VICTOR MARX ｜ The Burden and Blessing of Masculinity
Episode Stats
Summary
Victor Marks is a former Marine who served with the United States Marine Corps and the Israel Defense Forces. He is a High Risk Humanitarian who has served in dozens of humanitarian operations across the globe, including his most recent mission to Israel and Gaza, which he talks about in this episode.
Transcript
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My guest today is a man who is not only comfortable with violence, but he's also
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comfortable with empathy, compassion, and forgiveness. And I think that's exactly what
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makes us men. The ability to administer violence and the capacity to restrain ourselves and harness
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it for good. His name is Victor Marks. He's a high risk humanitarian. And today he's here to
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talk with us about what is really going down in Israel, the risks it possesses to the United
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States, the fight of good and evil in society today, surrounding yourself with the right
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people, how to make important decisions based in love and the burden and blessing of masculinity.
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You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears and boldly chart
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your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time. Every time you are
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not easily deterred, defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you
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are. This is who you will become at the end of the day. And after all is said and done,
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you can call yourself a man. Gentlemen, what is going on today? My name is Ryan
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Mickler. I'm your host and the founder of the Order of Man podcast and movement. Welcome here
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today. And of course, welcome back if you've been with us for any amount of time. If you
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are new, we want to give you all the tools, information, resources, guidance, direction to
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reclaim and restore masculinity, not only in society, but in the walls of your home and in
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the communities that we live in. And you know, as well as I do, that we need men to step up
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now, maybe more than ever. We're at a precipice. We're at a very important time in society. And
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if we don't step up, things are going to get worse. We're going to see a lot of violence.
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We're going to see poverty. We're going to see some very destructive and dangerous things
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to our society and culture. And of course, this country, if we do step up, we have an opportunity
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to save our families, our friends, our coworkers, our neighborhoods, our communities, and this
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country. And my job is to give you everything you need to do that. And of course, I'm in
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the battle as well. Guys, I've got a very good conversation with somebody who's helping
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lead the charge of masculinity. His name is Victor Marks. Before I get into that, I want
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to make sure that I mention another organization that's doing its part to restore society and
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culture, specifically here in the United States. And it's a little interesting talking with
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knives or their products at Montana knife company.com. And when you do use the code order of man,
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all one word at checkout, order of man at checkout. All right, guys, let me introduce you to Victor.
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He is incredible. He's a former Marine. He's a high risk humanitarian. He's an author. In fact,
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he comes out with his new book, the dangerous gentlemen this year on father's day. And he's
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a hell of a human being as he's quite literally risked his life in dozens and dozens of humanitarian
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operations across the globe, including his latest to Israel and Gaza, which he talks with us today
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about. So I'm excited about that. Um, I've been following for Victor for years and I'm very
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honored. We could finally make this conversation happen because I'm inspired by what he's doing.
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I want to be a better man. And he helps me do that through his example. Guys, please enjoy this
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conversation. Victor, what's up brother. So great to see you. Honored to have you on the podcast. I've
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been wanting to have this happen for a very long time, so I'm glad you're here. Well, thanks
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brother. And I'm glad to be here, but it worked out. God's perfect timing. I think,
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I think so between your, uh, international travels. Cause if, if I understand correctly,
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did you just get back from Israel? I did. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about that. Cause I'm
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interested in the concept of, uh, this, this high risk humanitarian idea. Um, that's something
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that's very fascinating to me. And I love to see a man who doesn't just talk about improving the lives
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of other people, but actually going out and putting himself in harm's way to do so.
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Well, yeah, I mean, I think love is always an action word and the scriptures say faith without
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works is dead. So, you know, uh, a young man that was on our teams, but was killed during rescuing a
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girl in Iraq from ISIS. You know, he would say, you know, it's, it's not words that prove who you
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are, but it's what you do because people get really good at words and I mean, words matter,
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but the actions prove what you believe. So yeah, we started doing high risk work overseas, uh, just
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about nine, nine years ago. Um, and first it's nothing I wanted to do. I'll just say that this,
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this wasn't something that I dreamed about. Uh, and, but it was a calling for me. So it started out
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in Burma, uh, with Dave Eubank and free Burma Rangers. And, um, we were there for, you know,
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the end of a year, I did about a 30 day pump into there and we were training guys and who help
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protect innocent civilians. And then it grew, it grew to where we, we got invited into Iraq to help
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trauma care for women who had been held captive girls, women who had been held captive by ISIS.
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So when I took a team into that environment, man, we were just baptized by fire of the need
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and then how horrific things were. And I'll tell you, Ryan, um, uh, you know, only by the hand of God
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were, did we see doors open for access and placement? And we became very effective in what we were doing.
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And so, um, here we are nine plus years later and even been a decade. We're, we're well over 130
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missions. Um, um, I'm 17 plus times overseas. We still have a home in Iraq. Um, like you mentioned
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at the opening of this, just in Israel, but I actually went into Gaza and the West Bank and then
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Northern Israel, uh, I mean, very, very close to the Lebanon border. And it, it just became
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this unbelievable opportunity to help people. Like you said, from victims to people who needed to be
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rescued or recovered out of harm's way and to trauma care, to training, we got into a training aspect of
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people fighting, doing the fighting, protecting. And, um, I just, uh, I'll let your constituents know
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because people are like, wait, you've been overseas 17 times. You know, was that why you were in the
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military? I said, no. As a matter of fact, it was all while I was in my fifties.
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All civilian travel. Yeah. A civilian traveling, leading teams into Iraq, Syria, Northern Iraq,
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uh, Northern Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South of the border. And, um, and I couldn't do it
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without prayer, without people supporting us. Cause we're independently funded by just small donors,
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a few big ones, but we don't take government money. And, um, it's been quite the ride to say
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the least we've helped just in my least over 45,000 women and children. Wow. That's amazing.
