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A production by and for veterans to learn how to help one another task a bite out of veteran suicide. We take with veterans about their service, things they would have done different, and what advice they would give their younger self. We also highlight community resources for veterans and provide an opportunity to connect veterans with community projects to help seniors and children.
Welcome to the Veterans Club, a
production for and by veterans
and first responders. Each week,
we gather as a community to
share stories, laugh and build
friendships that can stand the
test time together, we can help
prevent veteran suicide one cup
of coffee at a time. Welcome to
the Veterans Club podcast. Thank
you for taking time out of your
busy day to tune in and well
connect with other veterans. I
was doing some work on the 501,
c3, filing for the Veterans Club
the other day. And well, as you
can imagine, when the government
is involved, there are lots of
questions about mission and
goals of the organization. I was
pondering about how this podcast
plays into the well, overall
mission of the effort this this
channel is about capturing
stories from men and women who
have or continue to serve our
nation and community now in
wartime and often at a crime or
fire scene, the service member
involved witnesses Well, the
worst of times in someone's
life, these experiences have a
lasting impact on the
individual. Talking about these
experiences or about the act of
serving our nation provides a
sort of therapy. Studies have
found that listening to stories
of veterans and first responders
well has a therapeutic effect on
those who hear the stories too.
I made note of this thought and
felt compelled to add a tag to
today's intro, along with the
personal request, well, for
help, for from you the the
listener. You know, there are
more than 18 million veterans in
America, and when we add retired
first responders, the number is
well north of 22 million
Americans. We are a stoic bunch
by nature, and talking about
those bad days on the job is not
something we do lightly. First,
you can help the Veterans Club
by clicking that subscribe
button and listening to each new
episode. The stories will
inspire you and provide
uplifting support in your daily
activities. Second, please share
each episode with one friend. If
you're listening on your cell
phone, just click that share
button and text a link to one of
your friends. Give them a simple
note of inspiration as a lead in
and invite them to enjoy the
show. You never know the impact
of a simple, uplifting story on
the life of someone else. My
guest today is Dave. Dave is a
retired firefighter and police
officer. Dave, thank you so much
for taking time to come into the
Veterans Club today.
Absolutely. Thank you. Well,
so let's start off with kind of
a little bit of an introduction.
Who are you? What did you do?
Why did you do it?
Yeah, so I am actually a retired
fire captain from San Bernardino
County. Also, I had a short
stint with Coeur d'Alene, PD, as
a police officer up here. A lot
of people like to say that I
went from from, you know, I went
to the dark side, right? And,
you know, I joke and tell people
that, you know, every fireman
secretly wants to be a cop.
Every cop wants to be a fireman.
I was one of the lucky few that
got to do both sides.
And why, why did you, what one?
Why did you go in that order,
and then, after being a fireman,
why did you go into being a cop?
So
I actually got into fire. My my
brother in law got me excited
about going into that I was
supposed to be a teacher, I went
to college, got my degree, and I
just got kind of excited about
I've always been involved in my
community, and this was a way
that I could still serve and
really stay relevant there. So
fire, I did that for 15 years,
and to jump to why I went to law
enforcement, I have a funny
reason for that, and I tell
people, it's ego. It really was.
I was with the department that
ran 150,000 calls a year. We
covered 20,000 square miles.
I've been entrapped and burned
over in an engine. I've done
medical. I was a medic down
there for a long time, you know,
we did a lot of work, lot of
mutual aid, lot of major fires.
And, you know, the guys up here
at Coeur d'Alene, fire, Spokane
and everything else, they do a
phenomenal job. I've worked, you
know, alongside them, and they
do great but there's no
reciprocity in fire. So to go
from being a captain, where I
was, you know, ready to test for
battalion chief. I was ready to
move up. I was managing budgets.
I was doing so much I would have
to come in and be a boot level
fireman. And for me, that was
something that was hard for me
to do, especially at a
department that would run not
even a 10th of the calls that
our department ran. So I just.
Decided I wanted to stay
relevant in public safety. I
always wanted to be in law
enforcement, and there was an
opportunity. So back to the
academy at 36 now,
going back as a kid, I mean,
some of us as a kid, I want to
be an astronaut. I want to be a
race car driver. Did you want to
be a fireman? No,
I did not. I wanted to be a
teacher. I was going to be a
high school history teacher.
