"Folds of Honor" Founder, Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: Flying into the Wind

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney was 12 years-old when he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up ... an unlikely combination of a Navy Jet Fighter Pilot AND a PGA Professional Golfer. Interestingly enough, it was both of those fields that helped contribute to the formation of Folds of Honor, a non-profit organization founded by Rooney, that has donated tens of millions of dollars to the families of fallen and injured military and first responders. Lt. Col. Dan Rooney is the epitome of an American hero.  He's a motivational speaker, best-selling author and tv show host who was recognized as People Magazine’s Hero of the Year and ABC World News Person of the Year. If this interview doesn’t inspire you to want to be better, live better, and do more for others, I don’t know what will. Not only does this episode explore a unique life journey, it’s also a pep talk that challenges all of us to fly into the wind.

Thanks for checking out the podcast! If you like what you hear, I would love for you to leave a review to help others find the show ...  and please be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations like the one you heard today. For more information on upcoming episodes and new content, you can check out my website. Thanks for your support! 

Transcript

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: [00:00:00] If there's like one strand of DNA. that ties greatness together. It's that in my opinion, it's people that go before they're ready. You'll never have it figured out. You'll never have it planned out. , just go and the universe, God, whatever you want to define it as conspires for you. I'm convinced. And that's what we did.

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Hey, it's Michelle. Welcome to conversations. I'm looking forward to bringing you some new guests in the coming months, but in the meantime, this one is for you. from the vault, and I have to say it definitely ranks as one of my favorite interviews of all time. Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney is the first person to ever master an unlikely combination of two very different professions, military jet fighter pilot and PGA golf professional.

On top of that, both of those fields have helped contribute to an amazing cause that he founded and that has donated tens of millions of dollars to families of fallen or disabled military veterans. Since the recording of this episode in 2022, the Folds of Honor organization now benefits first responder families [00:01:00] as well.

Rooney has served three combat tours, is a two time Top Gun recipient, and has been awarded the United States Air Force Distinguished Service Medal. In his spare time, he is also a motivational speaker, best selling author, and was recognized as People Magazine's Hero of the Year in 2012. and ABC World News Person of the Year.

If this interview doesn't inspire you to want to be better, live better, and do more for others, I don't know what will. Not only does this episode explore a unique life journey, it's also a pep talk that challenges all of us to fly into the wind. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney.

Please welcome Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney.

Applause, applause, applause. You should have applause going for about a half hour because, Dan, when I tell you Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, can I call you Dan? 

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: Yes, absolutely. My friends call me Noonan, so that's my [00:02:00] call sign. And you have no say in your call sign as a fighter pilot. You, you know, it takes to be a fighter pilot, right?

It's two and a half years long program. The government spends 8 million per pilot training us and only 4. 8 percent of the people make it through. So it's the most expensive. obviously highest attrition rate of any training in the U. S. military. And you get to your squadron after two and a half years, and they give you a name tag, and it says FNG on it, which stands for something new guy.

And you have that name tag for like the first year of your life as a fighter pilot. I went to combat with FNG, and people are like, FANG? I'm like, no, not exactly. Um, but when you finally get your call sign, you've proven that you are worthy of it. Um, you have no say in it. And so it's the only guy, whatever it's worth, a rare bird to be a PGA golf professional and a fighter pilot.

Mine is from the movie Caddyshack. Uh, Danny Noonan was the main character in the beloved movie Caddyshack. And so, first name Dan. Golf pro, fighter pilot. So, my call sign is Noonan. All my [00:03:00] friends call me Noonan. Feel free to lean in to, uh, to that. Dan, whatever. It doesn't matter. That is awesome. I'm raising, I'm raising five daughters.

And so, if someone just calls me a name on a given day, I'm happy. So, it's all good. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Oh my goodness, Dan, five daughters. So it's, it's all girls. Do you have pets? Are they females as well? Are you like literally the only guy?

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: I got a service dog, Bravo, sitting next to me here. She's a rescue female shepherd. I have a female Frenchie named Luna, and I have a male, uh, boxer, Bo Duke.

