Episode 452 Aaron Hudgins Overcoming Loss through Advocacy and Service Transcript

This transcript is from episode 452 with guest Aaron Hudgins.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Hey everyone. Welcome back to Drive On. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And today my guest is Aaron Hudgins. He’s a retired first sergeant and the surviving spouse of staff Sergeant Jari J. Hudgins. And today we’re going to be talking about his 26 years of service with the Oklahoma Army National Guard, his recent appointment to the Survivors Advisory Working Group, uh, with his, uh, His work with the nonprofit and, uh, how his, uh, how he was able to fulfill his wife’s dream of graduating, uh, from college.

Uh, so, uh, before we get into all of that though, uh, Aaron, I want to welcome you to the show. Glad to have you here.

Aaron Hudgins: I’m, I’m excited to be here. This is, this is some pretty amazing stuff. So I’m, I’m very excited to actually get some of this stuff out and, and tell my story.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. And I’m, I’m glad to be able to help with sharing that story, uh, sharing your story and, and your, your wife’s story as well. Um, tell us about [00:01:00] your, your, your Uh, maybe your service, let’s start maybe with a little bit with that, your, uh, experience, uh, in the National Guard. I know you deployed a couple of times, uh, tell us about, uh, some of that and, uh, and, and how that kind of shaped your career.

Aaron Hudgins: Yeah, so, um, like everyone else, I got out of high school and I wanted to be in the service, but I didn’t want to go too far. So I, I joined the Oklahoma National Guard thinking I’d be just a traditional soldier. I’d get my college 6 years and be out. I found myself, you know, 3 years into it. In Bosnia, which, you know, I, I didn’t think I was ever going to deploy because they don’t, you know, at the time it was before 9 11, pre 9 11, we didn’t deploy anywhere, so the last time we deployed was like Korea, so I wasn’t too concerned about that, and, uh, next thing I know, they’re like, Hey, we’re going to Bosnia.

And so the Balkans were probably an amazing experience, and it was, it was my, hands down my favorite tour out of the two. [00:02:00] After that, I wanted to do it full time. I just found this drive to be like, man, I’d like to do that all the time. And so I applied for an AGR position at the same unit that I deployed with. I got it. And while that happened, that’s when 9 11 kicked off. And in between this and that, you know, next thing you know, the unit’s back in Afghanistan and back. I got to miss that tour, and I heard it was like the Wild West show down there. But after I got back, I mean, after they got back. We, uh, settled up for another deployment in 2007, and in between that, we are getting the calls, um, because United National Guard, we, we answer the calls to home more than we answer the calls to overseas. So, I had 4, I had 4 state activations while I was, um, in, which was, uh, the May 3rd tornado in 99 here in, uh, Oklahoma that destroyed Moore and Minko, [00:03:00] and then, um, right before, right after September 11th, I did the airport security for about, uh, 6 months. And so, that was actually a really interesting experience.

And then, uh, Katrina, we started up and the entire 45th went to Katrina down in New Orleans, and that was, I don’t know, that could be a whole show in itself, is, Katrina was absolutely a crazy wild experience, um, I have so many good stories about that place, but we were down there in the very beginning, about three days into it, and Oklahoma came down there, and we were there full force, and then, um, of course my, my tour to Iraq, Which is at Kambuka, was um, you know, nothing, nothing sexy, nothing exciting, we had our, we had just about everything that everyone else had, that um, I could think of that would be a normal tour in Iraq, a lot of down time, and um, not what I was expecting, I was expecting a completely different, you know, Um, experience going overseas during the war, [00:04:00] and, but, you know, it, it had its benefits, and so, uh, when we got back is when I decided I was like, I need to, I need to change a profession.

Um, infantry life was, it was great, and I, I loved it, but, uh, my, my body was ready for a change. And so, I, uh, I applied for a job up at State, um, AGR’s position, and I got it, and so I switched over to a 42 Alpha MOS, but I found that very, very rewarding, especially in the AGR world, because there’s a lot of things that you don’t take into account, and so I learned a whole nother side, like the corporate version of the Army, more or less, and so I spent the last part of my years, like, Running numbers and stats, statistics, and things that the general would need to know on a regular basis.

And so that is what I ended up doing for pretty much the last part of my career. And that’s where I had my, uh, my wife. So,

Scott DeLuzio: [00:05:00] you said, is that okay? Awesome. So, so that, that kind of like brought you guys, uh, together. That’s pretty cool. Um, I do want to kind of circle back for a second because when I pose this question, I, I caught myself because, um, of something that you brought up during this, but, um, you know, I said you were deployed a couple of times and of course I was referring to overseas deployment, your Bosnia and Iraq, uh, deployments, but, um, Being a National Guard, especially in the Midwest, uh, there, there are state activations as well, where you are going to help tornadoes, hurricanes, other natural disaster type things, 9 11, airport security, uh, those types of things, and I, I don’t think I don’t think that gets enough attention, uh, when, when people, uh, realize that there, there are disasters, there are people who go and help, and a lot of times, that’s, that’s the National Guard, you know, when they, they go and they, they show up there to, [00:06:00] um, you know, help with whatever it is that needs, you know, Uh, you know, helping at that point.

Right. It’s each situation is going to be a little bit different, but, um, you know, the national guard gets called up, uh, quite frequently, I would imagine probably in, in your neck of the woods, um, because of just how frequent the natural disasters occur. I mean, I, I was national guard, I was in Connecticut.

Um, and yeah, we got some hurricanes that, that came up. Um, but by the time they got up to Connecticut, they were usually lower grade, they, they weren’t like. Category 5, you know, crazy Katrina style hurricanes at that point. It’s just a lot of rain and wind. Yeah, sure. There’s some damage that takes place, especially along the coast, but You know, we didn’t get activated as as frequently probably as you guys did You know for that type of stuff.

Although I know that we did send people down to the For Katrina and, and [00:07:00] other things like that, that was, uh, I think before my time. So, uh, so I didn’t, I didn’t go down for that, but, um, but you know, there was, there was a lot of that type of stuff that happened as well. Right. Um, so you met your wife in, uh, in this, this new role on the state level.

Right. Um, Tell us about that and tell us kind of, you know, a little bit about your, uh, your story there and, and kind of what, what all happened with, uh, with your wife and, and how, uh, how all that kind of played out.

Aaron Hudgins: I, once I became an EA, I got a, I took a, I accepted a position to be a first sergeant back in the infantry. And if you don’t know National Guard, a lot of your, a lot of your AGRs are dual status. So we, which means is a lot of us have two jobs. You could be a brigade S1 Monday through Friday, but on drill weekend, you could be a first sergeant, which is exactly what happened to me.

