Behind the Bastards

Part One: Behind the Bastards Live Show: The Ballad of Bo Gritz

November 18, 2025

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • The live show for *Behind the Bastards* successfully raised over $30,000 for the Portland Bail Fund. 
  • The subject of the episode, Bo Gritz (G-R-I-T-Z, pronounced Greitz), is introduced as a foundational right-wing militia figure whose early life was marked by fantasies of jungle combat and minor delinquency, including being expelled from high school. 
  • Bo Gritz's claims regarding his military career, such as seeing a Green Beret recruitment poster in 1957 and being offered admission to West Point, are presented by the hosts as highly dubious or outright lies, contrasting with his documented success as a highly decorated Green Beret commander in Vietnam. 
  • Bo Gritz toured extensively, soliciting donations by telling emotional, fabricated stories about his supposed service in Vietnam, including a specific, false account of a comrade's heroic suicide. 
  • Gritz's fabricated story involved Sergeant George Hoagland, a Green Beret who Gritz claimed shot himself with an AR-15 to save his teammates, a claim debunked by a surviving squad member who stated Gritz was not present and Hoagland was killed by heavy gunfire. 
  • The hosts characterize Bo Gritz as a compulsive liar whose primary motivation is maintaining the persona of a movie protagonist, even when fabricating details about the deaths of real people he did not serve with. 

