That's all she wrote...
I know he was not liked by all, but have some respect here please.
I know he was not liked by all, but have some respect here please.
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James Yeager passed
- Thread starter Animal357
- Start date
I always liked Yeager and what he had to say.
He knew it was near and went out like a man.
RIP warrior.
He knew it was near and went out like a man.
RIP warrior.
Here ya go.
He bailed out of a car that was ambushed to take cover and return fire, like you're supposed to do, instead of sitting in that tin can and becoming another casualty.
For that he was crucified. Fuck the haters, FJB and fuck ALS.
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Didn’t agree with everything 100% but I’ve gotten some good info from him over the years also. Hate to hear anyone has something like ALS.
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Didn't agree with anything, but I don't wish ALS on anyone.
Then you were not paying attention. I trained with lots of instructors and many of the "best' names. Yup, he said and did some stupid stuff, but Yeager's classes were better. And, yes, I was paying attention.
I had enough direct interactions with him in the 00s to want to avoid him. It's possible to really dislike a person and still not wish ALS on them. Is that hard to understand?
Love him or hate him, he was one of the first YouTubers and introduction to guns for a lot of people. Started many down the 2A path with zero fucks given about what people thought. I respect that.
James.
Thank you for putting your training courses online for free. When my wife and I were struggling to pay off student loans, it was the only training I could afford.
Your hot/crazy matrix video is legendary and frequently reference at my jui jitsu gym and the range.
You lived a life of authenticity.
You died a tragic death with dignity.
RIP.
Thank you for putting your training courses online for free. When my wife and I were struggling to pay off student loans, it was the only training I could afford.
Your hot/crazy matrix video is legendary and frequently reference at my jui jitsu gym and the range.
You lived a life of authenticity.
You died a tragic death with dignity.
RIP.
The classes he held in my area were 100% fucktard training. I saw plenty of video, it was a miracle no one died doing the stupid shit they taught.
He got crucified for that Iraq shit show for good reason. He couldn't "get off the X" because the car was in neutral and he couldn't return fire because he was facing the wrong way. Those guys were a solid teir 9 team of buffoons.
That being said, ALS sucks. It killed a really decent coworker in less than a year. The guy went from alive and vibrant to misery and death in months, it was terrible. I donated a ton of sick leave to him so he could stay on the books until the end. Lots of guys did.
It is a shitty way to go.
He got crucified for that Iraq shit show for good reason. He couldn't "get off the X" because the car was in neutral and he couldn't return fire because he was facing the wrong way. Those guys were a solid teir 9 team of buffoons.
That being said, ALS sucks. It killed a really decent coworker in less than a year. The guy went from alive and vibrant to misery and death in months, it was terrible. I donated a ton of sick leave to him so he could stay on the books until the end. Lots of guys did.
It is a shitty way to go.
I say this. He lived life on his own terms, and went out the same way. That's OK in my book. He did push a lot of buttons for those who are easily set off, but it never bothered him. In fact, I think seeing weakness in others is what bothered him more than anything. I just hope the people he trained will be ready to step up for what I think may be coming around the bend here before too long... If so, that will be his legacy.
Sad to say, you have no clue as to what happened and you have no idea what you are drooling about
Yeah, he didn't want to talk about it much less hear any sympathy from others.
Not feeling sorry for yourself is the true test of bravery. He passed and will go to Valhalla.
Couldn't drive a stick worth a shit.
But whatever.
Good luck wherever you ended up.
But whatever.
Good luck wherever you ended up.
It is sad for those who appreciated him for his duties. Others, who didn't know of him would care less. I look at a man's spiritualism. I only hope and pray that when he meets his maker, God will say, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.
I would have rather had him by my side in battle than you. Your comment speaks more about you than Yeager.
If you think he was heroic you are not particularly bright. I saw the local shit show, it was classic pretend commando bullshit. But you go ahead and tell us how it is done.
Maybe some of the "advanced" classes were commando BS, but the basic Fighting Pistol class had none of that stuff. They had people there who had never fired a gun to dudes who thought they knew it all. Both of those groups learned something. Now having a photographer downrange on a hot range-that was a little suspect. Seemed like a good dude with no filter, and that's ok with me.
