Episode 56: Interview with Purple Heart Hero, WWIA Guide & Event Host, Roy Holland

Narrator: 00:00:00

Foreign.

Narrator: 00:00:04

Hello and welcome to the WWIA Podcast. We're honored to have you join us in our mission to bring honor, connection and healing to America's combat wounded Purple Heart heroes.

If this is your first time listening to this podcast, we welcome you if you're a returning listener. Thanks for coming back. Please be sure to tell others about our podcast and leave us a review if you're enjoying what you're hearing.

We have another out outstanding episode to share with you today as we welcome a tremendous patriot and friend of the foundation to the program. Today, WWIA founder and CEO John McDaniel is honored to share some time talking with Purple Heart hero, WWIA guide and WWIA event host, Mr.

Roy Holland. Roy is married to his beautiful wife, Sasha, and is a father to two sons, Russell and Brady.

Having been born into a military family, Roy joined the Marine Corps after high school and would also serve in Vermont Army National Guard, where he was deployed multiple times in Iraq and Afghanistan. Roy has also served as a police officer for 25 years, currently serving as the Chief of Police in Enfield, New Hampshire.

His biggest passions other than family are hunting and fishing.

ended his first WWIA event in: 2017

In addition to being a guide, he also proudly hosts the New Hampshire Bear and Bass event, now entering its seventh year. This is a great conversation between friends and we're excited to share part of Roy's journey with you without further delay.

Let's join John and Roy now.

John McDaniel: 00:02:10

Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founder and CEO of the Wounded warriors in Action foundation. And this is our podcast, Honor, Connect and Heal.

So today I have a great American with me, a man who I admire and have been in the field with several times and who I know well and am getting to know better. Welcome to the program, Roy Holland. How are you?

Roy Holland: 00:02:37

Good, good. Thanks for having me. It's honor to be here.

John McDaniel: 00:02:39

Yeah, it's an honor to have you. So let me set this up so everybody, you know, gets a, has a, a brief, you know, snapshot word picture of, of. Of who you are.

So you, you're a Purple Heart recipient.

You have been through our guide school, you're one of our valued guides who's been trained and certified through our program, and you also are a host. You've been hosting, I think we're on the seven or eight years now. Something like that.

Roy Holland: 00:03:10

Yeah. This year will be year number seven.

John McDaniel: 00:03:12

Seven. Seven years of hosting a Com. A combo hunt up in New Hampshire. Bear and bass combo hunt. And. And up in New Hampshire. And. And it's.

The event is in Grafton, if I got that right. Grafton, New Hampshire. Right in. In Grafton, New Hampshire. Correct.

Roy Holland: 00:03:38

Yes. Yeah.

John McDaniel: 00:03:39

Yeah. And you are also, you know, everybody, he's wearing a uniform, so I'm looking at him. You're not. But I can see Roy because we're.

We're on a zoom call that's being recorded for this podcast. But Roy's wearing uniform and he is the chief of police for the town of Enfield, New Hampshire. Is that right?

Roy Holland: 00:03:56

It is, correct. Yeah.

John McDaniel: 00:03:57

You look great, man. I mean, he. If.

Tell you what, if you ever get out of a car, approach mine, I'm just gonna put my hands on the steering wheel, roll down the window, put my hands on the steering. Whee. And just say, yes, sir and no.

Roy Holland: 00:04:10

Sir, because I don't get to stop as many cars as I. As I used to. That's for sure.

John McDaniel: 00:04:16

Probably. Yeah. Well, you look great. And so here's a guy who's, you know, a combat wounded veteran, Right. You got a purple Heart.

You were in the Marine Corps for something like four years on active duty, is that right?

Roy Holland: 00:04:28

Yeah, I joined right out of high school.

John McDaniel: 00:04:31

Excellent. And then. Was that where you were wounded and. And. And that's where you get that from? Well, you were a Marine or were you?

I seen you when you had the Army National Guard. You're a double dipper. You've been on both sides. Are you a jiu jitsu dude?

Roy Holland: 00:04:43

Yeah. Correct. No, I was when I was with the train. National Jiu Jitsu about five days a week. So I also teach kids class and adult classes with that as well.

John McDaniel: 00:04:54

So this is one dude that you just don't want to mess with. He's the chief of police and, and he's a jiu jitsu competitive Jiu jitsu dude who's got a purple Heart.

It was in the Marine Corps and the army, so that's all I'm saying. That's just, that's get back, Jack.

Roy Holland: 00:05:08

I. Well, you know, I do that honestly, because I. I feel it's a responsibility in law enforcement that jiu jitsu.

I mean, obviously I got into it in the Marine Corps when I, you know, started with the Marine Corps Martial arts program.

John McDaniel: 00:05:21

Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:05:21

And then obviously when I joined the Army National Guard, they saw that on my resume, you know, I'd become a infantry guy towards the end of my Marine Corps career once and I, so I became an army combatives level one and level two instructor as well.

John McDaniel: 00:05:40

Awesome.

Roy Holland: 00:05:41

And so that kind of led into when I, I was still a police officer during that. And so I think that every police officer should be a blue belt in Jiu jitsu.

