(0:00 – 0:12)
Hey, public opinion aficionados, it’s Mark Mitchell, head pollster of Rasmussen Reports, and really happy to join Gene Valentino at the Grassroots Truthcast today. I support his podcast. Go check it out and subscribe while you’re there.

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Hi folks, Gene Valentino, and welcome back to another episode of Gene Valentino’s Grassroots Truthcast. You know, over all these podcast episodes we do, political, social, environmental, industrial, business-oriented episodes we’ve put together over the last four years, you always come across an episode or a person for an episode that stands out in one way or another. I’m so proud today to have a very talented woman with me who comes to me from several walks of life, most of which we’re going to explore today on this segment.

Her name is Ashley Leppert, and she’s the author of The Hurricane Within. Quite an interesting story. I’m going to give you the end of the story first.

The end of the story is she’s being honored by Donald Trump at his inauguration speech in 2019, when half the Congress stood there in silent, ignoring the patriotism and the commitment of this woman to this nation. The Republicans and the rest of Congress stood and honored her as they should have, acknowledging what her good tidings were for this nation on so many levels. It’s the strength from within, or as she refers to it, the hurricane from within.

A very interesting story, the hurricane from within. We’ll tell you how you can get your copy on this too in a minute right after this. Hi, friends.

Ashley Leppert here, author of The Hurricane Within, volume one and two. Take a moment and head on over to jeanbalentino.com and subscribe so you can get all the latest podcasts from Grassroots Truthcast. See you later, friends.

(2:04 – 8:17)
Welcome back to Grassroots Truthcast. As you can see, my guest here with us today is Ashley Leppert. I don’t know where to begin, Ashley, but I will say, first of all, thank you very much for giving me your time to explore something.

Your path is very much like mine. Had to deal in life with certain trials and tribulations, and these trials and tribulations is what made us what we are today, and I’m sure you’ve got a few you want to share with us. Absolutely.

Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me on your show today. This is phenomenal. Honored to call you my brother, and we’re just down the road in Fort Walton Beach, so I didn’t have to go very far to come hang out with you.

Yeah, this panhandle of Florida grabs people from all walks of life. Absolutely. Yeah, I’m honored to be here.

As you mentioned earlier, I was honored at President Trump’s very first State of the Union Address in 2018, and I was very lucky and blessed to be able to represent all of Coast Guard Aviation for our works and efforts during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. My crews and I, we did a lot of crazy hurricane rescues, most of which I speak about in my book, The Hurricane Within, but I was just honored to be there and represent our great service. Yeah, Donald Trump, President Trump, he loves our military.

Yeah, let’s come to that in a second. One of the things before we jump into it, ladies or women in military, specifically aviation, is there a future for the women in aviation, in the military? Most definitely. I will say we’ve come a long way.

We still have a long way to go, but I love to see those percentages growing where women not only are in the pilot sector, but in the maintenance sector as well, which is what I did. I was an avionics electrical technician, so it’s great. When I first got in, there was very few women in that rate specifically, but right now they’re increasing and they’re out there doing a phenomenal job.

So proud of all my Coast Guard Aviation women out there. And we get motivated and we get supported at different times in different ways by those groups around us that we are fond of, and I trust the ladies in your life were very supportive. Where do we start with Hurricane Within? So we can start from the beginning.

Okay. I love to share about where I was born and raised. Yeah, let’s start.

Okay, so Detroit, Michigan. It’s been a rough go. I’m a Lions fan, so as you know, I’ve grown resilient and grit just through that itself.

But yeah, born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Very middle-class home. I had amazing parents, but as we kind of discussed a little bit before recording, you know, they both suffered with some trauma that was unresolved and that ended up creating a maladaptive coping mechanism with alcohol and substances.

So, you know, watching your parents struggle with those traumas as a little kid is very hard, but they were really great parents. And how old were you then? So when I started noticing, I would say probably early teens, you know, the beer always in hand and, you know, just kind of recognizing something was off within our household. Isn’t it amazing how the military also serves as a way of stabilizing what are considered maybe some dysfunctions that we’re surrounded with in our life that maybe we take for granted? We think are normal, but are not.

And sometimes we have to pull ourselves away, get involved, extricate ourselves and put ourselves into, in this case, a military environment where the disciplines are quite strong and well-established as being good and successful to correct maybe a manner of behavior in our life, in our growing up, you know? I don’t know. At least that’s what it was for me and my family. Yeah, I think you’re right with that.

