1 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: Mute force. If it doesn't work, you're just not using enough. 2 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: You're listening to Software Radio, Special Operations, Military Nails and 3 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: straight talk with the guys in the community. 4 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 2: Hey, what's going on? Welcome back to another wonderful episode 5 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 2: of soft Rep Radio. I am your host, rad and 6 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 2: today I have a special guest. But first you know 7 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 2: what it is. It's time to go visit our merch store. 8 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 2: That's right, soft Reap dot Com Forward Slash Merch We 9 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 2: have all sorts of new items. I just got back 10 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 2: from going to shot show. We have a lot of 11 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 2: suppliers bringing stuff into the merch store, so be sure 12 00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 2: to go check out your favorite branded soft Reap item 13 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 2: from our merch shop and keep us going. Also, our 14 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 2: book club, we have soft rep dot Com Forward Slash 15 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 2: book hyphen Club. If you go there you can check 16 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 2: out the books from the authors that come on the show, 17 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 2: as well as others from the operators who run the 18 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 2: site soft Rep. They put books into this library that 19 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 2: they think you would enjoy. And my next guest, without 20 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 2: any further ado, is Joe Muchia who has written a 21 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 2: book called cry Havoc with the late Tom Greer. Joe 22 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 2: is a former United States Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, and 23 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 2: we're going to get into it with him. Welcome to 24 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 2: the show, Joe. 25 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:34,639 Speaker 3: Hey, Rad, great to be here, man. 26 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,199 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great to have you. You know, I got 27 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 2: to drop Cyrus's name, all right, Cyrus Norcross. He is 28 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 2: one of our guests Navajo Nation journalists. He's like, Rad, 29 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 2: you got to get Joe on the show and talk 30 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 2: about as a grenada, right and Operation Urgent Fury and 31 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 2: now let me piggyback on that real quick, Operation Urgent Fury. Well, 32 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 2: there was a movie called Heartbreak Ridge that is kind 33 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 2: of like they're going into Grenada, you know, to go 34 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 2: into that in Heartbreak Ridge with Clint Eastwood. How close 35 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 2: to life are you? Like? Clin Eastwood? 36 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 3: I was probably one of the most easy going gunnery 37 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 3: sergeants out there, So I would say I was on 38 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:11,519 Speaker 3: the opposite end of the spectrum. 39 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 2: Did you show up with a colored shirt? And if 40 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 2: they didn't, they all had to go do extra pt No. 41 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 3: Now, my guys were pretty good. I didn't have to 42 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 3: worry about doing stuff like that. They self policed. 43 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 2: Were you Can you tell me a little bit about 44 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 2: what you did as a gunnery sergeant. Was it a 45 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 2: mos style job. What was that. 46 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, when I first started out in the Corps, I 47 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 3: was a communicator, and then I moved into the intelligence 48 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 3: field and I stayed there until I retired. 49 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 2: Intelligence. So in the military, that's a word that doesn't 50 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 2: really get used often. 51 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 3: A little oxymoor on there. But yeah, right, yeah. 52 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 2: Tell me a little bit of what intelligence you would 53 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 2: be dealing with during Operation Urgent Fury, Like, what is 54 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 2: it that you and your guys were. 55 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 3: Like, Well, I wasn't there, so I'm well after the 56 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 3: after the fact. But when I first joined the Corps, 57 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 3: one of my first NCOs was a grenade a bay 58 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 3: root bet and so I kind of grew up on 59 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 3: that lore of the core or where they talked to you. 60 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 3: You know, they kind of, hey, we're expeditionary. We you know, 61 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 3: land on islands, we do we storm beaches, we do this, 62 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 3: we do that. It's the kind of thing you're brought 63 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 3: up with. And my NCO, a guy named Danny, was 64 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 3: really good and really smart. He had already been Grenada 65 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 3: bea route Desert Storm. I came in on the tail 66 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 3: end of Desert Storm, and he kind of raised me 67 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 3: as a young devil pup into into something useful for 68 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 3: the core. But I mean, it's interesting that you asked 69 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 3: me about intelligence and urgent fury, and that was one 70 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 3: of the key issues in preparing our forces for going 71 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 3: into Grenada was the lack of substantial intelligence on the 72 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 3: ground about what we were facing. So that was a 73 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 3: big black hole for a lot of the guys going in. 74 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 3: But but definitely I was not there, but was lucky 75 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 3: enough to serve with a bunch of folks that were. 76 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 3: And then eventually taking some college courses, I took a 77 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 3: creative writing and it became a history. My major. Ended 78 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 3: up talking to a bunch of rangers who actually jumped 79 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 3: into Grenada, and that kind of set this age for 80 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 3: my interest in that operation. 81 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, I actually got to interview a friend of mine 82 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 2: who jumped into Grenada, Howard Max Mullen, Mad Max, Mad Max. Yeah, 83 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 2: I got to give him a shout out, you know, 84 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 2: and marchin die rad. What's up doing? Everybody? What's up? 85 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 2: Mad Max Mullen? Here, I could see you in the 86 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 2: ranger pit. You want to do combatives, you want to 87 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 2: go to Grenada, Let's go. You know, he is a 88 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 2: great guy, and obviously you know who he is. 89 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 3: Ranger Hall of Famer. Max is actually featured in the 90 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 3: book in Cry Havoc. Okay, you'll you can read a 91 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 3: little bit about him in there, but yeah, those guys 92 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 3: are phenomenal. Max is just a legend. 93 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. You know what's funny with Max is he brings 94 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 2: his his story and his trials and tribulations of the 95 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 2: Ranger and being in the army and now out and 96 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 2: he does war games with us where he's my commanding 97 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 2: officer for like the last thirteen years, fourteen years of 98 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 2: these Lion Clause games that we go to with airsoft guns. 99 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 2: And it's no joke though, right, you know, it's just 100 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,239 Speaker 2: no joke. There's armored personnel carriers, tracked vehicles, there's tanks. 101 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 2: There's people with like lots of experience of hunting people 102 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 2: for a living that are getting paid to other people 103 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 2: for a living out here. So I mean, and Matt 104 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 2: Max Is usually like all right, Rad, first lieutenant, Rad, 105 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 2: what's your platoon want to go do? And I'm like this, 106 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 2: He's like, I'm gonna go with you guys, Let's go 107 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 2: And it's like let's go fight, right. I love that. 108 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, if you're gona learn, you're gonna learn for the 109 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 3: best and Max is outstanding. He is so good. I 110 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 3: love that guy. I've known him for a long time. 111 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 3: Just got to see him in Savannah for the fortieth 112 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 3: anniversary of Urgent Theory, which is great. Yeah, I love 113 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 3: that guy is He is phenomenal. 114 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:36,799 Speaker 2: He's like, rad, you should clear your schedule for April 115 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 2: and come out to the best Rage of Competition with me. 116 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 2: And I was like, well, Max, slide into my DMS bro. 117 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 3: I'm probably actually going to be down there. I've been 118 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,239 Speaker 3: in contact with the coordinators for the BRCO. I'll probably 119 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 3: doing a signing. 120 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 2: Down there, So if it happens I might be there, 121 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:53,919 Speaker 2: then we can at least like give each other a 122 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 2: high five and say it was nice to meet each 123 00:05:55,480 --> 00:06:00,040 Speaker 2: other in real life. Yeah, Ursus definitely these virtual introductions 124 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 2: and quick friendships that are made very fast. I mean, 125 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 2: this is what I want my show to be about. 126 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 2: Is my listener to hear like, hey, you're just a 127 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 2: normal dude, like we all are, and uh, we have 128 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 2: mutual friends and we can have conversation so as a 129 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 2: marine though as a devil pup, you know, and as 130 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 2: chesty you know, chesty as your lord and savior in 131 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:23,479 Speaker 2: the Marine Corps. Right, Okay, so I learned to love 132 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,280 Speaker 2: Chesty even not being a marine. He is my Lord 133 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 2: and savior of war. I just want you to know that. 134 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 3: I mean, how could you not? 135 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 2: How could you not? 136 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 3: Guys just straight legend. I mean, you know, another another 137 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 3: more laura of the cores we're brought up on as 138 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 3: young marines, the legend of Chesty as five Navy crosses. 139 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 3: I mean, the guy's just again another ledge out there. 140 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 2: He didn't want to get any hot. He wanted to 141 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 2: go back down and rank, and then he went right 142 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 2: back up in rank. You know, it's like, what just 143 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 2: the Marines polar? Right? It's polar, right, isn't it. So 144 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,479 Speaker 2: any of my listener's Chesty Polar? Yeah, he's He's lore 145 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 2: of the Marine Corps. So go look up Chesty Polar. Yeah, 146 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 2: if you want to know who we're talking about. And 147 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 2: then say, why didn't he not get a Medal of 148 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 2: honor at any point even posthumously? 