#317 Johnnie Clark - Surviving One of the Deadliest Jobs During the Vietnam War

**Johnnie Clark** (0:01)
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**Shawn Ryan** (0:32)
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**Shawn Ryan** (1:05)
Johnnie Clark, welcome to the show.

**Johnnie Clark** (1:09)
Thank you, Shawn. I'm really excited about it.
It's a great honor.

**Shawn Ryan** (1:14)
It's my honor. Thank you for being here.
You know, I say this to all you guys, but the Vietnam generation is what motivated me to join the military and do what I did. And I was just infatuated with you guys from a very young age. And really into GI. Joe's, as we'll get into later.

**Johnnie Clark** (1:38)
I got a story about GI.

**Shawn Ryan** (1:39)
I've heard.

**Johnnie Clark** (1:40)
I've heard.

**Shawn Ryan** (1:41)
And but yeah, it's truly an honor for you to be here. And I was a machine gunner too for a little while.

**Johnnie Clark** (1:47)
Yeah.

**Shawn Ryan** (1:48)
That's cool, man.

**Johnnie Clark** (1:50)
What kind, what was your machine gun? What was it?

**Shawn Ryan** (1:53)
Well, we started with the M60, and then it went into the, then they converted it to what the, I think they called it the Bravo, the Mark 48 Yeah, the 240, twin 240s on top of a Humvee are fucking amazing.

**Johnnie Clark** (2:08)
Couldn't get any Humvees where I was.

**Shawn Ryan** (2:13)
But yeah, it is, it's an honor to have you sitting here. Thank you.

**Johnnie Clark** (2:17)
Thanks. This is really fun for my whole family because my son, my son's a lieutenant with the fire department at Suncoast Indian Rocks out on Indian Rocks and the whole fire department, huge fans.

**Shawn Ryan** (2:33)
Really?

**Johnnie Clark** (2:34)
Oh yeah. They found out, Shawn goes in and goes, my dad's going to be on this podcast. He said, have you guys ever heard of Shawn Ryan podcast? They all went crazy.
What? Then they yelled, who the hell is your dad?

**Shawn Ryan** (2:50)
We'll have to load him up with some stuff to take back to the department.

**Johnnie Clark** (2:54)
Yeah.

**Shawn Ryan** (2:55)
Well, let me give you an introduction here.

**Johnnie Clark** (2:57)
Yeah.

**Shawn Ryan** (3:00)
Johnnie Clark, you joined the Marine Corps at 17 years old, straight out of high school in St. Petersburg, Florida. Arrived in Vietnam at 18, assigned as a machine gunner to the 5th Marine Regiment in the middle of the Battle of Furhue City.
You're wounded three times in combat, a mortar, a grenade, and a gunshot, and were awarded the Silver Star, Three Purple Hearts, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm. You have written nine books. In off-Broadway play, Guns Up! In Gunner's Glory, our suggested reading at the Marine Corps School of Infantry in Guns Up! sits on the Commandant's reading list, recommended to every newly commissioned officer at the Basic School.

**Johnnie Clark** (3:47)
Wow.

**Shawn Ryan** (3:48)
You recovered from your wounds in Okinawa, where you began martial arts, as physical therapy, and spent more than 50 years at it.
You are now an 8th Dan Grandmaster of Taekwondo, a member of the USA. Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and you have taught hand-to-hand combat seminars at West Point and the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Johnnie, welcome home, brother.

**Johnnie Clark** (4:12)
Thanks, buddy. Thanks.

**Shawn Ryan** (4:16)
Okay, so before we get too crazy and do your life story here, I have a Patreon account. It's a subscription account that's turned into quite the community, and they're the reason that I get the opportunity to sit down here with you today.
So they get the opportunity to ask every single guest a question, and this is from a woman named Amber. First off, thank you for your service. What prompted you to write the memoir of your military experience, and can you give any advice to a daughter wanting to preserve with her father's story, and or encourage him to write it?