Unsubscribe Podcast - I Received The Medal Of Honor But I Felt Like A Failure | Unsubscribe Podcast 248

Episode Date: January 25, 2026

Medal Of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer is here to tell his story, and of course Brandon is subjected to more forced valor. Watch this episode ad-free and uncensored on Pepperbox! https://www.pepperbox.tv/ WATCH THE AFTERSHOW & BTS ON PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/UnsubscribePodcast 👕 Merch & Shoes https://bunkerbranding.com/pages/unsubscribe-podcast 🔋 Energy Drinks https://drinkechelon.com P.O BOX: Unsubscribe Podcast 17503 La Cantera Pkwy Ste 104 Box 624 San Antonio TX 78257 ------------------------------ THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! AG1 Go to https://drinkag1.com/UNSUBSCRIBE to get a FREE AG1 Flavor Sampler and AGZ Sampler, plus FREE Vitamin D3+K2 and AG1 Welcome Kit with your first AG1 subscription order. SHOPIFY Sign up for your $1/month trial and start selling today at https://shopify.com/unsubpod. TRUE CLASSIC Upgrade your wardrobe and save on @trueclassic at https://trueclassic.com/unsub ! #trueclassicpod STOPBOX Get 10% off at StopBoxUSA with code UNSUBSCRIBE at https://www.stopboxusa.com/UNSUBSCRIBE #stopboxpod FABLETICS Get 80% off everything at Fabletics when you sign up as a VIP at http://fabletics.com/UNSUB and select UNSUB when prompted. ------------------------------ FOLLOW OUR SOCIALS! Unsubscribe Podcast https://www.instagram.com/unsubscribepodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@unsubscribepodcast https://x.com/unsubscribecast Eli Doubletap https://www.instagram.com/eli_doubletap/ https://x.com/Eli_Doubletap https://www.youtube.com/c/EliDoubletap Brandon Herrera https://www.youtube.com/@BrandonHerrera https://x.com/TheAKGuy https://www.instagram.com/realbrandonherrera Donut Operator https://www.youtube.com/@DonutOperator https://x.com/DonutOperator https://www.instagram.com/donutoperator The Fat Electrician https://www.youtube.com/@the_fat_electrician https://thefatelectrician.com/ https://www.instagram.com/the_fat_electrician https://www.tiktok.com/@the_fat_electrician ------------------------------ unsubscribe pod podcast episode ep unsub funny comedy military army comedian texas podcasts #podcast #comedy #funnypodcast Chapters 0:00 Welcome To Unsub! 2:22 Why Dakota Reenlisted 14:35 General Randy George & Good Leadership 21:13 Why Dakota Joined The Marine Corps 26:48 Deploying To Iraq 44:31 Mental Health 1:03:20 Does Voting Still Work? 1:18:45 Venezuela & Maduro Capture 1:35:15 North Korea 1:38:00 Trolling Brandon Again 1:46:28 Dakota’s Medal Of Honor Story 2:40:45 Support Dakota! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I got a Medal of Honor, but it doesn't mean that I didn't fail that day. It's the biggest failure in my life. Is there a Medal of Honor Group chat? No, but there's a society. Brandon's in the honorary Medal of Honor Society. No, they literally goon till they died. Oh! This guy is posing as a Medal of Honor recipient.

He is a fake. He's flying over here. I know, that's my line. Are you where to come? Yeah. Say hi to Eli. He's racially ambiguous. Brandon, his hair is fucking fabulous.

Dona, a dark joke disposition, and there's a fat electrician. Welcome to unsubscribe. Snap. Snap crackle. Okay. You ready to count down, get this going? Beautiful.

Ready? We crack it at three. On the count of three, you're just going to open it. Three, two, one. That's interesting. Hi, everyone. Welcome to the unsuscribed podcast. I'm joined today by Eli Double Tap.

Dakota Meyer, Brandon Herrera and myself Donut Operator. Thank you all so much for being here. What's up, everyone? Good to see you. Good to see you, brother. It's been a while. Yeah, it has.

Yeah, glad to be here, man. Oh, dude, and we got two Medal of Honor recipients. Oh, fuck off. We didn't make it like 10 seconds in. There were pictures of you receiving the metal of you. All of which are authentic. I believe. Thank you, thank you for your service. My goal is to have every metal owner

recipient say that too. This is where we get up and just like, Braden gets up to what you said. Yeah, I noticed it when I walked in. It's actually in there on the ride. I forgot about that. I didn't know I was in a fellow recipient's presents. Presents.

You know, I got nothing. We just thank him. Yeah. And that's all you can. That was very funny with Clint, just walking in and hucking it at my neck. Oh, man. It's a good time. Dude, welcome, welcome the show.

I know we've been, I've known you for, a long time. Yeah. Yeah. A long time. Where'd you guys meet? Grindr. Yeah. I think it was a shot show when you're.

Yeah. Yellow Mustang. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was a shot show like back in, gosh, 2000. 14, 2015 time frame.

Baby shot show. You are in the best shape you have ever been in. You were a little chunkier during that time frame. Yeah, yeah, I was definitely, I was definitely on a carb-heavy diet. Yeah. You got a locked in. That's what I was like, damn, DeCote's looking good. Yeah, no, I, yeah, I mean, it's amazing, like, what you, you know,

when you have to meet those standards again, how quick you'll get back in shape. So, dude, I've, man, I'm excited for this one because that is one of the questions, rejoining. How many years were you out at that point? Yeah, I was out for 15 years. Oh, wow. Yeah. So I got out in 2010, came back from Afghanistan, got out 2010, and then I re-enlisted in 2025, April of 2025.

Oh, I completely forgot you re-enlisted. I read that when you, like, right around that time, you mentioned it. Oh, that's funny as shit. Yeah. It's like, that boy ain't ever getting in trouble. Well, you know, it's kind of interesting. You know, I took, you know, how in internet fashion, you know, everybody's like, oh, he's just joining to, you know, to help recruitment. And he's just going to, you know, go back and skirt.

And so, like, I actually went back in and I did a lap move. So I'm actually going through the recon pipeline. So I started BRC. I did RTAP and BRC over the summer this year. And then I go back. Actually, I check in on Monday. and I go back into S-O-I-West. I'll check back into my barracks room,

and I will be there until April 3rd to finish up the two phases, amphib. I've got amphib phase and patrol phase left. And then I graduate on April 3rd, and I have orders checking into Sears School on April 5th. No shit. And then I go to Sears School to the 17th, and then I check in, I'm going to go to Jump School on the 20th, yeah.

And then I got dive school left, yeah. And you were 37, too. It was wild. Also, no instructor is going to do. Like, everyone do push it. Dakota? No. Hey, come on, guy.

I'll do push us for you. No, you know, like, they've been, they've been like, terrified. They've been like, well, they've been like real, I mean, they've been real respectful. I mean, but, but I mean, I'm still getting, I'm still getting, I'm still getting beat up like everybody else. You know, I'm out there just sometimes questioning my decisions. There's been many moments that I've learned a lot about myself, you know. And, you know, these kids, like, you know, I'm going through there. the average age of the guys going through this school is,

is like 18, 19 years old, right? Their entry level, they're letting me know that I'm older than their mom. Oh, man. Yeah, so it's, you know, look up? Yeah, get him back when what's her number. Well, no, no, no, no. This is what I say back to him. I was like, show me a picture.

Yeah. Show me a picture. And, you know, so, yeah, they don't, there's no more, there's no more jokes after that, you know. You're older than my mom. What you just told me is your mom is younger than me. Yeah. and it's like, you know, maybe you could be mine.

She's going to be at graduation. Yeah, she is. Show me a picture. Let me see if you could have been mine. That's wild. So if anyone rewind to even what you joined at what year? 2020. So originally.

Join, join, join. Oh, so 2006. Like most of the kids in my, in the school with me were, were born when I was in Iraq. Oh, wow. Yeah. Like to put that in perspective, like most of them were born

around the time I was in Iraq. That's kind of wild to think about it. Oh, it's nuts. But I mean, these kids are, these kids are so incredible. Like when I hear people talk about like the next generation and like the generation of service members,

like these kids could run, I'm telling you right now, I truly believe with every moral fiber of my being, if you took my generation of someone, service members and put them on the battlefield against this generation of service members, they would wipe us off the map in 24 hours. No shit.

Hands down. Hands down. What do you attribute that to? Well, I attribute it to, you know, I think when we look at this perspective of, you know, we're getting these arguments about who's better, who's not, who's, what generation's the best. I think there's only two factors that you can look at it with is, and that's, that is lethality, right? Or just really the single factor is lethality.

And so I think, yeah, you have to add in that they do now have, like, technology and those aspects of it. But, I mean, you know, we get in these dumb arguments. I hear my generation talking about, well, these kids don't even know how to sight in with iron sights. Well, I mean, I didn't know how to saddle a horse in case my home B broke down either. You know what I'm saying? So, like, where does it stop? And so, like, but you look at these kids and, like, I would argue that they believe in their cause more than we did, right? Like, as soon as you took away from my generation, as soon as you took away war and you took away

combat, what did they do? They got out. Right? Like, I joined to go fight. You told me you're going pay me to go fight and I could like these cool posters. I mean, like, let's call it what it was. And then as soon as you took that away from me, I'm like, yeah, right, I'm out, right? And so, you know, these kids are joining today. They're not joining, none of them have to join to go to college. Like, college is not even honestly a relevant, real, a relevant benefit to this generation, right? I mean, they're not joining because it's the only way out of their community or their, you know, social or, you know, their aspect of what they grew up in, like they know how to get out. They've got all this information.

They're only joining because they don't want to be part of societal norms. They want to earn what they've got, right? Society is actually driving these kids to us and self-identifying them by saying, everybody gets a participation trophy, and these kids are coming because they want to earn what they get, right? They want a result-based organization that they can be part of. And so I think that that's it, right? And I think that if you truly, if you wanted to, you know, if we all wanted to admit it that, you know, if we put them on the battlefield against us today, they'd wipe itself off the map 24 hours.

And now, look, I think if we took them out back and we took everything away and we fist fought them, I think we'd still beat their asses, right? But that's just not the reality of how we're going to fight the next war, right? And so I think we should be happy that these kids are the way they are. I mean, I watch these kids. Are they us? No, but let me tell you something. They're smarter than us. They are more in tune than we were.

Like, I'll give you an example in the school. You know, when I went to sniper school in 2007, I mean, we were drinking every day. I mean, like, as soon as we got off work, like we're going to the bars. You know, this generation, they're getting off work. And then they're like, I'm like, hey, what are you all doing tonight?

Oh, we're going to do an ice bath and we're going to roll out. And I'm like, what? It's an 81% drop in alcohol. haul consumption with this new generation. It's fucking math. Like they don't drink anymore. Hey, so let me give you, and I brought this up to, we were talking about, you know, in some of these aspects of problems with drinking in this, you know, this mental health

issue we have. So you're right. So 81 or whatever the percentage is, I'll just say this, the majority of kids that are joining the Marine Corps don't drink or joining the military, don't drink. But then there's a drinking issue at some point. So at some point our culture is now making us worse. You see what I'm saying? So like when our culture is a drinking culture,

now you're, you know what I mean? Now you're taking people who don't, who didn't normally do that. And now you're indoctrinating them into a culture that's now not serving us. Right. So they didn't drink before,

but now they, yeah. Yeah, and now they're drinking. Because it's a cool guy thing. And then, and it's a, an aspect that we don't talk about enough is, is like, you know,

we are not emotionally, like we do really good in the military of physically and mentally like building people up. We do a terrible job at the single factor that you can't avoid and that's the emotional maturing of people. And that's why I see, I think you see a lot of veterans who struggle because they have no idea how to deal with these emotions and eventually they just build up like a pressure cooker and they have no idea how to handle them because we don't, you know, we've acted like they don't exist. And it's like, well, it's a reality that they do exist. And you better figure out how to, you know, cultivate those to where they handle it.

So I'd say these kids, I'll be honest with you, these kids, they ask questions that like, I'm sitting in this classroom, you know, a lot of the school's classroom. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, these kids will ask a question. I'm like, damn, I never even crossed my mind. You know what I mean? They're like, do you think we could? Why don't we do it this way? Does that not make more sense?

And I'm like, gosh, that does make more sense. You know what I mean? But it's the military, it's like, no, that's too easy. We got to calculate this. I was just going to ask what the response is from leadership when they propose stuff like that that does make sense. Is it immediately just, no, this is the book? No, I mean, I think that they're making it better. I think the only time you see leaders do that stuff is when they're weak leaders.

Right. I don't think we have a generational problem. I don't think we have a generational problem in this country. I don't think we have a generational problem. And in the military, I think we have a leadership problem that's failing a generation. I mean, I saw something really interesting. There was a sad guy on Sean. It was a little clip I came across the other day.

And they were talking about the younger generation, exactly what you're saying. They were doing a ground nap course. And one of the students was like, well, why do we need this? Like not in a negative manner. He's just like, why do we need this if we have GPS? And they're like, look, what if there's a blocker? You don't have GPS. And the kid was receptive at that.

I was like, that makes sense. But like some of the cadre was getting ready to tear into his ass. Like, why do we need this? But like a couple of them were like receptive to his, to what he was saying. And they were like, well, you know, if they jam this, this and like laid out of like tons of reasons why you need to like know how to have a map and a compass. And the kid was like, oh shit, that does make a lot of sense. So he wasn't looking to fight.

He was just curious. Yeah, he wasn't looking to fight. But some of the, some of the cadre were just like, you know, about to tear into it. It was like, why are you questioning us? And like a couple of the cadre were like, oh, well, this, this, this is why you need this. And they were like, oh, shit. Okay. And then like this kid, I think they said he passed like super high in his class on ground nav.

Yeah. And that's the thing like, you know, when you look at all this, you know, you get, and I don't know where this came from. I think it comes from a lack of knowing why, right? And so I think that like leaders get in these positions. And I think a few of the most, I think the why question is a very powerful diagnostic tool, right? and it's an opportunity to create buy-in, right? So think about this.

If a kid asks you why, A, it shows he cares or they care. And then B, it gives you a chance to answer that why to, and then to sell and create buy-in on why that is important, right? Instead of them just doing it because they don't know, now they understand why it matters. So then now that they're going to be able to articulate. And this generation really needs that because they are so smart and they are so efficient at what they do that they want to, they have to understand why in order to perform it at the way that they want to perform it

and to make it make sense in their process of how they do things. You know, we just did things. Like, we just did whatever we were told. I mean, if you told us to stand outside in the rain, we would stand there until somebody told us different, right? And so, like, which there is a powerful piece of that. But I also think that, like, when every time you answer that question, why you're creating buy-in and I think you're building what I call leadership equity so that when you do tell

them that you just have to do this, they're going to do it, right? Eventually, when you make sense to them so often of why it does, needs to be done that way, eventually they're going to stop asking why, and they're just going to do what you say. But you also have to understand this is a generation that grew up in misinformation. They have to question why. Like, we didn't have to necessarily question it. We probably should have a little bit, but, you know, we didn't have to as much as this generation. This generation, they don't even know what photos are real. Yeah, true. I was nuts these days, man. I mean, it's nuts, right? And so, like, if they don't ask why, I mean, the why question for them is literally a survival tool for them to get it right. And then it's good the leadership's

not jumping down their throats for questioning it. Because that used to be that past. It's like, I mean, you know, you shut the fuck up. You just listen and be like, we're doing that. Yeah. He said jump. I could just got to jump that high. That's it. I'm going to do that every single time because the one individual that asks why they get the shit smoke down. out of them for like three hours and be like, huh, that's why I don't ask questions. What's this green shit, Eli? If I could read, I would be able to tell you. Ag 1.

I took that class in high school. Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't take corn 3. Boom, we're talking about AG1. Or as Nick says, Ag 1. Is it a multivitamin that combines your pre and probiotics? Superfoods and antioxidants into one simple scoop. Not amateur biotics, probiotics. Them kids are dirty.

Dude. The kids are running around with their little counterparts. They're touching hands with each other. They're getting dirty, so it's better to boost your immune system. With AG1. AG1. Ah, yummy! You drank all that?

Yeah. All right. Heading into the holidays, it can be hard to maintain a balanced diet and give your body the nutrients it needs, which is why A1 comes in. AG1. A tomato, tomato. Them kids is dirty. Age 1 is one of the easiest daily health habits you can start.

What a great New Year's resolution, Eli. Brandon, what are yours other than taking Ag 1? Well, if you take out Ag 1, that's all of my New Year's resolutions. That's all I want to do is I want to drink more of it. They come in little packs or travel packs. Show them the travel pack. Hot dog style pack as opposed to the hamburger style pack. Yeah, we use this for the live shows because when we are on the road or touring,

hot dog or hamburger is very nice to carry around. Also, AG1 comes in multiple flavors. We have original grass, citrus, berry, and tropical. And right now, AG1 has their best offer ever. If you head on over to drinkag1.com slash unsubscribe, what do you get, Eli? Well, you'll get the welcome kit. Three free AG1 travel packs and three free AGZ travel packs. A bottle of vitamin D3 plus K2, an AG1 flavor sampler.

And you'll get to try their new sleep product, AGZ. We're drinking it at night. That's drinkag1.com slash unsubscribe for $126 in free gifts for new subscribers. Yeah. And I always go back to this why thing and why one of the reasons I'm so, such an advocate of it is like I got a medal of honor because leadership didn't want to listen to what I had to say, right? I mean, I got a medal of honor.