And I’ve oftentimes noticed there’s a thread of similarity within the military culture that a lot of times people join the military to kind of run away from some of that family trauma that they’re witnessing. So then they deal with military traumas that are very, you know, different for each individual. And then it just kind of gets compounded and then we normalize alcohol and celebrating and it’s just a slippery slope.

So I enjoy talking about this and being transparent and authentic because I do believe a lot of people suffer in silence with this. To understand a person is to understand where they’re coming from. So the time we’re spending on this topic is not wasted because I know where you’re heading and I think it’s going to be very exciting.

So what introduced you to the United States Coast Guard and how did you end up there? Multiple reasons. So first and foremost, I was on the swim team. I loved the water.

I loved swimming. So that was kind of just an innate joy that I had even from a youth. I found peace and solace just jumping in the diving pool or jumping off the diving board into the pool.

So the love of water coupled with the fact that I had a friend just after he graduated high school. He was one year older than me and he would call me all the time saying, I’m flying around the beaches of Florida. I’m saving lives.

I mean, how exciting, right? And then the third reason, a little bit more of a somber reason, one of my best friends right after high school, he died in a boating accident. He was airlifted in a helicopter. And I remember just being so enamored with the fact that these heroes flew in and tried rescuing my best friend.

So I wanted to be like that. I wanted to be able to save others. Just before I got here in the studio for this episode, I’m talking to the general contractor who helped build my little airplane hangar at my house.

And he was telling me how two days ago, one of his workers fell off some scaffolding and some sheet metal caught them and cut him severely and how a helicopter came in and life flighted him within three minutes back to the hospital, saved his life. But we take for granted some of the rescue services we have. Let’s hear more about what happened when you got into the Coast Guard.

(8:17 – 8:41)
I quite frankly didn’t realize that the Coast Guard is such a multi-mission agency. And honestly, a lot of times the general public just doesn’t know what we do, particularly in the aviation sector. So I joined as an avionics electrical technician.

And we also fly on the aircraft that we fix. So I coupled as a flight mechanic. So I would go out on various different rescues.

(8:42 – 9:31)
So we kind of focus on search and rescue, law enforcement, drug interdiction, migrant operation, and those just to name a few. So I had a very dynamic, interesting, never a dull moment in the Coast Guard aviation realm. Well, it seems to me that from that, it was the door opener or the catalyst for this book.

Yes, sir. What was the excitement in the Coast Guard that got you motivated to writing this book? So the theme that I really focused on in my first book is the rescues that I did during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which awarded me the opportunity by President Trump to be at his first State of the Union address. But quite frankly, I didn’t start off writing my book with the intention to write a book and publish it.

(9:31 – 10:21)
I was in a healing process after the hurricane rescues when I was grounded and I couldn’t fly anymore. I really was on a mission to heal and to grow from my trauma because I had watched my parents, remember, not really face any of their trauma. And I said, you know what? I don’t want that to happen to me.

So the Coast Guard, in a funny sort of way, became the curative pill that helped you adapt or accept the issues of your past. But look what happened. From what I’m beginning to understand about your book, it also became the springboard for a wellness that came over you, not a pain.

(10:22 – 10:37)
Yes, there was pain in the beginning, but there was some wellness that kicked in that must have just turned you around. Describe what happened during some of these rescues on Hurricane Harvey. Well, there’s quite a few rescues that really stick out to me.

(10:37 – 11:22)
One particularly, when I was hanging out of the helicopter, working the hoist and bringing my rescue swimmer back in the helicopter, my body sort of shut down. All of these symptoms that I had been feeling prior to Hurricane Harvey kind of came to a head and my body shut down. And I was really scared in that moment.

Your mind shut down? Yes, my mind shut down. And I literally was at a point where I was like, I don’t know if I can physically bring these people into the helicopter just because what I was diagnosed with was a neurological and muscular issue, which truthfully, I believe, stemmed from unresolved trauma. So what was the experience like specifically during Hurricane Harvey? We’re talking 2019, right? 2017.

(11:22 – 12:18)
2017. What happened? Explain what led up to the mission in and around Hurricane Harvey. Just to paint a picture for our listeners.

There was a hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico in 2017. We were all very acutely aware of how disastrous this was going to be. But we all train in the Coast Guard aviation realm and we train very well.

So when we got the call, I was in New Orleans at the time, and I got the call that we were headed out because the hurricane just hit the coast and it was a lot more devastating. I remember that. Yes, sir.

