WEBVTT 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.859 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:17.899 is Veterans Radio. And now, your host for today's 00:00:17.899 --> 00:00:26.960 program, Dale Throneberry. Good afternoon and 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:29.800 welcome to Veterans Radio. My name is Dale Throneberry, 00:00:30.019 --> 00:00:35.219 CW2 Type, United States Army Aviation. 1967 to 00:00:35.219 --> 00:00:38.039 71. Wow, that's 100 years ago, isn't it? Pretty 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:41.359 close to it, anyway. I want to say to all my 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:43.500 veteran brothers and sisters, thank you so much 00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:45.640 for your service. And to all of you that have 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:48.280 made it home safely, we want to tell you thank 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:51.799 you again and welcome home. We are here for you. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:55.600 Veterans Radio is veterans for veterans. Everything 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.880 about the whole program is veteran -oriented, 00:00:57.880 --> 00:00:59.600 and that's what we want to talk about today. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:02.149 We're going to be telling a great story. This 00:01:02.149 --> 00:01:04.030 has really kind of hit home with me as those 00:01:04.030 --> 00:01:06.129 of you who have been listening to Veterans Radio 00:01:06.129 --> 00:01:09.290 over the last number of years. I did fly helicopters 00:01:09.290 --> 00:01:12.629 in Vietnam and I was involved with, now I can 00:01:12.629 --> 00:01:14.689 legally talk about it because a 30 -year time 00:01:14.689 --> 00:01:20.609 period has expired. I was involved in a special 00:01:20.609 --> 00:01:24.629 observation group over there, Command and Control 00:01:24.629 --> 00:01:29.189 South, and we ran teams of Special Forces units 00:01:29.189 --> 00:01:33.519 into Cambodia, Laos, and so forth over there 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:36.640 before it was popular. And today's book that 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:38.180 we're going to be talking about is Legend, and 00:01:38.180 --> 00:01:41.040 it's written by Eric Blem. And it's the story 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:45.079 of a Medal of Honor recipient, and I'll get into 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:47.379 that in a little bit more, but it's just, it's 00:01:47.379 --> 00:01:49.840 a very exciting story because he was part of 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:51.959 a team that had gone into Cambodia, into places 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:55.439 that I had been a year after this story took 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:58.879 place. And so I'm excited to tell that whole 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:01.829 story. In the meantime, we've got a number of 00:02:01.829 --> 00:02:03.989 events that are coming up, and I want to make 00:02:03.989 --> 00:02:06.230 sure that you tell us what events are going on 00:02:06.230 --> 00:02:08.810 in your area of the country. You can send us 00:02:08.810 --> 00:02:11.889 an email or you can go to our website at veteransradio 00:02:11.889 --> 00:02:15.050 .net, click on Contact Us, and we'll get out 00:02:15.050 --> 00:02:17.250 whatever information that you want us to get 00:02:17.250 --> 00:02:21.490 out. The event that occurred was some news that 00:02:21.490 --> 00:02:24.370 I got from one of our listeners. And we're always 00:02:24.370 --> 00:02:26.569 encouraging you here on Veterans Radio to get 00:02:26.569 --> 00:02:29.129 a hold of the VA and make sure at least that 00:02:29.129 --> 00:02:31.930 you're registered. And so that if anything does 00:02:31.930 --> 00:02:34.689 come up, then possibly you can get a little jump 00:02:34.689 --> 00:02:36.430 on the system and get involved in there. And 00:02:36.430 --> 00:02:38.530 if you're entitled to benefits for a disability 00:02:38.530 --> 00:02:41.509 or something that might have been caused by your 00:02:41.509 --> 00:02:43.849 exposure to something, at least you've got the 00:02:43.849 --> 00:02:46.289 ball started to roll. But I got this email, and 00:02:46.289 --> 00:02:48.919 it talks about the you know, the Brown Water 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:52.300 Navy over in Vietnam, and it talks about the 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:56.199 mobile ravine force inshore fire support. I'm 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:58.319 not from the Navy, so I don't understand hardly 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:01.719 any of this, but it says mobile ravine force 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:06.319 inshore fire support ISF Division 93. If you 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:09.020 were listed on many of these different ships, 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:11.900 you might have been exposed and probably were 00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:15.099 exposed to herbicides, and it talks about that 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:18.150 these types of ships now qualify for presumption 00:03:18.150 --> 00:03:20.870 of herbicide exposure. And I'm just going to 00:03:20.870 --> 00:03:22.569 list a couple of them. Those in your Navy, you 00:03:22.569 --> 00:03:24.270 probably have gotten this yourselves. You may 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:28.949 know about it already. But it says AGP assault 00:03:28.949 --> 00:03:32.090 group patrols, LCM's landing craft mechanized, 00:03:32.289 --> 00:03:37.830 LCU's landing craft utility, LST's, PBR patrol 00:03:37.830 --> 00:03:41.669 boat river, PCF patrol craft after swift boats. 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:46.780 STABs, strike assault boats, WAKs, cargo vessels, 00:03:47.659 --> 00:03:51.080 there's buoy tenders, this list is pretty long, 00:03:51.460 --> 00:03:53.699 patrol boats, harbor utility craft, and so on 00:03:53.699 --> 00:03:56.719 and so forth. But if you want more information 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.080 on this, remember Bob always says make sure you 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:00.580 have a pen when you're listening to Veterans 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:04.979 Radio, is to go to this website and it's www 00:04:04.979 --> 00:04:12.939 .publichealth .va .gov slash exposures. And on 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:16.000 that there, you'll be able to find a list. When 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.279 you look under Agent Orange, under that particular 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:21.079 page, you'll be able to find a list of all of 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:24.139 the ships that are designated, I guess you could 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:28.019 say, to qualify for presumption of herbicide 00:04:28.019 --> 00:04:30.759 exposure. Now, again, all of us who are in Vietnam, 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:33.079 there is a presumption of herbicide exposure. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:35.300 I know that the VA always wants to know, where 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:37.040 were you in country and when were you there? 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:39.060 And for some of us, we didn't know where we were 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:42.519 half the time because Every day we're in 25 different 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:44.779 towns or villages or whatever it happened to 00:04:44.779 --> 00:04:49.779 be. But if you think that you have any health 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:53.540 issues caused by exposure to herbicides, get 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:56.870 to the VA now. Get that claim in. and let them, 00:04:56.870 --> 00:04:58.850 you know, let's start the process going because 00:04:58.850 --> 00:05:00.790 there's a lot of things going on out there. Remember 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:03.230 we talked about Agent Orange before where it 00:05:03.230 --> 00:05:06.230 not only affects our generation but there is 00:05:06.230 --> 00:05:08.449 proof that it affects our children's generation 00:05:08.449 --> 00:05:10.490 and now they are finding out that it affects 00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:13.290 our grandchildren's generation. So we encourage 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:16.670 you to get involved with this. Find out if there's 00:05:16.670 --> 00:05:20.269 anything going on in your physical system caused 00:05:20.269 --> 00:05:24.189 by Agent Orange. Do it. Please. This is really 00:05:24.189 --> 00:05:26.500 important to you. We're going to take a break 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:28.180 right now, and then we're going to be back with 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:31.240 our guest as author, Eric Blem, and his book 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:33.660 is entitled Legend, the Incredible Story of Green 00:05:33.660 --> 00:05:37.680 Beret Sergeant Roy Benavidez, His Mission to 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.220 Rescue Special Forces Team Caught Behind Enemy 00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:42.579 Lines. You're listening to Veterans Radio. We'll 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:46.139 be right back. These are America's Best, and 00:05:46.139 --> 00:05:47.720 this is what we're going to be talking about 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:49.959 with our guest, Eric Blem, today on Veterans 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:53.980 Radio. Eric, welcome to Veterans Radio. Dale, 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:58.139 so nice to be here and I'll just echo what you 00:05:58.139 --> 00:06:00.000 said earlier. Thank you to all your listenership 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.779 who have served their families. Thank you for 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:04.639 your service and just enabling us this freedom 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.060 of speech to have an open conversation about 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:09.279 whatever we want on the radio here in America. 00:06:09.779 --> 00:06:11.860 It is, isn't it? And now actually we can talk 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:15.480 about these missions 30 years later. Yeah, absolutely. 