Military Archives - Page 5 of 13 - StoryCorps

Walter Reed Physical Therapists on the Profound Effects of Their Work

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, over 1600 men and women lost hands, arms, legs, and feet in battle.

For nearly a decade, Adele Levine and Etaine Raphael worked side by side to ensure those soldiers would be able to navigate life after their injuries. The two women were civilian physical therapists at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the Washington, D.C. area.

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Both Etaine and Adele left Walter Reed in 2014. Today, Adele continues work as a physical therapist at a Maryland hospital, while Etaine has found new work as a preschool teacher.

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Top photo: Etaine Raphael and Adele Levine at their StoryCorps interview in Washington, D.C. on September 19, 2016. 
Middle photo: Adele Levine at work with a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Courtesy of Kyla Dunleavy.
Bottom photo: Adele Levine and Etaine Raphael pose with a physical therapy patient, Rob Jones, who they helped rehabilitate. Jones lost both legs in Afghanistan but went on to compete in the Paralympics for rowing. Courtesy of Etaine Raphael.

Originally aired May 25, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

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.

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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.

War Vets John (WWII) and Jerry (Vietnam) on Love and Their Marriage

John Banvard, 100, and Jerry Nadeau, 72, are military veterans, and served in World War II and Vietnam, respectively.

When they met in 1993, they were “sort of in the closet.” John’s wife of over 35 years had died nearly a decade prior and he had never been in a serious relationship with a man. Neither had Jerry.

At first, the two seemed worlds apart. John was a lover of art and theater, while Jerry was an outdoorsman. But they hit it off and soon became inseparable.

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Today, they live together in a senior home for veterans in Chula Vista, California — just a few miles south of San Diego, where they were married in 2013.

Top photo: John Banvard (L) and Jerry Nadeau at their home in Chula Vista, CA.
Bottom photo: Jerry Nadeau (L) with John Banvard outside their home in Chula Vista, CA.

Originally aired February 09, 2018 on NPR’s Morning Edition.

 

Roberta Vincent and Robert Howard II

Many people come to StoryCorps to tell the stories that have shaped their lives. Robert Howard’s story starts during the Vietnam war.

Robert grew up in Norwich, Connecticut in the shadow of his father, a larger-than-life character and celebrated athlete in town who was killed in action during the Vietnam War in 1969.

When Robert came to StoryCorps with his mother, Roberta Vincent, he spoke about saying goodbye to his dad.

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This interview was recorded in partnership with the Otis Library in Norwich, Connecticut. The Otis Library’s recordings were made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Originally aired May 19, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Bottom photo: A picture from a local newspaper of Robert Howard II accepting the medals awarded to his father posthumously the year of his death, while his mother Roberta Vincent looks on. Courtesy of Roberta Vincent.

Michael Yandell and Amy Yandell

People often come to StoryCorps to revisit the moments that shaped their lives. For Michael Yandell, that moment came one morning in 2004.

Michael was 19 at the time and serving in the U.S. Army as a bomb disposal technician. He was on a routine mission in Iraq to clear explosive devices when he was exposed to the deadly nerve agent sarin — the same gas that was used in an attack in Syria in April 2017. He came to StoryCorps with his wife, Amy, to remember that day.

Michael received a Purple Heart for his injuries from the exposure and is now doctoral candidate studying theology at Emory University.

 

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Originally aired April 28, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Top photo: Michael and Amy outside their home in Tucker, GA. By Todd Burandt for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: A close-up of the Explosive Ordinance Division patch on Michael’s Army uniform. By Todd Burandt for StoryCorps.

Philip and Andy

In 2014, we heard a conversation between Paul Braun, a sergeant in the Minnesota National Guard, and the interpreter he served with in Iraq, who goes by the name Philip — a moniker bestowed on him by American soldiers because he favored Philip Morris cigarettes.

In Iraq, former interpreters’ lives are in constant danger because of their association with American soldiers. So Braun helped sponsor Philip’s immigration to the U.S., and at the time of their interview, they were living together in Minneapolis.

But Philip had to leave his wife and four children behind in Iraq. He spent three years attempting to obtain visas for them so they could join him in Minnesota, even putting his life at risk by traveling back to Iraq in 2014.

