Daily American
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Daily American
Season 4 Finale: WAR FAITH & HEALING featuring Teddy Colegate
Our human lives predestined? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Teddy's reflections on his upbringing and his transition from pursuing baseball in Florida to serving in the Gulf War offer profound insights into the unpredictability of life’s journey and the role of divine intervention.
Teddy shares candid insights from his military service, including the moral and psychological toll of deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. He delves into the existential questions surrounding belief, faith, and the often harsh realities of serving in the Marine Corps. This episode also tackles broader political issues, including immigration and national security, as seen through Teddy's experiences and personal convictions. We discuss the importance of voting and political engagement, advocating for leaders who prioritize the well-being of all citizens, especially veterans.
Teddy's personal journey of mental health recovery takes center stage as he opens up about the challenges faced after his military service. From a pivotal moment in 2016 to exploring innovative treatments in Mexico, Teddy's story is one of resilience and transformation. He champions the cause of mental health awareness, urging listeners to support First Coast Heroes Outreach that provide vital resources for veterans. This conversation is a heartfelt examination of personal growth, societal responsibilities, and the quest for a more compassionate world.
https://heroesoutreach.org/
@heroes_outreach
Founder: Teddy Colegate
thank you for being a part of this journey
info@dailyamericanpodcast.com
We're back with the Daily American. Just want to welcome to the show Mr Teddy Colgate. Teddy, welcome.
Speaker 2:Hey, thanks. Thanks for having me, Dan. It's good to be here.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, teddy. So you know, obviously we're strangers to each other. Besides the pretty awesome, you know we had a nice little 10-minute conversation about our. You know just what's going on in our lives and stuff. But go ahead and kick us off with you. Know your childhood a bit and where you were born.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was born in Hamilton, ohio, and you know my folks have both sides of my parents lived in that area, some in Indiana, some in Ohio, and it was a small-town America living, you know, and I enjoyed being outside, being on the farm, running around with no shoes, on things like that, and some of my fondest memories are being outside in the dirt just working for my family. Seven and my dad moved to Ohio and my mom stayed in Indiana, but it was about seven, seven, 10 miles apart, you know. So I was the typical every other weekend, uh, kid, where you cross the border and uh spent, uh, spent your weekend with your folks, uh, that you didn't live with. So you know it was, uh, it was a much simpler time back then, I think, and especially for me and the neighborhood. There was no street light, there was no stop sign, it was one road that went through Drewsburg, indiana and, yeah, it was country living at its finest.
Speaker 1:It sounds like a peaceful time in your life. What about high school sports or anything?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so growing up I played five sports and I have in seventh and eighth grade my junior high years I played football and I wrestled, I played basketball, ran track and then I played baseball. So it was nonstop. My mom would work three jobs sometimes, you know, waitressing and cutting hair and things like that, to make sure I had all the equipment I needed. And yeah, it was good. And then my freshman year of high school I moved down to Florida from Indiana to play baseball year round. My mom just kind of said, you know what, let's give it a shot. And I was all for it, of course. And so I went to high school in St Petersburg, florida, wow. And then you know things happen when there's a thousand. You know recruits out there and things like that. So I didn't pan out. You know recruits out there and things like that.
Speaker 2:So didn't, didn't pan out, had some issues in high school and just didn't really care for for school in general and ended up joining the Marine Corps after attending a bonus I'll call it a bonus semester of high school, because I had gotten in trouble my junior year and lost a whole semester for drinking at the prom. So you know lessons learned. But you know, I mean looking back. It's like critical moments in your life that shape you and it's one of those things. That is definitely one of them that really got me and I wouldn't be here today.
Speaker 2:I don't think my path wouldn't have taken the path it took had that not happened, because I went down to the Marine recruiter and just said you know, here we go. And he told me, and he convinced me that I had to go back to school because I was convinced that, you know, I'll just get a GED and, you know, go on about my life. And he's like, no, we don't do that anymore. So he convinced me to go back and get my high school diploma and then, as soon as that was done, I went to recruit training in Parris Island and off we went, you know.
Speaker 1:So I have no idea my question is you know how you mentioned that you're, that that was a big time, like a moment in your life. Do you think that that this is, this is just an off the wall uh question? But are you, do you think that we are in charge of, of basically our destiny and our fate in regards to, like, uh, you know that that scenario, or is you know God up there just pulling the strings and no matter what we try to do? We can try to run off on our own beaten path, but he's going to string us back in. What do you? What do you personally think on that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that there's definitely a pathway that's already built for us and as human beings we get in the way of that higher plan and God's plan.
Speaker 2:I think he has the card that as soon as you're born or maybe even conceive that you have that pathway and the left and rights and the circles, the roundabouts, if you will, that you kind of go through in life. I think that's us getting in our own way and not submitting, you know, to the plan that's laid out in front of us. And I think for me there were certain things that I had to do to start the journey that I'm on and I think even the journey that I'm continuing, you're constantly on right now, you know, and that's just creating awareness for mental health, and that you don't have to go the length of time that it has taken me to figure some of these things out. If I can share that with people to be able to shorten their journey, to get a higher quality of life or a better life to live with those that they care about, then I'm doing the purpose that I'm still on earth to do.
Speaker 1:Damn dude. What a deep, authentic answer, man. I appreciate that, ted. So back at Parris Island. What time frame is this?
Speaker 2:What year, january of 1990, was when I left Gotcha. Yeah, Beautiful beautiful.
