Ep. 444 - Vietnam Army Helicopter Pilot Richard Jellerson

Sean Hagerty is a retired Special Operations Soldier with over 25 years of experience. He spent his younger years training and conducting combat operations with the 1st of the 75th Ranger Regiment. After nine years, in 2005, he was selected for and assigned to a Special Operations unit at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. There he spent sixteen years and finished his military career, retiring as a Sergeant Major. He received several awards and decorations throughout his career including three Bronze Stars. Sean currently works for the Department of Defense Science Board as the Senior Advisor. “The Defense Science Board (DSB) is charged with solving tough, technical, national security problems for the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretaries of Defense, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior Department officials.” His wife Misty is an Executive Officer at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Their children Courtney, Travis, Samantha, and Delaney all live in the Washington D.C. area and are thriving, growing and traveling along their own paths. The grandchildren Rowen, Jameson, and Wren keep Sean and Misty busy. Sean Hagerty has combined over 25+ years of service in the Special Operations community and deep-rooted research instincts from years of academic pursuits in history to tell this story. This story was written mostly in the plush seats of the daily Tackett's Mill/Pentagon commuter bus and the shaky bucket seats of the Franconia Springfield/Largo blue metro line. However, a few chapters were written while traveling for work, taking advantage of uninterrupted thoughts on an airliner. One chapter was even written during an evening break while on a business trip aboard the USS Nimitz CVN 68 aircraft carrier out in the Pacific Ocean. Cabal all came together during evening edits in his home shared with Misty, in Lakeridge, Virginia. Jones Point was the first novel in the Dane Cooper series. Cabal is the second. The Department of Defense, Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review has cleared the publication of both novels. Review was required due to Sean's past and current security clearance. Jones Point was published by Blue Handle Publishing on April 15th, 2024. Cabal will be released June 6th, 2025.. Readers can learn more about Sean at authorseanhagerty.com and follow Sean.Hagerty.73 on Facebook/Instagram and @seanhagerty850 on TikTok.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

25 Kesä 1h 3min

Peter Linquist is a United States Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Iraq before being injured in 2005. Originally from Canton, Ohio, he now lives in Santa Cruz, California, with his wife Shawndy and their two children, Kylee and Milo. Peter is deeply involved in the veteran community as the Championship Director and Member Liaison for the Veteran Motocross Foundation, an Ambassador Athlete for Operation Vet Now, and an instructor with MotoDemption. His passion for motocross and service continues to fuel his mission of helping fellow veterans find purpose, healing, and adrenaline beyond the battlefield.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

19 Kesä 58min

Doug Norton drew on both experience and research to pen the Code Word novels. As a warship captain during the cold war, Doug held launch codes for nuclear weapons and was prepared to use them, but he also participated in high-stakes international negotiations to reduce their numbers and the chance of nuclear war. In Geneva, Brussels, London, and Washington he experienced diplomacy and politics in tense meetings, glittering receptions, and deadline-driven all-nighters. A graduate of the Naval Academy and of the University of Washington, Doug was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and Director of International Studies at the Naval Academy. After serving more than twenty-five years, Captain Norton retired from the navy and was an executive recruiter for fifteen years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Kesä 50min

Originally from Hawaii, Patrick Naughton is a United States Army officer and a Military Historian. He is currently teaching at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 2012, he received the Army’s General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award. He has had unique opportunities to serve as an Interagency Fellow with the Department of Labor, a Legislative Liaison to the U.S. Senate, and a Congressional Partnership Program Fellow with the Partnership for a Secure America—all in Washington, D.C. He also served as a Senior Leadership Fellow with the Center for Junior Officers at West Point. Patrick holds a Master of Military Arts and Science degree in History from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where he was recognized as an Art of War Scholar. He also holds a Master of Science in Crisis and Emergency Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, both from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he was named an Army ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate. Patrick Naughton’s first book, “Born from War: A Soldier’s Quest to Understand Vietnam, Iraq, and the Generational Impact of Conflict,” is now available in hardcover or eBook format through Amazon, directly from Casemate Publishers, and from a variety of other booksellers. The book compares his father’s time in Vietnam with the 82nd Airborne and advising the South Vietnamese Army, to Patrick’s own experience during the Global War on Terror and in Iraq. Though decades of history and politics separate their service, the similarities between their experiences are undeniably striking. The result is an engaging and eye-opening narrative that weaves together the combat experiences of two generations of soldiers. From the failure of grand strategies to personal combat stories, the memories of those lost, and the evolving social challenges facing today’s military—America’s wars against communism and terror are laid bare through the lens of one family’s service.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Kesä 56min

