Morgan Lerette didn’t join the military out of some deep patriotic calling. He joined the Air National Guard in 1999 because his grandfather, a World War II veteran, told him the Air Force had the best food. It’s the kind of detail that sounds like … Continue readingASK A VET EP 59: What They Don’t Tell You About Being a Blackwater Contractor
Herman “Butch” Peace was nineteen years old and, by his own admission, mostly thinking about girls when he enlisted in the Army. He didn’t have a plan for the war — he had a plan to fly helicopters, because it sounded like a cool thing … Continue readingASK A VET EP 58: What They Didn’t Tell You About Being a 19-Year-Old Vietnam Combat Pilot
Roderick “Roger” Pugh grew up on well water and outhouses in Grove Hill, Alabama, learning to hunt and fish before he ever imagined joining the Army. He enlisted in June 2001 hoping to follow his cousin into the Marine Corps — until he found out … Continue readingASK A VET EP 57: What They Didn’t Tell You About the First Black Sniper in Iraq
Bob Echols grew up moving constantly — eighteen states by his own count — following his father’s career with the U.S. Forest Service and the shadow of a war his father never talked about. Bob’s dad had flown transport missions out of Australia during World … Continue readingASK A VET EP 56: What They Don’t Tell You About Guarding Nuclear Weapons in Cold War Germany
When Michael Reeder was drafted in 1966, he assumed — like most of the young men trained as combat medics that year — that he was headed for Vietnam. Instead, because his younger brother was already serving in-country, the Army sent him somewhere almost no … Continue readingASK A VET EP 55: What They Never Told You About the Forgotten Hospital of the Vietnam War
When Henry Rausch arrived at Stanford in 1979, he thought he was headed for medical school. A summer working alongside doctors changed his mind fast — he realized he didn’t actually want to care for patients, he just liked the idea of being a doctor. … Continue readingASK A VET EP 54: What They Don’t Tell You About Life on a Nuclear Submarine
Buddy Herrington’s story starts in rural Georgia, where he grew up the son of a building contractor in a town so small, “3,000 people” included everyone in the graveyard. A chance encounter with a roommate doing push-ups with a math book under his nose — … Continue readingASK A VET EP 53: What They Don’t Tell You About Flying B-52s Over Vietnam
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
