One Veteran Refused to Let Abbey Gate Be Forgotten | S.O.S. #277

Thirteen service members died at Abbey Gate, and the country barely blinked before the headlines changed. That silence is what Navy veteran, entrepreneur, and wooden flag craftsman Joe Burdick could not accept, so he turned remembrance into something tangible, public, and permanent.

We talk about the Abbey Gate bombing during the Kabul evacuation and why it still hits so hard for Global War on Terror veterans who understand the true cost of service. Joe walks me through his own Navy aviation story, the disorienting shift from military purpose to civilian uncertainty, and how building handmade wooden American flags became a bridge back to service. What began as craftsmanship and community support grew into something much bigger once he met Gold Star families, including the family of Max Soviak, the only one of the 13 from Ohio.

From there, the conversation becomes a blueprint for civic action and veteran advocacy. Joe explains how he organized a local Abbey Gate Remembrance Day in Seven Hills, partnered with state lawmakers, testified, and helped pass Ohio Senate Bill 244 to honor all 13 fallen by name. We also dig into what this kind of remembrance can look like in schools and communities, why the national effort still matters, and the simple steps listeners can take to push similar legislation in their own states.

If you believe “never forget” has to mean more than a post, listen, share this with someone who cares about military service and Gold Star families, and subscribe and leave a review so more people find these stories.

Transcript

Cost Of Service And Abbey Gate

SPEAKER_02 0:00

As I deepen into the Stories of Service podcast with nearly 300 episodes, a recurring theme has come back over and over and over again. And it's one that I will never let go. And that is the cost of service. And I think that when we're in peacetime, which I've served in the military during wartime, and I've served in the military during a peace period. And I believe that sometimes when we serve at peacetime, which really we're not even at peacetime right now when we really consider the war in Iran, but because there's not ground troops impacted, it can sometimes feel like, even to the ones who are serving, that we're serving in a peacetime military. But the people who pay the ultimate price and the cost of service are the people that we have to learn from and the people that we can never forget. And their stories are ones that we should never forget. And for GWAT veterans like myself, there really isn't any incident that further will illustrate the cost of war than the tragedy at Abbey Gate as the war in Afghanistan finally ended after 20 years. And to talk about that today and about one man's contribution and to show how just one person, just one person, can be a spark for us all. I have Joe Burdock coming to the podcast. Joe, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_04 1:24

I'm great. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining me on the Stories of Service podcast. Ordinary people who do extraordinary work. I'm the host of Stories of Service, Teresa Carpenter. And as we always do, to get these episodes started, I will play an intro from my father, who recorded with me on my first podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

From the moment we're born and lock eyes with our parents, we are inspiring others. By showing up as a vessel of service, we not only help others, we help ourselves. Welcome to SOS Stories of Service, hosted by Teresa Carpenter, here from ordinary people from all walks of life who have transformed their communities by performing extraordinary work.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

And today we're going to talk about what happens when one veteran refuses to let America's fall and become another forgotten headline. After watching the nation move on from the tragedy at Abbey Gate, Navy veteran Joe Burdock decided remembrance required more than words. It required action. Joe is a U.S. Navy veteran, entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and founder of the Burdock Custom Flags, where he crafts handmade wooden flags honoring military service, first responders, and the American spirit. Beyond his business, he has dedicated himself to preserving the stories of veterans, connecting communities, and giving a platform to those who continue serving long after taking off the uniform. His most significant mission, though, may be one that reached the halls of government. Joe spearheaded Ohio Senate Bill 244 establishing Abbey Gate Remembrance Day to permanently honor the 13 service members killed during the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate during the evacuation of Cabal on August 26, 2021. Working alongside Gold Star families, state lawmakers, and supporters, he testified before the Ohio General Assembly, my home state as well, and helped ensure their sacrifice would be remembered for generations after the bill was signed into law. And today we're going to talk about why remembrance is an active responsibility, not a passive tradition. The story behind Ohio's Abbey Gate Remembrance Day, how one citizen can influence legislation and preserve military history, the importance of storytelling and keeping the legacy of our fallen alive, entrepreneurship, craftsmanship, and finding purpose after military service, and building stronger connections between veterans, civic leaders, and the communities they serve. Welcome again, Joe.

SPEAKER_04 3:41

Thank you. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Absolutely.

Navy Years And Transition Out

SPEAKER_02 3:44

So first off, as I always ask all my guests, where were you born and raised and what inspired you to join the Navy?

SPEAKER_04 3:51

So I was raised in the mean streets of Lakewood, Ohio. If you're from Ohio, uh you'll know that Lakewood is not uh it's a uh it's a suburb of Cleveland. And I'm gonna date myself here, but uh I saw this movie, it was really cool, Top Gun, and I decided I wanted to work with airplanes in the Navy. And so yeah, so I went in and I got to work with F-18s and I loved every minute of it.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

What was your rate?

SPEAKER_04 4:25

AO.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

Okay, so I was supposed to be an AO. When I went through air crew school, they originally designated me AO, and then somebody said, You don't want to be an AO, you'll have no potential for jobs post-military. You need you need to get a craft, you need to become an electrician. So that's how I became an AE. So I I changed it from AO to AE.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

Yeah, nobody told me that. I didn't really think it through that well. I mean, it doesn't transition well to the civilian world. I mean, maybe at UPS or Delta or something, but uh yeah, bomb loaders aren't a big demand in the civilian world.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

How many years did you serve?

SPEAKER_04 5:03

Eight years.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Okay, okay. So then you deployed, went on an aircraft carrier, I assume.

SPEAKER_04 5:08

Mm-hmm. USS Constellation. I did a I did a West Pack on the Connie in 88-89. Uh, we did a North Pack on the Connie, and then we did we're doing workups on the independence, and Flight of the Intruder was filmed on there while we were doing one of our debts. And yeah, all all flight deck, all aircraft. I mean all yeah, all flight decks on the aircraft carrier.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Okay. So I spent most of my time on USS Abraham Lincoln in my enlisted aviation days, and I was a final checker, troubleshooter, and a maintainer. So I worked the flight deck 12 on, 12 off. I'm assuming you had the same routine.

SPEAKER_04 5:45

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Yep. So so what made you decide after I think you said 12 years, 10 years?

SPEAKER_04 5:53

Eight years.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Eight years, sorry. Okay, so you weren't at the 10-year mark. And so at that point, at eight years, why why did you decide to get out?

SPEAKER_04 6:02

So the last half of my contract was in the reserves. So after after Desert Storm, and I was in the reserves out in I actually lived in Fallon, Nevada. So, which is crazy that somebody would actually want to live in Fallon, but I lived in Fallon. Yeah, I went there a few times, and after I got out of the Navy, I moved to Fallon as a civilian. And then Desert Storm started, and my exo called me and she said, Petty Officer Burdick, we're looking for volunteers for something called Operation Desert Shield. And I said, You know, ma'am, call me next war. I just got out of active duty. I just started in the reserves. And about two days later, she called me and said, Petty Officer Burdick, have your uh seabag packed and be at the airport tomorrow. We'll tell you where you're going. Operation Desert Shield has been upgraded to Operation Desert Storm, and you're first on the list. I guess she didn't like smart ass. So I got activated for that. And then once that was done, I moved back to Cleveland.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Oh gosh. So tell me a little bit about what you thought you would do post-military because that that is that is part of the issue, is that a lot of times in the military we're not able to decide, like you said, what rate we're gonna do. So it's hard once you get out to say, oh, am I gonna do the same thing I did while serving? Am I gonna do something different? What made what was your first job post-military? And what how did you how did you make that determination?

