26 Facts About Bo Gritz

James Gordon "Bo" Gritz is an American former United States Army Special Forces officer and presidential candidate.

Bo Gritz was born on January 18,1939, in Enid, Oklahoma.

Bo Gritz's father served in the Army Air Force in World War II and was killed in action.

Bo Gritz enlisted in the Army on August 20,1957, and shortly thereafter attended Officer Candidate School.

Bo Gritz was promoted to the rank of captain in 1963, and to major in 1967.

Bo Gritz received an array of military awards, and some of these have been called into question.

Bo Gritz testified as a witness before the House committee headed by Stephen Solarz in 1983, but was unable to provide any evidence of the existence of the POWs.

However, both times the missions were scrubbed, according to Haney, when Bo Gritz suddenly appeared in the spotlight, drawing too much attention to the issue and making the missions too difficult to accomplish.

In 1986, after a trip to Burma to interview drug kingpin Khun Sa regarding possible locations of US POWs, Bo Gritz returned from Burma with a videotaped interview of Khun Sa purporting to name several officials in the Reagan administration involved in narcotics trafficking in Southeast Asia.

Bo Gritz appeared on Pacifica Radio stations in California as a guest several times, and for a short time was in demand as a speaker to left-wing and anti-war audiences.

Bo Gritz pulled out early in the race and publicly distanced himself from Duke and ran instead for a Nevada Congressional seat.

Bo Gritz was then replaced by Floyd Parker on some ballots.

Bo Gritz has claimed that he accepted the party's nomination in the belief that he would be the running mate of James Traficant.

In 1994, together with former Arizona State Senator Jerry Gillespie and other partners, Bo Gritz established a 200-acre survivalist community and paramilitary training center in Kamiah, Idaho called Almost Heaven.

Five years after Bo Gritz had left Almost Heaven, the community was described as almost defunct.

Several times, Bo Gritz used his influence and reputation in the Christian Patriot movement in attempts to negotiate conclusions between legal authorities and far-right activists.

In 1992, Bo Gritz attracted national attention as mediator to the crisis involving his fellow Army Special Forces veteran Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

Bo Gritz intervened on behalf of Weaver who, with his family, was living at his survivalist refuge at Ruby Ridge, after US Marshals attempted to arrest him for failure to appear in court.

The federal siege, which resulted in the deaths of a US Marshal and Weaver's son and wife, ended after Bo Gritz convinced Weaver, his daughter, and family friend Kevin Harris to leave their cabin and place his faith and trust in the court system.

Attorney Gerry Spence was asked by Bo Gritz to defend Weaver, which he did successfully, and in turn defended his action to do so in a letter to Alan Hirschfield.

In 1996, Bo Gritz unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a conclusion to the standoff by the Montana Freemen, an anti-government White separatist militia group of Christian Patriot sovereign citizens who were wanted on an assortment of charges.

In 1998, Bo Gritz organized a fruitless search for the Centennial Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph in order to save Rudolph's life and persuade him to surrender to law enforcement.

In 2005, Bo Gritz became an active protester for intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.

The character of John "Hannibal" Smith on the 1980s television series The A-Team was loosely based on Bo Gritz, as were some of Chuck Norris' film heroes.

Reportedly, Bo Gritz partially inspired several other characters, including these of Colonel Kurtz in the 1978 film Apocalypse Now, and John Rambo, the protagonist of the Rambo franchise.

The real Bo Gritz was portrayed by Bob Gunton in the 1996 television film The Siege at Ruby Ridge, as well as by Vic Browder in the first episode of the 2018 television miniseries WACO.