107: Whistle Blower

WHISTLE BLOWER: A person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity. You won’t find a neutral reaction to a whistle blower. You love him, or you hate him. Today’s podcast guest is Richard Caruso, a loved and hated important whistle blower. THE SHU Caruso blew the whistle on the SHU. It stands for Security Housing Unit. Richard was a prison guard in the most violent SHU in America, Corcoran State Prison in California. Check out this irony. Corcoran opened  with a seemingly progressive approach to incarceration. The idea was to integrate the prison population by allowing white, hispanic, and African American inmates to mingle in the yard. Sounds great, right? It turned into a nightmare. There were daily racial explosions that led to brutal inmate fights followed by violent “discipline” from prison staff. Discipline? Yeah. The guards stopped fights by shooting into the yard from a watchtower. We’re not talking about warning shots. We’re talking about direct aim with lethal weapons that injured and killed prisoners. Some of the guards got a major adrenaline rush from this action. The result? Downtime in the yard became gladiator combat staged by corrupt prison officials. FORGET NETFLIX Listen to Richard’s story. It’s more engaging than a dose of Netlflix fiction. You’ll discover: The surprising reason Richard Caruso became a proud marine Richard’s meeting with Colonel Don Conroy, the real Great Santini How Caruso secretly gather evidence against his violent colleagues The murderous hit put on Richard’s life The whistle blower’s friendship with Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes Caruso’s relationships with Charlie Manson and Sirhan Sirhan Charlie Manson’s connection to Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys How the good guys and the bad guys switched roles The history making results of Richard’s actions Why Hollywood reached out to Richard Caruso and made the movie, Felon, based on his story These are only a few highlights of Richard Caruso’s memorable story. You’ll be inspired when you hear how Richard helped a despairing veteran, Larry Hinkle, find hope, passion, and purpose. Hinkle started Walking With the Wounded, the walk across America that is happening right now to support war veterans worldwide. Find out how this noble enterprise attracted the attention of Prince Harry, and how he became actively involved. There are many more rich life lessons in this podcast. You will not only enjoy it; you will want to share it with people you care about. RICHARD’S FAVORITE BOOK The Great Santini by Pat Conroy RICHARD’S FAVORITE QUOTE “It is what it is.” CONTACT RICHARD Find him on Facebook