EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼  https://nordvpn.com/combatstory  Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! I use NordVPN myself so you're in good company (and I know security). If you sign up, it will also help the show so thank you in advance! We did so well with this last time around that NordVPN reupped with us and that support is going straight into some new content we're producing at Combat Story! Thank you!

Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!

Today we hear our first ever Combat Story from a Medal of Honor recipient David Bellavia. David was a squad leader in Task Force 2-2 with the storied 1st Infantry Division during the brutal second battle of Fallujah. At one point, his fellow soldiers were pinned down and David cleared a building in a way that, in his words, 9 times out of 10, would have ended up very differently and with him losing his life and included hand to hand combat with an insurgent.. 

David shares so much insight into how the military transformed him and gave him some of the most real love he’d ever experienced with his brothers in arms. His second book, Remember the Ramrods: An Army Brotherhood in War and Peace just came out and speaks directly to the bonds that can truly only be forged in combat. 

I highly recommend you listen all the way through to hear not just the event for which David would eventually receive the Medal of Honor, but also his response to the question if he would do it all again. It was something I never could have imagined. 

With that, I hope you enjoy this very, very rare glimpse into someone who truly risked everything for a handful of others.

#veteran #medalofhonor #army #combat 

Find David Online:

• - Book Remember the Ramrods https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CQ33GFM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0
• - Book House to House https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W5MI12/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1
• - Only the Dead See the End of War documentary featuring David’s Medal of Honor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iubIoXda8Lw
• - Medal of Honor Citation https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/bellavia/
• - David's Website http://www.davidbellavia.com/

Find Ryan Online:

• - Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory
• - Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combatstory/
• - Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory
• - Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial
• - Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial
• - Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
• - Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

Show Notes

• 0:00 - Intro 
• 0:46 - Guest Introduction (David Bellavia) 
• 1:57 - Interview begins 
• 2:29 - Writing experience and mentors 
• 6:36 - Family background and feeling the need to avenge loss after Black Hawk Down
• 13:45 - A home invasion that left an impression
• 19:03 - Best night's sleep first night at Fort Benning 
• 22:42 - Why infantry 
• 25:11 - Kosovo and 9/11 
• 28:53 - The training accident that made things real
• 30:57 - Iraq deployment and a humbling first combat experience 
• 37:42 - What happens when you start taking casualties 
• 40:58 - Combat Story - Battle of Fallujah
• 52:24 - Combat Story - Medal of Honor Event 
• 1:21:43 - Being a leader not a soldier 
• 1:28:39 Generational differences and sharing experiences with his grandfather 
• 1:31:09 -  Remember the Ramrods: An Army Brotherhood in War and Peace 
• 1:33:35 - What did you carry into combat?
• 1:35:47 - Would you do it all again?  
• 1:42:34 - What do you want to be known for in the end?
• 1:44:10  - Listener comments and shout outs