Speaker 1:All right. What do you think? Some of the things All right, so after, I assume, how many years did you serve Many Jeez Damn. So that brought you pretty much. What's that? 2012? Yeah, 2012 that's holy smokes, man. So there's so. So walk us through. Um, you know, whatever, whatever you want to disclose in regards to your time in the service and some struggle points, or what have you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so less than a year into Marine Corps, I was in Saudi Arabia, right. So boom here, us is now engrossed in a war that we hadn't been in, at least for our generation, and 19 years old, full of it, ready to do whatever needs to be done. I had no idea what I was doing really, but I had some good leaders with me and over me. So I was with 2nd Anglico, 2nd Surveillance Reconnaissance Intelligence Group out of Lejeune, and the buildup was so massive that there were so many reserve units associated with us. So we were an active duty unit, but we had two large reserve units with us. So we were an active duty unit but we had two large reserve units with us.
Speaker 2:And I can never figure this out. But the reservists get kind of pushed towards like the cool stuff, right, and it's almost like they had to validate being activated, right. And I never really realized that until you fast forward to you know deployments when I was a captain or a major, because I did 10 years enlisted and then I was commissioned and then I retired as a major. So but we'll, we'll, we'll circle circle around that. But but we'll, we'll, we'll circle circle around that. But yeah, it's, it was just one of those things where, as a 19 year old kid, you know, just give me something to attack or give me something to, you know, just impose my will on, because that's all you kept hearing. You know, the Marine Corps, marine Corps, people do impose their will when they're not doing the right thing.
Speaker 1:Imposing their will and 19 years old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, and all through high school I mean you'd see conflict. But but again, going back to my, my youth, would you have a couple of TV channels? You know, at least we did, and you didn't get near the coverage that's out there today. So you just kind of knew what you were directly involved in and yeah. So it was weird. And you know the writing letters and you know you didn't get phone calls home back then and stuff like that. So you know your family was kind of uh-oh, what's happening and and yeah, so it was just a weird maturation of of, hey, you know, teenager here it is. You know this is life and and what are you going to do with it?
Speaker 2:So, so I ended up coming back and stayed with the unit I was in, worked pretty hard and ended up getting meritoriously promoted to corporal and then within probably six months, I got orders to go to HMX-1, which is the Marine One Helicopter Squadron that flies. The president, again, knew nothing about what it was. I just I was jumping out of planes, it was in the field a lot. I enjoyed that, that's what I wanted to stay doing. And they were like no, this is an accepted command which, when they say you're the guy, you're the guy and you're going so. So I ended up going up there, and another six months later I find myself in the White House liaison office and it was-, who was the?
Speaker 2:president, at the time Clinton. So it was Bush senior and then Clinton. So, yeah, so it was just one of those times where, again, at this point this is 92, so I'm 21, 22 years old, and this is a big deal. I mean, you got the most powerful person in the world and you're responsible for the safety transition from you know whether it's an event to the helicopter and the helicopter to Air Force One, or Air Force One to or Marine One to a motorcade what have you? You know, that's kind of what. You're on the ground to make sure that there's a safe landing spot, the landing zone is secure, and you work with other agencies Secret service, the local fire, local law enforcement, things like that. So, yeah, it was pretty cool.
Speaker 1:That's a huge deal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, again, as a young guy I mean in your early 20s that's a lot of responsibility. So growing up I had a lot of maturing very quickly, which served me, I think, very well, because I went to Okinawa after that and committed to getting my four-year degree and I ended up completing that in two and a half years. So, you know, I went to night school, I took tests. Anything that would give me college credit towards a degree I did because I knew that was the end game for me. And then from there I went to officer candidate school and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. All of that timeframe was from 92 to 90, 99, right, it's kind of crazy.
Speaker 1:You've accomplished more in that seven year or six and a half, whatever you want to call it seven year timeframe than you know most people have their entire lives. I mean it just is what it is. I mean you're right, you're escorting the president on Marine One and then you're going to school getting a four year degree in two and a half years. That's unheard of. What's the biggest difference between the officer side versus the enlisted in the Corps?
Speaker 2:Well, I think, for enlisted guys, every Marine has a job right and it's military occupational specialty.
Speaker 2:This is what we're paying you to do, this is what you're trained to do.
Speaker 2:And then, when you throw the officer side of it, there's a lot of leadership, command type things that we want to be able to plug and play you anywhere around the world. So there's all these IA billets, individual augment billets and things like that. They want to be able to just grab an officer and be able to shove them somewhere and he's going to be expected to lead and be able to shove them somewhere. And he's going to be expected to lead. He may not be expected to have the technical expertise, but as a Marine officer, you are going to be expected to lead and you're going to be expected to hold those Marines to a high standard or hold those military guys because there's a lot of joint stuff at that point You're expected to hold them at a high standard and make sure that they are trained, equipped, guided and taken care of to execute the mission that they have at hand.
Speaker 2:You know so providing a lot of top cover from guys trying to, or organizations I say guys, but you know that are trying to limit your resources or limit your access to certain things. You have to, you know, be that umbrella that protects your guys, so gives them the opportunity to do the things they need to do. So I don't know if that makes sense, but, yeah, I understood, of course, 100% understood.
Speaker 1:It's just I guess they pay. I just you weren't some butter bar off the street? You know what I mean? You already did the enlisted side, so that's got to play a huge benefit when you're taking over and leading. You know a platoon or what have you?
Speaker 2:For me, I will say that the best officers are prior enlisted, coupled only by the worst officers are prior enlisted Right, really Okay.