I got guys who are dead because guys couldn't answer why and what we're doing and why we're doing it this way, right? Instead of answering why they took me out of the team, they set me there and they let my team walk into an ambush and they got killed for the same reasons that I asked why, right? And so, like, I'm a big proponent of it just because, like, I've seen the cost of that. And I think that any leader that feels that they don't owe the people that they're responsible for, a explanation to a question that they have is a leader that shouldn't be in that position anyways. And that's, I think that situation unfortunately happens a lot you look at even

Romichet's that battle it was in like everyone asks why the fuck are we in a fishbowl you're asking like hey patrol or hey X Y and C what the fuck are we doing well homie why are you asking questions it's like this this is really stupid what and it's just either somebody trying to get a metal yeah or it's oh well we need to do this and it doesn't matter how high you are because general George

he was the one that said the fish bowl was a stupid idea. He fought against that, and nope, he wasn't high enough yet. So you know General George was, he was Colonel George. Yep, during my battle. Oh, see, I didn't even know that. So he was actually, he was gone that day. He was actually, he had actually gone home or something. He was thinking he's on R&R or something on leave that day,

and that's why that major was in charge of the battle. space at that point. I don't know, maybe he's something, Lieutenant Colonel, but anyways, he was in that area. He was, he was in charge of the area that I was in, and so I knew him very well. He's actually, him and his Sergeant Major are the ones that actually put me in for the Medal of Honor. Oh, no shit.

Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah. General George is such like, Randy is one of the best. Dude, like, we, it's a very down to earth, dude. Yeah. And I do believe, like, I mean, obviously, like, we're talking, this is a big statement. So, like, hypotheticals and all this, right? I do believe,

I don't believe that it would have went down that day if Randy George had been standing on the base. I do believe that he would have unleashed all hell if he had been there that day. It's crazy hearing two different stories, and it's just positivity about General George, Randy, doing that. He truly cares about the soldiers. His guy's the most important thing, and he fights for him. Like everyone says that too, which is awesome. I mean, it's awesome to see a leader now in that, like at the top position. And he still has that mindset.

He just wants efficiency. Efficiency. And the biggest thing listening to him speak, the thing he continuously brings up is feedback from the guys. And the fact that he takes that very seriously. It's very cool. Yeah. And, yeah, I mean, you're talking about a guy who, I mean, I haven't, I mean, I've seen him while he's up there. But, I mean, like, I was with him in 2009.

We're talking about 2009, Randy George, right? And so, like, you know, I, he gave that off to me. I wasn't even in the Army. I mean, I was a Marine who was operating in his battle space. And, you know, and he, yeah, I mean, I still believe that with every moral fiber of my being, that if Randy George had been standing on base, making those decisions that day, that it would have never lasted, it would have never got to the point that it was at. That's wild.

He's such a, I will say, just a real quick, funny one when he's seen Brand. in the night at the Christmas party. They invited us to the Christmas party with all the chain of command. And we walk in and he's everyone's surrounding and he looks at it. He's like, oh, trouble's here. Him and wine running.

As he's entertaining like foreign dignitaries and things like that. He just comes up and he's like, oh, how do you guys do it all? That's kind of guy he is. You know, and that's not a play either. No. Like that's authentic, right?

Like he, you know, he's a kind of guy that gives you hope of like, you know, you see guys like that get to where they're at, like, you do know that good, that good people can still get up in leadership positions, you know what I mean? And like, and still doing what's right can still get you there. You know, I think all leaders should look around and see, you know, where his loyalty lies. You know, because I've always felt like with him, he never looked at it as if he was in charge of people. He looked at it as that he was responsible for people. He's very well respected. Everyone under him.

It's just awesome to see leadership like that. And then, and Sergeant Major Weimer, like, just he wants war fighters. And he is, that's all he wants. He's like, this is what we need and we need to get there. Yeah, and you know, he had a Sergeant Major over there at that time, too. His name was Sergeant Major Carabello, and he was a hammer. I mean, like, you know what I mean? So, like, you know, that, that, he was a hammer.

He had his guys, like, put, I've seen the Army there walking around with, you know, I mean, like, you're, none of us, there is, first off, there is no desert or jungle. like where we were at, you know, but he had them running around with, they put that netting. Yeah. On their helmets. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Like they cut it out and they had it like all zip tied to it. And I'm like, yeah, this is a badass. You know, like, out in the fucking out. Yeah, we're in Afghanistan, right? I mean, but like, but it was just like, they were just, you know, it's just a statement. There's just a statement, you know. Sarm major doing a Sarmor major shit.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The guys would get so pissed off about it. They'd be like, oh, you know, his name is Jim Carabello, right? And so, like, they call it Uncle Jimmy hair. You know, like, I got my Uncle Jimmy hair on my shit.

You know what I mean? But it was, you know, looking back, it was pretty badass, you know? Here, we're taking one for Randy real quick. Okay. Oh, nice. Get in here, guys. Go, get in here. Scooch.

There you go. I got a scoge. Ah, what? Photo. Photo. There we got. Oh, man doesn't know how to work yourself. I figured I know we could trust the Asian to take a photo.

Oh, my God. So hot. Oh. Okay, photo looks so good. Okay. Mr. George, your photo. That's funny. I don't think I've talked to anybody about Randy that had a negative word to say.

Yeah. Just universally beloved guy. Yeah, he's just so authentic, you know, and like he's just, I mean, you could just tell like he, you know, his priorities are in the right place. Okay. So now, you joined in 2006. And then what got you, what was your mindset going in? What made you want to join? Were you just like, hey, I want to

to jump out of planes, I want to get in gunfights? I really, I really didn't know anything about the Marine Corps. Like, honestly, like, I was walking through this lunchroom one time. And, you know, I grew up in a small town where I think we might have had 100 to 150 people, like, in my graduating class. And then it was just one of those towns that, like, you either went to college or you, you know, you went to work on the farm or you got a job. And, you know, that was kind of,

it you really didn't know there really wasn't like a huge plan you know i mean you didn't really know much outside of it so um i was going to go to college i was going to i was going to go to school i mean there's no chance i would have ever made it but um i was going to go at least until my dad ran out of money right so uh or got tired of paying for it um so you know and i could give a story like maybe i was going to play football or something not who knows right probably not um and i was walking through the the lunchroom one day and there was a Marine recruiter there and he just I started talking to him and he's I kind of like made a smart remark to him and he said yeah that that's good like I wouldn't um that you should go to college because you'd never make it as a Marine anyways and like I just I think that's

what the Marine Corps does the best is like they know how to talk talk to their people you know and you got to understand that the Marine Corps is the smallest branch so it's like they have a very niche that you know, they can talk. Like, they don't have so many demographics they have to cover, you know? So I walked off and it just pissed me off. And so I came back and I said, I'll join today. And so we went and signed the papers. He told me, I'll never forget, he told me that he's like, man, you're smart.

So, like, we have like a perfect position for you. Like, I don't have any more of these spots open, but I'm only going to make an exception for you. And I'm like, gosh, what a great guy. Infantry. And he said infantry. Yeah. And, uh, that was a joke.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know, he said infantry. Recruiters don't lie. Yeah, you know, and so I signed up for infantry. You know, I went, I went to Paris Island and then, you know, went to, I was stationed in Hawaii. And I'll never forget, I've seen these guys running around.

And I was like, who are they? Like, they just gave off a different presence, right? And so they were the sniper platoon. They were the, you know, the snipers on, you know, there was, I think there were weapons at that time. but anyways, I was like, I want to, I want to be them. Like, they are, like, they knew their stuff. I remember a guy talked to me about something and like, I was like, holy shit. Like, they really know what they're doing, you know?

And so I, they had an end doc. They needed, they were just going to have security guys. And so, like, they came out with this end doc and I went out for it and made it. And so you weren't even supposed to be going to like a school or anything until after this deployment in Iraq. And, and, um, I was, you know, just doing my thing. and I made it into the platoon. And then right before we were about to go on pre-deployment leave,

they said that they had a spot open up at sniper school. And I was just so lucky that I was the only one that had all the prerequisites to go. And they're like, you can either go to sniper school or you can go on pre-deployment leave. It's up to you. And I'm like, I'm going to, I'm going to sniper school. And so I went to sniper school, graduated the first time through, and then, you know, turn on deployed direct. What is pre-deployment leave?

We didn't get this. That's why I'm like, what the fuck? And we did this 15-month deployment, but I've never had. Yeah. That's what I'm like, what, you got like two weeks or a week? Yeah, something like that. Like what they usually tried to do was is like after you did your like final, your final workup, like, you know, like after you went to 29 palms, usually came back and they would try to give you like a couple weeks to either get your stuff together, go home to your family, something like that. Okay. Okay. So, okay. I was like, because ours was December and then July, you had your only times you could take leave. And we deployed in April, I think. And there was train up and then you're gone. We skipped NTC though. Like it was that you're spinning up and you're just getting out of here.

Yeah. So we, yeah, we weren't. We did that. And then, you know, we don't, I didn't. How long was the school? 12 weeks. Damn. Yeah. Yeah. So it was 12 weeks. and then graduated that and then left for Iraq, Fallujah. Was your team already out there when you guys landed, or are you all still deployed together? Yeah, we all still went together, right? So, like, they went home on pre-deployment leave, and then they were, like, getting everything ready, and then I was still able to make the deployment.

So, like, I literally graduated sniper school, and I think I left, like, 10 to 15 days later. Oh, okay. Yeah. We had individuals that were in Ranger's school, and I want to say it was just a couple in Ranger school, but we deployed and then they showed up 60 days into the deployment because they were finishing up ranger school and then putting the weight back on but yeah that's what i was wondering what how they did that with you yeah no we we all like it was like just like a perfect timing piece i mean i got i got lucky like everything i've done is just pure by pure luck right place the right time that's it how was

uh iraq was that completely different than the afghanistan side because you were still it was 2007 2007 yeah it was popping up well I mean you know like we thought we were going into it right and like we were you know we're reading you know hearing about everything that's going on over there before we got there and I you know

I it wasn't really it really wasn't there wouldn't have time going on you know I was up in a place called karma and to be fair like I was only there for like 50 60 days right and I got sent back home because I got a I got bid on my hand we were in a dwellop

on a on a then we we left off that dwell up into a mission and I got bit on my hand by spider and um you know we were like oh it's all right it's no big deal I stayed there and then next thing you know like it

like my fingers started splitting down the sides and like it swole up so big and so it got back and they took me into flusia surgical immediately and like be you man put me under I don't know I don't know but like put me under and like they did like they drained it out

like you can see the scar still but oh shit Yeah, and so, like, they drained it out, and then they, like, shoved this stuff into it, like, to, like, a packet, I guess. And I'm like, oh, it'd be fine. And then, um. In the desert, you know, super clean. Yeah. Definitely not going to get infected.

It'll be fine. And I will say this, like, we're dirty fucks too. The one thing I do remember, and I will tell you is, I don't know, have you all had surgeries, like some type of surgery where you've been under anesthesia? No. No. We were just talking about anesthesia yesterday, literally. Yeah. So what I will tell you is, it's like, I think it's a little bit different when they do it and you're in a combat zone.

So, like, I just want to say that, like, I do remember my nurse when I came out of that first surgery that, like, they had to give me morphine because I freaked out. Like, I was looking for my gun and things like that. You know, I mean, you're in a combat zone and then, you know, your mindset is in a certain place. And then they're, you know, they're going to knock you out and you wake up in another room. It's like, yeah, so, um, you're just throwing people around. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like, oh, yeah, it was, it was, I remember that first wake up was not, was not good. Do you remember it like vividly?

Oh, yeah, yeah, because I remember I got scared because I think they, they, they hit me with morphine and then there was some, it was, it was, it was, it was a weird ordeal, but like, I remember that morphine hit me. I'd never had it before. And I just remember, like, wondering if I was going to breathe or not, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, so I do remember that vivid, that vivid now he's angry and high. Yeah. And he can't feel pain. She's gone. Yeah.

And so then I thought I was going to be fine. And then like I actually lost feeling in my last three fingers. And so I stayed there for probably another couple weeks and then I went back again. They did another surgery.

And then they flew me to TQ, maybe TQ or Al-Sat. I don't know, one of the two. Anyways, the one with the pull on it, one of them had a pool. There was Bala.

I mean, there was a few that had the, so you're lucky if you were on the Air Force people. I'd be like, you got two movie theaters? Well, so that was the moment that I realized that all deployments weren't the same. You know what I mean? That was when I realized that like, just because you deployed doesn't mean that like you deployed, right? You're like, all I got was a crusty playboy. Yeah, they're like living.

I mean, yeah, it was, yeah. So. You lived out in sector, though, then. didn't you? Yeah, I mean, yeah. Yep. I think through all of our years in business on the internet, we've all used Shopify. I've used it for merch and my skate shop and a couple other businesses. I will actually agree 100% on that.

Everything we do is run through Shopify. Even bunkers run through Shopify. Our shoes, which is a separate company, is run through Shopify and they talk together because of Shopify. Shopify runs the world. Did you know Shopify will actually help you design a website also, Cody? I know I didn't know about starting an online. online store when I started my career online. Shopify just made it super, super easy for my dumb

and bring new weapons and people haven't heard about my brand, no. That's actually easy, Eli. Shopify helps you find your customers with easy to use email and social media campaigns. Step Cody, what I doze if I get stuck? Shopify is always around to share advice with their award-winning 24-7 customer service. Step support, bro, you got my back. And your front. Shopify helps millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. From household names like Mattel or Jim Shark to new brands just getting started. On some shoes. Unsubmerch. Bunker.

No shit. We've all been doing this for over a decade. Shopify's the easiest e-commerce platform we've ever used. I think every single one of us has used Shopify at one point. I think all our businesses right now are using Shopify. No, except mine, but that's because it's guns. Can't do that. Just one of them can't.

Turn those dreams into SFX. Chaching. Shopify new cell sound. And give them the best. shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash unsubbopod. Shopify.com slash unsubbod. So I came back, I ended up coming back.

I was in Lundstall for like 30 days, maybe 20, 30 days. And then I came back to the state side and then just like occupational therapy. And I thought I was going to get, I thought I was getting discharged. You know, like I thought I was going to get discharged out of the Marine Corps. Because I was like, you know, if you couldn't pass, like if you didn't get your movement back. So I was in occupational therapy and all. this for probably three or four months. That's crazy from a spider bite. Yeah, from a spider bite. Like, I thought I was done. And then I finally, like, I don't know, I finally, I guess I got it back and then,

like, started healing and then, you know, my unit returned. And so that was kind of my Iraq deployment, you know. How did you feel on that? And did your buddies that you deployed with, did they look at you different? And did you have any feeling because you felt like you were missed out on it? No, I mean, no, they, no, because they knew the type of guy was. Like, they knew that, like, I was this I was more pissed than anything else, you know. And I'll be honest, at that time,

um, they, they, they started taking, like, our ability to go operate away, right? Like,

at that time, like, you know, commanders didn't want to take risk. So, like, you were having to literally do a 32 point PowerPoint to try to sell

you going on missions. You know what I mean? And so it was, it was really like, it was, 2009, or 2007, 2007, 2008,

you know, we were part of that surge that President Bush sent over, right? And so, yeah, and, you know, it was different for everybody, but, you know, for us, like, it really wasn't, you know, it was nothing crazy, so. It's wild hearing that because that's when the guys went back in 2010 to Iraq, it was having to do PowerPoints, or they got shot at a single time in return firing his paper, and it was paper, where it, how much rounds were spent, versus when they would pull up to our cop and they just throw us AT-For's guns. but and it's like okay cool it weighs less when we shoot it so yeah but you know the the the one thing that I've seen though is the reality of you know you can kind of make anything look anyway right and so like if I want to make it look like there's you know we're done here well I just don't let you go to places where there's bad guys because then there's no firefights you know what I mean like It wasn't because there, it wasn't because there was a lack of opportunity.

It was just controlling the narrative. Opportunity is an interesting word. Yeah, it wasn't, you know, it wasn't because of that. It was just, you know, and maybe I don't know. I mean, look, I don't know. I mean, I'm sure the, you know, the mission switched, you know, the, you know, it is all changing. And so. Well, sometimes it probably happened too, or you've seen it where some battle spaces, like,

no one's been there for a while. So then they just wouldn't go into it because then it's like, ah, there's IDs. Dee Barry's insurgents hang out there. Like the breadbasket was for us, and they just wanted to send troops. And until we showed up, then it's like the big that pushed through the bread basket at the end of deployment.

