Delta Force Operator John McPhee on Afghan War Stories, Keys to Leadership, and America as a Friend | Ep. 1080

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The Megyn Kelly Show 1h 18m 3 speakers 8 chapters transcribed
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How did John McPhee start his military journey?

Megyn Kelly 0:00
Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at noon east. Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show. On this Memorial Day, we honor all of the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep the United States of America free and prosperous. As we do every Memorial Day, we are bringing you the story of a remarkable veteran and what a story this vet has. Joining me today is retired U.S. Army Special Operations Sergeant Major John McPhee, a.k.a. the Sheriff of Baghdad. John served our country for over 20 years, specializing in various special mission units and combat experience across multiple theaters, including Afghanistan and Iraq, where he hunted both Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. I would like to introduce you to a new brand of Angus beef. You can order it directly from Riverbend Ranch, which is located just a few miles from West Yellowstone, Montana.
Megyn Kelly 1:02
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Megyn Kelly 1:41
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John Ashbrook 2:08
Thank you.
Megyn Kelly 2:08
How are you doing?
John Ashbrook 2:10
Pretty good, pretty good. Quite a lead up there.
Megyn Kelly 2:12
Well, my God, I mean, you've done a lot.
John Ashbrook 2:14
I've tried, I've tried.
Megyn Kelly 2:15
When I say that, when you hear that intro read, given all the time that you spent serving the country, what's the one that you focus on? That's the one thing that really kind of defined the service in my mind.
John Ashbrook 2:27
Man, kind of none of that, I guess. You know what I mean? Later in the war, as leadership, like... that was a challenge. You know what I mean? Those like the battle of Tora Bora, I was a new guy, like, let's go kill everybody. You know what I mean? And then the war rages on, you learn, you're more experienced. Uh, you just learn as it goes on, you're going to learn different lessons. Everybody's going to do this. Uh, and I think the lessons I learned as a young guy is, Uh, weren't the lessons I needed. Really? Yeah. Everybody learns, right?
Megyn Kelly 3:04
I thought everyone makes mistakes. When I read your bio, I thought the opposite because you had a very rough childhood and I thought it made him one tough SOB.
John Ashbrook 3:13
Maybe. Yeah.
Megyn Kelly 3:14
And you know, capable of doing what needed to be done in like the darkest days of Iraq and Afghanistan.
John Ashbrook 3:20
Yeah. Yeah. And so I'm a regular, I tell, I tell everyone this, uh, I'm a regular guy. I do everything everyone else does. Uh, I joined the army and I think when, when nine 11 happened, I was too far in to like choose a different life. You know what I mean? Mm hmm.
Megyn Kelly 3:43
Let's start back at the young John. South side of Chicago?
John Ashbrook 3:47
Yeah.
Megyn Kelly 3:48
Only white kid in the class?

What challenges did John face during his childhood?

John Ashbrook 3:49
Yeah, for a long time.
Megyn Kelly 3:50
How'd that happen?
John Ashbrook 3:52
I don't know. You get in fights. You go to ding-dong. They call it ding-dong school. That's where kids that fight all the time. And you end up there.
Megyn Kelly 4:02
How did your parents settle in a neighborhood where you would wind up being the only white kid in class?
John Ashbrook 4:06
That's where we lived. It's South Chicago. It's where we lived. You know what I mean? I would say the South Chicago of the 70s, 80s was like a different place.

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