Post-Military Work And Finding A Trade

SPEAKER_04 7:40

Oh man, I mean, I really didn't think it through, and I wish I have had better guides to lead me. First of all, picking my job and and and staying in the military, actually. They offered me EOD school to stay in and I turned it down. I can't believe I did that. But when I got out, I mean, I struggled. I, you know, I was coming out of the Navy with a top secret clearance. You know, I was like, I was like Rambo. I had this top secret clearance. I I was in charge. I was a crew leader for you know, my weapons team, my can, my special weapons team. I was the guy people looked up to. And then I get out of the Navy and it's like, okay, so now what do I do? You know, so I I kind of went back to what my father told me when I was in high school, you're gonna have to learn a trade. You know, I was blessed with I wasn't blessed with generational wealth, I was blessed with work ethic. So it was time to find a job. So I mean, I was I just I started at the bottom and I had to work my way up. And you know, it was it was a lot of struggling for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

I bet, I bet. I'm gonna do something here, and I know it's it's it's just gonna be a quick tech question, a tech check. For some reason, you're coming in to me a little bit blurry. I don't know if anybody else is watching the podcast live and can help me out here and let me know, but you're coming in a little blurred, and I'm trying to see if there's any way I can adjust it for the audience. Sometimes that happens when we go live. I can see me perfectly clear, and then I see you, and you're just a little bit on the blurry side, and I want to see if there's anything I can do very quickly to fix it. And if I can't, I can't. Not a big deal.

SPEAKER_04 9:24

This is always now on my side. I look clear, and so do you. I do. Okay, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Okay, good. Well, I will just kind of let that go. I can hear you perfectly. Good. But yeah, but oh, it sounds, it sounds beautiful, sounds amazing. But for the people who are are watching me, watching you a little bit blurry, just please let me know. And yeah, Ken Mar Marvovich said, Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, he's seeing it as well. And I'm gonna just try to see if I can pull in. Yeah, yes, Joe is blurry. Okay, good. Thanks, guys. I appreciate the the the backup on that. I thought I thought it wasn't just me. Is there a way? I always love my audience to have the best picture possible. Are you able to call me on the cell phone and and just come back in on your data plan? That is one of the ways that I've always been able to navigate this because I want I want everyone to have a good picture. If you can't, or just try maybe uh disconnecting from the call and then reconnecting.

SPEAKER_04 10:22

Uh I could uh certainly try.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Okay, let's do that and then we'll get right back to you guys. Yeah, just disconnect and then reconnect.

SPEAKER_04 10:31

Okay. The joys of live podcasts.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

I know, isn't it fun?

SPEAKER_04 10:35

All right, let's try this.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

All right. Uh all right, guys. He's gonna go off screen just for a minute. I hate pausing the show like this, but as I do these live shows over and over and over again, and I get to like so many episodes, I get pickier and pickier about my tech. Even if it's a tech issue that I think I can't work through on a live shot, I still want to try to and do my best with it. So we're gonna see if we can get Joe back in. I've done this before and it has worked, and we're gonna try to get him back in and see if we can work through some of this because this is such an important podcast, and I definitely want to have make sure that you guys get the best picture possible. So here we go. There you are, and you look better. So I don't know why that happened the way it did, but yeah, now you now you're coming in crystal clear. So, anyway, so as I was saying, uh, the one thing that I think is really important for people to understand too is that yeah, you've got to figure out what you're good at, and you got to figure out how to do something hard, and you gotta figure out a craft. So tell me a little bit about you took the advice from your father and and decided you wanted to learn something. What what what did you go into?

SPEAKER_04 11:50

So I got into construction and I uh I was never very good at it. You know, I mean it's a it's a pretty cutthroat business, and I started at the bottom, and I I was the uh oh, I don't know, I was I was the bottom guy. And so eventually I was doing kitchen and bath remodeling and I was working for a guy, and he I just kept noticing that we spent more time at Home Depot running for materials than we were on the job site. And his son with the construction degree wasn't running the job right, and I said it, I you know, I I sat him down and I said, Hey, I don't think this is working very effectively. Why don't you let me try running the cruise and you know see if I could do it better? Because I think I'd be better on the management side. Well, it created a little problems with his son, but it as it turned out, I was better on the management side than I was on the physical side. So I transitioned into construction management, and I found out that the pay is a lot better too. So so I got into new home construction management. I've you know, I got hired at a company, you know, I did the whole fake it till you make it thing, and I I worked for this guy, Sutton Builders. They hired me and I said, Oh yeah, I know how to blue read blueprints, I know how to do all that stuff, and and they so they hired me and I had to teach myself how to read blueprints. And this was back really before, not before the internet, but at its infancy. And I just remember one day he said, Hey, I I need you to go to the building. We were turning an old warehouse into luxury lofts, and he said, I need you to go count all the steel linnels for me. I'm like, okay, cool. He's like, Yeah, can you go do that right now? I just need a quick count. I'm like, Yeah, no problem. And you know, you would think that you could just look at the photos and count them, but so I get there and I'm like, What the hell is a lintel? So I couldn't look it up on my phone, I couldn't Google it. So I went to the library and I looked up a construction book, and I was like, oh my god. Well, I haven't forgotten what a linnel is because you know I learned it real quick and then I got the number and yeah. So, but basically I started in construction, I went to construction management, and uh, you know, that's pretty much what I did, you know, with the exception of about I bartended for about 10 years too. Coincidentally, I was watching a Tom Cruise movie and he was a bartender cocktail, and I, you know, and one summer I told my buddies, I said, I want to do that. Two days later, I had a job as a bartender, never bartended in my life.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

I love it. You know what? Everything you're telling me is just ingenuity, it's figuring things out for yourself and finding a way to make things happen. And I love it. I I can relate to that. I I do the same with the projects and the things that I take on. I don't always, I'm not always successful at all of them, but I'm always wanting to stretch myself outside of my comfort zone and do things that I've never done before because that's what makes life fun and that's how you learn. And that's and that's the way I feel anyway, that that one ought to live. So you you do construction for all these years, you're bartending. How did you get into making custom flags?

Building Wooden Flags And A Business

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Did that come along a lot of years later?

