In this compelling episode of America’s Veteran Stories, Kim Monson hosts an eye-opening conversation with David Sedevic, a Marine Corps veteran with tales from multiple international conflicts. From the ominous landscapes of Beirut, where multinational peace-keeping efforts unfolded, to the swift operations of the Gulf War, Sedevic recounts his pivotal experiences. Learn about the challenges faced, the bonds formed, and the lifelong lessons garnered on these complex missions.
SPEAKER 01 :
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and her other wars and conflicts. America’s fighting men and women strapped on their boots and picked up their guns to fight tyranny and stand for liberty. We must never forget them. Welcome to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Monson. These stories will touch your heart, inspire you and give you courage. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Here’s Kim Monson.
SPEAKER 07 :
And welcome to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Monson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. And the show comes to you because of a trip that I took in 2016 with a group that accompanied four D-Day veterans to Normandy, France, for the 72nd anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings. And I returned stateside realizing that we need to know the stories of our military and our veterans. Each story is different. But we need to hear the stories. We need to broadcast them, archive them, record them. And so, hence, America’s Veterans Stories. I’m very excited to have on the line with me David Sedevic. And he is a Marine, active duty, 1981 to 84. Then his reserve unit was called up during the Gulf War, and he got out of the reserves in 97. David Sedevic, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 07 :
So tell us a bit about you. Where did you grow up? Tell us a little bit about David Sedevic.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota, which is right across the river from Fargo, North Dakota. So up in the great white north, I went to high school there. I also went to college there at a small private college called Concordia. which is where I then went to officer candidate school. They’ve got a summer program that they call the platoon leaders class, where you go in the summer and at the completion of officer candidate school and after graduation from college, they commission you as a second lieutenant in the Marines.
SPEAKER 07 :
And was the Marines what you expected it to be?
SPEAKER 02 :
It was a lot more. It was very challenging, a lot more challenging than I thought it was going to be. I actually can say that I’ve never been more challenged than when I was in the Marines.
SPEAKER 07 :
What would you say to young people today? Would you recommend that they join the Marines? It’s not for everybody, is it?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, but I do believe in public service. So, I mean, if the military wasn’t for someone, I sure would, like, you know… you know, advise them, you know, join the Peace Corps, join VISTA, do something that you can give back with.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. And what would you say is one of the big takeaways that you learned from being in the Marine Corps?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I learned that nobody gives you anything for nothing and that you’ve got to be flexible. And you’ve got to be willing to accept responsibility and run with it.
SPEAKER 07 :
And those are really lifelong lessons, I think, for people.
SPEAKER 02 :
I agree.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. So tell us about you were active duty 1981 to 84. So what did that look like? Where were you at?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you bet. Okay. Basically, in the Marines, as an officer, you go to what they call the basic school, which is about seven months of where they teach you to be a basic infantry officer. And every Marine officer goes through that. And that’s at Quantico in Virginia. After that, you go to your specialty school. And I went to Fort Sill, the Army school, and learned to be an artillery officer. And that’s about five months. So I was in training for almost a year. And as soon as artillery school was done, I was assigned to 2nd Division in Camp Lejeune. And when I arrived, I was immediately assigned to the unit that was going to the Mediterranean to be the 6th Fleet commander. troops afloat. And literally two weeks after I got there, I was on a boat heading to the Med.
SPEAKER 07 :
And what did that entail exactly in the Mediterranean? Was it beautiful, fun? I mean, tell us about that.
SPEAKER 02 :
It was supposed to be beautiful. We had what we called a love boat cruise. We were supposed to go to Barcelona and Toulon in France. We were supposed to go to Mombasa in Kenya. And instead, we got diverted into Beirut. The unit that had been in the Met before us had evacuated the PLO from Beirut. And then after the massacres in the PLO camps, they had gone back in and were there for a couple of weeks when we arrived to relieve them. And so we came ashore. And they went home, and we spent the next four or five months in Beirut as part of the multinational peacekeeping force. My billet at the time was the naval gunfire spotter.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, what is that exactly?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, if we needed to fire naval guns, and while I was there, we did not. But we did a lot of practice. You communicate with the ship. You identify a target, and you bring rounds from the ship onto that target. Now, I had additional duties that were more immediate than that. I was in charge of identifying, marking, and then calling EOD to remove unexploded ordnance from the ship. I mean, rather from the university campus that we were based at. We weren’t at the airport. We were actually out in town at a combat company outpost. I also had responsibilities at the presidential palace as a liaison officer. And then the last two weeks that we were there, I was the liaison officer with the British forces ashore.
