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We pick up part 2 with Lew Layton and trace how Ramadi shifts from early IED shortcomings to rapid escalation, brutal missions, and losses that still echo decades later. We also talk about the leadership that held things together, the dark humor that kept morale alive, and what service means after a 20+ year career as a Marine leader. 

• Early IED awareness, door debates, and why the threat felt unreal at first 
• The speed of escalation
• April 10 bug hunt operations and how battalion control works in practice 
• Moving bodies for accountability and intel, and why it still feels surreal 
• Admiration for standout leaders
• Late April and May casualties, including the impact of Savage’s death 
• Grief, professionalism, and returning to mission as a coping method 
• Why it took twenty years to tell these stories out loud 
• Funny hooch moments, rocket immunity, and the role of humor 
• Leadership failures elsewhere and the belief that Marines deserve good leaders 

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

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We start off part 1 with Lew Layton to trace how a Marine goes from Okinawa, some California training, and squad leader school... to the confusion and violence of Ramadi in 2004. We swap stories about the gear, the radios, the near misses, and a lot of unique moments about small unit leadership. 

• Lew’s background and early leadership roles 
• The flight over, Kuwait preparation, and early weapon safety lessons 
• First impressions of Ramadi and how thin the handoff feels 
• Learning routes, spotting IEDs, and getting hit early 
• A casualty evacuation story
• Night movement problems
• Improvised gear, armor shortages, and hydration discipline 
• April 2004 firefights and adapting tactics 
• The General Mattis PRR moment and comms frustrations 
• IED jamming skepticism and the near misses that stick 

if you like what you've heard, this is a multi-part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story.

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

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In part 2, we swap Bill Groves stories that still feel like yesterday even years later, from a tank round snapping past our position to the summer shift when enemy fire gets sharp and accurate. We also talk about the weird day-to-day details that stick, how unit handoffs can fail, and why the bonds from that time still don’t fade. 

• getting shot at by an Abrams
• the bridge guard post mess and rumors that spiral fast 
• getting put on hard labor
• hooch life stories, dumb injuries, and the stuff we did to pass time 
• the heat
• firefights in the south and the shift to more accurate enemy shooting 
• faith arguments in the truck and “no atheists in a foxhole” 
• Junction City stories 
• the 2/5 handoff 
• coming home 
• drones, contractors, and finding insurgent propaganda videos 
• looking back 22 years later and what the brotherhood means now 

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

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This time, we talk with MAP2 Lance Corporal Bill Groves about the fast ramp from Okinawa training cycles to the first brutal weeks in Ramadi in 2004, including the moments that made everything feel real. From miserable workups and broken flights to firefights, IEDs, and the uneasy question of who could be trusted, Bill tells the details in the way only he can recount. 

• joining the platoon late in Okinawa and racing into the Ramadi buildup
• Bridgeport misery 
• MOUT Town training
• aircraft breakdowns and surprise layovers
• the convoy from Kuwait 
• first days in Ramadi and the shock of immediate mass-casualty scenes
• half doors and early IED lessons
• April contacts including friendly fire confusion across the river
• extended firefights on April 6 and 7
• decompression rituals after contact and the way habits change
• contractors and interpreters 
• Operation Treasure Island 
• the Habaniya dam sweep, the VBIED blast, and casualty evacuation
• cemetery hill landmine and a later night QRF to an LAV strike

If you like what you've heard, this is a multi part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story.

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

Send us Fan Mail

A bonus 3rd hour with Reagan Hodges as he adds some sharper detail, from reenlisting before 9/11 to the split-second fights that still replay in his head. We talk about why brotherhood can feel like the best and worst part of war at the same time, and what leadership, luck, and grief look like on the ground. 

