All across America and around the world, this
is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And
now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry.
And good afternoon world and welcome to Veterans
Radio. My name is Dale Throneberry and I am honored
to be your host today here on Veterans Radio.
I am a former CW2 type helicopter pilot during
Vietnam. And it's very exciting today. We got
a great program. We're going to be talking with
a representative from the DAV, Disabled American
Veterans, and to find out what's going on with
the legislature today and see what the Congress
is going to try and do to mess around with veterans
benefits next. You know, they always got to figure
out a way to save money, and it seems like they
always go to the least. people that need to help
the most is where they seem to go first. And
so that's one of the things we got to talk about
and probably give you a little call to action
for that. Coming up after the first break, though,
is really the meat of the program today. We're
going to be talking to a Medal of Honor recipient,
Clint Robichet, who received his Medal of Honor
in 2013 for the Battle of Firebase Keating. His
book is entitled, Red Platoon, and it was a great
read, and I'm so excited to talk to him about
this. It's just a fascinating book, and it's
all about taking care of your buddy. And this
is what people in the military do, men and women
alike, is that everybody's got everybody else's
back, and nobody's going to ever leave anybody
on the field, and this is really what the Red
Platoon is all about, never leaving anybody on
the field. in addition to the horrific battle
that took place there in 2009. So it's going
to be an interesting insight. I encourage you
to stick around for that. If you want to get
in on the conversation here, you can give us
a call at 734 -822 -1600. 734 -822 -1600. I think
you're going to really like it. the program today.
I've got a couple of shout outs here that I want
to give. Number one is that, you know, we don't
normally do this, or a lot of people don't do
this it seems, but this is to the VA. What? We're
going to give a shout out to the VA? Yeah, we
are. The Ann Arbor VA had a commemoration event
this last Friday and it was May 6th and it was
just really, really well done and they had it
in the auditorium and they had You know, they
had a band and patriotic music and parades and
balloons and they were giving us, they were giving
all the Vietnam veterans there all these little
commemorative pins and they had all the different
branches of the service and it was really well
done and so I just wanted to congratulate the
Ann Arbor VA especially for putting on this little
commemorative program for their veterans and
I'm assuming in talking with them over there
that there are going to be events like this at
many of the other VAs around the country. So
check out your newspapers every once in a while
and see what's happening. And I think that you'll
be, I think you'll like to go to this. It was
really kind of interesting to see all these guys
and women there. There were a number of nurses,
of course, that were at the activity at the Ann
Arbor VA. And, you know, to all my friends out
there, it was really kind of frightening. When
I was looking around the room, we all look alike.
and the white hair, the white beards, kind of
like a little mini Santa Claus celebration. I'm
not sure exactly what it was, but I guess since
we are now, so many of us are the senior members
of the military establishment, it gets me a little
bit nervous. But they did honor Charlie Kettles.
He was a guest speaker there, and for those of
you in the local area especially, you know that
Charlie Kettles, Lieutenant Colonel, Aviation
Helicopter Pilot, has been approved. to receive
his Medal of Honor. We just don't have a date
yet when he will get it. So this whole Medal
of Honor is kind of a big deal today and next
week. Next week we're scheduled to have another
Medal of Honor recipient on. So it's been very
cool. So that's it. The Ann Arbor VA, go to it.
And the other thing that's coming up is an event
that we've been very tied in with. And this is
a Silver Star event, a benefit for Veterans Matter.
And you've all heard about us talking about Veterans
Matter. And what Veterans Matter does is the
VA provides funding for apartments and housing
for homeless veterans, but they don't provide
the deposit, which is kind of unusual when you
think about it. And so Veterans Matter has kind
of come up with this idea that they're going
to raise the money and they're going to provide
the funding for the deposit so we can get these
men and women off the streets and into livable
housing. And there's a fundraiser coming up here
in Ann Arbor next Saturday, May 14, 2016. It's
going to be at Father Gabriel Bichard High School.
It begins at, where is the time? They didn't
give me the time. I think it runs from 6 to 9.
Yeah, there it is. Runs from 6 to 9, Saturday,
May 14. And the tickets are $25. And they've
got a great silent auction. I've been hearing
about some other really great gifts, tickets,
of course, and so on and so forth. food and spirits,
wine and more. And for more information, for
tickets, or to donate to the organization, go
to SilverStarEvent .org. That's SilverStarEvent
.org, or you can find them on Facebook at SilverStarEvent.
