This Side Of Country With Trav And Kjiesta
This is a 95.9 KRFF post show podcast that plays back special guest interviews that aired live on air hosted by Trav & Kjiesta. "This Side Of Country" airs Monday - Friday 9am to 11am (CST) on 95.9 KRFF heard throughout the Fargo/Moorhead area, also streaming everywhere at radiofreefargo.org The show was voted "Best Local Radio Show Of The Red River Valley" 2021, 2024, and 2025! It spotlights the music from midwest country artists, new indie country from around the world, and celebrates the legends of country! It also features in studio special guests, interviews, performances, fun segments and more!
This Side Of Country With Trav And Kjiesta
Strike Out The Stigma Interview
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What happens when you get softball and baseball teams from around the state coming together to support our veterans, it's called Strike Out The Stigma! This year's support went to the Brady Oberg Legacy Foundation. Check out our chat!
Fix it forward auto care.
SPEAKER_00Hi, it's Matthew Carlson with Fix It Forward Auto Care and Ministry. We're proud supporters of your community station at 95.9 KRFF. Thank you, Radio Free Fargo, for being you.
unknownFix It Forward Auto Care.
SPEAKER_02This side of Country Live with Trav and Kiesta. Slam a coffee, then grab another cup, and tune in Monday mornings on 95.9.
SPEAKER_03If you're tuned into this side of Country Live with Trav and Kiesta, we're powered each and every day by our pals over there at Fix It Forward Auto Care. Strike Out the Stigma. This is an event you're going to want to check out. It's teaming up to improve access to mental health services. And man, unfortunately, those challenges have really been increasing here in the community, as you can see with all the different things going on, and we could really band together as a community, help support one another. And we've got a great party here in studio. We're going to talk all about it. Good morning, everybody. Good to see you all. Thanks for being here. I'm so excited to hear about Strike Out the Stigma. Is this the first year, by the way?
SPEAKER_01This is our fourth year. Fourth year. So tell me how this whole thing came about. Yeah, so um the Blue Crass Blue Shield of North Dakota Caring Foundation, um, as you mentioned, we know that mental health really affects um each, each and every one of us. And so, and we all deal with um stress differently. And so we wanted people to know that it's okay to not be okay and that there's resources and support available. And so our foundation, we partner with different nonprofits um that are doing great work around mental health. Yeah. Um, so we partner with them and then baseball and softball teams across the state. And during the month of July, for every strikeout that these said teams threw, we donated $50 to that charity. And so this this summer we partnered with the Brady Oberg Legacy Foundation and were able to raise $50,000 for that.
SPEAKER_03Hey, that's awesome. Well, congratulations. What a fantastic cause, and what a great way to also raise awareness and raise funds because there's so many different things that we could be doing, and that's just one of the avenues that we don't tend to look at a lot is all the baseball teams and softball teams we have here in the community and throughout the state. 50 grand, how does that feel? How does that go to support what your cause does?
SPEAKER_04You know, that is a huge impact for us. Yeah. You know, we do all of our retreats, all of our awareness, stuff like that, free for veterans. Yeah. So something like that is huge. And more importantly, it's, you know, we get to talk about mental health in an atmosphere that is relaxed and fun atmosphere with a baseball game or softball game to be talking about and bringing up mental health awareness.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, we talk about this here in the community, how we're we're such a great community. We support one another. We don't have issues here, but I think as we get group as we get bigger and bigger and the community grows, we are starting to see some of those peek through the cracks here. Just how big of the challenge do we have here in the community? Are you seeing it grow as far as mental health concerns? Is it a growing need?
SPEAKER_06Yes, yes. From from the perspective that we have with the Foundation for Veterans, yes, it it's it is a continue, the continuum continues forward with uh uh mental health issues, namely combat-induced PTS, and then the ultimate with suicide.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Give me kind of give me kind of the background here. When we talk about all of our veterans coming back, you would think, oh man, this this has got to be great. They're there, they don't have to go through that anymore. They've got to everything should be all hunky dory. Why would they start suffering as they come back and start going through PTSD? I imagine they're they're away from the trauma. Why would it begin once they're away from all that?
