Jocko Podcast 67 with Echo Charles - Important Lessons Directly from WW2

2017-03-22T22:19:00Z

Join the conversation on Twitter: @jockowillink @echocharles 0:00:00 - Opening 0:09:45 - Lessons from Charles MacDonald, "Company Commander" 2:02:18 - Support, Cool Onnit, Amazon, JockoStore stuff, with Jocko White Tea and Psychological Warfare (on iTunes). Extreme Ownership (book), (Jocko's Kids' Book) Way of the Warrior Kid, and The Muster002 2:41:31 - Closing Gratitude

AI summary of episode

I'll put it into like some other time anyway Krill oil is dope pre-workouts dope Everything on it is good actually Just depends on what kind of workout program or kind of lifestyle, you know, but they have something for everybody Like we're gonna do even the krill oil even if you're not that active It's just good for your joints, you know as like because over time you teach generate, you know whatever krill oil regenerate Also, another way to support is subscribe on iTunes or the various Podcast platforms stitcher Google play all these things if you subscribe you haven't already, you know that's a good support, you know We've got to hold I wondered how I made my voice so convincing I wanted a throw away the platoon phone and the batalion radio and everything connected with the War and bury my head in my hands and cry cry cry The infantry assault upon the other platoons continued the sound of the battle reached a height which I had never thought possible before but burst of the 88 millimeter shells in the woods Vide with the sound of hundreds of lesser weapons it couldn't last forever I thought it must stop Sometimes it must stop but when and how I Look toward the draw between me and the highway about 20 men were walking down the draw toward the rear I recognize several men from the light machine gun section in a machine gun crew from M company the other which were riflemen from first platoon I did not know where they were going all I knew is at somehow I must stop them I jumped from the slit trench and ran toward them ignoring the crack of bullets through the trees waving my arms and shouting for a them to stop They turned to look at me with vague blank expressions They seemed to wonder who was this crazy man who wanted them to do this foolish thing I saw that it was the entire left flank of first platoon the thin lines of the remainder of the platoons would soon be cut off from the rear The 60 millimeter mortar men a few yards away a few yards away were dismantling their weapons I managed to get my moot to get them in to move to my CP He shouted we may be able to hold them up for a while While some of the others get out I could not see what good we could do from this position, but I was taking commands now and I took cover alone in a fox hole in the edge of the woods facing the highway It was good to let someone else do the thinking for a while even if I disagreed with the decision I was not afraid instead I was strangely apathetic to the whole of fair The Germans were hot on our tails so what they'd been a hot on my tail for almost as long as I could remember now and they had cut my company to ribbons They might as well get me to German infantry men emerge from the thicket We had left such a short time before and milled around to US abandoned US tanks parked in the open beside the forest A company and machine gunner private first class Jose and Lopez of Brownsville, Texas set up his gun beside a hole five feet to my rear He opened up on the German infantry with the blast of muzzle the blast of muzzle force me to sink to the bottom my hole for cover The Germans wasted no time in returning fire riddling the area around the machine gun in my fox hole with a bird gun and rifle fire A tiger tank appeared at the road junction where the where the battalion had been shelled the night before and fired point blanket Lopez's exposed position The long barrel of the 88 on the tank seemed to reach half the distance from the hole to my fox hole Lopez continued to fire An American Jeep with two eight men their red Geneva crosses painted on their helmets tore down the highway from the direction of russia Wrath toward the road junction. I was filled with a growing fear that the Germans might hit us with a counter attack I decided that the enemy must surely know that the troops were moving in and would attempt to dislodge us while while we might still be disorganized 11 men in a pill box 11 men who must live from day to day never thinking of the immediate future but only of the in infinity When the war would someday be over There was Sparky and first Sergeant Albin Savage blackburned Crot 2 and me there was private first class Willie Haggin the tobacco chewing 39-year-old Army regular who kept us laughing with sage tactical wisdom and Served as first-platoon runner Then there was private first class Angelo Boutare of Boston Second-platoon runner who had lost two brothers in the war already Private first class Hubert Burger of Memphis Tennessee third-platoon runner who's 18 years old and red is Bible every night Private first class Kenneth Lampton of Detroit Michigan weapons platoon runner who is also 18 and corresponded with college girls from Michigan And private first class Erling G. Sauberg of Fargo North Dakota who is 19 and cleanly good looking And the headquarters bazooka man The cooks and Jeep drivers the supply sergeant in the mail orderly had been left behind with the service company to keep us supplied The changing of the guard at four o'clock revealed that it was raining outside a slow cold miserable drizzle I thought of the men in the Ford platoons in their exposed fox holes with no protection from the elements except shelter Half stretched across their holes and nothing between them and the hostile killers in front of us but the muzzles of their own rifles I had admired the unglamorous infantry soldier before but as the rain continued to fall and the night grew colder My pride at being a part of this dirty miserable infantry new there I mean, I'm just obviously going on the last one, but Like you learn like scenarios, you know that the Q and A part is Straight up golden because everyone comes like hey, I had this scenario that's been basically plaguing me For a year and it's just causing problems here and you know and everyone has their own one and while they're all unique They all kind of overlap with each other and and you guys are like okay, this way you do this way You do this is the answer and it's like And what I like about that is he points out that You know from his perspective all this stuff is going on he realizes that these guys That's the whole world to them right that sergeant that was killed that's their guy and their war is Everything to them and it's just like when you meet people you know if you're to business and you go and meet someone on the front lines like they don't care I'm not saying they don't care, but they've got their whole world in What they're doing So you got to be cognizant of that you got to understand that I hastily decided to continue the rear out of the line of fire of the wrecked attack upon the German Position from a less respected restricted spot We moved toward the rear two men supporting Charles with his arms about his with his arms about their shoulders A sudden burst of small arms fire came from our right rear And the woods echoed to the crack of machine gun rifles the fire was coming from the direction of the defensive Position at the junction of the fire breaks which we had left bullet wind low over our heads And buried themselves into the trees and snow around us My first thought that was was that K company contacted our rear elements and thinking they were Germans had open fire We heard battalion talking on the radio asking K company what they what time they wanted to pick up their bed rules for the night We've got no use for bedding rolls K company answered it was lieutenant flame. But you know when you do notice it and in my experience even more If you pay attention is like for like like two few days ago I'm sitting down on the living room with like the kids You know we're seeing we're sitting there for a long time same positions like for 45 minutes Usually after 45 minutes and But he's weighing it in his head The the flanking position through the woods in order to flank he needs to put his guys through the woods through an area He doesn't know doesn't know how well it's defended so he says you know what instead of doing a flank which is what I want to do I'm just gonna put down some artillery fire We're gonna do a frontal assault they get shut down and eventually he does make the decision You know what the bet the decision now becomes okay front all salt is not gonna work now. Oh God if we could but rush from the house into the attack without thinking again It was the waiting and the thinking and the wondering that got you Talked about that before That fear that you're feeling It's the waiting it's the hesitation and he's saying hey if we could just go from this house that I'm sitting right now right into the attack That's what he'd prefer to do But he can And now they're moving to the attack is Is full on now the last man in the forward positions crossed the crest of the small hill They should be almost inside the first house is a bend or from now I thought I Holded the CP grouping the sun can trail running across the crest of the hill until junior to ask a report from the assault platoon Suddenly a tank fired from somewhere to a front a big show a show word over or low over our heads a machine gun chattered Around of tank fire rip from the limb from the tree above our head a burp gun Said burp burp there was no question now we had hit their defenses the Germans to head tanks I Was trembling slightly from the excitement, but I was not as definitely afraid as I had once been in the pillbox positions The opinion often expressed amongst some GIs that ever after any man was wounded once He was never any good in combat again did not hold true in my case I was more calm than ever before So You do your Amazon shopping like we always do daily For some of those Instead of going straight to Amazon just go to jocobotcast.com little Amazon banner on the side you kind of got to scroll down If you want to hit the banner sometimes, but I put it up in the top menu as well Boom click on the Amazon banner Then do your shopping good way to support Like jocos said just you know little actually do that if you want if if that's what you're doing if you're supporting the I'm gonna ask them. We can do it look at what these guys went up against Day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day just doesn't stop It just doesn't stop and the whole time by the way there's the threat of death By the way the whole time Freezy you know I just thought about this like this is a book where he doesn't even talk about like his family He doesn't talk about his love. I jumped into the slit trench with savage and black burn Request after request for artillery and mortar support came from the platoon leaders I called for every concentration listed on my overlay and for variations of each so that little thing I was talking about when you call in for these concentrations you got two two three and this one and that one He's just calling for all of them calling for all of them because bomb everything The inevitable maddening three rounds belly time so they're trying to concern in the rear They're trying to conserve up conserve ammunition so they're firing three rounds at a time And he's due to get due to get due to get but the two leaders begged for an Italy for more I began on one side of the company Area and called for concentrations all across our front and back again Lieutenant Sawyer called for a barrage after barrage of 81 millimeter mortar fire the crack of small arms reached an ear splitting crescendo crescendo like static on a forgotten radio during an electric storm I lay flat on my back in the slit trench that will tune phone to one year the receiver of the battalion radio on the other The chill from the frozen earth seep through my clothes and I shivered That's the situation therein a shallow draw Later the front of my rifle platoons with a higher ridge rising beyond it over which the enemy would soon be coming Another draw led up to my left flank protected by two light machine guns in a few riflemen in position Which no man in his right mind would place machine guns unless he had no other method of defending the probable enemy approach These guys are in a horrible situation our right flank lacks a right flank lack 50 yards of tying in with K company along a fire break which by sector the highway We had no anti tank defense Except two Sherman tanks and a bazooka with three rounds of ammunition We were being supported by a 99th Division artillery and outfit about which we knew nothing except this was their first action Except for holding a quiet defensive sector for a month But there was nothing that could be done now, but wait At 1030 a Jeep loaded with men clipped down the highway toward the rear at breakneck speed That would be the van guard of the retreating battalion from the 99th They're not gonna complain They're starting to improve We got a warning here to aggressive do not drink at work literally lip the ripped the door trim off the wall after Consuming this victory in a glass luckily Since getting after it is my new default mode I was able to repair the damage before the boss noticed Replace pathetic this is my best part out of the best part of this one replaced Pathetic screws with lag bolts, you know lag bolts are they're like instead of a screw Which is like a little tiny pencil thing a lag bolt is a big bolt that you like surreal. The riflemen could not be sure if the next troops that appeared over the ridge were friendly or enemy I alerted the artillerymen to call for fire in the event the approaching troops were German Lieutenant Brock's call came a few minutes later scarcely preceding a hail of small arms fire Which sounded like the crack of thousands of riot force echoing through the forest There was no doubt now my men could see the build caps of the approaching troops They were Germans And you know we're gonna get to a point As I go through these books and I highlight little sections and I read that little section I'm about to get to a point here shortly Where I'm just gonna read the whole damn section because it's it's so much

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Episode transcript

[00:00:00] This is Jocco podcast number 67 with echo Charles and me, Jocco Willink
[00:00:10] We are soldiers, marines, grunts, ground pounders, infantry men
[00:00:20] J'rheads, Tommy's, dough boys, GIs
[00:00:24] We march, we walk for miles, miles that don't stop, miles that don't end, miles that are filled with fear
[00:00:43] Fear of the unknown, fear of the enemy, fear of wounds, fear of death
[00:00:48] But we march on, our boots try to stop that fear into the ground
[00:01:02] People talk of glory on the battlefield, but it is only talk
[00:01:11] On the battlefield, there is only gutteral instinct
[00:01:15] To survive and protect your brother
[00:01:22] Things are done not for glory, but for love
[00:01:31] We march on, we march in the heat, in the cold, and the rain, and the snow
[00:01:39] We march through deserts and streets, and in the valleys and up the hills
[00:01:49] Every step we take is a new step into the unknown
[00:01:57] But at the same time, it is a step that has been taken thousands of times before
[00:02:03] By other soldiers in other times
[00:02:09] The names change, the weapons change, the cause is different, but the faces
[00:02:17] The faces are the same
[00:02:22] The man does not change, the fear is the same as is the will
[00:02:29] The hardened will, to drive on, to move forward
[00:02:39] To march
[00:02:44] We close with the enemy
[00:02:48] Be it swords or bayonets, rifles or machine guns, spears or grenades, daggers or our bare hands
[00:02:56] We bring our weapons to bear and unleash them with fury
[00:03:06] There is no crowd watching
[00:03:10] There are no admirers
[00:03:14] It is only us
[00:03:15] And when one of our brothers is killed at Ripsa's apartment
[00:03:27] Magnificent men
[00:03:29] The best of us, beautiful human beings filled with hopes and dreams and filled with life
[00:03:46] And in death all those hopes and all those dreams and all that life
[00:03:52] is drained away, taken away, thrown away
[00:04:07] And in that moment, when a warrior falls, the whole world should come to a standstill,
[00:04:18] The whole world should stand and bow their heads and grieve the loss of that hero
[00:04:28] The whole world should stop and get on their knees and praise what that man has sacrificed
[00:04:35] And acknowledge this supreme and uncorrupted eminence of that soldier
[00:04:42] Of that warrior
[00:04:55] But the world does not stop
[00:05:00] The world carries on
[00:05:05] It is only
[00:05:06] We warriors that truly mourn
[00:05:09] It is also known that bow our heads
[00:05:19] It is also known that bow our heads and mourn the loss of that fallen saint
[00:05:31] The saint who has given everything
[00:05:34] For us
[00:05:44] Then
[00:05:47] We warriors
[00:05:50] We raise our heads
[00:05:54] We raise our heads again
[00:05:56] And with fire in our hearts we lock and load our weapons and we march
[00:06:06] We march forward
[00:06:09] Tord fear
[00:06:11] And toward evil and toward our fate
[00:06:16] We march forward without any question of what is at stake
[00:06:20] We march forward not for reward
[00:06:23] But for duty
[00:06:29] Not for ourselves
[00:06:33] But for each other
[00:06:37] We march forward not for glory
[00:06:41] But for love
[00:06:44] Forward forever
[00:06:47] We march on
[00:07:00] Good evening echo
[00:07:01] Good evening
[00:07:05] I was
[00:07:07] Asked the other day by another veteran
[00:07:10] How to cope with losing friends and
[00:07:17] I answered that question and in that answer
[00:07:24] As I thought about it afterwards you know I
[00:07:28] I thought of this eternal warrior
[00:07:33] This warrior that's been around
[00:07:36] Since man has existed hungry
[00:07:39] tired
[00:07:41] scared
[00:07:44] But heroic
[00:07:48] heroic in his ability to put those discomforts aside and do
[00:07:56] What he must do
[00:08:01] And tonight we're gonna look at another book
[00:08:06] About another band of brothers
[00:08:12] Going back once again to World War II back on the European continent
[00:08:18] A book by a guy by the name of Charles McDonald
[00:08:24] Who served as a company commander during the war
[00:08:29] And he actually went on to become the deputy chief historian for the US Army and author
[00:08:34] A bunch of books about the war but we're gonna look at his first book today
[00:08:42] Which is simply called
[00:08:45] Company commander
[00:08:48] And he wrote this book just after the war in 1947
[00:08:53] And you know I I get a bunch of books
[00:08:56] Do you and I've talked about this like somebody tells me there's a good book out there
[00:09:00] And I don't even try and read the reviews anymore. I just order it because I figure there's a chance it's good
[00:09:09] And then when I get it I kind of you know I have to crack it open and see if it's the kind of thing that I'm gonna cover or that will really suit the podcast
[00:09:19] And this book I just cracked it open right to the preface which normally I go in the middle somewhere
[00:09:24] I might take a quick look at the preface but then
[00:09:26] I you know will look it throughout the book and
[00:09:30] This preface as soon as I got I got one sentence into this this preface or I said the first paragraph from this into this preface and I was like, oh, okay
[00:09:39] We're doing this book
[00:09:42] So
[00:09:43] With that
[00:09:45] Let's go to the book and
[00:09:48] Start with the preface
[00:09:50] Once again this book is called company commander by Charles B. McDonald
[00:09:59] Written in 1947
[00:10:02] Here we go the characters in this story are not pretty characters
[00:10:08] They are not even heroic if lack of fear is a requisite for heroism
[00:10:14] They are cold dirty rough frightened miserable characters
[00:10:21] GIs Johnny do boys dog faces foot sluggers poor bloody infantry or as they like to call themselves
[00:10:30] Combat infantry men
[00:10:34] But they win wars
[00:10:36] They are men from companies i and g
[00:10:42] 23rd infantry but they might as well be men from companies a and k 16th infantry or they might be men from companies c and e 2054th infantry
[00:10:54] For their stories are relatively the same
[00:10:57] Some may have fought the Germans longer than others or some may have fought the Germans less
[00:11:01] For all it was an eternity
[00:11:07] The characters in my story are not fictional and any similarity between them and persons living or dead is intentional
[00:11:15] And some of them are dead
[00:11:18] This is a personal story and authentic story and to make a story of war authentic you must see a war
[00:11:26] Not a hasty taste of war but the dread
[00:11:31] Noughtingly died of war the horrors and fears that are at first blunt testimony that you are a novice
[00:11:39] And then later becomes so much a part of you that only another veteran through some six cents may know that those same horrors and fears are yet there
[00:11:51] I was an officer in the war a captain and company commander of companies i and g
[00:11:59] And because I was a captain my lot was easier sometimes than that of joe private and joe first class and
[00:12:06] Joe sergeant and even Joe lieutenant
[00:12:11] But when my lot was easier physically it might be harder mentally because I knew joe private and joe private first class and joe sergeant and joe
[00:12:20] Lieutenant and I could not suppress my love and admiration for them
[00:12:27] But physical suffering can be worse sometimes and when the g i's a lot was harder than mine
[00:12:32] I shall try and tell you that because I am not the hero of my story
[00:12:39] The heroes are the men from companies i and g the lead scouts the riflemen the machine gunners the messengers and the morgerman
[00:12:48] Companies i and g are called rifle companies in the army and when you call a company a rifle company
[00:12:55] You are speaking of the men who actually fight wars
[00:13:01] I did not fight the Germans as long as some of the characters in my story
[00:13:06] Some of them had been meeting the enemy since d plus one june 7th
[00:13:11] 1944 when I joined them in September as a replacement company commander
[00:13:15] They had completed the capture of a stubborn enemy garrison at
[00:13:22] Breast France the day before I joined them
[00:13:25] They rested in an open field on the Brittany peninsula for five days and then they took a train ride on a French freight cars across
[00:13:33] France to meet the Germans again
[00:13:40] So there's the preface and
[00:13:42] You can see when he joins this company these guys have already been fighting for over three months close to four months when he shows up new guy
[00:13:50] No combat experience he shows up and has to jump right into the game and here's some thoughts that he has
[00:13:57] Come and fresh from the states company i 23rd infantry. I thought you fought your way ashore
[00:14:03] Normandy on d plus one you battled to the hot top of hill 192 to pave the way for the St. low breakout
[00:14:10] You storm the ring of pill boxes at Breast and had your number reduced to 50 in the explosion as the Germans blew them up in your faces
[00:14:20] And now they give you a company commander fresh from the states
[00:14:25] They ask you to put your faith in me I
[00:14:29] Felt weak and in effect sure
[00:14:32] My mind began to peruse the duties that were before me and this is when he's out on patrol is kind of honest first patrol now
[00:14:44] In one day and at the most three I would be leading these men against a team of trained killers
[00:14:51] I wondered how I would react these men deserve the best leadership could I give it to them?
[00:14:57] They could boast a glorious combat record already and I knew nothing
[00:15:04] Suddenly all my long hours of training for just such a role as this seemed pitifully inadequate
[00:15:12] If only there were some way I could know just what it was like
[00:15:17] It seemed incredible at this group of hardened combat veterans could accept me is it an
[00:15:21] In inexperienced youth of 21 to lead them into battle simply because he happened to come to them wearing a set of flashy bars on his shoulders
[00:15:30] For me I could look into their minds and see what they were thinking
[00:15:36] So you can see this guy is definitely
[00:15:38] Feeling what just about everyone moving into a leadership position feels which is I'm not ready for this and I don't know everything and as I've said a bunch of times
[00:15:46] That's okay. Everybody knows that you don't know everything everything
[00:15:51] Everybody expects that you don't know everything what you don't want to do is go act like you know everything because they're gonna see right through it
[00:16:01] Now they're they're moving a little bit more and
[00:16:06] We're starting to get closer to combat my pulse quickened
[00:16:10] So this is it I said to myself using a phrase that every replacement uses a thousand times before he ever actually reaches combat
[00:16:18] I would soon know if I could take it I would soon know if I could justify the faith of the men of company I
[00:16:27] We dispersed to our company areas in the darkness outside the tent
[00:16:30] I noticed flashes of artillery to the east and the deep rumbling of the big guns came from the distance
[00:16:37] A voice in my brain kept repeating this is it this is it a stumble blindly
[00:16:43] Through the dark forest in the direction of the company
[00:16:47] So obviously I'm fast forwarding some stuff here and
[00:16:53] This is just him getting closer and closer to going into combat and you know
[00:16:57] Every veteran now has that feeling you know since the wars for us started for this generation start of
[00:17:06] This is it
[00:17:08] It's so true everyone's thinking that this is it this is the big one this is can I take it and
[00:17:13] So many guys will say that that's what drives them into the military for me for sure
[00:17:18] You want that test and there's no there's no bigger test than hey there's other human beings that are trying to kill me and I have to go kill them
[00:17:25] That's that's the biggest test there is and
[00:17:30] Guys want to know if they can take it
[00:17:34] Here's some of his thoughts
[00:17:37] Be calm be business like this is the same as maneuvers maneuvers just meeting training maneuvers give some orders start things moving
[00:17:45] You're going to have a look at the German army since he's going out on a little reconnaissance and
[00:17:57] Now they're they're getting in sort of a defensive position here
[00:18:01] And he says this back to the book I decided to
[00:18:04] Dispo depot dispose my company initially as lieutenant had done we could make changes later
[00:18:09] I would have preferred holding one of my rifle platoons in support position
[00:18:13] But it seemed unwise for our company frontage was great
[00:18:17] So you can see he's already listening to like his lieutenant has his guys set up a certain way he's going with it
[00:18:21] He's not going up there and changing everything right away because he's just gonna kind of set back and see how things go
[00:18:28] Now they're expecting to get attacked and expecting to get attacked with with small arms fire
[00:18:34] But instead then's up being some order fired here. We go back to the book, but the sound of bullets did not come
[00:18:39] In it's dead came the sharp crack and heavy explosion that I knew must be mortar fire falling behind me
[00:18:46] It sounded as if the shells were falling on the crust of the ridge that we had so recently left
[00:18:50] But I took no time to look back and I increased my speed and dives behind a clump of bushes
[00:18:56] There would be no protection protection from those bushes
[00:19:00] Against the mortar shells, but I was comforted by their concealment. I lay there panting
[00:19:06] So here's these in the first contact
[00:19:08] This is it. This is it my brain kept repeatedly kept repeating madly over and over
[00:19:14] I must not appear afraid. I must give these men confidence in me despite the fact that I they know I'm an
[00:19:20] Experience they were playing their parts well. I've been unable to detect any attitude of distrust in their actions
[00:19:27] And I had searched their faces for long periods of time
[00:19:30] I must keep that confidence. I must I must
[00:19:33] Scared captain sergeant savaged asked sergeant savages like his senior enlisted guy and he's looking at me
[00:19:40] Go a scared captain and he says a little I admitted I took a long slow drag on my cigarette
[00:19:49] We all we all are savage said we always are
[00:19:56] Pretty good vote of confidence
[00:19:58] And I can see the senior enlisted guy trying to make him feel comfortable with it, right?
[00:20:04] That's a good senior enlisted guy. That's not trying to make him not trying to go ego. Hey, what are you?
[00:20:08] You're problem. You look scared. You know captain. No, he said hey don't worry boss. We're all scared no big deal
[00:20:14] We just got to stay professional
[00:20:16] So these guys end up in a
[00:20:20] In a you know
[00:20:21] Hunker down defensive position that he's got a man he ends up being there for quite a few days
[00:20:25] Where it's it's a pill box you know a bunker and his main control point our command point is
[00:20:33] Inside one of these pill boxes and they end up with a bunch of guys in this pill box and then he's got little fox holes dug out
[00:20:40] Away from the pill box where there's a little platoon guys and squads that are set up in these positions and
[00:20:46] So his his task is to maintain this security positions and that's what he does
[00:20:50] Going back to the book. I didn't plan to sleep at all the first night
[00:20:53] Now that we're in position in the difficulties of moving or
[00:20:56] Moving in no longer word me. I was filled with a growing fear that the Germans might hit us with a counter attack
[00:21:02] I decided that the enemy must surely know that the troops were moving in and would attempt to dislodge us while while we might still be disorganized
[00:21:12] 11 men in a pill box
[00:21:14] 11 men who must live from day to day never thinking of the immediate future but only of the in infinity
[00:21:23] When the war would someday be over
[00:21:28] There was Sparky and first Sergeant Albin Savage blackburned
[00:21:33] Crot 2 and me there was private first class Willie Haggin the tobacco chewing 39-year-old Army regular who kept us laughing with sage tactical wisdom and
[00:21:43] Served as first-platoon runner
[00:21:46] Then there was private first class Angelo Boutare of Boston
[00:21:51] Second-platoon runner who had lost two brothers in the war already
[00:21:55] Private first class
[00:21:57] Hubert
[00:21:58] Burger of Memphis Tennessee third-platoon runner who's 18 years old and red is Bible every night
[00:22:04] Private first class Kenneth Lampton of Detroit Michigan weapons platoon runner who is also 18 and corresponded with college girls from Michigan
[00:22:14] And private first class Erling G. Sauberg of Fargo North Dakota who is 19 and cleanly good looking
[00:22:22] And the headquarters bazooka man
[00:22:25] The cooks and Jeep drivers the supply sergeant in the mail orderly had been left behind with the service company to keep us supplied
[00:22:31] The changing of the guard at four o'clock revealed that it was raining outside a slow cold miserable drizzle
[00:22:40] I thought of the men in the Ford platoons in their exposed fox holes with no protection from the elements except shelter
[00:22:47] Half stretched across their holes and nothing between them and the hostile killers in front of us but the muzzles of their own rifles
[00:22:54] I had admired the unglamorous infantry soldier before but as the rain continued to fall and the night grew colder
[00:23:03] My pride at being a part of this dirty miserable infantry new no bounds
[00:23:13] Now
[00:23:14] Like I said there was he was in this main toolbox which it has protection right it's got a roof and they're a little bit relaxed in there a little bit
[00:23:20] You know, they're protected not just from the enemy, but they're protected from the elements as well somewhat so he goes out
[00:23:27] And he's going out to visit the guys that are in fox holes that are just basically sitting out there bearing the elements
[00:23:32] You know like you said nothing between them and the enemy but the the muzzles of the rifle back to the book any idea that I might have
[00:23:39] Intertain that my visit would bolster the morale of these men's was overshadowed by the effect of visit had on my own morale
[00:23:46] How could how they could smile and laugh and joke in their present condition?
[00:23:52] I could not see
[00:23:54] But each man had a cheery word for me as I approached if I had possessed any misgivings that these men would weaken under the hardships of their cramped position
[00:24:02] And the adverse weather they faded away into nothing
[00:24:06] Their courage and fortitude made me admiringly
[00:24:10] Envious and brought a lump to my throat
[00:24:13] So
[00:24:14] So he's thinking I'm gonna go out there and boost their morale the opposite happens
[00:24:19] The opposite happens he's boosted by seeing them and seeing how how intact and motivated they were out there
[00:24:28] Back to the book as we reach the right flank of the platoon
[00:24:30] I noticed a man huddled in his fox hole trembling violently beneath a blanket which covered his head
[00:24:36] Lieutenant anti-grast him by the shoulder. I thought I told you to get digging this hole out deeper
[00:24:41] He said sternly the blanket came off the soldier's head
[00:24:44] You're putting me way off here by myself so I can be killed. He shouted half-sobbing you want me to be killed
[00:24:51] There's nobody over here, but shut up say anti-sad
[00:24:55] You want the whole goddamn German army to hear you get to digging that hole. There's two men right here with you and the next hole's 10 feet away
[00:25:03] Nobody wants to see you killed
[00:25:06] We turned away. I looked back over my shoulder at the soldier
[00:25:09] He's been like that ever since
[00:25:13] He's been with the platoon anti-sad
[00:25:16] He uses every excuse he can get to go to the rear
[00:25:20] He won't work to get himself warm like I try and get him to
[00:25:24] If he doesn't come around tonight sending back to the CP I said we can keep him there for a night and see how he turns out
[00:25:30] So although some guys are clearly
[00:25:34] In good spirits out there you still got guys that are breaking down and
[00:25:38] And
[00:25:40] You've got to deal with them and you can see he's gonna pull him off the line get him back to CP and actually
[00:25:45] I don't go into this but he ends up getting evacuated and when they get him back
[00:25:49] They figured out that he's got a appendicitis so he's an easy rough shape
[00:25:53] But
[00:25:55] So some time passes and you know they're dealing with
[00:26:00] Sort of
[00:26:01] Clandestine attacks are coming the Germans will kind of probe them or sometimes they're well
[00:26:05] They're receiving indirect fires some orders not to alert in a fairly regular basis
[00:26:12] Back to the book I woke at 10 for the start of the fourth day in the pill box
[00:26:16] It was a day of K-Rashins of glorious sunshine of adjusting artillery fire of testing telephone mines after enemy
[00:26:21] Shelling of signing one's names to envelopes of countless letters of requesting supplies from battalions of one and
[00:26:28] 100 things that were becoming more and more routine
[00:26:31] But always there was the deep fearful dread of the enemy mortar shell that dropped unheralded from the sky
[00:26:40] Of the artillery round that screeched a fiendish warning as it approached and the deep dread to of the darkness
[00:26:47] That would come tonight just as it had come last night and just as it would come the next night and the next
[00:26:54] And any night the darkness might release a hoard of fanatical German soldiers
[00:26:59] Ego to kill and drive us from our holes in pill boxes or perhaps a flame throwing half tracks
[00:27:05] Spouting its flaming oily death into the deepest recesses of the pill boxes
[00:27:12] The nervousness was like a malignant disease that ate itself up and down the line and back again
[00:27:23] Hear about that stress you're about that constant
[00:27:26] Constant stress and you notice it's the things that you can't control
[00:27:31] It's the things that you can't control that's the horrible things about the the mortar and the artillery fire
[00:27:36] You can't control it's random and you can't control where that round hits if it hits in your foxhole your dead if it hits three feet away from your foxhole you live
[00:27:45] And I think the they had these flame throwing half tracks and I think just the
[00:27:51] The the the die by burning to death everybody knows that's a nightmare and so that's creeping in their minds as well
[00:28:02] Back to book it seemed that I'd only been asleep a few minutes when I awoke the pill box was a massive moving men with apparently no pattern
[00:28:10] A deep dull throbbing filled my head accentuated by a fierce pounding that pushed relentlessly against my temples
[00:28:18] I jumped from the bunk with a start
[00:28:20] The throbbing in my head was a big gun firing the man seated there by the table is covered with a dull brown dust
[00:28:27] Blood was streaming from a gashiness forehead a tank's firing right out of this cap and sparky set excitedly
[00:28:33] They hit the head they hit the shed with the mortar men in it sergeant Patterson got a cut in the head
[00:28:38] I tried to shake the cobwebs of sleep from my brain
[00:28:42] I had been asleep for hours. It was daylight. It was eight o'clock in the morning
[00:28:45] I moved over to the wounded man. He was sergeant Lee Patterson a North Carolina and one of the squad leaders from the mortar section
[00:28:52] The wound is bleeding profusely another man held a handkerchief immediately below it to prevent blood from running into the sergeant's eyes
[00:28:59] It's not bad the sergeant said the
[00:29:02] Disargent said just a cut from some loose brick
[00:29:05] It was flying all around the seller when the shells hit looks worse than it is I guess
[00:29:10] Some now they're under attack and I'm you're gonna notice a pattern. I don't fall covered him enough, but
[00:29:17] This poor guy this poor guy
[00:29:20] McDonald Captain McDonald
[00:29:22] It seems like every time they get a major attack
[00:29:25] He's getting a woken from being asleep because he's not sleeping very often, but every time he puts his head down
[00:29:30] You see almost every time he gets a woken or every time they receive a major attack
[00:29:33] It's because he's asleep and boom all of a sudden things start happening
[00:29:36] He must have been so paranoid to go to sleep knowing that this stuff was was hanging over his head
[00:29:41] So they're getting this pretty pretty big coordinated attack and then some aircraft show up some
[00:29:47] Some p47 shows up
[00:29:49] Like five p47 shows up and here's the description of that each plane circled high into the air and came down with a skill and grace of a
[00:29:57] Paraguading dancer upon its target the bullets from its cannon beating a staccato chant of death as it dived on the Germans below
[00:30:04] Someone behind me said oh, them goddamn beautiful birds
[00:30:10] We watched in silent admiration as the planes climbed once again
[00:30:15] Well, their work's done for the day someone said yeah a mortar man answered reaching for a shovel
[00:30:20] They'll go home now and have a short scotch and a hot bath and shack up with some mad mousel or some limey wench
[00:30:27] What a life?
[00:30:29] Yeah and draw double salary for it a headquarters man put in
[00:30:32] That's the life for me
[00:30:35] Willy Hagen said oh dry up
[00:30:38] You never had it so good
[00:30:40] So that's a common thing you know and we're gonna get Dave Burke on here and I'm sure we'll ask them about being a pilot
[00:30:46] I mean
[00:30:47] That is you go you do your mission. I think you're flying back to base the bases are in friendly areas and they're protected
[00:30:53] So you're gonna get a short scotch and a lawn on a hot bath
[00:30:56] F
[00:31:02] And
[00:31:04] Fast forward in a little bit and also going back to him being asleep and being rudely a awake and here we go back to the book
[00:31:11] I was nodding off
[00:31:13] I was nodding off and as the hands of my watch neared three o'clock awakeening each time with a start and
[00:31:18] Shaking my head and effort to clear it clear the sleep from my brain a shot rang out
[00:31:23] It seemed to come from the very ancient to the pill box and was the cue that set off a few
[00:31:29] A lot of small arms that reverberated back and forth among the hills
[00:31:34] I could discern the slow chatter of one of our heavy machine guns then the intimidated guttural tone of a burp gun
[00:31:41] All the sounds seem to emanate
[00:31:44] From the area around the farmhouse as if every conceivable type of small arms
[00:31:48] Vied to be heard above the company noises the explosion of a German type percussion grenade
[00:31:55] Join the uproar and American grenade exploded in its fragments wind through the air a few
[00:32:01] rounds of mortar fire exploded above the din
[00:32:05] I heard the guards scuffle and curses they tripped on the entrance to the pill box
[00:32:09] I was suddenly afraid I was suddenly more afraid than I had ever been before
[00:32:14] My body seemed weak all over and I wondered if I had the strength to stand up
[00:32:19] I opened my mouth to sound the alarm and I wondered if anything would come out
[00:32:24] Wake up everybody
[00:32:26] I shouted surprised that the words actually came forth. I don't want anybody caught sleeping in this damn pill box
[00:32:32] We had waited long enough
[00:32:35] The Germans had come
[00:32:37] The sound of small arms continued heightened by the explosions of dozens of light mortar shells
[00:32:42] Fear gripped my body and left me trembling. I was not so much afraid of what was happening as I was
[00:32:49] Of the horrible visions my mind had dreamed up of what would happen should we fail to repulse the attack
[00:32:56] I visualized the mad dach dash to reach the entrance to the pill box
[00:33:00] To escape and trap me within only to be met by a hail of enemy fire or a hellish blast of a flame floor
[00:33:07] My imagination ran a gauntlet of evil
[00:33:10] So this is a counter attack
[00:33:14] Well, this is what you've been waiting for now the company veterans will find out
[00:33:18] What it has in this youthful inexperienced CO
[00:33:22] Quick shaking god dammit stop trembling all over get control of yourself act like a soldier god dammit at least you can impersonate an officer
[00:33:32] Savaged tried the battalion phone the handle which should have produced a ring made an
[00:33:36] Unnatural grading sound the lines out he cried. I'll try the other line black burn
[00:33:41] I'll try the other line black burn get your radio set up outside
[00:33:44] So this is despite the fact that they've been mortar and they've taken some fire and they've had some little probing attack
[00:33:49] This is the big one. This is this is it the Germans had come and
[00:33:53] It's interesting to hear his thoughts as this is going on. He's turning to tell himself stop shaking calm down
[00:33:59] Act like a soldier hey if nothing else just pretend that you're a soldier right now just act like an officer should act right now
[00:34:09] Classic so
[00:34:11] They start receiving this pretty intense attack and
[00:34:17] He gets on the radio eventually get the radio set up and
[00:34:20] He says attack is hitting my left flank and right flank of love company their lines must be out to fire us concentration two to one over
[00:34:27] So
[00:34:29] What they do is and they get these these defensive positions they set up and they have pre-designated firing areas where they can have
[00:34:37] Our friendly artillery or mortgars bomb areas
[00:34:40] There he know where they are so they this one was called a concentration two to one that's whatever
[00:34:45] Wherever the enemy was attacking from they have a name for it. They say put bombs on two to one boom
[00:34:49] You can get it done really quick and this it's
[00:34:51] It pretty much almost immediately holds this attack and
[00:34:58] And
[00:35:01] Of course that attack goes away
[00:35:04] They they kind of get that one on a control and
[00:35:07] Now he's tired because he didn't get much sleep so he goes back to sleep
[00:35:12] And here we go back to the book it seemed that I had been asleep for hours when I
[00:35:15] A woke suddenly with a start
[00:35:17] Sparky's voice came to me some work from somewhere in the distance
[00:35:20] I'm trying to get the artillery. I'm trying to get the artillery blackburned voice with somewhere else
[00:35:24] Beside it get me Captain Anderson get me Captain Anderson
[00:35:27] But what was the noise in the background what was that pounding someone must be beating on the pill box with a sledge hammer
[00:35:32] What was that deafening noise? I jumped from my bunk my feet stung from the rough contact
[00:35:38] With the concrete floor
[00:35:40] That was artillery and mortars explosive exploding my head. I couldn't think I
[00:35:44] Shook my head sharply to clear the sleep from my brain the Germans had come again and what mortars and
[00:35:51] Artilities good God they must be firing every weapon around from miles
[00:35:55] There was a wild look in Sparky's eyes
[00:35:58] They've hit all three Patoons captain he cried head on they're pounding the hell out of them worse
[00:36:03] Parage I ever heard worse Parage I ever heard captain
[00:36:06] So like I said whenever whenever Captain McDonald falls asleep
[00:36:15] They're getting attacked and that's what they're receiving really heavy attack against
[00:36:20] They repulse that first attack and now they're coming back at him again in this time. It's with some serious artillery
[00:36:26] For God sake get us some artillery cap necride
[00:36:29] They're knocking the hell out of us small arms and burp guns and this goddamn mortar and artillery fire
[00:36:33] I never saw such a barrage. We got to get some help or we'll never stop them
[00:36:41] For God sake Captain hurry mill Brooks said his voice was half-franic
[00:36:44] I got two wounded men here my pillbox now god knows how many more out there
[00:36:49] I suddenly remembered the one fifty-fives
[00:36:53] That close-in concentration we had zeroed on our front so one fifty-fives are bigger artillery
[00:36:59] Shell it's a big big daddy
[00:37:01] And they had they had got a concentration of fire that's really close to them. So hey if we're getting like just about to get overrun
[00:37:09] We can call this this particular concentration of fire
[00:37:13] That close-in concentration we had zeroed on our front. What was it called? Queen 163 Queen 163. Oh god
[00:37:20] Let us get the one fifty-fives
[00:37:22] Hello, Terone to Ter three Roger tell Ter to give us the one five-fives concentration queen 163 and fast over
[00:37:33] So he calls in that concentration which is
[00:37:36] Which is really close to them. You're calling in 150 I think 155 millimeter more Shell. I want to say it has like 25 or 30 pounds of
[00:37:44] Explosive in it and they're calling it a bunch of it and
[00:37:47] And
[00:37:51] And
[00:37:52] Here we go my heart skip the beat savagery and back inside to release relay the news to platoons and the big artillery shells whispered their messages of out going death
[00:38:02] The deafening explosions to our front were followed by the noise of shrapnel spraying the trees around the farmhouse
[00:38:08] And small pieces of
[00:38:09] Spent shrapnel fell around us so they're called those bombs so close that they're getting hit with the shrapnel from the bombs
[00:38:15] That's how close the enemy was and that's how close they're calling these bombs in I called for repeat on the barrage
[00:38:21] And when the battalion said Roger we knew we had one no attacking force could withstand a barrage like that
[00:38:28] So that's a command that you use when you're calling in artillery. It's called repeat
[00:38:31] Which is actually why you never say repeat on the radio when you're seeing a movie someone says oh can you repeat that?