This is sponsored by Ventures Matter. And Jordan
Rises, which is a respiratory supply company,
and these guys are, Jordan Rises is very, very
involved in Veterans Affairs. So we encourage
everybody to go out and support this as their
first. attempt at raising money and I think that
they're doing really well and all of this money
99 .9 percent of this money is going to go to
Veterans Matter so that they can provide those
deposits for men. Veterans Matter has already
got a thousand people into apartments so I encourage
you to do that. All right or right now so moving
right along as they see her on Veterans Radio.
Joining me on the program right now is the Executive
Director of the Disabled American Veterans, and
their mission, of course, is to fulfill our promises
to the men and women who have served. And joining
me on a line from the Washington, D .C. area
is Gary Augustine. Gary, welcome to Veterans
Radio. Thank you, Dale, and thank you for your
service. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.
It was an honor. You know, the more and more
I look back on it, the better and better I feel
about it. Well, I can agree with that, and I'm
one of your white -haired, white -bearded colleagues.
Isn't that scary? I don't know, you know, what
happened. The problem is I'm 20 years old in
my mind, you know, and I've got this 70 -year
-old body that isn't necessary. It just doesn't
mix sometimes. Yeah, it can relate. I think a
lot of us can relate to that. So tell me what
the DAV is up to, and I encourage people out
there... for people who don't know what the DAV
is. Tell us a little bit about what your organization
does. Well, thank you for the opportunity to
talk about the DAV. It's one of my favorite subjects.
I've been employed with the DAV for 28 years.
Thank you for your service. Thank you. I started
as a national service officer. We have 270 national
service officers around the country. We provide
free claims representation to any era of veterans,
free of charge. And we are in all the VA regional
offices around the country. So if you need help
with your claim, you can drop into a DAV office
and one of our national service officers will
take care of you. We also have many other programs,
including programs to help veterans get employed.
We give veterans rides to the VA hospital to
meet their appointments and then wait for them
and take them back home at night if they have
no other way of getting there. We do a voluntary
service program. We provide disaster relief around
the country to all veterans that are affected
by natural disasters around the country. That's
just a few of the many benefits and services
that the VAV provides to all veterans of all
eras who are in our 95th year of existence. Wow,
that's terrific. Gary, the reason I asked you
to come on the program today was to talk about
some of these legislative issues that are being
brought up in Congress right now and I know that
the DAV along with the other service organizations
are very active in protecting the benefits that
we have and hopefully expanding some of them.
Can you tell a little bit about what the DAV
is up to? Absolutely and as you probably are
aware the VA has had some issues over the last
few years with access and because of that there
was a law passed a few years ago, the choice
that offer the choice program for veterans. And
I just want to talk a little bit about choice,
because I think there's a great misperception
out there about what that means for veterans.
They decided to, in order to help the VA, try
to improve access for veterans to get their care,
especially in the hospitals that are overburdened
and may not have the ability to take care of
the demand. that veterans want to come to the
VA, offered them something called Choice. And
they sent nine million cards out to the veterans
that are enrolled in the VA healthcare system.
And the cards are supposed to be something veterans
can use if they live more than 40 miles from
a VA facility that can take care of their health
condition, or if they have to wait more than
30 days. And right now, Senator McCain has introduced
a new bill to expand CHOICE. Now, the problem
as we see it is the CHOICE program was implemented
very quickly, and much of the responsibility
for implementing the program was given to third
-party providers, two health insurance companies
called Health Net and TriWest. And their job
was to try to coordinate these people that need
to go outside of the VA. And they've tried to
do a very good job. They were given a tough order.
But some of the problems that we've seen with
CHOICE is that as veterans try to use it to go
outside of the VA, many times they find that
the providers that they are referred to aren't
real clear on the reimbursement policy, may not
be clear on how to treat veterans' issues, and
the result is many veterans get billed for services
they're not supposed to be billed for because
the private provider is not patient enough to
wait for reimbursement, then comes a little late
from the VA sometimes because they're not quite
coordinated well enough. So, because of that,
we have instituted a program or a campaign called
Setting the Record Straight. And if people go
to our website www .dav .org and go to Setting
the Record Straight, you'll see five videos that
we try to use to educate veterans about some
of the common things that are talked about out
there with Choice. that may be bad for veterans.
Some of those terms are things like let the money
follow the veteran, just give them a voucher,
let them go into the private community anytime
they want. Some of the problems with that are
the same things we're seeing with the current
choice program and that is that it's not well
coordinated, veterans end up getting fragmented
care, they may not They may go to places that
are treated them, but then bill them, and when
they don't pay, because they're not supposed
to pay, they should be authorized to go to those
places. Then they get bill collectors coming
after them. So there's a lot of problems with
these simple, what seems to be simple kinds of
terms and ideas. And so we're trying to oversee
the current legislation that's being considered.
so that it can be much more coordinated through
oversight by the VA and make sure that veterans
don't get harmed by going outside when it's necessary.
