You wake up, put on your Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
You're living all in. You realize you need coffee, so you say, Hey Meta, how do I make a latte? After Meta AI gets you caffeinated, you're ready for some beats. Hey Meta, play hip-hop music.
You head to meet some friends, but can't remember the place. Hey Meta, call Eva. Ray-Ban Meta glasses, the next generation of AI glasses. Just say, Hey Meta, to harness the power of Meta AI.
Shop now at meta.com slash smart glasses. Sometimes life can seem hard and tough to navigate, but what may seem like the smallest tasks such as getting out of bed or even brushing your teeth should be celebrated as a win. And State Farm is here to help you celebrate all your wins. The State Farm personal price plan helps you create an affordable price just for you. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can bundle and save with the personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer.
Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. Experience sensational sound with Vizio's Soundbar Collection. Starting at just $99, there's a soundbar for every budget. With Dolby Atmos in every model, cinema quality sound is closer than ever. This collection features Vizio's simplest setup yet, so you'll be streaming your favorite iHeartRadio playlists in no time. Whether you're looking for a simple setup or the cutting-edge Elevate SE with 360-degree sound immersion and auto-rotating speakers, Vizio has you covered.
Head to Best Buy or Amazon to find the perfect Vizio soundbar for you. Hello, it is Ryan, and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on ChumbaCasino.com. I looked over at the person sitting next to me, and you know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumba Casino. Everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumba Casino is home to hundreds of casino-style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere. So sign up now at ChumbaCasino.com. That's ChumbaCasino.com, and live the Chumba life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void where prohibited by law.
18 plus terms and... This is Simone Boyce from The Bright Side. Beauty is about more than just beauty. It's about worth, individuality, and the power that comes from being your truest self. At L'Oréal Paris, beauty means embracing who you already are. Enhancing the diverse features, experiences, and personality that makes you, well, you. L'Oréal's beauty essentials combine innovative products with that classic Parisian touch to help you feel like your most confident self. Because taking on the world is a little less scary when you feel ready for your close-up. L'Oréal Paris.
Because you're worth it. Learn more at L'OréalParis.com. And we return to Our American Stories and up next, a story from Carl Merlantis. Carl is the author of the award-winning books Matterhorn and What It's Like to Go to War.
Books that took him 30 years of reckoning and soul-searching to write after his service in Vietnam. While in Vietnam, Carl and his Marines were engaged against the North Vietnamese army, often called the NVA. And in so doing, Carl earned many medals, including the second highest award for valor our country bestows.
That would be the Navy Cross. But Carl often asked himself a question. Why did he receive the awards when others who hadn't been awarded had done so much more?
Here's Carl with the story. The NVA had dug in on a couple of hills on Mudders Ridge. And at that time, I had been promoted to the company executive officer. We were on the assault and I couldn't stand to not be with my platoon because I'd just given them up to take the new job and the brand new platoon commander. I'd only been in one firefight, so I joined the platoon just to help out. And there was a kid that was clearly, you know, panicked.
And if you don't seat the magazine of your M-16 correctly, it won't work. And he was, his hands were trembling and he was on the ground and there was a machine gun nest above us. And, you know, and I hit the ground next to him and he was just shaking with fear. I knew him, good kid. And I could see right away that he hadn't seated his magazine.
That was what he was with because he thought his weapon had failed him. And so I took the rifle from him and I seated the magazine correctly and I handed it back to them. And I said, don't go up there. Don't go up above. We were in a little sort of, definitely a little sort of very shallow dip in the ground. So the bullets were flying over our head. And so we were safe where we were. I said, don't go up there because they had cut the jungle away from the ground up about to knee height. Everything else was hidden by the, all the foliage. But if you put your eye on the ground, it was absolutely clear all the way up to the machine guns.
And it was, it's a classic tactic. They'll shoot your legs. And then when your, when your legs go, your body goes down into that same kill zone and then they take you out, hit your body. And he nodded his head and said, yeah. And I said, okay. And I took off because I had other things that I had to do.
