In this episode, Cody and guest host Mike Dempsey have a conversation with John Stallone. John comes from a military family—his grandfather served in World War II, and his dad and his uncle served in Vietnam—so enlisting in the military was a no-brainer for him. He joined the US Air Force at 18. From 1998 to 2002, he served as a security forces member and was deployed four times in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. In 2002, at the age of 22, he joined the Alaska Air National Guard. After he left the Guard in 2009, he took a number of jobs where he was in a position to promote and encourage safety, namely as a safety officer for OSHA, and a bouncer in downtown Anchorage. The common thread that links these jobs is John's sense of duty. He says that one of the core values of the Air Force is, "service before self," which is something he continues to live by.
For a good portion of this conversation, John talks about his struggle with depression and PTSD. He talks about the psychological aftermath of spending 8 months in active war zones. How it was a continuous evolution of “hurry up and get ready” or “hurry up and get used to this.” But by the time you acclimated to that environment, it was time to go home. And then once you were home, you were forced to deal with everything you had been through—among civilians who have no frame of reference for war. In 2011, everything kind of came to a head and John had a mental breakdown. He called the Veterans Crisis Line and they helped him work through it and also directed him toward local mental health resources.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and Veterans Crisis Line is 1-800-273-8255.
EP 152 Exonerating Alaskans with Jory Knott
EP 151 Things can get better with Heidi Huppert
EP 150 Furniture, basketball and family with Buddy Bailey
EP 149 Human trafficking in Alaska and decolonizing data with Josie Heyano
Chatter Marks EP 83 Moving home, revitalizing a language and the magic of radio with Shyanne Beatty
Chatter Marks EP 82 A chip on my shoulder with Mario Chalmers
EP 148 Skating Anchorage in the ‘90s with Anthony Black and Jerry Smyth
EP 147 For the glory and the story with IG
Chatter Marks EP 81 Life lessons from fish camp with Angela Gonzalez
EP 146 Searching for understanding and forgiveness with Robert Stark
EP 145 There is no excuse with Andrew Kurka
EP 144 Deconstructing the myth of The Last Frontier with Kaitlin Armstrong
EP 143 A Christmas they’ll never forget
EP 142 The history of slime with Christopher Michlig
EP 141 What we’ve been through is not who we are now with Travante Williams
EP 140 From middle school teacher to pro wrestler with Freya the Slaya
EP 139 Embracing the variance of poker with Adam Hendrix
Museums in a Climate of Change: Chatter Marks EP 73 Futures thinking, perseverance and climate change with Kristin Alford of the Museum of Discovery at the University of South Australia
EP 138 What happens to Alaska when oil is no longer economically viable for the economy of the state?
Museums in a Climate of Change: Chatter Marks EP 72 Creating sustainable exhibitions with Lizzy Bakker of NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL