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Speaker 1: Hey, everyone is Jarrel Martinez. Before we get into this episode,

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Speaker 1: I wanted to let you know that you can listen

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Speaker 1: to the entire season of Medal of Honor right now

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Speaker 1: ad free with Pushkin Plus. Get all our incredible stories

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Speaker 1: of courage with a Pushkin Plus subscription. Sign up and

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Speaker 1: code twenty five for twenty five percent off an annual subscription. Okay,

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Speaker 1: Now to the episode.

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Speaker 2: This July fourth marks the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary

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Speaker 2: of America, two hundred and fifty years of rebellion and innovation,

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Speaker 2: of struggle and survival of liberty and courage and sacrifice.

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Speaker 2: As many times over the past quarter millennium, our American

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Speaker 2: experiment looked like it could fall apart at the seams

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Speaker 2: when you look closely at those moments, though, it wasn't

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Speaker 2: politicians who held us together. It was ordinary people, people

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Speaker 2: who spoke up, who protested, who fought. Regular people in

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Speaker 2: times of great strife, grabbed at the frayed fabric of

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Speaker 2: this country and pulled it together. In this season of

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Speaker 2: Metal of Honor, as America celebrates its semi quinn centennial.

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Speaker 2: We're telling the stories of some of those people because

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Speaker 2: bravery is in all of us, and because the same

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Speaker 2: qualities that carried us through the first two hundred and

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Speaker 2: fifty years, courage, honor, and loyalty, will help us endure

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Speaker 2: the next two hundred and fifty. This is season three

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Speaker 2: of Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage. Thank you for listening.

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Speaker 1: The helicopter made its way up the river. The rotor

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Speaker 1: blade was humming against the sky. There was thick jungle

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Speaker 1: on both sides of the river bank, bright green against

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Speaker 1: the rushing brown water. It was November twenty sixth, nineteen

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Speaker 1: sixty eight, and that river separated Cambodia from South Vietnam.

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Speaker 1: The pilot of the chopper followed its path, heading towards

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Speaker 1: the sound of gunfire, towards the battle. The mission had

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Speaker 1: started with five helicopters, but three of them were already gone.

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Speaker 1: The pilot of this one was twenty five year old

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Speaker 1: James Fleming. He could see a down chopper burning on

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Speaker 1: the river bank. He knew exactly how dangerous the situation was,

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Speaker 1: and as he got closer, shots started coming at him

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Speaker 1: from both sides. Of the river. The noise of gunfire

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Speaker 1: crackled through the jungle. The enemy was everywhere. He was

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Speaker 1: supposed to touch down in the middle of this mess.

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Speaker 1: But even if he could get to the riverside without

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Speaker 1: being shot, he knew there wasn't enough space for him

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Speaker 1: to land. But Jim Fleming also knew something else. There

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Speaker 1: were seven soldiers down in that jungle who were about

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Speaker 1: to be captured or killed by the North Vietnamese Army.

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Speaker 1: They had fought their way to the river bank, and

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Speaker 1: Jim was their own only chance to get out of

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Speaker 1: their live Jim remember what he told those same guys

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Speaker 1: just a few hours earlier when he dropped them there.

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Speaker 1: He had told them he would put them in, but

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Speaker 1: he would also get them out. Jim looked at his

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Speaker 1: fuel gauge and it was almost empty. He looked at

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Speaker 1: the terrain. Impossible. And then he banked his helicopter and

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Speaker 1: started in. I'm j R. Martinez and this is Medal

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Speaker 1: of Honor Stories of Courage. The Medal of Honor is

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Speaker 1: the highest military decoration in the United States. It's awarded

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Speaker 1: for gallantry and bravery and combat at the risk of life,

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Speaker 1: above and beyond the call of duty. Each candidate must

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Speaker 1: be approved all the way up the chain of command,

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Speaker 1: from the supervisory officer in the field to the White House.

