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Speaker 1: Life Audio.
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Speaker 2: Build Different is a production of the American Association of Christian Counselors. To support this podcast and learn how you can help us to promote all our biblical content, spread the Gospel, and provide mental health resources and training to people everywhere, just go to aaccfoundation dot org. Again, that's Aaccfoundation dot org. Welcome to Built Different. I'm Zach Clinton, your host, and each week I come to you exclusively on the Life Audio podcast Network.
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Speaker 1: I'm proud to partner with Life.
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Speaker 2: Audio and bring you entertaining, life changing, family friendly podcasts for a new generation.
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Speaker 1: I Built Different.
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Speaker 2: Our mission is to provide encouragement, hope and challenge to help push you past your limits and.
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Speaker 1: Reach goals you never thought possible.
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Speaker 2: Colossians two, verse six says, So then, just as you received Christ Jesus's Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in him.
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Speaker 1: Amen. Now let's roll.
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Speaker 2: Hello everybody, Welcome back into the Built Different Podcasts is always. I'll be your host today, doctor Zach Clinton, and we are here backstage at our Ignitement's Impact Weekend. And let me say this, God has fallen all over this place. I'm not sure I've ever seen an altar call like what we saw last night, following Pastor Tim Timberlake's message on shutting the door of sin in our life, a message really redirecting us toward a posture of repentance. Thousands of men coming forward broken. I've never heard the sound of men weeping like I heard last night. But to be honest with you, it wasn't just the sound of weeping, It was the sound of healing. God is doing something here. Forty five hundred men packed out House Thomas or a Baptist church.
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Speaker 1: God is all over.
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Speaker 2: But this morning we got to hear from one of America's finest, a true American patriot, in John Wayne Walding. John Wayne was actually born on July fourth. It does get more American than that. Then he was born in Texas. Then on top of that, he was a Green Bray sniper. So all of these things. I love what you said on stage. A bald eagle probably flies over top of our heads every time you mentioned that. But John Wayne in the United States Army for twelve years, for seven eight of those he was a Green Beret American sniper. He is a man who knows what it means to serve who knows what it means to sacrifice, and he is a man who has an unbelievable story.
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Speaker 1: John wayn Waldey, my friend, thank you for joining me today.
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Speaker 3: Man, thanks for having me. And I mean it when I say this, it's an honor to share the stage with the great men that you have on that stage. And for no better purpose, right calling men to stand up and act like a man and do what God's called him to be.
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Speaker 4: Right.
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Speaker 3: So yeah, thank you for giving me that you humbling opportunity.
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Speaker 2: Say this, my friend. This morning, you gave such a pointed, directed message that I believe God used to pierce the heart of a lot of men in the room to get back to work, to get back up, to be a man of a vulnerability, a man of intentionality. So many things that will unpack even during our time together today. But I just wanted to ask you, as you stepped on a stage with forty five hundred men, places packed out to the brim, like, what was God doing and massaging in your heart as you took the stage in those moments?
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Speaker 3: Well, I always pray before I ever go out is God you know? Don't let me for a second, let me think this is about me, right, this is your message. Humble me to say it right, give me the courage to to say it with confidence and with boldness.
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Speaker 4: Right.
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Speaker 3: I've been blown up a few times, right, so give me the focus to be able to articulate that and not stumble over my words. And the most important one. I always end every prayer with God, just give me one right.
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Speaker 4: And that's why I was there.
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Speaker 3: You know, when I see all those men in there, I just want one right to to to get something from my testimony that brings them to Jesus.
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Speaker 2: A when what I loved and so appreciated about your message is that it was one of vulnerability. You unpacked a story that I think blew the room away, blue Meal. Take us back April sixth, two thousand and eight, because we're going to talk about that day, all the events leading up to it.
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Speaker 1: We're going to unpack that story.
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Speaker 2: But then we're going to talk about April seventh as well, and what God has done in your heart since.
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Speaker 1: Take us back to that day though.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, April six two thousand and eight is where my Special Forces team, right. So they're called an ODA for those that don't know, it stands for operational detachment Alpha Alpha so ODA three three three six, which is twelve to fifteen man, which I love that there were twelve disciples, right, and Oda is about twelve guys.
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Speaker 4: Uh.
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Speaker 3: But we went up against around two hundred and fifty insurgents and two thousand up at ten thousand feet to go after a high value target by the name of hi Hajigafour. And Hajigafour was a man that was in He was in charge of the HIG, which is an Islamic extreme fundamentalist. You know, if you actually know Islam, it's not extreme, it's just fundamental what they're practicing, right, And so he was an exomic fundament fundamentalist that that we've been wanting to get the entire deployment. And his stronghold was at ten thousand feet up in the nearest n province, and so we were on a kill capture mission that morning, going in via helicopters at this as the sun came up and landed at the bottom of that mountain in a waddie which for the listeners that's just a valley, and imagine what it was like. You know, I said, everybody's got a plan to get punched in the face right. The theologian Mike Tyson said that, right, So think about what it was for us whenever we actually go to run out the backside of that helicopter, which is a C forty seven Chinnook that's got a ramp coming out the back. To give you an understanding that we're going to go run out of that helicopter, but we're not on the ground. Right that valley is so boulder and rocky that that it wasn't safe to land. So we had to jump ten fifteen feet with sixty pounds of kit. You know, that was the that was infill. Right now, we have to walk up a mountain, climbing the mountain to get to the objective. And and uh, I was the assault team one leader which was myself, Dave Sanders, another Green Beret, and eight Afghany commandos. In the Afghani commandos were the Afghan's version of special forces, right. Uh, they were pipe hitters. There was a selection just like we had and and for the Afghanian army, you know, they were the elite and and uh and so yeah, being the first guys walking up this this essentially goat trail is what we were. You know, if you've ever been on a mountain, right, there's no eight a accessible you know, ramps that you just go up there and and find any type of foothold you can to get to the objective. And and we got opened up on with an avalanche of gunfire that uh, we for sure didn't expect. We we we we expected to receive, you know, some type of fire. That's Sar's our job, right to go pick a fight. We didn't know there was going to be you know, a roughly two hundred to two hundred and fifty insurgents, right. We thought at most there would be sixty, right and most, And like I said earlier this morning to put it in perspective, within the first ten minutes of the firefight starting, you know, we had our lead interpreter, Ck was shot in the forehead. Ck died on impact, and I do want to take two seconds to just really give him praise. You know, you're thinking Americans worth a lot of money in Afghanistan. What about an Afghani that speaks English and helps Americans? Right, The courage that those interpreters have, the patriotism, frankly that they have for their country that they are you know, I get to go to war but then come home to safety.
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Speaker 4: Right.
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Speaker 3: They live at war in the time and danger all the time.
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Speaker 4: Right, So.
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Speaker 3: For the sacrifices that those interpreters give, if you ever have, you know, an opportunity to meet it, we call them terps. Right to meet a terp, I mean, I really strongly suggests you go shake their hand, because they're absolute patriots. So so yeah, c K got shot and unfortunately died instantly, fortunately for him, died instantly, right. And you know we had Dylan Bear was our radio transmitting operator, right, the guy that's on the phone talking to higher kind of important guy.
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Speaker 4: You know.
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Speaker 3: He got shot in the hip and the initial assessment him was twenty minutes to live, you know. And and think about you know, you're always doing math right when you're in combat, you know I said earlier. You know, nothing went wrong. We just got in a fight, right. And when you get in a fight somebody gives you a left hook, what do you got to do? Do the math on how do you block it? And how do you counter? It's the same thing in combat.
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Speaker 4: Right.
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Speaker 3: If if this door shut, how what you know, where's the other door? There's not a door. Where's the window. Right, If you ain't a window, get a ladder, get on the roof. We're getting in this house, right, and and so that's what we just started.
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Speaker 4: You do the math. All right, he's shot.
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Speaker 3: There's no way that you know, we're gonna get a Metovac bird there. There's no way we're going to suppress the enemy to allow it in. There's no way we're gonna even gonna get off this mountain, you know. So immediately the you know, Dylan's dead. Luis morales Is is shot not long after that, not once, but twice, by the way, in his leg, which was always the joke, you know, because he said I was a wimp because I only got shot once and I lost the leg. He got shot twice and he kept his you know, but actually he ended up electively amputating it for for but but anyway, the you know, seeing him, you know, get shot like that was was something that at the you know, going through the mindset of him calling you over the radio saying, come get me brother, right, that's a that's a tough.
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Speaker 4: Thing to hear. Wow.
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Speaker 3: And you know, again this was probably the first fifteen minutes and and at that point, going back to doing the math, right, you go to work, right, there's no way we can go up the mountain, right, with every injury, that takes two more guys out of the fight, because it takes two guys to carry up the mountain. There's only ten of us on the mountain, right, so do the math. Right, there's that where there's no way we're going to get up. So now we got to come back down. And you know, that's when I came back and initiated you know what I thought was Operation Human Shield, basically, right, catch the bullets so the medic can keep them alive.
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Speaker 4: And Ron the medic did a great job.
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Speaker 3: He's an absolute stud I you know, he actually received the Medal of Honor for his heroism, for his his just combat under fire or courage under fire, you know, for for keeping us alive that day. But after about two hours into that, that's whenever I was moving from one position the next. And because again I always try to put into perspective, we're fighting on goat trails, right, It's not like this huge parking lot of you know, field that we have to maneuver around. You're fighting shoulder to shoulder with these these men. And so I was trying to maneuver to get advantage point, you know, on a bad guy. And that's whenever I got, you know, shot in my right leg. And you know, the most pain ever felt in my life felt forward rolled over, you know, and and just think about the image of rolling over and seen your leg just folded over at a forty five degree angle, only hanging by an inch of flesh. That's something that you've only ever seen on movies like a Save It Private Ryan movie or something like that.
