From the studios of Ave Maria Radio in Ann Arbor,
this is Veterans Radio. And now here's your host,
Dale Throneberry. Good morning America and welcome
to Veterans Radio in our new home on Ave Maria
Radio here in Ann Arbor, Michigan and we're very
very excited to be back on the air after a three
-month hiatus and I want to just let you know
a little bit about who we are, who we are. Again
my name is Dale Throneberry and I am a former
armor aviator with 195th Assault Helicopter Company
in Vietnam in 1969. My wingman who will be joining
us later a little bit later on today is Bob Gould
he's in Russell Springs, Kentucky. right now
and he's headed back to Michigan. He's a former
Airborne Medic with 101st Airborne Division and
in studio today is Gary Lilly in Navy CB in Chui
Lai, Vietnam in 1966 and welcome back on the
air Gary. Great to be back Dale, Ken and looking
forward to a lot of shows here from Ave Maria
Network. That's right. And trying to keep us
on time and running all the equipment in the
control room is Ken Rogge, an Air Force veteran
of 28 years. Also worked with Armed Forces Radio
and with Armed Forces Television and everything
else. Hiya Ken. All right. All right. Now I'm
back on here. All right. Thanks, Steve. New control
room, new equipment. So hopefully things will
be all right today, but it's all new experience.
Well, it's going to be exciting, that's for sure.
And we've got a couple of things I want to just
tell our new listening audience out there. Hopefully
we've picked up some new people just listening
to us here in Ann Arbor on 990 AM. Veterans Radio,
as you hopefully know, is dedicated to all the
men and women who have served or are serving
in the Armed Forces of America. And our mission
is to provide all veterans with a voice, and
especially to educate veterans regarding their
rights and privileges that they earned while
serving their country, and finally to provide
a forum for veterans to discuss all these issues.
Our ulterior motive, of course, is to educate
America regarding the history of our military
and those who have served so honorably throughout
our history. As you heard earlier, Veterans Radio
is produced by veterans for veterans. Veterans
Radio provides a common place for veterans to
sound off about their issues and to share their
experiences, good and bad. We're here to let
you know that your buddies are still out there
to help you. So if you have any questions or
comments, just go to our website at veteransradio
.net, click on contact and let us know what you
want to know and what you think and we'll take
care of you from there. And we've got a couple
of news stories. This is what we normally do
at the beginning of our show as we talk about
some issues that are going on out there in the
world that affect people that are in the military,
veterans, and retired military personnel. One
that I thought was rather interesting, Ken, was
the committee votes to... give more help to the
war wounded families. It says war wounded service
veterans and their families now have a stronger
team of advisors and advocates to guide them
through care, recovery, and disability evaluation
under a package of initiatives unanimously approved
on March 20th by the House Armed Services Committee.
This is a result. It's called the Wounded Warrior
Assistance Act, and it's the first and unusually
swift legislation taken by the lawmakers to address
a host of problems encountered by the outpatients
at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center that we've
been seeing and hearing about on the news recently.
This is pretty exciting stuff, I think. The Full
House is expected to vote on this package soon,
even as an independent task force and various
government investigations continue to study what
really went wrong at Walter Reed. I have no idea
what went wrong there, but it's interesting.
I have a... a quote here, if I can put my hands
on it, that talks about, you know, George Washington
said long, long, many years ago that the willingness
with which our young people are likely to serve
in any war, no matter how justified, shall be
directly proportional to how they perceive how
veterans of earlier wars were treated by their
nation. That's George Washington, and I think
that's a very appropriate quote, don't you? It's
amazing how timely That is, how long it's remained
true. This country's had some great history of
taking care of the vets, and it's had some very
bad experience. The vets have. They were just
treated horribly like after the Civil War and
so on. And again, after the Vietnam War, and
now it's looking like our troops today are not
being taken care of in some places as they should
be. In other places, the care is superb. Well,
we know that the VA does a great job, 99 % of
the time, as far as treating veterans and people
that are coming back from overseas currently.
And I know that with our local VA facilities
here in Ann Arbor, I really have had no problems
whatsoever other than initially getting in. I
was at the emergency room of the VA hospital
last night, as a matter of fact. The VA hospital
here in Ann Arbor is terrific. I've been going
there for my care. I had outside insurance, but
I still went to the VA hospital. Oh, you cannot
compare the, say anything bad about the medical
care at the VA facilities. They're absolutely
phenomenal. It's interesting that almost all
of, I think all of the VA hospitals are located
with teaching universities. So you've got very,
very, very, very good practitioners there to
take care of you. I think some of the issues
probably has to do with the number of personnel
that are available to help out along the way.
I mean, the doctors and everything are great.
It's some of the support personnel that the budget
cuts and so forth have taken care of. One of
the things we need to get done is Congress needs
to pass the assured funding for the VA hospital
systems. Right now, they have to renew it every
year, and veterans should be able to count on
it being there every year. Hey, I got a story
here. I want to tell you guys about the Tuskegee
Airmen are being recognized six decades after
their World War two mission and coming home to
account a country that discriminated against
them because they were black the Gratitude was
expressed Thursday when a group of the legendary
black aviators received congressional gold medals
during a ceremony in the capital Rotunda The
award is the most prestigious Congress has to
offer. And these guys, it's just amazing what
they have done. They were combat fighter pilots
discriminated against. They were put into their
own unit. They painted their tails on their planes
red so they could be distinguished from all the
other units. And they had a phenomenal record.
