UK-native Dean Stott, a former  SBS-member, leverages his international experience as the British equivalent of a US Seal Team Six operative as he works with his wife Alana to aid governments, private groups, and individuals in dangerous situations around the globe.  Now based in Southern California, they lay out how they started their very successful company, and share some of their client adventures. Their secret in helping in a crisis? Avoid conflict and make friends with local people around the world. Hear the Stotts tell their special story of helping people in need and forging a successful private and business partnership!



Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Thom Whitehead and Sydney Wilkinson are post-production experts in the film industry who used their skills to closely examine a forensic copy of the most famous amateur movie in history - one that captures the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. What they found is shocking - clear evidence that the film had been  tampered with before it was shown to the public. It begs the question: Who tampered with the film and why? Of the 50 Hollywood film experts who viewed the film and saw what Thom and Sidney saw, only two were willing to go on record.



Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Patti Naughton is one of the first female operatives recruited as the drug wars heated up in the late 70's and early 80's. Patti was instrumental in helping to make dozens of cases against organized drug traffickers, including the Detroit mafia and the Outlaw motorcycle gang. As a woman, her role was especially dangerous. In this episode, Patti speaks about how she chose a career in criminal justice, her cases, and importantly, about overcoming fear.



Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Former member of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, journalist and author Christopher Whitcomb shares his perspective on the crisis in the Middle East.

This timely conversation shares one man's perspective, as the world's focus is trained on Israel and the Middle East. Chris describes his visit to Gaza to meet Yasser Arafat, as well as his observations about violent crises and the path to resolution. Chris's career later led him into the media, and he also shares his view of how stories are crafted in modern newsrooms.


Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Author Damien Lewis shares the details from his book Agent Josephine of the career of Josephine Baker as a secret agent during World War II. Utilizing her celebrity as a performer, she furthered the cause of freedom as an Allied spy in the French Underground. Her adventures spanned France, Portugal, and North Africa. Her  experiences with issues of race, equality, and freedom motivated her to take brave action, but it was her natural charm and affinity for people that made her one of the most powerful secret weapons of the Allied Forces.



Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

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Oct. 23, 2023 @12AM
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Henry L. "Dick" Thompson had to swear to stay silent for 20 years when he joined the ultra-secret, badass MACV-SOG. Now uncensored, he speaks about his insane adventures serving in the Vietnamese jungle, and how he applied his skills as a natural-born tracker raised on his grandparent's farm to the job of team leader: "I could actually smell the NVA."
 
Though their mission was intel and recon, this famous SOG group saw frequent combat and worse casualties than any other: A small team (approx. 6-9 men) was routinely air-dropped behind enemy lines and often faced battalion-sized NVA and VC opponents during the U.S. Secret War in Laos and Cambodia. Not allowed to wear his dog tags or anything that would identify him, he chose his "Dynamite" codename because as a kid, he liked to blow things up.

Dick remains good friends with recent HBH guest "Tilt" Meyer, a former MACV-SOG comrade-in-arms. 

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Henry L. "Dick" Thompson had to swear to stay silent for 20 years when he joined the ultra-secret, badass MACV-SOG. Now uncensored, he speaks about his insane adventures serving in the Vietnamese jungle, and how he applied his skills as a natural-born tracker raised on his grandparent's farm to the job of team leader: "I could actually smell the NVA."
 
Though their mission was intel and recon, this famous SOG group saw frequent combat and worse casualties than any other: A small team (approx. 6-9 men) was routinely air-dropped behind enemy lines and often faced battalion-sized NVA and VC opponents during the U.S. Secret War in Laos and Cambodia. Not allowed to wear his dog tags or anything that would identify him, he chose any his "Dynamite" codename because as a kid, he liked to blow things up.

Dick remains good friends with recent HBH guest "Tilt" Meyer, a former MACV-SOG comrade-in-arms. We're delighted this episode will air for the first time during the 2023 annual gathering of SOG veterans. 

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

When he was sixteen, Brent Poppen was horsing around with another kid, and ended up with a broken neck and permanently wheelchair-bound. But Brent, who was already a budding athlete, didn't let that stop him.

Now the winner of numerous Gold Medals and titles, including and a Bronze Paralympic Medal. (Athens '04) Brent describes his journey from basic mastery of his 'new' body to becoming part of the athletic elite in wheelchair sports (tennis and rugby), traveling all over the world to pursue his goals. His story is humbling, inspiring, and just flat-out amazing. A published author, public speaker, and counselor to those who have been similarly afflicted, Brent Poppen is a shining example of the human spirit at its best.


Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Thrown into a chaotic and deadly maelstrom of combat during the $785B Iraqi War, you can almost feel the bullets whizzing past as Benjamin Sledge speaks about how he came through his literal 'trial by fire.' 

Though raised in a family with generations of soldiers, Benjamin's experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq were still shocking, and the psychic armor he developed to survive transformed him into someone he didn't recognize. In his eleven years in combat, Ben earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.


Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

When policeman David Yuzuk first befriended the diminutive Richard J. Flattery living on the streets of Aventura, Florida, he assumed he was just another man down on his luck. Then in Spring 2015  Richard started to share his life story -- one filled with heroic combat as a platoon leader in Vietnam and later, secret missions for the CIA. He warned that by doing so, he was taking a risk. Officer Yuzuk dismissed it as the delusions of a troubled mind. 

Then days later, Richard was killed in a hit-and-run accident. And David set out to find the truth about the shortest person to ever serve in the military -- Silver Star recipient Capt. Richard J. Flattery, the "Giant Killer."


Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com