Episode 50: Interview with Chris Diesing, Host of the Bayfield Cast & Blast

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.

It's been a high honor and privilege to work on behalf of our combat wounded veterans and we couldn't do what we do without the generosity and hard work of our event hosts. One little known but important fact is that since our inception we have never solicited anyone to host an event.

It's been purely organic with kind hearted and selfless patriots across North America reaching out us to indicate their interest in hosting an event for our heroes. This is simply remarkable and it's a reflection of the incredible people and the heartbeat behind what we do.

It's a significant part of why we're closing in on two decades of bringing honor, connection and healing to our Purple Heart heroes. On this latest episode of the WWIA podcast, John McDaniel welcomes a longtime event host and good friend of the foundation to the program, Mr.

Chris Deeson.

Chris is the host of the WWIA Bayfield Cast and Blast event, which has been proudly honoring and serving America's Purple heart recipients for 12 years in the beautiful north woods of Wisconsin. He's the owner of Busky Bay Resort, Northwoods Playground Cabin Rental and a weight loss coach who's passionate about the great outdoors.

His heart is in the woods and on the water in the beautiful wilds of Bayfield County. An avid and seasoned outdoorsman, Chris has fished in the area for 50 years and has been hunting for 43.

His family is steeped with army veterans, and although he and his wife Brenda didn't have the privilege to serve our nation, they've dedicated their time, talents and energy to serving those who have served us as a way to honor and thank all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. Let's listen in on the conversation with Chris and John now.

Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founder and CEO of the Wounded warriors in Action foundation, and this is our podcast, Honor, Connect, Heal. So today I have with us a gentleman who's quite the entrepreneur and has been serving our heroes up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for 12 years.

This is 12th year Chris Deesing. Welcome to the program.

Well, thank you, John. I'm happy to be here.

Yeah, it's good to see you, man. So we go back about, about 12 years, and we'll talk about your event there. It's, it, it's the Bayfield Cast in Blast.

So you're, you're hunting for, as I recall, you're hunting for whitetail up there, but you also put the guys on the water, is that right?

Correct. Yeah. Their first day always starts with a muskie fishing trip.

Oh, you started off with muskie.

I, I have a reason for that. So they're gonna catch fish.

Yeah.

And they're gonna get trapped in a boat. They can't go anywhere. They're forced to talk with each other, you know, so they get to know each other.

And yeah, there's some good backstories to it, too. So without naming names, one of my fishing guides has a degree in counseling, so he chats these boys up pretty good.

And typically when they get home, they have a book waiting for them that might help them with some of their dark times that they expressed during that fishing trip. But anyway, the, the fishing trip, they're going to catch fish. We average five to seven muskies a year out of five guys.

And, you know, when they get back to the cabin, they're already smiling. They have high fives going on in stories to tell. So I always want to start it with fishing. So it starts with success.

That's a great idea, and I appreciate that. You know, this, you know, all groups go through this, you know, storming, norming, and forming this little model.

You know, I'm not a sociologist or anything, but I remember reading that once upon a time. But I've seen it just scores and scores of times.

You know, once the heroes, you know, start to feel comfortable around each other and start hacking on each other, which you can guarantee they're going to do. But by the time they get off that water on the first day at your event, you know, they, you've already set the conditions for success.

So that's really, really super smart. That's a, that's a really good, really good move. So I, I, I applaud that. And then, so then they go out and they, I, you have a.

It's a whitetail hunt, right? Is it archery? Are we doing archery? We are.

Right, Right. Yep.

Archery.

I, I know we call it cast and blast. Early on in our years, we included grouse hunting.

Yeah.

So. And dog hunting and things like that, but, yeah, we, we've condensed everything to be a model of muskie fishing and deer hunting.

That's good. That's. I actually like that. You know, I like that. That's a lot too, by the way. You know, it is. Are the heroes that go out on.

On your event in the Woodline where they're hunting, archery, hunting for whitetail deer. Are. Do they have a guide with them?

Yeah, typically they do. Our. Our hunt is usually on Saturday and Sunday and then they fly home on Monday. But there are times.

I have three spots set up where I'll be sitting with one, another guy will be sitting with another one and then a third guy. And I've already confirmed that this is cool with him.

I'm going to walk him in, take him to a stand, walk out and I'll come back and pick him up later. So I'm excited to have an extra, you know, half day hunt for them guys.

Nice. Nice. Yeah. So let's just set the stage here. You're Bayfield, Wisconsin. What county is Bayfield in?

The northernmost county in Wisconsin. So if you, if you look on a map at Lake Superior, it's kind of like a great big peninsula that goes up into the lake.

We have the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore there. A lot going on. It's the second biggest county in the state, but also the least inhabited.

And one of my favorite things to say about Bayfield county being the second largest county in the state. We don't have a single stoplight.

No kidding. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Man. You got a big smile on your face. It's God's country. I've been up there. And you're an entrepreneur.

And you and your bride Brenda operate at the Busky Bay Resort, right?

Yes.

And that's pretty cool. Tell us about what happens at Busky Bay Resort. This is, this is a bar restaurant with accommodations, right?

Yeah, correct. So there's actually four owners. It's myself and my wife Brenda and then her aunt and uncle.

And just through process of a couple of businessmen, we've split the business. Brenda and I, we run the restaurant and her aunt and uncle run the rental portion of the property. So I'm mainly just. I'm the bartender.

Cooking bottle washer, right? No, I Seen that action, man. I know, I know what that's like, man. That's just.

It's a full time job and it's a lot of work, you know, keeping a bar, restaurant running, especially, you know, when it's hopping right. I mean, you know, for sure, that's tough. Getting the food right and all of that. I mean there's, there's a lot going on there.

Yeah, we're, we're pretty popular for our food in the summer. We're serving a couple hundred plates on a Friday night, it's, it gets to be pretty crazy. And that's in a condensed time.

We have Wisconsin supper club hours, which is like that, 4 to 9, 5 to 8 on the weekdays.

So. Yeah, you know, I gotta, I gotta tell you, just on the topic of supper clubs, you know, Wisconsin's huge and supper. I love supper clubs.

You know, when I go up there to our property, I'm always looking for a supper club and a new one just to have that experience. And I just think they're so cool. And you think, what in the world is a supper club? You could just talk about that.

That could be a whole program, the whole series, you know, just on the idea of a, Of a wis. Of a. Of a Wisconsin supper club. There's books on it. A buddy of mine and I were chatting about doing a, you know, a podcast series on supper clubs.

So he sends me this book. You know, it's, it's about as thick as the New York telephone book and it's chocked full of Wisconsin. It's all Wisconsin supper clubs.

So it highlights these supper clubs. It's a pretty cool idea. You know, everybody loves a supper club.

You know, it's cool and there's definitely resurgence in supper clubs and, and there's a following. It's kind of a cult following. Yeah, we, we, we get a lot of visitors that I've never seen before and I'll probably never see again.

And it's because they're just trying to hit every supper club in Wisconsin.

There you go. There you go. That's pretty cool, man. So, yeah, so let's, let's transition a little bit back to, you know, the core of what the foundation is doing.

I mean, you and I have known each other for probably 13 years because you didn't start right away. You know, we got to know each other and I remember that. But it's hard to believe you're on your 12th year already.

But you and Brenda approached the foundation.

But let's start right there for a Minute you tell that story about how you got involved, what was the motivation, and how has it changed, you know, and then we can talk after that about, you know, some of your experiences with the heroes. But let's start with, you know, the idea. You know, where did you get the idea?

How'd you find out about us and talk us through the early years and just fast forward the tape to today?

Sure.

So the idea was actually given to me by somebody I met, but I'm going to back up a little bit and tell you why it was always in my forethought and so important to me. So. And I've told this story to every veteran that's visited us up here.

When I was young, When I was 17, it was my destiny to join the army like everyone else in my family. My dad, my uncles. My uncles were in World War II. I lost a great uncle in Pearl Harbor. I've lost a cousin in the Middle East. And so it just.

It was a part of me and my family, and I was going to serve. That's just how it was going to be. Well, I signed up with a recruiter. Um, my dad was elated to find out I scored high enough to be intelligence.

And then about a week later, we get a call that I failed the physical. And I've worn that on my sleeve my whole life. I'm. I'm like, I. I'm gonna try not to get choked up over it, but I'm angry about it.

And so I've always felt like a failure, even though my dad has told me, dude, you're not a failure.

Whatever, you're not.

Yeah. And so one day, I was doing a little construction work at a gentleman's house that had one eye, and I noticed he had some mounts around.

And we just struck up a conversation. We jammed right away, and he was telling me that he's a Marine. I saw the emblem on the wall, his artwork that he had around.

And we just started talking hunting and stuff. And I don't even remember how the topic came up, but he said, you should take veterans hunting.

In our conversation, he knew that I had a lot of assets up here. I had a cabin in the Northwoods. I hunt and fish all the time. I know a lot of people. And. And, you know, he.

He encouraged me to reach out to you, actually, and we had that initial conversation.

Josh. Are we talking about Josh Krueger?

Yeah, Josh Krueger.

What a great American he is. What? I mean, I have always thought. Yeah, I always thought the world of that cat you know, hey, let me, let me.

I'm going to hit the pause button figuratively here for a second. And I want to tell you something.

I tell this to a lot of guys because I mean it and I believe it in my heart, you know, regarding, you know, service and, you know, to our country, you know, and I understand your story and you're not alone, number one.

Number two, you know, what you're doing right now, Chris, I can almost guarantee you is more important than what you would have done wearing a uniform. And I promise you that, okay? So let all that go. The work, everybody has a destiny, man. You can't affect it, right?

I mean, maybe a little bit left and right, but you and I and everybody on this planet, you know, has a destiny in a purpose driven life, okay? And so you are where you are for a reason.

And the work you're doing right now, I can promise you, is more important than the work you would have been doing wearing a uniform. Okay? So, you know, I want to thank you and I'll thank you repeatedly throughout our time together today.

But what you and your community and your bride have done for the foundation is amazing. Okay? Think about how much enrichment there's been in your life. Right? Think about that. It's huge, isn't it?

Yeah.

So I didn't mean to interrupt your story, but I wanted to just put an explanation mark behind that because there's no doubt somebody out there listening today and they're thinking the same thing, like, hey, listen, I feel inside of me like I must give something back, right? You have that feeling or you wouldn't be doing it. You're a servant or you wouldn't be doing it. Okay?

And so the foundation is just an opportunity for the American sportsmen and women and anybody else who wants to help our nation's combat wounded.

I think the most deserving of all veterans, you know, those who bleed in the, you know, in the boots they were issued and the uniform they were given of the United States of America, right? And now you're doing something where the need is greatest, and that's post traumatic events. You know, they've all been wounded. That's traumatic.

They've all seen and done things that we would never, we would hope nobody would ever have to do. But they've done it and they've done it valiantly. And now here we are, you know, to honor, you know, connect and help heal them.

And, and that's, that's interstage left where you came in. I didn't find you. You just Told a story. I didn't come to you and say, hey, Chris, would you help us? I didn't do that. I didn't do that with anybody.

I've done that zero times in my life, you know, and so everybody who's on this team has found their way to us. And that's what you want. You want people who are, you know, who are volunteers who are doing this to fulfill something within themselves.

And that's super important because that's the bedrock of why this works. So please continue. You're doing great, man. By the way, what you guys are doing up there is phenomenal, and I want to thank you for it. So continue on.

You're, you know, you meet Josh Krueger. Okay. And then you contact us and then we're off and running. Something like that.

Yeah. So. Well, and thank you for that. But the community that I live in currently up here in Bayfield county, it's.

There's a lot of veteran support here, and I knew it would be easy for me to reach out to this community.

Yeah.

So just for an example, whenever I have a fundraiser at the restaurant, this small community of 11, 48 people, they flood through the doors and they donate and they volunteer time, whatever. So there's a few veterans in town that have helped me over the years and are still solid with the organization.

And, you know, Army Rangers and if I can name them, Russ Heule was one of the first ones that helped me out both financially and as a hunting guide and helping me out with a lot of other things. Dan Bourassa is another army guy that is very involved with WWIA and his wife Nancy, is just a monster of a fundraiser.

Oh, my gosh, they do such a great job. They really. They really do. It's.

The brasses are just wonderful people and, you know, they have their own event now, you know, and Ross Heule, you know, another great American. I mean, he has a. He's an entrepreneur, he's a businessman, and he supports the organization Dairyland Fence Company. Isn't that right?

Correct.

My memory serves me proper. Yeah. I mean, he. He's always, you know, financially supporting your activities up there. So, you know, you've got an amazing network. And isn't it.

Isn't it just a great feeling?

I had the same thing going on in my camp and which is the original event, you know, there in Phillips, Wisconsin, at Camp Hackett, you know, and these people that. That pour out, you know, and give of their time and their resource and, you know, to support the activity, activities that happen up there.

It's just humbling, isn't it? Isn't that just an amazing feeling?

Sometimes I just sit back and I take it all in, which is odd for me.

Right. You got to, though. You got to let it absorb, man.

Yeah. Yeah. And I have to mention, another guy that I don't believe you've met, but he's amazing, too. Jimmy Klobuchar. So he's. You don't. Okay.

So there's the White Tails Unlimited banquet up there, and he runs that with Dan.

Okay.

And they make sure they get funding for event.

Yeah.

But he's got a family cabin. Him and his brother Keith have a family cabin. And I. I hope you can check it out someday. It's.

I'd love to.

The upstairs is all bunks, and it sleeps 14. So these guys that we get, I stay there, the other guides stay there. And then the veterans are upstairs in those bunk beds.

Again, they're forced to be in the same room. They're in their bunks, just like the old days.

That's what we got going on at Camp Hackett. It's the same dang thing. I. Yeah. I love. You gotta love it, man. You just gotta love it.

Yeah, I love it. So, you know, the fact that they're donating their. Their family cabin.

They've served and they continue to serve, and they have a monstrous involvement, and they've helped me elevate this event in ways that it just. It. It seemed like. I don't know how else to put it. Like, oh, this is no big deal, but.

So when we get a deer, typically we would take it to a local processor and get it processed. Not with the clover chairs.

It's happening right there.

Yeah. And. And so we're.

We're.

They have a heated garage with stainless steel tables and a winch. So a ceiling mounted winch. So we bring the deer in there, they hoist it onto the table, and they tell everybody to grab a knife and. Yeah.

And the guys are learning. They're learning to process the game that they just harvested. And that's so incredible. Critical to put your hands on it and see it and do it. Right.

That's great.

It is. And the first time that we did that, which was just a couple years ago. That's what everyone talked about.

Exactly.

And they were taking their own meat home with them because we had time to freeze it and everything. It was. It was unbelievable. None of these guys had ever processed an animal before, including this guy. So it was just. It was.

You know how that camaraderie happens around a campfire. Well, it also happened around that. That stainless steel table with seven guys with knives in their hands.