SPEAKER_06The trauma never leaves. Yeah. Uh just because you leave the war, the war doesn't leave you. So uh Brady, Brady was uh in Afghanistan 2010 to 2011. Right. His unit, 140 strong, they were there. They didn't have anybody that lost their life. They had several people that got purple hearts that got wounded. Right. But since they've been back in 2011, of those 140, 21 of them have taken their own life. Oh my gosh. Of just one specific unit. Uh huh. And it and it continues on. And for me, mine has gone on for a long breadth of time. Mine, uh, I was in the Marine Corps in the early 80s, was in Beirut, October 23rd, 1983, at 620 in the morning when we got blown up. 241 of my brothers in arms were killed that day. And then coming back, you think that you're a type A guy, you can do whatever you want, and it's the induced stress on it, just the continuous, the triggers, smells, lights, songs that the trigger that sends you back, that can send me, there can be a smell that I have that will bring me back to to that day. Sure. And it's continued on through the first Gulf War, and then after 9-11, which we have coming up right in the end of next week, yeah. Um the global war on terrorism, so Iraq and Afghanistan. Uh, personally, I did uh three tours in Iraq and four in Afghanistan. Wow. So it's that continuous of I dealt with survivors' guilt. So why why didn't I die that day? Right. Why did I walk out two minutes before the explosion? So then I move forward. I spend uh my life with stress and that always wanting to come back on my shield. That's why I volunteered. That's why I went to Iraq and Afghanistan hoping that I would die a warrior's death and come back, which is horrible for my wife and kids and for my personal sanity. Of course. But it's it's just moving forward. And uh since I've been associated with the Brady Oberg Foundation for the last 10 years, yeah, we've worked together and it's allowed me to sit and have these conversations which are therapeutic for me. Yeah, it helps me, it helps uh my wife, who's the ultimate saint after our 36th anniversary, is tomorrow. So um, but it's just a process and being able to use the retreats and using activities to talk with other veterans, yeah, because we can talk to each other and understand what we're talking about. Yeah, and uh you get other people who don't, it kind of makes it uncomfortable because war is not a pleasant thing. Things that we've done on the other side are just not pleasant for conversation, yeah. But for us, it is because that's how we get the the evil or the darkness away is to talk and we get that light. Yeah, we get the light from people like, and that's what we do in the foundation. So I'm not only a uh somebody who in who gets the benefits of it, but I also try to help so with with our ruck and things like that. But it's just so beneficial of being a small organization, the $50,000 that we're getting from uh Blue Cross from the Charity, the Caring Foundation will pay for short of five retreats. Yeah. Because retreats are about 10k, right?
SPEAKER_03Correct, yep. Right. Tell us about those retreats. Go a little elaborate a little bit more on those.
SPEAKER_04You know, and kind of going back to what you had said, like the soldiers are home now. And as Brady's family, that's a hundred percent what we went through our mind. It's like he's home now. Yeah, like all that stress and anxiety kind of goes away. You know where he's at, you know what he's doing. Yeah, and that was a huge part of the feedback we did figure out too was yeah, you know what? I've already made my family stress enough for a year. Right. I don't want to let them in about my PTS because now I'm gonna make them stress out again. Yeah. You know, so as a family, it's like encouraging him to, you know, go check out retreats. You know, if you love to ride motorcycle, find a motorcycle veterans group. If you love you know, working out, CrossFit Fargo has I Got Your Six program that we sponsor. That's awesome. You know, so it's like find ways and encourage your loved ones that served to create those environments where they can be with each other because they can let some of that stuff out under a nice, you know, we don't do sit down, tell me all your feelings, but through hunting or fishing or you know, grilling steaks on a, you know, grill for the night or a bonfire, those are where, you know, those conversations pop out.
SPEAKER_03You talked about how the 50K gives five soldiers an opportunity to go to this retreat, but we want more opportunities. How can the community continue to support the Brady Oberg Foundation? I mean, this is obviously a very important cause. We want to support those who have died and have fought for our country here. I mean, it's the least we can do. How can we continue to show our support?
