Tin Foil Hat With Sam Tripoli - #482: 22 Veterans A Day With Cris Pacheco and Robert Graves

Starting point is 00:00:00 Tinfoil Hat. Oh, what the fuck are you guys even talking about? Global controls will have to be imposed. And a world governing body will be created to enforce them. Welcome to Tinfoil Haas. We go deep, home boy. Aaron, open your mic. Drink from the fountain of knowledge. There's lizard people everywhere.

Starting point is 00:00:31 That's some interdimensional shit. Wake up, Aaron. This is only the beginning. There, you just move my mind. Are you ready to get your mind down? Good morning, Swarm and welcome to Tim Fouill Hat. You know I am, you know what I'm here to do? I'm here too. Rock.

Starting point is 00:00:55 Rocha, the man, the myth, the legend. Xavier Guerrero. What's up? I hear big things are happening for we don't smoke the same. New studio we rock and new vibes. Someone got fired. Somebody somebody's the alpha male of weed smokers and on the ones and twos. The man. To know them and to love them. Jay Nice. Johnny Woodard. How are you buddy? I'm okay. Second time we're doing this intro so if there's a little weird energy, that's why they don't need to know what happens behind the curtain why did you do that Johnny listen guys big announcement the tickets for the big 500th go on sale Friday this Friday that's right grab your tickets now what's the name the plates can be at diversion

Starting point is 00:01:41 amusement diversion amusements diversion amuseiversion amusements. Diversion, amoo, amusements. Diversion amusements. Your tongue is just in revolt. I have, it really is. It hates me right now. Diversion amusements and the tickets to be there. It's going to be two shows.

Starting point is 00:01:56 First show is the 500 episode. And the second show is in fact a stand-up comedy show. Grab your tickets only at Sam Triply.com. I've seen videos of the place we're going to be playing. It looks pretty cool, right? It's fun, it's got the arcade, it's got a couple bars. It's going to be great. Maybe else... Tell them how many tickets though?

Starting point is 00:02:16 So, listen, so what happened because of this COVID stuff? The tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets tickets went to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be to be. It's to be. to be. to be. to be. to, it's to, it's to, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. the the the thea. the the thea. the thea. the thea. the the today. the toa. the toa. the toa. toa. today The tickets went from 300 to 250 and if they sell real quick they said they would petition that another 50 so grab your tickets quick. It's this Saturday we're gonna work on a deal with this we're working on a deal right now with this casino called the Golden Gate it's one of my favorite casinos and it's on Fremont Street, and we're working on getting a discount for people who come there, so we're working on that. But just so you know, tickets go on sale this Friday, available exclusively at Sam Trippley. Com.

Starting point is 00:02:57 Now, I also have some new dates up there. I have two new dates. I am now doing tiny venues. I'm doing small venues to work on new material. the new. two new dates I am now doing tiny venues I'm doing small venues to work on new material I talking to Calum bout I can't do new material in front pack shows I just can't do it I want I want to do like 50 cedars 80 cedars there are two places see me very and meretta okay murreta Murreta California Mureta Murrieta California you love doing that Hispanic Murrieta both Murrieta, California. Murrieta, California. You love doing that Hispanic

Starting point is 00:03:26 Murrieta. Both those tickets, small venues they will sell out quickly, go to Sam Tripoli.com. Okay, also we're going to be, I'm very excited our tickets are moving quickly for our Spokane and our Tacoma shows. I think the Tacoma show is already sold out. Here's a thing. Some of you guys are asking us, are they gonna do mandatory vaccine passports? We have talked to the club at this moment, those aren't happening.

Starting point is 00:03:57 Okay, I will not do a show if they ask you to have a mandatory passport. We will not be doing those shows. That is agreed upon, it's not happening, I won't participate in fascism, okay? So no, as of this moment, they're not asking for passports. At any show he performs that. At any show I perform, I will not do it. And guess what?

Starting point is 00:04:24 If they ask, you'll know because the show will get canceled. So just go to Sam Tripoli.com for all of my gigs. Yeah, August 26, I'm at Merlita. I'm doing a rival coffee. That's where I'm at. And then on the, then September 3rd, we're at Spokane, then Tacoma on the fourth. And then Siney Malley on September 8th, I'm had a pizza place. I don't care, I'm here to rock, bro. New dates are coming.

Starting point is 00:04:58 New dates are coming. Pizza, huh? Is there a basement in that one? Johnny, how do you feel about that? You feel better doing that, Johnny? Guys, if you're looking for premium content, all you have to do is go to Sam Triplay. thrown. tooky.

Starting point is 00:05:14 theyme. the same as on there and then broken Sim. Yes, we just did one last night. It's gonna be on there by the time this episode's out. It got a little political last night. Yeah, I think it's just the place we don't do conspiracies. That's how I've been broken. Okay, I'm down with that. It's my comedy show. And then guys, I t-shirts a purefire

Starting point is 00:05:47 they are there and I can't wait to see them. Disobey. Yeah how do they look bro? It's looking good. It's very millennial. Yeah what do you mean it's very obey? Yeah I love obey yeah like this yeah it's meant to be like kind of playing off that for sure. And you can get those in different colors black white and white? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they they they they they they they they they they they they. I love Obey, yeah, like this, yeah. It's meant to be like kind of playing off that for sure. And you can get those in different colors, black, white, and gray. Yeah, those are all great local celebrities available. Ah, why such a sheep? Those are available. Is the chicken head snake got out yet? Oh, I can't wait for that one. Really? Yeah, dude, that's a trip, man. That's a weird one. I like that shirt. I might make that a pre- uh, limited edition. Okay. But I also like it. I like it. I'm tell.

Starting point is 00:06:26 I'm glad we covered up your, uh, limited edition. Okay. But I also like it. I'm glad we covered covered out your genitals. Dude, I that you're te. I'm th. I th. I that that that that that that that that that that that that that th. I that th. I that th. I th. I th. I'm that th. I'm th. I'm that th. I'm that that that that that that that that the. I'm that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I the. I the. I the. I the. I the. I the. I the. I the. I the. I the. I the. I'm that genitals. Yeah, he just let you smooth like a Kendall. Okay, enough of this. Guys, support the show, love us, love you. We love you. I hope to see you in Marietta. Okay. And I also want to see you in Vegas for the Big 500. Now, just so you know, if this thing sells out real quick, I'm playing something special on the 15th so it might be Friday, Saturday.

Starting point is 00:07:08 Buy extra tickets. We'll see, so everything come together. So this Friday, grab your tickets. This is a very important show we did. We had some people who try to work with homeless veterans on how to stop the 22 suicides the day that are going on every day and it's a very interesting talk and I hope you guys enjoy it. I will be gone for a week so we will be dropping the Dallas Swarm Tank on you so it will be the live show you can see it and you'll be able to watch

Starting point is 00:07:40 it. I hope you guys have a great week and I'll see you when I get back. Enjoy the show. Drink from the fountain. All right, super excited to get into today's episode. I've been wanting to do an episode on this. We're going to cover a whole lot of different subjects. Two gentlemen to join me today. They deal with Veterans Affairs, and I'm very excited to have them on. This guy is part of the swarm. thuuuuuuuuuuuuu s s s s s s s s s s s s s s. thiii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to be to be to be to be to be to be to be'm very excited to have them on.

Starting point is 00:08:05 This guy's part of the swarm. We've been connecting a lot, talking and finally glad we can get them in. Please welcome Chris Pacheco, okay, and his friend Robert Graves. How are you guys? Pleasure. Thanks for coming on, buddy. Thanks for being the best dress ever in studio. Oh man.

Starting point is 00:08:22 I wanted, at least wanted to represent you know and I wanted at least if the show bombs at least say that guy was good looking brother there is no bomb. Even when we think it's a bomb we're always blown away by how much everybody likes it so there is zero possibilities of that happening so to relieve yourself of any kind of pressure like that. So for those who tho tho to tho the thi tho- thi thi thi thi the thi thi thi they. thi. thi. they. they. they. they. they. thi. they. they. they. they. their thi. thi. their thi. their they. their thi. thi. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. they. they. they. they. the. toe. toe. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. th. familiar with you guys and what you're doing, can tell us a little bit about yourself and then what you guys like to do? So my name's Chris Pacheco, like I said, so I'm a mortgage loan officer,

Starting point is 00:08:54 so that's what I do for my day-to-day, Marine Corps veteran from 2014 to 2018. I just have worked in the veteran space, met Robert at USC. We did an MBA program for veterans, so he's a lot older of a marine, no offense brother. I don't even want to know what a lot older is to you. I didn't mean that. He's a more mature marine, a previous generation marine. But yeah, just I live in Orange County,

Starting point is 00:09:25 and I work with, I do 90% of my business is VA loan. So kind of the inspiration behind us talking and everything was getting very intimate conversations with veterans on a daily basis, because I'm handling their finances. And the stories, as we'll toubl, are mind-blowing, like just where they're at. And there's a lot of common denominators. That's the kind of stuff we wanted to bring. But yeah, Robert, yeah, go ahead, Robert.