But we got to switch with the company that took, or the battalion that was taken over, brigade that was taking over. So that's how I'm wondering if they did that with you guys. It's like, ah, that space, we haven't been there in a while. Let's not worry about it. Yeah, the parameters were for sure different, right? I mean, like, you know,

we were still doing well, And I mean, we got like hammered by mortars on this dwellop. I mean, it was, I mean, it wasn't because they're like the bad guys were gone. You know, it was just that I think that, I mean, if you don't get in their way, you know, they are those, majority of those guys, like, as long as you didn't get in their way, you didn't disrupt their freedom of movement, like they were just trying to do their thing, you know? And so it was, it was an interesting, it was an interesting piece, right, in 2000s. For me, you know, I mean, I know there was a ton of combat still going on.

that in Iraq, but, you know, it was just for all, for, for me on that deployment, and obviously I wasn't there very long, but it was, and none of the guys, majority of our unit, you know, we didn't, it wasn't really a terrible, a bad deployment, yeah. You'd have like maybe a handful, even a gunfight's rare being deployed, even during the surge, you're finding out units or like complete the Talons Brigades that just never got in a firefighter or one or two. Yeah, and that's, and that's what like a lot of people don't understand, right is like it's a I believe that you know when you look at in the ratio of deployments of people that deploy it's a very small number of people who actually fight yeah I don't know I'm not

getting in numbers of this because I know that you know all the keyboard warriors out there that that are getting their combat action ribbons on you know you know they got it off you know it's it's like the reality of it is is is and it's not and it's I want to say it's it's it's not their fault, right? It's not their fault. It's just by the luck of the draw. Right. Like, it's just a luck of the draw. It's like, it's not their, it's not that they didn't want to fight or they weren't capable or they weren't willing to. It's just, it's all the luck of the draw. And so, you know, it's just, but understand this, that not all deployments are the same and not, the majority of people didn't go over there and get in a ton. And I know that, like, the audience

is going to be like, oh, you know, he's a, he's better than everybody else because he's, in combat, whatever they want to get on. It's like, no, I'm not, but also I'm also truthful and honest. So like, you know, yeah. Well, and that's what I always say is like when I hear people talk about combat and they talk about it in this like romanticized way. Glorifying it. You know, I got to be honest.

I always, for a long time, I looked forward to getting shot at, right? I mean, that's what we're taught. I mean, that's, you train for it. Mm-hmm. But I got to be honest with you. every time I started getting shot at and it was real. Like, hold on, there's a difference between getting shot at and you know a guy knows where you're at and is aiming at you.

Like, there's a big difference. And every time it got real, I would have gave anything to not been getting shot at. That seems like a very fair opinion. You know what I mean? It sucks. I fucking, that's what I always say. It's like, oh, I was like, oh, you were smart.

You didn't join. Oh, you got, oh, God, you got lucky. I wish I had that deployment. didn't get shot at because it sounds cool. Combat sounds cool. Everything sounds amazing. War sounds amazing until you get shot at the first time. And you're like, oh, that's a game changer.

That's so I could have died. Yeah. And you know the other thing I want to talk about is like if war was so fun, if it was so awesome and fun like people try to make it out to be, we wouldn't have so many people themselves and PTSD over it. How many people kill themselves because they go to like Disney World? when they're kids. Yeah, not many, right?

So all I'm going to say is, is like if war was such a great experience, you wouldn't be living the rest of your life having nightmares about it. That's a good way to put it. I mean, I'm just saying, right? I mean, like, if we're just going to call it what it is, like, you know, I hear all these guys, people

say, man, I'd just give anything to deploy again. You were the same person that bitched the whole time you were over there about hating it, hating the military, not wanting to be here, And you think it's like rose-colored glasses or something else? I want to hear yours. I think if we're real honest with ourselves, combat is way easier than life here, right? Like when I'm deployed, I don't have to worry about bills.

I don't have to worry about taking care of my kids. I don't have to worry about doing life. I just have to wake up every day, put my shit on, go on a patrol, and live a simple, simple life. Yeah, it's harder, right? I mean, it's a hard way of life. It sucks. You're away from your family. You miss it.

And I do think that, yeah, the rose-colored glasses is one aspect of it. I think that our mind is natural to remember the good things. It's a survival instinct that we get rid of the bad things, right, if you process it. But I think you only remember the good times. And I think that those are the aspects of what they miss. I think they miss the simplicity of being deployed. I think they missed the, you know, the camaraderie because you are close to your people, right? And I think that's what's missed.

But I have to question anybody that says that they missed getting shot at. Charmed Major Weimer that's one, the first time we met him are at General George's house. They were asking, it was going around, you're supposed to tell something about yourself. And it was like, oh, blah, blah, blah. I was like, oh, Eli, deployed, fucking, why'd I join? They're like, why'd you join? I was like, well, I thought combat would be cool.

It's going to be kick-ass. No, I've got a gunfight. That sucks. And Mike was like, he's been in fights. Yep, he gets it. I was like, oh, okay, good. That's the right answer. Yeah.

Because it fucking, it sucks, and it is a stressor. You will, it helps later in life because it takes a lot to stress you out after that shit, for me at least. Yeah. It takes a whole lot to stress me out. If you get past it, hold on. If you, like, but I think that like where people, what people really need to come, like, and usually men, like this is usually a men's conversation, right?

I mean, I've never, to the day, I've never had a female come to me and say, I want to go to combat or I want to get, you know, I can't wait to go get in a gunfight. So like, maybe it'll happen to me. I don't know. But, but I think for men, it's an identity crisis, right? I think it's an opportunity. I mean, we all as men want to be tech. Like that's it's kind of you know for us

I think it's kind of How you I don't know I think you know you look at any warrior class of Men like there was always some test there was always some earning there was always some peace to becoming a man right and we were born as We're born as males but we have to become and earn being a man and and I think that there's just that natural aspect of us of of wanting to know if Wanting the answer to if we could do it and so I think that that's a piece of it and I think that that's a way to do it

but I just, I don't, I think sometimes we romanticize it and then I'll go a little bit further into it of, I think how we told our stories did a disjustice for it, right? I think we have a lot. I think guys like me who wrote books, I think we have some responsibility of how we wrote our books.

We only told the great parts about it and we only told it in a way that made it look cool and we didn't talk about the shitty and sucky parts of it. You know what I mean? And I think we do have some responsibility in that. After, because I'm sure you had your guys especially at the Afghanistan deployment, that's where you've seen that huge, a decade after is when we started seeing a big, like losing a lot of individuals in my battalion.

We're at 29 seconds after we've been back for 18 years now, I think. But that's when you're just seeing like way more. We lost 16 over. over there and then we've lost 29 since we've been back. We're almost to hit double the amount just on so. Because, and I'm sure you, like, we've talked about it before, that idea of getting there, like going to sick hall, going to therapy. Like, you don't do that.

Crush your feelings. Yeah. And so I'm like, hey, actually, you should probably talk about it, give advice, lead by example to. Like, hey, if you're telling guys that are getting in now, they're like, oh, and your warning was like, hey, PTSD therapy. like this is a lot and it can be difficult. If it's coming from you, now they will take that and be like, oh, well, he says it's okay.

And I look up to him. Yeah. So I'm going to do that. And I don't think we had that from the previous generation. No, because we had, I mean, nothing against them. Because also you have to look like technology, like the resources that we have today are astronomical. We have more resources and technology and knowledge and data to help us today than we've ever had in the history of, especially mental health, right?

And so, you know, but all we had to look up to was the Vietnam generation on how they knew how to do it, right? And so, you know, you also have to think that we've only had medication for about 50 years. You know what I mean? So like when you look at like the big advancement of this, like, and then you had to test it. And then we've seen how we got that wrong real quick. So we got to backtrack on that and we've got to find other modalities. And so in that 50 years, I'd have to like look at that up in detail, but it's around 50 years that that was one of that was the last big advancement when you look at medical when it came

to to mental health was was the medication aspect of it and and I think medication gets a bad rap right obviously when you look at opioids and all this other stuff but it actually is very helpful if it's used in the right ways and it's used with the right purpose and so like I'm not anti anti medication because if that's the case then you know should we all be having surgeries without anesthesia right I mean you know like I wouldn't prefer it yeah so So, you know what I mean? I've seen dances with wolves. So, you know, it's one of those deals.

But, you know, I think for us, you know, the big thing that I talk about back is, is I think we first have to set an expectation management. And where I get really frustrated with the military is the military, it is actually, if you want to see a precursor of what's about to happen to the entire society, you just watch the military, right? What happens there first is what's. going to come to society. Look, tons of stuff started happening in the military.

Well, guess what's happening across society now? Right? So I mean, when you look at mental health, mental health started being bad there, right? It comes across and so like you could, because it's a self, it's a self-selected demographic of people. And it's from all, it's the most, it is literally the military is the most diverse organization that we have in America, right? And so, you know, they come from all walks of life.

And so for me, I think we had an opportunity to really give society a blueprint for mental health. And then you came out with a campaign of 22 a day, right? So I blame the mental health aspect of our military on the NGOs, right? So I have this theory for whatever it's worth that, you know, NGO for non-government organization, the nonprofits. You know, they all were doing a great thing when the war kicked off. They came in and filled gaps, right? They were, I mean, they were doing the Lord's work, literally. They were doing it.

They were finding a way, like society always has done, has stepped up to support their service members, right? They're people who are fighting. And they were doing good ones, like it actually made a difference. Before it became an industry. Well, and then this is what happened, right? Is the war machine stopped sending home bodies and people for them to take care of. and so then they had to shift the product.

So you started with the hidden wounds, right? So wounded warrior started, you know, everybody's a warrior, so now we help everybody, right? I mean, so like it turned into this aspect of just reclassifying what things were. Instead of 22, you know, instead of having a product of guys getting killed in combat, now it's 22 a day. And so let's remarket this because we need to continue a product, right? Like instead of being like, hey, we're going to. be here to support this, it started turning into an industry. And so, and I think at the expense of

service members, right? I mean, one of the big aspects I fight all the time was is, like, PTSD, depression, and anxiety, their injuries, not terminal illnesses. Correct. Now say that. Go put that on your Instagram right now and watch the hate come through. People will lose their minds. Hey, guys, you want to see something? Not again. True Classics. Oh. You want to touch it, Brandon? Cody, you want to touch it?

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They're stretchy. Bly's wearing true classics right now. A lot of shirts that you get just off the shelf, like aren't really cut. They're just generic unisex stuff. They're not really cut to look good. True classic stuff is actually tailored to fit the male form, which is, you know, actually helpful if you want to not look like a slob. Peak male performance.

But now imagine my dick, because that's where I'm wearing underwear. Yeah. Now imagine my dick, Eli Quabas, 2025. Trueclassic.com. Use code on sub. Now, we've been messing around with t-shirts and been in that industry for years now, and we can truly say that True Classic has some of the greatest material and greatest fitting that we've ever seen. So forget overpriced designer brands.

Skip the cheap throwaway stuff. True Classic is built for comfort, built to last, and built to give back. You can even find them at Target or Costco, or you can go to True Classic.com, unsub to try for yourself. If you want to level up your clothes for the summer or coming into the fall weather, head over to trueclassic.com slash unsub. We have a real, I will say so the community here. Oh shit. They are so amazing about that. They are respectful and then we're super blessed on how they react to any of this conversation. Because they are, they know we put them first. Yeah. We work for them. We are blessed to have them as viewers.

and we have a huge audience now. And don't be too nice to them. Thank you, guys, for one. Piece of shit. But they... At Desjardin Insurance, we know that when you own a cleaning company, things need to be tidy and organized at every step.

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No, I don't have it on. Two new t-shirts and then 100% of the profits we donate at the end of the month. So it's like a handful of veteran organizations and things like that. Yeah. And we vet those ones because you have to vet the nonprofits now. You have to. And so like, you know, I think that I think that's the first expectation you have to set is, is like that they, those are injuries, not terminal illnesses.

And so what that means is, is like. Don't be a victim. Yeah, like you can be more than a victim of your own service. Right. And like the worst day of, and here's the reality is, is like, the worst day of my life is no more significant than the worst day of your life or your life. Like, why are we trying to out victimize each other, right? Like, it's just the worst day of your life in your mind.

And you know what I mean? And so it's like you need to deal with that and get past it in order to be better from it, right? And so I, but I think that when we set the expectation that once you have PTSD, you have forever, well, then you're screwed, right? Because then that's all they ever have and that's all they have to live up to. And it becomes their identity. especially if you say it like that and then they somebody hears that and then they pass that on it's like well you have PTSD

now yeah sorry and it becomes I like what you're saying about some of the way that these people market this stuff is like you have the slogans like some wounds never heal it's like well that's a horrible mindset well let me so let so so this is why like my team leader himself a few years ago and and this is why like I am so hell bent against like if you commit something it is cowardly act. Like, I am not backing off that, right? Like, it is not the same. Like, there is nothing more unbecoming than if you, if you care yourself, right? Because all you're doing is,

is passing on the pain that you have and amplifying it to the people that care about you around you. Like, you are literally tossing that off. And it is, there's nothing, I mean, let me ask you something. Would you all, if I had told you, and if I had told you that I surrendered to the enemy, would you all, like, respect me? I mean, no, you wouldn't. You wouldn't. You wouldn't you wouldn't respect me surrendering or quitting to the enemy, would you? Right? So, well, I mean, is the ultimate surrender. And so, you know, it's a hard one to talk about because none of us, none of us wanted you to do that. And like, it doesn't make sense. But until, until we say that and go back to that, people are going to continue to do it and they're going

to see it as an acceptable route. They're going to see it as an acceptable way to handle their pain, right? And instead of going to get help. Dan Holloway, he has my favorite quote on that, which is it's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. And I think that sums it up perfectly. Yeah. And I think the thing we have to talk about is like if you are a human being, at some point, the idea of something or the thought will cross your mind. Like that is a normal thing. Like that is a, it is crossed everybody's mind. But at some point, like taking action on it is where it is where it is where it is where it is where doesn't become normal. It becomes a thing that you need to get help for, right? And it's a,

it's a tough one because, you know, I've lost, I've watched some of the hardest men. Some of, my team leader was one of the biggest badasses that I had knew. But, you know, I mean, he, he, he took his own life, right? And it sucks. It sucks because, like, you know, you wanted to fix it and help it for him and I would have done anything for him. But, you know, it's, it's the most unbecoming thing I think and you know how you know it's it is and this is where you start talking about these nonprofits and these things like trying to change it and to keep the product going and why they I don't think they care in some aspects other than keeping the product now you're not supposed to say commit you're supposed to say died by because they're trying to take the word commit out of it

yeah right like go look it up interesting go look it up they're trying to change it. Like if you said... I haven't noticed that, but I didn't... It wasn't conscious, I guess. Yeah. They're trying to take the literally the one piece of control you have in it, out of it, so that you can be the victim to see it as well.

Interesting. That's so... Because you know how you change the truth, right? One word at a time. Yeah. Yeah. That is, Cody, really quick with the... Going back to just even that mindset of...

talking mental health, getting into that, and that generation of we didn't have that with police force and SWAT. Did you have that? Or was it still like the guys above you were like, oh, that's for, don't, like, figure your own problems out, especially because you're showing up on the scene and you have like a baby. I mean, no one ever said it all out, but, you know, the culture is kind of the same things. Like, if you go to therapy, blah, okay. Like, if you go seek help, uh, all right.

It was kind of brushed off, I guess you could say. So it kind of comes down to the, I guess. Kind of like an eye roll. Yeah. And some of it is legit because like, you know, you have to, until we have leaders who have gone to therapy themselves, they don't understand what therapy is and they don't understand that, I mean, like, because you get all these overreacting leaders that, you know, if you go to therapy where you can't do your job, right? I mean, it's like, it's kind of that's, and that's what a lot of, a lot of, I think. holds a lot of people from going to therapy and getting help. And so I think we got to have leaders who have gone and fixed, like the problem is we have broken people leading broken people.

And so we need to get, our leaders need to make sure that they're whole and then, you know, start helping other people and use these things as like, you know, hey, I was struggling here too. Like go get some help instead of saying, hey, you know, I know you're struggling. Let's, let's go start getting drunk every night, right? Like, you know, we got to really call things what they are. And where I really would honestly probably change my life the most to really start taking accountability and responsibility for this was becoming a first responder, like was becoming a firefighter because I'm going to tell you something that we don't talk about enough. Like what cops and what firefighters and what paramedics see makes what I seen in combat

and what veterans see in combat look like a Mickey Mouse clubhouse. Like if these people are out there crushing life and, I mean, Like, we should learn from them on mental health, right? Now, I'm saying they're getting it all 100% perfect. But what I am saying is, is like, veterans don't have the, like, when it, you talk about trauma and you talk about, you know, seeing bad shit, veterans don't have the market on that. Like, you want to go see the people who see the worst of the worst. And, like, they go on deployment every week.

State side. State side. Like, look, if you. went to combat and deployed, and like I'll say this about, you know, the one difference that I think is why it's worse for our first responders is because, look, if you went to, if you signed up for the military first, none of us were drafted. So if you enlisted and you deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan seen combat and you were surprised by what you're saying, you're kind of a dumbass. Right? I mean, logically, it should make sense. You should know where you're going to. You should know where you're

getting into a little bit. Especially during the surge. It's called war. I mean, if you, if you joined during a war time and you went to war and then you were surprised at what war was, like, I mean, I'm not saying it's easy to deal with, but what I am saying is you shouldn't be surprised by it, right? Yeah.

Our drill instructors are like, any retards think you're not going to war? Yeah. Like two hands went up. They're like, fucking stupid. It's the surge. The photo was on the package. Yeah. You're going to war.

And when you go to war, You know people are, like, people will die. Yeah. You should know that, right? Okay. What I will tell you is, is like, these are people who go from being mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, to putting on a uniform, driving potentially five miles down the road and showing up to the worst. That's a code he has these. literally the worst things.

Like, and none of it makes sense, right? Like, when we were over there, you know, you're fighting in like a gunfight and it sucks. Like, yeah, it sucks no matter what, right? But, I mean, you're standing there and you're talking to a mother who is sitting in the passenger seat of her vehicle as her husband is dead in the driver's seat and her two kids are getting worked on CPR in the back on a Thanksgiving weekend. and doesn't make sense, right? And so it's like, and then guess what? They look just like your people and your family. And like, that, that is hard.

