Veterans Chronicles
Hear firsthand stories from America’s military heroes on Veterans Chronicles. From D-Day, Iwo Jima, and Khe Sanh to Baghdad, Fallujah, and Afghanistan, this podcast features exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses to history’s greatest battles. Rare archival recordings and segments like “Heroes of the Air” and “World War II Chronicles” bring their courage to life. Subscribe for gripping tales of bravery and sacrifice. Learn more about Veterans Chronicles here.
Episodes
May 7, 2025 • 31 mins
Melvin Hurwirz was 16 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Within just a few years, all four boys in his family were at war, each in a different branch of the service. After enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Hurwitz was assigned as a gunner and as a radio man for a B-17 bomber crew after an aptitude test showed his proficiency at Morse Code. His crew then had a bit of an adventure flying the bo...
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April 30, 2025 • 38 mins
Anthony "Tony" Wood grew up in a Marine Corps family and enlisted to begin his own service in 1964. Before long he was commissioned as a USMC officer. His first deployment to Vietnam came shortly after the Tet Offensive. Initially trained as an infantry platoon commander, he soon found himself leading an armored platoon.
Wood was deployed to Vietnam again in 1974, long after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords and American forces...
Wood was deployed to Vietnam again in 1974, long after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords and American forces...
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April 23, 2025 • 35 mins
Sarah Spradlin knew she wanted to serve her nation in uniform, and to her the only option was the U.S. Marine Corps. She was commissioned as an officer after completing ROTC training at Virginia Tech in May 2001. Within months, the U.S. was at war following the 9/11 attacks.
But Spradlin was not deployed to a war zone. After an assignment in Okinawa, she returned to the U.S. to oversee the training of female Marine recruits at Parri...
But Spradlin was not deployed to a war zone. After an assignment in Okinawa, she returned to the U.S. to oversee the training of female Marine recruits at Parri...
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April 16, 2025 • 32 mins
James Thompson joined the U.S. Army in 1948, in part to avoid the consequences for his troubled behavior. Soon he was off to segregated training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. Within a few months, Thompson was deployed to Europe, where he and the other troops were able to gain valuable training experience.
The deployment was cut short, forces were brought home, and then they were shipped off to Japan. It was there that Thompson was assigne...
The deployment was cut short, forces were brought home, and then they were shipped off to Japan. It was there that Thompson was assigne...
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April 9, 2025 • 35 mins
Bruce McKenty was born into an Army family, as his father was a career officer. By the time he finished high school, McKenty knew he wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps. He was commissioned as an officer upon graduation from Texas A&M and soon went to flight training. After completing flight school in April 1972, McKenty was assigned to fly AH-1G Cobra attack helicopters in support of ground forces near the Cambodian border...
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April 2, 2025 • 34 mins
Kaj Larsen did not follow the typical route to becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL. He was admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy but left after two years to focus on playing water polo at the collegiate level. A few years later he enlisted in the Navy and immediately tried to get a slot in Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/s) training in Coronado, California. Those billets are not usually given to men who left Annapolis but Larsen managed t...
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March 26, 2025 • 35 mins
Military historian and author Carole Engle Avriett joins us to tell the powerful story of U.S. Navy Mess Attendant Charles Jackson French, which is told in her new book, Midnight in Ironbottom Sound: The Harrowing World War II Story of Heroism in the Shark-Infested Waters of Guadalcanal.
Charles Jackson French was born into a poor family in the segregated south in 1919. Before turning 18 years old, French lost both of his parents a...
Charles Jackson French was born into a poor family in the segregated south in 1919. Before turning 18 years old, French lost both of his parents a...
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March 19, 2025 • 35 mins
Delmar Beard grew up near Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. But when it was time to join the military during World War II, he chose the Navy. Serving as a gunner aboard an LST, Beard made multiple landings during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Later, he did join the Army, and served for 22 years. He rose to the rank of command sergeant major and was deployed to both Korea and Vietnam.
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Beard tak...
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Beard tak...
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March 12, 2025 • 35 mins
Nils Mockler joined the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 17, only because they wouldn't let him join when he was 16. Upon enlisting in 1944, Mockler completed boot camp and was soon tapped as a combat intelligence scout. He also dabbled in explosives as you'll hear. After more training in Hawaii, Mockler and many other Marines left for Iwo Jima, where they would land in February 1945 and become part of one of the most vicious battle...
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March 5, 2025 • 24 mins
Wayne Fletcher joined the U.S. Army in September of 1949. In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, and just 16 months after enlisting, Fletcher found himself at war. He operated .50 caliber anti-aircraft guns mounted on half-tracks. With no real enemy threats coming from the air, Fletcher and his fellow gunners turned their weapons on enemy ground forces in support of Army infantry.
