{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Beer, Booze & B.S. Podcast ","title":"AUDIO ONLY: 13-Man Sniper Section Told To Not Plan On Coming Home | What He Found After Iraq| Ep. 22 Pt. 2","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4847,"description":"Army sniper Drew Matthews was told his 13-man team might not come home. Then he returned from Iraq to a family betrayal nobody saw coming.\nIn Part 2 of this raw and unbelievable Beer, Booze & B.S. interview, Minnesota Army veteran Drew “Bullet” Matthews takes Chrissy and Paulie inside the reality of sniper missions, convoy operations, military training, war, grief, religious control and the homecoming nightmare that changed his life.\nDrew recounts being sent overseas after his sniper section was warned, “I wouldn’t plan to come home.” All 13 members of his section survived—but another soldier Drew knew was killed after being assigned to the mission Drew’s team narrowly avoided.\nHe also describes helping move an approximately 100-truck convoy out of Iraq, riding in an up-armored vehicle with a motorized turret and serving as the commander’s eyes and ears. According to Drew, his truck was the third from the last documented vehicle to leave Iraq during the drawdown, and his unit was involved in one of the final enemy engagements.\nBut surviving Iraq was only part of the story.\nDrew opens up about growing up inside a controlling church where emotions were dismissed, medication was discouraged and “feelings were a lie.” Then, while serving away from home, Drew learned his mother was dying. By the time he arrived, she was already gone—and his best friend had also died by suicide.\nLater, Drew returned home to find his belongings packed. The next morning, he was served divorce papers. The devastating family story eventually became even harder to comprehend when his pastor father married Drew’s ex-wife.\nDrew also talks about sniper ballistics, watching every exit, never sitting with his back to the door, wasting outrageous amounts of .50-caliber ammunition, brutal drill sergeants, a deadly snakebite during basic training, eating Army meals in minutes and the dumb things soldiers do when boredom takes over.\nAnd because this is Beer, Booze & B.S., the crew puts three...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/hmX-fGe5T9UXolk259tRszpg3kabeiWL0aL-gQo0q1Q/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85YmI3/NDEwNDNkMjIzOTBk/YjE5ZjRiNmNjOTY3/MWFiMy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}