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You know, you said something interesting and, and, and I want to call attention to it and ask you about
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this because you said only by the hand of God, have you been able to go in and do these things and
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rescue women and, and, and people who need help, frankly, who can't do it on their own for whatever
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reason. Um, I'm a believer myself, but I know a lot of men question what that means when a, when a
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God would allow these situations to happen. And then here you are saying, Hey, only by the hand of
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God, can we go in and rescue and do this good work? And, and these guys will say, well, what kind of
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God would allow that in the first place? How do you reconcile the two? Well, it's a, it's a great
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question and good questions. We should never be afraid to face and work through. I don't have an
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answer to every question, but this one I do. And because I've had to reconcile it in my own life
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personally, as a kid and what I went through. And then when you see evil, so what I've learned that
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you have an all loving God who's a just God and he's righteous, but he did implement for mankind to
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choose whether they want to do good or evil. He gave us a free will. So everyone has a choice.
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If he didn't give us that choice, we would be robotic. And therefore we could never have an
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authentic relationship with them. And men who have kids, if your kid was always scared of you
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and only came to you out of fear and was like a little robot, there would be no satisfaction
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out of that or even a spouse. So God allows men, men make the choice to do good or evil.
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And, uh, God never causes evil to be done. He allows men to choose. Now what's amazing to me,
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and I've got to know this on the second back half of my life is, you know, God is a great redeemer
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of the evil that men do. He's a great redeemer without a redemptive fact aspect of God. Uh,
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it wouldn't work for me. So I have seen God redeem the worst that evil can do. There's always pain
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and suffering that's involved, but he can redeem it. And I think ultimately justice that's not God
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on this earth will be, um, at the day of reckoning. So it's, I just tell men, look, I don't understand it
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all. I don't know why, I don't know why people do certain things, but when I, you know, when I picked
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up a kid whose parents were murdered by ISIS and went through several checkpoints and, um, to get them
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out and had grenades and an AK and a team watching after us and to hold him in our house and hear
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cries, you know, the cries of a baby who was a true orphan by hours, knowing he'll never see his
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parents again. It, it, I don't place the blame on God, a place of where it should be on the evil men
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that did this. And I thank God for allowing me and my wife and our family and our teams to be present
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to bring comfort to this little boy. And, uh, this has been so many times I've helped kids and
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that it's, it's been horrible. So I just kind of say, Hey, it's a waste of energy to be angry at God,
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but you could actually, you in some form or fashion could be the answer to the prayer
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of a release of suffering. So what do we do? Do you feel like, um, I know probably to a lesser
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degree than, than your personal story, but I feel like the challenging times in my life were presented
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to me so that I can overcome them and help other people overcome the same. Um, I don't want to put
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words in your mouth by any means, but I know a little bit about your story growing up. You were
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physically and sexually abused. You were frankly left for dead. If I understand in an, in an industrial
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or commercial cooler, you were left for dead. Uh, do you feel like, do you feel like that's the
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case for you? Or is it something else entirely? Because I'm wondering if that helped you aligned
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you towards what it is you're doing now. Yeah, I'd say a thousand percent. And I do talk about that.
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I believe part of my nature for me is to minimize things that have happened.
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As a survival mechanism to push, but in doing that, you tend to forget. And, um, you know,
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I don't, I've never been able to forget about the kids who suffered like I did, which has been both
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a burden and a blessing. Um, yesterday I'm looking up old videos from, you know, almost a decade ago
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and I couldn't watch them. I had to turn them off. I started getting emotional. I was like,
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I don't want to remember all that. It's even good stuff, all the good stuff that we've done,
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but it, it, it's so personal to me. And I think God, you know, that cliche, you get better or better
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for me. I just say, well, your heart either gets harder or it, it increases your capacity
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to help and love others. And I think that's what God has done for me. Now, my wife and family and
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team, they'll tell the world, don't worry. Victor has these hate humanity days where, you know,
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he'd rather just kill a bunch of bad people. Uh, uh, and, and I have to guard, I have to guard my heart
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about that because like one case recently was a horrible situation where this girl was stabbed
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multiple times, back face in Southeast Asia, raped and left for dead. Our team recovered her,
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saved her life by emergency matter. I mean, saved her life. Me and one other fella, we flew down
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and in 72 hours, um, in 72 hours, um, in 72 hours, we were able to, uh, confirm the arrest of the
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attacker. And, uh, and I remember when he was in the jail, you know, I, I had my guy said, Hey,
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go ahead and give me 15 minutes with them. And, and normally our access would be granted. But for that
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day, for some special reason, all powers that be, cause they ran me and they were like, no,
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I said, you know, yeah, give them the special tax money. Give them that. Uh, and then I was like,
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I just need five minutes. And, uh, to be quite transparent, you know, I was going to cut off a
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couple of his fingers. And I know that may sound harsh to some people, but if you saw what he did
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with this girl, lop it a couple of fingers off, what would not, is not a big deal, but it'd be a
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mark and reminder for everyone who saw him, even while he was in. So the, the, the chief of police
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was like, we know him, he may kill him. I was telling him, I'm not going to kill him. I'm not
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going to kill him. But that's when, you know, in the quietness of my heart, it was an easy
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justification to, you know, do something to this guy and his feelings, but God was saying, but,
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but is that what I'm calling you to do today? Is that what I want you to do? And ultimately we
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have to submit ourself to God because I've gotten a green lot, green light a lot of times
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from God, as I understood it, to do things that would stop the manifestation of evil
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appropriately in different countries. And I, I, I sleep well about decisions I've made
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based on Lord. This is a honest way forward to bring a solution, but men, if you're not
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careful, you get sucked into this hatred and darkness. It's almost like there was a movie
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Spider-Man or some type of foreign thing would get on him and it started to grow and it would
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turn Spider-Man to this alien is this black stuff. And then he would do negative. So that's kind
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of how I see it when, when it comes time for people have to work close against evil.
