Veterans Chronicles By cover art

Veterans Chronicles

By: Radio America
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  • Summary

  • Veterans Chronicles tells the stories of America's greatest heroes in their own words.
    Copyright Radio America
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Episodes
  • PO1 James Finn, U.S. Navy, World War II

    PO1 James Finn, U.S. Navy, World War II
    May 15 2024
    James Finn ended up in the U.S. Navy because he didn't want to join the Army and promised his parents he would not join the Marines. Soon he was training to be a bomber pilot and eventually deployed to the Pacific theater.

    In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Mr. Finn tells us about flying the single engine TBF and TBM Avengers as part of a three-man crew, dropping bombs over Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Chi Chi Jima, French IndoChina and even in Burma.

    Finn describes the challenge of taking off and landing on aircraft carriers and the ferocity of the Japanese air defenses. He also shares his memories of being aboard the USS Franklin aircraft carrier in October 1944 , when it was disabled by a Japanese kamikaze attack, returning to action aboard the USS Hornet, and how he heard the war was over.
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    21 mins
  • Cpl. Don Graves, USMC, WWII, Iwo Jima, Part 2

    Cpl. Don Graves, USMC, WWII, Iwo Jima, Part 2
    May 8 2024
    Last week, we followed Don Graves and his story of service as a U.S. Marine from basic training to the invasion of Iwo Jima to seeing the raising of the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi. Now we focus on his actions and reflections over the rest of the six-week battle on Iwo Jima.

    In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," we'll hear Graves describe his memories of the Japanese sinking the carrier escort USS Bismarck Sea while he was fighting in the mountains of Iwo Jima. He will also share details of the intense fight for Hill 362 A, losing many officers there, and using his flamethrower to help force the Japanese to retreat.

    Now 99 years old, Graves also tells us about the damage inflicted by Japanese mortars and how he was able to help take out a critical mortar battery, the regular threat of Japanese banzai attacks, and the brief scare that the Japanese might be using poison gas. He even has an anecdote about a lighthearted moment with the enemy.

    But his most powerful reflections center on the price of freedom, in terms of the total losses in the battle, the large number of his friends who died there, and one young Marine whose death still haunts him. And you'll hear his thoughts on the legacy of the Greatest Generation.
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    35 mins
  • Cpl. Don Graves, USMC, WWII, Iwo Jima, Part 1

    Cpl. Don Graves, USMC, WWII, Iwo Jima, Part 1
    May 1 2024
    Don Graves was born in Michigan in 1925 and his family struggled mightily during the Great Depression. He was 16 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He immediately ran down to the U.S. Marine Corps recruiter's office to sign up. He was too young, but on his seventeenth birthday, Graves officially became a Marine. Nearly three years later, Graves was among the Marines invading the critically important island of Iwo Jima.

    In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Graves shares his vivid memories of learning about the attacks at Pearl Harbor, his intense training in San Diego, and his sudden new assignment as a flamethrower operator. He also shares, in great detail, what it was like to make the amphibious landing on Iwo Jima under heavy Japanese fire. Graves then describes the difficulty getting off the beach and what it took to fight to the top of Mt. Suribachi.

    Finally, Graves tells us about the historic flag raising atop Mt. Suribachi that was immortalized in the Joseph Rosenthal photo and again in the sculpture ot the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

    In our next edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Graves will detail the fighting in the weeks of fighting that followed the flag raising - from the brutal effectiveness of Japanese mortars to the power of his flamethrower and from enduring the loss of so many friends to the death of just one in his own foxhole. He will also reflect on the legacy of the Greatest Generation nearky 80 years later.
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    35 mins
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Profile Image for Joe B.

Preserving the memory

amazing that you do this thank you sir!
incredible to listen to all of the stories from all of these amazing people!

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