00:06:16.590 --> 00:06:19.990 It's a world that I was thoroughly not aware 00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:23.569 of the year it took place. I was born 1968, the 00:06:23.569 --> 00:06:25.269 mission that we're going to talk about, May 2nd, 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:28.649 1968. And there really wasn't a whole lot in 00:06:28.649 --> 00:06:30.589 the history books, even as I got into school 00:06:30.589 --> 00:06:34.509 a decade later, that really gave me any enlightenment 00:06:34.509 --> 00:06:38.610 into what the men and women did in Vietnam. Well, 00:06:38.610 --> 00:06:40.250 you have written a number of other books. We're 00:06:40.250 --> 00:06:41.889 going to talk about those a little bit later 00:06:41.889 --> 00:06:46.089 on. But let's talk about... How you got involved 00:06:46.089 --> 00:06:51.209 with this story of Roy Benavidez, if I'm pronouncing 00:06:51.209 --> 00:06:52.709 that correctly. My wife says I can't pronounce 00:06:52.709 --> 00:06:55.490 anything. You know what, Benavidez, you got it. 00:06:55.750 --> 00:07:03.470 We all got taught on phonics, right? First of 00:07:03.470 --> 00:07:05.529 all, I got into writing these stories. I was 00:07:05.529 --> 00:07:07.449 out of college in journalism. I was an editor 00:07:07.449 --> 00:07:09.470 of a snowboarding magazine. I wrote about adventures 00:07:09.470 --> 00:07:11.689 and fun stuff that we get to enjoy in this country. 00:07:11.889 --> 00:07:14.819 But after 9 -11, I asked myself what what's your 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:17.060 part in all this? I never did serve in the military 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:23.300 and I thought that my gift, my skill is writing 00:07:23.300 --> 00:07:25.160 and research and I wanted to tell the story of 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:27.579 those who serve from the perspective of those 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:30.439 who are there on the ground without any political 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:32.620 bias, without any religious bias, without any 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:35.500 sort of bias at all, just straight and narrow 00:07:35.500 --> 00:07:38.480 from the perspective of the guys and in some 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:41.019 places women who are there. And so that's how 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:43.769 I got into writing these types of stories. In 00:07:43.769 --> 00:07:48.610 particular, I wrote books about our current and 00:07:48.610 --> 00:07:52.930 currently past wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 00:07:53.470 --> 00:07:57.470 From there, after a fairly decent following of 00:07:57.470 --> 00:07:59.790 readership, I was given an email from my agent. 00:07:59.870 --> 00:08:03.689 It actually was my agent's mom who told me about 00:08:03.689 --> 00:08:06.329 Roy Benavides' story. I at first could not believe 00:08:06.329 --> 00:08:08.250 it. She said, I think this should be your next 00:08:08.250 --> 00:08:12.389 book. The short of the story is that this is 00:08:12.389 --> 00:08:14.959 a guy that was wounded more than thirty times 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:18.459 in the process of trying to help rescue a special 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:20.879 forces team caught behind enemy lines and it 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:22.300 detailed some of the wounds that he got and I 00:08:22.300 --> 00:08:25.720 thought this cannot be real but I did my due 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:27.319 diligence and my research and asked around and 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:29.399 found out no this is for real and I thought you 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:31.439 know what this this is a story that the current 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:33.820 generation of readership both military and civilian 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:36.899 need to hear and that's what urged me and encouraged 00:08:36.899 --> 00:08:40.659 me to really dig deep and tell this story. Well 00:08:40.659 --> 00:08:44.059 it is a fascinating story and I'm trying to put 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:46.480 it into historical perspective on my own basis. 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:51.399 In 1968, I was in flight school getting ready 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:54.919 to go to Vietnam. And in doing a little research 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.879 on your story, I found that my company, the 195th 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:01.259 Assault Helicopter Company, who had been running 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:05.580 the missions with Team 56, had pretty much broken 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:11.370 all their aircraft. in early May of 68, and the 00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:14.549 other company, the 240th Assault Helicopter Company, 00:09:14.629 --> 00:09:17.090 the Greyhounds, took over the mission for I think 00:09:17.090 --> 00:09:19.090 it was six weeks or two months, something along 00:09:19.090 --> 00:09:21.269 those lines before we got enough aircraft to 00:09:21.269 --> 00:09:24.889 go back and take over again. And as a result, 00:09:25.049 --> 00:09:28.190 they were thrown right into the middle of this 00:09:28.190 --> 00:09:34.429 truly amazing adventure. Yeah, the 240th, they... 00:09:34.409 --> 00:09:38.210 They had a really amazing, from talking to the 00:09:38.210 --> 00:09:40.490 guys who were part of the 240th, and to step 00:09:40.490 --> 00:09:42.990 back even a step further, Roy Benavides' story 00:09:42.990 --> 00:09:46.889 had been told in various angles in the past, 00:09:46.889 --> 00:09:49.809 but what had never been told was the story of 00:09:49.809 --> 00:09:51.970 the assault helicopter company that took them 00:09:51.970 --> 00:09:56.190 on this mission, and then also, of course, gave 00:09:56.190 --> 00:09:59.590 a lot to try and get these guys out. And I thought 00:09:59.590 --> 00:10:02.669 that in Vietnam, as you know, You really can't 00:10:02.669 --> 00:10:04.549 tell a story of a mission, a ground mission, 00:10:04.669 --> 00:10:06.529 without also telling the story from the air because 00:10:06.529 --> 00:10:09.429 they really went hand -in -hand in Vietnam. The 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:11.490 first, you know, the air mobile tactics with 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:14.409 helicopters, all this originated in Vietnam. 00:10:14.889 --> 00:10:18.350 And so that was kind of an interesting perspective 00:10:18.350 --> 00:10:21.230 of this book that I really wanted to cover. And 00:10:21.230 --> 00:10:24.909 they had such a great track record up until the 00:10:24.909 --> 00:10:28.509 year of 1968, the Greyhounds, and then all of 00:10:28.509 --> 00:10:33.049 a sudden just significant losses yet I was told 00:10:33.049 --> 00:10:35.710 over and over again that they never said no to 00:10:35.710 --> 00:10:38.690 a mission that it didn't matter how hot the landing 00:10:38.690 --> 00:10:41.570 was and I think it really went true for most 00:10:41.570 --> 00:10:43.149 of the assault helicopter companies. They wanted 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:45.929 to get their brothers out and if they put them 00:10:45.929 --> 00:10:48.129 in they wanted to get them out and that really 00:10:48.129 --> 00:10:51.590 is a big part of this story. I think it's a big 00:10:51.590 --> 00:10:55.529 story about Americans military in general is 00:10:55.529 --> 00:10:58.690 that traditionally we have never left anybody 00:10:58.690 --> 00:11:03.190 behind. And it was kind of ingrained in us that 00:11:03.190 --> 00:11:07.629 if somebody was on the ground from being a pilot, 00:11:07.950 --> 00:11:09.509 it was our job to go and get them, no matter 00:11:09.509 --> 00:11:12.450 what happened. And I think, luckily, that the 00:11:12.450 --> 00:11:14.350 majority of us were young enough where we didn't 00:11:14.350 --> 00:11:17.870 think about what we were doing, because nothing 00:11:17.870 --> 00:11:20.370 would ever hurt us, that we would go and get 00:11:20.370 --> 00:11:24.450 them. And so many of the stories in this book, 00:11:24.450 --> 00:11:26.169 and we're talking with Eric Blem, and his book 00:11:26.169 --> 00:11:29.850 is entitled Legend. It's just fascinating. For 00:11:29.850 --> 00:11:31.549 any of you who are in Vietnam, you've got to 00:11:31.549 --> 00:11:34.230 read this thing. So many of you probably were 00:11:34.230 --> 00:11:37.350 in firefights that were very similar, hopefully 00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:40.690 not as bad as these were. And if you were a pilot 00:11:40.690 --> 00:11:42.629 or a door gun or crew chief, they've got everything 00:11:42.629 --> 00:11:45.129 in here. He's put everything in here that tells 00:11:45.129 --> 00:11:48.629 your story about what you did in there. And when 00:11:48.629 --> 00:11:51.690 I was reading it about the towns and the villages 00:11:51.690 --> 00:11:54.129 and the names and everything, it all came... 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.820 flashing back to me, but let's go back and let's 00:11:56.820 --> 00:11:59.039 start talking about Roy, because this is about 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:04.919 him, because his story starts nowhere. Yeah, 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:10.539 well, he was born in rural Texas. He was orphaned 00:12:10.539 --> 00:12:12.299 at a very young age. His father died when he 00:12:12.299 --> 00:12:14.360 was three. His mother died when he was seven, 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:17.679 both from tuberculosis. They were sharecroppers. 