[00:38:35] You don't actually say that you don't say repeat unless you're specifically doing this getting them to call more bombs in
[00:38:40] What do you say then on the right say again. Oh, yeah, you say again and so they call these
[00:38:48] Big bombs come in and
[00:38:51] Another couple days go by the end up spending a total of nine days in the in the pill box and in that position and finally they get
[00:38:59] Told okay, we're gonna pull you out of the pill boxes and we're going back to the book
[00:39:02] I tried to keep my voice in a normal pitch through the conversation
[00:39:05] But I wanted to jump and kick and scream with joy tears came to my eyes and I thought I would choke with happiness
[00:39:11] It was almost too wonderful to be true my battalion runners would arrive around midnight
[00:39:16] Leading the men of company B we were getting out of the pill boxes and tonight
[00:39:21] Company I was to be relieved
[00:39:25] So there you go nine days in the pill boxes the other company company B
[00:39:31] Comes out to relieve them and they're doing a turnover with company B
[00:39:36] So he sent in like one platoon back at a time and he stayed in there with the new company commander
[00:39:41] Who's name is Captain Cowan and we're going back to the book a few minutes later call came for Captain Cowar over the platoon phone
[00:39:47] A tenseness came over his face as he answered he handed the phone back to the soldier sitting at the table
[00:39:53] They just killed one of our own men. He said to me one of my squad leaders was moving around to the front
[00:39:59] It was going back to his hole one of the bar men let him have it thought he was a German
[00:40:05] I wondered how it would feel to have one of your own men killed by an accident
[00:40:09] Having a man killed by the enemy would be bad enough although I've been mercifully spared that thus far
[00:40:15] I shuttered my men or nerves as hell Captain Cowan said
[00:40:20] They've heard all sorts of rumors and stories about these positions makes them trigger happy
[00:40:25] So we got a blue on blue guys first night in position and they're freaked out
[00:40:33] They've heard all these rumors. They know that these guys are getting pounded by the enemy and the Germans keep attacking and they get so paranoid that they
[00:40:41] Actually shoot one of their own guys
[00:40:44] Now these guys get moved to the rear company. I kind of get some
[00:40:49] Some they get moved back a little so not in the front line anymore
[00:40:53] And this was kind of an interesting look on that it seemed back to the book it seemed now we were in a quiet position
[00:41:00] Every officer in the division with rank of major above wanted to inspect the company area
[00:41:05] They condemn the men for not having shaved or for wearing knit wool caps without their helmets evidently
[00:41:12] An unportable
[00:41:13] Misdemeanor or for untidy areas around the dugouts
[00:41:17] These officers did not inspect my first platoon area however usually passing it over with the excuse
[00:41:24] It was a bit far to walk, but we laughed inwardly knowing that it was the threat of enemy shilling that kept most of them away
[00:41:32] So
[00:41:34] Oh, you're back in the rear now if you want to come meet you meet the boys because there's no danger there
[00:41:39] Well guess what the boys know the boys know what's up now
[00:41:49] He's about to get an order to go out on the attack so he's been in an event's position now
[00:41:54] He's moving to that get said it's coming now at the attack order at last you're going to attack
[00:41:59] There's no chance now for a reprieve the CO of of the
[00:42:03] 393rd had insisted that we attack immediately to relieve the besieged unit the Colonel continued
[00:42:10] But he had succeeded in putting off the attack until morning
[00:42:14] We would jump off slightly before dawn at seven o'clock attacking a stride the east west highway
[00:42:20] Company I would attack on the left additional ammunition would be available later at battalion
[00:42:26] The platoon ladders were assembled when I returned to the company
[00:42:30] I only had one map of the area
[00:42:32] And there was no place where we could have a light to examine the map with the loutenates
[00:42:38] Sergeant Albin slit trench was deeper than the others, but that's but but at that it amounted to a little more of an
[00:42:44] Then the snow scraped from the earth and a few inches of frozen earth removed the men hastily through dead branches across
[00:42:50] But make shift hole and I wriggled underneath with my map and a book of matches
[00:42:56] One puts one of the platoon leaders one by one the platoon leaders crawled in to receive the order
[00:43:01] I would strike a match and give them a brief glance at the map now wet and sawden from the melting snow
[00:43:08] I wonder if I could have drawn any worse conditions under which to issue my first attack order
[00:43:13] So here they they moved forward, but now they're getting ready to attack and he's given his first briefing to his platoon leaders
[00:43:20] He only has one map which is completely ridiculous and I think about you like every single guy when we would go out on the battlefield
[00:43:27] Every single guy would have a battle map every single guy
[00:43:30] Yeah, if we take 30 guys they all are gonna have a battle map with him
[00:43:33] So here we are the old company of 150 guys
[00:43:36] We've only got one map and he's got it and by the way it's soaking wet and by the way for your briefing
[00:43:41] Nowadays we go into a big secure area with a power point and big projector up and we go through all these slides at a well prepared
[00:43:48] He's got a match in a hole and he's given this brief
[00:43:53] So what I'm talking about
[00:43:58] So
[00:43:59] They end up in a forward position and as this attack goes
[00:44:05] They end up now having to switch from attacking to a defensive position and things start to get
[00:44:11] Go sideways really really quick in this ends up
[00:44:15] It is actually the beginning of the battle approach to famous obviously a famous battle and this is sort of the beginning of it
[00:44:20] Although they did not know that at this time
[00:44:22] So here we go back to the book. I took stock of our defensive situation
[00:44:25] We were one rifle battalion thrust into a densely wooded area with no terrain features that favor the defender with orders to hold at all costs
[00:44:35] We were hastily dug in along a highway
[00:44:38] Facing the direction from which we hoped the enemy would come if you had to come
[00:44:43] No company had been able to withhold a support platoon
[00:44:46] There was no support company thus the defense was a thin single line of riflemen
[00:44:52] So there's no backup. That's the situation therein
[00:44:54] a shallow draw
[00:44:56] Later the front of my rifle platoons with a higher ridge rising beyond it over which the enemy would soon be coming
[00:45:02] Another draw led up to my left flank protected by two light machine guns in a few riflemen in position
[00:45:07] Which no man in his right mind would place machine guns unless he had no other method of defending the probable enemy approach
[00:45:14] These guys are in a horrible situation
[00:45:16] our right flank lacks
[00:45:18] a right flank lack 50 yards of tying in with K company along a fire break which by sector the highway
[00:45:25] We had no anti tank defense
[00:45:27] Except two Sherman tanks and a bazooka with three rounds of ammunition
[00:45:31] We were being supported by a 99th Division artillery and outfit about which we knew nothing except this was their first action
[00:45:38] Except for holding a quiet defensive sector for a month
[00:45:41] But there was nothing that could be done now, but wait
[00:45:44] At 1030 a Jeep loaded with men clipped down the highway toward the rear at breakneck speed
[00:45:52] That would be the van guard of the retreating battalion from the 99th
[00:45:56] The Germans would be here soon
[00:46:00] Just imagine that
[00:46:02] You're there to help out and defend this position and support this battalion and the first thing you see
[00:46:09] Coming from ahead of you is a Jeep filled with rag tag soldiers going as fast as they can away from the enemy
[00:46:20] Craziness
[00:46:21] Craziness
[00:46:23] And here it continues a rag and call of troops appeared over the wooded ridge to the front of the second and third Patoons
[00:46:30] They're on out over 200 men
[00:46:32] The remnants of 900 who had fought gallantly to our front since they were hit by the German attack the preceding day
[00:46:39] Another group the size of a platoon with Drew along the highway donating a few hand grenades and clips of ammunition
[00:46:46] Which they passed to my first platoon
[00:46:48] Two men stayed to fight with my company. It's legit
[00:46:52] You just got overrun some guys are given away ammunition given grenade to away and these guys are hey
[00:46:58] Where can I help out?
[00:47:00] To enlisted men carrying a badly wounded lieutenant stopped exhausted with my third Patoon
[00:47:05] They could carry him no further. I called for a litter squad
[00:47:08] The riflemen could not be sure if the next troops that appeared over the ridge were friendly or enemy
[00:47:13] I alerted the artillerymen to call for fire in the event the approaching troops were German
[00:47:18] Lieutenant Brock's call came a few minutes later scarcely preceding a hail of small arms fire
[00:47:23] Which sounded like the crack of thousands of riot force echoing through the forest
[00:47:27] There was no doubt now my men could see the build caps of the approaching troops
[00:47:32] They were Germans
[00:47:36] And you know we're gonna get to a point
[00:47:39] As I go through these books and I highlight little sections and I read that little section
[00:47:44] I'm about to get to a point here shortly
[00:47:46] Where I'm just gonna read the whole damn section because it's it's so much
[00:47:51] It's a company that's about to get overrun right?
[00:47:54] It's a company that's about to get overrun by Germans and it's it's really interesting to hear what this looks like from the company commander
[00:48:01] Company commander's perspective
[00:48:04] But this is I mean this is it this is your losing the battle. I mean he survives but it's
[00:48:10] It's as bad as it gets
[00:48:12] This is bad as it gets
[00:48:14] Back to the book any me bullets whistle through the trees around us. I jumped into the slit trench with savage and black burn
[00:48:20] Request after request for artillery and mortar support came from the platoon leaders
[00:48:24] I called for every concentration listed on my overlay and for variations of each so that little thing
[00:48:30] I was talking about when you call in for these concentrations you got two two three and this one and that one
[00:48:34] He's just calling for all of them calling for all of them because bomb everything
[00:48:40] The inevitable maddening three rounds belly time so they're trying to concern in the rear
[00:48:43] They're trying to conserve up conserve ammunition so they're firing three rounds at a time
[00:48:48] And he's due to get due to get due to get but the two leaders begged for an Italy for more
[00:48:52] I began on one side of the company
[00:48:54] Area and called for concentrations all across our front and back again
[00:48:57] Lieutenant Sawyer called for a barrage after barrage of 81 millimeter mortar fire the crack of small arms reached an ear splitting crescendo
[00:49:06] crescendo like static on a forgotten radio during an electric storm
[00:49:10] I lay flat on my back in the slit trench that will tune phone to one year the receiver of the battalion radio on the other
[00:49:17] The chill from the frozen earth seep through my clothes and I shivered
[00:49:20] But I was surprised at my own calmness the long nights of shaking terror and the pill boxes convinced me that I would never be calm and combat
[00:49:28] I did not know what it possessed me to keep calm
[00:49:32] Surely this is the most serious situation which I had ever found myself
[00:49:36] The smaller arms fire reached another crackling crescendo crescendo
[00:49:41] The smaller arms fire reached another crackling crescendo
[00:49:45] long
[00:49:46] Head several men wounded long as one of the other commanders
[00:49:50] He didn't know how many or how badly the enemy bullets were too thick to move around
[00:49:55] We're too thick to move around. I called again for litter squads wave after wave of
[00:50:00] Frantically screaming German infantry storm the slight tree covered rise held by three platoons a
[00:50:07] Continuous hail of fire exuded from their weapons answered by volley after volley from the defenders
[00:50:13] Germans fell left and right
[00:50:15] A few rounds of artillery the few rounds of artillery we did succeed in bringing down
[00:50:20] Caught the attackers and a draw to our front and we could hear their screams of pain when the small arms fire would slacken
[00:50:26] But still they came
[00:50:29] artillery and
[00:50:31] Nebel were first which is like another kind of cannon a German cannon with their accompanying terrifying screams played a deep a
[00:50:37] Component in the background
[00:50:39] The shells exploded to our rear and around the road junction to our right
[00:50:43] We ignored their crushing explosions thinking how thankful we were that their effects were reserved for others than ourselves
[00:50:50] The small arms fire rose and fell again and then again indicating that the attacking troops with drawn momentarily to the bottom of the draw
[00:50:58] To regroup before launching another suicide a little salt
[00:51:02] Reinforcement streamed over the ridge behind them to join the assaults the draw on the highway
[00:51:07] We're littered with their dead and wounded, but they're seem to be no end of their fanatical attacks
[00:51:16] It was the first first death in company eyes since I had taken command three months before
[00:51:21] But the news was not so staggering as I had expected it would be there was too much other excitement
[00:51:27] The dead soldier was
[00:51:29] Technician fifth grade Martin W. Carlson from Pennsylvania
[00:51:33] He was an aid man whom the rifleman idolized who had jumped from his fox hole to aid a wounded soldier nearby
[00:51:41] A bullet pierced his helmet and he fell face forward into a hole of the wounded rifleman. He had sought to aid
[00:51:49] He was a non-combatten according to the rules of warfare and was denied the privilege of wearing the combat infantryman badge
[00:51:56] And the $10 per month
[00:51:58] Pittance for dangers and hardship endured but death made no distinction
[00:52:06] Message after message came over the platoon foam
[00:52:09] Lieutenant Wilson was badly wounded he could not walk and must have a litter ammunition was running lower and lower
[00:52:14] The M company machine gunners with the first platoon were out of ammunition except enough to keep one gun firing a few minutes longer
[00:52:21] The 60mm mortars found their ammunition supplies so low that they fired only when the enemy was actually assaulting
[00:52:29] Germans were being killed as close as 10 yards forward of the foxholes hand grenades were practically all gone
[00:52:39] Yeah, this is this is it
[00:52:44] There was no solace from the battalion each call for litter bearers or additional ammunition
[00:52:49] It was met with the maddening words we're doing all we can
[00:52:53] I told them we could not hold out much longer unless we got additional ammunition Captain Montgomery said we must hold
[00:53:01] Our orders are to hold that all costs he said
[00:53:04] I wondered if he could possibly realize the meaning of those words
[00:53:09] We must hold until every last man was killed or captured company eyes last stand
[00:53:14] And what is to be gained?
[00:53:19] Nothing but time time born of the bodies of dead men
[00:53:24] Time
[00:53:26] Seven times the enemy infantry assaulted and seven times they were greeted by a hail of small arms fired
[00:53:32] Hand grenades that sent them reeling down the hill leaving behind a glowing pile of dead and wounded
[00:53:38] But with all that's at the attacks seemed poorly organized
[00:53:42] There was no supporting artillery or mortar fire on our positions and I wondered why they had not yet found the open flank on our left
[00:53:49] There was only the suicidal wave of fanatical infantry men who being and yelling and brandishing their rifles like men possessed
[00:53:57] I looked at my watch. It was 330 in the afternoon time was passing amazingly fast
[00:54:03] Long again long was the was one of the other pertune commanders long said he saw enemy tanks
[00:54:08] There were five of them giant tigers lung-luring down the road 300 yards away surrounded by over a hundred enemy infantry men
[00:54:17] Get those Sherman into action
[00:54:19] Sherman was our US tank get those Germans into action. It's your only hope you might he's talking to himself
[00:54:24] You might hold off the infantry even with your ammunition practically exhausted
[00:54:28] But riflemen can't fight tiger tanks
[00:54:30] The first platoon has your only three rounds of bazooka ammo
[00:54:33] Unless the Sherman's can stop them three rockets are all there is between you and company I and kingdom come
[00:54:43] So
[00:54:45] Small arms obviously machine goes they don't do anything to attack and they only had and there's five enemy tanks coming and they only have three
[00:54:51] Bazooka rounds which are bazooka round can stop a tank
[00:54:55] But you know you got to hit you got to be a good hit mall that so he knows he's in big big trouble
[00:55:01] I
[00:55:03] Called Sergeant Garcia to send a man to contact the tankers and tell them to move immediately to their foreign positions on the left flank
[00:55:09] This business of improved positions was so much Bosch Garcia's answer was stunning
[00:55:15] their gone captain they pulled back to K company 15 minutes ago
[00:55:23] So he's expecting the Sherman tanks there to be help out
[00:55:25] They're gone. I did not take time for the full meaning of his words to sink in giving our
[00:55:31] Giving our call sign over the radio I asked Colonel total and told him my plate
[00:55:36] Either I get those tanks back to my left flank or I could not possibly hold the position
[00:55:42] While waiting for the Colonel's answer I tried
[00:55:44] Brage after barrage to destroy the tigers with artillery and mortars, but we made not a single hit and the near misses only stop the infantry
[00:55:51] Temporarily not phasing the great steel monsters in the least they waddled effortlessly on toward the hapless rifleman
[00:55:59] Around of 88 millimeters snap from the top snap the top from a firtry above our heads and fragment sprayed down
[00:56:06] Naldirections there could be no doubt now the tigers had arrived
[00:56:12] Round after round crashed into the area a momentary shrill whistle followed by a
[00:56:16] Definity explosion in a sharp thud of the round being fired the latter reaching us after we heard the shell explode
[00:56:23] For God's sake captain long screamed over the phone his half voice sobbing get those tanks down here
[00:56:28] Do something for God's sake these bastards are sitting 75 yards away and pumping 88 into our foxholes like we're sitting ducks for God's sake
[00:56:35] Captain what about your bazooka he said a bullet had gone in one and and bent the tubes so the rocket would not pass through
[00:56:44] Colonel Tullol's on the battalion radio the tankers said it would be suicide for them to face the tiger tanks
[00:56:51] They would not move unless he gave them a direct order and then he was afraid they would disobey it
[00:56:58] And he was inclined to agree that they stood no chance against the more heavily armored tigers and the 88 so these
[00:57:04] American tanks are they can't fight against the tigers and so they're backing up so that they can survive
[00:57:09] I
[00:57:11] Burned with anger and I must have been in subordinate if my man could fight the armor-plated monsters with nothing but rifles and
[00:57:19] Die in the attempt the tankers could afford to a try
[00:57:21] It with medium tanks if we don't get the tanks we can't hold another five minutes. I said slowly and finally
[00:57:28] Thank you sir Roger out
[00:57:31] And for those of you that don't know I've explained this before out means you don't need to talk back to me
[00:57:35] You don't need to I'm not requesting a response out means I'm done. I'm hanging up the radio which is
[00:57:42] Interesting that
[00:57:44] Normally the the junior person the the
[00:57:48] Says you know over and it's the senior person that says they don't talk to me anymore, right? I'm done with you
[00:57:54] So he's saying to the to his leader he's saying
[00:57:56] If we don't get the tanks we can't hold another five minutes. Thank you sir Roger out
[00:58:05] Shades of general custer
[00:58:08] Company eyes last stand hell what does it matter?
