Marine Force Recon Legend & The Medal Of Honor Upgrade | Unsubscribe Podcast Ep 238

Coca-Cola. For the big. For the small. The short and the tall. Peacemakers. Risk-takers. For the optimists. Pessimists. For long-distance love. For introverts and extroverts. The thinkers and the doers. For old friends and new. Coca-Cola. For everyone. Pick up some Coca-Cola at a store near you. Say hi to Eli. He's racially ambiguous. Brandon. His hair is fucking fabulous. Donut. A dark joke disposition. And there's a fat electrician. Welcome to Unsubscribe. Hey, what is up, everyone? It is our favorite month. It's November, which means we are doing the Veterans Month. Two new pieces of merch. Amazing pieces of merch. We have TBI Fridays. The sun will come out tomorrow, unfortunately. 100% of the profits will go towards nonprofits at the end of the month. That's right. We're donating everything we make off of these at the end of the month to some amazing veteran nonprofit organizations. We are also doing a golden ticket, which we will fly you out to one of the last two live shows in December. Your choice. That trip and hotel is on us, of course. And we will be giving away some Turtle Beach headsets, the new Unsub Jump Out side zips. Some merch, some Pepperbox subscriptions, and some Echelon and anything else you buy on that website. A portion of that will also be going towards these amazing causes. And we're doing the same with Echelon. A portion of any Echelon purchased will be going towards those nonprofits. And during Veterans Day month, we are doing an amazing deal with the subscription program. 10% off plus free shipping and then use code Unsub to get 10% off of any of your orders on single cases. Got it. You are entered for the golden takeout on either site. So go, snack some TBI Fridays. Snack some Echelon. Let's raise some money and change some lives in the veteran community. You all ready? Yeah. Let me just check this out. You get it first, brother. You get it first. Did you do good? I have one comment. I've had coffee all over the world. This is the best coffee I've ever, I've ever tasted. It's worth it. He's trying to steal my wife. He's stealing Sam already. Today on the podcast, we have Mr. Steal Your Girl. Major Steal Your Girl in the house right now. Major Steal Your Girl goes crazy. Major Steal Your Girl is so good. Major loves this coffee. That's what it is. I'm going to readjust this and you're good. Boom. And then we'll start with this countdown. All right. Everyone ready? Ready? Three, two, one. I accidentally popped. I pre-popped. Nick? It happens. Well, guys, I almost said it's kind of insatiable. Oh, you're good. You're good. You're good. You got your coffee, brother. All right. Hi, welcome to the unsubscribe podcast. I'm joined here today by Eli Doubletap, Major Jim Capers, Brandon Herrera, and myself, Nick. And today is going to be an awesome episode. Yeah, I'm excited. Dude, we are set. Let me get this adjusted for you. So you're taking care of brother, and you're just going to have fun and chat. Okay. We have Major Jim, brother. I told the guys the first time we met in DC, I was like, oh my God, I met one of the coolest humans and holy shit, his story is amazing. Oh, I didn't know you guys already met. Yeah. Okay. That was how, yeah. Gotcha. The whole team after meeting him was like, oh, a hundred percent. So when I went to downtown to DC for the purple heart, um, uh, they honored a hundred purple heart recipients, I believe. Right. Right. And then I walked over shaking hands and then I seen him. I'm like, holy shit, you got me beat, bro. It's like a stack of, you got three purple hearts. Yeah. It should probably be more. Yeah. Oh, dude. Yes. Brandon, do you know his, how in depth do you know some of his stories? I've seen some of the interviews, uh, but I don't know the full story front to back. So I'm excited to, I'm excited for this episode. It sounds like you've got a, quite a storied history or a service record rather. Well, it's good for me to be here. Oh, thank you so much. You and your team coming out. Oh, we unsub got, and the audience got you a doorbell. We got, we got you a little gift. Open that thing up, brother. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. This is from all of us. Well, it looks pretty good so far. Let's see what we got in here. I hope you love boxes. Yeah. Now Frank said that you just have no watches. Yeah. Sounds like Frank. He said you have trash taste. I think that was his choice of words. Oh, wow. Hey, sweetheart. Boy, it is a watch. We got you. You figured OD green. You like that color? Yeah. Good. Boy, this is really nice. That is a, it's a Hamilton. It's a military watch. And one thing from unsub we would, we always just try two boxes. We try to pay our respect to y'all for what? Well, thank you so much. I'll put this back in here if you don't mind. Oh, of course. And I want to put it on right now. That's really nice is a much better review for Hamilton than a, well, this is a watch. Yeah. Put that on their website. Oh, it's upside down. There we go. See that? Cause that's, that's my niece who just walked in. She's an Air Force veteran. Oh, well, thank you for your service. Dude, it's a family of veterans. Yeah. We'll put this out your way. Okay. Because isn't that how you guys first started talking at the purple heart thing is he made a comment about your watch? Yeah. So it was, uh, him and Zach. And then, uh, Zach was helping, uh, he's a J tech. And of course, one degree of separation, Zach and I were talking, he seen, uh, one of the watches. He's like best and nice watch. We started talking. Then he's like, man, you actually, we watch unsubbed, but you should have, uh, Jim on. It was like done and done. And then he told me the story. Cause as Zach said, he was like, this is only do what I know with a confirmed knife kill. I was like, what? I was like, holy shit. I was like, done. We are going to get him on then. And then, um, he knew my buddy Holtz. They served together and I, Holtz is the one I deployed with, and they trained together. And now he had helps from time to time help with your guys' team. So I was like tiny ass world. And now we get you the literal poster boy of the Marines and the first African-American to be field commissioned. Holy shit. During Vietnam when field commissions were not normal anymore after world war II in Korea, field commissions are not a normal thing. And he's still got one. That is wild. Yeah. I was a staff Sergeant. And all the officers were killed in the first three months. So my Colonel called me in his office and took off, uh, my staff Sergeant Shevins and put on Lieutenant bars and I walked out in the rain and there was some guys out there to saluted me for the first time. It was interesting. I bet going from enlisted to that and no OSAT or anything. No, they didn't send me a home for any officers training. So wild. Yeah. That. So you joined as Marine. Yeah. And now you did basic training during the much harder times. What was even basic training? What was that like? You're kidding me for, for a Marine training. Sorry. Holy shit. I am so sorry. Yeah. Bootcamp for Marines back in those days. I joined in 1956, just when they had lost six, six Marines who drowned in Paris Island, which is a notorious bootcamp. So I went through the three months and, uh, did pretty good. And after that, they sent us to combat training for a month, but we didn't get the month then. Cause there was a war in the middle East, uh, the Syrians and the Egyptians were fighting. So they sent my, unit over to the Mediterranean through the Mediterranean and we didn't land or anything you know we just went over there to show show force say hey we're here now and you better behave yourself Eisenhower was president and we were prepared to land but we didn't finish up our combat training so they brought us back to the States and we started all over again and my first three years that's what we did but every six months we deployed to the Middle East and now they're still at it if you were in Lebanon the first time I went on yeah I went to Lebanon when lebanese and the Syrians and everybody was was that battle over there during those days I don't remember what the problems were to tell you the truth but they've been fighting over there for 2,000 years I say I don't think they remember what the problem started as either hey how true that is why are we fight what's your name Tony Tony now you going into it I know all all Marines are infantry did you actually go in being like I want to do infantry I want to be a grunt I want to do I want like reconnaissance what I did the three years as a grunt then I thought well I'm doing pretty good so rather than be discharged I decided that what I'll go ahead and reenlist so I reenlisted for six years and then they sent me what the hell they sent me sent me to California and they sent me to California and they sent me to California and I joined the special organization the first force reconnaissance company and they did pretty good I went to jump school and became a diver and you know all the various things you learn to kill people 50 different ways and I spent three years there so you told me on the way here you had 550 jumps I made 550 parachute jumps a static and then halo or yeah static and freefall and then you did combat diving - yeah my brother first off aren't you black how can you swim and we're almost 10 minutes in no no I can swim I'm a master diver dude how many I made three combat swims in Vietnam yeah we did a swim under an aircraft carrier almost a thousand almost a thousand meters and we did that and while we won under the aircraft carrier there was a school of all sharks showed up and this was in the Trang Vietnam and we swam the whole distance of the ship looking for mines under the ship because the USS card had been blown up by the Vietnamese divers so we want to make sure that we had 3,000 Marines and sailors aboard that aircraft carrier so I took my team of divers down and we swam the whole length of the aircraft carrier and at the end we saw the shark show up and one of my men everybody was tied in with a buddy line his buddy line came loose and he was drifting out where the sharks were and this is where you you have to make a decision you don't think about it you make the decision and he was drifting out where the tiger sharks were and I unhooked my buddy line and swim on got him and brought him back how was it hard even navigating in the pitch black essentially at that time well and no buddy line that's why well he was drifting toward the sharks and I made a decision right here right there to go out and get him I swam out and got him and hooked him into my buddy line and came back which we made three combat dives in Vietnam what was the other two and just for everyone watching this man oh that's the thing you always did is put everyone else above yourself you have so many stories of that and it is literally why we're so stoked for you and honored for you to be here is because you it's rare to meet an individual like you where you're like hey these are my brothers in arms they their lives are more important than my own industry every time that's true it's an honor to meet you brother that's good to be here it's honor to be alive so what what were the other two combat dives you did well two Marines at a base that was not too far from where I was in country we'd gotten to shore by that time and two of them were blown up by mine and so I was asked to go out there and find the bodies and bring the bodies up so took my team of divers and I had a young Navy SEAL Doug Burwell he was a corpsman but he was one of the SEALs that I took with me and of course we were around long before the SEALs were no that's what we did and the SEALs come along later on and I had a couple of them with me good guys Burwell still alive but we went out to where the the kid was and now we went down and got him and brought his body up the sharks had eaten him or not the sharks they were fish regular fish they had eaten his body up what was you know there wasn't much left then rather make a graphic but we got him and brought him up and while we were down there we found mines and explosives in the bottom of the river so I figured we couldn't leave that stuff down there because they could use it against us so I went back and got all the equipment and we went down and we drove over for two days and brought up over 200 rounds of ammunition and mines and they they had stored down that he was against us we brought it all up every round we brought it all up how long did that take it was two days damn hey guys you want to see something not again those are true classics oh you want to touch it Brandon Cody you want to touch it oh Brandon sure you have a degree in science you're going to have a degree in HR right that's right today's sponsor is true classic Cody what are you wearing I'm wearing a true classic shirt right now it fits really well around the arms and the chest it makes you look bigger than you are you could you actually jacked right now on a personal note with my personal endorsement to true classic that's no all the pants and the shirts that I wear like the undershirts always wear true classic the pants always true classic they're stretchy be lies wearing true classics right now a lot of shirts that you get just off the shelf like aren't really cut they're just generic unisex stuff they're not really cut to look good true classic stuff is actually tailored to fit the male form which is you know actually helpful if you want to not look like a slob peak male performance but now imagine my dick because that's where I'm wearing