Veterans Never Stop Serving

Today’s guest is HT Tran, United States Army, 10th Mountain Division Anvil Company Retired. When HT was injured in combat, he spent months at Walter Reed recovering. While it was where he needed to be, the long days inside those walls felt like a prison both physically and mentally. He was angry and depressed seeing many of his peers transitioning successfully, but not knowing what purpose or direction he had.

When he met with Mike and others from Sentinels of Freedom, he was guarded and uncertain. But he soon found a new direction, a path forward that didn’t feel like a road to disaster. After some help getting his feet back on the ground, he began working at Northrop Grumman, started and sold his own successful business, and was one of the top young contractors in the country. He talks about how meaningful it is to him to be able to now pay it forward to other Sentinels and Veterans so they might find the happiness and success that he has.

HT now lives in Austin TX with his wife and children, working as a Development Manager for Turner Construction, and serves on the Sentinels of Freedom Board of Directors.

Thank you for listening to Veterans Never Stop Serving. Please like, follow, subscribe, rate, review, and most importantly share this with a friend or any Veteran’s groups that you are associated with. These uplifting stories honor the men and women who have fought and sacrificed for our country, and the more listeners we have, the more heroes we can help.

Like the name of the podcast says. Veterans Never Stop Serving. They also never stop pushing forward through tough physical and emotional experiences to get where they want to go. Adam McCann, U.S. Marine Corps, is Mike’s special guest today. Adam was first Generation military and decided to join after 9/11. After heading to Iraq, he was on a routine house search when an incoming bomb landed in the middle of their formation. It took seven medivacs to get back home where he received extensive medical care, and knew he couldn’t serve anymore because of his injuries.

The physical injuries he could rehab most easily, but the mental injuries took over a decade to come to terms with. Hear Adam talk about his journey from the chopper out of Iraq, to now pursuing his Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. His family support and guidance from Mike and his team made an enormous difference in his educational path, and then soon graduating and joining great organizations to start a career.

Please Connect with Mike and his team HERE to see what great work Sentinels of Freedom is accomplishing and how you can join the movement!

Thank you for listening to Veterans Never Stop Serving. Please like, follow, subscribe, rate, review, and most importantly share this with a friend or any Veteran’s groups that you are associated with. These uplifting stories honor the men and women who have fought and sacrificed for our country, and the more listeners we have, the more heroes we can help.

Today Mike discusses another Sentinel success story, welcoming to the show Specialist Jayme Hentig, U.S. Army Retired. Jayme recounts nearing the end of high school and being faced with an ultimatum from his father - work in the local factory, go to college, or join the military. He had more fear of a college classroom than the military and aspired beyond the factory, so he chose to join the Army as a medic. These skills would help him later in life, along with a hand from Sentinels of Freedom, to reach his current profession as a doctor.

Jayme details his journey into the Army, the good and bad that come with training and the job itself, the accomplishment of treating his fellow soldiers during wartime, and ultimately suffering from a traumatic brain injury and spinal injury which necessitated a long recovery before even getting back to the States. He explains how he found coping techniques to better deal with the effects of PTSD and learning and memory issues. Upon his return, he was fortunate to be selected by Mike and his team for that extra boost to get his education all the way through graduate school. He’s performed ground-breaking studies on the future of the healing process and continues to help and support his fellow veterans every day.

Thank you for listening to Veterans Never Stop Serving. Please like, follow, subscribe, rate, review, and most importantly share this with a friend or any Veteran’s groups that you are associated with. These uplifting stories honor the men and women who have fought and sacrificed for our country, and the more listeners we have, the more heroes we can help.

Today we are pleased to welcome Lance Corporal Brian Vargas, U.S. Marine Corps Retired, to the show. Brian’s inspirational story begins with him explaining his early post-war transition home which found him living in his car with his service dog. With the help and support of his wife, he hesitantly decided to see what Mike and the Sentinels of Freedom could offer.

He was nervous at first but was put at ease by his interaction with Mike and others at the organization. It wasn’t long after that he and his wife were able to buy a home, and then earned his Master’s degree at UC Berkeley. The injury that ended his military career was during a combat operation in Hit Iraq, in the midst of a firefight, was shot by an enemy sniper through his left hand and right side of his face, rendering him unconscious. This would be seen as a

Now Brian spends his days working with and inspiring veterans and student veterans at San Francisco City College. He sees a little bit of himself in each of those that he interacts with and strives to improve their lives. Despite taking off his military uniform, Brian stands for our podcast title, Veterans Never Stop Serving.

Welcome to the debut episode of Veterans Never Stop Serving! Thank you for joining us.

Today your host Mike Conklin welcomes one of the early Sentinels in the program, John

John tells the story of the Sentinels program, and how some lingering apprehension at the beginning

He also talks about the road from

We are so glad to have you

To support other veterans like John, visit ⁠sentinelsoffreedom.org⁠/donate.

To learn more about Sentinels of Freedom’s impact on wounded veterans, go to www.sentinelsoffreedom.org.

To apply to Sentinels of Freedom’s program, go to www.sentinelsoffreedom.org/eligible-veteran

Welcome to the Vets Never Stop Serving Podcast with your host Mike Conklin, chairman and CEO of Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation, a not-for-profit veteran support organization, specializing in serving the educational and career needs of severely wounded and injured post 9/11 veterans to maximize their potential. 

This podcast series will highlight the stories of individual wounded and injured veterans and their journeys from impact to rehabilitation, returning home, transition into higher education and onto their career objectives. Their stories of successful transition from military life to fulfilling their career dreams is powerful and inspiring.

We hope you'll join us to listen to their stories and to understand their after service value to our nation. 

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