The report says that in all of World War II,
escorting bombers, they never lost one. That's
an amazing record. Well, I think what's fascinating,
you've got to remember, that's one of the stories
that we first covered, Ken. A couple of years
ago, we went down to the Detroit VA, the Dingle
VA hospital down there, and we ran into Colonel
Alexander. Right. And it turns out that he had
been a prisoner of war, along with another two
other people that we ran into that were prisoners
of war. And we'll talk about more about that
story later as we go along. And Colonel Jefferson
was in Washington for the award ceremony. Oh,
I think... Yes, he was there. Oh, cool. He was
a great, great guest. Yeah, he was a good guest.
Just a sample of things. There was a couple of
other things I needed to cover right away. One
piece of news I wanted to get in here was, it
sounds kind of funny, this is Sesame Street Special
on deployed parents. Right. Sesame Street Special,
when parents are deployed, will be rebroadcast
this coming Monday, April 9th, on PBS stations
across the country. This primetime special hosted
by Cuba Gooding Jr. reveals candid and intimate
moments with the parents, caregivers, and children
impacted by deployment. For more information,
check your local TV listings, or you can download
the program at the Sesame Workshop website. Sounds
like a great program. And there's a couple of
other issues that we will talk about later on.
Moving right along to one of our favorite segments
of the program. Welcome home. Welcome Home is
a special weekly segment of Veterans Radio dedicated
to American troops returning from overseas. If
you know of any units or individuals you'd like
to see welcomed home on Veterans Radio, send
us an email and we'll give them a rousing welcome
home from Veterans Radio and a grateful nation.
Today we are welcoming home. Where did they go?
Here they are. Ah, they're 15 Royal Navy Sailors
and Marines. that received a wonderful welcome
back in England after being released from Iran.
Over 100 Marines at Fort Detrick's Dam Security
Unit 3 returned home earlier last week. Troops
of the 240th Engineer Group of the Maine Army
National Guard are expected to arrive home. Actually,
they arrived home on Thursday. And finally, community
members in Elgin, Illinois honored Sergeant First
Class Randy Henk in a welcome home celebration
on the 1st of April. On behalf of a grateful
nation, and uh... all of us at veterans radio
we want to say welcome home And we're back on
Veterans Radio. And I just wanted to remind everybody
that our Welcome Home segment is being brought
to you by the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund offered
through Ave Maria University. This is a great
program that is available to Marines that are
returning home from Iraq. And my understanding
is pretty much for Marines and survivors of Marines
and relatives of Marines and so forth, that they
can pick up some scholarship money at Ave Maria
University down in Florida. And for more information,
they need to go to the Ave Maria University website,
which is AveMarinaUniversity .com, I believe.
AveMaria .edu, excuse me, on that. Gary, we've
got a guest on the phone, I understand. Yes,
we do. Please welcome Rick Connor from down in
Russell Springs, Kentucky. He's a member of the
Patriot Guard Riders. And today, the Patriot
Guard Riders are doing a memorial service for
Rick's uncle. who still remains MIA in Korea
up there at the Frozen Chosen. Rick, welcome
to Veterans Radio. Tell us what you're doing
today. Hey, glad to be here. We're crisp 27 degrees
here in Russell Springs today, and we're getting
ready to do a memorial for George Connor, which
was a corporal in the United States Army, and
he was actually in the Navy in World War II.
Got out and enlisted in the Army for the Korean
War. and was listed as missing in action December
2nd, 1950 at Chosin Reservoir. I always heard
about the Marines being up there, but you forget
that the Army was up there also. That's correct.
There was about 3 ,000 of his division, the 32nd
Infantry Division, at Chosin Reservoir. And so
what year was that? That was 1950. That was after
we stormed up there to the Yalu River almost,
and at that time the Chinese came storming back
for the first time. That's right. There was actually
an 80 -hour onslaught there with George and his
division that actually ended up in the majority
of their demise at that point, of course, as
you know. Right, so that caught everybody by
surprise. So what's going on today? What kind
of a memorial service are you doing for them,
Rick? Well, we've got the Patriot Guard Riders
coming in, the Russell Springs OOTC's coming,
the 101st Airborne Division Honor Guard's coming,
and we've got a bugler also from the 101st Airborne
Division Band. There has been a memorial marker,
brass marker set up, and Jamestown has been there
for many years. His mother died about 13 years
ago and would not allow anything to be done,
thinking and hoping and praying, I guess, that
he would come home someday. His brother Dudley,
my uncle, is 87, which is also a Korean War veteran.