All of it's hard, but all my point of it is is like, we as veterans didn't get the market on PTSD and hard things to go through. Like, are men and women like first responders that walk amongst us every single day and they are, you know, that are showing up every time we dial three numbers, they are the people that we should all look at

when it comes to mental health on. And again, I'm not saying they get it right all the time, but I am saying that what they deal with is astronomical compared to what we do. And the crazy part, too, at least for me, outside looking in, is there's no separation. So, like, they will see the most heinous shit possible in this country.

And then, again, drive five miles back down the road. come back home to cold macaroni and cheese. Yeah, and you know, you talk about cops. Like, you know, cops are getting, and I use cops right now because they always get the worst rap, right? You know what we don't do? We don't recognize them for the good they do. The only time that they are recognized or mentioned is the bad, right?

And we don't, we don't sit here. We don't, we don't, we don't, like, we don't reward them or give, or recognize the, lives they save. I mean, it's insane. Like, Cody, and it sucks the amount of hate you get online just because you break down videos with the most information. You reach out and you gather all of it and you present it factually, good or bad, and you present it. And then you still get fucking swatted or dumb shit just because, oh, formerly you're a bootlicker because he stuck, like, that story, they didn't like how it turned out. Because like you'll break down a video and it's not,

oh well cop was in the right because he cop yeah like it's not like that you're like oh well actually this person was wrong because of this case law cop was in the right because of this this this this but it doesn't matter it doesn't matter boot liquor yeah yeah it's it's um yeah it's it's a yeah it's a it's it's an aspect that like but but i will say the the bad is still the minority of the good that goes on 100 you know what I mean like I mean I mean I it's not necessarily like I was terrified where that was going for a moment. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no. I bet you, which word made it?

Which word made you get nervous? There was a couple in succession that I was very afraid of. I'm like, oh, shit, I'm in frame. Which word was it? You're like, the bad is the minority. That's not great. No, no. 13%.

Like, oh, shit. Whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait. He's flying over here. That's my line. You sure you're going? No, and I. That's a joke, people. That's a joke.

Yeah. Yeah. Sorry to derail. No, no. Yeah, that's, yeah, but you know, it's like, it's like these, these cops are, you know, it's, I, I, I wish we, we've got to tell. And the only way you win, the only way you win, the only way we change the world, I truly believe this,

the only way that we get the world back to where we need to be is that, you know, you can't just be like, oh, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong. You can't just be, because that's what everybody does now. It's like they only say, oh, that's wrong. The only way we're going to be able to win this is if we outmessage it with good.

You know what I mean? Like we can only win the world back if we out message it with good. And there is more good than there is, bad, but we have to out message it with good. What are you thinking, Cody? What do you think? I'm thinking money, money, money, money.

I was just going to go there. The only thing that's going to make the news money is headlines of cop kills person unjustly. And that's how they get their clicks. That's how they get their ad revenue. And it's been like that for years and years and years. And I hate to say, you know, the mainstream media. But that's exactly what it is. They only want to focus on the bad.

and they never focus on the good because no one wants to click on the good. Positivity is hard to sell. Yeah, you can't sell positivity. But here's the great part. The great part is this. Is that mainstream media is about to be dead, right?

The great part is that I do believe this next generation is a going to start, like they're not going to give a shit about the same shit that's selling all these clicks right now, right? I do think this, that's why I think this next generation is going to be so important. Like I don't think that they are going to be as, as, you know, like,

they're growing up with all the shit that we are like, we have like been handed to us to see like what, we were the experiment. Oh yeah, social media is a whole internet period. But we were the experiment, right? Like they just handed us these things. We didn't know what they were going to do to us. And they start throwing a bunch of shit at it. And now you got a bunch of a bunch of people who have.

You know, it's, yeah. They know at three how to use all this. This next generation, though, they see the consequences of it, right? I mean, they see, I think that they're going to be the ones that are going to set us straight. But I do think that what we have got to do is, is we have got to instill in them to believe in the greater good and to believe in that they can. And I go back to it. Look, you know, this country was founded because 70 people said that I'm not going to put up with this anymore. Right.

70 people who had no training, who had no idea what they were going to do, they stood up and they said, you know what, I'm a shopkeeper. I am a, I am, you know, I'm a blacksmith. I'm whatever, right? I'm a farmer and I'm going to grab my rifle and I'm going to do something no matter what. And I'm telling you, I do believe with everything that I have that we are at a time to where it will work. You know? Yeah. I know, I do agree with you. Like the, the, it's all there, but I do believe that, like, I do believe that people are starving for hope. Yeah, and I hate the only hope that people can find, especially from a law enforcement perspective, is a post from a random person on social media that goes viral.

And you can see, like, this cop being an awesome person, like, maybe playing basketball with a kid or saving a life. And, like, the mainstream media has been like, cops bad, cops bad, cops bad, this entire time. And but you have these, these, like you said, 70 people, you have these little people on social media who put these stories out and they go super viral. Yeah. And like, that's, that's the hope there. That's also the nice part about social media. There's a lot of trust me. There's plenty of negatives of social media.

But one of the positives is you get to see what people actually want to see. Yeah. It's a blessing. It's not curated, though, by like things that are supposed to make you angry or things that are supposed to make you click or whatever. It's like you get to see those things that, you know, people do actually care to watch. to watch. Brandon, do you need not a... One more time, you got this buddy.

Brandon, can you... Brandon, do you like... Almost there, bud. Brandon, where do you store your firearms? All over my house in every fucking crevice. Well, do I have the product for you, Nick Schum? Here, hand it to me, Brandon, so I can show you. Brandon, this is Stopbox.

Stop box. We love box. You're selling me. What's in the box? You have to open it and find out. All right, well, let's see if I can do this. Oh wow, look at that. Oh, it didn't stop you. Can I hide my goop in that?

You can hide your goop in that, Cody. Cody, do you know why I love this thing? Why? Why? Why? Why? Because you don't have to use keys. Gun, not included.

Cody, you've got multiple cats in your house, including Squirt, who's quite the scrapper. Mm-hmm. Would you want Squirt to have access to your firearms? No, he's violent. Well, then Stopbox is the perfect product for you. No cats getting inside dad. inside that. Or people without thumbs. Mmm.

The nice part is it is actually TSA compliant. I didn't actually know that part until a couple months ago. That is actually really cool. Just put a little lock through there. Exactly. When you check in a pistol or any gun, if there's a hole that a lock can go through on whatever you're checking your gun in, you have to put a lock through that. This has one hole, so you just need one lock easily accessible once you land on the ground.

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They had. actually a really good point. You got to see with the Buffalo school system how what mainstream media tried to do with that because Rich was on it and he was the one having this interaction and it's us with drinks on the table and his name's angry cops

and he's been in the news multiple times but then it was oh they didn't focus on hey there's like shit going on at these schools with these kids these kids are in danger. Talking about abuse of children like serious allegations. And this is a man on the front lines who was saying

I've seen this, I've seen this, I've documented, I've seen this. As an SVU detective. Why was he wrong though, Beli? Because booze on table. Because we had a booze on table and he was talking about it. They like, they burped. This foul podcast, I think is what they said. But then it was amazing because the community went,

fucking bullied every journalist or news anchor that had those negative headlines. They changed their headlines because of it. Like, they just remember. removed angry cops or detect what they what did they call them like bad cop it was like a different word that stupid and they removed all that just because the sheer amount of people like are you fucking worried about that instead of the kids what the fuck is wrong with you and and like and that's and that's what we need right I mean look the the the the the silent majority can no longer be silent right like we have got to use their voices we've got to speak up against what's right I

I mean, you're up for what's right and against what's wrong. Like, the silent majority has got to, it's got to stop. And, you know, it's the same thing with voting, right? I mean, look, like, you know, people are like, oh, they don't, I believe the system still could work. Like, I believe the system, I believe that, I believe that all of this thing still works. I, you know, and call me a bootlicker or whatever else, whatever else you want to call me. But I do believe in that. And I believe that what it takes, though, is it takes, it takes people.

people actually taking action. And like, like, you know, I think, I don't think there's ever, I don't believe that there's ever going to be a chance for a civil war, right? I don't think that that's a thing. Like, people who talk about that, I think that, I think that that's, they don't have the stomach for it. No. Especially the people that talk about it like, oh, I can't wait for the, I'm like, well,

you're fucking crazy. Yeah. Because I don't know if you did any reading on the first one that we had, but it pretty much sucked for everybody for a very long time. Yeah. And none of us should want that, right? like I always, always question anybody who wants to hurt another American or hurt another human being, right?

Like, I think that that's, that's insane. And I think, just because you disagree with them. And I think that, you know, I do believe, though, I do believe that voting still works. And, you know, and I think that all these ideas, this, this, I call it extinctionist. There's an extinctionist mindset that has, that has, you know, entered our culture, right? And so what does the extinctions mean, right? the way you kill a population is you make them believe that there's no reason to do good or do the right thing anymore. And so the way you do that is by you start, you know, you start putting these

narratives out there that all marriages are bad. All men are bad. All women are bad. Having kids is bad. All cops are bad. Having kids are bad. Or like, bear over a man in the woods. Yep. Or there's no reason to or there's no reason to stand up for what's right anymore. Or you may tell you where it started at. your vote doesn't matter anymore, right? So you believe your vote doesn't matter anymore, so why are you going to show up and vote, right? And it's all those aspects that if you get people to believe, and there's actually this study out there with these mice, right?

So these doctor, these scientists threw these mice into this tub of water. And then they took like five to seven minutes. I don't know the exact time, but a short time that the mice started to drown. And so they reached in and grabbed the mice and picked them out, set them on the side and let them, you know, get their breath and all this back, and then they tossed them back in.

And they stayed there for like 48 or 72 hours after that. Were they trying to learn something? Yeah, so I'm about to tell you this. No, I'm talking around. They were just torturing mice. So mice can swim. Thank you, Dakota. Glad you told us that story.

Why? Funny. I don't know. He's the little guy. You're the most random tangent. Yeah. So that's the end of the story. I did that shit all.

time. See the difference is they wrote it down. So my point being is we could be scientists. No, but the point of it was is like the mice swam so much longer the next time because they believed

that there was hope that somebody would come get them out. No shit. And it's the same thing with people, right? Like, you'll never achieve more than you believe. And what you believe and what you think is what you will see more of. And I do believe that we just need leaders to be conversation shifters right now. We need people who believe, like, who actually believe that this country can be better. And,

and look, I mean, the majority of people are good. Well, that's running for Congress. That's the thing on the primary element, back on like voting is it drives me crazy the amount of people who get frustrated with, you know, all the two-party system. It's all rigged. They're all fake. It's like, well, you could have your qualms with the two-party system. Good luck. But here's the thing. You're not just, these people aren't just anointed. You can be a part of that, like with your primaries, and not just like on the presidential level, because I get how that's overwhelming.

It's a lot of big numbers, a lot of money. It's a lot of influence. But even just at a local level, whether it's Congress, whether it's your local school board, your judge, your sheriff, these things. There are primaries where you get to choose which person is representing that party.

And you can get involved. You can make that difference on that. And that person does matter. Like, like, like, you, you don't have to be like, yeah, president has one aspect, but like, I would argue that the people in your demographic, like, in your local area, matter more than, then, you know, at the federal level, right? I mean, obviously there are, yeah, it's your community, right? I mean, your city council will have more effect over your life than Congress will a lot of times. And think about this. Like how many people don't even know who's on their city council?

How many people don't even know who's on the school board, right? How many people don't even know what district they're in or who represents them, right? So before people start complaining about the decisions are being made. But again, like it's before like at what point do you do we have responsibility ourselves to get involved? Like stop bitching about the problem. Stop. Become part of the solution. The system is set, and it does work.

I do believe, I don't, I do believe it does work. I just think that, I think that we need, I think the two-party system works. And I'll tell you why on that too is because the only thing worse than what we have now would be if we only had a one-party system. Well, that's, I think, objectively worse. That's terrifying. But again, but again, you know, it's like you need both. I think what's happened, though, is, and I don't believe,

that the leadership of the parties represent the people of the voters, right? I agree with that completely. Like when people are like, oh, Democrats are not patriotic. I'm like, I disagree. Like I know a lot of Democrats that are my friends that support me that are great people that love this country. I think your leadership that is representing the Democratic Party probably hates this country, right?

But I think that, you know, it's one of those aspects that like, they're not we need both of them to be effective right if it wasn't for the Democratic Party we wouldn't be evolving as much you know what I mean like they help evolve this country and grow this country and

that aspect of it right and now look they've gone way off now but you know you need the Republican Party as well and you need both of them and they're both important to the system but but we have got to get leaders that represent the people you know the parties were supposed to conform

to the people, not the people to have to conform to the party. Yeah. And that's what we're missing right now. That's right. Like Brandon's running. And I mean, that's one of your big things. It is you did this not for love of the game or a childhood dream that you wanted to be a politician. People who want power are scary.

Yeah. Terrifying people. And that's unfortunately a majority. And that's the problem. But you come in and you're like, I know, this dude is f***ing up a whole bunch of shit. And we need to do better. So it was out of spite. I'm just tired of my congressman.

I knew nobody was going to do something about it. So yeah, through my hat in the ring. Last time we lost by 400 votes, this time I think we're going to take it. But it's just I get fed up because I think the Republicans aren't immune to that either. Like on our side of the fence, there's, I think the leadership does accurately represent to a degree what a lot of the older generation, like the 60s, age group of Republicans believe, with the 10. of a lot of corruption by money. And there's a lot of industry and there's a lot of, it's an entire machine behind the scenes.

Yeah, it is. And I, you know, like, I think, I think if the Republican Party doesn't evolve as well, right, I think that you're going to have a huge problem, you know, the way, but again, like, but think about it. What is the average age of the people in leadership, you know, in Congress, right? Of course they're not going to know the problems that we have, right? Of course they're not going to be able to under, like, they are, like, they are, like,

they are arguing for the things that were relevant back when they were in our positions, right? But now they're responsible for legislating Bitcoin and AI. Well, again, it's horrifying. It is terrifying, right? It is terrifying. And I also think, you know, what they have done a great job at, and this is, like, probably the piece that I hate the most about, about our leadership in this country is, is they have found a way to rig the system in a way to where the repercussions

and the consequences of their decisions don't affect them anymore. Right? And that's bad leadership. You know, at the point that you can make decisions that you don't feel anymore, like you can shut the government down and you still get paid, right? Like, you know what I mean? Like this is a, look, I think if you shut the government down, well you everybody doesn't get to come back like you don't get another term right if you all couldn't

figure out how to communicate with each other and get a way to get the government to keep going nobody we're going to have to start all over on on people in it right i get it i get it stuff at a bare minimum they should not be uh they shouldn't be paid just like every other government employee but like said bare minimum they shouldn't get the back pay either all the other federal employees get back yes Congress shouldn't it was your fault bare minimum and we need term limits. Yes. Oh, God.

Yeah. I don't think anyone. We need term limits. Like, I know. No one wants a fucking dinosaur if they're telling the next generation or two generations. When you have individual, who was the one that was like just, uh, like rebooting on stage? There's a few. Oh, man.

Let's talk about Mitch McConnell. Yeah. Don't look like he poop himself. Listen, Mitch McConnell. I mean, you know, and it's, and it's like Joe Biden, right? I mean. I mean, Diane Feinstein. She died of old age after casting a vote.

Same day. Dead serious. That is wild for them to be in charge of jack and shit. Well, the problem is once you, and it's a lot easier when you sell out, you know, and you're in their position because you get all this fundraising ability. And because as an incumbent, you have the incumbency advantage. You have the name recognition advantage and you have millions and millions of dollars. You become almost impossible to be.

Well, and then the other way that this system is set up, right? is, you know, you take some of these states that don't have the power because of, you know, the representatives they have and things like that. You also lose, like, Kentucky's going to suffer because Mitch McConnell is going to be replaced, right? They're not going to have a say, a lot of say, you know, I'm from Kentucky. So, like, you know, they're not going to have a lot of say or the power that Mitch McConnell had because he'd been there, the seniority, right? And so, like, now you got, you know, so there is an aspect of that that is all.

always a play of why they keep these people in there. But, you know, we've got to get back to a place of, you know, we've got to go back old school, right? I mean, we got to go back to where, and I do think that, I do think we've got to have term limits in it. We've got to hold these people accountable. And, but, but, you know, they can be held accountable because everybody that's watching can go out and vote. What kind of shirt is that? Actually, Eli, these are what are called shorts. Fabletic shorts. But where do you put your head? It's complicated. Will they look comfortable? Indeed they are, and there's something about starting a new workout that just feels so great, but you know what isn't great? Having to buy all of the gear.

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about even the last election cycle with Kamala just being put into place. Like everything that beforehand is wild. Like it wasn't out of the blue like oh no we knew there was problems with the president at the time and then they just kept it going until it's like oh no she's replacing it and you didn't even get to vote that in. And it was funny to have her, you know, being able to get on stage saying, oh, Trump is the enemy of democracy, is trying to end democracy.

Like, you're running for president. Nobody voted for you. Nobody. Not a single human. That's like you just got put into that place. Before the presidential election, obviously, the primary. But it's fucking wild to have that. But what I think is, but what I think is telling and why I go back to saying

that the system still works, that she didn't get elected. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, she didn't get elected, right? And so I still. Billions of dollars. And she didn't like, it was, I think, the most expensive presidential election in history.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think, so I think our country is going to be fine. I think, I think the biggest thing that people can do, number one is vote. Like, you should, that should not be an aspect that you take lightly or, or any of that piece of it. And then I think the next piece is, like, read the Constitution. I hear everybody wants to quote the Constitution to me all the time. And I'm like, when's the last time you read it?

