Listener Stories on Veteran's Day

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bear stick, which is the Chinese internet slang for an
unmarried man. Okay, well there you go, a bear stick.
I have no idea. Well, I'm not here to talk
about Singles Day. I'm here to talk about Veterans Day.
Because Veterans Day is happening. And last year when I
got my show, my first Veterans Day as the host
of this show and the beautiful city of Omaha, it

(00:22):
was a weekend, wasn't it. It was over the weekend
last year, I think, so we didn't have like a
big special thing, and I just wanted to talk about it.
So Veterans Day is today, and my whole thing is
if we can do this for four hours, we will.
You know, I do have some other things throughout the
show I have to kind of sprinkle in. But what

(00:44):
does veterans they mean to you? What military stories do
you have to share, whether it's yourself, maybe you know,
it's a family member, maybe it's somebody that you interacted
with at some point. And I think we can just
share stories today and I'd love to just kind of
be the conduit in the forum for that to happen.
And the phone number is four oh two, five five eight,
eleven ten, four h two five five eight eleven ten

(01:06):
Rogers on our phone line. Roger, welcome to the show today.
What's on your mind?

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well today I am I am a veteran. I'll give
you a quick background four years in the Navy, fifty
nine through sixty two, sixty two five Nebraskia inter National Guard.
But during my time in the Navy, my big complaint
all the time about Veterans Day and so forth, we
don't give enough emphasis on the boys that were there

(01:30):
during peacetime. My peacetime activity we were on air I
was on aircraft carriers, and as it's known, an aircraft
carrier's deck is a most favorous place you can work.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
Anyway.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Our first cruise we lost six guys at different accidents.
Second cruise we lost eight guys. Now, these guys weren't
or they didn't died during active firms with the millet
with the enemy where they didn't get shot with a bullet,
but they just died. And it always comes that if

(02:03):
you serve between forty two and forty five, you were great.
Well what about those that didn't? What about those that
just died the other day off the coast of San
Diego in a helicopter crash right during our one. During
the one crash we had a board the aircraft career.
We lost three guys boom at the crash and a

(02:24):
bunch of us well me as one. And I'm maybe
tooting my own horn, but received the citation for heroism,
but it means nothing because it was during peacetime. And
I just wanted to bring that up that we ought
to honor all of no matter where they're at, how
they're at, all people who are in the military and
put their hand up and said I will do yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
And you know what, Roger, this is a great way
to start the show because that's exactly what I want
to do today. I don't want anybody to like, you know,
I talked about my best friend quite a bit. He's
in the National Guard. He didn't you know, he's not
active duty, but he was activated and was you know,
deployed and did a year somewhere that he didn't get

(03:07):
to choose, right, like that was that's a different type
of sacrifice, right, It's not like the overall sacrifice. But
he wanted to be a part of our great military
and wanted to serve our country in some way, and
even though you know, he is one of millions of
people that have served this country and didn't have a
lot of crazy exciting stories about exactly what he was

(03:28):
seeing down there. But at the same time, that sacrifice
means something and we should be commemorating it, regardless of,
you know, whether or not it technically fits within the
realm of what the holiday is supposed to mean, or
what the medals are supposed to mean, or anything like that.
And I want us to talk about any veterans in
any type of military service at all throughout the show.

(03:50):
So Roger, first of all, thank you so much for
calling us. Thank you for your service to this country,
and thanks for bringing this up today. It's really important
I think to mention that.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, thank you very much, and you're having a great program.
I enjoyed listening to you guys.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Thank you. I really appreciate that. Roger, thanks you have
a great day. What about you, Matt, about you, do
you have any people in your family that serve in
the military, served in the military that were close enough
by that you knew that they're kind of what their lifestyle.

Speaker 4 (04:23):
Was, Well, not like in those terms. My dad was
in the army, but that was before I was born,
and so I just have stories there. And then my grandpa,
his dad was in the army as well and a
little bit involved in the Korean War as well.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
My okay, so, and this is a great conversation piece.
My grandpa was also the Korean War era would have
been when he was serving, and I never really got
the story about that. He passed away when I was two,
so I don't have any real memories of him all,
like except for pictures and what people you know tell

(05:03):
me about. But I need I need to investigate that further,
see if I can find more information about like his years,
like how long he was serving, because you're right, I mean,
like if they're gone, you know before, it's hard to
kind of know. And that for me is, you know,
that's important. It should be important for us to commemorate

(05:24):
our family members who did serve. My uncle was right
here actually in off it, for he was in the
Air Force. He bounced around. He had one kid in
while he him and his wife had a kid while
they were in London. He was stationed I think in
Germany for a bit. He was stationed in Turkey or

(05:45):
Turkey as they call it, now and he was there
for a while. We didn't see him a whole lot.
He had kids my age, right, and we would see
them every once in a while. They seemed to turn
out pretty normal, despite you know, having bounced around quite
a bit in in the world at different bases, right,
And eventually they were in Texas for a bit before

(06:07):
popping up, and he finished out his career in Omaha.
But I don't know. I feel like I would be
fascinated to learn as much as I can. I think
a little older I get, the more inspired I am
by the people who have made those decisions, to make
sacrifices to not really have control of their own life

(06:27):
at that point, and that's something that for me, who
has complete control over my life, I couldn't imagine what
that is like. And I would love to explore those stories.
So the phones are open. We're going to keep them open.
I'll sprinkle some stuff in throughout the show, but if
I had my way, for the next four hours, we're
going to be talking to you about either your experience
in the military or any of your close family members

(06:49):
that you'd like to share stories about. Please let us know.
Call us at four oh two five five eight, eleven
ten four oh two five five eight eleven ten, News
Radio eleven ten kfab.

Speaker 5 (06:58):
Emery's songer on news Radio eleven ten Kfab.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Let's go to Jan on our phone line. Jan, welcome
to the show. What do you have for me?

Speaker 6 (07:09):
Hi Amory? I listened to your show almost every day.
I love it.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (07:15):
I just Veterans Day to me just means so much
because Vietnam was going on when I was in high school,
and I remember how awful it was and the treatment
that some of the vets coming home. They didn't get

(07:36):
any respect. And back then, you know, we would have
them coming into the airport and there was nobody there
to greet them or you know, say welcome home, you
did a great job, thank you. And you know, back

(07:56):
then in the sixties late sixties, it was just so different.
People were so unappreciative of the Vietnam guys. And I
had a high school guy that was killed. And to
this day, I just every Veterans' Day I feel guilty

(08:17):
for not going to the airport. I was a younger
kid then, but I and my friends talked about it,
a few of my friends talked about it, and then
we just didn't go. But to this day when I
see somebody wearing a Vietnam hat, I feel just so

(08:38):
bad for them. So anyway, that's what I think about
on Veterans' Day. Plus, you know, I have a husband
and two uncles that were in World War Two, and
my husband was not. He was in the Navy, but
he didn't wasn't in the fighting.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Well, Dan, first of all, I'm going to thank you
on behalf of your entire family, your significant other, and
thank them for their service for us here at KFAB,
But also don't feel too guilty about yourself. Right now,
that was a societal problem in the Vietnam era, and
we want to talk about overtly politicizing as much as

(09:19):
we can. These days, people forget about how political even
just the people who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation,
taking orders from our government to serve in the Vietnam War,
they didn't have a choice of what exactly happened. And
then we're also basically spit on by much of society

(09:39):
in those years. I think it's important to recognize the
fact that we can do right by the ones who
are still with us by trying to let them know
how much we do appreciate the sacrifices they made, so
thank you for bringing that up today.

