Veterans Chronicles  By  cover art

Veterans Chronicles

By: Radio America
  • Summary

  • Veterans Chronicles tells the stories of America's greatest heroes in their own words.
    Copyright Radio America
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Episodes
  • LtCol Raul 'Art' Sifuentes, USMC, Vietnam
    May 29 2024
    Raul "Art" Sifuentes was born in Michigan and knew he wanted to be a U.S. Marine when he watched John Wayne in "The Sands of Iwo Jima" when he was just 11 years old. At age 17, while still in high school, Sifuentes enlisted in Marine Reserves and went on active duty after graduation. He left the Corps after three years and attended college.

    After receiving his undergraduate degree, Sifuentes planned to pursue a Masters degree, but a meeting with a Marine officer selection official changed all that. Soon, we was off to flight school to learn how to fly helicopters. Shortly after that, he was off for the first of three tours in Vietnam.

    In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Sifuentes takes us through flight training, the wide variety of missions he flew in Vietnam, including many in hot zones to extract reconaissance teams or wounded service members. He also details the work on his third tour in helping to remove mines from Haiphong Harbor and discusses the horrible treatment our troops received from Americans when they returned home.

    Finally, Sifuentes details his rewarding work with the Iwo Jima Association and why he is forever grateful to have served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
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    36 mins
  • PFC Don Mates, USMC, World War II, Iwo Jima
    May 22 2024
    On Monday, Americans will pause for Memorial Day and honor the service and sacrifice of those gave what President Lincoln called their last full measure of devotion. And the reason we are often able to remember the fallen is because those who died had a friend who lived to tell the story.

    That is certainly case for Don Mates and his great friend, Jimmy Trimble, a highly promising pitcher who delayed a Major League career to serve his nation in uniform.

    In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Mates describes the lifelong bond he formed with other Marines in training. He also shares a vivid, detailed account of being seriously wounded by a series of Japanese grenade attacks in the foxhole he shared with Trimble - and the sucide attack from a Japanese solder that followed.

    Finally, Mates explains why he spent so much time over the remainder of his life telling people about Jimmy Trimble and their friendship and how it forever changed his life.

    It's a powerful story that exemplifies the cost of freedom and the commitment to forever honor our fallen heroes.
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    41 mins
  • 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

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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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