149 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 3: I don't know, but it's pretty impressive when you see 150 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 3: that ribbon rack and you see all those Navy crosses 151 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 3: with the you see the Navy cross ribbon with all 152 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 3: the stars on it. 153 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like cluster cluster, cluster, cluster, cluster cluster. 154 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 3: It's like you'll never see anything like that again in 155 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 3: your lifetime. 156 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 2: So no, he's yeah legit, And that's why the Marines 157 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 2: hold him in such high regard as a marine, because 158 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 2: he really did what marines need to do, which is 159 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 2: be the tip of the tip of the blade of 160 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 2: the spear. I love it. Now. Is your hat? Is 161 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 2: that like a recon hat with that spade on it? 162 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 3: No? Actually, it's just a patch of friend of mine 163 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 3: got made up a while back with the spartan helmet 164 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 3: and the spade on it. 165 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 2: Oh, I see, because I know, like the first recon 166 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 2: out of like what is it Hollywood style side over 167 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 2: here they have like the spade as their logo. I 168 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 2: think it is. 169 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, then I think you know, the marsk and the stuff. Yeah, 170 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 3: I think they us some of that imagery in their 171 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 3: and their logos. 172 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, just trying to give him a shout out that 173 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 2: I hold me over in Japan. And first, what's up? 174 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 2: How you do about it? You're so tell me this 175 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 2: book that you put together called cry Havoc with the 176 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 2: late Tom Greer. Tell me about Tom Tom. 177 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 3: I'm sure a lot of your listeners are aware of 178 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 3: who Tom was. He was at Tora Bora. He wrote 179 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 3: Kill Bin Laden was probably his most well known book, 180 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 3: but he wrote a series of fictional books based on 181 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 3: a character just like himself, New York Times bestseller, Great 182 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 3: Human Being, Great Patriot. Tom and I overlapped in our research. 183 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 3: I had originally started working on by myself to write 184 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,679 Speaker 3: a book about Grenada, and Tom was really wanting to 185 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 3: do the same thing but focus on the ranger missions 186 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 3: during the operation. And then we started having a lot 187 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 3: of overlap and talking to the same people, and it 188 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 3: was kind of like, you mind if I passed this 189 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:50,679 Speaker 3: information over to a friend of mine who's also writing 190 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 3: a book, and we cross decked a lot of information, 191 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 3: and after that we came became friends. And then he 192 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:58,680 Speaker 3: called me up one day and he said, listen, I 193 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 3: have cancer. I'm I'm not gonna make it. I'm gonna 194 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,439 Speaker 3: send you all the material I have. He's like, you 195 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 3: can do what you want with it. So that kicked 196 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 3: off that and the and the fortieth anniversary approaching really 197 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 3: kickstarted the effort to get this thing written and published 198 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 3: in time. So working with Tom at first was great 199 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 3: because there was a lot of it was very collegial, 200 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 3: it was very friendly. We just passed in information back 201 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,319 Speaker 3: and forth, and then it was like getting the rug 202 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 3: pulled out from underneath you with your writing partner, essentially. 203 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 3: But Tom had sent me his manuscript and it was about, 204 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 3: I would say, about fifty percent done and needed some work. 205 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 3: There was great material there, and it's a very large 206 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 3: cast of characters. I think we included almost one hundred 207 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 3: Rangers that we had interviewed, not to mention other members 208 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 3: of like Knights, Doggers and eighty second Airborne guys and 209 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 3: so there's a nice swath of service members for this. 210 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 3: But it just covers the Ranger operations during Urgent Fury. 211 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 3: But we had to whittle it down to focus on several, 212 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 3: you know, protagonists, like in most books you have a 213 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 3: single protagonist. Thought I lost it there for a second. 214 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 2: Oh no, I'm listening. No, I look frozen. I'm like 215 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 2: listening though. Here the fireplaces, the fireplaces movement. You got me, bros. Hypnotic. 216 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 2: I know right, You're like, I'm just listening. I'm I'm 217 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 2: just putting together Tom Grier's Dalton Fury. You know what 218 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 2: I'm saying. And I remember he passed. He passed maybe 219 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 2: like three few years back, right, and uh yeah a 220 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:27,960 Speaker 2: few years back. Yeah, it was a big deal and 221 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 2: everyone's talking about going to his funeral. In fact, I 222 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 2: was in twenty sixteen. I was in London with Hobbitt, 223 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 2: who was fighting for the Special Forces team with Soft Rep. 224 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 2: We went, we go over to London and he had 225 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,319 Speaker 2: just said that Dalton Fury had just passed away and 226 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 2: he was needing to go back to his funeral and everything. Yeah, 227 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 2: about the same time. 228 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, but he was He was awesome. The stuff he 229 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 3: had left was really dynamic. He has a certain writing 230 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 3: style to him, and I tried to match that as 231 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 3: best I could and then finish finish the work, which 232 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 3: obviously we're able to do. But again most books have 233 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 3: a single pre antagonists. We kind of tried to pick 234 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 3: like a key personality from each one of the Rifle 235 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,679 Speaker 3: Companies and First and Second Ranger Battalion just to carry 236 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 3: their the stories a little bit. But we bolted on 237 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 3: a lot of the other stories from a lot of 238 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 3: the other guys. So, like I said, there's input probably 239 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 3: from over one hundred veterans into the book. So it's 240 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 3: and it's very detailed. It's not one of these red 241 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 3: arrows blue arrows on a map kind of thing from 242 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 3: a general's point of view. This is from the individual 243 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 3: rangers point of view. I find that that kind of 244 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 3: writing is very popular nowadays, especially like with the advent 245 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 3: of Band of Brothers and books like that that focus 246 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 3: it from the foxhole view. These guys are like guys 247 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 3: you've known, especially for your audience, which as a I 248 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 3: would assume it was a big, significant soft representation in it. 249 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 3: I guarantee you there's a lot of familiar names into 250 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,680 Speaker 3: in this book that to your listeners and. 251 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 2: Viewers that they would just love to check it out. Yes, 252 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 2: and I want them to, so they should go check 253 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 2: out cry Havoc. And where would we be able to 254 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 2: go see and find this book? Is it going to 255 00:11:57,920 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 2: be something that's on the bookshelf? Is it something that's 256 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 2: to be like, you know, uh, internet specific for a 257 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 2: certain website. 258 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,079 Speaker 3: I sell it on my own website and I'll provide 259 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 3: you the link later on. 260 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:08,679 Speaker 2: And it's also site right now too. 261 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:10,599 Speaker 3: What is that I got to pull the r L. 262 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 2: I'm sorry, that's funny. Well you used to do that 263 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 2: while we're talking it's a week site. 264 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 3: You know how their URLs are like long and stupid. 265 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 3: But anyway, I'll provide you the link and then you 266 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 3: can also order it off of Amazon and Barnes and 267 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 3: Noble and stuff like that online, so it's available there. 268 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 2: But if anybody wants a book, leave a review, right. 269 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, please, And if you buy it from me usually 270 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 3: I'll sign it for everybody. And if you want an 271 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 3: inscription in there, I'll throw it in there as well. 272 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 2: Oh well that's awesome. Well, once we get the link 273 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,239 Speaker 2: from you, we'll have that put up in the notations 274 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 2: on the website and people will build just like hyper 275 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 2: click it and then go check out your book, you know, 276 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 2: if they're on the website. And if you don't have 277 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 2: the soft reap app already for your phone, go ahead 278 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 2: and go download the softwarep app and that way you 279 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 2: can just click on the story, click on software radio 280 00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 2: and then just go right to it with your thumb 281 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 2: and me use your other handing she's your thumb instead 282 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 2: of this one, right yeah, instead of this one right yeah, exactly. 283 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,679 Speaker 2: That's great, And let's go back to the timeline. How 284 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 2: old were you when you enlisted? 285 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 3: I was twenty when I enlisted. By the time I 286 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 3: got to boot camp, I was twenty one. I was 287 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 3: in the delayed entry program, so I was one of 288 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 3: the old guys in my boot camp. Most of the 289 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 3: guys were seventeen, eighteen, nineteen years old. It was me 290 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 3: and one other guy was twenty one, and we were 291 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 3: like the We were like the grand grand old men 292 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,559 Speaker 3: of the platoon. But I went in when I was 293 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 3: twenty one. I graduated in from boot camp in August 294 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 3: to ninety two, and I retired in February twenty twelve. 