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:23.100 backero's cowboys working for a ranch the wallace 00:12:23.100 --> 00:12:26.000 ranch outside of quero texas and after his parents 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.379 were killed he was adopted by an uncle who already 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:31.779 had you know a half dozen kids and him and his 00:12:31.779 --> 00:12:33.659 younger brother were brought on board and so 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:36.379 this is a kid that grew up in a racially turbulent 00:12:36.379 --> 00:12:39.580 south he he grew up in a family of mexicans that 00:12:39.580 --> 00:12:42.539 were um... experiencing racism just like the 00:12:42.539 --> 00:12:44.320 uh... african -americans in the south at the 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:48.029 time when he went to a movie as a boy ushered 00:12:48.029 --> 00:12:50.129 to the balcony where there were signs posted 00:12:50.129 --> 00:12:52.490 that said Mexicans and Negroes to the balcony 00:12:52.490 --> 00:12:55.190 and He was that was what he grew up with and 00:12:55.190 --> 00:12:57.269 it's I say that as part of the story to just 00:12:57.269 --> 00:13:01.669 show how it turned around to then He this instilled 00:13:01.669 --> 00:13:04.230 in him this desire to serve his country the very 00:13:04.230 --> 00:13:06.830 country that he you know was experiencing these 00:13:06.830 --> 00:13:10.490 These challenges as a very young person battling 00:13:10.490 --> 00:13:15.509 poverty racism prejudice you name it as a young 00:13:15.509 --> 00:13:20.190 boy, but a teenager he ultimately dropped out 00:13:20.190 --> 00:13:22.250 of school to continue helping the family to make 00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:24.529 ends meet as a sharecropper picking sugar beets 00:13:24.529 --> 00:13:28.549 and cotton and then got a job the Firestone store 00:13:28.549 --> 00:13:31.710 and one day a recruiter came by and asked if 00:13:31.710 --> 00:13:34.029 he could put a recruiting sign up for the for 00:13:34.029 --> 00:13:38.110 the army and Adi Murphy was the kind of the poster 00:13:38.110 --> 00:13:40.370 boy at the time during the Korean War in the 00:13:40.370 --> 00:13:43.919 50s and Roy thought of Audie Murphy as a hero. 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:46.240 His uncle had told him how Audie Murphy came 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:49.799 from a family of sharecroppers, a white boy who 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:52.379 picked cotton himself as a young man. And he 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:53.860 was always kind of a hero to Roy. And that's 00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:58.279 what kind of instigated that, let's say, military 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:00.539 wonder lust where he wanted to see, hey, maybe 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:02.799 the military is for me. And he was encouraged 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.759 by his family, by his uncle, by Art Haddock, 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:08.019 who was the manager of the Firestone store that 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:11.440 You know what? You can't let your circumstances 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.340 hold you back. You need to bring honor to your 00:14:14.340 --> 00:14:16.960 name. You're first and foremost an American. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.620 And the military is a pretty good option for 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:21.779 you. And he went that route. And sure enough, 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:24.700 he went down in the annals of history as truly 00:14:24.700 --> 00:14:27.799 a legend. He did. And one of the things that 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:29.919 I always found that I found fascinating in the 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:31.919 story was the influence that his grandfather 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:36.039 had on him about how to live your life. touch 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:38.679 on that briefly. His grandfather, Salvador, he 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:41.639 would go and pick sugar beets in particular early. 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:43.960 He'd get told out of school a month, a month 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:45.860 and a half before school let out for most kids 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:47.740 and he'd go back to school a month after most 00:14:47.740 --> 00:14:50.799 started. So for about five months with the summer 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:53.360 in the middle, he'd be picking crops and on these 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:57.000 various, you know, living in shanty towns near 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.440 the crops and whatever in Colorado, in Texas, 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:02.919 he would sit around campfires at night, and his 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:05.039 grandfather, Salvador, would tell stories. And 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:07.860 his grandfather had been a vaquero. He very proudly 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:10.059 wore a Stetson hat and a big belt buckle, and 00:15:10.059 --> 00:15:12.960 he told the story of how one time one of his 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:15.940 fellow ranch hens went off of a small trail on 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:18.600 a narrow mountain gorge, and he had to get down 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.039 on all fours, took his belt off, and helped this 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:23.519 guy up at his own risk on a very slippery slope, 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:25.940 and almost could have succumbed to a slip and 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:29.149 died himself. And the lesson that he... constantly 00:15:29.149 --> 00:15:31.529 repeated over and over again over the years to 00:15:31.529 --> 00:15:34.870 Roy and to his fellow, you know, his cousins, 00:15:35.309 --> 00:15:37.230 his adopted cousins were like brothers and sisters 00:15:37.230 --> 00:15:39.789 and his own little brother was, if someone needs 00:15:39.789 --> 00:15:43.190 help, you help them. It was as simple as that. 00:15:43.570 --> 00:15:46.330 And that really came full circle, you know, years 00:15:46.330 --> 00:15:48.409 later in Vietnam when he heard this call for 00:15:48.409 --> 00:15:51.929 help from the Special Forces team that was vastly 00:15:51.929 --> 00:15:54.769 outnumbered, outgunned, being slaughtered and 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:56.820 He was the first to jump in line and say, hey, 00:15:56.879 --> 00:15:58.279 I'm going to go see what I can do to help him 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:02.179 out. Well, it's true. Yeah. It's an amazing story. 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:04.340 We're talking with Eric Lim, author of Legend, 00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:08.759 the story of Roy Benavidez's heroic mission for 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:12.110 which he... rightfully deserved and finally received 00:16:12.110 --> 00:16:14.950 his Medal of Honor. If you've got a question 00:16:14.950 --> 00:16:16.889 for Eric or you want to jump in on the story, 00:16:17.029 --> 00:16:19.009 please give us a call here at Veterans Radio. 00:16:19.450 --> 00:16:24.870 Our number locally is 734 -822 -1600, 734 -822 00:16:24.870 --> 00:16:28.590 -1600. Or if you're out somewhere in America, 00:16:28.750 --> 00:16:33.350 you can call us at toll free at 844 -838 -1600. 00:16:33.389 --> 00:16:40.120 That's 844 -VET -1600. All right. Roy enlisted 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:43.559 and For some reason he decided he wanted to go 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:46.440 to jump school I'm always amazed by people that 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:48.419 want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:53.220 But he wanted to be the best right? Yeah, he 00:16:53.220 --> 00:16:55.980 did and he you know, he was recently married 00:16:55.980 --> 00:17:03.639 and to Lala wife until the day that he died and 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:05.799 he you know he thought of it as two things one 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:08.519 was hey it's um a few extra bucks on my paycheck 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:11.940 every month that's true and also that there was 00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:14.500 this desire that he knew that they were looked 00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:17.380 up to and there is again this this recurring 00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:20.319 message you know from his from his uncle who's 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:21.980 who often said you know if you're going to do 00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:23.619 something whether it's picking crops or whatever 00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:27.319 did be the best do the best that you can do and 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:30.049 no one can ever fault you for that and when he 00:17:30.049 --> 00:17:32.069 heard about the jump school and that possibility 00:17:32.069 --> 00:17:35.569 it was it was exciting to him and he tried out 00:17:35.569 --> 00:17:38.849 for it and ultimately uh made it but it wasn't 00:17:38.849 --> 00:17:42.529 an easy path he tried to enlist for many many 00:17:42.529 --> 00:17:44.910 times and he ultimately got a job he was a good 00:17:44.910 --> 00:17:47.990 guy he had the gift of gab he always was a great 00:17:47.990 --> 00:17:49.869 storyteller because his family had this oral 00:17:49.869 --> 00:17:53.069 tradition of telling stories and so he ultimately 00:17:53.069 --> 00:17:55.890 became a chauffeur for a time and as luck would 00:17:55.890 --> 00:17:59.599 have it He was given the assignment when he was 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.339 at a fort, it's escaping me right now, which 00:18:03.339 --> 00:18:06.920 fort it was, but it was there in Texas. Westmoreland 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:10.680 came to the fort where he was working and he 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:12.920 got to chauffeur him personally. And after being 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:16.200 turned down for jump school a few times, he knew 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.240 at the time Westmoreland was the top dog in the 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:25.109 Airborne. And by the end of his... stay there 00:18:25.109 --> 00:18:26.970 what he kind of hinted to Westmoreland that that's 00:18:26.970 --> 00:18:29.309 what he wanted to do and it was kind of a gift 00:18:29.309 --> 00:18:31.369 because right before he was had the opportunity 00:18:31.369 --> 00:18:34.430 to reanalyze at the end of that year he got orders 00:18:34.430 --> 00:18:39.029 to attend jump school and they were from Westmoreland 00:18:39.029 --> 00:18:42.130 himself giving him a second chance because he 00:18:42.130 --> 00:18:44.970 he did something with Westmoreland he showed 00:18:44.970 --> 00:18:48.049 something his spirit his story whatever it was 00:18:48.049 --> 00:18:51.720 that reminded and had Westmoreland actually wrote 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:53.980 down his name when he left that duty station 00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:58.059 and that was what really gave him the opportunity 00:18:58.059 --> 00:19:01.359 to start this whole journey. It's just interesting 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:04.500 if you believe in a higher power, a lot of pieces 00:19:04.500 --> 00:19:07.119 to the puzzle come together with this story because 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.920 the fact that Westmoreland who ultimately became 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:14.220 the commanding general in Vietnam met him early 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:17.420 on and gave him that opportunity, that chance. 