Late Night History

Latest Episodes:

Episode 44: Nick Betts Jun 14, 2024

Show notes

Tonight's guest on the Late Night History podcast is Nick Betts. Nick mostly grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and had a full-ride golf scholarship to Arizona State University, but lost it all after a costly mistake following the state finals. He then enlisted in the US Army and served in the Global War on Terror between 2005 and 2013. He served three tours, two to Iraq, and one in Afghanistan. He worked as both a machine gunner and a sniper. After the military, Nick served as a government contractor. All together, Nick spent a totaled 47 total months deployed.

Today, Nick is the creative director for URT, a lifestyle brand in San Diego, California, as well as the C4 Foundation, a nonprofit named after the late Chuck Keating IV, who was killed in action in Iraq fighting ISIS. The C4 Foundation supports active-duty Navy SEALs and their families by providing a refuge via a ranch retreat to decompress from military service. Reach out to Nick at his company Krupto Strategic Media.
Episode 44 History Highlights:

1). The infamous dive bar in Tucson, Arizona, known as The Meet Rack. It made headlines for the debauchery that occurred there. However, all walks of life entered this seedy establishment, including students from University of Arizona, tourists curious to see if the hype read in newspapers was real, and sometimes, even celebrities like Arnold Schwartzenneger, Burt Reynolds, and Elvis.

2). Nick's first deployment to Iraq where his unit, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment (1/26) became the hardest hit unit — 36 casualties — since Vietnam. The 15-month tour supported the SEAL Teams, including SEAL Team 3 (the same platoon twice) and SEAL Team 5. Here, Nick tells us about providing security with a M249 SAW machine gun and a claymore on the ground level of a multi-story house where the SEALs engaged combatants from the roof.

3). SKTs or Small Kill Teams in Iraq. Two Army snipers on the roof, while Nick with the machine gun and claymore mine providing security. These missions emboldened Nick to become an Army sniper.

4). History of the term "sniper" as well as the origin of Ghillie suits.

5). Sniper operations in Afghanistan and stay behind teams.

6). Photographs Nick captured from Iraq that were published in Esquire, which would prove impactful later in life as a professional photographer.

7). A rip-the-band-aid-off look into Nick's difficult journey returning from war and the realities that veterans of the GWOT faced without a support system.

8). Nick's docuseries called "Let's Talk About The War." The docuseries discussed the taboo topics of the war.

Listen to the full episode on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/late-night-history/id1553678075

This link is for other podcast platforms: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/late-night-history

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Listener Support: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/late-night-history/support

10% Discount Code using MATTFRATUS at HR4K’s store. HR4K is a UK lifestyle brand founded by British SAS veteran, friend, and guest of the show (Episode 7) Ben Garwood. Follow the link here: https://www.hr4k.uk/?ref=MATTFRATUS

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Episode 43: Bruce Norton Jun 07, 2024

Show notes

Tonight’s guest is Ret. Maj. Bruce “Doc” Norton served two tours to Vietnam as a member of USMC Force Recon. Much of the episode covers Doc’s experiences in Vietnam, which included conducting more than 25 long-range reconnaissance patrols. After Vietnam, he received his commission, and served as a Marine Infantry Officer until retirement in 1992.

After the military, Doc worked as the Director of the Marine Corps’ Command Museum, has authored 13+ books, including his latest project, “Voices From Vietnam,” a book/playwright modeled after Tom Brokhaw’s “Greatest Generation Speaks.” Voices From Vietnam is scheduled to release this November on Veteran’s Day.

History Highlights:

1). Family military lineage that dates back to the American Revolution.

2). The legend of Clover “Bucky” Coffman — He received a Battlefield Commission to 1st Lieutenant … When Doc met him, Bucky had earned the Navy Cross, 3x Silver Stars, 5x Bronze Stars, and 7x Purple Hearts…

3). Discussion about setting up Harbor Sights in the bush — which sometimes included making coffee with C-4 explosives in the mornings.

