Episode 005 | Mark Cupp | Army Tanker | Finding Purpose After Service, PTSD & Second Chances

Mark Cupp served as an Army 19K Tanker after joining the military in 2008. Like many young soldiers during the Global War on Terror, he enlisted with a clear purpose: to serve his country and make a difference. In this episode of Veterans Unmasked, Mark shares stories from Fort Knox, Fort Hood, and his deployment to Iraq, including life in Kirkuk and Erbil. He reflects on military culture, deployment expectations versus reality, leadership lessons, and the moments that still make him laugh years later—including surviving incoming mortar fire while trapped inside a scorching porta-john. But this conversation goes far beyond military humor. Mark speaks candidly about PTSD, medical discharge, losing rank, struggling after service, marriage, divorce, fatherhood, recovery, and the difficult transition from soldier to civilian. He discusses how organizations such as Wounded Warrior Project, Operation Second Chance, church communities, and fellow veterans helped him rebuild his life and rediscover purpose. This is a conversation about resilience, accountability, healing, faith, and the people who stand beside us when life becomes difficult. Veterans Unmasked is dedicated to preserving the stories of veterans, first responders, Gold Star families, and the people who support them through honest, long-form conversations that ensure these experiences are never forgotten. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ☕ Proud Partner: Iron Soldiers Coffee Company Use promo code: IRONUNMASKED Save 5% on all coffee, tea, and BBQ sauce. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌐 Website: Support the Mission Cashapp: $VeteransUnmasked 🎧 Listen On: Spotify Apple Podcasts Amazon Music iHeartRadio 📱 Follow Veterans Unmasked: Instagram: @VeteransUnmasked X: @VeteranUnmasked ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Veterans Unmasked is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by a Disabled Combat Veteran / Gold Star Husband and dedicated to preserving the stories of veterans, first responders, and Gold Star families. If you believe these stories matter, please Like, Subscribe, Share, and consider supporting the mission. Honor. Remember. Never Forget.