Speaker 7 (09:51):
Jan M.

Speaker 8 (09:53):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
All right, let's go to Keith on the phone line
at four h two five five eight eleven ten. Welcome
to the show, Keith. What's on your mind?

Speaker 7 (10:00):
Hi?

Speaker 9 (10:02):
I absolutely love your show and I just think you're
awesome and amazing. Long story short, I just want to
thank the veterans today and also my I just want
to mention a brief story.

Speaker 10 (10:18):
Brief.

Speaker 9 (10:19):
My great my grandpa was in the Korean War. He
went there for two months, he was in Japan and
then uh, he was he was raided and I didn't
know this until this year, but he he was, uh
he was captured and he played dead. They kicked his
face in and they stuck a gun to his head.

(10:42):
But he he never knows why the protruder wasn't pulled,
because it was pulled on other soldiers A thirty below zero.
He dragged the guy back a mile just to the line.
And then after that he couldn't he couldn't carry him.
So that guy died. And and then we will and
then my grandpa was in a hospital for one year

(11:05):
and U any and that just uh, I just am
so grateful and and my my grandpa is extremely stoic,
and now I know why my mom can carry a couch.
Mm hmm, well you know, I mean, I'm just grateful.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Go ahead, Well, Keith, this is why I want to
do this today because his story is unique, right, like
like there's there's no doubt that your grandpa's story he
experienced something that will never be experienced by any one
person ever again and through his vantage point, and for
him to somehow survive that, for him to be able

(11:41):
to tell the tale of that to somebody after it happened,
and so it can live on and we can share
this story. And now much of Nebraska and Iowa are
hearing this story right now from you, Keith. This is
why we do this. And I'm hopeful that you know,
even if this becomes a tradition for at least me
on every veteran's day, just to like let people tell
their stories and share this, it's important for us to

(12:03):
recognize the stuff that they went through. So thank you
so much for listening. Thanks to your family for their service,
and really really appreciate all the kind words and for
you listening to our show.

Speaker 9 (12:14):
Thank you love brother.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
All right, Thanks Keith, you have a great day. To
Joyce on our phone line up four two, five, five,
eight to eleven ten. Hello Joyce, what's on your mind today?

Speaker 11 (12:22):
Well, I just wanted to thank all the veterans number
one for their service. We have a really good friend
who was in the Vietnam War. He's still with us,
has a lot of health issues. My uncle, my grandfather
and my brother we're all in the Marine. And my
uncle was in Vietnam and ended up coming back. He

(12:44):
spent quite a few times up on the tenth floor
of the VA with mental health issues, you know, due
to the graphics and stuff. Sure, and he died at
an early age of forty eight. He got into that
age of orange. I was trying for health issues. But
my dad was a cbe my father in law was army,
and I think it just takes special people, you know,

(13:06):
who love this country so much that they want to
protect it for the rest of us so we can
keep our freedom. And I just like I said, it's
just you know, a big thank you, and just one
more thing. I'm a retired nurse and I worked a
lot in geriatric and it would almost bring you to
tears when they would have you know, special veterans programs

(13:29):
and stuff on this day, you know, for our elderly veterans'. Yeah,
it meant so much to them, you know that they
would have tears and it was just, I don't know,
just you know, very special. Make you stop and think,
you know, how do we get to this where we
are today with our freedom?

Speaker 9 (13:48):
You know?

Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yeah, and there there are millions of people that are
to thank for that, and every single one of them
should feel like they've done their part for us. So Joyce,
I'm glad that you mentioned that. Thank you so much
for first of all, what you do as a nurse,
and that's not an easy line of work to be
in either. But thanks to your entire family for their
service on this Veteran's Day, and thanks for calling us today.
We really appreciate it, you bet. Thank you for letting

(14:10):
me come on absolutely anytime. Please call us again sometime.
Let's go to Andy on our phone line at four
O two five five eight eleven ten. Andy, you got
some thoughts on Veterans today today.

Speaker 12 (14:19):
Yes, I was in the Air Force and my best
story was actually once I got out, I got married
and got in my first house, and I met a
neighbor behind me. He was a World War Two veteran.
He actually was the second wave into I think Omaha

(14:40):
Beach or one of them wasn't the first wave. He
was second wave. But I got to talk to him
and some of the stories that he told me. And
I don't know if you're familiar with the Knights of Columbus,
but yeah, he was fourth degree and he talked me
into I had already was a member, and he talked

(15:01):
me and to getting my fourth degree, and he gave
me his sword that we wear for the regalia. And
I had no idea what they did. To be in
fourth degree. You had to be a veteran, and any
veteran that passed away within our parish or it's somebody,
we would stand for twenty four hours. We took turns

(15:25):
and basically standing in honor in our full area around
the body, the whole thing. And it really changed my
life more than the military did what we can do
as individuals for these soldiers and falling people. You know,
I learned more, I think after the fact, when I

(15:47):
got involved in other things about the service, that these
guys actually gave no doubt.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
Well Andy, that's incredibly powerful. And I think that's one
thing too of Sometimes you find that kind of feeling
in the depth of your heart there when you're at
least expecting it. You know, the life changing moment for
you in terms of the way that you see this
kind of stuff happen just because you moved into the
right house at the right time. And we just have

(16:15):
to keep our eyes and our ears open and be
willing to talk and listen to people. And this is
why I don't like shutting people out of my life,
even if I disagree with them or anything like that.
You just never know what you might learn about somebody
or something, and then that can change the entire outlook
that you have on your own life. So it's a
powerful lesson, Andy, And thanks for sharing that with us today.

Speaker 12 (16:32):
All right, thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
All Right, we will continue this conversation. We want you
to call in four oh two five five eight eleven ten.
Four h two five five eight eleven ten. As the
phone calls keep coming in, we'll keep taking stories, so
still stick around with us. We really appreciate everyone who's
listening to us on this Veteran's Day on News Radio
eleven ten Kfab em.

Speaker 5 (16:51):
Rie Songer on news Radio eleven ten.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Kfab, I want to talk about anybody with military experiences,
and if that's you or somebody near you, I'd love
for you to call us at four oh two five
eleven ten, four two eleven ten. Jim is on the line. Jim,
Welcome to the show today. What's on your mind?

Speaker 3 (17:08):
Hi, hi Emery.