295 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 2: So of twenty twelve, Wow, I've been. 296 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,839 Speaker 3: Out for a little bit, A little older, little paunch here, 297 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 3: little little slower. 298 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 2: Gunnery sergeant was the rank you achieved. Yeah, yeah, which 299 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 2: is a respected rank in the Marine Corps. You know, 300 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 2: everyone like double pups want to be a gunny sergeant, 301 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 2: gunnery sergeant. 302 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 3: Yeah. If I would have stayed in just a little 303 00:13:57,720 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 3: bit longer, I probably could have pinned on master starrent. 304 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 3: But I really at that point in time, I knew 305 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,839 Speaker 3: it was time to go. They wanted me to mostly 306 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 3: in staff positions at that point, and I really wasn't 307 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 3: down with that. I wanted to be with the breens either, 308 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 3: lead and number training them and you know. 309 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 2: The point above. A master sergeant. 310 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, so gunnery starts an E seven, Master starts 311 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 3: an E eight, or a first sergeant uh, and then 312 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,920 Speaker 3: a sergeant major or a master gunny starts E nine master. 313 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. 314 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 3: Yeah. Now, if you're a technical skill, like intel is 315 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 3: a technical skill, you'll go to the master start and 316 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 3: the master gunnery sargeant route. But if you go to 317 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 3: administrative or or you know, an infantry, you'll go first 318 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 3: start and sergeant major route like that. But I was 319 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 3: on a master startain track because of my mos. 320 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 2: So is an intelligence mos is that like an O 321 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 2: three eleven, an O three, O two thirty one, O 322 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 2: two thirty Just shout out the numbers three those of 323 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 2: you that wait, what's intelligence is? Yeah, oh two thirty one. Yeah. 324 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 3: And obviously the Army has a different mos uh number 325 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 3: alpha alpha numeric numbering system with it, so we're a 326 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 3: little bit different, just you know, for just four numbers. Well, Marines, 327 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 3: just keep it simple, Marines. You know, look at the 328 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 3: Army and the Marines in seventeen seventies. Okay, right, hasn't 329 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 3: even been the warrior seventeen seventy six, right, Okay, we 330 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 3: get it. We know when the Marines and everybody were created, 331 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 3: but they had such insignias throughout time that were so 332 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 3: close to each other that they had to put the 333 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 3: guns on the chevrons for the Marines so that they 334 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 3: had these guns on them that didn't look like the 335 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 3: army chevrons. Yeah, that was a later development, I think. 336 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 3: If you want to talk in signey, I think one 337 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 3: of my favorite one is for the officers dress covers. 338 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 3: Now they have what's called a quadrifoil on the top 339 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 3: of it. That was because during that timeframe there were 340 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 3: Marines sharpshooters up in the riggings of ships, and so 341 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 3: when they do boarding actions in order that they so 342 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 3: they wouldn't shoot their own officers accidentally, they could be 343 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 3: spotted from above with this quadrifoil on the top of 344 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 3: their cover. So that's one of my favorite that in 345 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 3: the blood stripes obviously for Marine NCOs and officers as 346 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 3: it had to Battle of Chappol to pull. 347 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 2: The chick explain it is that the points on the webbing. 348 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 2: Is that what you're talking about. 349 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 3: Now, if you look at the top of the cover, 350 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 3: the round cover, you'll see it almost looks like a 351 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 3: cruciform on there. It's a braided cruciform. It's called a quadrifoil. 352 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 2: Wow, and that's to identify that that's their officers. 353 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, during boarding parties. 354 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, oh, that's cool to know. They're like they're coming. 355 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 3: Up either they're boarding or they're repelling borders. It's easy 356 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 3: for to see if the sharpshooters can look down and go, okay, 357 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 3: that's one of mine. Don't shoot them in the head, 358 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 3: you know. 359 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, that's crazy. Yeah. And all the little 360 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 2: things that they had to do just to like make 361 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 2: themselves the Marines versus confusion with the army, right, because 362 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 2: it was always you know, a little blending in and 363 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 2: then now the Army has pinks and greens back in style, 364 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 2: and then the Marine Corps have like a green jacket. 365 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 2: It's not your class a's what is that? 366 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 3: No, that's well, it's it's considered. It's our We call 367 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 3: them our alphas. It's our alpha service, our service a uniform. Okay, 368 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 3: it looks somewhat like a green business suit. I think 369 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 3: the thing that I love about Marine Corps units they 370 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 3: really haven't changed very much like some of the chevrons 371 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 3: might have changed or the positioning of things, or this 372 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 3: and that and the other. But for the most part, 373 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 3: the marine uniforms have not changed dramatically for quite a 374 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 3: long time, and I think that's one of the things 375 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 3: I love about it. I do like the Army's pinks 376 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 3: and greens. They're based off of World War Two uniform, 377 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 3: which is very sharp looking, especially if you have it tailored. 378 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 3: And then any I gotta give a lot of props 379 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 3: to any of the guys that are in the units 380 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 3: that have jumped status because you're wearing the Corcoran jump 381 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 3: boots and they're when they're shined like glass, they look fantastic. 382 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 3: So we had to those guys. They look great, dynamite 383 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 3: looking uniform when it's done right. 384 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 2: You know, I grew up with those boots on my 385 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,959 Speaker 2: dad's feet my entire life, and I just was a 386 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 2: normal thing, you know, pants bloused and tucked into boots. 387 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 2: We'd go to these like little assemblies where he had 388 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 2: a dress up and all these guys come over and 389 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 2: shake his hand and it's like, why are you guys 390 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 2: bothering my dad so much? Man? Can we just Yeah, 391 00:17:57,119 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 2: it's the green beret bro in boots. 392 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, gotta wear them gotta wear it right too? 393 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, right, I had my own for a long time. 394 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 2: He got them from me for Christmas, like in my twenties, 395 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 2: and I would try to shine him, you know, and 396 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 2: just ar them as like a punk rock kid. So 397 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:12,920 Speaker 2: so Dad. 398 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 3: I love to place him with Doc Martin's later on. 399 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know. And I saw some really nice brown boots, right, 400 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 2: these cochranes that they're wearing with those pinks and greens, 401 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:25,159 Speaker 2: they're like this nice brown. Yeah. 402 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 3: Have you shined them with this polish it's called cordivon. 403 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 3: They had this really nice deep brown color to them. 404 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 3: They're really good looking. 405 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 2: Oh it really does look good. Yeah, I just I 406 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 2: was just looking at that earlier today. How crazy? Now, 407 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 2: what are you doing to stay sane? Is it writing 408 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 2: a book? Are you doing some kind of hobby? Are 409 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 2: you your own business owner as a veteran? What did 410 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 2: you do to transition from the Marines with your intelligence 411 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 2: knowledge and everything? I see you wrote a book we're 412 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 2: all talking about it. Is that your goal? Now? 413 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 3: I still work for the government. I got a few 414 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 3: more years left to go to retire again. But they 415 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 3: allow me to have my side hustle, and that's that's 416 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,679 Speaker 3: writ in books. So I have an LLC built, and 417 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 3: I do battlefield tours in Europe. I do some World 418 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 3: War II battlefields, which is I do pretty good, one 419 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,440 Speaker 3: or two tours a year, which is nice. It's nice 420 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 3: to get out and do that. And I'm working on 421 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 3: a couple more books, actually a companion book for cry Havoc. 422 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,959 Speaker 3: It's called Old Scrolls. I am interviewing rangers that pre 423 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 3: dated Urgent Fury, so from like the reformation of the 424 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 3: two Battalions in seventy four, and I'm actually overlapping urgent 425 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 3: theory to about eighty four. I'm stopping short of the 426 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 3: formation of the modern Regiment and the third Battalion. So 427 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 3: I just want to get those because these fellas, I 428 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 3: think they've been from what I've been talking to, the 429 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 3: guys I've been talking to, they've been waiting for a 430 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 3: long time to have that story told. And these are 431 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 3: some there's a lot of I would call them ranger legends. 