The VetsConnection Podcast
Join host Scott McLean, a veteran and also a passionate advocate for veterans' well-being. Each week Scott will bring you an episode that will feature insightful conversations with representatives from non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting veterans, as well as experts discussing programs within the Veterans Affairs (V.A.) aimed at assisting veterans with their needs. From discussing innovative therapies to highlighting community resources, this podcast sheds light on the myriad of ways veterans can find support and healing thru nonprofit organizations and also to connect nonprofits with each other in hopes of creating a network that will be beneficial to all.
The VetsConnection Podcast
Ep.- 39 - Nick Cannon, From Air Force Crew Chief to Veterans Advocate to Wounded Veterans Relief Fund
What happens when a life marked by frequent transitions meets the rigid structure of military service? Meet Nick Cannon, the Director of Operations for the Wounded Veterans Relief Fund, who shares his extraordinary journey from a tumultuous childhood to becoming a crew chief for F-22s in the Air Force. Through personal stories, Nick illuminates the unpredictable paths life can take and how unexpected choices often lead to rewarding experiences. His narrative offers a unique perspective on adapting to change, an invaluable skill for both military and civilian life.
Nick and I tackle the pressing issues of transitioning from military life to civilian careers, a journey fraught with challenges that many veterans face. We discuss the alarming rates of veteran suicides and the critical need for structured support systems, comparable to those available to reintegrating inmates. Our conversation underscores the importance of establishing pathways for veterans to secure meaningful employment, emphasizing that finding purpose in post-military life is crucial for their well-being.
We also celebrate the impactful work of the Wounded Veterans Relief Fund, where I now serve after leaving a congressional career. Nick highlights their essential programs, like Urgent Financial Assistance and the Critical Dental Assistance Program, which have significantly improved veterans' quality of life. With over 300 participating dentists, the initiative addresses the dental health challenges veterans face due to inadequate VA coverage. Our episode concludes with a heartfelt call to support veteran-focused organizations, inviting listeners to connect with the WVRF's mission to transform lives.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Scott McLean. My guest today is Nick Cannon. Nick is the Director of Operations for the Wounded Veterans Relief Fund, located in where Nick North Palm.
Nick Cannon:Beach, florida. There you go, servicing veterans throughout the entire great state of Florida. Welcome back to the show. It seems like I was just here, yeah, well, and for the listeners.
Scott McLean:He was, and I had the podcaster's nightmare. I interviewed nick about a week ago and I had to make the dreadful. Well, first it was a text, so this is where text messages come in handy I didn't that, that phone call. I dreaded it. But since nick and I have a friendship, I could just send him the text where the file from the interview disappeared because my laptop crashed Podcaster's nightmare. Yeah, I lost the whole episode. So Nick was nice enough to come back and do a redo.
Nick Cannon:The text was funny too. Hey Nick, Sorry bro, I messed up, the laptop messed up. What was my response?
Scott McLean:It was the big f bomb, capital letters, f bomb. Then the laugh emoji came after it. So I was like, oh good, so we can redo this. So, all right, let's get back into our original interview conversation. Tell the listeners where you're from, when you went into the military and what you did.
Nick Cannon:So born in South Carolina up until about three. Then we ended up moving with my family to West Palm. My dad started working in Florida so we brought the whole family down and you know, unfortunately, parents went through a bit of a divorce, took turns living with both my mom and my dad, and you know it. Parents went through a bit of a divorce, took turns living with both my mom and my dad, and you know it was tough. We went to right around 12, 13 different schools by the time I hit high school, living anywhere between Sunrise to Jupiter, West Palm, Boca del Rey, Jensen Beach, Stewart and Port St Lucie. So it was at the time. It was tough and poor St Lucie, so it was at the time. It was tough, but looking back at it, I'm fortunate of it. You know, being exposed to that many different, diverse groups throughout all of it, it's interesting to see and it's something that you know really prepares you for the military. You know, when you show up to boot camp and you get on those little, those steps, those painted steps, and you are with everybody, right, You're with everybody and with everybody right, you're with everybody and it's either you're going to be against it or you're going to be for it and I'm fortunate to be exposed to all that that way, kind of just the flow was easy. By the time we got there and you went into the air force, I did in air force, joined in 2013, going through high school.
Nick Cannon:The last two years about the time I was able to drive, my dad was, uh, traveling the world, getting some experiences. So I lived by myself the last two years and while fun, I didn't really throw major parties or anything like that, I just kind of kept to my own. But I didn't really understand what was next. After high school, I was just kind of floating by and I ended up going to a school that didn't prioritize college too much and the rule for my dad was either going to go to college or going to go to the military. And by the time senior year hit around, no SATs, no ACTs. I think I took the ASVAB, but it was one of those things where, if you take the ASVAB, you could dip out of school pretty early. So I was like, yeah, let's do that. And then I signed some dots you know, Christmas tree a bit, but yeah, but by the time, you know, senior year hit around, he comes back home. He's like so what's the plan? What's the plan? Ooh well, I applied to college too late Apparently, you have to apply on time. And I didn't know what to tell him. So I was like I'm going to join the military. He's like all right, cool, when do you leave? Oh damn, Got me on that one too. I guess I'm going to go talk to a recruiter.
Nick Cannon:I went to Jensen Beach High School for, you know, two and a half years, and I did the JROTC thing and I thought it was cool. You know, I thought it was interesting. We got to go to the Navy SEAL Museum and this, and you know, got to experience it. And even growing up, you know, you kind of you play the little war video down and you see that and it's, you know it, it, it looks cool, it looks cool. And when you don't have any other options, it's a it looks cool and it sounds cool and it's like let's run with it. So I enlisted at 19.
Nick Cannon:I got shipped out to uh, what was it? Lackland air force base as an open mechanical slot. One thing that I kind of heard from other people is that the military is going to teach you something. So teach it, let them teach you something that you don't already know how to do. Like, I don't change my oil, I don't really, you know, mess with car stuff that much. So let's do open mechanical on aircraft C-130s. You know, sounds like a cool plane and yeah, they shipped off January 15th of 2013, ended up graduating in March and then shipping out to Wichita Falls for for training on a F-22s to become a crew chief.
Scott McLean:You know that's funny. I took the ASRAB also in the Air Force and they came back. My recruiter said you, you know we have you. After seeing your testing we could we have me placed as a like a jet engine mechanic or something like that. I was like mechanic.
Scott McLean:It's like I don't even know how to change a tire on my car. Like, how did that come? I said what I know about mechanics you put on the back of a matchbook. So I dated myself, because no one uses matchbooks anymore. Books and matches it's basically a relic. But I don't understand how they do that. I think they just needed to fill the spot, but I ended up being security police.
Nick Cannon:So yeah, it's funny about security, security police. When I talked to the recruiter I wanted to do osi, that was, you know, go to go to yeah, office, special investigation, fbi, training academy, all that cool stuff and the the caveat. That's how they got me to join six years. They said, nick, you can either do four years or six years, but if you do four years they might not keep you. That's not true at all. If they're you're, they're going to keep you no matter what, because you're not, you know, an insane person. So I was like, all right, I'll do six years, I'll do open mechanical. So I get the boot camp.
