I too was a Marine in Fallujah. I was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps. I was with 3/1. We were adjacent to 1/8 and we were the focus of the push. I remember losing my first friend. It was so fast, yet so slow. Time almost stood still. Now, almost 20 years later, I still feel that loss like a fresh cut. What he said about PTSD being heartbreak is spot on. I miss my friends. My heart is broken, and it will never be whole again.
The japanese art of Kintsugi is a method for repairing broken objects in such a way that they are more beautiful than they were before they were broken. Maybe the point is not to be whole again but to be restored to greater than you could have been. Perhaps your love for your friends can be a golden glue that holds you together. The cracks will always be there but that doesn't mean you're in pieces. I hope this helps 🙏 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” 1 John 4:15-18
@@jonathanwestlake5527 tbh , if you really want ppl to follow your religion , stop speaking in riddles and just lay it out .So many layers of double talk , no wonder the tik tok youth are running away from this in droves.
Where’s the riddle? I just made the comment because it talks about love driving out fear haha. But I do want everyone to follow the Truth (Jesus is referred to as Truth). Clearly nothing didn’t give rise to this world! Clearly we were created. Jesus was a historical figure - verified by the most secular sources. Call me a liar or crazy but when I called out to Him, He answered me. God wants us (His creation) to be like Him. We sin when we don’t act like the way He created us to be. That sin (murder, theft, lying, lusting after women, committing fornication, etc) is a violation of His law (His law to be like Him), the punishment of which is death. Jesus who is fully God and man, being sinless, was able to pay for that price of death by dying in our place, being perfect He was able to pay the price for others (you and me). He rose from the dead and God says that if we believe in our heart and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, then we will be saved from our impending death (physically and spiritually in Hell). God loves you and wants you to come to Him. He is smiling at you with open arms waiting and wanting for you to come to Him. I guess that’s my “religion” explained clearly.
That was one hell of an honest interview. I worked with the USMC in Basra in 05/06 and they were superb warriors. Massive respect from a UK service member.
I worked with several former SAS members in Iraq 04-05 in a civilian context and they were among the finest men i ever met. Your country is pretty damn good as well my friend
What an incredible interview. One of the more honest and unique post-combat interviews I've ever seen. Elliot seems like he would be an amazing leader to serve under.
Hello cousin Elliott! You served with honor! And you are are credit to the family name god bless! You served our nation the way the Ackerman family has since before we were a nation! MSgt. USAF Ret.
As a former enlisted infantryman I can tell you that, like Capt. Ackerman, the infantry officers that America produces are at the same time the finest young men that the country produces. Unlike the Rambo stereotype, America's combat officers are insanely smart, driven, self disciplined and goal driven. I don't know how the military keeps doing it but God bless them. In my short enlistment I encountered only one officer that I would not want to follow into combat. The others...I would follow them anywhere.
Never heard anyone describe the fraternal love within a group of soldiers, the esprit de corps, the building and destroying of the unit in the cause of the mission in such a way. A great analogy.
This Marine gave one of the best and most thoughtful interview of his experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. He pulled no punches told us how it was and why “love” for your fellow Marine is a thing, doesn’t matter if it’s male or female but a MARINE. And his comments working a a CIA operator….it was eye opening and I would encourage folks to watch it. It is EXCELLENT! Semper Fi Marine.
His last point was so good, I never thought of that before. A war is a completely different thing when it's all 'free' due to being paid for by building up debt, it can just go on forever and the public will be ambivalent.
@@EricRush just look at WWII there are nations still paying today OCT 13, 2022 still paying the US & UK debt from WWII for instance the Lend/Lease program Russia still owes the US or UK still owes the US. Poland just paid off their debt. Germany still owes debt, something like 300 billion from what Hitler did. The Afghan people will be paying debt for the rest of their lives but the question is when?
@@av8tore71 Germany actually finally payed off their debt in recent years. I dont remember the exact year anymore but it was in the last 15 yrs for sure
I've never been in the military but I have to say the composure of this man is astounding and I would highly recommend him as a counsellor for vets, very good.
