Heroes' Path Podcast

Our latest Heroes' Path webinar with Colonel Gerry Tertychny is 90 minutes that will stay with you. Here's a taste.

On the morning of June 4, 1942, the course of the Pacific war turned in about six minutes. Japan was at high tide on June 3rd. By the end of the next day, the United States was on the offensive and never gave that initiative back.

How it happened is one of the great stories in our nation's 250-year history, and Colonel Gerry Tertychny (USA, Ret.) tells it better than anyone I know. Gerry served 28 years in Infantry...

The war isn't over because a document got signed.

This week, Jeff Steinberg and I discuss what comes next after 112 days of conflict, a disputed Strait of Hormuz, and a fragile ceasefire.

23 minutes. Worth your time.

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Two things happened in the same 24 hours.

An American Apache helicopter was shot down near the Strait of Hormuz.

And the President of the United States announced that a deal with Iran could be signed within days.

That's not so much a contradiction, as it is modern warfare.

One side is negotiating. The other side is shooting. Sometimes they're the same side.

This week, Jeff Steinberg and I look at a conflict that has now crossed the 100-day mark. We discuss the downed Apache, the remarkable drone rescue that...

The thing about ceasefires is that everybody talks about them like they’re the finish line.

Most of the time, they’re not.

They’re a pause.

A chance to count what’s been spent, what’s been broken, and what’s still sitting there waiting to be dealt with.

This week marks roughly ninety days since this war began.

In that time, thousands of people have been killed. Billions of dollars have been spent. Advanced weapons stockpiles have been depleted. Global shipping has been disrupted. Fuel prices have climbed. Dip...

We are now roughly 80 days into a war that many people believed would last four to six weeks.

The Strait of Hormuz remains under pressure.

Oil markets are reacting.

China publicly invoked the “Thucydides Trap” in front of the President of the United States.

And the diplomatic and military tracks are moving in opposite directions at the same time.

This week’s Iran Update with Professor Jeff Steinberg looks at the bigger picture behind the headlines:

• The strategic reality inside the Strait of Hormuz

• Why China’s la...

Two weeks ago we left it with a deadline.

That deadline passed. The ceasefire stretched. Then two ships were taken within hours. Now there’s a blockade in both directions and a line of tankers sitting still where the world’s energy is supposed to move.

Gas is up. Diesel’s worse. You’re already paying for it whether you’ve looked at the headlines or not.

So we got Jeff back on.

He lays out what changed since the last conversation. The shift from airstrikes to economic pressure. The fight inside Ira...

Five weeks in.

A U.S. fighter goes down over Iran. One pilot recovered. One still out there. Rescue teams are working inside the country.

At the same time, the Strait is tightening, the price of oil is climbing, and whatever talks were underway are starting to fall apart.

So we got Jeff on the line.

He walks through what changed this week, what’s breaking, and what could come next.

Fifteen minutes.

If you want more of this, become a paid subscriber to our Heroes' Path Su...

Four Weeks In. Nobody Planned for This.

Day 28 of the war with Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz is now a toll road — $2 million per transit, collected by the Iranians, for ships they're gracious enough to let pass. Patriot missiles are running low. The IDF Chief of Staff told his own cabinet this week that his force is on the road to collapse if they don't get 15,000 more troops. The diplomatic channel that opened this week looks, depending on who you ask, either like the beginning of a deal or the cover story for a surprise gr...

We recorded this one on the move.

No studio or deep editing. A quick call with Jeff Steinberg while the situation keeps changing.

In twenty minutes, he walks through what’s actually happening. The resignation in Washington. The split with Israel. The nuclear question that hasn’t gone away.

It’s not polished, but it will provide some clarity nonetheless.

If this is the kind of signal you want instead of noise, become one of our paid subscribers. That’s what keeps conversations like this coming when they matter most.

So, tw...

The American Revolution was not a foregone conclusion. It was eight years of freezing encampments, shattered supply lines, battlefield defeats, and a Continental Army that nearly dissolved more than once. From the catastrophic retreat across New York to the starvation winter at Valley Forge, the fight for independence was long, desperate, and closer to failure than most Americans will ever know. What kept it alive, beyond raw endurance, was something the history books have largely erased: George Washington's systematic intelligence campaign — a web of spies, deception operations, and covert networks that outmaneuvered the most powerful empire on earth at th...

After surviving a catastrophic blast in Iraq, John Gallina came home to discover that the hardest part of service often begins after the war. In this powerful episode of the Heroes’ Path Podcast, Colonel John Fenzel sits down with the combat-wounded veteran, builder, and co-founder of Purple Heart Homes to talk about service, sacrifice, and what it really means to come home.

John shares the story of his deployment with battle buddy Dale Beatty, the life-changing injuries they sustained, and how their wounded homecoming became the catalyst for a national movement serving veterans through housing. Si...

Every conflict looks simple from a distance. A few maps on television, a headline about airstrikes, a sentence or two about retaliation, and the impression forms that the shape of the story is already clear.

The reality is usually far more complicated, and the early days of a military operation are often the moment when the least is actually known.

The United States and its allies are now engaged in a rapidly developing operation against Iran. Reports are coming in by the hour. Facilities have been struck. Senior figures inside the Iranian system may have...

Day 3 in the Ardennes.

Today is December 16th. On this exact date 81 years ago, December 16, 1944, the Battle of the Bulge began.

For this episode, I stopped in La Gleize, outside the December 44 Museum, to stand beside Tiger II “213”. Up close, it is not an abstract chapter heading. It is scale, weight, and consequence made visible. A reminder that battles are fought not only with firepower, but with winter roads, fuel, time, stretching the limits of human endurance.

