Heroes Behind Headlines

When the United States retreated from the chaos of Kabul in August of 2021, General Sami Sadat was still fighting until the end. He  recounts how his troops were starved for ammunition for two years before the final pullout, while the U.S. was negotiating with the Taliban. He also talks about how earlier in his career he fought alongside the CIA to track down al-Qaeda in the mountains on Hindu Kush. General Sadat provides a uniquely different view of the war in Afghanistan, how it was fought and how changing U.S. military goals and tactics made it increasingly difficult to succeed. He currently leads opposition efforts against the Taliban from outside of Afghanistan.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Commissioned a Marine second lieutenant on November 8, 1967, G.M. Davis arrived in Vietnam less than a year later to lead a rifle platoon against the North Vietnamese Army in the northernmost province of what was then the Republic of Vietnam. In his deeply personal book, My War in the Jungle: The Long-Delayed Memoire of A Marine Lieutenant in Vietnam, 1968-69, Davis brings to life the relentless heat, the worry, the responsibility he carried and the daily grind of firefights, battles, victory, and death. Contact with the enemy was frequent, and the chaos of even a small fight was daunting. Davis also examines the political reality of the time, arguing that the war was lost before it began, but that the nation kept fighting and losing soldiers so politicians could look strong and keep their jobs.With his tour of duty completed following two serious injuries, Davis went on to earn a law degree at the University of Florida and was appointed to the federal bench as a US Magistrate Judge.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Robert F McLean was just 19 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy to do his part in WWII. Invited to join the Navy Seals, he declined and enrolled in the U.S.N. Patrol Torpedo Boat School in Melville, R.I. Upon graduation Bob was assigned to Squadron 30, destined for the European Theatre of Operations. Shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, his squadron became the outermost fighter convoy of the Normandy Invasion. The largest force ever assembled included his Patrol Torpedo Boat 461, a fighter escort. Bob valiantly participated in the fall of Le Havre, France and received a Bronze Star. He also was awarded a Presidential Citation for his squadron's heroic rescue work in the English Channel during the Battle of the Bulge. He also took part in the liberation of the Channel Islands off the coast of France.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

The success of the submarine-borne Polaris missile was a critical nuclear deterrent that helped President Kennedy stare down Khruschev during the 1961 Berlin Crisis. Ever since, this weapon has been a key strategic tool of the U.S. Tom Ramos's book "From Berkeley to Berlin," chronicles the scientific journey leading to the development of this and other nuclear weapons and the singular man whose "buoyant optimism spread to everyone around him and accounted for the attainment of many an 'impossible' objective."Founded in 1931 on the U.C. Berkeley campus by famed physicist Ernest Lawrence, (Nobel Prize-winning inventor of the cyclotron in 1938) "The Rad Lab" attracted some of the finest talent in America, including J. Robert Oppenheimer. In 1941, Lawrence challenged his team to deter Joseph Stalin's nuclear program in the USSR. Oppenheimer and Lawrence collaborated for more than a decade, their work together culminating on the Manhattan Project. Lawrence then founded the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, whose team further developed nuclear technology, including the Polaris missile.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Former U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Dan Schilling relates the heroic story of John Chapman captured in his book "Alone at Dawn"  – a fellow combat controller who fought and perished on an Afghan mountainside, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Chapman was the first airman to be so awarded in nearly fifty years. Dan gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Air Force Combat Controllers – the worlds deadliest and most versatile special operations force.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