underwear yeah now imagine my dick Eli Cuevas 2025 true classic duck yeah use code unsub now we've been messing around with t-shirts and been in the industry for years now and we can truly say that true classic has some of the greatest material and greatest fitting that we've ever seen so forget overpriced designer brands skip the cheap throwaway stuff true classic is built for comfort built to last and built to give back you can even find them at Target or Costco or you can go to trueclassic.com unsub to try for yourself if you want to level up your clothes for the summer or coming into the fall weather head over to trueclassic.com unsub so you you've done a lot of incredible things yeah but one of the things that I do in my videos and my research is I like to find the uh the crazy things and the funny things that people have accomplished I understand that you captured a 20-foot python all right I'll buy it yeah uh we named him Gorma because Gorma Powell was it was a popular it was a popular TV program back in those days so we uh we were coming back from a mission and my point man stopped oh what's going on now and he run across this the snake so I went up and looked at him he was huge he was huge so I figured well let's grab this son of a and take him back but then we had to cross a river and I didn't know we could get this snake and cross the river and climb the mountain back up to the base but But what we did, we took a poncho, and they jumped on the snake on his head and tied him up and put him in a sack. So we're going to try to get him back across the river. So we're going with this snake. He was huge, and he was heavy. He weighed about almost 200 pounds. This is just for shits and giggles. This is a marine event. In Vietnam. In Vietnam, man. We got to the river. We got to the river. I love this. Yeah, we got to the river. Now, how the hell are we going to get this snake across the river? And he was flowing pretty fast. So we figured, oh, we can't do that. So we dropped the snake, and we swam the river and climbed the mountain and got back to our base. So while we were there, this is a place called Khe Sanh. There was bloody bowels up at Khe Sanh. And we were holding back the North Vietnamese with our small base. So we climbed the mountain, and we got back there, and some of the guys said, hey, where's that snake you guys were talking about? I said, well, we couldn't climb the mountain. We couldn't swim the river with them. So a helicopter pilot heard about it, and we took my team and put it in the helicopter, and we flew down and landed on the river, Roxon River. And our team jumped out and got the snake. And, yeah, marines do a lot of stuff like that. And put the snake back on the helicopter, and we got up to our base on the mountain, and we took the snake out, and we dug a hole, and put the snake in this hole. It was huge and long, and we took some pictures with him on our shoulders and things like that. I got a few. And his head was huge, you know, a big head. And we had a dog named King. King was an extremely large German shepherd. You know, he was our war dog. As a matter of fact, I saw him kill two enemy soldiers. Rather than make it a graphic, but he jumped on them and ripped them pretty well. But I'll leave that part out, but that's what he did. He was a killer. He was trained to do that. Coca-Cola. For the big. For the small. The short. And the tall. Peacemakers. Risk takers. For us. For the optimists. Pessimists. Coca-Cola. For everyone. He was a scout dog also. He could smell different things. But at any rate, we got up there, and King smelled the snake. And he started getting agitated. He was like, "What the hell is this?" And we had a snake in the hole. So we figured that, well, I don't know how to feed this damn snake. So, Yerman, Sergeant Yerman, took the jeep and went out in town and came back with his duck. He had this duck. Yeah, I'm laughing, too, because it's funny as all hell. I'm dying. Yeah. This is as marine as it gets. Well, I mean, ducks. I don't know. I don't know. They're in, like, a heavy combat zone. And you're like, "Yo, this snake, though." And then they flew a helicopter. He's literally repelling enemy ambush. They're like, "Guys, we got to feed the snake. Go get a duck." Go to town and get some shit. I don't know. Well, we brought the snake back. I brought the duck back. And the snake is in this hole. And we brought the snake back. And the guys put the duck in this hole with the snake. And they tied his leg, one leg of the duck. Now, he was quacking. And the snake was over there by himself, wasn't bothering anybody. So we figured that the snake is probably going to eat this duck because, you know, snakes don't eat any canned food. We couldn't give him something. He had to eat live food. So this is a riot. All of the guys are coming around, taking pictures of this damn duck in this hole with the snake, whatever. But the good part was -- I know you -- the good part was we had come back to see if this snake -- to see if this snake had eaten this duck. And we looked in the hole, and the duck was there quacking, quacking. And the snake was dead as the door down, laying there dead. And the snake was still alive, quacking. We thought the snake was going to eat the duck. But somehow -- I don't know why the snake died, but he was there alive. And the duck was there quacking. So we got the snake out of the hole. And they skinned him, took the skin off the snake, and they gave the meat to the villagers. And we took pictures of that. But, you know, it wasn't funny. But, you know, I felt sorry for -- I don't want it to happen to the duck. That's another story. It never happened to the duck. But Gorma, the snake there, we got a lot of pictures of him. We took the skin off of him. And some of the guys made belts out of the snake skin. He was a python, or what we call a boar, stricter than large. But I took a picture of him with the snake around my shoulders. And he was heavy. And they put the snake on my shoulders to take a picture. So I felt the snake trying to constrict me. And I was holding his head, his head in my left hand. And he was squeezing me. And I told Sergeant Jeremy, you know, get this damn snake off of me. Because he just may try to eat me or something. But I kept him on my shoulders. And we took some pictures. He was huge, about 18 feet long. Well, I'm sorry he died before you could get any useful information out of him. Yeah. He didn't talk much. That's so wild. That duck is what. Walking back, I'd be like, wait, why is that duck alive? What happened when we were gone? Dangerous. Yeah. Oh, my God. Somebody made a lot of money on that bedding pool. So I remember another story. There was some kind of competition or a course where you had to lead a group of men and traverse part of a jungle. And I think I heard that your team broke the course record. Because you had commandeered some canoes. We did that in Panama. They dropped us in Panama before going to Vietnam. And I had a team. It was pretty good. And the whole company had to traverse miles of jungles and mountains, things like that. And my team, we took off and we got some canoes. And we canoed across the river. How did you get the canoes? They were blown to the Panamanian civilians. Acquired them? Yeah, we acquired them. The Marines never steal anything. So we quietly acquired them, got in the boats and went across the river. And we -- We broke the record for that type of course, you know, in the jungles. And I was their leader. And that's one reason they looked at me through the training and through the operations in Vietnam to get this commission. Everybody didn't get those types of battlefield commission. And I was a staff sergeant. And -- And Sergeant Major came to get me one day and said, Sergeant, the colonel want to see you. And I said, uh-oh, am I in trouble? It's the canoes, isn't it? The what? Never mind. Canoes, canoes. You know what's better than burning the boats? Stealing them. Those are my boats. Acquiring. Acquiring. Well, I got in the colonel's office. And he was a good guy. His name -- I forget his name. He's gone now. But he commissioned me. He took off my staff sergeant's chevons and put on lieutenant bars and shook my hand and had me sign some papers. And Sergeant Major said something to me. I can't remember what it was now. But Sergeant Major Skinner was a good man. He was our battalion sergeant major. And he walked me out of the colonel's office. And -- pardon my language. My niece is here. He said, don't get up. And I didn't. As for day, I'm sure you -- you were one of the first force recon. It was a newer -- how long had force recon been around when you actually joined? I think it was four years. That's wild. I joined. Went to jump school and school-by-school and demo school and martial arts and all of this shit, the commandos. And we had a couple of British commandos that helped us with our training. Years later, I went to England and trained with the British commandos. SAS? Good bunch of guys. How did you get selected to be one of the first force recon Marines? I mean, was there like a tryout process? It was so new at the time. Well, you volunteer and you go in with the CO. And the one I had, he's kind of a crazy guy. I'm in there being interviewed to see if they're going to select me. And he had a grenade on his window seal. I mean, I knew what a grenade was because I'd fought in Lebanon. He's sitting there looking at me. He reached over and pulled his grenade. And pulled a pin. It was a phony grenade. It wasn't real. And threw it on the ground to see what I was going to do. I walked over and picked it up and handed it back to him. Handed it back to him. And he selected me. Approved! Yeah. Yeah. Selected me. Then I went off to demo school. And all the things you can think of to make you a commando. I went to Fort Benning for the jump program. And you did, again, static. But what's crazy is free fall. Yeah. And this is when there was no wind tunnels. You had to do the little board on your. Yeah. That is wild. Yeah. It is. Like, floating's hard. You find that out really fast. When you're in free fall, it is one of the hardest things. And two. The only training up to that point is that board. And then you're jumping out of a plane at 20,000 feet is wild to me. We weren't at 20,000 at first. You know, the free fall program. You know, you jump out and you stabilize your body. And then you have your toggles, which help you maneuver the parachute. And you hit the ground at about 15, 20 miles an hour. That's why my legs don't work. My knees don't work now. Knees are shot. But the parachute program, I became a jump master. Where, you know, my job now is to get my guys in on the drop zone and make sure they didn't die getting there. But I did that for 20 years. So you're a master diver and a jump master. And a jump master. Okay, cool. Two opposite ends of the spectrum there. That's the highest and lowest point a human can be. All right. He's going to go get him. I never thought about that. You fight below sea level and well above sea level. We'll see about getting you that Space Force commission. Brandon, what kind of shirt is that? I'm glad you asked, Eli. This is a poncho. Brandon and I actually wear ponchos so much, we constantly end up wearing the same nice poncho shirt. Good thing nobody's ever pointed that out before. Now, if you guys have ever seen one of our live shows or this podcast in general, you'll see Brandon and I wearing these incredibly comfortable, great-looking ponchos. shirts all the time. Finn pull it up with pictures they're literally always wearing the same shirt. I got turned on a poncho like a year ago been wearing them ever since uh personally prefer I think this is the western because it's got the pearl snaps uh because it's hot in Texas and I like something breathable. Here's the thing I find really cool. Brandon do the glasses trick. So ponchos have this neat little thing in the pocket where you just take your glasses. No the other one. Be more specific. Let's get the about that. All right watch everyone. So if you got fat fingers and you smudge your glasses all the time the bottom of the shirt actually acts it has like a microfiber so you can clean your glasses. I make him clean my phones. He does. I like the hidden little pocket on the breast. Wait what? Right over here. Got a little zipper pocket. I don't even know about that one. Is that where you hold Cody's heart? And his drugs. Things you might need to know poncho has put a lot of thought and detail into each one of their shirts. Oh holy sh. They're soft. Really f*cking soft. Yo what? That's my one like thing is f*cking fabric sensitivity. I don't wear uncomfortable shirts. This is comfy as f*ck. That's why we wear them all the time. So poncho's got a bunch of great styles. The original western denim and ultralight. If you're looking for the perfect shirt something breathable and stands out in a good way give poncho a try. Go to poncho outdoors dot com slash unsub and get ten dollars off your first order. That's p-o-n-c-h-o outdoors.com slash unsub. Now what was the harder school for you? Was it jump or was it a diver? I think the diving program was a little hard. I went through that in Florida. Gravity doesn't do the work for you in diving. That was about a month course. And uh down in Key West Florida. Beautiful area. Yeah well they did that for a month. A lot of it you're in the classroom. And a lot of it you know uh you're in the water. I mean you're in the water all the time. And we did hydrographic surveys and they drop you in and you have to see how close to you know the water is to the lands we can land our