A Salute to Veterans

Tuesday was Veteran’s Day and we honor vets and welcomed callers to the program to shout out and salute the veteran(s) in their life!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm telling you Boston's
News Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
All right, Well, it's been an interesting night so far,
and I would like to end on a very positive
note this Veterans Day. I'm reminded by a friend of
mine in Canada that the equivalent of Veterans Day occurs
in Canada. It's called Remembrance Day. So, unless I'm misunderstanding that,

(00:30):
I would invite all of my listeners, whether you happen
to be here in the States or north of the border,
or anywhere around the world, I'd like you to reach
out and mention a loved one or a friend who
served in any capacity during any time, anyone who put

(00:51):
the uniform on and spent eight period of time. It
could have been in a horrific combat situation, which you know,
very few of us have ever had to find ourselves
in those sorts of military activities. But there's you know,

(01:13):
I'll do a shout out to Joe. He said he
served four years one of our calls last hour in
the Air Force. I guess he was a police officer
in the Air Force. Again, those of you who have
parents or relatives, my dad served two and a half years.

(01:36):
Actually you know, he was in for over three years,
but two and a half years during World War Two
in China Burman, India. I told you that before. I
remember as a small boy, a little child, hearing my
father at night in another you know, in another room,
in the middle of the night, screaming in horror. Never

(01:59):
talked to about what he had seen, what he had experienced,
but obviously those experiences in the China Berman India theater.
I remembered him talking about the general that he served under,
Joe Stillwell. That name was mentioned frequently. Didn't tell war stories,
but kept in contact with his with his colleagues, the

(02:23):
men with which he served, and they were from all
over the country. Remember there was a fellow, Paul Butler,
from from Kentucky. There was a fellow's last name was
Hitchcock from Wyoming. Those were people that I got to
know through him. They would write longhand Christmas cards every year,

(02:44):
every year, and those my dad would write probably I
don't know, eight or ten Christmas cards. And as time
went on and as people passed on, the Christmas card
list dwindled, but they kept in contact and they were

(03:04):
World War He was a World War Two veteran obviously
in China, Burman, India. It was the Asia the Pacific Theater.
I'm sure there are individuals that you know, so I'm
just gonna give you the opportunity to to mention someone

(03:25):
who may still be alive, and you could play this
for them tomorrow. You don't have to, you can. You
can clip it from Nightside and demand, which will be
posted tonight by Rob and you can send it them
and just say hey, I mentioned you were in a
radio station in Boston which has heard over in half
the country and around the world on the internet. So

(03:46):
the numbers are the same six one, seven, four, ten thirty.
And this is not the twentieth hour because obviously I
won't be here on Friday, so everybody has a hall
pass on this one. If you called earlier in the week,
meaning last night, or even earlier tonight, and you'd like
to call and mentioned someone uh in your in your family,

(04:07):
in your circle of friends, within your neighborhood who served
you were more than welcome to join the conversation. Let
me go to Jenia in California, Jania. So great to
hear your voice. Jenia is in Will you call well?

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Good to hear you, Jania. Well, you know what fun fact,
I'm gonna let you in on something. My first name
is actually Janina, Janine Janina Okay.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Then I mispronounced it Janina. Okay, it's all good.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Mom didn't know how to stop, but we got her.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
But you got it as Janina, okay, with a with
a long e. I like that too. That's great.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
You have no worried And here I can't.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Pronounce your name, but I know what town you live in,
read in California.

Speaker 5 (04:54):
Well, you know it's funny.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
You and I actually have known each other for a
very long time. We go way back, way back. We'll
chat about that at the other time. I love you
so much, but hey, you know I love this topic,
I really do. And I have an amazing veteran I
want to give a shout out too. And he's pretty incredible.
He actually inspired an entire nonprofit and entire three years

(05:18):
of justice speaking justice for this man. He actually served
in Vietnam in nineteen sixty nine. He was a flame thrower.
He worked with the flamethrowers. This man is just incredible
little history. He's from Elko, Nevada. He grew up on
a railroad, hundred Nate elementary schools moved every two weeks.

(05:38):
And this man was just so excited to go serve
in Vietnam. And he did just like his uncles and
his father, so proud and as one does. He came
back with a lot of PTSD. And I ended up
meeting him a few years ago because he wrote a
book for healing from his PTSD, and so it came
from poetry, and it's actually called Viet Saying in Vietnam

(06:01):
War Combat Poetry by Specialist fifth Class Nelson John Herron.
He's got amazing reviews. This guy is just incredible, and
so he wrote this book of poetry. And I found
him because he was having trouble getting his royalties and
his payments and really knowing what was what. So we
figured it out and in the process of him just
feeling like he had a really bad experience, a friend

(06:23):
of mine, he's actually amazing. He's from Sleeping with Sirens,
Jesse Lawson. We heard about this man and we helped
him turn his poetry into music. And he's just serving.
He's just a servant, and he's got his music out there,
he's got his books out there, and he's a real deal.
Like he's just out here trying to find other Vietnam

(06:43):
veterans to connect. He's even got like a YouTube channel
to get them together. And he's so just yeah, like
he literally he was a police officer before and at
one point even tried to take his own life with
his own revolver twice from PTSD.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
There's a lot of those there's a lot of those stories,
Jani unfortunately.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Yeah, you know, and you know, like I used to
work at the overnight shift there at math Sport, and
sitting on that overnight shift, a lot of times we
would write a lot of stuff. That's literally what happened
to this man. He was on the overnight shift working
in a mine in Nevada and these poetry it just
came to him and he just felt compelled me had
to write and how to get it out. And his

(07:25):
poetry is amazing. It's actually in the Library of Congress.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Really now, is he a published author as well?

Speaker 3 (07:32):
He is, so he's actually a published author Vietnam Combat Poetry,
Vietnam War combat Poetry. One of the projects I'm going
to be going back east is try to help him
get some more justice with another book he wrote and
meet some other veterans. He's just intriguing, amazing human being,
an overcomer.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
Wow, look he has to be at this point, assuming
in his seventies.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
He is, And I just thought him and his lovely
wife today and it's.

Speaker 2 (08:04):
Really, well, how is he doing physically? A lot of
guys in Vietnam obviously were exposed to chemicals, and if
you're saying he was a flamethrower, he they you know,
you get that all that age of orange stuff going on.
How was his health at this point?

Speaker 6 (08:19):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Thanks for asking. So he is doing okay on the health.
He's actually, to be honest with you, I feel like
he's he's quite healthy. I think for one of the
major hinders for him is that mental health. You know,
it's it's being able to, you know, give yourself grace
and peace and forgiveness and perseverance and moving on. And

(08:42):
and that's why like his poetry and his music is
so incredible, because it's just inspirational. Like for me, I
think the things that I complain about and I look
at him and I'm just like, wow, you.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Trivial compared to so does he entertain at clubs? Is
his music something that that he that he sells or
or that he plays.

Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yes, he does, yep, so so he owns and and
actually this is quite unheard of Jesse Lawson. I'ld encourage
everyone to check out his music as well. He's amazing.
He's travels all over the world and.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
Played give me give me his website and maybe some
of our listeners. What's his first name, Jesse.

Speaker 4 (09:27):
Jesse Lawson.

Speaker 3 (09:28):
So he is the musician who helped put together the
music and sing Meldon's poems in this project for him
and gave him all of the royals. He's all of
the publishing rights. Actually, one ask his music is just
one of a kind because Melvin owns all rights. If
somebody who knows somebody could help us get it on
like dancing with the stars, that would be an amazing

(09:50):
way for a veteran to make real money off of
his real work.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah, just so I understand this genia. So the fellow
who actually wrote the music, a gentleman named Melvin. His
works in conjunction with this fellow. I think I caught
the name as Jesse Lawson, and that would be j E. S.
S E L A W S O N. If I'm here, Yes,

