Eddie Gallagher: Fighting The Military-Government-Media Industrial Complex

Chris Albert 00:00:00 (link to this point)

What is going on, everybody? Welcome to the Warrior Soul podcast. My name is Chris Albert. This podcast is dedicated to helping veterans and to delivering tools, tactics, strategies, and ideas to help The US military veteran community and anybody else willing to listen out there to live their absolute best lives. You know, I've been doing this podcast for six years right now, and I've interviewed some amazing people.

I've had on Robert Greene, the author of the 48 laws of power, Gary John Bishop, the author of unfuck yourself, Bas Rutten, the famous MMA fighter. I've had on Les Stroud, the survivor man, and also people like today's guest, repeat guest, Eddie Gallagher, US Navy SEAL, and we'll talk about his story in a second. I just wanna say this, guys. You know, this community has been absolutely amazing, and I consider this podcast to be one of the things I'm most proud of doing in my life. I've never made a dime off of this show, and I don't intend to.

I do this because I love it. I do this because I absolutely want to help this community. I believe in this community. I believe that we are the sleeping giants in this country. So all I ask from you guys is that you share this material out, that you you send it over to friends, that you you share it out on social media, that that when you hear something you like or anything like that, you write a review up on iTunes.

That's it. I don't care if you buy nothing. I don't care if you you you ever send a dime to the show. I don't have an OnlyFans. I don't have a GoFundMe.

I don't have nothing. I just want you guys to listen. I've got a day job that pays me pretty well, so so we've been pushing pretty hard here, you know, just to keep this show going and to to to get the word out about some of the amazing things we're talking about. You know, you guys have heard of the military industrial complex before. You know, that was something that that president Eisenhower warned us about in his farewell speech.

I'm hearing new terms for this, and and this is a term that I I'm starting to think about, and that is the military government media industrial complex. And what do I mean by that? Well, what I mean is that whenever anybody makes a mistake, whether it be in the military or in the government, it seems like the media is just going to bat for them and not questioning anything and then throwing people under the bus. And we see that all the time with military members. We see that all the time with police officers.

We see that all the time with average everyday people. Right? No high level government official is taking accountability for any screw ups, but you you you find some rank and file person to throw under the bus somehow. And, you know, this year, we saw lieutenant colonel Stu Scheller, who was the only, the only military officer in the entire military to step up and say, you know, what happened here in Afghanistan? What happened with this botch withdrawal?

And he did so, and he did so publicly standing up to the military and the UCMJ, and the military came down on him hard. And there's one man that I know of who's stood up to something like this before and who came out on top, and that's Eddie Gallagher. And what I appreciate about Eddie is that knowing everything that Eddie has been through, you know, coming out of the seals, dealing with the horrible media assassin job that was done on him, dealing with the the US Navy and the US government trying to come down hard on him and put him away for life, his wife having to deal with this whole situation. You know, he came out on top, and not only did he come out on top, he's still giving back. He and his organization, the Pipe Hitter Foundation, rushed to the aid of lieutenant colonel Scheller, did not take anything in return.

They they helped lieutenant colonel Scheller be able to get, you know, pretty much a slap on the wrist for for for what happened. And I wanted to bring Eddie back on the show. This is his second episode. I highly suggest if you wanna hear more about his story, you go check out that episode. You also check out his book, The Man in the Arena.

Absolutely outstanding book written by himself and his beautiful wife, Andrea, along with his brother and a few others. Really, really awesome book that details that situation. Last time I had Eddie on, I had people reaching out to me, and they're like, you know, how could you have this war criminal on? And and if you think that about Eddie, you you don't know the whole story. Eddie is a really, really good dude, wanted to serve his country, served his country to the very best he could, and then got railroaded and thrown under the bus.

And that is that. You can go check out the evidence. The book isn't just his opinion about what happened. They've got QR codes for the actual evidence. But the reason I brought Eddie on today wasn't to discuss that.

It was to discuss his outstanding foundation, the Pipe Hitter Foundation, who is going to bat for, you know, these these warriors, these first responders who are getting thrown under the bus, you know, frankly, just to to cover a lot of really bad stuff up that our government is doing. So I wanted to get him on to talk about this, and I think you guys are gonna enjoy this conversation. So with that, I'm gonna stop yapping my gums. Let's get into this awesome interview with mister Eddie Gallagher. Eddie Gallagher, welcome back to the Warrior Soul podcast, brother.

How are doing?

Eddie Gallagher 00:06:13 (link to this point)

Doing really well, man. Thank you. Thank you for having me back on. It's a it's an honor. I appreciate it.

Chris Albert 00:06:17 (link to this point)

I you know, between the last time we talked and now, I I had the opportunity to read your book, the man in the arena. And my god, what you and your poor wife have been through with all that bullshit. I I can't believe it. And and, you know, one, thank you for your service. But two, you know, I'm I'm so happy to know you as a person who's made such a an amazing recovery from from being put through the ringer, for lack of a better word.

Eddie Gallagher 00:06:47 (link to this point)

Well, I appreciate that. Yeah. I mean, it's you know, thank you for, you know, reading the book, and that that's the reason we alright. You know, we wrote the book, was just to actually put the truth out there, you know, stuff that people had no clue had happened. You know, we, I know as you read it, we have the QR codes in there, you can pretty much look at everything.