Not just for the self defense aspect or the ability to control people's movements, but by the time you reach blue belt in Jiu jitsu, which for the average person takes about 18 months to two years, okay, you recognize a threat for what it really is. You know, when you're, when you're a young guy who, you know, not everybody is a combat veteran, right. And stuff like that, or been in the military.

Jiu jitsu helps you recognize what's really a threat and what's not. And so therefore you're less likely to use excessive force.

John McDaniel: 00:06:22

That's great.

I never heard it put that way, but as a, well, of course, you know, I had a little, little past there in the military and one of the things we did is we got in, in one of my units, we, we did this combination of, you know, lots of training in the martial arts, you know, jiu jitsu and, and Gracie and Muay Thai and lots of different things, you know, and as a graph, as a wrestler, as a, as a former competitive wrestler, you know, I always felt in my mind like, hey, most, and if you, you can see this on the w, you know, on the, you know, in the cage matches with, you know, the, the, the, the, the fights that are going on today, the mixed martial arts fights, you know, all that fancy kicking, you know, stuff, that's great. Okay. It's great tools for your chest, you know, your tool chest, your combatives tool chest.

But if you want to win a fight, unless you're going to strike and knock somebody out, which doesn't happen that often, you know, you better get this person on the ground, you know, and as a wrestler, you know, that's where those, those, that's where fights end. Like I'm going to, this thing's going to stop, I'm going to turn, terminate this little thing we got going on.

When I get you on the ground and so the quicker I get you on the ground as a wrestler, I'm going to disable you and then bring this thing to a close. That's my thinking. Has always, you know, been that way. Is that kind of in line with, with what you think have been taught?

Roy Holland: 00:07:46

Oh, 100% and not, not just taught in my 25 years a law enforcement officer. That's. They all end up there.

John McDaniel: 00:07:52

Yeah. On the ground.

Roy Holland: 00:07:53

On the ground.

John McDaniel: 00:07:53

Y. On the ground. And you got to dominate, you know, and that's why, you know, you got to dominate, you know, dominate the threat. And. And. And because he.

Or. Or she. And, you know, in some cases, you know, they're most dangerous when they're on their feet and wielding whatever's in their arms or hands or.

Or, you know, and they're able to strike. And when you get them on the ground, that negates a lot of it right there. So that's cool. I'm glad to hear you say that.

But I've seen some of your videos, and, you know, you're quite an accomplished man, and I appreciate that. And you're a man of service. And so you're in the Marine Corps for four years. What did you do in the Marine Corps? Were you infantry? Were you?

What'd you do?

Roy Holland: 00:08:40

So I started. I actually started out as an admin guy, but I didn't want to do that.

John McDaniel: 00:08:48

No.

Roy Holland: 00:08:48

And. And so I ended up in the infantry.

John McDaniel: 00:08:51

Awesome.

Roy Holland: 00:08:52

The Marine Corps was. Was gracious enough to allow me to. To. To seek out a different mos of infantry.

John McDaniel: 00:09:01

An infantryman. Yeah. I love it. So what do they call that? I remember, you know, that. That. That they have a. Like, in the army, you know. 11 Bravo is infantry.

Roy Holland: 00:09:16

Yeah.

John McDaniel: 00:09:17

03 11. Yeah. Yeah. Oh 03 11. Congratulations. Oh, 03 11. You made it, you know?

Roy Holland: 00:09:23

Yes. Yeah.

You know, it's funny, you know, looking back at my young self now, I didn't recognize the looks I was getting from the people when I was complaining that I didn't want to, you know, I wasn't. Didn't join the Marine Corps to push paper.

John McDaniel: 00:09:39

Right.

Roy Holland: 00:09:39

And. And I had gotten in a little trouble. I was a troublemaker a little bit, you know, when I was younger, and so they were happy to.

I said, you know, I think I want to try this infantry thing. And the looks I got were kind of, you know.

John McDaniel: 00:09:54

You're leaving this for that.

Roy Holland: 00:09:55

Yeah, exactly.

John McDaniel: 00:09:56

Right, Exactly. The coffee machines right over there. And you got that nice chair you're sitting in now. You want to hump a rucksack.

Roy Holland: 00:10:02

Yeah.

John McDaniel: 00:10:03

And eat dirt for a living. You know, live like an Earth pig. That's what you want to do. You're like, yeah, that's exactly what I want to do.

Roy Holland: 00:10:09

Yep. And it worked out great. So.

John McDaniel: 00:10:11

Yeah. Good for you. That's character building. I love it. I gravitate. That's All I wanted to do. I remember when I.

Because I was enlisted for a short period of time, so I got to kind of see, at least understand the military a little bit better. And then I went to the ROTC and all this. And, And I remember when it came time to pick your branch assignments, they gave you three back in the day.

I don't know what they do today, but back in the late. In the mid-80s, they would give you. They gave the officers this sheet of paper and they said you need to pick three branches of service.

And they listed all of them like you could. I could have put medical service, corps, but I mean, let's face it, I didn't go to medical school, so I didn't want. I don't want that.

And, you know, artillery, okay? So I know what artillery is, you know, all the branches, you know, and I knew what I wanted to be because I had already seen it.

I wanted to be an Airborne Ranger. And I knew the first step to that was becoming, you know, being an infantryman. So I wrote down in my sheet, infantry, infantry, infantry.

I just let three. I didn't give them any other choices.