Speaker 2:It sounds ridiculous, but in my opinion, if you are a prior enlisted officer a Mustang, whatever I know we call them I'm pretty sure everybody else calls them that or something like that there's really none of those guys that are middle of the road. You're either really really good or you're really really bad, and and it all depends on your experience as an illicit guy, right. So for me, I feel like I was really really good and it's not biased and thinking that I've had probably about a month ago I had a kid that I NJP'd right, reduced him in rank, took him to Afghanistan, promoted him in Afghanistan to the rank that I took from him before, and about a month ago, month and a half ago, he sends me a message on Facebook saying and about a month ago, a month and a half ago, he sends me a message on Facebook saying hey, sir, you know I appreciate you. You were the best leader that I ever had and you know I thank you for doing what you did, because all you did was hold me accountable and you held me to the standard that is expected. It wasn't your standard, it wasn't my standard, it's the Marine Corps standard, whatever, right, and those types of things happen a lot. You know so. So when I say that the Marine Corps to this day you know there's lieutenant colonels that work for me as lieutenants, and a lot of that is just timing and longevity and things like that.
Speaker 2:But when you're sticking around that long, you're sticking around for a reason. And when I was submitting my commissioning package, I had a lieutenant ask me well, why would you do that? Of all the things you've accomplished as a sergeant and all these things, I was blown away because of guys like you. I don't want to work for a guy like you because you have no idea what you're doing and you don't care to know because you're in charge. All right, I never, ever had to tell anyone. I was in charge. When I walked in the room, they knew I was the guy you know and I think that's a big difference.
Speaker 2:The other side of that and I've worked for a guy at Parris Island. I went back to Parris Island as a company commander, so I started off as a series commander and then I went as a company commander and I worked for a company commander who was a prior enlisted guy and he had to let everybody know that he was in charge every single day. And I just I don't, I don't agree with that. I don't think that you, if you're in charge, you know and you know every, every unit has their their little command board photos and stuff like that. You know. So you see this guy's face and I, I, I actually told him. I said, listen, we see your picture on the wall nonstop. We know you're in charge. You constantly telling us that you're in charge. He would say something like we're going to do it this way because I'm in charge what?
Speaker 2:Come on man. So that's what I mean. You get the extreme. And I had another one. He was a second lieutenant who was a prior staff sergeant and just not good, not good, right. And it was because when he was, you know, a junior Marine or what have you, he had a lieutenant. Oh no, I'm sorry. He had a lieutenant or no, I'm sorry. He had a platoon sergeant, a staff sergeant that didn't go to bat for him with his platoon commander and he held that against his staff sergeant. So when he became a lieutenant he had nothing to do or no love lost for his staff NCOs because he was never taken care of and I'm like that's it, that's, that's not how it works.
Speaker 1:That's the problem with society, society as a whole. Right there, like you know, racism for, for, for instance, one black dude beats up a white guy or bullies him, that white guy is going to hate the. Not only that, a lot of times a white guy will hate the black guy forever. Every black guy will just correlate right to that, rather than realizing that every single human being is different in who they are. And you know it shouldn't. You can't judge one based off of another experience in this life. I mean you just can't it based off of another experience in this life. I mean you just can't.
Speaker 2:But it's just like law enforcement, right Law enforcement. So I was in a motorcycle club when I got out of the Marine Corps and was in there for almost 10 years and you know there was ACAB, ac, a, b all cops are bad, right what?
Speaker 1:same exact thing right.
Speaker 2:So the the funny thing for me, it's like they're doing a job. That's all they're doing, right? If they pull you over for speeding, you were speeding. Your interactions determine whether you get a ticket or not. That's a fact.
Speaker 1:That's yeah. Yeah, you're usually right about that, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So the fact is, you get pissed off at these guys, because they hold you accountable for doing something wrong.
Speaker 1:And you know what else. It is the media. They want divide. They want to divide between human beings. They want that because if they feel it's their fuel to their little like fire that they try to put all across the airwaves, which they're really good at, obviously, and like they want, they want to divide, so they're gonna exacerbate. You know, god forbid again. Vice versa, just like you're talking about the cop, like a cop black guy, maybe he's resisting arrest a bit and he goes to try to grab the cop's gun and then he gets killed. That'll be blasted everywhere. You know, racism is alive and well in America, but that's simply not the case. And it's like when people start to differentiate and maybe do some studies on their own and realize, yes, are there racist people out there? A hundred percent. Are there bad cops? Yes, are there bad black guys? Yes, but there's good versus bad. It's not necessarily the color of their skin, where they were born or anything like that, but that's what everything wants to get pointed to. It's kind of sick.
Speaker 2:And you're absolutely right, it's good versus evil. And you're absolutely right, it's good versus evil. And the gun laws. Everyone's talking about gun laws. Guns don't kill people. Bad people with guns kill people, right, but a bad person? If a bad person wants to do something bad, they're going to find a way to do something bad. They're going to have the illegal guns anyway, they're going to get them. So it's like you know, and it goes back to what we talked about earlier was the whole, you know, the faith portion. Right, if a large percentage would read the Bible and understand the Bible, everything that's happening in the world is in the Bible.
Speaker 2:It's a fact right, my church here just did a series, and they always do a series, but they did a series on constitutional governance and things-blowing, right, because things that are happening. He throws all the scripture together and then, you know, like just overlays it and at the end of it all, if we could understand that one we're not in charge of anything you know, of anything you know and hold ourselves accountable and look at our neighbors as equals, regardless of status, for anything you know, life wouldn't be near as near as difficult. You know, and you're right, man, that book of Revelation is it's.
Speaker 1:It's crazy. Everything has been prophesied by, you know, back to the old testament. You know daniel ezekiel, whoever they are, the prophets, basically everything that's going on, the nations that are rising against israel as we speak, and you know judgment days. You know I'm no expert on this matter by any means, but judgment days probably right around the corner I mean yeah, yeah, which is scary.
Speaker 2:You know which is scary? Because you think about the rapture and the natural disasters and things like that. I mean, those are just to me anyway, and again, I'm not a theologist or theologian or whatever you know, but I know what resonates with me when I, when I sit and listen to you know, my pastor and things like that, and it's like these are, these are just signs, and to me, the way I receive it is, these are signs that God is saying hey man, my people get your shit together.