So when I, when I accepted my E8, I went on to become [00:08:00] a first sergeant at Alpha Company 179, and that was where she had, I had met her through the brigade and first it was just back and forth, very professional, nothing. She was just, man, she was fire, and in the sense that just. Um, she didn’t take a lot of crap.

Um, she was very alpha. She didn’t, you know, and if, if she thought you’re, you’re, um, full of crap, she’d let you know you weren’t, and, uh, as an E5 and I’m an E8, I’m like, I don’t think you realize how this works, but at the same time, I was like, that’s awesome, because I don’t see a whole lot of people standing up to senior grades, and she did, and so, I’m like, oh, For about a year later, when she got promoted, I, uh, I reached back out to her and was like, Hey, you know, and before I could finish, she was like, you want to go out?

And I was like, yeah, actually I did. And so we, we dated for a couple of months and then it was like, you know what, I would like to marry you. And I [00:09:00] was like, what, what? And cause it was, it was, it took me completely off guard. And she was like, well, you know, we already know each other. What’s the point, you know, life’s short.

And I was like, what? You know what, let’s do it. And so we had a big, beautiful, mixed family. And we were, um, I went down to Hurricane Harvey and then came back and we decided, yeah, it was, we’re just going to do it. And so we’ve been together, um, for about close, we were closing in a year whenever she got the call to go.

So she had already deployed twice. So she, when she first got in the army, she was 82nd Airborne. it. She did her first time, uh, her tour in active duty, and then she was in, uh, Iraq for 18 months. Came home, switched over to the National Guard, uh, did some recruiting, and then crossed over and, uh, was at the Brigade doing, um, some programs with them was when I met her, and, uh, she had already deployed once to Afghanistan with the, uh, 120th [00:10:00] Engineers, and so Oklahoma is notorious for, uh, deploying.

If you don’t want to deploy, then Oklahoma Guard is not for you. As you’re going to go, they, they, they deploy all the time. And so she got the call again, uh, which that’s what, you know, we’ll get back. We’ll get into that later where it inspired her to want to go in the infantry because she wanted, she wanted to see if she could do it.

And the goal was to, you know, make it to this 3rd deployment, but she wanted to be a staff sergeant in a squad. And so that was her drive for that. And so up until that point, she never really talked about wanting to do it. And I don’t blame her because, you know, I did it for the first 15. It’s not sexy. I mean, it’s a lot of, and for women, it’s not anything, you know, Uh, worth writing home about.

But she was also a Caddo Indian. So she’s a very proud Caddo woman. She loved her heritage and where she came from. And that was another thing that drove her was she becomes infantry. She could be [00:11:00] considered a female warrior in her tribe and could have been the first. So, you know, that was a big deal to her and I could understand, I could totally understand that.

And so, yeah, she, she got that opportunity and but came back and then her deployment is what, um, caused a lot of the issues was she broke her hip, went down to Fort Hood and the WTU and at the WTU, they allowed her to come home for, um, her, uh, Physical therapy. And when she got home and she found out that this was it, that her career was now because of the, the injury, that’s when she took a downhill turn and, but she, she, like most of us, then she hit it very well.

And she didn’t give me any of the signs or anything that I’d be looking for as a, as a, um, first sergeant or just someone just looking out for it. And so it took me by, it took me and my entire family [00:12:00] completely by surprise when it happened. So, and the kids were home and it was, it was, uh, an event that to this day I will never be able to get out of my mind.

Um, you know, and I, I replay it. All the time, because I, as a leader, you, you immediately want to look back and go, where did I miss it? Where was the signs? Where was the, the cues that I should have been picking up on? And I, and I missed them and, you know, it eats me up to this day to look back and go, man, you know, and I, somewhere in there, I missed it.

And I blame myself. Um, a lot, but I’ve learned to, to move forward, even though, you know, this, this happened on my watch, and so.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. You know, I think just to kind of talk a little bit about what you, you just, uh, brought up there, you know, a lot, a lot of times, like we would go through training, uh, to [00:13:00] help us. I’d. Identify those types of signs, uh, you know, especially in a leadership role, you, you want to be looking out for the people, uh, who, who are under you.

And so you, you want to be able to identify when is someone, you know, kind of showing signs that things might not be right, that things might be going south. And, um, uh, you know, so you go through that, that type of training and when. You’re around people less frequently than, let’s say, in a marriage, you know, when you’re, you’re always around that person, um, you might notice Shifts in their, their attitude or behaviors or things like that, because it’s okay.

This is how so and so was yesterday. And then I’m not going to see them again for, you know, maybe a few more days. And then all of a sudden that their personality has changed a little bit. And so you might notice that shift a little bit more versus, um, perhaps something that might be a little bit more gradual, uh, that takes place, you know, okay, over the, [00:14:00] the next few days.

Okay. There’s a little bit of a gradual shift and it’s like, oh, well, okay. It’s just. Almost the same, it’s just a little bit different, but it’s, it’s almost the same as it was last time, and then, you know, there’s just these, these gradual shifts, and, um, it might make it even harder to recognize those, those types of things in someone who’s closer to you, um, you know, versus someone who’s, you know, not as close, uh, that, that way.

So, um, um, Definitely don’t blame yourself for, for, for any of that, or, you know, replay it in your head. Um, you know, I understand that. Um, but you know, I, I just, as a, from one guy to another, it’s like, You know, don’t, don’t do that to yourself because that, that, that’s just a hole that you don’t want to go down.

Um, you know, it’s, I, I’m, I’m hoping that, that you can, uh, you know, find your, yourself out of that. Um, but, um, but you’ve, you’ve taken this experience, um, you know, this, [00:15:00] let’s just call it a tragic experience, right? And you, so you do some work with the, uh, survivors, uh, advisory working group, uh, now as well, right?

So can you talk a little bit about that? What, what is that group and how. How does that, uh, uh, help folks and, and, you know, how is it helping you?

Aaron Hudgins: So, the, uh, the SAWG is what they, they call it, and it stands for Survivors, um, Advisory Working Group. It’s an appointment from the United States Army Chief of Staff, so it’s a big deal. You, they only have, uh, they used to have 12, now they’re down to 8. But what they do is, um, they represent survivors of active duty, reserve, national guard, or, um, on quality life issues as it pertains to the army survivors. It’s member strength and communication between the total army and the army survivor community. And so they’re chosen because of, Their backgrounds and what they, um, represent. They have so many connections in [00:16:00] the survivor community, and so they bring them together to try to solve issues. And, um, with just the army side of the house, now each branch has their own, I don’t know what they would, what they call their group, but, so yeah, you, you fill out a packet and once you’re appointed, you get an official letter from the Army chief of staff saying that you’ve been appointed.

