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GRP 67-Back on the podcast for this week's episode is Michael Rodriguez a former Army Green Beret Medic (18 Delta). He sits on President George W. Bush's Military Service Initiative Advisory Council which engages in a wide range of activities that support veterans. Last but not least he's the Chief Ambassador for the Green Beret Foundation. On with us is a friend of Mikes a former 18 Delta Mark Belden. Mark has an interesting story with a background in mixed martial arts. We talk TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), Mike share's a story of when he treated an infant over in Afghanistan, and Mark shares a story of a time when he got into a hand to hand combat situation with a high-value target in Iraq.
My good friend Chantel Taylor served in combat with junior combat medic named Mike Lamb in the British Army. Chantel was the senior medic on that kinetic rotation into Southern Afghanistan. Mike went on to get attached to British Special Forces and served as a Medic with the SAS. He recently lost his battle with cancer at the age of 32. Below is a link to the Gofundme campaign used to raise money for his young family. I encourage anyone who can to contribute to help out this warrior's wife and child during these difficult times. https://www.gofundme.com/for-the-family-of-mike-lamblamby
Below is an excerpt from the show:
John: Mark can you share a deployment story with the audience?
Mark Belden: This isn't something I'm proud of, but it happened. We were on a mission in Iraq. We knew this guy was a bad cat killed a lot of coalition, and American forces. We got the lead on him. We caught him sleeping on the roof. He was like 300 plus pounds. Heavyweight lifter. We double cuffed him with flex cuffs. The interrogator called me in to stay with him for a second. The interpreter was standing in the back. He was about 2 feet from me. Stone cold look in his eyes. He said something to the terp. He said you might as well kill me now because I'm not going to talk. I said ok whatever man, I’m just here to hang out with you. He took a huge breath and snapped both of his flex cuff's. He charged at me. I think it was a left hook that immediately caught him. He lifted me up. A 45 second battle ensued. One of the guys came into the room and pulled em out. The guy ended up dying. I was later investigated for it. I was in a top shape. A one-minute fight for my life put a lot of things into perspective.
Sergeant First Class Michael Rodriguez:
Email-Michael@greenberetfoundation.org
Intro audio: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis
Music provided by Caspian:
