WEBVTT 00:00:19.309 --> 00:00:23.109 Welcome to the Voice of America's Veterans Program, 00:00:23.789 --> 00:00:26.649 Veterans Radio. And now here's your host for 00:00:26.649 --> 00:00:29.489 today's program, former Chief Warrant Officer, 00:00:29.829 --> 00:00:33.189 195th Assault Helicopter Company, Republic of 00:00:33.189 --> 00:00:40.649 Vietnam, 1969, and former CB Chu Lai, 1966, Republic 00:00:40.649 --> 00:00:44.990 of Vietnam, Dale Throneberry and Gary Lilly. 00:00:48.260 --> 00:00:50.679 Good morning America and welcome to Veterans 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:53.060 Radio the voice of America's veterans and we 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:55.920 are broadcasting live from the studios of WDEO 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:01.200 AM in Ann Arbor Michigan and on the internet 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.520 of course for those of you listening at veteransradio 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:06.900 .net welcome to an incredible program today joining 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:09.579 our whole crew is here this morning joining me 00:01:09.579 --> 00:01:13.560 in the studio is Gary Lilly Gary welcome CB can 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:20.459 do He has a very limited vocabulary. Anyway, 00:01:20.819 --> 00:01:23.239 Gary, thanks for coming in. Bob Gould is running 00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:26.799 the board. Stand in the door, baby. 101st Airborne. 00:01:28.579 --> 00:01:30.400 We've got so much to cover today. We're going 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:32.040 to probably have to jump right into the program. 00:01:32.219 --> 00:01:34.680 We're going to be talking about the Military 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:36.700 Writers Society of America is going to be announcing 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:39.750 their nominees for their awards today. We have 00:01:39.750 --> 00:01:42.090 Jerry Yellen on the program later on to talk 00:01:42.090 --> 00:01:44.069 about, he's a member of the Military Writers 00:01:44.069 --> 00:01:46.090 Society of America, and we're going to be talking 00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:49.109 about his book of War and Weddings and his second 00:01:49.109 --> 00:01:52.329 book, The Black and Canteen, and I'm really excited 00:01:52.329 --> 00:01:55.609 to talk to him. But first of all, each week on 00:01:55.609 --> 00:01:58.629 Veterans Radio we try to promote an event that 00:01:58.629 --> 00:02:00.689 people are doing around the country to honor 00:02:00.689 --> 00:02:03.409 veterans and those on active duty in the military. 00:02:06.210 --> 00:02:09.789 is, I'm hoping, is Bobby Matthews, who is from 00:02:09.789 --> 00:02:12.610 the We Do Care program. And Bobby, welcome to 00:02:12.610 --> 00:02:19.330 Veterans Radio. Bobby? Well, he's supposed to 00:02:19.330 --> 00:02:21.969 be on that. Okay. Well, I don't hear him. Let's 00:02:21.969 --> 00:02:24.870 try, maybe we can try to reconnect somehow. Okay. 00:02:25.129 --> 00:02:28.370 All right. Well, I'll go right into the EMU. 00:02:28.770 --> 00:02:46.819 Well, okay. Let's do that. All of you veterans, 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:48.659 all of you active duty military and all of your 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:50.719 families to come on over to Eastern Michigan 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:53.979 University to Ryan Airson Stadium and to come 00:02:53.979 --> 00:02:56.699 to our tailgate. We are going to be there from 00:02:56.699 --> 00:02:58.800 four until seven. We're going to be recording 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.460 a program live between five and six and we're 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:04.699 hoping that you will come out and there are many 00:03:04.699 --> 00:03:06.740 benefits to coming. Do you remember what they 00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:11.699 all are? I do, I think. This is Gary. We're going 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:15.199 to have a hundred free tickets to pass out to 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:18.639 the Army Eastern Michigan University game, which 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:21.900 will follow right after our Program well actually 00:03:21.900 --> 00:03:24.620 not we're doing our tailgate at four o 'clock 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:26.900 Yeah, so right after the tailgate at seven o 00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:28.719 'clock will be the game. We've got a hundred 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.500 tickets to pass out We're going to have food 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:34.879 drink and live entertainment. Yes, Kelly Trudeau 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:38.599 is going to be playing And she's got incredible 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:40.659 talent and incredible music and some songs that 00:03:40.659 --> 00:03:42.280 all of you veterans are going to really love 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:44.860 For those of you that do not get there soon enough 00:03:45.129 --> 00:03:47.030 Well, we'll not get there in time to get the 00:03:47.030 --> 00:03:49.110 free ticket. We want to make sure that you can 00:03:49.110 --> 00:03:52.030 get a ticket for the game for $3. You go through 00:03:52.030 --> 00:03:57.610 the Eastern Michigan website to emu .edu, it 00:03:57.610 --> 00:04:01.750 is, and go to tickets and then put in the word 00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:05.349 veterans, veterans, and you get the ticket for 00:04:05.349 --> 00:04:07.990 $3, a dollar of which will go to benefit the 00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:10.990 Eastern Michigan University ROTC program. And 00:04:10.990 --> 00:04:13.430 the website again is, I'm sorry I messed that 00:04:13.430 --> 00:04:18.009 up a little bit, is emueagles .com. Emueagles 00:04:18.009 --> 00:04:22.250 .com and click on the tickets link, code word 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:25.050 veterans, and you'll get the tickets for three 00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:28.310 dollars. You need to do that before game day 00:04:28.310 --> 00:04:30.750 and they will have the tickets at the will call 00:04:30.750 --> 00:04:32.990 office or we'll arrange to make sure that the 00:04:32.990 --> 00:04:35.050 tickets are available to you. The fact that it's 00:04:35.050 --> 00:04:38.589 a dot com and not a dot edu, this is for the 00:04:38.589 --> 00:04:43.110 office of the veterans. a Ferris veteran service 00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:45.189 office at Eastern Michigan University. Is that 00:04:45.189 --> 00:04:47.930 right, Dale? Yes. And they're the ones that are 00:04:47.930 --> 00:04:49.870 sponsoring the event. We're going to have a big 00:04:49.870 --> 00:04:53.009 tent out there. When you approach the ticket 00:04:53.009 --> 00:04:56.370 booth at the gates to Eastern Michigan University, 00:04:56.509 --> 00:04:59.370 look over to the north to the left and you'll 00:04:59.370 --> 00:05:01.850 see a 20 by 40 foot tent. We're going to be under 00:05:01.850 --> 00:05:04.990 there and we want you to come out and say hello. 00:05:05.410 --> 00:05:08.470 Take a look at us doing a pre -recording for 00:05:08.470 --> 00:05:10.629 a future program. That's right. It's a great 00:05:10.629 --> 00:05:12.709 opportunity. Eastern Michigan is in Ypsilanti, 00:05:13.149 --> 00:05:14.290 Michigan, for those of you who are not familiar 00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:18.089 with it, and you will be able to meet us, and 00:05:18.089 --> 00:05:20.050 we're hoping to meet many, many of you. Again, 00:05:20.050 --> 00:05:22.610 remember, go to EMUEagles .com to order your 00:05:22.610 --> 00:05:25.529 tickets. Normally, they're $7 or $9. You're going 00:05:25.529 --> 00:05:27.709 to get them for $3. They're going to have fireworks, 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:30.290 all kinds of acknowledgments to veterans and 00:05:30.290 --> 00:05:32.069 active -duty military, so we're hoping that you 00:05:32.069 --> 00:05:35.370 will come out and do that. And now, through the 00:05:35.370 --> 00:05:38.730 magic of technology, We got it. Joining us on 00:05:38.730 --> 00:05:41.990 the line, I've got him right now, is Bobby Matthews. 00:05:42.009 --> 00:05:44.709 Bobby, welcome to Veterans Radio. Thank you very 00:05:44.709 --> 00:05:46.089 much. Good morning, Dale. How are you doing today? 