432 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:54,159 Speaker 3: They would probably not like being called legends that were 433 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 3: involved in those startups of both the first and second 434 00:19:57,359 --> 00:20:00,879 Speaker 3: Ranger Battalion. And these guys have some nominal stories and 435 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 3: I think that the I think not only will rangers 436 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 3: enjoy these stories, but just folks that enjoy military history 437 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 3: will enjoy them because, frankly, some of them might find 438 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 3: them completely outlandish and fantastic considering what has become the 439 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 3: standard nowadays in the military versus what the standard was 440 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 3: back then. And I don't mean it there was a 441 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 3: degradation and standard. I mean some of the things they 442 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 3: just they did was they were wild, wild, and those 443 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 3: stories need to be brought brought forward. And I think 444 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 3: it's a it'll be a fine tribute to those guys, 445 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:36,640 Speaker 3: because not only will I there's a lot of these 446 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:38,880 Speaker 3: fantastic stories like oh my god, I can't believe they 447 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 3: did that, but there's a lot of how the battalions 448 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 3: were formed, what their initial missions were, and then as 449 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:50,239 Speaker 3: the battalions developed and evolved, they became more of a 450 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 3: special operations force where they started doing raids and airfield 451 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,880 Speaker 3: seizures and things like that, which when they first stood. 452 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 3: The battalions back up, they're more like the as General Abrams, 453 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,239 Speaker 3: who wrote they called the Abrams Charter, stated they were 454 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 3: going to be the finest light infantry unit in the world. 455 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 3: Were they morphed, they still are some of the best 456 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 3: light infantrymen on the planet, but now they've morphed into 457 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 3: more of a special operations force. And this covers this period, 458 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 3: covers that build up, that change, that evolution, and shows 459 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 3: changes in tactics and uniforms and equipment and weapons. So 460 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,720 Speaker 3: I think military history buffs and history buffs in general 461 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 3: will probably probably enjoy it, and it'll make a nice 462 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 3: companion book to go with. Cry Havoc. 463 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 2: Are you going to go after guys as far back 464 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 2: as like any living lurps that are still around? Is 465 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 2: that what you're looking for? Guys that had been in 466 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 2: the muck. 467 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know, the fantastic thing about that period 468 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,439 Speaker 3: of time, especially in that into seventy four, there were 469 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 3: so many guys left who were part of those lurp 470 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 3: units or part of Special Forces A teams where there 471 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 3: were the lerps became the rangers. Later on in Vietnam 472 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 3: were still a lot of those guys in the ranks, 473 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 3: and when the two battalions stood up, a lot of 474 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 3: them came to them. So, yeah, there's gonna be a 475 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:12,840 Speaker 3: lot of that. How that the Vietnam experience influenced the training, 476 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,199 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it's it is. 477 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 2: It's amazing. 478 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 3: Some of these stories. Yeah, there's it's amazing like talking 479 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 3: about legends, like like Donald Purdy. I mean, there are 480 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 3: so many ranger legends in this thing that I think, 481 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,720 Speaker 3: especially like folks who like to read about special operations 482 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 3: for US are really going to enjoy this. 483 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 2: Well. As a young man myself growing up in an 484 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 2: SF household, I had a book and it was called 485 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 2: Lurps Okay, and I was in my bathroom and I 486 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 2: didn't have a phone, and so here's little Aaron flipping 487 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,200 Speaker 2: pages through the LURP book reading about like and there 488 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:47,239 Speaker 2: we were. It's been two weeks and we've only had 489 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,680 Speaker 2: three days of rations with us, and you know, we're 490 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:54,640 Speaker 2: just out there in the darkest jungle spots behind enemy lines. 491 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 2: Alert stands for I believe, long range reconnaissance patrol or 492 00:22:58,480 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 2: yep right. 493 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 3: Yep correct. Yeah. You know, as a young marine, when 494 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:03,959 Speaker 3: I was stationed like a twenty nine Palms and then 495 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 3: I went to Campa June, you could walk into any 496 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 3: quick Mart on base, so you could walk into the 497 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 3: exchange and they have racks of these paperbacks. And it 498 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 3: seemed like every soldier who had served as ALERP or 499 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 3: a ranger was writing books at that time, and you 500 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 3: could literally because we didn't have these things. No, you 501 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 3: could literally have your own portable entertainment throw in your 502 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,359 Speaker 3: cargo pocket. Like two or three of these paperbacks and 503 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:32,160 Speaker 3: my favorites were written by a man that I'm very 504 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 3: happy to have contact with on Facebook, guy named Gary Linderer, 505 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 3: who really spearheaded a lot of that and he served 506 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 3: in f Company fifty eight Lerps and then it went 507 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:44,639 Speaker 3: on to the rangers when the unit transformed. But I 508 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 3: think Gary was a catalyst for a lot of his 509 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 3: fellow lurps and rangers to write these books. And like 510 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 3: I said, to carry two or three of them around 511 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,199 Speaker 3: my cargo pocket. You know, if we rucksack flop, just 512 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 3: sit there, pull out your books, start reading. Wait until 513 00:23:58,280 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 3: you move. 514 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:02,680 Speaker 2: Out outside yourself and read somebody else's thoughts and see 515 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 2: what they went through, you know. Yeah, these So I 516 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,439 Speaker 2: also read a command manual all the time. I had 517 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,199 Speaker 2: a Green Beret how to run an eighteen manual in 518 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 2: my bathroom and alert book that was up. So you 519 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 2: see kind of what was influenced in my life, right sure? 520 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean my dad's a Vietnam ERAVET, so 521 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 3: I know I get it. I completely get it. 522 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, and let's talk about that parachute that you have 523 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 2: behind you. That's from where? What year is that? 524 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 3: That's in nineteen forty four. It's a swath of a 525 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,320 Speaker 3: nineteen forty four dated parachute. I was blessed for your 526 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 3: listeners who met a band of brothers. When I was 527 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 3: in Kuwait getting ready to go over the border into 528 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,720 Speaker 3: Irock and O three, I started writing veterans of easy Company, 529 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,119 Speaker 3: the band of Brothers, and the first veteran I wrote 530 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 3: was was Dick Winners. So I have a great affinity 531 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 3: I grew when I once I came back and I 532 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 3: left active duty, I became friends with a lot of 533 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 3: these guys. Some of your listeners will probably recommen the IZ, say, 534 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,479 Speaker 3: like Buck Compton, Bill Garnier, and it was guys from 535 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 3: the mini series. A lot of the more well known 536 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 3: ones I knew them. I knew a lot of the 537 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 3: lesser known ones as well. But anyway, I collected a 538 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 3: bunch of stuff over the years, and that that swath 539 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 3: of nineteen forty four dated shoot is one. 540 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:10,280 Speaker 2: Of them from Dick Winters. 541 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 3: No, this isn't from Dick. This is it's just a 542 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 3: forty four dated Swath. 543 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 2: Sure no, I was just like, wait, wait, wait, no, Dick, No, 544 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:18,959 Speaker 2: that's Major Winters right. 545 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, I actually do have a piece of Bill Garnier's 546 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 3: reserve shoot from the Normandy Drop. 547 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 2: Oh. So when you go over to these places, how 548 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 2: how did you wind up being that. 549 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:32,440 Speaker 3: Guy oh leading the tours? 550 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, you go to Guarantee and like all of those 551 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:36,120 Speaker 2: types of places. Yeah. 552 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,800 Speaker 3: So so my wife when I got when I got 553 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 3: back and I left active duty, my wife wanted me 554 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,879 Speaker 3: to get a hobby, basically because I was driving crazy 555 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 3: and a buddy of mine had done Civil War reenacting, 556 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 3: which I really had no interest in doing. You dress 557 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,040 Speaker 3: up and we'll you march around for a little while, 558 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:53,880 Speaker 3: you fire one shot and you fall down. You lay 559 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,480 Speaker 3: around in a field for three hours sweating. I say, 560 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 3: I don't really want to do that, and another buddy's like, 561 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 3: well you could do you know, you could do World 562 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:02,719 Speaker 3: War Two? And I said, wow, Yeah, IVE always had 563 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 3: an interest in World War Two. So I re enacted 564 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 3: Easy Company for a number of years and I was 565 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 3: able to become friends with a lot of these guys, 566 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 3: and because I was a fellow combat that they would 567 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 3: open up to me about their experiences. And it just 568 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 3: started initially just writing down things that they would tell me, 569 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,719 Speaker 3: and then I wouldn't say they became formal interviews. These 570 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 3: guys are my friends, so we'd sit down over beers 571 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,159 Speaker 3: at a reunion and they would just tell stories and 572 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 3: I would just remember as much as I could before 573 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 3: I got foggy brained, and then I would write it 574 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 3: all down. So I kind of use that as the 575 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 3: basis to start doing tours. So I do a two 576 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 3: week tour in September where we start in Normandy. We 577 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,640 Speaker 3: work our way all awaycross Easy Companies Fights through Normandy. 