1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:11,159 Speaker 1: It's that time, time, time, time, luck and load. So 2 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Michael Very Show is on the air. 3 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 2: Twenty years ago, George W. Bush was the president. A 4 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 2: lot of folks you and I knew were serving in 5 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 2: Iraq and Afghanistan. The death toll was disturbing. Every community 6 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 2: in the country was affected. My how things have changed 7 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 2: in twenty years. I never forget the first reference I 8 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 2: heard to Loane Survivor. My brother Chris had read the 9 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,839 Speaker 2: book and he said, have you read this book Loan Survivor? 10 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 3: You know? 11 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 2: He said, do you know who Marcus atrell Is said, 12 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 2: I don't. She's written this book called Loan Survivor. Okay, 13 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 2: it's about they went in Operation Red Wings, they went 14 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 2: into Afghanistan and he's the only one who came out. 15 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:31,839 Speaker 2: It's a story, man, Wow, it is wow is It's incredible. 16 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 2: It's disturbing. Then they make the movie. Then we get 17 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 2: to meet Marcus, then we develop a friendship, and a 18 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 2: lot has happened in those twenty years. It's time to 19 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 2: revisit that twenty years later. Marcus atrell welcome back to 20 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 2: the program. 21 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 3: Thank you, good morning. 22 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 2: What were you doing just before you came on the 23 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 2: show this morning? 24 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 3: All right, with complete transparency. 25 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 4: One of my lab got hit by a skunk the 26 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 4: other day yesterday, and I'm out here to shave her. 27 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 4: And I don't know when the last time you've had 28 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:14,359 Speaker 4: that happen, but brother, it it's something so that that's 29 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 4: kind of what I'm dealing with right now. 30 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 2: I was thinking of a great headline for this discussion, 31 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 2: and I already have it. Uh Loan survivor Navy seal 32 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 2: Marcus Latrelle admitted douching before interview. 33 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 4: Right, I don't, because you know, the first thing she 34 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 4: did was she got hit was come in and get 35 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 4: on the couch. So when I walked in, I don't 36 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 4: know what smell it. 37 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 3: I don't know. 38 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 4: They just do that, right, Yeah, what do you have 39 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 4: a what remedy do you use to get rid of 40 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 4: that punk? 41 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 2: Marcus? We had a place out in Carmene next to 42 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 2: Chapel Hill and we had two dogs get hit two 43 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 2: consecutive weekends, and we went to I called my buddies 44 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 2: that were veterinarians and they said, go get mass and 45 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 2: Gill Douche. That is the best. I came back and 46 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 2: talked about it on the air. I heard, I heard 47 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 2: every solution known to mankind. I think it's a mess. 48 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 2: No matter what you do. Have you decided what you're doing. 49 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 4: So I go with the hydrogen peroxide. 50 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 2: And the palm mallis okay? 51 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 4: Yeah, an oil right oil base yep, yep. 52 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 3: And the thing about it stuff when she goes it's good. 53 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 4: They need to bottle that up and use it and 54 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 4: give it to people for defense. Let's talk about how 55 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 4: you're getting attacked and you smack somebody with that, they're 56 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 4: not gonna stick around. 57 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, no, no, no, even a porcupine. You know, 58 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 2: you could hide behind a shield with a porcupine, But 59 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 2: that's skunk. That's bad stuff. Let's tell the story you've 60 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 2: told before. But I think people should know how you 61 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 2: and and Morgan decided you wanted to be Navy seals 62 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 2: and began training at a very young age. And the 63 00:03:54,560 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 2: man who put you through that program. 64 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 4: It was Morgan's idea. He came down. I was feeding 65 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 4: the horses and he's like, hey, I know what we're 66 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 4: gonna do. 67 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 3: We're gonna be Navy seald It's gonna be great. 68 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 4: We get to jump out of airplanes, we get to 69 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 4: shoot guns, we get to blow things up, we get 70 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 4: the scuba dive and there's a really good chance we're 71 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 4: gonna die. 72 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 3: And I was like, okay, you sign me up. You know. 73 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 4: Being a younger brother, I kind of followed him around 74 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 4: everywhere he came up with the idea, but I usually 75 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 4: had to go first, so that that's when that happened. 76 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 4: We were new teenagers, fourteen fifteen years old and there 77 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 4: was a gentleman who lived in town. We actually grew 78 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 4: up with his daughter. We were in the same grade, 79 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 4: and he would come into the high school and work 80 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 4: the kids out in the gym, and then he had 81 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 4: a reputation for training young men to go into the military, 82 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 4: into the special Forces. They was Billy. So we got 83 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 4: the courage. 84 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 3: To go ask him to train us. I mean I 85 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 3: walked up on him. 86 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 4: I'll never get it, and caught him during dinner time, 87 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 4: got peace fried chicken in his same and he's like, 88 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 4: what do you knock over the door? He's like, what 89 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 4: do you want? And I was like, well, sir, we 90 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 4: want to be Navy seals. We heard you train people 91 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 4: to do that. He was wondering if you would train us, 92 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 4: and he kind of looked at me for a little bit, 93 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 4: and I had some buddies with me, looked over my 94 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 4: shoulder and he told us four to thirty tomorrow and 95 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 4: he slammed the door in our face. So we left, 96 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 4: and then the next day we showed up at four thirty. 