The Medal Of Honor Story That Inspired Forrest Gump - Sammy Lee Davis | Unsubscribe Podcast Ep 278

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Remember to head to zbiotics.com/unsub and use code unsub to get 15% off. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but your metal of honor actions were kind of helped inspire the movie Forrest Gump, right? It is in my metal of honor actions is what they're talking about in the movie Forrest Gump. We got to have a lunch with five of my enemies from the night that I earned this. So what is it like getting the peace everything together from all these different perspectives? Part of the reason why I'm doing much better in my soul today was because of me being able to go back to Vietnam. They didn't bring in the fight anymore wars or anything. You didn't pick up an M16. Hey, hey, hey, what's up? We have a video camera releasing on September 4th. On sub studios. That's right. We're a video game developer now. Boom! Go out of tier wish list. You know clean and then no shadow team. They've been crushing this. We are so so excited to see everyone's response from it. 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It's what dreams are made of and it's all because of you. Thank y'all. Three, two, one. Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Unscribed Podcast. We're joined in today by Eli Double Tap. Nick, the fat electrician is in town. We have Sammy Davis, Medal of Honor recipient, Brandon Herrera and myself Donut Operator. Thank you so much for being here. Hello, esteemed gentleman. Look. He dressed. Sam looks sharp today. Holy moly, Sammy. At breakfast, I was like, I don't your dress. I got to switch from a t shirt to. I'm just mom and work clothes for Sammy. You showed up to brohens. You walked up in that and and you know, I thought Brandon was the sexiest person at brunch. Thank you, I think. Yeah, he took the cake, buddy. You're going to have to fight off these boys. Eli had a t-shirt on earlier, went back to his house and changed. I know. Pretend like we wouldn't notice. You look nice. Thank you, thank you. I had to, I mean, you were wearing the medal of honor today and I was like, oh, oh, yep. Okay. We're super respectful today. We appreciate you dressing up for this and also coming out and being on the podcast. This is absolutely. I'm honored to be here with you. I'm proud of the job that you all do. Thank you. Nick's the one to set this entire thing up. He was like, hey, got an idea. Nick, why did you set this entire thing up? Because it's Sammy Lee Davis. What do you mean? Somebody's like, I know how to get a hold of them. I was like, good. Give me the phone number and yeah, we got to set up. I'm really excited. So you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it was your medal of honor actions were kind of helped inspire the movie forest gun, right? It is in my medal of honor actions is what they're talking about in the movie forest gun. They've been overlayed. And I know because we, we did a podcast with Gary Sinese earlier this year and we were in his office. Obviously he's got a ton of pictures, but one of the ones closest to his desk was you and him. And I pointed that out to everybody and kind of, that kind of got the ball rolling to me tracking you down to get you on the podcast. I believe in Gary Sinese. I think he should be president of the United States. I don't disagree. He has the patriotism and the Lebanese heart that he's the kind of person we need. He's awesome. He's one of the most amazing. Yes. Gentlemen, we have ever met and he's just nothing but positivity and we try. We got lucky and ran into him at the, just at the airport last month. I just by chance, Finn didn't realize it was him because Finn said after VIR. Yeah. Yeah. Finn was like, no, that guy's too short. I was like, I think so. I can just like ran up. I was like, Gary, and he's a licked at me for a second. He's like, yes. What airport were yet? Charlotte. Oh, Charlotte. Yeah. You know, we just magically ran into him and he was like, oh my god, podcast guy. I was like, that's my name. I'm fine with that. To you, yes, sir. Yes, sir. He was with his family. They were going on to family vacation. So it was just awesome seeing him again. But I didn't know about the bit about them superimposing Tom Hanks face over your body in the movie. I had no idea about that until I looked it up yesterday. Did they ask your permission? They told me as a Medal of Honor recipient, I'm public domain. Really? Yes. I did not know that's how that works. Yes, sir. And as long as they're using it properly, everything's good. We're going to make so much t-shirts of you. I'm joking. We actually, so one thing we try to do with every Medal of Honor recipient does come out, or I mean, even the World War II, any veterans is just above and beyond and done what you guys have done, made the sacrifices you have done. We always try to get you guys gifts. It's like one thing when we start one of the episodes. So thank god you're a watch guy. Yeah, we're not out doing his current watch. I need to break it down. That's a watch you can't just get. So we got you a Hamilton, because they've been doing watches in the United States. And Illinois, I think, is where they started in the States. And they provided the time watches for the naval ships during World War II. And that one is a good. Also, we're just not going to let you get away with saying, Illinois, Illinois, and then to the misses, if you want to come get yours, we got you a gift, too. Dixie. You can get a beautiful butt over here and take this watch. We have his amazing wife here joining us as well. Any side, any side, whatever. If you want to be on camera, you don't have to come on camera if you don't want to. You let us know. Get over here. We got you one of those. I wasn't sure. That's why I marry him, so I get gifts. Oh, this is beautiful. We weren't sure if you wanted. This is beautiful. Let me see your sound. Oh, my gosh. Mine's better. Okay. We're very military on hit. Thank you guys. Of course. Thank you all for coming down. You both are amazing. It's been a absolute pleasure and that the community makes this a possibility to do things like this. So thank you all so freaking much. It's an honor to be here with you. Now the honors entirely are as we promise you. Now we get to just ask you questions for the next hour. We get to grill you an hour or so. Answer any question you have. Let's go. Except for my secret fish and hold it. And I will take you there, but I'll have to blindfold you. We aren't a game you'll watch. This is like I got it. And if you go to any watch it, especially Lee Michaels today or when you get back home, they will adjust it for you and get it. I'll take care of for you very welcome at least we could do for you all Now the question so I have questions. Yes, sir Uh You worked a lot of jobs when you were a kid. Yes, sir. How old were you when you first started weren't doing manual labor jobs? 12 years old 12 was your first one Moan yards Okay, but back then I could make a lot of money moan your I could get 50 cents for moaning the yard now that back then that was wow That Bill Gates money so it it ramped up pretty quick though because I mean you worked at you were a lumberjack you did some I don't know if oil rigging is the right word, but you did some well digging oh definitely What like how old were you when you started doing that stuff because I mean that's more associated I was 14 years old lived in california and my oldest brother was working up in the mountains and He said, uh, well, would you like to it was summertime? Would you like to come up and work with me? It's they'll they'll pay you a dollar 25 an hour That was wow unbelievable money back in the 50s late 50s and so I went to work up in the mountains as the youngest kid youngest person on the team I got to do a lot of chainsaw it we were building the road through Oh Sorry brain's not working But way up in the mountains and they were building the road through the big park up there and I had to go through cut down the trees and then I had to go back and cut the trees up and then I had to go back and Get the trees the logs up on the lug and truck So I got to learn a lot and it was hard work and I made wow unbelief I was making unbelievable amount of money At what age was this 14? Yeah, well it turned 14 Yeah, to be 14 years old to be able to Drive I'd move to California from Texas and at Texas at 14 you could get a driver's license So I had my driver's license and we moved to California and I just went down to the driver's license bureau and handed in my License and they just print they didn't Because you couldn't get a driver's license in California at that time at 14 years old But they didn't look and I had a driver's license And you did you a chainsaw was more in their defense a lumberjack walked in and said I need to update my license I loved being a lumberjack what I learned and What it did for my body was amazing 14 years old and I turned into a man. Yeah, it's just it's crazy for us to hear that because like I got my first job at 14 too But I had to get Permission slip signed and everything by the school and I had to get a work permit and that was just a That was to be a waiter at a pizza place for Nothing compared to being a lumberjack that like you wouldn't be allowed to do that as a kid today So it's kind of crazy. Not at 14 years old. No, I think now you have to be at least 18. Yeah. Oh to be a lumberjack especially a job like that But I mean I starting out at 12 like I was cutting grass as well I'm sure Eli was too, but we have a certain disposition. Yeah The Mexican upbringing I'm more again 14. That's Mike. I eat my son being a year younger would be cutting or Not even cutting grass, but using a chainsaw to make roads Yes, that is big road to wild. Yeah Wasn't Yellowstone. It was Sorry, a bridge not working. You got big bear. I don't know. There's a whole bunch of different areas I cut roads in big bear. Yes, there you go You'll send me You'll send me? Yes, definitely So you you said it was a dollar 25 a day, which is a lot of money back then that was unbelievable Not a money what and in your book it was you say that but it It's hard to convey like what is good money and then in your book you say as a kid you'd use that money And you would actually bought a new car and a motorcycle. Yes, sure at 14 15 years old with that amount of money So I mean how much work cars and motorcycles back then when you were buying them and you bought a brand new they weren't used They were they were new. Yeah, yeah I don't remember but it wasn't Nothing compared today. That's what I'm saying like now a truck is a hundred thousand dollars And he was he was buying a brand new car and a motorcycle at 14 years old from this summertime job Well, the first car I bought was not brand new. It was a 1946 Chevy But it looked brand new. It was in wonderful condition And that's what I drove from where we live down South of Stockton and I'll drive it up up in the mountains. That's where I worked all week and then drive it back home and It worked great You it sounds like at 14 you were already a full adult just I was speaking about that even buying a motorcycle a A vehicle and then driving up for the week coming back home on the weekend and you're 14 15 14 years old my daddy said son if you want a vehicle then you have to get a job And he meant it and that's so I got a job while my oldest brother was working I can't remember the name of the company, but it was Cutting down the big trick. They were going down cutting the Greek big yes or red words red woods and So I got a job as the youngest guy there. I'm the man that had declined to the top of the red woods With at least one chainsaw strapped on my waist And then start cutting off 30 foot sections coming down coming down coming down coming down coming down Well, guess who's the inheritor of a new pot not Brandon because he doesn't cook. It's me Notice how it didn't dent even against Connor's hard-ass head. Yeah, I smelled toast He's cooking the meal of his dreams with hex clad. I love hex clad. How is your dream? It's great I cooked a grocery sandwich thanks to hex clad on ironically support this product So honest serious note we all