Alfred Bari is a former Marine infantryman and native of New Hampshire. Bari was a radioman in 3rd platoon, C Company, 1st Bn 6th Marines between 1993-1997. Following honorable discharge, Bari spent 20 years working as a butcher and loved it. He has also been a pro wrestling fan forever and once aspired to join Killer Kowalski's wrestling school but was sidelined by injuries. His wrestling handle was to be the Italian Tank! His finishing move would have been a bear hug. Alfred currently...

Kris Giuranna is a former active duty Marine Sergeant (2003 - 2012). He served in the primary MOS of 0341, infantry mortarman and security forces. Sgt G deployed to Afghanistan 04-05, Iraq 06, Iraq 07-08: was awarded 2 combat action ribbons and myriad personal and unit citations including Joint Service Commendation Medal and Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Kris and I have discussed the “work hard, play hard” nature of the military, whereby especially in the infantry, young men train...

Karen Carey is an accomplished interior designer, award winning photographer, and published author. She is the owner of Karen Carey Design Studio in Montgomery County PA. Prior to opening the design firm, Karen owned a portrait photography business for 20+ years. She's won several prestigious national photography awards, has been published in numerous magazines, created and launched a greeting card line at the National Stationery Show in NYC and has appeared on the hit TV show Flea Market...

Patrick McKernan grew up in Norristown, PA. His grandfather, father and uncle were all police officers. His father was also a United States Marine who served in WWII. Upon high school graduation, Pat enlisted in the Marines much to his father's chagrin, as the War in Vietnam was underway. Pat soon shipped down to Parris Island and completed his infantry training and then flew off to Danang, where he served in an Intelligence capacity for 13 months. Upon returning home from Vietnam, Pat was...

Joe Daly has served his country and community for 57 years! Born in West Philadelphia, Joe enlisted in the Marine Corps upon high school graduation and was soon on the ground in Vietnam, serving as a machine gunner with Echo Company 2/7. He served two tours in Vietnam, earning a battlefield promotion to Sergeant and was awarded the Bronze Star, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Purple Heart. Upon Honorable Discharge, Joe signed up as a police officer in Lower Marion and has served at...

Doug Ross is a Renaissance Man of sorts, boasting a variety of talents. He is a former collegiate wrestler and wrestling coach, teacher and now retiree. But at 76 years of age, the physical strength and spirit this man possesses exceeds that of most people half his age. Doug can perform pullups, pushups, squats and other bodyweight exercises with ease and was recently disciplined for knocking out tricep dips at the top of the pool ladder at his retirement center clubhouse.In this...

Sgt. Rick Swehla was the Platoon Guide of 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 6th Marines between 1993-1995. He was squared away, stern but fair and the epitome of leadership-by-example - exemplifying the kind of Marine we all wanted to be. Under “Sgt. Swehla’s” leadership, along with SSgt Cobbs and Lt Cooper, our platoon trained our asses off, working up for a deployment to the Mediterranean with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Force (MEU) aboard the USS Ponce.

Joe McCarthy is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1957 at the age of 16, after being turned away from the Army for being too young. Joe served in 2nd Recon Battalion and later an artillery unit. In this episode of Making Motivation, PFC McCarthy tells his service story, which continues to the present. Semper Fi, Joe!

Making my motivational rounds, I invited West Virginia's, Shawn Gates onto the podcast to catch up on old times and discuss our service in the USMC. Thought it would be a nice touch to surprise Gates with our 1/6 brothers, Robert Nunn and Adron Presley. It was smiles all around, as we reminsiced. We enjoyed a great conversation today, as Gates shared his post-USMC service in the WV Nation Guard, deployments to Afghanistan and ultimately, his retirement following 20 years of honorable...

Rick grew up in Philadelphia native and enlisted in the Air Force, serving in Viet Nam at Phu Cat Air Base. This is his story.

My neighbor, Marcos Gonzalez has been collecting Transformers since the 80's when, as a little boy he stared into the television watching Optimus Prime and Megatron fight it out in an epic battle between good and evil! "Roll out" with us as Marcos gives us a personal tour of his vast collection. It truly is, more than meets the eye! Intro music: Transformers theme

An extraordinary account of a life well-lived, the bond between mother and son and how all the love comes back to us in the end. Rush, Time Stand Still "I turn my back to the windTo catch my breath before I start off againDriven on without a moment to spendTo pass an evening with a drink and a friend I let my skin get too thin I'd like to pause, no matter what I pretend Like some pilgrim who learns to transcend Learns to live as if each step was the end (Time stand still) I'm not...