What an excellent interview and so well spoken. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. As a Marine that never got the opportunity to deploy these interviews give me a feeling of selfish jealousy and failure. I have nothing but love and respect for all who sacrificed so much.
If we had men and women of this caliber in charge of this country we would constantly be reminded of why this great nation came to be the example of power and freedom. This guy is the real deal!
Lou, that it total bullshit. Learn your American history from the get-go up to today and, like the history of most other major countries, it was dirty, corrupt, violent, and the public bore the brunt because they had always been lied to. And the beat goes on.
His story spoke to me in many ways! As a Marine it told why we fight for one another, no matter what. And so much more that I would have write multiple paragraphs that only a Marine in the same instance would really understand, not to bust on the basic Army guys who learned the same things and the Seals go without saying. This one was a gem, and I would love to read his book!
The battlefield changes with advanced weaponry, tactics, etc. However, the one constant is that Soldiers, Marines, and Sailors fight for one another. That is the bottom line.
I’m 29 and I’ve always admired every branch of service. I always wanted to join and be one of the best ever I just didn’t have the balls lol. Much love to all vets and those who are still serving
When your balls drop which they should before you're 37 you can join. You could always join the Navy or Air Force as boot camp is far less demanding than boot camp for the Marines or Army. Just some food for thought.
Oh wow, small world. I've read a few books about the battle of Fallujah and Elliot Ackerman was mentioned quite a bit. The books even contained some actual combat footage photos and Elliot was in a few of the photos. If I remember correctly, one of those books was "No True Glory" by Bing West.
I think it ended as well as it could have. We fought Al Qaeda and the Taliban and protected the mainland US for 20 years. No terrorist attacks in that interval. We killed tens of thousands of terrorists and caused them to understand that they really didn’t want to fight us ever again. Trump negotiated a crease fire and we departed company after destroying nearly everything of value. There are so so many ways that it could have ended in a worse fashion. Nobody died in vain Im Afghanistan.
It ended how the Afghans said it would they waited the US out it was predictable that the US couldn’t win. The streams of war fighters that were killed mainly came over the Pak border, the Afghans out country were certainly a part of fighting force but I doubt the general Afghan people were never international terrorists, the real terrorists came from your so called ally Saudi Arabia.
This man breaking down his thought process and out look on his experiences and what he took from them all is extremely inspiring and invaluable and really is a excellent description of the true and raw realities these young men learn in such a fear driven and violently animalistic environment that they have to learn as they go and their is no redos or 2nd chances and these young men have to face this reality while they are deep in it just makes my heart hurt for the one's who had to realize that this is it their time has come and their love for there country and fellow country men standing beside them and the love for their family's, friend's and community they left to go protect is so strong that they take that step terrifying step forward and they repeat that motion over and over as they fight for all are lives back home and all while knowing that next step forward could very well be their last but that fear these young men are able to over come it's such a underappreciated mind set that these young soldiers selflessly exhibit over and over again for months over it makes me proud to be an American knowing that we produce this caliber of warrior right here on are soil bless you all and great interview It was extremely insightful and i appreciate you sharing it with us all!!!💯🇺🇸🙂👍🇺🇸💯
The meek will inherit the earth! Don't mistake kindness for weakness. Mr Elliot sitting there so calm and collected. Until it's time to turn it on!!!😎🤘🏻
Wow what a great interview!! i wish this interview lasted longer i could listen to Elliot speak for hours. You can tell he is very intelligent and he speaks from a point of experience and intelligence.
my nieces dad was deployed a few times..(marine LMG'r) Kosovo and Bosnia at the least I know of ... You guys are hero's on levels.... we owe you more than we are worth for keeping us safe at night is the reality. thank you for dyeing and getting your faces blow off an worse
This guy is awesome. He's very straight forward, and I'm glad he was doing good work. I did not serve, I was unable to serve (due to education). But I'm happy a guy with his head on his shoulders, and not an anxious panic stricken person(me) was fighting. Thank you sir! I was 19, in 01. And I cried alot(shame,fear)for what the future held
This guy is absolute amazing! When he touched on the subject of love I really started to understand what love is, I've struggled with that concept for a while...