SPEAKER_04 15:14

Well, before I got into that, the it it's kind of a segue into it. So to September 11th, you know, everybody we got that jolt of patriotism in the country, right? And I was I was in my 30s, I was in my early 30s, and so I started talking to a recruiter. I wanted to get back into the military, in the Navy, and I wanted to honor my grandfather who had recently passed. He was a CB in World War II. So having been doing construction, I talked to a Navy recruiter, and I wanted to join, I wanted to re-enlist as a CB. I was ready to cross rate and whatever I had to do, which I I did love being an AO, but I wanted to do this. And so December 16th, 2001, I broke my leg playing hockey, and the recruiter was like, Joe, it's probably gonna take you two years, give it up, find something else to do for the you know, for the military and for veterans. So that kind of, you know, what you know it really hit me hard that I couldn't, you know, help out the country because I really wanted to, but it ignited a passion in me to do whatever I could for the for the for the military. It started with holiday mail for heroes. I would collect Christmas cards and take them to the Red Cross, and the Red Cross would distribute them, and then I started collecting them myself and taking them to the VA and passing them out to the people stuck down there at Christmas time. And then I was in a Pat Katan's craft store around here, and I saw this wooden flag, and it was a wooden American flag, it was a small one, and I was like, hey, I want to get this. So I pick it up, I turn it over to see how much it is. Well, all I saw was made in China. Well, I'm a red-blooded American and I'm I'm pretty handy. Uh I was like, I'm not buying this Chin Chinese crap, I don't care how much it is. So I went home. I I was like, okay, you know, I go home and I'm like, I'm driving my family nuts for weeks. I'm like, I could make those things. I know I can make, I could really kill those things. Well, then they're finally just like, you know, like you would tell, you know, anybody, well, then just do it, you know, just to shut the guy up.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

I mean, I see, you know, I'm not gonna move my camera because then I'll probably never get it back to this perfect place it is. But I've got a wooden flag right over here. And did you know that there was like a market for this? For for these kinds of flags, like yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:55

So when I started this 11 years ago, there wasn't a market for it. There weren't many people at all making wooden flags 11 years ago. So, you know, I start I just started learning YouTube and and how important YouTube is. Well, there was a guy there. There was, I swear to god, there must have been like maybe four or five people across the country that made flags, but there was this one guy. I kept coming to back to his videos. His name was Jeff Fur, the Furminator. So I can't, I'm like, I gotta find the fur. You ever seen remember uh walking tall Buford Pusser? He's the big old southern boy, you know, and he's got that accent. Well, that's what that's what that's what the Furminator sounded like. So I I would watch his videos and he's like right here. I like to, I like to distress, you know. I love his southern accent. I can't, I can't so I'm I'm watching it and then I I finally do it, right? So I'm like, okay, I can do this. And then I start, you know, where I'm using paint and I'm painting stars on, and I'm doing the same thing Jeff's doing. I'm I'm I'm charring the wood all and I'm like, so I I'm basically doing what Jeff's doing, right? Uh the Ferminator's doing. So then I'm like, well, you know, they're they're sanding the paint and using stain to stain over it to distress it. Why don't I just try to torch, you know, and distress it with fire? Well, paint and fire don't mix, it bubbles. So I thought to myself, huh, why don't I try stain? Because stain's not as thick as paint. And then it would char real nice. You could actually see some behind me. So I started using the stain, and then I got tired of burning and smelling like a like a forest fire, charring every one of my dark, especially if I did a subdued flag. I smelled like a fireman because I would literally burn every other board. And then I was like, man, I'm getting sick of that. Why don't I just use black stain? So I'm like, I love this look. I'm not smelling like a firefighter. This is, you know, it's a good look. And then I started carving the stars into the flags, and I think the Ferminator may have been doing that too after a while. But so that, so then I contact him and I'm like, hey Jeff, why don't you try this stain and why don't you do it like this? It might be easier and cheaper. And so we started talking back and forth, and he starts trying my ideas. I'm still using his. I switched material from pallets to this to that. Right. So then one day I had some Navy friends, a friend of mine in the Navy had a birthday party, a surprise party in Charlotte, North Carolina. Well, wouldn't you know it? The Ferminator was a police officer right outside of Charlotte. So I said, hey, I'm gonna be down there. I want to meet my teacher. And so we ended up meeting up at a restaurant down there in Charlotte. But it really all started though, what because I wanted an American flag, a wooden American flag. And once I started making them, my veteran friends, my first refund first responder friends, they started seeing what I was doing. And they're like, hey, can you make me one? And I was like, Yeah, you know, give me whatever it costs for materials, I don't care. Well, then I I also I wanted to, I'm not a marketing guy, but I was like, if if I want to try to make any money at this, I'm gonna have to market. And I'm probably gonna need some celebrities. You know, I mean, they've got a lot of followers. Oh, yeah. So I reached out, I reached out to Jenny McCarthy and she responded. And she's like, I'd love one of your flags. Donnie is a big patriot, and he would love a flag. He cries every time he sees the flag. And I said, Okay, I'll make you one. And I and she said, How much is it? I said, I don't want any money, Jenny. I said, You've got four million followers on Twitter. I said, just tweet it out. That that's she's like, Nope, I want to pay for it, and I'll tweet it out. Wow. Wow. And and then once she got it, she ordered two more. Well, then the news, a friend of mine, her daughter was a a reporter at the news station. And so I said, I want to talk to your daughter. I I want I gotta get my name out there. And so they came and did a story on me. And then pretty much after that, it kind of blew up.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Snowballed, yeah. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

What a great story and a testament to your work and your and and your just ingenuity and the just the the work ethic of our people, of our sailors, and and just being able to just have that can-do attitude where you just don't let anything stop you. And what I also love particularly about your flags, I believe you have the wavy flags, right? The ones that have like the wave on them. Is that is that unique to your brand, or is that something that other people have copied, or did you get that from others?

SPEAKER_04 22:53

See, I wish it was. You know what is unique to me, and I invented this, and anybody that does this is their second. I did it first. I am the first person to ever do a service ribbon flag. So, you know, the the stripe under the union, I would do a service ribbon, a comp a campaign ribbon, a purple heart ribbon, something like that. But I started that, but the wavy flag, it's actually kind of funny because I was at a craft show and I saw a wavy flag, but it was done by a CNC machine. And you know, there I was like, I can't, I don't know how how to do that by hand. Well, I I used to rent a shop and during COVID, a friend of mine, Jason Shieldwalkter, he he says, Hey, why don't you try to do a wavy flag? And I said, I don't know how to make one of those things. So there weren't many people making them, but there were people doing it. So I I bought an angle grinder, I bought this chainsaw looking. It was like about a four-inch round chainsaw, and it and so I was trying that, and I almost cut my finger off with it. It was so dangerous. I mean, it was so bad, but it took me about two weeks, but I got a wavy flag done and stained, and it was sitting on my workbench drying, and this was during COVID. Well, a guy from Channel 5 here in Cleveland was looking for small businesses during COVID that were staying open and how it was affecting them. And I said, Hey, I'm a veteran and I'm a small business owner, and here's what I do. He's like, Oh, I'd love to come to your shop and you know, record it. Well, because it was COVID, he wasn't coming in the you know, they were doing that dumb social distancing thing. But so he's like, Take my camera and just walk through your shop if you don't mind. And I said, No, absolutely. So I I was walking around and I was panning as I was going, and I really didn't I hardly put any time on the wavy flag that was there. And he it was recording, it was on the news live within 20 minutes. My phone was blowing up because they put my phone number on TV. My phone was blowing up with orders, people wanting a wavy flag. And I remember the guy that I was running the shop from. I said, Dave, I don't know what the hell I'm doing, but I've got like 25 orders. He's like, he looks at me and he's just Dave's a real cool guy. He's he's like, You better figure it out. And and and I did. I mean, and but it's it's evolved from 2020 to 26. I mean, there was a lot of trial and error, and uh, you know, I was originally I was just gluing all the boards and clamping them together, and then you know, when you try to clamp two pieces of wood or three pieces of wood together without anything in them, they have a tendency to slide. So uh and or they could separate later because there's not enough pressure or whatever. So I was I said, Yeah, I have to replace a couple of these flags, they're not, they're not, you know, I don't know, they're not glued right or something. And he said, Well, why don't you start screwing them together then? You know, board by board. And I said, Man, that's gonna take a long time, a lot of money. He's like, You trying to build them quick or are you trying to build them right? And I'm like, You always have the right answer for everything. And so then I started screwing, you know, there's probably a hundred screws inside my one of my wavy flags, but it takes longer, but it's worth it. So a lot of a lot of evolution from the first one to you know what I've been doing. And this one behind me, it's just a it's a challenge coin flag. But I don't know if you can see it. This is my don't give up the ship flag.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

So let me get you on full screen so people can see that. Yep, yep, yep. I got it right there.

