Thread by @LouisvilleGun

Today we're going to talk about another well known SMU legend, Pat McNamara.

Pat spent 21 years in SF, with 13 in Delta. He retired in 2005. Unfortunately this means that he experienced some dark, terrible things during his service. I'm going to share what I've learned.

The year is 1984. Pat is a young trooper, a "cherry" in his own words, freshly assigned to reactivated 1st Group. He's been through some of the toughest training the Army has. Van Halen's seminal album 1984 is working through the charts with Jump, Panama & Hot for Teacher

Unfortunately the 80s also produced some awful music. And Pat was a young man who enjoys pretty ladies.

As such, we can say with confidence that he was forced to endure videos like Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" while out on the prowl.

Even worse, 1984 was a huge year for WHAM, meaning Pat Mac was subjected to "Wake Me Up" on a near constant basis while doing UW exercises.

1985. Pat McNamara has hooked up with Larry Vickers. Here he has bought a FAL based on Larry's advice. You'd think two young lions would be listening to hits like Dire Strait's "Money for Nothing"

Instead, A-Ha's "Take On Me" was topping the charts.

You have to understand that the Cold War was going full swing during this time. I'm not saying that Pat's ability to handle horrible Euro music was a factor in his assignments, but the Army notices a lot of things. And Pat is transferred from 1st SF to the US MLM in Germany

1988ish. Pat is doing "mobility training" in Germany, and collecting intel on Soviets.
He's also subjected to Milli Vanilli's "Girl you know it's true"

Even worse, he has to endure Kylie Minogues "The Loco Motion" in European clubs



This is one year before the Berlin Wall falls and the Soviet Union collapses. No one has any idea what's going on.

So Pat does what he can to survive the horrors. He adapts. He overcomes. He dresses like The Terminator. It's 1989 and here he's in front of the Berlin Wall doing CTR.

This is a man haunted by what he's experienced. Awful things like...

Roxette - The Look, which was a huge hit in Germany during this time. That's right, Pat was forced to hear this over and over again.

Shortly after this, the Wall would come down, the Soviet Union would collapse, and our forces would begin to stand down. Pat needed more. So he volunteered to join a Special Mission Unit at Fort Bragg and begin a new chapter in his life.

The year is 1991 - Pat McNamara is at SERE as part of his trainup to become an Operator. This is his mugshot. The Cadre knew where he'd been. They knew what levers to push to try to get him to break under interrogation.

The best tool they had was the smash "hit" from Right Said Fred, "I'm too sexy" - it was played on repeat in the cells where the prisoners were held. But they couldn't get through to Pat.

Because Pat's tastes had hardened after years of torture in Germany. He'd been subjected to some of the worst of the 80s and came out victorious. If Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" couldn't shatter his soul, SERE had no chance.

Pat McNamara made it through OTC and served for 13 years, deploying around the world and destroying America's enemies. And while today he shows off a carefully crafted image of a die hard metalhead... you have to think.

There's a high likelihood that he was conducting ops and Ricky Martin's Living La Vida Loca was playing.

His hands are always sweaty. Your's would be too if you had to listen to this music.

https://twitter.com/WagBrad/status/1419329538467803141?s=20

All of them unfortunately. You have to remember the Hoff did a show at the Berlin Wall in 89. Pat McNamara was there for it

https://twitter.com/OscarVReuenthal/status/1419332942208380930?s=20