Denny Meyer
When Denny Meyer enlisted in the Navy in 1968, he had to hide the fact that he was gay.
At the time, homosexuality wasn’t tolerated in the Navy and anyone found to be gay would be discharged from service.
At StoryCorps, Meyer recalled what it was like to be gay and a sailor in those days.
Originally aired June 22, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Harrison Wright and Sean Guess
When Sean Guess brought his grandfather, Harrison Wright, to a mobile booth in Austin, he asked about Harrison’s service during World War II.
Harrison was drafted in early 1943 and soon after shipped out to Europe. He played the bugle in his unit, and, at the end of the war, he was called upon for a special assignment.
Originally aired May 25, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Photo: Army Sgt. Harrison Wright as an 18 year-old. Photo courtesy of Harrison Wright.
Max Voelz
Max Voelz met his future wife, Kimberly, on Valentine’s Day, while they were training to work in Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit — the Army’s elite bomb squad.
Both Max and Kim were sent to Iraq in 2003. One night, Max called in the location of an explosive and Kim was sent to disarm it. She did not survive the mission.
Max sat down for StoryCorps to remember her.
Originally aired May 27, 2011, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Top photo: Kimberly Voelz at work. Courtesy of Max Voelz.
Germans in the Woods
Joseph Robertson served in the U.S. Army for 26 years. He was an infantryman during World War II and fought at the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States during World War II. In this short, Joseph recounts killing a young German soldier, whose face remains etched into his memory. Joseph passed away in 2009.
Listen to the audio version of this story, a conversation between Joseph and his son-in-law, Jonathan Fish Jr.
Para subtítulos en español, haga click en el ícono de YouTube en la esquina derecha, y escoja “Spanish” bajo la opción de “settings” y “subtitles/CC.”
Griselda Lemus and Papsy Lemus
Nine-year-old Griselda Lemus asks her mother, Sgt. Papsy Lemus, about the 13 months she spent at war serving in Baghdad, Iraq, and the difficulty of leaving her family in the United States.
Originally aired on May 29, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Allen Hoe
Allen Hoe was as a combat medic in Vietnam. His son, Nainoa K. Hoe, served as a 1st lieutenant infantry officer with the Army’s 3rd Battalion in Mosul, Iraq and died there on January 22, 2005, at the age of 27.
On Memorial Day in 2005, Allen traveled from Hawaii to Washington, D.C., for an event at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial honoring Army nurses returning home from the war. At StoryCorps he describes the amazing circumstances around how he met Major Paula Coughlin who was the nurse with his son when he died.
Originally aired May 22, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Rebecca Fuller and Jenny Francis
Rebecca Fuller (left) and her sister Jenny Francis remember their younger brother, Marine First Lieutenant Travis John Fuller, who died in Iraq.
Originally aired January 26, 2007, on NPR’s Morning Edition.