troops. So it was a hard hard program for me because I'd been a grunt. I hadn't been swimming like that. And uh when I first got there I was the only black guy in the class. And uh you alluded to some of those funny things. But I got there and the commander of the school told me he was sending me home. I said may I ask you why? He said because we have medical documentation that can't swim. I said which were you talking to commander? He said we're just going to send you home. And once you drown our program. I said you're making a mistake. I can swim. And I can swim you know a little bit of bravado. Said I can probably swim better than anybody you got in this class. He said well you're not going to drown here so I'm sending you home. I didn't want to kiss the guy's ass but I just says hey you know just give me a shot at it. If I don't make it I don't make it. But I guarantee you I will make it. He said well I'm going to give you uh a pro give you an opening program but you know I think I'm making a mistake. Said no you're not. So I start the program and the first week was kind of difficult. Like your hell week program you read about they kill you. I mean they do I mean you do more push-ups you know and sit-ups and just running and running and swimming. And then at night you study. Then at night they take you back to the water and put you back in the water again. Then you have to do the night swims you know. When they take you out on a boat then you had to swim the shore and you have to like a boat then you have to swim the shore and hit a target at night. So you know it was tough but I was on a graduate. No shit. Yeah I was on a graduate. Oh when you're swimming are you in full kit when you're swimming or do they have like uh are you in uniform or what are you wearing at that time? Well when we first started you know we're in shorts. Okay. Shorts and I was it was January in 1970. I was in my 20s. I was in my 30s. I was in shorts. Okay. Shorts and I was it was January 1966 and it was cold as hell down there. I think the whole citrus fruit in Florida froze but we swam went through the whole course in January 1966. Then I come home from school to school and then we left to go to Panama. Then we left to go to Bermuda and places like that. So it's just training you're ready to go to uh to go in country. I'm still reeling on the idea that there was medical documentation in the United States Marine Corps. Yeah. This was the navy he said that. Or navy. Go to swim but you know. I'd love to see that doctor's note. That was what he said to me and it just made me a little a little irritated but I knew I had to get in this course. I was the only black guy there but you know I was angry now. Oh I bet. You know because uh he's challenging me and and the sad part about it after we graduated went through the whole month program and we were all lined up to uh to graduate and the chief came up to me and uh told me I was on a graduate. But the commander as we were lined up getting our certificates he walked past me. He didn't shake my hand. Even though you were uh. 1966. I was on a graduate but he didn't shake my hand. He walked past me. Garbage human. But you know. I would have saluted your ass. I'd be like yo what the hell. holy shit that was a world for black guys back in those days but I had to suck it up because I had a lot of men that had trained with me and now we're we're going to war you know the training is over joke's over now we're going to go fight and kill people or a lot of us got killed you know so came home matter of fact on the way from the scuba program we're flying home on the aircraft caught on fire and the crew chief came back and said we're going to have to land and they had it was a commercial plane they had other senior citizens on the plane and we were teenagers and mostly young guys so they had the plane in an open field and my guys didn't get off the plane until they went and got all the civilians off they would got the elderly citizens off and we stayed out there and the plane was was burning but the ambulance came and they took care of the plane then some vehicles came and took us to Miami and we got a bus came and took us to Miami then we got another plane and flew us to North Carolina so it was always something but we overcame it always training that is and again I can't for the individuals out there that don't understand going through combat diver halo jump everything and then back to back especially at that time is like tip tip my hat to you for that level of dedication and how difficult that would have been thank you oh yeah especially in the 60s this was in the 60s you know in 67 we were in combat you were you were already married at this point right yeah I was married I had a child so I mean what I get and that's the part that I haven't really seen anybody touch on in your interviews and stuff like you've done all this incredible stuff in the military but you also did that at the same point in time that you were married you had a wife and son back home your son had special needs yeah and it's the 1960s and the Civil Rights movement's going on so you're leaving home to go fight in war with your wife at home and there's like civil unrest going on at the same time how did you deal with that mentally I was a patriot I believed in this country from day one when I was a child I was had gotten sick and my father gave me to a white family this is just the history that I was told um it's probably true because back in those days childhood diseases were common we lost and mostly African Americans who were just you know wasn't that long out of slavery and we ran the uh pick the cotton crop the tobacco uh working for the white guys and say the white man uh but some of them were weren't all bad and this family that when I got sick took me in and obviously uh I was cured and then I came back to my family and we ended up leaving South Carolina and moving to Baltimore Coca-Cola for the big for the small the short and the tall peacemakers risk takers for the optimist pessimists for long distance love for introverts and extroverts the thinkers and the doers for old friends and new Coca-Cola for everyone pick up some Coca-Cola at a store near you where I went to school uh then the Korean War started and I saw the Marines all over the TV we didn't have TVs in the South but we got to Baltimore we had our first TV the old black and white TVs and the kid over here was not born at that time but you know we got there and uh moved into the what we call the ghetto which is where the the Germans were doing uh two uh the ghetto and and I didn't look at his ghetto it was a South Baltimore and we brought our habits from the South to the city and there were not many jobs and wasn't a good life but we made the best we could and so when you say you brought your habits what exactly do you mean yeah survival but I the goodness that I found along the way like I said that white family I don't know who they are and there's some research now they're trying to figure out you know who it was they're trying to figure out the doctor that uh attended me uh probably wasn't that many doctors at that time but there's some folks in South Carolina who are trying to figure out what happened to this guy how did he live and now that I've been up for the Medal of Honor you know people send me flowers these days I get flowers I get cards I get letters uh I wonder if they know something that I don't know you know they say I'm getting my flowers before I before I get out of here but it's been nice my house is full of flowers that folks have sent to me flowers are my thing it's usually the only time you receive flowers is at your funeral so it's a really good gesture it feels good getting flowers as a dude thank you well my place is already preparing up in Arlington National Cemetery while I'll join my wife and my son they're there waiting for me and I'm not worried about it I think I got a good chance of uh getting into heaven my wife my son are waiting for me but on the other side I wasn't the nicest guy I was not the nicest guy because I was trained to kill people in the worst way and I did that for too long maybe but I feel that God will have mercy on me and let me get into the pearly gates but then again he might say hey you shouldn't have done that but I don't think so I believe in God and I think I'll see my wife or my son again I believe the same you got forgiveness and that's the one thing yeah especially Jesus that's what he sacrifices himself for so I think you're good to go yeah I hope so all of your favorite NBA players are black I mean back I mean both were right I'm just waiting for Kate Cody to say it any car DraftKings Sportsbook an official sports betting partner of the NBA it's the place to bet on those NBA stars this season new customers just met five bucks and get three months of NBA league pass what's that if I know boards I don't know but you're also gonna win three hundred dollars if your bet wins in free bets paid in bonus bets correct now something I do understand you can't say that word understand download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code unsub that's code unsub bet five bucks and get three months of league pass get three hundred dollars in bonus bets if your bet wins gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York call 877-8-HOPENY what Hope New York Hope NY Hopenny Hopenny Brandon just said Hopenny not Hope New York it's spelled h-o-p-e-n-y so much better or text Hopenny 467-369 in Connecticut help is available for problem gambling call 888-878-97777 or visit ccpg.org somebody else take over I'm having a stroke please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas pass through what yeah pass through per wager tax may apply in Illinois god damn this is one sentence 21 plus age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario restrictions apply bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days minimum odds required NBA league pass auto renews Intel cancer additional terms at DKNG.co slash audio limited time offer you can't win big if you don't bet big Sun Tzu said that what's one of your favorite stories of for your wife and for your kiddo well better in high school I saw walking down the hall and I looked at her and I fell in love first time I saw I was in love I went home and I told my mom I said Ma guess what she said sit down son we'll talk about it and we went through high school together her name was Dorothy and I called her Dottie and I was you know I still write to her she's been gone some years now but sometime I had the desire to tell her what I'm doing and when I get back on Friday I'll write to her about how well you guys treated me I'll tell them who I'll tell her I can't mail the letters but I just tell them that you know guess what sweetheart i was in san antonio and she knows all of this anyway she's watching me but i do write to her and i have the letters uh someone frank told me the day and i should put them in the mailbox you know maybe god will find a way to get them to donnie no i i do write to her it's just a relief for me i'll sit down right up to her when i get back on friday about this experience and i'll say guess what my niece was there listening even though she joined the air force i thought maybe the kid would join the marines but no she joined the air force that was whiplash yeah thinking of you by the way yeah to my understanding you got to to share over 50 years with her which is fantastic we were married 50 years dang and she died a week after we celebrated our 50th anniversary condolences she died in the hospital there in my in uh my town and uh she died of cancer and i was holding her holding her hand standing by her bedside and i was holding her hand and she winked at me that was dotty capers she and she winked at me squeezed my hand then she closed eyes but i'll see her again uh you know she's the love of my life and i'm still single you hadn't been able to find any another dotty capers so i been widowed all these years and i thought about it but i don't go on dates or things like that we can't find you on tinder no no no no no no but i had a great marriage she stuck with me all those years when i deployed it overseas and when i came home to methesda uh i was all shot up and she came there and she asked for me and they said no there's no black lieutenant here i was there but they had never seen a black wrinkle also before so eventually um i got married and i was able to be in dotty capers she found me i was on the 14th floor of bethesda hospital and she had my son with her and my son some kind of way walked into the room and walked to my bed and he put his hand on my body and he said hello dad he's blind special needs but you know we wanted how did he get into the room he got away from dotty and got into the room he'd never been there before and put his hand on my body and said hello dad you know these are things you wonder about special needs and and how in the world did a child like that you know get into that room dotty was right with him she was chasing him and she came in and they uh you know i want to see them but i was angry the demons had come home and you know i lost all those men i've been banged up both my legs were broken i still had bullet fragments in me and i looked out the window i didn't look at her because i was shamed because i in a way you know and those letters i told her that well when i get home we're going to go dancing you know we're going to go to different places we're going to enjoy the rest of our lives this is over now this is over but then i come home i couldn't walk couldn't hardly talk you know i only weighed 