This is Jockel Podcast number 300 with Echo Charles and me, Jockel Willink. Good evening, I go. Good evening.

And also joining us tonight, Dave Burke. Good evening, Dave. Good evening.

The Secretary of the Navy takes pleasure in transmitting to first Lieutenant Schmedley-Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps, the Brevet Medal,

which is awarded in accordance with Marine Corps Order number 26 for Distinguished Conduct and Public Service in the presence of the enemy,

while serving with second battalion of Marines near Chensin, China on 13 July 1900.

On 28 March 1901, 1st Lieutenant Butler is appointed Captain by Brevet to take rank from 13 July 1900.

Awarded for actions, award department General Order's number 177 December 4, 1915, the President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Major Schmedley-Darlington Butler United States Marine Corps, for Distinguished Conduct and Battle in the engagement of Vera Cruz, Mexico on 22 April 1914.

Major Butler was eminent and conspicuous in command of his battalion. He exhibited courage and skill in leading his men through the action of the 22nd and in the final occupation of the city.

Awarded for action, the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor 2nd Award to Major Schmedley-Darlington Butler United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in action as commanding officer of detachments from the 5th, 13th, 23rd companies and the Marine and Sailor detachment from the USS Connecticut.

Major Butler led the attack on Fort Riviera, Haiti on 17 November 1915. Following a concentrated drive, several different detachments of Marines gradually closed in on an old French bastion fort in an effort to cut off all avenues of retreat for the K-Co bandits.

Reaching the fort on the southern side where there was a small opening in the wall, Major Butler gave the signal to attack and Marines from the 15th company poured through the breach, engaged the K-Co's in hand-to-hand combat, took the bastion and crushed the K-Co resistance.

Throughout this perilous action, Major Butler was conspicuous for his bravery and forceful leadership.

So there you go. Major Schmedley-Butler. United States Marine for 34 years.

Fought in the Philippines, China, Central America, fought in the Caribbean during the Banana Wars, fought World War I, although against his wishes he was more in a support role.

He's one of only 19 men in history to receive two medals of honor. He's one of only three men to receive the Marine Corps, Breve, Metal and the Medal of Honor.

And he's the only man in history to receive two medals of honor and the Breve Medal.

And with that career after he retired from the Marine Corps, he wrote a book called The War Is A Racket.

You heard that right. The War is a racket. This is a book that harshly condemns war, denounces the military industrial complex, vilifies the captains of industry and politicians along the way, and disparages America's foreign actions in war.

So there's a bit of an about face going on. And these are some extreme views that he has. And when individuals make extreme statements, sometimes that's not the best approach to take because sometimes extreme statements, though they may be true or parts of them may be true, it can also alienate the state of the world.

The general populace and kind of lead people to throw the baby out with the bathwater on some stuff, meaning that they throw away someone's ideas, they throw away all of someone's ideas because some of the ideas that the person has or the way that they state them is in an extreme manner.

Which is I personally don't think it's a good idea. Well, it's a good, it's a good thing to understand. It's a good thing to understand because what that should tell you is that if you, if you back off the extremity of your statements a little bit, you're going to get more people to listen to him. So that's a good thing to understand.

And it's also a good thing to understand that if people are talking in a really extreme way, you shouldn't just say, you know what, this person just crazy, I'm not going to listen to him. Maybe you should actually listen to what they try and say and decipher what's just extreme and maybe not true, but are there kernels of truth in what people are saying.

...