This is Jocco Podcast number 17 with Echo Charles and me, Jocco Willink.

It's been 10 years since April 2nd 2006.

10 years since those of us in fourth platoon huddled around the radio outside of an Iraqi army post near Camp Ramadi,

trying to make sense of the confused and uncertain radiotráfic, of the exos calm and firm voice from the COC trying to determine what truck had been hit and who was missing.

10 years since we drove the road back towards the Gov Center with fear in our minds and hate in our hearts, knowing we had lost close friends, but not yet sure of the names.

10 years since I met my platoon commander on the darkened steps of the Gov Center as he came down from the COC and confirmed which truck had been.

And when I pressed for who was gone, he simply said all of them.

We hadn't yet learned that one guy who was a fucking hard ass who wasn't going to let death take another marine that day and whose recovery has been an inspiration to all those men who know him.

10 years since I did my best to pass the word to my team with steadfastness, but repeating all of them, revealing me for the 20 year, one year old, I was.

Through the tears I was trying to hold back.

10 years of trying to figure out what their sacrifice meant, of shifting views on what it was all for in the end.

That is something that is still a struggle, but I've found solace and purpose in these facts.

Staff Sergeant Eric McIntosh, Corporal Scott Procopio, Lance Corporal Koon, Young, Kim, and Hospital Men Giovanni Padilla, were men who chose to be part of something bigger than themselves, men who chose to enter a profession of crushingly hard work, sacrifice and danger.

All for the simple purpose of protecting the men around them.

Staff Sergeant Mack was the epitome of a fighting marine, a stud who exuded proficiency and professionalism while also being humorous and approachable.

Procopio is without a doubt one of the finest men I have ever had the fortune of meeting, a beast of a marine who drove all around him with his enthusiasm and good nature.

While we were peers, I looked up to him and his natural leadership. I still do.

Kim had a quiet reliability about him.

Unlike the usual loud gregariousness that people tend to associate with grunts, he was low-key and dependable.

And for some reason, I can still see the way a smile would creep over his face when stupid shit was going on and he'd laugh in a way that made it seem like he was seeing a deeper joke that you didn't get yet.

Doc Padilla was new to the company and my memories of him are vague, but the men who knew him better describe a young Cormin who was enthusiastic about his job.

The funny thing with Cormin is that sometimes you don't need to know much to judge their character besides the fact that these young men volunteered for one specific duty to save the lives of their Marines in combat.

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