September 9, 2024 • 47 mins
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Growing up with the constant challenges of being an Army brat and enduring life-altering events, Scotty Hettinger’s story is one of profound resilience and purpose. Imagine moving 25 times in 15 years, only to be faced with the devastating loss of a parent and a life-changing car accident at the age of 19. Scotty’s journey from this dark period to founding Charlie 22 Outdoors, a nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans, is a remarkable testament to the power of faith, community, and unwavering perseverance.
Have you ever wondered how a person can turn immense personal challenges into a beacon of hope for others? Scotty’s transformation from aspiring physical therapist to wheelchair basketball coach, and finally to a mentor for veterans, is nothing short of inspiring. Hear the surprising twists and turns that led him to embrace coaching for 15 years and the fortuitous events that sparked his passion for adaptive hunting. Scotty’s reflections highlight the themes of love, faith, and the continuous search for purpose that define his life and work.
Veterans often face an identity crisis and loss of purpose as they transition to civilian life. Scotty delves into these critical challenges, sharing how his disciplined upbringing under a drill sergeant father instilled values that later guided him towards a life of altruism and service. Through Charlie 22 Outdoors, Scotty offers veterans a path to rediscover their self-worth and reconnect with their community. Tune in to this heartfelt conversation that underscores the transformative power of service, mentoring, and community in overcoming life’s greatest obstacles.
Scotty Rae Hettinger | Charlie 22 Outdoors Website | Facebook | Instagram | X
US Department of Veteran's Affairs (11:37) | va.gov/disability
Transacting Value Podcast and Wreaths Across America Radio (22:34)
Charlie 22 Outdoors (33:02) | website
Developing Character (36:08)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (00:00):
The views expressed in this podcast
are solely those of the podcasthost and guest and do not
necessarily represent those ofour distribution partners,
supporting businessrelationships or supported
audience.
Welcome to Transacting Value,where we talk about practical
applications for instigatingself-worth when dealing with
(00:23):
each other and even withinourselves, when we foster a
podcast listening experiencethat lets you hear the power of
a value system for managingburnout, establishing boundaries
, fostering community andfinding identity.
My name is Josh Porthouse, I'myour host and we are redefining
sovereignty of character.
This is why values still holdvalue.
This is Transacting Value.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (00:47):
We know we're not curing PTSD.
We know we're not curinganxiety.
We're not curing any of thosethings.
What we're trying to do is showour guests there's a way to
face those things Today onTransacting Value.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (01:01):
What is it about our value systems that
help us get unstuck when ouridentities and our roles in
society no longer match?
More importantly, what do we dowhen our values don't either?
See, sometimes we get soingrained into thinking one way
that we don't realize it'sinauthentic to ourselves and,
unfortunately, in some cases,especially in the DoD, that
causes things like veteransuicide, domestic assault,
(01:23):
domestic abuse and a host ofother issues.
On today's conversation, we'retalking to the founder of the
nonprofit Charlie 22 Outdoors,scotty Hettinger, all about what
it means to help rehabilitateyourself and your team Without
further ado.
I'm Porter, I'm your host andthis is Transacting Value.
Scotty, what's up man?
How you doing, josh?
(01:43):
How are you?
I'm doing well, I'm doing realwell.
Listen, I appreciate you takingsome time out of your evening
your central time, I'm prettysure, right, sir?
Yeah, missouri, yeah, yeah,okay, so early evening at least.
But I appreciate you takingsome time out of your day so we
could sit down and talk.
You've got such a cool, coolstory.
I mean, across the board you'vegot well you know what?
I'm not going to tell your story.
(02:03):
You came here for a reason.
How about this?
Take a couple minutes and let'sjust explain to everybody who
are you, when are you from?
You know what sort of thingshave shaped your perspective on
life.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (02:14):
Well, my name is Scotty Hedinger.
I am in Missouri.
A little bit about me.
I'm married with three childrenand five grandkids.
We kids we actually married ouryoungest daughter off to a
young male on July 7th this year.
So we're two nesters now and welive in Missouri.
As I said, We've been married22, 22, 22 years.
(02:34):
I've got to count backwards 22years now.
But when you remember me, mydad was a career soldier in the
Army.
He passed away when I was 15from leukemia, my first 15 years
of my life.
I had 25 addresses yeah, 25different addresses in 15 years.
He passed away when I was 15and I went on to graduate high
(02:56):
school.
I got a basketball scholarshipto play in college.
I was paralyzed in a caraccident in 1990 as a sophomore.
I was a teacher for 15 years ina high school system in South
Missouri, Retired in 2011.
And did this type of thing thatI'm doing now for another
organization and left that groupin 2016.
And in 2017, Charlie Tutu wasfounded, and here we are
(03:17):
completing our seventh completeyear.
Congratulations Across theboard.
Well, thank you for saying that.
It's been a real blessing to dowhat I do and meet the people I
get to meet and talk to andplaces I get to go and get to
see.
It's really humbling to saythat Blessing and humbling at
the same time.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (03:34):
Yeah, yeah, I imagine it is.
And then on top of that yousaid a car accident, I'm
assuming 19, 20 years old.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (03:42):
No, I was 19 when I was paralyzed.
I turned 22 months later thecar accident and what happened
was we were close to the end ofthe semester that year, my
sophomore year, my firstsemester of my sophomore year,
and finals were coming up a weeklater and I went to a party
with my buddy who was a soccerplayer at the school, and you
know, just celebrate the end ofthe semester and I woke up in
(04:04):
the hospital and I was told Iwas paralyzed.
And back story is we weredrinking and he was driving my
car and hit a parked car head onand I had whiplash in my
cervical fourth and fifthvertebrae which paralyzed me
from my neck to tongue and Icouldn't talk, I couldn't
breathe, I couldn't moveanything.
I was paralyzed from my hands,apples and apples and it was
(04:28):
tough.
The fourth day of being in thehospital they came in the same
day the doctors and nurses werechecking my vials and stuff.
My body stabilized so I didn'thave to have surgery and we
ended up having 15 and a halfhours of surgery.
It was 34 years ago this year,november, so 15 hours of surgery
within a 15 and a half hoursurgery it was 34 years ago this
year, november, so 15 hoursurgery.
(04:48):
What they did is they took tworibs on my right side of my back
, the floating ribs, and theyare now wired in my neck with
three wires in my cervical threeand four, third, fourth and
fifth vertebrae.
What Stabilized my neck?
Yeah, that's how they did itback then.
It was pretty incredible.
They took those floating ribsout and literally placed them
side on my neck on both sidesand wired them together Like
this stuff and made you a splint.
(05:09):
Yeah, exactly so.
That was in November, 34 yearsago.
And then, about a month later,less than a month later, I was
sent to Craig Rehabilitation inDenver, colorado, and I got
there.
By that time I could talk Alittle in Denver, colorado, and
I got there.
By that time I could talk.
I had a ventilator, they wouldplug the vent so I could speak
and I began breathing more on myown.
(05:30):
And I remember that process.
It would go 10 seconds with noventilator, and then 20, and
then 30, and then a minute.
And I tell you what, josh,those were some long seconds
sitting there trying to takethat first breath in.
That was the key getting thatbreath in.
And if I could do that, then Icould exhale the air.
(05:51):
And the first time I went to aminute.
You're just counting down, youknow thinking am I getting ready
to pass out?
Am I going to be able to getthis breath in?
And then it happened.
And then, with the two minutesand the five minutes and ten
minutes and so on, and thenabout three weeks into the
process, my shoulders began tomove from there a little bit and
(06:11):
laying there in bed, pregnantmy shoulders up and down much as
I possibly could, and my bicepsstarted to move a little bit,
went out there.
And I'll never forget the veryfirst night I'm there, they
walked in the room and the venttube of my throat was like the
size of a quarter and they tookthat thing out, put this little
bitty pencil thing on my neckand said this is what we're
(06:31):
going to work with.
I'm like, wow, getting ready tocut my air down, and it was
probably one of the best thingsI've ever done, because then it
forced my body to really work onthat breathing in and breathing
out, because when you'reparalyzed like I am, I know you
can't see, see me very well.
I'm literally paralyzed from mychest down, now right from a
(06:52):
right below my sternum.
Yeah, there you go, yeah, andum, I can't move my triceps or
my fingers, so my diaphragm isstill paralyzed and that's a big
part of breathing in and out,yeah.
So my body had to recompensateand learn how to do that without
diaphragm control, and I wasblessed to be able to do that.
(07:12):
So I spent six months there andI came back home and you talk
about being emotional.
I apologize in advance.
Okay, oh, you're fine.
No, please.
I turned 20 out in Colorado.
I had friends that came andvisited me from Missouri and
when I got back home, what stuckout to me was the fact my life
(07:33):
had been put on pause.
All my friends' lives had beengone, and I did not expect that.
When I got back home, they wereprobably waiting on me.
I didn't think their way, but Ididn't realize the extent of
that time I got back home, theyhad all moved on, uh huh.
Oh man, I'll tell you it was.
It floored me.
I couldn't drive.
(07:53):
I was a hundred percentdependent on everything.
Some got engaged, some weregraduating college, some moved
on in careers and mine came to ascreeching halt.
And I came back home and Ifaced that reality because,
being a college athlete, I wasused to that workout.
(08:14):
You know where you woreyourself out.
You were.
You worked up to the point thatphysically it was just drained
okay, and I enjoyed that, reallyenjoyed that.
So I hired a personal trainer tocome to my parents' house that
first summer and went to drive.
Again, I could barely move myarms when I came back home I was
so weak.
I came back to the house and hesaid I don't know how somebody
(08:36):
paralyzed.
I said that's why I'm hiringyou.
I want you to work me out likeI'm not paralyzed.
I'd get into the pool and Iwould swim back and forth you
know my back with the lifejacket on.
And that was a funny processthere too, because I wanted to
get my core where I can use mycore.
You get me in the pool, youturn me face down on the water.
(08:58):
I would find myself back.
Oh, that was the goal.
And if I couldn't do it, Iwould just go limp in the walk,
I just and that was the signal.
That was probably the smartestdecision.
One of the best ones I evermade when I was first coming
back home was hiring him becausein a matter of three or four
months.
(09:18):
I went from you know a hardtime moving my arms, pushing,
pushing my chair I was in amanual chair back then down the
road two, three miles andpushing back to the house.
Really, oh yeah, it was in thecountry out there where my
parents live.
I can't mistake.
The first time I did thatbecause the first part of that
trip was downhill all the way.
I knew it was.
(09:39):
I didn't realize how hard it wasto come back.
So I came back up and it was atwo and a half hour.
It was literally two and a halfthree hours.