He was in the Navy, actually, at a battleship
corresponding back and forth with George there
on the land to sea. And the last letter that
Dudley received from his brother They had defeated
the Koreans and thought he'd be home for Christmas
and then of course little did they know the Chinese
had entered their Chosun Reservoir. How old was
George at the time? Do you have any idea? George
was 23 and he had already pulled two years in
the Navy and was only in the Army about six or
seven months. What brought about this memorial
service? It's not the traditional time of year.
uncle deadly are very close to him i have been
getting very close to the last few years and
i discovered each time i want home from from
his house uh... the main thing i always got out
of this guy was uh... he always talks about his
brother uh... skipping rocks and building tree
houses and uh... take a little map of the brandy
snops and getting in trouble with her dad and
so on and so forth and and uh... sounds like
an american kid yeah november uh... This past
November, I talked to Dudley, and I said, Dudley,
have you ever done anything for your brother?
And he said, no, other than put that marker up
at the square. We've done nothing. And I said,
why don't we put together a big memorial if I
can get permission from you and your sisters?
And he said, Rick, I'm just too old to do something
like that. And I said, well, I'm not. And he
said, if you'll run with it, I'll help as much
as I possibly can. We're sitting here today and
we've got a very, very sunny day and a bunch
of Patriot Guard riders that are just ready to
rock and roll. Well, best of luck to you. Have
a great memorial service and maybe we'll have
you on again on Veterans Radio and you can give
us a follow -up to it. You can tell us more about
the Patriot Guard riders down the road, okay?
That would be fantastic. Okay, thanks a lot,
Rick, for being here. Thank you for your interest
and your continued patriotism with the the united
states armed forces i understand you're a veteran
uh... yes i spent seven years united states army
of the last uh... for was at fort campbell the
hundred first airborne division second forty
four third defense artillery you guys a jump
out of planes okay rick thanks for having us
on uh... for being on uh... veterans radio thank
you for all your continued service you're welcome
That's a great example of what we can do here
on Veterans Radio. We just get stories, people
call in, we run into them. One of our producers,
Bob Gould, who's down there in Russell Springs,
Kentucky, just came across these people on his
way home. They stopped at a diner, there they
were, and Bob called on the cell phone. You have
to have them on. That's right. You know what
he was talking about, the mother? Isn't that
so typical the mothers will never give up on
their sons ever? I could I can certainly understand
that I've Heard of a lot of instances like that
where the mother will not allow any memorial
service They are they still hold out hope that
their son can come back Well, we remember we
did that story with the the filmmakers that went
back to Vietnam and with the sisters and they
tracked down the body of the of the brother that
had been missing for 30 -35 years and that was
in the shadow of the blade right the same producers
right that that did that and I mean that was
that was a fascinating story and and just continues
to be fascinating how we keep unearthing you
know remains and and thankfully through science
today we're able to figure out their DNA to identify
these people and if you remember we had what
was his name on who was the medic over at cam
duck And he went on leave, R &R, and waiting
the last hop back, he sat at the dirt runway
to join his unit and listen on the radio as they
were overrun. And he wouldn't quit until those
people were brought home. And last year they
finally found all 11 of them and brought them
home. The Canadians were supposed to do a strip
mine in Vietnam. through the Veterans Initiative
program and a lot of active Vietnam veterans,
they got it held up until they were able to go
in there and look over the site, brought back
all 11. Wow. I mean, those are the kind of stories,
and those are the stories that we want to tell
you, our listeners out there. So again, if you
have somebody who has a great story, just have
them contact us, and we'll be more than happy
to get them on the air. In fact, that's how our
whole program started. I met a neighbor of mine.
uh... who ended up who had been in world war
two and i just wondered who this kind of this
old guy you know raking leaves down the block
was and i went down and talked to him and turned
out he had a fascinating story he had been involved
in the you know in the norm in the invasion and
he hadn't talked anybody his wife said in you
know and sick almost sixty years about it but
he just unloaded he said oh you're a veteran
and next thing you know he's talking I said these
are the stories that we need to get on the air
and exactly you know and Bob and I and and and
the two of you and Ken and Gary we all got together
we said yeah this is this is what we want to
do and so we've been doing it for a little over
three years now so anyway we have we are here
for you and for your stories and I wanted it
to Gary you were in July in Vietnam in 1966.
Can you tell us a little bit about what your
experiences were there? Well, I was a CB over
there and initially we worked 86 hour weeks building
the base and after a while after we got the base
built and they were kind to us they gave us Sunday
afternoons off and that cut us down to an 82
hour work week. Oh, is that all? That's all.
But we were surrounded by Marines, and we saw
these guys living in holes in the ground and
sleeping on the dirt. And so our job was to build
support facilities for the Marines. When we first
got to Chulai, the airstrip there was a steel
matting runway. At either end, it was 3 ,500
feet long, at either end there was artillery
firing in each direction. They would stop firing
to let a plane take off and land. And there was
artillery on the inland side constantly firing.
