Meet The Retired Sergeant Major Behind The Legendary Horse Soldier Bourbon
One of the more intriguing stories of bourbon will soon get a visit to Sioux Falls. U.S. Army Ret. Sergeant Major and former Green Beret Vince Makela will visit Williquors on Thursday, April 11 from 4pm - 7pm to sign bottles of Horse Soldier bourbon.
I've been intrigued by Horse Solder for a few years because not only is it a very good bourbon, but it also has an incredible story behind it.
The story really begins at ground zero on 9/11 of 2001. America was shocked to learn of terrorist attacks on American soil which brought down the World Trade Center Towers, damaged the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a heroic effort on a flight tragically ended in a Pennsylvania field.
Just days after 9/11, elite teams of Green Berets were inserted into Afghanistan, some on horseback. Dubbed the “Horse Soldiers”. And while Americans were glued to their TVs and news outlets, 12 Green Berets left for Afghanistan to wage war on the terrorists responsible - and they did it on horseback.
As the men rode their horses through some of the toughest terrain imaginable, dark as pitch with limited comms, they fought bravely, and battle-after-battle they finally took the stronghold city Mazar-i-Sharif from the Taliban.
This heroic and valiant effort that went by the code name Task Force Dagger unfolded on the big screen in the Hollywood blockbuster 12 Strong, the CNN documentary "Legion of Brothers", and memorialized by America’s Response Monument located at Ground Zero in New York City.
The task force then founded the American Freedom Distillery. The all-American company’s signature offering is the award-winning Horse Soldier Bourbon, which is sold in bottles pressed in molds made from steel salvaged from the World Trade Center site.
The group’s incredible journey from elite warriors to elite spirits makers is one forged in fire. Visit with U.S. Army Ret. Sergeant Major and former Green Beret on Thursday, April 11 from 4pm - 7pm to thank him for his service and a chance to purchase a signed bottle of award winning bourbon.
God bless our heroes!
This Horrific Murderer is Buried In Sioux Falls
Gallery Credit: Ben Davis
