This week, Crude will be revisiting the top 5 most popular episodes of 2019. Number 2 on the list is with retired marine and pararescueman Roger Sparks. In 2010, Roger was part of operation Bulldog Bite 2 Charlie, a heavy firefight with insurgents in the Watapur Valley in Afghanistan. The fight was, as Roger puts it, surreal. He talks about how, after the fight, he was in such disbelief that he checked Wikipedia for proof that the fight actually happened. For his part, he was awarded the Silver Star, one of the highest awards for valor in combat you can receive from the United States Armed Forces.

After a 25-year-long career in special forces, Roger is now a tattoo artist and author. It’s taken him a long time to be where he is now—with the understanding and the self-analysis that comes with soul searching. His perspective is a reflection of a life spent in uncomfortable situations, be it as a Recon Marine, an Air Force pararescueman, or a tattoo artist. Because, as he puts, “if you’re risking virtuously, it leads to better and more things.”

This episode originally aired on Friday, October 25, 2019.