A financial investigator for Federal law enforcement, David Asher is an expert in the financial side of organized criminal activities. He has been working for decades 'finding the money' to help build cases against some of the most notorious criminal organizations, (including the Gambino crime family) terrorists, and China. In this episode, David lays out the link between China and Mexican drug cartels to promote  drug trafficking into the U.S., especially of deadly  fentanyl.  He also discusses heading the Federal investigation into the origins of the COVID.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Shetland, Scotland native and independent journalist Jen Stout was in Russia in late February 2022 when the war with Ukraine broke out and quickly left for a border post in southern Romania to cover the great flood of refugees who were fleeing the fighting. Weeks later she entered Ukraine to report first-hand from the front lines and cities across the country. A writer with a great sense of empathy, Jen's main interest was not military strategy or international politics, but the Ukrainian people – their indomitable spirit, their poetic sensibilities  their hopes and fears. Her perspective is from the ground and her stories are filed from night trains, birthday parties, military hospitals and bunkers. Her very moving book is entitled: “Night Train to Odessa: Covering the  Human Cost of the Russia's War.”Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Former SAS medical officer and current war surgeon, Richard Villar, volunteered to provide medical support in Gaza during the 2024 invasion following the October 7 Hamas attack. He found himself working in a 200-bed hospital overrun with 700 patients, many of whom were women and children The hospital was under constant threat from drones, missiles and naval shells. Despite the constant danger, he and his fellow medics performed complex surgeries on bombing victims. His moving account of his experience, captured in his book, Gaza Medic, transcends the politics of war and focuses on the raw, brutal realities faced by medical professionals in conflict zones.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Past guest and highly decorated former CIA operations officer Gary Berntsen is back and he's breaking down the facts about Tren Del Aragua--the notorious gang of trained criminals at the heart of the illegal immigrant debate.Gary explains how he and his colleagues gathered intel about Tren Del Aragua as part of their investigations into the Cartel Del Sol, the largest criminal organization in the world, and how they provided the government with a list of  names of TdA members intentionally sent into the U.S. to cause mayhem. Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

CIA contract pilot William "Tosh" Plumlee is back—this time with his eyewitness account from the South Knoll of Dealey Plaza, in Dallas on November 22rd, 1963. Present as part of a Pentagon abort team, Tosh counted five shots, coming from at least two directions, with the fatal headshot coming from the South Knoll parking lot. Tosh drew a map of the events as he saw them, and shared his eyewitness account under sworn testimony to the FBI, the Church Committee, the House Select Committee on Assassinations and others. Over the years, Tosh has received visits from anonymous 'agents' warning him to keep quiet. Now he's telling his story to HBH.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Doctor of behavioral science and pastor Michael Caparrelli spent 100 hours with convicted serial killer David Berkowitz in an effort to better understand the reasons he committed the notorious Son of Sam murders, which terrorized New York City during the late ‘70s. His highly compelling book on the subject is called The Monster Mirror. Michael Caparrelli's approach is unique. Not only is he a doctor of human behavior, he's also pastor who regularly lectures on mental health in churches, schools, and prisons throughout the country. In other words, he looks at psychology through a biblical worldview. He applies this perspective with great insight and compassion to his many conversations with David Berkowitz and arrives as at an understanding of the psychological and paranormal factors behind the 'Son and Sam' killings revealed by David Berkowitz himself, and gives us great insight into evil and how it preys on vulnerable humans. Said David Berkowitz  during their meeting: "Truly, I deserve to die. There are no excuses. But I do want to explain as best as I can the psychological and paranormal factors behind this madness as a cautionary tale for other troubled young people.”Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Historian Hampton Sides describes one of the most brutal ground battles ever fought – the 17-day Battle of Chosin Reservoir, which began on the 27th of November 1950. The conditions were relentlessly difficult – frigid temperatures, frozen, rocky ground, and an enemy that kept coming in waves. And they weren't the North Koreans who General MacArthur had expected. No this was Mao's Red Army.  More than 120,000 Chinese soldiers surrounded 30,000 US Marines and UN troops. What was a desperate situation could have been much worse, save for the incredible bravery of the Marines and the sage leadership of U.S. Marine battalion General Oliver Prince.Hampton Sides, in his excellent book On Desperate Ground, explains how General Smith's strategic thinking preserved the lives of many of his men, helping them receive supplies during the battle and eventually break through enemy lines to find a path to safety. It's a rosing tribute to the “Chosin Few!"Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

