Tom Herbers entered law enforcement while hiding a serious drinking problem. As the pressures of the job increased, alcohol tightened its grip until suspensions, dangerous decisions, and fear became part of his everyday life.

Tom shares the unfiltered truth about policing while intoxicated, finding help through a twelve-step program, battling depression after years of sobriety, and recognizing how God answered prayers he thought had gone unanswered.

His last drink was April 14, 1972. More than 50 years later, Tom’s message remains simple: if you need help, keep looking until you find someone willing to listen. Your past may explain part of your story, but it does not have to define how that story ends.

Real talk. Raw faith. Stay unfiltered.

In Season 2, Episode 7 of Echoes Unfiltered, veteran Andy Sterling joins me for a raw conversation about combat, PTSD, and what happens when the war follows you home.

We discuss the warning signs that only make sense afterward, including a crooked telephone pole discovered while reviewing pictures after an IED attack. Andy shares his thoughts on the Afghanistan withdrawal, veterans being used as political pawns, and why returning to a selfish and disconnected world can become its own battle.

We also talk about the protector instinct—the inability to ignore someone being mistreated after witnessing the true cost and value of human life.

For some veterans, coming home is not the end of the war. It is where the fight changes.

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Echoes from the Sandbox by Samuel R. Stratton
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7J41G4F

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Real talk, raw faith, stay unfiltered.

At 19 years old, Steve Sentel deployed to Iraq and entered a world of dangerous convoy missions, firefights, destroyed vehicles, and decisions where survival was never guaranteed.

Steve shares what happened during his first deployment, including the lead-up to Fallujah and an improvised escape through a city without communications or armor. He also speaks honestly about the battles that followed him home: hidden trauma, recovery, losing his belief, and reconsidering the role faith and a higher power can play when life is at its worst.

This is more than a combat story. It’s an unfiltered conversation about what war takes, what veterans carry, and what it means to keep fighting after coming home.

Real talk. Raw faith. Stay unfiltered.

Tony shares stories from undercover vice and narcotics investigations, but the biggest fight came from inside his own department. After refusing to alter financial records connected to a corrupt sheriff, Tony was removed from his position and nearly lost his career. Years later, another agency used his PTSD diagnosis to question whether he could still carry a badge.

We talk honestly about integrity, betrayal, the stigma surrounding PTSD, and why veterans and first responders sometimes stay silent instead of asking for help.

Tony also opens up about what his wife and daughters sacrificed during his military and law enforcement careers, and why being present at home matters more than overtime, money, or the job.

Content warning: This episode includes discussions of child abuse, suicide, fatal crashes, PTSD, and other traumatic incidents.

Real talk. Raw faith. Stay unfiltered.

Marine combat veteran and former Staff Sergeant Tony Storey takes us from Desert Storm and the first wave into Mogadishu to training Iraqi security forces during the 2007 Fallujah Awakening.

Tony speaks honestly about combat, survivor’s guilt, PTSD, moral injury, faith, forgiveness, and what happens when the warrior you needed overseas follows you home. We also discuss why saying the names of those we lost keeps their memories alive.

Tony returns next week for Part Two, where we’ll dig into his law enforcement career and nearly 23 years working vice investigations.

Viewer discretion is advised. This episode contains frank discussions of combat deaths and traumatic events.

My book, Echoes from the Sandbox, shares my own story of war, brotherhood, loss, faith, and the echoes we carry home. Available now on Amazon.

Please like, comment, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

#EchoesUnfiltered #CombatVeteran #Mogadishu #Fallujah #PTSD

Greg Janney, professional photographer and author of The Magnificent Bastards in Ramadi and A Father’s Journey There, joins Echoes Unfiltered to tell the story of taking Gold Star dad John Wroblewski back to Ramadi, Iraq.

John’s son, 2nd Lt. J.T. Wroblewski, was killed during the 2004 Battle of Ramadi while serving with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. Greg first tried to get John to the site in 2007, but the mission fell short. Fourteen months later, Greg kept his promise and helped bring John back to the place where his son fell.

This conversation covers Ramadi, Route Gypsum, Route Nova, the Marines of 2/4, Gold Star families, survivor’s guilt, and why these stories must be preserved before they are forgotten.

Greg’s book helps support a scholarship fund connected to the 34 men of 2/4 Marines killed in action during their 2004 deployment.

Real Talk. Raw Faith. Stay Unfiltered.

Season 2 Episode 2 of Echoes Unfiltered takes us back to the cabin with Dille, Nguyen, and Riley for the kind of conversation that does not need a script.

No big production. No fake drama. Just veterans sitting around, talking like brothers, laughing, remembering, and showing what real connection still looks like years after the uniform comes off.

This episode is about brotherhood, old stories, hard-earned perspective, and the simple truth that sometimes healing looks like sitting around with the guys who were there.

Real talk. Raw faith. Stay unfiltered.

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In this episode of Echoes Unfiltered, I sit down with Andrew Ludwig and Eric Schmieder, two brothers in arms from Second Platoon who served in Ramadi, Iraq.

We talk about route clearance, IEDs, Saddam’s Mosque, the Predator, Husky blasts, Route Michigan, the Anbar Awakening, and what it was like going outside the wire day after day.

But this one is not just war stories.

We also get into what happened after we came home: hypervigilance, drinking, isolation, dark humor, trying to adjust back to civilian life, and learning that asking for help is not weakness. It is the first step back.

Andrew and Eric also share the mission behind TH Legacy Foundation, created in honor of Timothy Hubacek. Through Tim’s Hunt and other outdoor veteran events, they are helping veterans reconnect, get outside, fight isolation, and find purpose again.

Learn more, apply, support, or donate at:

thlegacyfoundation.org

If this episode hits home, follow the show, leave a rating, share it, and send it to somebody who needs to hear it.

Real talk. Raw faith. Stay unfiltered.

This Fourth of July, I wanted to take a few minutes to remember what freedom has cost.

America has stood for 250 years through war, sacrifice, failure, faith, correction, and perseverance. This country is not perfect, but it is worth remembering, worth defending, worth praying over, and worth living in a way that honors those who gave everything.

Freedom was paid for by real people. Soldiers. Families. Generations before us. Some came home. Some came home changed. Some never came home at all.

So before the fireworks and noise, take a minute to remember the cost.

God bless the men and women who gave everything.
God bless the families who still carry the cost.
And God bless the United States of America.

Real talk. Raw faith. Stay unfiltered.

#FourthOfJuly #America250 #GodBlessAmerica #Veterans #FreedomIsNotFree #OneNationUnderGod #EchoesUnfiltered

Episode 50 of Echoes Unfiltered features Chappy — Chaplain Robert Kinnune.

This conversation is about faith, war, brotherhood, and what it means to carry peace into places built on chaos.

Chappy was there with us in Ramadi, praying with the men, walking through the weight, and bringing a steady presence when everything around us was anything but steady.

We talk about the role of a chaplain, the cost of war, the power of prayer, and why faith still matters when life gets heavy.

Airs June 27th.

Real Talk. Raw Faith. Stay Unfiltered.

#EchoesUnfiltered #Chappy #Faith #Veterans #CombatVeteran #MilitaryChaplain #Brotherhood #PTSDRecovery #ChristianPodcast