I was trying to keep this assault organized. And he took off running straight up the hill toward the machine gun. And to this day, I don't know why he did that. And my guess is that he felt, I'm guessing that he felt embarrassed or something because he had, he had sort of gotten down on the ground and gotten scared and he was going to, you know, not be scared anymore.
And I get tearful because he charged that machine gun. Well, he went down. I heard him say, I'm hit. And I couldn't see him. I could hear him up there. And the bullets going over and I came running back and, and the platoon sergeant heard him cry out too. And he came out the other way and I said, you know, it's, he won't use his name. And it was like, now what are we going to do? Cause he's up there. He's alive because I heard him cry out.
He's hit. And so I remember thinking, I mean, this is really weird. I wanted a medal. And I remember going like, you know, if you, you're not, I'm not in charge of the platoon. And I was sort of just super numerary because I just left the company headquarters.
I mean, headquarters, I mean, it's stupid. It's, they were just, you know, a hundred yards away from me. But, but I remember thinking, I made a joke with a gunny ring.
He was in a staff sergeant. And I said, if I go up and get him, I said, you, you, you're right. You're right. You're right. And I said, if I go up and get him, I said, you write me up for a medal and, you know, and he looked at me and he said, yeah, I'll write you up for a medal.
It'll be posthumous. You know, that banner went right back and forth, but I wanted to go get the kid because, you know, he was in my platoon. I knew he was in trouble. And at the same time, it was like, you know, grab a little glory here.
It's hard to imagine, but you know, you're 22, 23 years old and that's, that's in your, that's in your psyche, I think. So I went up there with mixed motives and in order to reach him, I had to keep the heads of the machine gunners down so they couldn't, they couldn't be firing at me and actually aiming. And so I, I was firing my M16 at the machine guns.
It was one machine gun in a bunker up above us and crawling up this really steep hill and very steep and shooting up at the machine gun. And I found the kid and I remember trying to drag him down the hill, but I couldn't move him. He was a big kid. And so I wrapped myself around him and turned ourselves sideways. And so I could roll with him.
And so with rifle between us and me grabbing him and rolling, I roll all the way back down, got him down there. And Doc Yankee was there. He, he was a Navy Corpsman and started working on him right away. And then he stopped.
I never forget this because it's, it's so, it's so, these Navy Corpsmen are just incredible people. He was sucking vomit out of this kid's mouth and blood and spitting it to try and keep him alive. And I was just sitting there, you know, watching this, I mean, and all of this is happening in maybe a few minutes. And he stopped and he looked up at me and he, and he held his head and pointed to his head and there was a bullet hole in it. And he said, I can't save him. And he dropped him and took off because he had other wounded people screaming for help. And I started thinking if he was alive and talking and there was a bullet in his head, how could he be alive and talking? And it suddenly hit me. It's like, my God, maybe I put the bullet in his head.
That's a horrible feeling. And it wouldn't have felt so bad if my motives had been pure, but my motives weren't pure. And so, although I was brave, I was brave for mixed motives. I wanted to go save him, but at the same time, I did kind of want to get a medal.
I wanted it, you know, well, be careful what you wish for. And to this day, I don't know if, if I killed your son, if I killed him or the NBA killed him because the bodies got stacked up in stacks on the hill. And unfortunately a mortar round hit all the bodies and it was just carnage. All these guys that, you know, just hours before had been alive and friends of yours and you don't, you haven't seen anything. You don't know what carnage means, but you see a mortar round hit a bunch of bodies. Um, boy, uh, how did I get on?
Okay. So anyway, we went through several days of, of, of being assaulted by this larger NBA unit that we had just managed to insert ourselves into a regiment that had been on the move down Mudders Ridge. So they sort of sealed us off because we were right back in their path, all their resupply and everything. And that's why we got surrounded. And I can remember we counted out the bullets cause it was monsoon. We couldn't get resupplied. And, uh, we had seven bullets left each. We had redistributed all of our ammunition so that everybody had seven bullets. Uh, and we knew that the next assault would be all over.