Starting point is 00:09:53 Ten-year Marine Corps veteran. I stepped on the yellow footprint, September 11, 2000, and it was in 29 palms when the towers crashed. I came out. I was, I was in th, I was in the, I was in the in the, thaa, the, the, the, tha, the, tha, the, tha, tha, tha, they. tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, toea, tha, tha, toea, toea, toea, toea, toe, toe, tomome, tomomomome, tomomomomome, tomomomomomome, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, came out, I was in this ambiguous wave of what do I do now? I was court-martialed, which if you're court-martialed, it tends to turn into a felony on this side of the world. But I was court-martialed with an armable discharge. I had a security clearance. I ended up getting a six-figure job. And what ended up happening from there is that, when I wanted to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to get to get to get to get the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the wave the wave thiaugheoueusususususususususususususususususususususususus wae the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the wave the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th... Weea. Wea. I was thea. I was theauuiauiauiauiauiaugeauiauiauiauiauia... teauiauiauiauia. I w I had a security clearance. I ended up getting a six-figure job. And what ended up happening from there

Starting point is 00:10:26 is that when I wanted to get into education, that's when the court martial caught up. But I'm able to vote and all this stuff. So there is this still big, great line of what are my benefits and what can I do. So when I started reaching out to get my education benefits and get my ability to home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home home the home the home the home.. the home the home to the home.. to the home the home the home the home the home the home the home. the the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to I started reaching out to get my education benefits and get my ability to buy the home through the home loan and stuff like that, my friends were like, oh man, how are you doing all that stuff? And so I ended up, I joked with my wife, I said I'll write a book, ended up writing a book.

Starting point is 00:10:56 The book turned into, hey man, had I had this book three years ago my life would be different and that turned into Year of the Vet, which is my podcast on other veterans transitions because the book was my six-year transition. So then we learned about other transitions and that turned into learning about the legislative aspect and you know finding myself at UCLA which then got me into USC and so this just built like life just put this building block of veteran advocacy right in front of me which led me to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. Because the book the book the book. Because tho tho tho tho tho tho tho the because because because because because because because because the book. because the book the book. because the book the book the book the book the book the book the book the book the book the book the book the book the book the book the the the the the the the book. because the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. Because the. Because the. Because the. thea. thea. thea. thea' thea' thea' book. thea' book. thea' thea' thea' theathis just like life just put this building block of veteran advocacy right in front of me which led me to to working with the DAV disabled American veterans so well I appreciate you guys coming on there's a lot involved in this conversation that I've been wanting to have for a long

Starting point is 00:11:38 time about the military how we treat our vets when they come home the courting of vet people to join the military, how we treat our vets when they come home, the courting of vet people to join the military compared to how they get treated after they're done. And we can say whatever you want about Bernie Sanders, and we can have that conversation as well. But one thing I agree with him that he said, it's like if you spend billions of dollars on war, you should be able to spend a lot of money on taking care of the people who send you to go fight, you know, and as much problems as I have, and I say it all the time, as much problems I have with the military industrial complex, I am very supportive of the people who I feel join for a couple reasons, which is, one, defend their country, and two, to, you, I make, I make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make a make a make a make a their their their their their their their their their their their their, I, I'm a their, I'm a their, I'm a their, I'm a their, I'm a their, I'm a their, I'm a their, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I.......a, I.a, I.a, I.a, I.a, I.a, I.a, I.a, I. their, I. their, I'm a. their, I'm a. to, I'm a. to, I'm a. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. to, I'm a defend their country and two, to, you know, make a living and pay their bills and all that stuff, which are both honorable things to do, right?

Starting point is 00:12:32 I mean, like, I don't think anyone really has a problem with that. It becomes like, what are we doing? Where are we sending our sons and daughters? Right. And what are they doing when they're over there? And then when they come back, what do we do and help them deal with that? Because in my humble opinion, war is not natural. And as much as they try to normalize it with movies and video games and all that stuff, I don't think war is natural. I think it's banker stuff and it's not really what we're built to do. I think we're built to love and have families and do all that stuff.

Starting point is 00:13:10 And when we do this, we see and experience things. And then when we say, I mean, you guys, because I didn't go, but these people experience things that are shocking to the system and leave marks and have long-lasting effects on people. So you know, I know this isn't a homeless conversation, but I do feel like there's a big part of like our homeless situation is our vets, man, and what has happened to them? It's like, how can you tell how can we have these giant sporting events these giant entertainment events showing love and

Starting point is 00:13:50 respect to you know people in the military and then we have just people on the streets who obviously were veterans at some point and now they're somewhat a sad I almost feels like a discarding, which is traumatizing. And I wanted to say a disclaimer before, so I'm a newer veteran, 2014 and 2018. So my platoons and my unit, so I was in amphibious tracks, so like beach assault stuff, the platoon before me. So if I would have joined a year before, I would have gone to Afghanistan, got in the ship, they were the last ones to go. So I only, I basically just ported up, road on a ship from Korea to Thailand, which was crazy, to Australia. And that's a different type of

Starting point is 00:14:37 the military, because when you think of the military, you're only thinking of guys going straight to the Middle East, you know. I don't think I think I think I think I think I th th th th th th I don't thi I don't thi. I don't thi. I don't thi. I don't thi. I don't thi. I don't thi. I don't thi. I don't thi. I don't thi. I the they. I don't th. I their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. I their their their their. I their their their their their their their th. I'm just, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just, I th. I thr. I thr. I toda. today. today, I today, I today, I today, I today, I that. that. that. that. th Middle East, you know. I don't think you need to make that disclaimer, because that's not really your choice. Like, hey, they send you where they sent you. Right, right. You would have gone wherever you want to go, wherever they had sent you, correct? Correct. And I just wanted to state that because there is a lot of, what's the word, what's the word, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, the, the word, like, like, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, they........ they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. the most so I like to disclaim that like how common is that? Oh It's people have balls to just say hey this I did this I was there without what you can buy ribbons I mean you can buy ribbons and X you can buy ribbons online. It's a great YouTube hole by the way if you want to go down it watch these guys get called out by actual veterans. It's wonderful. It's it's it's guys. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. the the th. th. th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to. to. to. to. to. to. to. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. to. to. to. to. to. to. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the th. th. who have said that they're Navy SEALs, look at the look at just the

Starting point is 00:15:28 story of the guys who claim they shot Osama, right? Tim Osmond. I'm very aligned with you with everything. I didn't want to make that show about this. I didn't want to scare Robert either you know so I don't know where he lines up he came and agreed last second to do this we don't have to get in any of that but like just the books that have been written like several books have been rid of like how I kill those Osama I kill those these guys like fight over each other just like the astronauts fight over each other like who toucest the first we have a real situation the first. We have a real situation in this country, not just in this situation, but many different areas of opportunism and people stepping into it and how there's not a lot of punishment

Starting point is 00:16:16 for being caught, you know, putting out a false identity, a fake story and all that stuff after the checks cash. I mean what's done? Nothing. I mean and that's kind of where we live in in our society. We see a lot of people stepping in and telling stories that they never really lived. And I don't know where we got where that became okay in our society. I don't think it's okay. I do not like liars and I do not. Well you know imitation is the best form of flattery right? So you know you have to take that with a grain of sand because the majority of veterans out there

Starting point is 00:16:53 are veterans who have done veterans. For sure. So you know there's always 10% we have we have that saying in the Marine Corps there's always 10% right and so we can't we can't generalize a movement over those that choose to take the free ride right right now as it pertains to the homeless situation and our veterans kind of you know one first and foremost I'm I'm the furthest from political as possible right so that like if I'm speaking it's not from a political standpoint woude I want the furthest from political as possible, right? So like if I'm speaking, it's not from a political standpoint. What I want to say, and again, DAV is a nonpartisan. So I'm here as a friend, and I said, you know, man, I can't represent DAV like that because we're X, Y, C.

