this been dug on?

Background

Born in 1941, John Kreese joined the U.S. Army at some point in the past, becoming a commissioned officer. He volunteered for and passed U.S. Army Special Forces selection training, and proceeded to serve in a Green Beret unit during the Vietnam War. He attained the rank of captain, and was the Army's karate champion from 1970 to 1972, as shown on a framed picture of Kreese in uniform, which hung on the wall of his dojo in the first film. During his time in the Army, Kreese befriended a fellow Green Beret, Terry Silver, and saved his life several times in Vietnam. Despite this, Kreese would years later maintain that Silver doesn't owe him anything, though he admits he "lost count" of how many times he saved Silver's life.

In 1970, Kreese became the U.S. Army’s Karate champion, at which point Silver requested that Kreese train him and Silver began undertaking extensive Karate lessons from Kreese in between combat missions. Kreese, who had studied under Kim Sun-Yung of South Korea, instilled in Silver the creed of “Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy.” The two continued their rigorous workouts and sparring matches throughout the remainder of the war, along with others in their infantry company so that more soldiers could learn the valuable hand-to-hand combat skills. It was this small but elite group of soldiers who became the very first “Cobra Kai” class, and all of them received a distinctive tattoo of a fist clutching a cobra, which was to become the symbol of their brotherhood. After leaving the Army, Kreese opened a karate dojo with the help of Terry Silver, Cobra Kai, training young men in "the way of the fist". According to Martin Kove, Kreese had won at everything his entire life, and in Vietnam, the war was not allowed to be won. After the war, Kreese returned home and vowed that he and his dojo would not lose ever again. Because of this, Kreese created a simple motto for Cobra Kai, summing up his view on fighting and life itself: "Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy".

https://thekaratekid.fandom.com/wiki/John_Kreese