Like, is that what you think it said, what somebody told you it said, or what you know it says. There's a big difference, right? And I, I don't have it on me today. I usually have it with me or in my, if I'm definitely in my suit, I have my constitution on me because when people are like, well, you know, that's unconstitutional. Okay, well, let's, let me pull one out right here. Let's talk about it. Right. And so I think read the constitution. I think the other thing is history. I think you, I think you, I think the biggest web, like the biggest tool and education that you can have is, is history. Like, I think knowing history, knowing why things were put in, when things were put in, you know, and I, I school myself on it all the time, but I think,

I think that if you do those three things, I do believe our country will get, get back to where it needs to be. This simple, like, and that is such a true statement because you look at how right now is, this is, this is worse than the Nazi regime and you have that permission being put out there and then it's a dictator. You were on social media saying this, you know what that means? You're not under a fucking dictating regime. like Nazi regime and that's where it's it's crazy not understanding or knowing that piece of history

to show how bad it was. Yeah and there's a lot of confusion you know like you talk about this Venezuela thing right. I mean look I I hope president Bush is watching what just happened and realizing that maybe he should have done that in Iraq right um you know and I think that you know what we're doing is I don't know I mean like I don't know all the answers I don't pretend to but I always like to to we got to have conversations this is the problem is like what do i think right now we as americans have got to decide like you know because i keep hearing well we shouldn't police the world okay i'm in so who should because like we can't argue somebody's going to so who should then who should who does it better than us and who can we rely on and who do we trust to do it it's a it's a hard one

because it is it's the only way for evil to succeed is forgive me to do nothing so what's that line because now it is, okay, there's bad, obviously terrible human. Oh, look what they did. This is terrible. And it's like, well, pause, how the fuck does any change happen? Then you just want dictators to rule and then no one does anything? Yeah, maybe. And I'm fine with whatever.

Like, look, I think Americans should be involved in this. I think this should be a conversation that Americans should have, right? But I think informed Americans. Yeah. Well, that's the hard part. That's the hard part, right? So I think that when we talk about these things, like, like, okay, I'm in.

I don't necessarily as, you know, I don't necessarily want to have to go police the world either, right? But I also think that there's a responsibility that if we're watching someone in Venezuela, you know, oppress people and not even an elected official by the people and we have the ability to get rid of them, we should. And then I think, you know, people are like, oh, the old. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know what?

Like if you asked for your house to be remodeled, would the builder pay for it? No. So I think that if we are going to go help them with their country and help them become a better country, we should absolutely be compensated for it. And we should do it with their money that they are capable of paying for it with. And I think that that's what real nation building looks like, not Iraq and occupying in that aspect of it. That is not like, because then you create a vacuum because we come in and do it for them. It's like having an entitled child, right?

It's like you grow up, you raise a child. It's like a trust fund baby, right? Like how many of them are successful on their own, right? And so like... Three generations and it will be fucking gone. All money, gone in three generations. Gone. And so like we come in and we help them do that, not by occupying, but by giving them

opportunities and by helping them manage that aspect and letting the Venezuelan people select it. And then we roll out and we go on to the next one, right? And so there's definitely a conversation to be had for sure because especially in the world's police thing. It's like, okay, well, then who should? I mean, I don't think we've ever really done that in a way that wasn't because of American interests in the first place. Because, I mean, think about how many genocides are going on over the world right now. Oh, yeah. Like how many dictators, how many countries are in civil war, how many, you know, people are being wiped out.

And the United States just doesn't give a shit. 23, January, 23 genocides are going on right now in different countries. What I do like is the transparency of the Venezuelan situation. where we're like, no, you stole tens of billions of dollars worth of our assets, largely regarding oil that Americans invested in. Yeah, no, we're not going to deal with that. That's an American interest. And you can debate right wrong all day long,

but at least the transparency was there. It's like, yeah, you got a shitload of oil and you took our shit and you're not playing ball. Yeah, and I hope we do Cuban next. Yeah. You're going to grow Guantanamo? Yeah, I think we do. Just keep expanding from there. I think, I hope we grab the Cuban leader next, right?

I mean, it was on the table, apparently. I hope we grabbed the Cuban leader next. But again, like, I don't think we occupy anywhere, right? I don't think we, I don't think we, I don't. There's a dumbest shit we can do. Listen, it's never worked for us, right? And so I think that, but I also think that we, I think that, I don't think we sit back and watch evil prevail, because no matter what, inevitably, it's going to come to us.

Like, where does it stop? So then where do you draw the line, right? I mean, we're only in our hemisphere right now, right? So like, you know, is it hemisphere wide? I mean, what do you do, right? I mean, and I think that this is a piece of Americans, and if they don't want to do it, then that's fine. Like, if you're willing to, if that's not what you have,

if that's what America doesn't represent anymore, then okay, then that's fine. I think that that's what you should vote for. And, you know, that's a great part of it. But I need to go find a country that's willing to be the leaders of the free world. Step up. Right. I mean, I think the American people just have to really have this hard conversation because you don't stay at the top. Well, I think you have this divide, though, that does make it hard because it is this moving the goalpost right now with Venezuela.

It's like, they're, oh, we're sorry the Venezuelan people. We don't, he doesn't, he doesn't speak for us. We would, we hate that he did that. And then cue all the celebration going on in Venezuela. then it's like, oh, move that goalpost over here. Well, you see how they celebrated Iraq. They celebrated.

And you're like, you guys just can't be happy. Yeah. I mean, on top of that, even just what a lot of the Democratic leadership, I saw one, it's just like a collection of tweets of prominent Democrats that are in power now that were tweeting a couple of years ago. Like, well, Maduro needs to be replaced. Absolutely. The United States needs to get involved in ousting Maduro.

And now about that $25 million Bounty Yeah They're last president We put a bounty on that That's what That's my favorite thing It's like

Oh so we were supposed to capture Or do anything Then why the fuck did they put a $50 million dollar bounty Or it was It was about $225 I think it was raised at 50 But yeah

It's a You know And I think that that's just look Like what Look look What we are If we're not willing to step up Somebody will right

And what you've seen is Is the other two superpowers So you mean really You look at us Russia in China. Like there's really nobody else on the global, the global, there's really nobody else on the global board, um, that's, that's, that's, that's part of it. And so, so you look, so we went down there and took, took out the leader. Russia and China went down there and was working with the leader in their best interest. You know what I'm? So like, at the expense of the Venezuelan people, right,

you know what I mean? So like, who gets the fucking bounty now? Well, I think they should separate, I think for all the people who were involved in the raid. That's pretty funny. They should toss it out to them, right? I mean, it's fair. It was the, it was his security team that was like, hey, Holmes. There's a lot of money.

We just split it. There's 10 of us. All of a sudden. I'd sell. Yeah, no shit, right? All of a sudden. They opened the door like, hey, Delta. Yeah.

He's your guy. Hey, he's in there. I'm assuming they sound like Mexicans, by the way. There's all brown people. The morning. after that raid, a buddy of mine, we're doing an afteraction. It's like, oh, fuck, did you see this? You see this? He's like, yeah, I bet you some made somewhere in Caracas just made a million dollars. Yeah. I mean, if I was going to guess, I would say the person that just took over is

the one that gave them all the information. Really? You think? If I was, I mean, again, like, I, yeah. It's the woman, the woman that was, yeah, because I think the, the, the, the, the The Venezuelan Supreme Court just said that she's the new. Yeah. She's working. I think they're already announced like, oh, yeah, we're going to make this transition as peaceful as possible. If they did split that bounty, though.

You know, you just walk into the Delta fucking break room and there's a new margarita mixer and all sorts of. Listen, you know, hey, they all start showing up to the team room. Like, you know, like the NFL players when they start showing, you know, when they show up to the locker room, like you start seeing Delta guys walking down, you know what I mean? you got the diamond bedazzled plate carriers in it. Living that dream life. Oh gosh,

how funny with that. There will be signs. They've all got grills now for some reason. But it's super interesting. Showing up in Rangovers. I know. Just lamboos. Lambears.

Lambeaus. Take photos like that. America's gold, or tip of the spear has gold teeth now. Yeah, but you know what? Like I think it would drive a bunch of recruitment. Like, I bet you people in the military would start trying out would be going on the long walk a lot more often, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I guarantee it. And we start getting some, listen, I bet the threshold of our quality of... You called it the long walk. No, and there's very rare people call it the long walk. Yeah, that's what I've heard it's called. The long walk? That's a Delta Cag tryout. They call it the long walk because...

I've heard it's long. Yeah, you're walking And this is, you're shooting Asmuth And you're walking with 50 to 100 pound It's over multiple states Yep, yeah No shit. Oh, dude, and this is every day

You're doing like, what is it? Like up to 80 miles in a single day? It's like something stupid. I don't know, you're starting to get in details that I'm out on. No wonder Wiper likes to walk. Yeah. Just walk forever.

Oh, wait, I don't know if we could put that. Yeah, we don't know because it's on social. Yeah, that's fine. It does say he was J-Soc, so. Gotcha. Okay. I'm out. I didn't say anything. It was all him.

Yeah. AI, put his himself saying. Yeah, so I just think that like, look, I think the American, look, I think it's the American people's choice. I think that American people should, but they got to be informed, right? Like, stop, like saying, stop just repeating what you heard or what you think. Like, go, go look it up. Like, it's just, I don't know. It's just, it's just one of those deals.

Like, I think, look, I think this is America, right? Like, you, we can, we are a place of the people. Like the Constitution starts off with we the people. So if we don't want to be strong and we don't want to be, you know, free and we want to take the chance of allowing Russia and China take us over, then, then okay. But like, you know, we just need to say it. You know, we just need the American people to stand up and say like, hey, like, we don't give a shit about anybody else. We don't care about anybody else's rights. But I also think that, like, if we're not willing to go grab a guy like Maduro out, well, then we need to stop sending all this money over to all this.

these foreign countries to help them out as well, right? Let's just sit back here. We'll put this money here and that's what we'll do, right? Well, we agreed on that. So all of this money we see going to these, you know, like this shit that they cut when they first went in there, then none of that goes anywhere, right? Like, there's no more of us helping any other countries financially if we're not willing to go get this evil out.

Well, I guess I just, I don't think it's because it's evil. I don't think anybody would have given a shit about Maduro if they're wasn't oil and stolen American assets. We would have not done that. Yeah, I mean, I, I mean, I, I don't know. I'm not saying it's a bad thing we did it for American interest. I think that's good. It's an oil goal.

This is like every resource and they are the pinnacle plus Russia and China also had control. Well, I think we're about to see, right? Because here's the other thing, right? Like, I think we're about to see. I mean, if we start going after more evil, then maybe, I don't know. I think when we, I think I never get into the realm of trying to figure out why somebody did something else. But like, look, no matter what, the Venezuela is better now that he's gone. You tell by the videos of him celebrating. Yeah. And so like, yeah, there is an interest there for us.

I do think we should treat every country, even if there's not an interest for us, the same way, right? Like anybody is... Yeah, because I'm like, we're not going to send dudes in to take out some warlord, genocidal warlord in Botswana or something like that. We should, though. Yeah, fun vacation. Right. I mean, North Korea, no one, North Korea has zero. exports other than crime cybercrime but he says so it's crazy the percentage of their stuff of 20 percent of cybercrime that's where a their GDP 20 percent comes from crazy cyber crime but it's one country we just don't fucking touch you're gonna have to fucking if you extract kim jong un you're going to have to use one of those scoop thing the net things that they used to carry the whales

and sea world yeah you can't fit him on the fucking black hawk yeah i saw that he was a certified forklift driver yeah did you see that What? He's the post too. What? For real? Yeah. Ken Join drives forklift.

Is he like the world's best? My favorite thing is he is the best. He's hit. Golfer? Have you seen that? How many hole in ones that guy got? Everyone. Everyone.

Man, he must be really good. Yeah. No one believes me. No one believe me. He missed his calling. Yeah. Tygo and that shit on me and no one believe it. That's why they're so mad at the world.

They're really good at it. At everything. No one believes them. They're actually breaking every record. Yeah. Good at everything except finding food. Imagine if you could like, imagine if we flew over and just dropped off like millions of cell phones

their people and had them already linked to free Starlink? They would immediately kill them all. Well, we've seen what they do because they brought some of their dudes over into Russia where they now have access to the internet for the first time. Yeah, they just overdose on. Dude. Immediately. Yeah.

No, they literally goon until they died. Yeah. Like, oh, it's the truck. I'm like, we have a case study for this. That's so cute. I love that. That was the mindset, though. It's like, what's this internet?

Oh, my God, I have access to everything. It's the same thing. Big babies. Big boobies and naked girl. It's a really baseline search. We should try to figure out what they were searching for, right? Bob's in. a gene.

Yeah. That's pretty funny. We actually, Hot girl, no cloth. We, uh, well-fed woman. Oh. They've never seen one before. Just not even.

They just have never seen a well-fed woman. Ooh. Ooh, that's naughty. She eating that beef. Dear Lord. I don't see bones. Oh, my God. Oh.

He should have watched an episode. Yeah. No. No, that went. Also, it's something to do you tell him we can cut anything. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Editor will cut anything. We won't. We hope. You just tell us. He finally, he finally starts talking over here and you see where it goes right now. You know what I mean? Like, he finally starts saying something.

We can talk about serious shit. He ain't saying a word, but I'll tell you right now. Like, you get into North Koreans with phones and, like, dude, he's got plenty to say about that. You know what I mean? Thanks, why? call. He's been holding that in the whole conversation. He was waiting for it to go there.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. We have one. I think his name is Mai, but she'll be joining the podcast. We're talking right now in three months. She escaped from North Korea. Wow.

Yeah. Coming on the podcast? Yep. Oh, that'll be a really cool. Other one. Okay. This one just recently escaped. Her and her sister escaped.

I think there were two. Yeah. There's three females that have. escaped. This one, it's sisters that escaped. And their stories wild, but their reactions to just America right now.

They're like, what the fuck is all of this? I mean, it's an experience because even a buffet, they have a video of them going to a buffet and it's just mind-blowing that food just sits out like that. Like, wait, you can eat? Yeah. You can eat this shit?

Which is wild. We take that for, we have fucking buffet. Like, all you eat buffets and they're like oh my god this is insanity right now no i can't wait for that that episode i'm super excited for that case i'm very sorry about everything we just said no no no no so i do want that part he just said cut out the sorry part good yeah fuck that's got to be cut out yeah yeah man you got i mean you talk about like i mean it's one thing to There's a lot of accomplishments you can get, but, dude, if you escape North Korea, that's pretty gnarly.

I don't know if there's any that beat that. Like, you, like, you escape North Korea. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. I think Brandon should give them his Medal of Honor. Dude, Brandon. Gladly.

Well, hold on. He has more than you. He has two at this point. How many metal of honors do you have, Brandon? Depends on which spurred you ask. Well, nobody. nobody told me I am sorry

nobody told me or we we would have you would have had three come back and we'll do a video for that after we'll do a photo shoot yeah yeah we'll do a ceremony can I come to one of your live events and we do a ceremony oh my God 100%

we're actually trying to get him oh my God I need to talk to Randy and Mike about that we're trying to get him honorary sarat major of the army because we're talking about the pinnacom, they're like, yeah, this is a possible thing. We're like, yeah, I think we have, yes. While it would be very funny, it'd be great.

You. No, no, no. No. And then you know what I'm going to do? And then you know what I'm going to do? As soon as he gets it, I'm going to come out on a podcast and I am going to talk about how he's a liar and his story's not like that. Yeah, I'm going to do a serious investigation on him. Like, this guy is posing as a metal of our recipient.

And he is a fake. Like, no. I'm going to run ads on it. Yep, done. Even if you made one real on Instagram where it's like this guy is faking. Yeah, I'm going to do it. I am going to do it. I don't think that Larry guy ever was a cable guy.

Brandon Herrera Medal of Honor. It is nothing but Brandon being pinned by the. metal. Oh my God. We have started an entire, dude, we have started an entire forced dollar campaign.

We didn't start shit. You started out. We. This royal we bullshit. He had no say. And then it just kept getting bigger and then they started sending in metals with friends like these. Hey.

I'm telling you, this is, I want to do it at a live show. Oh, done and done. Yeah. And then I'm going to do a podcast right. behind it still in Ballard.

You won't believe what this guy told me. You won't believe what this guy did. I think that was the name of one of the tours is a Forced Valor, the Forced Valor tour. Yeah, Forced Valor. And what's great is if we get that honorary sergeant major for you, Brandon, you're going to have, we can probably have multiple Medal of Honor recipients at this point showing up. Done. Done.

I'll call him. I have like, I'm not going to, I look, I'm just saying, I have, I have a connection to him. Wait, is there a Medal of Honor group chat? No, there's a society. I mean, you can just... Brandon's in the honorary Medal of Honor Society? No. I was, hold on.

I'm going to start adding into the email. This is too far. Hold on. I'm going to... Look, we get it. Right here. I'm going to show you right now. I love all footage.

It's always Brandon just hating every moment of this as we're like... We're like... ...in him with honor. She's non-consensual. When it comes from Congressional Medal of Honor Society, urgent invites. So I'm going to start sending, I'm going to start adding him to the list. I'm going to do reply all adding Brandon into it. Done.