Those were all things that Idid because I knew to get where
I wanted to be was going to takethat effort.
I did not want to be where Icouldn't function and be
independent.
I wanted to be independent thebest that I could be.
(09:59):
And then, January of 92, I gotmy first vehicle, my first van.
So you do drive, no, yeah, Igot my first vehicle, my first
van, so you do drive.
No, yeah, I've been back up.
That was 93.
I didn't drive for almost twoand a half years, yeah, so let's
go back to my friends again.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (10:17):
You're blowing my mind here.
So you're saying you didn'tdrive for almost two and a half
years, sort of like you knowthat was a long time, yeah, but
like you were paralyzed.
So really it's surprising thatyou're even able to drive today.
You know that was 30 years.
Like it only took you two tothree years to be able to drive
(10:39):
again.
That's huge.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (10:41):
Whenever I went somewhere, it was a friend
or a family member taking me.
Yeah, required transferring mein and out of the vehicle.
Now I'm 6'4", 225.
Back then I'm probably about180.
I lost so much weight, but youstill have to maneuver getting
me in and out of the car.
Okay, so that wasn't easy, wedid it.
(11:01):
And to be able to driveindependently, I wasn't going to
be in a manual chair, I had tobe able to get up a ramp into my
van.
And remember, without tricepsor hand movements, just imagine
pushing the wheelchair wheelswith the palms of your hand and
trying to grab it against yougoing backwards.
Yeah, no fingers, so no fingersexactly.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (11:20):
Yeah.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (11:22):
And I'll never forget that first time I
got up there, my uncle came tovisit me from Oklahoma.
We went outside and I just feltstrong enough to do this.
I pushed up that ramp by myselfand I knew then OK, I will be
able to do this.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
All right, folks, sit tight and we'll be right back
on Transacting Value.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
This message is from the US Department of Veterans
Affairs.
This message is from the USDepartment of Veterans Affairs.
Va disability compensation is amonthly tax-free payment to
veterans who got sick or injuredin the military and to veterans
whose service worsened anexisting condition.
You may qualify for VAdisability compensation for
physical and mental healthconditions that developed or
(12:03):
worsened due to service.
Learn more at vagov slashdisability.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (12:11):
We went outside and I just felt strong
enough to do this.
I pushed up that ramp by myselfand I knew then okay, I will be
able to do this.
My friend still came and went.
My girlfriend and I, we brokeup and I'll never forget, before
I drove, one of the bestconversations I had with one of
my best friends.
I'm telling you, I was reallystruggling emotionally and
(12:32):
mentally with my condition, buthe knew my frustration.
He said to me what do you wantus to do?
I said to him you know what?
Not a damn thing.
That's what I, that's what Iwant, and that set me on a pace
to become independent aspossible.
So, matt, were you angry?
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (12:51):
or were you?
I was, were you like trying topush yourself, or what was the
impetus for that?
What angle were you coming from?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (12:57):
I was mad at my situation and I was mad
that they had all got to move onand I couldn't.
I wasn't mad at them, I was madat the situation I put myself
into.
That accident was awful.
So then, when I got thatviewpoint that I don't want them
to do anything for me thisneeds to be me doing this that's
(13:18):
when I really began to see theprogression of the work.
And finally, in January of 93,I got that van and I tell you
what it changed.
Everything.
I bet yeah, I mean it just did.
I went full time in college, Idrove, we began to date again.
I always knew there was a planfor me, god, a plan for me.
(13:40):
I didn't know what the plan was.
I knew it was going to be insome capacity of helping people.
Maybe it was teaching my storyto kids, you know, keeping them
from my situation.
So when I originally was incollege, I wanted to be a
physical therapist and I kind ofthrew that out the window.
He said that last semester in1994, and I've been invited I've
been asked to go do acommercial for seatbelts and I
(14:00):
chose my old gymnasium where Iplayed basketball.
I had to do the commercial then.
So that's interesting.
I still remember today was mesitting there and you don't see
the chair.
You hear the basketball bounce,the basketball bounce.
You hear me talking in thebackground.
I said something like all kidsdream about playing in the NBA.
I was no different.
(14:20):
And then it showed highlightsof me playing and dunking the
ball and all those things videoof my high school career and
putting it in this commercial.
Then you hear this click, click, click the seatbelt three times
.
Now my dream has changed.
I just want to walk again.
And it shows me in the chair,the seatbelt on me, holding me
in the chair.
It was a great, great PSA.
So went down to the principal'soffice and went in his office
(14:43):
and I said what do you thinkabout me coaching basketball?
What do you mean?
I said, do you think I can doit in this chair?
And he said Scott, how manyguys do you see coaching right
now in college NBA?
They can't play anymore yeahhe's right.
I knew right then I wanted to bea coach.
I went the next day to thecollege and I said the fastest
way for me to be able to coachbasketball is what I mean.
(15:05):
It's the social studies teacher.
I said sign me up.
This is, this is the honest toGod truth.
This happened.
So I left there after thatmeeting with that principal at
that commercial, and I thought,God, if I need a coach, give me
a sign.
And I kid you not.
I got a phone call that nightfrom a lady here in Joplin
asking me to come coach theirhome school junior high high
(15:28):
school boys basketball teams andthe high school girls
basketball team.
They didn't know who I was.
They didn't know what hadhappened an hour earlier.
They had no clue in my mind I'mthinking about coaching.
So I got that phone call anelectric, clear sign it up for
15 years.
Let me retire 2011 let me askyou.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (15:43):
So, first off again, I I don't
understand how many times I cansay congratulations before it
sounds ingenuine, but I'd stillmean it.
Uh, I think that's a hugeaccomplishment to for one to be
a coach of anything.
I think for especially anenduring amount of time is a
huge accomplishment becauseyou've got to deal with so many
(16:05):
different, conflictingpersonalities, especially in
high school and junior high.
They don't even know their ownpersonalities and you got to
juggle all that on top of yourown doubts and your own
self-image and any highschoolers being high schoolers.
I'm curious because I saw onyour website Charlie 22 outdoors
.
It's not Charlie 22 indoors.
What was your appeal?
(16:26):
Obviously, physical activitymakes a difference.
My wife and I she's an amazingwoman.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (16:31):
I just got to say that real quick.
I am maybe the most blessed manon earth with who I was able to
marry.
She's incredible.
So we knew each other as kidsand when I first moved to
Missouri my dad was havingleukemia and her cousin and I
became good friends.
So going through high school wewere really close, him and I
were, so I saw her off and onand then never really dated.
(16:53):
He wouldn't let her date mebecause I was kind of a turd
back then.
But we bumped into each otherin 2001.
I was buying a rental propertythat my parents owned.
I went to the moving office,the public office up there, the
Carthage, and I see her walk in.
She didn't see me, but I sawher walk in and I kid you not
and this is going to soundcliche but I, my gosh, she is
(17:14):
just beautiful and she walked onby me down to the back of the
building, never saw me.
She came back and she saw meand she came back and I kind of
saw her for a minute.
So I was going to see if shewould respond to me and she did.
She began talking right thenand we went on a date two and I
knew within a couple, two, threemonths I was in love with her
(17:34):
and then we got married.
After they got married I hadn'thunted when I was a kid, some
with my dad.
That was kind of his outlet.
He told me to fish or hunt.
I felt this desire to huntagain.
I didn't even know what it was.
I don't know if it was aconnection to my father, I don't
know what it was, but I wantedto hunt with.
(17:57):
And I decided one day to go overto Bass Pro.
The main headquarters of BassPro is in Springfield, about an
hour from where I live.
So I went over there and lookedaround over there and all their
stuff was the same way, nothingI could really use or too
expensive, and if that's true,over there there's a huge.
So I went along and watched thefishermen.
In the reflection in theaquarium I saw this guy go
flying by me in a wheelchair, apower chair.
(18:20):
I could tell by looking at him.
Hey, he looks a lot like me.
I chased him down and I said tothe guy and it's probably a
weird question but do you havehunt every year?
Why?
I said how, what do you do?
I said everything I see is$1,000, $2,000.
He said I had this rack builtfrom my chair.
I was printing it by my buddy,who I live, that's cool we built
(18:41):
it back home.
We had it built by a localmachinist.
We literally took scrap metalout of their trash bin, their
bin right there in their shop,and the next day it was done $25
.
Winter it was done.
That winter I borrowed myuncle's property and in Missouri
you can actually hunt out ofthe van or out of the vehicle
with a disability.
(19:01):
I had that permit.
So I went to his property and Iborrowed his gun and I got me a
deer.
That year I told my wife I'mdoing this.
That was great.
I found something that wasphysical, that I could do.
That required real physicaleffort to accomplish and be
successful with it.
And I found it and it wasn'teasy and I really, really really
(19:25):
took to that because it was achallenge to figure it out.
So I did and I went and boughtsome equipment and I've done it
ever since.
So that's where the outdoorpart comes into play was that
year in 2003.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (19:39):
Well, so then, what I also saw,
charlie 22 was the companyBattalion Brigade that your
father served in.
And so what is the draw towardsthat unit?
What's the appeal?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (19:53):
So you're part of the Make-A-Wish
Foundation.
You see it on TV about kidswith almost an assault room.
Yep, yep, kitchen realizationis the outdoor world for that?
Oh, you have to make a kitchenfor this.
Okay, cool.
And I met the president of thatgroup in February.
I worked that year and Fridaybefore Labor Day weekend, I'm
told this.
So on Monday, labor Day weekend,I set up a dove hunt for my
(20:16):
daughter because I wasn't sureif I was going to be able to
hunt with her ever again.
And I knew right then.
I'm alive for a reason.
I think I'm a good husband anda father, but it's a bigger
purpose.
I don't know what it is why I'mstill around, but it's a bigger
purpose.
God's got a plan for me.
My body was just drained.
(20:36):
It was just like the energy wasjust gone, and I went to church
October 7th I believe in 2017,and I preached on Joshua 1.9,
and it said this is my commandbe strong and courageous, don't
be afraid of discourage, for theLord, your God, will be with
you wherever you go.
And I knew right then.
I just knew I'm doing this.
I just why am I not doing this?
(21:00):
I've got a passion for it.
I don't want to take it out onthem, but I'm good at it because
I love what I do and I call.
I've got three guys in mindCurtis King AT Stock, russ
Wickman.
Those are the three guys that Iwant to approach about this
ministry.
So I call Curtis, who's aretired Green Beret.
I call him and tell him I wantto do this ministry for me Easy,
(21:24):
out and go, because I know inmy own experience hunting and
fishing is very therapeutic.
Just being out there in thatenvironment of creation, just as
very for the soul, it's justgood.