120 pounds i lost all of the weight my body was scarred and they had the corpsman had cleaned me up because i was blood was all over my bed and i couldn't use the bathroom so they'd come in and clean me up put a pot under me and that was a world that i saw but when dotty came in she was okay with everything and she held my hand and kissed me and said welcome home but me i was still in combat i was still in those jungles i could still hear those cries of men dying you know but dotty capers was dotty capers and she sat there with me and told me it was going to be okay we're still going to go dancing i was never a good dancer anyway but the thought was being with them and it happened i don't know after a year you know of uh being there in that hospital i look out the window and a matter of fact one day and i was in pain you know they had you know they were doing surgery on me of this or that and i looked out the window i said you know i don't want to do this anymore i wouldn't do this anymore i wouldn't do this anymore i wouldn't do this anymore said if i can open the window just get me to the window and i'll jump out so you understand why warriors do this why do you commit because the pain was so severe you know i thought i was pretty tough but after a while when they gave me shots for the pain i was like oh my god i'm going to die i'm going to die i'm going to die i'm going to die uh i got to the point where i was so weakened that i would set my clock up because i got shots every four hours so what i would do i would take my clock and set it up and i'd call the nurse and tell the nurse hey it's time for my shot she said no it's not four hours yet i said yeah come look at my my watch that was a time when i was at my weakest when i looked out the window it didn't matter anymore because the pain was so severe you know and i thought i couldn't deal with it anymore but god stepped in say yeah let's stay with it let's keep it going and i did but the nights in that little room there i could hear the sounds of battle you know i couldn't only weight 122 pounds you know scars all over me and i'd lie there at night and that little bed there and the wounds began to seep in the in the bed and i still had blood on my hands from the war blood was all in my my hands because i couldn't take a shower they wouldn't give me no showers so they just sort of dib and dabbed you know to keep the blood from flowing they had some bandages on me but they didn't stick i had skin grafts and all those things but when i came through the caisson and they uh they hit us hard with those 120 rockets and i run across this marine who was lying there it was getting dark and and his head was crooked i said damn you know he was dead and i took his head to try to straighten his head to be perpendicular with his body and when i grabbed his hand his whole his brains fell out in my hands his whole head was cracked and the blood and blood and i was just trying to straighten his head but now i'm trying to deal with the brains in my hands and i didn't have enough water to wash it off so i kept that his brains in my hands you know and sometimes i'll get up at night and go to the bathroom and wash my hands thinking that i've got to wash these brains and blood off my hand but oh those are the things that bother me and i wish i could have saved that marine but he's gone now you are a strong strong individual i was weak i'm weak brother you shut up right now brother the life you have lived and what again you put everyone else first even right now it is those dark thoughts it's like especially veterans it's it's hard if you've seen stuff been to war everyone glorifies war but then reality of wars it's it's hard war is hell and you came out the other side and then with your family you came out the other side and then with your family you came out the other side and then with your family and then you said you did therapy too but look at you now look and then you said you did therapy too but look at you now look like you you came out clean on the like you you came out clean on the like you you came out clean on the other side you went through hell and it was It was probably a long process and journey, and you still have those moments. But look at the life you're changing now. He didn't just get through it. He brought a lot of people with him. I've read a lot of the stuff your guys have said about you. All lies, all lies. Yeah, right. You want to know one of the coolest things his guys said about him? One of his guys said, I heard capers swear one time the entire time I was with him in Vietnam. The rest of the time when he was mad, he'd just call you a knucklehead. But when he called you a knucklehead, it felt like your dad and Jesus Christ called you that at the same time. Yeah. Hey, you want to borrow my ghost bed pillow? Does it smell like you? Yes. Do you feel that cooling technology? It's definitely not a hot pillow. I got to get out of here. Give me my pillow. I'm the one that has to sleep here. You guys have your own houses and your own pillows. Quit touching me. All right, real question. Can the gang do a pillow fight? Not with these. They're f***ing heavy. A slow motion pillow fight? No, they're heavy. It'll hurt. Are they really? Yes, they're premium. Dude, that would actually suck. That actually, I don't think I'd want to get smacked with that. I'm swinging it hard, okay? Your son, you walk up and just tee off on your kid. If I smack you with this, you're going to be a ghost. And get this, they're built to last with a 20-year warranty and they have a three-month free trial period. What do they do with all the used mattresses that get returned? Not much. Black lights. They have a complete sleep setup. For spooky sex. Boo. Ghost bed has it all. Adjustable bases, sheets, pillows, and full bundles to upgrade your whole bed. With over 20 years of sleep expertise. Which is really amateur hour. I've been sleeping for at least 30 years. Family-owned and handcrafted in the USA. And Canada. Ew. Ew. Canada. Entrusted by thousands of happy sleepers. Like Cody. Brandon. Ahhhhhhhhhh. I can't keep that one. And Nick. Yep. And they have over 60,000 five-star reviews. And you get an extra 10% off when you use code UNSUBSCRIBE at checkout. Head over to ghostbed.com slash unsubscribe to get started. That's ghostbed.com slash unsubscribe. Use the code unsubscribe to sleep better and stay cooler. I don't even know what story. Like, you have a silver star with the device. Yeah, silver star. And that one. And that one. And that one. purple heart yeah yeah three purple like this this is so stacked over here yeah like just zoom in on that rack right there you're like oh man this dude has been through it and then being forced recon at the same time in vietnam is wild and you're the mission i was it's wild reading that mission or even hearing glimpses of your stories like oh hey with a knife oh hey like this happened and then also that mission leading up to i think that was the silver star with the where you broke your legs and everything was that that mission or is that a separate mission no that's the melavana mission that's a place called full lock you want to you want to talk would you tell them that story sure full lock was a place and uh in vietnam it was my last combat mission we're gonna go home now we've been deployed almost a year so now we survived this it was a five-day mission and uh when i got the mission see uh dorosky which was my point man uh i left him behind because he'd been with me and i picked up a guy named nicolau it was huge nick had 20-inch arms and a 50-inch chest and he could carry the m60 machine gun with one hand so i took him along that's a strong dude yeah he's a big guy yeah he's a big guy and i took him along i had a kid named stanton who survived it but he got hit real bad lost a kidney and he's still alive in louisiana so the team all of them are gone now said stanton and and dorosky we went out on the mission no we went out at night and uh we crossed the uh rice patties we ran into some of the bad guys we smoked them kill them all then we went into uh with another group and to try to help them out i think that was first battalion third marines we was and we went in and all hell broke loose and we called in artillery and uh they dropped them in uh they gave us 50 meters grace other words i told them you know give me that 50 meters because don't drop them on me so they did they started walking them back toward me and they were keeping the bad guys some from attacking us so they they dropped them on me and they were keeping the bad guys some from attacking us and they were keeping the bad guys some from attacking us the man about 50 meters and then i called in airstrikes we fought for three days he fought for three days and we killed as many as we could we could we could we could uh my point man nicola he lost his leg uh my point man nicola he lost his leg uh my point man nicola he lost his leg my war dog king he killed two my war dog king he killed two my war dog king he killed two he he jumped on this he he jumped on this he he jumped on this vietnamese and he grabbed his throat ripped vietnamese and he grabbed his throat ripped vietnamese and he grabbed his throat ripped it out and they grabbed his groin it out and they grabbed his groin it out and they grabbed his groin he killed two of them he killed two of them he killed two of them and uh and uh and uh we got nick out he was a huge guy that we got nick out he was a huge guy that we got nick out he was a huge guy that everybody was wounded everybody was wounded everybody was wounded the whole team the whole team the whole team but but but that was one of the greatest days of that was one of the greatest days of that was one of the greatest days of heroism heroism heroism and combat you know that i saw our last and combat you know that i saw our last and combat you know that i saw our last i mean i did the best i could i mean i did the best i could i mean i did the best i could when i when i got home i had three when i when i got home i had three when i when i got home i had three rounds of ammunition left rounds of ammunition left rounds of ammunition left i had gone through all the ammunition i had gone through all the ammunition i had gone through all the ammunition that i had that i had that i had and uh and uh and uh you know my right leg was broken to the you know my right leg was broken to the you know my right leg was broken to the point where point where point where i couldn't hardly stand up and the i couldn't hardly stand up and the i couldn't hardly stand up and the blood was flowing down into my boots blood was flowing down into my boots blood was flowing down into my boots but i used my rifle but i used my rifle but i used my rifle you know best i could and you know best i could and you know best i could and the helicopter the helicopter the helicopter dropped in and landed dropped in and landed dropped in and landed the small helicopter and dropped in out the small helicopter and dropped in out the small helicopter and dropped in out of the sky the other one was of the sky the other one was of the sky the other one was flying suppressing fire and i got my flying suppressing fire and i got my flying suppressing fire and i got my team there and my dog's body all the wounded all the wounded all the wounded got everybody on the aircraft got everybody on the aircraft got everybody on the aircraft i didn't get on take my men on take my men on i figured i'll some way i figured i'll some way i figured i'll some way i'll make it i got all my guys on and i'll make it i got all my guys on and i'll make it i got all my guys on and then a helicopter had then a helicopter had then a helicopter had tried to lift off tried to lift off tried to lift off and it wasn't it wouldn't make it so and it wasn't it wouldn't make it so and it wasn't it wouldn't make it so the crew chief grabbed me and he pulled the crew chief grabbed me and he pulled the crew chief grabbed me and he pulled me on as they were trying to get up me on as they were trying to get up me on as they were trying to get up pull me on but he it was struggling so i jumped but he it was struggling so i jumped but he it was struggling so i jumped off off off get my troops home that's what i was get my troops home that's what i was get my troops home that's what i was thinking about thinking about thinking about oh matter of fact oh matter of fact oh matter of fact one time i was talking to a group and i one time i was talking to a group and i one time i was talking to a group and i told a story about getting my guys home told a story about getting my guys home told a story about getting my guys home and my wife said did you think about me and my wife said did you think about me and my wife said did you think about me did you think about did you think about did you think about you trying to get home i said no it you trying to get home i said no it you trying to get home i said no it didn't matter at that time didn't matter at that time didn't matter at that time but my guys all on the aircraft now they but my guys all on the aircraft now they but my guys all on the aircraft now they pull me on pull me on pull me on we went up about 12 feet we went up about 12 feet we went up about 12 feet and it dipped and it and it dipped and it and it dipped and it went south and went south and went south and landed in the hell in the uh landed in the hell in the uh landed in the hell in the uh hospital yard hospital yard hospital yard and they took my bodies well the one guy and they took my bodies well the one guy and they took my bodies well the one guy