In 1975 a military man by the name of Ba Van Nguyen took the huge risk of boarding a Chinook CH-47 with his family to escape the communist soldiers of North Vietnam. He had no solid plan but knew he had to get his family out, and things somehow came to fruition once he encountered a Navy ship helping other refugees looking for a new life. The story of Ba Van Nguyen is an incredible one, and we are honored to be joined this episode by his son, Miki Nguyen who relays this story from the eyes of a six year old boy at that time, up until the last years of Ba’s life where he got the chance to reunite with those men of the USS Kirk and salute them for their service. Miki got to tell this story in the 2015 Oscar nominated film “Last Days in Vietnam,” as well as in the book he authored, “My Father the Badass: An inspiring real-life story of a true HERO.” Be sure to check those out after you listen to this in-depth discussion.

Also, you’ve heard us talk about Hurricane Media‘s first ever short film “Big Mountain Heroes” pushing the positive agenda of “thrills before pills” where special operations military veterans you know from the podcast ski and snowboard the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps. We even had the guys in studio to reflect on the adventure back on Episode 290, and if you’re a Spec Ops Channel member (which we highly recommend) you’ve already enjoyed the film. For the rest of you, we have some great news, and that’s the film now becoming available to stream in it’s entirety on Youtube. So be sure to check out this incredible footage captured in HD, and spread the word!