When Alfred Brenner enlisted in the Marines, he was told that the K-9 unit got to travel with air conditioning so he volunteered, even though he didn’t really know anything about dogs. He was assigned a German shepherd named Grief and these two forged a bond during four months of training and in combat in Afghanistan.

Alfred explains the role of a K-9 team as part of a platoon, how they train the dogs to detect explosives and bravely lead the way on patrol in enemy territory. This highly dangerous work eventually led to tragedy. Discovering a powerful IED, Grief was killed, and Alfred was grievously wounded. He ultimately recovered.

Now a confirmed dog lover, Alfred recounts his unique experience and the job of these canine heroes in our military in his book, Surviving with Grief.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

"Desert Storm" vet and Army Times reporter Kelly Kennedy leapt at the chance to embed with an infantry unit to work on a story about PTSD. What Kelly couldn't have known is that her unit, Battalion 1-26, Charlie Company, was one of the first to serve 15 months in combat conditions. (A decision later reversed by the U.S. Army.)

Kelly's unit was placed in a "hot spot" and given the impossible mission to win hearts and minds. In fact, these soldiers faced almost daily IED incidents, earning them the dubious distinction of becoming the hardest-hit unit in Iraq. Things came to a head when one day the team refused to go on patrol, following the death of a comrade. Their 'mutiny' became a political lightning rod that resulted in ruined careers, ostracism, and penalty by the military upon Charlie Company. Many struggled when they got back home, and predictably there were a number of suicides within their ranks.

Kelly reports on her experience, her own PTSD, and that of the soldiers whom she befriended, with whom she remains connected.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Retired Commander Mark Divine served for over 15 years as a U.S. Navy Seal around the world in Asia Pacific, Africa, Bahrain, and Iraq. A native of upstate New York, and a lifelong student of karate and zen meditation, Mark entered the U.S. Navy in 1989 and entered the Seals’ BUDS training in 1990. As an outgrowth of his training and his service, he ultimately developed his own systems for mental and physical fitness, described in his books "SEALFIT" and “Unbeatable Mind.” In his latest book "Uncommon," Mark lays out the steps to applying his trademark warrior monk philosophy to the summit of personal development.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Our remarkable guest from Season One returns explaining how a small group of powerful men create celebrities out of abused children:

Anneke Lucas was only a small child growing up in a little town in Belgium, when her mother began taking her to adult parties, and trafficking her to be abused as part of an organized system. When she was nine, she was spotted at one of these events by none other than David Rockefeller, who made her his own special project, whisking her away to America and presenting her as his ‘niece.’ Presented to David’s superior in the group, Sir Evelyn Rothschild, Anneke was invited to “join the family,” pledge her soul, and began preparing for her designated role as a future singing star. This training included not only music and dance lessons, but mental conditioning during a stint in the MK Ultra program in Germany, where she was tortured in order to prep her for her ‘real’ career– spying on the powerful men with whom Rockefeller ‘shared’ her. Anneke ultimately rejected the plan that had been set for her, and had to endure the torture inflicted for her disobedience.

Anneke now enjoys a thriving life and her own podcast. She shares her story in hope that someday no child will endure this type of experience.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Re-airing a Season One fan favorite:

The most secretive mission of World War II ended in the largest scale shark attack of all time. The U.S.S. Indianapolis’ mission was so secret, the entire crew was unaware of their cargo: the components of the atomic bomb ‘Little Boy’ which was dropped on Hiroshima. Thus, when the cruiser was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, no one knew, and 900 sailors were left floating in shark-infested waters for four days. HBH is excited to welcome Doug Stanton, author of ‘In Harm’s Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors’.

On July 30, 1945, after delivering their top secret cargo which would would strike Japan only one week later, the USS Indianapolis was struck by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. The 610-foot cruiser quickly sank, and the surviving sailors had to battle dehydration and hundreds of hungry sharks for over four days.

The crew of the Indianapolis was filled with incredible heroes, not all of whom survived this harrowing ordeal.

In addition to 'In Harm’s Way', Doug Stanton is the New York Times bestselling author of 'The Odyssey of Echo Company', as well as 'Horse Soldiers', which was the basis for the 2018 movie '12 Strong', starring Chris Hemsworth.

This is the first part of a series of interviews with 87-year-old CIA contract pilot William “Tosh” Plumlee in which he describes being recruited into a top-secret military intelligence unit with other juvenile delinquents at the age of 16. Among the colorful incidents he relates are supplying weapons to Fidel Castro in the mountains of Southern Cuba at age nineteen, and attending the School of Illusionary warfare with Lee Harvey Oswald.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Military historian Patrick O’Donnell puts a spotlight on America’s original Special Forces units:

Founded in Missouri by Major General John C. Fremont, (and ‘named’ after his wife) the Jessie Scouts were a valuable intelligence cadre for President Lincoln during the Civil War. On the other side were Mosby’s Rangers and the Confederate Secret Service. Created to infiltrate and disrupt, these groups operated behind enemy lines, sometimes disguised as women or opposing soldiers, taking huge risks to accomplish their missions. They also participated in combat, beginning at the Second Battle of Manassas (or Bull Run.) Patrick describes these remarkable groups, and the plot to assassinate President Lincoln in his book, “The Unvanquished.”

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

A fantastic WWII adventure: On June 16, 1944, the storied 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions accidentally dropped U.S. paratroopers off-target behind enemy lines in France near the ancient town of Graignes, Normandy, as part of the D-Day offensive. At great risk to themselves, including penalty of death, the 900 townspeople of Graignes determined to protect the paratroopers and fight the Nazis as a combined force, using the weapons the paratroopers had brought with them.

What transpired could be the best WWII movie never made. Acclaimed U.S. military historian, Professor Stephen Rabe’s own father was a paratrooper in Graignes. While he grew up hearing the story and meeting other surviving solders, it took Stephen over 60 years to research and write the story in his book, “The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village.”

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com