Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match.
This week Bruce told us about Sergeant First Class Javier Camacho. From his Silver Star citation,
Sergeant First Class Camacho maneuvered his tank between the brigade scout vehicle and the enemy fire from the north while B24 covered the south of the scouts so Sergeant First Class Newby and himself could go to ground and administer aid to two litter urgent victims of the attack, with reckless abandonment of personal safety of their own. Gaining security on the area and establishing an evacuation route, Sergeant First Class Camacho then loaded the two casualties onto B34 and sped them to medical attention. Once the wounded were out of harms way and B21 arrived, Sergeant First Class Camacho then guided this section in a tactically proficient and expedient manner that caught the enemy forces by complete surprise and enabled him to annihilate all the enemy forces in the immediate area that allowed his troop to secure passage through a very canalized area. Sergeant First Class Camacho’s personal bravery, tactical expertise and exemplary devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, 3d Squadron, 7th U.S. Cavalry, Third Infantry Division (M) “Rock of the Marne” and the United States Army.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce does an incredible job with the series every week. The SYSK archive can be found here and The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Brian Henchey joined me in the WRKO studio for an hour Sunday night to talk about the GOP primary the rise of Newt and the fall of Mitt. Brian is another person I’ve only known through the virtual world of Twitter (@brianhenchey). It was great to meet him in real life.
Brian fills in at WRKO and holds down several other jobs in radio. You can follow him on Facebook at Brian Henchey Show.
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
via U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern. On the outcome of the UN climate meetings:
“We got the kind of symmetry that we had been focused on since the beginning of the Obama administration. This had all the elements that we were looking for.”
Yet U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres acknowledged the final wording on the legal form a future deal was ambiguous: “What that means has yet to be decided.”
So the Obama administration says it has all the elements they look for and “symmetry”. Allow me to translate. The conditions were such that nothing was really accomplished, they got to vote present and declare victory.
And these guys are looking good for reelection? Just an awful thought.
In April of 2005, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, his longtime translator, Pavel Palazchenko, and his daughter Irina attended the Boston Software Council’s annual meeting at the Copley Marriot. I was involved with a firm that was associated with the BSC and was asked by them to serve as a “bodyguard” for Gorby while he was in the hotel. This consisted of an advance trip to the hotel, a tour of the facility with hotel security. On the day of the event, my job was to stick next to Gorbachev, make sure nobody bothered him or got too close. I was to guide him from meeting to meeting, to his suite for an afternoon break, and in and out of the ballroom and the press conference that followed. Software legend Dan Bricklin has a great post about the entire day.
It was certainly an experience to be in such close proximity to a world figure for the better part of a day. Our interaction was very minimal, its not like you’ll find Gorby on my LinkedIn page. Still, it was a memorable day and I was very pleased to be able to retire from my career as a bodyguard undefeated!
The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge tells the story of race in NYC through the eyes and events of three very different men. One is a poor, semi-literate black teenager framed for a gruesome double murder, one is a crooked cop and the third is a founding member of the New York Black Panther Party.
I was so glad to hear that TJ enjoys coming on the show and doing these longer style interviews that really dig into the book. It is such a thrill to get to devour these books and then have the opportunity to talk to the author in great detail about their work. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did,
Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America
It was a pleasure to speak with author and Marblehead native Eric Jay Dolin about Leviathan. Eric does an amazing job bringing together natural history with American history. The result is a fascinating book about the history that is all around us here in Massachusetts.
This is a great biography, full of details about some of the most iconic battles of WW2. Gen. Bradley always played second fiddle to braggards like Macarthur and showmen like Patton. In fact, he was trusted and respected all the way up to Ike and even FDR. One of the great stories in the book, that I had never heard before, involved FDR calling Bradley to the White House to brief him on the Italian operations. During that meeting, FDR let Bradley know about the development of the Atom bomb, a secret even VP Truman did not know about. The book was written by NY Times bestselling author Jim DeFelice. Jim was a really good guy except for one thing that was, well, disappointing. Thankfully, the book is great!
LeMay: The Life And Wars Of General Curtis LeMay.
This book is a great history book and biography of a pivotal figure of WW2. It also serves as a mini case study in management techniques because Lemay was masterful in building large organizations, fostering open dialog and earning the trust of those he commanded. I highly recommend this book.
Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation
Chris DeRose has written a terrific book about a little understood period of American history, those years between the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the first session of Congress under the Constitution in 1789.
It was remarkable how relevant this book is today. At it’s core, it is the story of life long allies who ultimately became political rivals without becoming personal enemies. Buy this book for any history lover on your holiday shopping list!
Former Boston Globe Spotlight team member, award-winning reporter and current BU journalism professor Mitchell Zuckoff joined me in studio for an hour to discuss his incredible book.
I don’t have time for or interest in novels. What I love are history books that read like novels. This is one of those books. Mitchell brings his reporters chops to the book, traveling around the world to talk to survivors and even the primitive tribesmen (did I mention they are cannibals?) who found them way back in 1945. This is just an incredible piece of storytelling and I hope we did the book justice, because I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein—As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture
When Army Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox arrived in Iraq he had never interrogated a prisoner. Five months later he left with the DIA Director’s Award, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement for his key role in the capture of Saddam Hussein. Not only did he do that, his work identified the insurgency funding and leadership network, which had been previously unknown to the US military. He did this by focusing on the social and family networks of captured prisoners. Just incredible what he did and how he did it. This is a great book and it was an honor to be able to speak to SSG Maddox.
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