that that that who was there at the hospital he reached who was there at the hospital he reached who was there at the hospital he reached king my dog by the collar king my dog by the collar king my dog by the collar and pulled him off and he king hit the and pulled him off and he king hit the and pulled him off and he king hit the ground ground ground and i told the corpsman i said hey you and i told the corpsman i said hey you and i told the corpsman i said hey you know know know pick him up and carry him don't drag him pick him up and carry him don't drag him pick him up and carry him don't drag him he said well the damn dog is dead he said well the damn dog is dead he said well the damn dog is dead i said yeah i would carry him and i had my m16 across me and i had my m16 across me and i had my m16 across me and i told him if you don't and i told him if you don't if you don't pick him up and carry him i'll kill you pick him up and carry him i'll kill you pick him up and carry him i'll kill you right now right now right now and i pointed my m16 at him and i pointed my m16 at him and i pointed my m16 at him i only had three rounds i only had three rounds i only had three rounds but but but i mean you know how many rounds you got i mean you know how many rounds you got i mean you know how many rounds you got you know you had 20 rounds of these you know you had 20 rounds of these you know you had 20 rounds of these magazines magazines magazines so i always knew pretty much how much i so i always knew pretty much how much i so i always knew pretty much how much i got and i had three rounds left but i i didn't kill him i didn't kill him i didn't kill him i didn't kill him i didn't kill him i didn't kill him he carried him he carried him he carried him really quickly he carried the dog in really quickly he carried the dog in really quickly he carried the dog in and that's the last time i saw king and that's the last time i saw king and that's the last time i saw king he took us all in and the doctor came in to me I asked him how was my men he said they're all gonna live and I thanked him he was a young doctor they had sad eyes I looked at his eyes he had sad eyes and he'd been crying young guy and he I was lying there and he looked at me and he said lieutenant uh I got good news and I got bad news he said it looks like uh you're gonna live look like you're gonna live and I said well doc that's good news so what's the bad news he said he's gonna take off your he's gonna take off my right leg he said gangrene's gonna set in and it'll probably kill you and so that was the worst thing I ever heard take off my right leg it was just so damn disappointed and uh and he he left the room I'm lying there I mean what the hell's going on but at least I knew I was going to live that was a question mark at first I was kind of wondering is this it when he came back in and said that if he could get me to uh to get where he said the Nang or wherever it was he might be able to save that leg and then he came back in and said uh they're going to take me to japan and they did they flew me to japan and from japan they took me to alaska was cold as hell they took us off the aircraft and refueled it I was lying out there on the tarmac it was raining 10 degrees below zero it was snowing and uh I was shivering coming out of a jungle area and they picked me up to pick the pick the uh stretcher up and I was the last man to get on and I looked back to make sure that nobody had been forgotten I want to make sure all my men was on the aircraft you know leave me out but take my guys it was always my guys coca-cola for the big for the small the short and the tall peacemakers risk takers for the optimists pessimists for long-distance love for introverts and extroverts the thinkers and the doers for old friends and new coca-cola for everyone pick up some coca-cola at a store near you and they came out got me and put me on the aircraft it took us four five days to get home you know from the combat zone to stops along the way and they took me to uh when I took me to alaska and getting home then we finally made it to bethesda hospital and I spent a year there learning to walk learning to get rid of the anger that I felt you know I didn't trust anybody I didn't want anybody behind me you know I don't even trust these guys here they look like they rob banks it's fair it's fair enough branded because he's mexican yeah also fair enough how how long after that was that picture taken oh yeah I came home as an officer and they sent me to marine barracks fort meade and the marine corps at that time or the military was time was trying to bring more minorities in uh the marine corps and it wasn't they weren't doing very well so I got a call from the secretary I was in I was in you know they sent me to marine barracks fort meade as an officer then the secretary of the navy called me and told me I'd been selected to head up a campaign to get more african-americans and minorities into the marine corps as officers or just get them in and I said well mr secretary you know however you think we ought to do this thing and I said well mr secretary you know however you think we ought to do this thing i'll help out best where I can thing i'll help out best where i can thing i'll help out best where i can he said i've got a program going down he said i've got a program going down he said i've got a program going down where where where we're gonna make you a superstar we're gonna make you a superstar we're gonna make you a superstar i said i said i said what the hell is that mr secretary what the hell is that mr secretary what the hell is that mr secretary and he said well and he said well and he said well uh we got a company that the j uh we got a company that the j uh we got a company that the j walter thomas thompson company in new york walter thomas thompson company in new york walter thomas thompson company in new york and they came down for three days and they came down for three days and they came down for three days and they took 600 pitches and they took 600 pitches and they took 600 pitches I had me on a golf course I had me on a golf course I had me on a golf course and I mentioned the sad part about this and I mentioned the sad part about this and I mentioned the sad part about this whole thing is the guy was holding me up whole thing is the guy was holding me up whole thing is the guy was holding me up in the rear in the rear in the rear I couldn't hardly walk when I was I couldn't hardly walk when I was I couldn't hardly walk when I was standing there and this standing there and this standing there and this rain there was talking to me the one in rain there was talking to me the one in rain there was talking to me the one in the the back left of the photo the the back left of the photo the the back left of the photo you probably it's probably better on the you probably it's probably better on the you probably it's probably better on the big one yeah show the big one yeah yeah big one yeah yeah big one yeah yeah right there so the gentleman right right he was so the gentleman right right he was so the gentleman right right he was holding me up holding me up holding me up because I couldn't stand and he was because I couldn't stand and he was because I couldn't stand and he was saying to me can you hold it yeah saying to me can you hold it yeah saying to me can you hold it yeah same shot yeah same shot yeah same shot yeah so that gentleman there yeah I heard so that gentleman there yeah I heard so that gentleman there yeah I heard him saying lieutenant it's okay him saying lieutenant it's okay him saying lieutenant it's okay I got you I got you I got you and he had his hand in my back and he had his hand in my back and he had his hand in my back you know my legs had been broken and you know my legs had been broken and you know my legs had been broken and you know I didn't really want to be you know I didn't really want to be you know I didn't really want to be there but I told the secretary navy there but I told the secretary navy there but I told the secretary navy secretary died do what I could secretary died do what I could secretary died do what I could the kid there he didn't make it he the kid there he didn't make it he the kid there he didn't make it he died died died then the demons come home again then the demons come home again then the demons come home again and and and I couldn't make sense of it all I couldn't make sense of it all I couldn't make sense of it all you know I come home from this you know I come home from this you know I come home from this war zone and then the boy is holding me war zone and then the boy is holding me war zone and then the boy is holding me up up up saying it's okay lieutenant saying it's okay lieutenant saying it's okay lieutenant I got you I still hear him today I got you I still hear him today I got you I still hear him today he helped me stand up he helped me stand up he helped me stand up because I because I because I they had me all dressed up and they had me all dressed up and they had me all dressed up and my blues you know my blues you know my blues you know blue uniform blue uniform blue uniform when I went to Quantico to get the to get the to get the officer's uniform officer's uniform officer's uniform they told me no they told me no they told me no he said you don't look much like an he said you don't look much like an he said you don't look much like an officer officer officer I was skin and bones and my skin was I was skin and bones and my skin was I was skin and bones and my skin was scarred and and they said well go home scarred and and they said well go home scarred and and they said well go home and come back I was turned down from and come back I was turned down from and come back I was turned down from getting the uniform that I'd already getting the uniform that I'd already getting the uniform that I'd already Vietnam my wife was in the car when we Vietnam my wife was in the car when we Vietnam my wife was in the car when we went to the car she said you okay I went to the car she said you okay I went to the car she said you okay I said yeah I didn't get the uniform said yeah I didn't get the uniform said yeah I didn't get the uniform they're very expensive uniforms but I they're very expensive uniforms but I they're very expensive uniforms but I was enlisted man now I'm an officer I this stuff officers do she said that's okay we'll we'll go home and I'm gonna fatten you up and we're coming back we're coming back and we did and we did and I came back and they took me in and measured me and they got the uniform out and and I looked in the mirror I didn't recognize that person that was not me but they were had about three or four guys are measuring and doing all these kind of things and with this historical wrinkle uniform now I've got it on me and what do I do now I've got it I went back to Fort Meade where I was stationed with the army base and they took me to a golf course along with uh some rings there and they had me marching around with that uniform on and they took 600 pictures and this is the one they decided to go with I believe it's called ask a Marine how was that the first time seeing that and knowing the impact especially at that time because as you said it's like you're gonna be a superstar and you're like what even is that you're the face of the Marine Corps for a minute how the face of the Marine Corps for a minute what'd that feel like yeah well it took me a while to understand it because I was a wounded warrior I could hardly stand up and the uniform didn't you know I would only weighed 122 pounds a little bit more than that you know so it was a lot and they decided to discharge me for the Marine Corps they said I wasn't going to be able to be a Marine anymore and I've been a Marine since I was a teenager what happens now I got a wife and I got a son they're gonna kick me out and then I got a letter from the commanding Marine Corps and And he said he's going to keep me, said my combat record was exemplary, and I'm going to stay in the Marine Corps. And I stayed in, and I made first lieutenant. Eventually, I made captain, and they sent me to Europe, you know, as a commander in the Marine Detachment on the aircraft carrier. And I did that for a year and traveled the world on this aircraft carrier. But go ahead and ask me questions. What do you got? I'm loving it. Brother, you are. I'm going to adjust this just a little closer for you. So you married for 50 years to your high school sweetheart. Yeah. What's the best advice you got to a young guy looking to get married and have a happy marriage for 50 years like you did? When she asks, Well, you know, I think we were driving around. I'd gotten out of the hospital, and we were driving around one Sunday afternoon, and there was a little Volkswagen that was beeping behind us. So Donnie pulled over, and it was a guy that. I met in Vietnam, and he was, hey, Jim Capers. He recognized me, and I pulled over, and he said, I don't live but a mile down the road. Come down. And I went to his house, Dottie and I. We had dropped the baby off at the school, Maryland School for the Blind, and I went to his home. And at first, he said he thought I was dead. It weren't. It was rounded. I didn't make it, but obviously I did. Then he started telling the stories about in-country, and Dottie heard all these stories, and we had a good afternoon. Then on the way home, I think I told a story about, I forget what it was, but Dottie said that I didn't know you. Oh, I had a chance to come home when I was in the hospital. They told me that. Because of my wounds, you know, I could get sent home, but I couldn't do that. My men were still there. We'll still have some still alive. And when I was there at the hospital there, in the country, when I was wounded, I told the corpsman to get on the phone and call my unit instead of going home. And I got a jeep, and they sent me back to my unit. I couldn't go home, you know, because my men were still there. And when I told that story, you know, Dottie said, well, you said you loved me and all those letters, and you had a chance to come home, and you stayed. And I told her, well, these Marines were like my sons, and I couldn't leave them. She said, yeah, but. I'm your wife. You said you loved me. I said, yeah, I did love you, but at that time, I didn't. I loved my troops. And that caused a problem. You know, she didn't speak to me for a while. But we got through that. But it was just PTSD. Those guys meant so much to me, and the only two of us still alive now. And I did the best I could to keep them alive. You know, I swam with them. I fought with them. I climbed mountains with them. I sweated out into the jungles. That was 100 degrees. I killed snakes. You caught snakes? You captured and interrogated snakes. And then made a duck kill a snake. That made it crazy. Yeah. Yeah, we came face-to-face with an Asian tiger. Oh, fuck. And the Duroski. It's just a tiger that can do math. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's one of the math. It's like a normal tiger, but with an abacus. Roar. Holy shit. Yeah. He was huge. Yeah. Cats don't mess around. That is. Also, Brandon, this confirmed this. During the big three-day firefight, you guys ran out of ammo at one point. You had to have ammo resupplied during the firefight. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I read it, and the amount of ammo. How many grenades did you end up even throwing? I threw 20 on the. Yeah. I threw 20. We would have got along in war. Yeah. Didn't go off or hit a tree, and it might bounce back. So we threw a lot of grenades and hoping that you'd kill enough enemy soldiers that they would back off. And, you know. They don't. Yeah. There were a lot of. I won't say a lot of guys, but there were some who, you know, who didn't pull the pin, or just threw it, and hit something, and bounced back. A lot of casualties. But I carried about 20, and I threw them all, at least every one of them. And I had three rounds of ammunition left, but we fought for three days, and they resupplied me on the second day. What we were talking about a little bit beforehand was, you were. So you were issued the original M16. Yeah. And you also had your 9mm, which you said was a FN Browning high power? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I was. I was. You had a M16 Browning high power? Yeah. No shit. Yeah. And you actually. I want to say Zach even brought up, you even used your actual sidearm in combat during that, which is. Yeah. For now, like at GY, I'm sure you've talked to a couple GY veterans, but it's so rare to. Most of us don't have a sidearm, unless you're an officer, but then I had never seen one get used in service, especially in combat. We were just like shooting. We did the mark. When I say we get along, it's like one firefight. I don't even think I talked about on here, but we did. In one exchange, we did, I think we fired 22 or 20 HEB DP grenades from the M203, and we laid down a lot of hate during that firefight, but it was like open field, and we were just. As you said, you're just hoping that they leave or they pull away, and then when they stick in a fight, it becomes an actual engagement. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, the sidearm was in the same. It was two people with a sidearm and one with a knife in that one engagement, or am I wrong on that? Well, I killed the first one with a knife, and Bill is. Frank is over there saying, "And maybe I shouldn't tell these stories." I don't know. He's. Frank, it's your call. Where did you guys. I think he could tell it. As long as it's okay with you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As long as it's okay with you and you, these stories, it's one, it's. Yeah. It's. Again, you were in the midst of combat. You went through hell, and you came out on the other side, and now you are helping people, but it also. A lot of people don't understand what war is like, or when you're like, "Oh, it's war. It's hell." That doesn't. It doesn't do justice to what you go through mentally in those situations or taking a human life. It's like this. And. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, you're fighting for your life. You're fighting for your brothers. Yeah. That's all that matters at that point. You're not thinking about that little shit. You're just like, "I have to protect these people. I have to get them home, and I have to get home too." But totally you guys call on that front. Yeah. Well, we were coming back from a mission in a place called Kaesong, and we run upon some bad guys. And I grabbed the first one, sneaked up on him, and I grabbed him by his mouth, and I took my knife and I cut his throat. Then I ripped him down, and blood gushed from everywhere, and I killed him. And then I saw, you know, before I killed him, I had killed three with my M16. I cut his throat, and then I took my 9mm, and there was two others, and I shot the first one. I hit him, double shot, bam, bam, and he fell, and there was another one come running over, and I shot him. So the one I killed with my knife and the two right there, you know, I killed a bunch of them in just a matter of minutes. They didn't know we were there. Jump on, guys. We kill everybody. That's what it should have been. Now, my chief of staff over there, Frank, he thinks that I shouldn't tell these gore gory stories like my niece is sitting there thinking oh uncle jay i never heard that and i think a lot even when we have like don or these the like the world war ii veterans at irijima hearing him tell that story he's like yeah he just he's like well got my flamethrower yeah right you just kill yeah don't have a choice yeah it's not it's the best way to say it's you're in war it's not a choice it is survival right to get your that is the only way you're going to get home that is the only way you're going to get your buddies home is that and using knife guess what that if is day or night if you sneak up on somebody and you're trying to do it quick and efficient it's like hey i don't i can't give away my position so it's boom let's act now force recon i guarantee you trained very much so on that surprise element and then violence of action or force yeah violence of force yeah we got a mission from the cia to go into a pow camp we had some american dummies that had been captured and was being held and uh my team was selected to go in there by the cia and and get them out so we trained for a week or so and and uh they drop us into the camp uh we're not in the camp but a little ways from it that we had to walk to the camp and we yeah we kill the guards and all hell broke loose and some of their reinforcements came in but we didn't get the pows we were out there for about four days you know getting to the camp and looking for the pows american pows now they had some other prisoners there and we were led to camp the cia gave me a guy named lap lap had been in the camp and the north vietnamese thought that he was too easy on the americans so they put him in the camp teach him a lesson and lap escaped and was picked up by our guys in the cia they brought him to me so i kept lap with me and he went into the into the camp we repelled them and uh you know we were trying to find the cia said they probably were this the pows was probably in the middle camp uh we got to the first one and we killed the guards but we didn't see any pows then their reinforcements come in we killed all of them so we're thinking how the hell we're going to get out of here you know coca-cola for the big for the small the short and the tall peacemakers risk takers for the optimists pessimists for long distance love for introverts and extroverts the thinkers and the doers for old friends and new people coca-cola for everyone pick up some coca-cola at a store near you well in the middle of the jungle and we don't have any pows and so they decided to get us out of there so they dropped they dropped the horse down so we had to get into the horse and be lifted up one at a time so i got everybody in the horse and they the helicopter is moving around and everybody is shooting and uh i got them got them all in and i was the last man to get in the horse i wanted to make sure everybody nobody's left on the ground so i got my horse in and uh a chopper was was moving around and uh i got my foot in a hole and i had the horse around me you know when you think about god those were the times that i knew that god was there and i i was the only one on the ground and who was putting the horse around me because everybody had gone and sergeant yearman yelled back down to me hey if you get hit i'll come back and get you then he left so i'm on the ground by myself now and i'm on the ground by myself now and i'm on the ground by myself now i'm stuck there my foot it got into a hole but then i figured that somehow i got out of the hole and my horse was on me god did that god was with me he helped me get that horse on and i took off up in the air and they were firing and my guys unloaded from the helicopter the helicopter was mostly smoke because they were just shooting on the ground and i got hit i got hit in the face and uh and my head exploded god damn and then my right eye closed and they pulled me up and my seal corpsman pulled me in you know and i was obviously i was alive but i wasn't quite sure i thought boy this is it it hurt like hell my whole face swole up and they laid me down uh in a helicopter and we flew back and they dropped us off at the hospital so i was in the hospital now and they told me they were going to uh send me home i said doc i can't go home you know i gotta stay with my troops he said no but you can't hardly see and you you know your body's not in good enough shape so we're going to send you home and when they left i called a corpsman young black kid i say pardon get me a jeep he said what do you want a jeep for sir i said get me the jeep he come back with his jeep and i got in the jeep went back to my unit you acquired a jeep just yeah and i got to my unit i stayed with them they had moved up to camp and i got in the jeep and i had moved up to caisson and uh i had a bandage on my eye but i could see and i think i'll get to caisson and i'll stay with my troops if i'm going to die i'll die fight with my troops i went to caisson but before i went to caisson one of my guys says hey hey lieutenant i got a flight going to hong kong where'd you like to go i said yeah what the hell i don't mind so i got on a plane went to hong kong and uh yeah i don't mind yeah what'd you do in hong kong yeah that's my niece is here i don't want to tell that story i don't want to tell that story yeah it was interesting but i spent five days there r and r but uh the british owned hong kong at that time but there was an assassination attempt on my life i never told her these stories her son graduated from mit dang yeah you don't look old enough to have a son graduating from mit good job huh so how long was uh lap with you guys because i remember hearing another story that you had him sleeping in your tent with you yeah and he went out to use the restroom one night and you were worried the marine guards were going to shoot him because they think he was a nva spy you know lap was 19 years old uh young guy and the c.i.a. had given him to me so i kept him in my tent with me and he knew some english and when i got a picture from my wife i showed it to him and he left you know and uh we had fun talking about things that he could talk about and i asked him why did he escape from the and i asked him why did he escape from the and i asked him why did he escape from the and i asked him why did he escape from the pow camp that he put him in pow camp that he put him in pow camp that he put him in and he said he was tired of and he said he was tired of and he said he was tired of being in being in being in north vietnam he went to north vietnam he went to north vietnam he went to you know the americans were helping the you know the americans were helping the you know the americans were helping the south vietnamese south vietnamese south vietnamese so he went to come to south so he went to come to south so he went to come to south vietnamese so he could enjoy all the vietnamese so he could enjoy all the vietnamese so he could enjoy all the things that the americans had things that the americans had things that the americans had we had a lot of stuff and he wasn't we had a lot of stuff and he wasn't we had a lot of stuff and he wasn't getting anything in the pow camp so getting anything in the pow camp so getting anything in the pow camp so uh he escaped cia picked him up so i got uh he escaped cia picked him up so i got uh he escaped cia picked him up so i got him down him down him down and he won't talk about america but a and he won't talk about america but a and he won't talk about america but a little bit of english he had little bit of english he had little bit of english he had and he and he and he thought that we had all everything thought that we had all everything thought that we had all everything all the food in the world all the food in the world all the food in the world and these type of things and i said yeah and these type of things and i said yeah and these type of things and i said yeah america's worth fighting for and I gave him a rifle. Didn't put the ammunition in it. I was a little concerned, but I don't know. This guy might turn on us. But I thought I had him. I thought I had him. He would sleep there with me, and, you know, sometime I'd wake up just to check on him. And that night when he got up, went to the head, and I thought that they were going to kill him. So I went and got him and told him, hey, Lapp, don't wake me up. He said, but you were tired. You know, we'd been training all day, so I was a little tired. So he thought he would go by himself rather than wake me up. But when we were at the camp, the POW camp, I made sure I got him in a horse to get him out of there. Somebody somewhere along the line said, well, if he was trying to get in the aircraft, why'd you leave him behind? Couldn't do that. You know, he trusted me, and I trusted him. You know, I just thought that the time we spent together and what he said about the picture that I sent to him, you know, I think he could have been any American teenager. He would have done well here in America. But he never got a chance. Now, when we brought him back, I gave him back to the CIA. And I wonder whatever happened to Lapp. I wished I could have brought him home. You think about these things. You know, but we survived it, the POW operation, and came back empty-handed. We grieved for a few days that we went through all this training and killed all those NVA. We didn't get the Americans. But we have made a good effort. Did a really good effort. What is one of your most proud moments as a Marine? What is one moment during either war, back at training, or with your guys where you're like, this is when I was the most proud? Well, a lot of moments at my age. I'm 88 years old. I fought two wars. I have 19 holes that I bled from. I spent time in the Middle East. But there are a lot of moments. The moments that I was proud of, you know, I was a family man, too. I had a son. I was proud of him because he was born blind. And he learned to play the piano, the flute, the melodica, the organ. He could write in Braille. And I was so proud of him. He died. He died. He died. my arms i was holding him when he closed his eyes died of appendicitis i sued the federal government and i won the case i went to court i went to court i told him that my son should not have died you failed him and they paid me a lot of money i won the court case and uh you know uh i took that money and i went to went to uh well i gave a lot to charity and things like that then i went to california and that's when i did the documentary and all those things but it wasn't the money on my son uh i was so proud of him because he learned to do a lot of things you know i missed him so much he's buried up at arlington with my wife and my son and he's buried up at arlington with my wife and my son and i was so proud of him because he learned to do a lot of things you know i missed him so much he's buried up at arlington with my wife and my son and i was so proud of him because he learned to do a lot of things you know i missed him so much he's buried up at arlington with my wife and my son with him i read up in arlington and there's a place for me what's your son's name gary gary what's your son's name gary gary what's your son's name gary gary that sounds like an amazing individual that sounds like an amazing individual that sounds like an amazing individual yeah he was good yeah he was good yeah he was good he was good he was good he was good guys your parenting also just to have a guys your parenting also just to have a guys your parenting also just to have a blind kiddo still crush life like that blind kiddo still crush life like that blind kiddo still crush life like that parts in my life my god parts in my life my god parts in my life my god there are times that you know like when i there are times that you know like when i there are times that you know like when i was given to a white family when i got was given to a white family when i got was given to a white family when i got sick had some sort of sick had some sort of sick had some sort of childhood sickness in my folks who were childhood sickness in my folks who were childhood sickness in my folks who were farmers farmers farmers uh somehow they must have uh somehow they must have uh somehow they must have given must have had some connection given must have had some connection given must have had some connection with that family with that family with that family they were probably the owners of the farm they were probably the owners of the farm they were probably the owners of the farm and they took me in as the story goes i and they took me in as the story goes i and they took me in as the story goes i mean i don't know for sure but that's mean i don't know for sure but that's mean i don't know for sure but that's the stories that was passed down to me the stories that was passed down to me the stories that was passed down to me by my aunts and uncles who all pretty by my aunts and uncles who all pretty by my aunts and uncles who all pretty much lived together much lived together much lived together and uh must have helped me out and uh must have helped me out and uh must have helped me out i lived and i got to baltimore i lived and i got to baltimore i lived and i got to baltimore and then went to school and joined the and then went to school and joined the and then went to school and joined the military so collectively that's a military so collectively that's a military so collectively that's a proud moment for me but when you say the proud moment for me but when you say the proud moment for me but when you say the most proud most proud most proud it's hard to say because i've had a lot it's hard to say because i've had a lot it's hard to say because i've had a lot of proud moments of proud moments of proud moments and a lot of folks that and a lot of folks that and a lot of folks that you know uh you know uh you know uh a lot of folks that impacted my life and i a lot of folks that impacted my life and i a lot of folks that impacted my life and i would not be here had it not been for say sergeant yearman who was my platoon say sergeant yearman who was my platoon say sergeant yearman who was my platoon sergeant sergeant sergeant no he covered my ass more than once you know when we run up on that run up on that run up on that run up on that tiger you know tigers at that time when they you know tigers at that time when they you know tigers at that time when they heard the combat they would search out heard the combat they would search out heard the combat they would search out these areas these areas these areas and they would eat the bodies that were and they would eat the bodies that were and they would eat the bodies that were left behind left behind left behind yeah but anyway yeah but anyway yeah but anyway tigers would be terrifying large cats in tigers would be terrifying large cats in tigers would be terrifying large cats in general are terrifying general are terrifying general are terrifying tigers are the worst though yeah oh yeah tigers are the worst though yeah oh yeah tigers are the worst though yeah oh yeah 700 pounds 700 pounds 700 pounds large large what large large what large large what tell us about the book you wrote this tell us about the book you wrote this tell us about the book you wrote this how when did you write this how long ago how when did you write this how long ago how when did you write this how long ago did it come out because this is it came did it come out because this is it came did it come out because this is it came out in 2018 out in 2018 out in 2018 yeah i wrote this some of it based on the yeah i wrote this some of it based on the yeah i wrote this some of it based on the the letters that i wrote home towards the letters that i wrote home towards the letters that i wrote home towards adadi and uh i wrote a second one that's and uh i wrote a second one that's and uh i wrote a second one that's a little bit more personal a little bit more personal a little bit more personal but but but this book faith through the storm this book faith through the storm this book faith through the storm well i don't know why i just named it well i don't know why i just named it well i don't know why i just named it that that that and it talked about and it talked about and it talked about you know going to war you know going to war you know going to war and there's some things in here that and there's some things in here that and there's some things in here that you know i think that you could you know i think that you could you know i think that you could learn from learn from learn from this is a young family man going to war this is a young family man going to war this is a young family man going to war to defend my country to defend my country to defend my country and in some places in the united and in some places in the united and in some places in the united states i couldn't get a drink of water states i couldn't get a drink of water states i couldn't get a drink of water at that time at that time at that time i couldn't walk up to a fountain and get i couldn't walk up to a fountain and get i couldn't walk up to a fountain and get a drink of water a drink of water a drink of water they had white and colored you know i they had white and colored you know i they had white and colored you know i couldn't sit in a bus couldn't sit in a bus couldn't sit in a bus you know there were things that you know you know there were things that you know you know there were things that you know that i couldn't do that i couldn't do that i couldn't do because that's the way the country was because that's the way the country was because that's the way the country was at that time you couldn't vote and all at that time you couldn't vote and all at that time you couldn't vote and all those things those things those things so a lot of racism you know what i so a lot of racism you know what i so a lot of racism you know what i figured that's not going to stop me figured that's not going to stop me figured that's not going to stop me and a lot of the units i was in you know and a lot of the units i was in you know and a lot of the units i was in you know i saw racism i saw racism i saw racism but you know like nobody thought i could but you know like nobody thought i could but you know like nobody thought i could swim swim swim you know you know you know i made three combat dies in defense of i made three combat dies in defense of i made three combat dies in defense of this country this country this country you know i swim miles and miles i taught you know i swim miles and miles i taught you know i swim miles and miles i taught marines to swim marines to swim marines to swim so uh i would define the odds so uh i would define the odds so uh i would define the odds folks said i would never make it as an folks said i would never make it as an folks said i would never make it as an officer officer officer i made it to major i got selected for i made it to major i got selected for i made it to major i got selected for lieutenant colonel but you know those are things that in but you know those are things that in but you know those are things that in spite of spite of spite of what folks thought that i could not do as what folks thought that i could not do as what folks thought that i could not do as an african-american an african-american an african-american i couldn't do all i wanted was an i couldn't do all i wanted was an i couldn't do all i wanted was an opportunity just give me a chance opportunity just give me a chance opportunity just give me a chance you know you know you know don't say that i i can't do it because don't say that i i can't do it because don't say that i i can't do it because of the color of my skin of the color of my skin of the color of my skin i could do it but now when i got the i could do it but now when i got the i could do it but now when i got the chance damn it i had to get it done chance damn it i had to get it done chance damn it i had to get it done you can't sit back and say well i'm here you can't sit back and say well i'm here you can't sit back and say well i'm here i fought i fought i fought in a year in those damn jungles i fought in a year in those damn jungles i fought in a year in those damn jungles i fought in lebanon in 1958 killed my first human in lebanon in 1958 killed my first human in lebanon in 1958 killed my first human being being being in the mountains what was it that your in the mountains what was it that your in the mountains what was it that your dad told you dad told you dad told you that you always remembered yeah if 10 that you always remembered yeah if 10 that you always remembered yeah if 10 men start up a flight of steps men start up a flight of steps men start up a flight of steps you believe that you'll be the one that you believe that you'll be the one that you believe that you'll be the one that get to the top get to the top get to the top you have to believe that a lot of things you have to believe that a lot of things you have to believe that a lot of things that he that he that he my father was not an educated man neither my father was not an educated man neither my father was not an educated man neither was my family you know we were was my family you know we were was my family you know we were farmers farmers farmers you know and uh but he had a philosophy you know and uh but he had a philosophy you know and uh but he had a philosophy and uh i didn't know my grandparents never met i didn't know my grandparents never met i didn't know my