SPEAKER_04 26:48

I gave that to the skipper of the USS Cleveland, and I never would have thought to make that flag. Um, a friend of mine here in Cleveland, his name is Commander, he's in the the reserves, Commander Matt Previtz. He called me one day and he says, Hey Joe, did you ever do don't give up the ship? And I said, No, I never even thought of that. And he's like, Well, I'd love one if you could do it. And so, like, ships are like the freedom class or the are the the nimitz class. Yeah, we name our ships after a certain class. I call that flag the previous class. So my don't give up the ship, it's a big hit with Navy people, which by the way, thank you for your service. I didn't say that earlier.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Oh, that's okay. Thank you for yours as well. It's always nice to talk to a fellow sailor, too, uh, one who has served in aviation just like myself. I mean, that's not that doesn't always happen, obviously, on the show. And not only did you take this business to the next level, you started doing other flags, and this is kind of gets into around the COVID time when, or maybe thereafter, where the whole story picks up about how you got in touch with some of the family members who were impacted by the Abbey Gate tragedy. And so, how did that happen where you met people who who had had that had that connection?

Meeting Gold Star Families

SPEAKER_04 28:08

Yeah, so I was I was at the I was at an event with with my uh my family, and I get a message on Instagram, a girl by the name of Marilyn Sovjak. So I I I recognize the last name right away, Max Soviac, which oh I don't know my right from left. He was one of the 13 that was killed, but he was the only one from Ohio. So his his sister reaches out to me and she said, Do you have a flag that I can buy to place next to my brother's casket at his funeral? So my response was, I looked at my phone and I was like, and then I texted, I sent back, I said, Absolutely not, but I'll give you one. And so I said, I'll be happy to drive it wherever you guys, I didn't even know where they were from in Ohio. I just knew they were in Ohio. I said, I'll bring it to you. She's like, No, no, no. My dad and I need to get out of the house. We'll come get it. So so I met, so they came over at Maryland and Kip, that's Max's dad, they came over and got the flag, and you know, that's when it really became personal for me. Because, you know, I mean, I'm looking face to face at a at a dad, and I'm a dad, and I didn't know what to say to him. I probably hugged him three times, you know, and I'm I honestly I don't think he needed me to say anything. You know, I I was looking for the perfect words and I couldn't find them, and I figured the best thing to do was to, you know, keep it brief and and thank him for his son's service and sacrifice. And, you know, I I got up I got a photo with him, and they, you know, they he they invited me to Max's funeral, but they didn't know when it was. And, you know, they said the uh Max's body hadn't been released yet. And I said, okay, well, you know, whenever it is, yeah, I I would be honored to come. Well, I heard on I heard on the radio later that day that the Navy had finally released Max's body to come home. And I just kept thinking, oh, after he left my house, he got a horrible phone call. You know, probably I I mean, it's not it wouldn't be the worst phone call he's gotten. Obviously, you know, the worst phone call he got was probably, you know, August 26th. But, you know, he got a pretty bad phone call after he left left my house. And that's where it started. You know, I I promised them that I would do everything I could to keep Max's memory alive. And, you know, originally I thought it was gonna be, you know, I'll talk about Max a little bit, I'll donate my flags to the charity. I had no idea it would be what I would eventually, you know, start. And yeah, but it that's that was that was the the minute, you know, when it happened, when it became personal to me.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

How did you get the idea to go to the legislature and and and carry it to this next level?

SPEAKER_04 31:06

Oh boy, there's there's a lot that happened before that. So, you know, I was still in the in the the next year after in 2022, I was invited to Charlotte for one of the NASCAR drivers invited me down there and my kids to come to a race because it was Memorial Day. And so I I I go to his garage and I meet a guy with a with a goatee. And you know, he's like, How you doing? I'm Jim. And I I I meet his daughter-in-law, and she has a little baby, and you know, we're how you doing? I'm Joe, you know, nice to meet you. And my kids and I are just walking around, and I don't think anything of it. I, you know, I'll talk to anybody. I said, I said hi. And then we go to when we go to the track, I see on the driver's car that invited me down there, Riley McCollum. And then I was like, oh man, I just met Jim McCollum, Riley's dad. And I sent him a message right there from the track saying, I'm sorry, I I I met you, I didn't realize who you were. I would have, you know, spoke more, and and you know, he's like, Don't worry, it's okay, you know. And so, you know, I was like, okay, I just met my second gold star family. You know, is this a coincidence or so yeah, so then in 2023, I decided I was gonna start a podcast.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 32:35

And I wanted to, like you, I wanted to share stories. Well, I reached out to after I did a couple and I worked up the nerve, I reached out to one of the gold star moms, Cheryl Rex, and her son was Dylan Marola. And our conversation, she actually ended up doing two for me because it was it was so she had so much to say, and it was still pretty new. So we did it in two sections, the second being about her experience with the dignified transfer. But so then I did a second podcast shortly after with Shanna Chapel. Shanna Chapel's son was Kareem Nakui. And it was another very powerful, there was probably the second best conversation I ever had and the hardest at the same time. But you know, she told me about her experience, and it's obviously her experience is you know, her experience. But Shanna, almost a year, almost a year after Kareem's death, her oldest son, you know, took his own life. So she actually lost two kids because of Abbey Gate. And you know, dealing with the grief or you know, not being able to deal with the grief, she was ready to take her life too, but thankfully she didn't. And you know, for her to tell me that on my podcast too, it was just it really, it really hit home for me, these stories of these families, and they're and and they're all different, and they all come all different walks of life and everything. And so at this point, I've either met or I've talked to four of the families, and it just kept weighing on me, and I was like, okay, you know, I'm gonna I need to do whatever I need to do. Yeah, well, and and I I I take that the next in 2022, I also met Rachel Rachel Soviac, Kipps, I mean uh Max's mom. So I met her at this Neopath Gala that we have here that's a great charity that helps out veterans. And we're standing outside the ball area, and this was about a year after you know Max died, and I'm standing there and I brought my son. I love to take my kids to these events so because I want them to see why I love my fellow veterans the way I do. We're not warmongers, we're we're people that love our country, and I want my kids to experience that. So this time I brought my son, and my son, I mean, he's a great looking kid, he's tall, he's got a handsome smile. I like to think he looks just like me, but way better. But I'm just kidding, Joey. If you're he's not watching, he's watching football. But so I took him and we're standing there, and Kip and Rachel are next to me. And you know, I hug Rachel and I said, Hi, nice to meet you. And you know, I saw her at the funeral, but you know, I didn't I didn't talk to her. But I said, Rachel, whatever you guys need, you can count on me. If you need flags for the charity, whatever, all you have to do is ask. She and she looks me right in the eye and she says, Joe, all I need you to do is help me keep Max's memory alive. And I'm like, Got it. And you know, it my heart went out to Rachel. You know, she she was looking at my son, she must have hugged my son three or four times, and she said, You're so handsome, that smile must you get you out of trouble. And you know, my son was like, God, that sucks what she went through, dad. And I'm like, you know, it it really does suck, you know. And and Kip and Rachel have, you know, I think 13 kids, and they're they're such great people, they're such great people. And but I made that promise to Rachel, and it was it was a promise to her, but it went out to all 13 families.