Yeah, so I went to the
University of Redlands, got my
degree. I substituted for about
two weeks, and I said, solve
that. All of a sudden, I'm like,
Man, this isn't, this isn't for
me,
right? Well, okay, so reflecting
on service for just a moment.
Can Can you share a memorable
experience from your time and
service that really stands out
for you, something that shaped
the way you see the world today.
Oh, man, you know what there?
There actually was, I mean,
gosh, when you bring that up,
there's so many calls and and
opportunities that really kind
of jump to mind. But, you know,
I think probably the most
impactful moment for me as a
fireman, and something that
really brought home why I did
what I did was when my partner,
Brad, and I ended up basically
saving a 12 year old girl. She
already had a lot of heavy
mental disabilities, a lot of
health problems. And, you know,
kids are always the soft
subject, right? That's right,
that's really what veterans,
first responders, anybody that's
been in that field, that's
really what gets to you. It's
not the 80 year old that's lived
his life and, you know, passed
away from a heart attack. That's
not something that that drives
it home, but a 12 year old and,
yeah, and, you know, the reason
it was so impactful is because I
was lucky enough to work in the
community that I lived so you're
seeing the people that you run
on, the people that you've
helped, people that I've done
CPR on, and they've come back.
I've seen them in Home Depot,
like, my goodness, so, um,
anyways, yeah, this 12 year old
girl, I remember that was
probably the most impactful
thing, because it made me
realize that, you know, praying
with her mom the night that they
had to do CPR on her, she had 12
strokes, and then being able to
see her in the community a year
or two later, you know, even
though she still had a lot of
the disabilities, everything
else to see that family, that's
really what drove me, that's
that's really what made you want
to go back to work.
Yeah, no, totally. I get that,
although I do think about a
funny story you're walking with
your buddy in Home Depot, and
yeah, I kissed him lip lock with
that guy over there, you know,
looking back on the service. I
mean, we all take away. Oh,
memorable moments. We all have
those good and bad things stick
with us, sticking on the good
side for just a moment. Here, is
there a day on the job or an
activity that you did while you
were on the job that kind of
shaped you as a person?
Yeah, so I had a lot of it
really was from within. I had a
lot of probationary firemen on
my on my crew. And so you get a
lot of people that are 2022,
years old, trying to figure out
what they want to do. And you
have the opportunity to not just
shape them as a person, but
shape the people that are that
are working in your community.
So having probationary firemen
was probably one of the funnest
things that you got to do. And
that was so routine, you know,
we got into that to where it was
every day I had somebody else in
that you could train, you could
collaborate with. They were
hungry. They wanted to learn.
They weren't the salty 50 year
old engineer. Had been there for
20 years, 30 years. I think that
was probably the most exciting
day to day. Thing was just to
help other guys get good at
their
craft. Now, you know, having not
been a fireman, for that matter,
not been a cop either. I was a
military you know, you you see
stories, you hear stories that
firemen actually live together.
You're, you're, you're living
together while you're on duty.
You know police, they go home at
night. So I want to ask a couple
of questions around this concept
of kicking it with a bunch of
firemen and women in the
firehouse. But what are some of
the things you guys talk about
between calls, wow, without
slandering anybody, getting me
sued or going to jail, right?
Yeah, so I'll
cut out about a third of it? No,
honestly, I think that, you
know, you get to the point where
a lot of talk that I find is
really about your families at
home. You really get to know the
people that you're with. I mean,
people come in with bad days,
right? They come home they had a
fight with their wife, their
girlfriend, you know, something
happened with their kids at
school. So a lot of our
conversation really revolved
around what we would do when we
went home, and what our home
lives were like. I think that
was something that really bonded
you, because, you know, a lot of
people didn't really that's one
of the hard things about being a
fireman. You're gone for
sometimes 678, days, and you
miss your family, and that's a
big part of. We always talk
about being very family
oriented. I spent a lot of time
talking about my family, you
know, reflecting on that. I
mean, we'd have our families by
the station. I mean, there was
always family talk and living
with five or six guys all the
time. I mean, there's good and
bad with all of that. But,
you know, being military, I
could reflect on that because,
yeah, we lived with one another
for years on in so I can see
that now some of these lessons,
some of these conversations that
you had and and lessons that you
took from those conversations,
how did they shape your life
going forward? Is there a
particular story that you can
share with us
about shaping my life? Yeah,
man, I like, I said, I think a
lot of it is, is really just
that camaraderie, I mean, as
for, as for specific, an
incident that really shaped my
life, honestly, a lot of it, you
know, he goes to the it goes to
this bad thing is that, you
know, we lost a guy. You always
think you're going to come back
and and they're going to be
there, right? And I think that
was something that, when you
spend enough time with somebody,
and then they're gone the next
day that you come back, that's
not something that is easy to
handle. And that was, I think,
that brought a lot of things
into perspective for a lot of
guys in our department. We had
an engineer that went home and,
you know, I mean, it was, it was
one of those days where it's
like, hey, I'll see you
tomorrow. And he went home and,
you know, he made, he made a
poor decision, and and, you
know, it affected all of us, and
he wasn't back the next time.
