And let's just remind everyone that an IED or certain ones can send an axle from my think maybe a 5 or 7 ton I would have to ask my dad again a hundred yards away
@@lukealleniguess5518 IED is not a standard device of set weight, type and principle. It got hit by a few light ones designed for grunts. If he had worse luck he could have found one akin to crap nazis prepared for Sherman crews(a 500+kg crate of artillery shells connected to a mine further up the road as trigger).
I know a story kind of like that one from the Air Force. An F15 is flying around when it suffers a bird strike - the copilot sees a broken canopy, an unresponsive pilot, and blood everywhere. So rather than assume control of the craft and land to get medical attention for his buddy, the dude panics and *ejects.* Shortly after this the pilot comes to, because all the bird did was hit his helmet and knock him out for a bit, to find a missing canopy, a missing copilot, and a plane out of control. He lands the jet, and _man_ was he not happy when his copilot got back to the airfield.
So when a harrier begins to sway sometimes the automatic hover function will overcompensate and the swaying will get worse until it flips upside down, so the pilots are trained to eject if it starts to sway to bad. I had a buddy that had to do a recovery on a harrier that did begin to sway, the plot ejected and then the jet corrected itself. The jet just hovered there with no one in it until it ran out of fuel and crashed.
The fact that the gate guards did not raise some sort of alarm seeing a Bradley driving up and down the road on its own makes stealth games more believable.
@@TheLostHatchet I would've thought some insurgents had hijacked it and were trying to draw in soldiers before ambushing them. That or they hijacked it but then didn't know how to drive the damn thing.
"The rest of the convoy just assumes oh he's gotta be dead, and leaves." '...The vehicle is still functional after being hit with 4 IEDs?' "AND THEY LEAVE HIM!" I just thought that disconnect in the conversation was amusing
I think Zachs been made angry by so much bullshit a lot of it's just background now. The anger economy has been flooded; the currency just isn't worth as much as it used to be.
"So Lieutenant, you're telling me that you left a fully functioning Bradly on the main road, known for insurgent activity. You didn't lock the vehicle, disable it in any way, and it says here that the driver was left behind and presumed dead? Tell me, at what point did you check?"
@@cursedgaraged5801 Some people just like being in a warzone with their buddies. None of them like the thought of dying but they all love each other enough to fight for the others survival (No Homo), but I guess this excludes the convoy.
Dude I figuratively threw a commander under not a bus but the equivalent of an M1 Abrams for nearly getting 5 privates killed in a fucking training exercise and I was a fucking WEEKEND WARRIOR! The only benefit was given to me an ultimatum of dipping out or making a 6 hour trip each month paying for my own damn gas. Hmm what a difficult choice. Not to mention my unit being on the front page of army fails not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES!
I was about halfway through the Bradley story when I realized that I had heard this before. A buddy of mine had a cousin in Iraq that was at that base at the time, and was one of the guys sent out to get the kid. When he and the others found out what happened, they were understandably pissed, to the point that the rest of their squad had to pull them away before they ended beating the shit out of the tank commander and gunner when they found out who they were. Luckily, after hearing what happened, the kid was transferred out of their squad and placed with the cousin's coincidentally. Don't know if the guy in charge of the convoy was court marshalled or not, unfortunately.
There is another guy in these comment who was saying he was deployed at the same time in a near by fob the story goes the vehicle crew (except the driver of course) got court marshalled and most got time in prison for it not 100 percent of if they are telling the truth but i hope so. But they were not aware of what happened to the driver so thanks for filling in a couple blanks
@Alex Withington Someone made an animation of this video and one comment says that the convoy commander and a few other commanders (in addition to the tankers) got a court martial
Ok so when Fallout 5 comes out, I want an easter egg. Two explorers sitting around a fire at night telling war stories, voiced by you two, and every time the encounter spawns, its a different story.
@@jesseperrella4022 Maybe a Skyrim mod for these two with their Fallout: NV characters. The encounter could be like the roadside mead guys mixed with these two stomping a group of Thalmor with minimal effort.
@@jesseperrella4022 that isn't too much farfetched if bethesda made wheel chairs in 76 usable by the request of a fan and are i think working on putting grandpa skyrim in a new elder scrolls game(idk remember if thats true or not so correct me if i'm wrong) a random encounter where mike n zach are doing their campfire stories in f5 isn't that far off
"I will never leave a fallen comrade" - Yeah, he's dead, let's move on. Leave the Bradley too, that thing's cursed. They should play Zach's army stories at recruitment centers.
"Leave them, they're cursed" "Wait brother's, halt please!" I know it's a sad situation of art imitating life but it reminds be of TTS alfabusa video on 40k's lamentors and it brings up the same burning hate I have for asshats that betray the trust of those that were depending on them.
@@rajasurapaneni3501 As someone who is extremely "Ride or die" Leaving anyone behind is abhorrent to me. I couldn't just walk away without knowing if they are dead or not. I'd never be able to live with the guilt. How those officers did it is beyond my understanding.
@@nikik5567 they could put in the report that the vehicle looked damaged and it was to dangerous to stop an entire convoy putting more lives and equipment in danger. But that is only for the vehicle not the damn soldier.
I thought the bradly story would’ve ended with some Iraqi kid took it or it was malfunctioning and driving on its own. Nope, just a soldier in such a sad situation that even insurgents felt bad for him.
@@Sgtvalentini Iraqi Insurgents are fucked up and sacrificed alot just to attempt to demoralize US troops, but yeah his version of the story doesn't work. Kid would've been killed, probably left naked in his own blood on the Bradley floor, and a brick on the accelerator, maybe spray paint arabic on the side, but ussually insurgents aren't lucky enough to get their hands on heavy US equipment like a Bradley, kid probably would be dead if he didn't start driving.
That driver did the right thing by sticking to the main route. If you’re outside the wire and you haven’t been much before, always try the best you can in that situation to stick to the plan and get back to your own side. Sure, make minor adjustments where the insurgents are concerned if you have to, but stick to the plan.
Valentina Z So what is it? Will they spare the kid out of pity like the first person said or would they kill him and defile his corpse? Cuz you’re saying “definitely no” to two opposites
So this is why literally every vet I ever met told to stay away from the military. Mind you I work a military museum/ memorial park so that not exactly a low number. Though i have heard good things about the air force
The way my grandfather explained it, the Air Force as he joined it had nothing but respect for the other branches, and it was because of the hell the other branches went through. For Veterans Day one year, he actually nearly facepalmed at the inaccurate drawing I made for my class and had give me advice on how to make it more believable in showing the Army, Navy, and the Marines in action. If I remember correctly, he even showed me how to sketch something resembling a Thunderbolt plane as an afterthought. His brother even fought in the army and lost two fingers. I once asked him the safest place to be in a war and he responded, “Up in a plane.” I asked him, “Won’t you get shot down easily?” He laughed and said something along the lines of, “Maybe, but it’s better to be in a plane with a radar to see the enemy than be on the ground without it. Your uncle lost two fingers, remember?” Knowing him, he would probably have been PISSED at how Zach and some of his fellow soldiers suffered in the Army- and he was nice guy who rarely got angry, even if you wronged him.
That Bradley story is one of the saddest military stories I've ever heard. I feel sorry for the poor kid driving that thing. He just got left behind, left for dead. It legit made me angry.
I'm pretty sure it at least had a happy ending for the kid. He's not dead, and if there's any justice the leaders and his former crewman in that Convoy got royally reamed and possibly court-martialed. Also the officer that got the gunner in his Humvee killed should probably have been busted down to private and put on toilet duty for the rest of his career.
@@hariman7727 i almost guarantee the officer survived that shit. There's a saying in the army. "Do what your rank can handle." It's so true bc a first sargent or even officer can get multiple DUI's and not get demoted or an art. 15, but when a private does it one time they drop damn near the whole fucking UCMJ on them and kick them out.
"Sir, my glove is cut because I saw a safety issue with my m249 and discussed it with my Superior officer who gave it permission for the removal of the trigger finger of the gloves, sir." "Well I'm just going to check on that specialist Zach." *One checking on that later.* "Carry on specialist Zach."
Jesus Christ, I couldn't imagine what I would do being put in that situation now when I'm 30, let alone a 19 year old kid. Thats infuriating; I hope that kid got a purple heart and his Lieutenant got court-marshalled to Hell and back.
