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Morgan Lerette served in the US Army before joining Blackwater as a Private Military Contractor. He is the author of Guns, Girls, & Greed, a firsthand perspective on how men act and react in war.

You can get Morgan's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Girls-Greed-Blackwater-Mercenary/dp/B0D5JMPTMY

Connect with him: @blackwaterdude1

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From the age of 12, Scott Ryder knew he wanted to join the army. After serving as a paratrooper and in East Timor with 3 RAR, he wanted more. He trained all summer and took the gruelling selection course for the commandos, earning the prized green beret on his second attempt.

Ryder shares battlefield stories from his tours to Afghanistan, where his regiment saw some of the heaviest fighting Australian forces have experienced since the Vietnam War. After being seriously injured in a shocking Black Hawk helicopter crash in Kandahar, he was the only survivor to return to active service.

You can learn more about Scott's service in his book Forged in Fire, available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forged-Fire-Australian-commandos-frontline-ebook/dp/B0CYZNJRDB

Scott is on instagram: @scott_ryder_zero79

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Dilip Sarkar is the author of over 60 books inspired by the Spitfire and Battle of Britain stories. Dilip is himself a living link to the past, given his privileged relationships with countless wartime survivors. He joins us to to discuss the importance of the Battle of Britain, the impossible odds that Britain faced, the people who made victory possible, and why we must never forget them.

You can learn more about Dilip and find his books, battlefield tours, and much more here: https://www.dilipsarkarmbe.com/

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Wayne Ingram M.B.E. MCPara began his military career in 1986 with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment. He later completed the French Commando course before specialising in a reconnaissance regiment.

Since leaving the military, Wayne has dedicated his life to supporting children living with life-altering conditions—such as craniofacial disfigurements, scoliosis, and other complex medical challenges. Through tireless fundraising, international collaboration, and heartfelt advocacy, he continues to give children the chance at a future once thought impossible.

You can find out more about Wayne's mission, and his book here: https://www.wayneingram.com/

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact us on:

instagram: @veteranstateofmind 

email: [email protected]

Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

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Colonel Robert Wemheuer served 3 tours in Vietnam as a United States Marine Corps aviator. He is the author of Unlike No Other, which you can find using the link below:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unlike-No-Other-Unlikely-Successful/dp/B0FDCCRHBP

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact us on:

instagram: @veteranstateofmind 

email: [email protected]

Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

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"‘Remembering Afghanistan’ on 26th October at the Bastion Wall, National Memorial Arboretum.  All welcome, families and friends encouraged, and to register simply head over here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/remembering-afghanistan-2025-tickets-1643004955049?aff=oddtdtcreator This is the now annual service held specifically to commemorate Afghanistan.  This follows last year's 10-year anniversary event held in conjunction with the RBL and sees the UK Afghanistan Veterans Community (AVC) take stewardship of this commemoration at the Bastion Wall."

The above is a message from the Afghanistan Veteran's Community.

War Story will be back on Monday the 13th, featuring an episode with a helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam.

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@veteranstateofmind on Instagram

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Matt Okuhara joined the Territorial Army at 18. After just a few weeks of training he was called up for service in Iraq.

Details of Matt's book, Basra and Back: "Basra and Back follows Salamanca Company, a unit of British infantry deployed to Iraq as part of the peacekeeping effort after the 2003 invasion, known as Operation TELIC. Drawn from units in southwest England, Salamanca Company wasted no time in assuming its duties, providing security to the coalition’s provisional government and navigating the tense, dusty streets of Basra City. Insurgents had infiltrated the city, sowing discord among the population already grappling with shortages of essential resources like food, water, fuel, and electricity. The soldiers understood the gravity of the situation and braced themselves for civil unrest and worse, knowing their deployment would lead them into even more dangerous territory. For six months in 2004, the officers and men of The Rifle Volunteers found themselves as reservists on the frontline. Now that the war had been won, it was time to win the peace. Told through the eyes of Matthew Okuhara, a young soldier called into regular service, Basra and Back gives a true and overlooked account of the UK's military reserve at war. Narrated with an abstract sense of humour, Matthew is initially out of place but eventually discovers his role as the unit medic within ‘3 Platoon’. The book also covers the military history of reserve soldiers during the War on Terror, with the deployment of so many volunteers marking a historic moment for the British Army, as was the first time in nearly half a century that a formed unit of reservists is deployed in a ground holding role since the Suez Crisis: an experiment that created a strategy that continued in military deployments for years to come."

You can order it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Basra-Back-Memoir-Unlikely-Infantryman/dp/1036129659

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact us on:

instagram: @veteranstateofmind 

email: [email protected]

Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

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Daril Fannin’s path to Hollywood defies every norm. Raised in a cult that banned movies, his first act of rebellion was sneaking out to watch The Matrix. It cracked open his world—and rewrote the script for his life. After nine years as a U.S. Army combat medic, Daril earned his MFA in screenwriting at Loyola Marymount, where he sold a Netflix series before finishing the program. Today, he’s a multi-million dollar creator, writing and producing projects with A-list icons like Matt Damon, Peter Berg, Sylvester Stallone, and Jimmy Kimmel for entertainment giants like Netflix and Disney. Daril’s mission: fix a broken industry. Frustrated by the inefficiencies and inequities embedded in traditional Hollywood workflows, he co-founded KINO: a tech-powered platform designed to reinvent how films are produced, distributed, and experienced. And most recently had his film picked up by A24.

Follow Daril: @darilfannin

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact us on:

instagram: @veteranstateofmind 

email: [email protected]

Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

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Stephen Handley served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and 1 Royal Welsh. On his second tour of Afghanistan Stephen suffered life changing injuries caused by an IED.

Stephen's Instagram: @stephen.handley

The climbing organisation that Stephen talks about is: https://www.adaptivegrandslam.com/

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact us on instagram: @veteranstateofmind

Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

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Paul Glazebrook served with the Close Observation Platoon of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland, and the Recce Platoon of 4th Battalion, The Rifles in Iraq. He is the author of Been Nowhere, Done Nothing which tells the story of his service with unflinching honesty and hysterically funny wit, giving a keen insight into the sense of humour which has kept our forces in the fight for generations.

You can order it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Been-Nowhere-Done-Nothing-Glazebrook-ebook/dp/B0F67J69V9

Paul's instagram: @raconteur_photography

Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact us on instagram: @veteranstateofmind

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