This man is not only a silver star recipient but his parents and brother all have Wikipedia pages for the incredible work they’ve done for this country and the world. You’d be hard pressed to find a better family that’s ever existed.
As a former Marine, who lost a biological brother in Iraq, I can tell you that there is no victory in war - only loss. I never want to hear another person say we fight for freedom or democracy again. Young men and women fought and died for literal dirt, which we don’t have anymore.
Same story in Vietnam. Countless Americans would be maimed or killed to gain control of some obscure hill or other piece of real estate and then command would set up after taking the area from the enemy and after a few days or a week they’d pack up and abandon the hill they sacrificed so many young men to get and go fight for another hill just as meaningless as the one before….on and on it goes.
This man's point of view is brilliant! Every American in this country should watch this video. Sir thank you for your service and wisdom that you have given all of us, it is a priceless gift to those who listen.
I knew right away when I finished ROTC and got commissioned as a 2LT that I was not cut out for infantry. It was a miserable, hot, tiring frustrating work and it wasn’t for me. The Army figured that out in like a day, and they assigned me to Artillery and I was off to Artillery OBC @ Ft. Sill. Sometimes this thing you didn’t do sticks with you, I wasn’t going to do the finest infantry in the world any favors but I could serve my country in the Artillery.
As an Infantryman, I love my Arty guys and our Mortar platoons. They were on the other end of the radio, but they were still there with me whenever I called in a fire mission. I always knew our Artillery units had our backs. If things got too hot, steel rain could cool things off.
It's insane how you can often distinguish an officer from an enlisted man within the first minute or less of seeing them. The demeanor, style of dress, style of speech all denote an officer. Officers wear suits to their post war interviews. Enlisted men wear BCM shirts.
This was a very enjoyable clear articulate descriptive explanation - seems like a great guy to serve with and especially in crazy places where you need people like him to rely on for your life.
Love the end. Bring the good ones here if they want to be here. Our interpreter was outstanding. He wanted to be here. Risked his life and worked hard for us. And was denied. But we cater to….other people who just wants a handout.
Hero’s all. I am humbled. Please, never think any of you who actually got shot at, that it didn’t matter. Yeah it was a s* show due to politics. But you made a real difference in the lives of ordinary Iraqi’s and humanity: then, now, and forever.
Brittany Speers? No Metallica? Black Sabbath? Very well spoken soldier. Very interesting point he made about the men over there, have been at war since 1979, most of them have never known peace.
It's because of the lyrics. "Hit me baby one more time" while bullets are bouncing off the tank. Pretty hilarious when you think about it. I bet those tankers have amazing senses of humor.
I Love the Honesty and Integrity of this Marine. He is very articulate and to the point. God Bless the Military men and women and Thank you all for your service.
The part about the lance corporal running into an RPG attack just to lay down suppressive fire for his squad cmdr... just because it was his brother from another mother... that part was touching. You don't see that crap from every military. That's bravery and honor mixed with a little self-sacrifice... it's beautiful... leave no man behind. As for the war in Afghanistan, having seen some of its casualties personally, here's what I'll say. First, it's hard to encapsulate 2 decades of combat operations into a paragraph. And what the "first-in" saw vs. what the "last-out" saw, well, totally different scenario... like night and day. So, in terms of making OBL pay for his crimes on 9/11/01 - mission accomplished. Insofar as dismantling his terror network and gathering crucial intel while sending key players to Gitmo - mission accomplished. Insofar as our nation being largely free of major Islamic terror attacks for 2 decades since, - mission accomplished,... but in terms of the US govt. losing focus and trying to play nation-building daddy, *Epic failure*... You simply cannot take people who live in a dirt home, who raise goats, who own basically some cups and a rug and only know Sharia Law as their moral code, and then enchant them with some Western ideals of financial stability, modernization, feminist equality and an egalitarian society. They just do not have that program running like we do... It's not installed in their firmware. Point blank period, they don't VALUE those things... And why would they? They've never seen anything like it and nothing can or will make them value those things. These are people that often have less than a 3rd grade education. Hard stop. A third grade education... and you expect them to gradually take over defense of a nation which has been at war for the past 