GRP 169-What War Did to Us Ukraine: My Conversation with Marine Corps Veteran Nick Laidlaw
Global Recon
John Hendricks
4.8 • 592 Ratings
🗓️ 18 January 2023
⏱️ 110 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Joining me for this week's podcast is Marine Corps veteran Nick Laidlaw. Laidlaw spent seven years in the Marine Corps as an 0311 Rifleman and Security Forces Marine. He wrote the book "What War Did To Us: Ukraine." Providing first-hand accounts of all aspects of the conflict in the first 150 days of the war. Nick runs the popular Instagram account Battles. and.Beers, where he posts photos and videos of war stories from civilian and soldier perspectives. We discussed talking with veterans from both sides of a war, including Ukraine and Russian soldiers, plus much more. Tune in.
Here is a short story told on the podcast by Laidlaw. It is of Anton Kryll, a Ukrainian soldier who fought at Mariupol's besieged Azovstal steel plant. They were surrounded, entirely out of food and water, and medicine.
" Anton, what do you want to do when the war is over?" He replied, "Here in short, we are always relying on each other. We are in history now, and we have done everything possible and impossible. After we are pulled out of here, I will immediately marry my girlfriend, and everything will be Ukraine. " Anton Kryll was killed the next day on May 14th, 2022.
Main Takeaways
- Stories from Battles and Beers
- Making it a point to speak with all sides of a conflict
- Being contacted by a member of the Taliban and having an honest discussion
- Talking with Russians fighting in Ukraine
- Documenting the heroism displayed by Ukrainian forces at the besieged Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol
This episode is sponsored by 4 Patriots, a survival food company. You can visit www.4patriots.com and use the code RECON for 10% off
Follow Nick Laidlaw on Instagram: Battles.and.beers
Check out his book here: What War Did To Us Ukraine
Connect With John Hendricks
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the Russian people's, quote, cowardly silence following a deadly missile strike on an apartment building in the city of Denepro. |
| 0:10.0 | At least 30 people were killed, dozens more wounded, including children. |
| 0:15.0 | A fresh round of missiles pummeled Ukraine this weekend. |
| 0:20.0 | Hardest hit this residential apartment block in Denepro. |
| 0:24.8 | A reminder, Russian style, this is a war declared largely on civilians. |
| 0:32.4 | Operating in pitch darkness, rescue workers raced overnight to pull people from the shattered building, |
| 0:38.7 | pausing to listen for survivors. There's someone alive, they shout in unison. Among the dead, |
| 0:47.1 | a young child. Among the living, 23-year-old Anastasia Schwetz, who survived by hiding in the |
| 0:53.9 | bathroom of her seventh floor apartment. |
| 0:57.0 | Firefighters were still at it today, finding this woman alive more than 18 hours after the attack. |
| 1:06.0 | The strike comes at the end of a week of intense combat in the east where fighting continues |
| 1:12.3 | in Bachmut and Solidar. |
| 1:15.9 | Ukrainian military officials say the capital city of Kyiv is under attack this morning. |
| 1:21.7 | Air raid sirens wailed across the city today after Russia launched several missiles targeting |
| 1:26.2 | critical infrastructure. |
| 1:28.3 | No word yet on any casualties or the extent of the damage. |
| 1:31.3 | It is the first time Russia has attacked the Capitol since New Year's Day. |
| 1:35.3 | Russia's military has been focused on fierce fighting in the East. |
| 1:39.3 | Filmed here in a Russian prison, recruiting convicts to fight on the front line in Solidar and |
| 1:46.2 | Bahmoud. |
| 1:49.2 | Ukrainian military analyst Alexander Kovolenko says arming hardened criminals has created |
| 1:54.5 | the risk of even more battlefield atrocities. |
... |
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