When Alfred Brenner enlisted in the Marines, he was told that the K-9 unit got to travel with air conditioning so he volunteered, even though he didn't really know anything about dogs. He was assigned a German shepherd named Grief and these two forged a bond during four months of training and in combat in Afghanistan. Alfred explains the role of a K-9 team as part of a platoon, how they train the dogs to detect explosives and bravely lead the way on patrol in enemy territory. This highly dangerous work eventually led to tragedy. Discovering a powerful IED, Grief was killed, and Alfred was grievously wounded. He ultimately recovered.Now a confirmed dog lover, Alfred recounts his unique experience and the job of these canine heroes in our military in his book, Surviving with Grief. Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

"Desert Storm" vet and Army Times reporter Kelly Kennedy leapt at the chance to embed with an infantry unit to work on a story about PTSD. What Kelly couldn't have known is that her unit, Battalion 1-26, Charlie Company, was one of the first to serve 15 months in combat conditions. (A decision later reversed by the U.S. Army.)Kelly's unit was placed in a "hot spot" and given the impossible mission to win hearts and minds. In fact, these soldiers faced almost daily IED incidents, earning them the dubious distinction of becoming the hardest-hit unit in Iraq. Things came to a head when one day the team refused to go on patrol, following the death of a comrade. Their 'mutiny' became a political lightning rod that resulted in ruined careers, ostracism, and penalty by the military upon Charlie Company. Many struggled when they got back home, and predictably there were a number of suicides within their ranks.Kelly reports on her experience, her own PTSD, and that of the soldiers whom she befriended, with whom she remains connected.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Retired Commander Mark Divine served for over 15 years as a U.S. Navy Seal around the world in Asia Pacific, Africa, Bahrain, and Iraq. A native of upstate New York, and a lifelong student of karate and zen meditation, Mark entered the U.S. Navy in 1989 and entered the Seals' BUDS training in 1990. As an outgrowth of his training and his service, he ultimately developed his own systems for mental and physical fitness, described in his books "SEALFIT" and “Unbeatable Mind.” In his latest book "Uncommon," Mark lays out the steps to applying his trademark warrior monk philosophy to the summit of personal development.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Our remarkable guest from Season One returns explaining how a small group of powerful men create celebrities out of abused children:Anneke Lucas was only a small child growing up in a little town in Belgium, when her mother began taking her to adult parties, and trafficking her to be abused as part of an organized system. When she was nine, she was spotted at one of these events by none other than David Rockefeller, who made her his own special project, whisking her away to America and presenting her as his ‘niece.' Presented to David's superior in the group, Sir Evelyn Rothschild, Anneke was invited to “join the family,” pledge her soul, and began preparing for her designated role as a future singing star. This training included not only music and dance lessons, but mental conditioning during a stint in the MK Ultra program in Germany, where she was tortured in order to prep her for her ‘real' career– spying on the powerful men with whom Rockefeller ‘shared' her. Anneke ultimately rejected the plan that had been set for her, and had to endure the torture inflicted for her disobedience.Anneke now enjoys a thriving life and her own podcast. She shares her story in hope that someday no child will endure this type of experience.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.comDesperately Seeking the '80sRevisit the crime and culture of NYC in the '80s with BFF Gen-Xers Jessica and Meg.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Re-airing a Season One fan favorite:The most secretive mission of World War II ended in the largest scale shark attack of all time. The U.S.S. Indianapolis' mission was so secret, the entire crew was unaware of their cargo: the components of the atomic bomb ‘Little Boy' which was dropped on Hiroshima. Thus, when the cruiser was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, no one knew, and 900 sailors were left floating in shark-infested waters for four days. HBH is excited to welcome Doug Stanton, author of ‘In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors'.On July 30, 1945, after delivering their top secret cargo which would would strike Japan only one week later, the USS Indianapolis was struck by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. The 610-foot cruiser quickly sank, and the surviving sailors had to battle dehydration and hundreds of hungry sharks for over four days.The crew of the Indianapolis was filled with incredible heroes, not all of whom survived this harrowing ordeal.In addition to 'In Harm's Way', Doug Stanton is the New York Times bestselling author of 'The Odyssey of Echo Company', as well as 'Horse Soldiers', which was the basis for the 2018 movie '12 Strong', starring Chris Hemsworth.

