131 – A Tough 500

131 – A Tough 500

22till none - 500 days so far


500. 500 times 22 equals 11,000. Jim Tough actually does 25 per day because he gives a pushup to the Infantry, the Airborne Ranger in the Sky, and all other military. So Jim has actually done 12,500 pushups over the course of 500 days.

I want you all to watch Jim’s Day 500 video here (Like and Subscribe while you are at it!). What really stood out is how Jim articulated the scope of the problem of Veteran’s Suicide. He described what was lost as a result in a way that few people understand.

I believe is Jim’s desire that one day he will not have to do pushups. Wouldn’t that be great? The need to talk about someone killing themselves will no longer be a priority. I want to be there when that day happens. Jim talks about some of his battles with PTSD. This is honest talk where Jim does not hold back on what is needed to step away from the abyss.

I thought about how much effort it takes to provide an insightful message and 22 – 25 pushups over the course of 18 months. Creating any kind of content and sustaining the necessary energy to do so is impressive. What is more impressive in the Day 500 video, Jim doesn’t make it about him doing the pushups.

Usually, it would be good for one of these types of situations and podcasts to talk about a bright future after an amazing accomplishment that someone like Jim did. The future will be bright when Jim doesn’t need to do anymore pushups. However, as long as he is able, Jim will be telling us to stay in our fight and don’t quit.

#thatpushupguy – contact info

Mugzy Brady – My Journey

You can listen to “My Journey” by Mugzy Brady. He is a rapper and hip hop artist from Australia. Mugzy was on #128. I am dropping his track, “My Journey”, at the end of this podcast. Go to https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMugzy/ 

mugzy on stage
129 Jody Part 7 – Divorce Stats

129 Jody Part 7 – Divorce Stats

Question of the Week

What did I did I do for New Years? I did nothing exciting which was great! I worked on the blanket I am making for a friend with cancer. This was also a year I was happy to do Dad’s Taxi. A service which beats Uber and LYFT. I finished podcast 128 for Mugzy Brady, and just hung out. It was a fantastic New Year’s Eve!

The Word – Jody Part 7

Part 7 is about military divorce statistics for 2017. The divorce rate was flat for 2016 and 2017 or the military. See article – https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/03/21/troop-divorce-rate-unchanged-marriage-rate-continues-fall.html 

“The military divorce rate is calculated by comparing the number of troops listed as married in the Pentagon’s personnel system at the beginning of the fiscal year with the number who report divorces over the year. The information is managed and compiled by the Defense Manpower Data Center.” (Military.com article by Amy Bushatz ). Interesting viewpoint on divorce among female servicemembers. It would appear that female Marines have a hard time. I believe there are a couple reasons for that, but I don’t blame the Marine Corps.

My SNCOs and Officers were right. E-4s and below should not get married during their first tour.

Jody and Jodie Podcast Links

I will add the episode links so you can get caught up. This is a year long series, so buckle up

Links to Jody/Jodie Past Podcasts

  1. Episode 81 – Jody Part 1
  2. Episode 85 – Jodie Part 2
  3. Episode 89 – Jody Part 3
  4. Episode 94 – Jody Part 4
  5. Episode 102 – Jody Part 5
  6. Episode 113 – Jody Part 6

Mugzy Brady – My Journey

You can listen to “My Journey” by Mugzy Brady. He is a rapper and hip hop artist from Australia. I am dropping his track at the end of this podcast. Go to https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMugzy/ 

mugzy on stage
Mugzy Brady in Action

126 PDAWG’s Christmas List

126 PDAWG’s Christmas List

The Word – It is Merry Christmas

Be advised this is a Merry Christmas Zone. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to listen. PDAWG sends.

So what does PDAWG (that’s me) want for Christmas? What would I ask Santa for to celebrate the birth of Jesus? I thought about it and here are three things I want for Christmas.

1. Yellow PT Belt

I can’t understand this. I mean seriously? What is the need or point for wearing this thing? My first wish is to have these sent to the trash heap of military history. We don’t need them to PT or win wars. At $10.00 a pop someone is making money off these bright, non-tactical pieces of plastic. Check this link out – https://www.armyproperty.com/nsn/8465-01-444-1493

What would Chesty think?