It was really as close as I've come to, you know, mortality. And, uh, we managed to get out of it because the clouds cleared just enough to bring in ammunition and, uh, reinforcements after several, several days of, of really hard fighting. We had been kicked off of one Hill and, uh, we had a Colonel that, that was, you know, and he said, well, you got to take back that Hill. You were kicked off of the guy to get your pride back.
And I was like, I don't want to get my pride back. I mean, we're exhausted and we're, we've lost a whole bunch of our friends and, you know, anyway, orders and order. And so we had to go into the assault the next morning.
And you've been listening to Carl Merlantis tell the story of what happened on a Hill decades ago, more of Carl's story here on Our American Stories. Walk into work and you need a soundtrack. Hey Metta play hip hop music with the built-in camera. You snap a pic of a dope mural on the side of a building that you think is worth sharing. Hey Metta, text my last photo to Eva sending message after work. You had to meet some friends. Hey, nice glasses, Ray bin, Metta glasses, the next generation of AI glasses.
Just say, Hey Metta to harness the power of Metta AI. Listen to music, make hands-free calls with open your audio and built-in microphones. And so much more all while staying present to the world around you. Shop Ray bin, Metta glasses at Metta.com slash smart glasses. Experience sensational sound with Visio soundbar collection starting at just $99. There's a soundbar for every budget with Dolby Atmos in every model. Cinema quality sound is closer than ever. This collection features Visio's simplest setup yet. So you'll be streaming your favorite iHeartRadio playlists in no time. Whether you're looking for a simple setup or the cutting edge Elevate SE with 360 degree sound immersion and auto rotating speakers, Visio has you covered.
Head to Best Buy or Amazon to find the perfect Visio soundbar for you. Hi, this is Lee Habib here. Do you wake up every morning dreading that first step out of bed because of foot pain? I know I used to. Living with plantar fasciitis felt like a constant battle. Then I tried PowerStep, the number one podiatrist recommended insoles clinically proven to relieve pain. I was skeptical at first but from the moment I put them in my shoes and sneakers I felt the difference. Support and comfort exactly where I needed it and when I needed it. Especially those really long walks I take each day with my wife. My foot pain vanished and even my back and knee pain was eased. Now I can go through my day pain free. Go to PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order.
That's PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order. Hello it is Ryan and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on ChumbaCasino.com. I looked over the person sitting next to me and you know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumba Casino. Everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumba Casino is home to hundreds of casino style games that you can play for free anytime anywhere. So sign up now at ChumbaCasino.com. That's ChumbaCasino.com and live the Chumba life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary.
VGW Group, void where prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and... Congratulations to CBS Sports and Sony Electronics for their first place wins for innovation in industry at this year's unconventional awards by T-Mobile for Business. In a collaboration that was clearly built on breaking new ground, CBS and Sony created a first of its kind broadcast for the PGA Championship using a custom-built T-Mobile private 5G network to power the live production. They deployed a 5G wireless camera system throughout the event. The network speed combined with Sony's innovative ultra low latency video codec allowed for seamless high quality footage without disruption. With that innovative approach, CBS gave broadcasters the tools they need to do what they do best. Take their coverage to entirely new places.
These innovations will shape the way live sports are covered moving forward. And for that, T-Mobile congratulate Sony and CBS for their unconventional thinking. And we're back with our American stories and Karl Merlantis' story. When we last left off, Karl had just rushed in to enemy fire to try to save a fallen Marine. He received a medal for that, but he didn't feel good about it. It felt as if he'd planned to receive the medal. He had in the end as he took the medal, but he didn't feel good about it. It felt as if he'd planned to receive the medal. He had in the end, as he said, mixed motives. The fighting wasn't over though and Karl and his Marines were about to go into an assault against a Vietnamese bunker complex.
Let's continue with the story. We'd been mortared for days. So this larger enemy unit had mortar positions and you can't keep mortars supplied with ammunition unless there's a lot of people packing mortars.
So it was a pretty big unit. We went through the jungle, got on the edge of the jungle where we'd been cleared away by napalm. And we're all lined up, ready to go. And the word comes to kick off. And you don't charge, you don't run, you're full, you're laden with ammunition. And if you try to run up a hill, you're exhausted and you won't make it.