This is the first part of a series of interviews with 87-year-old CIA contract pilot William “Tosh” Plumly in which he describes being recruited into a top-secret military intelligence unit with other juvenile delinquents at the age of 16. Among the colorful incidents he relates are supplying weapons to Fidel Castro in the mountains of Southern Cuba at age nineteen, and attending the School of Illusionary warfare with Lee Harvey Oswald. Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Military historian Patrick O'Donnell puts a spotlight on America's original Special Forces units:Founded in Missouri by Major General John C. Fremont, (and ‘named' after his wife) the Jessie Scouts were a valuable intelligence cadre for President Lincoln during the Civil War. On the other side were Mosby's Rangers and the Confederate Secret Service. Created to infiltrate and disrupt, these groups operated behind enemy lines, sometimes disguised as women or opposing soldiers, taking huge risks to accomplish their missions. They also participated in combat, beginning at the Second Battle of Manassas (or Bull Run.) Patrick describes these remarkable groups, and the plot to assassinate President Lincoln in his book, “The Unvanquished.”Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

A fantastic WWII adventure: On June 16, 1944, the storied 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions accidentally dropped U.S. paratroopers off-target behind enemy lines in France near the ancient town of Graignes, Normandy, as part of the D-Day offensive. At great risk to themselves, including penalty of death, the 900 townspeople of Graignes determined to protect the paratroopers and fight the Nazis as a combined force, using the weapons the paratroopers had brought with them. What transpired could be the best WWII movie never made. Acclaimed U.S. military historian, Professor Stephen Rabe's own father was a paratrooper in Graignes. While he grew up hearing the story and meeting other surviving solders, it took Stephen over 60 years to research and write the story in his book, “The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village.”Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Don Haase joined the U.S. Army in 1966, and ultimately became crew chief with the 195th Assault Helicopter Company in the 2nd Platoon (“Ghostriders”) that —beginning in December 1967 — supported top-secret MACV-SOG Recon teams during the deadly secret war fought during the Vietnam War. Don received 12 Air Medals over 300 combat missions, and the Presidential Unit Citation. Don and his unit participated in the defense of Plantation Airfield during the 1968 Tet offensive and the subsequent counterattack. Don shares some of his adventures.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Prior guest Martha LaGuardia-Kotite is back with three U.S.C.G. Rescue Swimmer vets: John Whitten, Jason "Quitty" Quinn, and Ashley Ulbrich—who each share their adventures piloting helicopters over swimmers struggling to save people, leaping out of helicopters into the brink, or saving stranded folks in a hurricane. This lesser-known band of heroes are the brave people who come to our aid in often frigid or stormy seas, within 300 miles of the U.S. coastline, including Alaska.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

As a toddler, Quan Huynh came to the U.S. as a Vietnamese refugee. A few years later he lost his father to cancer, and as an angry teenager joined up with the Vietnamese gangs of Los Angeles. He quickly got into trouble, shooting three people and killing a fourth. Quan was sentenced to 15 years to life, and sent to prison.Quan shares his story of redemption and inner discovery during his incarceration, built upon the principle of taking responsibility, as detailed in his book "Sparrow In The Razor Wire." He was ultimately paroled and now counsels those currently serving sentences and former inmates to create constructive lives after prison.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

A riveting account of a true crime, the criminal justice system, and unlocking a decades-old cold case: In 1964, David Miraldi's father Ray L. Miraldi was a prominent Ohio former city prosecutor and then a private attorney when he jumped at the chance to defend tavern keeper Caspar Bennett of the lurid bathtub murder of his wife, Florence Bennett, believing him to be innocent.Attorney Miraldi won an acquittal but oddly never spoke of this professional triumph to his family. Years later while going through his father's papers, David found some important information about the crime and subsequent trial, and began his own investigation, discovering some darker truths as detailed in his book, "The Edge of Innocence."Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.comHang Out With Your Slang OutWords can be deceptive. Fear not, Matt Dan are here to help. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