Uh, so it's just Bo and I. We're the only males in this house. My priest. I love it. I roll into, I'm Catholic, right? I roll into church and he looks at me and he just smiles and shakes his head. Blessed are thou among women. I said, yes, yes, sir. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: That's fantastic. I don't even know where to start because I told you right before we started.

I really am, I'm nervous about this interview because there's so much to get to and I just [00:04:00] want to make sure we can put out as much information as possible because Dan, you really You're the man, Dan the man, you know, and you probably hear that a lot, but your background, just what you've done being a fighter pilot, um, you're a PGA golfer.

You are obviously a big family man. You were the founder of this wonderful organization that we will talk about more called Folds of Honor, but let's try to backtrack because I always like to get the backstory. So what was it when you were growing up? I want to be like blank when I grow up. 

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: Yeah. So I'm super blessed, right?

Um, and I call them moments of synchronicity or chance for the purpose, how God puts people in your life experiences in your life. So I was 12 years old and playing golf and I met my first fighter pilot, Steve court, right? Call sign Reno. And this guy like walked out of the movie, the right stuff. Um, total stud.

I remember he's like 40 years old and I'm like, you can be grown up and this cool. And he was like, yeah, and he just looked at me and that was it. I'm like, this is my first man crush. I want to be a fighter pilot. [00:05:00] Golf was already a huge part of my life. And it was a couple of days later, I'm playing golf with my dad.

And I'm like, dad, I know what I want to do. I want to be a golf pro and a fighter pilot. And his question back to me is stuck with me like every day for the rest of my life. And he said, son, can you tell me which way an airplane takes off? And I'm 12, right? And I'm like, yeah, I think it's into the wind. He said, that's exactly right.

Obviously preparing this 12 year old kid for these inevitable headwinds that would stand between me and this very unlikely dream. As I mentioned, so unlikely I'm the only guy in the history of the world to put these two things together. Uh, but by God's grace, no doubt, not by my own. And uh, You know, I had no idea how he would ultimately combine this for such a greater calling.

But as it relates to everybody listening today, understanding fundamentally in our lives, you know, you have to have resistance to ascend. And so often people look at challenge and resistance in their life as God trying to keep them down. Right? And it's actually how you ascend. And [00:06:00] I've held on to that through, you know, all of my struggles that generally anything meaningful in your life.

God is going to put resistance there, but it's not to, to keep you down or make you, you know, stop dreaming or commit. It's actually to, to help you raise, raise up. I fly the most powerful, one of them in the world, jets, an F 16, and we take off into the wind, because we still need resistance to ascend, and so, you know, that's where it all started, and uh, we've just been on this, you know, wonderful ascent, uh, for, for many years, um, You know, not, not my, my, my credit, but a little bit of hard work and a lot of blessings.

Michelle Dawn Mooney: You talk about playing golf when you were 12, but, but how do you kind of parlay into being a fighter pilot? Does it happen at the same time? Do you take a break? Fill us in there. How does that work? 

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: Oh man, that's, those are way too many details. I'm like, nobody listens to facts. They want to hear stories.

No, obviously I was a golfer first and then became a fighter pilot and [00:07:00] then was able to bring the whole golf thing back. You know, I'm, I'm blessed to have built a couple of golf courses. I'm coming to you live from the Patriot in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Uh, which is an incredible community that, you know, we started with 0 in a dream.

And I just opened another golf course with, uh, one of my boyhood idols, Jack Nicklaus called American Dunes that memorializes the birthplace of folds up in Grand Haven, Michigan. So it's been an evolution of, you know, flying and golf, and I'm in a place now where I get to, you know, divide my time between the, you know, the Air Force, which I still serve in, you know, the game I love, but most importantly, um, trying to make a difference in people's lives at Folds of Honor, but they all have this awesome confluence.

Looking back, it's incredibly clear. Uh, it wasn't, obviously, as these pieces were coming together and the struggles that go with each one of these big dreams. But such a blessing to combine, um, in life. I think the ultimate goal for all of us is can, can you combine what you do [00:08:00] with who you are? That's Maslow's Peak Experience, and I'm blessed to do that every day.

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Let's talk about golf for a little bit because August is golf month. We talked beforehand. I watch golf every weekend. My husband and I can't play golf very well, but I love watching it. So what was that like? I mean, here you are, you're a 12 year old boy who says, I want to be a golfer and a fighter pilot, and we'll get to that, but.

