Ask A Vet Podcast

Curious Humanography

Ask A Vet Podcast is a long-form conversation where veterans share their service experiences in their own words, with respect and control over what they choose to talk about.

  1. 5d ago

    What They Don’t Tell You About Giving Up Everything at 32 to Become a Green Beret

    He gave up two businesses and a comfortable life at 32 years old to become a Green Beret — then spent six months in the Congo hunting one of the world's most wanted warlords, Joseph Kony. In this episode, Josh Nacey takes us from a small painting company in Rock Springs, Wyoming, through Special Forces selection, the Q Course, and multiple deployments — including a split-team operation in the Congo where his unit fought alongside Congolese forces, dealt with poachers and elephant killings, and lived alongside a warlord's brutal reach. He also opens up about what almost nobody in Special Operations wants to talk about: transitioning home, operator syndrome, divorce, and the suicide statistics that are 30% higher for special operations veterans than the rest of the military. Josh now runs the CharlieMike Foundation and is launching Mend the Drift, a new initiative using fly fishing to help special operations veterans heal. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 1:27 – Military roots: two grandfathers, two wars 3:14 – Enlisting at 32 10:00 – The recruiter's 8-month test 12:15 – Arriving at basic training 22:26 – The hardest part: Q Course & Small Unit Tactics 41:40 – What is a Green Beret, really? 44:35 – Inside a 12-man ODA 46:13 – Becoming an 18 Charlie (demolitions) 57:16 – Graduation day: earning the Green Beret 1:01:10 – First deployment: the Philippines 1:15:20 – The mission: hunting Joseph Kony 1:16:07 – Deploying to the Congo 1:18:37 – First impressions of the Congo 1:21:31 – Hunting the LRA 1:23:46 – The village and the two men 1:29:25 – Patrolling the jungle with Congolese forces 1:33:52 – Poachers, elephants, and a warzone for wildlife 1:37:36 – The hippo story 1:43:07 – A tragic firefight 1:49:52 – Coming home: "operator syndrome" 1:55:21 – Hitting bottom and asking for help 1:58:50 – Ketamine, SGB, and resetting fight-or-flight 2:04:58 – Founding the CharlieMike Foundation 2:06:52 – Fly fishing and Operation Pay It Forward 2:11:15 – Mend the Drift: his new mission 2:12:48 – The suicide numbers no one talks about 2:16:30 – The real cost of service 🤝 SUPPORT THE MISSION CharlieMike Foundation & Mend The Drift: https://mendthedrift.org/ Operation Pay It Forward: https://opif4ourvets.org/ IF YOU'RE STRUGGLING This episode includes candid discussion of combat, military transition, and veteran suicide statistics. If you or someone you know is a veteran in crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is available 24/7: call 988 then press 1, text 838255, or chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net. #GreenBeret #SpecialForces #Veteran #JosephKony #Congo #MentalHealth #Podcast

    What They Don’t Tell You About Giving Up Everything at 32 to Become a Green Beret

