Heroes Behind Headlines

Born in Hawaii shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wade Ishimoto grew up to help found the storied Delta Force special operations group. Wade shares the story of his amazing career in U.S. Army intelligence starting in Vietnam, to the planning of the failed 1980 mission to rescue the U.S. hostages from Iran. He describes what it was like to be on the ground in the desert of Iran when Operati...

When New Orleans native Ed Haslam began his research into the curious life and shocking murder of brilliant Tulane medical professor Dr. Mary Sherman, he didn’t imagine that his inquiry would reveal a secret lab connected to some of the city’s most unusual and historically significant citizens—Lee Harvey Oswald, David Ferrie, Guy Bannister, mob boss Carlos Marcello, medical titan Dr. Alton Oschner...

Historian and author Brian Bruce vividly describes an often neglected but important aspect of the Pacific Theater in WWII: The campaign to liberate New Guinea from the Japanese and thwart their planned invasion of Australia.  In his book MacArthur’s Bloody Butchers: Company G, 163rd Regiment, Bruce follows the path of four men from the 41st Infantry Division – including Bruce’s great uncle Doyle –...

When the United States retreated from the chaos of Kabul in August of 2021, General Sami Sadat was still fighting until the end. He  recounts how his troops were starved for ammunition for two years before the final pullout, while the U.S. was negotiating with the Taliban. He also talks about how earlier in his career he fought alongside the CIA to track down al-Qaeda in the mountains on Hindu Kus...

Commissioned a Marine second lieutenant on November 8, 1967, G.M. Davis arrived in Vietnam less than a year later to lead a rifle platoon against the North Vietnamese Army in the northernmost province of what was then the Republic of Vietnam. In his deeply personal book, My War in the Jungle: The Long-Delayed Memoire of A Marine Lieutenant in Vietnam, 1968-69 , Davis brings to life the relentless...

Robert F McLean was just 19 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy to do his part in WWII. Invited to join the Navy Seals, he declined and enrolled in the U.S.N. Patrol Torpedo Boat School in Melville, R.I.  Upon graduation Bob was assigned to Squadron 30, destined for the European Theatre of Operations. Shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, his squadron became the outermost fighter convoy...

The success of the submarine-borne Polaris missile was a critical nuclear deterrent that helped President Kennedy stare down Khruschev during the 1961 Berlin Crisis. Ever since, this weapon has been a key strategic tool of the U.S. Tom Ramos's book "From Berkeley to Berlin," chronicles the scientific journey leading to the development of this and other nuclear weapons and the singul...

Former U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Dan Schilling relates the heroic story of John Chapman captured in his book "Alone at Dawn"   – a fellow combat controller who fought and perished on an Afghan mountainside, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Chapman was the first airman to be so awarded in nearly fifty years. Dan gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Air Force Combat...

A financial investigator for Federal law enforcement, David Asher is an expert in the financial side of organized criminal activities. He has been working for decades 'finding the money' to help build cases against some of the most notorious criminal organizations, (including the Gambino crime family) terrorists, and China. In this episode, David lays out the link between China and Mexic...

Shetland, Scotland native and independent journalist Jen Stout was in Russia in late February 2022 when the war with Ukraine broke out and quickly left for a border post in southern Romania to cover the great flood of refugees who were fleeing the fighting. Weeks later she entered Ukraine to report first-hand from the front lines and cities across the country. A writer with a great sense of empath...

Former SAS medical officer and current war surgeon, Richard Villar, volunteered to provide medical support in Gaza during the 2024 invasion following the October 7 Hamas attack. He found himself working in a 200-bed hospital overrun with 700 patients, many of whom were women and children The hospital was under constant threat from drones, missiles and naval shells. Despite the constant danger, he...

Past guest and highly decorated former CIA operations officer Gary Berntsen is back and he's breaking down the facts about Tren De Aragua--the notorious gang of trained criminals at the heart of the illegal immigrant debate. Gary explains how he and his colleagues gathered intel about Tren De Aragua as part of their investigations into the Cartel Del Sol, the largest criminal organization in...

CIA contract pilot William "Tosh" Plumlee is back—this time with his eyewitness account from the South Knoll of Dealey Plaza, in Dallas on November 22rd, 1963. Present as part of a Pentagon abort team, Tosh counted five shots, coming from at least two directions, with the fatal headshot coming from the South Knoll parking lot. Tosh drew a map of the events as he saw them, and shared his...