(10:18):
work that's right. Yeah, okay, is does he have a
website Jesselowson dot com or something like that.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
He does. He's also on YouTube Jesse Lawson Official. A
lot of people that know some of his music will
be able to find him there. And then he actually
sings Meldon's music on Meldon's YouTube channel, which is Meldon
Herron and it's also searchable Vietnam Combat Music Meldon Harrin and.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Everybody has a has a YouTube channel.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
At this point, it's crazy. I know, I can't keep
up with all that.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Okay, so wait a second, I'm just looking this up here, okay.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
And so I'm putting in Jesse Lawson dot com dot
com and I'm coming up with nothing, So tell tell
me give it to me slowly so that people can
also follow me to find this. It's Jesse laws and
what is it? Is it a on email? We'll give
it me.

Speaker 3 (11:11):
What so banks, yes, and let's just do Vietnam Combat
Music dot Com will get everyone where they need to go.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Okay, Vietnam Combat Music, you gotta spell and that I
don't have producers here, so, uh, combat music dot Com.
Let me see what we got here. Okay, let's see
Vietnam Combat Music dot com. Yep, I got it here.
So I got this right here, combat Poetry music, I

(11:43):
see it all.

Speaker 6 (11:44):
Welcome to take it to the links.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, it's just really great and just inspirational for a
lot of these Vietnam veterans. They have such creativity and
a lot of them are finding the healings through the creativity.
And one of the things that's amazing that I keep
asking for all of us to do. Let's celebrate our
Vietnam veterans while they're alive and make them feel special

(12:11):
and amazing while they're here.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Not OK, I got it. But the combat veteran is
John Heron h E. R R O N Spec five
Neldon Neldon, John Heron. And it's easy to find Vietnamcombat
Music dot com. I'm hoping everybody will take a look
at this and take a listen. Uh. And it says

(12:34):
Jesse Lawson and Sedilla. So if I found it with
my limited technical skills, Vietnam Combat amaz dot com. Jania,
thank you so much. This was a great call. Appreciate
it so.

Speaker 4 (12:48):
Thank you so much. You take care see your student friend,
I hope.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
So thanks Jenia, thank you very much. Jania out of
reading California. It's amazing the number of people you get
to know doing a program like this. Okay, now, I
got some open lines here. Six one, seven, two, five,
four to ten thirty six one seven, nine, three one
ten thirty. I want to hear from you. Who is
it that you would like to do a salute to tonight?
It's Veterans Day. If you're up in Canada and you're listening,

(13:14):
want to do a salute to someone in Canadian Armed forces?
It's Remembrance Day. I got some open lines here, Let's
fill them up. Don't want to end with with I
want calls. I want people to salute and remember that's
what Veterans Day is all about. Memorial Day is about
those who have sacrificed their lives. Veterans Day is saluting

(13:35):
those who serve. And that's what I want to do.
Six one, seven, two, five, four to ten thirty six
one seven, nine, three one ten thirty. We're coming right
back on night.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
Side Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBZ Boston's News Radio.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
We're going to go from California to Madison, Wisconsin. Karen
is in Madison, Wisconsin. Hi, Karen, Welcome, back, how are you.

Speaker 7 (13:59):
I am fine, and I am calling about my uncle Gordy,
who I've called in about before every year. And he
was ninety eight and a half and he finally fell
one too many times and he died in February. Now

(14:23):
why it was February and now we're in November, I'm
not sure. But he was the youngest of my uncles
and he was shot. He left high school early and
wanted to go to fight at age seventeen, so they

(14:46):
and he got shot and then never was able to
use his left arm for the rest of his life.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
And I must have been born, Karen, hold on for
a second. He must have been born if he died
at the age of ninety eight and a half. I'm
assuming he's.

Speaker 7 (15:07):
Born in nineteen twenty six.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Okay, fair enough, so at the age of seventeen. He
would have been seventeen in nineteen forty three during the
middle of World War Two, so he volunteered.