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Speaker 4: And and you.
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Speaker 3: Know, it was terrifying to me. I make it a point every time I tell the story. You know, just because my name's John Wayne and I'm a Green Beret doesn't mean I'm not human, right, It doesn't mean I didn't grab my green beret and rubbed my stump and says I didn't have time to bleed, right. I mean, it was terrifying to look down and see that that the severity of the injury. And oh, by the way, I'm dying right, I can do that math real quick when you know you're gonna bleed out quickly if you don't do something soon. And fortunately, you know, I went to work. I collected myself quickly and and uh, you know got my turn. Cat On stopped the bleeding. At one point actually grabbed my leg I folded up into my crotch and held it between my thighs and just you know, kept fighting.
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Speaker 4: After that.
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Speaker 3: We're only halfway through this thing, man, you know, I just you know, think about that. Right halfway you know through that, I see my team start and get shot Scott Ford, and the significance of that is Team Sartens.
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Speaker 4: They are the leader, right.
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Speaker 3: You know, Scott had been in the military sixteen years, all the cool guys schools in the eighty second earyborn before he was in third Special Forces Group. You know, I always jokingly say, you know, I thought he was so awesome that Chuck Norris were Scott Ford underwear, right, you know that's you know, yeah, for younger listeners. If you don't know who Chuck Norris is, he was a theologian the nineties. You know, look up Walker Texas right here. Get you. But uh, you know, I just what do you think your mind goes through whenever you see the guy that's going to get you out of there. Now he's got hitting his breastplate and he dropped to his knee and he's closer for me to you right.
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Speaker 4: Uh.
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Speaker 3: Fortunately getting Scott's as awesome as I say he was, and he got up went back to work. Gosh, I never will forget the thought of man, that guy is an absolute stud. And uh continued to fire, you know, the breastplate call caught the bullet. Sure there's some pain, you know, but he continued to fight. And and unfortunately the same sniper that shot me, I'm assuming you know, shot him in the breastplate. Well he made a you know, a correction, and and uh, he got shot in his left shoulder, which he's left handed, you know, So imagine that the vision of somebody holding the gun with that butt stock in their left hand, and then there's just arm fil a off the back right and it was his tricep to arm stayed on. But you know, seeing that's when I realized, all right, we're probably not going to make it out of here. Right again, you're doing the math right, Scott shot, I'm shot, Luis shot, Dylan's shot. See case dead again. There's only ten of us on the mountain, man, and how are we gonna get off here? Well, fortunately, the powers that be above us, they thought the same thing and they started diverting every air asset I'm assuming in theater, right, not just in Afghanistan, but all in the surrounding area, and started dropping bombs and gun runs and more bombs and more gun runs and going back to their seventy danger close air strikes, right.
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Speaker 4: And that's how we got off the mountain.
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Speaker 3: You know that we would drop a bomb and we would you know, the goat trail that we were climbing was the easy way up, you know, the cliff was the hard way down. So we would just literally I never will forget, you know, the hardest thing.
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Speaker 4: You know.
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Speaker 3: So I've been shot, you know a couple hours now, three hours probably, and to scoot you know, on my butt to that ledge and throw myself over to let gravity do his job or have Ron you know, lower me down, and things of that nature. It was the hardest thing I could ever even think about the hardest things I've done before. Then we're pretty hard, right, And just seeing the life drain out of me, it was you know, I knew that, you know, death was coming, but again, just kept fighting.
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Speaker 4: And I said this morning that you.
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Speaker 3: Know, I remember having that conversation with God, you know about this is all I got, you know, and look for the listeners like this wasn't this dramatic, like you know, what's his name on Shawshank Redemption. When he got out his hands are up, it's rain end, right, It wasn't that, you know, God, this is all I got. It really was not necessarily desperation. Just what's the word surrender, that's the word surrendering saying this is all I got. I make it out of here's because of you. And I'm just gonna keep trying. There's you know, there's nothing that I'm gonna do to get me out of here other than I'm just gonna keep working, right and and so knowing you know that that he saved me was was we would just again drop a bomb, you know, roll off the cliff all the way down the base of the mountain and to get to the metavac point, the medical evacuation point right was in the middle of the water. And in order to get there, I had to get drug through the water, a river of water. And and you know, think about what that felt like. Right where you get shot, you know, you're dying of blood loss and now you're getting you have hypothermia, going through there getting drugged through there and seeing that that helicopter elevator down with that red cross on the bottom of it, knowing that's your your cheriot awaits right and it's coming down, and Scott's in front of me his arms bandaged up at this point and seeing the helicopter fly away. You know, you heard the radio traffic this morning ride saying Roger Rock confirmed nine casualties. We also have radio traffic of the pilots saying I'm hit, I'm hit. I'm going south. He literally got shot as he was coming down. He had to fly away, you know, So again going to the mindset of all that's happened at this point, right, and now not only has my chariot gone, but I'm getting shot at again, yes, right, and we got to get drug back through the river and get to the base of the mountain. The next helicopter comes in, and it's not a metavac bird, it's just a it's called an ORF and Air Reaction Force, which is a black Aucy eight sixty with some guys on it. It lowers, they jump off, literally throw us on, and then it flies away and it couldn't even make it to the hospital. We had to do a crash landing after about ten minutes of flight because the damage that that aircraft took getting us out of there, and you know, it couldn't even make it, you know.
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Speaker 4: So I was like, come on, baby, Jesus, you know what I'm saying.
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Speaker 3: I had a hypothermia, gunshot wound, Almundna in a in.
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Speaker 4: A helicopter crash.
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Speaker 3: But fortunately we got a third helicopter to come in and we crossloaded everyone and you made it to the combat hospital.
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Speaker 2: I'm going to stop this right there and jump in to say you're listening to build Different I'm Zach Clinton. We need to break for a brief message from our sponsors. I'll be back with our guests to keep the conversation flowing right after this.
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Speaker 1: You're listening to life audio.
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Speaker 2: I can't even I can't even put into words, John Wayne, just when you hear stories like that, just the comfort that we live in here in America. I was taught at a very young age the freedom isn't free. I'll never forget my dad taking me to the Arlington National Cemetery, seeing the you know, finely manicured lawns and all the white marble headstones. Two of the unknown soldier and just like being mesmerized because my dad is just trying to get to me this idea, man, that what you have in terms of the privileges here in America are being paid for by brave men and women, courageous men and women just like yourself. And I'm thinking about just going back to this moment of what happened on April six. I remember years ago at Ignite, we were interviewing Marcus Letreul, the lone survivor, and he said something that stuck with me because I want to understand the psyche, the mentality, the resilience that was hardwired within you leading up to that event. Right, that just doesn't happen instantaneously. It's something that was hardwired, and there was some backwater to your story. I'm sure that led to the resilience and the adaptability that you showed. But he said this, when I knew I was going to die, I fought differently like when I knew I was going to die, it was like I'm giving everything I got. Oh, you know what, they're in for a dog fight type of thing. Like you said, just go to work. I believe that there's nothing more dangerous in the world than a passive man. And so speak to just for a moment, John Winning this idea of what was the mentality and what was the backwater that brought you to that moment to have enough mental fortitude to say I'm just gonna go back to work.
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Speaker 4: You never rise up to the occasion.
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Speaker 3: You fall back on your training, right, and that really is the catalyst of going to that point.
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Speaker 4: Right is.
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Speaker 3: Again it's just math. Right do you what do you How do you react to contact? Well, there's a react to contact drill.
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Speaker 4: Right.
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Speaker 3: How do you set up an ambush? Well, there's an ambush drill right there and there. And so when you get to that point, you just go to work and you fall back on your training, on the highest level of training that you have. And it could be as simple as find a head, put it down right. You could be as simple as where can I find better cover? You'd be as simple as you know, check my bandages, make sure the tourny kit's good, right, And and so with that being said, that's just what you do. There's that and I won't quit. That's my superpower. I'm not strong, I'm not smart, I'm not fat, you know, I'm not tall.
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Speaker 4: I'm not you know, you always.
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Speaker 3: Jokingly say when someone introduces me, you know, sorry, I'm not taller, right, because my resume didn't you know, reflect just this five you know, eight and a half one hundred and eighty pound guy. Right, But you're not gonna outwork me, ever, And that's something that again you fall back on as your level of effort. I knew that I was trained at the highest level right that the soldiers get trained. And I knew I'd never quit, and most importantly, the guy to my left and right was never going to quit. And you put those three things into an algorithm, and that's where greatness happens. Right, Just like the twelve Disciples fought to the death, guess what our brothers are willing to do. We're willing to fight to the death. And I think that's what Marcus was getting at is when you fight from that posture, there's nothing you can't stop nothing nothing, Yeah, nothing can stop you.
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Speaker 2: I remember a friend of mine, Garrett uncle Bac, who served on Seal Team three. He talks about you mentioned the word greatness and he said that greatness is a biblical Hebrew term. It actually means acquiring all that God has for you. A lot of men settle for some things or one thing, but they don't go out and get all the things. And I believe this the greatness is reserved for those who just simply refuse to give up.
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Speaker 1: You were in a moment.
