American Warrior Radio

The Warrior Surf Foundation uses the calming and spiritually regenerative power of the ocean to help Veteran families deal with the difficult transition to civilian life.  The organization was established on Folly Beach, South Carolina in 2015. The Foundation addresses post service transition challenges like PTSD, moral injury, survivor’s guilt and traumatic brain injuries through surf therapy.

Warrior Surf Foundation Executive Director Stephanie Dasher knows the challenges first hand. She was raised by a Veteran, served five years in the Navy and married a Veteran. She was introduced to the Foundation’s programs after her husband had several disturbing episodes. While her husband was initial resistant, she says the change was almost immediate.

Their programming consists of three core elements. The surf program is a 12 week course that provides up to three surf lessons per week.  In the words of co-founder Andy Manzey  “The ocean pushes people and it keeps you humble. You learn a lot about yourself out in the ocean.” The surf program is reinforced by wellness and yoga coursework.

A professional mental health counselor, Stephanie says it is amazing to see how the ocean immediately breaks down barriers in their clients. Wellness sessions are often conducted on the beach, a significantly less threatening environment than the typical clinical setting. She says the surf sessions also help rebuild the loss of comradery and “tribe” felt by so many transitioning Veterans.

An important element of the Warrior Surf Foundation’s programming is that it integrates the entire family in the healing process. It was this approach that convinced Stephanie to join the staff.

While they can refer clients to other surf therapy programs that are geographically more convenient, their services are provided free of charge to Veterans from anywhere in the country. They also organize overseas surf trips as well.

Jim Lopez flew an amazing one thousand combat missions. For perspective, World War II bomber crews were required to fly 25-35 missions before they rotated out. Even in today’s high paced combat, the 1,000 mission threshold is still rather rare. Jim joins us as part of our educational partnership with the Distinguished Flying Cross Society.

Jim and all six of his brothers served in the military. When one brother was wounded in Korea, Jim decided it was his duty to enlist. He served three years in the Marine Corps but didn’t see any potential to fly so he transferred to the Air Force.

He began his Air Force career in aerial photography. Jim recalls one mission that was classified as top secret at the time.  They were ordered to fly out of Iceland and photograph a submarine. It wasn’t until years later when he saw the photo in LIFE Magazine that he realized they had photographed the USS Nautilus submarine on one leg of its historic transit under the North Pole.

Jim says he didn’t even know what a “Loadmaster” was when he was transferred into that duty.  He flew C-130’s from 1964 to 1968. He finished his career flying C-5’s.

Jim was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for one of the resupply missions he flew in support of the besieged Marines at the Battle of Khe Sahn. Because any aircraft that landed became a “mortar magnet”, they employed low attitude parachute extraction systems where the pilot flew just above the runway while the supplies were pulled out the back with a drogue parachute. Over 12,400 tons of supplies were delivered in 1,100 missions.

Jim also participated in resupply missions during the Yom Kippur war. They flew tanks directly from California to Tel Aviv. Years later he met an Israel Defense Forces Veteran who said “If it wasn’t for you guys we would have never survived.”

We spend some time talking about the importance of the educational mission. Jim encourages his fellow Veterans to speak at local schools about patriotism as much as possible. “Preserving democracies is our mission. Nobody loves America more than those countries that don’t enjoy the freedoms we do.”

Joe Lowrey was deployed with the 7th Special Forces Group in Afghanistan. In July of 2014 an enemy machine gun round pierced the front of his helmet, traveled across the top of his skull and exited the back of his head.  He was given an 11% chance of survival and his Green Beret teammates gathered by his bedside while Joe was administered the Last Rites.

After thirty days in a coma, Joe DID survive with all his mental faculties but paralyzed on the entire left side of his body. Many of us would have given up, but not Joe Lowrey. He set goals, and with the help of several friends, organizations and technologies he is now walking.

Joe says one of the initial challenges was what doctors call “confabulations” where the mind tries to fill gaps with fabricated memories.  Because he had been given a tracheotomy he also could not speak, eat or drink. He credits technologies like the exoskeleton and transcranial magnetic stimulation used during rehab with helping learn to walk again.

Given his experiences and all the support he received during recovery, Joe decided he wanted to pay it forward. Along with fellow Veteran Steve West, he founded United Wings of Liberty. Their mission is to link other Veterans with vetted physical recovery, spiritual, recreational, employment and educational opportunities.

Joe admits he was a “dirt bag teenager” without any goals in life.  But his father’s philosophy was “if you aren’t in college or working when you turn 18, you are out of the house.”  So when the Army recruiter visited, Joe enlisted. While assigned to Fort Carson he crossed paths with a Green Beret recruiter and decided that was the route he wanted to pursue.

He has written a book about his recovery and is currently seeking a publisher. All proceeds from the book will benefit United Wings of Liberty programs.

TAKEAWAY: Joe describes Special Forces as similar to when he was a hockey goalie. “You want to be the first string starter so you get more playing time. Operators also compete for the best missions.”