So I go to bed that night, I'mgoing to talk to Curtis the next
morning and I wake up in theshower and it just hits Charlie
2-2 outdoors.
(21:45):
Because you probably know thisalready, in the United States
there's the term 22 a day andthat refers to 22 suicides
amongst our veterans andsoldiers every day.
Studies are saying it's higherthan that, but that's the number
everybody uses, 22 a day.
So R is the 22 a day because ofthe 2-2.
And then also R is my father,because when I was a kid in
Leonardwood, when I was five,six, seven years old, he was a
(22:09):
drill instructor for CharlieCompany, 2nd Battalion, 2nd
Brigade and, as I said a minuteago, when soldiers and vets hear
that name, they get it.
That's military something.
What's it about?
Civilians have to ask, what'sthat mean?
I gotta tell them what thatmeans, so they understand that
now too.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Alrighty, folks sit tight, We'll be right back on
Transacting Value.
Josh "Porter" Porthous (22:34):
Alrighty folks, if you're looking for
more perspective and morepodcasts, you can check out
Transacting Value on ReadsAcross America Radio.
Listen in on iHeartRadio,odyssey and TuneIn.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (22:46):
When soldiers and vets hear that name
, they get it.
That's military stuff.
That's what it is about.
Civilians They have to ask anddon't know what that means.
I got to tell them what thatmeans so they understand that
now too.
So it's really a pretty coolway of using that name.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (23:03):
You know something else interesting
too you and your dad both madeprofessions out of being coaches
.
I think that's kind ofinteresting too.
Maybe apparently it's in yourgenes.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (23:14):
You're coaches.
I think that's kind ofinteresting too.
Maybe apparently it's in yourgenes.
You're exactly right, it was adifferent.
He was working for coachingsoldiers.
Right, I was coachingbasketball players and uh.
But you're right, it's teachingpeople how to do their job, or
doing what I'm doing well, Ithink, yeah, at the forefront it
is, but yeah, it may be.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (23:29):
how to perform, say physically in any
particular sense, butemotionally, mentally, how to
align, say physically in anyparticular sense, but
emotionally, mentally, how toalign your identity with what
you're doing and you know mind,muscle memory and recognition
and autonomy and independence,obviously, courage and integrity
and teamwork.
Speaking of teamwork, that getslost, especially when you leave
the military.
I guess you're on a team, right?
(23:50):
You've got a family, you've gota support network in most cases
or something to that effect,you and your dog maybe, but it's
not usually actually just you,but it feels that way.
And I think there's a lot oforganizations that talk about,
like you mentioned, 22 a day orsuicidal ideations, but that's
not where everybody goes.
(24:11):
That's more the extreme end ofwhere most people could go.
There's not the same degree ofpurpose and clarity when it's
rooted and defined by you takingcare of a team and you come
second.
But when that reprioritizesafter your contract, after your
retirement, whatever happens andchanges after a divorce in some
(24:32):
cases, the identity crisis setsin.
You buy a motorcycle, you goskydiving, you go do crazy stuff
to try to fill a void that youdon't know who you are anymore.
How do you guys, or how do you,recommend instigating that and
filling that positively, how doyou?
You said it's a ministry.
I mean, how do you advisetowards that as a consideration?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (24:52):
So you're hitting the nail on the head.
I have just countless times.
I don't have anymore.
Yeah, perfect.
I want to go back to theministry founding, because our
first event was in January 2018.
Yeah, so we founded in 17,.
This event was in 18.
I'll never forget this and itwas key that it was one of the
first things we did, because thestory that I heard really hit
(25:15):
home with me.
Okay, so this vet comes to ourevent and at the conclusion of
the event, he tells me this.
He says Scott, in October Iretired after 33 years in the
military 33 years and he said Ihave no idea my purpose.
Do I have a purpose anymore?
(25:36):
What am I going to do withmyself?
This thought has given medirection and purpose again.
He said you think about it.
Every decision in my life hasbeen made for me, he said.
I graduated high school 33years ago and I was in boot camp
a week later.
In school, party bells wouldring on wherever it needed to be
.
There was dress code.
(25:57):
I ate the school lunch.
The coach told me what he justtold me.
I'm in boot camp a week laterand ever since then, the
instructors and the officers theDIs and the officers told me
what to do, where to go, when togo, what to wear all those
things.
Even my food was given to me bythat he goes.
I have zero idea how to be asoldier, zero.
And he was suicidal there.
(26:17):
Tennessee's there for the twoor three months, yeah, until the
G8, until the.
That hit home with me Rightthen I realized, wow, I never
really thought of it that way.
Yeah, absolutely.
And you probably you know whatI mean.
You leave the military.
You said a minute ago the teamis gone.
You had a bond with thesoldiers.
You worked with the serviceback.
(26:38):
They're still doing what youwere doing.
They still are in service orthey may be retiring as well.
And when you wake up tomorrow,what are you going to?
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (26:47):
do.
Yeah Well, that's it.
That's exactly what happened tome.
I just got off my activecontract last year and I stared
(27:08):
at a wall for two weeks.
I was like I didn't knowanything when to get up, what to
wear, what to do, what to say,how to perceive the world.
But there's so much professionaldevelopment, regardless of
branch, when you transition outof the military as a retiree
separation medically orotherwise doesn't matter.
Everybody goes through thistransition assistance program
and it's meant for professionaldevelopment.
Where the deficit exists ispersonal development, and I
(27:32):
think that's where some of theseissues that you're alluding to
fall as gaps in that identityand character development.
And I think what you're doing,or at least what you're
providing, acknowledges thatopportunity and encourages that
fulfillment and empowers thatsort of discovery.
What about rewiring, or maybeeven reconditioning?
(27:54):
Because it sounds like you'vehad to for a few reasons, a few
times, but you just mentioned it.
Right, like you're 18 years old,you join the DOD, let's say, as
an example, or you're amilitary child.
You never do, but you get thatsort of exposure, right.
18 years old graduate, yourbrain's still forming how to
think and act and perceive theworld and make your own
independent decisions, stillforming how to think and act and
perceive the world and makeyour own independent decisions.
(28:15):
And in that window, the final,what would you call it?
Six, seven years ofneurological development.
You're still not thinking foryourself.
And so is it really that muchof a shock that six to eight
years, to 33 years later, youdon't know how Well?
You never learned, you neverhad the opportunity, and so you
got to reteach and rewire andrecondition your thoughts, just
like you did when you firstended up in a wheelchair, and
(28:37):
then it sounds like subsequently, three or four more times since
then for you.
How do you work through thatprocess?
I think it may be a bitdifferent for everybody, but
like what are the generic stepsto try to get the traction and
move the train?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (28:53):
If I could use that, we would conduct an
amazing example of how we goabout things.
The ministry is not trying toprovide a hunting or fishing
experience for a veteran, or aspouse retreat or whatever.
Those are what draws ustogether.
Okay, we learned very quicklyyears ago that you understand
this and I don't, Josh.
(29:14):
Veterans and soldiers canrelate to each other in ways
that civilians can't relate tothem.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (29:20):
I think so.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (29:21):
So when they come to one of our events,
we have veterans thereintentionally from previous
events for them to meet, orpeople who are still serving,
and that bond automatically isformed.
When a person arrives to one ofour events, says I'm a Marine
or I'm in the Navy or I'mretired or whatever, when did
you serve that?
Right there, the connection isestablished and then the
(29:45):
activity takes place.
Whether it's hunting deer orturkey, or catching a fish or
whatever it is, it's all treatedtogether for a reason.
A dead fish or whatever it is,it's all treated together for a
reason.
We want to show that there'sGod's grace still on everybody,
whether you serve or didn'tserve, where you've been or not.
I hear a lot.
How can I be forgiven for whatI've seen, where I've been, what
(30:06):
I've done?
How can I be forgiven for that?
No, you don't learn that thatwas something that Christ did
for us 2,000 years ago.
We know we're not curing PTSD.
We know we're not curinganxiety.
We're not curing any of thosethings.
What we're trying to do is showour guests there's a way to
face those things.
So dark times do come.
You got somebody you can turnto in another corner and then,
(30:30):
if it's not me, it's AJ, or it'sRuss, or it's Marilyn or it's
Barbara.
Whoever it is, you can turn tothem and they'll be there for
you and help you get throughwhat you're going through.
Sometimes it's as simple as onething we do at all of our events
is we give out challenge coinsto our guests and it has our
logo on it and it has our verseon it, it has different branches
(30:52):
of the military on it, and soon.
They're really, really nicechallenge coins.
They really are.
We didn't spare any expense onthem.
We give them to our guests,letting them know whenever the
dark times do come, just grabyour coin and throw them in your
corner.
And I actually got a photographtoday sent to me by one of our
members, and that's the way theveterans sang I need prayer
(31:14):
today, think today and we talktoday.
That's what it is.
It's a photograph of a coin inour hand or on their table.
That's just their way of sayingplease help me do this.
And a text back to them is assimple as what do you need?
I'm praying for it, I'm in forit, and I think when a vet knows
, knows, somebody still caresand is there.
(31:36):
That may be all it needs forthat one, that day or that
moment to get them through them.
Once, the next day coming up,and when they realize people
still care for them and they'restill alive, they have god's
grace, then they can startthinking about hey, my purpose
now isn't yeah, that is cool.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (31:52):
I think once you find ways to remind
somebody that there is stillstructure, there is still a team
, it just looks different thanwhat you're used to.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (31:59):
Yeah exactly, yeah, spot on.
Then they go home and theythink about how can I share the
other vets what I was just giventhis last weekend?
I got a phone call earliertoday from a vet we had at an
event last year who was thinkingabout a really cool idea about
starting a garage with threebays in it where he can work in
(32:21):
two bays to make money and athird bay is there for vets to
come and work on their vehiclesat no expense.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (32:26):
Oh, that's cool, Great idea.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (32:27):
Yeah, it's his way now of sharing what
he's got talents in showinggrace to veterans that need it
at his ports.
Yeah.
So, it doesn't have to behunting and fishing.
You find your talent, whetherit's we do horse therapy now we
do knife making, we do couplesretreats, so there doesn't have
(32:47):
to be hunting and fishing.
There's other ways of gettingto people and showing them.
There's still a reason, youstill got a purpose and it just
looks different and let's findout what it is.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
All right, folks, sit tight and we'll be right back
on Transacting Value.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (33:02):
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(33:23):
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(33:46):
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com.
(34:20):
There's still a reason, youstill got a purpose and it just
looks different, and let's findout what it is.
Or realigning your identitywith your role even is
understanding that there's acertain initial common reference
point for every individual'scharacter development, and I
think that's what gets rootedinto a value system as
individuals.
