Joe Priester didn’t set out to become an Army pilot. He spent six years as an Air Force AWACS crewman, troubleshooting communications equipment on a radar plane that never got close to the fight — a job he describes, without much sugarcoating, as one he … Continue readingASK A VET EP 52: What They Don’t Tell You About Taking Fire in the Kiowa Warrior

At 32 years old, Josh Nacey had everything most people spend their lives chasing: two successful businesses, a comfortable life, a family. He also had a decade-old itch he’d never scratched. Not long after 9/11, he’d walked into a recruiter’s office wanting to join the … Continue readingASK A VET EP 51: What They Don’t Tell You About Giving Up Everything at 32 to Become a Green Beret

Robert Williams grew up in Colville, Utah, following a family legacy of service — grandfathers in World War I, a father who served under Patton, and an identical twin brother who commissioned alongside him through Army ROTC at the University of Utah. Robert trained as … Continue readingASK A VET EP 50: What They Don’t Tell You About Vietnam Artillery

Larry Winters grew up in a house his parents bought when it had no electricity, no running water, and no bathroom. He was three years old when they moved in, and the rest of his childhood was spent helping his father, a Navy veteran and … Continue readingASK A VET EP 49: What They Didn’t Tell Me About Being a Marine Door Gunner

Gary Howard grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, a swimmer in high school and the son of a WWII medical service officer who’d served in the Philippines. By late 1968 he’d finished college, hated every minute of it, and knew the draft was coming. He briefly … Continue readingASK A VET EP 47: What They Don’t Tell You About Taking Fire on Mekong Delta

Tim Martin’s Navy career began with a piece of advice from a high school math teacher. It was 1963, and the Las Vegas teenager and son of an enlisted Air Force man, had done something almost unheard of: he’d earned appointments to West Point, Annapolis, … Continue readingASK A VET EP 46: What They Don’t Tell You About Life on a Nuclear Submarine

Aaron Hinds knew what he wanted by the time he was fourteen years old. Raised on dirt roads outside Augusta, Georgia, and shaped by a Vietnam-veteran grandfather who taught him to throw knives and never quit, Aaron chased the fight from the start, even turning … Continue readingASK A VET EP 45: What They Don’t Tell You About Your First Firefight in Afghanistan