Meet the new Tango Alpha Lima podcast co-hosts
American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast co-host Stacy Pearsall is getting two new co-pilots.
Joining Pearsall are Adam Marr and Joe Worley as co-hosts, starting with this special Leap Day episode where we welcome them to the team. Pearsall, Marr and Worley will return next Tuesday with their first regular episode featuring a special guest.
But for now, let’s meet the new co-hosts.
Adam Marr, who appeared as a guest on this Be the One episode, is a veteran of the Iraq War who flew Apache helicopters. Worley, a former Navy corpsman, received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his actions when he was severely wounded.
Meet Adam Marr
Marr is a passionate advocate for veterans mental health and a key figure in advancing veterans' wellbeing since leaving the service in 2015. He is the co-founder of Warrior Angels Foundation, and is author of the best-selling book "Tales from the Blast Factory," which inspired the award-winning feature documentary film Quiet Explosions: Healing The Brain.
He is the director of operations for the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition and Reason for Hope, which advocates at the state and federal levels to reduce regulatory barriers and open access and programs to lifesaving therapies like MDMA and psilocybin to combat the veteran suicide and opioid addiction epidemics.
Marr is a member of American Legion Chester R. Vickery Post 12 in Dothan, Ala., where he serves as the post chaplain. He lives in Slocomb, Ala., where he learned to fly helicopters and met the love of his life, Alycia, his wife of 14 years and mother to their three children, Amelia, Austin, and Aria.
Meet Joe “Doc” Worley
Worley served in Iraq as a Navy corpsman. He was an infantry platoon medic in Second Battalion, First Marines, in Fallujah in 2004.
On Sept. 17, 2004, an IED exploded into a Humvee killing a Marine and an Iraqi interpreter. Just 10 days prior, his former platoon lost seven Marines who were killed in action when a vehicle-borne IED drove into their patrol.
The attrition from the blast was so severe that the platoon, known as Pale Rider Three, would be disbanded and the surviving Marines sent to other platoons in Fox Company. As he was running to the aid of two comrades mortally wounded by an IED, Worley was hit by a secondary IED that blew off his left leg, and severely wounded his right leg. Worley tied his own tourniquet while shouting instructions on how to treat the wounded Marines.
After 18 months of rehabilitation, he now lives in Georgia with his family, and works for America's VetDogs, a nonprofit that trains service and guide dogs for military and first responders.
Worley also writes, sings, and narrates audiobooks, and tries to stay active in the gym so he can eat donuts and pizza in his spare time.
Check out this episode, which is among more than 230 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.