"You Won't Believe What This Soldier Did In Vietnam" - Tim Kennedy
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In this compelling segment, Tim Kennedy recounts two extraordinary stories of American soldiers who displayed immense courage and selflessness during conflicts in Vietnam and Somalia. The first narrative focuses on Roy Benavidez, a Texan soldier stationed at Ford Air Base who heard his Special Forces squad under heavy fire requesting evacuation via helicopter. Despite the danger, Benavierz volunteered to accompany them back into the fray, throwing weapons and ammunition onto the chopper before it departed without him. He then led the remaining wounded men through intense combat against Viet Cong forces, sustaining approximately 70 to 90 wounds from bullets, grenades, and bayonets while killing several enemies with rocks and knives. As a helicopter attempted evacuation overloaded with casualties, Benavidez ran alongside it providing machine gun support until he was stabbed multiple times; upon landing, he spat in the doctor's face—a silent signal that he was still alive despite being covered in blood and mud—before eventually succumbing to his injuries. The second story shifts to the Battle of Mogadishu during the Black Hawk Down incident, where a Delta Force team led by Captain Dale "Durant" Durant became trapped after their helicopter crashed due to an RPG strike. Two snipers from Kennedy's own sniper school, Shart and Gordon, were positioned in another hovering helicopter providing overwatch but refused permission to descend despite repeated pleas that the survivors inside would be overrun without immediate ground support. After three attempts to gain authorization failed because command feared adding more personnel to the chaotic scene, the two snipers descended anyway, fighting their way through a hail of insurgent fire while dealing with enemies in a state of bloodlust immediately following the crash. They established a defensive perimeter around Durant and his surviving crew members, engaging terrorists at close range until they exhausted all rifle ammunition and were forced into bare-knuckle combat using pistols scavenged from fallen foes. Kennedy emphasizes that Shart and Gordon knowingly accepted certain death to save their comrades, illustrating the profound concept of laying down one's life for another service member. The snipers fought ferociously against overwhelming odds, eventually dying in the process but successfully extracting Durant and his team before being killed themselves. This act underscores a recurring theme in Kennedy's discussion: finding purpose by becoming part of something larger than oneself, whether that involves serving in Israel, at the Mexico border, or elsewhere globally. He reflects on how such stories provide inspiration when individuals question their own roles in strategic conflicts, suggesting that true fulfillment often comes from selfless dedication to protecting others rather than personal gain. The episode also includes a promotional segment for Element electrolyte drinks, which Kennedy recommends as an alternative to morning coffee due to caffeine's delayed activation compared to the adrenal system's response to salt and hydration needs. The product is highlighted for its scientifically backed ratio of sodium, potassium, and magnesium designed to curb cravings, improve brain function, and regulate appetite without relying solely on fluid intake. Listeners are encouraged to try a free sample pack available via a link in the description or by visiting drinkelement.com/slodwisdom, with a no-questions-asked refund policy guaranteeing satisfaction if the entire box is consumed within ten days. This advertisement serves as a bridge between the intense war stories and the broader message of maintaining physical readiness to support one's mission, whether on the battlefield or in daily life. Ultimately, Kennedy uses these harrowing accounts to explore themes of duty, sacrifice, and the human capacity for heroism under extreme duress. By detailing how ordinary soldiers performed extraordinary feats when faced with impossible situations, he challenges listeners to consider what they would do if placed in similar circumstances where survival depended on others' willingness to die for them. The stories of Benavidez, Shart, Gordon, and Durant stand as testaments to the highest ideals of military service, reminding audiences that purpose is often found not in avoiding danger but in embracing it to protect fellow humans. These narratives invite reflection on personal values and the importance of contributing to causes greater than individual interests, leaving a lasting impression of bravery defined by action rather than words.