But I really wanted to highlight, the struggle that we went through, but just how we overcame it, you know, and how we fought back and refused to play the victim card. And I, you know, I was really hoping people can take a lesson from that, especially with everything that's going on nowadays. You know, you don't gotta play the victim. You just gotta fight back and keep moving forward. And, you know, it'll work out in the end, as long as you stick with it and, stay in the fight.

Chris Albert 00:07:34 (link to this point)

No. Exactly. And, you know, after the last time you came on, I had people reaching out to me. You know, they're like, how could you have him on? All this stuff like that.

And I'm like, do you actually know the story? Have you read the book? Like, here's some resources. Go check them out. You'll learn the real story.

You know, a few of them got back to me and they said, thank you. Thank you for telling us the truth and letting us know what actually happened there.

Eddie Gallagher 00:07:57 (link to this point)

Yeah. And that you know, that's the power of the media. Right? As, you know, we we found out, and I think everybody's definitely should be pretty aware of now. You know, they if they wanna put out a narrative, an agenda, and really just keep on recycling that agenda, people won't know the truth.

They'll believe the first thing they hear. And that's been sort of the issue. Not even an issue. It's just with writing this book and then putting it out, everybody that's read it has we've gotten a positive response because we're not hiding anything. We're like, here is everything.

But then, you know, you still have those people that are, you know, the naysayers or, you know, right away, just call me a war criminal. I, you know, I don't even get mad. It's like, did you read the book? No. You know, did you do any research?

No. Then, okay, you're just regurgitating whatever's being told to you from the media. And, you know, I sort of feel sorry for you at this point, but it's fine. You know, it's the nature of the beast. We've, we've come a long way since then, since, you know, getting out and writing the book, releasing the book.

And, you know, we, it was a big focus of ours for a while. But now, you know, at some point you got to move on, move forward, start doing other things and, start helping people out, which is what we wanted to do. And, we had created the Pipe Hitter Foundation pretty much right after my trial. It was a rough start getting that going through the whole quarantine and whatever the pandemic. But we managed to keep pushing forward.

And now we know we're really getting some steam, going ahead. And it's it's awesome. We've we've helped out a lot of people so far, and hopefully, we'll just keep continuing to do that.

Chris Albert 00:09:37 (link to this point)

Yeah. That's amazing. You know, I just wanna say this. You and your wife have literally, you know, gone out of your way to create this foundation. And, you know, it it's needed right now more than it ever was because of what we have in office, because of our media climate right now, and and because of things, frankly, that have happened over the last couple of months.

I mean, you you were a big, big foot with with lieutenant colonel Stu Scheller and the incident that happened there. And, you know, I definitely wanna talk about that. But, know, this whole withdrawal from Afghanistan, and and what it set off, you know, having 13 service members killed. Yeah. And and all of us having to sit here, frankly, and and, you know, listen to some people acting like it's a it's a huge success and nobody being called out on it.

And literally, you know, if you haven't heard of Stu Scheller, you're living under a rock. But if you're listening to this ten years from now, he was the only officer in in the entire military to actually come out and say something. Right?

Eddie Gallagher 00:10:44 (link to this point)

Yep. Yeah. Which was which is huge. And I don't think you know, I know for people that have served in the military, they know what a big deal that is. But, know, for civilians listening, the fact that a officer stood up in uniform and said, Hey, where's the accountability for this botched withdrawal?

Because the rest of us, and it was very hard, it was a hard time for all of us, all veterans, I think. Everybody was sort of feeling the same thing. They're frustrated. They, you know, I knew that Afghanistan was not going to work out. Anybody that served there long enough, you're like, this isn't going to be a place that we're going to thrive in here.

Or like, you know, we're not, we're not really making a lifelong impact. You know, it's just the way they are over there, which is not a, you know, it's not a bad thing. It's just the way it is. But the way that the withdrawal was handled, you know, and I agreed, I agreed with the pulling out of Afghanistan. I was like, it's about time.

But it just, it was frustrating to see the lack of attention to detail that was put into withdrawal. It just seemed the lack of planning or, you know, just the lack of thought that was put into it. And then, you know, it showed, once the withdrawal happened. And, you know, as we all we all watched it on TV, it was very hard to watch a lot of, you know, mixed emotions from guys. And, you know, to have this lieutenant colonel come out and speak out and ask for accountability, I think that really resonated with me big time.

It resonated with a lot of guys and girls that it served. And right away, when, I saw his video, because we had no clue who lieutenant colonel Scheller was, you know, I told Andrea, I was like, this is gonna be a big deal, that this guy is speaking out. Mark my words, they're gonna come after him with everything they have. And sure enough, yeah, I think it was like not even the next day or two days later, they were coming out saying he has PTSD and this and they were demonizing him, saying calling him crazy, which I knew wasn't true. Just by listening to him, I'm like, this guy is not crazy for asking for accountability, but that's what they want people to think.

So I was like, I want to support this guy. We talked as a board, everybody on the Pipe Hitter Foundation board was a thumbs up right away. They were like, yeah, let's do it. And actually, one of Lieutenant Colonel Scheller's friends reached out to us and asked if we would help him and get involved because I think him being a service member and just like the rest of us, it's a little hard for us to reach out and ask others for help. We ended up contacting him and we said, Hey, we wanna get behind you.

