In The Final Days Of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Nation’s First Active-Duty Military Contingent Marches In Pride
In the final days of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Navy Operations Specialist Sean Sala decided to do what had never been done before: march with an active duty military contingent in a Pride parade. It was July of 2011, just two months before the end of the policy that barred LGBTQ people from serving openly in the armed forces.
Sean teamed up with San Diego Pride organizer Fernando Zweifach Lopez. At StoryCorps, they remembered how they pulled it off — and what it was like to see over 200 service members show up at the starting line.
Top photo: Sean Sala and Fernando Zweifach Lopez at their StoryCorps interview in San Diego, CA on January 5th, 2013. By Luis Gallo for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Sean Sala and Fernando Zweifach Lopez (center) marching together at San Diego Pride on July 16, 2011. Courtesy of Fernando Zweifach Lopez.
Bottom Photo: Sean Sala (right) marches alongside fellow Navy service members during San Diego Pride on July 21, 2012. That year, the Pentagon issued blanket approval for service members to march in uniform in the San Diego Pride parade. Courtesy of Sean Sala.
Originally aired June 29, 2019, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
104-Year-Old WWII Veteran Remembers Fake Tanks, Sound Effects in Top-Secret ‘Ghost Army’
Gilbert Seltzer was an architectural draftsman when the World War II broke out. Soon after he joined the Army, he was told he would be put on a top-secret mission — and an unconventional one at that.
He had been selected to lead a platoon of men in a unit dubbed the “Ghost Army,” made up mostly of artists, creatives and engineers. Their mission? Deception. From inflatable tanks, to phony convoys, to spreading misinformation in bars, they used any possible trick to fool the enemy.
Gil is now 104 years old. At StoryCorps, he sat down with his granddaughter, Sarah, to remember this unusual outfit.
Top photo: A young Gilbert Seltzer in uniform in October, 1942, after graduating from Officer Candidate School in Fort Belvoir, VA. Courtesy Gilbert Seltzer.
Middle photo 1: A dummy 155 mm gun. Photo taken between 1943 and 1944. Courtesy Ghost Army Legacy Project, The George William Curtis Collection.
Middle photo 2: Gilbert Seltzer eating lunch at Pine Camp, Watertown, NY, during the spring of 1941. Courtesy Gilbert Seltzer.
Bottom photo: Sarah Seltzer and her grandfather, Gilbert Seltzer in West Orange, NJ for StoryCorps in January 2019. By Afi Yellow-Duke.
Originally aired May 25, 2019, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
‘We Don’t Talk About it Much’: Remembering the 241 U.S. Service Members Lost During the Beirut Bombing of 1983
James Edward Brown is one of the survivors of the Beirut Bombing.
On October 23, 1983, 241 U.S. service members were killed in the terrorist attack on Marine barracks in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. It was the largest single-day loss of life for the Marines since World War II, and the deadliest terror attack on American citizens prior to September 11, 2001.
Navy hospital corpsman Brown was 200 yards away from the barracks when the bomb detonated.
He came to StoryCorps in Pensacola with his friend and fellow Beirut veteran, Mike Cline, to remember the day of the attack.
In 2018, on the 35th anniversary of the bombing, Ed Brown walked 24.1 miles per day for a month to remember the 241 service members lost in the bombing.
Top photo: Rescuers probe the wreckage of the U.S. Marine command, Monday, Oct. 24, 1983 in a Beirut building that was destroyed by a terrorist bomb. AP Photo/Zouki.
Middle photo: Mike Cline and James Edward Brown pose at their StoryCorps interview on April 30, 2019 in Pensacola, FL. By Joseph Vincenza/WUWF.
Bottom photo: James Edward Brown is photographed during his 540-mile trek from Jacksonville, FL to Jacksonville, NC in October 2018. On his march, Ed walked 24.1 miles per day to honor the 241 soldiers killed in the bombing. Courtesy James Edward Brown.
Originally aired May 24, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
How Sheep Farming Helped an Injured Army Vet Overcome PTSD
Mickey Willenbring has always been a fighter. She grew up being shuffled between her family on reservations in the upper Midwest, family on the West Coast, and in the foster care system.