Finally, in October 2016, the visas came through, and now Philip’s family — including his nephew, Andy, who was also an interpreter — are adjusting to life in the U.S. Two months after his family’s arrival, Philip came back to StoryCorps to give Andy some advice on adjusting to his new home.

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You can learn more about Philip’s story in the 2015 documentary The Interpreter.

Originally broadcast February 3, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Bottom photo: Philip with his wife, Ghania, the day she arrived in Minneapolis. Photo by Sameer Saadi.

Duery Felton and Rick Weidman

Every day since it officially opened in November 1982, visitors to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. have left tributes to those whose names are engraved on The Wall: medals, dog tags, clothing, and other objects they associate with friends, loved ones, and fellow service members.

The Memorial Wall is under the supervision of the National Park Service, feltonand when Duery Felton learned that park rangers were collecting and storing this huge collection of items, he became a volunteer in order to see them for himself. Eventually he was offered a full-time position as the first curator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection, a job he held for 28 years before retiring in 2014.

Duery, who served in Vietnam, came to StoryCorps with his friend and fellow war veteran, Rick Weidman (pictured together above), to discuss what drew him to the wall, and to talk about his service during the Vietnam War.

Click here to view a gallery of some of the more than 400,000 items left by visitors to The Wall.

Originally aired November 12, 2016, on NPR’s Weekend 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.

Lou Olivera and Joe Serna

In 2013, Green Beret Sergeant Joe Serna retired from the Army after more than 18 years of service that included three tours of duty in Afghanistan and numerous awards including two Purple Hearts. Returning to North Carolina to be with his wife and children, he found adjusting to civilian life difficult.

oliveraextraIn 2014, following a DWI arrest, Joe’s case was assigned to the Cumberland County Veterans Treatment Court. After a probation violation, District Court Judge Lou Olivera (above left), an Army veteran who served during the Gulf War, sentenced Joe to a night in jail.

Joe was with three other soldiers in Afghanistan in 2008 when their armored truck flipped over and landed in a river. It quickly filled with water and Joe was the only survivor. Knowing Joe’s history and how difficult it would be for him to spend an evening confined, Judge Olivera decided to spend the night with Joe in his jail cell.

At StoryCorps, they reflect upon the night they spent together, the difficult memories that being sentenced brought back, and the relationship they have formed since.

Originally aired October 14, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Above photo courtesy of Joe Serna.

Jenna Henderson and Laurie Laychak

On June 17, 2007, Army Sgt. First Class Chris Henderson and two other soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee in Afghanistan.

Henderson5Chris enlisted in the Army during his senior year of high school, and soon after graduating in June 1991; he went off to boot camp. He spent more than 15 years in the military serving tours of duty in Bosnia and Kosovo, and was still in uniform when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, occurred.

A month later, in October 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom began and in January 2007, Chris was deployed to the Kandahar Province in Afghanistan where he was part of a team working to help train Afghan National Army forces. Chris was killed on Father’s Day of that year; he was 35 years old. Henderson3He is survived by his wife, Jenna Henderson, and his 8-year-old daughter, Kayley.

Jenna and Chris met while in their 20s and had been married for seven years before he was killed. The family lived together in Fort Lewis, Washington, where Chris was based. He was a loving husband and a devoted father, and Jenna says, a total goofball. She remembers coming home to find Chris and 18-month-old Kayley in their bathing suits playing in mud puddles or riding on Chris’ motorcycle. The two were inseparable.

Now 18, Kayley bears a striking resemblance to her father. “When she’s upset, her little eyebrow twitches,” says Jenna, “And when she smiles, she’s kind of got that little crooked smile he had.” She has even participated in Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) at her high school and is hoping to soon get her motorcycle license.

Jenna still misses Chris terribly and holds on to one of the last letters she received from him. Henderson2“In it he said, how much he loved me and how he was glad that he had married me, and that he wouldn’t have changed that for the world.”

Jenna came to StoryCorps with Laurie Laychak (left), a mentor she met through the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) — an organization that offers compassionate care to those grieving the death of a loved one serving in the Armed Forces—to share memories of Chris.

Originally aired September 3, 2016, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Family photos of Chris, Jenna, and Kayley courtesy of Jenna Henderson.