Starting point is 00:17:40 However, what I want to say is this, there are thousands of military groups, veteran groups, nonprofits out there collecting money for something, right? Some of those individuals are collecting money so they can buy flags to hand out for the veterans when they come back. Some of them are collecting money so they could, you know, take them on fishing trips or whatnot. There's a lot of money out there for these organizations, so as you brought up, like, there's these big sporting events and X, Y, Z, there's money in different pots for different things.

Starting point is 00:18:17 You know, one thing I like to break apart real quick for veterans who I talked to about their benefits, and know just last year in 2020 DAV was able to get benefits or veterans connected with their service-connected benefits of up close to 2.3 billion dollars right? Why I say that is there's a pot of money that the VA allocates for this specific issue for individuals to improve and get their feet back under them so they can do their, so they can live independently, right? If you're a veteran who is looking at the VA claims and service process as in, that doesn't pertain to me because there's somebody with two legs blown off and I I can still walk, no, no, no, we've got, that's where we have

Starting point is 00:19:05 to, you know, educate and say, no, this is also for you. You raised your hand, you said, I do swallowingly swear to take a bullet to the face if it comes at me, and just so happens that you got to walk out of the military without taken a bullet bullet to to school are still for your children. Those caregiver benefits are still for... That is set in stone because you raised your hand. Not because you got injured. It just so happens that we have ways to take care of our injured ill and sick veterans as well.

Starting point is 00:19:39 I got you. I want you know that this show, even though we have talked about those political thing subjects. I'm not really interested in thi thi thi thi that that thi that that thi that that thi that thi thi that that thi thi that thi that that that thi that that that that that that that that that that that that that that is that is thi that is that is still that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is that is thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi that that that that that that the the theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee that is that this show, even though we have talked about those political thing subjects, I'm not really interested in that right now. I mean we can, but obviously that seems like something that you don't want to get into. What, no, but listen, hear me out. I understand. Listen, I totally understand what you're saying. So I want to focus more on like, like how can we, I really, because for me man, it's, it, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, th.. It's, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th.... And, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to, th. th. to, th. to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, more on like, how can we, I really, because for me, man, it's like, whether it's like veterans or just human beings in general, it's like how do we deal with what's going on in our streets, man? And you know, the military thing is great, because I have heard that.

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Starting point is 00:21:24 That's AHS.com slash tinfoil for $50 off. Any plan. Service fees, limitations, and exclusion supply. See, plan for details. I would love to hear your conversation on like the VA and how we feel about the VA and how, you know, we could, whatever you want to say about Trump. And again, I don't really care to get political, but it's like I thought he's streamlined a lot of stuff to make it easier for vets to get help after they serve. Like, that's my whole thing. That's really what I want to get into. It's like, how do we help these vets who come home with all this stuff going on?

Starting point is 00:22:05 What are the benefits out there for them to get taken care of? You know, I mean like, we could get into everything going on out there, but that's, that show's been done on the show before and it would be done again some other time. But for me it's like, I'm just like, I, you know, these are people on the streets, man. And like I see how people treat them and it breaks my heart because those were babies at one point. They were little babies and something happened along the way and now they're on the streets and with no safety net and nobody's helping them. And when it comes to the VA, I mean, when it comes to veterans, it's like something hap- like some, something trauma, some trauma or somethings thom, thom, th something happened man like some something trauma some trauma or something happened where they where some people you know you hear about always in the military everything's clean everything's tied

Starting point is 00:22:54 the house is clean everything and he takes the way learned in the military and he applies it to his life but then there's some people come back and it's just like they can't function in society after whatever they see. You know, there was a video all about like some of the things that were seen in war and it disappeared for whatever reason. But it's like it's traumatizing. And like where do we go with that? Well, how do we get the word out to help people? You know, big thing is like, and I'd lea, th a th a thu, th, th, th, th, th, th, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, the, that, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th... And, th. And, th. th. th. We, th. We, th. We're, th. We're, th. We're, th.a. th. th. thoooo. th. th. there, there, there's, there, there's, the word out to help people? You know, big thing is like, and I'd love to talk about this 22 people a day thing or 22,

Starting point is 00:23:27 like that's a real thing, man. I had two friends in comedy over the last couple years who like just committed suicide, right? That's two people in a, in like the last three years, too. We're talking 22 people a day who served who are taking their lives lives lives lives lives lives lives lives lives lives lives lives lives thi lives thiiiiii thoes. thoes. tho. tho. tho. tho. thate. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. thate. th. th. that. that. that. th. th. th. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. that that that that that that that that that that that that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that that that that people a day who served who are taking their lives. What is going on here? Like how do we deal with that? What do we talk about? Like where do we start? More dead bodies here for former military personnel than ever died overseas during the Iraq and Afghan war. And I wasn't in a mention too. So we were volunteering over at a chapter for the DAV and they meet up at the VA hospital. What is that like the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal the federal. the federal. the federal. the federal.? the federal. the federal. their. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their to to to tha. tha. tha. there. there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. Yeah. te. te. te. te. Yeah. te. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. te. te. te. Yeah. te. te. te. te. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. chapter for the DAV and they they meet up at the VA hospital, what is that like the federal hospital in West LA? So, I took, so it's right next to the city of Brentwood and you know

Starting point is 00:24:15 Brentwood as affluent as you were talking about that miles of just homeless veterans, veterans just walking around mindlessly through the VA, what is it, the compound that they have there. I mean, I'm hearing guys from other VA guys that I'm working with, of guys taking their own lives at the VA hospitals. I've heard of that as well. It's insane. And you had touched on something earlier, Sam, that you were saying about Bernie, not to get political. But he was saying, why don't, why, why, why, why, what that, why, what th. th. thi, what thi, wi, wi, what th. thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what is, what is thi, what is thi, what is it's their thi, what is thi, what is, what is, what is their, what is, what is, what is, what is, what is their, what is, what is, what is, what is, what is, what is, what is their, what is, what is th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. their their their their their their their their their thi. thi. thi. thi. that. their their th. their th. their their that their their that that their that. their, what is, what something earlier, Sam, that you were saying about Bernie, not

Starting point is 00:24:45 to get political, but he was saying, why don't we, like, why aren't there more opportunities, why aren't their money? And I want to, one of the baselines that I wanted to talk about on the show is that it is available. It's not necessarily the government that is holding these guys back. the individual their thing. And, their, their, their, their, their, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. I, th. I, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, why, why their, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why their, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, why is, is, is, is, is, is, is, th. th. th. thin. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, there's some things that they have to work through but ultimately comes down to there's a choice as well to be made to want to get help to go and get that you know the the solution is for individuals that have the ability to listen a podcast and you know YouTube and do all their own research that have connections to friends like you know myself and Chris that they listen and they hear that the help the help the help the help the help the help the help the help the help the help the help the help the help the help the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their to their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their their. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. their their their their their the. th that they listen and they hear that the help is in getting involved with the service organizations. You mentioned Legion earlier, I'm with DAV.

Starting point is 00:25:33 You've got AMVets, American veterans. You've got veterans of foreign wars, VFW. You've got the VVW, the Vietnam veterans. There's these groups that are set in stone that I've been here since DAV's been here for a hundred years, right? Where we have a process of, one, getting individuals service connected. And you know, through the chapter work, they have homeless stand downs and veteran stand downs where they open it up to the community and maybe, you know, for three days straight, they have processes to, one, get their service claims connected. Service claims is getting when you when you say your service connected it means that you've gone in to get

Starting point is 00:26:13 taking care of all the injuries the illnesses or the wounds that you've served or suffered through while in service that means like if you twisted an ankle and you know six years later it turns into chronic arthritis right that's that's because you twisted an ankle while doing a rock march or you know some type of MMA training or something like that. Bax some common stuff is tonitis from shooting rifles. These are these are little things that add up that individuals can now put a monetary buffer between them and the streets. I say it all the time if you get service-connected it's the difference

Starting point is 00:26:55 between being on the right side of the trass and the wrong side of tracks. I could not have me personally could not have taken care of my family while in school if it weren't for my service-connected injuries. Now not everybody gets out in their you know service-connected not everybody's going to get a hundred percent. I mean let's just put it like this a 10 percent service connection might be a $200 paycheck. A hundred percent service connection is a $3,500 paycheck, right? And this is for life tax-free. And so if you can give yourself a buffer between being broke and poor or not feeding your kids and then having that ability, might as well go in there and see what you can get.