I'm adding him. I'm adding him into it. Non-consensual valor is the name of this episode. I love it. This is done. What if in a hundred years the joke falls? of the wayside in history and they start teaching about the most honorable veteran ever. So here's the thing.

I'm going to have to leave. So because of all of the medals and everything that the fans have sent in, everything, because this has been a long, long running joke. He's stacked right now. Because, you know, I keep them all, obviously. Because it's really cool. Like, it's a cool thing from the community and everything like that. I'm going to have to leave all of that with a very, very, very.

serious note and explanation in a fucking locker somewhere so my grandkids don't find it and think I was some like Mike vining. I don't know that your letter that you put somewhere is going to be able to outdo all what Google is going to say. Do we had it for a while? There was for a minute. Do AI, when you Google, Brandon had served in the Army and Marines and he won multiple medals.

Like the AI just thought he was a fucking like a stud. He was Chad GPT. Yeah, Chad GTP did no idea what to do with him. Yeah. It's an honor. It's an honor. I don't think I like any of you.

It's an honor. You guys didn't tell me any of this. Like, and I, like, I'm Starstruck. I'm Starstruck is the best thing. We brought Dakota here to be humbled. Wow. Man. Now this is the part where we disassociate.

I had no clue. Oh, man. It was a joke. If you ever need me to carry your bags or anything, that's like that. Man. He's worse than Clint. Dude, that one, he just showed up on one episode. He says if you could go back in time, it would just not to show up on the veteran episode.

Eli text me because it was a Veterans Day thing, right? It was that episode. It was with Jack Manneville and Crispy. Oh, yeah. And he's like, God, do you want? want to go be on it and like, yeah, sure, whatever, like, whatever you need. And Eli tries to pin me with his purple heart. I'm like, no, like, nope, nope, don't, like, don't put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby.

And then that just started the entire joke with the audience. This is great. This is, I mean, I'm, I'm truly honored. Are we showing his shadow box off to the audience? I don't think so. Listen, I seen, I seen in there, like, I walked in. I was like, damn, there's a medal of honor in here. I was like, holy shit.

3D printed. Somebody printed one at the live show. I turned out walked out. I was like, dude, I don't rate. I don't rate to be in this place. Shit. Yeah. I think what I want to write is,

I'm going to do a children's book. But I'm going to talk about, like he's going to be the main character. It's your different name you use. Yeah. By the time this episode goes up. He got the stack. I have a stack and his dress uniform.

as well. Which every single thing I'll give it to him every single thing on that and including the uniform

was all just given by fans at live shows and such. I just want to know how did you earn this one? I think that's World War I, if I'm not mistaken.

You were there? Yeah, apparently. Nice. You got, you even got the ribbon. You got the, Medal of honor and the ribbon. Oh, you do.

Holy shit. Yeah. That's the real ribbon. Yeah. Is it really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's the real metal of honor ribbon.

Just so you know. The only, let's see. There's a couple of these. The only thing that I try to tell people is like, please, like, I get the joke, funny. Ha ha. You know, all that. Please don't send in your family's medals. Like, if this is like your grandfather's and shit.

This is a real purple heart. Oh, yeah. It's a real one. Yeah. Oh, dude. that one came with a letter in one of the best moments because that's when the joke was about to be dead like it was it was going down and then they sent rich angry cops a letter with and the guy was like hey i want to give brandon my purple heart and then we presented it to brandon on the

episode and chase did a beautiful edit with the star spangled banner playing eagles one that is very funny though is that there's like a foreign jump metal or something like that that came with a letter that basically is giving permission to wear it from the issuer which is pretty funny he has like the most insaid god just look at that that's a hero

oh shit that even that we're sorry we're sorry about that tell I'm sorry sorry you want you do push a bick's on I'll get down right now bick's on it's like I hate all of this so much.

Thank you. Dude, imagine how much it sucks to have a real one. Yeah. Well, I think it's a little different when you've earned it. Yeah.

Well, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, they just award it to you. You don't get a say in it, you know? You just show up.

You just, now you're in all these group chats and get all these fucking emails. Well, you're about to be too. I know it's going to hop it Like the second if it happens

It's going to be an R group chat Where he's like God damn it It's going to be What's going to be funny is when he's like Why am I getting responded to by James Livingston General Livingston I mean like

I got nothing here Because this is like such a unique form of bullying Like I don't know if this has ever happened If you have all of them getting your vote for Oh my gosh that listen you're the man funny story actually there's a Kenny County I don't remember the actual stat but it's a I think it's either per capita because it's a pretty small county or maybe just the the most in any cemetery

outside of Arlington they have the most Medal of Honor recipients buried there really so there's I think five that are buried it's it's very remote like it's not a not a highly populated county but the crazy story is two of them that live there in Kinney County, two of the Medal of Honor recipients got in a gunfight. And that's why one of them is dead. Yeah, with each other. What the fuck happened there?

I mean, you ought to see some of the, I've heard about some of the meetings that the recipients have. You know, I mean, it makes sense. I think it was like a property dispute or something like that. I'd have to research the actual story. Shout out Sheriff Bradcoe. Wow. He's going to take me down there to cemetery and like, you know, see all that stuff.

I think it's really cool because that's crazy history. Like, what are the odds? Yeah, five. Yeah. And then two fighting. Two shooting each other. Wow. To make it back from that and then you're going to war with each other's wild.

Well, I mean, I guess a lot of it hasn't changed in the veteran community. No, it stays the same. It really does. Not much has changed. No, no. So actually, going. to yours, because I don't know if, uh, if you want to talk about the battle of, Gangesgall.

Gangesgal. I was, dude, that was the one is that I was like, yeah, you look at it, you read it. And I'm like, oh, I don't know, fucking butcher that no matter how. Yeah. I say it. Yeah. I mean, you know, it was a, it was a, I won't get like a ton of details of it, but basically we were going to go in and run like a key leader engagement.

Um, I like was on an embedded training team. There was four U.S. and 80 Afghans. and you know we were we operated with them every day and we were like it's kind of like a train the trainer aspects so like you had multiple ranks skill sets and you taught them everything from tactics to logistics and all this and and i i loved my afghans like my afghan soldiers they were as close to me as the marines were like like we you know we we had to have each other in order to make it back so like you know you you really figure out what matters and what does doesn't and what you're going to agree on, what you're not going to agree on, and what you care

about agreeing on real quick when your lives are online. So, you know, we had been there for a couple months, a few months, two or three months, and we were, we'd been asked to come down to run this mission, a joint mission with the rest of the team. So, like, there was, like, teams spread out along this corridor or this area in Afghanistan on the eastern border. And so we had gone, gone down to run to we were in this mission brief and the brief was just you know there was a few aspects of it I didn't agree with I was taken out of my team and um you say what aspects were you like this stupid so I didn't I didn't agree with the communication plan right so like we the the environment over there because we were we were rolling at that time on VHF and so which VHF is a line

a site, style of communication, unlike HF, that uses waves and uses the electronic sphere and all this aspect to bounce off of. It was, we were using VHF, which is normal. And so the problem was, is that when you got across with the terrain where we were at, that VHF wouldn't reach back to the COC, which is the command operation center, right? So which is where you need all the, the hub of communication. Extremely important. Yeah.

And so, you know, and the, so because of that, we had put snipers up on this. the high, this high point. And the, the concept was going to be that we were going to relay through the snipers back to the COC. Sounds good. But we were going to have one frequency that you had multiple moving elements on. So you're going to have Overwatch positions. So you're, eventually have three Overwatch positions or four. I don't know the exact number. So, people stepping on each other. Yeah, the other podcast out there that are going to try to eat me up on this like I don't know exactly how many OPs we had at that time. Doc, how long has it been?

Well, so it's been since 2009. That's all you have to say. That's irrelevant in the facts of things. But long story short, you were going to have basically different moving elements that we're going to have to be on one frequency in order to communicate through snipers relaying it back. So my piece was, this is very dangerous. I mean, imagine a Zoom call with

multiple people on it trying to talk at once, right? And radios especially, like, it, nothing's happening. You're cutting off. You're cut completely off. Yeah. So I said that was one aspect that I brought up. Another aspect was that, you know, they kept running around talking about air on, like, air on strip alert, right?

So what air on strip alert means, it means that air, like a 15-minute strip alert, it means that basically that it has to take off within 15 minutes. But when you're coming from Jalalabad, right, where we were at, it was already a 30 to 45 minute flight. And then also on top of it, you don't have priority. So like if seals, which ultimately happened to us, if another higher priority takes the air, you don't, you get what's left over, so nothing, right?

So there's that piece. And then the last aspect that, you know, you could argue, this one way or the other is I didn't think that we should go into the valley on foot. We should drive the vehicles in so that you have the biggest power with you. And I was argued back on that was that they wanted to go in clandestine. And I said it's a 90-man patrol. You're not going anywhere clandestine. But I was the youngest, lowest rank in the room. And so these points were, I was basically told, you know, to shut up in color, right? And so with that, they took me out of my team and they replaced me. So they set me in the vehicle. So, like, it was like a punishment to me

because, like, I was always pissed off if I wasn't in the fight. So they took me out of my team and they replaced me the guy named Gunnery Sarn Johnson to go in. And so, like, one of the confusions is, is, like, was I replaced because, you know, like, who knows? I don't know why I was, but long story short, my position was going to be at the trucks. And then my team was going in. first time in any mission I'd never I hadn't been with my team first time since I had been put with them and really quick so wasting with the planes like that is helicopter yeah helicopter it's still like if they get in a tick it is 35 minutes at a minimum right so you're still talking 30 45 minutes and like that's a long that's a long time in a gun fight and so you know and and and so I was my location was the vehicle so what we did is

we drove in that day that morning and I'll never forget. So everybody like thinks that that what I did that day, I just came up with the plan that day. Like me and my team had agreed the night before that this is what I would do. Right. Like I told them if you all get in a gunfight and you're stuck, I'm coming to get you. Just get to the road. The agreement was is that they just had to get to the road and I was coming to get them. And that's very important in the story that comes up next. And so I'll never forget that morning driving in. It's kind of ironic to think about. But I was in the turret.

Gunny Kinnifick was driving. Lieutenant Johnson was in the passenger seat. And in the back was a Doc Layton. And then there was a guy in the back, my interpreter, Fazelle. And so we were driving in. And usually when we were going on any of these missions, we were always talking about like on-call targets. Like we were kind of like rehearsing.

like warming up of like hey like we take you know hey what's this on call target like hey what's this checkpoint you know all this like we were always talking about the mission right kind of like i don't know it's like getting your mind dialed into it and so that morning though as soon as we pulled out like we never talked about the mission once like all we talked about was home it was it was it was crazy um like looking back on it like obviously it didn't register at the moment but like all we talked about was home. We had this stupid idea that like, and I should have known that something was up because we were talking about me going to be the one to go to college and they were going to go work at the college and like as in the military and like, I don't know, we were going to have, then we were

talking about like who's going to whose house first, beer and all this stuff. And, and. That positivity high. You're like, what, you know, like, that's the thing is like everything's contagious. So like fear's contagious, you know, and I think like that's why. That's why. veterans, first responders, all of us, we have this dark sense of humor because, you know, it's one of the ways that we cope with the stress and the fear of, hey, we might die, you know? And so, like, anytime like shit gets bad, none of us want to be like, hey, I'm scared, and then the rest of the team be scared, right? I mean, like, that's because that's what would happen.

And so, like, you never want to give into that. So you always try to cope with it by, you know, some other joke, right? And so to get off of, like, how bad this sucks. and that's what that was, that whole drive-in. And so we drove in that morning and we parked. And I remember like the first issue that I had with the patrol was we parked. And so like the army was going to be out here on this main road. And they were going to be our QRF.

It was dog platoon. And so we parked. And I'll never forget, like everybody was like getting ready to get out of trucks. And I'm like, hey, like, how about you park these trucks off the road? Like, what am I supposed to do if we need dog platoon to come in? Run in every vehicle and pull it off myself. There's only three of us who are staying at this. Oh, fuck, yeah.

Yeah, so, like, we need to get all these vehicles off the road. So my lieutenant brought it up, and, you know, they did. And so I'm sitting in the turret, and I'm watching with thermals. And so Kenefic, he gets out, and he knew I was pissed. I was so mad. And I really honestly, I was mad in the beginning because I was like, they're going to get in a gunfight and I'm not. And like that's really ultimately the selfish reason that I was pissed. And because up to this point, like I liked fighting.

Like up to this point, like I was always looking for a fight. Like up until this day. And they walked, I'll never forget, he closed the door and it was the darkest I ever remember it being in Afghanistan. And he said, Meyer, I'll see you on the flip side. And walked off into the, they walked off, you know, it was probably, I don't know, it was a pretty good, just over a mile, maybe. I don't, I guess I don't really know, yeah, a few clicks to get in there.

And so they were walking this road. And my team was in the front of the patrol. And so I was watching with thermals and like I could see people running up the hills. And so like I brought it up on the radio and they were like, get off the radio. And I remember just watching. And then, you know, the. all of a sudden, like, where it gets kind of blurry for me is like, there was at a point, like, you just see, like, all these women

and all these elders and all these, like, people coming down the road, like herding their sheep out or their goats or whatever. And I'll never forget, I went up and tried to shake this one guy's hand, this elder's hand. I was trying to talk to all of them. You know, you can usually get a sense of the population by, you know, how they're treating you. And this guy, like this old guy, just standing there with his beads,

you know, like those beads they carry. Prayer beads. And he's just like, you know, like he wouldn't even shake my hand. I put my hand out. He wouldn't even shake my hand. He's just looking at me. And so I'm like, we're fucked. They are, they are about to, like, we're set up. And, you know, my team got, or the patrol got to the, to the village. And it just like turned into a gunfight. I mean, it was just, and it was like any normal gunfight in the beginning, right? Like, you know, usually they throw the kitchen sink at you first and then they run out of shit

they're gone. And, and it, dude, it was not like that on this one. Like, this was different. And, um, you know, the team immediately, like, you know, there's a lot of chaos in the beginning and, and, um, they immediately started trying to call for support. And, um, I could sense with my team, I could hear in their voice the level of stress they were at, right? And, but, but it was like, you know, we're fine. Like, they're going to, um, they're going to, Air is going to come in. QRF's going to show up. Like, you know, this is standard.

And I don't know the exact timeline on it, so I want to say that up front. And all of a sudden I hear Lieutenant Johnson come over the radio, and he starts to call in a support artillery mission. And so, I mean, it was perfect. Like, he called in this support artillery mission, gave a, you know, he gave the grid. It was a grid mission, the best I can recall. And, but he gave the format perfect.

And the response he got back was, it's too close to the village. And he said, the village is shooting at me. And they said, it's too close to the village. And he said, I'll quote, he said, if you don't give me these rounds right now, we're going to die. And the response he got back, I quote, was, well, try your best. And so at that moment, like, we had already requested, or they had, somebody had requested air multiple times, and it was already a certain, like, it was, it was like 15 minutes, 15 minutes, 15 minutes, 15 minutes.

What had happened was, you know, again, like, a lot of this is off sworn statements and stuff. Like, I don't know this, you have to say all this shit now because there's a group of individuals out there who are looking for every avenue. Like, it's so dangerous to tell your story on a podcast anymore because there's a group of individuals that profit off of sewing seeds it out, right? So. Well, in the way, just for that and the people watching, especially if they try to do that, like, go fuck yourselves. Yeah. It is 15 years ago. I can't recall.

Like, even my memory is so vague on each little thing. And you're going to a high stress situation. Guess what happens? You're not remembering the fine details. Well, for sure, right? And, like, you know, it, but just, you know, that's why I'm, that's why I'm, that's why. But that's why I'm like throwing all this in there because like they're very, you know, they have a very niche at what they do, right?

And so, you know, what had happened was the seals had gotten a tick up in the, up, I think, the Cornwall Valley. And so all air was over there on that because they were after an HPT, right? So there was some requests for it. They tried to come. They got canceled, like all this with air. But long story short, we go back to, I heard them say, well, we'll try your best. And so it was at that moment that I knew we were, right?

And so I got over on the radio and requested multiple times. I don't know how many, but more than once. And so I requested to bring the vehicle in. And each time I was told, no, get off the radio. So eventually I got tired of that. And so I said, so like, people say I went against orders. I like to say that I think there's technicalities to it. I just said be advised I'm coming in. So technically I didn't ask. Right. So

good. Right. I mean technically I didn't ask. You know what I mean? Yeah, fair enough. So Rodriguez Chavez, incredible guy. I would be dead if it wasn't for him. He was a staff sergeant at the time. I said, we got to go. We got to do something. And he, you know, he was like, yeah, let's go. And so he drove the truck. We're driving. I'm in the turret. And I think on my first trip in, I'm not 100% sure, but I think I started to go in with a Mark 19. And like, dude, as soon as we started to roll in, like we didn't even get to the mouth of the valley and we started taking shots. Like, they were already teeming at us. Like, and so we turned around to have to go get another vehicle. And then on the first trip, we actually made entry in was with a, I had a 50 cow. And so,

on the trip in, I begged these Afghans to go with us. And some of them did. Some of them didn't. And so as we drove in, we come around, and I'll never forget, we come down this valley, come around this tour, this, like, terraces. And dude, as soon as we got, like, to the mouth of the valley, like, like, I mean, I'd been in quite a few gun fights up to this point. Dude, I had no fucking clue.

what like it looked like the walking dead coming out like like these guys like these afghans were like carry like had each like carrying each other like guys wounded like I mean it was I mean it was horrible and I was like what am I going into luckily on my first trip in I find my interpreter like he was coming out and he'd already been shot and he's like I said we you know we help me And he's like, yeah, he's like absolutely. And he was with my team. No shit. Yeah.

