Sentinels of Freedom began as a way of honoring young people choosing to join the military out of high school. Following the 9/11 attacks, Mike Conklin and his group realized that some of these young people would be coming home severely injured and would likely need extra help. Their first “Sentinel” had been run over by a tank. Mike’s group arranged for a donated four year apartment lease, a car, furniture and everything he would need to start his life [...]
Folds of Honor Executive Vice President of Operations and Relationships Col. James “Nick” Nichols joins us to share their story and how all of us can support this honorable cause. Folds of Honor provides scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service members. To date they have granted 35,000 scholarships with an educational impact in excess of $160 million. The idea for Folds of Honor came to Founder Lt. Col. Dan Rooney through an experience on an [...]
Carry the Load co-founders Stephen Holley and Clint Bruce are both Navy SEAL Veterans. The idea for their initiative was born out of anger and frustration, feeling that Americans were drifting away from the original purpose of Memorial Day. On Memorial Day 2010 Clint decided to undergo physical pain as an emotional purge. He loaded his pack with one pound for every comrade he had lost. During that walk he encountered a WWII Veteran who asked him; “Who are you [...]
Pin-Ups for Vets founder Gina Elise began to hear news stories about Iraq war Veterans needing medical care and she wanted to do something creative to help. Her grandfather served in WWII and Gina had always been a fan of that era’s pin-up art. So in 2006 she decided to create a classy, 1940’s style pin-up calendar to raise money for Veterans. After donating $5,000 in proceeds from the first calendar to a local Veteran’s hospital, she began to get [...]
American Warrior Garage was inspired by a chance encounter in a department store parking lot. Scott Jones and his friend Vince Gibson had been restoring cars together for about 20 years. One day they noticed a Veteran who had lost both legs to an IED blast “wheeling around” Vince’s 1969 El Camino. A conversation about classic cars ensued with the Veteran saying “Man, I’d like to be able to drive one of those.” Both Scott and Vince are Navy Veterans [...]
Veteran’s Repertory Theater President and Artistic Director Christopher Paul Meyer had acting in his blood. He comes from three generations of theater performers. But the 9/11 attacks created a long detour from the performance arts. Chris found some success acting, including a small role in a television soap opera. He chose to focus his energies on stand-up comedy because that allowed him to be more entrepreneurial. His directorial debut was a one act “off-off Broadway” comedy. Opening weekend went well, [...]
Charitable organizations supporting Veterans & first responders is the topic of today’s show. Attacks on law enforcement personnel are on a record pace and the withdrawal from Afghanistan does not mean Veteran support needs are reduced. In fact, the opposite may be true. We talk with representatives of four charitable organizations that deserve your support during this season of giving. SPIKES K9 FUND – Founder & President James Hatch Military working dogs regularly spared the life of Navy SEAL Jimmy [...]
Volition is a powerful concept first introduced to John Sapiente by Air Force pilot Dan Rooney. Rooney advocates; “It’s the most empowering force in the world. Volition is the POWER of choice. Every day we wake up we have a choice; we can be positive, we can be negative. We can choose to love, we can choose to hate. We can choose to pursue our dreams and our passions in life. But understand, our choices will culminate to write the [...]
Veteran advocacy is a passion for Joshua Hosler. That is why he and his fellow Veteran Anthony Archer founded Veteran Sheepdogs of America. As disabled Veterans, they both have personal experiences within the VA system and recognized a gap that needed to be filled. Joshua served as an assistant platoon leader and bomb dog handler in the Marines. While he never had plans to enter the political arena, some of the things he saw overseas inspired him to get more [...]
Rita Cosby is one of the most respected broadcasters in America and an ardent advocate for our military and Veterans. She has practiced her craft as both a radio and television host and has been recognized with THREE Emmy Awards – the highest recognition for excellence in the broadcast industry. While she has interviewed over twenty world leaders, entertainment icons and even a serial killer, her greatest interview may have been with her own father. As a child she noticed [...]