The end of the runway had a arrestor hook. just
like they have on aircraft carriers for the attack
jets that were flying support missions for the
Marines. It wasn't long enough for them, and
they would hook on with it. Every now and then
we see a plane taken off with Jato, the old jet
-assisted takeoff. And most Marines, if they
had cover, they were living in a tent. And that's
what it was like when we arrived. When we left,
it looked like a small city. I've never seen
so much construction in all my life. LSTs pulling
in on the river and... dropping off materials,
a lot of bombs and a lot of artillery rounds
and then the bad guys would be on the other side
and at night they'd fire their green tracers
in there trying to set it off and our guys would
get mad and the red tracers would go back out.
It was kind of a lively area and while we were
there the perimeter moved out further and further
and further and we ended up building a fire base
out in the boondocks for the Marines Hill 35
which Later on the Americal division took over
and those guys called it fat city. It was so
far in the rear so The experience there was working
long hours Being very motivated by looking at
the Marines around us and the conditions that
they were in and it was at what range from Oh,
there was one 10 -day stretch in the 130s, but
what it lacked in temperature, it made up for
in humidity. And as my luck usually runs, my
squad was nailing steel roofs during that period
of time. And Dale, this is the truth. Every time
I see a chicken in a rotisserie, I flash back
to those days. That's true. You kind of feel
like you're in a frying pan yourself. Oh, Lord.
I mean, you know, those of us that were in Vietnam,
we know that 130 degrees and 130 % humidity is...
It's like a day on the beach. We had M14s, and
on the way over, my unit had been over there
the year before. They got sent over in the middle
of a deployment. And the guys that had been there
told me, don't oil your rifle. Wipe it down every
day with solvent, because otherwise it'll rust
underneath the oil. And I thought, they're trying
to get the new guy. And so I oiled my rifle,
just as you're supposed to. About two days later,
I looked underneath the oil. There it was rusting.
They were telling me the truth that humidity.
I don't know which was worse the humidity or
the heat Well, I can know I can I can remember
that myself, you know, just getting off the plane,
you know, just it's like a blast furnace, you
know Going in there and you know, I kind of look
around the corner of the door going I'm not sure
I want to get off here If you remember the movie
platoon where they dropped their ramp and all
right, you know You can almost feel the heat
and you saw the red dust and all the smells.
Absolutely Ken you were you were overseas in
Thailand. Yep And yeah, he suffered in Thailand
in the tents of Thailand, you know, with the
red dirt and all that other stuff, right? Oh,
Dale, I got to tell you how hard it was for me.
You know, these guys, you guys had it made. I
mean, you were in Nam and sloshing in the mud
and the monsoons and having the bullets fired
at you and everything. I suffered. I mean, I
was in Thakli, Thailand. And I had to live in
a barracks with a maid service that came in and
made our bed every day, shined our shoes, did
our laundry, and had to eat in a mess hall three
meals a day, and I worked in an air -conditioned
building. Can somebody hit the violin soundtrack
here? Can you imagine suffering through all that?
Can't imagine at all, boy, what you missed out
on, Ken. I'm telling you. You guys had it made.
And in talking with some of the Iraqi veterans
that we've been fortunate to have on the program,
they describe Iraq. Why do we go to war in these
places that are so hot? They talk about, they
said, imagine that you're standing in front of
the most powerful hairdryer in the history of
the world, about two inches in front of it, and
it's on high, as high as you can go. And he says,
then throw up a handful of in front of your face.
And that's the way it was the whole time period
that they were over there. What's amazing is
over in the Mideast there in the desert is they
will put things in ziplock bags and double ziplock
bags and when they open them up a day or two
later, they got sand inside. Nobody can figure
out how it gets in there. A big item to send
them is swimmer's goggles. That's the only thing
that keeps the sand out of their eyes. It's just
amazing. And talking with, again, with the veterans
who have come back, they're still pulling sand
out of various and sundry places. Right. Like
Vietnam, remember how long it took to wash the
red dirt out of your skin? Yeah, but then I went
to Alabama. It was the same thing. Oh, OK. In
what way? It was the red clay. I mean, it was
that red dirt down there. And I went from Southeast
Asia to Southeast Alabama. You know, same, same.
So, you know, it was just kind of an unusual
adventure. But Ken also worked, as I mentioned,
in Armed Forces Radio, and he was the one that
would play that incredible music that we would
listen to when we were in Vietnam using our automatic
ADF, Automatic Direction Finder, and the helicopters
we were flying so we would know where we were
in relation to the rest of the world. How many
radios would you monitor at a time when you were
flying? Well, you've got to remember we were
flying Model T's in relationship to what's going
on today. So we would be monitoring, we would
be listening to UHF radio, FM radio, a transponder
radio, emergency radio. We'd be listening to
the... AFVN with a direction finder. And then
we would be listed. Of course, we had the intercom
going, sometimes three or four at the same time.
And while the green tracers were coming, you
were still monitoring those radios? Yes, sometimes.
And our other guest, my other host, my wingman
and co -founder of Veterans Radio is on the phone.
And I want to welcome Bob Gould back to Veterans
Radio. Hello there, Dale. Hey, buddy, where are
you? How far is that from Fort Campbell? Actually,
it's not maybe an hour. Okay. I thought you were
going to I thought you were time tripping back
to your parachute jumping days. Well, we've talked
about it. My partner and I was helping me drive
drive up from from Florida. We kind of got stuck.
