Stories from the skies over Iraq

Retired Marine Col. Eric “Ferris” Buer shares his experience flying attack helicopters during Operation Iraqi Freedom, his book that recounts that deployment and more as the special guest in this week’s episode of The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast.

“It was a great unknown to all of us,” Buer said, recalling flying over the skies of Iraq. “We had ideas of what the Iraq air and ground defenses were like. It (studying) really did prepare us for the opening night of the war. We were dealing with some bad weather, a lot of environmentals and, of course, the unknown of what the enemy was planning. It was real challenging for us.”

All of the training and preparation set up Buer to succeed during his deployment that included flying shifts that ranged from eight to 12 hours a night. Among his takeaways from the experience, where things seemed to consistently to go wrong: “We are pretty resilient, and our training worked.”

Buer completed multiple deployments throughout the Persian Gulf, Norway, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia. His 2003 deployment to Iraq with Amphibious Task Force gave him the inspiration for his first book, “Ghosts of Baghdad.”

“I decided to open a door that was an otherwise closed door,” he said. “And when you step through that door, hop in our cockpit and see what we did, in this case for about 27 days, you get to experience and ride along with us. As Jimmy Buffet said, ‘Some of it is magic, and some of it is tragic.’ And that is just the truth. The story is timeless and represents every veteran who served.”

Also this week, original co-host Ashley Gorbulja returns as she is substituting briefly for Ashley Gutermuth, who was unavailable for the recording. Hosts Jeff Daly and Gorbulja offer their thoughts on:

• A Marine’s fight against the entire Sicilian force.

• A sentencing in a large GI Bill fraud case, estimated at $105 million in government funds.

• A much better news story for veterans. South Dakota State University unveiled a program to assist National Guard veterans with 100% tuition reimbursement. Eligibility includes members of the South Dakota Army National Guard Unit or the Air National Guard Unit.

• The success of Arkansas veterans at the 2023 National Veterans Golden Age Games.

Check out this week’s episode, which is among more than 180 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on iTunes, Google Play or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.