Absolutely. Well, you see, here's the thing. And that's why they're so tight after they come back from, from, from a unit in combat, you know. Yeah.

I'll tell you exactly why it is. Because they've shared a common experience that very. That only people in that group did. Right.

There's nobody else on the planet that saw what they did, that did what they did.

They did similar things in other parts, you know, of the battlefield, you know, in other parts of the world and other times in our history, but they didn't do anything. They did that together, you know, and so they share that.

And it's the same thing whether it's, you know, on, on the boat fishing for muskie on day one or day three after the harvest when they've got, you know, you know, knives in their hands and they're processing a whitetail deer. They're sharing an experience and they're doing it with their hands and they're doing it together.

And, and that is what, that's what creates bonds and positive memories, right? Super positive memories.

Sure. Yeah. And you know, the jokes come flying out. Oh, yeah. It's just a good time.

It is a good time, man. That's so cool. I love the smile on your face, you know, you, you.

Well, you know, I may never have told you this either, but I do this as a birthday present to myself. So you're my birthday baby.

Are you in October?

Yeah.

What day?

October 14th.

Dude, I'm the 12th. My youngest son, Luke is 13. So we got 12, 13 and 14 cornered, man.

Awesome.

That is cool. Well, there you go. There you go. You're a Libra. That makes a lot of sense, man. I knew we shared quite a bit in common. I always got that vibe from you.

I don't know what it is about the Libras. My sister married a library whose birthday is on 12th October. Her oldest son is a Libra whose birthday is on the 12th of October.

There's a lot of October ness in my life and all those people and I share, I don't know, I mean, I'm not a big astrology person or that kind of thing, but I can tell you the people who were born, you know, that a Libras that are born around the time I was born, we all share certain things in common. It's. It's kind of odd. Like our personalities seem to like sort of mesh in one way or another.

There's got to be something to it.

It's got to be something to it, man. Well, that's super cool. Well, happy early birthday.

Thank you.

Yeah, and you. Yeah, there you go. All right. Hey, so drive on. Drive on there, buddy. You, you're telling a great story.

I mean, obviously, you know, this impacts your life, right? I mean, you can't say it doesn't. Hey, listen, man, if I wasn't still highly motivated, I would not be doing this.

You know, I'm just highly motivated by the work and the results of the work and when I get stories.

That's why I wanted to do these podcasts, you know, I wanted to have an opportunity in a forum for you to tell the world about your experience, you know, and for me to hear it, because I, you know, I can't be all places. It's just impossible today. And it wouldn't be good if I was there in all the, you know, places. You know, it's better.

You know, this is the model here is, you know, central planning and decentralized execution. I mean, you're out there doing your thing, man. You've been given guidance, you know, you've been given resources.

You've been getting purpose, direction and some motivation and an operations order that sort of guides you loosely through the, you know, through your weekend. But, you know, what's happening on the ground is just magical.

The testimonials that come from your event are phenomenal, you know, and I'm certain that you and your family and your community have created a lot of amazing bonds with a lot of great American combat wounded veterans. Right? That last today, that, that continue today. Right?

Yep. We. We all do buddy checks and things like that. It's, you know, back before I moved up here, it was a 12 hour round trip.

Right. You were from Green Bay. I remember you guys started. Oh, I beg your pardon. It was. That's when I met the Milwaukee.

Because I remember you guys were you, you had a cabin or something up there and you were commuting. And then at some point, maybe five, six years ago, or maybe even beyond that, but my, my memory serves me correctly.

You're like, hey, man, I'm moving up there. And then. And then. And then Milwaukee was in the rearview mirror.

Correct? Yeah. But, you know, in, in that drive, it gave me time.

So it was perfect opportunity for me to call on them guys in the past and say, hey, man, what's up? And let's talk hunting for a while.

That's it, buddy. That's the good stuff right there. They know that that's the thing.

Like, that's the people, our veterans, you know, just want to know that people respect what they did, you know, and care about what they did. And they want to feel like they're, they're, that this country broadly, you know, did the same thing.

You know, like they, what they did, wherever they did it was valued back here.

And what you're doing, what everybody else is doing is just that it's an expression of your commitment, it's an expression of your patriotism and it's the value that you place on what they did for our country that makes it so meaningful. And that's the good stuff, man. If that's not motivational, man, I don't know what is.

It's a whole bundle of gratitude is what it is. And the whole community feels that way.

And I mean, to the, to the ladies that are baking cookies in the cabin, you know, it's just, it's, it's everything. Everyone wants some level of involvement with this event. So.

Yeah, I remember and I've said this before, you're going to start smiling and nod in your head north and south when I say it because I can almost guarantee it's true. And I've never even asked you, but what, what, what host who round the 10 year corner. Because you're on year 12.

I mean, you're, you're deeply embedded. You're, you know, you're, you're, you know, I'd call you a Wisconsin Plank Holder, right? In, in this, in this, in this mission.

But you know, one of the challenges you have, I'm guessing, is what a lot of people when they round the 10 year corner end up having is what to do with all the help. Right, it, right, sure. You're like, you're like, yeah, for sure, man.