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How, how do you personally do that? Because all of us wrestle with that. I'm glad you said,
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I think, I think just to quote you here, the green light from God to do what I needed to do to stop
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evil. Uh, I think, I mean, the Bible is rife with experiences and examples of just what you said,
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uh, but how do you know, number one, how do you know when you have the quote unquote green light
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and how do you, uh, temper yourself? Are there things that you have in place, um, backstops,
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if you will, that you have in place to ensure that you're doing what, what you feel God would have you
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do? Great question. I want to surround myself with men and women, uh, who, who would check me,
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you know, if they see me pulling a wood chipper out, you know, and they're like, no, it's funny.
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There's no trees around there. No trees in the desert. Yeah.
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So I, I, I really do surround myself with very capable. There's a, there's a level of accountability.
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So none of us slip into nonsense. Um, and then I would say this, um, there are times where
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you just simply have to ask God, do you want this person here no more? Do you want this group of
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people to go away? Is, are you wanting to use me in decision-making to change their address permanently?
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And the Holy spirit, he's not quiet to me. He gives me a piece. He gives me confirmation.
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And I've heard plenty of times hold or don't. I'll give you a great example. Uh, and this may,
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I hope people receive this correctly, but about three, I think it was three months ago. Somebody
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tried to kill me here in the U S they were hiding in a trailer. When I went by it, they shot at me
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through a tinted window. So it was an ambush. And, uh, we, we measured, it was like a 36 inch
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difference from point of barrel to my head. And the bullet missed me. The first one was like two
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inches from my face right here. And, uh, again, it was all measured out. And, uh, you know, my first
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thought when that happened, it was, I had two thoughts. One that's really loud because there's
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a wall behind me. I was like, ow. And the second one that I was just, you know, low IQ. Uh, I mean,
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I drew my weapon, moved off and, and my first thought was, that's not funny. I mean, shooting
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at me that close, that'd get you killed. And then I realized, Oh, so I, this guy is trying
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to kill me. I put my red dot on him where he was. I could have, I mean, it would have been
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so easy, easy, like not even, you know, nothing to brag about. I could have just smoked this
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dude. And I heard the Holy Spirit say, don't shoot him. And I put my weapon in, moved to
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a different cover. Uh, and I said, Oh, I mean, it wasn't an argument, Ryan. I, I, I must
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tell your viewers. It wasn't why it wasn't a question. I said, okay. And then I told the
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guy, Hey man, you, you got to throw that weapon out the way you're going to get killed. Boom.
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He shoots again. I moved to a different cover. I put my red dot on him again. Very, I could
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very quietly hear the Holy Spirit say, don't shoot him. And again, I'm not going to
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start arguing at my stage in the game and a lifetime of a lot of experiences of you better
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hear and obey God or won't turn out the best way. Even if you think, well, this is a better
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way. God knows best. It ended up being a five and a half hour standoff. We called, I called,
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you know, the sheriff department, which I think it was about a half hour delay before the first
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unit came. So I had other opportunities to smoke this guy. And what I did tell my wife,
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cause she was on scene where we were and we had to protect some elderly people in this little
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house next to this trailer where he shot him. I just told my wife, I said, now get a shot
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of him. I said, but if he comes around the corner to come in this house, I'll kill him.
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I just want you to be ready. And everybody, I'm going to have to kill this guy. And my wife
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was like, okay. And I had a piece too. Cause that, that I can't let him come into the house
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and kill everybody. So see, that's the green light. I knew. And it's like, okay. So I had
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settled that and I felt a piece. It was like, God's in, if he goes on that corner, you can,
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but he didn't, he stayed up on that trailer five and a half hours standoff with SWAT,
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you know, drones, everything, EOD, they came out and three minutes before they were going to,
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you know, hit that door. Cause I was part of this process. He surrendered and he came out
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and, uh, you know, then have a weapon. And on the 19th of last month, he was arraigned for second
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degree attempted murder. So, so, so what's the difference? Well, now he has a chance to get right
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with God, uh, get his life straight. He's going to have to pay a consequence. If I would have killed
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him, it would have been justified by everybody except God. And God knows the other thing.
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It gave me an opportunity to learn to forgive again in a different way. Cause I've forgiven
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perpetrators of my childhood, different things. This was very fresh. And the first night I forgave
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him, Ryan, I said, Lord, I forgive that man. And thank you that all I got was shrapnel in my eye
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from the aluminum frame. Although I told my wife, I think the bullet hit me in my eye and it bounced
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off. I'm not sure. We'll have to ask it. That's absolutely what happened. Yeah. And she's like,
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really? I said, I, can I get a patch or something? Uh, I want to walk around like a pirate for a minute.
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That's right. And I think on my wife, cause she shoots as good as me. So, uh, or I've been
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overseas and I'm like, you know, man, there was this time ISIS was coming up and they were hitting
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the, and it was, it was, and she's like, yeah, I know I was next to you, babe. Okay. Remember
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didn't quite go exactly the way you recall, but pretty close. Or if it did, she literally was right
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there. She's like, honey, I was there. I remember. Okay. Can we move on? Like, Oh, all right.