Speaker 7 (15:21):
As he volunteered and then he went into the service.
So my grandma had four brothers won my dad, and
he's the youngest. He always I called my uncle Ted
because when I came home he started calling me every month,
and then the last year he started calling me every week. However,

(15:45):
I never really got to talk to my cousins for
some day.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
What was he able to do once he came back,
even though his left arm had been injured in combat?

Speaker 7 (15:57):
Not really sure. I've got the obituary here. It is
the biggest obituary I have ever seen in my life,
which my cousin wrote. It takes up, you know, the
whole Wisconsin State Journal.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (16:14):
But uh, but he lived, He fought in World War Two.
He was always in the service, but he was retired
because he couldn't use his left arm. If you want
to read it, you know, I haven't finished because it's cute.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
Yeah, you've you've mentioned his name, which is great. Well,
do you know, Karen, do you know he was wounded
in his left arm? Was he uh? Where in what
military theater? Was he? Was he in Europe? Was he
in Asia? Do you know?

Speaker 7 (16:50):
He was in Japan? I believe, And they couldn't reconstruct
his arm, so he's it's just been hanging there all
the rest.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Well, he must he must have then been with the
US forces that occupied Japan after the war, and.

Speaker 7 (17:06):
Then after that he was in the Korean War. Am
I right, or what?

Speaker 2 (17:12):
Well the Korean War was after World War Two. I'm interested.
It's interesting that if he was wounded in Japan, I
would think that he would not have been in the
Korean War.

Speaker 7 (17:21):
Well, maybe I'm a little mixed up because.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Okay, well again, it's good that you got his name,
and his name was broadcast across America tonight. So although
he's passed on, he's not forgotten.

Speaker 7 (17:39):
If he will be buried with his wife, my aunt
this Friday in Manassas, Virginia, with a full military burial
to his Friday.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
So he died, he died in February.

Speaker 7 (17:54):
He died in February. But he's just being buried now
with his wife. Wow. And I just want to say,
why could she want on the toe? Ashould take em
suit to my uncle Gordy, who I loved so much.
I loved Doe.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
Oh, you were speaking Japanese to him.

Speaker 7 (18:15):
I was speaking Japanese. Okay, Jane, I love you, Gordy.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
Thanks very much, Thanks.

Speaker 7 (18:20):
Jo, thank you for letting me tell welcome.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
That's a great night. Okay, let me go now to uh.
This is a return call from Earlyer this evening. He's
dried off Bob and Rhode Island. Bob, do you want
to salute a veteran?

Speaker 8 (18:33):
Yeah, I want to salute my father. He was in
World War Two. He served in England from nineteen forty
three to nineteen forty five. He was a payroll clerk
in the Army Air Force. He went around from base
to base in England, taking them soldiers at each base.

(18:54):
He was just twenty years old when he got in
the service in forty three, and he he didn't know
what was.

Speaker 9 (19:04):
Going to happen.

Speaker 8 (19:05):
He was an ugly on D Day in nineteen forty four.
He didn't know what was going to happen. The United
States and the Germans had been as successful with repellingly
D Day attack the Americans. I slew my father and
I agree with you Dan about your father. That was

(19:27):
the greatest generations and Tom broke Blaw had it right.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, I agree with you. Tom Brokaw did have it right.
And when you think about those who were hitting the
beach on June sixth, nineteen forty four, they were eighteen
and nineteen year old kids, many of them.

Speaker 8 (19:45):
I stop was back in England.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
No, I understand, I understand that. But your dad served
I mean, I'm not in any way.

Speaker 9 (19:51):
Shape of what he did.

Speaker 8 (19:52):
Well I ever did yeah, more than you know who ever?

Speaker 9 (19:55):
Did you know who? I don't want that.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
We'll leave that one for the enough for our next conversation.

Speaker 8 (20:02):
I'm sorry I brought it up because I respect you
and Dan as far as your opinion on your father
and about World War Two in the veterans, I give
him a bow. All the veterans, Yep, I deserved today.
I'm never served today of the service, and it takes
a lot of guts to do that. You know, you
no know what's going to happen to you.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah, I served. I never saw combat, so I I
don't talk. I don't talk about it a lot. I
did my time. Uh and and I was in it.
I was never in a situation.

