Jocko Podcast 277 w/ Dakota Meyer: The War Continues at Home. Fighting Demons and Finding Peace 

“Imagine walking into a room and everyone wants to talk to you about the worst day of your life” Damn

*“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending...”* *―C. S. Lewis*

If you are reading this and are fighting PTSD, stress and anxiety, know you are not alone. Keep fighting. Channel the pain, workout every day, get a dog, get outdoors and run. And try and get off the meds. Its hard and sucks at first but you deserve to live a full life. You have earned it. Never give up on yourself.

Bro, you never failed, you survived. Live your life for the ones that didn't.

Always blows my mind how someone could dislike ANY of these episodes... thank you jocko, echo and dk! Get some.

Dear Dakota Meyer, Been planning to write you this letter, but I can’t get myself to start it, so gonna suck it up and post it here. Just want to say thank you for telling your story and let you know that listening to you talk to Jocko helped me understand my dad-Vietnam veteran. Huey mechanic, gunner. One of his jobs was to pull green berets out of bad situations. The rage. Anger. Frustration you articulated - put into words what my father never did (or would?). But yeah. As he gets older and I get ready to say goodbye one day-your story has made a huge difference to me. So, thank you.

Rip master chief Ernie hall my father.He passed April 14 2021.He served with honor and pride.He was my hero.

Jocko always knows how to give us a dose of perspective.

Leaving for basic training as an 11x on Monday! Pray for a brotha!💪🏽🤘🏽

Hearing Dakota talk about his demons and finding his way to plant medicine and 5MEO-DMT was amazing. I really hope more people suffering from mental health can gain access to these powerful medicines.

When I retired from the Marine Corps in 2012 I thought it was gonna be like being on leave forever.. It was horrible...The first 8 months I got into a pretty bad funk... Then I got a Job as a Wildland Firefighter at the age of 39. I fought wildfires for 4 years and it saved my life, gave me a sense of purpose again. Honor, pride, all that stuff. I needed it to get my shit together....IVe since left that job for a great gig but I still miss the adrenalin rush of fighting fire..........Semper Fi

“The worst day of my life is someone else’s entertainment.” So powerful.

I couldn’t tell you both how much this podcast meant to me. Thank you Jocko and Thank you Dakota.

It takes a big person to openly talk about their struggles, trials, and personal pain. Once again, thank you Jocko for giving our nation's Warriors a platform like this. God bless you Dakota. I hope you continue to find relief amidst your struggle

Respect to Dakota for his brutal honesty and integrity in living to overcome his challenges.

The way Dakota meyer and Marcus luttrell have the same mind set on their individual experiences is amazing I’d love to see them on the podcast together one day

Hearing these veterans discuss sacrifice and the pains that result from that service truly adds a level of commendability. As a civilian, I can live a disciplined life where I forgo leisure, work out daily, take cold showers; but those are ultimately things my body simply doesn’t want to do. These veterans have put their bodies in a position where the world wants to kill them, to end their lives. I have nothing but respect and admiration for these veterans and their sacrifices.

Medal of honor for the pigeon!

Whenever i hear Dakota, my hope for him is he manages to find peace within himself. I hope that for all the veterans that served our country..

Remorse can keep you up for hours at night. A lot of veterans cannot sleep properly even decades after

5:55 🕊 That pidgin was made for it! Thank you for your service! My cousin twice removed is Richard Ira Bong MOH recipient. He deid at the Age 24. 1945

We need to treat our warriors better. What we ask these young men to do for our nation, they do. We as a nation need to show more gratitude and be there for them, especially in the difficult times.

Dakota and Jocko doesn´t even know I exist, yet they have saved my life multiple times

We are proud to claim this man here in Kentucky. Always enjoy listening to Dakota

Klonopin has done wonders for me so far. I quit college back in 2015 because I couldn’t be in the class room, I didn’t make much friends the last 6 years because I would avoid invites, hangin out or going to restaurants, bars and so on. I would stutter like a maniac if I had to talk to someone which would make me feel anxious and then bump up to me being aggressive. On klonopin I I can hold a conversation, ride the train and not feel like I have to get out and don’t feel weird around people. Which is nuts, I was a team leader in the Marine Corps with 2 deployments. Taught dozens of classes to 20 plus Marines on a weekly basis, was super confident and never even knew what anxiety was.

