In this special episode of Rizzuto After Hours, host Rafe Williams welcomes his friend Dustin Row to discuss the impactful charity, Songs4Soldiers. Rafe and Dustin dive into the mission of Songs 4 Soldiers (S4S), which supports combat veterans facing hardships, and share personal anecdotes from their own military experiences. Tune in for a heartfelt conversation about friendship, service, and the importance of giving back to those who have served and don't miss the Songs4Soldiers Benefit Concert coming up on Friday, September 5th and Saturday, September 6th, 2025 in Columbia, IL.

Get tickets for the Songs4Soldiers Benefit Concert

105.7 The Point, Weber Chevrolet, Budweiser, Jim Beam, Veterans United Home Loans & Country Financial proudly present the 12th Annual Songs 4 Soldiers Benefit Concert in Columbia, IL on Friday & Saturday, September 5th & 6th. Enjoy a full weekend of cheap beer, music, food, and fun with The Wallflowers, Craig Morgan, Jimmy Griffin & The Incurables, Dazed N Confused STL + so many more.

100% of proceeds go toward the Songs 4 Soldiers mission of helping combat veterans

Tickets are just $30 + Veterans and kids 12 and under get in FREE

https://songs4soldiersstl.org/events/

Chapters:

(00:00) Rafe Williams welcomes Dustin Rao to Russuto After Hours

(01:42) Songs for Soldiers helps combat veterans through its annual music festival

(03:49) How's Craig in the military? Yeah, he was. Probably like a chief warrant officer or something like that

(04:33) I tried to convince David Lee Roth he was my dad Monday night

(05:44) You were in the Army from 98 to 06. Yep. You were in. That's right, I was. Uh, we were both in

(09:00) When I went to boot camp, I saw World War II barracks

(12:25) Rafe says he did terribly on his ASVAB test

(14:57) At Fort Sill, it was all dudes. Right. So it's all dudes relatively around your age

(15:59) An African American man showed me his penis in the shower at boot camp

(18:48) How'd you do on your PT test? 300, actually

(19:26) Kevin McAllister describes seeing the biggest penis he's ever seen

(22:14) Okay, we're back. Thank you to all of our sponsors

(23:05) So before we went on break, you were talking about pranks in the army

(26:28) Carter is a good kid. I'm glad to be his dad

(28:47) Tell me about the pranks that you pulled in boot camp

(31:47) I got broke off the run somehow. I can't remember how that happened

(34:45) There's always one little group running narcissist in every group

(38:18) We had done pillow parties. Okay, not soap parties, like Full Metal Jacket

(41:27) Dr. Lang came into the kitchen and asked me if I did something

(44:33) I would do impersonations of the drill sergeants during boot camp

(47:39) You joined pre 911 three months. So you joined in 01. Yeah. So and you converted from truck driver to reserve

(51:09) My first cruiser you gotta dig in did was a 260 in Iraq

(51:59) So you're over there 04 to 05 single, uh, deployment

(55:49) The Abu G prison scandal had happened like three weeks before this. And that's when both Fallujah offenses happened

(59:13) I would never discourage military service. And I would recommend to anybody

(01:01:41) Dustin Round is a combat veteran who has survivor's guilt

(01:03:42) You're helping combat veterans when they really need it, John says

(01:07:27) I disagree with the idea that veterans are owed disability. I don't think that's right

(01:10:46) There's a misconception that all veterans are heroes in the military

(01:13:47) There have been several cases where we've helped veterans' families

(01:16:43) S4S is a non profit organization that helps veterans

(01:20:01) Psychedelics could be game changer for veterans, comedian says

(01:20:27) A clinic in Mexico is treating veterans with ibogaine

(01:23:22) Texas has passed it now to be a treatment through va, which is cool

(01:27:11) Rafe says Soldiers My Fire is working on helping veterans get off prescription drugs

(01:31:31) Rafe says Songs for Soldiers is tackling both addiction and abuse

(01:34:10) Personal question. How have you dealt with trauma from Iraq on a personal level

(01:38:25) You have survivor's guilt over a lot of this. You're 41 now

(01:39:06) You talked about processing trauma after going to Iraq

(01:41:44) Songs for Soldiers has helped thousands of veterans since its inception

(01:45:39) Songster Soldiers is raising money for veterans through concerts

(01:48:25) This concludes Riz show after hours. See you next time

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