Podcast Archives - American Warrior Radio

Tue 10/7/2025

“The Heroism and Resiliency of 9/11 – From Tragedy to Triumph

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-10-07T09:00:09-07:00October 7th, 2025|

“The Heroism and Resiliency of 9/11 – From Tragedy to Triumph” is a new documentary scheduled to be released in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Producer Chris Meek and Director Michael Gier join us to discuss the project. Chris experienced the attacks firsthand and was responsible for getting 29 people to safety. He would go on to found Soldier Strong, a non-profit helping Veterans by donating revolutionary medical devices. Michael is an award-winning director and founder of [...]

Mon 9/29/2025

Special Operations Warrior Foundation – Clay Hutmacher

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-09-29T15:52:25-07:00September 29th, 2025|

The Special Operations Warrior Foundation provides comprehensive educational funding and advocacy for the children of fallen Special Operators. They also offer immediate financial assistance to severely wounded, ill and injured Special Operations personnel. Clay Hutmacher currently serves as the Foundation’s President and CEO. Clay served our nation for 40 years in both the Marine Corps and the Army, retiring at the rank of Major General. Clay had served six and half years in the Marines when he saw a brochure about [...]

Tue 9/23/2025

“Surviving Vietnam” – Diana Nickell

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-09-23T11:51:47-07:00September 23rd, 2025|

“Surviving Vietnam” is a collaboration between Vietnam Veteran Dennis Nickell and his wife Diana. After surviving fourteen months in the jungles of Vietnam, Dennis came home to face a second struggle for survival against the demons of drugs, alcohol and violence. Diana was with him almost the entire time. The American Psychiatric Association did not formally acknowledge PTSD as a diagnosable condition until 1980. Many Vietnam Veterans struggled to get answers and treatment. Dennis was briefly committed to the psyche [...]

Mon 9/15/2025

Building Good Leaders – James R. Lyda

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-09-15T11:56:24-07:00September 15th, 2025|

Guidon Leadership founder James R. Lyda had a 30 year career in the U.S. Air Force. He served as Wing Command Chief twice. During those three decades he had the opportunity to advise and interact with some of our military’s senior leadership – while also taking care of and mentoring younger airmen. During his last position before retirement, he was responsible for 55,000 personnel – that would be a good size town or a major corporation. Guidon Leadership is a [...]

Mon 9/8/2025

“Taking Chance” – Lt. Col Michael Strobl (Ret)

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-09-08T15:56:02-07:00September 8th, 2025|

Taking Chance is an HBO original film that chronicles the experiences of Lt. Col. Michael Strobl while escorting the remains of fallen Marine Pvt. Chance Phelps to his hometown for burial. The film was HBO’s most watched original in five years and starred Kevin Bacon in the lead role as Mike Strobl. Pvt Phelps’s unit was providing convoy escort duty April 9, 2004 near Ar-Ramadi Iraq. The convoy came under heavy fire. Despite being wounded, Phelps continued to man his [...]

Mon 9/1/2025

Horse Soldier Bourbon – Scott Neil

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-09-01T16:41:32-07:00September 1st, 2025|

Horse Soldier bourbon was created by Scott Neil and a couple of friends to honor the men who rode horseback into combat in Afghanistan. Scott was a member of one of the seven Special Forces teams inserted into Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks. Scott admits he didn’t spend much time on horseback. He was part of a “Commander’s In-Extremis” force with a special mission to penetrate even further behind enemy lines to kill and capture Al-Qaeda leaders in order to [...]

Mon 8/25/2025

“Atomic Echoes” – Victoria Kelly and Karin Tanabe

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-08-25T09:38:47-07:00August 25th, 2025|

“Atomic Echoes; Untold Stories from World War II” is an insightful documentary co-produced by Victoria Kelly and Karin Tanabe. The film exposes the stories of two communities; the “Hibakusha”, the name given to the estimated 650,000 Japanese survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and the “Atomic Veterans”, the soldiers who landed in the immediate aftermath of the bombings. Victoria and Kelly have been friends since 2017. They are both authors and share an editor. During a random conversation about the [...]

Fri 8/22/2025

Quang Pham – Veteran Entrepreneur

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-08-22T09:08:19-07:00August 22nd, 2025|

Quang Pham’s father loaded up his family in the middle of the night and took them to the airbase. Little did Quang know this would be a one-way trip. It was April of 1975, and the Republic of South Vietnam would cease to exist within the month. His father, a pilot in the South Vietnam Air Force, would stay behind. Quang would not see him for 17 years. Although they had family in France, Quang’s mother specifically chose to stay [...]

Sun 8/10/2025

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps – Carlos A. Ruiz

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-08-10T12:38:14-07:00August 10th, 2025|

The Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is the highest-ranking enlisted member of the Marine Corps. The role of the SMMC is to advise the Commandant on matters affecting enlisted Marines, represent the enlisted force in discussions with Senior Leadership and oversee the implementation of policies and programs that impact enlisted personnel. Carlos A. Ruiz assumed the post as the 20th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps on August 10, 2023. Carlos and his family immigrated to the United States [...]

Mon 8/4/2025

Peter Singer – “Useful Fiction”

Ben Buehler-Garcia2025-08-04T11:45:49-07:00August 4th, 2025|

Peter Singer is not only a best-selling author, but he has also been described by the Wall Street Journal as the “premiere futurist in the national-security environment”. No author has more books on the professional military reading lists. I was inspired to reach out to Peter after reading his 2015 book “Ghost Fleet”. Ghost Fleet is a fictional novel that describes World War III. He shares that several Admirals at the Pentagon read “Ghost Fleet” and began to ask questions [...]