And so he's like, yeah, he's like the last time I seen him was at, you know, up, he knew exactly where he thought that they were. And so I was like, well, we got to go get them. And he's like, okay, sounds good. And I had heard at some point on that trip in that they came over and they started calling in my gunny started calling in a medevac. so I knew somebody was wounded and so for me

on that first trip in I hear this Medivac coming over and I am like I always kept a Sharpie with me and so I was trying to write in the turret the grid because he's gonna have to give the location because I knew if I had the grid

I could put it on a map and I knew where they were and so I which is wild to do during all of this a lot of people I don't think they know you're looking at a map getting grid, like locations while dealing with everything. Yeah, but trying to like write this if I knew, because I knew if I had the location,

like I'd have a better shot of finding them. You know what I mean? And he got like, he was getting stepped on as he was trying to give out this. And so like finally he came up with the radio. I never forget how frustrated he was. And he said, get off the radio. I've got a medevac. And so everybody shut up.

And then he started to give out the first three or four numbers and stopped. And so, you know, we kept fighting and pushing in. And so we pushed on in and like, dude, there were bodies everywhere. Like my driver actually ran a guy over. Like, I shot this guy and then he actually hit the guy because they were trying to grab the truck, right? And so, I mean, it sounded like, it was chaos. We're bodies everywhere. And on the first trip in, like my Afghan soldiers see me and they got excited.

and like they were like so excited to get help and like dude they were running at the vehicle and i'll never forget and like they're just getting mowed down and um and it was like you talk about the most helpless feeling you ever had and so we pushed the truck as far as we could up and as far as we could up and um to like to close to the like the edge of the village and like we're fighting and i'm fighting and my 50 cow goes down to start shooting single shot so i'm trying to shoot i had a backup 240 in there So I'm trying to hold it like on the side of the turret. Like I'm exposed way more. It's bouncing around.

I'm trying to, you know, shoot the 50-Cal single shot, which is very ineffective. And then like I start feeling this blood. Like one of my arms, my right arm was sweating a lot more than my left arm. And I look down, I'm just dripping blood. And so like I'd been hit by a piece of shrapnel. And so I made the decision. to turn the truck around and to go back to get another vehicle. So which is the worst decision I ever made my life,

which is hands down the worst decision I ever made my life. And so we turned around and go back. And at that point, he dropped me off at the mouth of the valley because he had to go all the way back and get it. And I started establishing a casualty collection point, right? So my major was there, my first sergeant was there. there was some other guys there Afghans

And so basically what we were doing was We were like grabbing those guys from the mouth of the valley And then taking them back to where the vehicles were staged Right And so My major had been shot in the arm My first sergeant Who was the only

Other than like, you know Fabio and Swinson There was a couple guys like that Who were you know Busting around the valley And you know doing all the shit they were doing I wasn't with them so I can't speak about what they were doing and um but my first sergeant as far as like command he was the only one that that that wanted to go back

in there like dude you almost had to fight the guy to keep him from going back in there like he's he's a good guy like first sergeant garza was was a was a good guy but he just couldn't go back in he'd been blown up by a RPG and like you know the guy on black hawk down that couldn't hear like that's what he reminded me of right like he was just like i was having to scream at him you know what I mean he's like, I'm going, I mean, he was like wanting to go back in, like that dude right there. Like if, if I, if I hadn't convinced him to go back in, he would have went back in by himself and fought his, I mean, he would have, he would have not come out till the guys were out. Good leadership. Yeah, he was.

The first aren't Garza was. And I owe him that. Like, I've never given him any credit because I, you know, I was more pissed off at the officer that day than I was, you know, but he was a good guy. So anyways, Rod comes back with another vehicle And I begged these Afghans to come in with their trucks So like their Ford Rangers And so on the second trip in What I would do is I'd put my interpreter

Who was a, you know, an Afghan National Army sergeant major So who you know then became an interpreter So he knew weapon systems and fighting and all this So I put him in the turret and he would cover me as I would run out and get bodies Gotcha. So I would run out and like these guys would like move their foot and I would know that they were injured. So I would like sprint over to them or try to get to them.

And then I would put a tourniquet. Like you can only do so much medical stuff. So like if I could, I would give them a tourniquet. If I could, I would do needle decompression if I could. I would put an airway in them like if I needed to put an MPA in them. but like you know if I couldn't do that then you know I would just I would hold them until they died and then you know to just try to let them know that somebody cared about them you know as they died and so then I would drag them back and I would put in the back of the truck I would put the dead ones on

the bottom and I would put the ones that are injured and had a chance to live on top of the dead ones and then we just filled the back of the truck up and send it out and so we did this for gosh six to eight hours and four to six who knows it seemed like forever and so then the helicopters finally showed up and they would fly over and they would say spot and so when I heard them say spot then I would run over and I would know there was a body under it and I would do whatever I could and though you're just trying to like search for you know your teammates and you know on the last trip in you know we saw to go back and get another vehicle and then on the last trip in you know we finally located the

the the the what happened was is that air had said spot and they said hey we got five bodies in this trench and you know I still thought it was just afghans I honestly thought my teammates

were hold up in a in a in like a house and they were just you know waiting for us to get to them you know and and and he said five bodies in a trench and so PJs at that time had showed up right like at one at one point

time we had four kai was on station we had two apaches and we had two fast movers and a team of pjs all overhead all of all all in the like all working for us you know i mean uh it was the only time i ever got a or i didn't but but we ever got a um a fast mover to do a gun run right like it's not usually very often in the mountains that they want to do that and um so these pjs were there and the PJs were going to come in and grab those bodies. And so we were on the road and they came in. They tried to, they were like going to land and they're like, it's too dangerous. We're getting shot at. So they, I told Swenson was at the time talking to him and said, hey, drop a can of smoke above wherever they're at. And so they did. And like as soon as, as soon as they dropped that smoke, like I took off

sprinting. Like I just sprint as hard as I could. And like it was probably, I don't know. 50, 75 meters. And I jumped off this terrace and like, dude, I landed on top of Gunny Johnson. And Gunny Johnson and then I went a little bit further down the trench and there was Doc Layton with all of his med gear out laying on top of Lieutenant Johnson. Obviously he was treating him and then I went a little bit further and there was there was Gunny Kenefic. And so they'd all been killed.

And there was an interpreter. So that's where the five come from. And so they'd all been killed. and so we, at that point in time, I just said, hey, look, you know, the four MIAs are now four KIAs. And we, you know, that was the other thing

that like on my second trip in, I got accountability of everybody. The leadership never wanted to say that there was missing in action, U.S. missing in action. You know what I mean? It's almost like they were, like they didn't know where they were at,

but like we're going to try to wait for it, you know, to make itself right. And dude, as soon as like, I think the first time they got pissed at me was whenever I just literally came over the radio and said we've got four U.S. missing in action. But I knew if we said that over the radio, I knew I would get assets for days, right? Like the assets are going to stack through the roof. Like we become a priority. I mean, I got it that we're getting a bunch of visibility on us and it might make some people look bad. But like, dude, that was at that point in time, you know what?

We didn't, like, we took priority of air. You know what I mean? And so like, And so, yeah, I said they've been KIA, and I'll never forget, I went down to pick up Gunny Johnson, and it was like all the adrenaline was gone, you know? And I picked him up, and I started to carry him, and I fell flat on my face. And the Afghans came over, and they started to, like, grab one of my guys, and I said, oh, don't worry about it. Like, you guys just, you know, you guys just go on. Like, I'll get this.

Don't worry about it. and they were like no you um you helped us carry our body our our guys out we're going to help you carry your guys out and and they did you know i mean they stayed with me the whole time we we we got them back we you know took them back to the base and that was kind of it you know man yeah yeah yeah i was all under fire too yeah i mean it was yeah i mean we yeah i mean it was all you know it's it was a yeah it was a crazy day you know we went back i put put the guys in the you know we put them in the freezers sent them back the PJs were so nice that they took them back for us and then um yeah i mean i went back and ate lunch and and our dinner or whatever it was and then got my truck

back together and then went and got into another gunfight four days later isn't that turnaround is the most wild thing it's like it's the speed of combat and the speed you have to be back on mission we lost a godier and ham and then it was we had that evening or that next morning we did a hey guys first we're out on the cob like hey we lost some people we're gonna get some time off four hours later hey we have we have a house you got us hit so so you don't get any time off and then you're out on a raid again you're like holy shit what is chaos is like and that it pisses me off that you brought up it's like 15 people on a radio it and then now everyone's talking over each other and you can't get anything out and it's a stupid just like no one thought

of that it's like hey this might be a problem it's complacency though right it's it's complacency right and that look we you know we they gotten away with it so many times you know what I mean like that's why the MIA like that's why they didn't want to say that we don't want to get oh we don't want any trouble we look stupid if we say that versus as you're saying that's an instant now we have birds of were like everything oh we have actual troops in contact here is shit's already gone bad yeah and it's you know that's yeah you know and it's i i don't know right like you know i yeah it was it was it was a it was a it was a crazy crazy day yeah from the time the first shot was fired to when it was over how how long was it roughly you know it's that i think about that i think about that all the time

you know um i i don't know i think maybe like i think probably it probably started at six or seven a m and then it would last it until one or two right like i would think i don't i don't you know i really don't know um you know it seemed like a long time but but like it was i mean it was a good six you know it depends on who you ask it depends on like what investigation it was a good six to eight hours um yeah of of gunfighting and um yeah i mean it was crazy like you know because you got to take like i you know monday night monday afternoon it was monday yeah september 7th so monday i left so we lived in a like a house so they're like a little like hut it was uh me all four of us right so we lived in a hut and i left there monday and i went back on thursday and everybody that i lived with was gone yeah

So it was your entire actual team. Everybody that I, everybody on my team was dead. That would have been the hardest fucking thing. Like that Thursday. Like what was that if you weren't even talking about? Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, dude. It was. And it's just everyone you've known. Your brothers at that time. Yeah. It was, it was horrible. Like, you know, and I did get it, they did give me an option, right?

Like the first aren't tried to get me to jump on the helicopter with them, with them to go back and escort them back home. And my thought pattern on it was like, I, they're dead. Like, like me going back to their funeral is not helping the mission, right? It's probably putting people in liability because somebody's going to have to go back up there to my area. Like, I know my area.

Like, I would, if any of my Afghans got killed while I was gone, like, I wouldn't be able to live myself. And so I was like, these guys are dead. Like, you know, like, I'll see them when I get home and like, I'm going to go back and continue the mission. just like they'd want me to do. And so it was tough, man. Like, you know, we roll back and I had,

I was so fortunate that Bocas and, you know, Richards, you know, they went, they were willing to come from other teams and come back with me because I was just hell bent, right? I was just like, you know, they were trying to do like a two-week stand-down on our base of like, hey, everybody's going to stay there and we're all going to, you know,

we're all going to, you know, just kind of decompressed from this. And I was like, no, right? Like for me like like like my afghans had to go back to the base and so I was like if my afghans are going I'm going like we're in this together like you know I don't talk about the story a lot but like after I you know put put the guys and I say I put the guys in body bags because I fucking did it right like it wasn't like I'm talking about me I'm just saying that like no other than bogus nobody else helped me do that right and um which was one of the most disappointing parts of that day and um so anyways like after we got done with that. Then I went over to the Afghan side and I helped them clean up their guys. You know what I mean? I helped them take care of their guys and fix their guys and make sure they had everything that they needed. And then I went to eat, right? Because that's what you do. And so, you know, when they had to go back to base, I was like, well, I have to go with them because like we went through this together and like I'm not going to lose this credibility that I have with them that, oh, look, like, you know, they get, you know, they don't have to deal with like, no, we're in this shit together and I've made this commitment to them. and I'm not going to, I'm not backing off of it. So I actually had to cut a, I actually had to like damn near sneak back to the base, right? So what I did was is I called up, you know, we had cell phones over there that we bought from the, you know, the local shopkeeper, right?

And, hey, the little cards. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So I, um, I called up, uh, one of the lieutenants up up there. I said, hey, can you guys run a, because we couldn't go back with just one V. vehicle, right? So I was like, hey, can you guys run a logistics patrol down here? And I'm going to jump in with you and head back. I need an escort. They're like, done. So like they came up with this logistics patrol. They had to run down. So they came down and like I, there was this,

there was this guy. He's a great guy, Colonel Kinney. And I like, I talked to Bocas and Richards. And I was like, hey, well, you guys go with me. And they're like, yeah. So they talked their teams. Their teams was good with it until we got combat replacements. And I just told Toro, Colonel Kenny, I was like, hey, like, this is the only chance I got to go back. So I'm going to jump in with this patrol. And he's like, oh, okay, sounds good, right? You know, Colonel Kenny was a, you know, he was just a supporter. You know, and he was like, sounds good, like, have at it, you know.

So we jumped in that patrol, went back. And it was hard, right? Like, you know, I'd go back. And the first thing I had to do was, you know, I had to pack up an inventory every one of my guys stuff, right, to send back to their families. and I did that and and then like as I was doing that

there was another gun fight that broke out combat logistics patrol got stuck in a got stuck in a gun fight and it was bad it was so bad and we jumped and went to that and I believe that that gun fight was almost as bad as the one that no show yeah that was there right

I mean it was just a shit show of a week yeah that dude that's It felt like that's how it always One is when we would have When you'd lose somebody It'd be like a week of multiple people Going down that week

And you had no explanation for it And then your new AO and it's like oh hey we're here Oh shit it's not too bad three weeks into that aO And then it's like oh shit IAD just Yeah killed somebody Bomber just killed three people and then a vehicle rolled over in the river And killed another person

And you're like It's momentum And you're just trying to stay positive during the entire time and then keeping that mindset and then keeping everyone else positive which is the fucking hardest thing why do you feel the um you you said okay taking the broken vehicle back was the worst decision of your life why do you feel that because that like in my head that i think was you're looking at it's just negative like it was the worst decision but at the end you don't know if you were there for five more minutes to like a round hits you and now you're not

doing what you did. Yeah, I mean, it's because I was only maybe 30 to 50 meters from my teammates. You know, and like I've tried, like I've read their autopsies a million times to try to figure out if they were still alive at that time or not. But I mean, who knows? Like, what if, like, what if me turning around killed their hope and they got overran right because of that right so you know i think it was probably the the most cowardice act i've ever had in my life of turning around at that moment um just because like you know we like i lived like i

truly and i still do right i still believe um like i don't believe in leave no man behind like i believe like i believe that's not a t-shirt phrase it's a way of life right i i i believe in that like i believe in leave no man behind and i and i also believed it like life's is simple you either get them out alive or you die trying and if you don't die trying you didn't try hard enough and so like you know that's that is the standard for life and so like you know

if you live by that you have to also answer to that as well and so you know like when I turned around you know who knows like you know but I was we were that close to them and so you know I think that I think that's where like the contradictions with the Medal of Honor come in right is like

you know, I understand, I understand like it's truly an honor to have it, but like it doesn't change the fact of the results. And so like I think this is where people get mixed up in life is like it's also why I think I've been able to get over it because I don't have to dodge reality. You know, like to me, like I know I failed that day. Like that day is the biggest failure of my life. Like whether that feels good, whether it doesn't, no matter how you want to factually blend it or you want to shift the content. so that it fits societies feel good aspects of it. Like, I went in that day to get my teammates out alive.

My teammates died. So I failed. But with that failure, I'm thankful for it because, like, it has taught me and gave me every aspect of why I am the way I am today. But if you change that narrative, you know it's not real. Like, I consider it and be like, oh, well, you know, I did my best. Okay, well, you can do your best and still lose, right?

And so, like, you know, this is what, like, people, this is why people can't get over or get past. This is why they're stuck in their trauma because they don't want to face the reality, right? And so, like, you know, for me, like, yeah, I got a medal of honor, but it doesn't mean that I didn't fail that day. It's the biggest failure of my life. Like, that day is the biggest failure of my life. And then I get a medal of honor. And now I don't even get to walk around and live in my own reality. I have to live with it in the face of the nation.

You know, the first thing I told, I told them when they contacted me about, about the Medal of Honor is like, you know, you're a hero. And I'm like, okay, go tell their, go tell my teammates that. You know, and it's like, it's like, look, like, I, I have a medal because I, I know what a bad day looks like, not because I'm a hero. Like, I have a medal because, um, honestly, I have a medal because everybody else felled around me. Right. And so, you know, everybody else should have just done what I'd done and I should have done

better. And so, you know, I think, I think it's one of, I'm not saying everybody else felled that day. A lot of people did a lot of great things, right? And, but I'm just saying like, it is a, it is a, it is a medal. that's there because of failures in leadership and decision making. And, you know, there's a bunch of failures that cause that. And so, you know, I think that that's the reality of it. But you can't change reality because you don't like the way it feels.

Because then there's no closure to it. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, does it feel good to know that I'm, that I let down the most important people in my life? No. No, it doesn't. But that's the reality of it. And so because of that, like, I have like a superpower across the world.