Speaker 13 (17:10):
First of all, yeah, I want to give thanks to
our heavenly father because my father was a World War
Two veteran. He fought in Okinawa in the South Pacific.
He was in some of the worst fighting that anybody
could probably ever imagine. A story was told by my
mom that that he used to dig in foxholes at

(17:32):
night and uh he'd share it with some guy from
his from his outfit. Well, one night he did not
dig in and during the night of Japanese soldiers threw
a grenade and the other guy's foxhill killed both of
those guys. So, with the grace of God, I'm talking
to you today. Wow, he was a bronze star to

(17:53):
sit there as well, and I just was just very
proud of my dad.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
Jim, Jim, I'm going to say this to you and
hopefully you can pass this along through any channels that
you can, but thank you for your entire family service,
and thanks for sharing that powerful story today. You just
never know what may happen five minutes from now, a
day from now, a year from now, and this is

(18:19):
a kind of day that we can really thank those
who put themselves in harm's way for us. So thank
you for sharing that with us.

Speaker 3 (18:24):
Jim, you got it.

Speaker 14 (18:26):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
You have a great day. Larry's on our phone line
at four h two five five eight eleven ten. Hello, Larry,
how are you doing today?

Speaker 15 (18:33):
I am fine, sir, I am not a veteran. Three
family members who served in different conflicts. I would like
to give a shout out. Just read a book, a
riveting book called The Women, and there's a reference to
that book about Vietnam nurses in today's Omaha World Herald.
It mentions to Nebraska women that did indeed serve in
the battlefront nursing situations in Vietnam books for to read,

(18:55):
as is today's story in the Omaha World Herald about
again to Nebraska girls served as nurses in the Vietnam conflict.
It puts mesh the old TV shame. It's a riveting book.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
What's it called one more Time?

Speaker 15 (19:09):
The story is called The Women.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Okay, the Women.

Speaker 15 (19:11):
The Women is the name of the book, and it's
written by a lady called Hannah Kristin noh Co'm sorry.

Speaker 16 (19:16):
Kristin Hannah Chris book.

Speaker 15 (19:18):
It's about nursing. If you don't like blood, don't read it.
But it's a very factual, fictional book.

Speaker 7 (19:24):
I love it to read.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
Larry, thanks so much for listening to us today. Thank
you all right, that is interesting. I always love good
another good book. I'm not sure I can handle a
lot of blood, but if it's in a book, we'll
figure it out. Bill is on our phone line of
four two, five, five to eleven ten. Bill, Welcome to
the show today. What's on your mind?

Speaker 7 (19:41):
Good afternoon, Hi, I just wanted to sorry, I wanted
to talk about my dad. He served in World War
Two with the Navy, and he graduated from high school
in nineteen forty three. So as the spring proceeds in
the summer comes along, he's not getting drafted. He's eighteen

(20:01):
years old. He should have been drafted straight away, and
he did not get drafted. And he finally went to
his boss that he worked at an auto repair place
and said to the owner. He says, you know, hey,
all the rest of my friends are getting drafted. I
haven't gotten the draft. Notice what's going on. And the
owner of the company said, well, I went down to

(20:23):
the draft board and put an essential employee hold on
your name. And I look at kids nowadays, how many
eighteen year olds would go to their boss and say,
take that hold off of my name and allow me
to go serve.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
Yeah, I mean the number is I don't know if
that number is more than zero right now. I know
we live in a very different time, Bill, and that
there's a reason why we hear from about you know,
the that generation is the greatest generation, right because we
talk about how like just with way of life, it

(21:01):
was we over me, it was us versus I. And
that that's about as powerful of a moment in someone's
life to go up to their boss and say basically, hey,
I know that this is incredibly deadly, but I don't
want to be the guy that was left here, right.

Speaker 7 (21:19):
So I also want to say my son served four
years in the Marine Corps and its currently finished his
fifth year in the Navy. Thanks to all veterans out.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
There, Bill and thank you for your entire family service,
and thanks so much for listening to us and calling
in today.

Speaker 7 (21:32):
You're welcome. Have a great day, sir.

Speaker 1 (21:34):
You too, You too, Dang, that's what this is about.

Speaker 16 (21:40):
Man.

Speaker 1 (21:41):
Lenny is on our phone at four oh two, five, five,
eight to eleven ten. Lenny, welcome to the show today.
What have you got on your mind?

Speaker 17 (21:48):
Oh?

Speaker 18 (21:48):
I just wanted to say I have a little different
perspective on the thank you for your service. I'm a
tastefully decorated Vietnam combat veteran, but when I hear that,
and it's nice, it's a lovely sentiment, but my response
is thank you because I received travel, adventure, education, leading romance.

(22:17):
And yes, there were rocket attacks and being shot at
and a thousand combat crew flying hours. You know, it
was any crazy stuff, but it was great.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
Well, Lenny, it sounds like you've lived a life that's
well lived and experiencing stuff that most of us will
never even imagine. And I'm happy that you were able
to get to the point where you could tell the
tale to us. And I am so happy that you did.
And I'm going to tell you anyway, thank you for
your service.

Speaker 19 (22:51):
Lenny.

Speaker 1 (22:52):
I know that you'll reciprocate the thanks back, but it's
a different breed what you guys did back then. So
I really appreciate you for you've done for this country
and also for calling in and tell us about it.

Speaker 12 (23:04):
Well.

Speaker 18 (23:04):
And a lot of people serve cops, firefighters, you know,
a lot of people do dangerous work. And thank you
all for the opportunity.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
Take care you.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Too, Lenny. You have a great day. That's some. That's
a heck of a perspective from a guy that actually
served this country in a very dangerous area. Right, And
this is why you want to talk to people because
they all see it very differently. He's like, man, that
was that was I had a lot of fun. It
was great. Right, that's good. That's good perspective there. That's good.
Chris is on a phone line of four two, five, five,

(23:36):
eight to eleven ten. Chris, welcome to our show today.
What's on your mind?

Speaker 17 (23:39):
Well, first, I want to stay off that I am
not military. But my brother, however, did eight years in
the Marine Corps, all with First recom Mettalion. He he
deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and he listened to KFAB
via the iHeartRadio app but he's currently volunteering in Ukraine,

(23:59):
and he had a message that he wanted me to
get out to everybody if possible, to support veterans and
veterans day. As a lot of people know, regardless of
how you feel about the war in Ukraine and the
money spent, we have a lot of US veterans who
are currently over there volunteering, trying to make a difference.

(24:20):
And what he requested is even if he don't support
the war itself, there are plenty of places and websites
you can donate to help American veterans fight their good fight.
Because my brother was not helped by the VA with
his PTSD and he also had another illness and they

(24:44):
all said it wasn't service related, and he kind of
got screwed over by the VA and a lot of
his buddies. He just saw a lot of bad stuff,
I'll say that, and the VA abandoned him. So he
decided that he was going to pack up go to
a place that wanted him, and so he's currently over
there volunteering. So just for security reasons, I guess if

(25:09):
you hear this, deadbeat, I love you come home.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
Well, Chris, I first of all, I'm going to thank
you on behalf of your family, Thanks to your brother
for his service to this country and beyond. Too often
we hear about, you know, the lack of care for
our veterans in this country when they return. I know that,
I think pretty universally people want to see better for them.