The Army called to her as a way to take control of her life, and at the age of 20, she enlisted.
What she didn’t know was that her biggest fight would lie not on the battlefield, but in coming home.
She came to StoryCorps in Eugene, Oregon to remember.
Over the past nine years, Mickey has owned and operated the Dot Ranch Navajo-Churro sheep farm in rural Oregon. She says she hasn’t had a major episode related to her PTSD since starting the ranch.
Top photo: Mickey Willenbring poses at her StoryCorps interview in Eugene, Oregon on January 26, 2019. Photo by Dupe Oyebolu/StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Mickey Willenbring at work on her ranch with one of her Navajo-Churro sheep. Photo by Tim Herrera.
Originally aired March 1, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Their Love for Each Other Grew into a Love for their Community
In 1997, Sharon Adams felt a call. After 30 years away from her hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she moved back into the house where she grew up. As Sharon was fixing up her family home, she needed an electrician. That’s when she met her now-husband, Larry Adams.
They’ve since completed several projects around the house, but the couple’s biggest undertaking came when they turned to the area outside of their home.
Inspired by Sharon’s memories of her once close-knit community, they established Walnut Way, a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing their neighborhood.In the two decades since, they’ve built and restored more than 100 homes and transformed over 20 lots into gardens and orchards.
At StoryCorps, they remembered how as their relationship grew, so did their involvement in the community.
Top Photo: Sharon and Larry Adams in the house where their nonprofit, Walnut Way, is based. Photo by Adam Carr.
Bottom Photo: Sharon and Larry Adams in front of their peach trees. Photo by Sara Stathas.
Originally aired February 15, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
A Married Couple Remembers Those They Lost to AIDS
Over the years, many people have come to StoryCorps to remember those who have died of AIDS. And for those left behind, how to move forward is never an easy path.
Larry Dearmon and Stephen Mills met in 1992, during the height of the AIDS epidemic in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Together for 26 years, the two came to StoryCorps to remember the loss that eventually brought them together.
Larry and Stephen have been together for 26 years. The two were married in 2013, a day that Larry calls “the best day of my life.”
Top photo: Larry Dearmon and Stephen Mills at their StoryCorps interview in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2015. By Natalia Fidenholtz for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Michael Braig poses for a photo in Frankfurt, Germany. He succumbed to AIDS in 1991. Courtesy Larry Dearmon.
Bottom photo: Stephen Mills and Larry Dearmon pose for a photo on their wedding day at Lake Tahoe in 2013. Courtesy Larry Dearmon.
Originally aired November 30, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Friends During the Vietnam War Reunite Almost 50 Years After
Back in 1967, close to 500,000 US troops were serving in Vietnam, including Kay Lee and John Nordeen. Kay was 22, a combat medic from San Francisco. John was 20, and a soldier from Seattle. They were assigned to the same Army platoon and became fast friends.
But the two lost touch after the war. For years, John tried to find his old friend. They finally reunited in 2015 on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese lunar holiday that celebrates family, gratitude and reunions.
And 50 years later, John and Kay sat down at StoryCorps to remember how they first met.
Top photo: Kay Lee and John Nordeen on October 30, 2018 after their StoryCorps interview in San Francisco, CA. By Susan Lee for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Kay Lee and John Nordeen in 1967 during the Vietnam War. Courtesy of John Nordeen.
Originally aired November 16, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Olivia J. Hooker, Pioneer and First Black Woman in the Coast Guard
In November 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law a bill that established the United States Coast Guard Women’s Reserve. Known as SPARS, this new law allowed women to serve in the Coast Guard Reserve for the duration of World War II plus six months. Two years later, in October 1944, the ban on Black women becoming SPARS was lifted and in February 1945, Olivia Hooker joined four other women as the first class of Black SPARS.