Segments

Live Show Opening and Guests
Copied to clipboard!
(00:00:26)
  • Key Takeaway: The Behind the Bastards Live Show was held to raise money for the Portland Bail Fund.
  • Summary: The episode opens the first live show for Behind the Bastards, featuring host Robert and guest Jason Petty, also known as Prop. The event was organized to raise funds for the Portland Bail Fund. Sophie Lichterman, the producer and business partner, is also introduced.
Bail Fund Support and Audience Interaction
Copied to clipboard!
(00:02:31)
  • Key Takeaway: The audience raised over $30,000 for the Portland Bail Fund, which primarily supports houseless individuals needing resources.
  • Summary: The hosts thanked the audience for raising north of $30,000 for the Portland Bail Fund. A brief, racially-focused audience interaction segment followed, noting the location was Portland.
Drinking Game Rules Established
Copied to clipboard!
(00:04:04)
  • Key Takeaway: The drinking game rules mandate a drink for when the subject kills someone, when Prop says “you know what I’m saying,” and for war crimes.
  • Summary: The hosts established rules for a drinking game, cautioning the audience to be responsible. Rules include taking a drink if the subject kills someone, if Prop uses his catchphrase, and whenever a war crime is committed.
Introduction to Bo Gritz’s Early Life
Copied to clipboard!
(00:05:25)
  • Key Takeaway: Bo Gritz’s early exposure to militia culture came via a 1998 Weird Weekends episode featuring survivalists in rural Idaho.
  • Summary: Robert first learned about Bo Gritz through a documentary featuring libertarian, far-right figures living off-grid in Idaho, specifically mentioning Gritz’s community, Almost Heaven. The hosts clarified that Bo Gritz (G-R-I-T-Z) is pronounced ‘Greitz’ and that he is falsely claimed to be the inspiration for John Rambo, though he is the basis for the sequel’s plot.
Gritz’s Childhood and Family Background
Copied to clipboard!
(00:09:10)
  • Key Takeaway: Bo Gritz was born in 1939 in Enid, Oklahoma; his father, an Army Air Corps pilot, was shot down over France in 1944, and his mother later left to start a new family in Germany.
  • Summary: Gritz was raised primarily by his maternal grandparents after his father died in WWII and his mother left the family. As a child, he fantasized about fighting the Japanese, and an early BB gun accident where he shot himself in the eye led him to lie about being shot at by an enemy.
Youthful Misconduct and Military School
Copied to clipboard!
(00:13:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Gritz was expelled from high school for compulsive lawbreaking, including stealing vehicles and setting off fireworks, before being sent to Fork Union Military Academy.
  • Summary: Gritz’s juvenile behavior, described as ‘compulsive lawbreaking,’ led to his expulsion from high school. He later claimed he chose to attend military school, though the hosts suggest he was sent there as an alternative to jail. At the academy, he turned around, becoming corps commander his senior year.
Enlistment and Early Army Career
Copied to clipboard!
(00:17:03)
  • Key Takeaway: Gritz enlisted in the Army in 1957, falsely claiming he was motivated by a poster for the ‘Green Berets,’ a unit not officially named or widely recognized at that time.
  • Summary: Gritz enlisted at age 18 and was court-martialed twice during basic training. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant after Officer Candidate School, despite lacking college experience, and married his first wife, Dolores Benediti, with whom he had two children whom he would later abandon.
Vietnam Service and War Crimes
Copied to clipboard!
(00:27:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Gritz joined the Green Berets in 1965 and was highly decorated, but his actions during a U-2 recovery mission involved multiple war crimes, including executing a prisoner and using a C4-rigged captive as a guide.
  • Summary: Gritz was deployed to Vietnam in 1965, where he excelled in combat operations, earning over 60 citations for valor. General William Westmoreland praised Gritz in his memoirs, highlighting a mission where Gritz’s team ambushed and killed enemy soldiers, executed a defiant prisoner, and used a wounded Viet Cong fighter as a human shield attached to C4 explosives.
Post-Vietnam Career and POW/MIA Conspiracy
Copied to clipboard!
(00:40:32)
  • Key Takeaway: After commanding U.S. special forces in Latin America (1975-1977), Gritz claimed the DIA tasked him with searching for unaccounted-for POWs in Vietnam, fueling the widespread POW/MIA conspiracy theory.
  • Summary: Gritz retired in 1979 but allegedly continued working for the government, training the Mujahideen in Nevada after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He became a major proponent of the belief that American servicemen were still held captive in Southeast Asia, a conspiracy theory that gained traction after the government shifted from using the term KIA/BNR to POW/MIA in 1969 to garner public support for the war.
Riker Clone Reference
Copied to clipboard!
(00:57:01)
  • Key Takeaway: A brief, unrelated tangent references Star Trek lore regarding a transporter accident creating a Riker clone.
  • Summary: The conversation briefly referenced a Star Trek storyline where one version of Riker was left behind after a transporter accident, leading to the creation of his clone. This detail was acknowledged by the audience, showing shared knowledge of the reference. The segment concluded quickly, returning focus to the main subject.
Bo Gritz Fundraising Tour
Copied to clipboard!
(00:57:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Bo Gritz actively toured, gave interviews, and sought donations by leveraging emotionally manipulative Vietnam war stories.
  • Summary: Bo Gritz engaged in extensive touring, collecting donations and media attention by recounting his time in Vietnam. He strategically used the saddest stories available to elicit strong emotional responses from the public. This emotional manipulation was intended to increase the amount of money people were willing to donate for his causes.
Hoagland Suicide Fabrication
Copied to clipboard!
(00:57:47)
  • Key Takeaway: Gritz’s signature lie involved claiming Green Beret Sergeant George Hoagland committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with an AR-15 to save his comrades.
  • Summary: Gritz’s favorite story detailed how Sergeant George Hoagland, wounded during an ambush, heroically shot himself in the head with his AR-15. This act, according to Gritz, was done to prevent his teammates from being killed while attempting a rescue. The hosts note the inherent implausibility of using an AR-15 for this specific self-elimination.
Debunking the Hoagland Lie
Copied to clipboard!
(00:58:50)
  • Key Takeaway: The Washington Post debunked Gritz’s story by interviewing Chuck Heiner, a surviving member of Hoagland’s squad.
  • Summary: The Washington Post, specifically reporter Art Harris, investigated Gritz’s claims by contacting Chuck Heiner, one of two survivors of Hoagland’s ambush. Heiner confirmed that Gritz was not on the team when Hoagland died, stating Hoagland was killed by approximately 150 rounds of gunfire. This direct testimony contradicted Gritz’s narrative entirely.
Gritz’s Compulsive Lying
Copied to clipboard!
(00:59:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Gritz’s motivation for lying is rooted in a compulsive need to live as a movie protagonist, prioritizing narrative over truth.
  • Summary: The hosts conclude that Gritz is a compulsive liar who cannot control his fabrication habit. What matters most to him is sustaining the illusion of being a movie protagonist, even long after his active military career ended. This compulsion drives him to invent elaborate, dramatic scenarios, such as the Hoagland story.
Intermission Announcement
Copied to clipboard!
(01:00:09)
  • Key Takeaway: The show announced an intermission before continuing the story of Bo Gritz and concluding with a Q&A session.
  • Summary: The hosts informed the audience that the story of Bo Gritz would continue after a scheduled break. Listeners were encouraged to use the intermission to purchase merchandise supporting the Portland Defense Fund. The show planned to return for the conclusion and a question-and-answer period.