Speaker 2:Right my people get your shit together, right, you know.
Speaker 1:So get your shit together because if not, then you know, here we are. So, yeah, that's pretty much. You know he's telling me. I know for a fact, he's telling me that direct, like every single day. Just hearing your voice says say, it is just that's. I mean, it could be a form of him speaking through you, directly to me or anybody else listening to this get your shit together. For me that's exactly what I need to do, because time's ticking and I know time's ticking, but I just keep, like you know, pushing it off and pushing it off and still living in the way I want to live, and it's just just like it's not working anymore. So I got it, I got to personally get my shit together. It's hopefully, you know, if something were to happen, right, this second, hopefully he's. He's merciful. But speaking of the rapture, ted, let me ask you something. Do you go by, ted, ever? By the way?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Ted is fine, because my dad's not sitting behind me, right? So I'm actually a junior and early on in my career, my adult life or what have you, I went by Ted and then I was home and my sister calls me Ted and she's like hey, ted, and my dad, I said yeah, and my dad's like that's me, you know, I'm like so so it's, it's, it's like you know. And then, and then when I became older, you know it's like teddy. Teddy is actually my birth name, so it's not theodore, it's not, it is, it's legit teddy on my birth certificate and everything else. And uh, so I, so I'm like just embrace it, you know. I mean, yeah, whatever, so, but uh, yeah, so either way, I'm good either way. And uh, you know, I know, I know who you're talking to, we're good, all right.
Speaker 1:So let's, let's, uh, let's, let me try to. I wanted to ask something on the rapture real quick, because like that's, that's a phenomenon or whatever I can't even say that word, but that's something that's like very out of this world, right? So If that were to happen, if that happened, right as we were right here, you just vanished. I would know for a fact that, ok, like now I'm getting my shit together One hundred percent, like these people didn't just disappear, but somehow, I don't know. It's just. That's a hard concept for me to grasp, but some people believe in it, some people don't. It's just very out of this world, which is God in a sense, but it's like, you know, supernatural, almost. You know, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, and I agree, natural, almost you know. Yeah, no, and I agree, and I think, uh, I think sometimes people are taken way too soon Right, and and it's never for us to to understand that the grieving aspect and the pain and the anger and all those things and the questions of faith and things like that, why, that's the human side of life and death, right, that's for me, having deployed multiple times, my question to myself was always did I do enough? Did I train these guys hard enough? Did I make the right decisions? Did I do everything in my power to keep us all safe, all prosperous and able to come home? So, when you deal with those things, the only way you can process those and the only way you can deal with those is understanding that it's not your decision.
Speaker 2:And I'll take it one step further. So, two guys walking down the street, one takes a sniper round, killed, instantly. Right, everyone takes cover. What have you? Years ago, my brain processed this, as you know, very difficult, like how or why is my prayer chain stronger than his right? My prayer chain Stronger than his Right? Because If, if One person was going to Be killed that day, was his people not praying as hard as my?
Speaker 2:people, you know what I mean and, yeah, and I don't know the answer to that and I never will, and there probably is not an answer to that, but it was. It was me Trying to make sense of you know why him, why not me, or why not me this time, or why not what happened. So trying to make sense of that legitimately drove me crazy. And, uh, the moral side of, and the moral injury aspect of, ptsd, right, ptsd or PTS, whatever you want to call it is, is nothing more than surviving, right, you were placed in a moment that you had to survive, right, that's that's what triggers the PTSD moments, and some people say it's fight or flight. I think for me at this point, there's four of them. There's fight, flight, fog and freeze. Right, so you're going to do one of those four things in a moment of danger survival, a survival scenario. So fight, flight, freeze or fog.
Speaker 2:So, as a commander, was I making clouded decisions that I freeze just long enough to make something substantial not happen or give enough time to make another choice? So there's a lot of that that you question as a Monday morning quarterback, instead of trusting in the faith that is laid on you and the grace and the mercy that's laid on you every single day. So, trying to understand some of those things I never have and maybe never will, except for the fact that over the last couple of years I have really, I guess, begun to realize for me to move forward, I have to accept things, I have to acknowledge that they happened and I have to accept the outcome, as that was the plan that I don't control. You know, I never controlled those things. I only made the choices that I felt were the best for the situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the deep stuff, Ted. A quick question how many deployments total? Six total? How many do Iraq versus Afghanistan?
Speaker 2:Oh, let's see. So I was in a first Gulf war course, and then, oh three, I was in Iraq. Seven, oh eight, iraq, oh nine and 10, uh, afghanistan.
Speaker 1:So that's a lot of wear and tear, yeah, a lot, and then um and then um and then 01.
Speaker 2:I was in uh at european command of stuttgart, germany, and kind of bounced in and out of areas from from over there. So I was responsible for the Georgia training and equip program, which in the Pankesee Gorge. That was where the Russians invaded Afghanistan the first time and got their asses handed to them.
Speaker 1:So we sent who was the US backing?
Speaker 2:The Georgians, yeah, okay, okay. So trying to train them to make sure that they were built up from coming through that gorge, escaping Afghanistan, because we were going on the other side. You know so, but you know so. It was just one of those things where I was gone quite a bit and, you know, got to do a lot of cool stuff, got to meet a lot of cool people, a lot of great people that raised the right hand to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. You know a presidential election that is doing that exact, that exact thing. You know that, uh, I stayed around the Marine Corps for so long because I wanted to leave my sons a better place to live, you know, and and a better, better place where maybe they didn't have to deal with the stuff that you know I deal with, or or things like that. And you know, hell, it's worse now than it's ever been.
