Vegas Veteran Voices

Vegas Veteran Voices

Vegas Veteran Voices is a raw, unscripted podcast that puts real veterans in the spotlight, not as headlines or hashtags, but as people. Hosted in Las Vegas, the show sits down with veterans from every branch to talk about life after the uniform, identity, purpose, mental health, and the unexpected paths that help them heal. Each episode goes beyond service stories. You will hear honest conversations about transition, dark humor, loss, rebuilding, and the moments that brought meaning back. Guests include combat veterans, creatives, athletes, business owners, and advocates who found their way forward through action, community, and connection. This is not a highlight reel or a motivational poster. Vegas Veteran Voices is real talk 501c3 nonprofit, told without filters, designed to remind veterans they are not alone and to help civilians better understand the cost of service and the strength it takes to keep going. Stories over stigma. Connection saves lives.

  1. Jun 19

    You’ve Seen Her on Stranger Things. Here’s What Nobody Knew About This Navy Veteran.

    She shot an entire season of Stranger Things with cancer. Nobody on set knew. Jennifer Marshall is a Navy veteran, actress, firefighter EMT, and cancer survivor who has spent her entire life showing up when every reasonable person would have stayed home. She joined the Navy at 17 out of a small mountain town in Colorado, her words: “poverty and bad decisions.” She deployed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She got out, used the GI Bill, graduated Magna Cum Laude, became a licensed private investigator, moved to Los Angeles with no connections, and built a 50+ credit career in film and television including a recurring role on Netflix's Stranger Things, NCIS, Reacher, The Terminal List, and hosting Mysteries Decoded on the CW. Then in 2020 she recommissioned into the California State Guard. Then she was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. She resigned her commission, spent 14 months in treatment, and went straight back to work, including shooting an entire season of one of the most-watched shows on the planet while her hair was falling out and her body was breaking down. She told no one. Until the last day. This is the conversation Hollywood didn't let her have. No PR. No filter. No version of the story that's been approved by anyone. We talk about what it actually costs to build a career in an industry that will tell you to your face that you need a nose job, a different body, and a different personality, and why she left anyway. We talk about what it felt like to shoot through cancer, what happened when she finally told the truth, and what the silence that followed actually meant. We talk about why she walked away from red carpets to ride an ambulance for $16 an hour, and why she's never been happier. We talk about sexual assault, healing, and the unexpected place she found both. And we talk about what veterans carry out of the military that nobody in the civilian world knows how to hold. Jennifer Marshall doesn't do the polished version. She does the real one. This is it. If anything in this episode brought something up for you: Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1 | Text 838255 RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 | rainn.org Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 About Vegas Veteran Voices: Vegas Veteran Voices is a veteran-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit media company based in Las Vegas. We tell veteran stories, all branches, all ranks, no filter, through cinematic long-form conversations that the veteran community deserves and the world needs to hear. ️ Subscribe so you don't miss what's coming in Season 2. vegasveteranvoices.com #JenniferMarshall #StrangerThings #NavyVeteran #VegasVeteranVoices #CancerSurvivor #VeteranStories #MilitaryVeteran #NetflixStrangerThings #MaxsMom #VeteranPodcast #HollywoodVeteran #FirefighterEMT #MelanomaAwareness #VeteranWomen #WomenVeterans #MilitaryWomen #VeteranCommunity #PodcastForVeterans #TrueStory #UnfilteredConversations

