History Goon

It’s hard to cover the entire history of a military unit. It’s much easier to cover a handful of individuals who were part of it. It’s even better when those handful of guys are completely God damn feral in battle. When you think of Nepal you probably think of sherpas and Mount Everest, you don’t think of a bunch of badasses with giant knives fighting for the English Crown in basically every confl...

This one is a bit different. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to tell either of these men’s stories without talking about the other. Fate and hatred pulled these two towards each other in a way that is like something out of a movie. Talaat Pasha was a Turkish politician and military leader who was, bare minimum, one of the most evil people who has ever been, but most people have never heard his name. Soghomon Tehl...

Born into a well-off family, he was left fatherless at a young age after his father died from the horrific long-term effects of being gassed in the trenches of WWI. He wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and be a fighting man, and so did his brother and sister. Well, she wasn’t a fighting man. She was a badass combat ambulance driver. He spent his early career in Her Majesty's Army over...

Our first toe dip into the world of the underworld. This is the kind of True Crime topic you can expect to see more of in the future of History Goon. Joe Barboza had a f**ked up childhood. His dad left because he was cheating on his mom; she sent little Joe to talk to him, and he kicked him out. After he bought him a pigeon. He bounced around youth and adult prisons (he spent time in a bunch of pl...

The “War on Drugs” started back in 1971 under Richard Nixon with the intent of eliminating illegal drug use by making the fines and penalties so stiff that people would stop using them. It’s hard to say, but guys, I think drugs won. That being said, people have been doing drugs for a LONG TIME. People have also been going to war for a LONG TIME. Sometimes, the streams get crossed, and guys stuff h...

This one is wild. Very interesting childhood, moving all over the world with his father doing missionary work until he accidentally joined the Chinese Army. Then his dad go pissed and got him removed, then he went to fight in Spain for a bit before WWII (yes, that was a thing) and then finally joining up with the US Army and getting treated like garbage because he just so happened to be Black. Eve...

One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. This man was a freedom fighter. No questions asked. He grew up in a rural part of Afghanistan and got a good education before following in his father’s footsteps of joining the military. Then Communism entered the “Graveyard of Empires,” and they faced off with the Mujahideen and learned why Afghanistan earned that nickname. When your choice is...

If there were a Mount Rushmore for the Marine Corp., Dan Daly is on that bad boy. As a young man, he dreamed about becoming a Marine so that he could go and fight side by side with his hero, Teddy Roosevelt. Unfortunately for Daly (but good for anyone dumb enough to want Marines to show up on the beaches), that fighting ended before Daly could join up with Teddy. He DID, however, get to fight in t...

Born the half-brother of the King of Norway, Harald wanted more. By that, I mean he wanted to politely ask his brother to let him be King (he built an army and took the fight to him), and was exiled from his homeland. Which may have been the best thing for him in the long run. He traveled the world, killing people for money as a mercenary and eventually becoming the leader of the legendary Varangi...

One of the most interesting humans that the British Empire has ever produced. A star rugby player, a Queen’s University Belfast law graduate, a lawyer, an alcohol enthusiast, and an early member of the legendary Special Air Service (SAS) and part of the notorious Desert Rats. He and his boys cruised around North Africa, making it miserable to be German and in the sand. There’s no way I can even be...