grandparents never met them them them but in the family but in the family but in the family you know i'm sure we were descendants of you know i'm sure we were descendants of you know i'm sure we were descendants of slaves slaves slaves you know that's probably the way it was you know that's probably the way it was you know that's probably the way it was i don't you know they i don't you know they i don't you know they came from africa and and landed here came from africa and and landed here came from africa and and landed here in this country i went to a place called in this country i went to a place called in this country i went to a place called bishopville where bishopville where bishopville where i was born a couple years ago i was born a couple years ago i was born a couple years ago and that's where the slaves came in and that's where the slaves came in and that's where the slaves came in south carolina from africa south carolina from africa south carolina from africa and you read the stories how they were and you read the stories how they were and you read the stories how they were treated treated treated you know all that is documented now you know all that is documented now you know all that is documented now they've got a museum down in south they've got a museum down in south they've got a museum down in south carolina It talks about how the slaves came from Africa and became slaves and learned to survive. And my family is a part of that. And I don't have memories of that. I wasn't born then, but they're descendants. Like, I didn't know my grandparents. I know who they were, but I was just told that. And like this child here, she's learning because we carry that history as best we can. I don't have it all, but I do remember certain things. Didn't know my grandparents, but I'm sure their grandparents were probably slaves and whatever, or descendants of slaves. But in spite of all of that. I became the best that I could be. And having that opportunity here to record this history, to be able to pass down, it's a major honor to be able to have you here, to be able to share all of that. You're never a victim, which is you just crush life. No matter what adversity you faced, you're like, I'm going to be the best at this. I'm going to crush it. And I'm going to come out on top and then lead from the front. And you do properly. Proper leadership. It's like you'll be the first one on the battlefield, last one to leave. And you care about your guys. And holy shit, is that so f***ing awesome. I still hear them from them. You know, I had one the other day come up from Georgia and brought his wife and his daughter. Came up and spent the day with me. You know, I get flowers. I get. Calls from troops that I fought with that survived. Not many of them. But it's wonderful for me at my age to think back and know that I did the best I could. Because I feared no man. I didn't fear anybody. I fought day and night and I swam the oceans. I didn't get that fear. Because I knew that I was a Marine. I was the best there was. God damn it. You're not going to defeat Jim Capras. You can't do that. No. No, you can't do that. Right now, I'm in a damn wheelchair. God damn it. Frank is wheeling me around. But it wasn't always this way. I ran from Philadelphia to Camp Lejeune. 150 miles. Why? That's so far. I don't know. It's like, let's go do that. Yeah, we did that and we survived it. I think here in front of us, we've got a pretty detailed account of exactly how hard you were to kill. Yeah. Yeah. Also, that boa constrictor a hell of a thing. Listen. Did you get a picture of it in there? Yeah. It's a big ass snake. Yeah. Yeah. Well, for those who are watching this that want to read more about your story, where can they find your books? Frank has a bunch of them. Frank does have a lot of them, but you can also- Frank's phone number is- But you can order them on Amazon Prime. Okay, so these are on Amazon then. Yeah. Perfect. Okay. Amazon Prime, Faith Through the Storm. Oh, brother, I can't stress how thankful we are for you to be here. I will have Nick close this out. I'm sorry. Hold on. I have a question. Hold on. This picture says Gomer number two. Yeah. Well, Gomer number one, we caught down in Panama. There was a second snake. The first snake. Sir, a second snake. Yeah, we caught Gomer number one down in Panama. Wow. And we brought him home, and then we decided to take him up to the zoo in Washington, and he died on the way up. It was cold, and he died on the way up. He didn't make the trip. So it was him. How big was this one? He was about 17 feet. It couldn't have been Panama. Yeah, we got him. Just rolling up on big-ass snakes. I'm keeping this. That's what's wild to me. Yoink. Guys, I got an idea. The most craziest joke. You all know what snakes and canoes have in common? I'm taking them. Getting to base and be like, can we borrow the helicopter? And we got snakes out. And they're like, and then, yeah. Everyone agreed to it, everyone agreed to it. Just dudes being dudes. Yeah, right. It was a wild time up on that mountain out there at the sun. It was a wild time. They hit us one night with 122 rockets. And I wasn't sick, but I wasn't able to move like I would normally move. So I was in my rack. We had some little cots there you laid on. And I could hear the artillery coming in. I could hear some of the buildings being crashed. I'm lying there, and Sergeant Yerman, hit the door, and he said, Lieutenant, get out of here. I said, I can't move. And he left. And another building got hit by a rocket. And I figured, oh, gee, they were trying to walk these rockets in. And I'm lying there, and I could hear them being walked on the other side. And Sergeant Yerman came in. He said, Lieutenant, you all right? I said, no. I came over. So he came over to me. Sergeant Yerman, my platoon sergeant, came over to me. And he sat down on my rack. I said, Sergeant, you got to get out of here. They're getting close. You better get out of here. One of the bravest things I ever saw or heard, he sat down on my rack. And he took my hand. And he said, Lieutenant, I'm with you. I said, Sergeant, you need to get out of here. He said, well, if I got to die, let me die with the only friend I ever had. And then Lace went out. He sat there with me. He died in Arizona last year alone. They found him dead in his tent. But he was a hero. My platoon sergeant. And what he said to me that day, if I have to die, let me die with the only friend I ever had. But we survived it. We survived it. And he survived it. Then we didn't see each other for many years. And then I hired a company to locate him. And he was living by himself in a mountain in Arizona. And I flew out there and lived with him. And his life was in danger. And he was in a little hut there for two weeks. I caught pneumonia while I was there. And my wife said, you know, you shouldn't be going out there. It's cold. But I went to see my platoon sergeant. Yeah. And he's gone now. Matter of fact, I gave him that high-powered pistol that I brought home from Vietnam. those were powerful moments for me and my memories because he was a hero if I can and I ask the guys too it was if there's any of the guys that are still around with your team that you ever want to just fly out or have them fly out to see you we will cover that yeah yeah we will cover their hotel and their travel to come visit you and hang out i will let you know that if you guys have any other people he's with that's i'm speaking for the community and all of us we would love to cover something like that at least we can do we appreciate your time i've never heard anything quite like that. No, I've got Purple Stanton who's my M79 man and he got hit real bad and matter of fact when he got hit he fell back on me. I was already kind of banged up leading up against a tree and I reached around him to take off his dog tags because I thought he was dead and blood was coming out of his mouth and his nose and i said uh corporal we're going to get out of here he said i don't know lieutenant i don't think we're going to make it this time i said yeah we will we're going to get out here he said yeah we're gonna we're going to get out and another bravest thing i've heard he said hand Stole me and he said, "Lieutenant, you've been shot." I said, damn it, Doc, I know that. I believed all over the place. He gave me the news. You've been shot. Well, damn it, Doc, I know I've been shot. Get off of me. And he bandaged up what he could, put bandages on us, and he even looked at the dog, but the dog was gone. But he checked every man. Everybody was wounded. No casualties except for King, the war dog. But everybody was wounded badly, and we called in the helicopter, and they landed in the middle of chaos. But, you know, we got on, and there were so many stories about individual troops, ones that I knew, you know, and they were like my sons. You know, like the kid who did the mail, he'd come over sometimes, hey, Lieutenant, you got two letters from your wife. You know, and when I got wounded, whatever time it was, I was in my tent. Couldn't get out. He'd come into my tent, the mailman, and bring me mail. Or sometimes the guy from the mess hall. We were out for, you know, four or five days and didn't eat very much food. They'd bring me food from the mess hall, you know. You hear the mess cans. It was dangling, and they'd come in there and give me a meal. You know, everybody's helping each other. You know, the motor T guys, you know, I had a Jeep there that I used to run around the area. They'd made sure my Jeep was always ready to go. You know, all these, the comm guy, the radio guys, everybody was working to keep us alive in the field. You know, and when we came back, they gave us food. Or they'd come back, and every man was able to have one beer. You know, and when I got commissioned, I decided, well, I walked down to the officer's club. So I went down to the officer's club. I had never been in an officer's club before. And it was different, kind of dark in there. And there was a little bit of music playing. So I walked in, and I looked around. All white guys, of course. They all looked at me. But they went back to doing what they were doing. And I walked over to the bar, and I ordered a rum and coke. And I stood there and looked around. Damn, this is the officer's club. I'm an officer now. And then the door came open, and this huge guy was at the door. And he started walking toward the bar, and I'm at the bar. I'm thinking, oh, shit. It's on now. He's going to say something, and I'm going to tear this damn place up. I'm standing at the bar, and he walked over. He looked at me, stopped in front of me, and he looked in front of me. And I'm thinking, how do I take his throat out or something like that? I'm thinking about killing this guy. He's choosing violence. Yeah. I love it. He looked over to me, and he. He said, hey, Lieutenant. God damn, it's so good to see you. It's about time. And he shook my hand. He said, let me buy you a drink. He'd never seen a black officer before. But he's. I'm thinking about killing this son of a bitch. And he's. I mean, just natural, because he walked over at the bar, and I thought it was going to be a fight. So I'm prepared to kill this guy. Because I'm good at that kind of. I have a third-degree black belt in karate and savate. Or kendo and judo. And so. Nine millimeter. Yeah. It's a black belt in click pow. Yeah, 5.56. Third-degree black belt, 5.56. But the guy was a pilot. And he was so kind to me. He said, I've never seen anyone like you in this club. But he said, anytime I can help you, it's about. It's about time. And I felt foolish, because I felt, I'm going to kill this guy. And he's. Slowly put the knife down. Yeah. So, put the knife down. But, you know, at that moment, you know, I learned something. Everybody's not bad. You know, and here's a guy there, going to buy me a drink, and saying kind words to me. You know, and I felt guilty, because I'm the bad guy. I should not have been thinking that way. But. In my whole life, I never had folks that, you know, that said those kind things to me. You know, they were always trying to shoot me and kill me or something like that. But I learned something about how to be a gentleman. And that didn't last long. But it was a good experience for me. Welcome to a community that I had no knowledge of. I didn't know anything about being an officer. But there were people like that who learned me a long way. It's a learning experience. And I used to teach my troops. After I became a senior officer, I would teach my young officers. Everybody's not bad. You got to give this guy a chance. Man. Well said. I have. That was. This is one of my favorite ones. Yeah, me too. These are. For sure. Hands down, these are. I'm speechless. You said you weren't good at this podcast stuff before we started. You're showing all of us up. That's what's going on here. This was amazing. Happy to listen. We were just locked in. Yeah. No, you did great. Crushed it, brother. Crushed it. Nick, you ready to close this out? Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for coming to one of, and maybe my favorite episode of the Unsubscribe Podcast. I was joined here today by Eli Double Tap, Major Jim Capers, Brandon Herrera, and myself. See you guys later. Fat electrician, not donut operator. Really? You guys. I didn't notice. Bye. What? We taste the same? Mr. Monopoly here. Miss me? Monopoly is back at McDonald's with millions of prizes. A 2027 cheap charity. A carnival cruise vacation. Gift cards from DoorDash. And Best Buy. Peel, then play in the McDonald's app. Get your bag. 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