We agree with your message. Let's do this. And, you know, at that point, the Marine Corps was coming after him. They put a slap, a gag order on him, an illegal gag order, and really we're just setting him up for failure. So we sort of took the reins, and that's one of the blessings of what my wife and I and family had, because we went through that whole ordeal, which I wrote about in the book, we sort of knew the route to go and with fighting the government under the UCMJ.

And that's not an easy thing. There's a lot of variables that can happen. But we sort of have the path, the one that we used, and worked. So we took the reins and, you know, we kept in contact with him until he was locked up for no reason. And, you know, we got him, we managed, we knew some good lawyers.

We introduced him to, we don't appoint lawyers for people. We just, you know, we have a list of vetted lawyers that are like, hey, if you want to talk to them. And he surrounded himself with a really good legal team, which they came up with a great plan and, executed it this past week, at trial. And, you know, I, you know, there's never going to be a complete victory when you're going against the UCMJ. You're never going to come out unscathed, but for what he was facing, and, you know, the amount of scrutiny that was being put on him, it was a good little victory.

He got a slap on the wrist, a letter reprimand, and a month's pay taken away. Right now, we're just waiting on the secretary of the Navy can either decide if he's gonna get an honorable or dishonorable discharge. So that's the next hurdle that that family is going to face. But we have managed to raise over 2,500,000 for him and his family because we knew the court costs were not going to be cheap, but also the fact his retirement was going to be taken away. And then if he's, you know, what people don't know if it's a dishonorable discharge, he won't get any of his benefits, disability.

So that's a lot of money. He has three kids. So, you know, we wanted to make sure that they were going to be taken care of, once, once this is all over, because as we also found out, you know, just because, you know, they're like, okay, go on your way. It doesn't end there. You know, because he was thrown or he put himself in the public spotlight and then, was pretty much elevated pretty quickly once his video went viral.

That's not an easy thing to navigate either. So, and that takes some time. And so we're, you know, we feel really good about what we did for his family, you know, and it's just a great feeling, all the hard work that especially my wife and our executive producer, director, sorry, Gina Cruden put into it with all of the, you know, stuff doing stuff on the back end. You know, we're we're all really pleased with the way it turned out and especially with the way his trial turned out.

Chris Albert 00:16:35 (link to this point)

You know, I I follow you pretty closely on social media, and I remember the day or the day after of lieutenant lieutenant colonel Scheller putting that video out. You guys were on there, and you're, you know, you're you were put stuff out there. You know, if you ever need help or anything like that, please reach out. And, you know, I really appreciate that about you guys. But also, I mean, you know, you were also out there talking to him talking about his bit because I know he had a side business going on there trying to get support for his family, trying to get people to to help him out.

And I think that's what it's really all about is us supporting each other and trying to trying to really help each other out in times like this, where you can't, you know, like you said, the UCMJ is a beast. You've faced it, a lot of other service members have faced it. And I think a lot more are gonna face it given what's going on out there. You know, what was on the table for lieutenant colonel Scheller when, you know, what what was the worst case scenario for him?

Eddie Gallagher 00:17:38 (link to this point)

You know, it could have been a lengthy, prison sentence. But this is the thing, when you're dealing with the UCMJ and we saw it play out with the General Kromer Scheller, they play by their own rules. So it's rules for thee, not for me. And when they locked him up, had no reason to lock him up whatsoever. They couldn't even come up with a reason.

And he had a hearing, I think he was in the brig for about a week, maybe five or six days. And they give you a hearing while you're in there to see if you need to stay in the brig until your court date or not. And if you're a risk to the case or a flight risk, which he proved he wasn't any of those. He had not done anything. He had not disparaged the, the, people above him.

He, all he did was ask for accountability. And so, you know, when they threw him in there, we, we started advocating for him. You know, we'd already had been, but then we really started like, putting out exactly what they were doing. And, I think the, during his hearing, the, some of the media wanted to come and watch, which is allowed. And, we had members of Congress wanting to go down there and support and watch, and they were being denied.

And then the Marine Corps is like, no, no one's allowed to come into this. This will not be recorded because they want to do, they want to kangaroo record it just like they do, you know, every time. And so the, one of the media outlets threatened to sue them. And as soon as that threat was put out there, they, the Marine Corps broke and was like, okay, fine. You can just leave and we'll just let them out.

So to me, I was like, well, then he didn't belong there in the first place. You just let it out like that. So you just proved, you know, what a sham some of this is. But you know, that's, that's why we started the foundation is, you know, we, the, the government, you know, the UCMJ, they threw everything at our family. I mean, I think we went through every gauntlet that, they could throw us, you know, throw at us.

And, we, we overcame each one because we figured out how to beat them at their own game. And it works, you know, and all you have to really do is put out the truth and be like, here's what's happening. Here's why they're doing this. And as soon as people can see just how nonsensical it is at times, or it doesn't make sense. It infuriates people because we should not be treating our nation's warriors like this.

Whether they're active duty, law enforcement or first responders, these people signed up to serve their country, they should be given due process, just like every other American should be allowed. But unfortunately, what we've seen in the past year, especially with the law enforcement, it's mob justice, depending on what entity wants to, whether it's Black Lives Matter or Antifa or whatever, they all get together and sit there and point the finger and the unfortunately, the justice system bows down to it. And they don't, you know, they don't want to get canceled or whatever. So they'll just bow down and it's mob justice. And these people do not get a fair trial whatsoever.