When he joined the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, Jerry Blaine thought that that his service in the underwater demolition teams (UDTs) would be his life's biggest adventure. Instead, he returned stateside to a career as a Secret Service Special Agent accompanying Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and LBJ. Jerry shares his memories, including his closeness with the Kennedy family and that fateful trip to Dallas.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Frederick Rutland was nothing short of a navy hero in the UK following WWI, but his own charisma, quirks, and opportunism led him to Hollywood to spy for Japan in the years leading to Pearl Harbor, playing a key role in the Japanese attack. Though British officials knew what he was doing, they quietly sidelined him to avoid the public embarrassment of revealing one of their own as a traitor. Author Ron Drabkin shares the outrageous story of Rutland, including his friendships with Hollywood stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Boris Karloff, from his book "Beverly Hills Spy." Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

A Fan-Favorite Reprise Episode From Season One:Prior to May 5, 1980, the world was largely unaware that the UK's SAS (Special Air Service), or any elite special operations units,  existed at all. Six days earlier, terrorists had stormed the Iranian Embassy in London and taken 21 hostages. As the situation was being covered on live TV around the world, the SAS attacked the embassy. HBH is honored to be joined by two members of that elite SAS team, Pete Winner and Sekonaia ‘Tak' Takevisi.  The terrorists had not anticipated a violent response to their actions. However, what they received when UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave ‘Operation Nimrod' the go ahead, was the full force of the most precise military instrument at her disposal: the SAS.   The SAS made an example of the terrorists for all the world to see. As a result, overnight, the SAS, also known as ‘The Regiment', became famous around the world - a world that did not know soldiers of this caliber existed.  We thank Pete and Tak for taking the time to join us and reliving their experience from the day that put special forces on the map, permanently.  Pete Winner is the author of his bestselling memoir ‘SOLDIER, I', which he wrote with Michael Kennedy.

Run by the Venezuelan regime and military, the Cartel del Sol is currently the largest transnational criminal organization in the world, earning trillions of dollars per year from drug and human trafficking, and other crimes. The name derives from the fact that the Venezuelan military wear suns on their uniforms in place of epaulets. In fact, this cartel oversees better-known criminal groups, including the Tren del Aragua (recently, Colombia's Cali cartel, and Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Ex-CIA Operative Gary Berntsen lays out the facts: The Cartel del Sol's origin, leadership, and administration—as well as its partnership with Russia and China, both of which help launder drug money in the U.S. and around the globe.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Shot down October 1965, Lt. Commander and naval aviator Porter Halyburton, who was part of Fighter Squadron 84, was helped by local villagers and then taken into custody by the North Vietnamese Army.  He was then imprisoned in the infamous Hanoi Hilton and moved to other prisons throughout North Vietnam.Initially declared dead, Porter describes how he and his fellow POWs forged friendships and developed unique mental exercises to help them cope and survive the deprivation and torture during their years in prison. In 1973, after eight years in captivity, Porter was finally released. The day he left Vietnam he decided to forgive his captors. In his book “Reflections on Captivity” he shares his philosophy of forgiveness and rising above hate. He and wife continue to visit Vietnam.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