And I turned it in and my, my, my, my, my instructor looked at that and he's like, he just shook his head like any, any submitted it that way, you know, so anyway, you got to love it, man. The infantry is where it's at.

So if you're out there listening to this and you think, you know, you, you have a calling and you'd like to serve your country and you're, you know, a guy, you know, who, who loves sports and, and the outdoors and, and, you know, been on teams before and likes to work hard and, you know, I think the infantry, that, that's for you and that's, that, that's what you want to do because that's, that's, that's where the rubber meets the road, isn't it?

Roy Holland: 00:12:01

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, as a, as a chief of police who has to hire, you know, police officers and stuff like that, when I get people that apply, I always like veterans to apply. Yeah. But a lot of times I'll get kids that are going to join the military or they ask me, what should I do? I want to be a police officer.

I say join the military or go to college.

And if you join the military, do infantry or another skill building, you know, because being an MP in the military is not going to help you be a civilian police officer. But every person that I've, you know, pretty much every person I've worked with as a police officer that was in the infantry.

You build the life skills that help you become a better police officer and a better person.

John McDaniel: 00:12:43

I might. You might, I might add. Right. I mean, life skills. You learn, you learn in the infantry. You learn, you know, a lot of things.

Practicing misery might be one of them. But that's character building, right?

Roy Holland: 00:12:58

Oh, absolutely.

John McDaniel: 00:12:59

Team building. And, and you understand chain of command.

You understand your peers, you understand, you know, there's, there's, it's a, it is a lesson in life problem solving with.

Roy Holland: 00:13:11

The least amount of support available.

John McDaniel: 00:13:14

That's right. That's right. Adapt, overcome, improvise, you know. Hey, hey, Sarge, all I got is this, you know, this toothpick and this bailing wire and.

And this piece of bubble gum. They' like that'll work.

Roy Holland: 00:13:26

You know, to imagine what the. It's amazing what the E4 mafia can build.

John McDaniel: 00:13:30

Oh my God.

Roy Holland: 00:13:31

With little. Little to nothing.

John McDaniel: 00:13:33

Yeah. Just get out of their way, man.

Roy Holland: 00:13:35

That's right.

John McDaniel: 00:13:35

And marvel at what they come up with. And just. I, I got a huge.

I had a huge grin in my face because I mean, the E4 mafia, for those that don't know what that means, you know, that it goes, you know, E1, E2, E3. Those are all privates. E4 is a corporal, but he's still an E4. And he's more of in a leadership position.

But by the time you get to specialist in the army and I guess in the Marine Corps is an E4, is that, is that a. A lance corporal or corporal? What is an E4 in the Marine Corps?

Roy Holland: 00:14:11

A bigger corporal. Corporal.

John McDaniel: 00:14:12

Okay. They don't have lance corp.

Roy Holland: 00:14:14

They don't have lance lance corporal is an E3.

John McDaniel: 00:14:16

Okay. All right. So they're private private first class. Okay. I wasn't in the Marine Corps, so. Yeah.

Anyway, the E4 mafia is the, the, the, the guys that are getting or you know, they haven't made Sergeant E5 yet, but it's a powerful lot because they're running hurt on. On, on all the privates. Right. And.

Roy Holland: 00:14:34

Absolutely.

John McDaniel: 00:14:35

And all the good ones are chomping at the bit to be a sergeant, you know, so they gotta fly straight. And they're usually at the end of their first enlistment. Right.

Roy Holland: 00:14:43

Yes.

John McDaniel: 00:14:43

So they're at a critical juncture. They're either going to re up for another three to five years, whatever the contract is, and become a sergeant, because that's part of the deal.

Get a little bonus. But that the E4 mafia is running the herd. Right.

Roy Holland: 00:14:57

It's just hilarious, you know, And a good, a good leader learns to, to get out of their way and watch some of that ingenuity and.

John McDaniel: 00:15:05

That's right. That's right. But they all, they also, they also. Well, that's why you have sergeants, you know that. That's why I love it.

I got a big grin on my face because it takes me back to a time that I fondly remember. So let's get, let's get into this a little bit here. You know, you, you and I first met at, at Camp Hackett. Is that right? Is that right?

Yeah, we met at Camp Hackett up in the northwoods of Wisconsin. You were on event.

And I remember first, you know, when I put my eyeballs on you and we first met, I thought to myself that this guy's this guy squared away, you know, and I could just tell.

And then, you know, we got to chatting and by the end of that event, I believe you had said to me, and that's got to be, you know, we're on if that, if that was the 10th annual hacket, we're on like 19. So that was eight or nine years ago that that happened.

But I remember you saying to me, you know, John, I'm interested in hosting an event or doing something with you.

I don't know what that is, but, you know, I appreciate what you're doing here and I'm going to go back to New Hampshire and, and stand by, you know, words to that effect. And. And I'll be darned if you didn't do it.

I mean, you're out there now with a very successful event in the great state of New Hampshire, hunting bear and fishing for bass. Coming up on your seventh year in Grafton, New Hampshire, and serving our combat wounded veterans on an event that you started.

I mean, that's pretty impressive, buddy. And I want to thank you for that and your entire community of support up there because I know it's strong.

But I want to thank you and everybody up there for what you're doing to help our combat wounded. And I would like you to tell us about your experience, if you don't mind.

