The 100th episode of The Resilient Life podcast demanded a guest worthy of the milestone. He is a Marine, TMF Spartan, and Veteran Mentor living with stage IV cancer. His name is Matt Howard. 

At the 2024 Travis Manion Foundation Gala, Matt was the recipient of the prestigious “If Not Me, Then Who” Leadership Award, which recognizes a veteran who has truly embodied those five words that guide the TMF ethos. His conversation with Ryan Manion on The Resilient Life illuminates exactly why.

Military Career

Matt spent most of his 20-year career as a Marine Corps pilot. His many tours of duty include overseas deployments and piloting Marine One. One of his most unshakeable memories is flying President George W. Bush to Ground Zero for the first time, three days after September 11, 2001. “I remember turning the corner at Sandy Hook, coming into Manhattan, and just seeing smoke over the city,” he says. “It got in my head, just thinking about where that smoke was coming from, and the loss that we had incurred.” 

Matt retired in 2007 and while his professional transition from military to civilian life went smoothly, his day job at the Pentagon left him feeling unfulfilled. He began to search for a new purpose through veteran service organizations. “There was always that itch,” he says. “Once you’ve taken the oath and worn the cloth, it doesn’t matter if it was for four years or for 40, that need to serve never goes away.” 

Connection to TMF

Matt’s first connection to TMF was at The Honor Project on Memorial Day 2021 at Arlington National Cemetery, the movement’s inaugural event. He gathered with the hundreds of other volunteers in a drenching rainstorm and placed tokens of remembrance at the resting places of our nation’s fallen heroes. “There was something so extremely powerful in The Honor Project,” Matt says. “On the drive home, I said to my wife, ‘An organization that does that is an organization I want to be a part of.” 

He immediately signed up to become trained as a Character Does Matter (CDM) Veteran Mentor, but a devastating medical diagnosis disrupted his plans. A trip to the ER just two weeks later led to the discovery of a malignant tumor on his bladder that was causing acute renal failure. After the doctor left him alone in the hospital room, Matt recalls, “I had a very clear realization: there’s nothing I can do about this right now. But I can decide how I’m going to react. And I said, ‘I’m going to be a cheerful warrior.’” 

Returning to Serve

After undergoing surgery and chemo, Matt returned to TMF, first as a CDM Mentor and then as part of the 7-month Spartan Leadership Program (SLP), a unique and intensive opportunity for veterans and family members of the fallen to grow as individuals and leaders. 

“I have come to believe this diagnosis has been a gift for me,” he says, “because—among many things—it has allowed me to realize that every day matters. Today matters, tomorrow matters, and [the question is:] what are you going to do with them? For me, part of that is living with as much purpose and as much meaning as I can possibly accomplish. And I knew, as I was getting back on my feet, that TMF represented the path to purpose and meaning.” 

Matt applied to SLP because it felt like the next step toward cultivating the vulnerability and personal growth he was seeking. During the program’s Expedition to Colorado, he told the group about his diagnosis. It was the first time he shared the news with anyone outside of his family and closest friends. “I spilled my guts,” he says. “The diagnosis, the prognosis. I also told them I knew that I was where I was supposed to be and I was with who I was supposed to be with.” 

Sharing his secret was liberating, and his story wound up inspiring many of his fellow veterans and families of the fallen. “It was a seismic experience,” he says of that Expedition, and of his overall involvement with TMF so far. “Only when you commit to something hard do you discover you are stronger in every way imaginable than you could possibly believe.”

To hear more of Matt’s incredible story and how he has continued to volunteer with TMF, listen now or watch the full recording.