Speaker 1:Think so you know this. Yeah, that's an accurate statement. This it's crazy man and it's like sometimes I question, like the greater the greater. I mean as a whole, and again this could be considered blasphemous, but as a whole, do you think the us is, is is generally or genuinely concerned about its people, or is it more so, just like maybe a very small portion of those people, very, very small portion, they care about and that's how they make their, that's how they maneuver.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so. And again, this's how they maneuver. Yeah, so, uh, you know. And again, this is. These are, these are my opinions, but I I don't think they are by and large. I think I think people that are making decisions live in a place that the worst of the worst aren't going to show up at their doorstep Right so the worst of the worst aren't going to show up at their doorstep, right. So people that continue to make these decisions like there's no issues with the border, there's no issues with violent crime, there's no issues with hungry US folks, americans living on the streets and things like that. They're not subjected to that every single day, you know, and those people don't want to dig into the stuff that's being felt by guys like me, guys like you that you know. You I had a parking ticket that I went to fight downtown San Antonio and I'm not bullshitting when I tell you that I pulled into the parking lot and there were nine shell casings on the ground in the parking spot right next to mine. The police station is right across the street street. So the people that are making decisions to protect the citizens, protect the border, protect the fundamental rights of US citizens don't see the atrocities that are being thrust on us every single day?
Speaker 2:Short answer is no. I don't think, by and large, the leadership of America is in a place that cares about the American citizen. Right, when I grew up and again small-town America, and I'll tell you, I grew up in a family that my grandfather was a stout Democrat, my mom, to this day, is a stout Democrat I was protected small town America, right. Well, now you don't see that, right, you see the. You see the I was. I never thought that anything bad would happen to me. Right, and America was a legit superpower.
Speaker 2:And then the first presidential election that I ever remember was Carter and Reagan. And we had a we had in the classroom, we had like a little mock, you know, presidential election and half the class had to do research on Carter, half the class had to do research on Reagan. Then we had an election. Well, I voted for Reagan because I thought he was the better choice. Grandparents and my mom, when I got home from school, all hell broke loose, you know, because it's a straight D. You know, you could, you could, if there was a D on Scooby-Doo. He was getting a vote from my family at the time, right, so, but that was like when I remember and looking back and there's some times there where I didn't really care, but that was like a defining moment again as we talked about like, wow, you know, we get away from who is in the best interest of America, who is in the best interest of protecting the foundational energy that we as Americans should promote.
Speaker 2:You know, I want America to be a superpower, like it was when I grew up. You know I want America to be a superpower like it was when I grew up. You know nobody's afraid of us. We're getting to the point where nobody's afraid of the military, the US military, right, because our hands are so tight. So get back to the point of building America as the superpower that says you know what, when we say, don't do that, you had better not do that because we will carry out what we said we were going to do.
Speaker 2:You know, and I think there's only for me you know there is. There is one option, at least this year, and I hope, I hope in four years. I hope this year we flip it and then I hope in four more years that we have the best possible candidate that's going to continue to preserve the American people and the values that we hold and we grew up with, because, if not, it's scary to think about our children and our grandchildren and generations to come, because we are going in the wrong direction and we're going to be one of these countries very soon that are holding our hand out trying to get something from other people, and that should never be the case.
Speaker 1:If Harris is elected again. That's probably exactly where we're headed Now. I'll be voting for Trump. I think he did a fantastic job on the global stage as far as keeping us out of battles and wars with, you know, strength through vigilance. But at the same time, ted, I do think that, no matter which president's elected, it's only a matter of time before one of these retards you know you can't really say that word anymore but one of these retards that are the dictator or president of their nation to start pushing buttons and wiping out. You know mass amounts of people and you know nuclear fallout taking place or something along those lines is coming relatively soon. But yeah, voting for Trump will probably delay that significantly, I would hope.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, and I think so. And you know I don't like politics, I'll be honest with you, because I feel everyone's trying to sell you something and it's like, hey, look at me, but it's not really look at me. It's just like here I am, but look over here at how bad. I can tell you this guy is right, or this gal. In this current instance it's this gal. Look how bad she is right. So I'm not a fan of politics, but I will say this the country is in dire straits because we have allowed so many to cross the border and we don't even know who's here now. And when you talk about the Springfield Ohio folks and that's not too far from where I was born- what happened in Springfield.
Speaker 1:What's happened in Springfield, Ohio.
Speaker 2:Well, they have. So the population of Springfield, I think, is in the 50,000s Right, don't quote my numbers, but I think it's roughly 50,000, 60,000,. Right in Springfield they just brought in not just, but over this past cycle 20,000 Haitians. So think about that. A third right of the population in a small town in America is now their own entity, basically Right. So they don't, they don't speak English. Some of them that do you know it's broken. They're given the debit card with, you know, $1,500 a month, if not more, to get their groceries and they got housing and they got all these things.
Speaker 2:It's like what about the homeless veterans down in Philadelphia right now? Where's the American dream right? Where's the American dream right? Where's my American dream right? Because the America that I grew up and the America that I fought for and things like that I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to live. Feel, you know, the American dream and we don't even provide that for our own citizens. Now, you know, and that's that's the crime I think in the political state is like when you constantly give people that do not come into this country legally right and legal immigration. I'm all for, because the melting pot, that's how we increase our diversity and all those things.
Speaker 1:You're not a bigot racist who doesn't want anybody besides white people running around in America. No, Listen.
Speaker 2:I can't even say that I've tried that route. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So it's like yeah, because, again, I've traveled all over the world. I've lived in a lot of different places, to include outside the US, and people just want to be people, be disruptive to this country. Why would you not try and do it the right way? Because there's plenty of opportunity and there's plenty of options to come into the US the right way, so why would you not do that? Why would you show up to be classified by some and by the majority as an illegal or a criminal?