And I think the little things
like that, when you get that
close with people at work, and
when you see trauma and you go
through those things, I think
that was a really life shaping
moment for me, because it made
me start to recognize how
important that that family is at
work, and how much we don't know
what's going on with people,
right? I mean, that's difficult
because we don't always open up
with that stuff.
No, we don't. And, you know,
it's unfortunate 22 veterans a
day kill themselves. Best
knowledge that I can get is
seven to nine. First Responders
build themselves every day. It
is a it is a tragedy. Let's talk
a little bit about challenges
and triumphs. Were there moments
during your service when you
faced a significant challenge?
And can you share one of those
times and talk about how you
pushed through it.
So I think a lot of the
challenges that we had, a lot of
challenges that we had, were not
having enough support, you know,
22,000 square miles and, you
know, we laughed the first time
that I was a captain, and I
looked at the guys next to me,
and I'm like, This is what the
whole town has to protect them.
Like, if you call, you're
getting us right now. And I'm
like, I'm not even comfortable.
I think that was the biggest
thing. I think, I think the wear
down in public safety as
especially in fire, the biggest
challenge that I think we face
is the fact that, you know, our
call volume went up and up and
up and up. And it wasn't
necessarily fires. It was
because what the government,
what the cities and the counties
needed us to do, broadened our
spectrum. And I think that the
biggest challenge was being
pulled in so many different
directions and not having enough
staffing. It's hard to get force
hired when you think that you're
going to go home and you're
mentally done with the four days
you just spent the calls that
you did, and then you get stuck
there again. So I think just the
fact that there are so few first
responders out there for the
amount of calls and the things
that happen, I think that was
the biggest challenge, and you
had to rely on each other a lot,
because it was hard to push
through. And you know, we always
say, if you can say bad words on
here, but we always say, we all
took a bite out of the shit
sandwich together, and that was
hard, but we all did it
together, and it was and you
didn't have the support, and all
you had was you just needed one
call where you went on and
somebody yelled at you and said,
You're a waste of my tax dollars
or whatever else, after not
knowing that you spent five days
away from your family you
weren't scheduled to do that,
you've had no support. You guys
have had no sleep. It's tough,
you know, and I don't think the
listener really, truly
understands the pressure more so
on the fire department than the
police now, I served as a city
councilor for a brief time
before I moved to Idaho, and one
of the things that we did
annually was review the
performance of the fire
department and decide whether we
wanted to relocate one of the
firehouses so that we could get
the five minute coverage.
Basically what it was is do you
have to when you make a 911,
call, at least at that time in
that part of the state of
Oregon, a fire truck or
emergency response had to arrive
within five minutes, and that
was based upon the American
Heart Association stats that if
you don't start CPR within five
minutes of somebody having heart
attack, they're not. Coming
back. So a lot of decisions are
made mathematically. Traffic
patterns change. Streets change.
They get bigger, they get
busier. They're harder to get
down and get to all of the
places in five minutes. What
sort of impact did the political
climate have on the morale of
the firefighters. Oh, it
was, it was, it was definitely a
negative impact. And, you know,
like I said, I go back to saying
we covered 20,000 square miles
that five minutes that didn't
apply, right? You know, we were
in places where I can remember a
specific call where we had two,
you know, a couple just retired,
and they were driving on the 40
freeway headed to Arizona, and
they rolled over and caught
fire, and we left needles. I was
assigned all the way out there
at that time, we were the
closest engine, and we could see
the header from the smoke, and
we were 45 minutes from getting
there. Wow. So that you know,
the second you get the call,
there's not a single thing
you're gonna do to to save life,
property, or anything on that
call, you're literally going to
show up and find a wasteland.
And I think the politics, the
problem with the politics is
that it all came down to money.
You know, if you want to not be
effective, get government
involved and get organized.