97 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 3: Matter of fact, this is my. 98 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 4: First life lesson that I ever got taught with him. 99 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 4: Kind of stands true to this very day. You know, 100 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 4: someone tells you to be somewhere at a certain time, 101 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 4: you're always fifteen minutes early. When we were, we showed 102 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 4: up at four thirty, which is not on time, and 103 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 4: he man, he was out there waiting on us. I 104 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 4: remember running up to the yard. He was pointing at 105 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 4: us and at the ground. He's pointing at us, watching 106 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 4: at us and at the ground. And then when we 107 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 4: got within the yard that he was cussing us up 108 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 4: one side and down the other. 109 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 3: I mean good. You know, some people just have a 110 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 3: gift for profanity. He does. He has that, and. 111 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 4: They can apply it in certain ways to when it 112 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 4: and then it's really really impactful. I still remember it. 113 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 4: I mean, bro, this is over twenty years ago. 114 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 3: And uh, he. 115 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 4: Stopped us in the street and he drew a line 116 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 4: in the dirt with a head with his bootheel, and 117 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 4: he said, every day you come here, I'm gonna I'm 118 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 4: gonna ask you to cross this line. He goes, what 119 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 4: you're wanting to do and where you're going is a 120 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 4: voluntary program putting time on. He goes, you should probably 121 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 4: quit right now, because if you cross this line, I'm 122 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,839 Speaker 4: gonna I'm gonna beat you. I'm gonna do everything I 123 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 4: can to break you. He's like, I'm not your mother. 124 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 4: I don't care whether you live or die. And he said, 125 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 4: when a man goes to war, his brain turns the 126 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 4: water and runs out of his ears, and all he 127 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 4: has to go on is instinct in the guy to 128 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 4: the right and the left of him. He's like, if 129 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 4: you want a little bit of that across the line. 130 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 4: At that age, you know you're invincible still. I mean 131 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 4: you you walk around with immortality. 132 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 3: You can feel it. When you're that age, everything heals 133 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 3: up the way it's supposed to. So we did. 134 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 4: We cross the line, and I remember he dropped us 135 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 4: down to do some push ups. He's like, everybody on 136 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 4: your face, even three hundred push ups for being late. 137 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 4: And that's not a lot of push ups. But if 138 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 4: you got some guys who aren't in shape, you're gonna 139 00:06:59,000 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 4: be paying the man. 140 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 3: So that's I know what happened to us. 141 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 4: He started matching the deck, going down, up and down, 142 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:06,160 Speaker 4: and we got out of sink. He started a teeter 143 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 4: totter a little bit, and he stopped us, and I'll 144 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 4: never forget. He goes, you know, as a team, you're 145 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 4: gonna go down together, and you're gonna come up together. 146 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 4: You're gonna live together, and you're gonna die together. He goes, 147 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 4: you're not a team. 148 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 3: Start over. 149 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 4: And that's how it started for us. And he just 150 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 4: from that moment on he waded into us pretty hard. 151 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 4: I remember we we probably got an hour into it. 152 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 4: A couple of hours into it. We couldn't get those 153 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 4: push ups down. And he got so sick and tired 154 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 4: of us that he kicked us off his property. 155 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:32,559 Speaker 3: He's like, go home. 156 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 4: He goes, you're you're, you know, you're, you're a disgrace 157 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 4: to your family. He goes, when you get home, walk 158 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 4: right up to you dad and punch him in the 159 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 4: face and tell him to start over because he fed 160 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 4: up on you. And uh, he said, if you want 161 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 4: to do this again, tomore, show up on time. Don't 162 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 4: ever be late. My time is the one thing I 163 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 4: can't control. I don't have any bearing over it, so 164 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 4: I'm not gonna waste it on you. If you're not 165 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 4: gonna you're not gonna show up on time. And that 166 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 4: was the first lesson he taught me, and all of us. 167 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 2: Actually got a very much how much older than you 168 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 2: is Morgan. 169 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 3: Seven minutes? 170 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 2: Oh, that makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it. 171 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 4: It would have been back in the day, it'd have 172 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 4: been the King. 173 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 2: Marcus Latrell is our guests, we're going to Afghanistan and 174 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 2: Operation Red Wings and Loan Survivor and all of that 175 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 2: coming up. 176 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 5: Well, well, lucky you, Michael By continues your lucky day. 177 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 3: That out. 178 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 2: Our guest is Loan Survivor, Marcus Latrel. Twenty years after 179 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 2: Operation Red Wings, Marcus, let's rocket forward to you getting 180 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 2: orders to go to Afghanistan. How did that come down? 181 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 4: So they split the platoon in half, and there's still teams, 182 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:01,319 Speaker 4: there's there's troops, and there's platoons. And since there was 183 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 4: two wars going down at the same time, there was 184 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 4: more than enough work to go around. And our particular 185 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 4: platoon was specialized in reconnaissance I was with special deliveries, 186 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 4: so we were a smaller unit. But what would happen 187 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 4: is they would split us down the middle and kind 188 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 4: of temple us out to the other seal teams because 189 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 4: of our specialty. So when it came time to see 190 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 4: who was going where, my half of the platoon was 191 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 4: tasked to go to Afghanistan and the rest of our 192 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 4: guys went to Iraq. 193 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 3: And that's how that was up. 194 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 2: Was there Were you and Morgan intentionally split? 195 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 3: Absolutely? 196 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:46,079 Speaker 4: Oh? Yeah, absolutely, Especially in the beginning. I went through 197 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 4: field training before him, so I was ahead of him 198 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 4: a little bit. But eventually we wound up back together. 199 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 3: And the only. 200 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 4: Stipulation on that was especially in the beginning, as we 201 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 4: weren't allowed to ride in the same helicopters or the 202 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:04,559 Speaker 4: same hum And when I got when I got initially 203 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 4: into the teams, I got sent to Iraq. First he 204 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 4: got sent to Afghanistan, and then when I got back 205 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 4: from Iraq, I got sent to Afghanistan. 206 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 3: So it was it was one of those deals. 207 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 4: We were kind of missing each other back and forth. 208 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 4: Eventually we wound up together in Iraq, but in the 209 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 4: beginning we were separated by awards. 210 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 2: So tell me about the training for Red Wings. 211 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 4: We started, well, the thing about Navy seals is we're 212 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,240 Speaker 4: constantly training. If we're not sleeping or eating or working out, 213 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 4: then it's always training, work up for training. And then, 214 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 4: like I said, our job was special reconnaissance. We were 215 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 4: doing a lot of direct action missions, village takes, down, snatching, grabs, 216 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 4: sniper overwatches. Meaning it was desolate country out there, completely 217 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 4: different fighting than we're talking about in Iraq and the city. 218 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 4: So we were doing a lot of helicopter reconnaissance and 219 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 4: then then we would fast rope in and they would 220 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 4: drop us off in the mountains and leave us anywhere 221 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 4: from five to ten days, maybe two weeks, and then 222 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 4: they would reach supplies. 223 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 3: By air drop. 224 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 4: So we were kind of the eyes on if any 225 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 4: any unit does a hit or they go in, they're 226 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:11,839 Speaker 4: always going to have eyes on the target first to 227 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 4: kind of get an idea of what was going on, 228 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 4: and that was our job. So it was constantly working 229 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 4: with the helicopter units getting that online. The satellite imagery 230 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,199 Speaker 4: was getting pretty good back in two thousand and five. 231 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:26,680 Speaker 4: It's not like it is now where you could see 232 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,559 Speaker 4: everything and through walls, but back then the imagery was 233 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 4: getting pretty good, so we were doing a lot of 234 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,199 Speaker 4: map studies, switching up our gear, making sure everything was 235 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 4: good enough, and we were well prepared for whatever environment 236 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 4: when we got in, because the terrain would change with 237 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 4: the miles, so it was constant preparation and training. 238 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 2: So take me through the moment. You're on the side 239 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 2: of the mountain and you're there to get the bad guy, 240 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:56,839 Speaker 2: and these goat herders come upon you. 241 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 4: So we were separated probably about enough to where we 242 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 4: could we could barely see each other, so not enough 243 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 4: to where we were sitting right beside each other to 244 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 4: make a big signature, but far enough to way away 245 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 4: from each other that if we needed to get to 246 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 4: each other, we could, And the terrain really wasn't conducive 247 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 4: for a perfect setup, so we had perched up. We 248 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 4: were well over ten thousand feet on the side of 249 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 4: this mountain. So imagine a volcano with a village stuck 250 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 4: down at the bottom of it, and we came in 251 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 4: over the top of it. So what we did was 252 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 4: we kind of rope down and climbed down inside of 253 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 4: the volcano itself so we could get a better vantage 254 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 4: point on what was going on in the village. We 255 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 4: set up in a triangle formation. I was at the 256 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,000 Speaker 4: top of it. The top of the mountain was probably 257 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 4: fifteen to twenty meters above my head, and then Danny 258 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 4: and Mikey was right under actly right underneath me, and 259 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 4: then on my right left flank was Danny and Age. 260 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 4: I maybe saying that wrong. I think Mike he might 261 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 4: have been underneath. It's been a minute now, but anyways, 262 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 4: we set up, started watching the target and the sun 263 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 4: had come up. We'd been there overnight and we were 264 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 4: just monitoring all the activity when we had to move, 265 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 4: so we relocated onto a finger that we was sitting 266 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 4: off the side of the mountain so we could get 267 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 4: a better vantage on some of the houses. 