Deborah Grassman spent 30 years as a VA hospice nurse practitioner, sitting at the bedside of over 10,000 dying veterans. And what she witnessed changed everything we think we know about trauma, healing, and what veterans actually need from us.

This isn't a comfortable conversation.It's not supposed to be.

Deborah identified something she calls Soul Injury—a wound beyond PTSD, beyond moral injury—that separates people from their true selves. It's caused by unmourned loss, unforgiven guilt, and the fear of helplessness that gets buried so deep, it sabotages lives for decades.

In this episode, Deborah breaks down:

• Why most veteran "thank yous" miss the mark completely
• The untold stories that get carried to the grave
• How the Fallen Comrade Ceremony she pioneered creates space for healing ⁠Who We Are - Opus Peace⁠
• What dying veterans taught her about living fully
• Why stoicism becomes a prison instead of a door

This episode will challenge how you think about service, sacrifice, and what it truly means to honor those who served.

Because healing our nation after war? That's on ALL of us.

CONNECT WITH DEBORAH GRASSMAN & OPUS PEACE:

🌐 Opus Peace: ⁠https://opuspeace.org⁠📖 Soul Injury Resources: ⁠https://soulinjury.org⁠

READ DEBORAH'S BOOKS:📚 Peace at Last: Stories of Hope and Healing for Veterans and Their FamiliesAmazon: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Peace-Last-Stories-Veterans-Families/dp/0918339723⁠Opus Peace Store: ⁠https://opuspeace.org/Shop/Peace-at-Last⁠

📚 The Hero Within: Redeeming the Destiny We Were Born to FulfillAmazon: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Within-Deborah-Grassman/dp/0918339766⁠

---

Listen & Subscribe to Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, everywhere podcasts can be heard

Every veteran has a story worth preserving—stories of courage, sacrifice, humor, and humanity. Veteran Story Hour captures these remarkable personal histories directly from the voices of the men and women who’ve served our nation.

Recorded live each week at SALUTE of Virginia in Waynesboro, this podcast creates a living history, ensuring these powerful memories are preserved and shared for generations to come.

Hosted by John Fairbanks of the Shenandoah Valley Story Network, join us as we honor those who served by listening, reflecting, and remembering.

Because every veteran’s story deserves to be told—and every voice deserves to be heard.

It is time for co-host, Zach Hale, to tell his story.

In this episode of Veteran Story Hour, Zach shares his journey from rural Virginia to EOD training, through the long nights of medical work, and into the heart of a marriage that taught him what strength really means.

This is a story about growing up twice — once in uniform, and once in love. About the weight of duty, the quiet battles no one sees, and the woman who helped him rediscover what it means to feel.

For every veteran, spouse, or listener who’s ever had to start over — this conversation reminds us: the mission might end, but the purpose doesn’t.

---

Listen & Subscribe to Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, everywhere podcasts can be heard

Every veteran has a story worth preserving—stories of courage, sacrifice, humor, and humanity. Veteran Story Hour captures these remarkable personal histories directly from the voices of the men and women who’ve served our nation.

Recorded live each week at SALUTE of Virginia in Waynesboro, this podcast creates a living history, ensuring these powerful memories are preserved and shared for generations to come.

Hosted by John Fairbanks of the Shenandoah Valley Story Network, join us as we honor those who served by listening, reflecting, and remembering.

Because every veteran’s story deserves to be told—and every voice deserves to be heard.

On this special spotlight episode of Veteran Story Hour, we sit down with Kara from Dynamic Aviation — a Shenandoah Valley company doing extraordinary work behind the scenes of national and global crises.

From spraying vaccine-laced bait across forests to combat rabies, to helping contain the screw worm crisis threatening U.S. livestock, Dynamic Aviation modifies aircraft to serve communities in crisis. But the mission doesn’t stop in the air. Kara discusses their efforts on the ground — supporting veterans through job transitions, hosting internship programs for local high schoolers, and creating meaningful career pathways that don’t require a college degree.

We also get a behind-the-scenes look at their annual Halloween-themed golf tournament, benefiting Salute of Virginia.

This is an episode about innovation, service, and showing up for others — and what it means when a company chooses impact over publicity.