SPEAKER 07 :
Boy, this is fascinating. And, of course, right now the Middle East is really a hot spot. But give us a little bit more history regarding what was going on in the early 80s in Beirut. And you mentioned the massacres. Tell us more about that.
SPEAKER 02 :
You bet. Well, the situation was bad before we got there. There was a short little war between the Israelis with the Syrians and the PLO. And they botched the PLO into the harbor area of the city. And that’s when we came in and evacuated the PLO so that the Israelis didn’t have to do house-to-house fighting in Beirut itself. which would have been really ugly. Um, uh, we got a tour by in the French sector where the PLO camps were of the bunkers that they had underneath the, uh, the buildings. And I mean, we’re talking reinforced concrete bunkers. They could drive trucks into a truck parks, underground, um, electricity offices, everything all underground. It would have been a nightmare. And I’m sure that’s what Gaza looks like right now. But, uh, When we got in there, our mission was to protect the Lebanese people, to make sure that another massacre didn’t occur. The Israelis looked the other way while the Falange militia group went into the PLO camps and executed about anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 women and children. And so with the French, Italians, ourselves, and then later the Brits, Our job was basically to act as a buffer between the militia groups and the local population to make sure everybody was safe.
SPEAKER 07 :
I must not have been paying much attention to history at the time, David, and I apologize on that. I mean, I know that it was a hot spot, but who was it that went in and executed these women and children in these camps?
SPEAKER 02 :
The Falange militia, it was a radical Christian militia that had close ties with the Lebanese government. But, to be honest with you, none of the militia groups were good. You had the Shiite militia groups, you had the Druze militia groups, you had the Sunni militia groups, and all of them operated like mafia organizations, extorting money from the areas that they controlled from the businessmen and conscripting young men forcibly to serve in their militia groups. It was an ugly scene. And then, of course, you had the Israelis and the Syrians occupying parts of Lebanon also. So it was a mess.
SPEAKER 07 :
It was a mess, most definitely.
SPEAKER 02 :
And then later you had Iran get involved with Hezbollah. And that’s when, about a year later after I was there, that’s when they blew up the barracks.
SPEAKER 07 :
I actually had some friends who, they had a friend that died during that time.
SPEAKER 02 :
No, we all had buddies that were at the barracks.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh my gosh. I mean, it’s not, it seems like it hasn’t changed over there. I mean, it’s still a hot spot, but I mean, what do you think about that?
SPEAKER 02 :
I don’t think things have changed significantly. I’m sure that there are still different factions throughout Lebanon that are acting as impediments to peace.
SPEAKER 07 :
I know. And that’s one of the things that I just don’t hear us talking much about peace these days. And I really would like to bring those conversations back, David.
SPEAKER 02 :
I would, too. I mean, it’s interesting. The more the vets that I talk to, we all joke that the older we get, the more pacifistic we become.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and I think that we have to be very concerned about when we put our blood and our treasure, our young people’s lives on the line at any time. I think we have to be so careful about that. And, of course, I mentioned at the beginning of the show that This show is precipitated from a trip that I took in 2016 with a group that accompanied 40 day veterans back to Normandy. And these were just kids that really that really fought in these world wars. And it normally is kids, young, young people that are being sent into harm’s way by by older people. And gosh, that concerns.
SPEAKER 02 :
I couldn’t agree more. And it is it’s always young kids. A funny story from Beirut, we had a 17-year-old in our company, and we weren’t allowed to bring him ashore with us. And he turned 18 a couple weeks later. And the skipper had to tell him that he couldn’t come ashore with us. And the kid started crying, thinking that he’d done something wrong. And begged the skipper to let him come ashore with everybody. And the skipper said, I will. Just give it two weeks. You can come in on your birthday. So everybody teased him when he came ashore on his birthday.