268 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 3: And when we did that, about an. 269 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 4: Hour after set up, a shepherd walked up on us, 270 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 4: and I mean he walked right up on it. And 271 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 4: now I'll never get to look on this news face because. 272 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 3: He didn't he had no idea we were there at all. 273 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 4: And we grabbed him and pulled him off the side 274 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 4: and started to interrogate him. And then about that time 275 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 4: two more came up the mountain and we snatched them 276 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 4: up and sat them down and then the herd of goats. 277 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:53,839 Speaker 3: Came walking up. 278 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 4: I remember there was a dog there, which was kind 279 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 4: of odd because these gonna keep dogs. But I remember 280 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 4: there was a big old, kricking, angy dog that we 281 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:05,040 Speaker 4: bark in, and so we started going through the numbers 282 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 4: of what to do, and eventually what happened was we 283 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 4: turned them loose and then they left. We watched them leave, 284 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 4: and then we relocated back into a different position back 285 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 4: on the side of the mountain. Right after that, about 286 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 4: an hour or so. 287 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 3: Is when the main body came up on top of us, 288 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:26,359 Speaker 3: and there was h. 289 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 2: And when they came up on top of you, you 290 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 2: know they've come up on top of you. You didn't 291 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 2: see them or hear them. You just bullets start whizzing. 292 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 4: But so they're extremely quiet and you can't take anything 293 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 4: away from from from them as an enemy because they 294 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 4: are great at what they do. They know that terrain. 295 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 4: They were a formidable force, and I'll always pay them 296 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 4: respect like that. 297 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 3: I mean, they can fight. 298 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 4: So at first I kind of looked down and it 299 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 4: was actually was below me, and I remember him looking 300 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 4: past me. He was cut down behind this rock and 301 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 4: he had his rifle up. So I kind of looked 302 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 4: around and looked back up above me, and there was 303 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 4: a huge tree and this guy I saw an AK 304 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 4: muzzle come around it. And then the guy was he 305 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 4: was hooded up, turned around and looked at it, looked 306 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 4: down into us. So I rolled my rifle up and 307 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 4: when I went to take a shot, he pulled his 308 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 4: head back. 309 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 3: Around the tree. 310 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 4: And after when I came off my scope, I could 311 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 4: look right above me, to my left and right, and 312 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 4: there was guys setting up over the top of us 313 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 4: and down on the side of it. 314 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 3: And then I remember looking over at Mikey. 315 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 4: I said, get back on the clock and fixed and 316 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 4: get it on, and then I turned back around and waited, 317 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,119 Speaker 4: and eventually what happened was that guy pulled. 318 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 3: His head around that tree to take a shot. 319 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 4: And when he did, I dumped him. And when I 320 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 4: dumped him, it just it was game on. They kind 321 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 4: of unleashed and the fight commenced, and eventually what happened 322 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 4: was is we got pushed out of that position and 323 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 4: the terrain was so violent that it just we kind of. 324 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 3: Started tumbling down the mountain. 325 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 2: How long was it until one of you had been hit? 326 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 4: That was probably on the initial while we were still 327 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 4: in there, so pretty quick, and then systematically he's gott got. 328 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 2: Hold on just a moment. Marcus Latrell's our guest. 329 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 4: Smart devices from Michael's brain, one of them to your ears. 330 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: This is the Michael Very Show. 331 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 2: Marcus Latrell is our guest. Twenty years after Operation Red Wings, 332 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 2: of course his diary would be published and Lone Survivor 333 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 2: would be a bestseller, the movie would be made, and 334 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 2: a nation was riveted. We were at war in Iraq 335 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 2: and Afghanistan, and I think that really humanized. The two 336 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 2: guys from that time that I grew to have such 337 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 2: incredible respect for were Marcus Aetrell and his peers, his 338 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 2: Navy seals, and Chris Kyle. And I think the entire 339 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 2: country was absolutely and still is riveted by this story. 340 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 2: So it has become a firefight. Tell me, Marcus, what 341 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:19,200 Speaker 2: happens from there. 342 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 4: Once that thing started, it was kind of a free 343 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 4: for all because they had us covered on three sides, 344 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:30,879 Speaker 4: so the only way we could go was down the mountain. 345 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 4: And then a couple hours into that, they had come 346 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,359 Speaker 4: up from the base of the mountain from the village, 347 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 4: so they had us in a three hundred and sixty 348 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 4: degree loop. 349 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 3: There wasn't really anywhere we. 350 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 4: Could go, which means you had to keep moving the 351 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 4: entire time. The hardest thing to hit as a moving target, 352 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:47,800 Speaker 4: but because of the terrain and the altitude, just making 353 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 4: the movement was tough enough. By a couple hours into it, 354 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 4: everyone was so exhausted that and shot up that they 355 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:56,159 Speaker 4: just systematically picked us apart one by one as we 356 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 4: were going down the mountain. And then at the end 357 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 4: of the day, I was I had slipped into this 358 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 4: ravine and kind of was laid in between these rocks, 359 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:07,640 Speaker 4: and I. 360 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:08,200 Speaker 3: Just laid there. 