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Speaker 1: So now it's like Happy Veterans Day. I'm like, well, yeah,

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Speaker 1: but it's not directed to me. It's directed at the

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Speaker 1: other guy that wears camouflage and low crawls to the

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Speaker 1: coffee of you sheet. You're that guy. He wants everyone

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Speaker 1: to know he's a vet. He's got his you know,

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Speaker 1: airborne wings on his car, and he's a happy I'm

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Speaker 1: I'm staying low. Then this phone call comes and it's

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Speaker 1: like this is all happening, And I'm thinking, well, maybe

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Speaker 1: it's not really happening. Maybe there's a way to do

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Speaker 1: this on the download. Maybe you can say no, maybe

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Speaker 1: you can say I don't need it, I'm good, thanks,

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Speaker 1: give it to someone else. And when that news broke

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Speaker 1: and I had like a guy at work that was like,

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Speaker 1: you're not gonna believe this.

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Speaker 2: There's a guy with your name get the Metal of.

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Speaker 1: GN But he was like, you can't be you. You're

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Speaker 1: the You're the guy that is on my fantasy football league.

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Speaker 2: You're not that guy.

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Speaker 3: Welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney.

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Speaker 3: I'm a normal guy. I'm a husband, I'm a father,

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Speaker 3: I'm an entrepreneur, and I've been a football coach in

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Speaker 3: Inner City Memphis, and the last part it unintentionally led

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Speaker 3: to an oscar for the film about our team, it's

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Speaker 3: called Undefeated. I believe our country's problems will never be

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Speaker 3: solved by a bunch of fancy people in nice suits

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Speaker 3: talking big words that nobody uses on CNN and Fox,

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Speaker 3: but rather by an army of normal folks US just

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Speaker 3: you and me deciding, hey, I can help. That's what

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Speaker 3: Staff Sergeant David Bellavia the voice we just heard is done. Now,

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Speaker 3: David isn't exactly normal. This guy. He's a Medal of

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Speaker 3: Honor recipient, but we're featuring him as part of our

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Speaker 3: special series called Supporting Greatness, where we interview those who

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Speaker 3: have achieved public greatness about the unsung heroes and normal

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Speaker 3: folks who supported them and shaped their lives. However, David

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Speaker 3: still kin of is a normal dude. He wasn't some

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Speaker 3: big wig general in an office, but he literally went

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Speaker 3: house to house in a rock clearing each of those

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Speaker 3: houses of insurgents alongside his men, often fighting literally in

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Speaker 3: hand to hand combat. And it's not like he asked

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Speaker 3: for the Medal of Honor or campaigned for it. That's

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Speaker 3: why I call this episode A betweener, a little bit

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Speaker 3: normal folks, and a little bit of supporting greatness. I

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Speaker 3: cannot wait for you to meet David. Right after these

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Speaker 3: brief messages from our general sponsors, David Belle Via, what's up, bro?

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Speaker 2: How you doing?

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Speaker 3: You know how you're doing? I'm good? How you doing?

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Speaker 1: I'm fantastic. I'm learning so much. Life is an education,

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Speaker 1: and I've got a master's degree on football college Mississippi.

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Speaker 2: Everything.

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Speaker 3: Bringing New Yorker to Memphis, anything could happen.

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Speaker 2: That's right.

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Speaker 3: It's a beautiful town, though I appreciate it. Welcome to

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Speaker 3: an army of normal folks. So occasionally inside our little

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Speaker 3: podcast of an army of normal folks, we do special

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Speaker 3: segments called supporting Greatness. And what that's about is people

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Speaker 3: who've reached what we would call great heights and briefly

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Speaker 3: talking about what they've done, but more importantly talking about

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Speaker 3: who helped the normal people, the army of normal people

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Speaker 3: that supported them to reach their greatness. But you're kind

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Speaker 3: of a you're kind of a tweener because not only

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Speaker 3: have you reached greatness, you're also just a normal folk.

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Speaker 3: And and so we're gonna unpack all of that today

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Speaker 3: if you will allow me to unpack that with you

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Speaker 3: and start kind of with who you are, where you

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Speaker 3: came from, why you ended up, where you ended up,

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Speaker 3: what you did, and what you've done afterwards. But we're

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Speaker 3: gonna reverse engineer this, so I'm gonna I'm gonna start

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Speaker 3: at part of toward the end game of your story,

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Speaker 3: and then we'll back into it. But I don't think

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Speaker 3: anything would explain to our listeners any better than a

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Speaker 3: VID you at the Hall of Heroes right at the Pentagon,

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Speaker 3: I think, is am I saying that? Right?

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Speaker 2: Yes, sir?

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Speaker 3: And this is the day after you received the Medal

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Speaker 3: of Honor, which is the highest military honor that our

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Speaker 3: country gives. And there's only what sixty three or four

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Speaker 3: current living Medal of Honor winners in the world, right, right,

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Speaker 3: and there's only one from Iraq, that's right, and that's you.

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Speaker 2: That's living, living, living. Yeah, you're one of one, bro.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's yeah, yeah, crazy, that's weird to think about.

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Speaker 3: But well you are. You're a set of one. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: And we're going to unpack that. And I know you

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Speaker 3: have a lot of humility about it, but you have

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Speaker 3: a deep story about it too. But first, for our

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Speaker 3: listeners and viewers. I want to play the clip of

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Speaker 3: you at the Hall here. There are things that you

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Speaker 3: say in this that I've watched it fifteen times and

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Speaker 3: people have watched Undefeated and heard speeches and read my

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Speaker 3: book and stuff and said, you know, coach, I'm so inspirational.

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Speaker 3: All I got to do is listen to you for

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Speaker 3: three minutes. I'm ready to run through a wall. Well, dude,

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Speaker 3: I hear this, and I'm ready to I'm ready to

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Speaker 3: defend every person inside our borders. It just absolutely shakes

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Speaker 3: me every time I hear it. So here we are

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Speaker 3: your brief acceptance speech at the Hall of Heroes and

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Speaker 3: the Pentagon.

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Speaker 1: Our military should not be mistaken for a cable news

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Speaker 1: gab fest show. We don't care what you look like.

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Speaker 1: We don't care who you voted for, who you worship,

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Speaker 1: what you worship, who you love. It doesn't matter if

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Speaker 1: your dad left you millions when he died, or if

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Speaker 1: he knew who your father was. We have been honed

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Speaker 1: into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would

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Speaker 1: be one to avoid. If you know what's good for you,

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Speaker 1: we will not be intimidated. We will not back down.

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Speaker 1: We've seen war We don't want war, but if you

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Speaker 1: want war with the United States of America, there's one

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Speaker 1: thing I could promise you. So help me, God, someone

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Speaker 1: else will raise your sons and daughters. We fight. We

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Speaker 1: fight so our children never have to. We fight for

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Speaker 1: one day when our children and our enemies children can

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Speaker 1: discuss their differences without fear or loathing. We fight so

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Speaker 1: that anyone out there thinking about raising arms against our

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Speaker 1: citizens or allies realize the futility of attrition against a discipline,

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Speaker 1: professional and lethal force. Build to a stand anything you

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Speaker 1: can dream of throwing at us. Americans want this kind

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Speaker 1: of country, want this kind of world, and we stand

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Speaker 1: ready to defend it, to protect us. So help us God.

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Speaker 1: May God bless this beautiful army. May God bless our

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Speaker 1: Marine Corps, our Navy, our Air Force and Coast Guard.

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Speaker 1: May God bless our allies. And we already know that

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Speaker 1: God blessed America because he gave us the greatest fighting

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Speaker 1: force this world has ever seen. Two to two infantry

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Speaker 1: at the first Infantry Division, Thank you, Ramrods Duty First Dukes,

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Speaker 1: thank you very much.

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Speaker 3: I do not know how any American cannot hear that

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Speaker 3: and bristle with humility and pride for men like you

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Speaker 3: who served our country. When you hear yourself say that,

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Speaker 3: what do you feel?

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Speaker 2: You know, it's so weird.

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Speaker 1: First of all, there's not supposed to be like applause

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Speaker 1: line in those speeches. You're supposed to get the medal

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Speaker 1: of honor, eat big shrimp, and like go work at raytheon.

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Speaker 2: You know, that's what you're supposed to do.

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Speaker 1: You get there, have a wait, you're supposed to That

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Speaker 1: speech has traditionally been a speech where you're like, you know,

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Speaker 1: the country has bestowed this upon one person. Let me

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Speaker 1: tell you why that was the best decision you've ever made,

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Speaker 1: you know, And then you do like an Audie Murphy

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Speaker 1: and do a Christmas cookbook. It releaves the country album

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Speaker 1: or something. I didn't know. There's no guidebook as to

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Speaker 1: what to do with this thing. And all I thought

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Speaker 1: about the entire time is that I sat at for

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Speaker 1: betting Georgia, polishing my boots and cleaning my weapon every

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Speaker 1: single day. Read these citations and I thought they were

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Speaker 1: like the Marvel Adventures to me. You know, I'm reading

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Speaker 1: about Gary Latrell from Vietnam, Gary Biker Drew dis you know,

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Speaker 1: all these legends Hershey Maya Mora from the Korean War

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Speaker 1: whose family was interned as Japanese Americans and a camp.

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Speaker 1: No reason to service country, no reason to defend America.

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Speaker 1: His country put him in a prison camp just because

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Speaker 1: of who he was. That guy joins in the Korean

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Speaker 1: War and piles up Communist Chinese like Lincoln Logs and

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Speaker 1: taking prisoner war gets the is told he comes home

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Speaker 1: as a prisoner of war after the war ends, and

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Speaker 1: has told the President wants to meet him. He's like,

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Speaker 1: I'm good, just let.

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Speaker 2: Me go home.

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Speaker 1: They're like, no, you get the medal of other budd

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Speaker 1: He's like, I don't care. I just want to go home.

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Speaker 1: These these stories are legendary. You meet these guys and

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Speaker 1: you're like, you know, I would. I just want to

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Speaker 1: meet you. I just want to be in your presence.

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Speaker 1: I just want to you never consider yourself. So what

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Speaker 1: I decided to do was be the first. You know, well,

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Speaker 1: I wanted to reinvent the way the Medal of Honor

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Speaker 1: is given because I'm not naive enough to think that

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Speaker 1: we're not going to have wars in the future and

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Speaker 1: we're gonna have other recipients. I want them to realize

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Speaker 1: that everything we've done is because someone you know, like

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Speaker 1: that old country, you Southerners tell these stories. If you

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Speaker 1: ever see a turtle on a fence post, it's because

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Speaker 1: someone put them there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, live up right.

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Speaker 1: Everything we've got is because someone put us there. They

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Speaker 1: put us in a position. And so I want this

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Speaker 1: to be about the team. I want this to be

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Speaker 1: about what we truly say we are. This is who

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Speaker 1: we are. No one wants to be a machine gunner.

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Speaker 1: They want to be a machine gunner and a squad

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Speaker 1: with a leader that cares just enough about them as

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Speaker 1: they do them. And that that was important to me,

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Speaker 1: and I wanted I wanted people to know who my

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Speaker 1: team was, why they were important, and most importantly, we

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Speaker 1: fought with the tenacity we fought with because we lost

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Speaker 1: our friends and we defended an avenge.

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Speaker 3: Then I want to again, I prefaced the conversation we're

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Speaker 3: having with that, because to me, what you're talking about

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Speaker 3: now is the end game. But let's get there first.

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Speaker 3: What you grow up, tell me about you as a kid.

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Speaker 3: Tell me you weren't the guy standing up there, the

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Speaker 3: guy we just saw and heard. That wasn't That wasn't

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Speaker 3: David the kid. Tell me, yeah, tell me about that.

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Speaker 3: Tell me tell me about the normal guy David and

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Speaker 3: the kid and who he grew up and what he

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Speaker 3: did and all that.

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Speaker 2: I'm the youngest of four boys, got it. My dad

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Speaker 2: was a dentist.

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Speaker 1: Success in my family in right outside of an hour

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Speaker 1: north of Buffalo, but right between Buffalo and Rochester, New York,

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Speaker 1: right off Lake Ontario, farmtown, population eight hundred. You played sports,

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Speaker 1: you were in the science club. We needed the bodies,

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Speaker 1: and you were also playing travone. You know, we didn't

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Speaker 1: have a very large school. It was New York in

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Speaker 1: name only. You know, more cows and apples than you

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Speaker 1: know population or visitors.

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Speaker 2: No traffic light, No traffic light in my hometown.

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Speaker 1: So we grew up in this town called Lenville, New York,

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Speaker 1: and my dad put everything. Everything was about education. You

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Speaker 1: went and got a degree and became a professional. If

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Speaker 1: you wanted to make Bellevius proud, you were a professional.

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Speaker 2: That's what you had to do. So oldest brother.

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Speaker 1: Went out, two brothers went to seminary. One became a

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Speaker 1: I got three professors in my family, all with masters.

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Speaker 1: I think we got a PhD and double masters. Like

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Speaker 1: they weren't just set with one. They were all extremely intelligent,

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Speaker 1: extremely at the top. You know, they're they're successful at

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Speaker 1: the top of what they did. And I was like

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Speaker 1: my and then my granddad would come around all the time,

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Speaker 1: and he was a World War Two vet, and for

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Speaker 1: some reason, because I was the youngest, I just found

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Speaker 1: myself going on walks with him and he would just

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Speaker 1: start rattling off these stories at like a six year

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Speaker 1: old Oh.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but like graphic.

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Speaker 3: But I didn't think those guys often told war stories.

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Speaker 1: I don't know what was wrong with him because he didn't.

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Speaker 1: He didn't do it to anyone else.

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Speaker 2: It was just me.

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Speaker 1: But it was like wait at an age where I

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Speaker 1: was like, so the femeral artery is the bleeder, Grandpa, you.

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Speaker 2: Know, Like he would tell me stuff that I was.

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Speaker 1: Like, you know, but there was nobility. He was talking

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Speaker 1: about stuff not to shock me. He was talking about

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Speaker 1: like true nobility, like this is when you can get

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Speaker 1: together in a world that you don't understand. You don't

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Speaker 1: understand adults, you don't understand people that are different than you.

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Speaker 1: You got all these people, all the reasons why we're

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Speaker 1: tribal and separated. If there's one thing that could just

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Speaker 1: put you together as a unit. It's the greatest experience.

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Speaker 2: In your life.

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Speaker 1: And and you will never have experienced life until you've

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Speaker 1: gone through that.

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Speaker 3: Where did your grandfather start?

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Speaker 1: When?

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Speaker 3: Where?

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Speaker 2: Where?

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Speaker 1: Oh? So he is a Normandy vet. Wow, he did

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Speaker 1: D day plus twenty nine. He got the hedge, your.

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Speaker 3: Own day plus twenty nine.

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Speaker 1: So so D day everyone thinks it the Normandy beach landing, right, right,

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Speaker 1: So that's D day h hour. That's the first day

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Speaker 1: d D plus one means the day after that.

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Speaker 2: Beach land so he's days there.

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Speaker 1: He was twenty nine days after the beach landing is

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Speaker 1: when he got there. So he came in with patent.

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Speaker 1: And really, when you think of.

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Speaker 3: Your your grandfather served under patent.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he was a patent's army and he did sicily

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Speaker 1: North Africa.

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Speaker 2: He did the Battle of the Bulge.

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Speaker 3: He did pretty much Battle of the Bulge.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he got it all.

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Speaker 1: He got the Tour of Italy.

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Speaker 3: So looking back on it, did those walks and the

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Speaker 3: stories about grouping shots at the fival artery, do you

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Speaker 3: think subconsciously that might have just planted a seed for

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Speaker 3: you later in life.

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Speaker 1: I just know I wanted to do it. From that day,

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Speaker 1: I was just afraid to tell my parents that I.

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Speaker 3: Wanted to because they wanted to.

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Speaker 2: I was a dentist.

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Speaker 3: You're supposed to be a dinner store, a theologian or soundlasters,

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Speaker 3: not a meat head.

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Speaker 1: My dad would say that life is about taking people

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Speaker 1: out of pain, and it took me until I was

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Speaker 1: like twenty two to realize, I think I want to

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Speaker 1: focus on the pain part. I want to be the

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Speaker 1: deliverance of that. How do I break that down? Look,

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Speaker 1: you're religious, you're Christian. You don't hit people, you you

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Speaker 1: turn the other cheek, you pray for people, you.

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Speaker 2: Talk about love.

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Speaker 1: I understood all these things growing up, but I also

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Speaker 1: could not stand injustice. I could not stand you know this,

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Speaker 1: this fight between this is wrong and we're not going

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Speaker 1: to do anything about it. That is what kept me

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Speaker 1: up at night, and I got far too into when

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Speaker 1: Saddan got assassinated in Egypt. I wanted to you know.

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Speaker 1: I remember telling like, we can't you can't go to work, dad,

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Speaker 1: Saddad has been assassinated. It was like, no one cares

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Speaker 1: about Saddad. What's wrong with you?

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Speaker 2: You know?

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Speaker 1: But these were the things that that I was I

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Speaker 1: was focused on because I thought it was noble. I

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Speaker 1: thought it was an adventure. But I also realized that

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Speaker 1: I don't want to be that person. That everything is

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Speaker 1: hyperbole in every sport I played, and we weren't good

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Speaker 1: at any of them. You know, we were so small,

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Speaker 1: we were just getting But I remember sitting on the

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Speaker 1: bench down forty points and a guy goes for a

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Speaker 1: three point shot, and I thought, no one's gonna say this.

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Speaker 1: I've got to be the one to say this. I

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Speaker 1: don't care how big you are, I don't care how

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Speaker 1: strong you are. If you shoot another three point shot

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Speaker 1: and you're up by forty points, I'm gonna break your arm.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna break your arm. I'm gonna do it for

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Speaker 1: the team, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 3: I just it was an injustice.

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Speaker 1: He was absolutely unnecessary, and I will stand up and

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Speaker 1: say it. Stop it. But losing as a crew, that

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Speaker 1: was something that I found. We're in this together, no

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Speaker 1: matter what, We're in this together. The rich kid, the

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Speaker 1: poor kid, the white kid, the black kid, were doing

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Speaker 1: this together. It's us against them. I loved that, and

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Speaker 1: the army, you know, presented that for me.

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Speaker 3: I I'm going to invoke the Rich Middle Miss So

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Speaker 3: Rich was the producer for Undefeated. And if it wasn't

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Speaker 3: for Rich, I wouldn't be sitting here interviewing you because

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Speaker 3: nobody would have ever made a movie. It wouldn't win

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Speaker 3: the Academy Award, nobody would care about anything I have

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Speaker 3: to say. Through meeting Rich, I thought he was this

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Speaker 3: Hollywood weirdo because he and Dan and TJ, the directors,

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Speaker 3: you know, they were at twenty nine thirty showed up

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Speaker 3: to Memphis and skinny legged jeans and goofy shirts wearing

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Speaker 3: scarves in September in Memphis. I mean, first of all,

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Speaker 3: you just don't Let's just don't do that, right, right,

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Speaker 3: that's a get a lot of yeah. Well, so anyway,

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Speaker 3: I found out Rich was actually a East Coast guy

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Speaker 3: from went to the University Tennessee, and Dan and TJ

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Speaker 3: and Rich are now three of my best friends, and

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Speaker 3: so obviously I've stayed I mean I talked to Rich

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Speaker 3: and Dan and TJ, you know, at least bi weekly

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Speaker 3: and have for ten years, and saw him always asking,

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Speaker 3: you know, what are you guys working on. I remember

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Speaker 3: when Dan and TJ did the Tina movie in LA

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Speaker 3: ninety two and they won an Emmy, and after winning

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Speaker 3: the Oscar and celebrating with him that and of course

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Speaker 3: all the things Rich has done after. And I remember

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Speaker 3: sitting at home one night. I said, what's new and

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00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:05,680
Speaker 3: he said, man, I've just got an option to this book.

341
00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:08,320
Speaker 3: And I said what is it? And he said, well,

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Speaker 3: have you ever heard of David Bellavia? And I said,

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Speaker 3: believe it or not, I think I have. I heard

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Speaker 3: an interview and he said, yeah, man, he's this awesome guy.

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Speaker 3: Medal of Honor, dude. And he wrote this book about

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Speaker 3: how they went house to house in Fallujah, and he said,

347
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Speaker 3: and I want to try to do something with that project.

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Speaker 3: And so that's how I was introduced to you, was

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Speaker 3: through Rich. And he sent me the book on my

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Speaker 3: cell phone and I it was like nine point thirty

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Speaker 3: at night, and so I just opened the book on this,

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Speaker 3: you know. He sent an attachment on a text really

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Speaker 3: and I opened it and at four in the morning,

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Speaker 3: I'd finished your book five straight hours. I read your

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Speaker 3: book on my cell phone. I did not wear glasses

356
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Speaker 3: prior to this moment, but you ruined my eyes. I

357
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:08,159
Speaker 3: was absolutely there. I would I woke Lisa up in

358
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Speaker 3: the middle of the night twice to say listen to this.

359
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:18,400
Speaker 3: It yeah, it affected me. And we're going to talk

360
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Speaker 3: about some of those stories. But first, the most important

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Speaker 3: story is you were I think a theater arts major.

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Speaker 1: You know, I get so much hell for this and it.

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Speaker 1: I want to preface by saying I was a pre

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Speaker 1: med major okay, and I was a minor in theater.

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Speaker 3: Okay.

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Speaker 2: But but but with.

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Speaker 1: The Army, No, no, but with the Army, they're just like, oh,

368
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Speaker 1: this is too good, you know, and this guy's wearing

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Speaker 1: tights and Pippin we got to get that photos.

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Speaker 3: I don't want to sensationalize. So I was, I was

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Speaker 3: a student.

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Speaker 1: I love theater because again I went to a school

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Speaker 1: where you could play sports, do theater, do the band.

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Speaker 2: It was one of those things.

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Speaker 3: And you got the Robert DeNiro look going now, I

376
00:21:59,160 --> 00:21:59,840
Speaker 3: got the Robbert.

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Speaker 1: So don't get me wrong. I'm still doing my headshots

378
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Speaker 1: and going to auditions. I'm still working on my one

379
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,680
Speaker 1: act play. But no theater for me, though. Was it

380
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,400
Speaker 1: was interesting to just meet again. I was so I

381
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,639
Speaker 1: was blown away by these kids like the Warlert, like

382
00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,280
Speaker 1: you know, Mascara and and Berets with the scars, the

383
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,159
Speaker 1: middle Mast and they walk around, and I wanted to

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Speaker 1: be a part of just understand these guys where they're from,

385
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,360
Speaker 1: because ultimately, I believe in my life and I see

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Speaker 1: this with young people today.

387
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 2: When I was young and I'm reading.

388
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:39,679
Speaker 1: History, it's we are searching for that drama in our life.

389
00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,880
Speaker 1: And what really, what the combat experience is is everything

390
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,040
Speaker 1: that we talk about. And I'd die for you. I'd

391
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,159
Speaker 1: kill for that, I would do anything. Now you're in

392
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Speaker 1: a situation where everything is real. That is real drama there,

393
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Speaker 1: there's I don't need to I don't need to perform

394
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,640
Speaker 1: grapes of wrath being shot at with a physical I'm good,

395
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 1: I'm set.

396
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:04,040
Speaker 3: Now.

397
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:05,960
Speaker 1: I need to focus on being the best person I

398
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 1: could be, treated people with dignity, respect and making America better.

399
00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:13,280
Speaker 1: But everything else is like the audition to that moment.

400
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,159
Speaker 2: Well, I think people are in search for it.

401
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,440
Speaker 3: I was as a young kid too, and along those lines,

402
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:23,240
Speaker 3: and you know, I'm drawing an odd parallel here, but

403
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,440
Speaker 3: it's something I've thought about since You and I when

404
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,600
Speaker 3: you graciously agreed to join me, was interestingly to me,

405
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,480
Speaker 3: A big part of your story started with things going

406
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,119
Speaker 3: on in your house and ended with things going on

407
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,959
Speaker 3: in a house in Felujah. Tell us about the story

408
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:46,639
Speaker 3: in your house.

409
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Speaker 1: So you know, I had this idea of who I

410
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,040
Speaker 1: was because I told myself that every day, this is

411
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,679
Speaker 1: the man I was going to be, this is the

412
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,359
Speaker 1: man I want to be. And when I was confronted

413
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: with the opportunity to be that man and I realized,

414
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:02,680
Speaker 1: I'm none.

415
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:03,200
Speaker 2: Of those things.

416
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:04,520
Speaker 3: Tell us about that story.

417
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 1: I'm home from school and I'm just I'm doing some

418
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,720
Speaker 1: yard work. My mom had had next surgery, so my

419
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,439
Speaker 1: dad was taking care of her, and I had my

420
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,120
Speaker 1: dog out back and I heard a car door close.

421
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 1: Figured they had guests, but thought it was weird because

422
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 1: parents weren't taking guess. My mom was in bed and

423
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Speaker 1: she was pretty recovering from major next surgery, and all

424
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Speaker 1: of a sudden, I just I see people walking through

425
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Speaker 1: the house in the back window, and one of them

426
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 1: doesn't have a shirt on, and I'm thinking, now, that's

427
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:40,520
Speaker 1: that's definitely not a guess.

428
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:41,520
Speaker 3: That's no one.

429
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 1: You know you better you might take your shoes off

430
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,600
Speaker 1: out of respect that you're not taking that shirt off.

431
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:51,439
Speaker 1: That's some crazy stuff. So I kind of approach him.

432
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:53,600
Speaker 1: I could front one of them and have a conversation.

433
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 1: I could just see that his eyes are just glassy

434
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 1: and he's not there, and know my dog is trying

435
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:02,840
Speaker 1: to go at him. I got a Rottwile about one

436
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,080
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty pound rodi and I thought to myself,

437
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,200
Speaker 1: I don't want a lawsuit. You know, if that dog

438
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:12,320
Speaker 1: rips into shreds, you know, they might ensue us or something.

439
00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:14,400
Speaker 1: We there's a way to get these boys out. It's

440
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:18,119
Speaker 1: a misunderstanding. Maybe they're fishermen lost from the water and

441
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:18,840
Speaker 1: just came.

442
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,400
Speaker 3: Up lost, shirtless fishermen in your house.

443
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:24,800
Speaker 1: I'm telling you it doesn't make any sense, but I'm

444
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 1: trying to rationalize what's going on when I see what's

445
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,680
Speaker 1: what's a parent where they've taken you know, garbage cans

446
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,359
Speaker 1: and they're just cutting cords and throwing you know VCRs.

447
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:37,560
Speaker 2: And this was in the late.

448
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: Night US, right, so it's a home invasion. So I

449
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 1: immediately use the basement door and head down and grab

450
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,960
Speaker 1: that remuton eight seventy And I'm thinking, for the rest

451
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,120
Speaker 1: of my life, I'm going to be the guy who

452
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,800
Speaker 1: just blasted someone's head off. How are you going to

453
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,760
Speaker 1: be treated? Are you doing it for you know, are

454
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 1: you giving them a right to in New York State?

455
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,920
Speaker 1: They better have AK forty seven in their hand. I mean,

456
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,239
Speaker 1: the laws of New York about defending your home are

457
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 1: pretty embarrassing.

458
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:14,400
Speaker 2: I say that to a.

459
00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,119
Speaker 1: Man from you know, who's used to the way to

460
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:19,680
Speaker 1: properly defend your So I'm going through all this stuff

461
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:24,199
Speaker 1: in my head and I realize I don't even have

462
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:29,159
Speaker 1: the guts to do this. I'm reading that script in

463
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: my head that I want to be this person, but

464
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 1: I'm not. And I get upstairs and these guys just

465
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:41,119
Speaker 1: walk by me and no fear, and they're just like

466
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 1: with all your stuff, with all of the stuff loaded

467
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 1: in the car, loading the vehicle.

468
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:49,240
Speaker 3: And you're just sitting there, and I just, you know.

469
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:51,919
Speaker 1: I just I don't know if it was the flesh

470
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 1: that was weak or the heart that was weak, or

471
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,960
Speaker 1: what was weak, but something was weak. But I could

472
00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 1: deal with that because that was just me and them.

473
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,320
Speaker 1: Know that, no one's gonna tell that story. You were high,

474
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,200
Speaker 1: you were, you know you were, That's not true at all.

475
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: I'm put of a fight. But when my dad came

476
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:14,600
Speaker 1: out and saw everything, and his first reaction was to

477
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,600
Speaker 1: get in his car, with a forty four and head

478
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:18,520
Speaker 1: out after him.

479
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:20,920
Speaker 2: That's what the father does.

480
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,280
Speaker 1: Right as soon as he was aware of what the

481
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 1: problem was, he took it upon himself to go give chase.

482
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 2: Now, these guys end up.

483
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,520
Speaker 1: Arrested, they do seven years, you know, they they got

484
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 1: they punished, They were punished for their crimes. But the

485
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,440
Speaker 1: look my father gave me was worse than what those

486
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 1: guys did, because that that is what comes at me

487
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:45,480
Speaker 1: at two o'clock in the morning, was.

488
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 2: Embarrassment.

489
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,560
Speaker 1: You're not what I hoped you'd be at this age.

490
00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 2: You're not ready.

491
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 1: You obviously don't have this thing handled. I'm going to

492
00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 1: handle it, and I just was like, I gotta get it.

493
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,200
Speaker 1: I got to get to a place where I can

494
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:06,359
Speaker 1: do something that I'm uncomfortable doing.

495
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 3: Does it not the irony to me that it started

496
00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:18,840
Speaker 3: for you with guns and perpetrators in a house and

497
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:23,000
Speaker 3: it came to you, which we'll get to in a

498
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,400
Speaker 3: little bit, in a house. Does the irony of that

499
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:26,879
Speaker 3: strike you?

500
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 1: After the after rich Mendal Moss explained that to me,

501
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,240
Speaker 1: which a Hollywood guy with a scarf and in Tennessee

502
00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: to know it would would to me was far more

503
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,400
Speaker 1: that I just never wanted to disappoint someone I loved

504
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 1: so much. And I looked and disappointed my dad.

505
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:50,680
Speaker 3: You mean, you're just a normal kid. That's normal, folks.

506
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:50,840
Speaker 1: That's it.

507
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 2: I just my dad meant every he was Superman.

508
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,640
Speaker 3: People can talk big and bad all they want, but

509
00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 3: I'm you know, I've played football and sports against much

510
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,840
Speaker 3: bigger people. I've been in a few fistfights in my life.

511
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,840
Speaker 3: I've been shot at down a hallway inside of home before,

512
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,800
Speaker 3: and I know what the I know a bullet sounds

513
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:18,440
Speaker 3: like this when it goes past you goes It's got

514
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,960
Speaker 3: that sound to it because I remember it. But having

515
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 3: said all that, if a guy's got a VC, aren't

516
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,040
Speaker 3: a bag and he's probably on meth even if I'm

517
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 3: holding a gun. People can talk all they want to,

518
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,720
Speaker 3: but the ability to level off and take that life

519
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,920
Speaker 3: gives more than nine percent of the people in the

520
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 3: world paws. And But that just makes you normal to me,

521
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 3: I mean absolutely and now.

522
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:52,600
Speaker 1: But the craziest thing is that just understanding that you

523
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 1: have to do that inventory to know where you're at,

524
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 1: because if you're building your life on just delusion and

525
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,040
Speaker 1: you're like, you know, well, these opportunities. Have it happened

526
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 1: because you know the stars aren't aligned. You don't even

527
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,840
Speaker 1: have the skill set, you don't even have the emotional

528
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,040
Speaker 1: temperament to deal with it if it comes your way.

529
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,040
Speaker 1: There's so much more about you know, understanding that violence

530
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,280
Speaker 1: is what everyone.

531
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:18,840
Speaker 2: No one wants it in their life.

532
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:20,600
Speaker 1: No one wants to be the one that has to

533
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 1: perform anything in a violent act. I live my entire

534
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 1: life to be away from violence and to never be

535
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 1: in a situation where I have to be around it.

536
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:35,320
Speaker 1: But controlling fear was something I had know idea. Fear

537
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 1: was always get away from it. It's your instinct, your body, right,

538
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,280
Speaker 1: and once you realize that, your brain is just there

539
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 1: to protect us, and the brain is going to put

540
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 1: crazy messages and you've got to just put barricades in

541
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,760
Speaker 1: your brain to say you're not in charge. My heart's

542
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:54,480
Speaker 1: going to take over.

543
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:55,840
Speaker 2: Now.

544
00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:02,400
Speaker 3: Would you say at that moment in Tom, this is

545
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 3: my word, would you say that you were a coward?

546
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:14,000
Speaker 1: Absolutely? Yeah, I would. I used the other words.

547
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:19,400
Speaker 3: That sounds like Mississippi right, a little bit, a little bit,

548
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 3: but that's what I would say.

549
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 2: Absolutely, It's what I said.

550
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 1: It's why I mean listen, I I my whole trajectory

551
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 1: was planned. Uh, I know what school I was going to.

552
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,720
Speaker 1: I was taking the m CAT. I was on that trajectory.

553
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:39,080
Speaker 1: This was that life fork in the road where I said,

554
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,040
Speaker 1: no matter what comes out of this, I'm not going

555
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 1: to be that person.

556
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 3: And so then you said I'm going to boot camp.

557
00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,120
Speaker 1: I'm joined the army, I'm joining the infantry. I'm not

558
00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:53,080
Speaker 1: going to I don't want to be a combat campra Yeah,

559
00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:56,720
Speaker 1: exactly right. But it was more important that I wanted

560
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 1: the whole experience. I wanted to punch the ticket I'm not.

561
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:02,680
Speaker 1: I don't want to get a skill. My skill has

562
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 1: to be me.

563
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,200
Speaker 3: Was this I never want my father to look at

564
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:06,960
Speaker 3: me this way again.

565
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 1: No, this was I don't ever want to be in

566
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:13,040
Speaker 1: a position where I ever can't handle it. I want

567
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,160
Speaker 1: to handle every situation. I want to know when to

568
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,640
Speaker 1: use my brain. I want to know when to put

569
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:19,400
Speaker 1: my foot in their face. I want to know when

570
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,280
Speaker 1: the proper time is. I want to know how to

571
00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 1: how to be way over my head and be able

572
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 1: to say I don't even have any idea of how

573
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,240
Speaker 1: to handle this, So now I'm going to use what

574
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:32,920
Speaker 1: I have in front of me and the people around

575
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:34,000
Speaker 1: me to get myself out of it.

576
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 3: So it's safe to say you grew up the youngest

577
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 3: of four with a very small town, almost like a

578
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 3: he Haw salute town, right, And you grew up with

579
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:50,560
Speaker 3: expectations of school with a father as a dentist, probably

580
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 3: not wealthy, but just good white collar family, and had

581
00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:00,000
Speaker 3: full expectations are going off to school, and this significant

582
00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,960
Speaker 3: incident happened, and when you looked in the mirror, you

583
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:06,840
Speaker 3: saw yourself to be, as you describe, a coward, and

584
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,479
Speaker 3: you wanted to rise above that. And your answer was,

585
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 3: I'm going to go to the army and I'm going

586
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 3: to grow up and grow myself into more strength.

587
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,120
Speaker 1: I knew I had it in me. I knew that

588
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:27,240
Speaker 1: I was. I knew that it was important enough to

589
00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,320
Speaker 1: me that I wasn't afraid to get my act kicked.

590
00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:31,480
Speaker 1: I wasn't afraid to stand up to a kid that

591
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,800
Speaker 1: was eighteen when I was twelve. I wasn't afraid to

592
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,000
Speaker 1: say something that no one wanted to say.

593
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,000
Speaker 3: But you weren't tapped into it yet, but I was not.

594
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,800
Speaker 1: I did not have the ability to know really how

595
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 1: to You don't believe it or not. Everyone talks about

596
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,440
Speaker 1: the military as you know, the thinking that's involved. This

597
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:52,400
Speaker 1: is where you go when you can't go to college

598
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,840
Speaker 1: or you get so impregnant. All I was surrounded by

599
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:57,720
Speaker 1: were intellects in the army.

600
00:33:57,800 --> 00:33:58,200
Speaker 3: I got it.

601
00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:02,280
Speaker 1: I'm really and sometimes you know you don't have a degree.

602
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,120
Speaker 1: You know you're not going out there for the Rhodes

603
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 1: Scholar program. But it's the smartest person I've ever met

604
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:11,000
Speaker 1: my life is a person that just says, take a

605
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:16,960
Speaker 1: step back to explain something difficult to a layman is

606
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:21,040
Speaker 1: actually the definition of intelligence. Take something really super difficult

607
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:24,319
Speaker 1: and explain it to someone who doesn't know anything about it,

608
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,120
Speaker 1: and they walk away with saying, I get something complicated.

609
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:29,120
Speaker 1: That's the person I want to be around now. It's

610
00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:34,600
Speaker 1: you're a coach. That's all my life mentors where people

611
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,319
Speaker 1: that cared enough about me to tell me the things

612
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,239
Speaker 1: Mom and dad loved me too much.

613
00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:39,680
Speaker 3: To tell me.

614
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,359
Speaker 1: You know, it was always the coach that was you

615
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,200
Speaker 1: suck and you're not working hard, and you're telling me

616
00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:49,680
Speaker 1: that you're in the gym. You're in the gym, but

617
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:51,759
Speaker 1: what are you doing in the gym? You know you're

618
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,520
Speaker 1: not doing the things. I'm going to hold you accountable.

619
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 1: That accountability. All these drill sergeants, all these noncommissioned officers,

620
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 1: all they did was give me the tough love no

621
00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:05,400
Speaker 1: one in my world had ever given me.

622
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:06,520
Speaker 3: And you were looking for it.

623
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:07,440
Speaker 1: I needed it.

624
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:14,520
Speaker 3: And now a few messages from our general sponsors. But first,

625
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 3: I hope you'll consider following an Army of normal Folks

626
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:23,720
Speaker 3: on all of our social media channels for more powerful content,

627
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,080
Speaker 3: which is also great for sharing, to help grow the army.

628
00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:31,239
Speaker 3: Our handle is at Army of Normal Folks on all

629
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:36,280
Speaker 3: of them except Twitter, which I guess is X these days,

630
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:40,680
Speaker 3: which is interesting because everybody says X formally called Twitter,

631
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 3: so we might as well just call it Twitter whatever.

