CS#62: Flying into Enemy Fire ala We Were Soldiers | DFC | Silver Star | Aviator | Diplomat Ed Fugit
About This Episode
Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more.
Today we hear a special Combat Story of Edward Fugit, my old man, who flew Hueys in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia just after the Tet Offensive.
[NOTE: We're launching on Patreon soon. Register to get notified at https://www.combatstory.com/patreon]
This is a special edition for me personally as long time listeners have heard me refer to my old man and his stories and our similar career paths on several occasions. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do this interview given how close it was to home and I’m so glad I did.
From a very young age I remember hearing these stories of my dad in the cockpit and vividly remember looking at his Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross on the mantle, wearing his green flight suit when I played Army, and then hugging him before I shipped out to my own war as a combat aviator.
His experiences in Vietnam will sound like something from Hollywood’s We Were Soldiers where green but determined young aviators flew into hot LZs time and again risking everything for their ground brethren.
We also touch on what it was like flying SOG into combat zones on operations nobody would hear about for decades and what it was like to be at the negotiating table as a diplomat with Kissinger at the height of the Cold War in Moscow.
I really hope you enjoy this close to home Combat Story with a real hero of mine that was then edited by his grandson.
Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial Email ryan@combatstory.com Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Show Notes
Diplomat Ed Fugit
Chapters
- 0:00Intro
- 1:06Guest introduction (Ed Fugit)
- 2:22Interview begins
- 2:59Growing up in NJ and early interest in political science
- 7:43A family history in the military
- 12:31When and how aviation came into the picture
- 20:10A “never quit anything” mentality
- 22:12Flight school experience
- 27:57Feelings going in to Vietnam within the Units and that moment in American History
- 36:36Differences in how the Army was structured at that time vs. today
- 47:37The three kinds of missions in Vietnam
- 53:23Combat Story #1 - Silver Star operation in Vietnam
- 1:09:02Intense Special Ops missions with SOG and 1st Airmobile Division
- 1:31:12Combat Story #2 – Incident that made the front of the New York Times
- 1:50:08Combat Story #3 - DFC event
- 1:58:35Stories from time in State Department
- 2:05:48Going back to Vietnam in 2017 and thoughts about sons joining the military
- 2:13: - What did you carry into combat?
- 2:14:16Would you do it all again?
- 2:17:11Listener comments and shout outs
