He Couldn't Get Hired, So He Bought a Plane Ticket to Darfur | Finding Purpose Before the Military
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 25 October 2025
⏱️ 99 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sponsored by Veterans Help Group — supporting veterans navigating VA benefits.
In this incredible, unconventional story, Nate reveals how he discovered his life's purpose by taking a radical leap of faith.
In 2004, feeling adrift and disturbed by the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan, Nate knew he had to do something. Rejected by countless NGOs due to his lack of a college degree and "special skills," he refused to accept "no" for an answer.
With nothing but determination and a bold elevator pitch, he bought a plane ticket to Chad and found a way onto a UN flight to the refugee camps. Despite being interrogated by local authorities, Nate's perseverance paid off, and he was put to work—an experience that transformed his life in ways he never imagined.
This powerful, two-month journey ignited Nate's passion for service and ultimately led him to enlist in the U.S. military. A must-listen story about the warrior spirit, rising to the occasion in a time of crisis, and choosing action over complacency.
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Ryan is the creator and host of Combat Story, a podcast that captures the firsthand accounts of combat veterans, and Restricted Handling, which explores authoritarian activity and international security through conversations with world-class experts. Check out the Retricted Handling podcast at www.restrictedhandling.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | and who's going to start the podcast okay great all right and uh whenever you guys are ready we're rolling |
| 0:06.8 | all right thanks Nate thanks so much for taking the time to sit down with us of course good to be here |
| 0:13.1 | terrible timing on our part there's a Texas football game going on right now it's okay you know |
| 0:17.3 | plan this in advance to with that in mind we should be wiping the floor with you, Tep. |
| 0:22.0 | Alas, we are on the ropes. And it's all good. We might keep an eye on it. Yeah, yeah. It's right here. Line of sight. All right. Look, you can't believe everything you read online. A lot of stuff that we were able to come across. but one thing that really stood out that I wanted to start with was you spent time in Darfur |
| 0:39.9 | in Sudan before your time in the military, which I would say is pretty rare for people we end up |
| 0:45.8 | coming across. |
| 0:46.8 | I just love to hear why were you there? |
| 0:49.6 | I mean, it honestly kind of led me to the military. |
| 0:53.0 | It wasn't the only reason I joined, but it definitely |
| 0:55.4 | played a part. You know, I was 23 years old. This is in 2004, so, you know, I guess three |
| 1:03.6 | years after 9-11. I remember when that happened, I was 20, and I was living in Los Angeles |
| 1:10.4 | and kind of in my own bubble, you know, |
| 1:13.5 | run around having a good time living in a shoebox apartment and just sort of not thinking about |
| 1:19.1 | the future. But as from that, from that time, from from 9-1101 to almost exactly three years later, which is about when I left for |
| 1:31.1 | the, for the Darfur. I think I just gradually got more and more in this headspace of feeling |
| 1:40.5 | kind of like I didn't belong in the world. I didn't really play a part. I didn't, |
| 1:45.2 | I was purposeless. I just didn't feel like I contributed. Didn't feel like I'd earned the, |
| 1:50.2 | you know, golden ticket I got as far as just being born in America. And it kind of just was |
| 1:57.1 | building and building. And I wasn't good to myself either. You know, I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't exercising very much. I, you know, didn't have very meaningful, like, |
| 2:06.4 | friendships, relationships, stuff like that, just kind of drifting. And I read this Time Magazine |
| 2:12.3 | article about what was going on in the Darfur, in the Sudan. And, you know, at that time, |
... |
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