11x23 - Gold Rush: Band of Brothers

[bunniefuu]

Is america in there?

-America's...
-[man] say hi to america.

Hi, america.

[narrator]
on this gold rush...

Ah.

[narrator]
...With gold prices soaring,

Rookie mine boss, fred lewis,
seizes the moment.

I want everyone
to know why we're here

And what we're doing.

[narrator] rallying a squad
of american heroes...

[man] order. Huh!

[narrator]
...And going all in...

[lewis] I'm ready
to call in the troops.

[man] whoo-hoo!

[lewis] we're living
the american dream,

Pulling gold
out of the ground to
make ourselves our own living.

[narrator] ...On a quest
to hit the motherlode.

Now each man reveals
all they fought through...

The b*mb hit our humvee
and launched us 70 feet.

I was pretty certain
I was gonna lose my hand.

We sat there, returning fire,
and they were laying it
on us pretty thick.

He was sleeping in the back
of his truck.

[pletzke]
this needs to work out.

I don't want to be
another homeless vet.

[lewis] these guys
have gone through so much
[bleep] in their lives.

These are my heroes.

[narrator] ...To reach
the goldfields...

Whoo! Let's get some gold,
boys. All right!

[man] that is insane.

[narrator] ...And become...

[all] misfits!

The more we get kicked,

The more we're
gonna kick back.

[narrator] ...Gold miners.

[all laughing]

This ground has the potential
to change all of our lives.

And I think it's the beginning
of something huge.

-[all cheering]
-[man 1] yeah!

[man 2]
let the adventure begin!

[lewis groans heavily]

It's not good.

The closure to
the canadian border
got extended another month.

[sighs]

Can't you just sneak in?

[narrator] in early 2020,
with zero job prospects,

Special forces veteran,
fred lewis, is faced
with a big decision.

[lewis] I'm not getting
up to the yukon.

It's just not going to happen.
I know parker has priorities

On the guys that are most
important to his mine site.

So I want to go
and look at the possibility
of starting my own mine.

But... Okay,
how do you do that?

Like, how do you just go
and start a mine?

Didn't you just,
two sentences ago, say,

"I'm not a priority 'cause
I don't have any experience"?

[narrator]
a former green beret medic,

Fred has never seen
a flake of gold...

Until he joined
parker schnabel's

Expedition to papua new guinea
in 2018.

We're looking for someone
who's just going to keep us
all alive, keep us safe.

That basically was
what I did in the military.

Listen, stay calm.

-[clamoring]
-[narrator] his job?

[man] guy's got a machete.

-[narrator]
protect the miners...
-[engine revving]

[lewis] yeah, we're going.
We're going.

[narrator]
...On a prospecting mission
in the gold-rich country.

[lewis] everybody's okay,
right?

When I went
on parker's trail...

[schnabel] whoa, check it out!

...I had no experience
whatsoever.

Yeah, there you go.

[lewis] and then he showed me
a couple of flakes of gold,

And that was pretty much
the beginning

Of my infatuation with gold.

That's pretty cool.

It's really cool.

[narrator] a year later,
fred and parker

Head to australia
on a hunt for monster nuggets.

-[lewis] shut up!
-[man laughing]

[lewis] when I held
a large nugget in my hand
for the first time,

That was the, uh, catalyst.

[man] that's massive.

Let me feel that.

It sounds a little weird,
but you feel an energy
when you hold the gold,

And that feeling,
it represents
a sort of freedom.

[man] mate,
that is a big lump of gold.

[lewis] that was in the dirt.
It's dirty.

[lewis] I kind of got
this newfound purpose

With working with parker,
and then gold mining.

This is it.
This is what I want to do.

[narrator] now, with
record-high gold prices,

Fred is ready to gamble
everything on a long shot.

[lewis] why not mine in
the middle of a pandemic?

The price of gold's high.

I think this is pretty much

The perfect time to start
a gold mine.

What I want to do is
bring a bunch of our friends

In on this,
not, like, regular friends,
but our military friends.

As far as fred goes,

I mean, it already
is hard for him

To find work because
of his disabilities.

I'm thinking
a little bit bigger
than just mining here.

To me, this sounds
like you're trying to
put together a big, like,

Five-month, six-month camping
trip with your buddies.

Fred's extremely impulsive.

That's something
that I've had to learn
to deal with over the years.

So, khara and I met at
the joint special operations
language training facility.

[snickers]
there were 110 alpha males
and only three females.

[khara] my mom and dad
were both in the military,

And I was a
psychological operations
specialist in the army.

As soon as we met eyes,
it was love at first sight.

Truth is, we went to vegas
for her sister's wedding.

I don't know who stood who up,
but that wedding
didn't happen.

And I'm like, "well, someone's
gonna get married."

[khara] fred ended up taking
my dad to a cigar bar.

My dad, who never
likes anybody that I date,
he was like,

"yep, let's do it."

Probably an hour later,
married by elvis.

That is exactly how I do
everything in life.

I find something that I want
and I go for it.

I just want to know you won't
divorce me if I go for it.

God! [grunts]
you're so frustrating.

A lot of the greatest
experiences we've had

This last 14 years
have been because

He doesn't take no
for an answer.

I won't make any decisions
without your approval.

All right, I'm not putting
my name on anything,

I'm not signing anything.

You can go down.
You can look at this mine

And you can talk
to these guys, but...

That's a green light.
I got lots of work to do.

[khara] fred will do
what he needs do

To make sure that our family's
taken care of.

He has that sense of pride.

He has to have
a sense of purpose.

Whoo!

Next step, gold.

But at the same time,
I'm worried that he will
push himself too hard

And take on a job that
he really shouldn't be doing.

[lewis] I've taken a lot
of risks in my life,

But this is an investment
for our future as a family.

Luckily, my family is used
to this type of stuff.

[narrator] before his
gold mining career began...

[g*nsh*t]

...Fred spent 14 years

As a combat medic
in the united states army,

Serving tours in north africa,
iraq, and afghanistan.

[lewis] the military
made me who I am.

They enabled me to take
myself to the next level

And gave me
confidence in life.

It just told me that if I want
to achieve anything, I can.

[narrator] but while
on tour in afghanistan,
his life changed forever.

[lewis] I took a round
to the helmet, and that

Was more of, like,
the catalyst
for all my issues.

I started having migraines,
started losing sleep,

And I went to the doctor,

And I have a bruise
on my brain.

I went from fighting in combat
with a full team of brothers
that I loved

To being on my own
and have nothing to do

For the first time
in 14 years.

That was devastating.

It was the worst
and darkest part of my life.

I just didn't want
to go on anymore.

And for some reason,
my damn dog would just

Look at me the right way
and be like, "come on, dude."

[narrator] after struggling
with civilian life for years,

Fred tried to find a purpose.

[lewis]
I was a wrestling coach,

A girls volleyball coach,
a farmer.

I did all these things,
just trying to find
a [bleep] purpose,

And none of it
made any sense to me

Until I found gold mining.

I don't bring
a lot to the table
as a gold miner.

A lot of people have a right
to second guess my decision,

But I've been told
by about 100 people

I'm the most tenacious,
forefront,

Go-getting person
they've ever met,

And that's why this is
gonna be a success.

[laptop chimes]

[lewis] kendell.

-Yo.
-Yeah, kendell,
what's up, man?

Long time.
How've you been?

[narrator] air force veteran,
kendell madden,

Spent 14 years setting up
gold mines around the world.

I've kind of come up
with the idea that

It might be time for me
to get my own mine.

I've got a few possibilities
up in oregon.

Oh, really?

-So...
-[lewis] I know
it sounds crazy

'cause I'm not
the most experienced miner.

In order to do this,
I need a team.

At least one more person
that knows something.

And I...
You're the only person

That I want to bring into this
that I can actually trust.

[madden] in gold mining,
there's a lot of opportunity
if you have the right land.

People spend their entire
lives trying to do this

And waste their
entire life's fortune

Trying to find good ground.

So you want me to go
all the way north

Through a pandemic,
leaving my family,

To a property that
we don't truly know

Is gold-bearing or not?

Yeah.
When you put it that way,

It kind of sounds a little
different coming from you.

Um, I feel like I'm on
to something here, man.

I really do.

I'm just trying to seize
the moment.

Let's go test this place,

See what this land
actually has.

So you're giving me
a soft yes.

I'm giving you a soft yes
right now.

So, the elkhorn
was not an easy find.

I had searched for weeks
and weeks...

What's going on, guys?

...Trying to find a place
that was plausible to mine.

Eventually, it just came
from researching areas
of rich history of mining

And driving around
first person
and talking to people.

I wanted to come
and talk to you guys,

See if maybe
you thought a little bit

Through our discussion
earlier on the lease.

[man] good thing is,
you know, you've got
a military background.

Yep.

If it weren't for that,
we probably wouldn't
even be thinking about it.

Well, we're gonna
have to do a test here

To see gold
come out of the ground.

[narrator] since the first
strike near the rogue river
in 1851,

Oregon has produced
almost six million
ounces of gold.

Are you ready?

[man] all right, 20 yards.
Let's see what we got.

-[lewis] it's a pretty nice
little nugget.
-[man 2] yeah.

I think that was the moment
where I was like,

"look, kendell,
there's gold here,"

And he was able
to actually tangibly see,

"okay, fred's not
completely crazy."

That's pretty
freaking good, right?

[man] that's not bad at all.

[lewis] it was
a great feeling, knowing
I'd actually found, a, a claim

That does have gold on it

And b, one that I could start
my own mine site on.

I'm ready to call in
the troops.

I'm going to bring in
a band of my brothers.

[line trilling]

[lewis] what's going on?

Hey, what's happening, man?

I found a pretty good
property, I'm gonna start
a gold mine.

Are you serious?

You want me to mine
with you for gold?

I'm making a crew
of all veterans.

All veterans?
You've got me intrigued.

I believe in this ground.

I think there's a lot of gold.

If there's gold there,
we're gonna find it.

Veterans get stuff done.

[lewis] can I count
on you, man?

Yeah. [knocks on table]
we're in it to win it, man.

Let's do it.

There goes daddy, honey.

[girl] love you. Bye.
Bring us the gold.

-[generally] did you taste it
before you put it in there?
-[girl] nope.

Risk it for the biscuit.

-[all laughing]
-come on, now. Come on.