Nick Cannon:And during the first couple weeks of boot camp you go talk to some administrator about your job that you that you selected for and I said, hey, I want to be security police, I want to be security forces, what they called it then and it was police first, now it's security. You know, maintainers call it SECFO. I probably get punched out for for saying that they take it really seriously. But uh, but you maintenance and security forces were. And I look, I get there are other branches that go through worse. I'm not saying that, but I am saying that from the Air Force side. Yes, while we're eating at five-star Michelin restaurants, I will say security forces and maintenance is the toughest ones outside of special operations. They are the toughest. They're the ones that are on the flight line, they're the ones that are working. You know, 12, 14, 16.
Scott McLean:Working the canine, like I was.
Nick Cannon:It wasn't easy, it's just. You know you're outside, exposed to everything, dealing with every single chemical in the world. It's just part of life.
Scott McLean:The law enforcement side of it also is a whole other thing. Yeah, you got to deal with it. You got to deal with the people. There were two separate entities. When I came in you went under security police, but that's the umbrella. But you were either security specialist or law enforcement. I guess they eventually merged that and made it all. Whatever you end up being under that one umbrella or one thing.
Nick Cannon:New administration comes in.
Scott McLean:It's like we're going to do all.
Nick Cannon:Now it's a multi-capable airman, so now they're having. You know, you came in as a crew chief, but we're also going to teach you how to do electronics. Yeah, do more with less, which is unfortunate, because a lot of more with less means higher working hours and less people. Yeah, you know, these jets got to fly and that's ultimately, you know why, for the Air Force is why we're there.
Nick Cannon:So, you were up in Panama City. I was. I joined to leave Florida, to get out of Florida, and the big Air Force had a different plan for me, so they put me in Panama City. After you know, getting out of Wichita Falls in Texas, went to Panama City for hot training, did two months there and then I got selected to stay in Panama City in the 43rd Maintenance Unit, which meant that we took care and maintain the F-22s. So whenever fighter pilots would graduate from the Texan to the T-38 Talon, they would come to our F-22s, we would train them on our F-22s and then we would send them to deployable units. Nintendo was a hell of a thing and Panama City is a beautiful place. Yeah, not the worst place to be man in the midst of spring break. Oh, my goodness it was.
Scott McLean:That would have got me in a lot of trouble.
Nick Cannon:Well, in 2015, they had the alcohol ban on the beaches, so they're trying to make everything better, I guess.
Nick Cannon:But no, it was great. It was just they called it the Tyndall bubble and I knew guys that went to Tyndall Station there on their first duty assignment and then retired out of Tyndall. The military is going to use you how the military wants to use you. You either accept it or you try to go against it and you get out. But for me personally, being an F-22 crew chief, it was fun. Again, I don't change my oil in my truck. I'm not too gung-ho about fixing aircraft. I love what the F-22 does. There's no other aircraft in the world that could even compare to it.
Nick Cannon:But what I saw in the maintenance field was a lot of people looking down on other people that wanted to be better, like to better themselves. Not to better, to be better than other people, but to better themselves, specifically through education. Again, you join the military. You think, all right, I don't have to go to college. Completely untrue, they're going to put you through college. You can't rank up unless you go to college. At least specifically for the Air Force and for the maintainers it was you want to go to school. What you think you're better than us? You think you're better than that? No, I just you know trying to.
Nick Cannon:There's going to be a time where we get out of the military and you need to build yourself up to be as strong as possible to compete with the outside world, because the moment you get to the world, your military experience minimal. It doesn't reflect on a nation that says that they support veterans. That's a fact. We see that with veterans that can't even find actual purpose and actual jobs and it's tough. So I saw that at a young age and, most importantly, leadership that prioritize planes flying than their troops eating food. So I made that a point, that I made it a point when I finally became a supervisor and then CEO, a staff sergeant, I called it sandwich time, right when if you brought a sandwich to work, I'd give you 30 minutes. Go do whatever you go. You want to go work on this? You want to go work on this? I don't care. But you're going to take 30 minutes to just just decompress of here, because there is every single there.
Nick Cannon:You know day, on the flight line to where your jet comes. You send your jet off to eor to take a flight and then you try to run to the queue real quick to get a sandwich and the next thing you know you're waiting in line to get a quick sandwich or a bite. And then you see your jet coming right back in. You're like, oh my god, what just happened? Yeah, so you are running to your spot trying to get your toolbox ready and try to get your PMA out to make sure the forms are all good, to see what's going on. And then, all right, your jet just came back with an engine one failure. Now you got to start prepping that. All right, what are we going to do? And then nobody eats, right, and I know that sounds. It sounds simple, but going hungry out there while working a 12, 14 hour shift is going to make or break your attitude and the moment your morale is gone, you lose sign on what you're doing. So, as an NCO, I made it.
Scott McLean:I made it people first people, first mission always, and that's kind of reflected my life. Yeah, so you get out and what was the transition?
Nick Cannon:So I got out terminally started in 2018. I did a uh. The DOD skill bridge had to convince my entire chain of command. We talked about it a little bit. That's hard yeah.
Nick Cannon:The entire chain of command that it was a real thing. It took me about six months to do that, which was funny because after I convinced them that it was real, then they all started from my commander to my first year all started to follow in line and do it too. It's a great program that allows veterans in a back home or in whatever location they want to do so. A lot of big Fortune 500 companies have jumped on the bandwagon to support veterans with it.
Scott McLean:It's hard because the Air Force or the military has to let that person go.
Nick Cannon:It's not the military. Well, it is the military, but it's not so much the big military.
Scott McLean:It's your command, your command has to let you go, and now they're one person down, permissive TDY, yep.
Nick Cannon:So you're being paid by the military to go intern Right, and that's not a back filled spot, but once you leave you are gone. So if the mission doesn't support it, you're not going to go. So I think it'd be a good idea to kind of figure out ways to, to, to address that, to support veterans finding purpose and meaningful jobs before they get out, because too often it's a, it's a final salute and a goodbye, the gates shut and then you're on your own. Somebody made a I don't want to say it's a joke about it, but somebody made a comment about it the other day and they're like inmates, right. When somebody gets let out of jail or prison, they have a parole officer. The parole officer kind of helps structure your life and get you on track and they put you here, put you here, put you here. They do that for inmates, right, but for the military you have nobody. You have nobody. And that was such a simple thing to kind of like why don't we have somebody? Why is there not a liaison that can support the veteran from the time they got for maybe six months or at least, until you wave your hand and say, hey, look, or just wave it completely Like I'm not interested and I just want to go. But you always have the option to kind of go back to it. That's there for them. That can kind of plug and play with different opportunities, specifically even federal jobs.