They did. Court marshals and discharge 5s for everyone with prison time. The convoy commander got extra time for falsifying records saying that the bradley was inoperative, that the driver was KIA and the body couldn’t be recovered.
@@francesthepossum1812 I need the source of this to confirm the story I watched this video a couple of years back and still waiting to actually read what had happened to the people that left the Bradley and the kid
Paperwork makes the VA work. Anything not covered by multiple copies of reports and records of medical issues after get rejected by the machine. To be fair, they do work pretty hard to get those records and there are several organizations set up to deal with the bureaucracy involved. Plenty of people there care as much as they can, but I imagine much of it is soul crushing work for people who don't really understand or care to understand the systems in place.
me hearing these storys makes me think the reason the US amy actually works is simply because it is so over-funded that it can afford this stupidity, ether that or the overspending creates this stupidity...... one or the other
If they actually fix this problem god knows how much they would actually save money wise Then they could probably spend it on stuff like nasa or something else beneficial
You guys make me so nostalgic. When people would make these...intimate little gameplays where they cultivate their own lore and just have shits and giggles. Like no expensive equipment, no flashy special effects just two guys playing this really fucking great janky old game. I have been binging your videos and they always cheer me up. Thank you and lots of love from England 💖
Wait. What do you mean by their own lore? I don't quite get that? But I completely agree. I missed this kind of gameplay where people would just play the game and talk about personal experiences. I guess you get that from some streaming channels on twitch, but it doesn't have that same old youtube vibe to it
@@johantroskie3339 I meant like, they've kinda come up with their own characters that they step into when they play the game. And they have their own shenanigans that happen in the game and shenanigans before. They have inside jokes like the shot glass and Zach fixing weapons or Mike's evil clone. It's just neat
themanicman I’m not afraid of death. I’m kinda passively suicidal in a way. So I would absolutely not leave him behind even if we got by 10 IEDs it’s fucking appalling that the soldiers would even think about doing that, poor kid 💜
@@thedingo23 They weren't afraid of dying they were sick of getting blown up. Getting blown up in an armoured vehicle is similar to getting in a car wreck. Sometimes you die, sometimes you lose limbs, usually you just get banged up.
I'm assuming this is post-invasion if there's so many IED's, that means the convoy left behind an IFV, assuming that the crew's dead, that could've been taken by the militia and turned into an IED that could just drove into the bases entrance or if the guard's are incompetent all the way into the base to the barracks, if the IED was manually set off and the spotter was around that dude probably would've been killed and displayed glad he didn't come to that fate.
Did an arma 3 Zeus mission based on the Bradley story. Guys were in a convoy that stopped by their COP to drop off casualties, so the players joined the convoy to replace the vic that had gotten hit. On the way to objective the convoy took an ambush and the players vic hit an ied. Once the ied went off I placed a module that blacks the players screen and says some time later, when they woke up like 5 in game hours later with the convoy gone and their vehicle disabled and the driver dead. They then had to fight off a militia patrol and try and fall back to a nearby NATO held airfield. They all rly enjoyed it and appreciated the story behind it.
There won't be a link, a Zeus mission is made while they are playing, a player (the zeus) places enemies and different modules/objects while the players are in game, its not a premade mission
Mikeburnfire, I don't know if you'll see this, but as far as the Bradly Story- I read from someone that commented on a reaction video from Paul (Combat Veteran REacts), Vicius was the name, and apparently there was HELL raised- Theater Command crucified the Gunner, Chief, and Convoy Commanders and not only were they court marshaled and dishonorably discharged, but they were also imprisoned. There's apparently an article about it somewhere, so if its any small consolation, they got what they deserved.
@@AnarquiaCookbook I damn well hope so. I may a liberal, but FFS, I respect the military. In this case, the military did not return that respect, at least in his fucking squad.
I love these Campfire Stories. They further validate my fear of Joining the Army and How I was right to not enlist. I never would have made it and these stories aren't exactly encouraging.
In 40k a Commisar would've shot the leader of that convoy, the gunner AND the tank commander for cowardice. ....and for leaving behind a functional vehicle. A court martial is getting off easy for abandoning your duty, a brother and a fucking expensive piece of equipment. The fact that thing survived *four* IEDs and managed to protect the one crewman with any balls *must* mean it's blessed by the Omnissiah, so the rest of that convoy also committed Heresy by abandoning it. That is one seriously determined machine spirit.
This needs to be the start of a Campaign. Your party is at the blast doors of the base when you notice a landraider with a single guardsman in it slowly driving back and forth across no-mans land. O.o
A court-martial is definitely not getting off easy, it's being tried for your actions, and penalties depending on the severity of your deeds can indeed include a death sentence. Summary execution is banned under not just US but international law under most circumstances.
I lived in Venezuela and there the Army does something we call "Matraqueo" wich is basiclly extortion, they will stop cars to see if they have their seatbelt on or any other infraction, then they will tell you that they will take you car unless you pay them, they usually do this with teenagers with rich Dads So that general would be perfect in Venezuela
"a six cylinder engine is kind of like a gun" there is a gun that is a v12 engine in a game called "enter the gungeon" a game that i would DEFINITELY recommend for zach and mike to play. Zach's commentary on some of the stupidest weapons in the game would be GOLD!
You know, that sounds cool. I imagine how he will correct the silly gun in any way process, and scratch his head on why the Slinger is one of the most powerful weapons in the game
A friend of mine was actually sent to fort polk for basic, when he told me where he was going, I made him watch all your campfire stories...with every story about fort puke he just wilted a bit more.
as Mike and many others have said "Pray to God you do not get sent to Fort Polk, and if you do, it is the greatest insurance that you will never reenlist."
That’s what our Co did at Xio Hax. He used the blimp at first to make sure we were clearing weapons. 6 months in and he is using it to make sure we are not tossing piss bottles.
@@wrongtime9097 oh more than you know. I side with House to humiliate Oliver and Kimball, killing their future careers, while also installing Ranger Chief Hanlon as a Senator back west in “return to sender,” and scrubbing the senate of corruption during Cass’ quest.
@@Slender_Man_186 hanlon is fucking senile colonel shu would've been a better option since he deserves general he could probably do decent as a senator.
The US "lost" in Afghanistan but not Irak technically... To call it a victory is a bit far-fetched since they couldn't rebuild the country like any normal occupation army has to, but they shredded the power in place, shot the leader and try to go full democracy on their asses... So it's a military win but a FLAT - OUT PURE DEFEAT on a social and political perspective...
Best quote I’ve ever heard in the army: “the 249 is like a prom date girlfriend, no like a wife. You feed it premium, take care that it stays well lubed and clean and if you wear a glove it might run away on you. The 240 is like a Pegasus stripper or a cheap whore. If you feed it, it will work”
I never expected to want to punch an entire company / Convoy of soldiers, or wanting to just pummel a officer until I can't pummel no mo'... And then I watched this video. I really hope everybody involved in those two events who was responsible for people getting hurt got the book thrown at them.
7:17 The blimp is called a STMPAS. Small tactical multi payload aerostat system or something like that. I was the poor schlub they put on the detail of setting it up and monitoring the camera.
@@Soron661 I wouldn't say that, more that Zach is a natural storyteller. Mike would have probably summarized the Bradley story in a couple of sentences by comparison. No disrespect to the guy, he just reminds me of myself. I'm not a natural storyteller either.
Mikeburnfire let Zach Hazard know punishment as follows. Theater command crucified the gunner, chief, and convoy commanders. Full court martials all the way around with "Discharge 5". The assistant convoy commander got an extra charge due to falsifying his report. Saying the vehicle was destroyed/inoperable, and the driver was KIA. And it was to dangerous to recover the body. Which as Zach knows, turned out to be false. The Convoy Commander, assistant Convoy Commander, and crew chief, and gunner got "discharge 5", and prison time. Many thanks to Vicius and Disgruntled Devilin for finding the report.
I'm glad I can laugh at these things and still be upset about them. These stories are a dime a dozen in the military nowadays hell my flight chief wouldn't let me take leave to clean out my house after my fiancee died, one of the many reasons why I got out.
@@dboot8886 It's hard to explain. My flight was actually investigated before this incident. My fiancee dying was just the straw that broke the camel's back as they say. What happened to my fiancee and I was stretched out over a year and a half and really made me lose faith in what the military stood for.
My grandfather served in the Air Force. The way he experienced it, it was honorable. Nowadays, I honestly think he would cry if he was still here with us. What freaking honor does the military have now? What happens to some of those soldiers when they leave it?