[00:58:12] You never expected to get out of this war alive anyway not really
[00:58:17] I gave long the news he was frantic. There was absolutely nothing he and his men could do a
[00:58:22] Directed landed on one of the heavy machine guns another had hit the technical
[00:58:26] Hit technical sergeants Smith's foxhole Smith was the platoon sergeant long didn't know if he was dead or not the other machine gun crew is out of ammunition
[00:58:34] And it was withdrawing
[00:58:36] He was powerless to stop them. He was afraid his left flank and the draw was falling back, but he couldn't see to make sure
[00:58:42] Hold long I cried for God's sake's hold. We've got to hold
[00:58:48] I wondered how I made my voice so convincing I wanted a throw away the platoon phone and the batalion radio and everything connected with the
[00:58:56] War and bury my head in my hands and cry cry cry
[00:59:02] The infantry assault upon the other platoons continued the sound of the battle reached a height which I had never thought
[00:59:08] possible before but burst of the 88 millimeter shells in the woods
[00:59:12] Vide with the sound of hundreds of lesser weapons it couldn't last forever I thought it must stop
[00:59:17] Sometimes it must stop but when and how
[00:59:20] I Look toward the draw between me and the highway about 20 men were walking down the draw toward the rear
[00:59:26] I recognize several men from the light machine gun section in a machine gun crew from M company the other which were riflemen from first platoon
[00:59:33] I did not know where they were going all I knew is at somehow I must stop them
[00:59:37] I jumped from the slit trench and ran toward them ignoring the crack of bullets through the trees waving my arms and shouting for a them to stop
[00:59:44] They turned to look at me with vague blank expressions
[00:59:48] They seemed to wonder who was this crazy man who wanted them to do this foolish thing
[00:59:53] I saw that it was the entire left flank of first platoon the thin lines of the remainder of the platoons would soon be cut off from the rear
[01:00:01] The 60 millimeter mortar men a few yards away a few yards away were dismantling their weapons
[01:00:07] I managed to get my moot to get them in to move to my CP
[01:00:11] But I could not step them that stop them there they walk slowly on towards the rear half-days
[01:00:16] Expressions on their faces so his guys are leaving
[01:00:20] Then he's doing what he can to get them to stop and fight but they're they're leaving
[01:00:24] This is it's not happening the guys know and and they're out I mean they're out of bullets right
[01:00:30] They're out of bullets. They don't have any ammunition left. There's nothing to do
[01:00:34] So they're leaving
[01:00:36] I jumped into the slit trench and grasp the radio handpiece
[01:00:40] I sat on the edge of the trench ignoring the whistle of bullets and the crash of 88 millimeter shells around us as everyone seemed to be now doing
[01:00:49] Get the platoon leaders on the phone. I call the savage
[01:00:53] Hello Roger one. I said it in the radio not waiting for my acknowledgement that they were receiving my message
[01:00:58] This is Mac my left flank has fallen back. I can't stop them the Germans are over running my left platoon
[01:01:03] I'll try to build up another line along the firebrank. We can't hold here
[01:01:10] There I had said it this was eye company turning tail and running this was eye company retreating
[01:01:16] This was eye company hauling ass
[01:01:19] This was eye company running like a son of a bitch
[01:01:23] Strangely I didn't give a damn I was utterly void of feeling
[01:01:28] Savage held a platoon thrown toward me. I can't get long he said and Scottie's here with us now
[01:01:35] Don't sound afraid you got to sound like you mean business
[01:01:39] Hello Brock I said it calmly they've over wrong long-sposition swing your platoon back to the left rear and we'll build up another long along the firebrik
[01:01:48] Did you get that Garcia?
[01:01:49] Pull back and we'll tie with K company my CP's pulling out now. We've got to hold it the firebark
[01:01:55] Do you understand that we've got to hold the firebrik?
[01:01:58] The men in my CP group were already moving towards the rear. I grabbed my must my mu set bag and my car bean
[01:02:05] Savage took the phone black burn grab the radio we ran toward the rear we reached the north-south firebrik and
[01:02:11] Crossed the fox holes which patigned an aquacopied were fought along the far-edge the clearing in a patch of
[01:02:17] Small furs whose interwoven branches formed a small dense green barrier
[01:02:22] I knew that any fight here would be at close quarters because the Germans would be able to advance to
[01:02:27] Unseen to the edge of the firebrik 15 yards from the fox holes we would occupy
[01:02:32] But it was the only spot where we had any possibility of holding I ran up and down the line shouting
[01:02:37] We've got to hold them here. We've got to hold them here
[01:02:41] The men stared back at me unbelievably I was asking headquarters men armed with
[01:02:47] Car beans and pistols to hold off hordes of attacking Germans that had already broken through all our rifle
[01:02:53] Patoons could offer
[01:02:55] There was only one machine gun a light gun manned by private first class Richard Cowan of which it took Kansas set up five feet from the fox hole
[01:03:03] Which I occupied the Germans were almost upon us before we knew what was happening
[01:03:11] We could not see them for the low hanging branches of the fur trees across the firebrik
[01:03:15] But we could hear their shouts and shrill whistle signals which evidently came from their leaders
[01:03:21] I decided they were flanking group that was on its way unseen around our left flank even as we left our former CP
[01:03:29] The attackers who had dislodged first platoon could not have reached us so quickly
[01:03:35] Cowan began to spit machine gun fire across the north narrow firebrik and I heard German
[01:03:40] heard a German scream with pain the headquarters men fired their carbines and pistols into the low hanging branches
[01:03:46] The fur trees to the right were too thick to see the area where the rifle platoons were supposed to be going into
[01:03:51] Position I wonder if they had been able to build up any semblance of a line
[01:03:56] Around came from an enemy tank
[01:03:59] broke
[01:04:01] The top of the small fur tree above Cowan's head sending him reeling from the gun
[01:04:05] But he jumped back and continued to fire
[01:04:07] I knew that the big tigers had reached the junks in the fire break in the highway
[01:04:12] Hales of enemy bullets thrashed the snow and the fur and the trees around us the fur trees around us
[01:04:20] I duck beneath the cover of my foxhole trying to get battalion on the radio but without success
[01:04:24] I stood up and looked out of the hole great god. There was no one left but Cowan
[01:04:29] The others had fallen back
[01:04:32] I jumped from the foxhole and yelled the Cowan to withdraw
[01:04:35] Savage and black burn followed me. I left my must set bag lying on the ground but my carbine was over my shoulder
[01:04:41] Absidminingly I screamed to get the radios
[01:04:44] Savage jumped back into the foxhole and black burn and I turned and plunged through
[01:04:49] The thickly interlaced branches of the little furs
[01:04:52] Bullets followed us lashing the furs on all sides and I wondered if maybe I'd been hit
[01:04:57] I felt no pain but I could not see how any human being could endure those hales of bullets and not be wounded
[01:05:03] I stumbled blindly through the brush
[01:05:06] Unheedful of the branches scratching at my face and hands my overshoes were slick and I tripped and fell
[01:05:13] Face downward in the snow. I rose again and stumbled on blindly
[01:05:18] As we plunged through the furs I was separated from black burn in the group that had helped
[01:05:22] Broadfully at the fire break. I did not worry that savage
[01:05:26] Or the others were not with me. They were in some place else in the fur thicket
[01:05:30] I came across sergeant Albeen and sergeant Walter L. Dietrich of Cincinnati, Ohio,
[01:05:36] Machine Gun Squad Leader. We plowed through the furs together until we came unexpectedly upon
[01:05:43] K's K company CP
[01:05:45] A series of half completed foxholes dug in the frozen red earth
[01:05:51] Captain Howard C. Wilson of Houston, Texas the K company commander was talking frantically over his 300 radio
[01:05:57] He turned as I approached damn, but I'm glad to see you. He said Battalion lost contact with you
[01:06:03] And I haven't heard anything about how your company's coming
[01:06:07] He seemed more relieved than perturbed at seeing me and I wondered what he thought
[01:06:12] brought me to his CP
[01:06:14] Perhaps it was the way I stood looking at him blankly
[01:06:17] There must have been nothing in my face to tell him that my company was no more
[01:06:21] And that even now, orads of Germans were rushing toward us unchecked
[01:06:28] Through my mind raised only one thought I had failed and failed miserably
[01:06:34] My orders had been to hold that all costs and I personally had failed and because of my failure the
[01:06:39] entire the entire Battalion would be routed or annihilated
[01:06:43] And all from a local German counterattack I accompanied fallen back, but I could not blame the men
[01:06:51] They had given in because I had some way not led them correctly
[01:06:56] It was I who was responsible I would turn in my captain's bars if I ever reached the rear or perhaps they would court Marshal me
[01:07:03] I did not care
[01:07:06] There's nobody on your left flank. I told Captain Wilson in a matter of fact voice that I hardly recognized as my own
[01:07:12] They just knocked the hell out of us and the whole company's fallen back. I couldn't tell you where any of I companies right now
[01:07:19] Except these two sergeants and myself
[01:07:23] Good God. What can I do, Mac? I don't know I said you can't hold here. There's nothing on your left
[01:07:34] And then it continues my platoon has fallen back he cried. It's those goddamn tanks. Yeah, I said
[01:07:41] I had three rounds bazooka ammo and they knocked the bazooka out. I've got six rounds six rounds Captain Wilson said
[01:07:47] Two men grabbed a bazooka and disappeared into the underbrush in the direction the enemy
[01:07:51] I thought how foolish it was to think of stopping ten tiger tanks with one bazooka
[01:07:56] The two soldiers returned a moment later
[01:07:58] Panting for breath good god captain one of them said the woods just a few yards away from here
[01:08:04] A full of the bastards we better get the hell out that settles it tell your other plumes to withdraw into creek out and rock a shell
[01:08:11] Notify battalion tell them we're getting the hell out
[01:08:15] We plunged again through the thick fur trees towards the rear. I heard cap
[01:08:19] I heard battalion on Captain Wilson's radio telling L company to withdraw into
[01:08:24] Roshrath before the full force of the enemies flanking drive could hit them
[01:08:28] We reach the edge of the patch of small furs to our left
[01:08:34] May the exposed our highway leading up the hill into Roshrath to our right
[01:08:40] The corner of the fur thicket joined the corner of a patch of larger trees which extended out 200 yards up the hill
[01:08:46] We chose the louder route without hesitation we ran halfway through the patch of woods before we came
[01:08:53] Upon a group of abandoned foxholes captain Wilson yelled the group to the halt
[01:08:57] Will hold up here. He shouted we may be able to hold them up for a while
[01:09:01] While some of the others get out
[01:09:04] I could not see what good we could do from this position, but I was taking commands now and I took cover alone in a fox hole in the edge of the woods facing the highway
[01:09:14] It was good to let someone else do the thinking for a while even if I disagreed with the decision
[01:09:19] I was not afraid instead I was strangely apathetic to the whole of fair
[01:09:23] The Germans were hot on our tails so what they'd been a hot on my tail for almost as long as I could remember now and they had cut my company to ribbons
[01:09:33] They might as well get me to
[01:09:37] German infantry men emerge from the thicket
[01:09:40] We had left such a short time before and milled around to US abandoned US tanks parked in the open beside the forest
[01:09:47] A company and machine gunner private first class Jose and Lopez of Brownsville, Texas set up his gun
[01:09:55] beside a hole five feet to my rear
[01:09:58] He opened up on the German infantry with the blast of muzzle the blast of muzzle force me to sink to the bottom my hole for cover
[01:10:05] The Germans wasted no time in returning fire riddling the area around the machine gun in my fox hole with a bird gun and rifle fire
[01:10:12] A tiger tank appeared at the road junction where the where the battalion had been shelled the night before and fired point blanket Lopez's exposed position
[01:10:22] The long barrel of the 88 on the tank seemed to reach half the distance from the hole to my fox hole
[01:10:29] Lopez continued to fire
[01:10:32] An American Jeep with two eight men their red Geneva crosses painted on their helmets tore down the highway from the direction of russia
[01:10:40] Wrath toward the road junction. I held my breath the tiger tank would surely blast them from the road
[01:10:46] Couldn't they see the Germans were here now?
[01:10:48] They did with the Jeep spinning on two wheels. They turned around and tore back up the road the tank did not fire
[01:10:56] Over the noise of Lopez's machine gun. I could hear the captain Wilson shouting to withdraw into rots your
[01:11:02] path. I wanted to obey, but I was caught in the crossfire of the heavy machine gun and the attackers. I grinned my teeth and waited for a low in the firing
[01:11:11] None came. I jumped from the hole and ran blindly towards the rear bullets sniped at my heels
[01:11:18] The tanks saw that we were running again and opened with renewed vigor
[01:11:21] The big shells snapping the tops from the trees around us as if they were matchsticks, but I saw no one fall
[01:11:27] Dusque was approaching and it was difficult to see for any great distance. I could not make out the town of rots your
[01:11:35] earth
[01:11:36] That I knew was high on the hill to our left front, but we plunged blindly up the hill following a thin hedgero
[01:11:42] That would be scam protection against the Germans should the Germans elect to follow us with fire
[01:11:48] I slipped and fell down the
[01:11:50] Felt face down in the snow. I cursed my slick overshoes. I rose and fell again. I found myself not caring if the
[01:11:57] Germans did fire snow would gotten inside my shoes and my feet were soaked. My clothes were drenched.
[01:12:02] Per perspiration covered my body and my mouth was dry. I wanted a cigarette
[01:12:08] I felt like we were helpless little bugs scurrying blindly about now that some man monster
[01:12:14] had lifted the log under which we had been hiding
[01:12:16] I wondered if it would not be better to be killed and perhaps that would be an end to everything
[01:12:28] That's the section right there that like I said I mean you just can't I couldn't skip anything in there
[01:12:34] It's too much stuff going on and to hear what it's like from his perspective of being overrun
[01:12:41] and they continue to
[01:12:43] Fall back as fast as they can and then they're basically at an every man firm for yourself situation at this point
[01:12:49] They finally do get back and he ends up in sort of a compound
[01:12:56] And he tries to find his battalion commander and so he does go back the book
[01:13:02] We walked across the court yard and down the dark steps of the house into the basement
[01:13:06] A group of enlisted men were eating k-rashions Colonel total was quietly talking to a group of officers
[01:13:13] a dim candle lift the room
[01:13:16] Nice work Mac Colonel to total said I couldn't control myself. I could control myself no longer
[01:13:24] The choking sensation in my throat became racking sobs that I could not hold back
[01:13:28] The Colonel tried to comfort me and I felt foolish and childish but I could not stop someone gave me a cigarette
[01:13:34] I held it with trembling fingers
[01:13:37] I was suddenly conscious that Colonel total was saying something to me, but at first I could not make any sense of what he was saying
[01:13:45] This had been no local German attack
[01:13:47] The enemy had already broken through and taken bulletin
[01:13:51] Catching the division quartermaster and the engineering troops unaware in the undefended town
[01:13:56] The main supply route from Khrinkelt to the rear through Berligin had thus been severed
[01:14:05] The two other battalions of our regiment had been thrown into the battle and the division was abandoning all its gains
[01:14:11] In the offensive to hold this critical area our battalion had held long enough for the ninth and 38th
[01:14:18] Regiments to withdraw past the vital crossroads guarded by two stone farmhouses that I remembered from the trip forward
[01:14:25] The ninth was setting up a line along our present location and the 38th had taken over the defensive Khrinkelt
[01:14:33] There were unconfirmed rumors that this was a big German push all along the first army front
[01:14:39] The news stunned me I stammered you mean you mean I mean you did a good job Mac the Colonel said the Germans are throwing everything they've got
[01:14:49] You held out much longer than I expected after I learned the true situation
[01:14:55] So I had not failed and I company had not failed
[01:14:59] I was almost happy that the German offensive was a large scale one
[01:15:04] My men had done an excellent job against heavy odds and those who had died were not dead because of some personal failing of mine
[01:15:11] The realization made me want to cry again
[01:15:14] I still did not know what had happened to my company
[01:15:21] So like I said this was the this was the massive massive German counterattack that he happened to bear the
[01:15:27] Brunt of the beginning of the battle of bulge and
[01:15:33] You know you can hear clearly he just thought I just
[01:15:36] We just it was a local little German attack and we folded but it was a massive German attack and they put up an incredible resistance
[01:15:45] So now he starts he links up with savage sergeant savages his senior enlisted guy
[01:15:50] He sees him back to the book savage and I ran for each other like two college girls suddenly reunited
[01:15:55] smiles read their faces
[01:15:57] We both tried to talk at once he had heard that I've been killed I had not known what to become of him
[01:16:02] I jumped back to the fox hole after you said get the radio as he explained to length first thing
[01:16:07] I knew there were Germans all over the place they made me come out and took my watch and and moved me over to the highway
[01:16:13] Where they had two other GIs then one of our artillery barages started falling the crowds hit the dirt
[01:16:19] I grabbed one of their burp guns and started spraying and we ran like hell all three of us got away
[01:16:25] So that's that's how savage got out of there
[01:16:27] And a little more time passes I began to evaluate our losses in the fierce opening day fight in the
[01:16:36] Crink health revolved
[01:16:38] Initially approximately 80 men were listed as missing but each day brought a new list of names from the rear
[01:16:44] Hospitals of men who had been wounded and evacuated or were victims of trench foot
[01:16:49] The list of missing an action finally narrowed down to 24 men
[01:16:54] So even though you know they lost control and he didn't know who he knew where where from the walls
[01:17:01] I mean they were just gone he was the only guy that he was alone he came back
[01:17:06] Or he was with one or two other guys so that's out of 150 guys so eventually they realized or he comes to
[01:17:11] There's only 24 guys that they don't know what happened to the rest of them rest of them got out of there
[01:17:17] And this is what it looked like overall back to the book our batangons awarded the distinguished unit
[01:17:21] Citation for its defense in the crink world crink health eric walled
[01:17:26] And a number of men in the company were awarded bronze and silver stars for gallantry including silver stars for
[01:17:32] Lieutenant Gophingun and me
[01:17:34] While there's were posthumous awards
[01:17:36] Private first class cow and the light machine gunner who had performed his duty so faithfully and fearlessly at the firebreak was killed in action the next day
[01:17:44] But he received the distinguished service cross that was later changed to the metal of honor
[01:17:48] And private first class Lopez the M company machine gunner attached to K company
[01:17:54] Also received the nation's highest soldier honor the metal of honor
[01:18:02] So in that one defense these guys
[01:18:06] You know two metal of honors given out unbelievably now
[01:18:11] This is also kind of crazy so you go through that right
[01:18:15] Go through that you lose a bunch of guys you barely make it out your company is overrun. Well guess what it's not over
[01:18:24] It's not over these guys are right back added again and the next thing they're at is they are they get tasked with doing another attack
[01:18:31] So they do recover a little bit
[01:18:33] But they're getting told okay you good got your got to assemble again. Okay. We got more work for you
[01:18:39] One of the men who woke me at six o'clock. I blinked my eyes several times and tried to realize where I was the realization came
[01:18:49] And with it a feeling a revoltsin that the war still went on and today we would attack
[01:18:54] I wanted to turn my face back toward the wall and sleep on
[01:19:02] And they're planning this attack. I was too busy with the various details of the movement to think much about fear
[01:19:07] I tried to recall the various phases of an attack that I had learned in training
[01:19:11] But I was fully conscious of my lack of experience so even after all this he still doesn't feel like she experienced enough
[01:19:16] I looked at my watch it was 15 minutes until four o'clock the artillery barrage would begin in five minutes
[01:19:21] L company was moving into position now the time was drawing near oh god
[01:19:26] Be with us on this attack
[01:19:29] So the nerves don't go away
[01:19:31] When we reach the railroad track the first and second platoon's jockeed into position in the open field
[01:19:39] They moved quickly into an approach march formation
[01:19:42] Small explosions that sent the snow cascading in all directions and little black puffs of powder and noise appeared
[01:19:49] Unpowdered over the field
[01:19:51] The men fell face downward into snow and rose again when the bras lifted the Germans were firing light mortars
[01:19:57] One man from the second platoon lay in a crumpled heap and did not rise
[01:20:03] His face was buried impassively in the snow. I looked at him as I passed
[01:20:08] He was a new man a replacement received the week before
[01:20:12] He was the first man from the company who might seen killed
[01:20:17] And a mixed feeling of honor and pity swept over me and a mixed feeling of horror
[01:20:23] And pity swept over me, but there was no time to stop and think I didn't even know the man's name
[01:20:31] How strange is war?