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:48.589 We're doing fine, thank you. Mr. Murphy showed 00:05:48.589 --> 00:05:51.470 up for a second there. We'll take care of him. 00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:54.389 Bobby, you are the executive director of the 00:05:54.389 --> 00:05:56.750 We Do Care organization, is that correct? That 00:05:56.750 --> 00:05:59.050 is. Tell us about We Do Care and what you've 00:05:59.050 --> 00:06:02.209 got coming up. Okay, great, thanks. We Do Care 00:06:02.209 --> 00:06:06.269 is an Illinois 501C3 non -political organization. 00:06:06.089 --> 00:06:09.569 grassroots organization, basically founded by 00:06:09.569 --> 00:06:13.670 Concerned Citizens in September 2004. Our mission 00:06:13.670 --> 00:06:16.009 is really to provide tangible opportunities for 00:06:16.009 --> 00:06:19.149 the American public to show their support to 00:06:19.149 --> 00:06:22.730 active duty military personnel, national guardsmen, 00:06:24.009 --> 00:06:27.269 reservists, veterans and their families while 00:06:27.269 --> 00:06:29.490 acknowledging and appreciating the freedom needed 00:06:29.490 --> 00:06:34.870 to our country. We believe that while our men 00:06:34.870 --> 00:06:37.819 and women in uniform honorably fulfilling their 00:06:37.819 --> 00:06:39.899 duties, so does every American have a duty to 00:06:39.899 --> 00:06:42.860 fulfill. And that duty is to show those that 00:06:42.860 --> 00:06:44.620 wear the cloth of the United States of America 00:06:44.620 --> 00:06:47.040 that they're clearly supported back home. I mean, 00:06:47.220 --> 00:06:49.680 we don't want any soldier to ever have to ask, 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:53.699 are my families being supported back home, are 00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:56.180 they being taken care of, and am I being supported 00:06:56.180 --> 00:06:58.699 back home, regardless of how you feel politically. 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:01.360 Right, and you've got a big event coming up on 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.689 the 12th of September, correct? We sure do. We 00:07:04.689 --> 00:07:07.290 have our sixth annual Family Freedom Festival, 00:07:07.709 --> 00:07:11.990 which is free to the public. Then we also have 00:07:11.990 --> 00:07:16.290 a 9 .11 mile freedom run, which is being done 00:07:16.290 --> 00:07:18.829 here in Barrington. And then we have shadow runs 00:07:18.829 --> 00:07:22.589 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba at the Navy base, Esken 00:07:22.589 --> 00:07:24.829 Village, Saudi Arabia, and then one of the Florida 00:07:24.829 --> 00:07:28.689 operating bases in Afghanistan. Wow, this is 00:07:28.689 --> 00:07:30.629 great. And your event in Illinois is going to 00:07:30.629 --> 00:07:33.720 be held where? It will be held at the Barrington 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:37.379 Metra train station parking lot, which is right 00:07:37.379 --> 00:07:41.379 in the downtown part of the village of Barrington. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.519 Barrington is in which direction from Chicago? 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.300 So it's west of Chicago. So if you came out on 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:51.100 I -90, it's like northwest. And this will begin 00:07:51.100 --> 00:07:54.180 when? What time? So the Freedom Run begins at, 00:07:54.180 --> 00:07:57.050 actually kicks off at 9 -11 in the morning. And 00:07:57.050 --> 00:08:00.110 then the opening ceremonies for the Freedom Festival 00:08:00.110 --> 00:08:03.410 start at noon with a military color guard posing 00:08:03.410 --> 00:08:06.149 in colors. We'll have some Gold Star families 00:08:06.149 --> 00:08:09.829 lay a wreath. And then we usually have a military 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:12.769 flyover right at the end of that. Well, Bobby, 00:08:12.910 --> 00:08:15.269 we want to thank you so very much for doing this 00:08:15.269 --> 00:08:17.490 for people. And the organization again is We 00:08:17.490 --> 00:08:21.230 Do Care. And what is the website for that? It's 00:08:21.230 --> 00:08:28.720 www .we -do -care .org. and everybody can go 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:30.740 there and find out more information and that 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:33.580 is going to be on the 12th of September and it's 00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:36.580 going to begin at around 9 -11 is when it kicks 00:08:36.580 --> 00:08:39.419 off. That's central time. Gary, you had a comment? 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:43.080 A question. You're going to have active duty 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:45.919 military family running and is it open to the 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.620 public to run? It sure is. It's open to the public. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:51.820 We actually have a lot of military units that 00:08:51.820 --> 00:08:53.480 will be running in formation, believe it or not. 00:08:54.040 --> 00:08:56.840 And all those fees are away for the military 00:08:56.840 --> 00:09:00.460 families that are deployed and then we give veterans 00:09:00.460 --> 00:09:03.139 and others a 50 % discount and stuff and that's 00:09:03.139 --> 00:09:05.779 been underwritten by one of our gracious sponsors. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:08.659 All right. Well, make sure those of you out in 00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:12.320 Chicagoland out west in Barrington, registration 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:14.620 is at 8 a .m. Make sure you get out there to 00:09:14.620 --> 00:09:17.460 the Barrington Metro Station and we'll hope to 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:19.600 talk to you again, Bob, Bobby, to find out more 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:21.419 about your organization and thanks so very much 00:09:21.419 --> 00:09:23.600 for what you do. Well, thank you very much, and 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:25.340 thanks to all of our men and women in uniform. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:29.000 We appreciate it. Airborne all the way. Stand 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:32.440 in the door, baby. Absolutely. Go Army. All right. 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:35.279 There we go. There we go. Thanks very much, Bobby. 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:37.259 All right. Take care. Have a great day. And you, 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:39.279 too. I got to see that running. I wonder if they'll 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.720 count cadence. I can only imagine. Road guards 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:45.860 out. That's the last time you heard that, boys. 00:09:46.220 --> 00:09:49.230 It should be fun. Also, each week on Veterans 00:09:49.230 --> 00:09:51.549 Radio, we like to welcome back the troops that 00:09:51.549 --> 00:09:54.370 are coming back from overseas. Bob, you're on. 00:09:54.529 --> 00:09:56.929 Thank you very much, Dale. Welcome home each 00:09:56.929 --> 00:10:00.009 week on Veterans Radio. We welcome home servicemen 00:10:00.009 --> 00:10:03.190 and women who are returning home back to this 00:10:03.190 --> 00:10:06.450 country after being stationed around the world. 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:16.090 Dateline, New Jersey. About 500 soldiers with 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:18.889 the 56th Striker Brigade Combat Team arrived 00:10:18.889 --> 00:10:21.830 at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Following a tour of 00:10:21.830 --> 00:10:24.269 duty in Iraq, their arrival marks the second 00:10:24.269 --> 00:10:27.470 wave of troops to return to the National Guard 00:10:27.470 --> 00:10:31.289 of New Jersey. Dateline, Fort Eustis, Virginia. 00:10:32.049 --> 00:10:35.190 About 130 soldiers from the Fort Eustis and 60 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:38.350 from Fort Story returned home today after completing 00:10:38.350 --> 00:10:42.029 a 12 month deployment in Iraq. The group assigned 00:10:42.029 --> 00:10:45.470 to the 155th Inland Cargo Transfer Company at 00:10:45.470 --> 00:10:48.309 Fort Eustis was responsible for the distribution 00:10:48.309 --> 00:10:52.870 of bulk cargo that supported 31 forward operating 00:10:52.870 --> 00:10:56.509 bases. The Fort Story soldiers oversaw a container 00:10:56.509 --> 00:10:59.929 receiving and shipping point in Balad, Iraq. 00:11:00.470 --> 00:11:03.690 The unit also worked in an air sustainment cell 00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:06.289 where it was responsible for the loading and 00:11:06.289 --> 00:11:10.889 unloading of aircraft cargo. Dateline, Ohio. 00:11:11.570 --> 00:11:15.090 Welcome home ceremony at the Reynoldsburg Air 00:11:15.090 --> 00:11:18.669 Force Base is planned to mark the return of the 00:11:18.669 --> 00:11:21.649 Ohio Army National Guard unit from Afghanistan. 