Late Night History Late Night History

Tonight's guest is Stephen Spencer-Chapman, a veteran of the British Army's elite Parachute Regiment, and former *officer commanding* of the Red Devils parachute display team. While we certainly cover some of Stephen’s life story, including his time in the British military, the bulk of the discussion is about his inspiring grandfather, Freddy Spencer Chapman.



Episode 41 History Highlights:



1). The Shetland Bus — a lifeline for Norwegian citizens escaping Nazi oppression and a highway for British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officers linking up with Norwegian commandos for sabotage operations. For more info, read this article published in 2019.



2). Freddy Spencer Chapman’s “Living Dangerously” book series, which includes his 1930 polar exploration in Greenland, which aimed to uncover an air route between North America and Europe by way of the Arctic.



3). Stephen tells us about his personal experiences meeting the Dalai Lama. Freddy previously made a diplomatic mission to Tibet in 1936.



4). Freddy’s 3 ½ years in the Malaysia jungle fighting and evading the Japanese as a member of British SOE’s Force 136. (Read more here: ⁠To Hell and Back Again: The Epic Adventures of British Commando Freddy Spencer Chapman⁠).



5). “The Mad Fortnight” — Freddy and two other SOE commandos launched offensive action against the Japanese. They developed tactics to move as a small team and traveled at night along the Japanese supply lines. The SOE commandos would position themselves so one person would engage the enemy — often with IEDs, sticky bombs, and grenades — as a distraction and a second commando would move to another position to make them appear larger than they were. The three commandos wrecked 7 trains, cut a railway line in 60 pieces, and killed scores of enemy troops. In the end, the Japanese thought this was a battalion of men and sent regiments of soldiers to find them. 



6). Freddy’s legacy and The Chapman’s Challenge adventure race held annually in Malaysia. The race follows part of the route Freddy took to escape the jungle and get picked up by submarine.



7). History of the Parachute Regiment.



8). History of the Red Devils and tribute to the late Dean “Waldo” Walton.



9). Stephen’s experiences with military transition.



Buy Freddy's book: The Jungle is Neutral



Buy Brian Moynahan's book: Jungle Soldier



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In Episode 12, Bob discusses his Hall of Fame Army Special Forces career. Tonight, Bob tells us about how he was awarded the Silver Star with MACV-SOG; his extensive experiences with Detachment-A; and his time with the CIA in Thailand. 



Episode history highlights:



1). B-56 Project Sigma, explanation of MACV-SOG’s Recon and Hatchet Teams, and Bob’s Silver Star (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwXYgQ4tvYE&t=22s)



2). Lodge Act soldiers — Eastern Europeans who volunteered for Army Special Forces and in return would receive their US citizenship. Note: Some of these soldiers would become Distinguished Members of the Regiment i.e. the Green Beret Hall of Fame.



3). Detachment-A in Berlin — https://detachment-a.org/ — the Cold War clandestine unit tasked with “stay behind” operations in Berlin in the event of a Soviet Union invasion.



4). Fascinating tradecraft used throughout the 1960s like invisible ink, how to blend in as an American in Germany, and use of tabletop 3D models stashed in ceilings, which were miniature replicas of real targets. Additionally, Bob talks about OSS/CIA-developed cigarette lighters that fired a .22 bullet. 



5). Sketchy nature of locking-out of a WWII-era submarine in Greece.



6). CIA in Thailand in the 1970s and Air America.



7). Driving a flatbed truck on fire and loaded with ammunition off a CIA base in Thailand. Bob received the Soldier’s Medal, which is a life-saving medal awarded for non-combat action. 



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Tonight's guest is Mac Caltrider, the author of Double Knot, a war memoir in seven essays. Mac shares with us his life story, including culture associated with Baltimore, Maryland; two deployments to Afghanistan as a Marine; working as a patrol cop during tumultuous times; and his career in journalism. All of which is connected in Double Knot. 



Episode 39 highlights:



1). Plug Uglies — a now closed Irish pub in Baltimore, Maryland, named after old-timey firefighter gangs that used to start fires and get into street fights.



2). Family lineage in the US military.



3). Mac’s passion for books from an early age, which would prove useful as a writer and journalist years later.



4). Awesome history associated with Mac’s unit, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines (2/8), which includes a tale about the first ever Medal of Honor recipient’s action captured on video (many confuse Air Force CCT John Chapman’s action in Afghanistan as the first).



5). The humorous tales of the wiggling hedgehog and “the smoking crab” in Afghanistan (YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1bEDH4bwHI).



6). Double Knot (YouTube link: https://youtu.be/UP2dlTmig8Y)



7). Coffee or Die magazine and honored by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.



8). Pipes & Pages — Where Mac pairs books others should read with a tobacco pipe (https://www.instagram.com/pipes_and_pages/?hl=en).



Buy Double Knot on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Double-Knot-Mac-Caltrider/dp/B0CYX1RB6G) OR at veteran-owned publisher Dead Reckoning Collective (https://deadreckoningco.com/collections/books/products/book-double-knot).



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10% Discount Code using MATTFRATUS at HR4K’s store. HR4K is a UK lifestyle brand founded by British SAS veteran, friend, and guest of the show (Episode 7) Ben Garwood. Follow the link here: https://www.hr4k.uk/?ref=MATTFRATUS


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In Episode 8, Mike discussed his life story, including all of the major Delta Force operations that he participated in. Tonight for Episode 38, Mike shares with us the history of the Bomb Disposal/Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) across all service branches between World War II and the Gulf War. Additional topics covered below.



Episode 38 highlights:



1). Controversy regarding Draper Kauffman “The Father of Navy EOD” and his first Navy Cross award.

2). Lesser known service of the Army Combat Engineers alongside the Naval Combat Demolition Units on D-Day

3). Mike’s EOD experiences in Vietnam/Cambodia 

4). History of the Tunnel Rats, including Mike’s experiences doing similar work, which crawled into small tunnels armed with only flashlights, pistols, and in Mike’s case, explosives.

5). OSS Deer Team in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh’s relationship with the US in World War II

6). Delta Force EOD (which we also covered in Episode 8)

7). First Saturday in May is National EOD Day, which remembers the names on the EOD Memorial Wall

8). Mike’s uniform donated to the Ordnance Museum Fort Lee (Fort Greg Adams) in VA and various Museums-talk

9). Bunker Busters, Nukes, the Cheeseburger Bombs



YouTube Video: Delta Force Legend Mike Vining Discusses Tunnel Rat Missions



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Tonight's guest is Andrew "Sully" Sullivan, a former Navy SEAL Senior Chief (2002-2020), and the founder of the Community First Project, a non-profit that provides law enforcement officers the fundamentals to a tactical response to an active shooter or critical incident like an act of terror.

Some history highlights from this episode include SEAL training, humanity in war, the comedies that shaped the SEALs' vocabulary during the GWOT, pre-mission rituals, the connection between the US military and law enforcement, and so much more.

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The Late Night History podcast is hosted by writer and oral historian Matt Fratus. Join Matt in this special, two-part episode featuring Ret. Marine Col. Eddie Ray, one of only two Navy Cross recipients from the Gulf War. 



In part 2, listen to Eddie share his Navy Cross action from his perspective. Later in the episode, Eddie discusses what it was like to serve as a Battalion Commander under Gen. Mattis in the '03 Iraq invasion and some lessons learned returning to Iraq a decade after the Gulf War. Towards the end, Eddie reflects upon his legacy in the Marines and his thoughts about the future of armor in warfare with the prevalence of drones.



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