We did a by the way, I want to welcome everybody
to listening to veterans radio. And I'm here
on the road. I had a very looking at other stations
that will be carrying the show. And again, I
want to thank Mr. Monahan and Mike Jones and
Al. All the people here at Ave Maria Radio. Al,
Al, okay, good old Al, right, okay, right. And
I'm looking forward to a good run that we're
going to be at W -D -E -O. Correct. in Ann Arbor
and WDEO FM in Florida and WMAX in Saginaw Bay
City, Michigan, currently. And I was talking
with a gentleman right here in the lobby, Mr.
Rick Connor, who was in the Army, and he's here
today as part of the Patriot Guard Riders. Right.
We already talked with Rick. Oh, you did? Oh,
yeah. Well, maybe that's why the line was busy,
guys. Okay, well we're going to be doing a show
then with the PGR in Indianapolis on the 7th
of July because it's going to be a reunion for
the USS Indianapolis as well as the PGR people
so it should be exciting. I'll tell you all about
it when I get to Ann Arbor. Hey Bob, are there
any people left alive from the Indianapolis?
53. I met one of them a few years ago and got
Michael J. Martin to send him a record that he
did, about 20 minutes long, called $20 Bill.
It was about a guy that Michael knew that was
a survivor of the Indianapolis. Well, I think
we're going to have a good show down there. It'll
be a remote. It's a big extravaganza for the
4th of July and the military. It's actually the
5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th in Indianapolis. But of
course, we're on on Saturday morning. so we will
be doing it live from Indianapolis, Indiana.
You know for the people that don't know about
the Indianapolis, that was the ship that delivered
the atomic bomb that was delivered over Japan
and on the way back on this top -secret mission
it was torpedoed and because it was top -secret
nobody knew it was gone. And those are the guys
that were attacked by the sharks for three days.
Right. We're going to continue with this story
and talking with Bob and the rest of the crew
when we get back from our break. And we're going
to be taking a break here in about 10 seconds.
And we have a little segment that we call Medal
of Honor. And each week, we choose a Medal of
Honor recipient. And we read this citation and
let people know that these people are greatly
appreciated. And we'll be right back after that.
You're listening to Veterans Radio. The Medal
of Honor is the highest award for valor in combat
given a member of the Armed Forces of the United
States. There had been over 3 ,400 recipients
of the nation's highest award. This is one of
them. Marine First Lieutenant Christian Schilt
flew 10 rescue and relief missions under heavy
hostile fire. Details after this. During an insurrection
in Nicaragua in 1928, Schilt, then a member of
a Marine expedition which had suffered severe
losses and killed and wounded, volunteered under
almost impossible conditions to evacuate the
wounded by air and transport a relief commanding
officer to assume charge of a very serious situation.
Schilt bravely undertook this dangerous and important
task and by taking off a total of ten times in
the rough rolling streets of a partially burning
village under a heavy hostile enemy fire, on
each occasion, succeeded in accomplishing his
mission, thereby actually saving three lives
and bringing supplies and aid to others in desperate
need. The Medal of Honor series is a production
of Veterans Radio. We're back on Veterans Radio
and that was our Medal of Honor and as I said
we're going to be doing that every week. It's
a production that Ken has put together now for
the last couple of years and we've gotten a lot
of really great feedback. In fact that reminded
me of a story that we did here locally in Ann
Arbor as soon as I can find his name. Mr. Gutierrez,
do you remember him? Oh yes I do. From the Hispanic
American. Right. Medal of Honor recipients. Right,
we did a whole hour with him and he went through
several of the Medal of Honor recipients and
highlighted their accomplishments. I'm trying
to find on my list here of guests that I brought
along. He's a business owner here in Ann Arbor,
Michigan and he has in his boardroom all the
way around he has pictures and copies of the
citation for all the Hispanic Americans that
have won I'm not one I understand. I know have
received The Medal of Honor I've earned the Medal
of Honor and have received it and it was very
impressive and he's he's a he's a great patriot
and a great American and was really interesting
to have him on the program again another example
of what we've talked about on the show it is
really amazing when you walk into the into his
facility and see all of those Citations and pictures
on the wall. That's really impressive. I know
and I mean they they went back to Well, it was
World War II. I'm sorry. Went back to World War
II, and all the way up through Vietnam. Well,
there's only been two in Iraq right now, hasn't
there? I think one received and one nominated
for it. No, no, there's two received. One was
posthumous, though. Right. Paul Smith was posthumous.
We did the Medal of Honor in him about a year
ago, I think, is when he received it. And there
was another one just recently. I've got the information
at home, but it slips from my mind, his name.
Per capita, little town of Manchester, Michigan,
I'm told has the greatest number of Medal of
Honor recipients, including the only person to
ever receive the Medal of Honor in two different
wars. Really? Civil War and Indian campaigns.
I'm not aware of that, Gary, and I live there.
I knew a one. Now you know about your little
town that you live in. I'm going to have to research
that. I guess so. It sounds like you're going
to have to do that. Well, I think that's just...