After losing my job due to Covid-19 I started a RU-vid Channel to share hope to others as we push. Never give up guys, keep pushing 💪

Dakota's inability to pull out has always brought out the best in him. Semper Fi

The Jocko podcast doesn't have alot of happy/funny moments however the heavy subject material makes u appreciate the happy times in the podcast more. Love the podcast Jocko

"Its not a fair world" Dakota is giving me perspective, it seems that my experiences coming back from deployments was better. The unit did nothing, I got a taxi back to base, and went back to work. no greeting like other teams got, nobody there to pick me up. Nobody cared. Got fucked up in 04 on my last trip, and they treated me like I was malingering. Going from a strong capable powerful man, to barely being able to walk and being treated like you're faking it.. fuck man. Still can't walk very well, hurts all the time. Used to do amazing things that most people will never do, or could even imagine were possible. Now I'm an old guy, living alone in the woods, pushing everyone away, isolating myself because I don't fit with society. Can't have a relationship because they always fail, she takes off, and I am too old to start over a 3rd time from nothing when they give her everything I have worked for. How the fuck does Dakota go day to day, does he have the same thoughts I do? Are his worse? I am lucky to be a nobody, just some guy who wore a uniform, and nobody remembers or cares. I think that might be better than the dog and pony show they subjected him to. Taking the shit I am dealing with, cranking it up to 15, and the media trying to destroy him. I definitely have it better. VA shrinks are useless, they know somewhere between jack shit and fuck all about PTSD and the other shit I am dealing with. So I handle it myself. No self medicating, no crawling in a bottle, no smoking a pound a week. Rewire the mind, cut new pathways in my synapses, making new memories, flooding, writing long ass youtube comments nobody reads, sucking it up and trying to push down the thought that creeps in far too often, and making myself so busy with massive projects that I can't entertain those thoughts. How fucked is it that I miss it? Being part of something larger than myself, having a dangerous job even in CONUS, knowing death is waiting every time I put on the uniform and it only takes one asshole not paying attention, not doing the job right, and someone, maybe you, gets maimed or dies. Knowing nobody will ever make a movie about you, nobody cares what you did because its not glamorous kicking in doors and chucking grenades. Realizing you are fucked in the head so you will never fit with a peaceful society, dreading another conflict, but at the same time wishing for one so you can get the eviction notice from someone other than yourself. The first war is the one that felt like home, then 12 years pass and you're back in the second one making new memories you want to forget. Memories that make you feel like a punk ass bitch, a useless piece of shit, because now you can't push through the pain anymore. Get back, get put out, the VA takes almost two years to decide how fucked you are, shit piles up, can't work, no income, still indentured to another state for the actions of someone else. Punishment for doing the good things. Then more lies, more legal problems, in trouble for false accusations of things its physically impossible to do. Say fuck it stop giving a shit and just let them do what they want to you and get on with your life. Used to think nobody giving a fuck was a bad thing. Dakota made me realize people giving a fuck is a bad thing. Stories like his, Easy Company, Eugene Sledge, all the veterans Jocko has on telling their horror stories, gives me perspective. I have it good, even if I am destined to be alone the rest of my life, and then found perhaps months or years after I kick my air addiction. I give a fuck about myself, everyone else gives me empty platitudes. Embrace the suck, keep going, focus on something else. Me, two dogs, and old Pontiacs in the woods. Thats my world. Well... the good part of it. Nobody giving a shit is a blessing, I like that view. If anyone reads this, tell Dakota and the others it doesn't get easier, it gets different as you get older, we don't do well with easy. Easy is for wimps. Don't dwell on the past, and just let the future happen, do what you enjoy as well as what you have to do today. Start giving a shit about yourself. It will be better for your kids if you do. I hide all of this from my kids and everyone who knows me.. because if I mention it to someone, they cut ties.

“I want to change the world. It sounds crazy but when I look deep at what I’ve done, even the things I did in Afghanistan, I did because I wanted to make the world I was living in a little bit better. It was never for me” -Dakota Meyer

passion pain & demon slaying.

The piece about first responders gave me the chills. Thank you, Dakota.

I may have not fought in any war, but I am carrying my father's PTSD from Vietnam. He really suffered from depression and on September 15th, 2001, I found him with a bullet wound to his head. I've been carrying his PTSD ever since. What he couldn't bare to see any longer - all was passed to me. It's really tough and as someone who is a son of a person who was involved in a war, you really see what depression can do. PTSD is no joke, but know you're not "disordered" per the medical label. You're hurting because life showed you how little control you have and sometimes that's a very hard thing to accept. What's more, is finding that next mission to carry your life's purpose in another direction. Keep baby stepping ahead - one foot in front of the other. The world does need you as hard as it may be to face that very world some days.

