Remarkable first-person war stories today on my show from Colby Buzzell and Jack Lewis, who both served in and wrote about their experiences in Iraq. I asked them about how American soldiers were seen as good or bad guys by Iraqi citizens, how to tell when gunfire in town was hostile or just from a wedding party, and whether they felt frustrated at having to play policeman instead of soldier.

Colby told a scary story about being atop a tank when he looked to the side and saw a man in black pointing an AK-47 at him and firing. Jack talked about being stuck in the middle of Iraq doing psy-ops without any training in Arabic. I also asked both of them why Iraqi police and military aren’t stepping up to defend their own country more.

Listen to our conversation here.

Here’s Jack’s website. Colby has a website, too, and a book, “My War: Killing Time in Iraq.”