  2. Jul 9

    What They Don't Tell You About Vietnam Artillery

    Robert Williams grew up in Colville, Utah, and followed three generations of his family into the military: commissioning through Army ROTC at the University of Utah before serving as an artillery officer in Vietnam. In this episode of Ask A Vet, Robert takes us from basic training at Fort Lewis through his time as a battery commander on a remote firebase in the Vietnamese highlands — the boredom, the terror, the firefights, a helicopter crash, and the split-second decision that came closest to costing a life. He also opens up about the reception he received coming home, the PTSD he didn't recognize until decades later, and what finally started to heal on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. with his son. This is Episode 50 of Ask A Vet — thank you for fifty episodes of listening to these stories. CHAPTERS: 00:28 – Meet Robert: growing up in Colville, Utah, and a family history of service  02:53 – ROTC, a failed physical, and fighting to stay in  04:59 – Basic training at Fort Lewis  07:28 – Fort Sill: learning the guns and the M101 howitzer  09:33 – Night training and a scare on aggressor detail  11:55 – Firepower demonstrations and "time on target"  14:20 – Orders to Vietnam: leaving a pregnant wife behind  16:49 – Landing in-country on New Year's Day  19:13 – Camp Red Horse and life in the rear  21:38 – Taking command on LZ Linda / Hill 270  26:30 – Under fire: flechette rounds and a 20-minute firefight  28:47 – The drug problem on the hill  31:09 – Urinalysis, discipline, and hard calls as a young officer  33:35 – Inside the Fire Direction Center  36:00 – Contaminated water takes down the whole battery  38:26 – Getting sick, and leading men barely out of high school  40:23 – Keeping men sane: cockroach races and homemade games  44:49 – Going down in a helicopter  47:10 – The rocket attack they weren't allowed to stop  49:33 – B-52 strikes and danger-close air support  51:58 – Witnessing a midair collision 53:58 – Reassigned to Quinyon as base defense officer  56:02 – The closest he came to killing someone — and becoming the "whore control officer"  58:30 – Discipline duty during off-base entertainment nights  1:00:41 – A Montagnard farewell dinner: a crossbow, poison, and pigeon heads  1:02:38 – A body on the shore and the final weeks in-country  1:05:05 – Riding with a Korean convoy  1:07:19 – Two of the hardest things he saw in Vietnam  1:09:45 – A close call with incoming mortars  1:11:55 – Notes for the colonel and the province chief  1:13:44 – Learning his daughter was born — and had emergency surgery  1:15:18 – R&R in Hawaii, and the hardest part: going back  1:17:29 – Wheels up for home  1:19:51 – Coming home to a hostile crowd in San Francisco  1:21:49 – Assignments in Germany and Minnesota, finishing a master's degree  1:24:14 – Leaving the Army and his takeaway from Vietnam  1:25:38 – Recognizing PTSD — decades later  1:28:44 – What lingers: sights, sounds, and smells that don't go away  1:30:26 – Agent Orange, burn pits, and the health costs that show up later  1:32:00 – The Honor Flight with his son  1:33:24 – A welcome home, decades overdue  1:34:06 – Final thoughts & Reflections If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.  🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org. If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard.

    What They Don't Tell You About Vietnam Artillery

  3. Jul 3

    What They Didn't Tell Me About Being a Marine Door Gunner

    Larry Winters served as a Marine helicopter mechanic and door gunner in Vietnam, stationed at Phu Bai and Marble Mountain outside Da Nang in 1969. He grew up in a house with no electricity or running water in upstate New York, ran away from an abusive father at 16, and joined the Marines at 19 trying to "become a man." What he found in boot camp and Vietnam set him on a 56-year journey to understand what war actually does to the people who fight it. In this conversation, Larry talks about the brutal turning points of boot camp at Parris Island, his attempted AWOL into Mexico, the day he refused an order to fire on Vietnamese fishermen, and the concept that's defined his life's work as a therapist: moral injury. His take on why veterans are dying by suicide will challenge everything you've been told about PTSD. Larry is the author of "The Making and Unmaking of a Marine" and is currently finishing his second book. ⚠️ Content warning: This episode contains discussion of war, combat, violence against civilians, suicide, and moral injury. If you or a veteran you know is in crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 988 and press 1, or text 838255. CHAPTERS 00:30 Growing up in Newpaltz, NY 02:30 Signing up for the Marines at 19 05:00 Parris Island — the yellow footprints 09:30 Boot camp turning points: the hot sauce and the rifle bolt 13:30 Coming home, ITR training, and shoe polish in the barracks 22:30 Metalsmith school and shipping out to Vietnam 29:30 Landing at Phu Bai — 126 degrees and Marston matting 32:30 Tet, the move to Marble Mountain, and a sergeant's chilling words 35:30 Locals on the base, peace symbols under shirts 37:00 Becoming a door gunner — and getting in trouble first 39:30 Three months on perimeter guard, the starlight scope 42:30 The sandpan incident: "I'm not firing this" 47:30 Flying missions, napalm, and the bulldozer that wouldn't lift 52:00 The Freedom Bird home and protesters in San Diego 58:30 College, poetry, and the long road to becoming a therapist 1:10:00 Moral injury vs. PTSD — what's really killing veterans 1:16:00 Presence as the best treatment 1:20:00 Creativity, spontaneity, and finding his voice 1:24:00 Final Reflections 📕 Larry's first book "The Making and Unmaking of a Marine" — https://www.amazon.com/Making-Making-Marine-Larry-Winters/dp/0979229340 📕 Larry's upcoming book: https://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/the-tug-of-war-a-reckoning-with-moral-injury-and-telling-the-truth/ Larry's Substack: https://larrywinters.substack.com/

