Thad Forester

Father’s Day 2019

June 16, 2019 By Thad Forester

My oldest working on his perpetual water park

“Go and open the door. Maybe outside there’s a tree, or a wood, a garden or a magic city.” The Door, by Miroslav Golub.

As a dad, all I ever wanted was for our kids to have room to play outside whenever they wanted. This is probably because I was fortunate enough to grow up on several acres of open land and woods. Playing outside was just part of living. My dad provided this for our family and I’m lucky to be able to provide this in a smaller way for mine.

We don’t have a lot of land, but we now have plenty for our boys to explore. And on this Father’s Day, I can’t be thankful enough to be a dad and part of our boys’ life. So, to all you fathers reading here, I hope you’ve had a great Father’s Day.

Ep 065 – Memorial Day: Renee Nickell | Her Brother was Always Her Hero

May 26, 2019 By Thad Forester

Renee Nickell’s brother, Major Samuel Griffith, was killed-in-action in Dec, 2011. Since then, she’s gone thru many dark valleys and has found healing by writing a book: “Always My Hero” about her older brother and best friend.

With her appearance last week on Home and Family, and her radio, podcast and TV tour this past year, she’s done an incredible job spreading the word about Marine Sam Griffith.

Her brother Sam left behind a wife, children, and grieving parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews. This former F-18 pilot – turned Forward Air Controller, did his part to not only raise a noble posterity, but also lead his men and eliminate terrorists.

Her book goes deep into the conflicts her family fought through after Sam’s death. Miraculously she got $400 so she, husband and children could drive non-stop from Florida to Dover AFB to witness the arrival of her brother’s remains as part of the Dignified Transfer.

As a Gold Star sibling, I have tremendous respect for Renee and how she’s expressing her devotion to her brother and country by personalizing the price of freedom. She’s in pain. Her family hurts – just as anyone who loses a loved-one. In this case, I can relate more than most.

May this interview help your Memorial Day be more meaningful. Thank you for listening.

You can purchase her book (re-releasing in June 2019) by visiting her web site or Amazon:

Renee Nickell web site

Always My Hero on Amazon

You can also read her article on patriotism published on Today.com here.

Rock Tune by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/

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Ep 064 – Dan Schilling | Alone at Dawn

January 28, 2019 By Thad Forester

In the predawn hours of March 4, 2002, just below the 10,000-foot peak of a mountain in Afghanistan, a fierce battle raged. Outnumbered by Al Qaeda fighters, Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman and a handful of SEALs struggled to take the summit in a desperate bid to find a lost teammate. Chapman, leading the charge, was gravely wounded in the initial assault. Believing he was dead, his SEAL leader ordered a retreat. Chapman regained consciousness, finding himself alone with the enemy who was closing in on three sides. Thus began the most difficult and exceptional fight of his life.

For the U.S., the battle proved the deadliest entanglement of Operation Anaconda. We lost 7 men there at Takur Ghar, including Jason Cunningham and Neil Roberts.

On August 22, 2018, Pres Trump posthumously awarded the medal of honor to John Chapman. My guest today, Dan Schilling, has written a book, Alone at Dawn, to capture the life and legacy of this American Hero.

Although the book doesn’t come out until June, I loved getting an inside scoop on Chapman’s life leading up to his final mission and how Dan became involved.

We also talk about his extreme sports and why he set a Guinness World Record for 201 BASE jumps in 24 hours.

Pre-order Alone at Dawn here plus check out Dan’s other books.

Watch drone footage of Chapman’s incredibly heroic final stand here.

Rock Tune by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/

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Ep 063 – Justin Carroll | Online Security and Privacy

January 7, 2019 By Thad Forester

If you search for Justin Carroll on the web, you will find very little about him–and good luck finding a picture of his face. This former Marine is now a security and privacy consultant. Carroll stresses that it’s not about hiding anything, but protecting our information.

In his early days he transitioned from Force Recon to becoming a member of the first Fox Company (first MARSOC unity to deploy) under Maj. Fred Galvin.

Today we spend most of our time learning how to protect ourselves and our children online. Justin has it figured out since he’s managed to keep himself from being blasted all over the web.

We also talk about some of his current projects – Across the Peak podcast, Revolverguy.com and his books, The Complete Privacy and Security Desk Reference, Volumes I and II.

Justin is full of tips that anyone could and should do to be a little more careful regarding our online presence–whether it’s social media, banking or our credit.

Rock Tune by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/

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Ep 062 – Sammy L. Davis | Medal of Honor Recipient – Vietnam

December 17, 2018 By Thad Forester

Image of Sammy Davis with Medal of Honor around neck.

Sammy Davis joined the Army because he loved his daddy. He wanted to make him and his grandads proud. He was just a kid out of high school. If he hadn’t joined the Army, he wanted to be a member of Hell’s Angels.

Regarding war protestors at SFO I asked, “Did you look them in the eye?” Davis’ response: “I looked every one of them in the eye.”

On November 18, 1967, his team was ambushed by the Vietcong and the Americans did what they were trained to do. Davis was knocked unconscious, then woken up by a beehive round strike to his body. Although he didn’t think he’d live to see the light of day, he saw his brothers across the river and he rescued them. One of those men was Jim Dyster, who had been shot thru the head and was for sure dead. Turns out, he wasn’t.

During our conversation we get to hear from his wife, Dixie too. She’s by his side at all his appearances. She wrote a book about their life, which is linked below.

This is another great, selfless American that kept a smile on my face the entire interview. And you may be interested to know he’s the real life Forrest Gump. Watch his Medal of Honor ceremony with Pres Johnson and you’ll see why.

Below are some resources to learn more about Sergeant First
Class Sammy L. Davis:

Medal
of Honor citation

His book: You
Don’t Lose Til You Quit Trying.

Dixie’s book: Endless
Love and Second Chances

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