use those they replaced Even my cast iron skillet now. I started using that over my cast iron. They're they make a big old walk I don't know. I don't know the technical term for it, but the big like round one. No, it is it's a giant walk But yeah, no, the the walk dude get the walk dude. They they get hot as hell the heat distribution is Nominal too because like that walk like if you put it on if you use a gas stove like somebody who knows how to cook and not an electric stove I'll forgive it if you're renting But the heat distribution is so perfect. You can drop an egg in and not only does it glide around But it's so evenly heated all the way around make some fried rice in that walk. Mm-hmm. Oh, and it doesn't stick thanks to hex clads Anti stick. What's the feature called terabon ceramic and that's usually the big trade-off with anything like this is Easy to clean trash to cook with or vice versa. This is like hey. We got you all in one Pan or pans so if you're planning on spending time behind the grill this summer Don't make it harder than it needs to be stop losing food through the grates and upgrade your backyard cooking setup with hex clads Barbecue collection through August 20th until september 8th you can get up to 52% off hex clad and upgrade Your kitchen for the new season Just head to hex clad.gov slash on sub that's H-E-X-C-L-A-D dot com forward slash on sub Supporters show and tell him we sent you tell them now go Do it. This is what was the attachment system because this isn't safety of today. There's no oh shit at this point I guess I had a rope And that was and then come down then come down Then come down and if you came when you came to the limb which on the redwoods There weren't that many limbs on them and you had to go around to where the limb was and undo your rope and then Put it below the limb and put you and see me where you gaffin. Do you have the spikes on your shoes? Oh, definitely. Yes. Yeah, you're gaffing up and down. Yes, sir That's dangerous work too because if you slide down there's a Well on those big sticking out it goes through you on those big redwoods the bark is in slabs and if you want it careful You guys ever hear about gaffin incidents? Yeah, they're bad. Yeah, giant farmers splinters. It'll go up and hit your heart. I'm just doing 14. It's a wild to be great It's to be having a redwood and come back down that's insane. It seems it seems crazy to us You lived it so it probably doesn't seem too crazy, but I mean it's the way it was. Yeah, I mean what was I guess what was was their training they gave you to climb trees like that or did they just kind of be like here's a rope figure it out climb up that tree Well, I can't say it on the microphone what they told me but get your Up that tree. So y'all got my up to tree. I'll guarantee you can say it on this. You can say it on our podcast. If you don't get jacks up that tree And that's how I learned to climb - And you said this was for a $1.25 a day? - No, no, that was an hour. - Okay, an hour, okay. - Well, I think they stirred me off at like 70 cents an hour and then went 75 cents an hour. And I became relatively proficient at it and that's when they stirred pay me a $1.25 an hour. I mean, that was, wow. - So by today's standards, if that was 1958, today's standards, what would that have been 1960? - Then? - No, I started working up in the late '50s. - Okay, so in $58, - $50 a week. - That's about $15 per hour. Or about $14.25. - For today? - Oh, yes sir. - So in today's money. - Oh, no doubt. - That's about-- - That's about $50 a week, which is-- - That is absolutely not $50 a week. - Oh, no doubt. - In those, it was like $1.25 times 40 cents a week. - I put your time on a modern dollar, so I'm like, "Elie, I know we're talking GED territory here, but that was really far off." - That's right. - I was making really good money. I was making almost as much money as my daddy was earning. - What did he do? - He worked at fishback more construction. Wow. And did whatever they say to him. Did different, many different jobs. Dad run bulldozers, drove tractors, whatever was needed, that's what he did. That's the way it was back then. He just did whatever the job was. - When you had-- - Now, how did this set you have? You've probably gotten really good shape doing this. And then joining the military, you were probably ahead of a lot of the individuals you wear a basic training with. - Definitely. - What, a lot of the men in basic training, what they said, "Well, I can't do that for 20 minutes. I've been doing it for eight hours a day." - Hey, you're scurrying up trees and down trees all day long. - Yes, sure. So I encourage them and told them you don't lose to you quit trying. And they, so all of us started doing pretty good. - That's awesome. - In fact, our team was a sought after team in Southern California, because we could really, wow, go in and do the job and get out and then go to the next job. And you joined, no, I know you said in the past that you joined the army just because the line was shorter, but you wanted to go navy? - I was going to go navy. Yes, 'cause my oldest brother was in the navy. And I always wanted to join the navy. Their line was, it wasn't moving. I was, I was going to join the Marine Corps, actually. And their line was not moving. And so I stepped over when I had to go to work. I kept looking at my watch, looking at my watch, and I just stepped over in the army line and boom, went in and-- - Marine line, it took him a while to look to spell their name. - No, there were just a lot of people doing it. - And that has been a recurring thing. I mean, all I do is military history videos. So I've covered a lot of metal of honor recipients. And it is, for army metal of honor recipients, it is a recurring theme that either they were going to go into the Marine Corps or they got rejected by the Marine Corps and then went into the army. You, Adi Murphy, there's like 10 others. So it's interesting, over and over and over again. But in your book, you talked about one of your main drill instructors and you said that he challenged you guys. Everybody else was running information and he was running backwards, yelling at you. And he said if anybody, and anybody thinks they're good enough, they can try running backwards with him and you tried. - And I did it. - I believe you, but in your book, all you said was he didn't care for that much. I feel like there's more to that story. (laughing) - He did not care for the tall the fact that I could run backwards with him. In fact, I could outrun him backwards and that offended him highly. - The drill sergeant's known for loving when they're getting one up by a private. I can't smoke a me drill sergeant. - And goes over very well. - How did he voice this, dismay? - Well, I can't say the words here, 'cause there's ladies present, but he called me young and stupid because I could run backwards as fast as he could. But you don't lose to a quick try. And I just, looking back on it, it wasn't a hard job for me. Because I'd been working in the oil field, I'd been working in the mountains. I was in pretty good shape. I was in real good shape, actually. - So what was the punishment? - It was a reward. - Whoa. - I look so far, the inflection in which you say, "Hua can mean so many different things." It's either like, "Yeah, hell yeah, no shit." - Like, "Hua, I feel like after you going up the trees and down the trees and doing all the things that you've done in the oil fields," you felt like that was, do you think it was kind of a vacation? Just like, I got, it wasn't a hard job. - This is easy, easy for me. - Yeah. - The other young men that were doing the same jobs I was doing, they said, "Man, this is really hard." I didn't think it was hard. I just kept rolling and kept doing better and better and better. - So I'm curious, you making good money very early on, working in the trees and stuff like that, especially you said that you were making, I think more than your old man, right? - Yes, sir. - What inspired you then to take the jump to join the military? - Well, back to high school. I mean, I was doing this in the summer working in the summer time and my dad said, "I've lived in California as long as I care to live, we're gonna move back home." And the job he got was in Indiana. So that's where we moved. And I went to Mooreville High School. And I loved it. The people were good, the teachers were good. - Was it in Indiana you started working in the oil fields then? - Illinois. - Illinois, so? - Yeah, well, Indiana, Illinois, that's really bright by the border. - Oh, I gotcha. So then you went from lumberjack to being a rough neck in oil fields. - Yes, sir. - Is there anything else that happened to workwise in between there in the military? - Workwise, no, it's pretty much what I did. Well, when I was in school, I went to work at a bowling alley as a cook. - How was that job interview? Looking at your past job experience. Let's see here, you're 17, you've been a lumberjack and an oil rig operator. - Two grown ass man creators for years. - For years. - A career at this point. - Well, I've found out that well, I've been cooking at home. Mama taught me how to cook. So I know how to cook. And evidently, my food was pretty good because they wanted me to be at the cook. I said, okay. So well, I was in high school, that's what I did. - Well, no wonder you married him, Dixie. He's got the manliest jobs ever and he can cook. - Every recipe he makes is for a hundred people. (laughing) - So you're eating well. - I love him more. Well, he got these big, that's just what I learned to cook. Everything was in big pots, you know? - Well, it's got to come in handy with 16 grandkids. - 18 grandkids, okay. - 18 grand babies. - Well, going back to Brandon's question, like what was the motivating factor? It was like, I want to, I want to sign up for this and I want to serve the country. - The military? Well, my mama's daddy, John Haley had been in World War I, and he lived in Dayton, Ohio and visited us with us a lot. He had come stay many days with us and then go back to Ohio and he would talk to me and when you're gonna join the military. - Well, soon Grandpa, I joined, I wanted to join. You know, I just, I want to be like Grandpa Haley. Well, I'm still working on it. (laughing) And that's, and it's just amazing seeing like, your grandpa was in the army. - Yes, no, yes. Grandpa was in the army. - Yeah, and that's during World War I, which is again, completely, it's while looking at the different battles, 'cause I even look at Vietnam. Like what you experienced compared to GWAT and what I experienced and like, man, that is crazy. And then when we have these World War II vets on that are like Normandy battle bulge, it's insanity to think about that and experience that, 'cause the life they had to live just to survive, most people today have no concept. - Yep, no concept. - They don't appreciate life as much. And I think that's the war is hell. And I think that is a very true statement, but also it does make you appreciate a lot of little things. Freedom is not free. It has always had to be earned in my grandpa and my grandpa's grandpa, everybody had had to fight for freedom and they passed it down to me. They made me understand what the value of it was and what you had to do to earn it. And that's, I'm still doing it today. I'm encouraging America to stand up for what you believe is right in your heart. I don't preach politics. I want every American to stand up duty on our country. That good shirt, I'm sure it exists. So when you-- That is a t-shirt. Duty on our country. And you wanted to go to Vietnam out of the gate, because I believe in your book-- It was my job. It was because obviously I came well after you did, but after basic training to this day, as far as I know, or at least in 2012 when I graduated basic training, they still did the-- give us the three locations you want to go to, and we'll try to station you there. But at the end of the day, they're going to send you wherever they want. And you said a lot of people were asking to go to Europe, Germany, Korea, and your number one pick at the time during the Vietnam War was to go to Vietnam. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And certainly because of the stories that I had heard, I would rather go to Vietnam than go to Korea. What was the reasoning on that? Well, the way the US veterans were treated in Korea was not always honorable. And what they talked about when you're sitting around the table, what do you talk about? Well, if you're a Korean veteran, you talk about all the bad stuff that happened, how they treated you as a US soldier in Korea after the Korean War made me want to do something different. So I joined the military and volunteered to go to Vietnam. And I'm proud of it. I'm glad I did. The Vietnamese people treated this awesome. Dixie and I got to go back to South Vietnam in 2016. And our State Department worked with their State Department. And we got to have a lunch with five of my enemy from the night that I earned this. Really? And the first hour that we're sitting there just table-- how many people were there, Dixie? And the first hour, nobody said a whole lot. I mean, we talked, but we didn't really talk. Well, then started opening up and warming up. And it was awesome. It was awesome. I'm glad that they came. And I'm glad that we got to spend the time together. What we all found out was that we loved each other, our enemies. We loved each other today because, wow. And these were five men that were there the night that I earned this. And they started talking about things that happened that night. And I remembered. And the more I talked, the more they remembered, the more they talked. And it was awesome. We came together as former enemies. And when we left, we left as brothers. It was wonderful. I would recommend every soldier, if they could do that, go back to their people, that they do it. Because it just-- it made my heart better, seriously. I mean, it just-- Wow. I love seeing a lot of those videos where you have, like the, for example, World War II, like a German fighter pilot, an American fighter pilot. 70 years later, getting to talk to each other and things like that. It's very cool to be able to see those rooms. It isn't-- you know why we love Cash App, then put your face right here. This is how we pay them through Cash App. Yard service, business, opportunities, or bills. Cash App is what's for you. You know why it's easy? It's easy. 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Bank banking services provided by Cash App's bank partners pre-paid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, member of FDIC, Cash App Visa, debit flex cards issued by Sutton Bank, member of FDIC, and the bank or bank in a pursuance to a license from Visa USA. See terms and conditions for these Sutton pre-pay cards, Sutton debit flex card, and bank or debit flex card, Cash App green features, savings direct deposit, round ups, overdraft coverage, and discounts provided by Cash App, a block-eak brand, visit Cash App/legal/podcast for full disclosure. I'm sorry, it's one thing, it's just that level of their perspective is going to be completely different and how they viewed it during that time and then seeing what you, and it's, again, it's amazing. You guys broke red and then you-- Well, what we found was that they felt pretty much the same way that I did about what happened that night, what happened here, and you remember this, you remember that, wow, and the more we talked about it, the more we opened up about what was really in our hearts, and we all basically felt the same, now they were the enemy. I was their enemy, but we were soldiers doing our job. I'm not sure G-Wat's going to have exactly the same experience, but yeah, I don't know. I love it. There might be a little bit more going on on that one. It's that, I mean, you're fighting a different force, man, it's beautiful thing, isn't it? What is saying, the world, even the Germans, that Christmas, that one battle where they stop? The Christmas truths in World War I. Oh, yeah. Like that one, where it's just, you're just putting a pause on war and you're ignoring, like, hey, not today. Especially World War I, because World War I, that was just, you know, a lot of waste in that one. Just because, ideologically, there really wasn't a difference between anybody on the field, it was just, you know, nations, treaties, a lot of old men sending young men to die. And so, you know, there really wasn't much animosity outside of, they didn't want to get killed. Exactly. I mean, getting to go do that dinner and then obviously meeting and getting to talk with some other guys that were there with you that day, over the years, what was it like kind of filling in the blanks? Because, like, obviously, you were there, you lived it, but there's a lot going on, you didn't catch all of it. So, what, what is it like getting to peace everything together from all these different perspectives? It filled in holes in my heart that had been there for many years that were created in Vietnam because I found answers and I found out that those, my former enemies basically felt the same way that I felt. And what would that be? I didn't hate you because you were my enemy in Vietnam. We were soldiers doing our job and that time together in Vietnam in 2016, we got to come together and open up our hearts and we became brothers. It was amazing. I mean, it was just, I found out they were people just like me. They weren't, you know, the bad ass enemy. They were brothers just like me and it made my heart feel better. It's helped me be more open. What are you, Dixie? I know I'm not, I know that thing. Oh, okay. And then, it was a whole different perspective to take me back with you because you had described that country before, it basically was the same as you described me 30 years ago, and I found the people to be very nice and still very appreciative of American soldiers. The freedom we provided them, yes. And they taught the little kids that wouldn't even know probably English at all, but they were taught by the generations before that when you see an American, you know, soldiers just look alike only the ages different, they still look the same. Those little kids, when you run up and grab Sam's hand and say thank you. The look and their eye, thank you, you knew they meant it and they made me feel as they meant it and it was just awesome, you know, and ironically it was the Vietnamese were treating you well and it was the Americans who didn't treat you well, exactly, and those, exactly. The little kids were so great, they did notice that the women did all that work, they were carrying all those big things they were over their shoulders and carry all that weight. The women did that while the old men sat around in a circle, squatting down the ground talking in some people. - Proper country. - Yeah, Dixie, we got to teach American women. - Joking. (laughing) - That's-- - They were a hard-working people. - Yes, they are. - And they had road sides where it would be like a mystery for us now. But the road sides were filled with hacks. Just the sling kind of hacks. - So I guess if people got tired while they were going somewhere, they could just take a nap. - Yep. - It was the craziest thing I'd ever-- Of course it was the men napping. - Of course, well, no, there's the old men that were sitting around smoking and joking because they had the young men off at 14 cutting down trees. (laughing) - It's a black, that's the way it works. - That's crazy. Well, that's a beautiful story. I just, again, a lot of times when you look at when posing forces, it is, even Iraq, you want, it is, hey, these people are in your country, how would you react if an invading force was in America? What would we have done? The exact same thing. So it's that weird. It was the beautiful piece of American literature known as Red Dawn from 1984. (laughing) - Red Dawn. I had the privilege of General Westmoreland sent me to Iraq, Afghanistan, wherever we were. He wanted me to go talk to our troops, so I would got to go over and spend at least three to five days in each location. And I got to talk to our troops and I got to talk to them. And it was amazing, heartwarming. I mean, it was part of the reason why I'm doing much better in my soul today was because of me being able to go back to Vietnam and then to the other countries and talk to them, it was amazing. I'm a better person today because I got to do that. - That's awesome, man. They didn't bring in to fight any more wars or anything. (laughing) You didn't pick up an M16 now? (laughing) - That's class and class, Cody. - Can't talk about it. Now before getting into your middle of honor story, you had Roger Donlin, is the guy that inspired you because his heroic actions and how he earned his, which is, again, while you had that story, and then you were. - And I'm familiar with the story. - Yeah, which one? Roger? - Roger Donlin. - You know very well. - He was the first Medal of Honor recipient from Vietnam. - He had his story was, oh man. It was during a giant push. He stood there and fought off like three waves for, it was five or eight hours, and when they actually, and he was injured, he got hit with a mortar to trap him with the face, got shot, just riddled with wounds, and he was. - But he kept doing his job no matter what. - He was the captain that was just in charge, and he rallies troops and play, "Hey, we're getting attacked in this way. "We need to push this way." At the end, there was 54 enemies dead. - Did he survive? - Yep, yeah, very nice. He did well for many years. - Very nice. - And that's the one that inspired you. - Yes. - And then you did your time in the military, and then how long from basic training to deployment for Vietnam? - For Vietnam? Well, basic training, advanced individual training. Vietnam. - And when you first got into country, you kind of got a diverted to be in a guard for the compound initially, didn't you? - Yeah, a guard for the long-been ammunition dump. - Yep. - When we got there, when our group arrived in Vietnam, they pulled, I don't remember how many of us was now, 20 or 30, and made us guards at the long-been ammo dump. And we thought, "Oh, wow." - But that was because there was a fairly successful attack there, and everybody thought it was not capable of getting attacked, right? - Well, it's a big ammunition dump, and they had lots of people, our guys guarding it, but the enemy knew that, and that was where all the ammunition that was being used in South Vietnam was being stored. That's how big this ammunition dump was, just a big field full of ammo pallets. - It's a juicy target. - Oh, big, big target, yes. So that was my first job in Vietnam. - You said when you were being a guard that you had started to notice that some of the local people that were allowed to come onto the base for whatever reasons, you started to notice you could tell who, they were gathering intel, trying to pass it on, there were people that were walking toe to heel, measuring distances, so they could give-- - It wasn't noticeable, but it was noticeable. 