Chris Albert 00:20:57 (link to this point)

Yep. No, exactly. You know what? We've some other things coming down the pike here. You know, I was watching Doc Parsley on on his Instagram page.

He posted something the other day. He said that Navy SEALs who are pursue or Secretary Austin said that Navy SEALs who are pursuing religious exemptions for the vaccine could be potentially made to repay the cost of their training to the government. And we're seeing a bunch of stuff like that happening right now. I'm sure you guys are gonna get get calls about this, and and I've seen you and Andrea do do, webinars about, you know, how to pursue these types of exemptions for the vaccine. What are your thoughts on this, and and where do you think this is all going here?

Eddie Gallagher 00:21:42 (link to this point)

Yeah. Know, I mean, my thoughts on our is just like my thoughts on the vaccine mandate, period. I'm like, it's taken away people's freedom. I'm not anti vaxxer, I'm just more like for freedom. I'm like, wanna take the vaccine, take it. If you don't, don't.

But unfortunately, that's not what we're seeing. And I truly believe this is my thoughts on it, especially when it comes to the military. I think they're doing a purge of the military. This is their way of doing it for people who stand up for their beliefs, people who sort of sit on a certain side of the fence, which whatever you want to call it, they're conservative. And this is a way they can get rid of those people out of the military because this administration just wants people who obey and conform and do what they say without question.

This is the route that they're taking. Unfortunately, I think for them, people are standing up and fighting back. You know, I have plenty of friends that were still in the teams. We've gotten hundreds of calls. And that's why we put out that video of like, Hey, here's the rules for the exemptions, just so you have it.

But unfortunately they're not, they're not listening to any of those. Those exemptions don't don't matter. The threat is either take it or get out or get kicked out. And it doesn't matter how many years of service you have been. I have buddies that have eighteen, nineteen years don't want to take the vaccine, but the government knows that they'll just take away their retirement then.

And then they lose everything they've fought for the past twenty years. And it's wrong.

Chris Albert 00:23:22 (link to this point)

It's disgusting.

Eddie Gallagher 00:23:22 (link to this point)

And, you know, we we're going to keep fighting that good fight as well. We'll, you know, we got a call later on today with a lady who has found a way to get around all of the stuff that they're mandating. So hopefully we can get some good information out of that, but this is, this will be an ongoing battle, for sure. And, you know, it's, it's unfortunate. You know, you're going to lose a lot, a lot of good people out of the military because of this.

Chris Albert 00:23:50 (link to this point)

Right, right. And, you know, I have to say this, I mean, you and I and everybody who served, we've probably been vaccinated more than than, you know, ninety nine point nine percent of the population. I mean, I've had every single vaccine. I'm not anti vaxx at all. You know, at the same time, right after I got a bunch of those vaccines, developed a whole bunch of medical problems that came out of nowhere.

So I'm a little reticent about what I choose to put in my body. I'm not saying the vaccine doesn't work. I'm not saying vaccines don't work. Not saying they're going to kill everybody. But I'm very, very careful about what I put in my body.

I know a lot of veterans are too, because we tend to get all these crazy medical issues that just come out of nowhere. Right?

Eddie Gallagher 00:24:34 (link to this point)

Exactly. You know, and I've heard that argument, you know, from other service members who were like, oh, what's the big deal? We all took, you know, 20 different vaccines when we came in willingly, you know, and I'll say this, I'm like, yeah, we did. I was 19 at the time and I didn't know any better. But you know what?

We all live and learn. We get, we get smarter, with the more information that we have. And, you know, just because you did took those vaccines eighteen years ago, doesn't mean you should just take another one because they're forcing you to. I would question it, especially with all the information that's put out there too, not to go down a rabbit hole with the vaccine, but it's not 100% effective. And there's a lot of questions out there of, why should I take it if I can still get COVID, I can still spread it?

There's been complications and, you know, you can't blame service members for not wanting to take it if it's not, if they're seeing all this information saying, hey, this isn't effective and this could be unhealthy for me. So it's just, it's one of those things, you know, you unfortunately, you don't have a lot of rights in the military, once you sign up, but that doesn't mean you can't stand up and fight for what is right, you know. Exactly.

Chris Albert 00:25:52 (link to this point)

So what what are the types of cases have you guys come across since, since starting the Pipe Hitter Foundation?

Eddie Gallagher 00:25:59 (link to this point)

Sure. So when we, first started, got it up and running. We have we've helped out a lot of, a lot of guys in my community, which, you know, so part of what our, what our foundation does is, you know, we, we pick up cases where people are being unjustly treated, once or twice a month, depending on if everybody can get together. We review all the cases that people fill out online. And we have a great board.

We have law enforcement. I have another seal on the board. I also have a lawyer, really awesome Marc Mukasey, who was my lawyer for my case. And then we have Tommy Marquez, who used to work for Duncan Hunter. He has so much knowledge on all the backend stuff in the military, all the administrative stuff and logistics, because that was his job when he was in.

And we have Joni Marquez. She really focuses on the health side of things. So we all get together and, you know, we go over, we review each case and we give it a thumbs up, thumbs down, whether or not we're going to support them. And we do decide to support them. What we do is, you know, we'll, we'll fund if they need it, fund their legal defense, raise money to fund their legal defense.