This conversation needs to be heard by all youth gang members & those who come from that environment. I never thought id have so much in common with white vets in their 30's and 40's. A - because I never served. B - Because I'm from Any Hood, USA Same lessons written in blood. Same psychological scars. Same determination to THIVE. Salute to you Mr. Meyers & Thank you Jocko & Echo. You're impacting more civilians than you realize.

Will someone please tell Dakota, or make him read this comment: Dude, you saved a ton of ANA soldiers and you came out yourself. One of your guys survived, that is, you! and you say all the ANA guys were your guys, so a bunch of them survived, too. I know you lost the rest of your Marine team, but you did NOT fail that day.

This was really eye-opening. God bless these two strong gentleman

0407 and can’t turn it off. Thank you guys for making this kind of material.

This guy knows anxiety. My description: it's like an unmovable hand covering your mouth and nose, suffocating you. That's the exact feeling, the panic of being actively suffocated... for hours and days at a time. When you're out of it, it's like the hand has been removed and you can breathe again.

I failed my father, and I think about him daily. Sometimes, there is no peace from the prison we place ourselves in.

Being a veteran of the Canadian military this was a hard one to listen to. Thank you Jocko for bring up all the stuff that people have a hard time talking about.

Proof again that nobody ever found the answer to their problems at the bottom of a bottle. All these guys need some serious support once they get back home and have to adapt to the real world

probably the most important converstation for PTSD recovery to ever hit the planet.

Dakota and Jocko. I wish you guys were on my list of people I could call for sharing and support. Great podcast. This whole talk was really close to home.

4am - There is nothing like a freshly dropped Jocko Podcast..... Thanks for the heartfelt sharing. Cheers

Love getting that notification of a new podcast to listen to on my daily workout especially when it says, Dakota Myers!

I passed thru Dakotas home town an saw the memorial they had for him and man it gave me chills . Much love an respect ✊

"How to be ok when its not Chaotic" Man that hit home. Thanks

Thank you brother for shedding a light on what we as first responders actually go thru on a daily basis. EMS is the red headed step child of the medical field

Mr Meyer, never forget man, you DESERVE this beautiful life !!!!

I can’t remember how I came to find Jocko’s content but I sure can thank the lord I did.

Your interviews always give me a new perspective on life. This is my therapy! Thank you too all the amazing warriors you interview! And a huge thank you to you!!!!

This one hit me HARD. I would like to meet all 3 of them someday and thank them for the help and insight they have given me.

More Dakota Meyer. Keep getting after it, brother! Thank you for your service.

Thank you for what you do! My boyfriend is a Iraq combat vet. You give me insight into what he goes through on the daily. It helps me know how to be his support system.

Thank you gentlemen, you guys help me out more than you know.

Watched episode 115 and a seriously thought a wouldn't see this man (again) back on! He is like a new man so happy for him and his family Jocko Thanks for this

I just want to hug Dakota a guy who's goodness is so obvious and pure. 🧸

Great episode! I have so much respect for both you guys! I'm glad you take the time to talk to Dakota when he needs you! Keep fighting the good fight fellas!!!!🤜🤛🇺🇸🇺🇸

*“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”* ―Dale Carnegie Have a Nice Day! 🖤

Never heard of the Alpha Stem or SGB. I was a medic and all I experienced in Iraq (1991) was an in-vehicle explosion where the soldiers behind me and next me received shrapnel in arms, legs and one bloke in his eyes. I was physically untouched but at the moment of the explosion I shit myself and I felt strange after the explosion which I can recall in exact detail, the odour, the changing colour and strength of the smoke and the screams, one bloke was screaming at the top of his lungs; I can still hear him, “My fucking legs, my fucking legs,” the corporal behind me had blood coming out of his eyes and was leaning back and just moaning. I was so frightened. I was shaking and had no idea what to do and froze in my seat. Luckily the corporal sitting next to the other corporal who had bleeding eyeballs (and this was fucking amazing) ordered me to help with the injured. Thanks to him my cowardly reaction abated and we got the injured out and treated on the road. From that moment I was incessantly a nervous, cowardly wreck. My whole time in Iraq I was a jumping fearful rabbit and afraid of everything and everyone and the thing was I held all of that all inside because I was scared of showing my cowardly thoughts. I just wanted to go home. We saw no combat and only one mortar attack outside the line which again scared the living fuck out of me. I almost shot a child and when I left Iraq all I could think of was counting down the days until I could discharge. I was not a warrior, hardly a soldier, cowardly and frightened, that single explosion opened something negative in my brain because I have been drinking for a sense of personal peace ever since. One fucking moment, a second of life and my mind was locked into whatever the fuck has happened to it.