@@justin2308 The modern military is a combination make-work program for defense contractors and mercenary company for corporations that want to exploit foreign countries. It's not fighting to defend the United States or its people, it's fighting to defend the bonus of some jackoff CEO who hung out with Jeffrey Epstein.
I know we all like to laugh at military incompetence, but I really have to hand it to Zach to tell a story that is legitimately a trigger for his PTSD not just openly but with more or less complete control of his emotions.
As someone who deployed to Syria which we aren't officially deployed too and have never officially been and who's SGM has been brought up on charges for stolen Valor. I'm super not surprised by any of this story
Quintonias that’s what i was going for yeah. like he stayed pretty calm and collected, and was still being smart with his decisions despite being abandoned and concussed. he may not be a hero but he’s pretty extraordinary
@@Aerowarrier really smart kid, he recognized that there could be English speaking individuals among the hostiles, and so he wasn't willing to leave the Bradley till he was entirely sure about the fact that they were American soldiers.
Hope to god I don't get stuck with with a chain of command like that, scored highest with electronics on my asvab and really want to be a tank driver or combat engineer, love the work you guys do and the content you make keep up the great work
I hope you're not planning on joining the Marine Corps. If you sign either one of those contracts with them, odds are you're gonna wind up in AAV community., which is one of, if not the most, miserable communities in the armed forces. I'm speaking from personal experience.
My dad worked with armor - he was a lieutenant, mind, so I'd bet that his experience was a smidge more pleasant than yours will be. If you can - join the military as an officer, that's what I always say. Christ knows there's no way I'd do otherwise, if I could have! (medical reasons disallow me, sadly.)
ryan naismith Yeah, even as a civvy, I can see from what people are saying that it ain’t pleasant. Heck, from what I’m hearing all over the place, the military in general seems like misery wearing a painting of the American eagle.
@@jiggler1-1 Privileges of rank, right? As an addition to that: I used to be into military history until I realized that it was mostly flag officer-worshipping crap, as though they determine the outcome of battles/wars to the exclusion of absolutely everything else. Good weapons, good equipment, good tactics, the leadership/aptitude of junior officers, and frequent training in/with them wins wars, not some general pushing division markers around a map from his chatau command post. "Operational" success is nothing more than the aggregate success of "small", "insignificant" units.
Undoubtedly sent for medical treatment, and most likely transferred to a different unit. I can't imagine being abandoned by my entire company and wanting to go back to the same company.
so today I learned; my DM for my Wrath and Glory game, his uncle was a medic in Zach's regiment at the time of the bradley story. That same uncle had to patch up a small arms repairman with a very similar story to Zach's about getting anger management, but this one punched the NCO instead of yelling at him. The NCO ordered an Enlisted to run over a camel because another officer told him, and I quote, "bring back something edible that isn't MREs." so the Sergeant told the enlisted to run over a camel in a Humvee, breaking the .50 cal's barrel. Repairman was not happy.
I never thought I’d ever mention this, I mean *EVER*, cuz I wanted to go back in. But I guess it’s a good thing I’ve failed AIT. The strokes I’ve heard that the Army has gotten were so bad that joining now would be a major problem. But that Bradley story, where in training back in 2010, the soldier’s creed was extremely hammered into our thick skulls, that they left him. Also to be very unpredictable on the field, not to be in the same fucking spot day after day, and that Sgt got the gunner killed for a pet peeve. That’s just....
The blimp story reminds me of when I did security work and had to look after lighting equipment worth half a million by myself with like 50 or more Civs around
Somewhat of a silver lining (I found this in a different comments section where the incident was being discussed by other vets familiar with it): Court marshals and dishonorable discharges for everyone with prison time. The TC got extra time for falsifying reports saying that the bradley was inoperative, that the driver was KIA and the body couldn’t be recovered. So at least Zach’s hopes were realized
And it's such a stupid pogue mistake to make in a combat zone. I hope seatbelt McGee got court martialed for that and busted down to the lowest rank possible and assigned toilet duty for the rest of his career.
Even if the Bradley story and the dickhead who got his gunner killed are really dark stories, I still enjoy to hear stuff like that. That is a side of war no one talk's about. Many times it's just stories about glorious death and comradeship on the battlefield. Or being bored as hell. Keep sharing stories like that Zach. Ofcorse stuff you want to talk about, you probably have stories from Iraq you don't want to share to us all but whatever you want to share i can speak for us all that we are grateful for it.
Imagine what would have happen if the enemy caught him then it would have been ten times worse because they enemy would have hostage and a semi functional Bradley which would most certainly would cause quite a bit of damage and of courses PID will be an issue as well...so yea I think that guy is real lucky like +10 luck lucky.
I talked to a friend who's friend's dad was part of the army and apparently he heard the convoy story when stationed in Iraq. If what was said true then they picked up the convoy and the driver got major PTSD after the incident and is likely still going through therapy
Sounds like a movie. Waking up, the hot sun beating on his face. Looking around to see himself alone in the vehicle and remembering the Convoy he was supposed to be with is not there. There's blood on his head and thinking "They can't have left me" Super dark story
There needs to be a mod of this. Or this needs to be written into the existing Mikeburnfire Companions mod, where if you get them within range of a campfire, after dark, they will sit down and reenact these campfire stories videos.
Ironically it could be an easier task. Muskets have complex lock and trigger mechanisms. Canon is literally solid piece of metal on wheels. If anything could need repairs is broken axle or something. Unless it was hit by a canonball and canon part was irreparable he would be fine.
This actually seems like a cool survival game idea. A driver awakens in unknown territory, alone, and on limited resources. He must try to figure out how he got here, and what is out here in this desert. But the desert is not all that it may seem.
So, to tell you why only the Bradley was hit in all 4 bombings was most because of what those people believed in. Most of the enemy wanted to be recognized for their "bravery". They basically wanted to make themselves more popular among the army by taking down the biggest targets. AKA Bradleys and Abrams. The IED's themselves were too weak to destroy the Bradley, but they still wanted to destroy it. Also, those people who abandoned the kid could have been court martialed, I think.
Whoa Whoa that bradley commander sounded like it qualifies as desertion. That poor kid must have been scarred for the rest of his life. I hope whoever left that poor kid in that bradley got court-martialed.
@@nikik5567 And they saw the bradley just driving about a red zone, but did not bother to even check until much later? What a bunch of fucking douches. Side note here it's actually amazing how the thing was still driving after getting bombarded like 4 times. I would have expected its wheels be too jacked up to drive after 1 or 2 hits.
We had the same blimp in Afghanistan, our command used it to NJP Marines who rolled their sleeves up while on foot patrol or took off their kevlar helmets, or wore bandannas under them....god now i'm mad
So, not only did they abandon a fellow soldier after barely bothering to check if he was still alive, but they also left behind a functioning vehicle in a high insurgency area without disabling or locking it in some way. It is a fucking miracle that this country hasn't been turned into a giant smoldering crater yet.
nope, aparently someone tracked down the story, court marshells all around and the convoy commander was dishonorably discharged, arrested, and thrown in jail.
@@themanformerlyknownascomme777 they didn't track down the story. Someone commented that they remembered seeing something about it while in service in 2009. They were never able to find the article, so it is still unconfirmed.
They had one of those blimps at the FOB we were at in Afghanistan. Some of our guys actually met and talked with the civilians who operated it (just happened to be walking by the trailer that the blimp is run from when the contractors were changing shift). They gleefully told my buddies about all the times they got to inform high ranking people that per their SOP and contract, the only way they would point the camera inside the wire was if it was suspected the perimeter might have been breached. Apparently it makes more sense to use it to monitor outside the FOB for threats than inside to enforce random rules. Go figure.