Right. I think that that always seems to be a
problem whenever you get a corporation involved
that's more profit -driven than in many cases
and service -driven. I realize I'm throwing stones,
but it's true, especially when they don't understand
the audience or the patients that they're going
to be dealing with. Veterans can be a little
bit different, especially when they're used to
certain types of care. I know that one of your
concerns was the rumors have been popping up
about privatizing the entire VA system. For those
who use the VA system, you're going to go, no,
no, no, wait a minute. What do I got to do? I'm
going to go to my primary care physician and
talk about how I got whatever happened to me,
where and when and how. And I think that that
presents a problem. It does. It does. And what
we have found is that, and by the way, we're
not against using private health care providers
when the VA can't take care of the veterans because
of increased demand and not being able to provide
the services in a timely manner. But it has to
be coordinated. It has to be set up into a network
of providers that understand what the reimbursement
policies are and what veterans require as far
as their treatment. You know, many veterans have
conditions that the private sector doesn't see
that often. And they may not be familiar with
the questions they need to ask veterans so that
they can make sure that they treat the whole
veteran and not just a condition. Right. And
I think that's one of the directions that we
have seen the VA going is to have that constant
contact person to help the veteran work their
way through the system and to get the better
care. Exactly. And you mentioned privatization.
And make no mistake. There is a movement out
there of people that would like to see the VA
become just a payer and not a provider of services.
And we are dead set against that, as are many
of our VSO colleagues. We have made it very clear
that we want to fix the problems in the VA because
we still think that VA healthcare is the best
healthcare for the veterans who use it on a regular
basis. Well, I agree with that. In fact, our
guest in the next segment in part of one of the
lines in his book was something to the effect
of, you know, that we know how to take care of
our own, and this is what we should be doing.
Exactly. And, you know, this is a promise that
you made. And because there are so many, such
a smaller, I guess, such a smaller number of
actual active duty military today that the civilian
part of the world that doesn't really understand
what their needs are. And I think that that's
something that is really important. Gary, I'd
love to have you back on the program to talk
more about this, but I do want to get into my
next guest. But I encourage people to go to DAV
.org. I've got great information there. I belong.
And Gary, thank you very much. You are a service
-connected disabled veteran. I didn't get into
your biographical thing. But thank you for your
service before your service. How's that? All
right, Dale. Thank you. And, you know, I'd be
glad to come back any time. And again, any service,
anybody that needs help with their claim, go
to www .dav .org and put in your zip code and
it'll tell you the closest office to you. And
all of our services are free of charge. Absolutely.
And for all of you veterans that are listening,
you don't know what benefits you're entitled
to sometimes. And there are some interesting
ones out there. Absolutely, not just federal
benefits, state benefits also. Thank you very
much, Gary. We've been talking to Gary Augustine
from the Disabled American Veterans. I encourage
you to go to the website DAV .org. We're going
to take a quick break, move some stuff around,
and then we'll be back with our guest. The second
half of the program, Clint Robuchet, Medal of
Honor recipient. I'm really excited to talk to
Clint. We'll be right back after this. And we
are back on Veterans Radio, and we are going
to be joined by our guest in just a moment. And
let me give you a little background on him. His
name is Clinton Robuchet, and Clint has written
a book entitled Red Platoon. I encourage all
of you to get out and read this book. It's a
fascinating read. Anyway, Clinton enlisted in
the Army in 1999. He deployed twice to Iraq in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and once to
Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring
Freedom. At the time of the attack mentioned
in the text here, we will talk about that. On
Combat Outpost Keating, on October 3rd, 2009,
Staff Sergeant Robichet was assigned as a section
leader of Bravo Troop. Third of the 61st Cavalry,
4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
He's a recipient of numerous awards and decorations,
of course, including the Medal of Honor. When
he was separated from their service, he now lives
with his family in North Dakota. Clint, welcome
to Veterans Radio. Hey, Dale. Thank you so much
for having me today. Well, thank you so much
for agreeing to be on the program. I know that
you have been extremely busy in promoting your
new book, and I encourage, as I mentioned before,
I encourage everybody to go out and get this.
It's a really, it's a true story of American
Valor, and it's not just a war story, and that's
what I really enjoyed about it. Tell me, I guess
we can just start at the beginning. So, why did
you enlist in 1999? What caused you to do that?
I grew up in a family of military service from
my grandfather, World War II. My dad was in Vietnam.