00:11:22.190 --> 00:11:24.889 About 30 soldiers from the operational mentor 00:11:24.889 --> 00:11:30.429 and liaison team 9 .1, 174th Air Defense Artillery 00:11:30.429 --> 00:11:34.309 Brigade are expected at the ceremony. The unit 00:11:34.309 --> 00:11:37.990 was mobilized in December of 2008. Its mission 00:11:37.990 --> 00:11:41.950 was to train and mentor members of the Afghan 00:11:41.950 --> 00:12:01.990 National Army. society and listening and learning 00:12:01.990 --> 00:12:04.230 who their nominees are for their awards this 00:12:04.230 --> 00:12:06.590 year. And then we're going to end up the program 00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:10.169 delivering or announcing two large award winners 00:12:10.169 --> 00:12:15.070 and also going to be talking about the conference 00:12:15.070 --> 00:12:16.889 that's going to be going on in Orlando, Florida 00:12:16.889 --> 00:12:19.870 in October, October 9th and 10th in Orlando. 00:12:20.450 --> 00:12:23.570 Veterans Radio will be there to make sure that 00:12:23.570 --> 00:12:25.929 we're going to do a live program, hopefully. 00:12:26.389 --> 00:12:31.470 from 9 to 10 on the 10th of October, which will 00:12:31.470 --> 00:12:33.309 be really exciting. We're very excited to be 00:12:33.309 --> 00:12:35.549 invited to go down there and to talk to the group. 00:12:35.970 --> 00:12:40.090 And then we will also be, as I said, having a 00:12:40.090 --> 00:12:42.730 program on the 12th of September where we will 00:12:42.730 --> 00:12:44.610 announce all of the winners for the Military 00:12:44.610 --> 00:12:47.750 Writers Society Award winners. And right now 00:12:47.750 --> 00:12:49.970 I'm going to be going to our first guest who 00:12:49.970 --> 00:12:56.090 is Not quite there on the line yet. Let me introduce 00:12:56.090 --> 00:12:58.889 Jerry before I get him on the line. Jerry Yellen 00:12:58.889 --> 00:13:02.490 was born in 1924, completed high school in June 00:13:02.490 --> 00:13:05.730 of 1941. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 00:13:05.730 --> 00:13:08.970 his 18th birthday in 1942 and graduated from 00:13:08.970 --> 00:13:13.889 Luke Field in 1943 as a fighter pilot. He was 00:13:13.889 --> 00:13:16.669 in combat in the Pacific Theater and at Iwo Jima. 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:19.320 with the 78th Fighter Squadron and participated 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:21.460 in the first land -based fighter mission over 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:26.120 Japan on April 7th, 1945 and participated in 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:31.779 the last mission of the war on August 14th, 1945. 00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:34.580 He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:37.100 and an Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Medal with 00:13:37.100 --> 00:13:39.399 four Oak Leaf Clusters. He was discharged as 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:42.879 a captain in December of 1945. We're trying to 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.860 make contact with Jerry right now, and we're 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:47.559 having a little bit of difficulty, it looks like. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.299 But let me tell you about what I know about the 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:52.919 two books that he has written. The first one 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:54.360 that we're going to be talking about is called 00:13:54.360 --> 00:14:00.279 Of War and Weddings. I got him. Okay. Here we 00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:03.080 go. Anyway, welcome to Veterans Radio. Jerry? 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.559 Jerry Yellen. Welcome to Veterans Radio. Hi, 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:08.120 Jerry. Hi, Earl. Well, we've had it. It looks 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:11.259 like the Gremlins are about today, it looks like. 00:14:11.529 --> 00:14:14.549 I just introduced you, telling people about what 00:14:14.549 --> 00:14:17.110 you did during the war and what your job was, 00:14:18.210 --> 00:14:20.950 that you were a fighter pilot. You flew as an 00:14:20.950 --> 00:14:24.210 escort, didn't you? We started out flying escorts 00:14:24.210 --> 00:14:27.970 of B -29s from Iwo Jima. The first mission was 00:14:27.970 --> 00:14:33.409 on April 7, 1945, and there were 150 B -29s dropping 00:14:33.409 --> 00:14:39.539 their bombs on Tokyo. stopped sending fighter 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:42.259 planes up, so after that we just went up on strafing 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:48.759 missions. I want to talk about not only your 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:51.480 experiences, but let's talk about your book. 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:53.519 That's the main reason that we asked you to come 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:56.059 on, of war and weddings. Tell me a little bit 00:14:56.059 --> 00:15:00.539 about how this idea came about. Well, in 1983, 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:05.720 I was asked to go to Japan to talk to the Mitsui 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:07.990 bank group. about investing in American real 00:15:07.990 --> 00:15:11.909 estate. I didn't want to go. Japan was not a 00:15:11.909 --> 00:15:14.090 place I wanted to visit, and the Japanese certainly 00:15:14.090 --> 00:15:16.490 weren't people that I wanted to meet or know. 00:15:17.309 --> 00:15:21.750 But Helene, my wife of 40 some odd years at that 00:15:21.750 --> 00:15:26.289 point, was enamored with Japanese artifacts and 00:15:26.289 --> 00:15:30.970 screens and gardens, so we went. And my first 00:15:30.970 --> 00:15:35.470 experience in Japan, other than flying over it, 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:40.100 in October of 1983, and we got in at midnight, 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:43.179 went to sleep in a small hotel, got up in the 00:15:43.179 --> 00:15:46.340 morning, and I walked out onto the Kinza, which 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:51.179 was closed to traffic, and I saw incredibly beautiful 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:54.980 people, friendly people. I looked up through 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:58.379 the buildings, and I saw the B -29s in my mind's 00:15:58.379 --> 00:16:02.139 eye, and they were dropping their bombs on me, 00:16:02.139 --> 00:16:05.220 and it was a frightening and horrifying experience. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:10.220 And we gave our youngest son, Robert, a graduation 00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:12.960 present to go to Japan, which he did for six 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:19.659 weeks. And he went back to Japan in 1984 for 00:16:19.659 --> 00:16:23.940 a year to work as an English teacher. He's listening, 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.740 by the way, as is my 17 -year -old grandson, 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.460 my 18 -year -old grandson, Simon, the second 00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:35.139 son. And he went back to Japan and he hasn't 00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:40.500 come back yet. In 1988, he got married to a young 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:43.220 Japanese lady whose father was in the Imperial 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:47.639 Japanese Air Force. We met at the wedding and 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:50.460 we discovered that we had a lot in common as 00:16:50.460 --> 00:16:54.779 human beings, as people. I had never spoken about 00:16:54.779 --> 00:16:57.120 my wartime experiences to any of my children 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:01.240 or my wife. I came back to America after the 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:04.980 wedding in 1988 and I put my thoughts down at 00:17:04.970 --> 00:17:07.190 became the book of war and weddings. It's a memoir. 