Speaker 8 (20:37):
Now because I got a college defirment.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
All right, well, look, I'm glad. I'm glad you called back.
This is this, This was our best call ever, Bob.
This is one whenever we disagree, we can always agree
on our admiration.

Speaker 8 (20:51):
Of our dad's no blank tonight, Nope.

Speaker 2 (20:55):
Nope, you got double plank before. So you're all set.
You go in peace. Okay, Thanks Bob, Dan, You all right,
all right, right back at you. Thanks Bob, talk to
you soon. Have a good weekend. Okay, thanks, we'll take
a break. Six one thirty six one, coming back on
night Side.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on w B
Boston's news radio.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
All right, let's keep rolling here. We have full lines,
which is always wonderful thing to see. Paul as in
pee but hate Paul. Welcome. You're next on Nightside. We're
talking about.

Speaker 10 (21:33):
Saying, how you doing good?

Speaker 2 (21:34):
Paul? Who would you like to salute? What veteran?

Speaker 9 (21:36):
You know?

Speaker 10 (21:37):
My uncle's a bunch of them common I worked with
closely for a sou many years. And his brother Becta,
and my uncle Rich Hope Good and uh Michael Leney
and my friend Christopher I'll military, uh you know veterans.

(21:57):
My friend Christoph is still in as a reserve duty.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
Oh that's quite a contingent of relatives, that's for sure.

Speaker 10 (22:06):
Yes, sir, thank you, Yeah, thanks, I'm to take all
the ends for their health service.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
Well, I appreciate it. Have you ever called the show before?
Is this your first time calling?

Speaker 10 (22:15):
I really honestly don't know before, but I don't know.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
Well, thank you for calling. Tonight. Really, I do appreciate it.
And you know, again, if if you're interested and you
wanted to get a clip of that our call to
play for your your your your family members at Thanksgiving, uh,
you can just go to nights On and demand tomorrow

(22:42):
and that's pretty easy. You can clip it if anybody
who has a little bit more technical expertise than I do,
and you could surprise them. It's a nice tribute to
you just gave your family members. And I thank you
for calling. Paul. Thank you very much.

Speaker 10 (22:54):
You're wet night.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Let's keep rolling. Here are going to go next to
Margie in the Catskills Hid Margie, welcome back. How are you, Margie?

Speaker 11 (23:06):
I'm doing just fine. I think I told you before
that I was a National Park ranger for almost forty
years and in that time I encountered thousands upon thousands
of people, but two Vietnam veterans will stand out to me.

(23:26):
What happened was I would always my duty was at
the end of the day to walk out to the
flagpole and bring down the flag, carry it inside our
visitor center where another ranger would help me fold it.
So as I was walking out to the flag pole,

(23:47):
I saw two elderly gentlemen sitting on a bench, and
as I got closer, I saw that they both had
Vietnam caps on. So of course I had a stop
to talk to them and we exchanged words, and I
thanked them very much, and I proceeded out to the flagpole,

(24:08):
and just as I brought the flag down, I felt
a presence behind me and I turned and there were
the two Vietnam vets at full attention saluting. I looked
at them. I had the flag cradled in my arms.
They held out their arms. No words were said. I

(24:31):
passed them the flag. They expertly folded it. I stood
it full attention and saluted, and I turned to walk back,
and I looked back and I saw a thank you
in their eyes, and my eyes were full of tears.

Speaker 2 (24:49):
Wow, that's a great story. That's a great story that
epitomizes the respect of the honor that bo you and
those two gentlemen were prepared to pay for the flag.
That's a great story, Margie. Thanks for again. You don't
know their names, but you in effect really paid tribute

(25:13):
to an entire generation of who went and fought in
a war that was underappreciated at that time. It's always
said about the Vietnam veterans that none of them came
home to the warm welcome that thankfully, soldiers today who
returned from who have returned from the Middle East, at
least received respect. And whatever disagreement there was over the

(25:38):
conduct of our activities in the Middle East, no one
disrespected the efforts were made by the men and women
who fought the battle. Thanks Margie, thank you so much.
Have a great night. Good night, that's a great story.
Let me go next to Eileen and Cambridge. Eileen, welcome back.
You're next on night's side. Who would you like to
salute tonight?

