A Trump Supporter Finds a Surprising Ally at an Anti-Trump Rally
It was days after the 2016 election when Joseph Weidknecht, a Trump supporter sporting a sign that read “Proud to Be Deplorable” and a “Make America Great Again” cap showed up at a march protesting the election of Donald Trump in Austin, Texas.
Amina Amdeen, a Muslim student at the University of Texas, was one of the marchers who came to the peaceful rally that day before part of the protest broke into violence.
Though they come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, they came to StoryCorps to remember a moment that day that unexpectedly brought them together.
We’re presenting this conversation through One Small Step, StoryCorps’ new national effort to encourage people to engage in a conversation with someone they may not agree with politically. Learn more and participate.
Top photo: Amina Amdeen and Joseph Weidknecht pose near the Texas State Capitol building, where the two initially met when an anti-Trump protest turned violent on November 13, 2016. Photo by Catalin Abagiu for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Amina Amdeen speaks to a crowd at an anti-Trump protest on November 13, 2016 in Austin, Texas. Photo courtesy of Dave Creaney/American-Statesman.
Bottom Photo: Joseph Weidknecht holds a poster reading “Proud to Be Deplorable” at an anti-Trump protest on November 13, 2016 in Austin, Texas. Photo courtesy of Dave Creaney/American-Statesman.
Originally aired September 28, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
An Online Search for a Father Turns Up a Sister
When Courtney McKinney was 16 years old, she learned that she’d been conceived through anonymous sperm donation. As an adult, Courtney discovered she had a half-sister: Alexandra Sanchez.
Theirs is one of the many families that have expanded as a result of online DNA testing.
At StoryCorps, Courtney told Alex how she’d set out looking for her father, and about the moment she found a sister instead.
Top photo: Alexandra Sanchez (left) and Courtney McKinney at their StoryCorps interview in Dallas on April 29, 2018. By Kevin Oliver for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Sisters Courtney and Alex on the first day they met each other in person. Courtesy of Alexandra Sanchez.
Originally aired June 15, 2018 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
A 10-year-old Describes His First School Active Shooter Drill
On February 14, 2018, a gunman shot and killed 17 people and injured 17 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, making it one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history. This has heightened the national dialogue around school safety, a conversation that one family decided to bring to StoryCorps in Houston.
There, 10-year-old Dezmond Floyd sat down with his mother, Tanai Benard, after experiencing his first active shooter drill with his fifth grade class.
Originally aired March 23, 2018 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Top photo: Tanai Benard and her son, Dezmond Floyd, at their StoryCorps interview in Houston, Texas.
Friends from Elementary School Reunited on a Battlefield in Vietnam
Vince Cantu and Joe Galloway, both 76, first met each other in third grade in the mile-wide town of Refugio, Texas. After they graduated as part of a class of just 55 kids in 1959, Joe left town to pursue journalism, and the two lost track of each other over the years.
Vince and Joe came to StoryCorps in Austin, Texas, to recall the moment they reunited in a place they didn’t expect during the Vietnam War.
In November 1965, Joe Galloway snapped this photo of his childhood friend Vince Cantu during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley without realizing who was pictured. Vince was rushing to pick up the body of an American soldier to transport him home. The photo would ultimately run in several magazines, an illustration of the cost of war.
Years after the war ended, Joe was decorated with a Bronze Star Medal for rescuing soldiers during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley. His is the only medal the U.S. Army awarded to a civilian for actions in combat during the Vietnam War.
Joe and Vince remain good friends to this day.
Top Photo: Joe Galloway (L) and Vince Cantu at their StoryCorps interview in 2016 in Austin, Texas.
Bottom Photo: Vince Cantu rushes to pick up the body of an American soldier during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965. Photo Courtesy Getty Images.
Originally aired February 24, 2018, on NPR’s Weekend Edition.
Religious School Rape and Abuse Survivors Confront The Past
When the New Bethany Home for Girls in Arcadia, Louisiana opened in 1971, the religious reform school was known as a safe haven for “wayward girls.”
Over the next three decades, law enforcement officials repeatedly investigated claims of physical and psychological child abuse at the school. Girls routinely ran away, and state officials raided the compound twice and removed children from the home.
Joanna Wright was 16 years old when she first arrived. She had been sexually abused at home and hoped the school would be a refuge. But when she got there, she was raped by the man in charge of the school.
For years, Joanna thought she was the only one. It wasn’t until years later that she connected with other former students, including Tara Cummings, who survived physical and psychological abuse while at New Bethany.
At StoryCorps, they shared difficult memories from their childhoods. Joanna begins their conversation.
In 2014, a group of women — including Joanna and Tara — came forward to say they were raped and abused at the school.
After a year-long investigation, a grand jury declined to indict the founder of the school. He died the following month.
Top photo: Joanna Wright with Tara Cummings in Cypress, Texas. Morgan Feigal-Stickles for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Outside the gates of the New Bethany Home for Girls in an archival photo from 1988. Ellis Lucia for the Times-Picayune.