632
00:35:44,200 --> 00:36:02,719
Speaker 3: At Army normal Folks, we'll be right back. So we're

633
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:05,560
Speaker 3: gonna skip ahead, and then we're gonna we're gonna skip

634
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 3: ahead in your world, and then we're gonna go back,

635
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:12,640
Speaker 3: because again I think we've established you just grew up

636
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:18,759
Speaker 3: a normal kid, but you're by definition not normal. You

637
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:25,759
Speaker 3: are one of one in this country, and we want

638
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:30,440
Speaker 3: to understand all of the people that supported that. But first,

639
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:34,560
Speaker 3: it's really important that all our listeners hear the story

640
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 3: that got you there, and I want to ask first

641
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,759
Speaker 3: how comfortable you are going through the day you walk

642
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:46,640
Speaker 3: through that front door of that house in Felujah. Okay, good,

643
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:51,680
Speaker 3: So we're going to get how that happened. But again

644
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:59,880
Speaker 3: we're jumping forward. Everything I've read is that you guys

645
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:03,360
Speaker 3: were literally clearing houses and Flujah door to door, and

646
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:08,160
Speaker 3: it was the most intense urban warfare since Vietnam. And

647
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:17,560
Speaker 3: there were American soldiers getting wounded and some dying daily

648
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:22,120
Speaker 3: in this requirement for you guys to literally go house

649
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:26,480
Speaker 3: to house, door to door, clearing out buildings of people

650
00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:31,840
Speaker 3: whose soul desire on earth was to eliminate you. And

651
00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:34,920
Speaker 3: you happen on one of these houses, and I'm just

652
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:39,920
Speaker 3: gonna let you take it from there, because at the

653
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,799
Speaker 3: end of it, you lived, and five bad guys were dead,

654
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,640
Speaker 3: and I think some of it even included hand to

655
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:49,280
Speaker 3: hand combat. And I really want you in your own words.

656
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,319
Speaker 3: I've read all about it. I want to hear from you,

657
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:56,400
Speaker 3: and I want our listeners to hear what that was

658
00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:56,799
Speaker 3: that day.

659
00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:02,240
Speaker 1: So just for people to understand that American fight in history,

660
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,440
Speaker 1: if you look at our military in our wars, the

661
00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 1: urban fights that we trained to fight. Our standard operating

662
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: procedure is the Battle of Verdun, which Americans weren't involved in.

663
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:16,240
Speaker 1: That was the French and the Germans of World War One.

664
00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:20,040
Speaker 1: We talk about the Battle of Grosny in modern day Georgia.

665
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,200
Speaker 1: That's the Soviet Union and the Nazis, and the Battle

666
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:27,239
Speaker 1: of Berlin. Another three epic fights that we trained for

667
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,840
Speaker 1: that we've never participated in. So America's got the Battle

668
00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,840
Speaker 1: of Soul, Korea in fifty one, We've got Way City

669
00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:39,239
Speaker 1: in Vietnam. If you look at those engagements, just like

670
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 1: Somalia in Blackhawk Down, ninety seven percent of our casualties

671
00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,560
Speaker 1: are outside of the building. The danger in an urban

672
00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,040
Speaker 1: fight is getting to the objective. That's where you're getting

673
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:49,400
Speaker 1: hit right.

674
00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:51,360
Speaker 3: Well, because they've got covered of building and you're in

675
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:52,000
Speaker 3: a street.

676
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:53,400
Speaker 1: And you're in the street in the middle of a city,

677
00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,359
Speaker 1: and you've got you know, everything's built up, so you're

678
00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:00,800
Speaker 1: getting popped from all sides, doors, windows, everything, alleyway. Getting

679
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:05,000
Speaker 1: to the objective is where traditionally casualties come from. In

680
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:07,760
Speaker 1: the first you know, two and a half three years

681
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,680
Speaker 1: of the war in Iraq, we are literally writing the

682
00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:14,280
Speaker 1: book on urban close quarter combat. To the point where

683
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:18,279
Speaker 1: we're changing basic training in real time. I mean, think

684
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,600
Speaker 1: about by the year two thousand and five, a kid

685
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 1: is coming through basic training, they're going in a shootouse.

686
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 1: In basic training, you're on a range, you learn how

687
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:29,279
Speaker 1: to salute, you figure out how to get your sideburns.

688
00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:32,480
Speaker 1: Even in basic training you don't go you don't go

689
00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:36,239
Speaker 1: in a shootouse. I mean, this is we're totally changing

690
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,960
Speaker 1: the way we fight because of that urban fight. That's

691
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:43,720
Speaker 1: how absolutely of a dice roll it is. So now

692
00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:46,720
Speaker 1: you got Seal Team six and all these high speed guys.

693
00:39:47,239 --> 00:39:50,560
Speaker 1: I don't care if your Seal Team six, your Delta

694
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,919
Speaker 1: Force or your thor you walk through a door there's

695
00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:55,960
Speaker 1: a machine gun on the other end of that building.

696
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,640
Speaker 1: You're getting shot. It's the way it is. So you

697
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:02,319
Speaker 1: take a all the training and all the skill, and

698
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,360
Speaker 1: then you realize, I'm not in control of any of this.

699
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,239
Speaker 1: None of this I'm in control of. So what I

700
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,040
Speaker 1: have to do is not only physically train you for

701
00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:15,760
Speaker 1: the fight, but I've got to psychologically train that nineteen

702
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:18,680
Speaker 1: twenty year old kid for what's gonna happen in the fight.

703
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,120
Speaker 1: Because it's not enough about killing you or injuring you.

704
00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:27,520
Speaker 1: It's leaving you to psychologically destroy the people coming in

705
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:30,680
Speaker 1: after you. That's what the enemy's trying to do. They're

706
00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:33,040
Speaker 1: trying to fix you. There's no way they're gonna make

707
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,200
Speaker 1: it out. Bomb drops on their building, there's no way

708
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:38,920
Speaker 1: they're gonna make it out. They know they're dead the

709
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 1: moment they fight us. Their job is to hurt you,

710
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,759
Speaker 1: kill you, and mess with your brain so you can't

711
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:46,520
Speaker 1: fight tomorrow.

712
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:47,759
Speaker 2: So I got to.

713
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,160
Speaker 1: Take these guys and put them through something I've never

714
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 1: experienced myself and get them in a way where they're

715
00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:58,880
Speaker 1: able to hopefully get my rank and be able to

716
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,440
Speaker 1: educate that next time nineteen year old kid coming along,

717
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:04,759
Speaker 1: because I think you're gonna die, no doubt that we're

718
00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:07,120
Speaker 1: all gonna die. I mean, it was Fitzy, you know,

719
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:07,759
Speaker 1: my best friend.

720
00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:13,600
Speaker 3: So you're you're given orders to go clear. So so

721
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:18,720
Speaker 3: many movies and so much is written that we get

722
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:24,279
Speaker 3: desensitized to the reality of nineteen and twenty year old

723
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:28,000
Speaker 3: kids waking up and saying, this is my job. I'm

724
00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:29,480
Speaker 3: going to do it for the guy next to me,

725
00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:33,759
Speaker 3: but I'm probably gonna die today.

726
00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:37,680
Speaker 1: So the key is that there's two parts of your brain.

727
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:42,720
Speaker 1: There's everyone is Look, you put on your best suit

728
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,359
Speaker 1: and you go to the dance, but you know full

729
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,200
Speaker 1: well what you look like, right, you know what you

730
00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,960
Speaker 1: look like, and you know the type of yah average

731
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,000
Speaker 1: doesn't date the prom queen dude. The point is you

732
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:56,880
Speaker 1: know the truth and then you have what you have

733
00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,440
Speaker 1: to tell yourself to be able to get through the

734
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:04,720
Speaker 1: prom without a date. Right, you know that this is real,

735
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,080
Speaker 1: and you know that people are coming home and boxes

736
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:09,719
Speaker 1: every single day, but you also know it's not going

737
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,880
Speaker 1: to happen to you or anyone around you. So you

738
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:17,200
Speaker 1: are constantly living in the world of your subordinates. You

739
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:22,279
Speaker 1: love them like they're your children. You know them like

740
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:25,480
Speaker 1: they're your children. You know how to motivate them. You

741
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:28,000
Speaker 1: know what pisses them off, you know what they appreciate,

742
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,319
Speaker 1: you know what they hate, you know what they're allergic to,

743
00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:33,840
Speaker 1: you know who they like at home, every aspect of

744
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:36,280
Speaker 1: my subordinates. I have to if I'm going to lead people,

745
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,520
Speaker 1: I gotta know who they are. I gotta know what

746
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 1: motivates them, where they come from. So now I want

747
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:43,759
Speaker 1: to tell them. All you have to do is the

748
00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:45,799
Speaker 1: easiest job of the world. Just do what I tell

749
00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:49,279
Speaker 1: you to do right, and if something happens to me,

750
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:53,000
Speaker 1: your job is to think about what I would do

751
00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:56,560
Speaker 1: and leave me behind and move forward. The biggest mistake

752
00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:58,920
Speaker 1: you can make in a fight is the failure to

753
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:03,080
Speaker 1: make a decision. That's the sin that's unforgivable. You screw up.

754
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:05,360
Speaker 1: I can fix it. You make the right decision, we

755
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,480
Speaker 1: all copy you and we do the right thing. But

756
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:09,880
Speaker 1: if you can't make a decision and you nut up,

757
00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:13,200
Speaker 1: and that's what happens. When bullets are flying, you want

758
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,800
Speaker 1: to stop and take your shot. You want to stop,

759
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:19,680
Speaker 1: and when you stop, that train stops. And now we

760
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:24,280
Speaker 1: get what's called that funnel of death. Right that that breach,

761
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:29,000
Speaker 1: that doorway becomes a kill sack because everyone is stopped.

762
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:33,640
Speaker 1: So the job is, if I'm screaming for Jesus and

763
00:43:33,719 --> 00:43:36,840
Speaker 1: for my mom, your job is to not render aid.

764
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:41,399
Speaker 1: You leave me there screaming, You move forward, You take

765
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:43,480
Speaker 1: out that threat, or we're all dead.

766
00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:50,160
Speaker 3: Everyone hopefully hopefully they remember that part now, just continuing

767
00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:50,680
Speaker 3: to move on.

768
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:54,239
Speaker 1: But you're right though, then after it's secure, that's when

769
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:54,879
Speaker 1: we come back.

770
00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:57,279
Speaker 2: So you're taking.

771
00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:01,480
Speaker 1: Away all of the thought process of a subbortive to say,

772
00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:04,840
Speaker 1: if I'm not worried, you're not worried. If I don't stop,

773
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:07,440
Speaker 1: you don't stop. Now that's great for them because now

774
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:10,240
Speaker 1: they have to be like, my sergeant is in charge,

775
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:12,160
Speaker 1: he's rock, he's running this thing.

776
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:13,800
Speaker 2: Now you've got to be that guy.

777
00:44:14,640 --> 00:44:16,920
Speaker 1: Right, So now you can say all you want, but

778
00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:18,799
Speaker 1: you better not go back to when you were in

779
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:21,760
Speaker 1: that house and you nutted up because you got scared.

780
00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:25,200
Speaker 3: That's a long way from a dude who watched two

781
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 3: guys carry his dad's VCR out of his house.

782
00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:32,200
Speaker 1: Well, you know, combat has a way to fix them out. Well,

783
00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:35,840
Speaker 1: but you can't. You can't lie, you can't, but you can't.

784
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:38,600
Speaker 1: There's no performance art in the world. I mean, you

785
00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:40,120
Speaker 1: know these guys that you.

786
00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:42,680
Speaker 2: Can't.

787
00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:45,799
Speaker 1: Tom Hanks might convince the d m V you know

788
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:49,560
Speaker 1: that his registration's got overdue. You can't when it when

789
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,640
Speaker 1: it's real, and you're either going to be that person

790
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:56,440
Speaker 1: or you're not going to be that person. House we

791
00:44:56,480 --> 00:45:00,520
Speaker 1: get into a building, uh you know, tend to eight

792
00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:03,400
Speaker 1: to ten bad guys, block of houses. We got a

793
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:06,920
Speaker 1: reporter with us from Time magazine and uh, every by

794
00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:10,120
Speaker 1: the way, Fallujah's you know, everyone's embedded. Everyone wants to

795
00:45:10,160 --> 00:45:13,200
Speaker 1: know what's going on back home. You've got everyone's covering

796
00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:16,440
Speaker 1: the story in real time. Just press everywhere, everywhere. So

797
00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:19,080
Speaker 1: now you're all worried about you know. So so is.

798
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:20,520
Speaker 3: It your drive to protect him too?

799
00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:24,640
Speaker 1: It's our yeah, it would be well the army. Yeah,

800
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,440
Speaker 1: the story's got to get filed. But the fact is

801
00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:29,880
Speaker 1: is that he's our responsibility. He's one of us. You know,

802
00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:34,000
Speaker 1: he's got to be safe. We walk into uh, we

803
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:36,879
Speaker 1: know it's a We got guys, We trapped them, We

804
00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:39,840
Speaker 1: locked them into a section, and that is such a gift.

805
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,400
Speaker 1: In Iraq, we're fighting ghosts. They clack off a bomb.

806
00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:46,399
Speaker 1: You never saw the enemy. You never made when you've

807
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:48,400
Speaker 1: got a chance to see the enemy, you had to

808
00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:48,960
Speaker 1: fix them.

809
00:45:49,239 --> 00:45:51,040
Speaker 2: You had to. They're not moving where.

810
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:52,880
Speaker 1: If I know you're in a house, I want to

811
00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:55,600
Speaker 1: run in there because you're not gonna hurt someone tomorrow.

812
00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:57,239
Speaker 1: You're not gonna hurt me tomorrow. I'm gonna I'm gonna

813
00:45:57,239 --> 00:45:59,360
Speaker 1: take you out right now. We got these guys locked

814
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:03,720
Speaker 1: in and now it's just this methodic door to door

815
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:08,040
Speaker 1: to house to you know, it's you know, twenty thirty

816
00:46:08,040 --> 00:46:10,080
Speaker 1: buildings and each building.

817
00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:12,799
Speaker 3: So was am I imagining right to think like a

818
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:14,160
Speaker 3: small apartment complex.

819
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:16,359
Speaker 1: No, No, it's like a city block, and it's an

820
00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:18,879
Speaker 1: upscale section. It would be like the night the rich

821
00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:19,960
Speaker 1: section of Fallujah.

822
00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:24,120
Speaker 3: Are you kidding? Oh no, So it's houses inside of.

823
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:30,680
Speaker 1: Buildings, concrete, three story structures. Each building probably had fifteen rooms.

824
00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:34,759
Speaker 3: So we're talking like three or four thousand square foot houses, some.

825
00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:35,560
Speaker 2: Of them larger than that.

826
00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:38,000
Speaker 1: But you gotta understand that that the Iraqi people are

827
00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 1: very insecure people, so they build their homes to be invaded.

828
00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:45,000
Speaker 1: They're protecting themselves from the Saddam regime.

829
00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:48,280
Speaker 3: Okay, so this is a neighborhood.

830
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:51,680
Speaker 1: Actually a neighborhood of high walled, thick structure. The stall

831
00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:59,200
Speaker 1: houses all multi upscale mansion houses with literally gun slits

832
00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:02,200
Speaker 1: in the roof uh protection areas.

833
00:47:02,719 --> 00:47:08,000
Speaker 3: I don't think I ever, It's my own prejudice, but

834
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:16,160
Speaker 3: I just thought Fallujah a rock armpit. Oh yeah, just

835
00:47:16,239 --> 00:47:18,920
Speaker 3: a bunch of slumps like you see in some all

836
00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:21,560
Speaker 3: or something. They got their share of slumps, but this

837
00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:25,000
Speaker 3: is this is just a nice neighborhood with big houses.

838
00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:28,120
Speaker 1: There's sections of Fallujah that were just like you said,

839
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:31,040
Speaker 1: and we'd bombed them. And there's rubble everywhere, and that's

840
00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:33,400
Speaker 1: rough too, because when you got the rubble, you can

841
00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:35,200
Speaker 1: hide in that rubble and you got to be careful.

842
00:47:35,239 --> 00:47:39,280
Speaker 1: But this area was untouched and it was the scary district,

843
00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:41,279
Speaker 1: like nice beautiful.

844
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:47,560
Speaker 3: Oh no, listen, are you rolling through Beverly Hills of Fallujah. Yeah,

845
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:48,840
Speaker 3: it's like houses.

846
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:52,640
Speaker 1: It was like the home and gardens cartel versions.

847
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:54,560
Speaker 2: Like you should.

848
00:47:57,920 --> 00:48:01,840
Speaker 1: You've got the ascari district, literally in Arabic means soldiers district.

849
00:48:02,239 --> 00:48:05,680
Speaker 1: So all the retired generals, if they serve Todam with

850
00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:07,360
Speaker 1: honor and distinction, they.

851
00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:09,719
Speaker 2: Got a big, old, beautiful house.

852
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:13,840
Speaker 1: But those generals also knew they might find something out

853
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:16,840
Speaker 1: and so I want to make sure no one else comes.

854
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:17,680
Speaker 2: So my wall.

855
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:20,399
Speaker 1: Each of these houses are little forts all for at

856
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:24,920
Speaker 1: walled compounds, wire on the top, broken glass, embedded in

857
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:27,799
Speaker 1: the concrete. It was it sucked. And the other thing

858
00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:31,120
Speaker 1: is that they're dense and they're thick, and so you

859
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:34,719
Speaker 1: can't hear did that was at a gunshot and the

860
00:48:34,719 --> 00:48:37,120
Speaker 1: whole city is blown up. Got marines over here, you

861
00:48:37,200 --> 00:48:41,960
Speaker 1: got army. The whole city is you know, a city

862
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:46,319
Speaker 1: inside of Tampa Bay, Florida is invaded every Missiles and

863
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:51,600
Speaker 1: rockets are going everywhere. So what we realized with a

864
00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:54,200
Speaker 1: five five six with our M fours, if you shoot

865
00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:57,480
Speaker 1: through drywall, that's going through drywall, right, They'll tell you

866
00:48:57,520 --> 00:48:57,799
Speaker 1: that an.

867
00:48:58,000 --> 00:48:59,640
Speaker 2: Ar is not a home defense weapon.

868
00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:03,200
Speaker 1: You're gonna reach out and touchstone with an ail in

869
00:49:03,280 --> 00:49:06,600
Speaker 1: concrete that bullet for the five five six, the two

870
00:49:06,600 --> 00:49:12,360
Speaker 1: two three, it's like tic tac toe's we don't ricochet everywhere.

871
00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:14,720
Speaker 3: So it so you got to shoot.

872
00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:20,359
Speaker 1: So now I am the King, Fitzie and I when

873
00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:23,400
Speaker 1: we were rolling out, whether we were on the Iranian border,

874
00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:26,080
Speaker 1: north south, no matter where we were, we were the

875
00:49:26,200 --> 00:49:28,759
Speaker 1: win in doubt. Shoot about crew, you know what I mean.

876
00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:33,479
Speaker 1: We were not afraid to overpower you with gunfire. That's

877
00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:36,120
Speaker 1: how we got through as many fights as we got through.

878
00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:40,759
Speaker 1: But in a confined space that is absolutely dangerous because

879
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,640
Speaker 1: now you're gonna hit your own, You're gonna shoot your own,

880
00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:46,960
Speaker 1: and what's the point. Frags are great in the movies,

881
00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:50,200
Speaker 1: in the video games. Throw a grenade and let the

882
00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:53,799
Speaker 1: good people, the defense contractor that made that fuse worry

883
00:49:53,840 --> 00:49:57,920
Speaker 1: about the aftermath. In a confined space with no ventilation.

884
00:49:58,719 --> 00:49:59,280
Speaker 2: It's smoke.

885
00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:02,960
Speaker 1: It's a frag It shot little pieces everywhere.

886
00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:05,040
Speaker 2: But now it just filled the room with smile. You

887
00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:06,719
Speaker 2: can't see.

888
00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:09,839
Speaker 1: But guess what they're in that house. They know where

889
00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:12,960
Speaker 1: the door is. You've never been in that house. I

890
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:17,359
Speaker 1: mean the bin laden rate is. Seal Team six are studs.

891
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:20,719
Speaker 1: They spent three months going through what they thought that

892
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:24,640
Speaker 1: house looked like. These kids from National Guard active duty

893
00:50:24,800 --> 00:50:28,200
Speaker 1: nineteen year old, twenty year old, forty year olds. Every

894
00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:32,120
Speaker 1: adventure is you know, what's the door look like?

895
00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:33,000
Speaker 2: Where?

896
00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:35,680
Speaker 1: What does a house look like? No one has any

897
00:50:35,719 --> 00:50:39,440
Speaker 1: idea of what's going on. But in Felujah, they were

898
00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:43,360
Speaker 1: knocking stairwells out, they were knocking floors out. We like

899
00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:46,440
Speaker 1: to go from roof to roof instead of going roof

900
00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:48,200
Speaker 1: all the way down, go through the front door, get

901
00:50:48,239 --> 00:50:50,480
Speaker 1: shot at. We'd like to surprise them. Maybe go on

902
00:50:50,520 --> 00:50:53,080
Speaker 1: the roof, maybe jump through a window. You would jump

903
00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:57,120
Speaker 1: onto a rooftop and there was no floor, wow, and

904
00:50:57,160 --> 00:51:01,520
Speaker 1: you would drop to the next story that out. You

905
00:51:01,560 --> 00:51:04,880
Speaker 1: would go from the roof all the way down to

906
00:51:05,080 --> 00:51:08,719
Speaker 1: the bottom floor of that home. And they had, you know,

907
00:51:08,840 --> 00:51:13,200
Speaker 1: metal spikes put up and you know, everything was a trap,

908
00:51:13,440 --> 00:51:17,480
Speaker 1: and you know the trip wires. The building contained, the

909
00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:22,759
Speaker 1: b SID building contained and improvised explosive device. A b

910
00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:26,439
Speaker 1: SID building bomb was our biggest fear because you walk

911
00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:28,319
Speaker 1: in a building bomb, it's done.

912
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:30,000
Speaker 2: You're done.

913
00:51:30,200 --> 00:51:32,440
Speaker 1: When we got in that house, as soon as we

914
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:37,239
Speaker 1: get into the area, it just opens up. And I'm

915
00:51:37,239 --> 00:51:40,000
Speaker 1: on one side of the building and my entire platoon

916
00:51:40,239 --> 00:51:44,200
Speaker 1: is on the other side. And so because of the

917
00:51:44,239 --> 00:51:46,800
Speaker 1: fact that we got complacent and we were just going

918
00:51:46,880 --> 00:51:49,600
Speaker 1: building after building, we're seeing blood, we see a little

919
00:51:49,600 --> 00:51:52,320
Speaker 1: bit of this. A tanker got one guy, we're looking

920
00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:57,799
Speaker 1: at him. We knew three, maybe four, one or two.

921
00:51:57,840 --> 00:52:00,360
Speaker 1: Maybe they're separated. There's just one per house for the

922
00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:02,880
Speaker 1: rest of the way. When we get in there and

923
00:52:02,920 --> 00:52:06,600
Speaker 1: these machine guns open up. The machine gun fire was

924
00:52:06,680 --> 00:52:10,840
Speaker 1: so overwhelming, belt fed machine guns and it's just coming

925
00:52:10,840 --> 00:52:16,720
Speaker 1: through a door that my first reaction was cease fire.

926
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:20,520
Speaker 1: I thought it was our guys shooting because they saw

927
00:52:20,560 --> 00:52:23,719
Speaker 1: something squirrely and they're conditioned and trained to shoot. So

928
00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:26,759
Speaker 1: I'm yelling ceasefire, and my team leader yells to me,

929
00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:29,000
Speaker 1: tell thee tell the bad.

930
00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:31,480
Speaker 2: Guys to stop firing. Confessor's doing it.

931
00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:37,000
Speaker 1: So we had no opportunity to do anything from the kitchen.

932
00:52:37,239 --> 00:52:38,520
Speaker 2: We're in one little living room.

933
00:52:39,200 --> 00:52:42,440
Speaker 1: Fires coming in from the kitchen, our rest of our

934
00:52:42,480 --> 00:52:45,680
Speaker 1: platoon coming through. Our machine gunners they open up on them.

935
00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:48,800
Speaker 1: So now my machine gunners, you know, you see Rambo

936
00:52:48,920 --> 00:52:52,480
Speaker 1: with the six on one, that two forty Bravos not

937
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:55,520
Speaker 1: meant to be. You're gonna be at a aircraft fire

938
00:52:55,560 --> 00:52:57,839
Speaker 1: if you shoot it with one arm. This kid, these

939
00:52:57,840 --> 00:53:02,239
Speaker 1: two Swanny and mcdaniald McDaniel, they were shoulder fire into

940
00:53:02,239 --> 00:53:05,760
Speaker 1: two forty, which is something I haven't seen on a range.

941
00:53:05,760 --> 00:53:08,160
Speaker 1: You do that, but not in a fight. And so

942
00:53:08,160 --> 00:53:11,840
Speaker 1: now they're shooting two American two forty Bravo machine guns

943
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:15,520
Speaker 1: into the kitchen. Those rounds are going right through our wall.

944
00:53:16,640 --> 00:53:19,880
Speaker 1: So our bad guys heads down in the kitchen, but

945
00:53:19,920 --> 00:53:22,520
Speaker 1: our good guys are shooting this way. Bad guys are

946
00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:26,160
Speaker 1: shooting that way. And I noticed that when anyone they're

947
00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:28,560
Speaker 1: all on the prone, but when they'd get their head up,

948
00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:32,000
Speaker 1: that kevlar would get ticked and someone would get hit

949
00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:34,600
Speaker 1: with a piece of shrapnel or a piece of whatever.

950
00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:38,799
Speaker 1: And I'm the only guy that's totally protected because I'm

951
00:53:38,840 --> 00:53:41,560
Speaker 1: against a wall that's not a firewall. Not no one's

952
00:53:41,680 --> 00:53:44,279
Speaker 1: shooting in me. And so I knew that I just

953
00:53:44,360 --> 00:53:49,000
Speaker 1: had to get into that fusilade of tracers. That part

954
00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:52,400
Speaker 1: was going to be the worst part. But if we

955
00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:54,560
Speaker 1: stayed where we were at, those walls were going to

956
00:53:54,719 --> 00:53:58,440
Speaker 1: collapse on us. And that's but there were there were

957
00:53:58,480 --> 00:54:01,960
Speaker 1: things in the house that I smell. Again, you can't

958
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:04,839
Speaker 1: really trust your vision because you're so tired and you're

959
00:54:05,120 --> 00:54:08,839
Speaker 1: hearing your hearing shot. But you could smell a man.

960
00:54:09,160 --> 00:54:12,240
Speaker 1: You could smell his breath, you can smell his body odor,

961
00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:14,200
Speaker 1: you can smell if you use the bathroom in there.

962
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:18,160
Speaker 1: But you can also smell fuel and gas. And I

963
00:54:18,280 --> 00:54:20,480
Speaker 1: was just like there was so much cordite and so

964
00:54:20,560 --> 00:54:24,120
Speaker 1: much powder cordite, there was so much gunpowder in that

965
00:54:24,239 --> 00:54:27,560
Speaker 1: room that it was just all I could see was

966
00:54:27,560 --> 00:54:31,759
Speaker 1: the tracer fire coming through and our good guy's coming through.

967
00:54:31,920 --> 00:54:34,920
Speaker 1: And I was the only one that could make a decision.

968
00:54:34,960 --> 00:54:39,440
Speaker 1: So my thought was Australian peel. I'm gonna stand in front,

969
00:54:39,840 --> 00:54:44,040
Speaker 1: I'm gonna empty an automatic machine gun as many rounds

970
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:47,800
Speaker 1: as I can and under that fire, everyone's gonna peel

971
00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:49,520
Speaker 1: off on me. And I just need to know who

972
00:54:49,520 --> 00:54:52,600
Speaker 1: the last man is and then I'm gonna run with him.

973
00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:55,480
Speaker 1: But we're gonna break contact and drop the bomb. That's

974
00:54:55,520 --> 00:54:59,399
Speaker 1: the plan. But man, now that's a plan that makes sense.

975
00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:01,839
Speaker 1: Let's go do You're the guy that's gonna do it.

976
00:55:01,960 --> 00:55:05,480
Speaker 1: So now you're like, oh, I need some time, you know.

977
00:55:05,560 --> 00:55:10,120
Speaker 1: Like my legs were concrete, I mean, could not move them,

978
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:12,840
Speaker 1: and these I'm like, give me a machine gun, and

979
00:55:12,840 --> 00:55:15,640
Speaker 1: they're and I'm thinking that's gonna take at least a minute.

980
00:55:15,440 --> 00:55:17,000
Speaker 2: You know what I mean. And all of a sudden,

981
00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:19,560
Speaker 2: machine got like slides over.

982
00:55:20,280 --> 00:55:21,279
Speaker 1: Hush. You know.

983
00:55:21,360 --> 00:55:23,120
Speaker 2: That was rather.

984
00:55:25,320 --> 00:55:27,520
Speaker 1: So I'm like, how many are in the We got

985
00:55:27,520 --> 00:55:29,719
Speaker 1: like a little pouch of machine got a drum? How

986
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:32,160
Speaker 1: many are in there? They're like, you know, there's two hundred.

987
00:55:32,200 --> 00:55:34,080
Speaker 1: I'm like, are we positive? They're like yes. I'm like

988
00:55:34,120 --> 00:55:37,799
Speaker 1: you double checked, you know, doing everything to eat waste time.

989
00:55:38,520 --> 00:55:41,680
Speaker 1: I get that thing in my hand, I could my

990
00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:44,960
Speaker 1: rifle got hit. I took a round and the rifles

991
00:55:44,960 --> 00:55:48,000
Speaker 1: and my rifle was dead. The magazine was all shot up,

992
00:55:48,920 --> 00:55:52,560
Speaker 1: and I thought, okay, all right, I'm gonna get as

993
00:55:52,600 --> 00:55:55,120
Speaker 1: low as possible and if they're gonna kill me they're

994
00:55:55,120 --> 00:55:56,879
Speaker 1: gonna shoot me in the face, but they're not. I'm

995
00:55:56,880 --> 00:55:59,920
Speaker 1: gonna absorb anything with my sappy plate, but try to

996
00:56:00,120 --> 00:56:03,600
Speaker 1: get as uncomfortably low as I can. But I'm gonna hook.

997
00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:06,960
Speaker 1: So we we trained just a little finger. I just

998
00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:10,359
Speaker 1: want to butterfly kiss that that trigger. Never gonna hook

999
00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:13,359
Speaker 1: a trigger, right, because I want to get as many

1000
00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:15,879
Speaker 1: rounds off in a stable position. So I just want

1001
00:56:15,880 --> 00:56:18,759
Speaker 1: to kiss my trigger right. And and a machine gun,

1002
00:56:18,760 --> 00:56:21,759
Speaker 1: I want to burst it. I want to, but I

1003
00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:27,360
Speaker 1: don't want to. So I'm hooking second knuckle on this trigger.

1004
00:56:27,760 --> 00:56:30,360
Speaker 1: So if you do get shot, I'm gonna fall and

1005
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:32,520
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go forward. And that bolt, I'm still gonna

1006
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:35,040
Speaker 1: fire that thing even when I'm dead. That's what I'm thinking, right,

1007
00:56:35,840 --> 00:56:39,880
Speaker 1: And so they're like are you ready, And I'm like, yes,

1008
00:56:40,360 --> 00:56:43,799
Speaker 1: you know, I'm ready. Here we go, and I look

1009
00:56:43,880 --> 00:56:46,200
Speaker 1: into the room. I get one angle and I see

1010
00:56:46,239 --> 00:56:51,040
Speaker 1: these guys and they're just so cocky, They're so happy,

1011
00:56:51,880 --> 00:56:55,759
Speaker 1: They're so cocky and over you know, and I just

1012
00:56:55,920 --> 00:57:00,160
Speaker 1: now it's like, okay, I needed that. Now I'm pissed

1013
00:57:00,200 --> 00:57:02,440
Speaker 1: to get the fear is good. I can harness that,

1014
00:57:02,600 --> 00:57:05,560
Speaker 1: but get me a little pissy in there. Piss and

1015
00:57:05,640 --> 00:57:10,120
Speaker 1: fear is the perfect cocktail for something this stupid. And

1016
00:57:10,200 --> 00:57:13,920
Speaker 1: I look over it at Fitzie, who's you know, the commas,

1017
00:57:14,040 --> 00:57:17,800
Speaker 1: the coolest, the most. He's been in the army longer,

1018
00:57:17,960 --> 00:57:20,200
Speaker 1: done more, been shot three times.

1019
00:57:20,600 --> 00:57:21,160
Speaker 2: That guy.

1020
00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:23,840
Speaker 1: Anything I asked him to do, he'd do, and he's

1021
00:57:23,880 --> 00:57:27,240
Speaker 1: never asked me to do anything. And he's all about

1022
00:57:27,560 --> 00:57:30,800
Speaker 1: your number, pulling your number, you go do it, And

1023
00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:33,640
Speaker 1: I was like, that's that's fits telling me, like that's

1024
00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:36,840
Speaker 1: my So I'm like, all right, here's the deal. I

1025
00:57:36,960 --> 00:57:40,000
Speaker 1: walk in there and there's a stairwell that goes right

1026
00:57:40,040 --> 00:57:43,400
Speaker 1: up to the second story and there's a Jersey barrier

1027
00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:44,760
Speaker 1: underneath that stairwell.

1028
00:57:44,760 --> 00:57:48,120
Speaker 2: These guys built a bunker in this house, so.

1029
00:57:48,040 --> 00:57:50,960
Speaker 1: They got the Jersey barrier concrete like you see at

1030
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:53,960
Speaker 1: the airport, and then the stairwell that goes up and

1031
00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:56,040
Speaker 1: they're just right over the top of it. And I

1032
00:57:56,080 --> 00:57:59,560
Speaker 1: was like, did not have that. That was out of

1033
00:57:59,600 --> 00:58:03,280
Speaker 1: the plan at all. These shots have to be perfect.

1034
00:58:03,640 --> 00:58:05,880
Speaker 1: And I'm going there with like a lass of of bullets,

1035
00:58:06,320 --> 00:58:09,840
Speaker 1: you know, like just spray it everywhere. I get up

1036
00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:13,000
Speaker 1: there and I just find myself moving up the stairs

1037
00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:16,200
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, I'm gonna bend that saw machine gun

1038
00:58:16,280 --> 00:58:20,520
Speaker 1: into that bunker and try to just you know, stitch them.

1039
00:58:20,840 --> 00:58:24,000
Speaker 1: And as I'm doing that, I'm seeing these boys run out.

1040
00:58:24,400 --> 00:58:27,680
Speaker 1: I hear gunfire from the kitchen. I'm trying to mix

1041
00:58:27,720 --> 00:58:29,520
Speaker 1: it a little bit, give them something to think about.

1042
00:58:30,520 --> 00:58:33,240
Speaker 1: And I just hear that that machine gun.

1043
00:58:34,560 --> 00:58:36,160
Speaker 2: Empty, and I.

1044
00:58:36,080 --> 00:58:42,360
Speaker 1: Was like, wow, that was very fast, not at all

1045
00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:45,560
Speaker 1: what I was thinking. So we you know, the saw

1046
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:49,640
Speaker 1: has a little feed for the M four magazines and

1047
00:58:49,680 --> 00:58:52,360
Speaker 1: we did that in basic like one time, and I'm

1048
00:58:52,400 --> 00:58:53,240
Speaker 1: like it didn't work.

1049
00:58:53,280 --> 00:58:55,440
Speaker 2: Then see if they fixed it, you know.

1050
00:58:56,800 --> 00:59:00,920
Speaker 1: Nothing, I couldn't it just it was so now I

1051
00:59:00,960 --> 00:59:02,960
Speaker 1: had a magazine and I was like, I could hear

1052
00:59:03,000 --> 00:59:09,919
Speaker 1: him talking. I knew no no screams, no pains. Yeah,

1053
00:59:10,040 --> 00:59:12,240
Speaker 1: it was a small window anyway, but I was hoping

1054
00:59:12,280 --> 00:59:15,920
Speaker 1: that leap. But they're they're not shooting anymore, right, That's

1055
00:59:15,920 --> 00:59:18,080
Speaker 1: what I'm hoping that they're not going to shoot. So

1056
00:59:18,160 --> 00:59:19,680
Speaker 1: now it's got I got to get out of there

1057
00:59:19,680 --> 00:59:22,240
Speaker 1: and get a new weapon system or get a bomb

1058
00:59:22,360 --> 00:59:22,720
Speaker 1: or something.

1059
00:59:22,760 --> 00:59:23,720
Speaker 2: I got to get out of there.

1060
00:59:24,440 --> 00:59:27,200
Speaker 1: And I see that there's a door right next to

1061
00:59:27,240 --> 00:59:30,360
Speaker 1: them on the other side of their bunker, and I'm thinking,

1062
00:59:30,360 --> 00:59:32,720
Speaker 1: all right, do I I can't run in front of it.

1063
00:59:33,000 --> 00:59:35,200
Speaker 1: I can't go through the kitchen, you know, I got

1064
00:59:35,240 --> 00:59:37,480
Speaker 1: to get the way I came in. So I just

1065
00:59:37,520 --> 00:59:41,920
Speaker 1: took my my magazine and chucked it. And they reacted

1066
00:59:41,960 --> 00:59:45,040
Speaker 1: to that, and I just, I mean, I mean, I ran.

