This corpsman wants to keep saving lives with 'Combat Medicine'
Release Date: 03/20/2018
The story of the slave who survived the Alamo
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Our guest, attorney-turned-author Lewis Cook discovered that the Alamo was more than a bunch of white male landowners fighting for Texas. The fort was full of women, minorities, and followers of many religions. So he set out to tell the story of the Alamo, a story that he believes belongs to all of us through the diversity of its defenders.
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Why Navy SEALs will storm the beaches of Normandy in 2018
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Jumping into freezing water is just part of the legacy of being a Navy SEAL. During World War II, the U.S. Navy Combat Demolition Units were just a handful of guys equipped only with a pair of shorts, a knife, and maybe some explosives. But the roots of being amphibious is still close to the Navy special warfare community – that's why they still call themselves "Frogmen."
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How going to war brings out the best and worst in people
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Our guest Sebastian Junger is not a military veteran. He makes that clear, but he sure sounds like one. Maybe it's because he's seen more conflict than many in the United States military. If there's an expert on modern warfare and the long-term effects of those who live it, that person is Sebastian Junger.
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It will make you angry to learn how a veteran lost $100k in benefits
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For almost a decade Moses Maddox has built a career helping veterans with personal, academic, and financial counseling. But he didn't become the veterans champion he is today without first overcoming his own transition struggles. Here's how he used his transition experience and knowledge in navigating the VA system to lobby for veterans in DC and take his message to the national level.
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PTSD is temporary, here are the first steps to defeating it
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Our guest, the Director of Innovation and Collaboration for the VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Dr. Wendy Tenhula joins us for a discussion on identifying and treating mental health issues.
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How to 'Conquer Anything,' according to a Green Beret
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War has a way of shooting holes in your best-laid plans. Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Stube (Ret.) suffered life-changing wounds during the battle of Operation Medusa in Afghanistan in 2006, but using the Green Beret methods he learned in the Special Forces, Stube knew he could conquer anything.
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Combat poetry reveals what life is like on the Afghan front lines
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Marine Corps veteran turned poet, and author Justin Eggen brings modern warfare, poetry, and short stories into a beautiful storm that reveals the inner workings of life on the front lines of Southern Afghanistan.
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4 survival skills that will help you thrive in a disaster or zombie apocalypse
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The Mandatory Fun crew got their hands on "100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition" by national bestselling author and Navy SEAL Clint Emerson. Emerson's book is the SEAL operative's guide to surviving in the wild and being prepared for any disaster, but the crew decides that it's the perfect guide against a zombie apocalypse.
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That time Senator Mitch McConnell was fooled by 'Duffel Blog'
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Our guest founder and editor-in-chief of our favorite military satire publication Duffel Blog Paul Szoldra joins us for a hilarious discussion about his adventures in military satire. We discuss Szoldra's first book, the funny times Duffel Blog was mistaken for real news, and his new party game "WTF, Over."
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5 insane stories from the life of Britain's most successful double agent
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The real James Bond is finally revealed: A few years ago our guest Larry Loftis decided to stop publishing legal articles and work full-time on researching and writing the story of Dusko Popov, the daring World War II double agent who worked tirelessly to keep the Nazis off guard about the upcoming D-Day invasions.
info_outlineWhen Doc Todd left the Navy after spending three years as a corpsman, he didn’t have any transition assistance or training. He lost friends. He lost Marines. After separating from the military, he saw even more of his Marines take their own lives through substance abuse and suicide. It’s wasn’t the ending he had expected when he joined.
He joined the Navy in 2007 after spending four years in sales and restaurant jobs. He wanted to experience some meaningful growth in his life and be part of something bigger than himself. That – to him – meant joining the U.S. Navy. Doc ended up spending the bulk of his time with Marines in “America’s Battalion,” 2nd Battalion 8th Marines. In 2009, he and his Marines were in Afghanistan in Operation Khanjar, the largest aerial insertion of Marine troops since the Vietnam War.
Though he experienced his own struggles upon leaving the military, he didn’t turn to music as a means of coping. He actually waited until he had the strength to better express himself instead.
Doc Todd in the studio.
“Honestly, from an artistic perspective, I didn’t know who I was yet. Or who I was becoming,” Doc says. “I found it very difficult to make a statement musically when I didn’t know what to say.”
When Doc picked himself up was when he was finally able to realize his purpose was helping others. Like a true corpsman, he never wanted to stop looking out for others. He saw too many overdoses, too many suicides. He decides to enter the veteran’s space, but to do it in his own way.
In June 2017, his album Combat Medicine dropped to widespread acclaim and national praise, not to mention a flood of personal stories from those who listened to it and felt the message.
Doc is currently working on a release titled “The Shadow Game EP,” on Runaway Train Records.
Mandatory Fun guest: Doc Todd is combat veteran who proudly served our country as a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman (combat medic) in the United States Navy. Since Doc’s honorable discharge in 2009, Doc moved to Atlanta and worked at restaurants and a premier hospital, while he pursed his college education on the G.I. Bill. Doc graduated from Georgia State University magna cum laude with an undergraduate degree in studying Economics and Public Policy in 2014. He then joined Northwestern Mutual where he began to build a financial management practice, before pursuing his music.
Doc resides in Atlanta with his wife Abby, two young daughters Savannah and Audrey, and dog Memphis, who Doc rescued shortly after coming home from war.
2017’s Combat Medicine