In 1964, journalist and Army veteran Daniel Ford embedded himself with the Green Berets in Vietnam, and in the process met some remarkable men. One of the men who stood out was military interpreter Philippe Drouin, best known as “Cowboy,” who was the inspiration for Daniel’s latest book. We discuss Ford’s experience with Cowboy, the story of Cowboy’s life, the influence of John Wayne to his persona, and his untimely death. “Cowboy: The Interpreter Who Became a Solider, a Warlord, and One More Casualty of Our War in Vietnam” came out last month and is available now. Daniel has written dozens of other great books documenting conflicts all over the globe, and you can check out all of his work at DanFordBooks.com.

Also on this episode: we get a listener reaction from Israel sent to [email protected] in regards to our show with Dan Gordon. We react to top North Korean official Kim Yong-chol coming to New York, which was going on right as we recorded. Of course, we also recap Memorial Day and the first ever Verses and Curses tour stop here in New York City at the unofficial flagship bar of ours, Emmett O’Lunney’s.