361 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 4: I was paralyzed from the waist down. I'd been shot 362 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 4: up pretty bad and fragged, and my back was broken 363 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 4: and stuff. And as the sun went down, I just 364 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:20,679 Speaker 4: laid there and I couldn't move. I waited and waited, 365 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 4: and then eventually I started to crawl out of there 366 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 4: and just started moving. And I crawled all night into 367 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 4: the next morning and halfway through the next day before 368 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 4: the villager sell me it was right next to a waterfall. 369 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 3: In the river. 370 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 2: You've talked about not knowing how far you went, and 371 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 2: you know you weren't at yourself as my grandmother would say, 372 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 2: but if you were to estimate how far you crawled, 373 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 2: what would that be? 374 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:52,440 Speaker 4: So we know now they're going to map study, and 375 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 4: I've gotten debriefed by everyone who had anything to do 376 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 4: with the mission. And I crawled about seven miles. 377 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 2: And you started how much after after sundown or after 378 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,880 Speaker 2: it got dark, Probably. 379 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 4: About almost a couple of hours afterwards. I I just 380 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,120 Speaker 4: started making movement when I couldn't hear anything, and when 381 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 4: I thought that they and Matta had returned to base, 382 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 4: I just started moving. 383 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 2: And there was zero chance you would have survived. If 384 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 2: you'd stayed there, they would have found you. 385 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 4: Right absolutely, because the helicopter had gotten shot down, which 386 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 4: brought more reinforcements from them into the mountain was saturated 387 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 4: with the Taliban and the al Qaeda. They kind of 388 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 4: worked together in that area of the Hornets nest is 389 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 4: where we were at, and we had slipped in there 390 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 4: under the cover of darkness. So when the sun came 391 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 4: up and everybody was making movement, it was it was saturated. 392 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 2: When you saw the I'm assuming you saw the Chinook 393 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 2: shot down. 394 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:48,719 Speaker 3: I didn't. 395 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 4: That's how loud it was that I couldn't hear it. 396 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,159 Speaker 4: Or see it get shot down and roll down the mountain. 397 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 4: I had my ear drums have been busted out. I 398 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 4: was bleeding out everywhere, so I didn't I didn't know that. 399 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 4: I found that out when I was in the village 400 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:08,880 Speaker 4: and the Taliban got a hold to me. They told 401 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,479 Speaker 4: me one of the guys was wearing one of a 402 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 4: wedding ring he said was from one of my buddies. 403 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 4: He was trying to tell me that they had shot 404 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 4: a helicopter down and that a bunch of seals had died. 405 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 3: But I didn't I wouldn't believe it. 406 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,399 Speaker 4: And then when I got back to when y'all finally 407 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 4: found me and brought me back, is when I when 408 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 4: I got the news that that was solid. 409 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 2: I'm gonna ask a stupid question. Why couldn't they get 410 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 2: the coms up? You know, you talk about this in 411 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 2: the book, and that's a central theme to the movie. 412 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 2: Why couldn't they manage to get comms back to the base? 413 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:42,440 Speaker 2: I mean, but was the equipment not good enough or 414 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 2: what was the issue? 415 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 3: Now? 416 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 4: That has to do with location where we were set up, 417 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,159 Speaker 4: and they're just intermittent. Sometimes they come in and sometimes 418 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 4: they come out. There's no really solid answer for why 419 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 4: that happens. I know today with technology you can you can. 420 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 4: It's the same premise why your cell phone while you 421 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,239 Speaker 4: lose signal in certain areas, like we don't, how can 422 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 4: I stand right here and then go two feet to 423 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 4: the right and not have so I can make communications. 424 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 4: It's the same principle. But go way back and when 425 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 4: you're get in two thousand and five and you're dealing 426 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 4: with the Statcom radio and then the planes moving overhead 427 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 4: and the relays that we had back and forth, it 428 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 4: was just intermittent. That's just the way it works. That's 429 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 4: why we have checkpoints and waypoints as we're going along. 