(25:32):
But what a courageous thing to then go do and
to be fighting now in an war that didn't necessarily
need to include him, but he wanted to be on
the right side of history, and that I think is
incredibly admirable. So Chris, thank you so much for listening
to our show and for calling in today, and please
wish your brother well.

Speaker 13 (25:50):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
We are going to take a break, come back. We'll
take more calls four h two five, five, eight, eleven ten.
We want your military stories, whether it's yourself or family
members or anything like that. Veterans Day, this is what
I want to talk about. It's really all I want
to talk about, and we'll keep doing it as long
as we keep having people to talk to on news
Radio eleven ten kfab Mitch is on our line, and
let's go ahead and get to metro quick. Mitch, Welcome

(26:12):
to the show today. What's on your.

Speaker 16 (26:13):
Mind, hey, buddy, how you doing. Patriotism runs back in
my family on both sides, Mom and dad. My great
grandfather on my mom's side was in World War One
and he was from Germany, so you know what, but
he was not a Nazi. He was just a German

(26:35):
who did what he was ordered to do. Right, That
was that was we served.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
That would have been pre Nazi anyway, right, yeah, yeah,
he was in.

Speaker 19 (26:44):
World War One.

Speaker 10 (26:45):
Uh huh.

Speaker 16 (26:46):
And then my father he quit school at thirteen years
old and joined the Merchant Marines, and when World War
Two broke out, the Merchant Marines became the United States Navy. Well,
he was in the Navy for about six months and
some captain came up to him says, how old are you.

(27:07):
I'm fourteen, and the captain says, well, you can't be
in the Navy. So he left there and found the
Air Corps recruiter and put him in there, and he
was in the Army Air Corps to the end of
World War Two, and after World War Two became the
Air Force. He was in the Air Force till nineteen

(27:29):
fifty one, and nineteen fifty one he joined the Omaha
Fire Department. He went to the Air National Garden, SIUs City,
Iowa first and he became part of the Omaha Fire
Department and he put thirty three years with the Omaha
Fire Department.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
Wow.

Speaker 16 (27:47):
My older brother went to Vietnam. I served in the army.
My oldest son served in the army. So patriotism means
a lot. I had got two purple hearts and a
couple of meals for saving guys that were hit by

(28:08):
subs and their chips went down, and he jumped in
the water and saved a couple of guys and so
he got some burns on him and stuff. Well that's
he lived to be seventy two years old, had a
good life.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
That's awesome.

Speaker 20 (28:23):
Mitch.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
Well, your entire family and yourself, thank you so much
for your service to this country. That's a great family
tree of service right there. And I really appreciate you
for calling in and sharing that with us today.

Speaker 16 (28:35):
Thanks for having this. All us veterans appreciate you.

Speaker 19 (28:39):
Well.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
I really appreciate that, Mitche. The least I could do,
honestly to just talk on at least one day. I mean, honestly,
I'd love to turn the show over multiple times a year.
But let's go to Lewis, who's on our phone line. Lewis,
thanks so much for being a part of our show.
What's going on with you today?

Speaker 21 (28:53):
Thank you, Amri. I appreciate being on a little different story.

Speaker 22 (28:57):
I was from the late.

Speaker 21 (29:00):
Sixties in the Hawaii during the Vietnam War, and this
senior chief team in one day and said I raised
one thousand dollars for infants, and I want to give
you a different feeling about American heroes, their big heartedness
and their willingness to serve America and help people. But

(29:24):
what happened is the chief came in and said I
raised one thousand dollars last year for needing people in Hawaii.
And I said great, I said I could raise then
half a day. So I took no duty for thirty
days just before Christmas, and I raised over thirty thousand
dollars for people in the local area. And I wrote
a letter, a article for the Stars and Stretch magazine,

(29:47):
and I had money coming in.

Speaker 22 (29:48):
From all over from sailors.

Speaker 21 (29:50):
Wanting to give money. And then I had a guide
dressed up in the Santa Claus outfit that we got
from Sears and Roebucks. They were throwing it out, and
he went around a bell and we went to every
ship and my wife made these coffee containers with a
picture of Santa Claus on them, and people just threw
money in as we went by.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
That's incredible.

Speaker 21 (30:10):
And then finally I said we need some I found
out we needed something to feed the people at Triple
Tripler Medical Center in Hawaii, and I went around to
asked for food, and we had so much food we
had to close our center, our intelligence centers for three days.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
That's incredible, Lewis. I'm running out of time this hour,
but thank you so much for what you've done.

Speaker 7 (30:33):
Thank you for the story, thank you, thank.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
You so much. That is incredible. You can serve in
so many different ways, and that is such a great
thing that Lewis did there for Jeremiah, Bets, Tom and
anybody else calling in right now. We'll get to your
calls as soon as we get back on the other
side of the hour. We will be back here momentarily.
News Radio eleventh in KFAB. Let's get back to the phones.
Jeremiah is on the line. Jeremiah, thanks so much for
holding what's on your mind today?

Speaker 10 (30:56):
Oh no, problem. I just wanted to say as a veteran,
I was in the Army for eight years. Throughout my family,
both my parents, both my mother and my father were
Air Force. Both my grandfathers retired from the Air Force,
uncle in the Army, my aunt was in the Army.
For me and a lot of my friends, what we

(31:17):
think about for Veterans Day is each other because, like
you've had calls on here already, the VA and everything
like that has failed us veterans utterly. And when we
all raised our hand and put our lives on the
line for whatever reason we did it, we became a brotherhood.

(31:40):
Didn't matter what service you were in. We are a
brotherhood and we have each other to look out for
each other. And that's what I think about on Veterans
Day is my fellow brothers and sisters.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
Yeah, and thank you so much for your service, Jeremiah.
That's an experience and a feeling that only veterans will have,
thinking about the family essentially that you all are. So
I really appreciate you for sharing that perspective with us today.

Speaker 10 (32:06):
Not a problem. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
Let's go to Beth's on our phone line at four
h two five five eight eleven ten. Welcome to the show, Beth.
What's going on for you today?

Speaker 8 (32:13):
Hey, Happy Veterans Day. I just wanted to talk about
my dad, who was a nineteen forty four grad from
Lincoln High School and went to UNL for semester that fall,
got his notice that he was being drafted in January
and was drafted into the army and they did training
for the ground invasion of Japan. At that time, they

(32:34):
didn't know anything about the bombs or anything. The troops didn't,
of course, so they did extensive training for that and
got over to Hawaii in the summer of forty five,
and of course the bombs were dropped in August, so
they ended up being in occupied Japan and a big
part of their job was destroying all Japanese weapons and armaments. Vehicles, jeeps, planes,

(33:00):
all cut up into pieces and unfortunately dropped into the
Pacific Ocean, which is how they got rid of stuff.
Back in the forties. They didn't do any recycling or anything,
but they also did a lot of feeding of the
orphans left there and families of Japan, so they were
instrumental in helping out with that. I had a couple
aunts too that worked at the Martin Bomber plant there

(33:22):
in Bellevue during World War Two, and we have a
son that's a US Coast Guard. He was in there
for eight years in Florida.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Wow. Well, thanks to your entire family for their service
path and those stories. What a time to be alive,
first of all during the throes of World War Two
and then to have the experiences in which he did
and was able to pass those on to you. Thank
you so much for sharing that with our entire audience today.
We really appreciate that.