Starting point is 00:27:33 If you're service connected, right? If you're service connected in California, your kids can go to Cal State for free. Any public college? UC start, yeah, Cal State, Long Beach, Cal State, LA. A lot of money. That's, yeah, it's a lot of money. So, right there, right there off the bat, there's, there's another way to provide and protect for your family.

Starting point is 00:27:54 But what's not happening is we're not, we're not put, going back into the very start of COVID. when everybody's like, thi. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to tooes. too. too. too. too. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. th. th. thi. thi. toe. toe. toe. too. toe. toe. toe. toe. toea. And, toea. And, too. And, toea. And, toe. And, toe. And, tha. of COVID, when everybody's like, oh, shit, we're all gonna die. You know, we don't know what's gonna happen. Everybody who's 60 and above's dead tomorrow, right? We had no idea. So, Kamala Harris's people, before she was, the vice president-elect, they said, hey, what's this going to do to your population?

Starting point is 00:28:19 So I had to do a background search. Okay, let's take off all of our 60 and above members. We would have lost 80% of our membership. 80% of our members in DAV are 60 and above. That means that our legislative voice crashes. That means that the individuals who are in the streets doing the outreach, that crashes. So what it is is that I, my, me, I have to figure out how to get my generation involved to say, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, , hey, hey, I have to figure out how to get my generation involved to say, hey, it's

Starting point is 00:28:45 because the reason that we have the VA loans, the ability to get band-aids from the VA, free federal and state park entrance, whatever it is that we get as a benefit or a compensation, was because some other veteran before me sat in a room and said, this is a problem, right? And not only did they say it's a problem, they went through the legislative process to go fix it. So when I hear stuff like, you know, Trump's sped this process through, I think of 60 vets sitting in a room that like put that bill into order, right? There are people that are making this happen on the back end, people like Chris and th... th. th. th. th. th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And, th. And, th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, right? There are people that are making this happen on the back end, people like Chris and myself, and that's what needs to happen.

Starting point is 00:29:29 There needs to be more outreach because what we're doing is we're sitting around and saying, oh they got it, oh they got it, oh, you know, those for vets, they got it, we don't have to do anything. They don't got it. They're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they don't got it. They're a group who cares with four working people, right? If I made a comment too, like just a little, I'm going to keep it concise as possible. My history, I was a college dropout from Cal Poly, just stoner kind of shithead. Mom kicked me out at 20, ended up in Santa Ana, living out on my car for about two months.

Starting point is 00:30:01 You were talking about the marketing for recruiting. They had the military has the best recruiting, a tactic, free food, free rent. That was gone. I fought the dragon. The slain of the dragon, the Marines. I fought the dragon. And then I bought into the propaganda and everything, but I, so I was able to still do my Marine Corps task, tough, a lot of hours, got my bachelor's

Starting point is 00:30:26 degree while I was in, demonized for it while I was getting it. Then I was put up on like literally on a pedestal for doing it, hey, teach all the other guys how to get their degrees. Two months later I was at SC, started a digital marketing business while I was in. So there's a lot of opportunities, and you were talking a to to to to to to to to to to do to do to do the to do the to do to do the the to do the to do the they. they. they. they, they, they, they, they, they, they, th. thi, I'm, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, you, thin, you, you, you know, thin, t t toda, you, you're, you, t today, thin, thin, th.eean, thin, thin, thin, thin a lot of opportunities and you were talking about Trump and streamlining stuff. He actually, with a bill that was passed during his time, because he became elected halfway through my Marine Corps, and we thought we were going to war, for sure. Like Trump was going, we're going to war. He was able to relieve all of my student debt that I had from California. I was like $16,000, You know, so I got 100% disability as well. And I feel a sense of gratitude and almost like guilt,

Starting point is 00:31:11 because I'm going over here to the American Legion. I'm going over here to the Marine Corps League. I'm going over here to Veterans Ministry. I'm talking to some hardcore recorne Marines that went through, not just Marines, seals, through the jungles of Vietnam, through Korea. I saw a World War II veteran on Friday. And I'm just like, I saw nothing,

Starting point is 00:31:35 and then it hurts me so bad to like know that somebody went through like harder stuff than I did. And that's kind of like part of like my energy of like, okay, how can I give back as much as possible for something that's given so much back to me? And I mean in our class, I was like one of the younger guys in the NBA course, there's some crazy stories of guys who have recouped their life, you know, after struggling with some things. Do they all get all the their their their their their their their their things. Do they all get the same benefits? Like if you were in World War II and you were in Vietnam,

Starting point is 00:32:05 it does not matter? Yes and no, right? OK. I would say 98% yes. Not up until last year, though, he and I were able to get dependent benefits where our wives or our husbands could get money for taking care of us since they no longer can have a full job, right? So the caregiver, the caregiver act was

Starting point is 00:32:30 put into place so that the benefits that we received as post 9-11 vets was also extended to Vietnam vets, but that wasn't, I mean, and World War II and Korea vets. So when, here's a good fact, right? Something that got me really enged the tolu to the the the th. the the th. the th. th. the th. th. th. the th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. too. too. too. too. too. too. I c. I c. I c. I c. I c. I c. I c. I c. I'm c. I'm, too. I'm too. I'm their their ets. So when, here's a good fact, right? Something that got me really engulfed in the legislative process is this. It wasn't until 2020 last year, that Operation Blue Water came in effect, which means that if you served on a ship

Starting point is 00:32:57 on the coast of Vietnam and were affected by the planes coming back with Agent Orange. Oh, you weren't allowed to get aated or treated at the VA. I mean, you were able to get treated, but you weren't, it was not considered a combat related illness. Because you were on a ship outside of Vietnam. But again, legislative, there's a bunch of, you know, crest the old guys and women that were like, hey, this ain't right, let's make this right. And so not until 2020, 40 years later, were Vietnam vets who were on those ships able to

Starting point is 00:33:32 be, you know, classified as Vietnam vets that had been gone through that. That's a long fight. And being on ship is a trip. All right, I want to tell, I to tell, I to to tell, to tha, to to tha, thi, to tha, to tho, to be, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. th to tell you about our good friends at CBD Line. That's right, CBD Line, one of our oldest sponsors on the show, longest-running sponsors on the show, and we love them very much, you know, these stressful times. You need tools and your tool belts and no one can help you more. Then CPD Lion, I mean, they got everything. they got everything.

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Starting point is 00:35:25 enter the coupon code tinfoil to get 20% off so I mean my question is this it's like you know going back to the 22 that you know we're losing year is there been any research done that you guys have seen that like is there a characteristic of somebody who's doing this? Let me ask who do you think is doing it? If you had to give, the spectrum of veteran. Okay. If I had to guess it would be older male. Like in their 40s or 50s maybe earlier maybe people

Starting point is 00:36:13 one or two people like people just come back from combat and then people who have been like fighting illnesses for a long time. believe or not research coming back is showing that our Vietnam vets, our Vietnam, Korea vets, our older vets who have lost family and who are on set, what's the word, income things, fixed incomes, right? Shit's going up. Yeah, shit's it more. Yeah, shit. Yeah, and so. What's the word? Uh, income things, fixed incomes, right? Shit's going up, they can't afford it anymore. Exactly, you know, and so, um, guys saying, I mean,

Starting point is 00:36:52 that generation came back, there's still Vietnam vets to this day who will not classify themselves as veterans because they were treated so badly on the back end, right? So, when they came back, I mean, and that's why we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we that's why we we that's why we that's why we do that's why we do that's why we do that's why we do that's why we do that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's badly on the back end, right? So when they came back. And so when they came back, I mean, and that's why we do a lot of stuff for our Vietnam veterans currently. And I think the, you just had an episode on Kent State. They, that wasn't that a thing where they were throwing the ribbons inside.

Starting point is 00:37:17 The guys were throwing the ribbons. Yeah, there was there was was was was was was was was was was was there was a was a was a large. There was a large. There was a large. There was a large. There was a large. There was a large. the. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. th. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. their. th. th. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. their. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There was. There was. Yeah. There was. There was. There was. There was. There was. There was. There was. There was. There was. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. th. th. the. the. th. the. th. th. th. th. th. that I think, you know, if they, looking back, they were most 100 percent. That sounded very Bill and Ted's right there, but it's like 100 percent focus on the wrong people. Yeah. Yeah. And to continue the conversation, I mean it's across the board. Suicide's going from our fresh fats coming out to our oldest vets leaving, right? But there is there's research and studies going into it. Research and studies are fine, right? And it helps us educate and have the conversation, but again, what needs to happen is we never stopped. Look, I swear to protect and serve, right? That stuff needs to carry on on the back end. However, what's going on is individuals, and I pulled this out.

