The Untold Story Behind This Veteran's Scars ft. J.R. Martinez
The Dad Edge Podcast
Larry Hagner
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 13 January 2025
⏱️ 89 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
J.R. Martinez is an army veteran, burn survivor, actor, and New York Times best-selling author who rose to national prominence as the winner of Dancing with the Stars after surviving severe burns from a roadside bomb in Iraq. Following 33 surgeries and a remarkable recovery, he now travels the world as a motivational speaker sharing his message of resilience and optimism, while advocating for veterans and burn survivors through his powerful story of adapting and overcoming.
Today, J.R. Martinez shares his remarkable journey from Central American immigrant roots through a life-changing military incident in Karbala, where he survived being trapped in a burning Humvee. His powerful story reveals how this traumatic experience, coupled with a challenging childhood, shaped his path toward resilience and transformation.
The conversation explores how J.R.'s solitary road to recovery led him to discover the healing power of service, ultimately becoming a motivational speaker and actor. Through candid reflections on presence, connection, and finding purpose in adversity, J.R. demonstrates how his darkest moments became stepping stones to inspiring others and building meaningful community connections.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Dad Edge podcast. The Dad Edge movement creates leaders of men, |
| 0:07.7 | leaders of families, and leaders of communities. We will not only impact this generation of |
| 0:12.9 | fathers, but the next generation as well. The kids we are raising will have better chances and |
| 0:18.4 | odds stacked in their favor because of the amazing example |
| 0:21.2 | that their fathers emulated for them. We are here to change the world. We are here to change |
| 0:27.5 | relationships. We are here to positively disrupt this generation of fathers so no man goes to their |
| 0:33.5 | grave with regret. We disrupt the drift of busyness and replace it with razor-focused |
| 0:39.1 | intention, passion, |
| 0:41.4 | purpose, and direction. |
| 0:43.7 | We are the Dad Edge |
| 0:45.4 | and we're here to change |
| 0:47.3 | the game. |
| 0:47.8 | We're here to change the game. What's up, gentlemen, welcome to the Dad Edge podcast. |
| 1:04.7 | This is where we talk everything man related, dad related, and fatherhood related. |
| 1:13.8 | This show is all about making sure that we are doing the right things, learning the right things, and implementing the right things as it |
| 1:18.8 | relates to our family, as it relates to leading them, marriage, kids, the whole nine yards. |
| 1:24.6 | Today's podcast is something that, man, I just could not get enough of. I love |
| 1:29.9 | today's guest. And I want to start off with this quote, which is, our scars tell the story of |
| 1:35.3 | where we've been and the battles that we faced, but they don't define our limits. They remind us |
| 1:40.3 | of our strength. Wearing our scars proudly means embracing the lessons that they've taught us and using them |
| 1:46.3 | to lead our families with courage and authenticity. |
| 1:49.4 | Today's podcast guest, you probably know who he is. |
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