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I mean, uh, we were just at shot show, just a sidebar. We're out on rain state and people
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letting us shoot their weapons. And, uh, she sits down behind this weapon and I asked the guy,
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can she shoot? Oh yeah. And he goes, he got, he's like, ma'am, there's a, there's a hundred yard
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target right out there. And you want to put the crosshairs. And I said, what's the one way out
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there? He goes, Oh, that's a thousand yards. I said, can you let the little lady try? He's like,
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sure. Sure enough. He dialed her in. Boom. She hit it a thousand yards. Every person on our team,
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five people right there hit a thousand yard shot. Boom, boom, boom. So that goes back to my point.
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So for great people, I have a history of Lord. Tell me, cause I've done things on my own and regretted it.
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And like, I should have listened, but yeah, it's, um, I think I know God's grace better.
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I did get very angry at the person who shot at me here, but it was like a couple days later
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when, you know, like investigation, measuring the distance. And I went into the trailer and saw
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how the tinted window, it was an ambush. I mean, he's shooting at me and I couldn't even see him.
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And I got, I got pretty angry about that. And which is just processing, processing, you know,
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a trauma. Um, but what was funny was the first officer who came on scene at the end of the night,
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he's done reporting. He said, I got a buddy next to me, but he's going through a victimization
00:25:12.160
in a brochure. And he says, sir, being shot at is a very traumatic experience.
00:25:18.340
Here's some services we offer and you may want to, I said, Oh, thank you. He said,
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do you have any questions? I go, do y'all offer like coupons to cold stone?
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Is that really, that can really help me. And he's gone. He's a younger officer going, I,
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I maybe we can. And then he's anything else. I go, could you hold me? He's like, okay,
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this is getting odd. My buddy's like, trust me, he'd been shot at. So yeah. Yeah. So hearing God
00:25:49.000
is important. And I, man, I encourage, man, you got to practice it. Got to practice. God is this you?
00:25:55.400
What do you want me to do? And normally it's uncomfortable stuff, stuff down to yourself.
00:26:01.460
How, uh, how is your wife with all of this? She sounds, it sounds like she's, she's your partner
00:26:05.920
in crime, so to speak. And she's fully on board. Has this always been the case or has, has there been
00:26:11.480
a gradual move or her accepting, Hey, this is just the way Victor is, or what does that relationship
00:26:17.580
look like? Cause I know you guys have had your, your share of marital struggles as well. It seems
00:26:22.320
like you guys are doing some amazing things now. Well, thanks. We, you know, she is an alpha
00:26:27.540
female. And I'm only saying that for lack of a better term. She's, she's a very capable,
00:26:34.560
strong willed woman. There's no other way around it. I mean, she had born miss fitness USA. She had
00:26:40.620
her company before me. So she's not a little Daisy. I call her my rose with thorns and that, that caused
00:26:47.840
problems cause she's super competitive. And we ran martial arts schools together. We trained together.
00:26:53.340
Um, and quite frankly, I told her, I said, look, you're more intelligent than me. All right. It's
00:27:00.000
not a contest. Um, and we would butt heads and, you know, cause she didn't like me making the final
00:27:06.780
decisions on some things early on. And it came, you know, I got tired of fighting with her. Um, and I
00:27:14.820
just said, look, here's the deal. You make a better decision. You're more intelligent, but you're not
00:27:22.000
the husband. So I have to answer to God. You'll have to answer to him. And if I mess up, he'll do
00:27:29.600
course correction, but you're supposed to support me. And then I let her know. I, before I weigh in
00:27:35.840
on some, I'll say, what do you think? And I helped her understand. I understand your value. It'd just
00:27:42.260
be like a team member, you know, where if you're doing something, let's say you're shooting, you got
00:27:50.260
a spotter. You're not going to tell your spotter. I don't, I don't like, you know, two clips to the
00:27:55.320
right that he's seeing stuff. You don't heat mirages. When is it? So that's, I look at my wife
00:28:03.620
when it's time for me to pull the trigger. But a lot of times I'm like, honey, get behind the weapon,
00:28:08.060
you know, and I would encourage men and wives to learn. Our model is learn to fight back to back,
00:28:13.940
not nose to nose. And she has been with me and some of the most high risk hell zones
00:28:24.780
ever. You, I'll just say this. You want to know a hard conversation is when your wife, you're going
00:28:33.940
to Syria or Iraq and your wife looks at you and says, if things go sideways, don't let anyone take
00:28:45.000
me. Give me your word. Do not let me be taken by ISIS. And I know what that meant. And I, you know,
00:28:55.000
I was like, this is crazy. Why are we having this conversation? But you know, guys, I do things with
00:29:02.840
who have lots of experience, you know, nobody wants to be taken captive. Yeah, of course,
00:29:08.120
because of the outcomes, but that's a weird conversation to have with your wife.
00:29:12.540
And, and then there's fun parts too. I remember we were in Syria leading the team to an ISIS
00:29:19.320
confinement camp. And we were, we had to hide in this little place one night. It was, I can't even,
00:29:25.820
it's not a hotel. It was just this little, and we were in a second story room and Assad's men
00:29:32.840
were about 150 yards from us. So I got a guy on the door with a, you know, weapon. We have
00:29:40.860
a dog, one of our trained dogs and that a tomahawk. And so we get in this, it's rackety little place
00:29:50.540
and nasty, but we got to catch some shut-eye. I think we had done eight hours on the road,
00:29:56.860
you know, home by home, trying to get to where we are before the next day. We're laying there in bed,
00:30:01.140
exhausted. Ryan, I turn over and look at her and said, Hey, what's up? I said, what? I said,
00:30:09.560
Hey, you know, got that rule, new country. The love. She's like, you gotta be kidding me.
00:30:18.080
We got ISIS. We're going to, I said, I want to tell the story to operators and team. I go,
00:30:27.020
all I got to say is mission accomplished. So yeah, that was the Arabian night that night.