430 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 4: So if we do miss a calm window, then there's 431 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 4: another checkpoints when we get to that we can radio 432 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 4: back in before everyone starts losing their mind and trying 433 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 4: to come get us. 434 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 2: Do you remember the first hit you took? 435 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:42,160 Speaker 4: Yeah, oh yeah, we don't forget it absolutely well, until 436 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 4: you get hit, you don't know. You just have this 437 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 4: anticipation of what it feels like. And now there's a 438 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,479 Speaker 4: difference between when you have this mentality of when you're 439 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 4: hunting men. I remember having that like it kind of 440 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:58,719 Speaker 4: flowed through me. It was my job when we went 441 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 4: out was to hunt things down. And then it's a 442 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:06,239 Speaker 4: completely different feeling when someone's hunting you and there and 443 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 4: and they've got you in the side to a lot 444 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 4: of times you couldn't see where any it was so 445 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 4: loud and at this as you couldn't didn't have any 446 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 4: idea where the bullets was coming from. 447 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:14,360 Speaker 3: So I remember thinking. 448 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,920 Speaker 4: When I got hit that first time and I fell 449 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,679 Speaker 4: and knocked me out when I came to the smell, 450 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 4: that's the one thing that he couldn't You can't duplicate 451 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 4: as the smell of death when that's around, and how 452 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 4: the ground was on fire too, and I remember the 453 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 4: smoke and all that stuff like that. It just kind 454 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 4: of hit me, hit me pretty hard, and and then 455 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 4: it just changed the dynamic. 456 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 3: The way the way you move. 457 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,479 Speaker 2: Told me. You told me one time that as brutal 458 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,159 Speaker 2: as the movie is, it's two hours long, and the 459 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,400 Speaker 2: firefight lasted far longer than that, and of course you're 460 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 2: in the middle of it, and the smells and the 461 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 2: sounds and all that. What is the thing that the 462 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 2: movie was least able to convey that you remember vividly. 463 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:01,399 Speaker 4: Bringing me out of there. If I if I could, 464 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 4: if there'd be another movie made, it would be about 465 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 4: the ending, the way that what it took to get 466 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 4: me out of there, and and pay respects and give 467 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 4: acknowledgement to everything that went to pulling me out. 468 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 3: That that in itself was is a story because it 469 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 3: happened at night. 470 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 4: In the In the movie they made Low Survivor, it 471 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 4: was a daytime rescue, and in reality it was at night, 472 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 4: and I mean it was a free for all, crazy 473 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:32,199 Speaker 4: scenario storms and everyone was out there. It was probably 474 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 4: the most intimidated, intimidating time because I didn't you know, 475 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 4: you think I'm getting rescued, but then there's a chance. 476 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 4: There's always a chance you can die. And when they 477 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 4: finally got me onto the helicopter and we left out 478 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 4: of there, it was there was a roller coaster of 479 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 4: emotions for sure. But the one thing that we didn't 480 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 4: capture in the film, and like I said, just didn't 481 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 4: have enough time, was the ending, how they actually had 482 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 4: in what they had to go through the rescue. Everyone 483 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 4: who was in theater was involved in getting me out 484 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,040 Speaker 4: of there for sure, and then to follow on to 485 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 4: get all the guys off the mountain, I remember our 486 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 4: teammates were still laying out there. We had a helicopter 487 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 4: go down and had sixteen guys on it. They had 488 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 4: to recover all those guys. They were taking fire. 489 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:22,440 Speaker 3: It was it was a crazy scenario for sure. 490 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:28,119 Speaker 2: The letter that you wrote that was carried to the 491 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 2: American military. What was on there? 492 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 4: It had my name, what operation I was with, and 493 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 4: what condition I was in. And then it also told 494 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 4: them that the guy who delivered the message the message 495 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 4: was one of the guys that rescued me. 496 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 3: And was kind of saved my life. 497 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 2: And you wrote all that out wounded as you were. 498 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 3: I did. I had a little help. Yeah, they brought 499 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 3: me some a pencil and a pizza. I had a 500 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,959 Speaker 3: paper already, and then yeah, I got that done. 501 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 2: Hold on, Marcus Trell's our guests. 502 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,959 Speaker 3: I know what's the name? We say, Michael Buddy. 503 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 2: Marcus Lill Trell is our guest twenty years after Operation 504 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,199 Speaker 2: Red Wings. Hard to believe it's been twenty years. He 505 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 2: has agreed to stay with us a little extra because 506 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 2: everything I want to know won't make it into this segment. 507 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:27,919 Speaker 2: I could talk to him for hours on end and 508 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 2: have There's so many things he can't tell or doesn't 509 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 2: tell that are fascinating about all of this and his 510 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 2: incredible life. Marcus will Treill is our guest. Marcus, you 511 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 2: mentioned that the extrication of you, the rescue of you, 512 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 2: didn't get covered properly in the movie because you couldn't 513 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,359 Speaker 2: give everything justice. What are some things we didn't see? 514 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:52,640 Speaker 3: Okay? 515 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,159 Speaker 4: So I was the greed, the hodge pods of the 516 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 4: guys who finally found me, And if you could have 517 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,399 Speaker 4: seen them, I mean, it looks something right out of 518 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 4: a movie. When they came in there, they were beat 519 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 4: up just to get to me. Was was was an event, 520 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,119 Speaker 4: just just to find me. And then once they found me, 521 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,879 Speaker 4: they had the they surrounded the village, and then the 522 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 4: village was surrounded by the Taliban and the al Qaida. 