'Cause we knew what to look for. - You caught on? - Yes. - And then there was a black panther on top of the ammo, he said, "What?" - Yes, sir. - I hate that super hero. (laughing) - Did you actually see it in person? Or was that just somebody else's shot? - No, we've seen it. - No, it was odd. - The panther, well, we found out that there were people feeding him and that's what made him come back, come back, come back, come back. And it was cool. I mean, they're a beautiful animal. And-- - I'm still just picturing Chadwick Boseman. (laughing) - That's not-- (laughing) - They're much bigger than what you can imagine. - It's just like the major caper story about stealing the pythons from the jungle. - Yeah. - You saw a tiger, too, didn't you? - We did see a tiger, yes. - That's even bigger than a panther, but quite a bit. - At least half was big. - Like an actual orange tiger? - Yeah. - Like a real tiger. - What was that like being a kid from the country growing up in those-- - That was country boy I was used to. - Well, I know. - But I mean, you didn't have the internet or you know, discovery channel back in the day. I mean, obviously you probably knew what a tiger was, but it's not like you'd seen a bunch of 4K videos of it. - When I heard a noise behind me, I was doing my job on guard. - Oh. - It's the worst place to hear a tiger. - And I heard a noise behind me. Well, it was kind of like, (gasping) So slowly, slowly, slowly turned around. And when I got turned around, there was tiger eyes. This close to me, he had gone up that close. Well, what do you do? - Shit, my pants. - Your pants. - Yeah, shit. (laughing) Well, then he closed his eyes and disappeared, but it was amazing. - It was stalking you. - Well, he was just checking me out. - I was stalking you and you took. - Oh, they're four, I just like, those are 440 pounds. - Oh, they're big, unbelievable. - They're the biggest. - This tall monkey smells like shit suddenly. (laughing) - I'm not interested anymore. - Who's spoiled? (laughing) - Walks off. That is, and cats are all cool. They mess you up really quick. I think Kevin talks about, that's the most dangerous animal out after those big cats. - Well, their hands were so big, and their claws were so big. Unfortunately, we had two different times, but we had two guys that got attacked by a tiger, and both of them was on the back. And their cuts on their back just looked like a big sharp knife had went in four places. - Yeah. - I mean, we got there when it happened, basically just seconds after it happened, and the wounds were laid open. We couldn't believe it. - Yeah, like someone just took a big knife and went like that. - Yeah, amazing. - I mean, that would suck, but also name a cooler scar. - Yeah, fair. - I mean. - How'd you get that? I got attacked by a tiger. - No, no, no, no, don't show it all the way shot. Leave it open a little. - Or some lime juice in that, actually. - Well, I never got to see the guys again. They got sent home, but it was amazing. There was a buddy of mine growing up, had not to derail, but on the scar notice, or the scar story, he had the coolest scar ever. And it was like, he actually earned it the proper way, but you'll hear the story. So he actually got bit by a shark when he was swimming as a kid. And it was a perfect row of teeth across his torso. Like it was very clear, anytime in the locker room, or whatever, he takes off his shirt. - And he survived. - Perfect row of teeth. And he was like, I don't know, 15, 16, or whatever, so like taller guy, it was a very big looking shark. I think it happened when he was like seven. - Oh, wow. - So it was a much smaller shark. He still flat out shark attack survivor, but the scar grew with him. So it looks like a much more dangerous shark. - That's the way, Guler. You're not condensing on this whole ocean thing. - Yeah, yeah. - Why'd you tell them about the ocean? - I think he knows what a shark is. - We brought him to the ocean a couple of years ago. It sucks. You know what I'm back? - Cat mulling the average is 200 stitches. - Okay, awkwardly enough, the only landlocked state to have a shark attack on document is Iowa. - All right, what? - There was a shark attack in Iowa. - I'm thinking like Jurassic Park. - Shoot. - I look at the shark and I have it. - It's all over the internet. - It's an actual shark attack. - If you look up the map of shark attacks, they have like red dots, and it's obviously all around the coastlines. There's one dot I can't I Did this dumb machine did the shark just get lost and it was at the the blue zoo interactive aquarium in West Des Moines, Iowa. We're an 18 inch bamboo shark bit a staff member's hand. Oh, come on. It's like a foot and a half. 18 inch bamboo shark bit a head. Oh, you got a little thingy thingy. He heard Iowans am I right? Yeah, right. He blows everything out of it. But the mean. This is the mean. This is I've seen this. You can see just the one dot for a shark attack in Iowa. 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Send it to only a shark attack. We have a confirmed barricuda attack in San Antonio because when we were filming Bass Pro Shop, we did that. Oh yeah. That midnight shoot. So we had to film a commercial. We did two nights in a row and Jake from corridor decided there's the giant aquarium that has like all the big fish in there. Jake's like, oh, oh, and he reached his hand in there for some reason. Barricuda, it immediately like, after his hand started bleeding. Like Jake, we told you not to. Jake Watson? Yeah, Jake, what are you Jake? Jake's been attacked by a barricuda. Yep. Are you talking about the whole BRCC ship? Yep. He got attacked. It was like five years, six years ago. Yeah, I was like six years ago. He reached in and got bit on the hand. Wow, blood by a barricuda because he wanted to pet it. It gets worse as a story he told me is he thought he was faster than a barricuda. Barricuda. You are not faster than a barricuda. No, he wasn't. It is defense. Jake is fast. Famously slow barricudas. Nobody told me for the first two years, Jake is our friend. He lives in town here. Nobody told me for the first three years, I knew the guy that he had like records in track. He's like the 13th person to run a sub four minute mile or something. I think it was like brothers or something like that. Yeah, he was brother. Second set of brothers. Yeah, to break the four minute barrier. Yeah. Wow. That's cook and four minutes. That's a really fast. That is, no, see, I was never good enough. That was my one weakness in the army. I could max it by two seconds. I was dying. I want to see you and Jake in a foot race, not because I think you'll win, but I just want to see the the step counts on how fast, how many steps it takes Jake to run a mile and how many steps it takes you to run a mile. I'm aeroto running really quick steps arms back. He just does the full Naruto run. That's attacking area 51. So one thing that I want to ask you about was you talked about the first time you went to a a Medal of Honor society meetup. And the first time you walked in the door, you saw do little Jimmy do little Eddie Rick and Bocker and Papi Boyington all sitting there at the same time. Three of the biggest legends and military aviation ever. And you were 23 year old kid. What was that like walking in and coming face to face with those three at the same time. Blue me away. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I just whoa, you know. And they called me the fucking new kid. I like you for earned a Medal of Honor and you're the new fucking new kid. But I did. I wasn't offended by it. That's just the way they saw it. I was the fucking new kid. You know, come answer down. You fucking new kid. Anybody's going to call you the new guy. It's there. They can get away with it. And well, they didn't make it sound neck and neckatory. It was. I was the new kid. Welcome to the club. Yeah. It worked. God bless them. What that is. What are some of their story? You're the historian. So I would love to know more on do little was like a pioneer in early early aviation. And have you ever seen the movie Midway? Yes. You know, the guys that where they have the bombers on the carriers and the the bombers take off and go and bomb Tokyo as revenge for Pearl Harbor. That was do little. That's the do little raid. Yep. So watch that Pearl Harbor movie. So they literally he's in there a lot. They took them out of them carriers on bombers on a one way trip bombed Tokyo. And then they were trying to have enough fuel to make it into China who was our ally at the time. But they didn't make it. They had to crash land and they escaped into China. And he wound up surviving. So like that was do little. Papy Boyington was a leader of the black sheep squadron in World War II badass fighter pilot. A lot of people don't know this, but Papy Boyington was also prior to being in the black sheep. He was one of the flying tigers that had been sent into China before America was even in World War II. So he was fighting against the Japanese before America was involved. And then he then he joined the black sheep had the black sheep squadron. They did a bunch of incredible stuff. And then Eddie Rickenbacher was originally a race car driver prior to World War I. And then got into aviation because the dude just wanted to go fast. And in World War I he became America's Ace of Aces with America's highest kill count. And you've done videos on like two of these people. I've done videos on none of them. But they've they've all been recurring characters. So like Eddie Rickenbacher was there. And he went and saw Frank Luke the Arizona balloon buster. And he was there as like the Ace of Aces at the time that watched the Arizona balloon buster pop two balloons in like five minutes. And he was also there for Dick Bong. And Eddie Rickenbacher had made a bet with all the World War II pilots. Anybody that can beat my record, I'm going to buy you a case of champagne. So he was in Dick Bong's story also. It's also a little weird knowing he was a friend because all I know in my head like it's not a parasocial relationship like the rest of you guys. All I know is that at some point I'm like I've heard Nick talk about these men before. And I just assume it's probably in a video but it could have just were out at like a bar or something like that. Yeah no that there's they've definitely appeared. And I talk about Pappy Boynton I think in my flying Tigers video but I definitely think you might have talked about one of them on one of them on sub-life shows too. Dick Bong I think yeah. So that's a great man. And you got to meet all of them. That would have been a wild event. Yes. I was the new kid and got to be good friends with all those men. You know it was just amazing that the Vietnam veterans they were allowed to set at the same table and talk with all these World War II heroes that we'd read about. Wow. And they made us feel part of the deal. So it was awesome. Do you feel like that's a lot of what maybe some of the newer GWAT guys feel with guys like you? Well we try to treat them the same as they treated us. And I think it's working. Did you tell Clint Rome Shade to sit the fuck down? I love Clint. He just says hi. He said hi. He's like hey. He's like there are the kindest people. Dude Clint we love Clint here. Clint's a homie to all of us. That's an amazing, amazing human. Now do you want to tell your story or go into your metal of honor story because I think that's what a lot of the people would love to hear your perspective of it. I know you've told it a million times. Yes sir. I think you telling is just a piece of history especially for this audience and us. Well that night November the 18th 1967 there were 42 of us and 1,500 of the enemy. reinforced, they had a heavy weapons, reinforced heavy weapons, but tie-in of NVA. Now, at the time, it was not admitted that there were that many North Vietnamese fighters in South Vietnam. That was not politically correct to acknowledge that fact. So it wasn't until deep into the night that we discovered that they were NVA, had NVA uniforms on. I mean, wow. And as I told you earlier, in 2016, we got to meet with five of our former enemy, and they had been North Vietnamese regulars. And we got to talk to them and opened up to their questions. They opened up to my questions, and we got to find out things that had been important in our hearts all these years, but didn't talk about it. So we talked about it, and it helped my soul, and it helped their soul, because I answered their questions too. Well, why did this happen? Well, how did you do that? You know, just simple questions, but we never talked about it. It was awesome. And then you did just kick that all off. What was the initial point of, okay, the battle's beginning, and then leading to you, I mean, your story again, like that night was amazing, or above and beyond, not amazing in that term, but what you did, your actions were amazing. It's why you wear that medal. Well, I'm not a brave man, but I love my brothers. And the reason why I did what I did was because I loved those men across the river. They were there doing their job, and I had to go get them. So I went and got them, and I did whatever I had to do to do it. Where did you find that you had a mattress that you used, an air mattress that you slept that army had given us to sleep on? That was our bed. The little green ones. Yes. And that was the boat that I used to get across, and of course, it got holes in it, because they were shooting at me. But it still held enough air, well, I don't remember if I tied it off or tried to rope around where the holes were, but it got