SPEAKER 07 :
Eighteen years old. Really, it’s hard to believe. And we need to always really, I mean, Veterans Day is right around the corner. We need to really stop and reflect on those that have been willing to give their lives or that have given their lives in service and duty to our country. And I’m talking with David Sedevic, and he is a Marine. He was active duty 1981 to 84, and then his reserve unit was called up during the Gulf War. And we get to do the show because of these important sponsors. And a sponsor that I greatly appreciate for America’s Veterans Stories is Hooters Restaurants. They have locations in Loveland, Westminster, and in Aurora on Parker Road, and great specials Monday through Friday for lunch. And for happy hour, great place to get together with your friends to watch the sporting events and just to have some great food. In particular, their fish and chips and their nachos are delicious. I hear that their fish tacos are quite good as well. So again, thank you to Hooters Restaurants for their sponsorship of the show. And we’re going to continue the conversation with David Sedevic when we come back.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening.
SPEAKER 1 :
Aum.
SPEAKER 07 :
And welcome back to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Monson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com. And I’m talking with David Sedevik. He was active duty Marine Corps 1981 through 84. His reserve unit was called back up during the Gulf War. And he did get out of the reserves in 97. But he was in the hot spot in the Mediterranean. He said… They thought they were going to have the love boat cruise, which would have been some of the beautiful cities in the Mediterranean. But instead, they ended up in Beirut. And David, during the break, I was just reflecting that I wasn’t really paying attention to the geopolitical landscape at that time. I did remember the bombing of the barracks, but set this up for us, exactly what that looked like, what happened exactly.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, when we came ashore, the rules of engagement with any forces that may have opposed us was that we were not to have rounds in our weapons unless ordered to load up by an officer. And you were not allowed to engage the enemy unless ordered by an officer. And you were only allowed to engage with the same force with which you were being engaged. So if someone was shooting at you with small arms, you couldn’t then escalate and call in artillery. You had to wait for them to call artillery on you before you could call artillery on them. And so it was… Now, obviously, after they bombed the barracks, those rules of engagement were thrown out the window. And we engaged, not me, but the folks that were in Beirut, engaged the enemy with whatever forces they thought would be necessary to suppress the enemy. It was interesting. They had a Shiite militiaman. officer, I guess, complained that the Marines had engaged their forces with more aggressive means than the rules of engagement allowed after the bombing. And he was told that the Marines were the gloves were off and Marines were going to do whatever they had to. It was ridiculous.
SPEAKER 07 :
It has to be so frustrating. And I’ve talked with Vietnam veterans as well regarding the rules of engagement. And, you know, David, it’s like if we are going to put our loved ones in harm’s way, we want to make sure that the rules of engagement are such that… That it makes sense. This makes no sense to me, David.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it didn’t to us at the time either. And I’ll be honest with you. I blame the ambassador to Lebanon at the time for everything that went wrong in the country. But that’s just me. You know, I was only a second lieutenant. Maybe I didn’t see the big picture.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, tell us about the bombing of the barracks. Where was the barracks? What did that look like? You know, how did it happen? What exactly happened? And you said that that was October 23rd. It happened 40 years ago, October 23rd.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yep. Well, I wasn’t there at the time. I was actually, I had rotated back to the States, and I was in 29 Palms doing an exercise at the time when the bombing occurred. And it was everybody who was in 29 Palms had already been in Beirut once. So it was quite emotional for all of us at that time. But the barracks was an old FAA building that had been hit by a bomb from an Israeli aircraft when the Israelis and the Syrians were duking it out in Beirut. So the building already had some structural damage. It was about four stories, and it had a central core that was open. And so you had offices that were on the main floor, and then the different offices on the other floors that faced onto the central core were what we used as like apartments. I mean, basically people just lived in them. We put plastic on the windows. Um, the basement had the, uh, battalion aid station in it. And then there was an overhang on the exterior of the building and around the perimeter then. So you had, uh, and I tank, uh, unit, the, uh, 81 millimeter mortars and the, uh, motor transport guys living, uh, behind canvas under that, uh, overhang on the outside. So there were a couple of hundred guys living in the place. Um, and, uh, You had a lot of traffic that was going by the building because it was in the middle of the airport and the airport was still functioning. So we had concertina wire and sandbags around the building to keep folks out. And then you had a couple of Marines that were on station at the gate, but they weren’t allowed to have their weapons loaded. unless ordered to load their weapons. So when this truck loaded up with explosives crashed the gate, the troops weren’t prepared to fire at them. And the truck got into the center of the building, and that’s where the suicide bomber detonated it. And to this day, it’s still the largest explosion that was non-nuclear ever. Oh, my gosh. And and more Marines were killed that day than any other day since he would leave them.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, my gosh. I did not know that. First of all, are you saying that the guys that were the guards at the gate didn’t have weapons that had ammunition? Did I hear that right?
