Combat Story

Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!

Eric Brethen is a former US Army Chief Warrant Officer and OH-6 "Cayuse" aka "Loach" reconnaissance and AH-1 "Cobra" attack helicopter pilot.

At just 19 years old, Eric found himself flying missions out of Cu Chi, just northwest of Saigon, in hunter killer teams in scenes reminiscent of Apocalypse Now. During his 19 months in Vietnam from 1969-1970, Eric flew 3,600 hours and was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Bronze Stars, Air Medals with Valor, Army Commendation Medals with Valor, and the South Vietnamese Gallantry Cross. 4:10 - The Army recruiter asks, 'Have you ever thought of being a pilot? 5:35 - Ending up in 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry (3/4 Cav) flying to Vietnam in first class with Field Grades landing in Ben Oui. 8:13 - Getting picked up by the nephew of then SecDef Melvin Laird. 9:40 - Hunter Killer teams (Loach and Cobra). 12:24 - 'Nobody volunteers for the Loach.' 14:33 - Watching a tail boom skid down the runway in front of the aircraft. 16:35 - The reality of an autorotation (video of MD-500 auto today). 24:50 - First flight outside the wire with a Pig (Loach) and a Snake (Cobra). 30:59 - Based in Cu Chi and farmed out to support missions in Ta Ninh and Katoom (1st Air Cav). 34:04 - Shooting a control tower with a mini-gun. Eric's crew chief and close friend Kenneth Taylor had the idea to mount a mini-gun on the OH-6 for the first time. 40:34 - First combat engagement at Boi Loi Woods near Godaha village. 46:46 - How to steal a helicopter (twice) for a night out to the President Hotel. 50:06 - Fighting Cobras at night lining up on a ground strobe light. 56:15 - Only time being afraid. 1:01:28 - Being shot down a couple times with a real autorotation. 1:04:58 - Picked up a Cobra crew (sitting on the skids) that was shot down. 1:09:25 - Close up view to a Cao Dai temple (example). 1:17:04 - Transition from OH-6 to AH-1 and a testament to control touch. 1:20:49 - The decision to get out. 1:23:57 - Always carried a St. Christopher's medal (the protector of travelers). Got one blessed by the Pope at one point.

Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!

Hubert Yoshida is a Vietnam Veteran who served as a U.S. Marine Corps Platoon Commander from 1965-1966 near Chu Lai in the central part of Vietnam with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines.

He and his platoon fought in the bloody Operation Utah, a significant battle from March 4-7, 1966, which saw over 700 KIA between the North and South Vietnamese forces and Marines. Hubert has a fascinating story that begins as a child in a Japanese prison camp in the U.S., to leading Marines on the front lines, and then transitioning to an exceptionally successful career in senior executive roles in the private sector.

Today, he's writing a book about Operation Utah to tell the story of the hundreds of Marines who fought there and is looking for anyone who may have served in that battle. 2:20 - Growing up in a prison camp for US citizens of Japanese ancestry. 7:17 - Family history in both the Japanese and US military. 8:41 - Had to enlist to serve in Vietnam to then earn a commission. 9:15 - Gets put in a data processing unit. 10:56 - Parents were disappointed he joined the Marine Corps after a degree in physics and math from Berkely and not going to grad school. 15:17 - First sighting in Vietnam was an Army Sergeant in underwear drinking a beer on the beach. 18:06 - Gets permission from the CO to go on a mission to a nearby village in first contact. 18:34 - The unit is ambushed on their first mission. 33:17 - Lead up to Operation Utah. Intel on the 21st NVA Regiment moving into Chu Lai. 36:17 - Initial flights into the battle were shot down, including an A-4 Skyhawk and H-34 by fifty caliber machine guns. 39:26 - Call from Battalion Commander to support another company to close a gap in the flank and recover a separated platoon. 41:14 - A suicide mission. 49:57 - Guilt in leaving the dead behind to make sure the wounded were carried out. 50:55 - Secures perimeter one of his men gets killed they call in air strikes. 58:23 - Recognizing the importance of the battle in your life and something you think about almost every night. 58:59 - The story of believing he lost a radio man haunts him to this day and only later found out the radio man lived through the event. 1:05:41 - Returning home from Vietnam and assigned to Camp Pendleton. 1:06:19 - Having to notify a young widow of her husband's passing in Vietnam. 1:07:52 - Leaves the Marine Corps after the death notification and joins IBM. 1:08:45 - Returning to Vietnam in 2016 to revisit his steps. 1:15:34 - Never provided direction to children in terms of joining the military. 1:17:45 - Would have done it again. 1:18:21 - Really proud to have been in the Marine Corps. 1:20:33 - Carrying a pocket bible through the deployment (one in English, one in Korean).

Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!

