Thanks for watching everyone. You can watch the full episode with Tom Spooner here kzread.info/dash/bejne/gHWss6Vqfs6pqLg.htmlsi=-A1pf2rij3VTWNQR Additionally if you want to support the Shawn Ryan Show you can join the community. www.patreon.com/VigilanceElite

I'm a spinal surgeon now, but years ago I did rotations through trauma surgery. The best way to describe it is attempting to bring order to carnage. The vast majority of people only ever see other people more or less in good form and function. Seeing a person torn apart, unrecognizable strikes your humanity deeply. I can only imagine the deep and sudden erosion of humanity from seeing carnage on such a scale in an uncontrolled environment. Surgeons have time to do humane things, help people to increase their reserves of humanity to continue on. A frontline soldier might not have that chance, and may be called to inflict further carnage. Compartmentalization can only get you so far. It is a great test that Mr. Spooner put himself through out there. I understand why he and others dedicate the rest of their lives to rehumanizing themselves. Thank you.

@rp1645

23 күн бұрын

A big thank you to you my surgeon friend I have been in a major trauma center when I rode the third guy as a ride alone. We young FF got to ride with the medical rig. I remember lots of standing around just in "A" of trauma team in ER room. The one time I got ready Light headed was the doctor asking me to just hold the stretcher still, they had not transferred to the ER bed. All the BLOOD like that say Got me very dissy.

@GardenGuy1943

23 күн бұрын

Doing my gen surg residency right now; attending I work with was a trauma surgeon on a forward surgical team in the army. Talk about carnage, the limited resources available with injuries some soldiers present with is truly humbling.

@andrewdampf5807

23 күн бұрын

Well said

@w_stew8912

23 күн бұрын

Spinal surgeon…what’s that pay a man yearly?

@michajozwiak5557

23 күн бұрын

My father's best friend was a trauma surgeon for many years. We're in a big city, but not a particularly rich country, so there was always horrible stuff going on, and not enough resources to do everything right. He developed something of a mental syndrome over time, where he was obviously super burned out, but felt the need to keep going, because various explanations which boiled down to "I'm doing very important work, I can't stop". Thankfully he did stop... and learned to do hair transplants. Some of his colleagues weren't so lucky. The alcoholism and recreational thrill seeking in doctors is at a horrible level, and their life expectancy shows it. I hope my dad's friend keeps doing the hair - it's probably boring, but he's off the booze, and he sold the overpowered Mazda convertible.

" I didn't want their blood soaking into the ground in that fucking place . " SEMPER FIDELIS !

We lost one of our Lt's in an IED attack in Ramadi in 2005. I vollunteered to remove his remains from the blown up humvee due to the fact I did not want any of the younger and junior soldiers have to deal with the memory of scraping the remains of our friend into a body bag. It was the worst day of an entire year under fire then, and there were so many bad days. Glad you made it thru brother. Keep on keepin' on!

@ns5545

3 күн бұрын

God bless you sir. I hope you have people around you to love and support you for the rest of your days. You deserve the best of what America can provide you.

@Snowwarrior

16 сағат бұрын

Hope your doing well. Thank you so much for everything. Pray for you everyday

What F’d me up the most/haunts me like it was yesterday was kids playing soccer younger than 10 that took some indirect intended for us. At 19 y/o that rocked my world once I got back state side and hugged my 10y/o little brother. What does that little brother do? Serves out a decade w 1st Ranger battalion 11 years later. Overachiever.. :)

@leisurelee1897

21 күн бұрын

There are some badass units of every major army, but Sempre Fi scares nightmares out of them! Do or die! Lt. Leland Miller USMC, Viet Nam 1967

@zachbishop5421

12 күн бұрын

​@@leisurelee1897thank you for your service! Vietnam vets never got the recognition they deserved

Tom Spooner is a class act gentleman warrior. He should be THE standard for all aspiring to be called "American warrior". God bless him and others like him.

@mikeglynn5824

19 күн бұрын

Agreed

@ruck27

18 күн бұрын

Combat medic is the hardest job in the military imo

@Chris-fw8wo

17 күн бұрын

This one of the main characteristics of the Army's Tier 1 operators that I admire so much is how sincere and humble they are. We are fortunate that most of them are back and retired. Pick one, anyone of them you watch are similar in this. Total professionals, yet still human.

The beauty of the SRS; Allowing humble men to remain humble, while they tell the tails of superheroes. Stories are meant to be shared. For growth. To learn. Thanks for giving them a place to speak comfortably

I was a trauma nurse for 26 years and here is a short summary of that experience, “the truth is a whole lot stranger than fiction”.

@publicuser2534

19 күн бұрын

I worked security at a trauma hospital. When the life flight came in and landed on the roof, it would remind me of Blackhawk helos landing at EMEDS in Iraq…EMEDS is the Air Force equivalent of an Army MASH unit.

Worked as a medic in the ER, we’d typically get several wounded around 3PM. Air America contractors pulled out of Laos usually, we sat one guy aside on a gurney (“selection”) and hours later I went over to prep him and the basin placed under the gurney drain was completely full. As I carried that coagulating blood to the toilet to dump it my humanity shifted at that point, so I at least partially understand this operator’s feelings. Wish every politician with power would carry such basins.

Ma was a medical specialist, E5, Vietnam, '70 - '74. Rest in peace, Mom. You were a hero.

I swear, it is so important that this show exists. Having people talk about there traumatic events really helps and makes it relatable to anyone who experienced something similar. It gives me the goosebumps just to hear him explain his emotional phase after his functional one. A reminder how similar we all are despite our differences. Lots of love and stay safe 🙏

Those deep breathes he takes means he remembers it clearly.

@Steamerbeen

22 күн бұрын

@@emmanuellimon5158 what are you ranting about sweetheart?

@dEAdAimGUNSHOT

22 күн бұрын

@@Steamerbeenthat other guy was agreeing with you. You must’ve been dropped on your head as a baby to formulate a response like that 😂

I was a medic for 8yrs in Army and did my time in Afghansitan…I saw a lot of messed up things but also had some of the absolute best mentors. The battalion surgeon and my close mentor, an Army Captain who was a Pa but was prior enlisted for 18yrs as a Special Forces 18D medic. He taught me so much, I can’t convey how much they made us learn. Each medic had to come up with a 30min-1hr class each week and we medics would have classes everyday if you didn’t have any task and we would teach our classes to each other. So great training, we never felt there wasn’t things I couldn’t handle…but, working on kids. Man that memory and thought still tears me up a little…soul damager. It took many many years of fucking up and self reflection and introspective thought and healing to be the man I am today and to have been able to use those experiences as traumatic growth…they weren’t always growth though, believe me.

@Imjustaskin44

Күн бұрын

God Bless

I was the S-3, Combat Service Support Group 15 Forward, 1st Force Service Support Group Forward, I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward when this attack happened. The Navy Hospital at Camp Fallujah, and Al Asad, and all of the Forward Resuscitative Surgical Suites in Al Anbar Province, were part of the unit. I remember when this mass casualty event happened. The HSSE (Health Service Support Element) team in my Combat Service Support Operations Center (CSSOC) managed by Navy Medical planners, got very busy. Navy medical personnel, surgeons, most of them reservists who as civilians worked at major trauma hospitals in major U.S. cities, saved lives

The sacrifice is so enormous.. My family and I at forever indebted to these men and women who gave so much..

@publicuser2534

19 күн бұрын

My hat is off to those guys and gals that were in the initial push and subsequent months after. I showed up into country in 07 and 2010. It was Iraq, but a different place than those early days.

"Not in that fucking dirt". Realest statement

If you don’t get anything out of that you’re dead inside. Thanks guys for reliving that. So important for the rest of us to remember that cost. Too bad the scumbags running this country aren’t listening.

I am not a soldier. I cannot imagine the physical and emotional pain associated with war. These stories are overwhelming. It is important to listen to these heros despite the sadness that I feel.

@breakshot7451

19 күн бұрын

while on the other side of the planet me stupid, had years of partys and f--- arounds behind me. at least 04 my girlfriend became pregnant and my boy was born 05 so made me grow up a bit. in many ways i tick like tom but thank god without the pictures in his brain

@publicuser2534

19 күн бұрын

I am not an operator. I did go to Iraq twice. I was fortunate though. I rarely had to leave our Forward Operating Base. We were called Fobits. 07 was a rough year for sure though. A few days into our tour a mortar killed a soldier in his bunk and wounded a few more. 07 was the deadliest year of the Iraq War. It was somewhat quiet in 2010. I graduated in 2005.

Love you guys. Thank you

Starts around 2:54:00 in the full interview video if yall wanna hear the rest

@bodybong

16 күн бұрын

Legend

"that was the reality of war for me. American blood." Powerful.

I've worked in slaughterhouses when i was younger He's right There is a very distinct smell when blood is heavy and it's hot. Especially human with all the iron we have in us. Not surprising it got him

@johnlefucker9323

23 күн бұрын

The smell of shit mixed with the blood is what I remember the most.

@davidritchie9344

23 күн бұрын

I still can smell the blood when a friend tot his leg cut off by a train. That was probably 25 years ago. Also, don't try to jump on moving trains. Trying to learn to skate with a prosthetic looked like a pain in the ass.

@zenmonjoshin9996

21 күн бұрын

Lol i bet he begrudges going skating with you!​@davidritchie9344

@philyamascunt7518

12 күн бұрын

I also worked in a huge slaughter house when I was 18 years old and the smell of the blood, guts and every part of an animal seeps into your pores. The smell was so "Different" that I would take a shower immediately after I was done at work in the work locker room to keep the smell from permeating throughout the interior of my truck and then I would shower again as soon as I got home from work With this double shower taking place in about a 45 to 55 minute time span my wife still complained about the smell and my friends said that they could smell the death and guts that had soaked into my pores but no matter what soap and scrubbing apparatus, hell even the "Wives Tales" and the multitude of hillbilly remedies I tried that smell was LOCKED IN I worked at the slaughterhouse for about a year and a half, got into a kerfuffle with a new foreman that lost his job at Goodyear Tire where they make the tires so this new foreman knew nothing about meat except how to eat it so the new foreman was ALWAYS at odds with me and a few other guys I ended up dragging up on that job and about 2 months after I quit I walked in to talk to a Marine recruiter and 2 months after that I was on my way to bootcamp. The bad part about me talking to the recruiters of all of the branches that makeup the military was that I didn't mention it to my wife or my young daughter (Yeh the wife was mad that I didn't ask, or mention my lan to our 7 month old daughter sooooooooo I hit the military circuit on my own and my wife divorced me and told me about it when I was buried half way up to my ass in bad shit in Beirut but the smells were pretty much the same at either place

Got me with the cliffhanger Shawn, now I need to watch the whole interview. Nicely done.

@publicuser2534

19 күн бұрын

I saw a short clip from this interview. Blew me away because he talks about getting sober from alcohol. I am a little over ninety days into my first time sober since coming back from Iraq in 08. He said quitting drinking was the hardest thing he has ever gone through.

I was a big fan of the TV show M.A.S.H. when I was a little, but it wasn't until my time in the service that I understood why they built a Gin Still in their tent.

@publicuser2534

19 күн бұрын

Right! Our barracks were right next to the EMEDS tents and landing pad. That helipad was always receiving Blackhawk traffic. To this day, I still look up when I hear life flight helicopters. I worked at a trauma hospital for a little bit after.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for what you do.😊

Great stuff Shawn (and Tom).

Thanks!

Listened to this one from start to finish. Gonna listen again. This one and DJ Shipley are the best ones in my opinion.

Thank you.

God bless the D boys, nothing better.

This comment is to support the channel ( im too dumb with money to support better im sry 🥺)

@SiriusDogStar369

23 күн бұрын

Same.

