His Own Platoon Accused Him of Murder

Eddie Gallagher was the number one platoon chief at SEAL Team 7, on his ninth deployment, pushing through the west side of Mosul against ISIS. A year after he got home, NCIS arrested him at a brain treatment clinic, raided his house and pulled his kids into the street at gunpoint. The charge was premeditated murder. The accusers were guys from his own platoon.

He spent eight and a half months locked up before trial, in a brig where the guards were told to make him snap, with plea offers that started at 60 years. His wife Andrea ran the Free Eddie campaign while raising three kids. His brother Sean knocked on doors in DC until two congressmen listened. Then Trump tweeted. Then the prosecution got caught spying on his lawyers. Then a medic from his platoon, testifying with full immunity, said he was the one who killed the ISIS fighter.

This week I sat down with Eddie, a Navy corpsman who became a Marine scout sniper and then a SEAL chief. We get into the 3 a.m. Navy commercial that got a high school burnout off the couch, a sniper school harder than BUD/S, Hell Week on three and a half hours of sleep, hazing in the teams, and the rules that kept SEALs 800 meters behind the fight in Mosul.

We also get into the part that never makes the highlights. The torture room next to where his platoon slept. The 17-year-old ISIS fighter dropped on the hood of a truck. The group photo he calls wrong and says he paid for. The Red Bull, the $15 haircut and the sunglasses his accusers called theft.

He retired as a chief in 2019 with everything he earned, started the Pipe Hitter Foundation with Andrea, and trains cops and civilians in Florida now. Whatever you think you know about this case, hear it from him. Hope you guys enjoy this one.

Follow Eddie: @eddie_gallagher

His book: eddiegallagherbook.com