So the guy is a POS because one time everything that could go wrong in a shit show did?
Got it.
I'll trade you 5 John McCain's, a couple Jane Fonda's, an eye patch Mc Cain, a Maxine waters, Mitch McConnell, well shit all of Congress that's spent a lifetime fucking up the country for him.
Sux for his family and friends.
I hope none of you have your character and life judged by a ten minute shit show.
Got it.
I'll trade you 5 John McCain's, a couple Jane Fonda's, an eye patch Mc Cain, a Maxine waters, Mitch McConnell, well shit all of Congress that's spent a lifetime fucking up the country for him.
Sux for his family and friends.
I hope none of you have your character and life judged by a ten minute shit show.
Funny how the interwebs likes to pick apart someones actions in situations like that when 99% of the keyboard warriors have never been in a fistfight, much less a fire fight.
Somewhere deep down in every fat slob that sits down in front of a computer is Rambo, Tom Brady and Jon Jones all rolled into a single, perfect stud of a man. They’re just waiting for their big opportunity to wipe the Cheeto dust off of their man titties and show the world how badass they are.
Till then, we’re just going to have to take their word for it.
Sickening, isn’t it?
This sucks. He's the only guy in the tactical world I have respect for. He did so much good for people and donated so much money and time to charity's
I do believe you just wrote Wade2Big's biography.
Yeah, well, he dead.
The good news is, we don't have to talk about your lack of tactical acumen and common sense from your comment.
P.S. - I also think you totally didn't comprehend what my comment actually meant.
Yes and no. He's almost like a legend at this point because what did/didn't happen that made him 'famous' has grown so out of control its basically a fish story.
He then double downed on it all by being as douchy and cringe tacti bro as humanly possible until he got a bit older/wiser and calmed it down and then actually turned into a pretty good guy.
I've read the actual typed Edinburgh AAR. I'm sure by now its probably on the internet somewhere. If you ever did any contract work post Yeager, you too have read it.
Some of the details may be slightly off but if I remember it right:
- 2 vehicles (the one he was in was a stick shift BMW) and he was the driver at the time
- The team had decided to go in 'hot' to pick up a VIP at the airport instead of arriving at the airport and waiting while watching the perimeter
- They had parked a ways away, underneath a bridge or highway overpass or something and waited with the vehicles on
- At some point they were under the impression that they were receiving contact from a large distance
- It was also observed some sort of vehicle (van or something?) was moving into their direction. They weren't sure about it being a part of anything.
- Determination was made to move/GTFO because they were worried the van could be a VBIED
- Yaeger panics, slips the clutch and kills the car. Instead of pushing the clutch back down and restarting, he literally freaks out, opens the door and abandons ship into a nearby ditch off the side of the road
- Everyone else is still in the vehicle and is like uh WTF
- Hastily, the BMW occupants dismount as they are now in a non mobile vehicle thinking it was down/had died/was disabled
This then chain reacts down the rest of the squad. Everyone else had thought the BMW was disabled and there was not enough room in Vic2 for transpo of the entire team.
Instead, he put them in that situation (as well as basically mobility killed everyone) with a possible VBIED rolling down the road at them.
The only conflicting part was that he claimed he was returning fire whereas the other team members said he went into the ditch never to be seen or heard again until they determined nothing was really happening.
Nothing really happened?
The video I saw was from the inside of the car which appeared to be receiving fire and people were killed.
Are you sure thats the same incident?
Like I said its been forever since I read it, and I've never seen a video. I vaguely remember that other than far contact and them thinking the other vehicle was a VBIED, that was about it.
Also now makes me wonder if the other vehicle was a VBIED and Yaeger effectively mobility killed the team, how did the VBIED not just pull on up?
If you have it, send it to me please
I'll look for it. It was from a camera from the inside of a car, you don't see any occupants or much activity, just some gunfire from outside and supposedly a contractor was killed.Are you sure thats the same incident?
Like I said its been forever since I read it, and I've never seen a video. I vaguely remember that other than far contact and them thinking the other vehicle was a VBIED, that was about it.