Both my brothers had served in the military,
various uncles I had. So I was always kind of
surrounded by service back to the country. But
it wasn't like it was a prerequisite to be part
of the Romache family, to kind of get your family
card stamped to serve. It was really my dad that
taught me those lessons. You don't have to put
the uniform on to serve, but you've got to get
back to the country. And as far back as I could
remember, I wanted to be in the Army. I didn't
really know why. I think a lot of the guys I
ended up serving with over my career, we all
wanted to join for one reason or another, just
the desire to do something. But it was under
the advice of my dad when I actually tried to
sign up at 17. He wouldn't let me, he wouldn't
sign for me because he taught me some very valuable
lessons in life. If you put on the uniform of
this military, maybe not today and maybe not
in 20 years. But you'll have to go and do and
see things that no man should ever have to do
and see. You'll have to make that choice when
you're 18. The day after I turned 18, that's
what I did, signed up, put on the uniform. And
like I said, I joined just because I wanted to
join. But I really ended up serving because of
the great men I got to meet and be around and
be part of something more than just myself and
try to give back to what was given before me
so we could live in this great country. You know,
just free and proud people. I can't say it any
better than that, but I got a half hour to keep
going. So you went to Iraq twice. This is one
of the things that we're always talking about
on a program, is you men and the men and women
today are deploying so often. It's just to us,
it seems a little bit outrageous, but I know
that you look at it, this is your job, this is
your profession, this is what you do. What did
you do while you were in Iraq? The initial deployment
I did back in that 2004 to 2005 time frame was
very much still kinetic. At the time I was still
actually on the M1A1 tanks. Our main mission
was route security on a main supply route called
the MSR Michigan to help keep that open and flowing
and help try to combat the IED threats that were
going on in the area, try to disrupt them and
go kinetic. You know, try to eliminate these
guys before they could even put bombs on the
side of the roads. Uh, the second Iraq deployment
came up in 2006 to eight, uh, during the surge,
you know, and that was more that the queen fight,
the counterinsurgency fight, but he incorporate
the locals and build their government and train
their forces. Um, and stay, you know, right there
in small little pockets, not on the big fobs,
but actually out in, in the, the local environment.
with the Iraqi people to gain kind of their trust
and help, you know, put a little more stability
in the country, but more importantly, show them
that, hey, we're right here with you, living
right beside you, you know, but it's going to
take your ownership to step up to the plate.
We're only going to be here so long. So you've
got to take it and embrace it and own it for
yourself. That's that. And I think that our audience
really is unaware of all of the community building.
tasks that you performed while you were in Iraq.
And I know that they've done that same thing
or they've attempted the same thing in Afghanistan.
So not only were you involved in trying to protect
yourselves and keep these routes open for supplies
and so forth, but you were down on the local
level trying to build schools and teach, I guess,
the Iraqis on how to live. Oh, yeah. I mean,
I think we kind of get lost. We kind of got this
short -term memory thing going on here. a U .S.
population. America is a great country. Look
what we did in Germany. Look what we've done
in Japan. Look what we've done in South Korea.
But it doesn't happen overnight and it comes
from that direct involvement with the locals
to get them to take ownership. But it takes a
long time and you got to stick with it until
you come to, I mean, not even end. We still have
bases in Europe. We still have bases in South
Korea. It's a long -term investment. If you want
true stability and real support for the country
you're in, you've got to go there for the long
haul. I don't think people understand that. You
just can't go in and fix everything and then
leave. It doesn't quite work that way. All right,
we've got about a minute before we have to take
a break. So what were your feelings about going
back again to another war zone to go to Afghanistan?
You know, in a way it was... uh... no model i
was a bit exciting i've done already to tourist
iraq uh... you heard of it they got going over
to afghanistan and the challenges they faced
on so that professional soldier to be able to
to go from that the flatland deserts of for the
most part in pretty wide open or congested uh...
uh... city centers to you know the rugged mountain
train the health how physically fit our any hike
up and down the mountain people The Taliban fighters
should hear stories of them. They were more willing
to go toe -to -toe with you, where a lot of the
insurgent fights we found in Iraq were these
very quick hit -and -run type deals. So as a
professional soldier, it was very exciting to
kind of see both ends of the spectrum. Can you
describe the terrain in Afghanistan, especially
in the eastern, northeastern area where you were?
You know, honestly, it was some of the most beautiful
countryside I've ever seen. It reminded me of
the continental divide in the mountains of the
Rockies in Colorado. The rivers flow through
there. Now, the first thing I thought is these
guys need to get into the tourism business, because
they'd make it killing. Yeah, they should. With
whitewater rafting and the beautiful mountains
of skiing. OK, I got to take a quick break, Clint.