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Speaker 1: This show is about those heroes, what they did, what

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Speaker 1: it meant, and what their stories tell us about the

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Speaker 1: nature of courage and sacrifice. I'm an army veteran, and

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Speaker 1: in the military we talk a lot about no man

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Speaker 1: left behind, you know, the concept that troops will do

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Speaker 1: anything to protect each other from harm. But the guy

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Speaker 1: you'll meet in this episode, Jim Fleming, doesn't just see

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Speaker 1: that as a concept. He sees it as a responsibility,

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Speaker 1: something we owe each other. It's something he feels deep

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Speaker 1: in his bones, the importance of staying true to your word,

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Speaker 1: being there, showing up. And that's why this story really

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Speaker 1: stuck with me. It makes me think about the way

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Speaker 1: we show up in our own lives, because for Jim,

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Speaker 1: that responsibility isn't a burden, it's an honor, the kind

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Speaker 1: of honor that would lead him straight into a death trap.

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Speaker 1: When Jim Fleming tells the of his life, he begins

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Speaker 1: with the moment he was left behind.

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Speaker 3: I was born in Saday, in Missouri on the twelfth

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Speaker 3: of March nineteen forty three. We were abandoned by my

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Speaker 3: father right after my brother was born. He was born

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Speaker 3: in forty four and she was a single mother working

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Speaker 3: in a town and country combat boot shoe factory in

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Speaker 3: Saday in Missouri.

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Speaker 1: Jim's mom met John Fleming, an Air Force pilot stationed nearby.

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Speaker 1: They started dating, and before John left that base for California,

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Speaker 1: he asked her to marry him.

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Speaker 3: They got married in Las Vegas. He came back and

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Speaker 3: took my brother and myself and her to California.

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Speaker 1: John Fleming taught Jim two things. First, what it means

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Speaker 1: to have a dad, an all in fully committed father. Second,

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Speaker 1: he taught Jim how to love the Air Force. John

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Speaker 1: was a career pilot. He served during World War two, Korea,

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Speaker 1: and even the early years of Vietnam.

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Speaker 3: My father was the driving force behind everything I did.

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Speaker 4: He was my hero. I really looked up to him.

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Speaker 3: I didn't want to work for a living, and I

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Speaker 3: always wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force.

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Speaker 4: I never wanted to be anything else.

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Speaker 1: Halfway through his pilot training, Jim volunteered to go to Vietnam.

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Speaker 1: By that time, the war had been going on for

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Speaker 1: more than a decade. Jim was married. He had two

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Speaker 1: little girls at home, but he couldn't wait to get

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Speaker 1: into combat and serve his country.

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Speaker 3: I was terribly excited to go. If you talk to

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Speaker 3: my wife, she'll probably tell you that I was apprehensive

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Speaker 3: that it would be over by the time.

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Speaker 4: I got there. I wanted to go and.

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Speaker 1: Fly in war, but Vietnam wasn't exactly what he'd imagined.

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Speaker 1: Jim remembers how it felt when he arrived in nineteen

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Speaker 1: sixty eight.

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Speaker 4: As we get off, the flares are going off around.

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Speaker 3: You can see artillery going off over here, and it

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Speaker 3: was just no question in your mind.

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Speaker 4: You're somewhere you've never been before.

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Speaker 3: We probably got there midnight and got in our barracks

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Speaker 3: probably four in the morning or whatever, to get a

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Speaker 3: couple hours of sleep. And I remember turning over and

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Speaker 3: a tear comes out of my eye and down my nose,

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Speaker 3: and I said to myself, damn, only three hundred and

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Speaker 3: sixty four more of these.

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Speaker 4: To go where I got.

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Speaker 3: You already knew I didn't like it there.

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Speaker 1: Jim did three days of jungle survival training, you know,

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Speaker 1: just in case the chopper went down. It scared the

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Speaker 1: hell out of him.

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Speaker 4: I didn't like that at all.

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Speaker 3: It taught me I did not want to go down

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Speaker 3: and have to walk home.

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Speaker 1: But dropping people into the jungle was what Jim was

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Speaker 1: in Vietnam to do. Okay, here's the deal. The North

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Speaker 1: Vietnamese Army n VA for sure needed to supply their

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Speaker 1: forces fighting in South Vietnam, so they built a supply

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Speaker 1: line through two neutral countries, Laos and Cambodia. The Americans

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Speaker 1: called it the Hochi Mantrail. The US wanted to stop

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Speaker 1: that flow as supplies, but they couldn't officially be in

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Speaker 1: either of those countries, so they secretly sent in small

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Speaker 1: teams of Green Berets. They were the Studies and Observations

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Speaker 1: Group or sg for short. It was totally covert ops.

