Tonight’s guest is my friend Jim Webb. Jim is a former war photographer, Marine, and journalist. Jim and I met during his stint working for @blackriflecoffee at @coffeeordiemag. And from there, we hit it off with our shared love for baseball and military history.
Episode 33 features a discussion about Jim’s life story from childhood to present day, including his fondest memories alongside his dad James Webb Sr. — who famously authored Fields of Fire about his time serving as a Marine in the Vietnam War. Jim’s dad later became Secretary of the US Navy and has had an instrumental influence on his life. Jim discusses fishing trips alongside his dad’s Vietnam War buddies and how he continues the family tradition with his Marine teammates. Next, Jim shares what it was like as a war photographer — leaving Penn State early to journey to Afghanistan alongside his dad, ultimately to take a detour on the trip back home to Vietnam to walk the same patrol routes his dad once walked decades before. Ironically, Jim would later join the same exact unit he covered as a war photographer in Afghanistan, except serving as a Marine for a tour in Iraq.
Towards the end of the show, we nerd out on some baseball history, including the iconic Pizza Affair at Fenway Park that’s enshrined in @redsox lore; how @bluemoonbrewco became a ballpark beer; and, how some of baseball’s greatest stars left their prime years behind to fight in war and conflict i.e. Teddy Ballgame, Jerry Coleman, and Ty Cobb.
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