Your story reminded me of this my dad was in the army I don't remember much about the time when he was in the military but this was something that will always stick out in my head through the most bizarre thing he had ever experienced he was up on a hill with a spotter and a sniper and it was just him up there with these two he was just sitting there with an M16 on his lap looking around with a pair of binoculars he has on his lap as well and looks down and he's looking in the opposite direction the Spotter and sniper are looking at a different spot that he was my dad he sees a Bradley just going down the road all by its own it surprised him he thought he was having heatstroke cuz they were out there for so long and then when they were done with their little Recon of that area they cut back to there base and thay heard this exact story from a private and they fell to the ground laughing at my dad as he smack himself and said I should have reported it as soon as I noticed it the Spotter and sniper made jokes about it for the next two weeks about my dad being a dead-eye about spotting giant vehicles that they couldn't spot when they were looking around the Spotter and sniper we're looking around several different locations but neither of them spotted it they did realize that he was surprised he didn't notice it himself turns out the direction they were looking they weren't going to see it anyway cuz my dad was faced the opposite of them looking down the road Edit the reason it took so long for me to post this little story was that when I heard this I sat down for so long trying to remember ware I heard this and then I called my dad I was like Dad didn't you tell me a story about you spoting a Bradley then told me this exact same story and I started laughing I went a TH-camr that was in the Army had to clear that Bradley you spotted and my dad said in a dejected voice I wish I didn't believe that I had heat stroke when I spotted it I could've probably saved the kid and then I told him the kid survive and he was like I know but I feel like I could have saved him myself and been rewarded with something and I fell to the ground laughing at him when I heard him say this
God its amazing to hear all these stories around the same event from different angles in the comments and you can tell most of them are true just from how they are written and little bits about being in different areas that most wouldnt think to lye about
TheCatCrusader The chain of command, at least, is freaking stupid (save for the occasional moment where the soldiers do something stupid with an idiotic excuse instead). Yeah, if war ever hits our shores, I think I’ll rely on the “well-regulated Militia” clause of the Second Amendment first as well as the veterans in the community before the active command. I have a great respect for those who serve. What I do not respect is the fact that they have to survive their own countrymen and bureaucrats first.
I wouldn't really worry about it too too much - militaries tend to be incompetent in times of relative peace. It's one of the reasons we've shifted to using special ops soldiers for most of our conflicts, because you can be pretty guaranteed they're reliable.
My dad used to work for general dynamics and he used to take me to work with him all the time where he worked on bradleys and abrams and i got to see a lot of really cool stuff, so other than the top secret stuff on the vehicles like the armor for the M1A1 i know those vehicles inside and out like the back of my hand. Its actually because of that that i wanted to get into mobile artillery but alas medical conditions got in the way.
4 I.E.Ds and one company abandonment makes for some really good ptsd
And let's just remind everyone that an IED or certain ones can send an axle from my think maybe a 5 or 7 ton I would have to ask my dad again a hundred yards away
@@lukealleniguess5518 IED is not a standard device of set weight, type and principle. It got hit by a few light ones designed for grunts. If he had worse luck he could have found one akin to crap nazis prepared for Sherman crews(a 500+kg crate of artillery shells connected to a mine further up the road as trigger).
hope that kid found the tank commander and gunner and left them in the desert by themselves without a Bradley
It was probably 509th or 27th infantry
@@mrdeath5559 I feel the need to ask why them
"No. The gunner of the seat-belt checker got killed. Because there's no fucking justice in this world."
The anger in Zach's voice there is so real.
I understand his anger, those who deserve it never get it, and those who don't deserve it end up getting it. It is an imperfect universe.
@@0INFERNO1 Perfectly imperfect.
I know a story kind of like that one from the Air Force.
An F15 is flying around when it suffers a bird strike - the copilot sees a broken canopy, an unresponsive pilot, and blood everywhere. So rather than assume control of the craft and land to get medical attention for his buddy, the dude panics and *ejects.* Shortly after this the pilot comes to, because all the bird did was hit his helmet and knock him out for a bit, to find a missing canopy, a missing copilot, and a plane out of control. He lands the jet, and _man_ was he not happy when his copilot got back to the airfield.
Christ on a bike
I am legitimately concerned the seats were set to individual ejection...that WSO could have easily killed his Pilot with that move.
So when a harrier begins to sway sometimes the automatic hover function will overcompensate and the swaying will get worse until it flips upside down, so the pilots are trained to eject if it starts to sway to bad. I had a buddy that had to do a recovery on a harrier that did begin to sway, the plot ejected and then the jet corrected itself. The jet just hovered there with no one in it until it ran out of fuel and crashed.
I don’t know if the backseater can fly the aircraft, I know they can’t on an F-14 but I’m not so sure for a Mudhen.
Chrinik there is a pretty famous story of a tomcat having a VIP in the back seat punch out and the pilot flying his “convertible” back and landing it
The fact that the gate guards did not raise some sort of alarm seeing a Bradley driving up and down the road on its own makes stealth games more believable.
The seatbelt story is just sad too
They were probably confused and wondering wtf the Bradley was doing.
A good soldier never leaves a man behind!
Convoy leader: F*ck it. Let's go!
@@TheLostHatchet I would've thought some insurgents had hijacked it and were trying to draw in soldiers before ambushing them.
That or they hijacked it but then didn't know how to drive the damn thing.
"So do we know who's in that thing?"
"Nope."
"Whaddo we do?"
"... park in front of it."
"Lit."
"But it is a long story and it kinda makes me angry"
*With not even a single second of hesitation*
"So one nigh-"
@@siechamontillado well
"The rest of the convoy just assumes oh he's gotta be dead, and leaves."
'...The vehicle is still functional after being hit with 4 IEDs?'
"AND THEY LEAVE HIM!"
I just thought that disconnect in the conversation was amusing
I think Zachs been made angry by so much bullshit a lot of it's just background now.
The anger economy has been flooded; the currency just isn't worth as much as it used to be.
Part of why I love Zack, his willingness to rant
i dont wana tell the story OKAY LEME TELL YOU THE STORY
"So Lieutenant, you're telling me that you left a fully functioning Bradly on the main road, known for insurgent activity. You didn't lock the vehicle, disable it in any way, and it says here that the driver was left behind and presumed dead? Tell me, at what point did you check?"
thank god they didn't just toss a few grenades inside an call it a day
This was the first thing to come to mind hearing this.
@@Rio..o7.. Exactly!
I wonder if thats enough for a dishonarable discharge?
Now imagine that Bradley happily coming back and shooting down the blimp with the multi-million infrared camera.
Yeah, that'd be a fun day.
Wow, that Bradley story is super dark...
@@argentsin3199 makes me glad I changed my mind about joining the military
If I had been there I would of been like we have to at least check.
@@cursedgaraged5801 Some people just like being in a warzone with their buddies. None of them like the thought of dying but they all love each other enough to fight for the others survival (No Homo), but I guess this excludes the convoy.
Dude I figuratively threw a commander under not a bus but the equivalent of an M1 Abrams for nearly getting 5 privates killed in a fucking training exercise and I was a fucking WEEKEND WARRIOR! The only benefit was given to me an ultimatum of dipping out or making a 6 hour trip each month paying for my own damn gas. Hmm what a difficult choice. Not to mention my unit being on the front page of army fails not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES!
i gave you your 400th like
I was about halfway through the Bradley story when I realized that I had heard this before. A buddy of mine had a cousin in Iraq that was at that base at the time, and was one of the guys sent out to get the kid. When he and the others found out what happened, they were understandably pissed, to the point that the rest of their squad had to pull them away before they ended beating the shit out of the tank commander and gunner when they found out who they were. Luckily, after hearing what happened, the kid was transferred out of their squad and placed with the cousin's coincidentally. Don't know if the guy in charge of the convoy was court marshalled or not, unfortunately.
There is another guy in these comment who was saying he was deployed at the same time in a near by fob the story goes the vehicle crew (except the driver of course) got court marshalled and most got time in prison for it not 100 percent of if they are telling the truth but i hope so. But they were not aware of what happened to the driver so thanks for filling in a couple blanks
You mind checking what unit was that?
I'd love to know more information please, Bunnies.
@Alex Withington Someone made an animation of this video and one comment says that the convoy commander and a few other commanders (in addition to the tankers) got a court martial
What I heard was everyone involved (With exception of the driver) Got a dishonorable discharge and the Commander and gunner, got jail time.
Ok so when Fallout 5 comes out, I want an easter egg. Two explorers sitting around a fire at night telling war stories, voiced by you two, and every time the encounter spawns, its a different story.
That would be amazing, although I doubt Bethesda would...
@@jesseperrella4022
Maybe a Skyrim mod for these two with their Fallout: NV characters. The encounter could be like the roadside mead guys mixed with these two stomping a group of Thalmor with minimal effort.
I’d fund it. Hell, let’s start a petition!!
