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They were mortaring us from the time I got there until the time we left.

The SEALS were in a group and we were just sitting on our cots.

And then 50 yards away from us within the compound, boom, the lights go off.

And we realized, you know, all the leadership from the army was taken out with one shot.

What is this? What arrived for me? I just saw this about five minutes ago,

waiting for me here when I got to the podcast studio. Amazing. Gift from you. I have a few things

that are gifts from you actually here. But this one showed up today. Mark I, U.S. Navy,

boarding acts 1797. What is going on here?

So there's two parts of history to that specific gift. So that is, you know, obviously a piece

of naval history that enlisted men carried to fight the ship, right? So along with that axe came like a little certificate that kind of explains what that axe was and how they used it.

But basically the officers, of course, would have their cutlasses and their muskets.

And then the enlisted men would have their boarding axes, right?

And their boarding axes would be, you know, the last part of the actual boarding

technique, because those are the guys that are jumping across the ships to fight the enemy.

And that's what they had.

Each guy was issued one.

So normally a naval enlisted guy back in those days was working the cannons below decks so they would have

their axes next to them and as cannonballs were coming in and and sails were falling down they would

use their boarding axes to cut the ropes cut the mass and get them off the ship because if you

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