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Combat Story

Combat Story

Service Beyond War: Combat, Kidney Donation, and Endurance with Matt Cavanaugh

Jan 31, 2026 · 2h 57m

Coming soon to iPhone. Already have it? “Listen in Starcast” takes you straight there.

On this episode

About this episode

In this episode of Combat Story, AJ Pasciuti sits down with Matt Cavanaugh, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, combat veteran, strategist, endurance athlete, and living kidney donor, for a conversation about what service really looks like when nobody's watching. Matt is the author of Best Scar Wins: How You Can Be More Than You Were Before , and his story goes far beyond combat. We start with his experiences in Iraq and the weight of leadership under pressure, then move into the harder-to-talk-about parts of life after war: grief, identity, responsibility, and the quiet choices that shape who we become. Matt shares why he decided to become a non-directed living kidney donor, donating to…