Speaker 6 (25:58):
Eileen, Well, I've called before on Veterans Day. My favorite uncle,
uncle David, suffered lifelong shell shock. They called them THESTSD

(26:25):
right PTSD. But he graduated from Princeton University in nineteen
forty one and was immediately drafted into the army and
he was an aviation navigator. He was sent to school

(26:47):
for that role and he was shot down in April
of nineteen forty four and had a severely broke back.

Speaker 3 (27:01):
He was very ill.

Speaker 6 (27:05):
For over a year.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
Was he never was he was he shut down in
Europe is home.

Speaker 6 (27:12):
It was in the Atlantic, I think near the British Isles. Yes, yeah,
he was the only member of his crew who survived,
and that was another problem, psychological problem for him. Why

(27:36):
did why did he survive? Why didn't his friends is
you know, coworkers survive. But he was also in India
in nineteen forty five, the in the Office of Strategic Services,
I think it was you mentioned your your father was

(28:04):
in that.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, my father was in what they called China Burman
Into at that time, they called it CBI. He was
a staff sergeant in the army.

Speaker 6 (28:14):
Okay, so they may have known each other, could.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
Have been could have been?

Speaker 1 (28:18):
How long?

Speaker 2 (28:20):
First of all, when you think about someone graduating from
Princeton University in June of nineteen forty one, with their
entire life in front of them, and within what six months,
almost to the day, Pearl Harbor CERs, which changes the life,
you know, direction, the arc of their lives so dramatically.

(28:44):
How long did he you know, you said that he
dealt with you know, what was called then shell shock,
but we know it as PTSD. How long did he
survive after the end of the war.

Speaker 6 (28:54):
Oh, he he was Oh my gosh, he lived to
be He was in his late eighties or early nineties,
I don't really remember.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Right now, so that he must have lived into this century.
Yes he did, because if he would have been born
if he graduate, I could do the math on this one.
If he graduated from Princeton in nineteen forty one, he
probably was born in nineteen twenty, which if he lived
into the eighties or nineties, he would have lived somehow

(29:28):
into the twenty first century.

Speaker 6 (29:30):
Wow, Yes he did, he did. But he carried lifelong.
This shell shocked.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
As was he able to you know again, different people
had different levels of that. Was he able to work?
You know when the war was over?

Speaker 7 (29:50):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (29:50):
Yes, he went to law school after leaving the army
and got his law school degreenineteen forty.

Speaker 8 (30:00):
Eight and.

Speaker 6 (30:04):
He practiced law, a real estate law in Florida. He's amazing.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
That's an amazing life story. To think that you graduated
from Princeton, you're so badly injured during the war and
barely survive, and yet you're able to pull your act
together and despite all of the problems that he had
to deal with, graduate from law school. I bet she
went to a great law school and then become a lawyer,

(30:34):
a successful lawyer. What a.

Speaker 6 (30:38):
He was a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant man. I admired him
so much.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
That's a great story.

Speaker 6 (30:47):
Yeah, my father's brother and I miss him.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
You come from great Stock, Eileen. You come from great Stock,
that's for sure. M thanks so much, Eileen. I'm up
on my break, so I got to let you run.
But great to hear your voice. That was a great
That was an inspiring story. Thank you so much for sharing.

Speaker 6 (31:08):
Thank you, Thank you, Dan. All right, thanks you.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
Good night. Take very quick break here. I got a
couple of lines open. I have a couple of great
callers coming up. Ellen and Haveril, Trish and Quincy.