We will also, provide emergency relief aid to their family, as they're going through this stressful time. And then we will also, a big thing is advocate for them if they need it or if they want it. You know, with the special operators that we've helped out, obviously, they don't wanna be known. So we don't have you know, we will not publicly advocate for them. We'll just sort of work behind the scenes to make sure their their families are taken care of.

But then, you know, with, we're representing right now, Matt Dages, he's a law enforcement officer out of San Diego. You know, we were advocating for him. So we put out stuff what's going on with his trial and, or soon to be trial, but just all the stuff they're trying to pull in the interim until he gets to trial, which is it's very corrupt and deceitful. And so we get all that information, we put out the truth. We're like, hey, this is what's going on.

This is what his family's going through. And then we collect donations so he can help fund his legal defense to fight back. And also what's really cool is, just like me, Matt Dages could not speak out on his own. He's entrapped within the San Diego PD thing, and it's not allowed for him to go speak out. So his wife, she's amazing.

She's a remind me of Andrea. She was ticked. This was going on. And so Andrea talked to her and just sort of helped coach her through like, hey, when you go on the media, focus on this, focus on this, you know, because it is very hard when you do that stuff too, as well. You got to like sort of stay on point and, you know, depending on who's interviewing you, they'll go off on another tangent or different direction.

You got to like sort of try and bring them back. And that's well for me watching Andrea and them do it. I'm like, I'm not that great at it, but it's almost like an art form. So Andrea helps coach them on that part. Know, wife got out there and she's done some podcasts and been on the news and that's really helped.

And that's the big thing is getting the story out. And so that's a big case that we're still fighting or helping fight. And then, the Blackwater, the Raven guys that, they were pardoned, right before, president Trump left office. You know, those guys, those poor guys served, I can't remember how many years in prison. But if you, you know, people look, go look at their story about what happened and, you know, you can go on, Sean Ryan's podcast.

He did an awesome interview with all four of them. Those guys, you know, got screwed from the beginning. And then just because they were pardoned, they still owe a bunch of money in legal fees because they went to trial multiple times. You know, their lives aren't back to normal. So we stepped in and we're like, hey, we want to raise money to pay off your legal fees and help you guys get back on your feet.

So that's another big one that we're raising money for right now. And, again, I'll just reiterate if people want to know more about their story, come on, you know, listen to Sean Ryan, you did a great interview with them.

Chris Albert 00:30:32 (link to this point)

That's awesome. Is there so generally like people can go and learn about like the biggest case on your website or they can, they can look that up there?

Eddie Gallagher 00:30:41 (link to this point)

So, yeah, if you go, you know, on the pipehitterfoundation.org, we have each of the people that we're helping, well, the people that we're advocating for and are are willing to be public about it. We have, you know, information about each of their cases and why we're supporting them. So and then we also have links so people can donate to each of those people if they want if they want to.

Chris Albert 00:31:05 (link to this point)

Wow. How much how much of this is is also PR? Because, you know, with social media these days, when one of these cases gets out there, people tend to get murdered and dragged through social media, you know, and that tends to be even worse than the courts. I mean, people get death threats, all types of different things. You know, how much of this do you think is is just straight PR trying to get the word out about these guys and that they're being that they're treated unfairly unfairly?

Eddie Gallagher 00:31:34 (link to this point)

I'd say that's a huge percentage of it. You know, that's one of the things I learned through going through my case. You know, you know, my wife, Andrea, that she's I mean, I still say to this day, I mean, she's the only reason I'm sitting here talking today because she stood up, after they had locked me up and was like, this isn't happening. And, you know, at first she tried to take a route where she went to the wrote a letter to the command asking, why are you doing this? We need help.

We don't, my husband's gone in prison. We don't have anything. And then when she got no response back from them or no help, she decided, okay, I'm going to do this on my own. And she started a, organic Instagram campaign. And that was huge.

You know, she was putting out all the facts that the media wasn't putting out or that the command was hiding. And that I think that's one of the big factors in how my case got so much notoriety and how many people got behind us is because she was putting out all the right information. And that's sort of what you have to do because we know that the mainstream media, certain entities, New York Times being one of them, will take a narrative and really just run with it, not doing their due diligence into real journalistic work. They'll just, you know, because everything's political nowadays. So, you know, with especially with like the Matt Dages case, you know, they when he was initially brought up on these charges, you know, the media had a frenzy with it.

Were put they put his face out there. I I believe they put his at, you know, they had just bought a new home. They put his address out there and that just that night when they did it, that he had the mob at his house, you know, screaming, yelling at them. And that, you know, this guy has a wife and kid. So they had to literally move from where they live to escape all this, you know, and that's and that's just the beginning of your life, being flipped around.

So when there's that narrative being put out there by the media, you have to combat it. And so that's that's what we do. You know, we we put out we pretty much what we do is the media will take out the context. You know, they'll just put up little snippets. We'll add the context, like, here's the full length of what happened.

Here's what's really going on. So people can actually critically think on their own, like, okay, this what's happening to this police officer is BS, you know?

Chris Albert 00:34:11 (link to this point)

Yeah.

Eddie Gallagher 00:34:12 (link to this point)

But that is that is a huge part of it.

