The “War on Drugs” started back in 1971 under Richard Nixon with the intent of eliminating illegal drug use by making the fines and penalties so stiff that people would stop using them. It’s hard to say, but guys, I think drugs won. That being said, people have been doing drugs for a LONG TIME. People have also been going to war for a LONG TIME. Sometimes, the streams get crossed, and guys stuff handfuls of mushrooms into their mouths and attack the English. Or sometimes the 2 biggest super powers that fought in the European theater of WWII gave troops Meth. Maybe some guys get yakked out of their skulls on Meth and fight the Russians on skis. Maybe dudes got baked and fought off a billion Vietcong soldiers in the middle of the night. It’s hard to say. I’m not going to condone drug use, but this is gonna be a wild episode.

Get early, ad-free access to all episodes on Patreon: https://patreon.com/1159media

This one is wild. Very interesting childhood, moving all over the world with his father doing missionary work until he accidentally joined the Chinese Army. Then his dad go pissed and got him removed, then he went to fight in Spain for a bit before WWII (yes, that was a thing) and then finally joining up with the US Army and getting treated like garbage because he just so happened to be Black. Eventually he would get the chance to prove that Black soldiers where, in fact, just as good as White dudes at killing Nazis. And boy oh boy was he GREAT at killing Nazis. This was one of the cases in the history of the US that proved how messed up things were. He fought and nearly died for a country that he loved that didn’t love him back because of the color of his skin. This guy was a trailblazer not just for his race but for the future of everyone who would serve in the future. Did I mention that he was REALLY GOOD at killing Nazis?

Get early, ad-free access to all episodes on Patreon: https://patreon.com/1159media

One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. This man was a freedom fighter. No questions asked. He grew up in a rural part of Afghanistan and got a good education before following in his father’s footsteps of joining the military. Then Communism entered the “Graveyard of Empires,” and they faced off with the Mujahideen and learned why Afghanistan earned that nickname. When your choice is to help clean up the Chernobyl disaster or go fight in the desert, growing a third testicle and glowing was probably a better choice. Massoud got the backing of Western powers in the form of weapons and high-end training to fight the creeping spread of Communism. After the Russians left, the power vacuum was plugged in and flipped on, and infighting started among Mujahideen factions. There’s one scum-sucking turd that got involved and basically forced Massoud out of any kind of power he was building, and he was doing good things, building schools and hospitals in poorer parts of the country and trying to give women more rights. He also started passing information off to the CIA that would fall on deaf ears and lead to tragedy and war.

Get early, ad-free access to all episodes on Patreon: https://patreon.com/1159media

If there were a Mount Rushmore for the Marine Corp., Dan Daly is on that bad boy. As a young man, he dreamed about becoming a Marine so that he could go and fight side by side with his hero, Teddy Roosevelt. Unfortunately for Daly (but good for anyone dumb enough to want Marines to show up on the beaches), that fighting ended before Daly could join up with Teddy. He DID, however, get to fight in the Boxer Rebellion in China, where he chain-smoked cigarettes and built roadblocks out of dead Chinese rebels. Then he went to Mexico and then to Haiti. Nothing bad has EVER happened in Haiti… Here he experienced some serious fighting and had to do some subaquatic actions with a donkey. That may have been worded wrong, but then he got to fight in the tropical paradise that is France during WWI. While there he uttered maybe one of the most badass quotes of all time and led his men as damn near a senior citizen in the battle that earned the Marines their nickname, The Devil Dogs. He was so badass that Congress had to change the award system because of him…

Get early, ad-free access to all episodes on Patreon: https://patreon.com/1159media

Born the half-brother of the King of Norway, Harald wanted more. By that, I mean he wanted to politely ask his brother to let him be King (he built an army and took the fight to him), and was exiled from his homeland. Which may have been the best thing for him in the long run. He traveled the world, killing people for money as a mercenary and eventually becoming the leader of the legendary Varangian Guard in the Byzantine Empire, where he may or may not (definitely did) plow the Emperor’s mom. After all that, he went home to Norway, where he heard about this neat place called England that he wanted to visit, but first, he had to take his throne. If ever there was a man who earned the title of The Last King of the Vikings, it was Harald Hardrada.

Get early, ad-free access to all episodes on Patreon: https://patreon.com/1159media

One of the most interesting humans that the British Empire has ever produced. A star rugby player, a Queen’s University Belfast law graduate, a lawyer, an alcohol enthusiast, and an early member of the legendary Special Air Service (SAS) and part of the notorious Desert Rats. He and his boys cruised around North Africa, making it miserable to be German and in the sand. There’s no way I can even begin to explain how bad ass Paddy Mayne was with just a few words so, hang out for a bit and hear about the wild life this man lived.Get early, ad-free access to all episodes on Patreon: https://patreon.com/1159media