VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — There's something about bourbon whiskey that brings people closer together.
Four retired service members are not only sharing their memories of their time overseas and fighting for our country, but they also remember a great friend who didn't come home.
Rick Franco, retired Marine, Mike Trott, retired Airman, RJ Casey, former Army Special Forces, and Harold Underdown, retired Navy Seal; all take a sip of Four Branches Bourbon in honor of, Marine, Greg Wright.
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“His friendship was so genuine, and those are the things I remember, just unconditional loyalty and friendship beyond description,” said retired U.S. Marine, Andrew Warren.
In 2005, Wright was returning to base with several CIA officials when the vehicle they were in was ambushed and a firefight broke out.
“He took the role and responsibility defending and providing security for the others,” said Warren.
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Andrew Warren was a friend of Wrights. They were classmates at Virginia Military Institute. He tells me Wright shielded an officer who’d been shot, but in the process Wright was shot and killed. The CIA says his heroic actions saved the lives of the rest of his team.
“Rick and many of us who knew Greg always felt like there was something we wanted to do that we always carried his legacy forward,” said Warren.
They came up with Four Branches Bourbon.
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"Over the span of a few video calls we basically hammered out a game plan to start this company,” said retired Army soldier RJ Casey.
During those calls there was a conversation about whether making bourbon was the right business given the rate of addiction, suicide and mental health issues in the veteran population.
“We’re not going to take alcohol out of the picture, but we can change the narrative. Everyone knows what drink responsibly means but nobody has said it in decades,” said Casey.
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So they came up with a new message that resonated with how they felt, 'Serve Honorably, Drink Honorably.'
“What that means to us and basically the soul of our company is we’re not going to drink to forget anymore, we’re going to sip to remember,” said the former Army Special Forces officer.
“And when you’re sipping to remember, not only for the ones we’ve lost, but for the happy times in life, the celebrations in life, when you get married, when you get promoted,” said retired Navy Seal, Harold Underdown.
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I met up with two of the four founders of the company who tell me they wanted their bourbon to taste good but also symbolize all four branches as he shows me the "4" on the Four Branches bourbon bottle.
“This first piece down here is our foundation, that the four sits on and that’s the Army. Up here, the mast of a ship or submarine, that represents the Navy. Across the middle, if you ask the Marine Corp, they’ll say they’re leanest and meanest, it's like a bayonet or a sword. And then swooping up over the sky is the Air Force,” explained Casey.
Even the mash itself is symbolic. Most bourbon is made of three grains: corn, barley and rye. However, they added aged wheat to the barrel to make it a four-grain bourbon.
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While they’ve only been selling the spirit for 18 months, they’ve already raised $400,000 for veterans charities by donating signed bottles that are sold at auctions.
“We did one bottle in Boston and it went for 15 thousand dollars, one bottle signed and we had a special box built for that. It was for a fallen seal down in Panama,” said Underdown.
Sipping to remember those who’ve paid the ultimate price.
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“I thought it was a tremendous way to reflect and remember Greg’s sacrifice and his service and the wonderful friend he was to us all,” said Warren.
Toasting in appreciation of those who serve honorably past and present. Four Branches Bourbon and its founders, reminding us to be positively proud of those who protect our country and its citizens.
If you'd like to try Four Branches bourbon you can follow this link:
https://www.fourbranches.com/.