Chris Albert 00:34:14 (link to this point)

Yeah. And it's crazy to me, because I remember when your case first came out, and I saw them flashing pictures of you on on the TV screen, and they made you look like you were some sort of like douchebag, like, like, for lack of a better word, like, some sort of like wannabe alpha douchebag who was like, I just wanna kill everybody. And even in the pictures they had of you looked like they've been distorted somehow to make you look meaner, stuff like that. And it it just insane to me how they could do this to a person, how they can literally take all the dimensions, all of our senses and try to like weaponize them against you.

Eddie Gallagher 00:34:50 (link to this point)

Yeah, they're I mean, they're masters at it, right? They've been doing it for so long. And that's, you know, that's the thing I learned going through it because I never paid attention too much when I was in about what was going on. But going through that, yeah, they can completely change your whole personality, your whole character. And that is one of the unfortunate side effects of going through something like this.

And there's really nothing you can do about that. That's just something you're gonna have, I've had to learn to take on and sort of ignore, you know, and be like, okay, that's the way you want to portray me. That's fine. I'm just going to continue to be myself. But that is a battle for and, you know, I think Lieutenant Colonel Scheller is going to feel that when he gets out.

You know, I know Matthew Dages feels it all the time now because there's still people out there, you know, asking for his head, for really nothing. I mean, guy, I didn't, they're charging him with falsifying a police report, which is not even true either. That's just one thing that they, they could get him on or try to get him on. Know, some stuff like that, I mean, I can only speak on for me because when I went through it, just you could neither let that stuff take you down and become, you know, become a victim and be like, oh, poor me, I can't believe it. Or you can just keep moving forward and be like, you know what?

I'm just gonna look make it. I'm just gonna have it make me stronger. I'm gonna gain strength from this and use this as I go forward, which is the path that we we've taken. And it's really the I mean, it's the only path I can see taken. I don't the other option is just not it's not in our DNA.

Chris Albert 00:36:31 (link to this point)

So Absolutely. And that's a big message I got from your book, Man in the Arena. You know, that that book is absolutely awesome. You know, going through it, written by yourself, by Andrea, by some of the attorneys who represented you, You had you had a a gentleman there who who was serving time with you as well. You know?

And how's the response to the book been? You know, how how how's how are people receiving it?

Eddie Gallagher 00:36:59 (link to this point)

Oh, it's it's been it's been humbling. You know, the week, when we put it out, it, it was on multiple bestseller things on Amazon and I really don't know how the whole book world works. I still don't. But it, you know, we, we were just grateful. I mean, we sold, I don't know how many thousands of copies right off the bat and it's still, you know, it's still going.

It's, you know, I'm just grateful. I think it's doing well, and it'll still continue to do so. Even, you know, battling with some of the other narratives that are put out there still, but it's the one thing I can sit there and sit on is I put everything in that book, all the evidence, everything they had against me, which I'll tell you, like the Navy, the government, New York Times, none of them have done that. They won't, they refuse to do it because they're hiding. They're hiding all the corrupt things that they did, and they're hiding the true narrative.

So I'm just, you know, I'm grateful that I was able to do the book and able to put that information out there. And, you know, the response has been, it's been awesome. I think it's been a big eye opener for people. And especially what really makes me feel good is like people who had a take on me, from reading media and then that they were even willing to read my book and you know, you know, writing comments to us like, you know, I had no idea. This was a big eye opener for me.

And, you know, and they sort of changed their minds.

Chris Albert 00:38:37 (link to this point)

Has has anybody apologized to you at all From, from, you know, the, the, the seals who accused you to the reporters involved in the whole thing to, to members of your command who turned their backs on you as anybody at all, but apologize to you.

Eddie Gallagher 00:38:52 (link to this point)

No. You know, we're, we're in a lawsuit with the Navy right now. So they leaked because they leaked all my private information, to the New York times, which we have all the evidence that they did it. And then, you know, the New York Times then leaked that stuff to certain other entities in the media. And they had, I guess when I was locked up, had, you know, I forget if it was on CBS or somewhere they had put up my, say have my social security number, everything out there.

And so that is one, because you can't really, you can't sue the military. Almost impossible while you're in, because of the Feres Act. But we found this loophole that what they did was illegal. And so we sued them. And so just to show the arrogance of the Navy, you know, they came back admitting, they were like, Oh yeah, we did that.

But what did it really do to you? Like, and so that's the, I mean, that's the attitude that you're dealing with, you know, this elitist, we can do no wrong attitude. Part of me, I don't blame them for admitting wrongdoing because I know that the detriment that'll have if our military leadership is like, Oh yeah, we did do all this and we messed up. They're gonna lose a lot of faith and a lot of trust in the men and women below them. But at the same time, I'm like, I think it would be a lot stronger if they were just came out and owned it, and said, you know what? We did this poorly.

We're not gonna let this happen again. You know, I'm gonna take what Lieutenant Colonel Scheller said, accountability for what happened. But I think that's the that's the big thing that we're missing in today's military leadership is the is the accountability piece, you know, which we saw with the withdrawal. And I think that it's unfortunate and it's sad because we're all raised in the military, especially in the Marines and the SEAL teams, you take accountability for everything they do, you own it. And if you own it and learn from it, you'll be fine.

That's the way I was raised. And just to see these leaders do the exact opposite. It's sad. And I know it's causing a lot of strife with the enlisted community in all branches.

Chris Albert 00:41:22 (link to this point)

Big time, big time, you know, and for all of us who've gotten out and, you know, thought we were leaving a legacy, I think that it's heartbreaking, you know, to see what's going on, you know.

