Welcome to Patriot to the Core Podcast

Patriot to the Core 2018

This podcast exists b/c of my little brother Mark Forester. While he was serving as a full-time missionary in California, our nation was attacked on 9/11. He felt the calling then to complete his service to God with his next mission being to serve his country. He knew God wanted him to help control the world's terrorists population.

On September 29, 2010, he was killed in action on his first deployment. From his death notification to my family, to the Dignified Transfer ceremony at Dover, to his viewing, funeral, and subsequent memorials, I was amazed at the new world of heroes and warriors we met. These men and women have become close to our family and been huge supports. But they also stood out because of their willingness to voluntarily fight evil. They believed in freedom and liberty. Because of their actions, I started this podcast to interview great Americans who serve their country and communities.

By supporting this podcast, you help support The Mark Forester Foundation and its cause.

I interview those from all branches of the military, serving multiple roles (combat controllers, PJs, Green Berets, SEALs, Rangers, Infantrymen, Marines, Pilots, etc) and the US government. In addition, I speak with your everyday mom who goes about doing good--from starting a non-profit to fighting for freedom in our communities and schools. I also get to talk with Gold Star Parents, Siblings and Spouses, and Medal of Honor recipients.

This provides an opportunity to learn about everyday Americans who go above and beyond to protect us and to help others. As a Gold Star brother, many of my guests have a military connection, but I still have a wide variety of people who answer the call to serve in various ways.

We talk fighting terrorism, self-protection, exercise, mental toughness, charity, parenting, fugitives and occasionally pop culture and politics (like government overreach).

Please follow and subscribe so we can have many episodes to come. Send suggestions and questions to me at thad@patriottothecore.com. Hope you enjoy!

You can also become a patron. Your support is not considered a donation--it's a way to get something in return for helping support my cause. See link below:

Become a Patron!

Episode 034 – “Bring it on”, with Jack Fanning, CCT, Quadriplegic

August 7, 2017 By Thad Forester

Jack Fanning was a combat controller training for a new team when a night time HAHO training jump went terribly wrong.

When he jumped from the aircraft, he was at the pinnacle of physical shape, with hundreds of jumps under his belt. However, Fanning ended up hitting the ground at 35 knots (~40 mph) which caused his C3 to overlap his C4. While on the ground, he had a very hard time breathing and said “I knew I was dying.” Somehow, his IR strobe got turned on and his teammates found him.

After some miracles, much determination, and remaining positive, Jack is now an active quadriplegic who skydives, skis, hunts, scuba dives, and other activities.

He’s also a founding member of “Brother’s Keepers“, which is a non-profit that provides retreats and support for our wounded warriors, their families, and others in our community who are in need. He’s found immense healing by serving others.

This warrior is determined to walk again. Therapy kicks his butt 3-days/week and he’s flexed one bicep and walked with robot legs.

Fanning gave some advice for those considering spec ops:

you’ve got to be in shape
It’s about 80% mental. When the body wants to quit, you’ve got to override that feeling with mental toughness.

And if you’re struggling from seen or unseen wounds, ask for help. It’s also beneficial to talk about your injury/problem. Keep a positive attitude and get up and do it (whatever ‘it’ is). You’ll be uplifted when you hear Jack talk about his recovery and feel his fighting spirit.

Learn more about Jack Fanning below and other organizations mentioned in this episode:

Jack Fanning – My Story

Brother’s Keepers

National Ability Center

Jackrabbit documentary

*Also, we’re now on Patreon. Please check out how you can help the cause so I can provide quality content.

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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Episode 033 – Ron White: Brain Athlete-Memory Expert

July 24, 2017 By Thad Forester

Ron White

“If you think you can’t memorize something, you’re wrong. You can remember 10-20 times more data than you think.”

2-time USA Memory Champion Ron White, aka Brain Athlete, gives us some insights on what he’s been doing. We start out with the Afghanistan Memory Wall, where he memorized the rank, first and last name of each person killed in Afghanistan since the war on terror began. This is over 2300 names, 7000 words. Not only does he have them memorized, but he knows them in the order they were killed. He has a traveling wall where he writes their names at various events across the country. He was most recently at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 600 Miles of Remembrance and Dover International Speedway.

SuperHuman

He was a contestant on Season 1 of SuperHuman on Fox where he met 10 ladies, got their name, phone number (all 10 digits) and unique fact about them in a few short minutes. The judges randomly called out names and he got 100% correct.

Now, this former Navy reservist teaches online memory courses and speaks around the world. He has a memory system by visually attaching what he wants to remember to an object in his house.

Brain Athlete – US Memory Champion

In 2009-2010, this brain athlete was a memory champ by memorizing a deck of cards in 1:27 (1 min, 27 secs). He also memorized 167 digit number in 5 mins. Eventually he was beat out by someone who memorized a deck of cards in 19 seconds (that just blew my mind).

We had a good time today. We even played a simple memory game (simple for him, not for me) where I called out some random 2-digit numbers and he recited them all back in order.

Learn more about Ron and his memory courses below:

Ron White Training

Brain Athlete

Mind Palace Technique

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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Episode 032 – Lt. Col. Dave Grossman: Killology 101

July 10, 2017 By Thad Forester

Grossman Academy home page

“Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” (spoken by the sheepdogs; the warriors).

What do you ask the expert in the study of the psychology of killing?