SPEAKER_04You know, one of the ways is definitely, like I had mentioned, yeah, encourage your loved ones that served to seek out opportunities. You know, if you're listening to this and you're like, well, I never served, but my uncle did, or my brother did, or my sister did, sure, you know, let them know that we're here, that we have available opportunities for them to take part in. Yep. And then of course, no money, no mission. So that's always our thing, too, is we need to put on these retreats and stuff like this free for our veterans. They they deserve that. And you know, we do a Vietnam retreat um for just Vietnam vets. So to supply boats that are easy for them to get in and out of. Wonderful. You know, stuff like that. That's what they deserve.
SPEAKER_03So absolutely. Tell me how this whole partnership came together. How did you connect? How did you make this happen? I mean, uh again, every year you've been doing this now for the last four years, but how did this connection happen?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so we um the Blue Cross Carrying Foundation has had a relationship with the Brady Oberg Legacy Foundation in the past, and we have just kind of watched their work throughout the past year or so. And um, as I mentioned, we always choose a charity that is doing great things around mental health. Yeah. Um, and one of the things that we wanted to strive to do um more of this year was to help veterans and their families get resources and support and um you know help the help them and then also just reduce the stigma around mental health in general for the public. And so um we had reached out to Tracy just to have our annual connect and we surprised her. Awesome. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03What a great feeling that must have been.
SPEAKER_01It was awesome.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Fantastic. Luke Cross Blue Shield, you give back to the community in so many different ways. How can the community support you? How do you make these kind of things happen? We know you've seen we've seen you do food truck things, car show things. What are the type of ways that the community continue to support how you support the community?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we really pride ourselves on our, you know, statewide presence but local impact. And it's really important as a company for us to be able to show up in the community where we live at work and play too as employees. And um, you know, we know that health is made up of more than just the numbers on the scale, your latest lab results. It's do you have housing, access to care, transportation, education, food on the table, and so on and so forth. And so we really s uh strive to um help reduce barriers and gaps for people and mental health being one of them. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03In a nutshell here, uh I you know, we talked to you about the growing need and the challenges we have in the community for our veterans. But how about in the big picture here? Are we doing enough to support those as the mental health challenges continue to go? What more can we do here? I feel like we're just scratching the surface here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that, you know, trying to normalize these conversations. Um, if you know someone that's struggling, reach out. There's, you know, resources available um online, 211, and different resources. I know that Tracy probably knows more about. 811, yeah. That's another one.
SPEAKER_03You were shaking your head over here. You didn't feel like we have enough resources.
SPEAKER_06No, I don't. Yeah. I mean, I think that it's we're making a difference. Yes. But um if this was NFL players, actors, actresses, singers, it would be on everything. It is still an epidemic. 17.4 vets take their life every day. That's one every 86 minutes. 86 minutes. Wow. A vet takes his own life. So I don't. Yeah. Uh I this is great. I work for Blue Cross, so it it's I get the benefits of both of this, yeah. But um, from where I stand, from my community, from the veterans, no, it's not. We need to continue to, like Amber said, break the stigma to talk about it, and we have these conversations. Yeah, and part of it also is on my brothers to ask for help. Yes. So if you're feeling dark and, you know, pot calling kettle black, I spent a lot of time where I didn't until met up with Tracy and had conversations with my wife. We're working forward through it, but it's something that we have to continue to strive through because you know, we we had the end of the Gulf War, then we had the global war on terrorism. Five years ago last week was the Abbey Gate. Yep. Now we have 9-11 and the continuing what's going on in the Middle East. So it's not like our numbers are going to get lower. Yeah. But it's just continuing to have that conversation and guys understanding the resources that are out there.
SPEAKER_03You know, you talked about that there's daily triggers, there's triggers every moment that could uh spark these feelings, these thoughts, these memories. And you know, 9-11 coming up. I too uh never served, but I was in New York City the time 9-11 happened. And just for me, when that happened, I'll never forget it. So every time this time of year comes up, I get chills and I'm going, I I the the the life, the PTSD I have just from living at that time, I didn't get to go through the war. I did volunteer for a day down at uh 9-11, worked at the Hard Rock Cafe, we brought volunteer meals, and then I stood down there for a couple hours helping dig through the rubble, but it just became too much. And so I can't imagine what an actual war veteran or somebody who's been on the uh on the grounds there, on the front lines, has had to go through each and every day. When it comes to 9-11, do you feel like when it's big moments like this, and it is one of those triggers, are there something that the community can do to help support our veterans on big days like 9-11 instead of maybe memorializing the whole uh you know, the whole situation that happened in New York? What about locally? What can we do on a big day like this?