00:17:33.370 --> 00:17:35.589 In fact, one of the partners who was in here 00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:38.750 earlier, as I mentioned to you, made a trip back 00:17:38.750 --> 00:17:41.170 to Vietnam and found out that they were a wonderful, 00:17:41.170 --> 00:17:46.490 warm people and that it was a country, not just 00:17:46.490 --> 00:17:49.690 a war. It's an interesting thing about World 00:17:49.690 --> 00:17:54.069 War II. From my perspective and my memory, Dale, 00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:58.410 we fought the war in Europe against Hitler. We 00:17:58.410 --> 00:18:00.589 fought the war in Japan against the Japanese 00:18:00.589 --> 00:18:03.259 people. We were completely ignorant. of anything 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:09.279 about the Japanese people. And knowledge about 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:12.400 human beings and not demeaning them, we had to 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:16.359 demean every enemy that we ever had in war and 00:18:16.359 --> 00:18:19.700 as every fighting, every country who battles 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:23.619 another country demeans their enemy because we 00:18:23.619 --> 00:18:26.579 all are human, we all come from the same way, 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:30.359 same place. We all share the same intelligence 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:37.619 of nature in every one of ourselves. We just 00:18:37.619 --> 00:18:40.480 have to hate the guy we're going to kill. I know, 00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:42.920 and it's unfortunate. It's very difficult sometimes 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:45.400 for ordinary citizens, and I don't mean ordinary 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:47.980 civilians, to understand that mindset that you 00:18:47.980 --> 00:18:50.819 have to get yourself into sometimes in order 00:18:50.819 --> 00:18:56.279 to go to war. It takes its toll later on. I just 00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:59.059 think that your whole story, so let me go back 00:18:59.059 --> 00:19:02.440 to the story of war and weddings, is that you 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:05.119 go to the wedding of your son and future daughter 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.160 -in -law and you meet a Japanese fighter pilot. 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:11.579 No, he was a fighter pilot in training. Okay. 00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:15.319 And when they stopped the training, his entire 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:19.319 squadron, other than he and another man, went 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:22.920 to kamikaze school. Oh no. And he and another 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:26.869 man went to China. They spent the war in China, 00:19:27.390 --> 00:19:31.430 the rest of the war. This obviously has worked 00:19:31.430 --> 00:19:34.130 out very well for your son and for you, it sounds 00:19:34.130 --> 00:19:37.069 like. Well, it's worked out for more than just 00:19:37.069 --> 00:19:40.410 us. I've been to schools all over the country 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:44.509 and I've been to schools in Hiroshima. I think 00:19:44.509 --> 00:19:47.049 I've influenced a few people by telling them 00:19:47.049 --> 00:19:52.500 my story of healing. I love my Japanese grandchildren 00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:54.960 not so much as I love anybody else in the world. 00:19:56.819 --> 00:20:02.259 They love me and what I've discovered in my 85 00:20:02.259 --> 00:20:07.420 years of life and having been a warrior is legend 00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:12.299 has it that David slew Goliath 5 ,000 years ago 00:20:12.299 --> 00:20:15.740 with a slingshot and a pedal and all the progress 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:18.420 that we've made in life is we've invented better 00:20:18.420 --> 00:20:41.509 slingshots and better pedals. I was interviewed 00:20:41.509 --> 00:20:46.609 in 2005 by National Public Radio in Japan, NHK, 00:20:46.930 --> 00:20:50.049 and they asked me why I was such for peace, why 00:20:50.049 --> 00:20:52.789 I was such a proponent for bringing Japan and 00:20:52.789 --> 00:20:54.690 America closer together, even though they were 00:20:54.690 --> 00:20:59.069 very close. And I said, which was in my heart, 00:20:59.269 --> 00:21:02.369 I said early on in Robert's marriage, I had a 00:21:02.369 --> 00:21:05.210 nightmare, that my American grandchildren were 00:21:05.210 --> 00:21:07.609 getting into a bomber and flying across the Pacific 00:21:07.609 --> 00:21:10.589 to bomb Japan, and my Japanese grandchildren 00:21:10.589 --> 00:21:12.650 were getting into a bomber and flying across 00:21:12.650 --> 00:21:15.549 the Pacific to bomb America, and they crossed 00:21:15.549 --> 00:21:17.450 in the night, and I couldn't let that happen. 00:21:18.410 --> 00:21:23.029 That's really when I started, in the early days 00:21:23.029 --> 00:21:26.109 of Robert's wedding, of marriage, when I started 00:21:26.109 --> 00:21:28.910 to write of war and weddings and tell the story 00:21:28.910 --> 00:21:32.190 of what happened to me. I've heard this story 00:21:32.190 --> 00:21:34.470 before from you and it still gives me goosebumps. 00:21:35.210 --> 00:21:39.250 It's such a powerful, thought -provoking thing 00:21:39.250 --> 00:21:41.950 that you went through, processed. You couldn't 00:21:41.950 --> 00:21:43.950 help but write it down once you had that dream. 00:21:45.369 --> 00:21:48.440 The most powerful experience that I had. in all 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:54.099 of this was Mr. Yamakawa and I and a translator 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:59.619 went into a real con and we went into the hot 00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:03.880 bath and we sat and talked for three hours. We 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:06.119 spoke about everything that was important. He 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:09.339 asked me questions, I asked him questions about 00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:13.380 race, religion, education, family. Everything 00:22:13.380 --> 00:22:15.920 that he wanted to know about me, including the 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:19.099 war, I asked him the same questions and when 00:22:19.099 --> 00:22:22.539 we left he said in Japanese to the translator 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:25.559 that he never knew as a Japanese man that there 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:27.599 were other people in the world that felt the 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.779 same way that he and the Japanese people felt 00:22:30.779 --> 00:22:32.980 about life and everything that was important. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.119 We became family. I can't speak his language, 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:39.460 I can't speak mine, but we look at each other 00:22:39.460 --> 00:22:43.880 and we just have been very fortunate because 00:22:43.880 --> 00:22:47.349 of what I've learned. most about life I've learned 00:22:47.349 --> 00:22:55.589 from my children. And now I have three productive, 00:22:55.789 --> 00:23:00.210 wonderful grandchildren living in Japan, three 00:23:00.210 --> 00:23:03.809 living in America. Our oldest grandson is in 00:23:03.809 --> 00:23:06.849 Hokkaido University in Japan studying to be a 00:23:06.849 --> 00:23:10.049 physicist. And Simon, who is listening, is a 00:23:10.049 --> 00:23:13.940 senior in high school. I've been in an international 00:23:13.940 --> 00:23:16.619 baccalaureate high school program and doing extremely 00:23:16.619 --> 00:23:22.099 well. My 14 -year -old granddaughter, of course, 00:23:22.539 --> 00:23:26.940 daughters are different than grandsons, but she's 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:30.079 a member of a pom -pom dancing team that won 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:39.000 the national championship. get into the other 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:41.880 book, because I found the review of it just amazing. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:43.799 It's called The Blackened Canteen, and we've 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:46.119 got about, unfortunately we only got about four 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:48.099 minutes to talk about it, but can you tell me 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:53.259 about The Blackened Canteen? Yes. When I made 00:23:53.259 --> 00:23:56.339 that statement on NHK, it resonated with Dr. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:01.480 Sugano, who was 12 years old when a bombing raid 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:06.509 of 123 B -29s bombed his city of Shizuoka. and 00:24:06.509 --> 00:24:09.670 23 Americans were killed when their two B -29s 00:24:09.670 --> 00:24:15.230 crashed. And in the wreckage, the man, Fukumatsu 00:24:15.230 --> 00:24:18.710 Ito, who buried the Americans alongside the 2 00:24:18.710 --> 00:24:22.450 ,000 Japanese, they found a blackened canteen 00:24:22.450 --> 00:24:26.509 with a handprint of the American owner who was 00:24:26.509 --> 00:24:30.869 using it when he was killed. And Mr. Ito erected 00:24:30.869 --> 00:24:34.549 a monument on top of a mountain and every year 00:24:34.549 --> 00:24:38.970 has honored it. ceremonies honoring the Americans 00:24:38.970 --> 00:24:43.250 by the Japanese. I went to the ceremony in 2006 00:24:43.250 --> 00:24:48.369 and I just had to tell that story. So I started 00:24:48.369 --> 00:24:51.630 to write The Black and Canteen, which was published 00:24:51.630 --> 00:24:56.690 in October 2008. It's a true story of 23 Americans, 00:24:57.390 --> 00:25:02.049 of a number of Japanese people, but four Americans 00:25:02.049 --> 00:25:06.529 who were killed. killed in the B -29 crash, and 00:25:06.529 --> 00:25:09.529 one, Robert Richard Fisk, who was a bugler on 00:25:09.529 --> 00:25:12.970 the West Virginia, and three Japanese men, Mr. 00:25:13.210 --> 00:25:15.710 Ito, who buried the Americans, created a monument. 00:25:16.990 --> 00:25:19.690 Dr. Sugano, who has conducted a ceremony there 00:25:19.690 --> 00:25:23.529 every year on this Saturday closest to June 20th, 00:25:23.529 --> 00:25:27.170 and a man by the name of Takashi Maeda, who dropped 00:25:27.170 --> 00:25:31.190 a torpedo that sunk the West Virginia on the 00:25:31.190 --> 00:25:35.400 50th anniversary Harbor when Mr. Maeda and Richard 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:40.579 Fisk met on the Arizona and became friends, even 00:25:40.579 --> 00:25:43.799 though one guy sunk the ship that the other man 00:25:43.799 --> 00:25:47.579 was on. Right, but just think about the coincidences 00:25:47.579 --> 00:25:51.119 that go on in the world where you run into people 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:54.099 that you knew or that you were fighting against 00:25:54.099 --> 00:25:57.579 40, 50, 60 years ago and that you find out that 00:25:57.579 --> 00:26:01.500 they're just human beings just like you. the 00:26:01.500 --> 00:26:07.640 ugly part of war and the pure purpose of war 00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:11.480 from the military is to destroy your enemy as 00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:16.319 fast as you can, as efficiently as you can, so 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:18.299 that somebody on the other side will say we've 00:26:18.299 --> 00:26:22.220 had enough. That's what war is. We're at that 00:26:22.220 --> 00:26:25.680 today. We're in a war, two wars, where there 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:27.680 is no enemy that can say they've had enough. 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:31.140 the other side that we're fighting, we're fighting 00:26:31.140 --> 00:26:35.460 ideologies. Right. That's a whole other program, 00:26:35.700 --> 00:26:39.779 Jerry. It is, but the purpose of life from my 00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:42.960 perspective after all of these years is to connect 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:46.880 with all of humanity, to live in unity with all 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.640 of humanity and harmony with all of nature. It's 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:52.720 as simple as that. Everybody needs three squares 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:55.960 of meals, three meals a day and someone to love, 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:57.859 something to do and something to look forward 00:26:57.859 --> 00:27:00.599 to. They might speak another language, they might 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:03.599 worship another way, but they're all human beings. 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:06.000 We all come from the same place and come here 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:09.519 in the same way that nobody comes any differently. 00:27:19.809 --> 00:27:22.569 on Amazon and Borders and so forth, and he's 00:27:22.569 --> 00:27:24.769 also a member of the Military Writers Society 00:27:24.769 --> 00:27:27.170 of America. Jerry, I'm looking forward to meeting 00:27:27.170 --> 00:27:30.289 you at the convention in October, and thank you 00:27:30.289 --> 00:27:32.569 so very, very much for being on Veterans Radio 00:27:32.569 --> 00:27:35.329 today. My pleasure. Thank you. Thank you. We'll 00:27:35.329 --> 00:27:37.190 be talking to you again. Bye, Jerry. Bye -bye, 00:27:37.190 --> 00:27:39.170 Jerry. We're going to be coming right back. We're 00:27:39.170 --> 00:27:40.829 going to be talking and announcing the nominees 00:27:40.829 --> 00:27:43.769 for the Military Writers Society of America awards. 00:27:44.150 --> 00:27:46.430 You're listening to Veterans Radio. The Medal 00:27:46.430 --> 00:27:48.930 of Honor is the highest award for valor in combat 00:27:48.930 --> 00:27:51.029 given a member of the Armed Forces of the United 00:27:51.029 --> 00:27:54.250 States. There have been over 3 ,400 recipients 00:27:54.250 --> 00:27:57.509 of the nation's highest award. This is one of 00:27:57.509 --> 00:28:00.150 them. Major Bud Day's F -100 was hit by ground 00:28:00.150 --> 00:28:02.769 fire, destroying his hydraulics and putting the 00:28:02.769 --> 00:28:06.130 plane into a steep dive. Details after this. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.720 Day ejected from his damaged plane. He smashed 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:12.579 against the plane and broke his arm in three 00:28:12.579 --> 00:28:14.920 places. North Vietnamese militiamen captured 00:28:14.920 --> 00:28:17.410 him when he landed. When he refused to answer 00:28:17.410 --> 00:28:20.769 questions, they staged a mock execution and then 00:28:20.769 --> 00:28:22.950 hung him from a rafter by his feet for several 00:28:22.950 --> 00:28:26.670 hours. On his fifth day in camp, he untied himself 00:28:26.670 --> 00:28:29.849 and escaped. On his second night on the run, 00:28:30.250 --> 00:28:32.769 a bomb landed near the sleeping day, leaving 00:28:32.769 --> 00:28:36.170 him bleeding from his ears and sinuses and sent 00:28:36.170 --> 00:28:40.099 shrapnel into his leg. Between the 12th and 15th 00:28:40.099 --> 00:28:42.779 day, he heard helicopters and stumbled to the 00:28:42.779 --> 00:28:45.940 sound. The choppers left just before he got to 00:28:45.940 --> 00:28:49.319 the landing zone. The next morning, he ran into 00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:52.019 a North Vietnamese patrol. As he looped toward 00:28:52.019 --> 00:28:54.559 the jungle, he was shot in the leg and hand and 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:57.480 captured soon afterward. He was moved to the 00:28:57.480 --> 00:29:00.740 Hanoi Hilton. His untreated wounds were infected 00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:03.900 and he suffered malnutrition. The fingers on 00:29:03.900 --> 00:29:05.900 both hands were curled into fists as a result 00:29:05.900 --> 00:29:08.680 of torture. He regained some motion by peeling 00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:11.400 them back down the muzzles of the guns and began 00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:14.559 to sing the Star -Spangled Banner. The other 00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:17.099 men, including Admiral James Stockdale, joined 00:29:17.099 --> 00:29:22.319 him. They were released on March 14, 1973, and 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:24.299 President Ford presented the Medal of Honor to 00:29:24.299 --> 00:29:29.539 both Day and Stockdale on March 6, 1976. The 00:29:29.539 --> 00:29:31.619 Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans 00:29:31.619 --> 00:29:46.839 Radio. of the Military Writers Society of America, 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:49.220 Joyce Faulkner. Joyce, welcome to Veterans Radio. 00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:52.220 Thank you for having me. How are you doing? I'm 00:29:52.220 --> 00:29:54.519 doing great. This has been fun so far. I really 00:29:54.519 --> 00:29:57.500 enjoyed talking with Jerry. Amazing man, isn't 00:29:57.500 --> 00:30:00.119 he? He certainly is. Well, Joyce, tell me a little 00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:04.099 bit about your organization. Okay. The Military 00:30:04.099 --> 00:30:07.480 Writers Society of America was founded by Bill 00:30:07.480 --> 00:30:10.980 McDonald a few years back, and the idea was that 00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:15.009 we wanted to be able to support and recognize 00:30:15.009 --> 00:30:18.490 people who are writing in the military genre. 