[01:20:33] Some of us can go for days and weeks and months in war and never be killed or wounded
[01:20:39] But another man has killed in his first taste of war
[01:20:42] So as they are doing this attack is a little tactical
[01:20:50] Advice here from from Sergeant Savage God damn it captain savage said you got to stay further back at least get some scouts out in front
[01:20:59] His admonition reminded me that it was foolish for me to lead the column
[01:21:03] The foolish days of leading one troops into battle were passed even though correspondence
[01:21:08] Persisted and telling of daring generals who preceded their troops firing from the hip or brandishing a bayonet
[01:21:15] I had no feeling of bervado, but it seemed obvious that the woods were undefeated
[01:21:19] I dropped back to the rear of first-potune so
[01:21:22] Leaders to position tactically if you're too far forward number one you might get killed number two
[01:21:26] You might just end up in a firefight where now you can't move and you can't make direction
[01:21:30] You can't even talk on the radio because you're you're in the firefight
[01:21:35] Fast forward in a little bit
[01:21:37] And they're you know
[01:21:40] In a big firefight
[01:21:42] A burp gun stuttered a flood of fiery tracer bullets blazed along the trees
[01:21:46] We failed fell face-found downward into the snow the bullets traced a fiery path to feet above the ground
[01:21:52] My men did not return fire and I was glad the confusion would be terrific if they opened up
[01:21:58] The night was quiet again. I rose in motion for savage solberg and Charles to follow
[01:22:03] We had taken only a few steps when the burp gun opened up again. I'm hit captain
[01:22:08] I heard Charles scream and he dropped into the snow. I'm hit
[01:22:12] I was conscious of a sudden pain in the calf of my right leg as if someone had hit me with a giant club swung by powerful arms
[01:22:20] I realized that I too was hit and a sudden flood of fear engulfed me
[01:22:25] We were 200 yards forward of any friendly troops and 800 yards inside the woods
[01:22:30] A momentary vision of a night spent bleeding in the frozen forest swept through my mind a warm liquid flowed over my leg and into my boat
[01:22:39] That would be blood. I thought I'm hit two Charles. I said
[01:22:44] My leg felt numb and I dropped the ground the firing ceased
[01:22:48] Charles said he was hit through the right hip and could not walk
[01:22:51] Savage took the battalion radio and I designated two men to carry Charles
[01:22:55] We would have to get back to third of the two now
[01:22:57] I believe that could walk. I stood and put weight on my wounded leg a nauseating pain swept over me
[01:23:03] And I thought I was going to faint
[01:23:05] But I tried keeping the legs stiff and found that I could walk
[01:23:10] The men around us lay flat on the snow and little bunches as if gained some solace
[01:23:16] Through sharing their fears with each other
[01:23:19] My brain was whirling should we continue the attack how badly was I hurt?
[01:23:24] Had we hit a German patrol or now pushed outpost or stumbled upon a mainline defense?
[01:23:29] I hastily decided to continue the rear out of the line of fire of the wrecked attack upon the German
[01:23:34] Position from a less respected restricted spot
[01:23:38] We moved toward the rear two men supporting Charles with his arms about his with his arms about their shoulders
[01:23:46] A sudden burst of small arms fire came from our right rear
[01:23:49] And the woods echoed to the crack of machine gun rifles the fire was coming from the direction of the defensive
[01:23:56] Position at the junction of the fire breaks which we had left bullet wind low over our heads
[01:24:01] And buried themselves into the trees and snow around us
[01:24:05] My first thought that was was that K company contacted our rear elements and thinking they were Germans had open fire
[01:24:12] We heard battalion talking on the radio asking K company what they what time they wanted to pick up their bed rules for the night
[01:24:18] We've got no use for bedding rolls K company answered it was lieutenant flame. We're in a fire fight
[01:24:24] Savage turned the butterfly switch on the radio and broke the conversation with the distressed voice
[01:24:30] Lieutenant flame he cried lieutenant flame. This is eye company. You're firing at us. This is item company. This is item company
[01:24:38] God dammit. I said we're in a fire fight. We can't use any bedding rolls now
[01:24:42] Lieutenant flame savage continue. This is savage. You're firing at eye company
[01:24:46] Make your men quit firing your firing at eye company. You're shooting the hell out of item company
[01:24:52] The radio is silent for a moment the hell we are if we're firing an eye company then why in the hell don't you quit firing back?
[01:25:00] I was frightened with the realization of what he had said
[01:25:03] We were receiving fire from K company, but they were not firing at us
[01:25:08] The enemy had slipped behind us
[01:25:10] For some unexplainable reason my men had not opened fire in either directions from which the bullets came
[01:25:18] I think God that they had not started shooting the confusion would have
[01:25:22] Been tripled and I could visualize GIs firing at one another in the darkness
[01:25:29] So worst case scenario you got bad guys in between you and other good guys
[01:25:34] It's just a horrible situation and I maybe it's hard for civilians to understand this when you're a firefight
[01:25:41] You're not hitting all your targets. You're shooting
[01:25:44] Suppressive fire and so if I'm shooting in one direction the bullets are not stopping
[01:25:50] Where the enemy is they're gonna keep going indefinitely, you know
[01:25:53] So if there's a friend these behind the enemy you can't you basically can't shoot you basically can't shoot
[01:25:59] So
[01:26:03] He McDonald gets they continue on he he continues on for a while trying to get them in a secure situation
[01:26:10] But eventually he has to get extracted because of because of his wound and he gets back
[01:26:17] When he gets he's now like under warm blankets and stuff and they're these in the the aid station
[01:26:22] I shuttered at the fall of the company
[01:26:24] Where were they now did Brock's platoon get out had I done the right thing and withdrawing or should I have stayed and fought it out
[01:26:33] It seemed that I was always running perhaps it was all my fault
[01:26:37] There'd been a brief moment of exaltation in the aid station when someone had reminded me that now I could nice rest
[01:26:43] Then the hospital
[01:26:45] But now a nausea fear for the welfare of the company enveloped me
[01:26:50] I felt somehow like a nizzerger
[01:26:59] Yeah
[01:27:03] Here we've heard plenty of stories about guys looking for the million dollar wound that's gonna get him back to the states and the million dollar wound's good for about three minutes and then then then McDonald says hey
[01:27:14] I feel horrible
[01:27:16] He eventually recovers from the wound. Now you think hey, you know the guys but on a bunch of fighting
[01:27:22] He recovered from his wound
[01:27:24] He got wounded but now he's in the rear and so you know he's probably gonna get
[01:27:28] Whatever extracted maybe moved the states maybe you know
[01:27:32] Give him a nice cushy job. No, not happening
[01:27:35] They don't give him eye company back because eye company now has a new company commander. They give him a company
[01:27:40] G
[01:27:42] So
[01:27:43] Now he's in company G and what are they doing? Are they in the rear somewhere?
[01:27:47] Relaxing? No, it's a tack time. They're going forward
[01:27:52] So here we go. We would back to the book. We would attack the next morning at 445
[01:27:57] Someone awakened me at 330 the next morning. It was cold in the room and I shivered as I climbed from my sleeping bag my mind was
[01:28:03] Dulled with sleep and I wanted to climb back into the warm sleeping bag and sleep on and on
[01:28:08] I wanted to scream to hell with the war and go back to sleep
[01:28:11] The sun jolt of awakening was like a emerging emerging from a wonderful peaceful world
[01:28:18] Into a world of forbidding reality
[01:28:22] There would be men hurt today, perhaps killed men from my own company
[01:28:28] It could be me
[01:28:30] That seemed remote and impossible but it did not remove by fear for the others
[01:28:35] There were many responsibilities had I given the platoon leaders all the information they would need
[01:28:40] How was my attack plan was there some important detail I had forgotten would I back be defended?
[01:28:46] Would our attack be discovered as we cross the flat open field towards the town? Oh God if we could but rush from the house into the attack without thinking again
[01:28:58] It was the waiting and the thinking and the wondering that got you
[01:29:04] Talked about that before
[01:29:06] That fear that you're feeling
[01:29:08] It's the waiting it's the hesitation and he's saying hey if we could just go from this house that I'm sitting right now right into the attack
[01:29:16] That's what he'd prefer to do
[01:29:20] But he can
[01:29:24] And now they're moving to the attack is
[01:29:28] Is full on now the last man in the forward positions crossed the crest of the small hill
[01:29:33] They should be almost inside the first house is a bend or from now I thought I
[01:29:36] Holded the CP grouping the sun can trail running across the crest of the hill until junior to ask a report from the assault platoon
[01:29:44] Suddenly a tank fired from somewhere to a front a big show a show word over or low over our heads a machine gun chattered
[01:29:52] Around of tank fire rip from the limb from the tree above our head a burp gun
[01:29:58] Said burp burp there was no question now we had hit their defenses the Germans to head tanks
[01:30:04] I
[01:30:06] Was trembling slightly from the excitement, but I was not as definitely afraid as I had once been in the pillbox positions
[01:30:13] The opinion often expressed amongst some GIs that ever after any man was wounded once
[01:30:19] He was never any good in combat again did not hold true in my case
[01:30:24] I was more calm than ever before but I was also more cautious now
[01:30:35] They proceed with that attack and again, obviously
[01:30:40] There's this book is just filled with tactical situation after tactical situation after lesson learn after lesson learn after tactical situation and and I'm not reading the entire book right now
[01:30:51] But that is why you get the book so that you can get all this information from it
[01:30:57] I can't give it all to you on a podcast. You have to read it
[01:31:01] But fast forwarding through that assault
[01:31:06] Back to the book I stopped longer at the house where the men from the squad of the sergeant who had been killed were preparing for the night
[01:31:14] I not known the sergeant personally, but to these men he was an important character in the little war that
[01:31:19] Revolved around themselves
[01:31:22] There was an undertone of sadness as they talked, but there was no bitterness
[01:31:27] The sergeant had died like any one of them might die at any time
[01:31:32] There was a war on you know
[01:31:34] And what I like about that is he points out that
[01:31:38] You know from his perspective all this stuff is going on he realizes that these guys
[01:31:43] That's the whole world to them right that sergeant that was killed that's their guy and their war is
[01:31:52] Everything to them and it's just like when you meet people you know if you're to business and you go and meet someone on the front lines like they don't care
[01:31:58] I'm not saying they don't care, but they've got their whole world in
[01:32:02] What they're doing
[01:32:04] So you got to be cognizant of that you got to understand that and
[01:32:08] And you got to keep that perspective when you go out and talk to people can't be like, oh, you know
[01:32:15] Hey, there's a lot of people that I killed today. No, it doesn't matter to these guys. Not only one guy that matters to these guys
[01:32:23] Now
[01:32:24] Like I said this book is
[01:32:26] covers a ton of different combat and they go
[01:32:31] While he's in charge of G company they go through all these different towns and they go through the town of
[01:32:36] Humbresson across the Vester River and they go through elder house and they go through varloss
[01:32:41] And they go through varminson and they go through menger housing and G's Mar
[01:32:47] And they're going just from from city to city they're going very quickly and the fighting
[01:32:53] It's becoming a little easier as they're going the defenses, you know the Germans are running out of out of people they're running out of
[01:33:01] You know supplies as well so the fighting's getting easier but they're still meeting some hardcore
[01:33:09] Some hardcore defenders and one of the things that's happened that's really horrible is
[01:33:15] They the the Germans now are using anti aircraft weapons against the ground troops
[01:33:20] So anti aircraft weapons make flock they go up in the air and they explode and they're now using those against the ground troops and
[01:33:27] There's a it just the way that these browns are coming in exploding above them
[01:33:34] It's it's a nightmare and it's really hard for them to fight so they've got some good efforts going on to go and take out these
[01:33:41] These
[01:33:42] Anti aircraft weapons and one of the one of the anti or one of the groups of anti aircraft weapons that they take out
[01:33:49] They finally get they finally take out these anti aircraft weapons through an assault and when they get down with the assault
[01:33:54] McDonald comes up on the position and here we go back to the book sergeant Paton said the Germans
[01:33:59] Manning the position in the field which held them up were bastards
[01:34:04] They had two AA guns he said some of them wanted a surrender, but every time a crowd would jump out of his hole to surrender
[01:34:11] Some other crowd SOB would shoot him right in the back
[01:34:15] Counting a ones they killed and the ones we got to there's 19 dead
[01:34:19] Paton had one man slightly wounded in the arm, but he'd already walked back to guys more
[01:34:26] to the aid station
[01:34:28] My weapons platoon and platoon of heavy machine guns from each company arrived from their supporting position outside guys
[01:34:35] Mark sergeant Mark Mitchell was killed one of the sergeant from the heavy machine gun told me
[01:34:43] I could not think of for a moment who sergeant Mitchell was
[01:34:46] Then I remembered he was the pleasant perennial cheerful tech sergeant command of the platoon
[01:34:51] Who was received his commission as a second lieutenant in a few days
[01:34:57] An anti aircraft gun fired from the woods to the south
[01:35:01] The sergeant continued and sergeant Mitchell got hit
[01:35:04] He was unconscious and the aid man took him back to one of the T.Ds to give him first aid
[01:35:10] T.D is a tank destroyer. It's like another tank
[01:35:12] But they're specifically meant to fight other tanks
[01:35:16] The aircraft gun fired again in the goddamn T.D backed up ran right over sergeant Mitchell
[01:35:25] So that's another thing that
[01:35:30] You have to train for is when you're working with armor
[01:35:33] When you're working the tanks they don't know what's going on around them
[01:35:35] They don't have like rear view backup cameras and so if you get in a way of a tank
[01:35:39] It's gonna run you over and so that's something that we we we were lucky when we before we went on the planet
[01:35:45] We'd go work with tanks a little bit and that's where we'd learn that lesson because you might think all take cover behind this tank that tank could move at any moment
[01:35:52] So you got to be very careful that young troopers out there if you don't work with tanks often stay out of their way
[01:36:02] Here's as they're continuing to press through and press through and press through from village to village from town to town
[01:36:08] Again, they're moving pretty rapidly now
[01:36:12] Back to the book Colonel Smith rolled up beside me
[01:36:15] beside my tank and his Jeep
[01:36:18] Nice going Macky said you're doing a really swell job just keep the moving the faster the better
[01:36:23] Don't thank me Colonel. I said meaning it and
[01:36:27] Disgusted that it sounded melodramatic
[01:36:31] Think boutinne bagbie and the first platoon. I'm just tagging along
[01:36:35] So you got a leader there that's not looking to grab all the credit himself
[01:36:42] But give it to his troops
[01:36:44] Now like I said the fighting
[01:36:48] Continues to get
[01:36:50] Easier and easier and they're starting to see
[01:36:53] You know people
[01:36:55] Surrender they're also starting to see like young kids because you start to see the hate their youth that are being recruited there 13 years old 14 years old kids that are surrendering
[01:37:03] They fight through
[01:37:06] Corbetha and low pits and strikes dwarf and I apologize for my lack of German
[01:37:13] Speaking capability
[01:37:16] But they get
[01:37:20] They get into one town and
[01:37:23] One of the latinets lieutenant Whitman kind of pushes into the town with a small team and
[01:37:28] And
[01:37:30] He's in there he's in one of the buildings and all of a sudden like a massive group of of German soldiers comes in and they're kind of stuck there
[01:37:38] So here we go back to the book the Lieutenant Whitman called suddenly over the radio and I knew by the excitement and his voice
[01:37:44] That something had either happened or was about to happen
[01:37:46] You better get somebody else up here to help us out sounds like a whole regiment of crowds coming on coming this way up the highway
[01:37:53] So this he's trying to figure out what's happening
[01:37:57] And then the radio is buttered hello G
[01:38:00] G6
[01:38:01] This is Whit so G6 is the call sign for for McDonald's hello G6. This is Whit for God sake get someone up here to help
[01:38:08] There's Germans all over the goddamn place
[01:38:12] I grass the speaker from West Miller's outstretched hand. Whit. This is Mack I said they call us halfway across them open field
[01:38:18] The men have taken off
