Tom hosted ex-navy seal MrBallen for a Bert-less Two Bears pod. One of Tom’s first comments was that MrBallen clearly had a much higher intellect than Bert. That is okay because we love Bert’s story telling style nonetheless. MrBallen recounted his experiences in combat as a seal and described the backlash he received from other ex-seals when he began discussing the operations and experiences of being a seal on the internet. MrBallen described his subsequent pivot to other stories on his own podcasts.
MrBallen described his near death experience getting hit by a grenade in the Middle East and his experience waking up in a hosptial in Germany nearly a week after the injury. He and his team of seals were stalking a group of insurgent fighters hiding behind a thin mud wall when the enemy fighters tossed a grenade over the wall into MrBallen’s position. He recounted the heroic actions of a US medic who carried him to the medical helicopter extraction point.
Tom said that Bert was recovering from a spinal fusion. We wish him well.