1067
00:59:45,880 --> 00:59:47,840
Speaker 1: If there was a four, if there was a forty time,

1068
00:59:48,040 --> 00:59:50,240
Speaker 1: I would have I would have been up there. It

1069
00:59:50,320 --> 00:59:55,360
Speaker 1: was quick, and I just remember feeling the heat of

1070
00:59:55,400 --> 00:59:59,160
Speaker 1: those rounds, like, I mean, they were just there was

1071
00:59:59,240 --> 01:00:01,880
Speaker 1: they were all over on the way out, and then

1072
01:00:01,880 --> 01:00:05,640
Speaker 1: in the courtyard the ground getting hit, you know, just

1073
01:00:06,120 --> 01:00:09,800
Speaker 1: there was gunfire as I was running out and I

1074
01:00:09,840 --> 01:00:12,600
Speaker 1: got out of the gate, and then I was right

1075
01:00:12,640 --> 01:00:16,720
Speaker 1: back to that dad. Look that look my father gave

1076
01:00:16,760 --> 01:00:19,439
Speaker 1: me of like that was your shot. That was it?

1077
01:00:19,680 --> 01:00:21,600
Speaker 2: Like you had all of.

1078
01:00:21,480 --> 01:00:25,040
Speaker 1: This garbage for that moment that you screamed about forever,

1079
01:00:25,880 --> 01:00:28,920
Speaker 1: and you had that moment and you had the initiative,

1080
01:00:29,520 --> 01:00:31,200
Speaker 1: and you nutted up again.

1081
01:00:31,320 --> 01:00:32,479
Speaker 2: You didn't finish the job.

1082
01:00:32,760 --> 01:00:36,600
Speaker 1: And now I got kids getting shot at in the road.

1083
01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:39,200
Speaker 2: It's chaos.

1084
01:00:39,240 --> 01:00:41,280
Speaker 1: There's people on the roof and I'm like how many.

1085
01:00:41,360 --> 01:00:43,360
Speaker 1: I'm trying to do the math, like, is that the

1086
01:00:43,400 --> 01:00:46,040
Speaker 1: same guy? Did I see one guy that I see

1087
01:00:46,040 --> 01:00:49,800
Speaker 1: two guys? I think I saw two, But there's a

1088
01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:51,919
Speaker 1: guy in the kitchen who's shooting from the roof.

1089
01:00:52,000 --> 01:00:53,600
Speaker 2: Is it just one guy running around?

1090
01:00:53,960 --> 01:00:58,400
Speaker 1: What's the deal? And then we asked for a bomb.

1091
01:00:58,480 --> 01:01:00,560
Speaker 1: At that point, a bomb in Fallujah was like you

1092
01:01:00,560 --> 01:01:04,960
Speaker 1: know the Butcher with twenty, you know the DMV. Everyone

1093
01:01:05,040 --> 01:01:07,960
Speaker 1: wants a bomb. We got like forty two. Gonna wait

1094
01:01:08,000 --> 01:01:10,520
Speaker 1: for forty two by it's not gonna happen, right, And

1095
01:01:10,560 --> 01:01:13,560
Speaker 1: then when you get a bomb, the battle's over. There's

1096
01:01:13,560 --> 01:01:16,920
Speaker 1: no more artillery and mortars coming in, no helicopters. They

1097
01:01:17,000 --> 01:01:19,680
Speaker 1: clear that airspace for one bomb. You better be worth

1098
01:01:19,720 --> 01:01:22,640
Speaker 1: that one bomb, right. You know, someone could be losing

1099
01:01:22,680 --> 01:01:26,520
Speaker 1: their life and you're taking their bomb. You better need it.

1100
01:01:27,040 --> 01:01:29,280
Speaker 1: So I was like, we're not getting a bomb. It's

1101
01:01:29,280 --> 01:01:31,360
Speaker 1: gonna be an hour for a bomb. These guys are

1102
01:01:31,360 --> 01:01:35,440
Speaker 1: gonna run away and they're gonna kill someone. We'd already

1103
01:01:35,480 --> 01:01:39,000
Speaker 1: lost oursar Major. This neighborhood was a bad neighborhood. In

1104
01:01:39,040 --> 01:01:42,520
Speaker 1: the morning, we'd end up losing Lieutenant Iwan and Madison.

1105
01:01:43,160 --> 01:01:45,760
Speaker 1: So we lose two more guys in that same block

1106
01:01:45,800 --> 01:01:49,240
Speaker 1: of neighborhood. This was our chance to give them a

1107
01:01:49,280 --> 01:01:53,760
Speaker 1: knockout blow and our bradleys. The streets were too narrow

1108
01:01:53,920 --> 01:01:57,240
Speaker 1: and you can't really traverse the gates are high. So

1109
01:01:57,360 --> 01:02:01,000
Speaker 1: guess what if you can't maneuver, you just you can

1110
01:02:01,080 --> 01:02:04,520
Speaker 1: only shoot on the plane that you have. It was

1111
01:02:04,720 --> 01:02:06,920
Speaker 1: enough to tear up some of the building, some of

1112
01:02:06,920 --> 01:02:10,440
Speaker 1: the rooms, but not effective fire. There was only one

1113
01:02:10,480 --> 01:02:12,160
Speaker 1: way to do, and that was to smoke them out

1114
01:02:12,200 --> 01:02:13,960
Speaker 1: and go in there and go after them. So I

1115
01:02:13,960 --> 01:02:18,600
Speaker 1: figured this was mine, it was my mission. I didn't

1116
01:02:18,600 --> 01:02:20,560
Speaker 1: get it done. I'm gonna get it done the second time.

1117
01:02:21,600 --> 01:02:24,240
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna make sure I'm not gonna bring all

1118
01:02:24,640 --> 01:02:27,880
Speaker 1: the guys because it's not worth it to lose, because

1119
01:02:27,880 --> 01:02:30,840
Speaker 1: I don't know what's in there. I'm thinking hopefully two,

1120
01:02:31,680 --> 01:02:35,920
Speaker 1: maybe three. Never would have thought, you know, six or seven.

1121
01:02:36,160 --> 01:02:40,240
Speaker 2: That wasn't. That wasn't in my head, but that might.

1122
01:02:40,320 --> 01:02:43,280
Speaker 2: I was getting them out and so got a new rifle.

1123
01:02:45,360 --> 01:02:48,240
Speaker 1: And as soon as I walk in, the bradley had

1124
01:02:48,320 --> 01:02:53,040
Speaker 1: ruptured all the water reserves and the different third world

1125
01:02:53,160 --> 01:02:56,120
Speaker 1: nation you know, bladders that were in there. So now

1126
01:02:56,120 --> 01:03:00,520
Speaker 1: we got standing water in this water smelled like all

1127
01:03:00,720 --> 01:03:05,000
Speaker 1: my fish just I want to vomit, But it was

1128
01:03:05,520 --> 01:03:08,760
Speaker 1: I was got my mind off of death just to

1129
01:03:08,760 --> 01:03:12,800
Speaker 1: be like these people they're dealing with this too. But

1130
01:03:12,840 --> 01:03:15,400
Speaker 1: the problem with the water is that now every time

1131
01:03:15,440 --> 01:03:18,360
Speaker 1: I walk through the water, that ripple, So now they

1132
01:03:18,400 --> 01:03:24,120
Speaker 1: know I'm in and I'm looking at like broken mirrors everywhere,

1133
01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:25,960
Speaker 1: and I'm like, this is how they tracked us.

1134
01:03:26,080 --> 01:03:28,320
Speaker 2: It's like a seven to eleven they know.

1135
01:03:29,080 --> 01:03:35,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, And there's plastic explosives everywhere everywhere and propane hooked

1136
01:03:35,760 --> 01:03:39,120
Speaker 1: up to it. And I'm like, well that's great. You know,

1137
01:03:39,200 --> 01:03:41,280
Speaker 1: Like now I gotta be careful where I'm shooting because

1138
01:03:41,280 --> 01:03:43,000
Speaker 1: if I had a C four block, I'm going to

1139
01:03:43,080 --> 01:03:46,720
Speaker 1: lose a whole house. You know what's going on? Lost

1140
01:03:46,720 --> 01:03:49,240
Speaker 1: in is U My buddy, he's got a nine mill

1141
01:03:49,320 --> 01:03:51,360
Speaker 1: that's all he had because he had a M fourteen

1142
01:03:51,400 --> 01:03:55,800
Speaker 1: that didn't have night vision. And my night vision's acting squirrely,

1143
01:03:55,960 --> 01:03:59,160
Speaker 1: so it's on, it's off, it's it's just it's too much.

1144
01:03:59,280 --> 01:04:02,120
Speaker 1: Were So we just got to take the initiative and

1145
01:04:02,160 --> 01:04:04,280
Speaker 1: just go. And I I look in the mirror and

1146
01:04:04,360 --> 01:04:06,560
Speaker 1: I see him putting a few. This one guy was

1147
01:04:06,560 --> 01:04:09,520
Speaker 1: putting a fuse on an RPG five. You're adding a

1148
01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:13,000
Speaker 1: fuse to a rocket. You stick the rocket in the launcher,

1149
01:04:13,120 --> 01:04:16,320
Speaker 1: then you fire it. And I was like, that's gonna go.

1150
01:04:17,120 --> 01:04:20,280
Speaker 1: That's going to go to the one of these bombs.

1151
01:04:20,320 --> 01:04:23,600
Speaker 1: You know, he's gonna shoot up rocket inside of a

1152
01:04:23,920 --> 01:04:26,760
Speaker 1: I put guys around the house. My initial goal was

1153
01:04:26,840 --> 01:04:29,440
Speaker 1: just to act like an idiot, chase him outside and

1154
01:04:29,480 --> 01:04:32,480
Speaker 1: get shot up by the boys waiting, you know, outside.

1155
01:04:33,920 --> 01:04:35,760
Speaker 1: As soon as I turned the corner, I engaged the

1156
01:04:35,840 --> 01:04:39,160
Speaker 1: rocket guy and I just caught him. He was standing.

1157
01:04:39,520 --> 01:04:43,200
Speaker 1: He was just there's no moving for him. He's just unlucky.

1158
01:04:42,800 --> 01:04:46,400
Speaker 2: Where he was. The other guy ran into the kitchen

1159
01:04:46,600 --> 01:04:47,800
Speaker 2: and I tagged.

1160
01:04:47,480 --> 01:04:49,560
Speaker 3: These guys that were on the machine gun.

1161
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:50,440
Speaker 2: There on the Yeah.

1162
01:04:50,560 --> 01:04:54,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, But I tagged the other guy in the back

1163
01:04:54,120 --> 01:04:58,360
Speaker 1: pretty good. And I could see, you know, you can't

1164
01:04:58,400 --> 01:05:00,640
Speaker 1: you know, the blood is now in the water and

1165
01:05:00,680 --> 01:05:03,600
Speaker 1: it's you could see that it's murky, and you're like, okay,

1166
01:05:03,640 --> 01:05:06,000
Speaker 1: that's good. But I'm not seeing that he's in the water.

1167
01:05:06,600 --> 01:05:09,240
Speaker 1: You know, Hollywood, you drop, I shoot you, you fall

1168
01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:13,400
Speaker 1: in real life, you know, you're a and and I

1169
01:05:13,440 --> 01:05:17,320
Speaker 1: got I got a needle and a spoon, and these

1170
01:05:17,320 --> 01:05:19,720
Speaker 1: boys are shooting up. The one guy that we hit

1171
01:05:19,760 --> 01:05:22,320
Speaker 1: with a rocket had a tourniquet on, so I mean

1172
01:05:22,360 --> 01:05:25,720
Speaker 1: he they were hitting heroin right there. And but honestly,

1173
01:05:25,800 --> 01:05:28,000
Speaker 1: if I was fighting Americans are probably with two, I'd

1174
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:30,040
Speaker 1: probably get a good buzz on too, because that's not

1175
01:05:30,160 --> 01:05:33,120
Speaker 1: ending well. You know, you might want to go, you know,

1176
01:05:33,640 --> 01:05:35,800
Speaker 1: comfortably numb while you're fighting.

1177
01:05:36,360 --> 01:05:39,000
Speaker 2: One guy is down, the other guy's hurt.

1178
01:05:39,240 --> 01:05:41,240
Speaker 1: And now I'm on the other side of that stairwell

1179
01:05:42,240 --> 01:05:46,040
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I'm in this big dark room and

1180
01:05:46,080 --> 01:05:48,520
Speaker 1: I've just got my eyes on the on the kitchen,

1181
01:05:48,560 --> 01:05:51,160
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I haven't even cleared this room behind me,

1182
01:05:51,680 --> 01:05:54,080
Speaker 1: so I might as well do that. And so as

1183
01:05:54,080 --> 01:05:56,480
Speaker 1: I'm clearing this big it's a big master bedroom with

1184
01:05:56,520 --> 01:06:02,120
Speaker 1: a wardrobe, foot locker, big wardrobe, and all of a sudden,

1185
01:06:02,720 --> 01:06:06,520
Speaker 1: I just start hearing not only footsteps upstairs, but I

1186
01:06:06,560 --> 01:06:11,360
Speaker 1: start hearing guys charging into that door. And so now I'm,

1187
01:06:11,520 --> 01:06:15,640
Speaker 1: you know, fighting these guys in the doorway, and I

1188
01:06:15,720 --> 01:06:19,120
Speaker 1: got one, I hit a second guy, and I'm like,

1189
01:06:19,240 --> 01:06:20,200
Speaker 1: is this the same guy?

1190
01:06:20,840 --> 01:06:21,040
Speaker 2: Is this?

1191
01:06:21,280 --> 01:06:25,439
Speaker 1: You know how many times am I hitting him? How

1192
01:06:25,440 --> 01:06:28,720
Speaker 1: many people are coming through the door. But in the

1193
01:06:28,760 --> 01:06:33,720
Speaker 1: middle of that firefight, like a bullet went sideways across

1194
01:06:33,880 --> 01:06:35,720
Speaker 1: and I was thinking, I know my zero's off, but

1195
01:06:35,760 --> 01:06:38,040
Speaker 1: it can't be. I mean, I can't be shooting to

1196
01:06:38,080 --> 01:06:40,480
Speaker 1: a ninety degree angle. But it just confused me that

1197
01:06:40,520 --> 01:06:46,280
Speaker 1: I could hear like wood was like like disintegrating, and

1198
01:06:46,320 --> 01:06:49,400
Speaker 1: there were tracers hitting the wall as I was shooting,

1199
01:06:50,120 --> 01:06:53,320
Speaker 1: and I just I just got like a pucker factor one,

1200
01:06:53,640 --> 01:06:56,360
Speaker 1: just you know what that there's something someone's in this

1201
01:06:56,480 --> 01:07:03,520
Speaker 1: room and I cleared it, and that wardrobe just bursts open. Yeah,

1202
01:07:03,600 --> 01:07:06,640
Speaker 1: and this dude just he just jumps out of it.

1203
01:07:07,600 --> 01:07:10,160
Speaker 1: But like you talk about these little luck things, right,

1204
01:07:10,280 --> 01:07:15,000
Speaker 1: little little things, that wardrobe falls on its doors, doesn't

1205
01:07:15,040 --> 01:07:18,520
Speaker 1: fall flat, it falls on its doors. And that elevation

1206
01:07:18,760 --> 01:07:22,360
Speaker 1: gave me just enough. He put his ak under his

1207
01:07:22,480 --> 01:07:26,040
Speaker 1: arm and he was running this way and shooting behind him,

1208
01:07:26,080 --> 01:07:28,360
Speaker 1: so he had the trigger and he was shooting out

1209
01:07:28,400 --> 01:07:30,080
Speaker 1: of the armpit as he was running.

1210
01:07:29,840 --> 01:07:31,200
Speaker 3: Shooting backwards behind him.

1211
01:07:31,280 --> 01:07:33,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, just to get out of there, right, And he

1212
01:07:33,720 --> 01:07:37,640
Speaker 1: steps over this mushy bed, and the mushy bed he

1213
01:07:38,080 --> 01:07:41,439
Speaker 1: loses his foot. It's dark can't see. He loses his

1214
01:07:41,520 --> 01:07:44,280
Speaker 1: focus and he falls. But when he does that, those

1215
01:07:44,360 --> 01:07:47,200
Speaker 1: rounds just hit that wardrobe and it's high enough because

1216
01:07:47,200 --> 01:07:52,440
Speaker 1: it's on its doors that it's just absorbing rounds. I

1217
01:07:52,520 --> 01:07:55,080
Speaker 1: was literally standing right there. If that door, if that

1218
01:07:55,120 --> 01:07:57,560
Speaker 1: wardrobe would have gone flush, that would have been it.

1219
01:07:58,160 --> 01:08:01,160
Speaker 1: That would have been my first know that would have

1220
01:08:01,200 --> 01:08:05,720
Speaker 1: been I would have been out. But he goes up

1221
01:08:05,720 --> 01:08:08,680
Speaker 1: those stairs and I got him when he fell against

1222
01:08:08,720 --> 01:08:12,240
Speaker 1: that door after falling off the bed. I really I

1223
01:08:12,320 --> 01:08:15,080
Speaker 1: hit him good, and I hit him lower back, and

1224
01:08:15,120 --> 01:08:16,920
Speaker 1: then I got him on the hip. As he turned

1225
01:08:17,200 --> 01:08:19,439
Speaker 1: and I saw what he was wearing. I saw his

1226
01:08:20,160 --> 01:08:23,080
Speaker 1: beard and older guy, he was the leader, gray in

1227
01:08:23,120 --> 01:08:28,120
Speaker 1: his beard, but that that look on his face as

1228
01:08:28,160 --> 01:08:30,639
Speaker 1: he ran up and I could just see the blood.

1229
01:08:31,080 --> 01:08:33,640
Speaker 1: I was like, Oh this, this guy's hurt. You know

1230
01:08:34,400 --> 01:08:38,519
Speaker 1: this that guy I'm going after. I like my odds

1231
01:08:38,560 --> 01:08:41,400
Speaker 1: with a dude I've shot repeatedly, and it's scared out

1232
01:08:41,400 --> 01:08:43,800
Speaker 1: of his mind. You know, I don't want him. I

1233
01:08:43,840 --> 01:08:47,000
Speaker 1: don't know what's upstairs. I've never been up there, but

1234
01:08:47,080 --> 01:08:50,679
Speaker 1: it was the water is now only on the first floor.

1235
01:08:50,720 --> 01:08:51,519
Speaker 2: But I'm following him.

1236
01:08:51,520 --> 01:08:57,599
Speaker 1: Blood, But that slick water and that blood my foot.

1237
01:08:57,640 --> 01:08:59,439
Speaker 1: I put my foot on a stair and it just

1238
01:08:59,640 --> 01:09:03,680
Speaker 1: wiped out from like the slick and that guy was

1239
01:09:03,760 --> 01:09:07,640
Speaker 1: right at the landing, and so I wiped out, and

1240
01:09:07,760 --> 01:09:10,720
Speaker 1: right at the landing I just heard the loudest. My

1241
01:09:10,800 --> 01:09:13,599
Speaker 1: ears were shot. I had little hearing, but after that

1242
01:09:13,720 --> 01:09:16,599
Speaker 1: I was done. That AK was right here and as

1243
01:09:16,640 --> 01:09:18,920
Speaker 1: I wiped out, that round just hit the I mean.

1244
01:09:19,120 --> 01:09:21,160
Speaker 3: Once again, had you not slipped, it might have killed you.

1245
01:09:21,240 --> 01:09:23,599
Speaker 1: Hey, what I'm telling you, a seven six two, an

1246
01:09:23,600 --> 01:09:29,400
Speaker 1: AK forty seven round against concrete does mushrooms anyway. Fitz's

1247
01:09:29,439 --> 01:09:31,400
Speaker 1: body will show you the mushroom of a seven six

1248
01:09:31,479 --> 01:09:34,080
Speaker 1: two will do. But when it's at a concrete wall,

1249
01:09:34,240 --> 01:09:38,080
Speaker 1: that proximity, that is like a thunder punch. I mean

1250
01:09:38,080 --> 01:09:41,400
Speaker 1: that literally was. And that's intimidating as hell because you're

1251
01:09:41,439 --> 01:09:44,360
Speaker 1: like that was me. My round would have gone bean

1252
01:09:44,439 --> 01:09:46,960
Speaker 1: bong boom, you know, it would have tick tacted around.

1253
01:09:47,200 --> 01:09:51,160
Speaker 1: This one just punched that wall right by your head,

1254
01:09:51,280 --> 01:09:57,479
Speaker 1: right by my head. And so he's making again my

1255
01:09:57,560 --> 01:10:01,479
Speaker 1: hearing a shot and the bill is huge, and now

1256
01:10:01,800 --> 01:10:04,400
Speaker 1: I can't hear what's happened on the ground floor, but

1257
01:10:04,479 --> 01:10:09,160
Speaker 1: I'm focused on him, and that panting, that moaning, that's

1258
01:10:09,439 --> 01:10:12,479
Speaker 1: that's a guy who's hurt. I mean, he's he's really

1259
01:10:12,520 --> 01:10:15,160
Speaker 1: going through a lot of pain. And so as I turned,

1260
01:10:16,200 --> 01:10:18,400
Speaker 1: the only thing I could get through the night vision

1261
01:10:18,840 --> 01:10:21,920
Speaker 1: and through the pop was just one shot of his face.

1262
01:10:22,400 --> 01:10:25,720
Speaker 1: And that fear on his face was like all I

1263
01:10:25,800 --> 01:10:29,639
Speaker 1: needed to motivate me to close in on him. And

1264
01:10:29,760 --> 01:10:33,040
Speaker 1: I cooked a grenade off and I threw it in

1265
01:10:33,080 --> 01:10:36,960
Speaker 1: that room, and I did. The room was an l shape,

1266
01:10:37,200 --> 01:10:41,599
Speaker 1: but that grenade went long, and I just the fires

1267
01:10:41,640 --> 01:10:43,880
Speaker 1: just started roaring from that grenade. It was a bunch

1268
01:10:43,880 --> 01:10:48,120
Speaker 1: of mattresses in there, and it was quite apparent that

1269
01:10:48,160 --> 01:10:52,880
Speaker 1: the smoke was thick, black, oily smoke. But that room,

1270
01:10:53,000 --> 01:10:55,479
Speaker 1: as soon as I walked in on my shin bone.

1271
01:10:55,720 --> 01:10:57,720
Speaker 1: I ripped my shin bone on just a bunch of

1272
01:10:57,840 --> 01:11:01,280
Speaker 1: clanging propane tanks. I'm the whole room was full of propane.

1273
01:11:01,680 --> 01:11:02,120
Speaker 3: Wow.

1274
01:11:02,360 --> 01:11:05,880
Speaker 1: And so now I'm like, I'm not shooting anymore, you know.

1275
01:11:06,080 --> 01:11:08,640
Speaker 1: So I use my rifle to kind of wave the

1276
01:11:08,640 --> 01:11:11,640
Speaker 1: smoke around, but really to find him where is he?

1277
01:11:11,680 --> 01:11:14,519
Speaker 1: I'm gonna hit him with the butt of this rifle

1278
01:11:14,560 --> 01:11:18,479
Speaker 1: and just put him down. And he was.

1279
01:11:19,080 --> 01:11:20,639
Speaker 2: There was a whole lot of fight left in him.

1280
01:11:21,439 --> 01:11:24,479
Speaker 1: You know, I learned a valuable lesson that if someone

1281
01:11:24,880 --> 01:11:26,519
Speaker 1: you know they're gonna fight for their life, they're gonna

1282
01:11:26,520 --> 01:11:28,320
Speaker 1: fight for their life, They're gonna do whatever they have

1283
01:11:28,439 --> 01:11:28,720
Speaker 1: to do.

1284
01:11:29,000 --> 01:11:32,679
Speaker 3: And so now you're literally fighting this guy with your hands.

1285
01:11:32,479 --> 01:11:37,000
Speaker 1: In a way that was really surreal because while this

1286
01:11:37,040 --> 01:11:40,719
Speaker 1: is happening, there's a guy screaming. I knew enough Arabic,

1287
01:11:42,040 --> 01:11:45,960
Speaker 1: but I wasn't picking up This wasn't Arabic. It was

1288
01:11:47,000 --> 01:11:51,960
Speaker 1: it was either Urdu or it was it wasn't what

1289
01:11:52,200 --> 01:11:56,400
Speaker 1: we had been hearing. And uh, I'm so so I

1290
01:11:56,479 --> 01:11:58,840
Speaker 1: just I know he's yelling to a guy and that

1291
01:11:58,880 --> 01:12:02,320
Speaker 1: guy's responding to him, and I can hear multiple voices,

1292
01:12:03,120 --> 01:12:05,719
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, this is just gotta I gotta gotta

1293
01:12:05,760 --> 01:12:09,320
Speaker 1: shut him up. So I can just hear how many

1294
01:12:09,360 --> 01:12:12,639
Speaker 1: are left and where they are. I don't I can't,

1295
01:12:12,680 --> 01:12:14,240
Speaker 1: for life for me understand how I'm on the top

1296
01:12:14,280 --> 01:12:16,800
Speaker 1: floor of a building, but there's something above me, Like

1297
01:12:16,840 --> 01:12:19,519
Speaker 1: who's talking above me? Is that the roof is at

1298
01:12:19,520 --> 01:12:23,640
Speaker 1: another you know this he there's a giant patio outside

1299
01:12:23,640 --> 01:12:27,800
Speaker 1: of this big room that we were in, and I'm thinking,

1300
01:12:27,880 --> 01:12:28,759
Speaker 1: is he on that patio?

1301
01:12:28,840 --> 01:12:29,799
Speaker 2: Is he above the patio?

1302
01:12:30,240 --> 01:12:33,599
Speaker 1: And as you're trying to do that inventory, this guy's biting,

1303
01:12:34,200 --> 01:12:34,959
Speaker 1: he's paunching.

1304
01:12:36,080 --> 01:12:39,679
Speaker 3: Uh, you're literally fighting the guy.

1305
01:12:39,760 --> 01:12:44,120
Speaker 1: Because I'm I'm what, I'm okay. My My biggest fear is,

1306
01:12:44,280 --> 01:12:46,160
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna get killed, right, That's number one,

1307
01:12:46,200 --> 01:12:48,800
Speaker 1: And then number two is my guys are coming in

1308
01:12:49,640 --> 01:12:51,439
Speaker 1: and they're just gonna shoot. I trained him.

1309
01:12:51,479 --> 01:12:54,799
Speaker 3: I know, I know they don't want them shooting the propane.

1310
01:12:54,920 --> 01:12:57,000
Speaker 1: I don't want them shooting me and the propane. I

1311
01:12:57,000 --> 01:12:58,960
Speaker 1: don't want him, you know, blowing the house up.

1312
01:12:59,040 --> 01:13:01,519
Speaker 2: I don't know. I got to at least get hold

1313
01:13:01,560 --> 01:13:02,320
Speaker 2: of what's happening.

1314
01:13:02,320 --> 01:13:04,479
Speaker 1: I don't know what's happening, and I'm getting my act

1315
01:13:04,560 --> 01:13:08,800
Speaker 1: kick simultaneously. So the goal was that every time he

1316
01:13:08,840 --> 01:13:13,880
Speaker 1: would resist, where I hit him was clear that when

1317
01:13:13,920 --> 01:13:16,840
Speaker 1: I put my fingers in those areas that he just

1318
01:13:17,000 --> 01:13:21,400
Speaker 1: totally gave up like that hurt. You know, that pain.

1319
01:13:21,800 --> 01:13:24,680
Speaker 1: Being able to control him with pain was enough for

1320
01:13:24,720 --> 01:13:27,760
Speaker 1: me to get the upper hand, and you know, it

1321
01:13:27,920 --> 01:13:30,320
Speaker 1: just kind of went down and then I just forty

1322
01:13:30,360 --> 01:13:32,600
Speaker 1: five went off and I didn't even know he had

1323
01:13:32,600 --> 01:13:35,440
Speaker 1: a handgun on him, but that was a big Soviet

1324
01:13:35,479 --> 01:13:37,840
Speaker 1: forty five, like that was.

1325
01:13:39,240 --> 01:13:41,439
Speaker 2: Right next to my head, or at least it felt

1326
01:13:41,479 --> 01:13:41,840
Speaker 2: that way.

1327
01:13:44,439 --> 01:13:46,599
Speaker 1: I mean, I wasn't in danger of being shot by it,

1328
01:13:46,880 --> 01:13:49,599
Speaker 1: but I was in danger of him knowing where I

1329
01:13:49,720 --> 01:13:52,920
Speaker 1: was for the second shot. So now we're fighting over that,

1330
01:13:53,479 --> 01:13:56,479
Speaker 1: and I just remembered I had a gerber and my helmet.

1331
01:13:56,520 --> 01:14:01,800
Speaker 1: I used my helmet. I used a gerber and you know, NiFe. Yeah,

1332
01:14:02,360 --> 01:14:06,320
Speaker 1: and it was it. That was it, And then I

1333
01:14:06,479 --> 01:14:10,200
Speaker 1: was no helmet. My rifle is on the ground somewhere.

1334
01:14:10,240 --> 01:14:11,880
Speaker 1: I kicked it a few times, so I knew it

1335
01:14:11,920 --> 01:14:14,880
Speaker 1: was near the door, but I needed to get in

1336
01:14:14,920 --> 01:14:18,639
Speaker 1: that air, that patio and just kind of like take

1337
01:14:18,680 --> 01:14:23,240
Speaker 1: a wall, keep my profile low. I'm an infantryman, so

1338
01:14:23,280 --> 01:14:25,160
Speaker 1: I know how to smoke a cigarette at night, and

1339
01:14:25,240 --> 01:14:28,000
Speaker 1: so I just kind of cut my hand and took

1340
01:14:28,040 --> 01:14:32,000
Speaker 1: a few drags of a cigarette just to calm myself down.

1341
01:14:32,080 --> 01:14:34,360
Speaker 1: But also I didn't have my night vision. My helmet

1342
01:14:34,400 --> 01:14:37,040
Speaker 1: was gone. I needed that cherry to kind of look

1343
01:14:37,080 --> 01:14:39,519
Speaker 1: around a little bit, you know, use it as a

1344
01:14:39,560 --> 01:14:45,960
Speaker 1: little guide. And now I don't have my vest is open,

1345
01:14:46,200 --> 01:14:48,640
Speaker 1: my helmet's gone, no rifle, and I could hear the

1346
01:14:48,680 --> 01:14:50,920
Speaker 1: guys outside coming up with a plan. I can't yell

1347
01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:53,519
Speaker 1: to him because I know that there's someone else here.

1348
01:14:54,520 --> 01:14:56,920
Speaker 1: But I'm just thinking I'm dead. If I don't hang

1349
01:14:57,000 --> 01:15:01,519
Speaker 1: on this wall, I'm done. And then and I just

1350
01:15:01,640 --> 01:15:04,720
Speaker 1: hear a guy land and I heard the pop of

1351
01:15:04,800 --> 01:15:07,400
Speaker 1: his leg or his knee or whatever he broke. But

1352
01:15:07,840 --> 01:15:12,720
Speaker 1: he jump He jumped on and the patio again. Was

1353
01:15:12,720 --> 01:15:14,320
Speaker 1: he trying to jump on me if he didn't know

1354
01:15:14,320 --> 01:15:16,800
Speaker 1: where I was, If he smelled the cigarette, I don't

1355
01:15:16,840 --> 01:15:18,920
Speaker 1: know what his intention was to help his buddy out.

1356
01:15:19,760 --> 01:15:23,400
Speaker 1: There was no I wasn't making any sound. I don't

1357
01:15:23,439 --> 01:15:24,240
Speaker 1: know if he smelled me.

1358
01:15:24,360 --> 01:15:26,879
Speaker 2: He couldn't see me. But he landed.

1359
01:15:26,960 --> 01:15:30,760
Speaker 1: And the way he landed, that scream was you know

1360
01:15:30,840 --> 01:15:32,880
Speaker 1: he was in trouble. That ak that he was holding

1361
01:15:33,000 --> 01:15:39,559
Speaker 1: fell and the magazine metallic sound. I just grabbed that

1362
01:15:40,560 --> 01:15:43,600
Speaker 1: and when I when I chambered the round, it was

1363
01:15:43,640 --> 01:15:46,120
Speaker 1: on fully automatic, and it was no butt It was

1364
01:15:46,160 --> 01:15:47,760
Speaker 1: a snub, no buttstock.

1365
01:15:48,760 --> 01:15:51,559
Speaker 2: It went everywhere. I didn't. I didn't hit him there.

1366
01:15:51,640 --> 01:15:52,519
Speaker 2: I got my rifle.

1367
01:15:52,720 --> 01:15:56,679
Speaker 1: I put rounds on him, but he ended up either

1368
01:15:56,760 --> 01:15:59,519
Speaker 1: jumping down, falling down. He came, he went off that

1369
01:15:59,560 --> 01:16:03,559
Speaker 1: patio and the sawgunners opened up right after that, so,

1370
01:16:04,520 --> 01:16:07,200
Speaker 1: you know, we figured that was that was done. But

1371
01:16:07,240 --> 01:16:09,400
Speaker 1: it was a you know, and and I still there

1372
01:16:09,479 --> 01:16:13,519
Speaker 1: was another guy that one of the other boys took

1373
01:16:13,600 --> 01:16:16,760
Speaker 1: care of that was in a closet. They don't put

1374
01:16:16,840 --> 01:16:21,400
Speaker 1: him in the total, but he was there. And then

1375
01:16:21,439 --> 01:16:24,840
Speaker 1: the bomb came. The bomb came, and they were like

1376
01:16:24,880 --> 01:16:26,960
Speaker 1: the bombs in coming and we were like, oh no,

1377
01:16:28,840 --> 01:16:32,200
Speaker 1: I gotta find my helmet, you know, so we grabbed everything.

1378
01:16:32,640 --> 01:16:36,639
Speaker 1: That bomb was a dud. Next bomb wasn't a dud,

1379
01:16:37,920 --> 01:16:40,679
Speaker 1: but it blew up that the building. And the bomb

1380
01:16:40,960 --> 01:16:45,160
Speaker 1: that was a dud. That was a pretty big boom.

1381
01:16:45,800 --> 01:16:48,439
Speaker 1: But I didn't No one said medal of honor, no

1382
01:16:48,479 --> 01:16:51,000
Speaker 1: one said this is awesome. They just said, you know,

1383
01:16:51,120 --> 01:16:53,519
Speaker 1: it was a day, good work, let's go, let's go

1384
01:16:53,520 --> 01:16:59,320
Speaker 1: get him.

1385
01:16:59,360 --> 01:17:08,240
Speaker 3: So wow, And I've read it, but nothing's like listen

1386
01:17:08,320 --> 01:17:09,120
Speaker 3: to you say it.

1387
01:17:09,120 --> 01:17:10,519
Speaker 2: It was crazy. It was a crazy day.

1388
01:17:10,560 --> 01:17:14,720
Speaker 1: But honestly, it was a fight that taught me so

1389
01:17:14,840 --> 01:17:18,400
Speaker 1: much about there's luck. Luck isn't supposed to be involved.

1390
01:17:18,439 --> 01:17:21,280
Speaker 1: We're supposed to train, we're supposed to be ready, but

1391
01:17:21,360 --> 01:17:22,080
Speaker 1: it's dumb luck.

1392
01:17:22,720 --> 01:17:25,839
Speaker 3: So but David, you had your fingers and a guy's

1393
01:17:25,920 --> 01:17:30,800
Speaker 3: wound who you created, fighting for your life, hitting each

1394
01:17:30,880 --> 01:17:35,040
Speaker 3: other with helmets and stuff, and you end up killing

1395
01:17:35,120 --> 01:17:41,960
Speaker 3: him with a knife. What does that feel like?

1396
01:17:45,160 --> 01:17:47,120
Speaker 1: What was most disturbing to me is that it didn't

1397
01:17:47,160 --> 01:17:51,559
Speaker 1: feel like anything. It didn't feel just it didn't feel

1398
01:17:51,840 --> 01:17:55,720
Speaker 1: I felt I was trying to show mercy. I was

1399
01:17:55,720 --> 01:18:00,840
Speaker 1: trying to rationalize him, which ioually. He didn't speak the

1400
01:18:00,920 --> 01:18:05,080
Speaker 1: language I was trying to speak, which I was in Arabic.

1401
01:18:05,160 --> 01:18:08,880
Speaker 1: I was saying it constantly. He spoke English to me,

1402
01:18:09,080 --> 01:18:10,400
Speaker 1: I spoke broken Arabic.

1403
01:18:10,479 --> 01:18:12,679
Speaker 3: I mean you spoke to one another.

1404
01:18:13,360 --> 01:18:15,240
Speaker 1: There was a time, there was a time that they

1405
01:18:15,240 --> 01:18:18,040
Speaker 1: were screaming at me when I was in that little room.

1406
01:18:18,760 --> 01:18:22,240
Speaker 1: They called me a jew. They said they were gonna

1407
01:18:22,520 --> 01:18:27,040
Speaker 1: cut my head off and my dog tags something sending

1408
01:18:27,120 --> 01:18:30,160
Speaker 1: my dog tags home or and I was all I

1409
01:18:30,200 --> 01:18:33,639
Speaker 1: knew was the basic Arabic, which was, you know, I'm

1410
01:18:33,640 --> 01:18:39,120
Speaker 1: the first infantry, stop shoot, you know, like surrender, first infantry?

1411
01:18:39,920 --> 01:18:40,960
Speaker 2: Why had to move shot?

1412
01:18:41,000 --> 01:18:43,720
Speaker 1: You know, all the stuff that they were trained, But

1413
01:18:43,840 --> 01:18:47,120
Speaker 1: they weren't speaking Arabic. But they were speaking a British

1414
01:18:47,479 --> 01:18:50,000
Speaker 1: They had a British accent in their English, which was

1415
01:18:50,000 --> 01:18:54,080
Speaker 1: even weirder. It was like being assaulted by the you know,

1416
01:18:54,360 --> 01:18:59,080
Speaker 1: the BBC so for you know, like the Downtown Abbey

1417
01:18:59,320 --> 01:19:01,280
Speaker 1: cast was joined l Kainda.

1418
01:19:01,320 --> 01:19:01,880
Speaker 2: It was weird.

1419
01:19:02,160 --> 01:19:05,840
Speaker 1: And then but upstairs I was just telling him to

1420
01:19:05,880 --> 01:19:11,280
Speaker 1: basically stop. And you know what I could see from

1421
01:19:11,360 --> 01:19:14,880
Speaker 1: that guy was that he was just like, you know,

1422
01:19:15,080 --> 01:19:15,920
Speaker 1: you're not gonna stop.

