver and the gunner, the driver was killed, that was Doug. And then you had Sergeant Rokowski and Sergeant Lohr were the, they were the tankers that were inside of that vehicle.

They both got medevacked. Sarin Rokovsky was banged up pretty good, and he was sent back to the States, and Sarno Lohr continued. the mission, he was fine. And now a few messages from our generous sponsors, but first, Alex, finally, after a year of people begging, has gotten off his rear end,

and we now have our merchandise store is alive. All you got to do is you go to normalfokes. Dot us and click merch, and you'll see all kinds of cool stuff. Shirts, hoodies, hats, magnets, bags, banners, and all of this for each of our six local service clubs too. So you can get a generic one that just says an Army and Normal Folks, or you can get one that says an Army and Normal Folks Memphis,

an Army and Normal Folks, Wichita. So you can get it for your service club, but you can get it just for us and wearing your normal stuff. The other thing we've done is we really did want people to wear it, so we've priced every item at the cost to make them $0 in profit for us. So we figured the more folks, that can afford this stuff and the more items they can buy. It's just helping spread an Army and Normal Folks across the country.

So we're trying to make it as inexpensive as possible for all of you. So get yours at NormalFolks. Us today. Help us grow the Army in your community and look cool representing the Army and Normal Folks brand. We'll see you wearing that stuff when you send us pictures and we get to post it on our social media. We'll be right back. And you're there For heart-wrenching knockouts The world's biggest stage

And breathtaking triumph In 2020 2006 FIFA World Cup The knockout stage Every match, every moment Listen on TSN Radio Join the globe On the road to the July 19th final

2026 FIFA World Cup Stream it all live on TSN Radio Available on IHeart Radio I love the sounds The buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place, soccer, football, it's home. Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom. It's a connecting force.

From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great. A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my head, which cracked my skull. It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though.

Are they the only ones that don't like that? Nobody likes that. As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the MyCultura podcast network, available on the IHeart Radio. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Okay, if you know me, you know this.

I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people. Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce, challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety.

Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest. easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might

look like? No. I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, it's Alec Baldwin this season on my podcast. Here's the thing I'm speaking with more artists, policymakers, and performers

like composer Mark Schaman. Once you've established that you have the talent, it's about the hang. It's the pleasure of hanging out with the people. that you're with. You know, Rob and I was always a great hang. We would sit in kibbets for hours and then eventually get around to the music. That's what I mostly think of when I think of him, the time together laughing. Lawyer of Robbie Kaplan. The great gift of being a lawyer is the ability to actually change things in our society in a way that very few people can. You can really make a difference to causes in the United States if you bring the right case at the right time.

Marriage equality. Yeah, Windsor's the perfect example. Morgan Neville. Film school teaches you all the wrong things about making documentary. What do you want to say? Documentary is all about your ear. What do you hear? I feel like my job is listening really, really hard. Listen to Here's the Thing on the IHeart Radio

app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Are these things like minds? So like old school minds have some type of pressure thing that when you push on it, it activates it, and then when you lift, they explode. Is that what

this was or is there some guy somewhere watching this and they're either wired or remote controlled and they just decided to blow it them? So this specific IED was more than likely it was homemade explosives. So they're using ammonium nitrate. And what they'll do is they'll bury it. This one was not a pressure wire, which is why we didn't set it off. This was what's called a command wire. And the radio signal is what set it off. In other words, they waited for that specific vehicle, because of what it looked like being a tank. That's the vehicle that they targeted. And we know this because as we met a Vak,

Sarn Rokowski, Sarno, and they take Korto's body out, we had to recover the vehicle. And the mechanics that came out, they had to hook the vehicle up, was already missing one wheel. And I'll never forget as we're driving back out. And I'm the vehicle right behind the striker as we're pulling it out. another platoon had come to assist us, and the vehicle hit an IED a second time.