me across and got me me and my good brothers. The three men that I swim across the river for, back across too, it worked. How long was that swim? How long was it? Dixie, do you remember how far it was across that river? We've stood at that. That's all if low, bow wider than us. I mean, when you get shot at them. That is a football field game, and I was wounded. I was wounded multiple times, but I still did my job. When we got the meeting with the NBA that were there that night, that was one of the things that did. How did you do that? I said, "Well, you don't lose to your quit trial, and I just did not quit trial, and I just kept swimming." And yeah, it hurt. My back was broken. Three different spots. My spine. But I didn't quit. Did any of those men remember seeing you crossing the river? Oh, definitely. Oh, definitely. If you don't mind for those that I'm sure there's a lot in the audience who don't know the story, and I only know the cliff notes to be honest with you. Yes, sir. Do you mind starting from the beginning of your engagement? The beginning? Yes, sir. He mutton nights to talk about it, rough overview. There were 42 GI's, our two-room, and there was a 1,500 heavy weapons battalion of NBA across the river, and they were attacking part of our guys, our infantry, Jim Dijkstra from Salana, Kansas, one of the three men that I brought back across the river. He was across the river. And he was badly nephews, and he wasn't the man that I seen waving at me, and then would hide, waving at me, and then hide. But I knew I had to go across the river, and guess, oh, wow, my brothers are over there. So I made it across the river with the help of that air mattress, and went to where I'd last seen it wasn't Jim Dijkstra. And you? Yes, Wendell Holloway from Stockton, California. He was the one that was waving at me, and when I got there, there were three men in that foxhole. Well, I knew I didn't have the strength, but I'd been wounded quite a bit. I knew I didn't have the strength to make three trips back across. So I did my very best to bring all three men at one time, and they could hang on kind of, we all took care of each other, basically, and came back across the river. We all survived, Wendell live in Stockton, California, Jim Dijkstra lives in Kansas, Billy Ray Crawford. Yep, he was from Texas, and he took so much. And I had talked to him not that far, not that long before, and he said that you would go to Texas to see him. He came from a smaller town, and he was a black man, and the country wasn't even in Texas, not going to a disabled black man. He would sandwich at the house, but very well, he would never let him in the house. We would talk through the screen door, but never letting him in, and I think, well, who could say what goes to somebody else's head, but that poor gentleman disabled and probably feeling so alone, and at some point it was enough. And when was that, roughly, and? I was stationed at Fort Hood, and that's when I found out where Billy Ray lived, and it wasn't that far from Fort Hood, so I would drive down. He, well, I won't say never, but usually he did not let me in the house. He talked through the screen door, and he would stand there, and I would talk to him, and he'd say a few words back, and then it was time to leave. So I would turn around, go back to Fort Hood, and a few days later, well, I'd show up when he's doorstep again. Do you remember if he ever let me in the house? I don't remember him ever letting me in the house. We talked through the screen door, well, I got to talk to his neighbors, and they said, yeah, we see him through the window, but he don't come outside, you know. He was that just, well, now we know it was post-traumatic stress. And he, Connor, when you used nicotine in the past, what have you been, you're biggest frustrations? Turns out you can't get as much of a pump going when you're, when you got a sig in your mouth at the gym that I go to all the time. Was your recover time worse on nicotine? Oh, and how? It narrows your blood vessels and restrict oxygen to your muscles. It makes it hard to breathe, and your blood doesn't work. Counteracts that pump ultra pouches are perfect for athletes, runners, or health conscious people, because they're 100% nicotine free. You pop one of those bitches five minutes before your workout or your work day, and bam, you're gonna be on fire. A lot of the shit is just actually just good for you like L-theanine, vitamin B6, vitamin B12. Also they help quit your cravings and they suppress your appetite. When do you recommend taking ultra? I'm gonna do this before the gym, before I'm pumping it, crazy stuff. It's got new tropics, new tropics, new tropics. What's your favorite flavor, Brandon? Mine's tropical. I like cool mint. Ultra is the ultimate guilt free pouch. Delivering instant focus in mental clarity, all without nicotine or caffeine. Few customers can use the code on sub to get 15% off at takeultra.com. That's 15% off at takeultra.com when you use code on sub. You had us. Stayed in a house, didn't talk to people. God bless him. It's hard to connect when he went through that, and it is amazing first off for you going out and then seeking him out and talking to him. That was super helpful, because a lot we've talked about it. It is reaching out, talking to your friends that have PTSD or are struggling with those. Yes. Just struggling with what was going on or what they experienced in Vietnam was extremely difficult, especially like your perspective, their perspective, and then coming back to the States where there is zero respect and they didn't know PTSD. Zero understanding, because even the veterans didn't know what was really happening in our hearts and minds, and, well, it's been 50 years ago and I'm still learning, you know, it's amazing. What do you think about Vietnam made it different? You said the veterans didn't even understand? Well, I mean, the World War II veterans, Korean veterans, well, our war was different than our war. That's what they said. That's what they believed, and it wasn't until years later I understood that, no, our war is pretty much the same as theirs, you know. But you don't really do quit trying and that's one of the reasons why I've stayed on the road traveling and speaking to our veterans all over America. Trying to encourage them to stand up for what you believe is right. What do you believe happened to you in Vietnam that made you the person you are today and then go share it with the other person because whatever good or bad, positive or negative, that person over there needs to know about you and how you feel and how it's affected you and today now I have people that come up to me and say, Sam, when you came to talk to me, it just renewed my soul. Wow. Thank you, sir. So different though in our small towns where if you would go to the VFW or one of the service organizations, the old guys then would say, "Come sit down, we say, I'm not going to tell you about a real war." Yep. And so it was just, or they'd say, "It wasn't even a war. It was diminished and it had to make them feel so much worse that what they did was it didn't matter." And there wasn't that far in the future that they say, "Well guys, we're asking the police come join, otherwise they won't be going any longer because nobody will do it." But a lot of those old dudes apologized, but it took a lot of years. Took a long time. And it was like, "What you did didn't matter." And I always thought that was so dearly unfair, but what about somebody's son? Did that not matter when they died for their country? It's the second time so far. It's kind of interesting to see that parallel between the difference in world war two veterans and Vietnam per se or Vietnam and G-Wat and just how a lot of those attitudes really are kind of very similar. I also don't think, I don't think civilians at that time had an understanding of like a real warfare of what you guys were dealing with because I mean, World War II Korea wasn't a battle. Yeah. Well, I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Vietnam was just a conflict, right? But it's a lot harder to fight an insurgency instead of a conventional force. You know what I mean? Like, when the enemy's all doing military stuff and military uniforms, that's one thing, but when it's an insurgency and it's people in plain clothing that are normal villagers one second and now they have AK4, like that's a whole nother level of intricacy and problems that I don't think people grasped at the time that made Vietnam way harder. And yeah, it's a problem I think with a lot of soldiers, even today when you had G-Wat soldiers that didn't deploy it or they didn't see combat or just because they weren't infantry. You would see people talk down and that's one thing I always tried to, I was very against like, hey, they signed the dotted line just like you know, and they did their job just like you did your job. Yeah, if they didn't get in a firefighter or something, it's so good. They should be happy. You should be happy for them. They didn't experience that, but don't diminish what they have accomplished. Exactly. And it takes all of us working together doing our job to get job done. For that battle, what was one of the scariest moments in your mind? Like was it during the crossing? I know during like I have my moments where I can reflect and be like, well, that was the moment I thought, okay, I'm going to this is it. And I was on our side of the river and I looked over and seen three GIs in a foxhole and they were waving their hats at me. I knew I had to go get them. Now I was already wounded, but I knew I just couldn't lay there in my foxhole and what's because there was enemy, was there for it. You said you were already wounded, where were you wounded at the time? Well, right side, AK-47 around. I had, you know what, behind you is? Not off the head, flush that round, artillery, because you brought it. We both got shot in the right thigh by AKs. Actually, yeah. Okay, that's one big dive on here, God. Now this one's gold made out of my VAT, but this was, I had, how many of these? You got a backup on that one, it's made out of gold, 30 of these and me. Wow. You said that one's gold and made out of your VAT? Yes. Well, I, I had the original, which I still got the original that they dug out of me. But, I thought, well, I want to worry about my neck. Can you tell the story of how you got the one they pulled out of you? Because that's a pretty interesting story in itself. Well, at the moment, I don't remember, tell, we'll refresh my hand right now. I think, I believe you, you sent a bunch of them back home to your mother and she kept them in a jewelry box, and then you said that one of your brothers had acquired them from mom and sold them at school. And then later in life, one of his classmates gave it back to you, and that's how you got it back. Wow. Oh, my God. That thing just kept finding you. Your brother sold your shrapnel? It was just shrapnel. Just shrapnel. Did your brother sold his words? Yes. He was my little brother. Did you beat his ass after work? No, he was my little brother. Yo, my brother's, he didn't, he didn't understand the importance of what the shrapnel. How old was he at the time? Oh, I was going to say, that's, I believe that. The next he's on fire, I wish 23 years old. Old enough to start climbing trees and cutting them down. You were used to chainsaw that age. You're getting a lot of excuses. So, it's also just really crazy. You had all that plus the injury to your right thigh, and then you seeing your brothers across the way. I know I had to go get my brothers. And I asked the one above me, and you were the only one left to do it. Yeah, basically. Yes. So, I know I had to do it, and I did, and when I got over there, well, I didn't know there were three men still living, and when I got over there, there were three men alive. Well, I didn't have the strength to make three trips back and forth, so I had to carry all three of them at the same time and get in the river, and then that piece of air mattress that still held air, that's where I put them. And how was it? Did you just drag each one to the shore at that time? From the foxhole, yes, I just drug them over, and then put them on the air mattress, and we slipped