“The Greatest Military Hero You’ve Never Heard Of” - Tim Kennedy

Summary

This video features a powerful recounting of the valorous acts of individuals in combat situations, focusing on Roy Benavidez's heroic efforts during the Vietnam War and the selfless sacrifice of snipers Shughart and Gordon in the Battle of Mogadishu. Benavidez, a Texan Green Beret, displayed extraordinary bravery by rescuing nearly annihilated Special Forces members under heavy fire, sustaining numerous wounds. Similarly, Shughart and Gordon, facing impossible odds in Mogadishu, chose to protect their comrades despite knowing the fatal consequences. Their stories are a testament to the profound courage and sacrifice exhibited in the line of duty, inspiring reflections on purpose, sacrifice, and the essence of serving something greater than oneself.

Takeaways

• 🎖 Roy Benavidez showed incredible bravery, fighting to save his fellow soldiers despite sustaining dozens of bullet and bayonet wounds.
• ⚔️ The Battle of Mogadishu was an intense fight with US forces greatly outnumbered by enemy militants.
• 🚁 Two Delta Force snipers, Shugart and Gordon, sacrificed themselves to rescue a downed helicopter crew.
• 💂‍♂️ Shugart and Gordon knew they would likely die but went in to save the helicopter crew anyway.
• ☮️ Tim says the story of Shugart and Gordon makes him question what he would do in a similar situation.
• 🤔 Tim wonders if he should join the fighting in places like Israel, Mexico, Ukraine or Afghanistan.
• 🎓 Tim says the story of Shugart and Gordon shows the importance of purpose - being part of something bigger than yourself.
• 🧠 Element electrolyte drink helps with hydration and brain function better than just water or coffee.
• 💰 Element has a no questions asked money back guarantee if you don't like it.
• 🎧 The full podcast has more stories and is 2.5 hours long.

Q & A

Who is Roy Benovitz and what heroic acts did he carry out in Vietnam?

Roy Benovitz is a Texan who, while listening to a Special Forces team get ambushed in Vietnam, flew himself into the battle zone, led the remaining wounded soldiers, killed enemies with rocks and bayonets while sustaining over 70 bullet and shrapnel wounds himself, and was nearly declared dead until he spit in a doctor's face to signal he was alive.

What was the original mission objective of the Black Hawk Down battle?

The original objective was for Delta Force operatives to infiltrate a building and capture a local warlord, while Army Rangers set up a perimeter around the building to provide security, then transport the warlord out by vehicle.

Why did the commanders refuse to allow the snipers to intervene at first?

The commanders refused because there were no resources available to rescue the snipers if they went in, and they did not want to risk losing more soldiers when they knew the helicopter crew was likely doomed already.

How did Shughart and Gordon save Mike Durant?

After the snipers received permission to intervene, they fought their way to Durant's crashed helicopter and moved him to a nearby building. They then continued fighting outside to hold back the attacking militants until they eventually ran out of ammo and were killed.

Why does Jocko consider Shughart and Gordon to be an inspiration?

Jocko admires their selfless sacrifice to save their fellow soldier despite knowing it would likely cost their own lives. Their purpose and service represents the highest ideals that others can strive towards.

What are some of the ways Jocko has considered serving his purpose?

Jocko has considered serving overseas in conflict zones like Israel, Mexico, Ukraine, Afghanistan to fulfill his purpose of contributing to causes bigger than himself.

How does proper hydration relate to energy levels?

Your fatigue may actually be caused by dehydration rather than lack of sleep. Hydrating properly with electrolytes helps regulate adrenal function, appetite and brain energy better than caffeine.

What is Jocko's affiliation with Element?

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Outlines

00:00

🛩 Heroic Actions of Roy Benovitz in Vietnam

Describes the story of Roy Benovitz, a Texan soldier in Vietnam who took heroic solo actions to save a trapped group of Special Forces soldiers. Despite sustaining major injuries, he led a counterattack, evacuated the remaining soldiers, and killed enemy combatants, showing exceptional bravery.

05:00

⚔️ Selfless Sacrifice of Shart and Gordon

Recounts the heroic sacrifice of two Delta Force snipers, Shart and Gordon, during the Battle of Mogadishu. Despite being denied permission multiple times, they still risked their lives to save a crashed helicopter crew from overwhelmed insurgents, fighting to the death to protect them.

Keywords

💡Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1955 to 1975 between communist North Vietnamese forces and pro-democracy South Vietnamese forces, supported by their respective allies. The video mentions Roy Benovitz, a soldier who showed incredible bravery during a battle in Vietnam to save his fellow soldiers.

💡Special Forces

Special forces refers to elite, highly-trained military units that conduct specialized operations such as reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, or hostage rescue. The video references multiple special forces units including special forces ODAs (Operational Detachments Alpha) and Delta Force.