00:19:17.690 --> 00:19:21.289 to go for Airborne and to try out, it's just, 00:19:21.289 --> 00:19:23.769 it's amazing. When I put together the pieces 00:19:23.769 --> 00:19:25.670 and I had to check his military records, these 00:19:25.670 --> 00:19:30.029 things that I heard were almost legendary circumstances, 00:19:30.569 --> 00:19:33.589 you know, they all lined up and I found the facts 00:19:33.589 --> 00:19:36.529 and the truth behind it and sure enough, it all 00:19:36.529 --> 00:19:39.609 pulled together and it was just a neat thing 00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:41.490 to put together because I always research everything 00:19:41.490 --> 00:19:43.750 very deeply and very carefully to make sure, 00:19:43.910 --> 00:19:47.000 you know, is it legend or is it truth that becomes 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:50.579 legend. And as we know, things over the course 00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:53.019 of many, many years and decades upon decades, 00:19:53.420 --> 00:19:57.480 the fog of war and just the fog of age really 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:00.500 can blur things. And man, his story is amazing. 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:03.240 And I'm telling you, it's just all of it panned 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:06.700 out, all of it I found very accurate. That's 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:08.640 true. Now, he went not only to go through jump 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.119 school, he went through ranger school and ended 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:15.470 up in the Special Forces. you know, he got that 00:20:15.470 --> 00:20:17.589 coveted green beret with, you know, that's a 00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:21.109 song that we played on earlier on. But he went 00:20:21.109 --> 00:20:25.150 to, he had been in Vietnam one other time before 00:20:25.150 --> 00:20:29.710 1968 and ran into difficulty, right? Yeah, and 00:20:29.710 --> 00:20:31.490 that's really, I mean, that's a part of the story 00:20:31.490 --> 00:20:34.470 that is, is, you know, I don't go super deep 00:20:34.470 --> 00:20:36.789 into it because there's so much to put at the 00:20:36.789 --> 00:20:38.670 end of the story with this true mission that 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:42.299 Ultimately gave him that you know the credibility 00:20:42.299 --> 00:20:46.359 and opportunity to be eligible for that coveted 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:50.440 Medal of Honor but in 19 in during the first 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:55.599 waves of our support in Vietnam and 65 he was 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:58.700 there and I'll just cut it right to the chase 00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:00.799 he stepped on a landmine was what they ultimately 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:03.660 Put together the medical people put together 00:21:03.660 --> 00:21:06.619 because he was found on a trail after patrol 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:11.740 and he was the impact in his body he was he was 00:21:11.740 --> 00:21:14.859 unconscious he was in a coma his spine had been 00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:20.500 compressed he had a gigantic bruise on his on 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:25.859 his butt and he and just somehow this mind that 00:21:25.859 --> 00:21:28.359 he stepped on did not explode so whether they 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:32.700 ended up in a million pieces he ended up concussed 00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:36.230 thoroughly and compressed and he went back to 00:21:36.230 --> 00:21:38.829 Fort Sam Houston and was told he would first 00:21:38.829 --> 00:21:40.509 of all when he came to he didn't even recognize 00:21:40.509 --> 00:21:43.329 who his wife was and he was that bad they didn't 00:21:43.329 --> 00:21:45.369 know if he'd ever regain his senses and then 00:21:45.369 --> 00:21:46.809 once that came through and they realized that 00:21:46.809 --> 00:21:49.150 he was paralyzed and numb you know could not 00:21:49.150 --> 00:21:51.769 feel any sensations from the waist down that 00:21:51.769 --> 00:21:55.930 he would never walk again but he continued to 00:21:55.930 --> 00:21:59.470 to go to the old chapel at the ward where he 00:21:59.470 --> 00:22:01.930 was where there are other People coming back 00:22:01.930 --> 00:22:04.470 from Vietnam, you know, there are people with 00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:08.710 the amputee amputees multiple amputees burn victims 00:22:08.710 --> 00:22:13.250 and he kept on just saying why? Why? Why God 00:22:13.250 --> 00:22:16.490 did I not why did I survive? He just he's I wish 00:22:16.490 --> 00:22:18.490 I would have gotten my legs blown off and I would 00:22:18.490 --> 00:22:20.509 have never made it here because he saw himself 00:22:20.509 --> 00:22:23.210 as This person who is going to go home He's going 00:22:23.210 --> 00:22:25.130 to get a medical retirement because he's going 00:22:25.130 --> 00:22:27.410 to be good for nothing and he would and he said 00:22:27.410 --> 00:22:29.849 and this is in his own words The only thing back 00:22:29.849 --> 00:22:32.130 in El Campo, Texas where he ended up growing 00:22:32.130 --> 00:22:35.650 up with his uncle is that dumb Mexican, Roy Benavidez. 00:22:36.130 --> 00:22:38.170 There's not Sergeant Benavidez, the man who he'd 00:22:38.170 --> 00:22:40.309 become and that he dreamed to become, who could 00:22:40.309 --> 00:22:43.029 serve his country. And after many months in the 00:22:43.029 --> 00:22:47.150 hospital, he one night started to feel a little 00:22:47.150 --> 00:22:49.269 bit of sensation and he actually pushed himself, 00:22:49.650 --> 00:22:51.289 he could use his arms, he pushed himself off 00:22:51.289 --> 00:22:54.589 of his bed, slammed onto the ground, and he attempted 00:22:54.589 --> 00:22:57.329 to push himself up against the wall in his... 00:22:57.400 --> 00:22:59.960 in the ward where his buddies were all lined 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:02.900 up again some of them amputees and he ultimately 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:05.859 was taken by the nurse and said you can't do 00:23:05.859 --> 00:23:07.259 this you know don't push yourself out of the 00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:09.539 bed he said I just want to walk and he kept giving 00:23:09.539 --> 00:23:12.099 himself his own sort of physical therapy and 00:23:12.099 --> 00:23:14.019 then he was going to real physical therapy and 00:23:14.019 --> 00:23:17.059 slowly under painful circumstances he got to 00:23:17.059 --> 00:23:18.880 the point where he did have some feeling he was 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:23.140 able to bear his own weight and long story short 00:23:23.140 --> 00:23:27.079 again a lot of this is covered in the He was 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:28.980 able to actually walk out of a hospital. And 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:31.539 at that point, you'd think that he's done, but 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:34.000 he refused to medically retire. And then he decided, 00:23:34.140 --> 00:23:36.559 hey, I think what I'm going to do is see if I 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:39.000 can't become a Green Beret. He just has had that 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:43.180 unstoppable spirit. And determination and just 00:23:43.180 --> 00:23:46.480 strength of, as you mentioned, determination. 00:23:46.619 --> 00:23:50.960 I mean, not only is he not blown apart, but blown 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.059 up, probably traumatic brain injury and all these 00:23:53.059 --> 00:23:55.859 other things. And then he decides he's going 00:23:55.859 --> 00:23:58.559 to become a Green Beret whose training is even 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:03.400 more difficult than jump school and all the other 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:07.380 things. So we've got about a minute before we 00:24:07.380 --> 00:24:09.960 take a break at the bottom of the hour when we're 00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:12.359 talking with Eric Blem here. His book is entitled 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:17.420 Legend and it's a story of Roy Benavidez. And 00:24:17.420 --> 00:24:20.720 when we come back after the news, we're going 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:25.259 to be talking about his adventures on in May 00:24:25.259 --> 00:24:31.819 of 1968 when he volunteered. This is the thing 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:34.519 that's so amazing to me is that he volunteered 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:38.460 to go out and to attempt to rescue a Green Beret 00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:43.839 team that was surrounded in Cambodia. So make 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.059 sure that you stay tuned. Again, if we want to 00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:48.420 get in on the conversation, please give us a 00:24:48.420 --> 00:24:52.670 call here at Veterans Radio 734 -822 -1600. Total 00:24:52.670 --> 00:24:59.829 free 844 -838 -1600. So in the 30 seconds that's 00:24:59.829 --> 00:25:04.789 left, Eric, Roy went to Special Forces school, 00:25:04.869 --> 00:25:07.769 got his Green Beret, and now he's going to go 00:25:07.769 --> 00:25:10.970 back to Vietnam, correct? He's going back to 00:25:10.970 --> 00:25:13.029 Vietnam. He doesn't know really what he's going 00:25:13.029 --> 00:25:15.569 to do, but he knows that he's going in at a much 00:25:15.569 --> 00:25:17.750 older age than many young Green Berets. He was 00:25:17.750 --> 00:25:20.309 in his 30s, and he doesn't know what's in store 00:25:20.309 --> 00:25:22.440 for him, but he knows that he's going to get 00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:25.059 a chance to serve his country once again. Okay, 00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:27.420 so stay tuned for the second half of Veterans 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:31.000 Radio. We're going to be talking about Roy Benavidez 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:34.099 and the mission that he went on that earned him 00:25:34.099 --> 00:25:36.119 the Medal of Honor. You're listening to Veterans 00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:56.880 Radio. We'll be right back. And we're back on 00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:58.920 Veterans Radio. For those that are familiar with 00:25:58.920 --> 00:26:00.859 Veterans Radio, that's the theme from our Medal 00:26:00.859 --> 00:26:04.019 of Honor series that we normally run during this 00:26:04.019 --> 00:26:07.960 time period. We haven't made a Medal of Honor 00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:10.559 segment yet for Roy, so we've got to just put 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:14.359 the music in there. Joining us here on Veterans 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:16.980 Radio today is Eric Blem, the author of Legend, 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:19.740 that's the unforgettable account, and Courageous 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:23.220 Actions of the U .S. Army's 240th Assault Helicopter 00:26:23.220 --> 00:26:26.799 Company and Green Beret Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez. 