Dave Grossman is the country’s #1 trainer of military and law enforcement who helps those who have to kill overcome the natural resistance to killing.

There is no safety in denial

Among the many things we discuss today are the difference between sheep, wolves and sheepdogs. Which one are you? Well he’s going to describe each one and how they respond to threatening situations. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds.

Grossman’s books are required reading for DEA, military and police units. He travels 250+ days/year as one of our nation’s leading trainers for military, law enforcement, mental health providers, and school safety organizations. He helped train mental health professionals after the Jonesboro school massacre, and he was also involved in counseling or court cases in the aftermath of the Paducah, Springfield, Littleton and Nickel Mines Amish school massacres.

Our kids have been taught to blow brains out and get points

Yes, we even talk about the effects of violence on TV and in video games, especially in very young children. Feed our youngsters virtuous info and images, then once they are more mature, it’s okay to see some violence. Don’t take a 5-year-old to see “Saving Private Ryan” for heaven’s sake.

Sleep deprivation

He also gives staggering statistics regarding the effects of sleep deprivation in everyone – young and old. Don’t let your kids go to bed with their phones/devices. And we adults shouldn’t either. He will explain a few reasons why.

Veteran’s health

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is also very passionate about our veteran’s health and the anti-war smear of our veterans by the media. PTSD is treatable! And survival guilt is normal. It’s not PTSD. For those with PTSD, don’t let it stop you from getting better. Grossman provides an example from a very well-known veteran.

Every day carry (EDC)

We even talk about being prepared with tools to protect us, our families, and others. He said, “I’d rather walk out the door naked and alone than to be with my loved ones without the tools to protect us.”

My conversation with this Army Ranger, paratrooper and former West Point Psychology Professor blew me away. He’s a dynamic speaker who uses facts, passion, and common sense.

Learn more about Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, his books and academy here:

www.killology.com

Grossman Academy

On Combat

On Killing (perennial bestseller)

Stop Teaching our Kids to Kill

Warrior Mindset: Mental Toughness Skills for our Nation’s Peacekeepers

Sheepdogs – Meet our Nation’s Warriors (children’s book)

Why Mommy Carries a Gun, American Sheepdogs (children’s book)

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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Episode 031 – Air Force TACP, “George”

June 26, 2017 By Thad Forester

AFSOC

Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) member George is with us to share how his desire to serve others resulted in joining the JROTC in high school, then enlisting in the Air Force after graduating.

17 years later, his body is worn and at times his heart, soul and body were broken. On his 9^th deployment in 2010, his Humvee rolled over on him a few times, which shattered his hip, broke bones in his back and screwed up his shoulder. He woke up on his way to Walter Reed where he’d spend the next seven months.

His recovery while in the hospital didn’t only include his body, but also his heart and soul. His teammate and friend, Mark Forester, was killed a few days prior and George was suffering with severe survivor’s guilt. “Nothing impacted me the way it did when Mark died”, George tells us. His demons were so serious that after arriving in our town to visit for the first time, he pulled over for an hour to get the courage to face Mark’s family. Of course, we had no ill feelings.

On a lighter note, he informs us what a TACP is and why he chose to join this elite group in the Air Force Special Operations. Almost seven years later, George is still working for the Air Force in a Research and Development role.

In this episode, we talk:

battlefield tactics
leadership
team dynamics
survival

George is captivating and a selfless American.

He will be back soon to get into more details about his recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, including surviving a divorce and overcoming all odds to walk 33 continuous miles, accept a more demanding job with AFSOC and even got remarried recently.

Music courtesy of Soundroad – Believe.
Copyright 2017 Thad Forester
http://www.patriottothecore.com
email questions to thad@patriottothecore.com

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Episode 030 – Iraq veteran and financial planner Benjamin Brandt

June 12, 2017 By Thad Forester

benjamin brandt financial planner

I asked Benjamin Brandt how deploying to a war zone prepared him to be a financial planner. He said in the military they learned to act without thinking. In his profession now, it’s important to think without acting.

He was a member of Task Force Trailblazer where he was a combat engineer. Their mission was to identify IED’s so US and coalition forces are assured mobility. While deployed in 2003-2005 for 15 months, he saw IED’s get more and more sophisticated.

Now 12 years later he has a successful business teaching people how to retire. He also gives us solid advice how to plan a vacation on a limited budget by:

have 30 daily (not monthly) budget meeting with spouse
do not round numbers, be specific. You can save a few dollars here and there that will add up each month
Press pause on what you can – cable, Netflix, lawn maintenance, etc

We have a great talk about actionable steps we can take to put ourselves in better financial positions. And Benjamin is open about his PTSD and how he has no side effects now.

Retirement Starts Today

You can watch him on his weekly show “Money Monday” in a Gorilla suit here:

http://www.myndnow.com/news/bismarck-news/money-monday-trick-or-treat/603482833

He’s an interesting guy with no secrets. He even hired a private investigator to find out everything about him and he published on his blog.

Learn more about Brandt here, including listening to his podcast:

http://retirementstartstoday.com/

Blog

Subscribe to his podcast

Benjamin created this link for our listeners:

http://retirementstartstodayradio.com/patriot/

Music courtesy of Soundroad – Believe.
Copyright 2017 Thad Forester
http://www.patriottothecore.com
email questions to thad@patriottothecore.com

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