HeadStrong Is Honoring Zero Blog Thirty For Having Moral Courage: Some Thoughts
Yesterday Keith wrote a blog about this award that Headstrong is giving Zero Blog Thirty’s crew. At first, I wasn’t going to say anything publically about it besides retweeting it a bunch of times. But, I decided that I would share some thoughts and not because Dave shit on my pageviews on the radio the other day. (still top 5-6 for the year with a few podcasts and a radio show, haters. My demise is greatly exaggerated).
Being given something like the moral courage award is pretty humbling. We started Zero Blog Thirty to be the type of podcast where veterans and civilians could come together to talk about issues in a real way. Over the years, we’ve had dozens and dozens of people reach out to us to say that they got treatment for PTSD, depression, anxiety and the like because we mentioned some avenues for cheap/stigma-free treatment options. One of those options is GetHeadstrong.org. If you are in that boat, reach out to them. They care. We care.
People often ask how to help. You can help by spreading the word about organizations like Headstrong, Adaptive Training Foundation, One More Wave or Team Rubicon. You can help by spreading the word that Starbucks is hiring people and not just to make coffee, although they are doing that too. They are hiring veterans and their family members while helping them re-find a purpose that is difficult to find after you separate from service. I found my purpose at Barstool and through Zero Blog Thirty. Maybe you will at Starbucks or by helping one of these organizations.
This partnership with Starbucks is a strange one because they arent asking for us to sell their coffee or anything like that. They just wanted to highlight the things they are doing in the veteran world. It’s a ton. I’ve been blown away at every turn.
Anyway, this award about mental health means a lot to me and it’s not because it’s public recognition. If you work at Barstool, you get plenty of online attention especially if you write blogs about fucking pumpkins and the like. The award means something because it means the community that we are building through zero blog thirty is establishing something pretty fucking great. We’ve had people from every walk of life on our show. We’ve had the most MAGA people ever and the biggest libtards that you’ll ever meet. We’ve had the guy who shot Bin Laden and a platoonmate of Beau Bergdahl. We’ve spoken with republican and democratic congressmen about their policies which we hope will positively affect veterans and their families. We’ve spoken with a CIA operative and FBI double agents. We’ve had multiple Medal of Honor recipients and regular joes like Kate, Cons, and myself get to discuss where we see the military going in the next few years and some of the battles we face at home and abroad while also telling stories about things like the Bucket Of Nasty or smoking a cigar dipped in dog’s blood. (that last one is today’s show by the way).
I love this show and what it means to some people. The folks at Headstrong realizing that it means so much to others makes this award special to me. There’s no doubt in my mind that people are still alive and didnt commit suicide because they recognized and commiserated with Connor and Kate’s story. There’s no doubt in my mind that people are getting treatment because they heard my story about dealing with PTSD. There’s no doubt in my mind that all of that happened because the army that is the stoolie network share, download and subscribe to our podcast. We can make a difference because lots of you care about us and other veterans.
That being said, I truly believe that Zero Blog Thirty is the most important thing I’ll ever do outside of being a good father and husband. I’m glad you listen if you do, and if you dont, give it a try. There’s no better time than right now.
Ps. Didnt even include myself in the thumbnail. #Umble
PSS. Shoutout to our producer Bren too. He’s a civilian but the mother fucker knows military lingo now.