Love you guys thank you for putting this content out. I am the benefactor or your great sacrifices.

Honored to be listening to greater men than myself. Thank you Jocko and Dakota.

There’s no way I can express just how much this conversation meant to me. Thank you.

As a medic I’ll agree with Dakota it’s absolutely crazy everyday.

Powerful one Jocko! This is the best thing on RU-vid for me🇺🇸

So Dakota was talking about the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous system. Stim, Stellate Ganglion Block, Coherent Breathing these are all things you can use to help you manage PTSD, Anxiety and other Trauma responses. Dakota hits the nail on the head when he says you have to do the work to get where you need to go. Semper Fi Brother! If you need help reach out.

What an excellent episode. It has everything one could ask for out of a Jocko podcast.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Just woke up with the doom and this guy drove me to get up. Just from his words. So powerfull. His brutal honesty should get a medal. 💯🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

This poor guy has got some serious demons that he’s dealing with, and it sounds constant. He feels like he failed his people. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to be him. It sounds like he’s in a better place now.

I haven't seen any better way to live w trauma than simply talking about it. BECAUSE u lived (not failed) u can share the heroism of u and ur team that we'd never hear of. Dakota, thank u for ur sacrifice in order for all to enjoy the privilege of living free. I can't imagine the rewards waiting for u on the other side.

Dakota, I hope you can find peace. I recent only went back and watched your last podcast with Jocko and was pleasently surprised to see this new one this morning. Anyway, you did everything you could to avoid that situation but got the green weenie and you did everything you could to keep your men alive. I wish you the best.

Glad you brought him back on!

Another one that's convenient before work thanks echo

You are a good man, Dakota Meyer. You may not know all the answers to your questions and you may never know them but you are doing an honorable search for them. . Man to man, I am proud of you.

Listening to these always helps clear the mind

The first minute and 20 seconds is amazing. Thank you sir. Good day. 💪🏽💯

The best of the best. Jocko, you at the best friend anyone could ever have!

I support this. We gotta keep searching for methods of relief for our warriors.

God bless you little pigeon thank you for your service! What a frickin badass

I appreciate what you guys do so much

This episode is one of the best I have seen so far.

Here is how I describe panic/anxiety attacks. Imagine death coming at you , now have that feeling without death being present.. ive had them since I was 5. Misdiagnosed 4 or 5 times as a child.. they happen randomly and at any time . No triggers. Horrible

YES! For adaptogens, fitness, working on your deamons / monsters - doing the harder thing. I am committed to being one of the helping guides along the way. Dakota , maybe you can visit our AES units and help us with our training for EMT refresher courses and help us out with addressing PTS etc.. We'd love to host you. ~~ Your friendly neighborhood AES sister.

THAT INTRO WAS GREAT JOCKO! THANK YOU FOR THE PODCAST!

I spent my life in law enforcement, injured In the line of duty, hand to hand combat, two firearms in play, I survived. I took some damage. Damage that my agency and surgeons said put me out of service. I lost it all. My career. My wife. My kids. And gained an addiction to opiates and a dark depression. I struggle to go on every day. I listen to Jacko for inspiration, but today I learn that I should feel like less of a man because I know I "was a warrior". I'm no longer a warrior. I saved lives when I was, now I'm destroyer of lives. Mine included. Punchin out.

I suffered PTSD when I was 15 when I witnessed my best friend get hit and killed by a car, Im 43 now and still affected by it to this day. My heart goes out to Dakota because I see how tormented he is.

We love you Dakota! You are a true hero to me! God bless

Brah , from what I remember about your story, YOU didn’t let your friends down. The command let YOU and your friends down.

mushrooms i did in 06 high school helped me see my ego and change my mind about joining the military. i was lucky to try dmt back then to and to this day i still think about that blast off and what i think i experienced, soul walkers/ elfs

3:12:10 When Jocko said he might even just run away I was DYINGGGG 😂

The greatest generation. Through WW1, the Great Depression, The Spanish Flu, WW2, Korea. I hope our generation can make them proud.

Caught it early this time. :] 2AM upload!

Semper Fidelis, Gentlemen. God Bless you all.

God bless you gentlemen...Thank You for Your dedication.

My fam grew up in Pittsfield mass alot great warriors come from their 🇺🇲❤

Every time the bad memories come alive, the good thing is so do my brothers. And I get to see them forever. I know they are getting for me in silence. When my days and nights are over, I belong by their side. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of them. I love you brothers ❤💙

Love these podcasts

I needed this

I ship tomorrow at 28 years old. Ft. Sill Oklahoma. These podcasts really put things into perspective.