523 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 3: Just to keep me safe. And then they had moved 524 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,160 Speaker 3: me down the mountain. 525 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 4: Into this little ravine area that I had thought about 526 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 4: this in a minute. 527 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,160 Speaker 3: And we sat up and it was dark, so by 528 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 3: now the. 529 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,160 Speaker 4: Sun had gone down, and the helicopter had to come 530 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 4: in from the base of the mountain, and it was 531 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 4: we were so high up on the mountain that the 532 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,399 Speaker 4: all it was was fuel and Ammo and remember they 533 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 4: had some water on there for the guys, because the 534 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 4: guys who found me were out of water. 535 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 3: And then a firefight ensued. 536 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 4: And then above the mountain where a bunch of sixteen 537 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 4: aircraft were dropping ordnance down on the bad guys. And 538 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 4: then in the distance at the base of the mountain, 539 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 4: so down the mountain it was. 540 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 3: A river, and the helicopter was coming up the river, 541 00:26:57,880 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 3: and the. 542 00:26:58,240 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 4: Colsign a guy who was flying the Burthen name of 543 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 4: span Jeff Pearson, great, great freaking guy. 544 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,680 Speaker 3: And and here you'll tell you. 545 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,199 Speaker 4: It was so dark, and by this time they had 546 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 4: juiced me up, so I was kind of having a 547 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 4: good time, Like I wasn't feel any pain anymore, and 548 00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:14,159 Speaker 4: I was just kind of sitting there watching all of 549 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:16,879 Speaker 4: our guys do their thing, and it was it was 550 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 4: the most amazing thing to watch them work. Normally, when 551 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 4: you're in something you don't you can't anticipate with that. 552 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 4: But when I had a chance to step back and 553 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 4: actually watch our guys go to war, and it was awesome. 554 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 4: And then that helicopter boy came up over the side 555 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 4: of that cliff and the dust kicked up and so 556 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 4: it called a brown eye we couldn't see anything. 557 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,400 Speaker 3: Well, when he came to land, the ravine we were 558 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 3: on was about as wide as the helicopter itself. Eric 559 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 3: and he goes, and that dust came up. I couldn't 560 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 3: see nothing. 561 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,439 Speaker 4: And then there was Pj's in the back of the 562 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 4: bird trying to land it, trying to tell them out 563 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 4: far from the ground they were, and nobody could see anything. 564 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 4: And the helicopter actually had rotated, so when the nose 565 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 4: came over, it had spun around and the tail was 566 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 4: facing us. And then he goes, there was a plant 567 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:02,200 Speaker 4: hanging from one of the houses. It was on the 568 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 4: side of the mountain. Because I was kind of looking 569 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 4: at that thing, and I just sat it down and 570 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 4: he did. 571 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 3: He stuck it. Well. 572 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 4: The green Bereats they picked me up and were carrying 573 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 4: me towards the Hilo, and I was dressed up in 574 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 4: man Jamie, so I looked like an ap game and 575 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:16,640 Speaker 4: they pulled me up at the tail so you don't 576 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 4: come up on the tail roader. So the pgs turned 577 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,120 Speaker 4: around to actually take a shot at us, and they 578 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 4: had their lasers up and their lasers hit our glint pape, 579 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,199 Speaker 4: and that's how they knew that not to shoot, so 580 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 4: almost got killed on the rescue, which is they told 581 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 4: me that later. 582 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 3: I was like, I'm glad you didn't shoot me. 583 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,399 Speaker 4: And then they threw me on the helicopter and we 584 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,480 Speaker 4: sat there for a while because they had to unload 585 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:37,200 Speaker 4: the water for all the guys who were still on 586 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 4: the mountains because they had to go on a follow 587 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 4: on mission. 588 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 3: They didn't even come home with me. 589 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:44,680 Speaker 4: And then we sat there, and then the helicopter I remember, 590 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 4: dumped off the side of the mountain that PJ came up. 591 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 4: He asked me, He's like, who's your superhero? I was like, 592 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 4: Spider Man, and I asked him my dog's name. I 593 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 4: told him that it's kind of verification code. And we 594 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 4: went back and we landed and they're still in a firefight. 595 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 4: We landed on a base and then they transferred me 596 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 4: from a helicopter to a C one thirty medical bird 597 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 4: and kind of laid me down and started. 598 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 3: Going to work on me. 599 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 4: And then they flew me from there to Toboggam Air 600 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 4: Force Base, where the rest of my platoon and all 601 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 4: the seals are waiting on me to get back. 602 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 2: But then, how does that look when they bring you 603 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 2: in What tell me about that? 604 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 4: So the ramp dropped off the helicopter or shooting on 605 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 4: the back of the plane and they had to pick me. 606 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 4: I couldn't really walk, so they picked me up and 607 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 4: we're tearing me down at ivy stuck out of me 608 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,479 Speaker 4: and they they said they abandoned me up and uh, 609 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 4: I remember there was a lady standing by the ramp 610 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:40,280 Speaker 4: and she covered her face and started crying. 611 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 3: I guess I looked worse than I thought. 