Right? The most effective times
we had as firemen was when we
had loss of radio control. Our
radios went down. There was
nobody to supervise us, and
there was an emergency, and we
could just go do what we needed.
Protocols were thrown out the
window, and we were able to be
effective. So I think the
politics of it really slowed us
down. And not having the funds
or the backing to hire people to
put ourselves in a safe
position, it was all about
whether or not they could keep a
station open, and that meant, if
they had to keep you there for
nine days and you were mentally
not ready for it,
they would do it well. Today is
November 8. This episode will
actually be published sometime
next week, but I'm referencing
that because right now in the
state of California, there's a
pretty massive wildfire being
fanned by the Santa Ana winds,
although looks like it's tapered
down a little bit today. No
doubt you've gone through a few
of these types of wildflow
wildfires. Can you talk a little
bit about the emotional position
of a fireman who is standing in
a position where you obviously
are not going to be able to save
life or property. Oh, yeah, it's
man, you know, a lot of people
not to discount it. A lot of
people think that firemen are
out there and that we're
actually stopping the fire. The
truth is, is that, you know,
fires, especially with the Santa
Ana winds, they they do what
they want. And I told you before
we got on here, you know, I've
been entrapped and burned over
on an engine. An engine. The
sawtooth fire in 2006 burned
about 66,000 acres in less than
a day. You know, spotting a mile
ahead of itself, and there was
no control. And when you're put
in those situations, I really
can't, I can't remember emotion.
It's such a it's such an
instinctual thing to just get
out there and try to do whatever
you want. I can't even say that
we're really that organized,
because when something's moving
that fast, you have to make
split second decisions, and the
only time that you know it's a
bad decision is well after the
fact. So the emotional state is
really taken out of it. I really
think that in those situations,
it's really instinctual. You
fall back to what you know. And
you know, I see people make a
lot of bad decisions. I see some
good decisions. And the truth
is, I don't see any difference
in the thought process.
Now, having been a life safety
engineer, I worked in a
semiconductor industry, and I
was, my gig was getting people
out of the burning building or
saving as many lives as humanly
possible. So I'm going to ask
this next question from sort of
a position of the No, and I'm
going to compare it to police.
Police really have just a few
variables that they deal with.
They roll up on scene and
there's either somebody mad at
one another and dealing with it,
either physically or emotionally
in an outburst, or there's a
theft, there's something that's
been taken and and they need to
investigate the crime. And
there's, I'm not oversimplifying
it, but there's shades of gray
within there, whereas a fireman,
you roll up on the scene, and
you you might be getting a cat
out of the tree, dealing with a
burning building, a grease fire
in the kitchen, somebody who had
a heart attack, a wildfire, two
cars that hit head on, and now
they're trapped in the vehicle.
There's 1000 different things
that you guys have to deal with
and be prepared for. What's the
process of getting ready for
these different types of
variables.
Man, you want to, you got to be,
you got to be inventive. You
know, we always talk about being
a jack of all trade, or a jack
of all trades, and a master of
none. That is a fireman at
heart. I have been on calls
before where I I've looked at
the people and said, What do you
want? Me to do this is not
something we're trained for. I
have no idea. You figure it out.
Man, that is one of the coolest
things about being a fireman.
You know, with law enforcement,
I was kind of, you're kind of
constrained by the law. You have
certain XYZ that you do with law
with fire, we didn't really have
a governing board for these
calls. There was no protocol.
There was no, you know, I mean,
even you would call a chief and
say, Hey, what do you do? They,
they didn't have the experience.
So you're right. I mean, we
would be put on calls where, you
know, when they call 911, and it
doesn't sound like a law
enforcement call, it doesn't
matter what it is, here comes
fire, right? And yes, I mean, I
have used the jaws of life to do
some weird stuff, not getting
people out of a car, like, I
mean, we've fixed ovens for
people we I mean, I can't even,
I can't even tell you the stuff
that we've done. I mean, yeah,
it is. It's very, very hard,
because you don't have training
on a lot of that. And I think
that's the pressure that comes
with it, is when you show up on
seeing people expect you to fix
it right? And we don't always
have the answer. In fact, a lot
of times the answers we have are
really bad because we've never
experienced it. But, you know,
we try and guys do and they and
that's probably another
stressor, is that we get
ourselves in trouble because we
do something we don't know how
to do. But what do you expect
people to do in those
situations?