Speaker 1:Because you are, because you are it's kind of nuts, because they say that, like these other countries I mean, imagine us, imagine the us we take all of our you know murderers and rapists and we, we literally plane them and drop, drop, drop them off in a foreign land. See, you guys, take care, thanks for doing nothing for our country. But besides destroying it and now you can go destroy that country as well it's just like it doesn't make any sense, but you know why? So the Democrats are the political figures that are holding these offices. Now, I don't know if it's exactly in these cities or what, but in general, they want this to happen because they're undocumented and essentially they can. That's why they're pushing for the no IDs at voting, because then they can vote Democrat and they win on the election and continue this, this path of destruction. Essentially.
Speaker 2:Through and through. There's so much movement from New York to Florida or California to Texas or all these, all these very quasi liberal areas to stout conservative areas For the same reason. Well, if your state or your area is so screwed up and you don't want to live there, the only way you get to live someplace else is by changing the way you do business. And your business at that point is the way you do life and the way you make decisions and the way you support your neighbor and support your country and not be so entitled.
Speaker 1:The expectations and the entitlement have ruined our country immensely, so it's uh you're not into into politics too much, teddy, but let me say this is we need people like you in in held positions because you know, it's just I don't know how, but it seems like all like. It seems like anytime I turn around the worst, mainly on both sides they're just like the worst type of people.
Speaker 2:Sometimes they're just like you know they have no issues, you know daddy's money growing up and somehow they're in these offices and it's just like it's crazy yeah, or or the, the career politicians that, uh, you know, started, you know, in a in a local seat when they were just out of college, and now they've been doing it for 40 years and they just keep moving up to a higher spot, and things like that. It's like but what have you done? What have you done other than just go into through the motions? Get the guys that want to make a difference, get the guys that understand the higher calling, so to speak. You know, because I believe that there is a, a spiritual side to to politics, and it's been documented as well, and it's in the Bible as well that you know there is a biblical leadership and there's, like it's politically or it's biblically backed policy or politics. You know so, and again, I'm probably jumbling all that up, but, uh, but it's out there. I mean, and and the education piece does not come from mainstream media. The education piece doesn't come from, you know, your, your neighbor, who, who heard, you know, at the corner market. You know, whatever, we owe it to our, our children and the future generations to educate ourselves and to make the better choices for our future. And our future starts now.
Speaker 2:It's not just a matter of well, you know, in four years, if the Democrats win again. Well, in four years, no, it has to start right now, because this is a problem that hasn't happened overnight. It's something that our country has diminished in three and a half years and I'm afraid to see what it's going to look like in four years if the Democrats went again. It's going to be scary. If the Democrats win again, it's going to be scary as small as the school board, your local school board, or the mayor, the county commissioner, all these things that start locally. We're going to lose our neighborhoods, we're going to lose our communities, we're going to lose the small infrastructure that has grown America since its founding. And it has to start somewhere.
Speaker 2:But the people have to come out and they have to educate themselves to figure out what is it that I truly want and expect out of a country that is supposed to be the strongest country in the world, a superpower that everybody talks about? The American dream. We don't talk about the Uzbekistan dream or the whatever. I mean. I want to live the Zimbabwe dream. No, we don't do that. But you damn sure around the world know what the American dream is. Around the world know what the American dream is it's time that politicians start putting in place things that protect Americans and catapult those opportunities for Americans to find that American dream, because it's here and we're pissing it away and we're giving it away to folks that are undeserving and don't even belong here.
Speaker 1:Amen, Ted. That's well said. What is on your agenda nowadays, Ted? What do you got going on? I know you got a nonprofit. Why don't you talk?
Speaker 2:to us about that a bit. So the last couple of years, my personal journey and I'll give you the snapshot. So in April 16th so I retired in 2000 from the Marine Corps 22 years of service, kind of bounced around a little bit, was just not really in a good place, mental health wise, and was struggling, find identity and purpose and things like that. So really struggling. And April 16th, 2016, I put a 45 pistol in my mouth and I was not happy with what I had done and who I was and the role model that I was lacking for my sons, my three-year-old son, who's 12 now. He came around the corner. I thought he was napping. He came around the corner and asked me for juice and instantly kind of changed my life, saved my life. It was one of those things where I knew at that point that I had a higher purpose and so I just started advocating for veterans and trying to improve their quality of life as as a model, if you will, as a template, so to speak, because you know, I retired in 12, like I said, so we were four, almost five years in at this point and only until 22, 2022, I was, I was grinding. That's a decade. That's a decade of a life that is spent every single day trying to not end it. That's tough. It's tough to live like that. I just continued to fight, to fight, continue to try and figure out why I was still here and how I could make my life better but make those around me better. But more so and most importantly is to get folks to understand that it is that important to be able to identify, acknowledge and accept where you are in life and then change it if you're not happy with it.
Speaker 2:I went down to Mexico in 2023. I did some treatment down there with the Mission Within. Life-changing psychedelic. Psychedelic treatment was super, super impactful. It was probably the most powerful, most painful, most rewarding and most healing thing that I'd ever done.
Speaker 2:At that point Came back and I was in what I thought a good place, you know kind of recovery and things like that. But my head was still so screwed up that I couldn't make ends meet, couldn't understand things. So I ended up getting accepted to a place called Marcus Institute for Brain Health. So I've had five head injuries I have a traumatic brain injury, head injuries I have a traumatic brain injury and the Marcus Institute. I went earlier this year and inpatient and that was probably the most impactful place that I've ever been.
Speaker 2:That allowed me to understand what's happening, because as guys, we want to understand. If something is bothering us, we want to understand what it is and then we want to fix it. As a Marine Corps officer, I was tasked with fixing problems for 12 years, as a platoon sergeant. You add another five or six years of that, so you know we got almost two decades of just fixing problems, and now I couldn't even understand my own problems nor start to fix it, because I didn't know what was happening. So I get accepted, marcus, we go up there. It's inpatient, which it's exhausting. Every single day was just, you know, boom, boom, boom, with therapies and different modalities and it's all interdisciplinary. So it's a, it's just a great organization. But this was the first time that they actually started explaining things to me that made sense.