While patrolling the waterways in Vietnam's Mekong Delta as Operations Officer, Bill Retz nearly lost his life. Doctors advised him that his navy career was over yet—defying the odds after a difficult recovery—he ultimately rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. Among his commands were the destroyer USS Stump and the Naval War base at Pearl Harbor. As Destroyer Squadron commander he was closely involved in anti-submarine warfare and in early tests of the Tomahawk cruise missile system.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.comCold Case Western AustraliaThey're the crimes that continue to haunt grieving family members and the wider...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Special Forces legend "Tilt" Meyer is back in a special two-part episode, sharing stories from his new book “On The Ground!”If you joined MACV-SOG–-the Studies and Observations Group—in the 1960s for America's "Secret War" in Laos and Cambodia, the first thing you did was sign an oath to never speak about what happened for 20 years. Now able to speak freely, Tilt shares the sheer adventure and reality of jungle combat. Each SOG team was named after a U.S. state, and they were comprised of both American and local Vietnamese soldiers. HBH is thrilled to have him back to describe the friendships, firefights, and fortitude of this remarkable fighting group. Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Retired CIA Operative and government whistleblower Gary Berntsen continues to share insights and details from the results of a four-year investigation into election tampering. His team's conclusion: Enemies of the United States including Venezuela, Cuba, China and Serbia have been determining the results of elections in the U.S. since 2006 through the use of electronic systems that they have developed. Using these systems, they now manipulate the results of elections in 72 countries around the world.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Retired CIA Operative and government whistleblower Gary Berntsen reveals the results of a four-year investigation into election tampering. His team's conclusion: Enemies of the United States including Venezuela, Cuba, China and Serbia have been determining the results of elections in the U.S. since 2006 through the use of electronic systems that they have developed. Using these systems, they now manipulate the results of elections in 72 countries around the world.Gary Berntsen is arguably the most decorated CIA operations officer in modern times. He is the man who recruited and led the combined CIA-Special Forces teams that helped overthrow the Taliban after the attack of 9/11 and had Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda fighters trapped in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan. He also served as a CIA Station Chief in three counties; led the Hezbollah working group; investigated the East Africa embassy bombings in 1998; and stopped various terrorist attacks around the world. Gary and his team are now going public with a criminal investigation that will shock the world. The evidence they have assembled is described in a new book by Ralph Pezzullo called "Stolen Elections: The Plot to Destroy Global Democracy" published by Skyhorse Publishing.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

An Inspiring Reprise Episode From Season One:Human trafficking is a $150 billion-a-year business that thrives in war zones and is arguably more lucrative than arms sales. Lurata Lyon joins HBH and bravely tells her unimaginable story of survival during the Balkan Wars across Eastern Europe in the 1990s.Lurata was kidnapped into human trafficking as a teenager when the war engulfed her home country of Serbia. She was destined for a life of sex-trafficking and organ-harvesting. Miraculously, she escaped, only to find further horrors waiting for her in the same war zone.Lurata is a profoundly inspirational person. Beyond her heroism to survive, she continues to speak out for those who were not as fortunate.