How many people actually do it? So here you actually do it. Talk about that. 

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: Um, I'm, I'm, I'm one of one, right? I didn't do it, but I mean, I would say, you know, you can't control the outcome in anything. And at this point in my life, I'm so like, I love that. All you can control is your journey, which I define as a routine, which I am fanatical about.

I mean, I live by a code. And the kind of the destination is, is the sum of the effort that you put in on a daily basis. Um, but it's, it's uncontrollable, right? So often we want [00:09:00] something to happen. It doesn't happen. And there's a lot of stuff I've, I've wanted to happen so desperately. It didn't happen, but it turned out way better because God was going to do it a different way than, than I had in my lens.

You know, my golf career, I love the game. I play all the time. I get to combine it with doing good. I always say I'd never quantified my prayer as a kid when I'm like, dude, I want to make a lot of money playing golf. I make a lot of money playing golf, but it is to support military families. And, you know, we'll get to that, not in my personal bank account, but kind of my claim to fame and, and, and funny.

So we're not always serious as I played a bunch of golf against tiger. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Think one person can't make a difference. Here's 60 seconds to change your mind. During the pandemic, California mom, Rhiannon Mann, was looking for ways to give back to her neighbors by using some leftover food supplies. She put the word out to see if anyone could use a hug in the form of a Not only did Rhiannon hear from those looking to receive, a number of others reached out to offer their [00:10:00] services and supplies and donate a meal.

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Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: And so, uh, we played, I was at Kansas, University of Kansas.

He was at Stanford and, uh, you know, we became friends and have stayed connected over the years and, and probably the claim to fame for my competitive golf is getting to play against tiger and sports illustrated did a little spoof, um, on us. A few years back and you know, they have these fact checkers and I guess I beat him three times and you [00:11:00] know, he beat me 150 times, but I can say I beat Tiger Woods.

Uh, that won't get you a coke, but, uh, that's pretty cool. So God had a different plan when I went on combat tours. Uh, he went on the PGA tour and, uh, but, uh, yeah, I mean, like everything in my life is connected. to this crazy game of golf. I went to Kansas. I met my wife there, went to Kansas, play golf, meet her.

Um, I'm on a commercial airline flight. We'll talk about that here in a second, uh, on my way to a job as a golf professional that would start folds, turn to the game of golf, um, to fuel the dreams of, of military families. And it's just part of my life. This game and the relationships and the fundraising and the people I get to hang out with, um, is, uh, is a blessing.

I've gotten to do two motivational speeches for Ryder Cup teams. I, by definition, haven't had a really successful golf career, but I would argue, The way we've been able to harness the [00:12:00] game for good is one of the most significant things that's ever happened in golf. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: When you decide you want to be a fighter pilot and of course extreme intense training very few make the cut you're there you're doing it and something happens that really changes everything for you then makes you look at things a different way and leads us to why we're here to talk about the organization Folds of Honor.

Can you talk about that for me? 

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: Again, these moments of synchronicity, right? Chance with a purpose. I don't believe in coincidence. I don't believe in serendipity. I don't believe in blind luck. I believe in Providence and God puts you where you're supposed to be every day. And then we have the free will.

To act when we're inspired or ignore it and chalk it up to, Oh, that was nice. That felt good. I'm just going to go press on with my plan and life. And this moment of synchronicity was like deep in my soul, a huge interrupter. And [00:13:00] you know, probably one of the things I'm most proud of at this point in my walk, I was a really average dude, right?

Um, I drank too much. Um, I was not present when I needed to be with my wife and my kids. I was living the dream, man. I was a fighter pilot in a Gopro and, and really living that lifestyle, which was pretty unhealthy, other than it was a hell of a lot of fun. So, I was really comfortable at that point in my walk, and God's like, no, we got, we got a bigger plan here.

And I wasn't in a fighter jet this time. I was on a commercial airliner. I land in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's midnight. As we pull up to the gate, the captain comes over the P. A. and, uh, says that we have an American hero on board. He continues the captain by, uh, informing us that we are carrying the remains of Corporal Brock Bucklin on this flight.