Also now makes me wonder if the other vehicle was a VBIED and Yaeger effectively mobility killed the team, how did the VBIED not just pull on up?
If you have it, send it to me please
eta- Here's a longer video, I believe from a different car and camera than what I described above.
the ambush starts approx. 33:44. At 37:00...38:00 Yeager can be heard communicating with others and returning fire and tending to wounded. I don't see any display of cowardice by anyone.
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James was the first one out of his vehicle to return fire from the rear of the vehicle. He moved away from that position because the person in the back seat was taking that position with his fully auto weapon.
He then ran to secondary cover, popping smoke and continued covering his team. The enemy was gone after the initial contact that had ended almost immediately after it started. It was a hit and run. They were simply attempting to suppress fire of an ambush that none of them saw.
Why didn’t they see it? Because “Johnno” the team leader was not watching his AO but instead was having “Camel” back up the rearward BMW with his door open because he dropped his “MCI” (cell phone) out the window. You can hear him say this and the door bell dinging. (MCI had the cell contract)
They never should have been stopped there. That was not James decision. Johnno should not have been dicking around ignoring his area of responsibility. James freely admits that he made a mistake when he tried to accelerate the vehicle thinking it was disabled, when in fact it was in neutral. He made a mistake in the heat of battle and moved to return fire.
The fact is if he had accelerated, he wound have left the other vehicles (the rest of his team) behind. All three KIAs were already mortally wounded. The hard-sided Mercedes was disabled and the driver of the rear BMW was dead. The insurgences were already leaving.
The fact is, that all three men were that were killed, were mortally wounded in the initial contact . In the video you see some fire later. This is the passenger of James vehicle squeezing off rounds as he dies. Johnno shrieks “stop firing!” Because he knows the insurgents have left and it is his own team member firing.
James then immediately moves to cover Johnno as Johnno renders aid to mortally wounded Jay Hunt.
They were operating in two soft sided vehicles and one hard sided vehicle. They were on what was termed “the most dangerous road in the world” at the time. The men killed were in the soft sided vehicles. This was not James decision. They were stopped for an extended time against SOP under Johnno’s orders, not James.
James freely admitted mistakes were made that day. I have yet to see one of his critics post a video of themselves under fire, in an ambush. The decisions that got people killed that day we’re not made by James they were made by Johnno and others above him.
He then ran to secondary cover, popping smoke and continued covering his team. The enemy was gone after the initial contact that had ended almost immediately after it started. It was a hit and run. They were simply attempting to suppress fire of an ambush that none of them saw.
Why didn’t they see it? Because “Johnno” the team leader was not watching his AO but instead was having “Camel” back up the rearward BMW with his door open because he dropped his “MCI” (cell phone) out the window. You can hear him say this and the door bell dinging. (MCI had the cell contract)
They never should have been stopped there. That was not James decision. Johnno should not have been dicking around ignoring his area of responsibility. James freely admits that he made a mistake when he tried to accelerate the vehicle thinking it was disabled, when in fact it was in neutral. He made a mistake in the heat of battle and moved to return fire.
The fact is if he had accelerated, he wound have left the other vehicles (the rest of his team) behind. All three KIAs were already mortally wounded. The hard-sided Mercedes was disabled and the driver of the rear BMW was dead. The insurgences were already leaving.
The fact is, that all three men were that were killed, were mortally wounded in the initial contact . In the video you see some fire later. This is the passenger of James vehicle squeezing off rounds as he dies. Johnno shrieks “stop firing!” Because he knows the insurgents have left and it is his own team member firing.
James then immediately moves to cover Johnno as Johnno renders aid to mortally wounded Jay Hunt.
They were operating in two soft sided vehicles and one hard sided vehicle. They were on what was termed “the most dangerous road in the world” at the time. The men killed were in the soft sided vehicles. This was not James decision. They were stopped for an extended time against SOP under Johnno’s orders, not James.
James freely admitted mistakes were made that day. I have yet to see one of his critics post a video of themselves under fire, in an ambush. The decisions that got people killed that day we’re not made by James they were made by Johnno and others above him.
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