So they targeted that same vehicle a second time. And I'll never forget because I'm standing up and I'm like 25, maybe 20 yards behind it. And I'm just watching this massive striker wheel, which they're huge. They're like five feet, a big old round wheel. And I just watch this striker wheel fly about 300 meters through the air. That's great.

That's the amount of force. And it got to the point where as we're moving out of that, I mean, they were basically dragging this vehicle out. And the vehicle behind us, you know, said, hey, my interpreter who's listening to an ICOM radio is hearing chatter, that they're trying to hit another vehicle and his electronic warfare system was going off. So in other words, they were trying to command wire another IED on that on us as we're coming out. But that system was designed to jam those radio signals. so he could hear his system operating. And then we found targets and we just, we lit them up for about two, three minutes.

And then we continued to pull the vehicle out because we had to get, we had to get the guys back out of that area. That was a pretty bad day. It was pretty, you know, it's warfare. You know, it's just kind of what we experienced in the military. And everybody in the platoon, I mean, we knew we lost our brother. He had already been announced KIA. And, you know, as tough as it is, you know, mission has to continue.

And we learned to compartmentalize. And when we all got back to the fob, everybody just had the thousand-yard stare. You know, we just, you know, nothing we could do at that moment. So that was probably one of the worst days of my life. So when somebody like me says, thank you for your service, I'm thanking you. for your service but i'm also saying thanks for enduring trauma that 99.9% of us will never understand and that's why we do it um it's a burden somebody's got to hold the guard so i've heard about survivors guilt before is that what that was for you that was an 800 pound

Gorilla that I couldn't get off my back. Even in theater? Even in theater. Because the problem that I had was, if you want to back up three weeks, I'm leading a patrol across the Tarnak River. I have four Americans and I have four Afghan soldiers and one brand new interpreter we'd never worked with before. And we had to link up with our strikers.

We were doing a mission up on top of the mountain. We were on one side. We had both sides of the mountain covered. And we were just assessing patterns of life. I tried to tell my lieutenant, I assert they suck out here. Assess, it's done. But we were getting hit from behind the one mountain. So they were launching rockets to us.

So we were up there hoping to capture something. So I had to lead a group down across the river and to link up with our strikers because we're all dismounted up on the mountain. And as we're coming across the river, we're getting ready to go down into the river and come back the other side. So a valley and a river is pretty exposed, pretty dangerous spot. were exposed. And that's really the only green you'll see up there in the Afghanistan. It's right along the river. There's green on both sides. So there's a little bit of vegetation going through there. And I stepped on a pressure plate on that dismounted patrol. And I detonated an IED that was probably five, ten feet away. And that was no armor. Basically, it looked like somebody lit a match. And the flame went straight up in the air about 20 feet. And then all the pressure comes out, all the dirt and the dust and the debris comes out. And I remember hitting the ground. and I got up quickly checking status of my guys,

and one of my guys didn't respond. So by going to squad leader mode, we got to get accountability of everybody. So I'm calling up on the mountain and trying to tell the guys not to come down. Nobody's, I can hear them, but they're not, I'm not able to push my transmission out. When I look down, when I hit the ground,

the antenna snapped. So we had to get off the objective, and we got off the objective pretty quickly set up a perimeter. and I'm just trying to figure out what planet I was on because the blast was pretty intense and I'm still trying to call out. Is your bell run? Oh, my bell's wrong.

I played football in high school. My bell had never been wrong like that before. For those who hadn't played football, when you get your bell wrong, which is really a bad metaphor because it's actually brain damage. and we can get off this for just a second go to the CTE thing

that's become very popular for football players. But the point is, every time you get your bell rung, i.e. you see stars. I don't know if you've ever done this, but it almost tastes like you're biting aluminum foil. Have you ever gotten that taste in your mouth? Some metallic, like a little metallic flame.

Yeah, that football players, if you've played football for any, period of time will have, well, it's basically a concussion and your brain is bruised. And you need adequate time to recover. You get real sensitive to light. So all of that I can correlate to quote having your bell rung. But that's being hit in the head by another human. That is not having an explosion happen in your face.

