Sayre and Preston are joined today by Johnny Britton.  Johnny is currently a field artillery officer in the Texas Army National Guard where he's certainly staying busy.  We talk about the challenges that Guard Soldiers face, balancing their military time with civilian careers, the variety of mission sets Johnny and his men are asked to accomplish and quite a bit more.  Was a lot of fun catching up with Johnny who I (Preston) was fortunate to have served with down in Texas.  He's got a lot of great insight not just into the National Guard but also, having worked for a while in a HIMARS unit, an understanding of where the Army's field artillery is headed going in to the future.

Hope you enjoy!

Preston and Sayre discuss recent articles tied to national security and international relations.  Focus of today's conversation are the articles linked below.  Audio from this episode will be uploaded to the 'War Stories with Preston and Sayre' podcast after the stream.  

Taliban release decree saying women must consent to marriage 

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/15/1064001076/taliban-afghanistan-girls-education-womens-rights  

Ukraine tensions: Biden and Putin phone call seeks 'diplomatic path' 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59818978  

U.S. at risk of paying 'unbearable price' over Taiwan - senior Chinese diplomat 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-risk-paying-unbearable-price-over-taiwan-senior-chinese-diplomat-2021-12-30/

Sayre and I are joined today by my grandfather, Bob Hurt.  Bob grew up in Illinois and attended the U of I before being drafted into the Army during the Korean War.  He talks about the advice his dad, a WWI veteran, gave him not just about joining the military (avoid the Army) but also how to make the most of any situation he found himself in.  Bob got into the training at Ft. Riley, KS as well as some of the mountain training in Camp Hale, CO that went right up until the war ended.

Just a few months into the First World War, something beautiful happened.  Amidst the chaos, death and destruction, soldiers from opposing sides made time to celebrate Christmas.  With no formal ceasefire declared, the soldiers in the trenches took it up on themselves.  They began singing to one another and before long had exited the trenches to share gifts with their adversaries.

The unofficial truce lasted in some places a day, in others into the new year but  not everyone was happy.  Many higher headquarters, upon learning of the fraternization put a quick stop to it and even ordered Christmas offensives in follow on years to prevent such a thing from happening again.

The Christmas Truce of 1914 is one of the bright lights in the First World War, a sign of humanity amidst the horrible backdrop of war.

Today Preston Stewart and Sayre Payne are joined by a group of Dimitri Del Castillo's classmates, Army rugby teammates and friends.  John Wagner, Jericho Jones, Tommy Sandonato, Andy Brigman, and Mike Fleming.  They talk about their time with Del at West Point, on the rugby pitch, during Ranger School and once everyone scattered their separate ways into the Army.

1LT Dimitri Del Castillo was killed on June 25th, 2011 in Kunar Province, Afghanistan while serving as a platoon leader with 2-35IN, 3rd BCT, 25th ID.

Sayre Payne and Preston Stewart are joined today by Joshu Mooi.  Josh joined the Marines after high school and before long found himself in one of the deadliest areas of Iraq, Anbar Province.  Josh talks about working his way through boot camp, showing up to a unit that was on track to deploy and arriving in country a little under-equipped.  During the months Josh and his unit were in Iraq, they played a major role in combating the al-Qaeda threat that was encroaching on Baghdad through the Euphrates River Valley during Operation Steel Curtain.

Josh has done a great job of documenting his time in Iraq on his Instagram page.  Worth checking out!

https://www.instagram.com/jinxmooi/

Sayre and I are joined today by former USA Today journalist Maria Goodavage to talk about service dogs and a Marine dog named Lucca.  

Maria is considered one of the foremost author experts on working dogs after the publication of her critically-acclaimed New York Times bestselling books, Soldier Dogs, Top Dog, and Secret Service Dogs. Her latest book, Doctor Dogs: How Our Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine, has won hearts around the world.

Maria has appeared on numerous national TV shows, including The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and Today, and has given talks about working dogs at the New York Stock Exchange, National Museum of the United States Air Force, and other notable venues.

Read more about Maria and all of her work at her website below!

https://www.mariagoodavage.com/

Today's episode has Sayre and I diving into a handful of questions we received via Instagram, TikTok, or through the Discord server.  Quite a few that we didn't get to today so we'll be back to get into some of the others before long.  Send any questions or comments to the accounts below and we'll see if we can feature yours on the show!

- Did the Viet Cong have planes and helicopters?

- What's going to happen with all the equipment left behind in Afghanistan?

- How to prepare for Army Air Assault school?

- Do combat rotations reduce effectiveness?

TikTok

Preston Stewart: https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew

Sayre Payne: https://www.tiktok.com/@sayrepayne

Instagram

Preston: https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/

Sayre: https://www.instagram.com/sayrepayne/

Twitter 

Sayre: https://twitter.com/SayrePayne

Discord: https://discord.gg/Fxqnyhtx

Sayre and I are honored to be joined again by MG (Ret) John Raaen.  MG Raaen graduated from West Point in the January class of 1943 as an engineer.  Before long he volunteered for the Rangers and became a company commander in the 5th Ranger Battalion.  In this episode we pick up where we left off last time, June 6th 1944. 

 MG Raaen talks about the first link up with the 1st Infantry Division behind Omaha Beach, the quality of the German soldier, and much more.