00:30:19.569 --> 00:30:23.269 It's a fairly narrow niche and up until that 00:30:23.269 --> 00:30:28.269 point there had been no organization that could 00:30:28.269 --> 00:30:31.730 focus on that. Since then we've grown in our 00:30:31.730 --> 00:30:36.109 range and our perspective significantly and right 00:30:36.109 --> 00:30:41.910 now we are focusing on a variety of genres. And 00:30:41.910 --> 00:30:46.250 we accept about anybody into the organization 00:30:46.250 --> 00:30:51.609 who feels that our interests and our perspective 00:30:51.609 --> 00:30:56.950 will help them reach their goals. And the award 00:30:56.950 --> 00:31:00.009 program is part of that. Joining us on the line 00:31:00.009 --> 00:31:03.089 with us right now is Bill McDonald. Bill, welcome 00:31:03.089 --> 00:31:05.430 to Veterans Radio. Well, top of the morning from 00:31:05.430 --> 00:31:07.910 California. Oh, thank you so very much for getting 00:31:07.910 --> 00:31:13.680 up so early. So tell me why you, Joyce just mentioned 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:15.900 that you started the organization. You are the 00:31:15.900 --> 00:31:19.079 founder. Are you also a writer? Yes, I am. I'm 00:31:19.079 --> 00:31:21.059 an author. I've got several books out there and 00:31:21.059 --> 00:31:23.559 I do documentary films and a bunch of other stuff. 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:28.839 And I'm a minister as well. And it was my work 00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:30.539 with the American Authors Association, which 00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:32.839 I'm the founder of also. We have about 2 ,000 00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:36.420 members in that group, which encompassed a lot 00:31:36.420 --> 00:31:37.859 of different authors. But we found that there 00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:41.420 was a group of men. at the beginning that were 00:31:41.420 --> 00:31:45.000 veterans and you know there was groups for mystery 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:48.160 writers and groups for thriller writers and fantasy 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.799 writers and sci -fi fiction and romance writers 00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:53.519 and all these different groups out there but 00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:55.740 nobody was really taking serious the genre of 00:31:55.740 --> 00:31:58.059 the military and these veterans were coming back 00:31:58.059 --> 00:32:00.940 and I gathered, I started off with a dozen of 00:32:00.940 --> 00:32:04.240 them and we went to Austin, Texas because the 00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:07.180 Texas Book Fair that was put on by Mrs. Bush, 00:32:07.220 --> 00:32:09.460 they didn't make a table for us. They didn't 00:32:09.460 --> 00:32:11.740 invite us so I did my own event there and we 00:32:11.740 --> 00:32:14.900 had 800 people come for a dozen riders which 00:32:14.900 --> 00:32:16.579 I thought was pretty successful and from there 00:32:16.579 --> 00:32:19.240 it just kind of blossomed and it grew and became 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:21.259 an organization and we didn't want it just to 00:32:21.259 --> 00:32:23.980 be an organization, an association, that's why 00:32:23.980 --> 00:32:26.599 it's called society because we wanted to fellowship 00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:30.599 where people that are patriotic and had common 00:32:30.599 --> 00:32:32.500 interests, the military, supported the military 00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:35.640 in particular, could gather and do their thing 00:32:35.640 --> 00:32:37.420 together. So that's kind of where it went and 00:32:37.420 --> 00:32:41.279 why I started it. We've used this program, well 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:44.099 I did, on PBS television a number of years ago. 00:32:44.259 --> 00:32:47.740 We developed a PTSD program called the Art of 00:32:47.740 --> 00:32:51.240 Healing for the VA in which the use of writing 00:32:51.240 --> 00:32:54.400 memoirs, poetry, art, music, things like this 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:57.200 were helping veterans get back in touch with 00:32:57.200 --> 00:32:59.059 themselves and helping to recover and heal much 00:32:59.059 --> 00:33:01.299 quicker. It was all kind of tied in together. 00:33:01.480 --> 00:33:03.420 So military writers, yeah it's writers but it's 00:33:03.420 --> 00:33:05.980 also peripherally a lot of other things, all 00:33:05.980 --> 00:33:08.740 of it in support of the military. We've been 00:33:08.740 --> 00:33:11.880 so grateful to work with you and with Joyce, 00:33:12.220 --> 00:33:14.519 especially with the military writers. Obviously, 00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:17.240 I've provided you with incredible guests and 00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:20.140 my library is growing exponentially. I can't 00:33:20.140 --> 00:33:24.920 read enough. It seems like right now. How many 00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:28.559 members are in the military writer society? At 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:34.859 this moment, we have around 735 that are participating 00:33:34.859 --> 00:33:38.579 in one way or another. There are about 350 that 00:33:38.579 --> 00:33:42.859 are actual active members in any one year. Usually 00:33:42.859 --> 00:33:45.680 that year depends on if they have a book out 00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:49.299 that year. Okay. Well, we're going to be going 00:33:49.299 --> 00:33:52.240 into your nominations in just a second, but I 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:54.500 want to let everybody know that the first part 00:33:54.500 --> 00:33:55.779 that we're going to be talking about are your, 00:33:55.779 --> 00:33:58.279 I want to say, general nominations. But in the 00:33:58.279 --> 00:34:00.019 last segment of the program, we are going to 00:34:00.019 --> 00:34:03.160 be announcing the Society's Founder's Award and 00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:05.660 President's Awards. So we want to make sure everybody 00:34:05.660 --> 00:34:07.160 sticks around for that. And we're also going 00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:08.960 to be finding out more about your convention 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:12.360 in Orlando in October. So right now, as I go, 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:14.300 this is more people on the phone than we've ever 00:34:14.300 --> 00:34:18.159 had. I'm going to be going to, who am I talking 00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:21.880 with now? Rob. Rob Ballester. That's you, Rob? 00:34:22.420 --> 00:34:24.199 That's me. Good morning. Good morning. How are 00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:26.320 you? And I understand that you are the head reviewer 00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:30.820 for the Military Society. That is true. Morning, 00:34:30.940 --> 00:34:34.269 Bill. Good morning to you, sir. Hey, good morning, 00:34:34.369 --> 00:34:40.690 boss lady. I am the head reviewer. I have about 00:34:40.690 --> 00:34:45.809 12 reviewers, all volunteers that we farm out 00:34:45.809 --> 00:34:49.349 our members' works to. And we have a review process 00:34:49.349 --> 00:34:51.110 where we go ahead and read the book and score 00:34:51.110 --> 00:34:54.550 it and get some feedback to the members and get 00:34:54.550 --> 00:34:56.789 it up on our site. And at the end of every year, 00:34:57.230 --> 00:35:00.389 we try to award the best of the best through 00:35:00.389 --> 00:35:02.679 our award process. Okay, well why don't we get 00:35:02.679 --> 00:35:05.679 right into this and let you announce who your 00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:10.440 nominees are for 2009. Okay. How about a drum 00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:33.280 roll? There we go, okay, we have ten categories 00:35:33.280 --> 00:35:39.460 this year We the nominees are in the anthology 00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:44.739 category first We have three nominees home of 00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:50.460 the brave by Hess Where Marines Dammit by Gail 00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:54.659 Chatfield and Uncle John's bathroom reader salutes 00:35:54.659 --> 00:35:58.730 the military by Uncle John's that's actually 00:35:58.730 --> 00:36:03.329 an anthology by several authors, one of whom 00:36:03.329 --> 00:36:06.369 is a member of our society, Andrew Lubin. So 00:36:06.369 --> 00:36:10.869 that's our anthology category. Moving on to the 00:36:10.869 --> 00:36:15.150 children's category. We have the Buck Ballot 00:36:15.150 --> 00:36:20.469 series by Linhart, Memories of Me by Lisa Campbell, 00:36:21.690 --> 00:36:26.309 You and Your Military Hero by Zitzow, and If 00:36:26.309 --> 00:36:31.420 I Had a Daddy, by Sullivan and I'd like to comment 00:36:31.420 --> 00:36:34.539 that these are written uh read in no particular 00:36:34.539 --> 00:36:38.179 order so each book will get a clean a clean review 00:36:38.179 --> 00:36:42.019 when we uh when we sit down and do the the final 00:36:42.019 --> 00:36:46.219 awards process moving on to the fiction category 00:36:46.219 --> 00:36:54.159 we have the first book is The Take by Tackix 00:36:54.159 --> 00:37:01.280 second is The Sandman by Lucero, third is Childfinder 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:06.340 by Angley, and fourth is Honor Defended by D 00:37:06.340 --> 00:37:16.000 .H. Brown. Because we have so many military works 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:17.900 that come in, we also have a historical fiction 00:37:17.900 --> 00:37:20.460 category, a little bit different from our fiction. 