And you're disoriented and your ears are ringing or you can't hear. your vision sometimes gets tunneled. You lose your peripheral for a little while. That's happened to me before. But anyway, the point is, what of those were you experiencing? So probably all the above. When I got my guys to a secure perimeter,

everybody's safe. Mind you, I don't speak the native language. I'm relying on an interpreter to speak with the Afghans. everybody seemed to be okay. I mean, we're all, we're all pretty concussed. And we're looking to always dead. Well, that's the crazy part is we got, we're very blessed, you know, I still have all my limbs, you know, all my guys are still alive. And to this day, they're still, they're still, I mean, some of them are dealing with concussion related injuries. But, you know, it was one of those things where when we got off that objective and we're in a perimeter, we're like, did that

just happened. Really? I mean, that's how I'd be, what? Well, and that's the crazy part. You know, when you come to trauma, the event happening as it was unfolding wasn't traumatic. We were, we basically do battle drills. So we got off the objective. We did everything we were trained to do.

And then when you stop and you pause, and that's when the brain goes, what just happened? And that's when all the emotions attached to that moment. And the adrenaline drains. Right. So what ended up happening is my lieutenant brought an element back on. off the mountain. An element? Like another squad.

Oh, like an element of people. I got it. So when he came back down, he looked at me, okay, you guys are good. Okay, go back to the strikers, pick up the food for the Afghans, and then come back up the mountain.

I said, sir, no offense. I can't even tell you what day it is. And then that's when he had the medic, look at everybody and the medic said, they're all done, sir, they're all, they all have concussion. They're all TBI-related injuries. They got to get.

Promatic brain injuries. which most people call concussions. We call TBI. So that ended our operation. And I remember they were, I couldn't even read my GPS. I couldn't even tell what direction I was going. You're kidding.

I was so out of focus. And then, so I had to take. So your brain is disoriented? My brain is way disoriented. And then as we're walking back to our strikers, they led the squad. Another squad leader came in. And I remember walking.

And all of a sudden, veering and leaning and then I'm falling over. Like I had no balance. My brain was just like, I couldn't even tell you anything. And then when we got back to our strikers, I was sitting there talking to my platoon leader, Lieutenant Kauzy, and he's like, Sergeant Jarvis, what are you saying? Like, I'm talking to him, but he couldn't understand what I'm saying. So I think I'm talking, but I'm not making sense, right?

So he said, hey, just go sit in the striker. And then they had to go back up the mountain, get the folks that were. still up top, bring all our rucksacks back. And yeah, it was just one of those crazy things. And when I get back to the Ford operating base, what I had to do is go see the dock. We had a really good, we were fortunate for a company-sized element. We had a battalion surgeon. So we had a medical doctor with us. And, you know, he's like, yeah, you're done for a while. I remember daylight hit, sunlight. I was like, I couldn't even look as the door opened up. It was like, it was like somebody who's like hitting you in the face.

It's like, you know, shut that door, please. Sounds were over intense. And he's like, hey, you're done for a solid week. Seven days you're done. And I'm like, I don't want to be done. My guys are still going to go on a mission. So I tell my lieutenant, hey, sir, you need to go talk to Major Greenberg. I need to get back on the battle roster.

So he went and talked to the PL. PL comes back and says, hey, I hate to tell you Sergeant Arvus, but he says, if you get another concussion like that, it could kill you. and I'm like, you can't argue with that. So for seven days, I stayed while my guys went out. Of course,

I'm listening to the radio. They're not far from my base. And, you know, during that time, I heard an IED blast go off. My guys are out there. I'm like,

what's going on? And they had actually lost an Afghan police sergeant was killed by an IED while they're out on patrol. You're feeling guilty. Like, I should be there.

I'm not there. And then about seven days later, they put me back, on the battle roster. Problem was whenever I would fall asleep, I would hear the explosion again. And the first couple times... A nightmare?