No, and that's fabulous. You
know, I'm gonna send some kudos
out to the Kootenai County Fire
District. I I'm an old man, and
I've reached that age where
getting up on a ladder is
something that I second guess. I
actually have too many friends
who trying to clean their
gutters Bell broke their neck
and died. And, you know, I don't
mind dying. I'm ready for
whenever God wants me, but I
think falling off a ladder break
in my neck. That's not how I
want my obituary to read. He was
stupid. He fell off a ladder.
I'd rather it. He over ate ribs
at the barbecue. That's the way
I want to go. So mad. Props to
the Kootenai County Fire
District. When my smoke
detectors started chirping. I
called the the non emergency
number, and said, I can't get up
on the ladder, and some of these
are 20 some feet up. And they
said, well, we'll send somebody
out. And they did. The big fire
truck showed up in front of the
house and and four burly firemen
and women came in, and they
changed the battery in my smoke
detectors, the things that the
firemen do are just truly
incredible. Big, big. Thank you
for your service. I want to talk
a little bit about the the
brotherhood. I mean, you've
touched on it a little bit, and
the importance of the
relationship, of the family bond
that you built, service often
creates these kind of bonds,
like really no other Can you
talk about a particular
friendship or a group of people
you served with that had a
lasting impact on you,
personally? Oh, man,
dude, I've served, you know, I
moved around a lot of and I want
to talk about that dynamic in
the fire station too, when we're
done with this. But, you know, I
have probably my I've moved
around from groups to groups,
but truthfully, I have probably
a core five or six guys that I
was able to be stationed with,
quite a bit that all I can
really describe it as, is, it's
comfortable like you're you, you
start to work with people enough
to where you understand their
what they're going to do, their
behaviors, you understand what
they're good at, what they're
not good at, their limitations,
where they excel. And I think
that probably it translates over
into life. I have a ton of
people that I love back at San
Bernardino County, but the truth
is, I really only maintain
contact with a handful of them
on a regular basis, and those
are the people that you got so
in tune with to where it wasn't
just life at the station or life
who's going to be the guy on the
extrication Who are we going to
put on command? Who are we going
to put on the roof? Who are we
going to put on the hose? You
knew where you had that stuff,
but it translated over into
like, who do I call when I'm
having a dispute with my wife,
who do I call when my my son is
not listening to me? Who do I
call when I'm having bad
thoughts about hurting myself?
Who do I call when I'm having an
addiction issue? You started to
learn who the people are and
that type of connection with
people. You know, I I've told my
wife multiple times I'm like,
I've never gone to seeing a
therapist. I would love to the
problem that I have is that to
go to see a therapist, I have to
trust you, and I don't trust
them. And the people that I do
trust are my guys at work, and
they don't have the education or
the experience or the tools to
necessarily help me. And I've
always been a fan of therapy to
say, hey, you know, you need to
go talk to somebody. But the
truth is, is that my therapy is
riding with Seth Horst when we
go on a you know, when we head
up north to go look at a house
together, and being in the car
with him for an hour, and
knowing that he was a highway
patrolman and I was in law
enforcement and fire, I can tell
him things that I can't tell
somebody else. And that is super
therapeutic. So that has a. Huge
impact on me for sure, you
know, and that was the core
reason why we've started the
Veterans Club. You know, we have
these shared experiences.
There's 80 people, 80 men and
women, who are involved in the
Veterans Club. And they and they
come and go. There's no
attendance requirements, there's
no membership dues. It's come
and be a vet. Come and be a
first responder. We we talked to
one another, with one another,
like vets and first responders,
and it's this camaraderie, even
though not I don't think anybody
in that room actually served
with one another, you and Seth,
I guess. But we all have a
similar experience. We have that
shared experience. We have that
that understanding of the things
that we went through, and as a
result, we do. We have those
conversations in that room that
we can't have with our wives.
When my grandson, my oldest
grandson, served two tours in
Iraq, and my wife asked me, Did
Did he ever kill anybody in
battle? I said, Honey, I'm not
going to ask that question.