So I mean, imagine I’m in the smallest helicopter possible, literally flying into the hurricane. So imagine extreme gusts of wind, rain. We were battling the elements, low visibility, but we trusted our instincts because we had trained so many hours that we felt confident to go in and do the mission.

(12:18 – 13:10)
So my understanding, your role was more to advise the pilots on situational awareness and the condition of the weather and proximity to other buildings and structures and maybe other aircraft. Correct. Yeah.

So my head’s on a swivel constantly. I’m keeping the pilots in line with the airspeed and altitude that they tell me they’re going to fly at. I’m a visual aid, so I help look for power lines, towers, anything that they might miss.

And I also do cabin management. So I work the hoist. I lower the rescue swimmer down, make sure people are… When we’re in a hover, it’s the most dangerous time to keep the pilots in a good hovering position, a good altitude.

And we’re in the middle of trees, houses. So just very dynamic. You have to be accurate, bold and concise with your communication with the pilot and just create smooth evolutions to save lives.

(13:11 – 13:51)
I’m still waiting for that triggering event. So what happened during the hurricane that really got you triggered? It was honestly one of the most devastating moments. It was very apocalyptic is the best way for me to describe it.

And the turning point was, as I alluded to earlier, as I was hanging out of the helicopter doing one of my very last hoists, my mind and my body, everything sort of shut down. And now I know through my healing process, it was built on trauma, unresolved, dealing with my bodily symptoms that were happening. So in that moment, as I witnessed what was taking place, I realized that I needed to really take a step back and focus on healing and the underlying issues.

(13:52 – 15:10)
Was it a spiritual awakening at that point? That’s where it all started. I had always been a woman of faith when I was little. But just like maybe most of your listeners, when we deal with trauma and pain, we kind of maybe look to God as the reason why we’re having this.

How could a loving God allow these things to happen to me? And so it really put a pivot point for me to go and really define God in my life and re-establish that relationship with him that I had so far run from in my pain and traumas. But this was a turning point for me to take a moment and really search for God in my life again. There was something I read somewhere that talked about your partner, someone working with you in the crew, was down below.

I think it was one of the rescue divers who actually goes down the hoist. And there’s a weight and balance, there’s a load issue of how much he’s bringing up for you to take up into the aircraft. And amidst all the blowing, wind-driven rains and being thrashed around, you couldn’t understand why he was loading in so many different things into the cradle when there was a limitation.

(15:11 – 19:36)
You want to explain more about that? I would love to. The rescue specifically that you’re talking about was we had just completed a hoist where there was about 10 people already in the cabin. So we have one more hoist left, and I lower the basket down, and I see my rescue swimmer down there, and he’s loading all of these what I thought to be bags of clothes in with this woman.

And I’m thinking to myself, why is he allowing this woman to bring her whole closet with her when we’re short on space and weight? But I trusted my rescue swimmer, and as an aviation, that’s what we have to do. We have to trust our team. And so he puts the last bundle in.

I bring this woman up into the cabin. I slide her in. We had just enough time for me to disconnect the hook, pick up my rescue swimmer, and head out.

And as we’re heading out, I happen to look in the basket, and I’m unfolding these bundles, and it happened to be four little babies that were in this basket with her. And it was a very profound moment where I realized the impact of what we were doing. We all realize things in different ways at different times, and there’s a power much greater than me that seems to know when to pull the switch or trigger the light to go on.

And in your case, I’m sure that was a very provocative moment. Folks, we’re talking with Ashley Leppert. She’s a U.S. Coast Guard air medal recipient and was honored by Donald Trump at his inauguration, right? No, his State of the Union message before Congress just in 2019.

And we’re going to talk more with Ashley right after this. Hi, friends. Ashley Leppert here, author of The Hurricane Within, Volume 1 and 2. Take a moment and head on over to genevalentino.com and subscribe so you can get all the latest podcasts from Grassroots Truthcast.

See you later, friends. Welcome back to Grassroots Truthcast. Gene Valentino here with Ashley Leppert, author of The Hurricane From Within, Hurricane Harvey Through the Eyes of a Coast Guard Flight Mechanic.

That’s Ashley. Her story of perseverance, resilience, and trusting in God’s plan. Okay, what was God’s plan? Well, it’s still unfolding.

It’s still unfolding. But, you know, I’m just I’m honored to be here. Thank you again for having me.

You’re welcome. God has been doing so much in my life, and it’s pretty incredible to see. Well, where has the book taken you? And what else are you doing? So I oftentimes joke, I’m just a helicopter mechanic by trade.