Creating A Local Remembrance Day

SPEAKER_04 36:40

I gotta do whatever I gotta do. So, like, and then I started the podcast, and then in 24, 2024, I got this idea. So, in one of my podcasts, I'm I talked to my congressman, Max Miller, and he and I became friends, but in my podcast, I said, you know, congressman, we we have Memorial Day. I said, but this loss of life is huge in one day. I said, we need a a day, a national day of remembrance because people are already forgetting the 13. And this was only you know three years later. And he's like, you know, Joe, you're absolutely right. They're starting a monument in DC for desert storm veterans, but nothing it nothing in politics happens fast. But he agreed with me. So I I said, you know what? I want to start my own. And so I I I called up my mayor, Mayor Tony Biaciata in Seven Hills, Ohio. Um and I said, Hey Mayor, I want to talk to you about something. I have an idea. And he's like, All right, he's like, meet me for lunch. And so I met him at this restaurant, and I walk in, and it's the mayor, his soon-to-be wife, his sister-in-law, her husband, and and his sister-in-law played on two Olympic hockey teams, and she I played hockey with her, and she's amazing, and their baby, and their baby. So it was all of us, and I'm sitting there, and and uh it's like a family meal, and me. And so he's like, All right, what do you got? And he didn't know, he didn't know what I was talking about, you know. Gonna, I could have been bringing up something. I have a problem with my neighbor next door. You know, he's like, What do you got? And I told him, I said, I want to start a day of remembrance for the 13 from Abbey Gate. And he's like, Okay, done. What do you need? And I'm like, Well, that's it. He's like, whatever, whatever you need. He's like, I I wanna, I wanna be part of it. So that was early, that was probably February of 24. So I had a little planning to do for August 26th, and and uh, you know, somebody asked me, you know, why don't you have it on the weekend? You can get more people there, and I said, Well, yeah, I could I could do that, I could do the weekend. I said, but you know, it's it would probably be more convenient to do it on the weekend. But how inconvenienced were those 13? You know, yeah, they died, so I can inconvenience myself to show my appreciation for their ultimate sacrifice. So I planned it out with the help of Jen Berger in the city of Seven Hills. She is a rock star, and uh we we planned it out. I uh the the first day of remembrance, I had a state senator speak, I had a congressman's my congressman friend speak, the mayor, me, and a sister of Marilyn, Max Soviek's sister. We all spoke. We had the color guard. It it was a great event. Where did you do it?

SPEAKER_02 39:53

Like what how did you pick the location?

SPEAKER_04 39:56

Yeah, so I wanted somewhere well in my city, Seven Hills, sure. The the best place to do it because outside of City Hall, we have like a a veterans memorial, a huge stone with where we honor veterans, and and that's where the Memorial Day parade ends, and it I felt like it was a fitting part, you know, is the flag and everything right there. Sure. So the after that first year, I was at my congressman, couldn't make it to the Lincoln Day dinner, and he said, Do you want to stand in for me at the Lincoln Day dinner and represent me? And I was like, Me represent you? Okay, yeah, I'll do it. And you know, and I got these, I got these VIP passes. Chase hooked me up with the VIP. I'm name dropping all over the place, aren't I? But hopefully Chase is watching. But he he got me a VIP pass. Well, now I'm a VIP, so I go in this area and I'm I'm with the bigwigs now. And and I meet this, I meet this really tall lady, and she, you know, she says, Hi, how you doing? I'm Christina Rogner. And I said, Oh, I'm Joe Burdick, and we start talking. And she says, You know, who do you know? I said, I'm friends with the the congressman. She takes a selfie with me and she sends it to him, and she doesn't say anything, just a picture of us. And he responds, Oh, Chase is walking. Chase Concord. Oh, hey, Chase, Chase Conquer. Yep. So, so she texts the congressman just a picture of me, us, and the congressman texts back, Joe is the best. So she's like, Okay, I could trust this guy. Well, I told once she told me she is a state rep, I said, Oh, I said, I have a day of remembrance in Seven Hills. I talked to the congressman about doing a national day, but so I started it on a local level. I would also like to do it on a state level. And she said, she was part of you know that part of the government where she makes things happen. And she's like, Send me all your stuff. I'd love to help. And I'm like, really? She's like, Yeah, here's my card, send it to me on Monday, and we'll get started on it. Honestly, I probably I thought she was probably giving me some politician's BS. And thankfully, she was not a BS politician. She is a rock star in the state of Ohio. And with along her office, along with Jane Tempkin, also a state rep, they helped me introduce draft and introduce Senate Bill 244.

From Bill Draft To Governor Signature

SPEAKER_04 42:38

It was it was so important for me to do this for these families because the more I talked about the the 13, the more disappointed I got that people had no idea who they were. Even even the one that was from Ohio, and I just kept thinking, if that was my son, I would be losing my shit right now. Can I s can I swear on here? Yes, you can. Yes, you can. We're nay, we're navy people. So, but but I was just I was like, I would be so upset if I if if that was my son. I was, you know, so I had to do something, right? So so we drafted the bill last year in 25, and I asked senators Timkin and Rogner to come to my day of remembrance and talk about the bill because I I told a few people what we were doing, that it was being pushed through, but I didn't tell everybody, and I didn't make this big announcement about it. I wanted uh Christina Rogner to announce it to everybody. So she at last year's at last year's Day of Remembrance in Seven Hills, she got up and she started talking and and talking about introducing Senate Bill two forty four. And I can see people like really. Really? You know? And so afterwards, you know, we did all this the speeches. Well, Chase, Conklin, comes up to me after the thing. Everything was over. And he says, Hey, just so you know, Max introduced HJ Resolution 116 today. And I said, What's that? He's like, It's the bill to make it a national holiday. And I'm like, Well, the president already did the executive order. You know, today's already, he already did it. And he's and thankfully Chase was there because apparently I didn't pay attention in schoolhouse rocks. Chase is like, no, no, no, no, no. This trumps an executive order. This becomes law. And I was like, so I'm thinking to myself, I have a state bill that's in the works right now, and I have a national bill in the works right now. I'm like, I'm just feeling pretty good about what I'm doing for these families because because honestly, Teresa, this all of this stuff is for them. And I always tell people too, I do this as Joe Burdock. I don't do this as you know, Berta custom flags because of course we're separate. I don't, I don't, I don't care if I ever sell another flag again. I'll use them all for charity. I don't care. As long as I keep their memories alive, that's all that matters to me. And so am I rambling too much?