@@jesseperrella4022 that isn't too much farfetched if bethesda made wheel chairs in 76 usable by the request of a fan and are i think working on putting grandpa skyrim in a new elder scrolls game(idk remember if thats true or not so correct me if i'm wrong) a random encounter where mike n zach are doing their campfire stories in f5 isn't that far off
I would stop and hang out every time i saw them lol
Dude got left to die...
I hope he's safe now, wherever he may be...
Everyone simultaneously wanted to give Pvt. Snuffy a hug.
@@russetwolf13 Heck yeah. A hug and the most sincere excuse from the army generals and the fricking president
I heard they moved him to a safe job as the gunner for the bases Sgt.Major
I'll tell you something, he ain't in the military anymore
@@snowmoutain01 dont joke he doesnt deserve to die
"I will never leave a fallen comrade"
- Yeah, he's dead, let's move on. Leave the Bradley too, that thing's cursed.
They should play Zach's army stories at recruitment centers.
"Lets also not even grab his dogtags."
Well see i could understand ditching the _APC,_ fucker *_ATE_* 4 IEDs, leaving the kid was too far though
@@KamenRiderRaiden Still though, Leaving a working APC is just asking for the enemy to take it and use it against you.
"Leave them, they're cursed"
"Wait brother's, halt please!"
I know it's a sad situation of art imitating life but it reminds be of TTS alfabusa video on 40k's lamentors and it brings up the same burning hate I have for asshats that betray the trust of those that were depending on them.
@@rajasurapaneni3501 As someone who is extremely "Ride or die" Leaving anyone behind is abhorrent to me. I couldn't just walk away without knowing if they are dead or not. I'd never be able to live with the guilt. How those officers did it is beyond my understanding.
Left that kid to die, that’s so screwed up, driving by himself through Iraq, respect for Private Snuffy
🤟🏻
I mean also they didn't even check the condition of the vehicle. You don't just leave tech like that around so anybody can look at it
@@seanmac1793 When you're surrounded by cutting edge war machines 24/7 you eventually start to take them for granted.
Patfan1683 yeah but there’s no way they didn’t know they’d get their ass in hot water out over just losing a damn Bradley.
@@nikik5567 they could put in the report that the vehicle looked damaged and it was to dangerous to stop an entire convoy putting more lives and equipment in danger. But that is only for the vehicle not the damn soldier.
I thought the bradly story would’ve ended with some Iraqi kid took it or it was malfunctioning and driving on its own. Nope, just a soldier in such a sad situation that even insurgents felt bad for him.
@@Sgtvalentini
Iraqi Insurgents are fucked up and sacrificed alot just to attempt to demoralize US troops, but yeah his version of the story doesn't work. Kid would've been killed, probably left naked in his own blood on the Bradley floor, and a brick on the accelerator, maybe spray paint arabic on the side, but ussually insurgents aren't lucky enough to get their hands on heavy US equipment like a Bradley, kid probably would be dead if he didn't start driving.
That driver did the right thing by sticking to the main route. If you’re outside the wire and you haven’t been much before, always try the best you can in that situation to stick to the plan and get back to your own side. Sure, make minor adjustments where the insurgents are concerned if you have to, but stick to the plan.
@@Sgtvalentini "definitely no" what? What they said is true, lmao
Valentina Z So what is it? Will they spare the kid out of pity like the first person said or would they kill him and defile his corpse? Cuz you’re saying “definitely no” to two opposites
@@Sgtvalentini I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about. Insurgents practically commit war crimes just to demoralize the enemy.
"I felt validated."
Surprise twist ending for these stories!
what a twist! :D
@@bakerray95 these guys need a stand up special
Mike, while unclogging the toilet: "Why are we still here? Just to suffer?"
For some reason when he said that the one scene in jarheads where hes got to clean the porta potty is what came to mind
"worst job in the us marines..." *enemy special forces run in bathroom* "Oh!" *special forces back out of room and close/bar door* "oh...oooohhh....."
nearly all of Zach's stories is just him and others suffering.
Welcome to the army
So this is why literally every vet I ever met told to stay away from the military. Mind you I work a military museum/ memorial park so that not exactly a low number. Though i have heard good things about the air force
Reaper Grim Thats cause the airforce have the easiest jobs. I’m probably gonna go to the Army or Marines.
The way my grandfather explained it, the Air Force as he joined it had nothing but respect for the other branches, and it was because of the hell the other branches went through. For Veterans Day one year, he actually nearly facepalmed at the inaccurate drawing I made for my class and had give me advice on how to make it more believable in showing the Army, Navy, and the Marines in action. If I remember correctly, he even showed me how to sketch something resembling a Thunderbolt plane as an afterthought. His brother even fought in the army and lost two fingers.
I once asked him the safest place to be in a war and he responded, “Up in a plane.” I asked him, “Won’t you get shot down easily?” He laughed and said something along the lines of, “Maybe, but it’s better to be in a plane with a radar to see the enemy than be on the ground without it. Your uncle lost two fingers, remember?”
Knowing him, he would probably have been PISSED at how Zach and some of his fellow soldiers suffered in the Army- and he was nice guy who rarely got angry, even if you wronged him.
That's how you know they're real. The military is nothing but suffering of various degrees.
That Bradley story is one of the saddest military stories I've ever heard. I feel sorry for the poor kid driving that thing. He just got left behind, left for dead. It legit made me angry.
I'm pretty sure it at least had a happy ending for the kid.
He's not dead, and if there's any justice the leaders and his former crewman in that Convoy got royally reamed and possibly court-martialed.
Also the officer that got the gunner in his Humvee killed should probably have been busted down to private and put on toilet duty for the rest of his career.
@@hariman7727 i almost guarantee the officer survived that shit.
There's a saying in the army. "Do what your rank can handle." It's so true bc a first sargent or even officer can get multiple DUI's and not get demoted or an art. 15, but when a private does it one time they drop damn near the whole fucking UCMJ on them and kick them out.
“There’s no way they would leave me behind” the fact that kid probably trusted everybody before they abandoned him is fucking terrifying
but hey at least he still had a bradley to keep him safe... that thing either almost got him killed or saved his ass 4 times...
@@johnodarod9629the only loyal person in that story. With him till the end
I am _absolutely shocked_ that nobody yelled at Zach for the gloves.
Zach standing up for the Soldier’s Creed, which I honestly expected him to say was “meh”, and that are both plot twists to this video for me.
@@justin2308 it shocked me too, but i think he just values the life of those around him.
Partially.
"Sir, my glove is cut because I saw a safety issue with my m249 and discussed it with my Superior officer who gave it permission for the removal of the trigger finger of the gloves, sir."
"Well I'm just going to check on that specialist Zach."
*One checking on that later.*
"Carry on specialist Zach."
"Specialist Zach had a legitimate safety concern"
I was. 100% expecting to hear a "but" at the end of Zach's glove story
so was I, because his stories have him being chewed out by dumbass C.O.s more times than not.
"i felt validated.
...but we were then made to stitch the ends of our gloves back shut and none of them ever fit our hands ever again."
Jesus Christ, I couldn't imagine what I would do being put in that situation now when I'm 30, let alone a 19 year old kid. Thats infuriating; I hope that kid got a purple heart and his Lieutenant got court-marshalled to Hell and back.
Not just the lieutenant, but the crew that was supposed to be in the Bradley with him.
They did. Court marshals and discharge 5s for everyone with prison time. The convoy commander got extra time for falsifying records saying that the bradley was inoperative, that the driver was KIA and the body couldn’t be recovered.
@@francesthepossum1812 I need the source of this to confirm the story
I watched this video a couple of years back and still waiting to actually read what had happened to the people that left the Bradley and the kid
@@aldokoedigrahito5936 I believe its a comment under the animated video of this story
I would like to see the VA try to explain why that Bradley driver kid SHOULDN’T have full disability.
I would LOVE to see them attempt it.
"We can't verify anything in your story. It says here you tripped on a flower and got the concussion."
Paperwork makes the VA work. Anything not covered by multiple copies of reports and records of medical issues after get rejected by the machine. To be fair, they do work pretty hard to get those records and there are several organizations set up to deal with the bureaucracy involved. Plenty of people there care as much as they can, but I imagine much of it is soul crushing work for people who don't really understand or care to understand the systems in place.
*clears throat* "not service related"
Zach: weeb, part of TH-cam channel Mikeburnfire, virtual bounty hunter and trendsetter of his unit.