Hang on. We'll be back after the news. We're
talking with Clint Rojma - Rojma - Rojma - Ro
-maché. We'll be right back after this. And we're
back on Veterans Radio. We're talking with Clint
Robichet, the author of the book Red Platoon,
The True Story of American Valor. Clint is the
recipient of the Medal of Honor. And we're just
talking a little bit about Afghanistan, where
he was deployed in 2009. When you got to... You
guys call it COP, is it? COP Keating in Afghanistan.
What did you think of that fine location? You
know, we were kind of fortunate enough in our
platoon, Sergeant Kirk had just been with 173rd,
that area of Afghanistan, just on his prior deployment.
You know, so we got the intel dumps before even
going overseas of where we'd be kind of getting
located at. But you know, that real firsthand
account of Sergeant Kirk coming in and saying,
hey, look, boys, this is some... pretty bad area.
These guys are committed fighters. The terrain
is horrendous, so we need to make sure we're
physically fit. We understand our weapon systems,
how to shoot angle fire, because a lot of it
we're going to be fighting uphill. At the time,
you're trying to absorb it in, incorporate that
into the training, but it wasn't until the first
night, because the only way to access combat
outpost keating was by helicopter. and only at
night with the pilots fly in because it was just
way too dangerous for them to fly during the
daytime and a big conductor just too easy a target
and as I stepped off the back ramp the first
night coming there and I remember kind of just
spinning around trying to get my orientation
and bearing looking through my night vision goggles
you know and when you wear a set of night vision
goggles you can always kind of pick up where
the land the terrain and the horizon the sky
is no matter how dark it is you always kind of
have a reflection of the Sun on the opposite
side of the world You can always kind of pick
that up. And I just remember looking around thinking,
oh, these night vision goggles must be broke,
because all I'm seeing is black. And then bright
and early the next morning, woke up. We got outside,
get a little more rain, and see things in the
daytime. I just remember looking around, and
I'm like, oh, those weren't broke at all. I just
wasn't looking high enough, apparently. So it
all kind of hit you at once. And you're like,
dang, you, Kirk, you were right. But, you know,
the initial reaction is who the heck would put
an outpost here? This is, I mean, the total opposite
of the definition of a defensible position. Yet,
you know, it's one of those things that soldiers,
you know, we live in a volunteer service right
now where everyone that serves, you know, willingly
and voluntarily went and done it. And that's
what happens when these young men and women raise
that right hand and say, I'm going to go and
do, you don't get the choice. That's the freedoms
you give up. When your military says, hey, here's
where we need you, you've got to go. That's the
sacrifice they give. And we looked at it as,
yeah, this might have been less than ideal, but
game on. This is what we got, and we're going
to make the best of it. And there's nothing that
they're going to ever do to us that's going to
make us not understand that we love each other
so much. You can give us the worst conditions
ever, and we're going to make the best possible
situation out of it. Because we're going to overcome
and it's that attitude that you see time and
time again through military service. Absolutely.
And actually you found inside one of the buildings
there, somebody had already carved into the ceiling
there and said something and I thought, it doesn't
get better. Doesn't get any better. That was,
I mean, we embrace that phrase. And like I said,
it couldn't get better. We made every day the
best day possible and looking back, I mean, I
wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
I don't care if Donald Trump gave me a blank
check right now and today I'll take that experience
back. No, not at all. Those great men and the
character I got to serve with, you could have
made those mountains another thousand feet taller
and just to be there with those guys, that wouldn't
have mattered. I think that's what I found so
fascinating about your book. I'm talking with
Clinton Robichet, author of Red Platoon, A True
Story of American Valor, and the book is, it's
not a memoir, it's more of... I don't know, it's
more to honor those that you served with. It's
a way that I read it anyway, and especially the
ones that you lost. You know, it's one of those
things, like I said, my dad never really talked
about Vietnam at all. You know, it was kind of
hard for him to open up the stuff he had seen.
You know, everyone kind of deals with it different,
but as far as writing a book and a lot of our
veterans out there, you know, it's hard to open
up and talk to people that haven't been there
or done that. It's also kind of our duty to make
sure, especially when we live in a day where
less than 1 % serves this country, if we don't
share our stories and let those 99 .5 that haven't
served have no clue about it, if we don't convey
that service and sacrifice, it's going to be
forgotten. It's going to be neglected. And I
do have to say, Dale, I appreciate your service
and your sacrifice, serving in a time of Vietnam.
You guys didn't get treated very well at all
coming back, but it was because of your generation.
that every time I came home, my generation came
home. We came home to cheering and welcoming
crowds. We can't thank you guys enough for that.
