Alan Dollison is coming to the end of a long and distinguished Army career. After 30 years in uniform, he will be retiring from the US Army in November 2022. Dollison also has served as a prosecutor and ran for District Attorney of Humboldt County. 

Dollison said he’s lived some of his best moments as an Army officer. He served two tours in Afghanistan, one in Iraq and one, his most recent, in Saudi Arabia. He’s learned a lot about life and a lot about himself. He learned to follow and he learned to lead. He learned about training management, resource development, managing diverse geographically dispersed teams and running complex organizations.
But more than anything, he learned just how valuable friendships are.

“I’ve enjoyed the camaraderie and life experiences of the military, but I most enjoyed the relationships and the people I served with over 30-plus years, at all levels,” said Dollison.

Please listen in to Colonel Dollison's comment about our Afghanistan mission, particularly the conclusion of that mission. A soldiers soldier, Dollison has great advice for future missions.

I can be reached at mejohnsonauthor@gmail.com or mejohnsonauthor@gmail.com

On January 31, 1945, Pvt. Eddie Slovik became the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion-and the only one who suffered such a fate during World War II. This podcast episode tells his story.

Pvt. Eddie Slovik was a draftee. Originally classified 4-F because of a prison record (grand theft auto), he was reclassified 1-A when draft standards were lowered to meet growing personnel needs. In January 1944, he was trained to be a rifleman, which was not to his liking, as he hated guns.

In August of the same year, Slovik was shipped to France to fight with the 28th Infantry Division, which had already suffered massive casualties in France and Germany. Slovik was a replacement, a class of soldier not particular respected by officers. As he and a companion were on the way to the front lines, they became lost in the chaos of battle and stumbled upon a Canadian unit that took them in.

Slovik stayed on with the Canadians until October 5, when they turned him and his buddy over to the American military police. They were reunited with the 28th Division, which had been moved to Elsenborn, Belgium. No charges were brought, as replacements getting lost early on in their tours of duty were not unusual. But exactly one day after Slovik returned to his unit, he claimed he was “too scared and too nervous” to be a rifleman, and threatened to run away if forced into combat. His confession was ignored-and Slovik took off. One day later he returned and signed a confession of desertion, claiming he would run away again if forced to fight, and submitted it to an officer of the 28th. The officer advised Slovik to take the confession back, as the consequences were serious. Slovik refused and was confined to the stockade.

The 28th Division had many cases of soldiers wounding themselves or deserting in the hopes of a prison sentence that might protect them from the perils of combat. A legal officer of the 28th offered Slovik a deal: dive into combat immediately and avoid the court-martial. Slovik refused. He was tried on November 11 for desertion and was convicted in less than two hours. The nine-officer court-martial panel passed a unanimous sentence of execution, “to be shot to death with musketry.”

Slovik’s appeal failed. It was held that he “directly challenged the authority” of the United States and that “future discipline depends upon a resolute reply to this challenge.” Slovik had to pay for his recalcitrant attitude, and the military made an example of him. One last appeal was made-to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander-but the timing was bad for mercy. The Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes forest was resulting in literally thousands of American casualties, not to mention the second largest surrender of an U.S. Army unit during the war. Eisenhower upheld the death sentence.

Slovik was shot and killed by a 12-man firing squad in eastern France. 

Please keep listening and and visit my webpage at www.mejohnsonauthor.com. Email me at mejohnsonauthor@gmail.com. Thank you for listening.

Judge Johnson

According to Tommy Anderson, "Our best days are ahead of us...You can do whatever you want to do. There's no excuse."

Tommy Anderson is a multiple best-selling author and screenwriter.  Tommy enjoys his role as a motivational speaker and Host of "The Real Tommy Unleashed" on the IQ Podcast Network in San Diego.  Tommy's show is heard on multiple streaming platforms, iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Apple Play, and more.

An accomplished screenwriter, he has written and produced "Life After Oblivion," a film based on his award-winning screenplay. “PTSD-A soldiers Revenge," which he wrote, is currently in production by Panther Trail Films - Hollywood. Tommy also received his first directing credit on the pilot series "The Tale of Richard Pic". Tommy is also routinely cast as an actor in commercials, television, and film.

As a founding member of VetPics Film Productions, Tommy gives back through the all-veteran independent film production company which produced "Life after Oblivion." Most recently Tommy was seen as the face of the national Spotify commercial as the man with the dancing dog. His best-selling novel Haboob Wind is now a screenplay, and his new novel Two Million Steps was released in March of 2021 and went to Best Seller on Amazon in two weeks.

Before moving to the Los Angeles area, Tommy lived in Madison, Wisconsin and had a full career firefighter/paramedic with the Madison Fire Department and later retired from the U.S. Army and the Air National Guard. Tommy is a member of various organizations, including the Hollywood American Legion Post 43, Veterans in Media and Entertainment, the U.S. Press Association, and serves as a photojournalist with the California American Legion Press Association.