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:32.039 Eric, I was looking in your book and I was recalling 00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:34.279 when I got to Vietnam and they said, okay, these 00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:36.720 are the missions that you're going to be flying. 00:26:36.859 --> 00:26:40.319 I just wanted to remind our audience. that a 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:43.160 helicopter company is made up of four platoons. 00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:45.740 There are two slick platoons. These are the troop 00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:47.960 carriers and so forth. There's a gun platoon 00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:51.440 and then there's the maintenance platoon. And, 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:53.920 you know, the guys that fix everything all the 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:56.720 time. And a slick helicopter has four people 00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.240 on board normally. There's a pilot, co -pilot, 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:02.259 crew chief and a door gunner. And, you know, 00:27:02.299 --> 00:27:05.470 we can fit... depending on the weather altitude 00:27:05.470 --> 00:27:08.089 and density altitude and so forth we can usually 00:27:08.089 --> 00:27:13.009 carry six to eight Americans on board and usually 00:27:13.009 --> 00:27:16.309 more Vietnamese because they were smaller and 00:27:16.309 --> 00:27:20.789 the When we were assigned this mission to fly 00:27:20.789 --> 00:27:24.250 with the the ours was command and control south 00:27:24.250 --> 00:27:27.609 Is that they took away all our identification? 00:27:28.710 --> 00:27:30.990 Well, we didn't wear any dog tags. We weren't 00:27:30.990 --> 00:27:33.190 allowed to carry wallets, jewelry, anything along 00:27:33.190 --> 00:27:35.369 those lines. That would give anybody any idea 00:27:35.369 --> 00:27:38.349 who we were. And that if we were behind, if we 00:27:38.349 --> 00:27:42.109 got shot down behind enemy lines, we had this 00:27:42.109 --> 00:27:46.029 silk, I don't know what you'd call it, like a 00:27:46.029 --> 00:27:48.329 chit almost, and then five different dialects 00:27:48.329 --> 00:27:51.130 of Cambodian or Vietnamese, it would say, if 00:27:51.130 --> 00:27:53.730 you helped this person get back to friendly lines, 00:27:54.029 --> 00:27:55.930 there was a reward for you. And on the other 00:27:55.930 --> 00:28:00.190 side, there was a... a panel to help people out. 00:28:00.890 --> 00:28:04.269 This is the scenario that the 240th ran into 00:28:04.269 --> 00:28:08.609 when they signed up for this mission. So on May 00:28:08.609 --> 00:28:14.369 8th or May 2nd of 1968, off they go on a mission 00:28:14.369 --> 00:28:17.910 to drop a team of special forces, which usually 00:28:17.910 --> 00:28:21.450 were two Americans and was it four indigenous? 00:28:23.210 --> 00:28:26.430 Well, it really depends on the group. In this 00:28:26.430 --> 00:28:29.349 case, it was a heavy team. So it was three Americans, 00:28:29.869 --> 00:28:34.910 and it was, I believe it was six indigenous. 00:28:35.609 --> 00:28:40.630 Okay. And so the mission was to do what? I guess 00:28:40.630 --> 00:28:43.329 I'll let you explain that. They were interdicting 00:28:43.329 --> 00:28:46.150 the Ho Chi Minh Trail. They were there to watch 00:28:46.150 --> 00:28:48.650 and or, you know, along the way they would do 00:28:48.650 --> 00:28:51.190 things like hit wiretaps so they can listen in 00:28:51.190 --> 00:28:53.609 on the enemy communications that were there. 00:28:54.029 --> 00:28:56.009 The communists, the North Vietnamese that were 00:28:56.009 --> 00:28:58.750 using Ho Chi Minh trail to bring supplies and 00:28:58.750 --> 00:29:02.150 personnel down into South Vietnam where the war 00:29:02.150 --> 00:29:04.230 was taking place. Kind of a back door entrance 00:29:04.230 --> 00:29:06.670 into the war because we had it pretty wrapped 00:29:06.670 --> 00:29:11.029 up on the borders and even up on the at the the 00:29:11.029 --> 00:29:14.990 northern border as well. So they went into neutral 00:29:14.990 --> 00:29:17.569 Laos and Cambodia, breaking the international 00:29:17.569 --> 00:29:20.130 law of those countries designation as neutral. 00:29:20.970 --> 00:29:23.890 And they, so people often say we were supposed 00:29:23.890 --> 00:29:26.650 to be in Cambodia. Well, we were in a very small 00:29:26.650 --> 00:29:31.269 scale as opposed to the North Vietnamese and 00:29:31.269 --> 00:29:33.869 communist Chinese who were supporting them that 00:29:33.869 --> 00:29:36.829 were using the same trail. And in some ways with 00:29:36.829 --> 00:29:41.529 the kind of underside acknowledgement, quiet 00:29:41.529 --> 00:29:44.650 nod from the Cambodian Prince Nordam Sihanouk 00:29:44.650 --> 00:29:48.430 who was also a very colorful character from that 00:29:48.430 --> 00:29:51.190 period who was kind of playing all sides of the 00:29:51.190 --> 00:29:55.609 fence. So that's kind of the setting of these 00:29:55.609 --> 00:29:57.980 guys that were... They were trying one of the 00:29:57.980 --> 00:29:59.599 big things they wanted to do is try and find 00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:02.759 the command and control center of the North Vietnam 00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:06.019 Vietnamese down here in the south and many believed 00:30:06.019 --> 00:30:08.279 it was in this area known as either the fish 00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:11.599 hook or the parrot speak where Cambodia jutted 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:15.579 out into South Vietnam the border and That was 00:30:15.579 --> 00:30:19.579 the the fish hook was where this team was inserted 00:30:19.579 --> 00:30:24.470 to an area where they were very confident that 00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:27.130 there was a lot of enemy movement from past missions, 00:30:27.710 --> 00:30:30.789 and they were, as a secondary option in this, 00:30:30.910 --> 00:30:33.410 they were told that they couldn't hijack an enemy 00:30:33.410 --> 00:30:36.509 truck. I like that one. They wanted to bring 00:30:36.509 --> 00:30:39.890 back a truck. A truck, a truck from the, yeah, 00:30:40.029 --> 00:30:42.210 and do it quietly if that's at all possible. 00:30:42.750 --> 00:30:45.069 And they did, you know, the idea was that if 00:30:45.069 --> 00:30:46.490 they did get it, they could use one of the big 00:30:46.490 --> 00:30:49.230 sky cranes, the big massive heavy lift helicopters. 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:52.039 potentially even drive it back across the border, 00:30:52.279 --> 00:30:54.500 because there were roads right onto the border. 00:30:54.660 --> 00:30:56.400 I mean, it's a massive border, and there were 00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:57.460 areas where they could do this, but they wanted 00:30:57.460 --> 00:30:59.680 to see what was inside these, and that was secondary 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:04.000 to just, again, counting troop movements, and 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:06.099 given the opportunity, they were sometimes given 00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:08.880 permission to raise a little hell with the enemy 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:10.779 as well, and it really depended. At this time, 00:31:10.839 --> 00:31:13.259 in particular, the real goal was to stay quiet. 00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:17.039 The truck was kind of a pie in the sky aspect 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:18.900 of the mission that they were encouraged to go 00:31:18.900 --> 00:31:22.099 after if that was possible. But what happened 00:31:22.099 --> 00:31:27.400 is shortly after being inserted, they were compromised. 