Giant Killer

It is October 10, 1966, and a busload of recruits arrives at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. One by one, the burly young men exit the bus, hurried by an instructor who shouts insults at them. Now they are in the army... The young men line up outside the bus while the drill sergeant barks at them. It is a tried and tested routine to start turning these young men into men of steel. As the drill sergeant walks down the line, he notices something is wrong. He knew these men were young, but do they send children now? At the end of the line is Richard J.

Flaherty. At 4'9" or 145 cm straight, he was small compared to the others. The drill sergeant, "Baker", takes Flaherty to the captain's office. “Sir, you have to fix this. This has to be a joke. He'll kill himself or, worse, someone else.” Flaherty chimed in: “Give me a chance. Whatever you throw at me.” The captain intervened: "Sergeant, if you can't break him, you'll have to keep him." And with that the argument ended. Sergeant Baker knew what he had to do. "What followed were weeks of intimidation from fellow recruits." DWARF!" "ELF!" "Private Mighty Mouse!" No one wanted to have to rely on this short man to get the wounded out of a gunfight.

And a rather big guy named Charlie Skaggs took the lead in trying to convince Flaherty that he should choose another career option. What he lacked in height he more than made up for in muscle and determination. He excelled at anything the Army could throw at him. Aside from his height, he was a model recruit. The drill sergeant had one more chance to break Flaherty. The men formed pairs to practice fighting techniques. Flaherty was assigned Charlie Skaggs. “I'm going to break your neck like a chicken bone.” Surprising Skaggs with his speed and agility, Flaherty was a mix of punches and slaps Aiming for his groin and his eyes, his knees, anything soft, Flaherty punched deftly and avoided Skaggs, who looked like a lumbering

giant

compared to this. ferocious little creature that spun, punched and kicked like a demon.

The other men stopped and looked at the incredible display. Skaggs roared in pain and managed to grab the tiny Flaherty. At that moment everyone was applauding Flaherty. Skaggs repeatedly punched the man to the ground, and the weight difference proved to be a major disadvantage. Thwump, thwump as his body hit the ground. Somehow, Flaherty managed to roll away. Both men are injured now but the melee continues. Both men exchange blows, punches and kicks. Neither of them gives ground. Neither of them gives any quarter. The drill sergeant blew his whistle. The two gladiators looked at each other as equals.

They shook hands and became firm friends. No one ever questioned Flaherty's right to be in the military again. A year and a half later, on April 19, 1968, Flaherty is now a lieutenant in the 501st Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division deep in the lush jungles of Vietnam. He is a platoon leader in Operation Delaware, an attempt to cut off a crucial supply line to the North Vietnamese Army. The platoon winds silently through the thick jungle when the point man at the front signals that something is happening... Everyone freezes. Suddenly all hell breaks loose when a rocket-propelled grenade is launched towards the Americans and takes out the key man.

An eruption of AK-47 fire follows. Rockets fly past crushed trees and jungle as Flaherty and his squad duck and hide on the muddy jungle floor. Flaherty grabs 3 grenades and heads towards the front of the platoon under heavy fire. They are pinned down by a bunker and have to flank the enemy or be torn to pieces. He hands the grenades to one of his men at the front of the platoon and orders him to throw one at the enemy every 30 seconds. As he rallies the men for an assault, a barrage of RPGs arrives, launching Flaherty into the air.

They left him unconscious and hit him in the head with shrapnel. His men remove the shrapnel from his head and he is bleeding. But that wouldn't keep the “three-foot lieutenant as they knew him” down. Regaining consciousness and recovering, he immediately headed towards the enemy position. Flaherty peeks out from behind a tree. The enemy bunker is nestled among the trees, its heavy walls and clear lines of fire making attacking it frontally almost certain death. Taking stock of the situation, he realizes that the platoon is in a difficult situation. They have a 90mm M67 recoilless rifle that resembles a bazooka.

He orders his men to fire 3 shots every 10 seconds and then wait 1 minute so the rifle doesn't overheat. He loads a new magazine and runs up the hill to the bunker. He is immediately discovered and draws all the fire from the Vietnamese. The jungle crumbles around him as he runs through the line of fire. A bullet hits him in the heel of his boot, causing him to fall, but he gets back up before the enemy can reach him and take safe cover. Meanwhile, two men jump out, one with the M67 and the other with ammunition, and position themselves behind a tree trunk.

The rifle hits and throws dirt. The battle continues. Machine gun fire rips through the forest as the M67 operator counts to 10 and fires again. It is a direct hit on the sandbags in front of the bunker, generating huge columns of dirt and sand in the air. In the trees, but still a target for Viet Cong machine gun fire, Flaherty is temporarily blinded as debris from the gunfire covers him and enters his eyes. Meanwhile, from the other side, under the cover of land from an M67 hit, his men reach the bunker and get to work silencing it permanently.

The day progresses and the Viet Cong push the Americans back from the bunker. There is confusion and, unbeknownst to Flaherty, a squad is trapped. The bulk of Americans have to fiercely defend their lives. They set up a perimeter using Claymores and tripwires, but AK-47 fire made them eat dirt. More than 15 men are injured and the doctor does everything he can. They need evacuation or artillery support, preferably both. But the firefight is too intense for extraction, and as the fight continues, Flaherty fearfully realizes that a squad of men are missing outside the perimeter, meaning they can't call in the artillery.

As night falls, the battle subsides. But Americans know they may not see the morning. The Vietnamese sneak under the cover of darkness and skillfully defuse the booby traps. Flaherty knows they won't survive if they continue like this, they have to get the missing squad and call for backup. Searching for the fallen Vietnamese soldiers they manage to find a small uniform. It's still too big for him, but he has to make do and he's not willing to give up the ransom for something as trivial as ill-fitting clothes. In addition to the uniform, he also carries a captured AK-47 as his only weapon.

Smearing mud on his face and lowering his helmet, Flaherty looks at his men and orders them to stay still. "I'll be right back". He leaves the perimeter, finds one of the fallen Vietnamese, grabs him, and begins dragging him toward the enemy. Approaching, the Vietnamese shout words of encouragement as they drag the fallen man toward enemy lines. The disguise was working. He leaves his body and begins to move around the camp looking for his men. Heading to the site of the previous battle, he finds the bunker destroyed and deserted. There are lots of fallen people... But was that a movement?

Flaherty takes a chance and in the dark whispers the password "Purple Haze, Purple Haze." One shape answers: "Goofy grape." Silly grape.” He had found 3 of the men. They go from crater to crater… “Purple Haze, Purple Haze.” Finally, the whispered response: "Goofy Grape." 7 men are found. The platoon is about 150 meters away but the enemy is even closer, they must be very careful. They get as close as they can, then the men jump and run toward the perimeter while shouting “Purple Haze, Purple Haze!” so that their own men do not shoot them. The Viet Cong know at this moment that they have been deceived and have unleashed hell. 6 men cross the perimeter, including Flaherty, who at that moment orders artillery fire.

There is a distant BOOM and then a WHOOMPH as the Viet Cong positions explode as the howitzer fire finds its target. The next morning, five helicopters arrive at the scene of devastation, but Flaherty saves the squad from him. He would later spend 13 months in Vietnam, which earned him a Silver Star for his actions that day. He became known as the "

giant

killer

." He continued to serve after his tour, earned a Green Beret and was sent to Thailand to train Thai units in counterinsurgency. During this “training” he would earn two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. He was honorably discharged from the military in 1971 due to budget cuts and retired to civilian life.

At least officially. But unofficially, the Giant Killer was far from over. He became involved in several wars, became a CIA agent, participated in drug raids and smuggled weapons for militias in Nicaragua. But his action-packed life would come to an end when he was sent to prison for possession of silencers, after which he would end up homeless and remain that way for the rest of his life. At some point in the early 2000s he became friends with a Miami police officer named David Yuzuk, with whom he shared his stories. Yuzuk wrote a book about Richard called "Giant Killer." When agreeing to tell his story, he said: “If they ever make a movie about my life, I want Brad Pitt to play me, and my quote is three million.” In 2015, at 3 a.m., while crossing the street, Richard J.

Flaherty, the decorated American hero, was hit by a car in a hit-and-run incident. He was 69 years old. If he hasn't already, subscribe to the channel and watch more of our videos. Thank you!