I want to just kind of talk about some of the
programs that we've had on Veterans Radio, again,
to give our new listeners kind of a taste of
what's going on. In fact, next week we're going
to be talking, I'll let Gary plug his own show
here, but we're going to be looking at an issue
that has plagued American veterans forever. PTSD.
And we're going to have some experts on PTSD
on the show and for, you know, there's a lot
of people just won't admit that they have it,
but they want to deny it. try to make light of
it and say wear it proudly. You came by it honestly.
The issue of PTSD is a severe one and there's
treatment out there and there's help out there
and we're going to learn a little bit more about
it. When you learn about PTSD, what it is, what
causes it, it'll be easier for you to talk about.
I think so and I know that you're You're the
one who always tells me about these statistics
about how much combat time that the military
is is I mean in actual combat You know face -to
-face shooting at people are getting shot at
has increased dramatically since the more conventional
types of wars in World War one World War two
Korea and so forth But you know Vietnam and Iraq
is the same type of conflict is that the enemy
is around you. It is. And with no uniforms, no
designated areas, no lines. And so Vietnam and
Iraq, to me, the terrain's different, but the
war's the same. A lot of IEDs, we call them Command
Detonated Bombs. Command Detonated Mines, I should
say. They call them IEDs. They're the same thing.
It's kind of scary. I was a little anxious last
night so I wasn't sleeping a hundred percent
like I normally would. I was kind of excited
about getting back on the air and I was watching
the History Channel and they were showing the
segment on the 10 ,000 day war, the history of
the Vietnam War and they were talking about how
the North Vietnamese would take the old ordinance,
unexploded ordinance that we had dropped and
how they would take it apart and utilize the
C4s and the timers and the... everything else
that went along with it and I'm going you know
times haven't changed that much as far as I'm
concerned. No and one of the things like what
the Humvees are talking about the lack of armor
well my gosh when you got a hundred and fifty
five millimeter round going off underneath your
Humvee it doesn't matter how thick the armor
is. I got a question though in Vietnam did they
have a lot of suicide bombers? You know, I don't
think so. There were many. There were sappers.
The guy who would come through the lines. And
I think, it seems to me I can remember reading
about a couple of people that would blow themselves
up in Saigon or something along those lines.
And we had, I mean there were rumors, a lot of
times on our missions we did a lot of single
ship VIPs type of stuff. You know, you would
go out and take a general out and have them look
around. And where children... would come up toward
the helicopter and at one time supposedly you
know one was rigged and blew up and at that point
we got a directive not to let any kids near the
helicopters anymore and I mean we had to pull
our weapons out and say no you know you can't
come close any longer. And they had a gym up
house over there in Manchester was with the 101st
Airborne spent a couple of weeks back in the
base camp and it got hit and he told me about
running out of his hooch seeing a sapper go by
in the dark he let loose with his M16 but uh...
doesn't know if you got the guy or not but a
few moments later the headquarters bunker blew
up and it was a sapper that threw himself in
there and uh... pulled the uh... string and set
off the bomb yeah and that's why the reason i
bring it up is i think that's the difference
between vietnam and iraq is that in iraq you've
got a lot more suicide bombers that's their strategy
whereas uh... they did more conventional fighting
probably in vietnam Not probably but they definitely
did more conventional fighting than they are
doing in Iraq and speaking of conventional fighting
We you know, we had a helicopter program Dale
and you dug on guys are also Modest about what
you've done and we've talked in private and I've
I know that you flew different types of missions
You flew at night over the over the fence as
it said into Cambodia. Is that correct? I can't
tell you otherwise. I have to kill you. I've
been killed before Yeah, our mission with the
195th is that we did fly special forces units
and people across the fence into Cambodia and
we would drop off these teams and they would
do their whatever it was over there and then
we'd have to go back and get them invariably
at night. And you did not like night flying.
I don't like night driving now. I didn't like
night flying at that point. Isn't that a sign
of older age? I think so, you know, because we'd
always mess up our night vision when somebody
would, you know, light up a cigarette behind
us or something on board. And, you know, we didn't
have the night goggles like they have now. Everything
would be, you know, all the things were in red
lights. But other than that, it was kind of strange.
But our job was we would do that. We would fly
out of the northwest. corner of of three core
and uh... that would be down around the parrot
speak and uh... iron triangle uh... yeah upper
out of the fish hook areas is where we were and
a place called boot up okay as where we would
stage from and it's which kind of interest because
i saw us but thing on the on another channel
of military channel that that we're talking about
flying out of boot up and all i've been there
another one of the nice nice vacation places
in the world shadow of the blade there was one
guy talking uh... that was uh... would go in
and get the Special Forces guys and he said,
the only time we were ever worried was when you
guys would cover the flashlight part way with
your hand and then whisper that it's all secure.
Yes, we had a mission like that where the Special
Forces were surrounded by the bad guys. We were
trying to home in them on the FM radio. You can
home in on an FM microphone. It beeps. As you
go along, you get a beep, beep, beep. And as
it gets closer and closer to solid, you're getting
closer. And you kind of keep turning until you
get a solid tone. And so we came on the radio
with Pilar and myself. I can't remember. And
we said, could you speak up a little bit? You
know, we can't hear what you're saying, because
he was telling us to come in. And we're going,
he says, I can't. I can't. They're right here.