00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:30.900 They ran into some woodcutters who were clearly 00:31:30.900 --> 00:31:32.940 North Vietnamese. These woodcutters had also 00:31:32.940 --> 00:31:37.819 had AK -47s flung over their shoulders and they 00:31:37.819 --> 00:31:42.069 were there. they had to deal with them and in 00:31:42.069 --> 00:31:47.710 doing so they went into a evade and retreat situation 00:31:47.710 --> 00:31:49.869 where they wanted to get to a landing zone and 00:31:49.869 --> 00:31:52.569 then at that point they also ran headlong into 00:31:52.569 --> 00:31:57.509 a an equally sized patrol of North Vietnamese 00:31:57.509 --> 00:32:01.329 and that was really when everything went to went 00:32:01.329 --> 00:32:04.849 to hell for the team. Right and in essence they 00:32:04.849 --> 00:32:06.549 were basically surrounded they had just been 00:32:06.549 --> 00:32:12.319 dropped off by the 240th and these guys immediately 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:14.660 had to turn, this has happened quite often because 00:32:14.660 --> 00:32:17.319 they would, they would many times pick three 00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:22.059 landing sites or LZs to, you know, confuse the 00:32:22.059 --> 00:32:24.099 enemy because they didn't, you know, I mean they 00:32:24.099 --> 00:32:25.839 could figure out where a helicopter is landing 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:28.240 and sometimes they would set up these landing 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:29.619 zones, you know, thinking well they're going 00:32:29.619 --> 00:32:32.059 to land here so we'll wait for them and it just 00:32:32.059 --> 00:32:34.359 seems by accident that this particular team went 00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:38.900 into this LZ and They were very close to a large, 00:32:38.900 --> 00:32:42.779 large contingent of North Vietnam regulars. And 00:32:42.779 --> 00:32:49.380 so once this firefight ensued, they were totally 00:32:49.380 --> 00:32:51.980 compromised. And they lost a couple of their 00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:55.799 team members right away. Yes. And then they had 00:32:55.799 --> 00:32:59.640 to call to the 240th, to the Greyhounds, for 00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:03.079 them to come back and get them. And can you tell 00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:04.420 a little bit? I don't want to give away the whole 00:33:04.420 --> 00:33:06.299 book, obviously. I want people to read this book. 00:33:06.509 --> 00:33:08.809 You know it's it's it's it's interesting because 00:33:08.809 --> 00:33:10.809 when you discuss this it's everything that we're 00:33:10.809 --> 00:33:12.450 talking about is the same thing that Just got 00:33:12.450 --> 00:33:15.029 me intrigued by to tell the story and there's 00:33:15.029 --> 00:33:17.490 so many details as you know having read it yourself 00:33:17.490 --> 00:33:19.849 That doesn't matter if you hear the story here 00:33:19.849 --> 00:33:21.630 you read it and it's just there's so many things 00:33:21.630 --> 00:33:23.829 They'll just drop your jaw when you find out 00:33:23.829 --> 00:33:25.789 what they went through I mean, I think it's always 00:33:25.789 --> 00:33:29.230 most telling to those who it's haunting to those 00:33:29.230 --> 00:33:32.000 who have experienced combat And it's telling, 00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:35.339 and for those of us who have not, to just say 00:33:35.339 --> 00:33:37.599 that they were stacking the bodies of their dead 00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:41.200 as cover. Because they were surrounded, they 00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:42.940 were low on ammunition, they could only carry 00:33:42.940 --> 00:33:46.299 so much on these missions. And they were being 00:33:46.299 --> 00:33:49.640 just shot to heck with everything from rock -propelled 00:33:49.640 --> 00:33:55.180 grenades to standard rifle and pistol fire, but 00:33:55.180 --> 00:33:59.279 also there were some crew served. machine guns 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:02.720 that were being rolled in around them in this 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:05.019 clearing and they basically found a small little 00:34:05.019 --> 00:34:07.160 island of trees how that was described to me 00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:09.820 in the middle of this of this clearing that was 00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:12.440 really not it was kind of like a crescent -shaped 00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:15.940 clearing maybe a hundred and thirty yards long 00:34:15.940 --> 00:34:20.039 by seventy five seventy yards across and in the 00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:21.659 middle of this is where they had gone to try 00:34:21.659 --> 00:34:26.730 and get picked up There was an ant hill, an earthen 00:34:26.730 --> 00:34:29.110 ant hill and some saplings and other than that 00:34:29.110 --> 00:34:30.829 they were surrounded by tall grass and then they 00:34:30.829 --> 00:34:33.650 were surrounded by the whole clearing was surrounded 00:34:33.650 --> 00:34:38.030 by just that classic wall of jungle that is so 00:34:38.030 --> 00:34:41.030 prevalent around these clearing areas and within 00:34:41.030 --> 00:34:43.369 this tree line was where the enemy was slowly 00:34:43.369 --> 00:34:46.590 encircling them and they almost completely encircled 00:34:46.590 --> 00:34:50.030 them when finally the 240th got back in because 00:34:50.030 --> 00:34:52.190 it was a decent time play. They had to get back 00:34:52.190 --> 00:34:54.349 out after they dropped them off. They had to 00:34:54.349 --> 00:34:56.730 refuel and then they had to come back out. And 00:34:56.730 --> 00:34:59.389 by the time they got there, it was so hot that 00:34:59.389 --> 00:35:01.269 they really were having difficulties getting 00:35:01.269 --> 00:35:03.989 in. In fact, the one helicopter that landed, 00:35:04.210 --> 00:35:06.309 this probably would have just haunted you for 00:35:06.309 --> 00:35:09.130 hearing it, but the special forces team did not 00:35:09.130 --> 00:35:11.309 want to be compromised and let anybody know where 00:35:11.309 --> 00:35:13.809 their position was. So they were keeping it quiet. 00:35:13.869 --> 00:35:16.869 But as the helicopter landed, they looked across 00:35:16.869 --> 00:35:20.550 the clearing and they saw a group of North Vietnamese 00:35:20.550 --> 00:35:23.780 coming out into the clearing. brazenly waving 00:35:23.780 --> 00:35:26.639 hello and to try and wave the helicopter down 00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:30.219 well these teams would wear the uniforms of the 00:35:30.219 --> 00:35:32.219 enemy into the helicopter pilot saw these guys 00:35:32.219 --> 00:35:33.699 coming out of the tree line thinking oh this 00:35:33.699 --> 00:35:35.940 is the team this is what we're picking up another 00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:37.579 guy like we don't open fire because we don't 00:35:37.579 --> 00:35:40.619 know where we hope they can figure out that these 00:35:40.619 --> 00:35:43.380 are not a either the bad guys and ultimately 00:35:43.380 --> 00:35:45.739 when helicopter all the way down they did open 00:35:45.739 --> 00:35:49.460 fire on this uh... team of uh... or this patrol 00:35:49.460 --> 00:35:52.980 of north vietnamese who was you know trying to 00:35:52.980 --> 00:35:56.079 act as though they were an American team. And 00:35:56.079 --> 00:35:58.199 that's when the firefight started with the, with 00:35:58.199 --> 00:36:00.900 the helicopters and they barely escaped, shot 00:36:00.900 --> 00:36:04.099 to heck. And during this situation, this first 00:36:04.099 --> 00:36:07.119 attempt to get in and pull these guys out, they, 00:36:07.340 --> 00:36:11.039 uh, one of the gun that door gunners, uh, Michael 00:36:11.039 --> 00:36:14.280 Craig was shot mortally through the chicken plate, 00:36:14.380 --> 00:36:16.420 through the armor under the chest. And he flew 00:36:16.420 --> 00:36:20.539 back to which was the base near the Cambodian 00:36:20.539 --> 00:36:23.639 border where Roy Benavides ended up. That was 00:36:23.639 --> 00:36:26.760 the first place after he had been stationed with 00:36:26.760 --> 00:36:31.380 B56. He was sent to this little forward base 00:36:31.380 --> 00:36:35.360 and he was kind of just getting to know what 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:37.780 the SOG group, what the Studies and Observations 00:36:37.780 --> 00:36:39.440 group was all about, kind of to find out what 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:42.380 his place was going to be. And that's when he 00:36:42.380 --> 00:36:45.590 saw a helicopter pilot running for the for the 00:36:45.590 --> 00:36:48.070 tarmac where the helicopters would come in across 00:36:48.070 --> 00:36:51.969 near a very small landing strip and he ran up 00:36:51.969 --> 00:36:54.409 there and he sees this helicopter limping back 00:36:54.409 --> 00:36:56.590 over the landing with a really hard landing that 00:36:56.590 --> 00:37:00.010 was trailing smoke and he sees the pilot waving 00:37:00.010 --> 00:37:02.250 and yelling out, medic, medic. Well Roy, of course, 00:37:02.409 --> 00:37:04.210 special forces, everybody's cross -trained, he's 00:37:04.210 --> 00:37:06.389 the medic, he runs straight to this helicopter 00:37:06.389 --> 00:37:09.570 and Michael Craig is bleeding profusely all over 00:37:09.570 --> 00:37:12.090 the bottom of the of the helicopter and he takes 00:37:12.090 --> 00:37:13.889 him in his arms pulls him out of the helicopter 00:37:13.889 --> 00:37:15.889 to see what he can do and he immediately realizes 00:37:15.889 --> 00:37:19.570 that this young door gun or crew chief who was 00:37:19.570 --> 00:37:21.849 20 years old I mean young young man looking up 00:37:21.849 --> 00:37:25.989 into Roy's eyes with that look of of of terror 00:37:25.989 --> 00:37:29.070 in his eyes and Roy being trained to to stay 00:37:29.070 --> 00:37:32.449 calm just talk to him and the last words out 00:37:32.449 --> 00:37:35.130 of Michael Craig's mouth were my god my mom and 00:37:35.130 --> 00:37:39.469 dad and then he died in Roy's arms and you can 00:37:39.469 --> 00:37:44.119 imagine Here is a situation where Roy, he's there 00:37:44.119 --> 00:37:45.679 just to kind of help out and give support on 00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:47.360 the ground and figure out what's going on with 00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:49.860 his group. He's not on this mission. He's not 00:37:49.860 --> 00:37:51.519 even on a standby mission that's supposed to 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:53.679 be a quick reaction force for any situation like 00:37:53.679 --> 00:37:55.639 this. He's just there kind of hanging out, getting 00:37:55.639 --> 00:38:01.519 his feet wet. And he immediately looks around 00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:03.980 and sees another helicopter. He sets down Michael 00:38:03.980 --> 00:38:06.159 Craig gently on the tarmac and he walks to the 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:08.960 next helicopter and he asks the pilot. who was 00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:11.619 Larry McKibben, another young man, if they're 00:38:11.619 --> 00:38:13.139 going back in. And he said, well, you're going 00:38:13.139 --> 00:38:15.780 to need a belly man. I'm here to help you out. 00:38:15.820 --> 00:38:18.699 He jumps on board. Without any weapons, by the 00:38:18.699 --> 00:38:21.820 way, folks. No, he just threw it on his way to 00:38:21.820 --> 00:38:24.179 breakfast. All he had in his pocket was a bottle 00:38:24.179 --> 00:38:27.000 of Tabasco sauce and he had his special forces 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:29.880 knife, which over time, I will say, had grown 00:38:29.880 --> 00:38:32.719 to 14 inches long and a small machete. But in 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:35.840 reality, it was a classic seven or eight inch 00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:38.539 blade. Right. Right, so this is what he, he gets 00:38:38.539 --> 00:38:41.619 on his helicopter and the 240 takes him back 00:38:41.619 --> 00:38:47.360 into that landing zone. Yeah, and it gets worse. 