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Flet...
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Flet...
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February 26, 2025 • 40 mins
Gregory "Matt" Dillon was required to enroll in ROTC at the University of Alabama. Upon graduation, he was required to give two years in the U.S. Army. He ended up serving 24 years, including three tours in Vietnam. He served as operations officer for then-Lt. Col. Hal Moore with the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Division at the vicious battle of Landing Zone X-Ray in November 1965
In this edition of Veterans Chronicl...
In this edition of Veterans Chronicl...
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February 19, 2025 • 32 mins
Charles Cram was 15 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Before he was old enough to join the military, he worked as a messenger and received word of an alleged Japanese attack on the west coast of the U.S. When he was 17, Cram joined the service. After boot camp he was assigned to corpsman training. Before long he was off to the Pacific and would see his first combat as an 18-year-old corpsman on Iwo Jima.
In this edi...
In this edi...
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February 12, 2025 • 25 mins
Harry Stewart grew up with a love of flying and dreamed of becoming an airline pilot one day. But shortly after graduating high school, with the nation at war, Stewart found himself in in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
The military needed skilled pilots but would not let black and white personnel train or serve together. Stewart was sent to Tuskegee, Alabama, where he and other black pilots and crew members prepared to serve as fighter pi...
The military needed skilled pilots but would not let black and white personnel train or serve together. Stewart was sent to Tuskegee, Alabama, where he and other black pilots and crew members prepared to serve as fighter pi...
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February 5, 2025 • 35 mins
Allison Black surprised her family by deciding to enlist in the U.S. Air Force after high school. She did it to be part of a mission bigger than herself. After basic training, Black spent the next several years as a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape - or SERE - instructor, teaching service members what to do if shot down, stuck behind enemy lines, or captured.
After several years of that she became an officer in Air Force s...
After several years of that she became an officer in Air Force s...
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January 29, 2025 • 44 mins
Jesse "Bud" Alley was born in Florida but grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. He joined Army ROTC while enrolled at Furman University. Not long after commissioning, he was assigned as a radio officer. After one more reassignment, his job was to make sure radios were in working order for the colonels in the new Air Cavalry Division.
Because of the radio work and other training, Alley had never gone through an infantry training cou...
Because of the radio work and other training, Alley had never gone through an infantry training cou...
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January 22, 2025 • 48 mins
Jack Hawkins grew up in Alabama in a community full of military veterans. His family was full of U.S. Marines so joining the corps came naturally to him. Hawkins enlisted in 1963 but immediately began a path towards becoming an officer. That included grueling summer sessions in Quantico, Virginia, and additional training before he was deployed to command an infantry platoon in Vietnam.
In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Hawki...
In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Hawki...
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January 15, 2025 • 39 mins
Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger grew up in a house of 14 children and his his connection with his father, a World War II veteran, was watching Notre Dame football. Rudy's dream was to play for the Fighting Irish. But his high school athetic career did not merit attention from Notre Dame and he says his grades weren't good enough to get accepted there either.
So a co-worker encouraged him to join the Navy. Rudy says his time in the U.S. Navy...
So a co-worker encouraged him to join the Navy. Rudy says his time in the U.S. Navy...
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January 9, 2025 • 33 mins
If you're a fan of true crime but crave a dose of inspiration instead of tales of darkness, The Miracle Files is your perfect alternative. With the same storytelling intensity as true crime podcasts, The Miracle Files delves into the details of each miraculous story, exploring the people and circumstances that turned these moments into something unforgettable. Whether you believe in divine intervention or human perseverance, this p...
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January 8, 2025 • 48 mins
By his own admission, Ken Corigliano was a troubled teenager who probably had jail in his future. That all changed the day a U.S. Air Force recruiter came to his school and had plenty to say when Corigliano tried to cause trouble during his presentation. That interaction radically changed Corigliano's life and would lead him to join the Air Force and excel at aircraft maintenance, with a special focus on the MC-130 E.
His instincts...
His instincts...
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January 1, 2025 • 62 mins
When college wasn't working out, Mike Sarraille decided to become a U.S. Marine when he became friends with a recon Marine and was impressed by his humble confidence. Saraille also become a recon Marine as well as a sniper. But a couple years later, after being encouraged to become an officer, he entered BUD/s training and became a U.S. Navy SEAL.
In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," LCDR Saraille shares his memories of serving...
In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," LCDR Saraille shares his memories of serving...
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