Well, thank you very much. It's, you know, it's
kind of our motto, never again is that going
to ever happen to an American veteran. And it's
amazing, though, in your story, Clint, when you
were mentioning, and I guess I want to try and
set the scenario, and I don't want to give the
whole book away because it's such a fascinating
read to me. Before you were attacked, just like
everybody in the military does, when there's
a little downtime, you figure out what would
you do if you were the other guys? If you were
on the other team and you wanted to take this
base, what would you do it? And you guys pretty
much nailed it. You know, the advantage is they
look, what are we going to do to counter? They've
got an easy access. You know, they can observe
us from every different direction. You know,
what can we do to improve? Where do we need to
stash ammo in case we get isolated? What do we
need to relocate battle positions to every couple
of days? How do we need to change our guard shifts
and our reaction drills when we get attacked?
You know, you kind of got to be in that mindset.
What would I do if I had the opportunity to come
up against this? And that I think, you know,
how the military trained our great men and women
and, you know, you've got to be flexible and
maneuverable and understanding that, yeah, these
were very, very well -trained and very dedicated
enemies that we were faced with that day. I think
it's kind of fascinating when you think about
what the military teaches you about going through,
you know, your kind of your checklist. You go
from plan A to B to C to D and you never stop,
you know, coming up with alternatives. to what
you can do. And this is something that you pointed
out later on in your book about employers. They
don't understand that veterans just keep going
through their card list of ideas and plans and
how they're going to make whatever that you want
them to do to be a success. with a military,
hey, when you hire one of these guys, it doesn't
matter what their MOS is. You're going to get
a guy or a gal that, one, can wake up and show
up to work on time. Two, understands rules and
regulations. Three, has initiative for days.
Four, will accept the challenge way above their
understanding, but will do everything in their
power to get a handle on it and learn it as quick
as possible with minimal guidance. And just understands
how to have working relationships with all sorts
of different personality types because you get
such exposure being in the military. I was going
to say, where are you ever going to meet people
like you met in real life? Up, nowhere. I mean,
you talk about diversity. I mean, you meet people
from all over the world and it's such an enlightening
experience. to run into these men and women,
and you find out what everybody else is thinking.
I've got to get back to your story, or I'll run
out of time here. All right, so we've got it
at, you know, you guys had been talking about
how you would defend the base. How big was Cop
Keating anyway? Overall size, I mean, the very
far east west side was maybe a little over 200
meters. The farthest north and south sides were
at the widest, probably 150. I mean, it really
was not a very large outpost at all. It was,
you know, it was cozy, I guess is what we'd call
it. Which, you know, at times you think, well,
this is very big. But during that day, I mean,
what seemed to be just only a couple of feet
away seemed like miles at times because the enemy's
advantage that they had on you looking down.
that, you know, you'd learn from previous battle
drills, you know, where can I duck and where
can I kind of scoot up next to, you know, that
experience paid off that day. You mentioned when
you guys were shooting the breeze about what
you would do that you would attack right around
6 o 'clock in the morning. So what happened on
that morning when you were attacked? You know,
bright and early, just before 6, I was still
racked up. My vodka had just gotten off, Sergeant
of the Guard duty. The night prior, our platoon
was tasked with the perimeter defense. So I was
still fast asleep when the first rounds came
in. And it really was not uncommon at all to
have some gunfire come in around that time in
the morning. But that morning, when you heard
it come in and woke up, threw my kit on, was
powering my radio up. I mean, just the amount
that was coming in. Machine gunfire, recoilless
rifle fire, rocket propelled grenade, mortar
fire. And you could hear there was more coming
in than going out. And normally... You know,
our guys, we had trained, you got to gain that
fire superiority. These men went on, you know,
the offensive right away with trying to get the
guns in the fight and going into what we call
a cyclic rate of fire as fast as they could try
and shoot back. They were trying, but it just
wasn't happening that morning. Also knowing,
as we kind of game planned it, that right early
in the morning, typically there wasn't, you know,
immediate air coverage in the area. So you knew
it was going to take a little time for it to
get there. and the enemy had planned for that.
They had attacked before where the Taliban fighters
really liked it. They could get in close view
or as close as possible. They knew Americans
were pretty shy about bringing in air strikes
and close air support right on top of themselves.
And that morning kicked off in just a matter
of minutes. The world was going from bad to worse.