4). Jungle penetrators, ladders, and SPIE rigs used to evacuate recon troops from the jungle quickly.

5). Gurkha-style ambushes to capture a HVT on a trail and a real close-call.

6). Story of a Force Recon Marine tragically killed by a tiger.

7). Voices From Vietnam book/playwright and Doc’s other history books.

8). Favorite galleries and exhibits at the US Marine Corps’ Command Museum.

Buy Doc Norton's books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00F5CSNE8/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=45ac1fa8-f8c1-42d4-ba71-3d9a0637d3c9

Listen to the full episode on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/late-night-history/id1553678075

Listen to the full episode on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qWvBOyBvlK7yJ9SAZa8m2?si=9cef1a38625e4708

This link is for other podcast platforms: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/late-night-history

Ways to support the channel:

Listener Support: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/late-night-history/support

Join 13K followers of Late Night History on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latenighthistory/

#History #USMC #Marines #ForceRecon #LateNightHistory #OralHistory #VoicesFromVietnam

Episode 42: Danny O'Neel May 31, 2024

Show notes

Tonight’s guest on the Late Night History podcast is my friend Danny O’Neel. Danny is a former US Army forward observer, serial entrepreneur, and nonprofit founder doing great things for the military and first responder communities.

Danny and I first met many years ago when I was writing profiles for One More Wave, a nonprofit founded by former Navy SEALs that provides veterans customized surf equipment and community. Since then, we became fast friends for our shared passions of sports, tacos, and history.

History Highlights Episode 42:

1). Danny’s military family lineage that dates back to the American Revolution.

2). 9/11 experiences and how that event changed the trajectory of his life.

3). Remembering Jared Monti, who served as a US Army forward observer with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Country music singer, Lee Brice, later sang “I Drive Your Truck,” about Monti’s dad, Paul. The song became so popular it was voted Song of the Year at the Country Music Awards in 2013.

4). The Korean Axe Murder Incident between North Korea and the US military.

5). 1st tour to Iraq during the ‘03 invasion and living out of Saddam Hussein’s palace.

6). 2nd tour to Sadr City, Iraq. Danny’s combat experiences in ‘05-’06, a grenade discussion, movies during downtime, food experiences, culture surrounding TBI/PTS at that time.

7). Transitioning out of the US military and asking for mental health help.

8). Surf therapy and how One More Wave has helped Danny’s recovery.

9). Entrepreneur for Kinetic Ink Tattoo — where we discuss storytelling in tattoos — and Danny’s nonprofit Warfighter Overwatch (military and first responders and their families).

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Episode 41: Stephen Spencer-Chapman May 24, 2024

Show notes

Tonight's guest is Stephen Spencer-Chapman, a veteran of the British Army's elite Parachute Regiment, and former *officer commanding* of the Red Devils parachute display team. While we certainly cover some of Stephen’s life story, including his time in the British military, the bulk of the discussion is about his inspiring grandfather, Freddy Spencer Chapman.

Episode 41 History Highlights:

1). The Shetland Bus — a lifeline for Norwegian citizens escaping Nazi oppression and a highway for British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officers linking up with Norwegian commandos for sabotage operations. For more info, read this article published in 2019.

2). Freddy Spencer Chapman’s “Living Dangerously” book series, which includes his 1930 polar exploration in Greenland, which aimed to uncover an air route between North America and Europe by way of the Arctic.

3). Stephen tells us about his personal experiences meeting the Dalai Lama. Freddy previously made a diplomatic mission to Tibet in 1936.

4). Freddy’s 3 ½ years in the Malaysia jungle fighting and evading the Japanese as a member of British SOE’s Force 136. (Read more here: ⁠To Hell and Back Again: The Epic Adventures of British Commando Freddy Spencer Chapman⁠).

5). “The Mad Fortnight” — Freddy and two other SOE commandos launched offensive action against the Japanese. They developed tactics to move as a small team and traveled at night along the Japanese supply lines. The SOE commandos would position themselves so one person would engage the enemy — often with IEDs, sticky bombs, and grenades — as a distraction and a second commando would move to another position to make them appear larger than they were. The three commandos wrecked 7 trains, cut a railway line in 60 pieces, and killed scores of enemy troops. In the end, the Japanese thought this was a battalion of men and sent regiments of soldiers to find them.