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Speaker 1: Those SOG teams were inserted by Air Force pilots from

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Speaker 1: the twentieth Special Operation Squadron, otherwise known as the Green Hornets.

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Speaker 1: They flew UH one helicopters. In the military, we call

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Speaker 1: them Huey's. You know this kind of helicopter. You've seen

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Speaker 1: it in every single movie about Vietnam. Jim was one

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Speaker 1: of those Green Hornets, and on the morning of November

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Speaker 1: twenty sixth, nineteen sixty eight, he got ready for a drop.

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Speaker 3: The first mission of the day was to insert a

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Speaker 3: seven man special team, three Americans and four mercenaries.

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Speaker 1: Those mercenaries were referred to as Montignards. They were members

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Speaker 1: of a try from the highlands of Vietnam. Montaignards were

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Speaker 1: a key part of any SAG team because they were

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Speaker 1: not only seasoned soldiers but also expert local guides and translators.

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Speaker 1: So this SAG team was going to be dropped right

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Speaker 1: at the border of Cambodia and Vietnam. Their target was

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Speaker 1: the time Laysan River. They suspected it was a route

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Speaker 1: for the NVA. SAG had already tried to get there

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Speaker 1: twice before, but each attempt had ended in a scramble

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Speaker 1: to pull the team out under heavy weapons fire from

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Speaker 1: the enemy. But they needed the intel, so back they went.

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Speaker 1: The team would be taken to their mission by a

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Speaker 1: convoy of five helicopters, two gunships, and three slicks. Jim

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Speaker 1: flew a slick, which was essentially a bus.

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Speaker 3: Take the guns out, take the pockets off, open up

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Speaker 3: the cab and it's completely empty.

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Speaker 4: You carry troops. It was a slick.

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Speaker 1: A slick's only job was to bring guys in or

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Speaker 1: pick them up. Each slick had a pilot, a co pilot,

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Speaker 1: and two gunners, one at each door. The convoy always

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Speaker 1: traveled as a unit. It was safer that way. Plus

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Speaker 1: there was a Ford Air controller plane, what the guys

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Speaker 1: called a fact. The choppers didn't have much navigation, so

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Speaker 1: the fact had to lead them in and out. The

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Speaker 1: saw guys and the green hornets gathered on the runway

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Speaker 1: the way they did before every mission.

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Speaker 3: Before you took off, you would brief and you would

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Speaker 3: shake hands and hug the team members and the crew members.

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Speaker 3: Not a lot talking going on. And what's going on

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Speaker 3: here is what you see in football when men stand

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Speaker 3: around hold hands. These big guys hold hands. There's a

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Speaker 3: bonding going on there. What you're doing, you're saying, I'm

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Speaker 3: gonna take you and I'm gonna put you out in

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Speaker 3: the middle of hell. If you have to come home,

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Speaker 3: I'll bring you home. That's my duty, it's my honor.

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Speaker 3: I will do that for you. It seems simple enough

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Speaker 3: to Jim. You make a promise and you keep it.

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Speaker 3: But this was Jim's second day as an aircraft commander.

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Speaker 3: He was a lieutenant way younger than the other pilots

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Speaker 3: less season. He didn't know that. It wasn't going to

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Speaker 3: be so easy.

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Speaker 1: The fact left first, then the Hueyes, they headed towards

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Speaker 1: the drop location. When they got close, the choppers split up.

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Speaker 1: To evade detection.

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Speaker 3: You'd send five helicopters and one of them peels off,

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Speaker 3: and then another one peels off, and if anyone's watching

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Speaker 3: or listening, they don't know who lands.

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Speaker 4: So we did that and I put the team in.

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Speaker 1: After the SAW group was on the ground, the Green

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Speaker 1: Hornets met up at a refueling stop. They kicked back

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Speaker 1: and waited to hear how the mission was going.

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Speaker 3: We're sitting around listening to rock and roll from Armed

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Speaker 3: Forces radio and eating sea rations and smoking cigars, and

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Speaker 3: you know, sett an alert out in the middle of

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Speaker 3: this miserable little place.