[01:38:19] I'll have to go back and get them to come up over for God sake get us up some help quick
[01:38:24] We're completely surrounded Roger out
[01:38:28] So now Whitman's in one of these buildings completely surrounded
[01:38:34] This continues on the the battalion radio a silent I called for Lieutenant Whitman and his voice came through weekly as though he were speaking
[01:38:41] In a stage whisper
[01:38:43] I'm back on the left side of the highway. He said in a house. I've got nine men with me
[01:38:47] Germans are running all around all over the place. I lost track of all the other men heard some of them surrendering
[01:38:54] Get us some help quick or they'll find out where we are when they start searching the houses
[01:39:00] So
[01:39:02] McDonald tries to okay calls battalion hey we need some help when he's in help here
[01:39:06] No
[01:39:06] You don't get any help and so he tells Whitman or Whitman here's in on the radio that he's not gonna get any help
[01:39:12] He's not gonna get any support and this is what Whitman says
[01:39:14] There's only one thing to do then he continued if we have to wait that long
[01:39:19] They're sure to find us will go down to the seller and you start plastering us with artillery fire
[01:39:24] We're inside and the crowds are out in the open
[01:39:27] We'll help you direct fire from here
[01:39:30] I knew his decision called for a generous amount of fortitude even though he would be partially protected in the seller
[01:39:35] Lieutenant Reed set up his artillery radio and artillery gave us a priority mission
[01:39:40] Sergeant Barnes arrived with his platoon and the machine gun section. I sent them into position along with the heavy
[01:39:46] Uplatoon of heavy machine guns from age company
[01:39:49] To hell with the ammunition I said we'll get more from somewhere spray the hell out of the whole area
[01:39:55] The machine guns opened up and artillery whistleed overhead thundering into the open field dangerously close to the pailing fence
[01:40:01] At the end of the garden 300 short lieutenant Reed yelled into his radio 300 short
[01:40:06] The artillery whistleed overhead to get implemented into the houses beyond us with a terrific roar orange flames
[01:40:12] Let the darkness like flashes of lightning that's right on top of us call Whitman cried delighted
[01:40:17] Let her go again. We can hear Germans running all over the place outside
[01:40:22] Lieutenant Reed called for barrage after barrage and the big shells roared into the objective
[01:40:27] The Germans made feeble efforts at retaliation with their machine guns
[01:40:30] But the shots died away in the explosion of the big artillery shells
[01:40:34] A direct hit transformed a house into a massive roaring flames is that your house I asked Whitman
[01:40:40] Half-fierfully no seems to be on our left answered give us another volley in the same place
[01:40:45] Sounds like a tank or some kind of armored car pulled up
[01:40:48] Lieutenant Reed called for a repeat volley
[01:40:51] That hit just right Whitman said his voice scarcely audible over the radio
[01:40:56] I wondered what had happened to his radio and was afraid that perhaps the batteries were going dead
[01:41:00] And we would lose our only means of communication. I can't talk loud. He said I've got 15 crowd prisoners down here in the
[01:41:06] Seller with me and some Germans have come in upstairs
[01:41:09] We can hear them walking around if one of these prisoners so much as opens his mouth. I'll plug him
[01:41:17] So there's another situation where you're calling in artillery to your position
[01:41:22] Use happen to be in the seller of a house
[01:41:24] Hmm
[01:41:28] Crazy
[01:41:31] Here they're they're doing a little salt and
[01:41:37] It's set up like a frontal assault, but he wants to make a little adjustment here the obvious solution
[01:41:44] To being unable to advance frontally against the unseen enemy was to send a flanking
[01:41:48] Platoon around to the right having them enter the woods and come out on coming in on the defenders from the flank and
[01:41:54] Rear but I balked at the thought of sending one platoon such a great distance when for all I knew the woods beyond the canals might be thick with enemy
[01:42:03] I decided to cover our front with artillery and after two platoons try to advance frontally and
[01:42:09] Notified second and third platoon to be ready to move forward under cover of artillery barrage
[01:42:13] But the enemy came suddenly to life when the rifleman rose to go forward and repulsed three efforts to advance so he wants to flank
[01:42:22] But he's weighing it in his head
[01:42:24] The the flanking position through the woods in order to flank he needs to put his guys through the woods through an area
[01:42:30] He doesn't know doesn't know how well it's defended so he says you know what instead of doing a flank which is what I want to do
[01:42:35] I'm just gonna put down some artillery fire
[01:42:37] We're gonna do a frontal assault they get shut down and eventually he does make the decision
[01:42:42] You know what the bet the decision now becomes okay front all salt is not gonna work now. I'm gonna have to flank
[01:42:47] He goes back to that flank. I sent Whitman with a spare
[01:42:51] 300 radio in order to McCross the canal he moved out quickly and far to the right
[01:42:55] I could see his men emerge from the woods and way to cross the first canal the water coming to the necks of this shorter men
[01:43:01] My fear of a larger enemy force in the woods overcame my fear for safety of our left flank
[01:43:06] And I ordered Lieutenant Bagbees platoon to follow the flanking force
[01:43:10] We could see the little dots that were Whitman's men emerge from the woodline and double time towards the garden
[01:43:16] Lieutenant Reed stopped the artillery fire the third platoon
[01:43:20] To my front began to advance and a new is only a matter of minutes until the objective would be ours
[01:43:26] I singled the CP group and we moved to the railroad tracks on the
[01:43:31] And on toward the bridge past three wounded Germans lined helplessly in the gully beside the tracks were bonds men
[01:43:37] And it evidently shot them earlier in the day the automatic the enemy automatic weapon suddenly opened up again at the third platoon
[01:43:44] But the men were close enough now to pick up
[01:43:46] the bush from which it was firing they fired round after routing the clump of bushes and the weapon was silent
[01:43:52] So eventually he gets his flank on and that's what that's what wins the day
[01:43:59] now
[01:44:00] again
[01:44:02] a lot is covered as they do this
[01:44:04] City by city some of the villages some of the towns that they enter there's no resistance
[01:44:10] Some of them there is massive resistance they push through it. They fight through it lots of lessons learned lots of incredible
[01:44:17] Heroics and
[01:44:19] Eventually they push through and they make it all the way into
[01:44:24] Czechoslovakia
[01:44:26] and we're now
[01:44:28] approaching the end
[01:44:30] Not only for McDonald but the end for the war
[01:44:35] As they go into liberate
[01:44:37] Czechoslovakia going back to the book are column continued forward
[01:44:43] and my company shifted to the lead position on the tanks
[01:44:47] I wrote behind the lead tank in the artillery Jeep
[01:44:50] the little country towns changed into
[01:44:53] Industrial small industrial towns and we began to notice a scattering of red white and blue
[01:44:59] Czechoslovakian flags in towns in place of the usual white flags of surrender
[01:45:06] civilians waved at us guarded the from behind closed windows
[01:45:11] The scattering of Czech flags should have warned us
[01:45:15] but we were totally unprepared for the mad celebration which greeted us in the next town
[01:45:21] We had suddenly crossed from the Sudatinland into Czechoslovakia proper
[01:45:26] The houses were a riot of color with red white and blue Czechoslovakian flags
[01:45:33] civilians lying the streets ten deep cheering and waving their flags as if their lives
[01:45:37] depended on it
[01:45:39] Our column was forced to slow down and the happy civilians pushed into the street and
[01:45:43] showered us with flowers and cakes and cookies
[01:45:47] One old woman thrust a baked chicken to our Jeep another old woman stood behind the road
[01:45:51] beside the road waving both hands in the air tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks
[01:45:57] Little children were wild with joy some of them had never known anything but six years of Nazi
[01:46:03] occupation
[01:46:05] The young men were red white and blue arm bands and carried German weapons apart of the underground movement that was now
[01:46:12] That was even now struggling against superior German forces in the capital city of Prague
[01:46:17] Everyone was screaming to the Czech words, Nazdar, Nazdar and we wondered what they meant
[01:46:26] I looked up and down the column at the soldiers in the company brilliant smiles to read their faces
[01:46:32] And they wave cheerfully at the shouting crowds as if they had just one election campaign and this was a personal triumph
[01:46:39] Hardened stubble faced veterans had unshamed tears in their eyes
[01:46:43] The unleash joy of these oppressed people knew no bounds and it was too much for us
[01:46:52] Suddenly I began to realize what no one thus far had been able in the war to put into words
[01:47:01] What we were fighting for
[01:47:04] And I found a lump in my throat
[01:47:06] Which I could not swallow
[01:47:16] Freedom
[01:47:20] Freedom
[01:47:23] Something we take for granted
[01:47:27] Back to the book the news came by radio
[01:47:31] That the war was over
[01:47:33] There was no defining our joy
[01:47:38] Sergeant Quinn brought out a treasured
[01:47:40] Keg of Kognac
[01:47:43] The next day may eighth would be VE Day
[01:47:48] The towns people held a dance for us
[01:47:51] The next night in the town guest house one of the artillery men
[01:47:56] Was escorting a young girl whom he had met the night before and she told him
[01:48:01] That her friend leave
[01:48:05] Would like very much to attend with the captain
[01:48:09] The small guest house was crowded with dancers and the older men and women sat with the young children at tables around the sides of the room
[01:48:19] Mail dancers the male dancers were predominantly GIs but if you chucked check young men
[01:48:25] Were present the orchestra reminded me of the circus bands in the US as they played the waltses the polkas
[01:48:35] The checks would
[01:48:37] Join in often to sing the songs and enthusiastically even as they danced
[01:48:43] At the insistence of the band leader
[01:48:45] Leave a grand to agreed to sing and the note notes came forth in a clear sparkling soprano
[01:48:52] When she had finished she made a brief speech
[01:48:57] Which the Slavic speaking soldier told me said that the people would now sing their national anthem
[01:49:05] It would be the first time they had sung it in public in six years
[01:49:10] The people rose as one and every boy girl man and woman joined in the singing with clear lusty voices that made goose pimples rise on my arms
[01:49:27] Some of the older people cried and it was all I could do to keep the tears from my eyes
[01:49:34] When it was over the soldiers began to cry speech
[01:49:37] speech and the civilians called on and applauded. I stood up on a chair in the center of the room trying to think of something to say
[01:49:45] I'm on with a few words of sincere gratitude for the wonderful reception these wonderful people had given us
[01:49:52] And the soldier translated for leave and she told the people what I had said
[01:49:59] They applauded warmly
[01:50:01] Leave and I walked outside into the cool night air in the distance we could see fireworks exploding in the air above Pilsson
[01:50:08] And we knew that they too were celebrating VE Day
[01:50:14] I looked around me and saw light streaming from the windows and army vehicles driving on the highway with their headlights on
[01:50:21] And I heard the game music and laughter from the dance in the background
[01:50:24] I suddenly realized that I could light a cigarette once again in the open and not be afraid of drawing enemy fire
[01:50:32] Then I did
[01:50:35] He was a simple thing, but it gave me a
[01:50:38] Wonderful feeling that life was worth living again
[01:50:41] I put my arm about leaves waste and she pointed to the multicolored fireworks display and laughed
[01:50:52] Dobry Dobry I
[01:50:54] Learned that Dobry was good and I said Dobry Dobry
[01:51:01] I looked away in the distance and I seemed to see the faces of the men from companies I and G
[01:51:12] Who could not see this great day because they had died to obtain it
[01:51:19] And then their faces were gone
[01:51:22] And I saw the mud and ice and snow of the secret secret line
[01:51:26] Then the exploding fireworks became bursting artillery shells in the art dents and bursting flack at leepeds
[01:51:35] But then
[01:51:37] The terror was gone
[01:51:39] And I saw two companies of men marching by and there was eye company and G company tired dirty
[01:51:47] Weary
[01:51:48] But with smiling faces
[01:51:50] And somehow the faces of the men who had been killed were in the background smiling and waving
[01:51:58] Bravely to those who marched on
[01:52:03] And leep looked up at me as if to ask what I was thinking and I said Dobry
[01:52:09] Dobry
[01:52:12] Then leep squeezed my hand and laughed
[01:52:16] Yes
[01:52:17] Dobry
[01:52:21] And that is the end of my story
[01:52:25] But perhaps
[01:52:28] You would like to know that my company moved on five miles north of Pilson to tremoltsa
[01:52:35] And there we met another group of dirty tired infantry men who called themselves Russians
[01:52:41] Among the later we were loaded on a big boat at Laharv
[01:52:48] And on July 20th, 1945 we sailed into New York Harbor
[01:52:53] And received the cheers of a grateful America
[01:52:57] And saw tall lady with a torch that brought tears to our eyes
[01:53:02] The characters in my story were destined to be sent to help to finish another war
[01:53:12] And another part of the world where another group of American infantry men were fighting a dirty
[01:53:17] Miserable war
[01:53:21] But a miracle happened and the other war came to an end
[01:53:24] Most of my characters are wearing civilian clothes again now
[01:53:35] But I know that wherever they are
[01:53:39] They will have a hollow place in their hearts for those who will not be changing into civilian clothes again
[01:53:47] Ever
[01:53:50] Those gays who
[01:53:52] That others may live
[01:53:56] Work cut down in a harvest for the devil
[01:54:14] And that
[01:54:18] Is
[01:54:18] How this book
[01:54:22] Raps up an incredible book again. It's called company commander
[01:54:27] by
[01:54:29] Charles B. McDonald and
[01:54:37] Although that is the end of this book
[01:54:44] Let it not be the end of our
[01:54:46] Memory
[01:54:51] Let us not forget these
[01:54:53] Lessons and let us not forget the tyranny
[01:54:59] And the oppression that was forced onto millions and millions of people
[01:55:04] And let us not forget the millions and millions and millions of innocent people
[01:55:16] Burger
[01:55:18] Butchered frozen star
[01:55:24] Weasted
[01:55:28] Weasted human lives
[01:55:30] To satisfy the twisted ego of a few
[01:55:42] And let us never forget these men
[01:55:50] That fought hunger and fatigue and fear
[01:55:55] To face and to fight evil
[01:56:07] And let us not
[01:56:10] Forget those that sacrificed their youth and their health
[01:56:14] For the youth and the health of others
[01:56:27] And finally let us never ever forget those men and women
[01:56:34] Who were cut down in this harvest for the devil to give other human beings
[01:56:42] The most precious gift in the world
[01:56:51] Freedom
[01:56:57] Let us never forget them
[01:57:01] Or this gift
[01:57:04] Freedom
[01:57:16] And I think that's
[01:57:21] All I've got for tonight
[01:57:24] Echo Charles
[01:57:26] If you want to maybe take a minute here and explain
[01:57:29] Give me a chance to dig and press over here and maybe you can explain in the meantime
[01:57:36] Somebody wants to support this particular podcast
[01:57:41] How they could do that it's crazy these books don't
[01:57:45] Like the effect of and obviously you never read the whole book
[01:57:49] But just what you read like the way it affects you, you know it takes you there and just even like at the end when it's like the world was over
[01:57:58] You feel like oh my gosh, thank god that's over kind of thing you have that feeling and it just never wears off it's crazy
[01:58:05] Yeah, oh I've said before you know when we when we started and I wasn't sure
[01:58:12] If I would have enough books
[01:58:14] Right yeah, but we're gonna have enough books and every single one of these
[01:58:19] Stories is it's own incredible story and and and because what I what we just talked about how you get this
[01:58:28] This war world war
[01:58:30] Two for this guy was this here, but you know you get someone that's in the Pacific and you take one if you
[01:58:37] Want to take one of his cartoon commanders it would be that war. It's these little tiny human experiences
[01:58:43] That are so
[01:58:44] Incredible and each one of them is as just as incredible as the next one as just as incredible as the previous one and
[01:58:51] That's why you just I just don't know if we'll ever get to them all and the other thing is that we have to remember is
[01:58:58] a tiny tiny tiny minuscule percentage of these people actually wrote a book yeah most of these stories
[01:59:04] They just
[01:59:06] They just happened and we don't know about it
[01:59:09] Yeah
[01:59:10] so crazy and
[01:59:12] Each one is like is so unique in their little perspective, but at the same time it has so many similarities, you know
[01:59:20] And it all sort of like as you gather, you know one story two stories all these things
[01:59:24] It starts to tell this overall tale, you know, yeah, and it's the tale of humans
[01:59:29] It's the tale of human nature it's the tale of and it's the tale of overcoming right?
[01:59:33] Yeah
[01:59:35] I mean just the things that these guys are coming you take all these things
[01:59:40] You know I've been I've been in some miserable places right in my time right?
