Listen Now

Jake Wood tells stories from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.Jake is currently the CEO and co-founder of Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization that retrains military veterans to deploy as emergency responders. He is also a Marine Corps combat veteran. He enlisted in the Corps in 2005 and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion - 7th Marine Regiment, which suffered some of the highest casualties of any unit during their deployments. Learn more about Jake’s organization Team Rubicon and find them on Twitter at @TeamRubicon. Find Jake himself on Twitter at @JakeWoodTR. Jake’s memoir, Once A Warrior, is out now.

Warriors in Their Own Words is back with all new episodes hosted by Ken Harbaugh. In partnership with the Honor Project and Evergreen Podcasts, we’re rebooting this podcast at a time when our nation needs these stories more than ever. For generations, Americans have answered the call and gone where their country sent them. They’ve done their best to serve with honor, often under unthinkable circumstances.In Warriors in Their Own Words, we’ll dig into the archives to bring you stories from wars that have begun to recede in our collective memory. World Wars I and II, Vietnam, and more.We’ll also bring you brand-new stories, from a new generation of warriors. We’ll hear about places like Iraq and Afghanistan, from the battlefield and behind the scenes.Warriors in Their Own Words is our attempt to present the raw truth of what we have asked from those who wear our country’s uniform - or those who operate in the shadows. Thank you for listening and, by doing so, honoring those who serve.New episodes will be released every other week. Subscribe to the podcast now to see them in your feed.

The 1st Air Cavalry Division was the most lethal assault force assembled in Vietnam.  The pilots were the first to fully harness the power of helicopters and their soldier's combat record was second to none.  Steven E Warren served a year in the infantry in Vietnam, but then returned home to train to fly helicopters.  Soon he returned to the conflict, as a Huey helicopter pilot in the 1st Air Cavalry.  We spoke with him about his combat experiences, helping to perfect this new kind of warfare.

Charles L. Phillips was a 26-year-old Captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps, piloting B-29 bombers in the Pacific theater during the final years of WWII.   He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroics during the strategic bombing campaign over Japan. We interviewed Charles Phillips in 1991 and he told us remarkable stories, from his early training in Texas, to the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945.

In this special episode, we feature an interview with a German U-boat veteran from World War II.  Rudi Toepfer graduated from the German Naval Academy and served as the chief engineering office on submarines as they hunted for Allied convoys in the Atlantic Ocean.  After the war, he moved to the United States. He worked for Hughes Aircraft for 30 years and became a leader in the Elks Lodge and Masons.  This is Rudi's compelling first hand account of his years in combat on board a U-Boat.

Bob Hoover learned to fly as a teenager in Tennessee, flew over 50 combat missions in World War II and went on to become a legendary test pilot.  Hoover was Chuck Yeager’s backup pilot in the Bell X-1 program and flew the chase plane when Yeager first broke the sound barrier. In 1950 he joined North American Aviation as an experimental test pilot, an association that would last 36 years.  This Episode is Part 2 of the remarkable story of Bob Hoover, one of the history's greatest pilots.

Bob Hoover is one of history’s greatest aviators.  His career spanned from barnstorming in prop planes, to dogfighting in World War II and then on to flight testing supersonic jets and performing spectacular aerobatic demonstrations.  Hoover was the backup pilot for the Bell X-1, and flew the chase plane as his friend Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. Smithsonian’s Air & Space Magazine named Hoover Number Three on their list of all-time great pilots. (Special Two-Part Episode)

John Nicely was a Sergeant in the US Marine Corps during the brutal Pacific island campaigns of WWII.  He saw his first action in the battle of Saipan in June 1944.  From there he continued fighting from island to island and eventually prepared for the invasion of Japan. Nicely and his unit entered the devastated city of Nagasaki, just 25 days after the nuclear blast.  We met up with him at a reunion of the 2nd Marine division in 1994 and he shared his vivid memories of front-line combat.

General Frank “Pete” Everest was a record-setting US Air Force Test pilot. As a fighter pilot in World War II he flew over 150 combat missions. He then went on to lead the Air Force flight test program, flying with other legendary pilots like Chuck Yeager and George Welch. In the 1950s Everest set records like taking the X-1 to an altitude of 73,000 feet and the X-2 to 1957 mph. In this episode Pete Everest tells stories of those pioneering days of experimental aircraft and daring test pilots.

