This is Jocko podcast number 511 with Echo Charles and me Jocker Willink. Good evening, Echo.

Good evening. I slipped out the back and sprinted around a corner where I ran smack dab into a concrete wall.

Hey, I screamed, pounding my fists against it. We have injured. We have injured. There was no response.

So I kept pounding and screaming

knowing time was short I was in an unprotected area and the Haji had our number

until the Air Force leveled the side of the mountain they were shooting from we would

take more casualties hey I choked out in an almost frightened sob. The fear was finally beginning

to grip me and my hands trembled. We are going to die. And that right there is an excerpt

from a book called Where Cowards Go to Die, which is written by a man by the name of Benjamin Sledge.

And Ben Sledge is a former army soldier who served both in Afghanistan and in Iraq and in Iraq.

He served in the Battle of Vermont.

And he spent most of his time in combat conducting

civil affairs and psychological operations, and if you don't know what those are, you're about to find out.

He's a recipient of the Bronze Star, two Army Commendation medals, the Purple Heart.

He's now a writer, a graphic designer, a web developer, a speaker, and a mental health specialists.

And it's an honor to have him here with us here tonight to share some of his experiences and lessons

learned. Ben, thanks for joining us, man. Thanks for having me. It's an honor. Yeah, we got connected

through the meetings that we are currently having for the ready first reunion. So the 1-1-A-D is having a reunion. And if you're listening to this and you were in Ramadi with the 1-1-A-D, whether you attach the 1-1-A-D, whether you showed up and you were doing some work or you're a, you have a family member was served there gold star family you are invited and if you want to join us there go to ramadi

reunion 20.com it's january 16th and 17th down in texas 20 26 it's the 20 it's been 20 years bro 20 years

i can't even believe it it It's, uh, I mean,

it feels like yesterday in a lot of ways. Yeah. It's really weird to jump on those calls and be talking

about, you know, what, what types of meals we're going to have and all this stuff. Because those,

...