SPEAKER 02 :
They had ammunition, but they weren’t loaded. Okay. The rules of engagement did not permit us to load our weapons unless ordered to by an officer. So while they were trying to load up, this guy crashed the gate.
SPEAKER 07 :
Wow. Boy, I’m just a little speechless.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, when I was there, it took me several weeks to get sandbags to put an observation post on top of the library that we were staying at out in town. And the reason that I was given why they wouldn’t let me have sandbags was that the embassy did not want us to portray a fortress mentality. And so we were restricted from the amount of concertina that we could get and lay out, and we were restricted in the sandbags that we could get in order to bunker in.
SPEAKER 07 :
Boy, this sure does not… Where were the… I’m asking now subjective questions. Where were the generals on this? I mean, shouldn’t they have been looking out for their men?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we had… We were part of a mile, so we had a bird colonel who was in charge. And our colonel was very aggressive in trying to help us. And our battalion commander was wonderful. He was a lieutenant colonel, and he was very aggressive in trying to protect the troops. And we were part of 6th Fleet. So at the time, Admiral Crowell was in charge of 6th Fleet, and he was wonderful. I actually got to speak with him a couple of different times. And he was very proactive in trying to help us. It’s just that they were coming up against the State Department and the embassy.
SPEAKER 07 :
I’m a bit surprised that this was occurring during the Ronald Reagan years as well, because I’ve always thought of him as someone, well, I know that he really appreciated the troops. So I’m a little surprised that that happened during that time.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you know, it began as a presence mission. where we were there to basically show force and protect the local population. And of course, mission creeps in and we started engaging in more and more combat through mission creep.
SPEAKER 07 :
Did you end up in any direct combat when you were in Beirut, David?
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s a tough one to say because I wasn’t in lunatic combat, but I was definitely shot at with the intent to kill me.
SPEAKER 07 :
That reminds me, I have interviewed Don Whipple, who was just a young guy at the Battle of Iwo Jima. And he said that they had done all kinds of training. And it was when he realized, the first time he was shot at, he’s like, wait a minute, these people are playing for keeps. And I think he probably grew up a ton at that particular moment as well, because he realized that they’re shooting at me to kill me. And there’s got to be some kind of a realization when that first occurs, David, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it’s funny. Time slows. And you’ve got all the time in the world to make the right decision, because everything just slows down. The incident that I’ll recount to you, I was on my way to the presidential palace in a Jeep and we were driving through town and a lot of machine gun fire erupted to the west, to the east of us. And my driver, because it was just my driver and myself, said, sir, we’re under fire. And I said, no, we’re not. I said, that’s the Israelis doing reconnaissance by fire. The next road over, we’re fine. Relax. So we continued on our way and took a right towards the mountains. And at that point, rounds started hitting the cinder block building on the other side of us, started hitting all around the jeep. And with a deadpan, he looked at me and said, well, we’re taking rounds now, sir. And I looked at him and I said, no shit. And I said, punch it through the checkpoint because we were coming up on a checkpoint. And it was one of those European-style roundabouts. And he hit that thing, and I swear we had to have been on two wheels on that Jeep going through that roundabout. And I looked south on the main supply route. And I saw an Israeli APC burning and Israeli troops running around. And there was one Israeli troop on his knee, pointing his weapon right at me, blazing away full rock and roll. And he knew that we were Americans. And he was the one that was shooting specifically at us. And then we got through the checkpoint and were obscured by some other buildings. We got up to the presidential palace. And, of course, all the Lebanese were asleep. And I woke them up and was not very pleasant with them and wanted to know what the hell was going on. So anyway, I got on the radio and called the recon patrol. That was out because they were going to be hitting that checkpoint shortly. And I told them to avoid it because of the firefight that was going on between the Israelis and some militia group. And his response was, so you want me to check it out? And I said, no. He said, yeah, you want me to check it out? So anyway, he went and checked it out. And it was interesting. The Israelis were there. We were there. The Italians were there. The French were there. The Flange was there. But the Lebanese army was over.
