[00:00:00] Scott DeLuzio: Coming home does not always mean that you feel safe. Sometimes it means you keep your back to the wall, scan every exit and carry a weight so deep that you stop talking to the people that you even love most. There is a way forward though, and it starts by naming what has been eating at you. Our guest today, Larry Brant, helps unpack the difference between PTSD and moral injury, why guilt and shame can drive veterans into silence, and how faith, honest conversations and the right kind of group support can start restoring trust at home in your own head and in your relationship with God.

[00:00:36] You’ll walk away from this episode with language for what you may be carrying and a clear sense of where your healing can begin. Um, but before we get into this episode, I do want to take a moment to raise awareness for something that’s deeply important to our community. The Global War On Terrorism Memorial Foundation.

[00:00:55] This organization is working to build a permanent national memorial in Washington DC to honor the [00:01:00] service members of families and civilians who are impacted by the global war on terrorism. This memorial will be both a tribute to those who’ve served and a way to ensure that their sacrifices are recognized and remembered for generations to come.

[00:01:12] If you’d like to learn more or find out how you can support their mission, visit GWOTmemorialfoundation.org. Now, let’s get into today’s episode.

[00:01:19]

[00:01:32] Scott DeLuzio: Hey, Larry, welcome to the show. Really glad to have you here.

[00:01:36] Larry Brant: I am stoked

[00:01:37] to be here. Thank you for the invitation.

[00:01:39] Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. And uh, like I I said before we started recording, I’ve been looking forward to our conversation, so I, I, I think it’s gonna be a pretty great episode here for, for the listeners. So, um, we get into the meat of the conversation though, could you maybe just start by introducing yourself, telling a little bit about yourself, and, and who you are?

[00:01:55] Larry Brant: Sure. Uh, I’m Dr. Larry Brandt, which is still kind of weird to [00:02:00] say ’cause I just got the doctorate in May. Uh, so it feels a strange still

[00:02:05] Scott DeLuzio: Sure.

[00:02:05] Larry Brant: Uh, I’m currently an active duty Navy chaplain. I’ll be leaving the Navy this summer 17 years of active duty And, uh, before that I 25 years associate pastor in, uh, various Baptist churches. I was actually the music pastor and so I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree music, uh, and um. Worship in churches for 25 years and also did youth ministry, educational ministry, then in the last church I was in, which was in Lincoln, Nebraska um, I had some, uh, police and firefighters in the congregation approach me about doing chaplaincy for the city. went to my senior and I said, do you mind if I do this? And he said, no, absolutely not. Please, please do. And it was a great experience for eight years. And over that [00:03:00] time uh, God blessed and I eventually led the ministry for the city and had about, uh, 25 volunteer police and from across, uh, various denominations there in Lincoln, and it was a great experience. And during that, uh, I went a. Uh, chaplaincy training led by my denomination, and there, God’s calling to be a Navy chaplain. kind of like at Moses, at the burning bush, I tried to tell God ho...