That's not a question you ask
outright. That's a question that
comes up while you're drinking
beer, and it just happens. But,
you know, and I haven't been in
that situation with him, it
sounds like what you're talking
about. It's those situational
awareness moments that really
provided the therapy that you
need it? Oh,
for sure. And you know, the sad
thing too, especially, and I
talk specifically about the fire
department, I say this, and it's
like, if you're hearing this
clip, you gotta stay with me
here, right? I tell people I'm
like, women ruin the fire
service. And all of a sudden,
everybody's like, what? Stay
with me here. But the truth is,
is, when I started in the fire
service in the early 2000s It
was mostly men. We shared
bathrooms. We shared sleeping
arrangements. We had one TV, we
cooked together, we did all that
stuff that you see on TV. When
more and more females entered
the fire service, there was this
need to separate, right? We
don't want you all sleeping in
the same room. We need to have
separate bathrooms. We need to
have this well, that translated
into these stations being built,
where now you have an individual
dorm, you have your own TV in
there. I can't tell you how many
times in the late teens I would
walk into our day room, where
there's eight recliners and a 90
inch TV, and I was the only one
in there, and it started to die.
Even today, guys and gals go in
there and you have to work to be
together, where before you
didn't have a choice. You were
around people like it or not,
and that built something that I
don't see anymore. And like I
said, it wasn't because of
women. It was because of
politics and certain things
played out. I was
going to ask, did the women even
care? The women who became
firemen, didn't they want to be
part of the whole family? Did
they care whether they had
segregated facilities? And
the thing is, is that, I mean, I
don't think anybody really paid
attention to it, if you want the
truth, I think people were
pretty cool with the fact that
now I get my own room. I mean,
it was like a neat thing, but
from the outside, you're
watching everything decline the
time that you spend with one
another. I mean, let's order
separate meals. Let's do these
things separately. There's no
longer like this guy snores and
I gotta deal with it, right? I'd
throw a boot at somebody. Now, I
got my own thing. There was no
compromise anymore, and I think
that was something that killed a
lot of the camaraderie. Wow.
Now on the job, both as a
fireman and as a police officer,
you learned certain skills. You
learned certain ways of handling
things. Again. There's a million
things that happen in a
community, and depending on how
you react, how you engage and
either escalate or de escalate,
it could get worse or it could
get better after your service.
How have you continued to lead
or make an impact in your
community, and can you share how
you've used the experiences that
you gained on the job to better
your community? Oh, absolutely,
you know what? The funniest
thing. So I, obviously, I do
real estate now, you know, Seth
and I started a team here, and
you know, now we've opened a
brokerage and everything else.
Most of us are law enforcement
veterans, you know, military,
fire, whatever else, the skills
that I learned there. So I
started real estate, and I was
on my own. That's a new thing.
And it was kind of cool at
first, because in fire and in
law enforcement, I can run 15
calls a day and another guy can
run two, and we get paid the
same all of a sudden, I found a
career where I'm like, wait a
minute, if I put the same effort
I did into my other one, I don't
just get a small promotion and a
pat on the back and more work. I
actually can make more. So, you
know, it was exciting for a
little bit, but it really
quickly it wore off. So what I
did, because I don't get I
taught my I tell my wife this
all the time. I don't get any
excitement like I did in service
when I sell a house. It's not
fulfilling to me. I'm also not
really money driven. To be
honest, to go back on my
previous statement, I really if
you tell me, like, Oh, you're
going to make this amount. Here
it. Doesn't really motivate me.
But what did motivate me in the
way that I did drive back into
my community. I left Coeur
d'Alene, PD, because those guys
and gals supported my business.
They were actually the catalyst
for me leaving the job with
them. Well, everything that we
have done with our real estate
group is to put back into the
community, and a lot of that,
I'd say 75% of that is first
responder in law enforcement or
in veteran based so just the
impacts that we try to have on
the community. You know, last
year, we do it every year. We
rent out the the ice rink
downtown, and we rent it out,
and it's a first responder only
night. It's like badge entry, or
you gotta know us, because we're
not letting you in, and to see
those families come down and
feel comfortable. A lot of law
enforcement families don't want
to hang out downtown, right?
Like, whatever. Dad's like, Hey,
I gotta keep my honest. Well,
whatever. To see them come down
and enjoy their time and to have
an impact on them, and have them
come up and be like, this is an
amazing thing. It's really not
we've saved them 30 bucks. It's
not about that. It's about
bringing everybody together in a
centralized location to have a
good time and do these things.
So even our brokerage that we've
opened, you know, we're even
starting a referral program. My
goal was, I'm trying to teach
law enforcement and fire. I know
so many of them have a secondary
job. I said, Hey, you're all
referring me these clients.