---

Listen & Subscribe to Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, everywhere podcasts can be heard

Every veteran has a story worth preserving—stories of courage, sacrifice, humor, and humanity. Veteran Story Hour captures these remarkable personal histories directly from the voices of the men and women who’ve served our nation.

Recorded live each week at SALUTE of Virginia in Waynesboro, this podcast creates a living history, ensuring these powerful memories are preserved and shared for generations to come.

Hosted by John Fairbanks of the Shenandoah Valley Story Network, join us as we honor those who served by listening, reflecting, and remembering.

Because every veteran’s story deserves to be told—and every voice deserves to be heard.

On September 11, 2001, America changed. For Chris Spence, it wasn't a distant tragedy—it was a call to action.

MSG Spence recounts the earliest days of the U.S. response in Afghanistan, where he carried a piece of the towers with him into war. From horseback missions with General Dostum to satellite comms improvisation on hostile hillsides, Spence brings us inside the uncertainty, improvisation, and moral weight of modern warfare in Afghanistan.

MSG Spence is responsible for one of the most iconic photos of the war during this time of the Horse Soldiers. Donald Rumsfeld held this image up during his speech at Fort Bragg, Doug Stanton wrote the book Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan, adapted to the movie 12 Strong by Jerry Bruckheimer, and then influenced the 'America's Response Monument' (Horse Soldier Statue) overlooking the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.

But this isn’t just a war story. It’s a reflection on what happens when a nation forgets its promises—to its allies, to its own soldiers, and to the civilians who believed. As the war collapsed two decades later, Spence watched history repeat itself. This episode is not only a firsthand account—it’s a meditation on consequence.

---

Listen & Subscribe to Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, everywhere podcasts can be heard

Every veteran has a story worth preserving—stories of courage, sacrifice, humor, and humanity. Veteran Story Hour captures these remarkable personal histories directly from the voices of the men and women who’ve served our nation.

Recorded live each week at SALUTE of Virginia in Waynesboro, this podcast creates a living history, ensuring these powerful memories are preserved and shared for generations to come.

Hosted by John Fairbanks of the Shenandoah Valley Story Network, join us as we honor those who served by listening, reflecting, and remembering.

Because every veteran’s story deserves to be told—and every voice deserves to be heard.

Jim Belcher Jr. joins us to unravel the quiet heroism and generational trauma of a family shaped by both sides of World War II.

His father survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the greatest naval disaster in U.S. history.

His mother, a Japanese civilian, spent her youth dodging American bombs, caring for siblings in air raid shelters, and surviving the fire that consumed her childhood schools.

Their marriage—an improbable union of enemy nations—became the foundation of Jim’s worldview, and his mission.

Drawing from decades of speaking across the country, Belcher delivers more than memory—he delivers context. With the clarity of a historian and the vulnerability of a son, he reflects on the silence that followed service, the propaganda that shaped both nations, and the ways in which America’s wars have grown longer and less defined.

From the PTSD that went untreated in his father’s generation to the modern soldier burdened by rules of engagement written by politicians, Belcher’s insight is unflinching. So too is his call to action: to teach students not just what happened, but why it matters now.

This is not a celebration of war, nor a condemnation—it is an honest reckoning with how nations remember, and how families carry the weight of what history leaves behind.

A powerful listen for veterans, educators, and citizens who still believe memory should serve a purpose.

---

Listen & Subscribe to Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, everywhere podcasts can be heard

Every veteran has a story worth preserving—stories of courage, sacrifice, humor, and humanity. Veteran Story Hour captures these remarkable personal histories directly from the voices of the men and women who’ve served our nation.

Recorded live each week at SALUTE of Virginia in Waynesboro, this podcast creates a living history, ensuring these powerful memories are preserved and shared for generations to come.

Hosted by John Fairbanks of the Shenandoah Valley Story Network, join us as we honor those who served by listening, reflecting, and remembering.

Because every veteran’s story deserves to be told—and every voice deserves to be heard.

Jim Wood has been a soldier, a rock drummer, a nightclub boss, a gun instructor, and now a city councilman in Waynesboro. He’s opened for Kiss, swapped stories with Pantera, and earned the call sign “Doom” in Iraq.