I've got a phone call
with an old teammate of mine.

He is going to be running
a gold mine.

He wants me to be
part of his crew.

This is a family decision.

-I want to hear you say it.
-Okay.

Yes.

-[generally] yeah?
-[girl] yes.

[generally] you've got
the deciding vote.

Baby, I've got
your back all the way.

All right.

To hell with it, then.
I'm goin'.

[lewis] these are
my best friends.

In my mind,
these are my heroes.

-Have you ever mined?
-No.

-Neither have I.
-No.

It's cool to see
some wildlife all around.

-There's hopefully no bears.
-[both laugh]

I want to be successful
at mining,

And I want to bring
these guys wealth
because they deserve it.

I want to bring
that tight-knit group
back to my life

And back to all of our lives
that we've missed for so long.

[madden] oh, we got
a truck here. Hold on.

Oh, [bleep]!

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

There's the boys.

I think that's fred
right there.

-[man 1] hey, what's up, baby?
-[man 2] what up?

Hi, what's up, man?
How are you doing?

[lewis] seeing
my old teammates
and my old best friends

Walk up onto that claim
for the first time

With their eyes wide open...

That's when
it started feeling real.

[khara] maybe fred was rubbing
off on me, that I'm like...

My eyes were actually
glued to the ground
because I was so sure

I was just gonna see
a gold nugget laying there.

[lewis] you guys
have all been in the [bleep].

That's why we're here.

This isn't just
about gold mining,

It's about coming together
as brothers,

Living the american dream,

And pulling gold
out of the ground

To make ourselves
our own living.

-Yeah.
-[stanz] we're going
to beat the odds.

Damn straight.

Seriously.

You know, a lot of people
may think I'm crazy.

Were rookie miners,
but honestly, I think
it's the perfect time.

-You guys in?
-Oh, yeah.

[man 1] yeah, dude.

-Let's [bleep] do it, then.
-[man 2] let's go.

[man 3]
let's let the adventure begin!

This is it.

Like, I could literally walk
out of this place

With everything
I've ever wanted in life.

This ground underneath us
has the potential to change
all of our lives.

Not only did I
convince my wife

To let me do
this crazy-a*s thing,
but I also convinced

Every single
close friend I have

To come out here with me
and do it,

So its failure and success
is gonna reflect on me.

If we're doing it
as individuals,

We're not gonna succeed.

So the number one mission
is to become the best team

We can possibly become.

[narrator]
with his combat veterans
finally on site,

Fred begins
training the greenhorn miners.

All right, I got
you guys all jobs.

Uh, johnny, I want you
to go down to the irrigation,

Check out the pumps.

Kyle, you've run
a loader before, right?

-Yeah, bud.
-And you're going
to take hay to the plant

And drop it off.
And, stuart,

You're going
to feed the plant.

Yeah.

Stefan, you're gonna be
on the big excavator,

You're gonna be digging pay.

-[generally] let's do it.
-[man] no time
like the future.

[narrator] apart from fred's
foreman, kendell madden,

None of his rookie crew
has any mining experience.

[lewis] stefan, go ahead
and hop up in.

And my favorite method
of teaching somebody

Is to let them learn.
Um, sink or swim.

[narrator]
fred's first student,

Retired green beret
master sergeant
stefan generally.

Mmm-hmm.

Let's see if he can handle it.

I've got it.

This is the first time
I've ever seen a gold mine.

This is not
what I was expecting.

And the equipment looks old.
[laughs]

[narrator] a veteran
with 27 years' service
with the united states army,

Stefan fought alongside fred
on two tours of duty.

[generally] for my first
ten years in the army,

I commanded
a bradley fighting vehicle,

And then I went
to special forces.

I never, ever considered
being a gold miner,

But we are all veterans,
brothers in arms.

It's just awesome
to be a part of that again.

[lewis] stefan's one
of my best friends.

He's always gonna be
one of my best friends.

It's one of those bonds.

He's proven to me,
in life or death,
that he can have my back.

So he's gonna have
my back anywhere.

It's a crawl, walk, run
sort of event here.

There's a lot
of stuff to learn,

And they are all brand-new.

[lewis] right now, stefan's
trying to move his first rock.

Actually, he's not
doing too bad,

But we'll see.

A lot of rocks everywhere.

What I'm seeing right now,
it's kinda hard to dig.

Curl your bucket more.

[lewis speaking indistinctly
on radio]

[generally]
when I'm learning something,

I want the person
instructing me

To be clear and concise.

Try to keep the bottom
of the bucket flat.

Now, what did I say?

The person instructing me.

[madden speaking indistinctly
on radio]

Say that again.

I don't want all this crap
from the puzzle palace

Coming at me
from all different angles.

Now get it sort of flat.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[lewis] uh-oh.

[indistinct talking]

[lewis]
hey, you're doing great.

Tell all these [bleep]
to get the [bleep]
off this radio.

All these other [bleep]
need to stop [bleep]
yelling [bleep] at me.

Maybe the crew wasn't quite
prepared for stefan,
the master sergeant.

-I'm listening to you.
-Got it.

I'm hearing four
other [bleep] people.

Tell them to shut [bleep] up.

So, talk to me.