Isn't that stunning? How do they do it? I mean,
it's one of the things that I have found out
in doing this program is how much of a mutual
admiration society that veterans have for no
matter what branch of the service that you were
in, you did your job and you did it to the best
of your ability and then you came home. Do you
want to know some more? You just illustrated.
You could call it old aircraft. And they provide
flights and B -17s and so forth. And they had
a fire in 2004. And they're rebuilding it. It
sounds like it's going to be a great project.
I mean, they're going to have a new exhibition
building. They're planning on putting in a hotel
and conference center. They want to put in a
charter high school there that deals with aviation
in connection with Eastern Michigan University.
I think it's a great thing. Yeah, they're moving
an old school house that was once an officer's
club built by Henry Ford for the workers at Willow
Run. And what is it, a $100 million project?
$100 million. Over 20 years. Right, and you can
find out more information if you can get on the
internet and just... plug -in Yankee Air Museum
and you'll find out what's going on there. What's
that other story? The other story is really a
very touching story and we talked a little bit
about it with our motorcycle friends. The fallen
troops are getting a more dignified return home.
In fact, a local company wanted Defense Department
contract to bring home the bodies of the of the
people from Afghanistan and Iraq. And that's
Kalita Airlines and they fly out of Willow Run
right where the Yankee Air Force Museum is? Right.
And the reason for this is that many, unfortunately,
many of the people that were coming, the bodies
that were being sent back from Iraq and Afghanistan
were being flown home in commercial airlines
and they were being unloaded with forklifts or
coming down that conveyor belt, you know, that
the baggage would come down. And that's pretty
undignified and pretty disrespectful in a lot
of cases. But the... The story was that it was
cheaper or more efficient. Let's put it that
way. It was more efficient to bring these people
home with that. So now they're flying on private
jets. And they're going to smaller airports,
getting the caskets closer and closer to home.
And each one is to be met by an honor guard.
And I understand that's been going on since January,
and they're doing a great job with it. And you
know what? I was looking at the difference in
cost. It's less than $10 million. You know, they
could look in a little corner of their waste
bin. Yeah, the potato famine. Right, right. subsidy
and find that money. And this was all really
caused by a father of one of the soldiers that
was killed in Iraq in 2005 and he just felt that
this was something to do and it's one of the
true bipartisan pieces of legislation that was
passed quickly too. Yes, that's great. Duncan
Hunter, a congressman out of Southern California
who is a true friend of the veterans. Hope he
stays in there for a long time. Correct. Right.
Let's talk about some other people that we've
other issues that we've talked about. I've got
something else I want to jump in with. You got
it. Yeah, I just got Mark Linkey stopped in.
He's the Veterans Services Officer here in Washtenaw
County and brought in a flyer about the author
of Flags of Our Fathers. You know that book?
He'll be here in... He's going to be here the
April 16th at noon over at the Radisson. And
they are offering free tickets to veterans. Now,
in order to get a free ticket to this, you must
call Mark Linke at 973 -4540. Now, I think there's
limited quantity, so it's going to be first come,
first served. Could you get that number again
with the area code? That number again, area code
734 -973 -4540, and ask for Mark Linke. Mark
Linkey, he's the veteran services officer in
Washtenaw County. And they have some tickets
for the Flags of Our Fathers presentation by
James Bradley. He's the author. That was the
one that was made into a movie directed by Clint
Eastwood and produced by Steven Spielberg. Right,
and as a matter of fact, after that he's going
to be out at the Yankee Air Museum site. Is he
really? Yes. That's what it said. Right. Yes,
because we were trying to figure out how we could
do that on a... I'm going to be there as part
of the Honor Guard. The Honor Guard has been
asked to do the opening ceremony with the flags
and national anthem and so on. So I'm going to
be there proudly wearing my BDUs. And Ken, I'm
proud of you. You're a member of the Washtenaw
County Honor Guard, which provides funeral services
for veterans who've died. Yes, sir. And you guys
do a superb job. When I first started doing that,
I wasn't sure how I'd react to that. But after
I went to probably two or three, I was really
proud of what the guys did and what it means
to the families. And invariably after almost
every single funeral that we do, we have some
people come up and say thank you very much for
what you've done. It should be pointed out that
every single veteran out there at least in in
washington county and probably in most areas
of the country is entitled to a military uh...
honor guard everywhere in the country and that
your funeral director should be able to point
you in that direction exactly correct because
you are entitled to that you're entitled to the
flag and there's uh... If you're buried at a
national cemetery, like the one up in Holly,
Michigan, the only thing you pay for is your
casket and the transportation from the funeral
home. Everything at the cemetery is free, including
the headstone. Once you get in the front door,
the front gate, it's all free. And I'll wait.
Oh yeah, me too. Another example of things that
you're going to learn here on Veterans Radio,
all types of stories and if you have anything
that you want us to talk about, please let us
know, send us an email, give us a call, go to
our website, veteransradio .net, there's a contact.
tab on there just click on that and can send
us the information and we'll get it on the air
if at all possible. We are in the process of
updating our website and we're going to try and
get as many events listed on there as we possibly
can. So if you let us know we'll put you on there.