SPEAKER_02 45:33

No, no, I'm I'm listening, and we've got pretty decent crowd on the live show stream as well. We've got a bunch of comments too that I've not been able to go through. My buddy Kai, she says she wants a flag. Ken Markovich said he's purchased six of your wooden masterpieces, and it says you have incredible craftsmanship and wow factor. So, no, no, you're not rambling in in the slightest. But I'm I'm I'm at the edge of my seat now when you're saying the stuff about it it might become a national remembrance versus you thought this was just gonna be a state state effort. And by the way, you're blurry again. Ah no, no, no, we're gonna try to see if I can get you back in, but we may want you to just disconnect and I'll I'll ramble to the audience for a second because I just I just want uh have you on clear. But it seems weird that you can disconnect and then connect again, and somehow that gets you clearer. I don't understand why I know internet, yeah. You know you're real blurry again. So maybe just disconnect and connect, and then I'll go full screen and just ramble on for a moment while you're doing that because but I know who we are in the story. So please, please, guys, don't don't don't go away. This is like don't go away. Don't go away. Like when we have those uh you know 30-second commercials, we're on this like 15-20-second commercial break while Joe disconnects and then he's gonna reconnect. And that is going to, and I'll go full screen right here and just talk for a moment during this quick commercial break as Joe leaves and then comes back on because quality of the show, I think, is very, very important to me. And while we're here, I will also let you guys know that I do have a few upcoming episodes that I think are gonna be incredibly impactful. I have got Bradley Geary coming on. He is a former Navy SEAL, he was one of the ones who untragically was at the what I believe is on the receiving end of an unhealthy uh work climate, but has since gone on to just do extraordinary things for his community. But I think Joe is back with us now. I'm gonna try to add him back to our stage. And here we go. Hold on just one moment. Let me see if I can get him on here. All right, yep, you're back on. All right, so no, you're you're not blurry in the slightest. So now what we were saying is that you had the national bill, you had the state bill, and now you're like, oh my gosh, what's gonna happen with all this? And so what happens next?

SPEAKER_04 47:56

So this was okay, so this was in 25, and in October, I believe it was October of 25, the state Senate pushed the bill through. We made some changes to the bill. We wanted, I wanted to make sure they wanted to just put Max's name on the bill. And I said, no, no, no, no. I never met Max, but I'm guessing that he wouldn't want anything to do if it if if it was just his name. So I said, all the names need to be on there, and you know, I my name, I don't want my name anywhere on there. So so in October, I believe it was October, the Senate pushed it through all the committees, the veterans' committees, all the you know, whatever the state senate committees are, passed through the Senate and 33 to nothing, so bipartisan, which it was good. Yeah, and then the Senate goes on a break, and I'm impatient. So it's like, okay, it maybe it was in November, but it was like all of November, they're out, December, they're out. Well, then it was they get to be in like I think it's January or something, and and they're finally back in. And I'm like, I had to remind myself, Congressman Miller said nothing happens quick in government. So and I'm like, this is so stupid. Why is this taking so long? So then it goes to the house, and there's committees in the house, and there's proponent testimony, and you know, I had to get proponent testimony, and the congressman put his in, and you know, some friends, and you know, they put their proponent testimony in too. Uh but I went down to Columbus to speak in front of the house and to give my prom proponent testimony, and I was ready for questions. I was I had a nice speech made out, but I was ready for all these questions and nothing. And I'm like, this is it? This is how this works down here, and but I mean, but then there was a guy, David Root, he's big in Ohio politics down here. He's like, Joe, they were all looking at you, they were all paying attention. Normally they don't do that, so I I think you made a difference. And I'm like, I'm like, oh boy, I hope so. So anyway, uh, they sent me a link to all the different, you know, when the meetings where I could watch all the meetings, you know, the the committee. Yeah, yeah, right. So I would watch them online. I'd be sitting in my car, I put it on while I was driving or something. And so then the day of the house vote, and I was watching it online, and it passed the house 94 to nothing. And I was like, I was so ready. I'm like, boy, if there's one person that that votes no on this, I'm gonna bash them online. I you know, I wanted this so bad for these families that, you know, but thankfully everybody agreed, and so many people stood up. And and one of the one of the state reps, Haraz Gambari, he he's also a Navy commander. He made an amendment to the bill, which was I completely agreed with. It slowed it down a little bit. It had to go back to the Senate and get voted on a concurrence vote. But he and and and he was right. He felt that all of the branches should be with the names of the service members. And I can't believe we didn't think about that in the beginning, but but so that had to be added on. And he he was actually in charge of the detail that stood over Max's body at the you know for the funeral, you know, while he was in in wait, wake, wait, uh at the wake. He but he's gonna be one of my speakers this year. But anyway, so it passed 94 to nothing, and I think it had to be February, because a couple of days later, I get a phone call from State Senator Rogner, and she says, Hey Joe, we're gonna need you down in Columbus on Monday. This is Friday. She's like, We're gonna need you down in Columbus on Monday. The governor's gonna sign your bill. And I'm like, That's it? No notice? But I'm like, all right, I'll be there. And so, yeah, so I was so excited. I reached out to the Soviets. I said, Hey, um, I said, I know it's no notice, but you know, if you can make it, I would, I didn't do this for me. I would love it if you could be there. And, you know, Kip and Rachel were there, and Jared Schmitz's mom, she lives in Berlin Heights, Ohio, too, next to the Soviets. And you know, beautifully strong woman. And, you know, I invited, I invited her too, you know, but we unfortunately she couldn't make it, but we were down there, and you know, we all met up at the at the statehouse and you know, met the governor, and we were there when he signed the bill. And it was I just remember we're all standing in this room, and um, you know, Rachel, she's Rachel's such a nice, quiet woman, and and and you know, so strong. And I finally got her where it was just us. And I said, What do you think, Rachel? And she's like, Joe, I don't know what to think. She's like, I'm so overwhelmed. I I I can't believe you did this. And like, I did it for you. I I did it because I made a promise to you that day. And and I always remind her every time I see her, it's because of that promise. And she, you know, I just talked to her the other earlier this week, and she's and I and I brought that up again. And she's like, I didn't believe you when you said that. I said, Well, hopefully, you know, when I say something, I mean it. And so anyway, we you know, it was a quick ceremony. We took some pictures and and I've got the bill behind me. Yeah, I I asked, I asked Tammy Puff, uh, another name dropped, the the the governor's right hand, and I said, Tammy, you know, I would like 14 copies of the bill. I want I want to send one to each of the gold star families. And I said, Of course I want to keep one for myself, but I need 14 copies. And she's like, Joe, I don't know if we could do that. I said, What do you mean? And she's like, Well, we don't normally do that. And I said, Okay, well, can you email it to me and I'll print it out 14 times? And so anyway, Tammy is an amazing, you know, person in in, you know, with the government. And for the governor, you know, we we went to a golf outing, the Max Soviet Foundation golf outing, and she was there and she's like, Hey, come to my car. And she pulls out this stack of of the bills, and she's like, Here you go, 14 bills. And so I immediately, because Rachel and Sue Schmitz were at the golf outing, I said, Oh, good. I want to take Rachel and Sue and give their them theirs right now. So I sent you that photo of me with them and Tammy and Kip, but I still need to send you know the others to the other moms. Unfortunately, there's you know, some of the families are divorced, and you know, I I need to make some copies, you know, for the dads. But I I just always think that yeah. I mean, it's it's for me, it's great. I mean, because you know, like you said, I mean this this is grassroots in its fullest form. It's just a a nobody from Seven Hills, Ohio that wants to honor some service members that didn't make it home, right? So it I it it and from a conversation that I had with a gold star mom that I will do everything I can. And it's and it's about keeping your promise. And and like you said, remembrance, it's it's not passive. It's it's you it's it's it's actually it took on a physical form, yeah. This this remembrance, and it's important to me for people to know who they are because and I and I got this quote when I did a podcast with Leroy Petrie, Medal of Honor recipient. I I remind people this every time I you know I get a chance to talk to them. We need to live a life worth dying for, because they did. They did, they died, they paid the ultimate sacrifice, you know, and we might get online and and get petty or you know hate somebody for something they think or said. Well, I guarantee of those 13, I don't know what you were like when you were 20. I didn't give a damn about politics. So I know that I oh I know for a fact they weren't all Republicans, they weren't all Democrats, they weren't all independents. Probably most of them didn't even care. You know, so this isn't a political thing for me. And you know, it's I want to keep it that way because it's it's all about remembering them and honoring that sacrifice. It's it's you know, it's it's so important. And and in Kip in the the the the day you know they were coming back from Columbus or whatever it was, Kip sent me a text message, or maybe it was the next day, and he said, Joe, your obligation has been fulfilled. And I'm like, no, there's there's 49 more states, Kip.