And his identical twin brother, Corporal Brad Bucklin, was in first class and has brought him those 7, 000 miles home. And, um, that night I watched, um, the other side of war. As I looked out on the [00:14:00] tarmac, um, the Bucklins on the darkest night of their lives. The thing that really got me though was his, uh, his four year old son.

And I just gotten back from my second tour of duty over in Iraq. So it was really fresh. I was dealing with lots of stuff on a personal basis and, um, seeing terrible things in combat, but never seen that side of war. And I watched the Buckland family on the darkest night of their lives. His brother's parents, his wife, and his four year old son as Brock's American flag draped coffin inched down from the cargo ram.

And it hit me, right? The, the finality of this sacrifice. That freedom isn't free and The ceremony, you know, finishes up and I stand up only to see that despite the captain's request, half the people have left the airplane. And Michelle, I experienced an emotion I never had before in my life. I was disappointed to be an American in that moment.

And as I walked off the airplane, I felt a hand on my [00:15:00] shoulder and I looked back and there was nothing there. But the only thing I will tell you for certain today in our time together, it was a hand of God. And like one of the most powerful anthems in my life is Go Before You're Ready. And I learned that as a fighter pilot, because when you go to the F 16, you get four rides with an instructor, your fifth ride is solo, or you wash out of the program.

I'm on a 50 million fighter jet, and it goes two and a half times the speed of sound, and I go fly it by myself, and I'm completely not ready if it was up to me, but I went. And like, this epiphany, like, opened up in my heart, and God's like, man, if you go, I'll do extraordinary things, and if there's like, one strand of DNA, That ties greatness together.

It's that in my opinion. It's people that go before they're ready. You'll never have it figured out You'll never have it planned out. Um, just go and the universe god, whatever you want to define it as conspires for you I'm convinced and that's what we did. Um, I got off that airplane and had no idea. I mean I had no money I'm, not very [00:16:00] smart.

Um, no connections to anybody and we started folds of honor above our garage Um, because we were inspired by this moment of synchronicity, wrote down the very first day our mission, which has been unwavering for 14 years, honor the sacrifice, educate the legacy, providing scholarships to spouses and Children who've had somebody killed or disabled defending our freedoms.

And, uh, you know, I, I witness and it's, uh, I, I couldn't feel more small every day when I wake up when you witness God operating in your life and how humble that makes you that for whatever reason, I'm the broken guy that he was like, man, we're going to, we're going to work through you. 44, 000 scholarships.

We pumped out the door in 14 years. That's 210 million in life changing education to military families. And we just watch our ministry grow, and we look at the Bible, and its most frequent calling [00:17:00] is to take care of widows and orphans. And that's what we do. And there's nothing more sacred. I mean, you have a family, I have a family.

There's nothing more sacred than our family and our individual lives. And when that family experiences unthinkable loss, That's where we get to step in as an organization and say, Hey man, we got you, we're going to take care of you. We're going to send you to school. And why education? Because that was always my greatest fear and is my greatest fear.

Something happens to me that my. Daughters will be set up for success in their life. And that is through the gift of an education. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Yeah. And beauty from ashes and what good has come from tragedy for one family that you were personally touched by in that one event and how many people have been helped now.

So can you share with me, because this is really exciting. There are so many good things happening to raise awareness for Folds of Honor, to [00:18:00] bring in more money, to help more people. Talk about that side of things because that has to be mind blowing because here you are and you have these huge events that are bringing in lots of dollars to do really great things for people.

people who have been touched by this tragedy. Tell me what that feels like to see that happen now. 

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: It's, it's like so simple for me. It's, uh, I've unlocked this beautiful irony in life that when you reach out to help someone, you're actually the one being helped. I figured it out. I was with, you know, Jack Nicklaus two weeks ago, and he looked at me with this Jack smile and those steely blue eyes.

And he just, just smiled at me. He's like, you got it figured out, don't you? I'm like, yeah, boss. I wouldn't change my job with anybody in the world. I get to get up every day and help people. And it is a drug that if you put it in an IV and once you take it, it changes you forever. To lend a [00:19:00] hand, to give a compliment, uh, which is free.

And it takes like three seconds. It's one of my favorite things to do. I go spread those all over. And it's this currency that we all have to give. And you know, that's on the micro. Obviously the macro is, you know, given somebody a gift and education, but it's more importantly in education. It's about believing in them.