I must say - Your profile picture is adorable.
me hearing these storys makes me think the reason the US amy actually works is simply because it is so over-funded that it can afford this stupidity, ether that or the overspending creates this stupidity...... one or the other
It's the overfunded part. They lose something like a billion dollars because of overcounting ammunition.
Probably both
@@JS-po8oc which is why it would be smarter if we could redirect even some funds to education and health care
@@EvilRaccoonDM Exactly
If they actually fix this problem god knows how much they would actually save money wise
Then they could probably spend it on stuff like nasa or something else beneficial
You guys make me so nostalgic. When people would make these...intimate little gameplays where they cultivate their own lore and just have shits and giggles. Like no expensive equipment, no flashy special effects just two guys playing this really fucking great janky old game.
I have been binging your videos and they always cheer me up. Thank you and lots of love from England 💖
@⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ thank you that was very helpful and enlightening
Wait. What do you mean by their own lore? I don't quite get that?
But I completely agree. I missed this kind of gameplay where people would just play the game and talk about personal experiences. I guess you get that from some streaming channels on twitch, but it doesn't have that same old youtube vibe to it
@@johantroskie3339 I meant like, they've kinda come up with their own characters that they step into when they play the game. And they have their own shenanigans that happen in the game and shenanigans before. They have inside jokes like the shot glass and Zach fixing weapons or Mike's evil clone. It's just neat
Yo WTF!? I hope that kid has a better life and a WAY better command troupe if he's still in the military.
At that point I would have left the military the first chance I got
themanicman
I’m not afraid of death. I’m kinda passively suicidal in a way. So I would absolutely not leave him behind even if we got by 10 IEDs it’s fucking appalling that the soldiers would even think about doing that, poor kid 💜
@@thedingo23 They weren't afraid of dying they were sick of getting blown up. Getting blown up in an armoured vehicle is similar to getting in a car wreck. Sometimes you die, sometimes you lose limbs, usually you just get banged up.
@@moxine_ No reason to leave a driver,thought dead or not not to mention the bradley
I get the feeling "validated" was a rare highlight of Zach's career.
I'm assuming this is post-invasion if there's so many IED's, that means the convoy left behind an IFV, assuming that the crew's dead, that could've been taken by the militia and turned into an IED that could just drove into the bases entrance or if the guard's are incompetent all the way into the base to the barracks, if the IED was manually set off and the spotter was around that dude probably would've been killed and displayed glad he didn't come to that fate.
Garrett Blyat it was in 2008 I believe is when he was there.
@@TheLostHatchet 2008 is the low point fortunately
Did an arma 3 Zeus mission based on the Bradley story. Guys were in a convoy that stopped by their COP to drop off casualties, so the players joined the convoy to replace the vic that had gotten hit. On the way to objective the convoy took an ambush and the players vic hit an ied. Once the ied went off I placed a module that blacks the players screen and says some time later, when they woke up like 5 in game hours later with the convoy gone and their vehicle disabled and the driver dead. They then had to fight off a militia patrol and try and fall back to a nearby NATO held airfield. They all rly enjoyed it and appreciated the story behind it.
Dude, im getting a pc soon and im buying arma, that sounds like a cool mission, do you have a link or something?
Still waiting on that link bro
LINK! NOW!
@@DeathDealer_1021 Still no
There won't be a link, a Zeus mission is made while they are playing, a player (the zeus) places enemies and different modules/objects while the players are in game, its not a premade mission
See "Campfire Stories"
My mouse hand: I am speed.
Mikeburnfire, I don't know if you'll see this, but as far as the Bradly Story- I read from someone that commented on a reaction video from Paul (Combat Veteran REacts), Vicius was the name, and apparently there was HELL raised- Theater Command crucified the Gunner, Chief, and Convoy Commanders and not only were they court marshaled and dishonorably discharged, but they were also imprisoned. There's apparently an article about it somewhere, so if its any small consolation, they got what they deserved.
I would have been like, "Kid...if you want to leave the military right after we fix you up-we'll make it happen."
@@JnEricsonxI can't prove it but I can only imagine he was given a purple heart and a medical discharge as consolation
@@AnarquiaCookbook I damn well hope so. I may a liberal, but FFS, I respect the military. In this case, the military did not return that respect, at least in his fucking squad.
I love these Campfire Stories. They further validate my fear of Joining the Army and How I was right to not enlist.
I never would have made it and these stories aren't exactly encouraging.
lol
Yeah, they are the best Zach stories
Not everyone’s experience is the same.
kevin willems ah yes they’re predators for trying to get people to join something that will benefit them.
@kevin willems What about Korea? Grenada?
In 40k a Commisar would've shot the leader of that convoy, the gunner AND the tank commander for cowardice.
....and for leaving behind a functional vehicle.
A court martial is getting off easy for abandoning your duty, a brother and a fucking expensive piece of equipment. The fact that thing survived *four* IEDs and managed to protect the one crewman with any balls *must* mean it's blessed by the Omnissiah, so the rest of that convoy also committed Heresy by abandoning it. That is one seriously determined machine spirit.
That kid was riding into Valhalla, shiny and chrome
The Bradley machine spirit: MUST PROTECC PRIVATE SNUFFY
Based warhammer
This needs to be the start of a Campaign.
Your party is at the blast doors of the base when you notice a landraider with a single guardsman in it slowly driving back and forth across no-mans land. O.o
A court-martial is definitely not getting off easy, it's being tried for your actions, and penalties depending on the severity of your deeds can indeed include a death sentence. Summary execution is banned under not just US but international law under most circumstances.
I lived in Venezuela and there the Army does something we call "Matraqueo" wich is basiclly extortion, they will stop cars to see if they have their seatbelt on or any other infraction, then they will tell you that they will take you car unless you pay them, they usually do this with teenagers with rich Dads
So that general would be perfect in Venezuela
Is that a motherfucking Venezuela reference?
Im glad my family moved out of the country when we did and that i didn't live in a big enough town to be harassed by the army
"a six cylinder engine is kind of like a gun"
there is a gun that is a v12 engine in a game called "enter the gungeon" a game that i would DEFINITELY recommend for zach and mike to play. Zach's commentary on some of the stupidest weapons in the game would be GOLD!
That would make a hilarious one off episode
You know, that sounds cool. I imagine how he will correct the silly gun in any way process, and scratch his head on why the Slinger is one of the most powerful weapons in the game
Royalname31 he would definitely laugh his ass off to the JK-47
The COV weapons in Borderlands 3 are essentially just heavily modified weed whacker and lawn mower engines
You GENIUS!!! They absolutely have to play that game sometime. Gungeon is such a good game regardless
A friend of mine was actually sent to fort polk for basic, when he told me where he was going, I made him watch all your campfire stories...with every story about fort puke he just wilted a bit more.
as Mike and many others have said "Pray to God you do not get sent to Fort Polk, and if you do, it is the greatest insurance that you will never reenlist."
Zack's stories are just so good at reminding me I should never join the military. That poor kid, and that poor gunner.
That’s what our Co did at Xio Hax. He used the blimp at first to make sure we were clearing weapons. 6 months in and he is using it to make sure we are not tossing piss bottles.
I feel like Zach never picks NCR because everything he says are the problems with the NCR.
that's some damn good writing on Obsidian's part, then
@@wrongtime9097 oh more than you know. I side with House to humiliate Oliver and Kimball, killing their future careers, while also installing Ranger Chief Hanlon as a Senator back west in “return to sender,” and scrubbing the senate of corruption during Cass’ quest.
@@Slender_Man_186 hanlon is fucking senile colonel shu would've been a better option since he deserves general he could probably do decent as a senator.
Zach's Iraq stories really shed quite a bit of light on why we lost.
"sadly History will not See it that Way" 😋
We lost because of the incompetence and personal agendas of officers and high command?
Justin Williams
Sounds about right
It damn sure was not a victory
The US "lost" in Afghanistan but not Irak technically...
To call it a victory is a bit far-fetched since they couldn't rebuild the country like any normal occupation army has to, but they shredded the power in place, shot the leader and try to go full democracy on their asses...
So it's a military win but a FLAT - OUT PURE DEFEAT on a social and political perspective...
Dude you've got enough dysfunctional military stories to make four more seasons of Generation Kill
Keep em coming
What I'd do for more shows like GK...
"If you want logistics, join the Army."
Lt., I dont think that's gonna work.