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Sue O’Sullivan, My Chainsaw Sensei!Making Motivation Podcast mission: honor authentic people and tell their motivating stories. In the process, we aim to inspire and inform, put smiles on faces and a little fire under the asses of the masses. Date and Time: Saturday, April 13, 2024 @ 1100Context: A unique hobby of mine is chainsaw carving, not a lot of people pursue this pastime and I’m not here to encourage it. But while it might sound dangerous and downright crazy to sculpt wood with a...

Musical Intro: Beck, Where It's At Erik Watson grew up in Long Island, NY and from a very young age he dreamed of being a United States Marine. Manifesting this ambition in the early 90s, Erik shipped off to recruit training in Parris Island, SC and was soon out serving in the Fleet Marine Force, with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Platoon. Upon my arrival at 1/6 in 1993, Watson was among the seasoned Marines tasked with bringing us new guys up to speed. He was a...

Jim Valentin served in the Air Force for twenty years, operating in Vietnam, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He flew in various aircraft, such as the C-150 Spectre Gunship and has a great many stories to tell. His resume: Enlisted in Air Force December 1968  Motivation: Vietnam war, draft, older brother was already in AF  AFSC/MOS jet engine/ helicopter mechanic  February 1970 Vietnam, MACV SOG, C-130 Gunships  --Commando Hunt, Cambodian Campaign  1971 Back to US, Dover AFB,...

Guests include Deirdre Callaghan, Jim Valentin, Erik Watson

Musical intro: These Are The Days. 10,000 Maniacs Context: I grew up with Deirdre in the Pine Barrens of NJ. She is a gifted artist and has always been an outstanding human being and friend. Bio: My name is Deirdre Callaghan and I am originally from Jersey City, NJ I attended Saint Peters grammar school in Paulus Hook section of Jersey City. The school t. Peters Grammar School was built in 1861 and St. Peters Hall, also known as the auditorium building, was constructed in 1898. My great...

Sunday, March 22, 2024 Context: I grew up with Jay Houle in the Pine Barrens of NJ. We were part of a tight knit group of friends who were always together - surfing, drinking beer and otherwise carrying on. We remain great friends to this day, though our busy lives don’t offer the freedom of jumping in the truck and heading down to LBI as often. Following high school graduation, Jay, myself and several other friends joined the Marine Corps. This is Jay’s account of his USMC service and up...

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Andrew Von Hack, AKA "Hack" and I served together in 1st Battalion 6th Marines in the 90's. Hack is a larger-than-life fellow, with a variety of interests and experiences to share. Join us as we compare notes, flashing back to our time in service. Thereafter, Hack is generous enough to provide us a tour of his gold nugget cache, 600+bourbon bottle and decanter collection, lunchbox and model care collection, as well as assorted military surplus and swords. We also philosophize about such...

Wow! How interesting it was to Make Motivation with Forensic Scientist, Mandi Mohr! Mandi Mohr is a Montana native that transplanted to Pennsylvania in 2010 for graduate school. She holds a Masters Degree in Forensic Science from Arcadia University. Mandi is a board certified forensic toxicologist, and currently serves as a Director at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to research, education and outreach in the forensic...

Grant and I served out our entire enlistment together, from boot camp in summer of 1993 to honorable discharge from active duty in 1997. We discuss our exploits at length in this episode. Grant would later rejoin the USMC reserves, serving in the air wing and a stinger missile unit, deploying to Iraq. Today, Jeff is a family man living down in Florida. He works for Amazon and remains active in a number of veteran organizations where he puts to use his JJDIDTIEBUCKLE to continue to make a...

Making Motivation Podcast mission: honor authentic people and tell their motivating stories. In the process, we aim to inspire and inform, put smiles on faces and a little fire under the asses of the masses. Sunday, 10 March 2024 @ time 2pm Context: I served with Kip Tillman from the time of boot camp, through our infantry schooling and for the entirety of our time in 1st Bn 6th Marines. Though Tillman was in 3rd Platoon, I would see him all the time and he was always a stellar Marine, PT...