578 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,679 Speaker 3: Then we go to Holland we do the time that 579 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 3: they were there, the bridge too Far, all that stuff 580 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 3: down into best Stone. We do all the foxholes around 581 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,880 Speaker 3: the perimeter and tell all the stories there, and then 582 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,639 Speaker 3: we finish up in Burke to god and at the 583 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 3: Eagle's Nest. So we'd try to Mimi make the path 584 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:02,440 Speaker 3: all the way through. It's called the Path of Easy 585 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 3: Company Tour. 586 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,360 Speaker 2: Do you take Bangalore's with you or no? No, Bangalore, 587 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:10,119 Speaker 2: I'm sorry, bring up the bring up the Bangalores said 588 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 2: Alpha one is not open. I say again, Alpha one 589 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 2: is not open. 590 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:17,240 Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure customs wouldn't let me bring any Bangalores, 591 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 3: but we do do the beaches, and the beaches are fantastic, 592 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 3: by the way. 593 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 2: You know, the closest I've been to Normandy was the 594 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,920 Speaker 2: Isle of Wight on the Southampton coast in England. We 595 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 2: were there and you can see France from that that 596 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 2: like base that I was at. I was getting toured 597 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,199 Speaker 2: with some SAS and SBS guys over there. They're like 598 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 2: rad this right here, you know, seventeen hundreds, you know 599 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,439 Speaker 2: over there, France, Normandy, Isle of Wight, you know, And 600 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 2: I'm like, bro, this is crazy. 601 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 3: Yes. And then to go up on like the Point 602 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 3: to Hawk and then walk through Rudders Rangers going you know, 603 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,199 Speaker 3: the attack on D Day and doing things like that. 604 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 3: It's a really special place. All of it is special. 605 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,840 Speaker 3: There's always all of it. There's always a special location 606 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,080 Speaker 3: to go to, and there's and because of things like 607 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 3: saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers and the Pacific 608 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 3: and then now The Masters of the Air, which is 609 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 3: the new series that's out too far right, all those 610 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 3: there's always a location to go and visit and something 611 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,360 Speaker 3: special that occurred and something tangible, so I usually bring 612 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 3: pictures of like the vets, so we can tell our 613 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 3: stories and they can actually see the guys that we 614 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,159 Speaker 3: were involved in these actions. But yeah, it's it's a 615 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,240 Speaker 3: great trip. I love doing it every year. I don't, 616 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 3: like I said, I kind of fell into it a 617 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:29,720 Speaker 3: little bit of a side hustle. But I love doing it, 618 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 3: love telling their stories. 619 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:33,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, I was over there and there was a huge 620 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 2: crew going over to you know, do exactly what you're 621 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 2: talking about is a bunch of veterans from you know, 622 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 2: I think that we're still alive going over to see 623 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 2: it's about three years ago. Yeah. I think they're escorted 624 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 2: by this author named Jack Carr. I think he went 625 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 2: with him and did this whole housting over there and 626 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 2: oh yeah, no, wonderful. 627 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 3: I know Jack is. I've read his books pretty pretty outstanding, 628 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 3: great seal. 629 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, right right right, And we'll get 630 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 2: him on the show. You know, he's in the same 631 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 2: circle here, so just like you, right, you're on here. 632 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 2: I've had all these guys come through here. So you're 633 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 2: a rock star, bro. I just want you to know 634 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,760 Speaker 2: that now. Yeah, it took time to write your stuff out. 635 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know, I think the guys that I've 636 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 3: been writing about, they deserve to have their story told. 637 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 3: I mean, the Ranger community back then and still is 638 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,480 Speaker 3: very insular, so it did take time to build up trust, 639 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 3: but it was great to get their stories out. And 640 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 3: now most of the guys are in there, you know, 641 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,960 Speaker 3: somewhere in their fifties to sixties, and and now they're 642 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,040 Speaker 3: kind of happy because they've got kids and grandkids and 643 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 3: they want them to know, you know, they didn't sit 644 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 3: on the sidelines. They actually did stuff. So and was 645 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 3: really proud that they entrusted me with their story. And 646 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 3: you know, Tom and I did our very best to 647 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 3: make sure we got it out there the right way. 648 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 2: You know. It's like a lot of them don't want 649 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 2: to talk about it. It reminds me of mister Miagi 650 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 2: and Karate Kid that whole time he's training him and 651 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:52,400 Speaker 2: then he passes out and he looks and he's like 652 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 2: medal of honor, mister. Yeah. 653 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,239 Speaker 3: I think these guys are like, you know, they're more 654 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:01,240 Speaker 3: of a like the if you know, you know crowd, 655 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 3: you know what I mean, right, Like when they're amongst themselves, 656 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 3: they all know the stories and and but I think 657 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 3: I think it's good for America to see these these 658 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 3: guys for what they did and understand the hardships they 659 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 3: were through went through, especially like Grenada. It always, for 660 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 3: some reason it gets like used like a punchline when 661 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 3: it comes to talking about our operations. And if if 662 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,719 Speaker 3: people actually knew what these guys went through, they wouldn't 663 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 3: say that kind of thing, like and although we didn't suffer, 664 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 3: you know, like casualties like Ewejima or something in Grenada. 665 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 3: I know a lot of the gold Star families and 666 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 3: they are they are a very tight knit group because 667 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 3: there there weren't a lot of casualties, but the ones 668 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 3: that that did occur hit home and affected so many people. 669 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 3: I mean you could see when I would talk to 670 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 3: the rangers, you could see how much they love these 671 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,240 Speaker 3: guys that were killed in action. I mean they were 672 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 3: It's very tough for them to talk about their brothers 673 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 3: and to open up to me and allow me and 674 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 3: Tom to to tell that story. Like I said, I'm 675 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 3: very very proud of it and honored to be the 676 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 3: guy that just the vehicle to get get that story told. 677 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,400 Speaker 3: But I mean, these were fantastic people and I'm glad 678 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 3: people are reading the book too. 679 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 2: You know, right, and as a conduit of Tom, which 680 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 2: is what you've helped become, you know, to help put 681 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 2: his He's like, do what you can with it, right. 682 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 3: His family has been great, great supporters of the project too, 683 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 3: and and so yeah, Tom was a great writing partner. 684 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 3: And I'm I'm and I missed talking to him about 685 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 3: this stuff. 686 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 2: And sure, yeah, sorry for your loss of your friend. 687 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 2: I'm sorry for me to you just to let you 688 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 2: know that. And to his family, our condolences. And you 689 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 2: know he served and you know, climbed the rinks and 690 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 2: kicked button you know, thank you for that. 691 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 3: If I know he'd appreciate it, he's yeah. 692 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 2: And to his friends, you know, there's a lot of 693 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,080 Speaker 2: friends that listen to this that are all his buddies, 694 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 2: that are all in the small little circle that I 695 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 2: seem to to tread water in. Right, My head is 696 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 2: above water. I'm like, okay, special Forces, Okay, special operations, Okay, 697 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 2: special assignment, special ed, we're all special together. They got 698 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 2: no problem with that, you know. So it just goes 699 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,280 Speaker 2: to show that as long as you're just a good person, 700 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 2: genuine you can talk to anyone and just have a 701 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 2: good day. 702 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so. I think that's that's definitely a 703 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 3: thing I think. You know, nowadays there's such a alliance 704 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 3: on pressing buttons on these things, and people are so 705 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,000 Speaker 3: remote these days. They lost a little bit of social skills. 706 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 3: So I think that those of us, you know, like yourself, 707 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:30,400 Speaker 3: that that have an easy rapport, a quick and easy 708 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 3: rapport with people, tend to build relationships pretty quick. But 709 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 3: you know, the guys that I've written about and that 710 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 3: I'm writing about, they didn't have that to as a problem. 711 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,120 Speaker 3: They knew how to talk to each other. And you've 712 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 3: been around these types of guys when they start ribbing 713 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 3: each other and the you know, the banter gets gets fast, 714 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 3: hot and heavy and they and they're ripping each other apart. 715 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 3: But that's only something that that brothers can do, you 716 00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:58,560 Speaker 3: know what I mean, or people who shared the same 717 00:32:58,600 --> 00:32:59,480 Speaker 3: experiences can do. 718 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 2: One hundred percent agreed, you know, And uh, you know, 719 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 2: when I found out that Dalton Fury had passed, you know, 720 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 2: it wasn't someone in my normal name. Now it has. 721 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 2: You know, I've learned about who he is and Tom 722 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 2: and everything through over these years. But you know, Travis, 723 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 2: do you know Travis Kross. 