As I watched the daring rescue of the two airmen shot down over Iran in early April of 2026, I found myself thinking of John Bagwell.

John’s story is not a true-crime saga you’d expect to hear on this podcast, but it is gripping, timely, and no less dramatic.

I learned about his military service when he wore a Purple Heart ribbon to a search engine marketing group meeting here in Dallas many years ago.

John had never talked about his time in the Vietnam War, and we were surprised.

We learned that in 1968, Bagwell escaped from behind enemy lines during a surprise attack dubbed the Tet Offensive.

He was wounded and alone, moving through deadly, unfamiliar territory while trying to avoid enemy fire and, at times, bullets from his own side.

His harrowing fight for survival began at a radio station in Vietnam with a scene that could have been lifted straight from a Hollywood movie.

See Vietnam Era Photos of Army Disc Jockey John Bagwell Blasting Out Popular Sixties Rock Music To Troops

Popular Songs Among Bagwell’s Listeners In Vietnam

We Gotta Get Out Of This Place by The Animals

Something’s Happening Here by Buffalo Springfield

Hue 1968- A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam is my favorite book about the Tet Offensive by Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down

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Click here to purchase my “Texas Crime Stories” audiobook. It downloads into your podcast app.

Click here to purchase the Paperback & Kindle editions on Amazon.

Schedule me to speak at your social meeting or corporate event.

My presentation, “Evil Walks Among Us,” features stories about serial killers and notorious criminals and personal safety tips.

Step into the storied halls of the Texas Prison Museum and uncover the gripping tales of infamous inmates, daring escapes, and the history of justice in the Lone Star State.

Burned with lit cigarettes. Impaled with a fishhook. Staples fired into his hip. Deadly drugs forced up his nose.

It sounds like a brutal regime’s methods from a torture chamber.

But these are the homegrown means of hazing that the Alpha Nu Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity allegedly used on pledges at the University of Texas at Austin.

The sadistic practices detailed in a wrongful death lawsuit raise questions about whether fraternity members derive pleasure from inflicting pain.

It allegedly caused 18-year-old Sawyer Updike to end his life under the influence of mind-bending drugs he was forced to take.

If you are sending a son or daughter off to college, you want to hear this story about Brothers of Brutality.

Get The Facts About Hazing On Your College Campus at HazingInfo.org

University of Texas at Austin Hazing Report Required by the Federal Stop Campus Hazing Act

Sawyer Updike Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Sigma Chi Fraternity

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10% Off AKILA Sunglasses and Eyewear

Click here to purchase my “Texas Crime Stories” audiobook. It downloads into your podcast app.

Click here to purchase the Paperback & Kindle editions on Amazon.

Schedule me to speak at your social meeting or corporate event.

My presentation, “Evil Walks Among Us,” features stories about serial killers and notorious criminals and personal safety tips.

Step into the storied halls of the Texas Prison Museum and uncover the gripping tales of infamous inmates, daring escapes, and the history of justice in the Lone Star State.

Legendary LAPD Homicide Detective John St. John walked among the dead for nearly a half-century.

Known as “JigSaw John,” he pursued monsters that had an insatiable appetite for blood and suffering.

Jane Howatt, a suburban housewife and aspiring writer, wanted to trade her tennis racket for something more meaningful.

St. John didn’t need company, and he sure didn’t want a young unpublished author in his way.

But something about Howatt’s curiosity—earnest, unspoiled, insistent—broke down his guard.

St. John worked the evidence; Howatt worked the story.

The result is “JigSaw and Jane: Thirteen Years of Murder & Mayhem with Badge Number One.”

St.John empathized with crime victims because he was one of them.

As a young jailer, a prisoner ambushed him with an iron bar ripped from a bunk.

The prisoner savagely beat St. John to the brink of death, leaving him blind in one eye.

In another life, JigSaw and Jane would have barely noticed each other in a supermarket aisle.

Instead, they found themselves peering into crime scenes of LA’s most brutal and sensational crimes together.

This is their story.

Click here to purchase my “Texas Crime Stories” audiobook. It downloads into your podcast app.

Click here to purchase the Paperback & Kindle editions on Amazon.

Schedule me to speak at your social meeting or corporate event.

My presentation, “Evil Walks Among Us,” features stories about serial killers and notorious criminals and personal safety tips.

Step into the storied halls of the Texas Prison Museum and uncover the gripping tales of infamous inmates, daring escapes, and the history of justice in the Lone Star State.

41% Off Cozy Earth Sheets, Pajamas and More

20% Off Eric Javits Designer Hats Worn by True Crime TV Detectives

20% Off HyperNatural Men’s Polo Shirts

15% Off TONA Activewear Designer Gym Leggings

15% Off STAND+ Comfort Shoes For Extended Standing

10% Off AKILA Sunglasses and Eyewear