1423
01:19:16,000 --> 01:19:16,880
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna stop.

1424
01:19:17,880 --> 01:19:18,080
Speaker 1: You know.

1425
01:19:18,320 --> 01:19:21,200
Speaker 2: It was weird. It was weird.

1426
01:19:21,600 --> 01:19:23,479
Speaker 1: I didn't but I really thought that there'd be an

1427
01:19:23,479 --> 01:19:25,920
Speaker 1: inventory where I'd be like, do you know what you

1428
01:19:26,000 --> 01:19:29,080
Speaker 1: just did? And does that mean anything? And it was like,

1429
01:19:30,080 --> 01:19:32,240
Speaker 1: if you think about it, you're not in the fight.

1430
01:19:32,880 --> 01:19:34,080
Speaker 2: And then you're you're.

1431
01:19:34,360 --> 01:19:37,200
Speaker 1: My executive officer got killed an hour two hours later,

1432
01:19:37,640 --> 01:19:41,240
Speaker 1: and then we lost Madison, jac Madison, who's from Buffalo,

1433
01:19:41,800 --> 01:19:46,800
Speaker 1: good awesome kid, and he you know, basically gave his

1434
01:19:46,840 --> 01:19:50,439
Speaker 1: life for his you know, scouts, and and all of

1435
01:19:50,439 --> 01:19:53,559
Speaker 1: this is happening and and and then more guys are

1436
01:19:53,560 --> 01:19:55,960
Speaker 1: getting hit more and it's like, all right, look, you're

1437
01:19:55,960 --> 01:19:59,200
Speaker 1: gonna have time to sit by a fire and talk

1438
01:19:59,240 --> 01:20:02,639
Speaker 1: to a shrink. Work it out, you know, but not now.

1439
01:20:02,680 --> 01:20:04,639
Speaker 1: But it's not the time. Now, now is the time

1440
01:20:04,680 --> 01:20:06,000
Speaker 1: that are you sound?

1441
01:20:06,720 --> 01:20:07,600
Speaker 2: Are you good?

1442
01:20:08,040 --> 01:20:10,200
Speaker 1: Let's let's, you know, keep going at it.

1443
01:20:13,439 --> 01:20:33,160
Speaker 3: We'll be right back. So the world is this story

1444
01:20:33,280 --> 01:20:36,639
Speaker 3: gets told because you happen to have this media guy

1445
01:20:36,680 --> 01:20:46,360
Speaker 3: with you. And there's one living Medal of Honor recipient

1446
01:20:47,400 --> 01:20:52,160
Speaker 3: from that war and it's you. And now we go

1447
01:20:52,240 --> 01:20:55,000
Speaker 3: to the supporting greatness because what you just told me

1448
01:20:55,439 --> 01:21:05,360
Speaker 3: is phenomenal. It's it's disturbing that human beings are ever

1449
01:21:05,400 --> 01:21:11,080
Speaker 3: put in a position to have to do that. Yeah, it's.

1450
01:21:12,479 --> 01:21:14,000
Speaker 1: So so now I think about this though it because

1451
01:21:14,000 --> 01:21:15,880
Speaker 1: this is the other piece of it is the other

1452
01:21:15,920 --> 01:21:21,160
Speaker 1: piece of it is nobody knows this right, And I

1453
01:21:21,200 --> 01:21:25,320
Speaker 1: don't necessarily want to tell anyone this because now I'm

1454
01:21:25,360 --> 01:21:29,080
Speaker 1: in a position where I'm telling my guys, by the way,

1455
01:21:29,120 --> 01:21:32,160
Speaker 1: this is, there's some horrible stuff. They don't need. They

1456
01:21:32,200 --> 01:21:35,200
Speaker 1: need to focus on what's in front of them. What's

1457
01:21:35,240 --> 01:21:39,959
Speaker 1: in front of them is actually getting more progressively chaotic

1458
01:21:40,040 --> 01:21:42,400
Speaker 1: for them, So they don't need to be burdened with

1459
01:21:43,120 --> 01:21:46,880
Speaker 1: my two am thoughts. They're tired, they're hungry. These guys

1460
01:21:46,960 --> 01:21:50,519
Speaker 1: are throwing themselves in front of wounded guys protecting their

1461
01:21:50,560 --> 01:21:55,400
Speaker 1: own dudes, you know, snipers and bombs, and everyone is

1462
01:21:55,520 --> 01:22:00,000
Speaker 1: doing exactly what I didn't have the capable of doing.

1463
01:22:00,360 --> 01:22:02,280
Speaker 1: By the way, I'm their age when I'm in my

1464
01:22:02,400 --> 01:22:07,559
Speaker 1: house being afraid of a guy who and these guys

1465
01:22:07,560 --> 01:22:11,800
Speaker 1: are saving the world. So they've already exceeded me as

1466
01:22:11,800 --> 01:22:14,599
Speaker 1: far as where they're at. They've proven all they need

1467
01:22:14,640 --> 01:22:18,360
Speaker 1: to prove. I need to focus on them. And then

1468
01:22:18,400 --> 01:22:23,080
Speaker 1: this reporter who filmed it, and now it's it's a

1469
01:22:23,120 --> 01:22:26,080
Speaker 1: story and it's in a Time magazine front page story

1470
01:22:26,320 --> 01:22:29,559
Speaker 1: and everyone's reading this and so like this world is

1471
01:22:29,600 --> 01:22:31,320
Speaker 1: happening outside of your bubble.

1472
01:22:32,320 --> 01:22:37,280
Speaker 2: No one said anything other than who wants it?

1473
01:22:37,360 --> 01:22:38,960
Speaker 1: This is the worst. I mean, no one wants to

1474
01:22:39,000 --> 01:22:42,840
Speaker 1: be that. That's not something. Maybe some people love it.

1475
01:22:43,360 --> 01:22:46,080
Speaker 1: This has been hell. Really it's not fun at all.

1476
01:22:46,840 --> 01:22:50,519
Speaker 1: But everyone they're they're talking about good job. But it's

1477
01:22:50,520 --> 01:22:54,439
Speaker 1: an at a boy, you caught a ball, you know whatever.

1478
01:22:55,080 --> 01:22:59,760
Speaker 1: Now this video in this world live amongst itself. And

1479
01:22:59,800 --> 01:23:03,400
Speaker 1: then you find out that you're nominated for something but

1480
01:23:03,479 --> 01:23:05,720
Speaker 1: you don't get it. And in the Army, if you're

1481
01:23:05,760 --> 01:23:07,640
Speaker 1: nominated for Medal of honor. You don't get like a

1482
01:23:08,320 --> 01:23:10,519
Speaker 1: you know, you don't end up with a trip to

1483
01:23:10,600 --> 01:23:11,679
Speaker 1: Jamaica if you don't.

1484
01:23:11,520 --> 01:23:13,160
Speaker 2: Get the consolation.

1485
01:23:14,080 --> 01:23:17,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, you don't get like you know, that's he didn't

1486
01:23:18,360 --> 01:23:21,000
Speaker 3: he gets Johnny Fers there was a wonderful air fryer.

1487
01:23:21,720 --> 01:23:25,559
Speaker 1: You know, like, there's no there's no secondary. So they

1488
01:23:25,680 --> 01:23:28,519
Speaker 1: say you're nominated, and now the Army wants to make

1489
01:23:28,560 --> 01:23:32,280
Speaker 1: a big deal. Commanders love you know, that's one of theirs,

1490
01:23:32,320 --> 01:23:36,680
Speaker 1: that you're their kid, and it just doesn't happen. So

1491
01:23:36,880 --> 01:23:41,240
Speaker 1: now there's this thought process of, well, maybe that's a

1492
01:23:41,280 --> 01:23:44,280
Speaker 1: BS story, Maybe you made that crap up.

1493
01:23:45,000 --> 01:23:47,600
Speaker 2: Maybe it didn't happen the way you said.

1494
01:23:47,320 --> 01:23:49,880
Speaker 3: It happened, because you know, now you're dealing with that.

1495
01:23:50,680 --> 01:23:54,800
Speaker 1: So now it's like, wait a second, you know, now

1496
01:23:54,840 --> 01:23:58,679
Speaker 1: I got to prove what. So there's a tape out there.

1497
01:23:59,200 --> 01:24:01,640
Speaker 1: Everything was just a written narrative, but Michael ware had

1498
01:24:01,680 --> 01:24:05,200
Speaker 1: a camera, so Michael wears camera, which I don't even

1499
01:24:05,280 --> 01:24:09,560
Speaker 1: know existed until years after. But there's a bit of

1500
01:24:09,800 --> 01:24:12,280
Speaker 1: scar tissue that builds where you're just like, you know,

1501
01:24:12,320 --> 01:24:16,479
Speaker 1: what's screws? Okay, fine, I didn't get the award. I'm

1502
01:24:16,479 --> 01:24:19,760
Speaker 1: fine with it. I'm sure you know at some point

1503
01:24:19,800 --> 01:24:23,800
Speaker 1: it would have been awesome. I'm totally changing by I've

1504
01:24:23,800 --> 01:24:27,400
Speaker 1: got kids, I've got a job, I'm doing my thing.

1505
01:24:27,840 --> 01:24:31,120
Speaker 1: I'm at the point where no one knows about my

1506
01:24:31,280 --> 01:24:35,799
Speaker 1: army life. No one's Veterans Day comes along and you're happy,

1507
01:24:36,200 --> 01:24:39,160
Speaker 1: loving it. No one's it used to be Veterans Day.

1508
01:24:39,240 --> 01:24:41,240
Speaker 1: Let's go to the guy nominated for the Medal of Honor.

1509
01:24:41,720 --> 01:24:43,679
Speaker 1: Let's go to the guy with the silver star. Let's

1510
01:24:43,680 --> 01:24:45,240
Speaker 1: go to the guy with the bron Let's go to

1511
01:24:45,240 --> 01:24:48,320
Speaker 1: the guy we know about in Time magazine. Those days

1512
01:24:48,320 --> 01:24:53,200
Speaker 1: are done fifteen years going on. So now it's like

1513
01:24:53,400 --> 01:24:57,160
Speaker 1: happy Veterans Day. I'm like, well, yeah, but it's not

1514
01:24:57,240 --> 01:24:59,439
Speaker 1: directed to me. It's directed at the other guy that

1515
01:24:59,760 --> 01:25:02,400
Speaker 1: where camouflage and low crawls to the coffee sheet.

1516
01:25:02,680 --> 01:25:03,439
Speaker 2: You're that guy.

1517
01:25:03,920 --> 01:25:06,080
Speaker 1: He wants everyone to know he's a Vet. He's got

1518
01:25:06,080 --> 01:25:08,400
Speaker 1: his you know, Airborne wings on his car, and he's

1519
01:25:08,400 --> 01:25:11,760
Speaker 1: not appy. I'm not I'm staying low. If you know

1520
01:25:11,800 --> 01:25:14,439
Speaker 1: about it, you know about the book, that's it. That's it.

1521
01:25:14,840 --> 01:25:17,400
Speaker 1: And at that point the book was fifteen years old too,

1522
01:25:17,439 --> 01:25:23,360
Speaker 1: so everything's cool. Then this phone call comes and it's like,

1523
01:25:23,680 --> 01:25:27,000
Speaker 1: this is all happening, and I'm thinking, well, maybe it's

1524
01:25:27,040 --> 01:25:29,920
Speaker 1: not really happening. Maybe there's a way to do this

1525
01:25:30,040 --> 01:25:32,280
Speaker 1: on the download. Maybe you can say no, maybe you

1526
01:25:32,280 --> 01:25:34,639
Speaker 1: can say I don't need it, I'm good, thanks, give

1527
01:25:34,680 --> 01:25:37,479
Speaker 1: it to someone else. And when that news broke and

1528
01:25:37,520 --> 01:25:39,240
Speaker 1: I had like a guy at work that was like,

1529
01:25:39,439 --> 01:25:43,320
Speaker 1: you're not gonna believe this. There's a guy with your

1530
01:25:43,439 --> 01:25:48,840
Speaker 1: name get the Metal of gn But he was like,

1531
01:25:48,960 --> 01:25:51,840
Speaker 1: you can't be you. You're the you're the guy that

1532
01:25:52,200 --> 01:25:56,719
Speaker 1: is on my fantasy football league. You're not that guy.

1533
01:25:56,880 --> 01:25:59,840
Speaker 1: You're not ever talking about. You don't have any tattoos,

1534
01:26:00,800 --> 01:26:03,360
Speaker 1: you can't be that guy. You don't dip anymore, you know,

1535
01:26:03,600 --> 01:26:05,960
Speaker 1: you know, you don't spin in a cup, and you're

1536
01:26:06,040 --> 01:26:08,960
Speaker 1: not that guy. And so I was like, that's over.

1537
01:26:09,320 --> 01:26:12,960
Speaker 1: That's let's do other things, you know, And it became

1538
01:26:13,000 --> 01:26:15,640
Speaker 1: a parent that not only is it not over, but

1539
01:26:15,760 --> 01:26:19,680
Speaker 1: now being the only living guy now it's like, was

1540
01:26:19,720 --> 01:26:22,960
Speaker 1: a wrack the right war, let's discuss here to join it.

1541
01:26:23,280 --> 01:26:26,760
Speaker 3: But all the Iraq guys I've talked to, they didn't

1542
01:26:26,760 --> 01:26:28,320
Speaker 3: even care if it was the right war or not.

1543
01:26:29,000 --> 01:26:34,280
Speaker 3: It was they were there. They were there because they

1544
01:26:34,280 --> 01:26:37,360
Speaker 3: were asked to go or they were ordered to go there,

1545
01:26:37,560 --> 01:26:40,200
Speaker 3: and they were fighting alongside the men that they loved.

1546
01:26:40,840 --> 01:26:46,080
Speaker 3: And the politics of it when you're I imagine, when

1547
01:26:46,160 --> 01:26:49,880
Speaker 3: you're in a stinky, water filled house full of pro

1548
01:26:50,000 --> 01:26:54,080
Speaker 3: paane tanks and blood's going everywhere, and you're shoving your

1549
01:26:54,160 --> 01:26:57,040
Speaker 3: fingers in wounds of a man who's trying to kill

1550
01:26:57,120 --> 01:27:00,719
Speaker 3: you and you're having to literally fight him hand to hand,

1551
01:27:00,800 --> 01:27:03,320
Speaker 3: you're not thinking or do you care at all about

1552
01:27:03,320 --> 01:27:04,040
Speaker 3: the politics.

1553
01:27:04,960 --> 01:27:08,000
Speaker 1: I didn't care about the politics to begin with, That's

1554
01:27:08,040 --> 01:27:10,559
Speaker 1: what I mean. But it's like this, you know, Afghan

1555
01:27:11,520 --> 01:27:14,479
Speaker 1: I'm pro army, I'm pro America, and I want to

1556
01:27:14,560 --> 01:27:17,120
Speaker 1: win our wars. If you don't want to, if you

1557
01:27:17,120 --> 01:27:18,680
Speaker 1: don't want us to fight your war, don't vote to

1558
01:27:18,760 --> 01:27:21,400
Speaker 1: send us to fight. I mean, it's that simple. Don't

1559
01:27:21,479 --> 01:27:24,280
Speaker 1: send us to wards you don't expect us to win. Yeah,

1560
01:27:24,320 --> 01:27:25,200
Speaker 1: and you've got to win a war.

1561
01:27:25,280 --> 01:27:26,080
Speaker 2: It's going to get ugly.

1562
01:27:26,200 --> 01:27:28,160
Speaker 1: So make sure that your va is ready, make sure

1563
01:27:28,200 --> 01:27:30,719
Speaker 1: your home front's ready, make sure you have enough bullets,

1564
01:27:31,120 --> 01:27:33,439
Speaker 1: and make sure that it's not a political soccer ball.

1565
01:27:33,680 --> 01:27:35,120
Speaker 1: But I talk to people all the time. They get

1566
01:27:35,120 --> 01:27:37,000
Speaker 1: all pussy with me. But I say, you know, if

1567
01:27:37,120 --> 01:27:40,160
Speaker 1: draft Kings had a probability right now of who's more

1568
01:27:40,360 --> 01:27:44,080
Speaker 1: likely to host the Summer Olympic Games, Baghdad or Kabul.

1569
01:27:44,560 --> 01:27:45,320
Speaker 2: It's Baghdad.

1570
01:27:46,320 --> 01:27:48,400
Speaker 1: So I mean, you can say all you want about

1571
01:27:48,479 --> 01:27:51,360
Speaker 1: you know, Iraq was the bad war, and those veterans

1572
01:27:51,960 --> 01:27:55,320
Speaker 1: got news for you. Iraq's on lockdown. Iraq doesn't have

1573
01:27:55,640 --> 01:27:59,519
Speaker 1: Iranian puppets anymore. Iraq isn't you know, they're dinar is

1574
01:27:59,560 --> 01:28:02,720
Speaker 1: strong and their oil is being sold and they don't

1575
01:28:02,800 --> 01:28:06,960
Speaker 1: have suicide bombs going off. The Taliban still lopping heads

1576
01:28:07,000 --> 01:28:10,000
Speaker 1: off and you know, treating women like garbage. So I mean,

1577
01:28:10,240 --> 01:28:14,240
Speaker 1: let's be honest. The good war got screwed up by

1578
01:28:14,280 --> 01:28:17,880
Speaker 1: politicians that screw up wars. Our military. You let us

1579
01:28:17,920 --> 01:28:20,000
Speaker 1: hooking jab and break that chain and let us go

1580
01:28:20,120 --> 01:28:23,080
Speaker 1: at them. We're gonna keep America safe and we're gonna

1581
01:28:23,360 --> 01:28:26,040
Speaker 1: stack bad guys up. But you get your politics in there,

1582
01:28:26,080 --> 01:28:28,879
Speaker 1: and it's what everything else is. It's the story of Vietnam.

1583
01:28:28,960 --> 01:28:32,439
Speaker 1: We haven't learned any talk to Vietnam vet What battle

1584
01:28:32,600 --> 01:28:37,120
Speaker 1: was lost in Vietnam? Zero, not a single.

1585
01:28:36,960 --> 01:28:39,679
Speaker 2: Firefight when you ever actually were able to go fight,

1586
01:28:40,320 --> 01:28:40,960
Speaker 2: a fire in a.

1587
01:28:41,600 --> 01:28:45,000
Speaker 1: Serious incident report, In an engagement where Americans were firing

1588
01:28:45,160 --> 01:28:48,760
Speaker 1: against North Korean or North or viet Cong, not a

1589
01:28:48,960 --> 01:28:53,120
Speaker 1: single battle was lost. IA drag outnumbered by four divisions

1590
01:28:53,600 --> 01:28:59,519
Speaker 1: to our two battalions won that fight, outnumbered out gunn SF,

1591
01:29:00,840 --> 01:29:04,760
Speaker 1: special warfare, you name it. We won every battle in

1592
01:29:04,840 --> 01:29:07,439
Speaker 1: the Vietna. You go to my kid is in history

1593
01:29:07,479 --> 01:29:10,360
Speaker 1: class and he's learned about the test Tet defensive and

1594
01:29:10,479 --> 01:29:12,280
Speaker 1: you know, my kid, He'll be like, well, we lost

1595
01:29:12,320 --> 01:29:17,080
Speaker 1: the Tet offensive. I'm like, who's your teacher, who's your teacher?

1596
01:29:17,160 --> 01:29:18,960
Speaker 1: What are you talking about? We did not lose the

1597
01:29:19,040 --> 01:29:22,960
Speaker 1: Tet offensive. They did a surprise attack. Did we lose

1598
01:29:23,080 --> 01:29:25,400
Speaker 1: the Battle of the Bulge? Is that the argument that we.

1599
01:29:25,520 --> 01:29:26,200
Speaker 2: Lost the battle?

1600
01:29:26,479 --> 01:29:29,439
Speaker 1: What are you talking about? I mean, these are not accurate.

1601
01:29:30,840 --> 01:29:33,880
Speaker 1: We're totally insane. So yeah, the narrative is going to

1602
01:29:33,920 --> 01:29:35,880
Speaker 1: get twisted. History and politics are going to get in

1603
01:29:35,920 --> 01:29:38,519
Speaker 1: the way. But those are Iraq war veterans. Every time

1604
01:29:38,600 --> 01:29:39,960
Speaker 1: you see a guy with a hat on, you have

1605
01:29:40,080 --> 01:29:42,320
Speaker 1: no idea what they've been through, you have no idea

1606
01:29:42,680 --> 01:29:44,840
Speaker 1: what they've done, and you know what you want those

1607
01:29:44,960 --> 01:29:48,800
Speaker 1: veterans in your community you want them coaching your kids

1608
01:29:49,080 --> 01:29:49,880
Speaker 1: sports teams.

1609
01:29:50,200 --> 01:29:52,360
Speaker 2: You want them teaching, you want them as your next

1610
01:29:52,400 --> 01:29:52,960
Speaker 2: door neighbor.

1611
01:29:53,560 --> 01:29:57,200
Speaker 1: They're not broken, they're not discarded, they're not you know,

1612
01:29:57,640 --> 01:30:01,400
Speaker 1: putting shotguns in their mouth every day. They're dominating the

1613
01:30:01,479 --> 01:30:04,960
Speaker 1: world because unfortunately, we don't even have beta males anymore.

1614
01:30:04,960 --> 01:30:09,280
Speaker 1: We've gone Charlie to Delta. You know, we're far beyond

1615
01:30:09,400 --> 01:30:15,400
Speaker 1: beta males. We need men and women that can handle adversity,

1616
01:30:15,560 --> 01:30:19,320
Speaker 1: handle stress. And those men and women that are coming

1617
01:30:19,400 --> 01:30:21,840
Speaker 1: home from our military are those men and women who

1618
01:30:21,880 --> 01:30:25,240
Speaker 1: are going to be leaders in our society. And it

1619
01:30:25,320 --> 01:30:28,840
Speaker 1: annoys me when we victimize veterans like, oh, I'm so

1620
01:30:28,960 --> 01:30:32,760
Speaker 1: sorry you had to endure that, so am I, but

1621
01:30:32,920 --> 01:30:37,640
Speaker 1: it happened. How many people cor accidents, disease, they've been

1622
01:30:37,720 --> 01:30:40,360
Speaker 1: abused when their kids they had no choice this this happened.

1623
01:30:40,840 --> 01:30:43,560
Speaker 1: Are we victimized by that for life? Or do we

1624
01:30:43,760 --> 01:30:46,200
Speaker 1: use that and say, look, this is what happened, this

1625
01:30:46,320 --> 01:30:50,000
Speaker 1: is what I'm capable of. Now I'm gonna flank this

1626
01:30:50,280 --> 01:30:53,840
Speaker 1: issue and be better for it, stronger for it, ready

1627
01:30:53,920 --> 01:30:57,320
Speaker 1: for it never happened again, and proactive so it doesn't

1628
01:30:57,360 --> 01:31:00,360
Speaker 1: happen to other people. That's the lesson of that trauma.

1629
01:31:00,439 --> 01:31:02,640
Speaker 1: You're supposed to empower, be empowered by it.

1630
01:31:03,160 --> 01:31:03,880
Speaker 2: I hope.

1631
01:31:06,960 --> 01:31:23,240
Speaker 3: We'll be right back. So now we transition to the

1632
01:31:23,320 --> 01:31:28,800
Speaker 3: supporting greatness part of this, Yeah, which is I mean

1633
01:31:29,320 --> 01:31:32,720
Speaker 3: almost nobody listening to this. I guess there's veterans listen

1634
01:31:32,760 --> 01:31:34,960
Speaker 3: to this that can probably identify with the story, but

1635
01:31:35,000 --> 01:31:37,320
Speaker 3: the vast majority of people can identify with it. And

1636
01:31:37,320 --> 01:31:39,240
Speaker 3: the reason I wanted to tell you to tell it

1637
01:31:39,360 --> 01:31:44,679
Speaker 3: is because you are the only living Medal of Honor

1638
01:31:45,360 --> 01:31:49,479
Speaker 3: recipient and it's I mean, I don't know the difference

1639
01:31:49,520 --> 01:31:51,760
Speaker 3: in deserving or not deserving, but I would say that's

1640
01:31:51,840 --> 01:31:56,200
Speaker 3: very deserving. It's certainly inspirational. But what I want to

1641
01:31:56,280 --> 01:32:01,639
Speaker 3: hear is what's that you have you ever seen one? Yeah,

1642
01:32:01,840 --> 01:32:08,840
Speaker 3: that's pretty phenomenal that people, how many folks, how many

1643
01:32:08,920 --> 01:32:13,920
Speaker 3: folks would never put this in front of mine because

1644
01:32:14,240 --> 01:32:18,600
Speaker 3: I didn't earn that, but that is unbelievable.

1645
01:32:19,160 --> 01:32:19,639
Speaker 2: It's funny.

1646
01:32:19,640 --> 01:32:22,200
Speaker 1: You wear that some places and they're like, that's the

1647
01:32:22,280 --> 01:32:24,360
Speaker 1: Medal of Honor and then you go to l A

1648
01:32:24,479 --> 01:32:28,080
Speaker 1: and they're like, what's that of? Like I bowled a

1649
01:32:28,160 --> 01:32:36,240
Speaker 1: three hundred, I sold so more magazines than anyone in

1650
01:32:36,320 --> 01:32:37,040
Speaker 1: my youth group.

1651
01:32:37,280 --> 01:32:40,800
Speaker 3: And I got that says it says I wish people

1652
01:32:40,800 --> 01:32:44,519
Speaker 3: could see. It says Valor under the Eagle. And there's

1653
01:32:45,160 --> 01:32:52,080
Speaker 3: an inscription around the medallion. It says United States of America.

1654
01:32:52,280 --> 01:32:55,799
Speaker 3: And I assume that is that Lady Liberty.

1655
01:32:56,360 --> 01:32:59,639
Speaker 1: No, No, that's that's our little Angel of a Fight.

1656
01:33:00,080 --> 01:33:03,599
Speaker 1: That's a Lincoln version that he designed in eighteen sixty

1657
01:33:03,640 --> 01:33:06,280
Speaker 1: three for the Civil War. That's the first time that

1658
01:33:06,840 --> 01:33:08,920
Speaker 1: that's the Army's medal of honor. The Navy's is different,

1659
01:33:09,400 --> 01:33:13,240
Speaker 1: the Air Force is different. But on the back of

1660
01:33:13,320 --> 01:33:15,800
Speaker 1: it is the legitimate one that's got all the writing

1661
01:33:15,880 --> 01:33:19,120
Speaker 1: on it the recipients have. So that's your name, the

1662
01:33:19,240 --> 01:33:22,080
Speaker 1: date it happened, the area it happened, and the unit

1663
01:33:22,160 --> 01:33:22,600
Speaker 1: that you were with.

1664
01:33:23,200 --> 01:33:23,880
Speaker 2: Back it all up.

1665
01:33:24,520 --> 01:33:27,639
Speaker 1: But but the Army has their version, the Navy's got theirs,

1666
01:33:28,439 --> 01:33:31,280
Speaker 1: you got the Air Force, and I'm sure Space Force

1667
01:33:31,400 --> 01:33:32,040
Speaker 1: is going to have one.

1668
01:33:32,800 --> 01:33:33,960
Speaker 2: You know it's going to happen.

1669
01:33:35,000 --> 01:33:37,960
Speaker 3: I want the next person to interview is the person

1670
01:33:38,120 --> 01:33:41,080
Speaker 3: in the Space Force Coast House house, because at that

1671
01:33:41,160 --> 01:33:47,200
Speaker 3: point we've discovered it's a bad days. You're fighting folks

1672
01:33:47,240 --> 01:33:47,920
Speaker 3: with tentacles.

1673
01:33:48,040 --> 01:33:51,639
Speaker 1: Space force. Space force is like Bigfoot. I hear story

1674
01:33:52,080 --> 01:33:52,840
Speaker 1: that they're out there.

1675
01:33:53,120 --> 01:33:54,880
Speaker 2: I've never met a person in it.

1676
01:33:55,040 --> 01:34:00,679
Speaker 3: But all right, So here's the deal in supporting yours David,

1677
01:34:01,000 --> 01:34:09,120
Speaker 3: certainly your grandfather absolutely to you. Yeah, your father supported

1678
01:34:09,160 --> 01:34:14,719
Speaker 3: your greatness by basically your shame.

1679
01:34:15,200 --> 01:34:16,200
Speaker 2: Well that's I think.

1680
01:34:17,600 --> 01:34:19,720
Speaker 1: No, No, I'm not at all the person I am

1681
01:34:19,880 --> 01:34:20,599
Speaker 1: Without my dad.

1682
01:34:21,080 --> 01:34:22,640
Speaker 2: He was every example of.

1683
01:34:25,000 --> 01:34:28,120
Speaker 1: So I lost him in twenty seventeen to cancer and

1684
01:34:28,360 --> 01:34:31,559
Speaker 1: one of the well, hey, listen, the world is uh,

1685
01:34:32,360 --> 01:34:34,120
Speaker 1: you know, they lost a wonderful man.

1686
01:34:34,240 --> 01:34:36,679
Speaker 2: The thing about my dad, I saw valor.

1687
01:34:37,360 --> 01:34:39,720
Speaker 1: If you were to talk to me about valor, it's

1688
01:34:39,840 --> 01:34:42,880
Speaker 1: you know, it's a fireman, it's a cop, it's a

1689
01:34:43,040 --> 01:34:45,600
Speaker 1: teacher in a school shooting, it's a soldier, you know,

1690
01:34:45,840 --> 01:34:48,040
Speaker 1: kinetically going against danger and fear.

1691
01:34:48,640 --> 01:34:51,439
Speaker 2: I saw, you know, when you fight disease at the end.

1692
01:34:52,479 --> 01:34:55,160
Speaker 1: That's the one of the bravest things I've ever seen

1693
01:34:55,200 --> 01:35:01,599
Speaker 1: in my life, with my dad accepting reality and saying

1694
01:35:02,000 --> 01:35:07,680
Speaker 1: I have nothing but faith and I'm not afraid. I

1695
01:35:07,800 --> 01:35:11,080
Speaker 1: never looked for valor and anything other than fireman, cops,

1696
01:35:11,200 --> 01:35:14,879
Speaker 1: soldiers and people you know that deal with violence.

1697
01:35:15,240 --> 01:35:17,400
Speaker 2: Violence is what where we get valor.

1698
01:35:17,960 --> 01:35:20,760
Speaker 1: That's what I thought. And then I met people at

1699
01:35:20,800 --> 01:35:25,920
Speaker 1: hospice and people fighting disease and all the different problems

1700
01:35:25,960 --> 01:35:30,000
Speaker 1: in the world, divorce, heartache, you name it. People show

1701
01:35:30,080 --> 01:35:30,920
Speaker 1: that every single day.

1702
01:35:31,080 --> 01:35:31,599
Speaker 2: It's uh.

1703
01:35:32,479 --> 01:35:33,960
Speaker 1: It really taught me a lot of lessons. But my

1704
01:35:34,080 --> 01:35:36,920
Speaker 1: dad was definitely there. My grandfather is still alive. He's

1705
01:35:36,920 --> 01:35:41,200
Speaker 1: one hundred and three, which is insane, insane. The Nazis

1706
01:35:41,280 --> 01:35:44,840
Speaker 1: couldn't kill him, and neither could you know the people

1707
01:35:44,920 --> 01:35:47,080
Speaker 1: at Olive Garden because he's definitely.

1708
01:35:48,640 --> 01:35:49,200
Speaker 2: There's a weight.

1709
01:35:49,360 --> 01:35:53,679
Speaker 3: And if you had breadsticks, if you had one word, yeah,

1710
01:35:53,760 --> 01:35:56,880
Speaker 3: and you're only allowed one, even if it's hyphenated. We'll

1711
01:35:56,960 --> 01:35:59,759
Speaker 3: let you allow that. What do you take from your grandfather?

1712
01:36:03,000 --> 01:36:07,400
Speaker 1: Steady dad, unflappable.

1713
01:36:10,920 --> 01:36:17,479
Speaker 3: Okay, So I've read where you are more than humble

1714
01:36:17,760 --> 01:36:20,479
Speaker 3: when talking about this thing, and you're always trying to

1715
01:36:20,560 --> 01:36:24,800
Speaker 3: talk about how countless other people that served with you

1716
01:36:24,920 --> 01:36:28,040
Speaker 3: and around you had as much bravery, if not more

1717
01:36:28,080 --> 01:36:30,200
Speaker 3: than you, and would have done the same thing. And

1718
01:36:31,360 --> 01:36:39,000
Speaker 3: you you talk with such honor and respecting your voice

1719
01:36:39,040 --> 01:36:45,000
Speaker 3: when you talk about the Ramrods. Tell me some other

1720
01:36:45,160 --> 01:36:50,519
Speaker 3: names you've met, You've you've you've evoked Fitch. Uh Fitch

1721
01:36:50,680 --> 01:36:56,280
Speaker 3: fits fits fits fits right, who is also in the book.

1722
01:36:56,560 --> 01:37:03,000
Speaker 3: So give me, uh, give me the story of a

1723
01:37:03,040 --> 01:37:05,720
Speaker 3: few of these Ramrods. First, who are the Ramrods? And

1724
01:37:05,840 --> 01:37:08,720
Speaker 3: then give me the story of some other people that

1725
01:37:09,160 --> 01:37:13,400
Speaker 3: you feel like your greatness would have never happened had

1726
01:37:13,439 --> 01:37:14,519
Speaker 3: it not been for them.

1727
01:37:16,160 --> 01:37:18,720
Speaker 1: I mean that's yeah. So two two Infantry is the

1728
01:37:18,840 --> 01:37:20,000
Speaker 1: Rambros Second regiment.

1729
01:37:20,200 --> 01:37:20,280
Speaker 4: Uh.

1730
01:37:20,479 --> 01:37:23,439
Speaker 1: In fact, I just you know, went to the the

1731
01:37:23,520 --> 01:37:26,920
Speaker 1: Civil Rights Museum and they've got a class here in Memphis.

1732
01:37:27,040 --> 01:37:29,120
Speaker 1: Here in Memphis, there's a class A jacket in there

1733
01:37:29,160 --> 01:37:31,680
Speaker 1: from a Vietnam stud and he's a two to two

1734
01:37:31,760 --> 01:37:35,240
Speaker 1: infantry ram Rod. First idea. Yeah, it's pretty cool, Broadstar

1735
01:37:35,320 --> 01:37:39,800
Speaker 1: of Valor. So our unit is the first infantan division

1736
01:37:39,840 --> 01:37:41,840
Speaker 1: obviously was the first for a reason. We're started off

1737
01:37:41,920 --> 01:37:44,280
Speaker 1: by Alexander hamp Is that the Big Red One, Big

1738
01:37:44,320 --> 01:37:44,720
Speaker 1: Red One?

1739
01:37:45,000 --> 01:37:46,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the movie.

1740
01:37:47,280 --> 01:37:50,439
Speaker 1: Well, the movie has Luke Skywalker in it, a young

1741
01:37:50,600 --> 01:37:54,879
Speaker 1: Mark Hamill is in it, and a very old squad leader.

1742
01:37:56,160 --> 01:37:59,400
Speaker 2: The Big Red One. Oh yeah I know that class.

1743
01:37:59,479 --> 01:38:01,920
Speaker 3: No, I just the big Red One is the big

1744
01:38:02,080 --> 01:38:04,200
Speaker 3: red one that's on your uniform?

1745
01:38:04,520 --> 01:38:06,439
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no, it's the Yeah, the Big Red One

1746
01:38:06,640 --> 01:38:09,960
Speaker 1: is a unit that really cut its teeth in World

1747
01:38:09,960 --> 01:38:10,280
Speaker 1: War One.

1748
01:38:10,600 --> 01:38:11,360
Speaker 2: Got Big Red One?

1749
01:38:11,520 --> 01:38:11,760
Speaker 3: Got it?

1750
01:38:11,880 --> 01:38:15,160
Speaker 1: So are those de ramrods or no ram rods are

1751
01:38:15,560 --> 01:38:17,360
Speaker 1: so the ram rods were just attached to the Big

1752
01:38:17,439 --> 01:38:17,840
Speaker 1: Red One?

1753
01:38:17,960 --> 01:38:18,240
Speaker 3: Got it?

1754
01:38:18,439 --> 01:38:21,400
Speaker 1: And we went through Vietnam together. Vietnam is where two

1755
01:38:21,439 --> 01:38:24,960
Speaker 1: to infantry in the first id really really showed a lot.

1756
01:38:25,160 --> 01:38:28,760
Speaker 3: There's the Big Red One. Yeah, to explain what's going

1757
01:38:28,840 --> 01:38:31,840
Speaker 3: on here, guys, we're looking at a picture together and

1758
01:38:32,040 --> 01:38:35,120
Speaker 3: commenting on it. This episode was a little bit out

1759
01:38:35,120 --> 01:38:39,840
Speaker 3: of the ordinary because David was such a special guest

1760
01:38:39,920 --> 01:38:42,920
Speaker 3: to us. We we actually filmed it at the Memphis

1761
01:38:43,000 --> 01:38:46,839
Speaker 3: Grizzly studio at the Fedeck's Forum, and while we were filming,

1762
01:38:46,880 --> 01:38:49,120
Speaker 3: we got to look at some visuals on a screen there.

1763
01:38:49,800 --> 01:38:51,840
Speaker 3: Make sure to check out our social media at the

1764
01:38:51,960 --> 01:38:55,160
Speaker 3: handle at Army of Normal Folks to see some of

1765
01:38:55,200 --> 01:38:57,160
Speaker 3: the cool video clips from this episode.

1766
01:38:57,760 --> 01:38:59,960
Speaker 1: You know, that's funny that guy walking away from us.