    What They Didn't Tell Me About Being a Marine Door Gunner

  4. Jun 29

    What They Never Told You About Playing Rock & Roll in a War Zone

    Stephen Davy was drafted out of a Toys R Us toy gun department in 1967, joined the Air Force to avoid the Army, and ended up loading napalm, two-thousand-pound bombs, and 2.75 rockets at the Pleiku Air Base bomb dump in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. But the part of his story you've never heard is what happened on the weekends: Stephen and his buddy Tom Glenn formed a rock band that played Camp Holloway, Engineer Hill, Fifth Special Forces, and just about every Army camp within reach of Pleiku, often going AWOL to do it, and sometimes catching helicopter rides back to base from pilots who wanted to do loops with the band gear in the cargo hold. In this episode, Stephen shares the close calls (rocket attacks, a tunneled-in VC sapper team, a leopard outside the rehearsal door), the absurdity (a pet macaque named Colonel Spiker who got drunk in the Airmen's Club), and the quieter moments that stayed with him most — visiting the orphanage outside Pleiku with clothes his parents shipped from the States. He also talks honestly about coming home to Andrews Air Force Base, the PTSD no one was naming yet, getting robbed at gunpoint multiple times working nights at a 7-Eleven, and how a Washington Post want ad eventually led him to a 50-year career as a master violin maker in Laguna Beach. CHAPTERS 00:30 Growing up — Navy dad, Boonville to Florida to DC  07:00 The draft notice 08:30 Basic training at Lackland — getting punched, losing a spleen  12:00 Munitions school in Denver and meeting Tom Glenn  14:00 Learning to load bombs, fuse rockets, and mix napalm  20:00 Arriving in Pleiku — Central Highlands, Fifth Special Forces, MIKE Force  26:00 First rocket attack and the bunker in the tall grass  38:00 Forming the New Generations Band  50:00 Pleiku City, the Montagnards, and the orphanage  58:00 Going AWOL to play Camp Holloway and Engineer Hill  1:08:00 Flat tire on the way back from a gig  1:11:00 The colonel who saved the band from being broken up  1:20:00 Two GIs straight out of the field singing "Hold On, I'm Comin'"  1:25:00 Helicopter loops with the band gear  1:28:00 Leaving Pleiku under ground fire  1:32:00 Coming home — Andrews AFB, security details, and a bank robbery  1:47:00 Apprenticing under violin masters Tom Nerado and Albert Mollier  1:51:00 Vietnam, Agent Orange, and looking back  1:55:00 Colonel Spiker the monkey Subscribe for more interviews with the men and women who served. If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.  🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org. If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard. #AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #VietnamWar #USAirForce #Pleiku #OralHistory

    What They Never Told You About Playing Rock & Roll in a War Zone

  5. Jun 23

    What They Don’t Tell You About Taking Fire on the Mekong River Delta

    Gary Howard grew up in Atlanta and joined the Navy in 1968 to stay one step ahead of the draft. A few months later he landed at Tan Son Nhut on the night of Tet '69 – the whole countryside on fire, Intel telling everyone this year would be worse than last. It wasn't. What followed was a year as a Naval advisor with the Vietnamese Marines in the Mekong Delta: helicopter landings, MEDCAPs in remote villages, climbing telephone poles to lay phone lines, sleeping topside under a mosquito net with his M16 next to his head, and yes, waterskiing on the Mekong behind a mail-order Johnson 75 outboard. In this episode Gary walks us through OCS at Newport, gunnery school, the bus ride into Saigon, the rocket that missed because his hat fell off, the mortar attack that interrupted a winning poker hand on his birthday, the overturned boat that gave him lifelong claustrophobia, and the moment a young woman spit on him at SFO when he finally made it home. After Vietnam he ran a nuclear weapons rework plant in Yorktown, went to law school in Texas, and tried jury cases in Arizona for forty years. CHAPTERS  00:48 — Drafted, so I joined the Navy  02:06 — OCS at Newport (and getting caught asleep)  03:30 — Gunnery school in Virginia Beach  07:09 — Amphibious and small arms training  08:25 — Landing in Vietnam on Tet '69  13:16 — Bus ride into Saigon 16:25 — Aboard the USS Mercer  19:36 — A 40-foot boat and 13 crew  22:51 — MEDCAPs, DENTCAPs, and winning hearts and minds  23:57 — Waterskiing on the Mekong  26:36 — The rocket that missed  27:58 — The telephone pole story  30:24 — Mortars on my birthday  35:42 — Food, heat, and the mosquitoes  36:12 — R&R in Hawaii  36:46 — Emergency leave home  40:11 — The girl at SFO who spit on me  43:22 — Two and a half years at a nuclear weapons plant  45:43 — Law school and forty years of trials  49:46 — What Vietnam taught me  51:05 — The overturned boat and lifelong claustrophobia  57:23 — Adjusting to "thank you for your service" Subscribe for more interviews with the men and women who served. 👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://ameconsultation.com/ref/AVPP1211J20A26YXO Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link. If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.  🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org. If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard. #VietnamWar #VietnamVeteran #USNavy #AskAVet #BrownWaterNavy #MekongDelta #Tet69 #OralHistory