An Oklahoma native, Olivia didn’t know anything about boats at the time she enlisted in the Coast Guard Reserve. Joining her fellow SPARS at boot camp in Manhattan Beach, New York, a month after enlisting, she went on to spend her service time in Boston where she worked at a Coast Guard separation center. When the war ended, the SPARS program was disbanded and Olivia returned to civilian life having earned the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class, as well as a Good Conduct Award.
Following her military service, Olivia earned her master’s degree in psychology and in 1961 she received her PhD. When President Barack Obama spoke at the United States Coast Guard Academy commencement ceremony in 2015, Dr. Hooker, 100 years old at the time, was sitting in the front row. As the cadets listened, President Obama called her “an inspiration” for the remarkable life she had led, and shared with the graduates her belief that, “It’s not about you, or me. It’s about what we can give to this world.”
In September 2018, At 103 years old, Dr. Hooker sat down for a StoryCorps interview with her goddaughter Janis Porter, to talk about what it was like to be a groundbreaking part of military history, and to share what her time in the service has meant to her. She passed away two months after this interview.
On Veterans Day 2018, StoryCorps collaborated with Google and YouTube on an animated Doodle featuring a voice representing each branch of the military, including Olivia’s. Explore it here.
Top photo: Dr. Olivia J. Hooker (right) and her goddaughter, Janis Porter. Photo by Afi Yellow-Duke for StoryCorps.
Middle Photo: From the original caption for the extra photo: Olivia Hooker (in front) and fellow SPAR Aileen Anita Cooks, pause on the ladder of the dry-land ship ‘U.S.S. Neversail’ during their ‘boot’ training at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Station, Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, NY, 1945.
Originally aired February 28, 2020 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Olympic Gold Medalist Melvin Pender on the 1968 Mexico Games
Melvin Pender didn’t lace up his first pair of running shoes until he was 25 years old, while enlisted in the U.S. Army as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division.
So when he got the call to compete in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, it was a message he never had thought would come: at the time, Officer Pender was 31 years old and a platoon leader deployed in the jungles of Vietnam.
Many records were shattered at the games, but it’s the Black Power salute made on the podium by Tommie Smith and John Carlos that captured the headlines.
Pender was Carlos’ roommate at the games. At StoryCorps, Pender spoke with his friend Keith Sims about his experience at the Olympics.
Melvin Pender ultimately won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay race in the 1968 Olympics.
Soon after Mexico City, he was sent back to Vietnam, where he earned a bronze star for his service. He and John Carlos remain friends to this day.
Top photo: Keith Sims and Melvin Pender pose at their StoryCorps interview in Atlanta, Georgia on September 13, 2018. Photo by Kelly Moffitt for StoryCorps.
Second photo: Melvin Pender competes in the 100 meter race during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Here, he leads the group in the center. Courtesy Melvin and Debbie Pender.
Third photo: Melvin Pender receives the hand-off in the 4 x 100 meter relay during the 1968 Olympics, for which he won a gold medal. Courtesy Melvin and Debbie Pender.
Bottom photo: Melvin Pender receives a bronze star for his service in Vietnam on May 5, 1970. Courtesy Melvin and Debbie Pender.
Originally aired October 12, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
A Soldier on Suffering from PTSD and Finding a Home in Fashion
Army Specialist Duane Topping served three tours in Iraq before medically retiring in 2012.
Although he comes across as a tough guy with his tattoos and leather jacket, while deployed he found comfort from an unlikely place. Duane came to StoryCorps with his wife, Jamie Topping, to recall the difficulties of transitioning to civilian life while struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Today, Duane and Jamie run a successful design house out of Denver, Colorado. In September, they returned home from their first official show at New York Fashion Week.
Top photo: Jamie and Duane Topping pose during their StoryCorps interview in the Topping Designs studio in Wheat Ridge, Colorado on May 17, 2018. Photo by Mia Warren for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Duane Topping poses in Kuwait while deployed as an Army Specialist in 2006, during his second deployment to Iraq. Courtesy of Duane Topping.
Bottom photo: Duane Topping works at his design studio in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Photo by Mia Warren for StoryCorps.
Originally aired October 6, 2018, on NPR’s Weekend Edition.