Two brothers. Same darkness. Only one walked away.

Iraq combat veteran Raivadus Gill came home from war running at 110mph while the world had slowed to 15. He thought he was good. Then one afternoon, alone in a house, a heaviness hit him that he still can't fully explain, and he walked to his brother's room and picked up a gun.

A flyer on a table is the only reason he's sitting in this chair.

A year later, that same weapon took his brothers life.

Raivadus has carried that question ever since, what made him pull it when I didn't? That question became two organizations. Operation Battle Cry, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit connecting veterans to the benefits, housing, and mental health resources they've earned. And Trigger Happiness, a movement redefining mental health as mental medicine. Something you practice daily. Something you keep close so when the tunnel comes, the lights are already flickering.

STRUGGLING RIGHT NOW?

Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, Press 1

Text: 838255

Chat: veteranscrisisline.net

This episode is for anyone who's felt that heaviness and couldn't name it. Anyone who's lost someone and is still asking why. And anyone watching at 2am who needs to hear that the flicker in the dark is enough.

CONNECT WITH RAIVADUS GILL

Operation Battle Cry: https://obattlecry.org

Trigger Happiness: @gotriggerhappiness

OBC: @operationbattlecry

Army veteran Steve Ulman shares one of the most raw and powerful veteran interviews we have filmed on Vegas Veteran Voices. In this episode, Steve opens up about his suicide attempt, addiction, recovery, ayahuasca, acting, trauma, off grid living, entrepreneurship, and how he rebuilt his life from rock bottom. He talks about putting a gun to his head, moving the pistol at the last second, and realizing he had to stop living halfway. From there, this conversation goes deep into meth addiction, getting clean, finding joy for the first time, healing through acting, and building an off grid solar business in the Arizona desert. Steve also breaks down self sustainability, freedom, off grid solar, veteran transition, mental health, and why addicts can become unstoppable when that same drive gets redirected toward purpose. If you are interested in veteran mental health, addiction recovery, Army veteran stories, off grid living, off grid solar, entrepreneurship, acting, trauma recovery, or powerful long form podcast conversations, this episode hits all of it. Steve is an Army veteran, actor, entrepreneur, founder of Arizona Off Grid Solutions, and creator connected to The Off Grid Veteran, The Wolves Den Ranch, Mission Entrepreneurship, and The Gray Area. Subscribe, comment, and help us keep telling real veteran stories with honesty, depth, and integrity.

If you've ever come home from a deployment and felt like a stranger in your own house — this episode is for you.

Jamie and Cole Waterberry are an Air Force couple with 16 years of marriage, 9 moves, and 6 deployments between them. Stories they're only now comfortable telling out loud — like the time Cole casually drove through IED Alley and described it as "nothing to worry about." Or the rocket that landed two trailers down while Jamie had no idea where the bunkers were.

But beyond the war stories, this conversation gets into what actually makes or breaks a military marriage. What it means when you come home and the furniture moved. Why their first five years of marriage were really years five through ten. What happens when one person gets out while the other stays in.

Jamie also opens up about her work in corporate philanthropy — why AI is quietly killing nonprofit grant applications, why Las Vegas runs on relationships before résumés, and how she talked her way into an internship that didn't exist.

No fluff. Just two veterans being honest about what that life actually looks like.

️ Vegas Veteran Voices | Filmed at Outbox Studio, Las Vegas

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Military marriage · Deployment · Veteran transition · Mill-to-mill relationships · GI Bill · Corporate philanthropy · Nonprofit grant writing · Las Vegas veterans