Speaker 12 (31:19):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (31:19):
They're going to get on. And if you want a
dial in right now at six one seven, two, five
four ten thirty or six one seven nine three one
ten thirty and basically, provide a salute or a tribute
to a member of your family, a neighbor that you knew,
another relative who served in this country. Doesn't have to

(31:39):
be someone who served in wartime, doesn't have to be
someone who saw combat, anyone who put on the uniform
at any point in their lives and spend time in
service to the country deserves the saluted Veterans Day six one, seven,
two four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three
one ten thirty. As I mentioned, I'll be off for

(32:00):
the Ballance of the week, but I'll be back next
Monday night. You'll have Bradley Jay Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,
and I'm sure he'll provide some interesting interviews and conversation
for all of you in my absence. Back on Nightside
after this.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news Radio.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
Okay, we have full lines. We're gonna finish and we'll
get everybody in. I promise. Let me first go to
Trish in Quincy. Trish, you are next on Nightside. Thanks
for calling in. Who would you like to give a
Veterans Day salute to Trish?

Speaker 5 (32:35):
Hey, Dan, I wanted to give a shout out to
two if I may. First, is my brother in law,
Travis Fuller, who was killed in action in January of five.
It's Purple Heart winner, first lieutenant with the Marine Corps.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
Oh my goodness, I Raqro Afghanistan.

Speaker 5 (33:00):
Was a racket and he died in the hell helicopter
crash after they took over Fallujah.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
That was the time of Felujah.

Speaker 5 (33:12):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, So it was tragic that he survived
the whole combat at Fallujah but then died in a
Sandstone helicopter crash. And then the second person I want
to recognize was my former father in law, Lewis Cogliano,
who was one of six brothers and they all played instruments.

(33:36):
And the army came looking for his little brother to
go in and he said, no, no, no, take me instead,
I'll go And he called his brother that was already
in the army, but he was in Glenn Miller's band,
and he said, could Glenn use another trumpet player? And

(33:56):
sure enough, he said, sure, absolutely. So he went through
boot camp and he was going into Glenn Miller's band,
and they messed up his papers and he got put
into the infantry. And as he was pulling out a
boot camp, he sees his little brother coming into boot camp.
The army went back and got him anyway, and he

(34:18):
was in Italy and jumped into a foxhole. And back
in World War Two, the rifles weren't so good back then,
and he jumped into a foxhole and his rifle went
off and he sought himself in the arm, and he

(34:41):
was actually one of the first people that they actually
graffed his arm to his stomach to grow the skin
back on his arm. It's actually in the medical books.
He's one of the first people that they did that
graphing with in transfer from the stomach to his arm. Yeah,
he survived, He did survive, but he never played the

(35:03):
trumpet again and he could never ever listen to big
man music ever again in his life.

Speaker 2 (35:07):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (35:08):
Wow, what a story, very very sad. But he was
a great man, and he worked for the government his
whole life. He had a government job. But just said
that he didn't really pay attention in bootcamps. He thought
he was going into Glenn's band, and unfortunately they messed
up the paperwork and he get badly injured. But he

(35:30):
is in the medical books. He was one of the
first people that they graft his arm to his stomach
to regrow on his own truth.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
Thank you, thank you very much for that story. I
got four other calls, are going to try to sneak
in here, but thank you so much that it was
a very interesting recollection of both of those gentlemen. Thanks
Chush to talk to you soon. Thank you.

Speaker 9 (35:49):
Thanks then great.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
Now let me go to Ellen in havebril Ellen, I
got three behind you. You go right.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
Ahead, Hey Dan, how you doing good. I just wanted
to say, I just want to talk about my dad
for a minute. Robert Sullivan. He was in Korea. I
don't know a lot of the details. He really didn't
talk about it that much. He's been gone for about
eleven years now. He came home and he went into

(36:18):
the fire department. He was in the Boston fight apartment
for thirty five years, retired, and you know, he's had
a really good life and he was the best act
that a girl could ask for. I got to say,
my brother Neil was in the Marines when I was
a teenager, served four years, and my brother Greg just retired,

(36:42):
served his country for about forty years as a commander
in the US Navy.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Wow, what a family history, Ellen, That's an amazing history.
I'll bet you at some point I covered a lot
of fires in Boston as a TV report. I'll bet
you at one point probably met your dad, because I think,
oh yeah, most firefighters in Boston. Yeah yeah, well yeah,
that's where I was working too, So I'm sure I'm.