Originally aired February 23, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Jessi Silva and Maggie Marquez
Maggie Marquez and Jessi Silva grew up in the desert town of Marfa, Texas in the 1950s. At the time, segregation of Latino and white students was not legal. However, Marfa’s school system — like many others in the Southwest — practiced de facto segregation, in which Latino and white children attended different schools.
In Marfa, Latino children attended the Blackwell School. Many of the students spoke Spanish as their first language.
Both Maggie and Jessi were students at Blackwell. They came to StoryCorps to remember the day their school banned students from speaking Spanish in a ceremony called the “burial of Mr. Spanish.”
In 2007, a group of Blackwell alumni, including Maggie and Jessi, returned to the school grounds, where they buried a Spanish dictionary and dug it up in a symbolic ceremony to “unearth Mr. Spanish.”
In recent years, a local organization, the Blackwell School Alliance — in partnership with Marfa Public Radio — is collecting oral histories featuring the voices of former students. Listen to more of their stories.
Top photo: Jessi Silva and Maggie Marquez on the grounds of the Blackwell School. By Sarah Vasquez for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: A group of students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on the grounds of the original Blackwell School. Courtesy of the Marfa and Presidio County Museum.
Originally aired October 20, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Julie Taylor and Fred Taylor
Each year as the holidays approach, airline companies brace themselves for record numbers of travelers, flights, and inevitable delays. And when flights are interrupted, airline customer relations officers like Fred Taylor step in to deal with angry customers.
For 15 years, Fred was the Senior Manager of Proactive Customer Communications for Southwest Airlines or, as his daughter lovingly calls him, “The Sorry Man.” He created this department in 2004 in response to fliers who were impacted travel by issues, from the most mundane weather delays to scary airplane malfunctions and unruly passengers.
For example, Fred explains that if an engine shuts down because parts of the fan blade come apart, it makes a lot of noise and creates plumes of fire that come out of the back. This is a fairly common mechanical issue, but it can be terrifying for the passengers aboard who don’t know much about planes. That’s where Fred came in.
On another memorable flight, a woman combined alcohol and prescription medication in order to deal with her fear of flying. As a result, she took off all of her clothing and starting chewing on the seat bottom cushion. Fred says he had to apologize to the other 137 other passengers who were also aboard that flight.
Fred came to StoryCorps with his wife, Julie, to share his experiences as a professional apologizer.
Originally aired December 30, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Hartmut Lau and Barbara Lau
After graduating from West Point in 1967, Hartmut Lau was given a choice to serve his active duty in either the United States or Europe. He volunteered to go to Vietnam.
With the U.S. escalating its involvement in the Vietnam War, and the draft still two years away, Hartmut joined the Army’s 9th Infantry Division during one of the war’s worst years of combat. In 1968, American casualties peaked at 16,899, and 29 of Hartmut’s 589 fellow cadets from the class of ’67 were killed.
In 1991, after 24 years of service, Hartmut retired at the rank of colonel having been awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Purple Heart. Five years later, he met his wife, Barbara.
Over the course of their 20-year marriage, he has shared with her stories about his time at West Point, but Hartmut had never before spoken to Barbara about his service during the Vietnam War—until they came to StoryCorps.
Originally aired November 11, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Idella Hansen and Sandi Talbott
Idella Hansen(top left) started driving big rig trucks in 1968 when she was just 18 years old. At the time, she was pregnant and hungry for independence so she filled a tanker with gasoline, took to the road, and to this day has not looked back. Now 66 years old, Idella (pictured below in 1996) has been driving for more than four decades, and her best friend is fellow trucker Sandi Talbott (top right).
Sandi, 75, began driving alongside her husband, Jim, in 1979. They drove as partners for years until Jim’s health began to decline and Sandi took over most of the driving. After Jim’s death in 2000, Sandi continued on the road without him, and has now been behind the wheel for over three decades.
Together, Idella and Sandi have driven over 9 million miles hauling everything from missiles to tadpoles. At StoryCorps they discuss their friendship, their adventures, and why they’ll never retire.
Originally aired September 23, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Photo of Idella in 1996 courtesy of Idella Hansen.
Donna Engeman and Nicole McKenna
In 1981, when she was 20 years old, Donna Engeman enlisted in the United States Army. Prior to joining, Donna had not only never set foot outside of the country, but she had never even left the state of Minnesota.
While stationed in Germany, she met Long Island native John Engeman. Living in the barracks, they had what soldiers often refer to as a “barracks romance”—a fling that does not last long. But Donna and Sergeant Engeman quickly fell in love and in February 1983 they married.
Months after the wedding, Donna, pregnant with their first child, a boy, and believing herself to be a better spouse than soldier, left the Army and returned to the states to raise Patrick.
John remained in the military and in January 2006, as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was deployed to Baghdad. On May 14, 2006, an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during a combat operation killing him and a fellow soldier.
Chief Warrant Officer John W. Engeman is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Donna and John’s son, Patrick, is currently an Army major who has been deployed overseas four times.
Donna came to StoryCorps with their daughter, Nicole McKenna (pictured together at left), to share stories of John as a young husband and father.
Originally aired May 26, 2016, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.