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Back to the business in hand.

Today we're talking to Mark Valley, host of the Live Drop Espionage podcast.

Mark served with the US Army as a combat engineer in West Germany and later with the Berlin

Brigade. His story gives you an eyewitness account of service in both locations, but also some insight into the

training, tactics and dilemmas of service in the army. I'm delighted and honored to welcome Mark

Valley. Hi, Mark. How are you today? Hi, Ian. I'm wonderful. Thank you. So, um, you joined the, um, U.S. Army.

Why did you join the U.S. Army?

I left the way to say that. Why did? That was the question that I used to get when I was

stationed overseas in Germany. He was like, hi, it's been mock. Did I, I'm in the army. Why did you join

the United States Army? So it's kind of a familiar question. It sort of brings me back a little bit.

I joined because, well, I grew up in the 60s. I was watching Vietnam on TV. I grew small kind of conservative

town. I didn't really have a military family, but my grandfather was a World War II, like a lot of

people my age. And I wanted to serve in the military at some point. And I thought, well, I started

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