00:38:48.139 --> 00:38:51.760 It does, it just culminates, and when you don't 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:53.519 think it gets any worse, it gets worse and worse 00:38:53.519 --> 00:38:56.000 and worse. And on the ground there was a very 00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:57.820 brave Special Forces soldier, there was Brian 00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:01.460 O 'Connor, along with the team leader, assistant 00:39:01.460 --> 00:39:04.280 team leader, and Brian was the radio man. And 00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:06.340 he was helping to coordinate, and they had all 00:39:06.340 --> 00:39:08.570 been shot up profusely. They were all losing 00:39:08.570 --> 00:39:11.150 blood. They were putting in their own blood expanders. 00:39:11.289 --> 00:39:13.650 They were tourniquets, helping out each other 00:39:13.650 --> 00:39:17.030 with tourniquets, all these things. And Roy, 00:39:17.030 --> 00:39:19.809 he flies in with Larry McKibbin and he just says, 00:39:20.610 --> 00:39:22.730 I can't get in. It's too hot. And Larry really 00:39:22.730 --> 00:39:27.750 wants to get in. And he ultimately is told by 00:39:27.750 --> 00:39:30.469 Roy, get me as close as you can. And so he goes 00:39:30.469 --> 00:39:32.289 to the far end of this clearing, the clearing 00:39:32.289 --> 00:39:34.130 part of the clearing that has not yet been encircled 00:39:34.130 --> 00:39:38.079 by enemy, but is still on all sides flanked, 00:39:38.119 --> 00:39:40.059 I mean on all sides, on two sides flanked, and 00:39:40.059 --> 00:39:43.820 the front in the middle of this clearing is the 00:39:43.820 --> 00:39:45.840 team. And Roy says, give me as close as you can. 00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:49.139 He gets to about a 15 -foot hover, and Roy crosses 00:39:49.139 --> 00:39:51.699 himself, he was a devout Roman Catholic, crosses 00:39:51.699 --> 00:39:54.260 himself multiple times and jumps. He jumps with 00:39:54.260 --> 00:39:57.190 a medical bag. and on the way out on this flight 00:39:57.190 --> 00:39:59.869 he realized his faux pas he realized the ultimate 00:39:59.869 --> 00:40:01.989 mistake that he did that you know even a buck 00:40:01.989 --> 00:40:04.170 private should never do is he went into battle 00:40:04.170 --> 00:40:06.630 without a weapon and he landed on the ground 00:40:06.630 --> 00:40:09.090 and he immediately starts running and everybody's 00:40:09.090 --> 00:40:10.769 honing in on him and when a helicopter comes 00:40:10.769 --> 00:40:13.170 into a landing zone and surrounded that is like 00:40:13.170 --> 00:40:15.929 a magnet to gunfire and of course when they see 00:40:15.929 --> 00:40:18.050 somebody drop out of it that becomes secondary 00:40:18.050 --> 00:40:20.070 magnet so everyone's trying to shoot him there's 00:40:20.070 --> 00:40:21.909 tracers going everywhere Larry McKibbin pulls 00:40:21.909 --> 00:40:24.849 out Roy runs across the thing. On the way, he's 00:40:24.849 --> 00:40:26.610 shot once. He doesn't even realize he's shot, 00:40:26.630 --> 00:40:28.710 but he's tripped up. He feels like he's caught 00:40:28.710 --> 00:40:31.590 up by a thorn, but he actually was shot through 00:40:31.590 --> 00:40:34.409 the calf. And then a Rock and Roll grenade hit 00:40:34.409 --> 00:40:37.650 almost when he was to the perimeter of this team, 00:40:37.909 --> 00:40:41.210 this decimated team. And he took shrapnel to 00:40:41.210 --> 00:40:43.670 the face and the chest, and then he still crawled 00:40:43.670 --> 00:40:47.070 in. And then at that point, without going into 00:40:47.070 --> 00:40:51.340 all the detail, he formulated... and just calmly 00:40:51.340 --> 00:40:54.000 took control and helped to put together this 00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:58.199 extraordinary defense to really inflict the most 00:40:58.199 --> 00:41:01.360 punishment and damage onto this superior enemy 00:41:01.360 --> 00:41:04.840 force yet to keep the team there under cover. 00:41:04.940 --> 00:41:06.920 And then he's called in, you know, danger close 00:41:06.920 --> 00:41:10.340 air support, napalm and whatnot to encircle his 00:41:10.340 --> 00:41:12.960 team with a barrier of protection. while trying 00:41:12.960 --> 00:41:16.079 to provide medical assistance as well. It's just 00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:17.960 one of those moments where there's so much chaos 00:41:17.960 --> 00:41:20.179 going on, and I just took the time to interview 00:41:20.179 --> 00:41:23.019 people seeing it from the ground, from the air, 00:41:23.079 --> 00:41:25.260 the survivors, the statements that were written, 00:41:25.659 --> 00:41:27.960 to give the reader a taste of just the utter 00:41:27.960 --> 00:41:30.760 chaos that was going on in this moment. And through 00:41:30.760 --> 00:41:34.639 it all, everybody over and over again said that 00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:40.559 this calm that was brought by Roy because he 00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:44.119 was there and he had come and he was just very 00:41:44.119 --> 00:41:46.920 calmly putting it all together and orchestrating 00:41:46.920 --> 00:41:49.119 this defense while they were just holding on. 00:41:49.119 --> 00:41:51.099 They were ready to call it quits. They thought 00:41:51.099 --> 00:41:53.739 they were dead. I have to say that this section 00:41:53.739 --> 00:41:56.400 of the book, I read it straight through. I could 00:41:56.400 --> 00:42:00.960 not put it down. It was that gripping for me. 00:42:01.119 --> 00:42:03.139 And I can't even remember how many times Roy 00:42:03.139 --> 00:42:07.039 was wounded. He was stabbed. He was everything 00:42:07.039 --> 00:42:09.590 else. And folks, you've got to read this. This 00:42:09.590 --> 00:42:13.289 book is a legend. It's by Eric Blem. And in fact, 00:42:13.449 --> 00:42:15.489 when they finally did get everybody out and they 00:42:15.489 --> 00:42:18.610 got back into Vietnam, they thought that Roy 00:42:18.610 --> 00:42:20.949 was dead and started putting him into a body 00:42:20.949 --> 00:42:25.530 bag. That's how badly he was wounded. And so 00:42:25.530 --> 00:42:30.980 we'll stop at that point. They get out. But you 00:42:30.980 --> 00:42:32.980 have to read this. I mean, whether you were on 00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:35.019 the ground as an infantry or if you were a pilot, 00:42:35.079 --> 00:42:37.239 door gunner, crew chief, whatever it was, this 00:42:37.239 --> 00:42:38.739 story is going to make the hair in the back of 00:42:38.739 --> 00:42:43.079 your neck stand up. And even after you're done 00:42:43.079 --> 00:42:45.219 reading it and know exactly how everything comes 00:42:45.219 --> 00:42:49.059 out, it's an amazing story of an amazing man. 00:42:50.099 --> 00:42:52.500 And Eric, I want to thank you for writing this 00:42:52.500 --> 00:42:59.550 book. I think it's such a powerful story. The 00:42:59.550 --> 00:43:03.369 men and women of today's Army are so similar 00:43:03.369 --> 00:43:07.150 to people like Roy. And this is what I want people 00:43:07.150 --> 00:43:09.110 to understand, that this is what a veteran is 00:43:09.110 --> 00:43:11.630 like. These are the people that are willing to 00:43:11.630 --> 00:43:13.869 put their lives on the line, not just for you 00:43:13.869 --> 00:43:17.510 at home, but especially for their buddies on 00:43:17.510 --> 00:43:22.050 the ground. Indeed. Indeed. And so I want to 00:43:22.050 --> 00:43:23.849 take a real quick break and then we'll come back 00:43:23.849 --> 00:43:25.650 and maybe we'll talk some more about legend. 00:43:25.929 --> 00:43:27.349 But you've written some other books. I want to 00:43:27.349 --> 00:43:30.329 make sure that we get you the ability to mention 00:43:30.329 --> 00:43:32.570 those. So we're going to take a real fast break. 00:43:32.690 --> 00:43:34.130 You're listening to Veterans Radio. We'll be 00:43:34.130 --> 00:43:46.940 right back. And we're back on Veterans Radio 00:43:46.940 --> 00:43:48.679 and we're talking with Eric Blimm, the author 00:43:48.679 --> 00:43:52.159 of Legend, the story of Green Beret Sergeant 00:43:52.159 --> 00:43:55.380 Roy Benavidez's heroic mission to rescue a special 00:43:55.380 --> 00:43:58.199 forces team caught behind enemy lines in Cambodia 00:43:58.199 --> 00:44:02.980 in 1968. And I'm encouraging, this is, I don't 00:44:02.980 --> 00:44:04.639 know how I'm going to rate these books. Maybe 00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:07.980 I'll give it five stripes for this one. This 00:44:07.980 --> 00:44:10.519 is one that all of you need to read. whether 00:44:10.519 --> 00:44:13.760 you were in Vietnam or not, it explains a lot 00:44:13.760 --> 00:44:15.820 of what was going on. You're going to understand 00:44:15.820 --> 00:44:18.579 what the SOG missions were about, these special 00:44:18.579 --> 00:44:22.460 observation group that was over there, and some 00:44:22.460 --> 00:44:26.619 of the missions that they ran to try and prevent. 00:44:26.699 --> 00:44:28.380 I mean, there was a regular, almost a four -lane 00:44:28.380 --> 00:44:31.099 highway going down through Laos and Cambodia 00:44:31.099 --> 00:44:33.480 with all the supplies and so forth that were 00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:38.159 coming from North Vietnam. But we've got a, hold 00:44:38.159 --> 00:44:42.929 on just a second. I don't know who Jerry is. 00:44:43.010 --> 00:44:47.130 Somebody wanted to know if you used the most 00:44:47.130 --> 00:44:55.010 current Medal of Honor? Talk to me. Oh, okay. 00:44:55.230 --> 00:44:57.929 Well, I'm not sure. Did you? We talked about 00:44:57.929 --> 00:44:59.590 how you got the story. A mother of a friend of 00:44:59.590 --> 00:45:01.409 yours said you got to talk about this, right? 00:45:02.190 --> 00:45:04.849 Yeah, exactly. Okay. Oh, I know what I was going 00:45:04.849 --> 00:45:06.809 to mention to you. In your book, you mentioned 00:45:06.809 --> 00:45:08.949 a good friend of ours here in the Ann Arbor area, 00:45:08.969 --> 00:45:13.880 and that's Colonel Chuck Kettles. And Chuck Kettles 00:45:13.880 --> 00:45:20.599 is also a helicopter pilot whose current commendation 00:45:20.599 --> 00:45:24.380 is being upgraded to a Medal of Honor for something 00:45:24.380 --> 00:45:28.119 that he did in Vietnam in 1967. And I just wanted 00:45:28.119 --> 00:45:30.460 to mention that. So he really is using a lot 00:45:30.460 --> 00:45:32.059 of sources here. In fact, I've got him on the 00:45:32.059 --> 00:45:34.400 desk in front of me. So Chuck Kettles is there. 