00:30:33.420
So under great stress and hardship, we have to choose. I mean, you either spend your energy
00:30:42.340
on being an ass and not making things work out or go, Hey, let's just, let's focus on the positive
00:30:48.940
here. What let's have fun. Let's have fun with our lives. Stress is enough. And so not nose to nose,
00:30:59.020
Man, let me just step away from the conversation very quickly. Guys, we only have five spots to our
00:31:03.500
uprising experience on May 2nd through the 5th, 2024. And I would love for you to join me and also 19 other
00:31:10.780
men for an unforgettable experience to forge deep bonds with other high caliber, high producing
00:31:16.840
men. When you join with us, you're going to descend to Southern Utah to be put to the test in a way
00:31:22.760
that you've never been before. And you're going to walk away with new bonds and new information that
00:31:28.740
are going to help you elevate your life across all fronts. Now, remember, we only have five spots
00:31:34.340
remaining, and I want you to be one of those five that come with us because this is going to be
00:31:39.740
an experience that yes, we've done in the past, but it's been six years. So I've got some new tricks
00:31:44.880
up my sleeve to help you take your life to the next level. You can join us this spring in May
00:31:50.200
and get registered at order of man.com slash uprising. That's order of man.com slash uprising.
00:32:00.400
Yeah, that's powerful. Tell me a little bit about your recent trip to Israel and Gaza,
00:32:05.660
Gaza, because I think there's a lot of misconception. I think there's a lot of
00:32:09.520
propaganda. There's a lot of misunderstanding. I mean, I hear it. I'm not an expert, so I can't say
00:32:14.560
that I know much about it other than what I received through the news and various outlets. But
00:32:19.340
it seems to me that people are so confused about what in the world is happening in Israel.
00:32:23.560
Yeah. Well, there is some confusion. We were there literally the week after it happened.
00:32:31.360
We assembled a team. We got access and placement and an invitation because I won't go. There are
00:32:37.080
people that try to force themselves into situations, organizations, and then they end up calling me.
00:32:44.820
You know, one of my guys saying, hey, are y'all in country? What are y'all doing? Can we do something
00:32:48.500
with y'all? And we're like, thanks. No, there's not a need. We're, love you guys. Go do what y'all
00:32:56.480
need to do. And for us, first, I had to see the carnage. I had to see the attacks. I had to see with
00:33:06.440
my own eyes the places that were hit. That was my first order of business. And I will say it was
00:33:13.400
the worst carnage I've ever seen in my life of massive slaughtering. And I was at the, I mean,
00:33:20.320
I was at the music grounds. I was in the kibbutzes. Um, and it was so bad, Ryan, that I made a
00:33:30.160
commitment. When I came back from that pump, I said, uh, I will never wear the same boots again.
00:33:35.180
And I didn't, um, I will not put those boots on. I walked in so much children's blood and just,
00:33:43.880
I mean, seeing bloodstains where kids and women are being dragged out hands on a wall where, you
00:33:51.600
know, a child's trying to grab a wall and they got blood on their hands. It was just nonstop. It was
00:33:56.300
just nonstop. Going to a room where the dad had pulled out his pistol and emptied his mag casings
00:34:03.300
everywhere. Then looking at the rounds that a mosque was shooting through the door and then killed all
00:34:09.460
of them. Um, so I saw it firsthand and it was evil. It was unprovoked. It's unjustified. It was a terrorist
00:34:21.620
act. Now where confusion comes in is people say, one, how did they even get in? Because Israel is so tight.
00:34:32.100
And two, why was there a six hour delay of the idea of forces to respond to the attack? Those are
00:34:40.220
valid. And I'll say this risking relationships. There's some messed up stuff in the leadership in
00:34:47.800
Israel. Absolutely messed up. And I have relationship with SF teams units that we train that are fighting
00:34:56.640
right now. I get, I still get calms for prayer and encouragement. I mean, we, we outfitted,
00:35:04.900
we brought gear, stuff that they need, but I'll tell you some very bad leadership decisions were made
00:35:13.320
to not allow the IDF to respond because we're talking the Gaza strips. I mean, from where helicopters could be
00:35:22.300
spun up and they could hit, I mean, it's like a 10 minute deal and they're always on semi alert
00:35:29.920
because rockets never stopped. While we were there, we caught 2000 rockets that had come in from Hamas.
00:35:39.200
So there is bad stuff happening in the leadership of Israel that people better be fired or prosecuted
00:35:46.880
because as always, it's the kids that pay the biggest price for man's selfishness and war.
00:35:54.880
But the other pieces, the Palestinians, right? I have Palestinian friends. I went into the West Bank.
00:36:03.880
There are even Christians who are Palestinians that love God. There are Muslim friends I have.
00:36:09.960
I mean, very close to that hate Hamas, but it's, it's like most people of our persuasion,
00:36:20.760
we're not big fans of Biden in the administration, right? Cause they just suck. And, and I would say
00:36:28.880
this, what can we do to change Biden's decision on the border? Like, but we haven't done any,
00:36:35.400
there's been no formal evil seeps keeps coming in, pouring in Hamas is about a thousand times worse
00:36:43.400
than Biden, because if you stand up or say anything, they just kill you. They'll kill your family.
00:36:50.120
So I need people to understand there are great, wonderful Palestinians that just want a simple life.
00:36:57.040
And I'd say this is the number of percentage I got. It's, it's speculation, but about 70% of the people
00:37:04.920
would not want to live under Hamas rule. But that other 30% Palestinians mixed with Hamas,
00:37:11.900
they're evil, man. And people like that, what people don't understand, let me ask you,
00:37:18.400
did you know this? That when Hamas hit the initial 23 events, boom, they come through,
00:37:25.200
they're killing, raping. Did you know a second wave came in from, from Gaza?