Eddie Gallagher 00:41:33 (link to this point)

It is. But you know what, I think there's enough bus veterans who are speaking out and, you know, talking about it, having discussions about it. And I think the more that the American people can listen to those discussions and listen to them, some of these valid points, the more educated they will be. Hopefully, that'll cause enough pressure on these institutions like Annapolis or West Point or the institutions that create these leaders to really revise of like, okay, what are we doing here that's causing this sort of elitist attitude coming out of these institutions? Like, how can we fix this?

And I'm hoping that'll happen.

Chris Albert 00:42:11 (link to this point)

Exactly. You know, one one other thing I wanna bring up here, and this is like mean, it's not even a controversy, but I think it's misinformation from people. When the lieutenant colonel Scheller thing was going on, I think one of these girls from from bar store or something like that, she come on and she she was like, you know, I was all about lieutenant colonel Scheller till I heard Eddie Gallagher stepped in the picture and him and his foundation are gonna get all the money. And, you know, I remember Andrea came on and she commented, she corrected her right then and there and was like, we don't take any of this money. I just want to give you an opportunity to talk about that because people are ridiculous.

Eddie Gallagher 00:42:51 (link to this point)

I mean, and that's that's part of the, that's part of the game. You know, I really think, you know, when you're, when you're out there and you're doing good for other people and you're just when you think you're like, this is awesome. We're helping this guy out and his family, you know, Eddie, there's always somebody that's going to come in and try and take you down and try and like, Oh, you're, you guys are corrupt and taking all this money. You know, I'll put it out right now. Like, yeah, we we're not taking any of the money.

We don't make any money. As a matter of fact, you know, you know, we, my poor wife works around the clock, dealing, you know, answering emails and questions. And, you know, I watch her, you know, she's behind a computer for twelve hours and she's not getting paid for any of it. All of it. It's a benevolent organization.

All of it is out the goodness of our heart. Like we want to help these people. It's, it's our purpose. So yeah, we don't, we don't make any money. Believe me, we have one paid employee and that's, you know, and she's meagerly paid.

And, you know, she's, she's a saint, Dean of Cruden. I mean, that's our executive director. But no, we don't, take any of the money. You know, we have a clause, which we had made, with Lieutenant Colonel Scheller's case that 5% of the donations will go back to the actual foundation so we can continue to support other members that we're helping. And that's that's still not a lot of money, but that's not what we're doing this for.

Chris Albert 00:44:18 (link to this point)

Right. Right. And I think people don't understand economics. They think if you have a million dollars, that's gonna, you know, have you rolling in dough, and you're gonna be like Scrooge McDuck diving in your coins. It's you can't even get, you know, two decent, three decent salaries off of that if if if you weren't doing that.

You know what I mean?

Eddie Gallagher 00:44:36 (link to this point)

And we do a phenomenal job, because of Dina Cruden, because she's been in this, realm for a long time of making sure all of our I's are dotted and T's are crossed and that we're doing everything ethically and morally. I mean, when you're running a nonprofit, that's huge. And you wanna be very transparent with people. So, I mean, we've had people, you know, especially with the Dages case, you know, we, we were started supporting him and then all of a sudden these haters jump on. They're like, Oh, we want to see your IRS forms.

You're taking this money. And they just start accusing you. And you're like, well, all right, here it is. Like, we're not hiding anything, but before you, you know, and that's the problem nowadays is people will just accuse, you know, go on social media and type in whatever they want. Because they they're pissed off in their basement or whatever, but it's like, yeah, we're not hiding anything.

We're like, here it is. And, you know, I'll reiterate, we don't we're not doing this for any type of money at all.

Chris Albert 00:45:35 (link to this point)

Right. And you do have legitimate businesses out there. Gotta say I I fired your, or I own one of your Seek Battle rifles. And, and, it's one of the best rifles I've ever fired in my life. It's absolutely outstanding.

Triggers amazing. It's awesome, man.

Eddie Gallagher 00:45:51 (link to this point)

Yeah. So yeah, I mean, that's, you know, we live in the Panhandle Of Florida right by Destin, and we really wanted to, start doing stuff with the local community around here. And that was Precision Tactical was one of the stores here. And so, you know, we went in there and worked out a plan and to build a rifle and, you know, they let me pick out all the parts and I was pretty picky with everything. And, you know, I was really pleased with the way the rifle, the Seek Battle rifle came out.

And that's, you know, it's been awesome. You know, we've, we've moved on from the rifle to resell, pistols now, and then we're going to come out with a fixed blade here in about a month. And then we also have the brass knuckles,

Chris Albert 00:46:34 (link to this point)

Paperweights. Paperweights. Right?

Eddie Gallagher 00:46:36 (link to this point)

Yes.

Chris Albert 00:46:39 (link to this point)

Yeah. Those are awesome. I you know, and the detail on on the rifle is absolutely amazing. It's got it's got a a man in the arena quote on there. It's got it's got a couple of other really cool features that you got to look around the rifle to find, but but they're absolutely awesome.

And and I gotta tip my hat to you. It's it's it's an amazing piece.

Eddie Gallagher 00:46:58 (link to this point)

Thank you, brother. Yeah. I appreciate it. I appreciate you buying one too, man. That's awesome.