SPEAKER 07 :
Very curious. Why? I’ve got some other questions that I’ve got to ask David about this. This is so interesting. I’m talking with David Sedevic and he’s a Marine. The official Marine Memorial is located right here in Colorado in Golden at 6th and Colfax. It was dedicated in 1977 and it is time for a facelift. And the USMC Memorial Foundation is working diligently to to raise the funds to make that happen. And a great way that you can honor our military, to say thank you to those people who’ve put their lives on the line or have given their lives for our freedom, is to support the USMC Memorial Foundation. And you can do that by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. So again, stay tuned. We’ll be right back with David Sedevik.
SPEAKER 05 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
All Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening.
SPEAKER 01 :
God bless America, land that I love.
SPEAKER 07 :
And welcome back to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Monson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. I am talking with Marine David Sedevik, active duty 1981 through 84, then reserve unit called up during the Gulf War and was in the reserves until 1997. David Sedevik, we’re talking about when you were shot at in Beirut, and you said that it was a young Israeli that was shooting at you. Do you have any reason why? I mean, we’re supposed to be on the same side, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we were supposed to be on the same side, but the Israelis, we came into conflict with them quite frequently because they really didn’t want us knowing what they were up to and what they were doing. But I’m sure that this kid was scared to death. They’d just been ambushed. His APC was burning. I’m sure they had casualties. They didn’t know where the fire was coming from. And so they were shooting anything that moved. And they were, to my mind, poorly trained reservists. And so, you know, I can blame the kid for being incompetent in shooting at me. But at the same time, I can understand that he was scared to death.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. And again, that’s one of the things that I’ve learned in all of these different interviews. And you’re talking about combat. I think only, I’ve learned this, only somebody that’s been in combat, who’s been shot at, can understand what combat is. And so the fact that this young guy was shot, Scared, I get it. But I think that’s where you said they were poorly trained. That’s where training comes in and is so important. And I talked with so many of our veterans that said, yes, I was very well trained. And I think that sending untrained people into these situations can be a recipe for some tough stuff happening, David.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, our Marines that were in Bay Area were superbly trained. And I have to say that my NCOs, my corporals, were first rate. And that any success that I had there was due entirely to my NCOs.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think you’re being somewhat generous in as much as I think that good leaders inspire also people to do their very best as well. But to that, I think you’re also speaking to probably the character of these men as well. What else should we know about your time in Beirut? And then I want to get over to the Gulf War as well. But what else do you think people should know? Because David, this is so important that we talk about our history. And this is a part of our history that, I mean, I lived through it, but I wasn’t paying attention. And I’m embarrassed to say that, but that is the case. So that’s why this conversation is so important, David.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it was unique in that this was the first time since the French had left the military side of NATO that French and American forces served together. So, I mean, that was the first time since, I think, the late 60s. And the French were very excited to be serving with us, and they actually had a barracks that was bombed the same day that we had a barracks bombed. And the French were great allies. You know, you can make all the jokes you want to about, you know, the French, but they were our friends and our allies in Beirut. And they were good, good friends, as were the Italians and the Brits. Truly, all four countries suffered indignities in Beirut, but we all served together.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and I had heard that before all of the fighting, Beirut was really a beautiful city, a place that tourists went, that at one time was just beautiful.