(34:41):
And so to be able to say Idon't know who I want to become,
I don't know who I want to growinto.
I don't know who I'm going togrow into or what my character
is going to look like at thatpoint, but I know the qualities
that he's going to have aregoing to be inclusive of these
particular adjectives.
These values helps.
And you can root that directlyinto whatever aspect of service
(35:02):
or past life you used to have inthat identity and say, well,
when I was serving or when I wasteaching or when I was coaching
or when I was doing whatever,when I was serving or when I was
teaching or when I was coachingor when I was doing whatever, I
did that because I enjoyed dutyor honor or sacrifice or
courage or commitment or fill inthe blank.
But you can still have those.
You just exemplify them in alittle bit different arena.
Because you can't bring a 240into a Walmart.
(35:24):
You can't bring an AR or aradio system in a pack 12
kilometers to get to the grocerystore.
It just doesn't fit the sameenvironment anymore.
So neither can you.
But all the skill sets couldyou know the communication, the
artistry, the humanities, thesocial sciences, like you said
when you became a basketballcoach.
Not every coach can play likethey used to, but you can still
(35:46):
have an impact and an influence,and I think that's huge, man.
Everything that you've beendescribing sounds like it's
directly well correlated withwhat you've done throughout your
entire life to this point, andit sounds like especially from
what I can see on your websiteit's exactly what you're
continuing to inspire andinstigate for other people.
I have a question for you, orreally two, real quick.
This is a segment of the showcalled Developing character
(36:07):
Developing character.
It's really in your own words.
I'm going to tie the twoquestions together for the sake
of time, but in your case, whatwere some of the values that you
were raised on?
And then, if any have changed,what are some of your values now
?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (36:20):
Well, being the son of a drill
sergeant, you can imagine thediscipline that we had in the
home.
Yeah, and times have definitelychanged the way people raise
kids and I don't want to comparethe two.
But back then you did what youwere told to do and if you
didn't, there were consequencesand living on base.
Back then, if we got kicked outof this the neighbors I'd be
(36:44):
down the road doing somethingdumb, not getting in trouble
with that father or mother orthat soldier or whoever was in
that house or in the yard andsaw me doing it and grabbed on
my ear to my back to my housebeing spanked the whole way, and
get there and then tell my momand my dad what I'd done.
I got it again from them.
So you know, I was still a kid,made dumb choices, obviously,
but discipline was something Ilearned to that household.
(37:07):
And then we use the word hard,and I mean work.
I mean work hard, read hard,pray hard, love hard, serve hard
.
Whatever you do, do it hard,meaning give your all.
Whatever that moment is, giveyour all.
And when I was in high school,when my dad died, my high school
coach became my father figureand he was the same way Do what
(37:27):
you're going to do and do it.
Give your all to it.
Whether it's basketball,whether it's being a boyfriend
or a husband in the future, orraising or being a father you
don't care what it is, just doit hard.
That's probably what's stuckwith me ever since I was a kid.
That probably goes back to thepart where I was seeing the
(37:48):
fruits of my therapy when I wasworking out that did it hard as
I possibly could, and then theyprobably changed.
I've gotten older is servingothers, because when I was in
high school I was serving myplaying basketball and girls and
parties.
I think that's serving myself.
It was all about me.
And then when I got in thecollege and move on to the
(38:11):
teaching and coaching and howI'm doing now, I viewed that as
serving other people and puttingthem first and my family put my
own family first, put theirneeds before mine.
So that's probably the biggestchange.
I still do try to do what I'mdoing hard, meaning all that I
have.
But I also have changed nowwhere before it was about me, to
(38:32):
my other folks in my household,in my church and with Charlie
22 Outdoors too.
I think that's where we are now.
It's the change.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (38:39):
Yeah, that's super cool.
And then obviously, gettingthat conveyed to other people to
sort of pay it forward, I thinkinherently gives people purpose
.
If for no other reason, then itbuys them time so they can
figure it out on their own.
But by giving somebody anopportunity to help somebody
else, even if it's temporary,it's purpose and yeah, that's
(39:00):
powerful.
My last two questions for youOne of all of these experiences
and I really now, after hearingyour entire story, I feel almost
kind of dumb asking this buthow have all of these
experiences actually helped youto instigate your own self-worth
and your own sense of self?
Because obviously you viewyourself differently now.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (39:22):
I did an interview it would be two, two
summers ago.
And the last question the guyasked me, which was probably one
of the most powerful questionsI've ever been asked, he said
what did you learn aboutyourself with RA22?
And it just.
How do I thought about that andhow do I have really thought
about myself in that capacity?
(39:43):
What did I learn about myselfsince I've been doing this and
I've been thinking about it fora few minutes and can I answer?
The big question you just askedme is when and I've been
thinking about it for a fewminutes Can I answer.
The big question you just askedme is when I put others first,
and really put them first, and Iseek God's grace in doing so
and then get out of my own way.
Long enough, good things willhappen, and what I mean by that
(40:04):
is yes, I know that I'm servingother people, yes, I know that
we're trying to show peopletheir self-worth their purpose
and so on, but it can't be aboutmy personal agenda.
It's got to be about them firstand showing grace.
Whatever it is we're doing, andthat seems to be the formula
that I see that works.
(40:24):
The mission doesn't say to showor doesn't say to go hunt deer
and turkey and catch fish.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
That's not what it says.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (40:31):
We have a mission that says to show a hope
and a love and personal meaningthat comes out of God's grace.
I don't care what we're doing.
That's the mission.
It will be successful becauseif we do that and keep that
personal agenda, we're alwaysgoing to keep others in our
focus, before ourselves, andwe'll keep their personal agenda
out of the out of the, theformula, out of the mix, and
(40:54):
it's going to resonate withpeople that we're trying to help
.
That's what I learned aboutmyself is that putting others
first, with that mission missionin mind, leads to success.
And when I'm gone, they keepdoing the same way.
It's going to continue to besuccessful with new people.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (41:10):
Man, congratulations.
I don't even know another wordto say, man.
That's such a powerfulrealization to have and I think
it's fair to say that not a lotof people have it and certainly
not a lot of people have it morethan once in their lives.
And the amount of moments thatsomehow you've either come
across on your own or piecesyou've put together from advice
(41:30):
you've either come across onyour own or pieces you've put
together from advice you'vegotten from other people.
You've been able to do itmultiple times.
You really are inspiring in whatyou've accomplished, in how
you've been able to do it, inwhat you've decided to do with
it and, all things considered atleast from what it sounds like
what you're actually enablingother people to do, to pay
forward as well as a sort ofthird generation of coaching and
(41:54):
teaching and mentoring andguiding and empowering.
It's just super cool, man, andI really appreciate the
opportunity to showcase some ofyour story.
But for whatever I can'tencompass, namely 45 years in an
hour, where do people go?
How do they find out about you?
Or Charlie 22 Outdoors, or findyou on other shows, whatever
they want when do people go?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (42:15):
Well, I like to say this before I answer
that question We've all got ourroles, josh, and getting the
word out is a key role andyou're doing that.
So whenever we do an event lastweek we had our banquet and I
told everybody there the familyis how we battle the PTSD, the
anxiety, the suicide it takes afamily.
(42:36):
It's not a Scott Hellingerthing, it's a Charley 22 family
thing, and your role is doingwhat we're doing now getting the
word out.
So thank you for that.
But to reach me or reach ussimple is to go to our website,
charlie22outdoorscom, and go tothe contact page and you'll find
me right there.
Go to our Facebook page.
It's the same thing, charlie22.
(42:57):
And I say charlie22 because ofthe way it's phrased when I was
a kid, but if you look us up,it's literally charlie22outdoors
Facebook, instagram.
We're on Twitter I guess it'scalled X now and you have our
website, which ischarlie22outdoors.
com.
They call me, they email me,they can text me, they can
message me through social media.
There's many, many ways to geta hold of me and I promise
(43:20):
everybody this this is as trueas it was seven years ago and
it's the same thing today andit'll continue to be.
Whenever I get a messagethrough a text or an email or a
voicemail, you're going to get areply.
It's a hundred percent.
If you just call me, hang up, Idon't get anything, I'm not
going to, you know I'm not goingto call back.
But if you send me a voicemailor a text or a way of talking to
(43:42):
me.
You're going to get a reply.
So how do they want to getahold of me?
Whether it's through thosesocial media outlets, or through
email or phone call or whateverit is, they will get a response
.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (43:51):
I love it.
I love it.
Rising ties raise all ships,they say whoever they are, I'm
sure they still say it.
Yeah, I love it.
For anybody who's new to theshow, depending on the platform
you're streaming thisconversation on, click see more
or show more, and in thedropdown description, that's
where you'll see links toScotty's website, social, and
(44:12):
you'll be able to reach out andget in touch with him there as
well.
I know you've got plans thisevening.
I know you've got a life to getback to.
You spent so much time, effortand energy crafting it.
I don't want to take it allfrom you now in this
conversation.
So I appreciate it again somuch being able to showcase your
story, your insight, youradvice and, obviously, what
you're doing for veterans, theirfamilies, their spheres of
(44:34):
influence with Charlie 22Outdoors.
I really do just appreciateyour time.
So thanks for coming on theshow.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (44:39):
Thank you, and I hope I've alluded to this
.
But when somebody supports uswith what they're able to
support us with I don't care ifit's financial, prayer or what
we're doing right now thatmotivates and humbles me both,
because that to me means thatwhat we're doing in your mind
makes a difference.
And how can I not be motivatedby that?
(45:00):
If somebody writes us a check,they want to see it go forward.
If somebody emails me, theywant to see it go forward.
If somebody interviews me, likethey're doing right now, they
want to see it go forward.
So thank you for that, because,I said, it motivates and
humbles me more.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (45:13):
I appreciate that.
Yeah, I appreciate that Valuesstill hold value, man.
So, yeah, hang on to it, keepdoing what you're doing.
That said, to everybody elsewho tuned into our conversation
new listeners and continuingthank you for listening.
I appreciate your time.
I appreciate your effort andappreciate your time.
I appreciate your effort and,obviously, any feedback.
If you guys want to get involvedwith Transacting Value or you
want to listen to any of ourother conversations as well, you
(45:39):
can go to our website,transactingvaluepodcastcom.
You can listen to all of ourseasons there.
You can also reach out, leaveus a voicemail.
If you've got any time, money,talent, advice, insight,
whatever you've got, feel freeto drop a review and let us know
on the website as well, andwe're playing on all streaming
platforms.
Thank you to our show partnersand folks.