It's getting worse and worse and worse by almost
a minute basis. It sounds out the way. I'm looking
at a picture here of Cop Keating and it's like
you're down in this valley almost and you're
surrounded by these humongous mountains and you
know the bad guys are all over you and they had
driven everybody out of a village across the
little river from you and you were just taking
fire from 360 degrees weren't you? and and because
we set so far I mean we were at the very very
bottom of that valley valley I mean when we would
go on patrols and you would just climb elevation
you know 400 feet above it the amount of dead
space is what you call it space you just can't
observe from your position that was available
to the enemy to infill in on us without being
observed at all we just blew your mind and you
know the night before that's what they're able
to do get in positions and because of how extreme
it was you had to use what we call plunging fire
where you're trying to basically lob rounds on
top of them because all they have to do is take
a few steps back and you don't have a direct
line of sight or a direct shot on them. So for
them to get as close as they did that morning
was relatively easy just because we didn't have
good coverage on early warning. One of the lines
in the book that you mentioned was some older
guy says they're in the wire. which for those
you know for Vietnam veterans we all know they're
in the wire and uh kind of a little levity there
but it but the point is that they were getting
closer and closer and and you and and your colleagues
were some of them were were were isolated you
know it got to the point that day that yeah within
uh almost the first hour they they'd breached
our perimeter uh we had enemy inside uh and when
that call came across i mean you just shook your
head and was like, how is this happening? You
know, this is nothing. You always kind of think,
well, it might be some other unit. You're reading
Stars and Stripes, but this will happen to you.
But when you've heard it come across the net,
it kind of had to take a double take. You know,
what was going on? Oh, wow. But it was one of
those moments, just like a lot of challenges
you face in your life. You stumble a little bit,
but if you don't shake it off and refocus very
quickly, you're going to fall. Well, and a number
of your comrades were wounded and some unfortunately
were killed almost right away. And I tried to
bring this up a little bit at the beginning of
the program is you and the rest of them, you
wanted to make sure that you had everybody. Why
was it so important to get the bodies of the
people that were killed? No, it was one of those
things that I had learned early on. military
career and I've tried to convey it that some
of the younger soldiers know that unfortunately
you go to combat and you go over there with everybody
and then the nature of the beast you know we're
not over there selling Girl Scout cook giving
away three popsicles everybody's going over but
not everybody's coming home alive but everyone's
going to come home you know today being Mother's
Day of all days the worst feeling of the world
is to come home and have a mother not have her
son or daughter What's even worse than that is
not having their body. To lay to rest, to do
the last rites, to give at least a little closure.
I don't care about that day. I really wasn't
scared of what was ever going to happen to me.
That thought didn't even cross my mind. What
scared me was the fact that there was no way
they were going to take any of these bullies
to office. They were not going to be propaganda.
And I was more scared for not getting to them
than I was for maybe not even making it home.
No, that was very evident in the book when you
were talking about it. And I can't relate entirely
because I've never been a ground attack. But
if you just don't think about getting hurt yourself,
your goal is to just go and get the wounded,
the people that are dead, get the bodies, whatever
it is, and get them out. Because as you pointed
out, you didn't want the Taliban to be using
these American GIs as propaganda pieces, which
is what they utilize in social media out there.
See, we got one, and then they do something terrible
to that person, who you, as you admitted, you
love in a way. And these people are very important
to you. Absolutely. In fact, coming back to those
values, the duty and honor and trust of oil.
I knew that day that if the roles were reversed,
if I was up in that Humvee, I knew San Diego
was going to do everything in his power to come
get me, no matter what. That was the least we
could do for him. Absolutely. I got your back
thing. Many people don't understand how serious
that people in the military take that. The person
on your right and your left is most important
to you. This battle that you somehow survived,
you were wounded almost right away, weren't you?
You just didn't know it. And unfortunately, you
know, as I try to teach my guys, you know, when
you're in the heat of things, that's one of the
biggest things is that situational awareness
and keeping your head on a swivel. And I made
the mistake, I got the blinders on and I got
a little too focused and a group of fighters
outflanked us to the right. Didn't see them come
through the wire, the front gate area and they
fired an RPG at us. And it hit and it was one
of those first things, you know, it rings your
bell and kind of stumbled and I... I remember
grabbing Gregory and making sure he was okay
and called up Diego's, you know, just can't hold
the position, finished the last of the ammunition
we had. And, you know, you're running on adrenaline
and you understand, well, shoot, if I can still
walk, talk, and move and shoot, well, I still
must be good enough. And it wasn't until Sergeant
Radamusen came over to kind of identify that,
hey, man, you've gotten hit, which is kind of
a jerk move. He says, at first, like, I didn't
even feel it until you said something. You refocus
and understand, well, we can power through it.