6). Freddy’s legacy and The Chapman’s Challenge adventure race held annually in Malaysia. The race follows part of the route Freddy took to escape the jungle and get picked up by submarine.

7). History of the Parachute Regiment.

8). History of the Red Devils and tribute to the late Dean “Waldo” Walton.

9). Stephen’s experiences with military transition.

Buy Freddy's book: The Jungle is Neutral

Buy Brian Moynahan's book: Jungle Soldier

Please subscribe on Apple and Spotify. This action might not seem like much, but the support allows Late Night History to continue interviewing world-class guests.

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Episode 40: Bob Charest May 17, 2024

Show notes

In Episode 12, Bob discusses his Hall of Fame Army Special Forces career. Tonight, Bob tells us about how he was awarded the Silver Star with MACV-SOG; his extensive experiences with Detachment-A; and his time with the CIA in Thailand.

Episode history highlights:

1). B-56 Project Sigma, explanation of MACV-SOG’s Recon and Hatchet Teams, and Bob’s Silver Star (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwXYgQ4tvYE&t=22s)

2). Lodge Act soldiers — Eastern Europeans who volunteered for Army Special Forces and in return would receive their US citizenship. Note: Some of these soldiers would become Distinguished Members of the Regiment i.e. the Green Beret Hall of Fame.

3). Detachment-A in Berlin — https://detachment-a.org/ — the Cold War clandestine unit tasked with “stay behind” operations in Berlin in the event of a Soviet Union invasion.

4). Fascinating tradecraft used throughout the 1960s like invisible ink, how to blend in as an American in Germany, and use of tabletop 3D models stashed in ceilings, which were miniature replicas of real targets. Additionally, Bob talks about OSS/CIA-developed cigarette lighters that fired a .22 bullet.

5). Sketchy nature of locking-out of a WWII-era submarine in Greece.

6). CIA in Thailand in the 1970s and Air America.

7). Driving a flatbed truck on fire and loaded with ammunition off a CIA base in Thailand. Bob received the Soldier’s Medal, which is a life-saving medal awarded for non-combat action.

Please subscribe on Apple and Spotify. This action might not seem like much, but the support allows Late Night History to continue interviewing world-class guests.

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Episode 39: Mac Caltrider May 10, 2024

Show notes

Tonight's guest is Mac Caltrider, the author of Double Knot, a war memoir in seven essays. Mac shares with us his life story, including culture associated with Baltimore, Maryland; two deployments to Afghanistan as a Marine; working as a patrol cop during tumultuous times; and his career in journalism. All of which is connected in Double Knot.

Episode 39 highlights:

1). Plug Uglies — a now closed Irish pub in Baltimore, Maryland, named after old-timey firefighter gangs that used to start fires and get into street fights.

2). Family lineage in the US military.

3). Mac’s passion for books from an early age, which would prove useful as a writer and journalist years later.

4). Awesome history associated with Mac’s unit, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines (2/8), which includes a tale about the first ever Medal of Honor recipient’s action captured on video (many confuse Air Force CCT John Chapman’s action in Afghanistan as the first).

5). The humorous tales of the wiggling hedgehog and “the smoking crab” in Afghanistan (YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1bEDH4bwHI).

6). Double Knot (YouTube link: https://youtu.be/UP2dlTmig8Y)

7). Coffee or Die magazine and honored by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.

8). Pipes & Pages — Where Mac pairs books others should read with a tobacco pipe (https://www.instagram.com/pipes_and_pages/?hl=en).

Buy Double Knot on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Double-Knot-Mac-Caltrider/dp/B0CYX1RB6G) OR at veteran-owned publisher Dead Reckoning Collective (https://deadreckoningco.com/collections/books/products/book-double-knot).