Nick Cannon:The one thing that I want to press for the rest of my life is to get a pipeline going for military personnel to get during their term of leave to get them started through a federal job of their choosing that they're qualified for, or a training pipeline to get them qualified for.
Nick Cannon:So if you are a veteran and you have, let's say, six months to get out, awesome, you wave your hand and you say I want to go work at the VA, awesome, the VA is going to come in. You're going to get a liaison with the VA and then you're going to start a training program for whatever job that the VA needs and that you choose to work for the VA IRS, irs, social Security passport pick and choose a federal agency, it doesn't matter, there's enough jobs around the country that should be able to support that. I know this because I worked in Congress and I saw it and I saw the individuals that were working there and I said there's no reason veterans shouldn't be having these jobs either. So have a pipeline to where you say, yes, I'd like to join the pipeline. You get connected with a federal service and then there's no gap in service. It just goes from military service straight to federal agency service. To me it makes sense.
Scott McLean:When I was in toward the end of my tour, my 10th year, I got a TDY down to Nogales Arizona work on the border to supplement US Customs canine drug dogs. I was a drug dog handler in New Mexico and I got hired while I was there and I was still in the air force. But what ends up happening is I ended up getting a job. That's a long story, but how I got hired was through the VRA, the Veterans Rehabilitation Act. I didn't have to test, I didn't have to do anything. I filled out a 612, which was basically my experience, what I did in the military and I provide some paperwork and boom, you're hired. Like you're hired, you're a veteran, you're hired. And that was how it went for a lot of veterans that I worked with.
Scott McLean:And then I guess they did away with that for some reason or another. But the Veterans Rehabilitation Act was really. And then I started noticing, when they stopped, that I'm not putting anybody down, but the quality of officers that we got into customs, especially dog handlers. We had no more military guys. We had no more veterans Like. There were guys worked at his sister's dress shop in New York, another girl worked for FedEx, like so you lost that, that type of worker. But that's another story for another time. But yeah, I, I.
Nick Cannon:I need to do something like that. Yeah, you know, to me it makes sense. We have all these programs that you know that the country taxpayers dollars go to. I think that it would just be common sense to have something like that.
Scott McLean:Yeah.
Nick Cannon:With suicide rate to what it is right now. We can talk about it another day, but the last reporting that I had and unfortunately it's not going to be published for specific reasons, but it was 118 a day and I know this because I took a photo of it on my phone while attending a Veterans Resource Network meeting with the big VA, with National VA, there was 99 plus veteran organizations like Wounded Veterans Relief Fund. That was part of this call, just trying to brainstorm ideas on how we can continue making an impact in the lives of our veterans. During that call the National Suicide Prevention Task Force got on. They started preaching their numbers and the individual said and it had it on the slide it was 118 veterans a day commit suicide. You'll never hear this on the news, you'll never hear this anywhere. I wear 22 on my wrist every single day. We hear 16 and a half from the National Suicide Prevention Task Force Suicide Impact Report. But that individual briefed 118, and that comes directly from the National Suicide Prevention Director. All of us said, hey, where did you get these numbers? He said his numbers came from January 1st of 2024 to June 25th 2024. And this was the 118 a day. Once he was done.
Nick Cannon:Big VA got on top and muted everybody and he said if you have any questions about this number, please let us know, but do not report this number, do not tell anybody about this number and do not let anybody know that this is the current number. And I take my phone out and I screenshot it. Try to get it real quick. I actually ended up requesting the minutes of the recording, the minutes of the meeting. They denied me and then I filed two congressional inquiries, one with Shafilis McCormick and one with Congresswoman Lois Frankel. Unfortunately, both offices decided to not pursue it and as somebody that works in the veteran field, that is, a veteran that's dedicated my life to veterans, I want the truth of that.
Nick Cannon:Now, if 118 a day wasn't true, there still is a true number and for a live action agency like Wounded Veterans Relief Fund that is doing its best to solve this problem we try to solve it through two different programs the urgent financial assistance program and the critical dental assistance program we need to know these numbers. That way we can let the community know, let the world know, that this is such a dire need. You would think, on Fox News, cnn, msnbc, whatever news agency you can think of podcast that this would be a crisis, but it's not. It's not a crisis because people aren't talking about it and the people who are responsible for it are hiding it. And it's not. It's not a crisis because people aren't talking about it and the people who are responsible for it, are hiding it and it's got to stop.
Scott McLean:I've talked to people and said that the 22 number is based on what they know as far as how the person unalived themselves suicide by gunshot is typically the only way that they can register or any other way.
Scott McLean:But then there's the fringe of that which is overdoses and stuff like that, that they can't really pin on this. And so I know that I didn't know the 118. I knew it was more than 22. But they somehow narrowed it into solid. This is this, this is the 22, and they left those outliers off. But they exist. They definitely exist. You know, for veteran overdoses. How do you put that on? You know, I guess there's a lot of stuff that goes into it.
Nick Cannon:So they go off of the mortuary the medical examiner. So I was in another VA briefing a couple weeks ago and they gave their 2024 suicide impact report. And please note, to everybody listening, these numbers are based off of two years ago.
Nick Cannon:So, the 2024, and even I was listening to Henry's podcast that you guys did a couple days ago. His information was two years ago as well too, and it's difficult to go off of numbers from two years ago for live action agencies as well. So how to fix that, I don't know. That's something that we have to talk about.
Scott McLean:We're all trying to figure out, but we have to talk about it.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, so 2024 suicide impact report no-transcript. So again, the goal for VA, for big VA and it has been for the past couple of years, it's been mental health, again, mental health, mental health, mental health. If you look at the individuals that are having wait times for mental health, it are having wait times for mental health. It's weeks, it's weeks. And we see that through the community care plan to where, if you're a veteran that needs mental health services, you have to wait. There has to be a wait longer than 22 days before you can be seen by an outside provider. And guess what, if you wait that long doesn't mean the outside provider is going to be convenient for what you need, and I've unfortunately had to deal with that personally. Yeah, it's?
Scott McLean:it just seems to be whenever you try to fix something and something else pops up, okay, we're going to put out these outside providers. Well, now there's this that goes with that, and then this is a delay, and then that, like you said, it's the magic key. It is, somebody has to figure out that lock. But it starts with talking about it.
Nick Cannon:Oh, absolutely, it starts with talking about it and individuals specifically in Congress prioritizing it, because we're not seeing that right now. The VA can't be changed without Congress. That's the way that it is. And to backtrack just a little bit, I get really passionate about this and emotional about it.
Nick Cannon:So after my time in the Air Force I got involved in politics. I knew I wanted to start somewhere, so I volunteered to go put out campaign signs and door knock with a state rep. 12 days into that he hired me to be his legislative aide and fortunately I got to spend some time in Tallahassee during a first session his freshman year. Fortunately the pay wasn't able to live in Boca, so I had to take a bit of a sabbatical. In his freshman year. Fortunately the pay wasn't able to live in Boca, so I had to take a bit of a sabbatical.
