Lessons Learned
Episodes
34 episodes
Ep.34, Andrew Coville
On May 18, 2025, I was nearly killed in a violent accident that left me unconscious and severely injured on a sidewalk in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the aftermath, everything changed. I’ve been forced to confront what it means to live as a different...
Ep.33, Dominic Davila
In the summer of 2009 Dominic Davila deployed to the city of Garmsir in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan with 2nd Battalion 8th Marines as a machine gunner in weapons platoon . On July 23rd his vehicle struck an improvised explosive devic...
Ep.32, LTCOL Tom Schueman
On this episode, we feature Lieutenant Colonel Tom Schueman, a Marine Corps officer who served as a Rifle Platoon Commander with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines during a harrowing deployment to Sangin, Afghanistan in 2010-2011. There, he forged an u...
Ep.31, Scott Payne: Deep undercover with the FBI
Scott Payne is a retired FBI Special Agent who spent twenty-eight years in law enforcement investigating cases against drug trafficking organizations, human traffickers, outlaw motorcycle clubs, gangs, public corruption, and domestic terrorists...
Ep.30. USMC Capt Frank "Gus" Biggio: The Wolves of Helmand
Ten years after serving his country as a U.S. Marine, Captain Frank “Gus” Biggio signed up once again because he missed the brotherhood of the military. Leaving behind his successful law career, his young wife, and newborn son, he was deployed ...
EP.29, Dean Crisp: Leadership and Life Lessons
Dean Crisp is a leadership influencer and Founder / CEO of Leaders Helping Leaders Network (LHLN) where he is known as a highly energetic and motivational instructor who offers quality, impactful leadership development classes. He is a thirty-y...
EP.28, Dennis Mannion: The Battle of Khe Sanh
The Battle of Khe Sanh began on January 21, 1968, when forces from the People’s Army of North Vietnam carried out a massive artillery bombardment and infantry attack on the U.S. Marine combat base at Khe Sanh, located in the northwest of South ...
Ep.27, River Hagg: Fighting ISIS in Syria as a volunteer frontline medic
In 2016 Navy veteran turned television and film producer River Hagg left his job with the popular show Wicked Tuna to travel to Syria to document the bloody war between ISIS and the Kurdish militant group called the YPG. When he arrived he was ...
Ep. 26 David Kniess, director of The Gift: The story of MOH recipient Jason Dunham
On a red-eye flight to Connecticut in 2003 David Kniess sat next to a young Marine who introduced himself as Jason Dunham. David immediately sensed something special about Jason and knew that he would inevitably be deploying to the Iraq war in ...
Ep.25, Michael Collazo
On March 27, 2023, a lone gunman entered the Covenant School located in Nashville Tennessee and tragically took the lives of six individuals. Mike Collazo, along with four other officers, were among the first responders to arrive at the s...
Ep.24, Linda Morrison Author of Dear Heroin: A Memoir of Goodbyes
This episode we feature Linda Morrison the author of Dear Heroin: A memoir of goodbyes. The opioid crisis in America has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and in 2012 Linda's son Michael succumbed to his heroin addiction and tr...
Ep.23, Dr. Ben Stone: CEO of Sigma Tactical Wellness
Dr. Ben Stone attended Exeter College of Oxford University through the United States Air Force Institute of Technology. At Oxford, Dr. Stone developed a keen interest in cardiovascular physiology. He completed his PhD for his medical doctorate ...
Ep.22, Kristen Ziman
Kristen Ziman joined the Aurora Police force in 1991 as a police cadet and became a sworn officer in 1994. She worked in patrol, field training, community policing and investigations as a domestic violence detective before being promoted to ser...
Ep.21, John Davis: Reimagining The American Dream
John Davis served in the Army as infantry with the 101st Airborne from 2009-2017. During that time he deployed twice to the eastern region of Afghanistan before medically retiring in 2017. John is also a Harvard graduate and veteran advocate wh...
Ep.20, 2X Super Bowl Champion Rob Ninkovich
Rob Ninkovich is a former professional football player who played as a defensive end and outside linebacker in the NFL, primarily with the New England Patriots. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft b...
Ep.19, Roseann Sdoia: Surviving the Boston Marathon bombing
On April 15th 2013 Roseann Sdoia was watching the Boston Marathon on Bolyston Street when a bomb blew up only feet away from her and changed her life forever. Roseanne was gravely wounded and as a result her right leg was amputated above the kn...
Ep.18 Michael Ramos, Author of The After: A Veteran's Notes on Coming Home
Michael Ramos joined the Navy 13 days before the September 11th 2001 attacks on the world trade center. He was assigned the job of Religious Program Specialist where he served as a body guard for unarmed chaplains in combat zones attached to fr...
Ep.17 Kael Weston, author of The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan
For nearly a decade Kael Weston represented the U.S. Government in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan as a state department official. In Iraq, he was the State Department representative in Fallujah, both during and after the biggest battle i...
Ep.16, Tom Bolinder: USMC Vietnam veteran
Brockton native Tom Bolinder was 19 years old when he fought in the jungles and hills of Vietnam as rifleman with Echo Company 2nd Battalion 7th Marines from 1967-1968. During that time the war was in one of its most violent periods as the Nort...
Ep.15, Bob Brudno: Brother of Vietnam POW Air Force Capt. Alan Brudno
United States Air Force Captain Alan Brudno from Quincy Massachusetts was flying a combat mission over North Vietnam in his F4 Phantom fighter jet when on October 18th, 1965 he was shot down and captured as a prisoner of war. Alan Brudno was he...
Ep.14, Ron Jansen, author of An Otherwise Healthy Person: A Marine's Story of Going To Fallujah and Fighting To Come Home
Ron Jansen joined the Marine Corps in 2002 as a reservist in Grand Rapids Michigan and was assigned to 1st battalion 24th Marine regiment as an infantryman. In 2006 Ron deployed to Fallujah, Iraq as a squad leader where he conducted hundreds of...
Ep.13, Dean Otto: A story of resilience
Dean Otto is from Charlotte North Carolina and in 2016 Dean was riding his bicycle on a dark road during the early morning hours in Charlotte when a Ford F-150 truck hit him from behind and shattered his spine, leaving him on the side of the ro...
Ep.12, David Nicastro
David Nicastro served with the Marine Corps as part of the 2nd Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST) company from 1996-2003. After his honorable discharge he began a career as a civilian contractor employed by various government agencies fr...
Ep.11, Nick Laidlaw: Marine, war journalist, author, and founder of Battles and Beers: War Stories
Nick Laidlaw served as an 0311 rifleman in the Marine Corps from 2012-2019. After the Marine Corps he began a career as a Registered Behavior Technician, Teaching children with Autism as a day job. Nick is also the founder of Battles and Beers:...