Speaker 8 (33:50):
And there's also one other statistic. They said, if we
had had that ground invasion, we would have had a
million more casualties and a whole lot of baby boomers
wouldn't be here, right, no.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Doubt, no doubt. You never know. One thing at a time,
you can change the entire world. Thank you so much
for calling that. Oh man, that's a dang that's powerful stuff.
Brian is on our fun line of four h two, five, five,
eight eleven ten. Welcome to the show, Brian, what's on
your mind?

Speaker 23 (34:17):
Well, I'm not a veteran. I'm taking us a different take.
I officiate football in Northeast Nebraska. Okay, and there's times
the color guard before the football game, so the national
anthem come out. And you can tell a lot of
our veterans are getting older age and we're getting less
and less of them, and I try to do what
I can to thank each one of them. But what

(34:39):
I'm seeing now in some towns is the sons of
the veterans coming out and trying to keep this tradition going.
And I want to say thank you to them sons
for trying to do that. And as a football official,
it's just kind of neat to have the color guards
and I don't want to see them go away.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Well there that that is one hundred percent, that's awesome.
A lot of the schools, I you know, I you
did a lot of sports broadcasting and a lot of
like high schools would have like a j r OTC
or something that they would have like present the arms
and everything. I think it's incredibly important for us to
remember that. And that is a powerful thing. When you
have an actual live color guard there, that reminds you

(35:16):
about how you know, these are people that have sacrificed
something to be a part of these branches, to serve
our country and them just like the honor it is
for them to to present the colors. That to me
is like it's just such a small thing, but it
means so much when you think about the impact that

(35:37):
that could have on some people. Brian, I really appreciate that,
and it'll problem. And by the way, thank you for
continuing to officiate high school sports because they are less
and less people willing to do that. And it's incredibly
important for our communities and for our kids to be
able to have people willing to put their you know,
reputation out there and put their you know, their their

(35:59):
neck out there for people to yell at for the
entirety of whatever sporting events. So thank you for continuing
to do that for our communities. Yeah, so, oh, never mind,
we could. I was still talking to Brian there, but
I couldn't hear if he heard me. Brian, are you
still there to turn that back? All right? Sorry about that, Brian,

(36:21):
but thank you. I just want to reiterate thank you.
Make sure you got that message of you know, making
sure that our communities are are still getting officials. All right,
Thanks Brian, Now you can turn it off. Thank you,
all right. William is on the phone line of four
oh two five five eight eleven ten. Welcome to the show, William.
What do you got on your mind?

Speaker 22 (36:40):
Yeah?

Speaker 24 (36:41):
I like yours or.

Speaker 22 (36:45):
Our rubers I recognize and mention mel.

Speaker 7 (36:53):
Coleman mm hmm.

Speaker 22 (36:55):
Okay, I'll comte marine and I went down a helicopters
mm hmm and one of her maybe Colman I wouldn't
be here.

Speaker 25 (37:11):
Wow, he got to do a runner.

Speaker 22 (37:15):
Out came backs got me. I don't like right?

Speaker 1 (37:24):
Hey well William, Yeah, I gotta tell you, William that
that to me, and the fact that you're still here
with us and you're listening to us and you called
in to give him a shout, that's some powerful stuff.
This is why I want to do this, not only
to talk to people about their own personal experiences, but
also to somebody like you that's actually lived it. So

(37:45):
thank you, William, Thank you for everything you've done for
this country. Wow. It doesn't it does get more powerful
than that. Mark is on our phone line of four
O two five five eight eleven ten. Welcome to our show. Mark,
How you doing today?

Speaker 20 (37:59):
Hold, I'm I'm not a veteran, but I was in
the draft. I was in college and they started getting
pretty close to my number. But there were some older
guys I hung out with in college that had been
to Vietnam, and I was thinking about volunteering, and they
told me about how their perspective on everything changed and

(38:21):
that I wasn't missing a thing. But what I really
wanted to talk about was my wife's father. He was
from Beatrice, Nebraska, and he hitchhiked out to California and
lied about his age to get into the Navy. At seventeen,
he went over and who got sent over to England

(38:46):
and he was in the second wave at Omaha Beach.
There was a little known naval communications group that hit
the beach on the second wave at Omaha, and he
when he wrote down his memoirs, and when Private Ryan

(39:08):
came out, everybody asked him if he wanted to go
see it, and he said, no, I've seen it already.
But he did stop and he said, did they show
the church at the top of the hill, which they did.
He remembered that, and then his reward for that was
being sent over to the Pacific to serve in that theater.

Speaker 3 (39:33):
Wow.

Speaker 10 (39:34):
But he was the he was.

Speaker 20 (39:36):
My understanding is he was the youngest chief petty officer
in the Navy. At that time, and he didn't really
want to talk about it much, but I thought that
was a fascinating story.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
Yeah, that and that's that to me. You know, you
want to talk about a life, right like, it's what
a life that he was able to live. And I'm
so happy that he was at least able to t
talk about it enough for you guys to piece together
the story. And I really appreciate you calling in Mark.
That means a lot for us to know that you know,
there are people out there that care about this stuff

(40:12):
as much as we do. And thank you for sharing
his story with us today.

Speaker 20 (40:17):
My pleasure. And by the way, my son was in
the Hunter and First Airborne, my oldest son, and he
got sent to North Korea or North Korea, South Korea,
all about a month before nine to eleven.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
Oh jeez.

Speaker 20 (40:35):
And my wife was terrified and I told her, I said, no,
that's the best thing that could have happened, because she
was terrified he was going to have to go to
Iraq or whatever. And I said, they won't deploy him
from there unless things get really really bad, right, And
they started getting bad. He started training. They trained every day,

(40:56):
but they swapped out their regular boots for the sand
colored boots. So what's getting close? But then he got
out on some medical stuff. So anyway, I won't I
won't keep you anymore, but I just wanted to share that.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
No, absolutely, and thank you for your entire family service mark.
Thanks a lot. It really means a lot to us.
All right, pleasure, thanks, no problem. All right, we'll get
to more phone calls coming up. Four two, five, five,
eight to eleven ten. The phones continue to fill up,
so if you're not able to get through, just hang
with us. And when we get through some calls, some
lines pop up and you're able to slide in there.
We'll take more calls when we come back here on

(41:33):
news radio eleven ten kfab.