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Speaker 2: After April sixth that, to be honest with the John Wayne, it would have been easy to just give up, to throw in the towel. I'm sure there was a lot of doubt, a lot of frustration, Like, God, me, why would you allow this to happen to me? I think I'm a good man. I'm serving our country. I'm sacrificing literally to the point of death. I'm watching my brothers die around me, Like, why would you allow me to go through such hardship? Because then comes April seventh, and you have a choice to make. Because my idea is this, every man has to be and I think this separates manhood from boyhood. It's responsibility. Every man has the ability to respond appropriately no matter their circumstances. And so when April seventh comes around, that's the question you said that nobody really asks you about. Talk to me about the decision you had to make internally.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, boys make an excuse.
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Speaker 3: A man takes a responsibility, right, fact, and I refuse to make excuses. I will forever take responsibilities. And look, real talk. I was terrified, yeah, of course, right, for sure. The there was so much fear, anger, doubt, insecurities, like all the things that that men have, you know, looking down and seeing that that one foot sticking up and going back to efforts my superpower will now the the inevitability of that word, right, the inevitability of no matter how many sit ups I do, I can't take another step without a prosthesis, right, no matter how many pushups I do, no matter how much effort I give, I am a disabled man without help.
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Speaker 4: Right.
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Speaker 3: And and that's why I use that word inevitability, you know, specifically, because.
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Speaker 4: There's just a.
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Speaker 3: There's no way around it, right. And the greatness with that, though, is surrender. Right to realize I ain't got this, right, that one of the most dangerous things a man could ever say is I got this.
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Speaker 4: I don't need you, Lord, I got this.
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Speaker 3: And having that inevitability of I can't walk it humbled me to a point to where I could surrender to God and then say okay, because remember I I did have that conversation with God. If I make it out of here is because of you, and for the listeners, please hear me when I say on April seventh or six, two thousand and eight, I wasn't near the follower of Jesus that I was today, right faith, And at that point, you know, it was like I was a Southern boy, right, I believe in Jesus just like I did the cowboys, Sweet Tea and George Strait, right, Like that's just what you do. You go to church on Sunday, have some fried chicken and you know, master tails of gravy, right.
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Speaker 4: Like, that's just what you do.
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Speaker 3: And and so it really wasn't for me this identity of a relationship with abba Father, right that I go to him in my fears, I go to No, I go to me in my fears. Right that that's the type of during that time, right, and and and so at that point, to to have God humble me and and and allow me to surrender to him is what drove me to the greatness that I am now right and and and and what's taught me the good and struggle, Right, and that's just a message that I want to just beat home and just grab guys and just beat him over the forehead with it, because that's how I react, That's how you know, that's what I in order for me to really take it in is to do that is to let them know, hey, man, God's not doing this to you, He's doing it for you, right, and and allow you know, the American values is awesome. I'm American, love this country, right, love me some bald eagles and everything. It is so hard to have those values with Christianity because it's my money and I want it now, right, that's the American ways consumerism. Right, I'm bigger, stronger, faster, like all the things. And it's the antithesis whenever you're following Christ, right, that you've got to surrender you.
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Speaker 4: You know, like one of the.
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Speaker 3: Most probably important things that you can pray for with God is patience, right, have the patience. I don't know and I'm probably not going to know tomorrow, and guess what I might not know next year.
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Speaker 4: Right.
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Speaker 3: Think about the woman that bled for how many years when it's twelve something like that. You got that much faith she did right after year after year. That's a lot of patience. Is what I'm trying to get to. And so that's, you know, something that I just feel God's called me to just remind guys that one it's supposed to be hard, right, it's supposed to be hard. Get up, be a man, and do the hard work. You'll be better for it.
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Speaker 2: Like you said, suffering doesn't just happen to you, It happens for you, and you'll learn a whole lot more through pain than you could have ever learned through prosperity. That's what I found true in my life every time I've hit the valley. The Puritans called it the valley of vision for a reason. They didn't get the vision from the mountaintops. It was when they were walking in through the suffering, through the valley seasons of life that God shows them what they're made of. You don't find out what you're made of sitting on a beach sip in a pinicolata, right. You find out when you're in the most difficult seasons of your life, because that's where God typically reveals himself the most to us and where he refines us to make us more like him. I'd love for you to share you shared some lessons that you learned whether it was about humility, whether it was about vulnerability, whether it was about intentionality. That I think really helps set the table and really are just core pillars of what biblical masculinity needs to be all about.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: Well, a godly man's a grateful man, right. A godly man doesn't whine all the dead gun time, right. A godly man doesn't just you know, what's the word, blame others? Yep, right, and have hatred in his heart. A godly man is grateful for the struggles in his life. I am so grateful, and I mean this, I am so grateful God took my leg. You ever had anybody tell you that before? I am so grateful that I'm an amputee for the rest of my life. Why because God has humbled me to get a relationship with Him that I never would have been able to have because of the arrogance, the ego, the unfortunately the capability that I had. Right that, you know, the hardest person to ever try to disciple is a successful man. He don't need God. Right, He's done this, accomplished that, he sold this company, he's built this thing.
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Speaker 4: He's good. What does he need that?
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Speaker 2: Being?
00:29:04
Speaker 3: Right? You know, there's a reason why Jesus started the summer all the mountains blessed as a poor and spirit. You've got to get to that poor spot in your soul to know you need your creator right and and that you cannot do it without him. And so a godly man is a grateful man. He realizes that, right that this uh, going back to the American you know, culturalistic find your happiness, right that we're just out there chasing happy you know, and even in college campuses now and you know, it doesn't matter what that person is doing. They validated by saying, oh, they're just it just makes them happy. Let them be happy, you know, and we forget that that happiness is tied to happenings, right, I love and he said that, yeah, then when some good happens, you're happy, and when some bad happens, you're sad. And ultimately what that means is that you're putting yourself at the center of your joy. And guess what, you're going to forever let yourself down, right instead of that tethering yourself to Jesus. And that's where you find real joy, right, and that's where you can be happy. In five o'clock traffic because you're grateful to God that you have a job to go to to be in traffic in and begin one right? Or are the jobs good enough to where you can afford a car? Yes, right, and all those things that it sounds trivial, but it's so true.
00:30:17
Speaker 4: Right.
00:30:17
Speaker 3: So a godly man's a grateful man.
00:30:19
Speaker 1: Love that a grateful man.
00:30:21
Speaker 2: There's a I remember reading a quote years ago that I was kind of helped shape the lowest moment of my life. It was what written by a woman named Nancy Lee de Tomas, and she said, I've realized and recognized that I can respond in one of two ways, and no matter what circumstance I might come up against, she said, I can whine or I can worship. And it's impossible to worship without giving thanks. And like you said in the valley, in the lowest moments, I really learned what gratitude was all about, because I learned that it was a choice to rejoice. I learned that victory has a vocabulary. Some of the lessons that I feel like God has taught me is what I try to teach others men at the same time, just like you, Because again, we learned so much in the midst of our suffering, John Wayne, I'm just thinking about your story, and I thinking about maybe somebody out there listening, whether it's active duty military, whether it's a veteran, whether it's somebody that has seen the atrocities of life, somebody who has seen their brothers literally risk and give it all. And I'm just thinking about how painful that must be.
00:31:24
Speaker 4: Right.
00:31:24
Speaker 2: I work in the mental health space, so post traumatic stress disorder is something that I'm very familiar with and working and walking alongside of countless veterans myself and man, when I just think of the need for people, the need for community, you said the three most dangerous words a man can say, or I got this. What helped you overcome some of the trauma of that day personally, but also some of the things that you have seen. You have literally seen evil and looked at dead in the eyes on a daily basis. How does one begin to heal from some of those wounds?
00:31:58
Speaker 4: You go to work.
00:32:00
Speaker 3: That's simple. You know that we've given so much what's the word significance on our feelings? Right that if we feel this, that makes it true? Therefore it is above whatever anything else. No, that's not true at all, right to you know, just think about you know how many times your feelings lie to you a lot?
00:32:22
Speaker 4: Right?
00:32:23
Speaker 3: You know, God gave us feelings, don't get me wrong, and they're they're a great gauge, but they're a horrible guide.
00:32:28
Speaker 4: Right, Men need to just get up and go to work. Get out.
00:32:30
Speaker 3: You know there's a reason why there's six days to work and only one day to rest, right, and so stop worrying about your feelings and start going to work. And that's that's what I did. And by no means am I special or I have again these tips and tricks to whatever you know, But you're asking me what did I do? You know, I stopped pontificating about you know, what headspace do I need to be in to best, you know, navigate what God's put me on.
00:32:56
Speaker 4: No, I just went to work and I failed. That got up.
00:33:00
Speaker 3: I went back to work and I failed, and I got back up, and I went back to work, right like it it. That's what I did differently, and I never will forget. Whenever my wife and I we had a whenever we moved back from Fort Bragg, and I left every day I got up, did pt and I left I didn't have a job.
00:33:22
Speaker 4: Oh that's a good piece.
00:33:23
Speaker 3: Of information here, right, Yeah, I just left and did things and she started, you know, obviously, you know, confrontation happened of hey, you don't have a job. Money costs, the gas costs this and all the things. And I said, Babe, for my entire adult life, I've gotten up and I've gone to work. I'm not going to stop doing that now. I don't know where this is taking me, but I promise you, if you believe in me, it's going to take us somewhere. And because of that, you know, I've gotten to be where I am today, and I just I thank God for him giving me the I will never quit inside of me. Right that, by the way, the addictive trait that I have to where I'm just going to keep going and keep going and keep going. And I want all the people out there, you know, let me just say a little bit to the veterans that you're talking about that are struggling, you know, first and before I get there, Like that addictive trait is good. It is a blessing. It's also a responsibility. Yes, right, you are responsible where that addictive trait goes. Is it towards something great, right, like growing the kingdom, like getting in the gym, right, like all getting in the words, all the things? Or is there something not great like pornography or lust or what name you know, insert that here, right, So don't think I want to strip the negativity that's attached to the addictive trait.