Like, like I don't walk in any room and fear anybody because what are you going to take from me? Like, I've already lost it all. You can't take something from somebody who's already lost at all, right? Like, like, what at the point that you, what you fear losing, like, I don't care about, you know? So, you know, for me, like, but if I change that narrative to feel good, you know, people are like, you know, you did your best, you know, you're not the ones that killed them. Yeah, I mean, I guess you can factually blend it however you want to make yourself feel good. You can justify anything you want and lie to yourself as much as you want. But the reality is I went in there

to get them out alive and I didn't. So that's called failure, you know? And, and it's, it's a, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, I, you know, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, and then you live, and, and, and then you live, the face of nation where, you know, there's this expectation. It's like, dude, like, the difference in me and you is the, like, how many chances you had to get a metal of honor? None. What about you? No idea. Yeah, so there you go, right? That's a difference in us. That's a difference in us, right? Like, you ain't been in the situation to get a metal of honor. But what that metal represents is what

is, is, it's about in the world, right? That metal represents literally the potential inside of every human being as long as they believe in something bigger than themselves and they love people so much that they're willing to do whatever it takes to stop the suffering even if it's all the way up to the cost of their life. That's all it is. I'm just a guy from Kentucky who believed that I could do something and took action and was going to do it until something stopped me from doing it. And like, that's it. Like, it's that simple and that's the potential inside of every human being that walks this planet if they believe in good. I think it's the potential but the people that step up to grasp that that is because I get your side too because it is hard because you look at

it as the worst day of your life and the you look at it as a failure and it is like it's that battle with yourself you're like fuck dude like you would give that metal and a heartbeat to have your guys back for sure fucking instantly you back for sure any day of the week but you still saved how many fucking lives. I don't know. How many, like, and then how many families that, that individual, those, that one dude, you saved, that two, three, four, like, all those people you saved, how many kids did they have? All those lives you affected. And now you have generations of individuals that you made that change. You brought life to that family. You brought them home to be with their family. And that's not like five people. That is multiple when you bring in the

factors are like kiddos their grandkids kids on that like that is saving bloodlines yeah and you have to look at it that way too it is like the worst but you've also changed so many lives in that same moment where it was just you being selfish you didn't think about anyone else other than everyone around you you didn't give a shit about yourself you're like I'm running in gunfire I don't give a I want to help as many people as I possible can you went back and you set up a med Yeah. Like even that, it's that hard one, it's that battle, you're going to have to, I mean, you already have. Dude, I will just say this.

You are one of the, like, I understand you way more after your, like, hearing this, hearing you talk and then your mindset on it. It is, it's fucking motivating. It's sad. It's motivating. And it's, but you are one of the most humble dudes. Like, I appreciate that. Fucking possible, man. Like, it is crazy to hear what.

you've been through and then how humble you are because you do not give a shit about yourself like you truly do care about the people yeah I mean every you know everything I do like I wake up every day um to try to get stronger and to be better not for myself but so I can help more people like that's like literally there's that's the only context that I have it's the only way it's the only way I know like I can't like I I you know and I've tried to fight it I've tried to go against it I've tried to like oh you know, I'm tired of doing this. But it's like, it's the only thing I know. Like, there is nothing that, like, there's no other purpose I have on the face of this planet than to stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves. Like, I don't have to believe in them. I don't have to agree with them.

I don't have, like, it's not conditional either. Like, it's not conditional either. It's, it's, I just love people. And I, like, and I just, um, like, if I can just give them hope, like, I know the power of hope, right? And so, like, you know, that's, that's what matters to me. It doesn't matter whether it's, you know, whether it's walking down the street or whether it's in a gunfight or whether it's on a fire truck, right? Like any of those aspects. And, you know, it's just, I don't know. Like, I, yeah, I mean, maybe I saved a lot of people.

Maybe I helped a lot of people. Maybe. I don't know. But I just, you know, but the other thing about me that I think is different is like, I don't show up. I don't show up every day for the results or the titles or the awards. I show up for the test. I don't care about anything else.

I don't care about anything else. You know, most people finish a race and they want to look at their time and they want to look. Like, I'm just looking for the next race. You know what I mean? Like, that's it. Like, I don't show up for,

I couldn't care less. Like, the win or loss. I'm there for the test. You know what I mean? Like, like the win and loss is nothing more than a data point of a reflection. And so... Bettering myself each and every time I do this.

Yeah, bettering myself. And when I get better, I know I can use that better. betterment to help other people. Like, the more I grow, the better I get, the more I learn about myself, like, the more I can turn around and lead other people through that. And I have a, like, you unlock more to helping other people, you know? And so like, I will say this, you know, for the metal piece of it, um, I'd say probably the last couple years, I finally got to a point to where like, and this is going to sound bad, but like, I think you just have to

live in this, this reality of it is like, I don't, While I would absolutely change my, like switch my guy's spots, like, in a heartbeat, I, I wouldn't change a thing. And I know that sounds tough, right? Like, obviously, I'm, like, I still think today, like, this is how crazy it is, like, as we're talking about it. I still think today that I don't know that I have ever faced that I might not, still won't ever hear their voices again.

Like, that's how, like, nuts it is, right? But I'm thankful for it because anytime I talk about or anytime I use a narrative or any time I'm ever sad about it, like all I'm doing is taken away from their legacy of being heroes. Like and so like think about us. Like I think about it all the time. If I could die on the side of a mountain somewhere and people could still be inspired by my death 15 years later, I would do it in a heartbeat. I would do it in a heartbeat. If I could die in a way to where people would be motivated, be inspired, like it would be like, like shit, most of us,

people are going to forget about us in 90 days after we die. These guys' names are going to live on forever, right? And so like it's important to go out and to not only tell their stories, but to live a life that's worthy of their stories, right? Like there's so many veterans out there that are running around, oh I've seen the cost of freedom well you should start acting like and start living like you've seen the cost

of freedom because you can't walk around and point at everybody else and tell them that they're not like you know that they're not living to their fullest when you're not doing the same and so like I've seen the cost of like dude I mean these people they gave their they gave their tomorrows

for our todays and every day that I don't go out and make the most of it is a day that I'm doing nothing but spitting on their graves Yeah. You know, it's a Beautifully sad dude. You know, and it's just the reality of it, right?

It's just, it is what it is. And I think that, like, I think that it's so dumb for us to wish things were different or to, you know what I mean? Like, it's so irrelevant. It's so, there's nothing to it. Like, you know, too many people are walking around and they're like, you know, what do you wish was different? Nothing. Because if one thing was different, everything's different. And so, like, it's just on us to, like, take all these things that we face and figure out,

how we can use them for the greater good of the world, right? Because there's a lesson in all of it. Yep. Fucking thank you for it, brother. Yeah, seriously, thank you for coming on here and just telling your story, man, because that's incredible. Yeah, it was really good, man. Thanks.

No, it's, you know, I don't really tell it. I don't tell it anymore just because it's like, dude, if I say one thing today that contradicts, like, if I'm like, oh, you know, I made four trips in and they're like, oh, he said on this podcast, he did three, I mean, the veteran community is so, like, oh, it eats itself. They are the, I mean, but same thing in like the first responder community, like all of it. Like, like, it just, it's like, who hates veterans more than veterans? Veterans, yeah.

It is the truth and it sucks and it's something. But I will say, you have an entire army now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That will fucking go to war in the comment sections for you now because they're going to be like, any negative and that's why we love the community we built they are savages yeah yeah that's like oh oh fuck we've watched it time and time again it's like oh they tried it try to try to talk and it's like no good luck literally good luck you have people it's like you don't fuck with that community just that is one where it's like off limits now yeah because it is it's like this motivates people

this changes people's lives this is that was the purpose of unsubes It was how do we make an impact the best way we can and then share these amazing stories. So they live on because in 20 years, 50 years, 100 years, these podcasts, it is World War II veterans, Medal of Honor and Veterans telling their stories in a relaxed environment. And that's going to go on forever. That will never be lost. Yeah. And you know, and I thought about this the other day.

Like, I don't know, I woke up and it just like had hit me. I honestly I was in bed and I like I had to get out of bed and shoot this video because it was like this urgent on me and you know I always have lived by you know look history never never remembers the haters like like I've always remembered that right like I've always like just lived by that saying and because I mean think about it right I mean you hear all these good stories that we live off of legacy but you don't you don't remember the haters you know what I mean like like the the man in the arena thing yeah it's the man in the arena right and so but for the first time for the first time in our history, the haters are actually writing it.

The haters are actually controlling the message out there, right? They're louder than everybody. And so, like, that's why it's so important for us to tell our stories. It's so important for the good to tell their stories. Because if not, I mean, imagine this. Like, imagine this. Imagine if the Bible was a compilation of stories of the people that didn't deny Jesus how we would be set.

Think about that, right? Think about that. Think about if the 70 people had listened to, all the naysayers when they were going to, you know, when they were going to fight against the British, we wouldn't be where we are, right? And so it's like, but right now in a time where the internet and where all these platforms give access to everybody, we have to outmessage the haters because if not, like, what are my kids? What are our kids going to look up to and to remember and to remember the world as, right? Like, I think. Well, it's the best and worst, or

The best part about the internet is that everybody gets a voice. The worst part about the internet is everybody gets a voice. But I think a lot of those, we call it like drama content creators. They have such a shelf life. Because once that dries up and it will, and it's maximum two to three years. I think what's the average content creator's lifespan? Like four years? Four years?

And then gone. And then if yours is based off the Trump. So we're all unborrowed time. I know. Well, I think we've all passed four years. Yeah. Yeah, I'd say. Yeah, we're good so far.

But it is when that's all you go after, you do not have a loyal audience base. They will turn on you in a fucking second. We've got to watch this time and time again now. And it's happening really quickly on the internet where, yeah, it might have been cool. And now they're just cannibalizing each other. Because then they turn on each other. You just get to watch. Because I could tell my story in a way that like pisses everybody off.

You know what I mean? like how you, you can tell your story in whatever way you want to. And you, but it's like, what are you intending to do? Like every story, everything you say, everything you do should be with the intentions of making the world a better place. You see you, you, you did not focus on a negative individual during that. All you were saying, you still painted everyone a part of that. It's like, here's what they did. This is why they were amazing. And that is truly how stories should be told. That's how it's got to be done, right? Like, you know, I can sit back here and I, can judge everybody else how they did.

But I don't know what they knew. I don't know what, like, you know what I mean? Like, I believe everybody did the best that they could that day, right? They all gave their all. And look, who knows? If I had to face that day again today, who knows, right? Like, you never, I don't think you ever do anything in life that you get to live off of it forever.

Like, I don't think you ever have one single action. I don't think you have one single accomplishment that you get to go through the rest of your life and you get to live off of that action and it justifies your existence of good for the rest of your life. I think that that action is only good for that moment. And like, what you do past that, you should be judged every single day on the win and loss or the greater good that you impacted from that moment. It's like the saying, like, you're only as good as your last at bat. 100%. And that's how it should be, right? You got, you know, you just, I see too many people I call them. They have the Uncle Rico syndrome, right? Like, they want to, they want to, they want to,

throw a Pache in a car mom. Yeah. You know what they want to talk, they want to talk about what they did. They want to talk about what they've done. And it's like, well, I just want to, I just want know what you're doing, right? Like, I just want to know what you're doing. So, well, on that note, well, first off, you have merch, you're doing some merch. Yeah, so I do, I have own the dash, right? So I have that. And then, you know, I write on substack a lot. Like, I put all my, my thoughts out there. I like substack just because, like, it doesn't have to be short form. Like I can, so it's a blog, right? It's called the bluff. And so it's like the bottom line up front. And so I just put out content on, you know, whatever I feel like, you know, whatever's going on in the world.

I try to like, I try to like dumb it down to my perspective of like, you know, at a Marines level of like real simplified. And so, you know, like I just put long form content on there. It's just a blog of like what my thoughts are on of current events and things like that. So yeah. And then what's the merch? Yeah. So it's just like I have T-shirts and stuff.

Own the Dash. You know, I came up with this, this concept of, you know, the Dash is like, you know, we're all, when we all die, it's going to be our, like. last name and you're going to have the day you were born the day you die but really what matters is that dash in between right like like you can't control you can't control the day you're born and you can't control the day you die but what you can control every day is is is that dash it's in the in between and so you know like you know using that to you know to impact the greater good right really that's what it comes down to is like nobody's going to remember how you know Linda Ellis wrote this poem

and she talks about in it of how she stood at the funeral of a friend and you know first came the date on the tombstone from the beginning to the end. And then she goes into like, you know, nobody's going to remember how much money you make. Nobody's going to remember how many followers you got. Nobody's going to remember any of those aspects. Really what matters is, is what people say at your funeral. And, you know, they're not going to talk about how much you make. You know, they're going to stand there and they're going to, they're going. We have a running joke. Yeah. What is it? I want to hear it. It really does not fit into your, bit at all.

Yours is very motivation. We have a running joke that whichever one of us dies first, the other has to go and say every single slur at it as a eulogy at the others. But you can just scream it. It has to be like...

It has to be woven into a narrative. I just like the big 72 font text. I just did the real-life joke, Harry. As soon as you said, the only thing that matters is what someone says at your funeral, I'm like, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah, well, that's, sorry. You know what I think we should do, like, for a show is we should do a mock funeral so we can hear them practice it. Oh, I love that idea. I think it would be great for all of our careers. Have you, hold on. Before we go, have you all seen that there's that, there's, like, that guy that goes around to funerals?

Like, you can pay him, and I don't know what he's called, but, like, basically he comes to your funeral. You can pay him, and he, like, calls out the people that, um, that, that, like, you, hate. Like, so, like, he's like, he, it got, it got started. So it got started. Some guy paid him. The guy knew he's going to die. And this guy knew that, um, this guy was banging his wife.

And so he goes to the funeral and like, he comes up and starts speaking. And he's like, like, whatever his name is. He's like, Joe, you know, I know you've been banging my wife for this many years, like in front of everybody. So it's like, you can pay this guy and hire him to go to your funeral and do this stuff. It's like, even window to an awkward window real quick. Yeah, the grieving harlot. Yeah.

It's like the other guy. It's like a famous thing where it's like, yeah, if my homie dies, I'm going to pay a gay dude to cry extra hard at his funeral. Oh, my God. That is cool. Pulls up in his Mustang. Yep, exactly. That yellow Mustang. Just a random dude just crying at Cody's funeral thing.

I like, dude, I like the mafia outlet. You pay some giant Italian guys to wear their suits and come by to your casket. be like, we're going to miss you, we're going to miss you. It's like, don't say anything to the family and leave. It's like, what the fuck did he do? Just confuse everyone. Like 20 big Italian guys. We're going to miss the big CG.

We're going to miss that. Our condolences. Go to your mother like, if you need anything. We need somebody to disappear. I wanted to like record myself saying thank you for coming. and like have my arm sticking out and like you slap my arm as you go back because nobody ever thanks you for coming to their to their funeral or like have like me standing up in like a photo booth you know what i mean like you suck i love that a photo booths really good but really bad yeah

bernie's photo booth yeah what do you think like yeah what do you think it's good idea i think if you like some animatronics too yeah i'd pay extra for animatronics in my body so i like The conversation between the funeral home and the animatronics expert would be hysterical. Yo. Because that's logistically has to happen somehow. There is a price point. I guess we'll just put a screw there. Make me dance.

You just put one of the new AI robots walking out in your flesh doing a robot dance. Just imagine that's going to happen. 100% people are going to start doing that. Just imagine the Star Wars canteen. Dude, dude, dude, do,

do, to do, do, do, do, you know, one of the new Tesla robots that just has an Eli skin. Yeah.

So, like, if they get to the point to where they do, like, um, brain transplants, will you do that? I want to die. I hope not.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. No, I think that'd be awesome for you. Just brand. You just keeps going forever. Yeah,

a brain in a jar. He just keeps going forever. Nixon's back. it's not Brandon's choice. It's his friends that make him do this. It's like forced power and forced life. But he's like, kill me. The only thing he says in Morse code

and through the computer is let me die, let me die, let me die. I'm going to sue your estate for power of attorney to put you in a Tesla robot and then I die. Brownie's up. Frowny fans. It's cannot.

self-delete. It's like the robot that's only purpose is to unplug itself. And what if we could like pick the body you went into? Oh no. Oh yeah. I hate that worse. I like this way more now. We could pick the body he went into. Oh yeah.

Plot twist. I only accept if it's yours. Yeah, I don't know if you want that. I am become actual medal of honor. I am a medal of honor. What if we could switch brains? Oh, I don't think you'd want that either. Dude, that'd be awesome. Yeah.

Where do we find you on social? Yeah, Dakota Meyer 037 on Instagram, and that's, you know, that's pretty much it. But you're going to, you're thinking about doing YouTube too. Yeah, maybe some YouTube later on. We'll shorten that title, though. We'll get that name without all the random numbers at the end. I've tried YouTube a couple times, but I just like, I get, I don't know, I just get so. Overwhelmed.

I just get tired of it. I hate shooting videos bro yeah what do you all think yeah yeah we've all had the fatigue

at one point or the other yeah but I'm like three videos in I get fatigued I mean yeah that's fair enough I mean you gotta be a psychopath in one way or the other

to do this shit yeah true or at least a little autistic yeah a lot of autistic Cody close us out you beautiful son of bitch bye everyone

thank you for coming to the unsubscribe podcast Today we had Eli Double Tap, Dakota Meyer, Brandon Herrera, myself Donut Operator. Thank you so much for being here. Love you.