Starting point is 00:38:10 This is, I didn't mean to bring this and it's not a plug, but how to grow a beard, a military transition guide back to civilian life, right? That's the book I wrote. And I pulled it out because something we were talking about got me thinking about identity, right? What happens is when Marines come out, they're so tied up in being, look man I'm a Marine, I'm a Marine, I'm a Marine, and they get locked up in that identity, where being locked into the identity is the quickest way to fail. Because there's no like there's no fluctuation of, I am also a hard worker, or I'm an electrician, or I'm a father, or I'm a Christian, right? There's no separation between I am this service member

Starting point is 00:38:50 and you deserve, I'm supposed to have this job. I'm supposed to have these benefits, I'm supposed to have these job. I was told that to as a quote battle buddy, not having a resource, right? If you don't, if you're not resourceful in, you're not going to be resourceful out, right? So you have to find somebody who's resourceful. If you don't have that resource, and you know, we have this process called Tap and Tamp, I think it's changed now, but a transitioned to their tr-a......... So, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, they. to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, if, if, if to be, if to be, if to be, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if if, if, if, if if, so some...... So. So. So. So. So. And, to, and, and, they. And, and, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, to, they. And, if you, if you're, if you're, if, if, if days in the military to figure out how to transition to be a civilian. There's a buddy of mine, Drew Lucas, he was

Starting point is 00:39:28 shooting bodies two days before he got out. Right? Two days before he got out. That dude has gone through some astronomical demons, right? And you know, we just, I found him, I saw him pop up on Instagram. I was like, bro, you're alive. What's up, man? When you're in town? When that happens, when we have those friends that had to have those quick transitions, what I've seen, me personally, is that they have the hardest time.

Starting point is 00:39:57 The quicker you have the transition from being in the sandbox to be back, quote, civilian, and having, and having, and having, and having, thi, thi, the, the sandbox to being back a quote civilian and having to deal with this, that's hard, right? The people who've been in the military the longest, the 30 years coming out, that's hard. You go in as a 17-year-old kid, maybe 18, maybe 20, right? And then you live that whole life of being, whether it's four or 20 years, all you know is that. Then you come out here and you expect that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that that's that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that's that's that that's that that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that whole life of being, whether it's four or 20 years, all you know is that. Then you come out here and you expect that that transfers over into the the workforce and it doesn't. Me myself I was told to put a leash on it. You're not a Marine anymore and I lost my, the one thing I thought you hired me for theymeau, it's gone. The's fine this room I need not to compare. this. th. th. th. th. th. th. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. Imagine wanting to go back to kill or be killed.

Starting point is 00:41:06 And it's atrocious. You ask any veteran, hey, how was Iraq? It's pretty miserable. You know, I was watching a project for New American Century. They literally had the Halliburton contract, Dick Cheney guys, across the street, and the Marines were across the street. with contaminated water that Halliburne was paid billions of dollars to keep clean. Imagine that. And I wanted a- I couldn't agree more on all that dude I just want to talk about that like for me a big

Starting point is 00:41:38 issue is like you know when we talk about military budget it's like you know it's like how much of this is actually going to the boots on the ground, going to take care of our vets and stuff like that. When we, you know, when we looked at the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan war, we saw, you know, vehicles that weren't prepared for what was going on over there. You're like, but how is that not when we so much that the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, ta, ta, ta, to to to tha. tha. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to take, to take, to take, you, you, you, you, to take, to take, to to take, to to to to to to to tak. to tak. ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. on it? And that's what I'm talking about. It's like, how much of the contract is going to the actual personnel that have to go boots on the ground compared to the contract to the make a weapon or a vehicle that might or might not be used? That seems to be what is really my big issue with the military industrial complex is that they're just constantly ramping up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. thi. that. that. that. that. that. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. th. th. the. the. the. thea. thea. thea. th. thea. thea. to. to. that. thea. that. that. thea. their. their. the military industrial complex,

Starting point is 00:42:25 is that they're just constantly ramping up what their budget is, but are they, does that, does that equal better conditions for the boots on the ground people? I mean, I know that the vehicles for sure have, there has been a transformation. And I think there was a huge, and correct me if I'm wrong, Robert, if there's been a huge, if there's been a huge, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, uh, their, uh, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the vehicles for sure have there has been a transformation. I think there was a huge, and correct me if I'm wrong, Robert, if there's been a huge outcry for like, hey, how do we make these vehicles safer? How do we make these things safer? I know, so I was an amphibious assault vehicles. So those things were blowing up like all the time, right in Iraq. And they don't even have they they they they they they they they they were they they were their their their their their their their their their. Thea. T. T. T. T. T. T. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. I. I was. their. th. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I was. I was. I. I. I. th. th. th. th. th. th. their. th. their. th. th. their. th. th. their. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the time right in Iraq and they don't even have they're not they

Starting point is 00:43:06 were tracked vehicles now they got the V form they got vehicles that EIED the explosive devices and stuff so I think that the I think the conditions as far as like the individual boots on the ground is getting better what do you think Robert when I went to Afghanistan I say all the time we built 10th city I built I built 10 city I to the the the the the the the the the the the t. t. the t. the t. t. the t. t. t. t. t. the t. t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I te. I the the the te. I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. I the th. I th. I th. I th. I te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. the the the. th. th. th say all the time, we built Tent City. I built Tent City. I put sandbags together and, you know, there were no running water, there was no laundry. So anything that's going on today is better than when I was there. So, you know, so like, yeah, I can't, you know, I trust in science, you know, so I, hopefully that people are doing the right

Starting point is 00:43:46 thing to do the right thing. Can I, and I want to piggyback on that, because there was something that you asked earlier, like is there a common denominator, is there a commonality, like who are these guys coming in? So this is, this just happened to me a couple of months ago, actually, I had a guy who literally went to to to, did exactly what I did, no exposure to trauma or any type of war or anything, just took his life. About a week later, I know another Marine, another Scout sniper that posted on his Instagram, Fairwinds brother, Valhalla. And it's always, I owe, every time I see that, every time I, and it never fails, I don't go one week

Starting point is 00:44:28 without some veteran posting, a, this brother, rest in peace, rest in peace, brother. I was like, man, he looks kind of young. I was like, hey, what happened? Killed himself. 90% of it is kill himself. 10% maybe a heart attack, he already had a pre-existing

Starting point is 00:44:45 condition, 90% is killed himself. And I know for a fact, I was like, oh did they go to war? More and more, less guys are going and being exposed to that. So it's like, and the problem is still persisting. So like, one thing that I've noticed him is he he touched on the identity factor. These American legions, like these places where the, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you the, you the, you the, you the, you the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, like, like, the,ouched on the identity factor. These American legions, like these places where you would think like these old guys go and hang out, those are becoming obsolete. So the culture of veterans has changed as well.

Starting point is 00:45:16 They don't like staying in PACS. They don't like staying in fellowship. I'm in the American Legion at San Juan Capistrano. So Sam Juan Capistano, a very sleepy town, 30,000, they didn't have a fire department before. The American Legion veterans were the volunteer fire department. So there was a fire, the veterans, the old guys, they had their own jobs, would go and handle the fire. And I was like, this is insane. This is crazy. I was like, you can't even get these guys off a fucking Tick tm. th. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. th. the. the. the. their, their, their, the their, their, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the American. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, the.-Tock anymore man My guys are watching nurses dancing around and shit. Yeah, and I'm like I'm like where is that culture? So part of me being involved with those groups as well as as well as Robert we want to bring that culture any veterans out there? Because this is obviously a podcast that guys are listening to on devices. And I don't know if the old guys listen to this stuff,

Starting point is 00:46:05 but the newer guys, if you guys are listening to this, please be a leader in your community. Like you always say from a legislative level, from a community level, be that leader from a community level, because you never know whose life you might save. Yeah, I want to get, and I totally agree with that, man. I mean, it's like, you know, I'm sober, I'm in sobriety, and you get people coming into it, and you know, you start watching this change in them,

Starting point is 00:46:31 and I'm like, you know, you got to, you know, it's like you don't just get in your car and drive, and it sounds like somewhat, what's like, what's happening with the military is that when these guys get out, they're just getting in the car and driving without necessarily a A destination to go so when you brought up that like you're no longer in a military What you know, you're no longer a Marine when you go to this job? We don't need you to be a Marine anymore. What what is the psychological feelings going through there? Yeah, man? First and foremost, it's a real punch the chest right? There is there. the their. their. their. their? There. their? their. their? Um. their. their. their, their, their, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, their, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, their, uh, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the and foremost, it's a real punch to the chest, right? There is that tightness in your chest. It's like, oh, something's happening here.

