This is Jocko podcast number 508 with Echo Charles and me, Jocco Willink. Good evening.

Good evening.

I used to think about the medals and ribbons and parades when I was a young Marine

and how they were a measure of one's success. Ten deployments and multiple combat tours later,

I no longer did. In Ramadi, none of that meant shit to me.

I was in command of Echo Company, second battalion, fourth Marines deployed to Ramadi, Iraq.

It was the third year of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and my command was assigned to the U.S.

Army's Ready First Brigade Combat Team, which consisted of the largest armor and infantry alignment in modern warfare.

I worked directly for Task Force 1-9 infantry battalion Manchu

under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Chuck Ferry, U.S. Army.

During this nearly nine-month deployment,

our mission, kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces, Echo Company stood in the line of fire

daily in Ramadi, the most dangerous and most densely populated area of insurgent activity in 2006.

It would test us and would take the best of us.

This story is about and for the warriors of Echo Company,

2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, and their families.

It is their voices that tell of the battles we fought, the relationships we shared, and the pain

we still bear today.

It is a tribute to them, to those that are gone, those who served, and those who continue

to fight today.

During our time in Iraq, we didn't think about war movies parades and shiny

metals all I thought about was bringing my Marines home alive now right there is an

...