00:45:34.559 --> 00:45:37.480 I've got my secret Green Beret commandos in Cambodia 00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:42.869 book by Lieutenant Colonel Lindsay. And he's 00:45:42.869 --> 00:45:47.989 been on our program too. He was so great at introducing 00:45:47.989 --> 00:45:52.829 me to various individuals. These guys have just 00:45:52.829 --> 00:45:55.829 been... So helpful. And so, you know, the families, 00:45:55.969 --> 00:45:57.929 so you mentioned how if you're part of all this, 00:45:57.989 --> 00:45:59.510 you want to read the story. And what I think 00:45:59.510 --> 00:46:01.429 one of the greatest compliments I got was from, 00:46:01.449 --> 00:46:04.269 I went to the reunion of the 240th. It was a 00:46:04.269 --> 00:46:06.710 reunion not long ago. And they said how the family 00:46:06.710 --> 00:46:08.429 members said, you know, they didn't talk about 00:46:08.429 --> 00:46:11.369 a lot of this. And that's why I told these stories. 00:46:12.170 --> 00:46:13.849 I was encouraged by the World War II veterans 00:46:13.849 --> 00:46:16.340 who were many of them. dying off and the World 00:46:16.340 --> 00:46:18.380 War I veterans and never having spoken of their 00:46:18.380 --> 00:46:20.579 stories. And they said, you know, this book has 00:46:20.579 --> 00:46:22.460 given me a chance to understand what my dad did, 00:46:22.619 --> 00:46:24.239 because he can talk to me about it in a way that 00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:26.559 he couldn't talk to his son or daughter. And 00:46:26.559 --> 00:46:28.679 by putting it together, it was just a nice way 00:46:28.679 --> 00:46:30.820 to let them understand, hey, this is what, you 00:46:30.820 --> 00:46:35.179 know, my father did, or an uncle, or a relative, 00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:37.900 or the guy down the street that wears, you know, 00:46:38.300 --> 00:46:41.440 always... flies the flag and puts an MIA black 00:46:41.440 --> 00:46:43.539 flag up in front of his house. These are the 00:46:43.539 --> 00:46:45.739 people that you get a little bit of insight into. 00:46:46.320 --> 00:46:48.159 Same with the other books that I've written that 00:46:48.159 --> 00:46:50.840 are more contemporary. Fearless is the story 00:46:50.840 --> 00:46:55.840 of SEAL Team Six operator Adam Brown who overcame 00:46:55.840 --> 00:46:59.139 just incredible odds to make it to that top tier 00:46:59.139 --> 00:47:03.420 of SEAL Team Six. Crack Addiction, Jail. He was 00:47:03.420 --> 00:47:05.099 one of these guys who got a second chance with 00:47:05.099 --> 00:47:07.420 the military and then rose above all of that. 00:47:08.339 --> 00:47:13.980 ultimately to put his own life in harm's way 00:47:13.980 --> 00:47:17.099 in order to protect his teammates. It is another 00:47:17.099 --> 00:47:20.760 classic story of a hero who, when he was killed, 00:47:20.800 --> 00:47:22.559 one of the last things he told his family was 00:47:22.559 --> 00:47:25.019 that if I ever am killed in combat, don't tell 00:47:25.019 --> 00:47:28.960 the story of me becoming this seal and this hero. 00:47:29.300 --> 00:47:31.639 Tell the story of who I was when I was this derelict, 00:47:31.719 --> 00:47:34.280 when I was this scumbag, dirtbag, stealing from 00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:37.030 my own family in the street. to give hope to 00:47:37.030 --> 00:47:39.590 people that you can be in that dark place, the 00:47:39.590 --> 00:47:41.130 darkest place in your life, and you can turn 00:47:41.130 --> 00:47:44.369 it around. And that, to me, is the epitome of 00:47:44.369 --> 00:47:47.530 fearlessness, because he was willing to open 00:47:47.530 --> 00:47:51.170 that closet and show the skeletons of his past 00:47:51.170 --> 00:47:54.010 in order to do one thing. Not to make himself 00:47:54.010 --> 00:47:56.949 look good, but to inspire others and make him 00:47:56.949 --> 00:48:00.070 rise above. To give hope. Yeah, and so that's 00:48:00.070 --> 00:48:01.909 Fearless, and another book I wrote was The Only 00:48:01.909 --> 00:48:03.869 Thing Worth Dying For, which was the story of 00:48:03.929 --> 00:48:07.969 ODA 574 Special Forces team in Afghanistan, one 00:48:07.969 --> 00:48:11.329 of the first teams in after 9 -11 and the first 00:48:11.329 --> 00:48:13.489 team in to go to the south of Afghanistan where 00:48:13.489 --> 00:48:16.130 there was no standing, you know, Northern Alliance 00:48:16.130 --> 00:48:19.469 or United Front. This is a team that went in 00:48:19.469 --> 00:48:23.610 to raise a militia, a classic, traditional guerrilla 00:48:23.610 --> 00:48:26.869 warfare situation to try and foment the posh 00:48:26.869 --> 00:48:29.510 tune to rise up above and against the Taliban 00:48:29.510 --> 00:48:33.820 from within. It's a story that ends with a friendly 00:48:33.820 --> 00:48:36.159 fire incident, and it's a story that's really 00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:39.139 never been told. The rise of Hamid Karzai, who 00:48:39.139 --> 00:48:42.920 I was able to interview along with the man who 00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:47.159 was a military advisor to Hamid Karzai. So it's 00:48:47.159 --> 00:48:48.780 another little piece of history that I think 00:48:48.780 --> 00:48:51.559 would have been lost had these men been willing 00:48:51.559 --> 00:48:54.679 to tell the story to honor the guys who were 00:48:54.679 --> 00:48:56.719 killed on that mission, but also just to honor 00:48:56.719 --> 00:48:58.480 history and the truth of what really went on 00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:01.599 in those early days after 9 -11. Those are those 00:49:01.599 --> 00:49:04.519 are the two along with along with fearless that 00:49:04.519 --> 00:49:07.420 I've dedicated the last Decade of my life to 00:49:07.420 --> 00:49:10.659 to research and tell the stories Along with a 00:49:10.659 --> 00:49:12.800 story called the last season which is not military 00:49:12.800 --> 00:49:15.480 But it's a story of a backcountry Park Service 00:49:15.480 --> 00:49:18.019 Ranger who went missing mysteriously while on 00:49:18.019 --> 00:49:21.980 patrol in the High Sierra Sequoia Kings Canyon 00:49:21.980 --> 00:49:25.639 National Park and so I guess the the kind of 00:49:25.639 --> 00:49:27.480 the link or the thread through my career thus 00:49:27.480 --> 00:49:29.739 far is just telling the stories of those who 00:49:29.739 --> 00:49:32.510 serve and it's It's always an honor to do it. 00:49:32.829 --> 00:49:34.889 It's an honor to be called on a radio show like 00:49:34.889 --> 00:49:37.889 yourself that really focuses on exactly that 00:49:37.889 --> 00:49:41.769 honoring and also just enlightening people, both 00:49:41.769 --> 00:49:44.550 veterans and people who are interested in veterans 00:49:44.550 --> 00:49:47.409 and what they've done, who have a place, a forum 00:49:47.409 --> 00:49:52.510 to come to and be given information that is not 00:49:52.510 --> 00:49:57.900 only important but also worthy of... people's 00:49:57.900 --> 00:49:59.699 time because time is short nowadays. When someone 00:49:59.699 --> 00:50:02.019 takes time to read a book or listen to a radio 00:50:02.019 --> 00:50:04.699 show, you've got to clap your hands and be thankful 00:50:04.699 --> 00:50:07.280 for that because there is so much information 00:50:07.280 --> 00:50:11.460 out there. Well, there is. Our goal has always 00:50:11.460 --> 00:50:14.679 been to get these stories out. You're certainly 00:50:14.679 --> 00:50:16.820 one of the authors that we can trust to get the 00:50:16.820 --> 00:50:21.059 true story out. Roy always said, and all the 00:50:21.059 --> 00:50:22.619 Medal of Honor that we've had the privilege of 00:50:22.619 --> 00:50:24.840 talking to. have all said, you know, I'm not 00:50:24.840 --> 00:50:26.559 the hero. The heroes were the ones that didn't 00:50:26.559 --> 00:50:30.519 come back. And, you know, and that always takes 00:50:30.519 --> 00:50:33.059 my breath away when I think about all of the 00:50:33.059 --> 00:50:35.139 men and women that have not come back. And so 00:50:35.139 --> 00:50:36.980 that's why we keep telling these stories because 00:50:36.980 --> 00:50:39.239 we want to make, we want to keep them alive as 00:50:39.239 --> 00:50:41.820 long as we possibly can. And I want to thank 00:50:41.820 --> 00:50:44.159 you so very much, Eric, for being on Veterans 00:50:44.159 --> 00:50:46.039 Radio. And I definitely plan on reading those 00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:48.960 other two and having you back when legend comes 00:50:48.960 --> 00:50:52.019 out in paperback, which, by the way, how do people 00:50:52.019 --> 00:50:55.559 get a hold of your books? They're available everywhere 00:50:55.559 --> 00:50:58.960 books are sold. It's going to come out in paperback 00:50:58.960 --> 00:51:02.460 in April, although it's available for pre -order 00:51:02.460 --> 00:51:06.039 now, but it's available in hardcover, audiobook. 00:51:06.839 --> 00:51:10.059 It's in large print. I believe as well So anywhere 00:51:10.059 --> 00:51:11.860 books are sold at you know, if you do the online 00:51:11.860 --> 00:51:14.239 thing Amazon or Barnes and noble comm or books 00:51:14.239 --> 00:51:16.460 a million Whatever, but I will always urge people 00:51:16.460 --> 00:51:18.179 if you have a bookstore in your town that you 00:51:18.179 --> 00:51:20.480 like to go and walk through the aisles And maybe 00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:22.219 they have a coffee house have a cup of coffee 00:51:22.219 --> 00:51:24.079 support them because they're disappearing at 00:51:24.079 --> 00:51:28.280 an alarming rate and it's a it's fit for philanthropy, 00:51:28.539 --> 00:51:31.300 you know, some people will support whatever. 00:51:31.760 --> 00:51:34.199 I tell you, I buy books as often as I can whenever 00:51:34.199 --> 00:51:36.260 I see a nice bookstore and I get good service 00:51:36.260 --> 00:51:39.099 because it's nice to have them there. If you 00:51:39.099 --> 00:51:41.019 don't buy books, they're not going to be there 00:51:41.019 --> 00:51:43.699 much longer. That's true. So today on Veterans 00:51:43.699 --> 00:51:46.840 Radio, we talked about Legend by Eric Blem. That's 00:51:46.840 --> 00:51:49.719 B -L -E -H -M. And I encourage everybody to go 00:51:49.719 --> 00:51:52.280 find Eric on the internet. Thank you very much 00:51:52.280 --> 00:51:55.119 for being on Veterans Radio. Dale, thanks for 00:51:55.119 --> 00:51:56.860 having me. And again, everybody out there in 00:51:56.860 --> 00:51:58.579 your listenership, thank you for your service. 00:51:58.719 --> 00:52:00.780 And the families, thank you for your service. 00:52:01.119 --> 00:52:03.639 Thank you very much, Eric. Next week on Veterans 00:52:03.639 --> 00:52:06.059 Radio, folks, it's music time. We're doing a 00:52:06.059 --> 00:52:07.940 program called We Gotta Get Out of This Place, 00:52:08.159 --> 00:52:10.619 the soundtrack of the Vietnam War. If you have 00:52:10.619 --> 00:52:13.099 any favorite songs that you would listen to while 00:52:13.099 --> 00:52:15.719 you were in Vietnam, contact Veterans Radio so 00:52:15.719 --> 00:52:18.340 we can put you on our playlist next week. Until 00:52:18.340 --> 00:52:20.440 then, you are dismissed.