Veterans Chronicles

A 25-year highly decorated U.S. Army veteran, Tom Satterly was portrayed in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down along with his teammates. He served in the elite Delta Force, witnessing intense combat at the Battle of Mogadishu and later in the Iraq war. After coping with PTS and other personal struggles following his time in combat, Tom and his wife Jen have started the All Secure Foundation, which prov...

Mark Heathco is a retired military veteran who spent ten years inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) of South Korea. During that time he pulled 385 missions, including a dangerous one in August of 1985. He discusses his harrowing experiences in his memoir, Call Sign Purple Three: Patrolling the US Sector of the Korean DMZ. 

Captain Jerry Yellin has the unique distinction of flying the first and last combat missions over Japan during the Second World War. He spent the majority of the war with the 78th Fighter Squadron, flying the P-40, P-47, and P-51. Captain Yellin passed away on December 21, 2017. This video is in memoriam to help ensure his legacy lives on. 

A veteran of Afghanistan, Staff Sergeant Ryan Pitts talks about his service and sacrifice during his tours, and specifically during the Battle of Wanat. His acts of valor during the battle would earn him the Medal of Honor. Here he reflects on his experience, those he served beside, and the impact of his service on his life. 

In honor of the centennial of America's entrance into World War I - April 6, 2017 - noted author and historian Andrew Carroll discusses his latest book, My Fellow Soldiers: General John Pershing and the Americans Who Helped Win the Great War. The book portarys an intimate portrait of the General, who led the American Expeditionary Forces during the First World War. Using many letters and diares, C...

World War II veteran Lt. Col. Alfred Shehab saw action during the Battle of the Bulge ? Hitler?s month-long final offensive on the Western front. LTC Shehab was assigned to the 38th Cavalry Squadron, a reconnaissance unit tasked with patrolling the forests of the Ardennes region when the battle broke out on December 16, 1944.

Dr. Sudip Bose served in the U.S. Army for 12 years. A veteran of Iraq, Dr. Bose was tasked with caring for Saddam Hussein after his capture. He was awarded the Bronze Star for serving one of the longest tours in combat by a physician since the Second World War.

World War II veteran John Weston joined the U.S. Army in 1941 as part of the 758th Tank Battalion. The 758th was the first all African-American armored unit in U.S. history. Weston reflects on his service and its influence upon his life. In November 2015, AVC had the honor of conducting this interview with Weston at the annual Veterans Day Conference. Two months later, on December 29, 2015, John S...

Emanuel "Manny" Mandel was born in Riga, Latvia in 1936, shortly before Europe was engulfed in war. His family then moved to Budapest, which was an important Jewish center in Europe, where his father was a cantor. As the years progressed, Europe was becoming more dangerous for Jewish families. In 1944, Manny and his family were among a group of Jews who Adolf Eichmann traded for Allied material. M...

On December 7, 1941, Jim Leavelle was aboard the USS Whitney when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Twenty-two years later, he would witness history once again as a homicide detective for the Dallas Police Department when President Kennedy was assassinated. Leavelle interrogated Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy?s alleged assassin, and is known as ?the man in the tan suit? in the famed photo of Oswald?...

Ned Thomas, World War II veteran of the Army Air Force discusses his experience as a "Hump Pilot" flying over the Himalayas to supply materials to the Nationalist Chinese forces fighting the Japanese. He is joined by his daughter Nedda Thomas, author of "Hump Pilot: Defying Death Flying the Himalayas During World War II."

Captain Jason Pak graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2011, proceeding to both Airborne and Ranger schools. In October 2012 he was deployed to Panjwai, Afghanistan as a Company Fire Support Officer, where he was eventually promoted to First Lieutenant. On December 12, 2012, he was seriously wounded by an IED while leading a patrol on foot, losing both of his legs and...

World War II veteran William Peacock recounts his experience as a charter member of LST 357. Peacock managed much of the navigational charts aboard the ship, and took part in many Naval missions back and forth from Bizerte, North Africa to Salerno in Southern Italy.

Lt. Col. Bill Johnson entered the U.S. Air Force in 1973 after graduating from high school. LTC Johnson would eventually become a software engineer for the Air Force, working with much of the communicating and computing technology of the nation's military. He talks about his time in the service and the impact it had on his career, which would lead him to start his own businesses. He his now Congre...

Ernest Hueter, veteran of World War II, saw some of the greatest action in the South Pacific, was once assigned to General MacArthur's staff, and was present when Gen. MacArthur made his return to the Philippine Islands. He talks about he inspiration for joining the service, and how his combat experience shaped his life.

This episode of Veterans Chronicles features an old show "Reminiscences" hosted by Stephen Halpert, during which he has a conversation with Sir Martin Gilbert. Martin Gilbert was an esteemed British historian and the official biographer of Winston Churchill. Gilbert was the author of over eighty books, covering topics including world history, Jewish history, and the Holocaust. On February 3, 2015,...

Dr. J. Phillip "Jack" London is known for his contribution to the success of CACI International, one of the world's leading organizations working to fuse information technology with defense and security. Prior to his career with CACI, Dr. London served in the U.S. Navy, witnessing crucial moments of the Cold War and retiring as a Captain. He discusses how values such as character and integrity hav...

Former U.S. Army Ranger Nicholas Irving spent six years with the Army's Special Operations 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Irving served from demolitions assaulter to Master Sniper, and was the first African-American in his battalion to serve as Sniper. His new book "The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers" is a thrilling memoir detailing the experiences o...

Military historian and best-selling author Patrick K. O'Donnell discusses his latest book "First SEALs: The Untold Story of the Forging of America's Most Elite Unit." The book tells the story of four extraordinary men who in 1942 united to form the Navy's Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) teams that would led to the establishment of one of the military's most esteemed units. O'Donnell discusses the source...

Richard Camp, retired Marine Corps Colonel, veteran of Vietnam, and esteemed military author and historian discusses his experiences in Vietnam which heavily influenced his life. A recipient of the Purple Heart, Colonel Camp was a Marine Corps officer for 26 years and served as a company commander in Vietnam. He has done much work in historical preservation through several positions such as the De...

Former Army ranger Steve Maguire was a decorated and successful infantry officer, commanding a 9th Infantry Division battalion reconnaissance platoon in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. Maguire's life would change forever in November 1969, when an exploding Viet Cong mine severely wounded him, leaving him blinded for life.

After graduating from high school in 1946, Lieutenant General Bernard Trainor enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He attended the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, and then was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant after his graduation in 1951. In December of that year, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines Division, 1st Marines in Korea as infantry platoon commander. Follow...

Colonel Glenn Frazier ran away to join the U.S. Army at age 16 and was stationed in the Philippines during the Second World War. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the war came to him. In April 1942, Colonel Frazier and the Philippine and American troops were forced to surrender to the Japanese, beginning Frazier's experience as Prisoner of War in several Japanese POW camps. Frazier marched nor...

Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha grew up in a family strongly committed to military service, which would inspire him to follow his family's legacy and leading him to become one of his generation's great heroes. In September 1999 Romesha enlisted in the U.S. Army, and after being deployed to Germany, Kosovo, and South Korea, he volunteered to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Here he served as sectio...

As a decorated veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, General Ed Rowney's military career continued to flourish following his time on the field. Rowney commanded troops in all three wars, and was appointed the US Representative to Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and maintained this position under the presidencies of Nixon, Ford, and Carter. While studying in Poland he had the opportun...