Jimmy Settle is a retired Air Force Pararescueman ("PJ") credited with saving 38 lives and assisting in saving 28 others in combat, in addition to saves in the Alaskan wilderness.

He racked up over 270 combat search and rescue hours in Afghanistan, where he earned an Air Medal with Valor for his life saving heroics and a Purple Heart after being shot in the head (and returning to combat 24 hours later).

Jimmy catalogues these and other near death experiences in his book, "Never Quit: From Alaska Wilderness Rescues to Afghanistan Firefights as an Elite Special Ops PJ," where he shares the friendships, hardships, pranks, and events that changed his life, from being an elite athlete competing at the Naval Academy to completing the daunting PJ pipeline to live saving ops in the most austere environments. 5:47 - What is a PJ and the military's pararescue. 13:33 - Introduced to PJ by Chris Robertson. 19:43 - "Cardiac Event" aka the first (of many) near death experience. 27:56 - "19 year old decision" to leave the Naval Academy after invasive surgery on the heart. 30:46 - The PJ "Pipeline" of elite training, INDOC (80%+ attrition rate), Combat Divers Course, Airborne, Free Fall, SERE, Pararescue EMT and Apprenticeship. 48:05 - "Cones" aka unfortunate trainees going through the pipeline (better than a Toad, not yet a Maroon Beret). 50:17 - Covertly free climbing Fort Benning's 250' Jump Towers for a prank. 52:48 - The "Green Feet" image used by PJs, an homage to Vietnam helos. 58:13 - The first time working on a live patient (intubation) in Philadelphia in a paramedic apprentice program. 1:05:51 - The first rescue from an aircraft as a PJ in Alaska at night in the wilderness to help a woman who had an accident with an ATV, chainsaw, and a scalping. 1:09:51 - Another near death experience while training in Alaska's Cook Inlet at night. 1:27:29 - Supporting Operation Bulldog Bite in Kunar province, Afghanistan in November 2010. 1:29:21 - Another near death experience getting shot in the head. 1:36:29 - Going back into combat 24 hours after being shot in the head to rescue dozens of people. 1:48:48 - Saving two soldiers on a chopper and thinking, "This is my purpose in life." 1:49:17 - Losing memory after getting shot in the head and how it creeped in "insidiously." 1:53:12 - Describing the difficulty in transitioning from the service to the civilian world and the loss of identity. 1:56:36 - Living in a car in the Commissary parking lot until a senior enlisted airmen intervened. 2:02:06 - "Without hesitation" would do it again.

Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!

Vince "Snapper" Sherer is a retired Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt "Warthog" fighter pilot. Over a 20 year career, he flew 300 combat missions and logged 1,300 combat flight hours in the A-10 and MC-12 across four deployments to Afghanistan.

Vince supported troops in contact at danger close range, at times without a wingman, over a decade of evolving combat and technological change. He's the personification of the A-10 pilot and gives an inside look at what combat felt like from the cockpit.

Another great set of stories from Vince can be found here on Task and Purpose. 1:57 - Call sign "Snapper" comes from the Sensitive New Age Pilot moniker (Urban Dictionary link). 4:57 - The inspiration to fly came from time with a sibling and watching Top Gun. 7:02 - A key tragic and defining moment with a significant accident in the family. 10:32 - Flying for the Navy or Air Force? 12:22 - Competition and path to get from college into the aircraft you want. 22:17 - Stereotype of the "Hawg" (A-10) pilots, F-16s, F-15s, etc. 24:20 - Hardest part of his Air Force career at Sheppard AFB. 27:22 - First flight in the A-10. "The better your preparation, the less your anxiety." 31:50 - T-38 second hardest aircraft to land in the Air Force (hardest is the U-2). 33:24 - How to do a checkride in a single-seat aircraft? 36:52 - First combat flight was September 2005 in Afghanistan in a Squadron led by now Senator Martha McSally. 40:40 - Normal weapons load in combat on an A-10. 42:49 - A standard engagement planning and execution. 51:22 - First engagement while supporting a convoy that hit an IED in southern Afghanistan in Winter 2005. 57:01 - Engagement in 2014 on fourth deployment supporting Wing Staff at Bagram AFB and flying with 303rd Fighter Squadron from Kansas City. 1:01:01 - Near fratricide incident in combat until something didn't feel right. 1:07:11 - Carrying an American flag on each flight. 1:09:34 - Being in a unit with the first female A-10 Fighter Squadron Commander who flew in combat (Martha McSally). 1:13:32 - Advice on when to start flying in your life. 1:15:21 - Would you do it again? 1:16:39 - A great story about an A-10, a photograph, and the "south end of an unneutered bulldog." 1:19:51 - "I was so fired up that I got to go fly a jet again one more time."