1767
01:39:00,520 --> 01:39:02,360
Speaker 1: He's not a part of our unit. He's just in

1768
01:39:02,439 --> 01:39:04,720
Speaker 1: the division. We don't know him, but he was an

1769
01:39:04,760 --> 01:39:09,160
Speaker 1: engineer who we found. This building next to that building

1770
01:39:09,680 --> 01:39:12,760
Speaker 1: is full of I'm not gonna exaggerate and say two

1771
01:39:12,800 --> 01:39:16,519
Speaker 1: hundred thousand land mines. And this guy was wiring it

1772
01:39:16,920 --> 01:39:19,640
Speaker 1: with a radio and he was like, they're gonna detonate it,

1773
01:39:20,160 --> 01:39:23,440
Speaker 1: and right as that photo was taken a second afterwards,

1774
01:39:23,960 --> 01:39:27,160
Speaker 1: he just was like five four and just started running

1775
01:39:27,640 --> 01:39:30,400
Speaker 1: out of the building. And I'm like, dude, your whole

1776
01:39:30,520 --> 01:39:32,920
Speaker 1: job was to tell us when was this gonna have

1777
01:39:33,360 --> 01:39:37,000
Speaker 1: And so that look of me that's nap on the

1778
01:39:37,120 --> 01:39:39,960
Speaker 1: right and fits over there is We're standing there waiting

1779
01:39:40,040 --> 01:39:43,840
Speaker 1: for this to detonate. And when they blew it that

1780
01:39:44,360 --> 01:39:46,680
Speaker 1: all those walls came down, the ones around. I mean,

1781
01:39:47,280 --> 01:39:52,719
Speaker 1: it was that that entire building was just subsumed with smoke.

1782
01:39:52,800 --> 01:39:56,320
Speaker 1: And that guy literally was just like he was like

1783
01:39:56,479 --> 01:40:00,040
Speaker 1: he started counting down and he ran and everyone he

1784
01:40:00,120 --> 01:40:01,800
Speaker 1: was like, what is it? What's going on here? And

1785
01:40:01,880 --> 01:40:03,760
Speaker 1: he just slowly walked out. We were all in that

1786
01:40:03,920 --> 01:40:06,479
Speaker 1: room and boom. But that's a funny show. I'll never

1787
01:40:06,520 --> 01:40:08,920
Speaker 1: forget that Nap on the right was my team leader,

1788
01:40:09,439 --> 01:40:14,560
Speaker 1: and he was he was that stud in sports.

1789
01:40:14,240 --> 01:40:14,880
Speaker 2: In high school.

1790
01:40:15,680 --> 01:40:18,280
Speaker 1: He was so I'm out of college and these guys

1791
01:40:18,320 --> 01:40:20,600
Speaker 1: are all right out of high school. So there's a

1792
01:40:20,760 --> 01:40:26,519
Speaker 1: good age Gap, I'm their sergeant. But it's it's definitely plus.

1793
01:40:26,600 --> 01:40:29,760
Speaker 1: It's ten years, ten plus years in time. Normally your

1794
01:40:29,800 --> 01:40:32,519
Speaker 1: squad leader is about five years older than you. So

1795
01:40:33,080 --> 01:40:35,679
Speaker 1: I was like doubling that. But Nap was the guy

1796
01:40:36,240 --> 01:40:39,559
Speaker 1: that was so cocky and he was such a stud

1797
01:40:40,320 --> 01:40:42,800
Speaker 1: and he was so good that they always put him

1798
01:40:43,200 --> 01:40:46,439
Speaker 1: in the other squads because they were making him, getting

1799
01:40:46,520 --> 01:40:49,240
Speaker 1: him ready to be a squad leader. So I always

1800
01:40:49,560 --> 01:40:51,720
Speaker 1: I loved him and I respected him, but I was

1801
01:40:51,720 --> 01:40:54,600
Speaker 1: always annoyed by just the swagger of this kid. But

1802
01:40:54,640 --> 01:40:58,040
Speaker 1: when we were going to Fallujah, They're like, I'm like,

1803
01:40:58,120 --> 01:41:00,840
Speaker 1: can I pick who I'm if I'm going, I want

1804
01:41:00,920 --> 01:41:03,080
Speaker 1: my guys. Can I pick my guys? They're like, you

1805
01:41:03,160 --> 01:41:06,439
Speaker 1: can have whoever you want. I'm like, just give me Nap.

1806
01:41:06,960 --> 01:41:07,280
Speaker 2: I could.

1807
01:41:07,479 --> 01:41:10,080
Speaker 1: I'll clear that city with him. If you let me

1808
01:41:10,200 --> 01:41:15,240
Speaker 1: have Nap for one fight, I'm gonna will turn him

1809
01:41:15,240 --> 01:41:20,320
Speaker 1: into Automurphy. Trust me. And Nap was everything is advertising.

1810
01:41:21,439 --> 01:41:24,679
Speaker 1: He is working, it's got a great job, awesome families

1811
01:41:24,720 --> 01:41:29,240
Speaker 1: out in Missouri. He's got a daughter with cisteric fibrosis,

1812
01:41:30,120 --> 01:41:33,719
Speaker 1: and what he showed me a daughter of three girls.

1813
01:41:35,120 --> 01:41:37,320
Speaker 1: I mean everything he's done in the army. I could

1814
01:41:37,720 --> 01:41:40,839
Speaker 1: write two books on Nap of what he's done for America.

1815
01:41:41,400 --> 01:41:43,720
Speaker 1: But what he showed me as a dad and as

1816
01:41:43,760 --> 01:41:49,719
Speaker 1: a man in that hospital room. All the work doesn't

1817
01:41:49,720 --> 01:41:53,320
Speaker 1: give you sickly for your kid. He takes vacation, He

1818
01:41:53,760 --> 01:41:56,040
Speaker 1: goes when there's a hurricane and puts those power lines

1819
01:41:56,120 --> 01:41:56,479
Speaker 1: back up.

1820
01:41:57,080 --> 01:41:59,280
Speaker 2: That's I'm telling you.

1821
01:42:00,600 --> 01:42:04,040
Speaker 1: You want to judge a soldier by his awards, That's

1822
01:42:04,160 --> 01:42:06,840
Speaker 1: not what you judge me by what my subordinates are doing.

1823
01:42:07,680 --> 01:42:10,280
Speaker 1: Because if you're not eclipsed, you're not a leader.

1824
01:42:10,400 --> 01:42:13,280
Speaker 3: That's funny. One of my biggest sayings is the greatest

1825
01:42:13,360 --> 01:42:15,920
Speaker 3: measure of the success of the leaders the actions of

1826
01:42:15,960 --> 01:42:16,559
Speaker 3: the followers.

1827
01:42:17,000 --> 01:42:22,479
Speaker 1: Amen, a leader is replaced. And I'm telling you, I

1828
01:42:22,560 --> 01:42:26,160
Speaker 1: got a soldier, John Ruiz. John Ruiz is a guy

1829
01:42:26,280 --> 01:42:29,639
Speaker 1: who if you were to tell me so, John Ruiz

1830
01:42:29,760 --> 01:42:33,360
Speaker 1: was the soldier I had from Kosovo and we were

1831
01:42:33,439 --> 01:42:35,759
Speaker 1: stationed in Germany. That was our home was in Germany,

1832
01:42:36,360 --> 01:42:38,960
Speaker 1: and Kosovo was our first deployment. We did a rack

1833
01:42:39,000 --> 01:42:43,400
Speaker 1: from Kosovo. I've had the guy had the longest. I

1834
01:42:43,479 --> 01:42:45,519
Speaker 1: got him straight off the bus. My job in my

1835
01:42:45,920 --> 01:42:48,479
Speaker 1: battalion was I would hang out with my Alpha company,

1836
01:42:48,720 --> 01:42:51,120
Speaker 1: and I was I was a scout and I'd see

1837
01:42:51,160 --> 01:42:53,360
Speaker 1: these guys walking off the bus and I'd see like

1838
01:42:53,479 --> 01:42:56,400
Speaker 1: a broad, just a yoked out kid from like Oklahoma,

1839
01:42:56,840 --> 01:42:57,960
Speaker 1: drinks like goat milk.

1840
01:43:00,080 --> 01:43:00,559
Speaker 3: You want him?

1841
01:43:01,160 --> 01:43:01,560
Speaker 1: I want that.

1842
01:43:01,680 --> 01:43:03,000
Speaker 2: I want that kid right there.

1843
01:43:03,320 --> 01:43:05,879
Speaker 1: Some dudes like, yeah, I'm from south central Los Angeles

1844
01:43:05,920 --> 01:43:08,040
Speaker 1: and he's like field dressed at ak. I'm like, I

1845
01:43:08,160 --> 01:43:10,720
Speaker 1: want that dude. I want that guy, you know what

1846
01:43:10,760 --> 01:43:12,920
Speaker 1: I mean. I could tell the guys that were like,

1847
01:43:13,960 --> 01:43:15,519
Speaker 1: why do you join the army like I don't know.

1848
01:43:15,640 --> 01:43:18,280
Speaker 1: I beat my principal with a tire iron. I'm like,

1849
01:43:18,560 --> 01:43:23,040
Speaker 1: I can work with him, you know, I whatever. Whatever

1850
01:43:23,080 --> 01:43:26,120
Speaker 1: they come off the bus. But occasionally the big strong

1851
01:43:26,720 --> 01:43:30,559
Speaker 1: stud would go a wall. The big tough kid from

1852
01:43:30,600 --> 01:43:32,320
Speaker 1: South Central would be like, I don't want to go

1853
01:43:32,360 --> 01:43:34,880
Speaker 1: to war. And then you're like that one hundred and

1854
01:43:34,880 --> 01:43:38,599
Speaker 1: twenty pound nerd from Kansas. I remember this kid from Kansas.

1855
01:43:38,640 --> 01:43:43,600
Speaker 1: We had this kid, Herman, amazing soldier, good kid. But

1856
01:43:44,000 --> 01:43:45,519
Speaker 1: every time we go on a road march, he's like,

1857
01:43:45,560 --> 01:43:50,599
Speaker 1: we don't have hills in Kansas. I can't walk up hills.

1858
01:43:50,720 --> 01:43:53,639
Speaker 1: I have no ability. And I'll tell you what. Once

1859
01:43:53,720 --> 01:43:56,320
Speaker 1: he learned how to walk up a hill, that kid

1860
01:43:56,560 --> 01:43:58,439
Speaker 1: was right. I mean, he was his soldier. That's the

1861
01:43:58,520 --> 01:44:01,240
Speaker 1: guy I want. I want herman, I want this guy.

1862
01:44:01,600 --> 01:44:04,800
Speaker 1: But they'd always these little issues that all the other

1863
01:44:04,960 --> 01:44:07,280
Speaker 1: scouts from the other platoons would be like, I don't

1864
01:44:07,280 --> 01:44:08,960
Speaker 1: want him, I don't want them. I'm like, I know

1865
01:44:09,040 --> 01:44:10,880
Speaker 1: what to look for. I know what to look for

1866
01:44:11,240 --> 01:44:14,320
Speaker 1: if you if you're carrying a book in the infantry.

1867
01:44:14,800 --> 01:44:17,840
Speaker 1: I want that guy. He's got a book, but it's

1868
01:44:17,880 --> 01:44:18,720
Speaker 1: not a paperweight.

1869
01:44:18,800 --> 01:44:20,320
Speaker 2: He reads, you know.

1870
01:44:20,720 --> 01:44:20,840
Speaker 1: Uh.

1871
01:44:21,439 --> 01:44:23,800
Speaker 2: I was impressed. I could I could judge him pretty good.

1872
01:44:24,200 --> 01:44:26,599
Speaker 1: Nap. Obviously, I didn't get to pick I didn't pick him,

1873
01:44:26,600 --> 01:44:29,040
Speaker 1: but he was chosen for Uce. But I picked John Ruiz,

1874
01:44:29,560 --> 01:44:32,040
Speaker 1: and I could just tell John Ruise. You asked John

1875
01:44:32,120 --> 01:44:33,720
Speaker 1: Ruiz what he is. He doesn't know what he is.

1876
01:44:34,120 --> 01:44:36,360
Speaker 1: I love that. He's like I could be Cherokee or

1877
01:44:36,439 --> 01:44:38,760
Speaker 1: Mexican or scotch Irish. I'm not really, I'm like, you

1878
01:44:38,880 --> 01:44:42,519
Speaker 1: know what, that's my dude. Right. He was a wiry

1879
01:44:42,840 --> 01:44:49,400
Speaker 1: and could run for days. His endurance was like unbelievable.

1880
01:44:49,600 --> 01:44:50,559
Speaker 2: He was a stud.

1881
01:44:51,040 --> 01:44:53,920
Speaker 1: But man, he just had a way of looking at

1882
01:44:54,000 --> 01:44:58,799
Speaker 1: every situation, always with never too excited, never too depressed,

1883
01:44:59,320 --> 01:45:02,000
Speaker 1: bring it on. And now he's working for like the

1884
01:45:02,040 --> 01:45:05,160
Speaker 1: Space program. And if you would have told me that

1885
01:45:05,280 --> 01:45:08,160
Speaker 1: we're gonna land on Mars because of John Ruiz, I

1886
01:45:08,200 --> 01:45:11,000
Speaker 1: would have lost my house. I would have lost my

1887
01:45:11,200 --> 01:45:14,680
Speaker 1: four oh one k. That kid is a brainiac and

1888
01:45:14,840 --> 01:45:19,160
Speaker 1: he's got incredible discipline and he's such an incredible man,

1889
01:45:19,680 --> 01:45:21,760
Speaker 1: and he's a father and he's a husband and I'm

1890
01:45:21,960 --> 01:45:25,439
Speaker 1: but he's also a guy who shot like twelve eighty

1891
01:45:25,520 --> 01:45:28,800
Speaker 1: four millimeters rockets when you're only supposed to do two

1892
01:45:28,840 --> 01:45:32,120
Speaker 1: in a lifetime. He shot them reflectively.

1893
01:45:32,160 --> 01:45:32,519
Speaker 2: He can.

1894
01:45:33,000 --> 01:45:35,479
Speaker 1: They would shoot RPGs at us, and they were loud.

1895
01:45:37,360 --> 01:45:40,920
Speaker 1: Because they're so loud they rattle your brain and and

1896
01:45:41,160 --> 01:45:43,599
Speaker 1: and and they're like, look, they just shot a rocket

1897
01:45:43,720 --> 01:45:45,479
Speaker 1: us to scare us. It's loud and it has no

1898
01:45:45,600 --> 01:45:48,200
Speaker 1: sense of direction. I'll tell you what. We've got our

1899
01:45:48,240 --> 01:45:51,759
Speaker 1: own rocket. It's also loud and there's no sense of direction.

1900
01:45:52,120 --> 01:45:55,880
Speaker 1: Shoot that flaming pencil. And then, dude, if we got

1901
01:45:55,960 --> 01:45:58,400
Speaker 1: hit with contact, I'd be like Ruiz and he'd be like,

1902
01:46:00,360 --> 01:46:03,479
Speaker 1: you're like, yeah, it would break contact. No one would

1903
01:46:03,479 --> 01:46:05,160
Speaker 1: want to fight with the eighty four was fired, So

1904
01:46:05,240 --> 01:46:07,880
Speaker 1: we fired him all that. Every time we got shot

1905
01:46:07,960 --> 01:46:10,880
Speaker 1: at there was Rui's with an eighty four millimeter and

1906
01:46:11,640 --> 01:46:14,080
Speaker 1: he was accurate and he was killing people with it.

1907
01:46:14,200 --> 01:46:16,479
Speaker 1: But it was just he shot too many of them

1908
01:46:16,800 --> 01:46:20,720
Speaker 1: blasted his hearing. But man, he is in science now

1909
01:46:21,040 --> 01:46:24,160
Speaker 1: working with lasers. He just did that fusion project where

1910
01:46:24,200 --> 01:46:27,360
Speaker 1: we replicated like my start. He's a part of a

1911
01:46:27,479 --> 01:46:32,719
Speaker 1: project that created fusion. And I'm like, this guy couldn't

1912
01:46:32,720 --> 01:46:34,840
Speaker 1: get a Cydeburns even like you know what I mean.

1913
01:46:36,000 --> 01:46:37,400
Speaker 2: But I have nothing to do with that.

1914
01:46:37,720 --> 01:46:41,760
Speaker 1: That's not me, that's him, that's him, and that's that's

1915
01:46:41,880 --> 01:46:44,600
Speaker 1: what my guys were about. I got him to a

1916
01:46:44,720 --> 01:46:47,400
Speaker 1: part where I played my role and they took that

1917
01:46:48,040 --> 01:46:51,559
Speaker 1: and they added seven pieces to it. And now they

1918
01:46:51,640 --> 01:46:55,160
Speaker 1: are who they are because of who they are, and

1919
01:46:55,520 --> 01:46:58,240
Speaker 1: I just had the fortunate to uh spend time with them.

1920
01:47:02,880 --> 01:47:18,040
Speaker 3: We'll be right back. We now returned to David on

1921
01:47:18,200 --> 01:47:24,800
Speaker 3: another Ramrod who supported him. Fits Fitz is just I mean,

1922
01:47:25,040 --> 01:47:28,000
Speaker 3: I tell tell us who Fits was. Fitz was.

1923
01:47:28,680 --> 01:47:29,880
Speaker 2: He was a stab. He was the same.

1924
01:47:30,200 --> 01:47:32,559
Speaker 1: Fitz's thing was, this is a guy who's one hundred

1925
01:47:33,320 --> 01:47:35,519
Speaker 1: if he's one hundred and forty pounds, that might be

1926
01:47:35,640 --> 01:47:38,120
Speaker 1: given him extra weight. Maybe he got up to one

1927
01:47:38,200 --> 01:47:43,599
Speaker 1: forty five, five foot nine five from no one knows

1928
01:47:43,680 --> 01:47:50,280
Speaker 1: Mississippi right, and literally would just won't talk. He just

1929
01:47:51,000 --> 01:47:55,120
Speaker 1: he would spit his tobacco juice. And all he wanted

1930
01:47:55,160 --> 01:47:58,640
Speaker 1: to do was he was army life. He was tactically.

1931
01:47:59,200 --> 01:48:02,840
Speaker 1: He would study his field manuals. He knew everything, but

1932
01:48:03,040 --> 01:48:06,840
Speaker 1: his whole thing was his kids were his kids. N

1933
01:48:06,920 --> 01:48:08,599
Speaker 1: c o s were n c o's. If you were

1934
01:48:08,600 --> 01:48:10,680
Speaker 1: an officer and you tried to correct starn Fitch, you

1935
01:48:10,760 --> 01:48:12,760
Speaker 1: better know what you were talking about, because if you didn't,

1936
01:48:13,000 --> 01:48:16,080
Speaker 1: he would emasculate you. That he was the king of emasculation.

1937
01:48:16,479 --> 01:48:21,799
Speaker 1: And if anyone started anything his own soldier, an officer,

1938
01:48:22,000 --> 01:48:25,479
Speaker 1: a person from another unit, he would knock. He would

1939
01:48:25,560 --> 01:48:28,679
Speaker 1: fight anyone at any given time. So this guy would

1940
01:48:28,720 --> 01:48:32,960
Speaker 1: go from six to E four five six eve seven

1941
01:48:33,120 --> 01:48:38,680
Speaker 1: E five His D two FOURT is you're going through

1942
01:48:38,720 --> 01:48:42,080
Speaker 1: O many ranks. He's bounced everywhere, always gets his rank back.

1943
01:48:42,560 --> 01:48:46,160
Speaker 1: But he's just basically he suffers no fool, no fool.

1944
01:48:46,600 --> 01:48:51,320
Speaker 1: And there was this giant dude that came into our

1945
01:48:51,439 --> 01:48:54,720
Speaker 1: tent once we're training in Germany and this guy had

1946
01:48:54,760 --> 01:48:57,719
Speaker 1: like tattoos everywhere, just yoked out, you know, you probably

1947
01:48:57,840 --> 01:49:01,160
Speaker 1: might want to check his urine and uh. And he

1948
01:49:01,280 --> 01:49:03,600
Speaker 1: comes into the tent and he just starts talking and

1949
01:49:03,680 --> 01:49:07,000
Speaker 1: Fitz is like, hey man, but that he had like

1950
01:49:07,080 --> 01:49:11,360
Speaker 1: a ross parrot. John Wayne fused the accent and be like,

1951
01:49:11,400 --> 01:49:13,000
Speaker 1: hey man, I want to I'm gonna tell you one time.

1952
01:49:13,160 --> 01:49:15,760
Speaker 2: Shut your face. I'm gonna tell you show you.

1953
01:49:16,240 --> 01:49:18,560
Speaker 1: And this guy was like. This guy's like, who, what

1954
01:49:18,680 --> 01:49:20,360
Speaker 1: are you gonna do by He's like, I'm gonna take

1955
01:49:20,439 --> 01:49:23,480
Speaker 1: that E tool. I'm gonna assemble a shovel.

1956
01:49:23,760 --> 01:49:27,200
Speaker 2: The little fold ofle shovels, the excavation tool.

1957
01:49:27,200 --> 01:49:29,439
Speaker 1: He's like, I'm gonna assemble that E tool in front

1958
01:49:29,439 --> 01:49:31,479
Speaker 1: of you and then I'm gonna lop an ear off

1959
01:49:31,520 --> 01:49:34,800
Speaker 1: your head. And like everyone was like, is this a joke?

1960
01:49:35,320 --> 01:49:38,439
Speaker 1: And it's like, no, it's not a joke. Fitz will

1961
01:49:38,520 --> 01:49:40,760
Speaker 1: hit you in the hand with an E tool. He will,

1962
01:49:41,000 --> 01:49:45,080
Speaker 1: and he has no fear and and is it's one

1963
01:49:45,120 --> 01:49:47,439
Speaker 1: thing to act that way, it's another thing when you're

1964
01:49:47,439 --> 01:49:47,840
Speaker 1: in a fight.

1965
01:49:47,960 --> 01:49:48,639
Speaker 2: Are you that way?

1966
01:49:49,320 --> 01:49:53,200
Speaker 1: That man is like that every day of his life.

1967
01:49:53,240 --> 01:49:58,760
Speaker 1: He will and does anyone like him. You know, that's

1968
01:49:58,800 --> 01:50:01,280
Speaker 1: a tough personality. It's a tough personality.

1969
01:50:01,360 --> 01:50:02,519
Speaker 3: It's an acquired taste.

1970
01:50:02,680 --> 01:50:04,120
Speaker 1: It's an acquired taste. But I'll tell you what.

1971
01:50:04,960 --> 01:50:06,200
Speaker 2: That's loyalty driven.

1972
01:50:06,600 --> 01:50:08,880
Speaker 1: And that guy will literally and and when he got

1973
01:50:09,000 --> 01:50:13,600
Speaker 1: shot three times a month into a rack that is,

1974
01:50:14,439 --> 01:50:16,720
Speaker 1: you're supposed to sit on your farm and collect a

1975
01:50:16,920 --> 01:50:18,640
Speaker 1: tax free paycheck for the rest of your life. And

1976
01:50:18,720 --> 01:50:23,640
Speaker 1: he came back from Walter Reed, he did whatever he

1977
01:50:23,720 --> 01:50:25,599
Speaker 1: had to do to pass a PT test. That guy

1978
01:50:25,720 --> 01:50:28,320
Speaker 1: wasn't walking right. He was in pain every single day

1979
01:50:29,120 --> 01:50:31,120
Speaker 1: every time those bullets got fired. He knew what it

1980
01:50:31,160 --> 01:50:33,920
Speaker 1: felt like when it impacted his bones and his flesh.

1981
01:50:35,040 --> 01:50:36,680
Speaker 1: And he was there every step of the way. I

1982
01:50:38,040 --> 01:50:39,920
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know what they are doing out

1983
01:50:39,960 --> 01:50:42,760
Speaker 1: there in Mississippi if they're all like that. But that's

1984
01:50:42,840 --> 01:50:45,960
Speaker 1: one that's a that's an American patriot, that's a stud.

1985
01:50:46,400 --> 01:50:49,439
Speaker 1: He's a bravest guy ever I met. And and he's

1986
01:50:49,760 --> 01:50:52,600
Speaker 1: he's fine. He's still pissy and he's still you know,

1987
01:50:52,920 --> 01:50:55,599
Speaker 1: I mean, he drinks, he has his beer.

1988
01:50:55,680 --> 01:50:56,439
Speaker 2: He likes his beer.

1989
01:50:56,520 --> 01:51:00,200
Speaker 1: He's got a beautiful family, a wonderful wife. He's live

1990
01:51:00,240 --> 01:51:02,160
Speaker 1: in his life and you're not going to change it.

1991
01:51:02,400 --> 01:51:04,479
Speaker 1: You're not going to change any of it.

1992
01:51:04,880 --> 01:51:07,920
Speaker 3: And and we should sleep better at night. No one

1993
01:51:08,080 --> 01:51:08,800
Speaker 3: fits the.

1994
01:51:08,800 --> 01:51:13,479
Speaker 1: Wall unless he's you're on his property, you're not sleeping

1995
01:51:13,560 --> 01:51:15,160
Speaker 1: at all, or you might be asleeping forever.

1996
01:51:15,479 --> 01:51:18,200
Speaker 2: No, he's he's awesome. Yes we are. We're a better

1997
01:51:18,240 --> 01:51:19,479
Speaker 2: country for having men like him.

1998
01:51:19,800 --> 01:51:22,920
Speaker 3: Tell me, tell me about the uh, the other gentleman

1999
01:51:23,080 --> 01:51:24,000
Speaker 3: North Mississippi.

2000
01:51:25,080 --> 01:51:26,080
Speaker 2: Who do we got North?

2001
01:51:27,439 --> 01:51:33,280
Speaker 1: The beer guy? Okay, so he just he showed up

2002
01:51:33,400 --> 01:51:37,120
Speaker 1: to so he doesn't leave Mississippi. He's comfortable, he's happy,

2003
01:51:37,800 --> 01:51:40,080
Speaker 1: and so now this whole thing is happening, and he's like,

2004
01:51:40,120 --> 01:51:41,960
Speaker 1: I don't want to go back there. I don't want

2005
01:51:42,000 --> 01:51:43,439
Speaker 1: to go to a raq. I don't want to I

2006
01:51:43,479 --> 01:51:46,160
Speaker 1: don't want to put my mind back there. I was

2007
01:51:46,240 --> 01:51:49,000
Speaker 1: asking a lot of these guys. I was going on

2008
01:51:49,160 --> 01:51:52,160
Speaker 1: this little trip. You're supposed to bring two guests to

2009
01:51:52,280 --> 01:51:55,000
Speaker 1: the Medal of Honor. I want to bring them all.

2010
01:51:55,240 --> 01:51:56,640
Speaker 1: I want to put them all on the stage. But

2011
01:51:56,760 --> 01:51:59,400
Speaker 1: I also realized that I was asking him to go

2012
01:51:59,520 --> 01:52:02,080
Speaker 1: back to said maybe they didn't want to go, and

2013
01:52:02,640 --> 01:52:06,680
Speaker 1: that was that was very selfless of them to want

2014
01:52:06,720 --> 01:52:07,000
Speaker 1: to do that.

2015
01:52:07,680 --> 01:52:13,840
Speaker 3: Memories and thoughts and friends having died, and pain that

2016
01:52:15,120 --> 01:52:17,800
Speaker 3: they somehow figured out a way to move on from

2017
01:52:17,880 --> 01:52:20,800
Speaker 3: and live the life of. And so even though this

2018
01:52:20,960 --> 01:52:24,760
Speaker 3: award for you and their support, Without their support, this

2019
01:52:24,880 --> 01:52:26,040
Speaker 3: ward would have never happened.

2020
01:52:26,160 --> 01:52:28,040
Speaker 2: Absolutely, that is their award.

2021
01:52:29,360 --> 01:52:33,559
Speaker 3: But asking them to come back means maybe scratching open

2022
01:52:33,680 --> 01:52:34,439
Speaker 3: some old scars.

2023
01:52:34,760 --> 01:52:38,040
Speaker 1: And so now the baby of the fallen soldier that

2024
01:52:38,680 --> 01:52:41,080
Speaker 1: gutted you and ripped your heart out because you lost them,

2025
01:52:41,200 --> 01:52:45,639
Speaker 1: And you think, well, if I zigged and zagged, would

2026
01:52:45,680 --> 01:52:46,479
Speaker 1: that have changed?

2027
01:52:46,600 --> 01:52:47,560
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, it would have.

2028
01:52:47,760 --> 01:52:49,760
Speaker 1: I mean you could everyone said, oh you can't, say

2029
01:52:49,840 --> 01:52:52,240
Speaker 1: no you can and a fire for you can. I'm

2030
01:52:52,520 --> 01:52:55,200
Speaker 1: you make a decision and you go on the wrong

2031
01:52:55,320 --> 01:52:58,560
Speaker 1: side of the fight, and and this guy went on

2032
01:52:58,640 --> 01:53:01,559
Speaker 1: the other side, and you're like, that was not my plan.

2033
01:53:02,120 --> 01:53:02,920
Speaker 2: I screwed that up.

2034
01:53:02,960 --> 01:53:05,519
Speaker 1: And those three guys are dead because I screwed You

2035
01:53:05,560 --> 01:53:09,839
Speaker 1: could literally say that's what happened. That baby and that widow.

2036
01:53:11,360 --> 01:53:13,559
Speaker 1: You're not ever gonna see him again anyway in the army.

2037
01:53:13,720 --> 01:53:16,519
Speaker 1: You're gonna PCs go to a different station, get deployed again.

2038
01:53:17,080 --> 01:53:21,400
Speaker 1: Death isn't real. You die, we put you in a bag.

2039
01:53:21,960 --> 01:53:24,840
Speaker 1: We lie and say that they're fine. You don't get

2040
01:53:24,880 --> 01:53:28,000
Speaker 1: any call from home to tell you otherwise. But we're

2041
01:53:28,040 --> 01:53:30,840
Speaker 1: all telling stories of Oh, he's great, he's just got

2042
01:53:30,880 --> 01:53:33,000
Speaker 1: a surgery, it's gonna be all right, everything's gonna be fine.

2043
01:53:33,160 --> 01:53:34,000
Speaker 2: Let's focus on this.

2044
01:53:34,760 --> 01:53:36,640
Speaker 1: And you don't go to the memorial, you don't go

2045
01:53:36,720 --> 01:53:40,160
Speaker 1: to the cemetery, you don't see the taps played, you.

2046
01:53:40,200 --> 01:53:41,000
Speaker 2: Don't do any of that.

2047
01:53:41,160 --> 01:53:44,240
Speaker 1: You're fighting, and you're fighting until it's over. When it's over,

2048
01:53:44,720 --> 01:53:46,880
Speaker 1: you have a choice to make. Do I just keep

2049
01:53:47,000 --> 01:53:49,640
Speaker 1: living in this Oh that guy's still there. I'm just

2050
01:53:49,920 --> 01:53:52,559
Speaker 1: not gonna call him because I don't call anyone. I'm

2051
01:53:52,640 --> 01:53:55,040
Speaker 1: living my life. Or do I have to face the

2052
01:53:55,120 --> 01:53:59,160
Speaker 1: reality that he's gone. Those men that chowse to make

2053
01:53:59,240 --> 01:54:01,400
Speaker 1: that decision of I'm just gonna live my life and

2054
01:54:01,479 --> 01:54:04,639
Speaker 1: put this behind me, they were all forced to see

2055
01:54:04,760 --> 01:54:07,040
Speaker 1: that that little baby is now seventeen.

2056
01:54:08,000 --> 01:54:09,360
Speaker 2: Without a dad.

2057
01:54:09,560 --> 01:54:12,120
Speaker 1: Now now you have to do the inventory you didn't

2058
01:54:12,160 --> 01:54:17,080
Speaker 1: do with my life, that this guy gave his life

2059
01:54:17,120 --> 01:54:21,320
Speaker 1: for mine. Did I live up to the expectations of

2060
01:54:21,439 --> 01:54:24,080
Speaker 1: what I would want someone that I gave my life

2061
01:54:24,120 --> 01:54:24,439
Speaker 1: for them.

2062
01:54:25,040 --> 01:54:26,720
Speaker 2: Am I the man I should be?

2063
01:54:27,000 --> 01:54:29,200
Speaker 1: As I look at this kid, I'm now telling him

2064
01:54:29,200 --> 01:54:32,520
Speaker 1: about his dad for the first time, knowing full well,

2065
01:54:32,560 --> 01:54:35,000
Speaker 1: we all promised ourselves we were going to visit the families.

2066
01:54:35,280 --> 01:54:37,600
Speaker 1: We're gonna sit those babies down, We're gonna go to

2067
01:54:37,680 --> 01:54:39,880
Speaker 1: their football game, We're gonna go to their prom We

2068
01:54:39,960 --> 01:54:42,040
Speaker 1: didn't do it. We didn't do it because we had

2069
01:54:42,080 --> 01:54:45,640
Speaker 1: our own kids, had our own life, and it sucked,

2070
01:54:45,800 --> 01:54:47,840
Speaker 1: it hurt, and we didn't want to face it. So

2071
01:54:48,040 --> 01:54:52,760
Speaker 1: now you're forcing these men to go right back there

2072
01:54:52,840 --> 01:54:55,879
Speaker 1: and address all the things we all promised, all to celebrate,

2073
01:54:56,400 --> 01:54:59,800
Speaker 1: all to celebrate something no one wants to celebrate. And so,

2074
01:55:00,360 --> 01:55:03,920
Speaker 1: and you know, Fitch shows up to the Pentagon and

2075
01:55:04,000 --> 01:55:05,680
Speaker 1: I dragged him out there. He didn't want to do it,

2076
01:55:06,240 --> 01:55:08,560
Speaker 1: and so he's like, listen, I'm not changing anything about me.

2077
01:55:09,280 --> 01:55:11,480
Speaker 1: I'm not changing anything about me. You can't change me.

2078
01:55:11,760 --> 01:55:14,200
Speaker 1: You're not going to change me. I said, put a

2079
01:55:14,240 --> 01:55:17,480
Speaker 1: suit on. He looked like, you know, he had the beard,

2080
01:55:17,680 --> 01:55:20,960
Speaker 1: and he looked like an attorney, which was fighting. But

2081
01:55:21,080 --> 01:55:23,160
Speaker 1: he carried around this cooler and I'm like, is that

2082
01:55:23,400 --> 01:55:25,440
Speaker 1: are you doing an organ delivery? Like, what do you

2083
01:55:25,520 --> 01:55:27,640
Speaker 1: got it? Why are you walking around with a cooler

2084
01:55:27,680 --> 01:55:28,080
Speaker 1: of ice?

2085
01:55:28,120 --> 01:55:28,560
Speaker 2: What's in it?

2086
01:55:29,040 --> 01:55:31,560
Speaker 1: And he this is, you know, before the uh he

2087
01:55:31,720 --> 01:55:35,000
Speaker 1: was a bud light guy before the controversy, and he

2088
01:55:35,120 --> 01:55:36,640
Speaker 1: loved his beer and he drank his beard.

2089
01:55:36,720 --> 01:55:38,720
Speaker 2: He was going to carry his beer everywhere. And so

2090
01:55:38,880 --> 01:55:40,880
Speaker 2: we we go through the.

2091
01:55:40,880 --> 01:55:44,320
Speaker 1: Pedagon security and the alarm goes off and they're like,

2092
01:55:44,600 --> 01:55:46,080
Speaker 1: what do you have in your pockets?

2093
01:55:46,120 --> 01:55:49,680
Speaker 2: He's like, just beer, and they're like you can't. You

2094
01:55:49,760 --> 01:55:52,080
Speaker 2: can't bring beer to the Pentagon. But this guy was

2095
01:55:52,160 --> 01:55:53,480
Speaker 2: so smart that.

2096
01:55:53,640 --> 01:55:56,920
Speaker 1: He knew that he had like throwaway beers. He gave

2097
01:55:57,000 --> 01:55:59,120
Speaker 1: them the throwaway beers while the other beers were in

2098
01:55:59,200 --> 01:56:02,400
Speaker 1: his pocket, right, and he's like, I'm with the Medal

2099
01:56:02,440 --> 01:56:04,200
Speaker 1: of Honor recipient. I got the Chief of Staff of

2100
01:56:04,280 --> 01:56:07,760
Speaker 1: the Army, General Million Trump is gonna be here in

2101
01:56:07,800 --> 01:56:10,080
Speaker 1: a second, like shut up and sit down. And so

2102
01:56:10,240 --> 01:56:14,360
Speaker 1: they they're like, dude, like he literally he gave them

2103
01:56:14,400 --> 01:56:17,000
Speaker 1: the throwaway beers where they're like, don't do that again.

2104
01:56:17,480 --> 01:56:19,520
Speaker 1: And then he had like like two others in his

2105
01:56:19,680 --> 01:56:22,520
Speaker 1: back pocket and just kind of weasel his way out

2106
01:56:22,560 --> 01:56:24,960
Speaker 1: and he's like, yeah, I kept the beer and and

2107
01:56:25,080 --> 01:56:28,120
Speaker 1: He also he also was like, I'm now back where

2108
01:56:28,160 --> 01:56:30,120
Speaker 1: I never thought i'd ever be. I'm in this uniform

2109
01:56:30,200 --> 01:56:32,800
Speaker 1: I never wore my lifetime that. They're just like and

2110
01:56:32,880 --> 01:56:36,320
Speaker 1: they cardboard that uniform, like they stick cardboard behind it

2111
01:56:36,400 --> 01:56:38,800
Speaker 1: so it just looks perfect. And they're like, go throw

2112
01:56:38,880 --> 01:56:40,840
Speaker 1: out the first pitch against the Yankees and Mets.

2113
01:56:40,880 --> 01:56:42,320
Speaker 2: And I'm like, I'm like the tid man.

2114
01:56:42,880 --> 01:56:46,240
Speaker 1: I can't even I can't even move. I'm gonna look

2115
01:56:46,320 --> 01:56:47,240
Speaker 1: like Obama up here.

2116
01:56:47,920 --> 01:56:51,040
Speaker 2: They're like, I can't throw this like a normal So uh.

2117
01:56:51,400 --> 01:56:53,920
Speaker 1: They we get out there and and fits is like, listen,

2118
01:56:54,280 --> 01:56:56,640
Speaker 1: we're right back to where we wanted to be. Uh.