SPEAKER_02 57:27

So yeah, I'm all here. Melissa Kelly says Pennsylvania's next for the bill. So what happens at the state level? Them having a national, I mean uh a state uh day of remembrance. How is that? Is there some is there any specific thing that the state the state has to do, or does it does it just is it'll just it stays with your city to actually

Expanding Remembrance Beyond Ohio

SPEAKER_02 57:48

do the day? Like, how does this work functionally?

SPEAKER_04 57:51

Well, you know, that's a great question. I'm not exactly sure what the state will do on their level. I know that as far as I'm alive, it's gonna be a holiday for me where I mean I won't be working, but I will be honoring. I'm not sure. My my goal is to, I mean, we're not even one year away, you know, removed from the governor signing the bill. So I'm hoping as time goes and people are like, you know, I don't know if it shows up on their phone calendar or whatever, but hopefully people, you know, ideally, I I hope schools recognize it or maybe invite Gold Star families to come in to talk about their kids. Or, you know, I wouldn't even be opposed to I don't know what schools would want to talk about 13 people dying, but I mean I don't know what they teach anymore in schools, but they should be talking about it, in my opinion. I agree.

SPEAKER_02 58:50

And and maybe it's just a matter of around the day, around the time of of this, seeing what on the state level they'll do in terms of the politicians who supported the bill, what they'll share on social media, what they'll talk about around this time through their channels. But I think what you did is outstanding. Now, on the national level, I'm curious, has what what what happened there? You mentioned that there might be there was also a national push.

SPEAKER_04 59:17

Yeah, so I have a my friend Brian Bowman, another name. He he he gave me a website where you can track legislation and it sends you updates. So I I just happened to look today to see if it has moved at all in the last year. Hasn't moved an inch.

SPEAKER_02 59:37

Yeah, that's that's that's far for the course when it comes to DC politics, unfortunately. But this is something still that advocates can track. This is something that everyone could pick the mantle up in their particular state and do. And it is so important because as we were talking before the show, this is this is our our generation's fall of Saigon. It is. And the GWAT generation of veterans like myself, this is this is our day of remembrance, in my view, and it's something that should never be forgotten. I had Scott Mann on my show, uh, he's very very well known in the veteran community, and he's very well known for his advocacy regarding the Abbey Gate incident. And there are a number of veterans who, like myself, feel that this is something that needs to be talked about and needs to be remembered, and needs to be something that never ever does get forgotten because it is the price of war. And when we forget the price of war, we tend to repeat the same mistakes and do the same things that we've always done and treat people the same way that we've always treated them. And what you're doing, Joe, is outstanding, and I commend you for these efforts. Where where does all this go next? Uh, you're in the middle now, I would imagine, of planning. I mean, it's 20 days away, so your remembrance ceremony in in your city is is coming up soon, correct?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:06

Yeah, yeah. So Paige at our city, another name. The city is working with me. We already have the whole thing planned. We have I've got the fire, the police chaplain, Father Doug Brown, is going to be coming and giving the prayer. Hayden Grove, I don't know if you ever watched The Voice. Hayden was on the voice last year. He's from Cleveland. He's gonna be singing the national anthem again. Yep, I have the color guard set up. I've got State Senator Jane Timkin who will be talking about the Senate bill. I have Haraz Gumbari, the state congressman. He's gonna give a speech. He was the one that was, you know, in charge of keeping every, you know, the security over Max's coffin. Maryland will be speaking again for the third year. And of course, I will be speaking. And I heard that we have somebody from the war department is coming, and I think somebody from the senator's office is coming. So I've already reached out, I've reached out to the Navy. My friend Matt Previtz is trying to get me as many sailors as possible. I reached out to the there's a Marine base in Brook Park, Ohio. I reached out to them and I said, guys, we had 11 Marines get killed. Can I can I get 11 Marines at this thing, one for each of these to represent for these for these gold star families? And you know, I was talking to the sergeant major and and you know, he's I guess he's a bigwig with this Marine battalion. He said, Joe, I can't guarantee you're gonna have 11 Marines, but and I saw the email he sent to his gunny, but he said, every available Marine needs to be there. And I just got an email this morning from somebody with the National Guard. They're gonna get as many National Guard members as possible. So I will at least have representations from all three branches that were, you know, killed that day. But so yeah, the planning is in motion. I'm just hoping that the mayor does his thing and has good weather again. He's he's called in for good weather the last two years, but he told me the other day he he he saved up all of his prayers because he just had a baby, so he used all his prayers on his son. So he can't guarantee the weather, but he's gonna try. But but no, it's I'm trying to get the Air Force and the Coast Guard to come also. Last year we had an Air Force member as part of the color guard with us last year. She's deployed right now, though. But but yeah, the plans are emotion. So I'm just hoping for because it's a milestone year for us, right? Fi, it's the fifth anniversary, but every day, every day is a milestone for the families, the service members that were affected, and obviously those that never made it home. So it's a milestone year. I'm just really hoping the community really shows up for this, that people really come to this. I I got a message. There's a gold star dad. I think he's down by Cincinnati, which is like four hours away. He he texted me, I think a week or two ago, and he said, Joe, I already got my hotel rented. I'm coming up there. This is a gold star dad. It's not about his son. His son made the ultimate sacrifice. He's coming up here for my thing. And I'm just like, oh my God, you know. But so I really hope that the community shows up. I hope that they're not getting burned out on it. I mean, it seems I mean, I really hope not. I really hope that because it because in there, I you know, hopefully, oh my god, it's five years. I I have to go. I have to take a couple hours off of work and come and show up and and show these gold star families. Because this is, I can't believe I haven't thought of this before, live streaming it this year. So that's because the because the majority of the gold star, I think there's four or five families in California, and then you know, there's one in I think uh Utah and Kansas or something. They're spread out all over the place. I want them to be able to see it live instead of just my edited video that I'll put on YouTube like the next day or whatever. I want them to be able to see the Marines standing there looking sharp in those sharp uniforms and those Navy guys and you know the National Guard and the 21 Gun salute. I want them to be able to feel it on that. I mean, it's such a bad day for them, such a horrible day. I want it to be like a just a small ray of sunshine on a really dark day for them, knowing that in Seven Hills, Ohio, one of Things that I did the first two years, and of course I'll do it every year, but I ask everybody to repeat the names after me because I heard it was a Mike Durant. I heard a a podcast with Mike Durant, who I actually had on my podcast later, but Mike Durant said something, and he didn't invent it. I mean, it's been out there, but he said a soldier dies twice when they're when their heart stops beating and when their name the last time their name is ever spoken, right? So so I want all of us in attendance to be saying Kareem Nakui, Dylan Marola, you know, Jared Schmitz, Nicole G, and I want their families to to see that in Seven Hills, Ohio, a city that none of them have ever heard of before three years ago, that all these people are standing there and their and their their child's name has been said, you know, because in Ohio we care. Because and that's really what this bill was all about, Teresa. It's it's to we're we're the first state in the country to officially recognize this the sacrifices of those 13. And it's it's important for me to to have as many people there as possible because I just want I want those families to know, you know, this Joe guy in in Ohio and and his community in Seven Hills, man, I I gotta get there one day. I got I need to I need to see what the Seven Hills is about. They'll be very, you know, they'll be like they'll drive through and they'll be like, that's it. But yeah, but we love our city here in Seven Hills and our mayor, and and it's it's the mayor, the mayor committed, he he he made it a city day practically at that lunch that I had with him.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:49