Yeah. And that's that's the beauty of it. You know, I, I wanted to get involved in something with, you know, that I like doing. So it's, you know, I can go to the range and shoot and then, you know, we'll move on from there up to help hopefully instructing, help, you know, instructing people on gun safety and how to actually use weapons, which I think is needed, big time. That's, you know, that's in my future plans here.

You know, we're just getting done with the book sort of settling down and then, you know, obviously with the nonprofit that's been keeping us busy, but I definitely want to help, you know, start teaching civilians how to properly defend themselves and how to use weapons properly.

Chris Albert 00:47:43 (link to this point)

That's awesome. And anything else in the books for you in the future? Any any big things coming up?

Eddie Gallagher 00:47:49 (link to this point)

You know, we got, there's some things I'm working on. A lot of it pertains to the nonprofit, you know, I think one of the pillars that I want to add on is the, the overall just health of guys, you know, when they get out. And then also for these guys who are going through these stressful times, if they're being unjustly treated, I know the toll that can take on a person, you know, because I went through it, you know, the year after I got out was a struggle. Just trying to get over all of that. And I had a lot of help, along the way.

So I really want to extend that as well to guys, when they get out. So it's one of the ideas, that we've come up with is, you know, I made a great connection with, two amazing guys that they own American Top Team, Dan Lambert and Rich. And, I hopefully we're in the plans of working it. So we can take a group of veterans that are transitioning, bring them over to American Top Team, let them train for a week, with, you know, some of the best dudes in UFC, and just sort of like, sweat it out. And really, I think that'll help get guys motivated again, because I think when you get out, you sort of lose your purpose.

And the hard part is finding another purpose and, you can easily go down a dark hole if you, you know, if you're not out there seeking that purpose or testing yourself. And, this is just a way that we can bring guys over there, help them test themselves. They can sweat it out and hopefully rejuvenate them to be like, you know what? And this is now I want to go do this. And so that is definitely something I'm looking forward to here in the near future.

And then also just collaborating with other veteran owned companies, know, we just went up to Richmond, Virginia this past weekend with the Uncommon Grit Foundation. They just an amazing organization that they threw out this fundraiser, and they're really raising money for other veteran owned organizations to help them out, which I think is huge. I think if you want to support anybody in this country or support businesses, try and support veteran owned businesses. These guys and women serve their country for how many years and get out and are still going to push them forward, trying to succeed. And I think that's something that should be applauded.

Chris Albert 00:50:19 (link to this point)

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. American top team. That's not far from here.

They have an amazing facility over there. Really, really awesome.

Eddie Gallagher 00:50:29 (link to this point)

It is. And those, those two, you know, Dan and Rich, they are some amazing human beings. They love this country and they love, they love the military. You know, they had me come out. I got to stay there for about a week and train and just, it was probably the best week, one of the best weeks I had.

Chris Albert 00:50:46 (link to this point)

That's awesome, man. That's awesome. How can my audience help you out? What, what can we do for you?

Eddie Gallagher 00:50:52 (link to this point)

So, so, I mean, definitely, you know, I obviously I have, my Instagram page. You can follow that to see, everything that we're getting into. We also have a, my wife has one as well, Andrea underscore Gallagher. And then, we have a pipe hitter foundation, IG, which we put out information, about the members that we're helping. That's where we'll constantly update people like we did with Lieutenant Colonel Scheller while he was going through his, you know, I was constantly updating on my page, the pipe hitter page.

And, and then also we have the pipehitterfoundation.org. You know, I would just say for people, to check-in with those and see who we're helping, who are supporting, you know, dig in, do your research. And, you know, if you can donate because I'll tell you, like this is it's an important issue that I think I'm glad that we started it, but I think it's one of those that sort of overlooked, because it's not really, hasn't been an issue in the past, but it is. And the money that you donate does go to these families. And I can tell you, it helps them in so many ways.

Just to see like the look of relief on their face when they know they're going to be taken care of. And you can sort of take that layer of stress off of them because they have about 20 other layers that they're dealing with. So that's just to give you an idea of where their money goes. So I would just say, yeah, keep an eye on that. And then, you know, just continue to be great Americans.

Chris Albert 00:52:32 (link to this point)

Absolutely, man. Absolutely. Well, Eddie, I, again, just got to acknowledge you. Thank you for everything that you're doing. Thank you for helping out Lieutenant Colonel Scheller and everybody else that that you're helping out through the Pipe Hitter Foundation.

Thank you for writing your book and and telling the truth about what happened and putting those resources out there, literally linking the the raw evidence to the book. Right? You can't get better than that. It was outstanding. And and thank you for not giving up, man.

You're awesome.

Eddie Gallagher 00:53:03 (link to this point)

Hey, I appreciate that, brother. Thank you for having me on, It's always great talking to you, you know, and keep doing what you're doing, putting the good word out and just having great conversations. You know, it does, it does a lot. You know, I listened to you and a couple of others, you know, throughout the week, and it's just, it's a good thing for people to listen in and actually get, good conversation about what people are dealing with and also good advice.

Chris Albert 00:53:27 (link to this point)

100%. 100%. Well, thanks, Eddie. And to everybody else out there, get out there and live your best lives while you can. We're gonna have all the links up on the show notes for this episode for Eddie's social media.

And enjoy the rest of your week. This is Chris Albert and Eddie Gallagher, and we are out.

Eddie Gallagher 00:53:46 (link to this point)

Yeah. God bless.