Thank you for tuning in andappreciating our value as we all
(45:59):
grow through life together.
To check out our otherconversations or even to
contribute through feedback,follows, time, money or talent
and to let us know what youthink of the show, please leave
a review on our website,transactingvaluepodcast.
com.
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(46:20):
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(46:42):
strive to establish clarity andpurpose, ensure social
tranquility and secure theblessings of liberty or
individual sovereignty ofcharacter for yourselves and
your posterity, we will continueinstigating self-worth and
we'll meet you there Until nexttime.
That was Transacting Value.
The views expressed in this podcast
are solely those of the podcasthost and guest and do not
necessarily represent those ofour distribution partners,
supporting businessrelationships or supported
audience.
Welcome to Transacting Value,where we talk about practical
applications for instigatingself-worth when dealing with
(00:23):
each other and even withinourselves, when we foster a
podcast listening experiencethat lets you hear the power of
a value system for managingburnout, establishing boundaries
, fostering community andfinding identity.
My name is Josh Porthouse, I'myour host and we are redefining
sovereignty of character.
This is why values still holdvalue.
This is Transacting Value.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (00:47):
We know we're not curing PTSD.
We know we're not curinganxiety.
We're not curing any of thosethings.
What we're trying to do is showour guests there's a way to
face those things Today onTransacting Value.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (01:01):
What is it about our value systems that
help us get unstuck when ouridentities and our roles in
society no longer match?
More importantly, what do we dowhen our values don't either?
See, sometimes we get soingrained into thinking one way
that we don't realize it'sinauthentic to ourselves and,
unfortunately, in some cases,especially in the DoD, that
causes things like veteransuicide, domestic assault,
(01:23):
domestic abuse and a host ofother issues.
On today's conversation, we'retalking to the founder of the
nonprofit Charlie 22 Outdoors,scotty Hettinger, all about what
it means to help rehabilitateyourself and your team Without
further ado.
I'm Porter, I'm your host andthis is Transacting Value.
Scotty, what's up man?
How you doing, josh?
(01:43):
How are you?
I'm doing well, I'm doing realwell.
Listen, I appreciate you takingsome time out of your evening
your central time, I'm prettysure, right, sir?
Yeah, missouri, yeah, yeah,okay, so early evening at least.
But I appreciate you takingsome time out of your day so we
could sit down and talk.
You've got such a cool, coolstory.
I mean, across the board you'vegot well you know what?
I'm not going to tell your story.
(02:03):
You came here for a reason.
How about this?
Take a couple minutes and let'sjust explain to everybody who
are you, when are you from?
You know what sort of thingshave shaped your perspective on
life.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (02:14):
Well, my name is Scotty Hedinger.
I am in Missouri.
A little bit about me.
I'm married with three childrenand five grandkids.
We kids we actually married ouryoungest daughter off to a
young male on July 7th this year.
So we're two nesters now and welive in Missouri.
As I said, We've been married22, 22, 22 years.
(02:34):
I've got to count backwards 22years now.
But when you remember me, mydad was a career soldier in the
Army.
He passed away when I was 15from leukemia, my first 15 years
of my life.
I had 25 addresses yeah, 25different addresses in 15 years.
He passed away when I was 15and I went on to graduate high
(02:56):
school.
I got a basketball scholarshipto play in college.
I was paralyzed in a caraccident in 1990 as a sophomore.
I was a teacher for 15 years ina high school system in South
Missouri, Retired in 2011.
And did this type of thing thatI'm doing now for another
organization and left that groupin 2016.
And in 2017, Charlie Tutu wasfounded, and here we are
(03:17):
completing our seventh completeyear.
Congratulations Across theboard.
Well, thank you for saying that.
It's been a real blessing to dowhat I do and meet the people I
get to meet and talk to andplaces I get to go and get to
see.
It's really humbling to saythat Blessing and humbling at
the same time.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (03:34):
Yeah, yeah, I imagine it is.
And then on top of that yousaid a car accident, I'm
assuming 19, 20 years old.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (03:42):
No, I was 19 when I was paralyzed.
I turned 22 months later thecar accident and what happened
was we were close to the end ofthe semester that year, my
sophomore year, my firstsemester of my sophomore year,
and finals were coming up a weeklater and I went to a party
with my buddy who was a soccerplayer at the school, and you
know, just celebrate the end ofthe semester and I woke up in
(04:04):
the hospital and I was told Iwas paralyzed.
And back story is we weredrinking and he was driving my
car and hit a parked car head onand I had whiplash in my
cervical fourth and fifthvertebrae which paralyzed me
from my neck to tongue and Icouldn't talk, I couldn't
breathe, I couldn't moveanything.
I was paralyzed from my hands,apples and apples and it was
(04:28):
tough.
The fourth day of being in thehospital they came in the same
day the doctors and nurses werechecking my vials and stuff.
My body stabilized so I didn'thave to have surgery and we
ended up having 15 and a halfhours of surgery.
It was 34 years ago this year,november, so 15 hours of surgery
within a 15 and a half hoursurgery it was 34 years ago this
year, november, so 15 hoursurgery.
(04:48):
What they did is they took tworibs on my right side of my back
, the floating ribs, and theyare now wired in my neck with
three wires in my cervical threeand four, third, fourth and
fifth vertebrae.
What Stabilized my neck?
Yeah, that's how they did itback then.
It was pretty incredible.
They took those floating ribsout and literally placed them
side on my neck on both sidesand wired them together Like
this stuff and made you a splint.
(05:09):
Yeah, exactly so.
That was in November, 34 yearsago.
And then, about a month later,less than a month later, I was
sent to Craig Rehabilitation inDenver, colorado, and I got
there.
By that time I could talk Alittle in Denver, colorado, and
I got there.
By that time I could talk.
I had a ventilator, they wouldplug the vent so I could speak
and I began breathing more on myown.
(05:30):
And I remember that process.
It would go 10 seconds with noventilator, and then 20, and
then 30, and then a minute.
And I tell you what, josh,those were some long seconds
sitting there trying to takethat first breath in.
That was the key getting thatbreath in.
And if I could do that, then Icould exhale the air.
(05:51):
And the first time I went to aminute.
You're just counting down, youknow thinking am I getting ready
to pass out?
Am I going to be able to getthis breath in?
And then it happened.
And then, with the two minutesand the five minutes and ten
minutes and so on, and thenabout three weeks into the
process, my shoulders began tomove from there a little bit and
(06:11):
laying there in bed, pregnantmy shoulders up and down much as
I possibly could, and my bicepsstarted to move a little bit,
went out there.
And I'll never forget the veryfirst night I'm there, they
walked in the room and the venttube of my throat was like the
size of a quarter and they tookthat thing out, put this little
bitty pencil thing on my neckand said this is what we're
(06:31):
going to work with.
I'm like, wow, getting ready tocut my air down, and it was
probably one of the best thingsI've ever done, because then it
forced my body to really work onthat breathing in and breathing
out, because when you'reparalyzed like I am, I know you
can't see, see me very well.
I'm literally paralyzed from mychest down, now right from a
(06:52):
right below my sternum.
Yeah, there you go, yeah, andum, I can't move my triceps or
my fingers, so my diaphragm isstill paralyzed and that's a big
part of breathing in and out,yeah.
So my body had to recompensateand learn how to do that without
diaphragm control, and I wasblessed to be able to do that.
(07:12):
So I spent six months there andI came back home and you talk
about being emotional.
I apologize in advance.
Okay, oh, you're fine.
No, please.
I turned 20 out in Colorado.
I had friends that came andvisited me from Missouri and
when I got back home, what stuckout to me was the fact my life
(07:33):
had been put on pause.
All my friends' lives had beengone, and I did not expect that.
When I got back home, they wereprobably waiting on me.
I didn't think their way, but Ididn't realize the extent of
that time I got back home, theyhad all moved on, uh huh.
Oh man, I'll tell you it was.
It floored me.
I couldn't drive.
(07:53):
I was a hundred percentdependent on everything.
Some got engaged, some weregraduating college, some moved
on in careers and mine came to ascreeching halt.
And I came back home and Ifaced that reality because,
being a college athlete, I wasused to that workout.
(08:14):
You know where you woreyourself out.
You were.
You worked up to the point thatphysically it was just drained
okay, and I enjoyed that, reallyenjoyed that.
So I hired a personal trainer tocome to my parents' house that
first summer and went to drive.
Again, I could barely move myarms when I came back home I was
so weak.
I came back to the house and hesaid I don't know how somebody
(08:36):
paralyzed.
I said that's why I'm hiringyou.
I want you to work me out likeI'm not paralyzed.
I'd get into the pool and Iwould swim back and forth you
know my back with the lifejacket on.
And that was a funny processthere too, because I wanted to
get my core where I can use mycore.
You get me in the pool, youturn me face down on the water.
(08:58):
I would find myself back.
Oh, that was the goal.
And if I couldn't do it, Iwould just go limp in the walk,
I just and that was the signal.
That was probably the smartestdecision.
One of the best ones I evermade when I was first coming
back home was hiring him becausein a matter of three or four
months.
(09:18):
I went from you know a hardtime moving my arms, pushing,
pushing my chair I was in amanual chair back then down the
road two, three miles andpushing back to the house.
Really, oh yeah, it was in thecountry out there where my
parents live.
I can't mistake.
The first time I did thatbecause the first part of that
trip was downhill all the way.
I knew it was.
(09:39):
I didn't realize how hard it wasto come back.
So I came back up and it was atwo and a half hour.
It was literally two and a halfthree hours.
Those were all things that Idid because I knew to get where
I wanted to be was going to takethat effort.
I did not want to be where Icouldn't function and be
independent.
I wanted to be independent thebest that I could be.
(09:59):
And then, January of 92, I gotmy first vehicle, my first van.
So you do drive, no, yeah, Igot my first vehicle, my first
van, so you do drive.
No, yeah, I've been back up.
That was 93.
I didn't drive for almost twoand a half years, yeah, so let's
go back to my friends again.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (10:17):
You're blowing my mind here.
So you're saying you didn'tdrive for almost two and a half
years, sort of like you knowthat was a long time, yeah, but
like you were paralyzed.
So really it's surprising thatyou're even able to drive today.
You know that was 30 years.
Like it only took you two tothree years to be able to drive
(10:39):
again.
That's huge.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (10:41):
Whenever I went somewhere, it was a friend
or a family member taking me.
Yeah, required transferring mein and out of the vehicle.
Now I'm 6'4", 225.
Back then I'm probably about180.
I lost so much weight, but youstill have to maneuver getting
me in and out of the car.
Okay, so that wasn't easy, wedid it.