Then they start, you know, um, gearing you up. And for the first year. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. I have never knew so much stuff was going on in the survivor community until I became a SAWG member. And the first year, you don’t really say much because I was so lost at what was, what we were even talking about.

And you know, I’m still in the, I’m still in the army. I’m still, and I was having to look up acronyms that they were using. Cause I was like, what is that? Why are we even talking about that? And it’s because, you know, I, I know the survivor community is a completely separate world in itself. And to give you an idea, like, the SAWG [00:17:00] members that are appointed, I don’t know who any of these people are, I know they’re survivors, and then, you know, I’m sitting, and right next to me, um, they, they send you down to the, uh, Washington, D.

C. every six months, so I’m, I’m flown to, to Washington, and I go into the, I go to the Pentagon, I sit in a room with the other, uh, eight survivors, and we, we talk about issues and things that are, that are going on, but to give you an idea, like, who I’m with, Patty Elliott, who is a, uh, the Gold Star Mothers National President, and she was instrumental in, uh, getting the, the change from Fort Benning to Fort Moore. She was one of those key members, and, uh, and she’s also the National President of the Gold Star for Mothers. She’s a, she’s a, uh, she’s a SAWG member, and you’ve got, um, uh, Jenny Taylor, she’s a big, big member out of Utah. That has her own non profit, her own podcast, and she, she seems to be moving in 30 different directions all at [00:18:00] the same time without ever sleeping, and she’s a mom of 7, and I, I don’t even know how that’s even humanly possible, but, uh, she’s really well known, uh, Cristi Simpson, who was the 2018 Army, uh, Spouse of the Year, which I didn’t know there was even a competition for something like that, and I don’t even know where that, you know, where that even, where would you even go to be selected, but anyway, she was, she was the top, um, out of the entire United States Army in 2018, but she’s been on CNN, she’s been on just about every, she’s reported to Congress multiple times on, uh, on, uh, Um, issues with survivors, uh, we got Tracy Volk, who was a, she’s like the, um, the legal of, of the group that anything that has to do with policy that goes in front of Congress or anything, she’s writing it up.

So she’s this big. Like phenomenal does it [00:19:00] all. And she’s, she’s sitting there. My, my mentor who is, uh, Wendell, he, you know, he’s, uh, his son’s, um, his son was killed in Afghanistan and they, the, uh, special forces had just got done naming a building after his son. And so these are the caliber of members and they, there isn’t a, there isn’t an element of survivor issues they don’t know about.

And then I show up out of nowhere, and I was like, I’m sorry, what are we talking about? What is that issue? Like, I had no idea that was even something to be, and so, instead of trying to, you know, um, hang with the Joneses, I sat back and tried to learn from them, because they’re phenomenal, and they’re rock stars in their own right, and their own states, and their own survivor community, and um, that’s just the caliber that are, they’re at that level.

And you don’t, you don’t just get there by, um, filling out an application. They, they, they’re at those positions because of the stuff they’ve done for the [00:20:00] community and the, and the nation as it, as it pertains to survivors.

Scott DeLuzio: Right. Now with the work that you do through this group, um, what is, what are the impacts on the survivor community? Like what are some of the things that come out of this group and what is it that, um, you know, a survivor who might be out there, who might be listening, um, you know, how are, what are some of the benefits that, that they, you know, End up seeing, you know, through, through the work that you guys do.

Aaron Hudgins: so, uh, the SAWG was actually instrumental just recently, um, a couple of years, about a year ago. When, um, survivors, if they elected to give their, um, um, DIC, um, to their children, that, that was something that was unreversible, and so the kids would get basically their parents retirement until the age of 18.[00:21:00]

And what they did was they had that, um, reversed, and so the SAWG was able to reverse it. It took several years to get it through, so everything that the SAWG deals with is that A national level, so it takes a lot longer for it to go through. And so they were able to reverse the, um, where it was actually going to the kids and they, they sent it, it was able to reverse it back to the next akin or the, the, um, survivor that was initially identified.

By doing that, it allows that, um, benefit to continue on. It doesn’t have a, it doesn’t have an end date, whereas if you give it to your children. When they turn 18, it stops. And so, you know, there’s some people that, you know, the kid could have been like 17 and a half whenever their parent passed away.

That’s six months and that’s about it. And so they’re getting a, you know, their father or their mother’s retirement, but now it stops. And so that was something they saw that [00:22:00] was a big issue. Plus it was, it was a taxable. And that was causing, you know, kids to have, to pay taxes on their parents, um, when they’re not even having, they don’t even have an income,

Scott DeLuzio: Right, right,

Aaron Hudgins: which made no sense.

And so there was, and if your, your parent was an officer and they had some rank, oh my gosh, they’re paying 6, 000 at least in taxes every year. And, you know, so they just saw that as a, as an issue. And so they’ve been working, they’ve been working on that. When I got there, I had just been approved and so they had a reverse, which was a huge victory because so many um, thought the right thing to do was to give it to the kid and they do get it, they get it, you know, every month until they turn the age 18 but then it stops, and so.

That doesn’t mean their needs stop. It doesn’t mean they, and they, they absolutely need that money. And so it went back to the survivor, the initial, and now it has, it has opened up a whole nother lane for [00:23:00] the, for the ones getting it that, oh, there’s, there’s not a, I can continue to, to, um, operate without having to get a third job.

And so when I was, when I was working on the thing I’ve been working on for the past 3 years was the, um. We get the SBP and the DIC, um, stops if your spouse remarries. And so that has been something we’ve been working on, and that was, that was more or less in my lane from the time I got there until now.

And they finally have, they have two, two bills that are up at the Hill right now that are directly about that. The Love Lives Long Act is what, what is what we’re fully backing and trying to get that, and we have so many people in TAPs, and. That have an entire teams dedicated to this one. We, um, not only does it give it back, but it goes back and it gives it to them from when they lost it until now.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, okay. So you get the retroactive, uh, for that [00:24:00] too, but you know, that that’s good because I, I know, I, I’ve heard of that where, you know, if they, if a surviving spouse remarries, um, and I, and I think it’s before a certain age, uh, 55. Yeah. Um, that they, That they lose all those benefits. And it’s like, that, that doesn’t make sense because just like the name of the bill says, love does go on.

Like there, you know, people are, they still continue, but they still may have that, that need financially. Um, you know, and so it doesn’t make sense to take that away. It’s not like they chose to leave, you know, it’s the circumstances, right?

Aaron Hudgins: So, the way I, and the way I presented it to the army chief of staff is. You know, it’s just like retirement. So I retired from the army and for 26 years that I’m considered retired. But if I turn around and get a job tomorrow, I’m technically not retired. And so the way this, the way it [00:25:00] works is, well, you’re no longer retired.