You'll walk up. When you're in an assault, you'll walk, which is really hard when you're being shot at. And the whole line of bunkers up above us, the NVA were in them, opened up with machine guns. Well, the whole line of Marines went down to the ground, took cover behind logs, fallen logs, and hit the ground. And the assault stopped. Now what?
I'm the guy in charge. And if we stayed where we were, the mortars would start hitting us because I knew that, you know, they'd been shooting us for days. And so they'd be zeroed in on us. Marines don't retreat.
It's just not something we do. So there's only one thing to do is I have to get all these guys up off the ground and take out those machine guns. And there was a guy at the basic school, a redheaded major named Miller. And I remember him telling us, he says, you know, you lieutenants, think about this. He says, the corporals and sergeants can do everything you do, technically.
They can do everything. But someday you're going to know when you're going to earn your pay. There's going to be a day, the time is going to come when you are going to earn your pay and you'll know it when it happens. I can remember him saying that I was on that hill with a whole line of Marines down on the ground about to get hit by mortars. And, oh, this is what Major Miller was talking about. And here's the difference is that my motives then were, I got to get these guys out of this pickle.
I was just purely trying to think about how to stop the slaughter that was going to come if we didn't move. And all this is going on in seconds. I mean, you know, it takes me a long time to tell it, but it really goes by.
It was really a short period of time. And I had an out of body experience. And to this day, I can't tell you if that was a spiritual experience or a psychotic experience, but believe me, this is what I did. I left my body and I looked at the whole situation from some vantage point way up in the sky. I saw everybody laid out on the line. I saw where all the machine guns were up above us. I saw the bunker complex.
I figured it all out by looking at it from up in the sky. And I came back down into my body and I started to shout at people to get, you know, like I said, get the M79, man. I want you to take that bunker out. I want you to keep firing at it because we got to keep that machine gun quiet because I got to get this other machine gun quiet.
And if we can get between these two machine guns, then we can start to open up by going down the line and they won't be able to shoot us because they got us in a crossfire. I mean, I was thinking all these things. And there was a brand new kid. I don't even know his name.
He came in with the replacements the day before. Skinny African American kid, you know, he should have been playing basketball for his high school and he was a machine gunner. And I said, you got to take that machine gun under fire.
You got to take it under fire now and keep it, keep their heads down so that we can get up in between these two bunkers and then we can take them out. And he laid down and started firing very controlled, three shots, four shots, perfect fire control. And I can remember thinking, thank God somebody trained this kid because if you go too fast, you burn your barrels up and you're out of ammo. And as I ran down the line to keep organizing people, I remember seeing his blood pumping out of his leg.
It was an arterial wound because when it pumps like that, it's arterial. I don't know if he lived or not because we lost a lot of guys and I didn't even know his name. So I don't know if he's the one who lived or died.
He might have been wounded in a medevac or he might've died, but he kept that bunker down and there's no metal for him. So anyway, now what? I still got to get everybody up off the ground. And so I thought the only thing I could do was stand up and charge those bunkers.
That's what I did. I said, you know, Major Miller, this is, you know, I can remember his voice saying, this is when you earn your pay. And so, so I stood up and I started up the hill all by myself and it seemed like an eternity, but it probably was about four or five seconds, literally. And I noticed slight movement out of the corner of my eye.
And I hit the ground and whirled to shoot at it because I thought it was NBA. And it was Harding who was a really young squad leader, but really bright kid. And behind Harding came the entire platoon.
All of them, all of them came up the hill, swarming up the hill behind me. I mean, I get emotional just thinking about it to this day. You know, yeah, that's why you want to be a Marine.
By God, that's right there. That's why you want to be a Marine because of that heart. They all came up the hill and took out the bunkers. A lot of them, you know, we lost a lot of wounded. Somebody said that there were about 180 in the company, 120 Purple Hearts during that one week long or eight day long fight. So I got to Navy Cross for that.
And I feel good about that one. Well, like you say, a Navy Cross is like you can't go to a Navy base or a Marine base in the world and buy a drink. I mean, if you're a Navy Cross holder, you're put into a special category.
