Veterans Chronicles

Mar 05 2025 478 ep. 36 mins 659

Veterans Chronicles Podcast artwork

Veterans Chronicles tells the stories of America's greatest heroes in their own words.

History Society & Culture

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Cpl. Wayne Fletcher, U.S. Army, Korea

Mar 05 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 in

Col. Gregory 'Matt' Dillon, U.S. Army, Vietnam, Battle of Ia Drang

Feb 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

PHM2 Charles Cram, U.S. Navy Corpsman, World War II, Iwo Jima

Feb 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

Lt. Col. Harry Stewart, USAF, World War II, Tuskegee Airman, 'Top Gun'

Feb 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 pilo

Col. Allison Black, USAF, Afghanistan, 'Angel of Death'

Feb 05 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

Lt. Jesse 'Bud' Alley, U.S. Army, Vietnam, Battle of Ia Drang

Jan 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, Al

Capt Jack Hawkins, USMC, Vietnam

Jan 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 Viet

SN Daniel 'Rudy' Ruettiger, U.S. Navy, Notre Dame Football Walk-On

Jan 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

Miracle Files: The Mystery Boat

Jan 09 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 i

Lt. Col. Ken Corigliano, USAF, Afghanistan, Iraq

Jan 08 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,