Veterans Chronicles

U.S. Navy veteran Justin Sheffield walks us through his 14 years of service, almost all of it as a a U.S. Navy SEAL, including many years with the elite SEAL Team Six. Sheffield gives us an amazing glimpse into BUD/s training to become SEAL and what separated those who succeeded and those who tapped out. He also takes us into the SEAL combat mindset and the mission his teams were asked to do in Ir...

In early 1965, U.S. Naval Aviator Robert Shumaker was deployed to Vietnam. He said goodbye to his wife and newborn son, never imagining he wouldn't see them for another eight years. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," retired RDML Shumaker shares the gripping details of being shot down and badly injuring his back as he parachuted to the ground. He also describes how he dubbed Hoa Lo Prison t...

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Lois Bouton asked to join the U.S. Coast Guard but was told it did not accept women. The very next year, the policy changed and the Coast Guard Women's Reserve was born. Bouton joined in 1943, became a boot camp instructor and later served as a radioman along the Atlantic Coast. Almost 30 years later, in her role as a schoolteacher, Bouton began visiting...

Vincent Okamoto was born in a Japanese internment camp during World War II and later became the most highly-decorated Japanese-American soldier to survive the Vietnam War. In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Okamoto walks us through the harrowing combat against North Vietnamese forces on August 24, 1968, at Dau Tieng near the Cambodian border. He shares his thoughts and the decisions he made u...

Andrew Napier joined the Kentucky Army National Guard as a way to get a college education. Soon he was trained to be a combat medic and he volunteered to be deployed. He soon spent a life-changing tour as a medic for a route-clearing platoon. Within his first four days in theater, Napier faced soldiers with fatal wounds, an ambush of his unit, and assisting in treating some of the most gruesome in...

Retired U.S. Army Col. James Riffe joins us to discuss his 30 years of service to the United States, with a focus on his many roles during the critical and costly battle of Okinawa in 1945. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Col. Riffe explains how he went from an enlisted man to an officer and he shares the painful memories of great loss on Okinawa. He also explains how his experience in t...

U.S. Navy veteran Will Chesney shares his story of service from the rigors of BUD/S training to become a Navy SEAL to two tours in Iraq and countless more in Afghanistan. Chesney also describes his role as a dog handler within the SEALs and the very special bond he shared with a military working dog (MWD) named Cairo. Chesney explains the amazing contributions Cairo and other MWD's made in the war...

Thiele Fred Harvey describes his service in the Pacific theater in World War II, including the brutal battle of Iwo Jima. Harvey shares the story of how his mother made major sacrifices to get him a weapon when the Marine Corps could not provide one. He also describes coming shore at Iwo Jima, engaging in combat with the Japanese, and the wounds that ended his World War II service.

U.S. Army veteran Luis Alvarez joins us to discuss his revolutionary work to help heal the bones and other tissue of our wounded service members beyond what the human body can often do on its own. Alvarez explains how he was inspired to make this his mission, how his innovative approach works, the promising research already done, and the work yet to be done. Alvarez also discusses his time at West...

U.S. Navy veteran Cade Courtley describes his relentless push to become a SEAL, despite three serious injuries during training. He discusses his training to become a sniper and how he put his elite skills to use in Bosnia in the late 1990's. Although, he left active duty months before 9/11, Courtley explains how he still went to Afghanistan and Iraq as a private security contractor for a governmen...

Michael Schlitz joined the Army in 1996 and immediately "fell in love" with life in the military. He soon passed the grueling test to become a U.S. Army Ranger. Michael's life changed dramatically in February 2007, when a roadside bomb in Iraq nearly killed him and left the vast majority of his body severely burned, In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, SFC Schlitz describes his time in uniform,...

U.S. Army veterans Art Spaulding shares his story of serving in the Battle of the Bulge and beyond in the European theater of World War II. Mr. Spaulding served in the 91st Chemical Mortar Battalion and was attached to Gen. Patton's march to Germany when they all suddenly veered north to help repel the Nazis' last major offensive. Spaulding describes the brutally cold journey to the front and the...

