Johnny Joey Jones knows sacrifice in a way few Americans ever will. As a Marine Corps Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician, Jones paid a price few could imagine, losing both his legs in combat and carrying the memories of fallen brothers who never made it home. But even after leaving the battlefield, Jones found himself drawn into another fight—one that’s happening much closer to home. In his latest book, Behind the Badge, Jones turns his focus to America’s first responders: the police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and countless others who put their lives on the line every single day on the streets of our own towns and cities.

In a deeply personal conversation on the Everyday Warrior Podcast, Jones spoke candidly about why he wrote the book. “This book exists because there’s a double standard in how we treat those who serve,” he explained. “Veterans get celebrated; first responders often get condemned.” While American society has rightfully embraced its military heroes in recent decades, Jones argues that those wearing badges and turnout gear back home have been left to carry their burdens alone, too often vilified in the public eye instead of supported.

Jones doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the pain and controversy surrounding law enforcement in recent years. He confronts the aftermath of tragedies like the George Floyd killing and the fierce national debate over policing and accountability. But he also challenges the polarizing slogans that followed—phrases like “Defund the Police” and “ACAB”—which, in his view, failed to grasp the complexity of the profession. “Those slogans were dangerous,” he says bluntly. “They stripped already struggling departments of the trust and resources they desperately needed to protect the very communities calling for reform.” For Jones, the issue isn’t whether mistakes have been made by individuals wearing a badge—it’s that first responders, like soldiers, face life-or-death decisions on a daily basis, often in impossible circumstances, and deserve empathy, not blanket condemnation.

Behind the Badge tells the stories the headlines often ignore. Through personal profiles of first responders—some of whom are Jones’s personal friends and family—he paints a raw and unfiltered picture of what it means to serve. Readers meet people like Keith Dempsey, a fire chief who gave up a life of comfort for one of chaotic service, and Clay Hedrick, a career law enforcement officer who spent decades witnessing trauma most civilians could never fathom. These aren’t fictional heroes. They are real people who have made sacrifices that go unnoticed until something goes wrong.

Jones also exposes a stark truth: while mental health awareness for veterans has improved significantly over the past two decades, first responders have been largely left behind. “They’re twenty years behind us,” Jones explains. While veterans now have access to federal programs, community support groups, and national awareness campaigns, first responders often get little more than small precinct support systems and inadequate insurance policies. Many suffer in silence, battling PTSD, depression, and burnout without the same safety nets their military counterparts fought to build.

The solution, as Jones points out, isn’t easy. Fixing this gap requires more than catchy slogans and reactive policies. It takes leadership willing to advocate for better training and mental health support. It requires community investment in public safety, not budget cuts that leave departments stretched too thin to function effectively. Most importantly, it takes cultural change—recognizing the humanity behind the uniform and seeing first responders not as faceless institutions, but as neighbors, parents, and friends who live in the very communities they protect.

Jones emphasizes that it all starts with a conversation. “You can’t solve a problem you refuse to see,” he says. The national dialogue around policing and first responders has too often swung between blind praise and outright hostility, leaving no room for understanding the complex realities they face. Behind the Badge doesn’t try to sanitize or glorify those realities. Instead, it sheds light on the mental, physical, and emotional cost of a profession that, by its nature, demands more than it gives back.

For Jones, this book is a personal mission. Having lived the life of a warrior on foreign soil, he now champions the warriors on America’s streets. He draws parallels between soldiers who serve abroad and first responders who serve at home, arguing that both groups deserve gratitude, compassion, and practical support when they return from their respective frontlines.

As the conversation with Jones draws to a close, one message becomes crystal clear: law and order in America isn’t maintained by policy alone. It’s upheld every day by individuals who carry the burden of society’s safety on their shoulders. And while their sirens may fade into the background of daily life, the cost of that safety—mental exhaustion, family strain, and sometimes even death—is paid in full by the men and women behind the badge.

Jones leaves readers with a simple yet powerful reminder: the next time you hear a siren, don’t just think of it as noise interrupting your day. Think of the person behind it. Think of the sacrifices they’ve made, the trauma they carry, and the thankless work they do to keep your world safe. Behind the Badge is not just a book. It’s a call to recognize the humanity in those who serve and protect, and to finally give them the respect—and support—they’ve always deserved.