00:37:33.600
A second wave, your viewers, I'm telling you firsthand, second wave came in and they were
00:37:38.280
Palestinians. They were Hamas sympathizers, all civilians. They came in, man, they're finding
00:37:46.580
people hiding, they're shooting them, they're raping them. They're taking batteries out of cars
00:37:53.360
because they can't get them. And it was like a, it was pillage and plunder. So this is where the
00:38:02.040
Israelis struggle with this sense of justice and a hatred. And I'll tell you what, if it would be
00:38:15.620
equivalent to a terrorist organization coming up through Tijuana, killing about 45,000 people in
00:38:22.500
San Diego up to say, you know, Oceanside or whatever, if that happened, man, people would be
00:38:31.080
freaking out. If my friends in Texas, if, if cartels started firing rockets over the border,
00:38:38.940
hitting towns, how long do you think we would? No, one day of that, not one day of that. And there's
00:38:46.320
going to be a bunch of hurt feelings. So, so it's both and, but again, we, we've been able to help
00:38:53.180
close to 5,000 kids who've, it really suffered. And did we go into Gaza? Yeah. I mean, it was a
00:39:03.760
reconnaissance group. We were told we were the only Americans that have been allowed to go into
00:39:09.120
Gaza. Um, and you know, the most important thing I did there was pray literally at one point I'm
00:39:18.280
standing silhouetted with my hands up praying against evil because God, I felt like God told me
00:39:25.520
to. I got IDF guys hiding for cover smartly. I would have been there too, but God said, you stand and
00:39:32.240
pray. And these guys, even some FTF teams are going, what the hell? There's a sniper. And there
00:39:39.400
was, we got video. And I'm just praying. And, um, I hear the, the tracks of a tank and this tank
00:39:52.820
comes out of nowhere, turns its turret and hits that building. And I was like, that worked.
00:39:59.780
That was good. And I, I, I'd never put my hands down until I was done. And I remember when we were
00:40:05.980
rolling out, a friend of mine, uh, there just courageous warrior. His name is guy. He's like,
00:40:14.340
wow. Wow. You guys faith. That's a lot of faith. And then he's like, why are you here?
00:40:22.560
Sick as God loves us. We love y'all. He told us to come and help. So there's still over a hundred
00:40:30.400
hostages in Gaza. And, um, if I had to roll the dice, I I'm hopeful, but I'm realistic. It's all
00:40:43.700
going to get way worse than it has already with, with the body count on both sides. And I need people
00:40:51.980
to know who waving Palestinian flags. If you're not at the same time cursing Hamas and standing
00:40:59.700
against them, then you're a Hamas sympathizer. Don't wave, don't wave a Palestinian flag without
00:41:05.360
equally saying Hamas is evil because it, that's the reality. And, you know, uh, here in America,
00:41:15.620
I give young people a pass because they're just so many idiots that, you know, they'll protest about
00:41:21.180
anything. So I'm like, you're young and foolish. I give you a pass. Those people who are like a
00:41:26.760
little more aggressive in their stance, right? And I'm like, uh, you're a sympathizer. And I would
00:41:33.200
have agencies watch you because now you're at risk for being radicalized for Hamas's beliefs here in
00:41:39.960
the U S and then there's other people that just come right out and support Hamas. I'm like, you
00:41:45.440
should be arrested or deported right now, which brings me to this next point. People had better
00:41:52.600
get really ready for what's going to happen in America. I'm not a doomsdayer. I'm not a conspiracy
00:41:59.780
guy, but I have lived, my family and I have lived through the zombie apocalypse. We still have a
00:42:06.880
house in Iraq. I know what it's like to live in a war zone, wartime era and all that. There are far
00:42:14.300
too many bad people that have been allowed to get into the U S by our government intentionally.
00:42:22.440
There are sales because trust me, I have team members that still have TS security cleansers and
00:42:29.800
higher. And that's how we stay alive on a lot of stuff. And that's why we're so effective. Our
00:42:36.100
network, we don't move on assumptions. We, we, we base on what we do on facts, but the facts are there
00:42:44.680
a lot of people in the U S right now that are nefarious characters in sales organized and structured
00:42:52.320
from multiple nations, multiple, and they're waiting for the green light. And the two things,
00:43:01.020
my friends, SF fighters in Israel told me, I said, how, what, what would you say to this attack?
00:43:08.760
Two things. Everyone said, two things. We were underprepared. We simply were underprepared. We
00:43:14.960
never thought we, their plan, their plan was like maybe eight to nine Hamas guys get through. So each
00:43:23.840
community only had 10 rifles, 10 rifles in the entire Gator community, 10 rifles with 50 rounds each
00:43:31.780
that was in the armory. And that's what they were prepared for. They were overwhelmed by about 3000 guys
00:43:38.200
and RPGs. And I mean, they were outfitted. I'm prepared. The second thing, Ron was, they said,
00:43:44.640
we underestimated our enemy, underestimated the capabilities. And right now Americans by and
00:43:54.740
large are lazy, apathetic, and ignorant. And, and I'm saying a large portion, there's a core group of
00:44:02.900
people now that are standing up that are, you know, and I'm telling you, that's especially combat
00:44:11.460
vets. They're the last ones that want to get involved because they've seen it. And believe me,
00:44:18.660
it is a lot like Mel Gibson in that movie, the Patriot, you put your tools away. And it's like,
00:44:25.200
don't, I don't want to become that person again, just handle this. And there's so many good guys
00:44:33.720
and they don't want to be awakened because if they do, I'm telling you, it doesn't matter a title.