00:34:40
Speaker 1: Right.
00:34:40
Speaker 3: So if you if you all an attic, I got these problems, okay, great, go point that asthma towards something awesome and let a riptator chip. That's right, right, come on, you know. And so there's that one. And now to the veterans, I first want to let them know that the ones that are struggling, all of them. But you know, obviously we're talking about the ones that are struggling.
00:34:58
Speaker 4: You're not alone.
00:35:00
Speaker 3: You know, if you think about you know, the devil comes to kill, still and destroy, that's what he wants to do to you, right, and and how does he do that?
00:35:06
Speaker 4: Will you's?
00:35:06
Speaker 3: Uh uh? I forget the verse where he talks about you know, he's like a roaring lying that's prowling around Peter. That one's Peter, right then, And when you think about that line, that's prowering around on planet Earth what gazelle does. He take out the one that's alone, not the one that's in the middle of the herd.
00:35:26
Speaker 4: Right.
00:35:26
Speaker 3: He may push the herd, and the herd may run, but there's always one that goes by himself, right, And I want them to know that that herd is always there.
00:35:35
Speaker 4: You're not alone.
00:35:36
Speaker 3: Isolation will kill you. Get up, get out and again go to work. Work could be just going fishing with a guy, having coffee with a guy. Right, You're you're not alone. And and another thing is this is specific to to your relationship with Jesus. Because I've had a lot of veterans tell me, man, you don't know what I've done in my life, right, you don't know what all I've you know, done to people and had to do and all the things. And I say, you know what, there's more grace in God.
00:36:06
Speaker 4: Than sinning you.
00:36:09
Speaker 1: So true.
00:36:09
Speaker 5: Right, they need to know that, Yes, they do that you have an awesome God that has more grace than any sin that you could ever do, and he wants that relationship with you.
00:36:20
Speaker 4: Right, And never forget that.
00:36:24
Speaker 2: Such a needed word for men out there who were trying to navigate the complexities and the challenges of life.
00:36:30
Speaker 4: Right.
00:36:30
Speaker 2: War doesn't always stay overseas a lot of times that war comes home with you, and that war can begin.
00:36:36
Speaker 3: Too all the time, all the time, a lot of time, all the time. Amen to every single person that had to go down range. Regardless of what they did when they got back, they were different. And that's good, by the way, exactly struggles good, struggles good.
00:36:51
Speaker 2: I was going to ask, because this was my next question, was you come back, the amputation happens, and then you go on to compete in all of these different and marathons, right the Boston Marathon, what the New York City Marathon, all of these things, and you're placing like in the top tiers. So I've never met someone, John Wayne, that enjoyed, I guess is the word. I will say, enjoyed, suffering and struggle as much as you just speak to again, just echo what you were just about to say.
00:37:18
Speaker 3: Well, there's a saying in the Special Forces called embrace to suck. I've heard that one, right, yes, embraces because you know, in fact, when I ran the Dallas Marathon, I had that sticker on my leg, you know, but that's just you know the meaning of that is is you got to strip the negativity away from pain and allow yourself to just sit in it and learn from it, because it's always for your good and his glory.
00:37:42
Speaker 4: Right, and and that's that's it.
00:37:47
Speaker 3: Right, You get up, you go to work, and again you got to be vulnerable with guys and let him know you need the help. Yes, you know, think about Jesus, the vulnerability that he had in the Garden of Gascimity, telling his father I can't do this. I'm terrified past the cuff from me. Right, And if he can have that vulnerability, why can't you?
00:38:07
Speaker 4: Right?
00:38:07
Speaker 3: And so get up, go to work. Yeah, it's supposed to be hard. I never will forget. I was running with my daughter Andy, and she probably hate i'm telling the story, but I was running with her and she told me one day because she was falling behind, you know, and she's young, and I was like, come on, girl, pick it up.
00:38:23
Speaker 4: She's like, we only have one leg that gets tired. She was telling me.
00:38:28
Speaker 3: She in her mind, I have it easier because I only have one leg, right.
00:38:32
Speaker 4: You know, but you know to that point, look, my life is hard.
00:38:35
Speaker 3: For the rest of my life, I will have to use sixty percent more energy just to walk right. So if you run ten miles, I'm running sixteen. Wow, right, and just think about you know, and I've learned so much good from that. And I want the guys and gals out there to know that struggles good, that lean into it.
00:38:53
Speaker 4: You know that.
00:38:54
Speaker 3: I'll leave you with this man, there's a state saying that my start major Mark you Banks just he was like the me of g I Joe, just this big barrel chested black guy with a Rathby voice.
00:39:05
Speaker 4: You know that.
00:39:07
Speaker 3: He said, Man, when you're in that foxhole and it gets tough, and people are dying and people are bleeding, and you just got to lean forward and fight hard. And that's just what it's stuck with me. It's lean forward and fight hard.
00:39:21
Speaker 4: Right.
00:39:21
Speaker 3: The struggles good, it's awesome, Lean into.
00:39:24
Speaker 2: It, embrace the suck, lean forward, fight hard. John Wayne Waddie, How I want to close our time together. I'll never forget the first time we jumped on the phone call and we talked about you coming to this event. I thank you for your service. And when most men, when most veterans would say you're welcome, you said something different. And I want you to close with that message of hope to every listener, to every audience member out there about why you believe what you're about to say about them.
00:39:53
Speaker 3: When you say thank you for my service, I don't say you're welcome. I say you're worth it. Right, You're worth this leg that will never come back. You're worth the names that never came home. You know, you're worth the sacrifice that all of the men and women gave for the freedoms that we solely get to have in this country.
00:40:12
Speaker 4: Right, And that is not lost on me.
00:40:15
Speaker 3: And the reason why you're worth it is because this country is the greatest country that's ever existed. And it's not because there's a grand canyon. It's because of the men and women that are inside it that put God first and founded it on Judaeo Christian values. Right, that you are worth this fight, and I want you to be worth it.
00:40:36
Speaker 4: Right.
00:40:36
Speaker 3: I want you to know that the two hundred and fifty years ago, when our forefathers fought tyranny, right, by the way, the largest fighting force on the planet is who they stuck a middle finger. To think about the significance of what that was and how we should not have won this war, but God deemed it so we could have the freest, most prosperous, most opportunities to place on the plant in it, you know. And the thank you that you give to me that's given me that validation is what makes it worth it, because we all have to answer that question when we lay our head down. Is Ignite worth it? Right to the little of the suffering that we do?
00:41:13
Speaker 4: Worth it?
00:41:14
Speaker 3: And I'm telling you, Jesus got on that cross because you're worth it.
00:41:19
Speaker 2: Oh way, my friend, you are a gift to the church. I believe this that this is just the beginning of a blossoming friendship and partnership through Ignite and what God is doing and commissioning in and through you, my friend, God has a special anointing on your life. What you brought today to the stage, the energy, the passion, the message to these men, I know that they're going to go home and they're going to be better men and better husbands, and better fathers and better leaders because of.
00:41:46
Speaker 1: That very thing.
00:41:47
Speaker 2: So man, thank you for an obedient Yes, thank you for just showing up and continuing to allow God to use you in mighty ways. What I want to ask is where can our audience members go to find out more about you? Maybe to hear more about your story too well.
00:42:00
Speaker 3: I always say I have the worst business plan when it comes to speaking because I don't have social media, I don't have an agency.
00:42:05
Speaker 4: If you do, go to john Waynewalding dot com.
00:42:07
Speaker 3: There's a little bit about me there that I haven't updated in about five years. But you know, I have a privilege to serve on the board of directors for the Best Defense Foundation, where we take World War Two veterans back to Normandy on D Day. And we also have a Stronghold Program where we help veterans transition from their service with mental health issues and everything in between. And so go look them up and if you'd like to be a part, come on Nowayne.
00:42:35
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you for your time, thank you for your service, for your sacrifice to our country. We live in the land of the read because it is the home of the brave. Thank you for being one of those brave and courageous men and women who risked it all laying down your life, just this Christ lay down his life for us. Thank you for having the humility and the service to do that.
00:42:54
Speaker 1: Very same thing. Thanks for joining me today.
00:42:57
Speaker 2: Paul of our audience. Here a bill different. I just want to say thank you so much for your time. I hope and pray that you would have gleaned as much as I did just from John Wayne and his story that God can do something in and through you, in and through your suffering. So get back up, dust yourself off, get back to work because you don't have to be a victim when you can live in the victory that Christ has already won for you.
00:43:20
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us. We love being a part of your life.
Speaker 1: Life Audio.
00:00:03
Speaker 2: Build Different is a production of the American Association of Christian Counselors. To support this podcast and learn how you can help us to promote all our biblical content, spread the Gospel, and provide mental health resources and training to people everywhere, just go to aaccfoundation dot org. Again, that's Aaccfoundation dot org. Welcome to Built Different. I'm Zach Clinton, your host, and each week I come to you exclusively on the Life Audio podcast Network.
00:00:32
Speaker 1: I'm proud to partner with Life.