How do you live with that? The kid that was holding that machine gun under his machine gun fire, pumping blood, no medal for that kid. I mean, I got a medal. I thought about it a lot because I remember that, you know, the war that a lot of the Vietnam veterans against the war who, you know, I mean, I thought the war was stupid too and wrong. So I was on their side politically, but they started throwing their medals away. I couldn't do that.
I couldn't throw that Navy Cross away or any of my medals. And I said, why is that? And I said, because the analogy is the newspapers report who made the touchdown. It's the halfback or full back that makes the touchdown.
They never report on the fact that the entire line was blocking. And that touchdown was impossible without everybody on the team doing their part. And so I hold that Navy Cross the same way that I think that somebody who is an adult holds how he got his name in the paper for making a touchdown. He knows full well.
The paper gave him the credit for the touchdown, but it was in, it would not have happened without the whole team. So that isn't my medal. That's my unit's medal. That's the symbol in something you can grab of that heart, those kids.
And like I said, they're kids taking on those bunkers. And I could never throw that away because it's theirs. It's not mine. Yeah, I'm part of it. I mean, I have my share. I'm part of that team.
So I feel very proud of it. And I also think about the kids in the bunkers that were shooting at us. They were drafted. I mean, none of them wanted to be there either. Yeah, it was their country. And people talk about how, oh, you know, they were defending, you know, their country. And so they were more motivated. And yeah, I don't know, maybe they were more motivated.
Who knows? But I think if you had asked any of them, would you like to leave now? They'd have gone home just like the rest of us. So they were there too, you know? And so that medal is part of that.
In other words, it's not just the team, the Marines, but it was just everybody on that hill. And so I've come to terms with that medal because I've sort of seen it as a, as just a concrete physical object that represents incredible heart. And a special thanks to Monty Montgomery for the production on that piece, and a special thanks to Carl Merlentis. And my goodness, what Major Miller said to him, one day you're going to earn your pay.
You'll know it when it happens. And my goodness, Paul knew it when it happened. And of course, at the end, him saying, that's not my medal. It's my unit's medal. And that's how he came to terms with it ultimately.
The story of Carl Merlentis, the story of so many soldiers who fought for our country, here on Our American Story. iHeartRadio playlists in no time. Whether you're looking for a simple setup or the cutting edge Elevate SE with 360 degrees sound immersion and auto rotating speakers, Vizio has you covered.
Head to Best Buy or Amazon to find the perfect Vizio soundbar for you. You wake up, put on your Ray-Ban Metta glasses. You're living all in. You realize you need coffee. So you say, Hey Metta, how do I make a latte?
Brew two shots of espresso. After Metta AI gets you caffeinated, you're ready for some beats. Hey Metta, play hip hop music.
You had to meet some friends, but can't remember the place. Hey Metta, call Eva. Ray-Ban Metta glasses, the next generation of AI glasses. Just say, Hey Metta, to harness the power of Metta AI.
Shop now at Metta.com slash smart glasses. We've all got a thing, an obsession. For some of us, it's vintage fashion, our cars, anything we can collect.
They all live under one roof. eBay. It's where closets get filled with statement pieces and vintage finds, where must have sneakers wait for you.
And designer handbags are the real deal. On eBay, doors open to stacks of the rarest trading cards and a garage stocked with all the car parts you need for any DIY job. eBay's home to whatever thing you're into that keeps you up at night.
eBay, things people love. Can't be home for the game. Call for the touchdown. NFL plus has you covered with live local and prime time games on the go.
What a game he's had on your mobile device. You can access live local Sunday afternoon games and all the prime time action from Thursday night football, Sunday night football, and Monday night football. Tonight was definitely their night. Sign up for NFL plus today at plus.nfl.com subscription required for NFL plus terms and conditions apply. With Kroger brand products, you can get all of your favorite things this holiday season, because our proven quality products come at exceptionally low prices. And with a money back quality guarantee, every dish is sure to be a favorite. From sweet sugar cookies and holiday ham to that perfect slice of pie. Whether you shop delivery, pickup or in store, Kroger brand has all your favorite things. Kroger, fresh for everyone.