00:37:20.599 --> 00:37:22.699 Fiction would be things like thrillers and mysteries. 00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:24.500 Historical fiction would be something written 00:37:24.500 --> 00:37:27.840 against the background of something in history, 00:37:27.940 --> 00:37:30.159 usually in our case some sort of military action. 00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:34.400 Okay. So in that category we have Hollywood Buzz 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:39.639 by Margaret Leitch, True Colors by Erin Rainwater, 00:37:40.659 --> 00:37:45.340 The Final Salute by Rogers, and Virginia's War 00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:50.480 by Jack London. V Jack London? I don't think 00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:53.059 it's V Jack London. It's another guy who's fortunate 00:37:53.059 --> 00:37:57.269 enough to have Give them credibility right away. 00:37:57.889 --> 00:37:59.590 Exactly, and a similar amount of talent apparently. 00:38:00.389 --> 00:38:05.190 Okay, and next. Next we have memoir. Embedded, 00:38:05.210 --> 00:38:08.070 a Marine Corps advisor inside the Iraqi Army, 00:38:08.409 --> 00:38:12.690 by Gray. The Lady Gangster, members of a sailor, 00:38:12.849 --> 00:38:17.130 by Del Staker. Kat Lowe, a memoir of invincible 00:38:17.130 --> 00:38:22.070 youth, by Irwin. An immeasurable spirit, lessons 00:38:22.070 --> 00:38:26.639 of a wounded warrior. I apologize that I don't 00:38:26.639 --> 00:38:31.480 have all of the first names. But the last name, 00:38:31.500 --> 00:38:34.940 that'll give us some... All of these nominees 00:38:34.940 --> 00:38:37.900 will be up on your website later this afternoon. 00:38:38.099 --> 00:38:40.619 Is that correct, Joyce? Yes, that's correct. 00:38:40.940 --> 00:38:44.179 And each person will be notified, too. Okay. 00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:46.900 Moving right along. Moving right along. We have 00:38:46.900 --> 00:38:49.880 one nominee in the music category, and that's 00:38:49.880 --> 00:38:55.340 Jeff Jellerson for his CD, Going Home. And in 00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:59.420 the non -fiction category, we have Sacred Ground, 00:38:59.719 --> 00:39:03.860 Tribute to Veterans by Tom Ruck, The Aether Zone, 00:39:04.119 --> 00:39:07.579 U .S. Army Special Forces Detachment B -52 by 00:39:07.579 --> 00:39:11.360 Morris, Fire in the Night, Creative Essays from 00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:18.400 an Iraq War Vet by Lee Kelly, and a Vietnam Trilogy 00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:26.460 by Skrfield. Going to poetry. Three nominees 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:30.320 in that category. Tears for Mother Earth by Jim 00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:34.179 Greenwald. Tomes of Passion and Songs for the 00:39:34.179 --> 00:39:37.980 Soul by Jeff Jellerson. The multi -talented Jeff 00:39:37.980 --> 00:39:40.159 Jellerson, apparently, because he also submitted 00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:44.900 the CD. And Sugar Zeros and Lemon Drops by Jim 00:39:44.900 --> 00:39:50.159 Greenwald again. Moving on to our reference category. 00:39:52.460 --> 00:39:57.760 Strike from the Sea by Tomason. U .S. Air Force 00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:00.820 prototype jet fighters by Jenkins and Landis. 00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:07.480 The Book of War by Don Zimmerman. And America's 00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:13.559 Film, America's Film Vault by Stuart. And our 00:40:13.559 --> 00:40:17.699 last category this year is the spiritual slash 00:40:17.699 --> 00:40:22.320 religious category. God in the Foxhole by Sasser. 00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:25.639 Battlefields and Blessings, stories of Faith 00:40:25.639 --> 00:40:29.340 and Courage from World War II by Larkin Spivey, 00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:32.880 Bible Promises for Soldiers by Barnes, and I 00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:36.960 Will Never Give Up on God Again by Clark. Wow, 00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:39.219 sounds like a great list. We're going to be having 00:40:39.219 --> 00:40:42.179 that up on their website shortly. We're going 00:40:42.179 --> 00:40:44.500 to need to take a real quick break. We're going 00:40:44.500 --> 00:40:46.460 to be announcing the awards for the Military 00:40:46.460 --> 00:40:48.699 Writers Society, for the Founders Award, and 00:40:48.699 --> 00:40:50.820 the President's Award as soon as we come back 00:40:50.820 --> 00:40:54.980 from our break. And we're back on Veterans Radio 00:40:54.980 --> 00:40:57.239 and we're digging into the vaults of our musical. 00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:00.059 You like that one, huh? Our musical library. 00:41:00.059 --> 00:41:01.639 You know who that was? That was Bing Crogby, 00:41:01.739 --> 00:41:05.500 by the way. By Bonds. Anyway, we are talking 00:41:05.500 --> 00:41:08.760 with a couple of people from the Military Writers 00:41:08.760 --> 00:41:11.960 Society. We've just announced their nominees 00:41:11.960 --> 00:41:15.199 for their awards this year. And right now we're 00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:16.980 going to be going back and announcing two of 00:41:16.980 --> 00:41:18.980 their big awards. And Joyce, I'm going to turn 00:41:18.980 --> 00:41:26.320 it over to you. And for the first time this year, 00:41:26.360 --> 00:41:30.719 it goes out to two individuals. The award recognizes 00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:33.539 writing ability, but it's much more than that. 00:41:34.199 --> 00:41:38.039 MWSA strives to support and recognize our members, 00:41:38.380 --> 00:41:42.280 and that takes a lot of work. And somebody has 00:41:42.280 --> 00:41:47.320 to do that work. And this year was a transition 00:41:47.320 --> 00:41:51.300 year where we're really making some big strides 00:41:51.300 --> 00:41:53.800 building on the shoulders of the giants that 00:41:53.800 --> 00:41:58.860 came before us. And I'd like to recognize two 00:41:58.860 --> 00:42:05.119 people. The first one is John Cathcart. His book, 00:42:05.219 --> 00:42:08.579 it's a terrific thriller. It's called Delta Seven. 00:42:09.239 --> 00:42:13.000 And he has donated his time and talents and an 00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:17.760 unfailing sense of humor to the MWSA. And without 00:42:17.760 --> 00:42:21.000 our website, that's kind of the core of our communications 00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:25.139 device. And I was a webmaster before John, and 00:42:25.139 --> 00:42:30.260 it is a heck of a job. And I'd like to recognize 00:42:30.260 --> 00:42:35.820 John for that. And he is our first of two President's 00:42:35.820 --> 00:42:40.000 Award winners. The second one, and unfortunately, 00:42:40.280 --> 00:42:43.400 Rob had to leave. I want to announce that Rob 00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:46.539 Ballester also has received the President's Award. 