First time I ever came close
to really, really losing it,
you know. [laughs]

Seeing stefan in the civilian
life, having the same
attitude he had

When he was in the military
as a master sergeant
is kind of hilarious to me.

But it happens a lot
in the military.

You piss somebody off
enough, they're going
to let you know it.

Hey, radio silence.
Just me and kendell
talking to stefan, okay?

You know, all it took was
for me to blow off some steam

For a quick 30-second rant
and tell fred what I needed,

And he made it happen.

Keep the show going, huh?

[lewis] perfect.

Serving with stefan
is one of those things

Where it's like having
a big brother right beside
you all the time.

I mean, we were in combat.
[laughing]

I don't have to say
anything else
besides that, really.

[narrator] in 2013,
fred and stefan

Were part of a special forces
unit operating outside kabul,
afghanistan.

[lewis] we were
investigating a village
that was a known hotbed.

But turned out there were
a lot more people
than we thought.

We sent the team ahead
to scout to the village

And they started
taking fire immediately.

[g*nf*re]

We were ambushed,
basically by around


For almost 360 degrees
around us, throwing everything
they had at us.

At the time, I was a gunner
on top of one of our
gmv's g*n trucks.

And we basically just
sat there returning fire,

And they were laying
it on us pretty thick.

Rockets bounced
off our vehicle.

b*ll*ts were hitting
our vehicle constantly.

It was getting pretty
freaking hairy.

Stefan's laying down
mark 19 automatic grenades

To make sure I was safe
when I was treating patients.

[indistinct shouting]

[generally] the lead column
got decimated.

We weren't going to leave
until we recovered
their bodies.

You get kind of scope-locked
when you're behind
the sights of a weapon.

Just kind of block
everything else out.

And, you know,
I got my blinders on

And I'm just focusing
on this [bleep] in front
sh**ting at me.

I noticed a little bit of
movement of to my right.

I scanned over,
and just as I came over,

I saw a flash,
and the next thing I know,

I'm looking straight up
at the sky.

And then I saw another flash,
which I think was
my neck snapping.

And then I was out.

[g*nf*re]

You could see where the b*llet
had just grazed the top
of the helmet.

Half an inch lower,
would've gone through my head.

The amount of difference
between life and death,

It's just one of those things
that makes you think more
about life, you know.

I always knew
we would prevail
in a situation like that.

All right.

-[lewis] attaboy!
-[generally whooping]

That thing is insane, dude.

That brotherhood
and that camaraderie

That we shared back then,
it's a lifetime bond.

It never goes away.

Can I say, "good job?"

No, don't do it.

-He was mad.
-[man] that's what
I'm talking about?

[all cheering]

[lewis] stefan's
kicking a*s right now.

I want to dump dirt
into the grizzly.

-I agree.
-[laughing]

-Gold.
I like how you're thinking.
-Exactly.

Come on, buddy!

Good girl!

[narrator] helping fred train
the rookie crew is mine
foreman kendell madden.

[madden]
as the foreman here,

It's my job to teach these
guys everything that I know
as quickly as I can.

And I'm truly impressed by how
quickly these guys are
actually picking it up.

I got these awesome group
of heroes, military veterans.

Really is a blessing
to have guys like that.

Yeah, some of my favorite
memories of the military

Are literally the people
I served with.

[narrator] before becoming
a gold miner,

Kendell started his career
in the u.S. Air force.

I truly believed that I was
going to be an astronaut,

That I could go from flying
a-10s to flying to mars.

Because I wanted to make
that type of impact
on society.

[narrator] but in 2006
a training accident sent
kendell's life spiraling.

So I was flying in
a transport aircraft,
the c-130.

I was part of a special
operation squad where we
mostly dealt with rescue.

You're flying low level,
dropping off jumpers
out the back.

It was a pretty turbulent day,
and the plane just dropped.

I smashed into the ceiling,
came down,
dislocated my ankle,

Shattered my fibula,
broke my tibia.

I remember thinking to myself
immediately after seeing
my leg backwards

That everything was
going to change.

There were so many
question marks
getting out of the military,

Not sure where
I was going to go.

Not sure what my new purpose
or drive was going to be.

[narrator] after being
medically retired
from the air force,

Kendell joined
the family trade.

So, after getting out
of the military,

I was introduced
to gold mining

By my dad and my uncle,
freddy dodge.

I was just like,
"holy [bleep] what a crazy
[bleep] way to make money."

[chuckles] holy cow!

Last cleanup of the year.

[narrator] gold guru
freddy dodge
and kendell's dad

Run a business designing
and constructing
gold-catching wash plants.

Now, all of a sudden
I'm having to go work

For the family business,
setting up this
new mining operation.

Gold gave me opportunities
to travel and to see places

That I never
would have gone.

So I fully took advantage
of that.

First time I met kendell was
actually at a socom adaptive
sports training camp.

He was training for his events
for the upcoming
warrior games.

Fred and I were competing
for the same events.

I think we were doing
track and field events.

That little [bleep] was
a little bit faster than me.

Just started talking,
realizing that we had a lot

Of the similar passions
and drive.

We just became good friends.

A year later, I met
freddy dodge and realized

Through some casual
conversations at dinner
that he was kendell's uncle.

I mean, what a small world.