2119
01:56:56,800 --> 01:56:59,160
Speaker 1: No one asked for this, but we're here. So what

2120
01:56:59,280 --> 01:57:03,880
Speaker 1: did you need in the day? You need Copenhagen. I

2121
01:57:03,960 --> 01:57:07,840
Speaker 1: got Copenhagen shortcut just for you, and I want you

2122
01:57:07,960 --> 01:57:09,720
Speaker 1: to put this in your lip, and we're gonna do

2123
01:57:09,800 --> 01:57:12,640
Speaker 1: it together. So I put a chaw in there, and

2124
01:57:12,720 --> 01:57:15,880
Speaker 1: I'm like, I mean it, Yeah, I'm done. But I

2125
01:57:16,320 --> 01:57:18,160
Speaker 1: I got like, you know, anyone who dips for a

2126
01:57:18,200 --> 01:57:20,560
Speaker 1: long time, you got that little crater and it's a

2127
01:57:20,640 --> 01:57:22,760
Speaker 1: lonely little crater when you quit, but it's.

2128
01:57:22,600 --> 01:57:23,200
Speaker 2: Still a hole.

2129
01:57:23,280 --> 01:57:26,400
Speaker 1: In your face, and and that Copenhagen goes back into

2130
01:57:26,440 --> 01:57:30,000
Speaker 1: its little sleep area and I'm just like, oh, it's

2131
01:57:30,120 --> 01:57:33,080
Speaker 1: just a life is so much better. And I'm like,

2132
01:57:33,240 --> 01:57:35,600
Speaker 1: what's going on? And that that taste and it's like

2133
01:57:35,720 --> 01:57:37,680
Speaker 1: you want And then I'm like, oh, I gotta spit.

2134
01:57:37,800 --> 01:57:39,720
Speaker 1: You know, I'm in the White House. I gotta find it.

2135
01:57:40,240 --> 01:57:44,040
Speaker 1: And so everyone gets ushered out and the President shows

2136
01:57:44,160 --> 01:57:46,720
Speaker 1: up and he's like, what do you What do you.

2137
01:57:46,760 --> 01:57:47,480
Speaker 2: Have in your mouth?

2138
01:57:47,640 --> 01:57:50,720
Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, I got a I got

2139
01:57:50,800 --> 01:57:53,080
Speaker 1: a tobacco product in there, and I don't even know

2140
01:57:53,120 --> 01:57:55,400
Speaker 1: what to tell you, but I am. He's like, well,

2141
01:57:55,440 --> 01:57:57,560
Speaker 1: it's too late. They're playing Hail and the Chief. We're

2142
01:57:57,560 --> 01:58:00,440
Speaker 1: gonna go out and do this thing. And so every

2143
01:58:00,520 --> 01:58:02,600
Speaker 1: time I look at a photo, I'll do an interview

2144
01:58:02,640 --> 01:58:04,360
Speaker 1: with someone and they'll be like, you know, I look

2145
01:58:04,400 --> 01:58:07,320
Speaker 1: at that and I just see so much emotion. You

2146
01:58:07,400 --> 01:58:10,360
Speaker 1: look like you look like there it is right there.

2147
01:58:10,640 --> 01:58:13,640
Speaker 1: That is a guy that has a small kittens worth

2148
01:58:13,680 --> 01:58:18,160
Speaker 1: of tobacco juice trickling down a esophagus and he's trying

2149
01:58:18,240 --> 01:58:22,920
Speaker 1: not to vomit because I'm swallowing bits and bits and bits,

2150
01:58:23,840 --> 01:58:25,720
Speaker 1: and they're like, you know, you're not only the first

2151
01:58:25,760 --> 01:58:28,320
Speaker 1: and only living Medal of Honor recipient from Iraq, you're

2152
01:58:28,320 --> 01:58:30,240
Speaker 1: also the first idiot to do that with a full

2153
01:58:30,360 --> 01:58:34,360
Speaker 1: shaw in his mouth trying to displace it. And it

2154
01:58:34,560 --> 01:58:36,560
Speaker 1: was the word yeah right there there it is under

2155
01:58:36,640 --> 01:58:39,400
Speaker 1: the look I'm sick. I look at my face. I

2156
01:58:39,480 --> 01:58:42,800
Speaker 1: looked with jaundice. I love a just crawled. I am

2157
01:58:43,000 --> 01:58:44,280
Speaker 1: so sick from all of that.

2158
01:58:44,440 --> 01:58:44,840
Speaker 5: That's uh.

2159
01:58:44,960 --> 01:58:47,240
Speaker 1: Ed Bayer's Navy Seal. By the way, you see the

2160
01:58:47,320 --> 01:58:50,360
Speaker 1: difference in the Metal of Honor. He's got the Navy one. Yeah,

2161
01:58:50,720 --> 01:58:53,400
Speaker 1: that's like the Cowboys logo. They made it, you know,

2162
01:58:53,480 --> 01:58:57,440
Speaker 1: the Navy insecure. They made it big and bold. He's

2163
01:58:57,480 --> 01:59:01,120
Speaker 1: a Navy Seal. His story is incredible. Uh, you know,

2164
01:59:01,280 --> 01:59:03,920
Speaker 1: just took out a bunch of ices guys that were

2165
01:59:04,000 --> 01:59:07,160
Speaker 1: kidnapping Americans. But Ed Buyer's I'll look at him and

2166
01:59:07,280 --> 01:59:09,360
Speaker 1: let me tell you another thing. That photo right, So

2167
01:59:09,480 --> 01:59:13,040
Speaker 1: he's got his cook whites. Navy Seals. Navy Seals are

2168
01:59:13,640 --> 01:59:18,560
Speaker 1: they're like the uh they're the division one quarterback going

2169
01:59:18,640 --> 01:59:22,000
Speaker 1: first round. They are. Yeah, I mean even but they're

2170
01:59:22,040 --> 01:59:26,120
Speaker 1: told it's like it's like you see you watch top

2171
01:59:26,200 --> 01:59:29,120
Speaker 1: gun and you're like, Tom Cruise is like five foot

2172
01:59:29,120 --> 01:59:31,440
Speaker 1: two and he's got his little aviators. That's exactly what

2173
01:59:31,600 --> 01:59:35,800
Speaker 1: pilots are. They're like jockeys. They're five foot two, little butts.

2174
01:59:35,880 --> 01:59:39,160
Speaker 1: They got little butts, they got little pants on, giant aviators,

2175
01:59:39,320 --> 01:59:43,000
Speaker 1: and they're just the cockiest dudes. Would they play volleyball shirtless?

2176
01:59:43,120 --> 01:59:46,280
Speaker 1: They do? And they are right now somewhere in America.

2177
01:59:46,680 --> 01:59:50,800
Speaker 1: There's a shirtless group of pilots playing volleyball. That's what

2178
01:59:50,880 --> 01:59:53,920
Speaker 1: they do, right. They're very confident, and God, we want

2179
01:59:54,040 --> 01:59:57,400
Speaker 1: confident pilots. We want our Navy Seals are the most

2180
01:59:57,480 --> 01:59:59,160
Speaker 1: confident boys in the universe.

2181
01:59:59,480 --> 02:00:02,160
Speaker 2: And they know it. They and so they're cook whites,

2182
02:00:02,200 --> 02:00:04,080
Speaker 2: their uniform perfect.

2183
02:00:04,200 --> 02:00:06,960
Speaker 1: Right. I'm in a jilt. We're doing this thing for

2184
02:00:07,080 --> 02:00:10,120
Speaker 1: the in July and it's a down pour in Washington, DC,

2185
02:00:10,480 --> 02:00:12,600
Speaker 1: and I got my brand new uniform I've never worn

2186
02:00:13,120 --> 02:00:16,320
Speaker 1: and it's just soaking up rainwater and ed Byers has

2187
02:00:16,360 --> 02:00:18,720
Speaker 1: got his cook whites and he looks over and he's like,

2188
02:00:18,800 --> 02:00:21,080
Speaker 1: I still look better than you and these cook whites,

2189
02:00:21,200 --> 02:00:23,520
Speaker 1: and I'm like, you're right, you do. You look amazing.

2190
02:00:23,840 --> 02:00:27,520
Speaker 1: But my dress blues because they're new are just oozing

2191
02:00:27,680 --> 02:00:32,120
Speaker 1: out blue Die Die, and it sucks onto his cook whites.

2192
02:00:32,840 --> 02:00:36,200
Speaker 1: It starts to spread all throughout his brand new uniform,

2193
02:00:36,560 --> 02:00:39,000
Speaker 1: destroyed his cook whites. And I was like, you know,

2194
02:00:39,560 --> 02:00:44,720
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, I've destroyed your uniform.

2195
02:00:44,800 --> 02:00:46,600
Speaker 1: That's what I feel good about. Ed byers a great guy.

2196
02:00:46,680 --> 02:00:49,440
Speaker 1: Those seals are awesome. But yeah, that's him, and he's

2197
02:00:49,480 --> 02:00:53,040
Speaker 1: a stud and it's it's an honor to be associated

2198
02:00:53,080 --> 02:00:53,680
Speaker 1: with guys like that.

2199
02:00:54,120 --> 02:01:01,680
Speaker 3: All right, So supporting greatness God, I mean all those

2200
02:01:01,760 --> 02:01:04,400
Speaker 3: guys that served under you are are part of it.

2201
02:01:06,320 --> 02:01:07,640
Speaker 3: Tell me about Doug Walter.

2202
02:01:08,520 --> 02:01:11,440
Speaker 1: Oh, man, I that's if I was going to put

2203
02:01:11,520 --> 02:01:16,760
Speaker 1: a non If there's a man in my life that

2204
02:01:16,960 --> 02:01:21,760
Speaker 1: has impacted me just in humanity and just the decency,

2205
02:01:22,520 --> 02:01:24,600
Speaker 1: Doug Walter is that guy. So Doug Walter is my

2206
02:01:24,720 --> 02:01:30,200
Speaker 1: commander in or in Germany and we go to Kosovo

2207
02:01:30,360 --> 02:01:33,880
Speaker 1: and he gets like this alternative colitis. You ever heard

2208
02:01:33,920 --> 02:01:34,040
Speaker 1: of this?

2209
02:01:34,360 --> 02:01:35,720
Speaker 3: No, it's like the word.

2210
02:01:36,360 --> 02:01:39,920
Speaker 1: It's just like your body rejects food and you start

2211
02:01:39,960 --> 02:01:43,560
Speaker 1: getting super sick. And he's going through all this stuff

2212
02:01:43,640 --> 02:01:45,480
Speaker 1: and it's got to change his diet. But he literally

2213
02:01:45,560 --> 02:01:49,840
Speaker 1: goes from like he's a West Point Ranger Baseball team

2214
02:01:49,920 --> 02:01:54,280
Speaker 1: Division one second baseman PTI stud I mean, and the

2215
02:01:54,480 --> 02:01:57,400
Speaker 1: bald head. You know, they got like the little Jesse

2216
02:01:57,560 --> 02:02:00,000
Speaker 1: Ventura bunch, you know what I mean. Like those guys

2217
02:02:00,480 --> 02:02:04,360
Speaker 1: just like built in a garage, you know, like testosterone

2218
02:02:05,000 --> 02:02:06,120
Speaker 1: two hundred parts.

2219
02:02:05,960 --> 02:02:06,480
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.

2220
02:02:06,600 --> 02:02:09,280
Speaker 1: Like they made him, they made him to be like

2221
02:02:09,360 --> 02:02:12,440
Speaker 1: an alpha dude. And he now is like one hundred

2222
02:02:12,440 --> 02:02:16,120
Speaker 1: and eighty pounds and the stud to like one hundred

2223
02:02:16,120 --> 02:02:19,720
Speaker 1: and twenty loses everything and just looks like he's got

2224
02:02:19,920 --> 02:02:23,200
Speaker 1: he's dying. And we get ready to leave that day

2225
02:02:24,200 --> 02:02:26,320
Speaker 1: for a rack and a formation in the winner of

2226
02:02:26,880 --> 02:02:29,960
Speaker 1: you know, Bavaria in Germany, and he's like, I can't go.

2227
02:02:30,880 --> 02:02:34,640
Speaker 1: I'm not healthy enough. But my best friend is gonna

2228
02:02:35,080 --> 02:02:38,960
Speaker 1: go in my place. Sean Simms. He's our commander. Sean

2229
02:02:39,040 --> 02:02:42,760
Speaker 1: Simms is killed in Fallujah about two days after a

2230
02:02:42,880 --> 02:02:46,520
Speaker 1: day after my fight. Sean Simms, same thing I'm doing.

2231
02:02:47,280 --> 02:02:49,800
Speaker 1: He wants to lead from the front. He goes into

2232
02:02:49,840 --> 02:02:55,160
Speaker 1: a house and the house wins and he loses. He's

2233
02:02:55,200 --> 02:02:58,959
Speaker 1: a captain's he knows what he's doing. He got unlucky

2234
02:02:59,320 --> 02:03:00,000
Speaker 1: where I got lucky.

2235
02:03:00,440 --> 02:03:01,280
Speaker 2: Same story.

2236
02:03:01,960 --> 02:03:04,840
Speaker 1: He dies, He's got a wife and a little boy

2237
02:03:04,880 --> 02:03:09,320
Speaker 1: at home. Captain Walter is our commander that gave up

2238
02:03:09,400 --> 02:03:13,000
Speaker 1: that command for his best friend. His best friends killed.

2239
02:03:14,040 --> 02:03:18,640
Speaker 1: Walter comes in that day that that photo of nap

2240
02:03:18,840 --> 02:03:21,720
Speaker 1: and fits in some random guy. That was the day

2241
02:03:21,760 --> 02:03:25,440
Speaker 1: Walter came back to us. And Walter, they flew him

2242
02:03:25,480 --> 02:03:29,320
Speaker 1: into Fallujah and he took over the company that he

2243
02:03:29,480 --> 02:03:36,360
Speaker 1: led with absolutely yeah, he did it because I can't

2244
02:03:36,400 --> 02:03:39,040
Speaker 1: say enough about him and and and this and his fight,

2245
02:03:39,680 --> 02:03:43,120
Speaker 1: his he was these officers, the West Point guys, cerebral

2246
02:03:43,280 --> 02:03:46,840
Speaker 1: and Connecticut at the same time, but the decency and

2247
02:03:46,960 --> 02:03:51,560
Speaker 1: Captain Walter, he loved us like we were.

2248
02:03:52,560 --> 02:03:53,400
Speaker 2: You know, his family.

2249
02:03:53,680 --> 02:03:56,400
Speaker 1: And and I never as a as a young guy,

2250
02:03:56,880 --> 02:03:59,920
Speaker 1: I don't I couldn't say that to another man. I

2251
02:04:00,080 --> 02:04:03,360
Speaker 1: couldn't say that I loved a guy. It was always weird.

2252
02:04:03,400 --> 02:04:05,240
Speaker 1: You're in the army, You're not like by the way,

2253
02:04:05,280 --> 02:04:07,600
Speaker 1: you might want to be warned of the people that

2254
02:04:07,800 --> 02:04:10,840
Speaker 1: look gloggle your eyes and tell you I love you.

2255
02:04:11,600 --> 02:04:12,200
Speaker 2: It was weird.

2256
02:04:12,440 --> 02:04:16,120
Speaker 1: Today as a middle aged man, I could I could tell.

2257
02:04:16,240 --> 02:04:18,280
Speaker 1: I could say that because I mean it and I

2258
02:04:18,440 --> 02:04:22,920
Speaker 1: care about them. And now we're old and We're being

2259
02:04:23,000 --> 02:04:25,440
Speaker 1: honest with our feelings and how we feel, and we do.

2260
02:04:25,600 --> 02:04:27,640
Speaker 1: We care about each other a lot. I think that's

2261
02:04:27,680 --> 02:04:32,480
Speaker 1: the building block of valor is love. I don't think

2262
02:04:32,560 --> 02:04:35,680
Speaker 1: you can do something for someone else unless that's the

2263
02:04:35,800 --> 02:04:37,720
Speaker 1: ultimate way to love someone.

2264
02:04:38,560 --> 02:04:44,480
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna group all of these guys collectively as

2265
02:04:44,560 --> 02:04:48,680
Speaker 3: the Ramrods. So if your grandfather is study and your

2266
02:04:48,760 --> 02:04:53,240
Speaker 3: dad is unflappable, what are the ram Rods in supporting you?

2267
02:04:53,440 --> 02:04:53,480
Speaker 1: What?

2268
02:04:53,760 --> 02:04:58,960
Speaker 3: What tenant from them supported you?

2269
02:05:00,800 --> 02:05:07,200
Speaker 1: I mean they I always think of that relationship of

2270
02:05:07,440 --> 02:05:14,240
Speaker 1: just the accountability. They force you every day to be accountable.

2271
02:05:14,720 --> 02:05:19,120
Speaker 1: You can't words. Anything that comes out of your mouth

2272
02:05:19,280 --> 02:05:25,160
Speaker 1: has to automatically that check is automatically withdrawn from that

2273
02:05:25,240 --> 02:05:29,600
Speaker 1: account the minute you say it. Every aspect of who

2274
02:05:29,680 --> 02:05:33,000
Speaker 1: you are and what you do, that trust is earned

2275
02:05:33,360 --> 02:05:37,920
Speaker 1: and it means something. And that honor, that integrity, that character,

2276
02:05:38,600 --> 02:05:42,560
Speaker 1: that all is what keeps me going. And there's been

2277
02:05:42,560 --> 02:05:44,560
Speaker 1: a lot of things. You know, this award, everyone talks

2278
02:05:44,560 --> 02:05:47,080
Speaker 1: about the good. There's a lot of crazy that comes

2279
02:05:47,200 --> 02:05:49,680
Speaker 1: with it, they believe it or not. We're a divided

2280
02:05:49,760 --> 02:05:50,480
Speaker 1: country today.

2281
02:05:50,520 --> 02:05:53,839
Speaker 3: Did you know how that you know I was slightly

2282
02:05:53,920 --> 02:05:56,720
Speaker 3: aware of it. And that's only one of the reasons

2283
02:05:56,720 --> 02:05:59,040
Speaker 3: why I'm sitting here talking to you about an army

2284
02:05:59,080 --> 02:05:59,560
Speaker 3: and normal FI.

2285
02:06:00,480 --> 02:06:03,880
Speaker 1: There's a very re litigious faction of people in this

2286
02:06:04,040 --> 02:06:07,320
Speaker 1: world that, for whatever reason, they see you as a mascot,

2287
02:06:07,920 --> 02:06:11,000
Speaker 1: not as a veteran and a mascot.

2288
02:06:11,400 --> 02:06:14,839
Speaker 3: A mascot, you're You're a mascot of the machine.

2289
02:06:15,200 --> 02:06:17,600
Speaker 1: You're a mascot of whatever political party they want to

2290
02:06:17,640 --> 02:06:19,920
Speaker 1: put you in. You're a mascot of the president who

2291
02:06:19,920 --> 02:06:22,480
Speaker 1: gave you the award. Even though Obama approved this award,

2292
02:06:22,920 --> 02:06:25,280
Speaker 1: Trump put it on me, and so naturally I'm a

2293
02:06:26,240 --> 02:06:29,320
Speaker 1: I'm now a spokesperson for the Trump administration, and all

2294
02:06:29,440 --> 02:06:32,520
Speaker 1: that vitriol that goes towards him is you know, comes

2295
02:06:32,560 --> 02:06:36,480
Speaker 1: at you and because you're it's not fair, it's it's

2296
02:06:37,000 --> 02:06:39,560
Speaker 1: i would say, it's criminal into some of the actions

2297
02:06:39,600 --> 02:06:42,680
Speaker 1: that have that have occurred where you know that video

2298
02:06:42,800 --> 02:06:44,160
Speaker 1: that you're talking just.

2299
02:06:44,240 --> 02:06:47,280
Speaker 3: About to say it went. In the video you say,

2300
02:06:47,760 --> 02:06:49,680
Speaker 3: I don't care how you vote, I don't care how

2301
02:06:49,720 --> 02:06:53,640
Speaker 3: you worship, I don't care, I don't care who you love,

2302
02:06:53,800 --> 02:06:55,200
Speaker 3: how you I don't care any of it.

2303
02:06:55,280 --> 02:06:58,480
Speaker 1: I'm like, they're like, I'm a gay soldier. Awesome, be

2304
02:06:59,160 --> 02:07:03,360
Speaker 1: super gay. We're fighting the communists Chinese tomorrow and you

2305
02:07:03,800 --> 02:07:06,520
Speaker 1: and your Gloria astevon iPod are gonna come with us

2306
02:07:06,520 --> 02:07:07,800
Speaker 1: and we're going to fight China together.

2307
02:07:08,320 --> 02:07:09,040
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter.

2308
02:07:10,800 --> 02:07:14,840
Speaker 1: I don't care where you are a soldier. You're a professional.

2309
02:07:15,040 --> 02:07:19,800
Speaker 1: And by the way, all of the distractions of heterosexuals, homosexuals,

2310
02:07:20,000 --> 02:07:23,240
Speaker 1: you name it, they are superseded by professionalism.

2311
02:07:23,960 --> 02:07:26,720
Speaker 2: We don't. You're not if you're in an office.

2312
02:07:26,760 --> 02:07:29,560
Speaker 3: And by the way, this comes from a Christian man.

2313
02:07:29,720 --> 02:07:32,880
Speaker 1: Exactly, I'm not even it's not even to me.

2314
02:07:33,160 --> 02:07:34,160
Speaker 2: My whole point is is that.

2315
02:07:34,440 --> 02:07:35,400
Speaker 3: But it's not even about that.

2316
02:07:35,600 --> 02:07:38,440
Speaker 1: It's not even about that. If you're a headosexual that

2317
02:07:38,600 --> 02:07:43,200
Speaker 1: cannot separate what you're attracted to in the middle of

2318
02:07:43,280 --> 02:07:45,600
Speaker 1: the confines of a of a work day, I got

2319
02:07:45,640 --> 02:07:48,760
Speaker 1: problems with that too, all right. If I walk into

2320
02:07:48,760 --> 02:07:51,600
Speaker 1: a conference room and you're slapping fannies when we're trying

2321
02:07:51,640 --> 02:07:54,320
Speaker 1: to get work, you're a distraction. You need to go.

2322
02:07:55,320 --> 02:07:56,040
Speaker 2: I don't want that.

2323
02:07:56,520 --> 02:07:58,200
Speaker 1: I don't want that in my unit. I don't want

2324
02:07:58,240 --> 02:08:00,320
Speaker 1: that on my team. I want a profession at all.

2325
02:08:00,680 --> 02:08:03,520
Speaker 1: And if you happen to be born a woman, and

2326
02:08:03,640 --> 02:08:06,360
Speaker 1: you're here as a female. You are not a woman.

2327
02:08:06,880 --> 02:08:09,960
Speaker 1: You're not a female. You are a soldier and you're

2328
02:08:09,960 --> 02:08:12,080
Speaker 1: gonna do the job. But if you can't do the job,

2329
02:08:12,600 --> 02:08:15,560
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. You're on the cutting line too, and I

2330
02:08:17,040 --> 02:08:17,640
Speaker 1: watch you there.

2331
02:08:17,920 --> 02:08:18,400
Speaker 2: Let's do it.

2332
02:08:18,800 --> 02:08:23,880
Speaker 1: We're here to win, and winning means saving lives. That's

2333
02:08:23,920 --> 02:08:25,920
Speaker 1: what it means. It's not about feeling good. There's a

2334
02:08:25,960 --> 02:08:27,680
Speaker 1: lot of people that want to be like I feel

2335
02:08:27,720 --> 02:08:29,880
Speaker 1: good about the direction the military.

2336
02:08:29,520 --> 02:08:31,480
Speaker 2: Is going, and you're not. You don't have skin in

2337
02:08:31,560 --> 02:08:31,880
Speaker 2: the game.

2338
02:08:32,440 --> 02:08:34,320
Speaker 1: You could, you know, the best way to feel good

2339
02:08:34,640 --> 02:08:37,440
Speaker 1: is watching him a bunch of veterans and a parade

2340
02:08:37,920 --> 02:08:40,520
Speaker 1: at the end of the war, walking in a formation

2341
02:08:40,920 --> 02:08:45,240
Speaker 1: that makes you feel good. But your policies of whatever,

2342
02:08:45,320 --> 02:08:47,920
Speaker 1: you're trying to turn this thing into a peatri dish

2343
02:08:48,000 --> 02:08:50,840
Speaker 1: of horrible idea. I mean, this is a it doesn't

2344
02:08:50,840 --> 02:08:54,240
Speaker 1: work at Harvard. Let's try in the United States. Paratupers.

2345
02:08:54,760 --> 02:08:57,800
Speaker 1: But what are we doing? You're you're just you're gutting

2346
02:08:58,160 --> 02:09:00,520
Speaker 1: all of the things that make you know there was

2347
02:09:00,560 --> 02:09:05,720
Speaker 1: a time America, whether it's board versus you know, of education,

2348
02:09:06,240 --> 02:09:09,120
Speaker 1: or brown versus Board of Education, or plusy versus ferguson

2349
02:09:09,520 --> 02:09:12,840
Speaker 1: all of the issues that we had with integration in America.

2350
02:09:13,160 --> 02:09:17,360
Speaker 1: The military led the way the military was integrated before

2351
02:09:17,400 --> 02:09:20,840
Speaker 1: our government was integrated, and all of the promises from

2352
02:09:20,880 --> 02:09:24,520
Speaker 1: Andrew Jackson to George Washington, if you black men have

2353
02:09:24,760 --> 02:09:28,480
Speaker 1: died along white men since this nation's inception, from the

2354
02:09:28,560 --> 02:09:32,720
Speaker 1: Boston massacre to you know, our first battles of the revolution,

2355
02:09:33,240 --> 02:09:37,560
Speaker 1: African Americans have bled along with white people. This our

2356
02:09:37,720 --> 02:09:42,200
Speaker 1: failure is man and leadership. Leadership has failed America. It's

2357
02:09:42,320 --> 02:09:45,320
Speaker 1: never defined our Declaration or our Constitution the way it

2358
02:09:45,400 --> 02:09:48,600
Speaker 1: was written to be. But that's man, and that's leadership.

2359
02:09:49,000 --> 02:09:53,720
Speaker 1: The institution is what needs to be preserved. The institution

2360
02:09:54,320 --> 02:09:57,160
Speaker 1: made the steps when our society couldn't make the steps.

2361
02:09:57,800 --> 02:10:01,160
Speaker 1: We don't need to tinker with that. You're not a

2362
02:10:01,280 --> 02:10:04,120
Speaker 1: black man in the military and you're not a white man.

2363
02:10:04,640 --> 02:10:07,760
Speaker 1: My old sar major who died in Felujah said, you're green.

2364
02:10:08,600 --> 02:10:11,680
Speaker 1: That's your color. You're green, and we're all green. And

2365
02:10:11,760 --> 02:10:14,440
Speaker 1: we're all gonna go two days without food, we're all

2366
02:10:14,440 --> 02:10:17,200
Speaker 1: gonna go three days without sleep, and at the end,

2367
02:10:17,600 --> 02:10:19,880
Speaker 1: you're gonna be there for each other. And that's what

2368
02:10:20,040 --> 02:10:23,440
Speaker 1: we did from all parts of this contrary, all backgrounds,

2369
02:10:23,720 --> 02:10:27,800
Speaker 1: all suspective sexualities. I never was like, I need four

2370
02:10:28,840 --> 02:10:33,160
Speaker 1: machine gunning Democrats, and I need them at a four hundred.

2371
02:10:33,800 --> 02:10:36,640
Speaker 1: I need some people that are a four partil birth abortion,

2372
02:10:37,200 --> 02:10:40,360
Speaker 1: and we need them on this chalk at zero seven.

2373
02:10:40,720 --> 02:10:43,040
Speaker 1: No one gives a damn. Do your job, do it

2374
02:10:43,080 --> 02:10:45,400
Speaker 1: to the best of your ability. I know we cancel

2375
02:10:45,440 --> 02:10:48,040
Speaker 1: each other's vote out. I don't care. I don't care.

2376
02:10:48,120 --> 02:10:50,360
Speaker 1: I don't care what your team is, what college. With

2377
02:10:50,520 --> 02:10:55,120
Speaker 1: all these rivalries Oklahoma, Texas, we got a huge you're

2378
02:10:55,240 --> 02:10:58,800
Speaker 1: you're an American and that's beautiful. And to play with

2379
02:10:58,960 --> 02:11:02,880
Speaker 1: that now, at this time in our country shows that

2380
02:11:02,960 --> 02:11:05,720
Speaker 1: we just we just have petulant children. We don't have

2381
02:11:06,040 --> 02:11:12,720
Speaker 1: mature adults, and we need more emotionally stable adults running

2382
02:11:12,960 --> 02:11:15,920
Speaker 1: our government. And we have a lot of of and

2383
02:11:16,000 --> 02:11:19,200
Speaker 1: they're on both sides, but it's it's really gutting. Our

2384
02:11:19,320 --> 02:11:22,040
Speaker 1: West Point is a joke. They're just they are going

2385
02:11:22,120 --> 02:11:26,080
Speaker 1: to war with our military academies, the Air Force Academy.

2386
02:11:26,240 --> 02:11:28,600
Speaker 1: The graduation this year was famous because Biden fell over

2387
02:11:28,640 --> 02:11:30,840
Speaker 1: a sandbag and and we talked about him falling, but

2388
02:11:30,960 --> 02:11:33,360
Speaker 1: the real story of the what the Air Force graduation

2389
02:11:33,680 --> 02:11:35,200
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with the President of United States.

2390
02:11:35,360 --> 02:11:40,040
Speaker 1: It had to do with the two designated huggers. What

2391
02:11:40,440 --> 02:11:43,480
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say that again, designated huggers. What is that

2392
02:11:44,000 --> 02:11:46,800
Speaker 1: when you got your diploma, these two air men and

2393
02:11:46,840 --> 02:11:52,320
Speaker 1: women hugged you because you were a graduate. The Air

2394
02:11:52,360 --> 02:11:57,400
Speaker 1: Force Academy put hugging designators at the end of that ceremony.

2395
02:11:57,840 --> 02:12:03,600
Speaker 1: To me, far far outweighs any president and his inability

2396
02:12:03,640 --> 02:12:07,760
Speaker 1: to keep his equilibrium. That is, this is the way.

2397
02:12:07,920 --> 02:12:10,360
Speaker 1: You can't say mom and dad at the Air Force

2398
02:12:10,400 --> 02:12:13,280
Speaker 1: Academy anymore because it offends people. Do a mom and dad.

2399
02:12:13,840 --> 02:12:18,040
Speaker 1: Get all this crap out. That's the that's universities. You

2400
02:12:18,160 --> 02:12:21,040
Speaker 1: want to do that in your public school systems. Elections

2401
02:12:21,080 --> 02:12:24,800
Speaker 1: have consequences, you know, Go ahead, go go do all that,

2402
02:12:25,520 --> 02:12:30,000
Speaker 1: but don't touch our military. Our military has had proud

2403
02:12:30,080 --> 02:12:34,720
Speaker 1: men and women serving, dying and sat Arlington Cemetery has

2404
02:12:34,840 --> 02:12:39,560
Speaker 1: gay soldiers buried in it. So not a single one

2405
02:12:39,640 --> 02:12:42,720
Speaker 1: of them would have would have wanted to be identified

2406
02:12:42,760 --> 02:12:47,920
Speaker 1: as anything other than American patriot. We are cheapening that sacrifice.

2407
02:12:48,680 --> 02:12:50,960
Speaker 1: He got four hundred thousand men and women who gave

2408
02:12:51,000 --> 02:12:53,080
Speaker 1: their lives to this country, and we're gonna put their

2409
02:12:53,320 --> 02:12:57,240
Speaker 1: entire life's worth into what they're attracted to and who

2410
02:12:57,320 --> 02:13:00,480
Speaker 1: they love. No one gives a dim about that, no cares.

2411
02:13:00,640 --> 02:13:02,800
Speaker 1: You're not reading Audie Murphy. You know what takeaway from

2412
02:13:02,840 --> 02:13:05,280
Speaker 1: Autie Murphy? He was attracted to women? Did you know that?

2413
02:13:05,680 --> 02:13:06,640
Speaker 2: Does anyone give it?

2414
02:13:07,720 --> 02:13:10,960
Speaker 1: Does anyone care? Do I need to know in your designation?

2415
02:13:11,240 --> 02:13:14,919
Speaker 1: He killed forty seven Germans, beat them with a hatchet,

2416
02:13:15,640 --> 02:13:18,240
Speaker 1: and he loved men, like who cares?

2417
02:13:19,000 --> 02:13:20,000
Speaker 2: That's the takeaway.

2418
02:13:20,160 --> 02:13:22,840
Speaker 1: If that's the takeaway, you're just in the wrong job.

2419
02:13:23,200 --> 02:13:26,280
Speaker 1: I'm sure there's a Silicon Valley job that puts that

2420
02:13:26,480 --> 02:13:29,680
Speaker 1: as they're hiring. You know, none of that is. I

2421
02:13:29,720 --> 02:13:32,080
Speaker 1: don't care what you love or who you vote for,

2422
02:13:32,280 --> 02:13:35,160
Speaker 1: if you're willing to say, worship how you worship, if

2423
02:13:35,200 --> 02:13:38,400
Speaker 1: you're willing to I got Muslims all over this army

2424
02:13:38,480 --> 02:13:41,120
Speaker 1: that are serving, that are dying and said we don't

2425
02:13:41,160 --> 02:13:46,120
Speaker 1: do anything in Iraq without a Rakis that are willing

2426
02:13:46,200 --> 02:13:51,720
Speaker 1: to sacrifice for Americans. Those turps and those soldiers, interpreters,

2427
02:13:51,920 --> 02:13:56,840
Speaker 1: they died ten to one over Americans over the contractors.

2428
02:13:57,640 --> 02:14:00,640
Speaker 3: Look, how about this I bet people would be surprised

2429
02:14:00,680 --> 02:14:03,400
Speaker 3: to find out that about five percent of the people

2430
02:14:03,520 --> 02:14:06,440
Speaker 3: serving the United States military are not American citizens.

2431
02:14:06,720 --> 02:14:10,600
Speaker 2: Hey, listen, that's a great pathway to citizenship.

2432
02:14:10,680 --> 02:14:14,320
Speaker 1: That's that's joint serve. All I need you to know

2433
02:14:15,080 --> 02:14:19,000
Speaker 1: is that America is more worthy and important than we are.

2434
02:14:19,560 --> 02:14:20,480
Speaker 2: That's what it takes.

2435
02:14:21,080 --> 02:14:25,600
Speaker 1: Is this country going to just implode on our differences

2436
02:14:26,000 --> 02:14:28,400
Speaker 1: or are we willing to say the great part about

2437
02:14:28,440 --> 02:14:31,680
Speaker 1: America is we acknowledge our faults. We achieve to be

2438
02:14:31,800 --> 02:14:35,960
Speaker 1: better than yesterday. And most importantly, there are bad people

2439
02:14:36,160 --> 02:14:39,560
Speaker 1: in this world. There are evil people in this world,

2440
02:14:39,800 --> 02:14:42,320
Speaker 1: and they want to take, they want to rape, they

2441
02:14:42,400 --> 02:14:44,840
Speaker 1: want to kill, and they want to dominate. We have

2442
02:14:45,000 --> 02:14:47,480
Speaker 1: to stand as the greatest force of good. And if

2443
02:14:47,560 --> 02:14:50,360
Speaker 1: you are willing to say that, America is emblematic of that,

2444
02:14:50,800 --> 02:14:53,600
Speaker 1: and my life is going to be dedicated to the

2445
02:14:53,760 --> 02:14:57,360
Speaker 1: service of the greatest force of good in this world.

2446
02:14:57,960 --> 02:15:01,280
Speaker 1: I want you here and all that other stuff. I'm

2447
02:15:01,320 --> 02:15:04,000
Speaker 1: sure we'll talk about it eventually when it comes to

2448
02:15:04,080 --> 02:15:06,600
Speaker 1: when we have a banquet and you know you have

2449
02:15:06,680 --> 02:15:09,800
Speaker 1: a different partner than I have, we'll talk. It's not

2450
02:15:09,960 --> 02:15:14,160
Speaker 1: going to at all diminish my professionalism. It cheapens my

2451
02:15:14,320 --> 02:15:18,360
Speaker 1: professionalism to assume that your difference is going to take

2452
02:15:18,440 --> 02:15:21,400
Speaker 1: me off my stride. And it's disrespectful to you to

2453
02:15:21,480 --> 02:15:25,360
Speaker 1: believe that your difference is going to impact your job.

2454
02:15:25,840 --> 02:15:28,680
Speaker 1: This is a problem. It's a problem, and if we

2455
02:15:28,720 --> 02:15:32,200
Speaker 1: don't fix this problem, we're going to lose the only

2456
02:15:32,800 --> 02:15:36,280
Speaker 1: aspect of our federal government that had ninety percent approval rating,

2457
02:15:36,600 --> 02:15:40,400
Speaker 1: which is our military. People love our military, and they're

2458
02:15:40,480 --> 02:15:44,320
Speaker 1: trying to turn it into you know, Stanford University, and

2459
02:15:45,400 --> 02:15:47,480
Speaker 1: I'm going to go out swinging to make sure that

2460
02:15:47,600 --> 02:15:48,160
Speaker 1: never happens.

2461
02:15:51,280 --> 02:15:59,360
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, it is so good to hear the

2462
02:15:59,480 --> 02:16:02,200
Speaker 3: truth of that perspective.

2463
02:16:02,480 --> 02:16:03,960
Speaker 2: But that brings me to the lawsuits.

2464
02:16:04,680 --> 02:16:09,040
Speaker 1: That's what the problem tends to be. Sometimes there's a

2465
02:16:09,080 --> 02:16:10,720
Speaker 1: little fear of litigation here and there.

2466
02:16:14,080 --> 02:16:26,720
Speaker 3: We'll be right back. Tell me about marily Carlson.

2467
02:16:27,760 --> 02:16:30,480
Speaker 2: So she is a gold star mother.

2468
02:16:30,640 --> 02:16:34,480
Speaker 1: She's the mother, Yes, gold stars, blue star parents have

2469
02:16:35,240 --> 02:16:38,480
Speaker 1: a son or daughter that serves in the military. A

2470
02:16:38,600 --> 02:16:42,040
Speaker 1: gold star parent is someone who loses someone in the military.