Nick Cannon:And that's kind of whenever my journey took some ups and downs losing that purpose, drinking drugs, alcohol, everything you could think of just being lost. And for me personally at the time I didn't have a family, didn't have a kid, didn't have anything like that. It was just me, nick, a former SAS Sergeant in the Air Force, who was now lost. And the party lifestyle, the drinking, the drugs, all of it was, unfortunately, a way for me to forget and forget the ma'am that I knew I could be, and it was easy.
Nick Cannon:It was easy to be unaccountable, it was easy to do these things and spend my days with people that weren't bad people but they were bad for me and that was tough and unfortunately it took and spend my days with people that weren't bad people but they were bad for me and that was tough and unfortunately it took me two years to figure that out and two years into that lifestyle. Thank God I didn't die. I found out that I was going to be a dad and my daughter saved my life.
Scott McLean:Oh, they have a tendency to do that, kids.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, it wasn't.
Scott McLean:That's no doubt a life changer.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, it wasn't the ideal situation. My daughter's mom, her and I weren't we weren't together. She was currently living in Maine and, yeah, I get a text message of a pregnancy test and while for many people it would be you know the best thing in the world, for me at the time I thought that it was going to end my world. You know we talk about veteran suicide and dealing with stuff like that. To backtrack a bit, my stepdad committed suicide. I found that out about a year as I was in the Air Force and my stepdad and I's relationship it was tough. He was extremely abusive, alcoholic, but he also had a loving side. Was he a veteran? He was not.
Nick Cannon:No, he flew, uh, for spirit airlines spirit, uh-huh yeah another podcast, yeah, I know I think they're going to, they're going bankrupt. But no, he was um severe alcoholic going through his own demons and unfortunately, whenever he drank, uh, he, he would, he'd beat on. You know, beat on me up pretty good, just to see what it was like. But you flip that switch and then he was a loving, caring person. It was.
Nick Cannon:You go through it and for so long, for so long, I could never understand how somebody could make that decision, how you're a coward, how could you do this? You had a family, you had kids, you had all of that, up until the moment that it made sense. Wow, this actually does make sense. And thankfully, instead of what I thought at the time was ruining my life, my daughter came to me by the grace of God and, uh, and she saved me. She finally was that missing link that I had. She was, she was my purpose, the path of of after military.
Nick Cannon:I've done my best to figure ways to help individual, not just through the organization, but literally friends that I met on Xbox Right. But again, from the wait times of the decisions of the VA sometimes months, sometimes years, sometimes longer than that they get it wrong, whatever it may be have unfortunately put them in situations that, yeah, they have committed suicide. Yeah, and it's a shame. But to go back to understand, you kind of have to put yourself in those shoes and when you see yourself going down that spiral, it's up to you to change it.
Scott McLean:Yeah, that decision process weighs heavy on people. I didn't really understand it until I got a phone call from an old friend who attempted and when I, when it got down to brass tacks, it was based around his denial letter. You know, yeah it, yeah. Some of us just say, ah, they denied me, and others are like, no, you can't deny. So that's a very, very sensitive issue with some people.
Nick Cannon:Think about your. In each branch, I'm sure, is different. Each situation, I'm sure, is different as well. You have individuals that get shunned for going to mental health. You have individuals that get shunned to go see a doctor for some knee pain and what happens is that this stigma gets put on you. So if you are so afraid or unwilling to be seen, at that time unfortunately there's no documentation to go to where you file your VA claim and you're saying, hey, I have you know, ptsd, anxiety, depression, whatever it may be, and I'm service connecting it to my time at Tyndall Air Force Space.
Nick Cannon:So I got to Tyndall, our chief, our E9, set us all up and I'm service connecting it to my time at Tyndall Air Force Space. So I got to Tyndall, our chief, our E-9, set us all up and I didn't even touch an aircraft at the time. He lined us all up and he said you guys are about to crash another aircraft, all to our faces. That was the first thing that I heard this guy say you guys are about to crash another aircraft. Two months before that, I believe it was, aircraft 13 crashed. I forget aircraft 13 crashed. I forget what the probably a hydraulic issue pilot survived.
Nick Cannon:Thankfully, the jet went down and at the time, two months later, we're going through an inspection from the big air force, to call it the lrav logistics readiness assessment, something I don't know. But um, he will. He lined us all out and he said you guys are about to crash a plane. I was like what the fuck? What is going on? Okay, whatever, let's try to do this.
Nick Cannon:And they, our flight chiefs, pretty much just told us to not show up to work for the next couple of days. So me and my friend Kunz, we just went back to our rooms and finished our own processing and pretty much they called it cowboy maintenance and we were just not doing things properly and it was unfortunate. So that was the first kind of hit I got was you guys are about to crash an airplane. Fast forward five and a half years of of maintenance. Thankfully I never had an incident, but again, every single time I go to sleep, close my eyes, did I do this? Did I do this? I got tire on there at 19. You're solely responsible for an aircraft. You type in your man number, you sign it off, a pilot comes in, flies the aircraft through all time and space and it comes back and then it's scott's turn to inspect it.
Scott McLean:Scotter the tires, good oh, I know the feeling. Yeah, when I was an explosive detective dog handler in southern california I was part of all the secret service missions when the president, vice president, foreign dignitaries came into the south southern california area and as far as the president goes, like their suite where they stay in whatever hotel, I go in there with a EOD guy from the Navy and I search that room.
Nick Cannon:So the dog. Just how does it let you know?
Scott McLean:Well, the dog will sit Really. Yeah, if they get on source, they're going to sit right at the source. You don't want a dog scratching of fighting anything. That might be an explosive right. So it's a passive response dog. Well, when I leave that room EOD guy first, then me they seal that room off. So I'm the last one to search that room If anything happens. Guess who it's on? It's on me. So those were always very tense.
Scott McLean:Any high situation issues that popped up while you guys were doing it Not with the Secret Service, but I did one night get a call. There was a seal was broken on a Special Forces C-130 at March Air Force Base. So they call me out at like 1 in the morning. I go out and I search. I get on the plane. I have my spotter with me. You can't turn on any lights. You can't go in there with the radio on. You can't do any of that stuff. It's just you, the dog and your spotter who looks. I'm watching the dog, he's watching everything else Flashlight. I go up one side, I go around the back of the c-130, I come down the other side and the dog slows down. And I had done a lot of searches. Dog slows down. I'm like, oh, this isn't good. And he stays in one spot and he's scared. Now he's scanning back and forth on the skin of the wall of the you know the wall of the aircraft and he looks at me and he sits. Oh my gosh, so what country is this this?
Nick Cannon:was in the United States.
Scott McLean:Yeah, this was on the flight line at March Air Force Base. He sits and I'm like, oh shit, this has never happened before. So what you're supposed to do is you're supposed to memorize the spot that it's at, you drop your beret like it's a mark or whatever you have, throw it on the ground and get out. Just get the fuck out of dodge. So I get out and I said the dog, you know. Positive response in the hole. Everybody around was like what? And so up channel.