But God has been pivoting me to other avenues. And I’m just so blessed. So from the State of the Union, I felt on my heart to put my stories from the hurricane and some things that I’ve gone through in my life in a book.

So I wrote The Hurricane Within, volume one. And since then, I have been blessed to share my story on various platforms. So I’m an inspirational speaker, share about some things that I overcame.

And which led to my second book, The Hurricane Within, volume two, Beyond the Storm. Is that out yet? Yep, that’s just launched on Veterans Day. Okay, very good.

And let’s take a moment and indicate to the audience where we can get these books. Hurricane Within first. Hurricane Within one and two are both on Amazon.

They’re live, hard copy, paper book and e-back or excuse me e-book. I am also autographing, personalizing them for anybody interested through my website, ashleyleppert.com. Thank you, by the way, appreciate that. Yeah, so that’s an autographed copy through my website.

And on Amazon, you can buy both of them. So honored and I appreciate the support and the love from your audience. You know, you talked about a wide range of struggles you had since childhood.

I’m sure that was a motivation in some sense for your book. But using things we experienced in our early life direct where we are now is probably the best thing about getting older and getting wiser. What are you doing now? What’s the speaking circuit like? What are you doing in terms of personal motivation? Well, I think that it’s a pretty safe topic to talk about on the Truthcast.

(19:36 – 20:28)
So I’m going to go ahead and be truthful with everything. I didn’t want to bring it up unless you did. Well, to be completely honest with you, you know, I grew up watching my parents with addiction.

At 19. Prior to joining the military, I was sexually assaulted, which is a hard thing to go through in the military. No prior to joining.

And then, you know, my hurricane experiences, although we saved a lot of people, it was pretty traumatic, you know, seeing all that devastation out there and then my autoimmune condition. So I say these things because I want to, you know, honor my life story and the things that happened. But also there’s there’s purpose through the pain, right? And that’s where I’m at in life.

There is purpose for me to be transparent, to share what I’ve gone through, because a lot of times there’s people out in the world that are dealing with this stuff in silence. And you can heal, you can find healing. And I’m a testament of that.

(20:29 – 24:04)
Since you brought it up, have they found the person who sexually abused you? I mean, I know who it is. I haven’t done any reporting on that or anything. But yeah, I’ve forgiven him and I’ve made peace with that.

And I know that God is the God of justice. And so I trust that. That’s very honorable of you.

Not everybody could do that. No. Do you find that maybe sometimes things you’re saying or doing are adversely impacted because justice was not found for that person? Well, I think justice will ultimately be found, and maybe just not in this earthly realm.

Well, that’s fine. But I believe that people that go through that circumstance, they do the best that they can with the information that they were given. And this was two months before I joined the military.

So I was 19. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.

And it was easy for me to kind of just stuff that down and focus on my career. So that’s not the path that a lot of people take. And that’s OK.

But just as encouragement to your listeners, some people feel that they want to pursue legal action, and I’m for that. And some people choose not to. And that’s what’s best for them.

So now what’s your day like? What are you doing with the book, the books, and your speaking tours? I am just going around and jacking people up with inspiration. That’s what I’m doing. Is it working? It is working, so I hope.

It’s working with me. So no, I mean, I go around speaking on various topics. I talk about my life story, obviously, and give an inspirational testimony.

So I go pretty much all over the country and hopefully one day the world and just share my story and bring hope to the hopeless. If there was ever a time where inspiration was needed in the wake of everything we’ve been through since COVID, COVID in particular, where people feel destitute, removed, unwilling or unable to find their way is when inspiration and motivation is needed more than ever. Do you find that in your backyard or do you have to go out and bang the drum to let them know you’re there? In terms of getting speaking events? Well, or helping those in need.

Yeah. You know what the beautiful thing is, and this is why I’m so glad that we serve a God who meets us right in our brokenness. And he’s not a far away God.

He’s up close and personal. And so I’m very intentional on praying about that. And God always opens the doors.

I mean, he’s sovereign over it all and he has providence over it all. So I always, you know, try to market on my website, on social media. It’s still kind of a work in progress.

I don’t think anybody ever gets good at that. But I never turned down an opportunity to speak to people, to crowds, to schools, to businesses, anywhere I can, with the hopes of leaving people inspired and sharing a message of ultimate redemption. And that’s through God and Jesus Christ.