• returning to the Marines after a break and why it felt like home 
• Okinawa bonding
• pre-deployment training stress
• Jeremiah “Savage” as the guy who gets things done 
• leading Marines hard while trusting the chain of command 
• Weapons Company as the cavalry and why everyone wants the call 
• April fights, rooftop exposure
• interpreter reliability, the mosque camera story
•  the reality of “blue on blue”
• April 10 bug hunt
• a ten-foot gunfight again with a little more detail
• Purple Hearts, and the awards process 

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

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Part 2 for Reagan Hodges with some gunfight stories and some memories of how the body keeps score. We also dig into what real combat leadership looks like, how grief shows up at strange times, and a little post traumatic growth.
 
• an RPK gunner at close range
• hypervigilance 
• trust-based leadership
• pride in the platoon and the rage behind disrespecting the fallen 
• faith and a grandmother’s war-time mindset 
• losing friends
• the sniper rooftop deaths and why rumors fill information gaps 
• mixed feelings about war stories becoming public through a book 
• coming home, wanting to redeploy
• veteran suicide prevention work and speaking bluntly with love 
• post-traumatic growth and challenging guilt for missing the fight 

If you like what you've heard, this is a multi part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story. 

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

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We bring on Reagan Hodges and talk how a hard-charging Marine who struggled in garrison becomes the kind of fighter everyone counts on when Ramadi turns. We talk through the training, the chaos, the losses, and the moments that still follow you home. 

• bouncing between ranks and learning to own consequences 
• pre-deployment workups
• why the command keeps him despite repeated trouble 
• the Sergeant Major Booker confrontation
• hazing, pressure-testing, and building calluses in infantry culture 
• first impressions of Ramadi
• QRF response and a graphic truck scene
• how constant contact distorts timelines and memory 
• Farhan capture, detainees under fire, and the uglier logistics of the fight 
• April 6 escalation, IEDs, and what it shows about insurgent tactics 
• Lioness attached to the platoon and the reality of women near frontline combat 

If you like what you've heard, this is a multi part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story. 

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

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Paul Hess part 2, reminds us that there is no polished and shiny versions of the Ramadi 2004 story: famous names showing up on base, mortars landing close, and memories that still feel foggy or sharp at the wrong times. We also talk hooch life, boredom, friendship, and why coming home can be harder than anyone expects. 

• Dan Rather at Hurricane Point 
• Oliver North riding along 
• First Sergeant Ellis as a leader 
• Early Ramadi operations, the Farhan brothers raid
• The strange guilt 
• Bug Hunts: loudspeakers, exhaustion, and long days 
• Weapons caches
• Hooch life stories, punishments, and bored Marines with tasers 
• Care packages, and the small things that got us through 
• Getting out, missing the guys, and the long road 

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

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Paul Hess starts his story as a brand new join... and straight to combat driver and dismounted Marine. Great recollections including the convoy into Iraq and the first overwhelming sights and sounds of Ramadi. We also discuss early urban combat realities at Hurricane Point, from IEDs and route tactics to the anger of not having a visible enemy to fight. 

• Paul Hess’s background and early Marine life 
• Leading a convoy memories 
• Pre deployment training 
• Remembering Ken Conde’s impact as a teacher 
• Ramadi arrival impressions
• Early mission tempo and route unpredictability
• First IED experience 
• “Pistol Pete” story 

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM 

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We catch up with Lance Corporal Ruben Ventocilla as he walks us from pre-deployment training to the heat and chaos of Ramadi in 2004, including IED strikes, gear shortages, and the constant need to adapt. He also leads us through his medevac to Baghdad story and where his service sits with him 20 years later. 

• black ice in New Jersey 
• leadership and training details that stick for decades 
• joining the Marine Corps as a Peruvian immigrant 
• early Iraq moments
• driving versus dismounting and how roles shaped focus
• scavenging and improvising gear
• arriving in Ramadi and making hooch life workable 
• having "a stroke" and the Baghdad hospital trip 
• downtime routines
• reporters in the AO and meeting Oliver North 
• chemical weapon rumors
• coming home readjustment and the uneasy “hero” label 

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ [email protected], or via the podcast website above. 

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM