The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 442 - Raffaele Minichiello

Episode Date: August 12, 2020

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine record breaker Raffaele MinichielloSourcesTour DatesRedbubble Merch

When you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. That in-law sweet guest house where your parents stay only part-time Airbnb it and make some money the rest of the year whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. You're listening to the dollop on the All Things Comedy Network. This is a

American History podcast where each week I electric phone owner. Wow. Man who mows lawns. Oh my god. Reader of books Dave Anthony reach a story from American history to his guy. What's Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. Don't call me your guy honestly. Why? It's just come on what are we doing here. What are we doing? Well first of all we're doing an intro but secondly we're showing up top before we get into story we're showing that we have an emotional connection with each other a connection that goes deep deep inside of each other into our souls and back out of our holes. Oh my god. And from

that we share a deep love. Okay so now it seems like an interest in one another. What? That shines bright. Let's just do the history. You know Gareth there was a time when I look back on my life and I saw one set of footprints and Jesus said what's going on there and I said that's where Gareth carried me. Why is he even there? What is that? He's what? He's there and he would know the he knows the footprints thing. That's his legacy. He's like a ghost. He follows you around like a like a ghost. No that's the Holy Ghost. Would you have some respect for the Holy Trinity please? Jesus haunts people. He's out there haunting all

the time. He's always around. Haunting. That's Jesus. When you hear that, that's Jesus Christ our Lord. I died again for you because you wanted to drink a bunch. I died again. That's right. Because you banged the neighbor. I died again for your sins. No, hold on. I didn't. I didn't catch the part where you said something about banging. I'm in the walls. Okay. All right, Jesus. Thanks for stopping by. Okay. And called it quote. His jam patch. I'm the fucking hippo guy. My name's Gary. My name's Gary. Wait, is it for fun? And this is not going to come to Tiggly Quad, Gary. Okay. This is like an up five part coefficient. Now hit him with the

puppy. You both present sick arguments. No, sleep down hippo. That's like a hippo. Action partner. Hi, Gary. No. I sleep down my friend. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. November 2 1949 year of our Lord Jesus Christ, everybody's favorite ghost. Yeah. Yeah. Raphael. A minute. Yeah. was born in a small Italian town named Malito El Pino David I'm getting a little I brought it on over here yeah yeah how about this keep going I'll say when it's a bit northeast of Naples okay because this was post-war conditions not great right Rafael was raised poor in a country house things went from bad

to worse when three earthquakes struck the region in August 1962 6.1 to 6.4 and a 5.0 wow there was one earthquake and aftershocks but the aftershocks were just that's quite a run though yeah so Rafael's family lived 20 kilometers from the epicenter which is for those of us listening 150 miles that's right over half the buildings in the area were seriously damaged tons of landslides entire town of Malito El Pino was now uninhabitable had to be evacuated so people were moved into tents or shacks in a nearby hilly area okay 16,000 people homeless holy shit so 16,000 living like in shanties on hills yes basically okay

you know they had to knock down the entire town and rebuild it so one of the homeless families is Rafael's they also had lost most of their possessions in the earthquake and Rafael looking back on it would say no one in authority came to help them well Dave I wonder hmm wonder if this will parallel anything this began Rafael's distrust of authority the family decided at this point to move to America to look for a better life there okay get the hell out let's go and be disappointed in another country for a change let's go to the Seattle is getting this a go to this a base a needle huh start a

new life outside of the space needle finally I want to see a packs of place I went to the Mariners play I want to throw out of the first pitch how does that a work yeah your coffee is shit by the way anyone listen like there are some people who just right now went oh fuck it's gonna be like this yeah it is it is 100 is okay yeah okay so so they they moved to Seattle Rafael is 14 years old really hard really hard move for him yeah he only spoke the Irpina dialect which I don't know if you know about dialects but so it's just like it's a it's off it's off the language it's not it's not Italian it's

related to a time but sure it's enough that it's it's enough that it's a little confusing right you know yeah yeah so there yeah like which happens in a lot of countries where there's like it's a language that everyone in that country would understand but it's maybe not directly translated to the language right so this makes it even harder for him to sort of blend in and he went to cuz like Italians are like this guy is really Italian like so now he's okay but I enjoy your party all it's a spousy mood bull I mean I would if he just said a spicy meatball then I'd know where he's from but a spousy move ball I think he's

trying to tell us something Dave so he goes to foster high school he gets picked on a lot he gets teased for his very thick accent so this leads unlike guys like you and I who are empaths and are understanding of his plate that's correct which we would never make fun of someone's accent are treating it seriously that's right so he's withdrawn he's not talking very much he does succeed he's very good in mechanical drawing which is because he had taken he had learned that in a shop in Italy but he's also very good with his hands I feel it's very very good with his hands he drops out of high school in 1967 he had

always dreamed of becoming an airline pilot but now that's gone that's out of the picture you know why is that totally out of the picture just because of his accent I have a high school degree so he goes to San Diego and enlists in the Marines okay now this is 67 I thought I said are the mariners I follow the signs are too far oh shit a while I'm here what the fuck okay no it's so this isn't it the war zone so he's going to the he's going into Vietnam but it's also not out of character because he's known his friends say he's very stubborn but also very gung-ho so so if you show and if you show up to like the marine

offices while there's an act of like I want to serve they're like well we don't need to see any documentation why don't you come right over here we'll have you fitted right now like because they're just ready to get people out there you know that's right he was really proud American and he hoped fighting in Vietnam would make him a naturalized citizen that's what he wanted which is a lot which a lot of our our immigrants do and the cool thing now is a lot of them that fought actually just get kicked out so yeah right he sent he sent to Camp Pendleton which is just near Los Angeles or it looks like our south I

guess right near a Beverly Hills it's a near at the hills his trainers are very impressed they described that as a casual disassembling and reassembling of weapons like he's just like like I said he's so good with his hands like yeah he's just like this is easy right dude dude in late 1967 Raphael was sent to Vietnam he was 18 years old okay Jesus best time to go yeah that's time to go yep enjoy it he arrived in December perfect yeah Raphael was a grunt so he's in the thick of it right close friends are being killed he's he's he's very good he's saving other soldiers who are in danger he ended up receiving the

cross of gallantry for heroic conduct during the war hmm while he's there he's trying to save money and send it back and he opens up this marine savings account okay so he is set you sent I think it works you send it to like someone at the base then they put it in your account okay all together 800 bucks so also while he's in Vietnam he starts to hate his commanders because of their racism okay welcome he wanted to be American yeah yeah quote the leaders of my platoon just think of me as cannon fodder always they send me first up the road with a minesweeper so they can walk soft and not get blown up send the

Whop they say oh my god that's just well Dave I'm gonna go on record that's not cool it's always amazing to me that outside of the like 1800s that people are like what about the Whop or the Mick yeah yeah like the racism that it's so recent yeah yeah so after 13 months he comes back to the US he's back at Camp Pendleton he's having a hard time readjusting soldier from his place everywhere I go nobody calls me the Whop of which it's a it's that tough to adjust it's a no there's a nothing to mine a sweep I'll be okay yeah I'll be okay on a sea yet like the cliff said Rafael you're not allowed to be over

there oh sorry I just having a little bit of a musical solo to myself I guess I'll stop singing my song Rafael sorry sorry it's it's a sad part of the movie this is aware of everyone who feels so endeared to me and says that I have a such a broader future but here I am just on a cliff edge looking into the sky saying what do I want hey what will it be yes I cannot finish can I at least get to the chorus for a second back on the base wrap it up okay all right hold on let me just finish of the chorus real quick and they and then you go clean the retreat but I already I could just came back double clean it double

alright let me just finish this I just dropped a couple of spicy meatballs in there okay this really come on man like let's get over that already all right the chorus it's me okay I'm ready that was the chorus yeah there's a little more but I'm like a talking to God but you guys are giving me a complex because it's not a simple it's a complex you know the God son is a ghost oh hey I love to have a good eyes on him huh what do you look like like a ghost oh yeah yeah he's a pretty he's a pretty white guy oh wait I just wrote a new verse about it oh hold on you know one of them's a ghost in this maybe Jesus and one of

them's a ghost yes it's me okay I already know it's really bad well it's a work in progress what do you want huh not everything is as simple as taking a gun apart it's very in progress this is the part of where I sing it to myself and they don't know that I'm a singer faster now now I'm a dance and they can not a fuck a fuck a fuck with it so a soldier from his platoon said quote there are a lot of sick people confused people Rafael was in some state all of us were confused when we left Vietnam most of the platoon would be diagnosed with PTSD Rafael checked his marine savings account oh boy but there was not $800 there

was only $600 he goes to the unit paymaster so I think this is the guy he was sending his money to anyway the guy's a total dick and he just says you're wrong about how much he said cool so Rafael goes to his superior officers and they just blow him off and dismiss his complaint okay so now he considers this to be an enormous betrayal quote I had done my part during those 13 months of the Vietnam War but I was treated without due respect his believe in America is dashed he starts drinking a lot and then one night he decides he's gonna break into the PDX which is people know is a store they're on the base

and he's gonna steal either money or $200 worth of stuff I mean I probably said it wrong it's probably not a PDX but it's a PDF okay then he figured they'd be even right he'd steal it or get the money so I can't forget if he started drinking before he did this but I imagine he did but I think he then he continued drinking in the store let me tell you something you want to rob drunk do not leave this to your regular sober self oh always give yourself some balance issues maybe a little double vision then get in and see what's going on then you then then take then you know case the joint and take the stuff

that's right most cap burglars were hammered most capital is a what hammered I don't think that's true I actually feel like I'm not to throw a flag on that huh all right well I'll back down they're known for being really sort of skilled and able to move a lot of my facts come from gut instinct so he keeps drinking beers and then he goes to sleep on the floor of the store oh boy see this is why you can't do that so they find him the next morning and he is arrested and put in jail for 10 days by the way you've got to just this is you've just got to prep yourself for this awakening like if you wake up in a

store that you've been robbing and police are there you just got to get up and go god damn it did they get away they hit my head so hard I was calling it pdx it's a px I don't know what okay so he he's charged okay and then a court marshal date is set he could get up to six months in jail so so now from his perspective he got ripped off a $200 he tried to get that $200 back and now he might be in jail for six months well he's an easy step but yes for sure it's bullshit yeah yeah so he's livid he's furious yeah he had a he just taken back with the Marines has stolen from him so the day before his court trial Rafael

bolts okay it was a wall okay actually to him a while a while it takes a bus to Los Angeles I'm gonna be a movie actor of course he took his Chinese rifle uh-huh which he had picked up in in Vietnam it was officially registered as a trophy war trophy really taken it off a soldier to me sky yeah we were personally killed sure so he goes straight to LAX and he buys a ticket on a TWA flight to San Francisco for $50 and 50 now hold on a second Dave because obviously some I'm seeing some puzzle pieces here what he has the firearm with him yep okay well yeah he does have the firearm with him yes this is not a

little bit okay okay sure just want to make sure and are you take are you putting this in your bag are you gonna take this on the plane what would you like you're allowed two guns on the flight for free but then you have to pay for a third otherwise we can check as many as you like and send them to your last destination well he has a carry-on right and inside the carry-on is M1 rifle which he had taken apart so he has an open carry-on so he's it's in a tube the gun is I don't know what probably like a male tube or something like it's just all packed into it too and what do you do I'm an architect well no more

questions he also has 250 rounds of ammunition okay which is a lot which is more than that's plenty plenty for a flight that's right how many pilots they have a million you don't know how many times you're gonna shoot on a plane you might get into a gunfight well and they say the bullets only pierce half as much because of the oxygen it's like it's like what they say with alcohol one in the air is two on the ground so there's not much security then no one checked his back so at the most they would have waited but then no one is looking throughout they're just sure who would do anything it's an airplane right there's

there's still some passengers on the plane when he gets on because the plane had come from Kansas City what a weird time where you're like crossing over with passengers from a previous flight but that's happened where you where you get on a second leg when you get on a second leg but not people are like excuse me I'm oh so there's oh that's what you're saying okay sorry I thought you met like people like I'm about to leave the flight it's like well I'm in I sit there boy they should really have a system for this shouldn't they well they don't you know what they should do is they should create 15 different boarding

groups that are tiered oddly and they don't start with one until they've named seven other groups that would make some sense that'd be amazing it's late also it's like 1 1 a.m. most people are super tired when he gets on now hijackings are relatively new this is a new thing I it started maybe around the 60s but even after they started airlines were fighting against having security sure because they didn't want to ruin passengers flying experience they want to take on what an era can you imagine a time when an airline was like well we're just thinking about the customer experience here can you imagine what a time to be

alive no like also the first time that like someone hijacked a plane you must have been like this is crazy but this dude's a goddamn genius yeah oh so they also didn't want to slow down the check-in process so they were just against so it's not happening now they're in this year in 1969 it's October 28th there have already been 54 hijackings in the u.s. oh my god and they're like well we got away bags that's it we got away there there's one hijacking every six days that is I mean imagine for guys like us who used to travel as much if every seat you'd be like man I got a bad feel you know what I mean you'd be like I'm due I'm due I am due

look at that guy he's got he's packing heat I might have to do it myself so the crew is now it's three guys in the cockpit and four young female flight attendants Charlene de Monaco was the most experienced she had one year under her belt as a flight attendant she's 23 years old mom the flight before the captain captain Donald Cook who's 31 he told the flight attendants there's a new rule to enter the cockpit ring a bell outside the door instead of knocking ring a bell is a ring a bell like a purse like a sick old woman would for a butler there's or is there like an actual bell there's a bell there there's

actually a bell that you ring but like a not like not a button I don't I don't think it's a button I think it's an actual bell I might be wrong but this is what I read this is how it was described as ringing a bell I'm not sure that maybe it is a button maybe it is a button but it was just described as a bell I just can't I mean that is just so amazing so maybe it is maybe it's a bell you might be right pops up on there but it is 1969 look they're weighing bags because they care about the customer experience they might have a bell up there down is up I mean let me guess planes go under water for flights during this time right

it's like it's not an exaggeration to say that someone with an actual bell they're ringing because this guy just walked on with a backpack with 250 bullets in it yeah like he must have walked on and seen the bell and been like oh that's that's reassuring so so he probably walked on saw the bell and he was like boy that thing's gonna be ringing a lot later captain captain captain when Charlene saw Rafael get on the plane she noticed him she thought he was he's plight but he was a little bit nervous he's very attractive he's very he's tan he's got flattened wavy hair and he's dressed in camouflage yeah okay

he's Italian Italian I mean he also has a big tube sticking out of his backpack excuse me so what's in the tube a blueprints Charlene goes up to ask the other flight times if they had asked him what was in the backpack and they had and they were told there was a fishing rod so this is before lying just go ahead and ask me what's in the tube excuse me sir what what's in that tube in your backpack it's a fish in a pole I'm a go on a fish well that's pretty much it so so the the plane's pretty empty there's there's 39 passengers everyone spreads out they just tell everything and sit where they

want so everyone's just relaxing some a lot of people are trying to sleep they turn the lights way down Charlene and another flight attendant Tracy Coleman who's 21 they start cleaning the galley and getting stuff ready now the pop group Harper's Bazaar is on board Harper's Bazaar is the same it's not the same name as Harper's Bazaar the magazine they're going on right now they've spelled their last name b-i-z-z-a-r-r-e so there it's a little twist on Harper's Bazaar it's just fun it's just a band that is formed as an homage or a spoof of the magazine Harper's Bazaar you got it buddy Dave that's Bazaar so Harper's

Bazaar had a single reach number 13 on the billboard chart in a magazine they did a cover of Simon and Garfunkel song so this band named themselves after a magazine and is doing covers and succeeding that's right Dave I would love for you to come and see my new band Cat Fancy we've got a great cover of Bohemian Rhapsody so Harper's Bazaar is coming back from a gig in Basadena they're on the plane the drummer and the singer light up cigarettes they're sitting there talking smoking cigarettes as the plane takes off at 1 30 a.m. okay now taking off in a Boeing 707 very loud the engines have a water injection system it

creates a very loud rumble it was nicknamed the water wagon by crews okay so Raphael quickly knocks back a couple of shots of Canadian club whiskey and then he gets up and takes his bag to the bathroom where he reassembles his gun hey why did he take his fishing pole into the bathroom I bet he lost something in the toilet that's smart should we ring the bell no no don't disturb the captain leave the bell 15 minutes into the flight he comes out holding the M1 rifle and stands near Charlene and Tracy now Charlene is very calm and she says quote you're not supposed to have that sorry sir I don't think you might have

knotted off and we did the pre-flight security speech mass will drop down if there's something you need see belts have to be fastened we can show you how to do that it looks like you had it before and there are to be no firearms you said that was a fishing pole you little liar excuse me it's a boom-boom stick and it goes a bang bang I might have half a mind to ring this bell I really have part of me thinks if they're if not now when so Raphael hands her a bullet to prove that the gun is loaded what which is a which is a baller move like if someone's just like you can't have that he

just take a bullet I can go well I had not only do I have it but I got these I feel like he's got a lot of ammo he's tipping us with ammo hold on wait a way that's a my only a bullet ah stupid no no I have it do you have a ticket if you are if you give me the bullet I will not to shoot you and then you have to put your gut in the overhead bin it's a heartless bizarre hey hey you're right man we were just talking about writing a new song called yellow submarine now they start walking towards the cockpit from the back of the plane in Harper's Bazaar watches as Charlene passes by with a guy behind her pointing a rifle

at her and the drummer says to the singer is this really happening now there's an off-duty pilot that they passed by who happens to be on the flight and he stands up to confront Rafael and then Rafael shouts very loud at Charlene halt and she immediately realized that he's a soldier like it was just obvious right how healed and what he did and then Rafael looked at the off-duty pilot and said sit back in your fucking seat which he does what a great by the way I obviously a crazy situation but if you ever get a chance to tell a pilot to stay in his fucking seat what a pleasure what a fun little

role reversal right I'll let you know when you can walk about the cabin motherfucker so so they keep moving they go to the first class compartment where Charlene tells the other two flight attendants hey this guy has a gun should we bring the bell I mean where what are we feeling with the bell we should be enough I know that Harper's bizarre song I know that Harper's bizarre song I'm talking about this actual bell here captain said to do it if there was an emergency now this Italian man seems to have a loaded gun I say you know there's like one every six days here's what I say if two people are shot we ring the

bell yes okay I like that great I like that great okay you do drinks I'll do snacks okay so they get to the cockpit door and then Charlene starts explaining how they're not supposed to knock but they're supposed to ring the bell I mean oh god adorable terrifying sad upsetting that's what that is that's right and Raphael is like no you knock on the door he think now he thinks it's a trick code right and he won't let her ring the bell I'm not gonna fall for knocking a ringing again okay I know how to play this a game that's how I got a shot then you ring in the bell all of a sudden a bunch of police officers have come out

of the cockpit I want to knock he becomes more and more upset as she keeps trying to explain the bell situation then she starts to realize he's paranoid and she ends up knocking instead okay so the door opens god damn it how many times have I told you we're using the bell hello sir and she's like this guy has a gun and Raphael steps into the cabin and points the M1 at each guy all three of them one at a time my god Captain Cook first officer Wenzel Williams and flight engineer Lloyd Holra and Williams immediately I don't know if Williams was in the military but he immediately was like this guy is well

trained whatever he was doing how we was holding the gun he's like this guy's the real deal and then Raphael says take the plane in New York I'm gonna go see a Hamilton this is a super weird request because almost all planes being hijacked are being taken to Cuba where was it headed before this San Francisco okay so super short right okay okay and so everyone's like wait not Cuba Cuba it's sort of become a thing because you know America's in all this fucking turmoil yeah there are no flights to Cuba you can't fly to Cuba so communists kept stealing planes hijacking them and taking them to Cuba Fidel Castro loves it

because not only is it you know someone stealing a plane to get out of America but also then he he makes the airlines pay to get the plane back like it's a fucking great racket it's a good system yeah so it got so bad at one point that that pilots started to be given maps of the Caribbean and guides in Spanish in case they had to go to Havana wow and this and they're like we just don't we just don't want to check people so what is the plan we will just teach people the terrain and language of Cuba so but hijacking a plane to New York is fucking weird and each year flight attendants took emergency training and one thing

they were taught was to not fall in love with the hijacker oh my god no they were told that the hijacker would try to get sympathy from the crew and be sweet and tell them there's sad story and you know of course ladies they're just like oh yeah and by the way I mean the truth it's it's it's incredibly sexist and it's also like if you were to hear this guy's story you'd be like that's bullshit so like you are gonna like feel like you know express sympathy towards someone who's like you know like I fucking I mean if I heard that guy's story I'd be like oh you know what let's go to New York

yeah no it's fucking crazy the demon has had to say I mean some people might develop like I feel bad for this guy because he's fucked up or he wants something but women aren't fucking it's not yeah it's just the idea like you guys we gotta stop stewardess is falling in love with this and again this is this this is their mitigation instead of just like check like I'm not I'm not one for airport security but obviously like it's instead of instead of being like alright so we're gonna teach everyone what the landscape of Cuba is and then all flight attendants stick around we're gonna teach you how to not be so

simple okay pilots go do your thing go high-five and smoke cigarettes women stick around we're gonna weigh you and then teach you so so captain cook goes up the loudspeaker and says ladies a gentleman I have a terrifying fucking news we have a very nervous young man up here we're going to take him wherever he wants to go wow oh wow the cockpit crew thought they might get shot a lot of the passengers are having a good time Harper's Bazaar is back there just try to guess where they think they're headed and one of them's like what about Hong Kong and they're like what do I never been to Hong Kong that'd be amazing so

there's some passengers in back or just like well this is gonna be fucking fun what I don't we have a we have a different perspective on hijackings now they started to get more progressively more violent so things went on this era and then ended culminating with them flying into towers right but at this point at this point you're just going scary to vacation you're like okay I've always wanted to go to Cuba yeah I think I think a lot of people on the planet like nothing's gonna happen us cuz nothing ever happens we'll just get taken somewhere weird right and that's kind of it okay so so they think it's

cool they might be going to Hong Kong or whatever that's what they're guessing yeah but Raphael said New York but then he also slipped and said Rome so the highlights like what's going on here either way they didn't have enough fuel for wherever he wanted to go yeah they're supposed to go to San Francisco let's go to Rome so Captain Cook explains this to Raphael but Raphael is not having it he knew there was enough fuel to get to New York he's like it's a plane it's got enough you filled it up you filled up the tank so they go back and forth for a while and finally Raphael relents and he agrees to let the

plane stop to refuel in Denver boy the Denver Airport huh yeah it's the old one not the new one okay lucky so he lets he lets Captain Cook go in into the cabin to talk to the passengers and cook told them quote if you've made any plans in San Francisco don't plan on keeping them because you're going to New York City like it's the price is right ladies and gentlemen I don't know what plans you've made for San Francisco but toss those out the window because you're going to the big Apple the city that never sleeps New York that's right you are the band Harper's Bazaar get a two

day two night extravagant with a refill in Denver where Raphael is gonna take us wherever we want to go where our hearts desires once you're in New York accommodations will not be provided but we will be providing you one round trip ticket for you and a friend of yours to go to New York City if you're in Harper's Bazaar you're gonna write a song about it that no one's ever heard of called New York New York by a little guy called Frankie Sinatra but it'll be passed off as your own that's right total prize package $1,271 I was I was up for it and then you said Harper's Bazaar is coming which I'm not Harper's Bazaar

is not allowed to go to wire Alaska so when they get it when the point no one knows they've been hijacked until they get in the Colorado airspace when he can call the air air traffic control and let them nobody on the ground knows right right okay yeah I there's no transponders at that point or anything no one knows so anyway though the plane lands in Denver Raphael as the plan is landing tells the airport to turn off all the lights so the so it's already it must be already be safe like they're on the guy and he says now turn off all the lights so it's a dark airport and then they they start refueling the plane and

as they're refueling the plane the crew starts talking to Raphael and they're saying the best thing for you to do right now is to let the passengers go because the passengers are extra weight if you get them off the plane the fuel it'll it'll definitely get to New York so the plan will be lighter blah blah it sounds like the flight attendants have already fallen in love with him which is just so predictable so he agrees he's lying as long as there's no trouble the passengers I accept that for Harper's Bazaar they must stay please and then Captain Cook's like what what about their luggage he's like yeah they take it

they're lucky Chester that's a fine they take a one they got a one a bag okay no one a bag even three flight attendants he says can go and they would keep one all of us want to stay please well they they're actually an argument breaks over out over which flight attendant should stay Raphael wants Charlene Captain Cook wants Roberta Johnson because he knows are the best and then as Charlene's writing up a passenger manifest Tracy comes up to her and says quote I'm gonna go it turns out Tracy has a boyfriend in New York and this way she could visit him god damn I cannot I mean you know look I have had a

lot of trouble wrapping my head around moments in time on this show but the casual yeah appreciation of a hijack is talk about bizarre I feel like I'm in Harper's it's pretty it's pretty amazing it's I'll just do it cuz I'm gonna go to New York and I can see Brad so Charlene's like it's not gonna end in New York quote he can't stay there he'll be arrested if he gets out of New York he's going somewhere else I don't know where but he's going somewhere else so the passengers all get off and then the off duty nice to meet you Raphael keep it cool man the off duty pilot comes back and he's like hey I left a Halloween

costume I bought it in Hong Kong it's on the plane and and he asked Raphael if he can go back in the plane and get his Halloween costume and Raphael it's like yeah sure I mean I who doesn't appreciate the idea of addressing up before it says special night is a very fun yes what are you going as a pilot it's a drag it's a dragon pilot yeah so all the passengers going to the terminal where they're FBI agents all over the place they bring him into a big room and they start grilling each passenger Harper's Bazaar does not immediately talk to the FBI they immediately call their manager hey man

we got an idea for a concept album do you have any idea who Sergeant Pepper is also we were hijacked so the manager said it said at some time if anything crazy happens anything I just call me anytime so it's like three in the morning whatever when he gets a call by the time the FBI interview is over there is a room full of reporters waiting for Harper's Bazaar what is going on is the manager said it all up okay so the singer would later say it was quote the best publicity we ever had by a mile and they were soon guests on NBC's music show the spring thing oh god we all remember the spring thing what a great

great show that's where Hendrick started that's right so the plane takes off from Denver full tank of gas smaller crew just the three guys from the cockpit and Tracy Tracy's the one who ended up staying the boyfriend in New York one yeah I couldn't figure out how she it must have been because she was the only one who volunteered but that anyway she ends up so the three-hour flight from Denver to JFK is pretty peaceful Captain Cook said quote we had a nice conversation he was pretty calm they upfront agreed not to talk about politics of religion so they would all get along better what's kind what is happening what kind of red

breaking is taking place in a hijacked cockpit what yeah I would I hate to dislike you guys and we would hate to leave with a bitter taste in our mouth Rafael so why don't we just talk about our families and movies we like Rafael told them he wanted to go to New York but it wasn't his final destination the crew again thought he meant Cuba they're just like we're going to Cuba okay it's got to be Cuba right he told them he had been in Vietnam for 13 months the Marines stole money from him how he tried to rob the PX and then got caught and that he didn't want to go to jail so that's why he was here does this end

with him being woken up in the plane in New York and he's fallen asleep on the floor again just like a robbery so he relaxes in first class he's got the gun beside him he made himself a cocktail using a miniature bottles of Canadian Club whiskey and gin not a drink yeah sometimes people like sometimes when people make a mixed drink they're having something in there to cut the booze yeah yeah he'd know he's like I want to have a drink that the ruins a whiskey and a gin oh yeah that's it what do you call it and the test is like a shitter so the crew told him I don't know what that could was trying to figure out this man

the the plane isn't equipped to fly over water that's what they tell them okay and also that the crew themselves are not qualified to fly over water sure I assume that has to do with gills like how JFK JFK junior died like when you're flying over water you can get a set of regulations yeah you can get you can get thrown off by the horizon and where the water is and sure like it you can tell you so anyway after a while he agreed to let them call their company dispatcher to see what to do so co-called and the dispatcher recommended if they were gonna fly out over the sea to get two international pilots JFK well I love

what it's being handled like a regular request yeah TWA 741 what do you have up there we have a hijacker on the flight with us today and he is probably looking to take us over international waters I do not have that class license what is the recommendation and does the hijacker have a gun he absolutely does okay well what I would say is I take him wherever he wants to go and then the second that you are there request some international pilots will swap you out and then they can be hijacked so just make sure I reach out to a couple pilots who are okay with being hijacked that's right yep all right I guess I'm gonna have

to go to the black book hello do you have any pilots that'll be hijacked yeah we got a bunch yeah what year do you think this is 80 we were fine what do you need so so they arrive at JFK it's super early in the morning Rafael again has them parked the plane far away from the terminals as possible and then he tells he puts out the order for them to tell everybody in the fucking area everyone stays as far away from the plane as they can okay there's few people he wants as few people as possible to approach the plane to refuel it makes sense but the FBI wanted the hijacking stopped in New York because no one had ever taken a

domestic flight no one had ever hijacked a domestic flight and taken it to another continent that's never happened even the FBI's line is weird like I mean that is crazy but any hijacked plane you should be like oh my god oh wait they were going international oh okay never mind I thought there was a demo hopefully those people have their passports that's my concern what's it gonna be like when they land in Sri Lanka so this is a big deal to the FBI so a hundred agents are dressed up as mechanics and other airport employees each each one with the objective of trying to sneak onto the plane so it's going to look like a NAS

car flight you're just gonna run out of I mean could they not just like wouldn't it be make more sense to be like hey how many people normally do this three we're gonna do five instead like all right we got a hundred now everybody go out there and try to run into the plane so all these guys are starting to come closer to the plane that's panicking Rafael sure and as they're setting up the refueling F I guess two or three FBI agents who are in FBI uniforms walk up to the plane and Captain Cook opens the little window in the cockpit and and they talk and an agent tries to get Rafael to come closer to the window but Rafael's like yeah I'm

not actually into getting shot I'm not gonna come over the window yeah first officer Williams quote Rafael was running so he now he's upset now because he sees all the guys all around the plane he sees what's going on Rafael was running up and down the aisles to make sure they weren't trying to sneak in the airplane he felt he would be shot if they came to the window and then Rafael starts saying I'm gonna shoot I'm gonna shoot the crew and then Captain Cook tells the FBI to get away from the fucking plane but the agent said quote we'll move the plane when we are when we get good and ready so this is like I at some point

Americans maybe because of the Trump thing but it seems like it happened earlier decided the FBI was good at their job when most of the time the FBI is really bad at the job I mean there's a reason in diehard they make the joke about the FBI when when he's like oh what do we do now oh I give you the FBI and they shut off the power and they get into the safe because the FBI forever have been known as bumbling idiots right this is a good example right so the FBI say when we get good and ready and then let's proceed right now with operation smother and then a shot goes off oh shit now Rafael says and everybody at this

at this point in time it's pretty much I think agreed upon that he did not mean to shoot he was just getting freaked out and he accidentally squeezed the trigger a little bit and the bullet went up into the ceiling and just barely grazed an oxygen tank if he had gone into the tank the tank would have exploded if it had gone into the fuselage the plane could not have taken off so it would have all been over so it's not something that he probably did on purpose okay got you but at the time everyone thinks it's for real like it's not an accident right so captain cook quote I love that his name is captain cook yes great I mean it's

been great dies in Hawaii yeah dies in Hawaii so captain cook quote the FBI plan was damn near a prescription for getting the entire crew killed so cook now yells at the FBI is chastising them and said the plane is taking off now without fueling and he doesn't give a shit what they think do you guys are so bad at your jobs that I'm going to do what the hijacker thinks is best you guys wait till diehard comes out so at that point the two pilots who are there to take over the international leg push their way past the FBI agents and get on the plane what is so even the even even they're like fuck these guys these guys

are gonna get someone killed we're gonna go in there and do with the hijacker want these pilots are amazing yeah no the pilots in this whole story are amazing so pilots Billy that's why we don't pay them shit anymore yeah that's right the new pilots were Billy Williams and Richard Hastings so the crew had up and during the flight from Denver to JFK everything came very relaxed and no one was freaked out and and now that's gone the that's all gone what are the odds that they're gonna open an overhead bin and find the basis for Harper's Bazaar and they're like I just wanted to be part of the journey man so so now

they're reminded that he could kill him at any time Captain Cook well we sat with that boy for six hours and had seen him go from practically a raving maniac to a complacent and intelligent young man with a sense of humor and then these idiots irresponsibly made up their own minds about how to handle this boy on the basis of no information and the good faith we had built up for almost six hours was completely destroyed FBI ladies and gentlemen the FBI thank you everybody so the new the new pilots take charge they're in charge of the plane now Rafael ordered everyone else into the cock to stay in the cockpit and put

their hands on their heads so the other pilots as well yeah at all four of the crew are now are now no the other two guys are flying but the original pilots who are not the international pilots they're just like all right now we're just hostages yeah now he the FBI is just completely fucked the whole situation so plane takes off from JFK again they don't have enough fuel to get very far certainly not to roam they're now seven and a half hours into the hijacking so as he's sitting there with his hands above his head Captain Cook starts talking to Rafael and talking to him and trying to convince him that they

had nothing to do with the shit at the airport that was all the FBI after about 20 minutes he calms Rafael down and things get a little more relaxed again the plane now lands in Bangor Maine to fuel it's now early afternoon the story of the hijacking and what had happened to JFK is all over the news tons of reporters and photographers are in a giant mob in the terminal at Bangor Airport harp is bizarre it's like we got to get to Maine we got a gig we got to get back on that plane so there's 75 cops keeping an eye on the press that's how many press are there because they don't want anyone trying to get over to

the plane right also there's hundreds of just Gawkers people of Maine have driven to the airport because they want to see some hijacking action sure but then the cops keep them a half mile away from the airport so they're watching from a distance sure Rafael sees two guys looking at the plane from a nearby building and then Captain Cook radios the tower and says Rafael says he's gonna gonna start shooting at those guys unless they leave and then the guys run away so it's just a big spectacle yeah crazy the they get the plane filled up the plane takes off for me the BBC quote

a sense of solidarity had begun to develop among those who had been together for more than nine hours sorry surface do you want to just clarify the way you're talking about the women when you say that David sounds like you're talking about the men too and I just want to make sure people aren't like what's going on but under the surface even as they try to keep the hijacker happy the crew continued to fear for their lives so now there's like I mean this this isn't gonna come up again but there's like two camps like the the new pilots don't give a fuck

about Rafael but everyone else is like talk to him for hours and so they're trying to yeah bring him down a little bit and you know see what's up so it so now he's not flying so now Captain Cook's not flying the plane so he and Rafael sit next to each other in first class and they start telling each other stories I tell you what when you told me about this whiskey gin I thought it was gonna taste like shit this is pretty good yeah it's right and now I want to tell you about the llama I see a jump off a building it's a great story sure so the gun is just sitting between them Cook said Cook tells him he's been he was

an air traffic controller in the Air Force and Rafael asked Cook if he was married now Cook's not married but he tells Rafael he is and he has a kid he thought that would make Rafael less likely to shoot him yeah and then he tells Rafael everyone on the crew is married even though only one person was married we're all married to each other it's a weird cult now at one point during this flight Rafael asked why cook didn't go for he's like why aren't you going for the gun I think and this is completely because none of the crew brought this up but at one point Rafael said he went to the bathroom and left

the gun and no one grabbed it so that may be why he asked maybe why he asked him and then cook just said look I'm not a murderer I'm just not gonna shoot you like it's just not something I'm gonna do yeah so Tracy also spent time talking Rafael he taught her a bunch of card games he taught her how to play solid terror oh boy what 21-year-old does not have a solid there happy one so she would later tell reporters Rafael was quote a very easy fellow to talk to did you fall in love with her I knew I told her he told her all about moving to the US with his family again it's a six-hour flight now so they're nine hours into

the hijacking at this point Tracy Tracy takes a nap some crew were able to sleep others like Wenzel Williams said he was way too keyed up to sleep are they are they going to Rome well they're headed to Ireland now they're headed to Ireland okay interesting there's not there's not really anything to eat they just had leftover cupcakes on the plate well listen if there's only one thing to eat may as well act like it's your 12th birthday well I mean that's kind of great that's great news to some people yeah unfortunately the only thing we have left is whiskey gin and cupcakes oh boy yes so at some point they cross

time zones November 1st oh get it I mean it wasn't even second was he waiting but does he have the timing down like it was he waiting for I just recently adjusted the timing a little bit so he's a little off but the run the run to the machine is Olympic I'm sure it is so it's November 1st they cross a timeline okay it's Raphael's birthday oh my god 20 he's 20 years old and there's cupcakes this is meant to be but unfortunately there is no celebration the plane lands in Shannon Ireland and it takes a half hour to get gas and then they take off again so at this point they're 18 and 22 minutes into the into

the hijacking wow now now Charlene Delmonico who had gotten off in Denver is now at home it's late in the evening and the FBI comes to her house knocks on her door and shows her a photo and it's Raphael and she goes that's the guy so now the FBI knows who he is and they're they're stopping in Ireland just for more gas just for more gas that's it so the plane gets to Rome and circles around Rome as as he explains what he wants it's a Rome come as it's as one demand he wanted the plane parked as far away from the terminal again and then he wanted one unarmed police official to come out and meet him okay but no no

groups of people just one guy no gun the hijacking is now 26 hours long and had gone 6,700 miles that is the New York Times wrote that it was quote of the world's longest and most spectacular hijacking of course thank you New York Times so Rafael starts talking to the crew as they start to land because that the the cops agree to send one guy with a car so he starts talking to the crew as they're landing and he says that he offers to drive them to their hotel once they're on the ground and they're like no we're good we've got our own right now it's just that you know we love you but this is it'll be nice to be

away also I feel like it might end with you having a new hole in your head I'll stay you can drive me to my hotel my brain is little stop Tracy you're training stop it my training stop it my brain is little and easy to be manipulated no matter how many speeches I get I can't help but care about your story Rafael you can drive me anywhere you want actually I'm Tracy Rafael I'm also in love with you now what the hell what happens on these goddamn hijacking flights this is damn it man I want to rub my chest hair up against yours hey it's a me I want to fuck you like a Texan it's the cop who's unarmed and I

haven't not have been here long but I could tell you one thing of Rafael I'm gonna goddamn I love with you okay everything you do is a perfect if only there was a song you had well actually no no no it's nothing it's not very it's like a pleated or anything but I mean I've been taking around around it with her lyrics retrospect is nasty because God I should have gone through Harper's Bazaar's writing processor with them so so Rafael said he was worried the crew would get in trouble because they didn't try to take his gun when they could have he says the captain could quote I've given you guys an awful lot of

trouble and the captain says look we didn't take it personally hey buddy it's all business we worry we understand you're a hijacker you're doing your business you're welcome to hijack any flight that I'm the captain on from no one reveal it's an honor so the plane lands and they wait and then an alpha roll marrow drives out toward the plane course yep course Italy hello hello we are a stereotypical Italia yeah that's the that's the siren he's a star they shut it off so this was deputy customs official Pietro Julie I had their two different descriptions of him one was that he was

the police chief of the airport and the other was he was deputy customs official I I'm betting it that's deputy customs official but so he had volunteered to do this he he parks he climbs up the steps to the plane he's got his hands above his head Rafael turns to Captain Cook and says quote so long dawn I am sorry I caused you all this trouble and then he asked the captain for his address because he wanted to write him a letter and explain to him why this is it all gone down I'm maybe just to keep in touch and just to keep in touch and maybe I come over to your house and a whole day your hostage is

some night is for all times sake you gotta you got the pool you got the pond what you got though we got a pool and a pond but a pond to be good for you so that's a quick a quote from a movie called a carrier shack which hasn't even been a made yet Rafael and Pietro walk down the steps as Rafael holds the rifle and then they get in the car Rafael gets in the backseat and he points the rifle at Pietro and tells him to drive to Naples Rafael is going home okay so as the alpha Romeo drives four cop cars start tailing it and when one gets too close Rafael points the gun and makes them back off and then he started

giving directions until they lost all the cop cars so how is he doing that he's like alright turn left a super farce now right making you a turn go around the roundabout I want a more time by the fountain go left go left again now go through this little alley oh they cannot make it okay now go home driver past the Pope and a honker he'll turn around the cops a look at the I think it's just stuff like I go up to a stoplight when it's a red light and then go when it's red you know that kind of stuff okay whatever they lose him okay so he then drives hasn't the drive out of the country outside of Rome six miles outside

the streams become becoming more and more narrow there's two versions of this again there's one where it says the road comes to a dead end and Rafael gets out of the they both get out of the car then Rafael runs off and there's another one where Rafael knew where he was going and he just said stop here and then but either way he ran off into a vineyard okay yeah well that just like stereotype yeah classic Italian escape yeah just yeah and then he threw a bunch of pasta out of says he ran off if an Italian runs into a vineyard it's literally like they're disappearing yeah cannot see them he came out drunk and he'd made his own

wine hey I don't know how it happened but I accidentally met a merlot which would be a stranger for this a region that's what very strange very bizarre almost so bizarrely belong in a magazine who knows what other name will be Merlot yeah sounds a better so Captain Cook Captain Williams and Tracy Coleman were then interviewed by reporters in Rome Cook said Rafael had told him he was gonna go into the woods and wouldn't stay there until someone came to catch him hmm so they they keep asking cook questions which are which are legitimate normal questions about what happened and what went down about the hijacking all

important questions and then they turn to Tracy and the first question to Tracy is quote did you serve the hijacker with drinks during the flight oh my god it's just we got a woman here what you give him like a pie a coffee we need we need a way for a translator none of us a speaker woman did you get to know the bigger doughy eyes and a falling love hello I'll come in I speak a little bit a woman American hey you got a little brain you understand how easy it is to manipulate you so please start searching the area where he ran away they searched for five hours there's hundreds of cops there's police dogs there's

helicopters they find his gun and ammo in a deserted farmhouse but they still can't find him also it's all saints day so a local church the sanctuary of divine love is packed for mass they're all very well dressed except there's a dude in a vest and camouflage military clothes hanging out in front who sort of sticks out a little bit sure the the priest sees him and he calls the police and he's and he tells them that he saw this guy so nearby a cop sees Raphael running on a hillside another cop takes Raphael down with a flying tackle now Raphael can't believe it when he's being arrested he said quote pies a purkay me arrester

which means my people why are you arresting me yeah which you kind of get I got a home yeah yeah I'm supposed to be a free and now I'm on a ghoul so he's taken to the Rome police station and interrogated now the Associated Press describes the interrogation quote the questioning of a mini a cello was light almost friendly and at times laughter could be heard in the room where detectives carried out the interrogation that's a good one the police called them by his first name and after questioning him for two hours the police let him talk to reporters we're gonna let him a hijacker one or more plane this guy is

a better charming guy you gotta be in a room with him for a little while well yeah we had a couple of wins which is a whiskey and a Gina no he's a good guy he's a great player and it's a lot he's a great guy here and no one and he feels terrible so Rafael acted like he didn't know what reporters are talking about when they question him he's like what hijacking when they asked why he came to Italy he's like is this Italy like he's just totally just like so he's like I never thought about this part so Chief Detective Paul Mary told reporters that he thought Rafael hijacked the plane as quote a rebellion against the Marines

and against American society he wanted to get away from America because he was about to be tried he did not have faith in US justice justice is hard in America here it goes much easier and he has faith in us he is just a boy a child look at this little guy here he's just a little fella what do you want to do put him in a jail okay okay now everybody everybody's got a lot of questions but first before we start him over this guy's not gonna be able to answer a lot of your questions okay because this is a legal baby okay this man is a legally under two years old okay he'll make a he have a big make-making is die-dye okay

so he gotta go get changed so if you're gonna have a question please ask him with a rattle shake of the rattle at him when you ask the question okay and if you're not looking at you shaking your keys and say Google Gaga a little baby I want to ask you something because again this guy's a very adorable he's a very baby he's a very cute a baby and he's a Maya baby okay I'm adopting this a baby okay so now in the time of the year you have allowed me to speak this baby is a my baby okay this is my son his name is Rafael he would never do anything like that he's too little he's gonna be going to preschool in about two

weeks okay start pre little baby he can crawl a little bit his head not so his neck is not a strong enough to support his head yet so when he not looking at you and he look a little googly eye it's because his neck is not having the muscle to keep it ahead okay thank you now excuse me I'm gonna let him nurse on me while you talk to him okay so if you don't answer your question it's because he's a nursing on me okay there you go get your lip on there there you go all right yeah he wanted to go to Naples but he's a going to nipples okay all right there it is yeah that's a nice so meanwhile the US is charging him with

air piracy kidnapping and they want him extradited immediately now his father Luigi wow had returned from the US and was now living in Naples and he had terminal cancer okay so he comes to Rome to see Rafael the AP says when Luigi gets to Rome he is greeted by people in the city like he is a celebrity okay and Luigi says about Rafael quote the war must have provoked a state of shock in his mind before that he was always saying and then Luigi said he would clip Rafael around the air the next time he saw him that's and that's what he got sentenced to six clippings and what are you a wise guy what are you crazy what

is wrong with you what do you do that why do you do that all right it's okay come here yeah yeah he's a got enough he got his applaundishment yeah so the phrase pieza prekemi arrestee is going viral which is why are you arresting me I'm this is my home what is it again it is my people why are you arresting right okay so it's just it's the phrase right it's all over it's all over Italy Rafael gave an interview and this time he explained his reasons turns out that missing $200 was the difference between flying to see his dying father and not being able to afford to fly to see his dying father

oh shit and now he's very quickly become a folk hero overnight in Italy he's super good-looking he's an Italian kid who just wanted to return to the homeland and then women are super into his movie star looks all righty one 17-year-old girl told the reporter he was as good-looking as the biggest Italian film star except Rafael actually did the action himself well also let's easy does it 17 so but there's tons of women like this under under pressure from the public the Italian authorities announced that they're refusing to extradite him to the US which is by the way they did by releasing some smoke from a chimney but

he could get the death penalty for for air piracy and kidnapping so they said they would try him in a tying court next administration is really upset and they're worried that all the love he's getting was gonna lead to a copycat that's right I'm the law and order president we kind of a copycat and it didn't take long in Ohio 14-year-old David Booth ditched school on November 10th and took a bus to greater Cincinnati Airport there he pulled a knife on an 18-year-old girl and said quote you're going with me to Sweden he took her through the terminal with a knife at a throat and they boarded a Delta DC 9 which is

absolutely not capable of flying to Sweden but what kind of airport are now boarding passengers who are holding women hostages with knives they're like we don't want to bother him he ordered the pilots to take off for Sweden and they're like yeah this plane won't go to Sweden so they don't do it and then he eventually gets talked into surrendering as the plane sat on the final go back to school ah the UN released a statement saying it was deeply concerned about international flights and voted to call for every country to pass air piracy laws now Italy did not have an air piracy laws so he wasn't gonna be clear

that yeah in the 18 days after the resolution was passed another six planes were hijacked so it's literally a thing yeah it's what the FBI but what the FBI was worried about was actually a thing right at the trial his lawyer was the FBI probably helped make it a thing a little bit right because I always think that when they blow the crime like when they they can sometimes advertise the crime yeah oh absolutely yeah yeah yeah what what they did made it a bigger story right absolutely so at the trial his lawyer said a portrait Raphael is a victim a poor Italian victim of a terrible foreign war quote a civilization

which overwhelmed this uncultured peasant public buys it they're all in because the stories of what America is doing in Vietnam are fucking horrifying so he he uses that he gets acquitted of all crimes except weapons possession and for that he has given seven and a half years wow he appeals and the sentence is reduced and on May 1st 1971 Raphael walked out of prison a free man after one and a half years so he's just 21 years old man prison he's he's in a he's in a brown suit his hair is longer there's a crowd of photographers and caremen and reporters and people and one of the reporters asked Raphael if he's

sorry for what he did and Raphael smiles and says quote why should I be talk about another catchphrase offers Roland offers I get an offer to be a nude model which doesn't doesn't take off he gets a contract to be in a spaghetti western of course I know I'm afraid that I'm unfortunately I probably eat it that doesn't pay off the guy who made dr. shivago offers to make a movie about his life called pies became me a resty but that doesn't happen either so when the movie it said nothing comes of any of this and he just starts living his life when the movie Rambo comes out rumors are all over Italy that Rambo is based on

Raphael the original name was a Raphael bow but the guy who wrote Rambo is like no no it's not Raphael ended up working as a bartender and he married the bar owner's daughter who he had known since they were kids he kind of grew up with her cinza so he and sins had one son and then Raphael opened up his own pizza place which he named hijacking oh my god what well I mean they really they really have a tally into the attitude of the hijacking but how do you not name it okay me arrestee like yeah right yeah right right after 18 18 years after the earthquake it destroyed his village another one hit the exact same area it

was a 6.9 really bad tons of buildings destroyed Raphael was one of a lot of the times who went up there to distribute aid on their own and then people recognized him he ended up being interviewed by People magazine quote I mistrust institutions so I give help personally I know all about people who don't keep their promises he also said he had changed I'm very different now to who I was I'm sorry for what I did to those people on the plane in February 1985 since I got pregnant again but she went into labor and her and the child died it turned out do it happened due to medical malpractice the doctors fucked

up so Raphael is furious and he came up with a plan oh no he decided to attack a medical medical conference that was being held just outside of Rome and he was going to do that to draw attention to the negligence that killed his wife and son quote I decided to carry on my own battle to change the course of medicine I called this the project I was convinced that the only way to change things was to use force well to be fair so he bought guns oh dear and he carefully planned an attack so he's just gonna go in and fucking massacre this conference don't kill the lily dude you got away so at the same time as he was

planning all this stuff he made a new friend a young guy named Tony Tony was a Christian and he kept giving Raphael Bibles and having him read passages out loud and then one day Raphael read a passage from the Gospel of Luke father forgive them for they do not know what they do and he said once he read that it changed him well and he decided to follow God and to not attack the medical conference well okay I mean this is like I mean yeah you know what I'm not gonna kill about 25 of people I'm just gonna sit here and read them up wow this is a good book in 1999 Raphael found out there were no outstanding criminal

charges against him in the US he so he decided to return to the US it's called I'm a high backing his ex-soldier buddies had been fighting for years to get his other than dis other than honorable discharge changed to honor or general discharge they argued he deserved it for what he'd done in Vietnam so he asked them to do something else before he came he wanted his old buddies to find the people he had held as hostages so we get apologized to get out of here so invitation you're like I'm good so she was still a flight attendant she she was a flight attend for 35 years before she retired so she she kept going as flight

attendant and one of his platoon members reached out and she was like yeah at first she was like no and she's like why not I mean what's the harm yeah so in August 2009 she drove to Branson, Missouri where the platoon was having a reunion I like how she has to drive I know so also when zoe Williams went to she pride it was only to everybody yeah I wouldn't yeah so those only two who went to meet him and around this time in 2009 he was also diagnosed with PTSD in 1999 2009 2000 I don't jeez that took so long obviously yeah Captain Cook refused and that really hurt Rafael he really thought they had bonded man you think you

know a hostage so the two hostages listen to Rafael Charlene said at first it was tense and and not great but then they talked and it was better and Charlene said after listening to him she actually felt sorry for him and then at the end of their meeting he gave them both a copy of the First Amendment in it inside he had written a note quote father forgive them for they do not know what they do and they were like sorry this is about you when asked in 2013 if Rambo was based on him Rafael said quote yes it's true yes of course it's obvious look at it and they were one difference one difference between me and John Rambo who

I like to call Rafael Bo some feats that both an eye and other Marines did during the Vietnam War were taken as inspiration Rafael still live he has a YouTube channel which is dedicated to accordion what what Dave what what what a story holy shit that is an amazing story yeah that is amazing story and the truth is that if only we could weigh motivations into crimes and let that somehow factor into our judicial process because we should always and and you cannot truly you just I mean this is what chickens come home to roost this is what happens and so you cannot fuck people all I mean we're like I mean this

is just the solo fucking right now the country's in the gang bang that won't end you know but well you just it's just like it's not that you're just not you're saying what he did was justifiable but people have breaking points and this is that I mean this is what happens when you push them it's like you know it's not some lunatic in a hotel room is like the lamps talking to me this is a guy who is just like my fucking dad is dying you screwed me out of the $200 that would have gotten me to see my dying father so if the system fucks me I'll fuck the system and he just fought in a war for that yes country so you know it's you

know so sources the BBC TWA 85 the world's longest and most spectacular hijacking by Roland Hughes Raphael Minicello interview with the author of the longest internet intercontinental airjacking in history by Enrico they shouldn't call it airjacking that sounds like when you masturbate in the bathroom when you're on a plane that's right this heartthrob marine became an Italian folk hero because of an airplane hijacking and and then some newspapers what is that how do you suppose last name m-i-n-i-c-h-i-e-l-l-o and then a book this guy's belong to us love and tear in

the golden age of hijacking by Brendan corn oh dude he looks like he could be on TV in that era oh yeah I mean there's some pictures you're like Jesus but yeah of course let's see what he looks like now I love this this is my favorite okay oh I can tell which one he is he's got a mariner's shirt on no I isn't he the other one on the other end I think he's the one on the other no I think he's the guy with the mariner's shirt I was on the right yeah got a nice head of hair um wow man that is quite a story that really is quite a story it's also so strange to just think of the era like when you think about what it takes

to get on a plane now yeah it's just crazy I mean I remember as a kid like how it you could go or not even as a kid I mean but you know for a while like you could anybody could walk you to the gate and say goodbye and you know it was just a much more fluid and simple process I also remember when they came up with the scantrons where you have to go in that machine and they were unveiling them and Janet Napolitano who was the like the Homeland Security or something like that she would not step inside of one of those when they were like Janet do you want to show people and she was like I'm good yeah really something like

that yeah but again Dave most of my facts come from my gut so that's just a good instinct that is quite a story dude there you go we did it we signed planes we did it we do okay yeah we signed planes that's right