Speaker 5 (37:11):
Sure, that's where we lived, Ellen, those are those.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
Are great stories of the Sullivan family during World War Two.
Remember the five Sullivan brothers who were Yeah, that that ship.
So that's a great Herodage Sullivan's a great Irish name
and yeah, boy they your family really did us proud.
Thank you so much. That was a great story, thanks Ellen.

Speaker 4 (37:33):
Alrighty you two.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
Okay, let's we're heading into the finish line. I got
three here going, starting off with Steven Merrimack, New Hampshire. Steve,
you're next on Nice Siker right ahead.

Speaker 9 (37:43):
Hey Dan, good, I know I'm glad you're taking some
time off. I just wanted to salute two people. Actually,
my dad was a flight instructor and where were two?
He started right after Pearl Harbor and by nineteen forty
five he was a full lieutenant because they needed pilots,

(38:05):
and he was a really good flight instructor and he
to the day he died, I mean to the day
he died, he was a flight instructor. He was teaching
all over the place. He flew all over New England
and he had a plane at Lawrence Airport, and you
know it was pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
How many how long did he live. How long did
he live?

Speaker 9 (38:23):
He lived to be eight. He had a stroke in
ninety eight and he died one month before nine to eleven.
It was very unfortunate. But the guy that I really
have the most admiration for as far as bravery, is
the guy that belongs to the health club that I
belonged to up here in Manchester. Ben He was a

(38:44):
captain in Vietnam. He was in the jungle and took
two bullets in the back from a sniper, which are
still in his back next to his spine. They one
of his men shot the sniper and I guess as
a turfy the snape were lost both of his ears

(39:05):
because that was what they did back then. But bravest guy.
I could not imagine going into the jungles of Vietnam,
you know, with nothing to protect you, and those guys
were waiting for you. And he's still got two birds
in his back.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
I could talk about war, my god.

Speaker 9 (39:24):
I mean that, I mean really a great guy. I
wish you could talk to him, he would be a
great guy.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
Well, yeah, some night had him give me a call, Steve.
I got a Screwdio Gaga one more. I got to
get everybody in Thank you so much. Thank you for
the call. Great call, John, and Lancaster, Massachusetts. John, I
got about thirty seconds for you. You've called late, but
you got it. Go right ahead.

Speaker 12 (39:44):
Yeah, I just you know, I wanted to say I
my father was in Vietnam. He was in the Army Vietnam.
My grandfather was in the Navy and World War Two.
But I want to give a shout out to the
women who have put themselves on the front line because
a couple of decades ago, I I met a woman
in the emergency department. I used to volunteer there. I'm

(40:04):
not going to say which one. And I went out
and she asked me if I could go to a
car to get a book, and I went to a car.

Speaker 5 (40:10):
Now with this checked out, I got five seconds.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
You got to wrap it for me. Here, give me
an intention.

Speaker 12 (40:17):
She was a flight nurse in Vietnam, and I just
want to shout out to all the women who put
themselves on the front line, because you just don't hear
a lot about the women who had way ended.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Very appropriate. A lot of guys will agree with you
this one. John, Thanks for the call. I know you
called late and I rushed you but I had no choice.
Thanks so much, a great salute to Veterans Day, Thanks
to all the callers, and thank to all the callers
to time with a great show. Tonight. I'm off for
a couple of nights. I'll see you Monday. I want
to end, as always with a thanks to Robin, a
thanks to Marita, and I'll tell all of you all dogs,

(40:48):
all cats, all pets go to heaven. That's where my pell,
Charlie Ray is, who passed fifteen years ago in February.
That's where all your pets are who had passed. They
loved you and you love them. I do believe you'll
see them again. See you Monday night on nights out
of every great weekend. Everyone gold Patriots, and I'll be
on Facebook Night's Out with Dan Ray in about two
minutes