Starting point is 00:47:12 That's, this is real. And then you have this processing, like, well, then why'd you hire me? Because to be a Marine means to be efficient, effective, a go-getter, and self-starter, right? But I mean, all that stuff, I can be all that stuff without being a Marine as well. So it took me some years. So my story is when that happened, I got into a pretty bad spot where I had to kind of have this talk of God and say, hey, I'm ready to do it, I feel like you think I'm supposed to be. Now when I went through that process, I ended up studying hypnotherapy and I have my master's

Starting point is 00:47:55 in sports psych and stuff like that. But I learned about self-identity crisis. I mean, I mean, it's deep because it goes in anywhere, right, in full words, like, you know, do you think that his identity is wrapped up in his his show? Yes. You know what I mean? Right. Like, what is he without his show? And we saw, you know, we saw with Serena, you know, with her knee injury, right? She was, or is it Venus? Which one had the knee injury?

Starting point is 00:48:29 She got, she was like, I'm a tennis player. It's like, oh, you know, you have to find something outside of that. And not until she found out something outside of tennis, was she able to get back in a tennis? When I was told I'm not a Marine, you know, there is this like very abrupt, like you hit a wall, what do you mean? And then you have to do some self-evaluation of like, then what am I? If you didn't hire me to be this, then like, what am I even doing here? And I'm okay because I've always had a psychological background, but a lot of individuals don't have the tools to pull themselves out of those moments, right?

Starting point is 00:49:06 What do you mean I can't be a ballerina anymore, right? Like this is what I've been, football players, right? So I engage a lot with merging vets and players right here in Los Angeles, MVP. A lot of those guys are good friends of mine, but what they do is they've brought in the professional player aspect as well as the veterans. We sit down, we work out together and we do an hour-long roundtable or a fireside talk because you have to understand some of those professional players have been playing pop Warner since six, right? And then they get cut from the NFL at 34 and they're like, or 24. They're like, man, all I've been doing is playing football. What do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I. I. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've th, I've th, I've th, we're th, we're th, we're th, we're th, we're th, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're th, we're th, we're th, we're th, we're th, we're th, we're th, we, we, we, we, we, we're th, we, we, we, we, we, we're th, we, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're th, we're th, we're th, we're th, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th at 34 and they're like, or 24, they're like, man, all I've been doing is playing football.

Starting point is 00:49:47 What do I do? I went and got some BS degree, you know, and basket weaving. So, no, I get that, those guys, those guys, it's very similar. The identity, yeah, I mean, so we have to look at that as a number one process of, welcome to the world, you are no longer this, but let me tell you what you are, right? Let me show you what kind of value you do have. And so, you know, going back into the getting involved with the VSO process, the DAV, let me just touch on this. the one thing we try to get out there and educate is that one, go get your claims and services taken care th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th. One thing we try to get out there and educate is that one go get your claims and services taken care of right, go get through benefits so you can

Starting point is 00:50:29 have that monetary buffer, but then we have transportation programs where we go and get the vets from their houses, take them to the VA themselves and then back home for free of charge. So we're always looking for volunteers that but the legislative aspect as well. to to to to to to the the thiiii. the the thi. the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. Go th. Go, thate, thi. Go tho, tho, go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go, go go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. the. the. the. the. the. too. too. to toe. to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the. the. the. the. the. we're always looking for volunteers to that. But the legislative aspect as well, getting into the mind of my generation, the OEF, OIF guys and saying, you got to pick it up, we got to pick our, we got to pick the packs up, and we got to put them on our backs because those, there was a story told to me by an old Korean war tanker. And he goes, hey man, America loves its veterans in Evan Flo. When we came back from World War I, World War II, we were heroes.

Starting point is 00:51:10 They gave us houses, they gave us jobs. You know, we got white pig a fence. We got, you know, our wives are here, you know, date my daughter, right? And then Korea, it was just kind of like a war. Hey guys, you did a good job. Vietnam happened, those guys got, you know, shit on and spit on. You couldn't, they couldn't get jobs, right? They had to move out to the sticks just to get away from, you know,

Starting point is 00:51:36 people who were beating them up. And then 9-11 happens, we're back on top, you know, but we're in this 20-year war and people are getting tired of hearing, thank you for our service, thank you for your service, thank you for your service, people don't want to hear that stuff no more. The Korean War tanker said, who do you think is going to take care of us when America stops taking care of us? It's going to be veterans. It's got to be the people the people the people the people the people who who who who who people who people who who who people who who people who who people who who who who who who people who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who the people who the people who the people who the people who the people who the people who the people who the people who the people who are who the people who the people who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who are who th, th, th, th, th, th, th th th th th th th th th the people, th the people, the the people, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, care of people who have given up on themselves. Yeah. Right? So, you know, and then on top of that, once we get their ear, we talk about employment.

Starting point is 00:52:11 D.A.V. has a collaboration with recruit military.com, and we get, we say, here's a buffer, now here's a way to get some actual money in your pocket and have a better decent job than what you're doing. And then we push employment or education benefits and I mean there is a slew of stuff out there for so much. Unfortunately there is a lot of homelessness going on. That doesn't mean there's not a lot of money or sponsorships or you know you know anything that's out there for them to improve their lives. I mean in Venice you can get three meals a day. Yeah. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:52:50 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that's a misconception. I don't know if it qualifies as a siob, but that organization is try to push upon trying to get more money, like, hey, you take tak tak tak tak thak thak thak thak, thak, thak, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, to to to to to their, their, to thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their...... their, thi. that, that, that, that, thr. thr. Yeah, thr. Yeah, throwneea. Yeah, throooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Yeah, tha. Yeah, ththere. And I saw it firsthand. Even some of the guys saying that I'm still, this Wednesday I'm going to the O.C. Fair with a Marine I served with.

Starting point is 00:53:10 He just got hired as a LA City fire and he's thinking me, like, dude, I'm so happy that you kicked my ass to get myself into college when I was still in the Marine Corps. I don't know where I'd be now. And I see I see I see I see I see I see the other I see the other I see the other I see the other I see the other I see the other I see the other I see the other I see the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the Marine Corps, I don't know where I'd be now. And I see the other ones that they wanted to go get blacked out drunk instead of study at night. They're struggling, you know, saying that happens anywhere. So, and I wanted to comment to, you know, the identity thing. Sam, so I'm also sober as well.

Starting point is 00:53:44 I haven't drank since December 24th of 2016. Huge enhancer, my dad passed away when I was 17 from drinking, from alcoholism. So I was going down that slippery slope too. And I was an insomnia, wouldn't sleep for five days straight, get blacked out, drunk, Saturday and Sunday. I like this condition where I could only sleep when I was drinking. It was bad. And I did that almost my whole entire Marine Corps career.. the their. their. It. It was. It was. It was. It was. It was. It was. It was. It was. It was. It was th. It was th. It was th. th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was the the the the th. I was the th. I was the the th. I was the the te. I was the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was t drinking. It was bad and I did that almost my whole entire Marine Corps career. It was the spirituality aspect though.

Starting point is 00:54:10 And I'm not trying to push religion. I'm not trying to push my, I just choose. I think the last guy talked he's like, that my team is Christianity. My te of higher power. It's already been proven time and time again. You put your identity in the military branch that you served in, on the ribbons that are on your chest, on the team you played with the NFL players, 85% of them going broke after their careers are done.