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Speaker 1: After Jim dropped them, the seven members of the SOG

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Speaker 1: team moved into the jungle. The trees were so tall

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Speaker 1: and so dense that the canopy totally covered them, and

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Speaker 1: that was dangerous too. Those trees were filled with monkeys

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Speaker 1: ready to scream and tip off the enemy to their location.

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Speaker 1: The men would have made their way towards the river,

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Speaker 1: setting up a perimeter of Claymore mines for safety, but

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Speaker 1: then out of nowhere, a huge enemy force was on them.

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Speaker 1: Suddenly the jungle was blazing with gunfire, monkeys screaming, bullets

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Speaker 1: zipping past the trees. The SOG team knew how outnumbered

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Speaker 1: they were. They had to get out now.

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Speaker 3: The radio operator with them keeed the mic and said,

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Speaker 3: tango five one contact, need extraction. As soon as that happens,

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Speaker 3: we get it. We're on our way.

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Speaker 1: The pilots scrambled to their choppers and took to the

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Speaker 1: air for the SOG team on the ground of Vietnam.

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Speaker 1: The situation had gone from bad to really really bad.

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Speaker 1: Jim Fleming and the rest of the Green Hornets were

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Speaker 1: getting updates from them over the radio. The NVA had

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Speaker 1: the SOG team on the run.

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Speaker 3: Now they're after them, and they chased them all the

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Speaker 3: way to a riverbank, this large river which is the

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Speaker 3: border between Cambodia and Vietnam. And they can't get across

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Speaker 3: the river it's two wide. So there now, with their

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Speaker 3: backs to the river, set up a defensive position, put

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Speaker 3: Claymore minds out and fighting off these people that are

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Speaker 3: starting to come in on them.

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Speaker 1: The Ford air controller got to the area first, but

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Speaker 1: he couldn't find the men. The jungle canopy was just

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Speaker 1: too dense.

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Speaker 3: The fact has identified where he thinks they are because

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Speaker 3: they're moving. He knows they're on the river, but exactly

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Speaker 3: where he can't really tell.

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Speaker 1: Then came to helicopters, two gun ships, and three slicks.

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Speaker 3: The first guy is to get there are the gunships?

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Speaker 3: What a gunships like to do more than they like

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Speaker 3: to do anything else, rock and roll.

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Speaker 1: They were blazing gunfire and rockets towards the enemy, which

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Speaker 1: was both helpful and not because he created a totally

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Speaker 1: new problem. Before the soal team had just been facing

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Speaker 1: the men in front of them, the ones who had

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Speaker 1: chased them to the river. But after a few gunship

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Speaker 1: passes and even larger group of enemies knew they were there,

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Speaker 1: they suddenly began taking fire from across the river. It

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Speaker 1: was coming from six enemy machine guns hidden over there.

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Speaker 1: They had nowhere to hide. The gunships knocked out two

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Speaker 1: of the machine gun positions, but then.

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Speaker 3: They hit the first gunship. He starts trailing blue smoke

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Speaker 3: and he yells, I'm hit, I'm hit.

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Speaker 4: I'm going down.

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Speaker 3: He turns back, goes across the river and crash lands.

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Speaker 1: One of the slicks spiraled down and landed next to

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Speaker 1: the gunship. Their job was to rescue that crew and

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Speaker 1: take them to safety immediately.

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Speaker 3: They go home. They can't help anybody, so they're going home.

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Speaker 1: Only three of the five helicopters were left. Everyone on

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Speaker 1: the ground, the enemy and the special forces men had

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Speaker 1: seen the crash, and they watched as yet another Slick

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Speaker 1: flew off engine trouble, low fuel, So now just two

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Speaker 1: helicopters left.

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Speaker 3: The second gunship, Leonard Gonzalez goes across the team and

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Speaker 3: takes battle damage and starts trailing blue smoke.

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Speaker 4: So whaile this is going going on?

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Speaker 3: The Ford air controller is talking to me and he said, damn,

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Speaker 3: what are we going to do? I said, well, I'll

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Speaker 3: tell you what. This is really a lot of chaos.

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Speaker 3: I bet you I can get in there and get him.