Elwood "Woody" Hughes shares his story of service in the Pacific theater of World War II and his vivid memories from the Battle of Iwo Jima in early 1945. Woody explains what it was like waiting to come ashore, how he served as a runner delivering messages during the battle, his work with the Navajo Code Talkers there, and more.

Don Irwin joined the U.S. Navy months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and over the next four years, he was witness to some of the most momentous events in the Pacific theater of World War II. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Mr. Irwin describes arriving at Pearl Harbor one day after the attack, watching the launch of the Doolittle Raid, and his service at Midway, Guadalcanal,...

U.S. Marine Corps machine gunner Harry Martin shares his story of the bloody battle of Iwo Jima. Martin came ashore in the first wave. Despite being shot in the face and temporarily losing vision in one eye, he continued fighting every day of the battle, which lasted more than a month. Martin describes the challenge of shooting at the Japanese without being able to see any of them, what it was lik...

George Ciampa wanted to be a military pilot but instead he was assigned to the U.S. Army's 607th Graves Registration Company, which was responsible for retrieving fallen service members and finding temporary resting place for Americans, allies, and even enemies as the battles of World War II unfolded. Ciampa shares why he got sent to Europe sooner than he expected, takes into the work of identifyi...

SFC Ramon Padilla served in both Iraq and Afghanistan while in the U.S. Army and his service in Afghanistan would change his life forever. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Padilla explains what combat was like for him in both theaters. He also recounts the attack that resulted in severe injury, the grueling surgeries and recovery that followed, his battle with post-traumatic stress, and h...

James Harvey III tried to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps in January 1943 but was told they didn't any more people. He knew it was because of the color of his skin. A few months later, Harvey was drafted and embarked on a remarkable, trailblazing career. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Lt. Col. Harvey describes training at Tuskegee, winning the inaugural Top Gun competition in 1949, be...

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Theodore "Ted" Below came ashore in the first wave on Iwo Jima, where a brutal fight against the entrenched Japanese would unfold for weeks to come. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Below describes getting pinned down on the beach and eventually getting off of it, his demolition work to destroy the elaborate cave system built by the Japanese on the island, and hi...

Jason Redman is back on "Veterans Chronicles." Jason has a very powerful story of service, sacrifice, and overcoming adversity. He was severely injured in the arm and face in Iraq and endured more than forty surgeries and twenty skin grafts. But his positive attitude and his refusal to let his condition be a source of pity inspired many other wounded warriors and millions of Americans across the c...

U.S. Army Gen. H.R. McMaster (Ret.) reflects upon his 34 years in service to our country - from West Point to war zones to the White House. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Gen. McMaster walks us step by step through the Battle of 73 Easting, a decisive Gulf War tank battle that helped to end the ground campaign against Iraq within 100 hours. McMaster also explains how he came to write "D...

Martha McSally blazed significant trails in the U.S. Air Force, becoming the first female fighter pilot in combat and the first woman to command a fighter squadron, which she considers the greatest honor of her life. But when McSally entered the U.S. Air Force Academy, female fighter pilots were not permitted. In this conversation with Greg Corombos, McSally describes the determination it took to...

Louis Graziano was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and promised his father that Italian dictator Benito Mussolini would be vanquished. His promises came true. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Graziano takes us with him as he describes coming ashore in the third wave at Omaha Beach on D-Day, nearly losing his feet due to frostbite at the Battle of the Bulge, his conversations with Gen....

Vern Pike was commissioned as a U.S. Army officer upon graduation from Wake Forest University. Soon he had a front row seat to and a role to play in the growing tensions of the Cold War. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Col. Pike describes his duties in the American sector of West Berlin, Germany. Pike shares how he discovered the early stages of the Berlin Wall, take us inside the assign...

When you hear the lengths Ron "Rondo" Scharfe went to in order to join the U.S. Navy long before he was 18, you'll quickly understand his commitment to service. At just 16-years old, Scharfe served as a Higgins Boat coxswain at Iwo Jima. He details the serious injury he suffered on his very first effort to bring Marines ashore in the early moments of that bloody battle in February 1945. Yet someho...