We have two very special guests this episode, the first of which is Bill Lunn.  Bill is an Emmy award-winning news anchor for KSTP in Minnesota.  He reports on a lot of military-related issues, but in 2009 he reported a piece that deeply impacted him; that being the story of Cpl. Ben Kopp, an Army Ranger who died in combat at only 21 years of age in 2009.  What he reported on was that Judy Meikle, a woman in need of a heart transplant survived thanks to an organ donation by Kopp.  Many others also received organs from Kopp, who not only saved lives during his service for the Army (including Nick Irving, who credits Kopp with saving his life) but now also in death.  The story stuck with Bill in the years that followed, and he began contemplating writing a book on the life of Cpl. Ben Kopp, though he first wanted to make sure that he had the blessing of Jill Stephenson, the mother of Ben Kopp who Lunn originally met reporting on him.  Not only did she approve, but told Lunn that she’d been praying for months that someone would write a book on the life of Ben.  Through hours of interviews with family, friends, and Rangers that served with Ben, what resulted is the new book, “Heart of a Ranger: The True Story of Cpl. Ben Kopp, American Hero in Life and Death.”  Bill tells us all about the process of writing this great book, and what he has been up to since.

Switching gears from there, we bring on Rusty Firmin, a member of the British SAS Blue Team, most known as the back door Assault Team Leader during the Iranian Embassy Siege.  He co-wrote a book detailing the amazing story behind this called, “Go!  Go!  Go!  The Iranian Embassy Siege. The True Story.”  That story will also be told on the big screen in the upcoming feature full-length film “6 Days” debuting in the UK next month starring Jamie Bell who will be playing the part of Rusty.  Rusty tells us about working with Jamie hands on, and teaching him his own shooting techniques and more.  More recently, Rusty wrote the book “The Regiment: 15 Years in the SAS.”  We also get into the breaking news of Navy SEAL Admiral Joe Kernan being picked by The White House for Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.  So, we cover a lot of different ground here, and you’ll learn a lot all in this one episode of SOFREP Radio.