Memorial Day: For the Ones Who Never Came Home

This Memorial Day episode is a personal one.

With Cole out of town, Marc sits down solo to talk about the real meaning behind Memorial Day, the purpose behind the Murph workout, and remembering a close friend lost in Afghanistan.

This conversation is about sacrifice, grief, brotherhood, transition, and why remembering matters long after the uniforms come off.

Some names never leave us. And they shouldn’t.

OperationNextChapter@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome back to Operation Next Chapter. Cole's out of town this week, and we had to push a guest episode, but honestly, this felt like the right conversation to have anyway. With Memorial Day here, I didn't want to just skip over it or throw out another generic thank you for your service message. I wanted to talk about what this date actually means to a lot of us. I also want to remember our friend Mike Flores, who was killed in Afghanistan. And I want to talk about the murph, why so many veterans and civilians do it every year. Memorial Day, Memorial Day weekend is not just another three or four-day holiday weekend. It's not just about barbecues or the sales at furniture stores or wherever else. Americans genuinely mean well, but many don't understand the difference. Veterans Day thanks the living. Memorial Day remembers the dead. This holiday carries weight for Gold Star families and combat vets and close friends. Memorial Day isn't really a celebration, it's a remembrance. It's carrying in names and memories that never really leave us. One of the names and people that never leave us is our good friend Mike Flores. We know Mike through his wife, Marisa, who we worked together on the Thunderbirds, and then again at Davis Moth. He was a pararescueman. Many of you know the term PJ. His helicopter was shot down in 2010. On that day, two HH60G Pavhawk helicopters, Pedro 66 and Pedro 67, flew into Helmand Province to rescue a critically injured British Marine. Upon arriving at the scene, both helicopters came under intense enemy fire. That day is forever ingrained in your brain on how it all played out. I remember I was in Phoenix, actually at Luke Air Force Base for an inspection team when I got the call. I was downstairs eating breakfast at the hotel. Didn't take my phone with me. I was down there talking with people for what seemed like an hour or maybe even more than that. By the time I got back up to my room to go shower and change into my uniform, my phone was text messages, missed phone calls, voicemails. I remember going into the base and finding the team leader and telling him what happened and that I needed to head back to Tucson. I think that was probably the fastest trip from Phoenix to Tucson I've ever driven. In addition to driving back, I picked up the two little kids from daycare and you know trying to act normal as possible, but knowing that their dad wasn't coming home was extremely tough. My wife also had gotten a phone call from my boss at the time because I worked with Marisa and she came on base to basically be there when she was told the bad news. Mike and my wife were very similar personalities, very passive and reserved, and when we would go out as families, it's funny because Marisa and I were always leading the charge and ten steps ahead of those two who were probably behind us with all the kids. It was just always a fun time going out with them because he was just known for being a super nice person, well regarded in his career, and just somebody that people looked up to not just as a PJ, but as a Capital A airman and just a good human being. But I tell this story because these are the memories that we have and the things we think about and the people we think about on Memorial Day. You know, it's weird because that day that we found out and the next couple days into the weeks later, it felt surreal and it kind of felt like it was just a bad dream. The strange reality is that life keeps moving even after we lose somebody that's close to us. Sometimes the hardest part is the silence years later when fewer people remember. The time goes on, but the grief doesn't erase it. The hardest part isn't just losing somebody, it's realizing the world keeps spinning while a part of yours stopped for a while. You know, it's one of those things you don't ever expect to happen. Veterans often use physical suffering as a way to process emotion and remembrance. Every memorial day we participate in the Murph Challenge. And if you haven't heard of the Murph or what it is, Murph is a Memorial Day workout named after Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael Murphy who was killed in Afghanistan and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The workout itself is a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, followed by another mile run. He did it with a 20-pound vest on, just adding to the brutality of the workout. You don't have to be an elite athlete to participate. There are scaled versions, partner options, and modifications, so anyone can really do it. Yes, it's physically challenging, but the real purpose is remembrance, gratitude, and community. It's brutal by design. It's simple, but it's not easy. It really gives people a tiny glimpse into a little bit of discomfort, some sacrifice, discipline, and like I said, that mental resilience. For a lot of us, Murph isn't about posting a time online, it's about carrying somebody with you through every mile, every pull-up, every rep. And that's what I think about a Memorial Day doing the Murph is his sacrifice and also our friend Mike's. But one of the best parts is seeing people encourage each other and come together for something meaningful. For us, it's an hour or two of discomfort by choice. For the men and women, we honor the sacrifice was far greater. At the end of the day, Murph reminds us that freedom isn't free, and this is our community's way of honoring that together. If you're listening today and you've lost somebody, military or otherwise, I hope you take time to say their name. And if you're doing the Murph this year, maybe dedicate to somebody or carry somebody through it. Not for the social media post, not for sure, but because remembrance matters. To the families missing someone at the table this Memorial Day, we remember with you. And to our brothers who we lost in Afghanistan, we haven't forgotten you. I'm going to leave a few seconds of silence at the end of this episode for the ones who never made it home.