Broken Femur, Broken System: A Vet's Fight to Matter Again | Therapy Was Full Ep24

"The minute you step out the culture, you become a number." Chris Lorenz, Navy veteran and co-founder of Armed Forces Division (AFD) and Global Financial Impact (GFI), knows that feeling better than most — one bad step in Guam cost him his knee, his 11-year Navy career, and nearly his sense of purpose. This episode covers military medical retirement, the TAPS class that handed him a stack of papers and said "don't come back," veteran divorce, veteran financial literacy, and how he turned all of it into a veteran nonprofit built on one rule: never take from the people you're supposed to serve. Expect hard truths about military finance, veteran homelessness, TSP mistakes, veteran-owned business red flags, VA disability claims, and why "God knocks twice" became his motto. A must-watch for any active duty service member or veteran navigating military transition, veteran entrepreneurship, or veteran mental health.

00:00 Cold Open: "God Knocks Twice"

00:47 Welcome Back / Dustin's Return 01:24 Meet Chris Lorenz

01:59 11 Years Navy, Guam, and Loving the Culture

03:45 The Injury: Stepping Off the Platform

09:09 Seven Surgeries and Medical Retirement

10:33 Becoming "A Number"

13:44 Fighting the Med Board Decision

14:48 Dustin's Own Near-Suicide Story

15:55 The TAPS Class From Hell

18:10 Quitting the First Civilian Job in 8 Days

21:15 Veteran-Owned ≠ Veteran-Safe

23:20 How GFI/AFD Started

29:38 What Vets Actually Have No Education On: Money

31:04 The "Broke Five" Bit

38:14 The $46K TSP Story (26 Years of Service)

41:12 Retraining the Entrepreneurial Brain

45:09 What AFD Actually Does

52:33 Is There a Shortcut to Wealth?

1:00:21 "We Count Families Helped, Not Dollars"

1:02:31 Where to Find AFD / GFI

1:09:14 Final Message: Don't Harbor the Information