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Episode 38: Mike Vining May 03, 2024

Show notes

In Episode 8, Mike discussed his life story, including all of the major Delta Force operations that he participated in. Tonight for Episode 38, Mike shares with us the history of the Bomb Disposal/Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) across all service branches between World War II and the Gulf War. Additional topics covered below.

Episode 38 highlights:

1). Controversy regarding Draper Kauffman “The Father of Navy EOD” and his first Navy Cross award.

2). Lesser known service of the Army Combat Engineers alongside the Naval Combat Demolition Units on D-Day

3). Mike’s EOD experiences in Vietnam/Cambodia

4). History of the Tunnel Rats, including Mike’s experiences doing similar work, which crawled into small tunnels armed with only flashlights, pistols, and in Mike’s case, explosives.

5). OSS Deer Team in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh’s relationship with the US in World War II

6). Delta Force EOD (which we also covered in Episode 8)

7). First Saturday in May is National EOD Day, which remembers the names on the EOD Memorial Wall

8). Mike’s uniform donated to the Ordnance Museum Fort Lee (Fort Greg Adams) in VA and various Museums-talk

9). Bunker Busters, Nukes, the Cheeseburger Bombs

YouTube Video: Delta Force Legend Mike Vining Discusses Tunnel Rat Missions

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Episode 37: Andrew Sullivan Apr 26, 2024

Show notes

Tonight's guest is Andrew "Sully" Sullivan, a former Navy SEAL Senior Chief (2002-2020), and the founder of the Community First Project, a non-profit that provides law enforcement officers the fundamentals to a tactical response to an active shooter or critical incident like an act of terror. Some history highlights from this episode include SEAL training, humanity in war, the comedies that shaped the SEALs' vocabulary during the GWOT, pre-mission rituals, the connection between the US military and law enforcement, and so much more. Join 13K others who follow Late Night History on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latenighthistory/ Follow Sully on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sully_c1p/ Follow the Community First Project on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/community_first_project/ Please subscribe if you liked the show.

Episode 36: Eddie Ray (Part 2) Apr 19, 2024

Show notes

In part 2, listen to Eddie share his Navy Cross action from his perspective. Later in the episode, Eddie discusses what it was like to serve as a Battalion Commander under Gen. Mattis in the '03 Iraq invasion and some lessons learned returning to Iraq a decade after the Gulf War. Towards the end, Eddie reflects upon his legacy in the Marines and his thoughts about the future of armor in warfare with the prevalence of drones.

This link is for other podcast platforms: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/late-night-history⁠

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Support the show on Patreon so this one-man show can continue producing content with world-class guests like Eddie Ray: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/LateNightHistory⁠

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Episode 36: Eddie Ray (Part 1) Apr 17, 2024

Show notes

The Late Night History podcast is hosted by writer and oral historian Matt Fratus. Join Matt in this special, two-part episode featuring Ret. Marine Col. Eddie Ray, one of only two Navy Cross recipients from the Gulf War. In part 1, we delve into Eddie’s unique life journey leading to the Gulf War. From his formative years in LA to his stint as a college football player at the University of Washington alongside the future NFL Hall of Fame QB Warren Moon to his early days as an enlisted Marine and junior officer, we uncover the intriguing chapters of Eddie’s life. The episode is packed with a lot of exciting history and lessons learned. Notably, a training mission that went awry and how Eddie established himself as a leader. Additionally, Eddie shares how he became involved with the Marines Light Armored Vehicles. At the time, the assignment was considered “The Kiss of Death” for an officer’s career, mainly because nobody understood how to operate the unproven LAVs.

Of course, that reputation would change under Eddie, where he combined football-inspired plays with military tactics for the battlefield. But you’ll hear all about that in Part 2. This link is for other podcast platforms: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/late-night-history Join 13K followers of Late Night History on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latenighthistory/ Support the show on Patreon so this one-man show can continue producing content with world-class guests like Eddie Ray: https://www.patreon.com/LateNightHistory

If you do not have a Patreon account, please donate to the show through Listener Support: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/late-night-history/support

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