After graduating from the University of New Hampshire, Brennan Morton joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served as a sniper, breacher, and team leader in 2d Recon. He deployed for two combat tours before opening a gym in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where he currently lives with Christine, his muse, and their daughter Pepper.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 Touko 1h 37min

Major General William M. Matz, Jr, U.S. Army (Ret), was appointed as the eighth Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission in January 2018 by President Donald Trump, a position he held until March 2021. General Matz is a highly decorated combat veteran of the United States
Army with a distinguished military career spanning four decades. As an
infantryman, he served in Korea and Panama, and as a company commander with the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam, where he was wounded in action in the 1968 Tet offensive. He served multiple tours in the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions and was executive secretary to two secretaries of defense, Caspar Weinberger and Frank Carlucci. During the Vietnam War, he served two years with the Navy/Marine amphibious forces in the Pacific and deployed with the 7th Infantry Division to Panama during Operation JUST CAUSE in 1989. Upon retirement from the Army in 1995, General Matz worked nine years in the defense industry. He was first employed by Raytheon Company as vice president, Army Programs; and later as general manager for Vinnell/Northrop Grumman’s Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, returning to the United States in June 2004. In 2005, President Bush appointed him to the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission, where he served until the commission rendered its report to the Congress in 2008. He is also past President of the National Association for Uniformed Services (NAUS), a national veteran’s organization that advocates in Congress for service members, veterans and their families. He is on the Eisenhower Institute National Advisory Council and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association. He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Airborne and Ranger Schools, the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Gettysburg College and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of San Diego. He is also a graduate of Harvard University’s Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security. Among his military service awards and decorations are the Distinguished Service Cross (second highest award our nation bestows for valor on the battlefield), Silver Star, Bronze Star for Valor, Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge. General Matz was born in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Linda, reside in Naples, FL, and have three children and seven grandsons. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

14 Touko 1h 4min

Melissa Ziobro began her career as a civilian historian, archivist, and curator for the US Army in 2004 prior to returning to her alma mater, Monmouth University, to teach full-time. She has taught over a dozen different courses, including Intro to Public History; Oral History; Museums and Archives Management Basics; NJ History; and the Vietnam War. In August of 2023, she became curator of the University's Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music, after having worked with the Center for many years in her faculty role (to include curating the Center’s first traveling exhibit, Springsteen: His Hometown, with the Monmouth County Historical Association in 2019). Her most recent publications include Fort Monmouth: The US Army’s House of Magic (2024) and The Battlin' Bastards of Bravo: Bravo Company, 1/506th, 101st Airborne, in Vietnam and Beyond (2025).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

29 Huhti 45min

In the heart of every shadow that plagues our communities, from the silent cries of the trafficked to the silent battles of addiction, We Fight Monsters stands as a beacon of hope and defiance. Born from the shared experiences of those who've faced the abyss and emerged to tell the tale, our organization is a testament to the power of resilience and the strength of unity. We are the ones who navigate the night to bring back the lost, who stand in the face of evil not with weapons, but with the unwavering belief in redemption and recovery. Ben is a daddy to eight (sometimes ten), grandparent to one, humanitarian, fighter of evil, bringer of hope, formerly addicted, alcoholic and homeless. He's also the owner of BlackRifle Co, a data intelligence and digital media agency not to be confused with the coffee company of similar name, and co-founder of two non-profits—We Fight Monsters and Flanders Field—that help people in some of the worst places in America and the world. Ben loves sharing that his wife Jess can drive, load, and fire a M18 Hellcat, a WWII tank destroyer. He’s also the only crackhead ever invited to CIA headquarters. When they’re not in South Memphis helping others rebuild their lives after addiction, Ben and Jess can be found in rural Georgia where they live with their family.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

16 Huhti 47min