00:42:46.900 --> 00:42:49.619 He's our lead reviewer. He's been a reviewer 00:42:49.619 --> 00:42:53.440 for many years. He is also our past webmaster 00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:57.500 and his book is called God Does Have a Sense 00:42:57.500 --> 00:43:05.179 of Humor. The key quality that both of these 00:43:05.179 --> 00:43:08.659 gentlemen share is their ability to bring people 00:43:08.659 --> 00:43:12.900 together. And as Bill has mentioned before, the 00:43:12.900 --> 00:43:18.239 whole concept of MWSA is a sense of brotherhood 00:43:18.239 --> 00:43:22.019 and support. and cheerleading and recognition 00:43:22.019 --> 00:43:25.860 and education and encouragement. And these two 00:43:25.860 --> 00:43:29.739 people, John Cathcart and Rob Bavister, winners 00:43:29.739 --> 00:43:35.159 of the 2009 President's Award, embody those particular 00:43:35.159 --> 00:43:39.639 qualities. Congratulations to them. And now Bob 00:43:39.639 --> 00:43:41.639 is going crazy. He wants me to queue him up here. 00:43:42.179 --> 00:43:44.440 We're going to come back to Bill in just a second 00:43:44.440 --> 00:43:47.840 for your President's, no, Founder's Award. Hold 00:43:47.840 --> 00:44:18.320 on just a second. The Founder's Award. for the 00:44:18.320 --> 00:44:22.440 military writer society is like, that's the award 00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:25.119 that has the most prestige, the most recognition. 00:44:25.400 --> 00:44:30.000 And this is given by the society and by the founder, 00:44:30.179 --> 00:44:33.480 that's me, to recognize someone who's written 00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:36.739 a book or created something that goes beyond 00:44:36.739 --> 00:44:38.880 just their own personal journey. Even though 00:44:38.880 --> 00:44:41.780 the book may be about them, it reaches greater 00:44:41.780 --> 00:44:44.679 issues and the message is bigger than just about 00:44:44.679 --> 00:44:47.659 themselves. So it's more universal. It's something 00:44:47.659 --> 00:44:51.219 that helps heal, something that inspires, something 00:44:51.219 --> 00:44:54.079 that moves people, something that supports the 00:44:54.079 --> 00:44:57.619 image and the recognition for veterans in some 00:44:57.619 --> 00:44:59.920 way. So I kind of consider all these factors 00:44:59.920 --> 00:45:02.579 into it, not just that it's a good story or just 00:45:02.579 --> 00:45:05.739 a good memoir, but what's it that's in there 00:45:05.739 --> 00:45:07.460 for everyone else? What would other people get 00:45:07.460 --> 00:45:09.699 reading this book? So we try to pick something 00:45:09.699 --> 00:45:12.360 that is really outstaying. I had five books in 00:45:12.360 --> 00:45:14.980 mind and I see two of those renominated to another 00:45:14.980 --> 00:45:17.460 category, which I'm happy to say. But the book 00:45:17.460 --> 00:45:20.840 I did end up selecting was called Stand 2, A 00:45:20.840 --> 00:45:24.679 Journey to Manhood, by E. Franklin Evans. It 00:45:24.679 --> 00:45:27.039 really is a journey to manhood. The way he writes 00:45:27.039 --> 00:45:29.900 the book, he starts off talking about his good 00:45:29.900 --> 00:45:31.599 friend from high school getting the news that 00:45:31.599 --> 00:45:34.760 he got killed in Vietnam and having to deal with 00:45:34.760 --> 00:45:38.139 that and then going into service, becoming an 00:45:38.139 --> 00:45:40.579 officer and leaving his own patrols just a couple 00:45:40.579 --> 00:45:44.619 years later in Vietnam itself. with all these 00:45:44.619 --> 00:45:46.559 things and how he is under fire at a special 00:45:46.559 --> 00:45:51.980 forces camp. A lot of the personal observations 00:45:51.980 --> 00:45:56.420 and introspects that he makes throughout his 00:45:56.420 --> 00:45:58.380 journey and how he looks back, writing this as 00:45:58.380 --> 00:46:01.820 an adult, he tries to capture his essence of 00:46:01.820 --> 00:46:03.719 his thoughts and his minds and his feelings back 00:46:03.719 --> 00:46:07.300 when he was that age. It's a beautifully well 00:46:07.300 --> 00:46:11.179 written story and it's his life story and it's 00:46:11.179 --> 00:46:13.269 the kind of story that you read that and you 00:46:13.269 --> 00:46:17.710 are moved. Some places moved into tears, some 00:46:17.710 --> 00:46:20.570 places just inspired, some places you might get 00:46:20.570 --> 00:46:23.349 a chuckle. So it's a real great book. It's called 00:46:23.349 --> 00:46:26.670 Stand To, A Journey to Manhood, and I'll be sending 00:46:26.670 --> 00:46:32.769 that in Orlando, Florida to Mr. Evans and him 00:46:32.769 --> 00:46:35.369 in person. Well, congratulations to all of your 00:46:35.369 --> 00:46:37.130 nominees and especially to those two winners. 00:46:37.369 --> 00:46:40.329 And speaking of Orlando, for your conference 00:46:40.329 --> 00:46:43.119 that's coming up in October, we've got Richard 00:46:43.119 --> 00:46:45.280 Lowry on the phone right now. Richard, tell us 00:46:45.280 --> 00:46:47.199 what's going to be happening in Orlando in October. 00:46:48.280 --> 00:46:52.420 Good morning. Thanks for having me. The Military 00:46:52.420 --> 00:46:54.699 Writers Conference is going to be held here in 00:46:54.699 --> 00:46:58.199 Orlando from the 9th through the 11th of October. 00:46:59.340 --> 00:47:02.460 The main day of the conference is on the 10th. 00:47:02.559 --> 00:47:05.179 For details on the conference, if you're interested 00:47:05.179 --> 00:47:07.699 in learning more about it, you can go to militarywriters 00:47:07.699 --> 00:47:11.679 .com. And you can see who all the nominees have 00:47:11.679 --> 00:47:14.800 been and learned lots more about our organization 00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:18.860 on that site. But at the conference we're going 00:47:18.860 --> 00:47:20.780 to have book signings, we're going to have workshops, 00:47:20.980 --> 00:47:22.920 we're going to have screenings of two powerful 00:47:22.920 --> 00:47:27.440 documentaries, Troopers and the GI Film Festival's 00:47:27.440 --> 00:47:32.159 award winning Perfect Valor that's narrated by 00:47:32.159 --> 00:47:35.880 Fred Thompson. For information on that film you 00:47:35.880 --> 00:47:41.059 can go to perfectvalor .com. And then we're going 00:47:41.059 --> 00:47:44.800 to have the awards banquet. And the highlight 00:47:44.800 --> 00:47:47.099 of the conference this year, I believe it was 00:47:47.099 --> 00:47:50.679 Joyce's idea, is that we have a People's Choice 00:47:50.679 --> 00:47:54.039 Award that I have been asked to make the presentation 00:47:54.039 --> 00:47:56.800 for that award. And what we've done, again, you 00:47:56.800 --> 00:47:59.440 can go to our website and look for the People's 00:47:59.440 --> 00:48:03.159 Choice Award. We have posted five photographs 00:48:03.159 --> 00:48:10.219 that embody some theme of military service. We've 00:48:10.219 --> 00:48:16.119 asked writers and poets and musicians to submit 00:48:16.119 --> 00:48:22.860 a piece that exemplifies one of those photographs. 00:48:23.579 --> 00:48:27.639 We're going to judge all those pieces. I think 00:48:27.639 --> 00:48:30.440 Joyce can correct me if I'm wrong. We're going 00:48:30.440 --> 00:48:34.360 to limit it to about ten. Once we pick the ten 00:48:34.360 --> 00:48:38.250 finalists, we're going to have eight. Once we 00:48:38.250 --> 00:48:40.590 pick the eight finalists, we're going to have 00:48:40.590 --> 00:48:45.090 a People's Choice Award. And at the conference, 00:48:46.110 --> 00:48:48.809 people will be able to vote on who they believe 00:48:48.809 --> 00:48:54.329 is the best entry. They'll also be able to vote 00:48:54.329 --> 00:48:57.349 online at our website. They'll be able to vote 00:48:57.349 --> 00:49:00.349 online through Twitter and Facebook accounts 00:49:00.349 --> 00:49:04.469 from members. And the goal is to get a million 00:49:04.469 --> 00:49:08.780 people voting. and we'll be displaying a total 00:49:08.780 --> 00:49:11.320 of the votes as they come in at the conference 00:49:11.320 --> 00:49:14.179 and then on Saturday night at the awards banquet 00:49:14.179 --> 00:49:17.820 we will award the winner of that award. We think 00:49:17.820 --> 00:49:20.239 that this is going to encourage lots of people 00:49:20.239 --> 00:49:25.400 to participate in our organization and give recognition 00:49:25.400 --> 00:49:32.300 to artists in our genre as well. Also, I want 00:49:32.300 --> 00:49:33.519 to make sure everybody knows that we're going 00:49:33.519 --> 00:49:36.400 to be doing a live show from Orlando on October 00:49:36.400 --> 00:49:38.980 10th. We encourage you to do that. We want to 00:49:38.980 --> 00:49:40.940 thank all of you for being on Veterans Radio 00:49:40.940 --> 00:49:43.699 today. Some of you will be back on the 12th of 00:49:43.699 --> 00:49:45.480 September as we announce the winners in all of 00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:49.360 those categories. And I'm so excited just to 00:49:49.360 --> 00:49:52.519 have the military writers on board with Veterans 00:49:52.519 --> 00:49:54.579 Radio. It sounds like Bill and I have similar 00:49:54.579 --> 00:49:56.619 goals in the world. There are a lot of radio 00:49:56.619 --> 00:49:59.179 programs out there, but nothing that was specifically 00:49:59.179 --> 00:50:02.960 geared toward veterans and military. So on behalf 00:50:02.960 --> 00:50:05.739 of a happy, happy crew here at Veterans Radio, 00:50:06.059 --> 00:50:08.280 and for all of you out there, until next week, 00:50:08.619 --> 00:50:09.679 you are dismissed.