Medal of Honor | Only Living Iraq MOH | Infantry Squad Ldr | 2-2 Infantry | Author | David Bellavia
About This Episode
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Today we hear our first ever Combat Story from a Medal of Honor recipient David Bellavia. David was a squad leader in Task Force 2-2 with the storied 1st Infantry Division during the brutal second battle of Fallujah. At one point, his fellow soldiers were pinned down and David cleared a building in a way that, in his words, 9 times out of 10, would have ended up very differently and with him losing his life and included hand to hand combat with an insurgent..
David shares so much insight into how the military transformed him and gave him some of the most real love he’d ever experienced with his brothers in arms. His second book, Remember the Ramrods: An Army Brotherhood in War and Peace just came out and speaks directly to the bonds that can truly only be forged in combat.
I highly recommend you listen all the way through to hear not just the event for which David would eventually receive the Medal of Honor, but also his response to the question if he would do it all again. It was something I never could have imagined.
With that, I hope you enjoy this very, very rare glimpse into someone who truly risked everything for a handful of others.
Show Notes
David Bellavia
Chapters
- 0:00Intro
- 0:46Guest Introduction (David Bellavia)
- 1:57Interview begins
- 2:29Writing experience and mentors
- 6:36Family background and feeling the need to avenge loss after Black Hawk Down
- 13:45A home invasion that left an impression
- 19:03Best night's sleep first night at Fort Benning
- 22:42Why infantry
- 25:11Kosovo and 9/11
- 28:53The training accident that made things real
- 30:57Iraq deployment and a humbling first combat experience
- 37:42What happens when you start taking casualties
- 40:58Combat Story - Battle of Fallujah
- 52:24Combat Story - Medal of Honor Event
- 1:21:43Being a leader not a soldier
- 1:28:39Generational differences and sharing experiences with his grandfather
- 1:31:09Remember the Ramrods: An Army Brotherhood in War and Peace
- 1:33:35What did you carry into combat?
- 1:35:47Would you do it all again?
- 1:42:34What do you want to be known for in the end?
- 1:44:10Listener comments and shout outs