Scott McLean:Communication of the pentagon it goes that high, oh it, when you, when a bomb dog sits on a special force the c-130 yeah, that had the seal was broken it goes all the way up and then it comes down. The base commander shows up, everybody shows up. It's a big fucking deal, wow. And so I'm done, my job is done, and I leave, and they come in and they end up doing a search on it. They brought in an EOD team, they took the skin off the wall and it ended up being some wires had frayed inside the wall. And so I go back the next day to get a debrief from the base commander and the whole thing. And I walked up to him and said, sir, I apologize for that. And he looked at me. He's like what are you apologizing for? Your dog did its job, you did your job and you know what? Those wires were pretty important. I guess that's what he said. He goes, I guess they were pretty important. So, no, we owe you a thank you.
Nick Cannon:You get a coin out of it.
Scott McLean:No, I got the good old letter of accommodation. Yeah, the meta thing, accommodation thing, the whole thing out of it, but it was uh, yeah. So I know that feeling when you send your jet off. Yeah, shit, better be tight. Yeah, you just have to be able to compartmentalize yeah, all of that, you know, yeah, but unfortunately there's a stress factor that goes with that.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, yeah, and it was just being a maintainer wasn't what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. So I knew that there was gonna be a point in time where I was going to get out. And you know, I tried to get other places. I did my best to deploy. I never had an opportunity to deploy being a Tyndall we were. We were stuck there, especially in a training unit. We had one situation where the 95th closed down in Harlem in New Mexico. They moved it, which was a deployable unit, to right down the street at Tyndall. I begged my flight chief. I said sorry, richie, sir, I'm young, I'm single, I'm in the dorms, please send me to the 95th, that way I could deploy. And they said no, they wanted to keep me there and they sent some knuckleheads down to the 95th to clean shop a little bit. But I realized that for me personally, I saw the way the Air Force was going to use me and I just didn't want to spend my life like that. I loved the people, didn't love the job, appreciated the job, loved my time doing the job, but I wasn't in love with putting planes in the sky. So I decided to get out and then jump in politics, get lost for a little bit and then getting back to the blessing of my daughter, stella ended up doing my dream job and that was helping people. I ended up meeting with Mike Durkee with Wounded Veterans Relief Fund, and we talked about all the great things that we were going to be able to do together about being on as a new hire, and we shook hands, you know, and left it at that. I was looking forward to getting a job with WVRF, but time was running out. My daughter's going to be born any day now. I moved her mom in with me in Florida, got a two bedroom, two bath apartment, setting up the nursery and whatnot. Again, her and I we weren't. We weren't together. We're just trying to co-parent the best way we could.
Nick Cannon:And for some odd reason, after I left my meeting with Mike, I went on USAjobsgov. I typed in veteran congressional, veterans, legislative, and a job popped up and it was a green and gold program with a spot in Miramar in South Florida. I didn't even know where Miramar was, I couldn't tell you, I just applied to it and I said all you had to do was send your resume out to mikeblot at ushousegov. I was like, oh, just a resume. All you had to do was send your resume out to mikeblatt at ushousegov. I was like, oh, just a resume, it's easy enough, I have political experience. So I sent it Roughly two weeks later again, my daughter is about to pop out anytime now. This is August. My daughter was born in September and Mike calls me back. I jump out of bed. I say, hey, mike, how, how you doing, sir? I'm like I got a job, let's go and I finally have a career. And he says, nick, unfortunately we have to go with somebody else.
Nick Cannon:And I said, okay, if you know anybody that's hiring veterans, please let me know. I need a job. And he said, all right, so we hang up and you know the shame, the guilt, everything. I don't know what I'm going to do, it's just everything's happening. So I got to figure it out.
Nick Cannon:A day or two later goes by, I'm sitting at my desk on USAjobsgov trying to find another job and I get a call from DC. I don't know anybody in DC, so I don't know who's going to call me. And I pick it up and it was the chief of staff, Mike. Chief of Staff Mike McCurry for the congresswoman's office. I said, hello, hey, this is Mike, chief of Staff. We want to bring you on for an interview. And I said, oh my gosh, yes, please. Whenever you're ready, next day we do an interview. We start going through you know the resume, the background, the expectations and the job itself is through the Green and Gold Program, through the US House of Representatives. It allows gold star military and spouses to have jobs as a legislative aide, congressional aide and the US House of Representatives Dream job. Right.
Nick Cannon:Never got the fifth grade field trip to DC, but just the. I don't have enough words to explain what it's like to be there. Whether you agree with the policies, agree with the politics, whatever it is just to be there is significant and it's emotional. Politics, whatever it is just to be there is significant and it's emotional. And I always tell people that if you're, if you don't have a tear in your eye by standing there, you shouldn't be there. Not at all, especially not as a legislator.
Nick Cannon:And so I interviewed with the individuals. I said have you guys seen my past? They were a Democrat office before I worked for Republican. We'll run as a Republican in the future and I think we don't care. We just want to bring you along. All right, sweet Sunday, let's do this. So sign the dotted line. Everything was official. I started on Veterans Day of 2022. My daughter was born on September 25th of 2022. And the moment that I started, I called Mike Durkee back and I said hey, mike, I know you, and when Veterans Relief Fund decided to go with somebody else, but how can I, from Congress, help you in your organization? And that was the start of a friendship, a mentorship a brothership, everything in between Big Mike's a good guy.
Scott McLean:He is Good guy, our fearlessly. He's a standup guy, as we say up in the Northeast. He's definitely a standup guy.
Nick Cannon:I've met very few people that has compassion, loyalty, love and a true need to want to help people. Yeah, not because there's any sort of underlying reasons why he wants to help people, because he genuinely wants to help people and that was the first time I and he's all in All, in, he's all like. He's a busy guy. We, our days are spent doing everything we can to continue making a difference and roughly a year serving in the US House of Representatives, working on the Congresswoman's veteran portfolio, building relationships, figuring out ways to help nonprofits, in learning the awfulness that's the truth.
Nick Cannon:I learned the awfulness of what makes politics politics. It's disgusting, it's terrible. I hate everything about it. But me personally, I can't change it. But what I did figure out was how to navigate it. I figured out how to navigate that to then take that out, take out that awfulness and make good out of it and then save people, save veterans, lives, back here in the community, back here, because, unfortunately, these individuals they don't care. They don't care, and I don't mean to simply specifically say she doesn't care, I and I and I don't mean to to simply specific, specifically say she doesn't care. I do believe she does care, but the whole system doesn't care. We see this because tax dollars can go to anything and everything. We see this because veterans are dying.
Scott McLean:Yeah.