You can watch the video on my YouTube Channel. Then, if you have ever tried to unde...

On February 8, 1944, the B-17 Susan Ruth was shot out of the sky over Nazi-occupied Belgium. What followed was a story of courage, survival, and resistance against all odds.

In this episode of the Heroes' Path Podcast, host COL Tom Rendall (USA, Ret.) speaks with Steve Snyder—author, son of pilot Howard Snyder, and historian of the 306th Bomb Group—about what it was like to fly bombing missions over Europe during WWII, what happened the day the Susan Ruth was lost, and the incredible bravery of the Belgian people who risked their lives to save downed American airm...

There’s no better—or more urgent—time to listen to the voices of our veterans.

This week, Heroes’ Path hosted filmmaker and historian Zach Dunn, founder of Global Veteran Stories, who has traveled across 14 countries—and is currently in Calgary interviewing WWII veterans—to record their memories before they’re lost to time.

In this powerful conversation, we discussed why these stories matter now more than ever, and how today’s events echo the lessons of the past.

Follow Heroes’ Path for upcoming webinars, podcasts, and the launch of our new website dedicated to leade...

What can today’s generation learn from those who’ve led in the crucible of war?

In this powerful episode of the Heroes’ Path Podcast, Colonel (Ret.) John Fenzel sits down with Georges Strachan-Heyes, a retired British Army officer and Director of Operations for the UK and NATO at Onebrief. With over two decades of combat experience across Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Estonia—and as a trusted battlefield guide for Normandy, Bastogne, and Market Garden—Georges shares raw insight into what leadership really means under pressure.

They explore:

In this episode of the Heroes’ Path Podcast, host John Fenzel sits down with history teacher and storyteller Alex Rowe—the son of Colonel James “Nick” Rowe, legendary Green Beret, Vietnam POW, and architect of the U.S. military’s SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) program, and Susan Whitford Rowe, a devoted lifelong educator.

Alex shares how his parents’ extraordinary lives shaped his own path, from his father’s harrowing five years as a prisoner of war and daring escape from execution, to his mother’s deep belief in the power of teaching and storytelling. Through vivid family sto...

In this episode of the Heroes’ Path Podcast, host John Fenzel speaks with Chloe Gavin Beatty, daughter of legendary World War II commander Lieutenant General James M. Gavin.Lieutenant General James Gavin is one of the best-known military leaders during WWII. Often referred to as “Jumpin’ Jim,” he began the war as the commander of the 505th Parachute Combat Team 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. His unit spearheaded the American assault on Sicily in July 1943.  On D-Day, Gavin served as the Assistant Division Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.  By the Fall of 1944, Gavin advanced to command the Divisi...

🎙️ New Episode: Heroes’ Path Podcast
Guest: Jeff Steinberg | "A Republic, If You Can Keep It"

What does it mean to lead in a republic that demands both vigilance and virtue?

In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Steinberg to explore the enduring lessons of our nation’s founding. With clarity and conviction, Jeff takes us back to Philadelphia in 1787, where the Constitutional Convention tested the ideals of self-government under immense pressure.

This conversation is a call to remember that our freedoms are not guarantee...

Resilience Under Fire: What the Greatest Generation Knew – Heroes’ Path Webinar
with Dr. Mitch Yockelson & Dr. Ron Clark | July 29, 2025

What can we learn from the resilience and leadership of the Greatest Generation—and how do those lessons apply to our lives today? In this special inaugural Heroes’ Path webinar, historian Dr. Mitch Yockelson and national security leader Dr. Ron Clark join host John Fenzel for a compelling discussion on trust, character, and overcoming adversity.

Topics include:

The partnership between Eisenhower and Churchill, and how their trust and decision-making shaped history

Lessons...

Why I Keep Bees.

I was thirteen when I opened my first hive. Two colonies, edge of the yard, just past the cornfield. Back then, bees didn’t need much. Shelter. Space. A little respect.

I thought I was learning how to keep bees. Turns out, I was learning how to show up, pay attention, and keep going—even when things fall apart.

We lost all our hives last year. Mites. Pesticides. A hard winter. This year, we start over. Again. Because that’s what beekeepers do.

This short film i...

20 minutes

Combat-wounded in Vietnam at 19, Jan Scruggs returned home carrying shrapnel and the invisible weight of PTSD. One night in a theater watching The Deer Hunter sparked his audacious idea: build a memorial that could heal a divided nation. In this fast-moving conversation Jan walks us through the firefight that nearly killed him, the $2,800 gamble that launched the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the design battles with critics, and the decades of stress that eventually landed him in a coma. He closes with a clear hope—that every visitor to the Wall will grasp the real cost of wa...

Today, on sacred ground, we begin something new.

Heroes’ Path is officially launching—a platform for those who believe the past should help in guiding our present. For students, teachers, veterans, business leaders and citizens--all of us who still hunger for purpose, truth, and something real to believe in.

Over the next 30 days, we’re rolling out programs, curriculum, stories, tools, and a living community—built on one simple idea:  The legacy of our heroes doesn’t belong in the past.

It belongs in our classrooms, our communities, and in each of us.

Stay t...

What does it take to lead under pressure—when clarity is a luxury and failure has consequences that echo for generations?

In the very first episode of The Heroes' Path Podcast, we sit down with Colonel Greg Fontenot (USA, Ret.), a seasoned combat commander, military historian, and author of No Sacrifice Too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War II. What unfolds is a compelling, unscripted conversation about how leadership is shaped, tested, and ultimately defined—on the battlefield and beyond.

A Commander’s Perspective

Colonel Fontenot’s military...