Rudy Reyes and Mike Ritland Find Out They Were on the Same Operation Before 9/11

About this video

Navy SEAL Mike Ritland and Marine Recon veteran Rudy Reyes discover they served on the same deployment rotation in 2001, shortly before 9/11. Reyes recounts his experiences in early Afghanistan operations, describing combat missions at Camp Rhino, encountering Johnny Walker Lindh, and the initial invasion of Iraq. He shares how repeated deployments and the loss of Iraqi civilians who helped his team gradually eroded his humanity, culminating in moments where he recognized a darker part of himself had emerged.

Key takeaways

• Reyes and Ritland realize they were both deployed with the same amphibious group in 2001, working with Australian Norforce in Darwin before 9/11.
• Reyes describes early Afghanistan combat operations in late 2001, where small teams of Recon Marines, SEALs, and SAS conducted reconnaissance missions and called in airstrikes with minimal equipment and no helmets.
• Reyes recounts guarding American citizen Johnny Walker Lindh, who was captured fighting for the Taliban, and describes being unable to comprehend that an American would fight against U.S. forces.
• Reyes explains how the killing of an Iraqi Christian family that had helped his team became a turning point, breaking his worldview and leading him to decline re-enlisting despite offers.

Episode details: published April 17, 2026 · 15.1K views · 30:02 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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