I’m not going to pay you your retirement, but I’m, but I earned it. And so it’s exactly the same way as someone, someone got this benefit from, from the sacrifice. Thank you. That it doesn’t matter if it’s yours or somebody else’s, they chose you to be the, um, the, um, recipient of it. That doesn’t change. And so just because I, you know, I, I’m retired and I get another job.

It doesn’t mean I’m not retired from the army. And so, and that doesn’t mean you’re going to take my benefits away from me because I got another job. The same exact thing. Just because I got remarried doesn’t change the fact that when I was in the army, I was a widow. Doesn’t take, change any of that whatsoever.

That’s something that has been, you know, put out there a lot was, you know, that doesn’t change who we are and what we’ve, what we’ve had to endure. And so that’s, that’s been the, the, the big, the big push. And so that one’s the next on the list. And right now [00:26:00] it’s looking really good. It’s looking like there’s going to be a legitimate change coming up.

Scott DeLuzio: Well, yeah, I hope so. And, and so I, I’m glad you were able to share some of that, that work that you guys do, because there are, uh, survivors out there who, you know, just maybe just not knowing the, the details of some of these policies and laws and all that kind of stuff. And, uh, they, they go and get remarried and then all of a sudden, you know, the, those payments that were coming in every month, they, they stop, you know, and so that, like that, that, They may not realize, um, that that is something that can happen.

So, um, you know, but it shouldn’t happen that way. Right. But, so it’s great that there, there are folks like you guys who are out there looking out for people and thinking about. What are the possible implications of these policies, of these laws and all that, because, you know, without folks like you, [00:27:00] it, you know, all these things could, you know, still just be stick sticking around and, uh, there’s no one out there advocating for these folks.

Um, so, so it’s great, you know, I think that, that there are people, uh, you know, out there doing this type of work, uh, you know, trying to, Trying to keep the, the survivors, um, you know, in mind and not, not forgetting about them, you know, just because the service member is, is gone, uh, they, they’ve passed, um, doesn’t mean that we completely forget about the, the ones that they leave behind, um, their, their families, their children, their spouses, you know, folks like that.

Mm

Aaron Hudgins: Every soldier you have in uniform, you have a family behind them, backing them up. And they, they have to endure what, what you don’t get to see. And, you know, and it’s, it’s vital, and we’ll talk about it later, how vital having family that will, they’ll come in and step in when, when you have gotten. 50 things going on at [00:28:00] once.

Your hair’s on fire and you’re being attacked by bees. I mean, there’s this, and they’re there the whole time going, I got you, I got you, you know, and that’s exactly what those families are doing. And they, they get the, they’re the unsung heroes because I did both, you know, when I, when my wife deployed, I had to be the stay at home.

And let me, I have never got my butt kicked more times than I can shake a stick at than trying to take care of five kids, a house, two dogs, I mean, and this, the amount of clothes that are thrown and had to be washed, I commend every stay at home spouse, I salute you, because that is brutal, it is brutal. It really was.

I was like, man, I have never gotten my butt kicked seven ways from Sunday as I did with Gun.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, a hundred percent. I, I, I totally know where you’re coming from. Uh, not for the duration, the length of time that you’re, you’re talking about, but my, my wife was in the hospital a few years ago [00:29:00] for, for two weeks. Um, and so she was that whole two weeks, she was there, um, three kids at home, dog, you know, trying to take care of the, you know, all that and make sure they have food and make sure that, I’m going to the hospital and visiting her and, you know, doing all those things going back and forth.

Um, yeah, I felt like I couldn’t catch up. And when she got out of the hospital, I was like, I, I don’t, I don’t think I ever realized how much I depend on, uh, on her being here. Um, you know, taking care of the kids, cooking the meals, you know, doing, doing the things that all the things that she does. Um, yeah.

And I couldn’t imagine, uh, you know, a whole deployment, you know, this was two weeks and that, to me, that was, that was plenty. I don’t need any more than that.

Aaron Hudgins: And you know, and I’m, I’m a First Sergeant and Brigade S1, so I’m trying to, I’m still trying to keep my Head Above Water, it was, it was equivalent to like trying to swim with an anchor, you know,

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

Aaron Hudgins: it, every time you try to get up and you would, [00:30:00] you would lose, um, where you were at and, um, you take three steps back and one step forward, I, yeah, and it, I was counting the days and the minutes to when she was going to be coming back, I was like, oh, please.

Scott DeLuzio: I don’t doubt it a hundred percent.

Aaron Hudgins: That’s taken behind the woodshed. So, yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: you’re also involved with the Travis Manion, uh, foundation, uh, for folks who aren’t familiar with that. Tell us a little bit about, uh, your involvement in, in kind of what the foundation’s all about.

Aaron Hudgins: um, the Travis Manning Foundation. Is a service based organization and it’s based out of, uh, Pennsylvania. And it’s, um, it’s based around the, uh, Lieutenant, uh, um, Travis Manion, who was killed in an action in Iraq on April 29th, 2007, which is interesting because I was there in 2007 at the exact same time, and so was my wife.

My wife was with the 82nd in 2007. So all three of us, even though at the time we didn’t [00:31:00] know each other, we’re all in Iraq at the exact same time. So. Um, what drew me to them is they, they sent me an email and it was a random email of, hey, you want to do an expedition with a bunch of survivors. I had never met anyone besides the survivors on the SAWG, and I really wanted to meet some more.

And so, um, I signed up for it and forgot about it. Then I, I got accepted and so I went down to, uh, Scottsdale, Arizona and to the Ranch of Mill cro. I’m butchering it, uh, it’s north, uh, Scottsdale, um, mill Grove, like M-I-L-M-I-L-A-G-R-O Foundation. And they did equa, um, with, uh, horses.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, okay.

Aaron Hudgins: And, uh, Vanessa, who is the, who owns the ranch, is a phenomenal.

Absolutely phenomenal human being. And her story will break your heart too. And she, she runs this ranch, um, out there and you just, you go and you work with the, the horses. You don’t ride them, but you, [00:32:00] you, you stay with them and you do different activities and it kind of gives you, and they, they will absolutely, um, tell you how you’re feeling without, without actually saying a word.

It’s, it’s an amazing experience if you’ve never done it. When I came back, I was, so excited. Like over the top enjoyed. I was like, I need to know more about the foundation. And so there that’s when they said, hey, we do We’re always looking for mentors to go teach character to kids and I was like, that’s really cool I didn’t know you guys didn’t even like that.

And so I signed up and I became a mentor and in that time That’s when my son was starting to get he was like, what are you doing? So I told him about it and he was like, can I do that? And I was like, well, yeah No reason why you couldn’t So he signed up, and then Travis Manu Foundation sent him to Puerto Rico for a week, and he met 20 survivors, um, as well, and that changed him immensely.