@ShawnRyanClips

23 күн бұрын

This helps us more than you know! Thank you!!

@ronicaballero2970

15 күн бұрын

Me too bud

Sean Thank You

Enjoy your show, Shawn.

Love your show ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Salute to you, mister! I thank God for great men 🙏

What a patriot and exemplar of warrior! I swear I met Mr. Spooner up in Tall Afar in 2005, late night meeting with H. R. McMaster at the regimental TOC--pretty sure anyway. We picked them up on the tarmac and their bags weighed about 150lbs each lol, we were like "What the hell do you guys have in here!?"

Dude spooner seems like the nicest guy. You would never guess he is capable of the complete opposite. Never underestimate your opponent.

@publicuser2534

19 күн бұрын

He went through a substantial change in his life too. I understand what he went through when he talks about getting sober off of alcohol. Out of all the things that he has done and been through, alcohol was the most difficult. I hear him. I’m a little over ninety in.

when he said cause hes dead as shit it broke me on top of his breath shaking every word he says you can tell hes about to break down

Love this podcast

Every single available resource should be made available to help our veterans, who not only suffer physical trauma but also mental trauma. Money should be no object when you have men and women who have put their lives on the line to save ours.

ThankYou for all you do,God Bless you all.Our country has gone through hell in the last few years and i'm afraid it's just beginning,we all know what is truly going on at the border,in government,our education system etc,im only guessing at what it will take to right these wrongs ,so i wanted to say ThankYou to all of those with true morals true spine and true dilligance,as a one legged amputee at 60 years old all i can do is to pray,and hope there's enough real men and women to save our beautiful country from the pits of hell we have created......Thankyou Sir

Yeah I understand that switch he mentioned. I never understood my mindset and thought it was not normal . I missed my calling I guess but at least I know that I’m not alone. Not alone with this mindset.

@rp1645

23 күн бұрын

You can still get involved with this kind of treatment if you want to. Will explain my personal things I do in 2024. I am an Advisor for FF Cadets. We have two converted Aid rigs as Rehab rigs. When toned out to big 2 alarm fires, large EMS events we are there working with MSO & Paramedic. We record vitals for FF or the other mass injury people. We cool FF down in the back of Rehab rigs and Medic rigs. We have even had Cadets or Advisor treat patients as the MSO goes through all the injuries, to prioritize the treatment and transport. We are taking care of the FF one on one. Rehydrating them, giving them Gatorade or water, having them eat energy bars ( Paydays) are the FF favorite. And a Retired Paramedic who is also the chaplain. He told me about what's in Payday bars, which is very good for bringing back your body energy. Anyway that's my story 😊 you can still get involved with Groups that get in the middle of this crazy mass treatment. Check out in your area, is there a REHAB unit that has volunteered to help man the unit. What we are trying to incorporate is a Light Duty FF drive the rig with 1 or 2 Cadets who by the way get school credits for doing ride alongs, with not only the Rehab but the different engine companies

Id like to see US NAVY SEAL Bill Brown on this show. Tremendous patriot with an absolute story to tell.

Delta guys, both ends of the spectrum, one minute they are wasting people...the next minute, fixing people...on both sides!!! War is Madness!!!

Amazing

Combat medic is the hardest job in the military imo

He's sponsored by BCM. He's in a couple of vids called The American Gunfighter. A good one with him doing building clearing is on JD Poytensky's AGF profile. Those two shows some good movement through an uncleared structure. Another cool clip is called THE CAPABILITY on Bravo Company USAs channel. I wouldn't want those guys coming after me.

@Imjustaskin44

Күн бұрын

Yup, buy BCM and you can be a gunfighter too.

Yeah id probably be the same way. Idc about killing people trying to kill me, ill do that in a heartbeat and will sleep like a baby. But seeing my buddies arm or leg get blown off, or watching a friend just horrifically injured, man that would crush me in the moment. Especially if i could do nothing to give aid to that friend. Thats one thing ive always been is a good friend, and to know i cant be there for a friend while dying that would rip me apart mentally. And im sure this guy probably thinks about it all the time, probably has anxiety out the ass when thinking of it too

My pop was a Hospital Corpsman.