2. Weapons

I was thinking about the M1, M16 and M4. All weapons used in different wars. However, if you strip away all the things that set them apart, they are the same. They fire a shell from a casing with propellent inside at target 500 – 700 yards away. I want some kind of different weapon system developed. I don’t know what exactly, but something that won’t fail when dropped in sand. I want a system that ensures we will win fights before they start. 

3. Power Armor

Those who know me, know that I am huge Warhammer 40K fan. That is not where this thought came from though. Reading about Afghanistan and IEDs, I thought about how a simple weapon was so effective against an army that is widely considered one of the best in history. I would like to have power armor that not only allowed soldiers to carry more into battle, but also protected them from harm. What if power armor could detect IEDs and neutralize them before into an AO? 

Not fiction anymore if you look around

Merry Christmas!!!

Evening with South Shore Veteran Assistance

Evening with South Shore Veteran Assistance

Evening with South Shore Veteran Assistance

The SSVA Crew hard at work

I was doing a livecast at Veteran Owned Veteran Operated in Abington, MA.  Jonathan Gosselin asked me to talk about South Shore Veterans Assistance during the livecast. SSVA is a local group from the South Shore area of Massachusetts who support Veterans. Many of these individuals are civilians.

Jonathan said it would be a good idea to reach out to SSVA Inc. after the livecast to learn more about the good work they are doing. It is also a good idea if you need custom screen printing or promotional materials to go to VOVO Inc on 1540 Bedford Street in Abington. Check out Jonathan’s website – https://vovoprints.com/ to learn more. 

So I got on Facebook and sent a message on the South Shore Veterans Assistance Page – https://www.facebook.com/SouthShoreVeteransAssistance/ and Cindy got right back me. SSVA would be putting together gift bags for Veterans that Monday night, would I come down and check it out?

Whitman VFW Post 697 is located about 40 minutes south of Boston, depending on traffic:) The VFW has several events and a friendly bar. Walking into the room, there crew was already in motion assembling the gift bags. Cindy introduced me to me to Dave Andrews who is the treasurer for SSVA. Since SSVA is a registered 501c3, they are creative in how the advocate veterans. Dave told me that the majority of the members of SSVA are civilians. A civilian himself, Dave came from a military family wanted to serve Veterans in a meaningful way. You can watch my conversation with Dave here – Facebook Livestream with Dave Andrews of SSVA .

I wanted to leave you with this. You can make change right where you if look hard enough. SSVA has been doing this for many years, and is always looking for help. Can’t wait to come back and find out more. Thanks for all you do, Merry Christmas!

This is the amazing crew that put together the gift bags for Veterans

LiveCast at Veteran Owned Veteran Operated – 12/09/18

LiveCast at Veteran Owned Veteran Operated – 12/09/18

LiveCast at Veteran Owned Veteran Operated – 12/09/18

VIcki Smith – Fitts talks with me about the documentary 21 Years a Folded Flag.

Owned. What does that mean? Business owners know about the word owned. It has been a good thing to talk with so many Veterans who are business owners. Many times that ownership is dealing with problems that customers never know about, all to take care of family and provide for the future.

I met Jonathan Gosselin recently at a 22Kill Event in Abington, MA. We had done business in early 2018, but never met face to face. We started talking about the OMR brand and my goals for 2019 when he hit me with an idea. I could come to his store and livecast from VOVO INC (https://vovoprints.com/). So we did a livecast as couple of weeks ago and it went great. Jonathan aske me to come back on Sunday December 9th to talk with other Veterans and people who support us.

Setting up is a cinch now and it gave me a chance to talk with Jonathan about what he is doing. He has given me some great ideas for promoting Oscar Mike Radio, and we got some laughs from the last livecast I did.

The question was asked about my feelings. Was I nervous? Did I think this was going to be difficult? I was a little bit nervous and then once the cast went live I was ok. I didn’t really think about anything other than listening to guests and talking about why we were all here on Sunday.

Jonathan didn’t really talk a lot on this livecast, and there was a reason for that. He wanted people to get one on one with me to talk about what had worked for them during hard times and how they used what they learned to meet their goals. In that regard, this livecast was a great success. You can watch the video below and let me know what you think. Go to Facebook, Like and Follow VOVO INC and Oscar Mike Radio.

Veterans, you are not alone. We need to own our success and keep building on what we have no matter the obstacle.

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YouTube Video

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEmFohE7Q8k[/embedyt]

 

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The first (#1) Oscar Mike Radio Shirt