00:44:42.080
It doesn't matter. These men will lead and people will follow them because if we're getting attacked
00:44:48.480
in multiple locations, if they're attacking our grid, if food supplies are dismissed,
00:44:54.700
leaders will always rise up. And all we want is peace. Those of us who have seen a lot of nonsense
00:45:03.340
overseas. And for me, it's like I said, I, you know, how many times in the last 10 years, all in my
00:45:09.760
fifties, it's like, I want peace, man. I'm a grandfather. I want peace. I want my grandkids to live.
00:45:18.480
But I'll tell you, you know, it's, I really believe in my heart. It's not if, but when right
00:45:27.560
now, Iran is attack is antagonizing the U S through all these attacks on bases, what they need
00:45:35.640
jihadists. Believe me, I've got some of the best counter-terrorist experts on our task force
00:45:41.620
and in our ministry for what we do. And that's why we've been very successful.
00:45:48.480
And, and, and what we do, cause these are experienced, thick data, men and women from
00:45:53.520
analysts to operators, from Delta unit to team six and everybody in between. But I'll say
00:46:02.120
this and only say that to kind of, cause that's what people, but trust me, other teams, SF
00:46:09.120
Rangers assist. Oh, they're all great guys who really did the deal down to Marines who are
00:46:15.480
crayon eaters. And you always know what you're going to get because they'll, they're head first
00:46:19.860
and they'll do the fighting. But it's very important for people to understand, be prepared
00:46:24.700
so you're not paranoid, understand and know your neighbors, find out in your neighborhood. Who's,
00:46:30.180
who's elderly, where the single moms get to know them. Um, what I can't stand are, you know,
00:46:37.980
that older version of preppers are like, you know, I got my, I got mine. I got, I got my food
00:46:44.760
and my guns. Anybody comes around, I'm gonna shoot them. I'm like, no, you won't. Have you
00:46:48.580
ever shot somebody? Have you ever, have you ever had to kill somebody point blank because
00:46:53.280
they want to get your, you know, tuna fish. So stop with this stupid, you're, you want to help
00:47:01.960
people. And now if marauders come by, if people are going to loot, then some people, they need to
00:47:10.240
get their feelings hurt where that won't happen. But you got to do this based out of love. And some
00:47:15.980
of the best guys I've ever served with on my teams who are legends in many circles, trust
00:47:23.320
me, they do their stuff out of love. And you know, some people are gifted with extreme
00:47:30.820
violence against evil and they need to be respected and appreciated because they're the ones you
00:47:38.340
want pointing forward. Just like a claymore mine, point them toward the enemy. I'm rattling
00:47:43.740
on, but you give me passion about that stuff because I, I, I care for America and, and I've
00:47:49.000
seen, and I know what can happen and I don't want it to. I feel like I'm a watchman on the
00:47:55.160
wall and I got to shout it so people understand. And again, my life and experience in history,
00:48:02.080
it doesn't lend itself to sensationalism or conspiracy. It's just, we're just very real and we keep
00:48:10.440
doing what we're doing. I'm grateful for you and those other men and women who are gifted
00:48:16.880
with extreme violence. Um, I want to be respectful of your time. I know you've got a, a deadline and a
00:48:22.160
hard stop, so I'm going to get you out of here. Uh, will you let the guys know where to connect
00:48:26.720
with you? We didn't talk about it much, but you've got a book coming out this father's day called
00:48:30.500
the dangerous gentlemen. So, um, maybe they can connect with you in that way. When the book comes
00:48:34.760
out, I'd be honored to have you back on and do a part two of this podcast to promote the book and
00:48:39.000
the message. Um, let the guys know where to connect with you. Yeah. You know, thank you. And, and I'd
00:48:44.700
love that. It's, um, the dangerous gentlemen, it's just a book of, uh, of stories of life experiences
00:48:50.880
because I'm, you know, I, I call myself one of the older lions wanting to help the younger and
00:48:57.360
midlines, you know, uh, navigate through the minefield and it's a, it's an easy read. And
00:49:04.620
that, I mean, people, I have a lot of thousands of men that contact me because of the reach of
00:49:10.960
social media, right? Outside of that, I'd just be, nobody would know about me, but you know,
00:49:16.540
they say mentor me. I need to be mentored. And I go, well, I am. If you follow me on social media,
00:49:21.740
if you're on my email list, if you read my books, I am entering use the best I can,
00:49:27.440
but the Victor marks with the next.com. I do have an email on there that people can sign up for.
00:49:33.240
And then I have a daily intelligence brief that I would, I would highly recommend. Uh, it's just
00:49:39.080
Victor marks.com forward slash D I B daily intelligence brief. And we just put together a
00:49:46.720
single page of recommendations from food to communications to right now I'm going through
00:49:53.100
best weapons that I think are fit. And people look, they don't have to have a lot of money to
00:49:59.160
get prepared. Uh, you know, I'm a, I'm an edge weapon guy. I have a signature blade and, and I have
00:50:06.860
friends who make knives. They send them to me and I love knives, but I've been in the countries where
00:50:12.480
you couldn't sneak a weapon in and you know, you can't carry, but we would go and find a
00:50:20.800
screwdriver, wrap it with tape, make a, make a little sheet sticking on a belt line so that that
00:50:27.780
could get people's attention. Cause you can kill somebody, just go with a screwdrivers. You can,
00:50:32.860
you know, $400 blade. So there are some practical things that people should be watching and listening.
00:50:39.860
And I'm telling you between now and the election, and then the year after something's bad.
