Behind the Bastards Part Two: Behind the Bastards Live Show: The Ballad of Bo Gritz
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Nov 20, 2025 The saga of Bo Gritz unfolds with his bizarre attempts to rescue POWs, highlighted by a league of misfit volunteers training in a cheerleading academy. Their absurd plan to invade Laos as tourists and failed missions become fodder for laughs. Celebrity donations spice up the story, but Gritz also drifts into extremist rhetoric and militia politics. Despite a fleeting moment of heroism during the Ruby Ridge standoff, his later ventures into conspiracy have a tragic end, marked by financial ruin and personal battles.
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The Florida Training Camp Fiasco
- Bo Gritz assembled a motley platoon at a cheerleading academy in Florida including a psychic, hypnotherapist, and alleged Green Berets.
- They trained to infiltrate Laos to find POWs based on inflated stories and little vetting.
Absurd Rescue Strategy
- The group's plan was to enter Laos disguised as tourists, smuggle guns, embed with anti-communist guerrillas, and then expose POW camps.
- They expected U.S. air support from photographed proof and planned to carry gold and self-printed IOU "get-out cards."
Ambushed And Ransomed In Laos
- In November 1982 the commandos were ambushed and routed by a rival Laotian anti-communist group and had to flee to Thailand.
- They paid $17,500 ransom to recover a captured American teammate and found no POWs.