Speaker 2:And the VA, as good as they are in a lot of things, I feel that they missed the mark in mental health and they missed the mark in traumatic brain injury and things like that, because they umbrella and they blanket treat PTSD and when I got to Marcus, they were just chopping this thing up, you know, making it make sense. So when you have a blow to the head, your vestibular gets kind of off, right, vestibular being your balance. Okay, well, if I duck down, you'll see like I got scars all over my head. I got a couple from deployments and things like that. I had some of them. I got a couple from deployments and things like that, but a lot of them are just nicks and whatever, because my depth perception was just crazy I'd walk into a door, walk into a wall right, bend over to pick up something in the garage and get up too fast and hit the workbench, whatever.
Speaker 2:Well, all that stuff is brain related, right. And I started thinking like, okay, well, it's just me. Well, even when you walk down the street and I would have the boys with me and I felt like they were like bumping into me and zigging and zagging, no, that was me, because my brain was not observing everything. All it was doing was trying to keep me upright and walking straight. Right, because your brain, a healthy brain, all that stuff is autonomous, right, it's just like boom, you get up and you walk.
Speaker 2:You know, well, when you have a brain injury, you have to think about getting up and walking and things like that and I never knew any of that. I never knew that. You know, when I get headaches in my eyes because they're tired, because they're jumping back and forth, because I can't focus on I think I'm trying to focus on something, but my eyes are going somewhere else, you know. So you know the hearing and the focus and even your speech. Like I knew that my brain and my mouth would not sync up, especially if I was tired or I just got stressed out or I was doing whatever, and you create a stammer and all these things. So when I got to Marcus, they just dissected all these things and they started implementing. You know your brain is somewhat, you can retrain it. You know the vestibular you can retrain it. And your eyes or muscles, you can retrain them.
Speaker 2:And it's all these things that, legitimately, the past I guess four or five months have been earth shattering in my life. Right? So you increase your quality of life by 5%. Well, the ripple effect for those around you is double that. Right, because when I would get pissed off, that I hit my head or I walked into a room and I couldn't remember something. Well, now you're irritated about everything and it's hard because your brain is already exhausted. So you can't get that back until you go silent, right, or lay down.
Speaker 2:Well, the thing is is when your brain is constantly active, you're not going to be able to get the quality sleep that our bodies need to recover, right? So you got the five pillars of death right, you got PTSD, you got TBI, you got chronic pain, you got insomnia and you have mood which is depression, anxiety, all those things right. So I know that I live with all of those every single day, right? What Marcus helped me understand is I can lessen these so they're not as impacted, but more so that I remain in control now, because when you don't understand these things, it's hard to acknowledge what you don't understand. So now that I understand these better and I can acknowledge them, then I can control them.
Speaker 2:And those five, in my opinion, are what lead to veterans taking their lives every single day because they don't understand these and they're so overwhelmed that something has to give.
Speaker 2:And I believe that these fatal five are the thing that leads to.
Speaker 2:You know, we can call it the 22 a day, but whatever that number is, it's too high and this is directly attributed to that.
Speaker 2:So, being at Marcus and the other great thing that they allowed me to understand is the PTSD that I live with day in, day out, is more so on the moral injury side and the burden of command, and that's the first time in over a decade that I've ever heard moral injury, because the grief and the shame, all those things, the burden of command, when you question yourself like, am I a bad person, did I do a bad thing?
Speaker 2:You know, it's all these things that weigh on you because you don't know that door being able to say, okay, a moral injury is not, it's something that that you have to process in your own way. Uh, but you can only do that if you see it and you, you know it, and you and you start to uh, you know, develop your, your acceptance of that, you know so. So that's that's where I'm at now, right Right here, right today. And I shared that version because in 2013, I founded First Coast Heroes Outreach, which is a 501C3 veteran nonprofit, and we started doing mental health and we started to take care of Marines and things like that. And then we've since rebranded to what we are now and we took on first responders as well as veterans.
Speaker 1:So the name remained the same it did.
Speaker 2:Well, it originally was something else and now what we are now is what we are First Coast Heroes Outreach, so. But what I have pushed us to do is get away from mental health in the treatment of that, because there's so many folks out there. So what I do just like joining you on this podcast and having this opportunity is I try to get awareness out there that these things aren't umbrellaed. It's not a cookie cutter. Mental health is not a cookie cutter. So, providing education, providing awareness, providing treatment opportunities and various modalities that are available to veterans and first responders because if you just go to your doctor, you just go to your VA, you're going to get medicine and you're go to your doctor, you just go to your, your VA, you're going to get medicine and you're going to get counseling Right, and I'm not saying neither one of those are effective, but I'm telling you that the number one impact for me is between my ears, understanding what is happening, understanding what is going on and what caused me to lose my shit at a second. And so, First Coast Heroes Outreach, what we do now is try to educate, advocate and get awareness out there, for you are your biggest proponent of your healthcare, of your wellness. You are the only one that cares as much as you do about you.
Speaker 2:There's opportunities for us and we try to be proactive in delivering things like this, because there's crisis centers all over the country. There's crisis centers all over the country. There's crisis numbers all over the country. You can pick up and dial 988, you know. Or everyone wants to help for crisis. You know crisis happens. Everyone wants to flood there and help. Right, Where's the fucking people that try to prevent crisis? Right, that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to get to individuals, get to folks, get to guys that may be on the cusp of you know what? I'm losing my shit. I have no idea what's happening. That's the guys we want to get to. That's the guys we want to talk to, and I don't want somebody to deal with this for over a decade, like I've dealt with. Right, I don't want so much.