612 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 4: And then they transferred me to these van There's a 613 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 4: bunch of vans sitting there, and they put me in one. 614 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 3: Of those, and then they took me to the hospital. 615 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 4: And then while I was in the hospital, they was 616 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 4: when we kind of started the debrief. I tried to 617 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 4: tell them because all my guys were still out there. 618 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 4: I tried to tell them where I was and in 619 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 4: relations to where they thought we were, and it just 620 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 4: it all started from there. 621 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 3: And then I was in the hospital for a minute. 622 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 2: Go ahead, are you able to talk at that point? 623 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 2: I mean, what does that look like? 624 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 3: I was was? I was able to talk. 625 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 4: The villagers did a great job of taking care of me. 626 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 4: I mean, they doctored me up twice a day, a 627 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 4: bandaged my wounds, make sure my pain tirrant, my pain 628 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 4: was down. So I was really I had a doctor 629 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 4: in the village and they just they. 630 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 3: Saved my life for sure. And then when I got 631 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:28,920 Speaker 3: back the. 632 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 4: All the army guys started working on me, and then 633 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 4: we started doing the debriefs so they could go out 634 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 4: and find our other guys and bring them back. I 635 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 4: think that took about two weeks to find all the guys. 636 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 4: I'm not mistaken, so and then I got transferred back 637 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 4: to the States. 638 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 2: In the movie, there is a conflict within the village 639 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 2: that you know, Gulah brings you back and that not 640 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 2: everyone in the village wants you there because that brings 641 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 2: problems on them. Tell me a little bit about your 642 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 2: reception in the village to the extent you remember it. 643 00:30:58,800 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 3: Just like that. 644 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 4: Well, there was some in there that didn't want me 645 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 4: in there, and I could tell immediately who they were. 646 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,920 Speaker 4: They weren't trying to hide that for sure. And then 647 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 4: there were the villages and the elder and Doulab. They 648 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 4: were making sure that I stayed safe, and they put 649 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 4: a rotating guard on me. I was in there for 650 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,840 Speaker 4: almost five days, and then there was some people in 651 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 4: the village who were trying to sell me, because the 652 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 4: Taliban would show up every day negotiating for my head, 653 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 4: and they would tell me about it, sit down in 654 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 4: my room and have. 655 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:31,400 Speaker 3: These little powwows and these meetings and then. 656 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 4: Which was kind of frustrating because I didn't speak the language. 657 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 4: Uh well, I didn't understand what they were in, but 658 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 4: I could get the concept of what was going down. 659 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 4: And then eventually when the when the Green Berets and 660 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 4: the rangers found me, I was tucked in underneath this 661 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,360 Speaker 4: rock and a river bed, and they were they moved 662 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 4: me around the village systematically and strategically all day and 663 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:53,480 Speaker 4: every day through the night. So the Taliban would get 664 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 4: a beat on the room that I was in and 665 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 4: they start shooting in there or firing RPG at the wall, 666 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 4: and then the villagers would move me somewhere else. 667 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 3: So it was it was kind of chaotic and stressful, 668 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 3: for sure. 669 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 2: It's amazing to think that after everything you had survived, 670 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,239 Speaker 2: that you could have been killed at that moment, or 671 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:15,880 Speaker 2: at the moment you're being rescued. I mean that that's 672 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 2: just just just insane. So the moment they came to 673 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 2: get you. Do you remember the first thing they said 674 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 2: to you, call. 675 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 4: My name out. I'll never forget it. I heard it 676 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 4: in English for the first time. And uh, I was 677 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 4: draped over these two guys and my head was down. 678 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:34,880 Speaker 4: They were having to drag me through the through the mountains, 679 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 4: and I looked up and this old boy came down 680 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 4: the mountain and two of them. 681 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,080 Speaker 3: I could see it very vividly, and. 682 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 4: I grabbed that guy. I mean, I never heard the 683 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 4: man like that. I'm gonna get in here, but I 684 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:44,960 Speaker 4: was going to make sure he was real because I 685 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 4: was real sick by then. And uh, hey he called 686 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 4: me by my name, and uh, they picked me up 687 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:59,719 Speaker 4: and and took me into this this stable. Uh, right 688 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 4: in the on the side of the mountain. There was 689 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 4: a stable down there that they were peeping mules in 690 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:05,200 Speaker 4: and they laid me down in there and started a 691 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 4: bandaging me up. And then that's when that jeps me 692 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 4: for the first time. 693 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 3: And uh they got me out of there. Yeah, that happened, 694 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 3: but it was it was It was crazy, for sure. 695 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd say mark so many details like that. Go ahead, 696 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 2: Marcus Petrel is our guest. We're going to talk off 697 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,920 Speaker 2: air and we will post that to the podcast within 698 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 2: the hour. Coming up, Stay tuned.