And to these events, um, the cool part about it and is folds of honors become this vessel. When people are like, Hey man, I want to do something good with my life. We're like, come on board. We built the arc. We are changing lives. It is an awesome place And we give people an opportunity to start and you know, we're super blessed to have these amazing corporations That are stepping up and it can you know, it's it's yeti.

It's it's anheuser busch. It's it's coca cola. It's american airlines It's you know on and on and on these huge corporations We've brought purpose [00:20:00] to that machine that's just driven by, man, success is defined by how much money we make. this quarter. And we get to create another line of effort that's, oh, no, by the way, look how many lives that we got to change.

Michelle Dawn Mooney: It's a helper's eye. That's what they call it, the helper's eye. And I love how you, you put it in perspective. We don't have to have a lot of money to make a big impact. You know, kind words, somebody stop and compliment you, regardless of what it's for. You're doing a good job. You look nice. It changes everything.

A smile, you know, it really can, can start with something that small. And I love that you Brought that out. So if we want to do more though, if we want to take part, if we want to help out, how can they do that? 

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: Yeah. So we, it's called the squadron and the squadron manifests itself on all kinds of ways, right?

I mean, you could go play Patriot golf day. You can do a golf marathon. You can go by. a 12 pack of Budweiser. You can go by Yeti. Um, you can go on and make a [00:21:00] donation. Uh, the donation that we asked for is 13 a month, and that ties back to the 13 folds that bring the flag to its triangle shape. It also ties back, um, For for me and like the my darkest moment.

I was gonna quit folds. This is about six years ago Um and go be an american airlines pilot and you know Make a really nice salary and work 12 days a month and uh, I had a buddy that gave me this Wonderful advice on on the 13th hole and I said, oh carlos, right? It figures you'd give me this advice on the 13th hole.

That's my synchronicity number It's like they're 13 folds in the flag. He was like, well, there might be 13 folds in the flag But that's not the real meaning of the number 13 You look at the Bible and there's 12 apostles, the big man, Jesus is number 13. And if you dig deeper into that number and actually the origins of the numbers stand for new beginnings.

Um, and that's what we offer at Folds of Honor people is is a new beginning. Uh, but really it's my [00:22:00] hope and prayer when I'm like, yeah, man, I'll come on and talk to you, Michelle. It's like someone will take one thing away that helps them create a new beginning in their life when they're tuned in here.

And and this is not Easy. This is, I mean, this is hard. Um, but it is so intoxicatingly rewarding when you can wake up every day and be like, man, I got better today than I was yesterday. And this concept again of 13 and new beginnings visiting folds of honor. org shameless, unshameless plug there. Um, and join our squadron.

Support a military family that's, that's going to school that has given life and limb for our freedoms. And a lot of people don't realize a half a percent of this country woke up this morning, willing to die for our nation that serve in the U S military. So 99. 5 percent can live free. And this is a very tangible way to say thank you.

And. When I say it's tangible, [00:23:00] 91 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to support these scholarship programs. Your dollar is making a difference. We run, uh, it's in the top 1 percent of non profits in America from an efficiency standpoint. Um, so join us in the fight. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Is there a quick story that you can share the flip side of what these scholarships do and how much of an impact they have on these families?

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: As opposed to like single out one thing, I will tell you like the greatest surprise from our recipients is they're like, Hey, I couldn't do this without the money. But the fact that you honored our family's sacrifice, you recognized it is. The most powerful piece of what you've done. And you think about this world we live in.

That's always on to the next day, always on to the next thing. [00:24:00] And these families forever live without a loved one or a loved one that is permanently disabled. And after a couple of weeks, nobody cares anymore. And that's what is so powerful about folds is honoring that sacrifice and letting that family know.

Man, we value you. We value that sacrifice. Let's go make sure you can live your dreams. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Just amazing. I'm so happy, you know, once again, that you could be here with me, that you can talk about your backstory, um, that you can tell people how this came to be because that in and of itself is just, it's, it's tragically beautiful.

And I'm sure that family is just so honored that you're here. It was their son, their loved one, their family member that helped spearhead all of this. It just, as you said, it's the honor and it's being recognized. Uh, when we don't live in a world [00:25:00] where we take the time to recognize the people that are our true American heroes.