Read the full video transcript
is there anyone that you have heard
about or you served with that you wish
their story would be better known is
there someone or are there um incidents
that you wish that you could sort of
bring to public light more yeah give me
some Roy
benitz all right you're not gonna
believe this one okay Roy benovitz he's
um in Vietnam he's a Texan and he uh
he's sitting on a Ford base and he
listens to a special forces Oda he's a
special he's a green
getting a gunfight he's like whoop this
sounds bad helicopter goes in to try to
get some dudes he gets scuffed up comes
back with a bunch of bullet holes and
Roy runs up to the helicopter he's like
hey I'm going to go with you take me
back in there he throws a bunch of guns
and ammo in there the helicopter takes
off on his own on his own flies him back
to where the Oda has almost all been
massacred he goes starts leading the
remaining men that are all busted up all
of them are wounded most of them are
dead he gets them to start fighting back
the vietcom and starts pushing them back
he gets all of them in together and they
start um surviving for a little bit
helicopters are trying to come get them
out through the course of I think he
gets like 70 80 or 90 bullet wounds
fragmentation from grenades and Bayonet
wounds he kills a dude with a rock kills
a dude with a Bayonet there's a portion
where one of the helicopters is trying
to take off but it has so much um they
overload it with the wounded and dead
he's running along alongside of it with
a machine gun providing support with his
body and machine gun laying down
supporting fire as this helicopter's
trying to take off helicopter comes back
again he gets the last remaining bits of
equipment he gets the last few men back
onto the helicopter he's the last guy to
come he gets jumped gets stabbed with
the bayet takes the bay out out kills
the dude kills a couple more dudes hops
in the helicopter and falls over they
they uh the helicopter lands he's
covered in blood he's covered in mud and
um they're like this dude's dead they
throw him in a dead body bag so they can
throw him in the morg and as there the
the thing up he goes and he spits in the
doctor's face he couldn't talk he'd been
so wounded there's nothing that he could
do besides spit on this dude to let him
know that he was still alive he's like
oh my God Roy benitz is still alive
that's a good one you know shart and
Gordon Blackhawk Down no h okay I'm
gonna do this without crying okay good
luck good
luck you're familiar with the Blackhawk
Down Battle of Mishu they're in there to
get this um Terri leader and um the plan
was for Delta Force to come in on top of
this building the Rangers come up to
create a perimeter security perimeter
around this building while they find the
bad guy inside move him to the vehicles
and they all drive out together that was
the plan like Mike Tyson said everybody
has a plan till you get hit in the face
guys get in they get the bad guy Rangers
arrive hel opter gets struck by an RPG
in the tail helicopter crashes um this
then begins this horrific battle against
a bunch of different terrorist
organizations all trying to kill the
Rangers and Delta Force that are now
trapped in
Mogadishu and it's a I mean this is a
fight 30 40
to1 odds in ratio between terrorists to
American operators shuart and Gordon are
two special forces snipers that are in a
helicopter providing OverWatch one of
the helicopters that gets shot and
crashes is getting overrun by all of
these Insurgent militia
terrorists they see on the ground that
this helicopter that some of the the
people inside of it survive the crash
and they see Small Arms fire they see
flashes from these guys trying to
protect themselves they get on the radio
and they're like General we'd like
permission to go in and protect these
guys if we don't get down there they're
going to get overrun we can see
everything the General's like negative
you do not have permission you cannot be
put on the ground and they're like
understood why did they not give
permission so they call again five
minutes later they're like if we don't
get on the ground right now everybody in
that helicopter is going to die the
General's like no denied you cannot go
down there you see better than we can
that there's no way for us to get you
out if you go on the ground it's just
going to add to the problem it's two
more people they get a third time sir
with your permission please allow us to
get on the ground we will fight to the
helicopter we will create a perimeter a
security permit around these guys and we
will protect them until we get a time to
get these guys out the General's like I
don't know when that's going to be if
you go on the ground I can't send the
Rangers to you I have no more
helicopters to send to you I have no
resources to go and rescue the people in
that helicopter and um Durant amazing
book The Pilot that was in that
helicopter um he tells in his book the
most dangerous time to be taken captive
is like the first few minutes there's
like this Blood lust this like rampid
rage so the helicopter crashes right and
like think like you're an Insurgent
you're a terrorist on the ground we got
him we got him right like you're rushing
in you're just killing everything it's
like there has to be this lull if
anybody has a chance to survive so sh
Shar and Gordon talk the general after
three efforts into putting them on the
ground
these two Delta Force Special Force of
snipers from my from like the school
that I went to it's the best sniper
school on the
planet these dudes fight from their
infall point to the helicopter and they
kill literally everybody like if there
was anybody within 200 M that was
holding a gun they went on the ground
leaky of blood and dead they get to the
helicopter and um this is all explained
in Durant's book cuz he was the one that
survived he was the one that they went
to rescue he was the one that they
ultimately gave their life to save and
they did just that they grab him they
drag him out of the out of the
helicopter they bring him into the
building and then they go back out to
the helicopter they give him an MP5 and
they say anybody that comes in behind us
stop them because we're going to fight
to slow because like this big huge surge
like this uh like you've seen like where
riots kind of start getting that energy
and like people start pulsing fever yeah
so that fever is there and they're just
trying keep it at Bay and they run out
of rifle ammo they run out of they start
acquiring weapons off the ground and
they run out of that ammo and they end
up with pistols and they're like bare
knuckle fighting these guys and shooting
the remaining pistol rounds as they have
before ultimately they're both killed
and they save his life and um shart and
Gordon knew and I
that's the this is the this is the hard
one they knew they were gonna
die like there's not a there's not a way
that you're sitting in a helicopter like
that and like we'll survive this um when
that question is there's no greater
thing than to lay your life down for
another service right here we are full
circle um they knew that they were going
to die for the chance to save a dude and
I've asked myself this question a
thousand sometimes like what would I do
and I don't know um shart and
Gordon pretty rad men I could go on for
hours telling these stories cuz if you
if there's a part of you that is lacking
purpose sometimes you can find ins
inspiration from somebody else's purpose
and um there I mean there's been times
where I'm like looking at Israel like do
I have to go over there is this where I
really need to go
um and those questions of like should I
be there is is am I just another Pond to
these large
strategic influences um should I be at
the Mexico border should I be in Ukraine
should I be in
Afghanistan
um but maybe that purpose is just to be
part of something that's bigger and
better than
yourself and then the answer is yes here
I am send me like an Isaiah 68 in other
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