But you guys are the ones that are employing that, that help, managing that help, you know, and it's always a double edged sword. But you know, the people that are most successful figure out a way to get those volunteers and their energy moving in the right direction.

So there's, you know, synergistic effect and pause. You know, there's more light and less heat, if you will. Right. Because that's what we want. We got a lot more light and a whole lot less heat.

But you know, there's an art to it. You know, there's an art to it. And I'm just telling you I'm off the path, but that's me. But back here at the headquarters, we have this.

On the, on the website there's this volunteer thing because here we are in Apollo beach, you know, Florida, in between, you know, Tampa and St. Petersburg and the south shore of the bay in a sleepy little hollow, right?

And, and we have this little form on the, on the website says if you want to volunteer, you know, please click here. Right. And then. And there is a local thing, right, or right here we say, you know, we're the headquarters, we can employ your help.

So the forms come in here and I read every single one of them.

And I do our darndest, you know, this team here, the small headquarters team, does our darndest to get the volunteers, you know, doing something that's positive. But it's not easy, you know, because it starts with, you say, what are you an expert at? What do you want to do? What can you do?

What kind of time can you devote to this? You know, when you have a little old lady, God bless her, in tennis shoes that wants to make a quilt, you don't say no, Right, Right. Yeah.

You have some wonderful ladies that come in for a sandwich and say they'd like, you know, bake some cookies. You don't say no, you say, that would be. That.

You say, that would be great.

Thank you. Right.

Yeah.

And you take the broadheads, even though you're not sure what the hell you're gonna do with them. I mean, welcome to my world, man.

Yeah, well, you know, John, I can knock on a hundred doors and ask permission to hunt land for myself, and they all say no. But when I say, that's right, what about for a Purple Heart veteran?

And they all say, yeah, they can't. That's right. They can't open their doors fast enough. That's right.

We got guys out there that'll, that'll literally not let their brother hunt in their stand, but they'll let a combat wounded Purple Heart recipients sit there all day long, three days in a row, as a matter of fact, they'll sell everybody in their family. You're not hunting out of that stand. You know, that, that, that's for a Hero, Right?

Correct. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we. We get to hunt properties that are.

They run quality deer management programs off these farms, but they let our veterans shoot whatever they want.

Isn't that great? God bless all of them. I mean, I'm telling you. Yeah. And I'm sure we're thank.

I know you're thanking him in your own way, but, you know, I'll give you a shout out to your entire community up there. Thank you. You know, thank you.

Can I tell you a quick funny story? Yeah.

I want to hear.

Yeah. So last year we had a gentleman from New York. His name was Cal, and he had gotten. He's had hunting success and in the Appalachians over there.

But anyway, he comes here. He was one of the guys that was gonna sit by himself. That was on the Monday morning before they flew out, so people were back to work.

I dropped them off at a blind and I went with another veteran to a different blind. And so I'm sitting with my vet and all of a sudden my phone buzzes and I look at it and it's Cal in his blind by himself.

And he's sending me a picture of a eight pointer. And he says, nice little eight pointer. He'll be a good one next year. So. And I'm going to pass it.

So I text him back, I said, have you ever shot a deer in Wisconsin? And he came back with no question mark. So I responded, kill it. And about 30 seconds later, I get a text. It's dead. That was fun.

And so Cal, he is an amputee. I don't know what the ratings are, but it's below the knee.

Yeah.

So when. When. And super cool guy. And when we found the buck and we got it out and everything, I start walking away and he's like, what's up?

I said, well, it isn't going to drag itself, so get started.

And I think, you know, we can laugh at stuff like that, but I think these guys appreciate that I don't treat them any differently than I would my best buddy. I poke them in the ribs and push them around mentally a little bit, and they love it.

Yeah. No, that's because you're one of them, man. I mean, it's. That's. That's the, that's the good stuff. Okay. I don't care what anybody says.

That, that, that, that's the good stuff right there. That. That's. That's what you want. And you've had, you've had some amazing guides support you. WWI guides over the years.

I'm sure you've developed meaningful relationships with some of those great heroes. Right?

I can talk about that. So we began with a guide right away. And I knew that was to build trust with the organization.

You wanted to make sure that I was doing everything I was supposed to do. So I was told, year three, dude, you got everything you need up there, Go ahead and do it on your own. So I did it.

And we had three visitors in year three. And I gotta say, I just, I don't. I don't know how to talk the lingo, the, the veteran lingo. And it was an uncomfortable situation.

And so I just asked Karina, who's amazing. Yeah, I. I said, you know what? I would like to have a guide here every year.

Somebody that can talk to them the way they need to be spoken to sometimes. So. And that's how that evolved. So, yes, I like to have a guide every year because they deserve a good time too. That title guide means nothing to me.

They come here, they help me out with some logistics, but I get them in the boat and I get them in the deer stands just as well as anyone. So it's important to me.

Well, thanks for saying that. Because there was a period of time where we didn't have a trained cadre of guides. It was before guide school even started.

And so right around the time you and I met, I'd been doing it for five or six years on my own at that particular time. And I had identified in that, you know, period of time probably a handful of guys who I said to myself, like, these are really special people.