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Speaker 2: Audio and bring you entertaining, life changing, family friendly podcasts for a new generation.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: I Built Different.
00:00:39
Speaker 2: Our mission is to provide encouragement, hope and challenge to help push you past your limits and.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Reach goals you never thought possible.
00:00:45
Speaker 2: Colossians two, verse six says, So then, just as you received Christ Jesus's Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in him.
00:00:53
Speaker 1: Amen. Now let's roll.
00:01:01
Speaker 2: Hello everybody, Welcome back into the Built Different Podcasts is always. I'll be your host today, doctor Zach Clinton, and we are here backstage at our Ignitement's Impact Weekend. And let me say this, God has fallen all over this place. I'm not sure I've ever seen an altar call like what we saw last night, following Pastor Tim Timberlake's message on shutting the door of sin in our life, a message really redirecting us toward a posture of repentance. Thousands of men coming forward broken. I've never heard the sound of men weeping like I heard last night. But to be honest with you, it wasn't just the sound of weeping, It was the sound of healing. God is doing something here. Forty five hundred men packed out House Thomas or a Baptist church.
00:01:37
Speaker 1: God is all over.
00:01:38
Speaker 2: But this morning we got to hear from one of America's finest, a true American patriot, in John Wayne Walding. John Wayne was actually born on July fourth. It does get more American than that. Then he was born in Texas. Then on top of that, he was a Green Bray sniper. So all of these things. I love what you said on stage. A bald eagle probably flies over top of our heads every time you mentioned that. But John Wayne in the United States Army for twelve years, for seven eight of those he was a Green Beret American sniper. He is a man who knows what it means to serve who knows what it means to sacrifice, and he is a man who has an unbelievable story.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: John wayn Waldey, my friend, thank you for joining me today.
00:02:14
Speaker 3: Man, thanks for having me. And I mean it when I say this, it's an honor to share the stage with the great men that you have on that stage. And for no better purpose, right calling men to stand up and act like a man and do what God's called him to be.
00:02:30
Speaker 4: Right.
00:02:31
Speaker 3: So yeah, thank you for giving me that you humbling opportunity.
00:02:35
Speaker 2: Say this, my friend. This morning, you gave such a pointed, directed message that I believe God used to pierce the heart of a lot of men in the room to get back to work, to get back up, to be a man of a vulnerability, a man of intentionality. So many things that will unpack even during our time together today. But I just wanted to ask you, as you stepped on a stage with forty five hundred men, places packed out to the brim, like, what was God doing and massaging in your heart as you took the stage in those moments?
00:03:04
Speaker 3: Well, I always pray before I ever go out is God you know? Don't let me for a second, let me think this is about me, right, this is your message. Humble me to say it right, give me the courage to to say it with confidence and with boldness.
00:03:22
Speaker 4: Right.
00:03:23
Speaker 3: I've been blown up a few times, right, so give me the focus to be able to articulate that and not stumble over my words. And the most important one. I always end every prayer with God, just give me one right.
00:03:36
Speaker 4: And that's why I was there.
00:03:37
Speaker 3: You know, when I see all those men in there, I just want one right to to to get something from my testimony that brings them to Jesus.
00:03:48
Speaker 2: A when what I loved and so appreciated about your message is that it was one of vulnerability. You unpacked a story that I think blew the room away, blue Meal. Take us back April sixth, two thousand and eight, because we're going to talk about that day, all the events leading up to it.
00:04:06
Speaker 1: We're going to unpack that story.
00:04:08
Speaker 2: But then we're going to talk about April seventh as well, and what God has done in your heart since.
00:04:11
Speaker 1: Take us back to that day though.
00:04:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, April six two thousand and eight is where my Special Forces team, right. So they're called an ODA for those that don't know, it stands for operational detachment Alpha Alpha so ODA three three three six, which is twelve to fifteen man, which I love that there were twelve disciples, right, and Oda is about twelve guys.
00:04:31
Speaker 4: Uh.
00:04:31
Speaker 3: But we went up against around two hundred and fifty insurgents and two thousand up at ten thousand feet to go after a high value target by the name of hi Hajigafour. And Hajigafour was a man that was in He was in charge of the HIG, which is an Islamic extreme fundamentalist. You know, if you actually know Islam, it's not extreme, it's just fundamental what they're practicing, right, And so he was an exomic fundament fundamentalist that that we've been wanting to get the entire deployment. And his stronghold was at ten thousand feet up in the nearest n province, and so we were on a kill capture mission that morning, going in via helicopters at this as the sun came up and landed at the bottom of that mountain in a waddie which for the listeners that's just a valley, and imagine what it was like. You know, I said, everybody's got a plan to get punched in the face right. The theologian Mike Tyson said that, right, So think about what it was for us whenever we actually go to run out the backside of that helicopter, which is a C forty seven Chinnook that's got a ramp coming out the back. To give you an understanding that we're going to go run out of that helicopter, but we're not on the ground. Right that valley is so boulder and rocky that that it wasn't safe to land. So we had to jump ten fifteen feet with sixty pounds of kit. You know, that was the that was infill. Right now, we have to walk up a mountain, climbing the mountain to get to the objective. And and uh, I was the assault team one leader which was myself, Dave Sanders, another Green Beret, and eight Afghany commandos. In the Afghani commandos were the Afghan's version of special forces, right. Uh, they were pipe hitters. There was a selection just like we had and and for the Afghanian army, you know, they were the elite and and uh and so yeah, being the first guys walking up this this essentially goat trail is what we were. You know, if you've ever been on a mountain, right, there's no eight a accessible you know, ramps that you just go up there and and find any type of foothold you can to get to the objective. And and we got opened up on with an avalanche of gunfire that uh, we for sure didn't expect. We we we we expected to receive, you know, some type of fire. That's Sar's our job, right to go pick a fight. We didn't know there was going to be you know, a roughly two hundred to two hundred and fifty insurgents, right. We thought at most there would be sixty, right and most, And like I said earlier this morning to put it in perspective, within the first ten minutes of the firefight starting, you know, we had our lead interpreter, Ck was shot in the forehead. Ck died on impact, and I do want to take two seconds to just really give him praise. You know, you're thinking Americans worth a lot of money in Afghanistan. What about an Afghani that speaks English and helps Americans? Right, The courage that those interpreters have, the patriotism, frankly that they have for their country that they are you know, I get to go to war but then come home to safety.
00:07:44
Speaker 4: Right.
00:07:44
Speaker 3: They live at war in the time and danger all the time.
00:07:48
Speaker 4: Right, So.
00:07:50
Speaker 3: For the sacrifices that those interpreters give, if you ever have, you know, an opportunity to meet it, we call them terps. Right to meet a terp, I mean, I really strongly suggests you go shake their hand, because they're absolute patriots. So so yeah, c K got shot and unfortunately died instantly, fortunately for him, died instantly, right. And you know we had Dylan Bear was our radio transmitting operator, right, the guy that's on the phone talking to higher kind of important guy.
00:08:21
Speaker 4: You know.
00:08:21
Speaker 3: He got shot in the hip and the initial assessment him was twenty minutes to live, you know. And and think about you know, you're always doing math right when you're in combat, you know I said earlier. You know, nothing went wrong. We just got in a fight, right. And when you get in a fight somebody gives you a left hook, what do you got to do? Do the math on how do you block it? And how do you counter? It's the same thing in combat.
00:08:44
Speaker 4: Right.
00:08:45
Speaker 3: If if this door shut, how what you know, where's the other door? There's not a door. Where's the window. Right, If you ain't a window, get a ladder, get on the roof. We're getting in this house, right, and and so that's what we just started.
00:08:57
Speaker 4: You do the math. All right, he's shot.
00:08:59
Speaker 3: There's no way that you know, we're gonna get a Metovac bird there. There's no way we're going to suppress the enemy to allow it in. There's no way we're gonna even gonna get off this mountain, you know. So immediately the you know, Dylan's dead. Luis morales Is is shot not long after that, not once, but twice, by the way, in his leg, which was always the joke, you know, because he said I was a wimp because I only got shot once and I lost the leg. He got shot twice and he kept his you know, but actually he ended up electively amputating it for for but but anyway, the you know, seeing him, you know, get shot like that was was something that at the you know, going through the mindset of him calling you over the radio saying, come get me brother, right, that's a that's a tough.
00:09:42
Speaker 4: Thing to hear. Wow.
00:09:45
Speaker 3: And you know, again this was probably the first fifteen minutes and and at that point, going back to doing the math, right, you go to work, right, there's no way we can go up the mountain, right, with every injury, that takes two more guys out of the fight, because it takes two guys to carry up the mountain. There's only ten of us on the mountain, right, so do the math. Right, there's that where there's no way we're going to get up. So now we got to come back down. And you know, that's when I came back and initiated you know what I thought was Operation Human Shield, basically, right, catch the bullets so the medic can keep them alive.
00:10:23
Speaker 4: And Ron the medic did a great job.
00:10:25
Speaker 3: He's an absolute stud I you know, he actually received the Medal of Honor for his heroism, for his his just combat under fire or courage under fire, you know, for for keeping us alive that day. But after about two hours into that, that's whenever I was moving from one position the next. And because again I always try to put into perspective, we're fighting on goat trails, right, It's not like this huge parking lot of you know, field that we have to maneuver around. You're fighting shoulder to shoulder with these these men. And so I was trying to maneuver to get advantage point, you know, on a bad guy. And that's whenever I got, you know, shot in my right leg. And you know, the most pain ever felt in my life felt forward rolled over, you know, and and just think about the image of rolling over and seen your leg just folded over at a forty five degree angle, only hanging by an inch of flesh. That's something that you've only ever seen on movies like a Save It Private Ryan movie or something like that.