724 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:18,760 Speaker 3: I don't. I don't, unfortunately hop it. 725 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 2: Okay, So he was a Delta guy, and he was 726 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,800 Speaker 2: also Torbora, you know, and right after Bin Lauden, and 727 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,720 Speaker 2: like they were like we found like the pot still burning, 728 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 2: you know, and he had gotten into Pakistan and we 729 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 2: couldn't go and all this kind of stuff. And so 730 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,480 Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure your guy was all around that. 731 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 3: Yeah. 732 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 2: You know. 733 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:37,720 Speaker 3: The funny thing about Tom was we were I was 734 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 3: kind of guarded when I when I first got in 735 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:43,360 Speaker 3: notes from other people about him working on a Grenada project, 736 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 3: and I'm like, I didn't know who he was. And 737 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,000 Speaker 3: then he sent me a copy of Kill Ben Lauden, 738 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 3: and he goes, if you don't want to work together, 739 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 3: I'm cool with it. If you do, great regardless. I 740 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 3: want you to have a copy of this. I think 741 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 3: you'll enjoy it. I mean, that's just the kind of 742 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:00,160 Speaker 3: guy he was, right, he would just he didn't have 743 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 3: to send me a copy of the book. He just 744 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:04,400 Speaker 3: he could have just and he could have just gone 745 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,720 Speaker 3: on his own and with his connections in the communities, 746 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 3: written a fine book all by himself. He did not 747 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:12,640 Speaker 3: need me to do it. But in this case, I 748 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:15,400 Speaker 3: feel like I'm just finishing up the work he started. 749 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,520 Speaker 3: He needed he knew we needed each other. We needed 750 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 3: each other. We motivated each other to talk to two 751 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,280 Speaker 3: different people and get in touch with people, to dig 752 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 3: deeper into the stories to make sure we got the 753 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 3: details right, you know, like I said, so we did, 754 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:34,280 Speaker 3: so we would do right by These guys were writing about. 755 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 2: Do you have something that you can share that is 756 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 2: just like you know, a detail that you know about, 757 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 2: some little excerpt out of your book. Do you have 758 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 2: something you can tell us about like a story? 759 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 1: Uh? 760 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:49,319 Speaker 3: I think for for me, like with I think that 761 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 3: the jump sequences to me are the real The jump 762 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 3: sequence going in is the is the was the hardest 763 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:59,359 Speaker 3: part to write about because the chalk sequence got thrown 764 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,279 Speaker 3: out of whack and when the AC one thirties were 765 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,520 Speaker 3: doing the wreki of the drop zone, they started taking fire. 766 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 3: A couple of the planes waved off and the entire 767 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 3: sequence got through aunt of whack. So there were twelve 768 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 3: C one thirty slash MC one thirties that were flying 769 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:18,760 Speaker 3: the ranger force in and by the time the first 770 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,640 Speaker 3: plane dropped its rangers over the drop zone, the entire 771 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,760 Speaker 3: chalk order was out of whack, and putting that whole 772 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 3: thing together and then writing about rangers on each one 773 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 3: of those chalks and their individual experiences was probably one 774 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,799 Speaker 3: of the hardest things to do. But I think we 775 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 3: did a really good job with it because we used 776 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 3: their words, you know, when they were telling me about 777 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 3: you know, getting tossed around while they d rigging then 778 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,280 Speaker 3: re rigging, and then you know, you don't get handed 779 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,440 Speaker 3: back your same shoot, your your same harness. So you're 780 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,560 Speaker 3: a small guy. You get a guy who's you know, 781 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:56,440 Speaker 3: five inches taller than you and twenty pounds heavier than you, 782 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,319 Speaker 3: and you've got to re rig and you know, and 783 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 3: you're getting your hearing things from the crew chiefs going, 784 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 3: Rangers are fighting, Rangers are dying, the jump is on, 785 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:07,799 Speaker 3: and these guys are scrambling to get themselves back back 786 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,359 Speaker 3: together again so they could they can get put out 787 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,600 Speaker 3: over the DZ and in good order. I think that 788 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 3: I think people are really going to enjoy that reading 789 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 3: about that because it's very tense. I felt like writing 790 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:21,879 Speaker 3: My pulse rate was going up when I was writing. 791 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:23,040 Speaker 2: It, So I think it is. 792 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,319 Speaker 3: I think, tell me, yeah, I think your listeners really 793 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,080 Speaker 3: get a kick out of it again because it's very 794 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 3: very intimate details of what happened in those planes that 795 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,360 Speaker 3: was largely unknown up until the last couple of years. 796 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:38,719 Speaker 2: And a chalk for someone who doesn't know what a 797 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,960 Speaker 2: chalk may be listening, right, That is like the group 798 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:46,000 Speaker 2: of guys or gals that are airborne together standing together 799 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:48,319 Speaker 2: to jump out together. Right, that's the chalk. That's the 800 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:48,960 Speaker 2: lineup right. 801 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:53,200 Speaker 3: Well, it's also the aircraft itself. So if I say 802 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 3: chalk twelve, that's the aircraft plus the jumpers in that chalk, 803 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:00,640 Speaker 3: so it counts for both. But yeah, it started with twelve, 804 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,320 Speaker 3: and I had to number them because the Air Force 805 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:08,640 Speaker 3: had its own numbering system, the rangers had their own 806 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:11,920 Speaker 3: numbering system, and the MC one thirty crews had their 807 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 3: own numbering system, so it was all very confusing. So 808 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,759 Speaker 3: I just basically made I'll call it I arbitrarily made 809 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:22,080 Speaker 3: the decision to number them one through twelve because it 810 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 3: was just easier for the reader to understand where they 811 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:28,040 Speaker 3: were supposed to be in line. So oh, and then 812 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,760 Speaker 3: the two battalions had their own numbering system as well. 813 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,080 Speaker 2: So was there jump injuries on that? Did they get 814 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:35,600 Speaker 2: dragged I don't remember if there were. 815 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:37,520 Speaker 3: There were a few guys in fact. In fact, next 816 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 3: time you talk to Max, ask them about Ean Cowfold 817 00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:43,920 Speaker 3: going into the water. Okay, Max will tell you the story. 818 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,879 Speaker 3: But yeah, there was a guy named Harold Hagen broke 819 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,520 Speaker 3: his leg. Sean Powers broke his leg. There were a 820 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,120 Speaker 3: number of guys who suffered jump injuries. And not only that, 821 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 3: the entire second Battalion didn't jump with reserve shoots. Now 822 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,840 Speaker 3: they have their rucksacks rick below them, but typically what 823 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:00,880 Speaker 3: happens is when you make your eggs that if the 824 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 3: ruck flips up a little bit, your reserve tends to 825 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:07,480 Speaker 3: pad you against it flipping up. Well, second of time 826 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 3: didn't jump with their reserves, and a lot of guys 827 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:13,640 Speaker 3: had broken nose or smashed nose and nosebleeds from getting 828 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:15,399 Speaker 3: hit by their own rucks hitting them as they came 829 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:18,839 Speaker 3: out of the aircraft. Like my friend doctor Hio came 830 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 3: out of the aircraft, hit the side of the aircraft 831 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:25,480 Speaker 3: and it ripped his helmet right off of him, and 832 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:28,960 Speaker 3: he just when he said, I was knocked senseless. By 833 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:30,840 Speaker 3: the time I got down to the ground, I was 834 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,319 Speaker 3: wondering where the hell I was. You know all these 835 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 3: stories are in there. These guys they recover and then 836 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:37,960 Speaker 3: quickly take the fight to the enemy, and that's the 837 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:40,319 Speaker 3: that's the best part they did, just like their their 838 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 3: World War two forefathers did. They hit the ground, got 839 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:45,640 Speaker 3: themselves together, put their weapons systems in action, and got 840 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 3: to fight. 841 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:48,920 Speaker 2: In the enemy and got their bearings and just started 842 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:52,960 Speaker 2: heading on their do bearings and just moving out. They 843 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:55,520 Speaker 2: were not I mean, they might have had something technical 844 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,680 Speaker 2: back then, but really that was really like trivium style compasses. 845 00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:03,400 Speaker 2: And you know, I hope you studied the sand table 846 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:04,759 Speaker 2: before you dropped it into. 847 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:08,480 Speaker 3: The Yeah, I mean the jump clearing team which didn't 848 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 3: get to jump first, which is the guys that came 849 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:13,720 Speaker 3: in right behind him, just started doing that job because 850 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,560 Speaker 3: the Cubans and the Grenadians had cluttered the runway so 851 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:18,960 Speaker 3: you couldn't land planes on it. So they're pulling light 852 00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:23,320 Speaker 3: towers off and hammer and rebar into the tarmac to 853 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:26,160 Speaker 3: get it to clear it. Your oil drums and stuff 854 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 3: all over the place. And these guys just to go 855 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:30,879 Speaker 3: to work clearing the runway so the subsequent flights can 856 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:31,239 Speaker 3: come in. 857 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:35,600 Speaker 2: So was the rangers job to seize air fields at 858 00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:37,320 Speaker 2: the time, was that their their task. 859 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:39,840 Speaker 3: Yeah, at that time they had been training for that 860 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:44,280 Speaker 3: particular thing, and it culminated with First Ranger Battalion executing 861 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:46,799 Speaker 3: an exercise called Demo three, which they did for a 862 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:50,280 Speaker 3: bunch of VIPs to show that they could clear the runway, 863 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:52,479 Speaker 3: and then they immediately went off of Ranger Ready Force 864 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:56,239 Speaker 3: one status and passed it to Second Ranger Battalion. But 865 00:39:56,719 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 3: the mission expanded. Originally they thought it was only going 866 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:02,040 Speaker 3: to be one battalion mission, and then they expanded it too, 867 00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:04,920 Speaker 3: so you had both First and Second going in. Now, 868 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 3: some of the rosters repaired down for the battalions because 869 00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:12,000 Speaker 3: they had limited aircraft space and they had to basically 870 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:14,479 Speaker 3: designed a second wave to come in, which they didn't 871 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:18,080 Speaker 3: really need. A partial second wave came in, but they 872 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,320 Speaker 3: had enough Rangers to accomplish the mission at that point. 