These are combat wounded veterans that we've served, that I've been on. I was going on every single event. So I was. I had. I had identified about one guy a year.

That's about the rate at which I was identifying guys that had the capability and, you know, and the desire and will to perform in this interesting space that we've created and what is the WWII? And it then became, as the organization started growing, it then became very apparent to me that it was going to be way.

It was going to be necessary to create a cadre of professional guides that were all combat wounded Purple Heart recipients so that they could lead their peers in the field on these events and do the kind of things that I learned to do and learned were necessary to do, which is interact between, you know, within. Interact with the leadership of the organization, the foundation's headquarters. Right. Interact with the hosts. Okay.

And do that effectively and their communities. It's not just you.

They're interacting with your community and key members within your community, and then to interact and probably most importantly, with the heroes, with themselves. You know, I was doing it, but hey, I was a retired colonel, you know, retired lieutenant colonel, you know, I can interact with him.

But, you know, there's a lot of yes, sir, no, sir, and that's not what we want. You know, we don't want that. You know, I mean, I, a little bit of it's okay, but that's not going to make the most effective program.

What's going to make the most effective program is if I find these great Americans, put them through a guide school, you know, a 10 day comprehensive guide school, and then train them, you know, right seat, ride them out there with others that have been doing this work for a while so that they become comfortable and then assign a guide to every mission that we do, and a trained and certified guide that understands, you know, how to handle emergencies, how to deal with communities and hosts and heroes and the headquarters, yada, yada, yada.

So that's what we have today, a professionally trained guide force of about 25 combat wounded purple recipients that are out there running, you know, going, going out on these events.

And so you were in this period of time, interestingly, right as that idea was forming in my head, you know, so you, you know, it, it warms my heart to hear you say, you know, you want the guides there, you know, and it's, and they're important because I, I really think, to be honest with you, that our guide staff is the center of gravity for the organization at present and in the future. You know, I mean, people come and go. We got a great team.

You know, you, you mentioned, you know, Karina, you know, there's David, there's of course Nicole and Caitlin back here. But, you know, the guides are the ones that are the critical link, matter.

Of fact, and I can unpack that on my end.

Yeah, yeah, no, I just drew the audience can't see this. But you, you know, you can. I. And it's, there's a lot going on. It's a very busy slide.

But when I was at guide school this last summer, we were in another iteration at Camp Hackett where we ran five guys through there.

But I began to really think about the guides as, you know, the center of gravity, if you will, for the organization and how they interact with the headquarters, the communities, the hosts and the heroes. And so I drew these three concentric circles and then just filled out all the stuff that happens in them.

And it is, in fact you know that the guides are the center of gravity for this work.

But it's very reassuring to hear you, a gentleman who's been doing this for 12, 13 years, who did it without a guide, who did it with guides, has got that perspective. So thanks for sharing that. Yeah.

So I can tell you, just from a civilian sitting back and enjoying this event from start to finish, that the guides that you are sending, they're 100% complete servants. And what I mean by that is they're not done serving their country. They're looking for ways to further their service.

But they're serving the guests that come for this event. They're serving me in assistance. They're serving the community. They're.

They're always in the forefront with their smiles and please and thank you and all that jazz. Yeah, they're servants with logistics. They're just like every guy that you send, and someday I'll say every guy and gal.

I haven't gotten a gal yet, but, yeah, we have.

We have one.

Okay. So every guy that you've sent has just been an exemplary example of how leadership should be.

And, you know, it doesn't matter what their rank was overseas. Their rank here is general, and they carry themselves like that. So it's. It's nice.

And you got. You're dialed in, man. I mean, you're like a. You like. I got a PhD in this stuff now, and that warms my heart, man. It really.

Well, it certainly evolved.

Yeah.

You know, everything starts messy, and then you learn from it and.

That's right.

We've. We've had some growing pains over the years, but I would say by. By year five, it was a pretty well lubed machine. And now it's just. It just coasts.

I don't have to really do anything.

Isn't that great?

Yeah, the movie here's. Yeah, they're well lubed.

Here's. Here's the thing, man. This is what I was saying the other day to, you know, somebody who works for me. We were chatting.

I was talking about time and space, you know, and I. Slow, ethereal discussion. But, you know, I was talking about my personal time and space, you know, while I'm.

Well, as, you know, as the guy that's in charge of this thing, you know, and that's why I push off and delegate a ton of stuff. Like, 95% of the stuff that needs to be done is delegated. And in the responsibility of somebody else, there's probably 5% of it.

I'm talking, like, administrative things back here in the Headquarters, you know, that I've got to do. You know, I've got to sign this. I got, you know, I got to devise, you know, this thing. I got to provide guidance. You know, I know what I got to do.

But.

But the point of the matter is, is that, you know, the more space and the more time I have as the boss, the better everybody's going to be, because then I have the freedom to be able to focus on the things that are important for the organization, you know, the leadership, things that are so critical, some of which are tangible, some of which are not tangible.