    What They Don’t Tell You About Taking Fire on the Mekong River Delta

  6. Jun 17

    What They Don't Tell You About Life on a Nuclear Submarine

    In 1963, a kid from Las Vegas with no money and a father enlisted in the Air Force earned appointments to all three service academies. A retired Army colonel teaching high school math gave him one piece of advice: "if you want choices, go to Annapolis" and it set Tim Martin on a path into the most secretive community in the U.S. military: the Silent Service. In Episode 46 of Ask A Vet, Tim takes us deep inside the Cold War nuclear Navy. Hand-picked for Admiral Rickover's legendary nuclear power program, Tim served aboard the USS John Adams (SSBN-620), a Polaris missile boat carrying 160 nuclear warheads — more destructive power than every bomb dropped in World War II — and later aboard the fast attack USS Permit (SSN-594), the "Steely-Eyed Killer of the Deep." He tells the stories submariners rarely tell: trailing a brand-new Soviet missile submarine for 38 straight days without being detected. Surviving the exact same casualty that sank the USS Thresher, a seawater flange blowout at 1,300 feet. Snagging a fishing net with his periscope at 2:30 in the morning. Watching Apollo 13 launch through the periscope. A swim call in the middle of the Panama Canal. And the day his captain made him the boat's official Shark Control Officer. Tim went on to a career in nuclear power and today serves on the USS Utah (SSN-801) Commissioning Committee — and he's the first submariner ever featured on this show. If you enjoy these stories, subscribing is free and it genuinely helps us preserve more of them. CHAPTERS 00:30 — A Las Vegas Kid Gets Appointments to All Three Academies 07:15 — Plebe Year, the Chronometer Answer & Falling for Submarines 12:45 — Rickover's Nuclear Program: Sawed-Off Chairs, Nuke School & the Idaho Prototype 19:00 — USS John Adams (SSBN-620): 16 Polaris Missiles, 160 Atom Bombs 22:30 — Earning His Dolphins: Thrown Over the Side in Guam 28:43 — THE DRAGNET STORY: 2:30 AM, Periscope Up Under Two Spotlights 35:45 — Life at 300 Feet: Six On, Twelve Off, Movie Night & Fixing Everything 40:30 — USS Permit, "Steely-Eyed Killer of the Deep": Trailing a Soviet Sub for 38 Days 49:00 — Nuclear Torpedoes & the 1974 Anti-Nuclear Protest in Japan 59:00 — The Thresher, the Scorpion & Surviving a Flange Blowout at 1,300 Feet 1:06:49 — Creaking Hulls, Angles & Dangles, and How You Evade a Torpedo 1:19:40 — Ice Cream Over Sonar, the Army-Navy Game Heist & Apollo 13 Through the Periscope 1:30:30 — THE SHARK STORY: "You're the Shark Control Officer" 1:35:30 — Rickover's Legacy, the USS Utah & Life After the Silent Service 👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://ameconsultation.com/ref/AVPP1211J20A26YXO Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link. If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.