[madden]
one of the only guys here
with mining knowledge,

So teaching these guys
something I take
a lot of pride in.

I'm really confident
that these guys
are going to pull through,

Be a badass team
by the end of the year.

[lewis] he's been out there
all over the world,

Making sure other mine sites
are set up correctly.

So why wouldn't I want
that guy on my site?

What I want you to do is,
you're going to give her

-A couple of huffs of paint.
-Yeah.

Here I get to combine
my military background...

Whoo!

...With my mining experience,
which are two worlds

That I just never thought
were going to combine.

Pretty special,
to be able to do that.

We're putting pay dirt
through the colonel.

How amazing. Whoo!

[lewis] all of you fought
some pretty hard battles
in your life.

And now we just
need to do that here.

[narrator] in eastern oregon,
rookie mine boss fred lewis
is gambling

On his crew of combat veterans
to become gold miners.

Gold mining is hard,
but our lives aren't at risk.

No one's trying to k*ll us.

That's why I picked you guys.

Because I know that
all of you guys
can handle this [bleep].

Fred's right. Let's get this
[bleep] gold, boys.

-[all] oh, yeah!
-[lewis] we got this.

[narrator] every gold mine
needs a loader operator.

Fred selected 29-year-old
army sergeant kyle pletzke,

The youngest crew member
on the team of greenhorns.

I might be new,
but it doesn't matter.

I'm going to push through
hard to the end.

[lewis] hey, kyle,
the hopper's jamming up, man.

Can you come up there
and knock something loose?

[bleep] damn it, dude.

[kyle] seemed like every
time I'd make a pass by

On the loader, this thing's
clogging up again,

So since I'm right there,
I might well as jump in
with a shovel.

[madden] kyle, I don't know
if that's a great idea.

You know, kyle,
he'll go head on
into damn near anything.

[bleep]

Oh, [bleep]! Hey, hey, hey!

Cut the water, johnny!
Cut the water!

[kyle] I think,
right off the bat,
maybe I went in

A little overconfident.

You know, I wanted to show
the guys that "hey, you know,
I could do this."

[bleep]

[narrator] kyle has been
battling injuries
for eight years

Since his light strike vehicle
rolled over in afghanistan.

I was ejected from the truck,

Truck kept rolling,
and ended up on top of me.

The roll bar landed
right on my pelvis,
shattered my pelvis.

You go from, like,
the strongest point
in your life one day

And then the next second
you're lying in this
hospital bed,

Not able to feed myself.

You feel like you're damn near
on your deathbed, you know.

It's not a good feeling
at age 21.

Uh. [sighs]

Yeah.

[sniffles]

[narrator] after 20 surgeries
and five years
in the hospital,

Kyle was medically retired
from the military.

[kyle] my early 20s were
all taken up by
living in the hospital.

I didn't know where the hell
I was gonna go next.

My world was in a little bit
of a downward spiral.

Where is the next meal?

Let alone the next job
or next part of life.

[narrator] unable to get a job
since the accident,

Kyle became one of
an estimated 40,000
homeless veterans.

Well, another
glorious night here.

[madden] kyle came into this,
he was sleeping
in the back of his truck.

That hurts my heart,
truly does.

That rips me apart inside.

[kyle] everybody probably
thinks I'm just roughing it.

But I haven't had a job
in a year and a half.

I don't like to give up,
I don't like to fail.

That's why we're here.

We're here to try
to make some money,
make something of ourselves.

No matter what
somebody's going through life,

Whether their life
is good or bad,

Positivity will get you
through a lot.

And I'm hoping
when I leave here,
I can upgrade somehow.

Camper, maybe a house.

I don't know.

You know,
positivity will bring
good people into your life.

Um... [sniffles]
and, you know,

You make that
choice every day.

I think this is what I needed,
you know.

It's being out here
with a good group of guys.

I've got to give it
everything I can.

There's nothing that's
gonna stop me from
making this be a success.

All right, let's do it, man.
Let's fire her up.

From the get go,
kyle has proven to me
that he's here to work.

And he's here to learn.

This, this is
freaking awesome!

[stanz] guten morgen, world.

[groans]

I think this is fred trying
to put me back through
boot camp right now.

But he called on a marine,
so he knew he called
on the right guy.

Sometimes I'm not exactly sure
if johnny took that role
seriously in the beginning.

A-ha!

I'm scuba john.

[narrator] to keep water
flowing to the wash plant...

Have you ever seen
mission impossible?

[narrator] ... Fred called on
johnny stanz.

[generally] it didn't look
anything like this.

Johnny happens to be
an ex-scuba diver, so he knows
a lot about water.

[generally] I'm sure
that belt loop
is gonna hold.

-Yeah.
-Is it just on a belt loop
or the whole belt?

[generally]
oh, yeah, I got you.

-[stanz] I trust you.
-[indistinct talking]

[bleep]

[generally laughing]
oh, there it is.

[stanz] I'm sinking!

You know what?
It's okay.
Just let him go.

Johnny is a jokester,
and he's the funniest guy
I've ever met.

I would say johnny either
breaks the tension...

Let's get that
colonel started!

It's game time!
Damn, I missed completely.

...Or he's an immense
pain in the a*s.

[laughing raucously]

Yes! Yes!

[stanz] the thing with
my comedic style is,

I don't care
if other people find it funny,
'cause I find it hilarious.

I love me.

[laughing]

Come and get it!

Yeah!

I want to show
what I do on my off time.

We're down again
'cause of our equipment.

We can't mine.

So, might as well have
a little snack with my friend
from the forest.

Gotta feed him from my mouth
like a mother bird.

So, I mama-bird wild animals
when I meet them.

One time I was on
a wounded veterans trip.

And all the guys said,
"hey, feed the iguana,
johnny."

It takes the piece of bread
out of my mouth

And I was like, "dude,
I'm mama-birding every wild
animal I ever meet now."

I've got in
five continents so far.

I'm gonna mama-bird animals
until the day I die.

After you go through
the things that
he's been through,

Comedy was his outlet,
and that's what
got him through

A lot of problems he had.

Honestly, I've come
so close to death
so many times in my life.

I feel like just another
day at the office.

While I was at the school
of infantry, I signed up to
become a recon marine.

That's no easy task.

Basically, recon marine
is just, destroy your soul
and make you want to quit.

And if you don't quit,
you're ready to become
a recon marine.

We got intelligence that
there was a large number
of al qaeda

All in the same building
at the time
we were going to hit it.

And then our vehicle goes
over the roadside b*mb.

The b*mb hit our humvee
and launched us 70 feet.

[g*nf*re]

k*lled the two on the
driver's side immediately.

They told my family
that even if I did survive,

I would never
walk or talk again.

If I could eat without help,
it would be a miracle.

But my family stuck
by my side and pushed me
through all of that.

So I feel like
the luckiest man alive.

[stanz] so many veterans
are committing suicide
these days.

I really want to do this,
you know,
to be out there and show

A rainbow will come
at the end of the storm,

And there's gold
at the end of it.

I know people that have
taken their own lives

Because they couldn't deal
with things that have
happened in the past.

I want to play a part
in helping to save
people's lives.

I understand.

[lewis] I mean,
a lot of people don't get
lucky and don't make it out

Because they don't have
that inspiration.

Being around guys like johnny,

Seeing that they've gone
through a lot of [bleep], too,
and we're doing just fine,

Honestly, that's what
got me going in life.

And that's how
you mama-bird.

Hey, what in the ever-living
christmas are you doing?

You starting a petting zoo?

[stanz chuckling]

Johnny gave me
what I expected. [chuckles]

So this has to do
with irrigation, how?

[lewis] guy's got
two purple hearts.

So it's really, really hard
to criticize someone
like that.

[stanz] that's what
I call furry gold.

[lewis] get back to work.

But I do know one thing.
He has benefited
from being around us

And has benefited
from being part of this team,

And he is part of this team.

-[stanz] furry gold, baby.
-No...

[bleep] way.

This looks...

They just think
"we're here for one job,
we're mining.

You shouldn't be wasting
your time doing that."

But it's life.
You got to live it.

[lewis] water's coming!

[narrator]
at the elkhorn claim...

All right.

Hit it, khara!

[narrator] ... Fred's wife,
khara lewis,
is pulling double duty.

It's been
a pretty long day already.

I teach high school history
on zoom.

But I had a quick lunch,
and I am good to go here

For about
another eight more hours.

To me, gold, it's exciting.

There always is that
little part of me that's like,

"today, maybe we'll scrape up
some magical gold nugget."

You just never know.
It could be there.

I'm just gonna
have to do triple duty.

Teaching, mom,
mine manager/loader-driver.

I do miss the military.

I really thought
I was going to do
a full military career.

I loved the weapons.

Range weeks were awesome.

I loved kicking in the doors.

I loved all the tactical
aspects of it,

But 100% my favorite part
was that feeling

Of you can rely
on these people,

And you come out of this
horrible situation together.

And then you're proud
of yourself
'cause you did it.

So, it was really hard for me
to make the decision

That I was going to get out.

I found out
that I was pregnant.

We were both in the special
operations community,

And fred very much saw this
as a dangerous thing.

I think he just couldn't
handle the idea

That our child could grow up
and have no parents.

And it just was
kind of an adult decision

That I had to make,
that I didn't want to.

To me,
family is just so important.

So I decided that's what
I was going to have to do.

[lewis] we lean
on each other a lot,
khara and I.

She's not a risk taker, I am.

And she's safe, and I'm not.

So we kind of balance
each other pretty well.

[khara] fred!

-Shut it down.
-[lewis] why?

It sucks to be the bad guy,
but I'm used to it.

Fred's always been
the fun dad that's like,

"no, you're not grounded.

Oh, your mom doesn't know
what she's talking about.
Your mom's mean."

And I feel I've stepped
right into that same role
that I have with my family.

I stepped into it
with these guys,

But it was a role
that I am comfortable with.

I love being the mom.

We have to get protective cage
around the belt.

We need rails on the catwalk.

We need weatherproof power box
to the generator
and the plant.

[lewis] are you sure
we have to do all this stuff?

I'm 100% certain.

She is a commanding presence.

She doesn't back down.

But she makes
really smart decisions.

I make kind of
off-the-hip decisions,

And maybe that's why I put her
as the mine manager,

Because I knew she'd take it
a lot more serious.

I hope that after this week
it's going to be smoother.

[khara] I hope so.

-Just listen to what I say
and we'll be fine.
-No, no, no.

[khara] this is what
fred wants to do,
and this is his new passion.

Then I just want
to make it a success.

So I'll be doing this
for the next eight hours.

Then I'll go make some dinner,
grade some more papers

And wake up and do
it all over again tomorrow.

But ultimately,
the only way fred's
going to be successful

Is if they follow my rules.
[chuckles]

So many people
have so many excuses.

I mean,
mining is unbelievably hard.

[lewis] we're a lot different
than a lot of mine teams,
you know.

When we get back to camp,
we're not just going to bed,
we're hanging out as a team.

We set up a gym.
We called it primal misfits.

And we get out there
and we hit the gym
hard together.

[stanz] I came to show
you guys how to work out.

-All right.
-[lewis] oh, jeez.

All right, trainer's here,
everybody.

Here you go.
We got your heavyweight.

If you're building
that level of camaraderie,

A team that works together
and works out together

And eats together.
It's just a lot stronger.

-Hey, stuart.
-Yeah?

[lewis] how's that
on your hand?

Does it hurt your wrist?

[mckenzie] no, my wrist is,
like, fused and locked, so...

[lewis] dude, I don't think
people understand
how crazy that is.

I don't even...
I can't even do one of those.

It's kind of crazy
when you think about it.

Stuart's been
through some... [bleep].

I was a recon scout sn*per
and I was a sergeant
in the army.

[narrator] like most members
of fred's misfit mining crew,

Army scout sn*per,
stuart mckenzie

Planned on being
a career soldier.

[mckenzie] we came
to a t intersection.
We were the last vehicle,

And I remember
just the most violent,
loud, chaotic thing possible.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[expl*si*n]

Immediately I was like,
"oh, I just got hit
with a roadside b*mb."

It's almost like something
out of a movie.

Everyone's screaming,
"I'm hit. I'm hit."

And the medic...

He kept tapping on me
and saying, like,

"if you're not
going to make it,
like, let me know."

I was like, "please don't
take my hand. Please."

And he was like,
"uh, if you wake up
without it, don't be pissed."

Wake up in the recovery room
and then I just saw

A huge bandage, but I could
see my fingertips.

I was like,
"oh, thank you, god."

The scar starts right here,
goes all the way around
through right there.

So, when I'm pinching,
it was actually holding
my hand on.

And I remember
just the entire time I'm like,

"what am I gonna do
with the rest of my life?"

[man]
make yourself comfortable,
as flat as possible,

We want to
make the initial cut.

[lewis]
yeah, so just lay him down,
make the incision.

[mckenzie] I trust fred.
I trust fred's leadership.

I trust that he wouldn't
put me in a bad spot.

[lewis] I am ready.

[narrator] as well as
the injury to his hand,

Stuart was also hit
with a piece of shrapnel

That lodged
above his left shoulder blade.

[rourke] might be deeper
than we thought.

[narrator] during the course
of the mining season,

The shrapnel worked
its way to the surface,

Giving fred and fellow
army medic johnny rourke
a chance to remove it.

[mckenzie] I had it
in my back for 16 years.

After my injury,
I was constantly
going through surgeries,

And so I developed
an opiate addiction.

It was just
a very, very dark time.

I immediately went
to a treatment center for ptsd
and for opioids.

[lewis] I mean,
the piece of shrapnel.

We're expecting a large thing,
it could just be
literally a splinter.

-[rourke] grab it.
-[mckenzie] you got it?

[lewis] we got it, bro.
It was the tiniest piece
of metal.

[bleep] yeah.

[lewis] wow.

[rourke]
are you able to see it?

[lewis] I'll save this
for you, buddy.

-[mckenzie] all right.
-[lewis] maybe we can make
a necklace out of it.

-It would be something cool.
-[lewis chuckles]

Now you gotta say,
"look at me,
I'm shrapnel-free."

Look at me,
I'm shrapnel-free.

It's awesome.
I wasn't worried at all.

I knew these guys
had my back, quite literally.

Throughout
my entire addiction,
my wife, jamie, stood by me.

And, not only that,
she was the only one
that stood by me.

Awesome.

Best part of my week
right now.

-Hi.
-How are you?

-Good.
-[kisses]

Look at you.
She's so excited to see you.

[mckenzie] I have been
with my wife, jamie,
for ten years,

And we have a daughter
named halo,
and she's four years old.

[jamie laughing]

-[mckenzie]
oh, I've missed you so much.
-[jamie sighs]

[mckenzie] you know,
this is what I t's all for,
it's right here.

My beautiful baby daughter
and my beautiful wife.

That's why I'm out here.
That's why I'm taking
these chances

And, you know, these risks,
so that they can have

A life that they're
supposed to have.

You know, I, uh...

It's just so nice to be able
to actually see them.

Is that funny? Yeah?

[halo chuckles]

[mckenzie grunts]

That's where daddy digs.

He feeds the plant,
he tries to find all the gold.

This one's the horn.

It's been quite the journey
for us both, definitely.

Um, him being up here

And me taking care
of everything has been
quite the challenge.

We miss him.

[mckenzie speaking]

-[jamie] uh-oh.
-[mckenzie] uh-oh.