But the story everybody remembers? The night he accidentally sang “I Touch Myself” over the comms while laying down fire from a .50 cal.

This week on Veteran Story Hour: Voice of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, Jim takes us from the hollers of Southwest Virginia to the chaos of Iraq, from CBGB’s in New York to city politics in the Valley. It’s hilarious, raw, and at its core — a story about service, identity, and the bonds that last a lifetime.

---

Listen & Subscribe to Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, everywhere podcasts can be heard

Every veteran has a story worth preserving—stories of courage, sacrifice, humor, and humanity. Veteran Story Hour captures these remarkable personal histories directly from the voices of the men and women who’ve served our nation.

Recorded live each week at SALUTE of Virginia in Waynesboro, this podcast creates a living history, ensuring these powerful memories are preserved and shared for generations to come.

Hosted by John Fairbanks of the Shenandoah Valley Story Network, join us as we honor those who served by listening, reflecting, and remembering.

Because every veteran’s story deserves to be told—and every voice deserves to be heard.

In this episode, we sit down with Saul Herrera — a West Point graduate, former Army aviation commander, and current global director with the nonprofit Exodus Road. What unfolds is a decades-spanning narrative of discipline, danger, and duty — from flying Blackhawks in Bosnia and near-misses over the Afghan horizon to leading covert counter-human trafficking operations across Latin America.

Herrera's story is one of contrasts — the son of Mexican immigrants navigating dual cultural identities in 1980s California; the twin who followed a chance encounter with a colonel into a career at one of the world’s most elite military academies; the veteran whose final missions weren’t in combat zones, but in brothels, posing as a buyer to rescue trafficked minors.

In a time where global instability often steals headlines, this conversation reminds us that true leadership may begin with listening — to teachers, to instincts, and to the call of something greater than oneself.

---

Over 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery right now. But they’re not statistics – they’re human beings with names, dreams, and stories that matter.

Learn more about The Exodus Road and its mission: https://theexodusroad.com/

---

Listen & Subscribe to Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, everywhere podcasts can be heard

Every veteran has a story worth preserving—stories of courage, sacrifice, humor, and humanity. Veteran Story Hour captures these remarkable personal histories directly from the voices of the men and women who’ve served our nation.

Recorded live each week at SALUTE of Virginia in Waynesboro, this podcast creates a living history, ensuring these powerful memories are preserved and shared for generations to come.

Hosted by John Fairbanks of the Shenandoah Valley Story Network, join us as we honor those who served by listening, reflecting, and remembering.

Because every veteran’s story deserves to be told—and every voice deserves to be heard.

William Cunningham didn’t take the typical route to becoming an Army officer — unless you count flaming out at West Point, skipping Harvard, and getting commissioned via ROTC after a whole lot of bureaucratic whiplash.

In this episode of Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, presented by SALUTE of Virginia, Will takes us through the ups, downs, and full-on faceplants of navigating the military system when you're smart enough to see its flaws but still stubborn enough to stay in. He’s honest. He’s funny. And he’s the first to admit that sometimes the things that feel like failure are just the start of a better story.

We cover bad leadership, unexpected mentors, a few shout-outs to Hennessy, and the moment Will gave back his West Point ring — and everything it represented. It’s a story about rebuilding purpose, letting go of shame, and redefining what it means to serve with integrity.

If you’ve ever questioned the system, your worth, or what comes next — this episode is for you.

---

Listen & Subscribe to Veteran Story Hour: Voices of Valor, Presented by SALUTE of Virginia, everywhere podcasts can be heard

Every veteran has a story worth preserving—stories of courage, sacrifice, humor, and humanity. Veteran Story Hour captures these remarkable personal histories directly from the voices of the men and women who’ve served our nation.

Recorded live each week at SALUTE of Virginia in Waynesboro, this podcast creates a living history, ensuring these powerful memories are preserved and shared for generations to come.

Hosted by John Fairbanks of the Shenandoah Valley Story Network, join us as we honor those who served by listening, reflecting, and remembering.

Because every veteran’s story deserves to be told—and every voice deserves to be heard.