    What They Don't Tell You About Life on a Nuclear Submarine

  7. Jun 12

    What They Don't Tell You About Your First Firefight in Afghanistan

    In Episode 45 of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Aaron Hinds, a Georgia kid who turned down a Navy SEAL contract and a nuclear program to do the one thing he'd wanted since he was fourteen: be an infantryman. Aaron takes us from Sand Hill at Fort Benning to the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, through brutal pre-deployment "tryouts" where only two dozen men made the cut, and into Afghanistan's fighting season at FOB Shank, better known as Rocket City. He shares what it's really like the first time rounds snap over your head, the frustrating reality of rules of engagement, the 45-minute firefight that made it into Ricky Schroder's docuseries "The Fighting Season," and the unforgettable Special Forces soldier in a Captain America t-shirt. But the heart of this episode is what came after. Aaron opens up about losing more friends at home than he did overseas, finding a therapist through the nonprofit HickStrong, getting his service dog Ace through Healing for Heroes, and learning that the same mind that survived a war can be pointed at helping people. As Aaron puts it: "I can do great things and I can do terrible things…and I have to decide which one I'm gonna let control my actions." If you're a veteran who's struggling, you are not alone. Reach out to the resources below or dial 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line. 🎖️ Resources mentioned in this episode:  • HickStrong (free therapy for veterans & first responders): https://www.hicksstrong.org/ • Healing for Heroes (service dogs for veterans): https://www.healing4heroes.org/ • Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1 “The Fighting Season” (2015): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4006826 📺 Subscribe for a new veteran's story every episode.  🎧 Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen. CHAPTERS  00:33 – Growing up in Stapleton, Georgia  03:11 – Turning down a SEAL contract to join the infantry  06:05 – Fort Benning: Drill sergeants, weather machines & "Chuck Norris"  15:10 – Fort Drum & the 10th Mountain Division  19:18 – Training to fight: glass houses & complex simplicity  21:30 – Tryouts: competing for a slot to deploy  27:03 – Shipping out: Ireland, Romania & landing at Bagram  29:23 – FOB Shank, a.k.a. Rocket City  36:46 – Rules of Engagement 39:22 – Fighting Season  51:00 – The 45-minute firefight & the B-1 show of force  1:02:04 – The A-10 pilot with the angelic voice  1:04:37 – Pitch Perfect, surf & turf Fridays and badminton diplomacy  1:12:01 – The frustration of ROE  1:14:34 – Coming home  1:31:51 – Therapy, HickStrong & a service dog named Ace  1:43:17 – Final Thoughts & Reflections  #AskAVet #Veterans #Afghanistan #10thMountain #Infantry #VeteranStories #MilitaryPodcast

    What They Don't Tell You About Your First Firefight in Afghanistan

  8. Jun 9

    What They Don't Tell You About Being a Combat Medic Turned Infantry Officer

    Stephan Wolfert enlisted as a medic in 1986, became an infantry officer, trained for elite special operations, and was on a fast track to a full military career…until two devastating losses in the same year broke something in him. A chance encounter with Shakespeare's Richard III in a small Montana theater changed the course of his life forever. Today, Stephan is a licensed psychotherapist, Shakespeare actor, and founder of De-Cruit, a groundbreaking program using Shakespeare's verse to help military veterans heal from PTSD and trauma. With over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles backing his work, what started as one veteran's personal catharsis has helped thousands find language for the unspeakable.In this episode, Stephan talks candidly about growing up on the rough north side of La Crosse, Wisconsin, fleeing to the Army as his only way out, the rapid rise through elite military training, the grief that broke him, and why he believes we recruit soldiers but never truly "decruit" them — and what that costs all of us. 🔗 Learn more about De-Cruit: www.decruit.org CHAPTERS: 3:02 – Why He Joined the Army 5:45 – Becoming a Combat Medic 7:06 – Basic Training & What Surprised Him 12:40 – Advanced Training & Becoming an Officer 18:05 – Iran-Contra, Central America & Shifting Beliefs 22:55 – Getting His History Degree & Turning Down Regular Army 28:47 – JRTC & National Training Center: Elite Field Training 34:33 – Ranger School & What Almost Ended It 37:42 – The Arctic Training Story (A Favorite Army Memory) 42:53 – The Losses That Broke Him: Deaths in Training & a Soldier's Suicide 49:49 – Going AWOL: A PTSD Episode on an Amtrak Train 54:14 – Whitefish, Montana & a Shakespeare Play That Changed Everything 58:31 – Turning Down the Military for Good 1:02:12 – Ranger School: The Concussion That Cost Him the Tab 1:13:19 – Graduate School & the Birth of Cry Havoc 1:16:36 – Creating DeCruit: Shakespeare as Medicine for Veterans 1:29:02 – The Research: What the Data Actually Shows 1:37:43 – Veterans, Childhood Trauma & ACE Scores 1:46:44 – How to Find DeCruit & What's Coming Next 1:48:35 – The Real Cost of War & What We Choose Not to Fix 1:55:34 – Final Thoughts & Reflections If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.

    What They Don't Tell You About Being a Combat Medic Turned Infantry Officer
See All (52)

4.9
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Ask A Vet Podcast is a long-form conversation where veterans share their service experiences in their own words, with respect and control over what they choose to talk about.

Information

  • Creator
    Curious Humanography
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    52
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Curious Humanography
  • Show Website
    Ask A Vet Podcast

You Might Also Like