00:11:31
Speaker 4: And and you.
00:11:33
Speaker 3: Know, it was terrifying to me. I make it a point every time I tell the story. You know, just because my name's John Wayne and I'm a Green Beret doesn't mean I'm not human, right, It doesn't mean I didn't grab my green beret and rubbed my stump and says I didn't have time to bleed, right. I mean, it was terrifying to look down and see that that the severity of the injury. And oh, by the way, I'm dying right, I can do that math real quick when you know you're gonna bleed out quickly if you don't do something soon. And fortunately, you know, I went to work. I collected myself quickly and and uh, you know got my turn. Cat On stopped the bleeding. At one point actually grabbed my leg I folded up into my crotch and held it between my thighs and just you know, kept fighting.
00:12:19
Speaker 4: After that.
00:12:21
Speaker 3: We're only halfway through this thing, man, you know, I just you know, think about that. Right halfway you know through that, I see my team start and get shot Scott Ford, and the significance of that is Team Sartens.
00:12:35
Speaker 4: They are the leader, right.
00:12:39
Speaker 3: You know, Scott had been in the military sixteen years, all the cool guys schools in the eighty second earyborn before he was in third Special Forces Group. You know, I always jokingly say, you know, I thought he was so awesome that Chuck Norris were Scott Ford underwear, right, you know that's you know, yeah, for younger listeners. If you don't know who Chuck Norris is, he was a theologian the nineties. You know, look up Walker Texas right here. Get you. But uh, you know, I just what do you think your mind goes through whenever you see the guy that's going to get you out of there. Now he's got hitting his breastplate and he dropped to his knee and he's closer for me to you right.
00:13:14
Speaker 4: Uh.
00:13:15
Speaker 3: Fortunately getting Scott's as awesome as I say he was, and he got up went back to work. Gosh, I never will forget the thought of man, that guy is an absolute stud. And uh continued to fire, you know, the breastplate call caught the bullet. Sure there's some pain, you know, but he continued to fight. And and unfortunately the same sniper that shot me, I'm assuming you know, shot him in the breastplate. Well he made a you know, a correction, and and uh, he got shot in his left shoulder, which he's left handed, you know, So imagine that the vision of somebody holding the gun with that butt stock in their left hand, and then there's just arm fil a off the back right and it was his tricep to arm stayed on. But you know, seeing that's when I realized, all right, we're probably not going to make it out of here. Right again, you're doing the math right, Scott shot, I'm shot, Luis shot, Dylan's shot. See case dead again. There's only ten of us on the mountain, man, and how are we gonna get off here? Well, fortunately, the powers that be above us, they thought the same thing and they started diverting every air asset I'm assuming in theater, right, not just in Afghanistan, but all in the surrounding area, and started dropping bombs and gun runs and more bombs and more gun runs and going back to their seventy danger close air strikes, right.
00:14:41
Speaker 4: And that's how we got off the mountain.
00:14:44
Speaker 3: You know that we would drop a bomb and we would you know, the goat trail that we were climbing was the easy way up, you know, the cliff was the hard way down. So we would just literally I never will forget, you know, the hardest thing.
00:14:57
Speaker 4: You know.
00:14:57
Speaker 3: So I've been shot, you know a couple hours now, three hours probably, and to scoot you know, on my butt to that ledge and throw myself over to let gravity do his job or have Ron you know, lower me down, and things of that nature. It was the hardest thing I could ever even think about the hardest things I've done before. Then we're pretty hard, right, And just seeing the life drain out of me, it was you know, I knew that, you know, death was coming, but again, just kept fighting.
00:15:28
Speaker 4: And I said this morning that you.
00:15:31
Speaker 3: Know, I remember having that conversation with God, you know about this is all I got, you know, and look for the listeners like this wasn't this dramatic, like you know, what's his name on Shawshank Redemption. When he got out his hands are up, it's rain end, right, It wasn't that, you know, God, this is all I got. It really was not necessarily desperation. Just what's the word surrender, that's the word surrendering saying this is all I got. I make it out of here's because of you. And I'm just gonna keep trying. There's you know, there's nothing that I'm gonna do to get me out of here other than I'm just gonna keep working, right and and so knowing you know that that he saved me was was we would just again drop a bomb, you know, roll off the cliff all the way down the base of the mountain and to get to the metavac point, the medical evacuation point right was in the middle of the water. And in order to get there, I had to get drug through the water, a river of water. And and you know, think about what that felt like. Right where you get shot, you know, you're dying of blood loss and now you're getting you have hypothermia, going through there getting drugged through there and seeing that that helicopter elevator down with that red cross on the bottom of it, knowing that's your your cheriot awaits right and it's coming down, and Scott's in front of me his arms bandaged up at this point and seeing the helicopter fly away. You know, you heard the radio traffic this morning ride saying Roger Rock confirmed nine casualties. We also have radio traffic of the pilots saying I'm hit, I'm hit. I'm going south. He literally got shot as he was coming down. He had to fly away, you know, So again going to the mindset of all that's happened at this point, right, and now not only has my chariot gone, but I'm getting shot at again, yes, right, and we got to get drug back through the river and get to the base of the mountain. The next helicopter comes in, and it's not a metavac bird, it's just a it's called an ORF and Air Reaction Force, which is a black Aucy eight sixty with some guys on it. It lowers, they jump off, literally throw us on, and then it flies away and it couldn't even make it to the hospital. We had to do a crash landing after about ten minutes of flight because the damage that that aircraft took getting us out of there, and you know, it couldn't even make it, you know.
00:17:59
Speaker 4: So I was like, come on, baby, Jesus, you know what I'm saying.
00:18:02
Speaker 3: I had a hypothermia, gunshot wound, Almundna in a in.
00:18:05
Speaker 4: A helicopter crash.
00:18:08
Speaker 3: But fortunately we got a third helicopter to come in and we crossloaded everyone and you made it to the combat hospital.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: I'm going to stop this right there and jump in to say you're listening to build Different I'm Zach Clinton. We need to break for a brief message from our sponsors. I'll be back with our guests to keep the conversation flowing right after this.
00:18:26
Speaker 1: You're listening to life audio.
00:18:31
Speaker 2: I can't even I can't even put into words, John Wayne, just when you hear stories like that, just the comfort that we live in here in America. I was taught at a very young age the freedom isn't free. I'll never forget my dad taking me to the Arlington National Cemetery, seeing the you know, finely manicured lawns and all the white marble headstones. Two of the unknown soldier and just like being mesmerized because my dad is just trying to get to me this idea, man, that what you have in terms of the privileges here in America are being paid for by brave men and women, courageous men and women just like yourself. And I'm thinking about just going back to this moment of what happened on April six. I remember years ago at Ignite, we were interviewing Marcus Letreul, the lone survivor, and he said something that stuck with me because I want to understand the psyche, the mentality, the resilience that was hardwired within you leading up to that event. Right, that just doesn't happen instantaneously. It's something that was hardwired, and there was some backwater to your story. I'm sure that led to the resilience and the adaptability that you showed. But he said this, when I knew I was going to die, I fought differently like when I knew I was going to die, it was like I'm giving everything I got. Oh, you know what, they're in for a dog fight type of thing. Like you said, just go to work. I believe that there's nothing more dangerous in the world than a passive man. And so speak to just for a moment, John Winning this idea of what was the mentality and what was the backwater that brought you to that moment to have enough mental fortitude to say I'm just gonna go back to work.
00:20:09
Speaker 4: You never rise up to the occasion.
00:20:11
Speaker 3: You fall back on your training, right, and that really is the catalyst of going to that point.
00:20:18
Speaker 4: Right is.
00:20:21
Speaker 3: Again it's just math. Right do you what do you How do you react to contact? Well, there's a react to contact drill.
00:20:29
Speaker 4: Right.
00:20:29
Speaker 3: How do you set up an ambush? Well, there's an ambush drill right there and there. And so when you get to that point, you just go to work and you fall back on your training, on the highest level of training that you have. And it could be as simple as find a head, put it down right. You could be as simple as where can I find better cover? You'd be as simple as you know, check my bandages, make sure the tourny kit's good, right, And and so with that being said, that's just what you do. There's that and I won't quit. That's my superpower. I'm not strong, I'm not smart, I'm not fat, you know, I'm not tall.
00:21:10
Speaker 4: I'm not you know, you always.
00:21:12
Speaker 3: Jokingly say when someone introduces me, you know, sorry, I'm not taller, right, because my resume didn't you know, reflect just this five you know, eight and a half one hundred and eighty pound guy. Right, But you're not gonna outwork me, ever, And that's something that again you fall back on as your level of effort. I knew that I was trained at the highest level right that the soldiers get trained. And I knew I'd never quit, and most importantly, the guy to my left and right was never going to quit. And you put those three things into an algorithm, and that's where greatness happens. Right, Just like the twelve Disciples fought to the death, guess what our brothers are willing to do. We're willing to fight to the death. And I think that's what Marcus was getting at is when you fight from that posture, there's nothing you can't stop nothing nothing, Yeah, nothing can stop you.
00:22:04
Speaker 2: I remember a friend of mine, Garrett uncle Bac, who served on Seal Team three. He talks about you mentioned the word greatness and he said that greatness is a biblical Hebrew term. It actually means acquiring all that God has for you. A lot of men settle for some things or one thing, but they don't go out and get all the things. And I believe this the greatness is reserved for those who just simply refuse to give up.
