The Southport mass murder on September 27th, 2025 really hit me on a personal level. For one thing, I know that area extremely well. Southport is the picture you’d put on Wikipedia for “what is a Carolina coastal town supposed to be” to explain the greatness of the area. It’s a peaceful, quiet place based around enjoying life on the edge of the sea.
For the second thing, as soon as the perpetrator of the shooting became known, I knew we were in for another round of really bad takes around not just mass shootings but veteran violence and PTSD. Then two days later, another veteran murdered and burned down a LDS church in Michigan in what looks like a hate-filled attack against Mormons. So even more bad takes inbound on veterans and violence.
For the bad faith troublemakers let me once again make this crystal clear: Nothing justifies murderous rampages, that isn’t what we are doing here. There is no justice this side of eternity for the victims of these crimes, but our system should do its best to try and get as close to justice as we can. The Southport shooter especially with a long history of being non-compliant and adversarial to care should be judged accordingly in his upcoming trial. His legitimate issues can be brought up as mitigating factors, but never an excuse. The killer in Michigan is dead, and while some will call that justice, the families of his victims will not get any legal process at all to answer the unanswerable question of why or getting to see the person who did this take account for it.
I assure you I don’t want to talk about any of this. But the privilege of a platform brings a responsibility to talk about it.
I’ve been doing media with my friend Joe Catenacci for nearly a decade. Joe got me into radio and gave me my first shot at guest hosting in addition to being a guest. When I did my usual Monday appearance with him he texted with a desire to really get into the vet angle but wanted to give it a day or two to breath, I agreed to come on two days later and do so.
This is what that hit is. Started out lighthearted with jokes about the long-delayed Trader Joe’s opening on the Grand Strand after 20 years of rumors and false starts. But I really hope folks listen as we take the headlines and walk through the history of vets and how they are covered with things like PTSD, and why only bringing it up when criminality shines a spotlight means a doom loop of not dealing with the vast, vast majority of folks honestly seeking help, working through issues, or not knowing what to do.
And not knowing what else to do to cut through the noise, use myself and my grandfather as examples.
Please do listen, share, and respond.