Speaker 5 (41:35):
Em Re Sunger on news Radio eleven ten kfab.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
Stories you have from your family or close friends, just
anything like that. We're here for you and we're talking
about it. And this is all I really want to
do today. We'll start with Russ. Russ is on a
phone line of four h two, five five, eight eleven ten.
Welcome Russ. What's on your mind?

Speaker 26 (41:54):
Good afternoon. I grew up in Omaha, want up in
the Navy. Christmas I called home to my girlfriend told
her I couldn't come home. I didn't have any leave,
which was a lie at the time. If we flew
home and flew in our blues, our dress uniforms, there

(42:16):
was something called military discounts. So I flew home back
to Epley pretty cheap, walked out of the airport, stuck
out my thumb and the guy said where you had
And I said, well, my girlfriend is in nurses training
at Emmanual Hospital, which is at that time about thirty
fifteen aims or something like that, talking my way up
into the cafeteria. The security they took me up. I

(42:37):
just stood outside the door when when she came out
and neeless has say it was a big surprise. So
it was fun.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
That is awesome. They make movies about people like you, Russ.
That is that's a life memory for everybody involved. And
I really appreciate you for calling in. Thanks you for
your service, first of all, and thanks for sharing that
story with us today. You're welcome by all right to
hear that Hazus is on a phone line four two five,
eight eleven ten. Welcome Hazeus.

Speaker 24 (43:06):
Hey, I got three things I like to share with you.
First is my kid's grandfather. He was at the University
of Iowa and World War two first started. He was
the third or fourth street center for the University of Iowa.
First second got drafted, so that made him the first

(43:27):
dring center for about a week and then he signed
up and then he joined up and he became a
right waistgunner for B seventeen bombers during World War two. Wow,
So that was that was like amazing. He was a
little known that he was the first dring center for
the University.

Speaker 27 (43:44):
Of Iowa for only a week before he.

Speaker 24 (43:46):
Ended up going and joining up and made a part
of World War two. Second to my family brother brother
in law brother was a crew chief one Sea one
thirties in Mom, did you tour's brother? Their in law
two tours as the frontline marine grunt. Both of them
came back with effects from Asian Orange and lost my

(44:08):
brother in law. But the third thing I wanted to end,
like my nephews that were in the Navy, and and
that and so. But the one thing I want to
say is that they sacrifice so much and we need
to make sure that we are doing everything possible to

(44:28):
fight for our veterans who are not getting the best
that we could possibly offer healthcare wise through the VA.
And I know that, and we just I mean, when
we're spending more money right now, over one hundred billion
dollars on people that are not citizens, and we have

(44:51):
citizens that have sacrificed everything for our country and we're
only spending I believe that data said something like two
or three our four billion, right, there's something wrong and
we're not taking care of our veterans that.

Speaker 27 (45:07):
We need to fight.

Speaker 24 (45:08):
We need to do everything we can fight.

Speaker 1 (45:10):
For them, for sure.

Speaker 24 (45:12):
We need to change this veterans, this veteran hospitals and
all of them. They're truck doing their best, but there's
so much more they can do it. They just had
sure the financials right behind them.

Speaker 1 (45:25):
Well, and I appreciative of you. Your family's a entire
history that you shared with us in their service. Thank
you so much for that. And I really do believe
you're one hundred percent correct. We need to stand up
for the veterans and say this is something important to
us and have our legislators work on that to make
sure that that is a point of emphasis. I appreciate
the call Jesus, let's go ahead and get to micro

(45:45):
quick Mike, Welcome to our show today. What's on your mind?

Speaker 10 (45:49):
Sir Marie A long time no talk man. Just want
to say, you know, to my my grandfather, Earl, who
lost his leg fighting Nazi soldiers in North Africa in
World War Two.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
He you know, he.

Speaker 10 (46:04):
Had a prosthetic at the end of his life. Dad
to take his other leg off and he's in a wheelchair.
Man never complained today in his life. Raised that flag
every morning at sunrise and took it down every evening
at sunset. My grandpa Wald I heard another caller say
that his grandfather lied about getting into the Navy seventeen.

(46:25):
My grandpa did that as well. My Grandpa Wald at
sixteen ended up over in the Pacific Theater. My stepdad,
who raised me, was one hundred and seventy third Airborne
in Vietnam from October sixty eight to November nineteen sixty nine.
My real dad tried to get in. He was initially
accepted to the Air Force Academy. He's going to fight

(46:47):
fly fighter jets over in Vietnam, but he couldn't get in.
He lost it with a hearing issue. Marca Chuck was
Marine Corps in Vietnam, so just to shout out to
all those guys, all of them except my stepdad or
passed away. My stepdad, Emory, seventy six years old. And
I'm not kidding you. This guy starts his workout in
the gym seventy six years old, forty six pull ups.

(47:10):
Then he goes and does forty chin ups, and then
he does five hundred and thirty crunches.

Speaker 23 (47:15):
And I don't know.

Speaker 10 (47:15):
How he come up with these numbers. One hundred and
ten pounds straight bar curls overhead, presses on the machine
tricep and he jogs five miles every morning, seventy six
years old. So God bless all our current military, God
bless our veterans, God bless the USA. And it feels
like a new morning in the United States of America.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
No doubt, Mike, really appreciate that. And thanks for your
entire family and their service. Really appreciate you for sharing
that with us today. All right, let's go to a
Bill on our phone line at four two, five, five,
eight eleven ten. Hello, Bill, what are you thinking about?

Speaker 28 (47:48):
I'm going to salute my friend John Oldham. John Oldham
was a helicopter pilot for the Life Flight when I
met him in Omaha. We were doing some other civic stuff.
I said, well, what did you do when you were
in the military, says, I did a bunch of stuff
when I was a kid. So at his funeral they

(48:10):
brought out some of the things that he had. He
was an eagle scout, he was an excellent marksman. That
he was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, and he had
six Air Commendation medals, a bronze Star, a silver Star,
a silver Star with oak clusters, and three purple hearts.

Speaker 1 (48:35):
Wow.

Speaker 28 (48:36):
Oh, as a helicopter pilot, evidently he removed some people
from some really touchy circumstances and they were very happy
about that.

Speaker 1 (48:45):
Yeah, I couldn't imagine. Wow, you talk about a life
and just skills and being able to apply yourself to
just being useful not just for yourself but for your country.
In that case, it's so powerful.

Speaker 10 (48:58):
Bill.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
I'm glad that you called us to give that shout out,
and we really appreciate that. And thanks for listening to
us today, my.

Speaker 28 (49:04):
Friend John old Man through the Lifelike Helicopters.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
John, if you're out there and you're listening wherever you are,
thank you so much for your service, and Bill, thanks
for sharing his story today.

Speaker 13 (49:15):
Welcome.

Speaker 1 (49:16):
All right, Well I got a step aside. When we
come back, we get to Chris, Michelle, Charles and everybody
else lining up on the phones four O two five
five eight eleven ten. We're spending today talking about veterans
and Veterans Day and military stories and we are very
happy to do so we'll continue those when we come
back on news Radio eleven ten Kfab.

Speaker 5 (49:33):
Emory's songer sharing with someone you on news Radio eleven
ten kfab.

Speaker 1 (49:40):
Chris, Welcome to the show today. What's on your mind?

Speaker 20 (49:44):
Hey, good afternoon, Emory. I always enjoyed listening Happy Veterans
Veterans Day to all my fellow warriors out there. This
is one thing I did a couple of things since
the twenty eight years active and one of my last assignments,
whether they senior Military advisor to the new Iraqi military,

(50:06):
which kind of was interesting because one of my first
known ancestors dealing with the US military was a German
advisor to the Continental Army, so a little coming around,
but that was definitely an interesting assignment on a multiple levels.
But I guess one thing I did want to bring
up because I've I've heard it mentioned a few times,

(50:28):
but we definitely owe our veterans a lot. I mean,
I'm no one special in that area, but we definitely
need attention on that. But what I would say, I
am retired, I'm classified as a disabled combat veteran, and
I will say that the care that I get from

(50:49):
the Veterans Administration Hospital here at Omaha is outstanding. I
retired eleven years ago and I've gotten all my care
there to include now over five years of cancer care.
So for those that are in the Omaha area, we
might be the pinnacle of vacre. But what we have

(51:09):
here is outstanding, and so the resources that go to
that is what our elected politicians will put towards it.
So what we have here is good. It would be
nice if it was as good everywhere else.

Speaker 1 (51:23):
Yeah. Well, I'm glad that you called in, Chris, because
I do feel like there are different perspectives on all
this stuff, and I'm really happy that you're able to
get the care that you need there. And thank you
for your service to our country. It really is very
important for us to say that to you today, and
thank you for listening to us and calling in and
sharing your story with us.

Speaker 20 (51:41):
Happy too, Thanks, have.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
A good day. It's going to Michelle on a phone
line of four two, five, five, eight eleven ten. Welcome
to the show, Michelle. What's on your mind?

Speaker 11 (51:49):
Hey, Henery, thanks.

Speaker 29 (51:50):
For letting me call in. Well, first, I just wanted
to say thank you to all the veterrends out there,
those that are retired, those who served long ago, and
those that may have resent. They just put their name
on that line and are about to go out to
the basic training. It is a huge johnor for the
rest of us to be here and be able to support.
But I wanted to be able to say something about

(52:12):
my dad. My dad was one of He was the
oldest of six brothers and sisters, and four of those
siblings signed up many years ago to be in the military,
and in nineteen sixty five, my dad received an appointment
to attend the military academy. He was a West Point
graduate and he graduated in nineteen sixty nine, and oddly enough,

(52:37):
his brother, who was just early enlisted, was called up
to go to Vietnam. And this is one of the
things that happens with so many veterans. We never know
the stories they don't talk about the heroic things they did.
My dad passed away ten years ago, but it wasn't
till he passed away that I was told that when
his brother, his little brother, was called up to Vietnam

(52:59):
before he was, he took his place.

Speaker 11 (53:02):
So that he didn't have to go.

Speaker 29 (53:04):
And he served three years in Vietnam, and he came
back and he had an honorable discharge, went on to
have a business career. But his proudest moments in life
he wore his military his Vietnam hat with pride at
all times.

Speaker 9 (53:19):
And again it wasn't.

Speaker 29 (53:20):
Until he passed away. He never talked about it, like
so many of our veterans don't, especially from Vietnam, and
they quietly carry those stories and so many his heroic stories. Obviously,
my dad is my hero, but there are so many
people out there that have seen things and done heroic
things that we just don't know about. And after my

(53:40):
dad passed, a lot of his West Point brothers came
together and presented me with a box of his medals.
It chokes me up because I had no idea when
he was around, the amazing things he did, he never
once spoke of them. He was the kind of guy
that never met a stranger and always wanted to help others.
And I know he's just one of so many that
are like that. So I guess my call today is,

(54:02):
you know, my dad is gone, but I hope he's
hearing this and this I'm proud I am with him.
But to those of you that are still with us,
thank you so much for everything to do for all
of us that we get to have this amazing light
in the United States.

Speaker 1 (54:13):
Well, Michelle on behalf of us at the station. Thanks
to your entire family, specifically your father for his service.
And it's a story that I feel like is pretty
common where you have somebody who truly was a hero
that doesn't want to carry that out loud and tell
people about it and shout it from the rooftops, even
though we just would love to know. Because of our curiosity.

(54:37):
We want to hear their stories and we want to
celebrate them while we have the opportunity to do so.
And your story is incredibly powerful because you didn't get
that opportunity. But there's no doubt that he didn't need
that adulation to feel happy in his life, and that
was pretty evident. I really appreciate you sharing that story
with us today.

Speaker 11 (54:56):
Thank you for letting me think.

Speaker 1 (54:57):
Yeah, absolutely, anybody else want to call for Charles is online. Charles,
welcome to our program today. What's on your mind?

Speaker 14 (55:08):
I just want to say thank you for.

Speaker 19 (55:10):
What you've done putting everybody online like this on a
day like today. And I want to say thank you
for all the veterans out there and all the people
that are helping veterans out there also.

Speaker 14 (55:22):
I was a twenty one year baby veteran and I
bought as a Special Forces person. I've kind of plowing
my head up with that, but just following up, I've
shot five times nice till six.

Speaker 27 (55:45):
It's been eighteen.

Speaker 19 (55:46):
Months in GWI camp.

Speaker 27 (55:48):
I got healthy and went vick hitting up. It's spent
our time there in nineteen seventy five. But we've got
we was booted out. I was.

Speaker 19 (56:06):
Honored with several accommendations and several medals. I this is
the first time I've really talked about it to more
than one person, and.

Speaker 14 (56:19):
I'll shame shame.

Speaker 19 (56:22):
Well.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
I well, Charles, just know that first of all, what
you've dealt with, less than one out of every thirty
million people in the world will know. Even one of
those things, right, like, you've lived an incredible life, and
we thank you so much for calling in and sharing

(56:44):
this with us, because this is the kind of powerful
thing that means a lot to me personally. And I
know there's many people listening to the radios and on
the iHeartRadio app right now who are just like, Wow,
what an incredible person. So Charles, thank you for your service,
and thank you so much for sharing it with our
audience today. It's really important on this Veteran's.

Speaker 16 (57:01):
Day, thank you for.

Speaker 14 (57:05):
I truly appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (57:07):
No problem. It is the least I could do, honestly
for people like Charles. In this world. We live in
the greatest country in the world. No matter who's in
the White House, no matter who's in the House of
the Senate, or who our legislators are. You know, we
get to elect them and everything like that. But last Tuesday,
we did our civic duty. We elected a bunch of people.

(57:28):
But this is as American as it gets. Right, We're
talking about people who have served this nation and created
it into the superpower that it truly is. Without the
presence of our military, we are nothing. This country is
nothing without the presence of our military and the brave
souls that have come before us. Aaron is on the
phone line of four h two, five five, eight to

(57:49):
eleven ten. Aaron, welcome to our show today. What's on
your mind?