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Speaker 3: I'm the only one here. Get me low way out,

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Speaker 3: throw me in there. I bet you I can sneak

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Speaker 3: in there and get him.

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Speaker 1: Jim knew what kind of danger was waiting for him

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Speaker 1: on the ground, but he and his crew of three

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Speaker 1: other guys were in total agreement they had to try, so.

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Speaker 3: He puts me low way out to go down the

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Speaker 3: river and come back around. So I hit that river

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Speaker 3: bank and my right door gunner starts shooting. He says,

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Speaker 3: go right, go right, and I'm starting to go down

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Speaker 3: the river looking for him, and going right, going right,

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Speaker 3: sort of backing up, actually going.

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Speaker 4: Down the river.

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Speaker 1: The chopper was skimming over the water, flying through the bullets.

285
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Speaker 1: His door gunners and co pilot returned fire and search

286
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Speaker 1: for the team. The SOG teams saw Jim's chopper come in,

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Speaker 1: but as they started to move towards it, the woodline

288
00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,199
Speaker 1: in front of them erupted with gunfire. There was no

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Speaker 1: way for the men to make it to Jim.

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Speaker 3: The radio operator says, get out, get out. They got us,

291
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Speaker 3: get out. Jim got out as fast as he could.

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Speaker 3: He moved up and away his safety. But here's the thing.

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Speaker 1: Jim had made the man on the ground a promise,

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Speaker 1: a promise to come back. Remember no man left behind.

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Speaker 1: And now he and the rest of his crew had

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Speaker 1: to decide if that was a promise they could keep.

297
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Speaker 1: Daylight was fading and down on the ground. The gunfire

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Speaker 1: was so thick you could practically walk on it. Jim

299
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,920
Speaker 1: was desperately low on fuel and Ammo. The last remaining

300
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Speaker 1: gunship with Gonzalez was still trailing smoke. Jim called out

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Speaker 1: to him.

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Speaker 4: He says, we've got some damn. He says, I got

303
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Speaker 4: to take this home or we're going to live out here.

304
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Speaker 1: We're going to live out here in the jungle. Remember this,

305
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,880
Speaker 1: this is Jim's worst nightmare. But his mind flashed back

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Speaker 1: to the men on the ground. They had to get

307
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Speaker 1: them out before dark, if they were going to get

308
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Speaker 1: them out at all.

309
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Speaker 3: I put the nose down, go down the river, and

310
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,520
Speaker 3: as I come up and I look over, there are

311
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Speaker 3: people everywhere. The enemy is now focused in where they are.

312
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Speaker 3: They found him because they saw me. So the enemy

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Speaker 3: is starting to go in and I tell the fact,

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Speaker 3: bring me in one more time. I know where they

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Speaker 3: are now, bring me in one more time. As I

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Speaker 3: say that, Leonard Gonzalez says, you going back in and

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Speaker 3: said I'm gonna try it one more time. He said,

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Speaker 3: I'll tell you what he says, follow me. I'll go

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Speaker 3: over one more time. I'll give him everything I got,

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Speaker 3: and I gotta go home.

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Speaker 1: Gonzalez hit the enemy with the final blazing pass.

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Speaker 3: He goes over him and he rock and rolls, he

323
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Speaker 3: shoots all his rockets. They give him everything they got

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Speaker 3: and he says, see at home, Jim, and he takes off.

325
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Speaker 1: Jim's chopper was the only one left. He started back

326
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Speaker 1: down the river. One of his two gunners, Fred Cook,

327
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Speaker 1: was hanging out the door scanning for the team on

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Speaker 1: the ground.

329
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Speaker 3: And as we get further down, we're starting to take

330
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Speaker 3: some pretty good damage and Fred is shooting and yelling and.

331
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Speaker 4: Go right, go right, stop stop. I got him.

332
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Speaker 3: They had made it down to the river bank and

333
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,520
Speaker 3: they were half in the water in the reeds, the

334
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Speaker 3: sort of underbrush and the blades had blown those reeds,

335
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Speaker 3: and we found them.