Well, it didn't get to that level. As soon as I closed my eyes, I'm vibrating to fall asleep, all of a sudden, boom, I'm hearing the explosion. And I'm up first couple times I'm putting my kid on. I'm like, I'm thinking we're getting receiving fire and I'm realizing nobody else is responding.

Something's not right. We'll be right back. Radio Experience, weekend. Gold tickets to Ilsoniq. One, two, three. With Dandala, Chris Lakin friends, Woolly, Deadmouse, Above and Beyond, sub-focus, and more.

With flights from Porter Airlines, three nights at Residence Inn downtown Montreal and $1,000 cash. Enter for your chance to win at iHeartRadio.ca. Ilsonique in Montreal, every day you enter is another chance to win. I love the sounds. The buzzing from the stadium,

the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place soccer, football, at home. Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force.

From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that Make it great. A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my head, which cracked my skull.

It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that? Nobody likes that. As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the MyCultura podcast network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotbby.

Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartum depression.

I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad,

but secretly he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong or what that might look like? No. I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success.

Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man. on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, here's the thing I'm speaking with more artists,

policymakers, and performers by composer Mark Shaman. Once you've established that you have the talent, it's about the hang. It's the pleasure of hanging out with the people that you're with. You know, Rob and I was always a great hang. We would sit in kibbits for hours and then eventually get around to the music. That's what I mostly think of when I think of him, the time together laughing. Lawyer of Robbie Kaplan. The great gift of being a lawyer is the ability to actually change things in our society in a way that very few people can.

You can really make a difference to causes in the United States if you bring the right case at the right time. Marriage equality. Yeah, Windsor's the perfect example. Director Morgan Neville. Film school teaches you all the wrong things about making documentary. What do you want to say? Documentary is all about your ear. What do you hear?

I feel like my job is listening really, really hard. Listen to Here's the Thing on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So I was pretty much a zombie after that, which is why when we go forward three weeks, why I felt so guilty was I was not at 100%. I knew I wasn't at 100%. But I didn't want to say I'm not at 100%. And when we lost Doug, I always thought, man, if I had a... If somebody else had been up front, would they have found it? You know, would he still be here?

Those are the things that go through the mind of a leader. Because that was like me saying, I can't deal with this right now. But I did not want to be sidelined. I didn't want to have to go to one of the bigger bases and deal with, you know, I did eventually have to do that after one of my other kids was wounded. You know, we almost lost Donnie Essinger. And that would have been in September, not too far after that, when he was impacted.

by an 82-millimeter recoilless rifle that detonated about four feet from where he was on our base. And we didn't think he was going to survive. And it was that, the toll of that, I'm like, I'm not sleeping. I can't handle this right now. And I actually went and talked to my commander. And they sent me to Kandahar, and I had to go see a neuropsychologist. And then the neurologist. And that's when they labeled the injury as a moderate traumatic brain injury.

so you have mild, moderate, and severe. So it wasn't like severe. Like Donnie, when he got hit, he's got a titanium plate in his head. That would be severe. That's severe, right? So when Donnie was hit in September, we were doing a, you know, a detail on the base. We're cleaning up the HLZ, the helicopter landing zone. So the guys were out there.

And when the rounds hit, it was literally four feet from where he stood to the point where he was so lucky. the shrapnel went through his chest. And as it went through the chest, it shredded the paracardium sac, which is the thin membrane around the heart, which means the heart had been in the contraction mode. If the heart had been fully pumping, it would have blew his heart up.

He's literally a heartbeat away. He was a heartbeat away, right? And I'll never forget that day, because we're just, they're trying to get him off of the HLZ as they're moving him, the rounds are adjusting fire. So they either...