Best quote I’ve ever heard in the army: “the 249 is like a prom date girlfriend, no like a wife. You feed it premium, take care that it stays well lubed and clean and if you wear a glove it might run away on you. The 240 is like a Pegasus stripper or a cheap whore. If you feed it, it will work”
I know this isn’t what he said but this is what it felt like. “Specialist Zach had a legitimate safety concern. You’re all just legitimate idiots”
I’ve never felt so frustrated in a story video in my life
I never expected to want to punch an entire company / Convoy of soldiers, or wanting to just pummel a officer until I can't pummel no mo'...
And then I watched this video.
I really hope everybody involved in those two events who was responsible for people getting hurt got the book thrown at them.
7:17
The blimp is called a STMPAS.
Small tactical multi payload aerostat system or something like that. I was the poor schlub they put on the detail of setting it up and monitoring the camera.
The NCOs on it used the blimp to watch their relief come to relieve them and smoke the guys that would take a piss first and take to long. Lmao
I'm curious, did insurgents ever take pot shots at it?
@@AnakinSkywakka anyone with a brain with a weapon that throws small fast rocks at a flying thing would have shot it
There's only a very barebones wikipedia page, strangely
Zach did mention getting issued a belt fed machine gun after he had his grenade launcher taken away
Because apparently a belt fed was so much better for his work environment XD
So did Zack have natural small arms or did he have to get new ones that were smaller to be a small arms repairman
SC43 7 Oh, you know, knowing the military, they probably made him shrink those suckers. 😂
@@justin2308 #bringzach'sbigarmsback
The Machine Spirit was protecting that Bradley and that young man. Praise the Omnissiah
I absolutely love these episodes of zach and Mike's time in the military. They always have such interesting stories
yeah, but usually Zach's stories are interesting. Mike's are pretty tame, tbh.
@@Soron661 I wouldn't say that, more that Zach is a natural storyteller.
Mike would have probably summarized the Bradley story in a couple of sentences by comparison. No disrespect to the guy, he just reminds me of myself. I'm not a natural storyteller either.
Mikeburnfire let Zach Hazard know punishment as follows. Theater command crucified the gunner, chief, and convoy commanders.
Full court martials all the way around with "Discharge 5". The assistant convoy commander got an extra charge due to falsifying his report. Saying the vehicle was destroyed/inoperable, and the driver was KIA. And it was to dangerous to recover the body. Which as Zach knows, turned out to be false. The Convoy Commander, assistant Convoy Commander, and crew chief, and gunner got "discharge 5", and prison time.
Many thanks to Vicius and Disgruntled Devilin for finding the report.
Is there a way for the public to see the report because im kinda intrigued by it and how it went down?
Vicius only mentioned it, he didn't find the article. I haven't seen Devilin's comment, did he actually find the article?
The part where Zach is like “Why would they leave me?!?” Just…. Sounds heartbreaking… even if Zach isn’t trying to make the line sound heartbreaking
I'm glad I can laugh at these things and still be upset about them. These stories are a dime a dozen in the military nowadays hell my flight chief wouldn't let me take leave to clean out my house after my fiancee died, one of the many reasons why I got out.
batmanwest46 Christ dude I'm so sorry. You ever try to get him reprimanded or am I showing my civvy ignorance right now?
@@dboot8886 It's hard to explain. My flight was actually investigated before this incident. My fiancee dying was just the straw that broke the camel's back as they say. What happened to my fiancee and I was stretched out over a year and a half and really made me lose faith in what the military stood for.
My grandfather served in the Air Force. The way he experienced it, it was honorable. Nowadays, I honestly think he would cry if he was still here with us.
What freaking honor does the military have now? What happens to some of those soldiers when they leave it?
@@justin2308 I'm gonna blame Vietnam.
@@justin2308 The modern military is a combination make-work program for defense contractors and mercenary company for corporations that want to exploit foreign countries. It's not fighting to defend the United States or its people, it's fighting to defend the bonus of some jackoff CEO who hung out with Jeffrey Epstein.
“They just assume hes dead and leaves” thats like making plans as a group in front of your friend and not inviting them
I know we all like to laugh at military incompetence, but I really have to hand it to Zach to tell a story that is legitimately a trigger for his PTSD not just openly but with more or less complete control of his emotions.
As someone who deployed to Syria which we aren't officially deployed too and have never officially been and who's SGM has been brought up on charges for stolen Valor. I'm super not surprised by any of this story
i really hope that poor kid got some kind of medal for that. i have no idea what would be appropriate there but he deserves something
Hell, the fact that he, seemingly, was able to keep a cool head despite waking up dazed and confused is commendable on its own.
Quintonias that’s what i was going for yeah. like he stayed pretty calm and collected, and was still being smart with his decisions despite being abandoned and concussed. he may not be a hero but he’s pretty extraordinary
@@Aerowarrier really smart kid, he recognized that there could be English speaking individuals among the hostiles, and so he wasn't willing to leave the Bradley till he was entirely sure about the fact that they were American soldiers.
Hope to god I don't get stuck with with a chain of command like that, scored highest with electronics on my asvab and really want to be a tank driver or combat engineer, love the work you guys do and the content you make keep up the great work
I hope you're not planning on joining the Marine Corps. If you sign either one of those contracts with them, odds are you're gonna wind up in AAV community., which is one of, if not the most, miserable communities in the armed forces. I'm speaking from personal experience.
My dad worked with armor - he was a lieutenant, mind, so I'd bet that his experience was a smidge more pleasant than yours will be. If you can - join the military as an officer, that's what I always say. Christ knows there's no way I'd do otherwise, if I could have! (medical reasons disallow me, sadly.)
ryan naismith Yeah, even as a civvy, I can see from what people are saying that it ain’t pleasant. Heck, from what I’m hearing all over the place, the military in general seems like misery wearing a painting of the American eagle.
@@jiggler1-1
Privileges of rank, right? As an addition to that:
I used to be into military history until I realized that it was mostly flag officer-worshipping crap, as though they determine the outcome of battles/wars to the exclusion of absolutely everything else. Good weapons, good equipment, good tactics, the leadership/aptitude of junior officers, and frequent training in/with them wins wars, not some general pushing division markers around a map from his chatau command post. "Operational" success is nothing more than the aggregate success of "small", "insignificant" units.
Stories are my favorite part of this channel, you guys are actually the best
I want to know what happened to the Bradley's driver after he was pulled over and told his story.
Undoubtedly sent for medical treatment, and most likely transferred to a different unit.
I can't imagine being abandoned by my entire company and wanting to go back to the same company.
0:39 “Yeah, six cylinder engine... hey some revolver CYLINDERS have SIX chambers...and revolvers are small arms...Get Zach over here asap”
so today I learned; my DM for my Wrath and Glory game, his uncle was a medic in Zach's regiment at the time of the bradley story. That same uncle had to patch up a small arms repairman with a very similar story to Zach's about getting anger management, but this one punched the NCO instead of yelling at him. The NCO ordered an Enlisted to run over a camel because another officer told him, and I quote, "bring back something edible that isn't MREs." so the Sergeant told the enlisted to run over a camel in a Humvee, breaking the .50 cal's barrel. Repairman was not happy.
What I'm learning from this is. If there's no incompetence above you in the chain of command, it's coming from under or equal to you
I come for the laughs, and stay for the stories.
Oh, that last one made me think of lemmings...
I never thought I’d ever mention this, I mean *EVER*, cuz I wanted to go back in. But I guess it’s a good thing I’ve failed AIT. The strokes I’ve heard that the Army has gotten were so bad that joining now would be a major problem. But that Bradley story, where in training back in 2010, the soldier’s creed was extremely hammered into our thick skulls, that they left him. Also to be very unpredictable on the field, not to be in the same fucking spot day after day, and that Sgt got the gunner killed for a pet peeve. That’s just....
Oh...
OH....
That convoy commander met A LOT of new boots to the face he really didn't wanna meet.
God, pvt snuffy probably had PTSD and abandonment issues after that. How he's living his best life
The blimp story reminds me of when I did security work and had to look after lighting equipment worth half a million by myself with like 50 or more Civs around
The only time Zach didnt got yelled at due to military stuff
Somewhat of a silver lining (I found this in a different comments section where the incident was being discussed by other vets familiar with it): Court marshals and dishonorable discharges for everyone with prison time. The TC got extra time for falsifying reports saying that the bradley was inoperative, that the driver was KIA and the body couldn’t be recovered. So at least Zach’s hopes were realized
**Supposedly**. We're still waiting on someone to email the Army Times to get verification on the matter.
Dude, I really feel for that Bradley driver. That's gotta be hell to go through
I really hope the guys who left that kid in the Bradley got the court martial of a lifetime.