Doctor of behavioral science and pastor Michael Caparrelli spent 100 hours with convicted serial killer David Berkowitz in an effort to better understand the reasons he committed the notorious Son of Sam murders, which terrorized New York City during the late ‘70s. His highly compelling book on the subject is called The Monster Mirror . Michael Caparrelli’s approach is unique. Not only is he a doc...

Historian Hampton Sides describes one of the most brutal ground battles ever fought – the 17-day Battle of Chosin Reservoir, which began on the 27th of November 1950. The conditions were relentlessly difficult – frigid temperatures, frozen, rocky ground, and an enemy that kept coming in waves. And they weren’t the North Koreans who General MacArthur had expected. No this was Mao's Red Army. ...

When Alfred Brenner enlisted in the Marines, he was told that the K-9 unit got to travel with air conditioning so he volunteered, even though he didn’t really know anything about dogs. He was assigned a German shepherd named Grief and these two forged a bond during four months of training and in combat in Afghanistan.  Alfred explains the role of a K-9 team as part of a platoon, how they train the...

"Desert Storm" vet and Army Times reporter Kelly Kennedy leapt at the chance to embed with an infantry unit to work on a story about PTSD. What Kelly couldn't have known is that her unit, Battalion 1-26, Charlie Company, was one of the first to serve 15 months in combat conditions. (A decision later reversed by the U.S. Army.) Kelly's unit was placed in a "hot spot" a...

Retired Commander Mark Divine served for over 15 years as a U.S. Navy Seal around the world in Asia Pacific, Africa, Bahrain, and Iraq. A native of upstate New York, and a lifelong student of karate and zen meditation, Mark entered the U.S. Navy in 1989 and entered the Seals’ BUDS training in 1990. As an outgrowth of his training and his service, he ultimately developed his own systems for mental...

Our remarkable guest from Season One returns explaining how a small group of powerful men create celebrities out of abused children: Anneke Lucas was only a small child growing up in a little town in Belgium, when her mother began taking her to adult parties, and trafficking her to be abused as part of an organized system. When she was nine, she was spotted at one of these events by none other tha...

Re-airing a Season One fan favorite: The most secretive mission of World War II ended in the largest scale shark attack of all time. The U.S.S. Indianapolis’ mission was so secret, the entire crew was unaware of their cargo: the components of the atomic bomb ‘Little Boy’ which was dropped on Hiroshima. Thus, when the cruiser was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, no one knew, and 900 sailors were left fl...

This is the first part of a series of interviews with 87-year-old CIA contract pilot William “Tosh” Plumlee in which he describes being recruited into a top-secret military intelligence unit with other juvenile delinquents at the age of 16. Among the colorful incidents he relates are supplying weapons to Fidel Castro in the mountains of Southern Cuba at age nineteen, and attending the School of Il...

Military historian Patrick O’Donnell puts a spotlight on America’s original Special Forces units: Founded in Missouri by Major General John C. Fremont, (and ‘named’ after his wife) the Jessie Scouts were a valuable intelligence cadre for President Lincoln during the Civil War. On the other side were Mosby’s Rangers and the Confederate Secret Service. Created to infiltrate and disrupt, these groups...

A fantastic WWII adventure: On June 16, 1944, the storied 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions accidentally dropped U.S. paratroopers off-target behind enemy lines in France near the ancient town of Graignes, Normandy, as part of the D-Day offensive. At great risk to themselves, including penalty of death, the 900 townspeople of Graignes determined to protect the paratroopers and fight the Nazis as a...

Part two of our interview with Don Haase: Don joined the U.S. Army in 1966, and ultimately became crew chief with the 195th Assault Helicopter Company in the 2nd Platoon (“Ghostriders”) that —beginning in December 1967 — supported top-secret MACV-SOG Recon teams during the deadly secret war fought during the Vietnam War. Don received 12 Air Medals over 300 combat missions, and the Presidential Uni...

Don Haase joined the U.S. Army in 1966, and ultimately became crew chief with the 195th Assault Helicopter Company in the 2nd Platoon (“Ghostriders”) that —beginning in December 1967 — supported top-secret MACV-SOG Recon teams during the deadly secret war fought during the Vietnam War. Don received 12 Air Medals over 300 combat missions, and the Presidential Unit Citation. Don and his unit partici...