off into the river and made our way back and put my guys that were still alive on my side of the river, and we could see what I was doing, so they were taking the enemy, you know, they were helping me, and we metered across. We met, I can remember the bullets, hitting all around us in the water, you know, and I just kept thinking, well, my job ain't done yet, well, my job ain't done yet, well, my job ain't done yet, and I just kept doing my job, and thank you, sir. I made it. When you asked me about being scared, he tried to carry all three at one time, the active riverbank, and he put one guy, one under each farm, with Jim Nester, who they thought was dead, across the shore. Jim Nester was shot through the head, shot through the chest. Whatever it was, and so to carry that he strapped it around his head with that strap, and that saw they went, well, Billy Ray had lost his leg, and so he used, was it a stick or was there another long then they used as a crutch? In 14, as I remember. This is what was scared me, that war was to go around, well, yeah. And when he would hear it, they would come in waves, when he would hear a wave coming, we were pretty loud, they're a jungle. He would lay those guys down and try to pull somebody, leave you, whatever you could by that time. Over him. There was a lot of footage down, but then he would lay down, face up on top of them with gun, and if somebody, most of them ran over them. They didn't. Physically ran over right over. Oh, this is so, what your objective is, they would run right over them, so if they recognized them for what they were, he was just faster with his rifle. Well, I could see, because I was watching her eyes and I could see, oh, shit, that's a GI. And as they were going to shoot me, well, I'd, and there was one of them really interesting. And there was enough gunfire, go at the, it wasn't light out, dark out, no, it was night, two o'clock in the morning. So this is the garage. with this, but also just like you're just waiting there like why do their eyes and they're like please run over but don't there was enough gunfire going off that that's how I could see the the white of their eyes you know I could see they were looking at me here which also just to have that frame of mind during that stressful situation where you're like hey I'm covering my guys I I'm not firing unless I need to so hopefully I didn't have that much ammo so I knew not to just dance the other thing what you mentioned actually Jim or Deister told us this Dixie do you want to step up here yes please oh yeah the audio be better if you're here he'll give it in there this was I can't stop playing on my phone okay um Jim told us that there was a question at one time on whether Sam made this guy head sorry he's close to you this way just so you're nice and beautiful on frame it's my head okay it looked great um that somebody one other guy was trying to claim what Sam had done and they all thought Jim was dead because he was shot through that like through the ears and then after the reason Sam brought him back even though they thought he was dead because they ran up and shot him the enemy before he got there's laying on the ground and shot him in the chest and then Sam was observing what else they were doing to our guys that were already dead so he brought him back and um this was in an interview that Jim did in another publication and um he said they didn't know each other the infantry didn't know they were brought in and seen each other on a regular basis but we didn't know each other so Jim what Jim was laying face up on that little piece of mattress and he's everybody thought he was dead and he said in my mind I was screaming um well okay um shot the damn lights off somebody's gonna get killed here and he thought he was already dead and then he said I looked up and I saw that red headed kid it's back when he had the hair with him I saw that red headed kid pushing me across that river and um their meeting was Sam thought Jim was dead you know they didn't have that information back them so he didn't even know he survived the medic saw I wasn't going to leave him because I could I'd seen what the enemy was doing to our dead over there they were shooting cutting them up and never leave a fallen brother no the medic saw a little bubble come out of his chest that next morning would be shot and he had a heartbeat of about 20 25 beats a minute extremely slow low oh he had a very very long recovery but Sam did not know that kid recovered and he ended up working for the Kansas Department of Rehabilitation at the VA when somebody walked in his room they knew he knew what he was talking about him and he almost looked like he had a stroke like one side of his face kind of pulled down show off the mix on video uh see you guys watched it then play back a remixing it so it looks like purple drank but what do you have there Eli I have the longevity mix and this stuff actually tastes really good oh what's the purpose of the longevity mix longevity why would anyone want to live longer I know no well if having more life is something that's interesting to you you should try blueprint now with one scoop what all do you get and why am I drinking it because it comes with everything magnesium glycerin to creatine you name it it's in it and all in one scoop how does it taste there's no artificial sweeteners in this one can I try it yep now it's like it's a pretty like flavorless which in for something like this is a good thing this is blood orange that's why it's pink it also helps with your mood focus sleep cellular resilience and healthy aging it's what Brian Johnson uses which is why he looks so young you don't know who Brian Johnson is he's the guy that is trying to live to be 200 he wants to live to the year 2140 uh which it means that he wants to be in his prime during the year 2077 because he's a major cyberpunk fan and because it is just one scoop you don't have all the pills and the bottles everywhere and even creatine gone it's science-backed precision-dosed noble and blueprint is third party tested so let me make sure it know the bad stuff's in there for a limited time only our listeners will get 20% off and free shipping if they go to blueprint dot Brian Johnson dot com using code unsub that's unsub at blueprint dot branch on the dot com but um he let's see you on oh finding each other some guy a gym ended up not hearing you know it just got worse and worse and eventually lost his hearing completely but a friend of his name Jim Cole would make his phone calls for him back in the 60s and 70s because all that stuff wasn't invented yet did I offend you the rest of the boys are holding it like yes you offended him if you if you could if you could offend him that'd be impressed yeah everyone in the audience is like um anyway this guy said his name was Jim Cole and he was a friend of Jim downstairs and he said Jim wanted to meet Sam and Sam thought it was a prank he said I had no idea they you're gonna be speaking in Kansas yes and Jim was going to meet you at the hotel there so um he still thought it was a prank he said how could somebody do something that mean and that cruel thinking that I had saved someone and they'd come back to life um Sam said he walked into the lobby looked across the room and he said I knew that was my gymdister yeah they just ran to each other and just hugged him pride and I'm sorry I wasn't there to see that but um yeah that was awesome that started up a long friendship over many many years um another one was that mean old sergeant of yours sergeant gant from the Lansing Michigan yep this was at Colcomo what do you guys mentioned Colcomo yes Indiana they had that big reunion every year everybody was in on this except Sam they had everybody stands out in this field and he was on stage talking and he said it was almost like the red sea parting all the people just slowly split in the middle and this little tiny black man came walking up that aisle just casually walking up and he gets to the stage and Sam looks down he said sergeant gant and um sergeant gant said Sam and he went running down sergeant they got we're still in the front of the stage but they just hugged each other and dropped to the ground and they were hugging and prying and um it was awesome something like that would be just fantastic to witness because here's he'd Sam thought sergeant gant was a minuso guy in the world but sergeant gant saved his life he knew what to teach them on cleaning that rifle that's what's crazy he made you polish the bullets the weapons and everything everything this is before m16 was when they shipped to Vietnam they didn't even have soldiers thought they were self-cleaning and they would have a whole bunch of issues because they didn't know oh clean them they didn't even have a forward assist at that time and Sergeant Gant's experienced that at the beginning of the war correct yep and so he made you guys do all the weapons maintenance yes we had to tear them apart and clean them every little piece you had to clean it and he would come by and look at it and if it wasn't totally sparkling clean you had to do it again and we thought well this old man just messing with us you know 26-year-old man right yeah it was old yeah grandpa the old hand well after a month or so we got to realizing that wow sergeant gant knows what he's talking about because our weapons were not jamming the way the infantry guys weapons were jamming he made you do that blindfolded yes well after we knew how to do it yes we had to do blindfolded tear the weapon apart without having to do it that's without knowing how to do it that's just mean yeah that's what they thought and then Sam told me later he said you know I had no clue why I would have to ever have to know how to clean a weapon blindfolded he said but then that night because they were eyes in the swamp area the Delta and he said that's why I knew why he made us do that we could and see. We had to clean them like that. And so he saved just, Sam said, "I got to be the mean old sergeant." I at least explained why. I was making them do that. Oh, he actually got to tell you he's like, "Hey, I had a reason behind it." Yes. Well, it kind of let you learn it for yourself, didn't he? Yeah, well, and that was the best way. I didn't realize it at the time, but I really understood them. You sit told me, you said, "You thought he was making you do that because all the other sergeants went and drank somewhere together and he didn't have anybody, so he just stayed messed with you guys." So you took back half the things you said about it. Yeah. It's crazy to have that knowledge for the M-16 in that time, because they were notorious for just, there were a lot of, there were a lot of issues with their early adoption. Yes, their early 16s were not one of the better weapons. I have another story about the other guy saved. Gwendal Holloway, Stockton, California. This about a year and a half ago, we dedicated a brand new Haviet facility in French Camp, California, where he grew up. And the odd thing about that little time was 400 people back then. There were three Vietnam middle of honor recipients from that little town. 400 people. Wow. Population, 400 people, and there were three Vietnam middle of honor recipients. We did not know each other. We knew, because there were just a few years difference in age, but we knew each other's brothers. And it wasn't until what many years later that we sit down, started talking, "Well, yeah, I'm Bob's brother." Wow. Okay. And we didn't know each other, but we didn't know each other. You understand? So anyway, we're dedicating this, and we were in the one of these big giant tents outside. We got treated better, everybody else. But we thought Gwendal had died. We could not find him. Even the FBI asked the FBI to help me, and let's know we think he's dead. So we're dedicating this and going through all the ceremony. Afterwards, we're all standing around talking. This other, I thought Gwendal was like 8 feet tall from where he said I'm describing, but this little short, another black gentleman, came walking up to Sam. Sam looked over at me as eyes were gigantic. He said, "It's Gwendal." You were dedicating this to this man that was still