To celebrate Father’s Day, retired Army Colonel Mike “Sully” Sullivan and his daughter, Olympic bronze medalist and Army Captain Sammy Sullivan, talk about five generations of military service, accidental trailblazing, a Green Beret’s surprisingly tender parenting philosophy, developing grit and more.

Sully, the executive director of Team Red, White & Blue, also discusses the organization’s mission to keep veterans “left of clinical.”

Plus: New research on team sports as therapy, and how The American Legion supports adaptive sports programs.

SHOW LINKS

Learn more about Solace Health and check your eligibility here

Learn more about Team RWB

Learn more about the Army World Class Athlete Program

Learn more about Capt. Sammy Sullivan and Team USA Rugby Women's Eagle Sevens

There is still time to be part of The American Legion Family USA 250 Challenge

Read more of the Journal of Veterans Studies report on how team sports help veterans with PTSD

Find out more about how The American Legion can help you get back in the game with Operation Comfort Warrior grants.

Follow the progress of the Veterans SPORT Act on and the National Veterans Strategy Act of 2026 Capitol Hill

Your stories. Your service. Your community. This is Tango Alpha Lima.

What does it take to reach tens of millions of people a month while still on active duty? For Army Sgt. First Class Johnny Vargas — better known as Viva La Vargas — it started with a car fire, a recruiting station and a promise to himself to show up every single day.

In this episode, Johnny chats about his journey from aspiring recording artist in Los Angeles to one of the military community's most trusted and entertaining voices online. He breaks down the three pillars that guide every piece of content he creates, explains why staying nonpartisan isn't just a strategy but a responsibility, and shares two powerful stories of how a single social media post changed real lives — including a family fighting a $800,000 insurance billing error while their toddler battled a terminal brain tumor.

Johnny also shares a closing message about mental health that every veteran and servicemember needs to hear, which is in line with The American Legion's Be the One mission to create mental health awareness.

Also in this episode, the hosts discuss a veteran-founded nonprofit turning vets into entrepreneurs, the growing world of remembrance tattoos, and Women Veterans Day on June 12.

Show Links

• Celebrate Women Veterans Day
• Learn more about VivaLaVargas
• Check out the Warrior Rising Activate Accelerator
• Check out the Task & Purpose article about TAPS gallery of military memorial tattoos

On Aug. 26, 2021, Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, age 20, was among 13 servicemembers killed at the Abbey Gate in Kabul during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He had wanted to be a Marine since he was 8.

In the weeks after Jared's death, condolence checks from strangers filled more than a foot of mail. His father, Mark, couldn't bring himself to spend a single dollar of it.

So he launched a nonprofit instead aimed at honoring the fallen and helping servicemembers with their mental health.

On this Memorial Day episode of Tango Alpha Lima, Gold Star father Mark Schmitz joins hosts Adam Marr and Joe Worley to share the story of The Freedom 13, a mission to build therapeutic retreat camps for veterans and law enforcement on 100-plus acres in all 50 states, free of charge, with the first camp already under construction in Missouri. He also discusses the coalition of Abbey Gate families fighting for GI Bill reform and increased death benefits for fallen servicemembers.

Also on this episode: Memorial Day events around the nation, the origin story of the Battle Buddy system, and Memorial Day fitness challenges honoring the fallen — including The Murph.

SHOW LINKS

Learn more about Armed Forces Vacation Club

Visit The Freedom 13 website

Learn more about the 2026 Angels of Abbey Gate Memorial Ride

We Are The Mighty: Battle Buddies originated in the trenches of WWI

Memorial Day Challenges: The Murph