It has been an absolute pleasure. Of course, you can go to foldsofhonor. org to find out more information about Folds of Honor. Folds of Honor, and just 13 a month if you want to be a major supporter there. But there are other ways that you can help out, not just with Folds of Honor. I love that you said, you know, there's just more that we can do in general.

Um, remembering those opportunities to, to say a kind word, to, to smile, to help out wherever we can, and it really is, it's life changing, especially even in our darkest moments, and I've heard this over and over again, when, when something is going on with our own life, what's the best way to pull ourselves out of it?

Look to somebody else whose life is, is not even up to par of, of where we are. And, uh, there's just always somebody else who's more in need. So I love that you were able to share that with us. 

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: If you give me 60 seconds, I'll give you a parting shot. How about that? Yeah, please do. Um, so every morning when, when I wake up, uh, [00:26:00] I have two thoughts that I'll share.

The first one is this concept of a divine echo. And simply translated, because I'm a simple guy, and I need an easy way to process a very dynamic, complicated world, is however you want your life to manifest itself, you first must put it out there. Divine Echo. And if you want grace, you want love, you want forgiveness, you want positive energy, whatever you put out in the world, it is linear and it will come back to you.

Number one. Number two, um, as I walk with my eyes half closed to the, uh, to the bathroom, cause I pulled myself out of bed every morning cause it's not easy getting up early. Um, I hope the devil says, man, that dude's out of bed again. And, uh, bringing it. So it's been a blessing to, uh, [00:27:00] to share, um, my stories with you.

And I said, I hope there's. People take one thing away that makes makes a big difference. We didn't talk about it But i'll make another plug just because it supports Um folds of honor. It's sitting right here behind me, but uh fly into the wind Um, it's in its third print in 18 months from harper collins.

I'm an i'm a nobody This book is changing people's lives and basically it's you know, we talked about how we got to have resistance to ascend um, but it is My code of living that I execute every day But it really coaches people to find their battle rhythm in life, uh, to become the best version of themselves and, uh, fight, um, this concept of, of comfort because courage and comfort can never exist in the same place.

Living every day by a code is, uh, is making an installment to become the best version of yourself. So blessed to be with you. Uh, [00:28:00] Thank you. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Such an honor, Dan, really, um, I can't thank you enough and thank you for bringing up about the book. You also have a show that you can see on Fox Nation, Flying to the Wind, and I completely, because we're, we're so tight on time here, I could talk to you for two hours.

You basically get in a plane and you're flying across the country to talk to amazing people like Herschel Walker and David Faraday and, uh, I can't even think of a few of the others, but really. Big people with big stories and, and have overcome some amazing things.

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney: And Greg, Greg Norman, Greg Norman, you know, he's Greg's doing some crazy stuff with live right now, but yeah, in it, in the, in the gist of it is, and you know, we'll knock it off with this, but I sit down and I don't ever under value what people have achieved.

Um, but I really want to talk about what you've overcome. Yeah. And I sit down with these people and I was like, I want to know the day that you weren't going to be able to make it forward and looking back what you [00:29:00] learned and how you got out of that place. To where you are now, because that is what defines people.

Um, not, not winning, not the easy times, but it's like when, when you are dark and there are, you know, there are seasons of life, man. You're sailing into a storm, you're in the storm, you're on the other side of the storm. Um, but it is gonna happen, and that is what defines you, um, as a human being. And in these life skills, especially these people that have accomplished a lot, Man, they have sailed through vicious storms, every single one of them.

And it is fascinating not to see the medal on their chest or the trophy or, you know, whatever it is, but to be like, man, this is the day I didn't want to get up. So, keep fighting. 

Michelle Dawn Mooney: Hope you enjoyed my conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney. Please visit his website, danrooney. com, to learn more about all the amazing things he's involved with, including the wonderful Folds of Honor organization.

If you [00:30:00] enjoyed today's episode, I would love for you to leave a review to help more people find the show, and feel free to subscribe to the podcast so you can hear more conversations like the one you heard today. Thanks for listening, and remember, one person can make a difference, and that difference maker could be you.

We'll see you soon.