Share with us, you know, what it's like to host an event for the foundation when these combat wounded veterans show up in your camp to do, you know, to do your thing. What's that like?

Roy Holland: 00:17:24

So it's, it's, you know, the first year or two that you do it, it's scary.

You know, you want to provide this great experience that I had, you know, coming out to Camp Hackett and the other events I went on and you're hosting people that, you know, we've talked on the phone a little bit, we've, you know, maybe exchanged a few emails, but they're from all different kinds of walks of life.

And so, you know, I would lie if I didn't say the first couple years it was stressful, that I put a lot of stress on myself to provide this great experience.

And then once you've done it for a couple years and you kind of settle into the, the rhythm, it's one of the most fulfilling things that I can say that I actually do. It's made some great friends.

John McDaniel: 00:18:15

Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:18:17

And even more important than that, I've connected some other people that became great friends.

You know, I don't have to become a great friend with every hero that comes out, but I surround myself with people that are really good people that, that are there for the right purpose. And so they, you know, some of them have become really, really good friends as well.

John McDaniel: 00:18:39

Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:18:41

And I, you know, it's just so fulfilling that, that I've never had anybody that participates that, that helps me out after say that they don't want to do it again. You know what I mean? I have a line of people, I have to bat people away.

John McDaniel: 00:18:58

Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:18:59

To come out and help with the event. And it's a lot of work, you know, and it's a lot of dedication from my team. Absolutely. But just one.

Just even to give back an experience of some bear hunting and some fishing to other, you know, other purple hired veterans from around the country, which is just great. It's the connections that are made sitting around that campfire are even more than the hunting experience in a lot of aspects of it.

John McDaniel: 00:19:34

Yeah.

Well, I would imagine that let's just say you're from Tupelo, Mississippi, and you're a combat wounded veteran and you happen to be a Marine and that's your hometown.

And now you're discharged from the service and somehow you stumble upon the WWIA and what we're doing and you drop an application and you've never hunted a bear in your life. And you indicate on your application that you'd like to go bear hunting.

And Corrina calls you a year later and says, or six months later, whatever it is, and says, hey, how'd you like to go hunt bear in New Hampshire? I mean, you got, you know, those kids are those, those men are lighting up like, like light bulbs. Like that's a big deal. That is a huge deal.

And of course they're going to say yes to that.

And then they rock up and there's you, you know, a former Marine and, you know, opening your arms and your camp is all fired up and they're going to get a chance to, you know, to go take a black bear in New Hampshire. Now, they.

They probably in their wildest dreams, never imagined that they would ever get there and do that, but there you are, and that's pretty cool.

Roy Holland: 00:20:46

A great story is my very first year doing it. You know, I picked everybody up from the airport. We got back to camp, you know, as quick as we could get everybody into a stand.

And one of the Heroes, he said to me, he said, you know, he said, I've always wanted to see a moose. And he said, you know, if I can get a chance at a bear, that would be great, but I've always wanted to see a moose in person.

I said, well, you know, if you, if you sit quiet enough and you stay still enough, you just might. You never know.

He wasn't in the stand for 15 minutes, and a giant bull moose walked within five feet of his stand, and he couldn't believe that the bull moose was almost as tall as his stand.

John McDaniel: 00:21:25

Right.

Roy Holland: 00:21:26

That experience alone, he. He just, he was already on cloud nine, you know, and then the next day, he got an opportunity to take a bear, so.

John McDaniel: 00:21:32

Wow.

Roy Holland: 00:21:33

Yeah, those are the experiences that are. You know, I had a Marine that came out a couple years ago. You know, he came. He was very nervous because he, he was brand new to hunting.

John McDaniel: 00:21:46

Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:21:46

And, you know, so for the first day or two, me or one of my. One of my teammates sat with him, you know, to talk them through hunting and this.

And that gave him a lot of our life lessons, because I grew up hunting and fishing, and I still keep in contact with him, and now he's, like an avid hunter. He's, He's. He's hunting anything he can and everything he can, and he's. When he left, he had said that he had found his new. His new hobby, his new.

His new life passion, and he sure did.

John McDaniel: 00:22:17

That's super cool. Yeah. When you can turn, you know, past the magic and turn. Turn other people on to, To.

To the outdoors and, and, you know, I know there are people out there that, you know, are against hunting. I. I'm sure of it. I've. I've heard that before somewhere. But, I mean, for the most part, you know, we're, We're. We're. We're predators.

We're hunters and gatherers.

We didn't get to where we are by eating leaves, you know, we got to where we are because we started consuming proteins from animals, you know, and those proteins made our, our brains go get bigger. But we had to figure out how to hunt, you know, and kill something and harvest it, if you want to use that language, and then, you know, cook it.

That means you had to have fire, you know, probably ate it raw sometimes, I would imagine. But, you know, all these things that it made us who we are today. You know, our eyes are set forward in our head for a reason.

You know, we're eight apex predators on the planet. You can't. Can't say it any other way. And, and there's a reason for that.

And, and, and hunting and, and gathering, you know, and fishing, of course, are, you know, germane to who we are.

And so when you're connecting people with that and the ecosystem that surrounds them and communities who care, you know, you're really doing something special, you know, and that's, that's the program and, and you, and you're just knocking out of the park. So, you know, we really, really appreciate that. So tell us a little, a little bit about the reaction that you get from your community support.