“Hot Mics and TV Lights: The Armed Forces Vietnam Network” is the latest work from Marc Yablonka. The book provides the first person perspective of thirty seven individuals who served with the Armed Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN).The AFVN was the military broadcast network that served American service personnel during the Vietnam War.

Navy Chief Petty Officer Bryan Arbuckle is considered the “father” of AFVN. He put it together in 1962 over a matter of weeks employing used equipment and borrowed record albums.

Marc says that without collaborator Rick Frederickson it would have been a completely different work. Frederickson was a newsman at AFVN Saigon.  He conducted many of the 37 interviews featured in Hot Mics, including Adrian Cronauer whose story inspired the movie “Good Morning Vietnam”.  The film was the brainchild of Ben Moses, who worked with Cronauer. Ben said the movie was “Half Adrian, half me, and half made up.” When he first began pitching the idea he had trouble finding purchase.  One TV executive even told him “How dare you proposed doing something funny about Vietnam.”

Not all the stories are humorous. During the Tet offensive, nine members of the Hue AFVN station found themselves holding off attackers for five days. Three were killed, five were taken prisoner and one escaped. Another DJ was broadcasting when a rocket attack struck the studios. He may be the only DJ to be awarded a Purple Heart while on the air.

Project Jenny entailed putting TV/Radio broadcasting “stations” into three Lockheed Constellation aircraft. They would fly over the country providing TV broadcasts and psyops. In one incident they were running the wrong soundtrack for a TV program causing South Vietnamese officials to think the plane had been commandeered by the enemy. They sent up jet fighters to shoot them down. Thankfully, the broadcasters were able to straighten things out before that occurred.

TAKEAWAY: “Thinking of them as only in the rear with the gear does not apply to what the AFVN staff members really went through in Vietnam.”

Rick Kaiser always had a fascination with the sea, so at the age of 17 he visited the Navy recruiter with the intention of joining the submarine service. However, while sitting in the office, he picked up a pamphlet about the SEALs and decided that was the course he would rather follow. Rick would go on to serve with both SEAL Team 2 and SEAL Team 6. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the National Navy SEAL Museum in Ft. Pierce Florida.

He recently published a book titled “Frogmen Stories: Life and Leadership Lessons from the SEAL Teams”.  We spend this episode talking about some of his service stories and takeaways from the book.

During this time with SEAL Team 2 he spent a great deal of time in winter combat training. He says it was a training exercise in Greenland that taught him to never make an important decision about your military career until ten days after returning home.

Rick emphasizes that when SEAL’s aren’t fighting they are training to fight. He shares one story of a near miss with a freighter during an underwater training mission in Little Creek Harbor that could have been fatal. Rick fought in the Battle of Mogadishu and was involved in the planning for the Maersk Alabama (“Captain Phillips”) rescue. He also shares a humorous story involving a communication lesson he taught his daughter and her friends during a sleepover.

There are only approximately 2,500 active Navy SEALs at any period of time and only 16,000 Navy SEALs or predecessor units have been commissioned since 1942. Stolen Valor is a common issue with SEALs being perhaps the most common claim among impersonators. Rick says they run into this problem every single day at the Navy SEAL Museum.

The Navy SEAL Museum was established in Ft. Pierce because that is where the original WWII Frogmen were trained. In addition to the museum itself, they provide a number of programs in support of Navy SEAL families.

Wreaths Across America plans to lay more than three million fresh wreaths at the graves of Veterans in more than 4,000 locations this year. Co-Founder and Executive Director Karen Worcester joins us to explain more about the organization and their initiatives. This year’s event will take place December 16.

Karen’s husband Morill visited Arlington National Cemetery as a young man and was taken with scope and solemnity of what he saw. In 1993 the family decided to donate 5,000 wreaths from their Worcester Wreath Company to be placed in an older portion of the cemetery. They continued to do so without fanfare until 2004 when a photo of the snow covered, wreath adorned headstones went viral.  Acting upon positive feedback from Gold Star families, the initiative was formalized into a non-profit organization in 2007.

There are three pillars to their mission; remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach the next generation the value of freedom. They have year round programs including a traveling exhibit and museum to support these programs. Families also have the opportunity to place a memorial dog tag on the trees from which the wreaths are harvested.

They also have a wonderful internet radio station that broadcasts a variety of military based programs. American Warrior Radio is proud to be part of their programming.

Karen is grateful to their 3 million volunteers across the country and is proud that about half of them are children. This includes many truckers to donate their services to deliver wreaths to locations all across the country. She jokes that their 700 mile delivery trip from Maine to Arlington is “the longest Veteran’s Day Parade in the nation.”

Listeners may sponsor a wreath for only $17. There is also an opportunity for civic organizations to sell wreath sponsorships as a fundraiser. So far over $22 million has been raised by organizations using this program.

TAKEAWAY: “When people are vested in something they believe in, things happen.”