Nick Cannon:They're committing suicide. We see this because we're in wars that we don't understand, that we're dying for. I didn't want to deploy to so I could go fight bad guys. I wanted to deploy and I still say this, that I will do everything in my power to figure out how to go there to go pass out towels to, to the men and women that are over there. I'll go. I'll go cook food. I want to be there and look them in the eye to make sure that I tell them that, that I love them, that I am there for them. Or California, wherever they want to go, I don't care. I want them to know that they're not forgotten, that this is for something. That's why I wanted to deploy. It wasn't to put bombs on foreheads or do any of that stuff because we saw that after 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are in a worse place now than we've ever been in Wars all over the place, thousands and thousands of people dying All for what, while people got rich and we die.
Scott McLean:Nature of the beast. So let's say it's the nature of the beast, you know? Yeah, so then you get and you end up working for Wounded Veterans Relief Fund.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, so you know I don't take many things personally. When Mike and WVF decided to go with somebody else, strategically that was the best option. You know, we already had our home bases in North Palm Beach but we service veterans throughout the entire state so we needed somebody else in Tampa. Strategically, that's the best option. So they hired somebody in Tampa and I completely understand that he had her because he needed a job, you know. But no, it's business, and that was the best thing at the time for WVF to go forward To this day. I give Mike a hard time as much as I can, but no, everything happens for a reason and for him saying, no, we're not hiring me. On that day I got to live my dream job. I, going to DC and working in Congress, working for the US House of Representatives, made you a better person when you came back to work for them Absolutely More well-rounded person, absolutely, and understanding that.
Nick Cannon:And then, roughly a year later, I'm sitting at Bonita Blast, which was one of our events that we do every year. This year it's going to be in August, so if you like to fish, please let me know, mike. And at the time, our board vice president, russ Consola, who is now our president and chairman of the board, took me to the side and said hey, nick, we think it's time for you to come to WVRF. And I said let's do it. My letter of resignation is already in my car. I will sign it right now. I'm done, send me over to the right side of history. And so, sure enough, it happened. A couple weeks later, I resigned from Congress. Again, thank you for all the opportunities that you allowed me to have, but it's time to make a bigger impact, and that's my rule in life I go where I can make the biggest impact to help as many people as possible.
Scott McLean:And let's give the listeners that might not have listened to it and I don't know why you haven't listened to all my episodes Be better. Listeners did an episode with Mike Durkee on the Wounded Veteran Relief Fund, and so for the people that might not have listened to that, go listen to it. Give them an idea of what the Wounded Veteran Relief Fund does.
Nick Cannon:So Wounded Veterans Relief Fund, WVRF. It saves lives, right. We save lives by two unbelievable programs the Urgent Financial Assistance Program and the Critical Dental Assistance Program. What we do as an organization is we fundraise money and then put that money directly back to veterans that are in need. So for our origin financial assistance program, we focus on veterans needs to prevent homelessness. How do we do that? We pay directly to the creditors utility payments, water, electric, sewage gas, housing payments, mortgages, payments, rental assistance first, last, last, also car payments and insurance payments these, you know, these higher priced bills that would ultimately change the direction of a veteran's life.
Nick Cannon:We have no income base. Everything is a case-by-case situation. We focus on the need specifically for that veteran and we solve that problem right. We don't. We don't believe in putting band-aids on on problems. That's just not going to make the difference. If we look at the entire situation for that veteran in that situation and then we solve it right, We'll write a check directly to their creditors and make sure that they know that they're taken care of, Again, 100% free to the veteran. That's how WVRF was founded back in 2009.
Nick Cannon:So let me clarify that you don't write them a check, correct and that protects not just the veteran but specifically the donors as well. We write checks to veterans for them to go utilize that and to get a bit more in the weeds of how the process works. The veteran goes to the VA and they say, hey, I need a problem. The VA then refers that veteran back to Wounded Veterans Refund and then we send that veteran an application. They qualify the veteran at the VA to ensure that they are service-connected. Disability 30% or higher, that's the qualifier. Our goal is to get that to 10%, our amazing goal to be at. If you are an honorably discharged veteran, then you would qualify. But again, funding, funding, funding. You say it all the time Give them money Give them money.
Nick Cannon:That's my favorite thing ever I started using it. Give them money. Give them money that's my favorite thing ever. I'm going to start using it. Give them money. Give us money, but not just us, other organizations right? We're all in this together. This is your podcast, your episode man. Give them money. Give wwwwvrforg.
Scott McLean:That's right. Donate now.
Nick Cannon:That's right. So we send the application to the veteran. It's for the Urgent Financial Assistance Program. They fill it out and then they send us the last three months of their bank statements. Our case management team Holly, jade, nalina, jason unbelievable Tammy, now Director of Veterans Programs the most incredible team. I love all of you so much individually. I couldn't do any of this without you. Wvrf wouldn't be here without you. So thank you for all the work that you all do, including Abby and Penny and, of course, our fearless leader, mike.
Scott McLean:Some shout-outs I think I've had shout-outs on the podcast.
Nick Cannon:Look at you. I tell them all the time. So my job director of operations, formerly development communications I couldn't be here tomorrow and the job would still get done. That's the truth. So who's the most important part? It's Tammy Jade, holly Nalina, jason right, those are the individuals that are actually talking to the veterans. Every single day. They go through the worst things. You know they're the ones that are having to deal with it. Make the payments go through it. If I didn't show up to work tomorrow probably wouldn't change anything.
Nick Cannon:They're the ones that pack your parachute. That's it. That's it. And Mike's is. You know he says it all the time too it's we are a team. We are a team. Nobody is better than anybody else. We have titles and we have job descriptions, but working in the nonprofit field, you have to be flexible. You have to be flexible to understand this and actually make a true difference. So I could not be more thankful for all of them. I love all of them dearly and they just make this the best place in the world, especially to do such an incredible job together.
Nick Cannon:But anyway, we reviewed the last three months of their bank statements and to make sure they don't have any sort of underlying issues. Now we can tell if they're gambling. We can tell if they are sending money to Ukraine. We can see if they have money to other extracurricular activities.
Nick Cannon:Ukraine. Yeah, I beat up on them pretty bad last time so I've got to throw it in there, but anyways, I'm not picking sides. So we make sure that they don't have, you know, some sort of addiction problem, and if they do, that's OK. We put them on a hold status and we refer them back to the VA to get the help that they need. So it's not just, hey, best of luck, no, we refer them back to the social worker and make another contact and then we get through that situation. Once their checks and balances are good, then we can support them, whether it's first and last for rent, get them in a house Nowadays you need like $6,000 to get into a rental spot first and last, sometimes security deposit.
Nick Cannon:So that's what we're able to do. And then you get accepted. We write the check directly to the creditor or to the landlord mortgage office, fpnl, utility payment, port St Lucie water sewage, whoever it is. We contact them directly, either write them a check or pay in line, and at that point it's best of luck to you. We are here. If you need anything else, Please stay in contact. If you want to volunteer at any of our events, let us know and come out and hang out with us, give them that sense of support that maybe they didn't have. Maybe it was like that for you, but when I got out, I threw all my stuff away. I did too. I threw everything.
