This is a story that sounds so off the wall that it could never be true. But it is.
At 4’ 9” and 97 pounds, Richard J. Flaherty aka the Giant Killer was the smallest and most unconventional man to ever serve in the U.S. military and needed a congressional waiver just to enlist in the Army. Bullied and ridiculed at boot camp, Flaherty nonetheless achieved the kind of stature that’s only dreamed of: He became a Green Beret captain, earning the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts during his two tours in Vietnam.
After the war, like many Army officers, Flaherty was riffed out. This was a devastating blow to him. A failed relationship, an assortment of jobs, and later the death of a fiancé devastated him and eventually left him homeless. But he gained a reputation for intelligence, and the CIA recruited him to supply the Contras in Central America. He ran clandestine operations in Cambodia, Iraq, Jordan and South America. He worked undercover for the ATF with adventures that involved guns, cash, cocaine and HALO jumps into the Everglades. All of that would end when he was arrested for possession.
Many years later, David Yuzuk, a career Miami Beach police officer, struck a friendship with a confident but unassuming homeless man. After 15 years the man told Yuzuk, “It’s time I tell you who I really am.” That homeless man was Flaherty.
After he told him his story, the veteran police officer was skeptical. He frankly thought that Flaherty’s tale of working with the CIA was pure fantasy. But after Flaherty was killed in a suspicious and bizzare hit and run, he spoke with his fellow vets and found his awards, decorations and stamped passports.
Yuzuk wrote a book about Flaherty's exploits and its now a doc on Amazon prime. #legend #zerofoxtrotofficial #zerofoxtrot #stayzero #zulufucxs