00:22:30
Speaker 1: You were in a moment.
00:22:31
Speaker 2: After April sixth that, to be honest with the John Wayne, it would have been easy to just give up, to throw in the towel. I'm sure there was a lot of doubt, a lot of frustration, Like, God, me, why would you allow this to happen to me? I think I'm a good man. I'm serving our country. I'm sacrificing literally to the point of death. I'm watching my brothers die around me, Like, why would you allow me to go through such hardship? Because then comes April seventh, and you have a choice to make. Because my idea is this, every man has to be and I think this separates manhood from boyhood. It's responsibility. Every man has the ability to respond appropriately no matter their circumstances. And so when April seventh comes around, that's the question you said that nobody really asks you about. Talk to me about the decision you had to make internally.
00:23:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, boys make an excuse.
00:23:14
Speaker 3: A man takes a responsibility, right, fact, and I refuse to make excuses. I will forever take responsibilities. And look, real talk. I was terrified, yeah, of course, right, for sure. The there was so much fear, anger, doubt, insecurities, like all the things that that men have, you know, looking down and seeing that that one foot sticking up and going back to efforts my superpower will now the the inevitability of that word, right, the inevitability of no matter how many sit ups I do, I can't take another step without a prosthesis, right, no matter how many pushups I do, no matter how much effort I give, I am a disabled man without help.
00:24:01
Speaker 4: Right.
00:24:01
Speaker 3: And and that's why I use that word inevitability, you know, specifically, because.
00:24:09
Speaker 4: There's just a.
00:24:12
Speaker 3: There's no way around it, right. And the greatness with that, though, is surrender. Right to realize I ain't got this, right, that one of the most dangerous things a man could ever say is I got this.
00:24:26
Speaker 4: I don't need you, Lord, I got this.
00:24:29
Speaker 3: And having that inevitability of I can't walk it humbled me to a point to where I could surrender to God and then say okay, because remember I I did have that conversation with God. If I make it out of here is because of you, and for the listeners, please hear me when I say on April seventh or six, two thousand and eight, I wasn't near the follower of Jesus that I was today, right faith, And at that point, you know, it was like I was a Southern boy, right, I believe in Jesus just like I did the cowboys, Sweet Tea and George Strait, right, Like that's just what you do. You go to church on Sunday, have some fried chicken and you know, master tails of gravy, right.
00:25:16
Speaker 4: Like, that's just what you do.
00:25:17
Speaker 3: And and so it really wasn't for me this identity of a relationship with abba Father, right that I go to him in my fears, I go to No, I go to me in my fears. Right that that's the type of during that time, right, and and and so at that point, to to have God humble me and and and allow me to surrender to him is what drove me to the greatness that I am now right and and and and what's taught me the good and struggle, Right, and that's just a message that I want to just beat home and just grab guys and just beat him over the forehead with it, because that's how I react, That's how you know, that's what I in order for me to really take it in is to do that is to let them know, hey, man, God's not doing this to you, He's doing it for you, right, and and allow you know, the American values is awesome. I'm American, love this country, right, love me some bald eagles and everything. It is so hard to have those values with Christianity because it's my money and I want it now, right, that's the American ways consumerism. Right, I'm bigger, stronger, faster, like all the things. And it's the antithesis whenever you're following Christ, right, that you've got to surrender you.
00:26:35
Speaker 4: You know, like one of the.
00:26:36
Speaker 3: Most probably important things that you can pray for with God is patience, right, have the patience. I don't know and I'm probably not going to know tomorrow, and guess what I might not know next year.
00:26:48
Speaker 4: Right.
00:26:49
Speaker 3: Think about the woman that bled for how many years when it's twelve something like that. You got that much faith she did right after year after year. That's a lot of patience. Is what I'm trying to get to. And so that's, you know, something that I just feel God's called me to just remind guys that one it's supposed to be hard, right, it's supposed to be hard. Get up, be a man, and do the hard work. You'll be better for it.
00:27:17
Speaker 2: Like you said, suffering doesn't just happen to you, It happens for you, and you'll learn a whole lot more through pain than you could have ever learned through prosperity. That's what I found true in my life every time I've hit the valley. The Puritans called it the valley of vision for a reason. They didn't get the vision from the mountaintops. It was when they were walking in through the suffering, through the valley seasons of life that God shows them what they're made of. You don't find out what you're made of sitting on a beach sip in a pinicolata, right. You find out when you're in the most difficult seasons of your life, because that's where God typically reveals himself the most to us and where he refines us to make us more like him. I'd love for you to share you shared some lessons that you learned whether it was about humility, whether it was about vulnerability, whether it was about intentionality. That I think really helps set the table and really are just core pillars of what biblical masculinity needs to be all about.
00:28:11
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:28:11
Speaker 3: Well, a godly man's a grateful man, right. A godly man doesn't whine all the dead gun time, right. A godly man doesn't just you know, what's the word, blame others? Yep, right, and have hatred in his heart. A godly man is grateful for the struggles in his life. I am so grateful, and I mean this, I am so grateful God took my leg. You ever had anybody tell you that before? I am so grateful that I'm an amputee for the rest of my life. Why because God has humbled me to get a relationship with Him that I never would have been able to have because of the arrogance, the ego, the unfortunately the capability that I had. Right that, you know, the hardest person to ever try to disciple is a successful man. He don't need God. Right, He's done this, accomplished that, he sold this company, he's built this thing.
00:29:02
Speaker 4: He's good. What does he need that?
00:29:03
Speaker 2: Being?
00:29:04
Speaker 3: Right? You know, there's a reason why Jesus started the summer all the mountains blessed as a poor and spirit. You've got to get to that poor spot in your soul to know you need your creator right and and that you cannot do it without him. And so a godly man is a grateful man. He realizes that, right that this uh, going back to the American you know, culturalistic find your happiness, right that we're just out there chasing happy you know, and even in college campuses now and you know, it doesn't matter what that person is doing. They validated by saying, oh, they're just it just makes them happy. Let them be happy, you know, and we forget that that happiness is tied to happenings, right, I love and he said that, yeah, then when some good happens, you're happy, and when some bad happens, you're sad. And ultimately what that means is that you're putting yourself at the center of your joy. And guess what, you're going to forever let yourself down, right instead of that tethering yourself to Jesus. And that's where you find real joy, right, and that's where you can be happy. In five o'clock traffic because you're grateful to God that you have a job to go to to be in traffic in and begin one right? Or are the jobs good enough to where you can afford a car? Yes, right, and all those things that it sounds trivial, but it's so true.
00:30:17
Speaker 4: Right.
00:30:17
Speaker 3: So a godly man's a grateful man.
00:30:19
Speaker 1: Love that a grateful man.
00:30:21
Speaker 2: There's a I remember reading a quote years ago that I was kind of helped shape the lowest moment of my life. It was what written by a woman named Nancy Lee de Tomas, and she said, I've realized and recognized that I can respond in one of two ways, and no matter what circumstance I might come up against, she said, I can whine or I can worship. And it's impossible to worship without giving thanks. And like you said in the valley, in the lowest moments, I really learned what gratitude was all about, because I learned that it was a choice to rejoice. I learned that victory has a vocabulary. Some of the lessons that I feel like God has taught me is what I try to teach others men at the same time, just like you, Because again, we learned so much in the midst of our suffering, John Wayne, I'm just thinking about your story, and I thinking about maybe somebody out there listening, whether it's active duty military, whether it's a veteran, whether it's somebody that has seen the atrocities of life, somebody who has seen their brothers literally risk and give it all. And I'm just thinking about how painful that must be.
00:31:24
Speaker 4: Right.
00:31:24
Speaker 2: I work in the mental health space, so post traumatic stress disorder is something that I'm very familiar with and working and walking alongside of countless veterans myself and man, when I just think of the need for people, the need for community, you said the three most dangerous words a man can say, or I got this. What helped you overcome some of the trauma of that day personally, but also some of the things that you have seen. You have literally seen evil and looked at dead in the eyes on a daily basis. How does one begin to heal from some of those wounds?
00:31:58
Speaker 4: You go to work.
00:32:00
Speaker 3: That's simple. You know that we've given so much what's the word significance on our feelings? Right that if we feel this, that makes it true? Therefore it is above whatever anything else. No, that's not true at all, right to you know, just think about you know how many times your feelings lie to you a lot?
00:32:22
Speaker 4: Right?
00:32:23
Speaker 3: You know, God gave us feelings, don't get me wrong, and they're they're a great gauge, but they're a horrible guide.
00:32:28
Speaker 4: Right, Men need to just get up and go to work. Get out.
00:32:30
Speaker 3: You know there's a reason why there's six days to work and only one day to rest, right, and so stop worrying about your feelings and start going to work. And that's that's what I did. And by no means am I special or I have again these tips and tricks to whatever you know, But you're asking me what did I do? You know, I stopped pontificating about you know, what headspace do I need to be in to best, you know, navigate what God's put me on.
00:32:56
Speaker 4: No, I just went to work and I failed. That got up.
00:33:00
Speaker 3: I went back to work and I failed, and I got back up, and I went back to work, right like it it. That's what I did differently, and I never will forget. Whenever my wife and I we had a whenever we moved back from Fort Bragg, and I left every day I got up, did pt and I left I didn't have a job.
00:33:22
Speaker 4: Oh that's a good piece.