John C. Muir was a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War. He hailed from four generations of men and woman who served in distinguished military service.  He was also cousin to John Muir the famous naturalist who's been called “The Father of America’s National Parks.” In 1965, Muir volunteered for the US Marine Corps and was sent to Vietnam as a Rifleman. John C. Muir was an excellent storyteller who delivered powerful words about fighting the war and returning home.

Col. Walker “Bud” Mahurin was an American combat fighter pilot. Flying P-47s with the 56th FG in WWII, he became an ace three times over in the skies over Europe. After the war, he remained in the US Air Force. The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 found him in the Pentagon, working on fighter aircraft procurement. The skills he exhibited in WWII would once again be tested, this time in a new arena of air warfare, the jet age dogfight. Mahurin tells his story of returning to combat in Korea.

Walter Bodlander was a military intelligence officer for the US Army during WWII.  He was born in Germany in 1920. As a Jew, he knew he had to flea Hitler’s regime. He eventually made his way to the United States and volunteered to join the Army to fight the Nazis.  Military Intelligence wanted to use his fluency in German to interrogate Nazi prisoners on the front lines.  Walter was soon dispatched to England to join the D-Day invasion and the march into Germany.

Colonel Charles Bussey courageously flew P-51 Mustangs as a fighter pilot in World War II.  His training came with the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the all black Army Air Corps unit. Bussey also went on to serve as a decorated Commander of Army engineers during the Korean War. Charles Bussey was a war hero, but his first struggle wasn't in a combat zone overseas. His first battle was at home in what you might call the fight for the right to fight. This is his dramatic story, in his own words.

This episode tells the dramatic story of an Army veteran who served in three wars, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Al Ungerleider’s first taste of combat came on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. He went on to march towards Germany, liberating a Nazi concentration camp along the way. Brig. General Al Ungerleider retired from the Army after 36 years of service. His final active-duty assignment was commanding the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Al Ungerleider is a true American hero.

During World War II, the United States Marines played a central role in the battle for the islands of the Pacific. Marine Corps veteran Bill Swanson was often in the first wave to hit the beach in many of these brutal campaigns. In this episode, he paints a vivid picture of what it was like to fight in the "living hell" of these steaming jungles and swamps.  He shares his experiences on Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima, battling a hidden and determined enemy.

This is the tale of two American pilots of World War II. One, R.T. Smith, was a fighter ace in Burma flying P-40s with the legendary Flying Tigers.  He recorded 9 confirmed victories, aiding the Chinese in their conflict with Japan. The other, Al Freiburger, was a bomber pilot in Europe flying B-26 Marauders with his unit, the Silver Streaks. He logged numerous missions in the conflict, including key bombing runs on D-Day. Both men were engaging characters with unique war time experiences.  

Medal of Honor recipient Walter Ehlers tells his dramatic stories of combat in North Africa and Europe and details the events surrounding his heroic actions during the Normandy campaign.  He also offers his unique perspectives on the infantry, his fellow soldiers and the enemy. This episode also features rare recordings of live combat, direct from the battlefields of World War II.

1994 was the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Throughout that year, The Honor Project sat down with dozens of veterans off the Normandy Invasion to hear their stories and to put these Heroes of Our Nation On Record. O.B. Hill was a member of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. In this Episode, he recounts dramatic stories of his training and combat experiences and he eloquently expresses his thoughts on the nature of war and and how it impacted him and his fellow paratroopers.

Hours before the Allied Forces hit the beaches of Normandy, courageous British and American soldiers entered France with parachutes and gliders to secure key bridges and enemy artillery positions.  Their dangerous missions led the way for the D-Day invasion and ultimate victory in Europe.  Wally Parr, Terance Otway and Bill True recount their dramatic stories, In Their Own Words.

Today helicopters carry the firepower of an artillery battery and can strike deep behind every lines, flying day or night in any weather. But back in 1944 helicopters were a brand new technology.  Aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky supplied the first primitive choppers to the US Army and four pilots were trained to fly the untested aircraft in the jungles of Burma.  Carter Harman was one of those first courageous pilots and he performed the world's first helicopter combat rescue mission.