Speaker 30 (57:52):
Hey, thank you for let me call in here. I
just I just wanted to call attention to how things
have improved and how much I appreciate people you know
now recognizing first responders and other people who you know
aren't technically veterans, but sure, but really are. My story,
I was headed for the Marine Corps and ended up

(58:14):
moving into intelligence, and so I'm not a veteran by technically,
I'm just not. I was never in the military, but
I served, and I went overseas and we did some
pretty tough things that give me a good idea of
my age. When I went in, the Soviet Union was
still who we were dealing with. So it's been a minute.

(58:34):
But when I was I had a trip go very
badly and I came back really hurt. And the way
it was dealt with then is you got ivyprofen and
drank alcohol, and that's how you dealt with the thoughts
and the problems. Right, And we have come so far,
so far, and it really, it really does my heart

(58:55):
good to see this. And it took me a long
time to come to piece with everything because let's say,
I was never still am not really proud of what
I did, but I am damn proud that I did
it because somebody had to. Yeah, right, you know, get
we get looked at with some contempt with where I
was right, and I get that, but somebody had to.

(59:17):
I mean, that's yeah, it's just the reality of it.

Speaker 1 (59:20):
Well, and Aaron, this is why our country is what
it is because people like you've decided to make sacrifices
and you bear the weight of that every single day. Right,
you know, whatever you saw, whatever you experience, you have
to live with that. We all have those moments. But
the average American like me isn't going to have the
kind of scarring in you know, my brain and my
memories like somebody like you who's actually seen that stuff personally.

(59:43):
So we really really appreciate your service, even if you're
a technical far Yeah, and even though you're technically a
veteran as far as today goes for me personally, anytime
anybody wants to be a part of whatever operations we
have going on, they should be commemorated for that in
my book. So thank you for calling in Aaron. We
really appreciate it, appreciate so thank you. We'll keep the

(01:00:04):
phone lines up moving four O two five, five eight
to eleven ten. We'll take more calls. Talking about veteran
State Today on news Radio eleven ten kfab.

Speaker 5 (01:00:13):
Emory Sunger on news Radio eleven ten kfab.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
Michael, welcome to our program today. What's on your mind?

Speaker 21 (01:00:22):
Hello, I'd like.

Speaker 25 (01:00:23):
To bring attention to my wife who was a Chield
Deserts Form veteran and she passed away last year.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
Sorry to hear that, Michael. Did she talk about her
experiences at all?

Speaker 25 (01:00:38):
Yes, she's served in Saudi Arabia as a finance True,
she wrote to serve in Korea in Alaska.

Speaker 22 (01:00:45):
She put her twenty.

Speaker 25 (01:00:46):
Years on herb in the Air Force and it was
very product for service.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Well, we are incredibly appreciative of her service, Michael, and
thank you for you know, on behalf of your entire
family and for her specifically for that service to our country.
And thank you for calling so we could remember her today.

Speaker 21 (01:01:05):
Thank you?

Speaker 27 (01:01:06):
All right?

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
That is a dang uh. Yeah. I wish everyone has
their own perspective on how much they want to share
weather with us. But I think it's so important. I
want to know everything that my grandpa did. I didn't

(01:01:29):
get a chance to talk to him, but I'd like
to know more. He's not here to share those experiences
firsthand with me. You know, there are some people that
probably could tell me about some of the stuff that
he did, and I can find you know, I had
some people email me ways to get a hold of
his records and stuff, but it's not quite the same
as from hearing it from him. So when he's gone,
you know, hopefully there are people that can care carry

(01:01:51):
those stories and those memories forever the best that we can.
And that's why I'm so glad that people like Michael
called in to carry on thegacy of those close to
them as well. Ron is on our phone line A
four h two five five eight eleven ten. Thank you
for calling. Ron, appreciate you for being part of the
show today. What are you thinking about?

Speaker 3 (01:02:10):
Well, it's uh, you know, I'm an older guy, retired
and most of the people I knew growing up were
military veterans of World War two and and that's the
type of thing my my father actually served in the
Navy in World War Two and in the Army in
the Korean War. And but he had an interesting there
was an interesting story. He was a torpedoes mate on

(01:02:36):
he would build the torpedoes and load him on the
little pet boats out in the Pacific. And uh he was.
He was located on the island at Telloggi, which is
about you know, smaller than the city of Omaha. Anyway, Yeah,
and uh uh he read the book p. T. One
O nine, which is about John F.

Speaker 12 (01:02:55):
Kennedy.

Speaker 3 (01:02:55):
John Kennedy was the captain of one of those little
pet boats. And in reading it, they had a photograph
of the hut that Kennedy lived in or stayed in
while he was stationed there. And my father recognized the hut.
He said it was only his same hut he slept in.

(01:03:16):
They weren't there apparently at the same time. But my
dad said his was the only hut on the whole
island had a fast roof, and there it was, and
the picture of candys.

Speaker 28 (01:03:26):
Wow, he stayed in.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
So my dad became a candy man for the rest
of his life.

Speaker 1 (01:03:31):
Yeah. I mean, we want to talk about like a connection.
Only one other person in the world probably has. That's
pretty insane. Ron, thank you so much for sharing that
with us, and on behalf of your entire family. Thank
you so much for your family service, and thanks for
calling in today.

Speaker 3 (01:03:45):
You're bad.

Speaker 1 (01:03:46):
Yeah, And I'm getting a lot of emails here with
people with their memories and their thoughts, and I'm not
gonna be able to read all these. I do fully
appreciate this situation. I have so much respect for those
to reiterate my previous point, who don't want to share
a lot of what they have experienced. I know that

(01:04:08):
for a lot of them, there's a lot of scarring
that they either saw or they felt physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically.
I understand all of it, and I don't want to
be in that position where I just kind of selfishly
want to farm for you know, information in the stories.
But about this time of the year, when I think

(01:04:29):
about Veterans Day and I, you know, throw on saving
Private Ryan or watch some Band of Brothers or anything
like that, you know, it kind of reminds me of
how real a lot of this stuff was for so
many men and women who have served this country. And
this does this goes beyond you know, obviously we're talking
more about golf, the Gulf War stuff. We're talking about Vietnam.

(01:04:50):
We're talking about World War two, maybe even World War One,
if we, you know, have enough generations in the knowledge
of that. But before that, there were a lot of
conflicts in this country, including one against each other, you know,
with the Union and the Confederacy, right, and every single
conflict that has been fought on our soil with our troops.
We're not here to talk about it without them, So

(01:05:12):
thank you so much for your service. If you'd like
to chime in, you have a story that you'd like
to tell, whether it's your own personal experience or somebody
from close by to you, please call us at four
oh two five five eight eleven ten. Four oh two
five five eight eleven ten. We continue our conversation on
Veterans Day, coming up next on news Radio eleven ten
KFAB