[01:59:43] I mean everybody has you've been in some hard places in your life and
[01:59:48] Then these guys they do that and
[01:59:51] They live that way and then they get attacked and then they lose guys and they get wounded and then they just go right back out right back on to the front
[01:59:59] The limits of human nature are the limits of human the capacity of human beings to overcome
[02:00:06] obstacles
[02:00:08] is is is unbelievable and
[02:00:10] If there's nothing else like I know not everyone goes to war and not everyone should go to war
[02:00:15] And I don't want anyone to go to war if you can help it
[02:00:18] But if at least we learn that whatever we're coming up against man we can deal with it
[02:00:23] We can do so much more and be so much more comfortable and push yourself so much harder
[02:00:28] You know that was one thing and I didn't I didn't to a good job today of portraying it but
[02:00:33] He's getting pushed in a lot of these situations. I mean you can kind of hear when he's getting woken up
[02:00:38] Every time he wakes up his and is initial reaction isn't isn't cool
[02:00:42] I get to go fight now. No his initial reaction every single time is like I want to go back to bed
[02:00:47] I want the word to be over. I want to hide. I want to that's his reaction every single time and yet every single time
[02:00:53] He gets up and he does his job. He does his duty. He does what he has to do that's that's the human spirit
[02:00:59] Right that's the thing that we should all capture
[02:01:01] I mean we have a hard time getting out of bed because it's gonna be a tough workout or because we're gonna have a hard day at the
[02:01:07] Aw, you know it's like week we're we're we're pathetic
[02:01:11] We're pathetic compared to these guys that are oh it's you know it's waking you up a mortar fire
[02:01:16] Machine gun fire people screaming that they're being overrun. That's your wake-up call
[02:01:22] I think we can get out of bed in the morning because we you know because we got it
[02:01:25] We're facing a tough workout or a hard day. We got to get up early for travel or whatever
[02:01:29] Situation you're in you can do it. I can do it. We can do it look at what these guys went up against
[02:01:36] Day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day just doesn't stop
[02:01:42] It just doesn't stop and the whole time by the way there's the threat of death
[02:01:47] By the way the whole time
[02:01:49] Freezy you know I just thought about this like this is a book where he doesn't even talk about like his family
[02:01:54] He doesn't talk about his love. He's not no. He's there
[02:01:56] He's just like detached from everything else. He's got a water he's got a water fight
[02:02:03] So thankfully we get these incredible memoirs this one here if you're looking at on YouTube
[02:02:09] Holden up the cover. I got the old school version. It has illustrations and it got some cool ink drawings
[02:02:16] It's all of weapons just to kind of let you know what these things look like but
[02:02:21] Incredible stuff
[02:02:23] So yeah support right if you're in the mood. Yeah
[02:02:30] Like for instance how much effort does it take to click through Amazon it does take a lot of you could do it if you want to support
[02:02:38] Yeah, if you're in support in that way actually did I'm going to explain that Amazon things cool
[02:02:45] So
[02:02:47] You do your Amazon shopping like we always do
[02:02:50] daily
[02:02:51] For some of those
[02:02:54] Instead of going straight to Amazon just go to jocobotcast.com little Amazon banner on the side you kind of got to scroll down
[02:03:01] If you want to hit the banner sometimes, but I put it up in the top menu as well
[02:03:06] Boom click on the Amazon banner
[02:03:08] Then do your shopping good way to support
[02:03:12] Like jocos said just you know little actually do that if you want if if that's what you're doing if you're supporting the
[02:03:17] I'm gonna ask them. Are we asking them to assault a target are we asking them to flank an enemy or are we asking them to come up against
[02:03:25] Panzer tanks or tiger tanks with one bazooka and 10 tanks? No, no, no
[02:03:30] Asked for a little support
[02:03:34] Yeah, it's a good way to really good way
[02:03:37] It's
[02:03:39] Well, I was gonna make the comparison to the plane that comes in and then least you know, but meanwhile it's huge support
[02:03:45] But that's true let's face it though those pilots that's that's that's a lot of work. Oh, yeah, you know for sure
[02:03:50] So let's I mean, I don't know if that's a fair comparison
[02:03:53] But nonetheless
[02:03:55] Sticks with sodium all about what yeah, yeah, it's like sodium you know little peace sodium
[02:04:00] Throw it in the fish. You know what we should actually do that
[02:04:04] Yeah, we need to do it actually we need to do Facebook live we need to get some sodium and put it in
[02:04:10] And walk bucket of water so we can give visuals behind the situation that you're talking about. Yeah, we'll do it at your house
[02:04:16] Okay bring it
[02:04:19] Where did you get sodium? I don't know like CBS you're the logistics guy
[02:04:24] Go get some sodium look into that one anyway that is a fair more fair analogy
[02:04:31] You're the sodium big reinforcement effects
[02:04:34] With the Amazon click through situation also if you're into supplementation which I'm gonna go ahead and recommend it now
[02:04:43] Catch me three years ago. You're not gonna hear me recommending any supplements. Maybe it pre-work out maybe
[02:04:49] And even then it's like caffeinated. I'll thinking you don't case. Oh
[02:04:53] On it right that's the supplements we're talking about if you didn't know
[02:04:56] If you did know this is often related to you, but the pre-workout that we talk about it's called total strength and performance
[02:05:06] You don't wait lifting what not it's pre-workout. It's not it's stimulant free, right? So you know what I was thinking
[02:05:12] I was like hey stimulant free pre-workout is kind of different than what I'm used to but you know what it's like
[02:05:18] I don't but I forgot a few of them in a London right it's like it's like you ever watch movies and
[02:05:23] The good guy like I don't know clean Eastwood yeah broke swillist like he's all calm
[02:05:30] He's like he's not wired and he's all calm
[02:05:33] But when it goes down
[02:05:35] Bro he kills you know kick sass that's what this pre-workout is kind of like when you take it you're like
[02:05:40] Oh, I'm calm but on the inside so much protect and then when you get the work going it's like boom
[02:05:46] So that they do studies on it that's actually the good one of the good parts about it
[02:05:51] It's like they do real like placebo tested like that studies double blind placebo tested. Yeah stuff like that yeah sounds cool, but it is cool
[02:06:01] So with this pre-workout on it's like over I think it was like a four week period it's like
[02:06:08] I want to say 6% improvement on like on that about there. You know and I'm thinking oh yeah 6% okay
[02:06:14] Cool single digit percent
[02:06:16] Sometimes that can mean a lot some like thinking okay, what's 6% what does that look like you know
[02:06:22] Something add that to your bench press number or whatever
[02:06:24] But that's your deadlift number how but this subtract it so this is this is how it really
[02:06:29] He's got to be negative. I know it because I'm trying to prove it but I would really dream it point
[02:06:35] Okay, so let's say I'm
[02:06:38] Doing some dumbbells right?
[02:06:41] I'm like okay. I'm gonna do a set of 10. I don't know. I'm not saying me. I'm just saying anyone and
[02:06:45] I'm gonna use the hundred pound dumbbells. I'm gonna do 10 up on crows
[02:06:49] We'll do how about this we'll do a
[02:06:52] Bit of bench press dumbbells. Yeah, I'm doing hundreds and
[02:06:55] One week I do you know set a 10 boom solid right and then whatever I finish my workout the next week
[02:07:02] If I can do 6% less
[02:07:06] Like that's my limit, you know, I'm I'm feeling 6% weaker. Yeah, I can't do those hundreds 10 times
[02:07:12] No, I got to go to the 95. You probably you know what whack that is. It's real wet
[02:07:18] So I'm saying if you don't take this pre workout over a month period of time
[02:07:23] This is just on average if you don't take this pre workout
[02:07:26] You're the guy who did the 95s if you do you're the guy who did the hundreds
[02:07:30] Actually it's less than 95s really it's like 94s really
[02:07:35] On average dang see so that's what if you're not taking the pre workout
[02:07:38] Which I do now by the way if you're not taking it you're that guy
[02:07:43] No, I mean that's cool, but I'm just saying you're missing out on gains galore, you know
[02:07:48] I didn't see them say
[02:07:50] You know, and this is all proven stuff. This is just me making it up. It's like proof they do they did it floor state university
[02:07:56] Against you prove it yourself
[02:07:58] Yeah, that part is up to you. I mean it's it's up to you to go get after it. No, what about you personally?
[02:08:03] Yeah, I'm I'm all up at all upon it. I didn't measure it might result or nothing like that
[02:08:09] I just do a bloodline yeah, yeah the pot remember. Oh, that's right pop this real
[02:08:15] How they did it is you know, you know even the the word double blind plus seat or placebo
[02:08:21] Situation whatever like a lot of people they know what that is what it is is they get a bunch of group of people who are gonna work out hard going for games straight up
[02:08:29] They're gonna give them all the supplements all of them all the people they're gonna give this supplement
[02:08:35] But half of those people it's actually not the supplement. It's like nothing
[02:08:40] But they don't know that everyone thinks they're taking the supplements so they're all getting after it
[02:08:44] They're all you know, I mean yeah, and then they say okay
[02:08:47] Who's gonna who's gains are better and they monitor and all the people with the supplements their gains were you know on average and it's all these different
[02:08:54] Let's be a squad all this stuff. So won't prove it
[02:08:56] You know it tastes good that much I can actually attest to I can attest that it makes
[02:09:03] Now I can't I haven't done a double blind placebo on myself
[02:09:07] Because I would have to like mix it up and fake myself out and I'm pretty hard to trick
[02:09:12] Yeah, so but like I said I
[02:09:17] When I feel the need
[02:09:19] I take not only shrimp tech sport, but also the pre yeah and get after it. Yeah, if I know that the boys are waiting for me
[02:09:28] For those you get to training. Yeah, and I know it's going down
[02:09:32] I will if I'm not if I'm feeling any sort of hesitation
[02:09:37] I'll get after that you fault the aggressive went and doubt yeah, and it makes sense too because obviously
[02:09:43] You just too special when you're going hard. That's a workout of that you need to recover from and you'll be you know
[02:09:49] So you'll get better
[02:09:51] Results from recovering from even at you just to workout. Yeah, you know, I just worry about
[02:09:56] Performance yeah, yeah, performing I'm not doing it for recovery to be honest with you
[02:10:00] With the jitz who work out, but like it or not that's what you're getting
[02:10:04] Yeah, fully please
[02:10:07] But yeah, so good yeah, you say taste good does taste good
[02:10:10] It was weird because um it's for his pre workout. Let's go like if you get a regular quote. I'm quote regular pre workout
[02:10:15] They try to make it taste like candy and cool-aid and yeah, I'm in aid and all this stuff and I'm not mad at it. It tastes good or whatever
[02:10:22] I'm out but yeah, man. Let's face it. I ain't this style. Oh, good
[02:10:26] So when I took this one it was kind of it had more of like a um you know like if you take like natural greens
[02:10:31] Or yeah, it kind of has a earthy it's earthy earthy
[02:10:35] There's a earthy flavor to it which I was like oh, this is different. It's not like candy and I was like okay
[02:10:41] And then after a while you kind of get used to it and then you have that a see you know you have that association
[02:10:45] It's certain tastes from like
[02:10:47] Then you go workout you get the pop and it's like kind of part of the routine
[02:10:51] So it's like tastes all good now
[02:10:52] You know I mean it's like your association. Yeah, yeah
[02:10:55] Good
[02:10:56] Anyway, it doesn't taste like krill oil like if you're chopping
[02:10:59] Chomping krill oil tablet. Yeah, you got to just swallow those don't chunk those
[02:11:02] That's do not taste good. Yeah, so then cool. So krill oil speaking of which is
[02:11:09] The go to in my opinion. It's the go to I was talking to Greg train about this
[02:11:14] It's today. It was the yesterday. I was talking to him
[02:11:18] And of course like okay if you're working out and you're like hey my joints are less sore
[02:11:23] That's good of course
[02:11:26] But you know when you do notice it and in my experience even more
[02:11:29] If you pay attention is like for like like two few days ago I'm sitting down on the living room with like the kids
[02:11:36] You know we're seeing we're sitting there for a long time same positions like for 45 minutes
[02:11:41] Usually after 45 minutes and so okay it's time to get up whatever
[02:11:45] Do something you get up and you're like ah, you know you get up, you know you make that nice
[02:11:51] Me no, but if I didn't take krill oil
[02:11:54] I probably would have that and I have had that especially if you've worked out that day or something like that, you know
[02:11:59] You just stiffen up. I'm just saying and you feel it with the krill oil. It's almost like you're always warm, you know
[02:12:05] Not warm physically, but you know like you already warmed up. That's kind of what you feel like
[02:12:10] It's good. I'm a supporter. Yeah
[02:12:13] So I'm saying get in the krill oil. Yeah, like I said I had injuries and
[02:12:17] And krill oil that was a long time ago that I started taking krill oil and I haven't stopped and I'm not going to yeah
[02:12:24] Yeah, because even like
[02:12:26] Like you say injuries which yeah, of course legitimate, but I never I mean I've had injuries but
[02:12:33] It more helps like the pre-injury, you know like something that's
[02:12:37] Not an injury. Yeah, something that's just kind of just nagging you you know stuff you got to like battle through or something like that
[02:12:43] You know how to battle through that anymore
[02:12:45] You got you got old made a threes
[02:12:49] Next time I'll go into the whole why
[02:12:51] Fish oil or krill oil is better than fish oil because we talked about it. I've had it take too long. It's kind of technical
[02:12:56] I'll put it into like some other time anyway
[02:13:00] Krill oil is dope
[02:13:02] pre-workouts dope
[02:13:04] Everything on it is good actually
[02:13:06] Just depends on what kind of workout program or kind of lifestyle, you know, but they have something for everybody
[02:13:11] Like we're gonna do even the krill oil even if you're not that active
[02:13:15] It's just good for your joints, you know as like because over time you teach generate, you know whatever
[02:13:20] krill oil regenerate
[02:13:23] Also, another way to support is subscribe on iTunes or the various
[02:13:29] Podcast platforms stitcher Google play all these things if you subscribe you haven't already, you know that's a good support, you know
[02:13:37] Get updates when new episodes come up
[02:13:40] Also on YouTube
[02:13:41] Whether YouTube channel excerpts on there along with the video version of this podcast which helps
[02:13:49] If you need to know what echo looks like because apparently echo does not look like what he sounds like yeah, I've been told
[02:13:56] Actually how this is it so
[02:13:59] Paul
[02:14:02] New friend Paul came in from Arizona visit it came to the V victory
[02:14:06] Looked into some jujuts on that I was not tell you're out of town. Yeah, too bad. So he goes he says
[02:14:13] When I walked in he's like, hey echo that's like, I was like hey, you know what's up?
[02:14:18] And he goes oh you're I for some reason I thought you'd be bigger. He said
[02:14:24] I was like all interesting. I was like because typically
[02:14:28] People will if they haven't seen me or whatever. They think I'm smaller and you think I'm bigger so it's kind of
[02:14:33] I'm just different even I got that impression from reading on social media that echo's jacked
[02:14:43] Maybe people go echo's jacked or yeah or maybe you know
[02:14:48] Maybe thought I was just taught like super taller something oh yeah
[02:14:52] Well, maybe but you what do you five eleven six eleven
[02:14:58] Super tall
[02:15:00] Normal I don't know either way um what was the point there? Oh yeah if you want to watch YouTube videos of of
[02:15:08] Jockel yeah, it's less about me. I think that's about me. Yeah a little bit. Yeah, so either of us
[02:15:16] And you want to watch a video version go ahead watch that man. It's good. It's on YouTube and also
[02:15:20] I'll put some excerpts on there. It doesn't get you to watch the whole
[02:15:24] To sit in front of the computer and watch like for two hours three hours sometimes. I mean that's kind of unrealistic
[02:15:30] Unless you're not doing it. Yeah, well, no, what what
[02:15:34] And I've done this before too. You just put it on like your TV. Yeah, but sometimes I want to see
[02:15:40] What is going on in the podcast? I want to see the look on my own face or on your face when I say something
[02:15:46] I'm kind of gonna see what that looks like yeah, yeah, and that makes sense because when you figure I mean
[02:15:51] I feel like a lot of people watch a less TV, but that could be just my little bubble, but no one watches TV
[02:15:57] We all are yeah, no one has to walk. No, but I think about the Hawaii five oh
[02:16:04] Yeah, that's a good for sure, but let's say you watch I don't know doctor fill
[02:16:10] Not that I watch doctor fill, but if you watch that's all they're doing they're sitting this guy's talking to this person and you're just watching
[02:16:17] You could listen to that you're saying I'm just saying if you're into doctor fill that the difference between looking and
[02:16:23] And watching it and just listening to it like
[02:16:26] You understand that people actually do watch two people talk about stuff makes sense
[02:16:32] You kind of feel like you'd be more in the conversation in a way. I don't know either way
[02:16:37] YouTube that's the that's the point there if you if you want to watch this podcast or just the excerpts
[02:16:42] And you don't want to watch the whole podcast there's little excerpts a little lessons that I kind of separate from the podcast
[02:16:49] Put them on there shareable
[02:16:51] Little nuggets also
[02:16:53] We have a store jocosdoor.com
[02:16:56] If you like shirts and whatnot new designs
[02:16:59] I don't know a week next week. We'll have them. I think new designs. Yeah, that's cool
[02:17:05] Yeah, kind of listen to the crowd a little bit you know people throw out suggestions all the time which you know
[02:17:12] Listen to for sure and
[02:17:15] Kind of the ones that what he could hate you when we're that percolate first. I like the word percolate better than resonate
[02:17:23] The one that resonate with my soul, you know that feeling that's what the feeling I get one
[02:17:28] Okay, one I say it one other people say it sounds cool. I just say the ones that are good
[02:17:33] Yeah, that makes my sense for sure
[02:17:37] All right, yeah, the ones that we thought are good
[02:17:39] We're starting to develop more and more designs and have a
[02:17:44] So yeah, jocosdoor.com and and you know women stuff is on there some patches some shirts of course
[02:17:49] Brashguard see this is what this is the thing see I'm not good
[02:17:54] At
[02:17:55] Recognizing like hey we should make more stuff because I
[02:17:59] It's hard for me to recognize what's good and what's bad because my mind is different than some people's yeah
[02:18:06] So but what's cool is when I do see something and I do think it's good. It's pretty good
[02:18:14] Yeah, I
[02:18:16] Almost done with the echo Charles t-shirt design by the way. Yeah, which I think people are gonna like
[02:18:23] And you know why they're gonna like it because you designed it well
[02:18:27] Yeah, but but that's not why they're gonna like it because it's not just straightforward
[02:18:33] Yes, you could that's it some layers
[02:18:37] I believe right you're the you're the original layer
[02:18:41] Creator really when it comes down to it
[02:18:44] And no, I think that is good. I'm funny so speaking of layers the day that echo asked me
[02:18:50] What font it was that I used to write jocopodcast and I was like yeah, it's OCR standard
[02:18:56] And then he kind of looked at me and I said it's because it's a machine can read it and you know
[02:19:01] This is like part machine here
[02:19:03] And he was all excited but they are right there
[02:19:07] Telling you the layers are real and I respect them
[02:19:11] Good so yeah, there it is jocostor also
[02:19:16] Oh, yeah, sorry, right this rash cards on there alleged 19%
[02:19:21] Straight up 19% increase improvement performance
[02:19:24] Results
[02:19:25] Results all that stuff who he's on there to and you know like I said more stuff that we have a travel mug coming out now. It's gonna be good
[02:19:34] Well, let you know when that's uh
[02:19:36] a little bit of a cycle psychological warfare
[02:19:39] I feel like I should talk about that right now. I feel like we can't stop you
[02:19:42] So yeah, I guess you won't go for it. Can't stop me
[02:19:46] So psychological warfare on iTunes is in album with tracks
[02:19:51] And this is what it's for it's not music
[02:19:57] No, this is what it's for it
[02:19:59] It's technically it's considered spoken word
[02:20:03] This is what it is if you're feeling a moment of weakness in your discorse that I use that word right your discorse is not really yeah, so in your course
[02:20:15] Better closer in your journey in your
[02:20:18] ambitious goals to stay on the program in whatever capacity right wake up early get the workout in hard workout in
[02:20:29] You know create you know right your book your blog your yeah anything you're doing right more or less
[02:20:36] And you're feeling moments of weakness you're slipping from the path
[02:20:40] Taking a break when you shouldn't be taking a break scheduling unscheduled rest days
[02:20:45] Yeah, when you're feeling like like that string from the war path. Yeah
[02:20:51] You listen to one of these designated tracks and it'll help you get past that weakness in that moment
[02:21:00] I would say and I've said this before it is
[02:21:05] This my guess 100% chance that it'll get you through your weakness 100% chance
[02:21:11] And this is why I say that and I'm said this before but I think it's worth saying again
[02:21:15] Because if you let's say you know, let's do the the wake though the workout one that's the most common one to me and
[02:21:22] I'm like okay, I'm gonna work out. I don't feel like working out and I'm saying okay
[02:21:25] Well, I'm gonna put it in workout track whatever with the one I listen to it and after I'm done listening to it's like two minutes
[02:21:32] So and I still skip the workout that's like a shame that's an unbearable shame and it's all personal
[02:21:39] So that means it's not 100% if you still skip the workout
[02:21:43] I'm just trying to imagine it. That were to have it. I've never done it and the shame the unbearable shame is so unbearable that it just simply wouldn't happen
[02:21:51] You know, so that's why I say 100% chance
[02:21:54] I don't think I can't imagine a person
[02:21:56] That would actually let that happen nonetheless
[02:21:59] So whatever you think your weakness is waking up early all this stuff if you do the wake up early one and you set it as your alarm
[02:22:05] Which is a good idea by the way. Yeah, it's actually that's the perfect idea
[02:22:10] Just clear it with your your
[02:22:13] Spouse significant other significant other. Yeah, if they're sleeping in the same bed or whatever and they have the potential to hear it
[02:22:18] There's some dude in the bedroom. Yeah, yeah, just like all of a sudden starts talking and it's chocolate. It's like a spot
[02:22:24] You know, it's good psychological warfare
[02:22:26] I think
[02:22:27] Chocolate will get so I also on Amazon using it on these other things. So yeah, it's there
[02:22:31] It's a good way to support and support yourself that that'll support yourself situation for sure
[02:22:38] And actually what's cool now right now we're getting requests
[02:22:42] For psychological warfare two
[02:22:45] What topics need to be covered? Yeah, that I didn't cover on the first one. Yeah, there's more weaknesses out there in the world
[02:22:52] weaknesses that are creeping around and they're trying to get people but
[02:22:57] Yeah, we're gonna drink in and find some of them weaknesses and we're gonna smash them
[02:23:00] So yeah, if you got any more suggestions just hit it up, you know
[02:23:04] We didn't smoke in how about that one right? It's a good one. Do people still smoke?