Speaker 2:If you're in the midst of it right now and you reach out to me, we will figure out a way that you cut your struggle in half. So, if you're in the midst of something that you feel is becoming overwhelming and you need some outlet, if you reach out to me, we will work our tails off to make sure that you get to a place that is going to help you, Not after the fact, because we want to work and ensure that your quality of life increases and you can. You can build your, your best life, living for your family and that ripple effect for for other people. So it's just, it's just one of those things that I, I, I truly believe in the quality of life piece, and I'll, I'll share this, this with you and then I'll, I'll shut my my mouth, but the I always thought, when I was in Pensacola, Florida, every week I saw a psychologist, a social worker, a psychiatrist, and I went to group therapy right Every week.
Speaker 2:So that's four appointments talking, touch-feely stuff every week. And I was on my motorcycle. I went to the post office to mail a package and I pulled in and some guy was like you know, oh, you got a little close, you know, I'm like no, sir, I didn't. And he's like well, that's why guys like you are splattered all over the highways.
Speaker 1:Wait, who was?
Speaker 2:this. This was just a random yeah, just some random guy at the post office, right? So unbeknownst to him. I had just gotten word that morning that one of my best friends, a Marine, was killed on his motorcycle on his on his way to work, right. So I'm processing this. I know I have a psych appointment and I had to mail this package. I mail it and he's just jaw jacking and I finally just said you know what, sir? Here's the deal. I'm going in, I'm going to mail my package. If you're sitting here, when I come out I'm going to drag you out of your fucking truck and I'm going to beat your ass.
Speaker 2:And some old gal was walking in, right, and I held the door for her because I'm a gentleman. So I held the door. The old gal walks in and she's standing in front of me and I'm just facing the counter. I'm here to mail my package, that's it. You know, just standing there with my package, and this old gal in front of me, she kept looking out, looking out, looking out. And then, just as she got called to the counter, she turns around and she says I guess he decided to leave. And I just kind of shook my head, I said, yes, man, and I mailed my package and she waited for me. I opened up the door and she walked out and she's like well, sweetheart, you have a good day.
Speaker 2:I said, yes, ma'am, you too. So I go to my psych appointment and I'm sharing the story. And I said you know? I said yes, ma'am, you too. So I go to my psych appointment and I'm sharing the story. And I said you know? I said it's things like that that send me from zero to 100. Right Like zero to 100, just like that.
Speaker 2:This was the first other time that changed my mindset. He said, teddy, you're not ever at zero and you will never again be at zero. He said you probably walk around at 90 or 95 right now. So you go on from 90 or 95 to a hundred, just like. That is pretty reasonable. He said my goal is to get you walking around at 75. He said because if I can get you down to 75, your quality of life changes dramatically and the ripple effect from you getting to 75, that will be felt by your family and the loved ones that you share time with will be even more than that, and the loved ones that you share time with will be even more than that and I I I share that story a lot and I keep that close to my my heart and my soul because it made so much sense.
Speaker 2:We are so hard on ourselves. We never give ourselves credit for how far we've actually come, and I think it's important to say those two things to each other and to yourself. You know, like, give yourself a break. You know great job today or what have you, because you know veterans out there, first responders, I mean people in general. You know we're our worst critic and we have come a long way just to be where we are. So why would we not allow ourselves to take a little bit of credit for that and understand that life is, especially right now, is hard and you're doing a good job?
Speaker 1:Man, what a great way to wrap this thing up. Ted Dude, your testimony is ridiculous and you've been through hell and back, obviously, but you're so gracious and besides wanting to rip that dude and just stomp his head into the concrete, I was shocked. But yeah, dude, you're just an awesome individual. So right now, how would somebody get in touch with your nonprofit or yourself?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so First Coast Heroes is our, is our, our channels, and heroesoutreachorg is is our Web site. There's a contact button on there that'll come to our info site, or myself, my personal email is tcolgate first, initial, last name, altogether at heroesoutreach. Send me a message and I will get back to you within probably a short amount of time, at least that day. And yeah, I mean, it's just one of those things that heroes underscore. Outreach are Facebook and Instagram, you know, of course, but if you, if you, if you Google first coast heroes outreach but heroes outreachorg is our, is our main channel.
Speaker 2:And again, I would be remiss if I did not say there's a donation button on there, because it's one of those things that we try to be proactive in all this stuff and a lot of times, if I have the opportunity to go places and speak and get that message out, those costs add up and nobody on Heroes Outreach takes a salary.
Speaker 2:We don't worry about the money. We're going to continue to do what we do, but it does help offset some of our expenses and it's just one of those where the message is about taking care of people and, you know, being a good neighbor, being a good citizen, being supportive of those that need it. And you know, when you walk into a room or you walk into a restaurant, understand that if there's a hundred people in there, there's a hundred different struggles going on and you don't know what those are. And it's okay that you don't know what those are, but just realize that everyone's dealing with stuff, especially in this day, and we owe it to ourselves and we owe it to each other to try and be as supportive as possible. So that's what we're here to do.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, you guys make sure you know you hit the donate, donate, and I'm definitely going to be donating to an organization like this. Most organizations, nonprofits, they do have, you know, a board of individuals where they're drawing hefty salaries and you don't really know where the money's going. But with this one, by all means, hit that, hit that donate button. This guy's phenomenal and, teddy, I hope I can grab you for a few minutes after this podcast. But seriously, man, daily American welcomes you and thanks you so much for everything you're doing for society as a whole, especially veterans.
Speaker 2:I appreciate the opportunity and you know. Thank you for your platform and continue to get that message out. Thanks, dan.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir.