alive. Oh, no, no, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I've been funny. That is our funeral. He came to the event, and everybody, we thought he was dead. He hid on purpose. He said, "I just didn't want to deal with it." So he just told me. Well, he had had prostate cancer. He said the VA took good care of him, but he just couldn't be around people for a long time. We went to a American Legion afterward for a little reception, and we were all talking then, and laughing, and just having a great time. And I was standing next to Sam, and Gwendal, he had this other, the other guy was a white guy, same size, everything. They came up together, and the other guy took both of Sam's hands, and he said, "I just wanted to thank you for saving my best friend since Kidner Garden." So. It was awesome. We get some of those wonderful, wonderful stories that I hope other people get them too, to find out after all those years. So he had no family, had never married, had no children. So now I write to him, like, his sister, and so we just check on him now, but he's doing much better. He's recovered, and so he's kind of getting back into life again. But you know these guys, Agent Orange was so horrible. Sam still pays every single day for fighting in that war, and so many of them do, and now the list is so long, even Parkinson's disease now is attributed to Agent Orange. And one of my okay old boyfriend from high school, Scott, he died from Parkinson's from Agent Orange, big solid football player, and just devastating what happens. The other thing when you guys were talking earlier, when you were talking about people's attitudes back then, I think what a lot of people don't talk about is this was during the 60s and 70s. On TV, we didn't have the social media, like they have now. So we was glued to our television sets, you know, every night to find out what was going on. We were talking today with Aubrey that we didn't have social media, so we didn't have someone telling us what to think. We had Walter Cronkite. He told it like it was. He didn't have to offer his opinion. I think he thought we were smart enough yet that we could figure it out from the actual truth. Most of our television time was taken up by hippies. That's what was on our TV's. Not so much the war. There might be a little clip here and there, but it was what the hippies were doing, what their protesting was, how horrible the Vietnam vets were that actually were fighting their country and fighting these innocent people. Nothing about communism. Nothing about the atrocities of war that was actually happening. It was just how bad these American soldiers were for what their country asked them to do. Back then, we had the draft and it wasn't not unusual to be fighting against someone that had been in jail. A lot of it was you can either go to Vietnam or you go to jail. What's your choice? And most of the guys were good guys though. There some were not, but I suppose that was the same on each side. Of course. We had a one nice thing that happened to us. We were talking in Rockford, Illinois, probably 15 years ago maybe. At least, yeah. There was this guy. His name is Don Andre. He was a teacher. And this was Rockford and my sister set that up because she still lives there. So, Sam taught and students always love it when he talks. They get so involved and they ask such, they're so smart. They ask such great questions. Well, this man was dressed in all black and as an instructor, he had this big giant piece symbol around his neck on a chain. Afterward, he came up to Sam and he took hold of Sam's hand and he put that piece symbol in Sam's hand and he said, I was wrong. And I could see in his eyes, he meant what he said. He said, we were misinformed. And I just wanted to apologize. I want to give you this. I was wrong. A couple years later, we took him with us to Washington, DC. Took him to the wall. And it was so nice for him to be educated from a different point of view other than what he was learning from what the hippies, what the kids were doing at the time. Sam had carried that piece symbol in his metal of honor box since he got it. And with the metal of honor. And that day, he took Don's hand and he said, once you have this back and Don said, I was hoping I'd see that again someday. So a friend had made it for him. So he got it back. Got to know his son real well and still do. But Don sadly passed away. And but he wrote to us quite often about how glad he was to know the truth. And then he spent all his time just telling American soldiers how proud he was. So it's something, you know, there's a lot of good things that may not happen to a lot later time. People get a little bit more education. It's how it goes. What Sam, when you had, how, what was the link between the action and actually the ceremony for the metal of honor? Like, when did you find out? Oh, I've been awarded this one year. One year. The action took place on November the 18th, 1967. I received the medal on November the 19th, 1968, one year, one day. And how was that? That's the one where actually they put Tom Hanks. Yes. They actually have the footage and you were superimposed or his face is superimposed on you. Yes, he was awesome. Unbelievably awesome. The other guys that received the medal, there were five [BLANK_AUDIO] that received the Medal of Honor that day. And those that were still left alive, well, just Gary and I now, isn't it? - No. Patterson, Patterson from California, Northern California, Jim Taylor. - Taylor, Taylor, not Patterson, there you go. - And one was the-- - Yes. - conscientious objectoring, yes, he was a minister. He gave his back. - Yes, he did. - Lick, lick, he, was his classmate, Lickie. - Charles Lickie. - Yeah, he's the only one. He gave his medal back to the United States government. - I did not know that. Charles Lickie. - Before you got a word of the medal, when you were in the hospital recovering, you said that you called General Westmoreland. And you actually got a hold of them. - Yes. - How did you know him at first? Or how did you first get to meet him? 'Cause like I said, he came to the hospital in Japan. - Okay. - And handed me beehive that they took out of me. - So that's where you got the beehives? - That's where I got, yeah. And that's how I got to know General Westmoreland. And he was awesome man, I loved him and he saved my life. He must be because like I said, all I do is research metal of honor winners and men that have done things like you. And every time it's a Vietnam War hero, somehow or another, that guy pops up in the story every single time. - He took care of these veterans. - He played a big role in Roy Benabita's story too. - Oh, definitely, yes sir. - So it's just like, he's just this character that pops up in every Vietnam story that I go through. So that was really interesting to see. - William and Charles Westmoreland. - My wife named Kitsi. - You wanna hear how bad Asami is? What'd you call Westmoreland for? What'd you tell him you wanted to do? At the moment, I have a blank, I'm sorry. - You told him you wanted to go back to Vietnam. You didn't want to go home. - Oh, okay, yes. - He's get offered to go home, he was, I don't want to go home. - I wanted to go back and be with my brother, yes. - What did he say? Huh? - He let him do it. He said, you had to be able to walk to the colonel, general's office where you were from the hospital. Oh, this is a fiasco. Gwendoel was at the same hospital recovering. Is this when you were in Japan? - Yes. - Okay, he had three days in a while. Bro, he had to walk down a flight or two of stairs, be able to walk to the general's office, clean his rifle, and then if you could do that three days in a row, he could go back to Vietnam. That was the rule. They didn't think he could do it. He was so beat up. And so then he and Gwendoel had this great idea. Gwendoel actually saved his life. Hey, when he got to the hospital because-- - Yes. - This different story, there was no blood left. And they pushed him out in the hall, they didn't think he was gonna make it. He had too much blood loss. Gwendoel said, you do a direct diffusion. - You take the blood out of here and put in him. - And he must have been pretty convincing. They did it. - They knew he didn't do what he said, yes. - Direct infusion from body to body saved his life. - Wait, that shit. - Yes. - They mission at the blood? - You got a direct-- - So that was-- - Well, the thing of it is, later we found out that his blood type was not my blood type. - Oh, yeah, that's not good. - Well, it worked. - Yeah, you got the blood you had over there. - Oh, negative, then. - I don't remember. - God, that's insane because again, as Nick says, your body, if you get the wrong blood, it's very, very bad for you. - It must have been good enough though, because I don't even have any of your own blood left. - Well, yeah, I was just-- - I wasn't changing types. - Yeah, anyway. - You're now a diesel car. (laughing) - So in the hospital, Gwendoel said, well, you know, my legs work. Your back doesn't work. So why don't you hop on my back, and I'll take you down the fire escape, so they don't see us, do this. I'll set you down in the right corridor, and then you could just walk over to the Colonel's office. Well, they fell down the fire escape. That didn't go real well. So that took another day off, a couple more of recovery. But on the day that he actually did it, he got in the General's office. I think it was a Colonel. - Colonel. - Anyway, he said, okay. Sam said, you can go ahead and call General was more than now, which he did from his office. And he let Sam talk to him. And General was more than said, well, son, I think this is a bad idea, but I'm gonna let you do it. Because he knew how his report was to go back and touch survivors, and to talk to somebody else that had been at the same place. So he saved your life by doing that. But then the only thing you could do was be a cook. He really couldn't do anything else. - That's where I learned to cook. - Well, his first job was slicing bread. That was pretty exciting, wasn't it? - Home made bread. - Yep, well, that was all I could do. - Hey, back in it, you still, you went right back to Vietnam too. - Yes, that's where I was slicing bread with some Vietnam. They made me a cook in Vietnam in my original unit. - And this is after the fact of everything that happened then you're-- - Yes. - But a lot of your guys were gone already. - Oh yeah, most of the guys were the new guys, but they had heard stories. And the fact that I was back slicing bread for them, poor, especially-- - And they were told if Davis wants to sit up and talk, you sit up and talk with him as long as he wants to talk. - And they were like, no, we're not gonna interrupt. - Yeah, yeah, you're fine, go ahead. - Also, that's gonna be wild, just to be, you know, getting chow from the chow hall and your cook has a metal of honor dangling. - No, no, I didn't, that wasn't before the-- - Oh, that's right, okay. - But that would have been funny though. - Pending, yeah. - Pending, yeah. Still. Wow. - The guys, I think, cooks a bad ass. - Sadly, only a little, a lot. - That's where I learned to make-- - The cook. - Make everything for 100 people. He made the kids eat grass soup one time. - My kids. - Yeah, because he wanted them, they ate everything. I mean, he did growing up, but you ate a lot of wildlife. And-- - Yep. - But you had to eat that grass soup. They didn't ever request that one again. - I love how you clarified. You're like, my kids, I would never do that to my soldiers, but my kids, yes, absolutely. (laughing) - That comes. - That comes. - Good one. (laughing) - That's funny. - I don't think I have any more stories to tell. - Well, I got one more story, but I don't know. I don't know if you want to tell it in front of your wife. - Uh-oh. - You've read the book, right? (laughing) - I've gotta read that again sometime. - But you've read it, you know, everything in there? - I know what it is. - Sure, I know what it is. - Well, we don't gotta talk about it if you don't want to. - Oh, no, don't care. - But the funniest part of the book for me-- - He didn't know me then. - Was why you're still scared of pencils. (laughing) - I think that's the funniest story ever. - The nurse. - You're the nurse with the catheter