SPEAKER 02 :
I was very fortunate because I was out in that combat company outpost. I went into town in a Jeep three, four times a week. for different reasons, sometimes just to buy groceries, sometimes to go buy liquor, sometimes to go to the presidential palace. And there were incredibly beautiful places in town. And then there were places that you could see used to be beautiful and had just been torn up by war. Yeah, it was called the Paris of the Middle East Palace. at one time. But I think that was pre-1975 when they had the Civil War. And yeah, it’s just sad.
SPEAKER 07 :
War is always sad. It just is. Tell me about the presidential palace. So who was the leaders at that time? What did that look like exactly?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it was a glorified radio watch, is what it was. We were up there, and it was basically a liaison with the Lebanese army to make sure that we were aware of what was going on. They, of course, didn’t tell us everything that was going on. And I was very fortunate to have made friends with one of the Italian officers who spoke Arabic. But he didn’t let the Lebanese know that he spoke Arabic. And so he was constantly telling me what they were hiding from us. But it was basically a way for us to liaise with them and to… Basically have communication. So, like I said, it was a glorified radio watch and all four services were there. The Brits, the Italians, the French and us.
SPEAKER 07 :
And the presidential palace, was it opulent or what was that like?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, it was just a complex of office buildings.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, okay. Anything else about Beirut? Let’s move on to the Gulf War.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, while we were in Beirut was when Captain Johnson stopped the Israelis from bum-rushing our position with tanks. I don’t know if you remember that.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, tell me.
SPEAKER 02 :
We were, like I said, a combat company outpost, and the Israelis tried to roll through our position with three tanks. The company commander went out and got in front of the tank, pulled his .45, climbed up on the tank, and forcibly made the tank’s retrograde out of our area. At the time, it was a pretty big deal. There was even a little cartoon that was made where it showed a Marine in front of a tank with a .45. But the Israelis were… Embarrassed by the whole thing. And then the next day we had the State Department out putting white barrels in the field to mark the boundaries so that we wouldn’t supposedly have another altercation with the Israelis.
SPEAKER 07 :
What was their purpose? What do you think they were planning on doing?
SPEAKER 02 :
They were trying to… make an argument that they could go wherever they wanted, regardless of us. And our point was that they couldn’t go where they wanted, that we could go where we wanted.
SPEAKER 07 :
Wow. I’ve got to look all that up. And you said that was Captain Johnson? Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yep. Good man. OK. Really enjoyed working for him.
SPEAKER 07 :
OK. Oh, my gosh. I’ve got a lot of work, homework that I need to do. David said. So we’ve got a little bit more time in this particular segment. So you and how long were you in Beirut? And then you came back to the States and then that’s when the bombing occurred. So how what did that look like?
SPEAKER 02 :
I was there about four months. A couple months after I left, the terrorists blew up the embassy. And then about a month or two after that is when they blew up the barracks.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh. So the terrorists blew up the embassy, and then we still were not letting our guards have ammunition in their guns. Correct. Correct. Okay, doesn’t make much sense to me, but I’m just a civilian. I don’t know what I’m talking about. Okay, so you’re there four months. You come back stateside. What did that look like then as you were still on active duty?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you went back to training. And like I said, when the barracks was bombed, we were all, the entire regiment bombed. 8th Regiment, and then, of course, the 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines, which is my unit, the artillery unit. We were all in 29 Palms doing a desert exercise. And most of the troops that had been in Beirut had come out of 8th Marines and 310. And so we were all pretty fired up. And I know that General Gray… recommended that we send the regimental landing team that was in 29 Palms into Beirut and clean the city out. And they decided instead to cut our losses and to gradually withdraw.
SPEAKER 07 :
Wow. Okay. So you stay in until 84. Anything else about that time that you want to share with us, David? No.
SPEAKER 02 :
Just that in the three years I was active duty, I had one year of sea duty. Went to, you know, was part of six fleet landing forces that went to Beirut. And then, of course, we went to Norway also, North York Circle. And that’s the pace of operations that a young officer spends one year at sea.
SPEAKER 07 :
And what was that like?
SPEAKER 02 :
It was wonderful. It was wonderful. I love the ocean.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. And just, we’ve got a couple of minutes left. What did a day look like for you when you were at sea?
SPEAKER 02 :
You taught a lot of classes. You had calisthenics on the flight deck. And then you always took a nap after lunch and then did more classes. It was an opportunity for us to… to sharpen the educational skills of our Marines. They had to keep everybody busy.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. I think certainly it keeps people out of trouble staying busy for sure. My dad always said that anyway. So I’m talking with David Sedevic, Marine, active duty 1981 through 84. And then we’re going to talk about when he was in the reserves and also the Gulf War. The Center for American Values is located in Pueblo on the beautiful Riverwalk. And it was founded for several reasons. One, to honor our Medal of Honor recipients. And they do that through over 160 portraits of valor of Medal of Honor recipients. But additionally, they are teaching these foundational principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism through many of their educational programs and also their On Values presentations. So for more information about the center, go to AmericanValuesCenter.org. That’s AmericanValuesCenter.org. We’ll be right back with David Sedevick.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier and thank you for listening.
SPEAKER 01 :
And welcome back to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Monson.
SPEAKER 07 :
Check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com. And talking with David Sedevic, a Marine. Active duty 1981 through 84. And then his reserve unit was called up during the Gulf War and he got out of the reserves in 97. So, David, let’s talk about your time in the in the reserves and also the Gulf War. So tell us about that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I was in graduate school at Purdue University working on my PhD when everything happened in the Gulf. And I was associated with a reserve unit on the south side of Chicago in Joliet, Illinois. And we did not get called up in the first round of activations. We got called up after the air war had actually started. And what was really reassuring for me was how many veterans among the faculty came out of the woodwork to let me know that they were going to be looking out for me and taking care of things. I had my assistantship. was with the Purdue football team. And the new head coach called me in and made sure that I understood that whenever the war was over and I came back, that my assistantship with the football team would still be there waiting for me. My department head was a former Marine. The head of graduate studies was a former Marine. And both of them let me know that I would have no problems getting back into the program. after the war was over. They said, just concentrate on keeping your troops safe and get yourself back home and resume your studies. It was really nice that the veterans were so supportive.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, absolutely. And it was a fast, a very fast war, if there is a fast war, correct?
SPEAKER 02 :
Correct. We were actually in 29 Palms doing workups there. um functioning as the pacific strategic reserve and the war ended and so we never left the country we were the only artillery battalion in the marine corps left in the states everybody else was in the gulf and uh It was interesting, when the war ended, the few Vietnam vets that we had in the battery, maybe four guys and myself, we all had a beer together. The troops were very frustrated that we hadn’t shipped over, but the five of us all sat down and had a beer and told one another that the troops didn’t realize that they missed absolutely nothing.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. And tell us about the Gulf War. Again, this has been a bit of a history lesson that I think a lot of people don’t really know. I mean, we hear it, but we don’t know exactly. So set us up. What was happening at that time?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, the Iraqis invaded Kuwait and were threatening Saudi Arabia. And so we surged troops into Saudi Arabia initially to protect the Saudis and then to liberate Kuwait. And it was most of the Marine Corps and a lot of Army and a lot of Air Force. I’m not positive, but I think it was close to half a million troops at one time.
SPEAKER 07 :
Wow. And comparatively, our numbers are down for people in the military now. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I mean, that’s a lot of treasured people over there that were prepared in that war. So anyway, it was fast. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, yeah, the one story I’ll share with you is a very good friend of mine. That was one of my staff sergeants when I was active duty, and he was a section chief for a self-propelled howitzer, and they’d done a night raid. What that is is that they would go up to the border one night, stash ammunition, Um, and, uh, under, uh, camouflage canopies, they would, uh, uh, survey the position so that they knew exactly where they were and then they would leave. Uh, the next night they would come back with just the howitzers and, uh, they would, uh, conduct their fire mission with the pre-staged ammunition and then they would, uh, run away, uh, back South again. And, uh, On their way south, these six self-propelled howitzers were attacked by a Navy A-6. He did two passes on them with rock eye and then put a 500-pound laser-guided bomb across the tube of my staff sergeant’s howitzer. It literally sheared the tube, killed the driver. took my staff sergeant’s eye and arm, and injured the other A-Chief before they were actually able to get communication with the A-6 and call it off. And it was just a tragedy. And most of the casualties that we suffered in the Gulf were friendly fire of that type.
SPEAKER 07 :
Do you think it was because… Well, I know that reservists do train. Was it a training thing? I mean, losing a life in war is terrible, but oh my gosh, friendly fire, that’s really tough.
SPEAKER 02 :
Why? It was just sad. My mom asked me afterwards, she said, well, do you want to know who that pilot was? And I said, no, that he’ll beat himself up worse than anybody else can, because he made a mistake. He thought they were Iraqi tanks, and they weren’t. They were American self-propelled howitzers, and he made a mistake. And that’s what the friendly fires all were, were just mistakes.
SPEAKER 07 :
How could that be prevented?
SPEAKER 02 :
Better training, more vigilance.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Yeah, that’s very tragic. Very tragic. What else should people know about the Gulf War?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I think that it changed everybody’s perspective on the military. I know that when I got back from Beirut, I made a point of traveling in uniform. And I had Vietnam vets come up to me. multiple times in the airport thanking me for wearing my uniform because they’d never been able to wear their uniform when they came home. And I think that the Gulf War, because it was such a resounding victory, got people to appreciate the military more and get us beyond that spitting on the troops and cursing at them that we had after Vietnam.
SPEAKER 07 :
And that was a real tragedy. I’ve interviewed a number of Vietnam veterans, and that became such a political war, and the way that they were treated was just terrible. Finally, after all these years, they’re starting to be told, thank you, but many of them have passed on, and that was just a real tragedy here in America to let that happen. And So thank you for that. We’ve got just a few minutes left. You were in the Reserves up until 97. What should people know about that?
SPEAKER 02 :
Reservists get the same amount of ammunition that the active duty units get. They get the same amount of resources. But they’re cramming that training into one weekend a month. And balancing their family and their home job as well as being a serviceman. And I don’t think reservists get enough credit in our country. Our reserves are first rate. They’re every bit as good as the active duty troops. And they’re folks with reasons to go home because they’ve got, you know, good jobs. They’ve got good families. They’re in college. and and they’re still balancing all of that as well as their military career and and i don’t think the reserves get enough credit well and we we are really rely on our reservists particularly now with i think the recruiting numbers down don’t you agree well and with the uh you know the Post-Cold War demobilization, we rely on the Reservists more. And, I mean, one of the things that happened in the Gulf, the Marine Artillery Reservists fired more rounds in the Gulf than the active duty artillerymen did. It was just, there was no good reason why that happened. It just happened. And, of course, the Reservists loved lording that over the active duty.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, David Sedevic, this has been so fascinating. I’ve learned so much, and I greatly appreciate it, and I thank you for your service. I thank you for my freedom. We’ve got about a minute. What’s the final thought you’d like to leave with our listeners?
SPEAKER 02 :
I just have to say that our success in bringing our troops home when I was in Beirut, we were fortunate, and everybody got home safe. And I think it’s because of the Vietnam veterans that we had in our unit. Every one of my platoon sergeants in the company that I was in were Vietnam veterans, and as was our first sergeant. And I credit those men with training our NCOs and with helping us get everybody home safely. I just really have a lot of respect for the Vietnam veterans.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I do as well. And it is important that we do say thank you to their service to our country as well. David Senevic, this has been absolutely fascinating. I so greatly appreciate the interview. I’ve learned so much.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. My friends, these stories are so important, and that is why we do the show, is so that we can hear these stories. They’re each unique and different. I mean, two guys can be in the same foxhole, and it can be a whole different story. So, my friends, indeed, as we talk with our veterans, we realize that we do stand on the shoulders of giants. So, my friends, God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Monson. Be sure to tune in again next Sunday, 3 to 4 p.m. here on KLZ 560 and KLZ 100.7.
SPEAKER 03 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