    1h 2m
  2. Apr 10

    Aboard a Submarine: What No One Tells You About Life After Service

    On this episode of Vegas Veteran Voices, we step aboard the historic USS Pampanito in San Francisco for a powerful conversation inside the submarine's mission control room about something a lot of veterans know too well but do not always talk about enough: life after service. LT. Emilio Mackie opens up about his time in the U.S. Navy, serving as a surface warfare officer, being stationed in Japan, and ultimately making the decision to leave military service. But this episode goes far beyond Navy stories. This is an honest conversation about military transition, veteran identity, therapy, PTSD, decompression after service, finding purpose after the military, and the mental shift that happens when the structure of military life suddenly disappears. We talk about what it really feels like to get out of the military, the loss of identity many veterans face, why so many service members jump straight into stress instead of slowing down, and how therapy, reflection, travel, and community can help rebuild a life outside the uniform. LT. Mackie shares why he intentionally took a break after separating from the Navy, how Military OneSource helped connect him with a therapist trained in transitioning service members, and why he believes veterans need to train their minds for civilian life just like they trained their bodies for service. This episode also dives into veteran mental health, isolation after service, work ethic after the military, burnout, anger, healing, and the pressure veterans put on themselves when they no longer have a chain of command telling them what to do next. We also get into Navy culture, dark humor, life aboard ship, type two fun, sea stories, transition advice for veterans, and why community matters so much when you are trying to move forward after military service. Being able to have this conversation aboard USS Pampanito made it hit even harder. USS Pampanito is a World War II Balao class fleet submarine built in 1943. She completed six war patrols in the Pacific during World War II and is especially remembered for helping rescue 73 British and Australian prisoners of war after the sinking of a Japanese prison ship in September 1944. Today, she is preserved as a museum submarine and memorial at Pier 45 in San Francisco. Special thank you to Dwight Naset, Emilio Mackie, and the rest of the team at USS Pampanito for making this happen and for helping preserve a piece of history that still has the power to teach, connect, and inspire. If this conversation hits home, share it with a veteran who might need it. Sometimes the hardest part is not the service itself. It is what comes after. Vegas Veteran Voices is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit using honest veteran storytelling to fight isolation, restore identity, and build community through real conversations that matter. USS Pampanito official site: https://maritime.org/uss-pampanito/ Tickets and visitor info: https://maritime.org/uss-pampanito/pampanito-tickets/ San Francisco Maritime National Park Association: https://maritime.org/ Volunteer info: https://maritime.org/pampvol.php Donate / support preservation: https://maritime.org/support-us/donate/ National Park Service overview: https://www.nps.gov/places/uss-pampanito.htm

    43 min
  3. Apr 6

    Terminal Lance Creator Maximilian Uriarte on Iraq, Infantry, Dark Humor, and Life After Service

    Maximilian Uriarte, creator of Terminal Lance, joins Vegas Veteran Voices for a powerful conversation about the Marine Corps, infantry life, war, veteran identity, dark humor, storytelling, and life after service. In this episode, Max opens up about why he chose the infantry even though he had the scores to do almost anything else, how Iraq shaped him, and how humor became a way to process anger, absurdity, and the emotional weight that followed him home. We talk about the deeper meaning behind Terminal Lance, why so many Marines and veterans connected to it, and how comedy can become a form of decompression when the people around you do not fully understand what you carried back with you. Max also gets into the emotional truth behind The White Donkey and Battle Born, including how both books pulled from real experience, reflection, discomfort, and craft. He breaks down writing, visual storytelling, character building, and the role art plays in turning pain into something honest and lasting. This episode covers Marine Corps culture, deployment, Iraq, transition out of the military, the GI Bill, creativity after service, loneliness, anger, identity loss, veteran mental health, and finding purpose as a civilian. What starts with the chaos and humor you would expect from a veteran podcast turns into a deeper conversation about truth, healing, storytelling, and what it means to rebuild yourself after war.

    1h 27m

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About

Vegas Veteran Voices is a raw, unscripted podcast that puts real veterans in the spotlight, not as headlines or hashtags, but as people. Hosted in Las Vegas, the show sits down with veterans from every branch to talk about life after the uniform, identity, purpose, mental health, and the unexpected paths that help them heal. Each episode goes beyond service stories. You will hear honest conversations about transition, dark humor, loss, rebuilding, and the moments that brought meaning back. Guests include combat veterans, creatives, athletes, business owners, and advocates who found their way forward through action, community, and connection. This is not a highlight reel or a motivational poster. Vegas Veteran Voices is real talk 501c3 nonprofit, told without filters, designed to remind veterans they are not alone and to help civilians better understand the cost of service and the strength it takes to keep going. Stories over stigma. Connection saves lives.