It's the Brian Laird show.

Welcome,

It's the Brian Laire Show.

It's the Brian Laird Show. Welcome back everybody. I'm Tiffany Hanson filling in for Brian who is off today. Veterans Day has its origins as Armistist Day

when World War I ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

That means that this year Veterans Day falls on Saturday tomorrow.

Today as we observe Veterans Day, we've invited New York Times reporter Dave Phillips who covers

veterans and the military for the paper to talk to us about an issue that he's done some

reporting on.

It involves us recalling a little bit of history into U.S. military involvement in the Middle East

prior to the withdrawal of troops.

In 2016, the American military was locked in a ground offensive in both Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State.

The American public was growing weary of the extended war in the Middle East and so in response

military leaders devised a strategy that involved few troops on the ground and intensive

bombardment by heavy artillery. That move has taken a big toll on some military

members who were involved with it, with us to talk about his investigation into the health effects

of this intensive bombardment on our vets is Dave Phillips, New York Times military correspondent and

author of Alpha, Eddie Gallagher, and the War for the Soul of the Navy SEALs. Good morning, Dave. Welcome to the Brian Laird Show.

Thank you for having me on it.

First, I want to talk about what we mean when we say intensive

bombardments.

So tell us a little bit about what kinds of weapons are used,

...