Tell us a little bit about him, his background and his combat record.ĭAVE PHILIPPS: Eddie Gallagher had been in the SEALs for years before this court martial case. The guy at the center of this story, Eddie Gallagher, was a leader of a platoon in - of the Navy SEALs. Well, Dave Philipps, welcome to FRESH AIR. His new book is 'Alpha: Eddie Gallagher And The War For The Soul Of The Navy SEALS.' I should note that Eddie Gallagher has filed a lawsuit against Dave Philipps and two former secretaries of the Navy, accusing the officials of illegally leaking information and Philipps of defaming him in the articles. He's the author of two previous books and winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. Dave Philipps is a national correspondent for The New York Times who writes about the military and veterans from the ground up. Philipps' new book is a gripping account of the experiences of Gallagher's unit in Iraq, as well as the investigation and trial of Gallagher and the aftermath of the verdict. Philipps also acquired much of the evidence in the case, including thousands of documents, helmet cam images, photos, text messages and video recordings of the interviews that the Navy SEALs gave to Navy investigators.

My guest at The New York Times, Dave Philipps, covered Gallagher's trial and interviewed many of the Navy SEALs who leveled the accusations against Gallagher. If you recall Gallagher's name, it might be because his cause was championed by President Trump and covered extensively on Fox News programs.

The accusations came from SEALs in Gallagher's own platoon, who said he was also known for taking shots at civilians from his sniper's nest, killing at least two. Investigators said while Eddie Gallagher was leading a platoon of these elite commandos in the battle to retake Mosul, Iraq, from ISIS, he stabbed a defenseless prisoner to death. Navy SEAL was arrested and accused of some shocking crimes. I'm Dave Davies, in today for Terry Gross.

Navy seals warned war crimes