So the ministries around the panhandle for the nation in general, but the Gulf Coast, the Southeast United States is known for propensity of faith-based organizations. And so I would guess just in that venue alone, you’d have a waiting line of visits you’re working, you’re visiting to address those in need. Is that fair? Yeah, that’s fair.

(24:04 – 24:58)
You know, I have usually about one to two speaking events a month. It ebbs and flows, of course, but you know, I’m just, I’m an open vessel, right? God just says, I just tell God rather, here I am, use me. And he does.

I got to tell you, folks, I met Ashley and her husband at a political event in Niceville. I think it was Niceville, Niceville, Fort Walton Beach area somewhere. And it was when I was running for United States Congress.

And she happened to be sitting assigned to the table with her husband right next to me and my wife. And we started talking and we hit it off. And we started talking about her background.

I looked over at my wife and I said, I’ve got to get her on our podcast. I’m glad we did. There’s the best thing to me is providing a outlet and curing issues or ills of the world comes in many flavors.

(24:59 – 25:16)
And to me, you’ve got the perfect recipe of being able to deliver a message and to also helping specifically younger ladies in need who maybe can’t find their way. Do you find yourself in that role? I sure do. And it’s an honor and one that I take, honestly, very seriously.

(25:16 – 25:38)
That’s why I love the name Grassroots Truthcast, because the world is desperate for truth. I mean, I believe that any one of us can turn on a news channel or a media outlet and people are just desperate for truth. And so I appreciate this outlet specifically for me to share my story and to offer the ultimate truth, which I always say is in Jesus Christ alone.

(25:38 – 29:59)
And how do they get to your book? So they can get my book through Amazon, also through my website, ashleyleppert.com. ashleyleppert.com or Amazon. And the second volume will be posted by the time you get there, I’m certain. And I presume there’s a contact me button in there somewhere where they can reach you? Yep, absolutely.

I have a newsletter where I share about upcoming speaking events. Sometimes I throw some giveaways in there for free books. And I have a link for all my podcasts.

So this link for this podcast will be on my website as well. Which means if you’re finding me through Ashley, please subscribe on grassroots truthcast, genevalentino.com. We try to and that’s how we actually survive in this crazy business is through subscribers. Yeah.

And viewers and readers. I’m concerned about. Have you heard from Donald Trump? I have not.

But you know what, if he’s listening, I would love to play 18 holes of golf with him one day. Please don’t forget me, President Trump. Can I carry the bags? I do need a caddy.

I’m the caddy. I’ll be happy to do it for you. You don’t want to hear about my golf game.

But folks, we’re talking with Ashley leopard, and she has proven herself to be a United States Coast Guard Air Medal recipient and an honorable one at that. She caught the eye of President Donald Trump and had the privilege of being commemorated or acknowledged at the State of the Union message in 2019. And it also tells me when I and you know, I didn’t remember it at first.

But if I think back to his State of the Union message, I remember you standing and being honored. And I also remember the TV cameras cutting away, where all the Democrats and lefties were sitting down, couldn’t give a who, who you were what you did. And yet the other half of the general arena of people was on their feet, standing in honor of you and what you did.

Failure to defend the rights of other people may someday result in your rights not being defended. Today’s your turn to step up, buy Ashley’s book, get on board with her, see what you can do to bring her into your community of faith giving folks, and participate in her speaking engagements, so that you can become part of the solution, as well as part of an introducer to the problem so she can provide the solution in many ways, or at least some encouragement, right? That’s right. I think many people don’t realize that, geez, I thought I had it bad until I saw the guy next to me, who was even in worse shape.

There’s a biblical thing about that. This is I was, I felt, I felt bad. I had no shoes until I saw the guy next to me had no feet.

And I think what you’re doing falls in line with that. You’re doing something very spiritual to me. It’s the giving that you’re doing for those who cannot help themselves.

It comes, I don’t know where it comes from in life, but we all get hit with the hammer and in different ways. You want to offer any other things that we did not talk about? I would just love to take a moment and thank our military members, our veterans, as you alluded to, they didn’t get the recognition that they deserved from a specific party at the State of the Union. But I believe that our service members, our men and women who are brave that sign the dotted line to fight for this country is a bipartisan, excuse me, a bipartisan issue and should be celebrated and respected by all people.

So I just want to give a huge shout out to our military members, my brothers and sisters, veterans. I just appreciate your service and I thank you for all of your sacrifice. Petty Officer 2nd Class Ashley Leppard, who’s with us today, talking about her accomplishments before, during, and after the war.