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 one of the Staff Sgt. Jeffrey M. Adamec and Staff Sgt. Jason D. Brown. From the New York Times 2003 account,
“We all made a mental promise,” Staff Sgt. Jeffrey M. Adamec recalled of that battle on Day 18 of the war. “Nobody had to yell out commands. Everybody just knew. We were not going to move back from that point. We were not going to give up that ground. We called that spot `the Alamo’ ”
In what is becoming one of the most celebrated missions of the war, just 26 Green Berets, along with three Air Force bomb targeters and two others faced off against a reinforced Iraqi motorized rifle company numbering in the hundreds.
After a four-and-a-half-hour firefight, not only did they seize their first objective, a crossroads, but they also moved on deeper into enemy territory to sever Highway 2. That way they could halt the Iraqi Army’s ability to maneuver across the north, and at the same time secure a route to the Kirkuk oil fields.
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.
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.
This weekend, Barron’s called them the Bland Old Party,
To win the White House, the GOP needs a candidate with that old Ronald Reagan appeal. So far, that person hasn’t surfaced.
THE ABSENCE OF AN INSPIRATIONAL GOP presidential aspirant is a big plus for Obama. Of course, it’s still early in the game. Voters haven’t yet gotten to know many of the prospects, other than round-the-clock political-media stars like Huckabee, Palin and Gingrich; nor are they overly interested yet in presidential politics. To them, Herman Cain, who’s never held political office, is primarily a pizza guy. Gary Johnson is the former governor of New Mexico? Most voters don’t know nor care.
I’ve been saying for months that Obama has a 75% chance of being re-elected. Tonight in hour one, we took a tour of the GOP field and the week that was, everything from Mitt’s defense of Romneycare to Newt, to Hermain Cain and God throwing the country a bone by telling Mike Huckabee not to run. Of course, no discussion of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates is complete without mentioning Mitch Daniels and swooning over Chris Christie. Incredibly, despite all evidence and logic to the contrary, we got multiple pro-Donald Trump calls tonight. The name Hiroo Onoda came to mind. Mercifully, our friend Garrett Quinn emailed during the show with the news that The Donald has re-upped for next season of The Apprentice. America will have to soldier on with him as a reality TV clown, and not the leader of the free world. Courage.
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
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.
Last night, former Boston Globe Spotlight team member, award-winning reporter and current BU journalism professor Mitchell Zuckoff joined me in studio for the full 8pm hour to discuss his incredible book Lost in Shangri La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II.
On May 13, 1945, twenty-four officers and enlisted men and women stationed on what was then Dutch New Guinea boarded a transport plane named the Gremlin Special for a sightseeing trip over “Shangri-La,” a beautiful and mysterious valley surrounded by steep, jagged mountain peaks deep within the island’s uncharted jungle.
But the pleasure tour became an unforgettable battle for survival when the plane crashed. Miraculously, three passengers survived – WAC Corporal Margaret Hastings, Lieutenant John McCollom, and Sergeant Kenneth Decker.
Emotionally devastated, badly injured, and vulnerable to disease, parasites, and poisonous snakes in the wet jungle climate, the trio was caught between man-eating headhunters and the enemy Japanese. With nothing to sustain them but a handful of candy and their own fortitude, they endured a harrowing trek down the mountainside – straight into a primitive tribe of superstitious natives who had never before seen a white man or woman.
Lost in Shangri-La recounts this incredible true-life adventure for the first time. A riveting work of narrative nonfiction that vividly brings to life an odyssey at times terrifying, enlightening, and comic, Lost in Shangri-La is a thrill ride from beginning to end.
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.
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.
In the days after Osama was found and killed by Navy SEALS, I began thinking about how we could cover this great news on Pundit Review Radio. I immediately thought of a former guest who has amazingly relevant experience. It was a true honor to welcome back to the show Eric Maddox, the man who masterminded the capture of none other than Saddam Hussein. Eric is a true blue American hero. When he got to Iraq in 2003, he had never interrogated a prisoner. Four months later, it was his interrogations that broke the hunt for Saddam wide open. Eric wrote an awesome book about his experience in Iraq titled Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein—As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture. Here is my February 2009 interview with Eric about his great book,
Since Eric was on the show, he has become a civilian interrogator with the Department of Defense, having now completed some 2,500 interrogations during his incredible SEVEN tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Eric is now preparing for his eighth deployment. He also told us that he is working with the screenwriter from Band of Brothers on adapting the book into a movie! It was a true honor to welcome him back to WRKO Boston and to talk to him about the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.
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.
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 updated a story he first told us about in January 2009. Known as The Last Stand of Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, via Blackfive,
They are heroes because thousands of pounds (of explosives) would’ve made its way through the gate and many more of us wouldn’t be here,†said Lance Cpl. Lawrence Tillery, a rifleman with 3rd Platoon. “I have a son back home, and I know if that truck would’ve made it to where it was going – I wouldn’t be here today. Because of Lance Cpl. Haerter and Cpl. Yale, I will be able to see my son again. They gave me that opportunity.
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.
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.
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.
Earlier this month Bruce told us about Korean war vets Army Private First Class Anthony Kaho’ohanohano and Private First Class Henry Svehla, who were just this week were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
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.
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 6-8pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Self-publishing a book is a huge undertaking and I take my hat off to anyone who does it. I saw firsthand how much work it takes with Gregg and his book, which was quite successful. Tonight we welcomed David Graham (@antikommie on Twitter), a listener of the show who contacted me about his book project. He joined me tonight to talk about his experience writing and self-publishing a book, Stay Mad: Observations of a Proletarian. I was struck by his motivations and desire to do something tangible beyond attending Tea Party rallies. This was his way of getting involved. We talked about how writing the book is only half the battle. Then you have to market and sell it. Like anything else, the more dollars you can throw at it, the better chance for success. David has the book for sale in several bookstore in New Hampshire where he lives and has more radio interviews and some guest hosting on Blog Talk Radio coming up. People are fed up and getting involved in large numbers, and in new and different ways. I admire the passion and go for it attitude and appreciate the passion for politics.
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
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.