[mckenzie and jamie gasp]

[mckenzie and jamie laugh]

What do you think, baby girl?

-Cool.
-[mckenzie] yeah.

-I like the buttons.
-[mckenzie] yeah?

Pretty fun, huh?

They're both incredibly
beautiful human beings

That provide so much joy
in my life.

That's my driving force.

[lewis] gold mining
definitely gave us
a new purpose

And a new drive
for our family.

And it's not just something
we're doing for fun,
it's now our new thing.

[mckenzie] in 2013,
if you told me

I would be sitting here
in 2020, gold mining,

In one of the most
opportune moments of my life,

I would have told you
you're absolutely crazy.

[sighs heavily]

[bleep] the perks
of this job, huh?

Now we get
to move a [bleep]

That some people in the past
have been using.

[narrator]
on the elkhorn claim...

[madden] oh, man.

...Foreman kendell madden
has a dirty job.

Hey, speak of the devil!
You want to start pushing
on this side,

-Right where all that
[bleep] is?
-Yeah.

Ooh, poo.

[madden] don't fall
in the hole!

Hang on.

I've been poop-straddling.

-[bleep]
-do not...

-[thudding]
-[pletzke] whoo!

-Poop hole! Poop hole!
-[madden chuckles]

-[pletzke chuckles]
-[madden] almost fell
in the [bleep] hole.

[stanz coughing]

Poop dust! Poop dust!

That scared
the [bleep] out of me.

Yuck!

The biggest challenge
after I got out
of the military

Was that loss of purpose.

It makes you feel worthless.

Straight up, makes you feel
like a piece of... [bleep].

[narrator] spurred on
by record gold prices,

Former green beret
turned mine boss,
fred lewis, is on a mission.

I've always been involved
trying to help vets.

-Kyle.
-Big guy. [grunts]

I've always known
that my brothers and sisters

That went through the same
[bleep] I did had a hard time

Dealing with that transition
as well.

Let's fire it up, misfits.

[man over radio] all righty,
let's get it goin'.

[narrator] to employ
his wounded veterans
and make money...

All right, stuart,
the colonel's hungry.
Feed him.

[narrator]
...Fred is risking everything
on the hope his ragtag crew

Can overcome inexperience
to become gold miners.

This is it! We're doing it!

We're running pay!

Whoo! Let's get some gold,
boys! All right!

We're still pretty green,
but we've run the equipment.

We've done all the stuff
that gold miners do.

Let's get ready to rumble!

Oh... [bleep].

[lewis] that's the biggest
nugget we found.

-[exhales]
-[all cheering]

[mckenzie] what I feel
is possibility.

-All right.
-Yeah.

[both laughing]

Together, vets are
some of the strongest people,

Like, there's
an entire nation of us.

[all laughing]

-[lewis] wow.
-That's your first real gold.

[lewis] that is insane.

-Ow, that hurt my hand.
-[laughter]

All right, guys,
let's get back to work.

-[man] all right.
-[khara] okay.

We created a mine team
out of nothing.

[lewis] and the sun comes out.
See, it's a sign.

I mean,
that's pretty impressive.

[narrator] fred's all-veteran
crew's strength and unity

Was never more apparent
than on September 11t.

I got some shovels,
a little surprise
for the boys.

What's up, guys?

Ha-ha!

We're going to build this

Into the biggest
flagpole bourne's ever seen

And raise a flag up there.

Uh, you gotta...

-[generally] hey, fred.
-[lewis] so we got to
dig a big hole.

[clears throat]
let me know when
the hole's ready.

-What?
-So let's get to diggin'.

[chainsaw whirring]

Me and johnny
pulled the, uh,

Short end of the stick
on this one, so...

Living the american dream,
every town needs a flag.

So we're putting up
a 40-foot flagpole.

All right, guys, ready?

That was pretty special.


to a lot of us.

I know it was the reason
I joined the military.

-Ready?
-Yeah.

-One, two, three, go.
-[all straining]

Hey, scoot up on fred.

All right, let's go, up.

Keep walking.

[madden] so, 9/11...

I would have been
a junior in high school,

And I remember
when the first plane hit,

And I watched
everything change.

We got tension on the winch.

You understand
that the world is bigger

Than you think it is,
you know.

I hate when america bleeds.

You know, raising the flag,
specially on September 11,
it was respect.

It's coming up on


[stanz] now back
a little more.

-[stanz] hold on.
-That looks good.

That flagpole
ain't going nowhere.

[chuckling]

The fact that
we did it on 9/11 was...

It was like, surreal,
you know.

That was awesome.

Born oregon, usa,
population seven.



[generally] oh, fred!

All right,
we're ready, stefan.

[generally] goin' up.

[lewis] it's kind of
an emotional moment

When you take a group of guys
that you know have fought
so hard for freedom.

Guys that have actually

Had to carry a casket
with a flag draped over it.

That flag means a lot more
to guys like us
because of that.

In my mind,
these are my heroes.

Order. Pull!

These guys have gone through
so much [bleep]
in their lives

And fought
so much adversity.

So, what I wanted
is to give these guys

Not only an adventure
and a moment

To have that camaraderie
back again,

But I could give them
a whole new purpose in life.

And that impact right there,
to me, is worth its weight
in gold.