336
00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,800
Speaker 1: Jim knew there was nowhere big enough for him to land,

337
00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:33,600
Speaker 1: but if he hovered just above the water with his

338
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,000
Speaker 1: landing skids against the river bank, the team might be

339
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Speaker 1: able to make it to the chopper. It would be

340
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Speaker 1: a balancing act that required some truly insane piloting skills,

341
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Speaker 1: and it would only work if, by some miracle, his

342
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Speaker 1: helicopter wasn't hit and disabled altogether. Jim hovered the UH

343
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Speaker 1: one against the river bank, his tail boom hanging just

344
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,400
Speaker 1: above the water, and he waited for the saw team

345
00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:03,280
Speaker 1: they spotted it and race forward, but as they did,

346
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,600
Speaker 1: two NVA burst out of the reeds and opened fire.

347
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:09,879
Speaker 1: The men shot back, and they kept on running.

348
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Speaker 3: So I'm hovering over the water as close as I

349
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Speaker 3: can get to the bank and Fred Cook, God bless him.

350
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Speaker 3: I hear him go hold your hover, hold your hover.

351
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Speaker 3: I got one. And what he's doing is he's leaning

352
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Speaker 3: down and grabbing these guys and jerking them, scrambling them in.

353
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Speaker 1: The chopper was taking fire from all sides now, but

354
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Speaker 1: Jim just kept hanging in there as calmly as a

355
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Speaker 1: mom in the school pickup line. Bullets snapped through the windshield.

356
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Speaker 1: They had four men on the chopper, then five, then six.

357
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Speaker 3: And I'm looking around and I see people darting up

358
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Speaker 3: and just sort of jumping up and down, up and

359
00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,800
Speaker 3: down and shooting. And there are seven of them out there.

360
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Speaker 3: We only got six. Now I'm thinking, gosh, maybe they

361
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Speaker 3: got one of them. I've got enough.

362
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,320
Speaker 1: He had enough men, but he didn't have all of them.

363
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Speaker 1: And for Jim, was six really enough. The bullets were

364
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,919
Speaker 1: getting closer. Now he knew there were seconds, not minutes

365
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,440
Speaker 1: away from all of them going up in flames.

366
00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:19,399
Speaker 3: We got to get out of here. Sooner or later,

367
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,680
Speaker 3: they're gonna get us. Brown's going to hit the me

368
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:22,840
Speaker 3: or is going to hit the engine.

369
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,960
Speaker 1: Where was the seventh guy? Jim knew who he was,

370
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,959
Speaker 1: Randy Harrison, the commanding officer of this group of Green Berets.

371
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,800
Speaker 1: He had volunteered to go on this mission. Jim wanted

372
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Speaker 1: to wait for him, but he knew he was pushing

373
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,440
Speaker 1: his luck too far. He looked over his shoulder one

374
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:43,639
Speaker 1: last time.

375
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:48,480
Speaker 3: And as I look over, Randy Harrison jumps up. He's

376
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,000
Speaker 3: a fair haired guy, and he's all painted up, and

377
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,440
Speaker 3: he's got a bandana on because he wore a bandana

378
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,399
Speaker 3: over his light hair. I see him jump up, and

379
00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,800
Speaker 3: he looks at me, and I look at him. He

380
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,919
Speaker 3: was the last man, and he waited till everybody was aboard.

381
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,600
Speaker 3: He gave him a last burst of his automatic weapon,

382
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,760
Speaker 3: threw it down, and took off to the helicopter. Randy

383
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,560
Speaker 3: took about four steps and jumped in the water, sort

384
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:13,800
Speaker 3: of a flying jump in the water, trying to hit

385
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,720
Speaker 3: the helicopter. Missed and took about one stroke in the

386
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,600
Speaker 3: water and got his arm over the skid. And Fred

387
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:22,879
Speaker 3: Cook reaches down and grabs him by the rooksack and

388
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,760
Speaker 3: yells let's go, and we drug him through the water

389
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:27,120
Speaker 3: and off we went.

390
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 1: All of the men were on board, The fuel tanks

391
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 1: were pretty much empty. The windshield was shattered. Jim hadn't

392
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,159
Speaker 1: even noticed it until he felt the air rushing in

393
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,160
Speaker 1: as the chopper flew away. Not a single man had

394
00:22:43,200 --> 00:23:07,280
Speaker 1: been wounded, and not a single man was left behind.