They're chasing him. The rounds are following them as they're evacuating. So they end up getting him into one of the strikers and then they realize this is not the best place for this because that specific round was a heat round, high explosive anti-tank. So if it hit the tank,

it's going to hit and it's going to probably hit everybody inside it. And they end up moving him to a bunker. The medics came out. Rounds are still impacting. and all the way to getting him into the aid station. So when you get to the dock, Major Greenberg, if you got to him alive, you were going to survive. He was that good.

So Major Greenberg got him all patched up, ready to go. And we were on the perimeter trying to find targets. One of my guys and my strikers, they were doing maintenance on the weapon system. And they're like, hey, Sergeant Jarvis, I've got a heat signature, and he gave me a distance and direction. And then we had like a, like a south.

satellite system on the base, and they gave a distance and direction in that point of origin site where they determined where it was was only about 20 meters from where the striker had that same heat signature. 20 meters? Which means that was the point of origin, which means that heat signature was the shooters, right? And he's like, do you want me to get in the gun? I said, get your gun up and get it operational. And I'm doing a, I'm calling in a polar plot fire mission.

So I'm trying to get artillery rounds going out to that target. And we were next. We were not allowed to, because it was too close to the perimeter of a structure. So there were certain rules we couldn't engage if it was too close to where there would be civilians casualties, which I get. You know, when we go to great lengths to not injure or kill civilians, doesn't always happen. So I'm like, well, you know what? He got the 50 Cal up. I just said start engaging.

And I'm up on a tower and I'm hearing those rounds whizzed by me. And they're shooting, you know, it's basically doing plunging fire because it was probably about 3,000 meters away. And that gun is that accurate 3,000, but you can't hit rounds on target. You know, and it was, it felt like a little bit of justice to be able to shoot back because a lot of times we don't get a shoot back. And, yeah, that was. Was that the end of their day? No. No, that was not the end of their day.

As a matter of fact, later that evening, they saw them on the, on the, they had an aerial vehicle up. They saw them with the 82 millimeter recoilless rifle carrying a box, two guys going up over the hill. And, but the area we were in, we didn't have priorities. So we couldn't, we couldn't call anything in. Just had to watch them go over the hill. Okay. I absolutely understand if you're saying your brain. was rattled up and you feeling guilty and everything.

But I mean, you can just hear you talk. You're a professional warrior. You clearly care about your people. You're doing the best work you can do. And it's a war zone and bad guys are trying to kill you. I think somebody not in your situation, you can hear that story and rationalize. It's awful that one of your men were killed.

The Afghan policeman was killed, that people under your charge were injured. But isn't that expected when you're in leadership and you're in theater that there's just going to be casualties? And therefore, they're not really, they're not your fault. I mean, it's the fault of war. It's a fault of the enemy. Well, that's a proper frame to look at it. Right. So, but in the moment.

I'm setting that up for you a little to explain. how the rationalization doesn't work. Well, in theater, you're tasked with the survival of your men, right? And anybody that's a leader knows two rules in war, good people die in war, and the second one is good people die in war, right? There's nothing you're going to be. There may be a third one, and it's good people to die war. Right, that's just the nature of that kind of business.

And that's why you train so hard to make sure you can bring everybody home. But you're right. it was realizing that, well, one, I didn't place that IED, right? I didn't select the route. I didn't pick the mission, right? Those are all things that I didn't have context in the moment. So in the moment, you got to realize when a traumatic event occurs, you know, that spiky sense in the back of your brain that kind of has your hair standing up,

that's the fight or flight response. That part of your brain is your amygdala. And what it's doing is it's taking all of the data that's around that moment in time and it glues it to the memory. So anytime you hear something, see something, because it's so intense that it gets sucked. And that's a memory you're going to have no matter what. Right.

Is that what you're saying? Well, what I'm saying is it's a survival mechanism. So that part of the brain, its whole job is to protect you and to survive the species, right? Feeding comes from your migula. Fighting, flight comes from your migula, and then procreation is also an amygdala response. I like that part.