We can take one more step. As long as we're still
moving, as long as we're still going forward,
we're still going to be successful. And keeping
that mindset was absolutely critical. My adrenaline
is rushing through me here as I'm listening to
this, because I'm thinking about what do I want
to ask you? Because we only have about five minutes
left. One of the things that I found most fascinating
from a tactical standpoint was how you were able
to bring in the air strikes. I mean, you had
aircraft stacked up from 1 ,000 feet to 30 ,000
feet, and that's a great part of the story. You
know, and that's amazing. The level of support,
you know, we've got a lot of rivalry going on
between the Army, the Marines, the Air Force,
the Navy. We always razz each other, but when
push comes to shove, it doesn't matter what branch
of service what uniform and service you're wearing,
they've all got your back. And truly, because
of Lieutenant Bunderman, his amazing leadership
skills that day, if it wasn't for him on that
radio, coordinating all that, the Air Force guys
that were coming in and doing those bomb drops
and being such professionals at their job, to
be able to put that trust in them. That's what
I think builds on to why we have the greatest
military that history has ever seen. It's that
level of trust, knowing you're always going to
have someone coming to get you. You're always
going to have someone at your back. And we as
veterans need to continue to remember that even
after service, after we take off that uniform.
You know, Warriors helping Warriors is probably
the best thing that we've got going for us. And
we're in a fraternity like no other. You couldn't
in a million years try to get people to be so
tight and just be in such an amazing fraternity
unless you've served. No, and it's important,
as you mentioned, in your writing the book, and
this is something that I've always had, is that
it's not that we don't like other authors, but
sometimes they mess up the facts, and they can't
really get the emotional attachment that we have
with our comrades in the service, and sometimes
they miss out on it. It's up to us to tell our
stories, and that's why we do this program, and
it's obviously why you wrote your book, because
also you lost eight very, very close friends.
And you mentioned in there, and I've heard this
from other Medal of Honor recipients, that you're
not the hero. They are the true heroes. Absolutely.
I mean, I think we use the word hero pretty liberally
in today's society. We call people that throw
football heroes. We call people that have sex
changes heroes. No, true heroes don't come home.
That's what a hero is. That's true. And the reason
that the book, I think, is so well done, it's
because it wasn't Quentin Romache that day. It
was a whole group of guys going around the country
and getting my buddies to open up, doing face
-to -face interviews with them, sitting down
for three or four days to recapture stories and
listen to each other. And as veterans talk to
veterans, it's more about the words that aren't
getting spoken than that are. And that's why
it's hard for us to to kind of talk to people
that don't truly understand because they, you
know, they weren't there and we kind of, we kind
of hold that stuff close. But, you know, it's
still worthwhile that every time a veteran opens
up and starts to speak, it's a good time to just
shut up and listen, just to listen to them. And
as part of doing Rev Tune, yeah, that face -to
-face interviews, allowing the men that came
home, their ability to voice and give their perspective
to tell just a more clear 360. Kind of view of
the battle that day and also give testament for
those eight great men that didn't make it home
They don't get to share their story anymore.
And if we don't share it It's pretty selfish
selfish of us there to set there and hide it
to ourselves Because they won't ever get a chance
to do it again. You just don't want them to go
away You know, it's one of the biggest tragedies,
you know the loss of a service member But what's
even more tragic is to forget to forget about
them. As long as we never do that, they're never
truly gone. No, they're not. I strongly encourage,
thank you Clint so very much for being on Veterans
Radio today, and I strongly encourage people
to go out and read this book, Red Platoon. It's
not just about one man, it's about service people.
and their love and their respect and their need
to help people in general. And I want to thank
you for writing that book. I think it's a great
read and I'm going to be recommending that to
everybody I can get it to. Well, I appreciate
it so much for allowing me to come on the radio
today and share some of my thoughts. And once
again, thank you so much for your service and
all those great men and women out there that
are still wearing the uniform. once again it
is Mother's Day so boys make sure you call your
moms. That's right. Without those lovely ladies
we wouldn't be the great men we are men and women
we are today. That's true and they were the ones
that were at home praying that you came home
safely. It's a family business just because one
person puts the uniform on and goes overseas
hey it's those moms, wives, grandmothers, aunts
that serve just as much as I ever did. Absolutely.
Thank you very much. Clinton Robichet, author
of Red Platoon. Great book. Make sure you go
out and read that. Thank you, Clint. I hope to
be talking to you again sometime soon. Oh, most
definitely. It was a true pleasure today. Thank
you. All right. We've only got a couple of minutes
left, and I want to play a song for you that
I heard. when I was at the Ann Arbor VA the other
day, and this is a song written by a woman named
Kelly Trudell, and Kelly is kind of this veterans
troubadour that's out there singing songs for
the veterans of the world, and her song, and
I think it's appropriate, we won't get to play
the whole thing, but it's called Sound of Hope,
and it's dedicated to medevac pilots, and when
you read Clint's book, you're gonna see that
they were doing everything in the world to get
these medevacs in there. So I'm gonna be quiet
now, stay tuned next week. We'll be back on Veterans
Radio. Until then, Kelly Trudeau, Sound of Hope.