Mikael Cook served as a U.S. Army engineer in the reserves. He was sent to Afghanistan in 2019 helping to build out infrastructure for U.S. military camps, working with local translators and other workers. He befriended his Afghan co-workers, especially an interpreter, Muhammad, and his brother Abdul.Following the Trump administration's decision in 2020 to withdraw from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years, it fell to the Biden administration to execute the withdrawal which they did very abruptly in August 2021, creating administrative and civil chaos and abandoning our allies and billions of dollars of U.S. military equipment. The scene at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport were horrific with thousands of Afghans, who had worked for the U.S. and feared Taliban reprisals, desperate to escape. With no helping coming from the Biden administration, it fell to an ad hoc coalition of U.S. civilians and military members ­­– later dubbed “Digital Dunkirk' – to help rescue as many Afghans as they could. On August 26, 2021, in the midst of the chaos at the airport, an ISIS-K terrorist suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt that killed 13 U.S. servicemen and over 169 Afghan civilians.Mikael Cook tells this tragic and dramatic story from various perspectives in his riveting book, “Life and Death at Abbey Gate: The Fall of Afghanistan and the Operation to Save Our Allies.”Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Former Florida police investigator James Byrd-Williams, Sr. recounts the story of his son's murder in 2020. 44-year-old Michael Williams was an African-American man living in the mostly White college town of Grinnell, Iowa, to be near his ex-wife and kids. Occurring just weeks after the George Floyd incident, Michael Williams' body was found strangled and burned in a ditch outside of town. Three people were later convicted.J.B. expresses his frustration with the thoroughness of the investigation and the fact that officials and the NAACP—eager to avoid any media attention of the type recently seen in Minneapolis—denied it was a hate crime, and avoided the word 'lynching' in describing the homicide. UK newspaper The Guardian asked, “When is a lynching a lynching?”   Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Becky Ellis was one of her father's eight children by four wives, and the chaos of her childhood, dominated by a haunted and difficult father, marked her and all her siblings. As a child, she suffered through her father's paranoia about Nazis attacking them; trips to the dentist without anesthesia; and other irrational behaviors.Only at age 89, when Becky was a grown wife and mother, did her father Staff Sgt. Louis K. Boswell finally share his wartime recollections as part of the legendary ‘Timberwolves' – the nickname for the 104th infantry division. The ‘Timberwolves' were deployed in northwestern Europe and saw almost 200 straight days of brutal fighting through France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and western Germany, including participating in the Battle of the Bulge. The group saw an extreme level of casualties, and Becky's father described how he survived and how it felt when he returned stateside, with what was then an undiagnosed case of severe PTSD.This compelling account is a glimpse inside military families who must welcome home a traumatized parent. Personally liberated by finally solving the mystery of her father, Becky shared her story in her book, “Little Avalanches,” and continues to work with military families coping with PTSD.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Admiral Robert Stiles Harward, Jr. grew up in a Navy family, living overseas, and eventually joined up himself as a means to pay for college. Adm. Harward ultimately went on to an amazing career and leading the U.S. Navy Seals, and the Naval Special Warfare Group Task Force KBAR. He explains his amazingly positive view of the world and philosophy of team collaboration and information sharing, which he calls "The Gouge," with our host and in his book of the same name.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Did you miss it? One of the most popular episodes we ever released from Season One is back for an encore listen:Russian and Chinese-backed rebels were making deadly headway in Oman during its Civil War of the early 1970s. In support of the Western-allied Sultan, the British Army secretly deployed nine operators from its most elite unit, the SAS. HBH is honored to have our guest, Pete Winner, with a special appearance by Sekonaia ‘Tak' Takevisi, two of the nine SAS heroes who took on over 400 Omani rebels at the Battle of Mirbat.At stake on July 19th 1972 was more than just a single battle for a small town on the Gulf of Oman. Due to Mirbat's geographic significance, had the SAS fallen the communist rebels would have taken hold of the region – and controlled the global shipping routs for Middle Eastern oil. Statues of individual soldiers are rare, but due to his heroism at the Battle of MIrbat, there are not one but two statues of Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba. One unveiled in 2009 at the SAS headquarters in Herefordshire, and another in 2018 by Harry and Megan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in Fiji - which at the time of Labalaba's enlistment was still a British colony.Pete Winner is the author of his bestselling memoir "SOLDIER, I," which he wrote with Michael Kennedy.

Mark Paul's outrageous adventure,“The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told,"  is the hilarious story of two buddies who won't give up on their stroke of luck. While the horse is the real hero of the story—a filly who broke the odds when she won the Kentucky Derby out of sheer heart. Mark and his friend Dino determine to try, along with a third gambling buddy, to go collect their winnings of over a million dollars from a racetrack in Tijuana owned by a cartel... Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

David Crow had a childhood like no other—with a mentally troubled mother and a criminally sociopathic father who raised his kids on a Navajo reservation, despite not actually being Native-American. David describes how his father tried to train him to be his criminal accomplice, until as an adult David broke away and ultimately built a successful life as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. David's book, “The Pale-Faced Lie,” describes the scrapes and adventures he experienced.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Bobbie Myers served for years as a Florida policeman, de-stressing from his first responder experiences by living at the beach and surfing. Suddenly, after dramatically saving a drowning boy, his PTSD was triggered. He sought help and found a unique way to heal himself—repairing the headstones and tending the gravesites of fallen heroes, soldiers, and others whose resting places had fallen into disrepair and whose remarkable lives had been forgotten to the mists of time. Now he devotes a portion of his life every year to travel across the country, visiting different graveyards and cemeteries to help maintain the people he's found. Bobby shares stories of discovered heroes via social media at “Our Heroes Headstones.” Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