💡Rangers

Army Rangers are elite American light infantry units specializing in raids, ambushes, and other difficult operations. The video mentions Ranger units that were involved in the Battle of Mogadishu alongside Delta Force.

💡Battle of Mogadishu

The Battle of Mogadishu was a 1993 battle in Somalia between US special operations forces and Somali militias, recounted in the book and movie Black Hawk Down. The video tells the story of two snipers, Shugart and Gordon, who fought to rescue comrades during this battle.

💡Snipers

Snipers are highly trained military shooters specializing in long range precision fire. Shugart and Gordon were snipers who volunteered to risk their lives to rescue comrades during the Battle of Mogadishu.

💡Self-sacrifice

The video emphasizes the theme of self-sacrifice - soldiers like Roy Benovitz in Vietnam and Shugart and Gordon in Somalia who risked or gave their lives to save their fellow soldiers. Their heroism provides an example of courage and purpose.

💡Adrenaline

Adrenaline is a hormone released in response to stress or danger. The sponsor segment discusses how proper hydration and electrolyte balance helps regulate adrenaline and curb anxiety/cravings.

💡Hydration

Proper hydration level is important for physical and mental health. The sponsor argues many people feel tired because they are dehydrated rather than lacking sleep, and that sufficient electrolyte intake (like their product) optimizes hydration.

💡Purpose

The theme of purpose comes up several times - soldiers finding purpose by serving comrades and country. The speaker suggests he sometimes lacks purpose and finds inspiration in the purpose demonstrated by soldiers like Shugart and Gordon.

💡Courage

Courage is demonstrated by the soldiers in the stories who take tremendous risks and make sacrifices to save others. The speaker wonders if he would show similar courage and believes these acts of valor provide lessons in purpose for civilians.

Highlights

Story of Roy Benovitz, a Texan who flew into a battle to help wounded soldiers, getting shot over 90 times but surviving

Shart and Gordon were snipers who fought to save soldiers in a crashed helicopter, knowing they would likely die

The most dangerous time when captured is the first few minutes due to bloodlust and rage

Shart and Gordon talked the general into letting them rescue the crashed helicopter, saving lives but dying

They knew they would likely die but decided saving fellow soldiers was worth the sacrifice

Finding purpose and inspiration in stories of others' purpose and sacrifice

Questioning whether to fight in places like Israel, Ukraine, Afghanistan to be part of something bigger

The answer is yes, here I am, send me - like Isaiah 6:8

Don't have coffee first thing, adrenal system active first 90 minutes not adenosine/caffeine system

Element electrolytes help curb cravings, improve brain function, regulate appetite

Hydration about getting electrolytes not just fluids

Risk-free refund policy for Element electrolytes

Story of helicopter being shot down in Battle of Mogadishu, Delta Force trying to rescue