SPEAKER_06Listening.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Just listen. Yeah. You know, when guys want to talk about it, just listen and we do a good job here in the community with our vets and stuff, but it's just that continuous, you know, don't ostracize, don't treat like we're something different. Of course. Right. But it's just, you know, moving smartly forward through it that we all have to get, we're all gonna process it different, we're all gonna handle it differently. So just moving forward with the big anniversaries.
SPEAKER_03So, how do you feel when when folks come up to you and go, hey, thank you for your service, thank you for everything you've done? You said you don't want to be treated special, but yet at the same time, we as the community feel like we want to owe you that gratitude because we truly are grateful.
SPEAKER_06That's that's always the struggle for me because you don't know what to say. Yeah. So I always say, No, thank you for being the type of American that made my sacrifice worthwhile. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I know it was a struggle for Brady. Yeah. He would go back and forth and he'd uh he had mentioned one time to my dad that when people say thank you for your service, in his head it automatically thinks, if you would only know what I had to do. And then that would bring it up, you know, in his head, like you know, thank you for your service. Yeah. To him brought back stuff that, you know, he was like, if you only knew.
SPEAKER_06But it's still it's so it means a lot when people say it to you. Yeah, because you know that they're not just saying it in passing. Yeah. So it it really does.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. You're coming up on a big anniversary, aren't you? Or is this the big anniversary you're didn't? You said 10 years you've been together.
SPEAKER_04We've been together 10 years. Um, in August now.
SPEAKER_03We've been a foundation for 11. Okay, 11. So yep. How does that feel knowing that your bro came home and this was something you started in his memory? Here you are, 11 years. I mean, that says something tremendous to our community for wanting to continue to support your mission here.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. When we first started, we were just a few months out from Brady's loss. Yeah. Um, and we just thought we'd have one retreat, invite the guys that he served with, like John had mentioned, they've already been through a lot, and you know, that was our thing. Let's let's do this. And the feedback we got from those guys were huge, you know, being able to sit down and tell their story and to connect again. Yeah. So we're like, you know, should we just do another one? Yeah. You know, we had funeral money, and it was like at that point, like, okay, well, maybe let's do another one. Now we're doing about 12 retreats a year. I mean, at that point, we never assumed we'd be where we are now. And it's because we have an amazing community around us that supports our veterans and allows us to do what we do.
SPEAKER_03How can we get involved specifically with your mission and your cause? Are there volunteer opportunities? What can we do to give back all year long?
SPEAKER_04Yes, you know, follow us on Facebook, Instagram. We always are looking for different volunteer opportunities or things that are coming up. It's the best way to keep keep track of what's going on.
SPEAKER_03Fantastic. Congratulations once again. Thank you so much for everything you do to help serve the community. 50K, that's tremendous. I mean, that's really going to help support our local veterans, but that's just scratching the surface. We're just getting started. We got so much more we need to do, and as a community, I feel like we can do that. How would you like to see the next step taken?
SPEAKER_05Just through that. Yeah. Just as you are so articulately said. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So absolutely. Appreciate you three for being here and having this conversation. I mean, I think there's a lot of questions we, the general community, have. Like I said, the first one I have is you're home now. You should be in a happy space. And you're like, that's where it starts. That's where it begins. So I appreciate you shedding light on that, telling your own story as well. And from me and all of us here in the community, thank you for your service. We appreciate you. Thank you all. I appreciate your time. If you missed any of this conversation, we're gonna post it for you at this side of country wherever you do social media.
SPEAKER_02This side of Country Live with Trav and Kiesta. Slam a coffee, then grab another cup, and tune in Monday mornings on 95.9. At Fixit Ford, they believe that preventative maintenance can help avoid future problems and costly repairs. Being aware of leaks and odors, getting recommended oil changes, and heating your warning lights can help with the possible issues ahead. To learn more, you can go to fixitforward autocare.com. Fixit Forward is a proud supporter of radio free cargo.