[02:23:09] Bro, I you know what's what I brought thinking about we live in California. That's one of the things
[02:23:13] Yeah, we live in California California California a lot of people don't smoke anymore
[02:23:16] Yeah, it's not real popular out here anymore. Yeah, so just like um, bro
[02:23:20] I'm telling we live in a bubble not only being in California, but just think about the people you hang around with you know
[02:23:25] It's like all the sheels. Yeah, 90 seals. Do you get guys who at the very least have like
[02:23:31] Some level of health and it's exactly so yeah, it's weird. I saw a guy smoking in his car and I was like
[02:23:37] The same thing. I was like dang. I didn't know really people smoke anymore
[02:23:40] Well, I realized that when I go to another state. Yes, and
[02:23:44] You go into a restaurant or something because it's illegal here. You can't smoke in a restaurant
[02:23:47] You can't smoke in a bar here. You can't do it. Do you legal. It's literally illegal. Yeah, so
[02:23:50] Yeah, so yeah, you go to another state and you smell cigarette. Oh, yeah, I remember that back
[02:23:59] Yeah, that'd be good. I think yeah, okay. Well, we'll think about that one
[02:24:04] Yeah, I don't know if I could legally do it though because I didn't smoke and I don't know what it takes
[02:24:09] I don't know if it's proper for me to do that
[02:24:12] I mean, I guess I could just get nuts of smoke. Yeah, because I mean, it's a horrible thing that kills you it shouldn't be doing it
[02:24:18] Man, I use it. There's actually no benefit from it, right? There's no I mean if you're doing steroids
[02:24:25] There's some benefit to it. Right. You're gonna get stronger if you're doing
[02:24:29] caffeine you're gonna be more awake, so there's some benefits. Is there any benefits? Well, it depends on what you mean by gender
[02:24:35] Spits before I've never even tried
[02:24:38] A puff of the cigarette before because you're from Hawaii. Well, that's not the reason
[02:24:42] People smoke no, it was the thing is thing with my dad. He he literally refer to it as the devil like he'd be like smoke
[02:24:50] It's that devil and it was it was a shame thing to so the way he would talk about smoking not necessarily the people that smoke
[02:24:57] But that smoking is yeah, it's just so it just to me in my mind according to his little
[02:25:04] That's cool. That's so you're dead. It's a good job there. Yeah, yeah, I never tried
[02:25:07] Yeah, anyway, he should have told you sleep was the devil to did you out of the bed
[02:25:12] Well, that's a thing. I know
[02:25:16] Yeah, that's my it's I think it's there is benefits though
[02:25:19] Depends on what you mean by benefits though health benefits of any kind
[02:25:24] It gives you like this this like buzz and alerting
[02:25:27] But here's the thing about so it's weird because if you say smoking smoking
[02:25:31] Cigarettes there's nicotine in it and there's benefits in nicotine but smoking also has all the carbon dioxide like tar all these like
[02:25:41] Yeah, carcinogens and stuff like that. Yeah, so smoking
[02:25:47] Maybe not so much benefits nicotine. There are benefits. Okay. Well, let's just say no I say no
[02:25:53] There are no benefits. So that's a net benefit no negative all right and
[02:26:00] Let's see also speaking of net benefit you can get some net benefit if you want to try something called jocquite
[02:26:08] If you're not a T drink or don't worry because it doesn't taste like T tastes like victory here
[02:26:13] And you know don't take my word for it. I got some reviews. We got some we got a bunch of reviews on Amazon
[02:26:19] And you know what they're all awesome. They're all 12 star right?
[02:26:24] So here's one after drinking one comp of this balanced and delicious T. I was able to execute a flying triangle on my black belt
[02:26:31] Jiu-Jitsu instructor while discovering the mystery behind dark matter in the universe
[02:26:34] It actually isn't dark matter. It's a combination of jocquite's chin and echo Charles's biceps
[02:26:41] altering the gravitational field from random celestial bodies
[02:26:45] So you know there's some good stuff here. I can't speak to deadlift performance
[02:26:51] But when I can't comment as the significant increase in production while performing farm work
[02:26:57] Most noticeably I can dig post holes in hard southern clay and half the normal time while under the influence of jocquite
[02:27:03] T tastes great now highly recommend it for farmers land scalpers construction workers workers or anyone who wants to get after it
[02:27:11] So I didn't you know I wasn't familiar with that. Well you do notice right now like the economies improving a lot
[02:27:17] We're like you know everything is getting better. I think it's a lot of people are drinking jocquite. They're working harder
[02:27:22] Yeah, yeah, so that you're saying quarterly you're not necessarily saying I'm not saying it's a fact. I'm just saying it's factual
[02:27:29] And you know this guy here
[02:27:32] bought this from my wife. She's five to 120 pounds
[02:27:35] She was deadlifting 250 pounds by the way. That's double body weight already impressive after a week of
[02:27:42] Inbibing this fine product her deadlift suddenly increased to
[02:27:47] 1,250 pounds now
[02:27:50] That might seem like a lot
[02:27:54] But it's it happened right it's right there. I mean this has been documented on Amazon reviews
[02:27:59] Yeah, I'm gonna be too we started throwing jocquite tags in
[02:28:06] 500 gallon water tank on the fire truck
[02:28:09] Little known fact jocquite tears three times a weather
[02:28:14] You're now extinguishing fires three times faster and in the process anyone on scene who gets sprayed immediately
[02:28:20] Starts getting after it so there's a little side effect, but it's a positive side effects. Yeah, negative
[02:28:25] That you're putting out the fire someone say it's hit with some water by accident. They're not gonna complain
[02:28:30] They're starting to improve
[02:28:33] We got a warning here to aggressive do not drink at work literally lip the ripped the door trim off the wall after
[02:28:39] Consuming this victory in a glass luckily
[02:28:42] Since getting after it is my new default mode I was able to repair the damage before the boss noticed
[02:28:48] Replace pathetic this is my best part out of the best part of this one replaced
[02:28:52] Pathetic screws with lag bolts, you know lag bolts are they're like instead of a screw
[02:28:58] Which is like a little tiny pencil thing a lag bolt is a big bolt that you like surreal. Yeah
[02:29:04] That's what you that's your mind. Yeah, it's now I
[02:29:08] Mention this before and I don't know if I should necessarily do this but I kind of think I should
[02:29:14] God there's a poem that someone wrote about jocquite tea and it's based on the
[02:29:20] Poem infantry columns by kippling
[02:29:23] This one is talking about jocquite tea probably worth talking about here. Yes, so we'll go
[02:29:31] Here we go
[02:29:32] Jocquite tea. I'm hot brew brew brew brew brew brewing up some jocquite
[02:29:41] Hot hot hot hot
[02:29:43] Brewing up some jocquite drink drink drink drink drink get down and brew again
[02:29:49] There's no tea leaves in the poor
[02:29:53] Three two four five tasty couple of dia day seven three five nine cups of day before drink drink drink drink drink drink
[02:30:05] Drink it down and brew again. There's no tea leaves in the poor do do do do
[02:30:12] Cross what is in front of you drink drink drink drink drink drink drink drink
[02:30:17] Drink it down and brew again good good good good
[02:30:21] Will answer everything there's no tea leaves in the poor. I've drank whole
[02:30:28] Boxing getting after it press lift squat roll then right back to it again drink drink drink drink drink
[02:30:37] Drink drink drink it down and brew again and there's no tea leaves in the poor
[02:30:41] So just when someone writes a review like that
[02:30:49] I think that might be the best in that fact. Let's just face it. That's the best review that's ever
[02:30:53] But I don't understand was so good on you. That's the best review. That was very impressive. Yeah, it was very impressive
[02:31:00] And so that's that also if you want to pre order a
[02:31:05] Little book coming out called way of the war your kid
[02:31:07] And
[02:31:09] You can order it and I'll tell you why this book you might be wondering what this book is about
[02:31:17] This book is about everything
[02:31:20] So I want to read a little excerpt to you
[02:31:24] Young Mark remember the beginning of the book you could do zero pull-ups. Do not do any pull-ups. What's this strong enough?
[02:31:30] Now he works through the summer his uncle Jake is showing him looks and good workout programs
[02:31:34] And finally he's built up over the summer goes through some platoes gets through them
[02:31:40] Getting after it training hard finally towards the end of summer he gets his first day of doing 10 pull-ups
[02:31:46] Right and so here's what happens we're going back to the book
[02:31:50] And that was it
[02:31:52] I was now officially a kid who can do 10 pull-ups no more hiding from the pull-up bar in school
[02:31:56] No more being embarrassed about being weak. This was real
[02:31:59] As I thought about this I looked at uncle Jake and said thanks
[02:32:04] No problem Mark and I want you to remember something this isn't just about pull-ups you know what else this is about
[02:32:12] right
[02:32:13] I wasn't quite sure I don't know
[02:32:16] Uncle Jake grabbed me by both shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes and said gravely this is about everything
[02:32:23] Everything just think two months ago you couldn't do any pull-ups at all zero
[02:32:31] Now you can do 10 all it took was a good plan and the discipline to execute that plan to do it
[02:32:38] That's what it takes and you can apply that to just about anything if you are willing to do the work
[02:32:44] You can make things happen
[02:32:47] And like I told you no one else is going to do the work for you
[02:32:50] Sure you might get some help along the way but you might not who knows what we do know is this
[02:32:56] Hard work and discipline are how you achieve things you have to make things happen and that is exactly what you did here
[02:33:04] And you can do that with almost anything in life
[02:33:08] Remember that
[02:33:12] Uncle Jake's put now some word to young Mark so there's all kinds of good lessons for you know
[02:33:18] I'd love to say to kids book it's a kids book basically. I'm gonna tell you what
[02:33:23] You might want to order it for yourself. Yeah, everybody. It's everybody book. It's everybody book. They're just
[02:33:28] It's an everybody book so that's that check out that book
[02:33:32] Also just released
[02:33:34] Displun equals freedom field manual
[02:33:37] Sometimes we need to refer to the manual on how to do things right
[02:33:42] We need the manual if we're gonna refer to it. It's true manual is coming you can preorder that one too
[02:33:47] It's about everything you know
[02:33:51] That one's more aimed at an adult audience. Yeah, it is adult
[02:33:56] Yeah, not that there's like bad words in it right I think like that there's no obscene topics
[02:34:02] Yeah, unless you think donuts are a bad word
[02:34:05] Is there in there we talk about them a little bit and they're they're evilness so yeah you can you can get that one too
[02:34:12] Of course
[02:34:14] You can get extreme ownership it's about leadership and combat and business and it's about life and you know from what we learned in combat
[02:34:23] The lessons that we learned in combat would they will help you in
[02:34:27] Your business and they will help you in life so get a copy get a copy for your team and you know
[02:34:34] Up and down the chain of command up and down the chain of command. They need it
[02:34:38] Also, I wanted to mention this echelon front right. This is the company
[02:34:44] Life-babbin and I who wrote the book extreme ownership with me. This is our company leadership and management consulting
[02:34:50] That's what we do. We've also got JP the now on board. We got Dave Burke on board
[02:34:57] And we work with companies help them align their leadership
[02:35:01] Around the principles from the book extreme ownership the things we learned in combat if you need this
[02:35:06] And this is the reason I'm saying this right now. No, I don't talk about or I haven't talked about this much
[02:35:10] But people sometimes have a hard time figuring out how to get information echelon front dot com
[02:35:15] That's the business website if you want to bring us on board
[02:35:21] info at echelon front dot com you can email that address and then people can get there
[02:35:27] You don't need to go to a speaker's bureau if you want to hear me speak or if you want to hear live speaker if you want to hear because a speaker's bureau is
[02:35:37] They're their companies that that
[02:35:40] Facilitate speakers like an agent. Yeah, they're like an agent. So if you don't know how to contact if you want to hear jocco talk
[02:35:46] You want to have jocco come and talk of your company you type
[02:35:50] Speaker jocco willing
[02:35:52] There's a good chance echelon front will come up and say oh yeah, you can call this number
[02:35:56] You can email here and you know what that'll hook it up or there'll be someone else that says you know
[02:36:01] Bill's speakers
[02:36:03] Right and they're advertising me they're advertising everybody people and they say hey if you want it
[02:36:08] Then they contact us, but you got to you got yourself a middle man in that scenario
[02:36:12] So yeah, actually that's good because like people still email me. Yeah, like hey, you know
[02:36:17] Echo you come and talk at our company
[02:36:20] No, you tell us anything you know about it
[02:36:25] Yeah, yeah, no, I think yeah, yeah, yeah, why you yours you forward those those things to me too
[02:36:31] Yeah, and I didn't know the info I all sent them to like jameers something. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's uh that's but yeah
[02:36:38] So that's what you do in for what I should learn from Doccom and you know between me between life jp dayfork and we do
[02:36:46] We do
[02:36:49] Programs like full programs at your company yeah to get everybody aligned and on the same page
[02:36:53] So that's what we do if you want to get some of that and
[02:36:58] Also
[02:36:59] You can come to the master in New York City New York City right?
[02:37:04] Can't be mad at New York City. That's the place
[02:37:07] We're gonna be May 4th and May 5th doing at the Marriott Grand Marquis
[02:37:11] Now a couple things about the mustard. Okay. This is this is different. Okay. This isn't a few good
[02:37:18] Saminar to like pump you up that is not what's happened to it the mustard you want that don't come
[02:37:23] Yeah, I'm not saying you won't be pumped up. I'm not saying you won't be motivated
[02:37:27] But don't come if that's what you're looking for
[02:37:30] There's not gonna be any chanting, okay?
[02:37:33] There's not gonna be any like communal promises and that kind of stuff. That's not happening there
[02:37:40] You're not gonna fill out a
[02:37:43] Dreamboard, okay, that's not happening. Don't come to the mustard if that's what you want
[02:37:48] That's not what the mustard is
[02:37:51] This is practical
[02:37:54] Tactics tactics and strategies
[02:37:58] Practical things that will help you lead your team and will help you lead yourself
[02:38:06] So if that's what you want
[02:38:08] Then come to the mustard
[02:38:12] If you want to
[02:38:14] Chance and promise and stuff like this don't come
[02:38:18] Because that's not what it is. If you want to learn how to lead come
[02:38:22] Yeah, yeah, there
[02:38:24] I mean, I'm just obviously going on the last one, but
[02:38:29] Like you learn like scenarios, you know that the Q and A part is
[02:38:33] Straight up golden because everyone comes like hey, I had this scenario that's been basically plaguing me
[02:38:38] For a year and it's just causing problems here and you know and everyone has their own one and while they're all unique
[02:38:44] They all kind of overlap with each other and and you guys are like okay, this way you do this way
[02:38:48] You do this is the answer and it's like dang
[02:38:50] We now we have an answer we go back to the work in it like a lot of times it'll just solve like this one problem that affects all this other stuff
[02:38:57] Man, it's so effective it is and when people
[02:39:02] Come and they hear those questions get asked and and again
[02:39:05] There's always an overlap on the questions right and and there's overlap on the principles as well
[02:39:10] You know
[02:39:11] Cover and move simple prioritize next girl execute decentralized command those
[02:39:16] The explanations can stand alone on themselves
[02:39:19] But you start getting into real-world application there's gonna be other there they're gonna overlap
[02:39:24] You can you need all four of them right you need all four of them to solve your problem
[02:39:28] You can't just solve a problem with decentralized command because if you try and do that
[02:39:32] You'll make something too complex you gotta keep it simple and by the way
[02:39:35] There's gonna be multiple problems that you're gonna be trying to solve with your decentralized command
[02:39:39] So you gotta prioritize next week. So that's the way it is for every
[02:39:42] Every problem that you're you're suffering and then there's you know
[02:39:45] There's obviously other
[02:39:46] Other principles that we build upon that aren't just the four laws of combat
[02:39:51] So you gotta get you gotta that's what's good is when people hear the way that you utilize these tools
[02:39:58] They learn to utilize them themselves right that's that's what you're trying to do
[02:40:03] It's like trying to teach someone to take pictures right you don't just you and I'm saying this because you know
[02:40:08] I've been talking about cameras
[02:40:09] You don't just say okay here point this and point this set the setting to this set the light over here
[02:40:15] Set this up presses button and there's your picture that's cool. It works that one time
[02:40:19] What what happens when I step outside? Yeah, there's different lighting what happens when the subject is moving
[02:40:23] You gotta teach me how to do the job you gotta teach me the intricacies intricacies of it
[02:40:29] You gotta show me all those things. I gotta learn how to use that tool and that's what we do at the
[02:40:34] Master you get these various tools you don't just read about them and see what they are and say
[02:40:39] Okay, I understand what this tool is here. I'm holding this tool in my hand. It's sharp. I can cut with it
[02:40:43] Well, guess what else you can do with this? There's a lot of things you can do with these tools that we put out at the
[02:40:48] Master we take it to the next level. So if that's what you're looking for come to the master come to the master
[02:40:53] We got great feedback across the board
[02:40:55] So yeah, come and get that in the meantime also if there's something that you want to ask or you have a question or you want to give some feedback or comment about what we're doing here
[02:41:06] Or if you knew if you just want to cruise with you know with echo Charles primarily he's kind of a primary cruiser here
[02:41:13] We're on the interwebs right now today yesterday will be there tomorrow Twitter
[02:41:21] Instagram and
[02:41:23] You know that we also we kind of be on that Facebookie and you can get us there echo is at echo Charles
[02:41:30] and I am at
[02:41:32] Jocco-Willink and to close this out for the day
[02:41:37] Thanks
[02:41:42] First of all to all the people in uniform that are out there holding the line against terror against extremism against criminals against fire and disaster against
[02:41:53] accidents and against the unexpected
[02:41:58] All of you
[02:42:00] Thank you for keeping us safe and everyone else out there. Thank you for listening
[02:42:05] and
[02:42:07] I would
[02:42:09] Also ask that you be thankful
[02:42:13] You be thankful for your freedom
[02:42:20] Your precious and
[02:42:23] costly freedom
[02:42:25] Because sometimes when something is given to us just given to us
[02:42:35] We forget what the cost was we forget the price that was paid
[02:42:41] And there was a
[02:42:44] price paid for our freedom a massive price
[02:42:47] There are those that paid everything they had for our freedom
[02:43:00] So don't waste it don't abuse it don't scondrate
[02:43:10] Our time here is limited your time here is limited
[02:43:15] And
[02:43:17] You have this freedom you have this gift so what are you going to do with it?
[02:43:28] What are you going to do with it today right now?
[02:43:36] Ask yourself that question ask
[02:43:39] And then go out
[02:43:46] And get after it
[02:43:48] So until next time this is echo and juggle out