Jennifer Bennie is addicted to history, the kind of addiction that makes you show up dressed as a Revolutionary War spy because the story matters that much. As a Navy pilot turned historian, she can't stop chasing the connections between America's past and the world she flew into after 9/11. Go Birds.
In this episode of Vegas Veteran Voices, host Ronnie Long sits down with historian, Navy veteran, and creator of the YouTube channel Walk With History (https://www.youtube.com/@WalkwithHistory) and co-host of the podcast Talk With History (https://open.spotify.com/show/2dHCbskAznBpAVL6baIAEn) Jennifer Bennie. Together, they break down women in espionage, Agent 355, the Culper Spy Ring, colonial spycraft, and how coded petticoats helped shape the Revolutionary War. Bennie explains the real history behind Anna Strong, British-occupied Long Island, and why women made perfect intelligence sources in a world that underestimated them.
Ronnie and Jennifer dive into her career as a naval aviator after 9/11, flying into Iraq in 2003, leading a crew on combat-missions, and realizing mid-deployment that she didn't yet understand the centuries of conflict beneath her flight path. That moment propelled her to use the GI Bill to earn a master's degree in history and connect America's founding struggles to the modern world she was flying missions over. She breaks down the “gift of perspective” the military gives you from crossing the Coronado Bridge as an American woman with her own apartment and career, to traveling across Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and nearly every state in the country.
They talk about American stereotypes versus reality, cross-country travel, filming with the families of the Hatfields and McCoys, and how people rarely fit the headlines written about their regions. Jennifer and Ronnie compare stories about veterans instantly recognizing each other in college classrooms, navigating life after service, and watching younger students form opinions about a world they haven't yet experienced firsthand.
Jennifer lays out her historian philosophy: she never tells viewers what to think only how to think through accurate primary sources, real locations, and unfiltered context. She explains why America is flawed but still striving, why history doesn't repeat but echoes, and why taking people to the actual places where history happened like standing where George Washington crossed the Delaware helps them truly understand the story. She describes filming at Revolutionary War battle sites, explaining the Battle of Trenton, and teaching the risks, leadership, and geography that shaped the early United States.
The episode also dives into homeschooling, teaching authentic American history, avoiding sanitised versions, and helping families understand the past without distortion. Jennifer explains how her Talk With History podcast is designed for people road-tripping to historic sites like Savannah who want to know where to park, what to see, and how to explore safely with kids. Ronnie and Jennifer even touch on her Vegas-focused episodes like her Viva Las Vegas tour of Elvis filming locations and the historic roots of Fremont Street.
Jennifer Bennie is also a proud partner of Pin-Ups For Vets, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to serving veterans and active-duty military personnel through retro-style pin-up calendars that raise funds and morale. She served as “Miss Veteran October 2025” for Pin-Ups For Vets, representing women veterans and their service. This role allowed her to advocate for veteran causes, visit VA hospitals and veteran homes, and highlight the importance of visibility, service, and sisterhood among women who wore the uniform.