And we have our old shows on archive up there
on our website. That's true if you want to know
what we've done in the past. Some of the stories
that might interest you, you can click on there,
you can listen to them anytime that you want
to. One of the advantages that I wanted to point
out here being on Ave Maria Radio, which is a
great host for us, is that we've got new, fancy
new technology. We're up there with the state
of the art people now. We can actually figure
out what we're doing. For those of you that have
been loyal listeners for over the three years,
you know that we started out in a... about a
50 watt station with animals, and have progressed
since there. But you can listen to many of our
old programs on the internet. And again, we can't
thank Ave Maria Radio enough. We have capabilities
now of not only being on three stations, and
we want to thank the people in Saginaw and Naples.
We have internet streaming which seems to be
working on a really regular basis which we're
very excited about and we also have the capability
now of uplinking our program to a satellite and
so there may be some other stations around the
country that will be on in a short period of
time. We're very excited about the opportunity
of being here. If you're listening on the internet,
go to your local radio stations and suggest to
them that they carry Veterans Radio. We can do
that not a problem Some of the other things we've
got next week. We've got a program coming up
on PTSD We're going to be talking with the people
from military comm Two weeks we're going to be
talking with the author of a new biography on
Dwight Eisenhower and just on and on. We've got
great stories for you and hopefully you will
keep sending us the stories and we want to make
sure that these stories get out because we're
one of the few avenues that get the veteran stories
out and it doesn't make any difference if you
are a veteran in World War I all the way up through
Iraqi freedom. And I know that there are only
about four people left in World War I but we'd
be more than happy to talk to them. Exactly,
and the VA health system is looking for the final
members of that class. That's right. 1917 -1918.
Holy mackerel a long time ago. My grandfather
was with the Royal Seaforth Highlanders in World
War one He died many years ago at the age of
72 But I've got a photograph of him and his brothers
and friends going off in their kilts of the six
people in the photograph He was the only one
that lived after four years of trench warfare.
What a meat grinder of a war Did you hear recently?
I think it's about a week or so ago. The last
female from World War one died. Mm -hmm. That's
amazing But we want to make sure we get those
stories. In fact, you know, one of the projects
that we are trying to get more and more involved
in is the Veterans History Project, and that
is to record the oral histories of veterans.
And again, that's another point I want to bring
out. We have the capability of going out and
doing remotes now. So if there are any American
Legion, VFW, veteran service organizations out
there that would like to hook up with Veterans
Radio and do a Saturday morning Veterans Oral
History Project and record some of your members,
give us a call, send us an email, and we'll figure
out how to do that with you. Dale, we talked
about the VA healthcare system and that's where
I go for my healthcare. There are more stories
that walk through the lobby of that one hospital
in a day than Hollywood could ever use in its
existence and more than we could use. I've met
some amazing people there. Sure, and figure out
how many VA hospitals there are around the country
and hence how many stories there are. Oh, there
are stories out there. And that's what we want
to do. So again, give us a call and let us know
and we'll get you on the air, get your story
saved for your family. I'd like to see us do
another story on helicopter pilots and snipers.
We had a sniper on there, Tom Falecki, and it
was pretty emotional for him to be talking about
it. But I was watching a program on the History
Channel last night. The record for a female sniper
was 380 -some kills, and I think that was during
World War II in one of those Eastern European
countries. Never thought that there might be
a female sniper. That's true. We're going to
wrap up. And why not? Why wouldn't it be? Let's
join the air of political correctness. That's
right. We've got to get up here. You've got to
remember what town we're in, right? Correct.
Again, we want to thank Ave Maria, and I know
Ken, you had something that you wanted to say
before we left today. Well, yeah, but not yet.
We've still got about a minute to go. Oh, okay.
Oh, that's what my timing was about. Gotcha.
First day jitters. Well, you know, I mentioned
the stories. We're going to get you helicopter
guys on there, because I've heard some amazing
stories. And you guys talk about it modestly.
But my gosh, I can't believe the things you did.
The grunts will talk about you guys sitting there
very calmly waiting for them to make it over
to the helicopter with a wounded guy and while
you're getting shot to pieces. Trust me, we weren't
calm. That was our John Wayne imitation. What
was it really like? With all those holes appearing.
You guys never took care of your helicopters,
did you? I know. We had all those Swiss cheese
things in our little metal packs. Anyway, we
want to thank Ave Maria Radio. Tremendous effort
on their part and for us. And we'll be back next
week. Ken? We are very happy to be back on the
air. It's been a long three months. Veterans
Radio is about stories, the stories of America's
veterans. That man or woman down the street that
was in World War II or Korea or Vietnam, what
did they do? Where were they? We want to know.
We want to bring you their stories. Our mission
is to provide all veterans with a voice, to give
them a forum where they're able to discuss their
issues and to provide information to all veterans
regarding the rights and privileges of their
country. Until next week, you are dismissed.