And that's okay, because, you know, you look at leadership, you go, you know, it's the art and science, okay, literally, of providing purpose, direction and motivation for a common cause or objective. And how I work best is when I don't have monkeys in my cage that need to be exercised, inoculated. The paper needs to be changed.

You know, all these things that monkeys do, they're like, monkeys, you know, my. When my cage gets full of monkeys, you know, and it's twofold, and monkeys start getting sick and they die, I'm not the guy to manage the monkeys.

I got to get most of the monkeys out of my cage so that I have the freedom of action to do the things that I need to do.

That a senior leader should be doing, that add heat and not, you know, add light and not heat to the overall equation of the organization to make it better, to make it stronger, you know, to improve the culture of the organization through other people. Right?

Because if you were to go to your event and then go to 10 other events that you've never been to, didn't even know existed, you know, what I'm hoping is that there's a common thread of culture, of high, you know, a high culture that people enjoy, that they feel comfortable in, that they thrive in, that helps this mission perform to its highest possible standard. And we could talk about that for days, but that's the point.

Like when you start to do that for yourself and your mission, to give yourself time and space by farming out and getting rid of the monkeys in your cage, the more effective you're going to be. You say, well, I don't really have much to do. Yeah, right. You know, you mean, you say, right, you got a big smiley face. Yeah, right.

You know, I know, right? I know. I'm that. I'm that guy, too, you know, I'm that guy at my camp, and I'm that guy on a.

On a much grander scale, you know, for the foundation, too. But that's what I try to do. I try to get it all, all the little monkeys. I might have a gorilla or two in my cage on occasion.

You know, in gorillas, you got to treat gorillas different than monkeys. I can tell you that right now. Well, that's what you want.

Leadership doesn't mean you tell people what to do. Leadership means you delegate people that already know what to do, give them their.

Do it better.

Well, everybody that's out there got a task, you know, that I, that I delegated or that they, they're doing those things a thousand times better than I could. Like, a thousand times. Right. And that just makes me happy.

And there are certain things that I probably do better than everybody else, but that's my job. Right. That's what I do. I do those things because that's what I should be doing.

Sure.

You know, it doesn't mean you don't do a deep dive every now and again and get your hands dirty and, you know, roll up your sleeves and grab a knife and start, you know, cutting up a buck. Of course I do that.

Yeah.

I do that because it's. Enjoy. It's enjoyable for me. And, and, you know, I would never ask anybody to do something that I haven't already done.

Yeah.

Or, you know, wouldn't do. Haven't. You know what I mean? That's, that's leadership. Right. So anyway, no, that's all really good, man. I'm proud of you, buddy. I really am.

I think you're doing phenomenal. Okay. You really are.

Thank you.

And yeah, you guys, just keep it up. Keep it up. Now, I want to ask you, we're getting close to our time here, but let me just ask you to share a story with us.

Anything that was really impactful or that comes to mind on an event or, you know, that involved, you know, maybe a hero. You know, you've, you've, you've met a lot of them.

You shared already a couple stories with us, but is, is there anything that really just, you know, sticks out that when, when you think back on it, you just kind of go, wow, is anything grab you there?

It's the transformation. Yeah, it's. You get, you get the guys that can't be in a room without having their back to the corner so they can see everything in front of them.

They don't talk to anybody and just the transformation watching them become vocal and engage, and then by the end of the trip, they're hugging and laughing and crying and high fiving and Just, it's the trans transformation that gets me every single time. And, you know, with 11 events, it's tough to single out stories because there's so many of them. I can give you a couple.

So, like last year, we had a gentleman, another amputee, that had never hunted before, and he was sitting with Jimmy Clover, and I was with a veteran in a clover or alfalfa field maybe 400 yards away. Two different properties, but two different fields, two different hunters.

Well, he shot his first deer, and we heard him hollering, and it was awesome. My guy is high five. And me, I'm high five. And him. And we were so happy for this other guy. All of the other guests wanted this guy to get a deer.

It didn't matter if they got one. They wanted this guy to get his first deer. And so that night in camp was just amazing. That's a good story.

Another one is I'm sitting with a guy in a ground blind, and this. I set it up in a spot where I had been glassing this field for a couple weeks, and I went, oh, all them deer are coming out on that one trail.

So I set up for that trail. When we were sitting in that blind, we kept seeing these deer come out on a different trail at the corner of the field.

And my hunter was disappointed, and he's like, what are we going to do? And I said, let's move the blind.

And he videotaped me inside the blind holding it up, and I'm carrying it across the field like some cartoon character. And he shared that video with his wife, and she made it go viral, and it was just hilarious.

But there's just seems to be a story every year, and it all involves transformation, because none of these guys, they don't know me. They come here, they don't know what to expect, and we put them at ease right away.

And just watching that transformation is what gets me every year and what.

Yeah.

Makes me want to continue to do it, because you literally see the light switch go on and their lives change. So, yeah. Yeah, that's my favorite part. It's. And again, John, it's. It's tough for me to single out stories because.

Yeah.

They're infinite.

Yep. Well, I didn't want to. I didn't mean to put you on the spot, because I think you have the best answer.

And I'm sure that if you put me on the spot and asked me to do that, I would struggle as well. I'd probably duck that.