You know, anybody you say, you know, you're, you're stiff arm and guys, you know, all hosts eventually have that same problem that is what to do with all this help, you know, and it's, it's a good problem, you know, because it just means you're successful. But the more people that, you know, get involved in this, you know, the better off you are normally, you know, but your challenge now is.

My challenge is, is what are you going to do with all this help?

You know, you got to figure out how to employ people in a, in a productive manner that adds light and not heat to the equation, you know, and so you're managing that as well. But I'm sure you hear stories from them about what this experience means to me or to them, right?

Roy Holland: 00:24:41

Oh, absolutely.

I have guys that are, that have been there since, you know, year one and that are just passionate, as passionate as I am, and that are, you know, they're, they're emotional at the end of the, at the end of the weekend when, when the guy, you know, guys or girls, you know, head back home and, and, and the minute we, the minute I, we wrap up camp, you know, I get a text message or an email or something or a phone call that says, hey, I, I definitely, you know, better be part of this next year, you know, and so, you know, and it is A balance to it. Just as you said, the community support is just amazing.

But I try to keep camp kind of low key so that other people that come from a busy life can get that opportunity to relax and not feel overwhelmed.

John McDaniel: 00:25:36

Right, yeah. And you mentioned it earlier about getting in a rhythm. And I think there's a natural rhythm that eventually develops with all missions.

We like rhythm because it's somewhat predictable. And then you get com.

More comfortable because there's so much dynamic, so much dynamic dynamics to the equation to begin with, because you're bringing three, four, maybe five people, heroes, combat wounded, veterans that you've never met other than maybe spoke on the phone a couple times with, exchanged an email maybe. But you're bringing them from three or four different locations from across the country to one central location.

They don't like to travel to begin with, so they got that going on. Most of them don't like it. And then they're going to a place that they've never been to meet people they.

They've never been with, to hunt a species, in this case, a dangerous game animal that they've never hunted before. So there's a lot of, you know, newness, you know, to this equation that make it very dynamic. And then you add the personalities in there.

Sure, there's commonality and, you know, in of experience. In other words, they all served their country, they were all wounded, they were all given the Purple Heart, but.

But yet there's all this anticipation, you know, hey, I want to see a moose, man. You know, all these things, hey, you know, I'm gonna go hunt bear for the first time. Yeah.

All these things that are going on in their minds, and then now they're in your camp. You can't say the emotions aren't high. Of course they are.

You know, I mean, everybody's trying to act cool and, you know, and be Fonzie, but inside there's all this stuff going on and. And then eventually it's sort of.

Once everybody gets to know each other, usually by the end of that first day when the guys start cutting on each other, you know, hacking on each other, if you will, ribbing each other, then, you know it's going to be just fine.

Roy Holland: 00:27:38

That's exactly it. Right. What's, what's the. What's the cracks coming out, you know, that, you know, everybody's kind of settled in, you know.

John McDaniel: 00:27:47

Exactly. Right. Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:27:51

As a host, one of the. One of my favorite. One of my favorite things to hear during, during the event, outside of the.

Of the personal connection side Is, Is, is when you hear that first crack of a rifle. Oh, yeah, you know, because most of our hunting sites aren't very far from camp. And so, yeah, you know, I'll. Quick story.

I don't want to get, you know, take too much time up. But the very first year we did it, I was sitting with Carl Pellerin and Johnny Pellerin. They're the owners of the camp.

John McDaniel: 00:28:25

Okay, okay.

Roy Holland: 00:28:26

We've gotten. The first year we did it, we had three heroes.

So we had gotten all three heroes out into their, out into their stance, and we were kind of just relaxing.

We all said to each other, like, okay, now we just need the bears to cooperate, you know, because, you know, wild animals don't exactly always follow.

John McDaniel: 00:28:44

They don't have the, they didn't get the OP word, man.

Roy Holland: 00:28:46

Exactly. And it took about. It was only took about 45 minutes.

And you heard that first crack of a rifle and, and then, you know, we, we, we have a standing rule because like you said, you know, bears can be dangerous game, you know, and, you know, stay in your stand. We'll, we'll come help you track it and all that stuff. And I got that crack on the radio that said, got a bear down. I can see it.

And, you know, I'm staying in my stand. And it just like, for that very first year, that was that huge weight just kind of.

John McDaniel: 00:29:15

Oh, yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:29:15

Oh, went away. And then about 15 minutes later, we heard another crack of a rifle from a different stand. So that was very good first night.

John McDaniel: 00:29:23

Yeah, that's for sure. Well, you know, morale is going to be super high in camp, too, that, that night. And morale's in, you know, that's an important thing.

I, I, I say to everybody, you know, I guess I do. Everybody, even my kids, my boys, I say, you know, how's your morale? You know, I don't say it just to say it.

I'm actually interested, you know, and morale is something that you can, you know, if you're a leader, you can gauge morale. If you walk into a camp and morale is low, you know, you're like, something's going on here.

But if you walk into a camp and morale is high, you know that as well. And so leaders can do things to and should do things to create a climate in an atmosphere where morale can be high.

Now, if you're in the infantry, you know, sometimes morale's not always high because you got to do stuff that sucks. But, but, you know, you can also find ways of improving morale. Like, for example, you know, we've been eating MREs for four days.

And, and, and you know, my, my, my first sergeant figures out a way to skinny some hot chow, you know. Now that's going to improve morale. You know, that's a big deal.

Hot chow is a big deal if you're an infantryman, you know, and been living in the bush for four days. So, yeah, I imagine morale was quite, quite high in your camp on that, that first night after having harvested a couple of bear. That's great, man.

So here's what I'd like to shift gears on a little bit before we close out our, our wonderful chat here is you. I want to talk about two things, so I, I would like you to.

And you can pick which order, but I'd like you to tell us about your family because I know you, you know, you, you have a, a wife and, and two sons. I'd like to like to hear about that.

like to hear about, you know,: 2006

Roy Holland: 00:31:36

Sure. So my family is absolutely wonderful. They are the heart and soul of, you know, who I am and what I do. My, my.

I've been married to my wife, Sasha for 26 years.

John McDaniel: 00:31:51

Congratulations.

Roy Holland: 00:31:52

Thank you. Thank you. We, you know, so she's been, you know, I always, when I talk about it, you know, I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan several times.

And I always say that we went through deployments or we were in the military because, you know, she was. Everything that I wasn't here to do, she was doing, you know, and so, and I've, I have two great boys, Russell and Braden.

They're, we're in the, you know, obviously being married for 26 years now, we're kind of in the almost empty nester stages of life. My older boy, he's 25 years old. You know, he's working, done college and out working, and, and he's a great, great, great kid.

John McDaniel: 00:32:37

So your oldest boy is 25. What about Braden?

Roy Holland: 00:32:41

Braden is 17. He's just about to turn 18.

John McDaniel: 00:32:45

All right.

Roy Holland: 00:32:45

He's a, a smart little whip. He, he graduated, he graduated high school actually a little over a year early and decided to start college.

So he's actually already done his, he's already in his second semester of college.

John McDaniel: 00:32:56

Wow.

Roy Holland: 00:32:57

And he is My Russell is my, my fishing buddy and, and braiding is Braden is my hunting buddy. Braden loves hunting and fishing so much that he chose for his graduation gift. We're actually headed to South Africa hunting in about three weeks.

And so we're doing a father son trip to, to South Africa to do a little bit of hunting.

John McDaniel: 00:33:22

That's so cool. Let me ask you, you know, I'm a dad with two boys and they love to hunt and fish too. And, and you know, I, I took Dylan, the oldest one.

He turned 10 and this year and, and in November for the school break, I took him deer hunting. I told him I was going to do that. When you turn 10, we can deer hunt. He'd been chomping at the bit for two years.

Seeing all, you know, some of, some of his buddies hunting earlier.

You know, some of the guys we, we were, you know, in the foundation, they have children and they've been, you know, he's seen some of the pictures of kids when they're eight and nine killing deer, and he's like, you know, dad, and I'm like, I know you're ready, buddy, but 10's the number. So I took him hunting at 10 this, this last fall. And it was hard to leave Luke, the 8 year old.

But I told Luke, I said, listen, Buddy, when you're 10, it's your turn and your brother staying home. And then after that, we're hunting together as a team. But how'd you manage that as a dad?

Roy Holland: 00:34:22

So it's, it's funny, I, I, there were some lessons learned there for me because I started Braden really young, at six.

John McDaniel: 00:34:29

Okay.

Roy Holland: 00:34:30

And he, the first couple years. So Braden shot his first deer. It's, he got a deer at 6, 7 and 8.

John McDaniel: 00:34:39

Wow.

Roy Holland: 00:34:41

But I did all the scouting.

I set up the blinds, I set up the, you know, we used a tripod and you know, I mean, so we went to the range just about every day and he practiced, he practiced, he practiced. And he's a good little shot.

John McDaniel: 00:34:55

Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:34:55

And he got a deer those first three years. And this is kind of a funny story that I pick on him about every now and then is then I heard him telling a friend how easy hunting was.

You just show up and shoot the deer.

And so that year I, I took that lesson learned and, and I said, okay, you know, you've shot your first three deer, so now you're going to do all the scouting.

You're going to pick the spot that we, that we set up to stand and, or the blind and, and so he went about two years without, without getting a shot at a deer and stuff like that. And the first year, he didn't hardly scout at all. Every time I offered, he didn't want to go out and this and that.

So opening day, he didn't see anything. And for a couple of days, you know, he didn't see anything. And now, you know, that bled into him, asking questions, what am I looking for?

How do I, how come I'm not seeing here? But, you know, you always see deer. And so now he's an avid hunter and he's, you know, scouting and shed hunting and, and research.

He's, he's, Braden has high functioning autism, and so he's very good at research and all that stuff. And so it really put into him that you actually have to put in the work if you want to be successful.

John McDaniel: 00:36:19

And so that's a great story and I appreciate you sharing it because there's a lot of lessons in there, and one of them is this idea of the gift of failure. And it's hard to put it that way, but that's what it is.

And so in failing, there is a gift, especially when you're a parent and you allow and afford your children to fail. Okay? Because too many parents today are just paving that road, bulldozing that road, and making sure everything is just all perfect for them.

And guess what? When they get out there on their own and they find out it ain't perfect, they fail. And they have not failed before.

And now the wheels come off their wagon and, and it's just a, you know, there's a cascading effect to it. And so the way to really do that is allow them the space to fail. And, you know, and you did that.

You know, he went out there and he failed and he failed and he failed and he didn't see any deer, and then he starts asking questions, you know, like, hey, dad, how'd you do this? You know, and, and that's, you know, that's great, man. That's a great, those are, those are their great life lessons.

Because what we're, is that Braden, when he's out there on, in, on his own in this great big difficult world that he is, you know, prepared to, to fail and get, get himself, dust himself off and, and re, you know, pivot, re, you know, adjust something and get back on the horse and, and, or, or start marching. You know, that's what we do. Right? So that's good, man. I, I, I appreciate you sharing that. That's a, that's a good dad lesson right there.

Roy Holland: 00:37:58

I appreciate that. Yeah, It's. You know, and he's better for it, you know. Now, you know what's. What's the saying, right? You give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.

Teach a man to fish, feed him for life, you know?

John McDaniel: 00:38:09

That's right. Exactly right. That's very good. Wow, man, that. That. This has been. It's been great. You got to tell us, though, if you don't mind, if we can.

If we can shift gears and talk about the, you know, when you. When you got wounded in action.

Roy Holland: 00:38:28

Sure. Yeah. So in: 2006

e Marine Corps active duty in: 2000

John McDaniel: 00:38:52

Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:38:52

Had done a stint with them, and I got back, and then a couple years later, the. I was recruited by the 3rd of the 172nd Mountain Infantry Unit up in Jericho, Vermont, where the Mountain warehouse School is.

They were doing a heavy amount of deployments and stuff like that. So had that conversation with. With the boss, AKA the wife.

John McDaniel: 00:39:17

Exactly.

Roy Holland: 00:39:18

And said that, you know, obviously I had a skill set that was unique to, you know, to the war on terrorism and stuff like that. And so I joined that unit and almost immediately deployed to Iraq, to Ramadi. And then.

So In May of: 2006

And the guy touched off the car bomb and. And myself and several other guys were. Were injured from shrapnel.

John McDaniel: 00:40:07

Did you see the car before it blew up?

Roy Holland: 00:40:09

Oh, yeah. We were trying to. We didn't know it was a. A suicide car bomb at the time. He was just. The driver was just acting sketchy.

So we were trying to get the driver out of the vehicle, and he. You know, we weren't. The. The information that we got after was, is that we weren't his intended target.

John McDaniel: 00:40:26

We just busted him. Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:40:27

Yep. We stopped him from getting to his intended target, so.

John McDaniel: 00:40:30

Wow. Probably saved countless lives in the process, buddy.

Roy Holland: 00:40:34

It was, you know, Ramadi. Ramadi in 06 was. Was kind of the. The Wild West.

John McDaniel: 00:40:40

Oh, that's one of the worst places on the planet at that time. That's one of the dangerous. Most dangerous places in the world.

Roy Holland: 00:40:46

Yeah. Every. They pushed. We were part of the. We were there before and then we were. We were part of the. The push, you know, through Ramadi.

You know, they had. You know, they'd done Fallujah the year before that, and.

John McDaniel: 00:40:57

Yeah, five and six were bad years.

Roy Holland: 00:41:01

Yeah. Everybody who fled Fallujah went to Ramadi.

John McDaniel: 00:41:04

Right.

Roy Holland: 00:41:05

So, yeah, so I. I got injured, you know, from. I got p. I still have. I got some shrapnel in my. My. My legs and in my abs. I still have some of the shrapnel in my abs.

John McDaniel: 00:41:16

Oh, man.

Roy Holland: 00:41:17

From it.

John McDaniel: 00:41:18

But do you remember the detonation, or was it. Was it just something that happened that you. Later. I mean, I'm just curious, man.

I mean, I don't mean to pry, but I mean, I'm just trying to visualize, you know, looking at a vehicle, a sketchy vehicle, and trying to get somebody out of it, and the next thing you know, it blows up. I mean, do. Do you have recollection of it detonating or were, you know, what. What happened?

Roy Holland: 00:41:47

Yeah, I was. So. I actually was standing next to my platoon sergeant at the time. I was. I was part. I was still part of the E4 mafia.

I was standing next to him, and we were trying to. You know, we were. He was giving the commands for the driver to get out of the vehicle, and we had the vehicle pretty much, you know, in a.

In a horseshoe. And I remember the door opening.

John McDaniel: 00:42:14

At what distance did you say?

Roy Holland: 00:42:16

Oh, we were only 40. Probably 40 yards.

John McDaniel: 00:42:19

And you got your weapons trained on this guy, trying to get him out of the vehicle?

Roy Holland: 00:42:23

Yep, Yep. And then I. He opened the. He opened the door. And then I. I distinctly remember hearing the. This charge the pew. And. And then the vehicle blew up. I.

It blew me back. I don't know, probably 15 or 20 yards. Most of the shrapnel hit my. Hit my helmet and hit my plate carrier, which is what saved me, thank God.

Luckily, none of it hit me, obviously, in the neck and stuff.

John McDaniel: 00:42:51

You. You had it. But you had. You had a flak vest on with a ceramic plate on your chest.

Roy Holland: 00:42:56

Yes.

John McDaniel: 00:42:57

And that saved your life?