(11:01):
And to be able to driveindependently, I wasn't going to
be in a manual chair, I had tobe able to get up a ramp into my
van.
And remember, without tricepsor hand movements, just imagine
pushing the wheelchair wheelswith the palms of your hand and
trying to grab it against yougoing backwards.
Yeah, no fingers, so no fingersexactly.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (11:20):
Yeah.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (11:22):
And I'll never forget that first time I
got up there, my uncle came tovisit me from Oklahoma.
We went outside and I just feltstrong enough to do this.
I pushed up that ramp by myselfand I knew then OK, I will be
able to do this.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
All right, folks, sit tight and we'll be right back
on Transacting Value.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
This message is from the US Department of Veterans
Affairs.
This message is from the USDepartment of Veterans Affairs.
Va disability compensation is amonthly tax-free payment to
veterans who got sick or injuredin the military and to veterans
whose service worsened anexisting condition.
You may qualify for VAdisability compensation for
physical and mental healthconditions that developed or
(12:03):
worsened due to service.
Learn more at vagov slashdisability.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (12:11):
We went outside and I just felt strong
enough to do this.
I pushed up that ramp by myselfand I knew then okay, I will be
able to do this.
My friend still came and went.
My girlfriend and I, we brokeup and I'll never forget, before
I drove, one of the bestconversations I had with one of
my best friends.
I'm telling you, I was reallystruggling emotionally and
(12:32):
mentally with my condition, buthe knew my frustration.
He said to me what do you wantus to do?
I said to him you know what?
Not a damn thing.
That's what I, that's what Iwant, and that set me on a pace
to become independent aspossible.
So, matt, were you angry?
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (12:51):
or were you?
I was, were you like trying topush yourself, or what was the
impetus for that?
What angle were you coming from?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (12:57):
I was mad at my situation and I was mad
that they had all got to move onand I couldn't.
I wasn't mad at them, I was madat the situation I put myself
into.
That accident was awful.
So then, when I got thatviewpoint that I don't want them
to do anything for me thisneeds to be me doing this that's
(13:18):
when I really began to see theprogression of the work.
And finally, in January of 93,I got that van and I tell you
what it changed.
Everything.
I bet yeah, I mean it just did.
I went full time in college, Idrove, we began to date again.
I always knew there was a planfor me, god, a plan for me.
(13:40):
I didn't know what the plan was.
I knew it was going to be insome capacity of helping people.
Maybe it was teaching my storyto kids, you know, keeping them
from my situation.
So when I originally was incollege, I wanted to be a
physical therapist and I kind ofthrew that out the window.
He said that last semester in1994, and I've been invited I've
been asked to go do acommercial for seatbelts and I
(14:00):
chose my old gymnasium where Iplayed basketball.
I had to do the commercial then.
So that's interesting.
I still remember today was mesitting there and you don't see
the chair.
You hear the basketball bounce,the basketball bounce.
You hear me talking in thebackground.
I said something like all kidsdream about playing in the NBA.
I was no different.
(14:20):
And then it showed highlightsof me playing and dunking the
ball and all those things videoof my high school career and
putting it in this commercial.
Then you hear this click, click, click the seatbelt three times
.
Now my dream has changed.
I just want to walk again.
And it shows me in the chair,the seatbelt on me, holding me
in the chair.
It was a great, great PSA.
So went down to the principal'soffice and went in his office
(14:43):
and I said what do you thinkabout me coaching basketball?
What do you mean?
I said, do you think I can doit in this chair?
And he said Scott, how manyguys do you see coaching right
now in college NBA?
They can't play anymore yeahhe's right.
I knew right then I wanted to bea coach.
I went the next day to thecollege and I said the fastest
way for me to be able to coachbasketball is what I mean.
(15:05):
It's the social studies teacher.
I said sign me up.
This is, this is the honest toGod truth.
This happened.
So I left there after thatmeeting with that principal at
that commercial, and I thought,God, if I need a coach, give me
a sign.
And I kid you not.
I got a phone call that nightfrom a lady here in Joplin
asking me to come coach theirhome school junior high high
(15:28):
school boys basketball teams andthe high school girls
basketball team.
They didn't know who I was.
They didn't know what hadhappened an hour earlier.
They had no clue in my mind I'mthinking about coaching.
So I got that phone call anelectric, clear sign it up for
15 years.
Let me retire 2011 let me askyou.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (15:43):
So, first off again, I I don't
understand how many times I cansay congratulations before it
sounds ingenuine, but I'd stillmean it.
Uh, I think that's a hugeaccomplishment to for one to be
a coach of anything.
I think for especially anenduring amount of time is a
huge accomplishment becauseyou've got to deal with so many
(16:05):
different, conflictingpersonalities, especially in
high school and junior high.
They don't even know their ownpersonalities and you got to
juggle all that on top of yourown doubts and your own
self-image and any highschoolers being high schoolers.
I'm curious because I saw onyour website Charlie 22 outdoors
.
It's not Charlie 22 indoors.
What was your appeal?
(16:26):
Obviously, physical activitymakes a difference.
My wife and I she's an amazingwoman.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (16:31):
I just got to say that real quick.
I am maybe the most blessed manon earth with who I was able to
marry.
She's incredible.
So we knew each other as kidsand when I first moved to
Missouri my dad was havingleukemia and her cousin and I
became good friends.
So going through high school wewere really close, him and I
were, so I saw her off and onand then never really dated.
(16:53):
He wouldn't let her date mebecause I was kind of a turd
back then.
But we bumped into each otherin 2001.
I was buying a rental propertythat my parents owned.
I went to the moving office,the public office up there, the
Carthage, and I see her walk in.
She didn't see me, but I sawher walk in and I kid you not
and this is going to soundcliche but I, my gosh, she is
(17:14):
just beautiful and she walked onby me down to the back of the
building, never saw me.
She came back and she saw meand she came back and I kind of
saw her for a minute.
So I was going to see if shewould respond to me and she did.
She began talking right thenand we went on a date two and I
knew within a couple, two, threemonths I was in love with her
(17:34):
and then we got married.
After they got married I hadn'thunted when I was a kid, some
with my dad.
That was kind of his outlet.
He told me to fish or hunt.
I felt this desire to huntagain.
I didn't even know what it was.
I don't know if it was aconnection to my father, I don't
know what it was, but I wantedto hunt with.
(17:57):
And I decided one day to go overto Bass Pro.
The main headquarters of BassPro is in Springfield, about an
hour from where I live.
So I went over there and lookedaround over there and all their
stuff was the same way, nothingI could really use or too
expensive, and if that's true,over there there's a huge.
So I went along and watched thefishermen.
In the reflection in theaquarium I saw this guy go
flying by me in a wheelchair, apower chair.
(18:20):
I could tell by looking at him.
Hey, he looks a lot like me.
I chased him down and I said tothe guy and it's probably a
weird question but do you havehunt every year?
Why?
I said how, what do you do?
I said everything I see is$1,000, $2,000.
He said I had this rack builtfrom my chair.
I was printing it by my buddy,who I live, that's cool we built
(18:41):
it back home.
We had it built by a localmachinist.
We literally took scrap metalout of their trash bin, their
bin right there in their shop,and the next day it was done $25
.
Winter it was done.
That winter I borrowed myuncle's property and in Missouri
you can actually hunt out ofthe van or out of the vehicle
with a disability.
(19:01):
I had that permit.
So I went to his property and Iborrowed his gun and I got me a
deer.
That year I told my wife I'mdoing this.
That was great.
I found something that wasphysical, that I could do.
That required real physicaleffort to accomplish and be
successful with it.
And I found it and it wasn'teasy and I really, really really
(19:25):
took to that because it was achallenge to figure it out.
So I did and I went and boughtsome equipment and I've done it
ever since.
So that's where the outdoorpart comes into play was that
year in 2003.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (19:39):
Well, so then, what I also saw,
charlie 22 was the companyBattalion Brigade that your
father served in.
And so what is the draw towardsthat unit?
What's the appeal?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (19:53):
So you're part of the Make-A-Wish
Foundation.
You see it on TV about kidswith almost an assault room.
Yep, yep, kitchen realizationis the outdoor world for that?
Oh, you have to make a kitchenfor this.
Okay, cool.
And I met the president of thatgroup in February.
I worked that year and Fridaybefore Labor Day weekend, I'm
told this.
So on Monday, labor Day weekend,I set up a dove hunt for my
(20:16):
daughter because I wasn't sureif I was going to be able to
hunt with her ever again.
And I knew right then.
I'm alive for a reason.
I think I'm a good husband anda father, but it's a bigger
purpose.
I don't know what it is why I'mstill around, but it's a bigger
purpose.
God's got a plan for me.
My body was just drained.
(20:36):
It was just like the energy wasjust gone, and I went to church
October 7th I believe in 2017,and I preached on Joshua 1.9,
and it said this is my commandbe strong and courageous, don't
be afraid of discourage, for theLord, your God, will be with
you wherever you go.
And I knew right then.
I just knew I'm doing this.
I just why am I not doing this?
(21:00):
I've got a passion for it.
I don't want to take it out onthem, but I'm good at it because
I love what I do and I call.
I've got three guys in mindCurtis King AT Stock, russ
Wickman.
Those are the three guys that Iwant to approach about this
ministry.
So I call Curtis, who's aretired Green Beret.
I call him and tell him I wantto do this ministry for me Easy,
(21:24):
out and go, because I know inmy own experience hunting and
fishing is very therapeutic.
Just being out there in thatenvironment of creation, just as
very for the soul, it's justgood.
So I go to bed that night, I'mgoing to talk to Curtis the next
morning and I wake up in theshower and it just hits Charlie
2-2 outdoors.
(21:45):
Because you probably know thisalready, in the United States
there's the term 22 a day andthat refers to 22 suicides
amongst our veterans andsoldiers every day.
Studies are saying it's higherthan that, but that's the number
everybody uses, 22 a day.
So R is the 22 a day because ofthe 2-2.
And then also R is my father,because when I was a kid in
Leonardwood, when I was five,six, seven years old, he was a
(22:09):
drill instructor for CharlieCompany, 2nd Battalion, 2nd
Brigade and, as I said a minuteago, when soldiers and vets hear
that name, they get it.
That's military something.
What's it about?
Civilians have to ask, what'sthat mean?
I gotta tell them what thatmeans, so they understand that
now too.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Alrighty, folks sit tight, We'll be right back on
Transacting Value.
Josh "Porter" Porthous (22:34):
Alrighty folks, if you're looking for
more perspective and morepodcasts, you can check out
Transacting Value on ReadsAcross America Radio.