Starting point is 00:54:36 It's all failing. And but nobody's, I feel like nobody's talking about because Christianity and spirituality is kind of demonized. I mean, I'm a three times a day meditator and I read, I educate myself, I try to bring that health aspect, but it is a sacrifice of time and leisure as well. That's a big thing. That's a big thing. You got to make change for change to happen, you know, and we can get into all the stuff going on with You know in our person

Starting point is 00:55:08 What is perceived going on in our world right now and all that stuff because I I see it happening, you know with the demonization of certain things and certain people and certain ways of believing and That's all to get us all to fight with each other. I mean,that's that's you know ultimately for me it's live and let live and you know just you know you want the only person come to save you is yourself you got a and even when you apply here like you can't save somebody who doesn't want to save themselves. They got to want to pull themselves out of the situation you, it's like you help somebody, you know, you give some, you know, sometimes I like to help people who are going through stuff all around here, you know, and you hand them a couple bucks, I asked them their names, and I always say, man, nobody's come to save you, you got to save yourself,

Starting point is 00:55:56 and that's like me, I had a really bad drug problem and I had to get out of my own way. Nobody was going to do it for me. I had to do it for myself. And with the, you know, the vets and stuff like that, there's a lot of trauma on top of trauma on top of trauma of all the stuff going on. And it's tough, man. And you know, I want to get into a couple things with the VA and the prescription, and the prescription, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, uh, uh, uh, the, uh, to, uh, the, the, uh, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, medication that's being handed out left and right if you're okay with that. I mean so you know I think we all need not to get political but we all want to discuss like what health care what is good I think we all agree that we need a system that people don't go broke with trying to take care of themselves right like you know you shouldn't

Starting point is 00:56:41 cost you a hundred million dollars to get your heart fixed right or something like that I'm sure that's not what it was that movie where they think you Justin Timberlake was in it and they came and took his took his heart they repo it probably called repo or so funny yeah yeah I know they would repo it but as I I go is there stuff that we could do to the VA that would help the process? I know it yeah I I I I I I I I I the the they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they would they would they would they would they the they their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th are th are te tell try tell tell try tell tell you tell you tell you they they they they they they they they, is there stuff that we could do to the VA that would help the process the stream it? I mean there are a lot of people that the VA is you know trying to help so that's a that's an issue but is there things that could be done different different at the VA that could help people? Look, so again, playing the DAV VA card, for me personally, I've had two knee, two shoulder surgeries from the VA, and I have been on the phone on hold and driven to the VA to go talk to the person I'm on hold

Starting point is 00:57:46 with. However, you know, when it's all said and done, they, I feel like they have our best interest in mind. You know, they're try. Yeah. It's a lot of volume to deal with. It's a lot of volume and you know what there's a if you go into a VA there's a lot of moving parts in there and so I think realistically if there was an answer on how to improve the VA it would just be more individuals in the community educating on what's out there. So like for

Starting point is 00:58:17 instance there's if I went to the VA there's the ability to go to activities director and get myself involved with stuff like the Winter Sports Clinic, which is something that we have at DAV. But we send veterans to Colorado to go learn how to be physical going down mountains or ice skating or bobsled and stuff like that. And that's a week-long free clinic to get individuals off the couch back into motion, right? The same with our National Disabled Veterans Golf Clinic. Out here we've got, I, in California, we team up with Angel City sports and get them veterans

Starting point is 00:58:59 to help coach children with disabilities, right? So our next DAV, California, our next convention will be fostered around adaptive athletes. So that's just one portion. But then you've got the women's health clinic. Then you've got the family readiness clinic. Then you've got, I mean, there's so many, I mean, people don't even understand. If you're having, and this is for everybody listening, if you're having an issue with your doctor

Starting point is 00:59:29 and you don't feel like you're being listened to or heard, go to the umbudsman, go to the VA clinical workers that are there to be the buffer between you and your provider because you may be right. Maybe you are getting, I always say this, look, the people who work in the VA are just like you and I. There are people who have families. They, you know, had to get gas this morning. They went to Starbucks and they didn't have the vanilla latte, whatever it was, right? There are people that are having everyday.

Starting point is 00:59:58 They're not a world of customer service. And sometimes we get frustrated because we don't have good customer service. But if the VA had the opportunity to go again, educate all of that's within their walls, I think that would help the conversation of like what is available for me. And nobody goes to the VA, long, no one goes to VA when things are going great, right? Nobody like shows up going, I bowed to 300, just wanted to let everybody know that, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I say the same thing about like,

Starting point is 01:00:33 you know, the city hall, like you always go to city hall and everybody's getting sued or like paying a traffic ticket. So it's the best they could do at that point. Chris, what would you want to say? I wanted to chime in. And this one probably aligns with some of the big pharma episodes that you've gone that have been talked about on this show. Now, when I got out of the military, I had the problems with anxiety, I had my jaw broken, several injuries, just from training. So I worked in heavy equipment was dangerous right. So the VA said okay

Starting point is 01:01:07 We're gonna need you because of your injuries to take eight of these prescriptions just like that Like boom boom boom boom one for sleep one to not feel Drowsy during the day one so that you don't get arthritis in your ankles and I was like I was like and these are just like injuries from like injuries from like?? Like you say you know didn't go like on comets. Yeah, no, just like, we're in terror. Yeah, we're in terror. And they wanted to give you all that. Yeah, and like I am, I was like, my wife was just basically like, no, like we're

Starting point is 01:01:35 going to find other solutions. And at this time I had already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already already to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to to to the to the to to to the to the to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the training. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the the the the the the the the the the the the the train. train. train. train. train. try. try. train. train. train. try. train. train. train. train. train. train. train. train. train. train. train. train. training. t struggled with the most. And the biggest prescription that's being handed out there is ambient. It's the sleep meds. It's the most prescribed medicine in America and not and it doesn't go different for veterans. A lot of veterans struggle with sleeping. And even just the science of sleeping of all the nutrients and the fruits that you get from your subconscious and your REMS sleep. So I got into CBD, I got into cannabis, and I was actually when we were at SC, I actually started the first cannabis organization for USC. And we worked with the School of Sociology, and I was exposed to, there's veteran groups out there, weed for warriors,

Starting point is 01:02:18 the veteran cannabis coalition, some smart dudes way smarter than me, just exposing just the horrors of big pharma and the VA together I was talking to a heroin addict a former heroin addict today Sam and I asked him I was like yeah I'm going on the show you were talking about we started talking about big farama he's like yeah, man the opio is and all that's crazy that. He's like yeah, man, I was like, know what's crazy? Imagine you as a drug addict. He's like, you had to pay for the drugs, right, from like a dealer and stuff, like on the streets? And he's like, oh yeah. I was like, do you think that it would have been harder to quit if you got it for free?

Starting point is 01:02:56 And just had to walk into a place and just get the refill of the prescription. prescription he's like dude he's like he's like is that's what's going on it's all free I'm like oh yeah I'd be dead I would be dead I would I have no I I lean into all my vice itself if it was free I mean sometimes I think like the only thing that stopped me from going completely nuts is that I didn't have the money to totally indulge in it so I as much as I would if it was just free all the time. So you know we got a short time left here because I know we got time restraints. What can we do from a spiritual point of view for our vets? What can we do moving forward to help these guys just get out of their own way because I think it's very important? I mean like you know I'm gonna ask a real question was you know and this could be a hard one is there a time when you're

Starting point is 01:03:48 serving where you're like what the fuck are we doing right now? Like is there a time? Every day? Every day. It's not in the Marine Corps just so they're the Marine Corps. they the Marine. You ever seen the Marines? Not the Marine. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So the. So the. So the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the Marine. the Marine. the Marine. the Marine. the Marine. It. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It call it the suck for easy. You ever seen the movie Jarhead? Why the Marines? Why did you join the Marines, not the Navy or the Air Force? I always asked the fact. Why the Marines? I'll give my take first. Yeah, to fight the Dragon. Yeah, to fight the Dragon. You always known it as the most badass branch. You always wanted to get the title. And it's crazy. It's it's it's all all all all all all all all all all all all. to to to the the the their, you, you, you, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the the most their, their, their, their, their, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the ta, ta, ta.a.a, the ta.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a. the the the the the the the the the the theto get the title. And it's crazy, it's all hand-me-downs from the Army. The Army gets all the badass stuff. Like, I was eating, I was eating meal, MREs, which are like packed meals that were past the expiration date. So do they do that to tou? You guys out? Is that done on purpose? It tough you guys out. I mean, I don't know what it is. All the vehicles, vehicles were former Army.

Starting point is 01:04:45 And then the Army Cats that we went to SE with, they were like, they were all telling us, oh yeah, we had like the meal ready to eat was supposed to be for one day. They had one that lasted the whole week. I was like, I never even heard of that shit. Air conditioned, the air conditioned vehicles. I'm just like, what? Are you kidding me? We had a saying in our unit, if you can't duck it, fuck it, right? If you can't put some duct tape on it, it goes.

