vietnam Archives -

Ep 105 | Medal of Honor Recipient Mike Rose – Vietnam

May 29, 2023 By Thad Forester

Gary Michael Rose (Mike) joins me in person to share what happened in Laos during Operation Tailwind in 1970. During these 4 days, Sergeant Rose exposed himself to the enemy many times in order to treat the wounded. And then, the helicopter carrying Rose and others crashed further injuring him and the other wounded on board.

Despite his numerous wounds from the past three days, Mike Rose continued to pull and carry unconscious and wounded personnel out of the burning wreckage and continued to administer aid to the wounded until another extraction helicopter arrived.

It’s a remarkable story of selflessness where Rose said “we should not have survived.”

“I really take pride in the fact that I can go to my grave knowing that at least one person- I did something one day that caused him to live another 42 years,” Rose said.

This Special Forces Medic is credited with saving numerous lives over that 4 day period. You can read his Medal of Honor Citation here.

I loved having him in studio to talk in person. You can also watch this interview on YouTube here.

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Ep 062 – Sammy L. Davis | Medal of Honor Recipient – Vietnam

December 17, 2018 By Thad Forester

Image of Sammy Davis with Medal of Honor around neck.

Sammy Davis joined the Army because he loved his daddy. He wanted to make him and his grandads proud. He was just a kid out of high school. If he hadn’t joined the Army, he wanted to be a member of Hell’s Angels.

Regarding war protestors at SFO I asked, “Did you look them in the eye?” Davis’ response: “I looked every one of them in the eye.”

On November 18, 1967, his team was ambushed by the Vietcong and the Americans did what they were trained to do. Davis was knocked unconscious, then woken up by a beehive round strike to his body. Although he didn’t think he’d live to see the light of day, he saw his brothers across the river and he rescued them. One of those men was Jim Dyster, who had been shot thru the head and was for sure dead. Turns out, he wasn’t.

During our conversation we get to hear from his wife, Dixie too. She’s by his side at all his appearances. She wrote a book about their life, which is linked below.

This is another great, selfless American that kept a smile on my face the entire interview. And you may be interested to know he’s the real life Forrest Gump. Watch his Medal of Honor ceremony with Pres Johnson and you’ll see why.

Below are some resources to learn more about Sergeant First
Class Sammy L. Davis:

Medal
of Honor citation

His book: You
Don’t Lose Til You Quit Trying.

Dixie’s book: Endless
Love and Second Chances

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Ep 054 – Doug Sterner | Military Times Hall of Valor

April 9, 2018 By Thad Forester

Ever wondered if your deceased father received any awards for valor while serving in the military? Ever been told a relative received a medal, but you’ve never seen it? Or, do you feel someone is flat-out lying to you about their service accomplishments? My guest today is helping answer all those questions. Doug Sterner has created a searchable database of valor award citations. Sterner, a Vietnam veteran and Military Times contributing editor has consumed himself with verifying this data by source material such as official award citations, narratives and/or synopses from individuals or records from the National Archives.

The Hall of Valor is an ongoing project. It is a monumental effort to identify the half-million men and women who received the highest U.S. military awards, in addition to the millions of others who received other awards.

The Hall of Valor database currently includes all recipients of the Medal of Honor and all of the second-tier valor awards: Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross and Air Force Cross. They are also in the midst of a multi-year effort to identify recipients of Silver Star and below.

Doug and his wife Pam also created the Stolen Valor Act (SVA) that was signed into law by George W. Bush in 2006.

Additionally, Sterner warns us of calling out stolen valor; because, what if you’re wrong? Is it worth it?

I had a great time talking with this Patriot today. He even surprised me by the amount of info he had on my brother Mark.

Doug Sterner’s Amazon Author Page with his numerous books.

*My podcast is on Patreon. Please check out how you can help the cause and get insider access!

Rock Tune by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Artist: http://audionautix.com/

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Episode 037 – Terry Dailey of Project Patriot Bikes, Vietnam vet

September 18, 2017 By Thad Forester

Terry Dailey could possibly have the baddest Harleys around. When he rides “Old Glory” or “The Eagle” he gets lots of attention. Additionally, strangers start talking to him about their service or their bikes. It kind of gave others permission to talk to him about almost anything.

In my first “in person” interview, Terry and I meet at “Sheepdog Firearms” to see and learn about his bikes.

Dailey started Project Patriot Bikes to reach out to groups, communities and individuals in an educational format. Through the visual aspect of the bikes, PPB will raise public awareness of each branch of the military. The PPB exhibits will instill a renewed level of patriotism.

Icon of Freedom

What better way to show our gratitude to those that have served our country than to use an icon of freedom. The motorcycle, since its inception, has always been viewed as representing a free spirit. It doesn’t matter if you have ridden a motorcycle or not. The motorcycle is symbolic with the freedom to travel, to see the country in a different light. The freedom of the open road, with the wind in your face and constant changing fragrances of mother nature.

It is the goal of PPB to add more bikes to the fleet: one each representing the branches of the US military and Coast Guard.

We also discuss Project Patriot Bikes’ flag program where they’ll replace any tattered or weather flag at a business. However, they always thank them for flying it.

This Vietnam veteran was a pleasure to speak with. He just wants to do some good in the world and educate others on our symbols of freedom.

Learn more about Terry and PPB below:

http://www.projectpatriotbikes.org

And our show partner:

www.sheepdog-firearms.com

*Also, we’re now on Patreon. Please check out how you can help the cause so I can provide quality content.

Rock Tune by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Artist: http://audionautix.com/

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