He came back with direction, purpose. He was like, we gotta start a chapter here, because they’ve got around 13 [00:33:00] chapters nationwide. Uh, matter of fact, Phoenix is one of the biggest chapters that they have,

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, really? Okay.

Aaron Hudgins: They are massive. So, TMF Phoenix, you look them up, they’ve got stuff going almost every weekend.

It’s impressive. And, uh, I’m a big fan of TMF Phoenix, so, um, I’m trying to model what we have here with them because they are absolutely killing it. And so, but what it is, our mission is simple. We empower veterans and families of the fallen to develop character in future generations. And they do it in three ways.

We do it by personal development, by youth development, And then by Community Impact. And so we do service projects, and we do just about anything you can think of to, um, to give back to the communities that we, we love so much. And that’s, and that’s exactly what we do. And so We’re, if we’re not doing a, um, uh, uh, character does matter, we’re trying to find, you know, someone or something or, uh, [00:34:00] to support and help other veteran organizations where we team up with them all the time.

I’m constantly, um, reaching out to the nonprofits here that are veteran based and I’m like, hey, let’s do something together. Let’s collaborate, you know, cause I can, I can wield the power of the TMF. With a smaller organization, and we can get, you know, more out quicker, and so that’s what we try to do, because, um, TMF is massive.

It’s a really big, when you look it up and you do the background on it, they are, it’s a very large organization, and it’s been there for a while, so I’ve, I’ve enjoyed every minute. I’ve been, I’ve been in TMF for exactly a year. And, um, I’ve dedicated my retirement to establishing the chapter and affecting everybody I can get my hands on, you know, giving them a different outlook on life because that’s what we do.

We, we give them, we give them a reason to thrive. So, people

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, you know, from what I know of the organization, I, you know, obviously, [00:35:00] uh, I’m familiar with them. Uh, but it, it’s like, you know, giving, giving someone a sense of purpose through this type of work that the community engagement and, and that type of things, uh, that, that you guys do where Otherwise, you may not have that sense of purpose.

Um, you might be struggling sitting there. You might be listening to this right now, sitting there trying to figure out like, what is my purpose? What am I even doing right now? Uh, maybe you’re someone like, like, like yourself, who’s, you know, in retirement and now, okay, what next? Um, you know, what, what do I do next?

Right. Um, you know, great. great thing is getting involved with the community, becoming some sort of mentor or, you know, helping youth with with various things because, you know, we we want to leave behind a you know, better better world than we found, right? And so if we can help those those people who are coming after us to Be better [00:36:00] people.

Um, you know, that, that’s certainly a, a great purpose for folks who are sitting there scratching their head thinking, what’s next for me? What’s my next act? Right? Um,

Aaron Hudgins: like myself that I don’t want to be pampered and I don’t, you know, I have a hard time accepting compliments or accepting, hey, thank you for your service, you know, and I’m like, ugh, you know. Thank you for the support, but I don’t, you know, like, I don’t think I did anywhere near what I should have in order to gain, gain that kind of, um, uh, respect, and so I, I, but I, when it’s, uh, so the pampering, you know, organizations that want to give me tickets to a game, or want to give me, you know, um, acknowledgement, um, in front of many, I know, but if you are service based, and that’s what speaks to me, because that’s, you know, that’s my love language.

I want to give back. And so that’s where it, it can, I connected with TMF the most was that working with others and helping and, and trying to make it a better place for the future. Yeah, [00:37:00] absolutely.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, that’s, that’s awesome. Um, and, and so again, uh, you said there’s like 13 chapters around the country. Um, so folks who are, uh, interested in that, go, go check it out. Uh, I’ll, I’ll put a link to the website in the show notes, but, um, yeah, check it out. Uh, they might be in your area and if not, Uh, you know, kind of like what you’re doing, see if there’s an opportunity to set up a, uh, you know, a branch in your neck of the woods, um, that, that might be something that you could do as well, uh, maybe, maybe even take a, you said there’s something going on, you know, every weekend probably in, in Phoenix, this time of year is beautiful in Phoenix, guys, like, come on out to Phoenix and, and, uh, check it out, um, you know, and, and see what’s going on, uh, you know, take a, take a weekend trip and, and see You know what it’s all about and maybe it’s right for you and and if it is then then maybe there’s an opportunity for you To set up something, you know in your area, right?

So I want to kind of [00:38:00] circle back a little bit. I know we talked a little bit about your wife and kind of the the situation, you know with her and how you guys met and and how you Got into all of these, uh, survivors, uh, groups, um, but she also left behind kind of a bit of inspiration for you, uh, as well, um, to, to go to college and, and graduate from college, uh, tell us a little bit about that and how she inspired you and, um, you know, what, what kind of led you there?

Aaron Hudgins: Yeah, so, um, I mean, after her death, it was a couple of years down the line. I was, you know, I was still in the army. I was still trying to figure out which way do I get out? Do I stay in? Um, and I met another survivor and her name is Michelle and I was, you know, her and I were just talking and she goes, you know, When my husband was killed in action, I didn’t know what to do either.

And so she goes, but we had made plans that when he retired, we’d go [00:39:00] back to Washington state where he is originally from, and we would live there. And she’s like, you know, that was the plan. And then when he was killed, she was like, you know, I think I’m going to honor our plan. So she packed up her and her son and they moved from Fort Drum, New York to Washington state.

She had never been there, never. Never seen it, didn’t know anything about it, she moved to his hometown, and she loves it there now, and she is, uh, she just absolutely loves being there, but that was part of their, their plan, and so, you know, as, as married couples, we, we always have plans, we have this, we’re going to be together for, you know, the remainder of our lives, What’s the plan?

And so JJ and I talked about, um, going back to college when she got back from this third deployment because we’re huge OU fans. We’re, you know, we live in Norman, Oklahoma. We, we, we love it. Our kids are OU fans. We go to the games all the time. And I was like, and so we had talked about, you know what, we can, you know, the military is going to pay for our college.[00:40:00]

I’ve already, they’ve already paid for my associates. And so I was like, why don’t we just go back to college? And so she was like, okay, we’re going to go back. The plan is to go back when I come back. And that, are we good? And I was like, sure. You know, and then, you know, fast forward, you know, when, uh, she wasn’t there part of that plan, but I, after hearing Michelle’s story, I was like, you know, why don’t I honor my wife by honoring our plan? You know, we hadn’t thought that far ahead after, but it was a plan and we had a direction. So, I said, I’m gonna, you know what, that was our plan. I want to honor that. So I did. I went, I applied. I got accepted, which I was shocked because, um, I’m not, I’m not The sharpest tool in the shed, but, you know, I got in somehow, and I was able to make the grades.

I made the Dean’s Honor Roll, but I think it was a mess up. Somewhere down there, someone had fat fingered a digit on the wrong side, because there’s no way, but somehow I made it, and I graduated back in May of 2021, [00:41:00] and there’s actually a picture where we’re walking, I’m about to walk on stage on the OU football field, and I’m, I’m showing my tattoo, because I got a tattoo of my wife’s dog tag on me.

And I’m looking up and it was, you know, to kind of commemorate, Hey, this one’s for you. And so, uh, that was part of the, um, our plan. And after that, everything else just kind of, you know, cascaded after that. uh, I always can look back and go, you know, when that was our plan and we made it. So everything else is just been bonus.

Stick to

Scott DeLuzio: because not only did you accomplish that goal, that plan, you kind of finished that, um, but You had that, that tattoo and you kind of like brought her along with you, um, you know, so she’s, she’s a part of you, you know, regardless, like she’s, she’s always going to be there as a part of you, um, there’s always going to be a [00:42:00] space in your mind that is going to be occupied by, uh, you know, her, her presence.

And so she was there. Through probably all the late night studies, all the, the papers that you’re writing, all the presentations you had to do, all the things that you had to do in class and everything else, um, she was, she was there, uh, with you, right? And so, um, you, you kind of got a chance to bring her along and accomplish that goal together.

Um, you know, in, in that, And that kind of, you know, out of the box thinking, but in, in a way that’s, that’s exactly how that, that ended up happening. And so, um, you know, I, I think that’s great. And, um, you know, for, again, for other survivors who might be out there listening to this right now. Feeling lost, feeling like they, um, you know, they, they lost everything, um, which, sure, I, I completely understand that, you know, losses, uh, uh, like that, are, they’re, they’re terrible to have to endure, um, but, [00:43:00] you know, if there’s something that you can grab onto, um, you know, something from your past, a goal, a, a vision for the future, or something like that, where, um, you know, you want to have the, You know, you move to a certain place in the country or in the world, you know, or, or even just a, you know, a travel or, uh, you know, just to go, I want to go see the pyramids or something, you know, like that’s your, your thing.

Um, go do it, right. And, and again, just like you in, in school, you were bringing your wife along in, in your memories, um, and you know, physically tattooed on your body. Um, but, uh, you You’re bringing along that person with you, uh, with everything that you do. And so, you know, do that as a way to kind of honor those people.

I think that’s great.

Aaron Hudgins: part of the plan that you guys talked about and just do it. You don’t have to do all of it. back and reflect and go, you know what? We always talked about doing this. We always wanted to go to the Rocky Mountains. We always wanted to go [00:44:00] backpacking, you know, on whatever. do it. Do it for them. Do it for, you know, because they’re not there anymore to, to fulfill that plan or that dream.

So you do it and then, you know, you can look back and go, hey, that one’s for you. Yes.

Scott DeLuzio: Um, I think that’s great. Um, you know, sometimes, sometimes you find inspiration in the strangest of places. And, uh, you know, this is probably not something that you. Had envisioned that you would, you’d be, find inspiration in something like that. Um, but here it is. And then you accomplish this goal.

Um, And I, I think part of moving, moving forward is figuring out like what are the things that I can do. And if you can, if you can graduate college, um, like that’s, it’s not a easy thing just to check [00:45:00] the box kind of thing. Like you, you have to go and you got to do, put in the work and, and do all that. Um, plus, you know, there’s, there’s, Your job and kids and everything else that you have going on.

You got a lot of plates that you’re trying to keep spinning at the same time, right? Um, but if you can accomplish that goal, alright, cool, what’s that next thing? And how do you keep moving forward? Right, instead of just staying stagnant and staying in place in the same place and, um, you know, doing the same things over and over again, which may not get you anywhere.

Um, if, if where you’re at is not a great place and you just keep staying in that not great place, you might even slip backwards and, and not, you know, improve the, you know, quality of life or, um, you know, experiences that, that you end up having. Right. Um, now, now I know, you know, when, when she was deployed, uh, that there was a lot of stress there.

You were talking about that earlier. Um, You know, to me, I think that that’s got to be one of the hardest [00:46:00] things. I know when I deployed, my wife was home. We only had one kid at the time, but regardless, I don’t care how many kids you have, it’s still not an easy thing, uh, to, to have to do in holding down the fort, um, like that is, um, I, I, I don’t think people get enough credit.

Uh, you know, the spouses who are, were back home, um, they, they, you know, A lot of times there’s, there’s jokes about the spouses and things like that, but, um, they really do, uh, provide the, the support structure that is required for, uh, th those folks who are deploying, uh, who are serving because, um, you gotta know that you got a solid foundation back home.

Uh, So that those things that the kids are being taken care of, they’re being dropped off at school or sports or, you know, all those things, those things all are still going to happen with, or without you being there. Um, you know, all of these things are going to end up happening. Uh, you gotta know that, that, that there is a solid foundation back [00:47:00] home, um, you know, regardless of where the military sends you.

So, um, so that, I think that’s, um, just for the listeners, you know, who are, um, you know, maybe still serving and. Considering that, uh, that marriage or that, that partnership or whatever it is that they’re getting themselves into, um, make sure, uh, make sure that’s the right person who’s going to be able to hold down that fort, who’s going to be a strong, capable person, like you, you described, uh, you described.

You know, you described her, she was, she was a pretty strong, uh, strong person, so that, that’s the type of person that I, you know, I think, um, is, is, is a great, you know, kind of addition to, to the podcast. To that military lifestyle. Right. Um,

Aaron Hudgins: It also helps when you have two, when you have two military like that, it does help in the sense that you understand what the other person is, is going through. Like, I, [00:48:00] you know, her long days and long nights. I know exactly why. I understand that getting up early. I understand coming in on your days off. I understand.

Working through lunch. I understand your weekends and what they, what is, you know, um, required. And so did she. So there was a lot of, there was a lot of like, Hey, I got you. I understand. Like I’ll have dinner ready or, Hey, I’ll, you know, I’m going to go, um, get so and so, and, and we did a lot of that. And a lot of it was actually after about a couple of weeks, it was unspoken.

Like I didn’t have to tell her. She would just know as soon as I said, Hey, I got this. She’d be like, okay, and then she, you know, first one home was cooking. First one, you know, is picking up the kids, you know, uh, we were, we were an absolute killer team when it came to that

Scott DeLuzio: That’s awesome. Yeah.

Aaron Hudgins: we understood each other’s struggles.

Scott DeLuzio: You know, I’m, I’m kind of smiling because, uh, you know, like my wife and I, we, we have kind of like a unspoken [00:49:00] communication, like sometimes with just a look, we can tell what the other person’s thinking and we can have a whole conversation without saying anything. My kids get freaked out sometimes.

We’re at dinner and, uh, you know, like we’ll be sitting at the dinner table and I’ll give a look. And, or she’ll give a look to me, you know, whatever. And both of us know that after dinner, we’re going to go out for ice cream or something like we, like we just have that kind of communication. And so I’m kind of smiling when, when, um, when you’re talking about that, because like that, that is, uh, That kind of communication where it’s just understood and you are good to go with that.

I feel like that’s just amazing to be able to have that that type of You know communication in a relationship But it’s cool. Um, I know so with all your involvement in in all the You know survivors groups and things like that. What support or resources would you Um, would you recommend for other spouses or family members [00:50:00] of, uh, either, um, deployed service members or, um, or, or survivors of a service member, um, are there any specific organizations or resources that are available that you would, would recommend, uh, that they can utilize?

Mm

Aaron Hudgins: So, um, one of the biggest ones that a lot of people, um, is called TAPS. And if you just, you know, you type it, it’s massive, and they’ve got just about every angle covered, and just about, and they, and they cover, you know, everything from pre deployment, deployment, post deployment. They, they have something for somebody, and there’s, They have unlimited resources, and I always tell people, like, start there.

Even if you’re not, you know, if you’re not a survivor, and you have a, you have a deployed spouse, start there, because that’s, they have, they have a ridiculous, um, amount of, not only survivors, but, um, inspired civilians and inspired, you know, Veterans and that, that are in it because they’re all in it for the right [00:51:00] reasons.

I, you know, uh, one day I hope TMF is at the same level as TAPS because TAPS is, is on a whole nother playing field. And they have a pre, they have a pre deployment, like, binder that they’ll give you. And it tells you every single thing you need to line up and find and have before they ever walk out the door, because, you know, we, I learned a very valuable lesson on all that when, after she not only left, but then after she died, I learned There was so many things that I was like, I didn’t even think about that.

I hadn’t, you know what, I should have, you know, I should have done some, some better, um, backwards planning than, than what I did. Because I, I took a lot of it for granted. I took the fact that, oh, well, I’m in the, I’m in the army. I can come back to it. I can do that next time. And it cost us, it cost us a lot.

Because I, I ended up, we ended up not, you know, filling out a couple of documents that cost, that cost When she died, um, we didn’t get [00:52:00] family, um, SGLI because we didn’t go back and recheck to make sure everything right. And that costs, you know, that’s a lot of money for those kids not to get.

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

Aaron Hudgins: So, you know, and boy, I tried everything I could to try to justify and it never, but yeah, so I’d start there.

And they do have a binder that will, that will save your, um, butt in the long run. And I wish I would have, I wish I would have, uh, listened. You go through those briefings, it’s check the block. Yep. Yep. Got it. Got it. Got it. And you’re zoned out. Just get out of here so I can get home and don’t because that’s it’s going to cost you.

And it could be as like, your spouse is coming home on, um, just coming home from work and dies in a car accident could be going to drill and. dies in a helicopter training accident, and next thing you know, you are now, you’re getting hit from 17 different [00:53:00] locations, and you don’t even know which one to, which fire to put out first, because they’re on fire, and it is, and they’re moving rapidly, and I learned some valuable lessons from that.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, you know, regardless of what the person’s MOS is too, right? Because like you could be infantry and okay, fine, you deploy, obviously infantry gets involved in combat, you know, more frequently probably than, than other, uh, other soldiers, right? But so you, you might expect, okay, well, there’s, there’s an opportunity there for something tragic to happen.

Um, but like you said, on the way to. To drill, you could just be driving your car and get hit by a drunk driver or something, or, you know, something can happen. Look, this, this can happen to anybody. This is, this is just, uh, you know, planning so that if something happens, you have, your family has the protection.

They, they get the, the benefits, [00:54:00] they get the, um, you know, financial security and all that kind of stuff. Um, Like, look, I, I have, I have life insurance. It’s not for me. You know, I, I’m not going to see a penny of that life insurance. Right. It’s, it’s for when I go, my family is taken care of. Um, you know, so it, it’s one of those things that, yeah.

Is it morbid to have to think about that stuff? Sure, absolutely. But we all have an expiration date. And, and unfortunately, you know, I wish everybody could stick around, but that’s just not the way things work. And so, um, you know, yeah, get, get those things in order, you know, go, go through the TAPS program and get that binder that you’re referring to and, uh, you know, check those boxes.

I know when. When I was deployed, um, you know, a lot of things like our credit card and, you know, things like that were all in, in my name and it was like, well, what, what if something happens to me? How, how is my wife going to, you know, Pay those bills and, you know, [00:55:00] continue to use the credit card, all those kinds of things.

So like, we just went through and took care of all that stuff, the, you know, banking accounts, checking, you know, uh, uh, credit cards, uh, all the, any payments that had to be done, just make sure she had access to all that stuff because I might not, you know, I might be in the middle of nowhere and it’s like, Oh, I, uh, bills do, I got to go figure out how to pay my bills.

Like, you know, that, that’s something. And so even if something happened to me, she would just be able to continue. As if I was still there, you know, um, so, so that, yeah, things that you don’t normally think about, you, you got to kind of

Aaron Hudgins: I,

Scott DeLuzio: what happens if that person is not here? And then, Then go that way, right?

Yeah.

Aaron Hudgins: you know, one that threw me off was, and I tell everyone this now, is you need to have a sheet of every single, um, any, any social media that you’re on, any, Anything that you log into, you need the username and password and you need to give it to [00:56:00] your spouse. Because, like, her social media after she died was blowing up, and I didn’t even know how to access it, to shut it down, to, you know, like, hey, what is going on, who are these people, you know, and it, it blew me away of how much little I, I did know of, um, my wife and her, where she banked and where her credit cards and where was the, the car note, like, I didn’t even, I couldn’t even tell you where that was at.

I wasn’t thinking about it, I took it for granted, oh, she’s got it. When it’s time, I’ll, but whenever she died, I was like, I don’t even know where it’s at. I don’t even know who’s paying, you know, where it’s, the payments are supposed to go to and, but yeah, so having, just having a sheet with everything that you access and, and the way to access it to your spouse is, will save so much on the backside if something happens.

And,

Scott DeLuzio: And, and to, to that point, you know, sharing passwords and all that kind of stuff, um, a real easy thing that I do with my wife there, there are [00:57:00] password managers that, that you can use. There, there’s things out there. There’s. LastPass, FirstPass, there’s a whole bunch of them. Just Google password managers.

I’m not going to recommend any to anyone, but they have ways to share passwords, so she can have an account, I can have an account, and if there’s anything I need to share with her, I just share it with her, and now all of a sudden she has access to it. So, you know, If something happens to me, yeah, she has that easy access to all my, my stuff that, that she needs to have access to.

So it, you know, to me, yeah, absolutely. That, that makes sense. Um,

Aaron Hudgins: and you think about it like, well, I don’t want her to be in my business. Well, if you, if you, um, respect and, um, and trust your spouse enough to marry, why aren’t you trust them enough to give ’em your passwords and access to all your accounts? Because that’s, that’s in essence what it is, is you’re, you’re just giving them, not that they’re gonna access it and, and check behind you.

But in case something happens, they can get in there and, and absolutely continue [00:58:00] to operate without, you know, a delay, because we, like, what saved us was a general power of attorney, because when, after she died, it was all, I was running into just roadblock after roadblock of, well, how do I get that? Well, are you the, are you the, um, guardian of the state?

And I’m like, I don’t even know what that means, man.

Scott DeLuzio: right.

Aaron Hudgins: I’m her husband and they’re like, yeah, but are you the guardian of her estate? You know, there’s, there’s two different things. So I had to learn really quick and thank God I had the general power of attorney just in case, which was basically my, my trump card that anytime someone ran, I just pulled it out and went, okay, now will you give me access?

And like, yes, you know, it, it’s gotta be something that you, you got, I get it. You probably don’t, but you need it for just that one reason right there.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly. And, and again, like I was saying, a lot of this stuff. It’s morbid to think about, like not a lot of people, it’s not a fun conversation to have, like, like sit down with your, your spouse and be like, Hey, let’s, let’s talk about [00:59:00] what happens if I’m gone. You know, like that, nobody wants to talk about that stuff.

Right. To your point, that’s the responsible thing to do. Take some time, do some planning, look to see, you know, like you said, having a power of attorney, having, you know, all, all these things, uh, you know, available. We’ll make things easier for you. You’re put it this way. You’re already going to be stressed enough.

You’ve just lost the person who’s probably closest to you. Um, and you don’t want to add more stress on top of that. So take some time now, invest some time to figure out how to, um, mitigate some of that, right? Absolutely. Well,

Aaron Hudgins: I didn’t even go back to the house, so like, after her death, I couldn’t even bring myself to go back.

Scott DeLuzio: Mm.

Aaron Hudgins: Well, everything’s there. You know, the binder where we keep all the kids birth certificates and social security numbers and all their key documents, you know, and I’m like, I’m trying to tell somebody where to find it.

And it’s, and you know, [01:00:00] you’re, you’re limited to like, well, I thought it was over there. I thought, where did we move that to? And it, it’s, there’s a lot of that going on after death, because you’re not thinking clearly at all.

Scott DeLuzio: No.

Aaron Hudgins: Make, nothing is making any sense. And so you’ll send people on wild goose chases only to find out that it was in your car, you know, just because a

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Absolutely. And, uh, you know, the other thing, you know, first off, yeah, keep things in, you know, all together in a, you know, safe location, but, um, Again, to the point of you never know what’s going to happen, um, you know, put things in like a fireproof safe, you know, important documents like that, because God forbid there’s a fire in your house.

Um, you don’t want to lose all of those documents too, right? So, um, you know, keep them together, uh, you know, in a place where, where it’s easy to access, but you know, you know, potentially a fireproof container as well, because, uh, it just doesn’t You never know. Um, so yeah, we’re going down a, we can probably go down a rabbit hole of [01:01:00] all sorts of things.

Uh, you know, this.

Aaron Hudgins: three part series just that alone.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly. So, uh, you know, I don’t want to, I don’t want to go too far down this rabbit hole. I still can see the light at the top, so we can, we can climb our way out. But, um, you know, for the listeners who maybe want to get involved and support some of the stuff that, that, uh, you’re, you’re working on, uh, especially with the Travis Mannion, uh, foundation and, and things like that, um, where can people go to find out more information and, uh, and, and get involved or support?

Either personally get involved, donations, all those kinds of things. I’m sure everyone’s looking for.

Aaron Hudgins: Yeah, so if you, if you’re just to go in and look up Travis Manion Foundation, they, um, the website is, is not hard to find, and they show each state and what’s going on in each state, and you can click on it. They’ve got like a big roadmap, and it’s like, these are, these are things that are going on in this region, and you can literally click on them, and it opens up, and it tells you.

Where it’s at, point of contact, um, if it’s [01:02:00] a donation, you want to join the mission, you want to volunteer, it’s got everything you would possibly need on the actual travismannion. com website, and if you’re wanting to join the mission in a certain state, you just click on the state, and, uh, what it does is if they’ve got a chapter there, they’re going to, they will go, they will get you in touch with, And it’s basically just a form you fill out and you hit submit.

Like, I want to know more about the mission. I want to join the mission. And then based on how you respond to it, it will send that information to regionals who then sends it to that state and each, you know, whatever state has their has a chapter there or a point of contact. And they will get, they will get that information to them.

And then that’s how I get it. Like, for Oklahoma, we don’t have a chapter yet, but I do get the information from anyone that wants to be a part of it, and it comes right to me from the regional. So, he’ll send me stuff probably once a week, and then I’m sending emails out to try to get people, hey, involved.

Hey, what do you want to do? Let’s, you know, we got a race or we’ve got, you know, we want to do the Manion Walk, [01:03:00] which is coming up in April, you know, for the CrossFitters. And I mean, we’ve got something for everybody.

Scott DeLuzio: Perfect. Um, so yeah, like I said earlier, I will put a link to the Travis Manion Foundation website. Also, you mentioned TAPS. I’m going to put that link in the show notes as well for folks. So you can check all those out. Um, both great organizations, uh, definitely. Uh, utilize the resources that are available, uh, through those, those organizations.

I, I, I think, um, I think you guys are, are doing great work. Um, you know, and looking forward to see, you know, how Oklahoma grows. Hopefully, um, you can, you can get on par or exceed the, uh, the level of Phoenix out here. Um, but, um, but looking forward to seeing how, how that expands and how that grows. But, um, you know, Aaron, I, I, first off, I want to just.

Thank you, uh, for taking the time to come on the show, um, and share your story, share, uh, your, your experiences, um, and, [01:04:00] uh, the, the, for all the work that you do, um, to make sure that the survivors are not forgotten and that they get the benefits and, and the, uh, uh, respect that they deserve. I think it’s, it’s amazing work that you’re doing and I, I hope that you keep that up and, uh, thank you again for taking the time to come on the show.

Aaron Hudgins: It’s been an honor.