I'd probably duck that question a little bit as well, but because it is, it is, it's, it really is about, you know, what you see and what happens broadly that makes the most, you know, impact and in your case, you know, the transformation, you know, and wouldn't happen if they didn't trust you.

Well, and on a personal level, yeah, it's, it's allowed me to create more relationships. I'm a relationship guy. I think the greatest things in life are experiences and relationships. They're not actual things.

So I've got very close friends that I met through you without even an introduction, like John Carlson and Phillips. We're very tight and.

Wow, I didn't realize. Yeah, I knew he and I, Chad, he and I chatted because he went through a transformation, as you know. You know, and I helped him with that.

I know you did. I know you did. Yeah. And that's powerful, right? I mean, it's the thousand points of light, man. You start connecting the dots on the foundation.

And I said this the other day, I was chatting about it. You know, I'm a big, no single points of failure guy, right?

So when I look at a mission and operation, my personal life, et cetera, you know, I'm building, you know, a network of success. I'm building conditions that enable success. And I'm doing it with the, in the mindset of I won't have a single point of failure.

So when this thing, whatever it is, falls or, you know, leaves or dies or goes away, you know, the whole thing doesn't go with it. Right. And so it's like a spider web, you know. You know, you've looked at a lot of spider webs.

You pull one of those webs off, you know, that's connected to something and it barely changes the shape that the, you know, it doesn't really do a whole lot that the web is still, is still functional, you know.

And a lot of times you gotta, you gotta really do a lot to destroy a spider web because they're complex, they got lots of connective tissue, you know, they're designed a specific way. They're kind of sticky, you know.

And so, you know, that's really what the foundation is, is this monster web, if you will, of connective tissue with like minded people who all are pulling together on this mission. And, and so, you know, you've, you've done that within your community, you know, and, and it's, it's just, it's just great, man.

I mean, it is the meaningful experiences, you know, the connections, the meaningful connections to people that make all this really work.

And so, again, I want to thank you and your family and of course, your extended community, all the great people that are enabling this to happen and pitching in. And I'm just really proud of you. And I'm really happy to hear that this is something that's still, you know, a glowing fire in your belly.

It is. It's 100%. It's not going out of my life anytime soon.

I love it, man. No, that's. It's really great. And I feel humbled and very blessed to have you in our lives.

And I want to congratulate you on your success and your continued success, not only as an entrepreneur at Busky Bay Resort, but with the work that you're doing with our combat wounded. I really appreciate it. I know they do. And it's the good stuff. It's those relationships that really matter. And thanks for all that, Chris.

Thank you. I appreciate it. And it's my pleasure and honor to do it.

Yeah, I feel the same way. I feel the same way. Well, you got an event coming up. When is your event?

They fly in on the 17th of October and they leave on the 21st. I don't have it in front of me, but.

Yeah, that sounds right. Yeah. Well, that's your birthday present to yourself.

Yes, it is.

Yeah. Happy birthday, man. Thank you, man, and good luck this year and God bless you. Send.

Send my best to everybody out there that is pulling together and making this happen. I tell them how genuinely appreciative I am of their hard work and their caring and healing ways. It means a lot to us all.

Well, I believe I will be posting this and all 15,800 residents of Bayfield county are going to see it.

Yeah, There you go. Well, you guys are great, man. I mean, I enjoyed, you know, a couple years ago, you know, seeing you at your. At your.

At Busky Bay Resort and, you know, came to visit you and was just really blown away by how beautiful that resort is and how well you and Brenda have done and your entire family, you know, it did feel like a family in there, you know, and I know if I lived there, I mean, I'd be frequenting your place a lot because the food was delicious, the, you know, the drinks were great and the people are even better. So, you know, keep.

My staff is family.

Yeah, that's right. Well, that's the way it has to be. You know, we got a big storm coming here to Florida and, you know, you know, I don't want to talk about that.

But it is that season. But I came in this morning, and one of the. One of the. One of the people that worked for me were here, you know, Caitlin.

And I don't think she has a lot of experience with, you know, storms like this. And we were just chatting, and I could see her eyes getting bigger, and I was like, go home. Just. No, she. I said, she's like, what?

I said, yeah, just take the rest of the day and tomorrow and Thursday. She doesn't work on Friday. She's part time. I said, just go and take care of your family. She's like, yeah.

I said, caitlin, there's nothing you're going to do back here that's going to change the world. You know, just go, you know, we'll make it up. Don't worry about it. Go take care of your stuff, you know, and, you know, she walked out of here like.

Like, that had never happened to her in her whole life, you know, but that's it, right? They're like family.

Yeah, family.

You got. Yeah, you got to take care of people. Right? And sometimes taking care of them is. It's the little things that make such a big difference, you know?

Anyway, well, listen, continued success to you. Thanks for your time, and I appreciate all you do, buddy.

Thanks, man. I appreciate you having me.

Right on, man. All right, good luck out there.

Be good.

All right. Bye.

Bye.

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@wwiaf.org 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. And heal our combat wounded Purple Heart heroes through the power of the great outdoors.