Scott McLean:I didn't keep you know, I look back, I'm kind of that guy like I did it, I lived it. I don't really need memorabilia from what I did. You know it was a lived experience. I'm proud of what I did. I did some amazing stuff with amazing people and amazing dogs and I just, kind of buddy of mine, said hey, you know, when I moved out of the house I was renting, he's like you got this whole bag of like things. I'm like, nah, it's all right, yeah, yeah, I'm good, I'm good.
Nick Cannon:So, as far as not keeping anything, You'd like disassociate yourself with all of it and I was beyond blessed for my time. The most frustrating part that I couldn't experience more, whether it was deploying or go to other bases, this just wasn't in the cards for me. But, again, I was beyond blessed to have the experience that I did and I'm thankful every single day to God that I was able to have that experience and specifically meet those people that I got to meet. Lifelong friends, lifelong friends.
Scott McLean:So the dental aspect very, very big deal, Very big deal.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, so in 2021, we had a veteran come in that needed dental assistance. Again, the prioritization and the mission of Wounded Veterans Relief Fund was urgent financial assistance. So the veteran comes in, needed dental care. We ended up saying, hey, you know, maybe we can help you out a little bit. So we ended up going to, at the time, our board president, lieutenant General Shelberg. He had a dentist that was willing to help out. So we plugged and played, put the veteran in with the dentist, took care of the cause for it, and that gave us the light bulb.
Nick Cannon:And again, mike, our fearless leader, took it upon himself, along with Jade, to build something out of it. Right, let's build out a dental program. What does that mean? Well, first, we need dentists. Okay, well, if we have dentists, we need somebody to help. That's from the dental field. Come on to Wounded Veterans Relief Fund to make it work. So we brought on Tammy. Tammy is a freaking rock star. Everyone on our team is a rock star, but I give everybody like different separate shout outs because I love them all so much. But Tammy Martin, she's over in Tampa. 30 plus years of dental experience, working front end, back end.
Nick Cannon:Every portion of the dental office comes in teams up with Jade and between Jade, mike and Tammy they build the dental program critical dental assistance program, we call it CDAP and they started to make a fee schedule. So the fee schedule for a crown would be and I'm not a dentist, tammy, I'm sorry I'm going to mess up these numbers, but I love you anyways $30 for a root canal is about $300 for a root canal For a cap. So say you would pay, a regular civilian would pay $100, wvrf would pay 50. So it was roughly 40 to 60% off the normal service cost. So we started with one dentist.
Nick Cannon:I am proud to say, with the dedication, the passion that these amazing ladies have done, we are now over 300 dentists throughout the entire state of Florida. Yeah, and just for rough numbers, for conversation's sake, we last year alone we spent $1.78 million directly on veterans and their families and we were able to service 234 veterans specifically through the dental program. And this is everything from a root canal all the way up to a complete and total mouth restore. So veterans that have lost all their teeth by being exposed to Agent Orange back in Vietnam, you know they can't even chew, they can't even smile.
Nick Cannon:We talk about mental health. If you can't smile, if you can't kiss your wife, your husband, your kids, you can't get that job, that meaningful job that you've been wanting your entire life, because you can't go interview for it. You talk about suicide and all these other things. You know, you talk about suicide and all these other things. I like to look at suicide as it's not just one situation that puts it over the top. It's a lot of situations, compounding factors, compounding factors, smaller situations that lead up to one bigger situation that puts you over the top. So what Wounded Veterans Relief Fund does is comes in and solves those other issues. If you're losing your house, we can come in and make the payment for you and then you're good, you have some breathing room, you can get back on track.
Nick Cannon:And it's not just you know these completely down and out individual. These are everyday veterans. Veterans that maybe broke their ankle, can't go to work for two weeks or a month. There's an application process, correct? Yeah, absolutely. There's qualifying factors. There are 30% VA disability rating or higher for the dental program. If you're at a hundred percent, the VA takes care of that.
Scott McLean:And that's it, that's it. So, even if financially they're working. And so it's just 30%, yeah, 30% or higher, yeah.
Nick Cannon:And it's not income based as well. We look at every situation. That's right there. That's amazing. Great. You have a job? Awesome. If you don't have a job, we can connect to a career source to get you in solid employment and then we can come in and take care of you, know the first and last, and get you on your feet. That way you're not digging yourself a hole to create bigger problems down the road. Same thing with utility water, electric switch, gas. The dental program is a beast of its own. Yeah Right, because we're talking about the health care of individuals, specifically dental. The fact that the VA doesn't provide dental care to 85% of veterans, it's hard to get.
Nick Cannon:Wild but again, we can send money to anybody and everybody. It doesn't make any sense. But yet our veterans are here struggling, specifically the veterans that were exposed to burn pits, agent Orange, toxic fumes that years down the road have deteriorated their teeth to the point to where they're falling out. They can't eat. And then you look at the cardio issues that go along with dental as well. It's unreal. It makes no sense that we can't prioritize Infections infections lead to sepsis.
Scott McLean:All of it. I've seen it. All of it. I've seen it in people I know, yeah, because of their teeth, their teeth falling out and they don't have the proper dental hygiene or the proper dental care and it's, it's bad.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, and then add that onto the world, the inflation costs, the cost of living. So you have a veteran that has a family, or just by themselves, and it's either you're going to go to the dentist for a root canal or your tooth just hurts. You don't even know it's a root canal, it just hurts, right. But it's like, oh, I have to pay my car payment, which is $500. I have to pay rent, which is now $2,800. So I'm just going to push that pain in my tooth, just going to take some ibuprofen. Military does the best. We'll get some 800 milligrams and we'll send you on your way, you know. But we'll take some antibiotics. Hopefully the pain goes away, but it doesn't. And that $500 root canal turns into a $2,000 treatment. Now you had a difficult situation turn into an impossible situation, right? So what does Wounded Veterans Relief Fund does? That veteran that gets referred by the VA comes to us in a simple application process for the dental side and then, once you are approved to join our dental program, we plug and play you with the dentist closest to you. So if you are in Tallahassee, we have a Tallahassee partner, whether it's a specialist or a general dentist, whatever it may be, we plug and play you and then you are seen by the dentist, a treatment plan occurs, the treatment plan gets sent back to us, we review it to make sure it makes fiscal sense right, because, again, we're protecting all of our dollars and making sure that they go to the right places. And then, once the dental treatment plan is approved by Tammy and Jade and Holly and Nalina, then we will make payment and the veterans being seen right then and there, out of the comfort.
Nick Cannon:Dr Cohen, you're amazing. She is part of the Jupiter dentist, jupiter mobile dentist, and she has her dental van and she drives up to our veterans houses. Wow, yeah, everything, everything is done in her van, from no teeth to all teeth, right, right then and there. Amazing, it's beautiful. So if you are a dentist listening or if you know any dentists that would like to be able to partner or specialty labs, anything in between in the dentist field, please let us know. We are growing over 300 throughout the entire state now, but again, everyone counts and we couldn't do it without their help. We couldn't do it at all. So we're grateful for you.