395
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,960
Speaker 1: After Jim Fleming's daring rescue, he stayed on in Vietnam,

396
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,800
Speaker 1: taking care of his men, bringing them to danger and

397
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:19,080
Speaker 1: bringing them home. He was wounded in January of nineteen

398
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,720
Speaker 1: sixty nine and spent a few months in the hospital

399
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,160
Speaker 1: in Japan. Then he got picked up by a helicopter,

400
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:29,359
Speaker 1: of course, to head back to Vietnam. The pilot was

401
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:29,960
Speaker 1: a friend of his.

402
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,560
Speaker 3: He said, well, Jim, you're going home. I said, yeah,

403
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 3: I got another three or four months of this left.

404
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,080
Speaker 3: He said no, he says you're going home tomorrow. I said,

405
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:41,080
Speaker 3: I'm going home tomorrow.

406
00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:41,320
Speaker 4: Why.

407
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:43,760
Speaker 3: He says, the President is nominated here for the Medal

408
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,320
Speaker 3: of Honor. And I said, yeah, great, because we used

409
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 3: to joke, you know, how can you get.

410
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:50,639
Speaker 4: Out of here? Well, you can be nominated for the

411
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:52,160
Speaker 4: Medal of Honor. You have to go home.

412
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:54,359
Speaker 3: I said, yeah, okay, right, right right. He said no,

413
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,720
Speaker 3: I'm not kidding. He says, you're going home. I'm saying, okay.

414
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:58,480
Speaker 3: This is a good one.

415
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,560
Speaker 1: It was a good one because it was true. James

416
00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,439
Speaker 1: Fleming was awarded the Medal of Honor on May fourteenth,

417
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,040
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy, by President Nixon at the White House.

418
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,720
Speaker 5: As we think of the beginning of this country one

419
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 5: hundred and ninety years ago, we think of it as

420
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,080
Speaker 5: the land of the free. We should all be reminded

421
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,119
Speaker 5: that it could not be the land of the free

422
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:24,920
Speaker 5: if it were not also the home of the brave.

423
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 5: And today we honor the brave men, the men who

424
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,760
Speaker 5: far beyond the call of duty, serve their country magnificently

425
00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,359
Speaker 5: in a war very far away, in a war which

426
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:45,720
Speaker 5: is many times not understood and not supported by some

427
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 5: in this country.

428
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,240
Speaker 1: The ceremony took place just ten days after the massacre

429
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,719
Speaker 1: at Kent State University, when members of the Ohio National

430
00:24:55,760 --> 00:25:00,439
Speaker 1: Guard shot into a crowd of unarmed students. The students

431
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 1: who were protesting the expansion of the war into Cambodia.

432
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,959
Speaker 1: Nine students were wounded, four of them were killed, and

433
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,920
Speaker 1: in response there were angry protests everywhere.

434
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 4: Washington, d c. Is a battleground. We had escorts everywhere

435
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:16,080
Speaker 4: we went.

436
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 1: The tide was really turning against the war in Vietnam,

437
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:23,320
Speaker 1: but it would take another five years for it to end.

438
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Speaker 1: Jim believes that in all those years, many men did

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Speaker 1: exactly what he had done.

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Speaker 3: How many helicopter pilots are in Vietnam thousands? How many

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00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 3: helicopter pilots did what I did and got shot down

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00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,640
Speaker 3: and died no one saw it? Hundreds? I know that.

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00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,159
Speaker 1: While Jim did a return to Vietnam, he stayed on

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00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:47,320
Speaker 1: in the Air Force. He became a colonel and taught

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00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 1: at the Officer Training School at Lachlan Air Force Base

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00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:55,520
Speaker 1: in Texas. He finally retired in nineteen ninety six. By then,

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00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,719
Speaker 1: his decorations included the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross,

448
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 1: and eight Air medals. To me, what's cool about Jim's

449
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,640
Speaker 1: story isn't just the fireworks, you know, the adrenaline of battle.

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00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 1: After all, he wasn't rocking and rolling in the gunship.

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00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,919
Speaker 1: He didn't even shoot a gun. He flew a bus.

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Speaker 1: But I think that bus was more powerful than any gun.