Mike Tyson quote about everyone having a plan until being punched in the face

Sharing stories so listeners can find purpose and meaning

Transcripts

is there anyone that you have heard

about or you served with that you wish

their story would be better known is

there someone or are there um incidents

that you wish that you could sort of

bring to public light more yeah give me

some Roy

benitz all right you're not gonna

believe this one okay Roy benovitz he's

um in Vietnam he's a Texan and he uh

he's sitting on a Ford base and he

listens to a special forces Oda he's a

special he's a green br

getting a gunfight he's like whoop this

sounds bad helicopter goes in to try to

get some dudes he gets scuffed up comes

back with a bunch of bullet holes and

Roy runs up to the helicopter he's like

hey I'm going to go with you take me

back in there he throws a bunch of guns

and ammo in there the helicopter takes

off on his own on his own flies him back

to where the Oda has almost all been

massacred he goes starts leading the

remaining men that are all busted up all

of them are wounded most of them are

dead he gets them to start fighting back

the vietcom and starts pushing them back

he gets all of them in together and they

start um surviving for a little bit

helicopters are trying to come get them

out through the course of I think he

gets like 70 80 or 90 bullet wounds

fragmentation from grenades and Bayonet

wounds he kills a dude with a rock kills

a dude with a Bayonet there's a portion

where one of the helicopters is trying

to take off but it has so much um they

overload it with the wounded and dead

he's running along alongside of it with

a machine gun providing support with his

body and machine gun laying down

supporting fire as this helicopter's

trying to take off helicopter comes back

again he gets the last remaining bits of

equipment he gets the last few men back

onto the helicopter he's the last guy to

come he gets jumped gets stabbed with

the bayet takes the bay out out kills

the dude kills a couple more dudes hops

in the helicopter and falls over they

they uh the helicopter lands he's

covered in blood he's covered in mud and

um they're like this dude's dead they

throw him in a dead body bag so they can

throw him in the morg and as they

zipping the the thing up he goes and he

spits in the doctor's face he couldn't

talk he'd been so wounded there's

nothing that he could do besides spit on

this dude to let him know that he was

still alive he's like oh my God Roy

benovitz is still alive that's a good

one you know shart and Gordon Blackhawk

Down no a okay I'm gonna do this without

crying okay good luck good

luck you're familiar with the Blackhawk

Down Battle of Mishu they're in there to

get this um Terri leader and um the plan

was for Delta Force to come in on top of

this building the Rangers come up to

create a perimeter security perimeter

around this building while they find the

bad guy inside move him to the vehicles

and they all drive out together that was

the plan like Mike Tyson said everybody

has a plan till you get hit in the face

guys get in they get the bad guy Rangers

arrive helic opter gets struck by an RPG

in the tail helicopter crashes um this

then begins this horrific battle against

a bunch of different terrorist

organizations all trying to kill the

Rangers and Delta Force that are now

trapped in

Mogadishu and it's a I mean this is a

fight 30 40 to one odds in ratio between

terrorists to American operators shart

and Gordon are two special forces

snipers that are in a helicopter

providing OverWatch one of the

helicopters that gets shot and crashes

is getting overrun by all of these

Insurgent militia

terrorists they see on the ground that

this helicopter that some of the the

people inside of it survived the crash

and they see Small Arms fire they see

flashes from these guys trying to

protect themselves they get on the radio

and they're like General we'd like

permission to go in and protect these

guys if we don't get down there they're

going to get overrun we can see

everything the General's like negative

you do not have permission you cannot be

put on the ground and they're like

understood why did they not give

permission so they call again five

minutes later they're like if we don't

get on the ground right now everybody in

that helicopter is going to die the

General's like no denied you cannot go

down there you see better than we can

that there's no way for us to get you

out if you go on the ground it's just

going to add to the problem it's two

more people they get a third time sir

with your permission please allow us to

get on the ground we will fight to the

helicopter we will create a perimeter a

security permit around these guys and we

will protect them until we get a time to

get these guys out the General's like I

don't know when that's going to be if

you go on the ground I can't send the

Rangers to you I have no more

helicopters to send to you I have no

resources to go and rescue the people in

that helicopter and um Durant amazing

book The Pilot that was in that

helicopter um he tells in his book the

most dangerous time to be taken captive

is like the first few minutes there's

like this Blood lust this like rampid

rage so the helicopter crashes right and

like think like you're an Insurgent

you're a terrorist on the ground we got

him we got him right like you're rushing

in you're just killing everything it's

like there has to be this lull if

anybody has a chance to survive so Shar

and Gordon talk the general after three

efforts into putting them on the

these two Delta Force Special Force of

snipers from my from like the school

that I went to it's the best sniper

school on the

planet these dudes fight from their

infall point to the helicopter and they

kill literally everybody like if there

was anybody within 200 meters that was

holding a gun they went on the ground

leaky of blood and dead they get to the

helicopter and um this is all explained

in dur book cuz he was the one that

survived he was the one that they went

to rescue he was the one that they

ultimately gave their life to save and

they did just that they grab him they

drag him out of the out of the

helicopter they bring him into the

building and then they go back out to

the helicopter they give him an MP5 and

they say anybody that comes in behind us

stop them because we're going to fight

to slow because like this big huge surge

like this uh like you've seen like where

riots kind of start getting that energy

and like people start pulsing fever yeah

so that fever is there and they're just

try to keep it at Bay and they run out

of rifle ammo they run out of they start

acquiring weapons off the ground and

they run out of that ammo and they end

up with pistols and they're like bare

knuckle fighting these guys and shooting

the remaining pistol rounds as they have

before ultimately they're both killed

and they save his life and um shart and

Gordon knew and I that's the this is the

this is the hard

one they knew they were going to

die like there's not a there's not a way

that you're sitting in a helicopter like

that and they like we'll survive this um

when that question is there's no greater

thing than to lay your life down for

another service right here we are full

circle um they knew that they're going

to die for the chance to save a dude and

I've asked myself this question a thous

times like what would I do and I don't

know um shart and

Gordon pretty rad men I could go on for

hours telling these stories CU if you if

there's a part of you that is lacking

purpose sometimes you can find INSP

inspiration from somebody else's purpose

and um there I mean there's been times

where I'm like looking at Israel like do

I have to go over there is is this where

I really need to go

um and those questions of like should I

be there is is am I just another Pond to

these large

strategic influences um should I be at

the Mexico border should I be in Ukraine

should I be in

Afghanistan

um but maybe that purpose is just to be

part of something that's bigger and

better than

yourself and then the answer is yes here

I am send me like an Isaiah 68 in other

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