Scott McLean:So what's on the horizon for Wounded Veterans Relief Fund Fundraisers, et cetera?
Nick Cannon:Yeah, fundraisers, we have a salute and shoot on Saturday, which is at OK Shooting Corral or, excuse me, ok Shooting Center. Oh, don't crucify me.
Scott McLean:Yeah, which is? It's a nice fun one too.
Nick Cannon:That Saturday we have our Running for Heroes event, which is a 5K up at River Bend in Jupiter. So if you're interested in running or want to sponsor for the 5K, please go on wwwwvrforg, slash events. You can register right then and sponsor right then on the website. As well as our Bonita Blast upcoming in August, we do that in Stewart at Pirate's Cove Resort and Marina. It's an amazing time. If you have anybody that wants to go fishing or sponsor that event, you'll check it out right there on the website. And then, leading up to our end of the year Night of Honor Gala, which is held at the Kravis Center, which is going to be November 1st.
Nick Cannon:Again, information is on our website and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, not just about WVRF, but about anything Veterans issues, personal, whatever you need. I've seen enough, I've been through enough to understand where people come from and it's not like they need a lifeline. They just want somebody to listen and maybe help them out and help guide them to what they need. So if you need anything, email is ncannon C-A-N-N-O-N at wvrforg and the phone number is 772-214-7001. I got one phone so it's always on me 24-7. And I mean that wholeheartedly. We got enough problems in the world. You are a priority, you are loved and I and I mean that with every uh inch of me.
Scott McLean:Yes, and we would be remiss if we didn't mention the big boy, the devil dog, 5k and wade waddick.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, hundred thousand hundred and four thousand dollars last year. Wade, wade. Funny enough, was the first person when I moved to boca that I contacted. Yeah, I don't know how we. Then I found out his gym was more or less like a CrossFit type, hit by intensity.
Scott McLean:Yeah, I'm not into that I ain't built for that.
Nick Cannon:No, no, no. I work out every day, but I nope, nope, nope, he didn't get me, nah. But, wade Waddick, you are a mentor, a brother a leader.
Scott McLean:Our community is so fortunate to have you. Yeah, and we love you more than he's very humble itself. Yeah, he's outgoing, he's a live wire. He can be what way it is, but he's he's actually humble. He's very nice, easygoing dude yes, you know yeah so, all right, well, listen, I'm glad we got this episode in and I I on the uh the safety net, so I have two devices recording this. So this, this, this, this interview won't happen again for another year.
Nick Cannon:Yeah, I mean maybe sooner than that.
Scott McLean:That's right.
Nick Cannon:Maybe the storytelling will not, but um.
Scott McLean:Oh yeah, you'll be part of that, yeah.
Nick Cannon:But I gotta, I gotta end it with this. That way she can. She can hear it. Stella, my beautiful daughter she's a little bit over two now. I love you, I love you, I love you. I am so proud of you and you are the smartest, most beautiful Stellasaurus roaring and soaring and exploring through the cosmos. Baby, I love you, my life is dedicated to you and I'm fortunate for you. Thank you for saving me and, Scott, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here.
Scott McLean:Oh, buddy, you know anything for you guys, man? And just so, there's a timestamp for your daughter it's January 28th 2025. And it is 10 51 morning. Perfect that she has that. You said this.
Nick Cannon:So I say that that phrase right there. I've been saying that since she was probably two months old and I I've. That's what I say every time I go off the phone with her. I'll be in public and be like what the hell are you talking?
Scott McLean:about. It's a beautiful thing.
Nick Cannon:Mind your business. Yeah, it's a beautiful thing.
Scott McLean:Yeah, well, again, nick, thank you for coming back and redoing that 40 episodes. It's the 40th episode, is it? It's pretty crazy. Popped through champagne. Yeah, 40 episodes. It just like a grind, like I want to. I'm like a doer, I want to get more, more, more. But you have to wait for people to do this Right. So it was a slow grind, but all of a sudden I turn around and 40 episodes in. I think this is. This isn't going anywhere.
Nick Cannon:If we're lucky to have you, I appreciate it.
Scott McLean:And I want to give back. That's what this is my way. Along with. Here comes the cheap plug one man, one mic foundation. Go to the. Go to the website one man, one mic foundationorg if you want to see what we're doing over there. We're doing this we're teaching veterans how to podcast and we're also teaching them the the importance of actual storytelling, because a veteran's story is their biggest strength, as I say. So that's my cheap plug for the one man, one mic i-microvision.
Nick Cannon:I love it. I'm happy to be a part of this.
Scott McLean:Yeah, I got like three. See, the thing about that is I can't do a lot of veterans at once, because when you're breaking down and teaching people from concept to publishing their podcast, you have to focus on each veteran. It's not like a group thing and so the smog like I have three veterans going right now. So it's just interesting that the ideas that they come up with for their podcast is amazing, sure.
Nick Cannon:It was so beautiful about it. It's you having a creative, you having a podcast and supporting other people to live that dream. And it reflects on the nonprofit side too, to where we have a nonprofit but we support other nonprofits because we can't do it alone. We are stronger together. We have to do it together to eventually and really make that bigger impact. And we're fortunate to live in a place with such incredible veterans like you, like Wade Waddick, that step up to make the difference. Do our part.
Scott McLean:That's it, and we do our part and have fun Absolutely. I love podcasting, so this is kind of like you know. But again, my friend, thank you very much. We'll have to have lunch again Next time. Lunch is on me. Yeah, thank you, yeah, so just don't take me to Ruth's Chris or anything, Just don't you know be reasonable with me.
Nick Cannon:See, yeah, cheers to another 40.
Scott McLean:That's right. That's right. Yeah, number 40 and going strong. So for the listeners, thank you for listening. I appreciate your time. I appreciate you listening to the podcast and the numbers are growing and that's a good sign. I want you to, if you like it, share it, tell another veteran or another nonprofit about it. Go to the website vetsconnectionpodcastcom. It's a great resource page. Now there's about 28 nonprofits that are listed with it and what makes it unique is not only do you get the website and the logo from the foundation, but you get to listen to an episode of what they actually do, and it gives you a good background on each foundation. So I'm building that resource page, one foundation at a time.
Scott McLean:And, as I always say, listen to the end of the podcast. There's a good public service announcement for 211 and 988. And, as I always say, listen to the end of the podcast, there's a good public service announcement for 9, for 2, 1, 1 and 9, 8, 8. And it's good for veterans, families of veterans, friends of veterans or just anyone in general. It's good information. It's 30 seconds long, so give it a listen and with that we built another bridge. Today, wounded Veterans Relief Fund makes another appearance on the Vets Connection podcast, and it won't be the last, I'm sure. Go to their website one more time, nick wwwwvrforg.
Scott McLean:Give them money, all the money. Give them money. It's a great foundation.
Nick Cannon:Let's save lives together. Last year 1,324 veterans, so together we're making a difference, absolutely.
Scott McLean:All right, everybody. As I say, you will hear me next week.
