Third Squad
In 2011, veteran and journalist Elliott Woods embedded with the twelve Marines of Third Squad in one of the most violent parts of Afghanistan at the height of the war against the Taliban. Only eleven of the twelve would make it home. A decade later—with America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan looming—Elliott goes on a cross-country road trip to track down the Third Squad survivors, to talk about the war and coming home, and to ask: What was it all for? And where do we go from here?
Third Squad is a 12-part documentary podcast hosted by Woods and produced by Airloom Media. New episodes every Thursday starting October 21, 2021.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 54 minutes
- Episodes
- 15
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2022
BONUS: One Last Climb
Camp Pendleton, CA: Patrol Base Fires veterans Manuel Mendoza, John Bohlinger, Michael Minor, and Noah Southworth reunite at their former Marine base on California’s Pacific Coast to place a new memo…
The End of the Road
Asheville, NC: Teresa Bradley still lives in the house where she grew up and where she raised her twin sons, Michael and Timothy Dutcher. In the final visit of the journey, Teresa and Tim tell the st…
I Think This is Hell
Ventnor City, NJ: Jeffrey Lopez grew up steps away from the Atlantic Ocean with a house full of brothers who loved to fight. His mother, Rosibel, escaped war-torn El Salvador in hopes of raising her …
Sandcastles in the Tide
Deer River, NY: As a teenager, Taylor Moody had a mohawk and cared more about punk shows than school. He tells Elliott about his tough adjustment to the disciplined life of a Marine and his quest to …
Chasing The War
Greensburg, PA: As squad leader, Jeric Fry’s biggest responsibility was to keep his Marines alive. He could never have known that he’d save the life of one of his Marines years after the squad came h…
Bad Paper
Lexington, KY: In Sangin, Scott McEtchin told Elliott that he joined the Marines to get his life together after a bout of teenage trouble. But trouble wasn’t far behind when McEtchin got back from Af…
Make Peace or Die
Palmer, AK: Elliott takes a detour from the road trip to fly to Alaska, home to David Richvalsky, Third Squad’s machine gunner. During an ATV trip to a glacier, Richvalsky describes the gaps in his m…
Third Squad on Here & Now
Elliott Woods discusses the making of Third Squad with Scott Tong on WBUR’s Here & Now.
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Husband, Father, Killer
Spearfish, SD: As Third Squad’s radio operator, John Bohlinger had the grim task of calling in medevac helicopters for his wounded friends. He also had awesome firepower at his fingertips. With his w…
Nothing to Lose
Rapid City, SD: Brian Shearer was a gung-ho 17 year-old when he joined the Marines, with nothing to lose but the PlayStation he willed to his brother. In Sangin he was a designated marksman whose job…
A Soldier’s Heart
The Woodlands, TX: The Marines offered Manny Mendoza a ticket out of the small Texas border town where he grew up. In Sangin, he felt a crushing burden of responsibility for his fellow Marines, who h…
The Guilt
The Woodlands, TX: Third Squad’s corpsman, Matthew Foreit, was responsible for treating injured Marines on the battlefield in Sangin. A decade later, Foreit tells Elliott he’s still grappling with th…
Riding the Wave
Camp Pendleton, CA: The journey begins on the hallowed ground of First Sergeant’s Hill, which looks down on the headquarters of the 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton, California, where Third Squa…
Keep Pushin’
Sangin, Afghanistan, 2011: Michael Dutcher and the rest of Third Squad lived in a sweltering mudbrick compound called Patrol Base Fires, surrounded by lush farmland, irrigation canals, and a minefiel…
Introducing Third Squad
In 2011, veteran and journalist Elliott Woods embedded with the twelve Marines of Third Squad in one of the most violent parts of Afghanistan at the height of the war against the Taliban. Only eleven…