during your recovery with the pencil. - I don't remember. - Okay. - I'm good, tell it. - My boy. - I don't know. - I don't know if I want to tell it. - Tell it. - Well, we'll edit it out if you don't want it in, but you had said that during your recovery, obviously, you know, you had a lot of drugs and everything going on, but you had to have a catheter put in, and there was a very attractive nurse that was coming in to put your catheter, and every time you, the nurse came in. - He'd have any reaction. - He had an erection, and you can't give somebody with an erection to catheter, and she whacked it with a pencil to get rid of that problem, and then every time she came to show up and to change the catheter, she stuck the pencil behind her ear, and he never had that problem ever again, and he said, "Still to this day, "he's a little bit leery of pencils." - He said, "I have an unnatural fear of pencils." - So, what does it mean? - So I was like, "Thank you for bringing that up." Why did I write that in my book? - Yeah. - Number two type ED. (laughing) - Type two. - No wonder we just have pens in our house. I never found it. (laughing) - I didn't mean to make you spit. - Oh no, that's very funny. - I love it. - And an absolute pleasure. I'm glad you joined us. - Well, thank you, I've read it. - Well, now I love to tell stories on him. - Okay, I have one. - You got a brag on your man a little bit. - She is the reason why I'm alive today. - Yeah. - She gave me the reason to live, seriously. - Actually, when did you all meet? Well her husband was Vietnam vet and played in a band and his band played a lot of places that I would go speak. So we've seen each other. We weren't friends but I recognize her, that's Tim's wife and Tim passed away first and then my wife passed away and that's a bit of an indication of Carl. She lived in Texas, I lived in Illinois. So I gave her a call. How you doing? I was started talking and then a lot more phone calls and then I thought well I need to go down and see Dixie and I did. That's not right. No? No, I knew I didn't wake you either, right? It was beautiful the way you told us though. I thought you were stalking me actually. This face is like I went through war and this hurt more than that. Sliding in that mailbox. I just like being able to break Nick in the mailbox is diabolical. In real letters. You literally slid in the mailbox. Then you asked me if whole if I was going to a skidmore Missouri, there's also a big reunion. It used to be a big reunion there every year and I said no, they were doing it dedication for Tim and his singing partner still put up his microphone even after he'd ever been five years after he died, which is hard because they would do their music and it was hard to go listen. Finally, and the other reason was I was working three jobs because I had a lot of medical bills for him to pay, so I really couldn't have just afford to do it. Finally I kind of kept my egg and he really said, he finally said, okay, if I pay your way will you go and I said, okay, it's not easy, no? So we remet each other there after probably 15 years, you've both been sick for so long. It's not where you want to remet each other with all the families there, all of our friends who are there, of both couples. And everybody knew my wife and everybody knew Dixie's husband. When we were on stage playing with the band and there was this big grassy area out front of the stage, and then all of our friends were sitting around here in Tencent, I was sitting with friends, Sam lead the guitar harmonica then, I don't know why you were. But he laid down the band kept playing and he walked across this very big field where nobody was out and he bowed any more. He was nervous, I was paying my respect. And he said, can I have this dance and I said, no, just shot that. My friends are all doing, and then everybody started prodding, so I had to join. So that was how we remet each other after all that. So a year later we got married there on stage and all those same friends and family. That was 21, almost 22 years ago. See it started with a little co-version but it all worked out. Yes. Hey, you all lose till you quit trying, right? There you go. That's right. You lose till you quit trying. And I still had a quit. A blues harp. Wow. I'm going to tell the story. I learned how to play the harmonica in Vietnam, no doubt. My mother sent me a harmonica because she thought I was bored. She had written a letter to my captain because I had not been writing to her often enough that she knew that I was okay. So the captain came to me and said, you will write home to your mother every day, at least three sentences every day. Well, you're in a combat situation, what do you write home to your mom about? Well I wrote home to mom about the, we had ducts, wild ducts, but we had ducts everywhere because we were in the water all the time. And I wrote about what this little duct would do and what this little duct would do and what this little duct would say that little duct and three sentences every day had right a letter. Well after a month of mom getting a letter every day talking about ducts and birds and blah, blah, blah, she thought he must be really bored so she sent me a harmonica. She said, son, I hope this helps you be not quite so bored. Well, I didn't know how to play it. I just put it in my pocket and went back to my foxhole and one of my sergeants, Johnston Dunlap, came to, he heard that my mom had sent me a harmonica and he came, he thought that I knew how to play it being she sent me a harmonica. He said, "San, play it for me." Now I've always been kind of musical but I never really played. My daddy played the harmonica so yes, I'd blow it on it but Johnston Dunlap wanted me to play Shannon Doah for him. That was his favorite song that's where he was from. So I started picking it up and we were artillery. It was okay that I would sit in my foxhole and play the harmonica. That was another cool thing about 2016, beating with my former enemy. One of the first things they asked, "Do you still have it?" What? You're harmonica. How do you guys do that? You guys were way too close. Exactly. Oh stop. He's playing. He's so beautiful. Oh my God. And I said, "Well yeah." They said, "Would you play it for us?" So I played Shannon Doah. Now imagine this come floating through the jungle at two o'clock in the morning. We were artillery and I played it. What do you do in a combat situation? Well, I played the harmonica. Now, if I were NBA, I would much rather hear that than Fortune at Sun. Well, that's sitting there at that table in Vietnam at day. And they asked me, "Do you still have it?" What's you talking about? You're harmonica and they went, "You're harmonica." Well, how do these people know about my harmonica? Well, they listened to me because I played it often a lot, all night. They helped me be awake and all the rest of the guys in talking to my brothers, they knew that if they could hear me play the harmonica, that everything was okay and that I was okay. So it gave them peace of mind when they could hear me play, not just, I didn't play just Shannon Doah, but that was their favorite song with Shannon Doah and I still play my brothers today. Shannon Doah. What's that a bit scary when you realize how close they were? What do you think they were there, didn't you? Well, kind of, but we didn't know for sure they were there until I talked to them in 2016. Well, they talked about conversations that they could hear us having. That's how close they were. But yet, the hands we gave, I should have said, close. Well, they actually spoke better English than I did. Just hearing that, though, it'd have been a moment when you're, because it's like NFOX whole looking up, especially in Vietnam, you actually see all the stars if it's not story. Oh, definitely. That's just, yes, definitely. It's kind of like when the guy in the urinal next to you says, "Nice watch." [laughter] Woo! Oh, I got it. [laughter] Well, close for comfort. Oh, gosh. Thanks. Thank you for playing. Holy moly. Oh, awesome. That was something really cool. Sam, thank you so much for your time. Well, thank you. Oh, before actually, before we close this out, you have Cudgel movie coming out or they're working on it right now, so you're having a worse. They're putting it together. Dixie, would you want to help talk about that? The Cudgel movie? Um. They're not filming yet, but they're putting it together. I had no idea how much money it took to create a film and Todd Nathan are working on it and doing the best they can. And they did, it's called people can check at cudgelmovie.com and there is a short doc I'm learning Hollywood talk now, a documentary that it's called "For My Brothers" and that has a war on several film awards. What do we say that was called when you go around to these different films? It's like the film festival, yes. You won Best Director and Best Movie for veteran-related documentaries and I guess it's kind of just something they do before they put together the actual movie. So we've seen that a few times and so what they're finding is that a lot of the support is coming grassroots that regular people are donating to this because movies it'll be about how Sam Burn the Medal of Honor but the perspective will be from how the soldiers care for each other, cudgel.com, C-U-D-G-E-L-M-O-V-I-E so cudgelmovie.com for it and then Sam is going to send an actual Medal of Honor coin for anyone that donates. Yes. His face is like, "Am I, well, that's a lot, you can, this audience will get out of control." That's more coins mate. Yeah, this audience will get out of control fat. So cudgel is the name of the fire base where he heard the Medal of Honor. Yes, okay. That's what I mean. Our base cudgel. So it's kind of like the outpost. Yeah, like that. The man can go to cudgelmovie.com in order to donate to grassroots this movie because as you said, movies cost a lot of people don't realize millions of dollars and that's on the low end. You get it to 100 to 500 million dollars. I know, it's amazing. Especially a story like this that you want to tell right. Exactly. And if they're in control, that means the world because they can tell it properly without anyone ruining it. Exactly. Well, who did you say you want to play you? Denzel Washington. Oh, Denzel. As you were saying, Verna, the cudgel movie brought to you by Netflix. No, it's going to, if Sam is like, I want Denzel Washington to play and he's like, "Okay, we're fine with that." This is A. Okay. We're going to have to donate more expensive. Yeah. We're going to make this happen. The vehicle ain't got nothing on me. That's awesome. That's awesome. Training day too looks awesome. And then Sammy, working that people find you for, if they're looking for any information on you or even this movie, do you have any social media or is there any good outreach? Yeah. We don't. If you want to find me, go to the middle of our website, where Sam has been an absolute pleasure. Dixie Sam, you guys are amazing humans. Thank you for everything you've done for the country, for us, for your veterans. Well, thank you all. It's been an honor for us. It's been a hard job. The job gets done, right? Oh. Absolutely. Do you have any words of wisdom for the young individuals out there or veterans that might just be, "You don't lose until you quit trying." Amen. That is the secret to life. No matter what you're faced with, you don't lose until you quit trying. Amy, Cody, you want to close this out, brother? Thank you, guys, for joining the unsubscribe podcast. I was joined today by Eli Double Tap, Nick, the Fatal Electrician, Sammy Davis, Brandon Rare and myself, Donut Operator, and Dixie, of course. Thank you for being here today. We love you. [Music] It's Shannon Maldonado. The art director of the film is also working on the role of the director. The director of the film "Shopify Because of the Light and the Test" was also the director of the film's first film. I was also the director of the film's first film. All the directors were involved in the film's first film, "The Light and the Test" was the first film in the film's first film. The film was also the first film in the film's first film, "The Light and the Test" was the first film in the film's first film.