You're sending me people without
question, right? You're you're
saying Dave or Seth or Eric or
John, these are my guys. Go buy
a house with them, and I can't
legally give them anything back,
so I've turned around, and we're
trying to create a referral
program where we get people
licensed as agents, and we say,
Hey, you're already sending
these clients to us. What if we
can give you a referral legally,
because you're an agent now,
even though you don't have to do
any of the work, if we can put
$20,000 or $25,000 in a family's
pocket, that's, yeah, it's where
they can go on a vacation for a
year, or have a little less
stress, or not have to work as
much overtime, dude, that's
where our heart's at. Yeah, that
is a cool opportunity for us
totally
you know, from the standpoint of
multiplying the impact of the
skill set. I mean, you have a
lifetime of skills that you've
acquired, then the knowledge
behind it. I mean, when we were
18 year old punks, we did stupid
stuff, but when we turned 50,
all of a sudden. Now we don't do
the stupid things and we we kind
of put a little wisdom behind
it. What do you believe is the
unique angle, or the the unique
experiences that veterans and
first responders bring to their
communities? And how do you
suggest they get involved and
employ those unique abilities.
Yeah, I think it's a I think
it's a blend of grit and
service. I really do. I think
anybody that's been in those
positions has one they've had to
fight for what they've had. They
understand a good day and a bad
day. And I think a lot of people
just think that they're just
having, you know, especially
with social media, you got these
get these kids, you're like, oh,
whoa, is me. I'm comparing
myself to this person. They've
never actually really had a bad
day. And I think that people
that come from, you know,
military, law enforcement, fire,
they know what a bad day is.
They they literally do that
their whole life, right? They
spend their entire life seeing
bad days of other people, and it
turned translates to bad days
for them. And I think for that,
it creates a sense of grit that
people have, a sense that they
can push a little harder and go
a little longer. They don't get
defeated as easily, because they
can look at it and say, this
isn't a big deal. So I think for
veterans and first responders,
the big unique feature that they
have is the grit and then the
service mindset. You take
somebody that knows how to deal
with a bad day and has a desire
to serve as community, and
they're going to find a way to
do it, and they'll do it in the
face of adversity or anything
else. I mean, there's so many
ways for for these types of
people to get involved, be
successful, and be able to share
that success with the people
that are around them. And that's
super special. So those two
things, just the grit and the
service mindset, I don't, I
don't know where else you get
those two things so well, than
in some sort of of, you know,
law enforcement, fire, military
background.
So true, true. I want to ask you
a question. I'm going to put you
on a spot here. So get ready. We
look at the next generation. And
actually the Veterans Club at
the Patriot poor one day we had
this conversation, would you
recommend a child, grandchild,
great grandchild, some of us to
join the military. And it was an
interesting dialog. And you have
a unique perspective, because
you served as both a fireman and
a police officer, if you were
counseling a youth, a family
member, niece, nephew, son,
daughter, grandson,
granddaughter to who's expressed
interest in serving. Either in
law enforcement or fire service.
Which one would you recommend?
Would you recommend, and why?
So I think a lot of it comes
down to what I so for me, it was
very hard in public safety to
have a family. So I think a lot
of it comes down to me asking
them, why, why do you want to do
it? Because if you're the
adrenaline junkie, which I hear
too often, right? Oh, I just I
want to be able to go fight
fire. I want to, I want to do
these things. I don't think it's
right for you, because I think
you're going to put yourself in
a situation where you're going
to need that adrenaline and that
dopamine so much, and you're
going to be so focused that
you're going to identify
yourself not as a father, as a
Christian or as a husband or
anything else like that. You're
just going to go your whole life
identifying yourself as a
fireman. I remember seeing a
chief. There's a, if you look it
up, there's a the chief from New
York had had a famous quote, and
I hopefully I'll get it right
here. But he says, I have no
ambition in this life but one,
and that is to be a fireman. You
know, that's cool. We all watch
the the cool movies where, you
know the Mark Wahlberg's the
shooter, and he lives by
himself, and he's this super
cool, dialed in guy. That's
great if you're a single guy,
but if your goal is to have a
family. If your goal is to be
involved in your community, if
your goal, you know, if you have
different goals, and it's not
just I want to wear a badge and
I want to serve well, what is
service to you? Because, if it's
because you want to be that cool
dude, you want to wear the
badge, you want to go out and do
these things, then it's not
going to be the right thing.