When he started playing video game “Red Dead Redemption 2”, (which has sold over 64 million copies) Professor Tore Olsson from the University of Tennessee was inspired to use the game's setting in the American West to inspire his students and provoke a conversation about the real history of this romanticized era. And his curriculum has been a wild success.Tore explains how even though the game isn't perfectly historically accurate, it does raise themes and ideas that are critical to a real understanding of a critical period in American history.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Previous HBH guests, private security contractors Dean and Alana Stott are back—this time reporting on their work last October, after the terrorist attacks in Israel. Charged with helping Americans and others get their loved ones home,  Dean describes arriving in Israel for the first time ever, and how they navigated operating on the ground in a country in crisis—solving for airline cancellations and price-gouging, and making local friends quickly to identify possible land routes out of Israel for fleeing foreigners. Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Three lives collide and transform in wartime: The Japanese fighter pilot, Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the attack on Pearl Harbor; the U.S. pilot Jake DeShazer, who bombed Tokyo in retaliation and became a Japanese POW; and Peggy Covell, an American woman who felt compelled to help the Japanese-Americans interned in the U.S., despite her missionary family having been murdered by the Japanese military.Though the two men never met Peggy, her generosity of spirit inspired both of them, and they ultimately became lifelong friends both publicly decrying the morality of war. DeShazer went on to write a book about his experience as a POW who befriended his jailer, and his unexpected love for the Japanese people—which became a bestseller in that country. Fuchida also wrote two memoirs, “For That One Day” and “From Pearl Harbor to Calvary.” Martin Bennett shares this unbelievable true story, as detailed in his book, “Wounded Tiger.”Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Lynne Black Jr., as member of RT Alabama – a recon team of the legendary MACV-SOG (“Study and Observations Group”) – fought in one  of the most amazing missions of the eight-year "secret war" during the Vietnam War.  As their Kingbee helicopter spiraled downward toward the target west of the dangerous A Shau valley in Laos, Lynne and his team observed an NVA flag planted atop a nearby knoll surrounded by thick jungle. From his days in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, he knew that the presence of an NVA flag meant that there was at least a regiment of NVA soldiers in the area. That meant that the nine men of RT Alabama would be up against the approximately 3,000 NVA they were sent to find.It was Lynne's first mission into Laos and one he will never forget, including stepping up to lead his group, dodging napalm and grenades, and experiencing temporary deafness from non-stop AK-47 gunfire.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

In 1911, experts believed that the psychology of different races was distinct, and so, like other states, the state of Maryland founded Crownsville, a mental asylum administered by an all-white doctor and nursing staff expressly and exclusively for African-Americans.  From her book "Madness," author/Peabody-award winning journalist/on-air NBC correspondent Antonia Hylton describes how the physical building was built through the labor of actual patients; how many African-Americans over the years were wrongfully sent to Crownsville, and how its medical practices didn't expect patients would ever leave, let alone be healed. Hylton walks us through the dubious history of this institution, and the dramatic hiring of its first African-American staff. Crownsville ultimately closed its doors only in 2004.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.comWhat It's Like To Be...What's it like to be a Cattle Rancher? FBI Special Agent? Professional Santa? Find out!Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

In 1968, SSgt. Richard Fitts Sr. was a member of the legendary MACV-SOG team based in Vietnam, fighting in the ‘secret war' in Laos, when the helicopter he was flying in crashed in the jungle in a ball of flames. Richard was declared Missing in Action while his wife and 3-year-old son back home in Massachusetts were given no other information. For the next 21 years, Richard Fiits Jr. grew up without a father; not knowing if he would ever return. It wasn't until 1990, when his father's remains were finally found and buried with military honors, that Richard Fitts Jr. finally began to learn the truth of his father's heroic career. Now a musician, Richard Fitts Jr. talks about growing up with only one memory of his dad, and the journey he took to solve the mystery of who his father was and discover himself along the way. As the 20+-year secrecy oath binding living SOG veterans expired, Richard was able to make some surprising discoveries which resulted in his making a documentary, “21 Years—A Folded Flag,” to honor his father's legacy, and to also help the children of other Gold Star families.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.comWhat It's Like To Be...What's it like to be a Cattle Rancher? FBI Special Agent? Professional Santa? Find out!Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify