1LT Doug Greenlaw, U.S. Army, Vietnam, Silver Star

·40 min·4 clips

Doug Greenlaw chased an enemy soldier into a dark tunnel and killed him with a dagger to survive.

Host Greg Corumbas interviews retired U.S. Army First Lieutenant Doug Greenlaw, a decorated Vietnam veteran and former media executive. Greenlaw received the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts for his combat service. He later held leadership roles at MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon and served as National Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Greenlaw recounts being struck by lightning at age thirteen, leaving distinctive red lines across his chest and arms. He worked summers in a steel mill before attending Indiana University, where he played baseball before leaving to join the Army. His physical fitness, including running a mile in under six minutes in uniform, and his leadership from sports prepared him for military service. He finished seventh in his officer candidate school class of 250 and underwent jungle survival training in Panama. During that training, a point man was bitten by a snake Greenlaw identifies as a green anaconda with a mouth large enough to bite a hand and elbow simultaneously. Upon arriving in Vietnam, Greenlaw immediately fired his incompetent, obese platoon sergeant and promoted a seasoned squad leader without official authorization. He instructed his men not to salute him in the field to avoid identifying himself as an officer to enemy snipers. Greenlaw emphasizes that avoiding booby traps required looking for subtle environmental disturbances rather than the nearly invisible trip wires themselves. He describes a heightened state of perception in combat, where senses like sight and smell become superhuman due to adrenaline. On Thanksgiving Day 1967, a helicopter pilot error placed Greenlaw's 42-man platoon directly in front of a North Vietnamese battalion of 400-500 soldiers. During the ensuing five-hour battle, Greenlaw called in airstrikes from a Phantom jet, directing the pilot to drop bombs dangerously close to his own encircled position. He killed four enemy soldiers in a trench with his M-16 before pursuing one into a tunnel for hand-to-hand combat. In the tunnel, after both men emptied their weapons, Greenlaw used a Gerber commando knife to kill the soldier, who may have been an enemy battalion commander. Greenlaw formed his men into a tight, shoulder-to-shoulder defensive circle to withstand the enemy assault. He developed a direct, informal rapport with the jet pilot providing close air support to hold the enemy back. The experience eradicated his sense of fear and led him to become agnostic, as he required substantial evidence to believe in faith again. Later, as a company commander, he was severely wounded when a patrol triggered a booby-trapped 105mm artillery round. The explosion caused catastrophic injuries, including a slashed carotid artery and a compound leg fracture, and he was clinically dead for fifteen minutes. His fearlessness translated to his corporate career, where he once stared down Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone over refusing to hire Redstone's daughter for a senior role. He describes the Purple Heart medal, which George Washington originated, as the fourth-highest military decoration in order of precedence. Through the Military Order, he met a veteran who regained consciousness in a body bag after being declared dead, missing an arm. The episode maintains a direct, interview-driven tone focused on detailed personal narrative. Greenlaw's storytelling is vivid and matter-of-fact, blending harrowing combat descriptions with reflections on leadership. Listeners interested in intense firsthand accounts of infantry combat and leadership under extreme duress will find this episode compelling. Those who prefer broader historical analysis over personal wartime memoir might find it less engaging.

As heard by us

A soldier's life story that moves from childhood shock to battlefield survival to boardroom reinvention.

Lieutenant Doug Greenlaw's story moves from a Minnesota childhood and an Indiana move to a lightning strike that stays in the memory, then on to Vietnam, medals, and the longer afterlife of service. That shape helps the episode.

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Why you'd press play

For a firsthand Vietnam account that starts with a lightning strike.

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