Where you're going to end up
like over 50% of them, you're
going to end up divorced, you're
going to end up alone, you're
going to end up suicidal, you're
going to end up with all this
stuff if you go into it with a
service mindset of I want to
find a way to serve my
community, and I understand that
I might have a good pension, but
I'm not going to make Millions,
and then I think you can do it,
but I think too many people go
into it because it's exciting,
and they define their lives by
it. And I feel bad for those
people. I see guys now. I I
have, I've been through some
marital issues before, and I've
had people come to me and say,
Oh man, we're getting a divorce.
And I'm like, Well, what do you
what are you going to do? I
said, Yeah, well, she wants to
leave me. I said, Have you ever
thought about leaving your
career? Leaving your career?
It's the first question I ask
people, and they go, Well, no,
and I'm like, then you might
want to think about it, because
you are thinking about leaving
your family, and sometimes that
job will take it from you. So
people define themselves by it.
So that's my only caution to
people that ask I don't think
one over the other. To be
honest, I loved both of them.
Firemen know how to take care of
a station. Police don't know how
to take out a trash can, right?
But firemen don't get to make as
many decisions as a cop dad. I
mean, that's an amazing
opportunity to walk on scene and
say, You're going to jail,
you're going Yep, you're going
to hospital. This is all done.
We're out. So I think there's
benefits to both. But yeah,
yeah, I would just be really
careful as
to why, no, and that's that's
fantastically put I mean, I look
at it from the brain trust, the
community resource value of the
brain trust of our vets and our
retired first responders, those
are The people that can inspire
the next generation, almost
without saying a word, just by
the demeanor, how we carry
ourselves, the way, the way we
walk our wives down the street
didn't communicate a message.
And the kids pay attention. You
know, we think that they're
tuned out, and they've got their
face in the iPhone. They see,
they see that stuff well, as we,
as we get to the point where
we're wrapping up, you know,
before I ask my last question.
Now, you know, we had Seth on
and he talked about the the real
estate group and, and you've
talked a little bit about it,
but how do folks get in touch
with you? Let's say somebody in
Southern California is listening
to our voice, and they're
thinking, I'm done with
California. I want to move to
New North Idaho. How do they get
in touch with you? Yeah,
the big thing for us getting in
touch with us. We're very
relational over transactional. I
could care less if anybody buys
a house. We really want to get
people connected with the
community. The best way is just
to shoot us a text, email, we'll
call you we're not, you know, we
try to set up zoom calls so that
we can see people, so we can
connect with them. The neat
thing about how we advertise, if
you follow us, you know, we have
the the North Idaho experience
is our YouTube channel and
podcast. That's probably the
best way to find us. We have
information on there. You can
always shoot us a message on
there, but that kind of lets
people know our personality. We
don't like shopping for clients.
We like meeting people that we
can have an experience with. You
know that we can sit down and
have a have a beer with somebody
that we can invite over our
homes? That's who we like
working with. So you know, if
you're interested in that, and
we can help you, the best thing
is follow our podcast. Like I
said. Or, sorry, the North Idaho
experience, you'll get to know
us. There's a ton of information
on there, and then all our
contact information is on there,
and I'll
make sure and include the link
to that podcast and YouTube
channel. So last question, is
there one thing you want the
listeners, especially fellow
veterans and first responders,
to take away from your story? If
so, what would that be? Yeah,
just don't lose that service
mindset. You know, it's so easy
to leave a career and lose your
identity and think that you
don't matter. And I'm doing
something now with Seth in real
estate, where we feel like we
matter again, we have a team
around us, which is great,
right? You don't always get that
and whatever else you do, but we
realize that we do matter, and
we have the ability to put back
into the community and access
people like this. I mean, the
Patriot poor, the things that
we're able to stay involved
with, you surround yourself by
the people that are like minded
and the people that you want to
help. So for anybody that's in
service, especially if you ever
leave service and you move on,
you try to find something else.
You retire, don't lose that
sense of identity that you can't
serve your community, because it
doesn't matter what you do. The
fact is, there's very few people
that that work at Home Depot,
and don't just want to show you
where the hammers are, but then
want to sit there and talk to
you about, what are you going to
do with that? How are you going
to do what's your project? Is
there anything else I can do?
Like when somebody asks me those
questions, I know they have a
heart to serve. And so wherever
you find yourself in this
community, especially in North
Idaho, like just connect people
want to, want to have that
connection with you.
Well, Dave, thank you so much
for taking time. Awesome. Thank
you. Thank you for tuning in to
the Veterans Club podcast.
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