#501: Zero to Hero: From Bullied Kid to Medal of Honor Recipient

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2019

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As a boy, Allen J. Lynch was a severely bullied and aimless kid growing up in the industrial neighborhoods of Chicago's South Side. He went on to serve in the Army, receive the Medal of Honor for the valor he displayed when he rushed to save three fallen comrades during a deadly firefight in Vietnam, and dedicate his life to helping his fellow veterans. Today I talk to Allen about his story, which he shares in his recently published memoir: Zero to Hero: From Bullied Kid to Warrior. We begin our conversation discussing his childhood, when the bullying started, and how it affected his youth. Allen then shares the aimlessness he had as a high school graduate and how he carried it with him after he signed up for the Army, and at first struggled to adapt to military life. We then discuss how Allen ended up in Vietnam, the best friend he lost there, and the harrowing scenario that earned him a Medal of Honor citation. Allen then shares how receiving the Medal of Honor put him on a path of service in helping fellow veterans heal from the wounds of war. We end our conversation with a poignant discussion of Allen’s own battle with PTSD and how his motto of “others not self” has helped him deal with it. Get the show notes at aom.is/zerotohero.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:11.1	As a boy, Alan J. Lynch was a severely bullied and aimless kid growing up in the industrial
0:15.4	neighborhoods of Chicago's south side.
0:17.0	He went on to serve in the army, received the Medal of Honor for the valor he displayed
0:20.7	when he rushed to save three fallen comrades during a deadly firefighting Vietnam and dedicated
0:24.9	his life to helping his fellow veterans.
0:26.6	Today I talk to Alan about a story, which he shares in his recently published memoir
0:29.9	Zero to Hero from Bullied Kid to Warrior.
0:32.7	We begin our conversation discussing his childhood, when the bullying started, and how it
0:36.1	affected his youth.
0:37.1	Alan then shares the aimlessness he had as a high school graduate, how he carried it with
0:40.9	him after he signed up for the army, and at first struggle to adapt to military life.
0:44.5	We then discuss how Alan ended up in Vietnam, the best friend he lost there, and the harwin
0:48.4	scenario that earned him the Medal of Honor citation.
0:51.0	Alan then shares how receiving the Medal of Honor put him on a path of service and helping
0:54.1	fellow veterans heal from the wounds of war.
0:56.0	And we end our conversation with a poignant discussion of Alan's own battle with PTSD,
0:59.6	and how his motto of others not self has helped him deal with it.
1:02.7	After the show is over, check out our show notes at aawim.is-02hero.
1:07.3	Alan joins me now via clearcast.io.
1:09.4	Okay.
1:23.9	Alan Lynch, welcome to the show.
	...

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