Welcome to Axios Today, I'm Nyla Boudou. It's Thursday, November 11th, Veterans Day.

And because of that, we're focusing on one big thing. Are veterans from the war in

Afghanistan? President Biden last August announced the end of America's 20-year war there,

but for the 800,000 American service members who participated in America's longest war,

the devastating psychological and physical effects can last for decades. We're doing

something a bit different today by bringing you veteran stories from a new podcast called

Third Squad. My name is Jeffrey Lopez. I'm Scott McKetch. I'm David Walski. I'm David

Wartega. Brian Scher. Michael Meiner. Derek Fraud. Taylor Moody. Emmanuel Mendoza.

Matthew Ford. John Bollinger. Michael Joseph Dutcher. It's about 12 Marines who fought

in one of the deadliest combat zones, sang in Afghanistan in 2011. This episode is tough because

of the graphic and violent content, which may not be appropriate for everyone, but I also

think this is a really important conversation for us to have. That's because for the vast

majority of Americans, the impact of this war has been invisible. But for Marines like

Mendoza of the Third Squad, his memories of combat are debilitating.

You just feel everything. You really live everything. Feel it all again. The smell, the

sounds, the taste, and the natural responses to cry. And I do.

Elliott Woods is the host of Third Squad and a friend of mine who's both a journalist

and a military vet who served in Iraq. A decade after meeting the squad as an embed, he

set on on a mission to track these men down back home. Over 12 episodes, Elliott chronicles

the reality of surviving the aftermath of war. I spoke with him from his home in Livingston,

Montana. Hey, Elliott, thanks for being with us on Exias today.

Hey, Naila. Thanks so much for having me.

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