2471
02:16:42,879 --> 02:16:45,520
Speaker 1: Uh a son or daughter, son or daughter, son or

2472
02:16:45,600 --> 02:16:47,680
Speaker 1: daughter who loses someone in the military. And she was

2473
02:16:47,680 --> 02:16:49,640
Speaker 1: a gold Star Mom that I had met in Washington,

2474
02:16:49,720 --> 02:16:52,200
Speaker 1: d C. At a gold Star Mom event, and she

2475
02:16:52,280 --> 02:16:57,760
Speaker 1: started talking about her son, and you know, she's from Minnesota.

2476
02:16:58,000 --> 02:17:00,160
Speaker 1: I didn't think anything of it. And then she had

2477
02:17:00,240 --> 02:17:04,000
Speaker 1: mentioned that her son's nickname was Shrek, and that just

2478
02:17:04,160 --> 02:17:09,040
Speaker 1: kind of dropped me because immediately he's that guy. He

2479
02:17:09,160 --> 02:17:16,279
Speaker 1: went to school in Minnesota with the stud first Basement

2480
02:17:16,360 --> 02:17:18,320
Speaker 1: for the twins. They went to high school together. He

2481
02:17:18,480 --> 02:17:21,600
Speaker 1: was just a great football player. This kid was about

2482
02:17:21,640 --> 02:17:25,160
Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty five pounds in the military, carried

2483
02:17:25,200 --> 02:17:27,120
Speaker 1: a machine gun like it was a toothpick. I mean,

2484
02:17:27,240 --> 02:17:31,720
Speaker 1: just a big, big Minnesota bread Viking kid. But he

2485
02:17:31,840 --> 02:17:33,520
Speaker 1: was one of my dearest friends. And he was in

2486
02:17:33,560 --> 02:17:37,440
Speaker 1: second Platoon in Alpha Company, and he died at the

2487
02:17:37,560 --> 02:17:40,560
Speaker 1: very end of the deployment with five other guys in

2488
02:17:40,640 --> 02:17:48,000
Speaker 1: a really horrible situation. But her, she was constantly trying

2489
02:17:48,040 --> 02:17:53,640
Speaker 1: to get me to see Michael Carlson at Arlington, and

2490
02:17:54,000 --> 02:17:56,880
Speaker 1: I just I knew what that meant. It knew that

2491
02:17:57,040 --> 02:17:59,920
Speaker 1: the little game I'd been playing since I came home

2492
02:18:00,200 --> 02:18:04,520
Speaker 1: of it's not real. Michael's just off somewhere. I'll never

2493
02:18:04,600 --> 02:18:06,440
Speaker 1: talk to him again. People get, you know, how many

2494
02:18:06,480 --> 02:18:09,480
Speaker 1: people from your high school class do you talk to? Well,

2495
02:18:09,560 --> 02:18:12,160
Speaker 1: what if I told you they're all dead? You could

2496
02:18:12,240 --> 02:18:15,560
Speaker 1: rationalize not talking to them Again, life takes you separate ways.

2497
02:18:15,640 --> 02:18:18,720
Speaker 1: We don't begrudge the people that we don't talk to

2498
02:18:18,800 --> 02:18:22,600
Speaker 1: every Arlington and now it's real, real, Now it's real,

2499
02:18:22,680 --> 02:18:25,960
Speaker 1: it's in. Granted, it's in. He's right there. And I

2500
02:18:26,080 --> 02:18:29,680
Speaker 1: didn't want to do that, and so she was constantly

2501
02:18:29,840 --> 02:18:32,440
Speaker 1: trying to get me to do it in a way

2502
02:18:32,560 --> 02:18:35,920
Speaker 1: that I didn't want to do it. And then I

2503
02:18:36,080 --> 02:18:38,840
Speaker 1: saw her doing this for so many other parents that

2504
02:18:39,000 --> 02:18:44,120
Speaker 1: have gone with lost soldiers, that her entire life is

2505
02:18:44,600 --> 02:18:47,560
Speaker 1: living for other people and trying to bring them through

2506
02:18:47,640 --> 02:18:52,640
Speaker 1: this horrific journey of getting that notification, making sense of it,

2507
02:18:53,480 --> 02:18:56,560
Speaker 1: trying to love and be a part of all the

2508
02:18:56,680 --> 02:19:00,520
Speaker 1: people who survived, but also be there for whether their

2509
02:19:00,560 --> 02:19:06,600
Speaker 1: friend who happens to be her boy. I can't. I

2510
02:19:07,240 --> 02:19:10,360
Speaker 1: I was very stubborn. And then finally she just broke

2511
02:19:10,440 --> 02:19:15,040
Speaker 1: me down and and we did it, and I realized

2512
02:19:15,040 --> 02:19:21,680
Speaker 1: that I was It was unnatural to hold that those

2513
02:19:21,800 --> 02:19:25,600
Speaker 1: feelings back. It was unnatural to not be able to grieve.

2514
02:19:25,680 --> 02:19:28,680
Speaker 1: It was it was occupying space in my life that

2515
02:19:29,120 --> 02:19:33,840
Speaker 1: wasn't needed to be there, and I didn't. I didn't

2516
02:19:33,879 --> 02:19:39,080
Speaker 1: have anything to be ashamed of, because honestly, I couldn't

2517
02:19:39,200 --> 02:19:43,360
Speaker 1: support and love and be kind to her unless I

2518
02:19:43,480 --> 02:19:47,520
Speaker 1: showed her that her son actually meant enough to me,

2519
02:19:48,600 --> 02:19:52,040
Speaker 1: enough to me where I could honor him in a

2520
02:19:52,120 --> 02:19:53,320
Speaker 1: way that.

2521
02:19:54,800 --> 02:20:03,760
Speaker 3: Had I had to. You had to succumb to your

2522
02:20:03,800 --> 02:20:05,920
Speaker 3: own vulnerability to be able to do that.

2523
02:20:07,200 --> 02:20:11,280
Speaker 1: I didn't exactly do it, And that's the part that

2524
02:20:11,800 --> 02:20:13,800
Speaker 1: I had a hard time with because it would always

2525
02:20:13,840 --> 02:20:16,360
Speaker 1: be like there would always be steps that we would

2526
02:20:16,400 --> 02:20:18,480
Speaker 1: go and I would find a reason not to and

2527
02:20:19,640 --> 02:20:23,240
Speaker 1: it wasn't a matter of you know, the vulnerability thing. True,

2528
02:20:23,360 --> 02:20:25,960
Speaker 1: I'm not good with that emotions. I'm probably not the

2529
02:20:26,040 --> 02:20:29,240
Speaker 1: best person to do a Dear Abby column, you know

2530
02:20:29,280 --> 02:20:32,200
Speaker 1: what I mean. Everything's going to end with their losers

2531
02:20:32,280 --> 02:20:34,200
Speaker 1: leave them, you know what I mean? Like, you know

2532
02:20:34,240 --> 02:20:37,000
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, no matter what the situation. But but

2533
02:20:37,160 --> 02:20:40,800
Speaker 1: I do find I do find that when a mother

2534
02:20:41,760 --> 02:20:45,920
Speaker 1: is grieving her son, that there are things that you

2535
02:20:46,160 --> 02:20:49,400
Speaker 1: owe it. It's an obligation. If I had to make

2536
02:20:49,480 --> 02:20:53,959
Speaker 1: the choice to do this for me, it never would

2537
02:20:53,959 --> 02:20:55,879
Speaker 1: have happened because I don't want to feel that way,

2538
02:20:55,959 --> 02:20:57,800
Speaker 1: and I don't want to be put in that position,

2539
02:20:58,320 --> 02:21:01,240
Speaker 1: but being obligated to do it for someone who gave

2540
02:21:01,360 --> 02:21:05,280
Speaker 1: us their son. Now it's not about me, it's about her.

2541
02:21:06,120 --> 02:21:08,760
Speaker 1: And she kind of used that reverse psychology to get

2542
02:21:08,840 --> 02:21:11,320
Speaker 1: me away to mourn.

2543
02:21:11,760 --> 02:21:19,600
Speaker 3: And I mean, how honorable of her.

2544
02:21:20,360 --> 02:21:25,920
Speaker 1: She's incredible. She's again I I she's a she was,

2545
02:21:26,120 --> 02:21:31,119
Speaker 1: you know, obviously respected in our she's like the adopted mom.

2546
02:21:31,080 --> 02:21:32,160
Speaker 2: And our and our group.

2547
02:21:32,520 --> 02:21:36,000
Speaker 1: Uh and in a sense, that's her own vour Listen,

2548
02:21:36,240 --> 02:21:39,880
Speaker 1: that's everywhere again, that's that's the now you're talking about

2549
02:21:40,040 --> 02:21:45,560
Speaker 1: my mission statement. Everyone has it. Everyone has it, everyone

2550
02:21:45,680 --> 02:21:49,480
Speaker 1: displays it, everyone goes through it bad. You know, we

2551
02:21:49,680 --> 02:21:51,760
Speaker 1: we we talk about the different things that we want

2552
02:21:51,800 --> 02:21:53,520
Speaker 1: to Well this is more impressive than that.

2553
02:21:53,720 --> 02:21:54,560
Speaker 2: Can you imagine?

2554
02:21:55,879 --> 02:21:58,760
Speaker 1: That's human nature and everyone's gonna but at the end

2555
02:21:58,760 --> 02:22:00,800
Speaker 1: of the day, those stories are going to go away.

2556
02:22:01,160 --> 02:22:04,000
Speaker 1: And the people we don't talk about eighteen ninety eight,

2557
02:22:04,320 --> 02:22:07,320
Speaker 1: we don't talk about nineteen ten. We talk about our

2558
02:22:07,520 --> 02:22:10,680
Speaker 1: real world in our lifetime. Our lifetimes are going to go.

2559
02:22:11,160 --> 02:22:13,760
Speaker 1: But as a society and as a culture, we have

2560
02:22:13,959 --> 02:22:17,520
Speaker 1: to be the group. There's something uniquely in our pedigree

2561
02:22:17,520 --> 02:22:20,120
Speaker 1: as American citizens that Europeans don't have.

2562
02:22:20,680 --> 02:22:21,760
Speaker 2: I've seen it for myself.

2563
02:22:22,080 --> 02:22:25,080
Speaker 1: Maybe you have. There's certain parts of the world where

2564
02:22:25,480 --> 02:22:27,760
Speaker 1: you don't stand up and speak your mind.

2565
02:22:28,680 --> 02:22:29,440
Speaker 2: It's not worth it.

2566
02:22:30,360 --> 02:22:33,280
Speaker 1: You know, there's no ambition to do anything outside your

2567
02:22:33,320 --> 02:22:36,440
Speaker 1: comfort zone because there is a force, or there's a government,

2568
02:22:36,560 --> 02:22:41,560
Speaker 1: or there's something out there that will kinetically put you down. Americans,

2569
02:22:41,680 --> 02:22:45,640
Speaker 1: this city is built on standing up when everyone else

2570
02:22:45,720 --> 02:22:49,440
Speaker 1: tells you not to stand up, to represent things that

2571
02:22:49,480 --> 02:22:52,640
Speaker 1: you're not supposed to represent. And how that changes everything,

2572
02:22:52,959 --> 02:22:55,920
Speaker 1: and how one little town that's not even the town

2573
02:22:56,040 --> 02:22:58,640
Speaker 1: you think of when you think of the state, you

2574
02:22:58,720 --> 02:23:04,800
Speaker 1: think of Nashville, of that Memphis changed America and America

2575
02:23:05,040 --> 02:23:08,160
Speaker 1: changed the world. So, I mean, there's so much to

2576
02:23:08,240 --> 02:23:12,000
Speaker 1: be said about encouraging That's who we are as a people.

2577
02:23:13,200 --> 02:23:19,000
Speaker 1: And we can never forget the group that literally said life,

2578
02:23:19,360 --> 02:23:22,080
Speaker 1: whether it's a cop, a fireman, or a soldier that

2579
02:23:22,320 --> 02:23:25,840
Speaker 1: literally gives their life for the greater good in the community.

2580
02:23:26,400 --> 02:23:27,320
Speaker 2: That's something you've got.

2581
02:23:27,400 --> 02:23:31,840
Speaker 1: To Mourning it is one thing if it's personal, but

2582
02:23:32,160 --> 02:23:35,879
Speaker 1: celebrating it. I tell people that the memorial days should

2583
02:23:35,879 --> 02:23:39,920
Speaker 1: be celebrated with turkey and gravy and mashed potatoes. That

2584
02:23:40,040 --> 02:23:41,000
Speaker 1: should be Thanksgiving.

2585
02:23:41,720 --> 02:23:43,680
Speaker 2: Our Thanksgiving should be a memorial day.

2586
02:23:43,840 --> 02:23:47,240
Speaker 1: We should be grateful that our nation exists where people

2587
02:23:47,320 --> 02:23:50,680
Speaker 1: are willing to say and all this crazy chaos, this

2588
02:23:50,879 --> 02:23:51,680
Speaker 1: country's worth it.

2589
02:23:52,040 --> 02:23:52,680
Speaker 2: You're worth it.

2590
02:23:53,800 --> 02:23:56,240
Speaker 1: I had a Vietnam vet. Everyone thanks me for my

2591
02:23:56,320 --> 02:23:58,600
Speaker 1: service everywhere I go, and they're like, thank you for

2592
02:23:58,640 --> 02:24:00,440
Speaker 1: your service, and you don't know what to say, Like, hey,

2593
02:24:00,640 --> 02:24:04,560
Speaker 1: college wasn't working out, you know, a pretty good shot,

2594
02:24:04,720 --> 02:24:07,039
Speaker 1: I figured, you know, like, what what do you say

2595
02:24:07,080 --> 02:24:08,400
Speaker 1: where they say thank you for your service?

2596
02:24:08,480 --> 02:24:09,160
Speaker 2: Like you're welcome.

2597
02:24:09,879 --> 02:24:13,920
Speaker 1: So it's pretentious, this Vietnam vet told me Gary Biker.

2598
02:24:14,080 --> 02:24:15,960
Speaker 1: He said, next time someone does that, look him in

2599
02:24:16,000 --> 02:24:17,320
Speaker 1: the eye and say you're worth it.

2600
02:24:18,440 --> 02:24:18,879
Speaker 3: Oh wow.

2601
02:24:19,280 --> 02:24:21,760
Speaker 2: And that, by the way, do that in La. They'll

2602
02:24:21,800 --> 02:24:23,880
Speaker 2: think you're saying you know.

2603
02:24:23,959 --> 02:24:26,240
Speaker 1: It's like it's like I tell people, it's like substituting

2604
02:24:26,280 --> 02:24:29,200
Speaker 1: God bless you with someone sneezes and you say, Jesus

2605
02:24:29,320 --> 02:24:29,720
Speaker 1: loves you.

2606
02:24:30,120 --> 02:24:32,960
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? Like this totally freaking their freak.

2607
02:24:33,600 --> 02:24:34,840
Speaker 2: They're not accustomce to it.

2608
02:24:35,320 --> 02:24:37,840
Speaker 1: But but the fact is, when someone thanks you for

2609
02:24:37,920 --> 02:24:39,760
Speaker 1: your service, you say you know what, you're worth it,

2610
02:24:40,640 --> 02:24:44,200
Speaker 1: and it totally changes the dynamic. It does ultimately, that's

2611
02:24:44,400 --> 02:24:47,720
Speaker 1: exactly why everyone does something for the community, because you're

2612
02:24:47,760 --> 02:24:48,040
Speaker 1: worth it.

2613
02:24:50,760 --> 02:24:55,360
Speaker 3: What you gained from your experience with her, she.

2614
02:24:55,600 --> 02:24:58,840
Speaker 1: Taught me that she didn't Those weren't her words, but

2615
02:24:59,000 --> 02:25:01,360
Speaker 1: those were her actions, and that's the love she showed me.

2616
02:25:01,440 --> 02:25:03,879
Speaker 1: And I'm a fever grateful Marrily Carlson is a.

2617
02:25:05,400 --> 02:25:07,360
Speaker 2: Yeah. I love her and I appreciate her.

2618
02:25:08,720 --> 02:25:13,160
Speaker 3: Since it's talking about a metal celebrating valor and her

2619
02:25:13,320 --> 02:25:16,760
Speaker 3: valor and the Rambrod's valor, there's another little piece of

2620
02:25:16,840 --> 02:25:20,480
Speaker 3: valor that has inspired you, and it oddly was at

2621
02:25:20,520 --> 02:25:23,600
Speaker 3: the end of your father's life. Yeah, tell us about that.

2622
02:25:23,840 --> 02:25:28,840
Speaker 1: Everyone that I had seen, everyone fought for their life,

2623
02:25:29,760 --> 02:25:33,320
Speaker 1: and it was usually in a very small window, and

2624
02:25:33,400 --> 02:25:35,480
Speaker 1: whether they won the fight or they lost the fight,

2625
02:25:36,120 --> 02:25:41,160
Speaker 1: no one gave into it. And I had the perception

2626
02:25:42,480 --> 02:25:48,080
Speaker 1: through seeing people was that death is horrible and death

2627
02:25:48,200 --> 02:25:49,959
Speaker 1: is the worst thing in the world, and we avoided

2628
02:25:49,959 --> 02:25:53,040
Speaker 1: at all costs, and when we die, we failed and

2629
02:25:53,160 --> 02:25:53,720
Speaker 1: we lost.

2630
02:25:54,200 --> 02:25:58,080
Speaker 2: You lose the battle, you lose the fight, you pass away.

2631
02:25:59,320 --> 02:26:03,440
Speaker 1: My dad was first time I saw death and I

2632
02:26:03,600 --> 02:26:08,000
Speaker 1: saw strength in it, and I saw a person that

2633
02:26:08,200 --> 02:26:11,240
Speaker 1: the way they went into death was so fearless.

2634
02:26:12,400 --> 02:26:15,160
Speaker 2: It was just I have faith, and I believe this.

2635
02:26:16,360 --> 02:26:19,560
Speaker 1: And you know a lot of people have faith until

2636
02:26:20,160 --> 02:26:23,360
Speaker 1: they see their own blood on the ground, or they

2637
02:26:23,480 --> 02:26:26,879
Speaker 1: realized that the end is near, and then there's a panic.

2638
02:26:28,000 --> 02:26:31,840
Speaker 1: This is a guy who just absolutely had no panic

2639
02:26:31,879 --> 02:26:35,440
Speaker 1: to him. He had no panic, he had no fear.

2640
02:26:35,520 --> 02:26:38,800
Speaker 1: He was, you know, almost like he was looking at

2641
02:26:38,840 --> 02:26:41,040
Speaker 1: an almanac of so Saint Peter, I'm gonna take a

2642
02:26:41,160 --> 02:26:42,480
Speaker 1: rite at that accent.

2643
02:26:42,200 --> 02:26:43,120
Speaker 5: You know, like it was.

2644
02:26:43,920 --> 02:26:46,480
Speaker 1: But he was so confident of what was going to

2645
02:26:46,560 --> 02:26:48,800
Speaker 1: happen when he died, that he had a trip take

2646
02:26:49,000 --> 02:26:52,200
Speaker 1: you know, the whole thing. It was so I never

2647
02:26:52,280 --> 02:26:55,080
Speaker 1: seen anything like it before, and I was forever changed

2648
02:26:55,120 --> 02:26:57,360
Speaker 1: by it. And so do I think of you know,

2649
02:26:57,480 --> 02:27:00,240
Speaker 1: we all think of our parents at an age. I

2650
02:27:00,280 --> 02:27:03,680
Speaker 1: think of my dad thirty or I was twelve, or

2651
02:27:03,760 --> 02:27:06,680
Speaker 1: I was whatever. Every image I have with my dad

2652
02:27:06,879 --> 02:27:11,200
Speaker 1: is of that image, because as though I lionized him

2653
02:27:11,720 --> 02:27:14,400
Speaker 1: and thought he was Superman when I was nine, I

2654
02:27:14,600 --> 02:27:19,400
Speaker 1: never saw him stronger, tougher, or more worthy of the

2655
02:27:19,520 --> 02:27:22,240
Speaker 1: title of being, you know, my hero than.

2656
02:27:22,600 --> 02:27:25,920
Speaker 3: When he died, which is incredible that the strongest you

2657
02:27:26,040 --> 02:27:27,160
Speaker 3: see him was at his dad.

2658
02:27:27,480 --> 02:27:30,040
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, because he just went in it with there

2659
02:27:30,160 --> 02:27:34,440
Speaker 1: was this. He didn't lose. He didn't lose. He didn't

2660
02:27:34,600 --> 02:27:38,520
Speaker 1: he didn't quit. He was just like, it's gonna this

2661
02:27:38,720 --> 02:27:41,040
Speaker 1: is happening and I have no control over it. But

2662
02:27:41,120 --> 02:27:43,280
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, I'd love to have another twenty

2663
02:27:43,360 --> 02:27:45,760
Speaker 1: years with you. I love to have another twenty years

2664
02:27:45,800 --> 02:27:48,240
Speaker 1: with my grandkids, but I'm not going to have that.

2665
02:27:49,360 --> 02:27:51,720
Speaker 2: So I'm I'm I know where I'm going, I know

2666
02:27:51,959 --> 02:27:53,760
Speaker 2: what I'm what I was promised.

2667
02:27:53,920 --> 02:27:56,360
Speaker 1: I know who I am, But more importantly, I know

2668
02:27:56,400 --> 02:27:59,160
Speaker 1: who you are, and I know that this was the

2669
02:27:59,200 --> 02:28:01,160
Speaker 1: perfect amount of time time to get you out there

2670
02:28:01,240 --> 02:28:03,240
Speaker 1: to do what you have to do. And just know that,

2671
02:28:03,959 --> 02:28:09,480
Speaker 1: you know, I'll be with you, and You're You're loved,

2672
02:28:09,640 --> 02:28:12,000
Speaker 1: You'll always be loved, You'll I'll always be proud of you.

2673
02:28:12,640 --> 02:28:14,000
Speaker 1: But I'm just not going to be here for it.

2674
02:28:14,200 --> 02:28:20,039
Speaker 3: What I'm awesome? What what I'm awesome? Into a story

2675
02:28:20,800 --> 02:28:27,440
Speaker 3: that started with the sickening feeling you got from the

2676
02:28:27,520 --> 02:28:28,360
Speaker 3: look from your father.

2677
02:28:28,640 --> 02:28:30,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, shame, Yeah, absolutely shame.

2678
02:28:31,600 --> 02:28:39,360
Speaker 4: Two completing other pride, Yeah, yeah, no, he returned that

2679
02:28:39,520 --> 02:28:43,199
Speaker 4: to me and and uh and that that's that's cool.

2680
02:28:43,400 --> 02:28:44,560
Speaker 2: I I won't.

2681
02:28:44,959 --> 02:28:45,440
Speaker 1: I can't.

2682
02:28:45,760 --> 02:28:46,200
Speaker 2: That's you.

2683
02:28:46,400 --> 02:28:48,360
Speaker 1: Those are experiences that you have and you're just like,

2684
02:28:48,480 --> 02:28:50,520
Speaker 1: I can't be the same person, you know what I mean,

2685
02:28:50,720 --> 02:28:52,160
Speaker 1: it's too profound.

2686
02:28:52,480 --> 02:28:54,400
Speaker 3: And clearly that helps support your greatness.

2687
02:28:54,800 --> 02:28:59,199
Speaker 2: Well, I know it's weird to be called great normal folk.

2688
02:28:59,640 --> 02:29:00,680
Speaker 3: That's no, you're right.

2689
02:29:01,040 --> 02:29:04,880
Speaker 1: I listen, this has been a everything that you're talking

2690
02:29:04,920 --> 02:29:08,959
Speaker 1: about now. It plays so perfectly into you know, are

2691
02:29:09,000 --> 02:29:11,280
Speaker 1: there veterans out there and listening to this program. Maybe

2692
02:29:11,320 --> 02:29:13,440
Speaker 1: there are, maybe there aren't. But I can tell you

2693
02:29:13,560 --> 02:29:16,320
Speaker 1: that whatever separates us and what we decide to do

2694
02:29:16,440 --> 02:29:20,240
Speaker 1: to serve that element of service is identical why we

2695
02:29:20,360 --> 02:29:22,560
Speaker 1: do the things we do to make the group better,

2696
02:29:22,879 --> 02:29:26,039
Speaker 1: to make the team better. I know, a quality team

2697
02:29:26,840 --> 02:29:29,760
Speaker 1: is going to have individuals that will remember these life

2698
02:29:29,840 --> 02:29:31,560
Speaker 1: lessons when they're out.

2699
02:29:31,440 --> 02:29:33,640
Speaker 3: Of work, and in your experience and in what we're

2700
02:29:33,720 --> 02:29:37,240
Speaker 3: talking about, that team, as our country and the army,

2701
02:29:37,400 --> 02:29:46,320
Speaker 3: is each of us. Yes, absolutely, we'll be right back

2702
02:29:55,240 --> 02:30:02,760
Speaker 3: so as you as listeners and viewers can see David's

2703
02:30:02,800 --> 02:30:10,199
Speaker 3: far from just a meathead soldier. After service, you wrote

2704
02:30:10,520 --> 02:30:15,880
Speaker 3: the first book that I read, which by and large

2705
02:30:16,440 --> 02:30:20,720
Speaker 3: is the account of what you've just shared with us. Right,

2706
02:30:21,280 --> 02:30:22,280
Speaker 3: what year did you write it?

2707
02:30:22,480 --> 02:30:23,640
Speaker 2: That was two thousand and six.

2708
02:30:23,760 --> 02:30:26,240
Speaker 1: It came out in seven, two thousand and six.

2709
02:30:26,400 --> 02:30:29,120
Speaker 3: Came out in two thousand and seven. And was it

2710
02:30:29,280 --> 02:30:33,640
Speaker 3: with the help of the I actually don't know this.

2711
02:30:34,240 --> 02:30:36,360
Speaker 2: The John Bruney.

2712
02:30:36,520 --> 02:30:39,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, John Bruney has awesome one of my dearest friends.

2713
02:30:39,440 --> 02:30:40,480
Speaker 1: I've known him since then.

2714
02:30:40,680 --> 02:30:41,160
Speaker 2: I love him.

2715
02:30:41,600 --> 02:30:43,440
Speaker 1: John Bruney is I think one of the most talented

2716
02:30:43,440 --> 02:30:47,920
Speaker 1: writers today. And Rayporter, who did the reporter who did

2717
02:30:48,000 --> 02:30:50,920
Speaker 1: that is the Harry Potter guy. He did the voice.

2718
02:30:51,879 --> 02:30:54,400
Speaker 1: He does all the great books. If there's a bestseller

2719
02:30:54,480 --> 02:30:56,560
Speaker 1: out there, Rayporter does the voices.

2720
02:30:56,640 --> 02:30:57,200
Speaker 2: He's amazing.

2721
02:30:57,360 --> 02:30:59,680
Speaker 3: So House to House I read it in five hours

2722
02:30:59,760 --> 02:31:02,400
Speaker 3: on my cell phone one night, and that's when I,

2723
02:31:03,879 --> 02:31:06,360
Speaker 3: I guess I gained a man crush on you.

2724
02:31:06,600 --> 02:31:08,640
Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate the House to House is a guy

2725
02:31:08,720 --> 02:31:10,760
Speaker 1: coming home from war that's just really doesn't know what's

2726
02:31:10,800 --> 02:31:14,760
Speaker 1: going on. And and you know, I when they read

2727
02:31:15,320 --> 02:31:17,280
Speaker 1: did they did a new version of House to House?

2728
02:31:17,360 --> 02:31:20,000
Speaker 1: And and I just started deleting, you know, a lot

2729
02:31:20,040 --> 02:31:23,240
Speaker 1: of cuss words that I don't you know. I wasn't

2730
02:31:23,320 --> 02:31:25,880
Speaker 1: particularly proud at one point. I think there was like

2731
02:31:26,440 --> 02:31:28,960
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy seven on one page, and I

2732
02:31:29,120 --> 02:31:31,480
Speaker 1: was like, you know, maybe they get the point after

2733
02:31:31,560 --> 02:31:35,680
Speaker 1: the first Well, well we'll change that. But it was

2734
02:31:35,720 --> 02:31:38,600
Speaker 1: a guy coming up from war that was sick of,

2735
02:31:39,560 --> 02:31:43,520
Speaker 1: you know, writing what I thought was like war pornography

2736
02:31:44,360 --> 02:31:47,280
Speaker 1: and it and it didn't war. Yeah, the sense that

2737
02:31:47,360 --> 02:31:50,240
Speaker 1: people want to just read about killing people and shooting

2738
02:31:50,280 --> 02:31:52,440
Speaker 1: peopleship rather than.

2739
02:31:52,360 --> 02:31:53,200
Speaker 3: What what this is?

2740
02:31:53,360 --> 02:31:55,600
Speaker 1: That was a themoir, you know, it was about my

2741
02:31:56,040 --> 02:31:58,720
Speaker 1: team and my unit. And then when The Metal Honor

2742
02:31:58,760 --> 02:32:01,440
Speaker 1: comes out, there like please write a book. It has

2743
02:32:01,600 --> 02:32:04,560
Speaker 1: it could be about anything, and I'm like, well I

2744
02:32:04,720 --> 02:32:08,000
Speaker 1: want that to be a middle aged man looking back,

2745
02:32:08,200 --> 02:32:11,840
Speaker 1: which is which is remember Them, and it's a more

2746
02:32:12,040 --> 02:32:16,680
Speaker 1: mature Twenty two came out in twenty twenty.

2747
02:32:16,520 --> 02:32:22,400
Speaker 3: Two Remember the Rods, which is your homage to many

2748
02:32:22,480 --> 02:32:24,080
Speaker 3: of the names and others that we've done.

2749
02:32:24,160 --> 02:32:25,600
Speaker 1: By the way, if you if you zoom in on

2750
02:32:25,680 --> 02:32:26,880
Speaker 1: the you don't know if you can't do that. But

2751
02:32:26,920 --> 02:32:28,560
Speaker 1: that Metal of Honor is the Air Force Medal of

2752
02:32:28,640 --> 02:32:33,480
Speaker 1: Honor there, and that really bothers men and uh, I

2753
02:32:33,600 --> 02:32:36,160
Speaker 1: wish I would have caught that, But anyway, neither here

2754
02:32:36,200 --> 02:32:39,039
Speaker 1: to there. It's a book that it's a more mature book.

2755
02:32:39,520 --> 02:32:41,720
Speaker 1: I'm I'm just trying to look back and make sense

2756
02:32:41,760 --> 02:32:42,200
Speaker 1: of kinds.

2757
02:32:42,360 --> 02:32:45,119
Speaker 3: It really is not about a plug to sell books.

2758
02:32:45,400 --> 02:32:48,720
Speaker 2: It's no, let's turn into it if you know.

2759
02:32:48,920 --> 02:32:53,040
Speaker 3: For me, it's about the greater the greater story of

2760
02:32:53,120 --> 02:32:56,480
Speaker 3: an army in normal folks exactly, and the greater story

2761
02:32:56,879 --> 02:33:02,440
Speaker 3: of supporting greatness. Which is a normal kid that grew

2762
02:33:02,480 --> 02:33:05,600
Speaker 3: up in New York with in a town without a stoplight,

2763
02:33:06,520 --> 02:33:13,240
Speaker 3: who doesn't even have the temerity or the courage to

2764
02:33:13,600 --> 02:33:19,920
Speaker 3: confront shirtless methaddicts while they walk around stealing VCRs from

2765
02:33:20,000 --> 02:33:23,760
Speaker 3: your family home. Who is mortified by the look of

2766
02:33:23,879 --> 02:33:27,320
Speaker 3: shame in his father's eyes. Who joins the army to

2767
02:33:27,440 --> 02:33:31,640
Speaker 3: find something inside him so that he can better himself.

2768
02:33:32,520 --> 02:33:36,960
Speaker 3: Who ends up clearing a house of insurgents I guess

2769
02:33:36,959 --> 02:33:41,640
Speaker 3: they're called insurgents of the enemy in Felujah literally hand

2770
02:33:41,680 --> 02:33:46,000
Speaker 3: to hand. And who leaves all that behind and has

2771
02:33:46,040 --> 02:33:48,920
Speaker 3: a story written about him that leads to the Medal

2772
02:33:48,959 --> 02:33:52,720
Speaker 3: of honor, where you're one of one in the world,

2773
02:33:53,560 --> 02:33:56,560
Speaker 3: Which is the only guy with that thing that's living

2774
02:33:56,640 --> 02:34:02,240
Speaker 3: today from those battles. Who writes a book about not

2775
02:34:02,360 --> 02:34:05,120
Speaker 3: only that experience, but then a second book celebrating the

2776
02:34:05,240 --> 02:34:11,120
Speaker 3: very people that did support his greatness and obviously has

2777
02:34:11,320 --> 02:34:19,519
Speaker 3: an enormous passion for the vitality of our diverse military.

2778
02:34:20,480 --> 02:34:27,320
Speaker 3: And it's just this, this story wrought with love and

2779
02:34:27,520 --> 02:34:34,920
Speaker 3: honor and valor and irony, and you're the tip of

2780
02:34:35,000 --> 02:34:40,480
Speaker 3: a spear that's entire shaft is held together about all

2781
02:34:40,560 --> 02:34:44,680
Speaker 3: of these people, your father, your grandfather, the Ramrods, the

2782
02:34:45,480 --> 02:34:48,360
Speaker 3: media that was around you, And I just got to

2783
02:34:48,400 --> 02:34:54,640
Speaker 3: ask you, you know, does the does the weight bear

2784
02:34:54,720 --> 02:34:57,400
Speaker 3: down on your shoulders? I?

2785
02:34:57,720 --> 02:35:00,600
Speaker 1: You know, I so hearing you tell them whole story.

2786
02:35:00,760 --> 02:35:02,880
Speaker 1: I really should have been tipped off that they were shirtless.

2787
02:35:03,120 --> 02:35:05,720
Speaker 5: That I think about it really was to take away

2788
02:35:07,280 --> 02:35:09,880
Speaker 5: away say that I was like, what the hell was

2789
02:35:09,920 --> 02:35:15,200
Speaker 5: I think? Shirtless David? But you could tell that really

2790
02:35:15,360 --> 02:35:18,080
Speaker 5: sunk into his head because he was like, they were shirtless?

2791
02:35:18,160 --> 02:35:20,920
Speaker 2: Well, what were you thinking? Like telling the.

2792
02:35:22,440 --> 02:35:22,840
Speaker 3: Shirts?

2793
02:35:25,040 --> 02:35:30,640
Speaker 1: Watched I watched your your documentary, and I gotta tell

2794
02:35:30,640 --> 02:35:33,480
Speaker 1: you that there's it started a cottage industry of things

2795
02:35:33,560 --> 02:35:36,080
Speaker 1: that are all trying to be what undefeated was and

2796
02:35:36,520 --> 02:35:40,840
Speaker 1: uh I, I was obviously taken by what you were

2797
02:35:40,879 --> 02:35:43,400
Speaker 1: trying to do with that program, the kids that you

2798
02:35:43,480 --> 02:35:47,039
Speaker 1: were working with, the intent in which you conducted yourself,

2799
02:35:47,360 --> 02:35:49,879
Speaker 1: and then of course everything you've done since then. It's

2800
02:35:50,440 --> 02:35:52,120
Speaker 1: in a way one of the things that I was.

2801
02:35:52,240 --> 02:35:53,840
Speaker 1: I wanted to meet you, but I also wanted to

2802
02:35:53,920 --> 02:35:58,120
Speaker 1: do this podcast because I believe in my heart that

2803
02:35:58,560 --> 02:36:03,480
Speaker 1: our biggest problem is that we take you know, military people, police,

2804
02:36:03,720 --> 02:36:08,600
Speaker 1: fire all the folks out there that are doing the jobs, education, hospitals,

2805
02:36:08,720 --> 02:36:11,960
Speaker 1: all the people we need in our world, and we

2806
02:36:12,080 --> 02:36:15,360
Speaker 1: put them on pedestals that say, I can never do that.

2807
02:36:16,320 --> 02:36:19,440
Speaker 1: I'll never be that guy, right, And in a way,

2808
02:36:19,560 --> 02:36:22,400
Speaker 1: that inoculates a lot of people whom never trying to

2809
02:36:22,520 --> 02:36:26,120
Speaker 1: be that person in their world. Now, I hope you

2810
02:36:26,280 --> 02:36:28,760
Speaker 1: never ever get into a situation we have to kick

2811
02:36:28,800 --> 02:36:32,040
Speaker 1: down a door, because I mean, honestly, people always ask me, David,

2812
02:36:32,040 --> 02:36:33,640
Speaker 1: if you could do it over again, would you And

2813
02:36:33,720 --> 02:36:35,400
Speaker 1: I tell them no, not.

2814
02:36:35,480 --> 02:36:38,240
Speaker 2: A change to drop the bomb, And you mean, why

2815
02:36:38,280 --> 02:36:39,600
Speaker 2: would I want to go through that again?

2816
02:36:40,080 --> 02:36:42,959
Speaker 1: No, not a chance of that. I would have waited

2817
02:36:43,040 --> 02:36:45,960
Speaker 1: for the a ten I would have waited. I would

2818
02:36:46,000 --> 02:36:47,760
Speaker 1: have put a ten out waiting for that eight ten.

2819
02:36:48,120 --> 02:36:50,360
Speaker 1: I never would have done that again. So they're like, well,

2820
02:36:50,520 --> 02:36:53,959
Speaker 1: but what is it about you that's different? My entire

2821
02:36:54,080 --> 02:36:57,520
Speaker 1: life's mission is to remind people that there is no difference,

2822
02:36:58,280 --> 02:37:00,760
Speaker 1: and there should be no difference. There is a moment

2823
02:37:00,760 --> 02:37:02,640
Speaker 1: in your life that you're going to have a Medal

2824
02:37:02,680 --> 02:37:05,440
Speaker 1: of honor moment. It might not come with a reporter,

2825
02:37:05,879 --> 02:37:08,560
Speaker 1: and hopefully not with machine guns and rockets, but you're

2826
02:37:08,560 --> 02:37:10,640
Speaker 1: going to see a kid who's going to get who's bullied.