00:50:48.120
The probability is so high unless, and this is my caveat, unless I think Christians,
00:50:54.320
and that's what people of faith, repent, turn from their wicked ways, humble themselves before
00:51:00.580
God almighty. He's the only one that can heal our land. It's, that's the only hope from the
00:51:06.720
Christian perspective. And then the others just take care of people. So yeah, follow me on
00:51:11.700
victormarchs.com. Of course I'm on all the social medias. If you haven't heard my interview with
00:51:17.600
Sean Ryan, that to date is the best three part series I've ever done on my life story. And I'll
00:51:24.960
never do it again. I told Ryan, I said, Ryan, this is it, man. I'm doing this for you and your audience.
00:51:31.100
But, uh, you know, there's a movie out of my life story, Victor Mark story on YouTube. It's,
00:51:37.720
it's a little dated, but you'll get to see my real biological dad in that you'll get to hear my
00:51:42.840
wife, kids. It's, it's personal. And I would encourage people to watch that. It's an hour.
00:51:48.920
Uh, the other thing I would say right now, very important. There's a film coming out February the
00:51:54.840
8th. So if, if y'all are watching this past that it's called letters to the American church,
00:52:01.140
and I think Epic, uh, you have to watch it online, but just listen to me letters to the American church
00:52:09.560
is the best short documentary film I can recommend right now to give people of faith, a very clear
00:52:16.960
understanding of the comparison between Germany and what's happening right now. And before faith
00:52:24.060
can be increased, you've got to look at the facts and go, Oh, this makes sense. And then, um, we have
00:52:30.800
a spiritual warfare film coming out later this year, the book, and I'd ask people to pray. I, I, I know
00:52:38.280
it sounds silly, but you know, prayer matters. If you want to support us, great. We, we love that.
00:52:44.000
We're not, we don't pour mouth to anything. We feel like what God gives us, that's our resources
00:52:49.300
to do what we do. But you know, I gotta, I just got a photo of a girl who's got a glass eye that's
00:52:57.460
hanging out. It's like plastic. It was because of ISIS and our team in Iraq's like, Hey man,
00:53:04.420
nobody's going to help this girl. I'm like, we will, but let's get that girl, you know, situated.
00:53:11.560
But I ask people for prayer and, um, and I'm very intentional about what, you know, me personally
00:53:19.800
from fitness, strength, mental capacity to spiritual, uh, readiness. And I think it's just a good time for
00:53:29.900
people to be motivated to be mission ready in all those areas because, uh, sooner or later,
00:53:35.460
we're all going to die. And I tell people, you better have that box checked that you're all right
00:53:41.960
because it doesn't matter everything else that that is the ultimate. Okay, here we go. And there's no
00:53:49.700
reason for people not to be prepared for that. And my faith is through Christ Jesus. And I'm,
00:53:55.840
I'm bold about it because I just, I believe it. And I've shared my faith with ISIS fighters
00:54:01.840
right before they were going to take a dirt nap. And, and I'm just like, you want to know how I
00:54:09.900
know? And they're like, please tell me as their hands are behind their back. And I'd share my faith
00:54:13.960
and I'd say, I hope you find that in Christ Jesus for your surety of salvation. So I appreciate you.
00:54:21.000
Let me close with this, man. I know what it takes for a man to get out of his comfort zone
00:54:25.780
and move from that, move from that, just struggling apathy, you know, day-to-day grind,
00:54:34.200
not feel like his value or mission, but you did something at some point in your life, Ryan,
00:54:40.880
where you said, no, I can do better than this. And you've kept God first in your family and,
00:54:48.660
and you're helping other men. And that is a huge, that is a huge thing. I, I tell men,
00:54:56.360
don't think you got to go overseas to get something done. You better be called to it because
00:55:02.600
trust me. And I've seen it. I've seen it. I've held dead and dying men. You want to make sure in
00:55:08.940
the lane that you're supposed to run in. And, you know, there's nothing heroic about trying to hold
00:55:14.820
your guts in or legs blown off when you weren't even supposed to be there. And it's completely
00:55:20.480
heroic and courageous. If you die serving God in the way that he's called you to do. So I tell men,
00:55:27.020
die to your own flesh. Stop looking at porn. Help us pedophiles in the U.S. by leading a better life.
00:55:35.360
Love, love your family, love your kids, man, protect them against evil. Stand up and fight
00:55:42.900
that fight. That's the first line of defense. And that's what matters. So thank you, man. I
00:55:47.960
appreciate you. That's the best way I know how to say it. Thank you, Victor. I appreciate it. We'll
00:55:52.960
sync everything up. Keep doing what you're doing. We'll, we'll keep following and we'll lead on our
00:55:57.280
end as well. So I appreciate you. Thanks for taking some time with us today. You bet.
00:56:01.620
Gentlemen, there you go. My conversation with the one and only Victor Marks. I hope you enjoyed that
00:56:08.340
one as much as I do. And I hope you're called to lead and called to action. Obviously we're not all
00:56:12.260
going to do what Victor does. I don't even think that's a necessity, but I think we can do our own
00:56:16.360
part within the walls of our homes, our communities, our neighborhoods, our businesses. And the more that
00:56:21.500
we step up and boldly assert ourselves as men to help lead others, I think the better society is going
00:56:27.940
to be. So please make sure you connect with Victor, take a screenshot real quick, tag Victor, tag myself,
00:56:33.340
hit me up on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X, et cetera. Um, look for his new book coming out on
00:56:38.740
father's day, which is called the dangerous gentlemen. And then the meantime, make sure you
00:56:42.720
support Montana knife company and use the code order of man to save some money when you do. And then
00:56:47.860
look at our uprising experience may 2nd through the 5th, 2024. You can do that at order of man.com
00:56:54.720
slash uprising. All right, guys, that is our conversation for today. We'll be back tomorrow
00:57:00.480
for our ask me anything until then go out there, take action and become the man you are meant to be.
00:57:06.860
Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life
00:57:11.480
and be more of the man you were meant to be. We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.