Built Not Born Podcast — Episode 9: Mark Ciccone — Jungle Warfare, Traffic Jams & Saying Yes
Mark Ciccone is a Vietnam veteran, where he served 12-month combat tour as an officer in the US Army Rangers. During his tour in Vietnam, Mark led infantry units through heavy combat in the jungles of Vietnam.
In our conversation, Mark shares remarkable stories of the Tet Offensive, what it was like to come face to face with a 10 foot king cobra while walking point in the jungle. On his last mission, taking place less than 2 weeks before he was scheduled to come home, where he led group of Southern Vietnamese troops during a two day mission that resulted in then Colonel Frederic E. Davision, who would go on to become the US Army’s 1st ever black Major General, to land his helicopter during the operation just so he could shake Mark’s hand to thank him for the way he was leading his team.
Mark shares with us how his entrepreneurial spirt lead him and a friend to start Surfer Supplies, the first surfing supply store on the east coast in OCNJ, how he became the owner of the dominate helicopter service during the radio traffic war’s in the 1990’s.
We discuss what led Mark to become a pilot and how he became the pilot to the rich and famous. Mark has flown the likes of President Gerald Ford, Phil Collins, Mick Jagger and Tina Turner.
Mark and I also discuss how he became the personal pilot to the then owner of the Philadelphia Eagles Leonard Tose, his time of being the helicopter pilot ABC TV’s show Dirty, Sexy Money, where he got to fly and hang out with Donald Sutherland and why he decided it was time to finally retire at 75 after being asked to fly the artist Pitbull home from the Vegas strip at 2am.
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