That is absolutely amazing about it.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:51

But it's like forever. So it as long as Seven Hills is around, it's a city day of remembrance for those 13. All because of a conversation with the mayor.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:01

It shows you the grassroots nature. You are blurry once again, and so what I'm gonna do, I know we're just wrapping up, but I want you to, I want to I want to take the resolution down on this show. I'm gonna remove you and then I'm gonna have you call right back. And I'm gonna take the I'm at 1080p. I'm gonna see if I go down in resolution on my end, if it makes it so that you won't be blurry. So just do I need to go down on my end? No, don't do a thing. I'm just gonna remove you right now, and then I'm going to attempt to in my settings right here. And so everyone bear with me. I don't know. You may have to just disconnect from the call real quick. So go ahead and disconnect and then connect again. One more time. And then I'm gonna go in my settings here and try to change them to go down one lower setting. It doesn't look like I can do that in real time. So we're just gonna have Joe come right back to us. It seems like if he comes right back, he comes right back on. I I I can't explain why we're having these technical difficulties, but if it takes you one second to come back in and then to come back out to get you a little bit more clear, it's worth it to me. I love what you guys did. You are you exemplify the stories of service, you exemplify that can-do spirit working at the civic level, at the city level and the local level, which I believe is so terribly important. I've been doing the same here with the local VFW, doing some things with the chamber. I've got a veterans book club as well. So I believe that everybody can do something, and it's at the local level where we all can make an impact. Because sometimes it just is too big at that federal level and in DC to get the things happening that you want to get happening. But before we leave, Joe, I want to just turn it right back over to you to say some final words about what this has meant to you to do this and where you where you want to see all this going forward.

How Listeners Can Take Action

SPEAKER_04 1:09:50

Thanks. I really appreciate that. Well, first, any of the gold star family members that might be watching this or watch it later, I want you to know that you know what I'm doing for you guys is genuine and it's for you guys. I want to live, hopefully, I'm living a life worth dying for. And really, for anybody else that's watching this, I really hope that if you're looking for a way to help, a lot of the gold star families have set up charities, and I would suggest you you go and seek them out and and contribute to their charities. You know, I know the you know the one that I work with whenever I you know whenever they need me is the the Maxton Soviet Memorial Foundation, but but I also know that there's others, and I really, I really hope that you seek out their charities and and help out any way you can. And if you're in another state like Pennsylvania or you know, Florida or wherever, you know, don't wait for me to show up in your state to to do something. If you have a connection, if you have an opportunity to talk to a legislator, you know, let them know what we did here in Ohio and let them know that you want it, you know, you want it in your state also, because you know, those 13, you know, they they deserve to be remembered. And and like I always say is that uh we can't promise to never forget if we don't learn their names or we don't learn their stories or or you know anything about them. So, you know, I'm just one guy that that you know kept a promise to a gold star mom and the families of the other 12. I mean, we all can do the same thing wherever we live and and and the the house resolution 116 that's actually in the on the federal level, I mean I would just encourage you to write or call your congresspeople and and and tell them to like kickstart this thing. Why is it just sitting there doing nothing? I mean, it it's easy to pick up a phone call and and call your congressman's office, you're gonna get their aid or whatever, but you know, that's that's how I got this whole thing in motion. I mean, first it started on a local level, and then, you know, I mean, I'm I got the ear of my yeah, yeah, I got the ear of my congressman. I mean, you know, it like I told the the state the the state house, you know, when I was down there giving my proponent testimony, it costs nothing and it means everything to to these families.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:43

That is exactly what a resolution is, uh for sure.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:46

Yeah, yeah. You know, it's it's just important to that we we honor all of our, you know, we honor all of our veterans, especially the ones that don't make it home, you know, not just on Memorial Day, but you know, I try to do it every day, you know, and just try to remind yourself, you know, am I living a life worth dying for?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:06

Right. I mean it's one of those oh go ahead. I was just gonna say we and we all can make an impact and we all can make a difference at our level. It doesn't matter what it is. I don't care if it's you just writing a blog, a letter to the editor, you participating in a local nonprofit, running running some sort of a wellness group or a support group. There's just some something out there for everyone to give back and to be of service. And I'm very fortunate that I was raised with a servant heart and I learned the price and the value of being of service to others through my service in the Navy. And I'm lucky that I have the opportunity now to still pay it forward with SOS and with some of the other endeavors that I do. So thank you so much, Joe, for being a part of the podcast. I'll meet you backstage to say goodbye. But it's been a pleasure talking to you. And I hope more people will take you up on your offer. I'm sure they'll be reaching out if they want to know more information about how to do it on their state. I've been trying myself to get more involved in state politics here here here in Mississippi. So I may be picking your brain myself on on ways to do that. I actually have a potential uh state legislator uh candidate who's coming on my podcast, I believe, in in September. So perhaps this will be something that I talked to him about. It seems more important than a proposal that I that I wrote for class about free parking at the airport. So this seems much more meaningful than that. So thank you. Thank you again. And for any of the Gold Star families that may be watching, just know that uh my thoughts and my prayers are with you. And I hope that this podcast was a one step forward in in remembering those those their their service and their sacrifice. So thank you very much, Joe. I'll go full screen and appreciate you coming on the podcast.

Wrap-Up And Next Live Show

SPEAKER_02 1:14:55

All right, guys, that is a wrap. Thank you so much for staying with me. Went a little over the hour. Sometimes that does happen. So thank you for those of you who are still watching. Next week, I will not have a podcast. I normally go live Thursdays at 8 p.m. CST. But next week I will be on travel. I am going to volunteer uh with the New York City SEAL swim. As you guys may know, I did not qualify to swim myself this year, but I will be showing up to cheer on my fellow swimmers and the fellow and the teammates that that I've become friends with over the course of the year. So as I always do to close out these calls, please take care of yourselves. Please take care of each other and enjoy the rest of your evening. Bye bye now.