873 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:23,680 Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean, they just they just went in 874 00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:25,200 Speaker 3: and they went and got after it. And that's the 875 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:27,680 Speaker 3: that's the best part about writing about this is to 876 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:30,719 Speaker 3: show that the that fighting spirit from World War II 877 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:35,480 Speaker 3: to Korea to Vietnam to urgent fury, it never let up. 878 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,000 Speaker 3: These guys just they they they had that same fighting 879 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:39,719 Speaker 3: spirit and at the end of the day, they just 880 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:43,000 Speaker 3: went after the enemy and accomplished their missions and rescued 881 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:44,640 Speaker 3: these these medical students. 882 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:47,200 Speaker 2: Right, that's the it was the hostages, right, they were 883 00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:49,680 Speaker 2: going into rescue the students. They had been taken over 884 00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:51,080 Speaker 2: by like guerrillas and Grenada. 885 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,160 Speaker 3: Like the Grenada military, there was a shoot on site curfew. 886 00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:57,520 Speaker 3: There had been an overthrow of the government, and Reagan 887 00:40:57,560 --> 00:40:59,440 Speaker 3: did not want to have a repeat of the Iran 888 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:04,600 Speaker 3: hostage situation. So basically, you had an overthrow of a government, 889 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,120 Speaker 3: you had the building of a runway that could service 890 00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 3: long range bombers, and you had a American students that 891 00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:13,959 Speaker 3: could have been taken hostage. So that's basically a three 892 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:16,719 Speaker 3: for And I don't think Reagan had the appetite to 893 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:20,120 Speaker 3: sit down and want and wait for that situation to 894 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:21,080 Speaker 3: work its way out and. 895 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:22,560 Speaker 2: See what happened. So he just is like, we're going 896 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:23,759 Speaker 2: to go in. We're not going to let this go 897 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:27,719 Speaker 2: any further because of what happened. Now. I think Grenada 898 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:31,480 Speaker 2: was colonized by Britain until like the sixties, and then 899 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:35,280 Speaker 2: it was maybe released back to its own nations people 900 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:37,160 Speaker 2: in sixty seven seventy. 901 00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:41,200 Speaker 3: Essentially and then they had the British representative on the islander. 902 00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:43,040 Speaker 3: Island was called the Governor General, and that was a 903 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:45,640 Speaker 3: guy named Sir Paul Scoon and he was actually the 904 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:49,200 Speaker 3: focus of another special operations mission on the island. I 905 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:51,800 Speaker 3: don't cover it in cry Havoc. Cry Havoc is the 906 00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:56,480 Speaker 3: first of several books about the grenade operation. The Governor 907 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:59,560 Speaker 3: General rescue will be covered in a different book. But yeah, 908 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:02,919 Speaker 3: that's that's a whole other kettle of fish in terms 909 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:08,480 Speaker 3: of operations. Yeah, right, right, operations within an operation, you know. 910 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:11,319 Speaker 2: All the time. Well, like I was talking to like 911 00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:14,040 Speaker 2: even Cyrus right as a ranger, and he said, well, 912 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:16,680 Speaker 2: we'd go out on a mission and that mission turned 913 00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:19,359 Speaker 2: into second mission, and that second mission turned into third 914 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:21,359 Speaker 2: mission and that third mission and pretty spin, I did 915 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:22,600 Speaker 2: fourteen missions in a day. 916 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:25,160 Speaker 3: And yeah, you know, if you did that in Iraq 917 00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:26,880 Speaker 3: and three when I went in, we just called it 918 00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:29,000 Speaker 3: going frag o to frag O to frag go to Frago. 919 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,919 Speaker 3: So you're just getting fragmentary orders to execute an ad 920 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:36,000 Speaker 3: hoc mission. But you go into your mission planning cycle 921 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:37,920 Speaker 3: the same way you would for regular mission. It's just 922 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:42,359 Speaker 3: very truncated and very short compared to your your a 923 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:44,440 Speaker 3: full length op order that you would. 924 00:42:44,239 --> 00:42:47,760 Speaker 2: Get who'd you go in with in the Marine Corps intelligence, 925 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:49,440 Speaker 2: But you guys went in and did frags like were 926 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:52,400 Speaker 2: you guys, you know, combative house to house and you 927 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:53,719 Speaker 2: were just gathering intel that way. 928 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:57,120 Speaker 3: So I was I was the assistant intel chief for 929 00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:00,120 Speaker 3: second Marine Regiment. We were the ground combat element and 930 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,160 Speaker 3: for Task Force Tarawa. The big battle we took part 931 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:04,840 Speaker 3: in that we're probably most well known for is the 932 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:07,920 Speaker 3: battle in nazarea, you know three. We did a lot 933 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:11,799 Speaker 3: of intelligence collection and triaging, assessments, and then you write 934 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,600 Speaker 3: reports up. We did have a couple of sporty gun 935 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,359 Speaker 3: fights in there from time to time. Later on, as 936 00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:20,319 Speaker 3: the ground campaign was kind of wearing down, we did 937 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,439 Speaker 3: some house to house work, but that was mostly because 938 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:26,520 Speaker 3: we were doing security patrols around where wherever our camp was. 939 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:30,360 Speaker 3: Our position was essentially security patrols to make sure we 940 00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:33,279 Speaker 3: don't get you know, ambush or surprise or anything. But 941 00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:36,640 Speaker 3: we did a lot of intelligence collection and then assessment 942 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:39,640 Speaker 3: and passed it on to Special Operations Forces for the 943 00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:41,400 Speaker 3: rescue of Jessica Lynch. 944 00:43:42,239 --> 00:43:46,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, so the private who was contribute to that driver 945 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:50,000 Speaker 2: that was taken captured in her convoy and uh, that's right, 946 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:53,799 Speaker 2: that's right. Dang dude, this is crazy. You know. Was 947 00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:56,920 Speaker 2: it biblical over there for you? Did you feel like 948 00:43:56,920 --> 00:44:00,359 Speaker 2: like this is so like this is biblical area because 949 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:04,080 Speaker 2: you see the stones and like the sandstone and like, 950 00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:04,799 Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. 951 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:06,919 Speaker 3: I didn't. I don't know if I had that kind 952 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:09,120 Speaker 3: of deep thought about it at the time, because I 953 00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:12,920 Speaker 3: was responsible for, you know, about twenty five marines, so 954 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:15,239 Speaker 3: you kind of you've got your you've got your work 955 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:17,040 Speaker 3: to do, and then you've got your marines to look after, 956 00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:19,400 Speaker 3: so kind of pre you're preoccupied with that kind of 957 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,440 Speaker 3: stuff most of the time. So I did have an 958 00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:25,840 Speaker 3: appreciation for that, especially when we started getting up near Baghdad. 959 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:28,680 Speaker 3: We got to go to Babylon, which was right here 960 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:30,080 Speaker 3: to see this stuff. 961 00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:30,680 Speaker 2: That's what I'm saying. 962 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:33,880 Speaker 3: I got to see like the original ruins of Babylon, 963 00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:36,680 Speaker 3: which was I mean, it was just yeah, I mean, 964 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:39,000 Speaker 3: it's it's mind blown when you think about the age 965 00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:44,200 Speaker 3: of that stuff and and the historical it's place in history, 966 00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:47,680 Speaker 3: like the hanging gardens of Babylon and the you know, 967 00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:48,680 Speaker 3: all of that stuff and. 968 00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:50,680 Speaker 2: Well a lot of a lot of what's in these 969 00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:54,799 Speaker 2: Bibles are written from yeah, Babylon and stuff, you know. 970 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:56,960 Speaker 2: So I'm just like, you know, you're going over there, 971 00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,360 Speaker 2: and you know, we grew up I grew up you know, 972 00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:01,920 Speaker 2: in a religious families, so we hear all these you know, 973 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:04,960 Speaker 2: stories and told all these songs and everything, and then 974 00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:07,919 Speaker 2: it's like marching left right left. Yeah. 975 00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:10,040 Speaker 3: I think in the later portions of the campaign, because 976 00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:12,880 Speaker 3: I was only there for f one, you can be 977 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:15,440 Speaker 3: a little bit more introspective as the as the the 978 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:19,680 Speaker 3: really dynamic combat starts to wind down and you got 979 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:21,680 Speaker 3: a little bit more time to take in the surroundings 980 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:24,920 Speaker 3: and do a little more deep thinking. Yeah, especially like 981 00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:28,040 Speaker 3: I said, up in their Hilla and Babylon was was 982 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:33,200 Speaker 3: pretty pretty uh surreal real to be there. Yeah, But 983 00:45:33,400 --> 00:45:35,319 Speaker 3: you know, you hear at the land of the Two 984 00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:37,319 Speaker 3: Rivers or the Fertile Crescent and all that, and when 985 00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:41,480 Speaker 3: you get to that land in between the Euphrates River 986 00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:44,760 Speaker 3: and the Tigris River and you see, you know, how 987 00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:48,000 Speaker 3: fertile it is there, and you know, you don't expect 988 00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:51,160 Speaker 3: to see that much green in places and palm trees 989 00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:53,400 Speaker 3: and things like that, and you know, it kind of 990 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:54,520 Speaker 3: blows your mind a little bit. 991 00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:58,040 Speaker 2: But a little beauty of the land right at, Beauty 992 00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:00,719 Speaker 2: of the land is what you're seeing versus And I was. 993 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:02,560 Speaker 3: Down South most of the time, and most of those 994 00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:04,960 Speaker 3: folks are just farmers trying to make it day to day. 995 00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:07,400 Speaker 3: So I have real affinity for some of the the 996 00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:09,560 Speaker 3: folks down there. They're all Shia, they're all you know, 997 00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:12,239 Speaker 3: very family focused. They got a chance to talk to 998 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:14,359 Speaker 3: some of them as as the campaign was winding down, 999 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,319 Speaker 3: and most of them the same thing. They just want 1000 00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:21,120 Speaker 3: to raise their families and you know, live in peace 1001 00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:23,759 Speaker 3: and not not get blown up and not be oppressed. 