Listen in on iHeartRadio,odyssey and TuneIn.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (22:46):
When soldiers and vets hear that name
, they get it.
That's military stuff.
That's what it is about.
Civilians They have to ask anddon't know what that means.
I got to tell them what thatmeans so they understand that
now too.
So it's really a pretty coolway of using that name.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (23:03):
You know something else interesting
too you and your dad both madeprofessions out of being coaches
.
I think that's kind ofinteresting too.
Maybe apparently it's in yourgenes.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (23:14):
You're coaches.
I think that's kind ofinteresting too.
Maybe apparently it's in yourgenes.
You're exactly right, it was adifferent.
He was working for coachingsoldiers.
Right, I was coachingbasketball players and uh.
But you're right, it's teachingpeople how to do their job, or
doing what I'm doing well, Ithink, yeah, at the forefront it
is, but yeah, it may be.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (23:29):
how to perform, say physically in any
particular sense, butemotionally, mentally, how to
align, say physically in anyparticular sense, but
emotionally, mentally, how toalign your identity with what
you're doing and you know mind,muscle memory and recognition
and autonomy and independence,obviously, courage and integrity
and teamwork.
Speaking of teamwork, that getslost, especially when you leave
the military.
I guess you're on a team, right?
(23:50):
You've got a family, you've gota support network in most cases
or something to that effect,you and your dog maybe, but it's
not usually actually just you,but it feels that way.
And I think there's a lot oforganizations that talk about,
like you mentioned, 22 a day orsuicidal ideations, but that's
not where everybody goes.
(24:11):
That's more the extreme end ofwhere most people could go.
There's not the same degree ofpurpose and clarity when it's
rooted and defined by you takingcare of a team and you come
second.
But when that reprioritizesafter your contract, after your
retirement, whatever happens andchanges after a divorce in some
(24:32):
cases, the identity crisis setsin.
You buy a motorcycle, you goskydiving, you go do crazy stuff
to try to fill a void that youdon't know who you are anymore.
How do you guys, or how do you,recommend instigating that and
filling that positively, how doyou?
You said it's a ministry.
I mean, how do you advisetowards that as a consideration?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (24:52):
So you're hitting the nail on the head.
I have just countless times.
I don't have anymore.
Yeah, perfect.
I want to go back to theministry founding, because our
first event was in January 2018.
Yeah, so we founded in 17,.
This event was in 18.
I'll never forget this and itwas key that it was one of the
first things we did, because thestory that I heard really hit
(25:15):
home with me.
Okay, so this vet comes to ourevent and at the conclusion of
the event, he tells me this.
He says Scott, in October Iretired after 33 years in the
military 33 years and he said Ihave no idea my purpose.
Do I have a purpose anymore?
(25:36):
What am I going to do withmyself?
This thought has given medirection and purpose again.
He said you think about it.
Every decision in my life hasbeen made for me, he said.
I graduated high school 33years ago and I was in boot camp
a week later.
In school, party bells wouldring on wherever it needed to be
.
There was dress code.
(25:57):
I ate the school lunch.
The coach told me what he justtold me.
I'm in boot camp a week laterand ever since then, the
instructors and the officers theDIs and the officers told me
what to do, where to go, when togo, what to wear all those
things.
Even my food was given to me bythat he goes.
I have zero idea how to be asoldier, zero.
And he was suicidal there.
(26:17):
Tennessee's there for the twoor three months, yeah, until the
G8, until the.
That hit home with me Rightthen I realized, wow, I never
really thought of it that way.
Yeah, absolutely.
And you probably you know whatI mean.
You leave the military.
You said a minute ago the teamis gone.
You had a bond with thesoldiers.
You worked with the serviceback.
(26:38):
They're still doing what youwere doing.
They still are in service orthey may be retiring as well.
And when you wake up tomorrow,what are you going to?
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (26:47):
do.
Yeah Well, that's it.
That's exactly what happened tome.
I just got off my activecontract last year and I stared
(27:08):
at a wall for two weeks.
I was like I didn't knowanything when to get up, what to
wear, what to do, what to say,how to perceive the world.
But there's so much professionaldevelopment, regardless of
branch, when you transition outof the military as a retiree
separation medically orotherwise doesn't matter.
Everybody goes through thistransition assistance program
and it's meant for professionaldevelopment.
Where the deficit exists ispersonal development, and I
(27:32):
think that's where some of theseissues that you're alluding to
fall as gaps in that identityand character development.
And I think what you're doing,or at least what you're
providing, acknowledges thatopportunity and encourages that
fulfillment and empowers thatsort of discovery.
What about rewiring, or maybeeven reconditioning?
(27:54):
Because it sounds like you'vehad to for a few reasons, a few
times, but you just mentioned it.
Right, like you're 18 years old,you join the DOD, let's say, as
an example, or you're amilitary child.
You never do, but you get thatsort of exposure, right.
18 years old graduate, yourbrain's still forming how to
think and act and perceive theworld and make your own
independent decisions, stillforming how to think and act and
perceive the world and makeyour own independent decisions.
(28:15):
And in that window, the final,what would you call it?
Six, seven years ofneurological development.
You're still not thinking foryourself.
And so is it really that muchof a shock that six to eight
years, to 33 years later, youdon't know how Well?
You never learned, you neverhad the opportunity, and so you
got to reteach and rewire andrecondition your thoughts, just
like you did when you firstended up in a wheelchair, and
(28:37):
then it sounds like subsequently, three or four more times since
then for you.
How do you work through thatprocess?
I think it may be a bitdifferent for everybody, but
like what are the generic stepsto try to get the traction and
move the train?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (28:53):
If I could use that, we would conduct an
amazing example of how we goabout things.
The ministry is not trying toprovide a hunting or fishing
experience for a veteran, or aspouse retreat or whatever.
Those are what draws ustogether.
Okay, we learned very quicklyyears ago that you understand
this and I don't, Josh.
(29:14):
Veterans and soldiers canrelate to each other in ways
that civilians can't relate tothem.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (29:20):
I think so.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (29:21):
So when they come to one of our events,
we have veterans thereintentionally from previous
events for them to meet, orpeople who are still serving,
and that bond automatically isformed.
When a person arrives to one ofour events, says I'm a Marine
or I'm in the Navy or I'mretired or whatever, when did
you serve that?
Right there, the connection isestablished and then the
(29:45):
activity takes place.
Whether it's hunting deer orturkey, or catching a fish or
whatever it is, it's all treatedtogether for a reason.
A dead fish or whatever it is,it's all treated together for a
reason.
We want to show that there'sGod's grace still on everybody,
whether you serve or didn'tserve, where you've been or not.
I hear a lot.
How can I be forgiven for whatI've seen, where I've been, what
(30:06):
I've done?
How can I be forgiven for that?
No, you don't learn that thatwas something that Christ did
for us 2,000 years ago.
We know we're not curing PTSD.
We know we're not curinganxiety.
We're not curing any of thosethings.
What we're trying to do is showour guests there's a way to
face those things.
So dark times do come.
You got somebody you can turnto in another corner and then,
(30:30):
if it's not me, it's AJ, or it'sRuss, or it's Marilyn or it's
Barbara.
Whoever it is, you can turn tothem and they'll be there for
you and help you get throughwhat you're going through.
Sometimes it's as simple as onething we do at all of our events
is we give out challenge coinsto our guests and it has our
logo on it and it has our verseon it, it has different branches
(30:52):
of the military on it, and soon.
They're really, really nicechallenge coins.
They really are.
We didn't spare any expense onthem.
We give them to our guests,letting them know whenever the
dark times do come, just grabyour coin and throw them in your
corner.
And I actually got a photographtoday sent to me by one of our
members, and that's the way theveterans sang I need prayer
(31:14):
today, think today and we talktoday.
That's what it is.
It's a photograph of a coin inour hand or on their table.
That's just their way of sayingplease help me do this.
And a text back to them is assimple as what do you need?
I'm praying for it, I'm in forit, and I think when a vet knows
, knows, somebody still caresand is there.
(31:36):
That may be all it needs forthat one, that day or that
moment to get them through them.
Once, the next day coming up,and when they realize people
still care for them and they'restill alive, they have god's
grace, then they can startthinking about hey, my purpose
now isn't yeah, that is cool.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (31:52):
I think once you find ways to remind
somebody that there is stillstructure, there is still a team
, it just looks different thanwhat you're used to.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (31:59):
Yeah exactly, yeah, spot on.
Then they go home and theythink about how can I share the
other vets what I was just giventhis last weekend?
I got a phone call earliertoday from a vet we had at an
event last year who was thinkingabout a really cool idea about
starting a garage with threebays in it where he can work in
(32:21):
two bays to make money and athird bay is there for vets to
come and work on their vehiclesat no expense.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (32:26):
Oh, that's cool, Great idea.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (32:27):
Yeah, it's his way now of sharing what
he's got talents in showinggrace to veterans that need it
at his ports.
Yeah.
So, it doesn't have to behunting and fishing.
You find your talent, whetherit's we do horse therapy now we
do knife making, we do couplesretreats, so there doesn't have
(32:47):
to be hunting and fishing.
There's other ways of gettingto people and showing them.
There's still a reason, youstill got a purpose and it just
looks different and let's findout what it is.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
All right, folks, sit tight and we'll be right back
on Transacting Value.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (33:02):
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(33:23):
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(33:46):
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That's charlie22outdoors.
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(34:20):
There's still a reason, youstill got a purpose and it just
looks different, and let's findout what it is.
Or realigning your identitywith your role even is
understanding that there's acertain initial common reference
point for every individual'scharacter development, and I
think that's what gets rootedinto a value system as
individuals.
(34:41):
And so to be able to say Idon't know who I want to become,
I don't know who I want to growinto.
I don't know who I'm going togrow into or what my character
is going to look like at thatpoint, but I know the qualities
that he's going to have aregoing to be inclusive of these
particular adjectives.
These values helps.
And you can root that directlyinto whatever aspect of service
(35:02):
or past life you used to have inthat identity and say, well,
when I was serving or when I wasteaching or when I was coaching
or when I was doing whatever,when I was serving or when I was
teaching or when I was coachingor when I was doing whatever, I
did that because I enjoyed dutyor honor or sacrifice or
courage or commitment or fill inthe blank.
But you can still have those.
You just exemplify them in alittle bit different arena.
Because you can't bring a 240into a Walmart.
(35:24):
You can't bring an AR or aradio system in a pack 12
kilometers to get to the grocerystore.
It just doesn't fit the sameenvironment anymore.
So neither can you.
But all the skill sets couldyou know the communication, the
artistry, the humanities, thesocial sciences, like you said
when you became a basketballcoach.
