mark forester Archives - Page 2 of 4 -

Ep 077 | My Interview on “The Game” | Throwback from 2012

November 9, 2020 By Thad Forester

Throwback to my interview with Mick Gillispie and Ryan Fowler on “The Game” radio show in February 2012.

Mick has been a big supporter of The Mark Forester Foundation since its inception. And in this interview we cover many topics surrounding Mark’s education, time in military, final battle, The American Fallen Soldiers Project, fundraisers and Mark’s foundation.

As you’ll hear in my intro, I’m having a difficult time interviewing lately, but have people with compelling stories lined up. It’s all a matter of time, and right now, our family is having to constantly “recalibrate”.

Here are links to what we discussed today:

Bama Gone but Not Forgotten – Thomas “Jake” Jaichner

An American Hero Comes Home – Major Troy Gilbert

The American Fallen Soldiers Project – Univ of Alabama

Lifetime’s “Coming Home”

Tennessee Smokies Honor Mark

JAG 28 Memorial Birthday Walk

Follow Mick at:

Bama Insider

Cubs TV

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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/

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Ep. 060 – SPECIAL: MAJ Wes Wilson – The Aftermath of Mark’s death in Shah Mashad

September 29, 2018 By Thad Forester

Today is 8 years since Mark was killed in Afghanistan. Although we were notified in person by his teammates and leadership, there were still many unanswered questions–details no one who wasn’t there could personally share.

Major Wes Wilson was the ODA Detachment Commander when Mark was killed. Their team had split up and Wes was about 200 meters away with the mounted element, which included George, who’s been on the podcast two times before.

Hear Wes give us more details of that intense short period on Sept 29, 2010 in Uruzgan Province, where two Americans and others were killed.

You can read more specifics of Mark’s final stand from his Silver Star citation here.

Purchase his book in paperback, hardback or Kindle here.

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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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Memorial Day from a Gold Star brother

May 28, 2017 By Thad Forester

Price of Freedom-Memorial Day 2017

As I watch the Coca-Cola 600, I’m honored to see my brother’s name on the #43 car for Richard Petty’s team. Nascar is honoring 40 fallen heroes with 600 miles of remembrance today.

I continue to be amazed at the support we receive from so many people–from friends, acquaintances, and strangers. I also grateful for support from an overwhelming majority of our citizens.

Each Memorial Day weekend, I receive an incredible amount of emails, texts, calls, and Facebook posts honoring my brother Mark Forester. I can’t adequately express my appreciation to everyone for not forgetting our loss. Unfortunately, many families are living Memorial Day every day.

I know many are like I was pre-2010: Memorial Day being the beginning of pool and lake season, along with grilling, homemade ice cream and vacations–no thought of our fallen. Now, it’s much different. I think of my brother every day and try to honor him by how I live. So in most ways, Memorial Day is no different than any other day.

However, I get more distracted this weekend because of the number of people recognizing the many heroes who’ve laid down their lives for our freedom. I get a little more somber and appreciative for all who’ve paid the price of freedom.

Even though I don’t say “Happy Memorial Day”, I don’t get bothered if someone does. I don’t worry about little things like that. I just appreciate people remembering. We are free to live and worship as we please; and celebrating with those we care about is a good thing to do for Memorial Day.

I’m curious what you do to honor our fallen on Memorial Day? The options are limitless. Ron White memorized everyone who has been killed in Afghanistan and wrote their names and rank on his traveling Memory Wall this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway – incredible. My wife is doing the JAG 28 Hero WOD. That ain’t no walk in the park.

Answered his call

My little brother lived great and died great. Most importantly he was killed doing something he loved. He sealed his fixed determination to conquer our enemies with his blood. I’m sure he has no regrets.

Mark Forester and mom 2010 — Mark with mom before he deployed in 2010. She’ll never get over losing her baby boy.