1002 00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:27,480 Speaker 2: And you know, blown up and oppressed. Who wants that. 1003 00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:30,480 Speaker 3: Nobody. Nobody's trying to raise their kids and not be 1004 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:33,319 Speaker 3: in danger. I mean, I thought that was And they're 1005 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:35,480 Speaker 3: just farmers. They're simple people. They don't have a lot 1006 00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:37,040 Speaker 3: of you know, don't have a lot of money. Their 1007 00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:39,600 Speaker 3: families everything that focus for them. 1008 00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:42,600 Speaker 2: So we're at war. I'm just farming my land, bro, Like, 1009 00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:44,480 Speaker 2: where'd you come from? What is that? 1010 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:44,880 Speaker 3: Like? 1011 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:45,240 Speaker 2: Space? 1012 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:46,120 Speaker 3: Aliens? 1013 00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:49,960 Speaker 2: Yeah? Aliens, dude, that'd be crazy. It's not like you're 1014 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:52,840 Speaker 2: knocking on doors too much. You know, Yeah, can we 1015 00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:55,280 Speaker 2: come in. Do you want to hear about our word 1016 00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:58,839 Speaker 2: of wisdom? Like how you do it? How you doing? 1017 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:01,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, trying not to fear with them too much in 1018 00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:03,040 Speaker 3: their their life. You know, we had things to do, 1019 00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:05,279 Speaker 3: and we did them, and we tried to you know, 1020 00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:07,239 Speaker 3: if they came up to us and wanted to talk 1021 00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:09,759 Speaker 3: or you know, we we brought out our turps and 1022 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:11,560 Speaker 3: we chat with them for a little bit and then 1023 00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:12,279 Speaker 3: we'd be on our way. 1024 00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:16,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's crazy. Well, I'm glad you made it through 1025 00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:18,399 Speaker 2: all of that, and I'm glad that you were able 1026 00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:20,640 Speaker 2: to get home and to your wife and you know, 1027 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:22,640 Speaker 2: thanks family. You have kids and things like that. 1028 00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:25,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, got two of them. Yeah, they were they're adult now, 1029 00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:29,000 Speaker 3: so I don't you know, Dad's not cool to with anymore. 1030 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:31,600 Speaker 2: Before you enlisted, did you did you I mean excuse me, 1031 00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:32,920 Speaker 2: did you have when you were enlisted or did you 1032 00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:33,680 Speaker 2: have when you got out? 1033 00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:35,919 Speaker 3: No, we had them when I when I was still 1034 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:36,480 Speaker 3: in the service. 1035 00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:39,480 Speaker 2: So you had to deal with the separation from your family. 1036 00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:42,080 Speaker 3: And yeah, I know three my daughter was three years old. 1037 00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:44,280 Speaker 3: It was really weird coming back and her not really 1038 00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:47,719 Speaker 3: recognizing me at first, But you know, dad was gone 1039 00:47:47,719 --> 00:47:51,040 Speaker 3: for a while, and you know, after a while, Yeah, 1040 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:53,239 Speaker 3: she figures it out after a while, you know. And 1041 00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:55,279 Speaker 3: then we had our school son a little while a 1042 00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:56,359 Speaker 3: little while after that. 1043 00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:58,399 Speaker 2: So well, I'm sure that there's others out there who 1044 00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:01,120 Speaker 2: are listening who can relate to separation from their loved 1045 00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:05,600 Speaker 2: ones to deploy, right, Yeah, whether they're I'm just saying. 1046 00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:10,200 Speaker 3: And I'm always gonna plug. If you're having trouble reconcile 1047 00:48:10,239 --> 00:48:13,239 Speaker 3: and adjusting, et cetera, you talk to somebody. Talk to 1048 00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,239 Speaker 3: the guys and gals you were over there with, talk 1049 00:48:15,239 --> 00:48:18,120 Speaker 3: to your family. Don't be afraid to unload just because 1050 00:48:18,160 --> 00:48:21,239 Speaker 3: they didn't have the same experience as you you did. 1051 00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:24,200 Speaker 3: Let them hear you, Let them be there for you, 1052 00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:27,720 Speaker 3: and stick around because people want you to stay around. 1053 00:48:28,360 --> 00:48:29,200 Speaker 3: The world's better place. 1054 00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:29,879 Speaker 2: So in it. 1055 00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:33,200 Speaker 3: Don't don't take don't do something drastic that you and 1056 00:48:33,239 --> 00:48:34,280 Speaker 3: everybody else will regret. 1057 00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:37,879 Speaker 2: Right, it just doesn't work out for the best as 1058 00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:40,600 Speaker 2: you might think it would. So we love you. And 1059 00:48:40,640 --> 00:48:43,120 Speaker 2: if you have problems out there and you're deciding on 1060 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,600 Speaker 2: your life, you want to hit me up on Instagram 1061 00:48:45,640 --> 00:48:47,239 Speaker 2: or anything. I've talked to folks all the time and 1062 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:49,040 Speaker 2: how you doing. You know, They're like, hey, Rad, did 1063 00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:51,160 Speaker 2: you really mean that? And I'm like, I don't know you, 1064 00:48:51,239 --> 00:48:53,399 Speaker 2: but yes, yes, I did mean that. 1065 00:48:53,640 --> 00:48:56,239 Speaker 3: There's plenty of outlets to do it too, don't you know. 1066 00:48:56,320 --> 00:48:58,960 Speaker 3: Don't feel like you're painting yourself into a box and 1067 00:48:59,000 --> 00:48:59,759 Speaker 3: you can't get out of it. 1068 00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:03,040 Speaker 2: I think the VA actually has like an eight eight 1069 00:49:03,080 --> 00:49:05,319 Speaker 2: eight number now, I believe is what it is, and 1070 00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:08,640 Speaker 2: they're pushing that out there. So you know, hey, if 1071 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:10,680 Speaker 2: you needs want to talk to you can hit the VA. 1072 00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:12,480 Speaker 2: Someone there probably knows what's going on. Go hang out 1073 00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:14,680 Speaker 2: with the canteen or they're smoking, Come up with the 1074 00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:17,520 Speaker 2: come up with your own book. There you go. 1075 00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:21,359 Speaker 3: I thought, I you know, funny you say that. I thought, 1076 00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:23,480 Speaker 3: you know, writing I wrote a lot of my own 1077 00:49:23,520 --> 00:49:26,920 Speaker 3: stuff down, not for publishing, but just for one it 1078 00:49:27,040 --> 00:49:29,240 Speaker 3: was just good to get it out on the page. 1079 00:49:29,719 --> 00:49:32,600 Speaker 3: And two, I've always felt like if something did happen 1080 00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:34,200 Speaker 3: to me, there would be a record for my family 1081 00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:38,239 Speaker 3: to understand. So sometimes just putting pen to paper, hitting 1082 00:49:38,239 --> 00:49:40,760 Speaker 3: the keys provides a little relief. 1083 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,279 Speaker 2: So a little dear diary is not a bad thing. 1084 00:49:43,719 --> 00:49:46,319 Speaker 3: Find find an outlet, find something that makes you feel good. 1085 00:49:47,160 --> 00:49:49,879 Speaker 2: I love that. I love that, and I love you 1086 00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:51,960 Speaker 2: and I want you to know that I appreciate you, 1087 00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:54,759 Speaker 2: and you spran forward in your smile, and I know 1088 00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:57,160 Speaker 2: we just really have met in this last hour of 1089 00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:00,080 Speaker 2: our lives. But I just want people to know that 1090 00:50:00,160 --> 00:50:04,400 Speaker 2: they can talk to strangers, have positive conversations with one another, 1091 00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:08,480 Speaker 2: not get waving flags right this whole tote in your 1092 00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:10,919 Speaker 2: flags and stuff. Let's just remember that we all believe 1093 00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:13,319 Speaker 2: the same blood on this earth, and we should all 1094 00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:14,759 Speaker 2: just be trying to get along so we don't have 1095 00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:16,640 Speaker 2: to use the Marines, even though the Marines want to 1096 00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:18,160 Speaker 2: get used. I know, I know. 1097 00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:22,479 Speaker 3: We want to get out there and do the job. 1098 00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:23,000 Speaker 3: That's the thing. 1099 00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:25,000 Speaker 2: Oh, I know, Oh I know, and I want you 1100 00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:27,799 Speaker 2: to as well. But if it means that you get 1101 00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:29,600 Speaker 2: to stay alive and don't have to fight but you're 1102 00:50:29,719 --> 00:50:32,160 Speaker 2: ready to fight, I'm good with that too, right because 1103 00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:34,840 Speaker 2: all right, Well, I want to say thank you to 1104 00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:37,359 Speaker 2: Cyrus for linking me up with you, Joe, and you've 1105 00:50:37,400 --> 00:50:41,080 Speaker 2: been a wonderful guest. Yeah, And when you get your 1106 00:50:41,120 --> 00:50:42,719 Speaker 2: other book going and you want to come back on 1107 00:50:42,760 --> 00:50:45,600 Speaker 2: the show, you're always welcome to, you know, jump onto 1108 00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:48,080 Speaker 2: the soft Rep family here and the soft Rep mafia 1109 00:50:48,080 --> 00:50:57,360 Speaker 2: as we call it now. Joe Muchiya gunnery sergeant, retired author, father, husband, son, 1110 00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:00,800 Speaker 2: you have been an outstanding individual. We'll talk to you today. 1111 00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:02,239 Speaker 3: Thanks brother, it's been great. 1112 00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:05,279 Speaker 2: It's been really great. Now on behalf of me and 1113 00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:07,680 Speaker 2: behalf of Joe. I want to say thank you from 1114 00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:09,720 Speaker 2: all of us here at soft Rep and especially to Brandon. 1115 00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:13,560 Speaker 2: Thanks for always having me run the show and trusting 1116 00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:15,680 Speaker 2: in me. Bro I really appreciate your brother. So fist 1117 00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:19,759 Speaker 2: pump to Brandon and get outside of nature. Go out 1118 00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:22,200 Speaker 2: and breathe some fresh air. Go for a hike, surround 1119 00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:25,520 Speaker 2: yourself with some water around your feet. Go take a 1120 00:51:25,560 --> 00:51:28,919 Speaker 2: swim at the local pool. There's nothing like water and 1121 00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:32,480 Speaker 2: the surroundings to help clear your thoughts. And I like 1122 00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:37,160 Speaker 2: to say thrills before pills, so believe in that. Get 1123 00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:40,000 Speaker 2: out and go enjoy yourself and check on your battle 1124 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:42,080 Speaker 2: buddies and your neighbors. And this is rad saying. Check 1125 00:51:42,080 --> 00:51:44,399 Speaker 2: out the book club at soft rep dot com. 1126 00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:54,440 Speaker 1: Peace, you've been listening to self red Radia