40+ years, in part with a tribal Islamic fundamentalist group, and often also with either the USA or Soviet Union. Pure Insanity. Frankly, I blame the Obama administration for knocking the whole campaign off the rails and creating rules of engagement that are impossible to follow in such a setting. When it shifted from "The hunt for OBL" and somehow meandered to "building the Afghanistan of tomorrow" they drastically miscalculated. You cannot "win hearts and minds" and create a well-trained homegrown force under an installed puppet regime when there is such a vast philosophical, ideological, and societal gap to overcome... What ass-hat high-brass thought the ANA was going to be a real thing? Many of the ANA recruits were junkies, some raped kids, some used their newfound power to exploit and bully the locals worse than the damn Taliban did, while others just took the money and then went right to the Taliban with crucial intel... and oh yeah, some were just dumb as a brick. A few became good allies, but they were the minority... and we eventually screwed them in the ass too. Some were captured, tortured, and had their families killed for partering with the U.S. I knew that plan was f--ked from the jump. I really think the early seeds of wokeism and trying to wage a PR campaign at home for fear of Afghanistan becomming a "2nd vietnam" caused so many of our men and woman to suffer irreperable damage in that,... nation. Not to mention the poor Afghanis who trusted us... God... I'm speechless there. That's legit the nicest thing I could say about Afgahnistan... nothing. But in trying to fight a PR war instead of a military war, and in trying to present a sanitized view of war to the people at home, they actually brought about the outcome they most feared. A second Vietnam. As choppers left the embassy in Kabul, we saw almost a xeroxed copy of the fall of Saigon from '75. The best way I can put it is this... Say you find a posse of stray cats in your backyard. They are scraggly and mangey and covered in fleas but because they are helpless and cute, you befriend them... then you get them spayed and neutered, and set out food, and start to make friends with them... you discover you have a common foe, (a big dog) and then after years of combat, you finally take out the big mean dog who has been chasing and tormenting them.... So you start to take away the food and instruct the cats to form a software firm, file articles of incorporation, hire a tax attorney, and start writing software code... it's *THAT* crazy to think what we tried to do there would work.
While everything you said is true....I will say this...Afghanistan had a taste of freedom...and the taliban is already dealing with defiance of sharia law...women refusing to cover their face...ect...only Afghanies can build the country they want...but I hope we have planted the seed of freedom in their minds
@@jacobgill4808 I mean... we did SOMETHING yes... but we screwed over so many. People lost their entire families, or lost their lives for working with the US. Frankly, I think you have to let people come to those conclusions on their own. Personally, Im really encouraged by the protests in Iran. That is a nation dying for a shot at freedom and the older folks and regime are holding them back. Afghanistan is too badly infested with Taliban now, sadly I think they are still decades away from anything you or I would recognize as stable democracy.
This man is excellent at explaining things and has expanded my understanding of War in general and the personal and cultural effects of war. I will search for his book.
Man I love the stories from all these hard men. Even though none will see this I still want to thank you for allowing me to sleep next to my wife in peace in the same country our founders creating and fought for. I love the American spirit and all these men who sacrificed trauma, limbs and life for me. Can not describe that amount of love and respect I, us patriots here in USA have for all of you.
Legit opposite of a blue falcon, trying to dance around the fact that he kept a family man from being deployed. And yeah, I too found out about Iraq circa 2006-7. You can run through and take things out, that's 'easy' enough, but to occupy, and restore order.... F THAT. The army was already on a downward trend, even by then. I could only imagine now. 19k, for what it's worth. Now, I was in an Abrams... I can't imagine rolling in in something that can be perforated by a 14.5.... Then again, we started to encounter EFP mines that would blow right through the side/bottom of the abrams.
The point he made at the end is one worth trumpeting: sending the military to war without sending the country to war results in bad outcomes. Sending the country to war requires the decision-makers to formulate clearly-stated goals and offers a way to account for the costs (blood and treasure) to achieve the goals. (If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.)
Probably one of the best interviews I have watched up to the point where it shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan. Should have completed the fallujah interview.