Roy Holland: 00:42:58

That's what saved me. Absolutely.

John McDaniel: 00:42:59

Wow.

Roy Holland: 00:43:00

And then.

John McDaniel: 00:43:01

And your Kevlar helmet and my.

Roy Holland: 00:43:03

And my helmet, Yep. And then the. Of. Of you know, of all the people that are injured, we lost one. One guy, and then another guy was really, really badly injured. His.

Both his legs were, you know, messed up pretty bad, but they. We were able to, you know, you know, recover from that. Obviously, it was a pretty big blow to our platoon, but.

So I actually end up staying in Country Yeah. And finished out.

John McDaniel: 00:43:37

Yeah. Well, buddy, I gotta tell you, man, thanks for sharing that. I genuinely appreciate it.

I'm always a little bit reticent to ask guys about it, but you and I have known each other long enough and I appreciate you sharing that with me. It's an important story.

People who are listening to this, most of whom, you know, never wore a uniform, and, you know, they, they just, I'm sure that they appreciate you sharing that with us. We would Otherwise, you know, never known, you know, but what great, brave men.

And now what testament to you, and many men like you who, you know, had to take the uniform off, you know, went and served their country in a time of need, got wounded and took their uniform off, returned to their hometown, became the chief of police, and then started an event to help other combat wounded veterans. I mean, that right there, if that's not a story, if that doesn't make you a hero, nothing does, man.

I mean, I'm sure you got a whole closet of invisible capes, you know, but to me, you're like a superman. And I appreciate all that you've done. You're doing phenomenal work. And, you know, it's just an honor to know you, buddy.

Roy Holland: 00:45:01

I, I, I appreciate that.

I, I'm just glad that we met, you know, that I, I, I can't thank you enough for the opportunity that you give me to, to help, you know, to reach out and help, you know, as as many people as I can.

loyment was in Afghanistan in: 2010

I don't know if you ever met him, but I know you knew him. Wesley Black.

John McDaniel: 00:45:44

Yeah, I know the name. Yeah, yeah, Wesley Black. Yeah.

Roy Holland: 00:45:47

Yeah, Me and Wesley were really good friends, and we had been to Iraq and Afghanistan both together and stuff. And he had reached out to me and said, hey, try this organization.

And I signed up and, you know, I met you and Whip, you know, and actually, you know, Dan Berryman, we're still good friends, you know, talking a lot.

John McDaniel: 00:46:08

And they just talked to Dan the other day.

Roy Holland: 00:46:10

Yeah, they're all great people. And, you know, you kind of, you know, I wasn't pushed to do an event by any means. I kind of threw it out there.

But you gave me every resource that I needed to, to do it. You Know, and to, and to, and to do, you know, and it's, and a lot of it was just the phone calls, the first conversations that we had. Right. I was.

Because I've been a police officer, you know, in the community for a long time.

John McDaniel: 00:46:35

Yeah. And you got some help that you didn't expect. We didn't mention them because I didn't, I didn't. I don't know that it's appropriate.

You know, some people that are true philanthropists, you know, they don't necessarily, you know, want their, who they are disclosed.

But, you know, I'll, I'll give you in closing an opportunity if you want to mention, you know, and you don't have to, that's your relationship with, you know, the folks that primarily do the, provide the support for funding for your mission.

But I'm sure there are people that you'd like to recognize and thank because you've also, you know, I think the guys on your mission, aren't they also getting a firearm or at least they did at one point? I remember you developing a relationship with a fine firearm manufacturer. Right.

Roy Holland: 00:47:29

Yes. Yeah. And I know that, you know, exactly what you mentioned with them.

They, we developed a partnership with, you know, one of our finer American made firearms companies and every year they graciously gift a firearm to each of the heroes that come to the event. That's just amazing.

And then we have a local foundation called the Burn foundation that I've talked to the head of that and he told me, don't worry about fundraising. We'll make sure your event happens.

John McDaniel: 00:48:05

That's amazing. That's just amazing. God bless him. God bless everybody. Man. That's, that, that's pulling for, for these Heroes. You know, there's a road ahead, man.

I mean, there just is. We're not done.

There's, there's a, you know, this, this work is important work and you know, it helps ground people, it welcome, welcomes them back, it recognizes them for what they've done for, for, you know, our country and, and the, the def, you know, fighting for freedom and, you know, connecting them with people who care and connecting them with each other and connecting them with nature and all of that. You know, there's a healing component and you're a big part of that. Roy, thanks for all you do, buddy.

Roy Holland: 00:48:54

Thank you.

John McDaniel: 00:48:55

That was a great, great podcast. I look forward to hearing this one again and sharing it with many people. You have a great day.

Keep, keep doing what you're doing and thanks for your time today.

Roy Holland: 00:49:09

Thank you, John. I look forward to talking to you again.

John McDaniel: 00:49:12

All right, Roy. See ya.

Narrator: 00:49:16

Thank you for listening to the WWIA Podcast.

To learn more about the Wounded warriors in Action foundation and how you can get involved, please visit our website at www.or follow us on social media, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

If you'd like to comment or offer feedback about our podcast, or if you have a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at Podcast thank you for your support and for helping us honor, connect and heal our combat wound wounded Purple Heart heroes through the power of the great outdoors.