00:33:23
Speaker 3: Of information here, right, Yeah, I just left and did things and she started, you know, obviously, you know, confrontation happened of hey, you don't have a job. Money costs, the gas costs this and all the things. And I said, Babe, for my entire adult life, I've gotten up and I've gone to work. I'm not going to stop doing that now. I don't know where this is taking me, but I promise you, if you believe in me, it's going to take us somewhere. And because of that, you know, I've gotten to be where I am today, and I just I thank God for him giving me the I will never quit inside of me. Right that, by the way, the addictive trait that I have to where I'm just going to keep going and keep going and keep going. And I want all the people out there, you know, let me just say a little bit to the veterans that you're talking about that are struggling, you know, first and before I get there, Like that addictive trait is good. It is a blessing. It's also a responsibility. Yes, right, you are responsible where that addictive trait goes. Is it towards something great, right, like growing the kingdom, like getting in the gym, right, like all getting in the words, all the things? Or is there something not great like pornography or lust or what name you know, insert that here, right, So don't think I want to strip the negativity that's attached to the addictive trait.
00:34:40
Speaker 1: Right.
00:34:40
Speaker 3: So if you if you all an attic, I got these problems, okay, great, go point that asthma towards something awesome and let a riptator chip. That's right, right, come on, you know. And so there's that one. And now to the veterans, I first want to let them know that the ones that are struggling, all of them. But you know, obviously we're talking about the ones that are struggling.
00:34:58
Speaker 4: You're not alone.
00:35:00
Speaker 3: You know, if you think about you know, the devil comes to kill, still and destroy, that's what he wants to do to you, right, and and how does he do that?
00:35:06
Speaker 4: Will you's?
00:35:06
Speaker 3: Uh uh? I forget the verse where he talks about you know, he's like a roaring lying that's prowling around Peter. That one's Peter, right then, And when you think about that line, that's prowering around on planet Earth what gazelle does. He take out the one that's alone, not the one that's in the middle of the herd.
00:35:26
Speaker 4: Right.
00:35:26
Speaker 3: He may push the herd, and the herd may run, but there's always one that goes by himself, right, And I want them to know that that herd is always there.
00:35:35
Speaker 4: You're not alone.
00:35:36
Speaker 3: Isolation will kill you. Get up, get out and again go to work. Work could be just going fishing with a guy, having coffee with a guy. Right, You're you're not alone. And and another thing is this is specific to to your relationship with Jesus. Because I've had a lot of veterans tell me, man, you don't know what I've done in my life, right, you don't know what all I've you know, done to people and had to do and all the things. And I say, you know what, there's more grace in God.
00:36:06
Speaker 4: Than sinning you.
00:36:09
Speaker 1: So true.
00:36:09
Speaker 5: Right, they need to know that, Yes, they do that you have an awesome God that has more grace than any sin that you could ever do, and he wants that relationship with you.
00:36:20
Speaker 4: Right, And never forget that.
00:36:24
Speaker 2: Such a needed word for men out there who were trying to navigate the complexities and the challenges of life.
00:36:30
Speaker 4: Right.
00:36:30
Speaker 2: War doesn't always stay overseas a lot of times that war comes home with you, and that war can begin.
00:36:36
Speaker 3: Too all the time, all the time, a lot of time, all the time. Amen to every single person that had to go down range. Regardless of what they did when they got back, they were different. And that's good, by the way, exactly struggles good, struggles good.
00:36:51
Speaker 2: I was going to ask, because this was my next question, was you come back, the amputation happens, and then you go on to compete in all of these different and marathons, right the Boston Marathon, what the New York City Marathon, all of these things, and you're placing like in the top tiers. So I've never met someone, John Wayne, that enjoyed, I guess is the word. I will say, enjoyed, suffering and struggle as much as you just speak to again, just echo what you were just about to say.
00:37:18
Speaker 3: Well, there's a saying in the Special Forces called embrace to suck. I've heard that one, right, yes, embraces because you know, in fact, when I ran the Dallas Marathon, I had that sticker on my leg, you know, but that's just you know the meaning of that is is you got to strip the negativity away from pain and allow yourself to just sit in it and learn from it, because it's always for your good and his glory.
00:37:42
Speaker 4: Right, and and that's that's it.
00:37:47
Speaker 3: Right, You get up, you go to work, and again you got to be vulnerable with guys and let him know you need the help. Yes, you know, think about Jesus, the vulnerability that he had in the Garden of Gascimity, telling his father I can't do this. I'm terrified past the cuff from me. Right, And if he can have that vulnerability, why can't you?
00:38:07
Speaker 4: Right?
00:38:07
Speaker 3: And so get up, go to work. Yeah, it's supposed to be hard. I never will forget. I was running with my daughter Andy, and she probably hate i'm telling the story, but I was running with her and she told me one day because she was falling behind, you know, and she's young, and I was like, come on, girl, pick it up.
00:38:23
Speaker 4: She's like, we only have one leg that gets tired. She was telling me.
00:38:28
Speaker 3: She in her mind, I have it easier because I only have one leg, right.
00:38:32
Speaker 4: You know, but you know to that point, look, my life is hard.
00:38:35
Speaker 3: For the rest of my life, I will have to use sixty percent more energy just to walk right. So if you run ten miles, I'm running sixteen. Wow, right, and just think about you know, and I've learned so much good from that. And I want the guys and gals out there to know that struggles good, that lean into it.
00:38:53
Speaker 4: You know that.
00:38:54
Speaker 3: I'll leave you with this man, there's a state saying that my start major Mark you Banks just he was like the me of g I Joe, just this big barrel chested black guy with a Rathby voice.
00:39:05
Speaker 4: You know that.
00:39:07
Speaker 3: He said, Man, when you're in that foxhole and it gets tough, and people are dying and people are bleeding, and you just got to lean forward and fight hard. And that's just what it's stuck with me. It's lean forward and fight hard.
00:39:21
Speaker 4: Right.
00:39:21
Speaker 3: The struggles good, it's awesome, Lean into.
00:39:24
Speaker 2: It, embrace the suck, lean forward, fight hard. John Wayne Waddie, How I want to close our time together. I'll never forget the first time we jumped on the phone call and we talked about you coming to this event. I thank you for your service. And when most men, when most veterans would say you're welcome, you said something different. And I want you to close with that message of hope to every listener, to every audience member out there about why you believe what you're about to say about them.
00:39:53
Speaker 3: When you say thank you for my service, I don't say you're welcome. I say you're worth it. Right, You're worth this leg that will never come back. You're worth the names that never came home. You know, you're worth the sacrifice that all of the men and women gave for the freedoms that we solely get to have in this country.
00:40:12
Speaker 4: Right, And that is not lost on me.
00:40:15
Speaker 3: And the reason why you're worth it is because this country is the greatest country that's ever existed. And it's not because there's a grand canyon. It's because of the men and women that are inside it that put God first and founded it on Judaeo Christian values. Right, that you are worth this fight, and I want you to be worth it.
00:40:36
Speaker 4: Right.
00:40:36
Speaker 3: I want you to know that the two hundred and fifty years ago, when our forefathers fought tyranny, right, by the way, the largest fighting force on the planet is who they stuck a middle finger. To think about the significance of what that was and how we should not have won this war, but God deemed it so we could have the freest, most prosperous, most opportunities to place on the plant in it, you know. And the thank you that you give to me that's given me that validation is what makes it worth it, because we all have to answer that question when we lay our head down. Is Ignite worth it? Right to the little of the suffering that we do?
00:41:13
Speaker 4: Worth it?
00:41:14
Speaker 3: And I'm telling you, Jesus got on that cross because you're worth it.
00:41:19
Speaker 2: Oh way, my friend, you are a gift to the church. I believe this that this is just the beginning of a blossoming friendship and partnership through Ignite and what God is doing and commissioning in and through you, my friend, God has a special anointing on your life. What you brought today to the stage, the energy, the passion, the message to these men, I know that they're going to go home and they're going to be better men and better husbands, and better fathers and better leaders because of.
00:41:46
Speaker 1: That very thing.
00:41:47
Speaker 2: So man, thank you for an obedient Yes, thank you for just showing up and continuing to allow God to use you in mighty ways. What I want to ask is where can our audience members go to find out more about you? Maybe to hear more about your story too well.
00:42:00
Speaker 3: I always say I have the worst business plan when it comes to speaking because I don't have social media, I don't have an agency.
00:42:05
Speaker 4: If you do, go to john Waynewalding dot com.
00:42:07
Speaker 3: There's a little bit about me there that I haven't updated in about five years. But you know, I have a privilege to serve on the board of directors for the Best Defense Foundation, where we take World War Two veterans back to Normandy on D Day. And we also have a Stronghold Program where we help veterans transition from their service with mental health issues and everything in between. And so go look them up and if you'd like to be a part, come on Nowayne.
00:42:35
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you for your time, thank you for your service, for your sacrifice to our country. We live in the land of the read because it is the home of the brave. Thank you for being one of those brave and courageous men and women who risked it all laying down your life, just this Christ lay down his life for us. Thank you for having the humility and the service to do that.
00:42:54
Speaker 1: Very same thing. Thanks for joining me today.
00:42:57
Speaker 2: Paul of our audience. Here a bill different. I just want to say thank you so much for your time. I hope and pray that you would have gleaned as much as I did just from John Wayne and his story that God can do something in and through you, in and through your suffering. So get back up, dust yourself off, get back to work because you don't have to be a victim when you can live in the victory that Christ has already won for you.
00:43:20
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us. We love being a part of your life.