2827
02:37:11,200 --> 02:37:13,920
Speaker 1: You're going to see a person who's overweight and everyone's

2828
02:37:13,959 --> 02:37:16,640
Speaker 1: making fun of them. There's going to be a you know,

2829
02:37:17,879 --> 02:37:21,240
Speaker 1: someone with mental difficulties that everyone's trying to take advantage of.

2830
02:37:21,640 --> 02:37:24,240
Speaker 1: That's the moment that you stand up and say not

2831
02:37:24,360 --> 02:37:27,000
Speaker 1: a chance. I'm not going to tolerate that. I'm going

2832
02:37:27,080 --> 02:37:28,840
Speaker 1: to stand up for weak people. I'm going to stand

2833
02:37:28,920 --> 02:37:31,280
Speaker 1: up for people who can't defend themselves. I'm gonna take

2834
02:37:31,320 --> 02:37:33,760
Speaker 1: a kid that doesn't have a mom or dad at

2835
02:37:33,800 --> 02:37:37,240
Speaker 1: home and tell that kid that they're loved, they have value,

2836
02:37:37,560 --> 02:37:40,720
Speaker 1: and change their direction. That's a metal of Honor moment

2837
02:37:40,840 --> 02:37:43,600
Speaker 1: in our lives, and the more people that we can

2838
02:37:43,720 --> 02:37:46,440
Speaker 1: look at and say, Wow, this kid, when no mom

2839
02:37:46,520 --> 02:37:48,920
Speaker 1: and dad worked hard, went Division one, is now a

2840
02:37:49,000 --> 02:37:53,680
Speaker 1: multi millionaire. He's so lucky. That's when I think we

2841
02:37:53,879 --> 02:37:57,760
Speaker 1: just add to the corrosion in our world. They're not lucky, right.

2842
02:37:58,120 --> 02:38:00,640
Speaker 1: You could have done that too. You chose not to

2843
02:38:00,680 --> 02:38:03,000
Speaker 1: go and you don't have the gifts to play football.

2844
02:38:03,480 --> 02:38:06,120
Speaker 1: You have the gifts to be an intellect. You can

2845
02:38:06,240 --> 02:38:08,880
Speaker 1: go to school, you can get a degree. You could

2846
02:38:08,920 --> 02:38:10,880
Speaker 1: work the extra hours no one wants to work to

2847
02:38:10,920 --> 02:38:14,000
Speaker 1: get promoted. You can decide not to put people in

2848
02:38:14,040 --> 02:38:16,600
Speaker 1: your lives that get you pregnant and run away from you.

2849
02:38:17,400 --> 02:38:19,720
Speaker 1: You can make all of these decisions that better you.

2850
02:38:20,600 --> 02:38:24,200
Speaker 1: Do you find value in yourself and do you have

2851
02:38:24,360 --> 02:38:27,359
Speaker 1: the greatness in yourself to realize that needs to be protected.

2852
02:38:28,160 --> 02:38:31,440
Speaker 1: Everyone has individual greatness. You have to protect it. You

2853
02:38:31,520 --> 02:38:33,840
Speaker 1: have to keep it from the outside world. And when

2854
02:38:33,920 --> 02:38:36,520
Speaker 1: there are the thugs and the idiots that are out

2855
02:38:36,560 --> 02:38:38,720
Speaker 1: there that want to try to steal from your great

2856
02:38:38,760 --> 02:38:42,680
Speaker 1: because that's the thing about idiots, they're attracted to greatness.

2857
02:38:43,200 --> 02:38:46,720
Speaker 1: They barnacle to the uss greatness. When you're out there

2858
02:38:46,800 --> 02:38:49,080
Speaker 1: doing your thing, you ever notice in your life everything

2859
02:38:49,120 --> 02:38:51,680
Speaker 1: you're doing wrong, and man, you are just getting through.

2860
02:38:52,200 --> 02:38:56,919
Speaker 1: Everything's great. You're lying, you're being an idiot, you're misrepresenting,

2861
02:38:57,120 --> 02:38:59,200
Speaker 1: You're not doing the things you're supposed to do. You

2862
02:38:59,280 --> 02:39:01,440
Speaker 1: wake up at a lot and a clock. You don't

2863
02:39:01,480 --> 02:39:05,240
Speaker 1: brush your teeth anymore, you smoke menthols. You've mixed it

2864
02:39:05,360 --> 02:39:09,000
Speaker 1: up right. You're living your life and you're just a

2865
02:39:09,160 --> 02:39:12,400
Speaker 1: complete loser. And there is no obstacle in your world.

2866
02:39:13,120 --> 02:39:16,760
Speaker 1: Everything is just moving alone. The moment you decide no,

2867
02:39:17,200 --> 02:39:20,680
Speaker 1: I'm gonna discipline myself, I'm gonna show integrity when people

2868
02:39:20,720 --> 02:39:23,080
Speaker 1: aren't looking. I'm gonna do the right things, say the

2869
02:39:23,160 --> 02:39:26,480
Speaker 1: right things, be the right person. That's when everything comes

2870
02:39:26,520 --> 02:39:29,600
Speaker 1: your way. Everything comes your way to tell you you sure,

2871
02:39:29,959 --> 02:39:31,360
Speaker 1: you sure you don't want to just not go to

2872
02:39:31,400 --> 02:39:33,440
Speaker 1: the gym. You sure you just want to eat whatever

2873
02:39:33,480 --> 02:39:34,840
Speaker 1: you want to eat. You're sure you just want to

2874
02:39:35,040 --> 02:39:37,080
Speaker 1: You know, no one's gonna know, no one's gonna know

2875
02:39:37,120 --> 02:39:38,960
Speaker 1: who you're talking to or who you're hanging out with.

2876
02:39:39,320 --> 02:39:39,560
Speaker 3: Do it.

2877
02:39:40,400 --> 02:39:43,840
Speaker 1: Those are the times that everything comes crashing down, and

2878
02:39:44,040 --> 02:39:48,520
Speaker 1: that's when you realize that if a moron can get

2879
02:39:48,640 --> 02:39:51,320
Speaker 1: you to get in their car when they're drunk, they're

2880
02:39:51,400 --> 02:39:54,000
Speaker 1: not a moron, because they got you. And if a

2881
02:39:54,160 --> 02:39:57,400
Speaker 1: moron can get you to cheat on a test, guess what,

2882
02:39:57,879 --> 02:39:58,880
Speaker 1: they're not so stupid.

2883
02:39:58,920 --> 02:39:59,800
Speaker 2: They got you to do it.

2884
02:40:00,600 --> 02:40:03,119
Speaker 1: You've got to realize that once you're living a life

2885
02:40:03,200 --> 02:40:06,640
Speaker 1: and you have identified your greatness, you've got to protect it.

2886
02:40:07,440 --> 02:40:08,440
Speaker 2: We got to protect it.

2887
02:40:09,120 --> 02:40:12,720
Speaker 1: I get so upset when I hear adults asking young

2888
02:40:12,800 --> 02:40:14,760
Speaker 1: people what do you want to be when you grow up?

2889
02:40:15,360 --> 02:40:20,440
Speaker 1: Right now, that's a slippery slope. At some point, you

2890
02:40:20,520 --> 02:40:22,200
Speaker 1: want to have the world to know this is what

2891
02:40:22,320 --> 02:40:24,200
Speaker 1: I want to do. At the other point, you want

2892
02:40:24,200 --> 02:40:26,920
Speaker 1: to protect that dream because you know that once you

2893
02:40:27,080 --> 02:40:30,039
Speaker 1: tell the world I want to play Division one football,

2894
02:40:30,800 --> 02:40:32,600
Speaker 1: everyone of the right mind is going to invite you

2895
02:40:32,680 --> 02:40:35,480
Speaker 1: to a party on Friday night. Everyone in the right

2896
02:40:35,560 --> 02:40:37,000
Speaker 1: mind is going to want you to hang out with

2897
02:40:37,040 --> 02:40:39,800
Speaker 1: a crowd that's going to be around drugs and alcohol

2898
02:40:39,959 --> 02:40:42,680
Speaker 1: and guns and all this other crap. They know that

2899
02:40:43,160 --> 02:40:47,279
Speaker 1: because you have a destiny and a path, and idiots

2900
02:40:47,320 --> 02:40:49,080
Speaker 1: are going to want to get on that path and

2901
02:40:49,160 --> 02:40:51,400
Speaker 1: take you off it. And so not only do we

2902
02:40:51,520 --> 02:40:56,120
Speaker 1: have to remind people that there is no separation between

2903
02:40:56,160 --> 02:40:59,520
Speaker 1: people who achieve and people who don't. The separation is

2904
02:40:59,560 --> 02:41:02,400
Speaker 1: the discip and the will and the ability to say

2905
02:41:02,480 --> 02:41:05,160
Speaker 1: the one word I learned in my forties, and that

2906
02:41:05,400 --> 02:41:08,400
Speaker 1: is no. And then I learned another word that goes

2907
02:41:08,480 --> 02:41:09,600
Speaker 1: with it, which is hell. No.

2908
02:41:11,000 --> 02:41:11,040
Speaker 4: No.

2909
02:41:11,520 --> 02:41:14,440
Speaker 1: I don't want this. I don't want you. I don't

2910
02:41:14,480 --> 02:41:16,720
Speaker 1: want to be associated with you. I don't want to say.

2911
02:41:16,760 --> 02:41:18,440
Speaker 1: I don't want to be in that group. I don't

2912
02:41:18,480 --> 02:41:20,200
Speaker 1: want to be in this crowd. I don't want to

2913
02:41:20,240 --> 02:41:23,640
Speaker 1: hang out with you people. I have no obligation. My

2914
02:41:23,760 --> 02:41:26,720
Speaker 1: obligation is to my family and to my own honor

2915
02:41:27,120 --> 02:41:30,680
Speaker 1: and my own sense of spirit, and that is I'm

2916
02:41:30,720 --> 02:41:33,000
Speaker 1: not betraying that. Not because it looks good on a

2917
02:41:33,040 --> 02:41:36,040
Speaker 1: Wiki entry, not because I get a beer with my

2918
02:41:36,160 --> 02:41:39,280
Speaker 1: face on it. I do it because it's my obligation

2919
02:41:39,560 --> 02:41:39,800
Speaker 1: to do.

2920
02:41:40,400 --> 02:41:40,760
Speaker 2: It's me.

2921
02:41:41,440 --> 02:41:44,600
Speaker 1: I'm more important than you and some of these generation

2922
02:41:45,080 --> 02:41:46,800
Speaker 1: you know, we look at Generation ZE and say they're

2923
02:41:46,840 --> 02:41:48,320
Speaker 1: narcissistic and they're selfish.

2924
02:41:49,760 --> 02:41:50,560
Speaker 2: I'd like some of that.

2925
02:41:51,320 --> 02:41:53,400
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people that sacrifice so much

2926
02:41:53,480 --> 02:41:56,520
Speaker 1: they have no sense of self. Why are you doing?

2927
02:41:56,640 --> 02:42:01,680
Speaker 1: Why are you standing out constructing a knit piece of

2928
02:42:01,760 --> 02:42:04,000
Speaker 1: your anatomy and wearing it on your head and punching

2929
02:42:04,040 --> 02:42:06,720
Speaker 1: police horses. You're doing it for the cause. The cause

2930
02:42:06,760 --> 02:42:10,120
Speaker 1: doesn't get a damn about you. You're an idiot and

2931
02:42:10,240 --> 02:42:13,320
Speaker 1: you're following the herd. Maybe these young kids that are

2932
02:42:13,320 --> 02:42:16,720
Speaker 1: all about them, we need to empower them to truly

2933
02:42:16,800 --> 02:42:19,879
Speaker 1: be about them and realize, if you want a great community,

2934
02:42:20,280 --> 02:42:23,800
Speaker 1: we got great individuals that make a great community. Be

2935
02:42:23,920 --> 02:42:27,160
Speaker 1: a strong individual, protect the people that can't protect themselves,

2936
02:42:27,480 --> 02:42:30,280
Speaker 1: Be a mentor to as many people as possible, and

2937
02:42:30,440 --> 02:42:32,560
Speaker 1: be a part of the most dynamic community in the

2938
02:42:32,640 --> 02:42:34,800
Speaker 1: greatest country in the world. You mean an army of

2939
02:42:35,680 --> 02:42:39,039
Speaker 1: an army of normal I thought we weren't plugging. Now

2940
02:42:39,120 --> 02:42:42,800
Speaker 1: we are, well plug the book, but we'll.

2941
02:42:44,520 --> 02:42:47,040
Speaker 3: That's what you are in a New York accent and

2942
02:42:47,160 --> 02:42:49,640
Speaker 3: a different layout, but exactly what I believe.

2943
02:42:49,840 --> 02:42:53,680
Speaker 1: Well, I really I know a person that has come

2944
02:42:53,760 --> 02:42:56,600
Speaker 1: from all the ups and downs, all the things that

2945
02:42:56,720 --> 02:42:58,840
Speaker 1: you've endured, and why you do it.

2946
02:42:59,480 --> 02:43:00,680
Speaker 2: I mean, are great.

2947
02:43:01,360 --> 02:43:04,400
Speaker 1: You know, coaching at that level is awesome. That the

2948
02:43:05,520 --> 02:43:08,840
Speaker 1: the attention is fun. But if you're if you're on

2949
02:43:08,959 --> 02:43:11,680
Speaker 1: your deathbed and you're like, you know, if I only

2950
02:43:11,800 --> 02:43:14,800
Speaker 1: had three more days to play that app, you know

2951
02:43:14,840 --> 02:43:17,840
Speaker 1: what I feel like who on their deathbed is like, man,

2952
02:43:18,160 --> 02:43:20,119
Speaker 1: if I would have got that extra Coach of the year,

2953
02:43:20,959 --> 02:43:24,760
Speaker 1: you know, I could have one more plaque and I

2954
02:43:24,800 --> 02:43:29,160
Speaker 1: could just suck up the slag and meet the hereafter.

2955
02:43:29,879 --> 02:43:31,760
Speaker 1: No one gives a damn about it. But I'm telling you,

2956
02:43:31,879 --> 02:43:36,080
Speaker 1: what if if to be able to look at yourself

2957
02:43:36,520 --> 02:43:39,840
Speaker 1: and realize that that there is a young person out

2958
02:43:39,879 --> 02:43:43,320
Speaker 1: there that's that's going to do something that makes them

2959
02:43:43,400 --> 02:43:49,480
Speaker 1: uncomfortable and grow and be their own person. That's what

2960
02:43:49,680 --> 02:43:53,160
Speaker 1: the inner city needs, That's what our country rural area needs,

2961
02:43:53,200 --> 02:43:55,920
Speaker 1: That's what the suburbs need. You know, they want to

2962
02:43:55,959 --> 02:44:03,320
Speaker 1: separate us by music, skin, color, socioeconomic backround, sexual preference, religion, politics.

2963
02:44:04,360 --> 02:44:07,480
Speaker 1: There is so much more that we have in common, right,

2964
02:44:07,760 --> 02:44:12,039
Speaker 1: and the toxicity that's out there are people who need

2965
02:44:12,160 --> 02:44:16,080
Speaker 1: it to be toxic. They're the ones that are profiting

2966
02:44:16,240 --> 02:44:19,960
Speaker 1: off this toxicity. And all I'm saying is they're scumbags.

2967
02:44:20,400 --> 02:44:23,040
Speaker 1: They're no different than the people in the garage on

2968
02:44:23,120 --> 02:44:26,080
Speaker 1: a Friday night going to the Division one athlete. Let's

2969
02:44:26,120 --> 02:44:28,119
Speaker 1: get high and drunk and shoot guns in the air.

2970
02:44:28,760 --> 02:44:33,080
Speaker 1: It's the same type of person. They've just graduated at astrays.

2971
02:44:34,400 --> 02:44:44,959
Speaker 3: So David, you have served this country and lost friends,

2972
02:44:47,320 --> 02:44:53,280
Speaker 3: I guess brothers in arms. You've reached the host honor

2973
02:44:53,360 --> 02:44:57,000
Speaker 3: there is for any military man in the United States.

2974
02:44:57,240 --> 02:45:03,800
Speaker 3: And now after all of that, you are clearly you

2975
02:45:03,920 --> 02:45:06,760
Speaker 3: clearly have a message to tell in your books and

2976
02:45:07,160 --> 02:45:13,279
Speaker 3: and the things you speak about and in supporting greatness.

2977
02:45:14,760 --> 02:45:17,600
Speaker 3: You know, we talk about your grandfather teaching how to

2978
02:45:17,720 --> 02:45:20,800
Speaker 3: be studying, your father teaching how to be unflappable, and

2979
02:45:21,680 --> 02:45:29,840
Speaker 3: the Ramrod's giving you accountability. What's the most important tenant

2980
02:45:30,040 --> 02:45:31,240
Speaker 3: that God's your life today?

2981
02:45:33,040 --> 02:45:33,840
Speaker 2: Accountability?

2982
02:45:34,240 --> 02:45:36,400
Speaker 3: Accountability more than anything, More.

2983
02:45:36,280 --> 02:45:37,360
Speaker 2: Than anything I I.

2984
02:45:39,640 --> 02:45:42,800
Speaker 1: You know, I'm going to make mistakes, I'm going to

2985
02:45:42,840 --> 02:45:47,280
Speaker 1: be imperfect, I'm going to be loud, I'm going to

2986
02:45:47,320 --> 02:45:51,080
Speaker 1: want to, you know, do things that I'm that frustrate me.

2987
02:45:51,200 --> 02:45:53,560
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, you know, I

2988
02:45:53,720 --> 02:45:57,200
Speaker 1: have to be accountable. And that's a proactive thing too.

2989
02:45:57,600 --> 02:46:00,520
Speaker 1: Right when you're accountable, you could be proactive to not

2990
02:46:01,200 --> 02:46:04,119
Speaker 1: do the things that you know are are not things

2991
02:46:04,120 --> 02:46:05,000
Speaker 1: that you should be doing.

2992
02:46:05,200 --> 02:46:08,679
Speaker 3: My football coach always said, the true measure of accountability

2993
02:46:09,600 --> 02:46:11,840
Speaker 3: is what you do when you're alone, and nobody will

2994
02:46:11,879 --> 02:46:15,800
Speaker 3: to absolutely. In other words, it's easy to be accountable

2995
02:46:16,280 --> 02:46:18,640
Speaker 3: when you know that if you do something, your parents,

2996
02:46:18,760 --> 02:46:20,600
Speaker 3: your coach or teacher going to find out. But when

2997
02:46:21,080 --> 02:46:23,600
Speaker 3: when you have the opportunity to do something you shouldn't

2998
02:46:23,600 --> 02:46:27,240
Speaker 3: be doing that nobody would ever know, and you don't

2999
02:46:27,440 --> 02:46:31,600
Speaker 3: do it anyway because it's the right thing to do,

3000
02:46:31,920 --> 02:46:34,959
Speaker 3: that's when you become truly accountable.

3001
02:46:35,040 --> 02:46:36,920
Speaker 1: Do you know What's funny? Though? Like, Okay, so you're

3002
02:46:37,840 --> 02:46:40,720
Speaker 1: right now as a coach, you're far better than you

3003
02:46:40,840 --> 02:46:43,039
Speaker 1: were when you were in your late twenties.

3004
02:46:42,800 --> 02:46:46,920
Speaker 3: Or gosh right, I was Listen, I loved kids just

3005
02:46:47,040 --> 02:46:49,280
Speaker 3: as much back then as I do now. But I'm

3006
02:46:49,320 --> 02:46:52,360
Speaker 3: gonna tell you something I sucked from that X as

3007
02:46:52,360 --> 02:46:53,080
Speaker 3: an O standpoint.

3008
02:46:53,200 --> 02:46:58,480
Speaker 1: Okay, so there's no reason that Paul McCartney is not

3009
02:46:58,560 --> 02:47:02,040
Speaker 1: a better musician today than he was when he was

3010
02:47:02,120 --> 02:47:02,560
Speaker 1: twenty two.

3011
02:47:04,040 --> 02:47:06,280
Speaker 3: And this is a I think with reguard to that,

3012
02:47:06,640 --> 02:47:08,360
Speaker 3: doesn't don't you think age has something to do?

3013
02:47:08,600 --> 02:47:11,560
Speaker 1: I don't. I think it has to do with suffering. Really,

3014
02:47:11,800 --> 02:47:15,120
Speaker 1: suffering is what there's a moment of everything that you

3015
02:47:15,240 --> 02:47:19,600
Speaker 1: get in life. You know, they say the ancient saying

3016
02:47:19,760 --> 02:47:21,520
Speaker 1: is that everything you want is on the other side

3017
02:47:21,520 --> 02:47:23,840
Speaker 1: of fear, right, but the artist will tell you you

3018
02:47:24,280 --> 02:47:25,520
Speaker 1: have to suffer for your art.

3019
02:47:26,200 --> 02:47:27,320
Speaker 2: The professional will.

3020
02:47:27,200 --> 02:47:29,920
Speaker 1: Tell you you have to be in that windowless room

3021
02:47:30,400 --> 02:47:33,560
Speaker 1: and do your ten thousand hours before you can get

3022
02:47:33,560 --> 02:47:35,920
Speaker 1: a business card. And then you get your office and

3023
02:47:36,000 --> 02:47:38,160
Speaker 1: your staff, and then you hit your stride and then

3024
02:47:38,200 --> 02:47:41,120
Speaker 1: you work hard. But at some point everyone says this

3025
02:47:41,360 --> 02:47:44,520
Speaker 1: is enough. And it's okay to say that, but you

3026
02:47:44,560 --> 02:47:45,640
Speaker 1: can say this is enough.

3027
02:47:45,920 --> 02:47:46,640
Speaker 3: I've had enough.

3028
02:47:46,800 --> 02:47:47,440
Speaker 2: I've had enough.

3029
02:47:47,600 --> 02:47:49,720
Speaker 1: I don't need it, I don't want it. There's other

3030
02:47:49,800 --> 02:47:52,360
Speaker 1: things that are important. Paul McCartney doesn't need to go

3031
02:47:52,440 --> 02:47:55,920
Speaker 1: on the road when he's eighty, right, Mick Jagger evidently

3032
02:47:56,040 --> 02:47:59,800
Speaker 1: does right. It's a totally different but it just shows

3033
02:47:59,840 --> 02:48:00,480
Speaker 1: you it's it's.

3034
02:48:00,400 --> 02:48:01,240
Speaker 2: Not what he wants.

3035
02:48:01,840 --> 02:48:05,840
Speaker 1: Right. But somehow we have taken out that suffering part

3036
02:48:06,640 --> 02:48:10,000
Speaker 1: along the journey, that it really sucks to get up

3037
02:48:10,000 --> 02:48:13,360
Speaker 1: at five am every day and do exercises. No one

3038
02:48:13,480 --> 02:48:15,520
Speaker 1: wants that. Do you have to do it at five am?

3039
02:48:15,760 --> 02:48:19,000
Speaker 1: Some people have to because they have to suffer. They

3040
02:48:19,080 --> 02:48:21,520
Speaker 1: have to put themselves through something to say I worked

3041
02:48:21,600 --> 02:48:24,480
Speaker 1: for it and it was needed and and what I

3042
02:48:24,560 --> 02:48:27,800
Speaker 1: think we we've done in the era of helicopter parents

3043
02:48:28,360 --> 02:48:31,480
Speaker 1: to the parents that are the bulldozer parents. We used

3044
02:48:31,520 --> 02:48:33,080
Speaker 1: to want to be there when you made a decision.

3045
02:48:33,280 --> 02:48:36,200
Speaker 1: Now we want to eliminate the obstacle completely so you

3046
02:48:36,240 --> 02:48:37,119
Speaker 1: have a perfect life.

3047
02:48:37,280 --> 02:48:41,920
Speaker 3: So you're stripping the opportunity for your children to suffer.

3048
02:48:41,760 --> 02:48:46,120
Speaker 1: To suffer us because ultimately, what it is is it.

3049
02:48:48,400 --> 02:48:51,800
Speaker 3: You take away their ability to learn how to be accountable.

3050
02:48:52,280 --> 02:48:52,880
Speaker 2: That's what it all.

3051
02:48:53,080 --> 02:48:56,320
Speaker 1: That's that's what we're getting back to everything. If there's

3052
02:48:56,400 --> 02:48:57,920
Speaker 1: one thing I could tell the young people we do

3053
02:48:58,000 --> 02:48:59,879
Speaker 1: it all over the high schools and the colleges, every

3054
02:49:00,040 --> 02:49:02,560
Speaker 1: where we go, is we tell them the one thing

3055
02:49:02,640 --> 02:49:06,199
Speaker 1: that's different about you than any other generation is adults

3056
02:49:06,320 --> 02:49:11,520
Speaker 1: have failed you in reminding you that that it's it's

3057
02:49:11,800 --> 02:49:15,000
Speaker 1: negative and bad to fail. That's how we failed you.

3058
02:49:15,320 --> 02:49:18,000
Speaker 1: We failed you because of failure. You are afraid to

3059
02:49:18,040 --> 02:49:21,760
Speaker 1: make a mistake and you're afraid to make to screw up.

3060
02:49:22,240 --> 02:49:25,120
Speaker 1: And that is the essence of everything we do. We

3061
02:49:25,160 --> 02:49:28,240
Speaker 1: don't practice. At the end of practice, guys, I don't

3062
02:49:28,240 --> 02:49:30,160
Speaker 1: know why we're gonna do this tomorrow. That was brilliant,

3063
02:49:30,400 --> 02:49:34,640
Speaker 1: that was awesome. We're good, right, what are you doing? No,

3064
02:49:34,920 --> 02:49:38,200
Speaker 1: there's always there's always a correction. There's always going to

3065
02:49:38,240 --> 02:49:38,800
Speaker 1: be a mistake.

3066
02:49:39,000 --> 02:49:42,480
Speaker 3: Iron That metal wouldn't be sitting on the stable if

3067
02:49:42,520 --> 02:49:44,480
Speaker 3: you hadn't failed in your parents' house one night.

3068
02:49:44,760 --> 02:49:47,440
Speaker 1: Or if I hadn't failed in that house. Let's be honest,

3069
02:49:48,000 --> 02:49:51,360
Speaker 1: you're gonna fail throughout everything. There's mistakes that you make

3070
02:49:51,680 --> 02:49:53,480
Speaker 1: that you realize. I don't want to be in a

3071
02:49:53,560 --> 02:49:55,720
Speaker 1: house full of six people. That's not a by plan.

3072
02:49:56,480 --> 02:49:59,320
Speaker 1: You know, you got through it, whatever lessons you learned,

3073
02:49:59,360 --> 02:50:02,160
Speaker 1: you got through it. But a Valor award is based

3074
02:50:02,240 --> 02:50:05,840
Speaker 1: on really bad intelligence and really bad situation. Little where

3075
02:50:05,840 --> 02:50:06,680
Speaker 1: it is. You know.

3076
02:50:07,920 --> 02:50:10,600
Speaker 2: That's why we have these things. They're not supposed to happen.

3077
02:50:10,720 --> 02:50:13,160
Speaker 1: Otherwise we go to base of training and the first

3078
02:50:13,240 --> 02:50:15,240
Speaker 1: day would be like we're gonna send twelve guys at you.

3079
02:50:15,480 --> 02:50:17,520
Speaker 3: I wouldn't require you to be in the house. If

3080
02:50:17,560 --> 02:50:18,680
Speaker 3: everything worked out perfectly.

3081
02:50:19,040 --> 02:50:21,640
Speaker 1: It has to be a mistake. Everything is about mistake.

3082
02:50:21,720 --> 02:50:27,760
Speaker 1: Those failures others more successes and you. All we have

3083
02:50:27,920 --> 02:50:30,640
Speaker 1: to do is remind young people you're gonna screw up.

3084
02:50:30,800 --> 02:50:35,400
Speaker 1: We want controlled failure, controlled failure where we know, at

3085
02:50:35,400 --> 02:50:36,920
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you're gonna learn how to

3086
02:50:37,000 --> 02:50:37,440
Speaker 1: drive a car.

3087
02:50:37,600 --> 02:50:39,960
Speaker 2: But just in case. I'm putting a brake pedal on

3088
02:50:40,040 --> 02:50:43,560
Speaker 2: this side too. I'm just saying you're allowed to screw up, but.

3089
02:50:43,760 --> 02:50:46,760
Speaker 1: I do have access to the breaking system because I

3090
02:50:46,800 --> 02:50:50,520
Speaker 1: don't exactly try. I want controlled failure. Give a kid

3091
02:50:50,600 --> 02:50:53,640
Speaker 1: a left limit and a right limit, discipline them, give

3092
02:50:53,680 --> 02:50:56,520
Speaker 1: them that controlled failure, and you're gonna have the best

3093
02:50:56,600 --> 02:50:59,440
Speaker 1: adult we have in our society. We're gonna be better

3094
02:50:59,480 --> 02:51:02,920
Speaker 1: than World War to, better than Vietnam, better than my generation.

3095
02:51:03,200 --> 02:51:08,000
Speaker 1: If we continue down this path, no accountability failure doesn't exist.

3096
02:51:08,440 --> 02:51:11,520
Speaker 1: Go be perfect and go create an R and B

3097
02:51:11,680 --> 02:51:15,959
Speaker 1: album that's gonna get five hundred million downloads. We're gonna fail,

3098
02:51:16,240 --> 02:51:18,600
Speaker 1: and we're gonna unfortunately, that's gonna be a failure that

3099
02:51:18,640 --> 02:51:19,320
Speaker 1: you can't get out of.

3100
02:51:20,320 --> 02:51:25,160
Speaker 3: So as we before, we rout, what are you doing now?

3101
02:51:25,800 --> 02:51:26,440
Speaker 3: I do this.

3102
02:51:27,320 --> 02:51:30,039
Speaker 1: This is what I do now. I did a radio

3103
02:51:30,080 --> 02:51:33,680
Speaker 1: show before I was, you know, given the Medal of Honor,

3104
02:51:34,440 --> 02:51:36,960
Speaker 1: and it was just something I love in my hometown.

3105
02:51:37,120 --> 02:51:40,400
Speaker 1: Buffalo is such a great town and we're just Buffalo

3106
02:51:40,560 --> 02:51:42,440
Speaker 1: is a place where you could be like, yeah, I

3107
02:51:42,520 --> 02:51:45,280
Speaker 1: was on the Tonight Show yesterday and they're like, yeah,

3108
02:51:45,360 --> 02:51:48,720
Speaker 1: but you weren't on the couch, you were standing. I

3109
02:51:48,800 --> 02:51:51,960
Speaker 1: mean technically I was on the Tonight Show and I

3110
02:51:52,120 --> 02:51:54,520
Speaker 1: wasn't even there. You know, like they have a way

3111
02:51:54,560 --> 02:51:59,840
Speaker 1: to just humble you, and they're brilliantly exquisitely rough about it.

3112
02:52:00,240 --> 02:52:03,760
Speaker 1: But it's just that blue collar don't ever think you're

3113
02:52:03,800 --> 02:52:09,760
Speaker 1: better than got But really, yeah, but what is it?

3114
02:52:09,879 --> 02:52:10,119
Speaker 2: Really?

3115
02:52:10,160 --> 02:52:12,000
Speaker 1: I didn't even know what it is to be. Do

3116
02:52:12,080 --> 02:52:14,880
Speaker 1: you have a daytime emmy, then shut up in sinnati. No,

3117
02:52:15,040 --> 02:52:18,560
Speaker 1: Like there's a great way to masculate, he would give you.

3118
02:52:19,160 --> 02:52:22,560
Speaker 1: But the people are assault of the earth. And we

3119
02:52:22,640 --> 02:52:27,640
Speaker 1: had a horrific event where we had a white guy

3120
02:52:27,760 --> 02:52:30,560
Speaker 1: walk into an all black neighborhood shoot up a bunch

3121
02:52:30,600 --> 02:52:34,200
Speaker 1: of people in a grocery store every reason, and many

3122
02:52:34,320 --> 02:52:38,200
Speaker 1: people tried to hijack that and make that about you know,

3123
02:52:38,400 --> 02:52:41,879
Speaker 1: we have a problem, everyone hates everyone. How to We're

3124
02:52:41,920 --> 02:52:44,320
Speaker 1: never going to fix it. Let's just exacerbate it and

3125
02:52:44,360 --> 02:52:47,280
Speaker 1: throw gas on the fire. But we had clergy, We

3126
02:52:47,400 --> 02:52:49,600
Speaker 1: had people in the inner city, people in the suburbs,

3127
02:52:50,040 --> 02:52:53,120
Speaker 1: people come together and just say, look, we've got to

3128
02:52:53,280 --> 02:52:56,560
Speaker 1: stop this from happening again. But more importantly, remind people

3129
02:52:56,600 --> 02:52:59,600
Speaker 1: who we are. You know, it's the only everywhere there's

3130
02:52:59,600 --> 02:53:02,120
Speaker 1: a mass It was the only time I've seen a

3131
02:53:02,160 --> 02:53:05,080
Speaker 1: press conference for a mass shooting that opened with a

3132
02:53:05,120 --> 02:53:07,920
Speaker 1: word of prayer and ended with a word of prayer,

3133
02:53:08,879 --> 02:53:11,360
Speaker 1: with a sheriff and a mayor and a you name it.

3134
02:53:12,000 --> 02:53:14,120
Speaker 1: It started with a prayer and it ended with a prayer.

3135
02:53:14,440 --> 02:53:17,240
Speaker 1: And I'm very proud of my hometown and and that's

3136
02:53:17,280 --> 02:53:20,680
Speaker 1: who we are. And being able to you know, talk

3137
02:53:20,760 --> 02:53:24,440
Speaker 1: to them and you know, keep them going is something

3138
02:53:24,520 --> 02:53:26,000
Speaker 1: I take a lot of a lot of pride in.

3139
02:53:28,520 --> 02:53:34,800
Speaker 3: David. I am, I am. I am so honored you

3140
02:53:34,920 --> 02:53:39,760
Speaker 3: joined us. And you know, ironically, you this is kind

3141
02:53:39,800 --> 02:53:43,000
Speaker 3: of a crossover show. You are just a normal guy

3142
02:53:43,440 --> 02:53:47,640
Speaker 3: who's done amazing things for the service of so many

3143
02:53:47,959 --> 02:53:50,920
Speaker 3: all of our country. The people you served with, the

3144
02:53:51,400 --> 02:53:54,600
Speaker 3: young kids as a staff sergeant, she led, and then

3145
02:53:56,040 --> 02:53:58,880
Speaker 3: which led to you being in a great position. And

3146
02:53:59,200 --> 02:54:03,120
Speaker 3: talk about who supported your greatness, the Ramrods, your father,

3147
02:54:03,400 --> 02:54:09,200
Speaker 3: your grandfather, the men you served with, and your stories

3148
02:54:09,240 --> 02:54:11,480
Speaker 3: are so inspirational and the things you've had to say

3149
02:54:11,640 --> 02:54:16,320
Speaker 3: or are so thought provoking, especially about let's not screw

3150
02:54:16,400 --> 02:54:18,760
Speaker 3: up the one thing that ninety percent of us all

3151
02:54:18,800 --> 02:54:21,120
Speaker 3: can agree on which is our military's good and the

3152
02:54:21,120 --> 02:54:23,000
Speaker 3: people who serve in it are the best of us

3153
02:54:23,920 --> 02:54:27,160
Speaker 3: and brother, I cannot thank you enough for joining us.

3154
02:54:27,400 --> 02:54:28,160
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.

3155
02:54:28,280 --> 02:54:30,000
Speaker 1: I really appreciate this is a lot of fun, and

3156
02:54:30,480 --> 02:54:33,240
Speaker 1: I hope this is the first of many conversations now

3157
02:54:33,320 --> 02:54:36,440
Speaker 1: with cameras, but the first of many conversations we had

3158
02:54:36,480 --> 02:54:38,240
Speaker 1: down the road. I look forward to having you and

3159
02:54:39,000 --> 02:54:40,920
Speaker 1: being able to talk to you about everything else that's

3160
02:54:40,959 --> 02:54:41,600
Speaker 1: happened in the world.

3161
02:54:41,800 --> 02:54:43,160
Speaker 3: Me too, Buke. I enjoyed it.

3162
02:54:43,400 --> 02:54:43,840
Speaker 2: It was good.

3163
02:54:43,959 --> 02:54:50,280
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you, and thank you for joining us

3164
02:54:50,400 --> 02:54:54,320
Speaker 3: this week. If David or another guest has inspired you

3165
02:54:54,440 --> 02:54:57,800
Speaker 3: in general, or better yet, to take action, please let

3166
02:54:57,920 --> 02:55:00,320
Speaker 3: me know. I'd love to hear about it. You can

3167
02:55:00,400 --> 02:55:04,960
Speaker 3: write me anytime at Bill at normalfolks dot us, and

3168
02:55:05,080 --> 02:55:08,680
Speaker 3: I promise you I will respond. And if you enjoyed

3169
02:55:08,720 --> 02:55:11,920
Speaker 3: this episode, please share it with friends and on social

3170
02:55:12,120 --> 02:55:16,160
Speaker 3: subscribe to the podcast, rate it, review it, become a

3171
02:55:16,240 --> 02:55:20,000
Speaker 3: premium member at normalfolks dot us. All these things that

3172
02:55:20,080 --> 02:55:24,200
Speaker 3: will help grow an army of normal folks For our

3173
02:55:24,240 --> 02:55:28,080
Speaker 3: premium members. We'll have bonus content from this episode, and

3174
02:55:28,240 --> 02:55:32,160
Speaker 3: it's David and I talking about post traumatic stress disorder

3175
02:55:32,560 --> 02:55:37,200
Speaker 3: PTSD among his fellow soldiers, and he even corrects me

3176
02:55:37,320 --> 02:55:39,920
Speaker 3: a little bit on this, and rightfully. So if you

3177
02:55:40,000 --> 02:55:42,880
Speaker 3: don't want to miss it, become a Premium member today

3178
02:55:43,480 --> 02:55:46,240
Speaker 3: and you'll see it. I'd also like to at the

3179
02:55:46,400 --> 02:55:49,920
Speaker 3: end really tell you how much I appreciate our sponsor,

3180
02:55:50,480 --> 02:55:54,080
Speaker 3: Iron Light Laps. I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week.