Damn, that was harsh & brutal.
A Person died because someone wanted to check if everyone had their seatbelt on-
And it's such a stupid pogue mistake to make in a combat zone.
I hope seatbelt McGee got court martialed for that and busted down to the lowest rank possible and assigned toilet duty for the rest of his career.
Even if the Bradley story and the dickhead who got his gunner killed are really dark stories, I still enjoy to hear stuff like that. That is a side of war no one talk's about. Many times it's just stories about glorious death and comradeship on the battlefield. Or being bored as hell.
Keep sharing stories like that Zach. Ofcorse stuff you want to talk about, you probably have stories from Iraq you don't want to share to us all but whatever you want to share i can speak for us all that we are grateful for it.
Imagine what would have happen if the enemy caught him then it would have been ten times worse because they enemy would have hostage and a semi functional Bradley which would most certainly would cause quite a bit of damage and of courses PID will be an issue as well...so yea I think that guy is real lucky like +10 luck lucky.
I talked to a friend who's friend's dad was part of the army and apparently he heard the convoy story when stationed in Iraq. If what was said true then they picked up the convoy and the driver got major PTSD after the incident and is likely still going through therapy
Sounds like a movie. Waking up, the hot sun beating on his face. Looking around to see himself alone in the vehicle and remembering the Convoy he was supposed to be with is not there. There's blood on his head and thinking "They can't have left me"
Super dark story
There needs to be a mod of this. Or this needs to be written into the existing Mikeburnfire Companions mod, where if you get them within range of a campfire, after dark, they will sit down and reenact these campfire stories videos.
Every part of this video depresses me. I'm glad that most of Zach's depressing stories are more comical.
Imagine Zach fixing muskets, then comes Napoleon and tells him to go fix the Cannons.
Thank you
Ironically it could be an easier task. Muskets have complex lock and trigger mechanisms. Canon is literally solid piece of metal on wheels. If anything could need repairs is broken axle or something. Unless it was hit by a canonball and canon part was irreparable he would be fine.
This actually seems like a cool survival game idea.
A driver awakens in unknown territory, alone, and on limited resources. He must try to figure out how he got here, and what is out here in this desert. But the desert is not all that it may seem.
I love how they're just burning corpses.
So, to tell you why only the Bradley was hit in all 4 bombings was most because of what those people believed in. Most of the enemy wanted to be recognized for their "bravery". They basically wanted to make themselves more popular among the army by taking down the biggest targets. AKA Bradleys and Abrams. The IED's themselves were too weak to destroy the Bradley, but they still wanted to destroy it. Also, those people who abandoned the kid could have been court martialed, I think.
That Bradley story just pissed me off so much.
I yearn to have the kind of friendship that these two have
Zach is the sole reason I decided to join the Marines over the Army as a Small Arms Repairmen
Whoa Whoa that bradley commander sounded like it qualifies as desertion. That poor kid must have been scarred for the rest of his life. I hope whoever left that poor kid in that bradley got court-martialed.
It’s technically not desertion cuz he just got in another vehicle in the convoy. But he’s still a pos
@@nikik5567 And they saw the bradley just driving about a red zone, but did not bother to even check until much later? What a bunch of fucking douches.
Side note here it's actually amazing how the thing was still driving after getting bombarded like 4 times. I would have expected its wheels be too jacked up to drive after 1 or 2 hits.
We had the same blimp in Afghanistan, our command used it to NJP Marines who rolled their sleeves up while on foot patrol or took off their kevlar helmets, or wore bandannas under them....god now i'm mad
So, not only did they abandon a fellow soldier after barely bothering to check if he was still alive, but they also left behind a functioning vehicle in a high insurgency area without disabling or locking it in some way.
It is a fucking miracle that this country hasn't been turned into a giant smoldering crater yet.
Knowing the Army, the lieutenant of that convoy is now a General.
Nowadays, only if he says he's trans.
Promoted ahead of peers..
nope, aparently someone tracked down the story, court marshells all around and the convoy commander was dishonorably discharged, arrested, and thrown in jail.
@@themanformerlyknownascomme777 they didn't track down the story. Someone commented that they remembered seeing something about it while in service in 2009.
They were never able to find the article, so it is still unconfirmed.
They had one of those blimps at the FOB we were at in Afghanistan. Some of our guys actually met and talked with the civilians who operated it (just happened to be walking by the trailer that the blimp is run from when the contractors were changing shift). They gleefully told my buddies about all the times they got to inform high ranking people that per their SOP and contract, the only way they would point the camera inside the wire was if it was suspected the perimeter might have been breached. Apparently it makes more sense to use it to monitor outside the FOB for threats than inside to enforce random rules. Go figure.
Yo that Bradly story is how super villains are made
Zach:"19 year old boy was left in tank alone by his commander in middle of a warzone" .
Mike:"I made a Poo-Poo".
You really should get the mod Salt Lake Stories incorporated. :D It's amazing.
That poor Bradley driver deserves a fucking medal.
a medal and a hug by that point, i think :(
6:30, I’m a stickler for seatbelts but even I wouldn’t take it that far. That just seems like an abuse of power
The Bradley story would make a great military movie. I would definitely watch that.
Your story reminded me of this my dad was in the army I don't remember much about the time when he was in the military but this was something that will always stick out in my head through the most bizarre thing he had ever experienced he was up on a hill with a spotter and a sniper and it was just him up there with these two he was just sitting there with an M16 on his lap looking around with a pair of binoculars he has on his lap as well and looks down and he's looking in the opposite direction the Spotter and sniper are looking at a different spot that he was my dad he sees a Bradley just going down the road all by its own it surprised him he thought he was having heatstroke cuz they were out there for so long and then when they were done with their little Recon of that area they cut back to there base and thay heard this exact story from a private and they fell to the ground laughing at my dad as he smack himself and said I should have reported it as soon as I noticed it the Spotter and sniper made jokes about it for the next two weeks about my dad being a dead-eye about spotting giant vehicles that they couldn't spot when they were looking around the Spotter and sniper we're looking around several different locations but neither of them spotted it they did realize that he was surprised he didn't notice it himself turns out the direction they were looking they weren't going to see it anyway cuz my dad was faced the opposite of them looking down the road
Edit the reason it took so long for me to post this little story was that when I heard this I sat down for so long trying to remember ware I heard this and then I called my dad I was like Dad didn't you tell me a story about you spoting a Bradley then told me this exact same story and I started laughing I went a TH-camr that was in the Army had to clear that Bradley you spotted and my dad said in a dejected voice I wish I didn't believe that I had heat stroke when I spotted it I could've probably saved the kid and then I told him the kid survive and he was like I know but I feel like I could have saved him myself and been rewarded with something and I fell to the ground laughing at him when I heard him say this
God its amazing to hear all these stories around the same event from different angles in the comments and you can tell most of them are true just from how they are written and little bits about being in different areas that most wouldnt think to lye about
I feel so sorry for that driver I can only imagine how terrifying it is
Actually starting to get scared of the incompetence of the us military
TheCatCrusader The chain of command, at least, is freaking stupid (save for the occasional moment where the soldiers do something stupid with an idiotic excuse instead). Yeah, if war ever hits our shores, I think I’ll rely on the “well-regulated Militia” clause of the Second Amendment first as well as the veterans in the community before the active command.
I have a great respect for those who serve. What I do not respect is the fact that they have to survive their own countrymen and bureaucrats first.
I wouldn't really worry about it too too much - militaries tend to be incompetent in times of relative peace. It's one of the reasons we've shifted to using special ops soldiers for most of our conflicts, because you can be pretty guaranteed they're reliable.
@@justin2308 as much as I understand chain of command is stupid... I can't imagine the "militias" are any smarter
It's getting worse now that the thief in Chief is in charge, and Obama stabbed the country in the back too.
My dad used to work for general dynamics and he used to take me to work with him all the time where he worked on bradleys and abrams and i got to see a lot of really cool stuff, so other than the top secret stuff on the vehicles like the armor for the M1A1 i know those vehicles inside and out like the back of my hand. Its actually because of that that i wanted to get into mobile artillery but alas medical conditions got in the way.