Not every coach can play likethey used to, but you can still
(35:46):
have an impact and an influence,and I think that's huge, man.
Everything that you've beendescribing sounds like it's
directly well correlated withwhat you've done throughout your
entire life to this point, andit sounds like especially from
what I can see on your websiteit's exactly what you're
continuing to inspire andinstigate for other people.
I have a question for you, orreally two, real quick.
This is a segment of the showcalled Developing character
(36:07):
Developing character.
It's really in your own words.
I'm going to tie the twoquestions together for the sake
of time, but in your case, whatwere some of the values that you
were raised on?
And then, if any have changed,what are some of your values now
?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (36:20):
Well, being the son of a drill
sergeant, you can imagine thediscipline that we had in the
home.
Yeah, and times have definitelychanged the way people raise
kids and I don't want to comparethe two.
But back then you did what youwere told to do and if you
didn't, there were consequencesand living on base.
Back then, if we got kicked outof this the neighbors I'd be
(36:44):
down the road doing somethingdumb, not getting in trouble
with that father or mother orthat soldier or whoever was in
that house or in the yard andsaw me doing it and grabbed on
my ear to my back to my housebeing spanked the whole way, and
get there and then tell my momand my dad what I'd done.
I got it again from them.
So you know, I was still a kid,made dumb choices, obviously,
but discipline was something Ilearned to that household.
(37:07):
And then we use the word hard,and I mean work.
I mean work hard, read hard,pray hard, love hard, serve hard
.
Whatever you do, do it hard,meaning give your all.
Whatever that moment is, giveyour all.
And when I was in high school,when my dad died, my high school
coach became my father figureand he was the same way Do what
(37:27):
you're going to do and do it.
Give your all to it.
Whether it's basketball,whether it's being a boyfriend
or a husband in the future, orraising or being a father you
don't care what it is, just doit hard.
That's probably what's stuckwith me ever since I was a kid.
That probably goes back to thepart where I was seeing the
(37:48):
fruits of my therapy when I wasworking out that did it hard as
I possibly could, and then theyprobably changed.
I've gotten older is servingothers, because when I was in
high school I was serving myplaying basketball and girls and
parties.
I think that's serving myself.
It was all about me.
And then when I got in thecollege and move on to the
(38:11):
teaching and coaching and howI'm doing now, I viewed that as
serving other people and puttingthem first and my family put my
own family first, put theirneeds before mine.
So that's probably the biggestchange.
I still do try to do what I'mdoing hard, meaning all that I
have.
But I also have changed nowwhere before it was about me, to
(38:32):
my other folks in my household,in my church and with Charlie
22 Outdoors too.
I think that's where we are now.
It's the change.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (38:39):
Yeah, that's super cool.
And then obviously, gettingthat conveyed to other people to
sort of pay it forward, I thinkinherently gives people purpose
.
If for no other reason, then itbuys them time so they can
figure it out on their own.
But by giving somebody anopportunity to help somebody
else, even if it's temporary,it's purpose and yeah, that's
(39:00):
powerful.
My last two questions for youOne of all of these experiences
and I really now, after hearingyour entire story, I feel almost
kind of dumb asking this buthow have all of these
experiences actually helped youto instigate your own self-worth
and your own sense of self?
Because obviously you viewyourself differently now.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (39:22):
I did an interview it would be two, two
summers ago.
And the last question the guyasked me, which was probably one
of the most powerful questionsI've ever been asked, he said
what did you learn aboutyourself with RA22?
And it just.
How do I thought about that andhow do I have really thought
about myself in that capacity?
(39:43):
What did I learn about myselfsince I've been doing this and
I've been thinking about it fora few minutes and can I answer?
The big question you just askedme is when and I've been
thinking about it for a fewminutes Can I answer.
The big question you just askedme is when I put others first,
and really put them first, and Iseek God's grace in doing so
and then get out of my own way.
Long enough, good things willhappen, and what I mean by that
(40:04):
is yes, I know that I'm servingother people, yes, I know that
we're trying to show peopletheir self-worth their purpose
and so on, but it can't be aboutmy personal agenda.
It's got to be about them firstand showing grace.
Whatever it is we're doing, andthat seems to be the formula
that I see that works.
(40:24):
The mission doesn't say to showor doesn't say to go hunt deer
and turkey and catch fish.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
That's not what it says.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (40:31):
We have a mission that says to show a hope
and a love and personal meaningthat comes out of God's grace.
I don't care what we're doing.
That's the mission.
It will be successful becauseif we do that and keep that
personal agenda, we're alwaysgoing to keep others in our
focus, before ourselves, andwe'll keep their personal agenda
out of the out of the, theformula, out of the mix, and
(40:54):
it's going to resonate withpeople that we're trying to help
.
That's what I learned aboutmyself is that putting others
first, with that mission missionin mind, leads to success.
And when I'm gone, they keepdoing the same way.
It's going to continue to besuccessful with new people.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (41:10):
Man, congratulations.
I don't even know another wordto say, man.
That's such a powerfulrealization to have and I think
it's fair to say that not a lotof people have it and certainly
not a lot of people have it morethan once in their lives.
And the amount of moments thatsomehow you've either come
across on your own or piecesyou've put together from advice
(41:30):
you've either come across onyour own or pieces you've put
together from advice you'vegotten from other people.
You've been able to do itmultiple times.
You really are inspiring in whatyou've accomplished, in how
you've been able to do it, inwhat you've decided to do with
it and, all things considered atleast from what it sounds like
what you're actually enablingother people to do, to pay
forward as well as a sort ofthird generation of coaching and
(41:54):
teaching and mentoring andguiding and empowering.
It's just super cool, man, andI really appreciate the
opportunity to showcase some ofyour story.
But for whatever I can'tencompass, namely 45 years in an
hour, where do people go?
How do they find out about you?
Or Charlie 22 Outdoors, or findyou on other shows, whatever
they want when do people go?
Scotty Rae Hettinger (42:15):
Well, I like to say this before I answer
that question We've all got ourroles, josh, and getting the
word out is a key role andyou're doing that.
So whenever we do an event lastweek we had our banquet and I
told everybody there the familyis how we battle the PTSD, the
anxiety, the suicide it takes afamily.
(42:36):
It's not a Scott Hellingerthing, it's a Charley 22 family
thing, and your role is doingwhat we're doing now getting the
word out.
So thank you for that.
But to reach me or reach ussimple is to go to our website,
charlie22outdoorscom, and go tothe contact page and you'll find
me right there.
Go to our Facebook page.
It's the same thing, charlie22.
(42:57):
And I say charlie22 because ofthe way it's phrased when I was
a kid, but if you look us up,it's literally charlie22outdoors
Facebook, instagram.
We're on Twitter I guess it'scalled X now and you have our
website, which ischarlie22outdoors.
com.
They call me, they email me,they can text me, they can
message me through social media.
There's many, many ways to geta hold of me and I promise
(43:20):
everybody this this is as trueas it was seven years ago and
it's the same thing today andit'll continue to be.
Whenever I get a messagethrough a text or an email or a
voicemail, you're going to get areply.
It's a hundred percent.
If you just call me, hang up, Idon't get anything, I'm not
going to, you know I'm not goingto call back.
But if you send me a voicemailor a text or a way of talking to
(43:42):
me.
You're going to get a reply.
So how do they want to getahold of me?
Whether it's through thosesocial media outlets, or through
email or phone call or whateverit is, they will get a response
.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (43:51):
I love it.
I love it.
Rising ties raise all ships,they say whoever they are, I'm
sure they still say it.
Yeah, I love it.
For anybody who's new to theshow, depending on the platform
you're streaming thisconversation on, click see more
or show more, and in thedropdown description, that's
where you'll see links toScotty's website, social, and
(44:12):
you'll be able to reach out andget in touch with him there as
well.
I know you've got plans thisevening.
I know you've got a life to getback to.
You spent so much time, effortand energy crafting it.
I don't want to take it allfrom you now in this
conversation.
So I appreciate it again somuch being able to showcase your
story, your insight, youradvice and, obviously, what
you're doing for veterans, theirfamilies, their spheres of
(44:34):
influence with Charlie 22Outdoors.
I really do just appreciateyour time.
So thanks for coming on theshow.
Scotty Rae Hettinger (44:39):
Thank you, and I hope I've alluded to this
.
But when somebody supports uswith what they're able to
support us with I don't care ifit's financial, prayer or what
we're doing right now thatmotivates and humbles me both,
because that to me means thatwhat we're doing in your mind
makes a difference.
And how can I not be motivatedby that?
(45:00):
If somebody writes us a check,they want to see it go forward.
If somebody emails me, theywant to see it go forward.
If somebody interviews me, likethey're doing right now, they
want to see it go forward.
So thank you for that, because,I said, it motivates and
humbles me more.
Josh "Porter" Porthouse (45:13):
I appreciate that.
Yeah, I appreciate that Valuesstill hold value, man.
So, yeah, hang on to it, keepdoing what you're doing.
That said, to everybody elsewho tuned into our conversation
new listeners and continuingthank you for listening.
I appreciate your time.
I appreciate your effort andappreciate your time.
I appreciate your effort and,obviously, any feedback.
If you guys want to get involvedwith Transacting Value or you
want to listen to any of ourother conversations as well, you
(45:39):
can go to our website,transactingvaluepodcastcom.
You can listen to all of ourseasons there.
You can also reach out, leaveus a voicemail.
If you've got any time, money,talent, advice, insight,
whatever you've got, feel freeto drop a review and let us know
on the website as well, andwe're playing on all streaming
platforms.
Thank you to our show partnersand folks.
Thank you for tuning in andappreciating our value as we all
(45:59):
grow through life together.
To check out our otherconversations or even to
contribute through feedback,follows, time, money or talent
and to let us know what youthink of the show, please leave
a review on our website,transactingvaluepodcast.
com.
We also stream new episodesevery Monday at 9 am Eastern
Standard Time through all ofyour favorite podcasting
platforms like Spotify, iheartand TuneIn, you can now hear
(46:20):
Transacting Value on WreathsAcross America Radio Eastern
Standard Time.
Wednesdays at 5 pm, sundays atnoon and Thursdays at 1 am.
Head to wreathsacrossamerica.
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Slash transactingvalue tosponsor a wreath and remember,
honor and teach the value offreedom for future generations.
On behalf of our team and ourglobal ambassadors, as you all
(46:42):
strive to establish clarity andpurpose, ensure social
tranquility and secure theblessings of liberty or
individual sovereignty ofcharacter for yourselves and
your posterity, we will continueinstigating self-worth and
we'll meet you there Until nexttime.
That was Transacting Value.
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