Military / Veteran Advocates

Havok Journal Owner Charles Faint provides us with an update on some of the issues being reported on their website. The Journal publishes 4-5 new articles daily in addition to reposting some of the “evergreen” content. Ayman Kafel, an immigrant who served in the Special Forces and is now a police officer, has published “A Resolute Path” through the Second Mission Foundation. Ayman had written so many articles that Charles suggested he compile his stories in a book. The book [...]

Oscar Mike Radio was founded by Marine Veteran Travis Partington when he was personally going through a very rough patch in life. He was also struggling to make sense of why the suicide rate among his fellow Veterans was so high. He created the podcast to give Veterans the opportunity to share their stories as a way of healing and communicating that they ARE special. Travis has some prior experience in the radio business. However, as he was thinking about [...]

Havok Journal editor Scott Faith joins us for a regular update. Scott is currently an active duty officer with half a dozen combat deployments. He writes under a pseudonym. We begin with one of the first articles he published for Havok Journal, “What Veterans Are (Still) Owed on 4th of July”. The article caused quite a stir because in Scott’s opinion his fellow citizens don’t owe him anything. He doesn’t expect free drinks or store discounts and is perfectly okay [...]

COMCAST/NBC Universal Senior Vice President of Military and Veteran Affairs Carol Eggert says that when she was recruited by the company she “..wasn’t looking for a job but found a purpose.”  She had already compiled an impressive military career rising from the enlisted ranks to Brigadier General. When Carol first joined the Army, the service was still gender segregated; not all positions were open to women. The irony was not lost upon her while leading Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq [...]

Darden Smith has been called one of the most respected American musicians working today. As a songwriter, he has spent most of his life thinking “There’s a song here somewhere.” His motto is “Write Songs. Tell Stories. Move People.” As a typical civilian, Darden Smith had a lot of misperceptions about what it meant to serve in the military. That was before he was booked to perform at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for a group of service members just returned [...]

“Freedom” is the latest release from multiple New York Times bestselling author Sebastian Junger.  He has also produced several documentaries including the Academy Award nominated documentary “Restrepo”.  In my opinion, Sebastian is one of the most insightful translators of the nature of the human condition I have ever read. Photo Credit: Peter Foley He chose the topic because “Freedom is one of the few things that people are willing to die for. It’s a core human value.”  “Freedom” [...]

Bo Derek wasn’t on our list of celebrities to interview regarding their support of Veterans. As it turns out, I didn’t know Bo. Many of her family members served in the military; her father was a radio operator on a B-29 during the Korean War. Her stepfather served as a Green Beret in Vietnam and her ex-husband was also a Veteran. However, it was a chance encounter with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi that really got Bo engaged. [...]

Sgt. Will Gardner was a labor of love for Max Martini. An accomplished actor, he has played military roles in many films including “13 Hours”, “The Great Raid”, “Captain Phillips” and the TV Series “The Unit”. While Max has relatives who served in the military and law enforcement, it wasn’t until his role in "Saving Private Ryan" that he was inspired to create a calling for himself to help Veterans. He feels that “Saving Private Ryan” was key to allowing [...]