Starting point is 01:05:08 But, you know, it's that that all throws back to budget, right? Budgeting, we get thrown in with the apartment in the Navy and maybe it's blah, blah, blah. So but, I joined, I joined, I joined, I joined, I joined, I joined, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I tho, I tho, I that, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, if, if tho, if tho, if that, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, put, th, th, th, th, th, th, th.. th. th. that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, put, put, put, put, put to join and I was, I lost this, I thought I was going to get a scholarship, long story short, didn't happen, so I was like I'll join the Marine Corps. Change my life, but yeah, when you talk about what are we doing here, I mean we're out there in 209 palms like raking sand off of sandy, I was just like why why are we trying to mop the ocean they call don't step on the sand but when you were in Afghanistan building the basis where you yeah because I didn't listen dude I

Starting point is 01:05:56 always felt very guilty my grandpa my uncle were in the middle my uncle my great uncle died in world war two and 21 years old in Germany. You know, I would be lying to you if I say I didn't have a little part of me that was super guilty that I didn't do it. You know, so like when I got asked to do USOs even though my act was not right, I was like, I'm going to figure out a way to do 10 minutes of comedy that they'll enjoy, that I don't have to, you know that, so, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, that I enjoy that I don't have to you know that so I could get back in my little way yeah so I would go to Afghanistan I remember just looking around and going what are we doing here right now I'll tell you man when when Google Earth came out I put a little my buddy and I on his 20th birthday his friends sent us a Listerine bottle of gin.

Starting point is 01:06:47 And so he and I, we like, hiked about, I don't know, a quarter mile from 10 Camp and 10 City. And then I pin that sometimes and I zoom up, I start scrolling out. And then you just notice that you were two kids in the middle of a desert that nobody knows about. And that trips me out. That's what trips me out, is that we understood our mission, he and I, right? We understood why we were there. And realistically, we didn't. Right?

Starting point is 01:07:15 I mean, none of us do. None of us really know the big picture. But we knew what we were there for and then to just scroll out again and there being 15 of us in our shop, just kids, 18 year old kids, man. But I think that that throws into some of this identity issue on the back end, right? When people find out what they were really, you know, supporting and what they were really doing. That does throw some people through the internal, like, is this right or wrong kind of stuff, right?

Starting point is 01:07:53 But all in all, when it's all said and done, people want to go back in because it's, you know, there's a little to to get that That thrill of fighting wars, but not everyone is a warfighter I would say 99% of the military is not on the front lines period right we are a self-sufficient entity the Marine Corps we have our own electricians we have our own I mean, you know, we've got our docks with the navahs, we've got our own? I mean, we are self self self self self self self self self self self self self. too too too. too. too. too. too. to? to? to? I? I to? I to? I to? I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm. I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm. I'm. I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to. the the the to. the the the the th. toe. the the the th. the the the toe. the the the the the Navy, we've got our own plumbers, we've got our own chefs, we've got, I mean, we are self-sufficient. So when you come out, if you can't be part of that self-sufficient crew, it does turn into a problem. Then I ask, if it's like that, then why would you leave? As a Marine, because I know my sister's husband, he's going to, I'm here to like like I'm here to like get my to the all the time so I understand if it's so much love and I mean it's obviously some of it shitty can you go back like

Starting point is 01:08:48 like if you leave can you like say you don't like it yeah you can sometimes there's like certain parameters you have to still qualify like physically but I'll tell you the big reason I left what I figured out how much I was making an hour it was less than minimum wage because of the hours. There's no like you don't go home at a certain hour. It's training operations. I mean, yeah, I'm not saying it's easy. He's tough. He's on the boat a lot. Yeah. We have to wrap this up real quick. I'm sorry because people have time restraint, but I'm just going to ask this one last. No, no, dude. I want to get you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm going. I'm going. I'm going. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm out in time. And I didn't mean it like it was a bad thing. I appreciate you coming on the show. But one thing I want to talk is like, from a spiritual point of view, like how can we help from a spiritual point of view, our veterans?

Starting point is 01:09:39 Like what can we say to them? What can we do for them? Obviously Chris is meditating all the time? But how do we get that, how do we, how do we get people to understand there's something bigger out there? Yeah. I hate to plug my stuff again, man. Plug away, bro. Well, so I started Year of the Vet, the book was to get the story of other people's transition to say, hey, look, I too fell on hard times and I am an actor now or an actress or I'm an entrepreneur starting this or I'm a social media mode. Whatever it is, if you can see it, you can be it, right?

Starting point is 01:10:23 So us, quote, successful veterans on the right side of the ground need to start reaching back out on a spiritual level we just need to reconnect period right you need to show people that they have the ability there's plenty of individuals that have bounced back once they got connected to the resources that are out there again we need to talk about the resources that are out there. Again, we need to talk about the resources that are out there. W,W,DavCal.org will take you straight to us. If you want to start a claim right now,

Starting point is 01:10:53 W, W, W, W, W, D.A.V.org, back slash claims, right? If you're on the national side outside of California, W, W, W, W.D.V.org. No matter what, you're going to find information to help your life improve from where it is today. And so, and that's the spiritual part. Organic help, reaching back out to the community and saying, look, I wrote down here at Mountain Top. I tell all my vet. I don't want to be on the top of

Starting point is 01:11:25 the mountain peak and then have to come back and tell you what it looks like. I want you to come and experience it with me. So I'm going to come in or I'm going to reach down. I'm going to tell you all that's out there. But just like be sober if you don't want to be sober. Guess what? You're not going to be with home if you don't want to not be homeless, right? So, but it's our job, even our civilian counterparts, to say, hey, did you know that there is help out there? When somebody's out there asking for change on the street, I might give them a dollar or two or five, I'll also, I'll also also, I'll also also also also also also also also also also also also also, I'll also also also also also also also, I'll also also also, I'll also also also also also, I'll also, I'll also also also, I'll also to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the street. I might give them a dollar or two or five. I'll also give them my business card and say,

Starting point is 01:12:05 hey, this is, it's time to go get changed up to go get fixed up, you know, so that's that's what I got. And you ever seen like on like business websites, they'll have case studies of like success stories of like what they've done for their clients. So personally like at the church I go to at Saddleback Church, like just in our veterans ministry, insane stories of guys who've like been lost in drugs, been lost in alcohol, lost their, we didn't even get into the family unit of these veterans, high divorce rate, things like that. A lot of alcoholism, very promoted.

Starting point is 01:12:39 The stories that I hear though, Sam, I've seen the case studies right in front of my eyes, even in my own life, being on the brink of divorce, being an alcoholic, having that spiritual light, having that higher power, having saying, you know, Lord, take over my body, use me in some way, relieve me. The power of prayer is huge. If you're asking what you can do, Sam, pray for our veterans, pray that these guys have awareness. And for those those those those those those those those those those those those those those the veterans the veterans the veterans the veterans the veterans the veterans the veterans the veterans the veterans the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the power the power the power the power the power the power to the power, the power, the power, the power, the power, the power, the power, the power, the power, the power, the power, the power. the power, the power, the power. the power, the power, the power. the power, tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. th. the power. the the the tha. tha. tha. tha. I, thii. Ia. Ia. Ia. Ia. ta. ta. tea. Wea.a. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. Ia. Ia. Ia. I veterans. Pray that these guys have awareness. And for those veterans, you see an opportunity. Please reach out to guys. You're really a makeup of who you hang out with. Start hanging out with successful veterans, guys that have what you want,

Starting point is 01:13:18 and then you'll see how your life dramatically changes. So it's DAV.org. That's DAV.org I'm looking at the website right now. If you're a vet and you need help get help man don't you know I mean that's a big way I've been ending my shows lately is just like reach out man it's time to reach out to call somebody help somebody that's how we do it around here. guys I'm very thankful you came on, had a great conversation. I've always wanted to do an episode on this.

Starting point is 01:13:48 So I am honored and privileged. I will make sure I get any links you guys want to promote to your book, to your website, and we will make it to your podcast, we'll make that happen. Guys, I hope you're doing well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well you're doing well. Like I said, this Friday, the 500th episode tickets go on sale in Vegas. September 16th, I might be doing something interesting on the 15th as well. Can't confirm that until everything is moved to where it is. That is Friday, tickets go on sale.

Starting point is 01:14:20 We're working on some hotel stuff for everybody as well. If we know a bunch of people are coming into town, we're going to do it. Like I said, I have a bunch of small show dates coming up to work on new material. If you're in the area, I'd love to see you. Thank you guys, thank you guys. Thank you guys. I'll see you guys when I'll see you guys when I'm back. I'm going home for my 30th reunion. I am old and we will do it again soon. Wake up, Aaron. This is only the beginning.

Starting point is 01:15:08 Dude, you just blew my mind. Tim foil hack.

Tin Foil Hat With Sam Tripoli - #482: 22 Veterans A Day With Cris Pacheco and Robert Graves

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