Yeah, that's why it's such a powerful emotion. when you're intimate with somebody. That part of the brain is to propagate the species, right? What happens is when it takes all that data and it glues it to the memory, now anytime you see something, hear something, smell something that reminds you of that event, the alarm goes off in the brain. Red alert, danger, danger, right? I'll give you a prime example.

Well, guys will come home from my rack, right? Because I've been there as well. When guys came home from my rack and on trash day, they're swerving to miss trash cans. because the alarm goes off and says, hey, there is a possible IED in that trash can. Because in Iraq, even though it is completely unreasonable to think that. Totally. They can't help it because that part of their brain has, the danger that they've lived has been tethered to that part of the brain. And the brain can't let it go.

It's called a limbic hijack. It's called what? A limbic hijack. L-I-M-B-I-C. The limbic system, it hijacks. It's hijacked it, right? You see it regularly with, like, law enforcement officers getting super triggered. It's just a limbic hijack.

Something else in the past is what's caused that. The alarm goes off, right? I'll put it in a civilian terminology. Say a woman was sexually assaulted. And because I'm a product of the 80s, Dracar was a big thing back then. And the suspect was wearing Draccar deodorant, or not deodorant, but, you know, whatever. Colon. That's it.

I couldn't think of the word. And then 20 years later, you're in a grocery store and all of a sudden you smell that drug a car cologne and the brain goes into a limbic hijack. I got to get to safety because they're back, right? That's what the brain does. It's a constant reminder to keep you safe, right? Not realizing it's just a very inefficient way of doing it. I read that Doug's mom would post memorable things on Facebook or something.

about them. Yeah. And every time you read those, it was like somebody was stabbing you in the face. Yeah. And it's not that you didn't appreciate her love for her son and the memory of her son. But I assume it was because that triggered your hijacking.

I'm asking that. I don't. So whenever I would see her, because I knew Doug was an only child. So a mom lost her son. And every time she would post something, it was like, it's like a gut punch, like it was being stabbed in the heart. Not because of what she was posting, because I felt responsible. That's what affected me.

That's the survivor guilt, right? That's a very powerful emotional, I'd say survivor guilt and PTSD are probably equal in intensity, you know, because I felt responsible for Doug. And so this all, back to the original question, this all, led to you wanted to check out. Yes. And that concludes part one of our conversation

with Dan Jarvis, and you don't want to miss part two. It's now available to listen to. Together, guys, we can change this country, but it starts with you. I'll see in part two. It's that time to put on your jersey

and wave your flag, whoever you root for. Why do I watch the walk up? That's like asking me, Why do I breed? And it's beautiful. The guys are young and cute and fit. It's not just a game.

It's your culture. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. Listen to American Football on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Joy is essential. and it's also elusive. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence. Joy 101. It's a new podcast hosted by me, Hoda Kotby. If you're craving inspiration

to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search Joy 101 and listen now. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby is presented by CVS. This Black Music Month, The Questlove show celebrates the visionaries, shaping culture,

through sound, from country trailblazer Mickey Guyton to hip-hop icon Fav-5 Freddie, the sonic genius of Thundercat, and the revolutionary voice of Chuck D. I want it loud. So the timing might be off, the sound might be muffled, but what's going to come out of there is something that you can feel. Celebrate Black Music Month with special episodes of the Questlove show. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Munga Chitigler, and I'm back with a new season of my podcast, Skyline Drive.

This time I talked to scientists, biopunks, kermudgins, blues owners, super seniors, and Goa's top cryotherapy lab to try to understand this obsession with living forever and what it means for all of us. And I get into a bit of trouble along the way. I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. To make it look more defined. They say it works.

I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. For years, the unhoused have been presented as a monolith in mainstream media. Wheatian House is a podcast that's changing the narrative.

I'm Theo Henderson, and I created the show why I was unhoused on the streets of Los Angeles. We've grown into a two-time Webby Award-winning podcast. The only podcast that shares unhoused stories and news

from the unhoused perspective. Listen to Weythian House on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.