Thad Forester

Ep 069 – Hershel “Woody” Williams | Medal of Honor Recipient

November 11, 2019 By Thad Forester

Woody Williams will never forget the odor of burning human remains.

“There are some things about that 4 hours that have bothered me my whole life… I can’t remember going back and getting the other 5 flamethrowers. It was so horrific, I didn’t want to remember.”

I was introduced to death by flamethrower after learning of Mr. Williams. He went thru 5 – 70 lb flamethrowers in a 4-hour battle on Iwo Jima. Two of the Marines assigned to him were killed that day protecting his life. He is the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor from that battle, and the last surviving Marine to receive the MOH for heroism in World War II.

You could say Mr. Williams lived a sheltered life up until his time in the military. Prior, he’d never heard of Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Ocean, or Japan. He joined the Marines to protect his country and protect his freedom. He thought he’d be staying in the U.S., but after boot camp he learned they’d be fighting the Japanese in the Pacific.

I asked, “What did you know about Iwo Jima before you got there?” His response, “Not a thing!” Later he saw the flag raised on Mount Suribachi, but didn’t consider the significance at that time. He had a job to do and wasn’t reveling in the moment.

His story is remarkable. He was awarded the MOH by Pres. Truman, but admits being more nervous to meet the Commandant of the Marine Corp than the President. He shares with us what both these men told him regarding the medal. He didn’t know anything about the MOH. Even the day he received it he didn’t know what it was about.

I even get his opinion on the NFL controversies over kneeling during the National Anthem. Awesome interview. You should read his medal citation below and learn more about him at these links:

Read his Medal of Honor Citation

Learn about his foundation:

Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation

*originally published Oct 30, 2017

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Ep 068 – Nic McKinley | Unleashing the Warriors on Child Trafficking

October 14, 2019 By Thad Forester

Nic is a former Air Force Pararescueman (PJ) and Country Chief for a special unit within the CIA. During his career he witnessed the epidemic of child trafficking within illegal markets and recognized the opportunity to apply his training to influence this global crisis.

How do he and his organization, DeliverFund, do this? By equipping, training and advising law enforcement officers to track down and arrest these worthless scums of the earth. They focus on getting the source by unleashing the warriors.

In some instances, they’ve reduced the time to find and arrest traffickers down to days and hours.

To say Nic McKinley has a firm understanding about these illicit, illegal markets and has the highest levels of training to effectively combat them is an understatement.

Click here to learn more about Nic and DeliverFund. This non-profit could always use any donation to help fight this evil.

And in case you wondered if Nic is the real Jack Ryan… he is. Here’s proof.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Ep 067 – Special: Mark Forester – Hammerhead

September 29, 2019 By Thad Forester

On this 9th anniversary of the death of Mark Forester, I talk with our dad and sister. Obviously this is more of a personal episode where we talk about Mark at various stages in life and Dad and Terri’s relationship with him.

You may not know it by pictures or only knowing Mark as an adult, but he went thru a lazy period as a teenager. He also spent entirely too much time playing a ridiculous computer game called “Return of the Shadow” (or something like that).

This is a rare time when Dad is recorded talking about Mark. So, join me today as we honor Senior Airman Mark Forester, who was killed-in-action on this day in 2010 in Afghanistan.

If you want to learn more about Mark, throughout his life and military, you can purchase his book from Amazon here:

My Brother in Arms

Also, if you feel so included to support my podcast, it’s easy via Patreon. The $$ amount you can contribute is very little. Regardless, thank you for listening and sharing.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Ep 066 – Lauren Sisler | Firsthand Effects of Addiction and Overcoming Tragedy

August 5, 2019 By Thad Forester

When Lauren Sisler’s phone rang at 3 am, she never expected her father to say that her mother had died. When her plane landed in Virginia that same day, all she wanted was a big hug from her dad, only he wasn’t there. In those few hours, he had died too.

Today, this ESPN and AL.com sports broadcaster tells how she was ashamed for far too long about how her parents died. When she finally was transparent–that they had overdosed on prescription painkillers, she felt freedom and healing.

This Navy daughter has an inspirational message about overcoming grief and despair and finding success. After all, she was only 18 when she lost both parents. Thank goodness for her older brother, Aunt and Uncle, and coaches at Rutgers who didn’t cut her any slack.

I look forward to seeing her on the sidelines more this year in the college football season.

You can also watch this interview on YouTube.

Thank you Sheepdog Firearms for letting us record another show in your fine facility.

Mentioned in this episode:

Paralyzed UAB Football Player Tim Alexander keeps promise

Follow Lauren on Instagram

Follow Lauren on Twitter

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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.