In 1968, Clarence Sasser was a young combat medic thrust into a nightmare. During a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam, his company was ambushed in a rice paddy. Despite being shot in the leg and unable to walk, Sasser spent the next several hours crawling through the mud, doing his best to care for his fellow soldiers. It would be decades before he was ready to talk about what he saw and heard.

Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.

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Episode resource:

AMEDD Center of HIstory & Heritage interview with Clarence Sasser, 3/23/1987

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In 1951, Joseph Rodriguez and his unit were on a ridge in Korea, pinned down by gunfire. There was seemingly no way out. But Rodriguez had something to steady him. Tucked inside his helmet were letters from his girlfriend back home, Rose. He grabbed a handful of grenades and sprinted up the hill to take on the enemy himself. What happened next would change both his and Rose’s lives forever.

Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.

Connect with the team!

• Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods
• Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez
• Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins
• Email the team: medalofhonor@pushkin.fm

Episode resources:

“A War Hero Speaks,” published in the California Civil Defense, February 25, 1952

Medal of Honor by Peter Collier et al (Artisan Books, 2011)

America’s Heroes, edited by James H Willbanks (ABC-CLIO, 2011)

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In 1951, Joseph Rodriguez and his unit were on a ridge in Korea, pinned down by gunfire. There was seemingly no way out. But Rodriguez had something to steady him. Tucked inside his helmet were letters from his girlfriend back home, Rose. He grabbed a handful of grenades and sprinted up the hill to take on the enemy himself. What happened next would change both his and Rose’s lives forever.

Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.

Connect with the team!

• Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods
• Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez
• Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins
• Email the team: medalofhonor@pushkin.fm

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Pittman was legally blind in his right eye—a condition that should have kept him away from the front lines of the Vietnam War. But Pittman wasn't a man who took "no" for an answer. After sneaking his way into the U.S. Marines, he found himself on a trail in the jungle, single-handedly trying to save his brothers in arms.

From a "medical disqualification" to a legendary stand with a machine gun, Richard Pittman’s story proves that true courage starts with the belief that you belong in the fight.

Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.

Connect with the team!

• Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods
• Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez
• Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins
• Email the team: medalofhonor@pushkin.fm

Episode resources:

US Marines in Vietnam: An Expanding War, 1966 by Jack Shulimson (Department of the Navy, 1982)

Operation Hastings website

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Malcolm Gladwell sits down with journalist and author Sebastian Junger to discuss his book “Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging.” After spending years embedded with American soldiers in Afghanistan, Junger found himself wondering: why do so many veterans struggle most not during war, but after returning home?

Junger’s most recent book is “In My Time Of Dying.” He also has a substack called Tribe with Sebastian Junger.

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If you saw a suicide bomber moving toward your friends, would you have the courage to run toward him? That is the choice Florent “Flo” Groberg made on a dusty road in Afghanistan. In just eight seconds, he identified the threat, tackled the bomber, and saved countless lives. And yet, Flo says he still wishes he had run faster.

Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.

Connect with the team!

• Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods
• Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez
• Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins
• Email the team: medalofhonor@pushkin.fm

Episode resource:

8 Seconds of Courage: A Soldier's Story from Immigrant to the Medal of Honor by Flo Groberg and Tom Sileo (Simon & Schuster, 2017)

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Admiral Richard Byrd was one of the most famous explorers of the 20th century. He received the Medal of Honor for a risky flight to the North Pole. But soon after his death, the whispers began. Did he actually make it there? Or did he turn back early?

Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.

Connect with the team!

• Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods
• Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez
• Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins
• Email the team: medalofhonor@pushkin.fm

Episode resources:

Race to the Top of the World: Richard Byrd and the First Flight to the North Pole by Sheldon Bart (Regnery History Press, 2013)

To the Pole: The Diary and Notebook of Richard E Byrd, 1926-1927 edited by Raimund E Goerler (Ohio State University Press, 1998)

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When World War II broke out, Japanese Americans, including George "Joe" Sakato and his family, were treated as threats. But Sakato still joined the Army because he wanted to protect the United States and its people. And on a hill in eastern France, he launched a one-man charge that defied military logic and changed the tides of the battle. His story is an incredible tale of loyalty and friendship against impossible odds.

Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.

Connect with the team!

• Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods
• Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez
• Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins
• Email the team: medalofhonor@pushkin.fm

Episode resources:

Honor Before Glory: The Epic World War II Story of the Japanese American GIs Who Rescued the Lost Battalion by Scott McGaugh (Grand Central Publishing, 2016)

“442nd Regimental Combat Team” by the Densho Encyclopedia

“Going for Broke: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team” by the National World War II Museum

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