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Speaker 1: Could be because it was a symbol of his rock

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00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,600
Speaker 1: solid reliability. That's what Jim is all about, and he

455
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,800
Speaker 1: feels like that devotion to helping one another is deep

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00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,440
Speaker 1: in our DNA.

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Speaker 3: I never picked up an American in combat that did

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Speaker 3: not when he got to the helicopter turn around and

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00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:47,160
Speaker 3: put his hand out to the next guy. Never they automatically,

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00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,360
Speaker 3: no matter how bad things were going. When he hit

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00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 3: that helicopter, that American turned around and looked for the

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00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,760
Speaker 3: next guy to help him, made sure everybody was there.

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00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 4: That's who we are, That's who we are.

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Speaker 1: Jim left no man behind.

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Speaker 4: That was my duty, my honor.

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00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,400
Speaker 3: My job was to take these soldiers into enemy territory,

467
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,479
Speaker 3: to drop them off, to let them do their mission,

468
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:19,680
Speaker 3: and go back and bring them home.

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Speaker 1: All of us understand the importance of showing up, of

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00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 1: keeping our word, but I think some people feel that

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00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 1: more deeply, like Jim. Maybe it was because his dad,

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00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:37,199
Speaker 1: John Fleming, was there for him, showed him the power

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00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,400
Speaker 1: of keeping a promise. Jim kept his promise to those

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00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,640
Speaker 1: seven men in that jungle, and by doing that, he

475
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:46,520
Speaker 1: gave them the chance to show up for the people

476
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:51,600
Speaker 1: in their lives, just as Randy Harrison, remember him, the

477
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,399
Speaker 1: last man on the helicopter, the fair hair guy in

478
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 1: the bandana. Here he is speaking at an event at

479
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,440
Speaker 1: the Air Force Museum in two thousand six sixteen.

480
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 6: There is an ancient American spiritual, the words to which sorry,

481
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 6: all right. I looked over Jordan, and what did I

482
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 6: see coming forward to carrying me home? It was a

483
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 6: band of angels coming after me, coming ford to carry

484
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:25,520
Speaker 6: me home. Swing low, sweet chariot, swing low, coming for

485
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:30,520
Speaker 6: to carrying me home. It would be incredibly presumptuous of

486
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:34,680
Speaker 6: me to assume that twice in my life a band

487
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 6: of angels and a sweet chariot will swing low to

488
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 6: carry me home. But I'll tell you what, if it

489
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,360
Speaker 6: happens again, I'm going to know it before I see it,

490
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,520
Speaker 6: because I've heard the sound of angels wings before. They

491
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,080
Speaker 6: sound like a uh one ten feet off the deck,

492
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:55,520
Speaker 6: coming in at full speed to carry me home, home

493
00:28:55,560 --> 00:29:01,160
Speaker 6: to a completed college education, home to great work, home

494
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:08,040
Speaker 6: to wonderful friends, home to marriage, and home to children,

495
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:13,959
Speaker 6: two sons that I would never have known were it

496
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 6: not for the Green Hornets on that day in that terrible,

497
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 6: terrible place.

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00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,280
Speaker 1: Medal of Honor Stories of Courage as written by Meredith

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00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:59,520
Speaker 1: Rollins and produced by Meredith Rollins and Ryan Swiker. Our

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00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,800
Speaker 1: editor is Lydia gan Kott, Sound design by Jake Gorsky,

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00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:09,840
Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Gonstanza Gayado. Fact checking by Arthur Gomberts,

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00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 1: and original music by Eric Phillips. Special thanks to the

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00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 1: series creator Dan McGinn, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society,

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00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:21,080
Speaker 1: and the National Museum of the Air Force. If you

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00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,160
Speaker 1: want to learn more about this story, take a look

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00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:24,960
Speaker 1: at our show notes, or we have some of the

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00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,840
Speaker 1: resources we use to put this episode together. We also

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00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:31,600
Speaker 1: want to hear from you. Send us your personal story

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00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 1: of courage or highlight someone else's bravery. Email us at

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00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:40,720
Speaker 1: Medal of Honor at Pushkin dot fm. You might hear

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00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 1: your stories on future episodes of Metal of Honor, or

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00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: see them on our social channels at Pushkin Pods. I'm

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Speaker 1: your host JR. Martinez might have had spen