It’s often said on this podcast that we try to strike a balance between having on A-list guests with major names in the community, and bringing on guys with incredible stories that we’ve tracked down and that you’ve almost certainly never heard from before.  Bob Charest most definitely fits that second category, and his time in Detachment A is fascinating.  Up until very recently, there was nearly no information to be found on the Special Forces unit in Cold War Germany comprised of American soldiers, and indigenous people in the area even including ex-Nazis.  Some of this can be attributed to these men believing in the “silent professional” mantra that is often referred to, but lucky for us, Jack Murphy has a real gift at getting these guys to open up; and with many of them getting older, they feel it’s time to tell their story.  Jack has written some fascinating articles on Det A over the span of the past year, and now we get to hear from one of these men first hand on the podcast.

We answer your e-mails sent to [email protected], keep those coming.  Jack also is still pumping out in-depth articles on The Philippines since going to the region, and his latest is “Flashpoint: Marawi and the tug of war between American and Chinese influence in the Philippines.”  He tells us all about that article and some of the attitudes he saw in the region toward President Rodrigo Duterte, and the camraderie of American and Filipino military personnel.