1st Recon Marines in Fallujah 2004 | Eddie Wright | Ep. 338

The Team House

dee takos

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4.7 • 929 Ratings

🗓️ 12 April 2025

⏱️ 141 minutes

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Summary

Born in Chicago, Eddie grew up in the military in Seattle while his father served in the Air Force. The grandson of an Army WWII veteran, Eddie decided to join the US Marine Corps, calling it the most momentous experience of his life. Eddie enlisted in October of 2000 and three months later graduated Infantry boot camp as a Rifleman. After two deployments to the Middle East in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, Eddie later joined the elite 1st Reconnaissance Battalion as a Recon Marine. Upon completion of the Basic Reconnaissance Course and Expeditionary Warfare Training, Eddie deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in February 2004. On April 7, 2004, Eddie was riding in the lead vehicle of his convoy during a patrol in south Fallujah when insurgents ambushed his unit. During the intense firefight that followed, a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) hit Eddie’s rifle and exploded, instantly removing his right arm below the elbow and his left arm at the wrist. Knocking his helmet and eyewear off, the blast also severely damaged his left leg, leaving his femur protruding from his thigh. Five other Marines were injured, and Eddie’s platoon commander was killed during the ambush. Forty-five minutes passed between the explosion and the arrival of an evacuation helicopter. In those harrowing moments and despite his injuries, Eddie remained alert and calm; instructing his fellow Marines on how to apply the tourniquets to his own body before directing other Marines to safety and where to return fire. Once evacuated, Eddie took 40 pints of blood to stabilize his injuries. After months of recovery, Eddie became first double amputee to return to active duty. He served as a hand-to-hand combat instructor at the Marine Corps’ Martial Arts Center of Excellence at Quantico until his retirement in 2006. Even during rehabilitation, Eddie became known for his up-beat attitude. Eddie stated that he would join the Marines again “in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t trade it, even for my hands back.”
Since retiring, Eddie enjoys time with his daughter, Claire. He has worked in the private sector in the defense industry as a consultant for the Institute for Defense Analysis.
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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wake up! The Jones is a redo in their garden! Love that porcelain paven and all that fencing.
0:05.3	I knew it. They'd been with their landscaper to Jusen.
0:07.8	A mini-digger! No wonder she was so smug at Zumba! Right, I want a sunken seating area. She won't have that?
0:14.2	For materials, too high, timber and paving. Don't waste time. Deuton's got the lot. Like Terales, porcelain, paving from only 22 pounds per square meter.
0:22.3	Love it.
0:23.1	All trade prices exclude VAT at 20%.
0:25.9	So no, you can keep up with the Joneses.
0:28.0	And the Evanses.
0:29.2	And the Patels.
0:30.1	I said, they got two skewer and AKs.
0:32.7	Can I engage?
0:33.5	He said, what?
0:34.4	And I repeated myself. And then he relays it to company, because I couldn't talk company, just platoon.
0:42.5	And while they're, whatever they're figuring out, apparently my big mouth, I don't know, these guys in the truck, they must have known the jig was up.
0:53.1	Yeah.
0:57.6	They, they, like they lurched forward but only like five or ten feet so they're a little bit behind us and then they all spilled
1:03.0	out and uh when they all spilled out then all the vehicles behind us and everybody saw all the weapons and as soon as that happened it was
1:13.5	on and the vehicle behind us just pink misted everybody with the main gun just firing into it and then
1:21.6	all hell broke loose those other two vehicles got immediately destroyed. And we started pushing forward.
1:28.3	And then the whole battalion kept moving forward at a slow pace.
1:37.3	And we, I mean, everything with the heat signature got destroyed.
1:41.6	And our air officer called in the brevity for, you know,
	...

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