@m4a1_delta66

17 күн бұрын

FHF Corpsman are no joke , respect to your pops man , im a US Army fanboy but theres something about US Navy Corpsman that i prefer over 18D , SARCs that do the full course SOIDC , to me are the most trained out of the them all , not taking away from 18D but They know dive medicine which is a bonus over the armies counterpart

We owe them everything! Even God says you must be brave!

@Marcus-vk5nx

23 күн бұрын

I'm guessing God's idea of brave does not include humans slaughtering each other..

@markkus1134

22 күн бұрын

@@Marcus-vk5nx that’s been happening since the beginning of time you are smart enough to know why that is ???

@Marcus-vk5nx

22 күн бұрын

@markkus1134 since the beginning of time..? I'm reasonably sure you have not one speck of an idea of a clue what was going on at the" beginning " of time..God knows though...and only him..

Wow

Try losing your team leader from a fall from a MH60 during infiltration, still continued the mission, fuck bugs me to this day that he wasn’t snapped in. DOL

HM3(FMF) Hood Iraq War Veteran 2004 - Operation Phantom Fury Ramadi / Fallujah / TQ YUUUUUUUUUT 🇺🇸💪🏼🇺🇸💪🏼

@publicuser2534

19 күн бұрын

Hood is also 1st Cav as well too, right? I passed through there when we did some pre-deployment training. They had a decent urban site for jacked up paintball training.

That was sad as F !! WTF 😱🤦🏻‍♂️

We should have been there for a year. Took out the deck of cards then gtfo instead of a 10 yr proxy war

@astralreisender

23 күн бұрын

you still think you should have gone there at all?

@CorePathway

23 күн бұрын

@@astralreisenderWe went in their on lies. My condolences to the families of the service members who died without doing anything to make America safer.

@astralreisender

23 күн бұрын

@@CorePathway exactly, shouldend been there, we supported you based on lies, politic sucks, have a nice one!

@publicuser2534

19 күн бұрын

@@astralreisenderIt is what it is. Hindsight is 20/20. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I didnt make the effort after 9/11.

Throw down in a small town

What did the nurse say

This particular guy was so fkn interesting,great pod,but it takes two,one to ask the interesting and relevant questions etc....

Please speak of the trauma of the situation of the killings of Shani Louk and the many victims of both sides of the conflict in Israel and Gaza

@Slide164

2 күн бұрын

Wah Wah!

Tom seems cool as shit!!

Nightmare fuel. ☻

What does selection event mean???

@sevirz13

23 күн бұрын

I'm guessing selection for awards

@themog4911

2 күн бұрын

To join delta force you have to pass "selection." Mentally and physically demanding events. He thought that the mass casualty he was part of, would make a really tough event for selection.

Tom is one of the finest men you can ever hope to meet.

This comment is for KZread analytics.

Fuk man...

Stay out of other people's countries.

These are your best interviews. Real, complex things even the most capable among us have to live with. I’m still in, and the yearly mandatory crap on dealing with trauma pale in comparison.

I remeber during preop for ONE of my daughters open heart surgeries , my wife says "listen im not my husband, you need to break this down into english, explain it to me like ive never been to goat lab" so they break it down to understable reletable terms. At this point i havent said much, before we walk out the room, one of the guys on the surgical team said yeah i got a question have you been to goat lab? Moral of the story when a mans sitting in a room and the topic if discussion is maybe your daughter will be alive 16 hours from this moment, tell us a story is not what that father has on his mind. But up until right after my daughters sucessful open heart surgery, when the surgical team as a whole wanted to basically hear about goat lab and how cool it was. For those of you not familiar with it. It is hands down one of the best trauma medic training courses available.

Thanks!

@ShawnRyanClips

17 күн бұрын

You're welcome. Hope you enjoyed the short clip!